...Where Shikaku Reflects on the Mystery of Seina Namikaze (Chapter 1 - 30)
The first time he saw her was in the hospital, after her parents' death. He found it curious how, during the few moments she was awake, she tried to observe her surroundings with a very peculiar curiosity. She didn't behave like her twin brother, but rather like his own son, Shikamaru. No. He didn't know what it was, but he knew she didn't behave like an ordinary baby. He memorized her features and violet eyes before being forcibly removed from there, along with the others.
Shortly afterward, they were placed in the orphanage, despite several people offering to take care of both siblings. Himself included. He remembered Kakashi's back disappearing into the distance at a furious pace, tremendously angry because he was forbidden from approaching the legacy of his former master. A part of Shikaku wanted to act like him, the last living student of Minato, because Minato and Kushina had been his friends, but another part knew it would be pointless to waste energy being angry when he wouldn't get what he wanted. If there was something he hated about his humbly prodigious mind, it was deducing what was going to happen and being unable to change it.
He grudgingly accepted leaving them at the orphanage, but he never lost track of them. He read all the reports from his jonin and his spies, frowning when he realized they were being treated like outcasts in the orphanage when, in fact, they owed their lives, or at least some respect, to that pair of 4-year-old children.
"What are you going to do about it?" Yoshino asked, looking disgusted after reading one of his reports without permission. Shikaku looked at her exasperatedly when he saw her snatch the scroll from his hands.
"Why do you think I'm going to do something about it?"
Yoshino looked at him with her arms crossed and a stern face. Shikaku just slumped at the sight. If he didn't surrender and admit his plans within a minute, Yoshino would start yelling. As usual.
"Ugh," he sighed. "I think it's time for one of those matrons to retire."
"I like that idea," his wife smiled a small smile, still angry. "I'll leave this to you. See? I knew you were going to do something."
He watched her walk away with a determined step, sitting lazily in his armchair in his private office. He heard her footsteps fading into the house.
"Troublesome woman..."
"What did you say, Shikaku?!"
"Nothing, nothing," he said, raising his voice with a racing heart. Damn it.
After that, he pulled some strings to get rid of one of the most dangerous matrons. The one watching over the orphanage on Danzo's orders. It was impossible to remove her at will, considering she was being paid an unofficial bonus to stay there, so he went with plan B, discarding the peaceful plan A without wasting any breath.
"What kind of injury are we talking about?" Ensui asked, yawning as he showed up at his office.
"A common accident for an older woman that incapacitates her from working with troublesome brats."
"I see... Would a multiple leg fracture do?"
"It would."
And that's how the matron fell down some stone stairs, tripping over a stray cat. She wasn't a ninja, so they treated her the old-fashioned way, plastering her leg from top to bottom. As expected, the Hokage retired her on the spot. Proposing Yumi as the new matron was a piece of cake. He just had to pull a few strings to have Inoichi himself suggest her without raising any suspicions.
"What the orphanage needs is fresh blood. Some young man or woman who gets along well with the children, who can play with them and take care of them effortlessly."
"That's true. They're children. They should be taken care of by middle-aged parents, not by sixty-year-olds with one foot in the grave," Tsume said, clearly agreeing with Inoichi.
There were some quiet chuckles. The Hokage thought about it, nodding distractedly, but eventually accepted the recommendation from the ninja council. Shikaku said nothing but noticed Danzo narrowing his eye ever so slightly. He hadn't even tried to introduce one of his spies. Perhaps because it was obvious that recommending someone wouldn't matter when 80% of the clan leaders had already decided to propose a young, civilian candidate beyond his reach, and the other 20% didn't care at all about what happened to an orphanage. For Danzo, as it sometimes was for Shikaku, it made no sense to use force or waste breath on something trivial.
A few weeks later, everything went perfectly. Much better than he himself had predicted. He knew Yumi wasn't as violent as the other matrons and that the twins could charm her over time because they reminded her of her younger brother, who was also blonde. He had planned for Yumi to become attached to them and act as a buffer against the other matrons, but he never thought she would take their side so quickly and decisively.
"I don't think even you saw this coming..." Inoichi said quietly, watching as they carried Matron Uruchi into her cell, screaming as if possessed.
"No, but I'm glad."
"A plan that starts well, ends well," Chouza congratulated him, giving him a pat on the back.
That was the problem. It had gone too well. He hadn't predicted it that way. He watched the interrogation of Uruchi and the other idiot, as well as Yumi's and some of the children from the orphanage. He ruled them all out. They were all civilians with ordinary motivations that didn't pose a real threat to Konoha. Therefore... only one possible outlier remained, something atypical. He was referring to the siblings Seina and Naruto. He spied on them moving into their new apartment and soon realized that despite Naruto's explosive character, he followed his sister's lead more than the other way around, contrary to what it might seem.
Seina was the leader. She was the one who shopped in disguise, who spied on their neighbours to stay informed about anything that could affect them, who skilfully avoided violent civilians, who took care of her brother... She was the one pulling all the strings. The more he spied on her, the more convinced he was that she had something to do with Yumi. He didn't know how the hell she had done it, but he was sure that Seina had realized the opportunity that Yumi presented for her and her brother. If she was as smart as he believed, she would have known that manipulating the new matron was key to their survival in the orphanage.
He also spied on them at the academy, realizing that no matter how smart Seina was, she didn't have big ambitions. For her, the best thing that could happen was to be left alone while doing whatever she wanted, which apparently only involved being a good ninja student. He quickly concluded that despite being a potential danger, she wasn't dangerous. Seina wasn't a bad person, nor was she being influenced by the Kyubi.
On the contrary, he had the feeling that her company would do Shikamaru good, who had gone from sleeping alone or with Chouji during recess to eating to resting with Seina, Naruto, and the others without much resistance. Incredibly, his son, who was sometimes lazier than himself, was being more sociable than he was. A part of Shikaku couldn't believe it, but most of him felt proud that Shikamaru was surpassing him so soon, even if it was in something as abstract as social matters.
Time passed. Despite always keeping an eye on them, as did many other ninjas who were allies of Minato, and others not so friendly, little changed. At least until they graduated from the academy and left their tiny apartment monitored by the Hokage.
"They're nowhere to be found."
"They must be living somewhere."
"That's exactly why I'm telling you," said Ensui, who was his best bet for spying on the twins on his behalf.
"Are you telling me that you, a jonin, an anbu, can't find the house of a pair of freshly graduated 11-year-old genin?"
"... " Ensui clicked his tongue, irritated, but nodded. "I don't know how it's possible, but I know that Kakashi-senpai has also tried, and nothing."
"Huh..."
That was the second big mystery. The first, if they considered the matron incident a mere coincidence. Shikaku tried himself, following Seina after seeing her buy something in the village, but at some point, it was as if he lost track of her. One second she was there, and the next, it was as if she had vanished when he blinked. He mentioned it to Inoichi and Chouza, his lifelong friends and allies whom he trusted completely, but even they couldn't see beyond what they assumed was the perimeter of their new home.
Once he confirmed that he wasn't crazy or deficient in his ninja skills, only one option remained. Naruto and Seina, or Seina, or Naruto, had managed to hide their home in a way that was impossible to perceive. Shikaku sat in his comforting armchair in his private office late at night, his mind racing. The darkness calmed him and allowed him to think alone, exactly what he needed.
Naruto hadn't shown similar abilities, and neither had his sister, but Seina had definitely demonstrated her cleverness and the many ways she looked after her brother. There was no concrete proof, only clues, and despite his reluctance to rely on an abstract instinct that many humans trusted blindly, something told him he was right in thinking this was Seina's doing.
If he was correct, and he was 95% sure he was, it meant that Seina was more intelligent, and dangerous, than he had initially calculated. After all, having the ability to do something like that, why hadn't she done it earlier? The logical answer was that Seina was aware they were being spied on in their old apartment and knew that disappearing in such a manner would have led to a visit from the Hokage, or something worse. That meant that, very likely, everything they had spied on about them was fake or perhaps just an insignificant part of their lives. If Seina was as astute as he was starting to realize, there was no way she would have revealed her aces up her sleeve so easily.
She had waited to have her own property to disappear. It wasn't illegal for ninjas to set traps in their homes, especially if the house or apartment belonged to them. In a way, Seina had metaphorically flipped off the Hokage and those spying on them. Shikaku felt his lip twitch with laughter.
"See? I could have disappeared a long time ago, but I didn't because I didn't want to."
That was what Seina was telling them. To the Hokage, to Danzo, and to the others. He reclined in his chair while looking out the window. He smiled, realizing it was only the beginning.
Almost at the same time Shikaku was racking his brain to solve his latest puzzle, Kakashi accepted them as his first genin team. He'd like to say he was surprised to hear it, but that would be a lie. As soon as he learned the members of the team, he deduced they would pass Kakashi's test easily. Seina wasn't a fan of Sasuke, so she already had half the battle won, and she could control and cooperate with her brother easily, securing the other half of the battle. Just as he thought, Kakashi confirmed it.
"Without her, the boys would be much more lost," his subordinate acknowledged, sitting in one of the chairs in his public office. "With her as the mediator, the team has the cohesion of a good genin team."
"And don't you think that's a problem?" he asked, though he knew it wasn't.
"No. In time, they'll understand and manage to be a team without depending on Seina."
Shikaku nodded, unsurprised. It was exactly what he had deduced. It was good to know that Kakashi was assessing his team logically, without being swayed by his obvious feelings towards the twins. What did surprise him was how quickly Kakashi grew attached to Seina in the following weeks. It would be logical to think it was because she was his former master's daughter, but seeing the distance he maintained with Naruto, who was merely his student and nothing more, it was clear it wasn't about that. If it wasn't the family relationship between them that brought him closer to Seina, then it was obviously something intrinsic to her. What was it? He didn't know, but he would find out sooner or later.
Curiosity sometimes got the better of him because it was evident that Kakashi had crossed the invisible barriers surrounding Seina and was now part of her little circle. What could she have told him? He didn't know either, but he was dying to find out.
Months passed without much happening, but since Team 7 wasn't within his orbit, he learned nothing new. That was until the Chunin Exams came, and he knew they would easily pass the tests. Judging by what he had read secretly in the mission reports of that team, they were a good unit. Sasuke and Seina had a handle on the theoretical part, while Naruto and Sasuke, with their competitiveness, pushed the team to improve and not give up. If, additionally, he considered that all of them were good ninjas, it was obvious they would move forward. At least until the individual portion came.
What he didn't expect was Orochimaru, nor the death of the Third, nor everything that followed. At least, Tsunade-sama was taking the threat of Danzo for what it was, a real danger. He didn't envy her, after all, she had a massive workload ahead and countless sleepless nights. Only a madman or an idiot, or a madman who was also an idiot, would want to be Hokage.
Then Ensui told him about Kakashi's birthday.
"A surprise birthday party?"
"Yes."
"For Kakashi?"
"For who else? The neighbour?" His nephew rolled his eyes. Shikaku looked at him exasperated. "Yes, for Kakashi."
"This is only because of-"
"Seina?"
"Are you going to keep answering my questions and statements with more questions?" he asked, with resignation.
"I don't know, maybe?" Ensui grinned mischievously. Shikaku rolled his eyes. "But seriously… You should have seen Kakashi's face. You can tell he's very close with his team. Especially with his kunoichi."
Shikaku blinked at hearing those last words. His kunoichi. He knew Ensui hadn't said it that way to imply anything special, but something about those words caught his attention. Essentially, Team 7 was Kakashi's team, his. He knew how Kakashi thought because they had known each other for years. Kakashi was possessive about his belongings and loved ones. A fact he continually demonstrated. His late father's sword? Kept under lock and key. Minato's kunai? Strangely disappeared from the Hokage's office. His face mask, a gift from his mother? Oh, woe to anyone who dared touch it...
Kakashi had suffered silently for a long time, mourning the loss of his team even though they hadn't been friends at the academy and had only been a team for literally a few months before Obito's death, and a year in the case of Rin's death. The loss that had affected him the most was Minato's, because he had known him since he was five and had spent nearly a decade with him, even if intermittently. Shikaku blinked, realizing what it meant for Kakashi to have a team he lived with, which he only knew because Kakashi had confessed it to him, with whom he got along even better than his own deceased genin team from years ago.
If he added to that the fact that his clear favorite was Seina… Yes. Ensui might be right. Seina was his kunoichi. In what sense, he still didn't know. So many mysteries!
"But, do you know the most important thing? Seina's gift." Shikaku opened his mouth, but Ensui was quicker. He looked at him with bright eyes, excited but serious. "A bracelet capable of making someone completely invisible. In every sense."
"What?"
Shikaku straightened in his chair, fully attentive to Ensui, but saw that he wasn't joking. All of this, of course, reached the Hokage's ears, who evidently knew more than he did about Seina.
"She'll be here in a few minutes," said Tsunade-sama, glancing at the wall clock. "I want to talk about that bracelet of hers."
"Hn."
"Aren't you going to say anything about it, Shikaku?" the Hokage asked him.
"Maybe later, when the meeting is over."
Shikaku didn't want to say anything until she appeared. The Hokage raised a barrier to prevent eavesdropping, and he sat next to his biggest mystery at that moment. Once the bracelet was activated, Shikaku checked with all his senses that she was indeed there. He only knew she hadn't left because he saw the weight of her body on the sofa and felt her clothes when she allowed him to touch them. He tugged on her jacket, despite it not being visible. It wasn't completely invisible, contrary to what Ensui might have thought, but that didn't matter.
While Jiraiya-sama marvelled at the bracelet, Shikaku tried not to show his immense surprise. The problem wasn't the bracelet itself but everything that was coming out of her mouth. A chair of truth, diagnostic jutsus...? Shikaku was stunned because everything pointed to Seina's abilities being a new kekkei genkai—one of the most versatile he'd seen to date.
"A diagnostic jutsu?" he asked. "Can you know everything that's happening to someone with just one jutsu? Try it on me, please."
Shikaku accepted the scroll that appeared out of nowhere, despite not having blinked, and read his medical history. It was his complete medical history. He read things he didn't even know he had suffered or was suffering from. He had to look at Seina Namikaze directly because this girl was a true prodigy. Otherwise, how could she know how to do everything she did unless it came instinctively, without anyone teaching her?
"I think you and I should have a long talk, Seina-san," he said when he could no longer hide that merely observing her from a distance wasn't enough.
It was clear that he would spend a lot of time by her side if she advanced in the ninja hierarchy as far as he believed she would.
"If we're going to talk so much, call me Seina."
"Great. You can call me Shikaku."
A few minutes later, having decided to drop the masks and be more direct, he could only smile as he asked Seina how she had hidden the Uchiha family. And when she admitted to knowing exactly what her secret jutsu entailed, smiling, he knew he had been right years ago in thinking she was much smarter than one might assume at first glance.
"What else do you have up your sleeve?"
"I'm trying to figure out where Danzo's base is and who his members are."
"No doubt Kakashi has asked you to use your powers," he nodded, assuming she had those powers. Seina didn't seem surprised to hear him say that. "So? What have you discovered?"
"Without exposing myself too much, I've been triangulating the location of his base. It's east of the hospital."
Shikaku exchanged a look with Inoichi, as that area had been where their clans were based for decades. Minutes later, as the conversation dwindled, Shikaku said goodbye to Seina, inviting her to his home, although without setting a date. Both were very busy, and they might not cross paths for weeks. He watched her leave before returning to the Hokage's office, where the others awaited.
"Well?" asked the Hokage, her honey-coloured eyes firmly locked onto his. "What do you think of her?"
"...That I need to think more about it."
"Really?" Inoichi asked, surprised.
"Yes. The only thing I know for sure right now is that Seina is powerful. She's probably more powerful than she shows us."
"You can be sure of that," the Hokage nodded. "I've seen her do things that I can't even comprehend. She's indeed Minato and Kushina's daughter."
"She has all that power, yet does practically nothing with it... Anyone else..."
Shikaku shook his head.
"All I can tell you is that she has a new kekkei genkai, and right now, it's an open secret."
He left shortly after, still somewhat stunned by everything he had learned all at once. That night, when Shikamaru returned from who knows where, he asked him about his friend. His son looked at him with a calculating expression, and Shikaku was surprised again to see that he was hesitant to talk about her because he didn't want to break her trust. Incredible.
"Why do you want to know?" his son asked, although both knew he had an idea why.
"Let's just say, curiosity."
"Seina is smart," Shikamaru shrugged, then frowned, "and powerful."
"...And?" he asked when the silence dragged on. Shikamaru smiled, making him sigh. Damn kid. "Are you going to tell me something I don't already know?"
"Maybe. When you tell me why you want to know."
Shikaku frowned. Why did he want to know? Curiosity, undoubtedly, he hadn't lied, but also concern for the village to a lesser extent, and to a greater extent, for Seina herself. Shikamaru sighed as he thought.
"You'd better observe her yourself, otou-san. I'm sure she'll surprise you."
At that very moment, he didn't know how right his son would be in the future. What did surprise him, however, was the visit from Jiraiya-sama a few days later. He sneaked into his house as if it were nothing, ignoring the multiple traps with the experience of someone who had lived for 50 years, four-fifths of those years being a ninja, and also an experienced pervert spying on women.
"Jiraiya-sama," he greeted with exasperation, putting the kunai away.
"Shikaku. I just wanted to ask you something."
"At this hour?" he raised an eyebrow, looking out the window. "It must be important."
"Or very interesting."
"..."
"...Alright! What can you tell me about Kakashi's relationship with Seina?"
"Their relationship...? They're teacher and student. What can I say?" he said, deliberately obtuse. Frustrated people tended to make more mistakes.
"We both know you're not an idiot," said the sannin, sitting on the window sill with one leg outside. "I want to know if you know why Kakashi threatened to stab me if anyone laid a finger on his kunoichi while she was under my command."
His kunoichi. Shikaku avoided blinking because it was possible Jiraiya-sama was quoting Kakashi verbatim, and if that were the case... It would be very different from how Ensui had mentioned it, as that had just been his own observation.
"Maybe because he knows that sometimes you're... a bit distracted. You know how protective Kakashi is of his team."
Jiraiya smiled in such a way that instantly let him know he hadn't believed him and that, moreover, he knew something else. Still, the fact that he had come in the middle of the night to discuss something like this suggested that whatever it was, he would share it. It didn't even take five seconds.
"Curious. A few weeks ago, when the training month for the final stage of the chunin exams started, I overheard a rather strange conversation. It was Kakashi. He also threatened another jonin. Ebisu," he explained. Shikaku frowned upon hearing this. "Relax. He threatened him over some perverted jutsu and seeing Seina naked."
Shikaku visibly relaxed. Kakashi couldn't go around threatening everyone to protect his student. The fact that it was a case of nudity or invasion of privacy made much more sense. It was normal, and recommended, that Kakashi had taken that measure. Still... what was the point of threatening Jiraiya-sama? The sannin left without saying anything else, leaving him pensive, still in his pyjamas, in the middle of his private office at home.
He stroked his chin as he pondered what he was missing. Kakashi had threatened one ninja for potentially spying on his student, and another for potentially neglecting his student's safety. No, that wasn't it. Otherwise, he would have threatened many more people. He walked slowly to bed, seeing Yoshino was asleep again, probably sensing his relaxed chakra upon realizing it was nothing. As soon as he saw his wife sleeping, he had an epiphany.
He shouldn't think of Kakashi as a ninja but as a simple man. From that perspective, the situation took a 180-degree turn. He had threatened Ebisu over seeing Seina naked because he didn't want her to be seen that way and had threatened Jiraiya-sama for irrational reasons, not because he doubted Seina's ability to protect herself. Kakashi was acting with his heart, not his cold and efficient ninja mind. If Seina had been his girlfriend, it wouldn't have even taken him five minutes to figure it out.
But... she was his 12-year-old student. He lay on his back in bed, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes, realizing how everything fit together. That's why he didn't treat Naruto the same way, even though he was also Minato's son. He had even given himself away by referring to Seina as his kunoichi. Kakashi liked Seina the way a man likes a woman.
The question now was, what was he going to do about it?