Chapter 45.2- One Thousand Hands

“Let this be your first embrace from one of your family. You are the best and worst of us. Lead us well and we will love you forever” He whispered in my ears. I hugged him back and the applause returned. When I let go, I was pulled into another hug. Contrary to what I had expected, having the Nine-tails extracted from her hadn’t affected Mito so strongly. I remembered her being bedridden after the procedure in canon, maybe it was because dozens of Uzumaki had worked to perfect the process but she was strong as ever. Sure, her hair had lost the light tinge of red it still managed to sport becoming a thick grey and she relied on her cane for more than appearances, but those were things that could be managed. I would not survive seeing her confined to a bed.

“You are going to be great” She whispered to me, and I nodded. Today also marked something else. We would be moving out of the Senju Clan Compound. Mito lived in the Clan Head’s house, and that position had passed twice from her husband so it was more than time for her to move elsewhere. I wasn’t going back to my mother’s place even on pain of death, and it would be better if I lived with the clan I was now going to be head of. Add that to the fact that it was probably better for Kushina to live with us regardless of what that bastard Hiruzen or his minion Danzo thought, and the three of us would be moving as a package deal.

When she let go of me, the tides swarmed in, cousins, uncles, aunties, swooping in from all directions to say hi.

—

“Test Three hundred and ninety one” I called out to my clones. One clone was taking notes. Grandmother Mito and I were watching the whole thing with careful eyes, tweaking the methodology with each attempt, and another clone was prepared for the metaphorical chopping block.

He weaved the line of twenty-seven seals with exaggerated slowness and then triggered the jutsu. There was a flash of purple light and he appeared at the other end of the clearing, next to the seal tag planted on the tree. Or at least most of him did. His internal organs were left at the other end of the clearing, but thankfully he dispelled before we were gifted to the sight of lungs, kidneys, and a liver dropping unceremoniously to the floor.

“So that didn’t work” I said glibly.

“Better than before, at least”