-8-

After The Storm

Enjoy!

"My god, Naruto, what have they done to you?"

It wasn't every day that Uchiha Itachi had to pause and mentally process events or affairs, not since the day he saw a mountain of rotting, festering carcasses pool their collective blood into messy, sloppy puddles on the ground.

However, there was a bit of a difference now, amongst other things.

It was one thing for a child to experience what is, in essence, child abduction, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, and active brainwashing and espionage against what should be his home country, his safe haven against the dangers and insanities of the world.

Uchiha Itachi, however, could only equate this to being a child the same age as Sasuke-

No, not even the same age, someone younger than Sasuke. A year or so, if you would argue semantics. Someone an entire year younger than his little brother, a child who was supposed to be raised in the luxury of Namikaze Minato, one of the most powerful shinobi to ever exist with the influence and knowledge to back it up.

Instead, he was forced into slavery, at its core, by a man haunted with guilt and an overwhelming need to pay reparations in his own way for a man and a woman who died directly because of him.

He grazed the boy's bruises with a finger. Scars, indentations, burn marks, it was all the same to Naruto, if Itachi had to guess. Obito had brainwashed him pretty damn good. Snuck under the nose of not just Minato and Kushina, and also not only Hiruzen Sarutobi, but the entire Hidden Leaf in order to pull this off.

Naruto's cheeks were gaunt, slender, and his jawline lacked any of the childhood fat one would expect youth to own. It was like looking at a skeleton. It was disturbing. He had figured that, if given enough time, Naruto would start to bulk up massively after a proper meal with his team, and training with his sensei, but it didn't appear like that at all. He was still skinny. Maybe he was overreacting. Naruto wasn't a skeleton, but it wasn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

He could only picture the face of his little brother like this, his hand slowly tightening into a fist at it.

Obito was a monster.

The slight creaking of the tiles outside was the only indication that a nurse – or at least, a medical staff in some way – was approaching the room, and when the nurse opened the door, he thought it was a little odd that the window was open when they normally kept hospital windows shut. The windows didn't have locks, however, so not that abnormal.

The normal crow season was a few weeks away. Were they migrating early?

The dream, this time, wasn't some horrible monster, or an abomination against the kami wandering the universe, but instead it was something more personal, more diabolically close to his heart – something more sinister in nature.

Naruto found himself back as a smaller child, the walls painted black and white, neon lights swirling around him, the ever-present force of unbearable heat beating down into his face, and into his back.

It wasn't exactly uncommon, not by any stretch, but it wasn't something he had to use brain power to figure out how many times this has happened before.

The walls shifted back and forth, never truly settling on a pattern, nor a color, nor a particular shape either. Definitely a part of the dream, and not reflective of memory. Judging from the location, he'd be roughly six years of age.

The door creaked open, and he found himself staring at Obito, mask gone in favor of a bandage that kept his misshapen face in relative shape. His lone eye peered, not indicative of whether he looked at him with neutrality, anger, or just disappointment.

Naruto – at least, the Naruto in the dream – looked down at the paper on the table in front of him. It was partially filled out. The remaining sections of work he failed to do looked incomprehensible, foreign, almost alien in nature, like he was looking at it for the very first time.

No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't figure out the rest of the work.

The Obito in the dream moved his lips, but no words came out. Just blank movement. Whatever he was attempting to do, it wasn't working with the younger child, and he was obviously fed up.

In a flash, the back of his hand struck Naruto across the face, the kid being sent to the ground in a heap, blood slowly seeping out of his mouth, and a burst of anger rumbled deep inside of the boy, threatening to overflow, his skin and blood feeling as if they were boiling inside and outside of him, his lungs attempting to tear out of their constraints. His eyes were bloodshot.

Murder was on his mind.

Naruto woke up in his hospital bed with a –

Jump!

startling the nurse who was beginning to prepare the process of changing his bed sheets, the woman landing harshly on her butt at the sudden jump of her patient, her shriek causing a slight swelling of humor in the boy.

Then something dawned on Naruto.

First immense anger, and then – humor?

He had figured by this point that Obito's teachings (and by extension, punishments) had robbed him of any emotions and he had to fake most of them, but something was wrong if he was naturally feeling different emotions on his own whim.

If anything, he'd chalk it up to the lack of being around Obito.

Regardless, the woman wasn't paying any attention to his internal musings, and Naruto realized after a moment the woman was attempting to draw his attention. His eyes focused on her.

"I'm sorry ma'am, could you repeat that?"

The woman held a hand up to his head suddenly, causing him to shy away automatically at the sudden movement, before he realized she was attempting to identify any issues.

His temperature was fine, overall.

"Are you okay, sir? Do you feel any soreness? Any excess pain?"

Moving his shoulders a bit, he felt nothing out of the normal. He assumed slight pain was still to be expected, so he naturally ruled it out. His leg, however…

The nurse, if anything, was observant, and noticed his subtle wince of pain, and could guess he attempted to move the leg that got ripped into by an attack hound. She nodded, more to herself than anything, and shuffled through a drawer, and quickly handed him a water bottle.

"Take one of these right now, I'll be right back."

Naruto swallowed, and was left alone.

At least, for the moment.

He glanced up and saw his teacher leaning casually against the door frame, his eye calm, but showing a hint of concern. Kakashi's body was slouched lazily, with his hands resting gently in his pockets. Naruto idly noted a cast around his leg.

"Hey there, kiddo, how are you holding up?"

A few birds chirped outside while the intended recipient pondered it for a bit.

"How are Sakura and Sasuke?"

Kakashi chuckled a bit and wobbled to a stand, limping carefully over to a lone chair in the corner of the room, and planted himself softly on the seat, his legs burning furiously and his body finally being allowed to relax.

Shifting himself to a more comfortable position, the older man regarded his student – maybe not carefully, but with a more hidden curiosity. It was unlike him to stay silent for so long.

"They… could be better."

Naruto pondered that response a bit, and shrugged. It didn't worry him, but it left him with a few questions. From what he could remember, Sasuke had helped him fight against whoever had attacked them, but it was rather brutal for the both of them.

His visions of the altercation were glassy, a foggy haze, but the fragments were beginning to fit in his mind, slowly but surely. Bits and pieces, here and there… Sakura… Sasuke… Fū? The bandit leader…

That's when something major clicked-

"Sakura! How is she-"

The blond quieted down at the sight of his teacher raising his hand, a gentle but firm gesture. Naruto slunk back down into his bed, the soft white sheets dragging him into a state of rest.

Instead of answering the question, Kakashi scanned his student over once, and then twice, and then a third time, his mind whirling, a contemplative look reverberating from his gaze.

"Naruto, what do you remember from the invasion?"

The curious pools of blue staring back at him told Kakashi that the boy was pondering the question. Coming up with a story? Nah. If he had to hazard a guess, he was trying to sift through his brain and compile what was true and cast away what didn't occur.

There were the houses, and there was fire everywhere, covering the normally beautiful sky and turning it into a misshapen barrage of dark and destructive colors, and the screams of citizens attempting to flee to safety.

And… a dog? Naruto could pinpoint that somewhere, a dog had attacked him, but he wasn't sure if that was real or not. He remembered the barking. And then the explosion that torched his back, turning it into a crisp, painful blend of skin and dirt.

What else?

The invading force had a commander, a man with dark long hair, someone who had said something to Naruto, but amidst the fire and smoke, he couldn't remember much of their 'conversation'.

And then he grew marks on his body…

"I remember… I got stabbed by a bandit, and then it all went dark. I remember the sensation of the blade entering my stomach, but I don't… what happened, Kakashi?"

There was a brief pause, the man weighing his options. While he knew he had to be the one to break to the boy that he successfully killed a B-Rank missing nin and would be rewarded by Takigakure for his efforts, he also didn't know how Naruto would respond to the news that he killed someone – quite brutally, too, but that wasn't as important.

Maybe the hospital wasn't the best time to talk about this.

"Sasuke, yourself and the Takigakure kunoichi that invaded our training successfully eliminated one of their two leaders, a bandit by the name of Suien, and afterwards, you fell unconscious. The kunoichi rescued both Sasuke and yourself, bringing you two to the hospital where you have since rested."

There was something in that sentence that didn't add up in Naruto's head, but he didn't push it too much. It wasn't worth it at the current moment, and it wouldn't lead anywhere other than Kakashi giving him the run around.

"You never answered my question about Sakura and Sasuke."

He got a click of the tongue in response, causing him to raise his eyebrow in silent questioning. "Well," Kakashi began.

"let me just say, it was a rough time for Sasuke, he's looking at one month for combat-ready healing, and two months for his health to fully recover. His wrist got messed up pretty bad."

Naruto 'hmm'd' to himself and raised his eyes again. "And Sakura?"

"From what I was told in Sasuke's report, the explosion that occurred in the civilian house didn't hit her in any vital areas, she had minor burns on her feet and ankles, but the scars are already healing up, thanks to the medical staff here."

He took it at face value. While he didn't remember Sakura contributing during the fight, it was worth noting that he had a vague memory of her getting her-

"Oh. Did Sasuke tell you about-"

Kakashi nodded solemnly, a grimace flashing on his face after a moment. "Yeah, he did." The man said, his tone quiet, with an etching of sympathy and… sadness, Naruto thought he noticed, creeping into his voice.

Naruto nodded too, and that was all that needed to be said about that topic. It was quiet, neither of them knowing what to say. Kakashi prodded for a new topic internally.

"Well, I'll check in with the doctors, but since you are awake and they got the framework on your back done, which was the last hurdle in your recovery, I'd reckon you can be dismissed in about two to three days, and we can head back in about five or six. I wouldn't push yourself, and of course the final say lies with the doctors, but it shouldn't be too long before we are out of here and back in our own beds."

Not much else needed to be said. And with that, Naruto sunk down into his bed, his eyes closing.

Four days later, Naruto was dismissed by the hospital staff. They were pushing for a full week before releasing him, but Kakashi - and by extension, Naruto himself - were given the final say, and they decided that he could move well enough.

Although, he could definitely still feel the effects on his back. It stung, a slight pain echoing every time he so much as wiggled, but it was something he could ignore for the time.

He hated the idea of just laying in bed for another whole day.

One thing that bothered him, however, was that he wasn't able to say goodbye to Fū. He asked both Shibuki and Kakashi if he was able to say goodbye but both said she was busy and wouldn't be able to see him out of the village.

He guessed that was understandable. She was the resident jinchuriki after all, and it would look bad if both jinchuriki were talking with each other.

Eh.

It wasn't too hot on the teammate's end either. He attempted to apologize to Sakura, but whether she wasn't feeling comfortable around him anymore, or if her first kill was having a bigger impact on her than he gave credit to, she was pretty quiet, at least by her standards.

"It's fine, Naruto."

And that was that.

He was absolutely sure it was not, in fact, 'fine', but he still wasn't comfortable enough yet with more of the intrinsic nature of complex conversation, so he let it go. For the moment.

And Sasuke, oh boy. Sasuke had been in a rather crabby mood recently. Like, really crabby. If Naruto had to hazard a guess, it was due to his wrist being damaged, and the lack of training that was pissing off the orphan.

"I'm not in the mood right now." was the response Naruto got upon asking Sasuke if he would enjoy a game of shogi, which befuddled the blond, seeing as the game of shogi didn't require a lot of physical activity, or really any physical activity at all. But, he shrugged it off.

When Naruto first got back to his room, upon being discharged, it was as he left it on the day of the invasion - bed slightly scrunched and indented, with his traveling bag zipped neatly and sectioned off in the farthest corner of the room.

The second day, where he wandered the village for a bit, scoping out any potential interest points, he stopped by one of their ramen shops and ate a few bowls. It was a short break, and every time he lifted the chopsticks to his mouth, it would remind him of when he was a smaller boy, when Obito and Konan would never allow him something tastier, something soft and delicate on the tongue, forcing him to eat whatever they made him, his body adapting to whatever mush they would essentially force-feed him.

Was he allowed to eat ramen? He never ate more than a few bowls in Konoha, and that was only to persuade anyone with him that nothing was wrong and that it was normal for him to eat ramen, but when he was alone, it was always healthy, nutritional meals, which, while it was a far cry from past meals, he still hankered for the occasional sweet or chocolate.

Naruto was never allowed a sweet tooth.

So, whenever the other students or classmates or even genin would discuss their favorite sweets, Naruto couldn't honestly answer what his were. He would lie, sure. They accepted the lies easily enough, because who would lie about such a thing?

But he would. And he did. And it was simple, because that's how he was raised. Naruto never knew any better.

Regardless, when Naruto got back the second day, a crumpled paper sat on the top of his bag, an emerald green ribbon tying the beaten, dragged piece of paper in its furl. Untying the ribbon, he felt a swelling of humor rise in him when he realized it was from his… friend, Fū, who had apparently decided to write him a letter before he left the village.

Yo, Naruto!

We sure kicked that guy's ass, huh?

"Well, she's always to the point, no nuance."

He was a Takigakure ninja at some point in time, I'm not sure when b/c Shibu-sensei won't tell me, says 'its not important anymore' or something like that. Bleh, I say!

Why were all of her words extremely pressed down and darkened in the letter? Surely it wasn't because… no, actually, Naruto realized, it was because her super strength quite literally prevented her from writing without pressing extremely hard on the pencil or pen, even if she was trying to be delicate.

Naruto again felt another swelling of humor and fought to control it. He didn't want to undo any of Obito's training.

Anyways, I hope you didn't forget about the penpal thing! The time that a mail carrier takes on average to go from Takigakure and Konoha is roughly a week, and a ninja moving at average speed could reach one from the other in about two days, so I'm giving you seven (7, like me!) days to get me a letter before I personally kick your ass again!

I don't have much else to say, and I know this is a short letter and letters are normally supposed to be long, but I just want to say thank you for being my brand new second (there was a line scratching out the word 'second') third best friend (behind Stinky and Shibu-sensei, of course!) I have a hunch I'll be seeing you again soon, Naru-chan, so I'm expecting a hell of a sparring match!

Bugs and Beetles,

Fū 3

"Does 'Bugs and Beetles' replace hugs and kisses? I think 'hugs and kisses' is how someone ends a letter."

No matter the wording, Naruto tucked it, ribbon and all, into a side pocket of his bag, where it would less likely be crumpled, where the blank letter with Taki's international location was stored for when he got back, and left his room to shower, and he never noticed the small smile on his face.

Kakashi glanced at his three students as they were walking back to Konoha, his right shoulder and arm throbbing in slight pain from the invasion. Naruto, Sasuke, and Taki's jinchuriki had dealt with the other of the two leaders, albeit barely - and if he had to hazard a guess, Naruto raged out and used a bit of the Nine-Tails power, seeing as the corpse he inspected had half his entrails exposed and two stab wounds directly through his eye sockets and out the back of his head, a rather brutal execution.

But something was bothering him.

The bandit Naruto slaughtered, Suien, was a B-Rank missing nin that had been listed by Takigakure for bounty, and when Kakashi cashed in said bounty on behalf of his student, autopsy report - along with eyewitness accounts by both Sasuke and the jinchuriki - had confirmed that both Fū and Sasuke contributed towards his death, even if Naruto was the one who committed the finishing blow. The total amount of money listed was three and a half million ryō, so Kakashi did his due diligence and gave one million to Fū, and would give one million and one and a half million to both Sasuke and Naruto, respectively. Kakashi wasn't sure about any of the other bandits they killed, but he was sure neither of his three students cared much.

The other leader, however, was someone who had Kakashi a bit worried.

Raiga Kurosuki, one of the traitorous Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, along with the infamous Kiba blades, said to grant any user full mastery over lightning. Also potentially the sharpest blades to ever exist.

His bounty, when Kakashi checked, was nothing tremendous, but nothing to scoff at either - ten million ryō. The swords, listed by Kirigakure, would also fetch a hefty price if returned, around one hundred million ryō, or enough money to retire on and fund the next generation of your family comfortably.

But why were these two working together? More importantly, why did Suien have one of Orochimaru's curse marks? It didn't ultimately help, as Naruto butchered him, but it meant that Orochimaru was trying to expand his influence around the globe and build up strength in numbers.

Kakashi wasn't dumb. Far from it, he was top of his class in every mental test and trial he was put through as a child, and that continued well into adulthood. So, when he thought about it a bit more, the exchange was obvious to him.

Orochimaru would give someone a curse mark, and they'd be loyal to him when called upon, but otherwise, they were free to do what they want.

It was the only thing that made sense to him. That, and Orochimaru was actively testing improvements and how potent his cursemarks were, which, as well, scared Kakashi.

Konohagakure still didn't have a great deal of knowledge on his curse marks. When the snake fled, most of his research had gone with him or had been burned in the escape, and Anko had her curse mark sealed (as best as they could) by a combined effort of Jiraiya and Kakashi, and it worked well enough to store away any potential Orochimaru bullshit, so that was that.

It worried Kakashi, but there wasn't much he could do at the moment. He'd simply report it to his Hokage.

Stuck in his internal musings, he barely recognized when they returned to the Hidden Leaf, the massive walls of their northern entry gate coming in his peripheral vision. The four of them walked up, checked in with the two gate Chunin, and immediately headed for the Hokage's office.

The old, wizened Fire Shadow glanced over the unit as they walked in. His eyes looked creased, wrinkles barely holding up their own, and gaunt fingers helped hold his pipe in place between his lips. "Welcome back, Team 7. I take it the mission was smooth?" He asked jovially, eyeing the bandages on Sasuke's wrist, as well as Kakashi gripping his shoulder for a moment.

"Lord Hokage, Team 7 reporting. Permission to speak?"

Hiruzen leaned to the side and exhaled softly, a billow of wind floating harmlessly out the window, and he glanced over the indigo and violet evening sky as the night emerged.

"Permission granted."

Kakashi got up from his knee bow and faced his leader. "Our initial trip to Takigakure was uneventful, along with my meeting there. However, on our supposed last day, an invasion force, lead by Raiga Kurosuki and Suien, Kirigakure and Takigakure missing nin respectively, invaded, targeting the village's resources and intending to cause chaos. Genin Uzumaki, along with Genin Uchiha and a Takigakure kunoichi, eliminated Suien, while I repelled Kurosuki myself, before going to help civilians."

If it was possible, Hiruzen's eyes seemed to look even more tired than before, and he sighed to himself, rubbing his temple back and forth for a moment.

"Genin Uzumaki and Genin Uchiha, is this true?"

Both nodded in agreement, not seeing anything wrong with the story.

"And Genin Haruno?"

Kakashi paused, something Hiruzen noted mentally, and he puffed his pipe again. "Genin Haruno aided in the rescue of civilians, but was not present for the altercation between Suien and our three."

Hiruzen nodded and tapped his chin in thought, a cloud of smoke surrounding his face in contemplation.

"And this was originally a C-Rank mission, correct?"

"Yes, Lord Third."

Hiruzen picked up an ink pen, testing a few blotches of ink before writing on a piece of paper to the side of him, mumbling a few words that nobody in the room could pick up on. He paused, and continued writing.

"With the presence of two missing nin, one of which is a high profile target, I'm granting Team 7 the completion of a B-Rank mission. Initial pay funded by Takigakure will be absorbed by the Hidden Leaf, in which the Hidden Leaf will recompense Team 7 with one hundred and fifty thousand ryō, split four ways. Genin, you are dismissed. Jounin Hatake, please stay."

The Genin filed out promptly. Kakashi stayed behind.

The two waited for the kids to get a good distance away, neither of them really holding eye contact. Hiruzen continued to smoke, his rusted pipe dull.

"Jounin Hatake, permission to speak freely."

Kakashi visibly slouched, if only by a hair, but the aged Hokage noticed it all the same to him. The grey-haired man glanced down for a bit, then made eye contact.

"When did you first know there would be an invasion?"

"I didn't have concrete confirmation," Kakashi began, his hands in his pockets, a slight frown on the visible part of his face. "only hunchs, a guess, if you will. Their leader, Shibuki, was rather dodgy when I prodded for information."

"He was aware of your suspicions?" Hiruzen asked, his tone neutral.

"To an extent, yes, but I reason it was due to his upbringing and grooming to fit the village leader role."

It was a valid response, and Hiruzen couldn't find any holes in his logic - it tracked, through and through.

He shifted through some paperwork, tidying it up while thinking of his next inquiry.

"Paperwork, Kakashi."

Said man handed over the mission details, along with his full report of what had transpired in Takigakure.

Hiruzen browsed through a bit, humming to himself in acknowledgement every now and then. Kakashi waited patiently.

He browsed, until a particular page caught his eye. His eyes scoured the page, and when Hiruzen finished his inspection, his gaze traveled up, until it landed on his jounin in front of him.

"All three of your Genin had their first confirmed kill on this mission?"

Hiruzen's eyes darted to the window on his side suddenly, and Kakashi shifted his stance a fraction, but didn't audibly acknowledge the movement. It wasn't important.

"Unfortunately, yes. Sasuke confirmed for me, Sakura and himself had at least one kill during the initial assault, with Naruto's coming from Suien when he advanced against Naruto and Sasuke."

Hiruzen's brow deepened at the thought, a puff of smoke wafting from his lips. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, letting this piece of information digest.

A group of Genin, all three killing on their first mission, a supposed C-Rank at that. Goodness…

The last time he could reliably confirm that all three of a team got a kill on their first mission had to have been during the previous World War. Off memory, he definitely could say that it hadn't happened in this era of peace.

It was a funny thought. His mind traveled back decades ago, to when he was training his Sannin. Their first real mission, both Orochimaru and Tsunade had killed a nin, with Jiraiya being spared the horror of it all, but that would soon change. If even HIS Genin didn't all kill on their first mission, this was very obviously a catastrophic result.

"Why did you willingly separate and split off yourself from the team?" His tone took a slight edge, but Kakashi didn't seem to pay it any mind.

"My summons had informed me of a significantly higher chakra level coming from Takigakure's most precious resource, the Hero's Water. At the moment, I felt protecting a coveted material was valid, however, I wasn't expecting a significant power threat like Suien to also be waiting. I'll admit, I could have played it better."

Hiruzen, while somewhat upset at his jounin's actions, couldn't necessarily fault him.

"I'm also happy to report," Kakashi interrupted, before the Hokage could continue. "that both Shibuki, and Takigakure, accepted our terms of vassalage without much negotiation or trouble. They are asking for a portion of our forces to be permanently stationed in Takigakure as protection, and for mission deployment."

"Admittedly," Hiruzen said after a moment. "I am not entirely pleased with your actions on the mission, but the ultimate goal of this was to strong-arm Takigakure into accepting our proposal. The added economic and trade benefit will aid Konohagakure nicely, but I must ask, how many forces do they want? Mission protocol stated I'd allow up to fifty of our ninja to be sent over, but I assume you didn't tell them this?"

Kakashi shook his head slightly. "Of course not. They initially asked for fifteen, but in a sign of good faith, I 'granted' them twenty. Five Jounin, fifteen Chunin was the price we agreed on."

This was one of Hatake's hidden strengths, which Hiruzen had figured out long ago. Kakashi's nonchalance and aloof attitude, for some reason, just worked in smaller political climates. It allowed Hiruzen to only worry about meeting the other Kage, or when he'd have to make a visit to the daimyō, leaving Kakashi to make deals for the smaller villages, the villages that Hiruzen didn't need to leave the comfort of his chair for.

Either they were important enough to warrant a visit from Hiruzen, or they could come to him, or they could hash it out with Kakashi. Simple as that.

"When are the next Chunin Exams?"

"About a few months out - four, to be precise, if memory holds true." Kakashi stated.

Hiruzen pondered this. He could send some of his Special Jounin out, since they'd qualify, and it kills two birds with one stone…

Mitarashi would for sure go, seeing as she had been clamoring for an official promotion, and Hiruzen could tell she was getting antsy waiting for the chance to prove her mettle.

That just left four others, and he wasn't sure who could fit the billing.

The plan - at least, after thinking it over for a few seconds - is whoever goes would be in contention for the next Jounin promotions. While the normal promotions were at the discretion of the Hokage, and fellow Jounin recommendation, Hiruzen did have the final say, and if he willed it so, could promote anyone he wanted without reason.

Of course, he didn't, because morale would be at a low, and his chair would be called for, but that's neither here nor there.

Gekkō was another option. His sword skill was second to none - except maybe his fiancée - but it would allow him some time away, and hey, maybe Taki medics could figure out his lung situation.

"Initial thoughts are Gekkō and Mitarashi." Hiruzen said after a minute of deliberation.

"Both tokujō." Kakashi noted wryly. Hiruzen waved him off with a casual hand, thinking to himself.

"That leaves three Jounin and the Chunin. Kakashi, do they have any apparent areas of specific need?"

"Only academy and medics, really. I was thinking; five general Chunin, five from the Academy, and five from our medic reserves."

"I don't like those splits," Hiruzen stated. "Nine general Chunin, with three Academy and three medics."

Kakashi gave the equivalent of a mental shrug. While it wasn't amazing, it was better than nothing for Takigakure. They'd beef up their roster of nin a bit, and Konoha would start receiving their economic resources. All in all, not a terrible trade.

"It works, mathematically anyways."

"Sure it does," Hiruzen agreed. "I do think Takigakure will eventually ask for further reinforcements, but for the time being, their Academy should see an immediate boost in quality, and their hospital work should be fine.

"How long will you send them?"

"Until the end of our Chunin Exams. I'll assess their time in Takigakure and see if they are ready for a permanent promotion. Out of the five Jounin, I think four will be Tokubetsu Jounin and one will be a regular Jounin, acting as my de facto judge. Maybe Inoichi."

It mattered not to Kakashi.

"Well, I appreciate the help, Jounin Hatake." Apparently, Hiruzen decided that was the end of this conversation for the moment. "I'll let you know if any complications arise. For the time being, monitor your students and see if there are any lasting effects involving their first kills. If needed, give them references to Yamanaka therapy, it should be free under their medical coverage. You are dismissed."

Kakashi nodded and did a quick knee bow, before standing and taking his leave. The door clicked shut behind him, the elderly Hokage glancing at the door for the moment.

He waited for the Jounin to leave the area, sensing the man walk away from the Hokage building, waiting for him to be a good distance away. He sighed and his eyes drifted to the window. "Come in, Jiraiya."

The window swung open and a towering presence was now in the office. His long, shaggy grey hair rested near his waist. A gentle half-smile was on his face, and his eyes were closed in contemplation. Hiruzen turned back to his paperwork.

"How much did you hear? I don't quite remember when you got here."

Jiraiya leaned against the wall nearest to him and crossed his arms, and he stared out the window at the sky. The sounds of pen scribbling ink on paper filled the room, and nothing was said for a moment.

"Enough to hear the brat got his first kill, on his first real big boy mission no less."

Hiruzen chuckled to himself and continued to fill out forms, address public requests, all that fun jazz. "It was certainly something to hear, anyways. What do you think?"

Jiraiya chortled to himself and glanced down at his teacher. "What, about his first kill? Did Kakashi's report say how it happened?"

"Kakashi theorizes it was partially influenced by the Kyuubi, seeing as the corpse had his organs ripped out and two holes where eyes would normally go." Hiruzen said, never looking up.

Jiraiya blanched at the description and shifted in place. "Think it's worth looking at the seal over?"

"Hardly," was the initial reply. "The seal was designed to allow Naruto to draw on its power in life or death situations. This just shows us it was doing its job."

While it was technically true, it didn't make Jiraiya feel any better about it. Yes, that was its purpose, so while he couldn't raise a complaint about something relatively harmless, it was something to at least investigate, but he supposed that wasn't his call.

"Regardless, Jiraiya, Naruto has always shown a lot of potential, even back in the Academy. It wouldn't necessarily surprise me that he managed to tap into the power already. Besides, Kakashi didn't seem particularly worried, and he knows Naruto's habits and behaviours better than I do at this point."

He couldn't particularly refute that.

"Also, I know you aren't here for a social visit, and it's a month before your scheduled check-in. What gives?"

Jiraiya reached into his inner coat pocket and handed over a bundle of papers, and Hiruzen graciously accepted. Unfurling them, he scanned through a few notes.

"The Kirigakure civil war is coming to an end?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "All signs point to it. Personally, I'm not entirely sold, and I don't know every detail because it's hard to get a good read of intel when it's one of the bloodiest non-world wars in history of the Elemental nations, but I have reason to believe the reign of Yagura is coming to a close, sooner than later. Maybe three months, if it follows pace."

The old man blew another puff of smoke out to the side of him, his eyebrows furrowing as he continued to scan the papers. "Good, I always thought Yagura was… unconventional." Also known as, off his fucking rocker.

"And Itachi?"

Jiraiya took a moment to deliberate his response. It wasn't the simplest thing to get into, seeing as Itachi had the most covert of missions possible, in theory. And in practice, honestly.

"I can't call it. All I was told in his notice was he has two men that he trusts 'despite reservations'. Kisame Hoshigaki, former Swordsmen of the Bloody Mist, and another Akatsuki member he refers to as 'Tobi'. Further digging couldn't find me anything about our mystery man."

It was a crapshoot no matter what, but Hiruzen couldn't just call Itachi back all willy-nilly. He just had to trust his insider.

"And what of Iwa?"

"Zilch, and I mean that in a good way. No moves reported, so it seems they are minding their business for the time being. A non-issue."

Hiruzen's eyes softened just a bit, and he leaned back in his chair. So it seemed there could be good news after all.

The Chunin Exams in four months, the Kirigakure civil war was dwindling down after some odd years of internal slaughter, and Iwa was quiet. Oh, and a vassal village for the Leaf. All in all?

Could have been worse.

"Let me ask you, old man." Jiraiya suddenly interrupted, drawing Hiruzen's attention once more. "Has the Elephant been dealt with?"

He took another puff of smoke. No, was the simple response, but he knew Jiraiya wouldn't accept it at face value, especially not after the Toad Sage had been pushing for the… disappearance of Danzō, so to speak.

And while Hiruzen didn't have much of an issue with killing Danzō , they had no tangible proof he has done any of the shit he has. Danzō could easily claim innocence, and would very likely get off free, and put a permanent target on Hiruzen, all in one swift motion. And nobody wanted that.

Jiraiya, as lug-headed he may be at times, happened to be very perceptive of body language, and picked up on his internal musings.

"Old man, let's be real." Jiraiya began to barter, with Hiruzen watching him. "I could easily…" he trailed off, before miming the summoning jutsu, crudely imitating his Sage Mode, before drawing the universal death sign - a thumb across the neck. "And we'd be done with the old cooter."

"The issue isn't that," the older man said, chuckling under his breath at his student. "The issue is, you, myself, and Shikaku all know he is the one who attacked Shisui that night, but we have no evidence to back our claims up. With Shisui's mind all jumbled, that rules out Inoichi confirming this, at least without permanently burying Shisui. And, I'll have you know, I like the concept of retirement very dearly."

Jiraiya snorted. "You think the Uchiha brat has the balls to become Hokage? Are you sure you aren't delusional in your old age?"

While he should have been insulted, he could hear the joking, rather tender tone in his student's voice, and he couldn't help but laugh, his mind at ease for a bit.

"I don't know, it's just guesswork for the time being, unless you want to take the seat?"

"Not a chance."

"Well, there you go. We'll see how the future plays out."

"Anyways," Jiraiya said. "Back to the topic at hand here. Danzō is too dangerous to be left alive, he needs to be gone."

Hiruzen shifted his eyes towards his student, who had once again crossed his arms. He looked back down at his papers and began filling them back out. The room was quiet for a moment again.

"I'm not arguing that," Hiruzen reasoned, the sound of ink splashing on paper subtle, but announcing its presence all the same. "in fact, I agree with you on all accounts. However, until either Shikaku or I can confirm confidently that Danzō was the perpetrator against Shisui, there is nothing I can do."

"Well, give me a notice in case you decide to take action. You know I'll help."

To Hiruzen, it was apparent Jiraiya never got over Danzō helping his former best friend, Orochimaru, experiment and carry out all of his war atrocities. However, a loyal soldier was a loyal soldier, and that couldn't be ignored, no matter what.

"Sure, sure. Now leave me be, I have forms to fill out."

And before he knew it, at the sound of his student chuckling, he was empty in his office again.

"Honey, wake up, you have an hour to eat and get ready for the Academy!"

Not like she needed to be told that. Her little sister crying for half the night virtually kept her awake anyways. Sighing to herself, Makoto glanced over at her wall clock and squinted through the dark to see the time. 6:08 in the morning.

Her classes started at 7:15, and she got out at 3:30 in the afternoon. It was easy enough, if you ignored her jerkass classmates being jerkasses all the time, but it was simple enough for her.

This was her second year in the academy. Having entered schooling at eight years old, she was now nine, and had another two years of this. Normally, clan children are entered into the one year Academy program, but her parents - civilian mother and shinobi dad - had elected to filter her under the four year Academy program, to help her prepare for the rigors of live combat.

She wasn't particularly mad about it, and she understood well enough why she was given the longer timeframe in the Academy, but she still wasn't happy about it, not one bit.

Regardless, she wouldn't give up so easily. She brushed her teeth, put on her attire, which consisted of a simple pair of long black cargo pants and a navy-tinged tee shirt, and went to eat breakfast.

"Dad out on another mission?" Makoto asked her mother, seeing his usual spot empty. Her mother was busy wringing out some clothes, a bucket of water situated under the fabrics, collecting any spare water that happened to drop.

"Hokage asked him to check up on a situation a ways out from the village, shouldn't be gone longer than a few hours at most. Is Emiri awake?"

Makoto ate her usual meal, a light serving of both bread and rice, and shrugged her shoulders. Her mother didn't pay it any mind, continuing to wring clothes.

"How's the Academy going?"

"Eh," Makoto responded. "the kids are mean but I like playing with a few of them. Karen gave me a friendship bracelet yesterday!" At this, Makoto held up her right wrist, showing off a pink and purple braided wristlet.

"That's great, honey! Is that Hideo kid still giving you trouble?"

Swallowing a helping of rice, Makoto let it go down into her stomach before answering. "No, he tripped me last week but a teacher really yelled at him and he's avoided me since that." she said, giggling to herself.

"That's good, that's good." Her mother replied, her voice sounding rather faraway.

The two shared a silence amongst themselves, neither breaking it. Makoto eating, with her mother doing various chores around the house. Eventually, it was time for Makoto to go to the Academy.

This was how their mornings usually went, on the rare chance they could spend them together. Makoto would catch her mother up on the details of her personal life, and then they'd go a few days of barely talking, which was understandable seeing as her mom was normally exhausted.

Still, it bothered Makoto.

"Oh, Makoto! Here," her mother handed her roughly 500 ryō. "When you are on your way, make sure to pick up lobster and salmon and have your father cook it for you and Emiri, I'm gonna pull a double shift tonight at the hospital, okay?"

That was the two cheapest meats at the market. Lobster, salmon, really any seafood was considered "poor", and as such, it was all the family ever ate, besides the usual vegetables and rice, with bread occasionally.

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Okay sweetie." Her mother paused, unsure of her next words. "I love you."

Makoto nodded before opening her front door. "I love you too."

This author note is all boring stuff, so if it doesn't interest you, then you can close the page and not miss a thing, but I'd recommend at least reading parts of it.

I did some mathematics, and despite the fact it was pretty basic math, my stupid ass still struggled a bit.

Basically, one ryō is equal to ten yen. And one hundred yen is just about equal to one American dollar, which is where I am situated. As such, ten ryō is roughly one American dollar. I know one hundred yen is ALMOST a dollar, but not quite. In fact, I looked it up, and one hundred yen is around 91 cents, but, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to go off straight here and just say one hundred yen is a dollar, straight up.

Thus, ten ryō is a dollar, or a 10-to-1 ratio for conversion. So basically, if you wanna figure out how much ryō is worth in my story, just take away a zero and you'll have the answer.

For example, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi got paid 150,000 ryō for their mission in Takigakure, split four ways, plus an assumed village tax. Remove a 0, and that's $15,000 split four ways. $15,000/4 is $3,750 for each of them.

Let's spitball a reasonable tax number. I argued a 30% tax, and a friend of mine countered with 20%, so let's meet in the middle and say that Konoha has a 25% tax.

$3,750, taxed by 25%, leaves them with $2,813 dollars for their troubles in Takigakure (I think the math is correct.)

So, in total, each of Team 7, individually, made $2,813 for Takigakure.

However, that doesn't really help, seeing as we have no clue what the economic climate is in the world of Naruto. Rent could be $5,000 for ninja, we have absolutely no clue. The cost of living is basically a giant question mark, so bear with me here and let's just say that's a good figure.

Also, let's do some more math.

At the time of the fourth World War, it was said the shinobi side had 80k shinobi, and let's assume two rather huge assumptions here: that the samurai took up approximately half of these (which is super duper unrealistic, I know, but it makes it easier for me), so 40k, and that the rest of the 40k was contributed by essentially only the five great villages.

40k/5 = 8,000 shinobi per village on average, but it's reasonable to assume that villages such as Konoha and Kumo had more shinobi than Kiri or Suna. However, for simplicity's sake, let's just say Konoha is working with ~8k shinobi at the moment.

If you go off what's explicitly shown in the show/manga, from what we see of Konoha, there is no way on EARTH that the village has 8k shinobi to use, it'd honestly probably be closer to the hundreds range. However, I'm a firm believer in the whole fanon "Genin Reserve" idea, in which all the Genin that fail the standard Jounin test are sent to a reserve system in which they still train and carry out D-Rank missions, but aren't on an official team.

It's super hazy, and has its fair share of logical holes, I am aware, but it's better than nothing.

So, Hiruzen sending 20 shinobi to Takigakure to be permanently station there, if we use this logic as our base, is actually a rather small dent in the eyes of Konoha, but is a MASSIVE help to Takigakure, a village confirmed to be small in population.

This is the basis I'm going off.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Much love, hope you crazy kids are all staying safe.