Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Naruto. Here is Chapter 30 of our story and I hope you enjoy. Please forgive any spelling and grammar errors, I try to catch them but I know I'm not always successful. I would also like to take a moment and thank each of you who has read, followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story. I am so humbled by the positive response to such a weird little story. It really is amazing to me, so thank you so much for your continued interest.
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The wound in her side had stopped its bleeding but that was about the only thing to be said going her way right now. Well that and the fact that she hadn't been captured yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. She was contemplating killing herself and getting it over with. She couldn't be captured, she knew that much and maybe if she were a more responsible kunoichi she would have already. But the truth of the matter was, Nami Yamata wanted to go home.
She wanted to see Konoha again, she wanted to feel the warm summer breeze and see the great forests that surrounded her home. She wanted to visit her favorite little ramen shop, Ichiraku's, and she wanted to visit the memorial and pay her respects to her fallen teammates and sensei and she wanted to, more than anything else, see how her friend Megumi was.
She and Megumi were the last surviving members of their team, and Megumi was retired and had children now. She hoped her friend was still doing well, she hoped that she was still happy with Inoichi and her two little girls. But she wanted to see it in person, herself, with her own two eyes. She wanted to see that and see for sure that the sacrifices she had made were worth it.
She had volunteered for this mission because it needed to be done, because she and Megumi had lost so many friends in the last war that Nami had to be the one to make sure it didn't happen again. If living among her enemies, observing them, keeping her ear to the ground for rumors, gathering whatever intel she could, if doing that meant that she could help maintain Konoha's edge over her enemies then she was proud to do so. Infiltration had always been a specialty of hers, she had always been able to just walk up to people and put them at ease and get them talking. At home this gift of hers meant she had made a ton of friends, in Kumo it allowed her to talk her way into getting information on them that Konoha would never know otherwise.
Her original cover had been as a simple waitress at one of Kumo's taverns and from that point on she had managed to create a whole new life for herself. She went from waitress, to bartender, to cook, to assistant manager in her time there. And because of her easy going nature and not to brag, but rather pretty features, she had helped draw in many shinobi patrons to her work. She was just the pretty, kind of dumb but sweet, assistant manager of a favorite watering hole. And as such she was essentially invisible to the Kumo shinobi as any kind of threat.
She rarely, almost never, heard what anyone would initially deem as classified information, but she didn't need to. If you were smart, if you paid attention to what was happening in the village, if you could make yourself an interesting and attentive listener, then local gossip could tell you what you needed to know. And as much as secrecy was supposed to be the shinobi's creed, nobody gossiped like a ninja did. And from their gossiping and bragging, and just small talk as they ate, she learned a treasure trove of information and secrets over the years.
She was always careful about when and what she sent out, gathering information was actually the easiest part of her job. Any half competent spy could gather as much information as they wanted, the hard part, and the most dangerous part was smuggling that information out. It was during the passing of information to your side and your informants that most things went wrong for spies.
Any number of things could go wrong, a member of your ring could be compromised, or even have betrayed you. You yourself could be under suspicion and followed. And the scariest part in Nami's opinion, was that once the information was passed on, what happened next was entirely out of your hands. You had to trust other people to do their job and to do it as well as you did yours. Not an easy thing to do, but that mistrust on her end had saved her life.
Two weeks ago one of the people whom she passed her messages along to had begun to act differently, and that was when a spy needed to be the most wary. This person, a merchant who she met up with once a month, was suddenly much calmer during their meetings. Normally the guy was jittery and anxious, glancing around nervously.
He was committing treason, he had every reason to be nervous, but two weeks ago he had arrived to their meeting spot as calm as could be. He was almost relaxed, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She didn't act any differently but it sent up a huge red flag for her. It didn't take her long to figure out that he had been compromised and was now informing on her for Kumo, for either a pardon or leniency. The only reason she could surmise that she hadn't been taken into custody right away was that Kumo officials wanted to break the entire ring. They wanted to watch her and see just how deep this all went.
On the plus side for Kumo it was essentially just her and a couple of informants and messengers, it didn't go too deep and they hadn't infiltrated completely. However, because of the small scale of the operation, she had been allowed to go about the Hidden Cloud Village, largely unimpeded. But now that her cover was blown it was time to get out of there. So she had sent out the proper messages and codes and they relayed the information and in the dead of the night she snuck out of the village and made her way to the rendezvous point to meet her escort.
Everything had gone perfectly until the point where she met up with the two Konoha teams who were going to escort her back into the Land of Fire's territory. Seeing those leaf headbands had been the happiest moment in her life for the last twelve years. She was almost done, almost home. But then they had been discovered, a platoon of Kumo shinobi were doing border drills and among them was the Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii.
The battle had been brutal and short. She had been injured during the battle, and while the two escort teams had rushed to her defense, giving their lives for her, she managed to make her escape. Unfortunately, at the time the only route to safety had been to head back into Lightning territory. She needed to get back home if she could, her first-hand knowledge of the workings of the Hidden Cloud Village would be invaluable. But Nami also knew her duty, she could not be captured, no matter what. If it came down to it, she would have to take her own life.
Nami stops moving and takes a moment to regain her bearings. She was currently in a rocky and hilled area with small streams running throughout. There were a few trees here and there but for the most part all of the vegetation was either grass or moss. She had been moving almost non-stop for the past couple of hours and she needed to find a safe place to lay low and rest.
She moves slowly downstream and cross over to a small alcove that was out of the way and would hopefully provide her with the cover she needed. As she lowers herself down, wincing at the sharp pain in her side as her wound tears open once again, she pulls out a kunai and holds it close to her. She holds her other hand over the wound to stem the flow of fresh blood from the tear.
Assuming she didn't run into any enemy shinobi, Nami gave herself at best, another twenty-four hours before she succumbed to the wound. That meant she had one day to make her way into friendly territory and into the hands of Konoha shinobi. She had always tried to be optimistic, but she really didn't like her odds. She would rest here for an hour, save up what strength she could, and then… well then she would just have to see what fate had in store for her.
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The spy kept their expression neutral as they watched the discussions take place between Lord Eiji and Lord Nara. Konoha had the advantage currently, in their opinion anyway. They were right to report on the Yamanaka girl to Lord Eiji, because there was no way that Lord Nara should have the information he did on Kumo's forces. Fortunately, if things progressed the way that Lord Eiji wanted them to she wouldn't be an issue for much longer. Not that it mattered, Konoha, Nami Yamata, and the impending battle were all a means to an end.
They supposed they should feel a little guilty for betraying Konoha, all things considered, but they didn't. For too long had they been stuck here, relegated to lesser duties, their potential wasted. They were stuck here, never to grow, never to advance. They hadn't been planning on betraying their home and village, but when they had been captured, and the opportunity to save their own life as well as possibly gain something from it as well arose, the temptation had been too great to bear.
Destiny was all and they would not be relegated to the sidelines, they would not walk in the shadows of others. Lord Eiji's plan was sound, his rise would happen before anyone would even be able to notice. There was no turning back, and besides, one land's traitor is another's hero. It is the victors who write history and their name would go down in the annals of history.
The spy looks around the room at the people they had served with since arriving at East Castle, and instead of guilt or fondness for those around the room, they felt a sense of resentment and anger. This was the only choice that was open to them, they had already gone too far down this path, and there was no other choice but to see it through. But this suited them just fine, because should all go to plan, they would be the only ones around to be able to tell the story of what happened.
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Yugito was agitated, but did her very best to hide it. The negotiations between Leaf and Cloud had been going on for about five hours now and sitting still for that long of a time, surrounded by enemies didn't nothing to calm her nerves. It didn't help that here little sister's team hadn't reported in or even been seen yet, there was still time before she really needed be concerned but still it was troubling that they were running so late. In addition to her still missing sister there was also the question of how in the hell that bastard Shikaku Nara knew so much about their forces. Every bluff Lord Eiji attempted on them, every statement about the strength of their forces was refuted with cold, hard, and scarily accurate facts.
Konoha was initially in the wrong due to the spy, but with Kumo's invasion of Konoha territory, without the spy, they currently didn't have a leg to stand on. While the other nations were resentful of Konoha's current success, she knew they would not look kindly upon an aggressive Kumo, and unless they could prove wrong doing on Konoha's end, they may not get the international support they needed for a sustained war against the leaf. While Kumo's forces had grown significantly since their disastrous defeat in the last war, Konoha's had as well, and without support from the other villages they may be looking at yet another stalemate if it came to a war between Fire and Lightning.
"The fact of the matter is, your forces are here illegally." Shikaku says calmly.
"Our forces are responding to a threat levied by your village. You have been spying on us for years and we will tolerate it no more." Eiji responds just as calmly.
"Fascinating, because a spy inside Kumogakure would fall under Lord Yamanaka's jurisdiction and he has no knowledge of such an event happening."
"Perhaps Lord Yamanaka has been lax in his duties." Eiji says with a slight smirk.
"Entirely possible I will concede. However, what I find fascinating is just how quickly you assembled your forces and marched onto our territory. It's as if you've been planning this for a long time and were looking for a chance break the peace. A spy is a readily convenient excuse, though as per usual Kumo provides no evidence for their provocative actions." Inoichi says dismissively.
Yugito rankles at the slight as do the other Kumo shinobi but she holds her tongue, Lord Eiji was clear in his instructions to not react or speak. Though it was galling to essentially be called liars by a snake like Inoichi Yamanaka.
"Not how I would have phrased it, but accurate. You have no tangible cause to be here, other than an intention to start a war." Takeko Nakano throws in. There was another snake that Yugito would be more than happy to silence.
"We have every right to be here, it was Konoha who broke trust first, not Kumo." Eiji says, still as calm as ever.
"All I hear are accusations Lord Eiji, empty words from a family of known liars. Or have you conveniently forgotten that it was your own brother who threatened the peace we all now enjoy with his actions against the Hyūga at the end of the last war." Inoichi says.
Lord Eiji gives no physical response, but Yugito can feel the mood in the room shift immediately. They were here to negotiate, but Inoichi Yamanaka had just stepped over a line that would prevent any meaningful negotiation to take place. Yugito tenses as she readies herself for a fight, but is surprised even further by Lord Eiji's response.
Lord Eiji gives an indulgent smile and says in a calm and reasonable voice, "I am not my brother Lord Yamanaka, he acted recklessly and foolishly, and in the end justice was served. I am here for the same reasons you are, to protect my home and my people, preferably without the shedding of blood."
Yugito was so stunned by the way that Lord Eiji had endured that insult to his family that she almost missed the look that was exchanged between Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara. Since the beginning of the negotiations Inoichi Yamanaka had been… purposely antagonistic to their side, now she got why. Like Yugito they believed that there was more going on here than meets the eye, Inoichi had pushed the conversation beyond hope and had been rewarded for it by showing that Kumo leadership was currently, for whatever reason, unwilling to commit to a fight.
"Peace, Inoichi, you overstep your roll." Shikaku says, acting as the voice of reason.
"Forgive me Lord Nara, and you Lord Eiji."
Eiji smiles pleasantly, "There is nothing to forgive. Lord Nara, shall we continue or adjourn for the night?"
"We can continue speaking but we will not acquiesce to your demands. East Castle is still ours by right and treaty, you bring no evidence to back up your claim of a spy, so we will not pay you reparations of any kind. And seeing as it is you who brings hostile forces into our lands we will not scale back our border forces nor reduce our shinobi's trained." Shikaku says firmly. "And you bring with you a Jinchūriki, it is you Lord Eiji who escalates this situation not us, and it is you who must deescalate."
"I bring only what forces I feel necessary to protect the Land of Lightning and her people, and there are times when the best defense is a powerful offense. You should consider, my generous terms. Konoha and her forces withdraw from East Castle, seceding it and the surrounding territory to Kumo. You pay reparations for the harm caused by your spy, who we will find. And finally you disarm your overly expansive forces over the next few years as a show of good faith, faith that Konoha is as dedicated to peace as it claims." Lord Eiji smiles pleasantly as he says this, his voice completely even and reasonable.
"And," Lord Eiji adds, almost as an afterthought. "You may want to consider your current situation. We have you surrounded, we outnumber you, if war is what we wanted, you would all be dead now."
"Lord Eiji, let us not mar these negotiations with undue bluster, you know as well as I do that with your current forces, you are not likely to take this castle, not without a significant, more than likely crippling loss of shinobi on your side." Shikaku says, watching Eiji almost casually. But there was a tensity in his eyes that betrayed just how focused he was.
"I think you overestimate your chances." Lord Eiji says, this time his voice is a little harder, a little more severe. The implied threat of what would happen if Konoha didn't acquiesce to his demands.
"And I think you underestimate just how prepared for you we are. If you'd like I can give you the numbers again, we know exactly how many chūnin and jōnin you have at your disposal." Shikaku reminds him, appearing to not be the least bit phased by Lord Eiji's threat.
"More Kumo shinobi will arrive and we do have…" Eiji trails off as he glances over at Yugito, the threat of her power left unsaid. Yugito has to fight to keep from rolling her eyes, because, yeah… that was subtle…
Shikaku gives a polite, but very slight nod of his to her, acknowledging her presence and power, before turning his attention back to Eiji. "More Konoha shinobi will arrive as well, and I promise you, you will need her."
Shikaku and Eiji stare each other down and in what Yugito can tell is a calculated move on his part, Lord Eiji backs down first. "Perhaps that is enough negotiation for one day, let us retire and rest and think on what has been said today. The cease fire is still in effect as far as I'm concerned, let us not rush to war but move slowly and carefully to ensure peace."
Yugito's skin crawls at how oily and pandering Eiji's tone of voice and words are. He had endured their insults, he had made demands that he knew Konoha would never accept, and then backed down. Whatever Lord Eiji was planning had better be good, because from where Yugito was sitting Lord Eiji was doing everything in his power to all but cave in to Konoha.
Shikaku studies Eiji carefully for a moment, before looking to Inoichi and Takeko Nakano, some kind of unspoken communication passing between the before Shikaku speaks. "Of course Lord Eiji, you are correct, let us not rush to war but move towards peace. We shall resume the negotiations again tomorrow, at the same time?"
"Whenever it is most convenient for you."
"Then tomorrow it is." Shikaku says, standing and everyone around the table following suit. They respectfully bow to each other and then Yugito takes her place by Eiji's side as they are escorted out of the castle.
"Yugito." Lord Eiji says quietly so as not to be overheard. "Come to my tent tonight, when the night is darkest. Do not be seen, I have a very special mission for you."
Yugito doesn't say anything, instead she gives a slight nod of her head in acknowledgement. Hopefully she would learn more about what Lord Eiji was planning and that this was all leading somewhere, or better yet, hopefully Lord Raikage would get here soon.
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Once he's confident that the Kumo shinobi are far enough away, Shikaku turns to Takeko Nakano. "What are your thoughts? You've had the most experience with this Lord Eiji."
Takeko nods her head, her face marred with a frown. "Honestly, that was completely out of character for him. The insult to his brother and family… we should be in the middle of a fight right now, not talking. This confirms was you and Lord Yamanaka have suspected, there is more going on here than Kumo's reaction to finding a spy."
"It's like he's stalling for time, more Kumo soldiers will arrive yes, however, every day that they wait is another day that Konoha has to prepare its defenses. He must know that we will never agree to all of those demands, if any of them. Reparations, maybe, but only if they had Nami Yamata in custody. He's stalling for time and I can't figure out why." Inoichi says.
"Eiji is a…" Takeko lets out a slight growl of frustration, "Hothead isn't the word I would use, but he's swift to anger and quick to take insult. He's smart though and calculating, whatever he has planned is not good and we must assume that with his current actions that things are still within acceptable parameters for him." Takeko says, then turning to Inoichi, "Whatever his plans are, he'll take what you said personally, he'll try to hurt you in whatever way he can."
Inoichi hums in agreement, troubled. It was necessary for the greater good to provoke Lord Eiji that way, his actions had been too strange to not push him and see where his mind was. He'd made an enemy today, and while he didn't fear for himself, Rin was currently behind enemy lines. He could only take solace right now in the fact that Eiji didn't know his daughter was hidden inside his territory.
"The best thing we can do right now is stall for time. Give Hizashi and his team the time they need to find Nami Yamata, as well as give Konoha the time it needs to fortify its defenses. Once Nami Yamata has been retrieved, Kumo will have no other recourse than to back down. They can't afford to go to war with us without the support of the other villages and they know it." Shikaku says.
"It might not matter to them, I'm troubled. The speed with which they martialed this army is… it's faster than I anticipated. My apologies, I thought I had kept a better watch on them." Takeko says, the frustration evident in her voice. "It may be that they want a war, whatever happens here."
"Nobody blames you Takeko, you have been a stalwart defender of our border for many years now." Shikaku says with a kind smile. "Don't forget, they are ninja just like we are, deception and subterfuge is at play on both ends, and sometimes… sometimes the other side outplays you. All we can do now is handle the situation as it evolves."
"Thank you for your kind words, Lord Nara." Takeko says, grateful for the sentiment, but unable to accept it completely. She was in charge of the defense of the border with Lightning, the fact that they were able to build up their forces like this and right under her nose was unacceptable. She had sworn to defend her home whatever the cost and now it looked like she may very well have failed. Perhaps the Hokage had been wrong to entrust her with it.
"So how do you want to handle the negotiations tomorrow?" Inoichi asks.
Shikaku sighs, "Unfortunately, if we are correct in our assumption that Lord Eiji is stalling for time, then it won't matter how we handle it. Whatever he proposes we won't agree to and whatever we propose he won't agree to. However, to maintain the pretense of ignorance, Inoichi I would like for you to not attend tomorrow. You handled your roll perfectly today, unfortunately that means by any reasonable standard you were out of line. It's best if they think you are being relegated to the sidelines."
Inoichi nods his head, "Agreed, I'll use the time to familiarize myself with the castle and its defenses."
"I'll have Yuko show you around, she knows this castle better than anyone." Takeko says, volunteering her little sister.
Inoichi nods his head in gratitude, "I would greatly appreciate it."
"Well, that's all for now then, I'm going to go find Chouza and fill him in, Inoichi, are you coming?" Shikaku asks, not because Inoichi really needed to accompany him but because he wanted to keep his friends mind off of Rin. He knew he wouldn't be successful in the slightest, but he still had to try.
Inoichi nods his head in the affirmative to Shikaku's question but his thoughts are solely with his youngest daughter. His actions in provoking Lord Eiji had been necessary to ferret out the enemy's strategies, but in doing so he put a target on himself and by extension her.
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Eiji was furious, he had been fuming ever since that son of whore Inoichi Yamanaka had called his brother and family liars. They were proud shinobi of Kumo, patriots of a noble line who had served their village and land faithfully. How dare that Konoha snake talk down at him, question his brother and his family's honor. He would rip that bastard's entrails out and hang him with them, but first he would torture the man in the worst way possible.
His daughter was already dead, the rumor of the potency of her sensor abilities had been more than confirmed for him with how much knowledge that smug Nara had on his forces, and so the girl had to die. Up until now it was going to be a quick, clean death, but now… oh now, he would draw it out for days, her screams would echo through the land. He would send her piece by bloody and broken piece to Inoichi Yamanaka, and then once he was through he would find and kill the bastard.
It was nearing three in the morning when Yugito Nii finally arrived at his tent. Initially he wanted her nearby when his plans came to fruition, then he could direct her rage at the Leaf shinobi, but now he had a different task for the monster.
"You have a mission for me, sir?"
"Yes, come with me." Eiji orders, and he doesn't wait for a response, instead he sneaks out of the tent, confident that she is following close behind him.
He leads her through the darkness until he comes to the hidden tunnel's entrance that he knew his spy would be coming through shortly.
"Lord Eiji, what is my mission?" Yugito asks, she was wary right now, she knew Lord Eiji was in a foul mood.
"Konoha has only sent one team to retrieve the spy, among them is Inoichi Yamanaka's daughter. Bring her to me, alive. Kill the rest."
"Sir, wouldn't my time be better spent hunting down the spy?" The Konoha spy was the lynch pin in all of this, it was a waste of her time to send her after some girl, no matter whose daughter she was.
"You have your mission!" Eiji snarls.
Yugito's eyes harden and a bit of killing intent slips out and Eiji takes a step back, visibly frightened by the potency of the demon's rage. He was a powerful jōnin and he was angry and insulted, but he wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with a Jinchūriki, especially without backup.
"Forgive me, I am angry but it is inexcusable of me to take it out on you. I promise you, this mission is not one of vanity. I am angry with Inoichi Yamanaka, yes, however he is also one of the Leaf Village's highest ranking officials. If I can capture his daughter, then that will provide me with a distinct advantage over one of their greatest strategists. Please, will you accept this mission?"
Yugito is somewhat mollified, but not entirely convinced, still Lord Eiji was a superior officer. "I will bring her to you, but I don't even know where to begin."
"I can help with that." Another voice calls out and a figure steps out of the shadows.
Yugito is startled by the new presence. She had been so focused on Eiji that she had forgotten to keep stock of her surroundings. When she sees who it is that has just joined them her eyes widen shock. "You?"
Eiji gives a malicious smirk. "Yugito, I would like you to meet our spy on the inside. They know exactly where to start and are going to sneak you in through East Castle and set you on your path. Find this Yamanaka girl and bring her to me, don't worry about the spy, our forces will find her eventually."
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A quietly fumed as he stared off into the distance. It had been a mistake to follow that fool Eiji's plan. He should have just had the spy arrested and been done with it. But at the time he had been furious that a spy had been under their very noses for so long and especially with the increases to security that he had implemented. The chance to completely eradicate this spy ring and quickly had sounded like too good of an opportunity to pass up. But now, instead of following his instincts and capturing her immediately, he had waited and now the spy had escaped and they were on the brink of a war that his nation didn't need.
Despite the loss of face after the end of the last war his people had thrived, had taken that defeat and made themselves even stronger. A war was in nobody's best interest right now, and he wasn't willing to sacrifice his shinobi for nothing. He would arrive at East Castle and handle this himself. Konoha would make reparations, his forces would be allowed to increase their numbers on the border and that would be the end of it.
It had been a mistake to trust Eiji to handle this, his brother had been the same way, too quick to act, too aggressive. A large scale invasion like he had been told had occurred was too provocative. Who knew what was happening in Mist, but Onoki, that paranoid old bastard would view any overtly aggressive acts with suspicion, even if they were against Konoha. For a time they may agree to an alliance, but Stone had always been xenophobic and any such alliance would be short lived and tense.
And as for the sand village, they currently weren't relevant. However, if it did come to a war with the Leaf, it was more likely than not going to end up with them siding with the Leaf Village once more. This in turn would lead to a three way war between the great villages. Leaf and Sand versus Stone and Cloud, and eventually Leaf and Sand versus Stone versus Cloud. The current stability of the nations was good for all, a war benefitted no one. It frustrating that the peace currently favored Konoha more than the rest of them, but they all benefited.
He glances out the corner of his eye when he hears to sets of footsteps approach him. His little brother B and one of his most trusted jōnin, Samui.
"Yo bro, how's it go, yo?"
A pinches his brow and he hears Samui sigh, B had taken to rapping recently and he really wasn't very good. He wasn't sure why he had brought his brother along, his brother had begged to go and he had acquiesced on a whim. Maybe it was from the guilt he felt for keeping his brother trapped within the village. It was for his own good, to protect him, but he knew how suffocating it was for his brother. This in return had also forced him to rely more heavily on Yugito Nii, but she bore that additional weight with dignity and grace. If only all of his shinobi could act more like her. He had placed too much pressure on her as of late, it was time to pull it back a bit.
"Lord Raikage, how can we be of assistance?" Samui asks.
A thinks on it for a moment. "When we arrive I want your team to locate Yugito immediately and bring her to me. B, Yugito, as well as you and your team will act as my body guard for the negotiations. You will stay close and observe only. Samui, I trust your judgement, you will assist in the negotiations."
"I will not fail you, Lord Raikage." Samui says with a bow.
"I can't believe that Eiji mucked it all up, guess we'll be the ones to pick it all up, fool, ya fool."
A let's out an audible sigh, "And you will not speak at all." The last thing he needed was his brother rapping at the Konoha delegates.
B's shoulders slump and Samui releases a soft but pleasant sounding laugh and a slight smirk appears on his face as well. But as it does, A hardens his resolve. He was the Raikage, the Lightning Shadow, he would stand before this brewing storm and defy it. B, Yugito, Samui, his village, his family, his people, he would protect them all. Konoha needed to answer for their crimes, but his people would not suffer for the mistakes of others. Hiruzen Sarutobi and whoever he sent to represent him, that fool Eiji, and any others who would threaten the peace that his people enjoyed would answer to him or face his wrath.
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xXx-Author's Note-xXx
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So I do apologize, still no Rin/Quinn in this chapter, but she will be reappearing soon. I'm just trying to really set up everything that is happening and there is so much of it too. You have Eiji and the Konoha spy and what they are planning. You have what's going on with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the negotiations on Konoha's side. Then there is Nami Yamata and what's happening with her, and then finally of course what is happening with Rin/Quinn and her team. It's a lot to cover and keep track of. Anyway I hope you all are enjoying the story so far and I will update as quickly as I can.
