~Episode 17~
~No More Restraint: Naruto Unleashed~
Midnight found team Sharingan in the S.A.D building looking around in awe at the state-of-the-art building that was finished and waiting for them to move in. Jiraiya had personally designed it to last. "Operations, in here is where all of your missions will be monitored unless you chose to go in blind which is a privilege only offered to a select few who can handle the field without my guidance." Jiraiya said touring the room with them as they looked at all of the latest technology at their disposal. Then they went into the Meeting room which was encased in glass, aquarium-style office board room where the people in Operations could see them in there. There were multiple dojos, indoor and outdoor; with a Recovery room where agents could get medical help after missions. A Weapons' room is equipped with every weapon known in the shinobi world, as well as a few that some of them have never seen before. Trauma rooms to help loosen the tongues of those stubborn abductees who refuse to talk, cells that are shared with the Anbu sector underground.
A few dormitories available for when agents wanted to stay at HQ, Jiraiya's office, as well as a few interrogation rooms, and the real pièce de résistance was the Assignment room where all the agents meet together when something of importance brought them all together. It's a large room that had large tables and chairs shaped like a U facing the double doors for the opening of the U, with a large desk for Jiraiya on the right side of the door, a large projector screen on the left with a matching projector on the ceiling and a control center right in the middle of the U-shaped desks. The control center consisted of an all-in-one supercomputer sitting on a desk, the size of three large curved monitors.
All five of them made their way back to operations where Naruto had taken the lead ahead of them with the flash drive Jiraiya had given her in her hand. "Is it just me or are you too excited about this?" Kakashi asked looking at Naruto who was sitting on the main chair in front of the supercomputer.
Naruto smiled when she turned her chair around to face them behind her as she let the computer and monitors load up. "You guys want to know a secret about me?" She said with a mischievous look in her eyes.
Kakashi's eyes widened, Itachi raised a brow, Shisui bounced forward, with Jiraiya walking behind them smiling as he came up as well. Naruto motioned them forward with her hand as if to tell them to come close, when they did, she smiled bigger at them. "I love hunting moles, especially naked mole rats who think they are too smart for their own good," Naruto said winking at them before turning toward the table computer raising her chair as she turned, she placed the drive on the flat screen in front of her watching it load all the information on the screen in front of her.
"My, my, what have we here?" Kakashi said coming to stand on her left as he looked at the monitors she sent the photos to, Shisui came forward on her right with a smile when he saw the picture that had captured everyone's attention, and Itachi pulled up behind Naruto to come to stand behind her chair as he stared at the picture of the Hokage, Mizuki, and Sakura together in a remote location. They wondered where their hideout was, it looked like they were still in Leaf. Naruto pulled up the video on the file to watch it with a glowing smile, it seemed that Tsunade was getting bold in her plans, she was no longer using the cloak and dagger routine she usually did.
"She's no longer hiding it," Naruto said listening to her boldness as discussed what she wanted Sakura to do once she got through those doors.
"Sai wanted to handle both Mizuki and Sakura like you said Naruto, but I thought perhaps it would be better to leave her to you since she is more afraid of you than she is of anyone else," Jiraiya said with a sadistic smile.
Naruto turned around quickly catching Itachi off balance a bit when she spun around, she caught him with her both her knees wrapping around his outer legs to keep him steady before he could right himself. "How would you boys like to go on a hunting expedition with me?" Naruto said without missing a beat.
"What do you want us to do?" Kakashi asked looking down at her smile, Shisui was nodding without even knowing what Naruto was going to ask them to do. Itachi remained impassive after she released him to stand a bit farther from her, but Naruto could see the side of his mouth rising in amusement at seeing this side of her. "With her personality, she's going to be running most of our missions, I bet," Itachi thought to himself as he stared at Naruto's excited smile.
"During the meeting tomorrow, I want to scare her to the point of peeing on herself, and we already know she's going to be wired up, so just back me up when I make a move. I will be improvising most of the plan, so all you have to do is learn to follow my cues." Naruto shrugged innocently. All of them could see that what she was planning was far from being as innocent as she was making it out to be. "Jiraiya should be worried about Sakura's safety." Kakashi thought as he looked at Naruto's unabashed excitement when she talked about scaring Sakura straight.
[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]
Naruto and her teammates along with Jiraiya were the first ones in the room. Jiraiya was sitting behind his desk occupying himself with a file Sai had left for him. Itachi was leaning on the tall window that was on the left side of the room, with Kakashi taking up the window on the right side of the room as he too leaned against it, and Shisui was sitting on the chair closest to the wall that separated the windows. There was a round window high up on the wall that separated the windows, Naruto was sitting on the sill with her feet crossed as she leaned against the window behind her. Jiraiya had looked up to find her on the window, he frowned when the saw the position the others had taken up, it was a circle formation, Itachi as the left point, Kakashi on the right, Shisui at the bottom, and Naruto took the top.
"I'm not even going to ask how she got up there." He said to himself when he heard the noise of the others coming down the hall toward the meeting U-room, the double doors were open to help them know where they were meeting.
After all the team members had filled the room, Jiraiya stood up with a clipboard to come to stand at the opening of the U-shaped desks. "I'll give you a tour after the meeting, but for right now I want to announce all the teams and their members," Jiraiya said looking behind him when he heard Sai's footsteps walking down the hall.
"Sorry, I'm late," he said smiling as he walked through the opened entry. "Got caught up doing…" he looked up to find Naruto smiling at him as she waved her fingers. Sai coughed in his hand. "Uhm doesn't matter now I suppose," he said closing the doors behind him after he came in the room.
"Do I even want to know how you got up there?" Sai asked Naruto who smiled wider at his question. He shook his head when he saw Naruto shrugged as if to say she didn't know. Sai joined Shisui in the back of the room, taking the seat next to him on his left.
"As I was saying, we have seven teams, each team consists of a captain and three members, meaning in total I have twenty-eight agents in rotation, although right now I have no plans of taking anymore, we never know in the future since the council members are pushing for more agents," Jiraiya said.
"Kakashi who captains team Sharingan with Itachi, Shisui, and Naruto. Team Checkmate with captain Asuma, alongside him, is Shino, Izumo, and Shikamaru. Team Elite Rescue captain by Yamato with Kiba, Hinata, and Genma. Tower team with Might Guy as its captain with Gaara, Neji, and Kabuto. Titan team with Kurenai as its captain with Nagato, Choji, and Ino. Unbeatable steam with Anko as its captain alongside her is Rock Lee, Kankuro, and Sasuke. Last but not least we have our Trauma team captain by Ibiki with Temari, Haku, and Tenten." Jiraiya said walking to his desk to drop the clipboard on it.
"There's another meeting room that's part of the Operations room, that room will be mainly used when I'm handing out missions, but this room is the for when we have to meet together to discuss internal or external problems that pose a threat to the sector," Jiraiya said sitting on the first empty desk on his right.
"What kind of problem could we possibly have when the doors haven't even opened yet?" Yamato asked with a frown.
"We have a potential internal leak that we have to plug up before it gets too big to handle," Jiraiya answered putting them all on alert as they looked around. "Team Sharingan will be handling the leak today, I wanted to give our new Jounin agents an example on how to handle any potential leaks in the future."
"There could be more?" Kurenai asked.
Jiraiya laughed. "Oh, I have no illusions about that, there will definitely be more," he said, sure of himself.
"Who's the mole?" Shikamaru asked.
"More importantly why does Sharingan team gets to handle it?" Ino asked with a pout.
Naruto smiled to herself. "Do you even have to ask?" She said from her spot on the window.
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that your team is better than the rest?" Sasuke asked from his spot on the desk next to the one Jiraiya had been sitting on before he got up after hearing Sasuke's words. Naruto's feet hitting Shisui's desk brought everyone's attention to her. she leaped across the room in two-step with her feet lightly hitting the top of the large desk that was in the middle of the table with the supercomputer before pushing Sasuke's desk with one foot and the other foot pulled up next it as she balanced herself with her arms spread to her side. The desk came to a stop against the wall next to closed doors. Sasuke has fallen off it after Naruto pushed it, with his back hitting the ground hard, and almost knocking all the air out of him.
Everyone watched as Sasuke tried to get up from the floor, but Naruto had flipped the desk with her foot in the air after she dropped on the ground in front of it. The desk landed on Sasuke's chest, effectively dropping him back on the ground with Naruto coming to put her foot on the already weighted desk to keep him down. "Sasuke, what do you mean by "implying", I was saying it plainly; did you not hear me?" Naruto said with the side of her mouth pulsing up and down as she tried to control the anger going through her.
"…" Sasuke couldn't find anything to say since Naruto was pushing on the desk on top of him. This was the first time that Naruto had ever been this close to him. Like all the other times' Naruto had addressed him, he was nervous, anxious, and a little scared since she was unpredictable.
Naruto pulled back to glare at Sasuke as she once again lifted her foot to push at the desk that was pressing on him again with added pressure, she pressed down more this time on the desk.
"If you're going to survive being in the same sector as me Sasuke, I'm gonna need you to keep your trap shut in my presence, your face alone pisses me off, so if I have to listen to you as well," Naruto said tilting her head. "I might end up killing you after all." She added with Sasuke's eyes widening at her threat.
"Nod, if you understand," Naruto said between her teeth.
Sasuke started opening his mouth to say something, but the pressure Naruto put on her foot to push on the desk cut anything he was about to say. "I will turn your fifth vertebrae into you sixth if you don't nod," Naruto said pushing the desk harder making Sasuke yelp at the pain.
Sasuke nodded when Jiraiya finally got away from Sai and Kakashi who had stopped him from interfering to pull Naruto away from the desk. He pushed Naruto into Sai's waiting arms with a grunt. "Go, cool off," he shouted at Naruto who shrugged. He peeled the desk away from Sasuke who was finally able to breathe easier with Naruto no longer pressing the desk on top of him. "Sasuke, do everything you can not to piss off Naruto, because one day I will be too late to stop her from doing serious damage to you, got it?" Jiraiya warned Sasuke who nodded at him after he got up to move away from Naruto who was glaring at him.
Sai straightened up Naruto who was pushed into him, shook his head at her, flicked her forehead with his finger as he frowned at her. "What were you thinking? You could have punctured his lug had his rib break during the stress you were putting on it, or worse you would have killed him." Naruto shrugged as she walked away to lean against the side of the door on the opposite side where the empty desk was still waiting for someone to put it back.
"I wonder what Sasuke did to anger Naruto," Genma asked loud enough for the others to hear him. "She's usually so gentle and quiet," he added with everyone turning to look at him as if he had a screw loose.
Choji scoffed at the statement catching Naruto's attention. Naruto dropped the smile she had on her face after she heard Choji's comment. "Ya know fatso, that desk in front of you can be used a windpipe crushing device," Naruto said raising a brow at him when he realized she had heard him. Although the derogatory name riled him up, he turned his head instead because he knew after the tournament that he could never take Naruto on, at least not one on one.
Jiraiya got off the phone to look at Naruto who looked him with a raised brow. "Incoming," he said before a loud door slamming was heard from outside the hall with feet running toward the door. Naruto opened the doors to their full length against the wall to lean on the open door instead of the wall. She extended her leg in the opening to trip Sakura as she busted in the room without looking where she was going, everyone watched as Sakura tumbled on the ground rolling as she dived headfirst on the floor, rolling toward the opening of the desks to come to a stop with her side against the occupied desks.
Naruto smiled as she pushed off the door to walk to the opening. "Wow, NMR, walk much," Naruto said with her arms crossed, watching Sakura failing at her attempts to get up.
Once she was finally up, she looked around to see that the room was filled with people, they were all looking at her, and some were even smiling at the fall. "What's that demon, a new insult?" Sakura said trying to gain face after the fall. The room got quiet after the demon comment.
Clapping noise went around the room as Naruto got closer to her. "You're finally back to the Sakura I know, I guess you found new confidence somewhere," Naruto said smiling at her.
"You're late," Jiraiya said from behind his desk.
She finally looked around her to find Jiraiya behind his desk looking at her, waiting for an explanation. "I was called into lady Tsunade's office earlier and the meeting ran late." She said giving him the response Tsunade had told her to give him.
"Oh," Naruto said taking a seat on the desk in front of Haku with her feet crossed under her, facing him with a smile which he blushed at. "Why were you the only one called?" Naruto asked when she saw the boys walked to the opening, blocking it after Shisui closed the doors and locked them.
"I don't have to answer to you, and I still remember the name you called me, what do you mean by NMR?" She said walking to Naruto but found herself at the wrong end of her combat boot, Naruto had turned her body around to drop her feet on the side of the desk, no longer facing Haku.
"Ah," Naruto nodded at the abbreviation of what this meeting was for. "It's a naked mole-rat," Naruto answered dropping her foot before she jumped down to get in her face. "I think it kinda described you perfectly, don't you think? Although I can't take credit for it, I can use it with pleasure," Naruto said walking her back toward the boys who had formed a barricade at the opening of the desks.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke said as she staggered toward Shisui who pushed her back toward Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Of course I wouldn't have expected you to come right out and admit it, but just like in the academy, I have ways of making you squeal piggy," Naruto said getting behind her to grab her hair that was down instead of up in a bun behind her head like she always wore it.
"You want to tell me why your hair is down today, usually it's in a bun," Naruto said letting go after Sakura pulled herself out of her grip leaving strands in her hand.
Naruto shook the hair off her hands as she looked at Sakura who was getting nervous. Naruto flashed behind her to knock her out with a blow to the neck. She pulled back to look at her on the ground with a frown. Naruto reached down to pull the earpiece out of Sakura's ear.
She smiled with satisfaction as she dropped it in the glass of water Kakashi raised in front of her. Naruto flipped Sakura on her front to look at her back. "Shisui, knife," she said raising her hand to grab the handle of the knife Shisui passed to her. She bent down to slice at the back of Sakura's shirt to reveal her bras. Naruto tilted her head as she studied the wire that was woven inside her bras. Naruto got up to look at the boys who nodded at her, they had seen how she couldn't just pull it out, she had to soak her completely to ruin it.
"I'll get the water," Shisui said leaving the room to get a bucket of water.
Itachi took the chair from the desk he was sitting on to put it out in the hallway. Kakashi went to pick up Sakura to put her on the chair.
"I've never seen one like that before," Naruto said coming to stand in between them with her arms crossed.
"Yeah, me neither," Kakashi said, but they could tell there was a double meaning behind what he said. "Wouldn't it be uncomfortable?" Kakashi added.
"It's not packed enough to be uncomfortable," Ino said to herself but from the snickering noise coming from the room, she knew people heard her. Shisui came back with the bucket of water.
"That leather looks waterproof, take off her jacket first," Naruto said with him nodding. He passed the jacket to Kakashi who took it, and Shisui poured the bucket of water over Sakura's head to soak her from head to toe shocking her away.
"Did he really have to fill up the bucket to the rim?" Naruto asked herself as she watched the water rolling down the hallway.
"You know Shisui, unless you give specific instructions, he will do this," Kakashi said watching as the water was pooling up around Sakura's feet. She jumped awake after the water hit her, and she started looking around disoriented at her surroundings. She looked and saw that they had taken her jacket off before they soaked her. The relief sigh she let out didn't escape Naruto's attention.
"You seemed relieved for some reason Sakura," Naruto said reading her face.
"You just soak me from head to toe, I'm just glad there was one piece of clothing you left dry," she said looking at her jacket in Kakashi's hand. Naruto walked up to her quietly as she looked at her for a while.
"Nah, you're not that good of a liar," Naruto said leaving them behind to go the weapons' room where she saw duct tape.
Naruto came back to tape her mouth shut before she walked to Kakashi to motion for him to search the jacket, they found nothing in the pockets or anything like a listening device on it. Naruto pulled the tape over Sakura's mouth, earning a scream from her. "Why is the jacket important?" Naruto asked.
"There's no reason, there's nothing on it," she said.
"Are you sure, because it won't bode well for you to lie to me, you could potentially lose body parts for that," Naruto said smiling down at her.
Sakura swallowed at the comment, but Lady Tsunade had told her that they wouldn't find it. "Nothing is on the jacket, I'm not lying," she said.
"And yet, I don't believe you; the fact alone that your lips are moving, and words are coming out means that you're lying." Naruto said taping her mouth again. She motioned for Ino to come over, she passed the jacket to Ino to wear it. Naruto studied the jacket on her carefully, walking around her to check it from every angle, her phone ringing broke her concentration for a while giving her a chance to catch a glimpse of something under the collar.
"Yeah," she said over the phone.
"Is it up and running properly?" She asked over the phone as she continued to study the jacket. "Do you have audio as well?" Naruto asked coming to a stop behind Ino to lift the collar of the jacket to find the last hidden device. It was well concealed she'll give that to them, but nothing escapes her eyes, she thought to herself. Itachi took it from her when she found it, she motioned for him not to destroy it yet.
"Send me the link," Naruto said over to phone after she walked over the supercomputer in the middle of the room to boot it up, she sat there to pull up the feed of Tsunade's office on the projector after the computer loaded up.
Sakura's eyes widened when she saw lady Tsunade on the scream sitting at her desk with large headsets on. "Find a way to throw one of your headsets in the room to get me audio," Naruto said over the phone. They all watched as Tsunade's assistant came in for a second with a few bottles of booze to replace the empty ones on the desk. After she left, Naruto hung up the phone to wire her earpiece to the computer. She took the bug from Itachi with a smile on her face as she walked closer to the large projector screen.
"Well, lady Tsunade, it's been a while hasn't it?" Naruto said in the listening device shocking Tsunade into looking around when Naruto addressed her.
"That little nuisance, she found the last bug," she said hitting her desk.
"That desk did nothing to you if you want to hit me Tsunade, come and find me; you know where I am," Naruto said still smiling when she started looking around.
"I guess you're finally dropping your pretense of ignorance and innocence, huh?" She said to herself.
"Did it really come as a surprise to you that I could have your office bugged the same way you wanted to have mine bugged. Although there might be a slight difference though, I'm more competent at this game we're playing Tsunade." Naruto said seeing her eyes widened.
"You guessed it, smile Tsunade, you're on camera," Naruto said laughing when got up in a rage to throw her chair across the room.
"I have to commend you for trying, you and I both know it was never going to work with me around; which begs the question. Why did you sacrifice Sakura when you knew she'd probably die after I finished interrogating her?" Naruto said watching Sakura struggle to get away from Shisui's grip on her. Jiraiya tossed something at her, Naruto looked at it after she caught it, to find that it was a remote with a number on it and a button, she pressed it to look around and see shackles coming around Sakura's wrist to keep her in place.
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Tsunade said smiling.
"Well, seeing that I intercepted your operative before she could plant anything, I have you bugged with audio and visual, I'd say this round goes to me, wouldn't you?" Naruto said pulling back to sit on the desk closest to the screen motioning for Haku to move.
Again, Tsunade threw something across the room. "Use your words, Tsunade," Naruto said watching Sai leave the room with a nod toward her.
"Now what," Tsunade said.
"Well, although you were warned by Jiraiya, you ignored his warning and you didn't take him seriously. I'll have you know that I am one for you to take seriously. When he said, he set measures into place; I'm betting you guessed he wouldn't use them because to use them means losing you, and to not use them means to lose his position. Either way, I'm guessing you thought you'd win. The problem Tsunade is that you didn't know who you were fighting." Naruto said jumping down the desk to join the boys who were looking at the screen.
"You're not fighting your husband, Tsunade," Naruto said shocking her. "You're fighting me. I, on the other hand, have no problem using those measures he set in place. You see the council agreed that if you ever stepped outside the boundaries lines they gave you when he was sworn in, they'd deal with you appropriately. What that meant was restricting your access and the possibility of losing control of the Genin and Chunin teams you're responsible for. I thought that was too mild of punishment, so I went ahead and submitted a request for an investigation of all of your dealings." Naruto said bringing Tsunade to her feet once again after she had picked up her chair to bring it back behind the desk.
"You see, when Red wolf confessed to everything he did under your orders, there were grounds for an investigation, which made a path for me to get something I wanted for a long time. Answers to what really happened the night my parents died, where were you really when you left the village, and why did you really come back," Naruto said seeing Tsunade frowning at her words. "So, this investigation may look like a thorough audit of your dealings on the surface, but underneath the surface, I'm paddling like a duck. I'll handle Sakura for you, so you don't have to worry too much about her. Although the things she'll say to me might be another noose around your neck, I still don't want you to worry yet, because I'm just getting started. I know you might be tempted to send someone to kill her before she talks, I'd advise against it; because once you do that you'll sink faster than you can say "Save me," and I'll enjoy watching you sink to the bottom." Naruto said still smiling.
"You think someone like you can take me down, you think a reject like you have enough power to go against me, don't make me laugh Naruto. You can't win this!" She shouted.
Naruto laughed. "Let's see I have you under so much surveillance that no move you make goes unnoticed, I have Jiraiya which means you can't go through him, I have Kakashi's wealth of knowledge, I have Itachi's power, I have Sai's backing, and I have Shisui's ability to blend in wherever he goes. This chessboard is starting to look a little empty on your side, Tsunade. I wonder Tsunade, what exactly do you have that makes you so confident enough to think you can win?" Naruto said smiling when she saw Jiraiya's smile.
"You may win this battle Naruto, but the war is far from over," she said.
"You're forgetting that a war is won by the best general with the greatest strategy. If I win every battle Tsunade, I'll eventually win the war." Naruto said seeing her eyes widened when Sai busted through her office door with three Anbu agents on his toes.
"Lady Tsunade, by order of the council, we are officially opening an investigation on all your past dealings, you are to release into our custody the names of everyone on this list," Sai said giving her the list Naruto had made of her operatives. "You are to hand over all of your phones, and computers; failure to comply with this written writ will place you under house arrest and an interim candidate will take over your duties as Kage until we conclude our investigation." Sai said walking around the room to try and find where Naruto's camera was.
"This is ridiculous, I've done nothing wrong," she screeched.
"We have evidence proving otherwise, are you refusing to comply, lady Tsunade?" Sai asked coming to place the writ on her desk.
"You," she shouted.
"You're the one behind this, aren't you?" She shouted as she tossed the large headset across the room.
"Grab that, it's evidence," Sai said to his agents.
"Lady Tsunade, will you or won't you comply with the written writ?" Sai said bringing her attention back to him.
"You win this round," she said getting up to leave the office.
"I'll win every round from now and on, Tsunade," Naruto said watching Sai put on the headset. "Sai, she has a safe underneath her desk floorboard, one behind the large ugly dog picture, and right above the lamp on your right, there's a camera. Knock out the camera before you do anything else, it's hers, not mine. I want a copy of everything in the safe under her desk, and I don't care much for the safe behind the picture, I'm sure only blackmail materials are in there, those might come in handy to you though." Naruto said with him nodding after he took out the camera.
"How does it feel to finally be Naruto?" Sai asked.
Naruto smiled. "I can't really remember why I hid her anymore," she said dropping the device in the water Kakashi held out to her after the video feed went out.
"You just declare war on lady Tsunade," Kakashi said passing the glass to Itachi who took the bug out of the glass.
Naruto nodded, watching him as he smiled a crooked smile at her. "Well general, it's time you recruit don't you think?" Kakashi added at the laughed Naruto couldn't contain broke out.
"We need a recon mission," Itachi said following them as Naruto walked toward Sakura.
"We need rat poison before anything else," Naruto said looking down at Sakura who was finally getting that Tsunade couldn't deliver on her promise to save her if she got in trouble.
"I'll tell you what you want to know," she said quickly.
"Yeah, but what you want to tell me," Naruto said smiling down at her. "I already know them, so you no longer are any use to me, that's a dangerous place for a captive," Naruto said.
"You can't kill me, the council won't let you," she said again in the same desperate tone.
"Yeah, you're right, except the council doesn't know that you're here," Naruto countered. "Meaning, the only person who can save you now is Jiraiya, and he does nothing for free," Naruto said looking down at her.
"Jiraiya, what do you want to do with this one?" Naruto asked looking over her shoulder.
"If we let her go like this, Tsunade's people might go after her," he said joining them.
"I have no desire to protect a rat," Naruto said.
"We could take away her ninja status," Ino said from behind them after she had taken the jacket off.
"Yeah, but that still doesn't mean they won't come after her for talking," Haku joined in.
"What about prison, there's ground for going to prison for treason," Ibiki said.
"Tsunade's reach goes beyond your prison walls," Naruto answered without turning around.
"Then kill her," Anko said.
"Jiraiya took that off the table before this hunt started," Sai said coming in the room with a covered box for Naruto which Kakashi took from him.
"Shisui, knife," Naruto said.
"You can't kill her," Jiraiya said but Naruto was no longer listening. She walked behind Sakura, she lifted her hair, and cut it off.
"Stay still, if you know what's best for you," Naruto said to Sakura who froze at Naruto's tone.
"How does cutting her hair solve the situation?" Shisui ask.
"Humiliating her meant that Naruto tortured her, and when lady Tsunade sees it, she might feel sorry for her and try to turn Sakura against Naruto further," Ino said smiling at Naruto's ingenuity.
"Perceptive," Sai said looking at Ino who nodded at his compliment.
Naruto walked around Sakura to come stand in front of her. "No rat has ever survived me before, so you should be honored that Jiraiya spared you, however, there's a condition to this, as a reminder of your Rat status, you are never to grow your hair behind this pixie cut, meaning that you can't hide your ugly with your hair anymore," Naruto said, smiling when she heard Ino laughed.
"Although a bit redundant, since her hair is ugly too," Ino said through the laughter.
"Let you tell it," Naruto said shaking her head Sakura.
"The level of meanness between you has reached a new height," Sakura said frowning at them.
"All these years you were pocking the bear, did it ever occur to you that the bear had teeth, forehead," Ino said. "This victim act only works on Sasuke, we both know that you are no victim, Sakura," Ino said pushing past Naruto to get at Sakura who was crying.
Naruto pulled back a bit to let her do what she wanted to do. "Save your crocodiles tears for someone who cares, all those years of scheming and lying got you here. If we had a vote I'd let you loose in the village with a sign that said you squealed like a pig on lady Tsunade without any form of torture," Ino said before going back to her desk after she tossed the jacket in Sakura's face.
"The Mean girl," Sai said next to Naruto as she looked at Ino's form going to her seat.
"You have no idea, Sakura's a peach among peaches," Naruto said laughing. "She had this coming since primary school, although you were never my rival, Tsunade made the mistake of thinking you were. You never could measure up enough for me to see you anything but an irritant." Naruto said unlocking the restraints. "I'll be watching you from now on, if you so much as breathe near Tsunade's direction, I will do more than just cutting your hair, you won't make it after I get my hands on you again," Naruto said motioning to security to escort her out after Jiraiya had called them and the janitor to clean the floor.
"Introduce me to your blonde friend," said whispered in Naruto's ear.
Naruto pulled back to kick his shin. "Don't you have work to do?" She asked watching Sai sighed before he left the office.
"You are all dismissed; we have a mission meeting in two days. If you want a tour of the building, ask one of the security guards." Jiraiya said to the teams who nodded. "Naruto, a word," he said looking at her before she could leave.
Once everyone had filed out of the room, Jiraiya looked at her with a frown. "Don't take the Akatsuki lightly, they have reached even in this village." He said warning her as he looked at the box Kakashi was carrying.
Naruto nodded at his warning.
"The birthday gifts your father left you, I put them in the cave, go see them when you have time." He added before she walked out with her team in toe.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading!
I'm sorry about the late update, I missed last week because I was doing a thorough check on chapters 1-16. I updated them, proofread them a bit more closely, and added a few missing pieces in them. Thank you for your continued support of reading and following this story to the end. I have to admit that even I can't tell where the characters are taking this, just when I think I know what they are going to do, they switch gears on me. Giving my characters room to explore and grow is the best part of my writing, it allows me to see that even though our Creator has a plan and an anticipated end for us, He gives us room to explore and change our journey as we steadily make our way to the end of our book.