40: At The End of a Girl’s Patience

"Regardless, it is the truth that I saved your daughter. Together we escaped it all to reach here. It was Fuzō-san who insisted that... we could find help here.I, I'm sorry, but I... I'm finding that difficult to accept."

Kaoru heard these soft, regret-tinged words as the mysterious visitor extended a hand to help her up.

"It seems we are also... somehow related." The stranger spoke once again, her voice much calmer, much sadder. She pointedly twisted a long strand of her hair lightly through her grasp, slowly letting it fall against her shoulder. The signature marker, the proof of a powerful bloodline, most families in Uzushiogakure1Hidden Eddy Village, "Village Hidden By Swirling Tides" more literally had ties to the Uzumaki red hair.

Looking at the now-unmasked figure before once more, Kaoru could no longer see any trace of the formidable and enraged ANBU she had initially feared.

Instead there was a girl, terribly young, wearing an expression of quiet hurt. Pain, distrust, exhaustion? All were present in the distant gaze that seemingly both matched Kaoru's own, yet also did not. Looking passed, looking through the robed woman. She was slight of frame, lean, but carried herself with impeccable balance and impressive silence. Her apparent age suggested a far different story than her temperament and stature.

Kaoru was no stranger to harsh experiences. She had herself a good eye for reading people, a product of long life experience. But what the girl before her revealed with her violet eyes brought visceral sympathy and guilt to Kaoru's heart.

The outburst they'd just witnessed had clearly been a reaction to her own thoughtlessness, her murmured accusation born from concern for her daughter.

Fuzō... her wayward daughter, her innocent daughter. The only one she could not bear to bring in on for the schemes and missions of her superiors and relatives. The one she couldn't bear to expose to it. Kaoru's own position wasn't significant enough to guarantee her safety. She had convinced herself that the time apart would bring them all closer in the end.

But Fuzō evidently felt differently... and all of that led to such estrangement, such painful separation. Her daughter... had chosen to return home only at the brink of death. The implications stung, like barbs slashing at her conscience.

And now, before her eyes, the young stranger who bore the blood of her relatives reminded Kaoru so profoundly of fonder times, memories of when her daughter was at that age. Her daughter, brought back with horrible wounds by this very stranger.

'Nishi and Amano are handling it. There's nothing for it until they're ready. Focus!'

A twisting and knotted pain wrung her heart as waves of yearning nostalgia and unacknowledged regret surfaced in her mind. That gaze, those pained eyes looking at her, looking through her, looking beyond her.

For the first time, Kaoru felt like she saw the person in front of her, someone here looking for help. Asking for it with her eyes, eyes saying what words could not.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Kaoru had reached out a hand to pat the girl's head, in her tear-blurred vision memories of a young Fuzō imposed over the much crueler reality.

The girl flinched back at her touch, her distant gaze flickering back to focus more warily... but she did not protest.

After helping the older woman back to her feet, an awkward silence befell the room.

Hoping to push past the rather unfortunate atmosphere, Kana had offered an apology and mentioned their apparent relation... several minutes ago.

Fuzō's mother seemed to be having just as hard a time pondering as Kana usually did. Glancing over the older woman's shoulder, the man on the table behind them seemed to be struggling even harder, his chakra leaking from his palms and pouring into the jutsu formula upon which he sat. Her eyebrows quirked briefly at the sight. She guessed it wasn't the most important matter for now, he seemed quite busy.

Kana ignored the palpable void in conversation by smoothing out her clothes and tucking the lengths of her hair back under her overcloak. Surreptitiously re-concealing her hair clasp in the process.

She'd already revealed some of her cards, some of her secrets. There was no sense in letting anything else slip until she got some of her own questions answered. She spent some time reorganizing her thoughts and the ways she might phrase what she wanted to know.

That was until the robed woman suddenly reached out and patted her head... fondly?In pure shock and confusion, Kana looked up at the woman's face, which was twisted with deep sorrow.

S-such a change in reaction. What was anybody here even thinking anymore?Kana felt her mind blank out as her head was gently patted. Was, was there a proper way to respond here?

Kana's mind achieved as-yet unparalleled blankness. Nothing was even remotely coming to mind anymore.

Giving up on wondering, Kana shook her head and stepped back with her attention returned. Why wonder when you could get the answers for yourself, right? At the same time, Fuzō's mother seemed to realize what she was doing and flinched.

"Ah-""Ah, th-that's enough of that. Who are you? Tell me. Confirm for me your names. Your whole names." Simple. Terse. Forceful. Kana demanded answers with a commanding tone quite unlike her previous hesitance. Her chakra and her presence flared a bit with emphasis. This was a side of herself she had never quite been able to call upon.

When overthinking too much, now she would have to compensate equally in boldness.

Kana's gaze, again unbeknownst to her, combined with the seemingly-dignified tidying of her appearance to project a sudden aura of authority. With the irritation still obvious in her voice and the pulse of her chakra around her body, Kana looked and sounded quite a bit more formidable than she realized.

From a girl being patted gently to a survivor sternly commanding, the gap between the sudden changes in atmosphere was surely jarring.

Fuzō's mother was still rather shaky on her feet, it seems, for her expression reeled and she ended up falling into an impromptu seiza2 Traditional and formal seated posture. Often difficult to hold for long, as blood-flow to legs is inhibited. Ex for visualizing: sitting position. Kana's current presence... surely had little to do with it.

The robed woman visibly swallowed, her throat suddenly dry? With her head leaning to avoid Kana's gaze, she spoke in a low and... ashamed tone?

"Ah, did? We never did give our introductions, right? I- my true name is Uzumaki Kaoru. My husband behind me is Uzumaki Hisao. Overseers of the Uzukuni branch family here at the Yamakuni Sanctuary. The nature of our presence at this place is complex, but someone of your... authority is recognized by the barrier. I apologize for our late greetings a-and presumptions, um, ...m-my Lady?" That last part was somehow both politely formal and uncertainly questioning. The apology was good to hear as well.

But... 'my Lady', huh? The corners of Kana's eyes twitched. Kaoru really did look equally uncertain.

"The only name I know is Kana. If I have ever been called by another, I could not say." Kana shrugged ruefully, and her voice reflected it.

Authority, barriers, Uzumaki? There would doubtless be an avalanche of confusing words to come. She could not afford to get hung up on this at this... at the very beginning. Kana had to pay it no mind, at least to get through it all anyway. Then she could set aside the time to reflect over it all. And oh unknowable heavens above, would she need to...  'my Lady?'

Kana closed her eyes and massaged her forehead for a while, focused on memorizing every word. Focused on staying on task. Uzumaki Kaoru, Uzumaki Hisao. Uzukuni branch family. Barrier. Authority.Her priority was information, crucial decisions about everything else could be made after. Snapping her eyes open again, she felt ready to hear it all, everything she could learn from them. Ready to ask again. But there was another interruption. Heavens, there was always some distraction!

From a portion of the ceiling somewhere, some kind of device echoed out a message. Intrigued by the phenomenon, she paid close attention.

"Mistress, Nishi reporting," a somewhat hoarse voice said, "We've prepared Fuzō-sama for treatment in the third medical suite, but preliminary examination is concerning. Something appears to be seriously wrong with her pathways. Requesting your presence urgently."

This much Kana already knew, but Kaoru's face hardened at the words, glancing at the struggling robed man apparently called Uzumaki Hisao. Kana didn't even have time to comment before Fuzō's mother rose to her feet and met her eyes.

They were both likely thinking the same thing.

"Haaaaa", Kana sighed with deep frustration, "I very much want to know how you came to be here, Uzumakis, overseers of the Uzukuni branch family. And how that might be related to me, but... I think your daughter's treatment is most urgent. We should talk on the way, I know her condition well."

"Huh? Ah, Mmm," Kaoru's eyebrows rose as she nodded, "We'll talk on the way then, please. Hisao! I leave the barrier to you!"

There was no response from the seated man, now evidently drenched in sweat, save a low grunt of acknowledgement as they made their exit.

Sweat poured down Uzumaki Hisao's forehead as the barrier strained under his palms.

He'd barely had any focus to concentrate on the conversation behind him, but he trusted his wife to handle the strange clansman and their estranged daughter. His attention couldn't afford to be split, even if he was already worried.

Why had she arrived now, after all this time? And with whom? They had only posted their rescue mission request back to Uzushio once word of the war in Ame arrived. He simply couldn't believe they had responded to evacuate his daughter so quickly. Could leadership back in the Land of Whirlpools really spare resources for a relatively backwater posting like Hisao's? Let alone send ANBU to complete the mission so quickly?

But it was not to be for him to ask anything. Kaoru would be the one to oversee Fuzō's treatment, and his job was to maintain the barrier by himself in the meantime. He was just glad she'd come back alive. He'd heard she was gravely injured, but a part of him was expecting news of her death. He tried not to let it get to him, sternly quashing his feelings just like he always did when he thought of Fuzō.

What he had felt though, was the sheer presence of the new arrival's chakra.

Chills ran down his spine at the thought. The owner of that chakra was... unlike anything else recognized by the barrier's formula. Yet somehow, it was classified as a clan member of the highest rank and degree, but their identity was not labeled. Such authority did not simply go unidentified. Someone with authority akin to the one who had created the barrier in the first place... Lady Mito of Konohagakure, an unrivaled master of fūinjutsu.

No one of such prominence had ever visited the Yamakuni Sanctuary since it began construction, and no one bothered to inform the two minor administrators tasked with overseeing the place of an impending visit either. Blindsided by upper authorities? A test of their security and barrier status?

Hisao and Kaoru both held intense suspicions as a result, resolving to test the newcomer's chakra signature with a security tag. Those wooden talismans had been handcrafted by Mito-sama herself, just for such situations. A response from one was unquestionable proof of authenticity for someone's chakra signature. Anyone who was listed in the encrypted records from the barrier seal would be identified and authenticated by a glow of color, and their name would appear on the talisman written in glowing letters.

But Hisao felt the talisman shatter. The barrier's reaction was absurd. Reverberations from the unidentified chakra signature had shattered the outermost sensory barrier along with the talisman. It took everything Hisao had just to maintain the secondary and tertiary barriers until the shockwaves diminished.

It was that powerful, the authority that high. A mere thought from the arriving stranger would have been enough to disable an entire layer of the barrier. Using a security tag was like trying to light a match from a bonfire. It was no wonder the tag shattered. Truly terrifying, coming from such a menacing person in an ANBU mask.

Someone like that outranked minor administrators like Hisao and Kaoru like a sage outranked a child.

Hisao prayed his wife could handle the situation before he ran out of chakra.