Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 115- A "Compromise"
Patron Release 2020.04.13
What the fuck did you get for a man you'd never met? Overseer Jirobo had asked himself that very question too many times to count since his promotion and still didn't have a good answer or reliable method of figuring it out.
Normally one could fall back on the standard desires of most men- power, wealth, and women- but in this case he needed to come up with gifts for the Daimyo of one of the wealthiest countries in the world who happened to have a myraid of lovers including his fucking boss.
Sending more competition for his time was not going to end well for Jirobo, that was for damn sure.
With those avenues of gifting blocked to him he needed something either personal or sufficiently practical. He could go the obscure route, he supposed, unique gifts that were technically priceless but what he knew of the Crimson Price would suggest he wouldn't be too impressed by such which would reflect poorly on Orochimaru and thus come back to put Jirobo on the firing line.
He had absolutely no desire to be in that position, thank you.
Which brought him back to the dilemma of personal and practical gifts. Never having met the man personal was more or less out of the question unless Orochimau wanted to give some suggestions or he accidentally sent something practical that ended up relating personally to him.
Neither was likely so practical it was.
Only problem there is what the hell did a Daimyo need that wasn't already immediately addressed by his servants? There was a reason he'd enlisted the help of Kimimaro to create something unique, Orochimaru only wanted the best gifts for their prince and anything that could be readily obtained just wasn't going to cut it.
With a sigh Jirobo idly spread the various papers around his desk. Leads for lost artifacts and items of myth had all run cold and the team he'd been given to procure them wasn't finding even hints about anything else that might suit the young man while reaching Orochimaru's standards.
Maybe he was looking at things wrong. Sure, ancient items had the benefit of being exclusive and any item good enough to enter legends that had survived until now was bound to be of some use to the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni but maybe he should be focusing on more modern things that were hard to obtain?
Orochimaru's Ten no Juin, for instance, was a powerful addition to any shinobi but only Orochimaru could place it. That- even in a modified, lesser version- could serve well as a gift. Unfortunately it wasn't Jirobo's to give away and suggesting it would only result in perhaps some leniency for a bit longer as he continued to search for something.
But surely there were other things about that could be obtained on Naruto's behalf, right?
He picked up a report unrelated to his own search, swiped from one of the workers in what passed for Orochimaru's foreign intelligence division. With bases all over the world it was more or less just a grapevine for rumors picked up when their scientists weren't busy with their experiments and pet projects. Still, it had its uses.
"Chakra armor has entered into phase three of development?" He scoffed. "Useless." Shinobi had no real need for such abominations, though he did suspect that if you found a way to store energy in them- maybe a modified Ten no Juin or something? He didn't know how it actually worked- they could be given to those not trained in the uses of Chakra to quickly raise a decent force.
It would also go a long way to making civilian guards more capable, but mostly against other civilians. He'd keep an eye on it, just in case they found a way to make it feasible for Shinobi uses but it certainly wasn't' anywhere close to something that could be gifted to Tsukuyomi.
His eyes trailed down the boring black ink, merely skimming to confirm there was nothing else of any importance but found himself staring at a single word on the page.
That- that could work.
Had he finally found something they could present to the Crimson Prince?
He did his best to keep himself from getting too excited or celebrating too early. Finding it was a major step in the right direction but he still had to find a way to obtain it and that was going to be far more difficult. Reaching for a pen he quickly circled the word in red and tacked it to his idea board.
Maybe he'd keep his job- and his life- for a bit longer with this.
As he hurried out of the office to get started that single word continued to stare out from the simple report-
Trains
"Zabuza?" Asked the Uzumaki matriarch. "Momochi Zabuza?!" Green eyes focused on Haku and she wondered if she should have perhaps met with Naruko before accepting Kushina's invitation into the house. At least then they could have been on the same page and could have avoided this.
No changing it now, but it would have been nice.
"Heh, whoops?" Naruko scratched the back of ehr head nervously.
"Yes, Momoichi Zabuza." Confirmed Haku. No point trying to hide it, that was only going to make things go poorly. Not the best introduction to Naruko's mother but there was no good reason to make it worse. Depending on how she took this Haku might already have plenty of work to get into the woman's good graces, a place she very much wanted to be as she tried to elicit the same feelings in Naruko as the girl brought to her. "He's been raising me for most of my life."
Kushin blinked in surprise at that, trying to decide if she was more upset about not knowing the daughter of the Demon of the Bloody Mist had been in her house or simply in disbelief over the fact that the man had taken in and raised a child.
In the end, she chose the latter.
"Really? And you turned out okay?" They had a chance to talk a bit before Naruko had goten home and she certainly didn't seem the sort of person Zabuza would raise. She was much too well adjusted to society.
"I'm sure he's as surprised as you are, Kushina-san."
The woman gave a sheepish grin, scratching the back of her head the exact same way Naruko had a habit of doing. "Ah, sorry."
Haku waved off the apology. "Oh, no, it's fine. I completely understand why you might be sceptical, my father is not, well." Haku paused, looking for the right words. "He's not exactly a people person." It wasn't wrong but it didn't really convey just how unsociable her father really was. That was not a man you invited to any event - ever.
It was just asking for trouble.
"No, I suppose he wouldn't be." There was more that could be said there but Kushina managed to cut herself off there in an effort to remain polite.
"He's been okay, Naruko." Haju turned her attention to the younger girl, answering her earlier question. "He was roughed up a little during the final battle of the rebellion but we came out as well as we could have hoped, really." Probably not the time to mention that it had been Naruko's brother to do so. That could wait until they had actual confirmation- though Haku knew he was, what reason did he have to lie about something like that? He didn't gain anything and had even been willing to let them go because of it- and she received word from Mei about what she wanted to do.
It would also be a good idea to speak with Naruko about it in private first and then let her decide if it was something her mother needed to know about. She had no experience personally, but Haku felt that telling a mother that her son was someone like Tsukuyomi- assuming she didn't know, that is- was probably not a pleasant thing for them to hear.
For anyone to hear, really. Who would want to know that a member of ther family had burned down almost the entirety of a hidden village just because they could? He certainly didn't benefit in any way she could identify.
Well, maybe Zabuza, but that was just further argument that it was not the sign of a reasonable person.
"Oh! It's over then? You guys won?" Naruko's enthusiasm was infectious and Haku found herself smiling brightly down at the shorter girl.
"Yeah," The images of burning rubble and the populace of Kirigakure being crammed into the few remaining buildings never designed to accommodate masses so large flashed through her head, the smell of thick smoke and burning flesh scratching at the back of her throat in phantom remembrance. Haku's smile fell subdued, though she tried not to let it show too much. "We did."
"Is something wrong?" It was Kushina's voice that broke her from her thoughts and she turned her attention to the woman to be greeted with a concerned frown.
"Ah, no." Haku gave her best smile, trying to run the thoughts as far from her immediate attention as she could. "Our victory...well, it did not come without cost. Most of Kiri has been reduced to rubble."
Kushina blinked in surprise, having heard nothing about this, before giving a slight incline of her head. "I'm sorry to hear that." The Yamanaka had mentioned that the rebellion had ended but Kushina hadn't actually been at that meeting and they hadn't gone into great detail when they mentioned it.
She supposed they figured she probably wouldn't have really cared.
To be honest, up until learning one of Naruko's...friends….was affected she wouldn't have.
"What?! Who would do such a thing?"
"Damage happens in battle, Naruko." Kushina childed her. "I doubt either of them wanted to destroy the village they were fighting for, right Haku?"
"Eh." Taking a page out of the Uzumaki book Haku scratched the back of her head nervously. "Neither of us, yeah."
Kushina shot her an inquisitive glance and Haku was instantly reminded of Mei. That was a dangerous look, one Haku tried to avoid being on the other end of.
"Yagura may have allied with another group that wasn't quite so concerned with Kirigakure's wellbeing near the end of the war. We're not sure if it was spite, revenge, or just to cover their escape-" They were pretty sure it was mainly just spite, but that was opinion more than fact. "- but when they did leave Kirigakure they made sure it had gone up in flames."
Naruko couldn't resist a pointed look towards her mother, conveying as much "Try to correct me, huh?" as was physically possible nonverbally, but quickly dropped it in favor of giving Haku a face full of sympathy.
"Well, at least it's over now, right?" Naruko tried to put a more cheerful spin on everything. "Even if you have to rebuild everything you've won and can make Kiri what you want it to be."
"Yeah." Haku gave Naruko a small, soft smile. "Yeah, we can." But as much as Naruko was trying to help- and Haku hadn't been too upset in the first place, just dealing with a bad memory of their "victory"- her words reminded Haku of Tsukuyomi's parting words to Mei, about how if they wanted Kirigakure and thought they deserved to call the village their own then they had to work for it and prove they should have it by building it up again from the ashes and rubble he was leaving it in.
That's what Mei had told her, anyway, but she didn't have any reason to suspect that it was having met him only briefly that seemed to be exactly the sort of thing he would say.
She also couldn't be too surprised that even in his "retreat" he had ensured his victory by denying them theirs. There was no denying he was a dangerous man, though it had felt weird to think of him in that way when he was also possibly her future in-law.
Probably wasn't too much worse than having a dangerous man as a father, assuming he approved. He certainly hadn't seemed opposed to the idea of Haku kissing his sister when they first met.
Now she just had to figure out if that was something she could tell these women and, if so, how the hell she was going to be able to bring something like that up.
Part of her also wondered if, by some strange coincidence, Tsukuyomi would be here in Konoha. It sounded almost impossible to her and was probably a bad thing to hope for, but the more she considered it the more she realized things might go much more smoothly if she had a chance to speak with him first. If nothing else, knowing his relationship with these women would go a long way to helping her deliver that sort of bombshell.
While she didn't have the same curse as her father, Haku didn't think she was quite that lucky.
Still, it couldn't hurt to hope.
The Wolves' presence in Konoha may have been lessened but those remaining still took their duties very seriously. Those posted as guards, for example, remained ever vigilant for threats to the safety of their Daimyo.
Even so, when a fuming Inuzuka Matriarch marched towards the apartment they made no move to stop her. Not only did they have no real reason to stop the head of the allied clan- beyond the fact that she looked pissed at something- but they knew that she had the favor of Mai. It wasn't quite as forgiving as Naruto's favor but it was certainly up there.
They also didn't really want to get in her way.
It did not seem like a fun place to be.
They did have the presence of mind, however, to radio the Wolves inside to give them a heads up that would no doubt also be passed onto Tsukuyomi in his office. They had a feeling this probably concerned him, mostly because they couldn't think of any other person she'd be stormign in to see when Mai had left not too long ago.
There weren't a whole lot of places Amaterasu went, after all, though that did lead to the question of what she had told Tsume that had her in such a state. Whatever it was, they were glad they didn't have to deal with it .
Besides, father could handle it, couldn't he?
Nami no Kuni already had far more in the way of supplies and resources than their base here in Konoha did. It wouldn't make any sense to stage things from here, it would just draw extra attention to them and end up taking more time.
Yu no Kuni was by no means landlocked considering a good portion of its northern border was in fact beach. So was the entire eastern side, not that it encompassed that much land. There were plenty of ships in Nami no Kuni and hiring them should be easy enough. If they went as far as to include things with mostly legitimate shipments to the country they could move everything they needed to a new base within a few months, the base itself being operational within a week or two.
That was, of course, assuming the existence of an existing base. If they had to make one it would be at least a month to construct something basic, two or three for something proper. Secretly, anyway. They could have something else built up well within a month if they were overt about it but that sort of defeated the entire purpose of doing this in the first place.
If he was fortunate Orochimaru would indeed have some sort of outpost hidden in Yu no Kuni they could at least use as a starting point. That's all they needed right now anyway, a foot in the door so they could begin prepping in earnest in case they needed somewhere to retreat to. They'd move there fully in time, when they had everything set up properly, but until then they just needed it to be able to function as an emergency base.
Ideally they'd have both that hidden base and a second known base legitimately placed within Yu no Kuni for them to publicly conduct business from but Naruto wasn't really holding his breath. He knew, now, what their reputation actually was. Sure, he hadn't expected it to be perfect but their actions had tarnished it a bit more than he had planned for.
Legitimately gaining permission to do what he wanted in Yu no Kuni was much more likely to be "legitimately", but he was okay with that. It wasn't that he had any sort of issue with the reputation they had, he was just slightly irritated he had been basing his moves on the wrong one. Now that he knew the reputation they'd garnered he could make proper use of it.
He frowned at nothing, realizing that he had sent orders to Nami no Kuni too hastily. Sure, he should receive a few more Wolves that hanabi was going to be working with to create a proper administrative team but if he had just waited a bit he could have them preparing to move some of the Wolves and the necessary resources to support them off to Yu no Kuni. Then all he'd need was word from Orochimaru which should be arriving any day now.
A waste of a message, it was going to cost him a few extra days. That wasn't too much when they were talking about a project that could take months to fully complete but the longer they put it off the more things that could go wrong.
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a frantic knocking on his door and the Mask of a Wolf peeking in without hesitation. One delicate brow rose to question the one who had intruded on his planning and they wasted no time explaining themself.
"My apologies, Tou-sama. Tsume is on her way and she does not seem happy, we wanted to let you know."
Naruto took a second to process those words, purple eyes blinking slowly. "Very well," He sighed. Looks like he was finished contemplating their upcoming move for the time being, whatever had Tsume angry was probably more urgent. Or, it would be. Depends on if she was angry because of him for some reason or if she heard something that happened and was coming to inform him. He highly doubted he was lucky enough for it to be the latter. "I would suggest not being in the doorway when she comes in, then. You may go."
With no small amount of gratitude- and hefty relief that he hadn't been mad at them for disturbing him- they took their leave none too soon, narrowly avoiding Tsume who swept into his office with all the confidence of a Daimyo strutting through his palace- in the buff.
Naruto could now say he was intimately familiar with that feeling and thus found the comparison strangely apt.
"Good afternoon, Tsume." He swept the papers on his desk back into their folder and picked it up as her hands landed firmly on the aged oak with a solid thump. "I take it this isn't a social call?" Opening one of his drawers he slipped the folder safely inside and closed it with a quiet click before looking up to meet her gaze calmly.
"No, no it most certainly is not."
"I suspected as much." Definitely not the latter option, then. That anger was without a doubt being directed at him. "I'll assume you'll probably care to stand for this. Do you want me to send for refreshments now or when we've calmed down a bit?"
"You're being awfully flippant after Mai came to you with her troubles."
Naruto's entire body froze for a few seconds. Then, slowly, his hands came together on the desk before him and he leaned back into his chair. "I see. I should have assumed she would be the subject of this discussion. She seemed upset both before and after our discussion,would I be correct in saying she went to you for comfort recently?"
"Again," Tsume's teeth ground against each other, her lips drawing back unconsciously to bare them to him. "You seem far too okay with the fact that she's upset. Why would she come to me for comfort when she has you?"
"Because she was confused about our relationship." Was his simple answer. "She's never expressed such about her relationship with you."
That had been a more thoughtful answer than she had been expecting and her rage dissipated slightly. "So you have given this some thought."
His eyes narrowed. "Of course I have." Naruto seemed genuinely insulted that she would think otherwise. "Why should I be upset knowing she has someone else she can turn to when I'm not an option?"
That was a good point, actually. Tsume kind of wished he hadn't made it.
"I'm still mad at you." She declared as she crossed her arms.
"Sure." Naruto accepted it with a shrug. "That's fair. Would you like to take a seat and talk about it?"
With a resigned huff she accepted the offer and fell into one of the seats he kept before his desk.
"So, we've established this is about Mai already." He started. "Have you had a chance to speak with her?"
"I have, she's pretty upset."
Naruto frowned but gave a nod. "Yes, she came to me like that. I tried to help but she couldn't tell me what was wrong. Something about our relationship."
"And so you suggested taking a break."
"I did. She was confused about our relationship. I figured the best way for her to be able to sort it out was to take some time with our personal and professional relationships more separated. I've been trying to avoid relying on her until she's figured out what she wants."
"She wants you, you idiot." Tsume's arms remained crossed as the woman leaned back into her chair in a vane effort to get more comfortable. Naruto knew from the ew guests that had actually used them that they were anything but.
"She has me." He retorted. "She says something about it isn't right." Naruto shook his head. "I have no idea what she's talking about so how can I make sure she gets what she needs?"
"Have you considered that what she needs might be some sort of defined relationship? That just "having you" isn't good enough?"
"...What do you mean?" His hands dropped to the desk and he leaned forward slightly. "We have a relationship."
"Oh?" One of Tsume;s brows rose, filled with doubt. Crossing one leg over the other she gave him a challenging look. "What's your relationship then?"
Purple eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "You know, she just asked me something very similar."
"That's not the question I asked."
With an amused snort he shook his head. "Fine. We're close friends and coworkers who sleep together on a semi-regular basis. I described us as 'lovers' but she didn't seem too keen on the term."
"Did you call her your lover or suggest it?"
Naruto blinked in thought. "Is there a difference? She wanted to know what our relationship was, I told her how we could describe it."
"Of course there is!" With a roll of her chocolate eyes and an irritable huff she shot him an unimpressed look. "For whatever reason she looks to you to decide what your relationship is going to be. If you can't come up with something you're confident in how is she going to know what the two of you are?"
"I don't see why it would be such a big deal."
"If it's not a big deal then give her something solid! Start calling her your girlfriend, or mistress, something! Fuck, marry her! She needs a defined relationship from you."
"...Why?" His look, as far as she could tell, was legitimate confusion. "Isn't this something the two of us should be deciding on together?
"Why?" Tsume crossed her arms with a huff. "Because it will make her happy. Isn't that reason enough?"
Naruto dipped his head in agreement. That was most definitely a reason to do it, even if he didn't understand why. He could, however, trust that Tsume would have Mai;s best interests in mind, he was confident in that.
"Look, you know she's normally a pretty logical and reserved young woman, don't you?"
"Of course."
"Well what part of your relationship is any of that? She needs something she can define, something with set expectations, so that she can deal with it."
That actually made a lot of sense. Naruto frowned, wondering how he had missed something like that. Mai must have been having an awful time trying to figure out what she should and shouldn't be doing and Naruto's insistence that she could do as she pleased wouldn't have helped matters in the slightest.
In fact, it had probably done more harm than good even though he was trying to ease whatever misplaced doubts and guilts she'd had.
He needed to come up with something- or at the very least sit down with her and decide on what their relationship would entail even if he had to write it down like a contract just to let her rest assured they were both on the same page- but Tsume's insight had also given him insight of his own and he gazed up at her searchingly, head tilted slightly to the side.
"What?" Tsume gave another irritable huff and turned away slightly to avoid his piercing gaze. She didn't really want to be doing this in the first place- Tsume was never the sharing type - but Mai's happiness was more important than her own desire to have the young woman for herself.
Gods, she'd better get some damn good karma for this or at least a grateful reward from Mai.
"You're really good for her, aren't you?" He began tapping his fingers against the desk, thinking. Mai needed something she could define, but did it need to be from him? No, that wasn't the question he needed to ask. Should it come from him? Is that what was best for her? The more he considered it the more he started to doubt. "She needs something solid." Naruto agreed with the Inuzuka matriarch. "But I think she might benefit more from one with you, Tsume."
Tsume's heart leapt to her throat and she froze completely. This- this is what she had wanted. This was exactly what she wanted, the opportunity to have Mai all to herself, and here Naruto was- her biggest opponent in the battle for Mai's affections- practically giving his blessing to Tsume to be the one to enter into a formal relationship with the young woman.
While not overtly announcing it, Tsume did understand that she would then have some influence as to whether or not Mai then continued to have relations with him at all. He had told Mai he was fine if she took other lovers but she and Tsume had never had such a discussion. If they did become a thing it was possible that Tsume really would have her all to herself.
But was that what was going to make Mai happy?
Tsume honestly couldn't see the young woman not being with Naruto and she had already experienced what Mai was like when the two weren't together- twice, actually. It wasn't pretty, even if it did lead to some wonderful experiences. She still did feel slightly guilty about having such fond memories of times that had been so hard on Mai, could she really go about happily if she was doing that every day?
Biting her lip she shifted her weight around the chair, subconsciously looking for comfort as she attempted to come to a decision. .
It was so close and not only was she managing to snag away Mai but Naruto would be helping her to do so. All she had to do was say yes.
Oh, gods did she want to say yes.
"What is your relationship with Mai, Tsume?"
The Inuzuka opened her mouth to answer only to pause and snap it shut again. What was their relationship? Friends? Friends with benefits? Lovers? Gods above, it was the exact same relationship Mai had with Naruto, wasn't it? The only difference was that there was almost no separation between their personal and professional lives.
Fuck, Naruto might have actually been right to give Mai some space in that case, if only for her to realize that the relationship she had with both of the people she loved were so damn simmilar.
"Tsume?"
"It's...just like yours." She admitted.
Naruto nodded, expecting as much. "And what do the two of you call that relationship?"
"We've never actually brought it up."
Standing up from his desk Naruto moved to the window, clasping his hands behind his back. "We're on equal footing in this matter, Tsume, and both of us want what's best for Mai. The only solution is to work together and compromise."
"What, exactly, are you suggesting?" There was a strange feeling in her chest as he spoke and it was making her a bit nervous. The mention of 'compromise' had her warry, but something about looking up from her chair and seeing him standing there so seriously, eyes a million miles away as he considered what was best for Mai, reminded her of the feelings she had when she and Mai had first started spending time together.
She wasn't sure if she liked it.
"I will take a more active role distancing myself from Mai for the time being. Her assistant hasn't had much time with her but she should be able to help me keeping Mai's workload as light as possible." He peered over his shoulder to meet her gaze. "In the meantime, you need to solidify your relationship with Mai as you suggested to me. Start dating her, officially, and keep her mind from the matters of the Wolves for a while. Gods know she could use a propper break….." He trailed off at that, his focus vanishing into his thoughts again.
"Wait, are you telling me you want me to be the only one in her life? How is that compromise?" Almost as soon as those words slipped from her tongue she regretted asking- this is exactly what she had wanted, after all- but she was having trouble following this young man's train of thought. If this was really how he thought it explained both why Mai was always exhausted dealing with him all day and how he had missed the obvious reason behind Mai's confused feelings.
"It may not be." He admitted. "If you start something official with her and can keep her from even considering me then I do believe she would be much more happy with such a relationship. If you can become the pillar of support she needs then I can hardly object."
"...But?" She felt there was an exception to his words, something that actually would make it a compromise.
"But if not you'll need to speak with her to decide what the two of you are comfortable with. If she wants to spend time around me platonically, whether you're okay with the two of us sharing a bed at night, or if we return to being lovers. That will be something for the two of you to work out, considering it will be encroaching upon your already established relationship. I'd say to keep an open mind but I have a feeling she'll rely upon your opinion the most and I know I don't need to instruct you to do what you feel is best for her."
And then they might end up in nearly the same situation as before, with Mai torn between the two of them. Tsume frowned at her thoughts. No, it wouldn't' be the same. She and Mai would be dating, there would be that connection between them that Naruto didn't' have and instead of Tsume being allowed time with Mai it would be Mai being given leave to spend some time with Naruto.
It wasn't much, but it did slightly put Tsume's mind to ease.
She wouldn't be losing Mai and sharing was much easier when they were still hers in the end.
"I've been considering sending you on vacation, to be honest." Naruto's strange comment caught her attention. "It's the only way I've been able to come up with that would see Mai getting a break and being made to relax. This might be a good opportunity." He continued to gaze at her from over his shoulder, his downturned lips blocked by his shoulder and the angle of her chair.
"Was there somewhere you wanted to go? Or, perhaps, somewhere Mai's mentioned wanting to go?"
A vacation? Tsume didn't know the last time she'd been on one, honestly, and she hadn't even contemplated taking one in years. Now she was not just being offered one, she was being offered one for the express purpose of helping Mai relax and solidifying her relationship with the young woman into something solid.
"Uh, no. She hasn't mentioned anything."
"And you?"
"I don't know," She admitted. "I've never given it much thought."
He nodded in agreement at her words. "That's understandable, you've had a clan to run. I'll leave it as a surprise, then."
"Why are you doing this? Don't you want Mai?" She simply couldn't wrap her mind around it. Here she had come to help him fix his relationship with the confused young woman and now he was instead trying to do the same for her and Tsume.
"I want her to be happy more." Was his response. "And if you're the one who can give that to her then so be it. You can consider the vacation as a gift for the new couple, a sign of well-wishing and good fortune to your future relationship."
"T-thanks." Somehow that only made her feel more guilty. What was an older woman like her doing coming between this young couple? Why was she so happy about stealing Mai away from him? That question didn't actually need an answer, it was obvious why that would make her happy.
Mai must have been rubbing off on her if she was legitimately concerned about Naruto's happiness. He had said he wanted Mai happy, didn't he? So by making Mai happy she'd be making Naruto happy which, in turn, would make Mai happy and that meant Tsume could be happy.
Right?
Gods, it felt like she was reaching for excuses. It was Naruto's suggestion, anyway. She'd give it a try and if Mai ended up happier then there was no reason for her to feel guilty. If she didn't then they needed to rework the plan. They could cross that bridge if they ever got to it.
She was really hoping they didn't.
"No offence, Tsume, but I'm not exactly doing this for you."
"I understand but I still appreciate it."
Naruto gave a shallow nod. That was fair, he thought. He'd be grateful to someone making Mai happy too. He was grateful that someone was going to be making her happy. "Of course." Returning to his desk he took a seat and pulled out a piece of paper on which he began jotting down ideas for their vacation and listing all the duties he was going to have to make sure were covered in Mai's absence. Pausing mid-stroke he turned his attention back to Tsume and dismissed her with a few lazy flicks of his wrist.
"Shouldn't you be making Mai happy?" He asked. "Go, go. I'll take care of the rest."
She only hesitated for a second, biting her bottom lip in thought, but the chance to return to Mai won out in the end and she hurried out of his office. As soon as her footsteps had faded from his ear Naruto dropped his pen with a heavy sigh, reaching up to massage the bridge of his nose with his left hand.
What the hell was he doing?
Ah, yes, making Mai happy. Swallowing the sudden feeling of loss that was growing in his throat he recovered his pen and got back to work. He had to make sure the Wolves would continue to run smoothly and it was probably a good idea to find someone to cover Tsume as well. Perhaps Hana would like some time back in Konoha?
It might feel wrong to no longer be with Mai but all that really mattered was the wellbeing of the Wolves and that included Mai both because she was a Wolf and because she would be the one to eventually succeed him. He had no illusions that he would live forever, not with the life choices he made.
He also could never quite shake the feeling that eventually the Wolves as a whole would outgrow him. Wasn't that simply the truth in life? That the children would grow up and start their own lives, no longer needing the parents?
It might not be close, but he knew deep in his heart that one day it would come.
Naruto wasn't going to let it keep him from ensuring his Wolves would have the best life possible, even if that was without him.
Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 115-B "Uzumaki Dinner"
Patron Release 2020.04.20
"She's this tall." Gaara gestured in the air at about stomach height. "And her hair is a really dark green."
"Oh?" Temari rose a blonde brow at her youngest brother, looking up from her work packing up her tent for another day of travel. "What do her eyes look like?" Gaara had been very excited when he woke up the morning after his mother had called him and had delighted in telling Temari all about his new sister. She hadn't really been keeping track, but she was pretty sure this was the third time he had described her to the wind mistress.
"One of her eyes is bright gold, like the sun, and the other one is like the ocean." That could have meant greenish if you took it at face value but Temari was well aware that the only times Gaara had ever seen the ocean was in Nami no Kuni and on a trip to southern Suna. In both cases it had been a brilliant deep blue which told her exactly what color eyes this "Isobu" had.
"She sounds very pretty."
Gaara gave a serious nod. "Mmmhmm, like you and Kaa-san." He earned a small smile from her with that one.
"That's very nice of you to say. Thank you, Gaara." She finished rolling up her sleeping bag and sealed it into her scroll before arching her back for a few satisfying pops. "I kind of wish I could meet your mother and sister." She admitted. With how enamored Gaara was with them her interest had been piqued. Besides, for a previously bloodthirsty demon the way Gaara described the Ichibi she seemed like a lovely woman.
Of course, Temari did take what he said with more than a few grains of salt. Even if she was that wonderful with Gaara that didn't mean she was as accepting of others. Gaara was her son, after all.
The fact that she apparently had another child, though, that might serve as more evidence that she wasn't all that bad. Biju- as far as Temari was aware- didn't actually have children which meant all of her children would be more or less adopted by the Tanuki. Could she really be that bad if she wasn't just taking in these children but that these children adored her so much?
If nothing else, Temari thought her relationship with Gaara might start her off on the Biju's good side.
You know, so long as it wasn't the jealous type.
"I'll ask."
"Hmm?" Temari returned her attention to Gaara just in time for his thoughtful frown to be wiped off his face by a resolute nod.
"I'll ask to see if you can visit." He expanded. "If Kaa-san doesn't know maybe Tou-san will."
"I'd appreciate that." She'd prefer it to be visiting his tou-san but that seemed less likely than meeting a Biju, as strange as that sounded. Perhaps it wasn't that bad considering the Biju was- no, it wasn't with them anymore, was it? A path to it was, though, and that was probably more than could be said of Naruto.
Gaara's response was a nod that was so serious it just ended up looking adorably ridiculous on the short redhead currently swinging his legs from his perch on Sasori's outer puppet. With a bubbling laugh Temari stashed her scroll and stood up to ruffle his hair.
There was no way she would ever be able to repay Naruto for what he had given her in returning her little brother though that certainly wouldn't stop her from trying when she finally managed to see him again.
That, it seemed, would be even harder than thanking him.
The Wolf didn't slow or hesitate in the slightest as they entered into Orochimaru's primary base- more commonly known as Otogakure, though it was a far cry from a village in any sense of the word- and none of the Snake Sannin's Shinobi made any move to halt their progress.
There wasn't a single one of them that wanted to risk the wrath of Orochimaru by impeding one of the Crimson Prince's agents. At least, none on duty at the moment. Those who would try stopping the Wolf- and the chances of them succeeding were slim indeed- wouldn't even consider their ties to the Crimson Prince or how furious Orochimaru would be when they heard about it. Of course, that was because they were the more bloodthirsty of Orochimaru's forces and tended to be lacking- highly- in any sort of logic or self preservation.
There was a reason they weren't often placed on guard duty.
It was quite a bit into the base that someone actually scurried up to their unexpected guest, quick steps failing to disguise the urgency of a Shinobi who desperately wanted to run in order to intercept this messenger.
"We had not been expecting you, Wolf-san. I'd assume you've been sent to speak with Orochimaru-sama?"
The Wolf shook her head and reached into one of the pockets of her uniform to delicately retrieve the deceptively plain envelope. "Tsukuyomi-sama has sent a letter."
"I see." They started to reach out, as if to grab the letter, but pulled back their hand as it slipped back into the Wolf's uniform. "Ah, I can-" The hand opened and closed slightly as they tried to decide what course of action they should be taking. They didn't necessarily want to be the one responsible for delivering it but they also didn't really want one of these Wolves within the compound.
While they were the forces of the Crimson Prince whom Orochimaru favored above all others the lack of security implemented during their visits and their tendency to cause damage wherever they go- Otogakure was probably the first of the Hidden Villages to know of Kirigakure's fate due to Guren and her team- made them a nightmare for anyone trying to maintain order in a base Orohimaru delighted in filling with monstrous experiments- both failures and successes.
Sometimes it was hard to determine which was which but they tried not to dwell on that too much.
It wasn't conducive to their mental health or the dangerously high stress levels that already came with the job.
"Tsukuyomi-sama has entrusted it to me." They stated evenly. "It will reach Orochimaru by my hand."
"Of course." He dropped his hand. Looks like that was the end of that quandary. Now he just needed to get her to and away from Orochimaru- and the base- as quickly as possible. Very well. "This way then, if you'd please." Spinning on his heel he didn't bother checking to make sure the Wolf was following. Say what you would about them- and there was plenty to say- but you could never underestimate their commitment to their lord.
This Wolf wanted to get that letter to Orochimaru far more than he wanted to get them out of his base- which was saying quite a lot- of that he had no doubt.
"I really appreciate this, Naruko-chan. I'm glad your mother wasn't opposed to me staying with you while I'm in Konoha." Haku gently tossed her things onto the bed before flopping onto it herself.
There was a reason she had said yes, Naruko suspected, and she wasn't sure how she wanted to feel about it. Sure, her mother may have still said yes simply because Haku was her friend- and probably the first friend her mother had ever learned of her having now that she thought about it- but Naruko had seen the looks her mother shot at the two of them. It was obvious enough to the Uzumaki heir that Kushina thought there was something between the two young women and had agreed to Haku's stay so that the two of them could spend more time together.
Naruko was pretty sure parents were supposed to react in the opposite manner, being completely opposed to such activities but Kushina seemed almost giddy about it.
Maybe just because Naruko hadn't really shown any interest in anyone in...that way….so she was glad to see that there was some chance of romance in her daughter's future.
Or maybe Kushina had mistaken Haku for a really pretty boy and was looking forward to eventual grandchildren.
The Kyuubi Jinchuriki couldn't say for certain.
Of course, if Kushina really wanted grandchildren she didn't have to look any further than Naruto. Naruko had already met his two children and while one of them was very close to her age- which means he was about the same age as Naruto too, something that served only to make that relationship even more strange- the other would certainly fill all of the Uzumaki matriarch's desires for a grandchild.
Then again, they were neither blood nor law, so technically they weren't grandchildren at all and with Kushian not having any sort of relationship with Naruto these days there was no emotional connection either. If anyone asked Naruko would still tell them that Naruto had children before her, though, for as much as that mattered to the world.
As strange as it was to think about, those were his kids regardless of what anyone else thought and so Naruko would respect that- if only to save herself the headache of trying to comprehend what was actually going on in her brother's tangled mess of relations.
She had only seen glimpses but even that was enough to show her that things around her brother were stupidly complicated. Considering she only knew a few people in that web Naruko could only imagine- with no small amounts of abject horror- what the full tangle would look like.
Better luck giving a ball of string to a cat and seeing if they could neatly unwrap it.
"I don't see why she wouldn't allow it, it's not like the two of us need any of these other rooms. Might as well put them to some good, right?"
"...Yeah." Haku agreed as a frown slipped into place across her lips. "Why is it just the two of you? You could probably fit a dozen people in this house more than comfortably." It was kind of bugging her- in part due to Kiri's current problem with not having nearly enough space for its citizens- but she was mostly hoping for some insight into Naruko's brother- Tsukuyomi.
There had to be some reason he wasn't living here, right?
Aside from the obvious "He's a Daimyo", thing. On that note, how the hell ahd he become a Daimyo? No, not "how". She knew how, the real question was why? She might have to ask him directly for that one, but she didn't think one just decided one day that they would become a Daimyo somehow. There must be a story behind it and she had the most inexplicable need to know it.
She couldn't tell why, either. She just did. Maybe it was pure curiosity or because he was tied to Naruko. It could also be in an effort to understand the sort of person who had reduced her home to ash. Whatever it was, Haku had a feeling she wouldn't know why she wanted her questions answered until after they were.
She blamed that sort of luck on Zabuza.
With two quick raps on the wooden door Naruto let himself into Mai's office without hesitation. Mai, as expected, was absent but her new assistant still sat at her desk with papers strewn around her. A frown tugged deeply at her young face as she held a stack of reports in one hand and took notes with the other.
She glanced up briefly, words already leaving her tongue before she had identified the one to intrude into the office. "What is it, I told you that I'd be busy for the- Oh." Pupilless eyes widened in surprise. "N-Nii-sama!" She dropped both paper and pen. "I didn't realize it was you."
"It's fine." His tone was soft but brisk, getting straight to the point even though he didn't sound like he had the energy to make it there. Purple eyes trailed over her work and she felt a sudden surge of embarrassment at how disorganized she must look at the moment. "Keeping busy, I see."
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm making a list of all the things that need to be standardized. All these reports are done differently, they were filed differently, and the Wolves don't seem able to decide if it should be a group report or individual." Hanabi pointed over to a stack on the left corner of the desk. "That lot was a team of five. One report includes three of them, one of those three did an individual report, and the other two both did reports for the whole team. Five people and I have four reports talking about fourteen individuals. I have no idea hwo anyone kept track of anything."
"Then it's a good thing we have you to set us right." Reaching over Naruto gently ruffled her hair. "Unfortunately you may need to put a hold on your work getting us organized."
"What? Why? Is this because the Wolves aren't here yet?"
"No,no. Not at all." He assured her with a shake of his head. "Mai will be going on a trip soon and I'll be needing your help in covering her duties. I don't think you'll have time to both aid me with them and restructure our administration."
"Oh." Yeah, that made sense. It did beg the question of why, though. As far as Hanabi was aware the Wolves didn't really have anything going on at the moment so what was drawing her away and how long was she going to need to put her own work on hold to cover Mai's absence? "Where's she going? Is something happening in Nami?"
Naruto gave her a strange look for a few seconds before answering. "Not exactly."
Silence filled the room as she waited for further explanation and when it wasn't forthcoming she rose a brow at him. "Where, then? What's going on?"
"Don't worry about it, she'll be back soon enough."
She frowned but didn't keep pressing, instead folding her arms across her chest and focusing on the duration. "Okay, fine. So this will be like a few days ,a week, a month?"
"A week should be plenty of time, I don't imagine she'd be able to stay away for any longer."
"Oh, okay." That wasn't bad at all. Her Wolves still weren't here so it wasn't like she was going to be giving up a huge amount of progress. "So how are we going to be tackling her duties? Are we going to split them? Maybe I organize, you do, and then I file?"
"Focus on the daily operations, if you please. You're welcome to help work through the reports if you like but I'll be taking care of them."
"Huh? Shouldn't that be the opposite way? You're the one with the higher rank so shouldn't you be the one directly managing everybody?"
"I'm also the one with the most experience and can make executive decisions based on the reports I go through. If you need help you can always come to me." Ah, yeah, that made sense. Throwing a stack of paperwork at her when she was technically still learning her position was probably a bad idea even if she could probably figure it out if she had a bit of time.
While Mai was gone probably wasn't the best time to test that, though.
"Sure, when does she leave?"
"Soon. I'm still organizing everything. Within a day or so, preferably."
That just made her more curious about Mai's upcoming trip if she was completely honest. Why did it sound like even Mai wouldn't know she was about to be leaving? And if that was the case why was Naruto arranging this for her? As much as Hanabi really, really wanted to ask she managed to hold her tongue for the time being. She'd find out in a report soon enough, she suspected, but it still made her uneasy.
She was going to be having plenty of clearance within the Wolves soon enough in order to do her job but she had a sneaking suspicion that she would have to earn quite a lot more trust from Naruto before she started becoming privy to whatever plots this was currently tied to.
Assuming he allowed anyone to know about them.
She wouldn'' be all that surprised if he was keeping this one close to his chest- as in not even Tsukuyomi being aware. That was a dangerous game to be playing but he had always struck her as knowing what he was doing.
You know, except when it came to organizing his, well, organization.
Could you even call the Wolves an organization when they had been this disorganized? Seemed kind of oxymoronic to her, but she supposed she wasn't the one in charge in the end.
Someone else could deal with that, she was about to be busy taking over some of Mai's work.
The peaceful quiet of the room was broken only by the gentle clicking of chopsticks against bowls as the three sat at the Uzumaki table. It seemed entirely too big even with the presence of their guest and Haku could only imagine how wrong it would look with just the two Uzumaki women at the mostly empty table.
She thought it might be even worse if they had chosen to eat later in the day, the world around them dark while they ate in an island of the overhead light.
It seemed entirely too somber for them, even if Haku hadn't spent an exorbitant amount of time around them. Seeing them like that would have been surreal and quite frankly, rather unpleasant. Uzumaki, Haku firmly believed, should always be in high spirits. What time she had managed to spend with Naruko- and now her mother- had cemented that with utmost certainty.
Sad, melancholy, or solemn Uzumaki simply weren't proper Uzumaki as far as she was concerned. Fortunately that was quite far from their natural state based on what she had seen. It must have been a hell of a sight back when there was a full clan of them, though she would probably decline any party invitation she may have received. No normal person would be able to withstand being somewhere with so much condensed energy.
Well, maybe Zabuza- she had seen the man walk three towns away looking for a proper healer to pull swords from his gut back when he had first taken her under his wing- but his patience didn't have the slightest chance in hell of surviving it. He would have been trying to fight someone within minutes.
Then again, Uzumaki were said to be pretty rowdy too, they might not have minded at all.
"So, Haku," Her musings were interrupted by the voice of Kushina and she looked up from her bowl to watch as the Uzumaki Matriarch pushed her own empty bowl to the side. "I never did get to ask how you met Naruko."
Technically it wasn't a question but it was obvious she was expected to retell the story. Sharing a brief glance with Naruko- who seemed confused why her mother was asking that of their guest rather than just asking her- Haku set her chopsticks across her bowl and turned her full attention to Kushina.
"Well the first time I saw Naruko I was pretending to be a Kiri Hunter-Nin. Her Sensei had managed to overpower Zabuza and was about to finish him off. I pretended to steal the kill and left with his body."
"So...you 'stole' Kakashi's kill, tricked him into thinking you were actually a Hunter-Nin, and then stole Zabuza away from him?" Kushina's face was carefully blank and Haku momentarily wondered if she had said something wrong.
Naruko's sigh and subsequent eye-roll, however, actually went a long way to reassure Haku that everything was still fine. "That's correct."
Kushina's face split into a wide grin. "Oh, I think I like you, Haku." She turned to her daughter. "Why didn't you tell me you had made such a lovely friend?"
Rather than responding to her mother's question Naruko turned to Haku and explained. "Kaa-san isn't very fond of Kakashi, probably because he's kind of an asshole to everyone except my brother." Haku stiffened slightly at that and prayed to whatever gods that might be listening in hopes that neither Uzumaki had noticed. "For some reason he seems to think the sun only exists to shine off Naruto's hair or some shit," Naruko frowned. "And he's mentioned things about hiding bodies but I don't know how serious he was being ."
"Hiding bodies?" One of Kushina's brows rose. "What do you mean?"
"He said something about hiding a body for Naruto one day, but he had also been throwing us into a forest filled with traps and sending his Kage Bunshin in to hunt us down. Said Naruto would be able to handle it but I'm pretty sure he was just trying to rile us up."
Haku tried imagining it and found she had absolutely zero difficulty imagining Tsukuyomi tearing through a forest and facing off against a Jounin- even if it was the legendary Hatake Kakashi. She had seen him take on Zabuza and Kisame before going off to kill Yagura, what was another S-rank going to do against him? She had the presence of mind not to voice those thoughts and desperately hoped her body language didn't do so for her.
"How would claiming to hide a body for Naruto do anything to the three of you?" Kushina questioned. It didn't quite add up in her mind, which pointed towards it being true- as much as she wished it wasn't.
Naruko gave her a flat look in return. "How was throwing us into a deathtrap and hunting us down going to do anything for us? Even Sasuke in his broodiest moods wouldn't consider suicide by Sensei beneficial."
That was a fair point, no one who actually knew him could honestly say that the man was even remotely sane. A life of war an ANBU could do strange things to people but Kakashi had always been a bit...off. There was a reason he had managed to graduate the academy at such a young age and be so successful even though his early career had been almost exclusively wartime missions.
Those broke a lot of people but Kakashi had thrived and come out even stronger for it.
It hadn't been without cost, though,even if the man himself was probably completely unaware of what he had paid- what he now lacked.
Even if he knew, Kushina doubted he could muster up enough energy to care.
"I guess you're right." She agreed. "There probably isn't anyone who really understands why that man does anything." It still seemed off- even for Kakashi- but she wasn't going to learn anything debating it with others who didn't know any more than she did.
Naruko shrugged in agreement. "I hope not, one is more than enough." That they could both agree on.
"Definitely." Kushina gave a nod before turning back to Haku with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, we seem to have gone a bit off-topic without you there."
"Oh, no. It's fine. Really." Haku had returned to her food as they spoke, grateful for the opportunity to polish off her meal before it had gone cold. She knew Kushina's cooking wouldn't be considered amazing but Haku couldn't remember her last home cooked meal which made Kushina's food all the more wonderful. "So that was the first time I saw Naruko. The next time we met was two days later as I was out gathering herbs. It couldn't have been later than half past five when we-"
A series of solid knocks at the Uzumaki compound door interrupted the last Yuki.
"I'm so sorry, I'll be right back." Kushina excused herself from the table and hurried to see who it was that had decided interrupting their dinner was in any way acceptable.
"So, maybe we should avoid mentioning that you stopped your Sensei from killing Zabuza?" Haku asked as she turned to Naruko.
"Yeah, that would probably be for the best." An enemy denying him was one thing, Kushina might not be so pleased when it was her daughter acting against her superior during a mission. "And, maybe- well." Naruko paused, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Maybe we could not mention our..uh...kisses….?"
Covering her mouth with one hand Haku did her best to hide her smile. "Oh, you're not embarrassed about those, are you Naruko-chan?" She attempted to sound hurt by that fact but even she could tell it wasn't' anywhere close to believable.
"I'll never hear the end of it if we give her something solid." Naruko defended herself with a huff, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm sure she already thinks that there's something going on between us."
"Isn't there?" In all honesty Haku knew they hadn't discussed this in the slightest since they had last seen each other and even then Haku had simply stolen a kiss from the Uzumaki heiress but if Naruko was going to bring it up this could become the perfect opportunity to actually talk about it. Or, at the very least, to talk about Haku's feelings.
Turning a shade of red bright enough to hide her within her mother's hair Naruko managed to stammer out "W-well we, uh, haven't -erm- d-discussed-" before she was saved by the reappearance of her mother trailed by an ANBU.
Haku suddenly had a very good idea what Kushina had felt only moments before when someone had interrupted their dinner. Was it strange to feel closer to the woman because of that? It struck Haku as a pretty strange bonding activity.
"Haku Yuki of Kirigakure, Godaime-sama has found time in his schedule to grant you an audience. Please follow me." What that really meant was that he had finished all the other work he couldn't put off and he'll see you now so he can be done for the night to go enjoy his own dinner at home.
That's how Haku translated it, anyway.
Either way, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice in the matter. At least she had managed to finish her meal.
"I shouldn't be long," She smiled at Naruko before turning her attention to Kushina. "Thank you for the meal, it was wonderful."
"You're very welcome, Haku." Kushina addressed the ANBU next. "Make sure he knows not to keep her out too late. She's a guest of the Uzumaki and I expect her back at a decent time to get some rest. She's had a long trip."
"...Certainly, Uzumaki-sama." He didn't sound even the tiniest bit sincere but none of them were going to call him out on it, even if Kushina looked more than a little irritated. Noticing that he was quick to make his escape. No one liked dealing with an irritable Kushina and he wasn't paid enough to do so now. "This way, Yuki-san."
"Of course." Hopefully this went quickly, Haku really wanted to get her answer from Naruko.
For some strange reason she didn't think she would be that lucky and she couldn't determine if it was about getting back soon or getting that answer.
She'd been spending too much time around Zabuza if his luck was rubbing off on her like this.
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