Chapter 37

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and smiled. They had done it, both boys had obtained the title of ANBU commanders and they had achieved this high position almost at the same age as Itachi and Jade. Both of them were heading their own big unit composed of eight ninjas in total. Today was their day off and most of their graduation class was meeting in Choji parents barbecue restaurant. They were one of the first to arrive as well as Hinata and Ino. Hinata who was Naruto girlfriend was on the fast track of becoming Tsunade-sama third in command after Shizune and Ino was studying under her father the fine points of the interrogations techniques. Both girls also had studied poisons under Anko and they were able to produce antidotes of the mist wide spread poisons find in the Land of Fire. Kiba had found himself a niche in a tracking squadron with Shino. Shikamaru and Sakura helped from time to time in the decoding branch of the village. Choji, Nedji, Tenten and Lee had each a genin team that specialized in different things. Lee team were taijutsu oriented, Tenten genin worked on weapons, Nedji on ninjutsu and Choji had the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho genin under him. All of then had grown from their academy days and some of them were even preparing to take their fathers duties in the following years. Naruto at first had wanted to inherit the hat from Minato, however when he had seen the amount of paperwork he and Jade had to go through has chosen ANBU as a career. Just as responsible as the hokage position however with less paperwork. He had Jade to thank for his change of path as his sister ofter looked tired when she returned home to her 1 year old twins, however she always found time for them and for Itachi.

-So Naruto, thinking of moving out from the family nest?- asked Kiba
-Yes, in fact me and Hinata had already chosen a place- answered the blond haired ANBU
-I didn't expect that your father would agree to that, Hinata- Sakura said snidely, she was still bitter that Tsunade-sama had chosen Hinata and Ino as medic nin over her.
-My father knew that neither me or Neji were interested in the position when it was offered to him, so this huge honour will fall down Hanabi capable shoulders.
-And what about you Sasuke, who is going to be the next head of the Uchiha clan?- Choji asked -You are looking at him- Sasuke smiled- after the birth of the twins me and Itachi mended our relationship with father so one day he took us aside and asked us who would like to lead. It turns out that living in the Hokage household gave us an indirect first hand experience of how to run a clan.
-What about you Naruto, who is going to be the head of the family when Minato retires- Kiba again asked
-Well at first as you know the Namikaze family at least biologically was composed of me and my parents, but with the addition of Jade, Ruy and Mia we became a bigger family, however not as big as the Hiuga and the Uchiha who need clan heads.
-How did your father take it that the sharingan exited the Uchiha family as it was an exclusivity to the Uchiha before?- Sakura again asked Not that it is your business Sakura, but pretty well- Sasuke answered her cooly
-What gives Sakura- Ino asked- as you know this is private clan matter
-Just curious- answered the girl, however these questions have been noticed by Sasuke, Naruto and Ino and the three of them decided to warn Minato and Jade to put a watch on Sakura.

Sakura has been deeply unsatisfied with her position in the village for some time and on one of her solo missions she has been contacted by an foreign Iwa agent who had offered her a good position in Iwa in exchange of some information about the structure and defences in the village as well as the different clans and their heads and their future successors. She was unable to give accurate information about the structure and the defences as she didn't have the clearance needed, however during her work in the decoding department she had came across some other sensitive information that she had sent to her contact, thus increasing the encounters between Konoha and Iwa nins as well as the losses that Konoha had sustained. Her actions until now were not noticed by anybody however she had made the mistake to ask about sensitive clan information directly from the clan heirs which put Naruto and Sasuke attention on her.

The following morning when both Minato and Jade where in the hokage office the two ANBU went to see them.
-And you are sure of this?- Jade asked them
-Not in the slightest, however, she was asking informations about the clan heads and heirs that she knows are confidential- Sasuke told them
-She works in the decoding department, right?- Minato asked them
-Yes, why?- Naruto asked
-Because, as you know we had some enemy encounters in places that where verified not long before that where safe and the info was transmitted in code about the status of these places- Jade answered them, and that alarmed Naruto and Sasuke
-With which enemy ninjas we where fighting?- Naruto asked and Minato and Jade looked at each other
-Iwa
-Literally, the biggest village with a grudge against Konoha- Sasuke sighted
-So you think that Sakura...?
-We don't know but it looks that way, we suspected that there was an information leek however we didn't know from where it came from- Jade looked at Minato
-So Sakura...we never imagined- Sasuke started
-Boys, we may be wrong- Jade started
-Sis, you and dad are very careful with suspicions like this, this is one of the things that make you two good leaders. You don't make accusations such as this without being sure of all the facts- Naruto told them as he looked at Sasuke
-So what are our orders?- the raven haired man asked the duo
-Naruto, Sasuke, she is a classmate of yours, are you sure that you want...- Minato started
-Yes, she has no idea, of our ANBU identities and masks and we will be gentle with her, someone else may not be.
If you are sure...-Jade trailed off and saw the resolve in their eyes. She looked at her father and Minato nodded, as future hokage she had to get used to give serious orders and this was one such moment. She looked at her brother and his best friend and said- Suzaku, Hebi your mission is to apprehend Sakura Haruno and deliver her to Inoichi in the T&I department
-Hai Godaime-sama- with that said both boys left the room and Jade speechless
-Did you hear them? They called me Godaime- she turned toward her father who smiled
-You know that it is technically true, all the documents about my succession are signed and stamped by the Fire daimyo himself , the only think left is the transfer of power
-Which hopefully, won't be coming for some years.
-True, the twins are now one so expect the transfer to happen when they are around 5 years old- Minato smiled at her
-That soon?- she asked
-Hey, be happy that you have this long, at that age the girls will be more independent and while still busy you should be able to find some time to relax even with the increased responsibilities. I remember how exhausting was to have a baby in the house when I just started. You, Mia and Ruy helped a lot in the house and me and Kushina were grateful, however sometimes you kids took a lot on your shoulders
-Not to mentioned that I have been kidnapped- Jade murmured sombrely
-Not your fault- Minato embraced her
-So when the girls are five?
-Probably.
-Admit it at that time maybe Naruto and Hinata will have children on their own and you want to spent your time looking after them
-This may be a reason- Minato smiled at her

With Sakura

Sakura Haruno was doing about her day as normal, when under her hands fell down a protection detail written in code about the plans for a foreign princess that needed to meet with the daimyo. Being such high profile person of interest Sakura right away knew about the importance of such of information and about the strained relationship between the princess and the land of fire if her visit was intercepted or the princess herself was taken by foreign ninjas. What she didn't knew was that the message was fake and was written and sent to the decoding department by Suzaku and Hebi two of the highest ranking young ANBU in Konoha forces. She also didn't know that she was being watched and the moment she sent the coded message to her Iwa contact, her fate was sealed. Half an hour late she was sitting in the T and I department under the watchful gaze of Inoichi and Ino, the two Yamanaka being notified by tMinato about the situation.

With Jade the previous night

Jade returned home from an exhausting day but smiled as she saw Itachi bringing Luna and Yuki. The girls where a perfect mix between the two and were always smiling. Itachi being the new jonin commander stayed more in the village these days but when it was needed he still participated in high risks missions. He saw how exhausted Jade was and gently embraced her.
-Rough day?
-Yes, Minato and I think that we may have caught the ninja that was leaking information to Iwa.
-Who?
-Sakura Haruno
-How did you discovered her?
-It wasn't us but Sasuke and Naruto, apparently at their monthly get together she was more noisy about the comings and goings in the clans as well as who was considered to take over.
-Every ninja knows that clan business is exactly that- Itachi continue the massage that he had started as soon as his wife sat on the sofa and cradled her daughters
-Yes, so these questions brought some red flags in Sasuke and Naruto mind and they shared them with Minato and I
-Who is going to detain her?
-the boys asked and I gave the order- She told him tiredly- Itachi did I do the right thing?-
-Sakura...
-is a danger to the village. Due to her actions many sensitive locations were compromised and many ninjas were killed.
-I know all that, however was she so unhappy with her position in the village that she turned toward our enemies?
-I cannot answer that however, I know from Sasuke that Sakura was pretty unhappy that she wasn't chosen by Tsunade to learn under her but Hinata and Ino where Sakura may have excellent chakra control, but it is up to Tsunade to choose her students. A Hiuga with the Biakugan can see the chakra pathways, and a Yamanaka knows the working of the brain and thus how the chakra network works, good chakra control is not enough- Jade said
-Yes, I know, from you three Ruy is more in control of his chakra usage that you and Mia. Mia chakra output has been learned through trial and error as she knows how much chakra a jutsu uses based on repetition and how to make it more efficient, and then there is the Sharingan yes it helps us with our jutsu repertoire and to see the chakra pathways however we Uchiha must learn to control how much chakra we put in a jutsu with or without an activated Sharingan, this is why the Great Fireball is such an important Rite of Passage for the young children of the clan as it is a jutsu that requires precise chakra control to obtain the best results as it can be dangerous if it gets out of hand.
-Jade...- he looked at her
-Yes Itachi...- she looked back
-Don't fret about Sakura as she made her choice.
-Still, I don't like it that I had to give that order
-Eventually, you as hokage will be forced to take such decisions
-When the twins turn 5- She told him
-What?- he looked at her
-Minato today told me that she will step down when the twins are 5.
-How do you feel about that?
-Will I ever be ready?

Itachi looked at Jade and smiled at her while gently taking Luna from her.

- yes I believe you will.