A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Alright as many of you correctly guessed, the story is unfortunately coming to an end in a few more chapters. We are already in the final arc and I hope that most questions you have or had will be answered. I'm already working on the plot for another story after this one, nothing concrete for now, just some ideas put together.
I read the reviews and I can understand that some of you were expecting one or more characters to die in the previous chapter. However, both Sakura and Kabuto have some unfinished business with other people than Naruto. They will meet their destiny soon enough though, once their part in the story is really over. A little bit more of patience, we're getting there :)
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 56 : Revelations
Konohagakure – Council Chamber
The doors to the Council Chamber were slowly opened by two ANBU operatives as the Mizukage and Raikage entered with their escorts. Tsunade was already seated, waiting for them. A large table had been placed in the middle of the room with just enough seats for each Kage from the Alliance. Natsuki and Shizune were standing behind the Hokage, as per the protocol, only two people were allowed with each Kage during their meetings.
The Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was escorted by Zabuza and Chojuro, two members of the elite Swordsmen of Kirigakure. The Raikage, A, came with Yugito and Bee, the two jinchuriki of Kumogakure. Tsunade had chosen her assistant and student, Shizune, to stand with her for obvious reasons. Natsuki, however, didn't really understand her presence at this meeting. Despite her pride as the previous most powerful bijuu, she knew that nowadays she was nowhere near her past level.
"I welcome you in Konohagakure, Mizukage-dono, Raikage-dono. Please have a seat so we can start this meeting." Tsunade said as she stood up and motioned for her guests to sit down at the table.
A and Mei went to sit down, their bodyguards standing in attention behind them. Shizune and Natsuki did the same and stayed behind Tsunade when she sat down. The blonde Hokage then turned her head towards the ANBU that stood near the doors and signaled them to leave. Once they left and closed the doors behind them, Tsunade did a hand sign and the room was sealed from any outside interference.
"The room is now sealed, let us start this meeting then. Raikage-dono, would you start please ?" Tsunade said. A nodded to her and then stood up from his seat.
"Very well, as you all know we managed to push back an invasion attempt by Otogakure in the lands of Shimogakure and Yugakure. They were easily defeated in the first weeks of the war, the overall level of their fighters was at most chunin with a low number of jonin. We had no difficulties to force them back to Rice Country, having the advantages of both the numbers and the skill. However, when we reached their borders, we had to face much stronger and numerous forces on their end. It's been going on for a week now and they stopped our counterattack at the borders of Ta no Kuni where we are at a stalemate now." The Raikage reported and then sat down. Tsunade then turned to Mei who stood up and started her report.
"While our nation is still recovering from the civil war, when we received the reports from both Kumo and Konoha about the invasion from Oto, I immediately sent out troops to the front lines to offer assistance in any way they could. Konohagakure having a lot more ground to cover, most of our troops were sent here, in Hi no Kuni, in order to go strengthen the borders it shares with the enemy. We also noticed the rise in power of their troops in the last few days. One thing that I need to report is that they also seem to have the support of the troops from the lands they conquered. I find it highly suspicious and hope we will investigate this seriously." Mei finished her report and sat down too. Tsunade, being the host for this meeting chose to speak last and this was now her turn.
"Your reports are consistent with what we've witnessed on the battlefield as well against Oto so far. Ever since my former teammate Jiraiya perished, our spying system is far less efficient than it used to be. Every country that Oto invaded shares borders with Hi no Kuni, yet we weren't able to predict and react in time. I've already sent our best team of spies to investigate the enemy and assess the situation for our allies on the other side of the continent. Naruto is leading that team, two weeks ago I received a letter from the Kazekage stating that Naruto and his team made contact with them on the other side. I know that they left Suna shortly after that and went to proceed with their infiltration mission in Amegakure. They have yet to report back." Tsunade reported to the group before she sat back down too.
"That's most troubling, I hope everything is fine with Naruto-kun." Mei said, not noticing the glare she received from Natsuki when the former bijuu heard the suffix added to her future husband's name by the Mizukage.
"The brat is fine, believe me. There is not much in this world that can take him down, but I can try to dispatch another team to Ame if ..." Tsunade replied but was cut in the middle of her sentence by a new yet familiar voice.
"That won't be necessary, Hokage-dono." Gaara said as a blinding white flash erupted from inside the room. Natsuki felt her ring charging up with chakra and smirked as she knew what was happening in front of them. When the light disappeared, five more people were present in the meeting room.
Amegakure – Kage Tower
Sasuke was currently in his office, thinking about the events that took place in his city when Naruto attacked them. The blond had infiltrated his capitol, killed a bunch of his men and even managed to seriously wound two of his staff officers.
Sakura was only knocked out with a punch to her gut, her recovery went fast and easy . Kabuto was up and running as soon as he regained consciousness, with his particular cell regeneration ability immediately kicking in. Suigetsu was the seriously wounded one, taking the combination attack of both Naruto and his Ice Dragon summon. The silver haired swordsman remained a long time in the giant block of ice, he had to use every bit of chakra he had left in order to stay alive in that frozen hell. Sasuke used his fire techniques to get him out but he had to be careful not to burn his own subordinate in the process.
All in all, that was a humiliation Sasuke could not tolerate. The city still held the traces of that battle against Naruto and their defeat against the blond. The worst part in this is that Sasuke did not react at all during the fight. All he did was cover up for Suigetsu, once the swordsman was at Naruto's mercy. Sasuke knew Naruto played with them and it made his blood boil.
The situation on the front lines was not good either. He got the news from Karin that they had lost River Country against the armies of the Alliance with Gaara leading them during that battle. His enemies had found a way to reconnect the Eastern and Western sides of the continent. The other borders still held though, with the addition of the converted troops and the use of Sakura's version of the Hero's Water.
Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time now, before the Alliance decides to launch a final assault against his lands with their combined forces. Now that they had lost River Country, they can time and coordinate their attack perfectly from every side of his borders. He could only do so much by himself, and the other side has shinobi like Naruto or Gaara in their ranks. Karin's example showed him the limits of his forces against superior foes.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the appearance of space time distortion inside his office. This wasn't the first time he witnessed that jutsu, yet it still amazed the young Uchiha leader. He was burning with jealousy, knowing Naruto also had his own space time ninjutsu. He forgot Naruto for a moment and tried to concentrate on the new arrival in his office for now.
"What are you doing here ? Tobi or Madara, whatever your real name is." Sasuke greeted his new guest.
"You are in a nice mood as usual, and here I thought I would pay a visit to my distant relative for a change." Tobi replied, with a chuckle.
"The powers you showed me are useful, but this is far from enough in order to defeat the Uzumaki. I demand you teach me that space time ninjutsu of yours, I need it if I want to have a chance to kill him." Sasuke announced to his masked visitor.
"Your eyes are still far too young to attempt using this jutsu. I may or may not teach you that jutsu once those eyes of yours mature to their final stage." Tobi replied in his usual tone, making the Otokage even more furious.
"Who are you ? Are you really Uchiha Madara, my ancestor, as that blue haired woman that used to work for you said ? I demand you take off that mask and face me so I can see your face." Sasuke asked.
"Shut up ! You only need to know that I'm a Uchiha like you. All will be revealed in time, for now though, stick to the plan and continue to defend the lands you conquered." Tobi replied, his voice was serious this time and Sasuke took a step back when the masked man snapped at him.
"I can't defend these lands against an attack of all my borders at the same time. I only have limited resources and many men will die defending the borders. Now that their conquered River Country back, that plan of yours to separate them in two failed, they will engage us with an organized army this time." Sasuke said.
"Will you stop whining for a moment ? You are an Uchiha, then act like it and not some scared genin that's going into battle for the first time in his life." Tobi said in anger.
"Even so, I'm only as good as the men I command. They have superior numbers and their top fighters are far more skilled than ours. This is something I learned the hard way in the fight against Naruto." Sasuke said with desperation in his voice.
"You don't need to concern yourself with casualties, I didn't exactly come here empty handed. Here, take him to your right hand man, I have a plan that will even the odds and solve your resource problem." Tobi said as he once again used his space time jutsu to bring someone else inside the room.
"Who is he and how capturing him solves anything on this end ?" Sasuke asked, curious about the package Tobi just delivered.
"You ask too many questions, plus you wouldn't understand even if I explained the situation to you. Just get me Kabuto and we'll start from there ..."
Konohagakure – Council Room
As the light from the Hiraishin slowly died down, Naruto, Konan and Kurenai appeared with the Kazekage and Tsuchikage in the meeting room.
"Naru-kun ! I've missed you so much." Natsuki said as she launched herself in her mate's arms. It was Mei, this time, that had her eyebrows twitching at the sight of the reuniting couple.
"You're finally back, you brat. I see you've brought some company with you too." Tsunade said with a smile when she saw the blond and his guests.
"Yes, we came here as soon as we could, thanks to Naruto." Gaara added, Kurotsuchi nodded after him.
"Before we go on with the meeting, there's something I would like to know. It's been on my mind ever since we started but now's a good time to ask I guess. Who is the woman with you, Hokage-dono and the one with you too Naruto. I'm somewhat familiar with Yuhi Kurenai, with her profile in the Bingo book but those two women are unknown to me. I would like to know their identity before we proceed." The Mizukage said from her seat.
There was a slight tension in the room as most already knew who Natsuki and Konan were but feared how the others who didn't would react. Gaara and Kurotsuchi were already familiar with Konan and her past as an Akatsuki agent. On the other side, A knew of Natsuki's existence, thanks to Bee and Yugito. Mei knew nothing of the two while Tsunade was the only Kage who knew them both. The blonde Hokage and host to all others stood up and was about to speak when Naruto decided to speak first.
"Please allow me to proceed, Hokage-sama." Naruto said, looking towards his leader. Tsunade nodded to him and sat back down.
"Thank you. I guess for the benefit of the Alliance, I shall be sincere with every person present in this room. I know each and every one of you personally and hope you will understand why some of the facts I will now reveal to you have been hidden until now." Naruto started, taking his time to look everyone in the eyes before continuing, even the escorts.
"First is Konan, who came with me. She is a former agent of the Akatsuki organization, she was in fact a member since its founding by my cousin Uzumaki Nagato, also known as Pein the apparent leader of that group." Naruto said as A and Mei were stunned to learn that someone from the Akatsuki was now working with them.
Naruto then told them of his fight against his cousin and how it ended. After that, he told them about Tobi or Madara and how he came to help Konan escape Amegakure. He concluded with her new status as a member of his clan and her participation in the last spying mission against Oto.
"I'm far from pleased to be informed so late of this, Naruto. The fact that you came here with Kazekage-dono and Tsuchikage-dono tells me they support your decision in granting amnesty to this kunoichi. You most likely have the backing of your Hokage too so nothing me, or Mizukage-dono would say at this point is useless but I would like to be informed of such development sooner the next time." A said from his seat while Mei remained neutral.
"I apologize for this and thank you both, for your understanding." Naruto replied while bowing his head down to the two Kage who didn't knew about Konan. The Raikage nodded and sat down while Mei stood up.
"Now, who's this woman Naruto-kun ?" She asked, looking at her fellow red head woman Natsuki. Tsunade and A both closed their eyes, already knowing the truth about Natsuki. Naruto grinned and scratch the back of his head before speaking again.
"She is Natsuki, my fiancee. However, you all know her for her other name, the Kyuubi no Yoko." Naruto calmly said. The audience was stunned, Gaara, Kurotsuchi, Mei and her bodyguards all looked at the vixen who smiled back at them.
"Is this a joke, Naruto ?" Gaara asked, regaining his composure.
"I assure you it's not, Kazekage-dono." A said. "Before you ask, yes, I was aware of her existence. The same more or less happened with Yugito here. It is my understanding that this happened during their training trip after our first Five Kage Meeting in Iron Country." He completed his answer.
"How is this possible and what do you mean 'more or less' ?" Kurotsuchi asked, curious about his choice of words. Seeing that her input would be needed, Yugito stepped in front of her Kage and with a nod he allowed her to speak.
"When Naruto trained with us, he offered to Bee and myself to go through what he called the 'unsealing'. I decided to go along with it while Bee refused, each of us having our reasons that I won't discuss here." Yugito said, gaining the audience's attention.
"Naruto went first, seeing that it was his idea and his method was still experimental. It obviously worked for him, as you can see the both of them as two separate people. When my turn came, it didn't work completely, because my seal didn't work like the one for Naruto. The result is this ..." Yugito said as she closed her eyes.
A few seconds later, when she reopened her eyes, instead of being black they were flaming blue. Her overall morphology changed to what she looked like when using her tailed state but without the chakra shroud.
"Nice to meet you all, my name is Matatabi but you all know me better as the Nibi." Yugito or whatever possessed her said.
"Incredible, is this procedure possible for Gaara too ?" Kurotsuchi asked, unaware of the several eyebrows that rose when the others in the room heard how she called the Kazekage.
"Unfortunately no, that is not possible. Shukaku or the Ichibi is a very uncooperative bijuu and this procedure only works on the basis that both bijuu and jinchuriki are cooperating with each other. I had to alter Gaara's seal in order to limit its influence on him in the past and that's unfortunately the only thing I can do." Naruto replied, with an sad smile for his friend.
"That's alright, thanks to Naruto's alteration of my seal I have a much better control of my powers and my bijuu can't influence me anymore. But what about you guys, what does this mean about Akatsuki and their goal to seal off your bijuu ?" Gaara said.
"It is still possible, but really complicated for them since now they have to gather both me and Natsuki for their sealing to work and all know that two targets are much harder to catch than a single one. This only applies to me though, you Gaara, Yugito and Bee are still single targets to them, not that they are aware of my special condition though." Naruto said with a smirk. Mei was about to ask another question when Matatabi and Natsuki suddenly flared their chakra.
"Did you feel it, Natsuki ?" The two tailed bijuu asked.
"Yes, that's his power. How is that possible ?" Natsuki replied.
"What is it Na-chan ? Is something wrong ?" Naruto asked his mate, with concern in his voice.
"There's someone with the Mokuton affinity nearby, most likely a spy." The vixen replied. Tsunade's eyes widened, thinking about who was this mysterious person with her grandfather's powers.
"Tenzo is still on a mission near the borders so it can't be him, he would never spy on a Kage meeting like this anyway. So who …"
A/N : What do you think ?
The two sides are preparing for the final clash. East and West are finally reunited. Loose ends are getting tied up.
Sasuke is panicking, what do you think Tobi brought him that, according to the masked man, can "turn" the tide in their favor ?
Finally, Natsuki and Matatabi are revealed to everyone. I went with the perfect symbiosis system between Yugito and her bijuu. If any of you watched Stargate SG-1, it's the same thing as the Tok'Ra. Each personality can freely express itself and the body is equally shared between the two. There only that little glow in the eyes that can differentiate the two of them.
One cookie to the one who guess who's the Alliance's meeting hijacker with Mokuton powers that Natsuki and Nibi felt at the end of the chapter :)