A Butterfly’s Flap

“RETREAT!”

“FALL BACK TO THE ESTABLISHED DEFENSE LINE!”

Across the entire Uzushiogakure-Kirigakure frontline the Ninjas of Kirigakure began to retreat to their home archipelago in haste. 

In response, the confused allied Uzushiogakure- and Konoha-Ninjas quickly informed their commanders of Kiri’s troop movement while holding their position and staying vigilant in case they would fall into a trap laid out by Kirigakure. 

It wouldn’t be after several days before spy reports informed the allied Central Command of the major political change in Kirigakure that had suddenly occurred: The Mizukage had been assassinated and pushed out of his position by several Council members who had promptly assumed command of the village and its military and had issued a large-scale retreat order. 

Before Uzushiogakure’s and Konoha’s intelligence groups could fully grasp the earth-shattering changes, Kirigakure had already sent peace envoys with the sincere intent to end the war. 

Thus, an indefinite ceasefire was signed in mutual agreement until the peace negotiations were either successfully finished or deemed by one side to be too unproductive. In this abrupt manner, the killing had stopped and both Ninjas and civilians on either side cautiously hoped for peace. 

OOO

Kirigakure Peace Envoy POV (before the negotiations)

After arriving at the frontline and announcing our intentions for peace, we had asked the local troop commander to deliver the message to their superiors that Kirigakure was earnestly seeking a diplomatic way to conclude the war. 

Of course, they were highly suspicious of us but nonetheless dutifully reported our message to their commanders. We were then asked in a, one might say, diplomatic greatly encouraged way to have Chakra restraining seals put on us, before being allowed to enter their command tents, or no negotiations would be held. 

While some, especially the more martial-oriented members of our envoy group, were strongly against the restriction of their Chakra, they were after some convincing grudgingly willing to let Uzushiogakure Sealing Masters put the Chakra restraining Seals on them. 

As one might expect, it had taken a rather lengthy internal discussion to convince them and not too few had to be reminded of the fact that for Kirigakure to realistically stay as one of the five major NInja villages peace was now desperately needed: And the village’s needs were always above its Ninjas needs. 

As we entered the command tent, I could see many red-haired Ninjas from presumably the Uzumaki Clan standing together with Ninjas from Konoha: It seems they wanted to highlight their alliance to further put pressure on us during the peace talks. 

“Welcome esteemed envoys! My name is Kenshiro Uzumaki and next to me is Akira Uchiha from our ally Konoha. We were granted permission by both the Uzushiokage and the Hokage to lead the initial peace talks. I sincerely hope for a successful conclusion to our negotiations!”, the red-haired Ninja explained, while the Uchiha simply glared at us before slightly nodding his head. 

‘Ah, that must be the signature Uchiha antisocial stare. What an educational experience.’, I sarcastically thought without showing anything on my face. 

“Indeed. We from Kirigakure also sincerely wish for the success of these negotiations and hope to as quickly as possible achieve for both sides agreeable terms.”, I smiled while shaking hands with both the Uzumaki and Uchiha Clan member. 

OOO

A week had already passed since the envoys from Kirigakure had begun the peace talks with us. I heard that there were countless disagreements on both sides but neither side wanted to continue to fight, so an initial ceasefire agreement was signed.

“It’s the first time in like forever that we could leisurely lie in a tree’s shade and relax, isn’t it?”, Haruto asked us while smiling. 

“Yeah, the calm is really nice.”, I replied with closed eyes.

“I think the peace talks are going to be probably successful given the casualty rates on our side.”, Miyuki voiced her opinion while eating some rice balls. 

‘Well, if a casualty rate of more than 60% isn’t convincing enough for peace, I don’t know what is.”, I grimly thought. 

“And Kirigakure should have even more casualties than us, right? They can’t keep up the war even less than we can.”, I commented.

“That’s right! We as the defenders already have a significant advantage and coupled with our Fuinjutsu our total casualties should be at most half of Kirigakure’s casualties.”, Haruto loudly exclaimed. 

“Let’s hope for the best.”, I voiced out my hope to which my teammates nodded. 

I opened my eyes and looked up to the blue sky covered with puffy white clouds and enjoyed the silence. A gentle wind was blowing past my ears and I could hear it stroking countless leaves before fluttering the hospital tent’s entrance. 

‘It feels nice.’

As we were enjoying our hard-earned break, I could hear footsteps steadily approaching us. Looking sideways, I saw an adult Ninja, most likely a Chuunin judging by his Chakra levels that I observed with my unique eyes, from the administration approaching us. 

‘Looks like we have some work to do.’, I silently lamented.

“Hey! Sorry to interrupt your break but there’s some really important stuff that we need your team’s help to solve. So could you please follow me? I’ve already informed your superior of your needed presence elsewhere.”, he spoke while waving his right hand. 

“Give us a moment!”, I replied before quickly standing up. 

I then grabbed my short sword that had been leaning against the tree and unsheathed it to check the blade’s condition before resheathing it. I looked around me and saw Haruto checking his Fuinjutsu materials and scrolls, while Miyuki simply adjusted her dress. 

“Let’s go!”, Haruto signaled after having completed his check. 

Hearing Haruto’s shout, the Chuunin signaled us with his arm to follow him before he sprinted back from the direction he came from. After we had hurriedly caught up with him, I then asked him what kind of job needed to be done.

“I’m working for the troop and barracks management, specifically for the division that’s responsible for registering deaths and casualties.”, he seriously answered.

‘That doesn’t bode well.’, I mentally remarked while my face darkened. 

“About a week ago, we’ve found several badly damaged pieces of clothing with the Uzumaki Clan symbol on our beach and we couldn’t really identify its owner. But yesterday, we took a look again and found several names on the inside of a damaged sleeve. The words were almost unreadable but we could decipher these letters: Ha____ and _____i. We have reason to believe that these fragments correspond to your names but we’re not completely sure.”, he continued to explain. 

“Well, let’s hope not.”, Haruto said with an ashen face to which the Chuunin only awkwardly nodded. 

We continued to follow the Chuunin in silence but judging by the fluctuating Chakra emission from my teammates I could tell that they were as uneasy as I was. My head felt slightly heavy and I could feel something twisting my stomach making me want to puke. 

“We’ve arrived.”, the Chuunin announced while slowing down before stopping in front of a rather old building. 

“This here is where we keep objects from unidentified Ninjas.”, he quickly explained before stepping into the rather large building. 

As we followed him through an ill-lit corridor, we could see rows of cases systematically labeled with letters and numbers: Some were half-opened and filled with basic Ninja gears like Kunias or bandages others were empty and some were closed and covered with a huge red X.

“Here’s the box with the previously mentioned pieces of clothing.”, the Chuunin stopped before a medium-sized box. He then opened it and took out the tattered remains of a red coat and some other unidentifiable pieces of fabric.

Before I could receive the coat’s remains, Haruto walked past me, desperately grabbed its sleeves and turned them inside out. On them, I could identify a damaged Ha and on the bottom an i. 

“It can’t be! Teach Gin wouldn’t miss out on the dinner we had promised to share after the war!”, Haruto mumbled. 

“No…NOOO!!!”, he shouted before crying onto the coat.

“... It seems like you could verify the coat’s identity?”, the Chuunin whispered.

“I-...”, I intended to answer but nothing could come out. I choked while feeling my tears flowing down my cheeks… I’ve never felt so miserable. 

“Yes… T-the coat belonged to our teacher Mr. G-Gin.”, Miyuki managed to force out while trying to wipe her tears with her sleeve. 

“It’s his handwriting.”, I looked at the Chuunin after weakly nodding. 

“...He could still be alive, right guys?”, Haruto muttered with a feeble voice.

“...I’m sorry…But it’s highly unlikely. Maybe you kids don’t know but there are several eye-catching holes in the coat that normally don’t form during combat or through erosion. They’re the trademark of a Forbidden Jutsu used to self-destruct in a last effort.”, the Ninja replied taking our last strand of hope from us. 

“I-I…”, I tried to speak before my knees gave up slamming my kneecaps against the floor.

OOO

Mr. Gin’s remains were buried in the Uzumaki Clan ancestral graveyard along with the remains of countless other Uzumaki Clan members who had laid their lives in this war for their village. The Uzumaki Clan Patriarch spoke a few words before he gave the families time to mourn their beloved ones. and I simply wore dark clothes. We stood in front of Mr. Gin’s grave and looked at a rough sketch of Mr. Gin’s face laughing happily.

It felt surreal.

We simply stood there in silence and listened to the wind’s howl. I don’t know how much time had passed but I suddenly felt a presence beside me. Turning my head around and looking up, I saw the Uzumaki Clan Patriarch quietly standing with his hands holding a brush.

“Your Gin’s students if I remember correctly.”, he stated after turning around and looking at us. 

“...Yes, Uzushiokage-sama!”, I responded after observing his face. 

“Do you need something from us?”, Haruto resignedly asked.

“I apologize for disturbing your mourning but we have a matter of utmost importance to discuss which involves your team. Well, to be more precise, it involves your team member Takumi Kenjo.”, he stated before signaling us to follow him. 

As I followed the Uzushiokage, I looked around me and could see the fresh dirt on the newly erected graves. Some were large, about adult-sized, but many more were smaller, more suitable for teens. 

‘That could’ve been me.’, I shuddered. 

Our team followed the Uzumaki Clan Patriarch until we entered his office which was guarded by Uzushiogakure’s version of the Anbu. Unlike Konoha’s Anbu all of them wore masks with spirals depicted on them. 

“So… In contrast to many of our Chuunin teams, yours is still operational. The village desperately needs you, especially after this devastating war, but sadly you won’t continue to perform missions together in the foreseeable future.”, he said. 

“...Why?”, Miyuki voiced in confusion.

“It’s because your friend Takumi has been recalled back to Konoha after his village judged that his stay has fulfilled its purpose.”, he explained. 

For a moment, I just stood in front of the Uzushiokage in surprise. Why had I been recalled? But after the initial shock, I realized that the exchange program was established with the intent to strengthen the rather loose alliance between Konoha and Uzushiokagure. 

Now due to the recent war, Uzushiogakure has lost a significant amount of its strength and needs to largely depend on Konoha for protection thus effectively becoming its vassal. But didn’t the student exchange program also have the purpose of acquiring Uzushiogakure’s Fuinjutsu skills?

“B-But I still haven’t become… proficient enough in Fuinjutsu!”, I voiced my concern. 

“I know. So our village has decided in correspondence with your village that Mito Uzumaki shall continue to educate you in this aspect.”, he reasoned. 

“Don’t worry. You’re going to have more than a week’s time to properly bid farewell to your friends and acquaintances before an Anbu will escort you back. I suggest you wisely use your remaining time.”, he continued.

“I… understand.”, I replied.

“Good. Then you’re dismissed.”, he declared before looking at the office’s door where an Anbu was standing to escort us out of the building. 

“Please follow me.”, the masked Anbu politely instructed us. 

After we had left the building, we were standing out on the streets. Honestly, I was still disoriented and processing the recent events: My unexpected recall back to Konoha and Mr. Gin’s death. 

“...Let’s enjoy the remaining week!”, Haruto solemnly declared before smiling at Miyuki and me. 

“Yeah…That sounds good.”, I replied.

“I agree. We should properly enjoy the remaining time together.”, Miyuki agreed. 

“...Then, let’s start now! I heard that lots of food stalls and restaurants are celebrating the war’s end with discounts. Let’s eat until our stomachs burst!”, he cheered before raising both of his hands for a high-five to which we naturally positively responded. 

‘...Come to think of it. How have Jiraya, Orochimaru and Tsunade been? I guess I’ll soon enough find out.’