A is for Alias
Tsunade paraded through the streets of Konohagakure, a bottle of sake in hand. A short haired woman followed closely behind, keeping a watchful eye on the drunken woman. It was well past midnight, but nothing stopped Tsunade from celebrating, even on a school night.
After nearly four years of being Tsunade's right hand woman, Shizune not only knew the principal better than herself, but also knew her worst habits. True, the staff of Konoha High all had their guilty pleasures, but the sitting principal and face of the school did not seem the least bit concerned with her public or private image. They might as well be one and the same.
Drinking never failed to top the list. It had always come up as a possible New Year's resolution, but despite Tsunade's initial earnest and empty promises to reform, everyone, including her, knew that it was impossible to kick the habit. Gambling was a close second, though. Kami knew the dangers of the school board finding out so Shizune took it upon herself to swallow the secret.
That was the reason she had accompanied her tonight, and every other night Tsunade decided to go out. She wouldn't remember the embarrassing things she had done the night before.
The two women had spent the night at a sushi bar, celebrating the success of a recent grant approval when Tsunade had too much to drink. As the blonde haired woman began babbling about the new facilities and curriculum changes she couldn't wait to make, Shizune listened.
It was a common practice to down a few bottles of sake with a meal, but it was only until the principal reached bottle number six that the Health Instructor began to fret at her superior's changing mood. Bottle after bottle was guzzled, as easy as water while Shizune stared emptily at her own two bottles of sake. She was already feeling well over her limit. The form fitting pantsuit she was wearing was beginning to feel quite constricted and the sandals on her feet pinched. The noisy atmosphere of the restaurant combined with a growing headache was making her feel rather nauseous. Tomorrow's hangover would be the worst. How did Tsunade do it?
"Bring out three more!" The blonde haired woman cheered, slamming down empty bottle number six and nearly falling off her stool.
Itsuki, the owner of the sushi bar, exchanged looks with Shizune before returning to the back with a quick hai, retrieving three more bottles which he placed in front of the two of them. A table of four sitting diagonally from them turned around to see where the sudden outburst came from, whispering in hushed tones. Tsunade chugged on, unaware and carefree. Looking to avoid any further embarrassment, Shizune quickly paid for their meal and exited the sushi bar, making sure to leave a generous tip for Itsuki.
''Tsunade-sama, maybe you should stop.'' Shizune advised, a tinge of worry in her voice. This had been the woman's ninth bottle already. The principal waved her hand dismissively, spilling some of the alcohol on the ground. It splashed near the brunette woman's foot. Shizune's eye twitched impatiently as she watched the head of Konoha High dance around a park bench, slurring something inarticulate that sounded like singing; but she couldn't tell.
Given Tsunade's current state, it was hard to believe that this was the same woman who delivered eloquent speeches and presentations during school assemblies. While she was excellent at maintaining order and ensuring school functions ran smoothly, the same could not be said for the way the blonde woman carried herself outside of school hours. Each and every one of the staff knew about her drinking problem, it was just that nobody had the courage to rat her out.
''Shizune, you can leave. I'll walk home.''
The brunette shifted from one foot to the other, shooting the woman a skeptical look as she lost her footing atop the bench she was trying to balance on, spilling more sake. A middle aged couple exiting the sushi bar stopped to stare at the both of them, probably trying to tell if it really was Tsunade herself. Shizune prayed they weren't parents of Konoha students.
''I said go!'' Tsunade yelled, swinging the bottle and almost tripping on her own feet. "My jacket and purse are in the office, so I have to turn back around."
''Take care, Tsunade-sama.'' Her assistant bowed awkwardly as she watched Tsunade stagger down the road leading back to the school; making sure she at least got through the door. As soon as the bleach blonde hair was out of sight, Shizune sighed and walked down the road to her own house with a throbbing headache. She had a class to teach at eight thirty the next day and by the time she finished showering and getting ready for bed, it would be well past one.
This was going to be another long night in Konohagakure.
Tsunade climbed up the stairs to her office, nearly falling face first on the steps despite gripping the railing rather tightly. After rolling back down a few times and stumbling back up a few more, she reached the door to her office. Tsunade couldn't recall if she had left the door locked or unlocked for the night, but pushed it open nonetheless. It swung open with ease.
The blonde woman staggered into the dark room, and upon entering noticed that the curtains in front of the large window behind her desk had been pulled open. Some light illuminating from the moon reflected upon the glossy surface of the desk, casting back on larger objects, such as the lamp and the figure sitting in her chair.
The figure sitting in her chair?
Tsunade nearly dropped her sake bottle at the sight. As blurry as everything seemed right now, something was out of place, and wrongly so. All of Konoha High's staff had left for the night, including security, and there was no business that had to be attended to at this hour. At first, she wondered if she had drunkenly scheduled a parent teacher conference about some student's bad behavior, but something told her it was for Tuesday morning, not night. Plus, Shizune would have pestered her nonstop about it if she had. Her brown haired assistant was notorious for being the principal's walking planner, errand runner, and occasional babysitter.
The person sitting at her desk was unmoving, and for a moment Tsunade thought it was all in her head, if it weren't for the small snicker she heard coming from the shadows.
''What are you doing here?!'' The busty woman demanded, ''Which baka let you in?!'' Her words shot out like rapid fire as if the alcohol had taken no effect on her whatsoever. Where was Shizune when she needed her?
Some assistant she was.
Tsunade shook her head as the mysterious figure chuckled, remaining posted at her desk.
''It's been a while, hasn't it Tsunade?'' The busty woman flipped on the light switch just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, only to see the least of her expectations sitting right there, in her chair, feet propped up on her desk. The voice was even the slightest bit recognizable now, to her dismay. Heather purple eyes smiled back at her, and the principal could see the many piercings that decorated the intruder's face. Now she knew why the laugh had sounded familiar. It was none other than-
''NAGATO?!''
"Is this how you welcome an old friend, Tsunade? Or should I say, Godaime?"
"Do not use my codename. We are no longer friends, get out." She looked at the two silhouettes blurring back and forth, hardening her stare until they merged back into one. He made no move to get up from her chair and instead pushed his feet further up on the desk, knocking a few papers over.
"There are millions of ways to reach me, you didn't have to stroll into my school uninvited. What are you doing on my territory?"
''I've come for answers.'' The flame haired man stated, twirling a pen in his hand skillfully as the amber eyed principal blinked, still gripping onto her bottle of sake. She hadn't seen him since the beginning of summer. September was long gone, meaning that Nagato was now twenty seven. Older, but evidently not any wiser.
"You can't be seen here, leave now. And stop getting your fingerprints all over my office."
"How's the embezzlement investigation going? A school is the last place I would imagine a crime like that taking place."
"You're not my handler. I don't need to report to you, Mr. Felon."
"You are speaking to the new face of the Akatsuki." He corrected, setting the pen down.
"I think you know exactly what I'm here for. It would be to your benefit to be as straightforward as possible, because you won't like the other method I have in mind."
Tsunade wobbled over to the desk, placing the bottle of sake firmly ontop of a stack of papers before plopping into the chair opposite to Nagato so they were both at eye level.
She remembered when the kid first joined her department. He was fresh out of the Academy, and earned title Rookie of the Year. His face was noticeably more decorated than when she had seen him last. There were three new piercings in both ears, and two shiny pieces of metal glinted from under his lip. The department heads had always frowned upon this, but now that he was out, the man was free to do as he pleased.
"Empty threats mean nothing." She hiccupped, trying to sit up straight.
"It's not my problem you went missing in action. Even under those circumstances, you had the choice to return and apply for reinstatement after things were called off. You didn't, so live with the consequences."
"Would you have returned if your safety had been compromised?" She shrugged and took another gulp of sake.
"Like I said, this is not any of my concern. You always dwelled too much on the past, Nagato."
"Nagato is no more." Heather pupils blinked. Tsunade made a pfft sound.
"So I've been told."
"The last fight over turf left me with less underlings than when I first started."
"Turf? Is that what we call public property now?"
"Surely you know how things operate outside of the Five Nations district. Funding is worse, overcrowding is becoming the norm, the list goes on."
"What are you getting at?" She squinted as best she could. Her eyes struggled to adjust against the dark of the office, not to mention the alcohol was starting to kick in, causing her vision to obscure. Her question was followed by the sound of faux leather scrunching together as she imagined him giving a shrug.
"We are recruiting, and I don't have much time. I'm thinking there have to be some youngsters that have no passion for dedicating a lifetime to try to become valedictorian. Got a list of names that frequent detention? How about some great athletes with not so great grades?"
"You must be more drunk than I am, Nagato. Like hell I ever would. My job is to protect students from felons, not create more."
The Akatsuki leader tapped his head, conjuring up an evil thought as he caught sight of the massive student roster plastered behind the door of the office.
"This school definitely has some bratty kids. It would be a shame if, say, one of the Hyuugas went missing."
"Shut up."
"There's the heiress, right? I can't imagine the uproar that will cause. Surely you don't want that, right Godaime?" His expression darkened.
"Actually, any of these students will do just nicely. After all, their parents are paying an expensive amount for them to even attend here, isn't that right?"
Tsunade wrung her hands. "If I don't come after you, Hiashi Hyuuga will. The man is loaded. You don't think he'll employ help from the task force if his daughter goes missing? He's not above it."
He sighed in a way only villains knew how to.
"So the Hyuuga man's nephew it is."
"WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"
No longer in a mood to hold any type of conversation, she shooed the man out of her office. He left without much of a struggle, probably realizing his proposition was beyond ridiculous.
Tsunade, principal of Konoha High. The woman who indulged in day drinking and probably had no idea of what went on at all.
It was perfect.
What other job would allow her to day drink herself dumb?
The first year she had started was the most uneventful. Day in and day out, the routine was monotonous. However, this was the only way to draw out what she was truly after. Every now and then, she was able to catch hushed whispers about under the table dealings going on. Lots of bribery, nepotism, forgery. Perhaps shocking to a newbie, but nothing about it surprised her. It was to be expected when the target demographic was a crowd of brats all lined up and ready with their trust funds.
Her superiors talked about this alot, it was much easier to pretend to create a character to play, that way there was less emotional attachment when it came time for the more serious matters that conflicted with her personal morals. It was like learning a language. She needed to craft a separate persona that was easy to tap in and out of when appropriate. Principal Tsunade would never do the things Tsunade Senju did.
And who exactly was Principal Tsunade? The student body and gossipy faculty defined that for her.
Tsunade sighed, reaching for the soft leather bound notebook at the bottom of her purse. Her fingers grasped a ballpoint pen, slightly disoriented as she scribbled a long overdue entry. She knew if she didn't do it now, by the time the end of the month rolled around, they would be on her case again. It was so irritating. Everyone had their own preference of documenting, hers just so happened to be via journal entry.
Date : May 3rd.
Progress is moving at the pace of a turtle. I've lost track of how many days have passed, all I know is that I've been here far too long and have actually started to believe I'm an alcoholic.
The teachers here gossip without shame, and are just as exclusive as the student body. Most of them have multiple degrees or have taught at big name universities before settling here. There are a select few that have no backbone to speak up for themselves to ask for a raise and these are the ones that I can tell have a true passion for teaching. This place is no short of rich families, most of which are on the board and budget committee. The school has recently been approved for a grant, which means greater improvement is to come.
Hiashi Hyuuga seems to have caught on, unfortunately. He is somewhat of a business tycoon, run of the mill rich man living in the suburbs.
His daughter is Hinata Hyuuga, and Neji Hyuuga is the nephew. Both are second year students, soon to be third years. Hinata is shy and does not speak up unless prompted to. Has an extensive history of community service which is well above the required amount of hours. Does not hold any leadership positions that I am aware of but appears to have many friends, all of which are more talkative and outgoing than she is. I do not know much about Neji Hyuuga, but Maito Gai has taken a liking to him due to his excellence in athletics. The kid is not much of a talker.
That is all for the report.
Godaime
Pressing her thumb into an ink pad, Tsunade printed her thumb onto the page of the journal, she waited a few seconds for it to dry before closing it and tossing it back into her purse.
Responding to the name Godaime had yet to become something of second nature, even after all these years. She didn't believe in luck, only stupid turns of fate.
Tsunade was in denial of how fast the years were flying by. Each day she spent withering away in this prissy but very well air conditioned school was a day closer to approaching the feared age of forty which was just around the corner.
Dan, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Hiruzen.
They were all gone. She was the fifth and final in her cohort to be chosen. When asked what her new identity would be, Godaime rolled off her tongue with ease and she hadn't bothered to think of anything more creative.
Tsunade closed her eyes and grunted upon remembrance that she would have to make another trip to drop off the journal for Ibiki. The man could not have chosen a more obnoxious looking safehouse. It was a ridiculously expensive looking thing sitting in the middle of the forest north of Konohagakure. At her sendoff, they had provided her with her own vehicle, which gave her little to complain about. Nonetheless, she was dreading the tedious drive that awaited her in less than twenty four hours from now.
She nearly died laughing when she was told to relocate to Konoha High. Not just a top school in the nation, it was the top school in the nation. Suna High was a close second. Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri always alternated between the three lower tier schools that she never paid much attention as to what order they ranked.
Amegakure was located between Konohagakure and Iwagakure. While they weren't in the ranks of the top five schools in the nation, a few years ago they managed to topple Kiri High School and take a measly fifth place. It never happened again after that.
Parents would have meltdowns if their children weren't accepted into Konoha High. They would write letters demanding for a reevaluation, which were of course sent straight to the shredder. The same was done for letters of intent. Every year when a new cycle opened, the school website was guaranteed to crash due to the vast amounts of applications pooling in. It was regarded as an unofficial holiday in the history of Konoha High for thirty years and counting. Classes never exceeded more than twenty students, adding to the prestigious and nauseating high society aspect that appealed to so many families of this town.
It was home to heirs and heiresses, geniuses and star athletes that never lagged behind in their studies despite their already promising futures. She never thought of a place of education to be so much as a status symbol, but that was the culture of this school. It might as well be a boarding school. Fourth years would step on each other's necks just to earn the title of top scholar by the end of the year, Konoha High only awarded that title to three individuals. The school wasn't shy in dismissing students either if they demonstrated less than perfect performance. Given the long list of names on the waitlist, Konoha High certainly had no trouble as far as enrollment went.
This year saw five new faces, three of which hailed from Sunagakure and two from Kirigakure. The three from Suna were all siblings, so the admissions team was obligated to treat them as a package deal. Apparently, the trio had all come with sparkling letters of recommendation and an academic tract that was nothing short of excellent, so there was little they could do to find fault in their application. They were moved directly to the top of the waitlist and made the transition shortly after without question.
Being in the middle of the city meant that extracurriculars were limited. She had quickly fixed this, digging into the school budget to purchase the two office buildings flanking Konoha High. Construction plans were escalated, taking a total of four months to complete knocking down the long standing architecture in order to leave enough land to build a track. Not many schools could boast such facilities. After all, almost everything costed money nowadays.
Uniforms had been abolished shortly before Tsunade had taken up position. She later learned through gossip, which was always abuzz in the faculty lounge, that any rule could be broken or bent with enough complaint and persuasion from parents.
Well, the only uniforms that had been spared were the ones Maito Gai forced the students to wear during P.E. It really was inevitable. Some people were just born to be teachers, and he was one of them. For that, Tsunade let him conduct his classes the way he pleased.
During her first week, she found a friend in Shizune. The woman was easy to boss around. Timid, and no backbone at all. Whatever it took to not blow her cover, so Tsunade snatched her up and offered her an additional position as 'office assistant'.
Really, it was just a nice term for a glorified errand runner.
Shizune herself had been an alum of Konoha High and all these years later where was she? Back at square one, now as a teacher to the next generation. Tsunade did not understand the appeal of it all, aside from bragging rights and name dropping.
She looked at her watch, squinting to read the time. If she hurried, perhaps she would be able to make it home and catch three hours of sleep before making the long trek to the safehouse.
The next morning, a pink haired student was shoved through the doorway of her office, door slamming promptly behind her which made the girl jump slightly.
"Good morning, what brings you in today?" Tsunade didn't even look up from her stack of papers. While being head of the school meant she operated according to her own schedule, it didn't stop staff and board members from treating her desk as a file dump.
This is a paperless school, Tsunade had been told during her first week starting out.
Debatable. It was a sleepless school, that was for certain. She rolled her eyes and poured leftover sake from the night before into her cup of coffee, giving it a stir. Her right leg had gotten a cramp from driving this morning and she made it clear to Shizune that unless there were dire circumstances, she would not be moving from her office chair today.
"Kurenai-sensei thought I deserved a detention."
"What'd you do?"
The most popular detention types were dress code violations. This skirt was one centimeter too short, or a female student's shoulders were exposed. Blah, blah, blah. Who had come up with these rules? It was like they wanted a reason to bring back the drabby old uniforms. Tsunade liked to think of herself as a pioneer for abolishing the dress code. Who didn't love the occasional low neckline? They were raising students, not soldiers for Kami's sake.
She had better things to do than police students' choices in clothing so whenever someone stepped into her office for a dress code violation, she sent them straight back to where they came from. The rest of Konoha High's faculty was starting to get the message and eventually the amount of detentions revolving around this age-old rule dropped like flies. She truly wondered what kind of world this place was before she became acting principal.
The second most popular detention was a tie between having phones out during class or causing a disruption. More often than not, it was the former. Unfortunately that was just how youngsters behaved nowadays. The convenience of having the world at their fingertips made room for creating a scary addiction.
Physical fights rarely, if ever broke out, and she was thankful that the student body of Konoha High seemed to have an air of class in comparison to their counterparts. One less thing for her to have to deal with. If she had the choice, Tsunade would have thrust all the brainless tasks to Shizune. Then and only then would she be able to center her focus on the thing that actually mattered-tracking the embezzlement culprit and any other twisted Konoha High faculty member that was dumb enough to get involved. The most action she had gotten in months was last night's confrontation from an unexpected guest.
"Well we had this boring analytical paper to write and I hate reading with a burning passion." The pinkette started, rocking back and forth on her feet. Tsunade closed her eyes and took another sip of her coffee-alcohol concoction, knowing she was in for quite the story.
"English is a class I always put as a low priority in comparison to my other classes because hello, it's not that important. Anyways, because I kept putting off the paper until last minute, I had to speedread the assigned novel the night before and by the grace of the gods I somehow found it in me to crank out that seven page paper, not including my bibliography page. That's impressive, right?"
Tsunade said nothing. She was getting the impression that this girl was the type to talk to anything, including a telephone pole.
"So when we got our papers back today, you can imagine my shock that I didn't get a failing grade. I actually got an A! Can you believe it? Not an A minus, an actual A! I snatched the paper out of Kurenai-sensei's hands and screamed FUCK YEAH! I GOT AN A!"
"Mhmm…"
"There might have also been punching of a desk."
"Come again?"
"Well I get excited sometimes. It's like when you laugh so hard you feel like you need to slap someone."
"I see…" Tsunade said, but really, she did not.
"Apparently Kurenai-sensei doesn't think that's worth celebrating and she is not a fan of profanity so here I am." Her bright green eyes blinked. "So what's my detention?"
Tsunade was convinced that Kurenai had given this girl detention just so she could be spared of her talking for at least an hour. She scanned the room, looking for the most grueling task to give to the pink haired girl. This was going to have to be done quickly and with good judgement. Tsunade's eyes landed on the hefty mountain of papers flooding out of a cardboard box beside her desk.
Perfect. Letters of appeal from angry parents who demanded a reevaluation of their child's application into Konoha High. Some went above and beyond, attaching academic transcripts and professional headshots. While she didn't care much for rules, private information like that couldn't be shredded so off they went into a file cabinet. Alphabetically. But first, the spot in the cabinet would have to be cleaned out because it had last year's letters of appeal.
Tsunade sighed.
"Hmm… Well you can file these papers for me." The bright green eyes looked down at the box overflowing with papers.
"Okay. That's it?"
"Did you want me to give you a harder punishment?"
"No ma'am."
"That's what I thought. Well, once you're done you can leave. I'll be at this desk."
The principal hadn't been keeping track of the detention time, her mind too preoccupied with other important tasks, so when two tornadoes burst into her office without knocking, Tsunade reached for the brown bag containing sake and took a long swig.
What was this? More detentions?
She recognized the whitish blonde ponytail. Ino Yamanka, daughter of popular neurologist Inochi Yamanka. With her was the tomboy brunette, Tenten Kimiko whose hair was permanently fixed into two space buns. Nobody knew Mr. Kimiko. The bun haired girl just appeared in Konoha High one day and with her excellent stats, she had been accepted without a further thought.
The pinkhead was hunched over on the floor, obediently filing appeal letters. As soon as she saw the other two standing in the doorway, she got up and they all hugged.
As if they had not seen each other all day.
They began talking animatedly, with wild hand gestures and Tsunade said nothing, pretending to find the latest faculty newsletter interesting.
The chatter began rising in volume and Tsunade soon decided to cut the detention short in order to restore her peace of mind. The three girls left without hesitation, slamming the door none too gently on their way out.
As soon as she thought she would have a blissful afternoon with no further interruptions, another tornado burst into her office. Down went another swig of sake.
"Hello Shizune."
"Did you hear?" Shizune asked, seeming slightly frazzled. Tsunade looked up, seeing the Health instructor at the edge of her desk, gripping a thick rectangular envelope in hand.
Wonderful. More paperwork that she would never get to. Shizune didn't wait to hear her response and instead began rattling off at fifty miles per hour.
"Amegakure Academy! There was an explosion! They had to call in Konoha Police to take a look into it but they can't seem to find out who's behind it! Tsunade-sama you have to see this!" Shizune's phone screen was shoved into her face and Tsunade had no choice but to watch the three minute news report.
So Nagato hadn't been lying when he said he was going to get even. Why he chose her to focus all his wrath and revenge plotting on, Tsunade was still asking herself that same question.
"That's how things go, unfortunately." Was all she could bring herself to say.
"Is that my laptop?" She clapped her hands excitedly, reaching for the silver slab in Shizune's hands.
"Why did you want me to purchase it under my name?"
"Um… I have bad credit." She replied quickly, snatching the laptop from the brunette woman's hands and setting it on a folder of papers behind her.
"This stalking situation is getting out of hand."
"I know, Tsunade. Stalking seems a bit dramatic of a term though."
"First a virus on my computer, which mind you, I have never gotten a virus on any of my devices until I set foot into this school."
"There's a first for everything." The Health instructor offered, trying to sound optimistic.
"Don't even get me started on the security. How are we allowing trespassers to enter the building after hours?"
"When did that happen?"
Tsunade promptly clamped her mouth shut, realizing she had said too much. With a huff, she spun on her heel and marched towards her desk, straightening out piles of paper that wouldn't get filed or recycled for another month.
"Well, you know it's illegal to record youngsters. That's why this school has zero cameras but a security team that can't do their job."
"I've heard that one of the schools nearby is implementing a new unit into their curriculum… Robot babies."
Tsunade blinked, shaking her head.
"Come again?"
"Robot babies." Shizune repeated, studying the amber eyed woman from head to toe. She sure didn't seem hungover.
"Right."
"They have small recording devices inside that allow instructors to listen in on students after the project is over and they've been turned in."
"How does this help my case?"
"Well, for starters, we can catch up on hot topics." Shizune smiled as Tsunade sweatdropped.
Why is she aiming so low? This is going to be the hill she dies on, a loyalist that lives and breathes everything Konoha High.
Shizune went on.
"I also think it mimics a family dynamic which Kami knows these students won't feel what it's like to live a normal life and how to properly interact with each other until they head off to the world that is university and campus life. Only requiring them to take basic psychology or public speaking courses as electives doesn't do much to improve their social skills. How can we call ourselves a top school when we are lacking in such an obvious area?"
Okay, now she sounds like Maito Gai with the overdramatics.
"Fine, fine. You make a good case. I'll put in a budget request for these robot babies by the end of this week. Thank you for delivering my new laptop. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bunch of tasks to complete and I'm guessing you have a class to teach in about an hour." Shizune nodded, zipping out of the office happily.
The next day, Tsunade was faced with an even bigger dilemma. This was even more of a headache than trying to find some odd jobs for detention.
As she stared at her laptop's screen, she wondered what kind of lousy excuse she could come up with in order to reject these students.
Sasori Akasuna, Itachi Uchiha, Hidan and Deidara.
The latter two didn't seem to have last names, which was a joke. Academically, they were more than qualified which made her suspicious. Now, her memory wasn't as sharp as it used to be, but she did recall seeing Itachi Uchiha's name in an application to Konoha High a few years back. While they did decide to accept him, he had chosen to enroll elsewhere. The surname Akasuna sounded familiar, and again, with the last two, she had zero idea if they were even real.
Scoffing, she looked at the name of the guardian, it was the same for all four.
Pein Uzumaki.
The address was even more of a joke, but she knew that this was done purposefully so she was unable to pass his whereabouts on to higher ups.
0123 Sesame Street, Amegakure.
Tsunade laughed.
Konoha High did not tolerate any kind of discrimination, so she had exactly a week to either reject them and face another unsolicited visit from Nagato or accept them and deal with this mess as it came.
Then she had an epiphany.
Those unsuspecting students.
She frowned. Keeping track of four students seemed counterproductive. But there would be strength in numbers, and the more brains the better. Though there were some creepy implications to spying on her students. She certainly didn't want to set herself up to get fired.
This was her third day stalking, no, observing.
Ino Yamanaka. Excelled in the arts and literature, but there was a significant deficiency between her standing in those classes and math. Word had it that Inoichi Yamanaka could not find her a stable math tutor. The bright eyed girl was quite the fashionista, but also quite the loudmouth. Like Barbie reincarnated. The dark haired Shikamaru Nara and stout Chouji Akimichi were her unofficial minions that seemed to turn up whenever the blonde needed to be rescued from a sticky situation.
Then there was the pink haired one. Sakura. An easy enough name to remember, though her last name was escaping Tsunade at the moment. From what she had heard, the girl was strong willed and always determined to do well in classes, yet repeatedly teetered around the average range across all subjects. Well, consistency was key. Sakura was another loudmouth as well, perhaps worse than Ino.
Tenten was the one none of the teachers needed to monitor academically, she was a standard student in that sense. The girl was friendly with everyone, but only had a few close friends. Shape wise, the girl was built like a beanpole. Maito Gai wouldn't stop singing praises about her everytime he had the chance. Supposedly, her kicks and punches were one of the strongest he had seen in all of the second year students.
And the best part? They were friends with resident wallflower, Hinata Hyuuga. Perhaps keeping an eye on this band of girls would keep Hiashi Hyuuga off her back. Ibiki would certainly benefit from any additional information on Hiashi Hyuuga's offspring, and Tsunade would do anything to bring some excitement into her pitiful nine to five job as Konoha High's principal.
Okay, so she would begrudgingly grant these brats a conditional acceptance to keep the illusion of peace between her and Nagato. The girls were the perfect demographic, heck, maybe romance might even blossom, giving her a leg in on Nagato's mischief. This was of course, going off of the assumption that the girls were well behaved individuals.
She would sleep on the matter, but realistically speaking, this school was ready to take on four new transfer students. It might cause some uproar among the rest of the schools, since never in the history of academics did something like this happen… But perhaps it was time for Konoha High to think outside the box and establish itself a reputation for doing the unpredictable. Of course, Shizune would handle the mechanics, buying Tsunade enough time to fine tune the grand scheme and create the perfect window of opportunity to plot.
Tsunade smiled, tucking the envelope into the top drawer of her desk.
Four letters of acceptance, coming right up.
A/N : The prequel is here! I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away for long.
xo, D. Sparkle
