Her name was Yui.
And for a long time, she had only existed in dreams.
In Himari's memories, she was a voice humming lullabies in a cold tank of chakra fluid. In Root's black files, she was a line of red ink labeled "Failure 0-B". To Konoha, she was nonexistent.
But Arashi had just heard her name spoken aloud by the Uchiha Archivist.
And he hadn't been wrong yet.
Now, the trail led not beneath Konoha, but far beyond it.
To Sunagakure.
Arashi didn't waste time.
He briefed Minato and Kushina early that morning. Only them.
Minato frowned. "You sure it's not a trap?"
"I'm sure it is," Arashi said. "But she's alive. Her chakra resurfaced during a border scan near the Land of Rivers."
"What about Himari?" Kushina asked, glancing upstairs.
"She's stable. I'll move a chakra clone to her side."
"I'll strengthen her seal before you go," Kushina offered.
Arashi nodded.
Minato crossed his arms. "If things go sideways in Suna, don't expect the Kazekage to be generous."
"He won't have a say."
"You going in quiet?"
"No forehead protector. No name."
Minato looked him in the eyes.
"Be careful."
Arashi didn't smile. "You're the third person who's said that this week. Starting to think I've lost my subtle charm."
By midday, Arashi had crossed the Fire border and slipped into the Land of Rivers. Travel was light—summer heat still blanketing the valleys, and most patrols thinned after the war's last trade summit.
He wore civilian garb. No blade, just a steel baton sealed into a scroll at his wrist.
No chakra flare.
No Leaf markings.
Just a hunter with a purpose.
His destination: a medical research compound two miles west of Sunagakure's outer walls. Officially decommissioned. Unofficially… leased out to neutral civilian researchers from various nations.
Unofficially funded by Root, if Arashi's guess was right.
He arrived by dusk.
It was a squat sandstone building half-sunk into the desert. No guards. No visible defenses.
That was the first red flag.
Real secrets didn't need to be guarded.
They needed to be forgotten.
Inside, the halls smelled of rust and medicinal alcohol.
He passed three rooms. All empty.
Then the fourth—
A chakra signature flickered.
Faint.
Familiar.
But fractured.
He followed it.
Room 6-B.
Locked. Sealed.
But the seal was sloppily done. Not Sand-style. Not Uzumaki. A mimic.
Arashi placed a palm on it and whispered, "Release."
The chakra bent.
Snapped.
And the door swung open.
Inside:
A girl—fifteen, maybe sixteen—sat curled in a chair.
Her hair was long, black. Her frame thin. IV lines still feeding into her arm.
But her chakra was unmistakable.
It was Himari's. Identical. But older.
She looked up slowly.
And sang, almost absentmindedly:
"Stone above…
Water below…
Who will remember
Where shadows go?"
Arashi stepped in.
"Yui."
Her lips stopped.
Her eyes blinked.
Once. Twice.
Then—
"…Who are you?"
He stepped forward.
"No one."
"Everyone says that."
"I'm here to bring you home."
She laughed.
Quietly.
Not cruelly.
Just tired.
"There's no home. Just rooms."
"You have a sister. She's alive."
That stopped her.
"…Himari?"
"She's safe. Waiting."
Yui's hands trembled.
"She never stopped humming. I tried to… but I forgot the tune."
"I didn't," Arashi said.
He knelt.
Sang it softly back.
Word for word.
Her eyes filled.
"…You remembered."
"I remember everything that matters."
Outside the compound, sand stirred.
A figure in black approached—long coat, goggles, and a mask.
Fuu.
Danzo's personal agent.
He watched the open door, his expression unreadable.
The plan had been simple: let Yui's chakra leak just enough to draw Arashi in.
Then activate the mental override Danzo had buried inside her when she was still a child.
An artificial loyalty seal.
The moment her heart rate passed threshold, she would explode—chakra burn from within.
A suicide weapon.
Except now…
Fuu frowned.
The seal should have triggered already.
He tapped the activation code again.
Nothing.
Inside the room, Arashi was already moving.
He placed a small crystal tag against Yui's sternum.
"Danzo buried something in you," he said quietly. "Something meant to kill you the moment you woke."
Her breathing hitched.
"I thought it was just a voice."
"It's a fail-safe. But I've cracked it before."
"You did it for Himari?"
"Yes."
She looked at him, voice barely a whisper.
"Then do it for me too."
Fuu activated the failsafe one final time.
Inside, the seal on Yui's chest ignited.
Her body jerked—chakra flaring like a wild storm.
But Arashi was ready.
He slammed both palms over her heart and channeled counter-seal flows in perfect Uzumaki order.
His body screamed from the feedback.
Blood leaked from his nose.
But the seal began to collapse—
—and then burst, releasing a wave of dark smoke from her chest.
Yui collapsed into his arms, eyes wide, alive.
Arashi whispered, "We don't kill children for insurance anymore."
Outside, Fuu cursed.
He was compromised.
He turned to leave—
—but someone blocked his path.
A slim figure in a hood.
Chakra sizzling faintly around their gloves.
Naori.
"You weren't supposed to be here," Fuu hissed.
"Neither were you," she replied.
And then, with Sharingan flaring—
—she struck.
The desert trembled.
An hour later, Arashi and Yui crossed the River Pass and vanished into the trees.
They didn't speak.
She just hummed.
And this time, the tune wasn't broken.
It was whole.
To be continued.