The Last Hope-Revised
This is the revised version of my story the last hope as you can tell from the title… Contains spoilers up to chapter 367 including Yondaime's real name.
Summary: AU Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Itachi and Haku. They each had their own broken childhood, their own pain and made their mistakes in life. Yet they walk on. This is their story. Completely different from the original story fic from now on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am not making any money off of thistherefore do not sue me!
"Speech"
'Thinking'
Flamez are welcome as long as they are not just none sense like "it sucks" or some thing like that... if you have to flame me, at least tell me why I suck!
On to the story!
Chapter six
The meeting between the two Kages did not go well by any standard. Although the shinobi counsel had unanimously agreed to the treaty propose by Haku, Kiri's alliance in exchange for tariff free trade for the entire duration of the war and four years after, the elder counsel did not agree. After all, many of the elders are tied in various economical circles and a tariff trade will cost much loss in their profits.
Of course, the loss of profit was not their reason for disagreeing with the truce. During times of war, any reason concerning economy will go ignored in favour of troops. The elders knew that, therefore they attacked something that they know the shinobi counsel will not be able to brush off easily, the loyalty and the trustworthiness of former missing nins who were once enemies of Konoha. Naturally, when questioning this aspect, the elders made sure to phrase around the factor of the newly reinstated "missing-nin team". Even the elder counsel understood that Konoha can not afford to loose a Namikaze, a Hyuuga and an Uchiha in the current situation.
Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo used to be minions of Orochimaru. Unlike Sasuke and Neji, their reason of following Orochimaru was unknown and they had no pass record to show that they are dependable shinobi. Haku herself was a great setback. Kirigakure no KijinMomochi Zabuza did not have a great reputation in the shinobi world to say in the least. Haku's stability of mind and reliability was greatly questioned.
The shinobi counsel and the elder counsel had broken into a huge argument after that. As the counsels aren't making any progress, Tsunade decided to end the negotiations for the day and gave all the personnel involved two days off. She did so in hopes that the shinobi counsel and the civilian counsel would be able to make a deal under the tables during the break. It was, after all, not good for Konoha's reputation to show such disagreement in front of a foreign leader.
For Itachi, the break was exactly the thing that he needed. Because although he has already told Sasuke the truth about the Uchiha massacre, their relationship hasn't gotten any better. True, Sasuke moved back into the Uchiha compound and hasn't tried to kill Itachi since he found out the truth, but the younger Uchiha was constantly giving the elder the cold shoulder. He also never talked to Itachi unless it was required, why; sometimes the elder Uchiha even caught the younger glaring venomously at him for the briefest moments (which is saying much as the younger Uchiha has not been showing much emotion since returning to Konoha.) Frankly, Itachi doesn't understand why his little brother still seem to hate him, and their lack of positive interaction or any interaction in their case was not helping the building tension under the same roof.
Using the break they had been given and Sasuke's lack of excuse to his advantage, Itachi cornered Sasuke after dinner that day.
"Sasuke," Itachi said putting down the bowl and chopsticks he was holding, "stay, I need to talk to you."
Raising an eyebrow, the younger Uchiha asked in the same monotonous voice he had been using around Itachi (and everyone else) since returning to Konoha, "Is this an order or is this personal?"
"This is not an order," Itachi replied, "but I am hoping that you would stay…"
Sasuke did not wait until Itachi finished before rising form his seat to leave. However, Itachi blocked the doorway, expecting that his younger brother would try to leave.
Sasuke sighed "make it quick." He said, crossing his arms.
Sensing the younger shinobi's impatience, Itachi decided to get straight to business, "I was wondering why you still seem to hate me, even though that you now know the truth behind the clan massacre.
"Is that all?" questioned Sasuke, he did not bother to wit for the answer before trying to get through the door Itachi blocked
When Sasuke found that Itachi was not going to budge, he turned around and sat down at the table and replied, "Then, let's just see who lasts longer." Before proceeding to stare Itachi expressionlessly.
After ten awkward minutes of tense silence, Itachi walked towards Sasuke and a hand on his shoulder. Almost immediately, Sasuke reacted and slapped the hand away and almost snarled in a slightly panicked voice, "Don't touch me!" showing more emotion than the whole entire two weeks he spent in Konoha,
Surprised, Itachi moved his hand.
Shaking slightly with wide, almost unfocused eyes, Sasuke snapped, "Fine!" emotions kept under control for almost three entire years finally released ever so slightly.
"If you must know," Sasuke continued, "you are right, I'm still mad at you. Even though you did not massacre our clan, has it ever occurred to you to tell me the truth regarding the massacre? Did you have any idea what sort mental damage can happen to a six year old who thinks that his elder brother killed his entire clan? Has it ever to you that the same boy would be willing to sacrifice just about anything he has in order to hunt down his elder brother who in fact did not do anything? Did you ever realize that you will be creating a completely false goal and living purpose for that six year old boy?"
Sasuke paused in the middle of his rant and stared at the wide eyed Itachi before continuing in a much calmer voice, "I was willing, willing to give anything to defeat and kill you to avenge our clan. I gave up all my emotions, making sure that nothing will distract me from my sole purpose for living. To defeat I even tried to kill my best friend. I even sank low enough that I allowed that pedophilic snake to bed in exchange for power and information. I gave up almost everything short of my own life."
Sasuke pause and shivered slightly in disgust of himself before schooling his features back to its regular neutrality and reverting back to his old monotonous voice while walking towards the door that Itachi was no longer guarding. "As a shinobi, I know and understand you devotion to Konoha and the need of secrecy for your mission, but did you ever realize that your actions will not only affect Konoha but also around you? As a shinobi you have a duty to this village, but as a person you have a duty to your precious people. I realized that far too late, but you don't seem to have realized it."
Itachi did not try to stop Sasuke from leaving. Sasuke was not at the Uchiha compound for the rest of the break. Itachi did not try to find his either. He spent the entire two days pondering on Sasuke's parting words.
Two days later… at the Hokage tower
After the two day break, everyone was calmer and the negotiations restarted again. Sasuke despite of not being home for the two days, showed up to the meeting on time. But his lack of presence at the Uchiha compound was not missed by both of the counsel.
When Sasuke showed up at the tower, the first thing the civilian counsel did was to demand a reason for his absence. They had thought that Sasuke had spend the two days with Karin Suigetsu and Jugo and in doing so formed some sort of plan with them.
However, the counsel immediately silenced at Itachi's silent glare Naruto's reply of, "He was with me."
Luckily Sasuke showed up early and the display was seen by neither Tsunade nor anyone from Kiri so a big explosion of temper was avoided.
The negotiations restarted again as soon as both Tsunade and Haku's group showed up again. Although both Kages were not present for the little show of temper before the negotiations, much of the shinobi counsel caught that event and within the shinobi counsel a plan that might solve the disagreement between the counsels regarding the issue of loyalty.
While the center members of the shinobi counsel plotted their plan, the negotiations were still in stalemate, much of the same argument as two days ago was still getting thrown around. The "missing-nin team" was getting very bored so was Haku's "bodyguards". They were there for show after all as they were too young to claim their seat on the shinobi counsel and Itachi although technically holds the chair of the Uchiha clan in the counsel was disregarded as he quote from the civilian counsel "is no longer aware of Konoha's current position after prolonged absence."
Just as Tsunade was about to dismiss the meeting as hung, the representative of the shinobi counsel stood up. The shinobi counsel representative is usually the chair of the Uchiha clan, the Hyuuga clan, or the Namikaze clan. Due to the Namikaze clan's chair was empty due to Naruto's age (and the lack of heir before Naruto's heritage was revealed) and Itachi's "inability to attend", the representative was suppose to be Hiashi Hyuuga (who still holds the chair as Neji is too young), however because of the Hyuuga scandal, another member was asked to take over for the time being. The current representative happens to be Shikamaru's father, Shikaku Nara.
"How troublesome…," he mumbled as he read the report on the shinobi counsel's suggestion, "ok…? You gotta be kidding me, he'll never agree."
Seeing the glaring eyes of the civilian counsel, the Hokage, the Kiri group, the "missing-nin team", and the uninvolved members of the shinobi counsel (such as Hiashi who has lost a sizable portion of his political influence due to loosing his position of clan head, and small clans such as the Inuzuka and the Aburame.) he cleared his throat before reporting, "the shinobi counsel propose that we eliminate the possibility of Kiri defection by having the Mizukage marrying into a Konoha clan. The shinobi also propose that the husband to be Uchiha Sasuke.
To be continued…
What would you do if I really did that…? Well, I decided to not be so mean after failing to update for so long.
Shikaku's words were met by complete uproar.
Most of the civilian counsel objected by saying that such an action will only promote more chance of defection.
Sasuke knocked his chair over in his haste to stand up and snarled venomously, "Not going to happen!"
Haku choked on her tea and stared at Shikaku with wide eyes as if thinking that he had just played a big prank.
Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu stared at Shikaku thinking that he's mad.
There was also Naruto snorted and chortled, "Let's see you get out of this one Sasuke-teme!"
Sensing the danger of an argument breaking out, Tsunade quickly snapped out of her own shock and called the meeting to order and signaling Shikaku to continue.
"How troublesome," Shikaku sighed and continued, "well, the counsel reasons that marriage for a period of time has been used to bind deals, so is the best way to secure the alliance. However, if we want someone like the Mizukage to marry into a Konoha clan, only the Namikaze, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha are worthy. As the "population" of the Uchiha and the Namikaze clans' populations are currently low, it's only logical to choose between the two. However, the Tenshingan requires a very specific genetic structure while the Sharingan can be much more flexible when mixed with anotherKekkei genkai, therefore the Uchiha is a better choice. The counsel also feels that Uchiha Itachi has sacrificed enough for Konoha, therefore choosing Uchiha Sasuke. This marriage will also bond Uchiha Sasuke tighter to Konoha, nullifying another of the civilian counsel's fears.
This is met by Sasuke's indignant, "I'm no one's breeding fodder!" However, his protest was met by deaf ears as the uninvolved portion of shinobi counsel broke into argument with the involved portion. Haku's group has also left the room to deliberate on their choice.
At this point, the civilian counsel decided to take some time to discuss the new development among themselves. The new development was not in their favour, if Haku agrees to marry into the Uchiha clan, then they would loose their only reason to prevent the loss of a big portion of their income. Also, if Sasuke agrees to accept the arranged marriage, then he would be in position to take leadership in the shinobi counsel and the advantage over the shinobi counsel due to Hiashi Hyuuga's loss of the Hyuuga clan leadership would mean nothing. The shinobi counsel would be in position to gain back their advantage over the civilian counsel. Since at this point, there's no strong argument against a marriage of Haku into a strong Konoha clan, their only bet would be that Haku refuses. Even if Uchiha Sasuke does not like the proposal, there will other potential clan leaders who will be more than willing to wed a former Mizukage to achieve power that will be next to impossible to obtain otherwise.
At this point of their discussion, a member of the civilian counsel proposed the possibility of stick Uchiha Itachi as the potential husband instead. It was already common knowledge at that time that Uchiha Itachi was in fact only a member of the Uchiha branch clan and therefore would not be able to hold a seat in the shinobi for any longer than it take Uchiha Sasuke to turn sixteen. Also, from Uchiha Itachi's history of obedience of Sandaime's extreme self sacrificing mission, he would be an easy pawn to control. Also, Itachi is currently a front contender for the position of Rokudaime Hokage, there he would not be lacking in the status too much for the Mizukage.
So, the civilian counsel proposed their opinion of using Uchiha Itachi instead with the reason that they don't trust Uchiha Sasuke to insure the loyalty of Kiri when his own loyalty is in question. With this decision, they unknowing sealed their own fate. Uchiha Itachi was not pawn, at least any more.
With the time the civilian counsel took to put in their own opinion, Haku was back. She took a deep breath and said in her most neutral voice, "I agree with Konoha's terms on the terms that for four years after the war, Kiri not only want a tariff free trade, but also protection for Kiri if there is ever an invasion. Of course Kiri will do the same for those four years. Also, for as long as I am married into Konoha, Konoha must not provoke a war with Kiri unless Kiri does so first. I also wish at least a week before the wedding to choose my successor to the Mizukage title."
Before anyone could object Tsunade quickly cut in and agreed to the deal. Both counsel quieted as they really have nothing to say against those terms. Everyone's eyes turned to Itachi; his decision could make and break the deal.
After a moment of silence, Itachi sighed and said, "I will agree."
After the meeting, Sasuke caught up to Itachi. Looking straight into Itachi's eyes he sighed, "I'm disappointed."
Itachi smiled, "No, I did not agree because I thought it was beneficial to Konoha. If I hadn't agreed to it, the counsel would force you into that marriage. I destroyed childhood, Sasuke, but in return, I promise that I make sure that you get to live the rest you life to your liking. You were right about my responsibilities to my precious people, and out of all my precious people, you are the most precious."
To be continued…
This time it's for real…. I'm really sorry for the late update but I'm having a bad case of writer's blocker. This one's extra long to make up for the lateness. I have to say that I'm not all that happy with it, but I decided to not keep you people waiting. I think I'm playing too much on the human greed, but I really can't think of anything else.
Next chapter is the wedding and the rest of the rookie nine and the team Gai will finally show up. I might start on the chunin exam on the rest chapter too. Well, I'm really tight on time so I can't say much more.
Right, I've decided to take off the voting on the pairings, I want the story to flow naturally and pairing might constrict the flow. I'm also looking for a beta... Any volunteers?
Next update might be another few months; I apologize in advance… so sorry. My thanks to all my loyal readers who are still sticking with me after such a long absence
Shiho signing off!