Desert Flower

Repay the Favor

  "I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner, I've been rather busy taking care of everything else." Lady Tsunade said while holding the stethoscope to my chest.

  "Don't worry about it. I've also been kind of wanting to avoid it."

  "Why's that?" She pulled away while hanging the stethoscope across her shoulders before writing my vitals down onto her clipboard.

  "Didn't want to chance bad news." I answered honestly while rubbing the back of my neck.

  "Well, it doesn't look like you have anything to worry about. You're in perfect health." She leaned back in her chair while resting one arm on her desk. "Your seal also seems to be in good condition. Whoever put it there seems to have known what they were doing."

  "How can you tell?" I questioned while pulling my shirt back on.

  "It's a powerful seal with no signs of degradation."

  "Can you tell who might have done it?"

  "That I cannot do. The seal isn't one specific to anyone. Any strong shinobi can place it, though it does look to have been modified some. More than likely to compensate for the abilities the spirit in you has. Sayuri...."

  "What?"

  "Have you seen the spirit? You mentioned before how you got the marks on your wrist but did you actually see them?"

  "I did."

  "Can you describe them to me?"

  "Well....Kami-sama can change forms."

  "Shape-shift?"

  "Yeah. As far as I know, there's two forms Kami-sama has. The first one I saw was more....human-like?" Tsunade's expression shifted, but she said nothing to let me continue. "Sort of looked like a man but with a tail, sharp ears, claws, and golden eyes. The second form was a giant, silver wolf."

  "A wolf? Like your summons?"

  "Not quite. The wolves I summon don't look like people. And....now that I think about it, Kami-sama also has red markings."

  "Like under your eyes?"

  "Actually, yeah. But more of them." I replied while touching my cheek.

  "Well, they don't look to be seal marks or a curse. If they match the ones on Kami-sama, it may just be their influence." Tsunade scribbled something down on her clipboard to add to my file. "I have tried finding records of chakra eaters, however, all I've been able to find so far are mentions of weapons and not spirits. I did, on the other hand, find record of your birth parents."

  "You did?"

  "I did." Tsunade turned back to me with a serious expression. "It seems your parents moved here a few years before you were born. They didn't abandon you, Sayuri. They fought in the battle against...." She paused as if debating whether or not to tell me.

  "Against who?"

  "It wasn't a 'who'." She tapped the pen against the desk before sighing. "They were in the battle against the Nine-Tails, Sayuri. Records also show that you were reported missing by hospital staff shortly after being born. The search was dropped after your parents died, but then you just....showed up a week later completely unharmed." The pen tapped as she dropped her gaze to my medical file. "My guess is it was while you were missing that the spirit was sealed in you. Though, I'm not sure why they'd bring you back to Konoha."

  "Or why it was me they took."

  "Exactly. If the jinchuriki are anything to go by, it may simply be because you were young, but that still begs the question of why you out of an entire nursery." Tsunade brushed some of her hair behind her ear while looking at me. "I've asked Kakashi to look further into your parents to see if there's more there."