The next morning, Seina woke up with the feeling that everything had somehow changed again. Kakashi-sensei was now the one tied to the village until further notice while she had returned to active missions. Luckily, Naruto and Sasuke had been too tired to argue when they got home after several hours at Tsunade-sama's tower.
"I have to go put protections on the Hokage mansion," said Seina as she sat down for breakfast. "You can come with me if you want."
"Are you going to use runes?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, and a few spells. Runes are more reliable in the long term," she explained. "I was thinking of using clones to speed up the task, but if you want, you can come and I'll explain what I'm going to do."
"Sounds good. I might not be able to activate them, but I can carve them like you," Sasuke shrugged.
"Actually... I've been thinking about that, you know?"
"About a way for us to activate runes?" asked Kakashi-sensei with interest. "What have you come up with?"
"This world doesn't have magic, but it has chakra and natural energy. The natural energy is what keeps the runes I use in my inventions active once I activate them with my magic for the first time. That means, in some way, the shizen energy of nature must be similar to magic..."
"Do you think if we use natural energy, we could activate the runes without needing you to activate them first?" Sasuke asked. She nodded. "Is it possible?"
Kakashi-sensei, seeing the team's attentive looks, pondered the question.
"Actually, there are people who use senjutsu, which is the combination of shizen energy with a person's physical and spiritual chakra. In fact, Jiraiya-sama is an expert in using this technique, so he could teach you."
"Really?!" Naruto exclaimed upon hearing this. "The pervert had it well hidden!"
"Don't get too excited. I have no idea if he'll agree to help you or not. I don't even know how he trained to reach that point."
"But, imagine! If Seina-nee was right and we knew how to use senjutsu, we could use runes!"
Seina smiled at seeing Naruto's exuberance while Sasuke nodded enthusiastically in silence. She knew that, in part, studying runes would make them feel less distanced from her. In fact, that was one of the reasons she mentioned the shizen energy. That, and because knowing runes would be an advantage for their team. Even so, she didn't know if it would actually work in activating runes. One thing was to provide neutral energy to her runes and another to mix natural energy with a person's chakra.
To her pleasant surprise, Kakashi-sensei ended up accompanying them to the Hokage tower. She spent the entire morning explaining to him how to use the runes under his attentive gaze and teaching him how to carve them correctly. Hours later, while Sasuke, Naruto, and their clones carved the bulk of the runes, Seina watched as Kakashi-sensei made his first attempts with the runes. She felt strange since now she was acting as the teacher, and not the other way around. Even so, Kakashi-sensei quickly understood everything she was saying, so it wasn't burdensome to explain everything in detail under the anti-spy spells she had placed.
"I didn't know it was so complicated," her teacher confessed later, when they took a break to eat something. "You make it look extremely easy when you invent something."
"Of course. I've been a runemaster for 94 years," she smiled. "If I couldn't do something so simple in minutes, I'd retire."
The jonin shook his head at her words, somewhat incredulous as every time she reminded him of her age. They finished protecting the Hokage mansion a couple of hours later. Tsunade-sama joined them when she sent her a note.
"Have you finished? How does it work?" Tsunade-sama asked.
"Basically, the jutsu activates when the doors and windows are closed. Always. In case the entry points are broken, for example, a broken window, there is a way to manually activate the jutsu," she demonstrated how to do it with a drop of blood and a pulse of chakra on the hidden rune cluster. "The drawback is that if the tower were destroyed, this jutsu wouldn't work since it's tied to the structure."
"How many spaces have this protection?"
Seina listed the rooms she thought would be useful, such as the bedroom, private office, public office, meeting room, and one of the guest rooms.
"Since you ordered Shizune to use a space for the Ne prisoner, I thought you could use one of the empty rooms. That way, even if he screamed, no one would hear him from outside."
"Hmm... Well thought out. Is there a way to seal someone inside a place so they can't escape?"
"Of course."
"Good. As soon as Shizune modifies the room, I'll call you back."
Seina explained how the barrier worked. How it acted as a "bubble," silencing and confusing potential spies who might be in the walls or even spying from afar through the windows. Well, everyone except her. That meant the anbu hiding in the walls of the room would be outside the barrier, so they wouldn't be able to see or hear if the Hokage called them. It was a big drawback but necessary. To make up for this deficiency, the Hokage would have to use indoor plants or perhaps a false wall where her ninjas could hide inside her office and, therefore, inside the barrier.
"And what if there's already someone inside my office and I seal them inside the barrier with me?"
"I had thought about that, so I made these other glasses to see auras. That's how I use my powers to perceive people," Seina explained, handing her glasses filled with runes. "You can check before sealing yourself inside if there's someone unexpected. I could have thought of something else, but we're a bit short on time..."
"This is perfect," smiled Tsunade-sama, putting on the glasses. "How do you come up with these things?"
"Is this how you always see everything?" asked Kakashi-sensei, trying on the glasses. "You can detect someone through walls. Huh. Incredible."
"Not always, but I use it frequently."
"How far do they reach?"
"About 10 meters."
She let them play with the glasses while she packed her things into her pouch. Tsunade-sama activated the runes for the first time after ensuring there was no one suspicious in her office. Her anbu bodyguards inside the room didn't say a word. Seina watched as Tsunade put the glasses into one of her secret pockets and sat down in her chair.
"I wanted to give you this, Seina," said the Hokage, handing her a map. "This is where Danzo's base is. I know you could find it with your powers, but at least this will save you some time. Here is the entrance, if you can call it that, but we don't know how big it is inside."
"Great," she replied, taking the map and memorizing it with her occlumency. "I'll get started on this today."
"Perfect. If it takes a few days, that's fine. The important thing is not to get detected."
She nodded. She would use some spells on her summons so no ninja could detect them. She would also need a notebook and something to sketch a map as she ventured into the base. Enchanting the ninjas was more complex, but she could at least get an idea of how many ninjas were inside. Just as she thought about it, she remembered the old Marauders' Map. She could make a similar one, but she needed to anchor the map's runes to the non-existent magical barriers of Danzo's headquarters… Hmm… Interesting.
She felt her master's intense gaze on her forehead and blinked, coming back to herself. Tsunade-sama had a raised eyebrow in her direction but didn't ask. She bid farewell to her teacher, leaving with her jonin sensei. Naruto and Sasuke were talking ahead of them about their last C-rank mission while Seina walked beside Kakashi-sensei, thinking about the pros and cons of creating a map. In the end, she decided to talk to her master in the privacy of her home to see what he thought.
To her little surprise, when they entered her property, past the magical barriers, Kakashi-sensei turned to look at her.
"So? What have you come up with?"
"Let's sit down and I'll explain."
Naruto and Sasuke, hearing their exchange, turned with curiosity.
"What's going on?" asked Sasuke, sitting in the dining chair.
"I've thought of something for my mission to spy on Danzo, but it has some drawbacks. I was thinking of a map. Do you remember when I told you about my father and his friends' map?" she asked, accepting the cookies her brother handed her. "Well, the same, but for Danzo's base."
"That would be awesome!" exclaimed Naruto with a smile. "Granny Tsunade would know who Danzo's henchmen are and could plan an attack in advance."
"Yes, but someone could also steal the map and try to reproduce it. They might also think Konoha has this technology to spy on other countries, which could lead to a major conflict."
"Then Seina just has to hide the map, make it so only the Hokage can see it or something. I don't know, with her powers, she can do anything," Sasuke shrugged.
"Another drawback is that I need to put a magical barrier around Danzo's base. For that, I need to place a rune chamber inside, somewhere hidden, with a stone powerful enough to prevent the barriers from collapsing. After that, I could create a map from a distance using the barriers to identify everyone who steps into Danzo's headquarters."
"But you need to get inside," Kakashi-sensei confirmed aloud. She nodded. "And can't your summons or clones do it?"
"I suppose part of the process, but eventually, I would have to go in to activate the barriers."
"Why don't you use your powers to put everyone to sleep from afar and keep them imprisoned?" Naruto asked. Sasuke and Seina looked at him in some amazement, but Kakashi-sensei firmly shook his head.
"Even if she could capture those inside the base at that moment, who's to say those people are 100% of Danzo's shinobi?" refuted the jonin to her brother's proposal. "Besides, our main problem is we don't know the identity of any of them. Imagine Seina captures 50 of Danzo's 100 minions. The other 50 realize something's wrong and hide until further notice, or maybe they plot something away from Danzo's headquarters. We would have lost all the advantage we have now. Even if we could quickly undo the seals on their tongues, that doesn't mean they know the identity of their Ne comrades."
"Yeah…" she sighed, seeing he was right. "I didn't think of that, Naru, but Kakashi-sensei is right. If I manage to make the map and Tsunade-sama spies on them for a while, sooner or later most will show up at the headquarters, and she'll know who they are."
"Meanwhile, Jiraiya-sama would have enough time to figure out a way to undo their seals without Seina's intervention. We don't know what could happen if she used her powers on the Ne prisoner. No, Tsunade-sama's strategy is the most efficient and least risky. A ninja can die on a mission without drawing attention, but the disappearance of half of Danzo's forces would not go unnoticed," Kakashi-sensei concluded. Then he turned to look at her. "To make the map, how long would you need inside Danzo's base?"
"At least an hour to set everything up if I can deploy about 3-4 clones. Myself, maybe 10 minutes," she replied. "Before that, I need to think of some kind of magical barrier that's not counterproductive to raise and is the easiest possible."
"We'll have to talk to Tsunade-sama about this," Kakashi-sensei informed. "She can summon the council to her office at some point. With Danzo away from his headquarters, it should be less dangerous for you to enter."
"So, I'll have to coordinate it with Tsunade-sama. Well, either way, I'll have to plan it in advance before talking to her. I need to think about what to do in my study."
She went to her study to think about how to create a map. To start with, she needed the map sketched out before the magical barrier. Then she would have to use a closed room in Danzo's headquarters to place her rune chamber; she could even use the fidelus charm to hide it so Danzo would never realize it was there. Additionally, she needed a magical barrier that wouldn't hinder the ninjas' work or be detected by Danzo due to its activation. That is, she couldn't set up an anti-ninja magical barrier, if one existed, because Danzo would realize he couldn't enter his own base… But… she could set up an anti-house-elf magical barrier. It wouldn't serve any purpose since there were no house-elves in this dimension, but it would be enough to activate the rune stone inside the chamber. After that, she would just have to link the previously sketched map with the active stone using some spells. And voilà!
Everyone within the barrier would be reflected on the map, and they wouldn't even realize there was a barrier. She noted her steps, realizing that up to this point, it was relatively easy. Kakashi-sensei, however, was right. She couldn't let many people know that such a map existed, or it would increase the value of her head. No. She would have to make the map visible only to authorized people with blood. Therefore, blood runes and blood magic. Of course. She didn't even know why she was worried. If she used the same runes on the map that she used with her pouch, only Tsunade-sama, whoever she decided, and Seina could see the map.
Clearly, the biggest problem was infiltrating Danzo's base. She didn't know what traps were inside, or if they could detect her with some experimental powers... She urgently needed to send her summons inside to get an idea of what she was up against and to create the map.
"Alright... What stone can I use?" she thought aloud to herself, looking at her collection of crystals and minerals. "Hmm..."
She selected an intermediate one, strong enough to activate a single barrier, and began carving the runes with her sharp tools. It took her barely an hour to complete the first part. The other part would have to be done in Danzo's headquarters. She placed the stone in one of the drawers and grabbed one of her large blank scrolls. She packed everything she needed into her pouch and left her study.
When she came downstairs a couple of hours later, she found Naruto cooking with Sasuke's help while Kakashi-sensei was sitting on the sofa reading a book. He looked at her over the pages.
"Have you finished scheming?" he asked with a slight smile.
"I think so. Tomorrow, I'll scout the area. I need to make a preliminary map, so I'll send my summons first. Once I'm clear on it, I'll ask Tsunade-sama to arrange a meeting to get Danzo away from his headquarters."
"Be careful."
"I will," she said, stretching out on the sofa and placing her legs on his lap. "I've thought it through."
She felt Kakashi-sensei's hand on her ankle as he read. She heard her team laughing and arguing in the background while she mentally disconnected. She remembered that she had to go to the hospital for her shift the next day. She no longer had to work there every day, just Thursdays and Fridays. That meant she earned less from her job as a doctor, but she had more free time for other things. Like training, carrying out the Hokage's orders promptly, and continuing her studies.
She woke up from her doze when she felt Sasuke approaching them.
"Dinner is ready."
She straightened up, stretching. Kakashi-sensei offered his hand and pulled her up with a laugh. She saw Naruto setting the food on the table while Sasuke took his usual seat.
"Are we training tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, looking at Kakashi-sensei.
"Yes. Now that I'm confined to the village until further notice, I have more time, so we can keep training. Especially you, Seina. Sasuke and Naruto will easily pass the exams, but you have a lot more to study."
"I know," she groaned. "I've made a schedule, so I should finish studying the texts in two months."
"You have time."
"How is the jonin exam?" her brother asked curiously. "Is it very different from the chunin exam?"
"The jonin exam consists of four stages: a written exam, a survival exam, one-on-one battles, and completing a mission within seven days at most. All stages are taken individually. In the first part, the written exam, the candidate is subjected to a temporary seal so they can't use chakra to cheat. During the battle, they can't fight with summons or assistance animals like the Inuzuka dogs. In the survival exam, they can only carry two weapons and nothing else."
"Ugh... that means you have to know all the books nee-chan is reading by heart, right?"
"I'm afraid so," Kakashi-sensei trolled with a closed-eye smile.
"It sounds very difficult," Sasuke frowned. "How long does the survival test last? And what kind of missions are given?"
"It depends on the difficulty; you could get one mission or another. During the survival test, each person receives a scroll with a mission but also has to steal a second scroll. This reduces the number of candidates by half. Once the survival test is over, the remaining candidates fight one-on-one. Those who qualify have a final test: completing one of the two missions they obtained in the survival test. There are easy, moderate, and difficult missions. As you can imagine, everyone wants the scroll with the easy mission, although it also means having less time to complete it."
Naruto and Sasuke looked at her with some horror, hearing all that she would have to do. However, she began to feel that competitive spirit that always emerged when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge. She couldn't suppress the excited smile realizing that in these exams, she would be entirely alone. She wouldn't have to hide from potential teammates. That lifted a weight off her shoulders. She heard a snort of laughter in front of her.
"It seems Seina isn't too worried."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"You'll receive a lot of attention. I hope you know that," her teacher warned. "Many will think you're fresh meat because of your age. But others, the smarter ones, will likely leave you alone."
"Why?" her brother asked.
"Because candidates are recommended by the Kage. If Seina is in the exam, it's because she was personally recommended. That means she must not be very weak despite her young age."
"So, essentially, I won't have many allies during the exam," she rolled her eyes. "I don't mind."
They finished dinner, chatting about the jonin exams. That night, when she lay in her bed to sleep, she realized that, for at least a few weeks, she would have more time to spend with Kakashi-sensei. Despite living in the same house, she missed him. Suddenly, the thought crossed her mind to go to his room to be with him alone. Curiously, a part of her felt embarrassed for feeling that desire. She was acting like an insecure teenager. She almost didn't remember how it felt to be like that because it had been so long since she lost George... Almost a lifetime.
She had never imagined she could love someone again with the same intensity as she had loved George. While Kakashi-sensei wasn't her late husband, that didn't mean she loved him more or less, simply... She loved him differently than she had loved George. George, in his heart, had been a total jokester. He had loved to laugh at life. Live it to the fullest, almost carelessly. That didn't mean he had been irresponsible, but, compared to Kakashi-sensei, he lacked the seriousness with which the jonin took things. That quality in George had excited and irritated her countless times equally.
Kakashi-sensei, on the other hand, only seemed carefree, but he wasn't really. In reality, he was one of the most protective and considerate people she had the fortune to know. Unlike George, Kakashi-sensei was much more restrained and took things, perhaps, too seriously, although he tried not to show how much certain things affected him. He was the type of person who stored any bit of information about his loved ones simply because he valued those details.
Her relationship with George had been like a rollercoaster. Full of very high highs and very low lows, surprising and unusual. Sometimes, too intense, for better and for worse. She couldn't comment on how it was to be in a complete relationship with Kakashi-sensei, but for now, it was a 180-degree turn. Kakashi-sensei was nights on the sofa talking about their deepest feelings, dates alone where only they mattered, not the place, tough training sessions to ensure they came home... They were like different sides of the same coin.
She got out of bed with a racing heart, but she was going to do it. She climbed the stairs and, before she could hesitate, knocked softly on the door. It didn't take five seconds to open. Kakashi-sensei looked at her somewhat surprised but let her in.
"Seina. Is something wrong?" he asked, touching her shoulder.
"No. Well, yes. Don't laugh, but I miss you," she confessed, feeling herself blushing in the dark.
"...I miss you too," he admitted after a surprised pause. "These past few months have been crazy, but you'll see, everything will stabilize."
"I guess you're right."
"Do you want to sit down?"
Seina sat without a word. The mattress was identical to hers. Super comfortable. Kakashi-sensei sat next to her. Before he could say anything else, her teacher took her hand, kissing the back of it.
"Don't do that or I'll have to hug you."
"I can't hold your hand, but you can leave me flustered with a kiss?" the jonin smiled, removing his mask. "I don't know if that seems fair."
He kissed her hand again, looking her in the eyes as he did. She had to avoid swallowing noisily when she saw something in his eyes she didn't want to define.
"You can hug me whenever you want," he said softly.
Seina hugged him. She buried her face in his neck, feeling his arms wrap around her too. A second later, Kakashi-sensei lay down on the bed with her on his chest.
"You can kiss me whenever you want," she murmured against his skin.
"I'll keep that in mind..."
She didn't know how, but she fell into a deep sleep. She didn't even wake up when he tucked her under the blanket, but he must have done so before going to sleep himself.
She woke up the next day in practically the same position, in shock. Her intention hadn't been to spend the entire night in Kakashi-sensei's arms, but that's exactly what had happened. The jonin, obviously, was awake, though lying beside her.
"How did you sleep?"
"If you keep stroking my hair, I'll fall asleep again," she complained, though she wasn't serious.
"I'd better stop then," he laughed quietly, feeling the vibrations in his chest. "We both have a lot to do."
"Ugh... why do you have to remind me?"
Thinking about Danzo completely killed the mood. She had to talk to Tsunade-sama first to carry out her plan in full, but in the meantime, she could start creating the map.
"I'm going to shower," she sighed. "I really don't feel like dealing with Danzo."
"If Tsunade-sama gave you that mission, it's for a reason. As much as I don't like you getting involved with him and his... plans."
"I know, but I'm a big girl," she reminded him. She managed to get another laugh out of him. "Besides, I don't plan on putting myself in danger. Don't worry."
"I know," he assured her before disappearing to his own room.
It had been tough, but she had learned to value herself as a person, more than just a tool, through therapy. It took years, but she finally realized that her life had enough value not to put herself in danger foolishly as she had done many times during her teenage years. She wanted to live many years with her family, so she couldn't afford to make mistakes or be reckless. It had taken her a while to accept that she couldn't act as she had for years, at Hogwarts, but having a family that depended on her had helped immensely.
When therapy made her recall her memories, she realized how little she had valued her own life. She had been on the brink of death countless times without any need or sufficient reasons. She had confronted an adult knowing he was an ally of Voldemort instead of consulting another teacher, besides McGonagall. She had risked her life to save a girl she didn't know, simply because she was the little sister of a friend she had only known for a year. She had almost lost her soul to the Dementors to save her godfather's life, whom she had believed guilty of her parents' deaths just hours before. She had even participated in the tournament without seeking legal help regarding the magical contract, assuming she had been told the truth. Not to mention how she let Umbridge torture her for an entire year, instead of getting rid of her or lowering her head.
She had been a true idiot. Naive, easily manipulated, short-sighted... Years later, in therapy, this had embittered her for months. She had realized how many things she could have done differently without having to suffer so much along the way, how much her teachers and other authority figures had failed her. She had been manipulated into sacrificing her life instead of seeking another opinion on the horcrux in her forehead. Where in the prophecy did it say that Voldemort had to kill her to destroy the piece of soul in her scar? Dumbledore had been many things, but he wasn't omniscient. It had taken her years to realize that. Hermione hadn't even accepted this truth until years later, when Seina used a pensieve to compile enough irrefutable evidence to help her open her eyes and stop burying her head in the sand like an ostrich.
She turned off the water, stopping her thoughts about the turbulent beginnings of her former life, and got dressed. She had a long day ahead. The last thing she needed was to have an internal conflict thinking about the hardships of her other self.