Chapter 5: INK04: Welcome to Konohagakure

Iryo-nin Kasa (医療忍傘)

Chapter Four: Welcome to Konohagakure

The trip back to Konoha took a full week alongside Kushina and another jounin dragging our asses back considering Obito's injured and lugging a civilian like me around a warzone was like sticking a kick-me sign on the back. I can't even climb a tree, much less race through the forest by tree hopping. It was fortunate that we made it to the outpost when we did; she was on the last day of her border patrol rotation. If we were a day later we would've missed her altogether and the situation with the guards would've ended poorly.

Joining us on the trip back were Tsume Inuzuka and her ninken Kuromaru, Kushina's temporary team. I'm not exactly sure what protocols Konoha-nin abides by during times of war, but I boy am I glad that we had an Inuzuka in our group. Not to say that Kushina and Obito can't handle themselves, but I do feel a lot safer sleeping at night knowing Kuromaru, the menacing wolf-looking dog, stood guard. It also helped that Tsume was just as intimidating, if not more.

Though, it might be psychological since I do have an absurd amount of fondness toward dogs and dog lovers in general. Resisting the urge to hug and pet the monstrous dog was possibly the hardest part of the entire trip. How could anyone not want to pet that soft fur and hug that fluffiness? He was beyond cute and I had a hard enough time not gushing on the spot and squealing like the little girl I am.

"Are you not terrified?" asked Kuromaru at one point during the week when we stopped for camp and he was left to guard me. The group had separated in order to perform the necessary tasks before evening set.

With Kushina setting up camp and etching protection seals around the vicinity, Obito was off gathering wood and hunting our dinner, while leaving Tsume to patrol and scout the area for threats. I offered to help, but Tsume immediately shot it down saying it would be faster for them to setup and clear out in the morning if they did everything.

Ultimately, Kuromaru was left to babysit me and possibly keep me out of trouble if I decided I was bored. Though… who could be bored with a talking dog?

"I didn't know you can talk." I grinned, not the least bothered by the close proximity where he sat. Must resist urge to pet doggy…

"You do not find it strange that I can?" drawled Kuromaru, dubious of my level of comfort around him.

"Should I?" I asked tilting my head up to look at him. "All ninkens can do that right?"

The Inuzuka ninken towered me even while sitting. I'm guessing he would reach six feet or more in height if he ever stood on his hind legs. Any sensible person would take one look at the massive size this dog before turn-tail and run… but as you can see, I'm not the sensible type.

"Some, not all," snorted Kuromaru. "Not all of us are inclined to learning the human tongue."

"Then how come you learned?" I asked.

Kuromaru looked as if he raised a brow. Could dogs do that? "Do you find it amusing to play charades each time you want to get a message across?"

"…I guess not." I replied, glancing at his soft fur. My hand twitched, but I kept it to myself.

"What are you staring at?" asked Kuromaru when he noticed me stealing glances at him.

Resist! Must resist! I can do it! I can… I can… "…Can I… pet you?" I asked, completely defeated by my fondness for big fluffy dogs.

Kuromaru stared at me for a second before he threw his head back in an uproarious laugh. "You're a strange child."

"I know…" I puffed up my cheeks dejectedly, slightly red from embarrassment.

That seemed to make him laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?" asked Obito curiously when he came back with an armful of twigs and broken branches.

Kuromaru still shook with laughter when Kushina and Tsume returned.

"He's making fun of me." I said childishly, drawing raised brows from both Kushina and Tsume.

"Kuromaru?" questioned Tsume, no doubt wondering what caused her ninken to be in such a state.

The ninken collected himself and gave a wolf-like grin. "This is an interesting child. I suggest you keep an eye on her in the future," said Kuromaru in bemusement as he stood on all fours and made his way back to the Inuzuka kunoichi.

"Hm?" Tsume glanced between Kuromaru and me curiously. I curled up, hiding my face behind my legs. Great, more unnecessary attention, I'm doing such a wonderful job keeping low-key. A raspy chuckle escaped from the woman as she rested a hand on her hip. "You like dogs don't you?"

My face flushed red. Geez, and I tried so hard not to be obvious.

"You're so cute Kasa-chan," laughed Kushina softly with her bell-like giggles.

"It's not funny." I sulked, but found Obito slinging an arm around my shoulder fondly.

"You know, that bastard Kakashi has quite a few ninkens, maybe you can meet them when we get back to Konoha," suggested the Uchiha with a bright grin. "That sounds fun right?"

It was hard to keep pouting when his smiles were so infectious. Obito had a way with making people smile and even Tsume, with her stoic personality, wasn't immune to his smiles either. Most nights, I slept with Kushina until it was her turn for the guard shift. Other times, I snuggled with Kuromaru when it was a bit chilly. His fur was so soft. Tsume gave him an amused look whenever I did, but he never bothered with a response.

Things got… interesting when we reached Konoha. One thing for sure, I hadn't expected to see the teen version of the infamous closet pervert standing guard at the gates of the village. That's right, you know who I'm talking about.

"Obito Uchiha? You're alive!" said the sunglasses-wearing chunin as he jumped up from his seat. His partner glanced lazily at us as we approached. At least I think they were chunin, having a jounin or a genin at such a post would either be a waste or stupid.

"Yo Ebisu, Genma!" replied Obito cheerily with a wave. "How's it going?"

"How is it going?" said Ebisu in disbelief. "Your team came back saying you were KIA and you waltz in here days later asking how's it going? How are you alive?"

Obito grinned, puffing up his chest boastfully. "Because I'm awesome! Not even death can take me!"

Genma sighed dully, twitching the toothpick in his mouth. "More like even death doesn't want deal with you." He turned to greet the two amused kunoichi. "Uzumaki-san, Inuzuka-san. It must've been a hassle dragging his sorry ass back here."

"Hey!" retorted Obito, miffed.

Kushina raised a hand to cover a giggle. "Maybe a little."

"No fair, you guys are ganging up on me," complained Obito. I grinned ear to ear as I watched, but he soon caught sight of me and sped over placing his hands on my shoulders. "But at least you're on my side right, Kasa? You and me, we could take them all on!"

I held my sides laughing when he knelt down with one arm around my shoulders and pointing a finger dramatically in challenge.

"Idiot," muttered Ebisu as he pushed the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose.

Genma smiled wryly as Obito jumped up indignantly. "You might want to get your ass to the office and clear your current status soon. From what I heard, the Uchiha clan is causing grief for Kakashi and the rest of your team."

"Huh? Why?" asked Obito, confused.

"Don't know," shrugged Genma. "Just saying, you might want to get it done soon. I heard they're going to drag Kakashi to some council hearing sometime this week or something."

"What!" snapped Obito in disbelief. "What for?"

Kushina placed a hand on his shoulder before he could fly off the handle. "Why don't we go settle things at the office and then go ask Kakashi himself?"

Obito reluctantly nodded and backed down. "Fine."

"We need to settle the matter concerning Kasa while we're there as well," continued Kushina as she turned to smile at me.

Ebisu glanced at me for the first time since the conversation started. "If you don't mind me asking Uzumaki-san, who is this little girl?"

The red-haired woman smiled brightly as she placed a fond hand on my head. "Family of mines. She'll be living with me once we get the paperwork done."

I glanced up at her in surprise. I'm going to live with her? That was unexpected. I thought I would end up staying with Obito or dumped in an orphanage, if anything. Though, I guess it makes sense, since she technically was family.

"Come on, let's get a move on. We've wasted enough time here," prompted Tsume impatiently.

"Yeah, we should get this stuff done ASAP!" said Obito as a beat returned to his step. "I'll catch up with you guys later, maybe. Come on Kasa, I'll give you a tour of the village and introduce you to everyone when we're done!" He held out a hand for me to grab.

"Don't go traumatizing the poor girl, Obito," drawled Genma as I took the offered hand.

"Whatever man!" said Obito as we continued on.

I grinned a little when he waved bye to us and I returned the sentiment with a wave of my own. As we moved deeper into Konoha, I was greeted by an interesting experience. In my old life, I lived in a city towering with steel structures and covered in concrete. In Ame, it wasn't much different aside from the endless rain and miserable atmosphere. Here in Konoha, everything was bright, the buildings, the people and most of all, the sky.

It was a refreshing change after the week I've been through. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought Konoha was a pleasant place. The lack of skyscrapers would throw me off at first, but I think I would have enjoyed living here. I took childish glee in staring at everything. Compared to Ame, Konoha was a freaking rainbow with the amount of bright colors everywhere.

I felt like I walked into a fairytale with how everything looked and sounded. All the while, Obito gave commentary of nearly everything of interest we passed by. I nearly squealed when I recognized the familiar ramen stand. I am so going there one of these days! What can I say? I'm a glutton. Maybe I should've been reborn in the Akamichi clan instead?

Even with Obito's impromptu commentaries, we quickly made our way to the administrative office. Kushina and Tsume made a beeline in signing in, noting their return to Konoha from the borders before we moved on to settle Obito's KIA status. To say the process was funny was an understatement. I lost count how many times someone raised a brow when Obito requested to change his status from KIA to active.

Fortunately, for whatever reason, Obito omitted the fact that I was the one that brought him back from the brink of death. Of course, that didn't last long when we were redirected to the Hokage himself for questioning. It wasn't a common occurrence for someone noted as KIA to come back alive and reinstate himself for service. Let's hope I don't end up in T&I after this conversation.

"Heya, Hokage-sama! How's it going?" greeted Obito cheerily when he caught sight of Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Third Hokage looked amused as we stepped into the room.

"Obito Uchiha," mused the old man. "I didn't expect to speak with you again. Your team was quite downtrodden when they returned with news of your death."

The Uchiha scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, that sucked. They're not taking it too badly are they?"

"Depends what your definition of badly means," humored the old man.

Obito grimaced. "That bad huh? Well, if you can reinstate me as a ninja that'd be great. I'll go and tell them the good news about me being alive."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Of course, of course, but before we do that. I need you to answer some questions." He grinned wryly when Obito slumped dejectedly. "I'll try to be quick. Can you recount what happened on your mission before you were separated from Minato and your team?"

I stood silent next to Kushina as Obito repeated the story again for the second time. He's going to get sick of retelling this story over and over again real soon. Heck, I'm hearing it for the second time and I'm already bored with it. The only thing keeping me from yawning was the fact that I was a part of the story and I could possibly get tortured for this.

"So you managed to save Obito did you?" Hiruzen directed the question to me.

I did all I could not to hide behind Obito and Kushina like a little coward, but I still ended up clinging to Obito. "Y-yes?"

The Third Hokage smiled warmly. "No need to be afraid. I just have some questions for you. That's all. Obito said your name is Kasa Mon from Amegakure?"

I nodded silently, cautious to keep my eyes focused on his despite how desperately I wanted to look away. I can't let myself show obvious signs of lying and I'm really bad at lying.

"Can you tell me how did you heal Obito?" asked the old man.

"I had him bite me?" I squeaked. Please let him think I'm terrified and not hiding anything, please let him think I'm terrified—wait, what am I saying? I am terrified!

"Can you explain to me why you did that?" asked Hiruzen patiently, obviously aware of my distressed state.

Shit, my throat clamped up.

"Kasa-chan?" questioned Obito quietly when the world started to shift around me. Kuromaru made his way next to me and nudged my hand onto his snout. The wetness of his nose and the softness of his fur calmed me slightly as the world stopped spinning.

"Hokage-sama, if I may?" interrupted Kushina when I remained silent. "I could explain the rest for her if you don't mind." Thank all that is good in the world for Kushina! My hero and savior!

Hiruzen raised a brow. "You can explain Kushina?"

The red-haired woman nodded. "This girl is descended from the Uzumaki line. The ability she used to heal Obito with is one of the various manifestations of the high vitality carried in the Uzumaki bloodline."

"Uzumaki?" said Hiruzen with a raised brow. "This girl is your kin?"

Kushina nodded. "Her mother is Somoku Uzumaki. Most likely, she fled to Amegakure after the destruction of our village. The two sets of seals on her arms is proof of her mother's adeptness in the sealing arts. Quite possibly a master from what I've deciphered."

"Seals?" frowned Sarutobi. "What sort of seals?"

"Information, possibly whatever vestige left of Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan," said Kushina.

I blinked at that. You're shitting me right? Mom turned me into a human flash drive?

"…I see," murmured Hiruzen as he puffed on his pipe in deep thought. "Can you confirm the information that's on those seals?"

Kushina shook her head. "The information is privy to only Kasa."

Hiruzen blew out a breath of smoke as he studied me. I squirmed where I stood wishing I was anywhere but here. "Kushina, I know why you brought this child here, but you are aware of the current laws."

The red-haired woman grimaced. "Yes, I'm aware we are in a state of war, but I will take full responsibility of Kasa."

Confusion crossed my face. Did I just miss something?

"I trust you Kushina. However, I cannot bend the law on your words alone. Unless you can find out what sort of information is on those seals, we cannot risk having someone, even a child, wandering in the village with information we know nothing about. It would take too long to train her how to activate such seals."

"It's an information seal, there are no coercion commands drawn into it. Kasa isn't a sleeper agent," argued Kushina.

Oh, so that's what they're arguing about. Well… that's another can of worms that just opened up. So, not only do I have to be terrified that T&I might make an acquaintance, I also have to be terrified that they might gut me incase they thought I was a sleeper agent. Wonderful, just wonderful.

"Be as that may, unless I have solid proof, I cannot protect her from the council if they ask for her ejection from the village." His features softened sympathetically. "I know you want to protect what's left of your kin Kushina and I don't want to send any child away during times of war."

Shit, things are going down hill. I need to do something!

"Are you kidding me Hokage-sama!" snapped Obito. "Kasa's four and a civilian! She doesn't have an ounce of formal training yet or anyone to turn to, if you kick her out of the village, she will die!"

"Hokage-sama, I implore you to reconsider. I can and will vouch for her!" begged Kushina.

Hiruzen stayed quiet as they both protested for my sake, but his eyes kept trained on me the whole time. My hands felt clammy against Kuromaru's fur and I desperately wanted to take a step back and run away, but before I could, Kuromaru nudged his head against me. I glanced next to me and noticed the stern look in his eyes. As if he was telling me to say something, to defend myself. Kushina and Obito already did what they could. It was up to me now.

I let out a shaky breath before I let go of Obito's hand and took a step forward. Kushina and Obito grew quiet as I gripped onto the hem of my shirt and shuffled uncomfortably in front of them.

"I-I could tell you what information is in the seals." I stuttered out.

"Oh?" Hiruzen took the pipe back into his mouth as he waited for me to continue.

"I'm a natural activator. Kaa-san had me tested months ago." I wet my lips, why was it suddenly so dry? "She said I can't make any seals, but I could activate any seals made by others as long as they weren't faulty."

"And you're sure you can activate the seals on your arms?" asked Hiruzen.

I nodded slowly, resisting the urge to fiddle with the sleeves of my shirt. "I-I've already activated it once before. When I first met Obito."

"What was in it?" pressed the old man calmly.

"Medical fuinjutsu." I frowned trying to remember. "There was a lot of information on how to treat injuries. I don't understand most of it, but I don't think it was all of it either."

"You can tell?" asked Hiruzen.

I nodded, more confidently this time. "I remember being scared and Obito was dying. I really wanted to help Obito, but I couldn't. I didn't realize I activated the seals until the burn grew on my arm. I saw images of Kaa-san using fuinjutsu to heal. One after another, there were different seals to heal different things, but I couldn't use any of it because I can't make seals." I said almost frustrated.

Hiruzen nodded understandingly, likely reminiscing his fair share of moments where he felt utterly useless. "The healing bite, did you know you could do that before? Or was that from the seals?"

"The seals." I answered truthfully. "It was the only one that I didn't need to know how to use."

"Can you activate the seals now?" inquired Hiruzen.

I glanced at him with a confused frown. "I think so. Do you want me to?"

"Hokage-sama! You can't ask her to activate the seals now! Who knows how much chakra is required to activate them?" argued Kushina. "She's barely trained. It could—"

"Kushina," interrupted Tsume. "Hokage-sama is reconsidering Kasa's admission into the village. Are you sure you want to refute that?"

The red-haired woman grew silent. I glanced back and saw her looking worriedly at me. Tsume on the other hand looked calm and collected. She gave me a wolfish-grin instead.

"Go ahead kid. Show Hokage-sama what you can do," encouraged the woman. Kuromaru gave a smirk of his own as he stood by her.

I gave a weak grin in return before facing the Third again. Taking a deep breath I grasped at my chakra and pulled it to the palm of my hand. It took some time, considering I don't normally pull chakra to my hands. The feather exercise Somoku had me do could hardly be used to mold chakra. It was more like an exercise in practicing summoning chakra from the core.

I waited for a full minute before I felt there was enough chakra on my hand and I planted it on one of my bandaged arms. It was hard enough to summon enough chakra to one hand, much less for both. In an instant, the images barraged my mind again. Last time, I was worried about Obito dying so all the images there involved healing or anything related to the medical arts. This time, I didn't have any specific thoughts in my mind other than proving to the hokage that I could do this.

Big mistake.

Hundreds if not thousands of images rushed through my head, varying from history to faces of leaders, of elders, to families upon families of redheads, to images of Kyubi transferring from an elderly woman to Kushina before finally the utter ruins of a waterside village. I felt blood dripping from my nose before I hit the ground.

My hearing was clouded as the dull beats of steps and people talking surrounded me. I vaguely felt someone lift me from the ground and patting the side of my cheek. I could see Obito panicking, Kushina screaming what looked like my name and Tsume grimacing with Kuromaru frowning by her side.

The images didn't stop, wouldn't stop. I could barely make out what any of them were saying. My body seized, convulsing as my mind slowly overloaded with information. Eventually, Hiruzen made his way into my vision and pulled my hand away from my arm, the images slowed. His hands gripped tightly onto my wrists as I felt something warm pushing against the insides of my arms.

Chakra.

The images finally stopped before I finally took a breath, coughing as my lungs drew in much-needed air. I must've stopped breathing at some point. The ringing in my ears grew louder and louder before finally everything came back.

"Kasa!" shouted Kushina, her voice breaking through the ringing. Her arms held me carefully as I wheezed for a breath.

"She should be fine now," said Hiruzen grimly as he moved to stand.

I had no clue what urged me to do so, but I darted out of Kushina's arms and grabbed onto his before he could get up. "The Uzumaki clan is the only know clan to host as the Kyubi's jinchuriki due to the high vitality of its bloodline. Uzushiogakure was destroyed by their hubris and expertise in sealing. A seal master could easily replicate any known ninjutsu and genjutsu capable of equivalent efficiency. Masters of the Uzumaki styled fuinjutsu can—"

"Stop," commanded Hiruzen as he grabbed onto my hand. I stared at him in a daze as he planted my hand back on my lap and patted it gently. "You don't need to prove anything anymore. You are welcome to stay in Konoha with Kushina, but on one condition."

It felt like my eyes glazed over as I stared at him blankly, was he sending me to T&I?

"Do not activate that seal again until you've had proper training and only with supervision by a seal master or an iryo-nin. Do I make myself clear?" asked the man.

I nodded blankly. Did I make it? Was he not going to toss me to T&I?

"Good, Kushina you may want to take her to the hospital to get her looked over. I'll have someone deal with her paperwork," noted the hokage as he stood up. "I'm sorry your first impression of Konoha ended as such."

Really? That's it? I'm scot free from a painful and traumatizing interrogation? The sad smile from the man melted the fear clinging to my heart. Hope and relief flooded through my body as I slumped down against Kushina with a smile. I don't have to face T&I! Awesome! A giggled escaped my lips as another thought slipped through my mind.

"Kasa?" whispered Kushina worriedly.

"Does that mean I get to be a Konoha ninja in the future?" I asked, slightly delirious from the giddiness of not needing to go to T&I.

Hiruzen smiled warmly. "If you ever wish to join the shinobi ranks, you may apply to the academy whenever you feel you're ready."

"Yay!" I cheered weakly.

"What sort of ninja are you aspiring to be?" asked Hiruzen, the mirth twinkling in his eyes. I wonder if he was amused by my high state or the fact that I wanted to be a Konoha-nin despite nearly frying my brains out because he dared me to.

I grinned brightly. "Iryo-nin."

"Interesting choice. Why?" asked Hiruzen.

My eyes drifted as I snuggled closer to Kushina. "Then I could heal me and people and not get bitten for it… Because that hurts..." I slurred. "…I don't like getting hurt. It's not fun…"

A chuckled escaped the old man. "I see. I see."

"Hokage-sama, I'm going to take her to the hospital now," said Kushina with a bow as she hauled me off the ground.

"Very well," nodded the man. "As for the matter of Obito Uchiha's reinstatement, you will be reinstated once the hospital clears you of your injuries."

"What?" complained Obito. "I need the hospital's approval? That'll take forever!"

"Quit exaggerating. They would keep you for a week at most," inserted Tsume before turning to bow briefly to Hiruzen. "We will take our leave Hokage-sama."

The man nodded. "You've had a long journey. Welcome back." He paused briefly before turning to me with a smile. "And welcome to Konoha."