I understand it has been a long time since this story was updated. I want everyone to know I am in works to get it back up and running after some bad news and poor health. Fingers crossed I can start writing new chapters and get back to work on this amazing story again!
Thank you to everyone for the support, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 104:
With the death of Danzo, Fuyōna and the Hokage returned to his office. Fuyōna could sense that Hiruzen had a heavy heart with the death of his friend, even if he was committing treason against the village.
Fuyōna had no real reason to stay in the leaf any longer, knowing that with the death of Danzo, the Hokage would most likely be able to come to an arrangement with the Uchiha now that Shishu would remain alive.
The two Kage sat in the Hokage's office, remaining silent for the time being before Fuyōna decided to break his silence.
"I am truly sorry for your loss, lord Hokage. I know Danzo was an old friend of yours." He said as he crossed his legs.
Hiruzen remained silent as he struck a match to light his pipe with, taking a large hit on it before he blew out the smoke.
"Danzo and I didn't agree on much. Infact, We fought for the title of Kage back in our younger days, many times even over the years. Eventually, we came to the agreement that I would become Hokage and remain in the light. While he would retreat to the shadows and protect the village in ways I couldn't be seen to." The Hokage said.
Fuyōna nodded.
"I understand." He said, already knowing most things that Danzo would do that the Hokage would not.
"It works a little differently in the mist lord Hokage, but I understand the necessary arrangement."
The only question now would be if killing Danzo would turn Hiruzen softer, or turn him cold. Possibly affecting his decisions made in the future. However, Only time would tell, but Fuyōna would simply have to wait and see what happened from here, having decided that his meddling in the leaf village had come to an end.
"Once again I would like to express my apologies for your loss. I know as I am the one who brought his actions to light and caused this whole mess. Yet, it was only right that I take responsibility for what happened." Fuyōna said.
"No." Hiruzen suddenly said, cutting him off.
"This is not your fault, lord Mizukage. You did what you had to, protecting everyone from Danzo's final attempt to take us all with him. Frankly, I am more disappointed that, that is how he chose to meet his end." Hiruzen said with a sad expression, not expecting that of him at all.
Fuyōna nodded before he slapped his thighs and stood to his feet, knowing it was time to leave.
"As I said lord Hokage, you have my apologies for what has transpired. But, I am afraid that the time has come for me to return to my own village and take care of business." He said looking Hiruzen in the eyes.
"Of course Lord Mizukage, I understand completely. Indeed you have been away for quite some time now." Hiruzen said as he took his pipe out of his mouth.
"Once again, I thank you for everything and I look forwards to our alliance bringing a bright and prosperous future," Fuyōna said as he took his Kage hat from the desk in front of him.
"And of course, I look forward to our next meeting," Fuyōna said as he smiled and nodded to Hiruzen, who returned his nod.
"Me too, lord Mizukage, I too look forwards to seeing our alliance bring great things to both of our villages and nations. Until next time." He said as he placed his pipe back into his mouth with a smile.
With that Fuyōna raised his hand and summoned an ice mirror, stepping into it slowly before it started to melt into the air harmlessly and disappeared, leaving no trace of him at all.
Hiruzen took another large puff on his pipe before he turned in his chair to look at the pictures of the other Hokage that lined his office walls, looking particularly at the picture of the second Hokage and the 4th Hokage.
"I wonder, what would the two of you have done?" he asked softly, letting the thought roam through his mind as he leaned back into his chair.
Suddenly the door to his office burst open as both of the elders walked in, having heard the news of Danzo's death.
"And yet, more trouble follows..."
Fuyōna stepped out of his ice mirror that had appeared in his own office, seeing that the lights were off and the office was empty.
"Seems nobody is here." He said as his feet touched the floor, allowing his ice mirror to melt behind him.
Fuyōna took a look around as he started to nosey around his office, seeing if anything had changed or been moved before he walked over to the large window that looked out over the village.
"Doesn't look as if anything is out of place." He said as a small smile appeared on his face as his eyes caught something.
"That's new," he said as he looked at a picture frame that was on his desk.
it was a picture of him holding both of his babies, with Mei and Suiren on either side of him holding onto his arms.
Fuyōna smiled as he picked the picture up to get a better look at it, remembering the day it was taken.
"I've only been away for two weeks, yet it feels like forever." He said to himself, knowing that his family would be happy to see him.
Fuyōna's ears quickly pricked up as he could hear voices coming from the hall towards his office's large doors.
"And I want a report sent to Fuyōna at once. This information cannot wait." The voice said before the doors to his office opened and the light came on, revealing the owner of the said voice.
Mei had walked through the office doors holding a document in her hand as she spoke to what Fuyōna recognized as a member of the intel core. Mei looked as beautiful as ever, yet she was so focused on what she was doing, that she had failed to notice Fuyōna's presence until he spoke.
"Tell me what Mei?" He said, causing Mei to look up in surprise.
Mei stopped as she looked up, looking directly at him as her arms lowered to her sides.
"You... You're back?" She said softly, with a small smile forming on her face.
"Yeah, I just got back now." He said as he placed the picture back onto the desk with the action catching Mei's eye.
Mei quickly regained her composure and walked over to him, quickly diving into him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his in an intense display of love.
Fuyōna wrapped his arms around her waist and supported her weight with them as she lifted her feet off the floor for a moment before she placed them back down and broke the kiss.
"I missed you." She said with a cheeky smile.
Fuyōna returned her smile.
"I missed you too," he said as he looked into her eyes.
"Ahem." The intel shinobi said softly, clearing his throat as not to be rude.
"Ah yes." Mei suddenly said as she snapped back into work mode, pulling off of him and pressing the documents into his chest.
"You need to look at this report." She said with a serious expression all of a sudden.
Fuyōna looked down and took the paperwork off of her, looking back at Mei and then to the intel Shinobi, already feeling that they were being serious.
Fuyōna turned around and started slowly making his way to his seat as he read the document at the same time, dropping into his chair before raising an eyebrow at the information he had been given.
"So it has come to that has it?" Fuyōna said as he looked up and placed the paper on his desk.
Both Mei and the intel shinobi remained quiet as they waited for Fuyōna to speak, giving him a moment to process the information.
"And that has come from Ao himself?" Fuyōna asked, looking at Mei.
"Yes, we just received the report not five minutes ago," Mei said as she placed her hand on her hip.
"Very well, I have no choice. Summon the war council..." Fuyōna said with a serious expression, looking down at the report once more.
Mei turned around to give a nod to the intel shinobi, who bowed and disappeared to carry out the order at once, leaving Fuyōna and Mei alone.
"How has it come to this Mei? Do the other villages really fear our alliance with the leaf so much that they would threaten war against us?" Fuyōna asked.
Mei remained quiet, not knowing what she could say. Instead, she walked over to him and sat on his knee, looking him in the eye.
"We can overcome this, my love. You are the strongest man I know, and no matter who we face, we will face them together." Mei said, placing her hand on his cheek.
"Now, let's get home so you can say hello to Suiren and the babies." Mei suddenly said as she planted a soft kiss on his forehead.
"They have missed you dearly."
Fuyōna smiled.
"That sounds nice." He said with a smile, quickly flicking his fingers and allowing an ice mirror to form for them to walk through.
Suiren was currently at their home looking after both of the Babies while Mei was out working. She didn't mind this at all, in fact, it had been her idea to retire from the life of a shinobi and raise the children, becoming a full-time mother.
"Now now Asami, Shōto! Don't pull on Haku's hair like that!" Suiren said as she watched both of the children climb up and over Haku, pulling his hair and trying to chew it.
"It's ok, I don't mind," Haku said with a smile as he grabbed little Shōto and lifted him into the air getting the toddler to start laughing.
Kimimaro was also at home with them, sitting on the couch still wrapped in bandages from his injuries. The two of them had arrived back into the village the day before, having travelled back with Kaga and Koyuki across the land of fire and the sea.
Suddenly an ice mirror appeared next to them causing all of them to look at it in excitement, as they knew what it meant.
Not a moment later Fuyōna and Mei stepped out of the mirror, getting an excited greeting from everyone.
"Look, daddy is back!" Suiren said, watching as both of the babies smiled in excitement as they saw their father.
Fuyōna quickly scooped both of his children up from the ground as they did their best to run over to him, shouting for him in excitement.
"Ahh, I missed you two!" He shouted as he picked them up, rubbing his face on each of theirs getting them to giggle.
"Stop dada, that tickles," Asami said as she tried to pull away from him while laughing.
Shōto did the same but tried to tough it out as he grabbed his father's hair and started to pull on it.
"Oh my, you are a strong little bugger," Fuyōna said as he slowly pulled Shōto off of him and placed them both back onto the ground, chuckling as he did.
Suiren smiled as she watched him play with the babies, waiting for her turn as he made his way over.
"I missed you too Suiren," Fuyōna said as he took her hand in his own, using it to pull her into his arms so he could kiss her.
Suiren didn't resist and let him pull her, returning his kiss with plenty of passion.
"I missed you too." She said as they broke the kiss.
"Eewww!" Both of the children said as they watched them kiss.
"Now, now you too!" Mei suddenly said as she also scooped them up, kissing them both over and over again.
"I think it's past your bedtime." She said once she was done kissing them, smiling at the pair of them as they looked into her eyes.
"No! Not yet mummy!" Shōto shouted, still wanting to play more.
"I'm afraid your father is tired, you can play with him tomorrow," Mei said causing little Shōto to frown.
"Haku, would you be a dear?" She suddenly said as she turned to him.
"Of course," Haku said with a smile as he took Shōto off of her.
"No big brother Haku! I want to play more!" He said with his baby words.
Haku simply smiled as he held him.
"We can play more upstairs." He said, knowing that Mei wanted the room.
Kimimaro also picked up on her hint and took Asami off of her.
"You too Asami" Kimimaro said with a smile.
"Okkk." She said reluctantly.
"Good night everyone!" Fuyōna said as he turned around to kiss each of them on the head, including Haku and Kimimaro who laughed at it.
With that all of the children retired for the night, leaving the adults downstairs alone for the first time in a while.
Suiren couldn't help but notice a sudden shift in the mood, deciding to ask if everything was alright.
"Is everything alright?"
Fuyōna nodded, giving her a soft smile.
"Don't worry, Suiren, just work." He said, not wanting to worry her.
Suiren wasn't stupid though and quickly placed her hands on her hips.
"Fuyōna." She said, giving him a stern expression, causing Mei to laugh.
"She can take it Fuyōna, no need to lie to her," Mei said as she walked over to them, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"lie to me? What is it Fuyōna?" Suiren asked, getting worried now.
"Calm down Suiren. I just didn't want you to panic, but it seems not telling you is making you panic more." He said with a small chuckle before she punched in in the arm playfully.
"Nobody is panicking," She said as she placed her hands back on her hips.
"It would seem that the other nations are opposed to our alliance with the hidden leaf. And if Ao's report is correct, which I believe it is... They are threatening war against us." Fuyōna explained.
Suiren was left speechless for a second as she processed the information she had just been told.
"B-But I thought that an alliance with the leaf was supposed to lead to peace." She said, not believing it.
"I wouldn't worry Suiren. They are simply intimidated by the union of our two villages, you see they know that it would create a large power vacuum with us and the leaf at the top, and that is something they don't want to happen, especially the sand."
Suiren nodded slowly as she understood the severity of the situation.
"What are you going to do?" She asked, knowing would be a tough decision whatever he decided to do.
"The war council has been summoned, but until the time of the meeting, we can relax a little as a family," Fuyōna said, getting a refreshed smile from Suirne.
"That sounds good to me." She said as she wrapped her arms around his back and placed her head on his chest, embracing him and holding him tightly.
Fuyōna held onto her and opened his arm as Mei joined in on the embrace with both of them hugging him, clearly having missed him dearly.
"Now, how about we head to the bedroom." Fuyōna then said, getting a smile from each of them.
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Alright that's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.
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