Chapter 4: Uneasy Alliance?
Naruto looked down at the world beneath him and then decided to look straight back up again. He wasn't completely comfortable flying at that height and was beginning to regret the decision to fly on a bird that was made of ink.
"Sai, how much further is it?" Naruto asked nervously, glancing over at his companion who didn't seem fazed at all.
"I'd say about 10 minutes if the wind stays as it is" Said replied in his monotone voice. "Surely the great 6th Hokage, the man who defeated the invincible Madara, isn't scared of the height?"
Naruto pulled a face and turned away. Sai's jokes were annoying at the best of times and he didn't much feel like listening to them in this situation. Instead, he relaxed and thought about the situation at hand. Was the attacker trying to kill all the Kage's, or did he just have a grudge against Ay? How did he get through the Hidden Cloud's defenses undetected and defeat the Raikage with such ease? He hoped that these questions would be answered sooner rather than later.
Finally, there was a break in the clouds and Naruto noticed buildings that appeared to be floating in the sky. They had finally made it and not a second too soon.
"The building on the far left is much wider than the rest and appears to have several people already waiting outside. I'd say that's the designated meeting point," Sai said, pointing towards a large domed shaped building. As they landed, several Lords from the Land of Lightning greeted Naruto and Sai and Naruto was quickly ushered in to the room.
"Sai" Naruto said as he turned back towards his friend, "Send a message back to Kakashi telling him we've arrived safely. Hinata would kill me if I didn't update her." They both laughed as Naruto entered the room, which had a much more gloomy atmosphere. Naruto looked around at the four other Kage who were already seated and ready to begin talks. Slightly embarrassed, Naruto took his seat and looked over to where the Raikage would usually sit and stared at the white haired man who was sat in his place. He had dark brown skin and a muscular physique and his presence didn't surprise Naruto. He always thought that this man would replace the Raikage, although he expected it wouldn't be in such depressing circumstances.
"So Darui" Naruto said, breaking the silence, "You've been made Raikage. That was a quick change around even in the circumstances. So the situation is as serious as I thought."
"I'm not officially Raikage yet, as the Jonin haven't voted" Darui replied, "I've just been appointed by the Feudal Lord to oversee things for the time being. It seems a pretty dull job overall and I'm not sure if I want it full time, but I'll do what I have to."
Naruto smiled as he thought of the similarities between Darui and his Sensei Kakashi, who desperately didn't want to be Hokage despite being an outstanding candidate for the job.
"Now we've got the greetings out of the way, let's get down to business" Gaara said, the Kazekage clearly restless about the situation. "Lord Raikage, what do you know about the attacker?"
Darui sighed before he started talking.
"We know next to nothing" he said, "No one saw the person who did this. However, we do have one piece of crucial information about them. The Hokage in particular should be able to shed more light on just how important this information is."
Naruto felt all eyes turn towards him, but he kept looking forwards, fixed on Darui. How could he possibly help more than the intelligent people in the room?
"Judging by the wound on the body and the evidence provided by people who were near the area at the time" Darui began, building up to something, "We've deduced that the attack used was the lightening based Chidori."
"Hold on a second" came the voice of the stunningly beautiful woman sitting to the Raikage's left, "Isn't Chidori the signature technique of Kakashi Hatake of the Leaf Village?"
She turned towards Naruto as, once again, all eyes moved towards him.
"Yes Lady Mizukage, that is Kakashi Sensei's technique" Naruto replied, sensing the shock around the room. "I'm not sure what else I can tell you apart from that."
"Well, who else knew the technique?" was the moan from the small old man slumped in the corner. The Tsuchikage was an irritable man at the best of times and listening to Naruto's confusion only added to his displeasure.
"Well" Naruto started, "The only other person that Kakashi taught the technique to was Sasuke Uchiha."
A long silence followed as each Kage thought about how to approach the subject. Finally, Gaara spoke up.
"Given that Kakashi didn't teach the technique to anybody else" he began, "The culprit here must be linked to Sasuke somehow. Naruto, your village has a lot of Intel on Sasuke, is there anybody that he could have possibly taught the technique to?"
Naruto shook his head slowly. "Not that I can think of. I can send a message back to the village to look through our records to see if anyone sticks out. However, I've read everything about Sasuke and I really don't think we'll find anything."
There was another period of silence as frustration began to set in. This time, the Raikage spoke up.
"There's one more thing I have to tell you about the attack" he said, his tone one of fear. "After doing the post mortem on the body, the doctors concluded that Lord Ay was on his knees when the killing blow came. This wasn't a surprise attack or a hard fought battle. Whoever did this, won with absolute ease."
Darui forced himself to stop as his anger threatened to boil over. In times gone by, the Raikage would have smashed the table in front of him whenever he was worked up. Darui's calmer reactions could not have been a greater contrast and it really reinforced the point that Ay was gone and not coming back.
"We'll find who did this" Naruto declared, standing up from his seat. "Even if it takes years, we will find this person together, I promise you that." Naruto's bold statement brought comfort to the proceedings as talk turned towards other matters. The unity between the nations had never been more obvious as it was that day.
In another land, far away from the Hidden Cloud Village, rain fell from the sky. A storm was brewing in the atmosphere and was about to intensify. Standing outside of his mountain hideout and experiencing the conditions was Sasuke Uchiha. He was dressed in a black cloak with the Uchiha Crest printed on the back. He was stood on a ledge with his former teammates Suigetsu and Jugo, watching as his subordinates from the Sound Village finished the preparations below them.
"Everything is ready to go Sasuke" Suigetsu said, hoping that Sasuke would be pleased. Fortunately, the news brought a smile to his face.
"Finally" he rasped, as he focused on the scene in front of him. "It's taken longer than expected, but that doesn't matter anymore. We're finally ready to exact my revenge."
The use of the word "my" wasn't lost on Suigetsu and Jugo, but they didn't mention it. They were under no illusions that Sasuke consider them anything other than tools used to reach his goals. However, they knew that fighting for Sasuke was much better than fighting against him.
Sasuke stared up into the sky and watched as the rain began to fall heavier and the storm reached its peak. Finally Sasuke raised his hand, which was a well-known sign among his workers that he was going to address them. Sasuke hated being ignored, so everyone stopped and listened as soon as they noticed him.
"You have all done well" Sasuke started, without any sarcasm or sincerity in his voice. "It's finally time to execute my plan. However, I don't need any unnecessary baggage. Now that you've completed your tasks I have no more use for you. Goodbye."
Just as Sasuke finished speaking, a great beast made of lightning appeared in the sky. Sasuke then brought his arm down and the beast moved along with it. The resulting carnage was too much even for Suigetsu to watch. Sasuke, however, laughed as he watched the attack crash into the earth and as he heard the howls of pain from his unsuspecting victims. Even after the attack, the storm did not subside. Sasuke surveyed the damage below and he smiled as he realized the bodies were not damaged.
"Looks like I held back enough" Sasuke said, allowing himself to laugh once more. He then turned towards the darkness of the forest behind him.
"You can come out now" he called out and watched as a figure emerged from the trees. Suigetsu and Jugo gasped as they realized just who it was Sasuke was talking to.
"Wait a minute!" Suigetsu exclaimed. "You're, you're-"
"Kabuto Yakushi" Jugo said, as the hooded figure slithered out from his hiding place and stood next to Sasuke.