The Fourth Dojutsu

Chapter 4

Rei, who enjoyed studying seals of all shapes and sizes, had asked if she could see the seal that Naruto was talking about. Surprisingly, Naruto had refused to show her the seal or mention what the seal was for. When Rei had asked Naruto why he had informed her about the seal and yet at the same time was so closed mouth about it Naruto had replied, "I told you about the seal to make sure that you don't ever weaken it." Naruto's voice when he had told her this was extremely serious and his eyes were like cold sentries warning her off. Seeing that, whatever the seal was for, the seal's integrity was of great concern for Naruto Rei quickly vowed that she would never do anything to knowingly weaken the seal. The relief and gratitude that Naruto showed her after she had made that promise worried Rei. What kind of seal and what could it be doing that made Naruto so worried about it ever weakening?

Although Rei would never tell anyone about the conversation she had had with Naruto, Rei had to admit that her curiosity was piqued. Rei knew that this seal of Naruto's was a private matter and that she shouldn't go trying to get the information on it out of Naruto. But Rei also knew that her curiosity, once piqued, made her want to figure out what this seal of Naruto's could be about. Her respect for individual privacy and desire to know what was going on warred within Rei. Eventually Rei found a compromise that she could live with which was her spending her free time looking through the family archives on seals. After all there was a good chance of her either finding records about an instance similar to how Naruto reacted, of which Rei personally doubted, or her finding something else to pique her interest. If in the off chance Rei did find some record that would unravel this mystery for her she could use the information to help Naruto.

Walking into the back door of the family house/bakery, Iori gave a gruff but friendly hello. Iori then walked into the massive kitchen and quickly grabbed one of the small rolls that his mother always set aside for the family. Although the Kusanagi clan had been reasonably well off back in the Land of Grass, the clan had lost a good deal of its wealth when his parents fled from the Land of Grass. From what Iori had managed to get out of his parents, his great-grandfather had tried to take over the Hidden Village of the Land of Grass. Knowing that the clan could very well be destroyed by that madness Iori's grandfather had instructed Iori's then newly wed parents to flee to another country. His grandfather had called the situation very well because the bulk of the Kusanagi clan had been killed when Grass retaliated against Iori's great-grandfather. The few Kusanagi in Grass who had survived that massacre were killed off less then a year later by Orochimaru who had desired the legendary family sword.

Neither of Iori's parents had been sad when they had received word that the Grass had slaughtered 90 percent of the Kusanagi clan. As his father Kenma had explained to Iori and his twin little brothers, those clansmen who had been killed were egotistical and had come to the false belief that the Kusanagi had the right to rule. All who had believed that the Kusanagi were inherently better then their fellow men had all come to pay the price for their hubris. Their names had been blotted out of the family tree and were by Kenma's decree as head of the clan to never be considered part of the clan again.

On the other hand, Iori's parents had been absolutely devastated when they had received the news that the rest of the family had been killed by Orochimaru. From what Iori had been told, his clansmen in Grass when Orochimaru had attacked were mostly just a few elders along with the little kids that were spared as a reward for the four Kusanagi ninjas who had faithfully stood by Grass during the Kusanagi coup attempt. According the reports sent over by a sad grass emissary Orochimaru had ruthlessly killed everyone from the oldest elder to the little cousin that was apparently only ten days older then Iori was. What had made it even harder on Iori's parents was the fact that half the kills had been done with the Kusanagi family sword itself after Orochimaru claimed the blade.