The brisk walk to the medical suites where Fuzō lay gave Kana a lot to think about. Not that she didn't already have enough on her mind. It was just that now there was more immediate distractions again. She took the time to get a firmer grip on herself, something that helped clear the bitterness souring her mood.
Contrary to Kana's expectations, they did not exit from the sealed chamber door from which Kana entered, but from a secret passage that blended in with the stone walls. The fact that she never even guessed it was there made her wonder just how many other such doors might be present in that chamber.
Very interesting indeed.
However she had no chance to ask about it further, as the rest of the journey was spent describing Fuzō's injuries and unique condition as best she could, along with the treatment Fuzō had already received for her more conventional wounds. Kana had planned to do so regardless, but whole situation was still a bit frustrating. How to even describe what her chakra did to soothe Fuzō's pain? And that was on top of, once again, postponing her more personal matters and questions.
Despite it all, the irritation and twinging at the back of her mind seemed to ease at the thought of Fuzō being treated.
Kana slowly realized that it might actually be for the best to rid herself of this... distracted state... before addressing her primary concerns. It would certainly help keep her calm, prevent another shameful outburst. Her inability and inexperience once again was not doing her any favors. Kana could wait to ask those questions, wait just a little longer anyway, but Fuzō's life might very well hang in the balance.
A life that... Kana had already invested a lot in saving. And besides, Fuzō might want to hear some answers herself.
Particularly confusing feelings arose from those thoughts. Why did she feel a little better with Fuzō but not so much Fuzō's mother, a supposedly obvious ally? Why did that even weigh so much on her mind at all? Why was it so hard to start the conversation she had come all this way to have?
These thoughts and foul memories of a certain cell deep within a mountain occupied the back of her mind as she relayed what she knew to Fuzō's mother.
For her part, Kaoru seemed to have both the patience and ability to switch tracks of conversation very easily, absorbing anything Kana said and immediately considering options before they even arrived at their destination.
Admittedly, Kana's first impression of her wasn't the greatest, but this side of Kaoru seemed capable and experienced. Dependable, but... off somehow. It wasn't as bad as the other sensations and warning signs her senses had alerted her to in the past, but the atmosphere between the two had worrying undertones.
Kana pushed it from her attention as together they exited a passage onto a balcony that overlooked a patient's ward. The wooden stairwell down from which led to a set of spacious rooms, most with clean tile floors and well-crafted furniture befitting of a luxury suite. A backroom had a sign identifying it as the entrance to a private hotspring.
Kana casually noted its location for future reference.
An arched hallway led to a wide room with wide windows on one side overlooking a rather plain garden courtyard, but a segment of the room was partitioned off with white hospital blinders, behind which was a similarly sterile-white operating table and patient's cot. Clean and comfortable, various amenities like robes, cleansing products, and a variety of toiletries lay prepared but untouched.
Fuzō lay unconscious on the operating table, partially wearing one such clean and light robe. Or more of a gown perhaps? A middle-aged looking woman, presumably a nurse, had drawn the gown back and removed some of Fuzō's soiled or damaged bandages, dabbing at the wounds with cleaning instruments and removing the preexisting ointment on her burns. The grey-haired nurse wore the same heavy medic robes that Nishi and Amano had worn.
At the sight of Kaoru's approach, the nurse lay her instruments to the side and handed over a series of parchments, then bowed and excused herself. Kana's eyes traced her as she exited, expression neutral once again.
Kaoru however barely acknowledged the woman's presence and departure, intently inspecting the limp form of her daughter. Her eyes were completely focused now, despite the moisture glimmering in the corners of her eyelids.
Kana watched in momentary curiosity as the older woman's hands glowed a bright green with the flow of medical jutsu, those hands running over Fuzō's wounds and glancing back and forth between injuries and the parchment notes. A glimpse over her shoulder revealed diagrams of a human body with noted segments and injuries outlined, all sorts of illegible notes written in the margins.
An impressively short time later, Kaoru released her breath and turned to Kana,
"I've confirmed it myself, she is in a stable physical condition. Not certain about those strange chakra-sickness symptoms you've told me about, but something like that... will require a different sort of preparation I must handle later. The wounds she has sustained are not fatal, just... extremely traumatizing. Her pathways are ragged with strain, I can see it clearly. Like she hasn't rested in months. This isn't quite like what I imagined, more serious. Hmm..." She placed a hand to her chin at that, a look of deep concentration furrowing her brows.
Going months without rest? That wasn't far from the truth, if Kana understood correctly. The phantom hostility and torment apparently reached even into Fuzō's dreams, the rest she had gotten was only due to Kana's own mysterious chakra.
What's more, the strange attitude and demeanor that Kana felt was off with Kaoru earlier had vanished for a moment, replaced by the calm and cool of a professional. Despite it being her own daughter so horribly afflicted, Kaoru didn't panic or avoid the problem like Fumio and the Yuka Group leaders did. She coldly analyzed it, listened to Kana attentively, and seemingly had her own thoughts about healing the affliction accordingly.
This was another form of strength, wasn't it? Fuzō and Kaoru... were both hardy and strong in their own ways, strengths of heart that Kana felt lacking in herself. Strength to resist collapsing to despair even under severe psychological duress. These people held passion within them as fiery as the red shades of their hair, sentiments which resonated with Kana. A valuable addition to her perspective.
"I'm glad I had a chance... to see this first." Kana whispered under her breath. She felt she had to say it aloud, to make it more than one of the millions of thoughts that came to her mind. The nearly inaudible whisper, for Kana like an ardent pledge. An acknowledgement of how much she still had to learn, how far she had come, and the new foundation she had made for herself.
Kaoru truly offered a glaring contrast to the behavior of Fumio and the Yuka, indeed. And in that contrast there were lessons to be learned, about actions and planning, about the passion of feelings. The Yuka's negligence had nearly gotten Fuzō killed. Something Kana had grown to find more and more unacceptable.
Nearly killed... like the others in their convoy. Ryuu, too...
Kana grimaced at the unpleasant reminder. Monsters more real than the phantom ones plaguing Fuzō still lurked out there somewhere.
Fuzō's words about... trusting the Yamakuni here to help her rung a little bit more truthfully to Kana's ears. Their barriers and fortress were surely safer than the wilderness. It brought back some steadiness and confidence she felt was lost after all these stressful events and worries.
Still, the sight of the unconscious woman and memories of the agony Fuzō suffered left the girl feeling restless inside. There was another way she could help in the meantime, that was a certainty. Kana was growing fond of the few certainties she knew. She could still take action, one problem at a time.
That in mind, Kana maneuvered herself between Fuzō and Kaoru while the latter turned and went about gathering supplies and bandages from a nearby cabinet. Kana slipped a hand behind her back to discreetly channel some of her chakra into Fuzō's, if only to ease whatever nightmares she might be suffering. Kana wasn't sure she wanted Kaoru to observe her doing that just yet, but seeing how Fuzō's shoulders relaxed told Kana she was at least helping.
That sight alone was enough for Kana to continue the practice, no matter if anyone else saw or not. It brought the realization that it no longer mattered. Kana breathed in and then out a long sigh, surprisingly relaxed at the faintly familiar sense of calm and confidence that helping Fuzō brought.
Familiar.
That was the word Fuzō and Kana had both used to describe how the chakra channeling felt to one another. That was the best way either of them could describe it. To feel that familiarity even after only a short while, amidst all the uncertainty swirling around both of their futures, it was... it was comforting.
Kana's fingers entwined with an unconscious Fuzō's and squeezed them tightly. An emotion Kana did not understand welled up with intensity like a wave from her chest, nearly bringing her to tears. Her eyes stung as she leaned forward, clenching her heart as the jolting sensation passed quickly as it came. Why did the emptiness it left behind... hurt so much?
Kaoru, unaware of this, had stood up from the cabinent with her arms full of all manner of bottles and instruments, though she paused a moment more while laying them out on a countertop, speaking once more with a strained tone,
"It pains me to see her like this, but I can tell from just a glance that she would never have made it without the care she received... from you?" A glance back at Kana showed a firm face with eyes full of warmth, but the girl didn't feel very reassured when she matched the gaze.
Kana was still distracted, doing her best to shake off lingering feelings even as Kaoru resumed her tasks,
"A relief knowing no bounds eases my heart, to see firsthand how she has been cared for, even in such a state."
The older woman then bowed deeply to Kana, "You have my personal, sincerest thanks. Not of obligation or in my capacity as an overseer, but my personal thanks. Thank you for saving her. Thank you for bringing her back to us alive!"
Both of their faces were solemn, but Kana's even more so. There were situations right in front of her to deal with, reflection could come later. That said, a preoccupied Kana couldn't prevent her own remaining concern and disgruntlement from leaking into her voice, "Of course. Fuzō's safety has been in my hands for so long now, I could-"
she hesitated, bemused by a surprising series of worried thoughts as she still channeled chakra into Fuzō.
I could... what?
She shook those startlingly vivid thoughts away and continued on for her own sake, "I... trust that in return I can count on your support for a few requests of my own."
This was a way to get back to more productive thoughts. Yes, a way to focus...
Kaoru rose from her bow of thanks with eyebrows drawn uncertainly. Something in Kana's words seemed to have left her conflicted. And that worried the girl in return.
"B-but of course, within reason yes? However, since Fuzō has returned alive and we're expecting her to recover... the mission request reward will already be granted. Do you mean addition to that, or perhaps instead of it?" She glanced to her daughter's slumbering face while she spoke, avoiding Kana's gaze. That slightly awkward atmosphere returned like the calm from minutes ago was a lie.
Mission, request? Kana knew nothing of the sort. Had that been mentioned back in the barrier chamber? Regardless, getting answers was a top priority. What to do...
"I... don't remember any details of this. Please explain about... this mission request, again." She chose her words carefully here. It sounded like she was entitled to some sort of reward, and Kana was reluctant to lose out on such a thing.
But after a beat, the situation took a turn.
"You're not... you really are not... sent from Uzushio, are you? I, I couldn't even imagine how..." Kaoru's face showed a shocked sort of serious concern, a wariness born more of uncertainty than hostility. In fact, the woman seemed more worried about something else, distracted rather than intent upon Kana.
What- what was this misunderstanding? Was this about her appearance? Again, Kana had made her resolve before already. She didn't know enough about anything to handle this vaguely. It was worrying, but... what would she have to-
"Ah! I- of course I mean no disrespect! This, this situation is just beyond anything I could imagine. There's just, just nothing about this makes sense at all. Someone of your signature is without a doubt welcome to the fullest of the aid we can spare. Let alone in thanks of what you've done for Fuzō."
Kaoru's hesitation turned briefly frantic, placating Kana's rising wariness.
A handkerchief appeared seemingly from nowhere in Kaoru's hands as she dabbed her own forehead, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"But, if it has come to this, I- I am afraid I have no idea what is going on here. If you tell me more about... the circumstances that have brought you here, only then will I have any idea how to proceed. I don't think I could tend to Fuzō if someone of your... eminence had not been accounted for."
Sly, very sly, using Fuzō's situation to frame the issue. Kana's eyes widened and then narrowed as she heard this, for once feeling like she could see through the situation. Realizing how this left room for them to sort this out. Kaoru's deference made a bit more sense now, this awkward atmosphere. It would do well for everyone to work this out. The way the older woman had broached the topic recovered nicely from the direct confrontation. Marvelous indeed, quite admirable. If left to her own initiative, Kana would probably have blundered into even more misunderstandings.
If it had come to this, indeed... wouldn't it be much better to ease into the heart of the matter from the edges, calm everyone down before the most difficult topics came up? Kana would certainly feel more at ease if they took this slowly. Kaoru's approach was... strangely considerate.
"I can agree to that. We should talk... about Fuzō-san and I." Despite all the concerns in the back of her mind, Kana felt serene as she said that, her voice softer and more relaxed than ever that day.
The opportunity presented itself, no, was presented to her gracefully. Just like the opportunity she discovered simply by talking to Michiko, all it took was chance and a few words in the right order to open up a path just when you needed one. And Kana had more experience now than she did back then. If she could just apply that effectively...
A bit of anger colored Kana's next words, but it was drowned in the tensity of her seriousness, "I guess the place to start... is who did this to Fuzō-san and I, and how we arrived in the state we did. I think... there are enemies around that we should all be worried about."
I do not understand why Kana is so suspicious of everyone. She has never been betrayed before. Sure she was kidnapped as a kid, but she did not know those people and she is free to hate them, but why be so suspicious of everyone else? I mean, there has never been an event that would cause her to be suspicious of anyone except the Jashin cult.
Hmm, it's not that she hates everybody or people in general (save for the Jashinists), it's just that she knows her own circumstances put her at immense risk. Risk she does not know how to effectively manage save for absolute secrecy. And if people become aware of her circumstances, she could be met with hostility she'd rather avoid (essentially, the definition of Justified Caution).
Her own abilities and potential are very high, enough to threaten powerful people. People who would seek to see her killed before she has a chance to master her newfound abilities- IF they find out about them. The Shinigon and the Jashinists had already tried once, and Kana had no way to resist until the end. Who's to say how many other parties are out there who would do the same thing (Danzo? Orochimaru? Looking at you two). Kana is thus not impressed by simple platitudes and mere verbal reassurances, it takes concrete and demonstrable action to reach her. Fuzo has picked up on this and understands where the girl is coming from.
This comment will probably be long, I'll put the rest in a spoiler box to keep it condensed:
Kana's paranoia stems from her experience and understanding of "what it means to be a Kekkei genkai user" and perforce what that means to her life. She knows the only reason she was kept alive was to be used, *used* as a sacrifice to imbue power in someone else. She knows she now has a lot of abilities that would allow her to protect her safety, and eagerly wishes to train with them. But she also can tell that *each one* of her kekkei genkai needs to be trained and learned and mastered (on top of all the other foundational skills that come with that), something which could take her quite a long time.
I'm not sure I pressed this point hard enough, or if people have a different feel for the tone of the original Naruto works, but... Kana's secrets are *dangerous*.
All this while, any shinobi from any nation who learns about the absolute absurdity of a 6-kekkei genkai user like Kana would be instantly tempted to kill her on the spot before she grows more formidable, if only to prevent another nation from exploiting her power. That's how this works.
Because in the Shinobi World, that's what people are: Exploitable
In Canon, this is why The White Fang met his fate, why Danzo and Orochimaru sacrificed so many people, why the Uchiha incident happened, why entire villages were disposed of, why Amegakure suffered so much, Why Kiri butchered their own comrades anytime it was convenient.
The Shinobi World is NOT a nice place.
Kana lives her whole life with this in mind now: she knows she was kept alive to be exploited, killed, and discarded like she was nothing. She sees what people will do for their own interests, she sees the broader perspective of the ongoing Shinobi war, if not it's details. Kana is not fooled by pleasant illusions that people will help and protect her for no reason. Nobody came to help when she most needed it. The only thing she COULD have learned is to rely on herself.
She will NEVER allow something like the events of her childhood to happen again, she'd rather die fighting.
But she'd still rather not die at all, you can imagine. Her truest wishes are simply to be *Happy*, find happiness in the world that gave her such a rough start.
All of her experiences have told her that Strength and Power is necessary for that, or it can all be destroyed. You have to have the power to forge your own path if you want to break from the prisons of established powers. Power which would undoubtedly exploit her.
Kana is grateful of the potential and powers she finds herself bestowed with as means to live a better life, but because she does not fully understand them she does not feel she is strong enough. And she's right, people out there could kill her as she is.
Initially, her preferred plan was to stay in isolation a while longer and train until she felt better able to defend herself (thus making it much less stressful for her to engage with other people), but with the way the Second World War was developing, in the end she was forced to flee. Luck and circumstance were involved in that all as well.
Re-reading Ch. 17 might be a good refresher, essentially all of it deals with her first reaction to finding out more of the outside world and seeing what Shinobi are all about. If all that doesn't help so much, I can include snippets from the chapters I think are relevant in a follow-up comment?
Sample:
Most of the shinobi Kana had witnessed possessed an affinity for only one or two nature transformations, usually using highly specialized jutsu that suited their individual style. From her observations of battle, these shinobi were the most dangerous. And when multiple of said shinobi combined their skills in complementary ways, their combined efforts wrought devastation much greater than any one of them could individually create.
Shinobi armies were a force to be reckoned with, and when they faced each other in battle... the world trembled.
Now, add kekkei genkai users to the mix.
Kekkei genkai users were even rarer than shinobi who had mastered one of the basic nature transformations, and their jutsu epitomized the benefits of elemental cooperation. They were the embodiment of two masteries in one person, wielding a display of prowess at least twofold as terrifying as a normal ninjutsu master.
Kana possessed six. Six kekkei genkai. It was nearly unfathomable...
Let alone that, she had initially been born with two. Already having two had to be absurdly unlikely. It promised potential for power and mastery leagues above the observable norm.
Sometimes the sheer magnitude of the powers now imbued within her escaped Kana's ability to fathom. Every time she thought she had her priorities straight, something came around to throw it all off.
She had so many paths forward, so many potential skills to train now, that it was too overwhelming. Freedom was actually kind of... exhausting.
Combine that with the uncertainty around getting involved with other people and it was... it was getting to her.
Above all, she is a worried and young girl in a tough spot.
And the best path she sees forward through all the murkiness about her situation- is just to keep quiet about the dangerous stuff, keep quiet about her past and what happened to her.... something trauma victims often do, as I have seen firsthand in my own life.
Hope that helps? I really want to be sure I convey this sort of thing properly, as it deals with pretty much the whole tone of the story to this point. Just because Canon Naruto seemed more lighthearted sometimes, or that the goofiness distracted from it, doesn't mean that the Shinobi World is not super-f*cked-up for most of it's characters (Part of the reason I'm so thrilled to explore its lesser developed parts in a fanfic). Kana's attitude is what I found to be a plausible and direct result of her experiences.
I hope people will continue to enjoy as Kana forges a future where she can be happy!
@ALowMar The problem I see here is that Kana was kidnapped as a small girl and has no memories of the before. While she was trapped, the people did not talk to her and she only read a bit about chakra. She cannot even have the knowledge to know that bloodline limits are rare and dangerous. She has no life experience. She cannot know that other people except the Jashin cult are after her, as she has no experience with anyone else. She cannot know that only she has the abilities she has. For all she knows, there could be a village full of people with similar abilities. Until now only the Jashin cult wanted to trap and experiment on her and so I cannot believe she would think the way she does, because as mentioned, she has no experience with other people and no reason to believe the things she does.
@TheOne320 I mean we are still unsure about a lot of things about Kana:
Kana may not be ‘mortal’. The thought process adopted by Kana might be partially due to her not being ‘mortal’. Perhaps the being granting her immortality is also giving her knowledge or influencing her emotional state, if the source of her immortality or whatever is sentient, which may or may not be true.
We don’t know if the kekkei genkai’s are the only thing she inherited from the actions of the shinigon. Perhaps she inherited the memories of other people as well, which would explain the change in thought processes she has throughout the series, along with emotional outbursts.
Given the things we know about Kana I think it is unfair to judge Kana’s emotional state or thought process as being ‘believable’ or ‘unbelievable’, although I personally do not think Kana’s actions are too ‘unbelievable’ anyways. I think Itachi as a Naruto character is more unbelievable given his actions near the start of the series:
He literally massacred his own family around age 13. Given the knowledge we learn later, we find out this might have been the best possible solution to the problem. His ability to carry out (half) the massacre is much more unbelievable than Kana’s thought process in my opinion. In the end Kishi gets all wishywashy and chalks it up to children growing up differently in the elemental nations, but the story Naruto doesn’t exactly have realistic thought processes that are believable for most characters.
It is your opinion, though. I’m biased because I’m in love with the author’s writing style, and will probably defend their writing to an unreasonable degree. I do agree that Kana would be too unrealistic if portrayed as such in some different fandoms, but she’s in the acceptable level of ‘unbelievable’ for Naruto in my opinion.
@TheOne320
It's true her background has very little life experience, she was pretty much a clean slate... but I agree right up until "She has no life experience."
She *had* no life experience. In the past tense.
It's true she didn't know that bloodline traits are rare and dangerous, but she has to have a few inklings pretty quickly after waking up.
It's probably my fault for not expounding on it throughout all chapters, but Kana knows what it was like to live in her body before and after the ritual. She could tell instantly that something was different when she woke up on the altar, and she felt and thought different too. Part of her fear is of this change.
She does Not know if she will suffer long-term consequences, and fears this. Pretty reasonably I might add.
Long comment, so another spoiler box to contain it:
And then she learns/remembers she was to be a sacrifice, a sacrifice to obtain the power she and *4* other people held. Each person only holding one of these abilities... except for Kana. And that the Shinigon and the Jashinists spent multiple years collecting just *5* such people, including her. And of them, she was the only one with 2 innate kekkei genkai. Kana remembers she came from somewhere, that she was *taken*, but knows not where from.
Adding it up, it's not difficult to see how someone could see rarity in value in their ability if others were to covet it enough to kill for it. Perhaps the only reason she was able to kill the Shinigon is because he didn't know her body harbored another kekkei genkai. Kana explicitly recognizes this.
So-
She cannot know that only she has the abilities she has.
-is not really true. She knows she holds the amalgamated powers of *at Least* 5 other people. And that there was nothing natural about how she got them. This is part of her dilemma. The origin of her powers (besides the two she was born with) is a bloody and unnatural one.
The documents she read during her captivity (some were practical and others were incidental, not all the old books or scrolls in there were very useful for combat, but old stories and poems are still good for stimulating the imagination) gave her just enough understanding to know and recognize other differences as well, and about certain core concepts and ideas.
And if
For all she knows, there could be a village full of people with similar abilities.
is true, then she would be utterly terrified of it. She doesn't even want to consider the thought of there being so many unnaturally altered people who have killed and sacrificed other people to become like her. Kana knows* the difference and change from when she was a normal human and now, she is not oblivious to the fact that she is *MORE* now. She can tell from the very start.
Plus, the ritual had a lot to do with the movements of celestial phenomena, how many other people out there could there be, right? A perfect solar eclipse doesn't happen every day.
This is all before she has even left Mt. Shumisen. Once she does, she gets a dose of life experience right to the core.
"She cannot know that other people except the Jashin cult are after her, as she has no experience with anyone else."
- She cannot know a lot for certain, that is why she wanted to see for herself in a safe way. If she doesn't know, why would she have any reason to behave differently? After all, the only people she does know wanted to kill her. Anyone could be the same, anyone random could be the same. Kana's doubts aren't entirely from logic either, but also trauma.
Would you willing to take the *chance* that the people you've escape from are the *only* ones out to get you? I thought that's a pretty relatable sentiment.
I would say that is reason enough to be wary, afraid, paranoid, or terrified. The only hope she hold out on is that wherever she came from might be less hostile. Everyone else, no guarantees.
Then the first people she meets after all that time happens when she is very unsettled, feeling as if she is being watched from the shadows. She attempts to seek aid from strangers, albeit behind a false pretense, and they are butchered in front of her. After which she is forced to kill to defend herself. The context she learns from eavesdropping on those strangers also gives her valuable understanding about the relationships between nations right now.
She later witnesses a battle of hundreds of shinobi, and it doesn't look like *any* of them possess kekkei genkai to her eyes. She gets valuable context from this as well, in all manner of ways pertaining to combat. She forces herself to watch even though she is very distressed.
So as for
Until now only the Jashin cult wanted to trap and experiment on her and so I cannot believe she would think the way she does, because as mentioned, she has no experience with other people and no reason to believe the things she does.
-Most everything she has seen is colored by a sense of danger and death, from the end of her captivity to her escape into the Land of Fire. Kana's mentality state was accordingly frayed, that I know I conveyed pretty hard. But I could never say she has no reason to believe the things she does, it's just that Reason is not the only place where her feelings come from. She makes serious observations and plausible analysis. She makes inferences about situation and context that can easily be overlooked, based on intention and nuance. It's just she isn't perfect at it, and it becomes more difficult for her as she experience newer and more unfamiliar things.
I hoped that was a valid way to write her character and I thought it would be engaging, feel like Kana was more alive. It's more difficult to write it comprehensively than I thought, partly why I do a lot of preparation work.
(@andr3wsw4g is also correct, in that the ritual has done quite a few more nuanced things to Kana. It's definitely to the point where it would be difficult to call her body human). I hinted at this for a reason, and gives me a bit of breathing room for just such concerns as yours. Let's just say that... her learning things quickly and some of her unconscious intuition had been strengthened by... side effects, for now.
@andr3wsw4g And Thank you for this comment! Reading that last paragraph warmed my heart, too