"The Greatest Idea Ever"
By Quick-n-Popular
Disclaimer: "Naruto" and its characters are not my property.
A/N: Another warning about the language use as it's used in this chapter as well. Some violence that hopefully isn't going overboard as well. All for the purpose for telling this chapter and the story. Again, big thanks for the support from you all.
Now on with the story.
Chapter Seventeen: The Art of One's Mettle
The announcement of Tsunade having accepted the position as the Godaime Hokage spread like wildfire all over the Elemental Nations. Within the village of Konoha itself, theirs was of greater jubilation, but things went to a calmer atmosphere in the next couple of days.
Now, Tsunade, sitting in the chair as the leader, was groaning pitifully as she cradled her head. Shizune, her student, now the Godaime's secretary; handed her another paper to sign, not sympathizing with her Master and what she was currently stricken with.
"Master, here's another document that needs your signature. Oh, and you have meetings with Aburame-san, Koharu-san, and have to oversee the newest criteria being made at the Academy in your honor."
"No." Tsunade moaned flatly, "You do it. You're HOKAGE now, Shizune. Congratulations. Now, your first duty is to give me something to get rid of this hangover…"
Shizune sighed, "While it was natural to be celebrating your return and becoming Godaime; YOU should NOT have challenged all of the senior Medic Corps division into a drinking contest!"
Tsunade turned her head and glared, sullenly, at her student. "Isn't it one's duty as Hokage to have a happy work environment so the village runs efficiently?"
"Is it running "efficiently", Master? The Godaime has a hangover and is refusing to work on her third day in office." Shizune said sternly.
The newly appointed Godaime groaned in misery, letting her head lay face down on the desk. A knock at the door caused her to raise her head up, bringing up one of the papers she was supposed to sign, stuck to her forehead. Tsunade hastily peeled it off and sighed.
"Please get the door, Shizune."
Shizune nodded and when she opened the door, it revealed a man with dark shades with the lower part of his face hidden by the high collar of his jacket.
"Godaime-sama." He bowed, briefly.
Tsunade nodded, "It's been a while, Shibi. I take it you're here because of our 'mystery guest' who's currently staying with you and your family?"
Shibi Aburame nodded and as Shizune directed him to a chair in front of Tsunade's desk, he stopped and then declined to sit, preferring to stand instead.
Ignoring her ailment, Tsunade straightened herself out, and started the discussion.
"How is she?"
"Still unresponsive. Her wounds are healing and she breathes normally." He intoned.
Tsunade nodded, "Anything you have noticed?"
Shibi nodded, "Our colony discovered that she has two chakra pools."
Both Tsunade and Shizune's eyes widened but Tsunade's settled back and an amused smile appeared. "Is that so. NOW it makes sense."
"What does, Master?" Shizune asked.
"Despite wearing a Taki headband, Taki said they 'don't know anyone of her description. And DENY anyone who LOOKS like her claiming that they're from their village'. Funny, isn't it?"
Neither Shizune nor Shibi laughed.
"There's one more thing." Shibi said after a pause, "When she was changed out of her damaged clothes, by one of our female attendants; she found a seal on the girl's chest."
Tsunade sat back in her chair, "Have you seen it, Shibi?"
He nodded, "From a drawing the attendant made. It's similar. Similar to THAT one, of ours."
Tsunade closed her eyes as she KNEW to what the Head of the Aburame Clan was referring to and she then sighed, "Thanks, Shibi. Make sure to notify me when the girl does wake up."
Shibi nodded wordlessly and then left the office.
Shizune was also silent in contemplation but she looked at the clock, remembering something.
"Master…"
As if reading her student's mind, Tsunade nodded with a somber look on her face.
"Yes, she should be with THEM, by now."
AT that moment…
In a dark, dimly-lit room, four people were in attendance. One stood in the corner of the room with record keeping materials, while three were at a table that held numerous objects and tools. The biggest one, in one of the two chairs, wore a black cap over his head and had a harsh, grizzled, appearance. He folded his hands and nodded to the person leaning against the corner of the table. A woman wearing a tan trench coat over a suggestively-worn mesh shirt, nodded back to the man, wearing an equally stern face. She moved to the last occupant of the room, who was also at the table.
This person was a young woman with red hair that was now slightly disheveled. She was sitting in a wooden chair facing the scarred man but her arms and wrist were fastened to the table in metal cuffs attached to the surface of the table. This girl's head was slumped over, like she was sleeping, and she looked to be breathing normally.
The woman in the trench coat took out a vial from her jacket, uncorked it, and then held the vial under the still girl's nose. Immediately, the girl jerked her head up, now fully awake and alert. Her eyes became cold and sullen as she cautiously surveyed her surroundings before looking at the man in front of her. She chose not to even glimpse at the other woman.
The man, whose craggy face looked as though he'd been beaten up by a taijutsu master since he was an infant; folded his arms and looked at the girl.
"Tayuya of Oto. This will be where you tell us everything and anything. Lying or choosing not to answer has consequences. You WILL answer. Am I clear?"
Tayuya scowled but inside she was confused.
'What did these fuckers do to my Curse Mark! And now I have to go through some of their pansy-ass bullshit interrogation? Kiss my ass, you assholes!'
"Your answer?" The man asked again, this time with a bit of finality.
Tayuya continued to glare but soon looked at the other person at the table as she started to move. The woman in the trench coat took out a kunai from her hip and then went up to Tayuya's strapped left hand. Gripping the girl's pinky finger, she placed the tip of the blade under the red head's nail and then forced the kunai downward, tearing off the girl's nail completely. Tayuya made a small grunt but she didn't lose her scowl and her eyes became more defiant.
"Is this the best you leaf fuckers can do?"
The woman in the trench coat moved to the next nail and did it again only this time with more force. She then repeated it again on the girl's middle finger but this time shaved off the skin of the tip. Blood flowed and dribbled from Tayuya's brutalized fingers.
The red headed Kunoichi was breathing a little bit harder. Her rebellious spirit, though, was still strong. With an even more defiant look, she clenched her teeth and ground out, "Go fuck your monkey whore of a mother; you limp-dick, shit-eater!"
As the time passed, Tayuya lost all of the nails on both of her hands, which were bleeding heavily on the floor of the room. While Tayuya was now pale and sweating, her heated glare only lost some of it's intensity.
"Again, am I CLEAR?" The man said, looking as though he had infinite patience.
As Tayuya panted, it soon changed into a chortle and then into a snickering sound, as if she had suddenly remembered something funny.
"Fine, you want me to fucking talk, I'll talk. What shall we talk about? Oh, how about that shriveled up nut-sack you ass-wipes called the Sandaime?" She had a mad glint in her eye as she grinned, "Boy, did that fucking old fossil die pathetically, didn't he? I should fucking know! I was one of the four keeping you dumbfucks out with our barrier!"
Despite her effort to get a rise out of them, no one reacted... at first. Then the woman in the trench coat kicked the chair out from under Tayuya, causing the Kunoichi to have her chin fall hard against table, making one of her molars to crack. Then the woman in the trench coat took out a sizable jar, opened it and poured, what looked like salt, on to Tayuya's bleeding fingers.
Tayuya shouted in pain and anger, thrashing around until she lost enough energy and just panted in exhaustion.
The man stood and turned to the person in the corner which had been recording everything that was happening in the room.
"Prisoner Tayuya has been uncooperative. Repeat interrogation tomorrow morning and give minor aid to prisoner's hand." The other man saluted and he and the scarred man left, as soon as they were getting closer to the door, the woman in the trench coat came and bent down so she could talk in Tayuya's ear.
"As a brat, I learned a lot of techniques from that bastard you call "Master". Quite a few of them make mouthy little bitches like you say anything to make it stop. You're going to LOVE it." She said the last part in a sweet sadistic tone that for the first time got Tayuya to flinch.
When the woman in the trench coat came out of the room, the man was there looking at her sternly.
"Don't tell me, Ibiki, I know." She sighed and looked away.
Ibiki closed his eyes, "Officially, what you did was going overboard. Don't let it happen, again, Anko."
She looked at him curiously, "And, unofficially?"
"I would have broken her jaw, had you not beaten me to it. No one, talks about the Sandaime that way in front of me."
Anko looked back towards the door where Tayuya was waiting to be un-cuffed and taken back to her cell.
"Nor me." She said icily.
On a road going from the port town of Wave to the Hidden Village of Konoha, two distinct figures were walking in an unhurried pace.
Both were tall but the one of them was exceptionally so. He was also the only one of the two who carried a heavily wrapped, large sword on his back. The only trait that the two men shared were the black cloaks with red clouds printed on them and straw conical hats they wore. The hats having the benefit to shield them from the sun and also to hide their identities, when it called for it.
As they walked, the taller man tried to get his companion into a conversation with him.
"How does it feel to be getting to go home after such a long time, Itachi-san?" The tall man asked, whimsically.
His partner remained stoic, just walking. The taller man wasn't bothered by the silence and continued to talk.
"You know, it's funny when I heard that those two 'art freaks' failed to capture the Seven Tails Jinchuriki so spectacularly." The tall man chuckled.
His partner, Itachi, continued to remain quiet.
"As interesting as it is to have found that traitor's hideout, abandoning the mission just for THAT; man, I bet Leader-sama, made them feel some pain, heh." The tall man snickered in delight.
"That's where you're mistaken, Kisame." Itachi finally spoke, "Leader-sama was pleased to get one of our valuable rings back."
Kisame shrugged and just grinned, "Well, I guess."
"You're other mistake was that BOTH of them went to that hideout. Deidara was left in charge to go after the Jinchuriki while Sasori did his duty."
"And? Has that blond clay freak found his target yet?"
Itachi went silent again. Again, this didn't bother Kisame as he was used to his partner's stoicism.
"Well then, I wonder where he is…"
"It doesn't matter. We're to go to Konoha to capture the Nine Tails Jinchuriki." Itachi said, sternly and the two continued their trip.
Meanwhile, in the skies high above the village, a bizarre looking large bird was hovering with a person perched on top. This person had long blond hair, which came out into a part that covered his left eye. Currently, the hair was parted and his eye was visible but it was covered with a scope device, which he was using to observe the village of Konoha.
'I was right to have let her wander away, she managed to get into the Nine Tail's village. Two for the price of one village.' Deidara grinned wickedly, 'This village is going to look beautiful after I make it the scene of my "art".' Then he frowned as he thought of something.
'I better find both of them before those two bastards come to get the Nine Tails. For now, I'll think of what art to show these Konoha nin. After all, Art's a Blast.'
Naruto dodged quickly as Hayate and Yugao tried to catch him in a pincer maneuver. The blond used the Shadow Clone jutsu, using only one hand, while charging his Sensei and having the clones surround his Sensei's girlfriend.
As Hayate crossed swords with his student, he nodded in approval. "Good use of jutsu while engaging in a head-on attack. But there's something you've forgotten."
Both adults used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, causing the most of the training ground to be filled with multitudes of three people.
Their spar ended with Naruto's surrender as the combined experience from his Sensei and Yugao, along with their clones, overwhelmed him quickly.
Later, when they were eating, Yugao said, "Of course it might have been a different story with your sword's abilities and the jutsu you learned from THAT Sannin."
Naruto, at first was surprised at her not even saying Jiraiya's name but Hayate gave a small cough and shook his head at his student, warning him not to bring it up with her.
Naruto rolled his eyes at how unabashed the pervert of a Sensei was. That he had either peeked on her bathing and got caught or hit on the not single Anbu kenjutsu user; either way it painted his teacher as nothing more than a lecherous dolt.
"Yugao's right," Hayate agreed to her assessment, "However, as your kenjutsu Sensei, we're focusing only on your sword. That's why I made it a rule that you couldn't use anything other than just the Shadow Clone jutsu and your Kenjutsu skills. You're not learning if you're becoming heavily reliant on your other abilities and ignoring your training."
Naruto nodded and was about to say something when Hayate spoke instead.
"Of course there are exceptions where kenjutsu is useless without having the speed of people like Gai-san." He then looked at Naruto, sighing, "You had a pretty rotten time with that Genjutsu user. With long range fighters doing their best to keep their distance, you're left with few options if you can't reach them. So, I'm glad you're expanding your ninjutsu as well."
Yugao nodded, "Tenten-san told me about how you're getting better with the Chakra String technique I taught you, that it actually saved her life. I'm proud of you for that."
Yugao was a customer of Tenten's dad, so of course the bun-haired girl would chat with Yugao, who is a strong, inspiring, Kunoichi. However, Naruto felt a little embarrassed that Tenten would talk about that terrifying moment to someone that was an adult woman who was teaching him.
At that same moment, Tenten was on her day off from the new training that her Sensei, Gai, was teaching her; working in her father's store. As hot as it was, there was little in the way customers this afternoon. The Kunoichi was bored as a result. Her father recommended doing inventory or checking out the sharpness and durability of their products, but having done that multiple times lead to even more monotony for the day.
The bell at the door chimed and with a relief, Tenten opened her mouth to welcome the customer when her dad's weird alertness, had him calling out to the customer.
"I'm busy, right now! Talk to Ten-chan!" He called out over his hammering in the forge.
"Shin-san is as busy as ever," Genma said, chuckling with the senbon needle in his mouth. He then talked to Tenten, who was surprised to see the proctor of the second one-on-one matches here.
Genma walked around eyeing products while Tenten waited to see if her wanted to see one of the displayed items or be brought something.
"Tell me, are you and Uzumaki-san good friends?"
Tenten, surprised by the sudden topic, nodded, "Yeah, of course."
"Anything more," Genma asked in a somewhat teasing tone.
Tenten rolled her eyes, "Is there anything in here you're shopping for?"
Genma nodded, "I ordered a new set of senbon needles and shuriken. Has Shin-san made my order yet?"
Tenten thought for a moment and then went to the book her father kept orders in and looked down the list before finding Genma's order.
"Dad's low on some of the metal materials for the shuriken, so the order isn't complete yet." She informed him.
Genma shrugged, "That's how things are I guess. Now, getting back to Uzumaki-san."
Tenten sighed tiredly, "Yes?"
"Jiraiya-sama told me that both you and he know about his parents, now." Genma said.
Tenten had forgotten about that after the Invasion and then the mission to retrieve Tsunade. Why was this Jounin asking her about it?
Genma took the senbon needle out of his mouth and said, "I was one of the Yondaime's guards and I've always wanted to talk to the kid about his father but the decision to keep it secret from Uzumaki-san made it impossible. Now, it's different. Can I ask you to pass a message to him, when you see him, Tenten-san?"
Tenten nodded, "Sure."
Genma replaced the senbon needle back into his mouth and grinned before handing her a folded sheet of paper. "Thank you, Tenten-san. Tell Shin-san I'll come back in a couple of days to check on the order again."
The Jounin then turned and began walking out of the store. Tenten, looking at the paper, thought of something, and called out to him.
"Uh, hey! Did, Naruto's Dad have anything we could give to Naruto? Anything from his mom, too?"
Genma stopped and turned around, shrugging. "He'd have to ask the Godaime, I don't know anything, and his dad never given me anything to pass along to him."
Tenten sighed, "I hope they did. That way maybe he'd have something to know what they were like?" She then chuckled, "Maybe he could be the second coming of the Yellow Flash, that we learned about at the Academy."
Genma paused and looked away before a smile appeared on his face, "While his Dad's Hirashin is currently off limits due to how the Yondaime used it in the Third Shinobi War, it's "roots" aren't so restricted."
Tenten, surprised her musing had been taken seriously, looked even more puzzled by the answer this Jounin gave her.
He then took out another paper, wrote on it, then folded it and gave it to Tenten. "Just so you know, I didn't give this to you, not that I'm violating any orders doing so." He winked at her before turning around and left the store, the door closing behind him.
Tenten stared at the door before looking to the folded paper and cautiously opening it.
Inside it read: "In the Village's Archives look for the Manuscripts of the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju's Journal. Look for his notes on his Flying Raijin Jutsu."
At the Aburame Clan Compound, Shibi, the Head of the family, came into the door and was greeted by his son, who nodded to him.
"Father."
"Shino." Shibi greeted in return, "Anything come up today?"
In answer to his question the girl with short green hair, tan skin, and now wearing a white kimono lent to her; walked up next to Shibi's son and nodded at Shibi. Her orange eyes looking at him, cautiously.
"You're up. Welcome to the Aburame Clan. I'm Shino's father, Shibi." Shibi said.
The girl nodded,"My name is Fu. Shino-san says you might be able to help me?"
To be continued…
A/N II: This is another arc that's going to be done in stages, I'm needing to split it in order to put it together otherwise it would be a rushed one chapter, so please bare with me. Also, with Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara I hope they're not too out of character as I went with how I remembered their kind of dialogue and mannerisms, but if I am off, I'm sorry. I plan on looking into clips of them from the anime or movies to try and make them more authentic but there will be some creativity on my part as well to make them be a bit more unique.
Again, Thank you for reading and if you can please Review.
Q-n-P