The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction:
Chapter #6: Fire And Ice And Everything Nice
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Chapter 6
Fire And Ice And Everything Nice
Makes For A Lot Of Steam
The lights from the slow burning paper bombs, flicker and shimmer as they seem to reflect off of newly forming brightly colored shapes of light, that shift and twist, morphing into three dimensional shapes, solidifying in the air above and around the low steady flames, and then dancing in the air to music as they are created and put into motion by it. The space enclosed by the new deck, slowly becomes filled with the images of Shintaro’s genjutsu, while ringed by an audience of assembled family and friends, eagerly awaiting the show. As the genjutsu takes hold, Shintaro starts to make a minor confession.
Shintaro:
I must confess… I love to teach… to explain… to clarify… to demonstrate… or even just to coach… or to spar… There is a certain flicker of chakra… that occurs within a person’s chakra network… when they learn something new… when they master some new jutsu… and when they finally understand something most of all… I honestly live to see that… quite self indulgently… in a manner of speaking…
Shintaro confesses this as a seemingly disembodied voice, chiming in from the aether, as their storytelling genjutsu takes hold upon everyone.
Shintaro:
This was well known to my father at the time… the feudal lord of Uzu… when he sent me to Konoha… at age fourteen… to teach a bunch of baca shinobi… how to be demon hunters… in the name of the Demon Order… of Uzushio!…
As the genjutsu takes full effect, the figures before everyone begin take recognizable shape in three dimensions, then they begin to move as the sounds of the music begin to fade down, to be gradually replaced by the sounds of crickets and frogs, giving their own sort of night time lullaby, as a dark forest clearing under another starry night sky, slowly becomes clearer and clearer to all in attendance. Human figures of shinobi appear to be waiting in the clearing, with some clad in attire similar to attire standard for the modern Anbu, but somewhat more traditional in nature, more appropriate for the time, mostly with body armor that is heavier and harder than is the norm in the present, and with swords strapped to their backs, and simple stylized clay masks covering their faces. Others appear, more or less, as standard looking shinobi for the era. As details become ever more clearer in the vision, individual characteristics come into ever better relief.
Choza Now:
That’s me!… There I am!… And there’s Hiashiii!…
Shintaro Now:
Thank you Choza… But I believe I can handle the narration myself… if any be necessary at all…
A kunoichi stands waiting among the assembled shinobi, with long black hair hanging down to her waste, and a short black sleeveless kimono, with fishnet protruding out from the sleeves, down to the just above the elbow, and out from underneath the bottom, down to just above the knee, and a pair of knee high boots on her feet, and a pair of black leather gloves without fingertips. On her face was a black eye mask of a crow covering her eyes, with a large four inch stylized crow beak covering the nose and black straps wrapping around the head, with the straps hanging down the back. She wore no body armor, shuriken holster, or sword, but instead carried a kusurigama, fastened to her waste, just behind the back with a small fanny pack.
Dark Kunoichi:
Why is it exactly… that we’re being kept waiting here of all places… for this lunatic?… in the middle of some stupid random clearing?… in the middle of the night no less?… when we don’t even have a proper mission?… I know we’re anbu… but has this guy ever heard of civilization?… A little polite rational conversation… over tea and dumplings?… Who does this baca think he is?…
Booming Voice:
A demon hunter!…
A booming voice recognizable as Shintaro’s, bellows out from above the assembled shinobi, as everyone looks up at the sky to see exactly what from. Then the voice bellows again.
Past Shintaro:
A demon hunter… an exorcist… a doctor… an onmiogi… a decent artist… and an excellent musician!… even if I do say so myself!…
A black cloaked and hooded figure drops straight out of the sky, free falling almost all the way, only to be stopped just short of the ground by a swirling flurry of wind and snow, seemingly coming out of and whirling about his feet, and in between his feet and the ground, providing for a cushy landing, covering the entire surrounding area with a light dusting of snow, including the assembled shinobi and the cranky kunoichi.
As the black clad figure finally touches down with his feet on the ground, the assembled party attendees in the present recognize the hooded figure as a slightly shorter version of the same person now showing them this scene from the past, dressed essentially the same as today’s Shintaro appears, wearing the same sort of cloak and hood, hood worn low over the face, with the same brown messenger bag and the gourd of demon ink.
Past Shintaro:
As far as your proper mission is concerned… your mission is to learn!… to become proper demon hunters!… in a manner of speaking… But I’m not terribly enthusiastic for your chances… Uchihasan…
At the mention of the name of the Uchiha, fire erupts from the kunoichi’s hair as it comes to life animated by flame, and the eyes behind the crow mask turn and change into a pair of red Mangekyo Sharingan.
Uchihasan:
How did you know my name?!?… Who told you that I was Uchiha?!?…
Past Shintaro:
Your chakra told me… especially the chakra in the eyes… The chakra within the Sharingan… is always a little bit different… even when not activated or in use… I can always tell… The same way that I can tell… that you also have two Hyuga with you as well… I do not know you… nor do I need to know you… I know your chakra… and that is all I need to know… Uchiha!…
Uchihasan:
Say that with respect… Mr. Snowballs!… Or I just might melt you…
The kunoichi then, without so much as a twitch, let alone a hand seal of any kind, made six blackened steel shuriken materialize, three per hand, in between the fingers of each of the kunoichi’s hand, engulfed in orange and red flames.
Anbu Taisho:
Urusai Bacas!… We’re not here to fight among ourselves… baca shinobi!… Stifle it!… Damarei!…
The anbu taisho commands the unruly shinobi, with grayish white hair behind an anbu style dog mask.
Uchihasan:
But… Sakumo taisho?!?…
The anbu Uchiha douses her flames, while the shuriken that she conjured, disappear back to wherever they came from. An anbu, wearing a red crane mask pipes up.
Red Crane:
You mean… they’re not going to fight?…
Then he passes a wad of money over to another anbu, wearing an eagle mask.
Eagle:
I told you Hizashi… Everyone knows Sakumo taisho runs tight ship…
Past Sakumo:
Names!… Baca shinobi!… Names!… As in none of yours… should I ever hear… while you wear those masks!… And never ever should I hear my own name… with or without a mask!… Taisho for you… will do!…
Sakumo taisho barks at the assembled anbu, sounding like a drill master at the academy.
Past Sakumo:
Rookies!… Baca shinobi rookies!…
Choza Now:
Wow!… That really takes me back… That was the day that Hiashi and I met Shintaro for the first time too!… But we had at least heard of Shintaro… Shintaro had a bit of a reputation you see… even then… But I didn’t believe any of it… and the Uchihas can be fairly relied upon to be… Uchiha… But Sakumo could be relied upon to be Sakumo… I thought… But no one could have gotten in the way of this fight…
Sasuke Now:
Reputation?…
Choza Now:
He had a reputation for picking fights with shinobi… just to show off… He probably felt like they looked down on him… because he wasn’t shinobi…
Hiashi Now:
It was an act of domination!… He wanted to demonstrate his superior power and skill… and make baca shinobi look like baca shinobi in the process…
Shintaro Now:
All of that… can be an important part of one’s personal development… the stupider you are made to look… the stupider you feel… and the more you don’t ever want to look and feel that stupid… ever again… And for the record… I never picked any fights with shinobi… at least not back then… But if any baca shinobi was ever baca enough to do so… I dutifully exposed them as baca shinobi they are… It works wonders for baca shinobi everywhere… just take Naruto for example…
Sasuke Now:
Ai… perfect example…
Naruto Now:
Oi!… hey!…
Past Snintaro:
Rookie or no rookie… baca shinobi… will be baca shinobi…
Uchihasan:
Baca?!?… Who the hell are you calling baca?!?…
The flaming hair erupts again.
Past Shintaro:
I believe… both Sakumo and I… are calling you… baca shinobi!… Uchiha!…
The black shuriken return to her grip, flames in tow.
Past Sakumo:
Uh-oh!…
Sakumo backs away from the two of them, while the eagle passes a wad plus a wad, back to the red crane, having definitively lost the bet.
Uchihasan:
Stop using that name!!!… Phoenix Flower jutsu!…
In rapid succession, the kunoichi unleashes a veritable swarm of black shurikens engulfed in orange and red flames, handful after handful, flying and arcing around to head for Shintaro. Young Shintaro begins to grin like a child visiting his first candy store. A swirling snow flurry, whirls it’s way arcing around to Shintaro as the swarm begins to hit, with the flaming blackened steel shuriken being absorbed into the flurries, extinguished and harmlessly blown away, before going poof, a telltale sign of some form of the shadow clone weapons jutsu, creating a temporary copy of the original weapons. The kunoichi’s long black hair is further engulfed in flames, growing longer forming a flaming mane of orange and red flame, increasingly resembling a pair of flaming wings as she puts both hands together in front of her. Then her feet lift off the ground as they are engulfed in the same aura of orange and red flame.
Past Shintaro:
You can fly too?!?…
Uchihasan:
Phoenix Flower Flaming Medusa!…
The long flaming black hair grows longer and arcs around, forming together like twisting ropes, they begin to take on the appearance of slithering black snakes with an aura of orange and red flame, pointing their tips at Shintaro’s direction before launching a rapid series of mini fireballs.
Past Shintaro:
Uzumaki Blizzard Fortress!…
Shintaro disappears in to a whirling blizzard of snow and ice that grows and grows around him.
Past Shintaro:
What a lovely jutsu you have!… I am truly impressed!… What lovely chakra!… You are a proper artiste!… My Phoenix Flower!…
Phoenix Flower:
Don’t mock the Uchiha!!!…
Unleashing her full flaming aura, every one the kunoichi’s hairs is joined up into one of her flaming hair snakes, firing mini fireballs at Shintaro full blast, as she now hovers. Fire meets ice somewhere in the middle, causing the space between them to erupt in a steam bath explosion wave, knocking both of them, and everyone else around, to the ground and on their buts, and filling the entire clearing with a thick warm steamy mist. Seizing the opportunity to regain control, Sakumo intervenes.
Past Sakumo:
Urusai bacas!… Thunder Ball Scattershot jutsu!…
Sensing an opportunity to get control of the situation, Sakumo Taisho unleashes a flurry of mini-balls of lightening that spread out over the impromptu battleground, stunning the combatants. Suddenly a loud shrieking, as if from some prehistoric flying dinosaur, erupts in the air immediately above the combatants, as a giant red crane swoops down over the assembled shinobi and lands down in the middle of them, dispersing what’s left of the artificial mist. On the giant red crane’s back ride two more shinobi. One shinobi wears a red lion mask under a black hood and cloak while the other shinobi, somewhat shorter than Shintaro, wears a white set of hooded monk’s robes, with a white anbu style snow leopard mask. The snow leopard shinobi jumps off the back of the giant red crane and lands by Shintaro and speaks with a young male voice.
Snow Leopard:
Aniisan!… Aniichan!… Daijoubu desuka?…
Past Shintaro:
Ai… Ai… genki desu…
The red lion pipes up in a female voice.
Red Lion:
Sumimasen… My little brother can be a bit… difficult…
Past Shintaro:
I don’t need anyone to apologize for me!… I was simply dealing with the baca shinobi in the only way they understand…
Just then a large ink drawn bird, no doubt produced and animated by the Super Beast Scroll jutsu, swoops down to land by the giant red crane with three unmasked shinobi riding on it’s back. A shinobi in traditional body armor with white spiky hair jumps off the back of the ink bird and lands next to Shintaro.
Spiky Hair:
That’s not how I see it!… And your father will side with me!…
Past Shintaro:
Cousin Tobirama?… Even if that is the case… my father can complain all he wants… The worst thing that could happen is that I would be disinherited… and I would most likely be better off for it!… So go ahead and tell my father whatever you like… Life in a monastery free of political entanglements and obligations… would suit me perfectly fine… fewer baca shinobi to deal with that way…
Past Tobirama:
Do you think your grandfather would appreciate that attitude?…
Past Shintaro:
My grandfather is dead!… And as such… he cannot appreciate anything… one way or the other… And as far as honoring his memory is concerned… I will deal with this demonic infestation all by myself if I have to… without the burden of baca shinobi… and without the authority of Konoha… or Uzushio… if necessary…
Then a shinobi with dark hair and an X shaped scar on his chin jumps off the ink bird and lands next Tobirama.
X Chin:
You would go rogue?… Just like that?… Do you really have so little honor?… Perhaps you are the more pressing danger here…
Past Shintaro:
And you think you're the baca shinobi to deal with it?… whoever you are?…
X Chin:
My name is Shimura Danzo… and I am the supreme commander of the Anbu… of which you are now supposed to be a key part… I had the assurances of your father… that there would be no trouble with you on this matter… in spite of your reputation…
Past Shintaro:
My reputation is of no relevance… And you may be the supreme commander of whatever you like… But here… I am the instructor… for all of you… Here… I am the sensei… and you all will do as you’re instructed… or be forcefully dismissed from class… And if you doubt that… I can provide a live demonstration for you at any time…
Past Danzo:
Perhaps we should see that for our selves…
Danzo takes out a kunai after weaving a few hand signs and filling his lungs with wind nature chakra, then raises the kunai to his mouth before exhaling his breath and his chakra mixed in with it, forming a wind nature chakra sword blade extension of his kunai’s blade.
Past Shintaro:
If you think that level of wind style can intimidate me… then you know nothing of the Uzumaki…
Then the third shinobi riding on the back of the ink bird jumps off and lands in between Shintaro and Danzo.
Past Danzo:
Hiruzen?…
Past Hiruzen:
That is not what we came here for!… Hokagesama?…
Past Tobirama:
Indeed!… Cease and desist from this at once!…
Past Shintaro:
I’m afraid… we are already beyond the point where anything less than a demonstration of power will convince baca shinobi to behave themselves in class… Discipline must be established!…
Shintaro reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out a red heart shaped ocarina. He removes his hood to reveal his vivid red hair and removes a pair of black shades, revealing a pair of blind cataract covered eyes before shifting into sage mode to show off his transformation to the assembled shinobi.
Phoenix Flower:
You’re blind!!!…
Past Shintaro:
Ai… my Phoenix Flower… from birth…
The Shintaro raises his ocarina to his lips and begins to play as the wind picks up all around him and the surrounding shinobi. The wind begins to howl and swirl louder and faster until a full scale tornado is established surrounding Shintaro at it’s center, widening as it does to engulf the surrounding shinobi as well. The giant red crane flies off with the red lion still on it’s back, while the ink bird is dispersed and disappears. Shintaro and the assembled shinobi are then lifted up in to the air, with Shintaro still in the center and the various shonobi swirling around him in the air with ever increasing speed and altitude. The giant red crane then flies back into the tornado with the red lion.
Red Lion:
Shintaro!… That’s enough!… Someone is going to get seriously hurt this way!… Toshiro!… Talk to your brother!…
The short snow leopard monk swirls around Shintaro with his legs crossed in a casual sort of meditation posture. But floating around in the air, as if sitting on an invisible floating cushion in the air orbiting his older brother, as he replies to his older sister.
Past Toshiro:
I don’t know about that Korin… I kind of like when big brother shows off… It’s always an interesting learning experience…
Past Korin:
Learning experience!… Someone could get killed!… I can’t heal everything you know!…
Past Shintaro:
All real training comes with risk!… And I will keep my own council as far as what risks are or aren’t necessary for that purpose!…
Past Tobirama:
Alright!… You’ve proven your point already!… Withdraw your jutsu!…
Past Shintaro:
I’ll have proven my point when Danzosan concedes and submits to the authority of my instruction!… Since it was he who thought he could intimidate his sensei!…
Past Danzo:
Alright!… Alright!… I concede!… Shintaro sensei!… I concede!…
Just then Shintaro cuts off his playing and stops his jutsu, as everyone then begins to fall out of the sky. The giant red crane and the red lion swoop in to fly just underneath the snow leopard catching him on the way down to the ground. As the shinobi fall, Tobirama quickly weaves a number of hand signs.
Past Tobirama:
Water Formation Wall!…
Tobirama then spews out an endless flooding torrent of water from out of his mouth at the ground, covering the entire ground beneath the shinobi in water before anyone lands. As the various shinobi make cushy landings on the surface of the water, Shintaro gently floats down to join them, while the Phoenix Flower casually hovers, engulfed in flames and whirling her flame engulfed kusarigama around in a circle above her head, before lowering herself down to the water’s surface to join the rest.
Past Shintaro:
You have quite the command of the air… my Phoenix Flower… for someone who isn’t a wind user that is…
Phoenix Flower:
Stop calling me that!…
Past Shintaro:
If I can’t call you Phoenix Flower… and I can’t call you Uchiha… what exactly would you prefer to be called?…
Phoenix Flower:
My name… is Uchiha Mikono… But that name is too good for you… so you probably better just stick to Phoenix Flower… if you insist on addressing me at all… Since taisho doesn’t want us using names anyway… And what exactly do you mean demonic infestation?…
Past Shintaro:
I mean exactly that… The incident that resulted in the death of my grandfather and the First Hokage… was caused by the demonic possession of the of feudal lord’s wife… not far from here in the capital… But if you don’t believe me… you could always ask Tsunadesama…
As Shintaro says this he points without looking in the direction of a young blonde kunoichi, recognizable to those viewing the past as a much younger version of the Fifth Hokage, along with the team that would eventually be known as the legendary sannin, including a very young Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Past Shintaro:
She was there… as I was… as we were both accompanying our grandfathers at the time… The demon possessing the feudal lord’s wife killed both my grandfather and the First Hokage… leaving me essentially alone to with Tsunade… to subdue the weakened demon and perform an exorcism… my first ever… The feudal lord’s wife mostly recovered… But she will most likely never be the same as she was before… The demon had her too long for that… Subsequent investigations by the demon order of Uzushio revealed that the infestation is quite wide spread throughout the bureaucracy and the aristocracy of feudal society… Demons love to get close to political power because it allows them free reign for all of their twisted indulgences… Once they get a hold of political power… such infestations become extremely difficult to purge… by those who are subject to the authorities of those who are possessed… Such things must be handled with the utmost care and discretion… or all out war is inevitable… War is the health of tyranny and atrocity… and the death of freedom and prosperity… But it is also a playground for demons… as it tends to empower authorities to be tyrants… and possessed authorities to be openly nightmarish monsters… When such infestations begin… the end of civilization as you know it is inevitable unless the demons are vanquished and purged from all positions of political power… at a minimum… This has been the sacred task of the demon order of Uzushio since long before the formation of the one nation one village system… Meant to help stabilize society and help maintain peace… it has also had the inadvertent effect of restricting access of the demon order to other lands… allowing the infestation to take hold unchecked in the first place… But here in the land of fire we were completely blindsided… in spite of having full access… Peace is an illusion that tends to instill complacence in the minds of even the most diligent of sentinels…
As if on cue, a loud buzzing alarm sounds out, from out of nowhere in the disembodied present, so loud and so disrupting, that Ishitara’s and Shintaro’s concentration is broken and they stop playing, causing all light emanating from the slow burning paper bombs to return to the normally flickering light of ordinary burning fire, as the light from present day reality reasserts itself. Ishitara raises her hands to her ears.
Shintaro:
What the hell is that?!?… Baca shinobi!… Nandesuka?…
Shizune:
Sumimsen!… Sumimasen!… That’s the alarm for the tests!… They’re early!… Sumimasen!…
Shizune apologizes nervously as gets up and rushes upstairs to attend to the tests in the impromptu med lab in the upstairs master bath. Sakura gets up go follow, along with Ino close behind.
Shintaro:
Well I guess that means… intermission!… It’s just as well… That was pretty much the end of our first of many fights… It was definitely true though… Sakumo didn’t mess around… But stories are just stories… and proof is proof!… Ishitara?… How are you feeling?… Still feel good to play?… Why don’t just play for your self for a while… I’m sure everyone would love to hear you play some more…
Ishitara nods her head and then begins to play, filling the air with music, but instead of the focused absorbing vision of before, the entire garden and deck area is filled is with shimmering, dazzling, shifting and twisting shapes of light, dancing to the tune of her koto. Shintaro’s biwa and plectrum disappear from whence they came, then he picks up his cup of sake with one hand and takes another sip, then he picks up he pipe again and takes another puff.
Shintaro:
Chocho?… Daijoubu desuka?… How are you feeling?… Feeling any different?… The seal that I had to use on your eyes… has the side effect of interfering with proper chakra control… making it difficult to exorcise power as effectively… even with jutsu not directly related to your eyes… Without the seal in place… you might find that you can do things more easily… that were either too difficult… or seemingly impossible for you before… Try the Medusa again… I think you’ll surprise yourself…
Chocho:
That jutsu is too hard!… It takes too much fine chakra control!… I’m not like the Uchiha!… Am I like the Uchiha?… Mama!… Mama!… Are the Starlight people like the Uchiha?…
Karui:
The Starlight Tribe was way better than the Uchiha baby girl… And don’t you forget it!… Now go try your jutsu!…
Chocho leaps off the edge off the bench, clasps her hands together, and begins to infuse chakra. Chocho’s hair begins to lift and animate as if it had a will and a life of it’s own, and as it does so it begins to grow and extend. Chocho’s hair begins to reach up to the cherry blossoms, and to the surrounding flowers, and begins to gather all the flowers one by one, as delicately as possible. Chocho unclasps her hands to cup them as her hair deposits the various small flowers gently into her waiting hands. Once the flowers pile up to overflowing in Chocho’s hands, she throws them all up into the air and screams.
Chocho:
I did it!… Victory!… Starlight people rule!…
Sarada stands up in awe applauding wildly her friends surprising performance.
Sarada:
When did you learn that?… That’s beautiful!… Can you really do the Medusa?…
Chocho:
I don’t know… He called it the Medusa when he taught it to me… But I could never do it right before… But without the seal… it’s so much easier now…
Shintaro:
Technically speaking… Only my Phoenix Flower ever called it the Medusa… Jiraiya always called his the White Lion’s Mane… But the jutsu you saw your great grandmother use… was a combination of fire style with the Medusa… Chocho has no fire nature chakra to do a Flaming Medusa… You could… But you might still have a problem with the Medusa part of the jutsu…
Sarada:
Why would I have a problem with the Medusa?…
Shintaro:
Well… first off… the Medusa is a jutsu that is somewhat right up the Akimichi’s alley… It might as well be called the Hair Expansion jutsu… which is why I taught it to her… I knew that she would be great at it… eventually… So don’t judge your efforts by that standard… Plus… With this jutsu… it helps to physically meet the jutsu part way… in a manner of speaking… Your hair is just too short… But I might have a few shortcuts we can try… in a manner of speaking… with a little help from Chocho!… I want you to try something… Chocho… I want you to do the jutsu again… This time… Sarada… I want to try to copy the jutsu with your Sharingan…
Sarada:
I can copy that jutsu with my Sharingan?…
Shintaro:
No… Probably not… But I want you to try anyway… Even if you can’t completely copy the jutsu… you might be able to copy enough of it… that your own inherent skill can take you the rest of the way…
As Shintaro instructs, Sakura, Ino, and Shizune quietly make their way down to rejoin everyone, without Shintaro noticeably taking notice. Chocho goes through the motions of her new jutsu, as Sarada watches over every detail with her keen red Mangekyo Sharingan eyes. As Chocho finishes, it becomes Sarada’s turn to at least try, as Sakura pauses to watch her daughter train.
Shintaro:
Now Sarada… I want you do to your best… to try to perform the jutsu with a straight copy it… See if it works… although it probably won’t like I said… But I want you to pay very close attention to how and why it fails… While it fails…
Sarada clasps her hands together and starts to infuse chakra. As she does so, her hair begins to lift and wave slightly, animated by her chakra, but only so much.
Sarada:
Aagh!… I can’t!…
Shintaro:
Ai… But why can’t you?… Remember the other parts of your assignment… What is going wrong exactly?… What’s the hard part?…
Sarada:
Everything!…
Chocho:
You know Sarada… your actually way better than I was when I started with it… You’re much closer than you realize… At least that’s the way it seems to me…
Shintaro:
Ai… Try simplifying the problem… Forget about trying to do the same exact task that Chocho performed… and try something much smaller and simpler…
Sarada clasps her hands together and tries again. As she does so, her hair begins to lift and wave slightly as before, but sustained and slowly increasing, as the hair begins to lengthen slightly. Then the hair growth picks up speed and accelerates as it starts to wave around chaotically. Suddenly, the hair whips itself around before dropping down limp, now reaching down to her waste. With that last effort, Sarada starts to pass out from the exertion, when Shintaro rapidly extends his own hair within an instant, just in time to catch her as she barely manages to maintain consciousness.
Sakura starts to applaud wildly along with Chocho. Sakura goes over to her daughter and reaches into her kimono and pulls out a pink ribbon. Then pulls Sarada’s hair back into a simple pony tale, and ties it with the ribbon.
Shintaro:
That was more than just a first step for that jutsu… From here… it’s just a question of more practice… The purpose behind that exorcise that I had Chocho go through… is all about fine tuning control… But that takes time… that takes practice… and it takes a lot more hair washing… Because flowers are dirty… They literally are planted in… and grow in… dirt…
Chocho:
Aagh!… My hair!…
An exhausted Sarada chuckles.
Sarada:
I kept it simple… If my hair was too short… then I just have to get longer hair… Is it long enough now?… Shintaro sensei?…
Shintaro:
Ai… That should be plenty to work with…
Sakura makes her way over to Sasuke with Sarada, and sits them down with Sarada in between them. Sakura leans in to Sasuke over Sarada’s head, but so she can hear, and whispers.
Sakura:
It’s confirmed… It’s all confirmed… He really is your grandfather… and Naruto’s uncle… And… You're not gonna believe what else…
Shizune makes her way around the deck, with cushion in hand, setting her cushion on the edge of the deck, next to Kakashi, looking over at Shizune sideways, feigning disinterest.
Shintaro:
Shizunesama?… Do you bring good news?…
Shizune:
It’s all been confirmed… But you knew it would be… But… I… I need to talk to you about something else… about someone else…
As Shizune talks, Kakashi starts to seem a little nervous.
Shintaro:
Is it about Tsunade?… Or you?… Or perhaps both?…
Shizune:
I think you already know… Don’t you?…
Shintaro:
I didn’t even know you existed… until today… But I knew as soon as I first sensed your chakra at the door… But I suspect that you’ve known for much longer… haven’t you?…
Shizune:
Not as long as you might think…
Shintaro:
You mean… Tsunade didn’t…
Shizune:
Tsunadesama… did nothing but lie to me my whole life!… about who I was… about who my family were… and especially who my mother and father were!… She told me and everyone… that I was Dan’s niece!… But many things just didn’t add up… I couldn’t find any information on any of my other family… Dan didn’t even have any nieces or nephews… a fact she buried behind my back while she was Hokage… and for my whole life!…
Shizune, unburdening, looks over at Kakashi, as Kakashi grows more concerned.
Shizune:
Eventually… shortly after Kakashi took over as the hokage… She was going to start traveling again… But I decided to stay put… to continue to serve the new administration… and for other reasons… So I confronted her… before she left about it… with the fact that… Dan didn’t have any nieces or nephews…
Shintaro:
We… were only together that way once… I was lonely and in exile… Tsunade came to me to tell me… about Dan’s death… as he was one of my students… along with Tsunade… She was already drunk and crying… and demanded that I drink with her… In the morning she was gone… She left Konoha shortly after that… Jiraiya told me she went AWOL… no word… in the middle of the Third Great Ninja War… But it had been hushed up for the time being… or so he told me at the time… I felt that… I had made a mistake with Tsunade… But… she was gone… And I never saw or heard from her again… A few months later… I was asked by the Third Hokage to help them investigate the fall of Uzushio… An investigation I never came back from until many years later… and then only in secret… so your mother can be understood in what she did… to some extent… What would she have said exactly otherwise… under the circumstances… Circumstances such as these… are all too common among shinobi… The shinobi world is unavoidably entangled with politics… complete with a poisonous politics all it’s own… All of politics… are poison!… All of politics… are poisoning… and entangling… entangled and poisoned by lies!… Including the lies we are told… But worst of all… by the lies we tell ourselves!… Thus entangled and poisoned… the entangled poison victims seek solace with each other… only to be separated by the very web that brought them together… still entangled… and still poisoned!…
Sasuke:
Is there any cure… for this poison?…
Shintaro:
None that I know of… which are not worse than the disease… The truth is at least a healthier… if not always pleasant treatment… But people prefer their lies… and so the condition persists… as an incorrigible pathology…
Tsunade:
Shintarooo!!!… Damn you Shintaro!… How dare you!… Eh?!?… Shintaro?!?…
Karui:
This should be good!…
The front gate smashes open, as Tsunade bursts into the front garden. Tsunade storms her way over to Shintaro, growing more and more angry with every step as she sees her daughter Shizune with Kakashi and her father Shintaro, until just before Tsunade reaches his position on the edge of the deck, winding up for a swing she growls.
Tsunade:
Shintarooo!!!…
A flash of lightening appears, and a dark haired figure of Sasuke with it, with glowing red eyes and brandishing a sword in his left hand. Standing with his sword separating Tsunade from Shintaro, with the sword engulfed in a bright cool blue lightening nature chakra, while Shintaro remains sitting on the edge of the new deck.
Sasuke:
Sumimasen… But no one kills my grandfather but me… not until I’m done with him… With all due respect… Tsunadesama…
The lightning’s amplitude increases slightly and Sasuke tilts the blade up slightly to Tsunade’s face, and one of Naruto’s Shadow Clones materializes in between Tsunade and Sasuke’s blade.
Tsunade:
Grandfather?!?… Your arm?!?… Shizune?!?… Nani?!?… Shintaro?!?…
Shintaro:
See what happens… when you’re fashionably late for the party?.… Eh?… Tsunadesama?…
There Is No Alone!
Forever Never Ending!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
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