Caution. This chapter contains some dark material that could potentially upset. I apologise in advance if any of what follows in both the author's note or the chapter offends or upsets.
A/N A few thoughts about this chapter.
A couple of you (oddly the two people who I couldn't PM in response...grr) reviewed last chapter spotting something I wondered whether people would comment on in terms of Naruto's plan for the destruction of Iwa.
I'll quote the second one which I found most interesting on this by "y u no login" so presumably you have an account! Silly webpage eh?
"
i was liking your story until now. No matter how efficient or logical, this is
not how the good guys behave. If you are going to start now with the
Konoha-Iwa war, you should read before some just war theory. Infecting the
civilians of the enemy country with a plague is just not done.
If the protagonists of your story start behaving like this, we might as well
cheer for Akatsuki & Co.
"
You are 100%, undeniably and without question...
Correct.
And I have been aware of this fact from the moment I wrote the words of this part of the story.
To be honest, it's too easy in fanfiction to blindly cheer for whoever the story is about. It's an easy way to read and I don't blame anyone for writing or reading a story that way. Write a story from Obito's perspective where he wins and Infinite Tsukotoyumi is the end of the fic and we cheer!
These are not the actions of a "hero". There are not the actions of someone who has a great deal of compassion. You would be right in calling me on what is frankly an atrocious way of performing war. Were your statement in effect I would change the story. Sadly it isn't because you are wrong in one detail.
Naruto is not a hero. He's the protagonist of the story certainly, the main character. He isn't a hero. All through the story he performs acts of questionable moral judgement. Threatening Hinata, Breaking into the Hokage tower and knocking out lights, shooting Kiba through the shoulder and others. To be honest, I never wanted him to be a hero.
He is Root, and Root is not an organisation with a good record for being good people. Root is where what is needed is done without fear, without second thought and without compassion. He might not want to kill them but it minimizes the casualties for Konoha. That's his number one goal. It doesn't matter that he's attacking the defenceless, it doesn't matter that this is "just not done". He's doing it for Konoha.
Is it horrifying? Absolutely yes! I don't like writing him to do this but I am loyal to the character I have created and this is what he would do. Do I think this is right? No. Do I worry that I wrote it? Maybe a little. But the fact is for all of the high handed moralism that can occur in fanfiction where Konoha is a land of sunshine and rainbows and everywhere else is of Orochimaru's level it's important to know that even the guys on your side can commit atrocities. This is me showing it a mirror of the real world truth.
I think real life bears out when nations we live in with democracy, freedom of expression and good conditions can do these things as well. Let's not forget what happened in the past like WW2 or Vietnam. Concentration camps, the Blitz, the levelling of Dresden in one of the more horrifying allied actions of the war. Let us never forget that war is a terrible thing. We wouldn't do this to anyone "in a real war" but unless you are a soldier currently in a war situation (in which case I thank you for your service and what you do, because I couldn't do it) we can't really understand that well. I certainly hope I never have to.
Which is why I don't want this to be a glorified conflict. I don't want there to be a hero who strikes down his foes alone and stands fearless before all atop a mountain of bodies. The hero who doesn't see the consequences and widows. Because that kind of fiction stays so separated from the truth that it doesn't belong in this fic. The actual conflict parts of the story will be brief and detached.
In this fic, Naruto will do the unthinkable and the unpalatable and he will do it without a second thought. Will he have regret? Perhaps. Will we judge him, and maybe me for even conceiving the concept? Certainly we can.
All that matters it that Naruto remains true to who I have written him to be. Let us not forget that war is not a thing of glory. It is not a thing to be celebrated. The fact that the entire manga/anime is about people who kill each other as a profession makes this all the more ironic. We think nothing of Naruto striking someone down with a rasengan, not thinking about the possible orphan's, widows and family dependants that leaves behind. We don't see the tragedies.
I think I've rambled enough here, but to summarise:
War is terrible, and Naruto's actions are intentionally beyond the pale. He's Root and this is how he would operate.
I do not condone the use of warfare against civilians, and respect the work of our armed forces. (UK and our allies)
I would say enjoy this chapter but...that would feel somewhat hollow now. Appreciate what is to unfold seems more fitting.
Caution. This chapter contains some dark material that could potentially upset. I apologise in advance if any of what follows in both the author's note or the chapter offends or upsets.
The days began to pass.
She read the status reports on her time off from the lab or making statements and talking to the people of Konoha.
A small skirmish here, a scout engagement there. So far neither party was willing to trade any form of heavy blow against the other. That was fine, although the waiting wasn't exactly wonderful either.
Of the fifteen thousand Konoha shinobi taking up advanced positions to counteract any move from the Iwa forces, there had been only three casualties. It was going well so far but she could feel the tension building.
She had posted Kakashi out on the front lines as her overall commander for the engagement. He had complained but he had to deal with it, he was leadership material through and through.
She recalled her work in the lab with her best. None of them knew the effect of the serum, but could tell it was bacterially based, reproduced very quickly and produced a variety of nasty side products.
The test rodents they had used were certainly not at all affected by it. The other tests showed distinctly worse results on human tissue samples.
Still, this is what she had to protect against. She focused her chakra into the chemical compounds. It was a skill to add chakra to increase the potency of a cure but it was a worthwhile one in her books.
She certainly wondered how he was going to get through the lines, but he could do it. Iwa was about 3 days travel under peaceful conditions. With the level of forces and travelling at nights, Naruto should be making it to Iwa any day.
She hoped he would fail but hoped he would succeed.
She sighed and got back to the medicine. That was her war today.
He slid the blade silently across the man's throat and pulled him into the shadows to be hidden until someone else found him. The body needed further preparation to ensure it was not overwhelmingly suspicious.
There were not many guards, and they were not very good. He sighed at their inefficiency. The main wellhead was now open to him. They'd be suspicious of it when they learned the guards were dead.
He didn't plan on that mattering.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
A swarm of rats erupted from the summon. He didn't stay to watch them swim away into every sewer and water pipe in the village because he knew they knew. Infected rats into almost every home. In hours, they would begin to bite and mess and infect.
The enemy would not be prepared for this. They could not be prepared.
Rats could swim up pipes and sewers with ease, and could use their droppings and bites to spread the disease. Any that did die would still spread the disease.
He slipped through the shadows, past unsuspecting guards and out under the walls of the city. He found his stashed camping gear in the cave he had chosen and relaxed a little bit. Out on his own doing what needed to be done.
He wondered if she would appear in his dreams again as he drifted off to sleep and waited for disease and panic to destroy the city.
The death began.
He watched the infection begin with the poorest, the ones now forgotten by the martial law and in worries about the fighting. The idea of glorious fighting and battle was so ingrained into people that they forgot that there was any other danger.
He heard the first coughs and splutters and knew it was taking hold. He had found the main hospital and added a mild toxin to the supply that would make the doctors feel ill. It wouldn't affect all of them, nor would it kill directly.
It didn't have to. All it needed to do was distracted and keep attention off the new disease when the pandemic was in its infancy.
When the first child began to show symptoms, alarm began to spread. By then it was too late to fully prevent it.
The first dead gave cause for true alarm amongst the people but by then many were showing the effects. Families that were ill began to spread panic and fear. The sight of a dead child was...he had turned away and hardened his heart, unable to watch the still dying mother grieve over the body.
He saw the remaining shinobi try to restore order, but they were the very youngest and oldest of the shinobi forces. Any that showed promise soon found themselves removed from the picture with wounds that looked like a beating from a crowd. Like Iwa citizens turning on the shinobi.
That made more fear and panic than he could have created with an army of thousands.
He was beginning to realise what Tsunade had said about his actions though. He flinched a little whenever he saw friends mourning or worse, parents over a child. The plague he had unleashed hit the weakest first.
Yet despite his regrets he knew he had to continue this action and that it could not be undone. His job was to win for Konoha.
With knowledge that the disease had spread, he had begun to intercept messages from Iwa to the frontlines when he could.
With luck, the front lines would be feeling that as well.
The Iwa front lines were feeling the confusion.
The genin corps were feeling it the worst. Youngest and not hardened by service or war they found the entire notion that they could do nothing as their home was suffering almost intolerable. The messages had been secret but rumours can spread faster than people can talk and sound can travel.
Experienced heads tried to calm them, or failing that, discipline and threaten them into line, but it wasn't long until cracks and defections began to appear. Some corps attacked Konoha without backup in their anger and died. Some trailed back homewards to be rounded up or annihilated by the pair of Root squads Naruto had directed to help with the task.
Those that made it home were the least fortunate. They saw what was happening to their home.
The front lines now only really consisted of the chunin, jonin and ANBU of Iwa. With their manpower slowly slipping away, the few forces that remained attempted to remain composed. There were still no real orders to engage, probing strikes against Konoha had shown it to be well prepared for the attack.
Eventually even the worst of the chunin were beginning to get affected. The only things stopping them from folding were blind hatred and knowledge that to attack like the genin meant death and retreat was unthinkable.
With home in confusion, supplies began to dwindle slightly. Not helping were the bandit raids that had increased during the war, but with Root teams thrown in to cause havoc as well, things suddenly looked very bleak for Iwa. Yes they had essentials but the little things that kept them going were leaving. Maybe it was the lack of letters and communication from family back home that was the most distressing.
They were collapsing from the inside and the outside was beginning to notice there wasn't anything beneath them.
The doom for the Iwa forces was almost entirely sealed when the first Jonin from Iwa abandoned his weapons and moved for the Konoha lines with the hope of surrender.
Naruto watched it all unfold in Iwa and wondered why they would not retreat or surrender. At this stage they should have called for aid and yet nothing had changed.
The Kage should have come out to calm thing himself yet remained locked in his chambers, directing things from there. That too was concerning. The man was old but was he that old?
He was now concerned and convinced that there was something more behind this than simple war.
He crept up the second highest tower in Iwa, utterly undetected by anyone in the village. He suspected there weren't many left who could.
There was residual chakra all over the Kage building that he had noticed since the beginning. He had ignored it at first to carry out his mission but otherwise had kept it in mind.
It wasn't aesthetically pleasing chakra at all, something felt wrong about it.
Very wrong.
Which is why he wanted to find out what it was.
He fixed his gaze on the Kage building and drew out his crossbow. The bolts were a new type as well. With control of the Root armoury, he had developed bolts which channelled chakra more easily and were also the colour of night as a standard. He might as well have been able to teleport bolts into his enemies.
At this time, he needed to wait for a clean shot.
Then the Tsuchikage walked out onto the balcony and stood with his hands behind his back.
He could see the haze of chakra around the man that signified a genjutsu. There were no flares or jolts either of him fighting it. That meant he wasn't aware he was under a genjutsu either. Actually...his chakra was just wrong. He could see the chakra flowing to him.
He considered his options and decided to go for the most direct route. He moved to get as wide an angle on the man as he could and fired.
The bolt was undetectable and stuck in his forehead. A second and third hit his neck and heart respectively.
He fell over the railing of the balcony and landed with a thunk. Nobody was outside. Not dramatic, but he had just killed a Kage. It had been far too easy.
He put the bow away and drew the Kursurigama on instinct as he felt the change in chakra behind him.
The world opened and then there were two figures in Akatsuki cloaks behind him. He straightened up. The two toned man began to speak first.
"Hello Nine-Tails, the pleasure is all ours."
He looked at the masked man who bowed deeply.
"Uzumaki Naruto. My name is Tobi."
"No it is not, but continue."
The man began to circle him. Naruto decided to watch him as opposed to the other man.
"Zetsu has found it hard to find you over the years. Yet now I see it was you who killed so many of the more useless Akatsuki for me. Those who had outlived their fragile purposes."
"How prudent of you."
It wasn't a compliment or an insult but an observation. Naruto did know the philosophy of removing tools that had gone beyond their use very well indeed.
"You're just like Danzo, given that you have usurped him into leadership of Root."
"His time was done, now it is mine."
"No anger or surprise that I know all of this?"
"I know more about you than you think; Uchiha."
There was more silence broken by a growling chuckle from under the mask.
"Ah you actually see my eyes don't you. Well it is a shame that you killed my puppet Kage but it means little to me. You've done more than I expected. You have destroyed Iwa more thoroughly than you destroyed Suna. At least there you didn't push the issue by killing everyone who could help. How does it feel to have the blood of two nations on your hands?"
"How does it feel that I actually succeeded in bringing down a nation? You failed seventeen years ago. I was there."
That got a snarl.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"You'll never get it again. So, what do you propose?"
The man stopped and observed him.
"You desire Konoha to be strong, but to what purpose? Tell me?"
"So as to maintain the peace of the elemental nations. With a strong Konoha, order can be maintained with relative ease, and the unnecessary casualties of war can be avoided."
"What if I could find you another solution, where only one death was required?"
"I would hear it."
The mask made it hard to read him. Well he wasn't going to let that stand.
"But only if you show me your face."
The man removed the mask. His face was split down the middle, one half damaged and crushed. He had a Sharingan and another eye Naruto had never seen before. The mismatched gaze burrowed into his head a little.
"You know what Akatsuki does but not why. I intend to reform the Ten-Tails and make myself its Jinchuriki. Following that, I will cast Tsukotoyumi upon the moon itself and control all people within it. There will be everlasting peace."
"You wish me to give you my Tailed Beast so you can control the entire world?"
"For peace. So no more people die at each others' hands. You can see the benefits."
He could. The logic was there but he knew it was wrong. He could reject it.
"It does not work. What when you die? If you cannot control your beast? What when you alone remain in the real world, controlling your technique? How long will you last before insanity sets in and your world of puppets bores you? How will you keep such power from corrupting you and merely turning you into a puppetmaster, playing for your sick and twisted pleasure? Too many variables left to chance. I reject your plan."
The man smiled a grim smile.
"I was not giving you a choice."
He snapped the mask back into place and stood still with his arms folded. The crossbow bolt phased through him.
"You cannot harm me."
"That wasn't just for you."
Tobi turned to see the bolt sticking out of both halves of Zetsu's forehead. He had been manoeuvred between Zetsu and Naruto, and then when the time had been right...Zetsu was at least going to be down for a long while. Tricked like Itachi had tricked him.
Naruto heard the growl of frustration grow behind the mask and stayed focused.
"Very clever Nine-Tails. Very clever. But how do you intend to attack me? You cannot harm me and you cannot escape."
Naruto knew that much, still the man had overconfidence oozing from him.
"I'm not coming with you. How do you intend to stop me simply waiting until all of Konoha descends on this place?"
He turned to leave and the man appeared in front of him again.
"Do not try my patience Nine-Tails."
"You're going to need it, I know about the Mangekyo Sharingan. You have not put me in Tsukotoyumi, so you do not possess the Sharingan with it. Assuming you killed Itachi, you don't know where an eye which has the jutsu resides. You need to find another Sharingan eye from a dead clan. Then you have to awaken it and find out don't you? How do you intend to carry out your plan without it?"
The man roared with frustration and Naruto smiled.
"What's your plan now? Wait years suffering traumatic events until you can cast it? Kill me? You don't have any good options. Your plan is laughable."
"I can seal you and then I will not rest until I achieve peace."
The man's shout was now carrying over the village below. Nobody was emerging, too ill or scared to do so from the week of terror and death.
"How do you intend to stop me walking away here and now?"
"I killed Jiraiya and Itachi back to back. I could crush you in an instant."
Naruto walked away from the man and prepared the hand seals he would need. Although he had not tested this jutsu, he had prepared it for his removal of Danzo in case the man resisted.
With luck he could end it here.
Then the man was on him and grabbed his head.
"Human Path. Soul removal."
He pulled the hand back to no effect whatsoever.
"What?"
Then Naruto grabbed his chest and looked into his eyes.
"Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
He watched the man's eyes be drawn towards the figure he knew was spreading behind him. He still felt the shock like being punched as the arm extended from his stomach and grabbed hold of his opponent.
"You madman! You kill us both?"
"You certainly. Possibly me."
The saw the blue arm begin to grip and looked into the man's eyes. The Sharingan and Rinnengan were distinctive and did not show emotion well, but he could see the panic rising in the man's face.
"I can fight this you fool. You think Orochimaru escaped this jutsu for no reason? My desire to unleash my plan outstrips anything that you have."
"My desire for Konoha to remain strong and my sacrifice towards it is stronger."
He concentrated on his desire to protect Konoha once more and full, deeply examined it. He would find strength in it.
"You have not seen a friend kill someone you love! You do not know that pain."
"I have killed my friend and passed through death itself!"
The hand pulled at the man's soul as Naruto declared his strength.
"I have not spent half my life in the darkness to give in to you now. My soul will not be sealed so easily."
"I have spent all but three years in the dark, but know that that time in the light was some of the best. I give that up to defeat you!"
More or the soul became visible now, he could see the eyes straining to do something against his assault but to no avail.
"No. You have not lost love."
"I do what I do so that one day I stand a chance of understanding love. So I have a chance so she has a chance."
The man screamed at him once more, a long and pained howl as he realised his mistake in getting close to Naruto. The hand pulled harder and the blue shroud was pulled fully from the man.
"Seal!"
The knife came down and the last noise was that of an agonised scream from the man as he crumpled to the ground. Naruto felt the arm withdraw and prepared himself for whatever came next.
Then his stomach encountered a lot of pain.
He gave a cry and dropped to his knees as he felt something start to get ripped out of him forcibly. He could feel whatever it was clawing at him for purchase but realised what it was. The Kyuubi was being sealed again.
His father had taken half of its chakra when he had sealed it into him, now that half was being ripped away from him.
He heard the dark howl in his head as the forces holding the seal together began to buckle under the strain put on him by the Shinigami's pull. He felt it tug hard, a dark laugh escaping it followed by roars of anger.
He doubled over and rolled onto his back as the pain intensified again. Through the agony, he lifted his shirt to see what was happening to the seal. It was breaking down, the outer layers of suppression had broken and shattered until there was nothing left but his original seal.
Then he saw that begin to unravel and felt another spike of pain in his body as the first four prongs began to disappear.
Then the red chakra seemed to burst out of him and towards the Shinigami whose open mouth seemed to smile, enjoying Naruto's plight. He shut his eyes to fight the pain; he wasn't exactly in cover anymore.
With a sudden jolt of separation that lifted him then dropped him back onto the ground, it ended. The Shinigami floated above him, with a puzzled expression as it studied him again. Then it vanished, fading away into the night sky.
Naruto realised that he wasn't in any pain anymore. If anything, he felt lighter than ever. He controlled his chakra and it was easier than he had considered. The constant ache from the restriction of his chakra was gone. He checked his stomach to see that it was bare of any seal.
He was free of the beast. He had finished Akatsuki. Iwa was in chaos.
He ducked out of sight and made for the city walls in the dark. There were people looking nervously out of their windows but a simple henge as an Iwa shinobi was enough for them to simply ignore him.
He would link up with his teams in the country and do what damage he could before returning to Konoha.
Out of earshot of the city, the noise escaped him like a flood and he started to laugh.
It echoed through the woods as all the pent up fear escaped his body at once. Now he only had one major and difficult objective left to accomplish before he could be happy for a brief time.
The war with Iwa ended.
With any orders from the Tsuchikage and the village completely gone, panic took a total grip amongst its shinobi. Only the most loyal or naive core remained of the army, encamped in what was swiftly becoming a fortress of its own as the outer reaches of their lines were pressured inwards and surrounded by cautious Konoha forces.
The rest returned home to find it mostly destroyed and despaired, or launched suicidal charges at the Konoha lines. Eight thousand chunin and Jonin moved to strike at the Konoha lines and were met up front by Konoha forces ready for them. The hours of fighting were the most bitter and deadly of the war, and casualties for Konoha were substantial from the forces which engaged.
Amongst the Iwa shinobi they were total. Emboldened, Konoha moved forwards to capitalise on the shattered forces which now withdrew into the fortress they had constructed with jutsu.
Attack on such a structure was tantamount to suicide, and siege was not pleasant either. It mattered little to Iwa, they had lost the war and were now driven by hatred and despair. Konoha needed to make sure it did not lose too much more manpower needlessly.
Then the plague struck the fortress. Maybe an Iwa shinobi had had a change of heart and opened a way in, or a messenger had brought it in. Reports of rats in the fortress were rampant. The medic nin present inside the structure tried their best to come up with an antidote but they didn't have enough facilities prepared.
By the time they'd made any progress, many of the shinobi were battling the plague.
Konoha shinobi strategized on how to finish the fortress. Calls for negotiation and surrender were turned away with jutsu and threats.
It was decided that they would tunnel under it and break it from beneath. That would take some days, even with jutsu. Medical shinobi began a vaccination program that Tsunade had finished in time and were ready to fight in the fortress.
By the time it was ready, the survivors of the fortress were running low on essentials and their numbers and morale were depleting by the day.
The final assault was a massacre.
Explosives ripped the land beneath the fortress apart and it toppled onto its side. Then the Konoha shinobi were amongst them. What resistance remained was short lived and ended swiftly.
The war was over.
The negotiations began shortly after Konoha forces reached the Hidden Village with no resistance. They were greeted by the Earth Daimyo, who offered the surrender of the lands. It was accepted.
Medical shinobi under Shizune began a mass treatment program to try and save the remaining populace. The grim work of burning the corpses began and the piles cast a dull red haze over the village, much like the burning forests had for Konoha.
The last of the Iwa Jonin took command of the situation, giving up their weapons to try and restore order. Older and more mature than anyone else in the situation, they knew they had no choice than to agree to the Konoha terms.
Not that it mattered much. From a starting force that numbered in the tens of thousands, merely three thousand remained, the majority genin who had fled the front lines and been ignored.
Konoha wound up with a large gain, even if it too had taken some casualties.
It was fortunate that they had not been substantial in the long term she decided.
Tsunade returned to her office and felt the gravity of the situation fall on her once again. There were now only three major villages left. Yet that felt more balanced than four.
The Mizukage and Raikage had sent polite, diplomatic messages regarding the end of the war. They were a strange mixture of congratulatory and threat that Tsunade tried to ignore. She could deal with that later.
The sound of soft footprints on the carpet made her turn.
"Tsunade-sama."
"Naruto-kun. Hinata sends her regards back to you."
She was sure he was smiling when he heard that bit of news, but she wasn't looking.
"I would say thank you if what you had done was in any way palatable to me. The only thing I am thankful for is that Konoha was not harmed at all during the war, and our forces remain strong. Your plan was efficient but I do not want to know what you intend to do next time. Provided you know what I am doing, it will work better."
"That seems like it would work Tsunade-sama."
She poured two dishes of sake from a bottle under her desk and passed one to him. They drank it together in silence.
"You know Naruto, having commanded the forces in one of the shortest shinobi wars in history; I got to thinking about the position of Kage. Oh and stop with the sama thing unless you want me to constantly bring up Hinata."
"Certainly an interesting thing to consider."
She swirled the dish to make the remaining fluid dance as she mused.
"I did not have to fight at all during the war. In fact, there were no large open engagements aside from their suicidal assault on our lines and the final assault. I think the position of Kage is changing. It used to be the strongest shinobi in the village, a pillar of strength and power to be respected and feared."
"Certainly it helped to back up the title with power."
She continued to look on Konoha as it sprawled before the large windows.
"Yes. Look at it now though? Three major villages, most of my work was done for me by more powerful and strategic shinobi. I don't think the Hokage needs to be the most powerful. No. Respect is more important now."
"Yes. You read my report?"
"When I had time. You are no longer a Jinchuriki?"
"I believe so."
She paused to drink again, staring out of the window of the office.
"Then there are none left and the Tailed Beasts are almost certainly lost forever, or at least long after we are both happily and safely dead. The loss of power being the only nation with a Jinchuriki was bad?"
"Not necessarily. It brings the destructive jutsu that Jinchuriki could bring to a minimum and makes us more normal and less hated. Whilst we do own the majority of Iwa and Suna now we are peaceful enough. Things are balanced."
She chuckled as she poured herself another dish of sake.
"They are. So when I retire in several years, I want you to be ready to join with them in partnership to accomplish the safety of Konoha. Maybe things will settle down so much that you could disband Root yourself."
"It would need to shrink but it needs to be ready at all times. It will not be disbanded and cannot be."
She finished her dish with a sigh of satisfaction.
"I can always dream."
She held a sheet of paper out towards him.
"Potential candidates. Making such a long term list in the shinobi world isn't usually wise but, well. What do you think of the choices?"
There was only one name on the sheet. He read it a few times then checked for genjutsu. Tsunade laughed.
"Surprised?"
"Yes. Yet I agree with your choice."
"Any reason in particular?"
"The candidate is ideally suitable for the new Hokage role you envision. Respectable and good in negotiation, capable of kindness as well."
He poured himself a second sake and drank it.
"That's the spirit Naruto. Wait until you reach my age then you'll just drink it from the bottle like a real old timer."
"Thank you for your time Hokage-sama."
"Work well Naruto. Anything else?"
He turned at the windowsill like he always did.
"Send my regards to Hinata-chan."
Tsunade sighed. She was now a messenger service for them. Not that she really mind that though. In a few years she would have a lot more time to relax and enjoy life again.
She decided to enjoy the sunset that nature had provided for her and maybe have another bottle of sake.