chapter 88

Eiji could almost feel Hachi and Kage telling him 'We told you so' when he got back to them. After all, they'd been dropping hints that he was working too much and worrying too much since they arrived in Iwa. They'd agreed with him that it was necessary, but the two of them also agreed with each other that he still needed to rest even if less than normal.

Point was, he was enjoying his time in the mindscape, which worked very well for him, since this was something that had to be done anyway. Two birds with one stone, as it were. The fact that Tsuchi was bombarding him with her innocent joy was a big plus too, obviously.

As for what exactly he was doing, well, he was spending some time with the eight-limbed wolf that resided in him. Eiji had, after all, noticed that the Chakra Beast had been getting a little antsy. Evidently, Kage and Hachi, together with his mostly calm mind, weren't enough to keep her from getting restless.

Thus, he'd decided to spend some one on one time with Tsuchigumo running through the forests in the Training Grounds. Evidently, it worked wonders, if the feelings he received from here were anything to go by. It was also helping his mood, which was great too. He hadn't even noticed how wound up he'd been feeling as of late.

'This brings me back,' Eiji thought, reminiscing of the times when he would free run his way through the village or make his way through the Forest of Death. It wasn't even that long ago, but to him it felt like a lifetime. How long had he been jumping from one problem to the other? When had everything started being all about fights and missions?

"Thank you, girl," He told Tsuchigumo when they took a little break. Not because they were tired, since they literally couldn't be, but because constantly running wasn't fun. Besides, the oversized wolf seemed to enjoy being pet about as much as running, so it worked just as well. "You can just call for me if you want to do this more often, yeah? So long as we aren't about to or in the middle of a fight, it should be fine. Or you can ask Kage or Hachi, if you don't feel it's a good moment," He told her. She barked and he got a sense of affirmation, but Eiji wondered if she had understood all that he said.

Her level of intelligence was weird. It seemed to oscillate between toddler and prepubescent. Sometimes one had to slowly explain things to her and others she would understand everything immediately. Regardless, she was a dear, and Eiji liked her just the way she was. It was refreshing, in a way, to have such a pure soul in a world so messed up. It was also sad, because Eiji knew it was only a question of time before she was tainted too.

"I'm fine, Tsuchi," He said when the Beast whined a question at him. He'd let his thoughts get away from him again. "Just thinking about how wonderful you are," He added, smiling at her. A grin that got wider when she sent him her own happiness and pride.

He had to wonder, how would he be, if he didn't have Tsuchigumo? What would be different? What would be different if he didn't have Kage or Hachi for that matter? He guessed it was a question much like how it would be if he didn't have his friends. One that he didn't even want an answer for, didn't need one. 'One that I don't want to ask myself,' He decided.

"What's the matter?" It was his turn to question, seeing as the Chakra Beast went silent, staring at him. It was one of those rare moments when she seemed to be much smarter than normal. Her eight blue eyes stared at him as if trying to pry knowledge from him. Which, considering who she was, might even be literal.

Then she stomped, sending him what she wanted to say without needing words or even signs.

Eiji blinked.

Then he blinked again.

"Of course, Tsuchi," He replied, smiling at her. He was surprised, shocked even. He was also very confused, he would admit. However, this wasn't a bad thing, he supposed. Strange, that was for sure, but then again, when had his life ever been normal since he had come to be in this world? "Say, how about we go visit Hachi and Kage, yeah?" He asked, and he almost sighed in relief when he felt her agree instantly.

Thus, the two of them rushed out of the Training Grounds. Soon enough, they found the two Orochimaru lookalikes. Then, Eiji wasted no time in throwing Kage under the bus with Tsuchi while he got Hachi alone to talk.

"What, exactly, have you two been talking about with Tsuchi?" Eiji hissed at him. The shiteating grin his creation gave him was all that he needed to know.

"So, she really brought it up, huh?" Kage asked from behind him. Turning, the boy saw the Orochimaru shard with a hand between Tsuchigumo's ears. Eiji's eye twitched. "So…"

"Congratulations-," Hachi took over for his counterpart.

"-it's a girl," Kage finished.

Poor Tsuchigumo, supremely confused, sent a question his way. Eiji's mind, however, was still reeling from what she had previously asked him at the Training Grounds: 'Are you my dad?'. He'd replied in the affirmative, of course. What else was he supposed to say? However… 'What the actual fuck?'

His eye twitched again when he saw Kage trying to keep his snickering in check and failing.

"Say, Tsuchigumo," Eiji started, and both Orochimaru shards suddenly lost their mirth. Evidently, they realized that he was up to no good. "Do you know what a brother is?"

She barked and Eiji didn't need his sense to know that she was telling him 'yes'.

"You know, I basically made Hachi," He continued, and saw the aforementioned man pale even more than he already was. "That'd make them your brother."

Then he witnessed first hand how the Chakra Beast froze. Her head snapped towards the Orochimaru construct, who gave her a stiff smile. 'See how you like being blindsided, huh?' Eiji thought vindictively.

"Well, dad," Hachi said and suddenly the boy wasn't so confident anymore. "I wanted to bring up something in the future, but I guess this is a good time, since we are all revealing stuff," He continued, giving Eiji a very strong sense of foreboding. He was right to be wary, he decided as he saw Hachi's body change once more, this time to a female version of Orochimaru. 'Isn't that one of the bodies he took possession of?' He wondered. "I like this body better."

"Huh," The boy said intelligently. "Well, it doesn't look bad."

He saw both Hachi and Kage blink at that. Had they expected him to freak out or something? It was… strange, seeing Hachi like that, but it wasn't the weirdest thing in the world, by far.

"Anyway, Tsuchi," He continued, turning towards the wolf that was still vibrating in place, clearly overcome with excitement at the prospect of having a brother. Her head snapped to face him, eyes shining. She was, evidently, waiting for him to tell her something just as good as what he'd already said to her. 'Wouldn't want to disappoint, yeah?' He thought to himself. "I'm officially adopting, Kage too. Which makes all of you siblings."

That did it. A Chakra Beast went on a rampage of face licking inside his Mindscape. The three of them complained more than once, but they never meant a word. It was a strange situation, weird on many levels. And yet, it still managed to be nice.

"I know we kind of sprung that on you," Hachi told Eiji when they got a moment as Tsuchigumo attacked Kage. "But we talked and we were sure you wouldn't mind. If you do though, I'm sure the two of us can-"

"It's fine," Eiji waved off, still a bit miffed. They had to have meant no harm. Otherwise Hachi would have talked. He knew, because they'd tried to prank him a few times and everytime the rules stopped his creation. It was a bit of a shame, Naruto had taught him that pranks could be fun even to the one that was on the receiving end, although that was rare. "Besides, I really don't mind."

After saying that, he turned to look at the Chakra Beast with a smile. He really didn't. It would be weird, that's for sure, and he could have done without the surprise, but he was completely ok with that development.

"The three of you, you'll forever be the closest people to me. You know all my secrets, all my burdens," He mused out loud, almost feeling Hachi staring at him. Eiji was sure he'd already talked about this, but he didn't care much. "Closer than even my friends. Destinies tied together by more than bonds. Isn't that what true family is about?"

"It's a way to see it, I guess," His creation replied, looking at him oddly. It took the boy a moment to get over how strange the change was, only just noticing that even Hachi's voice had changed. 'It'll take some time to get used to that,' Eiji mused, taking in the… woman's new… self.

Then he chuckled.

"Figures that my family would have to be this weird," He commented, earning a snort from Hachi.

As far as relaxing attempts went, Eiji would classify that one as a success, surprises and all.

[}-o-{]

"You seem to be in an… odd mood," Kabuto commented, sitting next to him. Eiji would admit that it surprised him a little. The ex-spy was usually supremely uncomfortable and scared in his presence, which made perfect sense. However, it did mean that actively approaching him was out of the ordinary.

"I just realized some things, is all," He answered without really saying anything. He couldn't very well tell his team that he'd apparently been declared the father of a Chakra Beast and adopted two mind constructs, could he? 'God, it sounds so weird,' He thought to himself. He still wore a smile on his face though.

Refocusing on the drawing he was making, he let Tayuya's music distract him. It was a fast tune this time, he would even go as far as calling it aggressive. It gave him the feeling of a fight, thrilling but dangerous.

"What is it you want, Kabuto?" Eiji asked, as he started drawing. The silver-haired boy hadn't moved, after all.

"I don't know, really. I just…" The admission made him pause, his pencil hovering over the paper as the other boy trailed off. "Can I ask you a question though?"

"Go ahead," Eiji replied, giving the ex-spy his full attention. Something told him that this wouldn't be a normal conversation.

"How do you know who you are?" Kabuto asked, his tone almost casual, making him blink. That certainly hadn't been the kind of thing he'd expected. Regardless of that though, he gave the question some thought before answering.

"Can I ask what brought this on?" He said before actually answering. It was an… interesting question, if nothing else.

"I've asked this of everyone that has had me working for them," Kabuto replied with no hesitation whatsoever. Eiji wondered about that for a moment. Why would he ask that in particular? Was there something that he didn't remember about him? Probably. There wasn't much at all in his notes, least of all from Shippuden. He only had very vague information that didn't matter much, considering that was from a future that wouldn't happen anyway.

"We are who we are," Eiji started answering, looking away towards the rock formations around them. They were imposing, but they got old really quick, at least to him. In the end, they looked so… dull, compared to how full of life Konoha's forests were. "Everything we do makes us who we are. Those things we do because we want to, those things we do because we think we have no choice, even those things we do actually not having a choice. What we do and what we feel, is what we are."

"... Is that so?" Kabuto asked, looking like he was hanging onto every word. A thoughtful frown on his face, as if he were using all his brain power to try to process what Eiji was telling him.

"I'm Eiji Satou," He continued. At that point though, he wondered who he was talking to anymore. "I like my friends," 'And my family,' He added, privately amused. "And I hate anything that endangers them. My dream for the future is to be the next God of Shinobi. In the meantime, I like drawing, free running, cooking and spending time with my friends."

"That's… a rather simplistic view," Kabuto commented.

"Who said that our identities have to be complicated?" Eiji pointed out with a smile. "In the end, the only thing that matters is what we want. We can be whoever we want to be, so long as we don't let others' opinion be more important than ours."

At that, the ex-spy went silent, which was good. Eiji had to think about what he'd just said himself. Why? Because he'd meant every single word he'd said. 'When did I become Eiji and just Eiji instead of Eiji and someone else?'

'What… What even was my name before?' He wondered. Strangely, he was sure that not knowing the answer to that question should have devastated him, but it didn't. Instead, he felt like he lost something, but that it… didn't really matter. It was probably written somewhere in his notes, but the fact remained that he'd forgotten…

He was Eiji now though, that was all there was to him. He only had notes and the vaguest of memories of his last life. Considering how much he'd changed already, his knowledge was little more than people's information. No event would remain the same now.

'My past life might as well be a strange dream,' He mused hollowly.

"You are who you are, wasn't it?" Hachi commented then, making him smile.

"I guess," Eiji replied with a sad smile. It was still a pity that he'd lost all that part of his life. He now had different things though. It was what it was. Things changed and he had to adapt. 'Nothing new there,' He thought.

"You've given me something to think about," Kabuto said. Apparently, Eiji wasn't the only one whose mind had drifted off. "Thank you, Eiji." And with that, the ex-spy left.

'The fuck?' Was the only thing the boy could think. He knew it was a meaningful question, but still. He hadn't expected that.

"It seems that Kabuto really cared about that answer," Kage commented with a thoughtful hum. "For what it's worth, what you said was good. There's a lot of ways to interpret such a thing, so we'll have to hope it was what he was looking for."

"I guess," Eiji replied, looking at the back of his teammate. He wondered if that question would change anything. He guessed it wouldn't change how they worked together though, since Kabuto would still be scared of him but… "I'll just have to wait and see," He decided, taking a deep breath in and turning back to his drawing.

[}-o-{]

"Today was not what I have been getting used to," Eiji heard as he looked at a confused Jirobo petting Yuki. It seemed the dog was interested in… being friends with the ex-Sound nin, for whatever reason. He wasn't sure what was up there, but she was his partner, so he'd trust her for now, he supposed.

Thus, he turned towards Yugito without worrying too much. She'd taken surprisingly well to their training sessions, Eiji found, which was great. Having a Jinchuriki to train against was amazing for the team. After all, it was much better to prepare them for Akatsuki if they had a stupidly powerful individual to fight against. He'd been filling that spot well enough, but Yugito added the variety that they needed. It wouldn't do if they just got used to fighting him instead of just someone powerful. There was only so much that he could mix up his skill to make different styles.

"I've found that taking some time to relax is just as useful when training," Eiji told her, hearing Hachi chuckling on the back of his mind. He almost wanted to roll his eyes at that. "So, I try to do that from time to time. I'll admit that this mission has shifted my priorities a little, but we can't work at our 100% if we never take a break."

"That makes sense," The woman said, nodding as her eyes scanned the surroundings and the team. "It's just that I hadn't seen this part yet."

"Well, you haven't been around for long," Eiji replied with a shrug. Then a wry smile spread over his face. "But that's not what you wanted to talk about, is it?" He asked, not even looking at her. He felt her eyes widen the smallest bit through his Web Sense though. He'd started using it as much as he could, to use it much more than he did before. It worked to improve his awareness and also to prepare for when he had to actively use the sensing part of Senjutsu, or so he hoped.

"You are more perceptive than I thought," She pointed out, avoiding his question altogether. It seemed Yugito had trouble being direct about whatever it was she wanted to talk about. That made Eiji even more curious, if he was honest.

Thus, he didn't say anything, simply letting the silence drag on. He was fine with that, since he was currently enjoying Tayuya's music, Yuki's antics and Tsuchigumo's boundless energy. Yugito, for her part, seemed less so, as she discreetly fidgeted in place.

"Now we are curious," Hachi commented, sounding like she meant it.

"Why didn't you kill me?" The Jinchuriki asked in the end, catching him off guard for a moment. He didn't even know what she was talking about, if he was honest.

"I mean, you are my teammate. You were sent here to help me out," He said slowly, trying to find a reason why he should have even considered killing her. "Why would I?"

"During the Invasion," She ground out, like she was forcing the words out of her mouth. "You kicked me away towards that team of Genin. Why didn't you kill me instead? You had Nuibari, you could have pierced my skull and ended the entire thing right there. One less threat to your people. You'd have even managed to bag the Two Tails for your village, once it reformed."

Finally understanding, he smiled wryly. 'So, she realized that, huh? Wonder how many people noticed and how many know the reasons.'

"You've been holding onto that for a while, huh?" He said, turning away. "There were lots of reasons not to kill you."

"Such as?" She continued prodding.

"Killing you in front of Killer B himself, do you have any idea what that would have meant for me afterwards?" Eiji asked, his smile growing strained. "That'd been a death sentence. And before you say it, going for him instead of you? No way it would have been that easy."

Also, him dying would have spelt doom over the Nations either way, now that he thought about it. Without him there, how would the Invasion have turned out? With no way to break the hold Obito had over A and B, there would have been another World Shinobi War, at the very least, he supposed. Maybe Konoha wouldn't even exist anymore.

"But that didn't happen," Kage told him curtly, and he realized his mood had taken a turn for the worst really quick. Taking a calming breath in, he shared positive feelings with Tsuchigumo, which did the same for him. Eiji didn't know exactly when, but their emotional connection had started being less about helping her and more about helping each other at some point.

"You said you had more than one reason," Yugito pointed out and he took a moment to regard her. Was this information that her higher ups had asked of her? Was it personal curiosity? It seemed to be more than that, from what he was seeing. Was there a story behind this?

"Why do you want to know anyway?" He decided that there was no harm asking directly. Being subtle and cunning was good and all, but he'd done entirely too much thinking regarding Akatsuki. He didn't feel like doing more.

"It's something that's been on my mind ever since that moment. I haven't even known how to feel about knowing that. I feel even more confused now that I find out you avoided doing it on purpose. I just… I need to know," She replied, with enough emotion that Eiji thought he could believe her. There was still a possibility that she was acting, of course, but there was no harm in the conversation they were having, he supposed.

"For what it's worth, we are about as sure as you are," Kage offered. Eiji would have prefered a more sure reassurance, but he guessed that was too much to ask for.

"Because I had faith," He said then, with a soft smile as he looked away.

"Faith?" Yugito asked then, and he felt her blink at him, clearly not understanding.

"Faith in my friends, that they'd contain you long enough for back up to arrive. Faith in my plans that would see help arriving in time. Faith in our villages, that would avoid an all out war if we avoided… meaningful losses," He added, that last part leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated saying it. It was him saying that the deaths of that day weren't as important as hers would have been. It was true, but he hated it all the same.

"You thought there wouldn't be war after an attack like that?" Yugito continued prodding.

"I thought there was a chance of that, and if there's a slight chance that I won't see the people I care about having to participate in a war, I'll take it," He explained to her.

"You know that a war will most likely happen in their lifetime, right? The Nation's don't have a good history maintaining peace," She commented, matter-of-factly.

"... You know why we've been in relative peace since the Third Shinobi War?" He asked instead of answering her. That seemed to catch her off guard for a moment before she recovered.

"Because there were too many losses. Considering you are in Iwa, you should-"

"It's been long enough for the Villages to recover," He interrupted her, his smiling widening just the smallest bit in amusement. "If the Nations could come out of a war and almost immediately start another that lasted eight years, what makes you think they aren't ready for another now, after fifteen years of basically no conflict, except for Kiri's Civil War?"

"..." She didn't answer, but Eiji could tell that she was just waiting for him to continue. She probably had a few ideas. He'd be disappointed if she didn't, really.

"When the Third Shinobi War ended, Konoha was too great a power with the Yellow Flash at our disposal. Even when the Kyuubi Attack happened and we lost our Hokage, the other villages saw how a Tailed Beast went on a rampage in the middle of the village and we remained standing. Suna was too weak, Kiri was fighting itself and Iwa and Kumo couldn't move because that'd open the door for the other to do something. Do you see the pattern there?"

"Fear," Yugito concluded with an expression that gave away nothing.

"Indeed. The Nations may not want peace, but they fear war too much," Eiji said, his smile still in place and he could tell that disturbed the Cloud Jinchuriki. "So, peace isn't impossible."

"Sooner or later, something will change in this balance you just said. It's already changing. The Bloody Mist's time is over. Konoha is flourishing once more. The Invasion has caused ripples that haven't disappeared yet," She commented and Eiji wondered if she was revealing something without knowing or just telling him her honest opinion. "Someone will stop being afraid at some point," Yugito pointed out.

He let out a chuckle at that, clearly surprising her.

"Not everyone's absolutely mad like you, Eiji," Hachi pointed out and he had to agree with that.

"If it'll keep the people I care about safe," He started, turning to stare into the Jinchuriki's eyes, smile still in place. "I'll do my absolute best to be everyone's reason to keep the peace."