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Naruto: Veil of Frozen Bones Chapter 12
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 22:56:34 +0000 UTCThe few days following their arrival in Konoha passed in a blur of guarded settling-in. An aide of the Hokage, a quiet, efficient Chunin, escorted Kasumi and Ryuu to modest but clean lodgings – a small apartment in a sector housing various newcomers and lower-ranked shinobi families.
It was leagues better than their hut in Shiosai or the damp shelters of their journey, but the feeling of being watched remained. Ryuu occasionally spotted the subtle signs – a figure lingering slightly too long on a nearby rooftop, a faint chakra signature briefly flaring then vanishing from perception just outside their window. Konoha’s observation was professional, less overtly hostile than Kiri's presence, but constant nonetheless.
Kasumi underwent several lengthy debriefing sessions, likely with Minato himself or his most trusted intelligence officers. Ryuu was left in the apartment during these times, instructed implicitly to remain quiet and inconspicuous.
He used the solitude to cautiously practice his chakra control, focusing on the leaf exercise and the rudimentary ice senbon formation. Progress remained slow, but the relative safety and lack of constant motion allowed for deeper concentration.
He also absorbed the ambient sounds of Konoha – the distant shouts from training grounds, the chatter of civilians, the rhythmic patrols of the Uchiha Police Force. Each sound was a data point, painting a picture of the village's daily life.
Kasumi returned from her debriefings looking drained but resolute. She shared little detail, only confirming that she had provided information on Kiri’s internal state, the hunter-nin activity, and the general instability in the Land of Water.
Ryuu suspected she gave carefully curated information, omitting anything too specific about her own past or potential lingering connections, focusing on verifiable intelligence that established her value without revealing vulnerabilities.
Minato kept his word regarding Kushina's security. Two days after their arrival – October 9th by Ryuu’s calculation – Kasumi was summoned again. She returned late, her expression unreadable but tinged with a new level of tension.
"The Hokage's wife... she goes into labour tonight," Kasumi told Ryuu quietly, checking the seals on their apartment door. "The birth is happening at a secure location outside the village barriers. I... I have been assigned to the outer perimeter security detail, under Lady Biwako's supervision."
Ryuu felt a jolt. Biwako Sarutobi, the Third Hokage’s wife, and Taji, a medical-nin – they were the midwives present in canon, and both were killed by Obito. Kasumi, with her Ice Release and Jonin skills, was being added to that ill-fated security layer. His plan to influence events suddenly felt terrifyingly direct.
"Is it... dangerous?" Ryuu asked, injecting childish worry into his voice.
Kasumi knelt, placing her hands on his small shoulders. "The birth of a Jinchuriki's child is always delicate, Ryuu. The seal containing the Kyuubi weakens during childbirth. That is why secrecy and security are paramount." She hesitated, then added softly, "But Lord Fourth has made extensive preparations. Lady Biwako is highly experienced. I am just... an extra layer of vigilance. Do not worry."
But Ryuu did worry. He knew what was coming. The masked man – Obito Uchiha, though no one here knew his identity – exploiting that very weakness in the seal. He knew about Biwako and Taji's deaths. He knew about the Kyuubi being ripped free, summoned into the village, the ensuing destruction, Minato and Kushina's sacrifice.
Could Kasumi make a difference? Her Hissatsu Hyōsō was formidable against chakra beasts, but against Obito's Kamui, his phasing and teleportation? Unlikely. Could she protect Biwako and Taji? Maybe buy them precious seconds? Could Ryuu somehow warn her?
Impossible.
He was a four-year-old child, confined to their apartment. Any warning he gave would be dismissed as childish nightmares or, worse, reveal knowledge he shouldn't possess, jeopardizing everything. He felt utterly powerless, a spectator watching a tragedy unfold in slow motion, armed with foresight he couldn't wield.
"Be careful, Kaa-san," was all he could manage, clinging to her hand for a moment longer than usual.
Kasumi gave him a reassuring squeeze, then slipped out into the night, melting into the shadows like the shinobi she was. Ryuu was left alone in the apartment, the silence pressing in, amplifying the frantic beating of his own heart. He could only wait. And hope.
Hope that his presence, Kasumi’s presence, something might nudge the predetermined course of events, even slightly.
—————————————————————————————————
(POV SHIFT)
The night air was cool, crisp. Deep within a hidden cave complex outside Konoha’s main barrier, accessible only through layered seals and guarded by elite ANBU, Kushina Uzumaki screamed, her vibrant red hair plastered to her sweat-drenched brow.
The Nine-Tails' seal on her abdomen pulsed erratically, the intricate Uzumaki patterns glowing ominously as Minato worked desperately to reinforce it while simultaneously aiding the birth. Biwako Sarutobi and Taji moved with practiced efficiency, murmuring encouragement, their faces grim with concentration. The pressure in the sealed chamber was immense.
Outside, forming the outermost layer of security, Kasumi Yuki stood concealed within the dense forest, her senses stretched taut.
She wasn't alone. Several ANBU operatives, handpicked by Minato for their loyalty and skill (pointedly excluding any Root members), were positioned strategically nearby, their chakra signatures suppressed almost perfectly.
Kasumi’s own signature was a mere whisper, blended with the natural energy of the woods. Her Ice Release gave her a unique sensory advantage in the cool night air, she could feel minute temperature fluctuations, the subtle disturbance of chakra signatures moving through the trees.
Suddenly, she felt it – a distortion. Not a chakra signature, but a ripple in space itself, localized, unnatural. It happened near the entrance seals of the cave complex. Before she could even fully process the anomaly, alarms flared silently through the ANBU network.
Intruder Alert! Sector Gamma!
Kasumi moved instantly, melting deeper into the shadows, drawing a kunai. She saw two ANBU converging on the disturbance point. Then, impossibly, they simply… vanished. One moment they were there, chakra flaring defensively, the next they were gone, consumed by a swirling vortex that appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Kamui.
Terror, cold and sharp, lanced through Kasumi. She recognized the spatial distortion, if not the specific technique. This was high-level, beyond anything she had anticipated.
Before she could react further, the air inside the cave complex, beyond the seals she was guarding, erupted. A massive surge of malevolent chakra, far stronger than anything she had ever felt, washed over the area – the Kyuubi’s raw, hateful power, unrestrained.
Simultaneously, Kushina’s agonized scream reached a crescendo, followed by the distinct, sharp cry of a newborn baby.
Then, another spatial distortion within the cave, and the Kyuubi’s signature began to rapidly recede, moving away from the birth site at impossible speed. Someone had breached the seals, subdued the midwives, and was extracting the beast and the child.
Kasumi’s orders were clear: maintain the perimeter, prevent escape, intercept intruders leaving. But the primary threat was now inside, the Hokage and his family directly endangered.
Protocol warred with instinct.
Just as she tensed to move towards the cave, violating her perimeter orders, a figure materialized directly before her from another swirling vortex. Tall, cloaked, wearing an orange spiral mask with a single eyehole revealing a terrifyingly familiar red – a Sharingan.
In his arms, he held a squirming, crying bundle – the newborn Naruto.
Obito Uchiha, though Kasumi didn't know his name, recognized her instantly. A Yuki survivor. An unexpected variable.
His single Sharingan eye narrowed. "Hyōjin no Kasumi," his voice, distorted by the mask but carrying Obito's underlying tones, was cold. "You should have stayed buried in the Mist."
He hadn't planned for her. His focus was Minato, Kushina, the Kyuubi. But she was here, a known skilled kunoichi with a troublesome Kekkei Genkai. A loose end.
Kasumi reacted purely on instinct. She didn't try to engage directly, she knew challenging that spatial ability head-on was suicide. Instead, she exploded backwards, simultaneously weaving hand seals – Dog, Tiger, Boar – not for Hissatsu Hyōsō, but for a defensive technique.
"Hyōton: Kōri Heki!" (Ice Release: Ice Wall)
A thick, jagged wall of opaque ice erupted from the damp forest floor between them, momentarily blocking Obito’s line of sight and providing Kasumi a precious second. Obito scoffed, phasing through the wall effortlessly, his arm already reaching out to pull Kasumi into his Kamui dimension.
But that second was all Kasumi needed. She wasn't aiming to stop him, she was aiming to warn. As the ice wall formed, she channeled a sharp pulse of chakra, a pre-arranged distress signal, directly towards the cave entrance where she knew Minato must be.
Obito’s phasing hand passed through where Kasumi had been. She had used the ice wall's formation as cover for a burst of speed, dodging sideways, putting distance between them.
Obito paused, surprised by her speed and tactical retreat rather than a futile direct confrontation. He held the crying Naruto aloft. "Protecting the Hokage's spawn? Or just trying to survive?"
Before Kasumi could reply, before Obito could pursue, a yellow flash erupted beside the masked man. Minato Namikaze, appearing instantly via Flying Thunder God, his face a mask of cold fury. He didn't hesitate, his hand lashing out, not with a Rasengan, but aiming to snatch Naruto back.
Obito reacted instantly, phasing, intending to let Minato's hand pass through him while securing Naruto fully within Kamui. But Minato was faster, his legendary speed anticipating the phase.
His fingers brushed Naruto's blanket just as Obito became intangible. Simultaneously, Minato slapped a Flying Thunder God seal onto Obito's retreating cloak – a near-impossible feat against a phasing opponent, achieved only through sheer speed and prediction.
"Get away from my son!" Minato roared, flashing away again, reappearing protectively in front of Kasumi, who had used the brief confrontation to create more distance.
Obito materialized several yards away, empty-handed but for the FTG seal now attached to him. He looked from Minato to Kasumi, then laughed, a distorted, chilling sound.
"Impressive, Fourth Hokage. Faster than anticipated. But the Fox is free. Your village will burn." He glanced at the FTG seal. "And this... changes nothing."
He began to swirl away, intent on retrieving Kurama and unleashing him upon Konoha.
Minato knew he couldn't let him leave, couldn't let him summon the Kyuubi within the village walls. "Kasumi-san! Delay him!" he yelled, already forming hand seals, preparing a large-scale technique.
Kasumi didn't hesitate. Understanding Minato’s intent, she channeled her chakra again, faster this time. Dog, Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog.
"Hyōton: Hissatsu Hyōsō!"
Dozens of ice spears materialized, launching not directly at Obito, but around him, embedding themselves in the trees, the ground, creating a cage of glittering, deadly ice, attempting to restrict his movement, to force him to phase or teleport predictably.
Obito scoffed again, beginning to phase through the incoming spears. But the sheer density of the attack, the way Kasumi directed them to converge on his anticipated position, forced him to expend more focus on phasing than intended. It bought Minato another crucial second.
Minato slammed his palm onto the ground. "Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari!" (Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind)
Instead of summoning Gamabunta, he summoned the esophagus of a giant toad around Obito, trapping him within its sticky, chakra-suppressing confines just as he fully phased through the last ice spear. It was a binding technique, designed to hold, not crush.
"He's contained, momentarily!" Minato shouted, already flashing towards the cave. "Check on Kushina! Protect Naruto!" He vanished.
Kasumi stared at the pulsating toad esophagus trapping the masked man. She knew it wouldn't hold him for long, his spatial ninjutsu was too powerful. But they had delayed him. Minato was alerted, had marked him, and was moving to protect his family.
She turned and raced towards the cave entrance, kunai ready, dread coiling in her stomach. What had happened inside?
———————————————————————————————————————-
Inside the cave, Minato appeared beside a heavily damaged seal array. Taji lay dead nearby, her neck snapped.
Biwako Sarutobi was slumped against the wall, barely conscious, bleeding from a severe head wound. Kushina was on the floor, pale and trembling violently, the Kyuubi's malevolent chakra almost entirely gone from her system, but she was alive.
The Uzumaki vitality, the incomplete extraction perhaps, had saved her from immediate death, though she was critically weak. Naruto, safe in a protective bassinet Minato had prepared, was crying lustily.
"Kushina!" Minato knelt beside her, relief warring with fury.
"Minato... the mask... he took..." Kushina gasped, clutching her abdomen where the seal used to be.
"I know. I know. He's trapped, for now," Minato reassured her, quickly assessing her condition. Critical, but stable. He glanced at Biwako. "Lady Biwako?"
"Hokage... beware... Sharingan..." Biwako murmured weakly, before succumbing to her injuries. Another loss.
Kasumi arrived at the cave entrance just as Minato finished a rapid diagnostic jutsu on Kushina. "Hokage-sama!"
"Kasumi-san! Status?"
"The binding holds, but I don't know for how long. His abilities are..." she searched for the word, "...slippery."
Minato nodded grimly. "Take Naruto. Take Kushina. Get them to the secure safe house inside the village – sector designated 'Lotus'. Use the emergency teleport seal." He pressed a tagged kunai into her hand. "I have to deal with him, and then the Fox."
Kasumi hesitated for only a second, looking at Kushina's pale face, then nodded decisively. She gently lifted the weakened Kushina, surprised by how light she felt, while carefully scooping the crying Naruto into her other arm. "Understood, Hokage-sama. Be careful."
Minato met her gaze. "You too, Hyōjin. Konoha owes you another debt tonight." He turned back towards the cave entrance, drawing one of his signature three-pronged kunai, his expression hardening into the focused intensity of the Yellow Flash preparing for battle.
Kasumi didn't watch him leave.
Channeling chakra into the tagged kunai Minato had given her, she activated the teleportation seal. The cave dissolved around them in a swirl of characters and light, transporting her, Kushina, and the future Jinchuriki towards the relative safety within Konoha's walls, leaving Minato to face the masked man and the imminent threat of the freed Nine-Tails alone, but this time, with a plan, a mark, and the knowledge that his family was, for the moment, safe. The night was far from over, but the course of history had already been irrevocably altered.
