Chapter 29. Everybody Wants To Rule The World
The pair strolled in the elaborate gardens together, pausing at the koi pond where the woman settled herself gracefully by the rock wall that lined the edge of the pool. The man towered over her but waited deferentially until she motioned for him to sit, too.
"And so you're leaving, then?" she asked, studying the fish in the pool who rose to the surface at the appearance of the shadows over their watery home, hoping for a treat.
"Yes, I just came to say goodbye to you," he said, facing away from the pond, looking back toward the village.
"I can't convince you to stay?"
He laughed then, leaning back on his elbows and stretching his legs out in front of him. "You, especially, cannot convince me to stay. I'm tired of you trying to smooth out my rough edges," he answered, smiling over his shoulder at her.
She tried to frown at him, but it just came out as an odd, smirking half-smile. "Well, I tried," she laughed herself.
She looked at him fondly for the longest time, then picked up a pebble and tossed it into the pond, fish scurrying rapidly toward it, ripples coursing through the water. "Have you considered the consequences of your action? How far they will reach?"
Picking up his own small handful of pebbles he tossed them into the pond as well, ripples in all directions, converging ones making tiny waves, colliding ones collapsing. "Don't play Zen master with me. Can any of us know the consequences of our interactions with others? Is it possible to predict?"
"I worry about Orochimaru if you're gone…"
"Orochimaru will be fine. Tsunade will keep him in line. The two of them, working together on this…," he shook his head and chuckled, "Everytime I turned around she was off to see Orochimaru again and I'd have to pull both their noses out of some medical book or scroll."
Another pebble. The fish weren't falling for it this time, they kept to the banks. "So she isn't going with you then?"
"No. Neither is Orochimaru. I asked them both."
She took a deep breath. "I see. So what about Nara ? What did he say?"
"He said 'no'." Jiraiya answered her flatly.
Her brow wrinkled. Jiraiya answered her unasked question. "It's not that I don't think Minato is qualified. It's that Nara would be able to see through all the political bullshit much better. Especially after this. Besides, you know how I feel about Minato. He's like a son to me."
She leaned forward and placed a palm against his cheek. "Yes. I do know." Brushing white strands of hair back with one thumb, she added, "Good-bye Jiraiya."
He leaned forward and kissed her on her cheek. "Good-bye, Koharu-sensei."
Rising he shouldered his scroll again then offered her his hand and she stood. "I knew her," Koharu started then added, "I knew them both actually, but I knew her well. She would have told you you were making the right decision."
Jiraiya paused. "Thank you, sensei," he said and turned. She watched him walk down the hill toward the village's gate.
"More tea?"
The pale man let his hand hover above his cup, politely declining the proferred pot. "Thank you sensei, but no."
"Hn, yes," Sarutobi acknowledged, refilling his own cup. Lifting it, as well as one eyebrow he studied his student. "An eventful night, last night, wasn't it?"
Orochimaru sat very still, merely nodding in answer.
"The diplomatic teams of all three nations are furiously reassuring each other that they had nothing to do with it. There aren't enough messenger ninjas to go around delivering all the official communiques. Criminal elements are to blame, of course. Criminal elements that managed to lure even my own ANBU captain…" Sarutobi left the sentence unfinished.
"Of course, sensei, as you say," Orochimaru's voice was soft, as always but his heart was thundering furiously. Was it possible Jiraiya and Koharu had pulled this off? Was it really possible that Sarutobi did not know? Or was he toying with him, trying to trip him up into revealing his part in it all? A very faint glimmer of hope that perhaps Sarutobi had been unaware of any of it from the very beginning was quickly squashed. The budgets and scope alone made that simply not possible.
"It is unfortunate when these criminal elements target each other and innocent people and legitimate institutions suffer…" Another thought unfinished. Orochimaru took note of it as an interesting tactic.
"Tsunade must be quite upset at the destruction of her new facility," Orochimaru ventured helpfully, wondering exactly where his blonde teammate was. How had she taken all of this?
"Yes. Indeed. Upset is an understatement," Sarutobi smiled although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've sent her to Amegekure. She and Dan can comfort each other, seeing how his own research facility that he shared jointly with his counterpart in Rain was a casualty last night as well. I believe I'll leave her stationed there for a while. She and Dan work so well together, don't you think?"
Orochimaru nodded, trying to fathom life without either one of his teammates in it.
"Of course, I'll need to beef up the shinobi stationed along the border, tensions are high right now. Unfortuntely, I don't have the medical nin I'd like to cover that increase in troops. But she and Dan are the two best I have. I'm sure the two of them can handle any situation and it's unlikely that we'd actually have any major action."
His mouth dry now, Orochimaru asked, "Don't you think that's spreading the two of them a little thin, sensei? If something were to happen to either one of them…If there's action and the other one can't tend to…"
Sarutobi raised a hand, cutting off his student. "As I said, it's unlikely. I agree that it's an unfortunate staffing situation. But combat is unlikely to occur."
Orochimaru sipped his now cooling tea and waited for his master to speak again.
"An interesting item has come to my attention after last night's activities, Orochimaru."
"Oh?" the raven-haired man asked, wondering if he really wanted any more information from his teacher today.
"Hn, yes. It seems that Mugato and his criminal cohorts were funneling money into their own separate research facility."
"Oh?" Orochimaru asked, again, not really knowing anything else to say.
"Yes. It seems a shame to let this covert lab go to waste in light of the fact the Tsunade's lab was destroyed. Actually we should compensate the people of Konoha for their loss of tax revenues. Civil forfeiture laws would allow us to seize that facility even though it is on Uchiha lands. It's located in a very remote area, on the border."
"I see."
"And of course, there's the issue of the enemy combatants we detained there last night. Those that are criminals from our own nation we can try in the courts, of course. But those that are not…well, we aren't at war with anyone, so they aren't exactly prisoners of war. And yet, we can't very well repatriate them, they pose such a threat to us. Perhaps it's best if they remained there, don't you agree?"
Orochimaru cleared his throat and shifted in his chair, "Hn, yes, I see."
"I knew you would. I need someone on whom I can depend, someone I can trust. And really, this would suit you perfectly Orochimaru. There are probably volumes of research there. Just imagine, if Tsukyomi, a kekkei genkei can be activated artificially who knows what else shinobi can add to their individual abilities. It will take a true visionary to make this come to fruition. Someone like you, Orochimaru.
"I think, perhaps, Sarutobi-sensei, I've been in my current duties too long. Perhaps I should go to Amegekure with Tsunade, too. Although not a true medical ninja, I am competent in the basic skills and could help…"
"Nonsense, Orochimaru," Sarutobi smiled, leaning forward to pat his favorite student's hand. "I wouldn't want you to go all the way to Rain. I want to keep you here. With me."
= The End = (Well, actually there is an epilogue – so don't miss chapter 30!)