"I met my mother." Naruto suddenly said.
The three of them were back at his place, tucking away the last of the equipment Naruto had prepared.
Sasuke and Sakura shared a glance, Naruto not looking at either of them.
"How was she?" Sakura asked.
"Exactly as described." Naruto paused for a few moments. "On all accounts."
"Ah." Sasuke straightened up.
"And... I don't know how to deal with that." He turned around, face a rictus of confusion. "On one hand, she's family, but on the other, she hurt Kurama so much, and Kurama killed her, and-" He cut himself off, releasing a sigh.
Sasuke and Sakura stepped closer, both placing a hand on his shoulders, looking at him with concern.
"It was..." Naruto looked up. "Something. How... how do I deal with that? She's my mother, and she loved me, gave her life for me, and I think I should love her too but there's this little voice that's saying 'But she tortured Kurama' and I just- I just- I can't make sense of it!"
Sakura wrapped her arms around him, offering a wordless comfort. Sasuke just pulled them both closer.
Kurama's Chakra pulsed stronger, and all three stilled as his Chakra spread through all of them, Connecting with them.
Naruto breathed out slowly, feeling the other three right down to their very souls. Sakura was a bastion of surety, determined simply to be there for Naruto, no matter what he chose. Sasuke was the same, but held an element of sympathy, knowing what Naruto was going through because he himself had gone through something like it with the revelations about Itachi.
And Kurama...
"Nobody can blame you for loving your mother." Kurama spoke.
He... was only slightly conflicted in the matter. He hated Kushina, and no small part of him wanted Naruto to hate her too, but...
But he wasn't allowing himself to accept that, knowing that it wasn't fair to Naruto, and making the effort for him.
"Kind of you." Sasuke said.
The brief realization that all three had heard Kurama's words passed through them all. It wasn't a surprising one, really, considering they were basically connected at the soul.
"'Different people can hold different feelings for the same person.'" Kurama said, emotions taking a melancholy turn. These words had come straight from his father. "'One must accept that in order to bond with others.'"
"Wise man." Sakura said, lowly.
"Yes..." Kurama agreed, that old loss briefly coming the surface. "Naruto. I will not begrudge you for loving your mother. I would be a... poor friend if I did."
Naruto sniffed, and just about crushed Sasuke and Sakura with the hug he pulled them into. He was smiling, eyes wet. "I- thank you."
"Hmph." Kurama scoffed, though it was just for show.
Naruto grinned.
"Until the threat is dealt with, Konohagakure will operate on a war-footing." Hiruzen announced, looking over the gathered Jonin and Chunin. "All five Great Shinobi Nations will be working together during this endeavour. We must not allow past rivalries and offenses to divide us, not against a threat such as this."
The many Ninja nodded, remaining silent.
Hiruzen smiled, softly. "Good luck, and may the Will of Fire burn bright in all of you."
They quickly returned to their duties, and Hiruzen let out a sigh.
And to think he'd been so closing to retiring...
Another month, and it would have all been Tsunade's problem.
Shikaku appeared by his side, and Hiruzen wordlessly took the papers he'd offered. Official communications from the Daimyo, suggested plans for moving personnel and resources to the agreed-upon spot where the combined efforts would be hosted, lists full of names and dossiers allocating the Shinobi of the village...
Busy days were ahead.
Well, that's what you got when somebody tried to drop a meteor on all five Kages and the head of the Samurai nation and three Jinchuuriki.
Hiruzen leafed through it, locating a correspondence to Takigakure, and quickly read over it.
Miracle of miracles, Hisen had actually agreed to send off Taki's Jinchuuriki.
As well as a small force of Taki Shinobi to protect her.
Good. That accounted for all but one Jinchuuriki. Unsurprising, considering that the Rokubi Jinchuuriki was currently a missing nin.
Having the other five safe definitely made things much easier for the five Great Villages.
Still... Madara wasn't a foe to be underestimated.
The complete opposite, in fact. In the prime of his life, Madara had only ever been beaten by Hashirama Senju, the man who had rightfully claimed the title of 'God of Shinobi'. There were few who could match that legacy, and now...
If what Naruto had reported was any indication, he'd be even more powerful. The prime of his life, with access to the Rinnegan, quite possibly also having been revived through Edo Tensei, in which case he'd be capable of regenerating and have a limitless supply of Chakra...
Very, very troublesome, especially as Madara was old enough to have known the technique in and out, having lived long enough to make improvements on it...
It was the kind of backup plan that was ruthlessly effective.
As expected of such an old and storied shinobi.
And that wasn't even mentioning the army of Zetsu he'd built up over time. The capabilities revealed by Inoichi was definitely going to make this a lot harder than it needed to be, with Jiraiya desperately searching for a solution...
There were only a few pluses in this situation. First that they had the other villages as allies, second that even Madara probably couldn't take on five fully-realized Jinchuuriki at once and actually win, third that their army was composed entirely of clones, meaning a weakness in one of them would be a weakness in most if not all of them, and fourth that their non-Zetsu manpower was severely diminished...
Unless Madara had gone ahead and used Edo Tensei on other people. Hiruzen couldn't be sure that he hadn't.
It wouldn't be particularly out of character either way, really.
Hiruzen sighed again.
There were dark days ahead, and so little time to make preparation.
Well... He had little choice in the end, didn't he? He'd play his part, and follow through.
Just as he always had.
He only hoped that things would turn out for the better.