The fight with Deidara was intense. He was skilled in taijutsu, had lightning-fast reflexes, and was capable of molding explosive clay that grew larger and more powerful. Fortunately, Seina was also fast thanks to the hiraishin.
"Aaaah!" Deidara howled when Seina managed to amputate one of his arms with her wakizashi, using the hiraishin to appear behind him at the seal she had placed on his ninja vest.
With his other hand, he threw a small figure that grew bigger and bigger until it exploded. Everything happened so fast that she heard the ringing in her ears again from the blast, despite having jumped far away. She checked herself, relieved that she was unharmed—until she saw a tiny white spider on her shoulder. Instinct drove her to release a burst of chakra before it could detonate just centimetres from her neck. Even so, the flames licked her right cheek. She felt her body regenerate quickly. It was the first time she had been wounded in such a way. Somewhat surprised, she realized she had the same healing factor as Naruto.
Deidara watched in disgust as the wound on her face healed before his eyes. Seina raised a hand, using medical chakra to heal her ruptured eardrum, which was bleeding from her ear. He was pale but had managed to apply a tourniquet with some bandages. Fully healed, Seina used the mist jutsu to hide.
"You're lucky," he hissed, hiding within the fog. "If you had faced me in a few months, I would have truly shown you what my explosive clay means."
Seina, tracking him with her aura spell, said nothing. She didn't feel like fighting this clown anymore, so she tried again to use genjutsu mixed with her magic. Luckily for her—whether it was her magic or his susceptibility to mental manipulation—Deidara immediately fell into her illusion. Seina stifled a relieved sigh and cast the killing curse. The mist glowed green, like a flash of light, and then dissipated.
Deidara lay on the ground, eyes wide open and lifeless. One of his hands was inside his clay-filled pouch, while in the other, she could see a tiny bird emerging from the mouth on his palm. He hadn't had time to escape into the sky again. He had barely missed avoiding death by a few seconds. A part of her was exasperated by the anticlimactic ending, but she couldn't let him live after he had proven himself an enemy and was willing to kill her.
"Are you okay?" the jonin asked, finishing bandaging himself.
"Yeah. Were you heading to Konoha?"
"That's right. We completed our mission when we ran into them. I'll go collect the other bodies."
"Great. Let's get out of here."
She picked up the corpses from the ground and sealed them inside a scroll. She didn't want to risk them exploding, so she didn't take any chances. She placed the scroll in her pouch, grabbed the others by the arms, and used the hiraishin without warning. The wounded one's injuries looked bad. The jonin and the conscious chunin blinked in astonishment as they found themselves near the entrance gate.
They parted ways at the checkpoint. Seina went straight to Shikaku. The moment he saw her—with a burnt lock of hair, clothes covered in ashes, and a severe expression—he had to suppress a weary sigh.
"What happened now?"
"I ran into a ninja from Kiri. His name is Utakata, and he's the jinchuriki of the Six-Tails. He said he killed his master when he tried to assassinate him and that he fled Kiri to avoid being a weapon for the new Mizukage."
"He told you this himself?"
"Yes. Obviously, he wants nothing to do with anyone while he recovers and lives his life traveling."
"I see. And what happened to you?"
"Utakata warned me about an Iwa team heading south, so I went to check it out. Good thing I did because it was an Iwa squad chasing a Konoha team."
"A jonin and three chunin?" Shikaku straightened at the mention. "What happened?"
"They're in the hospital. One has an amputated arm, the others have severe burns. We killed them all."
"Where did all of this happen?"
"In the Land of Waterfalls."
Shikaku exhaled upon hearing that. Perhaps more relieved than if it had happened in the Land of Fire.
"I brought four of the bodies. The other jonin collected the other four. One of them claimed to have stolen a forbidden jutsu from Iwagakure," she said, handing over the scroll with the corpses. "Be careful with the blonde one. His clay is explosive."
"Interesting. Thank you."
She recounted everything that had happened from the moment she arrived, in meticulous detail. Even so, it was obvious that they would need to speak with the other jonin, as she didn't know what had transpired before her arrival.
"I'll discuss this with Tsunade-sama. Be ready for a possible summons this evening or tomorrow. You may go."
By the time she got home, it was already dusk. Just when she didn't want to run into anyone before taking a bath, washing the ash and explosive residue from her clothes and hair, she found her entire team in the living room playing cards.
"Seina?" Kakashi was the first to notice her. "Are you okay?"
She sat in an empty armchair, facing Sasuke. The others looked at her with some surprise.
"I thought you'd be gone for more days," Sasuke said.
"So did I, but my mission was really easy," she replied. She briefly explained her encounter with Utakata. "The problem came afterward. A couple of Iwa teams were attacking one of ours, so I had to intervene."
"Is that why you have one strand shorter than the others?" Naruto smirked. Kakashi, meanwhile, didn't seem amused.
"Yeah. An explosive… clay bird blew up near my face. Luckily, it wasn't too bad. Just a ruptured eardrum and a few burns, which I healed immediately."
She would fix the burnt strands with a spell later.
"What did you do with the bodies? You collected or disposed of them, right?"
"Of course. I took half, the other jonin took the other half."
The last thing she wanted was to leave any of them alive. Besides, she had followed protocol and ensured the bodies she collected were truly dead. The other jonin, being more experienced, surely did the same. In fact, he had been the one to suggest retrieving the other corpses before she even had to say it.
Once he stopped questioning her, feeling more reassured that nothing serious had happened, they invited her to play with them. Seina declined. She wanted that bath, to fix her hair, and properly clean her clothes. Strangely, the Hokage didn't summon her that evening. Nor on Tuesday or Wednesday.
"She probably got enough information from the other jonin's report," Kakashi said, shrugging. "The issue didn't escalate further, so that's one less thing to worry about. By the way, what's the other jonin's name?"
"No idea."
Kakashi snorted at her clueless expression.
"Doesn't matter. I'll find out sooner or later."
It wasn't until Friday that she was called to the Hokage's office. The serious expression on her teacher's face, along with Shikaku and Commander Ryu, immediately told her something was wrong.
"What's going on?"
"Bad news. One of the bodies wasn't real."
"What?" she asked, stunned.
"One of the corpses wasn't a corpse—it was an earth clone."
"How is this possible? I personally checked the bodies we collected—they were dead and human, as the protocol dictates."
"It was one of the ones Mokume retrieved," Shikaku sighed. "It wasn't his fault. He intended to check, but the clone had a genjutsu on it to mislead him."
Seina's stomach dropped. One of the ninjas who had attacked Konoha's team had escaped. It didn't take a genius to figure out he had returned to Iwagakure and that, most likely, the Tsuchikage was now aware of everything. They had taken the body of an Iwa ninja who supposedly contained forbidden kinjutsu from his village.
"What happens now?"
"For now, nothing. To begin with, despite the fact that they attacked us in a neutral territory, so to speak, we have evidence that they struck first," said the Hokage, looking exhausted. "Besides, demanding the return of their corpses would be an admission that there was a battle between the two teams, and as I said, we have proof that they initiated the fight."
"That is, of course, if they want to take a diplomatic route."
"And if they don't?"
"..."
"…We'll discuss that later," the Hokage sighed.
"Why don't we return Deidara's body intact?" Seina asked. "We can study it without opening it and then return it to them as an act of goodwill."
"Do you think handing over the bodies of their dead men would do any good?"
"No, not all of the bodies," she clarified. "Just the one containing Iwagakure's forbidden kinjutsu."
Shikaku and the Hokage exchanged thoughtful glances. Commander Ryu, silent as ever, said nothing. Not even the realization that he was still a woman lifted his mood.
"Handing over the body with the kinjutsu, and only that one, would be a subliminal message from us," Shikaku admitted. "If we return it intact, we would be telling them we don't want conflict and consider the matter settled—the lives of five Konoha ninjas in exchange for Iwagakure's kinjutsu, untouched."
"Good thing we haven't opened it yet, considering it's full of explosives," the Hokage muttered. "I like this solution. Shizune, call the council so we can inform them of this. Seina, you may go. I just wanted to let you know that, until further notice, your missions will be within the Land of Fire while this conflict… sorts itself out."
She left the office, filled with worry. She knew all too well how little it took for ninja nations to call for war, and she sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that. All this because one jonin didn't check a corpse properly. She knew it wasn't her fault. The other jonin was her senior, and she wasn't even supposed to be there to save them. Even so… she didn't want to be part of the spark that ignited another war.
When she got home, she was grateful no one was there. They were probably training or off doing who knew what. She went to her room, stomach churning from nerves, worry, and that stupid feeling of guilt she just couldn't shake. She took a long bath, meditating deeply, trying to momentarily forget the monumental mess she had accidentally stepped into.
Naruto and Sasuke returned home, making a huge ruckus. Shortly after, Kakashi entered through the door, likely ignoring them completely, judging by what she heard. The familiar scene pulled a faint smile from her, still soaking in the tub. She knew she couldn't stay in there forever, hiding like a coward, so she got out. Dressing slowly, she descended the stairs.
Curiously, Naruto was the first to notice something was wrong.
"Seina-nee? What happened?" he asked with concern, touching her shoulder.
"One of the bodies… was fake."
"What bodies are you talking about?"
She saw Kakashi, who had been filling a glass, slowly set it down on the marble counter.
"The bodies of the Iwa ninjas. The other Konoha jonin, Mokure, fell into a genjutsu and took one of the corpses, thinking it was a dead man, but it was an earth clone."
"..."
"And what did Tsunade-sama say?" Kakashi asked, his face unreadable.
"She says we have proof that they started the attack and hopes it can be resolved diplomatically. They might send back one of their bodies that has Iwagakure's forbidden kinjutsu to settle the matter."
"Hm. That's a good idea. If the Tsuchikage really doesn't want war, his best move is to accept this offering and put an end to it," her teacher mused aloud.
"That's what they're discussing today in the council meeting."
"Ugh," Naruto groaned just hearing it.
No one in this house liked the council, for obvious reasons, but it was clear that now, more people needed to be involved in what had happened. Honestly, she almost didn't want to know what was being discussed in that emergency meeting. A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts. It was Kakashi, looking at her with a sympathetic expression.
"You don't have to blame yourself for this, okay?"
"I know," she frowned.
"Are you sure?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Technically, yes. But if I had just gone to check myself, we wouldn't be in this situation."
"Mokure has been a jonin for seven years. Besides, if you can't trust your own comrades, who can you trust? Do you intend to double-check everything for the rest of your life?"
"…No," she sighed, feeling a bit more at ease and less guilty.
"He fell into a genjutsu and made a mistake. It happens. You did your part, and you did it well. You saved all their lives. I'm proud of you."
Sasuke and Naruto, who had been silently reflecting, nodded in unconditional agreement with their teacher. Faced with Kakashi's sincere words, she had no choice but to accept that she wasn't to blame for what had happened. That didn't mean she wasn't worried about what might come next.
The next day, after the emergency meeting, Seina learned they planned to send Deidara's body to the Tsuchikage along with a diplomatic letter. They sent the urgent letter first and preserved the body so it could be analysed and verified as intact. Of course, they had taken blood samples, skin samples, examined it with X-ray goggles, taken a sample of his clay, photographed it, etc., etc.
On the last Tuesday of August, they received a response from the Tsuchikage. Seina found out when she was summoned to her master's office to receive the good news.
"It looks like Oonoki was less angry than expected, or maybe we surprised him with our offer. The fact is, he accepted the exchange: the body of Deidara Teruya in return for the lives of the five Konoha ninjas and the Fire Country's decision not to take any retaliatory measures," sighed the Hokage with clear relief. "It seems that the kinjutsu Deidara stole must be of great interest to him because he didn't even hesitate."
"Deidara seemed like he hated his village," she shrugged. "From the way he spoke, I don't think they knew he had stolen the kinjutsu."
"Maybe he was about to betray Iwa," Shikaku speculated. "No wonder they're so interested in his body. Who knows what else he might have stolen that we don't even know about, things that Oonoki wants back…"
"Well, in any case, we'll keep our distance from their borders for a while. Between this diplomatic gesture and our retreat, we hope the issue will cool down on its own."
A team of ninjas, all jonin who were actually ANBU, travelled to the Land of Waterfalls with Deidara's body. From what Seina heard—or rather, didn't hear—there were no complications. The body was simply handed over after it was identified on-site as Deidara, and then both sides went their separate ways.
"In the end, it wasn't such a big deal," Kakashi said that same night when she told him the outcome of the incident. "Though it could have ended much worse."
Naruto and Sasuke, away on a B-rank mission, weren't there to comfort her or to see how Kakashi pulled her into an embrace to reassure her. They sat on the couch without speaking. Maybe he sensed she didn't want to keep talking about it? Whatever the reason, he just held her and ran his fingers through her hair as she tried to escape the situation for a while, pressing her face against his perfectly toned chest.
She didn't know why, but even though she was perfectly capable of protecting herself, being in his arms felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Like… like she was untouchable. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. She couldn't help but fall asleep after the stress of the past few days.
Wednesday and Thursday, however, passed uneventfully. She kept training, went to the hospital to work, regenerated the amputated arm of that chunin from the other day, continued working on her novel project for Kakashi's birthday… She had almost forgotten about the complicated situation with Iwagakure, given that she hadn't been called back to the office. How wrong she was.
"We have news," the Hokage told her on Friday.
She looked more exhausted than usual, as if she hadn't been sleeping well for days. When Seina saw Kakashi walk in through the door, she knew something was wrong. Her master handed her a small black book, thick with pages. She heard Kakashi's sharp intake of breath when they both realized what it was. It was a Bingo Book. From Iwagakure.
"Our spies and informants sent us this. It's an updated version of the book. From six days ago."
Kakashi placed an arm around her shoulders as she started flipping through the pages. He knew exactly what was coming. She found her entry within seconds. Two photographs of her stared back. One was a full-body image where she wore a black uniform from head to toe—she recognized it from the jonin promotion exams. The other was a closer shot of her face; she didn't know where it had been taken, but she was wearing her green Konoha vest, so she assumed it was from sometime after she had become a Tokubetsu Jonin.
Her expression in both images was serious. She wasn't smiling, nor, obviously, looking at the hidden camera. She was gazing into the distance with a blank expression and calculating eyes. They had noted down her name and surname, probably taken from the jonin promotion exams, along with her height, weight, age, a physical description, her jonin rank, and—inside parentheses—a differentiation note labelling her as A+ rank or S-. That surprised her.
"They've gathered quite a bit of accurate information," Kakashi muttered with some admiration. "You can't say they're incompetent."
Seina read the last sections. The abilities section was a compilation of what she had shown during the jonin promotion exams and in the fight the other day. On a scale of five, she was rated 4 in genjutsu, 5 in ninjutsu—with an explanatory note adding that she could use water, earth, lightning, and fire elements, as well as teleportation techniques—5 in medical ninjutsu, 3.5 in kenjutsu, 4 in intelligence, 4 in taijutsu, 5 in strength, 4 in endurance, and 4 in speed…
"Just from watching the jonin exams and a single fight, they figured out all this?" she asked, shaking her head.
"A lot can be deduced by observing someone. Also, rest assured, they have their own informants in Konoha, just as we have ours in Iwa. They've probably gathered information on your chunin exam fight as well."
Seina sighed. Could she do anything without being watched? She read the final note, which mentioned that she was the apprentice of Kakashi Hatake and Tsunade Senju. There were brief sentences about how she had become a chunin at 11 and a jonin at 12, how she seemed skilled in infiltration, how she could summon Katsuyu, and so on. Damn it.
"There's no mention of me being a jinchuriki," she commented aloud, realizing the most important detail.
"We're fairly certain they believe Naruto is Kurama's jinchuriki," Shikaku said with a serious expression. "The fact that he used its chakra in the chunin exams last year confirmed it."
"I see. So, by process of elimination, they don't suspect that I am one too."
"Exactly. I doubt they ever considered the possibility that Minato split the bijuu according to its yin and yang nature. The fact that you haven't publicly used your jinchuriki abilities is an advantage right now."
"That's the last thing her file needs," Tsunade massaged her temples. "And to think they don't even know she has a new kekkei genkai, and they've already labelled her an S-rank ninja."
"It must be because of the ninja she killed. Apparently, he was also his Kage's apprentice," Shikaku explained, "and a genius with explosives. That, combined with Seina's rapid military progression, was enough to earn her an S-rank classification. Besides, it's always better to err on the side of caution in these cases—to avoid any unpleasant surprises."
She glanced at the final warning note stating that in case of contact with her, they should flee or send more than one squad to attack.
"Well," Kakashi sighed, still keeping his reassuring arm around her shoulders. "The day I feared has finally arrived. I'm not surprised."
"Seriously, Kakashi?" the Hokage reprimanded, rolling her eyes.
"It was obvious, wasn't it? With her rapid ascent, she's piqued the curiosity of a lot of people, and Shikaku-sama has been sending her on all sorts of missions across the continent, where Iwa surely had informants. Seina managed to stay under the radar until now by leaving no survivors wherever she went, but it was only a matter of time before this happened."
"The problem is that now she's in the Bingo Book," Tsunade snapped, slamming her fist on the desk. "All because she saved another team from an unlawful attack by Iwa in neutral territory."
"And? What can we do? Nothing," Kakashi shrugged. "Seina can take care of herself now—that's why she's ranked the way she is in the Bingo Book."
"… Kakashi is right," Shikaku admitted. "This was bound to happen sooner or later. Itachi was in the Bingo Book at 13. This isn't the first case we've had like this."
"What do you think, Seina?" her master asked directly.
"Kakashi and Shikaku are right. The only thing I can do is continue with my life and defend myself if necessary. That's it. Besides, I'd rather be listed in the Bingo Book than have the conflict escalate and affect the entire village."
"… I suppose you're right. It's the lesser evil, seen that way," the Hokage admitted.
August ended with the discovery of her face in the Bingo Book. Luckily, just as she had told her master, the village had not been affected by the conflict, nor had a war broken out between the two countries. She supposed that what had happened wasn't enough to impact either village, and right now, neither of them had the need to start a war over some bullshit excuse.
Still, Seina couldn't believe what had happened. All because of a simple genjutsu. If she had gone to check it out herself, she would have noticed, hunted him down, killed him, and avoided this whole mess. She swore that next time, she would be more cautious. But at this point, what could possibly screw her over more than ending up in the Bingo Book?