A.N. And now I'm back! Extremely sorry for the long delay, but it was honestly not my fault! Somewhere around the beginning of this chapter, my formerly well behaved plot bunny has been acting like the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
So now that that's done, and assuming that none of you particularly want to kill me yet (We'll get there one day, one can always hope) here is the 11th installment of the Tales of the Arcane.
Oh, and by the way... Happy Children's Day!
P.A.N Sorry for the Monty Python reference. Just couldn't resist!
Disclaimer: Still not owning anything even remotely connected to Naruto. Though I have heard that a guy called Kishimoto is hoarding everything, the bastard. Why don't you ask him?
Chapter 11 : Aftershocks
…
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!…
Defying Gravity – Wicked
…
Naruto had finally escaped Mito after what had felt like hours of insistent, and highly irritating, prodding by her. Now, after finally escaping her frankly unsettling impersonation of a mother hen, Naruto was standing on a half-ruined rampart, staring down at the unique architecture of Uzushiogakure with clouded eyes and thinking back to what Mito had told him of the reasons for his relocation to the Uzumaki ancestral land.
Looking at the ruins of what could have, in another lifetime, been his home Naruto felt a melancholy steal across his very being. Naruto had never been one to brood excessively, and he had never complained about his lot in life. Still, that did not stop the feeling that his life would have been much better had his kin, the Uzumaki whose life blood permeated the very soil of this ancient land, had survived.
He had not expected more out of the people in Konoha; he knew that his presence was both unwanted and unwelcome to the general populace. And he knew that his popularity would only further plummet after they heard of his removal of the Uchiha, expected it even. But this was not the blind fury at the loss of an idol at his hands that he would allow to disperse. This was the reopening of old wounds – and even more appalling to him, it was urging Konoha to war by the demonizing of the jinchuuriki, and Gaara. Gaara, he felt, deserved better. The boy had been moulded by the demonization of his own village, and he deserved the chance to make his amends and rebuild the bridges that had been burnt between him and his family, not to be used as a lynchpin to further the ambitions of a warhawk.
To use their hatred for him to persuade them to go to war – that was unforgivable. However long it took, Naruto would find a way to get even with this Shimura Danzo. He would not have the deaths of thousands of people on his head, for it was Konoha's hatred of him that they were transferring onto Naruto. The only people in Konoha to ever be able to hold a legitimate grudge against Gaara were Lee, Sakura and him. Other than that, the only damage Gaara had ever done to Konoha was to destroy about a square mile of woodland.
A cool breeze was flowing, salty with the proximity to the sea and invigorating with its chilly wetness. The calm felt overwhelming; he supposed that he had not yet settled into his routine from the nerve wracking ordeal that had been his last mission. Though, he thought cynically, in a certain sense, he was still in the mission, seeing as he had yet to step foot in Konoha and get debriefed.
A sardonic grin came to his face as he considered his position, his eyes staring blankly at the distant cliffs. It surely had to be unique; he had certainly never heard of someone who had to be protected from being lynched by a mob for the successful completion of a mission.
He sighed. He would face what came when it did, and baa-chan probably had everything under control already. No, this was not the time to act rashly or to lash out at everybody. His own standing was too precarious for that, and he had no desire to destroy Konoha at the roots. No, this was the time to fortify, to train, to find the lay of the land as Iruka-sensei used to say, and he had no intention of prematurely showing his hand to the public and giving his opponents a chance to see him out of Konoha. Whatever happened, he would see his way to the Hokage seat, and he would rule over those that tried to trample him. Naruto could see no other revenge that could so poetically satisfy him than that.
A cry of a lone sea gull far away in the distance brought him out of his reverie, and as he looked at the source of the cry that was just a speck in the sky, he, for the first time since he had arrived in this lone deserted relic of his clan's bygone days, saw the serene beauty of the island of Uzu and the regal town that his ancestors had built upon it.
Uzushiogakure, bathed as it was in tepid morning light, had an unearthly feeling of surrealism about it. The dull sunlight shone off the faded red spirals etched in the toppled stone columns that dominated the central village. And outside the immediate village walls lay the greater expanse of the Uzu Island, in all its glory.
The Uzu Island, which he had noticed in his geography lessons as the one island every geography teacher had skipped over, was elliptical in shape. On one end, where he was now, was a vast plain that melded into the steep cliffs that faced the rough seas surrounding them. This was what the Uzumaki clan of old had turned into their refuge, building their vast fortress city in the wide fertile plains hemmed in by the untraversable sea. On the other side, casting an immense shadow over the human settlement below it, was a huge extinct volcano that was now overgrown in lush grasslands with occasional patches of heavy brush dotting the slope. Halfway up the volcano, squarely facing the village and shaped like a giant five point cross with curved arms and with a circular structure in the centre, and it was the oldest surviving building known to be created by the Uzumaki. It was one of the most sacred landmarks of the clan; the Uzumaki ritual chamber.
From what Ghost Lady had told him the ritual chamber was the place where the larger seals, which often required more than one participant, were activated. Said to be protected by fuinjutsu formulae so ancient that even the Uzumaki clan considered them legend, the ritual chamber was one of the only buildings, the other being the clan leader's office where he was residing now, to escape damage in the vicious sacking of the Uzumaki homeland. Only an Uzumaki by blood or a person with express willing permission from an Uzumaki and a lack of intent to harm the Uzumaki could enter the ritual chamber. Sadly, the Uzumaki had been so caught off guard that none could retreat to the structure before the opposing armies had formed a perimeter around the building.
Looking at the sprawling structure, he made a note to explore it sometime soon; he couldn't wait to analyze the obscure seals that, according to Mito, absolutely littered the walls of the structure.
It had not occurred to him before, Naruto realized as he stared at his surroundings curiously, how much he had missed having a home he could belong to. For while the buildings surrounding him were mostly ruins, some still blackened, crushed or otherwise marked by the genocide that had occurred here almost half a century ago, and the buildings that did survive were made in a strange amalgam of Corinthian columns and domed roofs, just looking at the vast expanse before him bought him a sense of acceptance that he had missed for so long.
A puff of smoke (chakra smoke, he recognized its unique texture) escaping from the, as far as he knew, abandoned ritual chamber made him look up with a start. Startled, half formed thoughts started to fill his mind as he stared at the slowly dispersing smoke in panic. It couldn't be Mito – that much he knew.
When he had last left her she had been preparing to go to sleep, and anyway the positioning of the office space they were using as a home made it impossible for anyone, even if they were translucent like Mito preferred to be, to cross over to the structure without being noticed by Naruto.
That left an outsider, somebody inside one of the most sacred buildings to the Uzumaki no less. Or – Here Naruto's heart clenched – it could be an Uzumaki, some long lost relation of his that had miraculously escaped the purge.
No, he wouldn't get his hopes up in vain. For now he would assume that the person inside the ritual chamber was not supposed to be there. Seeing as he was loath to wake Mito for this, it meant that he was going to have to face this threat by himself.
As he leapt off the rampart and stealthily made his way up the mountainside, he felt a smirk creeping up his face. He really wouldn't have it any other way. After all, what better way to measure his recovery than another fight?
…
The first thing Naruto noticed as he stealthily snuck into the central hall of the ritual chamber was the water. Relatively still and slowly draining from several cutouts in the floor near the walls of the building that were presumably used in its heyday to wash away the giant inked seals from the floor, was a layer of water that was about ankle-deep.
So far as he walked through the southernmost spoke of the ancient structure, everything had been as normal as could be expected from a structure that was predominantly used for sealing. Old, worn walls, made of grainy light coloured stone that was superimposed with seals that permeated the very structure of the stone, dominated the building. In a trough in the centre was a strange mound of loose earth, cycling through every species of earth Naruto had seen and a fair few that he hadn't, running the length of the spoke of the star. He could swear that there had been gold ore at one point.
At the end of the spoke however, where a narrow open doorway with hefty stone doors of the same light grey stone of the walls led into the main central hall, was a stationary wall of water that seemed unable to flow past the inner boundary of the room. Instead it curled around itself, forming a pulsing liquid bubble that contained the water within the central chamber.
Gingerly testing his footing, Naruto stepped onto the water layer trying to utilize water walking. The water, somewhat to his surprise, did exactly as he expected it to and held his weight. So the water was not some sort of last defense of the building. That had to mean that this water was somehow a creation of the intruder.
Now more wary than ever before, Naruto slowly tiptoed towards the very centre of the chamber, being careful not to disturb the water too much. It was a useless precaution if the water layer was the base for a sensory jutsu, but he did not want to tempt his somewhat unstable luck by splashing around.
However, as soon as he reached the very centre of the room, he had to stifle a gasp. From his current position he could see down each of the doors leading to the spoke like protrusions in the odd shaped building, and the grandeur of the sight and realization of exactly what it was, was almost enough to make him forget why he came here in the first place.
At first glance, all the spokes were relatively identical. Stone doors opening up to long curving corridors of light coloured stone, with a large trough running along the length until the corridor curved out sight. It was what was contained in the troughs however, that had him gaping. While the one he had traversed had contained soil – no, Earth, he corrected himself – the others had very different contents.
The one to the right of the one had come through seemed to be empty at first glance, though when he stared closer, it seemed to contain some sort of gas that was denser than air, judging from the way distorted the light passing through it. However what caught his attention was the way small bluish sparks of electricity – Lightning – arced throughout the strange cloud.
The one next to it was somewhat smoky. Continuous gouts of steamy smoke – Wind – bellowed from what appeared to be vents at the bottom of the trough, swirling in an ever moving cloud of steam and smoke.
To his left was a pool – Water – stretching into the distance and obscured by clouds of steam. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that at least one of the clouds would be fog instead steam, if the water spoke followed the theme of the earth one. It was also obviously disturbed, which Naruto guessed was not its natural state. Well, that at least answered where the water flooding the central chamber had come from.
Finally, between Water and Wind was perhaps the most astonishing sight of it all. The trough was filled to the brim with lava, churning restlessly and letting off great plumes of flame – Fire. In the distance he could see a patch of asphalt, burning steadily and letting off gouts of pitch black smoke.
What sounded suspiciously like a girlish giggle brought Naruto out of his trance at the sight of the giant elemental wheel, for that was what it obviously was, that surrounded the Uzumaki ritual chamber. Carefully tiptoeing to the door and poking his head inside the water spoke, he again heard the same girlish giggle echoing in the stone corridor. He slowly sneaked into the corridor, creeping forward into the mist following the source of the continuous waves that flowed from whoever was in the corridor.
Suddenly, through the mist blanketing the corridor Naruto noticed the silhouette of a small humanoid shape leaning against what looked like a giant boulder and seemingly half submerged in the water.
Naruto's reflexes flared, leftover instincts from his multiple back to back battles; in an instant, a kunai was in his hand as he shot forward in a chakra enhanced leap. As the target came into view through the mist, Naruto barely had time to notice a pair of dark female eyes, wide open in surprise, before he was on her, kunai flashing in an arc towards her unprotected throat.
There was a whizzing sound of displaced air as something snapped past his face towards him, and then Naruto's eyes, which had been narrowed in concentration, snapped open in surprise.
A small hand slammed into his kunai wielding wrist, while another folded his elbow inwards. His other hand was caught in an iron grip, pulling him towards his assailant. Caught off guard, Naruto's own momentum carried him forward onto his own kunai until he jerked abruptly to a halt, teetering on the edge of the trough with his kunai tracing a fine crimson line across his own throat.
For a moment Naruto stilled, the face of Naruto's opponent still obscured by the remnants of the mist as he found himself in a rather embarrassing position, completely at the mercy of his enemy.
The two hands holding his own were petite; soft, pale, well manicured and utterly feminine, but wrapping around his wrists in an unexpectedly strong grip. A stray drop of water slowly eked its way down the hand holding his own kunai to his throat, finally dripping off the elbow. Naruto gulped at the sight, trying to ignore it to look at his silent captor's face, while the kunai dug even further into his throat at the attempt. A fine trickle of blood ran down his throat, which was ignored by him in favor of trying to get a view of his captor, whose face was still obscured by the remnants of mist hanging between them. A sudden panic gripped him. He did not want to die here, not now when he had so much to do. But the kunai digging into his throat deterred any thoughts of escape. High regeneration or not, he was not willing to bet his life on the chance that the Kyuubi could reattach a severed head. He couldn't even use chakra, seeing as any further strain, according to the Ghost Lady, could cripple his chakra network completely.
It was after what had seemed like an lifetime, when he heard a feminine sigh. Then the kunai slackened around his neck.
"Really, Naruto-kun," his captor's soft spoken voice (He knew that voice, but where) asked with obvious exasperation, "what were you doing? You were supposed to be in bed!"
And then he was released. Naruto flailed around for a moment before he regained his balance, before he settled into a wary stance, still not recognizing the voice. Though, he thought, puzzled, he had heard that voice before, somewhere.
Then two arms emerged from the fog in front of him, before his assailant pulled herself out of the water as the fog started to dissipate, revealing Shizune and an enormous blue and white slug. Naruto's mind stuttered to a halt, before he started blushing furiously. Looking back at him was a vaguely pixyish face, young and graceful, framed by dark hair that now stuck wetly to her face. Large sparkling doe like eyes stared at him, staring at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. A lone water drop trickled down her delicate neck…
"Ne, Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Shizune stepped forward, looking worriedly at the weeping cut from his kunai, but he couldn't respond, trying as he was to understand the view before him.
By now, he could feel his face heating up in an overwhelming blush; the world was spinning around him as he stared at the Hokage's apprentice, unable to tear his eyes away. That teasing drop of water trailed its way down, down, leaving a glistening trail on her pale skin…
With a sound halfway between a sigh and a snort Naruto pitched forward, falling into the pool with a perverse grin on his face.
Panicking, Shizune hurriedly grabbed the unconscious Naruto and hauled him out of the water. "I didn't hurt him that bad, did I, Katsuyu-sama?" She asked the bemused slug beside her frantically, running a diagnostic jutsu on the unconscious redheaded genin.
Katsuyu groaned, slapping one of her longer eye stalks to her face in a parody of a facepalm. Shizune turned to her, confused.
"There's nothing wrong with the boy, Shizune-san." The slug's voice was dry but a hint of amusement laced it, further confusing the brunette.
Shizune became even more flustered. "What do you mean, Katsuyu-sama? Naruto-kun just fainted for no reason – he must be hurt!"
Katsuyu snorted. "Look at yourself, Shizune-san," she said, laughter in her tone, "All that's wrong with that boy is that he's male."
"What do you mean, Katsuyu-sama?"
"Just look at yourself."
Puzzled, Shizune looked down and then froze, a furious blush blooming on her face. A moment later, a shrill scream echoed through the chamber.
"Aaaaaaiiiiiiiii!"
"I told you it was a bad idea to take a bath here," Katsuyu said drily, rolling her eyestalks at the Hokage's apprentice as she shrunk into the water, blushing in embarrassment.
…
Naruto stared at the air a foot above Shizune's right shoulder, trying not to blush. Shizune was resolutely looking down, submerged to her chin in the icy water and blushing up a storm. On the other side of the wide trough, Katsuyu seemed to be enjoying their predicament. The whole situation was awkward in the extreme, Naruto thought as he sneaked another glance at the Hokage's apprentice.
"Ne, Shizune nee-chan," he started tentatively. Shizune sunk further into the pool, her blush intensifying. "Can we pretend this never happened, dattebayo?"
Shizune groaned, mortified, as Katsuyu chuckled from the other side of the trough. "Okay, Naruto-kun," she squeaked out, relieved. "This never happened."
Katsuyu interrupted them, a teasing note in her voice. "Oh, I don't know about that, Shizune-san. By the way, Tsunade-sama told me to tell you that she better not have any grandkids anytime soon."
Naruto choked, even as Shizune gave Katsuyu a wounded look. "Why did you tell Tsunade-sama?"
Katsuyu giggled, and Naruto finally found his voice. "Baa-chan? Baa-chan knows?" He asked, horrified.
The giant slug grinned, her eyes glinting mischievously. Naruto groaned. "She's never going to let me live that down, is she?" He asked Shizune, who nodded her head morosely.
Naruto "I'm doomed."
A demure giggle from Katsuyu distracted Naruto's attention from his own imminent death via humiliation. Scowling at the giggling slug, he muttered petulantly, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up…"
Halfway through his grumbling, he paused suddenly as a thought struck him. "Um… How did you tell baa-chan, dattebayo?"
Katsuyu, who was idly waving an eye stalk as she watched the humorous byplay stopped giggling, looking puzzled. "… I just told her, young Naruto-kun. I can talk, you know."
"But you're here now, so you can't be telling her now…" Naruto elaborated, in a manner befitting someone teaching a grown up that yes, one and one did equal two.
Katsuyu reared up in the water, insulted by Naruto's insinuation. "I don't need to explain my magnificent abilities to a rude child like you," she huffed indignantly, pinning Naruto with a glare. Naruto inwardly quailed; why did he always end up angering giant animals. He would have thought that facing Orochimaru's snake summons, Gamabunta and the Ichibi no Shukaku would have been enough for one lifetime.
Trying to act nonchalant, Naruto slowly retreated away from the towering summon, when he bumped into somebody behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with Shizune, who had a forced smile on her face. Naruto gulped; he knew that type of smile, though he couldn't tell for the life of him what he had done to deserve it.
"She can tell Tsunade-sama what's going on because she's Tsunade-sama's summon, Naruto-kun. She can send a clone of herself to Tsunade-sama." Shizune spoke softly as she always did, but the hint of steel in her tone let him know for certain that he had done something to earn her ire.
Shaking off thoughts of possible death via Hokage's apprentice off, Naruto looked inquisitively at the giant slug, only to swiftly turn back at the forbidding expression on the giant summon's face. He had never even known that a giant slug could frown like that!
He knew that summons could do jutsu, but still a summon that could create clones seemed like a useful ability. He would know; after all, he was probably the person who used clones most often in all of Konoha.
"However," Shizune continued, narrowing her eyes at Naruto, bringing him out of his thoughts with a start, "I don't you talking to Katsuyu-sama like that."
Naruto looked at her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He hadn't said anything else to make her mad, had he? Then a part of what she had said earlier finally trickled through his mind, and all thoughts of his supposed folly flew out of his mind.
"Heh?" Naruto exclaimed, advancing on a somewhat unnerved Katsuyu with a maniacal gleam in his eyes, former trepidation forgotten. "You're baa-chan's summon Katsuyu? No way! I saw her before, she's way larger than you are!"
"I-I-I am Katsuyu, Naruto-san," Katsuyu stammered, shocked enough by the sudden turnaround in the redhead's behaviour to lose her composure, and thus her frown. Edging away from his face, which was almost touching hers as he examined her, she tried pleading her Mistress' apprentice for help. However, she found Shizune leaning back in the water, muffling her giggles as she watched the giant slug slowly retreat from the insane redhead looking for all the world like a man backing off from a snake. "Umm… Naruto-san… Can you umm… back away a bit?"
"Ne, Ne," he tilted his head to a side inquisitively, completely ignoring her request. He was now examining one of Katsuyu's eye stalks. "What are you doing here anyway, dattebayo?"
"I summoned her, Naruto-kun." Shizune said seriously. "She was just acting as a medium for me to communicate with Tsunade-sama."
"Oh." For a moment, he stared at her blankly. All of a sudden, his frivolity seemed inconsequential; feeling very much flat, Naruto slowly settled back into the water, staring intently at Shizune, waiting for her to continue.
Instead of saying any further though, Shizune merely gestured to Katsuyu. The slug huffed, before it literally split before his eyes, and a miniature version of the slug split itself from main body and headed towards Naruto, climbing up his torso and settling on his shoulder. Naruto stared at the miniature slug in apprehension. Of course, the term miniature was relative. This slug clone was infinitesimally smaller than the behemoth that Tsunade had summoned against Orochimaru, but it was nonetheless at least as long as those giant blood sucking leeches in the forest of death.
Then the slug spoke in Tsunade's voice. "Hey there brat! What is this I here of you peeking on Shizune?"
Naruto stared at the slug in horror, spluttering, as Shizune squealed in embarrassment and Katsuyu giggled in the background. "Baa-chan!" He gasped, finally finding his voice.
A boisterous giggle answered him, before Tsunade responded, her voice teasing. "Just kidding, brat. If you were really peeping, Grandmother would beat you up before I could." Naruto couldn't help but notice she seemed inordinately pleased at the fact.
"Yeah, yeah, old hag, laugh it up," he grumbled, but there was no heat in his retort. The exchange of insults was just another part of the routine between them. Sure enough, Tsunade replied as he expected.
"Don't call me old, you brat!"
"I call 'em as I see 'em, baa-chan. That little genjutsu isn't fooling me, dattebayo!" He taunted Tsunade, a grin tugging at his lips, before his mood plummeted as he remembered exactly why he was talking to Tsunade. As much fun as it was, Naruto was still uneasy about the potential news from Konoha. Interrupting the expected roar of insulted pride from his Hokage, Naruto slid into his rarely seen serious mood. "Baa-chan, what is happening in Konoha?"
A gusty sigh answered him. "A long night was what happened, brat. If it wasn't for the sake I would have probably come over there and killed you myself."
Naruto's mouth twitched at Tsunade's quip, but he soldiered on. He really was going to go mad with anticipation if he didn't know what was going on. "Jokes aside, baa-chan, what really happened? Is Konoha still going to war with Suna, cause if it is I'm coming to Konoha and kicking some arse, no matter what you say!"
"And that's exactly why you're not coming back now, brat!" Tsunade snapped at him. "I've got enough trouble in here trying to control the sheep without you trying to blow holes in it with your chains!"
Sighing, she continued in a more subdued tone. "Frankly, brat, it's been utter chaos in here for the last few hours, and the ANBU patrols are still cleaning up the mess."
Naruto's eyebrows shot up at that. The ANBU were never called in to settle a political dispute because they were not supposed to have any say in politics at all. Even the presence of the ANBU commander in the Konoha council was to give the Hokage an inlet into the workings of the lower administrative body. In fact, upon entering ANBU, the shinobi in question had to give up all clan positions, clan memberships or any other civic position in Konoha and dedicate their whole life in the posted time period to the whims of the Hokage, as long as the Hokage is not blatantly traitorous. And even then it was a fine line, with any act potentially treasonous.
For the ANBU to be called in, Naruto thought worriedly, there must have either been a direct threat to Tsunade herself, or an enemy threatening Konoha. "ANBU?" He asked, confused. "Why would you need ANBU?"
Another sigh came over the line. "Well, I suppose I better tell you what happened from the beginning, Naruto," Tsunade's voice sounded resigned coming out of the slug.
…
FLASHBACK
…
There was, Tsunade thought as she walked down the cavernous corridors leading to the Konoha Council Chambers, a certain irony in the way the things had come around full circle. Her grandfather, the founder of Konoha, had been the one to set up the Konoha council, as part of his system of power checks to prevent a Hokage from straying from the narrow path. It had lost power during the exacting rule of the Nidaime, who suffered no fools, and regained power during the rule of the peace loving Sandaime, her teacher. It had almost been dissolved during the short reign of the charismatic Fourth and his radical views on what was acceptable for a shinobi, which the council, even then lead by Danzo, had vehemently opposed. When a tired Sandaime had been reinstated after the Kyuubi disaster however, the council, which had been on its last legs with the restrictions the Fourth had imposed, struck back with a vengeance, acquiring a power base that, by the time she took the reins, had all but eclipsed her own. In a way, what had once been a tool to prevent excess authority in one person had itself acquired more power than necessary, and was now threatening the great tree that was Konoha.
So yes, it was ironic that that an institution whose sole purpose had been to be a power check for a de facto dictator would have to be dissolved, not because of a dictatorial Hokage forcibly taking power, but because the council had become the very thing it had been built to oppose. And she, Senju Tsunade, was no weak leader who stood by and let things happen just because she was new to the job. There had been a reason, after all, why she had been recalled from almost a decade of what had essentially been desertion (she had no illusions about that. It had been desertion) and offered the position of Hokage.
From the corner of her eyes, she watched the jounin behind her as they jogged behind her as she strode along the long wooden corridor towards the large oaken door that barred the path to the council. For a moment, she was distracted by the urgency in their movements, straining to catch up to her. Really, what was ninja training coming to? When she was their age, and even now, this was a comfortable relaxing pace. Shaking her head, she refocused on the present; she would have time to ponder the declining standards later. She narrowed her eyes at the thought of the coming conflict, for conflict there was going to be. That mummified relic was not someone to be easily dissuaded from their path.
Asuma was slouched, and at first glance he looked as bored and utterly unconcerned with what was happening around him as he normally did, but closer scrutiny revealed the fact that his cigarette was unlit, simply dangling limply from his lips as if he had forgotten he had it. In addition, his eyes were darting across their surroundings, taking in every single detail and processing it in an instant. Tsunade chuckled to herself; that boy was sometimes more analytical than a Nara.
On the other side however, was the real object of her thoughts. Maito Gai, resident taijutsu master of Konoha and self proclaimed 'green beast', and a man who was one of the most intelligent men in Konoha while also being the most eccentric. And that was not a title to take lightly in a ninja village, especially one as open minded as Konoha, being abound with oddities such as Jiraiya, Anko, Genma, and Kakashi. That was not to say that she didn't have her own little quirks, because all high ranked ninja had them. She was just concerned because after Jiraiya, who was iffy at best and unreliable at worst, Maito Gai was the next prospect for Hokage, seeing as Kakashi was out of the question and Kurenai, the only other prospect with the proper temperament and drive was way too naïve for the job. And that thought was unsettling; Gai as Hokage? The mind boggled.
It was with a bit of a start that she noticed that she was in front of the council chambers. Through the solid door, she could already hear the heated 'debate' that was going on inside. Inwardly, she smirked. It was show time.
…
Slamming the broad oak doors as she strode into the chamber, chakra writhing around her frame like a contained storm of power, Tsunade knew she cut an impressive figure as she stared into the faces of the council members, stalking past them to her seat. Her instinct was telling her whatever followed from this meeting would be pivotal in their future endeavors, and she hadn't got this far by ignoring her instincts.
The council chamber in Konoha was a vast structure, dating back to the reign of the Shodaime and lined with privacy and anti-eavesdropping seals of Mito Senju's own design. Towards the centre of the room, facing the reinforced entrance was a skewed horseshoe shaped table that seated all its members, the longer right wing containing the clan heads, department heads and clanless ninja representatives, the left wing containing civilian representatives and the retired ninja groups representatives who were considered a lower part of the elder council, and the head of the table containing the seat of the Hokage surrounded by the elder council.
And they all (she was amused to note that this even included Hiashi Hyuga, who was generally considered incapable of such plebian things as emotions) were staring at her bug-eyed.
The civilian representatives, an obese banker, a hag-like woman with scraggly graying blond hair who was a shop owner of some repute, and a bald headed man with a perpetual sneer who was a merchant, were all half standing up, obviously interrupted in the middle of having a shouting match with the other end of the table. Tsunade's derisive glance speared through them, and as one they dropped back into their seats, looking pale from the tightly controlled killing intent flowing from her. She scoffed internally, she had never expected anything less from that set of bumbling fools; they would have jumped through hoops for Danzo even if the plan had not included more revenue for them and a chance to get rid of Naruto.
The retired ninja representatives included a gruff grizzled man with a goatee and an eye-patch who had been called Ryuuken of the Lightning fist before he was cut down through his back by an Iwa-nin during a skirmish in the Second war leading to his retirement. The other was a genial looking man with soft features and a visible scar tracing his jawline and disappearing into his voluminous robes called Shinji, also called the Shinji of the Rainbow Mist who had been one of the foremost genjutsu users in his heyday. Right now though, both were sitting back in their seats, obviously relaxed and enjoying the entertainment as the surroundings went to hell around them. Tsunade could barely stop the snort that came to her as her gaze passed those two; wise they may have been, and old, being only slightly younger than Sarutobi-sensei himself, but those two were as uninspired as a Nara on their best days. And it was quite apparent that they would be content to merely watch the drama around them, without ever actually entering the debate.
On the right wing, the clanless ninja representatives consisted of Genma and Raido, highly respected clanless jounin who had both been part of the Yondaime's guard squad during their ANBU stint. They were both on their feet, having being surprised, she guessed, while they were shouting at Danzo up at the head of the table. They were also bandaged heavily. Tsunade smiled thinly at them. That was two members of the council that would back her unquestionably.
Next to them were the heads of the ANBU and the Hunter-nin divisions. The Hunter-nin head would support her, she knew for certain. The man was almost fanatic in his duties, and considered the position of Hokage his only superior. While that had brought her some headaches earlier, it did work in her favor now. But she was unsure of the ANBU Commander. Uzuki Yugao was a good kunoichi, and a loyal one, but she had been suffering through depression since her lover had been killed before the invasion by Suna. Therefore she could very well expect her to side with Danzo on the matter if only to avenge Hayate, even though she was sitting passively at the moment with face blanker than the mask attached to her shoulder.
Next to them was the stoic Morino Ibiki, the scarred interrogator. He was standing up, palms on the table as stared daggers at Danzo. Coming from him, it was the equivalent of shouting his head off. Tsunade grimaced slightly, unnoticed by the crowd gaping at her; she didn't envy Danzo for facing that stare. If nothing else, the head Interrogator was quite intimidating.
The clan heads were the same motley bunch. The Nara was sleeping, the Akimichi was eating, the Aburame was staring stoically and the Inuzuka was growling at Danzo. The Yamanaka clan head, Inoichi, was hunched over his steepled hands, analyzing the situation. The Hyuga, who had been caught in the middle of talking down condescendingly, which was his usual tone to Genma and Raido, was caught half standing up, in which position he had frozen when she had entered. He looked unsettled, which, if she was honest, greatly pleased her. A prepared Hyuga Hiashi was a political opponent she would wish only on Danzo, and this man was no friend of Naruto, or herself for that matter.
At the head of the table were the familiar faces of the council elders. To the right of the seat reserved for the Hokage was Danzo, just as grizzled, battle scarred and forbidding as ever. In the instant she had burst in he had looked as off-guard as the others. However, an incredibly unsettling smirk was now playing around his lips; in his hand he was holding an official document bearing the seal of Konoha and the Land of Fire, probably the official declaration of war.
On the other side of the Hokage seat were the two elders Homura and Koharu, perfectly unruffled aged features turned in her direction. If the two ever displayed enough emotion to label it as such, Tsunade thought to herself, they would have been frowning at her. So it seemed that the elders were all in on this silent coup that Danzo seemed to be spearheading. That was a pity; She had held out some hope for the teammates of her late sensei, but if they were willingly squandering their lives, well…
As her grandfather used to say, 'The Hokage's main duty is to protect the tree'.
If, in the course of doing her duty, she had to go against a pair of her own teachers, then so be it. But for Danzo, whose silver tongue was probably a reason for Sarutobi-sensei's premature aging, there would be no respite. She would expose that bastard somehow, and if she had her way the mummified relic would be executed. A loose cannon like Danzo was too dangerous to keep around, after all.
Striding towards the head of the table and ignoring the gazes of the council members, Tsunade sat down in her chair nonchalantly, before leaning forward and steepling her hands in one of her classic poses. Looking over her hands, she carefully stared at each council member in turn. A disturbing smile on her face and eyes glittering with malice, she looked over the gathering, her eyes pinning the members in place. Even the Nara was awake, staring at her with wide eyes.
"So," she drawled, her voice echoing in the deathly silent chamber, sounding like a malediction to the jittery council members. A few of them shivered, looking away from her sardonic smile, which only made it grow even wider as she continued. "Anybody care to tell me what's going on?"
…
Even as the rest of the council subsided under her unnerving stare, Danzo got up, a smarmy smile on his bandaged face. "Ah… Our errant Hokage returns..." He drawled mockingly, obviously assured of his position. Tsunade's eyebrows went up slightly in her surprise as she swiftly altered her plans. It seemed that Danzo seemed confident enough of his effort if he was making such an open move. If she was honest with herself, it unnerved her slightly; she wasn't used to the shadowy ROOT leader moving in the open.
She refocused as Danzo continued, the superior smirk on his face already making her want to murder him. She really did not know how Sarutobi-sensei had endured his insolence for so long.
"I think the council would like to know what led you to abandon your post so soon after you took it," the mocking tone deepening towards the end of his question, "Hokage-sama."
From the corner of her eyes she saw a few councilmen start to nod before they looked at her and froze, and she sighed slightly. This was not something she was going to be able to misdirect the council away from, damn that mummified relic. She had wanted to get some more time to organize herself before she got interrogated.
Drawing herself up, Tsunade glared at the smug face of the elder. "Remember who you are speaking to, Danzo-san," she said coldly, "you seem to have forgotten your position lately."
Danzo's smug grin widened. "And you are still a fool, Tsunade-hime," Danzo responded blandly, before continuing in his usual deliberate drawl. "But don't let my views stop you from enlightening us. What exactly was so important that you would abandon your seat to chase after some expendable genin, especially in the state of war we are currently having with Suna?"
As Tsunade opened her mouth to answer, they were interrupted by a low growl by a livid looking Tsume. "How- How dare you," she sputtered, looking apoplectic with rage, "those are our children you called expendable, you slimy bag of filth! Why, I should – "
"That's enough, Tsume-san," Tsunade interrupted her quietly, also glaring daggers at Danzo for the callous remark. "It's obvious that you can't teach this old warhawk any new tricks."
As Tsume subsided, Tsunade continued in a flat tone that told everyone that knew her that she was extremely annoyed. "And on that note, who authorized a declaration of war on Suna?" She looked at the faces gathered around the table, some of which shrunk under her gaze. She noticed, with some disappointment, that the ANBU commander was among them. That was just what she needed, she thought glumly; more work. She liked the kid, she really did, but she didn't want to set a precedent – an ANBU Commander was supposed to represent the Hokage's interest and the Hokage's interest only, and allowing an ANBU commander to retain their position after such an obvious misuse of power would set a precedent.
Finally, her gaze settled back on Danzo. "Shimura Danzo-san," she said quietly, "perhaps you have something to say as to how the village I am ruling has declared war on an allied village without me being informed?" Her voice growing caustic, she continued, "And as far as I can remember, declaring war is the purview of the Hokage, and not that of the council? Perhaps you can explain why the council has decided to overstep their bounds."
Danzo got to his feet slowly, steadying himself with his ever present cane as he deliberately made eye contact with each council member, hands cupped over the top of his cane and his serious gaze sweeping over the gathering before they came to rest on a frowning Tsunade. "Remember, Tsunade-hime, if a new Hokage is acting incompetently," he stated gravely, "the elder council retains the right to suspend the Hokage, as long as he or she is still in their first 2 years of office. And you, Tsunade-hime, are still very much within the probationary period."
Tsunade smirked back at Danzo. "And do not forget yourself, Danzo-san, that it was my Grandfather who wrote those laws. You can only remove me, however temporarily, if Konoha is facing a war, and you have the support of more than two-thirds of the clans and the unanimous support of the clanless representatives." The smirk grew slightly. "Until then, Danzo-san", she continued, "I am the Hokage of Konohagakure, with all that entails."
Tsunade could see the smoldering rage in the one visible eye of the crippled elder. Obviously, he had not expected her to be so acquainted with Konoha law, so soon. Well, she thought smugly, too bad for him. She had learned Konoha law by heart at her grandfather's knee, and she could recite the Konoha accord by heart. Though she had to admit, she hadn't thought it would have been so useful when she was learning it.
"Nevertheless," she continued, facing forward and staring through her fingers at the assembled council. "Any declaration of war that has been sent to Suna is to be retracted immediately, with an apology on my behalf." Her bland statement was met with a flurry of muttering between the council.
Danzo in particular looked apoplectic with rage. "Tsunade-hime," he started, his voice a dangerous growl, "you have no idea of what you are doing. Stop acting like a petulant child! What you would have done would portray our village as weak, and us as weak shinobi who would suffer invasion of our land without retaliation!"
Taking a deep breath, she tried to centre herself before she spoke. "They were duped, as were we, by my errant teammate, and we have both suffered equally. To weaken each other serves us no purpose whatsoever and in our state, even if we overrun their land, we would be far too weak to retain it for any length of time before Iwa invades them, and possibly us! We're holding off their advances barely as it is, would you have us run over?"
Some of the assembled council seemed to fidget at her portrayal, as if they had never even stopped to think of what would have followed their hasty actions. Tsunade sighed to herself; truly, Konoha had to lose most of this administrative dead weight if it was to function. When her grandfather had created it, his own charisma had held the institution together, preventing any dissention. However by the time of Sarutobi-sensei's second reign, he had been far too old to do an adequate job, and thus Danzo and the elders had subverted it to their own systems, strangulating the system thoroughly. Now, she had the unenviable task of untangling political machinations spanning decades, and finding out the duds from the necessary cogs of the system.
The sharp rap of wood against wood brought her attention back to Danzo. The wizened shinobi seemed to be controlling his overwhelming rage with the control granted through decades of politics; as it was, the only tells of his mood were the rather harder than necessary grip on his cane and his lone visible eye narrowing slightly. When he spoke, his voice was a low, even drawl, while his eye was fixed squarely on her face. "Surely you must see this, Tsunade-hime. Konoha can withstand any assault on itself as we have withstood them for as long as Konoha was standing. Do not insult Konoha. The great tree will stand! Letting Suna invade us, retreat and call us their allies is an insult to everything we have shed our blood for. Will you betray Konoha, Tsunade-hime?"
The utter certainty in the tone, the compelling words, they seemed to capture the audience in a way that no discussion as of yet had succeeded. But while every other ear was turned towards the wizened elder's patriotic rally, Tsunade was not concentrating on him at all. For as soon as Danzo started speaking, she had stiffened, as a violent itch had developed in her mind. A second later, a minute seal flared behind her neck, burning her skin as its dull red shine was hidden by her haori.
…
END FLASHBACK
…
"Huh? What do you mean you had a seal on your neck? Who put it there, baa-chan? 'Cause if it was that old cripple, I'm coming right back and killing him!" Naruto squeezed the small slug in his hands, shaking it back and forth. The main body of Katsuyu was looking somewhat dizzy at the treatment to its clone.
Meanwhile, Shizune had edged closer to Naruto, mesmerized by the story. "Umm… Tsunade-sama, you didn't tell me about a seal either. Who put it there? Are you okay? Should I come back-"
She was interrupted by a quiet snigger. "Relax, Shizune. On the contrary, that seal probably saved my life." She giggled somewhat nervously, before muttering under her breath, "Thank the Sage for Senju Toka."
Naruto stared at the slug clone which was speaking in Tsunade's voice. "Who's Senju Toka?"
