The next day, Tsunade-sama handed her the contract they had discussed, much to her amazement. Once again, the minimal bureaucracy of the ninja villages surprised her. Although, given that ninja villages were essentially military dictatorships, she didn't know why it still amazed her.
"Your teacher has verified that everything is correct. All that's left is for you to read the contract and sign it. Take it home and take a couple of days to review the points."
"Hai."
"We're going to start your training. Shizune has told me everything you can do, so I won't reassess your theoretical knowledge. I expect you to read the books, and if you have any questions, I'll answer them the next day. From now on, half of your hours at the hospital will be spent treating patients. When you're not with me, you'll take on the role of the nurses. They'll explain what they need from you. When I'm at the hospital, you'll follow me while I handle difficult cases. Understood?"
Seina nodded firmly. She had basically acquired a rank similar to that of an intern doctor. She already knew what was going to happen. She would take care of patients with conditions she knew how to treat and then learn as the shadow of the Hokage. In reality, she preferred this to being in the same class day after day. This would help her interact with people, cultivate a good image, and also give her experience.
She listened as Tsunade explained how to take notes for patient history, administrative tasks, inventory maintenance, equipment upkeep, procedures, and protocols. Most of it was logical and she had already studied it both in this world and in the previous one. Tsunade-sama ended up introducing her to the healthcare staff, explaining her role in the hospital, and left her with them to start familiarizing herself with the personnel and the hospital.
"Welcome, Seina-san," greeted the head nurse, Sanoka, with a smile. "Tsunade-sama has explained everything to us. Today you'll be with me so I can evaluate you. Once I know what you can do, I'll be able to assign some patients to you. Let's get started."
Seina followed the nurse around the ward. As soon as she saw the first patients, she knew it wasn't going to be too much. Most were civilians who had had some accident or were suffering from mild ailments. She spent the rest of the morning disinfecting, healing wounds, relieving colds and allergies, realigning dislocated bones, and administering treatments. Oh, and filling out medical reports.
"I thought it was going to take you much longer," Sanoka praised her. "Using your clones was a good idea."
"I'm used to using them to save time," she shrugged. "If I treat someone and do the paperwork at the same time, I won't have to sit down and do it later."
"I wish I could do the same," sighed the nurse.
She wasn't a medical ninja, so all the work Seina had done in a couple of hours would have taken her the rest of the day. For starters, because she didn't use chakra to treat patients, and secondly, because she then had to handle the documentation in her free time. Medical ninjas handled more serious cases and other ninjas. After all, civilian nurses and doctors weren't trained to dodge kunai from injured ninjas.
"Anyway, congratulations on the job well done. From now on, I'll assign you the more serious cases in the ward: open wounds, broken bones, etc. That will lighten the load for all of us more efficiently. I'll inform Tsunade-sama of my decision."
"Thank you."
She left the hospital just like that. Despite having been busy all morning, she didn't feel tired. She could have gone through the entire hospital healing most patients without any problem. Between her iryo ninjutsu and her medical spells, there were few cases she couldn't resolve right away in the civilian wards of the hospital.
When she got home, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei had made lunch while Sasuke was setting the table.
"How did it go at the hospital?" the jonin asked her.
"Good. Now I'm treating people at the hospital," she sat heavily in front of him at the table.
"That's great!" Naruto cheered. "Goodbye to textbooks!"
"I wish," she laughed. "Tsunade-sama gave me a mountain of books. In fact..."
She summoned a few clones to read while she ate. Those books wouldn't read themselves. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the sight, and Kakashi-sensei seemed like he wanted to do the same but held back. Naruto groaned in exasperation at the sight.
"And what are you going to do every morning, now that I'm at the hospital?" she asked.
"Train," Naruto and Sasuke said in unison. Kakashi-sensei stifled a laugh.
"I'm afraid not. Now that Seina will be at the hospital for more hours every morning, we'll train in the afternoon. You can take the morning to rest or practice on your own."
"And what are you going to do?" Naruto asked grumpily. "We could train!"
"Naruto, my life is more than training with you two," the jonin rolled his eyes. "I'm not only your teacher, I also serve the village as the jonin that I am."
Her brother sighed at this but stopped complaining. Seina didn't know what he did when he wasn't with them, but she imagined it had something to do with those stolen papers. Sasuke gave her a sidelong glance, sensing her thoughts.
"Sasuke, I'd like to have access to your clan's documents," Kakashi-sensei requested.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"I think he's asking to visit the houses," she said, seeing that the jonin didn't remember the direction of the Uchiha complex, "probably to see if your family kept any documents."
"Exactly. Since your parents' house is under Seina's jutsu, I know no one has been able to steal anything all this time, and before you left there, you were being watched by the anbu, so I don't think anyone could have entered without being detected. If there's any kind of archive we can consult, it will be a great help."
"Alright," Sasuke agreed. "Seina will tell you the secret."
Kakashi-sensei turned to look at her and she nodded. She conjured a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down the secret to the Uchiha compound. Her sensei read it and then reduced it to ashes.
"This very night I'll go take a look."
"Was this mentioned in the meeting?" Seina asked, eating a piece of meat.
"No. Right now, Tsunade-sama wants to avoid at all costs any information leaking about her investigation into what happened. After all, we're certain that someone wants to cover it all up. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think she's being spied on or that there's a traitor among us."
"Hmm... If I had more time, I could do some things for the interrogation department."
"I would talk to Tsunade-sama about this problem," the jonin advised. "Between the hospital and training, you won't have time to fulfill the contract."
Seina frowned, realizing he was right. She finished eating and then pulled out the contract the Hokage had given her. Kakashi-sensei confirmed it was the contract he had reviewed on her behalf that very morning. He talked to her about the points of the contract and advised her to wait to discuss her lack of time before signing it.
"Tomorrow afternoon, while Naruto and Sasuke are at the hospital for their checkup, we'll train kenjutsu if that's okay with you. Then we'll resume normal training."
A while later, they started their daily training, which basically consisted of training as if they were in a real fight against him, using everything at their disposal. She felt satisfied to see how she had managed to learn several ninjutsu of each chakra nature and how her taijutsu had greatly improved after countless sessions against Kakashi-sensei. When she went to take her usual bath, she felt the jonin leaving the house. Surely to investigate the Uchiha clan.
From what she had seen, it would take a while. The Uchiha clan wasn't exactly small but the largest in Konoha, or perhaps the second largest with the most land and buildings. She didn't worry about the matter, knowing that Kakashi-sensei would be fine and alone while investigating. She relaxed in the huge bathtub.
"Ahh. This is the life," she muttered to herself in the mineral salt water at the perfect temperature.
That reminded her of her mission to install a private bath for Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. She felt even guilty enjoying a bath alone while they shared a bathroom. Huge, but shared. She would take advantage of the next afternoon to do it, if she could. She mentally abandoned the idea of creating a study for each of them, considering their rooms were large enough for them to set one up if they wanted. Less work, she told herself. She got out of the tub an hour later and collapsed in bed without even eating dinner.
The next day, Tsunade-sama restructured her schedule at the hospital.
"You'll go every other day, 4 hours a day," she finally said. "This will leave you time to rest and work on your inventions in your free time. Oh, by the way. I forgot to mention that you'll receive a salary for your service at the hospital. I'll have your pay recalculated according to your category and the hours worked. You'll be paid monthly."
Seina was surprised. She hadn't expected to get paid, but now that she thought about it, she was no longer just studying but also working. She supposed it was fair to be paid for it.
"Hai. Thank you for everything, Tsunade-sama."
"You're welcome," the woman smiled. "Today, return to the hospital. I'll have Shizune talk to the supervisor about your new schedule."
Seina left the Hokage's tower. Not only had she agreed to supplement the shinobi forces with her inventions, but she had also managed to change her hospital shift from 7 to 3 or 4 days, depending on the week. All this while receiving two separate payments. She was so excited she couldn't stop smiling the whole way. Although they didn't lack money to live on, with four people in the house providing money for food, she liked having something steady within the village besides possible missions.
"Good morning, Seina," called a nurse upon seeing her. "You can sign in here. How did the work go yesterday?"
She chatted for a few minutes, seeing that it wasn't time to start yet, and then went to change into the white uniform they used at the hospital, which she had been given yesterday. She spent the next 4 hours treating all sorts of patients. The morning passed without incident. When she left the hospital at noon, she went straight home. To her surprise, no one was there, so she left a couple of clones making lunch while she went to her study.
She wanted to study the fuinjutsu her father had placed on the modified kunai to replicate it. While she could disappear without the need for fuinjutsu, her father's and the Second's technique had certain advantages. For starters, it had no limit on the number of people she could "teleport" with the jutsu before injuries occurred, and she could teleport anything she wanted without needing to teleport herself. In fact, that was the most incredible part of the jutsu. Her father had used it, apparently, to move Kurama's bijuu dama away from the village. She could think of a thousand ways to use it similarly.
For example, she could plant seals all over the world and then teleport there in a second, speeding up missions. If she used the seals this way, it was clear she could get out of a tight spot without problems. Plus, she could use it on her enemies, teleporting them to some pre-set deadly trap or away from the battle, making them appear in the middle of the ocean. The drawback of the technique was the little information she had on how it worked and the chakra cost. For her, the second factor wasn't something to worry about, but not knowing how it worked was a huge problem.
She had no manuscripts from her father and he hadn't taught the complete technique to anyone, so she would have to seek information on the Second Hokage's jutsu. She already knew it wasn't in the public library scrolls, so she would have to look elsewhere. Just when she was reviewing the ninjutsu Kakashi-sensei had given them, she remembered the stolen scroll.
"Here you are," she smiled, placing the huge scroll on the desk. "Let's see..."
She unrolled the scroll little by little, reading the techniques, and was impressed. The kage bunshin was the last technique written. No wonder her brother had learned it. It was the first one he saw. Lucky sod. There were other amazing techniques. Like chakra barriers, genjutsu, jutsu stolen from other villages, and even a resurrection technique that gave her goosebumps. After a while, she found what she was looking for. Hiraishin no jutsu.
"...It should be noted that this jutsu, contrary to what one might think, uses the principles of summoning rather than being a modification of the body flicker technique. Once someone or something is 'marked,' it will remain marked forever. It's important to keep this in mind because if we mistakenly use this jutsu to transport ourselves to someone/something quite far away, we could experience chakra depletion due to the distance, which could kill us instantly. Because of this, it is recommended to practice with short distances and gradually increase the distance between transports to know the chakra required for the individual for this jutsu."
Seina continued reading the Hokage's words excitedly. He really was a genius. She sensed a presence within the magical barriers and knew she'd have to put her research on hold.
"We're home!" Naruto shouted as if she couldn't hear him.
"Coming," she said, leaving the scroll as it was and closing the door. "Where have you been?"
"We were at the dojo," Sasuke answered.
"Good idea," she said, impressed.
"Where's Kakashi-sensei?"
"I don't know. I've been here a while, and he hasn't shown up," she shrugged.
They talked for a while, waiting for their master to arrive for lunch. Seina mentioned what she had read in the forbidden scroll, but surprisingly, neither seemed interested in the technique. Sasuke didn't want to risk dying from chakra exhaustion, and Naruto lacked the appropriate chakra control to use the jutsu, much to his dismay.
"Yo!" Kakashi-sensei greeted, entering through the door. "I see everyone's here."
"We were waiting for you, Kaka-sensei," Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Give me five minutes."
They started eating, listening to Naruto and Sasuke talk about their dojo training. Kakashi-sensei didn't share anything about his investigation into the Uchiha complex, but judging by his face, it hadn't been in vain. Seina suddenly remembered the baths she wanted to add. She cursed when she realized she had forgotten. She could have used her alone time to do it. Well, she'd do it that very afternoon if she could.
"I'll let you rest for an hour," the jonin told her. "Then we'll start training."
She nodded. Everyone went to their rooms to rest for a while, except for her. She returned to her study to practice sealing. It was impressive that Tobirama had created a jutsu that allowed something to be sealed instantly. Even so, it meant that the teleportation jutsu was actually two sequential jutsus. Incredible. She used a stone she had collected for these kinds of tests and applied the seal. It only took a couple of tries to regulate the chakra flow and prevent the seal from exploding.
"Now comes the fun part…" she muttered, throwing the stone out the window into the garden.
She psyched herself up for what she was about to do until, irritated and excited, she realized she could use a clone for this since no magic was needed. With much less hesitation, she summoned several clones to test the hiraishin. Some exploded due to the acceleration at which they appeared at the marked point. This made her realize that using more chakra than allowed increased speed but also the user's deterioration chances. She tested her theory with a conjured porcelain vase, making it appear in the garden, and watched it shatter upon arrival.
"Interesting."
"What are you doing?" Sasuke's voice came from upstairs.
"Testing the hiraishin."
She heard Sasuke close the window with a huff of laughter, and continued testing. Eventually, her clones and delicate objects survived the journey intact, much to her delight. She repeated it several times with different objects to ensure it was safe, then used the jutsu herself. It was like blinking. In the blink of an eye, she moved from one place to another, as if her brain couldn't comprehend what was happening in between due to the speed. What she noticed compared to her appearances was the lack of nausea some experienced. Perhaps because it didn't feel like being in a carnival ride but more like running straight at the speed of light without hitting anything along the way. Much more comfortable for the user's stomach.
She reappeared in her study, calling her brother.
"Send me a couple of clones!"
"Naruto and Sasuke need to go to the hospital," Kakashi-sensei's muffled voice reminded her from his room.
He must have had the door open; otherwise, the silencing spell would have prevented her from hearing anything.
"Ugh…" Naruto complained but sent the requested clones. "Come on, teme! The sooner we go, the sooner we return."
She heard Sasuke sigh but leave his room. Meanwhile, she sent one of her clones with a Naruto clone to see if the function was the same. To her slight surprise, both clones appeared at the same speed but at the cost of more energy. This meant that as she tried to transport people or larger objects, she'd need to increase the chakra expenditure. She used a spell to determine the distance of the stone and created a table to note her experiments with different objects and distances.
"I see you're busy," Kakashi-sensei said, appearing at the door. He looked at her notes. "I don't think your father was as meticulous as you. Is that scroll…? You know what? I didn't see anything."
"I needed information on how the jutsu works," she shrugged. "What I don't understand is whether a user can use the seals of other users or only the ones they create."
"Why are you interested in knowing that?" Kakashi-sensei asked, leaning against the desk beside her, curious.
"From what I know of the fight, Kurama used what he calls bijuu dama in the attack… My father likely used this technique to displace the attack. That means there are seals from my father out there. What if there's something important hidden by my father out there, something only he had access to?"
"Logically, you shouldn't be able to find it since the technique uses the user's chakra, and being dead, it vanishes."
"But not in the hiraishin," she refuted with a triumphant smile. "The first step of this technique is a permanent sealing jutsu. Then comes the teleportation."
"You mean everything marked with this technique is marked forever?" Kakashi-sensei asked, surprised. "I didn't know. Your father used those pre-sealed kunais, so I never saw him seal anything else in combat. At least, not while I was present."
"I could run some tests. I just need someone to use the seal on an object."
"Maybe, but another time. Now it's time to train with your wakizashi."
She sighed, leaving her things as they were. She went down to the garden with Kakashi-sensei. Just as she was about to unsheathe her weapon, she felt both Sasuke and Naruto disconnect completely from their mental link. Seina stifled a laugh when she heard why both Sasuke and Naruto wanted to disconnect entirely, temporarily, from their mental link. Kakashi-sensei heard her and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Sasuke and Naruto," she laughed, unable to help herself. "They want to silence the link during their check-up at the hospital. Apparently, they're embarrassed for me to find out something weird…"
"I see. So, you can disconnect from them," Kakashi-sensei chuckled softly.
"Yes. I've always wondered why you haven't asked us about the mental link," she confessed.
"I wanted to, especially at the beginning," the jonin admitted. "It's not common and has its disadvantages, but I think it's the best thing that could have happened to Sasuke."
"Why do you think so?"
"Both you and I saw how Sasuke was before he joined you mentally. Being connected to someone was just what he needed at that moment after so many years of solitude. Also, I imagine your connection doesn't allow you to deceive each other, right?" he asked, and she nodded. "Not being alone and knowing with certainty that your intentions are good has taken a weight off Sasuke. Otherwise, he would have been much more… reticent, let's say, to accept certain things."
"Is that why you didn't try to stop us from staying connected?"
"Would you have listened to me?" Kakashi-sensei laughed it off. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't have stopped you. Besides, I knew that sooner or later, you would set limits on your mental link yourselves. I don't think Naruto wants to know some of your intimacies, and vice versa."
"Neither of them is at that point," she rolled her eyes, making her master choke on his realization. "Still, now we almost always have the link partially closed. Instead of hearing each other, we perceive emotions and the direction of some thoughts. Although it's becoming easier to know what they're going to think almost before they think it."
"I know. I see it every day in your training. Most of the time, you seem like one person in three bodies."
"Well, enough talk. Shall we start?" she asked, impatient.
They spent a long time training kenjutsu. Being completely alone in her mind for the first time in a long time made it easier to focus entirely on the grueling combat. Kakashi-sensei, of course, wasn't slowing down but rather the opposite. She was grateful because she saw how much she had improved since she bought the wakizashi. It was due to their mental connection that Kakashi-sensei injured her arm hours later when Naruto suddenly opened the link, shouting that he couldn't find Sasuke.
"Stop," Kakashi-sensei ordered, seeing he had hurt her as she was distracted. "Let me see it. What happened?"
"Naruto says he can't find Sasuke," she informed him as quickly as possible.
"Heal your arm," the jonin ordered authoritatively. "What else does Naruto say?"
They started walking quickly while she healed the superficial cut with spells and iryo ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Naruto was on the verge of hysteria, unable to find Sasuke anywhere and unable to contact him mentally. Seina tried too, but either Sasuke was blocking them completely or was unconscious. She communicated it to her master as they ran across the rooftops toward the hospital. She saw him frown.
"Can you locate Sasuke?"
"As soon as we stop running," she told him.
"Nee-chan!" Naruto shouted, appearing at the hospital door. "I haven't been able to find the teme! No one has seen him at the hospital for a while! He's not here!"
"Give her a second, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei ordered.
She used the locator spell anchored to Sasuke's earring and saw that Naruto was right; he wasn't there.
"He's not in the village. He's moving very quickly northward."
"Let's go. We need to inform the Hokage about this."
It took them a minute to reach the Hokage's tower and a few more minutes to be attended to due to the gravity of the matter. Tsunade-sama raised an eyebrow when she saw the jonin's impassive face and Naruto visibly biting his tongue to avoid shouting.
"What's going on, Kakashi?"
"Sasuke has been kidnapped from the hospital. Seina has located him outside the village, moving northward."
The Hokage's face darkened upon hearing this. Then Seina realized why. To the north was Otogakure, where Orochimaru was supposedly located. She clenched her fists in anger, realizing that it was very likely he who had ordered the kidnapping of her teammate. Naruto, with the link fully open, understood everything at once and turned red with rage.
"Shizune, call Shikaku Nara," the Hokage ordered her assistant. "Tell him I want him here immediately. Seina, you and Naruto gather a team of 5 genin or chunin ranked individuals."
"You're sending my entire team out there?" Kakashi-sensei asked with a hint of irritation. "With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, they might encounter Orochimaru or Itachi."
"With all due respect, Kakashi," the Hokage retorted clearly reproaching his tone. "You know our situation here... I need someone who is aware of the situation to investigate what has happened. You know what I mean."
Kakashi-sensei said nothing despite clearly wanting to complain. The Hokage urged them to go find their team, handing them a scroll with their orders. Naruto and she left, leaving their master with Tsunade-sama. Seina felt like she was missing something. Kakashi-sensei was right to question if it was appropriate to send a team of 5 genin and chunin to rescue Sasuke knowing who had kidnapped him. What was the Hokage avoiding revealing that made her prefer to send them away from the village at a time like this?