A.N.: So here comes another chapter. Please excuse lower quality of some scenes, writing this was hard and I'm not rewriting it again, so please put up with me. Next couple of chapters should be better.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do I look like Kishimoto to you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kazekage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was well past midnight, close to the morning in fact, but the leader of Sunagakure was still up. Even if he already knew the situation had gone to hell, he didn't realize it would be so bad. The retrieval teams had finally finished going through the rubble and were now trying to identify the victims. Many of the bodies were destroyed during the fight of the three jinchuuriki, but those they recognized were bad enough. Beside the Wind Country Daimyo they retrieved a nephew of the Earth Country Daimyo, cousin of the Fire Country Daimyo, sister of the Bear Country Daimyo, fiancée of the Rain Country Daimyo's son and two high-ranking members of Grass Country Daimyo's court. There was also somebody who looked like a minor noble from Lightning Country, though it was still unconfirmed, and somebody from Waterfall. The list wasn't finished yet. The Kazekage dreaded to think of who would appear next.
There was a knock on the door and the Kazekage looked up. What was it now? He doubted that it would be good news. He couldn't imagine what news would count as good now.
"Kazekage-sama?" It was his secretary.
"What is it now?" He was hard-pressed not to growl. But he couldn't. He was the Kazekage, their leader. He had to present a façade of calmness in the face of trying times, so his shinobi wouldn't lose their hearts.
"Hokage-sama came to see you." So the other Kage wasn't sleeping as well. Somehow the thought failed to improve his mood today.
"Send him in." He wasn't in the formal setting of his audience chamber, he wasn't even wearing his full robes, but this wasn't the time to care about protocol.
The door opened and Sarutobi walked in. He was once again in his pristine robes of state. The Kazekage idly wondered how many sets he got and why he even cared. The ones he had worn at the banquet were beyond repair.
"Greetings, Kazekage-dono," the older man began. "I hope I'm not inconveniencing you."
"Not at all," he answered truthfully. He welcomed any interruption form his rather depressing routine. "I trust your people are well, Hokage-dono."
"Those who survived this long will be alright," the older man answered gravely. The Kazekage didn't know what to say to it, but Sarutobi saved him by continuing. "But it isn't what I came to talk to you about."
"What is?" Somehow he couldn't imagine it would be something good.
"My shinobi reported to me some rather disturbing things about the person who started the fighting," Sarutobi announced.
"You mean Akatsuchi? I've heard something as well, but the report was sketchy and far-fetched," the blue-robed man replied.
"I have it confirmed by several trustworthy witnesses. Akatsuchi acted more like a puppet than a human, moving even when gravely wounded."
The Kazekage took only a moment to ponder over it. He did consider the possibility himself. "You mean a third party was involved?"
"It is possible," the Hokage confirmed. "The Tsuchikage wouldn't have sacrificed his own grandson in this way. For all he ever did, he loves his family dearly. He looked surprised when Akatsuchi appeared. And Akatsuchi himself couldn't even get out of bed, unless the medics completely botched his diagnosis. Yes, Kazekage-dono, I believe someone else was involved."
"Now the question is who and why," the Kazekage muttered.
"I think the why is clear," the Professor answered gravely.
"War," the Kazekage voiced what had been going through his mind since the first blow.
"Exactly."
"Even if we prove somebody else started it, our Daimyos are going to call for revenge." The list of casualties grew heavy in his hand.
"There might still be a chance to turn their vengeance against those truly responsible," Sarutobi suggested. "If we analyzed Akatsuchi's corpse, we might discover something."
"First we have to find his body." The Kazekage's voice was bitter.
"Is there a problem?"
"It was probably destroyed during the fight," the leader of Hidden Sand explained. "Even if we determined which one of the lumps of coal is him, I doubt there would be any traces left."
"What about his hospital room?" the Hokage asked gravely.
"It was empty," the Kazekage answered. "My specialists couldn't find any trace of what occurred there."
"That's too bad." Sarutobi looked grim.
"That it is." There was a moment of heavy silence. Both village leaders were remembering the last war and guessing what the next would bring. "When the war starts," the Kazekage asked, "will the treaty between Suna and Konoha still hold?"
"I can't tell what our Daimyo is going to do, but unless he orders otherwise, we will face the times ahead as allies."
"That's good to hear." It was the first good news tonight. "Suna will be glad to stand beside Konoha."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The hotel~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hana didn't sleep the whole night. First she had to drag her little brother, her mother and her dog to safety, but thankfully the Suna genin helped her. Then she used her still insufficient medical knowledge to make sure they'll survive. Thankfully they were only knocked out, their wounds superficial. Then she had to take care of her brother. It took a lot of hugging before Kiba broke out of his stupor. The boy then started crying and remained that way for over an hour before he cried himself into sleep. She tucked him into the bed and went to look for her teammates. She found them in their room, roughened up and completely exhausted, but all of them thankfully alive and in one piece. Only then she could grab a couple of hours of sleep for herself.
She thought she only closed her eyes for a moment when she was woken by a wet tongue in her face. The Haimaru siblings were reminding her that they didn't get any food or water since yesterday. She picked herself up and went to find them some. When she got back, her mother was awake as well.
"What happened yesterday?" she asked. Hana quickly retold what had occurred after she passed out.
"Hn," Tsume said when her daughter finished. "At least we're all alive."
"Then why do you look so grim?" her daughter inquired.
"And why would I not? Do you realize what all that means?"
"War?"
"Precisely," the clan head nodded vigorously. "War. And do you know what that means?"
"I can imagine?" Hana tried.
"You only think you can imagine," Tsume corrected her. "If you think what happened to your first team was bad, now things are going to be so much worse! I know, I already lived through one. I hoped you two wouldn't have to, but that's not going to happen."
"You mean even Kiba?" Hana was taken aback.
"Yes, even little Kiba," she confirmed.
"But he still has over three years until graduation," the younger woman pointed out. "Maybe the war would be over by then."
"He'd have three years in peacetime," her mother corrected. "During wartime, graduation age is lowered to make up for our losses. He would be graduating in a year and the fighting would be still on by that time."
Hana didn't know what to say to that. She was saved from having to answer by Kiba awakening.
"I'm hungry," he announced.
"You always are," his mother replied like nothing was wrong. Hana didn't understand how she could look so calm after all that was said. "Let's make breakfast. I'm hungry too."
They ate in silence. Kiba concentrated on wolfing down his food, Hana not trusting her voice.
"I've been thinking," Tsume began when they finished. "It's time for you to get your own dog."
"Really?!" Kiba jumped high in the air.
"Yes," Tsume confirmed.
"Yay!" He punched the air. "I'm going to have my own dog! Did you hear, sis? I'm going to be an awesome ninja in no time, you'll see!"
"I'm sure you will," Hana replied subdued. Kiba, even in his elation, picked up on it.
"What's wrong, sis?"
"Nothing," she lied. She didn't want to disturb her brother's moment of happiness. It might be the last one in a long time to come.
"Did something happen to you yesterday?" Kiba inquired, suddenly serious. "It was bad there, wasn't it?"
"It was," she nodded, "but I'm alright."
"Then why are you so sad? Did something happen to your team?"
"No."
"Don't pry like that, Kiba," Tsume interrupted. "Hana doesn't want to talk about it, can't you see? You'll find out soon enough."
"Come on," he pouted. "Tell me: What is so bad?"
The two women looked at each other. Should they tell or not? Kiba, for all his shouting and bragging, was actually a clever boy and he would figure things out soon.
"That battle yesterday," Tsume began, "it might have started a war."
"That's bad, isn't it?" Only two grim faces answered him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The next room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He still felt tired, but the sun shining into his face insisted he woke up. He groaned and lifted himself on his elbows. One look showed he was alone in the room. That was new. Usually when he woke up after being wounded his teammates were lying on the other beds around him. He wondered what could that mean. 'I hope they are alright.' Before he could decide whether he should go look for them, the door opened and Tenzo entered.
"So you're finally awake," he greeted.
"As you can see," the genin replied. "Did I sleep that long?"
"Not really. It's only almost noon."
"How are the girls?" Naruto inquired.
"They're both alive and in one piece, though Hotaru is wounded."
"That's good to hear," the blond smiled. "May I go visit them?"
"You may, but you should wash first. There was no time yesterday. You have blood all over yourself."
"Okay." Naruto got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Bathrooms in Suna were nothing like the ones in Konoha. Water was a rare commodity in the desert and it mustn't be wasted. It took him quite some time to learn to use them, but now he took the washcloth with practiced ease, dipped it in the small covered basin and started scrubbing himself. The smears of blood, sweat and dust now came off easily. Well, all of them but one. One blood-red line on the back of his right hand refused to disappear no matter how hard he scrubbed it.
"What takes you so long?" Tenzo called from the next room.
"That one smear won't come off," the blond answered.
"Is it something so bad that nobody should see you with it?"
Naruto considered the tiny line. It wasn't anything much, it looked like some child have drawn a line with a liner. Really nothing to be bothered about. Expect the fact he had no idea how he got it. He was fairly sure there was no kid with paints around him yesterday.
"Not really," he answered coming out of the bathroom. "Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yet another room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hotaru groaned. She felt like somebody had dragged through the meat grinder. She slowly opened her eyes. She squinted in the bright morning sun. Than the angle of the rays registered and she realized she couldn't really call the daytime morning anymore.
"So you're up now?" A voice asked form somewhere she couldn't see.
"Yuugao?" The girl slowly moved to get a look at her companion.
"Who else?" The woman smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Hotaru inquired.
"Just lying around. I can't really get up now." She pointed to her bandaged leg.
"I mean, aren't you supposed to be… you know…" the younger kunoichi didn't know how to finish the sentence without saying something she wasn't supposed to say.
"On duty?" Yuugao completed for her. "I'm excused for medical reasons."
"I can't believe we actually got out of there," Hotaru changed the topic. "How are the others, anyway?"
"Still alive, from what I heard. I don't know more myself. I'm a bit out of the loop here." A moment of silence passed between the two Uzuki females. The younger one broke it first.
"Wouldn't you get in trouble for yesterday?"
"If I did," the ANBU shrugged, "I would already know about it. It seems like nobody noticed anything, which I know is not true."
There was another moment of silence.
"I feel completely useless," Hotaru admitted.
"Why?" her cousin raised an eyebrow.
"I couldn't do anything yesterday." Her voice was filled with self-contempt.
"You were wounded," Yuugao consoled her. "You couldn't have done anything."
"I got wounded fighting some of the weakest opponents," the girl reminded her.
"There were no weak ones," the more experienced kunoichi pointed out.
"Still, I should have been better." Her issues with self-worth were acting up again and they showed no intention of disappearing anytime soon.
"Don't sell yourself short, you're advancing nicely," the older woman consoled her.
"But it's not enough." Hotaru sounded disgusted with herself.
"In ninja life, there are always situations where even your best isn't enough," Yuugao informed her. "You can't do anything about it, only strive to become stronger, so it won't happen next time."
"How do you deal?" Hotaru wanted to know.
"Everybody has to find their own way," the older woman explained. "You still haven't gotten anybody killed, so count yourself lucky."
"That's cold comfort," Hotaru objected.
"I know it is," Yuugao nodded, "but I have nothing better."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The morgue~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Temari found herself guarding the Wind Country Daimyo's daughter even after the battle was over. The girl refused to leave her even after she had completely torn her clothes while pushing her through the window. Thankfully she wasn't clutching her arm anymore. The young noblewoman had completely different things on her mind now.
The princess was currently standing over the corpse of her father, wailing and crying her eyes out. She had been at it for an hour already and she showed no sign of quieting down any time soon. Temari secretly admired her endurance, though outwardly she scoffed at her being such a crybaby. She would never admit that she felt uneasy spending so much time in a morgue.
The door opened suddenly, the creaking of the hinges resounding too loud in the underground chamber, interrupting the young noblewoman's lamenting. Temari almost jumped, but that would be unbecoming of a ninja. She turned to see who was coming. What if it was an enemy? Two days ago she would have laughed at the idea, how would anybody unwelcome get into the heart of Suna? Now she wasn't so confident anymore. After the battle at the banquet she didn't feel safe in her own home anymore.
The young kunoichi straightened when she recognized her father. Even the princess ceased her wailing in the presence of the Kazekage.
"Accept our most sincere condolences, Lady Kenreimon," the leader of Hidden Sand village spoke solemnly. How he managed to keep a straight face Temari didn't know, but there was a reason he became the Kazekage.
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama," the young noblewoman answered between sobs.
"I assure you that Suna will serve you faithfully just like we served your father." The double meaning was completely lost on the grieving daughter.
"Thank you." The princess tried to smile, but failed. "I don't even know what I should be doing," she admitted, "but I know that I want to avenge my father. Iwa cannot be allowed to get away with such heinous act. Would you assist me with this?"
"We will, Lady Kenreimon," he promised with conviction, "or should I say Daimyo-sama now?" He paused for a moment, before continuing in a more serious tone. "But you must understand, your father dreamed of peace and didn't support our military much. I don't know how much would we be able to do."
"I know," the princess nodded sadly. "I too dream of peace, but it isn't possible anymore. I'll give you anything you need for the war."
The Kazekage smiled behind his veil. If he knew this was all it was going to take…
"Thank you for your generosity, Kenreimon-hime," he bowed humbly. "We will do everything in our power to avenge your honorable father."
"I trust you with my vengeance," the girl said with fire in her eyes. "I want to see Iwa burn."
"If it's your wish, we'll make it happen, princess. If you excuse me now, I have to see to my troops."
"You are excused, Kazekage-sama. You know what to do better than me."
The leader of Suna bowed and left. A smile was playing on his lips. It was very fortunate for them to have a little girl easily manipulated for their Daimyo. With any luck he would be able to restore Suna to its former glory. Now he had a lot of work to do, like reactivating the ninja he had to send to early retirement due to the budget cuts and putting the village into war mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kazekage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even with the state Suna was currently in, some formalities had to be fulfilled. That was why the second morning after the attack the nine finalists still present in Suna (alive) were gathered before the Kazekage.
"Because some of you have to leave soon, we'll make this brief. The ones that performed well enough to deserve the rank of Chuunin are those:
Akatsuchi,
Aoyume Daiki,
Gennosuke,
Inuzuka Hana,
Kamizuru Kageromaru,
Kurotsuchi,
Uzuki Hotaru,
Uzumaki Naruto.
If somebody doesn't like it, well better luck next time. That's all, you're excused."
The lucky and unlucky finalists filed out of the office. Hotaru stopped in the hallway. Her wounds started bothering her again.
"Does it hurt much?" Hana asked.
"It's not that bad," the purple-haired girl answered, "if I could lie in bed for a week."
"Too bad we're leaving today," Naruto grimaced.
"So you're leaving already?" The blond turned to the speaker.
"Gaara!" He smiled. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"
"The Kazekage wanted to speak to me," the Suna jinchuuriki explained. "And I'm mostly healed."
"That's good to hear," the freshly promoted Chuunin answered. "Anyway, do you know my teammates? This is Hana and this is Hotaru."
"Hello," the girls replied reluctantly. Especially Hotaru couldn't still forget the monster the small redhead had turned into.
"Pleased to meet you," the tattooed youth answered. Since his voice was flat as ever, they couldn't tell whether he really meant it.
"Sorry I didn't come yesterday," the blond apologized, "but they didn't let me. Everybody is crazy about security with what happened at the banquet."
"That's alright," the other boy replied. "I wasn't in the mood for visitors anyway."
"But you are better now?" Naruto inquired.
"Yes. I meant to ask, why did you care so much back then?" No further clarification was needed. Both knew very well what Gaara was talking about.
"I told you already." Naruto gave him a look usually reserved for slow children. "Because you're my friend."
"That is the same," the redhead pointed out. "Why are you my friend?"
Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "How can I explain that? Because you reminded me of myself of a few years back? Does it make sense? It doesn't, does it? Well, I don't think friendship is something that can be explained. It either is or it isn't."
"I'll remember that," the redhead answered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konohagakure~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The journey back felt too long to them. Truth be told, it was much longer that their journey there, because they had to drag so many wounded with them. But that wasn't the only reason the travel felt endless. They all now realized painfully that they were a small group in potentially hostile territory and they could be attacked anytime. Every one of them let out a huge breath when the desert finally gave way to the green prairies and forests of River Country. Most of them had never been so glad to see the walls of Konoha again, the only exceptions among them being the war veterans.
The party walked through the gates. The chuunin at guard, twice more of them than was usually stationed there, were extremely grateful to see the Hokage back. The messenger birds have carried in the reports of the battle days ago and since then everybody was on edge. They all looked like they expected Konoha to be invaded anytime. But now the Sandaime was back, they felt like they didn't need to fear anymore. The Professor would surely know what to do.
Sarutobi let the party disband. Everybody went wherever they needed to be, for most of them it was the hospital. He headed to his office. For once he didn't even think of the pile of documents that must have accumulated during his absence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hokage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarutobi barely started on his paperwork, when he realized he had a visitor.
"Did you ever hear about doors, Jiraiya?" he asked.
"Sorry, sensei," the Toad Sage answered from his spot on the windowsill. "It reminds me of something, but I can't put a finger on it."
"Cut your joking, Jiraiya," the older man chided. "I'm in no mood for it today."
"I noticed," the self-proclaimed Super Pervert answered jumping from his perch. "I thought you might need some cheering up."
"You thought wrong," the Sandaime scowled. "And if you're finished, we have serious matters to discuss."
"That we do," the big man agreed. "I have some news about Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru," the Hokage scoffed. "Is that everything you concentrate on? I noticed lately that you've been neglecting everything else."
"Now, now, sensei," Jiraiya lifted his arms in defense. "Isn't it a bit harsh?"
"I don't think so." Sarutobi stated. "Tell me: what do you know about Suna's jinchuuriki?"
"Not much," the Toad Sage scratched his head. "He's young and they haven't used him yet, he was revealed only recently."
"Strange thing," the older man said, "is that apparently all of Suna knew. Why didn't you? Don't you have anybody there?"
"Suna is hard to infiltrate," the spymaster (though that was currently in question) explained. "Nobody moves there and the locals are extremely suspicious of strangers. Every travel is easily monitored. Add in the fact that it's fairly small and everybody knows everybody else by sight, it's every spy's nightmare. Ever since my last agent there died six years ago, I barely got any information from there."
"I would accept that excuse from everybody else, but you should be better than that."
"Perhaps I should," the long-haired man sighed.
"I'm glad you agree," Sarutobi said sternly. "So are you going to improve?"
"Yes, sensei."
"And now: What do you know about what happened in Suna?"
"Not much more that is generally known, but I've heard some disconcerting rumors. I came upon them when I was digging around Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru again," the Sandaime sighed. "So what is it?"
"Remember the supposed new village in Rice Fields Country? How Naruto's team fought the Kaguya?"
"Yes," Sarutobi nodded. "What about it?"
"I couldn't confirm it, but there are strong hints that Orochimaru is involved," the white-haired Sannin dropped the bombshell.
"I see." The Hokage frowned. "That's disturbing indeed, but how is that connected to the mess in Suna?"
"I'm getting to it. There is the question where Orochimaru got the funds to start a new village. He left Konoha in a hurry and he wasn't that rich to begin with."
"And you know something about that?"
Jiraiya nodded. "From what I gathered, the new village was visited by strange people. They were all masked, but were wearing the same uniform. Those who saw them said they carried themselves like very powerful ninja and that their leader seemed to defer to one of them."
"Orochimaru actually deferring to somebody?" Sarutobi's eyebrows rose. Then he scowled. "That's a fearsome thought."
"Exactly," the spymaster agreed. "I couldn't get much out of them, but it seems like there is a powerful organization with lots of money, who-knows-how-much members and completely mysterious objectives. If Orochimaru is indeed part of them, it cannot be possibly anything good." Sarutobi considered his student's words. What little they knew about Akatsuchi's condition hinted at the use of a powerful kinjutsu. And Orochimaru was an expert on those.
"They could very well be behind the mess in Suna, though there is no proof," he speculated.
"I'll look into it, sensei," Jiraiya promised.
"Do it. But there's one more thing."
"What thing?" The self-proclaimed Super-pervert had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to like this.
"We need to gather all our strength for the war," the aged Kage announced. Jiraiya slightly paled. 'He can't possibly mean…'
"You want me to stay in the village?" he asked slowly. "I won't be able to investigate that way."
"No, not you," the Third shook his head. The Gama Sennin let out a breath. "I want you to find Tsunade and get her back." Now Jiraiya paled again.
"R-really?" he stuttered. Find Tsunade? Confront her? No matter how much he wanted to see the Slug Princess again, he had no desire to get punched into dirt or lower Earth orbit, depending on what mood the Legendary Sucker currently was in. "B-but she wouldn't come. You know she swore she'd never return."
"How could I ever forget?" Sarutobi sighed. "But we need her. I let her wander for too long as it is. It's time for her to resume her duty."
"It would be better if she heard it from you, sensei." 'She might refrain from killing me this way. Maybe.'
"It would," the Hokage agreed, his thoughts running along similar tracks. "I'll write a letter for her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Iwagakure~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryoutenbin no Oonoki didn't have a good day. After they escaped Sunagakure, they had to travel through the Great Wind Desert with almost no supplies and Sand ninja in tow. It was an experience he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. Well, maybe there were one or two people he would wish it on. In the end, only four of them made it to the Earth Country. He, his granddaughter Kurotsuchi, for which he was eternally grateful, her sensei Takeshi and Roushi.
The mess in Suna was a real tragedy for them. Some of their best had died in the battle. Iwa would miss them dearly in the upcoming war. He spent the whole day going over the resources of the village, counting the battle-ready shinobi and their ranks, their stocks of supplies and their defense lines. What he came up with wasn't overly optimistic. Granted, it could have been much worse, but it could have been much better as well. Despite over a decade passing since the end of the Third Great Shinobi War, The Village Hidden in he Rocks hadn't still completely healed its wounds. Their defeat had been painful and bitter and despite their best effort, he wasn't sure they were ready for the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
His thoughts turned back to his deceased grandson. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the scene of the announcement. Akatsuchi suddenly appearing in the doorway, walking to the dais, then suddenly turning and attacking the Konoha brat. The more he thought about it, the more he was certain that it wasn't really his grandson who had disrupted the celebration. But if it wasn't him, than who? Surely somebody who wanted to cause a war, whatever he wanted to gain from it. He considered Konoha, but discarded the option. That simply wasn't like old Sarutobi. Not to mention that they suffered blows to their strength recently as well. No, Konoha wasn't it. Suna? Ridiculous. They were struggling with their Daimyo's budget cuts, a war would ruin them. But it might also convince their lord to give them more money. That might be a motive, but it was quite a risky way of gaining money. They would be destroyed if it backfired. No, Suna wasn't it either. Maybe somebody who wanted them to take out each other and then finish off whoever survived? Maybe. But who? Kiri was crazy enough to pull such a stunt, but they were currently preoccupied with civil war, they didn't have the energy for anything else. Kumo? They were strong, it might have been them. He didn't even consider the minor villages. Neither of them could measure up to the Great Five. Someone else entirely? Maybe, but what gain would there be for them?
He cut the train of thought. It led nowhere, at least until he had more evidence. And even if he had the answer, it wouldn't change anything about the fact there was a war about to break out and he had a village to command. He had already gone through what he had at his disposal. He started thinking about what they would be facing. His thoughts always strayed to the Konoha jinchuuriki, in his opinion the one who had killed Akatsuchi. The feel of the demonic power, the sight of the red claw cutting into his grandson's body, the sickening crunch when his boy hit the arena wall were all things that would haunt him for years to come. He had lost another of his family to a blond devil from Konoha. He wanted to smash something, but if he destroyed his desk again, he would have to sort through the paperwork again and that was something he really didn't want to do ever again.
He reined in his wayward thoughts. He would have to deal with that little yellow menace promptly, before he grew up to be even more dangerous. With the war looming ahead it was even more important then before. But how to do it? Konoha would guard their weapon when they wouldn't be using him in battle. Then it would cost them too much casualties to deal with him. He filed it under plan B. What would be plan A? It wasn't like he could politely ask Konoha to hand him over. Or couldn't he? Kumo once got away with something similar. He didn't really expect it to work, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. He took out his brush and started writing.
The end for today.
Next time: What trouble would the Tsuchikage's letter cause?