The Seven-Tails, Fu (Part 2)

The mother and daughter watched Mai leave. Then the Takikage lowered her voice and spoke first. "I'm sorry. Back then, I only thought of doing it to make you happy. If I'd known it would only make you more unhappy, I never would have done it. Besides, you're still young. You don't need to think that way. There are people who can be friends with a Jinchuriki."

"Then, Mother, when will I find someone like that? After I'm dead?" Fu seemed to have calmed down, but her tone was still harsh.

"You'll find someone, surely. Maybe your future husband won't care about that," the Takikage said, though she sounded uncertain.

"Is that so?" Fu murmured. "Mother, how would you feel if you had to marry a Jinchuriki? If you knew the person was a Jinchuriki, would you agree to it? Imagine lying beside someone, then suddenly they turn into a Tailed Beast. I don't think anyone would dare say yes. No one knows when a Jinchuriki might suddenly lose control and become a Tailed Beast." When she finished, Fu raised her head and stared at the ceiling, as though something up there had caught her attention.

"I..." The Takikage started to speak.

"Mother, you don't have to say anything. If it were me, I'd think twice about marrying a Jinchuriki, too." Fu's voice grew quieter and quieter.

"That's not true. There are people who can do it. There are people who can." The Takikage spoke, then seemed to have a sudden inspiration. "Wait, the First Hokage and his wife! His wife was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and they chose to be together. If the First Hokage could do it, then surely someone else can, too."

"The First Hokage, the God of Shinobi? Do you really think someone like that would love me?" Fu asked.

"As long as you're alive, there's hope. This isn't the time to worry about those things. You'll understand when you meet someone in the future. Right now, what matters is your safety." The Takikage seemed to have put those questions behind her. Her tone turned firm.

"Enough. Now isn't the time to talk about this. For now, your safety is the most important thing. Don't go wandering around, and don't leave the village. I'll send someone to have your father send people here. Once they arrive, you'll go to Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Nations, and it's powerful. You'll be safe there."

"I see. Then what identity will I go to Sunagakure under? As the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki?" Fu asked with a cold laugh.

"You can go under any identity you like, just not as a Jinchuriki. Don't worry. We made preparations for this long ago. Your father already filed the necessary report. The Seven-Tails in Sunagakure disappeared a long time ago, so you're not a Jinchuriki. And once the danger has passed, you can come back. All we want is for you and your sister to live well. Unless there's absolutely no other choice, we won't choose you as a Jinchuriki."

"Yes. Sometimes I'm even glad. I'm lucky they chose me to be the Jinchuriki instead of Mai. At least in that way, as her older sister, I was able to protect her."

"Takikage-sama, something's wrong!" someone shouted from outside.

The mother and daughter exchanged a glance and put the matter aside. They couldn't let outsiders learn about it.

"What happened? Come in."

"Takikage-sama, something's wrong! Someone broke into the restricted area. All the guards inside have been killed," a ninja who entered from outside reported.

"What? Why didn't any alarm go off?" The Takikage was startled. Without another word to Fu, she vanished from the room. Fu saw her leave and followed.

By the time Fu arrived at the restricted area, the Takikage was already there. Several masked ninjas stood behind her. They were probably the Anbu of Takigakure. Fu looked at the ninjas lying around, walked over to the Takikage, and looked up. The platform above was completely empty.

"It looks like Kakuzu and his people were after the Hero Water and the sealing scroll," Fu said.

"You're wrong. If it were Kakuzu, there'd be no need to do this. This place only stored the Hero Water and the Earth Grudge Fear forbidden technique. Neither of those would be worth the risk of returning here for him. And with Kakuzu's strength, he couldn't have taken out those guards without making a sound. It seems Kakuzu isn't the only one watching this place. Someone else is watching it, too—and that person is even more dangerous than Kakuzu. Fu, you must stay in the village until the people your father sends arrive. Don't wander off. I'm afraid someone really has set their sights on you this time." As she spoke, the Takikage issued orders: Fu was not to leave the village, and the Takikage's Anbu were to take charge of her.

Fu didn't say anything this time. She simply left.

After Fu was gone, the Takikage began giving orders to the ninja standing nearby. "Find out who's been near this place lately. And as for Fu, as long as she doesn't leave the village, leave her alone. Also, strengthen the village's security."

"Yes," a voice answered, and an Anbu vanished.

"Takikage-sama, this is the list of people who've been here recently, either to make contact or to try to get inside. We're still checking whether there are others. These are only the preliminary findings."

The Anbu were indeed efficient. Before long, they brought the Takikage a file. She opened it and glanced through the pages. "Who is this child, and how did he get close?" she asked, pointing to one of the photographs. On closer inspection, it was Ye Wuji.

"He came here with Lord Ukyo. From our investigation, and from what Lord Ukyo told us, he appears to be an orphan caught up in the war. He was fleeing when he happened to meet Lord Ukyo, who brought him here. Our investigation also found that he came to watch the Daimyo's enthronement speech. Later, he ran into Lady Fu. Since she was about to fight Kakuzu and feared he might get caught in the crossfire, she left him inside the Sacred Tree's barrier. We also confirmed this with Lady Fu. She said both of them had been attacked, and she was afraid to let him wander around, so she put him inside the Sacred Tree.

"Also, based on the timing of Lady Fu's fight with Kakuzu and when she brought him out, very little time passed in between. So although he's a suspect, the suspicion against him is low."

"Ukyo brought him here? What did he do before that? Did he try to get near the Sacred Tree?" the Takikage asked calmly.

"During his first few days here, he didn't do anything. He just rested where he was staying. Later, he did try to go to the Sacred Tree three times."

"Oh?"

"According to our investigation, the first time he went with some local children. Someone suggested they swim there, but they didn't make it. The second time, he came by himself in secret. He was discovered and sent back. He seems to have become interested in the Sacred Tree because some local villagers told him it had a spirit and that people could pray there. He wanted to pray in front of it. The third time was the same," the Anbu reported.

If Ye Wuji had been there, he would have been shocked to learn that all his attempts to approach the Sacred Tree had taken place right under their noses. He'd thought he'd been so discreet.

"If he's made those attempts, why did you rule him out? Even if he's a child, he might have been used without even knowing it," the Takikage said.

"Yes, we considered that possibility, which is why we included him on the list. Otherwise, we wouldn't have counted him. From Lady Fu's account, leaving him there was also a spur-of-the-moment decision on her part, which is why we came to this conclusion."

"I see. Keep an eye on him for a few days, but don't alert him. If you find nothing, then let it go. As for the others, watch them closely," the Takikage ordered.

"Yes." As soon as the words were spoken, the Anbu disappeared.

Ye Wuji waited at home until it was almost dark before the others finally began returning.

"You're back, Ye! I was so worried about you. I was afraid something had happened," Rei said happily when she saw him.

"Yeah, Ye. When Rei told us you were there, we were all worried about you. Everyone was out looking for you just now. You came back without saying a word, and you have no idea how worried we were. Even Yuta went out to look for you." Ken scolded Ye Wuji while telling him how worried everyone had been.

Ye Wuji was deeply moved by those words. He hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Rei, Uncle Ken, Yuta, and Sister Tomomi. I made you all worry. Everything was so chaotic, and a kunoichi saved me. Then she had another ninja bring me home. There was no one here, and I didn't know what had happened, so I didn't go looking for you. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"At least you know you made us worry. I've told you so many times to call Yuta 'big brother.' Why can't you ever remember? Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners again." Rei gave him a hard time, though Ye Wuji didn't mind calling Ken "Uncle" or Tomomi "Sister." Even including his previous life, when he'd died at twenty and been reincarnated, they were older than him, so he didn't feel any resistance. He didn't care much about forms of address anyway. In his previous life, people in their forties often called people in their twenties "big brother," like in the underworld, where strength made the rules. Of course, Ye Wuji had never been in the underworld.

But what could he do about the body he had now? It was like Conan: if he couldn't even get used to things like this after his body changed, then he, Ye Wuji, might as well give up. So at first, Ye Wuji had never called Rei "Sister"; he'd simply used her name. But after Rei had put him in his place so many times, he'd changed his ways. Still, when it came to calling Yuta "big brother," his pride was getting in the way. Since arriving in this world, the only people he'd called "big brother" or "big sister" were the Fourth Hokage and one of Akatsuki's founders. Calling someone completely unknown "big brother" was just too hard for him. Of course, it would have been different if the other person had been a beautiful woman. He had no problem calling Konan "Sister." He couldn't help it—beautiful women got special treatment.

Fortunately, Ye Wuji had never actually called Yuta "big brother," and no one seemed to mind. As for Rei, she was only using it as an excuse to pick on him.

Actually, Rei was the only one who hadn't figured it out. Uncle Ken had seen through him long ago, but he didn't mind.

"Um, Sister Rei, what happened? Is there going to be another war?" Ye Wuji asked casually. He really was just asking casually. He had no idea what had happened, but since this was the era of the Shinobi World War, it wouldn't be strange for Takigakure to be at war.

Ye Wuji had no idea that his casual question made everyone think he'd been reminded of the parents he'd lost. So even Rei stopped teasing him, though she usually loved to pick on him.

"No. How could there be a war? It was just some troublemakers. Don't worry, Ye," Uncle Ken said. Then he turned to Tomomi. "Tomomi, go get dinner ready. Everyone must be hungry after being out for so long." After he finished, he gave Tomomi a meaningful look.

Tomomi was confused at first, but then she understood. "Yes, I'll go get dinner ready right away."

Everyone's reaction left Ye Wuji baffled. He didn't know if he'd said something wrong or if what had happened was some kind of secret. But it was normal for adults not to tell children, so he stopped asking about it.

"Mm, I'm hungry. Thanks, Sister Tomomi. By the way, where are Uncle Ukyo and Auntie? Haven't they come back?"

"Mom and Dad won't be back for a few days," Rei replied. "There's something going on at the Daimyo's, so don't worry."

"Oh, I see." Ye Wuji nodded helplessly. Kids really have no rights. No one tells them anything.

After dinner, Ye Wuji helped clean up. When he came back from the kitchen, he happened to hear Uncle Ken speaking to Rei and Yuta outside the door. "Rei, Yuta, the young master won't be back for a while. You know the Daimyo was injured, so the young master has to stay there and keep watch. And so your training won't be delayed, the young master wants you to stay at the Daimyo Mansion and receive his instruction along with His Highness Takanao. Get ready tonight. You'll be going there tomorrow. I'll go too. The young master will teach you, but he won't have much time to spend with you right now, so I'll supervise your training."

"I see. What about Ye? He seemed like he was remembering something earlier. Those assassins made him remember that stuff again. It doesn't seem right to leave him alone. Should we take him with us?" Rei said.

"Yeah, I have my sister to look after me, but he seems to have fled here all alone. And now he's already been caught up in something like this. It wouldn't be good for him to live alone. Those people are to blame. Once I've learned my master's skills, I'll make the world peaceful!" Yuta said resolutely.

"Don't worry. Only the three of us are going to the Daimyo Mansion. Your sister has to stay behind; it wouldn't be appropriate to bring too many people. Yuta, you're practically the young master's apprentice, and you're going there to train. Your sister can stay here and look after Ye. Don't worry," Ken said.

"By the way, Ye still won't call Yuta 'big brother.' You can't let him beat you at that, you know. Keep at it! I'm waiting for the day Ye calls you 'big brother.' Then I can tease him about it. Hahaha!" Rei said, giggling nonstop.

"Oh, there are a few things you should know. You might have to stay at the Daimyo Mansion for a month," Ken continued.

"Why, Uncle Ken? What if I miss my sister?" Yuta asked.

"Since you're going to the Daimyo Mansion, I might as well tell you. The Daimyo was poisoned with a very potent toxin. I hear no one here can cure it. For now, those people are only able to suppress the poison. That's why the young master can't leave. He has to look for someone who can cure it. On the way here, Rei, remember that doctor we saw traveling around and treating people? He seems to be famous, but the journey here is long, and they have to keep it quiet. He might not arrive for another month. Once he cures the Daimyo, everything should be fine. Don't go causing trouble.

"All right, go get some rest. We'll head to the Daimyo Mansion tomorrow. And Yuta, if you miss your sister, you can tell me. I'll have her come see you. You're at the age when you need to build a foundation, so you can't let yourself get distracted. And Ye, don't worry. I'll tell Tomomi, and it'll only be a little over a month. That isn't long. I'll make sure everything is taken care of and leave enough money for you."

Hearing that, Ye Wuji knew he shouldn't listen any further, so he hurried away and returned to his room to rest. He didn't care that they were going to train. Ye Wuji had already decided he wouldn't become a samurai, so it didn't matter to him, even though he was rather envious of the secret technique, Swallow Reversal.