Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

"What can I do for you, Hazō?" Asuma asked, already sighing with a visible assumption that he was going to be exhausted and/or annoyed and/or amazed and/or driven into a murderous rage and/or all of the above by whatever happened in this meeting.

"Sir, I wanted to talk to you about Harumitsu, my Hagoromo student."

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?" His voice was dipping towards 'frosty' but not yet there.

Hazō shook his head. "No. Actually, he's got a lot more potential than I was expecting. I think we'll get along fine, and I expect to give Leaf another skilled sealmaster as quickly as I safely can."

"That's wonderful," Asuma said in surprise. "What's the problem?"

"Sir, I'm very pleased with the student, but not with the environment. The Hagoromo obviously lack any sort of seal research facility—not unexpected, since they've never had cause or knowledge on how to build one. That's not critical for now, as the beginning part of seal studies is mostly book learning. I gave Harumitsu a ton of material to start off with, more than anyone could possibly learn in 24 hours, and he got through a lot more of it than I expected. He had the research protocols word perfect and he got the first two chapters of the astrological material and a page of the math. He doesn't understand it yet, but that wasn't the goal. Kagome-sensei will work with him, since he's a much better math instructor."

"All right...so what's the problem?"

"The Hagoromo estate is in the middle of the city. There's nowhere within its walls that is ever quiet, and it's distracting. Harumitsu is used to it, but I'm not. I'd like your permission to instruct him at the Gōketsu research facility, outside the walls of Leaf. It's safe, it's quiet, and since this is my first-ever sealing student I want to be extremely careful."

Asuma pursed his lips in thought. "I have no objection, and I'm certainly not going to tell a sealmaster how to do his work. On the other hand, the entire point of doing it on the Hagoromo estate was to ensure that they didn't attempt to sabotage you, and also so that they would interact with you on a regular basis and the two sides could achieve some level of familiarity. Perhaps even reconciliation."

Hazō debated saying 'star and stone will crumble to dust before the Gōketsu reconcile with those assholes' and decided it wouldn't be politic. "Perhaps we can do the academic material on the estate but anything chakra-related at the GRF? I admit that I'd been hoping to have him do his studies out there so that I could do some research during the instruction. As I said, the first couple weeks are mostly going to be memorization, and that's not something that I need to be directly involved in. He could also benefit from sitting and watching how Kagome-sensei and I work." He shrugged. "Plus, us doing research has a direct positive benefit for the Gōketsu and therefore for Leaf."

Asuma shifted thoughtfully in the Hokage's blocky, commanding chair. "What are you working on, if I may ask?"

"With respect, sir, we're still discussing whether or not to turn it in to the Tower or keep it as a clan secret."

"Fair enough." He thought for a moment. "Very well. Instruct him wherever you like. Note that he is going to be receiving weekly testing by a third-party sealmaster. If his progress is not adequate then we're going to have a problem." He raised a hand to cut Hazō's protests off. "Don't worry. The inspector will work with you to understand the curriculm you intend to teach and as long as it's reasonable he won't give you any trouble about what specifics are included or what order you intend to teach it in."

"Thank you, sir."

"Seriously though...try to spend as much time as you can working with him at the Hagoromo estate. It's much easier to end a feud when the two families know one another. Becoming a person instead of merely an enemy is the first step."

"...Is that an order, sir?"

Asuma sighed. "Consider it a strong suggestion. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."

"One more thing, sir. We've recently finished a new seal. We intend to keep it as a clan secret for now, but we are willing to supply them for your personal use if you wish."

Asuma looked surprised. "That's very generous of you. What is it?"

"We call it 'chakdar', sir. You wear it against your skin on your chest or back and it buzzes whenever anyone in the area uses chakra. Specifically, it detects chakra use in a specified direction. It's been fine-tuned so that jutsu give different vibrations to more routine stuff like wall-walking and chakra-boosting. The intensity of vibrations correlates to distance. It's great for detecting ambushes and attacks from out of line of sight."

"My. That's very generous indeed." He chuckled. "I'm going to take a wild guess: Instead of researching from scratch, did you take some other trivial seal and evolve it into this?"

"Yes, sir. A couple of years ago we went into a casino in the Land of Iron. They had these seals all over the place to detect cheaters. I managed to get a copy without anyone noticing"—the words 'because my bloodline does that' stayed carefully behind his teeth—"and we carried it around for literally years before I finally got around to researching it. After that we just had to refine it a bit to be directional and not too sensitive."

"Why 'chakdar'?"

"Chakra Detection and Response, sir."

"Well, I appreciate the gift. Thank you, Hazō." He accepted the stack of seals that Hazō placed on his desk and carefully tidied it up before affixing one to the center of his chest under his robes. The rest went into a drawer.


"Now, this facility is intended for much more intense work than you're going to be doing anytime soon," Hazō said as they broke through the shadowy reaches of the trees. "Also, unlike most other sealmasters that I'm familiar with, Kagome-sensei isn't an idiot. We take safety seriously."

"Yes, sir."

"What is the first rule of seal research?" He continued to lead Harumitsu inwards, past the first earth berm and bunker, towards where the actual research would happen.

"The SSO outranks the H-Hokage, sir."

"Very good. What's the second rule?"

"A j-junior sealmaster in motion outranks the SSO, sir."

"Which means...?"

"If another s-sealmaster shouts a p-panicked order, don't be a s-stinking idiot. Do w-w-what he says, especially if it's 'R-Run!'"

"Very good. Okay, now, here's what we're going to—"

"S-Sensei? M-may I ask a q-q-question?"

"Always. What have you got?"

"H-H-How c-can I do r-research w-when I c-can't sh-sh-shout 'R-R-R-Run'?"

Hazō smiled and shrugged. "It doesn't need to be the word. Make any sort of loud noise and start running, people will get the idea. Besides, it's going to be a while before you're doing any infusing. No one ever caused a seal failure by reading math books."

"B-B-B-But w-what if—"

"Is this the stinker?" Kagome-sensei demanded, popping out from behind of one of the massive granite baffles that served to channel explosions, block sprays of acid, provide a handhold against being sucked into a neverspace, and somewhere to shelter against the gaze of horrors that would rend the mind.

"Y-Y-Yes, s-s-sir!" Harumitsu snapped, bracing to attention.

"Harumitsu, this is Kagome-sensei, my teacher. He will—"

Kagome-sensei had been prowling closer as Hazō spoke and he was suddenly up in Harumitsu's face, jabbing him in the chest with one finger. "You're from that clan of stinkers that made Keiko sad, aren't you? You stinking little—"

"Sensei," Hazō said, taking his teacher's arm and gently tugging him back. "He's not to blame. It's the elders and the Clan Head who are the stinking bigots. Harumitsu is a good kid and he'll be a good student."

"Hrmph."

Hazō chuckled. "Also, I think it was less 'sad' and more 'murderously angry to the point where a horde of extradimensional killing machines nearly stomped their estate flat'."

"Hrmph. Should have done it. Stinking idiots and their stinking stupid bigotry. I still say we should bomb them out of existence. Being a missing-nin wasn't so bad. I miss ratberry pie." The older man had acceded to Hazō's gentle tug on the arm to the extent of backing up one step but was still glaring hate beams into Harumitsu's skull.

"Sensei. We are not going missing again. Ever. The Gōketsu are loyal ninja of Leaf. We do not fight with other clans, we do not harm other Leaf ninja. That would be against the Will of Fire." He preemptively squeezed two quick pulses on Kagome-sensei's bicep to prevent him from saying 'Who cares about the stupid stinking Will of Fire?'

"Huh? What? Why are you—oh. Right. Yes, the Will of Fire. Very important. Definitely can't do those things you said because it would be against the Will of Fire, or something. We're good little boys and girls and absolutely completely loyal to Leaf and should definitely not be thrown in a killbox or executed or chained to a wall and made to scribe seals sixteen hours a day or have lupchanzen put in our ears or—"

"Right! Glad that's settled. Harumitsu, relax."

The younger boy slowly let go of his rigid brace and regulation blank expression. Now he looked hunched and scared.

Hazō sighed. "Look, sensei, Harumitsu is my student, so I'd appreciate it if you'd be nice to him. He's going to sit quietly to the side and work on memorization while you and I work on our research. You're doing prep work for that extremely clan-secret seal that we don't talk about, right?"

Kagome-sensei had been glaring at Harumitsu but he looked around at Hazō's question. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Checking the interlink tension between the fourth and fifth cthonic harmonics. I think—"

"Hold that thought, okay? Why don't you get started while I settle Harumitsu in?"

"Fine."

Hazō smiled at his student. "Let's take a quick look around and then we'll get you started, okay?"

"Y-Y-Yes, sensei."

Hazō led the younger boy around the research facility, pointing out various features and explaining their purpose. He quizzed his student on things that had been included in the information Harumitsu had been given. The boy remembered most of it and looked utterly humiliated when he forgot anything. His stutter grew steadily worse as he got more nervous until he could hardly speak at all. Hazō reassured him that he was doing fine—doing well, even. It didn't help much.

"Okay," he said at last, leading Harumitsu to the side of the field and unsealing a blanket and a picnic basket. "There's food and lemonade in the basket, have as much as you like. I've got more for all three of us later, so eat up." He unsealed a bevy of scrolls and set them on one edge of the blanket. "These four are on seal terminology so that you'll be able to follow the discussions. These are on astrological significance to seal research and infusion. If you need anything, just raise your hand and I'll come over. It might take me a minute or two if I'm right in the middle of a tricky infusion, but it's not a problem. Okay?"

Harumitsu nodded.

"Good man." He clapped his student on the shoulder. "Really, don't worry. Nothing particularly dangerous is happening today, which is why it's okay for you to be here. I'm finishing up the last bit of a fairly simple seal." It hadn't seemed so simple before his experience with the Summoning Scroll, but everything was so much clearer now. "Kagome-sensei isn't doing any infusions today, it's all math, runecasting, and design work. The odds of you getting turned into a tiny splotch of mucus are really low—probably ten, twenty percent at worst."

Harumitsu's eyes bulged in panic.

Hazō laughed. "Relax. Sealmaster humor tends to get a little dark. I won't say 'everything will be fine' because that's just tempting fate. Still, odds of anything very bad happening are low enough that Kagome-sensei isn't objecting to having you here. You'll come to understand what that actually means, but for now just assume that it's a huge compliment. Got it?"

Another mute nod.

"Good man. Get to work, raise your hand if you need anything, eat what you like. If you start to feel tired or lose focus, take a break. Stretch, walk around a bit, even take a nap if you need to. When you're doing anything related to seals it's important to not cut any corners whatsoever. Leave yourself so much safety margin that it feels ridiculous—you can always come back and try again tomorrow but if you push through tiredness or hunger and it distracts you, you may not have a tomorrow. Leaf might not either."

Harumitsu's eyes were getting very wide again.

"Okay, good. See you in a bit." He turned and went back to where Kagome-sensei already had his beaky nose buried in a book. The older man was periodically pausing to scribble something on a sheet of parchment, then going back to the book.


The final twist of chakra clicked into place and Hazō smiled. He explored the pathways of the seal for a moment, making certain that everything was properly aligned and stable, and then opened his eyes and allowed his breathing to drop out of the steady, relaxing flow that was the hallmark of research infusion. He climbed to his feet, brushed off the seat of his pants, and moseyed over to where Harumitsu sat, fervently gulping down every trace of knowledge he could absorb.

"How's it going?" Hazō asked, unsealing a picnic basket for himself and rummaging up a sandwich.

"W-well, sensei. I think."

"Cool. Let's do a quick rundown on vocabulary. What does 'cthonic' mean?"

He went through the list and was pleased at his student's progress. There were a few words mixed up and a few nuances missing, but overall the progress was good. The astrology information was going equally well—he was amused to find that the very first items that Harumitsu volunteered were the full details of all Thirteen Signs and the definitions of jellicle and tosurent. It was still a little sad at how much Harumitsu perked up when told that he had done well, but Hazō carefully hid the reaction.

"In fact," Hazō said, deciding to unbend a little, "you've done so well that let's do something a little fun. I already said that you're not going to actually infuse anything, but let me walk you through some of what it feels like. You know how when you activate a seal you're just shoving chakra at it?"

"Y-yes, sensei."

Hazō passed over a seal. "This is a Jiraiya's Awesome Daybright Lantern seal, and I was told by the man himself that it's extremely important to always use the full name or Bad Things will happen." Hazō chuckled. "By which I'm pretty sure that he meant his overly-inflated ego would be damaged, but that's not an issue anymore. Now, I want you to activate the seal, but use the absolute minimum amount of chakra. To start with, push so little chakra that it doesn't even activate. When you can do that, increase the amount very slowly until you find the minimum amount that's necessary. After that, focus on pushing it slowly so that it takes a second or two to activate. When you're infusing, the trick is to use the smallest amount that you can get away with and to move very slowly. In fact, here." He pulled a stack of blanks out of storage, quickly infused them, and passed them over. "We'll be here for a few more hours. Spend the rest of the day with the books or the seals, your choice. Or mix them up."

Harumitsu's gaze flicked over Hazō's shoulder for a moment and he sat a little straighter. Hazō turned, unsurprised to find that Kagome-sensei was glowering from within earshot but far enough away not to interfere. He turned back to Harumitsu to find that the boy was sitting stiff with his eyes locked on Kagome-sensei.

"Hey," Hazō said, snapping his fingers to get his student's attention.

Harumitsu jumped. "S-s-sorry, s-s-sensei."

"Don't worry about him. I'll deal with it. Your job is to work on those materials and those seals. Got it?"

"Y-Y-Yes, s-sensei."

"Cool. Now, I just infused this seal for the first time, so I'm going to eat this sandwich and then I'm going make a few more—seals, not sandwiches—to be sure I've got it on lock. After that, I'm going to start on my next project. Feel free to ask any questions you might have."

Harumitsu nodded and turned to the first of the seals he'd been given. It promptly lit up. He grimaced and tried again with the next one.

Hazō pulled out a copy of Icha Icha: Forgotten Paradise and read it held in one hand while the other was busy holding delicious turkey, lettuce, and tomato goodness.

---

Author's Note: You were close enough to finished on LBF that I decided to give you credit for 1 day of prep work on the next seal. (NB: This is prep work. It gives you a bonus on your next infusion roll but does not itself grant you research progress.)

Please vote on what the next seal is separately from the plan and using the following format: [x](NextSeal): name goes here

XP AWARD: 3

Brevity XP: 1

"GM had fun" XP: 1

Ami-style training XP: 1

It is now about 8pm.

Vote time! What to do now?

Voting ends on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at 12pm London time.