Well we were gone for almost three months, but life happened again and we were busy with work and studies.
So thanks for waiting and here's a long ass chapter as reward 3
WE ARE NOT ABANDONING THIS GODDAMMIT!
Tsunade stared at the pale wooden ceiling of her bedroom, almost transfixed by how surreal it all was. The morning sun was barely peeking through the open windows, signaling the start of another day.
Her week had started out pretty normal. She bought groceries, ate a late lunch in Ichiraku, drank herself to sleep, and then woke up around 40 years into the past.
'It's all because of that damn cheap sake!' she fumed.
A few seconds ticked by and she let out a long breath. At this point, she was starting to get tired of feeling angry at the whole thing. Once the cards are dealt, all you can do is play your best.
And she was very familiar with being dealt a shitty set of cards.
The first night she thought it might revert back to its original time once she went back to sleep, or when midnight struck. But the morning arrived with the same knocking sound waking her up yet again. After that, it became clear that this was gonna be a more permanent situation. Part of her was waiting for this to revert itself back, knowing her luck.
Still, another side of her dreaded it all. All the wars and conflicts to come, and the dangers that awaited her.
The next few days passed in the same fashion, everyday being woken up by her grandma, being bothered by Jiraiya, training, and so on. Truth be told, she was still waiting for a moment when it all clicked into place and she felt like she belonged.
It still felt like she was a ghost walking through her memories.
She was taken out of her trance when Mito suddenly knocked on the door. Well, it was less like a knock and more like an angry fist slamming against the wood, almost taking it off its hinges.
'Here we go again…' Thought Tsunade as she slowly rolled out of bed, not willing to test her grandma's patience. 'Can't believe I used to miss this.'
Mornings in Konoha just had a different feel in this era. Before the village expanded after the Second Shinobi War, everything was smaller and more intimate. Less cramped buildings and more giant trees really made a difference.
Tsunade leisurely walked through the streets, in no rush to reach the marketplace. She found her morning walks somewhat meditative, especially since the streets were mostly empty at this time.
She had nothing against the people of the village but it did get tiring to try and wriggle herself around the crowd. Hence why everyone with basic ninja training chooses the rooftops instead.
Of course, there was still one disturbance she couldn't get rid of. Predictably enough, a certain someone had figured out her morning routine. A very persistent someone.
Tsunade barely finished that thought before she noticed a sudden flash of white from the corner of her eye.
"You need to improve your stealth if you want to keep following me around"
If she wasn't feeling charitable, she'd call it stalking, and some very badly executed stalking at that. She couldn't bring herself to be harsh on him, though.
"Hime, if I were trying to hide, you wouldn't be able to feel me. I didn't survive in Suna all those months just off my pretty face."
"If saying that soothes your ego then go ahead." Tsunade responded without a pause.
He probably wasn't trying too hard but she'll be damned if she admitted it.
"C'mon Hime!" Jiraiya complained, falling into a step beside her. "It won't kill you to give me some credit, y'know."
"I'll give you all the credit you want once you figure out how to stop being a creep."
"But I am a Super Pervert, Hime, not some mere creep." said Jiraiya, almost genuinely hurt at the underestimation of his debauchery. "And some things can't be changed."
Tsunade ignored his bragging and looked up at the three faces on the Hokage monument. Under the morning sun, they had a golden gleam to them with the mid morning sun.
"You seem pretty contemplative lately Hime, what's up?"
"Well… I have been dealing with a creepy weirdo following me lately." Tsunade responded, hiding a smile.
"Lately?" Jiraiya puffed up in indignation, "Come on, I've been at it for years!... Now what's really going on?"
" I don't know. I..." Tsunade vainly gestured, trying to come up with the right words to express her turmoil. "Just realizing that things have been changing around here. And I didn't really notice anything."
It was hard to phrase her thoughts in a way that made sense to the people. With so many massive shifts happening over the years, Tsunade hadn't paid much attention to those small imperceptible changes all around her, though they foretold what was coming, she simply hadn't taken the time to notice.
Now, the difference was pretty stark. Life had moved on, even when she wasn't noticing it or paying attention.
"I get it," said Jiraiya, "Like… remember that ice cream store that we used to go to after D-rank missions? And that park nearby with that weirdly bent tree? The whole thing is a giant office building now."
"Damn." Jiraiya's remark was on point, but it couldn't touch the magnitude of what Tsunade was experiencing. "They may not have had the best ice cream but that's still rough."
"You tell me." Jiraiya responded. "I told Oro and he just said the ice cream place deserved to go bankrupt because they were ripping us off with overpriced shitty ice cream."
"That's Orochimaru, alright." Tsunade muttered, a slight smile tugging at her mouth. Things did change, but some things definitely stayed the same.
The pair had finally reached the market. It was still early enough to avoid the crowd, which saved her time and also meant that nobody was around to hear Jiraiya still ranting about ice cream quality.
"It said 'sugar free', Hime." Jiraiya angrily gestured, "But what's the point of eating ice cream if you are not gonna get the sugar high afterwards?"
"If it tasted the same, then what are you crying about?" Tsunade almost felt a headache coming on.
Ignoring her angry friend, she approached a fruit stall. After exchanging a quick greeting with the fruit seller, Tsunade started browsing the selection. The price of fruits and vegetables had actually gone down in recent border disputes meant merchants were more wary of trading with other countries. It suited Konoha just fine, since the Land of Fire with its fertile lands produced more than enough to feed its citizens.
Instead of helping with the shopping, Jiraiya plucked an apple off the shelf and started eating.
"Did you pay for that?" Tsunade asked.
"Nah, I'm a shinobi, remember?" Jiraiya tossed the core away, casually. "We're supposed to be scoundrels."
The vendor glared daggers at him, which Jiraiya flippantly ignored. Meanwhile, Tsunade had somehow managed to fit all the fruits into the small bag, so she moved to the vegetable stall.
"Are you going to steal a cabbage next?" She asked him.
"Stealing is an ugly word, Hime. I just rewarded myself for all the hard work I do keeping the village safe."
Tsunade gave him a look and he relented.
"It's fine, I left the money right in front of him. If he wasn't too busy ogling at something else, he'd have noticed." said Jiraiya as he lowered his gaze to the something in question
"You're lucky I'm carrying too much fruit to hit you right now."
"He's the perverted one and it's still me who gets threatened." Jiraiya muttered petulantly. "So unfair."
Tsunade was about to kick him before something at the corner of her eye caught her attention.
A group of women with dark hair and matching dark robes were making their way through the market. The fan insignia on the back of their robes left no guesses as to which clan they belonged to.
The Uchiha were always a numerous clan, but it had been a good time since she had seen them. It was almost surreal to see them all walking around and doing regular things. One day, all these lives were going to be washed away as if they'd never been there...
She was brought out of her thoughts when Jiraiya suddenly poked her in the head. Tsunade reflexively kicked out at him and he dodged, clearly anticipating the attack.
"It's getting pretty crowded, Hime." Jiraiya said, looking serious for once. "We can return in a bit"
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, paying little attention to what was being said to her.
"Great! I could go for an ice cream right now, c'mon!"
As she absentmindedly followed Jiraiya out of the market, Tsunade couldn't help but feel impotent in front of those women, bitterly contemplating the doomed fate which burdened their powerful clan.
After a day of chores, training, and a lot of thinking, Tsunade was lying in her bed, trying to shake off post-dinner lethargy. Her grandmother had already gone to sleep, and the manor seemed especially silent.
Struck by a sudden burst of energy, Tsunade rolled across her bed before reaching out to grab a notebook and pen off her study desk. Casually flipping through all the pages, she noticed her old medical notes scribbled all over the pages.
There was something uniquely weird about seeing the stuff she now knew by heart laid in those notebooks. The whole thing gave her a weird sense of future nostalgia.
How many of these notes would later be published in medical textbooks?
Looking at the thin notebook with all the cramped writing and a few doodles here and there, Tsunade found it quite hard to imagine. Of course, there were more than a few errors here and there as well. Medicine was an ever growing field after all.
Finally finding an empty page, she tried to put her thoughts in order.
'What do I need to do here?' she asked. As she put her thoughts into writing, a few answers came to mind.
Save Konoha? The world? It felt childish when she put it like that, but that really was the answer: to save her village - and the world - from the machinations of the Akatsuki, Madara, and Zetsu.
Using a complex cipher, Tsunade noted that down before an uncertainty suddenly welled up inside her.
Was she alone even enough to save everyone? Her grandma, Sensei, Jiraiya, Dan, Enji, Sakumo... so many people had slipped through her fingers already.
But her cards were dealt and there was nothing she could do but play this round and, for once, hope that luck was on her side.
She continued cooking plots in her mind; there were events she needed to stop, players she needed on her side and people she needed to take care of.
A few minutes later, she'd filled her page with a basic list of things that needed to be done. And seeing it all written down left her with an unsavory realization : if she wanted to save the world, she would need to become Hokage
She wanted to facepalm herself for ending up in this situation. Tsunade held no love for that position, but there was just no other way to do it. To make the changes she wanted, she needed the power and influence that came with that damned hat.
In her past life, she'd spent decades running away from the seat of the Hokage. And here she was plotting how to get it. The irony wasn't lost on her.
Next on the list was the whole Infinite Tsukuyomi mess. Truth be told, she felt out of her depth regarding that, but she now had the time to nip it in the bud before Zetsu and Madara could start causing damage.
But right now, one massive problem was brewing, one that helped forge her identity as a Sannin in the previous life.
The last time around, being the sole team that survived the Amegakure massacre had left them with the fame all shinobi secretly wanted. Yet they'd gotten it in the worst way possible, survivor's guilt weighing heavily on their shoulders. Only the three of them knew what had happened that day. No one else understood the bitter taste that came with the title of Sannin.
The thought of going through that again was daunting, but judging by Jiraiya's mission report, it might already be too late to stop it.
Nonetheless, she made the note: End the second war.
Fortunately, Konoha won that one handily the last time around, so there shouldn't be a massive risk of the village failing this time. The thought gave her a small burst of confidence, so she added another note underneath: prevent the next two shinobi wars.
If she could manage to end this war correctly, she could easily prevent the third. She always thought of the third as the unfinished business of the second, the last hurrah before they finished traumatizing another fine generation of shinobi.
And if she stopped the third one…. that meant Obito Uchiha wouldn't end up joining Madara. A huge part of Madara's plans will fall apart right there. Meaning the Kiri massacres and many other disgraces upon the Shinobi world would never happen.
Tsunade hated the fact Konoha's history was so tangled with world-ending affairs. Nonetheless, she continued.
The biggest thorn in her side while being Hokage, would be Danzo. One thing that incited her fury the most was when the hat was in her possession and she read all the reports about how oblivious, incompetent, and just plain shameless Sarutobi was.
One explanation was that Sarutobi was too sentimental about his old friend, and on some level, she even preferred that excuse. That would make him a mediocre Hokage at best. Otherwise, he was just playing the fool which led to the worst scenario: that Sarutobi was actually a machiavellian genius and Danzo was just used as a scapegoat, doing his part by turning a blind eye to all his operations.
Still, having the hat would make her plans a lot easier; especially if she managed to get it earlier. Stopping the wars, stopping the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and uprooting Danzo.
Chuckling to herself, she noted the last part down.
A sudden knock at the door prompted her to shut the notebook with a yelp and jump into a sitting position.
Half a second later, the door swung open and revealed an irate Mito Uzumaki in her sleeping gown and her hair down.
Tsunade quickly shoved the notebook under the blankets, feeling less like a future Hokage and more like a teenager who was caught doing something embarrassing.
"Tsun-Chan, stop thinking so loud, the asshole fox won't let me turn off the radar."
"Alright, alright, I'll get to sleep now." Tsunade responded.
"You said that hours ago," Mito snorted, "And yet here you are, keeping the both of us awake with your fretting."
'Damn her ability,' Tsunade fumed internally, 'I need to plan and save the world, goddammit!'
"And don't get mad at me young lady!" said Mito, "One more word and I'm taking away your diary."
Tsunade wisely shut up after that threat, despite an indignant inner voice protesting against her important notes being called a diary. Noticing her silence, Mito gave her a smug look before finally leaving the room.
Well, she really had no choice now. It was impossible to win an argument with that woman.
Falling back into her pillows with a soft thud, Tsunade swallowed the scream of frustration that threatened to escape.
Saving the world was hard enough, but saving the world as a teenager brought even more complexities. She gained even more respect for Naruto.
Closing her eyes, she slowly started counting down from a hundred. Images of the past and future, both good and bad, faded in and out of her thoughts. Defeats, victories, people she knew, people she lost, her shame, and her glories.
The countdown continued and soon enough her breathing evened out. Seconds turned into minutes and then into hours as she fell into a deep sleep.
Tsunade didn't know for sure what woke her up; maybe it was some animal or bird making noise outside, or maybe just her brain. But she did know that she wasn't falling back to sleep any time soon.
She squinted at the clock on the wall for a few seconds, realizing it was 2 am. "Still far too early to wake up...",she sighed;her sleep was definitely gone by then.
Not knowing what else to do, Tsunade pushed herself upright and grabbed her notebook once again. She opened the page and read through her list of plans, all of them feeling a bit sillier after receiving a dressing down from her
grandmother earlier.
Become Hokage, stop the wars, stop Madara, stop Zetsu, form alliances, there was a lot to do. And she definitely couldn't do it all alone.
Tsunade needed people she could trust with parts of her plan. Those who would back her as she tried to implement her plans. Picking up the pen, she started jotting down.
The first name was easy. Jiraiya, not yet a Sannin but still her teammate. She couldn't bear the thought of sending him to danger, but there were other ways he could help her.
Mito Uzumaki was the second name. She needed to be the Hokage and her grandmother's significant political influence would be a massive help.
Aside from that, she needed people who could be trusted to have the welfare of the village in mind. Regardless of what Sarutobi thought, they'd all see that Danzo was a leech that needed to be removed. With their help, going against the ROOT would be much easier.
For that, she'd need to have a talk with Inoku Yamanaka, the head of the Yamanaka clan and most importantly, her uncle. From what she remembered of the man, he should be canny enough to figure out the threat of the ROOT. All she had to do was point him in the right direction.
If she got him to listen, that meant the Nara and the Akimichi clans could also be working with her. Of course, none of this was a guarantee but it could make a good starting point.
As she made the note, her mind began to wander and she started to think about the rest of the clans in Konoha. With powerful clans like Hyuuga, Aburame, Uchiha, Kurama, and more, Konoha had a collection of strong warriors with impressive bloodline limits. This advantage had been instrumental in the village's survival all these years.
If she could get most of these clans to work with her plan… that would both give her a good amount of ninja with amazing abilities and set the backup of all shinobi clans if she needed them to recognize her claim over the hat
She dropped back on the bed with a heavy thud.
Easier said than done, though. Tsunade had trouble wrangling these clans when she had the prestige of being a Sannin. And now she was just a teenager.
'Why can't things be simple!' she suppressed the urge to punch her pillow to shreds.
All thoughts of violence left her mind in a flash when a shout suddenly rang through the house.
"TSU-CHAAAAN!" It was followed by a loud thump, probably for emphasis. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"
Quickly shoving the notebook under the mattress, Tsunade threw herself on the bed and pulled the covers on top of her, mentally adding a note to never mess with her grandma's sleep again.
'The lungs on that woman...' she fumed, before forcing her eyes shut.
Tackling one of the most important ones of her list, she went to the Yamanaka flower shop. There she found a man in his mid 30's with long blond hair, crouching behind the counter tending the ever complicated orchids.
"My little Tiger Lily! Everytime I see you, you look more and more like your mother." Inoku's voice was tinged with nostalgia. He rose so quickly he had the spray bottle still in hand, giving her a massive hug.
'Trust a Yamanaka to open a conversation like that,' she thought, the mild annoyance overshadowed by the comforting hug from her Uncle. His opening comment caught her off guard. She'd almost forgotten how much people used to comment on her mother's resemblance when she was young.
As Tsunade grew older, the number of people who still remembered her mother decreased. She couldn't decide if she missed it. At this point, it felt a bit alien.
"Uncle," she replied, after breaking the hug, "You look well, too."
"Oh no." Inoku finally put the spray bottle down. "You're being polite. I guess this is a serious talk?"
Was she really that easy to read?
"Very serious," Tsunade replied. There was no use beating around the bush. "It has to do with the security of the village." Much more than just this village, but he didn't need to know.
Inoku's eyes darted around, surveying for spying eyes.
"Let me show you something first." Inoku said, stepping away from the counter. "A particularly delicate species."
She followed him to the back of the shop, only to be greeted by an industrial-looking metal door. From what she remembered of her childhood, this was where they kept the flowers that'd wilt unless in very controlled conditions.
Upon entering the room, Tsunade became aware that she had been dressing for a Konoha summer, and not a chat in cold storage.
Inoku pulled out a stool and placed it in front of her.
"Here, have a seat. Be careful to avoid the flowers, though." He pointed out a shelf of some delicate looking white flowers to her left. "Lily of the Valley. Just got them last week."
Tsunade didn't consider herself particularly interested in flowers, besides their medicinal uses. She had vague memories of her mother tending the flowers around the manor, telling her the names and how to take care of them. That was about as close she got to the art of flower arranging.
Avoiding touching the delicate blooms, she took a seat in front of her Uncle.
"So…" Tsunade began, wondering where to start. She was tempted to just confess everything, to share her burden with someone she could trust.
But Shinobi weren't trustworthy by nature, and Yamanakas did have a tendency towards gossip. One word slipping out could end with her in an interrogation cell, and within Danzo's reach.
But she had to start somewhere, even if it's only a part of the whole truth.
"I… I need you to keep an eye on something for me, but whatever is said can't leave this room."
"Tiger Lily, whatever is said in the cooler, stays in the cooler." He smiled, putting his hand over his heart. "On my florist's pride."
"If anyone knows the human mind it's you," she sighed. "How important are emotions to the human mind?"
"Well, that definitely wasn't what I expected," he replied, relaxing into the chair. I guess that depends on your own opinions. Y'know, what you feel is valuable about life."
That was a non-answer if there ever was one. Still, Tsunade wasn't deterred.
"C'mon Uncle, I need a more objective point of view about it."
Inoku let out a deep sigh, apparently not prepared to explain intricate psychological concepts to a teenager this early in the morning.
"If I had to make it really simple…" he began, staring into the distance. "I guess emotions are kinda like automatic responses written into our brains."
"Y'know," he added, "You touch something hot, you automatically jerk your hand away; now fire scares you. You hear your grandmother's angry voice, you automatically feel fear."
Tsunade suppressed an involuntary shudder as a memory of angry Mito Uzumaki popped into her mind. She might be an adult on the inside but still, her grandmother was scary.
Her Uncle grinned."And when you feel fear, you know it's time to run away from an angry Grandma. Emotions help us survive that way." He clapped his hands together, apparently proud of his explanation. "There you go!"
Tsunade wasn't a fan of the dumbed-down explanation, well aware that he was picking out a convenient version instead of an accurate one. Still, it was a start.
"So you think emotions are important to us Shinobi too?" she asked.
He nodded. "I hear that a lot, y'know. People who think being a strong Shinobi means giving up our emotions. But between you and me, I've seen the Hokage leer at enough women to say that's not true."
Trying to get a straight answer out of her Uncle wasn't the easiest thing in the world. He just had a way of giving out a bit of the answer, and then deflecting the question towards something else. And since she was the one who needed his help, she couldn't exactly tell him to be more direct.
"So what would you say if someone had a plan to train an army of emotionless shinobi?" Tsunade probed, gauging Inoku's reaction.
"First of all, I'd wish them the best of luck!" He laughed. "It's basically impossible. Emotions are innate, not a switch you can turn on and off whenever convenient."
"So you think it'd fail?"
"At most, all you can do is teach them to keep it all bottled up and suppress their reactions," he said dismissively. "That aside, emotions help us learn, grow, and develop. Just imagine trying to teach a new jutsu to someone that feels no gratification from learning. Without the pleasure and pride that comes from progress, people will stagnate and their potential will be wasted."
Although it was something she pretty much knew already, it was still a relief to hear it..
"I really hope you're not planning on creating an army of emotionless drones." Inoku joked. "You should spend that time on something actually useful, like finally learning how to cook!"
Aaaand there's the uncle she knows. Tsunade bypassed his last comment. "Well… not me," she responded solemnly, struggling to put it into words. "But someone is, and I'd like you to keep an eye out for that."
If there was anyone who could find a way to track an army of emotionally stunted ninjas, it was the head of the Yamanaka Clan. However, there was still one important thing…
"You can't tell anyone else about this, not even Sensei."
If Inoku was surprised by her warning, he didn't show it.
"Of course!" he responded without a beat, "My cute little Niece asking me to watch out for the safety of the village isn't really something that needs to be reported."
Despite the joking answer, Tsunade knew that he was serious about keeping quiet. But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, he continued.
"But," he said, tone slightly more stern now, "You also need to promise me that you'll come to me before you do anything reckless."
He was obviously worried that she'd get herself in over her head. If she had actually been a teenager, it would have been the right call. Her younger self really wouldn't have been prepared to move against the likes of Danzo. However, things were different this time around. This body might be young, but her mind held more than 50 years of experience
"Don't worry Uncle," she smiled. "This isn't something a teenager should be dealing with, I know. I'll leave these things to you. I just… I can't tell you more until later."
"My Lily, you are not a common teenager, you were never a common kid to start with."
Tsunade had to smile at that. She always appreciated when Inoku treated her as a young adult rather than a kid and now in her current situation, it was a breath of fresh air.
"I'm guessing we can go out now?" Inoku said, standing up. "This isn't the most comfortable place, I know."
"Tell me about it, I am freezing!" Tsunade muttered, rubbing her hands together.
Inoku patted her on the top of the head, "Let me fix you some hot tea, your Grandma will kill me if you get a cold. How does Jazmin sound?"
Despite being an adult, Tsunade definitely felt no shame in others pampering her when hot beverages were involved. "That sounds amazing."
Orochimaru's POV
It didn't take long, from Jiraiya's arrival, to the report that confirmed the truth no one wanted to hear. They had a whole protocol done; they were ready. And that made him sick to his stomach.
Farce didn't even begin to describe it. He knew, being Lord Third's right hand for the past few months. It was not a matter of if, but rather when.
Instinctively, he took out the small transparent bottle filled with a colorless gel that he always carried with him. He squirted a little of the gel into his hands, carefully making sure to rub between his fingers and under his nails. The acrid smell of alcohol burning his nostrils, he felt safer.
'You can never be too careful,' he thought. 'Who knows where all these shinobi have been.'
Satisfied with his routine, Orochimaru summoned his wits and started for the meeting hall.
The room was almost full, but not full enough that he couldn't find a quiet corner for himself. Leaning back on the wall, he watched the crowd of Konoha shinobi as everyone waited, Jonin and Chunin alike.
He didn't know all of them, most weren't significant enough to be worth knowing. Of course, there were some exceptional shinobi here, the most prominent being Sakumo Hatake.
An irksome character, for sure. Incredible talent and skill, offset by an equally incredible lack of ambition. Predictably enough, his sensei was very fond of him. That man trained hard, completed his missions, and did whatever was asked.
In many people's eyes, that'd make for the ideal shinobi, but he knew better. One doesn't become strong just by following a path laid out by others.
Orochimaru couldn't help but be disgusted by the waste; although the feeling was tinged with a tad bit of relief.
Orochimaru could easily pick out his silver hair from the crowd, standing at the other end of the room. As if sensing his stare, Hatake looked up.
Turning away, he went back to scanning the crowd. The usual clan heirs were here, as expected, and none of them worth more than a cursory glance. Orochimaru felt a similar annoyance at the waste of it all.
Born with every advantage in the world, all the wealth and knowledge of their ancestors, inherited powers, and all they did was sit in their hovels and play politics. Even calling them shinobi was an insult to the word.
The podium sat empty, the esteemed Hokage late as usual. He knew what his sensei was going to say, after all he had been there when we wrote his speech; Orochimaru knew every point that was going to be touched in this meeting, so long as he stuck to the script.
Still, he couldn't let go of the unease that came with the whole event, and that feeling only mounted as a nearby group of newly promoted chunins started chattering loudly. The pitch and volume of their voices seemed to bounce off the floors and all the many bodies in the room, amplified and thrumming against his ear canals like a marching band
Much as he wanted, he couldn't just start wringing their necks right there. After all, they weren't supposed to die until a few months from now, in a ditch somewhere for the glory of the village. Then again, how big of a difference could crushing a few pests make such a short while before their time?
His morbid thoughts were interrupted when the chattering stopped, a hush falling over the room. Poking up above the crowd, the Hokage's hat made his way through the room. Orochimaru disagreed with the man on most things, but even he had to admire the ability to silence the room that easily.
Finally taking his seat in the elevated panel, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to the small crowd, leaving his pipe on the table
Below, everyone waited in silence as the Hokage started his address.
"This," he gestured around the room, "is not a celebration. Regrettable, I know, but I am in front of you bearing some troubling news. The Kazekage of Sunagakure has been assassinated."
A smattering of gasps rose up at the news.
"Suna now prepares to march against Iwa in retaliation. When they do, it will be through our land, and the lands of our allies. Towards the north, Kumo sits in wait, looking for any chance to expand their borders."
He noticed a few people straighten up in attention at the mention of Kumo. Suna alone was as threatening as a toddler with a knife. The only damage they could do was to themselves.
However, Kumo was a proper threat and everyone knew it.
"We've had border skirmishes in the past, but it seems full-blown hostilities are now imminent. So let me make this clear, this isn't just a minor conflict to be swept under the rug. This is a matter of life and death for Konoha, and all its people."
Orochimaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes there. Ever the dramatic, his sensei. He just had to spice it up a bit before reeling them all in.
"But..." he continued, gravely, "As Shinobi, we are no strangers to death. When we put on that headband, we swore to be the bulwark that protects the village. Now, it is our time."
His voice boomed as he continued his speech. Orochimaru already knew it by heart, every word, sentence, comma and period. Nevertheless, he clung to his sensei's every word, just like everyone else. True charisma cannot be ignored.
"Before us, we have a long and hard journey. We're all going to face many long months full of struggle and of suffering, and I know this will be no easy task. It will be a challenge greater than any you've faced so far. You all are about to embark upon the Second Shinobi World War."
The declaration was followed by a few seconds of absolute silence as the enormity of the situation slowly dawned on everyone. Sarutobi let it linger for a moment before continuing.
"This may come as no surprise to many, as we have been at the verge of war for the longest time. And while we don't know when the real battle might start, measures must be taken for the success of the village. Be vigilant, train harder than you ever have, become strong in body and mind." he paused to take a deep breath.
"What I am asking of you, is to be the heroes you are destined to be. Let the world know the mighty roar of the shinobi Konohagakure has bred! Protect the freedom of those who have trusted you to protect them!"
The shift in the environment was palpable, a massive cheer started in the back of the room and soon overtook the whole meeting hall.
As the cheers started to die the only thing that Orochimaru couldn't help but think how foolish they were. Thunderous applause at the prospect of their own demise? Didn't they know they were due an awful death in some faraway land? All for the sake of glory they never were going to live to witness.
But it was too late for them. Their minds were already filled with images of a glorious death, as if such a thing existed. He could barely hide the sense of disgust when his eyes crossed with Sarutobi's. That man really just made them desire their death, by promising them the title of heroes, the only thing left for them being their name on a stupid rock.
Useless bravado that will soon be extinguished under the bootheels of the enemy.
He turned away from the cheering crowd, moving from through it trying to find the nearest exit, taking out once again the plastic bottle from his pocket letting the transparent gel wash away the feeling of unease.
As he left the tower, his only companions were the sound of his footsteps echoing in the hall and distant sounds of cheering.
keep tunned in for your montly canon bashing.
Once christmas break starts we are gonna be more consistent *pinky promise*