[Dear Father Sayan,
The scenery here is beautiful, the majesty of the sea shocked us the first time we saw it… and there are all kinds of delicious fish… I even met my Kuchiyose partner, the Shinkai, here… so Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato would like to invite Father and Mother to come and visit.
Nagato even prepared a surprise for Mother. Come quickly!!!
Yahiko's pen falls.]
At that moment Sayan was sitting in his office, reading the letter Yahiko had sent back, he couldn't help sighing.
"As expected, training works. The kids have learned to share, waaah~"
He then glanced at the mountain of documents on his desk… ever since Ebizō went on vacation, no one had handled the paperwork. Sami could only solve civilian problems, anything involving Ninja still had to be dealt with by Sayan himself.
At first Sayan had actually been quite enthusiastic after being away from tedious paperwork for so long, it felt fresh. But after a few days he couldn't take it anymore. He'd thought of temporarily borrowing one of the elders, but those old fogeys were more stubborn than the next. Hmm… or maybe just sharper. Especially Elder Yuan Yi. Every other word was poison or murder. Shallow far too shallow! He couldn't compare at all with that cunning no, kind fellow Ebizō.
In the end, all Ninja-related business could only be shouldered by Sayan himself.
"Nope, it's not that this Kazekage wants to slack off it's just that our kids miss their parents so much, how could a father bear to let his children go without seeing him? Waaah… hee-hee-hee…"
...
Beach Training Camp.
Two days had passed since they dragged the Shinkai back. Yahiko had had a full couple of days, especially after Kōmei Uzumaki recovered yesterday. He'd instantly chained Yahiko's limbs into a spread-eagle. Then dragged him in front of the Shinkai and had him ask where the red pearl was. He stated that without news of the red pearl, he wouldn't recommend Yahiko as the next contractor of the Seven-Colored Pearls.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario never arrived, after all, the Shinkai had lived in the deep sea so long that she knew where rare pearls could be found. Once she gave the approximate location, Kōmei Uzumaki decisively dragged Yahiko to find Duy-sensei again, and the three took off on another spur-of-the-moment flight.
Right now, on the beach where the Shinkai rested, Yahiko and Kōmei Uzumaki were present. Because the two of them had spent these two days in the deep sea, their progress had leapt far ahead, so Might Duy specially granted them a break. They did, however, have one task: keep watch over Nagato's fishing rod.
Yesterday, after seeing Kōmei Uzumaki actually find the red pearl, Nagato couldn't sit still, this morning he sought out Might Duy and launched his own fantastical adventure.
At the moment Yahiko was lying on top of the Shinkai. Note: not on her shell she had opened it and extended the mussel flesh at her tail. Yahiko was currently lying on that flesh.
[Shinkai, is it really okay for me to lie like this?]
[It's fine, in human terms, the spot you're lying on is just my foot hardly a sensitive place.]
[…Sounds weird. Whatever. Shinkai, your foot smells surprisingly nice fresh and milky, I thought you'd reek like ordinary clam meat.]
[…Foot is just my analogy…]
[Besides, can an ordinary clam grow to forty metres?]
[Ha, true.]
"Ha " "Chirp-chirp~"
The sounds ahead pulled Yahiko, who'd been chatting with Shinkai in his mind, back to reality. He lifted his head, looked ahead, then lay back down.
"Say, Kōmei, it's only a pearl do you have to rub it that hard? You'll wipe the red right off."
Kōmei Uzumaki, sitting on the sand huffing on the pearl and polishing it with his sleeve, replied irritably, "I'm refining the details what would a single dog know?"
Yahiko: "…"
"Haven't even confessed yet aren't you a single dog too?"
"Tch, what do you know." He held the still-being-polished pearl in front of Yahiko and said, "Do you know what this is?"
"Sure a pearl we found together yesterday."
"Wrong dead wrong!"
Yahiko was so thrown by Kōmei's absolute certainty that he wondered if his own memory had glitched.
"Th-then what is it?"
"Idiot! It's my ticket to happiness, with it I stop being a single dog!"
"So are you single now?"
"Yeah, but once I have this I won't be a single dog anymore!"
Yahiko: "…"
[So the thing in your hand is the dog, huh!]
"Yahiko, come look between my pearl and the one Ebizō-sama found, which has better lustre?"
Watching Kōmei shove the pearl in his face, Yahiko muttered, "How should I know? I haven't seen his. Ask one of the girls."
"No way! This surprise is for Jiang Wan can't let anyone find out. If one girl knows, every girl knows."
"True. Then go ask Ebizō-sama he's the one who found his pearl."
"No! If mine's better and he confiscates it, what then?"
"…Then just ask Roka-sama."
"You ever see Roka-sama alone? Would I dare approach her when she is?"
Yahiko thought hard and realized Kōmei had a point. By day Ebizō-sama and Chiyo-sama were almost always with Roka-sama, at night Ebizō dragged Roka for beach walks, and even for sleep she shared a tent with Chiyo-sama practically never alone.
"Fair enough. But don't rush, the pearl's safe "
"Pearl? What pearl!"
As they spoke, Ebizō's voice suddenly sounded behind them, making Yahiko jump.
"He-heh, Ebizō-sama, what brings you here?"
Kōmei Uzumaki shuddered when he saw Ebizō suddenly poke his head out from behind Shinkai's shell, quickly clenched his hand into a fist to hide the pearl in his palm, and asked aloud.
"Oh, Kōmei, you're here too. Something just crossed my mind, so I came looking for Yahiko."
The moment Yahiko heard Ebizō was there for him, his hands shook in fright and he frantically called Shinkai in his mind, begging her to tuck him inside her shell for a while. He couldn't help it he'd been tricked too many times.
"Hey, hey, don't run off! I really do have serious business."
Seeing Yahiko about to slip inside Shinkai, Ebizō snatched his ankle in the nick of time and hauled him out, blurting out why he'd come.
"Yahiko! Yahiko! I need your help."
"Huh? You need my help?" Yahiko's head popped out of the clamshell, eyeing Ebizō skeptically.
"That's right, I need your help."
"Well, you should've said so sooner." Once sure Ebizō wanted a favor, Yahiko's hands stopped shaking and he straightened up. After telling Shinkai mentally to put him down, he strolled over to Ebizō and cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Ebizō-sama, what's in it for me?"
Ebizō: "???"
Shouldn't he first ask what the favor is?
"Um, Yahiko, I can arrange to send Shinkai back to the sea. How about that?"
"That's it?"
"Isn't that enough? Yahiko, with her weight, getting Shinkai back to the sea is nearly impossible. But if you do me this small favor, I, the Strategic Head of Sunagakure and an elder of the village, swear I'll find a way. Deal?"
"No need. I've already figured it out."
"What! You've already got a plan?"
"Yep, I know how to get Shinkai back to the ocean."
"Hold on, let me get this straight. You're telling me you hauled her up the day before yesterday, got dragged into the sea by Kōmei Uzumaki yesterday, and while sunbathing here today you suddenly cracked it?"
"Not exactly."
"I knew it how could you possibly "
"I worked it out shortly after you left the day before."
Ebizō: "..."
[Are kids' brains really this fast?]
"So what's your solution?"
"Well~" Meeting Ebizō's eager stare, Yahiko rubbed his chin and gazed into the distance. "There help's arriving."
"What?"
Startled, Ebizō followed Yahiko's gaze and whipped his head around. Far off in the sky, a golden speck was speeding toward them. The speck grew larger turning into a Golden Cloud.
Ebizō snapped his head back to Yahiko. "You called the Kazekage?"
"Sure. If I can't fix it, I tell Dad. Isn't that normal?"
"...And what exactly did you tell him?"
"Er… well…" Yahiko began to stammer. "What else could I say? Just that I missed him, of course!"
"That's it? My dear 'dogson'?"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? A dog's son is still a son!"
"Heh." Ebizō answered with a polite smile, clearly enjoying the show.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"Haven't seen the Kazekage in ages, I rather miss him too."
Yahiko: "..."
"Hahaha my boy Yahiko! I'm here!"
Three minutes later the Golden Cloud landed, revealing Sayan along with the four grown-ups and four little ones.
"Haha, my son, did you miss your old man?" Canceling his jutsu, Sayan strode up, cuffed Yahiko's head, and laughed. Then he turned to someone still airborne and shouted, "Hey, Konan, you came too! Come on down!"
It was Konan, who'd been watching from the cliff. Seeing Sayan arrive, she waved to Might Duy and flew over.
"Father Sayan."
"Good girl! Yahiko wrote that you all missed us, so I brought the whole family. Happy?"
Konan: "???"
Reading her puzzled face, Yahiko panicked and, behind Sayan's back, frantically signaled Konan with his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, Sayan sensed every bit of it and his grin only widened.
Seeing Yahiko's frantic blinking, Konan realized he'd engineered this, but she played along she really had missed them after only two days at home before being packed off to boot camp.
"Yeah, Father Sayan, we all missed you."
"Haha, good kids. I also heard Yahiko and Nagato prepared gifts for us true?"
Sayan winked at Konan, noticing his signal matched Yahiko's earlier one, she caught on and continued, "Yes, Yahiko and Nagato said they'd get something for each of the moms and the four little ones."
"Haha, you sweethearts! As long as you're happy, why bother with gifts? Still," Sayan turned to the stunned Yahiko, hooked an arm around his neck, and rubbed the fuzz already sprouting on the boy's head. "But how could I refuse such thoughtful kids, right, Yahiko?"
"Heh… yeah… Nagato and I ought to, really."
Feeling the tightening grip, Yahiko hastily agreed, though inwardly he was already regretting it.
[I'm doomed. Should've written only Nagato's name and left Konan off the letter.]
After sending Konan to accompany Mother and the four little ones, and handing the local specialties Sayan had brought to the tearful Ebizō, Yahiko introduced his Kuchiyose beast.
"Father Sayan, this is Shinkai, the partner I told you about in my letter. Shinkai, this is my father, Sayan Kazekage of Sunagakure."
[Hello, Kazekage-sama. I am Shinkai, Yahiko's Kuchiyose beast. Please look after us.]
"Hello, Shinkai. I've heard of you Nidaime Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu's Kuchiyose beast."
"Huh? You even knew that, Dad? Even Ebizō-sama in charge of intel didn't."
Hearing Sayan blurt out Shinkai's origin so casually left Yahiko stunned, he'd never mentioned it in his letter he'd wanted to see his old man's shocked face, yet he was the one left gaping.
One look at Yahiko's dumbstruck expression and Sayan knew exactly what the boy had been plotting, he snorted in exasperation.
"Hmph, there's nothing your old man doesn't know. As far as I'm concerned, the entire Ninja World has no secrets."
[Ha! Talk big much?]
Just as Sayan was about to ask Shinkai where she planned to settle, the fishing rod stuck in the sand suddenly twitched.
"Dad uh, I mean, Nagato's brought you a present!"
"Oh, really?" He kicked Yahiko. "Then what are you waiting for? Go haul my dear boy up!"
Yahiko: "…"
Ten minutes later.
A hand broke the surface first, clutching a milky-white pearl. Nagato's booming laughter followed right after.
"Hahaha, I finally found the pearly-white Konan was talking about. I'm sure whoever I give it to "
"Give it to whom?"
While Nagato was still basking in his treasure, a familiar voice from the shore made him shudder.
"Father Sayan, what are you doing here?"
"Came to see you kids. Yahiko says you prepared a special gift surely that pearl in your hand is it?"
At that, Nagato first glared at Yahiko, but Yahiko had already turned his head away, expecting exactly that reaction.
"This… this pearl…"
"Such a good boy, diving straight in to find a gift for your Mother the moment you heard she was here. Isn't that right, Nagato?"
"Ah… y-yeah, that's for Mom! Waaah…"
"Haha, good kids, every one of you." Sayan plucked okay, snatched the pearl from Nagato and studied it in the sunlight. "Nice, very nice. Silvery threads on a white pearl top grade, worth a fortune. You've got taste, Nagato."
Watching his treasure vanish, Nagato could only smile through the pain. Look on the bright side. He'd see Mom soon, right? And Mom would praise him, right? But just as he consoled himself, Sayan's next words wiped the smile off his face.
"Still, one pearl's hardly enough, is it? How do we split a single pearl? So, Nagato, I'm afraid you'll have to work a bit harder."
"Pfft "
Seeing Nagato's face, Yahiko couldn't hold back a snort, clapping both hands over his mouth the instant it escaped. But both Nagato and Sayan were famed powerhouses, they'd heard every bit of that muffled laugh.
"Father Sayan, I insist Yahiko help me many hands make light work."
Spotting Yahiko gloating from the bank, Nagato dragged him into the mess without hesitation. Yet Yahiko on shore didn't bat an eye.
"Father Sayan, I'd love to dive for the Mothers, but circumstances forbid. Duy-sensei already opened the Seventh Gate this morning to send Nagato down, and he's still keeping the Third Gate active to train the other students. His body can't take much more. You wouldn't want him left with permanent damage, right, Dad?"
"No problem, I can heal him."
Yahiko: "…"
[Great how'd I forget that?]
Just as he braced for another plunge, Sayan's next remark lifted the weight off his shoulders.
"Still, you've got a point Duy-sensei has other students. We shouldn't trouble him."
"Exactly. Look how hard he works, bothering him would be awful."
"True, so I'll handle it myself and toss you two down there."
Yahiko: "???"
"Dad, you know the Hachimon Tonkō?"
"Nope."
"Then how will you throw us into the sea?"
"Yahiko, haven't you heard the saying?"
"What saying?"
"The higher you stand, the farther you throw!"
Yahiko: "…How high?"
"You'll know when you get there."
...
A short while later.
"Dad, isn't this a bit too high?!" Standing on a Golden Cloud, Yahiko shouted down to Sayan. As for Nagato, he was on the cloud too, eyes vacant.
"Not high at all only a few hundred meters. This is my newest jutsu, it can hit a kilometer. I call it Golden Cloud nice name, huh?"
"Heh, lovely. You're not really taking us to a kilometer, right, Dad?"
"Of course not."
"Phew good."
"Four or five hundred meters is plenty, any higher and I might fling you too far to fish back."
[Heh aren't you just a saint.]
"All right, this spot'll do. Who flies first?"
With that, Sayan conjured more gold dust, forming a colossal hand behind the cloud, angled back at forty-five degrees and ready to launch at any second.
"Heh, Nagato can go first look how excited he is!"
Imagining the drop from this height, Yahiko pointed at Nagato and spouted nonsense.
"Rubbish it's clearly Yahiko's turn. I've already been down once, now it's his."
Seeing Yahiko single him out, Nagato dropped his sorrow and argued back. Soon the two were locked in a heated mid-air debate over who would fly first.
While they bickered, Sayan quietly split a sliver of gold from the cloud and drifted away with it. Then the Golden Cloud suddenly tilted, sliding both Yahiko and Nagato into the giant palm. And with a unified toss, the two were hurled into the sky.
"Aaaah! Father Sayan, you tricked us again!" ×2
"Tch, after all these years they still don't keep their guard up around me."
Watching them vanish into the distance, Sayan recalled the gold dust and returned to the ground. As for their safety, he wasn't worried he'd left safeguards on them. And with Nagato's Rinnegan, one Shinra Tensei would cancel all momentum.
"All right, the brats are gone. Let's talk about your plans, Shinkai."
Would you like me to translate the conversation between Sayan and Shinkai regarding her future?