Normally she would groan at the reality of having to complete work in her bed. Truly, being Hokage allows for very little rest even if she has revolutionized the administrative aspects of the job. However, she won't bemoan the work as it allows her not to think she just sent her son on a mission to either avoid or start a war with Iwa. She's not worried about him getting hurt, while no ninja is invulnerable she has Jiraiya's report from his time in Ame. Naruto currently has no equal in terms of combat, especially after integrating the yin portion of Kurama into his seal. The issue is Naruto knows he's powerful. He no longer can hide behind his status as an underdog, he is not.

Given that and the best case scenario of this operation costing hundreds of lives, she worries about how he handles it. It's one thing to kill someone in a hard fought battle. It's another to erase people from existence with just the wave of a hand. She is no stranger to lording over a battlefield, in her prime she could wipe out platoons with the best of them but true army killers? No matter what anyone says, almost no S rank shinobi can actually do that. If it were a common feature of the rank, Minato would have been feared but not the pathology inducing panic he causes Iwa and Oonoki. 'Fucking Oonoki' she thinks. If that old asshole had just retired or had the good sense to die this could have been avoided. Now, he'll lose his village, of this Tsunade is sure. Naruto was a gifted saboteur, she assumed it was due to his facility with pranks. She just hopes he can handle the aftermath, that those that love him are enough to get him through.

"You're thinking entirely too loud and are blowing a hole in my masculine pride. When I bed a lovely lady, she generally stays asleep."

"Lot of experience?" she said, almost dangerously.

"All in preparation to be worthy of you, Hime."

"You've gotten, smarter."

"Death will do that to a man."

So, yes, she and Jiraiya are finally giving it a chance. What is it? She doesn't really know but what she does know is that she cares about the old pervert and finally saw that he had changed. It seems Naruto wasn't the only one that had to come to terms with himself while they were away, as Jiraiya too, had to move past the lovable screw up he often thought of himself as. That also meant, those around him had to stop treating him as such. Things between them had been progressing slowly since they originally returned but after Ame, she realized they didn't have time for slow. So, here they both are, doing whatever it is they are doing.

"You shouldn't worry so much about him, I help pull Minato through his time during the war and I can help Naruto, too. Besides he has two mothers and a sister he's strangely afraid of."

Tsunade had to laugh, she never thought of that. If things get too bad, she could just tell him to cheer up or else she'll sic Shizune on him. He'd likely be too frightened to bother being depressed.

"You may have a point, but we'll see. He's only been gone a week."

"He'll be fine. Believe it." Jiraiya said with a laugh.

"I hate you so much right now."

Minato woke up to a familiar sound. Familiar but one he hadn't heard since the war and his body went cold. He tried to convince himself he was dreaming, that he wasn't hearing what he thought he was. What reason would there be? He pinched himself and the pain assured him he was awake. The ever calm former Hokage was in a near panic and cursed his luck. He had only ever won a single argument against Kushina and given the fallout of that, he wasn't liking his odds. But he was no coward so he knew the best way to handle is was the direct approach. He finds himself wishing Naruto was not on assignment as he feels his son would have a better chance at this. Taking some calming breaths, he heads to his living room to see his wife sharpening her katana, The Red Lady, on a wet stone while Kakashi watched.

"Ohayo, Minato-kun!" she greeted.

"O-ohayo Kushina-chan." he replied "Sweetie, why are you sharpening your sword? Have a spar scheduled?"

"No, I have some people to run through." she said while giving a sagely nod.

"Kushina, baby, you can't just stab people with your sword."

"Of course I can. I'm really good at it. I stabbed lots of people during the war and I was only defending Konoha. Certainly, I can do it to those that harmed my sochi. First, Inoichi-teme, then Hiashi-teme and we'll move on from there."

"Kushina, you doing this would be incredibly illegal; not to mention it won't help Naruto."

"How am I not helping Naruto?"

"He needs to forgive them, it's not good to hold onto resentment like he has. He needs to give them a chance to make amends."

"No, you need him to do that. You need him to forgive them so he'll eventually forgive you. What he needs is for his parents to be on his side for once. Apparently, I'm the only one of us prepared to do that."

"How does you going on a rampage show we're on his side? It'll only turn the villagers against him again."

"So? He doesn't care about their approval, he doesn't care if they hate him. Why can't you get that? The people we sacrificed our family for saw to it that our son will hold the vast majority of them in contempt. You're preaching about forgiveness is just white noise. What he'll appreciate is me showing him that what they did wasn't ok and they will be held responsible. They don't get to say sorry a decade after the fact and it be ok."

"But Kushina he needs to care. It's not healthy, I don't want him to be bitter and turn on the villagers. You said it yourself, containers must fill themselves with love to counteract the hate."

"Yes, love, not sainthood or victimization. I never said he couldn't stand up for himself. I'm glad he has enough self-worth to not forgive these people that have done nothing,, absolutely nothing to earn his forgiveness. You don't even expect them to? You just want to act like it didn't happen. Well, I won't! I will never forget what they did to my most precious person, how they isolated him to the point of near insanity. How some even tried to attack him in your name!"

"I'm just as angry as you are, Kushina."

"No, you aren't! You just want to play peacekeeper. You just want to control Naruto and my reactions instead of supporting us. Do you realize how they treated him is how they would have treated me had they known. Your predecessor could have gotten him killed, Minato. No wonder he refuses to have anything to do with you. You never try to understand him, you only want to dictate what he should do. Until you can understand and accept his side of things, Minato, your son will always be lost to you."

"So, what, I just resort to violence? Beatdown anyone that ever looked at Naruto wrong?"

"If that's what it takes."

"You can't mean that. Kushina, despite their failure these are essentially good people."

"No, they aren't. They psychologically tortured a child. Good people don't do that. A loving father would understand. It breaks my heart that you can't seem to."

"Kakashi, a little help?"

"Well, I would be all for running through Inoichi except Naruto already handled him."

"You have been absolutely no help, student mine… wait, what did he do to Inoichi?" Minato said with some concern.

To which, Kakashi shrugs. "Let's just say that for a small window of time, Inoichi wasn't the only one Ino called Daddy."

"Now, that's proper revenge."

"Shut up, Minato! And Kakashi if you turned my sochi into a pervert I'll kick your ass, dattabane!"

"Moving on, Kushina, what about our family? We're back, we could have more kids. This would make it harder on them and I doubt Naruto would want that."

"I'm not having more kids," Kushina said with a laugh. "How would that work? 'Hey, Naruto, you know everything we didn't give you? Yea, here's how'd that would look! Cool, ain't it?' No, Minato, I won't do that to him nor would I ever want to be in a position to have to leave another small child by themselves. I don't trust these villagers with my family."

"Kushina, you can't just kill people. You'd be arrested, no matter how much Tsunade agreed with you. You'd be taken from Naruto, again. I realize now that it seemed like I didn't hold them responsible, that I didn't care about what they had done. But that isn't true. I'm disappointed in them, that they disregarded my final wish and hurt my son but I have to believe they can do better, are better than their darkest hours."

"Why?"

"Because if given the choice, I'd do it all over again. I'd seal Kurama in Naruto to protect the village as it was my duty. So, I have to believe they are worth it, that they are basically good but lost their way."

"Then you won't have a relationship with Naruto. Because they aren't good, they are petty and vile cowards. Being Hokage meant more to you than being a father, clearly."

"No, that isn't true." Minato said, visibly hurt my Kushina's words.

"Yes, it is. You'd seal Kurama in Naruto again, I'd fight with everything I have to prevent it. They weren't worth it. You need to believe they were but they weren't."

"So, you'd let thousands die, even those too young to have been guilty of anything?"

"Yes. You seem to think Naruto was created with the purpose of suffering for others. He was not. His innocence isn't any less valuable than theirs, his happiness isn't trivial. At least, not to me. So, for those that scorned him and taught their little bastards to do the same, I'd rather he had been relocated than made to serve the people that cursed his existence."

"I don't think that about Naruto, he's my son, too, damnit."

"Then act like it. Stop telling him how to feel, Minato. He isn't being unreasonable, he has every reason to not trust these people you hold so dear. You know, you've taken all the fun out of this, I'm going out." Kushina said before exiting the room without her sword.

"It seems some of you are unhappy with the new direction of the clan. Unhappy enough to give our security protocols to Iwa Assassins with the hope they'd kill me. Your assassins failed gentleman, your coup has failed." said Hinata, addressing her Elder council.

"You have no proof!"

"Silence! Have no proof? I had Anko-sensei do a thorough investigation, your co-conspirators gave you up within hours."

"It was so fun, too! I never got to crack a Hyuuga and then I had three all trussed up for me like it was my birthday."

"You were quite welcome, Sensei. Was the change I brought so scary that you'd rather be traitors than adapt?" she shook her head in disbelief. "Don't answer it. I don't even care. Sensei, please take them away and do as you please. Don't even bother sending the bodies back, they can be fed to wild animals for all I care."

It has been four weeks since the assassination attempt and Hinata Hyuuga, current Matriarch of the Hyuuga Clan was not happy. While she expected some push back against her being the clan head, to attempt to murder her and to work with another shinobi village to do so has left her disgusted. Rooting out the inside men had been easy enough, getting the elders back also wasn't a problem. Her issue is now having to be suspicious of the rest of her family, not knowing who she can trust outside of Hanabi. It's taxing wondering where the threats are and Hinata often wonders if this is how Naruto felt when he was younger. If that weren't enough, Hinata has another engagement she must see too that has been long overdue and she isn't looking forward to it in the least.

"Hinata-sama, Tenten-san is awaiting you in your office."

"Thank you, I'll be right there." This conversation had been a long time coming, the two had been putting it off for years, both willing to just pretend it wasn't necessary. But their interactions had been increasingly chilly when they weren't completely nonexistent. Hinata can, intellectually, recognize the pettiness of it all as she was the initial cause of their fraying friendship and had done little to fix it. Maybe this could be their way forward, hopefully it could be.

"Tenten, thank you for seeing me today."

"When one is summoned by the head of the Hyuuga Clan, they make sure to answer it." Tenten said, snarkily.

"I guess, I deserve that. Tenten, I know much of our issues is my fault and I'm sorry, I should have handled the change in yours and Naruto's relationship better. I shouldn't have grown distant toward you, I let my resentment and jealousy get the better of me and I'm hoping you can forgive me and we can move forward."

"Now that you have Naruto."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're sorry and hoping to move forward now that you have Naruto. Had you not, had he moved on with me would you be bothering to fix our friendship?"

"I can't answer that, I don't know. I'd like to think I would. Besides, you two were never together, it was always casual between you."

"That is the story, isn't it."

"Are you saying you two were more than that?"

"I'm saying we never got the chance. That idiot couldn't move on from you and assumed I was having a similar issue with Neji, I wasn't. I'm practical and won't pine over someone that won't be with me but I also didn't have my emotional dependency manipulated by my first love so I could see why he'd struggle to move on."

"I didn't manipulate him. I told him not to wait for me, I told him to be happy."

"And then acted pissy toward the first woman he got close to. Be honest, you didn't want him to move on, your words were empty. Just something you knew you were suppose to say, not how you truly felt."

"What do you want me to say? I had to let him go, I had to free my family and save my clan. No one else was going to do it and I had to risk my future with Naruto. Do you think it was easy?"

"Since you didn't actually risk anything, just put him on a shelf, I wouldn't know."

"So, all this heat from you is because I'm with Naruto?"

Tenten just shrugs. "I'm happy with Neji, I was happy with Naruto but he felt guilty. I'd see it in his eyes, if he felt anything more than physical attraction it was like he was cheating on you. And you did nothing to disabuse him of that notion. And all for your clan, this clan that plays with the lives of those in and out of it."

"I don't know what you want, Tenten. I admit, I was cold to you when I realized what you two were doing. Partially because I thought you were my friend and wouldn't do that to me. Even if we had to end things before they had even begun, I loved him and you knew that."

"So, if you can't have him no one else is suppose to either?"

"It isn't that simple and you know it isn't."

"I know he needed something more than a friend and I wanted more, we weren't wrong for what we did but you sure judged us anyway."

"You're right, I did. I just always imagine we'd be each other's first in everything and knowing that wouldn't be the case, that he might actually move on hurt. I really am sorry."

"I forgive you. Besides, who knew the Hyuuga Princess could be jealous of a mere commoner." Tenten offered with a smile.

"Who, indeed."

Oonoki had gone from venerated leader to disgraced traitor in just a few weeks. Things tend to move fast for shinobi but this was ridiculous. Oonoki knows this was caused by Tsunade, a response for the assassination attempts on the Hyuuga clan head and her pet jinchuuriki, the goddamn Namikaze. When he sent his platoon of killers he didn't know the real Namikaze was back or else he'd have sent more.

Oonoki had mulled over his fall and as best he could tried to understand how he had been ousted. To think it all hinged on Hiro Saito, a name he hadn't much thought about. The man was a greedy bastard that greatly overestimated his intelligence and value but he did have his uses as a go-between, especially for blacks op or mercenary work. He had concluded, given the evidence, that the man's assassination had been a power play by the Akatsuki or an attempt to cover their tracks before they made a move on Iwa.l He was wrong, he realized. It was a job by Konoha and he never suspected it. Maybe that was why he didn't pay attention to the buyout proposal of the Mishima Collective, a corporation that the government of Iwa held a minority but still significant interest in, as did the Daimyo. The buyout is what started his downfall.

When an interested party not based in Earth Country tries to buy into or a controlling interest of a company or organization that is partially owned by the Daimyo he has his accountants go through the books of said company, one is to gauge how a sale would affect the Daimyo and the nation but also to make sure nothing illegal has or could occur. The accountants found money being siphoned from Mishima to Saito and the amounts roughly equaled the illegal activities, and black ops, Saito had financed on behalf of Oonoki, including hiring the Akatsuki. As this implicated the Daimyo as being involved with a group of terrorist he was, of course irate that Oonoki had been so sloppy and had stolen from him.

Oonoki had don't himself no favors by insisting it was a, a setup, b. Not that important, and c. the focus should be on killing the Konoha jinchuuriki who was the son of Minato Namikaze. Oonoki singular focus on his archenemy, to the point of obsession, along with how his actions could cause issues with the other Daimyo of the Elemental Nations left Oonoki with the demand he retire and appoint a successor immediately. Oonoki felt he was boxed in and left little choice as his council had agreed with the Daimyo and would not support their current Kage any longer. Not even his son nor granddaughter came to his side. In his anger, Oonoki called out to his most loyal shinobi and they all abandoned their village. Oonoki planned to invade Ame, hearing it had lost its leader and was weak. From there, he'd figure out a way to kill the Namikaze, both of them, and Tsunade for good measure. As he marched toward the border of Earth country, Oonoki was greeted with the sight of a massive nine tailed fox, cloaked in golden chakra. It was aiming a bijudama at him and his followers. The impact came swiftly, killing everyone but him. When Oonoki recovered the fox was gone but a lone figure, cloaked in the same golden chakra was looking upon the former kage.

Oonoki was enraged that he had been intercepted by the boy he longed to see dead and made a promise to himself that he would be the one to end this arrogant child that assumes he could stand as an equal to one of the strongest shinobi in history. What followed was a furious ninjutsu battle. Oonoki was shocked to see the boy match him, the only man to do so previously had been the Sandaime Hokage. Where Oonoki had a mastery of three primary elements and his dust release, the boy showed a mastery of all five elements and had a time-space barrier to deflect the dust element. Oonoki had been getting desperate, it was taking a lot of chakra to remain in the air and he was running out of plans. It was clear the boy had the superior reserves and must have had decent chakra control to not even be breathing heavily.

So lost in thought, Oonoki almost missed the jutsu aimed at him, something he faintly heard the boy call Scorch Style: Champagne Supernova. Not allowing himself to be shocked that the boy has a kekkei genkai on top of everything else, Oonoki dodges the jutsu but felt how superheated the air got and the force of the shockwave the jutsu produced, which sent him toward the ground. Oonoki barely managed to dodge three water dragons although he would swear two of them looked like ice during his descent. He cursed himself as he headed for the ground while seeing the boy run through a series of hand seals only for the boy to end on snake but nothing happened.

"What's wrong, brat? Can't finish the job?"

"I'm glad losing everything hasn't humbled you at all."

"As if I'd ever allow someone of your bloodline to humble me."

"Whatever, old man. Enjoy your petty resentments." Naruto said as he began to leave.

"How dare you turn your back on me!" Oonoki yelled. His reserves spent and the force he hit the ground making a mounting an offense an impossibility but he wouldn't be disrespected by this boy."

"Funny weather we're having." Naruto said before he he vanished from in front of Oonoki, who took that as a cue to look up and saw the oncoming snowflakes.

Thinking nothing of it, Oonoki tried to get up but was having difficulty as his body was hit with a wave of pain with every move. The first snowflake landed behind Oonoki so he didn't see the effect but the second one landed on his right food and he felt the freeze instantly. It horrified the former leader, a hyoton technique, he had never suspected. Another snowflake hit Oonoki in the same leg and he realized he had to get outside of the area of effect or he'd be frozen to death. Mustering every ounce of resolve he had, Oonoki tried to get up but couldn't, the ice not only hampered his mobility but weighed him down. He grabbed a kunai and decided to try to shatter the ice but was having very little luck. Fighting back a sense of panic, Oonoki ignored the snowflake that fell on his left leg. He tried to focus every bit of chakra he had left to perform one more dust element technique to remove the snow and the clouds. He knew he'd pass out after the technique but attempted it anyone, managing to form it. The onset of chakra exhaustion is why Oonoki didn't notice the snowflake that landed on his left arm, instantly freezing it and destabilizing his jutsu. The blast killed Oonoki instantly. A figure hidden from view dispelled himself, sending confirmation to the original.