Chapter-20
-Flashback (Land of Lightning)
In the quiet forests of the Land of Lightning, a little girl was foraging for food. She couldn't remember the last time she had a decent meal. She was about ten years old, it had been three years since she had left the orphanage and was living like that. The clothes she was wearing were too big for her and her hair was cut so that she would look like a boy. Aiko knew what certain people would do if they found out that she was a girl, she was far mature than most of the kids her age. She had seen things that no child should have ever seen.
She was hoping to find some fruits to fill her stomach with; it had almost been a day since her last meal. Finally after finding an apple tree, her warm brown eyes that always made you feel safe lit up with joy. She started filling up the bag that she had found at a deserted ninja tent with the apples. Now she didn't have to worry for a few days about what to eat.
In her whole life, she had never had a proper meal. When she was in the orphanage, she had Oyaku (rice porridge) which was not even properly cooked and after running away she ate whatever she could find. Her life had not been an easy one but she wasn't one to cry about it.
She knew about the lives of the privileged people though. She had often been in villages to see people dressed in wonderful silk kimonos and eat the delicious dangos on a stick. She had always wanted to have one but she could never afford it. She had tried a roll of sushi that a kind woman had offered her and it tasted like heaven to her. A child like her could never earn money unless she offered herself as a slave. Aiko valued her freedom more than anything so she couldn't even consider that.
The thought that she didn't have money for it or she was poor didn't affect her in a bad way though. It only fuelled her determination to buy a whole plate of sushi with her own hard earned money. She had heard that in the farms of Nishigō, people employed children for small tasks such as shifting hay or harvesting the rice so she was heading that way in hope of earning enough something. Little did she know that she would find a much better job there.
3 and a half years later
A group of merchants was travelling from The Land of Frost, which was located in between the Land of Lightning and The Land of Hot Water, to The Land of Birds, which was located between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. They had been travelling for around seven days led by Aiko.
The thirteen year old had found the perfect job for her in Nishigō when she heard the people complaining about bandits stealing their stuff. She already knew a lot of jutsus that she had learnt to protect herself so protecting the farmers and merchants while getting paid was a good deal to her. At first, no one wanted to employ her but a desperate man who had to get his goods quickly or he might go bankrupt. After that journey was successful, more and more people began coming to her for protection. They didn't have to pay as much as they would pay for a D-rank mission to a shinobi village but still got a shinobi to protect them. The money Aiko demanded was a tenth of the cost of a D-rank mission because she didn't need that much of money anyway.
She had grown into a beautiful girl with her ruby-red hair which she had let grow for the past three years and her once malnourished looking body was now an athletic one as she earned enough to feed herself and buy books on jutsus. She was currently lying on the back of her horse, Ichika with a hat covering her face. She trusted the horse as Ichika already knew the route and plus this would make the bandits confident enough to attack them, thinking that her guard was down which would lead to her bagging a few extra criminals on the way.
This was her life and she was honestly satisfied by it. Things were finally looking good for her. She had no idea that in the next year, her horse would be killed and she would become a member of one of the most feared teams.
-Flashback end
-Civilian and Shinobi Council joint Meeting Room, Konoha.
"So, the restrictions placed on the sections of B class and C class jutsus of the Konoha library will be lifted and the scrolls containing information on jutsus of A rank and above will be accessible to the jonins of the village." The fifth Hokage concluded. This was one of the days that she had to restrain herself from sake. This was her fifth meeting and it was only 5 pm. Oh how she longed her bottle of sake but she wasn't allowed to drink it after the scene she had created a few months ago by hugging everyone in the room till they were suffocated by her huge breasts. "And also the requirement for becoming a genin will be increased from just throwing kunai and shuriken, knowing how to use the transformation and clone jutsu to knowing at least 10 D rank jutsus and 2 C ranked jutsus along with them. All in favour raise your hand." All of the people including Tonton raised their hands. "Well, it's decided then, I'll fill out the paperwork by tonight and these rules will be implemented from tomorrow. Dismissed!" She said, waiting until everyone had gone and then headed towards her last meeting of the day and probably the most important one.
She rushed to the other side of the Hokage tower with Shizune right behind her. The room consisted of Kakashi, who was already being considered for the position of Hokage even if he didn't want it, Shikaku, arguably the best strategist in the whole shinobi word and her personal advisor and Jiraiya, the man she trusted the most. Usually, the head of the civilian council was also present along with a few other important people but the matter to be discussed today was so confidential that she could not risk letting it leak. When she entered the room, she found Jiraiya and Kakashi giggling perversely about what she had assumed to be the next book in the icha icha series and Shikaku taking a power nap. With a cough, she snapped everyone out of their daze and sat down at the head of the table.
"Without wasting any time, let's get straight to the point, I am here to discuss what offer should be given to Team Uzu for them to move back into Konoha." She said, passing them the files made by team Uzu with their actual face and information. The files had a seal so that they could only be opened once; Kitsune had sent the same files to the Mizukage. It was time she knew about their identities, after all she was the first of the five Kage to actually believe in them and sign their peace treaty. Three of the four people already knew the identity so they didn't even bother checking the files. As soon as Shikaku closed Kitsune's file, the file disappeared into thin air. In a similar manner, Neko's disappeared in a flash of lightning and Suzume's burnt to ashes.
"Now that you have finished reading about them, let's work out a proposition for them."
- The Uzumaki House
"Judging by the look of Anija's face, it seems as if The Village Hidden in the Waterfalls and The Village Hidden in the Valleys signed the treaty."Suke, did the Hidden Frost Village sign the treaty?" Aiko asked turning to the raven who had no expression on his face.
"See for yourself." He said, throwing the signed scroll which Suzume caught easily.
"We haven't been having any luck with the Hidden Rain Village, what should we do about that, Aiko?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused. They had sent the rain village countless letters but got no response, hell they even visited it but weren't allowed inside because of their masks.
"I think something's up with the village. According to Lord Jiraiya, Hanzo usually responds within a few days. I think that something has happened to him and the village don't want us to know about it. We should probably be patient." She said. Aiko had a theory that Hanzo had died and someone else had taken over and didn't want anyone to know but decided to keep them to herself until she found some solid evidence.
"Okay. And yeah, granny Tsunade sent this." He said, digging his pockets for an unopened envelope. Aiko raised an eyebrow after he took out the third packet of instant ramen and looked over to Sasuke who just waved it of like it was common. He had known Naruto since his academy days and once you get to know him for a while, it isn't that surprising. Hell, Sasuke won't even be surprised if Naruto chooses ramen over Ino. "Here." He said handing the envelope to Aiko, who started opening it immediately.
"Letter of Reinstatement of team Uzu to Konoha." She started reading the letter out loud for the two to hear. "We would like to reinstate team Uzu back into Konoha blah blah blah. Boring!" She scanned the document for the important part, the conditions and privileges. "Conditions are, we have to pledge our loyalty to Konoha, become an actual citizen of Konoha instead of just staying there and we will be tested before giving a rank. Privileges are: the peace treaty signed will not be affected. We will inherit all the properties of our clans. We will not have to do any mission which is lower than A rank. We can however decline and it will not affect our relationship with them."
"Add, no permission required to roam anywhere in the Land of Fire and I'm in." Sasuke said, he no longer felt hatred towards the village and instead wanted to help the village. He wanted to make sure that no other child would have to go through what he went through. There was only some much he could do from outside the village and just to make sure that no one takes Danzo's place and becomes hungry for power. He unconsciously touches the curse mark given to him to Orochimaru to remind himself that if that day Naruto had not saved him, he would have met his end just like Danzo, Orochimaru and countless other shinobi who had been hungry for power for the wrong reasons.
"I think we can work something out and get reinstated. If they agree to give us at least three training grounds, I am in." Naruto said, he had his own reasons to go back to Konoha. He wanted to prove the villagers wrong. The villagers weren't completely at fault according to him, he was reckless and unpredictable and nobody really understood what he was and what people don't understand, they fear. Plus, he was tired of being in a long distance relationship and he wanted to be closer to Ino. He also had a bunch of precious people in Konoha like Tsunade, Iruka and Kakashi. And his main reason was that his father would have wanted him to protect the village, the same village his parents died protecting. He felt a bit sad thinking about them and Kurama felt those emotions.
'Kit, I am sorry about your parents. It's partly my fault that they are not here with you. You could have had a family if not for me.'
'Nah Kurama, you were under a genjutsu. It's not your fault, you were being controlled. And I still have a family, you, Pervy Sage, Aiko, Granny Tsunade, Sasuke, Iruka-sensei, Flower-man you all are my family in some twisted way. I just wished that mom and dad would have been here to see this.'
'Don't worry kit, we will hunt that Uchiha down and make him pay. No one controls the mightiest tailed beast and gets away with it. Now go away, I need my sleep.'
"So I guess, we will have to negotiate a bit and then we are heading back to Konoha, fine by me."
-Akatsuki Hideout
"The sealing of the four tails has been completed." Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki said. None of the members were physically present there except Zetsu. They could be summoned from anywhere in the world by Pain's Rinnegan, the strongest doujutsu. "Hidan, Kakuzu, You will go after the five tails and Zetsu will accompany you. I will handle the six tails myself."
"Hai, Leader-sama." And with that the zombie duo disappeared and Zetsu disappeared into the ground.
"Itachi, Kisame, you will go after the seven tails. If needed, Tobi will be your backup."
"Hai, Leader-" Itachi coughed up some blood before continuing. His condition was getting worse and it was uncertain if he would live long enough to die by the hands of his brother. The only person who knew and could cure his illness was Orochimaru and he was dead so he could not extend his lifespan by a lot and had to fight and be killed by Sasuke fast. "Sama." He said, disappearing along with Kisame and Tobi. In the cave where he was physically present, Kisame watched him take the pills that were keeping him alive.
"Your condition is getting worse Itachi." The Samehada-wielder said, despite being a cruel rogue ninja, he was genuinely worried about his teammate.
"Don't worry about me. We should focus on capturing the seven tails. Once that is done, I will fight my brother to death." He said, putting on his cloak again. "Come on, the rain has stopped." Not wanting to press Itachi too much, Kisame simply followed his instructions.
In the Hidden Rain Village, the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain was sitting on the highest building. The rain falling on the village was laced with his chakra so that he could sense anyone who was a threat to the village as soon as they stepped into it. He knew that capturing the One, Eight and Nine tails was going to be a pain but it had to be done. His best friend who he thought of as a brother had wanted peace and this was the only way.
_A/N:
Sorry for not posting for a month or so, I was really busy but I am back now. Also, forgive me for the small chapter since I had only three days to write and edit the chapter. I could have extended my break a bit but I wanted to give you at least one chapter before my birthday, which is on the 21st if any of you are wondering, and I succeeded. I had some help from KingGemini35 who is on fanfiction .net and suggested this amazing idea for reinstatement of Team Uzu. You might have to wait for the next chapter a bit because I have planned a banger for y'all.
P.S.: If you find any mistakes in the chapter, point then out so I can fix them ASAP.
Anyway, see y'all soon!
Peace!
