Loyalty

(Kamui's Point of View)

The transition was a quick one. Like every other time she's returned from her inner world, it felt near instant. The odd part in this situation was the feeling of her physical body. It felt strange. Not only did she feel the absence of most of her chakra, but she also felt the addition of a new energy that permeated every inch of her body; it was the life energy she gained from the blue core.

'Well, this is new.' Kamui thought to herself. 'I guess I may have gained more than I originally thought. To think my arms were able to heal in such a short period of time...Yume was right. Relying solely on Yin-based chakra was limiting. Not only my body, even the world feels completely different. It's so much clearer. I can't wait to test out the limits of my earth pulse now. Visuals should be a lot clearer.' She thought to herself, excited at the new sensations she was feeling.

'Anyways, I should get out of here. Sensei's probably getting impatient with me by now.'

With that thought, the roots around her slowly unraveled and retracted back into the ground. The first thing she caught sight of was her sensei walking up to her with a raging fury radiating from her eyes.

Glancing to where Naga had been, Kamui noticed a cocoon-like construct made of snakes. Internally, she could feel a connection to her new friend. It was an odd feeling, like she could get a vague impression of the girl's mental state, which was currently mired in a cold fury. It was obvious to her that Naga's desire for revenge consumed her every thought.

'I need to make sure I don't accidentally mind scan her. Although it would be the smart thing to do, it wouldn't be a good start to this friendship if I show such an overt lack of trust. Plus, I'm sure my father and Mr. Yamanaka can take care of that part of the vetting process.' She thought to herself.

"Kamui! What the hell was that!? You've been in that cocoon for four hours!" Her sensei asked furiously.

Confused, Kamui's head tilted in confusion.

"What do you mean sensei? Shouldn't one of my clones have explained it?" She asked.

Yugao's eyes narrowed at her student, trying her best to restrain the torrent of frustration she'd experienced in the past few hours.

"The clone disappeared as soon as you were enveloped in those roots; you should know that. I've been sitting here hoping that you were OK the whole time. Now, answer the question." Yugao tersely asked.

Kamui hesitantly nodded, understanding how that could happen. She remembered spars against her brother Naruto. Whenever he created vast numbers of clones, she would just follow the chakra connections to the central node, the original, and administer enough of a shock to dispel the rest of the clones instantly. All clones were connected to the original, so a shock to the center disrupts the whole network. The shadow clone jutsu typically wasn't effective against Uchiha and Hyuga members for that reason as both clans could see the connections with their eyes.

[A/N: This connection exists in canon but is undetectable for whatever reason. Truthfully, I think it was made unseeable to give Naruto a means to contest Sasuke, but that's just a guess. In this novel, the bond is perfectly visible to any means capable to sensing chakra.]

Kamui took the time to explain the events that occurred in Naga's mindscape in detail. It took them about twenty minutes to go over the full details, especially with Yugao constantly interrupting to make sure she understood everything. Apparently, the whole ordeal sounded ridiculous from a trained shinobi's perspective. During the process, Kamui took off her haori and stored it in her storage sash. The sleeves had been ripped from Naga's strike and the rest wasn't in much better condition. Now, it was just her black sleeveless kimono top, silvery-white storage sash, and wrist bracers covering her upper body.

"So… let me summarize. You've made a newly contracted ally with some abstract ability of your eyes. You hastily absorbed some orb of a similar nature to what did this to Naga and you managed to convince her, who was raised by Orochimaru, to become a Konoha shinobi. Is that everything?" Yugao asked with frustration.

Kamui's telling of the story was ludicrous. There were so many things wrong with the situation, she didn't know where to start. What would possess someone as smart as Kamui to allow the orb to assimilate into her, especially after what just happened to Naga. She really couldn't wait to figure out what's going on with her student. It'd be impossible to be a proper sensei if she didn't know what was happening half the time.

"No, she convinced me to become her retainer. My loyalty is to her, not her village." A voice rebutted from the side, surprising the two.

Turning around, they noticed the snake cocoon unraveling to reveal a beautiful 16-year-old girl, fully human in appearance and…. naked. She stood at 68 inches tall, had pale white skin, lavender-colored knee-length hair, and a stoic demeanor. Her previously red eyes were now the same color as her hair, but with the same vertical rectangular pupils she had before. Aside from her pupils, there were no indications of what her monstrous form had been, or in this case, what her true form is now.

Whistling at the newly emerged kunoichi, Kamui appreciated her new friend's new-found beauty.

"You're going to be dangerous when we get back home. The guys will be all over you." She commented in jest.

She had received her fair share of interest, but due to her enigmatic appearance, status, frequent trouble, and overwhelming strength for her age, nothing had ever come of it. According to Yume, due to her developing instincts, she couldn't feel attraction towards anyone who wasn't strong enough. They didn't have to be as strong as her, but they had to be in a comparable tier. Her brothers were the closest ones to meet that criterion, but they weren't options for obvious reasons. In short, all who had ever been interested were too scared to approach, and she wasn't interested in approaching; in both cases, they were too weak.

"Well, that'll be a bit of a problem. Living in these facilities for as long as I have, that doesn't sound too appealing. I don't exactly have the best image of male figures, you understand." Naga responded, completely ignoring the jest. She wasn't trying to be a kill joy, but she really hadn't been around any positive male figures, so it was harder to take it as a joke. Internally, she was really interested to meet some in Konoha, if only to see what these supposed 'hypocrites' looked like; that's what most people she knew called them at least.

"That's not too surprising." Kamui chuckled uncomfortably, receiving a nod of agreement from her sensei. She knew too well what Naga must have grown up with; her mind-walking had given her a front row seat to the experience.

"I'd love to continue this conversation, but what do you mean you're Kamui's retainer specifically." Yugao asked, wanting to confirm where this girl's loyalties lie. Kamui had explained her part to her, but Yugao hadn't picked up on the nuance of her words. It was an assumption that Kamui would want to tie Naga to Konoha as an act of loyalty and responsibility.

"I mean what I said. I don't mind doing missions for Konoha, but only as an extension of Kamui's will. I'm to be her retainer. It's in a similar manner to Konoha's clans. Years ago, my 'father' explained how the clans may employ retainers in their personal shinobi forces." Naga calmly explained.

"The clans do have that power, but it's not exactly practiced currently. The only clan publicly known to do that is the Hyuga clan. It doesn't exactly look good for clans to have personal shinobi. Usually, the Hokage demands they be conscripted in Konoha's military forces as an act of centralizing power. That said, Kamui's the current Hokage's daughter, so…." Yugao explained her thought process.

"It should be possible." Kamui finished for her sensei, receiving an annoyed look from her in response.

"I am curious though. Why would you want to put your loyalty towards one person? Wouldn't it be safer to promise it to a larger entity, a larger ideal?" Yugao asked, unintentionally showing off her nationalized mindset.

Naga shook her head.

"I don't believe in the way hidden villages operate. At their core, their ultimate loyalties are toward the daimyo, who have incentive to promote conflicts. History has proven this point many times. Right now, the Hokage is a good man by all metrics, but what if circumstances force his hand, preventing him from carrying out just actions. Politics can cause Hokages to swallow any number of injustices. The third Hokage was a prime example.

"I dedicated my loyalty to Kamui specifically because I saw something in her that I agree with. I appreciate her compassion and honesty, but I also see a side that isn't likely to become a puppet in someone else's game. There's a ferocity in her that I can trust. She's also a single entity, which makes the number of directions that orders can come from limited. In short, she's the only one I will allow to give me orders." Naga explained, receiving shocked looks from the two.

Snapping out of her shock, Yugao shook her head and turned to her student.

"Wow, you've really found yourself a good subordinate." She jested.

Kamui smiled in response, replying, "You mean, we found ourselves a new squad member. If she's my retainer, then we might be able to convince dad to let her accompany us."

Yugao gripped her chin in thought.

"I'll think about it. Now, let's get back to Reina and my clones. I'm sure they've dug up a lot of intel right about now. Naga, I'll give you an overview of our mission on our way there." Yugao stated, receiving agreements from both.

With that, they moved to exit the cavern and rejoin the others in the conjoined rooms.

(Reina's Point of View)

Reina was starting to worry. It had been a few hours now and the others hadn't returned. The only solace was that Yugao's clones periodically reminded her that everything was still alright, though her expression suggested a veiled hint of worry.

She didn't have too much time in this facility before they moved to save her clan, so she prioritized looking through the scientists' records on the Kocho clan samples. She went through and reviewed as many records related to her clan as she could. She tried not to disturb things too much, a measure to make sure the Konoha forensics teams could get the clearest picture possible when they arrived. However, she did make sure to confirm her suspicions, which she did. Her father truly sold out the clan.

The worst part, a lot of the people on this list were prominent clan members in one way or another. There were even a few of them who were speculated to be candidates for the next clan head. That was one thing she didn't tell the others. The clan head position isn't hereditary. It's effectively been for a few generations now, but it's not inherently that way.

She may have been a skilled kunoichi, but she wasn't the most talented clan member to come out of the clan. There were others in her generation that had more potential, grew faster, were better leaders, knew more about poisons, etc. This self-acknowledgement wasn't to diminish her own skills in her mind, but to recognize the facts as they were. The only reason why she's currently the most qualified to be the clan heir is because everyone else died on 'mission accidents.'

Now, the proof was in front of her. Her father set them up. She wouldn't pass judgement until she heard his side of the story, but she had a sneaking suspicion on why he did all of this. She just didn't know why he wanted that outcome so badly.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from the direction of the cave. Quickly turning around, she saw them. Yugao was unscathed, clearly not having to step into the fight. Kamui's cloths were scuffed. She had even taken her haori off, likely from damage taken during the fight. The one that really took her breath away though, was the naked Naga.

The girl may have resembled Ana before, but now…. now there was no doubt that this girl was family. Between the clan's signature purple hair and eyes, this girl really fit the bill. An odd thing she noticed was the presence of vertical rectangular pupils in her eyes.

'Those must be the petrifying eyes Kamui told us about. I wonder how they work.' She thought.

With that thought, Reina moved to meet her Konoha companions, excited to meet her new family member and finally save her clan.

'Father, you better have an explanation for everything that's happened here, or I'll kill you myself.' She thought furiously.