When the penultimate week of August began, of course, she was sent on a mission she expected to be somewhat long. Shikaku handed her the scroll with the essential documentation, but Seina realized there wasn't much to read.
"Is that all?" she asked, seeing that there was practically nothing to go on.
"That's why it's called an investigation mission," Shikaku said, looking at her over his folder.
"Ha-ha," she laughed sarcastically, exasperated. Shikaku let out a small chuckle. "I'm leaving. I see you're not going to be of much help."
The jonin commander dismissed her with a wave of his hand, not even lifting his head from his paperwork. The mission itself was more interesting than expected. Just as Shikaku had said, it was an investigation mission, so her job was to find out what a supposed jinchuriki from Kirigakure was up to in the Land of Waterfalls. According to Konoha's informants, they suspected the man was a jinchuriki due to rumours they had overheard. Essentially, they knew that someone of high rank had been training him in secret, that some meetings had taken place, and that the master had died violently. How the hell did they know that? She had no idea.
The man she was tracking was an adult who had supposedly set foot in the Land of Fire and caught attention by killing a couple of hunter-nin from Kirigakure. The story of him being a rogue ninja seemed to fit. The jinchuriki part was yet to be seen.
She followed her usual ritual: left the village, hid in a remote location, used one of her hiraishin seals to teleport to the Land of Waterfalls, and then scanned the area from above in search of the rogue ninja with the help of her spell. It was almost boring. Luckily, there seemed to be only one rogue ninja from Kirigakure nearby, so she trusted her spell.
It took her quite a while to reach the indicated location. When she did, she saw no one among the dense vegetation.
"He's close," Kurama assured her. "One of mine."
"Then, is he a jinchuriki?"
"Seems like it."
Seina, somewhat surprised, descended from her summon to the ground. She ended up tracking him the old-fashioned way—footprints and chakra sensing. It wasn't too difficult. The ninja wasn't completely hiding, perhaps because he felt safe so far from home after killing Kiri's hunter-nin, and besides, thanks to Kurama, she could sense the other bijuu. It only took her a few minutes to find him beneath the enormous branches of an oak tree, next to a small waterfall that flowed into a stream.
She perched on a branch of another tree, examining the man who, like her, carried a bijuu inside him. He was tall, slender, with pale, delicate skin, and straight brown hair reaching his ears, covering one of his amber-coloured eyes. He was still wearing part of his Kirigakure uniform, so she deduced he had to be at least a jonin, like her. She had to admit that, in his long black pants and tight black sweater, he was incredibly attractive. If she weren't in love with Kakashi and had a few more years... What!? She was in love, not braindead!
"I want to talk to my brother Saiken."
Seina stifled a sigh. Kurama wasn't going to leave without speaking to the other bijuu, and the man was precisely her mission, so... might as well go all in. She deactivated her bracelet, watching as his hands, which had been carving what seemed to be a wooden flute, slowed their movements. He had clearly sensed her. Though probably not her, specifically.
"Hey."
A knife sliced through the air toward her. Seina caught it just inches from her face. She didn't move from the branch despite the attack. Looking down, she saw the man had stood up, though he didn't seem angry or about to attack again. He looked more cautious, like the rogue ninja he was. Seina raised an eyebrow, tilting her head in perfect exasperation. She threw the knife back, and he caught it mid-air effortlessly.
"We're a bit paranoid, aren't we?"
"It's not paranoia if they're after you," he replied in a silky voice. Even his voice was nice. Damn it. "What's a Konoha ninja doing here?"
"You've made some people very nervous," she said. "I'm here to find out what the hell you want in the Land of Fire, if you don't mind. And because he wants to talk to you."
"He?" he asked, confused, ignoring her first statement. "Who are you talking about?"
"Kurama."
The ninja blinked. First in confusion, then in understanding. They stared at each other intently. Seina jumped down from the tree branch, sitting on the log where he had been seated. Waiting.
"Is that why you revealed yourself?"
"They're brothers," she shrugged. "I'm not going to fight you unless I have to defend myself. My name is Seina, by the way."
She saw his shoulders relax slightly. Then he sighed in exasperation. Yeah, he wasn't the only one exasperated. The rogue ninja from Kiri sat beside her, picking up the flute and knife, resuming his carving as if nothing had happened. For several minutes, he acted as if she wasn't there—or as if her presence didn't bother him. She wasn't sure. He was probably talking to his own bijuu.
"I'm Utakata. So that's how you sensed me," he finally spoke. "I should've figured."
"What are you doing here?"
"Getting as far away from Kirigakure as possible."
"Mhmm… I suppose if I ask whether you're planning anything illegal in the Land of Fire, you won't answer, right?" she sighed. What a mess. What was she going to tell Shikaku?
"I'm not going to do anything illegal in the Land of Fire," the other rolled his eyes. "I just want everyone to leave me alone."
"If I were you, I'd be careful around here."
Utakata stopped carving as soon as he heard her serious warning. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his only visible eye clearly questioning her.
"Another jinchuriki, Fū Sanada, native to Takigakure, disappeared recently. As far as I know, she hasn't been seen since," she said, recalling what had happened in Suna not long ago. "Also, during the Chunin Exams in Sunagakure, someone tried to take Shukaku from Gaara of the Desert right in the middle of the exam. Something is going on, and it doesn't seem good."
"…That's interesting because Isobu, the Three-Tails, is still roaming free near Kirigakure."
Seina didn't need to read his mind to know what he was wondering. If someone wanted a bijuu, why not take one that was free and unprotected? Very curious indeed. Still, she didn't know the answer to his implicit question.
"Saiken wants to talk to Kurama," Utakata suddenly said.
He raised his fist, just as Kurama had taught her to do, and she touched it with hers. Suddenly, they were in a vast chamber. Behind Utakata lay the Six-Tails bijuu. It was enormous, white, and slimy. Literally, a giant slug. It reminded her of Katsuyu. It had a small, dripping mouth and two tiny legs compared to its body. Honestly, the more she looked at it, the more adorable it seemed. Kurama, sensing her thoughts, raised an eyebrow at her.
"Huh. That's the first time someone has thought you were adorable," Kurama said to his brother, blinking.
"I think the same about you," she rolled her eyes. "Do you think if you were smaller, I wouldn't pick you up and hug you?"
She saw the twitch in Kurama's eyelid as the slug laughed stridently, greeting her for the first time. Utakata, meanwhile, looked somewhat shocked. It was clear he didn't have much of a relationship with his bijuu. Seina sat on one of Kurama's paws as he lay down, wrapping his colossal body around her, crossing his paws in front of him. Kurama's eye, right beside her, was as big as she was—perhaps even bigger.
"Just as Seina said, something is moving."
"And we don't know anything else?"
"No. We'll try to find out more, but we already have enough problems of our own," Kurama admitted to Saiken, and almost unintentionally to Utakata.
"Why do you say that?" Utakata asked with a serious expression and a furrowed brow. "Do you have problems in the village?"
"Not the kind you think. This little midget has a lot of dangerous people wanting to turn her into their weapon," Kurama said, giving her a gentle nudge with his head that almost knocked her off her seat, "but not the Hokage."
"That doesn't concern me right now," she interjected before Kurama could bring up the village's internal issues. "Tsunade-sama is my teacher, and I am not exactly defenceless."
Kurama let out a snort of laughter over her head. Utakata raised an eyebrow but didn't dare question the most powerful bijuu further. Saiken, who had been lost in thought for a few minutes, spoke with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Brother… I never imagined you would ever like one of your jinchuriki."
"That's because none of the disgusting humans who contained me before were like her," he rolled his eyes, downplaying the matter. "Besides, I'd rather not make this midget angry."
She knew he said it because of the comforts she had given him, which she could take away with a snap of her fingers. Even so, Saiken and Utakata didn't fully understand. They looked at her with confusion and even more surprise before metaphorically shrugging.
"Isn't it dangerous for you to be alone as a jinchuriki?" Utakata asked. "At least I'm relatively new to this area. You, on the other hand… You could be kidnapped like Fu."
She saw Kurama's lips curl as he let out a deep growl, his pupils contracting in his red eyes. Utakata swallowed hard, keeping his posture firm in front of Saiken. Seina patted Kurama. Whatever happened to her also happened to him, so she understood.
"I won't let that happen."
"We will be careful too," assured the other bijuu.
They talked for a while longer, taking advantage of the fact that time passed much faster in that dimension than in the outside world. When they exited the bubble, only a few minutes had passed in the real world. Seina lowered her arm. Just minutes ago, in this small clearing, she had thrown a knife at his face. Now, she felt like she had known him for a long time.
Utakata briefly explained what had happened in Kirigakure and why he had left. Seina, just like with Gaara, felt compassion for him because his trusted person had betrayed him. However, Utakata didn't want to hurt anyone. Not his village, not Takigakure. He just wanted to take some time alone to recover. And so, her "long" investigative mission lasted approximately two hours. Before leaving, however, Utakata told her one last thing.
"I saw an Iwa team running south just before you arrived. I don't know if it'll be of much use to you, but they seemed rather angry."
She left Utakata there, pondering his words. South of the Land of Waterfalls was the Land of Fire. There was no intermediate country where they could stop. But that didn't necessarily mean they were heading directly to the Land of Fire. She decided to take a look from the sky. What did she have to lose? She had completed her mission days ahead of schedule, so she could waste time however she wanted.
She flew over the area in search of the Iwa team. Finding nothing nearby, she had to move further south, just as Utakata had said. She stopped for a few minutes to eat, noticing it was already midday, and then continued. Just when she was reconsidering her plan—thinking that maybe the Iwa team had already left and that she was wasting her time—she began to hear what sounded like explosions in the distance.
Intrigued, she changed direction, noticing the sounds were coming more from the east than the south, and flew toward them. She used her locator spell to confirm that it was the team she was looking for. The closer she got, the more explosions she heard. Some small, others much larger. What the hell were they doing? She heard someone howl in pain. It sounded like they were attacking another team of ninjas. She increased her speed. From the sky, she realized she was right. It wasn't just one Iwa team but two, and they were chasing an unknown team.
She had a bad feeling when she saw the opposing team use a fire jutsu. She observed that one of the Iwa ninjas was dead while one of the other team's ninjas—potentially from Konoha—was badly injured. Even from the air, she could smell his blood despite their attempts to throw off pursuers and hide their chakra. She couldn't clearly see the ninjas through the trees, so she continued following them until, unfortunately for the outnumbered team, they stumbled into an open area with low vegetation, leaving them completely exposed.
At that moment, Seina saw that it was indeed a Konoha team. It seemed to be a team of three chunin and one jonin, while the Iwa teams likely had at least four jonin and probably another four chunin. They were outnumbered and outranked. One of the Konoha chunin had even lost an arm. She had seen injuries like that before from explosive traps, so she knew exactly what had happened just by looking from afar.
"Where do you think you're going now, huh, Konoha team?" one of the Iwa ninjas sneered maliciously. "You can't hide."
The young Konoha jonin, whom she didn't recognize, stepped in front of his team. One of the chunin had just finished making an improvised tourniquet on their wounded comrade's amputated limb, while the remaining chunin stood beside the Konoha jonin, kunai in hand. The jonin didn't beg for mercy. Everyone knew there was only one way out now that they had attacked and injured each other. Had the fight taken place in the Land of Fire, this battle could have sparked a war between the two nations. But since they were in the Land of Waterfalls—a neutral territory—Iwa could attack more freely without consequences.
Seeing that if she did nothing, the Iwa ninjas would try to kill the Konoha team, she knew what she had to do. She used her magic to ensure her surprise attack went unnoticed. She channelled her power through the horned dragon and let it unleash a torrent of fire on the Iwa team. They were so caught off guard that two of them were burned alive while the rest desperately tried to extinguish the magical flames—to no avail. The agonized screams of the dying ninjas distracted another, who collapsed, a kunai lodged in his neck, unable to dodge it, unable to see it amidst the flames.
"Regroup!" an Iwa ninja shouted. "Let's finish off this scum!"
They jumped back, abandoning their dying comrades. Now they scanned the sky and the Konoha team, splitting into two groups to avoid another surprise attack. They couldn't see her due to her spells, but they knew she was there so she leaped off the dragon, letting it circle the clearing, and landed on a branch, using all her skills to remain undetected.
One of the enemies, a pale man with blond hair and blue eyes, grew impatient.
"Wait, Deidara!" one of them shouted. "Didn't you hear the leader, you idiot?!"
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue. "Are we going to keep waiting here like cowards?"
"He's right," another said. "We can't let them go now. We attacked first."
The Konoha team, who had been waiting to see who had defended them, had taken the opportunity to flee. The Iwa ninjas, who had only stopped for a minute to discuss and protect themselves from the attack, set off after them. They hadn't gotten far—unfortunately for them—so they were quickly caught. Seina avoided rolling her eyes, realizing they would need to be rescued once again.
Seina watched him closely. When she saw him start to form the detonation seal, she understood. She used hiraishin to disappear. The clones protected the others, but all of them were destroyed except one. The explosion was strong and raised a cloud of smoke that the enemies took advantage of to attack them. Seina and the Konoha jōnin managed to escape using the body replacement technique. It was clear that the blond was much stronger than the others.
She dodged all the attacks, noticing the differences in their taijutsu styles with some curiosity. The Konoha jōnin managed to take down another opponent, slightly balancing the fight, but one of the chunin was stabbed in the back while once again trying to rescue his armless comrade. With a stomp on the ground, she released the stored chakra, creating a small earthquake that forced everyone to separate to avoid being swallowed by the fractured earth.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
The five clones she created, visible due to not being covered by her bracelet's power, spread out. A couple of them went to assist the injured chunin, while the others positioned themselves by her side.
"She's just a girl! We can take them!"
"Idiot. Don't you see her uniform?" said the one who seemed to be the leader. "She's still a Konoha jōnin."
"I'm tired of all this talking," the blond, Deidara, growled.
She used the enemy's distraction to reactivate her bracelet. She watched as they tried to find her, unsuccessfully.
"Ha! Even your comrade has realized it's impossible to help you. Smart, though quite cowardly."
"Shut up, idiot."
"That one hasn't left, hn," Deidara grinned, showing all his teeth. "She's just hunting us."
"You three handle them, we'll take care of the girl. Don't let them escape again," ordered the leader.
"Now would be a good time to prove why you're an S-rank ninja, Deidara," another muttered threateningly. "We wouldn't want to have to tell Ōnoki-sama that you're useless, right?"
Well, well… She watched with some amusement as they threw metaphorical daggers at each other. It was obvious that all of them harboured resentment toward the blond. The reason, she didn't know, but she could imagine it had something to do with their Kage, Ōnoki. Did he perhaps favour Deidara in some way? That ninja seemed to be practically salivating at the thought of making him look bad in front of Ōnoki. As expected, Deidara clenched his jaw to avoid rebelling against his superior in the middle of a fight.
Luckily, her remaining clone had hidden the injured Konoha shinobi with a chakra barrier. It would take a while to find them, but at least they were safe for now. That meant that, right now, only the unknown jōnin and she were present, fighting against six people. Fortunately, being invisible at least guaranteed she could kill one of them before they realized it. Between her bracelet and the kunai she had placed throughout the forest, she hoped to take down more than one. It wasn't a method she used often, but she didn't want to rely too much on her powers just in case.
She lunged at one of them, using her sword to slice off a ninja's head. Her attack reignited the fight. She used Hiraishin to move around them, wounding them wherever she could, and then vanished, causing frustration and irritation among her enemies. She noticed that the Konoha jōnin, struggling against three others, was in trouble, so she launched a water cannon that caught one of the chunin off guard. Her comrade quickly seized the moment, using a Raiton jutsu to electrocute him.
Seina intercepted an explosive fist from an enemy that was about to hit the jōnin's torso and deflected it effortlessly before disappearing.
"Katsu!"
The explosion caught her off guard. Her spy spell had backfired. She had to retreat to recover from the tinnitus caused by the blast. The jōnin, fortunately, also managed to jump back in time, but he couldn't avoid the flames licking his skin for a few seconds. The smell of burned flesh followed her. Then, one of the Konoha chunin, recovered from the stab wound, used a fire jutsu.
She took the opportunity to cast a sound-based genjutsu at the same time Deidara created a flying sculpture and took to the sky for a better vantage point. The others fell under her genjutsu, collapsing, while Deidara managed to escape it by sheer luck.
"I know you're there, girl, hn. Come out."
Seina deactivated her bracelet, stepping down from a branch to reveal herself. Her enemy's blue eyes locked onto her instantly. He glanced at his comrades on the ground, convulsing, then back at her.
"Can you handle him, Seina-san?" the jōnin asked, limping slightly as he moved to her side.
"Yes. Take care of the others and your team, I'll handle this one."
"Oh? So you think you can take me on, huh?" Deidara grinned. "I've been waiting for a good opponent for so long to kill my boredom. No one understands what the art of explosions really is."
"Is that what you do? Blow things up?"
"They're not just explosions. Those fools don't get it," he sneered in disgust, glancing at his now-executed comrades, killed by the Konoha jōnin. "They got what they deserved. They thought they could drag me down into mediocrity with them, but look. Dead, while I, using a so-called kinjutsu, am still alive. Who's laughing now, huh?"
Seina studied her opponent. This was the first time in the entire fight that she had seen any of them use something other than explosions or earth jutsus. What had he made that bird out of? The only thing she had seen was him putting his hands into the pouches on his hips. Just like he was doing now.
"Art is an explosion!"
He threw several white objects to the ground, which Seina and the others watched in surprise. The moment she saw him bring his hands to his chest to form a detonation seal, she grabbed the others, used hiraishin, and teleported them away from the blast. A series of powerful explosions erupted, raising a cloud of grey smoke. She reappeared behind him in the air. Deidara managed to duck just in time to dodge her chakra-infused punch, his eyes wide with shock. She was so close that she felt his hair brush against her face. They began exchanging blows, him using explosive jutsus alongside taijutsu, and her vanishing before he could land a hit.
"Ugh! You're so damn irritating!" he shouted, frustrated.
The bird beneath his feet exploded, sending him down to the ground. Seina was waiting for him. She watched as debris from the explosion—clay, from what she could see—fell around them, and how Deidara realized she was ready for him. He threw more mini bombs, but when she sensed him molding earth chakra, she immediately knew his weakness. Lightning.
"Fulmens."
Lightning shot from her hand, striking all the bombs, which fell to the ground deactivated, to Deidara's horror and rage. She smirked maliciously.
"Now, I know everything I need to know about you."