Interlude

The wind rustled through the canopy of the south of Hi no Kuni, and the sounds of the forests washed incessantly over the ground, uncaringly covering even the half hidden outpost realized with earth techniques amidst of a clearing: its surface was somewhat rocky, but covered by moss and a few resilient blades of grass. Inside, the structure was realized with functionality in mind: everything worked in relation of a central, bigger room. An area that was meant for the local team to conduct debriefs.

Neji stood perfectly still in the corner of the room: his hair had been cut short to better hide his identity, and his mask was secured by seals that prevented other Hyuga from recognizing his bloodline when it was active. Of course, that didn't matter when he was being observed by clansmen that already knew him well, as the chakra pathways of everyone were unique enough as to act as identifiers, but that wasn't neither here or there.

He was ANBU, and as such, he was anonymous: most of the missions he had participated in didn't allow for the enemy's survival, and so he'd been able to use the full scope of his skills, since his induction, the single operation that he had been drafted into where he couldn't use his rather unique blend of Gentle fist and kenjutsu was a rescue one, where a jonin had found himself in over his head, losing the life of one of the three genin he was meant to train.

Still, the room was silent, and he remained still while he observed the other members of his to-be team.

"The Cutting of Kusa had long-reaching consequences," Kakashi's voice, muffled as it was by the Dog mask he wore, resonated in Nejis' ears, "other minor villages, encouraged by Iwa's silent support, are encroaching on our ally's territory: we're meant to quietly remind the world that the village hidden in grass is Konoha's ally, and has our village's protection."

The irony of being drafted in a squad under the command of his old sensei wasn't lost on the Hyuga prodigy, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it: ANBU wasn't meant to question orders. Wetworks, how original. The Gentle Fist user was as controlled and self aware as ever, but there was just so much endless killing one could do before boredom managed to reach the level of distaste he felt for the task.

It isn't ours to question. Ours is to fight, and die. The random words of Sasuke rang in Neji's head with the annoying volume that only on-point memories could reach: his ex-teammate, who had been sequestered from the Village not long after his promotion to chunin, both for his safety and for political reasons that the Hyuga really didn't want to know, had been filled to the brim with the oddest sayings. With the most outlandish ideas, and with the most annoying way to say insightful things when they weren't needed, never mind wanted.

Neji's eyes shifted into the active state of the Byakugan under the cover of his mask, and without giving any indication of it in the way his chakra moved, he eyes the other members of the squad he was currently a part of. Of course, each member had varying degrees of ability, but still, it was a dangerous squad, especially considering just the kind of teamwork that could be leveraged under the expert guidance of Dog.

There was a specialist kenjutsu user with a flair for illusions capable of distorting one's depth perception, a water-natured ninjutsu specialist that had learned to leverage her average reserves extremely well, a med-nin with an obvious propensity for the use of poisons when forced into a conflict, a kunoichi infiltration specialist who was clearly a Yamanaka with a respectable skill in Fuinjutsu, Kakashi, Neji himself, and the recruit he had once been drafted to train in close quarters combat.

Ironically, the last member was by far the most interesting, both from an academic and a practical point of view: with no tactical skills to speak of beyond those that had been hammered forcefully into his skull, a glaring weakness to genjutsu because of which Neji was charged to keep an eye on him, and barely average taijutsu and kenjutsu that managed to keep the young kid alive long enough to gain the distance needed to leverage the frankly absurd amount of chakra at his disposal.

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't impossibly fast, wasn't insanely smart, wasn't lethal with his bare hands. On the other hand, he just did not get tired, not truly. He could throw around Kage Bunshin like confetti, each exploding with enough force to bust apart a stone wall, and had been forced to relentlessly train his ability to use elemental chakra to overspecialize to the point of being useful despite his lackluster ability in so many of the standard shinobi arts.

He was also more resilient than he had any right to, which allowed him to be something more effective than a glass sword, doomed to a single strike before shattering. No, Uzumaki Naruto had a single task when it came to work with this team: at Inu's orders, he was to bring the thunder down on opponents that were funneled in his direction: wind-natured, the boy had been taught to execute combination techniques with his endless supply of Kage Bunshin, and the firestorms he could unleash were the perfect addition to the team. Of course, the same skill could be leveraged in order to cover retreats.

Neji's focus remained on the diminutive form of the blond shinobi longer than it should have: it was surprising that one such as he could be the same age as Sasuke. The two couldn't be more different one from the other, and yet the comparison came naturally to the Hyuga prodigy: where the Uchiha had needed to develop skill in chakra control never seen in one his age, the only thing Naruto had needed to be drafted into ANBU were his reserves of chakra, reserves that replenished faster than they had any right to.

"I'll take point." Kakashi spoke quietly, but everyone straightened their backs, "We've already confirmed the first target: scheme 4."

In silence, the team moved out of the secret outpost, and started to cut south through the forest of Hi no Kuni and towards the ever-swaying grass where they'd start the hunt. Neji remained in behind the group, his Byakugan active and keeping up the rearguard: Naruto was barely able to maintain the pace set, but the Hyuga Prodigy knew that with his stamina, he could keep going for a day and a half before cramping. Good with stealth, the boy was kept from revealing the team's position by a set of seals that had been etched into his armor and clothes, which simply dispersed the chakra that the blond kid naturally oozed in a way that wouldn't allow enemy nin to either track or ambush Kakashi's team.

It was oddly comforting being part of a team with such an exact task and demanding leader. Where there hadn't been any camaraderie or real trust when Kakashi was his sensei, Neji felt an odd calm since he had begun taking missions with him. There was none of the forced interactions among them, only cold professionalism. As it often happened, the Hyuga prodigy fell into a lull as the landscape blurred past him: he knew what it was going to happen, and he was more than happy to let the training take over. No doubt, no fear, not even trepidation.

Maybe three hours later, the forest was cut by a respectably sized river, after which the canopy became less full, and the trees more distanced among them, only to give way to the grass plains, amidst which was placed the aptly named Kusagakure no Sato.

But that wasn't the target: following Hatake, and trusting in his terrifying expertise as a tracker, the ANBU team changed their trajectory, and after another thirty minutes, Dog gave the signal. Without interruption, the members of Konoha's Black Ops scattered in a precise mnner: Neji held back with Naruto, essentially being his guard. The blond kid would need all of his focus to execute his barrage of ninjutsu.

The two crouched in the grass, and Naruto summoned four Kage Bunshin by his sides: he was ready.

The plan was simple enough: scheme 4 meant that the ninja would go in silently from two different directions, kill as many as possible stealthily, then push the enemy that was trying to reorganize itself toward the youngest two members of the team, which would be a hard, unexpected, and often lethal stop to the for the fleeing target.

Less than five minutes later, everything fell into place: three enemy nin busted through the tall grass, and the clones acted as a single man: handsigns flashed, chakra rose like a wave, and a tall wall of fire augmented with wind charred the land in front of the ANBU. For a few seconds, the only thing Neji could hear was the rushing of fire, the crackling of the flames, and the brief, anguished screams of the targets.

Dressed in green and brown, a kunoichi with low-quality body armour burst from the ground once the wave of fire passed above her, katana extended in a stabbing motion towards the closest clone.

Commendable. Neji appeared by her side and landed a single jab to her temple: earth-natured chakra was shaped and released like an arrow thanks to his bloodline, and the brain turned into mush inside of her skull.

A clone popped in a burst of smoke, the Hyuga prodigy backtracked immediately, seeing perfectly all around him thanks to his bloodline, and his tanto found the throat of a shinobi that instead of going underground, had somehow managed to skirt around the flames, only to zoom once more towards the Uzumaki when he could clearly feel the menacing presence of the other members of Konoha.

Lightning screeched south, and Neji could see the flash of Hatake's chakra despite the distance and the obstacles in the way.

If Neji noticed the hands of Uzumaki shaking a bit when they turned back towards the outpost that would act as a base for the repeated series of missions meant to keep Kusa free from the encroaching forces led by enemy villages, nobody mentioned it.

The night sky was hidden by heavy clouds that promised rain, and smelling carefully, one could recognize a faint ashen presence on the nightly breeze, and if one was an Inuzuka, their senses heightened by their unique bloodline, it would be possible to recognize the tangy taste of blood, persisting above the even fainter presence of sweat.

The dingy room of the seedy hotel was, maybe for the first time since it had been built, well lit: it had taken a somewhat finicky work, but now there was a seal that shone white on the ceiling, casting stark shadows on the unsanitized floor.

Jiraya shifted a bit on the king-sized bed that groaned in protest under his weight, his features chalky and his eyes slightly unfocused as he regarded the woman that was healing him. And what a woman she is.

Senju Tsunade was all that the stories told about her, and much more: beautiful beyond compare, she was cursing under her breath while her hands hovered above the Toad Summoner's liver, green, healing chakra seeping deep into the organ and bolstering its inner workings with the precision that only she was capable of.

"Thank you, hime." he gritted out, only to be bonked on the head when he tried to twist his neck to see exactly what she was doing.

His fellow sannin didn't even let up in her slurry of insults: words meant to wound him, Konoha, Orochimaru, his sensei, and even herself: "I'm making your liver work overtime to filter the toxin, your kidneys are almost plugged up, and I've squeezed everything I could from your body to increase the blood production... damn you for dragging me back to this!"

Her left hand tightened uncomfortably over his forearm, making even his insanely resilient bones quiver in fear: "And damn him for being so..." her eyes lost focus for a moment as she lifted her right hand from the torso of the Toad Summoner, dragging with it a bubble of medical green chakra that held extremely thin purplish black tendrils that seemed to be seeking a way out, "Did you kill him?"

"I destroyed his body, but he was too sure of himself, even after we razed Kusagakure in our battle." a bit of blood returned to Jiraya's cheeks as he continued his recounting of the events that saw him being separated from his young Uchiha charge, "And I did get information a while ago that he tried to take over Itachi Uchiha of all people..."

Tsunade flicked the dark venom she had managed to recover from her patient's body into an empty basin, giving the white-haired man another once over to be sure that everything was working properly, only to nod slowly when she confirmed that she had done everything possible. "I'm sure I don't want to know." she prevented him from elaborating further, and for once, the boisterous gallant Jiraya, shut his mouth, along with his eyes, and it took a frightfully long time before he managed to open them again.

His powerful body would undoubtedly stand on his own two feet with enough time: between the natural potency of his chakra, which benefited of a lifetime of being pushed into something capable of making him endure, he could resort to brief sessions at Mont Myoboku, where he could execute his incomplete Sage Mode and reap the benefits of the vastly increased resilience and ability to recover.

"He had a Kaguya with his forces." Jiraya blinked the blurry shape of his female teammate into focus: "One that he trained personally and that I'm sure he experimented on: he was there when Oro-bastard ambushed me and the sprog that sensei dropped on me..."

"I never had my hands on one." Tsunade rose to her feet and briefly walked into the bathroom, washing off the sweat and grime on her hands and recovering the clay jar of sake that she had left there when she forced herself to be sober in order to heal her old teammate, "Only autopsies, but it's just not the same."

The brief flash of clinical interest was soon gone, quickly drowned once more in the dullness of the alcohol: "So, a sprog of your own, uh? Ha! It was statistically unavoidable, you know? I'm still disbelieving that you don't have any STDs, considering..."

Jiraya let out a slow chuckle at that, his shoulders shaking a bit as he tried to not jostle too much his taxed body: "Not my sprog hime, you know better than that. The other Uchiha... the small one, he says the same hurtful things about my life..."

She snorted again, rolling her eyes while she collapsed in the small chair present in the room: "A kid with a brain then..."

"Oh, he's a little bitch, alright: you'd probably like him."

"I don't like anyone." her caustic answer made him chuckle again, and she shot him a glance while she threw back her head to swallow another mouthful of delightfully inebriating liquid.

I'll need to contact him soon. Jiraya thought once he stopped his brief fit of quiet laughter. I'm all for personal responsibility when it comes to ladies, but I'll have to be seen with the boy here and there to confirm that we're still together, and I'd like to be sure he isn't dead.

"Just like him then." he grinned at his female ex-teammate, "You're a lot alike... do you remember when I stayed back with those orphans in Ame?"

She immediately grimaced at the memory he summoned: "Difficult to forget, it was just after Hanzo... listen, I saved your worthless hide," she rose from her chair and made towards the exit, "Shizune will have retrieved Tonton by now, and there is a casino with my name on it, so I'd better..."

"Do you remember the Uzumaki, Tsunade?"

She froze with her hand on the handle, her head whipping back with a dangerous glint in her eyes, her chakra swirling angrily under her skin, but never slipping past her skin. It was something that was fantastically unique about Tsunade, Jiraya knew: when she was truly enraged, it was unlike anything else he'd ever seen, he knew there was something to worry about only because he knew her, only because he knew just what she was capable of.

She didn't need to speak, there were no signs whatsoever about what she was thinking: her face was a carefully blank mask, and there was no killing intent in the air. But he knew that she was about to fling on his head the door she was holding the handle of. She remembered the Uzumaki, how could she not, when her grandfather was busy spoiling her, her grandmother was there to hold her back from going completely off the rails, offering her the beginnings of fuinjutsu, principles that she took and would one day use to create the seal that sat on her brown.

"We got separated not far from Kusa," Jiraya was quick to explain, "the boy lost the one following him while I scuffled with our bastard of a teammate, and reached the village... apparently, they weren't kind with the Uzumaki, a bit of experimenting on the side left the mother half-dead, and the girl was to follow. Guess what he did?"

At the leading tone of the white-haired man, Tsunade immediately relaxed. She didn't need to hear what came next, she could guess it'd be a good thing. She remembered when the news of the fall of Uzu reached her: it was a far, faint thing: just another drop in the ocean of grief that took away all of her world.

"He essentially kidnapped the mother from the guarded hospital, took the girl, and escaped just before the attack." Jiraya grinned when his teammate sat once more on the only empty chair and took a deep gulp from the clay jar, tension leaving her shoulders as she resigned herself to the melancholy that her white-haired teammate was so apt at summoning: "He choose, you see? He took a stand..."

Tsunade watched in silence as the healing and the aftermath of the battle that destroyed half of Kusagakure finally took their tool on the shinobi she had just healed, and his eyed drooped low, before closing fully as he fell into a deep restorative slumber. Her eyes, however, couldn't travel away from the purplish scar that ran vertically from Jiraya's clavicle to his hip: it was an impossibly precise line, something that, listening to the white-haired man, had been caused by some bogus sword capable of stretching in the blink of an eye.

"We're all falling apart, aren't we?" she murmured as she rose to her feet. She didn't care about the Uzumaki, she couldn't even muster enough energy to care about herself, nevermind the teammate she had almost lost to the hand of the other, and despite his attempts, she couldn't suddenly begin to feel interest for either the Uchiha he had taken as an apprentice, or the red-haired stray s he had apparently saved from Kusagakure.

There wasn't enough left of her to truly care.

Not since Nawaki, not since Dan.

Not anymore.

AN

Whew, it's been a long while, hasn't it? I ended up focusing on Meddling Giant far more than what I would have expected, but of course, this fic isn't abandoned.

This chapter has a brief flash to Naruto and Neji, just to keep up their existence during this story, one to Jiraya, to show up just the kind of consequences between his clash with Orochimaru (and it introduces Tsunade), and the kick after the brief time skip to get the MC moving again.

I'm not really a fan of canon Tsunade for a variety of reasons, but I've tried to briefly flesh out the infamous grieving that canonically pushed her to drink and to promise to never go back to Konoha. The only thing that I think capable of bringing an S-rank (as I've had Jiraya define them: they're extraordinary individuals, with a unique strength of character, for good or ill, not mere superpowered ninja) to years of despair, is a truly deep depression.

The next chapter will kickstart the next arc, which is the most ambitious one so far.

As always, opinions and hopes? Let me know!