Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto
Chapter 36: A bitter rain
Naruto woke with a groan, but didn't open his eyes. He felt like crap, even worse than when he had been knocked out of Kyuubi mode after he had fired that bijuudama. His last coherent memory was speaking with his father inside the seal. After that there was only protective darkness, but things had been leaking through. His sanity was still intact if a bit frayed. It was time for taking stock.
'Okay, I'm alive. That's good. It means we have won. Now I just have to learn what the victory cost us.'
He slowly opened his eyes. From the looks of it he was still inside the seal. In that moment one panel of the wall became transparent, revealing his father.
"Hey dad. How did it go?" the boy asked.
"We are alive; the sanctuary is untouched. Konoha is still standing… sort of. There have been no reprisals of other higher powers as of yet. Both you and Hinata are physically fine."
A feeling of dread settled in Naruto's stomach. He could feel the unsaid 'but', especially considering that his father had said 'physically' and didn't look especially cheerful. "What about our mental state?"
Daiki sighed. "You are fine. Hinata… is not. The battle went badly. We managed to take care of the Ichibi, but the Reibi was stronger than expected. Hinata was forced to tap directly in the domain of your mother to prevent our end rather than flee. She called the power of the Invincible Sun into her being. That had grave consequences."
Naruto gulped. "Is she insane?"
"I don't know. Under normal circumstances she would have simply ceased to exist in a few hours at the latest." He sighed. "We put her inside the Gate. There is a chance she will recover. Maybe. I cannot say if she will be remotely the same as before or when or even if that will come to pass. I'm sorry."
These words sparked a veritable maelstrom of emotions inside of Naruto: grief, guilt of not being able to help her more and a tiny spark of hope. It took him several minutes until he pulled himself together. "Was there any other way? What if you had used me instead?"
Daiki shook his head. "There was nothing anyone could have done. I was using your body with as much power as I could, but it wasn't enough to destroy the Reibi. We had already expended too much energy and were losing. Youko's possession had been disrupted and I was busy pinning the Reibi down. You trying what Hinata did wouldn't have worked. It was Hinata's choice to do this instead of fleeing to safety. She would have had good odds to survive our destruction."
"She would never leave us, not even at the price of her life." Naruto said.
"I know. It is not in her nature. Unfortunately all we can do now is wait. To the outside world she will appear catatonic; it will probably be classified as genjutsu damage. I'm sure she isn't the only case considering the scale of the invasion." His father sighed again. "It is time for you to wake up. Don't expect a visit to us for one or two weeks; your mind is somewhat frayed and the backlash from our fight did some damage on our side. Do you think you can hold yourself together?"
The blond boy shrugged. "I haven't much choice, do I? Somehow I will manage."
His father gave him a sad smile. "You did well. We are very proud of you and Hinata. Goodbye, son."
A moment later the wall panel changed back to opaque stone. Naruto sighed before he concentrated on leaving the seal. Then he opened his eyes again, this time in the real world. The first thing he saw was the roof of a big tent. Coals glowing in a brazier were illuminating the surroundings, but dim light fell through an opening. It was either late evening or early morning; there was no way to tell. A weight on his chest caused him to look down. The swallow Fuyu was sleeping on top of him while Natsu and several other swallows were nearby. Most seemed to be asleep, but some were awake, obviously guarding him. Several other injured people were lying on cots, but he seemed to be the only one awake.
Some movement of his must have woken the swallow, for Fuyu opened his eyes. He blinked sleepily for a moment before realization sunk in. "Boss! You are awake! Are you okay?"
That caused the other swallows to wake up, too, and a few seconds later Naruto was surrounded by worried birds. He had barely calmed them down and brought up to speed when a familiar figure entered the tent.
Choji (who had lost a good part of his normal weight and seemed lightly injured) rushed to his side. "Naruto! Is everything alright? You wouldn't wake when the swallows brought you in."
Naruto chuckled a bit. He still felt like crap. "Just an aftereffect of using the Kyuubi's chakra. I did use more than ever before. I will be fine in a while. What is happening outside and what day is it? The last I remember was fighting against the Sky ninja."
His friend moved a camp chair to the side of his cot. "You're in one of the makeshift hospitals; the true hospital was destroyed. The invasion happened yesterday. It is early morning. Both Sand and Sky withdrew on the last day. Sound kept fighting. We won, but it wasn't pretty. I think they defeated the last pockets of resistance during the last night, but I'm not sure. This area is safe, though."
"What happened to you after the arena fight? How about the others? I was with Yakumo, but we were separated when that black demon leech attacked."
Choji gave him a tired smile. "Gaara punted me directly into a park. The landing wasn't that bad. After I got up I found a group of Konoha shinobi. There was some fighting, but nothing I couldn't handle. Later I helped out here. Ino, Kiba, Shino, Tenten are fine, too. Sasuke is pretty banged up and still unconscious. I saw Yakumo earlier; she suffered a sprained foot and some minor injuries. Don't know about Asuka, Shinji and Sakura." His smile disappeared. "Your swallows brought Hinata in, too. She's unresponsive; the medics think it is genjutsu damage. I haven't heard from Anko-sensei or the other jonin."
Naruto was silent for a few seconds. He was glad that most of his friends seemed to have made it out of the invasion intact. Hinata's fate weighed heavily on his mind. "What about the village in general?"
"From what I have seen things are pretty bad, but I don't know much. We survived, but I don't know if you can call it a victory. There are dead everywhere and a good part of the village is in ruins. Your house is one of those destroyed; I came that way earlier." He sighed. "Sorry, I have to cut the chatter short. Can you walk? I was sent to see if you are awake. Councilor Mitokado wants to speak with you."
Slowly sitting up, Naruto tried to stand. He was very wobbly on his feet. "I think I need you to support me."
Supported by Choji Naruto managed to leave the tent, the swallows following behind. Just as he arrived outside a rain drop hit him. Many more followed closely behind. Looking at the heavy grey clouds, Naruto surmised that Konoha could look forward to at least a day of heavy rain.
It would be a very long day.
'Mother didn't look like this.' Ino thought numbly while her tears mixed with the rain.
She didn't know what she had expected to find, but it wasn't a completely destroyed house with her dead mother lying in the entranceway, somewhat out of sight. That was probably why no one had removed the body yet. Someone had bashed her skull in. At least death seemed to have come quickly. Ino felt somehow detached. Perhaps she was simply too tired to truly realize what had happened. She had spent the day of the invasion, the night and the following day with treating injuries. She wasn't a fully qualified medic, but there were few enough of those left. There simply hadn't been time to think about anything else, just one injured human after another.
Absentmindedly she noticed Naruto getting a pair of passing shinobi to take the body away. The now short-haired Yakumo put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. We can't stay here, Ino. Come, you can stay with us."
Ino didn't react, but she let herself be led through the village by Naruto and a limping Yakumo. It was slowly growing dark again and the rain was still continuing unabated. She and everyone else were soaked to the skin. Her group had dispersed; there was so much to do. People had been buried under the rubble and had to be rescued. By now almost everyone was too tired to stand and they had been dismissed; the rescue efforts were mostly over. Her friends had rejoined their families for the night. Ino had accompanied Naruto and Yakumo since they had the same way.
Before long they had arrived at Yakumo's still intact house. She still didn't speak. It was all too much. She didn't know where her father was and now her mother was dead. Everything was a haze. Yakumo helped her get rid of her wet clothes and led her to the guest room.
When her friend was about to leave the room Ino spoke up. "Please. I don't want to spend the night alone."
Yakumo looked at her for a moment. Then she nodded. A minute later Ino was wrapped in a blanket, lying on the large bed in the house's main bedroom. Soon Naruto and Yakumo entered, dousing the candle and plunging the room into darkness. Ino felt Yakumo hugging her from behind, sharing her warmth with her. Judging from the breathing Naruto was lying behind Yakumo. It was probably the best arrangement in this situation. She didn't even get to complete her next thought as the exhaustion finally took its toll and sleep claimed her.
Karin was dirty, wet and dead tired. The water supply had broken down, but the rain had washed most of the dirt away. She had spent the last night and day with helping the search for survivors under all the rubble of the destroyed buildings. Her sensor abilities had been a great boon for that as had the dogs of the Inuzuka. There had been so much death, so much destruction. The news of Tsume's death had hit her hard. The woman had treated her kindly and Karin had liked her.
It had been already dark when she returned to the Inuzuka compound. Akamaru had decided to spend the night with the other dogs, leaving her alone with Kiba. She didn't know where Hana was; the woman was probably taking care of one thing or another as new head of the clan.
A muffled sob drew her attention to Kiba. He had looked so lost when he heard of the death of his mother. It reminded her of the time her own village had been destroyed and she lost everyone. After a moment of indecision Karin left her bed, walked across the room and climbed into Kiba's bed. The boy went stiff. He became even stiffer when she embraced him, pressing his head against her chest.
"Shh, I'm here for you. I understand. You can let it out."
For a few moments nothing happened. Then Kiba relaxed and Karin felt the wetness on her skin as he began to cry silently in her embrace, soundless sobs shaking his body. Minutes passed by without a word until the changed breathing indicated that Kiba had fallen asleep. Karin felt herself drowsing off, too. She was very tired and Kiba's body was pleasantly warm.
'This is the first time since the Chunin Exams I go to sleep in the same bed I expect to wake up in.'
Choji Akimichi went to sleep on a couch in the room of his father, his mother leaning against him. His father had lost a leg, but was still alive. All in all he counted himself lucky.
Shino Aburame helped his mother deal with urgent matters before he retired to his room. The death of his father hit him hard, but it was simply not in his nature to show much outward emotion.
Sasuke Uchiha remained blissfully unconscious in the makeshift hospital, not having woken since shortly after his fight in the finals. Sakura Haruno kept him company.
Idate Morino shared a bed with Temari in a barred room in the house of his brother. The Suna kunoichi was a prisoner, but they both felt the need for closeness in light of an uncertain future.
Mizuki settled an injured, unconscious Anko in his bedroom before he went to sleep in the living room. He would have liked staying with her, but he didn't want to accidentally jostle her and worsen her injuries.
Konohamaru Sarutobi spent the night with his caretaker; his parents had died years ago.
Hanabi Hyuuga snuggled close to the unresponsive body of her big sister. She had been brought home still in a coma and put in her old room. Hanabi hoped her presence would help her wake up soon.
Everywhere in Konoha people sought to find what comfort they could as night and a bitter rain fell.
Yuri Haruno tiredly sat down in the council chambers in the Hokage Tower, the (thankfully harmless) wounds on her head and arms throbbing slightly. Just as everyone else she had gotten only a few short hours of sleep after two days and one night of ceaseless activity. First the invasion and then the disaster control had required her complete attention, but now it was time to take stock and make decisions. She already knew things were bad; the question was exactly how bad.
Apparently she was the first one to arrive at the chambers, meaning she had a few minutes to relax. Dim light was entering through slit-like windows and the sound of heavy rain was clearly audible. Looking around, Yuri observed the cracks running through the walls of the room and the water trickling from the ceiling. Several buckets had been placed across the room, but by now they were overflowing. It didn't matter much since the water disappeared through another web of cracks in the floor. Repairing a seldom used room was a rather low priority when important documents had to be secured. The entire tower had been heavily damaged in the invasion. It was apparently still structurally sound for now, but it would probably have to be demolished and completely rebuild.
One by one the people invited to this meeting filed in. The normal members of Konoha's great council had been much reduced in number. Of the nine original civilian councilors only she as representative of the long-distance traders and Keitaro of the builders had survived, although new representatives for the three other important professions had already been chosen. The massively muscled, steel-haired hulk Godo spoke for the blacksmiths, the weather-beaten Chesuta was one of the foresters while the small, stooped form of the last man belonged to Myoga, representative of the local craftsmen and merchants. There had been no time to organize a vote for replacements of the four other civilian councilors.
On the shinobi side of the original council there were a lot of missing faces. The Hokage had died, leaving the Senju seat deserted. Hiashi Hyuuga had been replaced by his father Hitoshi; Yuri remembered the man well from their shared time on the council until he had retired in favor of his now deceased son. Ritsuko Aburame had taken over for her husband Shibi who had been slain by the Sorakage. Tsume Inuzuka had lost her life against the invaders from Sound, requiring her daughter Hana to take her seat. Shikaku Nara was still there, apparently unhurt. A grey-faced Choza Akimichi missing almost an entire leg had to be carried into the room, but his eyes were alert. The Uchiha seat was empty as always since the demise of the clan while the civilian occupying the Kurama seat had perished during the invasion (no great loss in Yuri's opinion). What surprised her was the empty Yamanaka seat.
"Why isn't one of the Yamanaka here?" Yuri asked curiously.
Shikaku shook his head. "Inoichi is dead. They found his body an hour ago. A house came down on top of him; he never had a chance. Two of the snakes demolished the old Yamanaka compound and many others died. Inoichi's daughter is too young and the surviving families are squabbling. There isn't anyone left with the authority to speak for a significant portion of the clan."
Yuri nodded in acceptance. That was another piece of bad news. She had heard of some of the difficulties Inoichi had faced in holding his slowly fracturing clan together.
Homura Mitokado limped into the room supported on a cane. The old man didn't have any obvious injuries, but he obviously wasn't in good shape. Koharu Utatane had an arm in a sling but seemed otherwise fine. Danzo Shimura took his usual place with careful, measured movements, new bandages covering the side of his head and body. From what Yuri had heard his fight against one of the Suna jonin leading the invasion had been a close thing. The already injured right side of his face had been torn to shreds while his opponent lost his life. She supposed he had been lucky in a way that the damage wasn't on the left side of his head; losing both eyes would have been devastating.
A cloaked ANBU and Ibiki Morino, head of the Torture and Interrogation Department, completed the assembly. Ibiki was the senior surviving department head, giving him the influence necessary to claim a seat on this emergency council.
Shikaku Nara cleared his throat. "Now that we are all present we can begin. I will be chairing this meeting. As jonin commander I will take over village leadership until a new Hokage is chosen. Are there any objections?" When nobody spoke up he turned towards the cloaked ANBU operative. "ANBU-san, would you please reveal your identity to the others and inform us of ANBU's status? I believe in light of the recent events we have been given good enough reason to do away with the ineffective anonymity of ANBU."
The ANBU took off her mask and removed her coat, revealing a purple-haired woman. "I am Yugao Uzuki, jonin and the sole ANBU operative left in Konoha. A squad of four is still away, but that is all. As far as I have been able to determine my colleagues were specifically targeted before and during the invasion by the forces of Sound that had infiltrated our village. The surviving members perished in the fighting. ANBU is effectively destroyed at this point."
Breaths were sucked in around the room. The jonin commander nodded gravely. "This is not completely unexpected. Masquerading as ANBU allowed our enemies to infiltrate locations they wouldn't have been able to reach otherwise." He sighed. "I think it best to begin with a recapitulation of the events that led us and the village to this point to bring everyone up to speed."
Yuri listened attentively; normally such things didn't fall in her purview. The first indication of the invasion had been the infiltration of the village by Orochimaru during the first phase of the chunin exams. He used the opportunity to dispose of several ANBU squads and mark Sasuke Uchiha with some kind of seal, although the last part had already been taken care of by the Sandaime and the boy's sensei. A defector from Otogakure had brought them news about an impending attack, although the actual forces of Sound alone had been more than double the expected number.
Ritsuko Aburame spoke up. "The defector is in our care. We have verified she told us the complete truth as she knew it with the help of a Yamanaka mind walker. She was not aware of Oto's true numbers or exact plans."
In response the Hokage had informed the top jonin and department heads to prepare as many task groups as possible inside the village without informing the population at large. They didn't know when the attack would come or what its exact target would be. The expected enemy forces wouldn't have been enough to endanger the village as a whole.
"By now we are certain the defense plans were leaked to the enemy and our security measures compromised." Ibiki explained. "Oto somehow managed to get around three hundred shinobi inside the village without anyone noticing."
There had been some suspicion regarding the presence of the Suna jinchuuriki, but no other indication that any village besides Oto harbored any plans to attack them. The kickoff point for the invasion had been when Suna's jinchuuriki assumed the form of his tailed beast in the arena while the majority of the spectators were incapacitated by a mass sleep technique. The infiltrators already in the village began attacking, sowing chaos and binding many forces. Orochimaru personally attacked the Hokage, a barrier preventing any interference. Forces from Suna and Oto had already been moving through the woods surrounding Konoha, taking out sentries and getting into position. They called several large snake summons to breach the walls of the village.
Now it was Homura's turn to speak up. "I prepared a massive seal underneath the arena for the eventuality that Suna's jinchuuriki was hostile. A direct confrontation by other means would have caused even more collateral damage. Unfortunately the seal wasn't as effective as I hoped. Naruto Uzumaki, Choji Akimichi and Yakumo Kurama were instrumental in distracting the enemy until I could use the seal to incapacitate the enemy jinchuuriki."
During that time the invading forces made some headway, but soon the resistance around the prepared groups got organized and started pushing back despite the chaos and losses inflicted by the infiltrators behind their lines. The sage Jiraiya summoned enough toads to counter the snakes. Then the first aerial attack wave of Sora hit, shattering the organized resistance and inflicting massive damage to the village.
"It was then that we lost many of our leaders. The organized, massed resistance forces made for an easy target. At the same time the Sorakage personally entered the village on a smash and grab raid, looting many valuables before retreating. Both Maito Gai and Shibi Aburame lost their lives against him among countless others." Shikaku said.
Choza Akimichi took over in a pained voice. "We believe it was the Sorakage who unleashed a demon inside the village. It identified itself as 'Reibi' and had the form of a masked giant black leech. Its first target appears to have been our jinchuuriki who had crash-landed in that section of the village, but he managed to escape when our forces engaged the demon." He gestured to the stump of his leg. "Unfortunately we weren't very successful. The demon cut a swath of destruction through the village until Hayate Gekko somehow managed to slay it. A dead girl remained in its stead; she was probably some sort of jinchuuriki."
By then Konoha's defenders were recovering from the aerial attack and getting organized again. A second attack by Sora was intercepted by an enormous flock of swallow summons. Orochimaru killed the Sandaime, but was forced to flee due to his injuries along with the Kazekage. It was then that Soragakure revealed their most devastating weapon by obliterating a mountain and a large section of the forest: a flying fortress.
Koharu cleared her throat. "In the second shinobi war there were rumors about such a thing when we destroyed the original Soragakure, but we never managed to find solid evidence. Our best guess is that the scattered remains of the village managed to complete it. Its main weapon seems to have been a beam weapon equivalent to the destructive power of a bijuudama. We guess Sky planned to betray their allies and destroy them along with our village. Naruto Uzumaki was in the air with the swallows and recognized the danger. He used the Kyuubi's power to fire a bijuudama of his own and destroyed the fortress in one shot. That seems to have broken Sky's resolve and they retreated. At that point Orochimaru had already left the village, apparently taking the elite of Oto with him."
"An unknown S-rank water user engaged part of Suna's reserve forces in the woods around that time." Shikaku continued the retelling. "We aren't clear about the details, but his or her target seems to have been Suna's jinchuuriki. The Kazekage fought Jiraiya outside the village. Suna began retreating soon after."
"Was that after the Kazekage fell?" Hana asked.
"Interestingly, no. The exact timing is difficult to determine, but it appears to have been in the middle of the fight." Shikaku replied. "From the debris of the Sky fortress the now flight-capable Reibi emerged, but we aren't clear if that was a second demon with similar appearance or if the Reibi somehow re-manifested after its defeat. After eliminating most of the remaining swallows it took position above Konoha. It didn't interfere in the battle, though."
Ritsuko proceeded with the account of the battle. "I was in position to personally observe the following events. The Ichibi manifested again, but this time apparently not under the control of its jinchuuriki. The unknown water-user was defeated. Strangely the Ichibi lost its form and turned into some sort of mobile sandstorm. The surrounding land began turning into sand. Somehow both the Reibi and the Ichibi began affecting their surroundings greatly."
"I spoke with the swallows summons; one of them was close enough to observe." Homura said. "The Ichibi approached Konoha, swallowing the Kazekage and Jiraiya among others in the process. Apparently the Reibi took exception and attacked the Ichibi, but the demons disengaged after a short encounter without a clear victor. One of the swallows used an ancient anti-demon weapon against the Ichibi to no avail."
Shikaku took over again. "At this point things got strange. Several people reported some sort of large-scale space-time technique that stopped time, but none were in a position to observe the happenings outside the village. There are reports of strange lights, explosions and moving shadows along with several earthquakes, but nothing that can tell us what really happened. After the technique ended both the Ichibi and Reibi were simply gone, but they left massive destruction behind. With Sky fled and Sand retreating we only had to face the remaining forces from Sound. We finally managed to defeat the last of them a day ago, but our losses were grievous."
"How bad is it?" Myoga asked.
The Nara clan head didn't answer but looked at the two medic nin present. Ritsuko shared a look with her Inuzuka counterpart and nodded encouragingly. Hana took a deep breath. "We still don't have exact numbers, but our estimates are accurate enough for now. More than half of the shinobi present in Konoha during the time of the invasion are now dead. Half of the surviving ones sustained serious injuries; the rest is either lightly or not injured. Civilian losses are about the same; perhaps a bit lower."
Yuri felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. From the looks of it everyone else felt the same. Those numbers were catastrophic; the losses were far bigger than what the Kyuubi had inflicted. The third shinobi war had cost about the same number of lives, but those losses had been stretched out over years.
"Can we hold the village?" she heard herself asking.
Shikaku nodded. "In the short term, yes. That is if no other village attacks in the next week. We lost many of our leaders and have to reorganize. Long-term it is more difficult to say. About a third of our forces are currently away on missions. Much depends on how many injured can recover enough to return to duty. Still, overall we have just permanently lost between a third and a half of our pre-invasion combat strength. We came perilously close to destruction. If the Sand forces had pressed the attack they might have managed to annihilate us."
Koharu spoke next. "We still can count ourselves lucky. Several things in the battle went our way; any one of them would have spelled our doom. Suna's jinchuuriki was successfully contained and defeated before he could wreck too much havoc from inside the village. The second attack of Sky was thwarted by summons nobody knew were on our side. Our jinchuuriki managed to take out Sky's fortress after it had inadvertently destroyed part of the attacking forces. Orochimaru fled the battlefield with his elite. An unknown water user took out part of Suna's reserves. Suna retreated. Then the Reibi and Ichibi simply disappeared."
The builder Keitari had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I was under the impression that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't trained in the use of the Kyuubi. Hokage-sama was very firm on that point."
"That is… somewhat incorrect." Homura replied. "I took some steps to remedy Hiruzen's unwise decisions. Young Naruto began seriously training in the use of his beast as soon as he was allowed to leave the village. He doesn't have full control and doesn't expect to achieve that for several years, but fortunately it was enough."
Yuri wasn't sure what to feel about that. Jinchuuriki were always dangerous and having the boy in the same class as her daughter had given her no end of nightmares. "How safe is that?"
Homura shrugged. "Safe enough. The seal is holding and there is no indication of the Kyuubi taking over. It isn't as if we have much choice. Naruto was instrumental in the defense of the village. He represents a necessary deterrent and is a valuable asset. More importantly, he has the makings of a truly great shinobi. We have to thank him for the swallows, too."
That raised several eyebrows. "In what way?" Shikaku asked.
"Anko Mitarashi's team found an abandoned shinobi settlement on their last mission before the exams. Naruto managed to obtain the swallow contract; they have accepted him as their summoner after he passed their test. In light of the impending exams he kept that secret, but Anko informed me about it." Homura shook his head. "What I didn't expect was Naruto being able to call that many swallows."
"That was indeed very fortunate." Danzo commented, causing nods around the room. "I propose to repeal the Sandaime's law regarding the jinchuuriki." There were no objections. "Furthermore, I want to keep him inside or near the village at all times and train him further in the use of the Kyuubi."
"I object." Choza spoke up. "I agree that Naruto could be turned into a weapon solely relying on the Kyuubi, but that would deprive us of his other potential. He is already a successful jutsu creator. My son kept me informed. The boy needs experience on missions to truly grow."
Ritsuko nodded. "That is my opinion as well. We have no need for a one-trick pony. Suna's jinchuuriki showed that solely relying on a demon is unwise. A variety of teachers and practical experience is needed to bring out his full potential. In a few years time he might even become an S-rank shinobi without relying on his beast."
Yuri uncertainly watched the standoff. Hana, Ibiki and Homura seemed to agree with Choza while Koharu, Hitoshi and Yugao were ambivalent. It seemed Danzo was rather isolated with his opinion. This was outside of her area of expertise. She and the other civilian councilors had always relied on the Sandaime for such matters and followed his opinion.
It was Shikaku who made the decision. "We will keep him as normal shinobi. It will show our confidence if he is seen going on missions. Besides, with his swallows he should have enough mobility and combat strength to deter any assassination attempts. His actions during the invasion showed that he can be trusted and has a good head on his shoulders. His acquisition of a major summoning contract is a massive boon. I will not allow that potential to go to waste. In fact, I think a promotion is in order, but we will deal with that later."
Danzo conceded his defeat with a nod and the council moved to the next matter, namely the destruction caused by the fighting.
Keitaro adjusted his glasses. "The destruction inside and outside of the village is immense. We lost a good part of our infrastructure. A good deal of the housing was destroyed, but in light of our losses the situation isn't critical. Many of the tunnels caved in due to the many earthquakes. The deep-water wells and water supply have been severely damaged and are currently non-functional. We are jury-rigging cisterns for now with the collaboration of the Maintenance Department. It will be a long time until all the rubble is removed."
Chesuta's turn came next. "The attacking forces took out many of the hunting and logging camps during their approach and the Ichibi left a swath of destruction behind. The damage is very widespread. Our ability to provide Konoha with timber and game is greatly reduced for the foreseeable future."
"For now we have enough food stored to last us several weeks although we will have to check for poison. The situation for other local goods is the same. Despite the looting the majority of our monetary assets are intact. Fortunately we have still several masters of every trade." Myoga reported.
Godo grumbled for a moment and made some calculations on a sheaf of paper before he spoke up. "The majority of smithies have been destroyed. We have enough stored weapons to last for a while, but we won't be able to keep up even with the reduced demand for new weapons and repairs until we get more people trained and smithies restored."
Yuri sighed. "Trade is disrupted. A third of the roads are impassable and we have to worry about ambushes. The better part of visiting merchants and other visitors fell prey to the invading forces. I hope to get some trade going in the next few days, but it will be months until everything runs smoothly again."
Hana Inuzuka looked up tiredly. "I worry about a disease outbreak. We are critically short of experienced medic-nin. There are just too many wounded. The hospital and doctors were a primary target." Ritsuko Aburame nodded in confirmation.
"We will deal with that later. It pertains to another matter." Shikaku announced. "Proceed."
Hitoshi Hyuuga spoke up for the first time. "Most of the forests and training grounds around Konoha are destroyed. More than a dozen mountains have been demolished. The hole caused by the Sky fortress is slowly turning into a lake. There are entire sections were the ground has been turned to glass. I have issued an order to keep away from the Ichibi's sand trail for now. Several people reported hallucinations in the vicinity; the apparent location of its initial manifestation is especially bad. I have already worked out a new patrol schedule that should keep us from suffering any more surprises."
"There have been no losses among the important noble visitors; we were able to do that much. They are currently situated in comfortable quarters, but some left already. We will have to provide escorts for the rest. I don't even want to imagine the fallout of this." Koharu said. "The village leader of Hoshigakure was present during the exams with her family, but they apparently fled the village immediately. News of the invasion is already spreading although the accounts will probably be lacking in details. We can't keep this under wraps; it's too big. The Fire daimyo will have to be informed as soon as possible."
Koharu volunteered for traveling to the capital and explaining the events. They would probably have to massively cut back on their missions outside the Land of Fire.
"We will have to choose a new Hokage, too." Yugao interjected.
"What about Jiraiya? He was a pupil of the Sandaime and is one of the strongest shinobi we have, is he not?" Yuri asked.
Homura shook his head. "Jiraiya might be dead. The swallow I spoke with saw him being swallowed by the Ichibi, but it is possible he was being reverse-summoned by the toads in time. He didn't return yet and neither did any toads. There was a secret connection to the toad's realm, but it was destroyed. We can't rely on him."
"Perhaps Kakashi would be suitable?" Keitaro suggested.
"No." Shikaku announced. "Kakashi is a strong shinobi, but he isn't fit to become our Kage. I'm sure you all have heard rumors about his conduct. They are completely justified. I will not accept him."
Hitoshi, Choza, Hana, Ritsuko, Ibiki and Homura were of the same opinion. Yuri wasn't sure what to make of that. She had held the man in the highest regard. Perhaps she should ask her daughter. They hadn't spoken much in the last months, but surely she would have told her if something was amiss with her sensei. Several jonin were suggested and discarded; they either didn't have the strength or fame necessary or had died during the invasion.
Danzo was about to speak up, but Homura beat him to the punch while sending him a sly look. "I'm sure we all agree we need a younger man or woman. Danzo, Koharu and I are far too old and long past our prime; we might die at any time to natural causes. Perhaps one of the clan heads?"
Choza shook his head sadly and gestured to his missing leg. "My fighting days are over."
Ritsuko and Hana declined due to them not being strong enough to fulfill the expectations of a Kage. Hitoshi likewise refused. "I'm too old and ill. There was a reason I retired."
All eyes now focused on Shikaku Nara who raked a hand through his hair. "Troublesome. I will accept the duty for now, but there is another candidate. Tsunade of the Sannin. I already planned on recalling her. We have urgent need of a medic-nin of her caliber. She might be a suitable replacement."
"I'm not sure. She hasn't been in the village for more than a decade and isn't up to speed. Then there are the issues of her drinking and gambling habits." Choza replied.
"I admit her recent activities don't inspire confidence, but in all likelihood she still is a very strong kunoichi. She is the Shodaime's granddaughter, after all. Her taking the office would reassure many people." Koharu answered. "We don't have exact information on her current location, though."
Yugao spoke up. "I volunteer for retrieving her. This would be normally ANBU's task. I would like to enlist Naruto Uzumaki's help. His swallows should shorten the search considerably. One or two jonin as support would be appreciated."
Homura let out a snort of laughter. "I see great demand for young Naruto's services. Much depends on the willingness of the swallows, though. I don't think we can use them as regular transport on a larger scale. Summons are usually very focused on their summoner."
Shikaku nodded. "Approved. I propose Tsunade and I share authority for the time being until we settle on a Godaime for good."
Most people weren't exactly happy about that, but Yuri understood at least part of Shikaku's probable motivations. Becoming Hokage under these circumstances would be a thankless job. It would more than make up for the increase of power. The next topic was the immediate future.
"Suna lost probably around half of their invasion force in addition to their jinchuuriki and Kage. They are in disarray. Can we mount a retaliation attack against them?" Hana asked.
Ibiki shook his head. "No. The Land of Wind's terrain offers a considerable defensive advantage. We probably could crush them, but it would leave us wide open. The risk is too high. Sky lost even more people in our best estimate, but we aren't clear how large their forces were to begin with. We didn't manage to take any live prisoners and have no idea where they retreated to. Oto is another matter. The so-called village consists of several secret bases of rather small size all over the Elemental Nations. We have enough prisoners to find most of them. Attacking them simultaneously would be too risky, but we can consecutively send strike teams until they are all destroyed." He paused for moment. "My brother managed to capture the Kazekage's daughter. She is currently under lock and key in our clan compound."
That led to almost a minute of shouting.
"There is another matter. I don't believe the Kazekage was alive when he attacked us." Koharu announced with a raised voice. Immediately everyone fell silent.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. Witnesses report that Jiraiya managed to strike several killing blows, but the Kazekage regenerated immediately, ash reforming his body. This is matches a forbidden technique developed by our teacher, the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju. It enables false resurrection of the dead and forces them under the user's will. He never taught it to anyone and only left an incomplete version behind, but I consider it likely Orochimaru managed to learn and complete it." Koharu explained. "From what Yugao-san told me Orochimaru used lookalikes of the Shodaime and Nidaime to attack Hiruzen. He might very well have resurrected them, too, but Hiruzen managed to defeat them."
"Do you suggest Suna was compelled into attacking us?" Shikaku asked.
Koharu's face showed a grim expression. "Hardly. The Kazekage might have been under Orochimaru's control for some time, but he was only one person. You can't mount such an attack without approval of the village's leadership."
"I might be able to shed further light on this." Ibiki said. "I haven't yet properly interrogated Temari, but she was only made aware of the attack plans shortly before the finals. She had assumed Ishigakure would be a logical target for the force buildup she knew about. There was a lot of resentment against us in Suna, but most people wouldn't have considered attacking us. More importantly, the Kazekage had no true opposition on Suna's council. I don't mean to suggest they are innocent, but if the need arises we might be able to spin things in that manner."
Shikaku remained silent for several second before speaking. "This is interesting, especially considering that Suna retreated as soon as they could conceivably learn of the Kazekage's status. I want you all to put blame mainly on Oto and Sora in public and emphasize their role. Depending on how things develop we might need to make peace with Suna and I don't want to have riots. Some villages might want to dispose of us while we are down. An untrustworthy ally is better than none. We have to keep our options open. If we can use Suna to stave off the outbreak of the fourth shinobi war I want us being able to utilize that option."
Several people objected, but in the end they settled on following that course of action for the time being. There wasn't any need for a final decision. Yuri remembered well the time of the third shinobi war. Alliances had been very fleeting and they had to fight with people who had slaughtered them only weeks ago. This wasn't any different. The rest of the meeting was filled with discussions about the immediate future. They didn't have enough information for more far-reaching decisions.
It was afternoon when Yuri finally left the tower and headed home. She needed to write several letters; trade routes and contacts didn't fall from the sky. Passing several ruins, Yuri's gaze was drawn to the Hokage Mountain. One of the earthquakes had caused a mountain slide and destroyed the faces of the past village leaders. She wondered if that was some sort of sign. More than once she had to step aside to allow people carrying corpses to pass. There were so many of them they couldn't be buried properly and had to be burned in large pits outside the village.
When Yuri arrived at her modest home she found a note that Sakura had been here, but already left again to help. Yuri often wondered about her daughter. Sakura was very different than the three children of her first marriage.
Yuri Haruno had been born fifty years ago here in Konoha. Her mother had been a shopkeeper while her father traveled the lands for the sake of trade. Following her parents' wishes she had married very early at age thirteen, having managed to beguile a rich merchant twenty years older than her. While she hadn't loved him the marriage hadn't been bad. Yuri's ruthlessness, business sense and head for numbers had caused her to quickly rise in her husband's esteem. Before long they had been running the company together. Three children had been born out of that marriage, a boy and two girls who all shared their mother's mental traits. All had married into nobility. Twenty years ago her husband had died, causing her to return to Konoha. She had no need for most of the entrapments of luxury she could theoretically afford; the feeling of power and influence was far more important to her. Her son controlled their trading company from the Fire capital while the girls lived on their husbands' estates or at court. Yuri stayed in Konoha, soon joining the village council. After a few years she had married again; she had felt somewhat lonely and the friendly, childless widower her own age had made a nice bed-warmer. Besides, his business had given her even more influence in Konoha.
Sakura had come as a surprise after more than twenty years since her last child. Over the years her behavior had more than once puzzled Yuri. She would only inherit a relatively small sum, so becoming a kunoichi was a reasonable option Yuri had supported. Besides, a kunoichi in her family opened more contacts. Trying to catch the last Uchiha as a husband was something Yuri could fully get behind; the boy was very rich and she would be at the top of the local society. Still, something had always seemed off. If she had been in Sakura's place she would have young Sasuke already wrapped around her finger. Being on a team with him offered all sorts of additional possibilities. Only in the last month had Yuri truly realized what exactly the problem was.
Sakura was a romantic.
For someone coldly calculating like Yuri the thought of true love and romance was so absurd that the possibility had never entered her mind before. She had no idea how to fix the problem. Worse, her husband apparently didn't see it as a problem. He was a gentle, pleasant man who wouldn't deny their daughter anything.
From what she had seen Sasuke was totally unresponsive to Sakura's advances. In Yuri's opinion she should have switched targets (you couldn't win them all, after all), but no, Sakura continued pining after the last Uchiha. Now that she thought about it Kakashi should have done something, too. Being an unrealistic romantic was a liability in shinobi business, or really any business. Perhaps there really was something to the rumors about his failings as a sensei.
With a sigh Yuri shoved those thoughts to the side. She had letters to write before the memorial service this evening. Hopefully there wouldn't be any additional problems for Konoha.
In the distant Land of Water a blond shinobi broke the surface of the sea and spat out a mouthful of water. The island they had been fighting on had been mostly destroyed, only some quickly dispersing traces of demonic chakra hinting at the presence of their target. "That was fine art, un. Who knew Yagura was a like-minded enthusiast?"
Deidara supposed he should be angry about almost being blown up and their target choosing suicide over being captured, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel that. The explosion caused by the Mizukage's self-destruct technique had been far too beautiful. It truly had been a fine display of art.
Climbing onto the water's surface, the man ran towards the island while wringing the water from his cloak. The shockwave had destroyed his clay bird and blown him quite a distance away before throwing him into the sea. He was becoming a bit concerned when his partner was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Master Sasori. You can come out now."
Deidara quickly became seriously worried. Playing hide-and-seek was definitely not Sasori's usual behavior. After some searching his state of mind quickly approached dread. Countless destroyed puppets were strewn over the blasted landscape. Even Sasori's favorite, the old Kazekage, was among them. He wouldn't forget that face.
A few minutes later Deidara stood over the destroyed remains of his partner's form. It seemed the explosion had smashed him against a rocky part of the island. What he had taken for Sasori had only been a puppet serving as outer shell. Unfortunately his real body hadn't fared any better.
"I would never have taken you for a redhead, Sasori." Deidara remarked to the severed, cracked puppet head that stared unblinkingly at the sky. Apparently Sasori had turned his real body into a puppet, too. Although judging from the crumpled, torn container oozing unidentifiable organic matter he hadn't been completely successful. Still, you had to admire that dedication to his art.
Seeing something glitter in the remains, Deidara bent down. It was Sasori's Akatsuki ring. He supposed he should take it with him. Leaving a big pile of explosive clay behind, Deidara created another clay bird and left the island. As soon as he was at a safe distance he detonated the clay, letting the explosion completely consume the island and Sasori's remains.
"Farewell, Master Sasori. Fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion, but you weren't half-bad either." Suddenly Deidare slumped. "I so don't want to explain this to Leader-sama, un."
In a hidden cave in the Land of Wind a man opened his eyes when his mind returned to his true body, a rare smile appearing on his features. Actually, he hadn't smiled in years. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan."
The loss of his collection hurt, but it was a necessary sacrifice. Thanks to his recent research project he could create new copies of the original bodies anyway, providing him with basically limitless raw material. Standing up, he enjoyed the feel of his new organic body he had completely and irreversibly fused with. Adjustment wasn't easy; he had spent almost twenty years as a puppet. On the other hand he had been in a dead end before and the perks were well worth it. His new body had even some family semblance to the one he had been born with, although the hair was a strange mix of red and black strands. For compatibility reasons he had been forced to use material of his own original body as a donor, but that didn't mean he hadn't been able to combine it with another source. It would mesh well with his fabricated back story.
He would remain in the cave for a few more days until he left for the nearest settlement. By then word of the invasion of Konoha should have reached that location. Depending on how things had developed an appropriate plan would be chosen. Control over Suna might already be well within his grasp.
Naruto attended the memorial service on a newly cleared field inside Konoha in silence, letting the rain seep through his clothes. Fuyu and Natsu sat on his shoulders, apparently not willing to leave him alone. Yakumo and Ino stood to his sides, each holding one of his hands. The death of her parents as well as many relations had hit Ino hard and she had spent much of the morning crying before she had left to ascertain what the status of her clan was and if she could take over leadership. She had rejoined them just before the memorial service started, meaning he didn't know what had happened yet. His other friends were standing around them in the middle of the attendees. They had won, but the victory had left a bitter taste.
Practically everyone had lost someone close to them. In Naruto's case it was Hinata who was still lying unmoving in the Hyuuga compound. Kiba's mother had died; Karin was practically molded to his side, supporting him. Shino had lost his father, but he gave no outward sign of his grief. Several of Choji's relatives had perished. That wasn't even counting the people each of them had known; the shopkeepers, teachers or even the nameless, random people on the street that one recognized only by sight.
A slight shift in the ranks allowed Naruto to look at the prominent displayed picture of the Sandaime. 'I wonder why you acted as you did. Were you the kindly grandfather well past his prime buried under too many duties? A man who did the best he could? A victim of unrecognized senility who lost touch with reality? An evil scheming bastard? Someone unknowingly caught up in Minato's and the toads' plans? Something in between?'
Now Naruto would probably never receive answers to those questions. Still, he felt relief at the Sandaime's passing. He had been one of the people he had genuinely feared. No successor would have the same degree of power over him. The once-per-month meetings with the Sandaime had pretty much stopped with his graduation and they hadn't been sufficient to kindle any friendly feelings in Naruto despite appearances to the contrary. It would have been different if he had only the Old Man during his childhood, but his parents had always been there for him even if he had to manage without them in the real world. Later there had been Choji, Yakumo, Shino, Hinata and Ino who had earned his friendship. That wasn't even mentioning people like Mizuki or Anko.
Speaking of Anko, they had visited her earlier today. She had regained consciousness, but wouldn't be able to resume active duty for about two weeks. Even preferential medical treatment as one of the elite jonin couldn't immediately cure the results of a high-speed encounter with a golden wall of the Kazekage, two mundane brick walls and several pieces of furniture. Mizuki had already chastised her for her reckless behavior of pursuing Orochimaru alone, but that didn't prevent him and his friends from adding their own opinion. Anko had looked properly contrite after that.
Finally the memorial service was over and the crowd dispersed. There would be several more held; one wasn't enough for all the mourning people. Besides, a good deal of the shinobi was always on duty.
Naruto gave Yakumo's and Ino's hands a slight squeeze before letting go. "I have to go. Will you be at home?"
Yakumo nodded. "Most likely. I'll have to buy some stuff first, but that shouldn't take long. We are still off-duty. The hospital doesn't need someone of Ino's skill level at the current time; they have enough helpers."
Taking his leave, Naruto walked towards the center of the village, the swallows leaving his shoulders and going for another survey of the rebuilding efforts. His destination was one of the intact larger houses that had been turned into the makeshift Hokage's office. The rain had made the damaged Hokage Tower uninhabitable by now. The summon wasn't unexpected. He had already had a long talk with Homura Mitokado after he woke up yesterday morning. The old man had wanted to know everything he had done during the invasion. After receiving a heavily censored version he had seemed well satisfied. Naruto was pretty sure the man wanted to use him for his own agenda, but that was something Naruto could work with. He wasn't one to reject a mutually beneficial relationship.
After announcing his presence to a guard he didn't have to wait and was immediately ushered into the room. Sitting behind a desk was Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara clan, jonin commander, father of his erstwhile classmate Shikamaru and temporary village leader until a new Hokage took office. The announcement hadn't been a surprise considering the available candidates. Homura was in the room along with two jonin. Naruto recognized the purple-haired woman as one of the ANBU guards that had guarded him after the Uchiha massacre and occasionally the Hokage, but he didn't know her name. The man was Genma Shiranui. Naruto knew him by sight and reputation; he had helped Anko a bit during their genin test after Naruto and his friends graduated from the academy.
Naruto gave them a bow and waited to be addressed.
Shikaku looked at him for a moment silently. "Genin Naruto Uzumaki, for your actions during the invasion I hereby promote you to chunin. Despite your relatively recent graduation you have proven your skills and mindset to my satisfaction."
The boy bowed again. "Thank you, Nara-sama. I will do my best to prove your trust justified."
"I expect nothing less. Before we continue, Mitokado-san has given me a full accounting of your after-action report. Do you have anything to add?"
"No, Nara-sama."
The Nara clan head clasped his hands. "Very well. I am about to assign you to a high priority mission and need some answers beforehand. What is the status of your summons? Can you summon a swallow capable of transporting a party of five and do you have the means to search an extended area for specific persons? Are you able to loan them to other people?"
"Most of the combat-capable swallows are still recovering and will remain that way for the foreseeable future." Naruto answered immediately. "I have a few on patrol around the village at all times. There are several swallows suitable for transport I could call. I can summon an entire swarm of normal-sized swallows for scouting, but they aren't very good at distinguishing humans they haven't met. As for loaning them to other people; I don't think they would accept that outside of an emergency or people they know I consider close friends. It would be different with me being there the entire time. From what I gathered they consider me their rightful lord and are only allied with Konoha by extension. I only signed the contract one-and-a-half months ago; I didn't have time to explore all the intricacies yet."
Homura chuckled lightly. "That was what I call an exhaustive answer."
Shikaku nodded in acceptance. "Thank you, Uzumaki-san, that answers my questions completely. Now to the issue at hand: You are hereby assigned to jonin Yugao Uzuki for the duration of the mission." He gestured to the purple-haired woman who gave Naruto a nod. "Your task will be locating and retrieving Tsunade Senju of the Sannin and her companion Shizune Kato. They are both expert medic-nin and the village has need of their services. Tsunade might resist the recall order; use your judgment in that case. If it comes to violence be aware that Tsunade is exceedingly dangerous. Special jonin Genma Shiranui will be accompanying you. The mission will begin tomorrow morning since we are still trying to find the appropriate reports to narrow Tsunade's location down. As you can probably imagine the filing system is a mess. Do you have any questions about the assignment, Uzumaki-san?"
"I do not, Nara-sama."
"Very well. Dismissed."
Naruto bowed again and followed his new superiors out of the room. Once outside Yugao addressed him. "I realize you are in an unusual situation, Uzumaki-san. Under more normal circumstances you would have continued on more standard missions for several months. If you have any questions or problems please don't hesitate to ask me for help. I am not sure how much time we will need for our mission, but we should be able to resupply regularly so there isn't any need to take more than a week's supply with you. Please meet us tomorrow half an hour after first light at the east gate; I will pick up the reports about Tsunade. You have the rest of the day and the night free. I hope we will work well together, Uzumaki-san."
After a bit of conversation Naruto left for home. He had enough supplies stocked there that he wouldn't need to buy anything extra. On his way he noticed that more and more shops reopened and at least part of the shinobi forces were returning to normal duty. He supposed that was unavoidable. At least the most important contracts had to be fulfilled somehow despite the invasion; Konoha couldn't afford to default on all of them. Fuyu and Natsu rejoined him to say goodbye; they wanted to return to their realm. Naruto let them go. They could use the rest.
Yakumo and Ino weren't happy that he had to leave, but that was the fate of shinobi.
"I guess it can't be helped." Yakumo said with a sigh.
Naruto put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed slightly. "I would prefer to stay, too, but you know how it is. How did things go with your clan, Ino?"
Ino expression became miffed. "Badly I fear. The Yamanaka are fracturing as a clan. I spoke with several Yamanaka families. They don't accept me as new clan head. I might have been the official heir, but I'm too young and haven't made enough of a reputation for myself yet. The different branches are all vying for control, but there is no one left with enough backing to unite the remaining families. Our cohesion was already weak before the invasion. Now it is every family for itself. The destruction of the old clan compound didn't help matters." She sighed. "Even the people I am relatively close to on a personal level refuse to support my claim."
"That isn't good." Yakumo remarked. "Do you think that we can do anything about it?"
"I fear not. It will take me years to become powerful and respected enough. By then the situation might be completely different. Were you successful in claiming your clan's council seat?"
"No. They didn't even consider it even if they were civil about it. I'm just a single, inexperienced genin without a clan full of people behind me. It isn't as I don't see their point, but it still sets our plans back." Yakumo answered. "On the other hand if I'm courteous and persistent enough I might get what I want when things normalize. There's no sense in beating my head against a stone wall."
They continued talking for a while until they went to sleep, still in the same bed. Naruto woke before dawn. His internal sense of time was pretty good, meaning he generally woke up when he wanted. His last dream had been pretty naughty and he was sorry he couldn't continue sleeping. Then he realized that his dream had a basis in reality and he was in trouble.
Somehow his shorts had ended up around his ankles. Ino was lying before him, her back pressed tightly against his front. She was very slowly grinding her bottom against his groin and occasionally moaning slightly, but judging from her breathing pattern she was still asleep. The undergarments she had gone to sleep with had ridden up and down, respectively. One of his hands was cupping one of Ino's breasts (decidedly smaller than Hinata, about the same size as Yakumo a corner of his mind noted) while the other one was very close to a certain spot between the blond girl's legs. Ino's own arms trapped his limbs in their current positions. The scent of her arousal was unmistakable. As if that wasn't enough Yakumo was embracing him from behind. Judging from the sensation of skin-to-skin contact her nightgown had ridden up, too.
Naruto groaned in his head. Was someone deliberately fucking with his fate and putting him in these positions for shits and giggles? First the incident at the hot springs with Hinata, Ino and Yakumo and now this. He was a healthy boy with a not inconsiderable interest in the female gender, but this was really uncalled for. He was sure his mother would enjoy doing this to him. Thankfully she wasn't able to influence the real world to this degree… at least he hoped so. His love life was already complicated enough what with Yakumo and Hinata. He did not need this additional complication (or his mother's attempts to get him to have sex with an ever increasing number of girls. Sometimes he worried about his mother. She claimed it was all because of her laying claim to the domain of life, but Naruto had his doubts).
Very carefully disentangling himself, he managed to get out of bed without waking either of the two girls. Deprived of his warmth, Ino and Yakumo began to shift and turn uneasily until they embraced each other front to front. The boy had to suppress a chuckle when he left the room. That would make a very awkward awakening for the two. It was a shame he had to head out and couldn't witness the event. After washing himself with cold water from the new rainwater tank (the regular running water was still not working) Naruto ate a light breakfast and left the house, leaving a note on the table.
It was still raining, but thankfully the downpour had changed into a drizzle. After several minutes of travel he reached the east gate. Genma arrived at the same time as him, greeting him with a nod. A minute later Yugao arrived. "Good morning. I see you are ready to head out. Unfortunately we haven't any really accurate information about Tsunade's whereabouts. We will head to our targets' last known location and start the search from there."
After checking out of the village they left the road. Some of the trees here had actually survived, but a bit farther away most of the vegetation had been destroyed. Despite the early hour a lot of people were coming and going. Leaving the road, they headed to a place with sufficient free space.
"Please call our ride if you are ready, Uzumaki-san."
'Summoning technique'
With a puff of smoke a large swallow materialized, the same one that had carried Team 11 on the way back from their last mission. After explaining the situation and where they were headed they got on board; the two jonin being a bit hesitant. A moment later they were air-borne.
"I think it best if we fly above the clouds, Naruto-sama. The rain makes flying considerably more tiring." The swallow announced after a few seconds.
He looked to Yugao, but the jonin just shrugged. "I say our ride knows best."
The swallow turned towards the village, using the slight updraft there to make things easier. In great spirals they climbed higher and higher. Naruto took the opportunity to get another look at Konoha's surroundings. The traces of the invasion were unmistakable. Large parts of the forest had been destroyed and the landscape totally changed. A new lake was forming where the attack from the Sky fortress had hit. The sand trail still persisted despite the rain, cutting off several roads. At the end closer to Konoha the sand had been turned into a large lake of glass, but there were other spots were some incredibly strong attacks had glassed the ground or caused other kinds of massive destruction. That wasn't even mentioning the destroyed mountains.
Then they entered the clouds and Naruto could see no more.
"What the fuck happened here?"
His partner simply stared, apparently shocked into silence, but such things were hard to tell with him.
'Well, that would be a first.' Kisame Hoshigaki thought while surveying the destruction. It seemed the invasion had done a real number on Konoha. They had known both the Kyuubi and Ichibi jinchuuriki would be here and planned to take them in the chaos of the invasion, but his partner coming down with a cold thanks to the bad weather had delayed them for several days. Not even S-rank missing nin were immune to disease and illness.
They had heard of the failed invasion on their last stop in a tiny village, but that didn't prepare them for the sheer scale of damage. Whatever had happened here had demolished several mountains and done a real number on the forests.
'Is that a lake of glass over there? And why is there so much sand? Shouldn't the ground be made of silt?'
Finally his partner Itachi Uchiha regained the power of speech. "We will head into the village and collect information."
Kisame shrugged. "That's fine by me. You still miss your village, don't you?"
Itachi continued staring at Konoha. "No, not at all…"
She drifted motionlessly. Every thing, every place and every time was here. There was no end and no beginning. Or perhaps the end was the beginning. She wasn't sure about anything; she didn't even know who she was. It had been a mere moment since she had arrived and an eternity at the same time. She felt as if she could touch the entire World from here, but she shied away from doing that for some reason. Everything had consequences. She couldn't touch everything at once and she felt it was of paramount importance what exactly she touched. Unfortunately she was unable to determine the details of her surroundings. None of her senses gave any useful information.
Still, she couldn't stay here. She had the persistent feeling that someone was waiting for her. Looking into herself, she tried to come to a decision. She felt a slight attraction to several different spots, even if she couldn't determine directions. Mustering her courage, she reached out and touched the World. The World touched back.
What followed was indescribable.
In a hidden magical place a short distance from Konoha a very special plant covered with countless star-sprinkled night-black and warm yellow blossoms brought forth a single new bud. A moment later it bloomed into a beautiful pale lavender-blue flower, unique amongst its counterparts.
Author's notes: Thank you for all the reviews.
I know Sakura's parents have a different backstory in canon, but I already planned this long ago.
The plant mentioned in the last scene is the one Naruto created way back in chapter 15.
So long.