Chapter 88: Small Stakes

Kannin wiped the blood from Shisui's cheeks before making a few hand seals and placing his right palm on the ground. An array of black ink radiated outward over the bed, floorboards, and furniture, eventually crawling up the walls and across the ceiling, until it completely enveloped the room. He then went over and shut the blinds on the one window, before coming back to the bed.

"What are you doing, Kannin?" the boy asked after looking up.

"I just created a sonic sealing array." Kannin replied, "No one outside will be able to hear what either of us say until I dispel it."

"Why?" Shisui asked with genuine curiosity.

"Your eyes, Shisui."

"Huh?" he asked, "What about my eyes?"

"They've changed, yes?" Kannin said with a matter-of-fact tone

"Oh," Shisui realized that his Sharingan had appeared without him knowing, "yeah. They changed when it happened..."

"Do they feel more powerful than before?"

"I mean I guess..." Shisui muttered

"If I'm not mistaken," Kannin said, sitting back down, "you've awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. And that's painted a massive target on your back."

"Mangekyo..." Shisui muttered as he thought over the changes in his Sharingan, "like what Uchiha Madara had?"

"Yeah," Kannin answered, "like Madara. According to the legend it allowed Madara a number of powers that put him atop the entire shinobi world--except Hashirama, of course. Also according to legend, it's only acquired when the user experiences immense psychological trauma."

"So," Shisui stammered, "so you're saying I'm as strong as Madara?"

"No, I'm not saying that." Kannin said, scratching his chin, "I imagine Madara was the best even among those with the Mangekyo. But that doesn't mean you aren't strong. Those eyes alone probably put you in the top 5 shinobi in the village in terms of strength, barring any other Mangekyo we don't know about, and the Sannin who are off god knows where."

In fact, while Kannin was trying to come across as cool and collected, looking at the spiral pattern in Shisui's eyes really put him off. They exerted a certain dread about them which even he couldn't fully overcome. The blood red irises and the pitch black swirl combined to something rather terrible, a shuriken in before a red sky.

"So what does it mean?" Shisui asked.

"It means," Kannin sighed, "that you have a target on your back, like I said. If you were an adult, it might be fine; but since you're still a kid, people are going to try and control those" he said, pointing at his eyes, "through you. That's why I sealed off the room, in case anyone was listening in."

Kannin sighed and pinched Shisui's cheeks before adding, "All I'm trying to say is that those eyes are as much a blessing as they are a curse. Tell no one about them unless you are absolutely certain in their loyalty--not your family, not your teammates, not me, not even Minato were he to ask. Use them in emergencies where there's no other option and ideally when there'll be no witnesses."

"What do you mean don't tell you?" Shisui said in confusion, "You already know."

"Well," Kannin laughed a little, "that was more of a point of principle. Though theoretically I guess I could seal away this memory if you wanted. It would be hard though."

Shisui thought for a moment before saying, "That's alright, Kannin. I don't mind you knowing."

Kannin sighed with a dry smile and said patting the boy on the back, "Well I'm glad you trust me,"

"Anyways, I should probably go now. You should too, y'know. I'm sure your family's been missing you these past few days."

Kannin got up and went back to Warai's after that, making sure not the forget the plate he brought with him. He heard Shisui come out behind him, but didn't look back as he exited his house and crossed the street to Warai's house. When he opened the door, he heard a familiar voice say from the side,

"How'd it go?" Warai's voice resounded, a little irritated as their chat interrupted her time with Kannin.

"Pretty well, I think," Kannin said, placing the dish in her sink, "He's a strong kid, he just needs a little time is all."

Kannin walked over to the couch were Warai sat, reading a book which Kannin recognized, as he had seen it in the hands of Hatake Kakashi before.

"Please don't tell me that Kakashi got you into Icha Icha," Kannin groaned as he sat down

"It's not like I like it!" Warai laughed, "It's just that it's so bad I can't stop reading. I've never read something so unabashedly sexist and idiotic. It's hilarious, really."

"So you went out an bought your own copy?"

"Of course not," she laughed, "I'm borrowing Kakashi's copy."

"Really?" Kannin said in surprise, "I never thought that kid would ever part with his copy."

"Part of a deal we made during the training session," she said while snacking on some chips.

"Stingy as always..." Kannin chuckled.

Warai lowered the book and stared at Kannin, "What does that mean, brat?"

Kannin put on a faux defensive expression, and said "Whatever could I mean?" before smiling.

Kannin decided to stay the night at Warai's, her bed was more comfortable than his own anyway--he did have to go back home for a moment tell his mom where he would be, given her tendency to worry. When he got back, Warai had changed into pajamas and Kannin did the same.

-

On the other side of town, Minato and Kushina were doing the same, but unlike the many times they'd done it before, Minato was now doing routine checkup on the seal on Kushina's abdomen, examining how the seal was holding up. Kushina's seal had always been strong, and with her special chakras, the Kyuubi hadn't ever threatened to escape, but now that she was pregnant, they had to be very careful.

"You'd think they would just not make women jinchuuriki" Kushina said with a somewhat pained chuckle while Minato pressed on her belly.

"I'm sure we'd find something just as bothersome making only men jinchuuriki." Minato said, his focusing still on the seal

'Damn this thing is good,' he couldn't help but mumble to himself witnessing the fuijutsu masterwork on her skin.

His command over space-time jutsu allowed him a pretty good understanding of fuinjutsu, as the two are quite similar--and with Kushina teaching him about Uzumaki fuinjutsu, he felt quite confident with the art, but the seal on Kushina was truly exemplary. It allowed Kushina to express her chakra on the Kyuubi almost freely while near completely restraining the tailed beast. It would probably take Minato another few years to be capable of something so intricate with his own fuinjutsu.