The next day, she had slept so deeply that she was the last to arrive at the dining hall. Naruto, as soon as he saw her, let her know that Kakashi-sensei had sincerely apologized to him for missing his match. Meanwhile, Sasuke seemed to be bombarding Kakashi-sensei with questions about summoning contracts after remembering that the jonin himself had dog summons.
"And where can we find one of those?" Sasuke asked him.
"Didn't the Uchiha clan have a couple of contracts?"
"Yes, but I'd rather not have the same contract as that bastard Itachi," Sasuke hissed. Kakashi-sensei raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"I could ask around if anyone knows of a scroll, if you're interested," Kakashi-sensei said, trying to calm him down. Sasuke nodded. "What do you think of Sasuke's idea, Seina?"
"About all of us having different summons?" She shrugged. "I can do the same with my powers without a contract. In fact, I could prepare them before battle and have them in a summoning scroll. Hmm... not a bad idea. I'll add it to my list."
"Really?" Naruto asked her, eyes shining. "You could have a dragon!"
"What list are you talking about?" Kakashi-sensei asked curiously, but everyone ignored him.
"You could make one for me," Sasuke stated, almost drooling. "Dobe, you already have your own contract. Now deal with it."
"HEY! Why can't I have both?"
"Hello?" the jonin greeted, waving his hand. "Can someone pay attention to me?"
Seina laughed in his face as her brother and Sasuke continued to ignore him.
"By list, I mean the things I want to do and research with my powers. My next goal is, or was I suppose, to make that ninja tent. It shouldn't take long," she said, summoning her diary out of nowhere to jot down the new idea.
Kakashi-sensei looked at her with a blank face.
"Alright. As long as it's nothing dangerous."
She waved her hand dismissively. It wasn't dangerous since she knew exactly how to construct the tent to her liking. If she had to do it from scratch without any idea, perhaps some explosions would be inevitable. Knowing that sooner or later they might be sent on separate missions, she was thinking of making four different tents. What she needed to figure out was what to put in each of them. Once she made one, the others would be a piece of cake.
"Seina, stop plotting for a moment and everyone listen to me. Yesterday, Jiraiya-sama told me he wanted to talk to you, Naruto. He didn't say exactly what he wanted, but it's probably related to the new Hokage candidate, Tsunade-sama."
"Who's that woman?"
"Along with Orochimaru, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama were part of Team 7 under the Third Hokage. Jiraiya-sama told me that he declined the position, so logically, if the advisors contacted him about the vacant spot, it means Tsunade-sama is the other candidate for the position."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Right now, Tsunade-sama is not in the village. She hasn't been for years, to be exact. Jiraiya-sama likely wants you to accompany him to find her."
"EH? Really?" Naruto asked excitedly, but then deflated. "What about the teme and Seina-nee?"
"Don't worry about me, Naru. I'm going to resume my studies at the hospital."
"Seina and Sasuke will continue training with me as well."
"Hn."
"Well, guys, I have to go. Today you have to go to the Hokage's tower in 2 hours to be informed about the chunin exams. Good luck, guys."
"WHAT?" Naruto shouted, but Kakashi-sensei disappeared in a swirl of leaves. "He always does that!"
"I suppose they've already deliberated the results. After all, there were only ten matches."
"And they didn't even finish watching mine," Sasuke growled irritably.
The next few hours were torturous. Naruto was too excited to sit still, so they walked to the tower, stopping at several shops to buy some sweets, even though his brother didn't need more reasons to be hyperactive. When the inevitable moment arrived, they went to the Hokage's tower, which seemed livelier than ever. They encountered Shikamaru, who seemed annoyed to be there.
"You too? Shino is missing."
"No. I'm here."
Shikamaru and Naruto jumped when they realized he was leaning against the wall, hidden behind a plant. Sasuke snorted a laugh at the shocked look on Naruto's face.
"I almost didn't see you!"
"...I know."
"We should go in. It's almost noon."
When they entered the Hokage's office, they saw that Neji was already there. Instead of one person sitting in the Hokage's chair, there were three people waiting for them standing. One of them was the jonin commander, Shikaku Nara, another was the exams' proctor, and the last person seemed to be an elderly woman, an advisor of the former Hokage.
"Welcome back, chunin candidates. You are here today to receive your final evaluation, which will determine if you are ready to advance in rank. Due to our new circumstances, we will decide by majority if you pass or not. Let's begin," the proctor informed them. "First candidate: Neji Hyuga."
Seina listened nervously as they denied his promotion. They explained that in both his fights, against Hinata and Naruto, he let his emotions take control, making irrational decisions in combat instead of setting his emotions aside. He was defeated by Naruto because he failed to recognize his opponent's worth, believing he was superior. Sasuke glanced at her sideways, somewhat shocked by Shikaku Nara's harsh but honest words.
After Neji, it was Naruto's turn. To their disappointment, he was also rejected. The reason for his rejection was that he prolonged both fights, putting himself in danger and unnecessarily revealing his use of Kurama's chakra when he could have quickly ended the fight using his wit and clones without having to expose such an important ability. Especially since he was a jinchuriki and he revealed it in front of the entire village and visiting shinobi for something as simple as winning a fight in a chunin exam.
Shino was the third to be rejected, simply because winning a fight by default wasn't enough to analyze and evaluate his abilities and the values necessary to be a chunin. Like Shino, Sasuke was also rejected for not having completed the fight due to the invasion and for arriving late, which was unacceptable for a ninja.
When her turn came, she was even nervous.
"Fifth candidate: Seina Uzumaki."
"Seina-san, after analyzing and evaluating both of your matches, the first against Ino Yamanaka and the second against Dosu Kinuta, we must conclude that you are fit for the rank of chunin," Shikaku informed her. Seina stifled a sigh of relief. "Not only did you consider the abilities of both opponents and prepare accordingly, but you also fought efficiently, using only the techniques required to win, without prolonging the combat in either case. Your good judgment allowed you to avoid risks, deny information about your abilities to your enemies, and defeat them with the least possible effort using logic. Qualities that a good chunin must have. Congratulations, chunin Uzumaki."
Seina bowed, unable to believe it. Although she couldn't see their faces, she knew Naruto was smiling widely and that Sasuke felt proud of her deep down. Shikamaru, the last candidate, was also promoted despite losing. The fact that he knew his limitations was enough to secure his promotion since, if he had a bit more chakra, he could have easily won, demonstrating the same qualities as her.
Shikaku told them when and where they could receive their new chunin uniforms. Seina, once she came down from the clouds, realized that the moment she had been dreading had arrived. What was going to happen to Team 7 now? They left the Hokage's tower, ready to go to the yakiniku to celebrate together.
"What do you think will happen to our teams now?" Naruto asked.
"Seina and I will likely continue in Team 7 and 10 respectively," Shikamaru thought. "We've only been genins for 7 months. Besides, Neji's team has a vacancy with Lee. Perhaps they could supplement our teams, if we have a mission, with Tenten and Neji."
They talked a bit about the invasion, how the Sand siblings had been released, the damage to their clans, and the new Hokage who had everyone on edge. Just as they were about to leave, Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei appeared.
"Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru asked, surprised. Seeing their faces, he turned serious. "What happened?"
"Team 7, follow me," Asuma-sensei ordered without another word.
They stood up instantly, saying goodbye to their friends and leaving their share of the money on the table. Shikamaru gave her a look, but she had no idea what was going on either, so she raised an eyebrow in response. She started walking, leading the group with Kurenai-sensei behind her team. Seina knew something bad must be happening; otherwise, 3 genins wouldn't be escorted in their own village by 2 jonins who weren't their master.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked, as direct as ever.
"Not here."
Seina realized where they were heading because she knew what was in that direction. It was Kakashi-sensei's house, which she herself had put under fidelius. When they got there, she knew that no one but her could see anything. Just when she was about to wonder what they were doing there, Guy-sensei appeared carrying Kakashi-sensei, who seemed on the brink of collapse. He could barely keep his eyes open, and his skin was ashen.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted before she could open her mouth. "What happened!?"
"Seina, tell them the secret, please," Kakashi-sensei asked with tremendous effort, his voice barely a whisper.
Seina obeyed instantly. She knew that if he was asking, it was for a good reason. She took out a piece of paper and wrote down the address. She let the paper circulate among them all and then made it disappear into her pouch so no one would notice. Even though it was something surprising, none of the jonin said anything about the house that had just appeared. Guy-sensei entered with Kakashi-sensei on his back, and they all followed.
"Wait here," Asuma-sensei told them.
Minutes later, when they entered Kakashi-sensei's room, they saw that his weapons, vest, and everything unnecessary had been removed. Seina saw him looking at them with the little strength he had left, as if wanting to make sure they were there. She sat beside him on the bed and took his hand. She noticed the jonin's surprise at her gesture. Maybe they thought it was too bold, or perhaps they were astonished when Kakashi-sensei didn't push her away. She felt a weak squeeze of her hand.
"While you were at the Hokage's tower, Kurenai and I discovered two S-rank criminals lurking in the village," explained Asuma. "One was Kisame Hoshigaki, and the other… Itachi Uchiha."
Naruto whipped around to look at his friend while Seina opened her link to make sure he wasn't alone, glancing at him. Feeling it, her brother did the same. Together, they managed to calm Sasuke's irrational anger until it dissipated enough not to cloud his judgment. Still, it was impossible not to see how tense he was. Once again, the other jonin, except his master, looked somewhat surprised at Sasuke's self-control.
"What did that bastard want? Did you capture him?"
"No. He escaped. Apparently, he's after Naruto and Seina."
"What!?"
"And what happened to Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
"The mangekyou sharingan. A more advanced type of sharingan," her master weakly replied. "He used it to torture me mentally for three days."
"...For three days?" she hissed, angry.
"Aren't we going to talk about what we saw with this house and that paper?" Kurenai-sensei asked, almost amused. "Is that why you asked us to bring you here and escort your genin to your house? It wasn't a genjutsu, so what was it?"
"Forget it, Kurenai, and not a word of this."
"Yosh, if Kakashi doesn't want to tell us, there must be a reason. I'll keep your secret, my eternal rival."
"What else can we do?" Asuma-sensei sighed, then nodded at Kurenai-sensei.
"Itachi can't find them here. At least while we figure out what to do, they're safe."
"And what about Naruto's trip?" she asked. "Wasn't he supposed to travel with ero-senin?"
"Ero-senin?"
"The pervy old man," Naruto replied, explaining absolutely nothing new.
"They mean Jiraiya-sama."
The other jonin laughed momentarily upon hearing this, although Kurenai-sensei seemed angry at the thought of the perverted hot spring spy. She must have had more than one run-in with the old man.
"The fact is, having the three of you stay here, not just the two of you, puts the village at risk. We don't know what they want, but it can't be anything good."
"However, if you leave, Itachi will go after you. We don't know if he has more allies out there who could overpower Jiraiya-sama to get to you."
"So, what's the plan?"
"The best course of action would be to divide their efforts. Let Naruto be under Jiraiya-sama's care and Seina stay here with Sasuke, under supervision. If they stay with you, Kakashi, while you recover, I don't think he can get to them."
"We'll have to inform Shikaku-sama of this possible solution."
"And talk to Jiraiya-sama. We should ask him to come now to discuss it."
"One of you go to him later," their jonin sensei asked in an obviously exhausted voice.
"Don't you think this is important and urgent? Maybe we should include him in this conversation."
"Now's not the time, Kurenai," Kakashi-sensei reprimanded her firmly with a hint of irritation in his voice that she hadn't heard before, despite him seeming on the brink of unconsciousness.
"Of course," Kurenai acknowledged gracefully, making a slight bow in apology.
"Let me speak to my genin alone, please."
Seina watched as all the jonin left, leaving them alone with Kakashi-sensei. She used her magic to silence the room after seeing her master's look. She nodded. She conjured a couple of chairs for Naruto and Sasuke to sit by her side, closer to Kakashi-sensei.
"May I examine you?" she asked.
Kakashi-sensei nodded, so she used both iryo ninjutsu and medical spells. She healed the few superficial wounds he had and gave him a revitalizing potion when she saw his energy levels. Still, it was clear that this new sharingan had affected him mentally.
"How do you feel?"
"Better. Even though my body is recovered, my mind is not. Unless you have another remedy for that."
"I could take a mental look."
"I see. You can read minds. If you think it will help, go ahead."
She looked him straight in the eyes, despite not really needing to, and easily entered his psyche. As she thought, despite not probing, she could see he had a brilliant but lonely mind. It felt as though it was all bruised after those three days of nightmare, so she used her magic to counter the chakra effect in his central nervous system. Gradually, she expelled the residual, strange chakra from Kakashi-sensei's mind, also soothing the bruised areas from past traumas and from Itachi. When she finished, Kakashi-sensei was asleep, and his face no longer had that slightly desolate expression from before. She used another spell to ensure he had a deep, dreamless sleep and got up, leaving the jonin's hand under the blanket.
"Is he cured?" Naruto asked.
"If he had stayed awake, I could have asked him, but seeing that he's asleep and that I've done all I could for his mind, I'd say yes."
"Let's go talk to the others," Sasuke requested, who had been silent the entire time.
Seina removed the silencing spell and opened the door.
"Ah, you're back. How is Kakashi?"
"He's sleeping."
"Perfect. That's just what he needs," Asuma-sensei told them. "We're going to leave. We're going to talk to the people in charge to see what we do, so until then, don't leave the house. Understood?"
They watched as they left. There was silence while they internalized everything that had just happened and the fact that they were practically confined to Kakashi-sensei's house until further notice.
"I can't believe he's here... What does he want with you?"
"There are only two possibilities," she said, having thought about it earlier. "He's here because we are your teammates or because we are the jinchurikis of Kurama."
"I don't know which is worse," Naruto muttered.
"Definitely the latter, dobe," Sasuke smacked him and rolled his eyes. "Do you think they'll take you to a spa if they catch you?"
"So, what do we do now?"
"We can't do anything. Asuma-sensei is right to think that we're safe here, but if we go outside, we're easy targets and could endanger many people."
"And Kakashi-sensei? When do you think he'll wake up?"
"He won't wake up for at least six hours. I used my powers to ensure he could sleep without nightmares."
Sasuke sighed upon hearing this and sat on the couch. Seina could feel he was still angry, despite being able to control his murderous impulses. He knew he wasn't a match for his brother. None of them were except maybe Kakashi-sensei, but it pissed him off to have to wait to claim his revenge. What Sasuke and Naruto needed was something to distract them. Luckily, she had her pouch with her, as usual.
"How about we use this free time to get some things done?" she suggested.
That was enough to pique their curiosity.
"What do you mean?"
"I was thinking about the idea of having our own summoning team. The dragon wasn't a bad idea, Naruto. It flies, runs, swims, breathes fire, and its scales are more resistant than metal. Plus, the weaknesses it has I can easily eliminate with runes and spells."
"I want one of those," Sasuke requested like a little kid. "What's the limit?"
"And how would it work?" her brother asked.
"Do you know how a summoning scroll works?"
"The scroll is connected to another being to be summoned, this being it's transported to the scroll or through the hand seals performed by the summoner," Sasuke explained, and Naruto nodded.
"Mmm... makes sense. When I signed ero-senin's contract, I could use it to summon a toad, although it was a tadpole."
"And then you used the seals in your fight against Gaara," Seina nodded. "Basically, that's how the contract and the summoning scroll work, but the summoned animal has to come from somewhere."
"I hadn't even thought of that..." Naruto looked at her in astonishment.
"You mean we need a place to keep our summons," Sasuke said, seeing the problem.
"I don't get it..." her brother scratched his head. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Naruto. If we want to summon a dragon the size of a house, we're not going to summon it out of thin air; it has to be made before being summoned. Imagine. I create a horse to summon and leave it in our garden. In a fight outside the village, I use the summoning jutsu and summon it. The horse disappears from our garden and appears where I am, but then it has to return and occupy a physical space."
"So... we can't create something huge to summon?" Naruto asked, completely disappointed. "I know! Why don't we build a shed or something in the garden and expand it on the inside? We could keep all our summons there!"
"Not a bad idea, dobe. What could fit in there?"
"Space is not an issue."
"What are we waiting for then?"
"Alright," Seina smiled and took out her muggle notebook. "What's clear is that we all want a dragon..."
Over the next few hours, they planned their summoning teams. They needed both giant animals for large-scale attacks and small animals for infiltrations, as well as medium-sized animals that could carry them and a few other people without taking up too much space. They also needed animals that could fly, swim, and run. Fortunately, she had plenty of material in her mind to use.
"What if we focus on one person's summoning list first?" she said. "Now we have a rough idea of what we need, and we also agree that a dragon would be a good summon."
"Let's start with you," Sasuke replied, and Naruto didn't object. "Besides the dragon, what else would you summon that would be useful?"
"The dragon would be useful for flying and attacking from the sky, but it's not very discreet. So, I'd either have another much smaller dragon that could carry me flying, or I could have an abraxan, a pegasus, or a thestral. Basically, they are horses a bit larger than normal horses, and they also have wings for flying. I think I lean more towards the latter."
"Yeah. A horse is more useful on the ground than a dragon, and if it can also fly, even better."
"Then, I'd have some kind of aquatic creature: one for large-scale attacks and another for transport. So, I'm thinking a giant kraken and a kelpie."
"The kraken is a giant squid, right?"
"Something like that, yes. The kelpie is a sea horse. Right now, I have four on my list. I'll need something smaller that can go unnoticed. I think I'll use various types of small birds depending on the area, so they don't attract attention, and the same with insects so they can carry messages and spy. That's about 20 or 25 more animals?"
"You need more summons for fighting on land. Practically 80% of battles are on land, and so far, you only have the horse."
"I know. I was thinking of a basilisk, a griffin, and a few acromantulas."
Naruto and Sasuke shuddered, recalling the giant, talking spiders from their memories. In the end, making her list was quite easy since, with no space limitations, she could have an entire zoo if she wanted. In fact, Naruto's idea had merit and made her think of Newt Scamander, whom she met at Luna and Rolf's wedding. That man was not only a great magizoologist but also a genius with enchantments. He had created a suitcase with an entire world inside to save his creatures, so why not do the same? She could carry the shrunken suitcase full of animals in her pouch, and in a pinch, she could use them without having to summon them. Also, if one day her house was destroyed, which could happen more often than she'd like, she wouldn't lose her research or her creatures since she'd be carrying them with her.
"It's actually better this way," Sasuke thought out loud. "Though we should make the pouches invisible."
"It doesn't make much sense to make them invisible," she disagreed. "It's easier to enchant them so that anyone who tries to take them gets confused and forgets to do so. What we should make invisible is the portkey we have in the form of a necklace, and we should also build some fortifications far from Konoha in case the worst happens."
"And how are we going to do that?"
"She's right. If Konoha falls at some point, our portkeys will be useless. We'd be entering enemy territory directly."
Before they could continue speculating, someone entered the property. As soon as she sensed it, Naruto and Sasuke became alert. She knew they had nothing to worry about. It could only be the jonin-sensei from before. To her little surprise, it was Asuma-sensei. He observed all of them on the floor, sitting on cushions around the coffee table, with her notebook and several duplicated scrolls from the library scattered all around.
"I see you've kept yourselves busy. Any news about Kakashi?"
"He's still asleep."
"When are we going to be able to leave here?" Sasuke asked, exasperated.
"That's what I came to talk to you about. In short: tomorrow, Naruto will leave with Jiraiya-sama in search of Tsunade-sama. We've spread some rumors to make it seem like Seina is going with them. That should be enough to make Itachi leave the village. Meanwhile, Seina and Sasuke, you will stay here until further notice. Seina, since you are now a chunin and have medical training, your new mission will be to watch over Kakashi and his possible relapses. Sasuke will be under your care until Kakashi regains consciousness and relieves you. Understood?"
"Hai."
"Naruto, you come with me. I'll take you to Jiraiya-sama, and you will leave tomorrow morning."
Naruto nodded without much enthusiasm. Asuma-sensei let them talk for a few minutes before leaving with Naruto, who seemed torn between feeling excited about the trip, fearful of what might happen, and angry that they had to stay behind alone to care for their sensei. Without further ado, Naruto left, and Sasuke and she were left alone, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to recover.