Recommended Story: 'Legends Never Die' by Kyuubi123, sequel to 'Naruto's True Nindo'

Chapter Fourteen

"We should probably get out of here." Tsunade told everyone. "With that kind of activity, it's only a matter of time before someone comes to investigate and learn we were here."

"Why not come home to Konoha Tsunade-sama?" Tenten asked. "What are you trying to get away from?"

"If you must know, someone's trying to destabilize the entire governing system of Konoha and rewrite it in their favor. And while they're at it, Naruto's life is in extreme danger."

Ino, Tenten, and Shino were all confused. "How so?" Ino asked. "I mean, surely someone wouldn't want to kill him just because he has wings now."

Said wings were why Naruto was hiding from the group, with Shizune looking him over for any problems. The new appendages were making the blonde boy very uncomfortable in the presence of others.

"For the time being it's probably best for you and us if you don't know all the details." Tsunade told them. "But for now, as your hokage I'm going to have to order the three of you to return to Konoha."

Before the others could object, Shino bowed. "Very well Hokage-sama. We have already accomplished the objective of our task and will not bother you anymore."

"Shino you can't be serious." Ino complained. "We're supposed to bring Hinata back to her father."

"I'm not going back. I belong with Naruto-kun and I will not be in Konoha until it's safe for him to return." Hinata defied the blonde mindwalker, looping her arm around Naruto's own as she said this.

"But Konoha needs you there to make things stay stable." Tenten told her idol.

"My plan however requires me not to be there for now." Tsunade countered.

"What plan? What could you possibly-?" Tenten asked, but Shino raised his arm in front of her to stop her fro continuing.

"Hokage-sama said we are not meant to know that now. So for now questioning her is irrelevant. All we need to know is what we were sent to find out."

"While we're on that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to interfere with your assignment." Tsunade told them, worrying them all. "I'm not going to punish you. From what you told me I can't truly fault you or Hiashi for asking you to do this without my approval. However, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask something of the three of you."

"What is it?" Tenten asked.

"If the three of you don't return to Konoha, the clan heads will think something's wrong and plan for the worst, and now it's too soon for them to do too much. But if I let you go, I'm risking word of our activity being leaked to those conspiring against us. So here's what you're going to do: You will go back and tell Hiashi his daughter's safe and that's it, not a single word more. And to ensure you keep quiet, I'm going to insist on one of you remaining with us as leverage."

"What?" Ino asked.

"It's what it sounds like. I can't risk anyone knowing where I am, where I'm going, and who all is with me. So to ensure none of you say more than permitted, I need to have a form of leverage. So, which of you three is the most likely to talk about something like this?"

All eyes immediately went to Ino, who got defensive. "What? Why me? I won't say anything."

"Ino, you're a habitual gossip. Sooner or later you will mention something about this to someone." Sakura told her friend.

"You won't be in danger Ino-san. But if you go back, we will be." Hinata added.

"I promise I won't say anything." Ino repeated.

"You won't because I won't give you the chance to." Tsunade declared. "Don't think you're our prisoner Ino Yamanaka. You're actually part of our key to making Konoha a better place."

"I am?" Ino asked, not seeing how she could be such a thing.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Not too long ago you managed to sneak in and listen in on our private conversation without any of us noticing. And we were all on guard for alerts like that. Had you been better at covering your tracks we might never have known you were ever there. That shows a great deal of talent from you, and I suspect such talent could greatly be of us for us."

'Not to mention the girl discovered highly confidential information and is a flight risk for letting others find out.' Kushina told herself.

Ino thought it over. 'I still have no idea what's going on here, but if I stay with them I'm bound to find out. Then I can get back to Konoha and let the others know. I doubt Hokage-sama is doing anything wrong, but being away from Konoha when there's disaster can't possibly be right and dammit I want to know what she's thinking.'

With that in mind, she clapped her hands together. "Alright, I'll do it. But at least let me and Hinata give Tenten and Shino something for our parents so they won't worry."

Tsunade nodded. "That's more than fair I suppose."

"I wonder how things are going in Konoha now." Sakura thought out loud.

In Konoha, things weren't going that well for the clan heads. No missions, in or out of Konoha, were being assigned for all shinobi no work was assigned. Most of the shinobi still trained and did their work within their departments.

Like the T&I department for example, where Ibiki was at work with the now-former head of the Anbu, who was tied to a chair.

"Trying to arrest the hokage huh? And on false charges? Surely you're smarter than this, Akihiko Matsukawa." Ibiki started.

The man in question, Akihiko Matsukawa, was about Kakashi's age and build. He had a haircut much like Gai's, only his was brown and a bit longer in the back, with brown eyes and normal eyebrows. Outside that, he had no distinguishing characteristics, making it easy for him to get around unnoticed. His stealth and ruthlessness helped him work his way high up in the Anbu ranks, and at one point he was practically Kakashi's equal in rank in the department, earning him a position as head of Anbu.

Anbu was not run by any one person, unless you counted the hokage. Actually there were several acting heads, one usually for every two dozen of Anbu to make giving orders and organizing work more efficiently. So this guy was only one of several in charge of the Anbu, he wasn't the one at the top. But he was the one Ibiki had and needed to get info out of.

And the scarred man was more than happy to do his job.

Akihiko was less than pleased and not afraid to show it. "I'm just doing my job, ensuring what's best for Konoha."

"And who are you to decide what's best for Konoha?" Ibiki challenged. "What makes you think you're more qualified to decide that instead of our hokage?"

"I never said I was. I just said I was doing my job." Akihiko repeated.

"Hmm... meaning this wasn't something you decided on your own. Someone ordered you to do this. Who?"

"Can't say. I was paid not to."

"And I'm paid to find out. But you may not want to see which of us is better at our jobs."

Akihiko glowered at the sadist. "The one you should be interrogating is the hokage. She's the real threat to our village. After all, she up and left it long ago and only now came back when it was vulnerable. Who knows what she's been doing out there. And wasn't she a teammate with Orochimaru? For all we know she could be a sleeper agent of his sent here to inform him of the next opportunity to strike. Who better to work as a spy for him then her? The one person no one would suspect?"

"I admit your idea is not completely thoughtless, but it sounds like it's based completely on paranoia and bias rather than evidence or reason."

"She knows the traitor sannin, hasn't been in Konoha for over a decade, and actually likes that demon brat! What more proof do you need?" Akihiko shouted.

Ibiki shook his head in disappointment. "To think someone who's supposed to uphold the law needs to be reminded that you can't convict anyone without evidence or testimony. Pathetic."

"No, what's pathetic is needing a hokage in the first place. The entire role is unnecessary."

Ibiki arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Oh, look who needs to have something explained to him now." Akihiko mocked. "The fact of the matter is that ninja are merely mercenaries who are paid to do what the civilians don't want to do themselves. Why would any ninja want to sit behind a desk all day telling other ninja what jobs to do? Being a hokage is stupid, and so is anyone who actually wants the job. Case in point, the demon brat. We should remove the hokage position entirely, put the civilians in charge, and just be paid to do what they hire us for."

Ibiki took this in and frowned. "Let me see if I got this straight. You want civilians to be in charge of this country's military instead of a fellow ninja?"

"Would we really be any worse off than we already are? For all you know things will get better." Akihiko replied.

"Better? The village would fall apart and chaos would be inevitable. Whether you agree or not is irrelevant, the fact of the matter is a group without a leader cannot get anywhere without falling apart. The hokage is the leader, the alpha, the queen bee, however you wish to describe the role. They are the one who keep the rest of us in line and make sure the shinobi system is upheld. Why do you think five villages have kages if the job is pointless?"

"If it was vital then all the villages would have kages." Akihiko countered firmly.

Ibiki wasn't affected by his words. "They may not be called kages but they perform the exact same role and tasks the true kages do. Every army needs a commander, and we are the army of Hi no Kuni. Konoha is our barracks, not merely a place that provides instant shinobi service."

Akihiko scoffed. "Being a mercenary pays better than being a soldier. That's what we should focus ourselves on."

Ibiki frowned and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll established a motive here, money and bias. Now tell me who paid you to do this."

"Kiss my ass!"

Ibiki smiled evilly. "I love a resister."

While Ibiki was at work, so were the two sides of Konoha's council. Neither side looked happy to be there, but for differing reasons.

Before anyone spouted off their personal opinions hastily, Shikaku stood up at the head of the table and addressed them all. "Everyone, you have been called here today to uncover a grave injustice done to Hokage-sama, who will not attend this meeting for personal reasons."

"Why address her as Hokage-sama? That bitch is impeached." An irritable civilian named Shusen stated as if it were law.

Shikaku, along with every other shinobi and the two elders Homura and Koharu present, narrowed his eyes at that man. "That is actually why we are here right now. Someone here deliberately ignored Konoha's law for personal reasons and acted out against our leader, and apparently you Shusen-san are part of this conspiracy."

The councilman got nervous now that he realized what he blurted out hadn't already been taken care of. "What do you mean? The current hokage was unfit for her position and needed to be removed for office. As the council we do have the right to do that."

"The council can only remove the hokage from office if both sides vote unanimously. And we weren't even part of the vote." Chouza said, frowning deeply.

"Neither were we." Homura added, he and Koharu looking upset. Danzou looked more neutral, but then again he always looked that way in meetings.

"So any acts done against the hokage would be considered criminal and deserving of punishment." Shibi added.

Shusen suddenly calmed down. "And so what? You can't do anything to us because we've still got that contingency plan set up to take this village down from the inside if any harm comes to us. If we're out of office here no business will be provided to any single ninja until we've reinstated."

The councilor next to him nodded. "If we can't have power no one in Konoha can."

Tsume shook her head. "You think we've been doing nothing about that since you brought that ultimatum up? Wrong-o."

Hiashi nodded. "We've been eliminating the ones who'd follow such orders from you from any positions of influence while ensuring any replacements for their roles would not be swayed by you fools, and building up caches of supplies in preparation for the worst. Go ahead and try to undermine us, we'll return the favor twofold."

The entire civilian council was shocked. "Are you certain such activity was legal?" Koharu asked. "Even if your actions are for a good cause, if you've broken the laws here you all could be in grave trouble."

"Rest assured all mentioned activity was legal." Shibi answered enigmatically.

Inoichi smirked. "You didn't really think we'd let such a threat slide did you? Maybe now you all will realize this is a shinobi village, not a civilian village that just happens to have shinobi in it."

"Now back on topic, whose idea was this act of treason?" Shikaku asked.

One of the civilians, a dark-haired woman wearing a red dress, suddenly stood up and pointed to her right. "It was Shusen-san and Nakamune-san and Saigawara-san."

One of the accused, a balding man almost in his fifties named Nakamune, rose from his seat. "Roppongi-san-"

"No! I am not going to prison for you three! I'm all for having more influence in this town and being done with the Kyuubi child, but I am not going to throw away my freedom for it."

Saigawara, a short-haired brunette woman wearing a green shirt, stood up too. "Don't think we don't have dirt on you too Roppongi-san. If we go down we're taking you with us."

Shikaku quickly got his shadow jutsu on each civilian member before things got physical. "That's enough. For now you all will be held under arrest and confined to the T&I department until we can get to the bottom of this. Those of you found guilty of criminal activity will be punished accordingly."

"May I ask how the civilian issues will be handled in our absence?" Roppongi asked, sounding genuinely concerned rather than using the issue to get out of trouble.

"We will handle that for the time being. For now it is not your concern." Homura told them.

Thanks to Shikaku's Shadow Possession Jutsu the civilians barely struggled when the Anbu were called in to take them to holding cells. They were quite vocal about it, especially the three who paid Akihiko to remove Tsunade from office, but screaming was all they could do on the matter.

Shikaku sighed when the civilians were all taken away and the elders left on their own. "While we're here, does anyone wish to add anything?"

"We seem to have handled the issue with the corrupt civilians earlier than anticipated, so shouldn't we contact Hokage-sama and ask her to return?" Hiashi asked.

Shikaku shook his head. "Negative. The corruption likely goes deeper and we need to be on guard in case any anti-ninja moves are made in Konoha."

"It's true." Inoichi added. "The civilians have been a thorn in our side for decades. They are not going to be thwarted this easily."

The issue with the civilians had been around since the Sandaime's first term in office. Sarutobi was put into office without the proper preparations for it thanks to Tobirama's quick passing. The young Sandaime found the job difficult to do and decided that by giving the councils a little empowerment he would have less of a burden himself. The shinobi council would have the right to make decisions for their own clans as long as no one outside their clan was affected by the decision, and the civilians would decide what city-wide issues required the hokage's immediate attention and what could wait for later or be ignored altogether.

Ideally it would have worked, except that some of the council members got a little carried away with their newfound power of authority and tried to exploit it. It became a tug-of-war with civilian against shinobi, and soon it became an issue of worth. The civilians felt like second-class citizens and claimed they deserved more liberties while the shinobi insisted that Konoha was a shinobi village above anything else and the civilians were trying to undermine their authority.

By the time the Yondaime was put into office the conflict was ordered to cease but the damage was done, and there still remained a rift between civilian and shinobi. The civilians continued to be resentful of the ninja, seeing them as more privileged, richer, and often brutish and overall undeserving of such fortune and status that they, the working class, were denied by comparison. The civilians were not living in poverty, but they were jealous the true wealth of Konoha was in the ninja's possession.

Minato tried to settle the issue by reminding them they were indeed valued. "The village cannot work without the civilians. The ninja must be ready at any moment's notice for work anywhere. If ninja were all we had, none of the city's utilities would work. Power wouldn't be generated, the trash wouldn't be cleaned up, and food and clothes would be scarce. It is you, the civilians, who do what the ninja cannot be here to do, that ensure Konoha works as well as it does. If the ninja are richer, it's only because the economy here is dependent on their work and when you consider how risky their work is, it's a fair salary to be had. Not unlike your own for the work you all do." He once told them all.

This greatly helped the civilians feel better, but in some cases it worked too well. Some of the civilians started acting like they were more important than the shinobi and started disrespecting them openly, resentful because the shinobi were not afraid to risk their lives for money while the civilians were. Their council even tried sneaking money from Konoha's treasury towards more civilian-friendly purposes and even worked to change academy standards saying it would give civilian children a fairer chance at passing. Originally kids could become genin before they even turned ten because they were taught very well, but now almost all kids became genin at twelve because of the new teaching process.

Things obviously didn't get any better when the Sandaime took his second term in office. He saw the problem and the rift, but he felt it was just easier to resort to his old way of managing Konoha with council empowerment. This time however he insisted on having uses of such power being carefully monitored and regulated. This was done for both councils, the shinobi needed to be monitored to ensure they weren't overusing the entire 'clan business only' shield from outside influence and the civilians needed to be monitored to ensure they weren't getting in the way of ninja business.

The addition of Naruto into the mix did nothing to make the tug-of-war any easier. With the attack of the Kyuubi and all the death and destruction from it still fresh in the minds of the civilians, it would have taken a lot more than just the word of a ninja to convince them all that Naruto was harmless.

Apparently the civilians did see a use for Naruto though. He was an outlet for their anger at the Kyuubi, but also for their anger at the ninja in general. Like typical bullies they picked on someone who couldn't fight back in an effort to feel better about themselves, and with some of the ninja siding with them on Naruto's lack of humanity they only felt more validated in their actions. And with the shinobi council and Sandaime trying to keep Naruto safe, they couldn't focus as much as they were supposed to on the civilian council, allowing them to set up their contingency plan in case the shinobi decided to remove them from office.

Shikaku sighed. "Even so, no matter how troublesome it will be, and it will be troublesome of that I have do doubt, it is something we must do. Hokage-sama is doing her part and we must do ours. With Naruto out of the village they've lost their trump card against us, and with Hokage-sama keeping him safe they cannot get anything new approved without raising a lot of red flags. The civilians are already frightened of the reality of the situation and turning against each other. In no time they will collapse and Konoha's governing body can be reformed and refined."

"Yes, but what if something goes array?" Hiashi asked, still worried for his missing daughter.

"We'll have to handle that as it comes." Shikaku answered.

For those of you that are wondering, Sakura's long delayed explanation will be revealed next chapter.