Sorry for such a long hiatus. I've been busy with some of my other fan-fictions and school work too. So I hope the wait was worth it.

Chapter 44: The Search for the Next Godfather

Characters (in order of first appearance or mentioning):

Itachi Uchiha / Donnola Fuori

Kisame Hoshigaki / Pescecane Cachi-Essiccati

Tsunade / Megara

"The Third Godfather (Third Hokage) is dead."

Gelato (Naruto) couldn't believe what he heard. He had just recovered after his fight with Tarma (Gaara), and the one who told him this was none other than Capo Spauracchio (Kakashi-Sensei). Tony (Sasuke) was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed where Gelato was sleeping in, and felt his hands go weak. Rosa (Sakura) was just coming into the room with a vase full of flowers, but when she heard the news, she unintentionally dropped the vase. After a fuss was made about cleaning it up, Spauracchio calmly explained to the three what happened. "Apparently, the Teacher (Kazekage) was actually Typhonragazzo (Orochimaru) in disguise. He had killed the real Teacher and used the man's influence to manipulate the Rena (Sand) family into invading Foglia (Konoha) territory accompanied by his Suono (Sound) Soldiers (Members of a given Mafia). While an accomplice of his put the spectators asleep through the Palace of Morpheus Illusion (Temple of Nirvana Genjutsu), Typhonragazzo blew the Third Godfather's guards up with a bomb, but luckily the Godfather caught on and managed to protect himself.

"The two then fought each other while Typhonragazzo's elite bodyguards, known notoriously as the Suono Four (Sound Ninja Four), created an unbreakable barrier that prevented anyone from interfering with the battle between the Third Godfather and Typhonragazzo. While the old man managed to put up a good fight, he chose to sacrifice himself in order to seal away Typhonragazzo's soul, but he only managed to take away his ability to perform spells (Jutsu). Meanwhile, our territory's defenses have been weakened due to a number of buildings with the protection spells on them being destroyed and a good number of Foglia Soldiers and Capos (Captains who command Soldiers within a Mafia) have been killed in the invasion."

"What about the civilians?" Rosa asked.

"They're counting the number of dead and injured as we speak, and so far it doesn't look good," Spauracchio answered wearily.

Tony looked distraught, and asked, "Who was the accomplice? Was it—

Spauracchio put a finger over his mouth, indirectly telling Tony not to say 'Casco' (Kabuto), because Gelato didn't know of Tony's attempted kidnapping, and the Third Godfather had strictly ordered the whole affair to be kept secret until it was proven to be Casco. "We don't know who Typhonragazzo's accomplice was, except that he disguised himself as an Assassin (ANBU) in order to get through security."

"I think I remember seeing an Assassin in the bleachers nearby," Rosa said. "He was helping Aurora (Hinata) relax after she started coughing up blood again."

"That might've been him, but there were other Assassins posted around the stadium as well," Tony reminded.

"Oh, right."

"So what's going to happen to the Foglia family? Has a successor been decided yet?" Gelato asked impatiently.

Spauracchio scratched his head and said, "Well, since the Grandson of the Third Godfather is too young to inherit the title, there aren't many options considering that the First Godfather strictly stated that the next heir has to be family-related. For now, the Underboss (the Second-in-Command to the head of a Mafia) and the Consigliere (Chief Advisor to the head of a Mafia) will handle Foglia family affairs until a new heir is chosen."

Then all four of them were silent as they let the terrible tragedy settle in.

A few days later, a private funeral was held for the Third Godfather. While the majority of people were family members, some exceptional Capos were allowed to attend. Meanwhile, Gelato and the other remaining Soldiers had to stand guard around the cemetery, though some of them were too sad to perform their duties. In fact, Gelato's heart nearly broke when he heard Fogliaragazzo's (Konohamaru's) anguished cries as he bawled over his grandfather's coffin. It took Gamberetto (Ebisu) and Pulito (Asuma) several tries to pull Fogliaragazzo away so the priest could finish his sermon. Then out of the corner of his eye, Gelato saw Hercules (Jiraiya) standing nearby with his back turned against a tree and his head held low. After it started to rain, the relatives and exceptional Capos, including Spauracchio, were taken away in the funeral cars to the Third Godfather's house for an after-funeral party, Gelato and the other Soldiers were told to head home and wait for further instructions. So they did just that, but were constantly wondering what was going to happen and how their lives were going to change.

As the remaining Soldiers worked day and night to repair the broken protection spells and offer their condolences to the civilians in the territory who had lost their loved ones, Gelato started spending more time with Delfino (Iruka) after he was told to dismiss the new class of Cugines (soon-to-be members of a Mafia) until the next Godfather was decided. They mostly talked about the Third Godfather, but also about how their lives were going after Gelato graduated. Rosa attempted to invite the other Soldiers to her version of an after-funeral party, but only a few people showed up, and everyone was too depressed to have a good time. One of the ones who didn't attend was Tony, because he decided to dedicate himself to controlling the Vampire's Curse (Cursed Seal of Heaven), but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't, now that he broke the Exorcist Seal (Evil Sealing Method) in order to use a second Mille Aquile (Chidori) during his battle with Tarma. The pain wasn't as unbearable as it was when he first activated the Vampire's Curse, but it was still there.

Meanwhile, Capriolo (Shikamaru) was still recovering from his battle with the Suono Soldiers he distracted to allow Rosa, Gelato, and Piranha (Pakkun) to get to Tony, and Beni Niro (Rock Lee) seemed to be doing better, but he was still unable to resume his duties as a Soldier. Aurora was now well enough to leave the hospital, but what really surprised all the Squads was that Voluta (Neji), the one who injured her in the first place, was visiting the main family home almost every day to check up on her. Another unusual thing that occurred was that Maiale (Ino) was being a lot nicer to Palermo (Chōji) who she used to call a 'fatty' almost all the time. As for Zanna (Kiba) and Morte (Shino), they were spending more time with their families as well as Cielo (Tenten) with hers. Then two weeks after the funeral, Gelato was approached by Hercules outside the Bistro after having a satisfying lunch of tomato-covered pasta and garlic bread.

"Hey, Pimp, where've you been?" Gelato asked jokingly.

Hercules didn't flinch at the word 'Pimp' since he had now gotten used to it, and said, "Oh, around town, but I'm actually going to be heading out soon."

"Where are you going?"

"To find the next Godfather."

Gelato's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yep, and I'm the one who chose her."

"Her?"

"Well, you see, the older members and patrons of the Foglia family held a meeting recently, and they invited me to come. They were originally going to have Pulito take over, since he's the Third Godfather's son, but he expressly refused to be in a higher leadership position other than a Capo. So they looked to me, but I also declined because while I may have battle experience, I'm certainly not cut out to be a Godfather. Then I remembered a teammate I had during my days as one of the three 'Great Mobsters (Great Shinobi)' named Megara whose not only the First Godfather's grandaughter, but also damn strong and smart."

"But won't that be bad for Foglia's reputation to have a woman leading the family?" Gelato was surprised that someone as perverted as Hercules would elect a female Godfather.

"That's what the elders said too, but I reminded them that we're in desperate times now, and I also promised to take the title if I don't find her. But I really don't want the position, and I wouldn't mind some company," Hercules replied, raising his eyebrows in Gelato's direction.

"Nah, I'm not interested in going," Gelato said, folding his arms. "Last time I left the territory on a mission I nearly got killed."

"Oh, come on, this isn't going to be that kind of mission. Besides, you'll be with me, and nobody messes with Hercules. If you come with me, I could teach you a new attack (technique) that's more powerful than the Mille Aquile."

"Then count me in!" Gelato said ecstatically.

After he found Spauracchio and told him where he was going, Gelato was surprised to find that Spauracchio was insistent that he accompany Hercules to find Megara. Next, Gelato went back to his apartment, packed a few clothes and travel supplies in a suitcase, and met Hercules near the outskirts of the territory, which was still a mess after the giant snakes came through, so they took a canal barge for a ways, and then continued on foot. Gelato wasn't too fond of it, carrying a suitcase and all, but constantly asked when Hercules was going to teach him the new attack. Hercules didn't answer, and even outright ignored Gelato as they walked through various alleys and side-streets. Eventually, as the sun started to set, they came to a plaza with a hotel facing northward. There were still a lot of people about, and even a few young girls.

"Why don't you go on to the hotel and sign us in?" Hercules said, eyeing one woman in particular who wore a low-cut dress and winked at him as she passed.

Knowing what Hercules was up to, Gelato replied, "I thought this was a search mission accompanied with some training."

But Hercules waved his hand in Gelato's face, and tossed him a wallet with an eagle stitched on it. "Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that tomorrow. I'll meet you at the hotel room in a few minutes. You can use the Eagle Wallet (Frog Wallet) to buy food and stuff."

Then before Gelato could protest, Hercules was trailing the woman in a heartbeat. Annoyed, Gelato reluctantly entered the hotel, checked in under Hercules' name then got the room keys from a fat man with glasses and a creepy smile. After Gelato checked out the room, which was a nice two-bedroom suite, he decided to wait for Hercules to come back before going down to the dining room. However, the minutes soon turned to hours, and it didn't help that Gelato's stomach was rumbling profusely.

"Argh, when's that stupid pimp going to get back here?!" Gelato yelled, met by complaining from the adjoining room. Then after the person on the other side of the wall decided to call it quits, there were several knocks that came from the door.

Puzzled, Gelato looked through the peephole, but was surprised to find no one there. So he shrugged it off, and opened the door to head down to the dining room, but was suddenly blocked by two strange men. One of them had blue skin and fish scales on the sides of his cheeks, with spiky dark blue hair and insane-looking eyes. The other had long black hair tied back in a ponytail, but his eyes bore a strong resemblance to the Specchio Occhi (Sharingan) ones. They both wore black suits and red dress-shirts, and their black ties had red cloud patterns on them. But before Gelato could question who they were, the dark-haired one grabbed him by the neck collar of his orange sweatshirt and tossed him into the hallway.

"What the hell is your guy's problem?" Gelato demanded, but the stare of the dark-haired guy made him shutter.

"You're coming with us, Nine-Headed Hydra," the dark-haired one said and reached out a pale hand with fingers covered in black nail polish and a gold ring with a particular design towards Gelato.

End of Chapter 44