Friend

Returning to the Mist would be easy if Zitsu was alone, but transporting four extra people made that impossible. His only option was to travel by boat.

"I'm sure Konoha is going to mobilize in full force to track me down, so hold onto the babies tightly, as I'm going to pick up the speed."

"Track you down?! What did you do?" Chiharu looked into his eyes as all kind of thoughts flowed through her head. Looking at the baby in her arms that wasn't her own, she could only think of one thing.

"Nothing really, just attacked their elder, stole his eye, cut off his arm, flooded part of their village, and if I'm unlucky they could blame me for the slaughter of an entire clan." He paused for a second "If they figure out It was me that is, but I'm sure they saw Samehada."

"Samehada? Who's that?" Her dark brown eyes narrowed slightly "Don't tell me you named this beautiful baby girl Samehada."

"Hahaha!" Zitsu couldn't help but laugh for the first time in a long while as he flickered from tree to tree. "Samehada is my sword, my daughter.." He looked at the sleeping girl in the woman's arms. Her delicate face and soft skin glistened in the early morning light as it penetrated from the leaves above.

"My daughter doesn't have a name yet." As reality sat in and the words escaped his mouth, he couldn't help but look at her again. "My daughter."

Seeing the tender look on his face, Chiharu couldn't help but be confused. Was this really the same person who broke into her home to take her as a maid? "So she doesn't have a name?"

"Not yet. Your child, I haven't asked if it's a boy or girl, even though you've been taking care of my girl."

Chiharu couldn't help but smile "It's a boy, and his name is Rintaro."

"Rintaro huh, not a bad name, not bad at all."

Hearing his compliment her face beamed with delight.

After talking with Chiharu, he began thinking about names, forget names, how would Mei even react? Not to mention his mother.

As he flickered from tree to tree, he could feel a slight movement coming from Samehada. Even though Fuu's chakra was being constantly drained to force chakra out from the seven tails, she was still able to struggle slightly.

Zitsu felt that Fuu's life was always very pitiful, as all she ever wanted was to make friends. The first time she ever left her village lead to her immediate death.

But he had come to learn that this was the reality of this world. If you are weak you die, simple as that. So from his perspective, what he was doing was for her own good. While she might be a walking battery for Zitsu now, at least she wouldn't die and that was a blessing for her.

Focusing for a bit, he sensed the location of his seals. The closest one was in the Land of Tea, Pakura. "I should place more seals next time." Exhaling, he couldn't help but hate his short-sightedness.

If he placed seals all along the way, he could jump from seal to seal as he rested in between.

Landing on the ground he decided it was time to take a rest. He also had no stored Natural Energy so if he unexpectedly met a strong enemy, he'd be doomed.

Placing Chiharu down he began performing hand seals.

"Wood Release: Four-Pillar House!"

Slapping his palms on the ground, thick roots erupted from the ground. As they combined, they started taking the form of a modern two-story house from Earth. Above the doorway was the four lines representing Kiri.

Forming more hand seals he placed his hands on the newly constructed house, causing black symbols and words to completely cover the outside walls of the house.

Taking out three slips of paper from his inventory he engraved them with the corresponding seals using his chakra.

Flickering to different trees in the surroundings, he placed the seals inside their trunks using wood release.

After placing the tags in a triangular formation a distance away from the mansion, a dense fog formed and quickly filled the area.

Returning in front of the house, he lead Chiharu inside. "We are going to stay here for a few days so make yourself at home."

As he finished speaking he removed Samehada from his back and sat down. Placing the sword in his lap, he began absorbing Natural Energy while Samehada absorbed chakra from Fuu.

"Come on, let's look around." Rocking the babies in her arms, Chiharu began looking around.

After spending a few hours regaining his chakra, Zitsu went out to catch some animals for food.

As Chiharu was preparing food and the babies were sleeping, he was busy staring at his sword. "That should work, right?"

Samehada's mouth opened wide as the girl slowly slid out atop its tongue.

She struggled to open her eyes as chakra exhaustion prevented her from moving.

"Why suu~" Her big orange eyes looked at Zitsu as if she was pleading for mercy.

The girl before him was only eight years old. Young, naive, and susceptible to manipulation.

Zitsu placed his hand on her cheek and began to rub it slowly. At the same time, the tomoes in his Sharingan changed as he cast Kotoamatsukami on the girl.

"Fuu, the Hidden Waterfall Village stole you when you were just a baby. I had to break in to rescue you. They sealed a monster inside you to control you, so don't listen to what it says." Zitsu maintained a peaceful smile as he spoke, completely entrapping the girl with his sweet voice.

"I have to drain the chakra from you at all time, okay?" His thumb gently caressed her cheek as his honey words filled her ears.

"The people of the village weren't Fuu's friends suu~?" Her eyes wavered a bit as she heard his words.

Zitsu nodded at her "That's right, but I need Fuu. No matter what, you have to remember, I'm your only friend and the only person you can ever trust." Placing Samehada to the side, he pulled the young girl into his embrace and began stroking her hair. A smile crept on his face as he felt the girl relax in his arms.

"You can trust me completely." As the last words came out of his mouth, his Sharingan returned to normal. After using Kotoamatsukami for such a long time, his vision began to blur and blood trickled from the corner of his eye.

The cells quickly began to heal the damage, but the burning pain reminded him of his shortening lifespan with every use of the eye. While his current lifespan was unknown to him, the thought was still troubling.

"Friend? Fuu's only friend? You're Fuu's friend suu~" Fuu began to cry as she processed the information.

"Fuu, I have to keep you inside Samehada every day for a certain period of time for your safety ok?" As he wiped the blood from his face, he could smell food coming from the kitchen.

"Ok, Fuu trusts you" the girl barely had the energy to nod in response.

As he grabbed Samehada's handle, its mouth opened. He slowly slid the weak girl back into the sword to continue draining chakra from the seven tails inside her. Attaching the sword to his back he walked into the kitchen to eat.

He took some food from the kitchen to feed Fuu in a different room. He didn't feel like using Kotoamatsukami to solve every little problem so he decided to hide her existence.

It took an entire week for him to gather enough Natural Energy to form a single dot on his forehead. During this week he also spent some time every day with the baby girl as he heard bonding was important.

Fuu remained in her half comatose state the whole time. He took her out periodically to eat and relieve herself, but she stayed in the sword most of the time. As she thought she was helping him, she never complained.

[Chakra 86284/86514]

For the first time in five years, his chakra once again increased, confirming that tailed beast chakra would increase his own since they came from the same source.

Now that he was able to enter Sage Mode he felt a lot safer. Leaving the house he carried Chiharu once again as she held the babies.

He decided to leave the house standing because the formation should keep it safe unless someone finds the tags hidden in the trees.

Using body flicker he headed East. Thinking about the upcoming campaign, he couldn't help but feel excited.

At their current speed, it would take him a few days to reach the coast. With his Natural Energy stored he could now hide his chakra from detection, but he couldn't hide the chakra of Chiharu and the babies.

He had to constantly dodge the Leaf Village's increased patrol ninjas, but he eventually made it to the coast.

Placing Chiharu down, he bit his thumb and began forming hand seals.

Squatting down he slapped the ground, causing symbols to spread from his palm.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A cloud of white smoke surrounded the area as an ancient cry echoed.

"Finally I am summoned! Show me my enemies and I'll tear them to shreds!"

Editor: Scarlet Goddess