Scarlet Justice - ep. 127
"Images"
[Days of Thunder: Chapter of Spiral Fox, Part 5]

"Ah."

I let out a breath before starting on my rounds again. Today is a simple work day: an entire morning taken up by doing patrols, for a wealthy set of clients. Nothing of note has taken place, and I have yet to interact with said clients as they presented the mission by proxy. It wasn't something specifically for me, but I suppose that I was the first one to take up the posting as it came in.

Nothing exciting or terribly fulfilling. Reading a book while sensing for any unusual figures, checking a few guests visually as they approached the main gates, and walking the perimeter as I am doing now. It's allowed some time to myself to think, which is nice. There are things that I want to get done today. After this, I think I will stop by and see the old man. He might have time to speak about my proposal for the village, and if not, a few small updates on things of interest will suffice.

"Thanks for filling in today. The bosses sent this down for you, miss."

A few of the regular guardsmen are now clocking in, wearing the usual black military gear. Hm. I suppose some people have money to throw away callously, don't they...

"Thank you." I take the envelope from the young man and place it into one of my jacket pockets. "Will that be all for me?"

"That should be all. Thank you again for your service," he says with a bow. I nod and bow back before leaving the premises. I jump towards the nearby branch and shake it, making a cloth backpack fall into my waiting arms. Bringing a change of clothing was a good idea, since I don't want to walk around like this all day if I don't have to. I find a nearby restaurant and borrow the bathroom to get out of my clothing, putting on the plain shirt and jeans I had stashed away. A few snacks are picked up to properly patronize the establishment, and I put them into my bag before slinging it over my shoulder and heading off. Next stop, the Hokage's Office.

"Morning, Lili."

"Good morning, Iruka. How are you faring lately?" I ask him as we cross paths.

"Pretty good, actually. This time of year is busy, but not too hectic considering everything. The groups of kids I have this year are above average, just not as good as your class if I had to say anything."

"That has its good and bad points, wouldn't you agree?"

"Less troublemakers for sure," he says with a laugh. "But not nearly as exciting. I can't complain, though. What about you?"

"I was just doing a little security work uptown. Filling in for a few guards. Nothing exciting, but it was very good pay for the amount of work."

"You don't say."

"They actually classed it as an A-Rank."

"Seriously?" Iruka shakes his head. "Guess it just shows you how far we've come, if people can throw around that sort of cash for a few hours of guard duty."

"I said the same to myself. Hopefully the good times can continue, with less inequality, of course."

"Heh. Are we planning a social revolution, too?" he asks with a smile.

I smile back and start to turn away. "It might be so, my dear. I'm off to see our Hokage. Take care, now."

"You too, Lili."

I wave over my shoulder and continue through the Academy complex. There's a different receptionist at the front entrance now, which means Imari is busy.

"Oh, Captain Kobayashi. Did you want to see Special Aide Hyuuga today?" the woman asks.

"I did. Is she in?"

"She and Chief Kurogane are in their office."

"Thank you. I'll go and speak to them directly."

"Understood."

I leave reception and head down the hall, then stop at the first open door before heading inside.

"..."

I have never seen this much paperwork in my life. All sorts of notes, scrolls both open and closed, documents of different weights, sizes, and colours...though almost all of it is neatly in place, the sheer volume of it seems enough to overwhelm any soul. Is this what they've been dealing with the past few weeks, while trying to take care of Sasuke and the Hokage?

Seeing all of this just makes me even more upset with Jiraiya. That inconsiderate bastard. But even so, I don't want to infect the ladies with my negative energy. They need to see a friendly face, after all.

"Yes. Yes, please get to that as soon as possible. We've been running into...ah, yes. I understand that, but it's been three days already. This is an important matter...you know what? Fine. The next person you'll hear from is my senior. No, I don't have time for it anymore. I apologize, but I have other business to get to. Chief Kurogane will be contacting you in the near future. Good morning."

I hear the phone being set down firmly, in a perfect balance of delicacy and frustration. Imari is at her desk, rubbing her temples before grabbing another set of documents to flip through. Her black hair has been hastily formed into a very messy bun shape, and the usually neat office attire she wears is full of wrinkles. She looks very exhausted.

"Imari?"

"I'm-oh. Lili, I'm so sorry! I was about to-"

"Please, don't stress yourself any further," I say to her. "You look dreadful, my darling. Have you not been resting well?"

"Not...really. It's been a rough few weeks, and the past few days have been even worse. I've actually been sleeping at my desk here...and as hard as I try, I end up behind with this work, so senpai helps out. She's so sweet to me, but I can't...I can't let her run herself ragged."

"I'm sure that she'll be fine. You're the one to worry about, it seems."

She laughs to herself quietly. "That's probably the case. We're...supposed to go out to lunch and take a nap right afterwards. It's an attempt to recharge...Lord Hokage gave us permission, and all. He's been insisting on stuff like this, actually. Believe it or not, today is a slower day than usual. The paperwork is finally getting down to reasonable levels."

"I can hardly believe it, so you're right about that," I say as I look around the room.

"The Hidden Cloud has launched several complaints and has gotten us stuck in a dispute with their naval units, claims of trade agreement violations, all kinds of..."

"Bullshit. That sounds accurate."

"Yes." Imari lets out a heavy sigh. "Came down like an avalanche. We're trying desperately to reduce the amount of impact it will have on village affairs and the Hokage's schedule. He needs to be clear for a lot of reasons, chief among them that land agreement with the Hidden Grass."

"Ah, the mission we were on recently."

"That's the one. We can't let the hard work you ladies put in go to waste. And then there's the big problem, which is Sasuke...ah, shit. Dammit."

I set down my bag and go to rub Imari's shoulders. She's incredibly tense...no wonder Tamaki tried to take away some of her workload.

"Sorry. I was so busy complaining that I forgot to ask why you were here. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear. Nothing at all. Just relax, and try not to work yourself up any further. Here, I'll make you a little something to keep you going until your lunch break."

"You really don't have to."

"I know. But I'm going to do it anyways." I walk towards the nearby counter and change the filter on the coffee maker, then make a fresh, hot pot of coffee. From what I remember...yes, that should be how she likes it.

"Here you are."

She nods and gratefully takes the cup of coffee from me, then has a sip of it. "Thank you so much, Lili. That's...just how I like it. You're amazing."

"I do my best."

"Feeling slightly better...right, before I forget again like an idiot-"

"Imari," I say with a frown.

She sighs. "Sorry. I'm just...you know. Well, what can I do for you today?"

"I was here to see the Hokage for a little while, but I take it he's quite busy."

"He's not completely swamped...but there won't be too much time to talk about too many things right now. Like that proposal you sent the other day. Senpai and I read through it ourselves, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. The more trusted eyes on it, the better. What did you two think?" I ask, leaning against the desk.

"It's absolutely amazing. Especially considering your age and upbringing...really, the amount of detail and thoughtfulness that went into those plans, even if they're just a seed for what is to come, it's terribly impressive. I do would do anything to see it come to pass. Senpai said the same. I believe that Lord Hokage will give it the all clear once he properly goes through all of the details, but he liked it a lot himself."

"That's lovely to hear. I was hoping to get some support, but a full-throated endorsement from the three of you is a dream fulfilled. It seems that once I get my primary backers involved, we can proceed at full speed."

"Yes, surely. Let me find the schedule for today, and see what we can move around to fit you in..." She sets down the coffee and starts to rummage through some papers.

"Imari? Is everything okay?" a voice calls out.

"Everything's okay, senpai. We have a visitor today."

"Do we? Sounds nice." Tamaki comes into view, her outfit only slightly better looking than Imari's. Her long brown hair is braided and rests on her shoulder today. "Lili, how wonderful to see you! It's been a little while, hasn't it?"

"It has been. Lovely to see you as well, Tamaki." She wraps me in a warm hug, and I steal a chance to snuggle into her for a bit.

"You're really a sight for sore eyes, especially after what we've had to deal with..."

"So I've heard," I say as we separate. "Your junior here looks exhausted, and you're on the weary side yourself."

"Oh, that's barely the half of it. We've set up a little room to sleep properly in, provided we don't just pass out at our desks. The upper levels of the village are taking advantage of our presence, just kicking work upwards towards the Hokage because they figure he has help to take care of it. But this is a level of nonsense that even they weren't expecting. Gears are grinding all over the village, and we're still dealing with fallout from many other things. The Hidden Sound invasion, back channel negotiations with the Sand, collaborations with Grass, it's endless right now. In better days it would be manageable, but..."

"That really is too much."

"Normally there would be a few more people in here with us, but they're either burned out or taking care of work in other places. We'll be okay," Tamaki assures me.

"I hope you will be. Please make sure to rest properly once you get the time to."

"Promise. So I take it that you're not just here for a social call, though it's a lovely gesture to visit either way. Some time with the old man, then?"

"I was looking at what we could shuffle to get them some time together," Imari says as she produces a sheet of paper. Tamaki scans it with her green eyes before handing it back.

"There's one obvious thing that we can move. It's not urgent and doesn't need to go across his desk right away. That will clear up about thirty minutes at most...sorry that we can't get you more time, sweetie."

"That much is plenty of time for my purposes. You're both angels."

"Isn't she too much?" Tamaki says with a smile.

"Entirely too much," Imari says with her own smile.

"Let's get you settled in, Lili. Follow me."

We walk from the office and down the hall. Tamaki reaches the Hokage's door and throws it open without ceremony, waiting for the old man to raise his head from his paperwork. He removes the pipe from his mouth.

"I'm clearing out a half hour for you and Lili," Tamaki announces.

"Will that be alright?" Hiruzen asks. "Will it not interfere with your plans?"

"Not at all. We're going to move a few things out of the way and get the important items done first. The extraneous Cloud documents can be dealt with once and for all starting next week. We just want to get the main disputes out of the way. Now, Legal is still working on setting the stage. I don't have a time frame from them on that yet, and I have been leaning on them for quite a bit."

"Hm..."

"I told you already. You need to show your face for them to get the message. They're not taking me seriously, and I won't have them bullying Imari again."

"I'll consider making an appearance, Tamaki."

"Please do. One more thing before you two go ahead, Lord Hokage. You will need to talk to your student and get him back in line. Do not make me take matters into my own hands," Tamaki says firmly. "My personal discomfort is one thing, but pressuring Lili and unnerving my kouhai are different matters. Please keep that in mind the next time you speak to him. I will see you later."

"Yes..." Hiruzen scratches his head as Tamaki leaves. "It has been a rather stressful few weeks, for varying reasons. I heard about what Jiraiya did, both from outside sources and the man himself. Though...he seems to have caused even more trouble since then. Suffice it to say, I am not pleased with these developments. I apologize to you for that, Lili."

"You have done nothing wrong. What has not been resolved by now will be resolved soon enough. There is no need to fear, so try not to worry about these matters," I say gently.

"I will try not to. Thank you...please, have yourself a proper seat. As Tamaki has noted, our time is a bit limited today, an unfortunate thing. What did you wish to speak about, my child?"

I settle into my seat and cross my legs over. "The first item on the agenda is Sasuke's progress. How has he been in recent days?"

"Well. He has certainly been growing lately, though not yet fully recovered from his previous injuries. Though he is improving day after day. Imari has been helping with his exercises as well. He generally has been much calmer. Still a bit thorny of course, but that seems to be his nature," Hiruzen says with a chuckle. "Sakura has been supporting him the entire way through, and he has been speaking with Naruto from time to time. Up until recently, that is. I have noticed that he seems much more tense, because of stress. And he has become less willing to communicate with others."

"There is a root cause for that. It leads into my next item...Naruto has been rather aggressive lately," I say.

"Hm. That would explain the sudden tension. Does Jiraiya know about this?"

"Jiraiya was the cause of it. He was the one who informed Naruto of your arrangement with Sasuke."

"Of all the things," Hiruzen grumbles. "Now it makes sense...and I can figure out that your confrontation earlier was over the deleterious effects this information had on Naruto, and would potentially have on Sasuke."

"Yes. I know that it was reckless, and I did choose to drive the knife in further near the end, but I was incensed and he was truly irresponsible. More than that, there is something else. That heavy feeling of malice coming from Naruto's chakra, the influence of the tailed beast that he plays host to. I don't understand why it is like that all of a sudden. Did Jiraiya do something catastrophic and weaken the seal? It's astounding how much greater the pressure is compared to the performance at the exams..."

"There are intricacies with the seal and its arrangement," he answers. "The seal was designed in a specific way by the Fourth...that is to say, the Eight Trigrams sealing style. Two Four Symbols Seals, one above and the other below, with the special seal keeping the Nine Tails inside between them. It is called the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, an art that not even Orochimaru was aware of."

"This would be that jutsu that Ane-ue and Uncle Enma were reprimanding you about."

"Yes, exactly. To put it simply, it allows the user to seal away any living being's soul, or at least part of it."

"And the cost is one's life."

"Correct. From the mentions of how the technique works, the technique user has their soul used as a medium by the god of death themselves. Then both the user and the target, once the technique is completed, are swallowed up by the reaper. Their souls will be trapped forever, said to be in eternal conflict within the stomach of the death god, never to reach the afterlife."

"I'll scold you properly later on for thinking about using that technique in my presence, seeing as we are pressed for time today."

"Appreciated. Now, going back to Naruto's seal. Instead of a closed seal, there are gaps that allow the beast's chakra to slip out, mixing with Naruto's own reserves. From what Jiraiya and I can tell, it was intended to normalize the balance between the tailed beast and the host, making their chakras one eventually."

"But you're not entirely sure," I say.

"No. Minato did not get to pass on instructions about such a thing. Jiraiya would have more intimate knowledge, being Minato's mentor, but even he doesn't know the full extent of what was planned with Naruto. Now, with all of that in mind, there are methods of manipulating the seal further, weakening the overall bond and allowing more chakra to flow from the Nine Tails and into Naruto. Needless to say, it would have a profound effect on him, and if done improperly the seal could be flung open completely, allowing Naruto to be consumed completely by the fox's malice."

"He's adjusting to the influx of power. Or trying to, at the least."

"Yes. But that alone would not account for his aggressive nature. Jiraiya must have used that information on Sasuke's training as an extra tool."

"That's correct. It was done in order to motivate Naruto further, possibly to establish faster control of his new strength. But it has not worked as planned...all it has done is make him upset, and obsessed with training and strength. I have taken steps to resolve matters."

"Oh? How so?"

"I have arranged a match between us...it will be a delicate operation, amusingly enough, but necessary. Letting this tension between him and Sasuke grow will not be good for either of them. Sasuke really seems to be turning the corner, and despite my utter loathing of him...I do want to see him well again. If not purely for my sake, then for that of the many other who care about him so."

"I see," Hiruzen says with a smile. "As always, you are truly remarkable, Lili."

"I would not call it such myself, but your praise is always appreciated, my lord. In any case, you can leave the truly heavy lifting to me. I will help my beloved friend, and you will focus on rehabilitating Sasuke properly. This conflict will be overcome."

"Of course. Good luck to you, Lili."

"Thank you. And the same to you, Lord Hokage."

"Did you have other items?" he asks while relighting his pipe.

"The movements of Akatsuki at current. Do you have much information on that?"

"Jiraiya has been investigating on his own, but nothing else of note has been found. He has uncovered the extent of their network, and it is indeed more robust and layered than we anticipated. And of course, your rapport with Itachi has unlocked new avenues, allowing us to steadily track their more subtle movements as they make them. Have you met with Erika lately?"

"We had tea and sandwiches together, yes. She has been meeting with our Itachi semi-regularly."

"Yes. Akatsuki has yet to move, but when they do...I suspect it will be quite a mess to deal with. We are holding onto the information for now, but will have it ready when the time comes."

"Has Itachi mentioned any important benefactors? Aside from my father, of course. I know that Orochimaru was also part of the group at one point in time."

"None so far out of the ordinary."

"I see." So he's keeping that card close to his chest. Mentioning Madara might cause more trouble than it's worth at this point in time. It makes a bit of sense. More than that, if we are collaborating, it means an opportunity to confirm if it truly is that man, and what type of dark arts he must have used to either stay alive or rise from the dead. "Well, we have plenty of time. And as much as I am loathe to say it, Jiraiya's guidance is necessary at this moment so that Naruto can properly defend himself from aggression. At least until I finish my studies on sealing arts."

Hiruzen chuckles at that.

"We're in a holding pattern as far as Akatsuki is concerned. Not terribly problematic. Itachi will likely send a message soon. And for the last item, I would like to know how my lovely Fio is doing."

"Remarkably well. I have been busy enough that I couldn't spare much time to see her in action, but reports from her peers are all very positive. Quite talented, with an infectious sort of energy. A very kind child as well. I do look forward to seeing her serve the village well into the future."

"That is wonderful to hear," I say with a big smile. "Thank you for taking a chance on her, my lord. She's grateful for it, and so am I. It's a wonderful gift that you've given us."

"This was among the least of things I could do for you, my child. The village owes much to you already, and yet you ask for little in return. It is my pleasure to be here as a witness."

"Greater things are soon to come, which should please you further. It seems we have covered the desired items, and our time together is coming to a close either way," I say as I rise from my seat. "We will have to meet again for more detailed discussion...ah, yes. That Sai fellow is being monitored now. I see that he is doing work on behalf of certain elements of the village."

"That is true, yes."

"Mm. I'll erase him the moment he steps out of line. Any objections?"

"A rather harsh question to ask, isn't it?"

"But a simple one."

Hiruzen leans back in his chair, smoke floating upwards from his pipe. "Unauthorized actions on behalf of Danzo are not within my jurisdiction, just as he desires. Therefore, you and your associates may act at your own discretion. Any involvement by the ANBU and Military Police will be adjusted accordingly."

"A fine answer."

"Mm. You do have a talent for bullying others, Lili."

I give him a wink before starting off. "Have yourself a peaceful afternoon, oyaji."

"Of course. Take care, my child."

I grab my bag from the office and give Tamaki and Imari proper farewells. Then it's back into the village and its summer heat.

"Everyone is busy lately...I suppose it's a sign of the times."

Many things to do...but we will get through them, one day at a time. And at the end of it all, a better world will be waiting. But it is also as I said before – we must also focus on what is in front of us first.

I wonder just how much you've grown, Naruto.