Kabuto, after treating Naruto's latest wounds, went back to the Sound Village's headquarters. Orochimaru ordered him to report activities he witnessed, wary of anything his vessel may hide. Naruto knew. He didn't say or acknowledge the truth in any way, but it was too obvious. The boy seemed beyond caring of whatever machinations his trainer had. For some strange reason, their time together was weirdly pleasant. It, like many other things, made him unsure what to feel.

Orochimaru leaned against the wall in silence for a full minute, erupted in mad cackling, and slurped as he licked his lips. "Oh, Minato!" The veins in his eyes bulged. "Your boy is so wonderful!" Uneasiness on Kabuto's face hardly concerned him.

"I'll be going." A pale hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Tell Sasori about this hideout." His smile grew too wide. "Pruning is best done before spring."

Kabuto stared at him. "...You think they're ready?"

He tilted his head from side-to-side. "Maybe, maybe not," his tone was even more playful and child-like than usual. "I'd invite you to come with us, but you know how the nobility are." Walking past him, he stepped out of the hideout first.

"That's…" A spiral of emotion trapped the words in his throat.

The three were better than most ninja. Any village would be proud to have them, but they weren't S-class material, not yet at least. If Naruto wasn't there when he defected, he was then. Few people alive could do anything close to his light shows and consecutively at that. Combined, they could reasonably defeat a single S-class ninja. Two was debatable. A team of three or four Akatsuki, by his metric, was out of their league.

It left him with a groan. 'You're planning on killing them, this is a test to see how far they've come, you're setting a few Akatsuki up to die, or a combination of those.'

Each, in spite of his grating personality, liked Naruto. Jugo saw him as a replacement for Kimimaro, Suigetsu shared many of his peculiarities, and Karin made the most worried faces at him from time to time. He was both fond of him and irritated by him. It was strange, but it wasn't as if he had a lot of personal relationships to begin with, much less stable ones. Orochimaru either trusted him or wasn't worried about him in the least.

He walked out of the hideout towards the next stop in his usual route and froze. There was a deep, sudden pain in his chest. It'd been years since he felt anything like it, and he broke down that day. Nothing in the world could undo what he did. She was the most precious person he would sacrifice everything for yet he still killed her. Even as he begged and told her who he was, she didn't recognize him.

"Why are you… What am I…" Kabuto grabbed his head and grit his teeth. "Dammit… Dammit!"

As much as he wished otherwise, he was still fractured.

Neo Team 7 and Team Guy left the village through the main gate. Kotetsu and Izumo, having more than had their fill of being insulted, kept silent when they passed by. Guy and Kakashi felt like saying something but knew they needed time to heal. The lesser ninja with them were too busy catching up to pay the former duo any attention. A different white and brown encompassed their surroundings on the road.

"I still have a hard time believing Kimimaro is dead." Dosu flinched as the atmosphere drastically shifted.

Tenten's hands clenched into fists. "Wish I could kill him a thousand times over." A hand on her shoulders from Lee and Guy soothed her.

"More than enough of us died the first time," Kiba muttered, Akamaru whining in his coat.

Sasuke looked down, attracting a concerned look from Sakura, into the snow. "I…"

"What's done is done," Guy said. "Our focus should be on the task at hand, right Kakashi?"

"Yeah, this is still an A-rank mission." Kakashi nodded.

Lee raised a fist into the air. "As the Leaf's best, we cannot fail!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Who would even want to assassinate the daimyo? It's a death sentence even if you do succeed." She blinked at the two sensei sharing a look.

Kakashi hummed. "S-rank criminals, most likely."

"What was that one guy's name again?" Guy tilted his head as he stroked his chin.

"Kisame Hoshigaki," Kakashi said. "He assassinated the last Steam Daimyo."

Kiba's eyes widened a little. "That's the missing-nin Naruto killed, right?" He remembered from the mission briefing.

"Anko helped." She made sure to rub it in their faces during his induction, and Sasuke described him while not knowing his identity to Sakura when she asked what happened after he ran after Naruto and Jiraiya. "Speaking of." He looked to everyone present. "Have you seen her lately?"

"Why would we have?" Tenten questioned, tone harsh.

"Kurenai-sensei got really mad when I tried asking her how they knew each other," Kiba said. "She's...been worried sick about Hinata."

Sasuke looked to him. "Have you seen her?" He furrowed his brow when he shook his head.

"The Hyuga don't let anyone in, and it's impossible to get past the Byakugan."

Tenten scoffed. "Didn't stop her the first time, did it?"

"What was that all about anyway?" Sakura asked.

"When I asked Kurenai if she anything, she said Anko told her they helped each other get over Naruto but she didn't believe her." Kakashi's eye narrowed, recalling her utterly absent presence for almost the past two months. "I don't believe it either at this point," he muttered to himself.

Dosu heard him, not that he wanted to. "So there might be an S-rank criminal like Kisame Hoshigaki after the Steam Daimyo?"

Snapped out of it, Kakashi tilted his head from side-to-side. "Maybe, maybe not." He shared a look with Guy. "We'll take care of it regardless."

It was their job as shinobi, however necessary or unnecessary.

In hindsight, knowingly creating a jutsu with the potential to disable the user's hands was a bad idea. The irony was it obviously being a bad idea without hindsight. Naruto's greedy lust for destruction and power overwrote the refined shinobi sense he developed for once. His 'Rasenshuriken' and yet-to-be-named 'Fuck-Off-And-Die' jutsu in their present forms were like the Eight Inner Gates: in his own words, 'a piece of shit.' One did debatably less damage than the other, so it was the only one he considered using anytime in the future.

"Mehe ff I thw eh smhw."

Jugo, holding chopsticks with noodles between them, squinted. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Mhy." Naruto swallowed.

"What's the point of healing Ninjutsu when you still feel the fatigue and can reopen your wounds?" Suigetsu asked, leaning against a nearby wall with a bottle of water in hand. "May as well be makeup."

Karin rolled her eyes. "It can prevent further infection and get someone out of critical condition, Rain Man."

"Did you study for it or something?" He raised an eyebrow at her cringing.

"I can move my left hand." Naruto lifted it up and jerked the fingers. "...Kind of." He looked away from Jugo's judging eyes.

Suigetsu laughed. "At least we get a break from training."

He laughed harder. "Nope." His happy smile was all too sinister. "I can take you all with no hands."

"Prove it."

"Okay." He slurped down the noodles presented to him.

Karin gulped. "Wai–" Her eyes widened at Naruto bringing his forehead to Jugo's, running a current of lightning chakra through himself, flipping from his seated position over Suigetsu's sword swing, attaching a foot to it with chakra, and liquefying him with a far greater current. She shot her chains around him when he landed on reflex, which she immediately regretted. "Plea–" The one that ran through her made the world dark.

Naruto bowed for none one to see. "Zabuza." He lifted his head high and proud. "Eat your fucking heart out."

A young woman about his age in a white kimono tilted her head from one of the halls. "Lo–" She cleared her throat. "Naruto?" His surprised grunt made her hum. "Is everything okay?"

"...Yeah." He looked down at the untouched bowl of ramen, Jugo with Zabuza's odd sword on top of him laying unconscious by it. "Just go through the halls instead of here back to your room."

"I will, Naruto." She bowed, turned around, and began walking.

He frowned before following. "I'll accompany you."

"As you wish, Naruto."

Only their footsteps could be heard. Naruto glanced at her occasionally, unsure of what to say or to do. She could take care of herself, but he couldn't help the aching in his heart. That was impossible for him to stop. It's just, for a few moments, it was gone when he was with her. Even if it worsened after, those brief periods were invaluable to him.

"This isn't good for you."

'I know.' His frown worsened.

"Get rid of her."

He scowled. 'So she can scrape around begging again, going from one house to another like some stray cat!?'

"It's bad when everyone does it but okay when only you do?"

He growled and regretted it when she shook. "Sorry." Looking down, he glared at his stomach. "I thought about something that made me angry."

"I understand, Naruto."

"Kill her if it bothers you that much, but you won't, will you?"

'Just what the hell are you trying to say?'

"She will never be Hinata."

He stopped just by the door to her room and looked into her blank, blind eyes. "We're...here, Rika."

"I know, Naruto." She tilted her black long-haired head with a smile. "Thank you."

He watched her open it, step in, and shut it behind her. 'I know you really are trying to help me for once.' He turned back to the main room, really the living room, with a sigh. 'But can you let this one thing be?'

"Remember what you promised her."

'If you want me to get over her, reminding me of that isn't going to help.' Naruto started walking.

"And this is any better?"

'Let's cut the bullshit; you and I are going to kill thousands of people. Hell, you probably already have. There is no getting better for us. This is who we are. I'm done trying to be someone I'm not and playing pretend.'

"Then what do you call all of this?"

He shrugged. 'Testing the waters, Kurama. Seeing what's possible for me. I'm going to need something to do when this is all over other than wait to die.'

"Oh, right. You will die, like every other mortal… Like Old Man Sage…"

'Did you really forget that?' The smallest of whimpers in his head made him stop back in the living room.

Orochimaru stepped out of the hall leading from the entrance and stroked his chin at the barely recovering three. "I seem to have come at a bad time."

"Not really." Naruto hummed. "What's up?"

"The new year is in two days."

He laughed. "You want to celebrate or something? Didn't take you for the festive type."

"Me, not so much. The Rice Daimyo, on the other hand..."

"You're going to see him."

"We are going to see him." Orochimaru's smile grew.

Naruto scoffed. "The five of us are going to be the weirdest guests he's ever had."

"Just the two of us will be visiting."

His brow furrowed. "Who's going to keep Jugo in check?" His eyes narrowed. "What are you plotting?"

"If I was plotting anything, why would I tell you?" Orochimaru patted his head and chuckled at his blush. "Jugo will be fine as long as you order him to stay in his new cage."

He bounce-stepped out of his reach. "Whatever it is, they can handle it."

"You have that much faith in them?"

"If they can't, what use are they to me?" The slightest tinge of guilt ached in his chest before dissipating into his hatred.

"Then we should get going." Orochimaru turned to the others. "Go to your rooms in my domain." He hummed when they looked to Naruto for confirmation.

He nodded. "You heard him." He smiled at a frowning Jugo. "It's not me, and it wasn't Kimimaro keeping you in check: it's been you the entire time."

Suigetsu returned the giant sword to his back and crossed his arms. "You know, I might just leave."

He scoffed. "Bitch, you love it here." His embarrassed glance to the side made him laugh.

"I'm sure your village and fellow Mist ninja will welcome you back with open arms after you've been held for so long" Orochimaru's tone was far too mischievous. "You didn't tell me anything. All you have to do is convince them of that."

"Oh, fuck you both." Suigetsu took a deep breath, knowing they had a point.

Karin, walking towards them, took the lead. "I'll hold down the fort and keep an eye out for attackers."

"Who made you leader?"

"Power is something you become," Naruto said. "It's taken, not given." If he could properly move his hands, he'd stroke his chin. "But it's not something you can just take either."

"Do you even understand what you say sometimes?" Suigetsu squinted as the man in orange shrugged.

Orochimaru transformed into a random traveler without a single hand sign. "We should get going."

Naruto followed him. "If the daimyo orders me to kneel, I'm going to kill him." He rolled his eyes as the man laughed.

"You can't: that fool is surprisingly useful."

"What's the worst that will happen if I do?"

"First, the land will plunge into war." He paused, realizing what was going to happen soon enough.

It was Naruto's turn to laugh. "I'm not paying anymore taxes."

"Have you even done anything with what you've collected for yourself?"

Paying no attention to his frozen and terrified entrance guards, Naruto shook his head. "Stacking ryo gives me tingles, but I'd trade all of it for ramen." He stopped. "I didn't finish my bowl." He turned around and ran back inside, brushing past his trio of minions.

"Just like Anko and her dango." Orochimaru sighed.

Naruto accomplished the not-so-difficult task of slurping down a bowl of ramen without hands to hold chopsticks before following his would-be mentor. Kuro, his ever diligent and stressed whipping boy, dropped in to ask where he was going once more and froze when he heard his honest answer. The others didn't bother him, knowing the kind of stress he and the normal ninja were under relying on their whimsical selves. As for the civilians, they paid their respects with the usual gestures, albeit with worried looks on their faces. Only Kuro knew aside from them, but that didn't mean they couldn't read the atmosphere. Four of their greatest defenders, casual slayers of any vagabond ninja that threatened them, were heading out. Something was coming, but they didn't know what.

Kakashi and Guy's teams took the better part of a day to go from The Land of Fire partway into The Land of Steam. When they crossed over, Steam Village ninja gave them more than a few looks. Something vastly more important took their minds off them: rumors of two rogue jinchuriki roaming the land. Dosu told them what their ears were unable to catch. It gave them a much needed jolt to snap them out of their care-free attitudes.

"You don't mind if I beat him senseless if we catch him, do you?" Tenten asked, receiving a concerned look from Lee and a blank one from Sasuke.

Sakura scoffed. "I'll join in; just try not to leave any permanent damage." Her brow furrowed. "But who could he be with? Didn't Gaara go back to the Sand?"

Kakashi was too busy thinking to shake his head in disapproval. "We're here to accomplish a mission, and the chances of us crossing paths with him is abysmal." He murmured. "As for who he could be with, The Six-Tails jinchuriki, Utakata, has been rogue since Yagura started his culling spree."

She turned to him. "Wait, the Mist's jinchuriki been for rogue that long?"

"Isn't that a big deal?" Kiba asked. "Why am I just hearing about it now?"

"Yagura was more of a concern at the time, and Utakata hasn't done anything to warrant anyone's concern," Kakashi began. "Even if the Mist still had the strength to retrieve him, they'd lose too much pursuing him." He frowned beneath his mask. "All they can hope for is finding another perfect host for The Three Tails that won't turn against them, which is extremely unlikely." It was alleviated just a little. "The Blood Mist Village is no more."

"They have no jinchuriki, no clans, and no standing," Sasuke said.

"Why hasn't anyone moved against them?" Dosu squinted as the two jonin flinched. "Uh?"

Kakashi sighed. "Because then you'd have to hold it."

"A village would still have to spend more resources and lives than The Land of Water is worth in its current state, never mind how much it would take to pacify," Guy added on.

"The only benefit is destroying what little chances the Mist has left to recover, and that just leaves a power vacuum for some other village to fill."

"Why not ours?" Sakura asked.

"Because then we'd be pulled into a war with the Cloud."

Guy nodded. "And possibly with the Hidden Steam Village assisting: they may be pacifists, but that doesn't mean they're idiots who can't see a potential to rise again through some split gains in The Land of Water."

"They'd side against us?" Kiba squinted. "Did we do something?"

"Oh no, they could just leverage more against the Cloud than they could against the Leaf for a better deal. Their economy is too reliant on the Steam's trade," Kakashi elaborated. "That's just taking those two into account, mind you." He almost groaned. "I'm not sure what to tell you if you think the Hidden Stone would just stand by as one of its rival neighbors grew even more powerful."

"Geopolitics are very complex," Lee said, massaging his head at the numerous complications.

Dosu hummed. "But what do you two have against the Mist personally?" The beating in their hearts was a little too loud for his taste.

"It's so very cold!" Guy shivered. "Spring and summer are cold there with no inkling of youth in sight!" His father died defending him and his teammates from the Seven Swordsmen, but it wasn't something he held against the village.

Kakashi stared out into nothing. "...If I could die without ever seeing that shoreline again, I would be very grateful."

They fell into silence for a time. Only Guy knew as to why, but the others could feel it in his tone. Sasuke, more than any of them, could relate. It was the deep-seated kind of trauma someone dealt with for a lifetime or needed some profound breakthrough to be rid of. He didn't realize it because he wasn't aware of it before the valley, but Naruto's anguish over seeing himself as not enough for anyone, not even his own parents, was one of them.

"Do you think he's gathering the other jinchuriki?" Tenten glanced at the faces around her. "Obviously, he's not the only one who feels the way he does."

Guy pursed his lips. "All of them would make up a formidable force to match the rest of the shinobi world." It was just impossible for more than a few to join without the other villages noticing and taking measures.

"He wouldn't need them if he chose to rely on The Nine-Tails' power: it's said to be more than the rest combined, and we all saw the difference between a good portion of it and The One-Tail," Kakashi said.

Kiba scoffed at the ridiculousness of it. "Anyone else had nightmares after?" He pet a whimpering Akamaru. "That thing...hated everyone."

Sakura frowned. "I did, but I don't think it's anything close to living with it every second of every day."

Lee nodded. "To battle such a creature is one matter and enduring it is another entirely." He raised a bandaged hand and clenched it into a fist. "That is the fortitude of our wayward friend and foe!" Fire sparked in his eyes. "He would spit on pity, so we should give him respect!"

"For someone with Rock as their personal name, you're soft, Lee," Tenten said.

"He has more spirit than we could give him credit for." Sasuke glanced at his bandages. "You've been keeping it up since you recovered."

"I am certain I'm not the only one." His smile beamed at them all.

Dosu, a natural creature of gloominess, cowered under his unrepentant warmth. "Is he always like this?"

He held up a thumb and smiled, teeth glinting. "Yes!" Neji's death left a hole in his heart, but he wouldn't let it hold him down as that was his final wish.

"Oh, Lee!" Guy embraced him.

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"What the actual fuck..." Dosu stopped along with the rest to observe a sunset and shore-crashing wave in the middle of a snowy forest.

Kiba sighed as Akamaru whined. "Yeah, they do that."

Tenten, more than used to it, stood unfazed. "Give them a minute." She had no idea if it was a jutsu or some complex form of mass hysteria.

"No hand seals." Sakura hummed, having seen it back when the Chunin Exams began. "Wonder if I can pull it off."

"I'm tempted to activate my Sharingan, but I don't know if I want to." Sasuke squinted at them.

An utterly mystified Kakashi nodded. "Same."

After the green duo completed their odd ritual, they kept walking onward. Their talk, while unnecessary to their actual mission, gave them some much needed context as to the overall situation. Stability benefited everyone, and instability would create a cascade of events that'd benefit no one, save maybe a few opportunists. One such person already set everything into motion. Irony was someone else and a particular group of people were looking to do it first.

The day after followed the lead of the one before in boredom for Anko and Hinata. After their shift was up, Anko fed Hinata some zenzai she brought along for the purpose of rewarding her in honor of her birthday. Both stared out into nothing, one seeing more than enough and the other not. It was more than a common occurrence at that point. Neither could think of anything to talk to each other about, having far exhausted subjects during their time together. Best either got was the occasional joke or unimportant observation after Hinata reported the movements of the other duo.

A sharp gasp turned Anko's head to its source. "Wha–" She paused at the tears streaming from her veiny eyes. "...He's here."

"Naruto." She'd recognize him and his enormous chakra anywhere. "Oh, Naruto." The giant disaster terrified her when she first saw as a child, but it became beautiful the more she witnessed. "You can't hide your sadness from me." Holding herself, she sighed. "You'll melt in my arms, and I'll melt in yours."

"Down, kitty." Anko looked towards the town. "Whoever he's with is Orochimaru."

Hinata blinked. "The chakra network in his arms are severed."

"Wait, what?" She glanced at her.

"Orochimaru." Her eyes narrowed. "Naruto's chakra network in his right hand is damaged, and Orochimaru's is like an amputee's yet with the limbs still attached." She hummed. "The Gentle Fist can cause similar damage to Naruto's right hand that can't be helped with healing ninjutsu." Neji's wounds to her organs lasting more than a month were proof of that. "But Orochimaru's arms aren't like anything I've ever seen: it's as if something is blocking the pathways in his arms from reconnecting with the rest."

She furrowed her brow for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "Holy shit, Old Man!" She held her sides. "I knew you had a sense of humor but fucking hell!"

Hinata glanced at her, not that she needed to. "Anko-sensei?"

"Old Man Hokage took away his ability to use most jutsu." An oh so malicious grin spread across her face. "He's dead meat."

"Should we go alone?" She could hardly contain herself either.

Three seconds of anxious pondering passed before she sighed. "No." Far too much could wrong. "Are they even at the palace?"

"They're approaching it."

Anko dropped off the tree branch. "I'll wake them up." She took a deep breath and sighed as she walked. "Don't you try and fuck me after this, Danzo." Her eyes narrowed at their current hiding place.

She dug through the ground and whistled them awake. That was all they needed, really. Her facial expression, overall body language, and just waking them up got them started. When she led them to their spying spot, she felt a bit anxious having her back to them, even if Hinata could see them. One misstep, like many things in life and in their line of work, was all it'd take.

"Torune."

"Yes." He held out his arms and four hybridized insects from his special poisonous breed and the traditional breed of the Aburame clan flew out.

Hinata focused on them. "Those…" She noticed when she first activated her Byakugan with him present, but she didn't know when or if to bring it up. "Have Shino's chakra."

"We exchanged insects when we were children," his tone betrayed no emotion. "As you can see, I've bred them mostly separated from mine for purposes like these."

"I found it odd how all of Shino's were mingled with the faint traces of another person's." Her veiny eyes looked down. "But I never asked him. Now, I know it was yours the entire time." She wasn't sure at all what to say or if it even mattered. "He never broke under pressure, made complaints, or had me worrying about him. I rarely ever saw him smile though."

Torune stood unfazed. "You saw him smile: he was happy." For the first time in years, he felt the slightest inkling of something in his chest.

Anko mouthed the words, 'I told you he's dead inside.' She was neither for nor against her talking to him about it after she informed her first. Danzo's servants were all broken emotionally as a part of their conditioning. It blended really well with the overall attitude of anbu, so people didn't suspect much. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't hurt her because it would jeopardize the mission.

Hinata noticed the subtlest warm shift in Torune's chakra contradicting Anko's words. Smiling, she focused on the bugs. They carried his chakra intermingled with Shino's, but they were so extremely small compared to the normal Aburame breed only someone with eyes like hers could notice. Another benefit of the Byakugan was it allowed her to see sensor type ninjas activate their sensory jutsu without them being able to sense her. Both of them made an incredibly effective combination in espionage, counter-espionage, and assassination.

In a short amount of time, Naruto and Orochimaru reached the palace's open entrance. The Rice Daimyo's shinobi guard stopped them after they stared the normal entrance guards into submission. None said a word, not needing to. A single look and they knew how out of their depth they were. When the elite among them showed up, most rolled their eyes at the display. One tilted her brown-haired head almost sweetly.

"You dirty bitch," Hinata hissed.

Anko nearly jolted her before realizing what was happening. "He is Mantis Slut's type."

Naruto gave the grown woman's hip-swaying and approaching blue qipao-clad form a blank stare. Her breasts weren't much to speak of, but he could see cleavage. Of course, her swaying hips were her only real impressive quality from what he could tell from a front-view. It wasn't at all what he was in the mood for though. The time for him to fail at whoring passed a long while ago.

"Aya." Tarou, a giant of a man in plain clothes, shook his bald head.

She ignored him, leering at the boy. "My, my!" A purr built in her throat. "You look so much like The Yellow Flash." His scowl made her coo. "Don't make that face." Her hand went for his cheek.

"Okay," Reina, one of the other elite kunoichi wearing a colorful kimono, said. "That's en–" Her blue eyes widened at him taking her hand into his armpit, snaking his forearm around hers, and popping out her shoulder.

A wide, beaming smile formed from Hinata's lips. "Oh, Naruto."

"He turn her down?" Anko laughed.

"He dislocated her arm when she tried to touch him."

She blinked and laughed even harder. "Oh shit!" She leaned toward the palace.

Orochimaru cackled while the woman jumped back with a scream. "Now, now!" He leered at the boy with a different lust. "We're guests here."

"Owner needs to teach his bitch not to hump actual people's legs." Naruto glanced at the others with little interest. "He managed to do a good job with you, so what went wrong with that one?" Walking onward, he didn't bother looking at anyone. "Pathetic."

"I told you so," Reina sang, wagging a finger.

"Shut up!" Aya set her shoulder back in place with a grunt. "Damn brat." She shivered when Orochimaru set his eyes on her.

He looked to the rest and followed after Naruto. "Mind yourselves."

Daichi, a horse-faced young man, sighed. "This new years is going to suck, isn't it?"

"Is that even a question?" Tadashi, one nearly their youngest guest's height, asked. "Fireworks are so loud."

Tarou gave a determined grunt. "Endur–"

"Endurance breeds obstinance," the two finished.

While they returned to their usual positions, four ninja waited. Both of their objectives were in the palace, but they couldn't reach them just yet. One mistake would risk everything, and they needed something out of it even if they failed their actual goal. There was a new possibility to consider. It risked everything yet was more valuable than the conciliation prize planned. How he'd react was uncertain though.

AN: I didn't spend almost an entire arc building up things to not use them. If you don't like OCs, don't worry. They're there for flavor mostly. Who even reads fanfiction for OCs anyway?

I finally posted this on Ao3, if that's what you prefer. I'm far too lazy to add all the author's notes as I write them in doc manager. Consider these kind of a bonus to FF. Some things may be a bit different though since I did some revising in doc manager too. The title of my longest named chapter is one of those little things. Niji (Shippuden Ending 28) reference.

Part of me wanted to zip past to the capital of The Land of Steam, but it felt wrong not to expand a little more and have the two new team combinations interact. You can probably guess what's coming at this point, as I feel I am fond of saying.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.