The flickering light of the oil lamps wrapped Keiko's face in eerie, sinister shadows as she emerged from the depths of the cave.

"There is no escape," she stated in a completely flat monotone. "Resistance is futile. We will be assimilated."

Mari could feel herself begin to sweat. She made a note to ask Akane to tone down the Elemental Mastery next time.

"Keiko, dear, come back to us," she said firmly. "The task is complete."

Keiko closed her eyes for several seconds. When she spoke again, her voice was more animated (at least by Keiko's standards).

"I apologise. I thought I had returned fully. I am not sure what happened."

Mari noted this as something to worry about later. "So you were saying?"

"It seems our assumptions about the Multiple Earth Wall Technique were incorrect. Wherever it draws its matter from, it is not the immediately surrounding rock. In other words, we will not be able to use it to excavate an escape tunnel. Unless we can find another means of doing so, we will be forced to remain here and face the elders' plotting in the arena of their choosing, which is to say social and political manipulation."

Mari frowned. "Sounds like we'll have to step up our game. Get Hazō and Kagome in here. Noburi and Akane should be back from the healing session any minute now, and we need a team meeting ASAP."

o-o-o-o

Noburi went over the briefing in his head one more time. Questions to ask. Questions not to ask. Questions to be subtly inserted into the dialogue if and only if a suitable opportunity came up. Ways to answer Yuno's questions in order to move the conversation in the correct direction. It said a lot about the discussion that, towards the end, Keiko had suggested making a flowchart for him to memorise. But Noburi had firmly vetoed the motion. The day he needed to use diagrams to figure out dating was the day he legally changed his name to Kurosawa Hazō.

"Say, Yuno," he asked in his most casual voice, admiring the view of the nearby forest, and trying to pretend that the two Kannagi minders (who had not been chosen for their stealth skills) weren't there, "you mentioned you're adopted, right?"

"Yes," Yuno said without inflection. "I was born a Gasai."

"Where I come from, people only adopt children when there's no one left in their original family who can look after them." This wasn't strictly true, but it was close enough. "But since the Gasai are a very big family, I assume that's not how it works here?"

"My case was unusual," Yuno explained. "My mother left us when I was little. She had a sickness."

After a moment's pause to remember, Noburi touched his hand to his heart in the condolence sign which roughly meant "I pray that your loved one's misfortune does not stay behind to trouble your family".

Yuno gave the slightly sideways nod which indicated grateful acceptance. Noburi felt a flicker of pride. They were getting better and better at communicating in each other's language.

"The tensions between the Kannagi and the Gasai were getting worse, and it was decided that my father would marry a Kannagi woman in order to create an alliance and avoid bloodshed. But that's not what happened."

Noburi looked at her questioningly.

"There was an...incident," Yuno said softly.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Noburi said, inviting elaboration while establishing his own trustworthiness by showing respect (Inoue-sensei had coached him on getting the tone of voice just right).

Yuno looked up at him, holding his gaze for all of the 1.75 seconds they were currently allowed (yes, the matron had told him, it was that exact).

"No, if we are to have an...extended acquaintance, I think I want you to know. And besides, I'd rather you hear it from me than from the others."

She took a deep breath, staring somewhere out into the distance.

"It was a bad year for chakra monsters. There were so many that we had to send hunters just to keep the population down. One day, a giant boar turned up near the village, as big as a house, with a hide like iron and tusks like spears, the strongest anyone had ever seen. The elders sent a whole team of hunters to kill him. But they only made things worse. The boar massacred them, and the injuries they gave him sent him on a berserk rampage.

"There were a dozen young kids on the outskirts of the village, doing taijutsu training," she went on, her voice getting lower. "Daddy was there with us. He was teaching us kunai safety. It was our first time using kunai, and everyone was having so much fun.

"Then we heard the screams, and before anyone could do anything, that monster broke through the wall and charged at us like an avalanche.

"Daddy leapt in between us. He used the Spiral Hammer Strike, and it was so strong that it broke the boar's ribs and drove them right into his lungs. But it didn't kill him fast enough."

Noburi could hear Yuno's breathing getting faster, and the tension in her voice rising. He wanted to reach out and do something, reassure her, but at the same time he knew he needed to hear the rest of the story.

"I didn't understand what happened next. One moment, Daddy was there. Then he wasn't. And there was a shower of...of blood and guts. All over me and all over the boar. Guts, and bone, and other things I didn't know. Everywhere. I couldn't see anything but red."

Yuno fell silent. Noburi waited patiently.

"I don't remember anything else about that day," Yuno said eventually, in a calmer tone. "Nobody would tell me at first, but eventually I managed to persuade some of the other kids who'd been there to talk about it. They say I saw my father's kunai holster on the ground. I leaned down, drew a kunai, and then I ran up to the boar and started stabbing his soft underbelly as he thrashed around dying. They say I was still stabbing when the adults arrived, long after it was dead, letting its blood pour over me. They say I was laughing."

Noburi was acutely aware that it would be bad to stare at Yuno in horror right now. He tried to keep his face still.

It didn't matter. Yuno was still looking somewhere far away.

"The marriage was off, but the Kannagi and the Gasai still needed an alliance, and the Gasai didn't have anyone else they could offer for betrothal just then, so they decided to give me to the Kannagi instead.

"The Kannagi weren't happy. They still aren't happy. I've worked harder than anyone to master the Mountain Cleaver Style, but they still whisper about my past, and how I don't fit in, and how I'm a loner who can't be trusted because I don't have strong bonds with anyone in the village."

Her head sharply whipped round to Noburi.

"Have you tried not being a loner when everybody avoids you?" she demanded angrily. "I'm supposed to be a good little girl, and follow all the rules – but that won't stop people calling me cursed, or saying I'm a shame to my family, or spreading horrible rumours many of which aren't even true, or being afraid I'm going to go crazy and attack them or something when I've never seriously hurt anybody! And then somehow I'm supposed to make strong bonds with people when no one will even look me in the eye.

"Sorry," she said awkwardly. "I know it's not your fault. I'm not shouting at you.

"Anyway, that's why, when Grandfather mentioned to me that he was looking for someone to make contact with the foreign ninja, I volunteered faster than lightning. You didn't grow up here. You wouldn't judge me for something that—allegedly—happened when I was just a child."

Yuno gave a wide smile. "And I was right." She glanced around to check how far away the minders were, then quietly added something else.

"I have a future now that I could never have imagined, thanks to you and your open heart."

o-o-o-o

"You must prepare to sever all ties with Yuno," Takahashi announced.

Inoue-sensei considered this. "You don't mean that in a general sense."

Takahashi inclined his head slightly. "No. We have had a significant stroke of luck which will permit us to accelerate our schedule. Two days ago, I was approached by Azai Rindō. In return for certain concessions, he has offered us his vote and that of his cousin Shūsuke."

"Certain concessions?"

"You do not need to know," Takahashi brushed the question off. "At the Council of Elders meeting a fortnight hence, I shall call a vote for a representative of the outsiders to attempt the trial of the summoning scroll, in accordance with the prophecy of Ui's heir. If all goes to plan, and you survive the night, the following morning you will be permitted to approach the sacred shrine and attempt to retrieve and use the scroll."

Inoue-sensei clearly hadn't missed the salient point either. "What do you mean, if we survive the night?"

"After the vote, Inoue and Aida will be as cornered beasts, enraged and with nothing to lose. There is no telling what they might do. Especially Inoue—hers has always been a clan of cunning manipulators, and she may well find fanatics to strike against you before you can attempt the trial. To be frank, I cannot imagine the full array of weapons those two may wield against you in their desperation.

"But let us set that aside for the moment." Takahashi's all-knowing gaze swept over Noburi. "You are prepared to abandon any lingering attachment you have to Kannagi Yuno, yes?"

Something cut Noburi sharply inside, as he'd been walking barefoot and put his weight down on an unexpected splinter. "Yes," he said quickly. "Yes, of course."

"Good," Takahashi said, though he did not sound particularly relieved. "The village will be highly unstable in the aftermath of the trial. You must leave and take the scroll with you, in accordance with our agreement, and if at that time you are still betrothed, Kannagi may demand that you stay until the wedding. There is no answer you will be able to give at that time which would not have the potential to result in bloodshed."

Inoue-sensei nodded. "We have been discussing our options, and would appreciate your input.

"First, we considered claiming that Yuno cannot marry Endo because she does not fulfil the requirements of our culture. For example, we may feel that she needs to fully understand our customs and traditions before she can take her place as the head of Endo's household. But if you are right about Kannagi's motivations, he will at most use this as a reason to delay the marriage, not cancel it.

"Second, we considered claiming that she cannot marry Endo because she does not fulfil the requirements of your culture. We understand that she is considered 'cursed' and impure, by many, and there are ways we could leverage that –"

"No!" Noburi cut in urgently, his mind flashing back to his conversation with Yuno only hours earlier. "I mean, I don't think it would be a good idea. It would...give Kannagi an opening to claim insult and give him an advantage in further negotiations. We should avoid that."

Takahashi and Inoue-sensei exchanged glances.

"Very well," Takahashi said. "Is that everything you have?"

"No," Inoue-sensei shook her head. "It may also be that Endo does not fulfil our culture's requirements. If we claim that there is some proof of manhood he must acquire outside the village before he can be permitted to marry, none will be able to gainsay us."

"I see," Takahashi said. He sat in thought for a while, all but motionless.

"You must think carefully about this 'proof of manhood'. If Yoshida is a hawk, Kannagi is a serpent, and he will be cunning in his counterattack. To begin with—"

"Master Takahashi," a voice came from outside the room. "Forgive me for interrupting, but Elder Aida is here to speak with you. It seems she wishes to discuss the recent hunting incident."

Takahashi's eyes narrowed. "Very well. Mion, show our guests to the rear exit and then invite her in.

"You two must leave. With the vote now as near as it is, we must not have any further meetings lest collaboration be suspected. I will continue to train Mai, but it may be wise for you to be overheard in public discussing the innocent, completely apolitical nature of her training.

"Go. I fear I am about to have a very dangerous afternoon."

o-o-o-o

The chakra poured out of Hazō like an unstoppable rushing river, folding strips of space into one-sided figures of eight that intersected themselves, filling vessels whose outsides wrapped around to become their insides, and shaping triangles with more than three right angles. The patterns of the seal did the processing work that Hazō's brain could not, creating a space within no space, a sliver of extra dimension which was not truly parallel to his own, but which allowed him to pretend as much.

Hazō silently prayed to the Sage of Six Paths, who had gone far beyond this in his exploration of the true nature of reality and survived. Then he activated the newly-infused seal.

The ball of clay in his left hand disappeared.

Hazō scanned the area around him carefully. He couldn't observe any spatial distortion. Nothing had changed colour, or shape, or gained a confused and vengeful sentience. His consciousness didn't seem affected, and above all he hadn't sensed the vibrating energy backlash that Kagome-sensei had told him was informally named the "oh, shit" effect.

Halfway there.

Hazō took a deep breath, and activated the seal again.

The ball of clay popped out of nowhere slightly further away than Hazō had expected, and he fumbled it. For a second, Hazō panicked. The now-abandoned fort was great for concealing the research from any observers, but having to be surrounded by Multiple Earth Walls instead of using a wide outdoor area also blocked lines of sight, impeded escape, and made the whole process considerably more dangerous. He probably wouldn't have attempted it were he not so close to completing the seal, and so close to being driven stir-crazy by his hours in the cave trying to figure out how to make a decent escape tunnel.

But as the clay landed on the ground, it did not freeze, or catch on fire, or implode, or transform into an alien lifeform with an uncanny resemblance to the common porcupine. Instead, it had successfully been placed within an extradimensional space, and successfully retrieved.

This was it. If he'd been back in Mist, this was the point at which he'd be recognised as a true initiate in the art of sealcrafting, capable of conducting independent research with acceptable risk levels. As it was, Kagome-sensei at least would be pleased. Tonight, they would throw what Kagome-sensei considered a lavish party.

o-o-o-o

Hazō and Kagome-sensei sat on the hilltop, clear lines of sight supported with a basic defensive perimeter and boulders to provide solid cover within diving distance. Sitting uncharacteristically close to each other, they slowly ate soup seasoned with some of the more expensive spices from their supply (apparently, Kagome-sensei liked his soup a lot hotter than was the custom in Mist). Occasionally, they would exchange a few sentences along the lines of "not a bad night" and "next time, I think I'll add more pepper."

Later, after the soup, Kagome-sensei shared some of his private chocolate supply with Hazō, and even told him that he liked the way Hazō had connected the third and fifth nodes with an Imagawa converter, and that it showed solid workmanship.

It was truly a night to remember.