Chapter Text
The next day, they not only bought the briefcases but also Seina went to the hospital to resume her studies. Sasuke, bored because he couldn't go to the forest to train alone due to the danger he faced, took a walk around the village for the couple of hours she was at the hospital, accompanied by her clone.
"I see you're back. We missed you," Mina-senpai said. "Congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you very much, Mina-senpai."
"Alright, let's begin. Have you read the books I gave you?" She saw her nod with a slightly wicked smile. "Then it's time to test you. Let's see..."
She spent an entire hour under the most rigorous examination, but as expected, she passed. She knew that without her clones, it would have taken years to reach the point she was at now. Luckily for her, she had enough chakra to create as many clones as she wanted to read those texts. In the next hour, she learned to prepare various poisons and their antidotes, to her surprise. It wouldn't be long before she could reveal the potions she had created, at least the easiest ones.
"You advance very quickly. You're good with the theory, so from now on, we'll move to the practical part. We've started with the easiest poisons. I think it will take a couple of weeks to finish this part. Next week, we'll start with ointment and medicine recipes. I'll give you a single book with recipes in case you want to start reading it."
Mina-senpai gave her the book, much thinner than the thick texts she had read so far, and explained that once they finished the formulation and laboratory part, they would continue with medical ninjutsu. She left the hospital and went looking for Sasuke, who, to her surprise, was with Shikamaru and his team.
"Hey! We haven't seen each other in months," she greeted them as she arrived at the park where they were sitting.
"Seina! Congratulations on your promotion. Shikamaru told us everything."
"Yeah, congratulations," Chouji said, handing her a bag of chips. "Though we didn't expect anything else."
"Thanks, guys. How have you been these days?"
"Pff... My father was hardly ever home," Ino began. "He had a lot of work in the interrogation department, so I've spent all my days working in the flower shop."
"Same here," Shikamaru yawned. "At least it seems like things are calming down, though something strange is happening."
"Strange?" Sasuke asked. "What do you mean?"
"You just have to see how some jonin are acting. Something else is going on."
"He must be referring to the attack by Itachi, the stuff with Orochimaru, and all that," she said to Sasuke. "Their jonin sensei is aware of everything, but I don't know if he's told them."
"That makes sense."
"By the way, where's Naruto?" Chouji asked. "We haven't talked in a while."
"He's with the pervert Jiraiya," she told him, “Looking for Tsunade-sama."
"And what is he doing with him?" Shikamaru asked. "And alone. He was always with you."
"I stayed behind to continue my training at the hospital."
"You're studying at the hospital?"
"Yes. Someone has to, considering that no one on my team has any idea about medical ninjutsu."
"Maybe I should sign up too," Ino thought out loud, clearly worried by what she had said. "Is it very difficult?"
"No. Though I've been using clones to speed up the study; otherwise, it would have taken much longer," she replied honestly.
"Which translated means it's not easy," Shikamaru yawned again. "But you can do it, Ino. I think you'd be good at it."
"You think so? Yes, I'll try it! We could tell Hinata! Can you imagine?"
"And what about Sakura?" Chouji asked. "I thought you were friends with her."
"I am, but Sakura... I don't think she's cut out to be a ninja," Ino sighed. "They passed the written chunin exam thanks to her brains, but then in the forest... One of her teammates was seriously injured, and the other retired from ninja life after witnessing the death of another rival team. Surprisingly, Sakura is the only one still undecided about continuing or not, you know? She told me she's been offered a job in the cryptanalysis squad."
"Really?"
"Yeah, apparently, Sakura didn't cheat on the exam but answered all the questions herself."
"I see," Shikamaru cut in. "Sakura is very good at the theoretical part of being a ninja, but terrible at the practical part. Still, someone with a brain geared towards study, despite being a terrible field ninja, shouldn't be wasted."
"Exactly."
"And what will she do?" she asked, finishing the chips.
"She's thinking about it, but I think she'll end up accepting... An opportunity like that, with a stable and safe job where she can shine that's also well paid, is hard to refuse," Ino shrugged. "The only thing holding her back is not being able to be a 'real' ninja, according to her."
"I'm happy for her," Chouji said. "Besides, it's an essential job. She shouldn't be ashamed of not doing field missions like the rest of us."
They talked for a while longer, and then Seina and Sasuke went home with their purchases. When they arrived, Kakashi-sensei still hadn't returned, so they set to work on the suitcases while their clones read the recipe book.
"What do you have to do with the suitcase?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"First, I have to enlarge the interior space. That's very easy. I'll install some stairs to get in, but we won't see anything at first since there's no light. Once we're inside and can see how much space we have, the task will be to reinforce the suitcase so it doesn't collapse. Then, I'll need to divide the space into different habitats and we can settle the animals. Once everything is complete, we'll put the summoning seal inside the suitcase."
"If they're not really alive, why make habitats for them?" Sasuke asked.
"Because it's nicer that way, obviously."
"Hn," he chuckled.
"Besides, whenever you feel like visiting or relaxing, for example, in the desert, you could enter your suitcase and enjoy it without any danger. Not to mention, I'm planning to create a closed area where we can keep prisoners. I was thinking of some cells where, as soon as the prisoner enters, they fall into a kind of coma they can't wake from. I haven't fully refined that idea. I wouldn't want them to use chakra inside the suitcase and destroy it from within."
"Good idea. Maybe you could make a pair of shackles instead of a cell that induces a coma… One can escape from a cell, but from shackles, with your powers, I highly doubt it."
"Well thought, Sasuke. Alright, let's get to it."
That's how Kakashi-sensei found them hours later when he apparently searched the entire house and saw the suitcase on the floor of her study. Seina heard him walking towards them and turned to see him. Kakashi-sensei seemed speechless. He stood there, contemplating the distance as if seeing the sky for the first time.
What he was observing was an enormous jungle stretching far away, seemingly endless, with its own gigantic waterfall a few hundred meters away, rivers, countless trees, and plants under the scorching sun and that suffocating humidity. Seina had placed the habitats next to each other without physically separating them. The idea was for each climate to gradually change into another, like in nature, but inside her suitcase. She had only created a couple of habitats: the desert and now the jungle, but she planned to reach the Arctic. This part was undoubtedly her most incredible magic in this new world.
"Do you mind if I explore the area?" Kakashi-sensei asked, and she gestured for him to enter the jungle.
Minutes later, he returned to the entry zone where they had set up the "house" around the entrance staircase.
"How is this possible? How did you do all this in hours? Nothing is the same!"
"That's because I added randomness to it. I started with the basic fauna and flora of each ecosystem and then let the marked terrain grow as it wanted."
Kakashi-sensei shook his head as he listened. He supposed that, for a ninja, magic was something incredible. Jutsus were extraordinary for any civilian, but they were calculated and planned to the last detail. Magic lacked those limits. For someone brilliant in the ninja arts like his master, seeing what magic could do must destroy his preconceived notions every time. He sat down next to her and they silently watched the creatures she had created to fill the landscape, which weren't anchored to her with blood magic, hiss, sing, fly, swim, and run. The animals she would use for summoning, on the other hand, were a source of information for her because they were part of her. She could know where they were, what they were doing, and experiencing, and once she put the seal on the suitcase, she could summon them at will.
"Naruto is going to be furious," Sasuke said suddenly, with a smile. "He's missing the best part."
"I think seeing all this will be enough to appease him," Kakashi-sensei disagreed. "Come on, have you eaten?"
"Uh, no. We forgot, actually."
"I haven't eaten either. How about I treat you to a restaurant?"
They left the house towards Chouji's family's restaurant. Kakashi-sensei explained how, while Naruto was away, they wouldn't have new missions. Apparently, now that she was a chunin, they would never have D-rank missions again. Once Naruto returned, the plan was for her to remain part of the team for another year to acclimate to C-rank missions with a familiar team. Additionally, it was expected that she would have C and B-rank missions with other ninjas due to her promotion.
"In the next year, Sasuke and Naruto will continue training for the next chunin exam and will have a temporary teammate to take the exam with."
"And then?"
"Once you're all chunin, you'll still be under my command, but you'll also have other jonin commanders if necessary. In turn, it's expected that you'll lead some missions with other chunin. When you all become jonin, if that's what you want, you'll still be under my command by default since I'll be the veteran ninja of the team when we work together. However, it's more likely that you'll have to lead teams with chunin or genin rather than staying under my command as it would be a waste of resources."
"So, until we're all jonin, we'll largely remain Team 7."
"Exactly. We'll always be Team 7, no matter if you work with other ninjas. Sometimes the team you form as genin is the most optimal. Look at your friends' parents; they're one of Konoha's best teams, the Ino-Shika-Cho team, and they're all jonin. If there's a powerful threat, we'll probably team up since it's the most effective due to our years of group work. Especially you three."
"Hmm… That makes sense," she thought out loud. She felt her worries dissipate at her master's words.
"That's what you wanted, right? To be jonin," he asked, and both nodded. "You'll make it, I'm sure."
"Do you think the dobe will become Hokage?"
"Maybe. Naruto is strong and has many allies in the new generation who would support him."
"If the dobe makes it, I'll aim to be the anbu commander," Sasuke said, surprising everyone.
"Really?" she asked, having never heard Sasuke talk about his aspirations. "Not bad. It suits you."
"And you, Seina?"
"I guess I'd try to take charge of the hospital," she shrugged.
"If you achieve that, you'll hold three powerful positions in the village," Kakashi-sensei commented proudly. "But, Sasuke, if you want to be the anbu commander, you'll have to be part of them and have a cover. You know that, right?"
"I know. That was my intention. Besides, I wouldn't be alone. Seina would be there too."
"What?" he turned sharply to look at her. "You want to join anbu? I thought you were just considering it."
Seina kicked Sasuke under the table, watching with satisfaction as he winced in pain when her foot connected with his shin. She had thought about joining anbu for a while, but she wasn't decided yet. If she was offered the position, she might accept, but she knew her brother would be so worried about her that he would probably follow her.
"I could do many things as anbu," she shrugged again. "You know."
"I know, that's why it worries me. The higher your success rate, the greater your chances of being sent on a mission."
"We're not going to die if that's what you're worried about," Sasuke said bluntly. "Between Seina, the dobe, and me, we'd make a good anbu team."
"Do all three of you want to join Anbu?" Kakashi-sensei sighed.
"Naruto doesn't exactly want to, but he also doesn't want to be left behind."
"Typical of your brother... Anyway, don't rush. You have time."
Seina didn't remind him of the age at which Itachi was accepted into anbu, or the age at which he himself joined. After all, he seemed concerned about them. Coming from someone like him, who always tried to seem distant, it was sweet that he didn't want to lose his entire team to anbu. They finished what was left of the delicious meal and headed back home after taking a walk, probably not very advisable for security reasons, through the village.
The following days without Naruto passed more slowly than usual. Neither Sasuke nor she wanted to contact him so he could enjoy the experience alone. If he needed anything, it was clear he could ask for it himself, as he had done. Besides, with her mornings at the hospital and the kenjutsu and taijutsu training in their garden in the afternoons, her days were full. Little by little, things seemed to return to normal, almost as if nothing strange had happened.
In her spare time, Seina dedicated herself to finishing the suitcase. Judging by the time it took to make a single habitat, she knew she wouldn't completely finish the project until the end of August, in about two weeks. Additionally, she also wanted to write her own recipe book to show her research to Mina-senpai. If she handed over the essays behind each potion with explanations and their properties, she knew she could start commercializing the potions. She wouldn't earn as much compared to selling them to the highest bidder, but she felt more at ease knowing she could save lives in her village. Moreover, she knew that Konoha would have a monopoly on the medicines, which would lead to an increase in civilians coming to the village to seek the hospital's services and also business with companies, which meant wealth for the village, and for her family.
Even so, until they had a new Hokage, she had time to prepare the defense of her medical project. In fact, she was a bit nervous about presenting her recipe book since she had not been a Potions Master, unlike Draco and, years later, Hermione. Her strength in potions lay in the reproducibility of her potions with good instructions, meaning that as long as she followed the correct instructions, she could make a perfect potion.
The problem was that she had never bothered to study in depth why a potion had certain ingredients and how to substitute them with other materials. Her extensive knowledge of potions was focused on medical potions because they were necessary for living, especially with mischievous children, and because her career as an Auror required them. This meant that more complex potions like Veritaserum or Polyjuice Potion were completely out of her reach now since she had no idea how to replace the magical ingredients. A nuisance, but ultimately, it was better to know something than nothing. Fortunately, the ninjas had knowledge of botany that she could use for her potions. Although she anticipated many failures along the way to reproducing all the magical medicines she knew.
At least she had her extensive knowledge in Charms, Transfiguration, and Runes thanks to her masteries. The first two were pursued due to the sentimentality of feeling closer to her mother and father, respectively, while the Runes mastery was out of personal interest after listening to Hermione and Bill talk about Runes at every family meal for 15 years. Of course, she also had her mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts, something necessary to advance in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which she pursued right after leaving Hogwarts so that no one could complain about her promotion within the department and accuse her of favoritism. A shame that most of the knowledge, except for the spells, was useless in this new world without criminals or magical creatures.
She snapped out of her thoughts with a yawn and turned the page to continue writing her potion essay. She had little left, so she decided to make a final effort despite needing to go down for dinner. Minutes later, as expected, she was called to dinner. She sighed but left what she was doing.
"How's the recipe book coming along?" Kakashi-sensei asked.
"I'm about to finish. If I stayed in my study a little longer, I'd finish it today, but I think I'd rather sleep."
"You're not in a hurry," her teacher reminded her, and she nodded. "I was thinking of introducing you to someone who's an expert in kenjutsu. You've improved a lot and I think you need another opponent to measure yourselves against."
"Who is it?" Sasuke asked.
"Yugao. I don't think you know her. She almost lost her partner during the invasion recently, so I think doing something like this might help her take her mind off things."
"You mean we're going to leave here to practice outside?" she asked.
"Yes. With Yugao there, there will be two jonin watching the area and, besides, I know you can protect yourselves."
"And what about Orochimaru?"
Seina nodded. Wasn't this whole charade to keep Sasuke safe? Kakashi-sensei sighed at his student's question.
"The truth is, everything's quiet. We think that if we make it look like you've returned to your normal routine, we might uncover a spy, a mole, or something similar."
"Basically, you plan to use Sasuke as bait while teaching us kenjutsu."
"N-... well, yes, why lie?" Sasuke coughed out a laugh at this.
"Sounds good to me."
The next day, in the afternoon, they met Yugao for the first time. As soon as Seina saw her, she perceived her pain and determination, as well as her desire for revenge. That was problematic, as Shikamaru would say. If what Kakashi-sensei said was true, Yugao's partner had fallen into a coma at the hands of either one of Orochimaru's henchmen or a ninja from Suna, with whom they had an alliance. She just hoped it was the former because if the culprit were one of their allies from Suna, she wouldn't be able to exact her revenge.
"Yugao, let me introduce you to my team: Sasuke Uchiha and Seina Uzumaki."
"Pleasure to meet you," Yugao assured them with a tiny smile. "Shall we begin?"
A few minutes later, Seina watched as her teammate and the jonin dueled with their respective swords. Next to her, her teacher observed the fight intently without saying a word. Almost half an hour later, during which Sasuke gave it his all trying to make his opponent bleed, Yugao stopped the fight without a hair out of place in her ponytail.
"It's your turn, Seina-san."
She unsheathed her wakizashi, thinking about how to counter the fact that her sword was shorter than Yugao's, but before she could do anything other than assume her usual stance, Yugao lunged at her. She stopped thinking and focused on the fight. Fighting was like a magical duel. She felt herself entering a kind of trance where she trusted her body and her skills without having to think twice about every action and losing valuable time. She realized that Yugao was a true kenjutsu expert, on par with her jonin-sensei. The difference in their styles was obvious. While Kakashi-sensei had an almost military approach to the precision of his movements, Yugao seemed to dance with her sword.
She knew that if she didn't want to lose miserably, she would have to be unpredictable. So, when she understood how Yugao fought and their swords were about to clash again, she used her wakizashi to deflect Yugao's blade to her right side instead of blocking it. She spun her body in the opposite direction, using her wakizashi to protect herself from the opposing sword as she rolled, and when she had her opponent's back in front of her in a move that lasted less than a millisecond, she attacked with the wakizashi using the momentum of the spin.
Barely had her sword made contact with Yugao's right shoulder, making her bleed, when a backward kick from the jonin came in her direction to create distance between them. Unfortunately for Yugao, she had trained with the most unpredictable ninja of all: Naruto. She used the wakizashi to brace against her shoulder, wounding her further and using her body as a support to leap into the air and dodge the kick. Yugao leaned forward and rolled to the side, away from her blade, and she followed, not giving her time to react as she had gained the advantage.
Her precious advantage, however, lasted only a few seconds as Yugao was a much better swordsman than she was. A few minutes later, she had her against the ropes again, panting.
"Stop."
They stopped instantly. She caught her breath. Yugao looked at her moderately bleeding shoulder and then at her.
"I'm impressed. Both of you. You have what it takes to be a good swordsman. Sasuke, you're fast and strong, and your stamina is enviable for your age. Plus, you use all your movements efficiently without being predictable. Seina, on the other hand, you're also very fast and flexible. I've noticed your strikes are strong but, above all, unpredictable. Despite this, you somehow manage to be as efficient as Sasuke. You have slightly different styles, but I think I can teach you some things."
Sasuke and Seina nodded at her words. Kakashi-sensei approached to check Yugao's shoulder.
"It's not serious, but it's a good cut."
"I can heal it, Yugao-sensei," she said, and the latter smiled at her and nodded.
She disinfected and healed it in a matter of minutes. She used her magic to ensure it wouldn't scar and let Yugao inspect her work.
"You also know iryo ninjutsu?" she asked with a pained expression, as if lost in memories.
"Seeing the number of injuries that happen during training, I thought it would be useful," she shrugged.
"Thank you, Seina-san."
"You can call me Seina."
"Sasuke."
Yugao nodded, accepting their offerings. They left the training ground and headed back to the village. The jonin bid them farewell at a crossroads and left them alone. Seina watched her back.
"Why does she look so sad?" Sasuke suddenly asked.
"I already told you about her partner..." Kakashi-sensei sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Before being attacked by a ninja from Sunagakure, he was already suffering from an unknown lung condition that the attack aggravated. The doctors have him in an induced coma on a respirator 24/7... They believe that if they wake him up, he could have an attack and die."
"Couldn't Tsunade-sama do anything? They say she's a legendary medic."
"That's what Yugao is waiting for, but until then, she prays that nothing happens to him in the hospital before she arrives..."
"Wow..." said Seina. "Well, at least there's hope."
"For now, yes."
The next day, they entered the last week of August. Seina finally finished writing her recipe book and memorizing the one Mina-senpai had given her. She also completed the first suitcase, to the astonishment of Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke. Then, as if she had been slapped, she remembered that Kakashi-sensei's birthday was on September 15th.
"What can we buy him?" she asked Sasuke inside the suitcase, where she knew he couldn't hear them.
"You're asking me? You're the one who can literally do anything with your powers."
"Yeah, but I can't think of anything! I would make him another suitcase, but he doesn't seem to want summons like ours when he has his dogs."
"No, but he liked having a space like this inside something small," Sasuke said, spreading his arms as if to encompass the entire tundra in front of them. "Maybe you could make him something like that."
"Mmm... Maybe you're right... You know, I think I'll make him a magical tent. Perfect! We need to start planning what to put inside!"
"Wait a minute. Do you think you'll have it finished in such a short time?"
"Ugh... definitely not. I think it would take at least a month, maybe more."
"Then you can give it to him as a Christmas present," Sasuke sighed in exasperation.
She nodded without paying much attention to him. If she didn't have the pouch, she could give him one, but since he already had that as well as a medical kit and the weapon holsters and the earrings, the only thing she could give him that he didn't have but that Sasuke and Naruto had was the bracelet. At the same time, it didn't seem like a gift per se but a weapon, something useful, but what could she give him besides that was just for him? Her thoughts turned to the dogs he had as summons, and she realized that maybe she could combine both ideas.
"I recognize that expression. What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked, snapping her out of her daydream.
"A cerberus."
"Isn't that the three-headed dog?"
"Exactly. I was thinking I could give him a single summon of the same theme as his ninken."
"You're going to give him a giant three-headed dog?" Sasuke asked again, his face blank. "Anyone else would give him a scarf or something like that."
"That's a crappy gift," she said indignantly.
"If you say so. I expect something huge for my birthday, just so you know."
"Didn't you like the earrings and the Portkey I gave you for your birthday?" she asked rhetorically, laughing.
"Hn."
Seina smiled. Damn Sasuke...
