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…
"Foolish little brother."
Sasuke's face contorted with shock before following with rage, as it dawned on him just who was in front of him. With a snarl, his hands threw multiple hand seals at a speed that even Rock Lee would struggle to replicate. "I'll kill you!"
"No, you won't," said Jiraiya as he grasped Sasuke's hand, restraining the boy as he tried to squirm his way out of the Sannin's grip. "Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. To what do we owe this pleasure?"
"I have business in Konoha," said Itachi calmly. "I am not here to fight you."
"Why not?" asked Kisame, revealing a shark-like smile as he grinned. "We could take them."
"Jiraiya is the only one who would pose a serious threat, and while we could probably defeat him, we would likely both die in the process," said Itachi as though his own words did not phase him in the slightest.
Sasuke clenched his teeth as he struggled against Jiraiya's hold. "I will avenge everyone!"
"Sasuke, you don't stand a chance against these two," said Kakashi with a frown, his forehead protector pushed up to reveal his Sharingan eye. "As much as I don't like it, I probably wouldn't last too long against either of them as well. Itachi is right."
"We can't just let them go," protested Sasuke as he recalled the conversation he had recently had with the older man about letting go of Itachi. If not for the fact that he was a treacherous bastard who killed his entire family without blinking, because he was an S-ranked missing-nin. With Jiraiya of the Sannin and Kakashi of the Sharingan at his side, surely he would stand a chance.
"The kid's right," said Jiraiya as he flicked a shuriken to Itachi. "We can't."
Itachi raised an arm as the shuriken was deflected off a kunai concealed within his baggy sleeve. "We are not looking for a fight, but be assured that provoking us will bring about your demise."
"I could take care of those Itachi-wannabes without breaking a sweat," said Kisame as he glanced towards his massive sword. "Do you know the name of this blade?"
Sasuke's Sharingan eyes were drawn towards the large bandaged weapon. He could recognise the most miniscule tears all along the covered area, but once he realised how fine they were, he came to the conclusion that his brother's fish-like partner was not wielding any ordinary sword.
"Its name is Samehada," he grinned sadistically in a manner quite unlike anything else he had seen before. "And it doesn't cut, it shaves. Would you like a demonstration?"
"I thought you didn't want to fight," said Jiraiya with a smirk as he fell into a practised stance. "You might be powerful ninja, but you're up against the strongest of them all."
"We do not," repeated Itachi, keeping his calm in a manner that was inches away from sending Sasuke over the edge.
"If you're after Naruto, forget it," the pervert continued. "I won't let you lay a finger on him."
Itachi's eyes widened by the barest of margins, but the eldest of the Uchiha gave no response.
"You two are both going to die by my hand," said Jiraiya. "I've let one missing-nin too many escape my clutches, but I am not going to make the same mistake this time."
"No."
Kakashi looked towards Sasuke, unsurprised to find the young avenger shaking with anger.
"He's mine," growled Sasuke as his fingers danced through hand seals. Like a charging wild bull, all he saw was red. "Raiton: Mahi Yubi!"
Electricity crackled along his fingertips as he shoved a hand to Itachi's chest with ten times the vigour of the attack he had successfully landed on Naruto hours prior. However, his arm was easily plucked by Itachi's own hand, and the two Uchiha stood there, one writhing in pain as the other clenched his wrist, causing the Jutsu to dissipate.
A flying kick that was so unexpected it might as well have been landed by Maito Gai interrupted the brotherly moment. "Your fight is with me. Leave those who aren't on your level out of it."
"Very well," said Itachi as he stared at Jiraiya venomously with dark red eyes. "It seems you have forced my hand."
For the briefest of moments, Kakashi suspected that Itachi had captured Jiraiya in one of his infamous Genjutsu - apparently eye contact was all that was needed - but that issue resolved itself when Jiraiya moved a second later.
"Katon: Endan!" A small bullet of flame erupted from Jiraiya's mouth and travelled quickly to Itachi, but a quick swipe of Kisame's sword turned the attack into nothingness.
"That's an interesting sword," said Kakashi. "Tell me what good does it do if its user doesn't have a head?"
"If you think I'm going to let you get any flashy Jutsu off, you're a bigger moron than your picture in the bingo book suggests," chuckled Kisame menacingly.
"Perhaps, but you were stupid enough to let me get this one off," said Jiraiya with a grin that was reminiscent of Naruto. "I will show you, however, that the strength of a Sannin is not to be underestimated. Kuyi-"
"Deal with them Kisame. There are matters I must attend to," declared Itachi as Jiraiya paused. "It would be wise to not use any of your larger attacks. You wouldn't want to summon every ANBU member that Konoha has at it's disposal."
"Pfft, you're no fun," stated Kisame as Itachi turned his back on his opponents.
"You're not getting away!" shouted Sasuke in anger as he lunged forward recklessly. Kakashi's hand suddenly jerked him back and the Samehada almost skimmed Sasuke's nose, missing by a fraction of a hair.
"Sorry kid, if you want to play on this battlefield you're going to play by my rules," announced Kisame as he stepped forward, allowing Itachi to leave without distractions. "My one and only rule is that you will not proceed without me hacking you to little pieces. You ready to play?"
A grunt of annoyance escaped from clenched teeth, as Sasuke began to realise that in order to chase his brother, first he would have to take on the beast in front of him. But with both his teacher and a Sannin by his side, he knew that nothing could go wrong, and that it would merely buy Itachi an hour or two of extra time.
...
With the smallest amount of decency clutching her petite body, Hinata hugged the orange jacket that Naruto had given her, knowing that underneath it there was nothing but her pale skin. She and her crush had shared their embrace for the better part of a minute before her embarrassment had come sweeping through like a typhoon. Naruto had been willing to part with his prized possession and allowed Hinata to wear it, the boy thankful that the large size covered just enough of the girl's body.
"Hinata!" shouted Kiba as he caught sight of both his teammate and the person he now owed his life to.
"I believe we owe you our thanks," said Shino, as the two pairs met in the middle of the desolate hallway. "It seems, however, that we are not out of the woods as of yet."
The four of them were silent as they turned their attention towards where Danzo stood, with rows of his personal army standing behind him, waiting for his command. The war veteran seemed to be in deep thought about what was before him.
"I passed your damn test so we're free to go!" declared Naruto boisterously.
"Not quite," stated Danzo coldly. "While you were able to succeed in the task given to you, you were unable to do so in the time given."
"How does a few seconds matter?" shouted Naruto as rage started to swell within him. After seeing what had been done to Hinata, he didn't really care what the consequences were in regards to tearing the old man a new one.
"A few seconds can ultimately determine the difference between life and death," stated Danzo. "As you all seemed so eager to accept my proposition last time, I believe I can offer you another one. There will be no challenges within this test, however, just a simple answer will suffice: join me or die."
Despite the fact that Danzo had given them one of the most cliched lines in history, there was no denying the malice that those words carried. Naruto had never really been one for thinking that the odds were in his favor, but even with his recent victory in Suna, this didn't look like something he could escape unscathed. Unlike the Genin and Chunin he had fought against back then, these were ANBU, and it didn't matter if they were trained by the psychopath or under the Hokage's order: an ANBU was still an ANBU.
"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Kiba. "You can't just up and kill three clan heirs, you'd start a war within Konoha."
"Perhaps, but it's quite easy to make the deaths of three Genin look like nothing more than a training accident gone wrong," said Danzo, unamused by the Inuzuka's outburst. "In more than one case, however, the situation could potentially be favorable to your clans. In the Hyuga's case, I'm sure the elders of the clan would be much more happy to have the more talented daughter ascend to the clan heir position via much more normal means than by having to face the decision of which one should they curse. While the father may grieve, the rest will likely celebrate your death. A pity isn't it?"
Hinata had to bite back the pain as the cursed seal on her neck started reacting to the comments that Danzo had made. Before she could do anything rash, however, Naruto stepped forward and looked directly at the enemies in front of him. He didn't say anything, though, his actions speaking well enough for him, which in itself made the members of Team Eight wonder just what had happened to their teammate while they had been preparing for the Chunin exams. No longer was the blond-haired teenager in front of them the child that got constantly kicked out of class.
This was a different person altogether.
"Here stands the most interesting one of all," said Danzo calmly. "Standing in front of your 'friends' protectively. Tell me, would they still trust you with their protection if they knew what you really were?"
Naruto didn't need to see the reactions behind him, as he could sense that the air had stiffened ever so slightly. "That doesn't matter!" he exclaimed.
"Perhaps, but I am yet waiting for the answer to my question," said Danzo.
"You will receive no answer," said a new voice gaining all manner of attention. Twisting on the spot, all three members of Kurenai's team found themselves looking at the imposing figure of one of Konoha's most notorious criminals. Naruto was a little slower turning around, and while he didn't know who the figure behind him was, it didn't take too long to make the connection when looking at eyes identical to his teammate's.
This was the man that Sasuke wanted to kill, his brother.
Uchiha Itachi.
The four Genin stood there in shock, seeing one of the strongest and most volatile shinobi to have come out of Konoha standing before them. This was a person with the same ranking in the Bingo Book as Orochimaru, and possibly someone who was even more dangerous.
In front of Danzo they had been frightened; in front of Itachi they were terrified.
"Leave," commanded Itachi as he slashed Danzo's cheek with a kunai. The renegade Uchiha made a small incision that would likely heal after a day, but there was no mistaking the fact that blood was slowly dripping to the floor from Danzo's face.
That was all it took for the four Genin to start slowly walking past the Uchiha with timid steps, knowing full well that this criminal could do the same to each of their throats in a heartbeat. They had no idea why Itachi had returned to Konoha, or why he was inside Danzo's lair, but provided they lived another day, none of them could truly care.
On paper, it was Itachi versus Danzo and his personalized army, and none of them wanted to be there to witness the result.
…
"Slash, slash," taunted Kisame as he did just that with his sword, swiping Sasuke's fireballs out of the air as though he was blowing on a candle. "This must be a joke. To think that someone like you could be the brother of the esteemed Uchiha Itachi."
"Less talking, more fighting," said Jiraiya–knowing full well that if he allowed the shark-man to rile up Sasuke, no good could come from the situation–as he triggered an exploding tag on Kisame's person. Unsurprisingly, he collapsed into a body of water.
"Where's the fun in that?" asked the former Mist Swordsman. "I know Itachi believes that we'd struggle to take you down together, but the truth is that he really underestimates me. I could take all three of you on by myself, and walk out with barely a scratch."
"Your stalling techniques won't work against a ninja as experienced as me," said Jiraiya, calling his bluff. "Now Kakashi!"
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu!" exclaimed the copy-nin as his arm emerged from underneath Kisame, dragging the Akatsuki member into the earth. "All yours, Sasuke."
"I don't have time for this!" exclaimed the Uchiha as he turned away from the three fighting ninja, beginning to run off. "I have to catch up to Itachi before he escapes again. I've waited too long, gone through too much, to let him go like this."
"I guess that leaves me with the finishing blow then," said Jiraiya with a sigh, knowing that he had to catch Sasuke before he did anything stupid. Not that he could blame the kid; even as an experienced veteran, he had blindly chased Orochimaru for years. "Katon: Endan."
Kisame vanished just before the scorching hot flame bullet made contact, and reappeared in front of Sasuke, cutting the young Uchiha off with a grin. "Uh-uh, I don't think so kid."
Sasuke threw himself to the floor as the swordsman slashed through the air where his head had been a second ago. He looked back up at him in anger before coming to a decision and running through a few hand seals. "No one gets in my way… Katon: Hosenka!"
A volley of fireballs exploded out of Sasuke's mouth and flew in an unpredictable manner towards Kisame, who batted away each one with his Samehada without breaking a sweat. "Gee, I know Konoha is in the land of fire and all, but you'd think that they'd teach you kids something other than Fire Jutsu," said Kisame as he laughed to himself, eyeing Sasuke who attempted to use the distraction to escape like a predator hunting its prey. "Suiton: Sukidon!" A ferocious shark made of water thrust itself at Sasuke with speeds that his Sharingan couldn't even comprehend, sending him hurtling backwards as the Jutsu landed a direct hit.
"Y'know, when you're up against someone who you know can use the Sharingan… Ninjutsu is never the greatest idea," said Kakashi, dropping the orange book that had somehow appeared in his hand to the floor as he rapidly went through the hand seals he had just seen. "Suiton: Suikdon!" A shark that was slightly smaller and perhaps a little slower but no less menacing shot forward towards Kisame.
In response, the Hoshigaki merely sliced through the attack with his large sword. "When you're up against someone who can absorb chakra, using Ninjutsu is never the greatest idea."
"If Ninjutsu is almost useless against you, then let's see how you do against the other ninja arts," smirked Jiraiya. "You're up against a sealmaster, and you just gave him an opportunity to place a seal on you."
"Did I?" asked Kisame, before his body turned into water, revealing that a water clone had merely been standing in his place. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
Instantly, mist arose and entrenched the entire area, separating the three Konoha ninja.
"Sasuke, you've seen this technique before, tell me that you know how to handle it," Kakashi called out nervously, as his eyes looked around for the Mist ninja. Much like on the bridge, it would be very difficult to protect his student while fighting off a powerful missing-nin.
"I'll kill him for wasting my time!" exclaimed Sasuke in response. Though he needed to go after Itachi, there was no doubt in the Uchiha's mind that his brother was already long gone. He would just have to settle for his partner.
...
It was hard to believe when they tried to break down everything that had just happened, and as they walked slowly through the forest–considering Hinata's current lack of decency, they didn't want to make her run–they did their best to process every thought correctly. For the members of Team Eight, though, they were thinking along very similar thought patterns, every now and then one of them tossing a glance towards Naruto's direction.
Back when Danzo had had the confidence that he would come out victorious in any situation imaginable, he had blatantly pulled out a card in an attempt to fight Naruto mentally, something which had initially worked.
'Would they still trust you with their protection if they knew what you really were?'
Though Danzo's delivery had been emotionless and cold, if a little condescending, there was a lot of malice behind the words. Naruto's reaction had shown that there was some truth behind them, but at the same time, it was clear that the boy was sensitive about it. None of the three clan heirs were really all that eager to bring up such a touchy subject, having just escaped an incredibly intense situation by the skin of their teeth.
Hinata, though, had a rough idea of what it could possibly be, as she recalled her time alone with Naruto when he had "kidnapped" her. Undoubtedly, what Danzo had been on about was the seal that was imprinted on Naruto's stomach whenever the Genin channeled chakra. Considering the bad experiences she'd had with Fuuinjutsu, Hinata hadn't really even thought about diving any deeper into Naruto's seal. She believed, though, that when he was ready to talk about it, she would be there to listen.
It was Kiba who finally broke the silence, but spoke of a topic moderately different to the one he had previously been thinking about. "Isn't it weird that seven months ago we were still in the academy? And look at us now, having survived an encounter with a freaking S-ranked criminal!"
"Indeed, this is not something that we would have been able to predict," said Shino, as he adjusted his glasses, seemingly not fussed that, with the limited light available, there was no real reason to continue wearing them. "I think it is safe to say that we were lucky, in the least."
"I just can't believe we actually got out of there alive," said Kiba as he walked along, his hands on the back of his head. "I thought for sure that old creep was going to pull some other kind of trick out of the bag, although considering he was going to kill us, there's no surprise there."
"It is mildly uncomforting how casually you talk about your own death," said Shino.
"I really didn't expect Sasuke's brother to show up though," said Naruto with a slight shiver as he thought back to the man who was essentially a far more powerful, menacing version of Sasuke. As he did so, his gaze was not so discreetly keeping an eye on Hinata, who had yet to say anything. It was clear that whatever had happened to her hadn't completely vanished, but he was glad to see signs of emotion upon her face–a slight chuckle here, the slight curling of her upper lip there, or even the occasional intrigued look in her eye.
"The arrival of Uchiha Itachi was most intriguing," said Shino, as he pushed his sunglasses up. "I can't help but question what business he had with Danzo, especially given that the man made no attempt to prevent us from leaving after Itachi told us to do so. Considering his legacy within this village, it seems most surprising that he would return to the place where it all started."
"Do you really want to find out why he came back?" asked Kiba warily. "You guys know the story behind the Uchiha Itachi, right? The crazy, psychopathic prodigy of an ANBU Captain, who snapped and went crazy before tearing his own clan to shreds at age thirteen?"
"So where do we go from here?" asked Naruto, "We should probably tell someone that Sasuke's brother is back in town, with him being a missing-nin and all."
"Would that be wise, though?" asked Shino as he pushed his sunglasses over the bridge of his nose with a finger. "We are dealing with two very powerful people, who are no doubt both much smarter than us."
"You mean that they'd be expecting us to go and tell someone else?" asked Kiba, as he pursed his lips in confusion.
"Perhaps not Danzo. It was clear that he was not expecting the Uchiha to show up, but Itachi certainly is no fool," said Shino. "That man seemed like somebody who would have a back-up situation no matter what the case."
"He does sound like he's got a screw loose, but you might be on to something," said Naruto with a nod. "But at the same time, we can't keep this knowledge all to ourselves. Itachi seems way too dangerous to let him maintain the element of surprise."
"Considering the fact that we have just gone through a war, it is little to no surprise that there were holes in our defences for Itachi to exploit and make his way through undetected," analysed Shino. "If we are asked to write a report on this, that is something we should make very clear. The question remains, though, who should we inform?"
"The Hokage is a given, right?" asked Kiba, receiving two nods in response. "Then who else?"
"Kurenai-sensei," said Hinata, speaking up in a voice that was so timid yet confident at the same time that it had caught the attention of all those present. "... I want to tell Kurenai-sensei."
"Given our involvement in this whole ordeal, I believe that would be wise," said Shino with a sigh. Hinata seemed… different. Kurenai would no doubt catch on.
"I reckon we should let Jiraiya know too," said Naruto. "Despite being a massive pervert he does have a spy network, so it seems reasonable."
"Only if it's alright with Hinata," said Kiba, not liking the idea of some big pervert being close to his teammate. "What do you think?"
Having met with the sealmaster on a number of occasions, Hinata was well aware that the hermit was trustworthy enough to reveal this information to. She prayed, though, that she was in more decent attire when they talked; she could only imagine the reaction that the pervert might display.
...
Jiraiya fought back a sneeze as he smashed his fist into Kisame's stomach, only to double over in pain as the fish-like man raised a sharp knee into his own. Leaping backwards for a second to catch his breath, the Sannin assessed the situation.
He was bleeding a little, probably had a small fracture or two in his right arm, and was starting to eat away at his chakra reserves. He would have said that the Uchiha kid looked spent, if not for the fact that his Sharingan was active. Considering that Sasuke had been fighting with Naruto earlier in the day, it wouldn't be long before the adrenaline pumping through the Uchiha's veins would give way.
Kakashi was probably doing the best out of the three of them. While Sasuke had settled for throwing a large number of Ninjutsu at the blue-skinned man, and Jiraiya a mix of Taijutsu and Fuuinjutsu, the copy-nin chipped in with a tiny bit of everything. Though that was probably more a byproduct of having a Sharingan than a testament to the Hatake's abilities, it was working well. Yet, like Sasuke, there was only so much he could do before he ran out of steam and eventually his chakra reserves would dwindle into nothing.
Kisame was being kept on the ropes, but at the same time he didn't look like he was slipping up any time soon. They'd been going at it for awhile, and even though Jiraiya hadn't been able to keep actual count of the time, the Sannin was still a little surprised to find that no ANBU had yet turned up. That was worrying… Itachi was probably keeping them occupied.
Normally, in a situation like this, Jiraiya would have opted to deal a proper finishing blow. Maybe in this case it would take Sage Mode to end the battle prematurely, but it would work. The problem with that, however, seemed to be the very same as the reason behind the lack of ANBU: Sasuke's brother.
Jiraiya would be easy pickings for Itachi if he showed up again, after wasting chakra going all-out against Kisame. But while the hermit had no intentions to die today, it wasn't like he was left with much choice.
Kill Kisame and be killed by Itachi, or let Kisame live and be killed by both of them. But there was still one major obstacle lying in the way of that obvious choice.
The Samehada. Kisame's sword would be able to absorb any killing blow the second he tried to deal it, and it would take a long while to wear the juggernaut down to the point where he could be killed with Taijutsu. Genjutsu was hardly an option, as Jiraiya didn't know anything that would really help–he had never been very creative when it came to illusions and all that. Then there were his seals, and while he had a few that could certainly make a bang, they were chakra-based, and as such, it was possible that Kisame could brush them aside.
Besides, they were probably best saved for Itachi anyway.
With a snap of his fingers, Jiraiya formulated a plan. He had just the Jutsu to take care of the swordsman, but he needed to wait for an opening, because it would only work once–well, at least if he wanted to walk away without pissing away all his chakra.
Thankfully, between Sasuke and Kakashi, it was merely a matter of biding his time. So for the next few moments, Jiraiya watched from afar as he slowly gathered chakra into the palm of his hand, waiting for just the right moment to strike.
Kakashi pulled their enemy underground once more, and just as Jiraiya thought that he had gotten the perfect opportunity, the cloaked man used a Kawarimi to switch places with Sasuke. It took the Uchiha awhile to get out and while Kisame was probably suspicious that the Sannin had not dealt a blow in a while, Jiraiya was sure that the Akatsuki member believed he was helping Sasuke out of the ground. Kakashi distracting him probably didn't leave much room for him to think otherwise.
Then the moment came. Kakashi tried to pull off some Suiton Jutsu, but the swordsman slashed the attack in half with his sword before it could form, and then Jiraiya found himself blurring through the air. With one arm, he cleanly knocked the sword out of Kisame's grasp to the ground–ignoring the damage it did to him in return–and with the other, he thrust a swirling blue ball of chakra into the man's chest. "Rasengan!"
Kisame was sent hurtling backwards to the ground as he clutched his chest in agony. Despite that, however, he started to scramble for his sword, and Jiraiya began to become worried. He had had one-shot to get that off and he had failed–the S-ranked missing-nin would obviously not allow him to repeat the same attack once again. Or at least he had thought he had failed.
Until he heard the sound of hundreds of chirping birds.
With a grin, realising that while he might have not dealt the final blow after all, he had left one hell of an opening, Jiraiya leapt backwards and watched as his student's student ploughed forward. Blue lightning chakra glowing brighter than almost any light he had seen was swirling violently around Kakashi's right arm.
The best part about all of it was that Kakashi's Sharingan eye was uncovered. And so when Kisame attempted to swipe upwards with the Samehada he had reclaimed, Kakashi merely leapt over it and impaled the shark-like man with his hand.
"Chidori!"
If the Rasengan beforehand hadn't done it, this certainly had. From what Jiraiya could see, Kakashi had struck the exact same point of impact as his Rasengan. That had to hurt.
Kisame was pushed backwards a good five metres or so, as Kakashi let the attack linger so that it could deal its full damage. And just when Jiraiya thought the bastard was finally about to kneel over and die, he swiped upwards and sliced straight through Kakashi's arm.
There was no time for Jiraiya to react. Kakashi's forearm fell to the ground as the rest of his body, his new stump included, fell backwards in reaction. Then the blood started pooling onto the ground.
There was so much of the red liquid oozing out of Kakashi's detached limb that it could probably give Kisame a bath and there would still be enough to give Tsunade a million heart attacks. Jiraiya willed his legs to move, knowing that the next few seconds would be crucial–an arm would probably end his ninja career, a neck his life–and ran towards Kisame in spite of himself.
To the Sannin's sheer amazement, the Hoshigaki was beginning to stand once again. Kakashi was at his feet, half-dead, as his left hand tried desperately to grasp his bleeding stump, but the cloaked shark-like man didn't pay him any mind.
Jiraiya wasn't sure what to do. His hands were running through a Katon Jutsu so he could cauterise Kakashi's wound and try to stop the bleeding when he got a chance, but that was no use if Kisame managed to kill him. And in that moment, the missing-nin seemed well and truly invincible. That wasn't even beginning to take into account Itachi–Jiraiya didn't want to think about what he must have done to either the ANBU or Naruto by this stage.
And that's why he didn't expect to hear the sound of one thousand birds chirping again. That's why, when he did, he stood there completely shell-shocked as he heard Sasuke unleash a war cry that anyone would be proud of.
"Chidori!"
Jiraiya watched in absolute disbelief as Sasuke Uchiha rammed his sensei's signature technique into Kisame's back, causing Itachi's partner to finally collapse, a clean hole punctured straight through him where the lung was located. Sasuke still stood there in disbelief at the fact that he had been the one to deal the final blow to Kisame, but the fight had taught him one thing once his arrogance had settled.
This was the strength of an S-ranked shinobi.
This was someone on the same playing field as his brother, and it had taken three of them to take him down. His thought process was immediately cut to a close as a sudden wave of exhaustion swept over his body and he fell backwards, unconscious before he even hit the ground.
Jiraiya, being the one to have walked away with the fewest of injuries, got to work as quickly as he could. He was no medic but knew that immediate attention would be needed to Kakashi's stump–the copy nin had seemed to have fallen into a state of shock–before the Jonin could be taken to the hospital.
The battle was won. The price, however, had been a steep one.
…
Danzo stood before the Hokage, the two war veterans cold-faced. The only other occupant within the room was Sarutobi's former pupil, Jiraiya, the toad-sage sitting upon the windowsill with his arms crossed and an uncharacteristic frown upon his normally joyous face.
The toad-sage had managed to get both Sasuke and Kakashi to the hospital, and last he had heard, they were both on the road to recovery. While Sasuke had suffered major chakra exhaustion above all else, Kakashi was still in intensive care, having lost a lot of blood.
Afterwards he had had to deal with other affairs, having captured Samehada and sealed it within a scroll. Kisame's body, however, was nowhere to be found, and he imagined that Itachi had come by when nobody had been watching and disposed of it. Now, though, there were other matters to attend to, as the sage eyed his sensei's supposed ally.
Danzo didn't even need to ask why he had been summoned before the leader of Konoha, since by now Sarutobi had undoubtedly been informed of what had happened the previous night.
It had been a big mistake on his part to allow everything to fall apart. However, Danzo knew that he could not solely blame himself for everything that had gone wrong: if Itachi had not shown up, then everything would have gone according to the plan. The roots deep underneath Konoha would have spread further, and the village's strength would have increased.
"Danzo," said Sarutobi, breaking the silence. "I take it you understand why I have brought you here today."
The war-hawk said nothing.
"Everything that has happened over the past couple of days has been a test that I had wanted to put you through," said Sarutobi as he laced his fingers. "You and I have always had different views on how we believed that the village should be run, and had my predecessor chosen differently that day, Konoha would undoubtedly be a different place to the village that it is now. I suppose we'll never know if that would be for better or worse."
"I know of this already," said Danzo, finally deciding to speak. He knew what was coming, and he did not wish to waste time deliberating about pointless things. "Shall we get to the point and stop reminiscing about how things could have been?"
"Very well," said Sarutobi, as he leaned back in his chair. "What is about to be asked of you will not be written down in any text, nor will the words be spoken after this meeting is concluded."
"Last night, we discovered that not only were you threatening the lives of three clan heirs, but also that you had been contacted by the Akatsuki," said Jiraiya calmly, forcing himself to not make the distaste in his voice evident. "I'm not quite sure why Uchiha Itachi of all people wanted to speak with you, but it's clear that some manner of shady dealings were going on behind closed doors."
"We'll not even begin to go into the details about all of the children that you have conformed into murderous tools. The inhumanity in that alone is almost as bad as what Orochimaru did in the past," said Sarutobi, as he rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "The amount of time and effort needed to return your shinobi into normal humans is going to be monumentous."
"Am I being punished, then, for doing what I believed what was necessary for the growth of my village?" asked Danzo, a somber tone to his voice. He didn't need any further confirmation though; he knew what would happen next. It was just disheartening to have his life's work taken from him.
"On the surface," said Jiraiya, causing Danzo's eyes to snap up and meet his harsh gaze. It was clear that the Sannin still held some form of ill-will towards him.
"Despite your flaws, I still trust you," said Sarutobi. "At least I trust you enough to assign you one final mission, which I expect you to carry out until your final day."
"A mission," repeated Danzo, truly having not expected that. For Jiraiya, it was probably the closest he had ever come to seeing any form of surprise evident upon the war-hawk's face.
"As I stated earlier, what is mentioned in here shall not ever be spoken of again," said Sarutobi, his voice strong and powerful. It was more of a formality than anything, because the three ninja standing together in the Hokage's office were all far too experienced, too smart to ever let anything slip.
"From tomorrow onwards you are going to be placed in the Bingo Book as an S-ranked criminal," said Jiraiya, as he leant against the side of Sarutobi's desk. "Of course, this is merely a gateway so that your assignment as it were can actually begin."
"And to what point of my mission is it necessary for me to be labeled as such a felon?" asked Danzo.
Sarutobi leaned forward, his elbows placed upon the tabletop as his knuckles rested beneath his chin. He truly hadn't wanted to do this, but considering that three clans were soon to be bearing down on him with all their fury, he had to make it look like he had done something. The details of the mission he was assigning the war veteran were vague at best, as he didn't really care about how the mission proceeded, but rather that it simply got done.
"You are to enter the Akatsuki organization, and sabotage them by any means necessary."
…
Tsunade truly hated losing. Tsunade truly hated hangovers.
But at the start of each morning, that's all she ever was. An almost-broke hungover drunk. Even being one of the world's foremost medic-nin didn't change that.
She lived one day at a time, meandering away at what seemed like a pointless existence, given the fact that she had in no way lived up to her legacy. Her only root to the world was the apprentice she had taken on years ago: the niece of the one love of her life. Shizune kept her going, even if the path they travelled on was going nowhere.
Nowhere, however, was an unfortunate path to tread on. It had led her to many different casinos around the world, and at each one she managed to lose everything. It had led her to innumerable bars in her pursuit to forget the ghosts of yesterday, and it led to her making some of the stupidest decisions of her sorrowful life.
And today, it had led her to her least favourite teammate.
"Hello, Tsunade," said Orochimaru, his tongue flickering out of his mouth as he spoke. "Kukuku, I wasn't expecting to find you so easily."
"Orochimaru," said Tsunade, as she looked at her former teammate, each of them standing with an apprentice to their side. With Tsunade was Shizune, the young woman who Tsunade had entrusted everything–her knowledge, her legacy, her finances. On the other side, however, was somebody that her apprentice would likely be unable to fight in a one on one battle. This was somebody who Orochimaru had been looking after since a young age, all for one purpose and one purpose only.
Having just come off an unnatural streak in which she had almost made up everything she had lost the previous night, Tsunade was well aware that something was going to happen that she would hate with all her might. Internally, she had prayed that it would be something small, a stubbed toe or something like that. To run into Orochimaru, however, was probably one of the worst possible outcomes. It was only just marginally better than running into Sarutobi or Jiraiya, as with the latter two, she could feel assured that she would escape unscathed.
"What do you want?" asked Tsunade, wanting to spend as little time with her cohort as possible.
"Straight to the point," said Orochimaru as he shrugged his shoulders. "Here I was thinking we could have some tea and reminisce about the old times."
"Fuck you," said Tsunade blatantly. "Spare me the details and make it snappy before I cement your face into the ground."
"Fine, fine, you never were one for patience," said Orochimaru, as he allowed his arms to drop by his side. The snake-like man shot a glance to his apprentice. "You see, Kimimaro here has a rare disease and will die from it soon. I had hoped to cure him of such an ailment, but my expertise within the field is far too weak. Compared to yours, that is."
"And why on earth do you think I would want to help you?" asked Tsunade, her patience growing thin. She wanted nothing to do with her past, and that included seeing–never mind helping–any of the members of her old team.
"I figured I would need something to persuade you to aid me, and here it is," said Orochimaru as he gestured around a corner. A resounding clicking of wooden sandals rang out as a member of Orochimaru's squad made themselves known. Tsunade felt her heart skip a beat as she found herself looking at a face that… No, it couldn't be. However, a quick massaging of her temples confirmed that she wasn't in fact hallucinating.
Here she was, looking at the face of her Grandfather.
The Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
…
Raiton: Mahi Yubi = Lightning Release: Electric Fingertips
Katon: Endan = Fire Release: Flame Bullet
Doton: Shinju Zanshu = Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation
Katon: Hosenka = Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire
Suiton: Sukidon = Water Release: Water Shark Bullet
Kirigakure no Jutsu = Hiding in the Mist Technique
Rasengan = Spiralling Sphere
Chidori = One Thousand Birds
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