A/N: This is goddamn unnatural. It's been less than twenty-four hours.
Chapter 43: Recoordination
Naruto sat down in the wooden chair opposite Karin. The dining hall was designed to accommodate a relatively large group of people, although not nearly as many as were in the forest now. At the moment, however, it was totally empty save for the two of them.
Naruto smiled at the girl as he passed her an apple. "They don't have ramen," he said, "so this'll have to do until dinner. There's more if you want."
She nodded, biting into it, watching him all the while. "So, Naruto-san?" she asked once she'd swallowed. "What's going on? What are you planning? What's going to happen to me?"
"That depends, mostly, on what you want," Naruto said with a shrug. "But I'm going to tell you what I know, and what I think I can do.
"First, do you have a surname? A clan?"
Karin looked down, probably ashamed. "Not a real one," she said. "My mother was given the name 'Umaki' in an orphanage, and I don't know who my father is. Nor did she."
Naruto nodded understandingly. Basically confirms it, he thought to Kurama. Umaki? They weren't even trying.
You have blond hair and blue eyes, and you're surprised at how little effort it takes to hide someone's parentage?
Point taken. "I think I can clear some of this up for you," Naruto said aloud.
Karin looked up at him, startled. "What do you mean?"
Naruto smiled at her. "Your mother," he said, "was, I'm almost certain, a lost child of the Uzumaki clan. Your red hair and vitality are their trademarks."
Karin's mouth fell open. "I have a clan?" she whispered.
Naruto's grin widened. "Not much of one, I'll admit," he said. "There's only one other known member. Fortunately for you, he's definitely in a position to offer you protection and a home, if you want it."
She stared at him, wide eyed. "Who…" suddenly her eyes seemed to pop out of her head as the revelation struck her. "Your name…"
Naruto laughed aloud. "Uzumaki Naruto," he said, bowing his head with a flourish, "de facto head of the Uzumaki clan, at your service. Welcome home, cousin."
There was a beat of silence. Karin's eyes were filling with tears.
Then she reached across the table and dragged him roughly into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you."
Naruto's smile didn't fade, but it softened slightly. "No problem," he murmured, his arms tightening around the girl. "I'm here for you."
She pulled away slowly, her eyes still shining. "Are you sure I'm a member of your clan?" she asked.
Now his smile did fade slightly. "I can't be totally certain," he said. "But there is only one person in the history of the Elemental Countries with red hair like yours who isn't an Uzumaki that I can think of. Your Chakra feels vital, like Uzumaki chakra. And I have a friend who's… kind of an expert on Uzumaki."
Flattery will get you nowhere, brat.
"And he's pretty certain you're an Uzumaki," Naruto finished, ignoring the Bijū. "I'd need a blood test to make it legal and proper, of course. And that's where my idea comes in. Basically, I just need to know: How loyal are you to Kusa?"
She looked away. "I…" she swallowed. "I used to be loyal because I thought that everyone outside Kusa was monsters. But you're not. I…" she hesitated. "I think I hate them," she confessed. "The orphanage wasn't good to me, and the Kusa people literally used my mother to death. I think, if I have to go back… I won't last long."
"Then it's a good thing you don't have to go back," Naruto said confidently. "We're going to talk to the Hokage and get you a blood test. If that test shows you're an Uzumaki—and it will—then I'm basically certain we can give you legal amnesty in Konoha." He grinned ferally. "Hell, since Kusa was part of the alliance that destroyed the Uzumaki village, Uzushiogakure, during the Second Great War, and Konoha was their closest allies… this is casus belli to declare war if Kusa has any objections."
Karin was staring at him. "You'd… declare war on Kusa for me?" she whispered.
He shrugged. "If you can call it a war," he admitted. "I expect what would happen is a handful of powerhouses, including my team, would be deployed to Kusa. Your village doesn't really have the kind of strength needed to hold that off. It'd be over in a matter of hours, and then we'd be able to run damage control. I doubt a Great War would even result, unlike what happened when Iwa and its allies destroyed Uzu in a similar way about 50 years ago."
He snorted then. "Of course, that won't happen," he clarified. "The Sandaime Hokage is basically a pacifist, and thank the Kami for it, because this world would be really ugly if he wasn't. He'll find a way to avoid a war over this, but he won't be handing you over if the blood test turns out positive." He chuckled. "And if it turns out negative… I have a couple ideas to work around that anyway, so long as you don't mind being inducted into the Uzumaki. But like I said… I think it'll definitely turn out positive. So?" He cocked his head at her. She looked rather shell-shocked. "What do you say? Do you want to go through with this?"
She blinked at him a couple of times, then cleared her throat. "Um, yes." She said quietly. "Yes, please… Naruto-sama."
He smiled sheepishly and reached over to ruffle her hair. She flinched slightly at the contact, but then seemed almost to lean into it. "Just Naruto will do," he said, standing. "We're family, after all."
Hiruzen studied the two Genin before him as they entered the makeshift conference room. "Naruto-kun," he greeted. "Who is your friend?" He noted, as he asked, the Kusa hitai-ate on her forehead.
"Ojii-san," Naruto said, stepping forward. Hiruzen heard Iruka's face meet his palm from the Chūnin's place at his right at the informality. "This is Karin. My team ran into her in the forest; Sasuke saved her from a giant spider. Her team had left her for dead."
The girl looked down.
Hiruzen frowned. "That is certainly not behavior befitting a Shinobi," he agreed, "but since she is of the jurisdiction of another village, I see very little we can do besides fail her team. You know the limits of my power, Naruto-kun."
Naruto grinned. "I also know something you don't, Ojii-san," he chuckled. "I want her to get a blood test. I would bet money she's an Uzumaki, and I want her inducted into the village under my clan's protection."
Hiruzen's pipe fell out of his mouth. "You didn't tell me about this," he accused.
Naruto raised his hands in defense. "I'm telling you now!" he said, laughing slightly. "I only worked it out yesterday, with… Kurama's help." Naruto had glanced furtively at Iruka at the pause. Hiruzen understood, but he wanted to get the public parts of this discussion over with first.
He sighed and put his pipe back into his mouth. "Are you certain of this?" he asked seriously. "You know how serious the accusation you're making is."
Iruka spoke up. "Er… I don't, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen looked over at him and quickly explained. "Kusa was instrumental in the destruction of Uzushiogakura fifty years ago. Konoha granted amnesty to the Uzumaki clan after the fall, and if Kusa has been keeping a branch of the clan under their jurisdiction it is in violation of the Treaty of the Third Third Summit that ended the war. If such a violation occurred, it would be grounds for Konoha to call for the annexation of Kusa, or at least for extensive reparations." He turned back to Naruto. "Danzō," he said slowly, "is going to have a field day with this."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "For once I almost agree with the old bastard," he grumbled. "Not okay, Kusa. But yes, I'm certain. As certain as I can be without actually getting the blood test."
Hiruzen sighed. "And if it's negative?"
Naruto smirked. "We falsify it? Karin… really doesn't want to go back to Kusa. I'll gladly induct her into the Uzumaki clan to keep her out of that."
Hiruzen sighed. "If that ever got out, it would be very bad," he said coldly. "I really don't like Konoha's odds in a four-on-five Great War."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't be so melodramatic," he chastised. "It wouldn't get that bad! Kumo tried to kidnap the Heiress of the Hyūga and got away with is scot free! Hell, they got tribute out of that! This definitely wouldn't go as far."
Hiruzen sighed. "We'll run the blood test," he acquiesced, "under the auspices of giving her medical attention. If it turns out positive, I can guarantee her amnesty one way or another. If it comes out negative, then we can plan our next move. That's the best I can promise. Understood?"
Naruto actually bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," he said gratefully, and Hiruzen realized he'd actually worried the boy. "I really appreciate it."
Hiruzen smiled tightly. "If you're right, Naruto… then I should be thanking you." He sighed, a long, wistful sound. "Our failure to protect Uzushiogakure is one of my greatest regrets as Hokage. Any repayment I can give to the Uzumaki is something I am proud to do."
Naruto rose. "As clan head," he said softly, "let me say that I think you've done as well by us as anyone could expect… given the situation. Thank you for everything."
Hiruzen looked down, keeping his face a mask to avoid showing how affected he was. "Thank you, Naruto-kun," he said. "It means… a great deal, to hear that from you. But we have more to discuss, I think. Iruka, please escort Karin to Team Seven's room. Naruto will follow soon."
Iruka nodded and led the girl out.
"Agent Cat," Hiruzen then said aloud, and the purple-haired ANBU agent emerged from her concealment. "Please take your force out of the room," he ordered. "The full force. Guard the entry points."
Agent Cat hesitated, then nodded. Her two comrades emerged from hiding and left by the door, while Cat took the one window.
As soon as they were gone, Naruto pulled out four scraps of paper. "Silencing seals," he explained, as he walked the perimeter of the room, placing one in each corner. "Not too high-level, but we're roughing it."
He came to a rest across from Hiruzen. "All right," he said. "We're secure. What did you want?"
"Any details you have on Karin-chan," the current Hokage said. "And a full report of goings-on in the forest. I heard you assembled a tidy little Shinobi Corps within the forest.
Naruto grinned. "We coordinated with the other teams that had time-travelers," he said. "Gaara, Fū—Jinchūriki of the Nanabi—Shikamaru, and Shino all brought their teams together and joined up with us. We made it a point to take out any teams Shikamaru's intel said might prove lethal to other Genin, and in the process got enough scrolls to pass everyone, including Team Nine, who I dragged here last night after Hyūga Neji made an ass of himself a couple times. Hopefully the result will be a fully nonlethal Phase Two of the Exams."
Hiruzen shook his head amusedly. "Only you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto shrugged. "Only the best teams have a chance at passing anyway," he said, "Especially since I took a few extra scrolls out of circulation. I just didn't see the point in letting people die when I had a choice. Anyway." Naruto grew somber. "Other stuff happened. Akatsuki showed up."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. "You're serious?"
Naruto nodded. "When Sasuke went to save Karin—she was a teammate of his when he was hunting down Itachi, by the way, and he saved her last time—Hoshigaki Kisame showed up to give him some warning. Sasuke, being the cocky bastard he is, baited fishface into attacking him before he could finish. Then Itachi showed up and pulled his partner's ass out of the fire, and I had to do the same for Sasuke."
"And do they…" Hiruzen began.
"Yeah." Naruto's voice was grim, and his eyes were dark. "They know. The Dishonored's been busy. Must have spilled his guts to Madara at some point."
Hiruzen closed his eyes. "It's not as though this is entirely unexpected," he acknowledged. "We knew Akatsuki would find out sooner rather than later."
Naruto nodded. "And we're still neutered by public opinion and inter-village politics," he said. "We Jinchūriki can't reveal ourselves because people are already too damn scared of us; finding out we're from a future where everything goes to shit would not get the intended responses. Sasuke can't risk getting any more attention than he already has without my support, and Shikamaru needs to avoid being a target at all lest we risk our tactician. And Shino can't exactly deploy alone, can he?"
There was a moment's silence as Hiruzen stared at Naruto.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I don't like your expression."
Hiruzen shook his head. "It's a moot point; Akatskui isn't our only enemy. Orochimaru still doesn't know the truth, and until he either does or is neutralized, we can't show our hand."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Actually…"
Hiruzen's fist hit the table. It cracked. "You're kidding," he said flatly.
"I don't know!" Naruto said, raising his hands defensively. "I don't know. All I know is that the Genin he was supposed to be impersonating attempted to engage Team Nine, and that when I moved to stop them, I was able to neutralize her without any trouble. I went back to check on her later, after she woke up, because she was on Shikamaru's list of potentially lethal Genin. She wasn't Orochimaru—I can confirm."
Hiruzen breathed heavily once—more a gasp then a sigh—and said, "but you're not certain that this is because he knows the truth? It might a fluke?"
Naruto nodded. "We've seen a good few flukes like that, although up until now none have involved major details. Kabuto did approach us in the first part of the Exam, though, and the team from Oto was present. So it looks to me like Orochimaru is still involved in the Exam. He never attacked us, but that might be because there were sixteen of us, including two known Jinchūriki—he didn't know about me, last time, until we fought, but he definitely knew about Gaara and he probably knows about Fū."
"On the other hand," Hiruzen said grimly, "he might know the truth of the matter and not have wanted to engage potentially Kage-tier Shinobi without more backup. We have no way of knowing, and as such have no idea what to plan for."
Naruto nodded. "We need to get in touch with Jiraiya," he suggested. "If he's seen any hint of contact between Orochimaru and Akatsuki, we can probably assume that he's been brought, at least partially, into the fold."
"That has promise," Hiruzen agreed. "I'll remain here for the evening. We have Genin on a D-Rank for the village preparing the meal. After we eat, I would like to see you, Shikamaru-san, Shino-san, and Sasuke-san in this room for further discussion and planning."
"Hai," Naruto agreed. "Shikamaru might have ideas, and Sasuke might have caught something I missed. You sure you don't want to see Gaara and Fū too?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "This will already be suspicious enough without inter-village politics getting involved," he said. "Just the four of you will do."
Naruto hesitated. "Sasuke's brining Sakura into the fold right now," he said hesitantly. "I'd rather not exclude her any more. Can she come too?"
Hiruzen smiled. "Of course," he said. "It's good to see Team Seven uniting at last."
"The Hokage wants to talk to us," Naruto told his teammates quietly. They'd gotten the room to themselves for a time while Karin was downstairs being stalled by Shikamaru and Team Ten. Naruto had, of course, placed a silencing seal on the door in case she decided to come up early. "Us, Shikamaru, and Shino. We've got some planning to do."
"He wants to see me, too?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised.
Naruto grinned at her. "I insisted," he said. "No more secrets between us."
Right. "On that topic," Sasuke interjected, "I didn't have time to tell her everything, and some of it was… well, yours to tell. I gave her the basics but not some of the details. I figured you'd be better with some of those."
Naruto nodded at him. "Fine, fair enough. Sakura," he grinned sheepishly, "well, some of this might make you freak out. Please don't, okay?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "There's not all that much that could make me freak out anymore, Naruto," she said. "My teammates are a time-travelling hero/villain pair from the end of the world. It doesn't get much weirder than that."
Sasuke snorted. "She's not wrong," he told his blond friend.
Naruto shrugged. "True," he agreed. "Here goes. First, I figure Sasuke didn't tell you about the Kyūbi?"
Sakura frowned and shook her head. "It attacked Konoha when I was just a baby," she said. "The Yondaime defeated it, right?"
"Those are true statements," Naruto agreed amiably, looking at Sasuke in amusement. "This is going to be fun. So, first point, Bijū can't be killed; especially not in their full beast form. They're chakra constructs; at best you can make them disperse for a while, and no human in hundreds of years has been able to bring that kind of power to bear."
Sakura was staring at Naruto, wide-eyed. Sasuke had to fight to keep from laughing at her expression.
"So," Naruto continued, "what happened to the Kyūbi? Well, there's something called a Jinchūriki. It means 'Power of Human Sacrifice.' A Jinchūriki is a human who has a Bijū sealed inside them. Gaara, for instance, is Jinchūriki of Ichibi no Shukaku. Fū is the Jinchūriki of Nanabi no Chōmei.
"The Jinchūriki all remember parts of the future," Naruto continued, "because the Bijū are tied to the jutsu that brought us back, and they remember. You understand?"
Sakura nodded slowly. "So, wait," she said slowly. "You said Bijū can't be killed… so what happened to the Kyūbi? Who's it's Jinchūriki?" Her eyes widened. "Shino? Or Shikamaru? Sasuke told me they came back in time too."
Sasuke burst out laughing. Naruto, he noticed, did the same. "Sorry, Sakura," Naruto gasped through his chortles. "No dice."
He took a moment to calm down and then grinned at her. "It's me," he said simply. "I'm the Kyūbi no Jinchūriki. His name's Kurama, by the way."
Sakura stared at him, her eyes wide.
"Oh," Naruto added, as if it had just occurred to him. "I'm also technically head of the Uzumaki Clan, which makes me technically heir to Whirlpool Country, if Konoha ever gets that back from Iwa, through my mother, Uzumaki Kushina."
Sakura's eyes widened farther.
"Also!" Naruto said, raising a finger as if to forestall questions. "My father was Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage."
Sakura's jaw dropped.
Naruto looked over at Sasuke, his face red with barely suppressed laughter. "What else did I forget?" he wondered aloud. "Oh! I was Hokage…"
"I told her that," Sasuke interjected.
"Bah, spoilsport," Naruto said, sticking his tongue out at the Uchiha, "I'm sure there's other stuff I'm forgetting." He looked over at Sakura and seemed to take pity on her. "That stuff can wait, though," he said. "Let's go down and pick up Karin."
"Right," Shikamaru said, spreading his map of the Elemental Countries across the table as Naruto laid the silencing seals around the room. "Sakura, I assume you've been brought into the fold, since you're, well, here?"
Sakura nodded. Apparently, meetings like this had been happening occasionally since not long after they arrived, months ago. It was honestly rather frightening.
"Fine. Probably about time that happened," Shikamaru said, stepping back away from the map. "All right, so here's the situation. We know that Akatsuki is, at least, monitoring these exams. We know from Gaara that Suna was sent here intending to invade in concert with Oto, which means we know that, at the beginning of this exam, Orochimaru intended to do exactly, or nearly, what he did last time. Sasuke," he turned to the Uchiha. "Do you know what Orochimaru's motives were in attacking the village last time?"
Sasuke shook his head slowly. "I don't think he actually wanted to destroy the village," he said quietly. "Whatever else you say about him, he's not vengeful. He doesn't care enough about people to be vengeful on them. I think… I think the entire invasion might have been an attempt to convince me that Konoha was weak, as well as an opportunity to assassinate the Sandaime," Sasuke nodded at the Hokage.
Sakura gulped. Sasuke and Naruto had briefed her more in full, but she was still processing. Hokage-sama will die a month from now if we don't do anything, she thought. No pressure.
"And you don't currently have a Curse Seal," Shikamaru said, "which means that, even if Orochimaru is out of the loop, he might still call off the invasion. But that doesn't mean we're safe, because Akatsuki has deployed."
"If Akatsuki knows about us—and they do—then only two courses of action make sense from their perspective." Shino's voice was low. "Either they must go to ground, and rework their plans from the ground up to avoid being exposed and destroyed…"
"…Or they have to commit to an all-out assault," Shikamaru finished, "and try to destroy us before we get any stronger. Naruto, Kurama still hasn't recovered from what the Dishonored did to him in Nami, right?"
Suddenly there was a weight on Sakura's mind. She flinched as a voice boomed into her skull.
He stole one of my damn tails, Nara, growled the Kyūbi no Yōko. No, I haven't damn well recovered.
Naruto had told her he was a Jinchūriki, and had told her that the Bijū weren't the monsters they were made out to be, but that didn't stop her from whimpering audibly.
The Kyūbi sighed. Calm down, girl, he muttered. I'm not about to hurt you. Not like I have a body to do it with, anyway.
Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder.
"Like he said," Naruto continued, flashing her a sympathetic grin, "no. Kurama will recover—the tail will grow back—but that'll take months; maybe more than a year. It's only been a few weeks. Right now he's at a little over eight tails' worth of power."
"And we can't use it against the Dishonored anyway," cursed Shikamaru, "because he'll just swipe it."
Sasuke shrugged. "Naruto doesn't use Kurama's chakra in its pure form all that often anyway. I doubt the Dishonored can absorb a Bijū Dama."
"If anyone would know…" grumbled Shikamaru, glaring balefully at the Uchiha. Sakura felt her teammate's fingers tense slightly.
"Now, I think, is not the time," Shino said calmly. "Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame approached with a warning. What does that mean?"
Shikamaru threw his hands in the air. "I have no idea," he exploded. "It makes no tactical sense! Why the hell would they send anyone in as a pair knowing we have two Kage-tier powerhouses and Jōnin-tier support? Why is Itachi even still with them if the truth has come…"
He stopped, as though he'd been hit with a sudden thought, and a slow smile spread across his face. "Can we all agree," he said thoughtfully, "That Itachi was probably the second or third strongest member of the Akatsuki before his death?"
Naruto, Sasuke, and Shino all nodded. Then Naruto's eyes widened. "He's playing both sides," he whispered.
"Or Madara is," Shikamaru agreed. "I'm inclined toward the latter; we can expect that Madara knows the details, but the rest of Akatsuki is being kept in the dark about all but the basics. They know we came from the future, they know you two are monstrously powerful, but they don't know all the details. Itachi, for instance," Shikamaru stared at Sasuke, "doesn't know you know the truth."
Sasuke bowed his head. "And he'll go report back after our fight," he said quietly. "Madara will see I've shown Itachi my hand and will kill him before he has time to work out what it means."
Naruto shook his head vehemently. "I don't think so," he said. "Itachi's too valuable to Madara. He'll try to spin it, and he'll manage, too, since Itachi wants to stay on in Akatsuki. Next time we fight Akatsuki, I'd bet Itachi will still be with them. But," he added, turning to Sasuke, "If you're confident you're right—you know Madara better than I do—we can try to mount a rescue."
"That," the Hokage said sharply, "is a terrible idea. We don't have the resources to assault Akatsuki at this time, not to mention we don't even know where they're currently based."
Naruto glared at him. "Itachi is one of our greatest potential assets," he said fiercely. "More importantly, he's the closest thing this bleak world has had to a real hero in generations."
"A tragic one, perhaps," mused Shino. Naruto glared at him.
"I won't lose him," said the blond forcefully. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"You don't," Sasuke said flatly, turning on his heel and walking across the room, his back to them. "Itachi's a greater Shinobi than any of us. If you respect my opinion, Naruto, you'll leave him be."
"Sasuke…" Sakura had never seen such an expression on her teammate's face. It was some mix of tenderness and pity.
"Leave it be," Sasuke said, turning back to them. His eyes were dark and hooded. "Itachi will have a way out if things go south. It's too much of a risk for us to go in. I don't know if Madara will turn on him, but I don't think Itachi will die even if he does."
"Then we'll operate on the assumption that he'll be working against us for the foreseeable future," said Shikamaru, "and we'll have contingencies in place for his defection. If Akatsuki, as an organization, knows the situation, but its members are running with partial intel, what can we expect? Any ideas?"
"Kisame wasn't afraid enough of me," Sasuke said flatly. "At least before we fought. For that to be the case, Madara must be keeping them in the dark about how powerful we are."
"That should prevent him from being able to justify an all-out assault at this juncture," Shino finished the thought. "We can expect, then, that Akatsuki will go to ground."
"That might have been Kisame's warning," Naruto suggested. "Telling us we can't expect to know their plans."
Shikamaru nodded slowly. "It's a bad idea to count on that," he warned, "but it seems likely. In that case, it only makes sense that they will either try to bring Orochimaru into the fold, or use him as a distraction by letting his invasion pan out exactly as planned. What odds would you give them of getting Orochimaru on their side, Sasuke?"
"Not a chance," Sasuke said flatly. "Orochimaru hates Akatsuki, if he hates anything. They can't get him on their side."
Shikamaru sighed. "That would be comforting," he muttered, "if not for the fact that Orochimaru wasn't where he was supposed to be. Where the hell is he?"
No one answered. After a moment, Sakura spoke up. "Um, the Kunoichi he was impersonating last time was a Kusa Shinobi, right? Why not an Oto Nin? Doesn't he run Oto?"
Shikamaru looked at her thoughtfully. "I would say he didn't want to waste one of his own assets," he said, "but I don't think Orochimaru cared about any member of his village any more than he cared about any of the people he experimented on."
"Maybe he thought Konoha might have already tied him to Oto," Sasuke suggested. "If we had, he would have stopped Otot Shinobi at the gates. Do we know when the bodies of the Kusa shinobi were found?"
Shikamaru closed his eyes in thought. "Outside the village perimeter," he said quietly. "Otherwise we'd have found them sooner."
"Then Orochimaru wanted a way in, even if his own forces were stopped," Sasuke said. "So he had to use a foreign Shinobi."
"Then," Naruto muttered, "why Kusa in particular? Just a coincidence?"
"There were only two Kusa teams in this exam," Hiruzen said slowly. "Not enough for us to worry about. They were screened even less thoroughly than our Suna allies upon arrival. I assume this would have been even more true in the original timeline."
"Then that's why he used a Kusa Shinobi," Shikamaru said, "probably. So why that one?"
"Her tongue?" Naruto suggested.
Sasuke snorted. "That was his jutsu, not hers." Suddenly he froze. "Shit," he whispered. "There were three bodies found. He replaced her entire team."
He turned to Naruto, his face ashen. "What if he just chose the other Kusa team?" he whispered.
The Dishonored faced the other masked Shinobi across the small table. The room was small, and lit only with a single ceiling light which left most of the room bathed in shadow. In Tobi's hands were two cards. Two more were in the Dishonored's. Between them, on the table, were eight cards; three were face-down, while five were face-up: a four of spades, a five of hearts, a six of clubs, a king of hearts and an ace of spades.
"All in," murmured the Dishonored, pushing a stack of chips to the center of the table.
Tobi watched him through the hole in his mask. The Dishonored had no idea what he was thinking. This was rather what made masks such an advantage in poker.
"You're bluffing," Tobi said lowly. "I'll call."
The orange-masked leader of Akatsuki pushed his stack in to meet the Dishonored's. The armored Shinobi cocked his head.
"Bluff…?" he mused, showing his two of diamonds. "And double bluff."
He showed the three of clubs in his hand and helped himself to the stack of chips as Madara began to laugh.
A/N: That last scene is there for largely symbolic purposes. If you don't get it, please don't flame me about it being stupid. (If you DO get it, feel free.)
Anyway, a lot of planning this chapter. In a lot of ways, Shikamaru is my avatar in this fic; I use his scenes to figure out where I'm going. I write him figuring out what he's going to do while I myself am figuring out what to do.
Hope you enjoyed it. I got the message about the e. Have compensated in my editing.
