Chapter 13: The Big 5
"I'm glad you all could make it here on such short notice."
"Of course… I owe you one…"
"I believe the death of my predecessor and this current problem may be interrelated, so this is of interest to me."
"My village was attacked by them. Construction has come to a screeching hault. I had to come."
"Same here. I found the bodies of two Jounin guards right outside of the Village."
On that same night, the five leaders of the greatest shinobi countries in the land had come together in the Hidden Leaf Village to meet. Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage, ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair. He wore an orange coat, similar to the one Minato Namikaze had worn as Hokage.
Beside him, Gaara, the Kazekage, rose from his seat. He seemed to be the wildest at the table, with his messy red hair and dark blue eyes, showing lack of sleep. He brushed the front of his red coat as he spoke quietly, "So, they're really back?"
Another man spoke up, "Before we get into that, I would like to address the assassination of my predecessor…" Oshitaki Obata, the recently appointed Mizukage, shook his black hair back, slouched back in his seat. He was clearly the youngest at the table, just in his twenties. He looked around before speaking again, "I believe that the assassin was one of the five living people who still hold connections to the Mist Seven."
Nito Ohba, the Tsuchikage, growled in a low pitch. He was a large, gruff man in his mid thirties, with scars that lined his face and an eye patch over one eye. He objected, "Since when is your village more important than mine? There are almost ten dead or missing from my village, and all of them in the construction industry! The economy for my village, and all villages who are employing my village's construction workers, will crash!"
The fifth man present was Marik Tsubasa, the Raikage. He was the oldest present, over fifty years old. His hair was pure gray, and his piercing, electric blue eyes looked to each other Kage, remaining silent.
Naruto slammed his fist on the table, "This bickering will not get us anywhere! There are many strange things happening right now, but I believe we all agree that the most pressing is the return of the Akatsuki."
Gaara nodded, "If they are back, then we'll need to take countermeasures immediately."
Oshitaki let out a small laugh, "That's your opinion, since you two are Jinchuuriki."
Nobody backed Oshitaki up, though. Oshitaki looked around at their silence and cursed himself, "Well, what do you propose we do about it?"
The Kazekage walked away from the table, looking out the window, "Perhaps a team formed with 3 Jounin from each of these five villages… A sort of task force, like ANBU, but strictly for the search and destruction of Akatsuki."
Naruto looked over at Gaara and nodded, "He's onto something there. Konoha had a team like that when Akatsuki first attacked…" Naruto stopped short as he recalled some of the things this team was faced with, including the death of Asuma Sarutobi Sr.
Nito bellowed, "And how can we trust that shinobi from your village or from any of the other villages won't start eliminating other team members from the other villages?"
Marik cleared his throat and spoke for the first time, "Our other choice is to wait for Akatsuki to show up at our village searching for a Jinchuuriki, tearing our village apart to do so. Which sounds better?"
Oshitaki jumped up, "But this Akatsuki was strong enough to tear up a bar filled with grown men in the Stone Village and to kill two Jounin guards in the Cloud Village without leaving any real trace. We might be sending these men and women to their deaths!"
Gaara turned around, fast, a glare forming, "Then what do you suggest? I have no intent on turning a blind eye and waiting for death to come and steal me away."
Oshitaki fell silent, falling back into his chair.
Naruto leaned back in his chair, "We'll just warn the Jounin selected for this team of the danger. Also, do not include a Jinchuuriki in the selection of members. Then the team will become a target and be eliminated without a doubt…"
The four at the table exchanged silent glances as Gaara returned to his seat. The silence hung over the room for what seemed like an eternity until Oshitaki spoke up again, "May I address the death of the former Mizukage now?"
Each head, though somewhat reluctantly, nodded. The new Mizukage rose from his seat and began to pace as he spoke, "Well, the five living people who held connections to the Mist Seven are Ranmaru, a man who owns a curry shop and used to work under Raiga Kurosuki; Mizu Namikawa, better known as Tsunami, a Rogue ninja who trained to become one of these swordsmen; Suigetsu Hozuki, the ninja who killed Kisame Hoshigaki and claimed two of the eight swords, giving them, begrudgingly, to the Mizukage; Roshu Saito, the last living member of the Seven Swordsmen, who is believed to still carry his sword, Shihonto, the Dead Sword; and Zi Nakita, a woman who trained under Saito."
Naruto shook his head, "I've met Ranmaru before…I doubt his involvement in this assassination. So we only really have four suspects…"
Nito bellowed again, "Nobody's seen Roshu Saito in over a decade, and this Zi girl is likely to follow him. Trying to catch Tsunami is like trying to catch smoke, and I've never even heard of Suigetsu! What are we supposed to do about it?"
Naruto shook his head yet again, "We'll come to some sort of conclusion about all this… For now though, all we can do is investigate to the best of our ability. You may retire to your rooms tonight and head back to your villages tomorrow. Send the three shinobi you select for the anti-Akatsuki team to the Hidden Leaf when you return to you're back in your home villages."
He looked out the window and lowered his head. Gaara stepped up behind him, "It is probably best that we choose successors, you and I."
Naruto shook his head, "I was afraid this day might come. A part of me regrets not having a kid to pass the name of Hokage off to. I know who'll succeed me though… And I owe him a visit." With that, Naruto turned and left.
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Next Chapter: The Night