Chapter 455 - My SI Stash #55 - Snapping Turtle by Chairtastic (Naruto) (1/2)

-Crazy how I've read hundreds of SI Naruto fics and this is the first one to not have the classic SI!9Tailed/1TailedJinchuriki but instead Isobu the 3 tailed~

Synopsis: Isobu the three-tailed turtle has been bonded to another host due to civil war. But the trouble with making a living weapon is that sometimes they can think. They can make decisions of their own. And they might be of the opinion that a leash can be pulled from either end.

Rated: T

Words: 29K

Posted on: forums.spacebattles.com/threads/snapping-turtle-naruto-si.903843/ (Chairtastic)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

Fifteen years before Naruto.

Mother Jiang.

Akami had been afraid every afternoon that, when the children came back from the instruction at the academy, her boy wouldn't be one of them. With the civil war, none of the civilians knew when their children's class would be ordered to graduate and partake of the bloody ceremony. Had the Daimyo not commanded that all children in the village be sent to the academy to train, she would not have allowed her son to go.

Akami cooked to distract herself from the worry and the war. She worked in a restaurant in the village, so her managers were appreciative of her dedication. The extra work, from when her son left in the morning, made them content to let her leave in the afternoon to be there when he got back.

She was a large woman, she'd gotten into cooking because she loved food, and anyone who ever had anything to say about it got punched square in the teeth. Her father had been a ninja, she knew how to throw a punch that would hurt. Her mother had said that, after the starvation that had hit Kiri during the First Shinobi World War, she thought it a blessing that she had a daughter who loved to eat to soothe her anxiety.

Kiri wouldn't go hungry during the civil war, she hoped. The loyalists still controlled the major ports and Kirigakure had priority on supplies. But any day, the battle could turn against them and their vast archipelago could shrink down to just the central islands, and food would grow scarce.

As if she didn't have enough to worry about, when she left the restaurant one day, she noticed that it had started to snow. A terrible omen, and she rushed home to put on a pot of tea. Alongside that, a quick meal of egg fried rice for both her and her son. She had the meal set out along with tea so that he would see it the moment he came back. Something set her hairs on end, like an instinctual warning, before she heard it.

The neighbor's children had come down the road home. And shortly thereafter she heard soul-crushing wails. Akami sat and watched the door as dread creeped into her veins. The screams grew more numerous as more children returned home and more… didn't. Akami's son was a bit silly, observant, but he talked back when insulted -- and had inherited his father's Wave Country temper. Anger got ninja killed.

A figure passed by the window, too tall to be her boy. Tears started to fill her eyes. Someone knocked at her door, too loud and deliberate to be her boy. Akami desperately tried to keep it together as she stood from the table and shuffled to the door. She knew what she was going to be told, but she couldn't shake the slim hope that it was something different.

A thousand possible scenarios played before her as she opened the door. Without the barrier, the wailing of mothers who mourned their children was even worse. In her doorway was one of the ninja instructors at the academy. Sojiro Hidaka, a tall and whip-thin man who wore all-grey except his black Kirigakure headband and a medical mask over his face.

She stood there for a second, afraid that she would break and begin to wail as other mothers did. She stood there while the ninja looked down his nose at her -- for all she knew, he smirked underneath that mask. Kiri ninja were vicious like that.

”Akami Jiang,” the chunin started and folded his hands behind his back while he bowed.

”It is with honor that I inform you that your son graduated from Kirigakure's ninja academy this morning. He will serve his country as a genin.”

Relief was bitter as she heard dozens of mothers wail at children who didn't make it. She looked to the chunin's side, and didn't see her boy there. Something was wrong. ”Where is he? Is he hurt? At the hospital?”

Sojiro sighed, as if exasperated, and explained. As his words hit her, it was like a knife drove into her heart. Her son was alive, but some part of her wished he wasn't. The chunin left, to go inform another family of their child's fate, and left Akami in the open doorway.

She didn't have the energy to join in the desperate wails of other mothers. Akami closed the door and shuffled to the couch. The food she made would go cold, as would the tea. But she didn't care at that moment. Akami sat with her head in her hands and wished she could cry. She had been almost there mere minutes prior, then it all went away when she heard what had become of her son.

She couldn't bring herself to cry for a demon.

--

Director Ruan.

Medical director Suzume Ruan checked all the injured patients from the latest graduation to make sure they were treated properly. She'd had the trainees do it, as she'd been required for the jinchuuriki procedure.

”Laceration from kunai,” she impassively spoke as she examined the genin's back. ”Stitches look good, sterilized properly, no bleeding. It'll scar, and you'll have something to brag about when the stitches come off.” Suzume adjusted her half-moon glasses and nodded at the trainee who had done the work. To give the genin a bit of a boost about his recovery, she rustled his hair before she laid him back down to rest. Once they were out of earshot of the boy she turned to the trainee and tapped her in the c_h_e_s_t. ”That stitchwork was magnificent, especially for how little time you had to do it. If you want a hospital job, and not somewhere on the front lines, keep that up.”

”Yes, director,” the trainee responded, her sweat visible through the scrubs.

”Get cleaned up, you've more patients to look after.” She didn't linger much on how she had lied to the trainee -- fast and effective stitchwork was a vital field resource, not a hospital one. But no one wanted to learn the field medic skills and risk their lives. Suzume returned to her office to begin filing the paperwork to bill the medical supplies to the budget committee.

On her desk were pictures of her and her family in happier times. A photo of Suzume and her sister, back when her hair was long and done in a braid, rock climbing. A photo of her fiancee and her on a date, back when Suzume's skin wasn't pale from being indoors. And a photo of Suzume asleep on the couch with her cats, when she didn't have massive bags under her eyes.

She worked in relative silence until her office phone rang. She had enough managerial staff on hand that she shouldn't have been contacted unless something had gone wrong. When she picked it up, she got informed of the specifics: ”The jinchuuriki escaped.”

Suzume's blood ran cold as she slammed the phone in its cradle and rushed out of the office. Doubtless the Anbu operatives assigned to watch the hospital were in pursuit, but if the seal they had bound the bijuu up in had faltered then there wasn't much that they could do besides bring her back a body.

But maybe the boy hadn't gone far, and she could bring him back.

When she got to the jinchuuriki's room, she found the chunin left to guard the boy bound to the wall by pink coral, and the restraints on his bed broken by the same substance. She refrained from chastising the pathetic ninja that had been bested by a freshly blooded genin, and asked them which way he'd went.

She didn't have to go far, just a couple floors down. In happier times, the hospital had a pool for physical therapy which had gone unused as no one could be spared to do the physical therapy exercises with the patients. Suzume saw the doorknob burst apart with fragments of coral in it, and looked inside.

The jinchuuriki was face-up in the water, fully dressed, floating with arms and legs wide. He wasn't just a genin, Suzume told herself. He was a jinchuuriki of a water bijuu. He had already used his powers long before they thought he would even be conscious. The wise thing to do would be to let Anbu sort it out, she hadn't been on a battlefield in years.

But, perhaps due to too many long shifts and too much ruthless calculus of war, she opened the door and stepped inside. The jinchuuriki turned to her, then looked back at the ceiling. A large boy, tall for his age, and chubby. His hair had to be shaved for the seal, but the hook-like tattoo almost resembled a curly hairstyle on its own.

”Noburu?” She cautiously spoke and approached the edge of the pool. ”What are you doing?”

”Oh, you know.” The boy responded as if he'd heard her perfectly despite his ears being submerged. ”Vibing.” He was so nonchalant, it was eerie.

”Vibing?”

Noburu sighed. ”Doesn't matter. Isobu wanted to swim, found a pool and went swimming.”

”Isobu?” She frowned as she walked the perimeter of the pool. She could tell by the shadows that deepened suddenly that the Anbu were on hand in case something happened.

”The Three Tails. His name is Isobu. He likes to swim.” Noburu closed his eyes and floated in silence for a while. ”You're still here.”

”I need you to go back to your room, Noboru.” Suzume didn't want to provoke the jinchuuriki so close to the water, but she couldn't leave the Anbu to sort it out and potentially sour the jinchuruki's attitude toward the village more than it had already.

”And I'll return… when Isobu is satisfied.” The boy moved to float upright in the water, and his eyes met hers in an intense stare. ”We both want Isobu to be satisfied, content, not at all prone to push against this prototype seal none of you knows the exact strength of, right?”

Shit, Suzume thought to herself. ”You… were awake for that, were you?”

”Anesthesia affects everyone differently. Takes a bit longer to kick in for me, my dad was the same way.”

”The seal… we expected the demon to fight back. It would be caught like a fish on a hook.” She didn't know why she felt the need to explain herself to a child, but the boy's intense stare made her feel like she was being scolded by a superior.

”Spirit,” he responded. ”Isobu is a spirit. But yeah, the whole fish hook design element, I got that. But I'm not willing to risk my life to stress test the damn thing, so I'm keeping Isobu happy and unhooked.” The genin swam around the pool aimlessly for a moment before he turned to her again. ”Isobu says the next time you seal him in an urn, just fill it with water and this won't be necessary for future jinchuuriki.”

”O-oh. I'll… pass that along to the Mizukage.”

”Cool. Now I'm going to keep this up for a while. You probably have work to go do. Bye.” Noburu dove under the water and swam submerged.

Suzume glanced at the deepest shadows, where she knew the Anbu watched, and walked out of the pool. The jinchuuriki was watched. He wasn't being confrontational. And if either of those changed, she could trust the Anbu to sort it out without killing him. However she still would have to get those chunin off her wall, and repair the coral damage the boy had done.

The impulse to get the jinchuuriki to kill her to avoid paperwork was tough to shake off.

--

Mother Jiang.

Akami had a friend, Arata Chow. Arata was of mixed descent, like her Noburu, so she looked to him for insight on how to make her son's life easier in Kirigakure. They were both of the foot caste, so there was no pressure to help but Arata did anyway. In return, Akami helped him when his wife took ill -- and looked after Arata's daughter when they had to go to the hospital. Arata's wife was vain, and became nasty as she grew sick, so Akami became a person he could vent to when times were tough.

It hurt her like a knife to the heart when she found out her Noboru had killed Arata's Yuuko to graduate from the academy. A darling little girl who loved to chase and collect bugs, gone so her son could live. Only for that life to be ruined, and the sacrifice to be meaningless.

She expected Arata would hate her, but she wasn't a coward. She made a trip to the bank, and obtained some ryo to give as condolence money. Akami was ready to be screamed at, or attacked, because of the circ_u_mstance. But she would do Yuuko's memory right and observe tradition.

She ran into Arata on the way back from the bank. Where once he had been a short but lively man, he seemed empty when Akami saw him. His tanned skin pale, and his eyes red. When Arata saw her he scowled with terrible hatred, and Akami couldn't say it was undeserved. Her son had lived, as a demon, and Arata's daughter was gone.

Akami stood still as the short man stormed over to her and began to shout. Even crazed with grief, he wouldn't throw a punch -- though Akami would have let it slide.

”You have some nerve showing your face!” Arata shouted, his voice slightly hoarse. ”I trusted you and your brat! I invited you into my home! I let my daughter stay with you! And your son put a knife in her neck!”

”Yes,” Akami responded, and averted her eyes.

”Look at me. Look at me!” When Akami returned her gaze, Arata was despondent. ”You told me our kids would look out for each other in the academy! They'd be on a team, and serve together! And….” Arata clenched his fists and beat them against his head. ”He killed her! He killed her because she wouldn't fight back, I know it! My sweet girl….”

Would Akami do the same if the situation had reversed? If Yuuko had lived, to become the jinchuuriki, and Noburu had died? She didn't know. She tried to think of what she would say to herself in that situation to make it feel better. But there were no words.

”Say something!”

Akami was quiet a moment longer before she spoke. ”I'm sorry. She didn't deserve this.”