Chapter 28 Part 1
Waiting is the most exhausting occupation imaginable. Having settled into my nook, I stared toward the entrance with a feeling of vague discomfort, wishing to see familiar figures there. The only thing keeping me from being consumed by uncertainty and worry was that the local spirits were untroubled—which meant all was well with the group.
Ha-ahhh!.. This is, in its own way, draining. Time dragged so slowly; the clock hands in the vestibule moved unhurriedly, lazily, as if mocking. In the time that passed, I'd managed to have a snack, recheck my supplies, drink some tea, have another snack, and even nap. Sleep devoured a significant chunk of time, but to my disappointment, the genin still hadn't appeared by the second half of the day.
It was closer to midnight when a group of young Leaf shinobi entered the tower's illuminated vestibule. Many of them looked battered, weary; they moved almost with difficulty. Most of them were completely unfamiliar to me, but the others I would always recognize. I felt my lips stretch into a smile, and my heart grew lighter. Rising to my feet, I strode briskly toward them:
"Hey, everyone. You finally made it." I called out, soft, drawing the genin's attention. "Sakurai-kun, Lee-chan, Sasuko-chan, Na—"
"Ko?... KORU-CHAAAAAN!" Oh?!!!
That was a little too much to stay firmly on my feet. Something—more precisely, someone—struck me in the chest with enough force to send me flying about half a meter backward onto the floor. Oww!
"Hey, Naruko." Wincing slightly at the aching pain in my bruised backside, I nonetheless ran my hand through the blonde's disheveled hair with pleasure. "Congratulations."
"Umm!" Naruko nodded, happy. The girl's eyes sparkled brightly with joy—all the more noticeable against her... rather grimy little face. "We made it!!"
"Yes—you made it."
"Who the hell's this?" It was the loudest whisper I'd ever heard.
"He's... our comrade," came Sakurai's reply. The young man's voice sounded surprised. "But he's not taking the exam."
"Ah—this is a bit sudden, isn't it? But I was permitted to come and watch the exam." I answer, squirming uncomfortably on the stone floor. "Ahem—Naruko, would you mind?.."
"Eh? Eh!" Blinking in surprise, the girl sprang up in place—ugh, that hurt!—and, thank the kami, finally climbed off me! Not that Naruko was so heavy... but her knees are decidedly sharp, as my stomach is now informing me. "S-sorry! I just... kinda... really got surprised! And... I'm really happy to see you here, Koru-chan! Heh-heh..."
Naruko laughed, awkward, scratching the back of her head in an embarrassed gesture.
"Oooooo! Naruko-chan, Youth is boiling within you!!!"
"Loud numbskull." Ah—that's so her... Sometimes. Hm-h...
"Shut up, Hedgehog!"
Ha, speaking of which: so many new faces. I think I can intuitively guess who's who. The girl—I think?—wearing a heavy hooded cloak and dark glasses covering half her face—Shino... or Shiho?.. Aburame. The sturdy girl with the puppy and painted fangs on her cheeks—Inuzuka. Ha... from the look of her, she's quite the tomboy. The pair of white-eyes—without a doubt—Hyuga. The petite bishounen is the male version of Hinata, and the taller girl with the arrogant face is Nezha, accordingly. The girl with the pineapple hairstyle and lazy expression—Shikumo. The plump girl with swirls on her cheeks—the fem-version of Choji. The young man in the Chinese qipao—m-Tento. Well, Lee and Ino I already know. The entire young crop of Konoha, in full assembly.
"Ha-ha, so familiar." I laugh shortly, rising to my feet. Brushing myself off, I incline my head in an informal greeting: "Some of you already know me, but for the rest—allow me to introduce myself: I'm Nagisa Kaoru. Pleased to meet you all."
As expected—I hadn't been wrong in my conclusions. All of Konoha's most "vivid" youth, in full roster. The group proved, on the whole, fairly friendly. Only Nezha stood out—with her disdain; Hanni—with his strangely wistful-pensive gaze (what's that about?)... And Kiba's greeting was rather aggressive, as though she was immediately trying to establish a dominant position.
On the whole—fairly pleasant kids. On the whole.
However...
"Could that be Kaoru-kohai?! I didn't know you'd be here too."
"Yaaaa... Kabuki-sempai—and I'd forgotten you're trying to pass the exam yet again! You even made it through the second stage?! That's amazing!" I exclaimed with exaggerated cheer, greeting the young woman. Khe... For some reason, I'm certain "Sempai" isn't buying my friendliness in the slightest. If only because she's a far more experienced actor than I am. We had a rather peculiar relationship: during medical practicals, we could work together with pleasure, but in ordinary life, things were stranger: she smiled at me, I smiled at her—and we were both completely insincere. She clearly knew I felt some antipathy toward her (at least, I preferred to think so, since I wasn't sure I could hide it well), but didn't know the reasons behind it (otherwise, she'd have already either slit my throat or tried to recruit me). I, for my part, knew her true nature but continued to play benevolence. After so much time, for both of us, such behavior had become so natural that it occasionally verged on the surreal.
"It's not polite to hint at a woman's failures, kohai!" The silver-haired spy chided me, her glasses flashing.
"'A woman's,' sempai? When did that happen?!"
"Eh? Kaoru-san, Kabuki-san—you know each other?!" Sakurai wondered. The others were curious too.
"Hm... Well... something like that," I answer, vague.
"Yes—'something like that,'" Yakushi snorted, clearly placing emphasis in her words. "Well then, juniors—my team needs to go. See you later."
Kabuki's team departed in an orderly fashion, vanishing into one of the corridors. The other Leaf teams followed suit, eager to snatch their share of well-earned rest after the grueling adventures in the forest jungles.
"We should go too," I say, gesturing the team to follow. "The second floor has plenty of vacant rooms—they're reserved for teams that arrive before the final deadline. You can rest there and get yourselves in order."
"You've already scouted things out here?" The Uchiha asked, awarding me a hard-to-read look. Ohooo? I've already been promoted to spy?
"Not so much 'scouted'—this is publicly available information. But!" I raise a finger toward the ceiling, didactic. "You really should grab as much rest as you can. Because—something tells me the second stage isn't over yet."
"Eh?! But we already got the scrolls and talked to Iruka!" Naruko nearly choked with indignation. "There's more we have to do?!"
"How did you know?!" Sasuko seconded the blonde.
"Let's just say... I read the stars."
"Divination?!" Sakurai and Naruko exclaimed almost in chorus.
"Ha... whatever you say," Sasuko sighed, briefly rolling her eyes. "Can you tell us what's waiting?"
"Not in detail... You'll need your strength—trust me. But that's for later. For now—rest! I've prepared a few modest crumbs... are you very hungry?"
They were, as it turned out. Very. Even very-very. Naruko devoured the gyoza (pan-fried dumplings) with tears of joy in her eyes and splashes of juice on her cheeks. Sakurai tried to be more restrained, but he too immersed his entire being in the consumption of food. And even Sasuko, despite her attempts at restraint, fully followed her rival's example, surrendering to swift gluttony.
Well... You guys—where'd you lose my food scrolls? Sad—that's a little upsetting: I spent so long preparing those supplies, and in the end... Eh. Well—at least they're alive and mostly unharmed.
Thus passed a certain amount of time: their hunger sated, the genin finally gave free rein to all the weariness that had accumulated during their dash through the forest. Haruno was visibly nodding off, threatening to dip his nose into his unfinished cup of tea. Sasuko leaned against the wall (as it happened—no one had given a thought to the examinees' comfort), closing her eyes in a doze. Naruko held out the longest—only to fall asleep, in the end, with a half-eaten bun in her hand. Gods, gods—how good that I was nearby and managed to catch the blonde when she passed out mid-sentence and carefully lay her head on my lap. She'd been trying to the very last to describe their misadventures in the forest in vivid color.
"Like a child, I swear," I thought, as my hands wiped the blonde's smudged little face with a napkin. Well... she was very worn out.
I rose carefully, and—
"Mnnhhmmmn!.." Wincing, the girl mumbled, clutching tightly at my leg as it slipped from beneath her head.
"Well..."
It looked very cute: apparently, my knees had been deemed a good pillow and she'd had no wish to lose them.
Slowly freeing my legs at last, I headed toward the dozing Sasuko and gently shook the girl by the shoulder.
"Sasuko-chan. Wake up, Sasuko-chan."
"Hmh? What is it?" Wincing, the Uchiha reluctantly opened her eyes.
"Sorry to wake you, but can we talk?" I addressed the girl. "Forgive me—I understand you're all very tired, but this is important."
"..." Displeasure was readable in the girl's black eyes. "Haa... Make it quick."
"I think we should find another place for this." I glanced back at my dozing comrades. "Let's go."
In truth, it was very good the tower was so large—and there were ample vacant rooms.
"Alright—I'm here," the frowning girl spoke, crossing her arms over her chest. "I hope this isn't some foolishness."
"Yes—sorry to steal your well-earned rest." Closing the door behind me and making certain we wouldn't be disturbed, I got to business: "Naruko told me what happened in the forest. That woman—Orochi—she did something to you, didn't she? I want to see it."
"That blabbermouth idiot!.." Sasuko hissed angrily under her breath, but I heard it all. "I'm fine!"
"Are you so sure of that, Sasuko-chan?"
"It's just a small wound. It's not worth attention." The girl assumed an independent air, but her hand involuntarily covered the spot on her neck, hidden beneath the high collar of her vest.
"Sasuko," I say, reproachful.
"Tch!" Sasuko was clearly closing herself off—you could see it in her posture, in her stance and expression. Hmm... so much trouble.
"Sasuko—you do understand this is dangerous?" I tried to appeal to this proud girl's voice of reason. "You're carrying something on your body that your enemy left behind. That never leads to anything good. Perhaps it seems now that everything's fine—but in the future, it will certainly remind you of itself, and it may become too late!"
"What's it to you," the girl whispered, turning away.
"It is something to me!" I say, firm, making her pay attention. "You know: in our little company, it's me who patches up the hides of careless shinobi." I smile, looking into the Uchiha's black eyes. "And I can't allow my comrade to walk around with some kind of filth in her body! Sasuko. If something needs to be done to help you—I'll do it. Believe me: I can be uncompromising when it's required. If you keep being stubborn and closing yourself off—I'll do everything myself. Or I'll call Naruko for help, and with four hands we'll, again, do everything necessary. Even if you're angry afterward and hate me for it—as long as you're well, I'll accept that."
Sasuko frowned. Sasuko grew angry. She threw a devastating glare at me, which I stoically met. For a time, we measured gazes in an invisible struggle of principles and convictions.
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" The girl threw out, angry, breaking eye contact. That was my victory. "Annoying, useless monk..."
"So be it—if it means your consent..."
"Fine!" The girl exclaimed—but it looked as though she was simply trying to keep the last word. "Let's get this over with quickly!"
With a jerk, she unfastened her vest, tossed it to the floor, turned her left shoulder toward me, pulling aside the collar of her shirt and tilting her neck.
"M, m... Don't be so angry, Sasuko-chan," I say, conciliatory, wishing to defuse the atmosphere with a small joke. "You know: right now, you're acting like a tsundere..."
"Kh!"
"UGH!!"
Oww... Sasuko's elbows, it turns out, are very sharp.
"Idiot!" Ahaa... she's even angrier now. She's even flushed from excess emotion. Alright—mental note: don't joke about tsundere with Sasuko. "Do your business and stop wasting my time!"
"Mm—yes, yes." I rub my bruised stomach. Ugh... Though, on the other hand—Sasuko's now angry at my stupid antics, not the unscheduled "checkup." Also not bad. "One moment."
"So this is the Cursed Seal... Well—let's have a look." I carefully touch the black seal that seemed to have eaten into Sasuko's skin like a tattoo.
Mhm... At moments like this, I envy the Hyuga with their chakra-X-ray eyes. Since my "sensory abilities" are more oriented toward all manner of aggressive nastiness—like biju and spiritual beings—I'll have to resort to various tricks to examine this thing. Hm. Well, at least by touching the seal with my fingers, I can feel its obvious foreignness. I pushed a little of my chakra into the seal, frowned: something blocked the chakra flow, letting not a drop through. While the human body naturally resists external influences—including the intrusion of foreign chakra—in this case, it felt as though I was pouring water onto an iron wall. For experimentation's sake, I touch the same spot but on the right side and again push a droplet of chakra—and feel slight resistance, as it should be.
Hm. So the seal blocks chakra penetration from outside.
"Right—now..." I muttered quietly, rummaging through my pockets. Where is it?!.. Ah! Good.
My fingers closed around a small talisman, which I immediately stuck to my right temple. My brain... "tingled," for lack of a better term.
Ha... I really need to find time and make proper tools for myself. I won't always be able to get by with "jury-rigged" crafts. But where to find craftsmen who could engrave—on eyeglass lenses, for instance—mystical symbols with precision and meticulousness? And even if I find them, they'll fleece me for all I'm worth... Trouble.
Ah—at last, my brain's adapted! So—what do we have here?
"Hey!!" Sasuko exclaimed, indignant, when I ran a finger along her neck. Hm. Unusual. My finger followed the movement of a chakra node in the girl's body until, finally, it ran up against the foul blackness of the seal. I frowned: it looked repulsive. Like the twisting roots of a weed, grown deep into the chakra system—from the point of application, somewhere toward the center of her chest. But the main mass was still precisely on the left side of her neck.
"So... Good—I see it," I say, focused. "Can you use your chakra, Sasuko-chan?"
"Mm." Nodding slowly, Sasuko concentrated, and her chakra stirred into motion. "Kh?!!"
"Hurts?" I worried, when the girl jerked sharply, covering the seal with her palm.
"Gm-h..." She pressed her lips together, proud, trying not to show the pain. Ha...
"Yes—that was a stupid question," I shake my head. "What does it feel like? What kind of pain? Burning? Aching? Or?.."
"As if hot fangs are tearing the wound," Sasuko answered, after a brief silence. Well—at last, she'd started meeting me halfway. "Unpleasant... but it's bearable."
Ha... And still, she demonstrates her strength and endurance in every possible way... What foolishness! H-hah... That'll be a problem... for her boyfriend—if she ever gets one. It seems she really is a tsundere.
"Yes... I suppose you'll have to bear it," I say, brushing aside the superfluous thoughts. "Now, Sasuko—I'll ask you to use your chakra once more... and endure. I need to understand what this filth is doing to you."
The girl nods decisively, straightening her posture. Ha—there we go again... Not that it matters.
"Mhh!.." Sasuko pressed her lips tight when I signaled my readiness with a nod. Chakra streamed through the girl's body, like the flow of cars on a busy highway. The Cursed Seal stirred into motion, slowly spreading across the girl's body.
"Stop! That's enough—you can stop," I said, tearing the talisman from my temple. My eyes ached unpleasantly from the strain. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," she responded, stroking the now "furled" seal with her hand. "What did you learn?"
"What I knew before: this thing is true vileness!" I wanted to spit, but restrained myself. Damn that snake-woman!
I don't know how she did it—but she did it. Of course, a superficial examination wasn't enough to reveal all the CS's functions, but what I'd understood was more than enough to make me want to wash my hands. In its essence, the Cursed Seal acted as a kind of filter. Only, whereas filters usually purify something, this seal did the opposite—it contaminates! It's almost inert on its own, but the more chakra is used—and, consequently, passes through it—the greater the degree of contamination. Right now, the consequences are minimal, and the "dirty" chakra disperses without a trace over time—but, I think, a certain amount of "residue" will remain and accumulate with the passage of time. Alongside that, this foreign chakra is a powerful catalyst and, as a result, grants a rather impressive boost to output.
But that's just one positive effect against a whole list of drawbacks. There was also... "intent" in this chakra. And that's what caused me the most concern. I'm still not entirely sure about the effect it exerts, but it seems to be something connected to the bearer's mind. Relying on my knowledge and experience, as well as on some semblance of future knowledge, I could roughly forecast the final result. No—I don't think this thing can outright brainwash someone and make a person evil, but... What's happening—and will happen—is far slower and subtler. In essence, simplifying it all into a few words: the psychic effect of using the Cursed Seal is "moral easing." The longer the use, the easier "easy" decisions become. A concession here, a compromise with conscience there... A very subtle psychological influence. Looking toward the future, I can hypothesize that something like this could have nudged Sasuke (and, correspondingly, Sasuko) toward certain actions in certain situations. Under the influence of strong emotions—to which the seal reacts—the most varied actions could be committed that wouldn't have happened under ordinary circumstances. For example, some time after using the CS, Sasuko might... attack someone under the influence of powerful anger toward that person. She simply... wouldn't be able to hold back. But that's exactly how this filth works—it makes indulging one's impulses far easier. And that's not even taking into account the feeling of euphoria from sensing one's power multiplied manyfold. Like a drug—the further it goes, the less you resist. A long process—but effective. Everything here depends on the bearer's willpower.
At least—that's how I understand its functions.
"This is a very nasty thing, Sasuko-chan," I say, shaking my head. "Right now, its effect is almost unnoticeable—but the further it goes, the worse it'll get."
"How dangerous is it? She made me stronger!" The girl frowned.
"No—she didn't 'make' you stronger. She simply 'gave' you power," I sharply object. "That's borrowed power, Sasuko—not yours. Those are different things."
We measure gazes. Again. Inwardly, I lamented the Uchiha obsession with power: sometimes, it reaches absolute absurdity! If it hasn't already! Damn you, Orochi! You, Itachi, and everyone else combined!
Ha... Playing staring contests with an Uchiha is quite the pleasure.
"Sasuko," I say quietly, gathering all my conviction and desire to help into my voice. Looking straight into the girl's eyes. "I don't want to make things worse for you! All I want is to help! Just understand—by using this seal, you'll be dancing to the enemy's tune! Neither you nor I are naive enough to believe in the White Snake's selflessness. She's a nukenin and, from what I know, fled the village because of her inhuman experiments on its inhabitants. She was especially interested in clans and their genomes. She definitely doesn't have the kind of morals required for helping her neighbor. Most likely—you're just another one of her experiments, and your well-being isn't on that woman's list of priorities. Everything has its price—and someday, she'll demand 'payment for services rendered.' I just want you to understand that."
"...Fine. Alright," Sasuko spoke slowly, now looking at me with less anger, though the displeasure in her voice was easily discernible—but I won't venture to determine its cause. "What do you want? Even if you're right—I can't not use chakra! I intend to pass this exam, no matter the cost!"
Oh, kami... Sometimes, Sasuko falls into various extremes, though she usually presents herself as a smart and calculating kunoichi. Come to think of it—she's more like Naruko than she believes. In stubbornness alone, at least. But on top of everything else, she's also a tsundere, which only makes things worse... Indeed.
But, actually, she'd asked a reasonable question. What to do about this filth? Truthfully, at this moment, I could see only one solution: sealing. Isolate the Cursed Seal with a powerful barrier—and then, afterward, a more complete solution to the problem could be sought.
"Don't worry about that: we still have time to prepare countermeasures. Right now, I see only one way out—to place a seal and block this thing."
"You can do that?" She frowns.
"No—not right now." I shake my head, negative, massaging my tired eyes. Oh—what time is it now?! "I'll need to prepare, draw up a plan, and... aaaaauuuuuuaaahhh!"
Unable to hold back, I yawn heartily. Hmm—it seems it's really quite late already.
"Haaahh... What?!"
"No—nothing." I smile slightly. Mm, Sasuko yawning is very cute: the droplets of tears in the corners of her black eyes are especially expressive. And the way she rubs her eyes with her little fists!.. I'll definitely remember this picture.
"If you have something to say—say it!" The girl frowned, suspecting me of something.
Tsundere.
"I think we should go to sleep. I advise you to get a good rest over the course of tomorrow and—naturally—try not to use chakra. I'll have everything ready by evening."
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