Naruto: The New Sealmaster

A while later, Aoshi opened his eyes. This was becoming a far too common occurrence. Looking around he quickly found that this surrounding was preferable to his last one. He was in a comfortable bed in what looked like a young woman's bedroom. Light pink curtains and a bright room with some colourful decorations. He found an old used brown teddy on the bedside table and picked it up. It looked a lot like the one his mother bought him when he was a kid. A calm smile spread across his face as he felt relaxed in the room, that was when the door opened.

In came a girl who was a couple of years older than him, a civilian. She was rather tall and thin, no curves of significance but a petite beauty about her. Her small nose and rosy cheeks lines with her long straight blonde hair showed a kind of relaxed wonder he hadn't really seen before. "Oh you're up! How do you feel, mister ninja?" Her voice carried a light tone of amusement when she looked at him holding her teddy.

Aoshi smiled and put the bear back. "I'm doing great. How did you know I was a ninja?" She pointed at his forehead, he had forgotten about the forehead protector. "Ah, of course."

Aoshi sat up and gave her a calm look. "I'm very grateful to you for helping me, could you tell me who you are..and perhaps where I am as well." He scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward about not knowing where he was.

She giggled. "I'm Yua, my dad found you on his way home from the woods. You're a couple of miles away from Konoha, we can show you the way there if you want. But first, you should join us for dinner."

Aoshi could hear his stomach growl and let out a light chuckle. "I'd be grateful, don't know how to thank you though."

She waved him off and walked off "Don't worry, mister ninja. We owe a lot to Konoha. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."

After a light meal, he was shown a map. He really wasn't that far from home. Before leaving, he decided to leave her with his name. "If you ever want to make a request to Konoha, ask for Rokushō Aoshi. I'll come right over and help. I won't forget this." The girl just smiled at him and watched him leave.

A couple of miles later, he finally spotted Konoha again. Aoshi wasn't just relieved though. He was worried. What happened to the others? What happened to Dai and Udon? Has anyone been looking for him? It was the middle of the night, quite a few hours should have passed since the others reached Konoha, if they succeeded that is. Slowly, he walked up towards the gates to not make them uneasy. Aoshi waved over to the guards and announced himself. "Rokushō Aoshi, coming back from an interrupted mission."

The guard nodded and handed him a scroll. "The Hokage wants a report first thing in the morning. Go to the hospital and get checked in for the night." Aoshi nodded but he had to ask about his squadmates. "And what about the others? Did they get back?"

One of the guards saw that Aoshi looked anxious and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Two confirmed casualties, the rest are resting in the hospital right now. It's going to be alright, kid." Aoshi looked the older man in the eyes with gratefulness and nodded. "Thanks."

He checked into the hospital. The medics checked him up and confirmed that he had overused his chakra, and overstrained his chakra network, but was fine other than that. They told him to get washed up and rest in one of their beds for the night but leave in the morning.

***

The morning after, Aoshi stood outside the Hokage's office waiting to be called in. The scroll he was given told him that he would be expected to give his entire story to the Hokage, the advisors, and the head of anbu. Inoichi Yamanaka would be joining them and Aoshi was forewarned that there was a possibility that his mind would be checked.

"You may enter now." The secretary told him and Aoshi did so.

He was back in the Hokage's office, this time however, no one had his back. Neither Kurenai nor Kakashi could protect him today. Aoshi knew he had done nothing wrong though, he'd just have to prove that. "Aoshi! Feel free to sit down." It was Hiruzen who spoke up with a calm and joyful tone which relaxed him slightly. "We just want to hear from you what happened during the mission, you're not a suspect or anything."

Danzo scoffed at that last bit but Aoshi still sat down and tried to not focus on the fact that all eyes were on him. "Of course, Hokage-sama. Let me go back from the start." With a nod, Hiruzen told him to go on.

Aoshi told the story from start to finish. He noticed the bandits and made his leaders aware. Then they were attacked and lost one chunin. Aoshi told them of his ability to quickly absorb someone's chakra and what happened because of it. He went on to tell them of what he saw while captured and how he got out. Then he told them about what he saw, and who he saw when they were trying to find the exit. After giving his description, most eyes in the room turned to Danzo, it seemed they thought he knew something about who they were. Danzo completely ignored it, however, and let Aoshi get back to telling the final few bits of his story.

He told them about how he tricked the bandits and let the others get away before he himself made the final push and got out of there. Finally, he told them of the wonderful young lady who saved him and gave him a light meal before he headed back.

Now Danzo stepped forward. "So you think we're just going to believe that drivel? You claim to not only have defeated one of the more powerful bandits but also to have rescued your chunin commander twice. Once by killing again." Aoshi flinched slightly every time he mentioned him killing someone. "and once again by distracting the enemy. How do we know you're not one of them? You are the only one who wasn't interrogated or tortured, and you're the only one who kept their gear. Besides, if those ninjas found out you were there, why wouldn't they also chase after you?"

Aoshi's mind went back to the look in those men's eyes as their life left them. To the feeling of power when he emptied his enemy of chakra but kept on thinking why he didn't feel even the slightest regret. He was disgusted and sad, but not regretful. He wondered if that was alright.

It was Hiruzen who stopped this. He saw the look on Aoshi's face which he had seen so many times before. That look could only mean that the boy told the truth when he mentioned the murders. He was inclined to believe the rest as well but he needed proof for Danzo, or He'd have to convince the other elders. That was just not an easy thing to do when Danzo was against you. He gave Aoshi a sympathetic look and spoke with the softest voice. "I believe you, little one. But in order to prove your claims, would it be alright if Inoichi inspected your mind for a little bit?"

Aoshi's eyes snapped up at Hiruzen's tone but nodded quickly looking over at the jounin next to him. He had nothing to hide at all, not even any special jutsu he'd like to keep off the record, so there was no issue at all.

Inoichi walked over to him and performed his jutsu. It was a strange sensation to have someone walking through your mind. He didn't try to fight it but realised that his chakra tried to repel the intruder instinctively. A little while later, Inoichi was done and made his report to the others. "The boy is telling the truth. He was fighting me a bit so I didn't get down to the last detail, but overall I saw the events he spoke of happen in the way he claimed. I see no reason to doubt this genin."

Aoshi lowered his head towards the jounin in gratitude. Hiruzen brought out his pipe and puffed a little with a smile on his face. "Excellent! Then that means we have reason to award you, young Aoshi. Because of you, a lot more people are alive and fine than would have been otherwise."

Aoshi spoke up. "What happened to the rest of the team?" Danzo seemed annoyed that he had interrupted but Hiruzen nodded with a smile. "Most of them did fine. Two genin transported the client to the nearest outpost. A couple of higher ranked ninjas from there went on to take care of your mission of transporting the client to hot water and back. They're on their way back as we speak with the two genin and the client. They sent a search squad but they couldn't find the place you were taken to, with your and your squadmates' descriptions we might be able to discover it soon. Those children battling below seemed rather ominous. The rest of your squad came back a bit before you and submitted their report. Two were rather gravely injured and received intense hospital care. The third was let go from duty."

This surprised Aoshi and he exclaimed "Why? And who?" Hiruzen gestured for him to get back into his seat calmly. The surprised Aoshi had instinctively flown up from his seat. He did as told. "Nomu was his name and he released intel about the village to get out of torture. It seems the bandits captured you four to gather any kind of intel they could sell or ninja techniques they could use. Since Nomu released intel on the village and gave them a technique, we can not have faith in him as a future shinobi of this village."

It was harsh, but Aoshi understood. They had been taught at the academy to never betray the village no matter the situation and no matter how little Nomu assumed the importance of the information was, he still betrayed Konoha's trust. "I understand Hokage-sama." Aoshi got up from his chair but before he could leave, Hiruzen spoke again.

"For your efforts, you will receive the payment of a B-rank rescue mission. Now go along. You will be paired with that squad again, for now I hear that Yuhi Kurenai is looking for you." Aoshi smiled at that and nodded. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I will take my leave then."

Aoshi ran across the village to where Kurenai lived. The moment he stepped through the door he was enveloped in a deep hug. "Welcome back Aoshi!" Kurenai's hug instantly brought him calmness and he wrapped his arms around her as well. "I'm glad to be back."

They stayed like that for a while before Kurenai started talking. Apparently she had been told the rest of his squad was fine but that Aoshi was missing. Only this morning was she told that he came back during the night. She went on to place him down at the dinner table and cooked a hefty breakfast while he told her what happened.

She leaned down so their eyes were at the same level. "I know how it feels. It will never feel nice, but eventually you recognise it as part of the job. The fact that you feel this way is what makes you a great shinobi. Life is sacred, and compassion is beautiful. It is, however, not your job to save every life. You did what you had to do, and people have you to thank for their lives. Remember that part instead." She leaned in and kissed his forehead. "You're a little hero already. And I can't tell you how proud I am of that genjutsu distraction!"

A smile spread across his face and some blush across his cheeks. "Hehe, it was nothing. I just wish I had more chakra to work with.

So they started eating their meal instead. Aoshi wondered if his mother could have done what Kurenai just did. That bad feeling inside was gone and replaced with pride instead. He had completed a B-rank mission after all! A while into their meal, Tenten and Hinata joined them. Both girls hugged him fiercely when they saw him but soon everyone calmed down and shared the food on the table. Aoshi was at peace. He was home. He was with family.