The laboratory was the largest one ever found to date. The first room contained tables and filing cabinets full of documents, which they took without hesitation. A little farther ahead was an area with metal tables, all of them spotless, yet clearly well used. That, combined with the stench of blood and bodily fluids, made it clear that it had happened there countless times.
"Look at this," Sasuke said, clicking his tongue.
He nodded toward a fairly large corridor with a staircase leading downward. They descended slowly in case there were any traps, but everything was clear. Gradually, the surface soil gave way to solid, compact grey rock. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of the same rocky material. There were no windows, as expected, but there was a transparent liquid covering the floor that appeared to be water produced by the condensation from the dozens of sealed tanks standing before them.
They were cylindrical tanks that stretched all the way to the ceiling and seemed to be monitored automatically by a network of machines, tubes, and cables. Naruto looked on with disgust at the sight of a half-decomposed man floating inside one of the tanks, slowly drifting because of the bubbles rising from the bottom of the container.
"What the hell is this?" he asked rhetorically.
"They must be part of Orochimaru's experiments," Kakashi answered as he looked from one body to the next.
Some of the tanks were empty, or at least, they appeared to be. Sasuke stopped in front of one that didn't seem to contain anything unusual. Seina used her magic to check whether anyone was alive when her spell revealed the outline of something inside the tank Sasuke was looking at.
"There's someone in there," Sasuke stated, completely certain.
Instead of asking, Naruto decided to use the sensory perception Jiraiya had worked so hard to teach him. He immediately sensed what Sasuke and Seina had already noticed.
"You're right. Whatever it is, it's alive."
"Very clever," a male voice said from inside the tank, even though they couldn't see anything.
"Is he the only one alive?" Kakashi asked, ignoring Orochimaru's prisoner.
"No. There seem to be quite a few more."
"Let's get them out. They're Konoha prisoners now."
"Wait a moment!" the voice inside the tank spoke again. "What happened to Orochimaru?"
"He's dead," Sasuke replied shortly. Then, as if it were nothing, he sliced open the glass of the tank with his chakra-coated katana.
They watched as the water spread out across the floor in front of them. Little by little, a head began to form, as though it were emerging from the puddle from another parallel reality. Then shoulders appeared, followed by a torso, until finally the entire body of a pale man emerged, muscular yet lean, with white hair, purple eyes, sharp teeth, and, above all... naked. Completely naked.
Their eyes met after he first looked at Sasuke, impassive, then Naruto, irritated, and finally Kakashi, neutral. She found herself curious about this man. How long had he been Orochimaru's prisoner? Was he truly a prisoner, or had he volunteered like Karin? Who was he? What kind of jutsu did he use?
"Well, well..." he murmured with a smile as he rose to his feet, standing before them completely naked without the slightest shame. "Quite the welcome. You must be Sasuke Uchiha. I heard Orochimaru talk about you several times."
"..."
Sasuke stared at him without saying a word while the others examined the only conscious survivor in the entire laboratory.
"Who are you?" Naruto finally asked.
"My name is Suigetsu. You must be Sasuke Uchiha's teammates, Naruto and Seina Uzumaki."
"Hatake, for your information," she corrected.
They watched as Suigetsu seemed to be calculating something. Perhaps he wanted to attack them? But in the end, he simply gave up. Seina raised an eyebrow as she watched Naruto place chakra-suppressing handcuffs on him so he wouldn't be able to escape.
"You surrendered pretty quickly, don't you think?"
"And how exactly do you expect me to escape from an Uchiha, an ANBU tracker, a jinchūriki... and you?" he purred at last, looking her up and down.
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, smacking his prisoner on the back of the head. "Don't look at my sister like that, asshole."
Seina rolled her eyes, knowing Suigetsu was about to be knocked unconscious so he could be transported inside the prison cells in her suitcase. They freed the other prisoners, some of whom were in terrible condition, and left the place. There was no information, no chemical vials, or anything of the sort. It was a prison for human experimentation. It was inhuman.
"We should leave. I'd rather Kabuto didn't come back unexpectedly or bury us down here."
The others nodded. That would be exactly the sort of thing a snake like Kabuto would do. They gathered everything they could and planted the explosive tags. Even moving at a brisk pace, it took them fifteen minutes. The explosion echoed throughout the forest, but fortunately there was no one around to hear it. Orochimaru had chosen his hideout well. The smoke would eventually draw attention, but by the time anyone came to investigate, they would already be gone.
"Orochimaru is dead?" Tsunade-sama asked the following day, leaning back in her chair with a surprised expression.
"That's right. We've brought back his body or what's left of it."
"... Good work, Team 7. You're dismissed."
They finished the mission by leaving the prisoners with the Interrogation Department alongside Anko. Before they could make their way back toward the Hatake compound and officially end the mission, Seina stopped at the foot of the Hokage Tower.
"I've got a few things to take care of in the village. You guys go on ahead."
Her teammates looked very curious about what she had to do, but they didn't ask. More accurately, Seina left before they had the chance. She headed toward Mamoru's portrait shop. It had been a long time since she had given Sasuke Mikoto's portrait, and it was time to do something about her father-in-law and her own parents. Part of her had put it off because she wasn't sure how her husband and brother would feel about speaking to incomplete portraits of their loved ones. The other part... wasn't sure whether she wanted to speak to her parents.
She didn't hate Minato and Kushina, but she didn't know them either, nor had anyone spoken much about them. In her previous life, she had grown used to being an orphan since infancy, and in this one, since birth. As a result, not having parents left her almost completely indifferent. The only thing she resented was that, once again, her new parents had left her carrying the dead weight of their decisions. This time, that burden was being a jinchūriki. She didn't know whether she wanted, or even could, face her parents in portrait form. What would be the point of yelling at them if they weren't really them? It wouldn't make her feel any better. She couldn't punch them, shake them, or hug them. Even so, setting aside her hesitant reasons for not having the portraits made, Naruto deserved the chance to speak with his parents, even if only through a painting. She had put it off for far too long...
The ding of the door made Mamoru look up from what appeared to be a ledger.
"Ah, Seina-sama."
"Ugh," she muttered under her breath. "Mamoru-san. It's good to see you again."
"And you as well. I heard you left on a long training journey with Jiraiya-sama, one of the Sannin. And that you got married. Congratulations."
"Thank you. I'd like to commission three more portraits."
"Of course. Let's go to my office."
The office was a room filled with papers, ink, brushes, and paintings displayed along the back wall. The small entrance contained only a modest reception area with an easel and the desk where he presumably accepted payment. There was another closed door inside his private office, which probably led to his studio.
"Who are they of?"
Seina took out the best photographs she had of her parents, along with the copied photograph of Sakumo that she had stolen from Kakashi's keepsake chest. It was one of the few photographs he had of his father, who had never liked having his picture taken. Not a single photograph of his mother remained. The only things Kakashi had left of her were the mask she had given him, which he never wore for fear of damaging it, and her engagement ring and wedding band.
"The Fourth Hokage? And she-"
"His wife, Kushina Uzumaki," she replied, realizing he didn't know who her mother was in relation to her father. Her parents' relationship had always been kept extremely secret, so much so that only a handful of shinobi had ever known they were together.
Mamoru looked up sharply as soon as he understood her relationship to them. He studied the photograph again with a critical eye, nodding to himself.
"You look like them."
"Thank you. I'd like these paintings to be Christmas presents. Would that be possible?"
"Yes. Three weeks is more than enough time if I devote myself to them full-time."
They spent a while discussing the details regarding the materials, the portraits, the scenery, and the payment. She wanted each of her parents to have a separate portrait, in case they wished to speak with them in private, but she also intended to connect the frames somehow so they could still be together. Sakumo's portrait would be on its own, surrounded by his ninken wolves in one of Konoha's forests. She didn't think he would want a portrait of the house where he had taken his own life. It would be enough for him to hang inside that very house, even though it no longer resembled the old Hatake compound after Kakashi and she had renovated and redecorated it.
She returned home an hour later, with considerably less money but a smile on her face. As she walked through the village, taking her time to enjoy the fresh air, she sensed her teachers' presence in the same place. Now she was genuinely curious. She concealed her chakra with magic and approached quietly, intending to eavesdrop a little, but the conversation turned out to be much more serious than she had expected. They were talking about Akatsuki. In the middle of a bar!
"...Alone!?" her teacher exclaimed as Seina drew close enough to hear her voice clearly. "No! It's far too dangerous!"
"I'm still one of Konoha's Three Sannin."
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
Seina shook her head, almost invisible as she spied on the Hokage and Jiraiya discussing their former teammate and Orochimaru's death. She raised a magical barrier so no one else could overhear them. Except her.
"Our job is to set an example and help the next generation," Jiraiya sighed, "although I think I've screwed that up more than once over the years."
"Why do you say that?"
"Yes, Jiraiya," she said from the neighbouring table as she picked up her own plate of appetizers and beer. "Why do you say that?"
Silence fell for several seconds. The wooden partition between the tables had kept them from seeing her, but it hadn't stopped them from hearing her. She had even altered her voice when the waiter came over so they wouldn't become suspicious.
"Damn it, Seina..."
"You should be more careful talking about all that in public."
She heard her teacher sigh. There were hardly any people in the bar since it was still mid-morning. Only drunks or retirees would be drinking and eating tapas that early. She supposed that was why they had assumed they had more privacy than they actually did.
"Come over here, you little pest," Tsunade-sama said, sounding mildly exasperated but thoroughly amused.
Seina stood up, carrying her plate and drink with her. As soon as they saw her sipping from her own alcoholic beverage, they both snorted with laughter.
"I'd say it's a little early, but..."
"Yeah. Looks like I'm not the only one getting drunk at eleven in the morning."
"What was it you were saying, Jiraiya? About how you'd screwed up?" Tsunade turned back to her childhood friend sitting across from them.
Jiraiya paled as both the Hokage and Seina fixed him with identical stares. Seina was no longer angry with him after he'd apologized a thousand times, one of those apologies having been completely sincere. At last, Jiraiya seemed to be acting like the mature adult he truly was deep down. Maybe she simply brought out the worst in him.
"We'll talk about that another time."
"What the hell are you two doing discussing Akatsuki in a bar?" she growled. "Are you insane?"
"That tone," her teacher scolded half-heartedly, taking another sip of her beer, her face slightly flushed from the alcohol. "Jiraiya has a lead."
"After your note about Nagato... I did some more investigating around Amegakure. I'm fairly certain Akatsuki originated there, and I'm convinced their main base has to be in Ame."
"And you're planning to go there alone? Are you an idiot or what?"
Jiraiya didn't react to the insult. He merely sighed while Tsunade chuckled.
"That's exactly what I told him."
"I've got your Portkey, and the invisibility bracelet Tsunade gave me. If things go badly, I can abort the mission if I'm in danger."
"Are you sure about this?" Seina asked, staring directly at him. "You know my team could help."
"No. It's better if none of you go anywhere near Ame. Especially you and Naruto."
"...If you say so. I'm leaving."
Seina walked away with a strange feeling in her chest. It wasn't the alcohol. Her sixth sense told her something was coming. Something big.
"Akatsuki's more restless than usual, don't you think?" Kurama said from within her.
"Yeah, it certainly seems that way. There are only a handful of us left now, and I don't really see the point of hunting those relics that contain your chakra anymore. Akatsuki wants the jinchūriki. I'm surprised they haven't tried kidnapping Gaara again."
"That would be impossible now. Security throughout the Land of Wind must be at its highest level."
"And yet... Konoha feels strangely unprotected."
"Your teacher doesn't want to alarm the population. Which makes sense. The only time they've ever gone after a jinchūriki inside a village was when they captured Shukaku, and only because your friend Gaara, as the new Kazekage, wasn't going to leave Suna anytime soon."
"I know. It makes more sense for them to try capturing us while we're on a mission, but that doesn't change the fact that I have a bad feeling about this. I don't think Jiraiya will be able to infiltrate Ame as easily as he believes..."
"I wouldn't care if he died, but he's your teacher. Idiot though he may be... he has your portkey. Trust your inventions."
Seina trusted her magical creations. She didn't trust Akatsuki. What if they cut off the arm wearing the bracelet? Jiraiya would be completely screwed. She shook the thought from her mind and entered the compound. Sasuke and Naruto were at home, while Kakashi appeared to be cooking.
"Hey, finished your errands already?" He sniffed the air. "And visited a bar too, apparently."
"I sensed Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama. They were having a rather interesting conversation in a bar."
"Oh? Really?"
Seina kissed her husband on the cheek before explaining everything she had overheard. Kakashi stirred the sauce in the pan more slowly as he pondered her words. Like her, he seemed concerned, though he remained silent.
"And you say you've got a bad feeling about all this?"
"Yes. I'm going to strengthen the security around the compound and all our other houses. I don't want us to be caught sleeping."
Kakashi nodded without saying anything. They ate dinner talking about all sorts of things, reconnecting after the many important missions they'd recently completed. Part of her still resented letting that idiot Kabuto escape, but she had to admit he was slipperier than she'd originally thought. Kakashi didn't scold her, but they both knew she could have killed him several times instead of prolonging his suffering. She sighed once more, acknowledging that she had made a mistake. She only hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a serious one.
Over the following days, after reinforcing the wards around their properties, she met with her friends several times to discuss the bracelet at Team 10's request.
"If it hadn't been for this," Shikamaru said, raising his wrist so everyone could see the bracelet, "Asuma would be dead."
"That's true. We wouldn't have made it to the hospital in time for surgery."
"But will you really be able to locate us all the time if you add a tracker to the bracelet?" Kiba asked with a frown, clearly uncomfortable with the invasion of privacy.
"I've been thinking about it, and I believe I could add a blood-activated sequence. Once activated, the bracelet should display the coordinates and also function as a Flying Thunder God marker. And I can suggest something else as well," she explained as her friends nodded thoughtfully. "With my powers, I can create something called a portkey. Basically, it's an object activated by a voice command that transports every living being touching it to a set of predetermined coordinates."
"I see. With the... portkey, you're hoping you won't have to be personally present every time one of us needs saving," Neji said.
Seina nodded. The original bracelet sent messages to whoever the wearer happened to be thinking about, an idea inspired by owl post, but it had several flaws. Having to receive Shikamaru's coordinates manually had been a huge setback. What if they had been somewhere unfamiliar? They'd been lucky to fight beside a recognizable building. Otherwise, they might not have arrived in time.
"That makes sense. Seina and her team won't always be available."
"If Shikamaru's bracelet had possessed this ability, they would only have needed to activate it and they would've appeared at Konoha's gates."
"Then why not just use this portkey without adding the tracker?" Lee asked, raising his hand as though he were in class.
"No. It's better to be able to transmit our location whenever we choose," Shikamaru replied. "Imagine your team has been captured and split up. You don't know where Neji or Tenten are, or whether they're even conscious. You could escape to Konoha by yourself... but would you?"
Lee wasted no time shouting an outraged, "No!"
"Exactly. In that situation, you'd rather transmit your location and wait for a rescue team."
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I want my bracelet to have both."
Several people nodded in agreement with Ino's admission. After what had happened to their sensei, it was the most logical conclusion. They spent quite some time refining the bracelet's new design, just as Seina had expected. She made a list of everything she would need to modify. There were so many changes that she decided it would be easier to build entirely new ones.
"You can keep those for now. They're better than nothing, but I'll need a few days to make a new one for each of you."
And that was exactly what she did during her free time. Naruto and Sasuke continued training and studying for their exams, while Kakashi accepted a short mission that lasted only a couple of days. Seina felt strangely suffocated, as though she were standing on the edge of something. She wasn't the only one. More than once she saw Tsunade-sama wandering silently through the village alone, visiting a pond, a bar, or the river. She knew why. She was waiting for news from Jiraiya. News that never seemed to come.
Even so, life went on. Seina had faith that Jiraiya would return alive from Ame. He might be an idiot at times, but he was still an exceptional shinobi. Until what happened... happened.
"Seina-nee!" Naruto shouted, bursting through the front door. "They found Pervy Sage near the village! He's been mortally wounded!"
"What!? He must be at the hospital already."
They sprinted toward the hospital, only to realize they weren't the first to arrive. Her teacher wasn't there, but it didn't take much intelligence to guess where she was.
"Seina-sama!" one of the nurses called. "Tsunade-sama is waiting for you in Operating Room Five!"
She gave her worried, anxious brother one last glance before hurrying inside. Jiraiya looked both worse... and better... than she had expected. He had lost an arm. Multiple bones were broken. He was covered in bruises, burns, stab wounds, suffering from severe chakra exhaustion, and appeared to have lost half his clothing during the battle. Seina couldn't believe it. Who could possibly have left Jiraiya in such a state? She immediately began healing him without a word, seeing that her teacher was far too busy to give her instructions.
Something told her Jiraiya wasn't going to have good news for them when he woke up. If he woke up at all.