In the following days, now mid-August, Nekobaa questioned Itachi and Sasuke about what had really happened with the Uchiha clan.
"I don't suppose you expect me to believe the official story, do you? Otherwise, how are you two even together without fighting?"
"Hn. You're right, Nekobaa."
The Uchiha brothers stayed alone with Nekobaa while they told her the truth. Meanwhile, Naruto, Seina, and Kisame explored the building. The black cat she had seen the day before followed them from the shadows with a displeased look. It was clear he didn't want them around, bothering his territory. Kurama, who hadn't gone outside since they'd left Uzushiogakure, hissed when he saw the cat trying to assert dominance. He stirred inside her, partially transforming to glare at the feline with his blood-red eyes. The cat fled in terror, fur bristling and pupils shrunken.
"Damn cats."
That afternoon, Tamaki approached them, clearly curious but intimidated by the massive Kisame sitting with them.
"Have you known Sasuke for a long time?"
"Since the Academy. Plus, we've been teammates since we were eleven, so yeah."
"Wow. It's been so long since I saw him, I was wondering what happened to him."
"Do you live here alone with Nekobaa?" Naruto asked, noticing her shyness.
"And with the ninken. My plan is to move to Konoha once Nekobaa passes away," she explained with a sigh. "I don't want to risk my life running the weapons business, but I also don't want to leave my grandmother alone, and she refuses to leave this place."
Seina couldn't imagine what it must be like to feel tied to a place you didn't like just so you wouldn't leave your grandmother alone. Would she put her life on hold just because Nekobaa was too stubborn to see that Tamaki had no real company in the city aside from the cats? Clearly not. She felt sympathy for her, though she didn't say it out loud. Tamaki probably pitied herself enough when Nekobaa wasn't looking.
Sasuke and Itachi showed up a while later with Nekobaa and the ninken they'd seen when they arrived, Denka and Hina. They showed them some hidden corners of the building only they knew, and then they headed into the city to look around.
"Ugh. What's that smell?" Naruto finally said as they approached a neighborhood where the stench was much stronger.
"Better not ask, Naruto," warned Itachi. He gestured with his head. "They sell all kinds of poisons around here. Also antidotes, for a price."
"Huh. Is this where Sasori gets his stuff?"
"No. He makes his own poisons and antidotes, as far as I know."
"Sasori was one of your old teammates, right?" Sasuke asked, curious.
"Yes. A rogue from Suna, a puppet master," Itachi answered succinctly.
Seina kept glancing at the citizens of Sora-ku. Most were shady types, even the food vendors, and yet they didn't all seem like bad people. She wondered what made them live in a city in the middle of the desert, crumbling and filthy, enduring such nauseating smells. Since she'd gained partial transformation and started sharing Kurama's nose, bad odours had become a damn nightmare.
"They're probably used to the rot," Kurama commented from inside her. "It reeks of shit, piss, and decomposing human flesh here."
"You think they store or dispose of corpses somewhere in this city?"
"Not just that. See that stall over there? The one selling meat skewers?"
Seina glanced at the stall. Nothing looked off, but Kurama let out a low, malicious laugh.
"That's human meat."
She was slightly surprised to hear it. She didn't ask Kurama how he knew, it was obvious. Even so, Kurama seemed a little puzzled that she hadn't freaked out. She felt him probing her thoughts, realizing she was actually wondering what human meat might taste like. She had no intention of trying it, for several reasons. For one, she didn't know how it had been prepared, given the city's lack of hygiene. Besides, she'd prefer to prepare the meat herself but that would mean killing someone, and she wasn't about to eat her enemies. She shuddered at the thought of eating Umbridge or Voldemort; she'd probably get salmonella. That meant she'd have to kill an innocent person, and she wasn't going to do that just to try human flesh. So, it wasn't an option.
"Every time I think you can't surprise me more, you surprise me. I like it. Human meat is a bit like pork. If you wanted to try it your way, you'd have to steal a pretty fresh corpse from some random person."
"I don't feel an overwhelming need to try human meat, but I'll keep it in mind."
"Best not to mention that meat to Naruto and Sasuke unless they're thinking of grabbing a bite there. The last thing you want is for them to cause a scene."
"That's more Naruto's style than Sasuke's."
They returned to Nekobaa's warehouse a few hours later. The following days, as expected, were spent training. The space was much smaller than in Uzushiogakure, so they stuck to more discreet techniques instead of things like the susanoo or Kurama's release.
Sasuke kept modifying the chidori, while Naruto had the brilliant idea of creating an even bigger rasengan. Men... Seina continued her kenjutsu practice with Kisame, enduring his gruelling training without complaint.
"You think the dobe'll pull it off?"
"His double rasengan? Probably. Though I'm not sure combining two small rasengans is the way to go."
"I can hear you!" Naruto shouted, drenched in sweat after multiple failed attempts to create the odama rasengan.
"You should focus more chakra into a single rasengan," Itachi advised, his mangekyo sharingan active. "It'll only work if you maintain chakra balance."
"I'd love to see what happens if you use Kurama's chakra to make a rasengan," Seina said.
Naruto's eyes sparkled at the thought, but Itachi quickly discouraged him from trying it inside Nekobaa's warehouse, especially since first attempts were usually destructive. Seina herself used Kurama's chakra for many things: to make her chains more aggressive, to power her summons, and even to enhance some ninjutsu with different effects. Still, seeing her brothers modify a single technique was making her curious. Seina didn't have a favourite jutsu, she used whatever ninjutsu suited the situation. The only one she'd modified using Kurama's chakra was the water cannon jutsu, since it was the first nature-type ninjutsu she'd learned.
"When we leave here for somewhere more isolated, I want to practice bijuudama with you. We should try combining your chains with my jutsu. I don't know what would happen, but it'll be spectacular."
"You think we could use the bijuudama theory to shield ourselves with my chains?"
"Anything's possible with practice. Maybe we should train facing the ocean, to avoid collateral damage."
"Then we'd have to go back to Uzushiogakure," she groaned.
They spent a few more days in the cat-filled warehouse until September arrived. Jiraiya returned using the portkey they had given him and began helping Naruto with his many rasengan modifications.
"Heard anything interesting?" Naruto asked one night.
"The only thing I know is they're hunting the jinchuriki of the Six Tails."
"Utakata."
"That's the one. Luckily for him, he's still evading them, but I don't know how much longer he can keep it up," Jiraiya frowned.
Seina remembered Utakata. He was a jonin from Kiri, a jinchuriki, and had been warned about Akatsuki. She just hoped he would survive or make it back to Kiri, where he'd be more protected. After hearing what he had to say, Seina withdrew. She wasn't as furious as she had been weeks ago, but Jiraiya had lost much of her trust. Unfortunately, Jiraiya followed her into the warehouse until they were alone, or so he thought, in a run-down room.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"I suppose. What do you want?"
"I just wanted to tell you and Kurama that I'm truly sorry. I've talked at length about everything that happened with the sages from Mount Myoboku, and I've realized I was pretty stupid. I'm not expecting you, or him, to forgive me right away, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry and that I'll try to earn your trust again."
He looked at her serious face and slightly tired appearance. She realized right away that he didn't seem ready to argue or fight with her. It looked like he had finally understood something she had tried to tell him many times before: that Kurama wasn't an object but a being with feelings, despite his destructive power. She didn't know what the toads from Mount Myoboku had told him, but it had worked. She still didn't fully trust him, but she accepted his apology and hoped he would make things right.
"…Alright," she said finally.
"Thank you."
Jiraiya didn't smile, he just nodded and left. With that alone, Seina felt a little less angry. She would give the pervert another chance now that he seemed to understand why she had been so furious and outraged at him. Itachi appeared, deactivating his genjutsu, leaning against a wall as if he hadn't been eavesdropping from the start.
"Looks like Jiraiya-sama finally pulled that stick out of his ass, as you like to say."
Seina snorted a laugh. "Let's hope so."
Kakashi's birthday was approaching, it would be September 15th. He would be turning 28. She wished fervently she could be there with him, but it was impossible. She didn't even know how he was doing since she hadn't heard from him in a few weeks. She just hoped he was okay. Of course, Seina hadn't stopped writing to him every Sunday. Now she had even more to write about with her temporary move to Sora-ku, but everyone knew it wouldn't last long. Jiraiya was the one who least stepped into the city, preferring to sleep in Naruto's borrowed tent. She wondered why Tsunade-sama hadn't given him one of those tents, considering she had created five of them for the Hokage at her request.
She also began to notice Kisame growing more thoughtful. He wasn't distant, but he did seem to be contemplating something. Until one day, after a hard training session, she asked him directly.
"I should've figured you'd ask eventually," Kisame sighed. "I've been thinking about my situation. It's obvious that, one way or another, Itachi will go back to Konoha, but I'm not Itachi. For starters, I'm an exiled ninja from Kiri, so they wouldn't accept me in your village just like that."
"And accepting you might cause tensions between the two villages."
"Exactly. The truth is, I've been considering contacting the new Mizukage. My problems were during Yagura's reign, but Terumi seems completely different from him."
"So maybe you could go home, huh?" she asked with a smile. "You've got nothing to lose by trying. Worst case, if you can't go back to Kiri, we could do something to hide your identity, give you a new one."
"With your powers, I guess we could. But it would be nice to just be who I am without hiding or being hunted."
"I know," she said with compassion, patting his hand. "Want me to lend you one of my summons to contact the Mizukage?"
"No. I'll use my sharks to send her a message. I won't write anything too revealing, I just want to test the waters."
Seina hoped Kisame could return to Kiri, just as he wanted, but part of her would miss him. After all, Kisame was one of her mentors along with Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya, and Kakashi. She had countless sparring rivals, but none had taught her as much as those four. Not even Itachi. She trained with him, learned a few things, but they were more training partners than master and student.
Kisame had given her his summoning contract to sign, had taught her all the water jutsus he knew, trained her in fighting with sharks, improved her taijutsu and stamina, taught her cryptanalysis squad tactics and protocols, and above all, was turning her into a swordswoman. She was getting closer and closer to becoming a true swordswoman—the first from the Land of Fire. She knew she'd make it in the little time they had left together.
Whenever she thought about everything he had given her expecting nothing in return, she felt a little guilty. Sure, there were things she obviously couldn't give him in case they turned against Konoha, but she could at least gift him a few useful, non-dangerous things to show her sincere gratitude. Like a kunai pouch with summoning runes so he wouldn't have to waste time picking up his weapons, a truly impenetrable and indestructible chainmail, and a few other practical items.
When Kakashi's birthday arrived, one month before they hit the two-year mark away from the village, she wrote him another letter. Surprisingly, she received a reply an hour later, which meant he must have been reading her previous letters, and this last one, while she was writing.
"Dear Seina,
It feels strange getting close to thirty. Maybe because, as you know, a part of me always thought I'd die before then. Now, strangely, I pray not to die. Funny how things change, isn't it?
More than anything in the world, I wish I had you by my side. The truth is, I've written those same words so many times I don't know how to make them sound new anymore. The thing is… I still miss you. I keep missing more and more things, little things I once overlooked or took for granted. Like cooking next to you while we talk about everything or nothing, sitting beside you on the couch while I read, touching your foot under the table when I can't hold your hand, even folding your clothes and soaking in your scent when no one's watching. All I want is for you to come back so I can hold you, be with you, start living our life together.
Lately, I close my eyes and think about the future. I never liked doing that, because I always thought it was pointless to plan so far ahead. You never know when you'll die, after all. But I made you a promise. I promised I wouldn't die, at least not until you return, and I plan to keep it. I'm giving everything I have to keep that promise, and I've realized that maybe I can promise not to die even after you come back. My life has value now. It always did, but you opened my eyes, and now I can see it for myself.
Did I ever tell you that when Rin died, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror without breaking down? I couldn't look at my hands without feeling the desperate need to wash them over and over again because, in my mind, they were stained with her blood. No one could take that idea out of my head, even though no one knew. The last time I was in Konoha, I visited Rin's grave. I sat there for hours, eyes closed, talking to her in my head about my life and about you. Somehow, I feel like she heard me, even if she didn't answer. And that lifted a final weight I didn't know I was still carrying.
I also visited the memorial where Obito's name is engraved, since there's no grave for him. Part of me will always remember him as my best friend, because that's what he was. I never told him to his face, but I think before he died he saw it in my eyes or at least I like to believe he did. I talked to him too. I know he would've really liked you.
Thinking of them makes me imagine what our lives would've been like if things had turned out differently. Would we be together if your parents were still alive? I couldn't stop thinking about that. I know that if we had been together back then, I wouldn't have dared kiss you until you were 20, or 30. Minato would've killed me or maybe your mother. Still, I know I would've fallen for you just the same, and I would've suffered in silence for however long it took to be with you. Maybe I'm a masochist, but I've understood for a long time now what it means to 'suffer for love.' Is it really suffering, if the result is to love and be loved?
In the end, I've realized there's no point in thinking about what could've happened, because it won't. As much as we like to fantasize about changing the past. But you know the best part? I've realized I wouldn't risk you for anything, even if it hurts me sometimes because of everything I've lost. I can't lose you, Seina. I just can't."
Seina finished reading Kakashi's letter with teary eyes. It had been a while since a letter hit her so hard, but this time she realized Kakashi had opened his heart on paper like never before. She reread the words again and again, a lump in her throat, thankful she was alone in her room. She wished she could be with him, if only to hold him.
She didn't have time to dwell much more on Kakashi, as Kisame approached her one afternoon during their final week in Sora-ku to tell her he'd found something in the city she'd enjoy.
"Street fights?"
"No. Sword matches," he corrected. "You can't use chakra, but that doesn't matter. The point is to practice with more people."
"Huh… Right. And tell me," she began, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, "these matches aren't to the death, are they?"
"How'd you guess?"
She rolled her eyes at Kisame's sarcasm as he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of Nekobaa's warehouse. Naruto and Sasuke looked up as they saw them pass.
"Hey! Where are you taking my sister?"
"I'm taking her to practice kenjutsu with the city's unsuspecting fools."
And that's how Seina was dragged down the street by Kisame, followed by Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and, surprisingly, Tamaki. It was night-time, but she could make out some of the streets she had explored on her many outings in the foul-smelling city. Kisame led them to some kind of underground complex where these fights supposedly took place. If they could even be called illegal, considering the whole city was lawless. There were lots of sweaty people shouting and cheering for the last men standing in a large metal ring. She smelled the blood and saw the corpses piled beside the remaining participants, who were fighting to the death.
Kisame walked up to a scruffy-looking man.
"A spot for the next match," he shouted over the noise.
"You fighting?"
"No. This blonde."
"A teenager?" the man looked her up and down, seeing her short, tight kimono and delicate appearance compared to the other fighters. Then he shrugged. "Any bets?"
She heard Kisame, along with Naruto and Sasuke, betting a significant amount of money on her. Seina wondered how they had sunk so low. She watched as one of the men standing managed to finally slice his opponent's neck, while the crowd howled in delight at the sight of blood. Tamaki, next to Naruto, was pale as snow, but she didn't look like she was going to vomit. Not yet, at least.
"Are you sure about this, Seina-san?" she asked in her ear when she saw her watching.
"Eh, why not."
She wasn't even carrying her new sword, the one Kisame had gifted her. Instead, she brought her faithful wakizashi. After all, she didn't want anyone to see that sword in her hands or know she was stronger than usual, considering very few people could wield a sword weighing over 30 kg for long without their hands shaking.
"Your turn, blondie."
Some two-meter-tall thugs tried to push her into the ring, but the moment she felt a hand graze her shoulder, she grabbed it and squeezed with all her brute strength until the man howled in pain. The other man quickly lowered his hand before he could touch her. They gave her space to walk at her own pace toward the gate that protected the spectators from accidental injury. Most of her opponents were already there. All men, older, taller, and more muscular than her. They looked at her with curiosity, interest, and some with malice and lust.
She silently analysed the situation. Only one weapon was allowed in the ring, but nothing stopped her from picking up another person's weapon once the fight began. She looked at the swords and katanas of those around her and saw a katana quite similar to her wakizashi, so she decided to go after that man. It was a melee match, so she could easily use her smaller body to dodge attacks and let them kill each other.
Unfortunately, the moment the fight started, she realized a flaw in her plan. There were bets on how many people each of them would kill, so obviously, they would try to slaughter as many as possible. Compared to her rivals, she seemed like an easy target, so she was attacked by several people the moment the gong sounded.
She dodged a katana aimed at her neck with minimal movement and kicked someone's arm to avoid being stabbed in the stomach. She pivoted around the closest man, using his body to shield herself from another attacker, and then stabbed him in the back. She grabbed his katana, even though it wasn't the weapon she had initially spotted. With her left arm, she used the new weapon as a shield, while attacking with her right.
She felt the blood splashing on her face and dress but didn't flinch. In under half a minute, she killed two people, and a few others died fighting away from her. It didn't take long to level the ranks, killing another five people in less than two more minutes. Once they saw she was unstoppable, they started trying to flee from her, but inside the metal ring, there was nowhere to run.
She used the same metal bars forming the wall to spring over their heads, landing among the crowd and crouching between them. Ignoring the screams, she stabbed a couple more in the stomachs and used one of the wounded as a meat shield before wielding her weapons again, protecting her weak points and killing more.
After 10 minutes, only two people besides her remained. They seemed to be debating whether to fight each other or join forces to take her down. Seina nudged aside a headless corpse that had fallen on one of her sandals, feeling her feet soaked in blood. She emerged from the pile of bodies with a weapon in each hand. For a few seconds, time seemed to stop. Them versus her. She swung both swords in a circle to shake off some blood and took up a fighting stance again.
The other men, seeing she wasn't finished, did the same. Instinctively, they seemed to agree that it was better to try to kill her together. Fools. One of them lost patience and charged at her with a war cry, followed by the other. She dodged him and, in the process, slashed his back with her wakizashi. A fairly serious wound, but not lethal. She did the same to the other. No matter how hard they tried, they weren't a threat to her, so she focused on dodging and wounding them, making them bleed and tire out. She didn't attack them directly until she saw them panting, pale from blood loss.
"Just finish it already," one of them begged when he caught his breath.
She threw the borrowed katana at him with all her strength, like a spear. It was so fast he only had time to widen his eyes before being impaled. The katana entered his chest, right where his heart was, and pushed him backward onto the floor. He died instantly. The other man took the chance to attack again, but she dodged, letting him run in another direction from his own momentum, and swinging her weapon from behind, she cleanly cut off his head.
The crowd, which she had half ignored but always kept in her awareness, went wild. She walked out completely sticky and drenched in blood from head to toe. Without her chakra, she hadn't been able to use her usual speed to dodge the blood. Besides, they had been packed so tightly it was impossible not to get messy. She descended the steps while the crowd cheered for her. She saw her team and the others waiting for her with a towel they'd pulled from somewhere. She took it, noticing Kisame's smiling and slightly crazed face, and rolled her eyes when she saw them collecting their winnings. Naruto and Tamaki were the only ones who didn't look entirely okay with her having killed them all, but as Itachi was telling him, they would've died anyway at someone else's hands. Why sign up for a death match if you weren't willing to die?
"I made a ton of cash!" Kisame said, waving stacks of bills.
"You owe me a cut for playing the idiot up there."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll give you 10%."
"40."
"30."
"Deal."
She ignored the people talking about her behind her back until the man from earlier, the one who handled the bets and tickets, approached her. He looked quite surprised and delighted with the show.
"Hey, blondie. Want to join the next round?"
"No," she replied, bored.
None of the so-called combat experts were a match for a shinobi, even if many of them were thugs with some kind of training. What was the point in facing another 30 armed men? Naruto sighed in relief at hearing her answer, although if they had been ninjas, she might have signed up again. The civilian looked disappointed but didn't complain or try to buy her off. He turned to Naruto, who signalled with his posture alone that he wasn't interested, then to Sasuke. Before he could open his mouth, however, Itachi looked at him over his younger brother's shoulder, eyes red.
The civilian paled, realizing in that moment who Itachi Uchiha was. They weren't disguised with henge like other times since few people knew what Itachi's face looked like. Not to mention that many young men with "pale skin" and "black hair and eyes" matched the description of Itachi. Unless they had a bingo book, no one had seen a photo of him. They were just a colourful group, nothing more.
Seina used her magic to confuse him, watching as he stood still, blinking in confusion, before wandering off. She winked at Itachi when he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.
"Let's go. I want to get this blood off me."
They emerged back on the surface, finding Sora-ku full of life, lit by countless streetlights and colourful lights. It took a few minutes to realize she was truly covered in blood. Her black kimono and thigh-high stockings, also black, helped camouflage her appearance. Still, once she walked under the soft white light of a lamp post, more than a few realized it wasn't red paint. She was pleasantly surprised to see that no one pointed at her or screamed, people simply stepped aside and went on with their lives. It was refreshing.
"Not a bad match before leaving the city, huh?" Kisame grinned, showing all his teeth.
"Whatever you say…"