The first year of life passed quickly. More than half the time was spent sleeping, so in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the next October arrived. It seemed like a bad joke that her most hated month was precisely the month when she was born in this new life. Luckily, they hadn't been born on Samhain or she would have started crying.
To her little surprise, the spell alerted her a couple of times to an intruder in her room, but they were instantly subdued by the invisible ninjas watching over them. They were anbu, from what she could gather, all dressed in black and gray uniforms with animal masks with two eye holes. When she saw them for the first time, she shuddered to realize the resemblance to Voldemort's Death Eaters. It was eerie to think that their bodyguards were precisely the Hokage's most lethal lackeys, just like Voldemort's Death Eaters. The only difference between them was the rather neutral presence of the anbu instead of the malice radiating from the Death Eaters. Still, since they protected her brother and her, she metaphorically shrugged. She had lost her scruples years ago, so she didn't care if hired killers were their protectors, as long as they did their job well.
Despite those few exceptions, the year passed without much incident. Then the next year passed. The only good thing that happened during that time was her relationship with the Kyubi, who gradually seemed to soften his heart with their infrequent talks and the continuous improvements she made to his cage when the demon requested it. He had gone from hating her to tolerating her with some degree of trust.
"And you say you lived for over 120 years?" the Kyubi asked, lying on the grass barely less than a meter away from her. "What was that other place like?"
"Much bigger. One could spend their life traveling and still wouldn't have seen it all," she explained, her gaze lost in her memories. "The world was much more advanced too, but technology caused a distancing between people that didn't exist before, nor seems to exist here."
"And what about the ninjas?"
"They didn't exist. Nor did the bijuus like you. There were normal people and magical people, as well as multiple animals and magical creatures. Humans, however, were still humans. Fearing and exterminating what they didn't understand," she said with a sad smile. "You're lucky you weren't there. They wouldn't have put you in a baby's stomach, that's for sure. They would have locked you up while they debated whether to kill you or use you for their own purposes."
"Humans..." the Kyubi scoffed angrily.
"I know. During my second year at the wizarding school, Hogwarts, I found out I could talk to snakes, you know? I found out by chance. I didn't think much of it, but people didn't like it. The murderer of my parents had killed many others before, causing 2 civil wars. Do you know what his main skill was?"
"Don't tell me. Talking to snakes. I see. You became a pariah, didn't you?"
"That's right. I was only 12 years old and had grown up with my non-magical aunt. What the hell did I know about all that? Still, even though they convinced me to feel guilty for having that ability, over time I realized it was just a magical language."
"Human. Tell me your story from the beginning," the Kyubi requested, much more polite and cordial than before.
"It will take some time, but I think you'll find it interesting. My name was Harriet Potter, daughter of James and Lily Potter. When I was a year and a half old, my parents were hidden under a Fidelius Charm. This charm has the ability to..."
Months later, when she finished telling the Kyubi in great detail her entire life story, from birth to marriage, she saw how the demon was unable to look at her with eyes full of hatred. Harriet hadn't been a demon, but in less than 20 years, she had been treated much worse than the Kyubi himself. If anyone could understand what he was going through, trapped inside her, it was her and vice versa.
"Humans failed you. That's something they're very good at," he said, with a hint of resentment and sadness. "My father was human. He created us, my siblings and me. For a while, we were free, but other humans were terrified of our power. They didn't realize that we, beings of pure chakra, were just as neutral as nature."
"Humans have always been very hypocritical," Seina agreed.
"Perhaps some more than others," he said contemplatively. "My father left us when we needed him most. We begged his name to free us, but we forgot that he too was human."
"I'm sorry."
"Why? It wasn't your fault. Just as this confinement isn't your fault but your father's, those before him who locked me in your mother, and the person who forced your father's hand, forcing him to lock me in you."
"I know, but I know what it feels like when someone you admire and love betrays you. It's like you'll never trust anyone again, the pain and loneliness that entails... I'm sorry that other humans, people of my species, are unable to tolerate creatures like you simply because you're different and have more power than us. I'm sorry that you, and your siblings, are treated like slaves just for being born as you are, even though none of you asked to be born."
The Kyubi hid his face, and Seina saw that he seemed genuinely moved. She understood perfectly well what the fox had gone through because she had gone through the same. Putting oneself in another's shoes, indeed.
"Human. My name is Kurama."
"My name is Seina. Nice to meet you, Kurama."
Just as she got up to continue erecting new mental barriers, as she did every night while asleep, Kurama spoke. She turned, but only saw the fox's profile among some trees illuminated by the false stars.
"Seina. Thank you."
After that, things changed. Since they were already talking and walking, the matrons started teaching them to read and write at the orders of the Hokage. At first, they had refused to do so, but a visit from the ANBU and the Hokage quickly changed their minds. They did it grudgingly but efficiently, knowing they were being watched at all times. Seina tried to keep up with the other children her age, making sure to excel a little so she could have an excuse to help her brother, who found it hard to focus on one thing, having so much energy.
From age 3 to 5, she dedicated herself to using all sorts of invisible spells not only to improve their stay in the orphanage, like environmental spells, but also to ensure she had as much information as possible. Basically, she was spying on everyone. She not only used spells but also Legilimency on the matrons.
She knew, from probing into others' minds, that the adults knew what they had inside them. They weren't aware of their parents' names, but that didn't matter to them either. They were determined to hate them because they believed that, one way or another, they were the demons and not their caretakers. Useless ignorant people. Still, she was used to dealing with incompetents, so slowly but surely, she manipulated their minds so that, instead of potentially being violent, the matrons settled for treating them with resentment and indifference.
When a new matron arrived, young and generally friendly, she didn't hesitate for a second. Before she could interact with them and show herself as resentful as the other matrons, she sunk her mental teeth. She saw how the Hokage had interrogated her before hiring her for the position at the orphanage and knew she could use it to her advantage, making Yumi believe that the Namikaze twins, whom everyone called Uzumaki, were not really demons but just a pair of misunderstood children.
"Your technique is very useful," Kurama urged, when she told him the news that night, as she had for years. "Do you plan to use it to improve your position in the orphanage?"
"More food and blankets wouldn't be bad," she said coldly, remembering that everything Naruto and she had was always the worst of everything. "The orphanage is a safe place as long as the ANBU are there. The problem is internal. If I can make her my puppet, I will."
"Mmm... maybe the fact that she treats you decently won't sit well with the other matrons... Be careful."
Seina kept it in mind, but for quite some time, nothing happened. Except that Naruto wanted to play with her all the time.
"Come on, nee-chan! I want to play renegade ninjas!"
"We played that yesterday," she avoided sighing. "Don't you have to read that book Yumi gave you?"
"It's just so boring!"
Seina watched as Naruto crossed his arms and seemed to vibrate with energy.
"Why don't we go to the park?" she finally said.
The truth was that Naruto needed much more exercise than her since he didn't have her mental discipline. She didn't even know if she wanted to teach him to meditate because she was horrified of what might happen if Naruto found his other half of Kurama in his mind at only 5 years old. That's why Naruto needed to tire himself out three times as much as a normal child. Hence why she had made him some weights for his feet and arms and they played some kind of game every day.
However, playing with kids her age exhausted her. They screamed, cried, fought over anything, weren't afraid to bash their heads against the ground, were stubborn, reckless, ignorant... Certainly, at her 125 mental years old, she wasn't in the age to play with little kids except for a couple of hours a week. The problem was that Naruto wanted to play with her all the time because she was the only one who treated him well, his family, and with whom he didn't have problems relating. If she had had less patience, or less mental age, she would have left him alone more often, but Seina knew the danger her innocent brother was in.
That's why she gave him some of her food when he was still hungry, and she took care of stealing food from several kids without anyone noticing that they were missing one or two lettuce leaves, a couple of chicken pieces, or a spoonful of rice. Fortunately, since no child complained about the theft except for the fact that they were still hungry, no matron watched her at mealtime. Naruto ate a portion large enough to satisfy his appetite, and she did exactly the same at the expense of other children.
"Old Uruchi didn't give us dessert," Naruto said one day, staring at her intently.
"Oh, didn't she?" she smiled, calmly eating her dessert.
Naruto frowned as he contemplated where she got it from, then shrugged, but Seina realized that her brother was starting to notice things he used to overlook. One day, as she was stealing food from other kids as usual, she saw out of the corner of her eye how Naruto threw his glass against a wall, unnoticed by anyone. Everyone turned to the noise, so Seina grabbed a glass from another kid when she predicted what was about to happen.
"Who did it!?"
"It was Naruto!" a tattletale kid yelled. Seina suppressed the urge to strangle him.
The matrons turned, but she saw that both she and Naruto had their own glasses. They took the kid by the ear for lying and the other kid she had left without a glass, too, for breaking plates.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, curious, at the opposite end of the individual bed they shared.
"I saw old Mako coming towards you."
Seina realized, somewhat astonished, that Naruto had tried to cover for her. She looked at her brother lying on the other side of the bed, with his arms under his head, and felt something warm inside her. She knew they wouldn't have caught her because she had put on a few spells, but she decided not to take credit away from her brother when he had done it to save her.
"Thank you, Naruto."
"Is that why you give me some of your food?" he asked, extremely serious for a 5-year-old.
"Yes. I can take a little from everyone's plates without them noticing. If they're hungry, they can always have seconds, but not us. How long have you known?"
"Since always," he shrugged. "You're my sister. I can always feel you."
Naruto nodded and that was the end of that conversation, but Seina was somewhat astonished. Could it be that her mental barriers interfered with the connection Naruto spoke of? She had reinforced Naruto's mental barriers against his Kurama but wouldn't have imagined that, somehow, that would affect her side of the... link with Naruto. Since she didn't have an adult to ask, she asked Kurama.
"Mmm... It's possible. And you say you can't feel him unless you seek the connection with him, unlike what Naruto does?"
"That's right."
"Why don't you try strengthening your connection with him from within, in addition to protecting his mind against my other half?"
The next day, Seina tried it at night. Naruto was awake, lying on the bed, when she moved the door connecting them to the other side of her mind, building a hallway between them. She saw Naruto's eyes snap open and knew before he spoke what he was going to say.
"Shut up, Naruto!" she thought towards her brother and he closed his mouth abruptly, staring at her. "Can you hear me?"
"Seina-nee?" Naruto asked hesitantly in his thoughts.
"Yes. We're talking with our minds."
"Sugoi! How is that possible?"
"I've been thinking about the connection you told me about."
Seina saw Naruto didn't quite understand what she was telling him, but he nodded when she told him she had simply "opened" her side of the door that connected them and now they could talk mentally. On Naruto's part, his mind was now more than ever an open book. He had no filter and wasn't aware of everything he sent inadvertently. For her part, thanks to her mental barriers, she was able to send exactly what she wanted.
She realized that, although she could establish contact with his Kurama, Naruto needed to have mental barriers so that, when he grew up, he would have his own privacy and wouldn't be flooded by both their feelings or they would end up being one in two bodies, if she got distracted or lost her mental barriers for some reason.
"You could look for him at night, like you do with me, and explain the technique while you're in his own mind."
"Maybe you're right. If I could, it would be easier than making him enter his mind voluntarily with meditation. What will be more difficult is explaining to Naruto about his Kurama and having to explain who I am to your other half."
"Not at all. When the time comes, come to me. I'll give you something and he'll accept it."
"A memory?"
"Exactly. He'll accept it. After all, we're the same entity."
Just when Seina began teaching Naruto Occlumency, things took a turn. Kurama was right to think that the old matrons wouldn't appreciate Yumi's favoritism, if you could call it that. They had hired her thinking she would treat them both badly, like all the others, and they weren't willing to let anyone treat them well.
That day, there was an argument, and the kids were sent to bed early. Naruto and she pressed their ears to the door to eavesdrop, even though she could hear over 20 meters around with the spell she always had active when awake.
"Naruto, listen," she said, speaking to him mentally.
"How can you help those demons!? Didn't you lose your family too!?"
"These kids aren't demons! They're only 5 years old! It wasn't their fault!"
"OF COURSE, IT WAS! BECAUSE OF THEM, I LOST MY SON!"
"I don't know how your son would feel seeing you treat the kids you're supposed to care for like garbage!"
They heard the sound of a slap, then silence. She heard an older person panting with effort and the surprised sound of someone younger. Naruto looked at her horrified, and she took his hand.
"Get out of here and don't come back," the old woman Uruchi hissed.
"No. Only the Hokage can dismiss me," Yumi said firmly. "Until then, I'll treat these kids as they deserve."
"I SAID LEAVE!"
Seina and Naruto listened as there was a struggle between them, furniture colliding, yelling and insulting each other. Seina heard the characteristic sound of a knife sliding on a surface, as if someone had grabbed it hastily, and then the sound of wind and flesh hitting flesh.
"I'm afraid we must intervene," a muted voice interjected, and she knew it was one of the anbu. "As Yumi-san informed you, only Hokage-sama can dismiss the workers of this orphanage. Due to your violent behavior, you will be interrogated and investigated. The orphanage remains under Yumi-san's temporary care and will continue to be monitored by the anbu."
They heard Uruchi being dragged away, screaming and ranting not only against Yumi but also against them, and then there was tense silence. Seina disconnected her brother from her mind to keep listening in silence, but she knew it wouldn't end there. The only person on their side was Yumi, while the other two matrons were as angry as Uruchi but didn't dare to voice their thoughts out loud for fear of the anbu hearing them. Idiots. If she was hearing them, what hadn't the ninjas already heard?
The next day, not only had Uruchi disappeared, but the other matrons, including Yumi, had also been taken for interrogation. Two days later, it was Naruto and her turn to be interrogated. Surprised, she found herself sitting in front of the Hokage next to her brother. She let Naruto answer questions about how they were treated in the orphanage by the matrons, the other children, and even infrequent visitors like the doctor or the food provider.
"I'll be honest with you, children," the Hokage sighed wearily. "The orphanage may not be the best option for you. Yumi-san is only one person and is the exception to the rule. Even if she replaces the other matrons, your situation may not change."
"What can we do then?" she asked, frowning.
Although Sarutobi wasn't trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation, he also wasn't offering a solution. If he, the most powerful person in the village, couldn't fix it, what did that mean for her brother and her?
"You could live in an apartment on your own. My ninjas have told me that you've shown great responsibility and can take care of yourselves. I know it's extraordinary, considering you're only 6 years old, but I'm convinced it's the best for everyone."
"How are we going to pay for food and the apartment?" she asked, ignoring the incredulity of him giving a flat to a couple of 5-year-old children.
"You'll have a monthly allowance from which the rent for the apartment will be automatically deducted. The rest of the money will be yours for food, clothes, and whatever else you may need."
"What about bills?" she asked, seeing that he was simplifying it too much.
The Hokage raised an eyebrow but answered.
"I've made an agreement with a landlord. He has small, old apartments that no one wants to rent due to the new constructions in recent years. I've assured him that the apartment would be rented for at least 5 years or until you graduate from the academy. In return, the water and electricity bills are included in the price of the apartment."
"How much is the allowance? And how much is the rent for the apartment?"
"The allowance is 10,000 ryo per month, of which 4,000 will be deducted for the apartment."
Seina calculated the price of the apartment. Supposedly, a genin received about 5,000 to 50,000 ryo on a D-rank mission, so paying only the apartment every month would cost a couple of missions. However, it was a cheap price considering that they could do 1 or 2 D-rank missions each week when they graduated, and they were two of them to pay rent.
"That sounds good."
Seina finished addressing a few more doubts, such as when they would receive the money, how they would receive it, etc. They left accompanied by a ninja to their new apartment. The building was tall and somewhat rundown, perhaps four floors. They were on the top floor, in the apartment where there was only one other. They entered, and the first thing they saw was a tiny entryway to leave their shoes next to a small built-in closet, followed by a short hallway leading to a medium-sized living room-kitchen. It wasn't extremely large, but enough for the kitchen and living room to be clearly differentiated by space and for a small square table to fit. On the other side of the living room, following the path of the hallway, there was a square room with a couple of single beds, one next to the other, covering an entire wall. The last door of the apartment, in front of the kitchen and next to the bedroom, was a bathroom with a small bathtub and shower, quite modest.
"Yatta!" Naruto shouted upon seeing it and ran in, leaving his slippers lying anywhere.
Seina chuckled and accepted the purse with the money and the key to the apartment from the ninja who had accompanied them. She saw that someone had left their few belongings in the middle of the bedroom, so she called Naruto to put his few clothes in the double closet in the bedroom. She searched the drawers and saw that someone had bought food to last them several weeks, as well as several sets of sheets and blankets. They also bought towels, a bathroom rug, and shower supplies. She checked the money and saw that they had the remaining 6,000 ryo, so she wondered where all that had come from. Still, she shrugged it off and took it as a gift from the Hokage.
"What are we going to eat?" Naruto asked, who normally thought with his stomach.
"How about instant ramen?" she said, not feeling like cooking right away.
While Naruto prepared the instant ramen dish with a kettle plugged into the only visible socket in the kitchen, Seina set about casting various spells in their new apartment. First, she used a modified spell to make the floor amplify their voices rather than silencing them, ensuring that anyone nearby would hear them talking about any nonsense imaginable. Then, she cast spells to close off all the entrances to the apartment and other enchantments to suppress the desire to enter the property with ill intentions, anchored to the windows and door.
She didn't want to overly protect the apartment, as it might raise suspicions if people found it impossible to enter. However, by using the individual intentions of each visitor, those who wished them harm would be unable to enter. Thus, this should allow the Hokage's ninjas to enter without getting hurt or arousing suspicion.
"We should keep the money in a safe place," Seina said to her brother.
"Will it be safe here?" Naruto frowned.
"Leave it to me."
Naruto nodded and handed her the food.
"I'd like to handle the money. We have 6,000 ryo left per month, which means we need to spend only on food and we can save the remaining money."
"How much can food cost?" Naruto asked, totally bewildered.
"I don't know. Tomorrow, we'll go check out stores and see the prices. That way, we'll get an idea."
She also wanted to buy a small chest to store the money. With runes, she could expand its interior, and they could keep everything valuable inside, including the money. She also planned to buy another purse so that both Naruto and she would have individual allowances. She figured that if they spent 3,000 ryo monthly on food, they'd have 3,000 left. They could split what remained among the three of them: 1,000 for each and another 1,000 to save. If she managed things well, she was sure she could save much more, especially since she could clean the clothes and the apartment with a spell, saving on cleaning products, despite having a small washing machine of their own in the apartment.
The next day, they went to the academy as usual and then walked around the village in search of a market near their apartment. She thanked Merlin for having had the great idea of enchanting herself with a weak charm to avoid most people, except those most determined to hate them, as they walked the streets without adult supervision. Even under the charm, she could feel a couple of hateful glares on her back. Luckily, nothing bad happened, and soon they saw their building standing out among the others.
"Look, Naruto. That's our apartment. We need to explore the area."
"Great! Let's start with this street!" exclaimed her twin, and they began walking down the street, "A ramen shop!"
Seina looked at the shop and saw that it was more like a stall with three seats. It seemed like a rectangular space with no room for indoor tables. Fortunately, that meant fewer people watching them if they ever decided to eat there. They saw that there was a small market on the back street with a fruit shop, a butcher shop, a fish shop, and an imported goods store. Also, a little further down the road, there were several clothing stores, a drugstore, a weapons shop, a dojo, and even a veterinary center.
As they passed by, despite having the charm active, she saw some vendors look at them disdainfully and knew that if they sold them anything, it would probably be food about to expire, expired, and/or with inflated prices. She avoided sending them a scornful grimace in response and contented herself with knowing that those people couldn't harm them in any way. She simply had to shop alone and use her magic to change her appearance and influence them to sell her the best they had cheaper.
Luckily, they still had clothes from the orphanage that fit them. It was basic clothing in dark and neutral colors, but as long as it fit, it was fine with her. She knew they would soon have to buy their own kunais for practice, so she planned to stop by the weapon shop to equip their backpacks and Naruto's. Plus, now that she had money, maybe they could hire some extra classes at the dojo to help them improve their taijutsu.
At the academy, as everywhere else, almost all the teachers tried to sabotage them. They gave them outdated materials, punished them at the slightest excuse, making them lose training time outside of school, ignored them when they had doubts, and when other children bullied them, taking away their lunch or stealing their books, the teachers said it was just kids being kids but didn't help them get their things back.
All this happened in the first few months after being enrolled in the academy, when they turned 6 years old. Naruto tried to complain the first few times about such abuse, but he was ignored and punished, much to his colossal anger. Still, his brother, who was beginning to understand that his sister had a series of secret powers that he didn't have, calmed down when Seina told him. After all, for her, it was easy to duplicate a couple of books from clan children with a gemino spell or enchant their lunch boxes so that no one noticed they were there.
When Naruto saw how she behaved, knowing all the tricks in the book to avoid being punished, he began to imitate her, and the teachers had to grit their teeth when they realized they had no reason to punish them. The only problem with all this was the unresolved doubts and learning to fight. Seina had been an auror, but although she had some notions of self-defense, she was by no means an expert like the ninjas. Simply put, for a wizard or witch, that kind of knowledge wasn't necessary. Doubts, on the other hand, could be resolved by Kurama, to her astonishment and amusement. The problem was that Naruto wasn't yet advanced enough in meditation to converse with his own Kurama, so he didn't have anyone to help him like she did.
"I've looked at the prices of food," Seina informed her brother that night. "I think we can eat for less than 3,000 ryo a month. If we split what's left between us and save a bit, we could live without problems."
Naruto gasped with joy. "And we'll each have money!?"
"Yes. We'll buy another purse, and each of us will have money to spend as we please. Still, Naruto, if you run out of money one month, you can't take from the savings, you understand?"
Her brother nodded, swearing he wouldn't, and she believed him. That night, when Naruto was fast asleep, she looked at the bills they had and thought about using her abilities to duplicate the money. After all, it was just paper. She really preferred not to, but everything, and it was no joke, everything in the village exceeded their monthly allowance. For starters, just 5 kunais cost 5,000 ryo if bought in packs; if bought individually, they were 1,500 ryo each. The hospital cost 5,000 ryo for admission, and each cure or remedy used had a price if the person wasn't admitted; at least until they became genin, then they wouldn't have to pay for hospital stays. Not to mention food or clothing.
If a genin did a D-rank mission every week for a month, and assuming they were paid the maximum, at the end of the month, they'd earn a salary of 200,000 ryo. They could afford food and their own accommodation in the cheapest areas of the village. Anyone would think that 200,000 ryo was a lot of money, but when compared to the cost of living in Konoha, things changed. So, even though Naruto thought it was outrageous that they had 6,000 ryo monthly for themselves, it really wasn't much since the cost of living was sky-high.
She could try asking the Hokage if their parents owned any property in their name, but considering they hadn't been given a house already paid for, that would mean either they didn't have one or they weren't planning to give it to them. If their parents had bought an apartment in Konoha, even though it had been destroyed in Kurama's attack, they would still have the deed to the house, and when the village was rebuilt, a new house would be theirs. That was one of the few good things about ninja villages. Perhaps because, if not for that, with the number of times the village could be destroyed in less than 10 years, no one would buy a single house.
In the worst-case scenario, Naruto and she didn't own anything. Until they had something of their own, they would always depend on the Hokage's influence for someone to rent them an apartment. From what she had glimpsed in the real estate agency windows in the neighborhood, a fairly good area very close to the academy, an apartment like the one they were renting cost a little over 1 million ryo. Something they wouldn't have even if they saved their whole lives with the allowance they had been given.
The neighborhoods further away, on the outskirts of the village, cost at most a third of that price according to what she had heard with her spying spells. That was more affordable, especially if they bought a house that needed few repairs or something similar that would lower the price and that they could easily fix with their powers. Still, that would mean doing many missions and/or saving as much as possible, and they were still in the academy, so they could only save a pittance until they graduated.
"What are you thinking, nee-chan?" Naruto asked suddenly, making her jump.
"I'm thinking we need to step up and train on our own. No one's going to help us."
Naruto nodded, looking at the ceiling. "Do you think we'll graduate soon?"
"I don't think so right now. I've looked into the graduation requirements, and they're barely starting to teach us henge."
"Could we practice tomorrow?" Naruto asked, and she nodded.
"Tomorrow."