Aftermath 3: And The Hat Goes To...
The cracks spread. Widened. Splintered. The more he looked, the more he focused on them, the larger they became, and now they crisscrossed the entirety of his prison. He'd started to regain feeling in his extremities, and could taste that gross dryness in his mouth. He was starting to get desperate, for the life of him he could not manage to punch a hole in the egg-looking thing to get out.
That was when he heard it.
"...a...tach...tachi!...Ita-"
His eyes widened. Sasuke. With an almighty roar, he pushed against the technique imprisoning him in his own mind, and it shattered into a million pieces.
He jerked upright, eyes blinking away sleep, and he almost broke the hands that he saw reach for him. But he restrained himself, and rather than an attack, found himself pulled into a crushing hug.
"Itachi!" Shouted Sasuke, holding him in a death grip. "You're back! Oh thank fuck I was so worried-"
"Easy, little brother." Itachi stretched, then extricated himself from his sibling, looking around. Medical room, no shit, and Hinata was sat there watching the reunion with a peculiar expression on her face.
"You've been out for-"
"Three weeks, I know." Itachi stood, wobbled a bit. "What'd I miss?"
"Well, for one thing..." Sasuke pointed his finger to the left. Itachi followed it and groaned.
Izumi gave him a guilty wave.
"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend~" Sasuke's grin could be felt.
"That's because it was a secret." Itachi ground out.
"We couldn't exactly keep it from him forever." Izumi pointed out.
"We could have tried."
"Business, please?" The Hyuuga in the room coughed.
"Yes, right." Itachi looked to her. "The Kage debacle. How's it progressing?"
"Naruto went to get Tsunade, succeeded, is on his way back." Hinata reported. "Fugaku, through gratuitous cheating, is about to be elected Hokage in...twelve minutes, actually. Sasuke refused to leave your side all last night and, well, those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."
"Oh for..." Itachi grimaced. "Nothing we can do?"
"Me and Hinata have tried everything." Sasuke sighed. "I mean, maybe you could think of-"
"No, I trust you." Itachi waved him off, ignoring the mixed look on his brother's face. "Great. Is Tsunade gonna be here in time?"
"Doesn't look like it." Hinata admitted. "I've sent some owls out and they can't spot anything. Assuming absolute perfect circumstances, she'd have to sprint to make it here in the next quarter of an hour."
"Wonderful." Itachi rolled his shoulders, ignoring the cracks. He looked down at his hospital gown. "At least I have time to go get changed..."
"Wait, what are you planning?" Sasuke asked.
Itachi made a very wry smile. "The last resort, I suppose. Wanna come with? I'm breaking into the Uchiha compound for breakfast and clothes."
"Hell yeah!"
Eleven minutes later
"Everyone is present?" Fugaku confirmed.
Hinata, glowering, was, as was the rest of the council.
"Excellent." Fugaku smiled. "Now, before we begin, procedure demands I ask that any who have a legitimate" he gave Hinata a hard stare with that one "quarrel, must say so now."
Nobody said anything. Hinata crossed her arms, stubbornly, but didn't have anything else to add. Fugaku smiled wider, and opened his mouth-
"I quarrel." Came a quiet voice from the back of the room.
Fugaku looked up, genuine surprise on his face. "Itachi?"
The eldest Uchiha son walked calmly into the council hall, trying to quell the fast beating of his heart. Facing death was easy. This was harder. "Indeed. Fugaku Uchiha should not be the new Hokage, because he is not the most eligible candidate."
Fugaku sighed. "Son, debates have already been settled on the non-importance of the Lady Tsunade-"
"I'm not talking about her." Itachi replied, squaring his shoulders. "I'm talking about me."
That sent the council into uproar.
"That is preposterous!" Fugaku declared, rage in his eyes.
"How so?" Itachi replied easily. "I'm stronger, faster, younger, wiser, more intelligent and more famous...frankly I'm better than you in every single way. If we must have an Uchiha, let's go with a competent one, shall we?"
"I, for one, fully support this alternative." Called out Hinata over the rising shouting of the council.
"You overstep your boundaries, son." Fugaku snarled.
"No, father." Itachi replied, calmly. "You overstep yours."
The Uchiha elder glared, and slammed the butt of a kunai on the table to get everyone's attention. "Enough of this!" He shouted. "You forget the most important factor, son. You are not the head of the Uchiha clan."
Alright, bombshell two. "Of course, I had forgotten." Itachi smiled easily to hide his internal terror. "Fugaku Uchiha, I challenge you for leadership of the Uchiha clan."
This time, there was just silence.
"I decline." Fugaku dismissed.
"You cannot." Itachi replied, simply.
"In times of peace," Said the father, "A head of a noble clan does not have to consent to a challenge unless it is demanded by a majority vote from within his own clan."
"Unless the accuser declares the challenge to be full stakes." Said the son, "Due to their believing the clan head is mad, or making decisions that will permanently or irreparably damage the clan's sanctitude, honour, or safety."
"But such a claim would make the challenge a battle to the death!" Fugaku spluttered.
"That it would." Remarked Itachi, appearing unconcerned.
Fugaku was speechless.
"I told you my brother was a badass." Whispered Sasuke to Hinata, quieter than most could hear.
"You would kill your own father? For power?" Fugaku almost whispered.
"I would do anything to protect the hidden Leaf village." Itachi replied, even as his heart ached. "Short of making it not worth protecting."
Then he stood there, silently. Step down. He begged, inside his head. Just step down. Don't make me do this. I don't want to feel what Neji feels.
"I..." Fugaku's mouth worked. "I..."
It was in that moment, trapped between the Rock-nin and the two-tails (as the saying went) that salvation arrived. It did not arrive as a dashing hero to save the day, nor as a flash of inspiration to provide a secret solution. Rather, it arrived with a massive crash as the door to the council meeting was blown off it's hinges. Walking in after it was a panting, exhausted Senju Tsunade, with Uzumaki Naruto grabbed about the neck and held choking and kicking several feet off the floor. "ALRIGHT!" She shouted at him, murder in her eyes. "WE'RE FUCKING HERE! NOW STOP CALLING ME A SLOW OLD COW OR I WILL TAKE THE TEN MOST SPIKY, MISSHAPEN WEAPONS IN THE SENJU VAULTS AND I'LL SHOVE THEM UP YOUR-"
"Ahem." Hinata coughed politely.
Tsunade paused, and looked around. "Oh, right." She dropped Naruto on the floor. "What's up shitheads. Apparently you all work for me now?"
"I retract my previous challenge." Itachi said, then body flickered out of there right as the shouting started.
Four hours later
"And this is the office, though I'm sure you already knew that." Kakashi introduced, stepping demurely to the side and letting Tsunade stroll in.
"Kami I fucking hate this room." She sighed, then looked at the table. "Oh, and they left me the paperwork to get started on. Fantastic."
"Quite." Kakashi shuffled closer, body posture not much unlike a child about to ask for something from his parent. "But before you get started, there are a few things of utmost importance you should get to first. Like...who passed the chunin exams, for example."
"I never saw the chunin exams." Tsunade complained, dropping into the chair and rubbing her temples. "How should I know who to promote?"
"Unfair, truly." Kakashi nodded empathically. "Of course...you could always just go with whatever Sarutobi-Sensei said. He made a list before his demise."
"He did?" Tsunade cracked an eye open. "Perfect! Do that."
"Excellent!" Cheerily, Kakashi appeared in front of her with a piece of paper and a pen. "Just sign here and I'll get this taken to the right people as soon as possible."
Tsunade complied, eyeing the four candidate numbers without much interest. "Who are these, anyway? Anyone I would know?"
"Oh I doubt it." Kakashi lied. "Thank you very muuuuch-"
He took the paper, bowed with all proper respect, and bolted. One corridor down he came to a stop, and looked up to where team seven's three faces peered down at him from a displaced ceiling tile.
"Well?" Asked Naruto.
Kakashi let them sweat for a moment, before smiling. "Congratulations, Chunin."
"WOOOOO!"
Kakashi chuckled as they began whooping, cheering and hugging each other, and continued to walk the paperwork towards its intended destination. He could have told them that team seven was officially disbanded, now that they were no longer genin...but he decided to let them have their celebration first.
Damn you, Sarutobi. I have gone soft.
"Sir? Official correspondence from the Leaf, highest security channels. It's for you specifically."
The jonin gulped as a tendril of sand snatched the letter from his hand, before bowing and quickly disappearing. Gaara held his hand out for the sand to deposit it into, and began efficiently opening it. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly being treated with such deference; Suna still technically didn't have a Kazekage. But as the One-tails jinchurikki, and the previous Kage's son, everyone was in agreement he was deserving of at least some respect. He unfolded the letter, and began to read.
Dear Sabaku No Gaara,
Genin of Sunagakure,
What's up! It's me, Naruto! I figured it's been a while since we talked, things have been pretty hectic up here. Just thought I should let you know two things, one, we have a Hokage now! It's not me, just some old lady called Tsunade, but I beat her in a bet so I really should have the job. Second thing, guess who's a chunin now? That's right, me! And Sasuke! And Hinata! And also Shikimaru because he's pretty cool too, I guess. Smart, and stuff. Great manga collection. Oh by the way, he really likes the letters Temari sends, especially the ones that come with the pictures he won't show me, so even if he doesn't respond very often that doesn't mean he doesn't care. I think?
Anyway, what're things like in Suna? Hot, probably. Or cold if its night. Sai says he's sorry for hurting Kankuro, even if Haku had to 'persuade' him to. Not sure why Haku used the ' ' things when he said 'persuade' but whatever. Oh, and you gotta let me know how Uzu is! Is he coping with the sand and stuff?
Kyuubi wants me to issue several different death threats to Shukaku, but I think that's just his way of expressing love.
I have to go now, since I'm running out of page. See you soon,
Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Haku, Saitentenjirai-
The remainder of the writing devolved into scribbles as Naruto attempted to fit as many names as possible into the bottom corner of the page. Gaara turned over and confirmed that, yes, there was a full extra page he could have used by writing on the back.
And then he started to laugh.
It wasn't a massive laugh, not like the intense guffaws he'd sometimes had that made him feel like his body was breaking and he couldn't breathe. It wasn't that funny. But it was a genuine laugh. It was nice.
"Temari!" He called. "Come and read this!"
Kimimaro showed no hesitation walking up to and knocking on the door. He had spent some time deliberating whether or not to address the issue, but after deciding, there was no more room for doubts. They would just weigh him down.
"Come in." Said his master's voice.
Kimimaro entered and went to his knees, head low. Even so, he still caught a glimpse of his wounded master's form. His arms are becoming worse by the day.
"What is it, Kimimaro?"
"Master...I want to apologise for my performance in previous weeks."
"Oh?" His master's voice had taken on its usual tilt, where he had caught you doing something stupid and was waiting to see how far you'd go with it. Still, Kimimaro pressed on.
"I was defeated by the Uchiha when I should have been by your side, which resulted in your...present condition. I was defeated by the Senju, which allowed her to prevent you from killing Jiraiya, and blackmailing Kabuto. If...If there is anything you might subject me to to increase my effectiveness, I would gladly undergo it."
Nightmare stories were told about some of the experiments his master performed. The curse mark was one of very few techniques that had actually succeeded.
His master laughed, a low chuckle that indicated at least vague amusement. "Oh, Kimimaro, if only such loyalty as yours could be induced, I would have taken Konoha years ago."
There was a pause while his master readjusted in bed. Kimimaro could tell he was in pain.
"Tell me, Kimimaro, what instructions did I give you against Uchiha Itachi?"
"Delay him, and prevent him from interfering while the Sound four set up the barrier." Kimimaro recited. "But master-"
"Itachi is an incredibly powerful and talented ninja, years older than you, and possessing the joint-second most ridiculous dojutsu in existence." His master explained. "To expect you to defeat him in combat at the present time would be incredibly foolhardy. Do you think me a fool, Kimimaro?"
"Of course not, master. I would never." Kimimaro winced, chastised.
"And Tsunade...that woman was once my teammate. It would be remiss of me to disrespect her by implying she was anything less than worthy of the hat she currently wears. You are not Kage strength yet, Kimimaro."
"No, master."
"So. In the former case you were able to suppress a much stronger opponent for long seconds, and survived. There I was only wounded because I underestimated my old Sensei's willpower. Which is, frankly, the only thing about him I should never underestimate. And in the latter case, you and Kabuto were able to stop a taijutsu specialist comparable to me, using taijutsu. In that case we only failed because the Nine-tails boy had an unexpected bloodline limit. You performed exactly as you were expected to, both times. The flaws were in the planning stage, which makes them mine, not yours."
"Thank you, master." Kimimaro bowed lower, then stood, sensing dismissal.
"Before you go." His master's voice stopped him dead in his tracks. "I will warn you now that someday I may order you, not to distract or delay, but to overcome your opponent. Completely and utterly, at all costs. And if you fail me then..." Kimimaro could feel his master's smile. "Then I will be forced to reevaluate your usefulness."
"I won't let that happen, master." Kimimaro vowed. I would rather die.
"Excellent." Came the hissed response. "Now, gather the sound four. I think we've allowed our two projects in leaf to marinate for long enough. It's time to make them the offer."
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Tsunade said, not looking up from her paperwork.
The man that walked in had half his face covered by bandages, as well as one of his arms. "Yes?" She hurried him, paying him half a mind as she tried to sort out the mess that was her village's finances.
"My name is Shimura Danzo." The man began. "And may I congratulate you on your promotion."
"Hn."
He began pacing. "In the past I worked very closely with your predecessor, for who's loss you have my condolences. It was my hope that we, too, could have a mutually beneficial relationship. There are many things that I-"
"I'm sorry, who the fuck are you again?"
He blinked. "Um. Shimura Danzo-"
"Great, don't care."
"You...but I-"
Tsunade looked up and gave him a death stare. "Sensei told me about you. Apparently you're just a massive dickhead. Get the fuck out of my office."
Danzo blinked. "I...very well." He left hurriedly, closing the door behind him.
"This is such an honour!" Gushed the old man, for about the fifteenth time. "To be opening up the Hyuuga vaults...do you know how long it has been?"
"About six years, by now." Hinata remarked. Her birthday had been last week. "I'm quite aware of the timescale, sir."
"Uh, yes, you would." He coughed. "But still, an auspicious occasion! Congratulations on your promotion."
"Let's just get this over with." Hinata sighed.
Almost as soon as her new seniority had been officiated, she had began knocking on doors and demanding to know who she had to talk to to get her damn vaults open. The amount of utter nonsense she'd had to go through in the last two months just to access them had left her entirely impatient. I've heard father talk about some of the techniques the old Hyuuga masters were capable of. They better be worth all this.
Fortunately, the old curators, traditionalists and lorekeepers were just as keen as she was to get them open.
And here she was, walking alongside Old McBoring through some cold corridors underneath her own compound. "Is this it?" She asked, gesturing to the door in front of them. It was, to all appearances, made entirely of stone.
"Oh no, this is just the primary door." The old man chuckled, fishing a key from his belt. "Us organisers hold access through here, though this key will be given to you after today. No, the main obstacle is the door just past this one." He fit the key into the lock in the door and turned it, with a dramatic clunk. "That door resembles nothing but a simple curtain, but is heavily enchanted with sealing jutsu. It would take a tailed beast to force it's way in, and none could possibly break the encryption, except of course the blood of a live, willing main branch member. Not even the Hyuuga elders are-um-were aware of how the seals were originally made."
The only reason Hinata didn't snap at the man for talking so much was because his words reassured her. Unbreakable, he said. Inaccessible to anyone but her. There was no way, no way, anyone else had been in here.
Thank fuck.
The old man attempted to push the stone door open, winced, then put his shoulder to it. It still didn't budge.
Hinata sighed, put one hand to the door and shifted her hips. It opened.
"Thank you." He coughed, embarrassed. "Now, through here..." he walked ahead of her, holding high a lantern. "Behold, child. The sacred paper door of...eh?"
Hinata froze.
No. It's impossible.
She shoved him aside, walking forwards to get a good look. Her heart skipped a beat.
The universe does not care what you believe to be impossible. Neji's words rung in her head.
In front of her was a paper curtain. Not a curtain carefully covered in a myriad of unbreakable seals, designed to repel all thieves or attackers. Just a curtain. One with a hole ripped in the middle.
Slowly, Hinata walked forwards, leaving her stuttering guide behind her, and stepped through the aperture. In her mind, more memories began appearing. A palm being placed on Sasuke's neck, and immediately dismantling whatever complicated mechanisms were within Orochimaru's cursemark.
A pale forehead, completely missing the Caged Bird Seal.
Before Hinata was exactly what she would expect from an ancient vault; a few musty bookshelves with musty scrolls on them, a few weapons on racks that probably held significant significance, a sparring ring.
But pinned by two kunai to a wall in front of her was the piece of paper torn from the doorway. On it was written: 'Congratulations, cousin! Good luck going forwards!'
Hinata collapsed to her knees.
And she screamed.
Ah, the sweet smell of my characters suffering. Yes, after all this I decided to give them Chunin rank. They certainly deserved it, not that it's going to do them much good.
Neji has gone where Neji should not go, and Hinata is getting real sick of him doing that. Next chapter...well come on. You all know what's about to happen.
