บท 876: 53
Chapter 52: Storm on the Horizon
The day after his return to Konoha, Naruto went to the only place he figured he would find easy to contact Sai or Maki. He headed to his oldest stomping grounds, the Root hideout he was trained in that served as his mother base back during his fomulative years. He hadn't been in the Konoha base since he had found it abandoned after his first attempts to locate Danzo three years ago when he had first broken the seal on his person.
The gray and colorless walls brought back a wave of nostalgia that he let himself get swept up in. He was even subconsciously striding along silently on instinct. Walking in those halls and allowing Danzo to effortlessly hear your footsteps would get you disciplined. Sadistic old fart… it was going to be weird without him always hovering in the shadows somewhere. Even when he wasn't in contact with him he could always just feel Danzo around somewhere.
He could afford these thoughts now. Danzo was dead and even though the man would have wanted him and the others in Root to move along it was Naruto's choice to think of him and try to keep him in the back of his mind. Even if the man's death never became the major news around the village it should have been, probably the way he would have wanted it, it didn't mean that he should just be forgotten in time. He had done too much for his village to be a footnote at best.
Naruto's feet carried him to the old dimly lit training section of the base and as he walked through the door and stepped inside he let out a sigh as he started walking towards the room that he remembered as his own little personal space. It was actually his and Maki's but it was his first. He trained there mostly alone under Danzo's watch for over a year before he was ever partnered with her.
And since it actually did wind up being their training area it didn't surprise him to find her there sitting down, seemingly meditating. He walked into the room without alerting her or disturbing her serenity and leaned against the wall just basking in the tranquility of the more or less empty base.
One day it would be up and running, and full of life again. Once he became Hokage Naruto would have Root operate the way it was meant to be used all along; as the extension of the village's defenses. The real black ops unit. Only the very top of the food chain in the village would know they existed as originally intended and the operatives would live amongst the populace, some as registered shinobi, others as sleepers posing as mere civilians, all with the same overall goal, to do what needed to be done.
"Do you know how I wound up in Root in the first place Naruto-senpai?" Maki said quietly from her meditative position, eyes still closed, "I don't think you do. We never really talked about how we all wound up here."
Naruto shook his head. He didn't know, but it wasn't that hard to figure out how. Either they came to Danzo of their own will once they learned of him as active shinobi, the way most of his adult forces did when Root was a legitimate branch of ANBU, or they were orphaned and recruited that way. Most of the children that wound up in the Academy had some kind of legitimate family background as a shinobi. Civilian children could of course join the Academy, but it required them to be enrolled by someone related to them. Without a benefactor sponsoring them, parental or otherwise, children couldn't join the Ninja Academy as it wasn't a decision that a child should have been allowed to make on their own.
So the reason that Maki and Sai joined Root was obvious, especially now that Naruto knew that most of Danzo's forces had been wiped out by Pein back during the last great war in a mission along with many of Sanshouo no Hanzo's Ame shinobi. They were both orphans, much like him, with no one to sponsor them in the Academy. With their only route into the conventional forces blocked, Danzo reached out to them and recruited them for training to eventually rebolster Root.
The most talented of the youth were enrolled in the Academy eventually much like Maki and Sai were with Danzo as their backer. This was done to keep some members of Root in with the main forces so that Danzo was kept aware of everyday happenings that he might have missed while keeping his gaze in the shadows. The others that weren't sent to the Academy were kept as Root's go-to force; the ones that accomplished most of the general missions.
"I don't know for sure how you ended up here Maki-chan but I can guess how." Naruto said, still leaning against the wall in the room, "It's not that different from me. It's not that different from any of us around this age. It's how we all joined. We all wanted to join the Academy, we weren't allowed. Danzo-jiji found us and we jumped at the chance." He shrugged his shoulders, "I was four. How about you?"
"Four." Maki replied, "My parents were killed on the highways back when Ta no Kuni was more lawless than it was even now and left me alone when I was barely able to walk and talk. I was just a dirty little orphan when I was blocked from joining the Academy. I can't even blame them for not taking me, I probably looked like I'd keel over any second."
Naruto blocked a cringe as he remembered that all orphans weren't as well off and taken care of as he had been. Even then his pedigree, unknown at the time to him and the vast majority of the village, shone through and assisted him.
Maki just continued to speak though, "I got three weeks of basic introduction and then Danzo-sama threw me to the wolves." She said as she opened her grey eyes and looked across the room at Naruto, "You were very brutal in our first spar Naruto-senpai."
Naruto let out a chuckle, "In my defense I didn't know you were a girl. Actually that probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway. It still wouldn't."
"I was six years old when I joined." Sai said as he entered the room from the hallway, "Until then I just lived at one of the orphanages, the one based on the north side of Konoha closest to the Academy. I wasn't really leaving much behind when I joined. In the end, joining Root allowed me to meet my 'older brother' Shin. I don't know whether or not to be grateful that he died of illness before we were to fight to the death but were it not for Danzo-sama we never would have met in the first place." He looked up at Naruto and Maki and smiled, "None of us probably would have met either."
For once, Naruto returned Sai's smile as it truly did not look fabricated. He had either been practicing with his study on emotions or he had legitimately felt the need to convey the needed emtion for a smile to surface for once, "You're right." Naruto said as he stood off of the wall and began pacing around the room, "Danzo-jiji was a bastard. I'll admit it to anyone. I'll be the first to admit it. He kicked the crap out of me personally, made my life hell more often than not as a kid, and he made sure the rest of you got the crap kicked out of all of you too. He gave us the chance to do what we wanted though, and all we had to give was what was left of our crappy childhoods."
Standing behind Maki, Naruto rested his hands on the seated girl's shoulders, "Rough training… Dangerous missions right from the very start where we were in serious danger... Yeah we dealt with that by choice. But that's the thing; it was our choice." He began walking again and looked over the two Root operatives, "I would have been a ninja no matter what, it's just who I am. But the both of you and the others our age wouldn't have had the chance at all to do what you all wanted to do with your lives. We're an entire generation of shinobi born to parents that died during the last war and everything that happened in its wake, and we would have never been given the chance to do this for a living if Danzo hadn't been there."
As an example, Fuu and Torune had been a younger pair of shinobi older than Naruto who had lost parents in the period between the last major war and the Kyuubi attack. Due to the tumultuous times they were living in their clans had too much to deal with to represent the pair of them, too young to be allowed to make such a decision to become shinobi like their parents, too old to be fully taken in by their own clansmen to be raised as foster children. They might have wound up left behind to wither in obscurity had they not found Danzo.
"He served a purpose." Naruto finished as he began walking towards the open door of the training room and out into the hallway of the training area that was once vacant and now full of every last Root operative, over hundreds of young shinobi and a handful of older remnants left over from its years as an actual functioning part of Konoha's regular forces, "He made sure the rest of us served a purpose. We mattered because we did what no one else could be caught doing for our country. Because we joined Root we were able to do more than just stand on the outside looking in. It was probably dragged out of you in your emotional conditioning, but the fact is this is what we all always wanted to do. So if nothing else I'm going to remember Danzo-jiji for that… because he gave us the shot when there was more or less no other way for most of us to ever get the chance at all. And Root isn't dead just because he's gone; because the rest of us are still here and we can't just stop now."
Sai walked out behind Naruto followed by Maki as they all looked at the crowd of Root ninja and the pale teen spoke after Naruto's last statement, "…If the roots falter and wilt then the tree will die no matter how great it is."
Almost immediately, the entirety of the Root ninja dropped to one knee to bow obediently to Naruto and Sai. After his last meeting with a massive amount of Root ninja he sort of expected it, but as he saw them bow, Naruto noted that not only was the entire hall of the training facility filled, the halls outside in the rest of the base seemed filled with ninja trying to get as close to the training facility itself as they could. It really was everyone.
Someone had to say something to them. It was either Naruto or Sai that was supposed to, as that was the way things were meant to be. If Naruto had to compare the situation to anything it was like a king and his two bishops surrounded by everyone and everything directed to be under them.
Maki elbowed both of them in the back gently to urge one of them to speak. One of them had to say something. Naruto looked over at Sai. He was the one that was supposed to run Root in Danzo's stead in case anything happened. Naruto wasn't supposed to do it, he was still working towards his final mission to become Hokage.
That didn't mean he couldn't show them that he was for them as well as the regular forces.
"Sai's in charge." Naruto said with full confidence in his voice, "Isn't that right?" He said, turning towards said young man.
Sai nodded, "Yes." Sai reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll, "Danzo-sama left me with these orders in the case of his death, his authorization of his direct successor to run Root. Naruto-senpai is correct. It's me." He threw the scroll forward to be caught by one of the Root operatives so that they could verify it for themselves, "…But remember that our next Hokage is among us as we speak."
"Orders sirs… ma'am" One Root member said, asking Naruto, Sai, and even Maki since it was clear she was directly with them.
Once again, Naruto and Sai looked at each other, with Naruto turning his eyes towards the mass of ninja in attendance as if he was indicating Sai that it was his job to deliver the orders to them. Thus that was what Sai did, "For right now there are no standing orders. This will once again be the main base of operations until things get fully up and running again. I'm going to need to talk to each and every one of you to be briefed on what current operations are still in motion so that I am fully briefed to take over. Until then I wish for you all to remain around the village as if you were on leave. For now you are all dismissed."
"Yes Sai-sama, Naruto-sama, Maki-dono!"
The unanimous chant preceded the emptying of the halls in multiple directions once the Root ninja all got out into the main hallways of the base, more than likely to leave from the different exits situated in and out of the village of Konoha.
As the three were left alone in the hall there was only one thing that any of them can say, "…Since when am I -dono?" Maki asked quietly. She was actually quite flustered having been put on the spot like that, not used to being the subject of authority over anyone, let alone all but two of the remaining Root members.
Sai simply stared down the hall that was once filled to the brim with Root Ninja before speaking up, "Do you think we can do this Naruto-senpai?"
"Yeah." Naruto said confidently, "You've got me and Maki-chan to help you, and even more when I become Hokage. Everything's going to be fine."
Sai nodded, "I'll try." He said, only to get rapped on the back of the head by Naruto, "Huh?"
Naruto was looking at Sai with a stern look on his face, "There's no 'try' here. There's either 'do' or 'don't do', so make it happen. It's the mission." He said with finality, "I don't say I'll 'try' to be Hokage. When I accepted Danzo-jiji's mission I said I would do it, and that means that I'm definitely going to pull it off. It's the same here. We don't 'try' Sai, it's a given that we're going to try, its' all we know how to do. We just do or we don't do; because not doing usually meant that we would die."
After taking a second to think about it, Sai realized that Naruto was right. This was no different from any other mission given to him, it was just that it was the most important mission he had ever been given, "I'm going to go check Danzo-sama's office in this base. Perhaps he left something behind?" With that he left to locate Danzo's old office.
"He'll be fine." Maki told Naruto, putting a hand on his shoulder as she could see the stony look on his face as he tried to kick Sai's butt into gear, "I'll be here to help him where I can. It's going to take some time to get things back together before Root can run again."
"I know." Naruto replied with a sigh. A big part of him wanted to be there with them getting all of the affairs in order but that would require him to be gone and out of the open for far too long. Still, that didn't mean he was just going to leave them to their own devices and merely wish them the best of luck, "If you think you need my help you can always come find me. You both know where my new house is don't you?"
A small smile appeared on Maki's face, "It's understandable, you're a public figure." She seemed to be if nothing else grateful for the sentiment that he would assist them, "Even if the Sandaime Hokage couldn't prove this place existed when it was fully up and running you can't risk disappearing without an alibi." Naruto gave a nod, "Then go ahead. Sai-senpai and I need to sift through everything and he needs to get used to being the actual leader of Root."
Even if they were trained to have as little emotion as humanly possible they were still human, and as versatile as many of them were there were just some things that people needed time to adjust to. Naruto was sure Sai would get his stride when it came to running things in Root, he just needed some time, time he was freely getting with all operations halted for the moment. Maybe after debriefing all of the operatives there would be an idea of where to go from there?
XxX
(Jounin Standby Station)
Before he could go and locate anyone of his friends to give them the lowdown on what had occurred on the mission to find Sasuke, Naruto had to first fill out a report on his entire compounded experiences after his and Jiraiya's defeat in Amegakure. It was only when he sat down in the lounge and began putting pen to paper that he realized how long he had really been gone.
Between all of the travel to make sure Akatsuki was off of his tail, the actual mission to find Sasuke and the fight against him and Itachi, the time it took for him to heal from that battle, and his time training for Sage Mode he had been gone for two months.
"Naruto."
Naruto turned his head up from his seat to see Neji standing nearby, "Hey Neji. Good to see you again."
Taking the greeting as an indication that his presence wasn't a hindrance of any sort, Neji sat down in the vicinity, "We almost managed to locate you around one month ago, but your 'team' prevented that from occurring." Neji was still rather sore that Sai and Maki had managed to fool them with an ink clone under a henge. If he had been more suspicious of the pair of Konoha ninja he had never met then it wouldn't have happened, but they had also been escaping from an S-rank threat at the time and Sai and Maki had been assisting them until that point.
"You didn't want to be where I was." Naruto assured him remembering how horribly destructive the entire battle between himself Sasuke and Itachi became. If he ever wound up having kids then the stories of that fight would probably be a bedtime favorite. Even the preceding conflict with Deidara was heavily intense, "How's Tayuya-chan by the way?"
Neji was well aware of the damage that Tayuya had suffered during the mission. Though she was able to continue for a short while longer she had taken some nerve damage from Sasuke's attack that no amount of on the spot healing from Sakura could just get rid of, "She's-."
"-Had a month to heal and think about how your ass screwed us over and left us running around in the fucking woods chasing shadows." Neji's reply was cut off by the voice of said girl as she appeared at Naruto's back behind his lounge couch. Naruto tilted his head back far enough to get an upside down view of her, "Hello Uzumaki. Duck-butt didn't maim you after all?"
"Not for life anyway..." Naruto replied flippantly before a smile appeared on his face, "It's really good to see you're alright. When my clone left you in the woods you didn't look good at all."
Tayuya moved around to the front to sit down with Naruto and Neji, notably right next to Naruto, "Oh come on, a little cardiac arrest can't stop me. Now who was that guy and that girl dressed like you claiming to be your teammates before they ran away from us?"
Naruto shrugged as he split his attention between his friends and his report, "They were my actual team. Sai and Maki are registered. You can find their records." He was trying to make it seem uninteresting so that they would drop the issue. At least Maki and Sai's existences could be proven in the regular forces unlike most other Root members.
Holding a fist in front of Naruto's face, Tayuya growled out threateningly, "I wanted to kick to crap out of you for just running off without ever even talking to us in person, but then again you saved my life out there so I guess that's worth something. Thanks for that by the way."
"Anytime Tayuya-chan." "I'm glad you two are here though. I've got something kind of important to tell you guys anyway."
"Kind of important?" Neji repeated with a raised eyebrow, "What's so important now? Is it more important than you being left for dead by one of the Akatsuki, or running off all over the world and letting everyone think you were dead for two weeks?" He jibed in reference to Naruto's disappearing act after the loss to Pein.
Tayuya let out a small laugh and ribbed Naruto with a good-natured elbow, "Yeah what is it? Did you finish off Uchiha-teme?"
"…Kind of…"
Tayuya's eyes went wide and Neji even had a visible response to hearing that. They had not known the aftermath of Naruto's fight with the pair of Uchiha and only knew that he had survived it. More often than not when strong forces oppose each other, despite the level of danger that exists in the shinobi world, neither opposing force really kills the other unless the difference in power is incredibly noticeable. Death was a part of any battle, but to hear about the death of someone you could put a face to and in some cases could even say you had known was something else altogether.
"You killed him?" Tayuya said, part question, part trying to get the thought through her head as she knew two girls on a personal level that might take that a little too deeply, "You killed your old friend like that?"
"He wasn't any friend of mine." Naruto said, voice full of conviction, "He was a 'comrade' but then he threw that all away by running and nearly killing Rock Lee three years ago. You guys are friends of mine, I have friends in other places. Sasuke wasn't my friend." He said before releasing a sigh, "But I was told when I was in Kiri after the battle that Maki and Sai saw the bodies of Itachi and Sasuke. The last attack sent me flying, and their bodies aren't as tough as mine to deal with so much stress so I guess they just couldn't take anymore."
Neji now really wished that he had been there. If not to fight then simply to watch it himself in person, "You were able to defeat them both." Sasuke was skilled even back before his time training with Orochimaru as far as Neji was concerned, adding Itachi to that equation seemed like a disastrous endeavor to undertake, "That's incredible."
Unable to do so the last time she saw a clone of his, Tayuya took in Naruto's appearance. Through the unzipped collar and upper chest of his sleeveless root vest it was unzipped, and at the exposed midsection it gave him she could see the edges of a tattoo on his person hidden by his clothing, yet she couldn't make out what it was. On his exposed arms she could see numerous new tattoos that were clearly seals. Multiple storage seals on one arm and a strange looking one that started at his elbow and went down to his forearm.
"You've had a shitty few months huh?" Tayuya finally said. No one would put those things on their person if they didn't need them, and from the sounds of things he needed each and every one he had.
'You don't even know Tayuya-chan.' Naruto thought to himself as he merely nodded and kept writing his report, "I want to be the one to tell everyone else myself about what happened to Sasuke. If anyone is upset about it then I'm the one taking responsibility for it, I was the one that took the mission from Kiri to find the sword that he and his team took."
No one out of the entirety of the group of younger ninja would necessarily hate Naruto at all for his clash with Sasuke. One had to do what one had to do after all. Sasuke had professed his intention of severing ties with Konoha and joining its most prolific enemy, going so far as to gravely wound one of them during his escape and leave him for dead. He did not owe Sasuke any mercy or reprieve.
One person that had to realize this as well, and most certainly did, was also in the station elsewhere in the room, out of sight of Naruto as he hadn't gotten the opportunity to come over to the younger pair of male jounin and the female tokubetsu jounin currently speaking about his wayward former student.
Kakashi simply sat off to the side and listened without letting his presence be known, 'So you were able to do it after all Naruto. I can't say that I would have been able to do the same if I were in your shoes.' He wished that it could have gone down a different way, but there was nothing that could be changed now.
As Kakashi thought these things to himself, Naruto finished his report and stood up out of his seat, "Are you guys going to come with me? I'm going to find everyone else and tell them about what happened with Sasuke. The way you two reacted I guess that means that it never really went public and they don't know either."
Both Tayuya and Neji thought that it would be a better idea than any. If all of the people that they knew personally were going to find out about the fate of someone that had been rather prolific in their lives for one reason or another then they couldn't just choose not to go because they had already heard what would have been said. This in mind, both Neji and Tayuya stood up and followed Naruto out to turn in his report and round up their other friends.
XxX
(Hokage Tower – Tsunade's Office)
Jiraiya let out a low whistle at hearing the recent news from Tsunade, "Four out of five in one place isn't a bad little meeting of the minds at all Tsunade-hime."
"Exactly." Tsunade said, sitting at her desk as Jiraiya sat on the windowsill of the office looking out of the window onto much of the village, "It's better than us going about trying to deal with Akatsuki on our own without stepping on each other's toes. Look at what that's gotten everyone so far."
Only four of the formerly nine jinchuuriki around all of the Elemental Nations were left, one of whom was a kage. In the past it had been clearly shown that members of Akatsuki could infiltrate any country and even the hidden villages within almost effortlessly. The leader of Akatsuki, Pein, more or less had an entire borderline top five village of shinobi at his beck and call and now Tsunade had been told that Madara Uchiha was still alive and was the benefactor of the terrorists. Who knew what else could possibly happen?
So the plan was to hammer out some sort of true method to deal with the remainder of the threat. It was no longer just about hunting down a handful of powerful shinobi with treacherous plans, now there was the issue of one nation possibly provoking a war with Amegakure. While the country the village sat in was small the village itself certainly was not. If it was required it was believed that even back during Hanzo's reign the entire country could have been overthrown by his amassed forces. The title of daimyo was more of a formal position in that country than anywhere else in the world.
The power of the ninja forces as well as the population had only increased since that time, and with the smaller outlying portions of the village filled with shinobi as well due to the report received from Jiraiya it was seen that a militarized Amegakure was a threat to any of the other nations, more than Otogakure was back during their invasion by a major amount. The defeat of Jiraiya didn't instill much confidence that Amegakure would be easy to defeat if it actually came to blows either. The secret of Pein's 'six paths' still had a hitch to it that needed to be addressed and then exploited in battle.
Thinking of his loss and the severing of his arm, Jiraiya decided to put his thoughts to a more proactive purpose other than dwelling on something that couldn't be changed, "So what's the plan for the meeting? You're going to let me in on it right?"
Tsunade turned around in her chair to face him as he had been behind her, "The meeting will take place in the assembly chamber. Guards will be stationed on high alert around the entire village since this would be a prime opportunity for our enemies to attempt something. They visiting kage are all allowed an entourage of bodyguards and the like, but as a show of good faith and since the meeting will be taking place in my village I'm only bringing two into the actual meeting room."
The way she said that told him that he wouldn't be one of the ones in the room, "Why Tsunade-hime could it be that you're finally casting me out of your life? How could you?" Jiraiya said dramatically, nearly swooning his way towards a fall out of the window until he narrowly caught himself from doing so, "I keep forgetting I don't have the other arm to keep me from falling out when I lean that far…" He grumbled to himself.
Keeping herself from letting out a laugh at Jiraiya's near catastrophic attempt at humor, Tsunade managed to get serious enough to tell him her reasoning, "You're going to find out everything that goes on in that room anyway after the meeting is over so it doesn't really matter does it?" Jiraiya sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as if he had somehow forgotten his status as Tsunade's closest confidant, "I'm taking Naruto and Tenzo."
"Tenzo?" Jiraiya said in confusion, "The ANBU that ran that mission to sack the Otogakure bases six months ago? Why him?"
"If I brought you it would either put the others on edge since they know who we both are, or they would think us weak since I brought a 'crippled' man as a bodyguard." Hearing that from Tsunade put the proverbial storm cloud over Jiraiya's head, "Oh you big baby, you know you can still run circles around 90% of the healthy shinobi in the world. You're hardly handicapped."
Jiraiya quickly perked back up at that, "You're right, I'm still three times the man anyone else in this village is! I'm the ultimate handicapable ninja and a bonafide bad motherfucker-!"
"-That will not be attending the meeting…"
"-That will not be attending the meeting!" Jiraiya finished, repeating after Tsunade, noticing that he had once he saw the smirk on her face, "*ahem* So… Naruto and Tenzo huh? Why those two?" He asked, trying to switch gears.
This was a question that Tsunade was more than ready to answer, "Every report I got from every ninja that was sent on the mission that ended half a year ago to sack Orochimaru's bases said that they worked like a damn pair of machines. They're familiar enough with each other, and besides that Naruto is famous and has something of an in with every kage at this meeting. If he's there then they'll at least listen to everything I have to say."
"I'll tell him when I get back to his house later." Jiraiya said, getting a nod from Tsunade, "You know he's still dealing with Danzo's death." He commented, getting a frown out of the Hokage, "No matter what you think, the kid holds him in high regard. I think he holds him higher than he does Sarutobi-sensei…" Tsunade's delicate brows arched highly in surprise when she heard that, "Remember what sensei and I did to him… I couldn't be any happier that he forgave me and let me still be a part of his life. He never even got to hear anything from sensei on it."
Tsunade let out a sigh and shook her head, "But it's Danzo. I know those old crone elders loved the old man, but a kid like the brat…" Going with the fact that Hiruzen Sarutobi came very close to ruining Naruto and the fact that Naruto was originally trained by Danzo, those things obviously stuck with the boy. Why wouldn't it? At least he wasn't vengeful over the matter, "So how'd he take the news in the first place?"
Jiraiya shrugged, "He didn't really talk about it. It reminded me a bit of the way he was when he got beaten up in Suna by Hidan and Kakuzu. That little servant girl Hamako is a gift from Kami for the kid though. It didn't take much from her to get him out of it this time." Jiraiya didn't even have to kick his ass into gear this time, "I'd give him some downtime for the moment though. Let him get stir-crazy before you decide to send him back out into the field for something again."
"I'll take that under advisement." Tsunade said, agreeing that after the stretch of the last couple of months getting a second to catch his breath could only do Naruto some good, "I should probably take a minute to talk to him again too."
Jiraiya let out a chuckle, "You can stop by his house anytime Tsunade-hime. The kid adores you like a mother, he'd treat you like royalty if you came to talk to him there." He then looked away somewhat haughtily, "…I think the gaki likes you more than me." His eyes then slowly drifted towards Tsunade again, more specifically her chest, "…I can clearly see where the initial attachment came from though."
Tsunade's gaze darkened somewhat, "Oh really?" She said in a tone that warned Jiraiya that his next words had better be correct or not even having one arm would keep him from getting punted off of that windowsill across the entire village, "And why would you say that?"
Jiraiya began to sweat slightly, wondering if a fall from that height out of the window would be a better fate, "…You're very maternal." He said, blocking his own sigh of relief when he saw Tsunade calm down. But this being Jiraiya, he just couldn't let himself get ahead, "…Yeah, looking at your rack when you first met probably made him subconsciously wish he was a baby again so he could have-."
After kicking Jiraiya off of his windowsill perch for his stupid last remark, Tsunade absently wondered if her aim had been good enough for him to land in the Forest of Death.
XxX
(Root Base)
After clearing out the base, the only thing left behind in Danzo's office were inconsequential things like the desk and chair he sat at, the bookcase for aesthetics, the bulletin boards on one wall that would have housed things currently in operation, things like that. The scouring of the bare office of the former leader of Root led Sai and Maki to eventually wind up looking in the most unconventional places for anything.
With this mindset they destroyed the desk, bookcase, and chair.
One would think this to be unnecessary, but there was no such thing in this case. Anything they thought needed to be seen at this point was prudent to be found.
And this method of thinking was appropriate, because inside one of the legs of the chair it was found that Danzo had hidden a small microfilm to fit in for posterity. One would have had to completely pulverized the chair to even find it in the first place.
It was of course codified so that anyone that found it would be unable to decipher it at first glance, but it was also in the method that Root used to transport written messages to operatives. Therefore Sai nor Maki had any difficulty in reading what they found once they obtained a way to project it in a larger size.
What they found actually directly affected them, although it was far outdated.
It was a series of projected events that would take hold over the course of time with them and Naruto as the main subjects of focus. It had been made during Naruto's year-long stretch of infiltration of Otogakure several years prior before everything placed on the microfilm became useless.
The first few slides covered things that had already happened in a timeline; things like the kids winding up in Danzo's employ, their training, things like that. It was simply recapping what had happened before the actual plans began to take hold.
It was once Naruto left on his mission that the timeline began to plan for things that would occur while he was gone and what would happen once the boy returned.
Maki, Naruto's partner, began to be specially trained to cover the holes in Naruto's game, namely his issue with genjutsu that was a glaring disadvantage at the time. Sai was chosen from the best of the younger recruits to serve as the third man in a squad that would be influenced by Danzo to be formed down the line. After Naruto's return they would be placed in the Academy and would quickly graduate and become a genin squad led either by Danzo himself, or if that were not possible they were to go completely dark and work as full members of the conventional forces until Danzo found a way to contact them.
This still managed to happen though not the way it was intended to. A sealed Naruto was placed in the Academy, and Maki and Sai were conversely entered to keep an eye on him and determine if there was anything of him that could be salvaged. Maki was the only one that was able to truly take the assignment though, and she had determined that there was nothing that could be done. In the meantime, Sai had been placed in a separate class and quickly graduated by age 9 to avoid wasting more useless time in the Academy so that Danzo could 'apprentice' him and he could get back to work. Maki remained back to keep an eye on Naruto.
Danzo's plans did not stop with the entering of the kids in the Academy and their subsequent graduation however.
From that point Sai was to be specifically instructed on the ways of handling Root operations, Naruto would be molded towards outright politics and the like. The reason was that when Naruto became Hokage Sai would run Root and the two could actually work together behind closed doors to maximize the effectiveness of the unit and Naruto's eventual position as Hokage.
They knew that already due to Danzo's declaration of Naruto's 'final mission' months after his unsealing.
What they did not know was Maki's role down the timeline.
Maki and Naruto were intentionally meant to avoid the final test of Root conditioning that meant for one of them to defeat and kill the other in battle, allowing them to keep the bulk of their normal emotions and ways of interacting with others, something else they already knew. The reason why was the real issue however.
The two were meant to rely on the other more extensively than Sai. As Sai was being trained directly by Danzo on his important tasks Naruto and Maki would still be close together at all times when it was allowable; eating, sleeping, the whole nine yards, and especially on missions. The amount of time the two would have wound up spending together would have eventually forced them closer together than they normally would have had Sai been around constantly as well.
As the years passed this reliance would turn to attachment, the attachment would turn to something more… and the something more would eventually end up in Danzo's grand plan of things with Naruto and Maki in an actual relationship. Somehow no matter what they would have wound up married which would have given Naruto's political career a shot in the arm since by then he would have been seen as an important village figure for one reason or another.
Maki would then be Naruto's closest and most important confidant and the go-between for most of the things that he and Sai would communicate with each other for. This was an important role since suspicion of Sai would be high at this point as his 'personal training' from Danzo would be well known and mistrusted by the older guard that knew of Danzo and his philosophies and if the two seemed to be in overt cahoots it could stunt Naruto's ascent to the top. Sai would be the scapegoat for the suspicion cast by the rest of the village's players.
All the while the real pupil of Danzo that needed to be watched would be accepted to the alternative of Sai. Naruto would be free and clear to continue to climb the ladder.
As they continued to read it was actually very impressive how long-term and flexible the overall scope of the plan turned out to be, spanning decades with certain footnotes of things that could have been done at points to improve Naruto's chances of taking the hat one day. There were multiple branching scenarios, but they all lead to the end result of Naruto being Hokage and Sai running Root. There was one branching scenario however of the instance of Naruto dying in the field due to his status as one of the conventional forces' elites; it resulted in the widowed Maki somehow taking up Naruto's place and using his own developed credibility and reputation to become Hokage herself.
It was very impressive.
By the end of the notes, all Sai could do was turn to Maki to see the faint amount of red on her cheeks and that told the whole story. It was probably killing her to try and act so normal during the whole presentation and he knew it. He probably would have been laughing his ass off if he had emotions like that because he honestly found her reaction to be more amusing than if she had gone off on a tangent like a normal person might have.
Well neither of them particularly knew what to say in this instance, but the silence was actually starting to get awkward for even Sai, "So… that's quite something isn't it?" Maki only gave a stiff nod in return, apparently not trusting her voice enough to try and speak through the embarrassment, "Are you going to say anything?"
"What could I possibly say about that?" Maki asked quietly in an incredulous manner. She was supposed to marry Naruto had everything gone off without a hitch, and she could say that she could see why Danzo would have planned for that to happen, "I mean I care about Naruto-senpai a lot. I always did, but still… huh." She said, turning away and scratching her cheek, "…I probably would have ended up with him if he had never left."
Sai's smile was directed at her full force, "You wish you could marry senpai don't you Maki-san?"
"What?" Maki said, fully red-faced as she stood up from where she had been sitting, "I did not say that at all! How could you even ask me something like that? It's completely inappropriate!"
The smile never left Sai's face, "You haven't said you didn't yet." With that, Maki turned and abruptly left the room, leaving Sai by himself as he collected and prepared to burn the microfilm, "Hm, and here I thought that good natured teasing of one's comrades was a way to build stronger positive relationships…"
XxX
(A Few Hours Later – Naruto's Home)
All of the nine ninja that Naruto had graduated from the Academy with and Team Gai with Tayuya were in Naruto's home, seated all around the living room area. Being a good host, everyone wound up being content and fed as something of a minor 'you-didn't-get-killed-while-you-were-gone' party.
Kiba swore that the get together was just Naruto's way of saying, 'Look at my big-ass house and feel the jealousy.' And he was. He was feeling it full force, especially since Naruto's self-proclaimed servant Hamako was the hostess and was more or less treating this not like a servant but more like Naruto's wife, "Okay Naruto, it's good to see you again dude, but she's really getting to me." He finished pointing at Hamako over in another area of the room, talking with the females in attendance, "I still can't believe she lives with you, lucky bastard. Why can't anything cool like that happen to me?"
"I don't think you could take the karmic backlash that would come with it." Naruto remarked from his place in the kitchen, getting himself something to drink before he walked back into the main party area, "I'll be honest. When life is good it's really good, but when it rains it pours…" He finished, rubbing the back of Akamaru's ear as he spoke to Kiba, "Speaking of just seeing you guys again, I wanted to talk to you about that."
Sakura's attention quickly cut from the conversation she had been having with the others over to her former teammate like a bolt of lightning, "Did you run into Sasuke-kun?" She asked, knowing that was why he had been there in the first place. The tone she used to ask the question got a scoff out of Tayuya, sounding slightly distressed, "That's a legitimate question."
Naruto walked over to Tayuya and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright Tayuya-chan, this is the real reason I invited everyone here anyway. You know that." Tayuya begrudgingly nodded in agreement and let the matter drop, choosing to let Naruto deal with it. She still grumbled about it even as he walked away though.
"You invited everyone here at once to talk about the mission?" Shikamaru asked, having been on the mission to assist Naruto and bring him home, "Something happened didn't it?" He was making a statement more than asking a question, "You really did fight him didn't you?"
Naruto leaned against the countertop in the kitchen and let out a sigh, "That… was a rough day. I fought one member of Akatsuki, Deidara… got hurt against him, and then I managed to trail Sasuke and I found where he went off to after beating Tayuya-chan and Sakura. He went to fight Itachi."
Ino nearly jumped up out of her seat, "So Sasuke-kun really did fight his brother after all? What happened?"
"Let Naruto-kun talk." Tenten admonished the younger girl for cutting off the point he was trying to make, "Do you think he'd say all of that and wouldn't tell us what he saw?"
Naruto gave a grateful smile to Tenten and got serious once more as he kept speaking, "Sasuke did end up fighting Itachi… and me. We all fought each other." Even thinking about that fight made him flinch subconsciously. He officially had that filed as the third worst day of his entire career, "We ended up blowing up an entire fortress during the fight. Sasuke was so strong, I almost couldn't believe he could pull off one of the attacks that he did… and Itachi was just as scary as I always thought he would be in a battle." He wished he could describe just what he experienced better.
On the other hand, Sakura was listening to this and was putting the pieces together of what was being said. The tone of speech Naruto was using, the fact that Sasuke was not currently there with them, the fact that Naruto was using past-tense to describe anything. If Naruto had lost that battle he probably wouldn't have spoken about it, "Did you win?" Naruto's blue eyes cut towards her sharply and met her own emerald ones, nodding slightly, "Well, what happened in the end?" She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach about what happened, but she needed to hear it even if she didn't want to.
Well it was definitely moment of truth time now as he had everyone's undivided attention. He might as well tell them what happened, "Sasuke's seal on his neck housed Orochimaru's spirit while his body housed some absorbed parts of Orochimaru's remains. When he fought me and Itachi he copped out first, reached his limit before either of us. That let Orochimaru take over his body and turn into a monster. Itachi and I stopped it, but Sasuke had nothing else left to fight with. I tried to use my best jutsu to finish him off and Itachi jumped in to stop me with his own best jutsu. He didn't want me to take Sasuke out."
"So he blocked your attack?" Sakura said, sounding hopeful, hopes rising further when she saw Naruto nod.
"-But." Naruto said abruptly, "I already hit Sasuke with the same jutsu once before when he had turned into the Orochimaru monster. My attack completely tore apart his chakra network. The fact that he was still moving was something of lasting boost from turning into Orochimaru's monster that turning back to normal hid from me. My last attack was blocked, but my team told me that Sasuke died afterwards. I had done too much damage to him to keep forcing his body to move forward anymore."
Shino took in listening to everything that had been told and just decided that being blunt was the best course of action at this point, "So you're telling us that you managed to kill Sasuke Uchiha in battle." He stated in a straightforward manner, "I see…"
"Yeah." Naruto said, more or less understanding what the sentiment in the room was right now, "I would have at least recovered his body if I could have so that I could bring him back, but I wasn't able to stay awake any longer after Itachi blocked my last attack and it blew up in my face. I never hated him, but I wasn't about to pull punches in a fight like that after what I had seen." Both brothers had been out for his blood from the start.
Silence permeated the room as the information was given time to sink in. Most were of the opinion that Naruto had done what he had to do, Ino begrudgingly admitted such despite the fact that hearing the news was like a punch to the stomach. Still, she most certainly couldn't fault him for doing his job.
On the other hand, Sakura understood. She understood completely. She understood from every angle of the situation and there was a part of her that wished she had been strong enough to do the same when she and Tayuya had been faced with him. That still didn't stop the feeling that someone had stuck a knife into her heart and twisted it as far as it would go. She stayed in there for as long as she could, but her limit was only a minute or so after having the truth dropped upon her.
All that she had actually trained for ended up being for nothing. She had blown her only chance to get Sasuke back due to her own hesitance, and now she would never get another opportunity. He was lost to her forever.
"I'm sorry Sakura." Her tear filled eyes turned towards Naruto again to find him looking at her intently, "I know what it's like to lose someone important to you. Even if it's someone that no one else really feels any sorrow over losing, that doesn't make them matter any less to you." If Danzo hadn't been killed recently then he probably wouldn't have been able to relate in much of a way at all.
The apology was legitimate in what it was trying to convey, she could hear and feel that he meant what he had said. That didn't make it any better at the moment though. Tears were streaming down her face in silent lament before she could get through the room and up the stairs to exit through the front door.
Ino moved to follow after her, but stopped for a moment to spare a few words, "Naruto I'm sorry but someone's got to stay with her right now." And it was clear from Sakura's reaction that she had always felt far stronger about Sasuke than she did. She herself had almost been brought to tears, but that was more along the lines of someone familiar to her being revealed as dead. Sakura's grief was more heartfelt. Apologizing to everyone that she ran past upon leaving the house to chase after her friend, Ino quickly went after Sakura to find her.
Doing things to hurt others close to you even when you believe it's what's best for the majority of the people you desire to keep safe. There was probably a better way to handle Sasuke, as a matter of fact Naruto was sure that there was, but he was on the spot and he made a decision to fight as hard as he could to defeat Sasuke and end all of the potential threat that came with his prolonged survival.
Now he could see where the Uchiha Massacre might have come from, and from where his sealing came from. Those in charge didn't have the time to sit out and think of everything that could come into play to make a better decision. They made the best decision they could in urgent times, and mistakes were obviously going to be made, mistakes that were more important to some than to others. At the time these actions would seem like the best way to go about business. Damage control… and of course in hindsight one could see all kinds of different ways to handle a scenario that wouldn't be visible at the time of certain incidents.
The good cheer that had been abundant before Naruto's telling of events was clearly all dissipated at this point.
Being Hokage was definitely going to turn his blonde hairs grey if just talking to his friends about things like this made him feel like a real heel.
XxX
(The Next Day – Gates of Konohagakure no Sato)
The Mizukage, accompanied by a squad of her elites led by Ao, walked through the gates, sans hat and robes as she took in the sights and delighted in the double-takes she received from male passersby, "Ara? It looks like they're not used to seeing a foreign kage up close like this before." It probably also had to do with the fact that she was very beautiful, but she neglected to verbally state that fact, "This is a very beautiful village though." She commented to the Konoha guide leading the way.
"Yes Konoha is the guiding light of Hi no Kuni!" Maito Gai said as he led the way through the village enthusiastically, "Showing the entire country exactly how to burn with the flames of youth! I'm certain that your village is much the same since your civil war ended."
Ao couldn't help but smirk at the eccentric shinobi. In his own experience, Konoha usually had the weirdest collection of personalities. It sure didn't make them weak by any stretch of the imagination. As amusing as he was, if he underestimated this man for even a second it could be the end of him in battle. Fortunately they weren't here for anything like that. This was purely diplomatic, "The rebuild over the last few years has been steady to say the least. Your own dignitary could have told you that much though."
Gai blocked a frown from coming over his face at the mention of Danzo, not taking this moment to comment on his demise. That would come later if it was prudent to bring up during the kage meeting, "I hope you enjoy your stay here. If you require anything then feel free to ask for Konoha's Infamous Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Maito Gai!"
"I'll keep that in mind Gai-san." Mei said with an amused giggle before switching tones, "You are quite the specimen though." She commented on Gai's obvious good shape. Gai merely turned towards her and gave a thumbs up and a grin, complete with shining teeth effect.
Ao himself even had to comment on it, "I have to admit Gai-san, Mizukage-sama is right. I could say that we certainly need more men like you around in the village."
Mei however, only heard a few certain parts of that statement, 'Mizukage-sama… needs a man like you…' Having heard that from Ao, Mei turned towards him with a deceptively sweet smile on her face, "Ao, shut up or I'll kill you."
"Huh?" Ao said in confusion, 'I can't get away from it! Even in a completely different country! Wait, she can't do that here can she? I really hope not.'
XxX
(Mizu No Kuni)
An extremely disheveled Suigetsu looked down while breathing heavily, "You were tough… but today just wasn't your day my friend." He said, a satisfied look on his face. As if it were an old friend, he held Kubikiribouchou in his grasp as he held Samehada in the other. He had never taken the harness he had fashioned from before out of his usual mode of dress, always knowing that he would get the massive cleaver back one day, "And now I've got three." He said as he bent down and pried a scroll with the kanji for Hiramekarei on it from the hands of a fallen, bloodstained Choujuurou.
"You're finally done?" Karin said, walking up behind Suigetsu. She had some marks of battle on herself, but was otherwise fine. As she arrived, she looked down at Choujuurou and shook her head, "You sure took your time with him."
Suigetsu turned and began to walk away, "The guy wasn't weak at all. He actually knew exactly what he was doing with both swords. It was… really impressive." He said as a smile came on his face, remembering the battle.
"So how'd you win?"
"He didn't have the stamina to keep going." Suigetsu remarked, pointing to Samehada which was somehow stuck to his back over Kubikiribouchou that was back within its sheath. Karin nodded in understanding as Samehada was a terrifying weapon even if you knew what to expect from it, and it had been gone from Kirigakure for so long one would be hard-pressed to know too much about it in this current generation, "He tried switching weapons on the fly too much. Big mistake. He wasn't nearly fast enough to pull that off."
Karin could clearly see that Suigetsu was quite pleased with himself, and the fact that he now had three of the seven swords that he sought to gain possession of meant that the trip was worthwhile. Right now they had to get back to Juugo. They had left him to take down the rest of Choujuurou's accompanying squad on his own. Karin had left him by himself so that she didn't get caught up in the slaughter, "So now what do we do?"
"You still want Uzumaki don't you?" Suigetsu asked, getting an angry growl at the mere mention of the blonde shinobi, "Well then we train. Someone like that isn't going to be easy to beat, even if I do have these weapons with me. You're still all but useless in a fight with the guy." Having almost half of the swords he required, Suigetsu was content for the moment to focus on the wants of his teammates, at least for now.
"I'll break him with my own hands…" Karin muttered darkly. He took her beloved away from her, "I'll never forgive that murderous bastard. Ever!"
"Feel free." Suigetsu said, happy that there was finally something to drive Karin to not attempt to keep to the bare minimum of the shinobi arts, "Madara's going to call us soon enough for something new… and we'll be waiting." By the time they would be summoned by the mysteriously devious Uchiha they would be more than ready for whatever was next.
XxX
(Forests of Hi no Kuni)
Gaara didn't like to travel with an entire entourage. He never got to leave Suna very often due to his position as Kazekage, but when he did all he required for company were his siblings Kankuro and Temari. This was his choice of accompaniment for the meeting in Konoha with the Hokage, Mizukage, and Raikage. The only one he had ever seen in person was the Hokage, Tsunade, but he was more excited than nervous to meet the others for the first time.
As they travelled though, there was something that just seemed to nag at the back of his mind. Temari took notice of this, stopping their movement through the trees to talk about it, "Gaara what's bothering you?" Most people would be unable to decipher any issues with the stoic young man, but then again this was his sister who had been around long enough to pick up on the subtle nuances of Gaara's more restrained moods.
"It is nothing Temari." Gaara attempted to assure her, "It's just something that I'm certain is normal when a leader leaves their village alone." He left Baki in charge, and he knew that the man was a fantastic leader to keep things moving in his stead, but there was still something eating at him for some reason.
He had no reason to think of, but he just couldn't help but have a sense of foreboding about something.
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