As Shibuki walked out of Danzo's office, he resisted the urge to lash out and use his hidden eye's Kotoamatsukami on the foolish boy to force him to commit suicide out of shame. He took a deep breath, reminding himself the weakness of emotions.
It represented a new danger to Konoha however, now the upstart village had two jinchūriki, both high up in the tail scale too. With the proven alliance the village had with Suna, the alliance had the most tailed beasts under their control, his spies giving him indications that Iwa and Kumo suddenly lost one of theirs, and Mizu's second container was a missing nin, his status unknown.
Danzo's mind whirled as how to possibly convince the six tailed slug container to fight on Konoha's side, but he lacked information, aside that it was a man who did not align himself to either Yagura, the crazed three tailed beast container who started a campaign to exterminate the bloodline clans, or the rebels, who fought for their right to exist.
'Why didn't those fools just leave the land of water and join a bloodline 'loving' village like Konoha, they would be welcomed with open arms here.' Danzo thought. He shook his head. 'They are loyal to their country, admirable, but useless for me.'
He stopped thinking about how to gain a jinchūriki for Konoha, and focused how to break the bad news to his forces and the outside world. The fall of Taki was well known, although nearly everybody, Taki ninja included, where clueless how it could have happened. Tree's don't suddenly explode after all and the explosion was far too large to be natural, ignoring the completely unsupportive environment.
It was only because the coincidental entry in the bingo book, although Danzo did not believe in coincidence, that they could identify the leader of the 'ROOT' group. The descriptions Shibuki gathered later about the 'ROOT' team made the man slap his face, the Kyuubi container had dyed his hair red, but hadn't bothered to hide his distinctive whisker marks.
It was for Danzo, and subsequently Shibuki a surprise that the thought dead Mitarashi Anko was still alive. But for Danzo it made sense if Kushina knew about the seal on her memories that Anko switched sides. And quickly ensured Shibuki Oto did not have a way to convince loyal ninja to their side without apparent effort.
The last member of the team should have had rang some alarm bells in Danzo's mind. Konoha where not known for their usage of war fan's, yet a girl, he suspected the Kazekage's daughter, rounded up the four man team.
The girl's appearance had him puzzled for a moment until he came to the logical conclusion. 'They cemented the alliance with a political marriage.. interesting.' He thought, spotting a potential weakness to exploit. He quickly wrote a memo to enter the girl into Konoha's bingo book for elimination. Joining the Kazekage's youngest, and Ichibi jinchūriki in Konoha's books.
It didn't explain why both the jinchūriki and his wive where both risked in a mission to retrieve the nanabi jinchūriki. 'Perhaps a connection, convince the girl with emotions like 'to be loved'?' he theorized with some distaste. Shibuki had noted the girl was disliked like the Kyuubi jinchūriki was. 'Fools, all of them. Only Iwa and Kumo seem to know how to treat and train their weapons.' Danzo thought. He once again rued that he failed to get his hands on the Kyuubi boy.
It still disturbed Danzo that Oto knew about the mission, he was certain he left the group that 'needed' to know very, very small. 'How do I investigate this without alerting them.' Danzu mused. 'It is clear the enemy has still reliable sources of information despite my attempts to purge them.
Inside the office, his hands idly working through the useless paperwork, his mind meanwhile whirled with choices, options and strategies to bring Konoha to the top.
Despite being a perceived weakness in his own mind, he was blind to his own arrogance and pride.
He would never consider out there in the world, there was a mind as cunning, if not more, as his own.
Kushina was tired, although the big battle between Konoha and Iwa had happened, to her slight surprise, ended in an effective draw, everybody was extremely jumpy, which sadly included her spy network.
The draw was the best solution for her plans, with Iwa and Konoha baring fangs at each other, she spend the night organizing a massive misinformation campaign against both sides. If everything went according to her plan, either side would think they would be evenly matched, with the opportunistic Oto and Suna, and the unpredictable Kumo neither side would be inclined to continue the slugging match.
This uneasy peace would also mean neither side could spend the resources to deal with Oto or Suna in any meaningful manner.
Exactly as Kushina had planned.
Without thinking, she walked into Naruto's room, so used to slipping into his bed to hug the stuffing out of him she hadn't realized it was morning for him. So she was mildly surprised as she looked into the eyes of the awake boy, who looked at her with a mixture of apprehension and thoughtfulness, which soon shifted into worry. Whatever he had on his mind quickly shoved away.
"Are you alright mom?" Naruto asked. "Just tired Naru-chan." Kushina responded, stifling a yawn. He nodded. "You have been having short nights lately." He confirmed as he gently guided Kushina to her bed. Kushina agreed with a yawn she couldn't stifle and lay down, she noticed Naruto had moved to turn off the lights.
Her tired mind decided to put the things she wanted to talk about with Naruto away for now, and closed her eyes, she vaguely noted Naruto covered her up with a weak laugh before she fell asleep.
She awoke an unknown time later, hearing her son's voice arguing with someone at the door.
"…under attack?" she heard Naruto demand. The response was to muffled for her sluggish mind to properly decipher. "So there is no S-rank ninja attacking us, Konoha and Iwa are not attacking us and there is no stray bjuu. What kind of news would be so critical to disturb my mother's well deserved rest?" Naruto demanded, and even from her position the edge in his voice was clear.
Kushina vaguely heard the word report before her son cut in again. "Not important enough, put it on top of her desk, go." The tone of command was clear, despite Naruto having no actual rank. She didn't hear any response, so she presumed his order was obeyed. She pulled herself up and stretched, she had no clue how long she had rested, but considering she no longer felt tired and her mind was crystal clear, she had slept quite a while.
Naruto glared as the, in his mind, idiotic messenger ran off. A report that an island his mother was looking for specifically was important yes, but no 'wake up the leader' important in his mind, the team hadn't suffered casualties despite the unexpected 'resistance'. 'Can't those idiots see how tired mom was?' he ranted in his mind.
Naruto felt ashamed of himself he hadn't noticed how much his mother was wearing herself out. Yes, he had vaguely noted she went to sleep long after he was out to snuggle up to him, yet she woke up the same time he did.
That changed when he saw his extremely tired mother stumble into his room in the morning. His protective instincts flaring, he practically shoved her into bed and decided to grab a good fuinjutsu book and set up shop outside his room's door, vowing to Futon: Daitoppa any idiot who would try to wake his mother across the hallway without a very good reason. Only an invasion or the end of the world would be a good enough reason in the Naruto's opinion.
He sat down with a huff and reopened the book at the page he was at, he was about to lose himself into the theory again when he noticed his room lights where on again. With a curse in his mind, he closed the book and quickly formed a shadow clone to grab food as he entered the room.
"Mom?" he asked as he saw his mother stretch. "Hello Naru-chan." Kushina responded with a smile. She had put together Naruto clearly decided to guard her room from anyone awakening her for one thing or the other, his protectiveness destroying her worries about pushing him away. "How long have I been asleep?"
Naruto glanced at the clock. "About ten hours, did I wake you up?" Naruto replied. Kushina withheld a frown while she waved off his question. 'I was more tired than I thought.' "Did anything happening?" she asked as she started to undress herself, having noticed she plainly put, smelled.
"Not much, although one idiot mentioned your plans where showing to be successful, I am not sure why he would want to wake you up for that." Kushina chuckled as she saw Naruto's annoyed expression, she silently agreed however. She moved towards the bathroom, Naruto closely behind her.
"Anything else?" she inquired. "Some scout reports about…" he made the quotation marks with his hands. "…'possible' invasion forces by Konoha. I told him to let the field commander deal with it. And some other scouts find an island you were looking for… although I am not sure how you lose one in the first place." He quipped.
Kushina chuckled at the weak joke. "Ah, there might be family on it." She explained, not seeing the surprised look from Naruto as he was sitting outside the bath next to her. The clone soon returned with a meal, which Kushina grateful ate in bath as she let the hot water relax her body. The long sleep reminded her that she had been pushing herself, and clearly the world hadn't decided to burn while she slept. So the enjoyed the rare chance to unwind.
She realized she had time to speak with her son, and clearly had his full attention as he sat silently next to her. "Naruto…" Naruto stiffened at the use of his full name instead of 'Naru-chan'. "… are you angry at me?" she asked. "No!" Naruto shot out surprised. "Then why are you not talking to me about what bothers you?" she asked.
"I…" Naruto started, visibly struggling with his words. After a handful of seconds he deflated. "How do I say.. 'I am sorry mom, you right and I was being reckless, help me?'" he spoke in a hopeless tone, clearly conveying he had no idea how to approach his mother with his problem.
Kushina was startled by the honest admission, before she felt like slapping herself. 'Stupid stupid Kushina! He spend thirteen years not showing any weaknesses to anybody! He doesn't know how to ask for help.' She thought, suddenly realizing that Naruto had no 'How to be a good son' books to read opposed to the multitude of parenting books she had slugged through over the years to be the best mother she could be.
She quickly turned and bend over the tub's edge, pulling Naruto into a hug, not caring she was getting his clothes wet. After a moment of surprise Naruto returned the hug. "Sorry Naru-chan for jumping to a conclusion, it looks like we are both new to this mother-son thing ne?" she asked. Naruto laughed weakly "Yea.. wouldn't want to miss it for anything." He admitted warmly.
Kushina beamed, happy their relationship was back on track, having weathered the rough patch without harm.
She released the hug and stepped out of the bath, quickly drying herself and dressing. "Well, let's run the empire shall we Naru-chan?" she asked with humor as they walked out of Naruto's room. "Naturally mom" Naruto replied cheekily.
A week passed, Naruto spending less time in training and more with his mother. During this period he also ran into Hinata, and was slightly disappointed in the girls lack of initiative to search him out, the girl was still being trained up to Oto's standards so was present inside the base.
It made him wonder about what a good girl would be for him, his mother had gently breached the subject in the moments they had together, despite being quite hectic period for his mother.
She was managing the misinformation campaign into the small details, just short of going out of the field herself to feed the Konoha and Iwa 'spymasters' the information on the other sides. All the while keeping eyes on the other nations and factions, ordering missions in the land of Oto and islands unrelated to the major groups.
It was during this period they learned how Temari had made it into the Konoha's bingo books.
Temari eyebrows twitched violently, her own face staring neutrally back at her from the page in Konoha's stolen bingo book. The page was still there despite her best attempts at denial.
In other circumstances she might have a been a bit prideful, it was after all a recognition of one's strength to be marked as a target. She knew she was nearing the power, responsibilities and knowledge expected from a special jounin with her abilities with her war fan.
However, it was not her strength that landed her into the bingo book pages, somebody in Konoha strongly suspected she was a political bride, married to Naruto who was recognized on a different page as the son of the Otokage, although his status as a demon container was still hidden to the outside world.
No sense admitting to everyone you lost your jinchūriki.
She had to admit the younger boy was cute and quite strong, and he clearly cared for family and those similar to him, attributes she admired. However the boy was to wild for her, too willing to leap head first into combat and the constant sense of impatience he tackled things with. Although once he got started on something, he did not give up.
She calmed down after giving her supposed 'groom' a solid whack with her fan and destroying a dozen or so training dummies with her fan. How that infuriating boy could find amusement in it angered her greatly, no matter how cute the laughing grin was.
She suddenly froze, her father could probably use this to push them closer. The man meant well, but did he really have to suddenly gain interest in making she has was going to give him grandchildren. 'Couldn't Gaara get together with that girl that has a crush on him, or perhaps Kankuro stop wearing that makeup he steals from me and find a girl himself?'
The sighed again 'Well Gaara will be proud on me, he embraces his entry. It gives him fights to make him feel alive.' She thought wryly.
She still felt a bit frustrated and looked at the nearly knocked out boy who was counting stars on the floor, with a kick to bring him back to reality she shouted. "It might not be an indoor jutsu, but you never know when you need it!" she than promptly demonstrated it by nearly cutting him in half with a blade made of air.
Kushina stretched as she read the reports in her office, her plan had worked, but not well enough. 'Perhaps to think I could settle down both sides was too optimistic.' Kushina thought. 'So… do I take the gamble with presuming Konoha and Iwa don't find a reason to fly at each other throats again, trusting the precarious perceived balance to hold for now. Or do I risk myself and the fewer troop I send to Kiri to topple the mizukage.'
She came to a decision, and send the order to the logistics office to start the troop movements needed to aid the revolution in Kiri.
She switched dossiers, the scout team she had send out to find the island with a possible Uzumaki descended had found the island, but the scouts where forced off by the dangerous 'wildlife'. 'Or summon animals, I wonder what kind of technique and technology they used to increase creatures to the sizes described, I could only imagine finding those creatures in the forest of death.' Her inner scientist mused, her curiosity triggered.
'Now who to send, it must be a combat team considering how the scouts got overpowered so easily.' She thought. 'Naruto knows, and would want to be involved. Not a lot of people will know, and I won't garner extra attention of going personally somewhere with both 'my' jinchūriki in tow.' Kushina mentally balanced the risk versus the reward, she did promise to allow Fu to stay close to Naruto, and she hadn't had much time to further bind the girl to her camp.
I can't send Temari, Shinkiro politely requested for me to find her a way to go back to Suna as soon as possible. Kushina suddenly had an idea. 'That Hinata girl should be ready soon, I'll send Tayuya as team leader.' Kushina smirked, Tayuya would have an extra set of orders unrelated to the mission.
AN: Some expected and unexpected misdirection in action! Reconciliation went COMPLETELY different as I had planned, this one feels better though, what do you think? Probaly one more chapter before we dive into the action again.
firetemplar415: In this case no, perhaps it would be more realistic for it to be yes.
Chim3r4/Ncpfan: Tsunade has taken the new top spot for hardest character to write, I am terribly afraid I am overdoing her negative points.
SPark681: Next chapter ;)
Ncpfan: I am trying to aim that Kushina thinks he is angry with her, did I get it right?
Agnar: A fair point, the action isn't back to back, there is some time in between for training, but I'd find training scenes boring to read, and even more boring to write. Il will keep an eye on it. Also she is angry that he is being generally reckless. But you make a fair point, thanks!
Guest: Tbh, letting Naruto's chakra control be solely depend on the grumpy fox goes against the established canon of More chakra = sucky control, less chakra = good control.
.3950: Mindreader! 'Traditional medicine' as I call it is something Naruto will get training in, same for field aid.
Wyrtha: Pm'd you my response, but I cooked up (what I think) a hilarious scene based on Shion's 'Bare my babies!' question ;) Still need to find a way to twist the Snow princes hints :D
Deathmvp: Thanks, Tsunade is hard to write. And yes, Kushina wants Naruto to be more cautious, imho he is bloody reckless in canon.