Hello! Another chapter c: Sorry it took so long to get out, but I've been busy.
P.S. Sorry if there are any typos, I kinda just wanted to get the chapter out there since it's been a while xD If there are any mistakes don't be afraid to let me know so i can fix them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.
Chapter 2: Audience
Sakura had been staring at the scroll for hours now, in between her doing away with paperwork absent-mindedly and avoiding contact with her Akatsuki friends, namely Itachi and Konan (although out of the two of them, only Itachi knew that she had received said letter). After all the paperwork had been done and sent with Sayaka to be filed and sent to the Daimyo respectively, she knew she could no longer avoid her duty, especially not after Itachi had appeared in her office, through the window with a henge in place.
He noticed the scroll lay unopened on the corner of her desk, although he could not blame her for taking her time in reading over its contents. Whatever it was, it could not be good for Sakura, although Itachi had a hunch as to what it could be. He did not press her on the matter; his being there was enough pressing for her, he was sure, so he simply stood there by the wall furthest to her desk, waiting patiently for the inevitable.
"You sure are pushy aren't you, Itachi?" she seemed irritated by his presence. "Or nosy, I can't tell which at the moment." she added as an after thought. "Maybe both." Clearly, she was trying to make light out of the situation, although her mind was clearly burdened by a simple scroll.
"And you are nervous, Sakura." he ignored her comments. "Why?" he spoke so casually.
"Why? Because this is the last people I want to hear from, what do you mean why?" Sakura frowned, her eyes finally meeting those of Itachi's. For Kami's sake this was the nation she formally followed, the nation where all of her previous friends and comrades lived, and it was unnerving to think her former mentor wanted to relay a message to her. With that being said, Sakura grabbed the scroll, and with one last sigh, threw away her reservation and opened the scroll. There was no reason to get her panties in a bunch without even knowing what Tsunade wanted, after all.
Dear Otokage,
Konoha humbly invites you to our village, in hopes of becoming better acquainted with you. I sincerely hope you accept our invitation in hopes of creating some sort of friendship between these two nations, one which will benefit us both in the long run. I hope to hear your response soon. If you have any questions or concerns on the matter, do not hesitate to ask as well.
Sincerely,
Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage
Sakura blinked; twice, thrice. Well, this was just her luck.
Almost as if sensing her displeasure, Itachi kicked himself off of the wall he had been leaning on and approached her. He stood beside her, and read the contents fairly quickly, this having been exactly what he had suspected it to be.
Konoha was seeking an audience with Sakura, although he knew with much certainty that this was not about becoming friends, and he knew that Sakura knew this well too. "You could always refuse." Itachi spoke. "You are too compromised with your busy agenda here in Otogakure as it is." he reasoned.
Sakura sighed -Itachi was right. She had more than enough reason to refuse, and were it not for the (true) rumors floating around the air, she would in all honesty do it too. "No, I can't refuse." she stated begrudgingly. Tsunade had had a reason for inviting her, a subtle interrogation of sorts, and Sakura knew that her declining meant she had something to hide, and that the rumors were in essence true (which they were, but that didn't mean Sakura wanted her business being aired out like laundry).
"But there is much for you to do here." Itachi stated.
Sakura gave the letter one last, long hard look, before she finally addressed Itachi fully. "You're right. Which is why if Konoha wants an audience with me, then they'll come here."
Dear Hokage,
Although I am grateful for the invitation, I am in the middle of establishing plans for an Academy, among other things, and am unable to come see you at the present time. If this meeting is urgent to you, then I welcome you and/or any of your shionbi to instead come to my village. I will make all the proper accommodations for you if you so choose to come. Once again, thank you for writing to me, and I hope to hear your response soon.
Regards,
Nidaime Otokage
Although Sakura had written this fairly quickly, this was not to mean that she had sent it out just as fast. No -it had been sitting at her desk now for hours, as she procrastinated on truly taking action. Was this truly the best course of action to take? Perhaps not, because this meant letting prying eyes into her home, mind you, a home with Akatsuki members roaming around willy nilly. More than that, it meant putting her nation at risk from these very same prying eyes, which would be able to take notes on its infrastructure. Weaknesses, strengths, possible locations of attacks, and what have you. Otogakure had been completely closed off from outsiders for years since her emergence similarly to Ame after Hanzo's reign, and as such this was all valuable information to have about your enemy.
-But this was all assuming that Konohagakure did in fact consider her an enemy to begin with. Tsunade had never acted so maliciously before, even with countries like Iwa who they had bad blood with, and what would make Oto any different? Sighting of Akatsuki were not entirely rare -and truth be told, they had not been, and would not be, the last village to use Akatsuki for those tougher than most, no strings attached, impossible missions -not that she had hired Akatsuki for this to begin with.
But all these thoughts were just hypothetical. Clearly, Sakura had not a clue of what would truly happen in either case, whether she decided to go there or send out the letter as it was and suggest they come here instead.
By now, Konan and Kisame had heard of the news, and as such had filed into her office to discuss their options as she stared on and pondered her actions. "Although unlikely, there is a possible threat to your life if you go into enemy territory, that being Konoha, of course. Rumors of how you achieved your reputation have spread throughout the lands; Konoha is not an exception. If they for some reason see you as a threat and agree that the best way to take you out would be under their roof, there's no doubt in my mind they would accomplish it without us there to back you up. Maybe having them here would be the best." Konan reasoned.
"Regardless of the risk Oto may be in?" Kisame questioned. "I say to hell with all of them. This is clearly not genuine as it is." As he spoke he picked up Tsunade's letter for emphasis, and threw it precariously on the desk to show his distaste towards Tsunade's blatant bullshit formalities, as he saw it.
"I mean, I can't really blame her for her concern, can I? If she's heard of the rumors, of which I know she has, her hesitation to just leave us be is warranted." Sakura reasoned. "Besides. I know these people. They're not malicious in the slightest."
"You knew these people, Sakura." Kisame corrected her with a small frown. "Trusting their judgement from that perspective can get you killed, and you know that." He couldn't say he wasn't unhappy or indifferent about Sakura's choice in words -they were her friends, not whatever shinobi had attempted to kill her and the nation that had abandoned her without hesitation.
Sakura frowned, knowing this to be true, but said nothing more on the matter. "Itachi, what are your thoughts?" she decidedly settled on -both Kisame and Konan had given their input on the matter after all, but she had yet to hear Itachi's.
"If you go there, you would be forcing us to go with you, just for security reasons. If they come here, we can keep a watchful eye on them from the background, if need be. If we plan their trip, they will only see what we want them to."
-And this was true. If she kept them on a strict itinerary, they wouldn't have enough time to roam off and see things that Sakura wasn't entirely sure she wanted them to see, not that this meant Sakura had anything super privy and lucrative in the village. Their votes had been casted, and with a sigh Sakura couldn't help but fold up the letter and seal it. "Send this out when you have the chance, Kisame."
Kisame nodded. "Hai." Regardless of whether or not he thought she was making a mistake, he would stand by her, just as Konan and Itachi would do.
After sending off the letter, Sakura had been left to herself to continue her daily duties, while Itachi went off to examine how Akira was fairing with hiring workers to do construction work for the Academy. Konan, on the other hand, had left to begin a new training regime, a new swarm of men and woman alike eager to study under the Nidaime Hokage herself and become newly branded shinobi. If only they had been that excited before, Sakura wouldn't have been struggling with under staffing currently, she couldn't help but think.
The sun had began to set by the time that Sakura was disturbed from her work, one blue-haired kunoichi appearing before her casually. "The recruits seem promising." she began, not needing any formal greeting with her close friend.
"I'm sure." Sakura smiled. "How many do we have this time?"
"Fifty eight." Konan replied curtly. "Almost three times as much as before."
"Well that's to be expected." Sakura sighed, putting down her pen momentarily. "Now that I'm actually known and trusted here, people will swarm. Have Itachi come with you next time to weed out some imposters, nee?" Sakura suggested.
"Hai. And of handling the workload?"
"Hmmmm, let's have Deidara and Kisame take fifteen each."
Konan chuckled. "Not Hidan?"
"Please. If I want half of them to be scared to death, then I'll consider Hidan." Sakura scoffed. "Anyway, I believe Kisame was making dinner for us tonight. Were you going back to the base, or did you want to join us?" As she said this she began to stack the paperwork together. Deceptive as it may first appear, Kisame had an act for cooking, his culinary skills nearly up to par with Sera's. It had become a hobby of his in recent years, one which neither Sakura, Konan, or Itachi were arguing against. Food was food, right?
"Nah, Nagato doesn't need me." Konan responded.
"Very well." And so, with a stack of paperwork in her hand, she and Konan walked out of her office, stopping momentarily over the receptionist desk where Sayaka sat, handling some paperwork. "Sayaka, if I can have you file this with the Daimyo tomorrow morning, that'd be great. Don't worry about filing the background checks Konan just gave you until tomorrow; they're not urgent, and there's a lot to work on."
Sayaka nodded, and with a small smile, stood to receive the paperwork Miyuki was handing to her. "Hai, arigatou Lady Miyuki. Have a good night."
"Hai, I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for your hard work."
And with a formal goodbye, Konan and Sakura walked out of the Otokage tower, the sun nearly gone in the horizon, and the street light just starting to flicker on. By now, Sakura had removed her Kage attire, so she did not stand out as much among the villagers. But the ones who did recognize her smiled brightly and warmly and bowed in respect, greeting her quickly before continuing on with her busy night.
Eventually, Konan and Sakura made their way out of the village via the main road, and after a few minutes of walking there, shuffled into the thick forestry. It was not uncommon knowledge that the Nidaime Otokage lived outside of the village, so it was not uncommon to see her leave through the main gate every night, but no one knew where she went afterwards, not that anyone was curious or suspicious enough to find out.
"Kisame we're home." Sakura called out as she opened the door to her home, surprised but not at all opposed to the sight of Suki and Suzuki sitting down at the dinner table watching Kisame with mild intrigue -she would too, seeing as he now had a chef's hat on, and a too-small apron wrapped around his waist, courtesy of the two girls, she knew.
Both girls giggled and walked over to greet Konan and Sakura with a hug respectively. "Welcome home, Sakura-sama, Konan-senpai."
"Quit it with the -sama." Sakura scowled. Despite this, she adverted her gaze to Kisame. "How's dinner looking?"
"Just about ready." Kisame confirmed. He looked around to examine how many he would be serving. "No Itachi tonight?"
"He's handling business elsewhere with Akira-kun tonight. We should expect him late." Sakura simply explained.
"Ahh..." Kisame pressed no further. "Come help me set the table kids."
Upon first meeting and inherently getting to know Kisame, Sakura would never have expected for him to be so good with kids -or cooking. But it was unanimously decided by her group of Akatsuki friends: Kisame would make a great housewife. And although Kisame bickered against it and proclaimed he was simply good at everything he did -cooking and catering to kids included, they all knew that Kisame enjoyed this perhaps more than he should.
Before long, the food was set, a table for three, seeing as Suki and Suzuki had already eaten, and had simply wanted to enjoy Kisame's company. Casual conversation was exchanged between the five of them, the two girls eager to listen on to what Sakura was now working on. "And we'll be able to attend the academy too, right, Sakura-sama?"
Sakura smiled. "With your parent's blessings, of course." Sakura stated. "Why, you want to become shinobi now?"
"Of course! Sakura-sama is so cool! And Kisame-senpai, Konan-senpai, and Itachi-sama too!" Not that Sakura knew why, but apparently Itachi was on equal terms with her as far as endearments went -despite the years, the kids had never truly forgotten the small fairy tale that Sakura had told them, and despite the obvious indications that Sakura and Itachi were not, and would never be an item, they still liked to tease and secretly hope it would be a thing.
Sakura smiled and allowed for Kisame to gloat about how cool and strong he was, while her thoughts began to drift on other matters.
Tsunade frowned staring at the letter before her. Although she had expected a quick response, this was not at all the words she ad expected.
"This is clearly a trap Tsunade-sama." Shizune proclaimed with a frown. "It's too risky to send you out there alone."
Tsunade knew it could potentially be this, yes. But it was absurd for her to think she could call the Otokage here, and not be okay with the same actions being reciprocated to her. It would ascertain to the Nidame Otokage that Konoha did not view them as a neutral party, but rather an enemy, before they had even met or engaged in prior affairs, and that was not something that Tsunade was willing to let happen.
The Otokage was clearly not someone who bowed down easily, and that in itself made Tsunade think slightly more of her -whoever she was. For the little country of Sound to stand up to one of the world powers of Fire? It was impressive, and not something that Tsunade was willing to dismiss so quickly. But Shizune was right -it was downright foolish to send out Tsunade over there, but it did leave them with an advantage. If they acted quickly, the Otokage would not have enough time to hide anything from them. "I have to send a team in my stead." Tsunade determined with a thoughtful expression.
"But who?" Shizune frowned. This could, potentially, be like sending someone to their death -given, Oto never had the best reputation, and now it had none at all, having been completely cut out from the rest of the world for nearly three years.
Tsunade frowned -if she played this right, it would potentially truly show to her what Otogakure was made of, and who their alliances were to. "Bring in Kakashi for me, Shizune."
"Let me get this straight Tsunade-sama... You want to send our Jinchuuriki out to a country potentially, almost certainly, affiliated with the organization after his head?"
Tsunade sighed. "Well, when you put it that way, Sasuke, it does sound like a poor decision, but hear me out. By sending Naruto, this is the easiest and quickest way to either confirm or refute their rumored alliance with Akatsuki." Tsunade explained. "Strategic decision or not, Akatsuki will not pass up an easy chance to capture Naruto if the opportunity arose."
"So you want to potentially throw Naruto to the wolves." Sasuke corrected himself with a slight frown.
"Sasuke, I don't even see the big deal." The object of conversation finally spoke, his hands casually stuck in the pockets of his orange jumpsuit. "The Otokage is young too, isn't she? She won't be able to take us. And isn't it a reasonable enough assumption that since her village is new, her shinobi won't be up to standard with out caliber?" Naruto reasoned. His cocky comment put aside, because he had already expressed his desire to simply beat her in battle and take her title (which would in turn prove to Tsunade once and for all that he was ready for the Hokage title), there was much truth in his words.
"Yes, this would be an accurate assumption to make -if she doesn't have Akatsuki members residing in her village." Kakashi countered.
"Which is why I'm suggesting that we secretly bring back-up. A fail-safe, in case our suspicions are right to help get you guys out of the village safely if need be." Tsunade stated.
Kakashi contemplated this -not that he was at all concerned for his own safety, but he had already lost one student to Oto. Was he okay with risking his other? Regardless, it seemed this was not his call to make, seeing as Naruto had spoken up. "I will go, Tsunade. Rest-assured, everything will work out fine." Although he gave her a grin, as per usual to Naruto's antics, he seemed dead-set on accepting this mission, and Tsunade knew this went beyond him proving himself to her. Naruto had obtained a certain maturity over the years, a little more discrete than she would have guessed it to be, but he had taken it upon himself to make sure his friends were safe. And if this meant that he would have to reveal a potential threat a literally three to four hour travel from their home, then so be it.
Kakashi sighed, and with a shrug and a hand running through his hair, he relented, turning to Sasuke expectantly.
"Hn." he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Truth be told, he hadn't stepped foot in Sound ever since that mission years ago -too many memories, all terrible in nature, lingered there, if not because of his time with Orochimaru, then because of all the blood he had seen coating the floor -Sakura's blood on the floor, and he dared not go back. "Let's get this over with then."
"As precautionary, I'd like to bring Sai and a medical ninja along."
"Saki?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Iee. I have Saki busy on another matter at the moment." Tsunade shook her head, and then promptly looked at Shizune, who understood in a heartbeat.
"Hai, I understand Tsunade-sama." She nodded -truth be told, she hadn't gone out on a mission in years, although this was not to mean that she had been slacking on her training at all.
Tsunade nodded in gratitude. "I'll return the letter to her accepting the invitation then. You'll leave tomorrow."
"Hai!"
"Hn."
Dear Otokage,
Thank you for responding. I understand than you have obligations to your village; unfortunately, I too cannot leave my village at the time, although I will graciously accept your invitation of having a handful of my shinobi come in my stead. Hopefully, this will pave the way to us meeting sometime in the future. Following this message I will describe who and how many of my shinobi will be coming. Please confirm with me a meeting point for my shinobi to follow.
Best, Senju Tsunade
Naruto kicked a pebble on the floor, dejectedly waiting for Kakashi to finish making preparations with Neji, who would in turn relay the plan to his squad. Sasuke had been sulking since the beginning of the mission, not that Naruto could blame him for it, but it simply meant more anti-social behavior for him to deal with on this mission -as if Sai wasn't bad enough as it was.
But at least he had Shizune, who although his senior by at least seven years, made for pleasant enough conversation although she too seemed on edge, given her long hiatus from missions. "Naruto-kun, stop that; you're sulking like a child." Shizune reprimanded.
"We've been here for almost an hour when Oto is just ten minutes away. What's taking so long?"
"We just want to make sure we're not walking into a trap Naruto-kun." Shizune frowned. Could he not see that they were doing this for no one but him? Then again, Naruto had always been brainless and not to mention reckless; now would be no different. "I'm sure it wont be too much longer."
And true to her word, almost immediately after Neji and Kakashi nodded at each other and finally parted ways, Neji almost instantly disappearing towards the direction of his squad, not that Naruto paid too much attention to it. "Let's hurry along now, lest we arrive late."
"Who's meeting us?" Sasuke asked, kicking himself off the tree he had been leaning on to finally begin their journey once more.
"The Otokage herself, along with a couple of her shinobi, so Tsunade-sama informed us." Shizune explained. They would meet right in front of the village gates and from there onward be escorted to her office to continue the formalities. "At the very least she's going out of her way to meet us; that's awful courteous."
"Well, first impressions are often the most important." Kakashi hummed out. "I'm sure she wouldn't want strangers walking into her village without her first meeting them, nonetheless."
Then again, they weren't particularly strangers to the Otokage, not that they knew otherwise.
"I humbly welcome you to my home, Konohagakure shinobi-san."
Kakashi blinked, quietly taking in the sights before him -he had never imagined Oto to appear as it did. Clearly she had been busy, although construction was clearly apparent even from his place at the entrance of it.
"It is an honor to finally meet you, Nidaime Otokage." Kakashi stated respectfully, he and his team bowing before her. He could see beside her but three shinobi, two female and one male.
"Please. You may call me Miyuki." She stated; even if she said this to try and show some sort of friendly air between the two, her body remain hidden behind the heavy cloak she wore, her face masked nearly entirely by her Kage hat. "These here are a few of my shinobi. Sayaka, Konan, and Akira. If you may find yourself in need of anything during your stay, you may come to them for aid." As she spoke their names the aforementioned shinobi bowed respectfully.
"I am Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Sasuke, Kato Shizune, and Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi greeted formally, not at all missing the fact that none of her shinobi, her included, had been named with a surname. Either they simply didn't have one, or they preferred to remain ambiguous, and he was sure it to be the latter.
"If you will follow us, I'll lead you to my office where we can continue our introductions and talk about what I have planned for you during your stay. The walk is not too long." As she said this she turned, her shinobi following behind her shortly afterwards. And so the Konoha shinobi followed silently behind the four shinobi, although the exchanged curious and speculative glances with each other -why was she not showing her face? Although it was not a big deal, it did come off slightly rude, and Kakashi knew she knew this too.
True to her word, the walk was not long as they approached a small, round building which reminded them a lot of Konoha's own Hokage's office. "I apologize for the construction going on. We're currently in the midst of beginning a Ninja Academy, so I'd appreciate if you guys not wander around this place too much; the rest of the village, other than the Northern part, is pretty much completed in terms of roads and buildings though."
"Of course, Miyuki-san." Kakashi stated courteously.
No more words were spoken between the two groups until Miyuki was finally settled in her seat with her shinobi beside her, and the Konoha shinobi before her respectfully. If they had expected for Miyuki to finally remove her cloak and headgear now, it didn't happen.
"Was your journey pleasant? Could I perhaps interest you in some water?" Miyuki began.
"None is necessary, thank you." Shizune replied with a small smile.
"Very well then." Miyuki nodded, her hands appearing from her cloak and settling for folding over her desk. "I will not beat around the bush, then. You guys have come here because you are concerned over my rumored affiliation with Akatsuki, no?"
Although none of them reacted, Kakashi could not deny that he was surprised he would bring this up so quickly after their arrival. "Is this really the appropriate time to bring this up, Miyuki-san? We have just arrived-" Kakashi was also not one to beat around the bush, and especially in respecting someone he hadn't deemed worth it yet, so he was glad that Shizune stepped in when she had, but he had not at all expected the response.
"It seems as an appropriate time as ever. How can you feel safe walking around my village if you don't trust its very foundation?" Miyuki quickly replied.
It was a reasonable argument, Kakashi supposed, but he had to admit he respected this blunt side of the Otokage. "Very well. You clearly know why we have our qualms in sending our Hokage here. We do believe you to be affiliated with Akatsuki."
"I will not lie to you, Hatake-san. We were not able to restore Oto to its former glory and obtain so much more without help." Miyuki admitted. "But I can personally assure you that my goals do not coincide with that of Akatsuki's. All I wanted was what was best for my village, and if that meant assuring that Akatsuki would not harm my people, then so be it. I have heard of their reputation and heard what they have done to other small villages, after all, and wanted to guarantee that the same fate did not await my newly formed nation. I have simply waited too long and worked too hard to let my efforts, and the efforts of my people, go to waste." Miyuki stated, pausing for a moment's notice to let the information sink in. "Although my word in itself may not seem like much to you right now, it is all I can give you. Hopefully within the span of your stay here, and hopefully within any future interactions, you will learn that you can trust my word."
"It's hard to trust someone whose face we cannot even see." It was Sasuke who suddenly spoke, his snide remark nearly snorted out in irritation.
Miyuki was nearly surprised, but could not comment, as Akira had already done a fine enough job of doing that. "I will not allow you to speak to Lady Miyuki that way; you will apologize for your insolence at once. Frankly, you do not deserve to see her if you have come to our village to accuse her." Although his face was scowled in anger, it was his words that held the most impact to the Konoha bunch.
Even so, Miyuki lifted her hand to silence him at once; although grateful for his words, this was not a battle she could not fight herself.
"It's okay Akira-kun. At ease." After directing her statement towards her blue-haired shinobi, she once more addressed the Konoha group. "I can see how this would be concerning." Sakura agreed. "I am a potential enemy so close to Konoha, a village containing one of the last remaining Jinchuuriki, right?" clearly, this question was not meant to be answered. "Although, this does make me wonder why it would be that you would bring him directly to my doorstep if you thought me a threat." Although they couldn't see it, they could hear the smug, confident tone in her voice and knew by this that she was smirking.
"I can take care of myself, Miyuki." Naruto retorted with a small snarl.
"Oh, I don't doubt it, Uzumaki Naruto-kun." Miyuki taunted, clearly pleased with his reaction. "So certainly the two ANBU teams stationed outside of my village in case of a trap seems a little much to you, doesn't it?"
Shizune's heart dropped to her stomach, and almost immediately they all seemed to tense up.
How could she have discovered them so soon? Neji's Team and Sai's team respectively were the best!
Miyuki could clearly see them begin to worry, and couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Oh, not to worry Hatake-san. I understand and sympathize with you; your precaution is justified. I will remain true to my word; I do not care for an unnecessary fight. As capable as my shinobi are, I do not care to put them in harms way." As she said this she stood and approached the window to her office, glancing at her village.
"I would die for you if need be, Lady Miyuki." Akira, never one to hold back on his thoughts, quickly spoke.
Once more, Miyuki let out a small laugh as she approached Akira and lovingly ruffled his hair. "I would be a terrible Kage if I allowed my shinobi to enter an unnecessary battle, Akira-kun." After saying this, she made her way around her office desk to address Team Kakashi fully. "You can stay here as long as you'd like, but since construction is still underway, I only have enough room to house the number of shinobi that Tsunade had mentioned beforehand, not your other ANBU companions. Sayaka and Akira here will escort you to your sleeping quarters during your stay, and will also inform you when dinner will be served. Unfortunately, any further conversation with me will have to wait until tomorrow; I have a prior engagement I must attend to for tonight, and as such will be unable to entertain you tonight."
"We understand, Miyuki-san." Kakashi nodded tersely. "Arigatou."
Miyuki smiled, clearly pleased. "Then I will see you all tomorrow. Sayaka-chan, make sure you explain to them the itinerary for tomorrow. If you will excuse me."
"Hai, of course Miyuki-sama."
The older female shinobi with blue hair filed out of the room behind the Otokage, bowing to the Konoha shinobi before exiting the door and shutting it closed behind her.
The silence between the duo stretched for a few minutes, until they were out of the building and on their way to the forest around them. "I'd say things went well." Konan began casually.
"As well as they could have." Sakura agreed, her face expression serious and thoughtful. "Tell Itachi to inform me once the ANBU teams leave Oto territory and continue to keep an eye on Kakashi's bunch."
"Hai." Konan stated without hesitation. "Will you be going to Sera's tonight?"
"Hai. Shall I tell her to save a plate for you tonight?"
"Iee. I shall eat out."
"Very well. I will see you tomorrow morning then. Oyasuminasai, Konan."
Team Kakashi hadn't eased or had any semblance of relaxation until Akira and Sayaka had dropped them off at their sleep quarters. After Sayaka had explained that they would have a tour of the city in the morning and then meet the Otokage for lunch, Sayaka and Akira had left, but not before the boy had managed to slip in one more condescending comment. "Make sure to remove your shinobi from our borders please. You won't like Lady Miyuki when she's upset." And with that, they had excused themselves and retired to their homes for the night.
"You won't like Lady Miyuki when she's upset." Naruto repeated childishly, mocking Akira with a high-pitched tone. "Who does that brat even think he is?" he frowned, clearly irritated. "And how did that old hag even find them to begin with?" Naruto couldn't help but wonder.
"Old hag? Do you even know how old she is, Naruto-kun?" Shizune raised a curious eyebrow.
"What does it matter? She acts like one." he pouted.
"Yes, but given the fact that she hid herself the entire time, she could be Kakashi's age for all we know." Sasuke stated.
"Exactly. Old." Naruto stated, almost as if it were obvious.
"I'm Kakashi's age Naruto-kun." Shizune glared, not at all caring that he had offended Kakashi, but more than he had indirectly offended her.
"Whatever." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Are we just going to let her get away with holing us up in this place until she has enough time for us? Tsunade warned her in advance; you would think she would free up her schedule for us."
"We are not as important as you think we are, Naruto." Kakashi stated with a sigh. "Kages have responsibilities. Clearly she has her agenda full with all the projects she as going on in the village. The construction we've seen here is probably just on the surface of the things she's dealing with."
"Whatever. She just confirmed her affiliation with Akatsuki to us –why are we still here? We confirmed what we came here to. She's an enemy."
"Not necessarily, Naruto-kun. She is saying she made a deal to stay out of harm's way, and said her goals do not coincide with that of Akatsuki's. All she's done is given herself deniability, and we are in no position to ask her of the details of her contract, whether verbal or written, with them." Shizune explained.
"Only Tsunade has any right to ask this of her." Kakashi agreed with a nod. She said exactly what she needed to –enough to place herself as a neutral party, but not enough to fully understand her relationship to Akatsuki –this would be something Tsunade had to do.
"She's politically well-versed." Sasuke commented with a small frown. "She's definitely a lot smarter than I expected."
"Well, I'd suspect she'd have to be if she's dealing with Akatsuki." Kakashi stated, finally taking a look around their suite. It was nice enough, nothing to luxurious but pretty in its simplicity, something they could almost expect to find in Konoha, really.
"For now, it does us no good to dwell on this. We won't know more about her until we see her once more tomorrow."
"We'll know all we need to know about her if I can just fight her –in fact, if I beat her then she'll know not to-"
"You will not, under any circumstances, spar with the Otokage Naruto-kun." Shizune glared. "Tsunade-sama has already expressly told you this is a bad idea, and I will not allow you to go against her instructions."
"I can't see how." Naruto frowned. This was the easiest way to know what they were dealing with, after all.
"Because we don't know for sure that she won't aim to kill, Naruto no baka." Sasuke frowned. "And if she will then I can guarantee you Akatsuki will be there to pick up what's left of you."
Naruto grumbled incoherent words for a while. "Whatever. Let me know when they come and get us for dinner." He finally settled on, walking away to find a room.
Shizune sighed, watching Naruto's retreating figure until it was out of sight behind a door, and then turned back to Kakashi. "In any case, we should call Neji and Sai's teams back. It won't do us any good to have them there any longer."
"I suppose so." Kakashi mumbled, ruffling his hand through his messy silver locks -this mission was already starting to develop into something he hadn't quite expected.
"Good morning Hatake-san, Kato-san." It was bright and early in the morning when a knock had interrupted both shinobi from their respective breakfasts (brought to them an hour before by Sayaka), and Kakashi had come to find with mild surprise (having expected the same two shinobi who dropped them off here the afternoon prior) that it was the elder kunoichi; Konan if he remembered correctly.
"Ohayo, Konan-san." Shizune greeted with a small smile.
"As Sayaka informed you last night, Miyuki-sama wishes to give you all a tour of the village in the morning."
Kakashi nodded, stepping aside of the doorway to allow the kunoichi in.
"Naruto's a bit of a late bird, so he just got up. Sasuke should be getting out of the shower anytime now." He explained dutifully, returning back to his breakfast, alongside Shizune, who was already showered and ready for their plans.
"Hn." And just as he spoke, Sasuke came out of the doorway, properly dressed but with a towel draped across his shoulders. "And I don't suppose the Otokage will be joining us for the tour?"
Konan shook her head. "She is needed elsewhere, training our new regime of shinobi; in fact she's been up since dusk training them. She will be joining you for lunch after the tour, though." Konan explained.
"A training regime? Does she not have other shinobi who could attend to this matter?" Shizune asked, curious in knowing why she had not delegated this work to someone else.
"Miyuki-sama is very adamant in getting to know all of the shinobi who will work under her on a personal level -she believes direct contact and communication with them will help to further show them how much each of them mean to her, and she could personally see the progress that each individual is making. As you know, we have yet to fully organize a Ninja Academy, so for now we take volunteers and train them ourselves."
"That's very noble of her." Shizune commented with a small smile.
"Hai. Miyuki-sama may not be the most practical, but this is why the people love her so much." Konan showed an earnest smile -truth be told, she was envious of Sakura's innate ability of connecting to people and being able to have them trust her so whole-heartedly. Without her she was sure these plans would have not amounted to much.
"That sounds a little like Tsunade-sama." Shizune chuckled slightly. Although different in character, once Tsunade had resumed responsibility over Konoha, she had gotten involved in every aspect of its politics, and had worked tirelessly to pick up the mess that Orochimaru had left after the assassination of Sarutobi.
"I wouldn't be surprised. Miyuki-sama often praises the work Senju Tsunade has done over the years; not just her reign as Hokage, but prior to that as well." Shizune and Kakashi were both surprised to hear this, but did not let the comment affect them, or alter their opinion of Miyuki just yet. "Anyhow, as far as the tour goes, is there any particular place you'd like to visit first?"
"Iee. Whatever you have planned for us will be just fine."
"Hai. I will go to confirm with Miyuki-sama real quick and return. Hopefully by then Uzumaki Naruto-san will have emerged from the shower." And so Konan once more dismissed herself, bowing before walking away from the three Konoha shinobi.
The tour had started at the outskirts of the village and had progressively gotten deeper and deeper. And through it all, none of them had truly expected to find Oto as prosperous as it seemed. Even to them, strange shinobi with a foreign hitai-ate, the first of its kind of years they were sure, the villagers seemed friendly, waving and bowing respectfully to the likes of Konan and her companions. There was a bustle in this town that could only be fueled by one thing, and it was clear to all of them immediately.
Commerce.
"Was Oto at all like this when you were living here, Sasuke?" Naruto couldn't help but comment, noticing that the streets were clean, the villagers friendly, and a busy sort of bustle surrounding them -commerce.
"Iee. These streets were filled with run down homes and littered with homeless." Sasuke admitted reluctantly -he was not proud of his past, but he could not hide from it. Although the thought bothered him now, he knew that nearing a decade ago he wouldn't even have batted an eyelash at the impoverished living of the hundreds in Oto.
"Miyuki has done much to cure the ailments of this town; poverty and homelessness included." Konan stated with a small smile. "By building roads and other homes, not only was she able to house many, but also give jobs to the many that had none. It truly helped to pick up the economy in these parts. In addition, she's in the midst of creating a building for a newly established list of Elders, all of nin-shinobi status, for villagers to list their grievances and for Miyuki-sama to have a better understand of what is afflicting them. It will help her better understand her villagers and act accordingly. A form of a just democracy, you could say."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. "This must not have been an easy feat. Orochimaru's forces still ran rampant until just recently, did they not?" It was one of the reasons that Konoha hardly stepped foot in Oto unless absolutely necessary, after all.
"Hai; Miyuki and a handful of her shinobi, the first to have joined her militia, saw to it that they were taken care of." Konan nodded.
"Yourself included, I suppose?" Kakashi responded, glancing at the female shinobi, the so to speak right hand of Miyuki. Clearly, it took time and trust to give her that position, which made Kakashi realize that Konan was as good as any to give them information about the origins of Miyuki.
"Hai. I was among the group of shinobi who initially trained with Miyuki's first regime. A product of which are Akira-kun and Sayaka, among a few handful more."
"And where are they?" Sasuke asked, intrigued.
"Most are handling other administrative jobs around Konoha. A few unfortunately were KIA in between our duties, an unfortunate but not unlikely ending in our line of work, as I'm sure you know. But most of everyone else either works in the Otokage building alongside Sayaka, or are currently helping to properly administer the hospital until Miyuki-sama has time to properly training medical ninja."
"So Miyuki is a medic-nin, then?" Kakashi asked, surprised -he would not have pegged her as one, but it was good information to know.
"It is one of her many skills, although not something she is renown for like your Senju Tsunade. Miyuki-sama has trained to make herself versatile in any and all fields, to best protect the village and her people during the first few and inherently toughest years of her reign."
"So what would you say her specialty lies in?" Shizune asked curiously.
"You will have to ask her for yourselves during your lunch with her if you wish to know the answer." Konan stated with a small smile. "Despite me having been with her for years, I have yet to truly see Miyuki-sama's true capabilities in battle." Although this was entirely a lie, they didn't need to know that. But truthfully speaking, Konan had no business giving them information on Miyuki, not that she even wanted to; she was simply being cordial.
"I understand." Kakashi let the conversation drop. Not much else was spoken among the group of shinobi until Konan had led them to their final destination on the tour, the hospital.
"It is still under a provisional period of administering until Miyuki-sama can properly train medics and advance their skill level to the appropriate level, but it is running functionally with its basic requirements." Konan began as they roamed down the main hallways and corridors, only Shizune taking a real interest in it compared to her three male teammates.
"I must commend you for the progress here; it truly is amazing." It was more than Shizune had expected to find, even if Miyuki herself had background knowledge of medical ninjutsu. She had not truly expected to find it so technologically advanced and up to date with medical labs and equipment. It had taken Tsunade nearly the same amount of time to get it at such a technologically advanced level, and it was through this that Shizune finally understood the true role of Akatsuki in Miyuki's agenda.
Money.
They were behind all of this funding, if such a fast development was an indication of anything, and it was surprising to be able to acknowledge the fact that, for whatever reason, Akatsuki had done something not completely despicable. The thought was confusing in and of itself, and it led to Shizune wondering what exactly Miyuki had promised them in return.
Her thoughts darkened as her eyes flashed towards Naruto.
One could only hope.
"Hai. This was one of Miyuki-sama's first initial projects, among securing the safety of our borders and stabilizing the health of the villagers." Konan explained. The tour ended not much after, and as they exited the hospital Konan began to take them elsewhere. "Miyuki-sama has already arranged a lunch at one of her favorite spots. I will escort you to her, and from there onward you will be under the care of Miyuki-sama and Akira-kun."
"Hai. Thank you for showing us around the village." Shizune spoke politely.
"Iee. It was no problem."
No more words were spoken with the exception of Sasuke and Naruto conversing, until Konan had led them out of the village and up a windy, lusciously green hill. The forestry here disappeared altogether to leave a large area perfect for a training field, of which they were starting to understand it was, but under the cool shade of a tree lie a white, intricately designed steel table, and its adorning chairs, one already occupied.
They approached the table, watching as Konan bowed to her Kage respectfully and began to spoke. "Good afternoon, Miyuki-sama."
"Good afternoon Konan." Miyuki was casually sitting on one of the chairs, her hand gentle grasping a cup filled with tea. "I take it the tour went well, Hatake-san?"
"Hai." Kakashi nodded but said nothing else, noticing that, despite the sunny and relatively warm day, here Miyuki was, still entirely covered by the very same hat and heavy tunic as the afternoon prior.
Although he and the likes of Shizune and Sasuke were more than capable of hiding their confusion and some could even call it irritation, Naruto clearly was now. But how was this his fault? By not even giving them the respect of speaking to her face to face, she was essentially making it clear that formal face to face contact was beneath her -that they were beneath her, and it infuriated him.
Although he grumbled to himself, Sasuke had given him a pointed look, and then followed Kakashi and Shizune into sitting down alongside her. Lunch began very calmly between the group, Konan standing casually in the sidelines behind her Kage.
"I must say I am very impressed by how much you've gotten done around the village in such a short amount of time, Miyuki -especially with the hospital. How did you manage such a feat?" Shizune began casually, although her true reasons were because of her suspicions of this being Akatsuki's doing.
"I happen to be a fan of your Hokage, and think her advocating a shinobi's health on and off the field was detrimental to your victory of the war. I am not opposed to learning from previous generation's failures and successes. Tsunade revolutionized the shinobi world, and I think having an efficient hospital is the key to success. As such, I followed much in the footsteps that she took and applied it to my own nation." Miyuki stated casually.
"So you must be a very efficient medic-nin, then." Kakashi stated, knowing for a fact that Konoha had only become so advanced because of Tsunade's teachings.
"In my own respects sure. I would not consider myself anywhere near as efficient as Tsunade is, though." Miyuki stated. "The cause of its advancement is simply because of all the hard work not only myself, but my shinobi have put into this project. Although it is but a week into my role as Otokage, I have been working relentlessly to ease the economic hardships of my people for the past three years."
"And how old does that put you, Miyuki?" Kakashi asked.
Miyuki let out a small laugh. "I'd reckon I'm as old as your two students here, Hatake-san. Why, do I seem older?"
"Well we wouldn't know. Given that you haven't showed us your face and all, you know." Naruto retorted.
Kakashi glanced at Naruto pointedly. "What my young and politically incorrect student hear means to say, is that this seems like such an extremely young age to take on the title of Otokage, don't you think?"
"I suppose." Miyuki contemplated this. "But age has nothing to do with your ability to run a nation, Hatake-san. I'm sure you know that. I am strong, loyal to my people, and smart enough to lead this nation in the right direction. Plus, Sunagakure's Kazekage happens to be younger than myself, is he not? Not to mention that he ascended to his throne many years before myself."
"Yeah, but Gaara is a Jinchuuriki -his strength already exceeds most shinobi simply because of that fact." Sasuke countered.
"Exactly. You can't possibly be any stronger than myself if you're my age. I'd even bet I can beat you easily." And here Naruto was once more, haughtily proclaiming in superiority over the female Kage as he leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms behind his head casually. Although this very statement made his companions tense, Miyuki seemed to have taken this with stride.
"Oh, is that so?" She couldn't help from containing her laughter. 'This is so typical of Naruto...' she couldn't help but think as she glanced his way. "I've heard rumors of you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun." Intrigued, Naruto casually peeked one eye open. "You're a reckless shinobi. You'll need to tone it down if you want to ever reach the same level of prestige as me."
This had not at all been what Naruto had expected, and angrily he leaned forward, his hand tightening into a fist. "I'll be a great Hokage one day. I'm strong enough now." he argued.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, Naruto. You're extremely skilled and loyal -but Kages need to remain level-headed at all time. Although you are loyal you fight with no regards to those around you -in that way, you're actually quite selfish. You don't know when to listen or when to be quiet or even when to follow orders, my point made by this small interaction now. If you can't follow protocol your shinobi will lose trust in you and follow suit. Your teammate Sasuke here will end up stealing your position from right under your nose if you're not careful. And regardless -you are a fool if you think you can defeat me, Naruto-kun." she taunted him.
With every statement, his grip on his fist got tighter and tighter, and by the last comment he had stood up violently.
He'd show her how strong he was-
He had struck (had at least tried to), with absolutely no intention on actually hitting her, but merely to show her that he was a force to be reckoned with. His chakra spiked slightly, clearly visible on his fist, and its force was enough to fling Miyuki's hat directly off her head and onto the floor, but she sat there unflinchingly, staring directly into Naruto's heated eyes with a completely nonchalant expression. Beside her Konan stood, her hand preventing Naruto's own fist from moving even a centimeter closer even if he wanted to. But even in simply staring at her eyes he hesitated and tensed.
Her agility what the-
"My subordinate was able to predict your attack and block you with ease. Don't tell me that's all you have in you?" And there she was again with her taunting, paying no importance to the fact that her hat lay upside down on the floor or that her long blonde hair, pinned up into a messy bun, now lay visible to the Konoha nin.
He frowned and was about to retort her and perhaps even tell her to fight him fully, but Kakashi stood up immediately and grasped him by the arm and yanked him backwards, to the point where he fell backwards onto his seat. "Okay, that's enough, don't you think Naruto-kun." He had a very fake smile plastered onto his face, indicated by his eye crease, although Naruto this meant murder for him behind closed doors. "I'm sorry about this, Miyuki-san, truly..-"
But finally his gaze actually fell on her and her jade eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.
'Sak-'
"You should put your shinobi on a tighter leash, Hatake-san." This was not Miyuki who spoke, but rather Konan, who withdrew her hand but allowed her glare to linger on Naruto.
Kakashi blinked; once, twice, looking from Konan back to Miyuki for another second, before withdrawing. 'No.' he told himself sternly. 'It only looks like her.' Miyuki was frigid, her eyes cold and now holding the same warm glow that Sakura's always had. Despite the fact that their eyes seemed near identical, there was something in them that screamed stranger to him, and he was almost embarrassed to have been caught up in the moment.
Truthfully speaking though, he had not been the only one.
"Gomenasai." Kakashi apologized humbly, hoping that they hadn't already ruined all chances at some sort of amiable lunch together.
"Don't worry too much about it. I expected something like this to happen eventually, knowing if his reputation." Miyuki once more leaned back on her chair.
"You seem to know a lot about my team, Miyuki." Kakashi stated casually.
"You're not exactly not known by the entire Shinobi Lands, Hatake-san. Your team is far from normal; you are all legends in your own respects." Miyuki reasoned. And this was something that Kakashi could not deny. Still, Sakura couldn't help but think it amusing that Kakashi was inconspicuously trying to learn more about her -but she had trained under Itachi for far too long to fall for that.
"Pardon my line of questioning Miyuki, but is that a Hundred Year Seal on your forehead, Miyuki?" Shizune suddenly spoke, having been the first (between Sasuke and Naruto) to recover from the ordeal, but not missing the small purple-like diamond on her forehead.
Miyuki smile slightly. "Like I said, Kato-san. I am a fan of Tsunade's teachings. I am exceptionally skilled at analyzing the inner workings of a jutsu or technique. As such, I was able to understand the principles behind Tsunade's technique and did so for myself. But enough about me; what is life in Konoha like?" Alas, this was the only way to shift the conversation topic away from her, it seemed.
Tensions seemed to die down a little from there, although Naruto and Sasuke spoke not a word for the remainder of the time, Naruto partially embarrassed by his outburst and partially disbelieving of the initial similarity between Miyuki and the Sakura he had once known and loved, and Sasuke perhaps going through that very same confusion.
Promptly after lunch was over, Miyuki began to stand and regather her Kage hat long forgotten on the floor. "Although this has been a pleasant lunch, our time together must end here. I have some paperwork to deal with at my office, and as such cannot be away for too long. Konan here will escort you back to the hotel, or wherever else you guys may feel like visiting. If you require something from me, you know where to find me and are free to come and go as you'd like. If not, Akira will show up by your hotel in about an hour or two to cater to your needs if you require anything."
Although decidedly upset that they had no more time to spend with her (and inherently could not learn more about her), Kakashi nodded wordlessly as Shizune thanked her for the lunch, and watched as she disappeared in a puff of smoke after exchanging a few words with Konan. Afterwards, said kunoichi turned to them with a small smile. "If you will follow me, I will escort you back to your rooms, then."
End of Chapter
So, this is basically where the two versions of this story split. Where as in the other one Sakura went to Konoha, in this version she had them come to her, for any of those who are interested in reading both versions.
Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter out. Been busy, hopefully the next chapter won't take me nearly as long to finish.
The next projects I plan to work on are some more revisions of Sakura's New Past, a new installment to Sakura's New Present, and Somewhere We Belong respectively. I'm going to predict that, if I continue with my plan of updating both TNO versions together, it'll take me about 2-3 months to come out with chapter 3. But I have a lot of it already pre-planned so we'll see.
Reviews last chapter were pleasant (but not as pleasant as the Itachi version, although I had expected this). Thank you for the feedback, and I hope to hear from you guys again c: