Please Don't Leave Me

Help an Old Friend in the Land of Tea

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)

A couple days after we had returned from the leaf village it took everyone at least a day or two to get their anger and frustration out before anyone even considered going on another mission with Kakashi's mask taunting us in saying that we couldn't see his real face. Naruto didn't want to just yet either, as shocking as that may sound, but he was a lot more peeved than a lot of us put together but today Kakashi sensei told us we had to or else he was going to make us clean all of Konoha with no breaks. No one really wanted to see where he lived or what he has in his house (more of those books most likely) and it didn't look like he was in the best of moods today so we had decided to meet up where we were going to get our next mission, by then everyone had for the most part given up on trying to see Kakashi's face and we were all ready for another mission.
"Ok, let's do it! Whatever the mission is I'm psyched and ready to go!" Naruto says holding his fist in the air
"But where's Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asks
"He was the one who told us to come here in the first place" I say
"Man, some teacher he is. He's always the last one here" Naruto complains
"Kakashi won't be here at all" someone's voice says from the door. When I look over my shoulder I see it's Tsunade and Shizune with her pig Tonton
"Grandma Tsunade, what's up?" Naruto asks
"Stop calling me that will you?" she say annoyed
"Uh, Lady..Hokage, what's this about Kakashi sensei not coming?" Sakura asks politely
"You know our forces are stretched thin. All of our jounin are already busy on other missions including Kakashi. You three will just have to handle this one on your own. It's a B rank escort mission, someone important" Tsunade states
"Important? Really?" Sakura asks
"Of course it could develop into an A rank mission if you run into trouble" she says
"So who do we escort?" Sasuke asks with a bored tone
"I don't know" she says
"Hold on, what do you mean you don't know?" Naruto asks
"Every four years our neighbors, the land of Tea holds a dedication ceremony at the Great Todoroki shrine. And each time we're asked to escort a runner who will participate in the race that's part of the ceremony. This year the messengers who were bringing the request were attacked before they could get here" she explains unrolling a scroll
"Who attacked them?" Naruto asks
"Uh, I'm sorry but I'm still not following this story very well" Sakura says
"Well don't worry about that now, when you meet boss Jirocho (hope I spelled that right, I couldn't hear) he'll fill you in on everything" she says
"When we meet boss Jirocho. Ah! That gambler guy we met!" Naruto says
"That's everything I know. Now no wasting time, they're expecting you in the land of Tea by the end of the day, so get moving" she points to the door
"Don't worry, you can count on us" Naruto runs out of the room and we start to follow
"Wait. Sasuke and Kazumi" Tsunade says and I look at her somewhat in confusion
"Come here" she says.
"I need to ask you something" she says and I nod telling her to continue
"As I'm sure you are aware, Orochimaru is after you and your brother and he's not likely going give up on either of you very easily. I know about him and his tricks, and what he will do to make you come to his side. While I know you are capable enough to handle yourself I would like you to be around Sasuke a little more often, it isn't likely he's going to strike the both of you at once unless he's restless. If you stay by Sasuke's side most of the time it will raise the chances of him not attacking you or trying to take you away when Sasuke isn't around. He would most likely threaten one person to do something and makes it an offer they can't refuse. In this case I want to believe he would threaten Sasuke or you and say to go with him and he will spare them but do not believe his words. He is a master in deception and will strike at almost any chance he gets. He will go back on his word" she says looking me in the eye strictly
"I saw that from the moment he marked me" I say
"But how do you know about the curse mark?" Sasuke asks
"Kakashi told me, he thought it would be best that I know what you both are going through right now. That's all I wanted to say to you, but one last piece of warning is if you ever are separated from Sasuke be around a team mate or a friend, that way until we can say for sure what's going on with Orochimaru you and Sasuke will be safe. I already had this conversation with Sasuke not too long ago so he should be fine but I needed you to know"
"Kazumi, you need to step outside while I have a little chat with Sasuke. Shizune, go with her" she says and we both walk to the door. As I started walking down the steps I had started thinking about what just happened. I knew about Orochimaru and I could predict what he was like and all she really said to me was to stay near somebody and to keep my guard up. Why would she stop me just for that? Obviously it was more than that but I have no idea what it was.

(Tsunade's P.O.V.)

When she finally left I sat in my chair breathing out a sigh of relief
"So, what's going on?" Sasuke asks
"I need a favor from you" I say and he just stares back at me
"What kind of favor?" I only hold out my hand with the chip in the middle of my palm motioning for him to take it. He does eventually take it but looks weary of it
"What is this?" he asks
"You're obviously someone she cares deeply for and is going to trust you more than just some random stranger she barely even knows" not exactly answering his question
"Maybe because I'm her brother?" he asks
"Don't mouth off to me boy. She's a very strong kunoichi from what I can tell and she is very reliable from what Kakashi also tells me but that mark that she has, she was bitten by Orochimaru and that means he chose her and he's after her power and looking for her to be on his side. This would obviously be a big problem for the leaf village if she really were to go to his side so right now the best we can do is to always have someone watching her and Sasuke to make sure nothing happens. But what has me very concerned is something Kakashi told me. During her chunin exams in the forest of death when she had first gotten her mark she had casted a jutsu that no one had ever seen in the history of being a shinobi. A demon jutsu, is that right?"
"Yes"
"From what I did get from that blood sample I gathered it was because of the curse mark that she had this ability and without it she would have never created it. And from what Kakashi tells me it's terrifying and it's a painful jutsu. Very powerful and very dangerous. If Orochimaru had her on his side it would be big trouble for the Leaf village, so I had created somewhat of a special jutsu for her. That chip in your hand is what you need to give to Kazumi and put it on the back of her neck where the spine meets the skull, if not placed properly it won't be as effective"
"Why? What does it do?" he asks
"It's somewhat of a chakra suppressor of sorts. The jutsu she created uses up a lot of her chakra from what I gathered and it uses up more chakra using that one jutsu than using about ten different jutsus at once. With that suppressor she won't be able to use that jutsu without feeling an enormous amount of pain in her neck. One of the most sensitive spots on the human body is the neck and I placed the suppressor where the spine meets the neck, so if she ever did try to perform that jutsu it would stop her it would cause her an excessive amount of pain so she won't be able to" I explain
"But if that one jutsu uses up to ten different justus at once what about when she really goes to battle? A shinobi has to be ready to use more than just one jutsu, if she uses up to ten isn't that going to cause her a lot of pain?" he asks
"No. That suppressor will only stop her when she uses all that power all at once, so if she were to fight an enemy she would have to take time to do them all individually, with that jutsu she has it uses up that much at once. If she uses that jutsu it will activate the suppressor and stop her but past that it won't do a thing to her" I explain
"Why not just forbid her from using that jutsu ever again? Just say there will be consequences if she does"
"No. Kakashi had explained everything he saw about the last time she used that jutsu and he told me by the end she had tried to stop it and told herself she wasn't going to do it. From what it sounds like, she didn't have any control of whether or not she wanted to do it. That curse mark may have more of an influence on her than we thought, and if that happened again she may not have the ability to stop it. It's better than punishing her for something she couldn't control" I now take the whole sake bottle and chug down what's left until it was empty
"But if it causes her that much pain that she would snap out of it isn't that worse than punishing her?" he asks
"It's painful, but if anything it's only ensuring she will not be a danger to the leaf village or anyone who lives here. And with you by her side she isn't likely going to do it unless it's a life or death situation" I say
"But what if it doesn't work? What if it isn't going to be enough to stop her?"