"Medusa Javelin"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot.

For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile.

With that said, enjoy.

"Medusa Javelin"

"Show me…"

- Ninth Entry -

"Prudence"

Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Second year. July 7th.

73 years old.

"Ah… you, you are…!"

Even as the guards posted outside the massive village doors ahead came to attention and saluted her, not even the mixture of startled and surprised expressions penetrated the awareness of the frowning, white-haired woman who walked towards them. She was deep in thought, her head down and moving slowly. She carried a small, sheathed katana blade almost horizontally across her back, the two elbows hanging by her side almost touching the hilt and point of the sword. But what caught the guard's attention was not what she wore on her back, but what she wore on her face; all but her eyes were covered by what appeared to be some sort of veil. But even with the veil, the guards all knew who she was. The streaks of faded pink in her mostly-white hair told them all they needed to know.

She finally caught attention of them as they stepped quickly forward from either side and swung the wide, heavy doors open to admit her inside. She looked up at the massive doors, blinked, and when she finally realized that they were letting her through without bothering to confirm her identity, she quietly thanked them by giving them a small nod. They nodded vigorously back with idiotic smiles on their faces, as if they were proud of fact that they had just now breached the most standard protocols of all.

She walked through the two open doors, out of the cool darkness of the forest shadows and into the bright afternoon light of the open village in front of her. She paused for several moments, momentarily blinded by the change from darkness to sunlight. Her face grew solemn again, and she moved into the wide road ahead of her and took her first steps inside the village she hadn't been in for almost two years. She was so far removed from awareness of anything else that she walked past a group of brightly dressed, cheerful young girls huddled in one corner of the street without even noticing them, despite their admiring glances and the greetings some of them called out to her.

She had other, heavier things on her mind.

As irony would have it, she also failed to notice the other, heavier man who came straddling towards her as soon as he saw who she was. As their paths converged almost in the exact center of the village square, it was left to the man to notice that she was making no attempt to slow down or yield as they were about to cross paths. Realizing this, the man stopped walking, eyebrows rising in astonishment, and stepped out of her way. Only as she drew past the larger man, who now reached out to grasp her shoulder, did she become aware of him. She reached back as through she were under attack, her palm reaching for the handle of the sword and was about to draw the blade before she really looked at the man who gripped her shoulder. She stopped herself and slid the already half-drawn katana back into her sheath, and whatever visible parts of her veiled face flushed with appalled embarrassment.

"Chouji-san…! I'm sorry, my mind was… elsewhere."

A hint of something that looked like a smile tugged at one corner of the elderly man's mouth. "I could see that," He replied as he released her shoulder, in a rather deep, but friendly voice. "But even in the midst of such self reflection, Sakura, you should always try to keep one eye open, at least in your present surroundings. Not that I needed to tell you that, of course. But to see you like that, what were you thinking about?"

Sakura's embarrassment deepened. "Ah… it's nothing… I was just contemplating over the ratios of chemical distribution for-" She hesitated briefly, then added. "-my next project. I still needed to go over a few things."

"That's so like you." That hint of a smile soon grew into a wider grin. "So I take it you're back here in the village for some clinical lab-testing?"

"That's half of it. There were some other ingredients I-" She paused, then looked at the Akimichi clan elder in front of her carefully. Her eyes narrowed as she debated to herself if it were such a wise idea to discuss such matters out here, in the open.

"Sensitive matters?"

Chouji was always good at reading people's emotions, and she supposed it helped that his wife was a master of psychology. Sakura closed her eyes and nodded curtly, relieved, thankful.

She was further relieved when he didn't press the subject. "Where were you headed?" He asked, changing the topic of conversation.

"I was thinking of going to the Hospital-"

"Nonsense. You just come back from your two year trip and you want to dive back immediately into work? You need rest, Sakura. And a much deserved one at that."

Although the white cloths of her veil helped her to conceal most of her emotions, she still tried to restrain her frown. "Chouji-san, I…" She started her retort, but was interrupted again when Chouji moved in besides her and patted her back.

"At the very least, come to our house. Ino will be thrilled to see you again, and besides," His line of sight shifted from her to the people behind her. "We're starting to attract attention. Which you don't want, if I remember correctly."

She followed his line of sight and looked behind, finally noticing the crowd of people gathered around her, pointing and gossiping, some of them even cheering. She sighed. Couldn't be helped. She was the former Seventh Hokage of this village, after all.

But attention was something she definitely didn't want.

However, there was one part in her mind that told her that she could, perhaps, use this invitation to her advantage…

"One night, then."

His caring smile soon returned. "That's more like it. Come on then, tonight will be a feast!"

"At the end of our seventeenth year of our war one thing has become more and more clear. It is that the Hidden Sound seeks to establish domination over the world completely different from any known in history.

"The domination at which the Sound aim is not limited to the displacement of the balance of power and the imposition of supremacy of one nation. It seeks the systematic and total destruction of those conquered by Orochimaru, and it does not treaty with the nations that he has subdued. He destroys them. He takes from them their whole political and economic existence and seeks even to deprive them of their history and their culture. He wishes to consider them only as vital space and a vacant territory over which he has every right. The human beings who constitute these nations are for him only cattle. He orders their massacre to make room for their conquerors. He does not even take the trouble to impose an iron rule upon them; he just takes all their wealth, and, to prevent any revolt, he wipes out their leaders just so he can immerse himself in the physical and moral degradation of those whose independence he has taken away.

"Under this domination, in hundreds of towns and villages in Sound Country, there are thousands of human beings now living in such misery which, some months ago, they would've never imagined. The former nation known as the Country of Rice Fields can now only be called the lands of despair. Their whole peoples have been deprived of the means of moral and material happiness. Subdued by treachery or brutal violence, they have no other recourse than to work for their executioners who grant them scarcely enough to assure the most miserable existence.

"There is being created a world of masters and slaves in the image of Sound itself. For, while the Sound is crushing beneath its tyranny the men and women of essentially every country, Sound itself is being cursed beneath its own servitude and its domination mania. The Sound's average workers and peasant are the slaves of their Sound masters while the workers of the surrounding towns and villages have become in turn slaves of these slaves.

"Their propaganda is entirely founded on the exploitation of the weakness of the human heart. It does not address itself to the strong or the heroic. It tells the greedy man they are going to lose their money. It tells the strong they will lose their power. It tells the intellectual and the artist that all he cherishes is being destroyed by war. It tells the lover of good things that soon he would have none of them.

"It is those who speak this way who have destroyed or confiscated all wealth they could lay their hands on, who have reduced their workers to slavery, who have ruined all intellectual liberty, who have imposed terrible privations on thousands of men and women and who have made murder their law. What do contradictions matter to them if they can lower the resistance of those who wish to bar the path of their ambitions to be masters of the world?

"For us, there is more to do than merely win the war. We shall win it, but we must also win a victory far greater than that. In this world of masters and slaves, which those madmen who rule at the heart of Sound Country are seeking to forge, we must also save liberty and human dignity-"

"Sorry to interrupt your lecture Hokage-sama…"

Konohamaru looked up from his book and towards the now open door of the classroom to see one of his aides standing apologetically outside the room. Sighing, he closed shut the book with both of his hands and turned his attention back to both the eager and not-so eager Academy students in front of him. "Sorry kids, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut class short. I'm going to dismiss you all-"

An enthusiastic cheer erupted among them.

"-but Tobiume-sensei has asked me to remind you that today's History lecture will be covered in tomorrow's test." He finished.

This groaning response this time told Konohamaru that they were all quite less than enthusiastic over the announcement. He tried his best to resist the urge to chuckle. "Class dismissed! And don't forget to read through page 144 for the remainder of Tsunade-sama's speech!" He reminded them.

As the students stood from their desks and started filing out of the classroom, the Eighth Hokage turned to his ANBU subordinate now standing besides him and glared at him with unforgiving eyes. "You know, it was you who suggested I started filling in for a few teachers to teach History to Academy students." He said. "I can't have you interrupting me every time."

"Well… on the bright side, you've become quite popular with the students now, right?" His aide offered.

"They only like me because I have to cut classes short every single time, Hotaru. Every. Single. Time." He carefully repeated the three words, stressing them to make sure he got his point across. "You're forcing me to set a bad example in front of these children."

"But those Icha Icha Paradise novels you write-"

"Don't try to change the goddamn subject." He snapped. "That's a different story altogether. And remember, if you tell Hanabi…"

Regretting that he even dared to have opened his stupid mouth, the riteitai squad captain placed a gloved hand over his face in a rather futile attempt to hide himself away from his now-quite angry leader. "If I tell Hanabi-sama, I'm a dead man. Yes, I know, Hokage-sama."

Frustrated, Konohamaru sighed as he looked at the few remaining students chatting away happily to each other as they walked out of the classroom. "I really was enjoying the lecture, too, you know." He said. "Especially that speech. It won us the war." His eyes turned momentarily soft. "Something those kids will hopefully never have to go through."

Hotaru tried to look as compassionate as he could. "…I'm sorry. If it helps, I'll only try to interrupt your class if the matter needs urgent attention."

"And all the matters before were not?" Konohamaru sighed. "Two days ago you tell me that the Feudal Lords of Fire Country were filing in an urgent request for increased security for their annual conference, yesterday you tell me that the Mizukage's second-in-command was assassinated by a group of rouge ninjas presumably consisting of Konoha missing-nins… so what is it today? The asses from the Village Council demanding I rid the laws that limit their power?"

Hotaru gulped. "Well actually-"

"Exactly as you said, Konohamaru. Exactly as you said."

Konohamaru cursed, but he wasn't overtly surprised. He actually expected that. He turned around to face the new speaker now sitting just outside the classroom.

"Moegi."

The wheelchair-bound councilwoman gave him the scrawniest of smiles. "You don't seem too happy to see me, hmm?" She said as she rolled herself inside.

"Oh no, I'm just crackling with joy inside."

Positioning herself next to him, she rolled her eyes. "So sarcastic. Looks like the vixen taught your language well."

That damnable nickname again. It took almost all of Konohamaru's self-control to restrain him from lashing out at his former teammate from so long ago.

It was likely she noticed his growing anger, but she ignored it. "Speaking of the vixen, it seems she had returned to the village just a few minutes ago."

The information took Konohamaru by surprise. He wasn't aware his predecessor had come back. He turned to Hotaru who stood behind him. "Is this true? Why wasn't I told of this?"

"Er… sorry?"

Konohamaru was sure he would've strangled his subordinate for being so incompetent if it weren't for the councilwoman present inside the room. Clearly, Hotaru had been unaware of the information.

Moegi chuckled. "I see you chose your aides well."

"I'm quite tempted to fire him right now, actually." Konohamaru bitterly admitted.

Hotaru's face fell. "Noooooo! Please, Hokage-sama, give me another chance! I promise I won't fail you this time! I swear!"

"Then make yourself useful and welcome back Sakura-sensei. Properly. And make sure to send her my best of regards."

"Oh! Um, eheheh… of course! Sir, yes sir! On my way!" Hotaru awkwardly saluted him before he vanished from the classroom in a large puff of smoke.

Well, too large of a smoke in fact – Konohamaru was caught inside the large plume and even had to cough some of it out of his lungs. "…I swear…" He spoke once he came out of his fits of coughs. "If he weren't from the clan, I would've killed him a long time ago."

"You could easily have him transferred to some other division."

"Hotaru has his uses." He said, brushing off the last wisps of smoke away from his body.

"Like how he reminds you of the fox-demon?"

He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his anger in check. "Moegi…"

Again, she ignored him. She changed the subject instead. "You know why I'm here."

At least Hotaru wasn't wrong about that part. "If that's the case, then you know what my answer is going to be."

"Not going to yield, are we?"

"Yield? Moegi, Sakura-sensei may have went easy on you and your oh-so precious Village Council during her reign, but me, you know I'm different. Hell, you should consider me generous that I didn't outright disband that entire fucking concubine of yours."

"You consider yourself generous? How laughable!" The woman cackled. "You didn't disband the council because you couldn't, Konohamaru." She pointed a finger at him. "That's the truth."

Konohamaru snorted. "Only because there was no telling what you and your cronies would do if I ever disbanded the council so suddenly."

"Excuses, excuses. You're afraid of a little civil war? Pity that it didn't happen, though."

"Are you threatening me, Moegi?"

"Why, Hokage-sama, I'm shocked to be accused of such a thing." She snickered. "Of course I'm threatening you, Konohamaru. Why, you honestly didn't think that idiot law restricting our power and influence is going to keep us down for long, did you? We'll find a way around it to keep ourselves strong. Just you wait."

"We'll see."

The female leader of the Village Council laughed. "Hah! Don't be so cocky. You may have won the first round in our battle inside the political arena, but I won't be pulling my punches next time around. I shall be sincerely be looking forward to our next match, Lord Hokage."

"Hmph, and you accuse me of being the sarcastic one."

"Oh please, you flatter me."

"Fine, if that's how you want to play, then so be it Madame Chairman."

She snickered at his undertone threat but said nothing more. Moegi was about to turn her wheelchair around to leave when Konohamaru called after her.

"Moegi, if you're so firmly opposed to me and my policies, then why won't we just outright declare open war? We both know we want to kill each other. Why won't we just get it over and done with?"

She stopped turning her wheelchair forward and turned to face him again. "Funny you should ask that question."

"And why is that?"

"It's because the reason is obvious. We both don't want a real war." It was her eyes that turned soft this time. "I've already seen enough bloodshed as is. We both have."

"…Moegi."

"Don't give me that tone of voice, Konohamaru." She sighed. "We both know we've traveled down paths we can never turn back from. It's already too late."

"It's never too late, Moegi."

"This is the real world, Konohamaru-kun." She said, calling him by that oh-so familiar name when they were still together as a team almost seventy years ago. "And in the real world, idle fantasies like that don't come true."

"…………"

She half-turned her wheelchair around to stare at the setting sun burning outside the classroom window. "Face it, Konohamaru. We both have different ideas on how we want to protect the village. We're like parallel lines. Both running towards the same goal, but fated never to intersect."

"Why though, Moegi… why? Why do you hate Sakura-sensei so much? Why do you hate Leader… no, Naruto-bro so much? I just… don't understand…"

She sighed. "It's because Leader-" She paused for emphasis. "Is not the idol I thought he was. He was the nine-tailed demon fox Kyuubi no Youko!"

"He's not-"

"He was the one who led the betrayer Uchiha Sasuke into defecting this village, even failing in his mission to bring the traitor back. If he hadn't screwed up his stupid goddamn mission, we never would've been ambushed by Orochimaru, Ebisu-sensei would've never died, Udon would've never lost his arm, and I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid fucking wheelchair for life!"

"But that's-"

"And that vixen you call Sakura," She interrupted him yet again. "She's so smitten by the fox she wants him released from his imprisonment. Hell, that's practically the only reason why she accepted the position of Hokage in the first place!"

"Take that back, Moegi!"

"I'm not taking back my words because it's the truth!"

He was about to throw in another retort but Konohamaru clamped his mouth shut at the last second. Deep down, he knew that she was right.

Predictably, she snorted at his silence. "But she, she was weak. She felt guilty for replacing herself with Ebisu-sensei and replacing me with Hanabi. So when I recovered and eventually took over grandmother's position as the leader of the Village Council, she became reluctant, torn inside, debating if releasing her love was more important than letting go of that feeling of guilt she had of me." She snarled. "I hated that, that… that feeling of pity. Treated like a thing, like a cripple that could do nothing. For that, I will never forgive. "

"She was only looking out for you, Moegi."

"Hmph. Well, at least it worked to my advantage; ultimately, I prevented her from releasing the fox from his confinement during her reign. But I'll admit, when you first took over her position as Hokage, I was afraid you were going to take direct action against us because you didn't seem to have qualms about disbanding the council even if it meant splitting the village into two. But what do you know? You were no different. You too, feel guilty over me. Don't you?"

"…………"

She turned her wheelchair back and around again, shaking her head as she turned. "Just as I thought. Pathetic."

Konohamaru remained silent, but as he was maintaining his silence a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"You're no different too, Moegi."

Moegi narrowed her eyes as she glared sharply at him. "What did you say?"

"This isn't about you hating Naruto-bro or Sakura-sensei, or you trying to maintain your Village Council's position of power. You're only doing this because of me, aren't you Moegi? Because instead of you, Hanabi was the one that replaced you in the team, Hanabi was the one I fell in love with, Hanabi was the one I ultimately married. You're only standing in my way because you feel jealous-"

"Shut up!"

Konohamaru didn't miss how Moegi's knuckles turned white from clenching the handles of her wheelchair so tight.

It didn't take a genius to know that he had hit his mark.

"I don't need sympathies from you! Not from you!"

"Moegi-"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" She grabbled the wheels of her wheelchair and would've stormed out of the classroom if weren't for Konohamaru standing in her way.

"Move. Aside." She demanded.

Eyes sympathetic, Konohamaru could only sigh as he reluctantly stepped aside. Moegi glared at him one last time before she sharply turned away from her childhood friend and tried to roll herself out of the classroom.

"You were my first crush, you know." Konohamaru said the moment she reached the door.

Her back still turned, she spoke in tatters. "…I know. You were mine too. You still are."

He didn't have to look at her face to know she was crying.

"Moegi, I…"

Moegi cut him off. "As long as I live, Konohamaru." She said. "As long as I live, I will be your enemy. Never forget that. Ever."

Her words were followed by painful silence.

And soon, she was gone.

"…and that's the gist of it, Nanadaime-sama!"

Sakura nodded. "I see. Thank you for the report, Hotaru-kun. I appreciate it."

"Not a problem Nanadaime-sama! It's good to see you back in the village again! I shall take my leave now! Adieu!"

"Quite the energetic fellow, isn't he?" Sakura asked the elderly Akimichi man once the Hyuuga riteitai captain left the scene. "I see some things never change."

"Too energetic if you ask me." Chouji answered. "I still don't understand why Konohamaru chose him as his aide when he became Hokage. That fellow has a few screws loose too."

She shrugged. "He always had a soft spot for people like that. Well, at least it was nice to know that he's doing a good job as Hokage."

Chouji raised an eyebrow. "The news never reached you while you were traveling?"

"Some of it. Mostly rumours, while I traveled around the continent."

"Speaking of your journey, Sakura, where exactly did you travel to? You kept quite a low profile after you resigned from office."

"Let's see…" She created a quick list in her mind before she answered his question. "I've traveled around almost all of the countries… but I spent most of my time in the Capital. A beautiful place, that city; there's so much history."

"Ah, I see. Beautiful, I agree, but quite isolated. I see now why you weren't aware of Konohamaru's accomplishments. News of the continent scarcely reaches there. What made you want to go there, through? You've made plenty of official visits while you were Hokage."

"There were a few materials I wanted to collect. The other countries had most of the things I wanted, but there were a few specific ones I wanted to-"

The two of them were walking under the large front gate of the Akimichi clan complex when a large voice greeted them from the inside. "Heeeeeeeeeey, long time no see forehead girl!"

A scornful smile appeared under the mask of Sakura's veil. "Hello Ino-pig."

The aged woman, her blond hair now totally white, huffed at the familiar greeting. "You need to write more often."

"Sorry." Sakura answered with lacklustre.

"Suuuure you are." She grinned. "Well, don't just stand there; come on in come on in! Chouji sent for a messenger ahead of time so I'd know you were arriving. I have the cooks preparing the feast as we speak – peacock was fine, right?"

Chouji patted his large belly and soundly smacked his lips. "Most excellent! A great choice!"

"Yeah, it's fine. Thanks, Ino." Sakura nodded.

"Not a problem. Things were getting soooo dull around here without you around, you know? I still haven't quite forgiven you for quitting the Hokage job so suddenly; you left me without saying a word of goodbye!"

Sakura lightly bit her lip. "Sorry." Her apology was laced with genuine emotions this time around.

Ino sighed. "I mean, I heard the story from Hanabi-chan, about how you were desperate to find a cure for your condition since the effects of your 'joker's drug' were starting to wear off, but you could've at least told me. We're best friends, right? I wouldn't have hesitated one bit to help you."

"…That wasn't the only reason I left, through." Sakura said, almost a whisper.

Ino stared at Sakura with a questioning look, but she eventually shrugged, as if to ask if it made any difference. "Do you hate looking old that much, Sakura?"

Sakura was silent even as the trio reached the front doors of the large Akimichi house. The three of them entered through the doorway and were promptly greeted by the Akimichi clan servants. "Welcome back Chouji-sama, Nanadaime-sama." They bowed down deeply.

"How much longer?" Chouji asked.

"The feast will be ready in about twenty minutes, Chouji-sama." One of the male servants replied. "If you wish, we do have several appetizers prepared…"

Chouji nodded back curtly. "That'll do."

"Very well. If you would follow me, please."

Taking their shoes off, the three of them were about to step into the long hallways of the Akimichi house before Ino stopped them. "Sakura, you're going to carry that all the way to the dining room?" Ino pointed, referring to the katana blade she had strapped on her back. "I didn't even know you wielded a sword like that."

"I rather not take it off…"

"Don't be silly. No one's going to attack you here. Or steal it, for that matter. Hand it over, I'll have one of the servants clean it if you want."

Sakura seemed to consider the offer for a moment before her hands reluctantly reached backwards to unstrap the katana blade from her back. Once that was over, she was about to place the sheathed blade over on Ino's outstretched hand when suddenly-

CLANG!

Sakura dropped the sheathed sword. It clattered loudly on the polished wooden floors.

"…Sakura?"

Sakura reacted quickly. She had already retreated her hand into the long sleeves of her robe. She was desperately trying not to look into Ino's piercing gaze.

But it was too late. Ino had already seen what was wrong. "Let me see your hands Sakura."

"No, Ino."

"Sakura…"

"I said no, Ino."

Ino merely shrugged. "Fine. Chouji?"

Sakura never stood a chance. Even before she could react the elderly Akimichi man had her in a tight bear hug from behind. Gritting her teeth, she tried to squirm out of his embrace but the man's arms didn't budge.

"What's the matter, Sakura? With your superhuman strength, it wouldn't a problem for someone like you to escape from Chouji's grip."

"Ino! Dammit, tell Chouji to let me go!"

"Let me see your hands then!"

"Dammit Ino-"

Ignoring her protests, Ino reached out and grabbed both of Sakura arms and pulled back the sleeves of her robes. It only took a glance to confirm what she had just seen.

"Shit. Sakura… how long?"

Sakura only turned her head away.

"Look at me, forehead girl. Look at me, and answer my question. How long?"

She still had her head turned away when she answered with a distasteful tone in her voice. "…Two years."

"So in other words, since the day you left."

"…………"

Ino sighed again. "You can let go of her now, Chouji."

Chouji did as was told and let go of the former Hokage, who promptly crumpled down into the floor. She sat there, unmoving.

Ino turned around a little to face the man standing behind her. "Kojima-kun, fetch us a hyourougan kit, would you? Preferably one with multiple soldier pills."

The servant, who stood silent through the entire ordeal, seemed surprised at the sudden command. Thankfully, he seemed to be quick on catching on what his mistress wanted and thus bowed politely before he went off to carry out his now assigned duty. Ino watched him disappear past the long hallways of the mansion, and once she was sure he was out of earshot she turned her attention back to Sakura who still sat on wooden floors uttering not a single word.

"Sakura…"

"You don't have to sound so sympathetic, Ino-pig." She said, suddenly speaking up. "I know what my body is going through."

"But Sakura, your veins… they're… they're black. That colour can't possibly be natural."

"The long-term side-effects of the 'joker's drug' I developed. Now you see why I wanted to cover my face with a veil, Ino? It looks just as bad."

Ino tried her best not to imagine her best friend's face scarred with the black outline of veins. She failed miserably.

With clear bitterness in her voice, Sakura continued. "It's not that I hate looking old, Ino. I do hate it – that's the reason why I tried to maintain my youthful form as long as possible with that cosmetic jutsu – but right now, not only do I look old, I look ugly. Ugly and weak."

"…You can't even utilize your strength anymore?"

"Why do you think I'm carrying a katana, Ino? Did you honestly think it's for decoration?" She said, spiteful. "It's so that I could protect myself if I came under attack. Useless now, though, it seems I can't even hold the damn thing properly anymore."

"…………"

Sakura finally stood straight up from the floor and, ignoring Ino, turned to Chouji. "…Chouji-san, I'm sorry but… can you take me home?"

He looked disappointed. "But what about the feast we prepared?"

"Some other time, I promise. Just… just not today. I don't feel so well."

Looking unsure, Chouji slowly turned to his wife for advice. "Ino…?"

"…Fine, let her be."

It was at that precise moment when the servant returned to the scene, carrying a small box full with various forms of Akimichi clan soldier pills. "Here are the pills you requested Ino-sama…" He interrupted himself when he noticed Sakura heading for the door. "Is Nanadaime-sama leaving?"

"She is." Ino nodded as she took the box from him. "Can you prepare a carriage for her, Kojima-kun?"

He looked confused, but he knew better than to question orders from his masters. "At once, Ino-sama." He soon disappeared back from where he came from.

"…Thanks Ino."

"Don't worry about it. Even someone like me can tell that you're in no condition to walk home. And here." She then shoved the box containing the soldier pills into Sakura's hands. "Take it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But aren't these… the Akimichi clan's secret soldier pills? I can't accept something like this!"

"Don't be such a stubborn ass, this is what you wanted, no?"

"…Eh?"

"Don't underestimate me, Sakura. Old I may be, but I'm still an expert when it comes to reading minds. You accepted Chouji's invitation because you originally wanted to convince us to hand over the Akimichi clan's secret soldier pills for your research in a cure for your condition, right?"

Sakura's stood there speechless, blinking, her face unable to hide her astonishment. "Ino, I… you sure? I mean… this is Chouji-san's… I can't…"

"I don't mind, Sakura." Chouji said, smiling. "You are our friend. We'll do anything to help you."

Ino was grinning. "So there you have it. Understand, Sakura? Never, ever shy away from your friends. We're here to help you. We all are."

Sakura was desperately fighting to keep tears out of her eyes. "Ino… Chouji… thank you… I'll definitely cure myself with this, I'll definitely…!"

The three friends came together in a comforting hug.

Sitting alone inside the swaying carriage that took her home, Sakura was feeling awful inside.

She had just lied to her two best friends.

Yes, it was true she wanted these pills. But not for the reason the two suspected.

She wasn't making a drug to cure her condition.

What she was creating was the exact opposite.

"Ah, there you are. Thought you might be here."

Aburame Shino lowered the puppet he had been polishing until it rested on his knee and raised his head slowly to look at Kankurou from beneath the border of the cloth that shielded his head from the blazing sun.

"Thanks for polishing those, by the way. I really appreciate it."

"It isn't a problem. There was little else to do. What is you want, Kankurou?"

"There's some foreigner in the marketplace asking for you. A guy. At least, I think it's a guy."

Shino raised an eyebrow underneath his sunglasses. "Do you know him?"

"No. He's just some foreigner. I told you that."

"Did you tell him where to find me?"

Kankurou laughed dryly. "What am I, your servant? Sheesh, if he wants to find you, he'll do it on his own."

Nodding silently, Shino raised the puppet he was holding in his hand and resumed polishing.

"What, not even a thank you?" Kankurou shook his head, as Shino remained as unresponsive as ever. "Bah, at least I know that's your way of saying thanks… but honestly, it gets annoying when all I ever get is that silence from you. I sometimes wonder to myself why I even bother trying…"

Even as Kankurou was walking away, however, Shino could see the stranger approaching behind him from the village gates that led to the Sand Village's marketplace. He – or possibly a she, rather, as it was very hard to tell the stranger's gender apart from this distance – was quite the peculiar sight.

It took no great amount of brainpower to understand why Kankurou had called him a foreigner, however – the newcomer was tall and pinkly pale as all foreigners typically were. They all were at first – instantly recognizable for their clothing, too new and too unsuitable for the climate here in this village hidden in the sand, their colours all too bright and too vibrant. It normally took months for a man or woman from the surrounding countries to be accustomed in this harsh climate until they became undistinguishable from other ordinary villagers.

This stranger seemed like a perfect example of the case, with that unmistakeable freshness of his red robe, clothing that still bore the brightness of non-desert climes and his bright, eager eyes betrayed that the stranger had yet to see a hostile bandit, let alone fight one. The stranger eventually came right up to where he sat and addressed him directly. "I'm looking for a man that goes by the name of Aburame Shino. Are you he? Yeah."

"I am. Who are you?"

The stranger took three steps forward and dropped to one knee in front of him, reaching for Shino's hand and seizing it before the surprised Bug Sennin could shake it away. "Ah, I can't tell you how happy I am to find you! I have been searching for over a month and I finally caught up to you! You're a hard man to track down – you wander around everywhere yeah!"

Shino was still too astonished to take back his hand even as the man (definitely a man, the bugs were telling him so) continued. "Oh yeah, that reminds me, I never introduced myself. I am a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard, from the sect of 'Dawn'. I go by the alias of Sei. Yeah."

"You are from the Chrysanthemum Guard…?" Shino tilted his head to his side, looking at the man through his sunglasses with narrowed eyes. "Why have you been searching for me? Who sent you to find me?"

The man who called himself Sei only smiled. "I'm just a messenger, yeah. To warn you."

"Warn me? Warn me of what?"

"I assume you share a close relationship with a certain Haruno Sakura, yeah?"

Shino was astounded, but he had been schooling himself for years to allow his face to betray nothing of what he was thinking so he continued to sit there, motionless. "We are only friends. I served in the same ANBU squad as her a long time ago, but that's as far as our relationships go."

"Ah, I guess I worded a bit wrong. That's what I meant, yeah. Friends."

Shino couldn't tell if the man was serious or not. He was, however, relieved when the man finally let go of his hand. "What did you want to warn me about?" Shino asked.

"She's back in the Village of the Hidden Leaf right now, yeah. And her 74th birthday is coming up, in about… eight months, I think. Yeah."

"Are you saying that I should attend?"

"That's it exactly! Yeah!"

Shino stared at the man in front of him, serious. "Why are you, a member of the Chrysanthemum Guard, acting as messenger to tell me of such a thing?"

The man didn't seem to be phased. "Something important is going to happen that day, yeah. And you should be in the Hidden Leaf when it happens, yeah."

"And what is going to happen?"

"You have to just wait and see, yeah!"

Shino was about to ask another question, but the man beat him to the punch when the stranger stood up straight and was brushing the strands of sand off his robe. "Well, my job here is done, yeah! Don't forget what I said!" With that, the stranger started to walk away from him.

"Wait."

The stranger stopped and turned back to him. "What is it, yeah?"

"Your name."

"My name?"

"Yes, your name. You never told me what your name was."

"My name… hm, I haven't used it in a while, yeah…" The blond man, who couldn't possibly be older than thirty, grinned brightly. "My name is Deidara, Deidara of the 'Dawn', yeah!"

Sakura was in the middle of her replica garden, lying with her back on the dirt floor, marvelling, immersing within the presence of the shadowmoon flowers she hadn't seen in so long.

She smiled. They were nowhere as beautiful as the ones Naruto grew in his garden, but nevertheless its presence calmed her down and the side-effect pains from the 'joker's drug' slowly went away.

She hadn't been back here for almost two years.

I haven't been to Naruto's Garden for almost twenty-three years.

She bit her lower lip at the thought.

She wanted to go to his garden so badly.

But not like this. Not like this. Not when she looked so old, so ugly.

But soon, soon I'll be back in his Garden.

With the Akimichi secrets pills in her possession, as well as all the materials she had collected from her years as Hokage, and the many others she gathered from all around the continent during her two years of travel… the drug she so painstakingly worked so hard for was nearing completion.

Only one last ingredient remained. And it was here, right here in front of her.

The original shadowmoon flower she secretly took from Naruto's garden twenty-three years ago.

She had, originally, taken the flower only because she wanted to keep herself some sort of memento of Naruto when it became clear she couldn't go to his garden while she took up the job as Hokage. But when she took the flower, she never really expected its longevity trait be maintained outside Naruto's garden. But the flower never withered, and so when she noticed this she experimented with the plant, and from the results she created this replica garden inside her house and her private garden outside.

They were never perfect as the original, through.

Her hand reached out, about to grasp the entire plant into her hand when at the last moment she hesitated. Could she do it, though? If she researched hard enough she was sure she could actually find a actual cure for her condition. She could abandon her selfish desire for wanting to develop a drug that would've returned her youthful body just so she could see and talk with Naruto again. She still had her friends, her village, looking out for her, cared for her, loved for her.

Could she really say her goodbyes to everyone?

That's obvious, Sakura-chan! Flowers will remind me of you!

That idiot's voice echoed in her mind again.

She reached forward and carefully plucked the shadowmoon flower out of the ground.

In her heart, the decision has already been made.

- Ninth Entry -

"Prudence"

Reign of the Eighth Hokage, Second year. July 7th.

73 years old. Year 58 of Imprisonment.

So far it seemed like my decision to give the Hokage name to Konohamaru after I had retired from the position 2 years ago was the correct decision. He's a feisty one, but I was sure he'd do great although he's an old man himself already. I had done this because I could no longer stand to be around my aids in my withered old appearance and I wanted more time to myself to spend some time on the drug I have been developing. 13 years and almost no progress, but I think I might have finally found a solution.

I wasn't planning on developing a drug that permanently retained a youthful body. Even temporarily would've been just as good, but the side-effects of the experimental drug I have developed were…

I am, however, already 73 years old. I have done all I could for the sake of the Village. I'm sure Naruto would be proud of me. Just this once, I wanted to do things my way.

I still need some time before I can reach my final decision. I do need to say my goodbyes, after all.

-END-

Author's Notes:

I confess – I have a sort of a love-hate relationship going on with this chapter. The reason why I hate it is because for one, it's actually the shortest chapter that I've ever written for this story and, strangely, was also one of the most difficult because I had almost next to nothing planned out. Eventually, while I was cruising through the web I stumbled upon this speech some historical figure made about World War II (as you might've guessed, Tsunade's speech introduced in this chapter is based on that speech), and from there the idea expanded and grew. Gosh, inspiration is so important, isn't it? Regardless, I'm still relatively unsatisfied at how all this came out, through, although I can't really point a finger at why exactly that's the case.

Also, if there are any Moegi fans reading this (are there even any?), I apologize – I totally butchered her character. However, I really did need an antagonist to explain the reason why Sakura or Konohamaru didn't disband the council so they could just ignore the stupid law and free Naruto outright. However, I really do like how the conversation between Konohamaru and Moegi turned out, came out to be quite an emotion-stirring, powerful conversation. Well, in my opinion anyway. That's the love part of the relationship I have with this chapter. I think it was one of the more emotional chapters I wrote thus far.

Anyway, this ends the Chapter Nine of Medusa Javelin. Only Chapter Ten and Epilogue to go! Working on them as I speak! The end is almost in sight! Empyreal Paradox here I come! Whooo!

As per usual, thanks for reading!

- Nes Mikel