To say that the rebuilding of an entire nation was busy would be an understatement.
The Mizukage not only needed to worry about the reconstruction of the village and welfare for the citizens but the entire foundations that allowed a village to prosper, and in the current state they were still in the red in many areas.
Mei Terumi was thankful that Kirikagure was separated by a vast sea from the other elemental nations, or the village would have been conquered years ago before her forces would have tried to take Yagura's head.
She signed another document with a pen, but she stayed motionless, staring at the document for a moment before grabbing it and crumbled into a ball to throw towards the trash yet didn't reach the objective. She didn't read the small letters, only noticing the conditions after signing it. The best she could do was to get rid of that signed document.
She needed more human resources and soldiers to replenish the military ranks, but there was no way she would give an universal pardon to every single missing nin or criminal out there just in hopes for them to help her rebuild the village, that would create a ticking time-bomb.
"Mizukage-sama, I understand your reasons to refuse that initiative, but at this rate of recruiting it would take decades before we reach an acceptable state." Ao calmy stepped forward and grabbed the crumbled document, trying to restore it so he could place it back on the Mizukage desk.
Mei frowned. "Shut up Ao, there is no point in rebuilding if our foundations are shaky at best, my offer only extends to those that were declared criminals under Yagura's leadership."
Ao could only sigh and tear the document into pieces before throwing it into the trash with the rest.
Mei Terumi sighed as well and grabbed another document from the tower of papers to continue with her work. Yet that moment of silence came short as the door of her office was slammed open.
"Mizukage-sama! I've come with urgent news!"
Both occupants turned to glare at the intruder.
"Those must be very important news for you to interrupt me in the middle of my work." While the sudden turn of events highly displeased her, deep inside she was also glad that something would take her mind off from all the work.
"We had sighted two of our legendary swords inside Suna."
That immediately piqued her interest, slowly leaning closer. "And which ones would that be?"
"The Kiba blades and the Kubikiribōchō."
There was a moment of silence until her shoulders dropped as she released a long, tired sigh. "So that confirms that somebody killed Chojuro and his team to get hold of our legendary swords."
Ao's face stiffened as his mind realized the implications."Then those strangers would have the twin blades as well, I highly doubt they would leave such a sword in the middle of nowhere."
It took her seconds to agree with his opinion.
"You are right, since they can shape-shift to anything the user wants, it wouldn't be a surprise that he turned them into a trinket that can fit inside a pocket." The Mizukage added.
She turned to the messenger who tried his best to remain unfazed. "Did you get a glimpse of the features of this bastard?"
"He wore a lot of clothes to discern any feature besides black hair." He replied quickly.
"Anything else?"
"He moves with a team compromised with a red-haired woman, a white-haired swordsman and a tall orange haired man, and it seems that they have contact with the Kazekage."
The veteran shinobi was quick to step forward.
"Could the Kazekage have contracted this group to retrieve our swords for him?" Ao immediately voiced his concerns.
The Mizukage mulled over the possibility for a moment but shook her head."Suna doesn't have kenjutsu fighters and those very few only use elemental swords to begin with, so I highly doubt it. He isn't the type to do such underhanded tactics. It would be far more believable if the man in question was the Raikage or the Tsuchikage."
After the disappearance of Chojuro she was very worried that the responsible were from Kumo since their military forces were a perfect match for their legendary swords, besides they also helped Yagura to spread more chaos through indirect support to his bloodshed.
She couldn't do anything if they had their swords, but an unknown shinobi?
There was no limit in what they could do to retaliate against the daring bastard.
"How should we proceed then?" Ao calmly asked.
Mei Terumi only smiled.
"That's simple, we kill them." She turned to the messenger with the same icy smile. "Now be a dear and bring me the Bingo books, time for a quick update."
"At once!" The Kiri messenger bowed and left the office.
The Mizukage leaned to the back of her chair and brought her silver smoke pipe to her mouth for one long intake to fill herself with the small pleasure of smoking and the slight peace it gave her.
She closed her eyes and her mouth released a large steam cloud, entirely filling her office with steam.
"We count your days, killer-kun."
At Konoha…
The renowned spymaster was filled with shock as he finished reading a message.
"Unbelievable…"
The Hokage immediately asked the Sannin. "What information did that brat send you?"
Jiraiya silently handed the note to Tsunade, who didn't hesitate to read it, her face contorting into a deep frown.
"I have mixed feelings about this." She dropped the note, allowing it to slowly fall on her desk. Both hands went for her temples as she felt a new headache coming for her.
Jiraiya sat on the window frame with arms crossed. "Me too, however, she wasn't able to provide details so we don't know how he actually achieved such a feat."
Judging by the writing grammar and other slight mistakes, it was clear to him that the information was hastily put together, yet he had to be patient for a better but well-informed report.
"We will know eventually, but it doesn't change the fact that the damned Uchiha killed 2 members from the Akatsuki." Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. There were a lot of thoughts in disarray about trying to put a plan, or at least how to proceed with the future events that were sure to come her way.
"He wanted to draw out his brother, but this strategy is going to get a response, Akatsuki won't be the only one." Jiraiya commented, wondering which village would look to get into contact with the supposed bounty hunter.
Tsunade sighed and opened her desk drawer, where she quickly retrieved a bottle of her favorite sake to take one long sip before returning to its hidden place. "Even then, at least that brat crippled a powerful source of income from that organization."
With the information that Jiraiya could get, taking a major source of revenue from the Akatsuki would slow down their operation by a significant margin. That was good news yet she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Should we inform Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.
Tsunade was silent for a moment, then she shook her head. "Keeping it a secret won't do us any favors, besides such news will spread like wildfire soon."
She knew the spread of news was inevitable, even if Sasuke didn't cash in the bounty from both Akatsuki members.
"But the responsible is a nameless bounty hunter. We only know Sasuke is responsible because Tayuya informed me."
She brought one hand under her chin, thinking of what to say next. There was something yet to do or to think about. "Just give the news of the death of the Akatsuki members. If Naruto asks for details, then mention the responsible is an independent but unknown bounty hunter."
Jiraiya looked at the Hokage connecting their gazes for a moment. He broke away and sighed. "I know Naruto, this won't stop that brat from looking for any possible help against the Akatsuki. I can already tell that this might incite him to travel to Suna as soon as possible to meet up with this 'unknown' character."
"Why did you raise shitty brat like that?" She dragged her palm all over her face, Naruto was truly an unique brat.
Jiraiya's seriousness vanished, replaced with a wide smile. "No can do princess, Naruto learned from example."
"A very shitty example." She spat back.
"You hurt my feelings, princess." Jiraiya obviously faked his reaction with a wide grin.
She quickly pointed at the window.
"Get out, I need to write a letter to the Kazekage."
With Jiraiya gone, she dropped her tense posture and allowed her body to slide off her chair, if possible to lie on the floor.
A quick sip from her sake would do nicely, but she just wanted to relax.
And forget about everything, even if it was only for seconds.
Omake 01
Waking up for a new day usually is a boring moment of life that is followed by the daily routine of self cleaning and breakfast.
"Sasuke! Today I will show you I'm more than a dead last!"
However, I was woken up by the incessant screaming of a faint but recognizable voice.
"Because I'm Naruto Uchiha Ryu Uzumaki Ōtsutsuki Namikaze!"
My eyes were adjusting to the light, but the name rang a lot of bells that connected the dots in my mind to finally recognize the owner from all that incessant screaming.
"The last summoner of the Dragon clans and wielder of the shadows and darkness!"
My eyes were greeted by a teenager with red spiky hair and red eyes, but what caught my attention was that he was half naked with his upper body filled with black and white tattoos, one of his hands carrying a long scythe while the other had a katana pointing at me.
I closed my eyes again and connected both hands to start my prayers to whoever was listening to me.
"Send me back."
AN: Next Chapter is the start of the second Arc. However, I must thank you for sticking with me and this story also how the story is getting closer to reach the 2k marks, you guys rock!
The update was faster than ever because this is pretty short and also very simple to write perhaps I could have written a long chapter detailing every single option and all that but I didn't like that idea too much and also it would have revealed more than I would have liked to.
See you in the next chap!
