After having Tsunade and Shizune join us for lunch, we finally went our separate ways. It was but a small meeting, but it was by no means an accidental one.
It was planned, and those plans hadn't fully succeeded… or maybe they had.
It all depended on what Hiruzen wanted to get out of it. If he hoped that Karin and Kanna would join Konoha, he would have failed—but if he had more realistic goals, he likely just hoped they would gain a better opinion of Konoha.
And if nothing else, they had met some of the truly good people from the village, something to stand in contrast with the Root shinobi they had known about before—or at least, that Kanna had.
Not to mention, Karin and Shizune had indeed gotten along well.
"Kaguya, can I have a pet as well?" Karin asked as we got back onto the road, the two others having finally disappeared from view.
"Karin…" Kanna once more sighed in exasperation as Karin directly asked me without first asking her.
"We will not be dragging a pig around," I shot her down right away. There was no way I was going to be seen with a pig for a companion.
Kanna looked relieved. She likely understood that if we got a pet, she would have to take care of it. Karin was too young to truly do something like that, and I wouldn't lower myself to it.
"No!" Karin pouted. "Not a pig. I want a rabbit!"
That request almost had me pause, though the slowdown of my step was far too faint for someone like Karin or Kanna to notice.
"Wait." Kanna might not have seen my pause, but she noticed my silence. "Kaguya-hime… surely you aren't considering it?"
"Well, rabbits are the best animals," I said with a small shrug.
"That's right!" Karin shouted happily. "Way better than stinking toads. They are the worst!"
Yes, that was all due to me.
Years back, when getting toys and presents for Karin, I struggled over what they should be, until I finally settled on rabbit-themed toys.
That was likely due to my legend of being the rabbit goddess of the moon.
And building on that, I often told Karin stories when she was a little younger, all about how evil toads were—how they lied and broke apart families, how one should never trust the word of a toad.
I really had passed my own dislike toward the toads of Mount Myōboku onto her.
And it wasn't even hard. After all, what child would like a slimy, nasty toad over a fluffy rabbit?
But the question was… where would one get a proper rabbit pet?
It couldn't be a normal rabbit; that would just be a burden.
Though it didn't need to be strong either. It just had to be smart, like Tonton, who was far from being a normal pig.
But even I had no idea where one could find smart rabbits; those were hardly popular summon beasts.
While I thought, Karin was practically bouncing around, taking the fact that I hadn't yet said no to mean that I was likely to say yes.
And indeed, I nodded my head. "Fine. Once we reach the next black market bounty station, we will post a request for information about getting you a rabbit summon."
Karin jumped up in joy, loudly exclaiming "Yay!" as if she were the happiest girl in the world.
I didn't have the heart to tell her that it would likely be a while before we would visit the black market again. I had already picked up a small job while in the capital.
Nothing special, nothing too dark. That location only had the more public jobs—the ones that didn't involve any political interests.
So it wouldn't be until then that we would have a chance to inquire about smart rabbits.
Though I already suspected that the most likely place to get that might be that summon island down south. A large island filled with all manner of summon beasts… though most of them were nothing overly impressive.
Still, I only needed the rabbit to be smart. Surely that wasn't too much to ask, was it?
With Karin skipping happily along, I kept track of the people following us—and in particular, how they reacted to my meeting with Tsunade.
To see if those non-village-aligned groups following us would change their target to Tsunade instead.
The villages had little reason to target her. Sure, she was affiliated with Konoha, but since she left, she had given her services to plenty of people from other nations and other villages.
She was considered by everyone to be a neutral force, and since everyone might one day need her skills, they weren't foolish enough to make an enemy out of her. Not to mention that she was dangerously powerful; few would dare to try anything.
That, however, didn't mean following her didn't have value. Plenty of people liked being informed about her whereabouts, and she liked to just suddenly disappear from time to time—so finding her could easily earn someone a decent payday.
So if they chose to follow me over her, it likely meant they weren't in it just for the money… or, for some reason, someone out there was paying a whole lot more than expected for accurate information about my whereabouts.
As the distance increased between Tsunade and us, one of the other groups following me did indeed peel off, which likely meant they were just in it for the money—but two still remained.
That was curious indeed.
Something worthy of keeping an eye on.
If I allowed any of these to continue to shadow us.
After all, having every village—and who knows who—following us around at all times wasn't good for business.
Being unpredictable was rather important for a shinobi, after all.
"Is something the matter, Kaguya-hime? You seem so serious," Kanna asked soon after.
"No." I shook my head. "Just thinking about the people following us."
My words caused Kanna to stiffen slightly. "Are they dangerous?"
"No, not to me, so you don't have to worry," I reassured her.
"That's right! Kaguya is the best, the strongest in the world!" Karin shouted, not having taken in the full context, but still wanting to be part of the conversation.
She wasn't wrong—but it was also still a childish statement.
Which was what allowed me to put a genuine smile on my face.
-----
We had been traveling toward the Land of Iron, an area famous for its snowy landscapes and samurai.
It was a place the shinobi villages didn't have much control over—a place they couldn't just do whatever they wanted inside.
That made it a great place to do things you wouldn't be able to do around the villages, though the samurai within also weren't the type to let crimes go unpunished.
That was likely the only reason it wasn't a totally lawless place.
Still, plenty of things were happening inside there, hidden in the shadows—things shinobi could spot at a glance thanks to the training we underwent, training that was far different from what samurai underwent.
Naturally, there was no way they would openly accept this, nor would they accept the help of the shinobi villages to solve their problems—problems they couldn't admit existed due to politics.
That made it a fine place for people like me to operate, doing jobs that couldn't be posted anywhere else—often tasks that required shinobi-specific skills, such as infiltration and information gathering.
And importantly, it would be a good place to get rid of the people following us. Sure, it would likely mean that the black market task I had taken might not be done, but there was plenty of work to be gotten elsewhere.
And I honestly had underestimated how annoying it would be to be followed like this. This was the final attempt at losing them before I just slaughtered them all.
I would have already done so long ago if not for the risk of bringing even more trouble down on us.
Strong as I might be, I didn't want to fight against the forces of an entire great shinobi village.
Snow was the first thing Karin noticed.
Not the cold—that came later—but the snow.
It clung to the distant peaks like powdered sugar, bright and endless, stretching far beyond the road we walked. Even from here, the air felt different, cleaner, sharper, carrying with it the faint scent of iron and pine.
"Kaguya!" Karin suddenly shouted, pointing ahead so hard she nearly tripped over her own feet. "Is that it? Is that the Land of Iron?!"
Kanna blinked, startled by the sudden outburst, then followed Karin's gaze. "It should be," she said after a moment. "The maps say the border is close."
Karin gasped.
"The samurai place!" she said, eyes wide. "The real ones! With the armor! And the swords! Do you think they're all really tall? Do they sleep in their armor? Do they fight all the time?"
She didn't wait for an answer.
"I bet they do," she continued excitedly. "I bet they're always training, and they never get scared, and they can cut rocks in half with one swing!"
I hummed thoughtfully. "Some of them can."
That only made it worse.
"Really?!"
"Yes."
Her entire world seemed to expand in that moment.
Karin immediately began swinging an imaginary sword, complete with sound effects, nearly smacking Kanna in the process.
"Karin—!" Kanna reached out, catching her before she could spin herself off the road. "Careful!"
"But they're so cool!" Karin protested. "They don't use ninjutsu, right? Just swords! That's way cooler!"
"That depends on who you ask," Kanna said dryly, though there was a faint smile tugging at her lips.
I watched them quietly.
The Land of Iron had always fascinated children.
Much in the same way that ninja did, countless children played at being ninja or samurai, always debating which was better in their own ways.
For a child, it was hard to imagine how things truly were—sword vs. ninjutsu, what was better. They could only guess, and for a child, nothing was more entertaining than their own imagination.
"Kaguya," Karin asked suddenly, dropping her imaginary sword. "Have you ever fought a samurai?"
"Yes."
"Who won?"
I paused, just long enough to be deliberate.
"…Me."
She nodded seriously, as if that was the only possible outcome. "Yeah. That makes sense."
Kanna sighed. "You shouldn't encourage her."
"I'm not encouraging," I replied calmly. "I'm answering honestly."
Karin beamed.
"Do you think they'll let me see their swords?" she asked. "Or their armor? Or maybe—maybe they'll let me hold one!"
"No," Kanna and I said at the same time.
Karin deflated.
"If you want a sword, we can buy you one," I offered—much to Kanna's dismay and Karin's utter joy.
Kanna stopped walking.
"…Buy her a sword?" she repeated slowly.
"Yes," I replied without hesitation.
Kanna turned fully toward me, eyes widening. "Kaguya-hime, she's a child."
"A child of the Uzumaki clan," I answered calmly.
Karin looked between us, sensing tension but not understanding it, her fingers curling in excitement. "A real sword?" she asked hopefully. "Like a samurai?"
"A real one," I confirmed. "Forged properly. Balanced. A chakra blade, sized for you."
Kanna froze.
"That's dangerous," she said quietly.
"So is the world," I replied. "The difference is whether she meets it empty-handed."
Kanna opened her mouth, then closed it again. She knew better than most what happened to children who were unprepared. She had lived it. Still, the idea clearly frightened her.
"Karin won't be using it for play," I continued, my tone unyielding but not unkind. "She will learn respect. Control. Awareness. A blade is not a toy—but neither is chakra."
Karin nodded vigorously, solemn for once. "I'll be careful. I promise."
I believed her.
Not because she was careful—but because she would learn.
Kanna exhaled slowly. "…If you're set on this, then at least promise me you'll watch her closely."
"I always do," I said.
(End of chapter)
Support me at patreon.com/unknownfate - for the opportunity to read up to 30 chapters ahead.