Age Twelve (continued)
The roar shook the ground beneath my feet.
I opened my eyes. The jinchuriki's hand was inches from my face—but it wasn't moving. She was frozen, her eyes wide, her mouth open in a silent scream.
Behind her, standing in the rubble of the eastern wall, was my father.
His Mangekyo was blazing. The shuriken pattern spun in his eyes, faster and faster, and the air around him shimmered with power. He wasn't just using his Sharingan. He was using something else. Something I had never seen before.
The Susano'o.
A giant skeleton of purple chakra surrounded him, towering over the battlefield. It had ribs, arms, a skull. And it was reaching out with one massive hand, holding the jinchuriki in place.
"Ren," my father said. His voice was calm, almost bored. "Get up."
I pushed myself to my feet. My ribs screamed. My arm was bleeding. But I was alive.
"The three-tails is too strong for me to hold for long," he said. "I need you to seal it."
"Seal it? How?"
"You're an Uzumaki. Sealing is in your blood. Draw the Nine Spirals. Bind the beast."
"I've never done it before. I've only practiced on paper."
"Then it's time to practice on something real."
The jinchuriki screamed. The purple chakra around her flared, pushing back against the Susano'o's grip. My father grunted. Blood dripped from his nose.
"Now, Ren!"
I ran.
I didn't have paper. I didn't have ink. I had my chakra and my will and the memory of every seal I had ever drawn. I reached the jinchuriki's side and pressed my palm against her stomach, where the three-tails' chakra was strongest.
The seal blazed into existence under my hand.
It wasn't perfect. The lines were crooked, the spirals uneven. But it held. The purple chakra around the jinchuriki flickered, dimmed, retreated. She screamed again—a different kind of scream, not of rage but of loss.
The three-tails was being forced back inside her.
"Keep going," my father said. His voice was strained. The Susano'o was flickering.
I poured more chakra into the seal. The lines glowed brighter. The spirals tightened. And with a final, shuddering pulse, the jinchuriki's chakra stabilized. The purple aura vanished. She collapsed to her knees, gasping.
The Kiri shinobi saw their jinchuriki fall. They saw the Susano'o towering over the battlefield. They saw the golden chains still blazing around me.
They ran.
The battle was over.
My father dismissed the Susano'o. He walked to where I stood, swaying on my feet, my hand still pressed against the jinchuriki's stomach.
"You did well," he said.
"She's still alive."
"She's a prisoner now. We can use her as a bargaining chip." He looked at the seal on her stomach. "That's the Nine Spirals. You drew it from memory."
"I've been practicing."
"Good." He put his hand on my shoulder. It was the first time he had touched me without violence in months. "Rest. The war isn't over. But today, we won."
I collapsed.---
I woke up three days later in the hospital.
Kushina was sitting beside my bed, her face pale, her eyes red from crying. When she saw me open my eyes, she burst into tears and threw her arms around my neck.
"You promised!" she sobbed. "You promised you'd come back!"
"I did come back."
"You almost didn't!"
"But I did." I hugged her with my good arm—the other was bandaged and splinted. "I'm sorry I scared you."
"Don't ever do that again."
"I can't promise that."
"Then promise you'll try."
I kissed the top of her head. "I'll try."
The door opened. Tsunade walked in.
She looked different. Older. There were shadows under her eyes and a hardness in her jaw that hadn't been there before. She was wearing a green haori with the Senju symbol on the back, and her hands were bandaged.
"I came as soon as I heard," she said. "Konoha sent reinforcements. We arrived this morning."
"You came all this way for me?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I came because Konoha has a treaty with Uzushio." She sat down on the edge of my bed, pushing Kushina aside gently. "But also because you're an idiot who gets himself almost killed, and someone needs to make sure you don't do it again."
She put her hands on my chest. Green chakra glowed. The pain in my ribs faded.
"You have three broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and enough internal bruising to kill a normal person," she said. "But you're Uzumaki, so you'll probably be fine in a week."
"A week?"
"Maybe two. Stop complaining."
Kushina looked between us, her eyes narrowed. "Are you the girl from the letters?"
"I'm Tsunade."
"Are you my brother's girlfriend?"
Tsunade's hands faltered. Her face turned pink. "I'm his doctor."
"That's not what he calls you in his letters."
"Kushina," I said, "go get me some water."
"I'm not thirsty."
"I am."
She huffed but left the room. Tsunade and I were alone.
"She's annoying," Tsunade said.
"She's seven."
"She's still annoying."
I laughed. It hurt. "Thank you for coming."
"I told you. I came because of the treaty."
"You're a bad liar."
She looked at me. Her brown eyes were soft in a way that made my chest ache. "You almost died."
"I know."
"Don't do it again."
"I can't promise that."
"Then promise you'll try."
I reached up with my good hand and touched her face. She leaned into my palm, just for a moment.
"I'll try," I said.