Destiny is a Hazy Thing

by Calanor

The Yondaime had a plan, Madara had another. They were not the only ones who wanted their own vision to come to pass, but the future is never certain. When all plans of gods and men fail Naruto is suddenly free to choose his own destiny. Slow development

40. Chapter 39: Preparing to strike

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

Chapter 39: Preparing to strike

Hayate Gekko stared out of the window, watching the sunrise. He felt empty inside. The emptiness had been almost the only thing he felt since he had plunged into the Reibi and killed the demon's container. He had won, but he had lost so much in the process. The demon's darkness had eroded his very being, leaving only an empty shell behind. He felt no joy and no sorrow or any other emotion, just emptiness. There wasn't much he remembered of the day of the invasion after he had pierced the heart of the girl serving as the demon's medium. After that he had collapsed, falling steadily deeper into the shadows. There was some vague memory of a light and song that had driven the darkness away, but he might have dreamt that.

The sound of movement caused him to turn around. A spark of emotion coursed through his body at the sight of his sleeping lover Yugao. No, he wasn't completely empty. Emotion was ever so slowly coming back to him. Perhaps he would heal with enough time.

After watching for a few more minutes he silently left the room to prepare breakfast. Once everything had been set up he busied himself with tending to his sword. It too had not survived the encounter with the demon unchanged. What once had been a bright grey blade of fine chakra-conducting steel was now a midnight black that somehow seemed glossy without reflecting light at all. It didn't seem to have any noticeable demonic aura, but it was clearly no longer a normal weapon. He was absolutely sure that it had sustained some nicks and scratches during the invasion, but now it was completely intact and even sharper than before. Apparently it didn't need any repair and care anymore. On the other hand Hayate was so used to caring for his weapons that he simply continued in this life-long habit.

Suddenly Hayate stopped polishing the blade. He was hearing faintly a girl giggling. Turning his head, he unsuccessfully tried to determine the origin of the sounds. After a few seconds the giggling stopped. Shaking his head, he returned to his task.

'It's probably nothing; either my imagination is running wild or some children are out early.'

---

Ibiki Morino kept up his usual serious expression while he conduction the inspection of the dungeons belonging to the Torture and Interrogation Department. Fortunately they had survived the invasion almost unscathed. They needed the room for the prisoners. The number of them was lower than what one not familiar with shinobi life would have expected considering the number of combatants involved in the invasion, but they still filled almost every available cell.

Several factors contributed to that. Most importantly, even a severely injured shinobi was still dangerous. Leaving even apparently defeated enemies alive was a considerable risk – a risk few had taken under the chaotic circumstances of the invasion. Many suicide techniques didn't require much effort to set up, making the taking of prisoners a tricky business under the best of circumstances. It was even more difficult in a large-scale engagement where wounded were covered by their allies. Lastly, most shinobi preferred to fight to the death instead of being taken prisoner. What awaited them at the hands of interrogators like Ibiki was highly unpleasant to say the least. A select few who were valuable for political reasons were treated courteously, but that was only a tiny minority.

"Four prisoners succumbed to their wounds since yesterday; several more remain in critical condition. We have prioritized them for information extraction, but the loss of specialized manpower remains a problem." Shimon Hijiri, freshly minted special jonin and new head of the Torture and Interrogation Department reported. "Is there any hope of additional medics being assigned to us?"

Ibiki thought for a moment. "A few, perhaps. I will put the request before Nara-sama, but don't get your hopes up. The village is very short on medics. Did you manage to extract new information I should be aware of?"

His successor shook his head. "No, Ibiki-sama. As ordered we have largely concentrated on the prisoners from Oto for now, but none of them belong to the true leadership. It will require either a more knowledgeable prisoner or a lot of work to assemble a complete picture of Oto's overall assets."

The scarred man nodded. He wasn't happy about that. The captured Oto shinobi individually only knew a small slice of Orochimaru's 'village'. Before they had been assembled for the invasion they had been distributed over a large number of small bases all over the Elemental Nations. They might know two or three bases each, but not all. The defector the Aburame sheltered had actually given them more information than any individual prisoner even if she had greatly underestimated Oto's available manpower. It was completely understandable in light of Oto's compartmentalized nature. That meant they couldn't be sure they knew all bases, making it difficult to completely annihilate Oto. It was the reason that each squad of Task Force Mugon had been assigned a member of the Intelligence Department with at least rudimentary mind-reading abilities to question prisoners. It was still worthwhile to destroy the known bases and they might discover some they had missed from the initial interrogations.

Most of their prisoners were from Otogakure; while they had fought fanatically most of them were not especially skilled. The elite had retreated during the battle, leaving them to fend for themselves. At the end of the invasion when Konoha regained control of the battlefield it had been possible to take prisoners without undue risk. Not a single shinobi from Soragakure had survived to be taken into custody; the few who had lived through the crash of their gliders had either escaped on foot or perished in the fighting. Sunagakure's forces had retreated in good order, but the odd shinobi here and there had been captured.

"Any news regarding our guests from Suna?"

"Some relatively interesting information about Suna's status before the invasion and defensive arrangements, but nothing immediately important." Shimon reported. "We did get two jonin serving as mid-level leadership, but they are both in critical condition and too weak to be properly interrogated."

Finishing the inspection of the dungeons, Ibiki and Shimon headed towards a much nicer part of the department. It was the last station on his inspection tour. There were still prisoners here, but they were treated differently. The cells were comfortably furnished; natural light was transmitted into the rooms by an arrangement of mirrors and life was generally much nicer.

After receiving a status report and taking care of all other business Ibiki entered a specific cell, leaving Shimon behind. "Hello Haku. How are you today?"

Haku looked up from a book, something in her eyes indicating that she wasn't completely there mentally. "Hello Ibiki-sama. I am well; I didn't have any bad thoughts for over a week. You didn't visit for a few days."

"I apologize; I was very busy. That is good to hear, though."

They continued talking for fifteen minutes before Ibiki left the cell, joining up with the waiting Shimon. "She has made progress. I think we will be able to reduce the dosage soon, but keep a close eye on her. If circumstances allow I will visit every day; it could be bad to change one of the primary attachment figures at this time."

"As you command, Ibiki-sama."

Haku was a special case; one he attended to personally. It required a fine touch. When she had been brought here more than two months ago she had been almost completely unresponsive; she would have simply wasted away if nothing had been done. Rehabilitating the young woman had proven far more difficult than anticipated. Without her master Zabuza Haku had no will to live. It was the worst psychological dependency Ibiki had ever seen.

'I wonder if that happened by chance or if Zabuza caused it deliberately.'

It was a question without an answer with Zabuza dead. They had perused the complete contents of Haku's mind, but memories could be misleading and there was no guarantee they had not been tampered with. Ibiki considered outright memory manipulation unlikely, but Zabuza had certainly acted in a way that fostered and reinforced a dependency. Well, on the other hand in the rather unlikely eventuality that he had actually cared about Haku normal behavior combined with Haku's past would lead to the same result. Whatever the precise reason, Haku saw herself as Zabuza's tool and nothing more. She had no dreams and goals of her own. It was quite depressing. Shinobi were tools, yes, but that wasn't the only thing they were – they were also persons.

In the end they had been forced to rely on drugs combined with slow, careful mental manipulation and psychological treatment. They didn't try to change any memories, just Haku's outlook on life and loyalty. Depending on one's perspective it could be seen as therapy or brainwashing. Considering that the young woman had been actively suicidal when she came out of her passive state Ibiki filed it under the header of therapy. Progress was rather slow and it would probably take a few more months until Haku was fully rehabilitated, but it was more reliable than faster, more brute-force methods. Haku's part in the Wave affair had been rather minor; she had gone out of her way to not seriously hurt the genin of Team 7. Considering the value of her bloodline it had been decided to integrate her into the village.

Recruiting Haku for the Leaf was a long-term investment; they could afford to take the time to do it properly. Haku's skills were not that important in the overall scheme of things; another genin on the verge to chunin made no great difference, rare bloodline notwithstanding. The real payoff would come if and when the young woman founded a family in Konoha. With some things you just had to take the long view and this was one of them. Counting from conception a child would need at least around a decade until it was old enough to enter the ranks of shinobi under optimal circumstances and probably almost as long again to become a notable force. In two decades there would hopefully be at least half a dozen new ice-users in Konoha, some of them starting families of their own. Another two decades later they might have enough to form an outright clan with several dozen members.

'If Konoha is still standing in four decades, that is. Many things can go wrong and it isn't even certain we will survive this year.'

Ibiki then left the Torture and Interrogation Department, heading back to his new workplace: The Intelligence Department. The scarred man had to suppress a sigh when he thought of it. It was a mess… a mess whose clean-up he was now responsible for.

In contrast to many others clan Morino had prospered in the wake of the invasion. They had lost only a single shinobi and no non-fighting members. Ibiki had been promoted to full jonin, snatched a place on the Konoha emergency council by virtue of being the senior surviving department head and succeeded the deceased Inoichi Yamanaka as the head of the Intelligence Department. His leadership performance during the invasion and his brother Idate's capture of the Kazekage's daughter had further improved his clan's standing. For a minor clan of thirty members (six of them shinobi, but the number would increase as soon as several cousins still at the academy became genin) they had done very well indeed.

Still, now he had to deal with rebuilding the Intelligence Department. They had lost a great deal of institutional knowledge. Many of the people who knew who their spies were and how to contact them had died, the same as analysts, cryptographers and countless other specialists. There were gaping holes all over the place in the department's organizational structure. Sure, they retained the records, but it was a time-consuming task for someone unfamiliar to work through the piles of paper and find the right information. In some cases knowledge had been completely lost.

The problem was aggravated by the structure of Konoha's intelligence network or rather networks. While the Intelligence Department maintained a sizable web of spies and informers it mainly collected and composed information from mission reports and looked out for possible clients and missions. ANBU had possessed a separate spy network, but with the organization effectively gone it had become unusable. Even most records had been destroyed by several buildings burning down or collapsing during the invasion. The third intelligence network belonged to Jiraiya, but with the man missing they had completely lost access. Even worse, there was no information in writing to be found. It appeared as if Jiraiya had only communicated directly with the Sandaime who had forwarded it to other people when needed. Neither had taken precautions for death or incapacitation.

'And that isn't even taking in account that all networks failed. The attack on us should not have stayed undiscovered for so long.' Ibiki sighed mentally. 'We knew something was coming, but at least Suna's involvement should have been discovered ahead of time.'

Ibiki had long-since argued that Konoha's forces were overextended and resources misallocated. The village had prioritized acquiring as many missions as possible in as many countries as possible over everything else. Granted, it had given Konoha the strongest economy of all villages along with the most wide-spread influence, but in the same turn it had weakened them in other aspects, home security chief among them.

Counterintelligence would have to be reworked from the ground up. It had become clear in the evaluation of the invasion that all their defensive arrangements had leaked out. There was no telling how many spies were still in place. Enemy agents in the ranks were an unavoidable fact of life, but Konoha had posed a far too easy target. Combined with the lack of real defenses and insufficient patrols this counterintelligence failure had made the invasion possible in the first place.

'I wish I knew what the other villages are doing, but it will take time for information from the few agents we have to reach us. By now the other major villages should have received at least some details.'

---

Onoki, Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, felt like cackling in glee. He suppressed the urge, of course. It wouldn't have been appropriate for his station. Instead he contented himself with a broad and decidedly nasty grin.

"So, Konoha suffered massive losses?"

The head of Iwa's spy network nodded while displaying a similar grin. "Yes, Tsuchikage-sama. The Sandaime Hokage and several important figures are confirmed dead, including at least four clan heads. Exact numbers are hard to come by at this time, but the reports agree that casualties were enormous. My best estimate is that Konoha lost up to half of their shinobi, but that might be a bit optimistic. The losses among Suna's invasion force are probably of a similar magnitude; the Yondaime Kazekage is dead and their jinchuuriki missing. Oto's and Sora's losses were even heavier, but we don't have any idea of their overall available manpower."

In the following minutes Onoki was presented with a careful briefing regarding the current status of the rival villages and likely developments. Unfortunately they had apparently lost their best-placed Konoha spies in the wake of the invasion and information was slow to get back to Iwa in any case. They had known about the cooperation between Suna and Oto beforehand, but the continued existence and involvement of Sora had come as a surprise. The expectations of the analysts for the outcome of the invasion had been mixed, but these losses on Konoha's part were unexpectedly high. Suna had been Iwa's main point of interest considering their countries' proximity and clashing spheres of influence. That wasn't even talking about the weeping sore that was Ishigakure between them. Konoha was a bitter and hated rival, but the various minor villages buffering their spheres of influence served to temper things.

'This would probably be a good opportunity to finish off Konoha or Suna. Should I command an attack?'

He thought about it for a few moments. Then he discarded the idea. It was too risky. He had made the mistake of acting prematurely in the third shinobi war and his village had paid dearly for it. This time he would be more cautious. Even if an attack succeeded the losses incurred might be too much. Furthermore, amassing enough forces for a strike would take too long. A hasty, ill-prepared attack was never advisable and both villages' defenses would have solidified in the meantime. Still, it wouldn't do to do nothing about such an opportunity.

"See if our agents can get one or several of the minor villages to attack Suna or Konoha. Concentrate on Suna. Considering the mess their idiot Kage left behind the village will descend into chaos. There is no one left with the power and connections to take over; their council will squabble endlessly. An attack might soften them up enough for us to destroy them." the old, diminutive man instructed.

After the spymaster had left Onoki stood up and looked out of the window, malicious grin still plastered over his face. He would order a limited mobilization later. If an opportunity presented itself they would be ready. Things would be fine even if no such opening arose. With two of their major rivals severely damaged they would be able to increase their business and sphere of influence considerably even if it didn't come to more hostilities. It was a good day for Iwa.

---

'Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall'

Ino felt the earth move under her hands as the technique took effect, creating a pit in front of the emerging wall. Investing more of her chakra, Ino extended the wall in both directions and increased its height until she was satisfied. Even skilled shinobi would be incapable of simply jumping over it. Since she used the already existing earth instead of manifesting it from her chakra the wall would remain until wind and weather slowly destroyed it.

Dusting her hands off, she stood up. "That should do it. Yakumo, your turn."

The blond Yamanaka busied herself with setting up wire traps and scattering caltrops in the pit as her friend began weaving her genjutsu. Soon she felt the genjutsu taking effect, hiding the wall and pit from the world. It took a bit of effort to keep it from affecting her, but it wasn't that difficult. She didn't break its hold completely, just enough that it didn't hinder her in her task.

A few minutes later Ino finished setting up the traps and left the pit. Joining Yakumo, she examined the scene. The genjutsu completely masked the wall and pit, making it look like as if there was a completely unobstructed stretch of grass. "It certainly looks convincing. I noticed you made it rather easy to resist."

Yakumo shrugged. "There's no need to invest more effort than necessary; I'm going for subtlety and chakra efficiency here. If the enemy notices the genjutsu the trap is already blown. As long as I stay nearby I can keep this illusion up all day without exhausting myself."

"That makes sense. We should have at least an hour until it starts, but maybe they don't even run in our direction."

The brunette looked thoughtful. "Do you think we should set more traps? I could conceal them with additional genjutsu."

Ino examined at the landscape again. Their wall was flanked by impassable, thick thorny brambles on both sides. Even further away there were steep, tree-covered hills. Open ground stretched toward the distant Sound base that would come under assault soon, slowly changing into woods. The formerly free patch of land the wall now occupied was a natural chokepoint.

"No, that might give them a hint that something is wrong. We want to ambush them. If we don't get them all at the beginning we will have to fight and too many traps on the battlefield will make things too dangerous. I don't want to accidentally trigger one of our own traps." Ino answered after a few moments of thought.

"You're right. Besides, we don't know if we really have an hour left. The attack might begin early and I don't want them to surprise us while we are still setting things up. Let's get under cover."

Yakumo turned towards the brambles, Ino following closely behind. The first thing they had done was creating a proper hiding place. The plants gave them enough cover against a casual observer after they had cleared a hollow. Everything was still rather wet from the rainy last days, but at least the cloud cover had opened up.

Plopping down on the driest place she could find, Ino removed a canteen and a ration from her backpack. Most likely they would have to fight soon, but a light meal wouldn't hinder her. They had left Konoha only yesterday. Almost the entire task force had stayed together to assault the nearest and largest of Orochimaru's bases. It was a sobering thought that such a large base existed not even a full day's travel from Konoha. Non-shinobi would have needed far longer to reach it, of course, but it was still worrying. Patrols should have found it long ago. Granted, this region was pretty much uninhabited forest and no travel routes led through it, but the area patrolled by Konoha's border guards had been far too small for Ino's (and her friends') liking. Apparently it had been used as the staging ground for the invasion and what forces had retreated had probably gathered there. The question was how many shinobi still remained and how many had already left for other bases. After all, almost a week had passed since the invasion. It would have been better to attack immediately, but Konoha had needed the time to reorganize.

Ino and Yakumo would not participate in the main attack; their squad was one of those responsible for blocking the escape routes. Kurenai-sensei had taken half the squad including Choji with her to a different location. Ebisu was in command of their group, but the special jonin was currently scouting ahead. The others were busy preparing several fall-back positions in case the number of escaping Sound shinobi was too large for them to handle and would return soon.

Suddenly Yakumo sighed. "I wish I were back in Konoha. I didn't even get to talk with Naruto properly before we had to leave."

Taking a bite, Ino considered her answer. There wasn't really anything she could say to make Yakumo feel better, but perhaps she could distract her a bit. Until now they didn't have the necessary privacy to talk about the events of the morning before they left Konoha. "Did you at least do it that morning?"

Yakumo blushed. "No, we didn't."

Ino blinked. She didn't expect that. "Really? You looked like you did have fun when I walked in on you."

Her friend blushed even deeper. "We did… but Naruto stopped things before… you know. We had to report to the mission office; he had an appointment at the Hokage's office. It just wasn't the right time." Then the girl's expression grew worried. "Naruto said he wanted to talk about things he should have spoken about long ago."

For a moment Ino was silent. "Do you think it has anything to do with what you saw during the invasion?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

The blond girl made a vague gesture with her hand. "You know, you saw a giant thing with the appearance of Hinata. Naruto is on the same team as her. If anyone knows something about that it would be him. He always seems to know about everything and some of his swallows might have seen what was going on."

"I… I didn't think about it that way." Yakumo sighed, hugging her own legs. "No, what I'm worried about is that he and Hinata have something going on behind my back. Hinata told us she loves Naruto and I'm pretty sure he reciprocates."

"They wouldn't have had a physical relationship. The Hyuuga have ways of detecting that." Ino answered immediately. It didn't seem to do anything to reassure Yakumo, though. "Look, you do love Naruto, don't you?"

Yakumo nodded.

"And you are sure that Naruto loves you, too, aren't you?"

Again Yakumo nodded.

"Then you should not worry. Just listen to what he has to say. It might be something completely different."

"But what if not?"

Ino looked at her friend earnestly. "If, and I mean if, there really is something going on you have to think long and hard what to do. Don't let anger get the better of you to do something you will regret later."

Yakumo was silent for several seconds. Then she started again. "What would you do in my position if there is something going on between them?"

It didn't seem as if Yakumo was ready to let it go. Frankly, it was beginning to annoy Ino. This speculation was worse than useless. They would soon fight a battle and couldn't afford such a distraction. Additionally, it was uncertain if Hinata would ever wake up again. "You mean if Hinata is doing Naruto? I would ask if I could join in."

That actually stopped Yakumo short and caused her to gape at Ino for a few moments. Then a smile appeared on Yakumo's face along with a blush. "Pervert."

Chuckling slightly, Ino repacked her supplies and stood up. "I'm going to check our escape routes again."

"Okay."

Once out of earshot, Ino let out a sigh. Sometimes she wished she had Yakumo's troubles. At least she had a boyfriend, complicated situation notwithstanding.

Part of the problem was the lack of eligible candidates. Aside from Naruto all of her male friends were either out for different reasons and/or belonged to a great clan – and the great clans of Konoha generally didn't intermarry. That meant only temporary relationships were possible and the heartache when they had to break up was something Ino could do without. Besides, there were other problems with her male peers. Shino just didn't click with her in that manner and there was already something lined up for him anyway. Kiba was as good as married considering how chummy he and Karin had become. When Ino had last interacted with Shikamaru in a meaningful manner he had been a sleeping pill. Shinji… well, despite his changes that would be too much like dating a living doormat. Besides, Ino had made it a personal rule not to get romantically involved with people she had mentally manipulated and Asuka had her claws in him anyway. Her erstwhile crush on Sasuke had died years ago and she now recognized he wasn't boyfriend material; he had far too many issues. She considered Choji more like a brother and judging from what she heard from Hinata he was more of a late bloomer anyway and not really interested in girls yet.

'Come to think of it, when we began trying to get Naruto's attention during the academy it was more of a game. Neither Yakumo nor I were really ready for a serious relationship. It's a miracle she and Naruto stayed so long together and managed to develop it into what it is.'

Banishing these thoughts for the time being, Ino made a sweep of the area they had been ordered to prepare. Everything seemed to be in order. The genjutsu over the wall and pit held, their avenues of escape were open and no enemy was in sight anywhere.

Ino was about to return to the shelter when she spotted several members of the squad approaching. Apparently they had finished their task of setting up fall-back positions. Bekko, Hayase and Tetsuya stayed together while Minoji was talking with Katsumi Inuzuka who was accompanied by her canine partner Chichio, a dog hardly larger than Kiba's partner Akamaru with dense, curly white fur.

"Look out, there's a trapped wall and pit here." Ino shouted in greeting.

Tetsuya let out a low whistle when he got closer. "Impressive. That thing is big."

The chunin Bekko gave Ino an appraising look. "How much chakra do you have left?"

Ino shrugged. "More than enough. Creating the wall made hardly a dent in my reserves. Yakumo can keep up this genjutsu for hours, too."

That earned her some barely hidden envious looks from the rest of her squad. Chakra was the primary limiting factor for shinobi. Despite years of training many shinobi never achieved more than genin-level reserves. They could use perhaps a few average C-rank techniques per day before their battle performance suffered if even that. Of course, their current squad was generally blessed with superior skills considering their task involved fighting other shinobi. Once again Ino was reminded how lucky she was to be born with the potential for a large chakra capacity and how much of a boon the chakra training techniques Naruto had shared with them had been. All members of the circle had more or less jonin-level reserves although their improvement had slowed down considerably. They didn't have to watch their chakra usage to the same degree as others and could afford to indulge from time to time.

'Well, we are members of the elite teams. We are expected to be the best of our generation.'

A short time later the squad had settled into their ambush positions, ready to attack any Sound shinobi that came their way. The planned time of the attack was still half an hour away when Ebisu returned from his scouting mission. After making sure that all members of the squad had done their part he found a few encouraging words. Then they settled in to wait.

Exactly on schedule a small red fireball shot into the air in the distance, signaling the start of the attack.

"It has started." Minoji remarked rather unnecessarily.

Bekko nodded. "It will probably take a while before some of them flee in this direction. We might even not see combat at all. Stay on alert."

"Remember, let the first wave run into the trap. Only attack on my signal. Go for kills. If you manage to incapacitate some that is fine, but don't take any risks." Ebisu reminded them.

The following time was spent with tense waiting. Several times faint noises could be heard, indicating heavy fighting in the distance. Finally a gaggle of figures emerged from the woods, running at a fast pace. None of them stood out as something special, but Ino activated her mind-sensing technique in case any tried to sneak by them.

Fortunately the Oto shinobi seemed to be in a state of wild panic and didn't pay any real attention to their surroundings. They ran headlong into the concealed trap, disappearing abruptly. Ino felt their thoughts screaming in pain as the traps did their work. Her technique didn't allow her to read specific thoughts, but she could sense general things. She could vaguely make out sounds, but Yakumo's genjutsu covered the sense of hearing as well.

"All six down; two dead, three dying and one heavily wounded." she whispered to Ebisu.

"Tetsuya, throw one of the sealing tags with knockout gas into the pit as soon as I give the signal." the special jonin instructed another member of the team. "There is more company coming and they might have seen something suspicious."

True to their leader's word a second group emerged from the woods. This one numbered twenty people and seemed far more organized. They kept in a loose formation, too tight to separate them easily but too spread out to get them with one area technique.

"Prepare for attack." Ebisu ordered.

Ino immediately began to make hand signs. As the most inexperienced members of the squad she and Yakumo would stay at a distance initially, making sure no enemies remained unengaged.

'Earth Release: Earth clone'

Three clones rose from the ground and assumed Ino's form, still hidden by their cover. Three was the most she could control under these circumstances; sending in clones without control would decrease their performance drastically. Fortunately earth clones were among the hardiest of the basic clone techniques, allowing them to suffer quite some damage before they dispelled.

"GENJUTSU AHEAD!" one of the enemies screamed when they were a medium distance from the trap. They were directly in front of the Konoha squad's hiding place.

"ATTACK!" Ebisu commanded before launching a fireball into the midst of the enemies. Several other members of the squad launched distance attacks of their own before engaging at close range. At least four of the enemies outright died in the initial assault; many more suffered injuries and were scattered.

Sending her clones in, Ino prepared the next technique.

'Mind Body Disturbance'

She had picked out four targets, but two of them managed to resist the technique. One other was hindered in his movements and promptly incinerated by a fireball courtesy of Yakumo while the last one succumbed to Ino's jutsu, giving her control over his body. Ino immediately sent him against his comrades, but a white-haired, grey-skinned Oto shinobi that had kept his distance killed him immediately with some sort of arm-mounted projectile launcher. A second projectile shattered one of Ino's earth clones.

In the next moment smoke emerged from the man, assuming the form of several dragons that headed in their direction. Obviously the man had detected them. Unfortunately he was out of throwing range.

"Incoming!" Ino shouted.

"I've got it." Yakumo replied, making hand seals with a look of intense concentration on her face.

Suddenly the dragons veered off course, overshooting their position and impacting in the brambles behind them. Ino noted that her second earth clone had been destroyed before doing much of note, but the third one had managed to kill one of the Oto kunoichi.

"He's breaking my genjutsu! I can't hold him." Yakumo shouted, sweat pouring from her face while she rapidly made strings of hand seals.

'Earth Release: Stone Shuriken'

Several lumps of earth rose from the ground before hardening into a stone-like substance and being launched at the short, grey-skinned man at high speed. Most went wide, but two grazed his body and one hit squarely his right leg, causing him to lose balance. Before the man could recover a snarling white blur jumped at him and attached himself to his throat or face. The man fell to the ground, desperately trying to dislodge the Inuzuka dog from his body. In that position neither Ino nor Yakumo could engage him any longer without risk to their allies.

Ino breathed deeply while surveying the battle. The number of Oto shinobi was falling fast. Ebisu was a whirling dervish of death, fighting in concert with several shadow clones and mowing their enemies down without much resistance. Most of the other Konoha shinobi had equal success; their enemies were probably already shaken from the main attack on their base. Only Hayase had trouble with his enemy. Ino barely managed to interpose her last earth clone between him and what would have been a fatal attack. A moment later Bekko bashed the Oto shinobi's head in from behind.

In that moment Ino noticed something strange. She felt a mind moving away from the battle, but she couldn't see anything in that area. Neither felt she any genjutsu influencing her. The presence was trying to sneak past them.

"Yakumo, burn that area! Someone is there!"

Her friend nodded. A moment later a wave of flames shot towards the indicated area… only to be harmlessly intercepted by some large, viscous mass. Where no one had been only moments before a slender man wearing a skintight bluish suit was now standing, the watery, viscous shield connected to his hands. Ino launched another barrage of stone shuriken that promptly punched through the shield, but the man's body contorted impossibly, evading all projectiles.

From the corner of her eye Ino saw that Yakumo was once again weaving genjutsu. The blond girl immediately moved to support her friend by using a Yamanaka technique that attacked the target's mind. Together they managed to overwhelm the man in the strange suit, plunging his mind into abject confusion. Tetsuya used the opportunity to toss a tag filled with knockout gas into the man's face, taking him out of the battle for good.

Ino looked around, but there were no more enemies to fight, only the unconscious, dead and dying. The battle had been short and brutal. That wasn't unusual. If shinobi fought to kill the first hit often decided the battle. Prolonged fights were rather rare. Several of the Konoha shinobi had sustained injuries. Minoji had to be supported by Hayase while Tetsuya hobbled behind, but nothing seemed life threatening. Ebisu, Bekko and Katsumi were going through the bodies of their enemies, either making sure they were dead, putting the dying out of their misery and tying up those likely to survive. Ino had seen scenes like this well enough during the invasion and even more in the memories of Izumi.

"Yuck, this one is all slimy." Katsumi said when she was about to tie up the slender man. "Could someone with a clone technique lend me a hand? I don't want to touch that slime, it could be poisonous."

"Sure." Ino made two more earth clones and sent them to help. Then she went to help the injured (and patch up the enemy wounded enough so they wouldn't die) while Yakumo and Ebisu went to retrieve the survivors from the pit. Idly she noticed the corpse of the grey-skinned man with the arm mounted projectile launcher; Katsumi's dog had torn out his throat and mangled his face beyond recognition. In the end they managed to secure four prisoners and put the others out of their misery.

Ebisu gave the group a careful appraisal after taking a status report. "Take the prisoners and fall back to position three. I will stay here to cover the retreat. During my absence Bekko is in command."

Ino had to agree with that decision. There had been more enemies than expected. They had won without losses, but they wouldn't be able to take another group. Most of her squad mates were low on chakra and the traps had been triggered.

Ten minutes later the group had reached their hideout, the unconscious prisoners safely stowed away. Only Yakumo had stayed with Ebisu to cover the battlefield with a concealing genjutsu. Ino busied herself with treating the others' injuries. Medics were in short supply since the invasion and only every third squad had been assigned a qualified medic nin. Unfortunately their squad was not among these lucky ones. Most shinobi learned at least basic first aid techniques sooner or later, but nothing more in-depth. Not that many people had the talent and chakra control necessary for advanced medical techniques. Ino was actually the most knowledgeable on their squad along with Kurenai, but their sensei wasn't here. She frowned slightly when she examined Minoji in more detail. The genin had suffered several deep puncture wounds and grown noticeably paler since the battle. Their retreat had probably made things worse.

"There might be some pieces of metal we didn't get out. I think there is some internal bleeding. That's beyond the normal first aid healing techniques."

Bekko, the old experienced chunin now in command of their detachment frowned worriedly. "Will he last long enough for one of the other squad medics to arrive or can we take him to the main camp?"

Ino shook her head. "That might take hours. By then he will be dead for sure. We can't move him either in this state. I could try to operate conventionally; I'm studying medicine and assisted several surgeries in the last week."

Minoji wearily raised his head. "Do it. I take my chances with you."

After a moment of thought Bekko nodded. "I agree. Do your best."

Much later, Ino and the rest of her squad were resting on a hillside outside the main encampment. She had managed to save Minoji's life; the genin was now in the care of the professional medics the task force had brought along. He would have to be transported back to Konoha for further treatment, though. All in all their squad had been lucky. Some squads had lost more than half their members; the battle inside the enemy base had been hard fought by all accounts. Thankfully no more Oto shinobi had fled their way. By now there were no more left. The base had been cleared and was now being combed through for information about Orochimaru's activities.

Most of her squad was relaxing in one way or another. Yakumo was drawing a sketch of the woods; Choji participated in a card game with several other members of their squad. Katsumi was playing with her dog some distance down the slope. Ino could faintly make out the words "Who's a good piranha poodle? You are, yes, you are.".

Yoshito, a sixteen year old genin and third youngest member of their squad, looked pretty shaken. If Ino remembered right the young man had not been in Konoha during the invasion, missing most of the carnage. This had probably been his first real large-scale battle. "I don't understand. Everyone says we won today, but so many are dead." he suddenly blurted out.

Bekko, who was puffing a pipe nearby, nodded in understanding. "Aye, we lost many good lads, but it was worth it. From what I heard we killed five of them for every one we lost. That's pretty good odds. The next battles should be easier; we will be dealing with smaller groups in the individual bases. Then we will have local superiority."

"But why didn't we wait until the enemy dispersed again? Why attacking them here?"

"Because then we might not catch all of them." Ino answered. "Additionally they might have mounted another attack. We couldn't simply leave them be."

"The lass has it right. There were several hundred of those Sound bastards there; it was their main remaining fighting force. They could have caused quite some damage if left alone. Luckily they didn't expect a counterattack so soon." the old chunin agreed. "You're too young to remember the last war, but this was one of the cleanest operations I've seen. Usually you get countless small groups going at it all over the country, trying to hit each other where they are weak. That's why the shinobi wars all lasted for years. Big, pitched battles like the invasion or this are the exception. Shinobi aren't soldiers that line up all nice at one place for battle."

That seemed to reassure Yoshito and they lapsed into silence once again. Tomorrow the task force would disperse, each squad going after their assigned bases. Kurenai-sensei had already informed them that they would be heading to the Land of Rice. Ino wondered where Orochimaru was. They had caught a good deal of his elite troops, but many more were still unaccounted for. Neither the four that had guarded him during the chunin exams, the bone-user who had reportedly killed Tsume Inuzuka nor Kabuto Yakushi had been in this base.

'Well, I can only hope we don't encounter Orochimaru. That would probably be a fight we can't win on our own.'

---

"Where is Tsunade? You said she would be here!"

"My apologies, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru turned away from Kabuto. The pain in his dead hand made him irritable. No technique seemed to be able to heal the injury and it had begun to affect the rest of his body. Tsunade was one of the few people who might have the knowledge to do something about it, but they just couldn't find her. They had followed her trail to this town. She and her apprentice had been here two days ago, but now there was no trace of them. They had been seen last when leaving a bar in the middle of the night. He had sent people into the surrounding towns, but as of yet they didn't find anything.

'If Shinno had not gotten himself killed…"

The late Sorakage had been on a level with Orochimaru's old teammate (although with a far darker orientation), but from what sparse information Orochimaru had gathered he had been killed during the invasion. Well, considering that the man had apparently planned to destroy them along with Konoha it was questionable if he would have been willing to help anyway. Orochimaru didn't like to admit it, but Sora's betrayal had surprised him. He had not known about their flying fortress.

It was still a damn shame. Shinno had been highly competent; without him Kimimaro, one of Oto's strongest shinobi, would have probably succumbed to a disease long ago. The cure had made him unsuitable as a host for Orochimaru, but the last Kaguya's abilities and unshakable loyalty made him a valuable asset.

'Where is Tsunade? Whatever the old monkey did is slowly killing me. At least I can still use jutsu; the time spent to learn one-handed seals was a good investment.'

---

Koharu Utatane remained in a kneeling position after she finished her (somewhat sugar-coated) report to the Fire Daimyo and his court. Strictly speaking the man had no direct authority over Konoha and its inhabitants, but it was better to show the proper respect for their primary customer. The income and other benefits they received from the treaty with the Land of Fire were considerable. The court was whispering in agitation upon hearing the news, but the daimyo himself remained completely composed.

'Thank the gods he was the one to emerge victorious from the succession war. If his predecessor was still alive everything would have dissolved into chaos and shouting by this point. Now no one dares to raise his voice.'

She remembered the old daimyo well. The man had been a weak-minded fool, indecisive and fickle. He had always made his advisors do all the work and had been easily swayed by whoever could talk more convincingly… until the next half-way convincing person spoke up. The current daimyo couldn't be more different. Hidekatsu Shibata was already past fifty, but still fit and muscular. His black hair didn't show the slightest trace of grey nor did his mustache. An eye patch hid his left eye. His slightly strange humor and tendency to occasionally act slightly odd for someone of his station (such as joking with subordinates or heading out into the capital city under a disguise) could be easily forgiven in light of his high intelligence and capabilities as a ruler.

Before the succession war he had been a minor noble among countless others, content with ruling his small, rather unimportant patch of land. The only noteworthy things about the man had been his involvement in the at the time extremely small imperial army and his proficiency as a sword fighter; while he didn't have the ability to mold chakra in quantities necessary to become a shinobi or samurai he had enough talent to become a minor chakra user in order to enhance his fighting performance.

When the old daimyo had died to a quail bonelet stuck in his throat the succession had been disputed. There had been about three dozen distantly related people who could claim about equal rights to the throne and even more with a not-so-justified claim. The current daimyo had belonged to the former group, but he had tried to stay out of the conflict at first. Combined with the economic difficulties the following period had been very chaotic and caused quite a lot of damage to the Land of Fire. It didn't escalate to a full-blown war, but countless minor conflicts had left their mark. Konoha had remained mostly neutral in the struggles – they had aided several sides to a degree, but they were still reeling from the Kyuubi attack and more concerned about the other shinobi villages interfering.

Normally it would have been only a footnote when one of the pretenders attacked Shibata's small keep and burned it down while he was away with a small contingent of guards, killing the man's whole family in the process. Miraculously he survived the ambush intended to kill him when he arrived at his destroyed keep, although that became only really clear much later and he did lose his left eye in it. For a while he had been believed dead. Then someone began covertly attacking different factions quite successfully. When Shibata finally revealed himself he had already made several alliances and gathered enough support to become one of the medium-tier players. Then he began an absolutely ruthless campaign for the throne. By the end of the year there were no other pretenders left. Becoming the undisputed ruler of the Land of Fire, the new daimyo had proceeded to clean up the mess the succession struggles and his weak predecessors had left. He wasn't an easy partner for Konoha, but a competent and reliable one.

Finally the daimyo spoke up. "I see. This is worrying news. I have to think about this. We will convene again in three hours."

Koharu waited until the daimyo had left the audience chamber until she stood up. The courtiers had begun to mingle, but there was no sign of a panic. Well, it wasn't as if they knew the true scale of the damage yet. Koharu knew better than announcing more than the bare bones in an open session. The announcement had to come quickly, but she would confer with the daimyo and the actually important ministers later. It would have been preferable to do it the other way round, but rumors had already reached the capital and they had to work quickly to put their spin on things.

One of the daimyo's personal servants approached her. "Utatane-sama, the daimyo wishes to speak with you in private immediately."

Nodding in acceptance, Koharu followed the man. On the way she noted that her choice of retinue had proven wise. Shinji was talking with his father, the chief of the secret imperial police, while Asuka spoke with her noble father. It was the same for most of the other shinobi she had brought along. Almost everyone had either family ties to a noble or official or an otherwise good relationship. They had been all carefully briefed on what slant they had to put on their accounts.

Two minutes later Koharu passed the guards at the entrance to the private wing of the daimyo. She idly noticed the two hidden shinobi bolstering the normal soldiers, recognizing one of them as a fellow Konoha kunoichi. Only part of the daimyo's shinobi guard was provided by Konoha; others were the pupils of independent shinobi masters or otherwise exceptional warriors. Thankfully the current daimyo refrained from hiring rival villages for that task; such a thing had led to some problems in the past. The revolt of part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja and the group's subsequent dissolution had occurred under the reign of the daimyo's predecessor, but it served still as a warning example.

Koharu was led into a medium-sized, comfortably furnished office and instructed to wait. She knew from past experience (and the reports of the guards) that this was where the daimyo did his actual work – there existed a far bigger and far more pompous office elsewhere that he used to impress people.

Childish laughter drew Koharu to one of the windows overlooking a small yard. The daimyo's young son and heir was playing there, a beautiful, richly clothed woman with dark auburn colored hair watching over him. Koharu recognized her as the daimyo's first wife. A few other attendants were keeping discreetly in the background. Four more shinobi guards were hiding close by; one of them apparently noticed her presence and shifted his position slightly to better cover his two charges.

'Good, they are on their guard.'

Another succession war would tear the Land of Fire apart – especially considering that none of the former claimants with a good claim were still alive. In light of the daimyo's relatively advanced age the existence of an heir was a great reassurance to everyone.

A moment later the daimyo himself and his second wife entered the yard. After exchanging a few words they talked with the young prince. Leaving him to his caretakers the three people headed back towards the building.

Koharu didn't have to wait long until the daimyo arrived with his two wives in tow. After a short greeting they took seats and immediately got to the matter at hand.

"How bad is the real situation? Some rumors already arrived and they paint a dark picture." the daimyo asked.

"The village is secure for now, but it was a close thing." Koharu answered before launching into a detailed explanation. Lying would be pointless; the daimyo would learn the full truth sooner or later and it was better to be upfront. "One major and two minor villages attacking in concert are a serious threat. We learned of a possible attack by one of the minor villages a month ago and made preparations, but they proved to be insufficient. The victory cost us much. We are still fully able to fulfill our contracts with the Land of Fire."

"What are the immediate consequences? Can we expect another attack?" the daimyo's first wife asked. The woman always had an aura of tranquility and benign indolence around her, but Koharu knew she had a very sharp mind behind her grey-blue eyes and did a lot to keep the government running smoothly.

"All attacking villages' forces suffered severe damage, making them unlikely to attack again in the near future. Sora has disappeared for now, but Konoha's forces are attacking Oto as we speak. Suna is an open question. Their location makes a retaliatory attack on our part difficult. For now we are waiting until we have more information."

The daimyo frowned. "Do I have to declare war against the Land of Wind and mobilize the army?"

"Putting them on alert would be advisable, Daimyo-sama, but we don't believe the Land of Wind's daimyo was involved in the invasion. Currently it is still purely between Suna and Konoha, but things might escalate. It is too early to tell."

They continued talking about different matters of state and how to proceed. The meeting was drawing to an end and she was almost ready to leave when the formerly silent second wife of the daimyo spoke up. "Excuse me, Utatane-san. There is another matter of interest. I have heard rumors of the involvement of demons in the invasion. How much truth do these rumors contain? It is a subject matter I have some scholarly interest in."

Koharu had to restrain herself from shifting uncomfortably under the intense gaze of blood-red, slitted eyes. Something in the woman's posture put her on alert even if the request was reasonable. The daimyo's second wife was one of the most beautiful women Koharu had ever seen and that was saying something. Voluptuous curves formed a perfectly proportioned figure, long, full and wavy night-black hair framed a face of surpassing loveliness and every movement radiated sheer sensuality. The woman was a walking seduction. If she had not been already married to the daimyo there would have been without a doubt endless hordes of suitors. Perhaps even more fearsome was the woman's mind. While the daimyo's first wife took care of the bureaucratic and administrative details his second wife played the game of court intrigue like no other. More than one noble who threatened the daimyo's rule with his schemes had found himself outmatched.

"I assume you are familiar with the concept of the tailed beasts and their human containers?" Koharu continued upon seeing the woman's nod. "They are true. Both Suna and Sora fielded jinchuuriki of their own. The Kyuubi's container is one of our promising young shinobi and was instrumental in repelling the invasion. Sora's jinchuuriki was killed, but the demon appeared again. It identified itself as Reibi."

The woman frowned. "There is no Reibi in the tales and legends of the tailed beasts born from the Juubi."

"Indeed, but that is all we know. It had the form of a black, amorphous leech with a white mask serving as its face. Suna's jinchuuriki tried to unleash the beast inside the village but was defeated. Later on the Ichibi reappeared outside the village. From the observational evidence we believe its jinchuuriki lost control. The Ichibi then assumed the form of an enormous sandstorm. In the end both the Reibi and the Ichibi disappeared while the village was under the effect of a powerful time-space technique. We assume they destroyed each other or were captured. Traces of an enormous battle remain. Several mountains were destroyed, forest has been turned into sand and in several places the ground was turned to glass. "

"Is that so? How very interesting. Thank you for indulging my curiosity, Utatane-san."

The daimyo gave Koharu a nod. "The court will resume session in two hours. A servant will lead you to your rooms if you wish to rest, Koharu-san."

Recognizing the dismissal, Koharu stood up, bowed and left the room. A few minutes later she was resting in the suite set aside for her use. The stress of the last week was getting to her; she appreciated every calm minute she could get. Thanks to the medical techniques available to shinobi her injuries had healed by now, but she was still a very old woman and didn't recover as easily from injuries or overexertion as in her youth. Letting her thoughts drift aimlessly she once again wondered about the daimyo's wives.

No one knew where the women had originally come from. There was no prior report about someone of their appearance ever be seen in the company of Shibata (or anywhere else for that matter) before the succession struggles. They had already been at Shibata's side when he revealed himself again and stayed with him ever since. Their marriage had caused some discontent in certain circles – many had hoped to bind their families to the new daimyo via a political marriage only to see their attempts thwarted by nobodies. The old kunoichi actually had no objections against them. Both were highly intelligent, capable women and with the birth of the young prince a few years ago their position had become unassailable (although Koharu would have preferred if there had been more children). They and the daimyo were a welcome contrast to the inept last four rulers of the Land of Fire.

'We could have done something about that, but Hiruzen was always unwilling to interfere. Granted, it would have opened a very big can of worms, but we could have solved the succession crisis with a candidate of our choosing.'

Still, sometimes Koharu's instincts gave her strange signals when in the vicinity of the daimyo and his wives. There wasn't anything openly suspicious (to her knowledge neither woman was a kunoichi; they didn't exhibit any of the subtle signs that indicated such training), but some very subtle feeling warned her that they could be very dangerous. In her long life Koharu had learned to listen to her instincts and she took that feeling very seriously. Homura had apparently a similar impression. Strictly speaking it wasn't her business, but she didn't like to leave riddles unsolved. Perhaps the future would give her an opportunity to sate her curiosity. Now she had to mentally prepare herself for another court session.

---

Naruto was feeling a bit frustrated. He had tried to get hold of Shizune since yesterday to get her to take a look at Hinata, but the woman had been completely unavailable. She seemed to be performing surgeries nearly non-stop. If she wasn't doing that she was ordering the other medics around in concert with Hana Inuzuka and Ritsuko Aburame who had taken over joint leadership of Konoha's medical corps.

Well, he could have asked Tsunade (who was unable to perform surgeries or even look closely at many wounded thanks to her hemophobia), but unfortunately there existed a tiny little problem: The story how they had gotten her back into the village had made its rounds thanks to Genma running his mouth in a bar. Tsunade was not impressed. Naruto had heard her shouting and he didn't want to risk getting decked by a woman possessing super strength. Besides, it was unlikely she would do him a favor.

Now though Shizune had apparently gone on a break and he was trying to find her in the halfway restored hospital building. This corridor was still completely deserted. Suddenly his sensitive ears picked up arguing voices. He carefully approached the room, but stopped at a distance were most people would still not be able to understand what was said. It wouldn't do to be identified as an eavesdropper, after all.

"Dammit, Shizune, what were you thinking? You let them simply take us."

"They had recall orders!"

"You know I didn't want to return!"

Both voices sounded angry, but Shizune's had a definitely tired undertone. Naruto doubted she had gotten any sleep in the last days aside from the nap on the flight the night before. Tsunade on her part sounded slightly inebriated. That didn't bode well for the confrontation.

"Would you have stayed away and let all those people suffer? They need our help."

"That isn't the point! You had no right to make such a decision for me! I have become a laughingstock!"

Something seemed to snap inside of Shizune. "Do you actually think you weren't a laughingstock before? How many people do you think laugh about the 'Legendary Sucker'?"

"Ungrateful child! Your uncle and parents would be turning in their graves if they knew."

"Don't bring my parents and Uncle Dan into this! Just because you lost people you shouldn't let that define the rest of your life! I lost my parents when I was young, fine. You don't see me drowning my sorrows in alcohol! How long are you planning on using that excuse? It has been decades since Uncle Dan died! Perhaps you should consider getting over it!"

"You dare? After all that I have done for you…!"

"What you have done for me? What did you actually do in the last years aside from drinking, gambling and running from the debts? You haven't taught me anything for ages. You didn't even let me sign the slug contract! I'm tired! Tired of watching you destroy yourself, tired of not knowing where we will sleep on the next night, tired of you wasting our lives!"

"If you think my company such a waste of time you are free to leave!"

"Fine! I quit! I can't stand it anymore! See if you can find another dumb idiot who pulls you from the gutter every night and cleans the vomit when you drink yourself into a stupor!"

This time Tsunade's voice was icy cold. "You are no longer an apprentice of mine!"

In the next moment the door flew open with a bang and an enraged Tsunade walked out. Fortunately she headed into the opposite direction. Naruto really didn't want to meet her just now. Holding his breath, he waited a few moments until she was out of sight before entering the room.

Shizune stood near a window, her back towards Naruto. Her shoulders were shaking, but no sound emerged. Naruto carefully approached her, making sure he caused enough noise to be noticed. Shizune didn't give any indication that she had noticed him.

Naruto carefully touched her arm. "Hey, are you alright?"

Upon contact Shizune whirled around to face him. She was crying. Recognition appeared on her face. Then she hugged Naruto, deep sobs shaking her body. Naruto was rather tall for his age, just a bit shorter than Shino in fact, so the height difference wasn't too awkward. He felt uncomfortable about the fact that a woman he barely knew let her guard down like this, but considering that Shizune had been out of the village for a very long time there were probably no or only a few people she was close to. Well, and he was there.

After a couple of minutes Shizune regained her composure. She let go of Naruto, looking very embarrassed. "Sorry, I lost control."

Naruto gave her an understanding smile. "It's alright. I won't tell anyone."

"Did you hear anything?"

"Well, everything shortly before the laughingstock. Sorry, you were rather loud and I have a good sense of hearing."

Now Shizune's expression was outright mortified. "I shouldn't have said those things. Once Tsunade calms down I will apologize."

Naruto had his doubts that it would be that easy; the argument had sounded rather nasty. Some things couldn't be unsaid once voiced out loud. He was unsure about his own stance on the issue. On the one hand Tsunade had taken Shizune in after the death of her parents and accepted her as her apprentice. On the other hand practically living on the road and watching her mentor slowly destroying herself for years on end had to be wearing even for the strongest of persons. It didn't seem as if Shizune had been able to pursue any goals of her own, caring for Tsunade had taken up all her time.

'I don't think this is the right time to bring up Hinata.'

Shizune had now completely regained her composure. "Is there any special reason you sought me out?"

"There is something I wanted to ask you, but that can wait." The blond boy shrugged. "I mainly wanted to see how you are doing. From what I heard you are very busy. At the moment I have nothing much to do besides training and decided to stop by."

The black-haired woman smiled at him. "Aw, that's awfully considerate. Since you brought us back to Konoha I have been performing surgeries almost without pause." Then she yawned. "Sorry, I'm very tired and I have almost no chakra left." Suddenly Shizune's stomach grumbled.

Naruto laughed. "And it doesn't look like you have eaten anything. For that matter, do you have a place to stay?"

Shizune blinked. "I completely forgot about that. I was planning to stay with Tsunade, but I don't think I would be very welcome there at the moment."

"You can stay with me if you want; at least until you find something of your own. The house I live in has an unused guest room."

"I'm not sure…" Shizune answered hesitantly.

"It's no bother. We can eat something on the way."

Shizune delayed a few more moments, but then she agreed. Naruto led her to Ichiraku's. Fortunately both Teuchi and Ayame had survived the invasion unscathed. Naruto was a regular; ramen was one of his favorite foods. He had visited the restaurant weekly for more than seven years since he had left the orphanage. Since he often brought his team and friends they too were well known to the owners. His last visit had been only yesterday, but he figured he could indulge from time to time.

Ayame greeted him immediately. "Hello Naruto, it's good to see you again so soon. How is Anko? You were about to visit her yesterday when you left."

"Irritable and bored. She's still bedridden for a few days. Ayame, this is Shizune, a friend of mine and medic nin. She has returned to the village from a long-term assignment."

"Welcome, it's nice to meet you. Now, what would you like to eat?"

Since Shizune was so tired it mostly fell to Naruto and Ayame to make conversation during the meal. Several times Shizune almost nodded off. The argument with Tsunade had probably drained her immensely. By the time they arrived at Yakumo's house she was practically asleep on her feet. She barely managed to wash herself and change out of her clothes; three seconds after Naruto had settled her in the guestroom she went out like a light.

Seeing no reason to stay in the house, Naruto left a message behind and ventured again into the village. There was still a place he wanted to visit.

Naruto let out an inaudible sigh of relief when the sounds of Konoha disappeared as he entered the path to the sanctuary. It had not been easy to find the opportunity to slip away to the small copse hidden behind several empty buildings in a corner of Konoha unobserved. He actually had to use his magic to make himself only a face in the crowd and change his appearance with a henge afterwards.

More than once people had approached him to thank him for his part in beating back the invasion or followed him around. It seemed he had become sort of a hero. He wasn't the only one, of course; an attack the size of the invasion offered ample opportunity for heroic deeds. The demon slayer Hayate Gekko, Ibiki Morino (who had rallied Konoha's forces for a counterattack after Sky's first attack) or the now deceased Maito Gai (who had ostensibly put the Sorakage to flight) were other examples. Just like Choji Naruto's actions had been widely visible, though. The news of him holding the swallow summoning contract was another factor.

It was funny in a way how many people treated him differently now, but he perfectly understood why. The main reason (besides irrational hatred and misplaced blame) many had shunned him during his childhood was the uncertainty if he could control the Kyuubi. In many ways a jinchuuriki was viewed as a massive exploding tag that could detonate at any time without warning. In the last decades the hosts of the tailed beasts in the different villages had lost control often enough for it to be common knowledge among shinobi and related civilians alike. It was completely understandable that people did everything they could to ignore the presence of a human weapon of mass destruction among them. Now that he had proven to be a valuable asset to the village many people obviously reconsidered their behavior even if they still feared him. Naruto didn't mind either way as long as they weren't actively malicious. He didn't care about the village in its own right, just by proxy due to his friends and how useful it was to him.

Leaving the path behind, Naruto entered the mist-filled haunted forest in the periphery of the sanctuary for the first time since before the invasion. The first thing he noticed was that the otherworldly nature of that place had increased considerably. It was really, really creepy. The defenses had never been tested, but whatever mortal intruder found his way here probably wouldn't enjoy his visit.

A short walk later the mists parted. Here no change was noticeable; the surroundings looked as beautiful and full of life as they always had. Finally Naruto arrived in the center of the sanctuary. He vaguely felt the presence of his parents. Sitting down at his favorite place under a massive oak with a good view of the field of flowers he waited for any sort of reaction. The last time he had been here he thought he had heard his parents' voices in the wind.

When nothing happened he spoke up. "Hey Mom, Dad. I guess you aren't in a condition to talk, huh? Well, I just wanted to say I'm fine. I left the village for a few days to retrieve Tsunade. It went off without a hitch. Oh, and I'm befriending her apprentice Shizune. Hinata still hasn't woken, but I suppose you know more about that than I do. Yakumo, Ino and Choji have left on a mission. Shino and Kiba are busy with their clans. Anko is hurt but healing. Shikamaru's dad is the current village leader; practically everyone expects that he will become the Godaime Hokage. Itachi and Kisame paid the village a visit on behalf of Akatsuki, but at that time I was already on the trail of Tsunade. They never caught me." He stopped for a second. "I miss you."

Suddenly a soft gust of wind hit him; it felt almost as if the warm breeze was ruffling his hair with invisible fingers. He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the sensation. Then it was gone again.

'I guess that is all I'm going to get.'

Deciding to check some other things, Naruto tapped into the magic of the sanctuary. In the next moment his eyes flew open. The spring was still generating new magic, but what had been an unfathomable big sea of readily accessible power was now a large but shallow lake. Oh, it was still far more than he could ever use. Still, it was far less than the last time he had checked.

'I know it has gathered here since Dad created the spring around seven years ago. He and Mom occasionally used some of it, but not all that much. If I had to take a guess there is perhaps half a year's output left in storage.'

Naruto gulped. The swallows had given him a description of what they had witnessed during the last part of the invasion when his father had used his body, but he had had no way of gauging how much power that had actually cost. Now he knew at least vaguely and it unsettled him greatly. Worse, it meant they couldn't repeat that anytime soon. If another great demon (or some other entity) came knocking they would have a big problem.

'There's nothing I can do about it. Perhaps Mom and Dad will come up with something.'

He could only wait what the future would bring.

---

In a hidden place not visited by mere humans for centuries several animal-like figures gathered. Their forms and temperaments were as different as could be, but one purpose united them.

"The Ichibi broke its bonds and is now free of the honored Sage's dominion. A cry echoed through the entire world. The Sanbi's container died, dispersing it for several years. Fortunately the Sage's dominion still holds over it. The honored Sage's plan is even more in jeopardy than before. This is a catastrophe. New powers have arisen and old powers are awakening. The Wicked Heart of Death and Slaughter was bad enough on its own. Soon they will undo all our work. It will be the age of strife all over again." one spoke.

"The plan might still succeed. Their awakening will take time; maybe time enough to orchestrate completion. The Ichibi is the least powerful. If enough of the others work together it might be subdued long enough. Once united with the proper vessel it will be outmatched. There are other ways we can use, too." another replied.

"What about the Kyuubi? Its container was there, too. Is he still usable? He should have been contracted to you by now." a third voice inquired, addressing a fourth figure.

The enormous, wrinkled Great Toad Sage didn't change his expression, but it was clear to everyone present that he wasn't happy. "The chosen receptacle is not bonded to us. He has somehow found, woken and contracted the swallows. I do not know if he survived. Our summoner was hurt badly when the Ichibi broke free and is still recovering in our realm as do my heirs. The portal was destroyed. We have no way of reaching Konoha quickly."

Sounds of dismay were heard. "The swallows are active again? That is bad news; I hoped their sleep would last longer. They cannot be allowed to learn of the Honored Sage's plan. Is the receptacle still suitable? Its creation was premature, after all." the first voice asked.

"Our deceased summoner did what he could to make the best out of a bad situation thirteen years ago. We still do not know who or what released the Kyuubi prematurely. If it had escaped it possibly would have thrown back the plan for decades." the Great Toad Sage replied. "The seal was not yet completely refined, but it will serve its purpose. The receptacle will become the new savior of this world. We did our part; our allies were responsible for the savior's upbringing."

"The savior's childhood didn't go entirely as hoped. He made more strong bonds with some of his peers than expected and has a somewhat sharper mind than we hoped, but it is still within our needs. Our summoner often talked with my children about him. The savior saw him as a grandfather. Unfortunately the choice of teacher was not what we hoped, but considering the restraints we operate under it couldn't be helped." The white-haired monkey sage who had spoken up let out an angry huff. "My summoner fell to his vile student and now we lack access. His son refused to take the test to contract with us years ago. I have sent some of my children to talk with him, but it will take them time to get there from the nearest gateway to our realm."

Suddenly one of the silent figures contorted slightly, causing the others to look at it. The massive slug seemed to be concentrating on something in her own realm. After a few moments she stilled again. "I have good news. Our summoner was recalled to Konoha. She summoned one of my children to help in her healing. My child overheard several conversations. The savior is still alive and unharmed. Despite high losses Konoha was not defeated."

The second voice spoke up. "That is good to know. At least that part of the plan is still on track. We will have to take his unfortunate bond with the swallows into account. The honored Sage of Six Path's wishes shall be fulfilled, the world shall be saved and peace shall reign eternally."

"Eternal peace!"

---

At the same time another meeting was taking place in a large office in the Raikage's tower in Kumogakure. Mabui, the Yondaime Raikage's assistant, was standing in front of the assembled jonin.

"… seems as if Konoha is stabilizing under the leadership of Shikaku of the Nara clan. They are weakened, but not fatally so. Meanwhile, Kirigakure is descending into civil war once again. The Yondaime Mizukage Yagura is most likely dead considering the destruction of his island retreat and left behind traces of demonic chakra. Until it reforms the Sanbi has become a non-factor. Without Yagura holding things together the clans and different factions are fighting for dominance. The outcome is too uncertain to make any predictions; the fighting will probably be very hard and last for months." Mabui informed the jonin gathered in the room. The Raikage A and Kumo's village council had already decided on a course of action in a secret session several hours ago. Now the people who would actually carry out the plans had to be briefed. "Suna will probably end up in a similar chaotic state, but we don't expect it to escalate into a true civil war. They have to fear a retaliatory attack from Konoha and a possible opportunistic attack from Iwa. None of the minor villages have yet decided on a course of action to our knowledge."

Once she had finished the Raikage spoke up. "We will make use of this opportunity. C, you will assemble a strike force. Its task will be to covertly enter the Land of Water. Get us as many bloodlines and secret knowledge as possible. Maintaining secrecy would be beneficial, but is ultimately dispensable if it gets in the way of the mission. Kiri is not in a position to threaten us and they will damage themselves enough without needing our help."

"Understood, Raikage-sama!"

"Darui, you and Yugito will put together a second strike force. I want you to be ready to invade the Land of Fire if the situation develops favorably. Currently it is still too risky, but I have a feeling that will change in the time you will need for this. Your primary task will be the same as C's. Get us examples of Konoha's bloodlines or rare techniques. The secondary task is to eliminate as many assets and detachments of Konoha as possible without attacking the village itself or sustaining excessive losses. If the opportunity presents itself take out the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. According to the reports he is dangerous and will become a real threat with more experience."

The two jonin accepted their mission without hesitation. What the Raikage didn't say was that he had already issued a specific order to help things along. The Land of Fire was stable, but only thanks to the current daimyo. Should the man and his heir die… well, the ensuing chaos would distract Konoha enough for Darui's raid to become feasible without much opposition. Even if the attempt failed the spreading news of Konoha's near defeat would probably create the necessary opportunity anyway.

An appropriate group for the assassination of the Fire Daimyo and his family was already in position near the Fire capital, thanks to some unobtrusive help and support. They weren't connected in any way to Kumogakure; they were the remnants of a small shinobi village in the Land of Woods that had been quietly and (mostly) secretly crushed by Konoha before the Land of Fire had annexed their home country. Their grudge would explain their actions. Even better, they didn't know themselves that Kumo had supported them aside from a loose end that would be taken care of. The only reason they had not yet attacked was that Kumo had stalled for the moment of greatest effect. Now, with Konoha severely weakened, that moment had come.

Several hours later a clerk stopped dead in his task of copying the orders of the Raikage for the archives. Re-reading the documents, he took a deep, calming breath before continuing his work. At the end of his shift he visited a particular carpenter, leaving an order for a new chair with very specific description. On the next morning the carpenter lodged a D-rank mission to deliver a long, boring letter describing all his current works in the most soporific language possible to his brother living in a town nearby. Since the carpenter had done the same thing two or three times every month for more than five years it didn't cause the slightest stir. Receiving the letter shortly after noon, said brother relayed the contents to his old neighbor during an idle afternoon chat. Said neighbor almost suffered a heart attack when he decoded the message (a feat the brothers had been incapable of due to not knowing the code) before sending his son to a nearby farm, newly re-coded message hidden inside an order for a few sausages. The message passed several more waypoints until it was finally entrusted to a messenger bird heading for Konoha. The agent who had used his only means of high-speed communication only hoped it would arrive in time.

---

Author's notes: Over a thousand reviews! Thank you all for taking the time to leave a comment. I might not answer due to time constraints, but be assured I read every review. To those who simply read, I hope you enjoy the story.

It has been far too long since the last update, but unfortunately life likes to throw problems my way. Additionally I made the mistake of reading up the manga to the current issue and it totally killed my inspiration to write for a time.

Mini-rant: Freaking Dragonball had more balance, reasonable power progression and logical integration of people with superpowers into the world. The Uchiha are now officially the clan of mental damage. The deus ex sharingan was already bad enough. Did Kishi have to make them all emos? Sigh. I long for the early days. It wasn't all daisies and sunshine, but I like it more than large parts of shippuden. Oh, there are some good ideas here and there, but it doesn't make up for the bad, especially all the crap in the shinobi world war arc. Incidentally I even like the earlier art style better.

Maito Gai putting the Sorakage to flight: That isn't how it happened, but it is the official story in Konoha.

Random observation: Off the top of my head I don't remember many stories that address Tsunade's crippling hemophobia. It's often ignored in favor of only convincing her to return, probably because without the specific chain of events that helped her get over it she would still suffering from it.

So long.