After the war
A changing world requires flexibility!
Two weeks after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, at an unspecified location near the north-west border of the Land of Rain.
"Wh-where am I…?"
A boy clutched at his head; a dull pain was throbbing in his skull, and he could not concentrate. Where he was, what he had been doing—he could not think of them.
He looked around, struggling to make sense of his surroundings. His vision was blurred, muddying the finer details and making them indistinct. The only sources of light were a few small torches scattered around, though their glow gave the young man no comfort. He smelled the air; it smelled like blood, and mixture of chemicals. The boy felt a feeling of anxiety wash over him.
Disjointed memories started to come back to him: a fight, excruciating pain, and then darkness. Should he have died? Was this the afterlife?
No, the boy thought. If he was dead, his muscles wouldn't feel so sore. He stretched out his arm to ease some of the pain—and felt the iron around his wrist for the first time, the cold rock behind his bare back.
He was a prisoner.
The young man started to struggle against his bonds, gauging their strength. He gave up after a while; there was no way he could break them in his condition. It was then that he noticed the figure staring at him, watching in silence. It was still very dark, but the boy could see the satisfied sneer on the figure's face.
"You've finally regained consciousness—that's good. I was afraid that I would lose a valuable asset like you, and after all the risks I took, that would be so disappointing. Don't you think so…Sasuke?"
The Uchiha recognized the man's voice in an instant, and started to struggle against his bonds again.
"What do you want from me, Kabuto?" he asked, his voice dripping with contempt. "Don't tell me you're still after the Sharingan? Or do you want to find your old master, Orochimaru?"
"How naïve from you Sasuke..." Kabuto replied softly. "It's useless for you to tell me what I already know."
He pointed to his right, and two additional torches suddenly lit up, casting shadows on another figure chained to the wall. Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.
Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin and one of the most powerful shinobi in existence, hanging there like a piece of meat.
"And as for the Sharingan…"
Sasuke turned back to Kabuto, who had stepped into the light, and a bolt of fear struck his entire body. Glinting in the twilight was a pair of Sharingan; Sasuke's Sharingan.
This fear quickly spread through his body as he tried to activate his own dōjutsu, assuring himself that he had seen something else, or was dreaming altogether. But nothing happened; his Sharingan did not activate, and Sasuke did not wake up.
Fear began to subside, replaced by a feeling all too familiar to the Uchiha: hatred.
"What have you done?" he asked, a sharp exhale hissing between his teeth. "Why do you have my Sharingan?"
"Strictly speaking, Sasuke-kun, they are your brother's eyes," Kabuto said with a sneer. Clearly he was enjoying this. "But that is such a small detail. I would be happy to show you what has happened to your precious Sharingan."
He stepped even closer to the Uchiha, and activated his new Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Tsukuyomi," he whispered with ruthless calm. Sasuke tried everything he could to resist the coming illusion, but without his clan's power, he was helpless against such powerful genjutsu.
He was forced to relive the operation Kabuto had performed on Sasuke for his eyes, forced to endure a searing, unimaginable pain. He did not want to give Kabuto the satisfaction of his screams, but his pride could not hold out, and eventually the snake delighted to hear the Uchiha's howls of agony.
"It wasn't easy to find a way to circumvent the massive consumption of chakra necessary to properly utilize these eyes, but my knowledge of the chakra circulatory system aided me greatly, especially with the help of those clones of the First Hokage Tobi had been cultivating for so long. With their abilities, I was able to perfect my control over these eyes, perhaps with even more control than you yourself had, Sasuke." He laughed quietly to himself, pleased with progress.
"You got what you wanted; why am I still alive?" Sasuke demanded, still reeling from the illusion. "Why would you give me new eyes?"
Kabuto seemed insulted. "Don't tell me the great Sasuke Uchiha is not aware of the obvious? You are far too valuable to me alive for me to simply eliminate you. So many experiments to perform…can you imagine the possibilities your body could unlock?"
He leaned in closer, so Sasuke could see the sneer on his face clearly. "I also wanted to see the look in your eye when you awoke. To see how you would react to your precious brother's eyes being stolen from you, used against you. Tell me, how does it make you feel?"
An unspeakable hatred spread through Sasuke's body as he stared at his captor. Everything else, all other feeling had faded from his body to give way to his hate. Kabuto would suffer for an eternity for this; he would bring hell to him, make him beg for death until he could no longer speak. Then and only then, would Sasuke tear out his heart and end his miserable existence.
His rage blinded him from his situation, and he attempted to activate his Sharingan once again, hoping to burn Kabuto alive with Amaterasu. It was an act of desperation, since his eyes had clearly been taken from him, but for a split second, his eyes seemed to blaze with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan once more, before fading away into nothingness. It had also brought with it such a large amount of pain that Sasuke' body could no longer support it, and he passed out in seconds.
Kabuto, who had watched the events unfold from a safe distance, was careful to hide his intrigue. But there was a satisfied look in his eyes, right before a raspy voice sounded out in the dark from a speaker suspended high up on the wall.
"Everything has been monitored just as you requested, Kabuto-sama," the voice said. "All data will be available within an hour if you want to take a look at it.
"Good. Send a copy to my lab as soon as you can," Kabuto replied, turning away from the Uchiha. "This boy is proving to be even more valuable than I could have imagined. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."
He laughed quietly to himself, before he focused on the man who had once been his master and confidante.
"It is such a pity to see a once-great man reduced to this, but just like Sasuke-kun, you are much too valuable to me to let death take you away. Forgive my lack of respect, but to reach our goals, this must be done."
He slithered out of the room, leaving his two prisoners alone. But unbeknownst to him, one of them had heard every word. A weak tongue slid out into the open, licking away the sweat from his lip. Revenge would be his, one way or the other.
In the Land of Iron, Convening of the Five Kage, 10 days after the start of the conference, and two days after Naruto's and his team's departure.
The Five Kage had gathered together once more to discuss the future of the shinobi alliance, now that the common threat of Akatsuki and Madara Uchiha had been neutralized.
Each of the Kage had brought along with him three of their most trusted subordinates, whom they used as councilors. Tsunade herself had brought along both Shizune and Sakura, her two greatest students, as well as Shikaku Nara, who had been invaluable during the war, even taking over as commander when both Tsunade and A had to leave for various reasons.
In fact, it was currently Shikaku who was addressing everyone present. He was discussing the productivity of each of the five villages, specifically their military and economic strength. He was also illustrating that the war had great shifted the balance between the Land's powers, and a detailed report would need to be drawn up to properly assess victories and losses.
"The total count of those fallen in battle or from their injuries reach around 53,428 units, with shinobi who are still able to function at 100% at around 24,972. Those who suffered debilitating injuries, but could still find work as teachers or on smaller missions number at around 3,464 persons."
Though each of the Kage held a stony expression, their hearts and minds went out in agony to all the lives lost during the war. Such a loss of life should never be experienced by any people. The same could not be said for their escorts, and Sakura Haruno was trying very hard to keep her horror inside her stomach, instead of letting it spill out onto the floor. Being a medic, she saw things that would turn any number of hardened shinobi green.
As he spoke, Shikaku calmly waked around the table at which the Kage (and General Mifune, who was presiding over the meeting once more), leaving behind a set of papers that elaborated on the data he was mentioning to them.
"As you can see, losses for each of the villages range from 4,919 from Kumo, to 6,374 from the various neutral countries who sought to support us. None of the valuable relics have been lost, and four of the Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths were finally retrieved, we were also able to recover all the swords from the 7 of the Mist."
Mei Terumi, the current Mizukage, seemed pleased with the news.
Shikaku's face darkened. "However, some of the greatest losses during the war were those whom the beings known as Zetsu targeted at our camps; namely, medical experts and those with experience in advanced sealing techniques. With the Jūbi dead, all of the chakras of the captured tailed beasts have been released, and are likely to return wreaking havoc once they are able to reform. Without these men and women, sealing them away once again will be much more troublesome."
Killer Bee, whom A had brought along, scowled in disgust. Naruto had told him of what happened between them in the shared consciousness of the tailed beasts; the idea that man was hoping to seal them away again was not a pleasant thought.
Each of the Kage understood the gravity of this news, and would discuss this further, but there were still several topics that needed to be outlined before they could do so, so that one solution didn't cease the possibility of another.
"From the small amount of intel we were able to collect, we have reason to believe that there are at least 2,000 white Zetsu still active, and that they are under the control of Kabuto Yakushi, who has managed to evade our tracking teams since the end of the war."
He glanced at the Kazekage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage before continuing.
"We also have reason to believe that Kabuto was directly involved in the mass breakouts at prisons located in the Lands of Lightning, Earth, and Wind. Their numbers range upwards of 6,000, with 20 or so considered to be S-class criminals."
Sakura stole a worried glance in Tsunade's direction to see how her mentor was handling the news. Tsunade seemed to be quite calm despite the disturbing reports, and that made Sakura all the more worried; Tsunade usually looked bored at these sorts of things, but now she was sitting forward in her seat, paying very close attention to every detail.
"Lastly, there is the case of Sasuke Uchiha. As Naruto Uzumaki informed us, after his defeat Sasuke claimed he would cease his attempted to destroy Konoha, so long as he was left alone with no parties to be sent out for his capture or death." Shikaku closed his own report, taking a deep breath. "If the five of you would allow me a personal opinion, I suggest that the balance between the Five Great Nations be your highest priority."
Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, rose from his seat. "I will speak first, if that is acceptable." Despite the difficulty he had keeping up during the war, Ōnoki was still very much a proud and strong individual.
The other four nodded in agreement, giving him the go-ahead.
"First of all, I'd like to thank Shikaku Nara of Konoha for providing us with such detailed information. I think I speak for everyone here that if peace is to be maintained, the alliance must live on. I was a stubborn old fool before this war came along, and never before had I seen so many shinobi from different lands work together and live together and die together. However, this is not the case for many of the smaller nations. Our power has waned greatly, if these other countries were to see the opportunity of easy conquest, it would cost us greatly to protect what is ours."
Everyone nodded again in agreement; to see efforts to protect the peace wasted by those consumed with greed or revenge would be a great tragedy indeed.
"Various intel collected from Konoha, Suna, and Kumo have discovered massive mobilization of troops in the Lands of Rivers, Forests, Clay, and Great Lakes. The smaller, but wealthy Mine Country has also begun to amass troops at the borders of both the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, despite their apparent 'neutrality'. Suspicious activity has long been reported in the Land of Rain, especially in the capitol of Amekagure, where reports of strange machines being transported to the border of the Land of Fire have been circulating for weeks."
Ōnoki's shoulders slumped forward. "These are all countries that have suffered great losses during the wars of the past against our nations. It seems they have not forgotten the past, and move to work against us as soon as they are able."
"Vultures!" Kurotsuchi hissed behind her grandfather. Ōnoki may have wizened from the war, but his granddaughter still seemed to hold a grudge against the smaller nations.
It was a peculiar comment. A few months ago, it would have been Ōnoki himself to suggest taking advantage of those who had lost the most in the war, seeking to gain from their plight.
"I do not contest your findings, Ōnoki-dono," Gaara interjected with his usual stoic tone. "But the Daimyō of our nations also have a say in this alliance. What will be done if they do not wish for it to remain?"
A leaned forward in his chair. "However, if we are honest with them and tell the Daimyo our true intentions, the fear of new conflicts should sway them to our side. I agree that the alliance must be preserved if peace is to remain."
Everyone seemed to accept his reasoning, but Mifune felt some conditions must be brought forth. "I agree to your terms, but you must be aware that we will take a defensive, neutral stance on all future conflicts. To elaborate, if you are attacked or invaded, we shall come to your aid, but if you move against a neighboring country, we will stay out of it to preserve our safety. It is not too much to ask of you."
His opinion commanded respect, and none of the Kage felt what he was asking was unreasonable. Ōnoki at most seemed a little skeptical, but accepted nonetheless.
A stood up. "Now that we have a general idea, I have several suggestions for the organization for this alliance, especially where—"
"Excuse me for interrupting, Raikage-sama," Mei suddenly said. "But I think it's more appropriate that we have a general idea for all the issues before we start looking at details and specifics. This should give us a more well-rounded view on what needs to be done, yes?"
The Raikage grumbled something to himself, but relented his position. Everyone turned back to Shikaku to see what he would suggest be the next topic they would cover.
"I believe the threat of Kabuto Yakushi should be examined next. The prison-breaks and the Zetsu still left should also be discussed since they are more than likely related to one another."
"What about the threat of the tailed beasts when they reform?" Gaara asked, concerned. "Being a former Jinchūriki myself, I understand better than anyone else here the threat they could pose when they reform."
"It has been suggested that the number of years required for a beast to reform is directly correlated to its number of tails," Shikaku explained. "Even when they do, without a proper host, their destructive capability is lessened. Kabuto is a more immediate problem, and as such, requires our immediate attention."
Gaara leaned back in his seat, thinking. "Very well. I propose we organize several research teams in each country. I also believe security measures must be strengthened to protect prisons that have not yet been targeted. The Zetsu were very skilled at infiltrating out camps, so proper precautions must be taken if we are to ensure their safety. This information must be protected at all costs."
"I've already started looking into the remaining Zetsu, Gaara-sama," Shikaku added. "But until some concrete data can be extracted from this mess, there's not much we can do with all of this. Moving onto the issue of the tailed beasts, as Gaara had mentioned earlier…"
He flipped to another page in his report. "Sealing them away again should they prove to be a problem should be our highest priority, but without any expansive sealing techniques, we cannot hope to hold them in for more than a few weeks at a time. A wealth of techniques could be found in the vast stocks located at Uzushio, but most of those will have been destroyed or lost by now."
"Actually…" A suddenly said, standing up. Everyone turned to him, intrigued as to why he spoke all of a sudden.
"Several years ago, a team of Kumo shinobi was sent to the ruins of Uzushio in an attempt to recover as many techniques as we could, as at the time some of the elders still wished to search for alternatives should Bee's control falter. Deep beneath the ruins of the village, we found the remnants of a blood seal inaccessible to anyone but an Uzumaki. We tried to circumvent this barrier, but it completely protected the room. Even after we spent years searching for a living Uzumaki, and collected some of their blood for use on the seal, it remained intact, leading us to believe that the seal is far more complex than we originally thought."
Tsunade bristled slightly in her seat. It still did not sit well with here how ruthless Kumo had been in their search for powerful techniques. Gaara remained as inscrutable as ever, while Mei and Ōnoki seemed to accept it; it was in the past, and there was no sense in dwelling on it now if Kumo was no longer in that mindset.
But the Godaime Hokage had something to say. "My grandmother was an Uzumaki, and as such she passed down some of her knowledge to me, though more than likely not nearly enough to scrutinize how the seal works. As for Naruto, who possess much stronger Uzumaki blood, Jiraiya only taught the basics of sealing techniques to him. He would more than likely have a natural affinity for the craft, but the seal's complexity is most likely more than we can teach to Naruto."
"Shizune-sempai, why is it so important that every village have sealing experts?" Sakura asked. "When we were on the mission to seal away the Sanbi, we were sealing it away with relatively little effort."
"That was with the help of a scroll that had been recovered from Uzushio a long time ago, Sakura." Shizune sighed. "Sealing is important for capturing dangerous shinobi and Bijū, as well as storing weapons and techniques into scrolls. Even a great deal of space-time ninjutsu is based on sealing techniques."
Sakura was about to ask another question, but a certain name caught her attention. They had started talking about Sasuke.
"Regarding the Uchiha, Naruto has asked that we spare his life, and allow him to return should he choose to do so. "
Shikaku turned to the Raikage. "You were the one who originally wanted Sasuke to be branded an international-criminal. Do you have anything to say about this development?"
Sakura subconsciously leaned forward, waiting with bated breath for what the Raikage had to say.
"That Uchiha attacked our village, killed several of our shinobi, and attempted to kidnap my brother under the direct orders of the terrorist organization Akatsuki. At the first summit, he attempted to take all our lives for no reason other than because he was told to by the masked man. To forgive such heinous crimes just like that would be spitting on the grave of the families and friends of those lost!"
"I have not forgotten how many of my own men that boy has taken," Mifune added, rapping his knuckles against the table.
Sakura felt her heart pounding in her chest, a trickle of sweat sliding down her forehead.
"However…." the Raikage continued. "If Konoha is willing to exact proper punishment on the brat, and there is reason enough to believe that Sasuke Uchiha shows remorse for the lives he has taken, Kumo will not attempt to kill him any longer, and we will allow it to become Konoha's problem once more. Does anyone disagree?"
No one said a word, and the Raikage sunk back into his seat. Sakura leaned back with a relieved sigh, trying not to show any other emotion. Tsunade closed her eyes, blowing a strand of her hair out of the way.
To her, Sasuke was no longer worth the trouble he had caused for everyone present, and it frustrated her to still see Naruto and Sakura so concerned with is well-being. If Orochimaru had given such a chance, Tsunade would have killed him the first chance she got.
But…she was willing to take on this last charge as a favor to Naruto and Sakura. If Sasuke truly was willing to let go, she would give the boy one last chance.
Sakura saw Tsunade mulling over her decision out of the corner of her eye, and she silently hoped that Tsunade would allow him to return should he desire. It had felt like a great weight had been lifted off of her, though the words Naruto and Sasuke had shared after their battle still rang loud and clear within her mind.
"Fine. You win."
Sasuke was barely standing, watching Naruto carefully. The words felt odd in his mouth.
"I can't get revenge as long as you stand in between me and the village. You may have your peace, but you won't have me. I could never live in a place that takes comfort in the massacre of dozens by one of their own, just to maintain some false peace. Tell me Naruto, how can you defend a village that hails those murderers as heroes, while my brother, who sacrificed everything and more, is regarded as nothing more than a common criminal and a disgrace? Those people cannot be trusted, and I will take it upon myself to rid the world of such trash, one way or another!"
He fled, leaving Naruto to ponder his words.
"Next time we meet…I'll tell you why I defend them…I'll give you my answer, Sasuke."
Sakura rushed over to him, worried sick about his injuries. Without permission she started to heal him with what little chakra she had left, dozens of questions spinning in her head.
"Naruto…what did Sasuke mean?" she asked. "Who in the village was he calling murderers? What was he talking about with his brother?"
Naruto shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but I can't say yet. Not until I've had a chance to talk to Bā-chan."
"But maybe I can help!" Sakura insisted. "You can't keep this to yourself anymore, Naruto! Please, you can tell me anything…"
He watched Sakura try to stay composed, and his heart went out to her. She didn't deserve to stay in the dark. Sasuke was her friend just as much as he was Naruto's.
"It's a long story…but it all started with the Uchiha Massacre. You see, it actually-"
And then flashes of Yamato and Kakashi appeared in his mind, reminding him that this needed to stay between them until they could speak with Tsunade about it. It tore him up, but Naruto couldn't tell her.
Not yet.
The next day, the five Kage were about to reconvene in the afternoon when one of Mifune's samurai whispered something in his ear.
"There are four ninja of Konoha who wish to speak with the Hokage. They claim it is of upmost importance."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Who are they?"
"Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka, as well as two kunoichi who have yet to give us any information other than their names, Tsushika and Mitzuru. They tell us they cannot give their full identity to anyone but you, Hokage-sama."
Both the Raikage and the Tsuchikage shifted in their seats. Surely they had heard wrong? Those two names…
"What did they look like?" A commanded.
"Their faces were hidden by masks and hoods."
Ōnoki scratched under his chin. "This doesn't sound good…"
"It could be a trap. This is kind of a hotspot for high-value targets, after all," Shikaku added.
"Ino Yamanaka, who claims to be heading up this mission, gave us a scroll and letter to be delivered to the Hokage. Everything has checked out so far, but would you like us to hold them, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. I'll receive them, while Shikaku represents me during my absence. I'm taking Shizune and Sakura with me just in case."
The samurai who had first brought the news to everyone's attention escorted them out of the room, towards where Naruto and the others were waiting.
Naruto was pacing back and forth, impatient as usual, while the others calmly waited for Tsunade's arrival. Ino and Tsushika were chatting idly, while Mitzuru had her thoughts elsewhere, more than likely on her clan, and what she would say to Tsunade.
The door suddenly swung open, and Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura walked in.
"It's about time, Bā-chan!" Naruto shouted. "You have any idea how long we've been waiting around?"
He turned to Shizune and Sakura, waving at them happily. "Hey, Shizune-nee, Sakura-chan! How's it been being stuck with Bā-chan all this time?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes. There was no way this could be a trap. This was Naruto, in the flesh.
"Naruto, you do remember that you're talking to the Hokage, right?" Sakura scolded,, hands on her hips. "She's the leader of the village, so show some respect!"
Naruto pouted with his lower lip. "Aww, come one Sakura-chan! I don't get to see you in weeks, and you're already mad at me? You can be really mean sometimes!"
"You started it…" Sakura muttered to herself, trying to hide a smile. He may be an idiot, but it was nice to see him nonetheless.
This was the first time Tsushika and Mitzuru saw the uh…relationship between Sakura and Naruto. Needless to say, they were a little surprised.
Ino, who was the only other one used to that sort of thing, gave out her greetings and handed Tsunade the letter they carried with them.
Tsunade flipped it open and began to read, recognizing Kakashi's handwriting.
Hokage-sama,
I apologize for being forced to interrupt the summit, but this needs to be settled as quickly as possible.
You're probably wondering who are the two other kunoichi who are accompanying Naruto and Ino. They were once shinobi of Konoha just as we are, and left for a very important mission 17 years and half ago under direct orders of the Fourth Hokage.
Both of them were wiped from the records because of the mission's delicacy, and any other traces were sealed away by the Yondaime with memory seals. Tsushika has the ability to remove this seal on yourself, so I request that you allow her to. Once this is out of the way, Ino can fill you in on the other details.
P.S. I beg you not to tell Mitzuru of Tobi's true identity. It will be some time before I can tell you why, but once you remember everything, you will probably understand.
Kakashi Hatake.
As proof of the authenticity of the letter, Kakashi sealed the letter with the official seal of the Hokage.
Tsunade skimmed the letter once more, to make sure everything was in order. They may be Kakashi's words, but she was still a little wary for these two women. Better to be skeptical, of course.
Tsushika stepped forward, pulling down her hood and mask. "I promise everything will make sense once the seal is removed, Tsunade-sama. It may not mean much right now, but it's good to see you again."
Tsunade felt strangely calm as the woman spoke. She looked vaguely familiar, enough for Tsunade to feel at ease as she stepped forward to remove the seal. But when Tsushika reached out with her hand, Tsunade was back on the defensive and took a step away.
"This letter seems genuine, but as the Hokage I have to be suspicious of strangers wanting to tinker with my brain."
Naruto folded his arms. "You don't have to worry about that, Bā-chan! They already took the seal off of Kakashi-sensei. They even knew mom and dad!"
"Kakashi already had the seal removed from him?" Tsunade asked.
Naruto nodded.
"And it never occurred to you that maybe he has been under the influence of a genjutsu ever since?" Tsunade questioned.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. That couldn't be true…could it? Maybe it had been a little suspicious when they first arrived at the village claiming they were going to assassinate the Hokage, but they were joking! They wouldn't actually be trying to kill…
"You're lucky Tsunade-sama considers everything, Naruto," Sakura scolded. She had dropped into a defensive stance, just in case things were about to get messy. "I know you always take to people pretty easily, but you need to be more careful when Tsunade-sama is involved!"
The tension in the room was rapidly rising. Naruto jumped to Sakura's side, ready to help out if Tsushika and Mitzuru were in fact trying to kill his beloved Bā-chan.
And Ino, who knew that that entire idea was complete bullshit, facepalmed.
"You're being too cautious, Billboard Brow!" Ino hissed, using her friend's former nickname to get her attention. "Naruto and I have spent over three days with these two; they wouldn't be able to slip past us, especially with what I can do."
She turned to Naruto. "And how could she be a bad person if she knew all those things about your mother? They sounded like best friends or something!"
"What if she was lying?" Naruto demanded quietly. "But…those pictures did look pretty real."
"That's because they were real!?"
"Hey, you don't have to get mad at me! I'm just being careful, like Sakura-chan said!"
"Yeah, well Sakura-chan is wrong!"
"ENOUGH!" Tsunade yelled. "All of you!"
The tension deflated instantly. Naruto nervously kicked at the ground, while Ino turned to the side, huffing. Tsunade watched the two of them, annoyance flashing in her bronze eyes.
"In case you have forgotten, my time is limited. So how about we make a bet to solve this once and for all?"
Shizune instantly smelled trouble. "Tsunade-sama, I really don't think that's a good idea. Is gambling really a good way to decide if these two are trustworthy?"
"Don't worry, Shizune! I know what I'm doing." Tsunade reached into her pocket, pulling out a coin. "We'll flip this; if I win, Naruto has to work for the rest of his life with half pay because he got me brainwashed. If he wins, I'll allow this 'seal' to be removed."
Naruto was speechless. Okay, scratch that. There was plenty he had to say. "WHAT THE HELL? WHY IS MY PAY BEING PUT ON THE LINE?"
Tsunade smiled happily. "Because, you're the one who can't seem to decide if you trust these two or not. How do you think I feel when one of my shinobi brings this kind of indecision to me?"
'Besides…I hate to admit it, but I'm all too aware of my luck. If I actually win this, I'd smell trouble immediately.'
It was the kind of boneheaded logic Naruto would normally come up with, and nobody seemed to be fond of her 'brilliant' idea, least of all Naruto.
"I'll pick heads. Let's hope you were right, Naruto!" Before Naruto could say anything else, Tsunade had thrown the coin into the air, and everyone watched as it fell end over end. It reached the apex of its flight, and began to descend back into Tsunade's hand. It fell into her waiting fingers, before she flipped it over one last time on top of her other hand. Everyone huddled around to see…
"Tails!" Tsunade announced, showing the results to everyone.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. His livelihood was safe. Tsunade grumbled something about losing her new 'liquor' fund, and everyone else was amazed this was even happening.
Tsushika cleared her throat. "Well, I guess that means I can go ahead? Are you ready, Tsunade-sama?"
"I am. If you try anything, you're going to lose that arm," Tsunade's was deadly serious, but Tsushika didn't seem to mind. She stepped forward, placed two fingers on the Hokage's forehead, and concentrated her chakra into those two fingers.
"Release!"
Author's note
Hello dear readers!
First of all, I must apologize to you for this long delay. I had some problem with this chapter and also with the one that will follow this one, but I promise that you won't have to wait for that one as much as for this one.
Maybe someone of you already know about this, maybe someone doesn't, but my Beta and Reworder finally decided to come out of hisr shell and announced to everyone how much he helps me with this fic. Now it's my turn to say it. One of the best Author this site as ever seen is my Beta and Reworder. I'm speaking about Codaram. Go check his fanfictions and you won't be disappointed.
Aww who am I trying to convince? If you are NaruHina fans you probably already know all of his fics.
Ok now about the chapter!
How did Kabuto manage to capture Sasuke? Will he ever be able to escape from that vicious snake?
Will the alliance survive to all the problems that are already threatening it?
Will Tsushika and Mitzuru reveal as enemies and kill Tsunade now that they have the opportunity?
Will my friend ever give back the money he owes me?
More and more questions. Will we ever have any answers?
If I don't get too lazy... Yes, but telling you when you'll have those answers it's a bit more complicated.
Ok now that the funny part ended, let's get serious.
I want to really thank all those who have favorited and reviewed this humble fic of mine. Your kind words are really appreciated and encourages me to do better.
Now, I have to answer to a certain one... Yup, I'm talking about you Kit Cloud.
I asked you to sign your review simply because I want to read a name instead of a simple "Guest".
And to answer you properly.
You consider my logic as fallacy, that's how you see it. I hope to make you change your mind with future chapters if you keep following this fic.
This fic is going to be an epic-lenght one. Before you can judge what my OCs add to the story, wait at least for the end of the first book.
