Ch. 24
Naruto was now sitting at Ichiraku Ramen with a transformed clone impersonating Sasuke. He had already placed his usual order when he saw Kakashi walk up and sit next to him. Naruto turned and in an inquisitive voice said, "What's up?"
Kakashi was already reading from his book as he replied. "I just talked to Tsunade. She said the decryption should be done within the hour, so eat quickly. We don't know exactly when it'll finish, but another mission could be coming up soon."
Naruto nodded, then said, "Is that all you came to tell me?"
Kakashi gave a short nod, "Yep. Tsunade put me in charge of knowing where you guys were so I could call you guys when the decryption finished. Now that I know where all of you are, I'll be able to call you guys when there's a develpoment."
Naruto tried to hide a semi-worried expression. He realized that he now had a slight problem. Kakashi thought he knew where Sasuke was… but he didn't.
Kakashi examined Naruto for a little while before saying, "Don't worry. I know where the real Sasuke is…" Naruto's head swiveled to Kakashi, then after thinking about it for a bit, Naruto let out a small smile and said, "Still sharp as ever Sensei." Kakashi smiled as he continued to read from his book.
Kakashi noticed Naruto had something on his mind, but decided not to press him on it. If Sasuke's diagnosis was right, there had been enough of that already.
After a few short moments, Ayame came out with the ramen Naruto had ordered. She said in a cheerful voice, "Your usual!" Naruto smiled and matched her enthusiasm with a jovial, "Thanks!" She smiled at the fact that he seemed to be a little back to his old self before returning to the kitchen.
After Naruto was finished eating, he looked over to Kakashi who was still reading from his book. Naruto thought to himself for a few moments, then said in a contemplative voice, "Kakashi-Sensei?"
Kakashi turned to him. "Yes."
Naruto looked down into his ramen bowl. "I have a question."
Kakashi nodded. "What is it?"
Before Naruto could say anything else, Sakura ran up behind them. "We need you guys in the Hokage's office. You guys aren't gonna believe this… " Naruto and Kakashi glanced at each other. Maybe the decryption was finished. They both stood up and started heading towards the Hokage's office with Sakura. Before they arrived at the office, Naruto quickly went up to the Hokage Monument to get the real Sasuke.
Tsunade was sitting with her fingers intertwined as she hunched over the Hokage's desk. Kakashi and Sakura were already in the office, then Naruto and Sasuke arrived. Tsunade looked up and turned around the computer. Kakashi looked down at it. "What is it?" Tsunade replied in a monotone voice, "See for yourself…"
Kakashi stepped towards the computer then squinted his eyes as he examined the screen. It was an email. After he realized what it was, he picked up the computer and started reading. After a few moments, he turned to the others in the room. "This is a letter from the Hidden Rain Village…"
As Naruto and Sasuke cast each other semi-confused glances, Kakashi started to read the letter.
"To all the Villages within the Nations,
We are aware that there was a rumor that we had adopted Sasuke Uchiha as our new leader. There was also a rumor that we had aligned with the Sound and were planning an offensive against certain villages. This letter was sent to clarify these rumors and to also provide the villages with new information.
Regarding our alliance with the Sound and plans of a future offensive against certain villages, we disavow all of these claims."
Naruto crossed his arms in annoyance while Sasuke continued to wear his same blank expression. After watching their reactions, Kakashi continued,
"We have no intentions of making any offensives against any of the villages.
Regarding Sasuke Uchiha being our leader, this rumor was half true."
Now Kakashi had everyone's attention, especially Sasuke's. Kakashi continued,
"The reason we say this rumor was half true, is because we were deceived. We were, in fact, rallying behind Sasuke Uchiha, but recently, it was discovered by an aid that Sasuke Uchiha was being impersonated by none other than Orochimaru."
Sasuke turned to Kakashi and replied with an immediate, "What?!" Naruto looked just as confused as Sasuke did. Kakashi shrugged, then continued.
"Orochimaru had been using a transformation jutsu to impersonate Sasuke. He also had a Rinnegan and a Sharingan that allowed him to mimic some of Sasuke Uchiha's abilities. This was discovered by a close assistant of Orochimaru's named Hikan Anaki."
Sasuke slightly shook his head in annoyance while Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "Why am I not surprised…" Kakashi continued reading.
"Hikan caught Orochimaru releasing the transformation jutsu he was using to impersonate Sasuke. Orochimaru tried to once again decieve Hikan, but was unable to. Because Orochimaru was caught off guard, Hikan was able to strike from behind, effectively killing him."
Naruto's mouth slightly dropped, "Orochimaru is dead?..." Kakashi looked at the letter as he replied in a soft voice. "It appears that way..." Sasuke immediately said, "Appearances can be deceiving. Keep reading." Kakashi examined Sasuke for a second, then continued,
"After this, Hikan transplanted the Rinnegan and Sharingan into his own eyes and presented the truth to the people. Hikan proceeded to offer to take up the task of leading of the village. We believe that Hikan will be able to lead Amegakure into a new era of peace and prosperity.
It is for this reason that this letter has been sent to announce that, effective immediately, Hikan Anaki has officially been elected the leader of Amegakure."
Naruto's mouth dropped while Sasuke wore a pensive but somewhat disgusted expression.
Kakashi put down the computer and turned it back in Tsunade's direction. He turned to Tsunade and said in a exasperated voice, "You can't be serious?..."
Tsunade sat back in her chair as she replied. "That email arrived a few minutes ago. I think Hikan wanted to get the news of his election out fast. This email was probably sent to all of the villages. All of the villages that don't only use hawks that is. If you look at the bottom, the message was sent from the new official email address of Amegakure…" After a short pause, Tsunade continued. "An official election document confirming Hikan's election is attached to that email. He is now the official leader of Amegakure. We should expect an official scroll in the coming days…"
After a few seconds of silence, Sasuke spoke up, "Hikan is obviously lying. He was too experienced with his Rinnegan for it to have been transplanted anytime recently. He just needed a scapegoat that he could paint as my impersonator so he could assume power."
Naruto said in a slightly angry voice, "He's lying through his teeth and they elected him to be their leader…"
Kakashi replied, "Well the people obviously don't know he's lying… or they wouldn't have elected him." Naruto thought about it then crossed his arms in a semi-pouting stance.
Tsunade let out a sigh and turned to Kakashi. "Hikan is playing this brilliantly…"
Kakashi put a hand on his chin. "I know…"
Before anyone could say anything else, the computer made a beeping sound. Tsunade looked at the screen. It read, 'Decryption Complete.'
She cast everyone in the room a glance then turned the computer around. Sakura walked towards it and started opening the file.
Tsunade walked from behind the desk so she could see the computer, then turned to Kakashi. "The moment of truth…" Kakashi gave a small nod.
After a few seconds, the file finally opened. It read, "O.O." Sakura gave everyone a glance then clicked on it to open it.
At the top of the page it read in bold red letters, "OPERATION ONSLAUGHT – PHASE 1."
As the group looked at the screen, their eyes widened at the scope of what was being planned.
On the screen was a map of the known shinobi world. Six villages had a large, red X over them. Naruto whispered in a low voice, "No way…"
The group looked to the right of the map. In addition to being crossed out on the map, the villages that were going to be attacked were listed to the right.
Hidden Sand Village
Hidden Cloud Village
Hidden Grass Village
Hidden Hot Water Village
Hidden Sound Village
Hidden Stone Village
After a few seconds of standing in shock, Kakashi said, "When is this supposed to happen?"
Sakura scrolled down and her mouth fell open as she read off the information. "It's supposed to happen today… at 3:30 PM….." As soon as she said that, everyone turned to the clock on the wall. 1:32 PM. Kakashi started scratching his forehead and said in a voice that conveyed a newfound urgency. "That's not a lot of time. This isn't good…"
After a moment of stunned silence, Sakura continued, "It says the attacks are all going to take place simultaneously….." Kakashi dropped his head then turned to Tsunade. "Ok this REALLY isn't good… As a matter of fact, this just turned into a major problem." Tsunade just kept staring at the screen.
After a little while, Sasuke spoke up, "How does Hikan even have the audacity to attack all these villages at once? Where is he getting the firepower from? Those eyes he has might make him strong enough to take down one village on his own, but these attacks are all supposed to happen at the same time… He needs some really heavy hitters…"
Kakashi looked down to the screen. "I have no idea where he's getting his firepower from, but he's already shown he's crafty enough to become the leader of Amegakure in an instant… We don't know if he has any allies we don't know about. We have to take him seriously…"
Kakashi turned to Tsunade. "We need to notify the villages that are in danger right now. We don't know how powerful these assaults will be, so since we're not on the list of villages to be attacked, we should send aid. When you send the email to the villages that are in danger, make sure to let them know we'll be sending aid." Tsunade was knocked out of her daze and managed to say in a low voice, "Yeah. I'll start on them now…" After a short pause, Tsunade asked, "But what about the villages that still communicate by hawk like the Sand?"
Kakashi thought for a second, then replied, "They'll have to learn of the intel when our aid arrives."
Tsunade paused, then nodded. She reached down to her right and pulled out another laptop while the others continued to go over the new intel.
Kakashi looked to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. "While Tsunade notifies the other villages, we need to figure out how we're going to help… That starts with figuring out how we're gonna get shinobi in all those different places in under two hours." Kakashi looked over to Sasuke, "I know that on your last mission you had problems with your Rinnegan due to exhaustion, but do you think that if Naruto continues to give you chakra, you could eventually get everyone to where they needed to be?"
Sasuke looked down pensively for a few seconds, then replied, "When I use my Space-Time Dojutsu, I quickly pass through another dimension and exit in this one. The location I arrive at corresponds to which dimension I pass through. When we went on the mission to Amegakure, I didn't know which dimension would lead to us exiting at Amegakure. I noticed it was raining in one of the other dimensions and it ended up leading us to Amegakure. In other words, we got lucky."
Kakashi paused for a second. "So you don't know which dimensions lead to which villages?..." Sasuke replied, "I only know where two dimensions lead. I know how to get to Amegakure because of our recent mission, and I know how to get to here in Konoha. I never had any reason to learn where the other dimensions led to. My theory is that the conditions in those other dimensions reflect the conditions in our dimension. I think that's why it was raining in the dimension that led to the Hidden Rain Village. The problem is that if I'm wrong, we could be playing a guessing game...for a long time."
Kakashi slowly nodded as he replied, "So in other words, we could waste time…a lot of time…which we don't have..." Sasuke slowly nodded.
Naruto turned to Sasuke, "When we got to Amegakure, I didn't notice us passing through any other dimension….." Sasuke continued to look at the computer screen as he replied. "That's because you don't have a Rinnegan. I scanned at least 5 different dimensions before taking us through the one that led to Amegakure." Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth dropped a little as Sasuke continued. "That's also why my Rinnegan was so exhausted after one trip. I could get to Amegakure easily now, but only because I now know which dimension to pass through to get there."
After a short pause, Naruto slowly gave a nod of understanding, then said, "First we need to find out which villages me and Sasuke are going to. Then we can focus on how we'll get there."
Kakashi looked at the ground pensively for a few moments, then said, "Good point. If Hikan is personally involved in this assault, we have to make sure he runs into one of you guys, which means we have to figure out which 2 villages he's most likely to attack…"
After a drawn out silence, Naruto said, "The only three villages that would probably require someone of Hikan's caliber to take them down are the Cloud, the Stone and the Sand. He might be personally involved in the attack on one of those villages." Kakashi thought about it as he slowly nodded.
Sasuke looked at the screen for a little, then said, "I'll go to the Stone. Naruto, you go to the Sand. The Cloud has Killer Bee. Even with Hikan's visual prowess, Killer Bee is a powerful jinchuriki. Bee's power combined with all of the Cloud's powerful shinobi should be able to repel an assault even if Hikan is there."
Tsunade paused for a moment, then turned to Kakashi, "The council might have a problem with that since Sasuke is still supposed to be with Naruto at all times….."
Kakashi let out a small sigh. "We don't have time for that. If they want to stop him, let them try. Right now we need to worry about how we're gonna help the other villages." Tsunade nodded in agreement.
After a few seconds, Kakashi said, "What Sasuke suggested could work, but we still have to send a group to the Cloud to at least help." Sasuke nodded in agreement.
After a few seconds of thinking, Kakashi said, "I'll lead a team to the Cloud, Sakura will lead a team to the Sound, we'll have Guy lead a team to the Hot Water and Shikamaru will lead a team to the Grass. Tsunade, as Hokage, you'll have to stay here." Tsunade was now typing away at the computer and replied with a quick, "Got it!"
Kakashi looked around the room and said, "Now the last problem… How will we get our shinobi to those different villages so quickly."
Naruto looked down pensively as he got an idea. He turned to Kakashi. "What if I use a Kurama Avatar to transport shinobi?..."
Kakashi turned to Naruto and said in an unsure voice, "Just how fast can you fly with a Kurama Avatar?..." Naruto looked down. "I have no idea… but I think I'm fast enough to get everyone to where they need to be." Kakashi looked at Naruto with a more serious expression and said in a concerned voice, "Do you really think you have the chakra to sustain a Kurama Avatar while traveling that fast for that long?..."
Naruto thought to himself, then replied, "I'll be fine. I probably can't sustain any clones though… although it would be helpful… The only concern I have is regarding the Cloud. It's out of my way. I might not be able to reach everywhere in time if I go there…"
Sasuke looked over at a map of the shinobi world that was on the office wall. He said in a thoughtful voice, "If you didn't have to go to the Cloud, you could just circle through the other villages starting at the Hot Water and ending at the Sand." Kakashi looked at the map as he reflected on their current dilemma.
After a few seconds of looking at the map, Sasuke spoke up. "What if I used my Susanoo to fly Sakura's team to the Cloud, then took my team to the Stone?..." Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "You don't have the massive chakra reserves Naruto has. You could run out of chakra before you even got to the Stone…" Sasuke and Kakashi kept looking at the map trying to find a way to make the plan work.
Just then, Naruto got an idea. He walked over to the map and pointed to the Hot Water Village. "What if after I went to the Hot Water Village," He moved his finger to the Sound. "I waited for Sasuke at the Sound… I could infuse more chakra while I waited, then give him some to recharge him…"
Kakashi turned to Tsunade who was now looking up from the email she was writing. Sasuke spoke into the silence. "Naruto's plan works…"
After a few seconds of silence, Kakashi said in a low voice, "Ok. We'll do that."
After a short pause, he looked at everyone in the room. "This has turned into a very eventful day… Get ready to leave and meet up at the Main Gate by 2:00 PM. I'm going to go get everyone we need."
Tsunade turned to Kakashi before he left. "I just sent the email to the Cloud and the Stone. The other villages will have to find out what's going on when we get to them." Kakashi nodded then opened the door. He looked over at the clock. 1:43 PM.
He paused for a second, then turned around to face everyone in the room and said in a grave voice, "We're on the clock… Let's make sure we beat it." Everyone gave a nod and proceeded to prepare to leave.
Author's Note
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