14

Chapter 14: FourteenChapter Text

FOURTEEN

Sansa's eyes widened as she stared up at Tsukiko in surprise. "Really?" she breathed. Tsukiko huffed in amusement, bending over to gently nip one of her ears.

"Yes, really," she said. "Little dream walker, you embody the spirit of a wolf like I have only seen in one human bloodline before. I do not doubt you and you should not doubt yourself."

"Thank you," Sansa said softly and Tsukiko gave her an affectionate nuzzle.

"You will need to learn how to use your chakra and while I can tell you which hand-signs are required for the summoning jutsu, I cannot show you what they look like, so you must find that out yourself," the she-wolf explained. "But when you do, your connection to us will ensure you end up here."

"I know where I can learn the different hand-signs that shinobi use," Sansa said slowly, for she knew that some of the older orphans were attending the Academy and they had books that she could barter for. "But I haven't any idea how to learn to use my chakra."

"That is something I cannot teach you," Tsukiko admitted, "but you are clever, little one. I trust that you will find a way."

Sansa wished for nothing more then to hold Lady in her arms, to weep into her fur and apologise for letting Joffrey get her killed. She also dearly wished for Naruto and Kanna to meet Lady, the second half of her soul, for them to love Lady as they loved her. And, if only for her peace of mind, she wished for the pair of them, her and Lady together, to track Inu down, to make sure he was alright.

And to do all that, she needed to learn how to use her chakra.

"What do I need to do after I can use my chakra?" she asked, refusing to even entertain the possibility of failure. Tsukiko looked down at her approvingly and began to explain.

~

Kurama was the first one Sansa spoke to about learning to use chakra, but as a living chakra entity Kurama had no concept of a human's perspective of chakra use so they were of little use in the matter.

Kanna was her first resource outside of Kurama, as she usually was. The green-haired girl looked a little confused at why Sansa was asking. "Chakra?" she said. "I dunno, Ko-chan. Tha's ninja stuff, yeah? S'pose you could ask Jiro, 'e's in th' Academy an' 'e don' mind ya."

Jiro didn't mind Sansa, but he also didn't have time to answer her questions. He just told her she could borrow his Academy textbook in return for three weeks worth of her allowance, but she had to return it to him at the end of the day. Sansa smiled sweetly at him, flashing sharp teeth before haggling him down to two weeks of allowance for three days use of the textbook.

Sansa chose the shrine to try the summoning, feeling that privacy would be ideal. She hid the book under her dress, not wanting any of the ANBU watchers to see her with it. The last thing she wanted was any of them reporting to the Hokage that she'd shown interest in becoming one of his soldiers.

She could feel one of the ANBU watchers break away and follow her on her journey to the shrine, quick and darting around the villagers who scowled and glared at her if the saw her. Sansa let their hate slide off her, uninterested in it. If they were incapable of seeing a human child instead of Kurama, then they simply weren't worth her or Naruto's time.

Arriving at the shrine, Sansa slipped inside, still able to feel her ANBU watcher in the distance but confident in her knowledge that they wouldn't disturb her while she was on sacred ground. It was also the one place she and Kurama had discussed that, so long as they weren't a sensor-type, they stayed distant enough that they shouldn't feel a surge of chakra when she used the summoning jutsu- they had always kept a respectful distance during their rebuilding of the shrine.

Sliding the textbook out from under her dress, Sansa flipped it open. She still wasn't the best at reading the written characters, but she found she could understand about every second or third word in Jiro's textbook and quickly found the section she was looking for. To her relief, there were several diagrams and illustrations included and it didn't take her long to locate the diagrams she was looking for, which were easier to make sense of then the lengthy block of information.

Awkwardly copying the cross-legged position illustrated, Sansa closed her eyes and followed the instructions outlined in the text; she breathed deeply, held it for a count of four, then exhaled. Breath in. Hold. Breath out. In. Hold. And out. She let herself remember what Kurama's chakra had felt like; the wildfire scorching her heart, rushing through the marrow of her bones, burning under skin. In, hold, and out. In, hold, and out. Sinking deeper, deeper, deeper.

Sansa could feel her body loosen with each repetition as she sank deeper and deeper until she became aware of the flowing currents, deep within her. Like the pull of the tide, Sansa let it drag her forwards and, eyes still closed, she sank into her chakra. It was like sinking into the freezing depths of the ocean; opening her mouth, she let the icy water rush in and consume her.

Sansa's eyes flew open and she gasped, hands flying to her mouth. Her lips were ice-cold.

'Little vixen?' Kurama's voice rumbled uneasily at the back of her mind. 'What happened?'

"I'm not sure," Sansa whispered. "But..." she held out her hand, concentrating until she could feel the ocean currents deep under her skin, then guiding them until they converged into an eddy under her palm.

'Well done,' Kurama praised. Sansa smiled, releasing her hold on the eddy, allowing her chakra to flow normally and turning to her next task.

Finding the hand-signs Tsukiko had told her about in Jiro's book was simple. There were diagrams and illustrations and Sansa practiced the basic shapes over and over. They were strange, unfamiliar positions to twist her fingers into that made her glad for the finger dexterity that braiding and sewing gave her.

Once she was confident that she couldn't get anything wrong, she took a deep breath, nicking her thumb with her sharp teeth the way she'd been instructed by Tsukiko, before once again focusing on her chakra, on drawing upon the flow of the tides under her skin, the rush of the waves in the marrow of her bones, the whirlpools in her heart. Redirecting the ocean currents to her hands, she formed the hand-signs– Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram– "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" she breathed, letting the ocean surge up inside her then crash out in a tidal wave as she slammed her hands to the floor.

All of a sudden the world shifted around her. It was an awful sensation; she felt deaf, mute, and blind, all at once. It felt as if it lasted an eternity until she felt loose, damp earth beneath her hands and knees. Moments later, she was bowled over.

"Sansa!" cried an excitable voice. "Sansa! Oh Sansa!"

"Lady!" Sansa couldn't help the tears of joy that welled up in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as she threw her arms around her wolf's neck. Lady was far bigger then she'd realised, though she supposed everything seemed smaller compared to Tsukiko. Lady was about the size of a hunting hound and Sansa was tiny beside her. Her wolf had to lay down on her stomach so Sansa could shower her face and ears with kisses. "Oh sweetling, I missed you, I missed you," she wept. "I'm so sorry I let them–"

"No," Lady interrupted with a whine, shuffling forwards, licking at the tear tracks on Sansa's cheeks. "No, Sansa, not your fault!"

"Yes it was, it was," Sansa insisted. "I was so stupid."

"Not your fault," Lady insisted again, "Joffrey's fault, Cersei's fault, not Sansa's!"

"I wouldn't try arguing with her," a familiar, amused voice said, "she's very stubborn."

Sansa looked up. And up. And up.

Tsukiko towered over her; not quite as much as Kurama did, but still enormous when compared to Sansa's tiny body.

"Oh my," Tsukiko sounded amused, "you are a little thing, aren't you?"

"I've got many years of growing left in me yet," Sansa answered diplomatically and Tsukiko made an amused chuffing sound. Lady nudged Sansa's cheek and licked her ear and Sansa giggled, not caring about the mess or the saliva or anything except the fact that Lady was here and she was alive and Sansa was hugging her, feeling how gloriously warm and soft she was.

"Did you bring hair ribbons?" Lady asked hopefully and Sansa couldn't help her delighted laughter. She unthreaded the blue ribbon from her own braid and Lady preened as she wove it into Lady's fur, the way she once had, so many decades ago.

"Oh dear-heart," she whispered, running her hands through soft fur, "I have missed you. I made sure my children grew up with their own direwolf companions, of course, but every time I saw them together... oh, it was like half of me had been carved out. And I kept thinking... those pups should have been your pups."

"We belong together," Lady said fiercely, her lips pulled back to reveal vicious canines. "We belong together always– nobody can keep us apart again!"

Sansa buried her face in Lady's fur, holding onto her wolf as she shook.

She felt Tsukiko's hot breath on the back of her neck as the enormous she-wolf bent over and nudged her back. "I have the scroll for you to sign, little dream walker," she said gently. "So you and Kita may never be parted." Pulling her face from Lady's fur and drying her eyes with the skirt of her dress, Sansa turned to see the scroll that Tsukiko had referred to. The she-wolf had placed it on the ground and there were only a few scattered names on the yellowing parchment.

"You must sign in your own blood," Tsukiko told her and Sansa hesitated.

"I'm afraid I don't know how to write my name, either of my names, in the language of the Elemental Nations," she admitted. "May I write them in the language of the world I was first born to?"

"You may," Tsukiko allowed and Sansa raised her finger to her mouth, only to pause again.

"You said once that shinobi called you summons," she said, "and they called this the summons realm, but that you had your own name. May I ask what you call yourselves?"

Tsukiko laughed.

"Oh my dear," she said, "you really are born to rule, aren't you? I pity any who think to try and get one over on you." Settling on her haunches, Tsukiko met Sansa's blue eyes with her own great, unblinking golden ones. "We have many names," she said, "for there are many of us. But while shinobi may define our existence by the purpose we serve to them, summons, we define ourselves for our own existence; spirits."

Sansa nodded and smiled. "Thank you for clarifying," she said, before lifting her finger to her mouth and cutting it as deep as she could stand to, knowing that it would heal far too quickly and not wanting to have to repeat the process, telling herself there is no pain. She then moved her finger to the scroll and traced her names out over the parchment.

Sansa Stark of the North, Uzumaki Fuyuko of Uzushiogakure

She closed her eyes as she lifted her finger, the cut already having sealed over, tight pink skin replacing the scab. She could feel something had shifted deep inside her, something as unfathomable as the tides, something with claws and fangs wrapped in silvery moonlight. 

Lady nudged her and Sansa opened her eyes again and shivered, flexing her fingers. There was something trapped behind her ribcage, something tingling behind her teeth, some deep instinct that had her tilting her head back, tugging on that silvery moonlight to line her throat, and howling.

Another howl joined hers, youthful and filled with Lady's joy and love. Sansa could hear more howls in the distance; Gin, Haya, Katsu, Suki– all of them welcoming, excited, happy.

And then Tsukiko howled with them and the sound of it shook the earth.

Sansa had to stop, out of breath, and she panted harshly even as Lady pranced around, licking her nose, her cheeks, her ears. "Sansa is the best pack-mate," her wolf crooned.

"Sansa is wonderful," Tsukiko agreed, and Sansa's eyes widened as she realised that was the first time that Tsukiko had ever spoken her name.

It seemed she had finally earned the privilege.

"And now," Tsukiko continued, "it is time for you to meet our Alpha."

Sansa's eyes widened.

"Pardon?" she asked, looking down at the ratty, second-hand dress she was wearing, patting at her hair, which thanks to Lady's exuberance was mussed beyond being fixable.

"You humans," Tsukiko laughed, "you smell like pack, Sansa, that is what matters to our Alpha, not the human trappings you wear, or how well-groomed your fur is."

"But it matters to me!" Sansa protested. "I have to present myself well! I am a Queen!" She paused. "Well, I was a Queen," she amended. 

"Nevertheless," Tsukiko interrupted, "Sayomi awaits."

Lady nudged her. "Climb on my back," she offered, crouching down on her stomach. Sansa, remembering the reports of Robb riding Grey Wind in battle, couldn't help but smile as she climbed onto Lady's back, gripping Lady's flanks with her legs and gently clasping onto two handfuls of fur. Lady immediately bounded forwards and Sansa laughed in delight, her hair unraveling and flowing out behind them in a red banner. Tsukiko laughed too, amused at their antics as she ran beside them.

Lady led the way through the forest; she clearly knew the way, though Sansa had never traveled this far into the forest with the wolf pups before. With the wind in her face, the forest around her and Lady's warmth beneath her, Sansa felt wild and free and filled with joy. She wanted to feel this way forever.

Finally, after about a half-hour of running, the three of them arrived at another clearing. This one was much larger, leading off to multiple caves, and Sansa sucked in a surprised breath at the number of grown wolves mingling around the clearing. They were all enormous, the same size as Tsukiko or even larger. One of the wolves, this one larger then Tsukiko by around half a length, turned at the sound of Sansa's gasp. The Wolf had midnight-dark fur and eyes of palest blue, like chips of ice. When the Wolf made to walk over to them, all those in their path parted. This was, Sansa knew without doubt, the Alpha.

Sansa slid neatly from Lady's back and stepped forwards to meet the Alpha, knowing this was something she needed to do herself. "Greetings Alpha," she said, dipping into a curtsey without once lowering her eyes from the Alpha's, refusing to bare her neck. "I am Sansa Stark, also known by Uzumaki Fuyuko. It is an honour to meet you."

"Greetings," the large Wolf rumbled, "I am Sayomi, Alpha of this Pack. When Tsukiko told me she had found us a summoner with the soul of a wolf, I did not expect them to be quite so small. Or to smell like Fox."

"I have Kurama of the Nine Tails sealed inside me," Sansa said lightly. "But we're working on it."

"And are you working on your size?" Sayomi asked. Sansa smiled, baring her sharp fangs at the massive wolf at the same time as she reached for the ice-cold ocean deep within her and let it surge.

"Why ever would I need to?"

Sayomi met her gaze and held her gaze for a long, endless moment before huffing. "At least you've got some bite to your bark," she said and Sansa smiled, letting her chakra settle, let the ocean's surface turn still and calm, hiding the dangers beneath its calm surface. "I was expecting another Sakumo," Sayomi said to Tsukiko, "but you've found me a little baby Alpha. You picked well."

"Thank you, Sayomi," Tsukiko said, bowing her head slightly. "But it was Kita who truly found her. They bonded in their previous life and found each other again when their souls were reborn."

"Oh?" Sayomi looked them both over with more interest. "Reborn souls? That's rare."

"It's happened before?" Sansa asked, startled.

"Oh yes," Sayomi said. "Certain lives and certain deaths, they are significant enough that when souls pass over before their time, they are reborn into new worlds."

"Before their time... Kita? Is this true? What happened to you, my sweet pup?" Tsukiko asked with gentle concern. Lady flinched.

"My father," Sansa answered for her. "It was quick." Tsukiko briefly closed her eyes, pained.

"And you, Sansa?" she asked, and Sansa was touched, even as she managed a bitter smile.

"Mine was not quite so quick."

"Oh my little ones," Tsukiko sighed, looking mournful. "I am so sorry."

"Well I am not," Sansa said fiercely. "I accomplished exactly what I could have hoped to in my lifetime. When I died, I left behind the dynasty I created; I was a Queen, my crown forged with mine own sweat, blood and tears, and I will go down in history as the woman who gifted her children with the most precious of all gifts."

"And what gift is that?" Sayomi asked, her pale eyes piercing as they met Sansa's own. Sansa smiled, sharp and victorious.

"I gave them peace."

Sayomi bared her teeth. It took Sansa a moment to realise the she-wolf was smiling back at her, blatant approval in her pale eyes.

"Welcome to our pack," she said.

~