Chapter 55

The house was oddly silent as Genma walked through the front door. Yes, he walked through the door instead of Hiraishin. He was tired and exhausted, covered in blood, sweat, and dirt. All he wanted was to collapse on the coach and take a nap. 

The house was very silent. He shut the door and walked in. Then, he froze. His eyes widened as he noticed, sensed, an unfamiliar chakra. He shook off his tiredness, hiraishined, and reappeared where Rin was. Genma let out a sigh as he noticed Rin, curled up on the floor, the 3 tails chakra surrounding her. 

He knelt gently next to her. "Hey," he said, "Rin." He reached his hand slowly towards her shoulder, remembering the many times the 3 tails chakra had burned him. 

Genma shook her gently and let out a huh. The chakra did not burn him. In fact, it felt warm and comforting. He was pretty sure she was asleep and not dead. He sighed and picked her up, carrying her princess style to the futon he kicked over. "At least sleep on a mattress," he grumbled. 

He placed her on the mattress and looked around, noticing the ink and paper strewn across the floor. Chakra paper, blood ink, fuinjutus. He turned hurriedly back to Rin, kneeling to check- well… what was he checking for? 

He signed, "Sanbi," he called, poking Rin's shoulder, but mainly poking to see if the chakra would respond. 

"Human," shockingly, it responded. 

"What happened?" he asked, "What did she do this time?" 

"Calm down," said the 3 tails, "And show some respect. I could kill you at any moment. But she's fine. She's just resting."

"From…?" 

The 3 tails formed, part of its chakra separating from Rin and turning into a turtle with eyes and 3 tails. A small and cute one, but one with corporeal form. He'd never seen that before. One of its tails pointed at her neck where Orochimaru's seal should have been. Instead, there were two small marks, and streaks where blood was now dried. The 3 tails grinned at him and jumped back into Rin, its form disappearing like it'd never been there at all. 

How did he not notice it? He rubbed his head tiredly. He'd been more out of it than he realized. He poked her again. "Wake up," his hand went to poke her again, and he winced as Rin grabbed his wrist, twisting it and flipping him over onto his back. 

She rolled onto her feet, grabbing her scalpel from a strap on her thigh and brandishing it, looking menacing until she stumbled and grabbed onto the wall for support. Genma groaned, "Ow… what was that for?" 

"Waking me up," she said, putting her scalpel away and rubbing her eyes. He noticed they were red and puffy, and streaks of dried tears ran down her cheeks. 

"You were crying," he said, standing up and pulling her into a hug, "Wanna talk about it?" 

Rin pushed him away, wrinkling her nose and looking at him. "You smell. Go take a shower." 

He rolled his eyes, "Yes ma'am." He walked toward the bathroom, then turned back, glaring at her, "But when are we gonna talk about you, using an untested seal on yourself with no supervision? A cursed seal from a Sanin and a traitor. Did I mention it was untested? How did you even… You know what, never mind. Good to know you're alive." 

… 

The following weeks were uneventful. Tsunade lectured me, Genma lectured me, a lot of people lectured me, and I fixed the method. It no longer requires biting. The concept was simple. A cursed seal belonged to its maker, the one who marked it in the first place. Their chakra, in the seal, marked them as the maker, the master. Over time, the chakra in the mark would weaken or strengthen, depending on the will of the marked and how willing they were to accept it. For most, it weakened, leaving it susceptible to new ownership. 

It was easy to abuse that weakness. Using senjutsu and fuinjutsu, I could take over the chakra around it and mold it into what I desired. From his to mine and into nothing. 

…

"If you move, it might permanently damage your pathways," I warned, "I have to unlock everything first, and that's going to hurt." 

Sasuke nodded. He sat shirtless in the middle of the sealing room, lit by candles. Naruto and Sakura stood to the side, watching. Supposedly, they were emotional support, not that he needed it. I was pretty sure Naruto was just curious, and Sakura was there for the abs. 

"Deep breaths," I said, placing my hand on his neck. "3, 2, 1."

I poured my chakra in, methodically removing layers and layers of old fuinjutsu. She felt him shudder as the lines and lines of ink began crawling up his body towards the seal in his neck. It was a broken seal, with only one tomoe, but it was still strong. It was Orochimaru after all. 

I could feel his jaw clenched, fists tighten, and his body shake from the pain and from resisting the urge to scream and move away from the pain. "Almost done," I said. 

The ink spun, condensing itself and layering itself carefully over the seal. I closed by eyes and breathed, breathing in the natural energy to cleanse the impurities and to cleanse out Orochimaru. I ran it methodically through his pathways, making sure I didn't miss a single drop but adding not too much that he'd turn to stone. 

Then I let go and stepped back, watching the cursed seal twist on his neck. "It's done," I said. "You can-" 

Sasuke hunched over, his hand flying to his neck. His whole body shook and he began to scream. He clawed at his neck. He was pale, paler than usual and his body covered in sweat. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sakura flinch. Naruto sprang forward as if trying to help Sasuke. Sakura grabbed him and helped him back. 

Then he stopped. Sasuke's body continued to shake, but the screaming and the clawing? It stopped. "What happened?" asked Saukra quietly. 

I shook my head and knelt next to him, taking in the fear on his face and the blankness of his eyes. "You have to fight it," I whispered, "Don't let him win. Whatever he's saying isn't true. It's not real." 

He shook his head, "Get out," he whispered, "Get out." Tears rolled down his face. Whatever he was seeing, it was… traumatizing. 

He raised his voice and his eyes grew clear. "Get out!" he shouted, his eyes turning red. "Out!" the three tomoe spun. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" For a brief moment, the tomoe turned into pinwheels, and his tears turned to blood. Then his eyes closed and he slumped into my arms, unconscious. 

...

"That makes no sense," said Kakashi, "You're sure that's what you saw?" 

"Why would I lie?" I asked, "It does make sense. Mangekyou happens when something traumatic happens. Like the death of a loved one or what appears to be the death of a loved one. When I was… there… I saw Biwako, Minato-sensei, and Obito. Whoever he saw, whatever happened, it was strong enough to cause a reaction." 

I shrugged, and Kakashi sighed tiredly. 

…

Itachi, 

I don't know what you were planning, but I'm sure it was stupid. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that your brother has awakened Mangegkyou Sharingan. No one really knows how, but I am quite certain it was the result of trauma and Orochimaru's cursed seal. You can cancel whatever dumb plan you have for him to kill you. 

Best,

Nohara, Rin 

… 

Rin, 

Thank you for letting me know. I assure you, my plan was not stupid or dumb. Sasuke will restore honor to the Uchiha clan by killing me and avenging the rest of our family. In return for the information, please allow me to share some with you. Clay bomber Deidara and puppeteer Sasori are in the process of retrieving Ichibi. 

Best,

Uchiha, Itachi. 

…

I let out a curse and a quick fire jutsu, burning over the name and first few sentences, leaving only the important information for Tsunade. 

"I'm going to see Tsunade!" I called out to Genma and hiraishined into her office. 

"Can't you knock!" Tsunade threw a book at me, which I smacked aside with my cane. 

I slammed the letter on her desk. "The Akatsuki are after Gaara. They might already have him. I request permission to visit Sunagakure." 

"Denied," she said immediately. 

"But-" 

"Denied," Tsunade repeated. 

"Why…?" 

Tsunade looked up, "Do you think you're in any state to be fighting 2 missing-nin from an S-ranked terrorist organization? And Jinchuuriki hunters at that?" 

"Well…" I started, "Ah… no." 

"Exactly," She sighed, "Is there a specific reason why you want to go?"

I shrugged, "Bored. Haven't been out of the village in ages. But also, if they extract Ichibi from Gaara, he will die. And who knows who would be the next Kazekage? Saving him is also in our best interest. We can foster a stronger relationship with Suna." 

"But that's not why you want to go," pointed out Tsunade, "I'm your Hokage, not an idiot. What are you hiding?" 

"Well…" I said, "I have this experimental seal. I call it the Seal of False Chakra. When a Jinchuuriki is separated from its tailed beast, they're basically dead, right? That's cause… well, that's too much to explain, but basically the only way to save them is to return the tailed beast chakra they lost. But if you can simulate it… they hypothetically they can… not die. " 

Tsunade raised her eyebrow, "And the seal works? You tested it?" 

"I-um… I tried… I tried it on…" I trailed off, "I didn't work. But I've improved it since then." 

"You tried it on Uzumaki, Kushina?" she asked, "What makes you think it'll work now?" 

"Well…" I shrugged, "The Kyuubi chakra is a lot more than the Ichibi chakra, so technically theres a higher chance for it to work on the Ichibi Jinchuuriki compared to the other one." 

"Are you the only one who can use it?" she asked, "Can't you just… give it to someone else?" 

"It's 52 hand signs and takes a ridiculous amount of chakra to work," I explained. 

"52! Rin… what? The highest number of hand signs is under 50," she sighed, "ANBU. Bring me Team7."

"Present," I said. 

She glared at me. "Shut up, you don't get to talk. Sasuke or Kakashi will do the hand signs, and the chakra will come from Naruto. Good?" 

"Well… I guess I could tweak it to work like that…" I sighed. 

…

"Watch," I said, "You need to be able to do it fast. The longer it takes, the higher the chance it will fail." 

They nodded, and Sasuke and Kakashi's eye(s) turned red, single tomoe spinning. I nodded and ran through the hand signs. Tiger, Ram, Boar… and so on. 

… 

And so, they left for the Gaara Retrieval Arc, hopefully getting there before Deidara and Sasori arrived. If not, at least in time to prevent Kankuro from getting poisoned.