xxx Border Between Water and Iron County xxx
They had just begun to enter Iron Country after traveling through Water Country for a short time. As they were traveling, there was an explosion to their left.
The carriage driver pulled the Xeno Striders to a halt just as a girl with mint green hair dashed across the road, quickly followed by two men, one with a large scythe and white spiky hair, the other wearing a face mask, his head covered by some kind of headgear. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds decorating them.
After the initial shock wore off, Naruko turned to her mother. "We should help her right?"
Kushina nodded "Yes, I think we should."
The two leaped from the carriage after the girl and her pursuers, yelling back to the others to watch the carriage.
xxx With Fu xxx
Her day had been shitty, she was once again dealing with the scorn of her village although it wasn't as bad as it used to be, but today the villagers seemed to dislike her more for some reason. She was then called to meet the leader of Takigakure, her so-called friend Shibuki, he'd been distant these last few weeks and she wasn't sure why.
Entering his office, she froze when she saw the two men wearing cloaks and immediately dashed away, not wanting to be taken or the more likely scenario, sold to them.
Entering the forest she could hear them hot on her tail, soon they crossed the border between Iron and Water. Leaping across the main traveling road, she vaguely noticed the black carriage as she leaped by. Deciding it was unimportant she continued her mad dash away from her pursuers.
Unfortunately, her luck wouldn't last forever as one of them seemingly had enough of the "chase" and bolted in front of her blocking her way, she turned, only to find the other asshole in her way.
Growling, she prepared to fight. Just as she was about to lunge to begin the battle two blurs, one blonde, the other red, landed next to her. Confused and cautious by the new arrivals she looked at them suspiciously.
The first was a girl who appeared to be younger than her. She wore all black and gray with a black cloak with gold on the hem. Something was written in gold on the back, but she couldn't read it at this angle. A golden crown rested on her head, two jaw-length bangs framed her gorgeous face, and her azure blue eyes stared intently at their opponent.
The second was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She wore a mix of green and black, her uniquely red hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her violet eyes eyed their opponents, before flicking in her direction. The woman smiled a genuine smile at her as if to say "Don't worry."
Shaking her head, Fu returned her attention to their shared opponents, who seemed extremely hesitant to fight now that it was a 3 on 2 although she wasn't sure why. The one with the odd eyes spoke up first.
"Hidan, as much as I despise it, our best chance at survival is to retreat."
The newly named Hidan spoke up in protest "Like hell we are Kakuzu, I'm going to sacrifice these bitches to Lord Jashin!"
Kakuzu let out a defeated sigh. "You moron, that is the Jinchuriki of the 9-tails and the woman known as the "Red Death". Put them together with the 7-tailed Jinchuriki… this fight is no longer in our favor."
Hidan was quiet for a moment, before a look of "oh" appeared on his face. "Still, I want to sacrifice them to Lord Jashin! It's not like they can kill me. I'm immortal thanks to Lord Jashin."
Kakuzu once again sighed and looked at the women in front of him. "I'm sorry about him… he's an idiot."
Hidan let out an indignant cry in protest while Naruko snickered at his plight.
"You are forgiven." Naruko said with a mock bow. "Now, are we going to dance or not?"
Kakuzu took a step back. "I will sit out this dance if that's alright with you, I'm not suicidal like the idiot next to me." He got another indignant cry from Hidan for this response.
Naruko smirked, "I guess that's fair, although would you at least honor me by answering a question of mine?"
Kakuzu seemed to ponder this for a long while, all the while Hidan grew more impatient… Just before Hidan lunged at the women, Kakuzu finally spoke up. "I guess answering one question wouldn't hurt."
Naruko nodded. "I was going to make my question a two-parter, but I guess in fairness I'll ask the important one of the two… Why were you chasing her?" She asked, pointing at Fu.
Kakuzu seemed to ponder the question. "I guess the simple answer is that my employer wishes for her capture and I go where the money is."
Naruko hummed at that, wondering if she could just buy off the man in case he attacked. However, that seemed to be unnecessary since he was already hesitant to fight the three of them.
"Can I ask one more question?" She looked at Kakuzu and got a slight nod in confirmation. "Hypothetically, if I offered to pay you more than your employer… how much would it cost me?"
Kakuzu was taken off guard by the question, most people just fought him and died at his hands, and the rest just ran away. However, the pay from his job didn't come in a one-time thing, he got paid annually.
Kakuzu returned Naruko's gaze "I respect the fact you're willing to pay to avoid a fight, and I'm actually sorry to burst your bubble but I, along with the others are paid annually for our services… well all except this idiot, but he's only here to commit genocide."
"Others?" Question marks appeared above her head, she then shrugged, seemingly deciding it wasn't important at the moment. "So, after we fight the idiot…" Hidan growled, getting tired of being mocked, Naruko continued on unimpeded. "What will you do?"
Kakuzu shrugged. "My mission to capture the 7-tails has already failed by your presence alone since my boss warned me that fighting two Jinchuriki at once was suicide."
"I see… does that mean you'll retreat?" She asked.
"Probably, someone's got to report to the boss."
Naruko nodded sagely, "You make an excellent point, however…" She flashed a grin that made Kakuzu instantly go on guard. "Seeing as I can't afford to let you tell your boss anything, I'm afraid I must stop you."
Kakuzu grimaced at that, knowing that a fight with 2 Jinchuriki and the Red Death was a foolish endeavor. He schooled his features and let out a hollow chuckle. "I see… I guess that's to be expected…" he turned to Hidan "You face the 7-tails and the Red Death, I'll handle the 9-tails."
Hidan grinned viciously and lunged at his assigned opponents, pushing them away from Naruko and Kakuzu.
Naruko, thinking quickly, flashed through hand seals faster than Kakuzu could see, and in a puff of smoke 30 Xeno Warriors appeared, 15 dashed off to aid Fu and Kushina, while 15 remained with her.
Kakuzu looked stupefied at the sight of the Xeno Warriors, never having seen one in all of his 88 years of life. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was a little scared of them.
The fight began when the two launched at one another, clashing in a Taijutsu battle, with Naruko slowly losing ground. Back flipping away to gain distance she went through hand seals, and shouted "Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!" She shot her fist forward and a large gust of wind shot at Kakuzu. At the same time, 3 of the Xeno Warriors lifted their tails and shot acid at the wind, which merged with it and continued its path toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu, momentarily stunned by the ingenious combo move, looked on in awe. He realized just in time that he had made a rookie mistake and barely dodged the attack. Cursing himself for being foolish, he returned his attention to the fight. He launched a lightning jutsu towards Naruko, without doing hand seals or speaking.
Naruko cart-wheeled to the right (Picture Raiden's flip from mgs2) and went through more hand seals mid-flip, when she landed she shouted "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" A massive fireball in the shape of a dragon's head charged Kakuzu, the man's eyes widened and he sent a massive wall of water to block the attack.
The water met the fireball, causing an explosion of steam that blanketed the battlefield, thunder clouds formed above the battle from the intense heat of the attack.
'Where did a kid learn Jutsu like that?' Kakuzu thought, 'Not to mention that she has nearly unlimited chakra due to her being a Jinchuriki, meaning she could produce more jutsu than a Kage.'
Kakuzu was seriously considering retreat, he wasn't arrogant, nor a fool, he could see a battle he'd lose and he could throw his pride away to fight another day. Deciding to use the steam cloud as a mask he swiftly retreated from the battle.
Naruko had seen his retreat and tried to chase him, but she was stopped when something crashed into her from the right. She going with the motion flipped to her feet and glared at her attacker, only to find Hidan's headless body, glancing up, she saw her mother and the 7-tailed Jinchuriki both looking at her sheepishly. She then glanced down at her mother's hand, seeing her holding Hidan's head, the man was still alive and gagged, though he seemed to hate that fact.
Kushina chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that sweetie…"
Naruko reeled in her annoyance, and gave her mother a flat look causing her to squirm uncomfortably, she sighed after a moment. "Whatever… Let's just get back to the carriage… and seal that disgusting head in a scroll" her mother did so as she turned to look at Fu, "Do you have somewhere to go? Or are you coming with us?"
Fu blinked, then thought back to what her ex-friend did, she then looked at Naruko. "I'm not against it, but are you sure I can come?"
"Yeah, you can live in my castle, we have plenty of rooms." Naruko smiled.
"You have a castle!" Fu shouted in shock.
Naruko winced at the shout and replied, "Yes… is that really so surprising?"
"Well… you're like 3 years younger than me." Fu reasoned.
Naruko grew a tick mark on her head and Kushina took a half step back, knowing that her daughter didn't like being reminded of her age.
Naruko once again reeled in her annoyance and looked at Fu. "I'm the Daimyo of Spring Country…" she said, turning around and pointing at the golden Kanji on her back.
Fu stared owlishly before realization struck and she fainted.
Naruko blinked a few times, before sighing and hoisting the girl onto her back. She looked to her mother and nodded, they both leaped back towards the carriage.
Once they arrived, they explained what happened to the others and positioned Fu in a spare seat in the crowded carriage. Once everyone was ready they resumed their journey back home.
xxx Back at the Castle xxx
They arrived back and Naruko turned to their new arrivals, "Okay…" she pointed at the redhead "I never got your name..." She then pointed at the girl with mint green hair. "... and you were passed out the whole ride here."
Tayuya stared at her for a moment before finally speaking "I honestly have no fucking clue why I followed you… but I guess it's better than death…" she smirked and outstretched her hand "...but my name is Tayuya." Naruko clasped their hands together.
Kushina perked up at that name and asked "You said your name was Tayuya right?" Tayuya looked confused at the question but nodded "Your mother's name wouldn't happen to be Akua would it?"
Tayuya froze and stared at Kushina, "How did you know?"
Kushina gained a sad smile. "I knew your mother back when I lived in Konoha, she died shortly after your birth. We were told that both of you had died by the third Hokage."
Tayuya looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "Can you… Can you tell me about her?"
Kushina smiled and nodded, "Of course, let me show you to your room and we can talk there."
Once the two were gone, Naruko turned her attention to the other girl.
"My name is Fu, I was… sold" She spit the word with venom "...to those men from before, I fled the moment I saw them and you know how that turned out"
Naruko nodded, "My name is Naruko Uzumaki Namikaze… you're the Jinchuriki of the 7-tails right?"
Fu's eyes widened at the name, she'd heard about Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, and Fourth Hokage. "Ye-Yes, I am."
Naruko smiled at her "I'm glad I was finally able to meet you!"
"Huh?" Fu asked.
"When I found out I was a Jinchuriki, it was a dream of mine to meet as many of us as I could." She grinned "...and it seems my dream is slowly coming true, starting with you!" Naruko explained.
"...I see" Fu said.
"So, how about I give you a tour of the castle?" Naruko offered.
"That would be nice." Fu agreed, and with that, the tour commenced.
xxx 3 Days Later xxx
Naruko had spent the last few days searching for Tsunade, only to find absolutely nothing. Deciding to take a different approach, she began tracking the Toad Sage, Jiraiya, as he was much easier to track, probably because he too was searching for Tsunade.
After another day, she had a lead on both of their locations; they were in a village on the border of Fire Country and Iron Country. Gathering her things for the journey, she looked at her Mother.
"Hey, mom, you mind taking command of my position till I return? I would ask Koyuki, but she just got done taking my place when we went to the Chunin Exams."
Kushina smiled at her daughter, "Of course…" a frown, followed by a contemplative look, crossed her face. "You know, most Daimyo don't complete missions themselves, they send others to do it for them."
Naruko grinned, "I'm not like most Daimyo… besides, the people seem to like the fact that I do high-priority missions myself."
Kushina could only nod in agreement, and smile again, "I know, I just can't help but worry."
Naruko also smiled and gave her mom a hug. Once they separated, she turned to the door, "Well, I'm off!" She cheered, exiting the office.
Kushina grinned as she watched her daughter leave, only for it to fall when she saw the paperwork on the desk. 'Sometimes I wonder if she does this to escape the paperwork?' Kushina mused to herself, before settling behind the desk to begin the arduous task that is paperwork.
xxx With Naruko xxx
The journey to the village Tsunade was in wasn't as long as it should have been, but that was thanks in part to the Xeno Striders.
Stepping into the village, Haku at her side, she unleashed a pulse of chakra, searching for her target. She got a hit on someone with Kage-level chakra in a bar three blocks away from them.
Informing Haku, the women dashed off in that direction. Arriving on the scene the pair had to duck a projectile that crashed into a nearby wall, sighing in relief, the pair examined the object. Only to discover that it was a man with long spiky white hair, done in a low pony-tail, he wore a pale green kimono with matching gloves, fishnet undergarments, a red jacket with yellow spots over the pecs, and red geta.
Turning to the fresh hole in the bar, they noticed a woman standing there, her hand outstretched from the obvious punch she had just delivered to the man in the crater. Her blonde hair was done in two ponytails, that flowed down her back, her bangs framed her eyes. She wore a green & black jacket with the Kanji for "Gamble" on the back, inside of a red circle between the shoulder blades, it was worn over a white kimono top held together with a blue obi belt, she had on green pants and black high-heel sandals, with pink nail polish on her fingers and toes.
"Take that! You perverted asshole!" She called out to the man, lowering her outstretched arm. She turned to face Naruko and Haku and had the decency to blush in embarrassment, realizing she nearly hit them with the man. "Sorry…" she mumbled an apology.
Naruko waved her hand dismissively, "Don't mention it… You wouldn't happen to be Tsunade Senju, would you?" Naruko asked, although she already knew, it was better if Tsunade didn't know that.
Tsunade tensed upon hearing her name from a stranger, "So what if I am?" She asked, sliding into a defensive posture, ready to attack if necessary.
Naruko, seeing this, raised her hands in surrender. "Now, Now, no need for violence." She said, unknowingly copying what Kakashi said to her a little over a month ago.
Tsunade lowered her guard a little and replied, "Sorry, I've had too many unwanted visitors today."
Naruko nodded, "Understandable, and seeing as I've come at clearly a bad time, do you mind if I make my offer and you can get back to me within the next 6 days?" She asked.
'Offer?' Tsunade thought to herself 'What can a brat like her offer me?' She wondered. Looking at the girl, she gave a nod, signaling her to speak.
Naruko beamed that her Godmother would hear her out, and spoke in a chipper tone "I'll start with my name, I am Naruko Uzumaki Namikaze, the Spring Daimyo, and this…" she gestured to Haku, "Is Haku, my second in command and personal bodyguard as well as my best friend. I have come to offer you the position as the first Harukage of a village I'm creating in Spring Country." Naruko finished with a large grin.
Tsunade just stood there in shock, attempting to address what she'd heard. Her Goddaughter was standing in front of her, and she was the leader of a whole country, not only that she wanted her to be the first Harukage of the village she was starting. She must have been in her thoughts longer than she believed, cause the girl spoke up.
Naruko, seeing her Godmother in shock, decides to take her leave. "I see you have a lot to think about, we will leave and find a hotel to stay in for the next week. I'll send a summon to inform you of where so you can come to us with your answer, we will be leaving in 6 days from now, so that's your deadline." With that, she turned to leave, stepping over the still-unconscious man in the street.
Tsunade just stood there for a while longer pondering over the multiple options she had, first was her old teammate Orochimaru's offer to bring back her dead lover and little brother in exchange for healing his arms, the second was a demand from Konoha to become the 5th Hokage, delivered personally from the currently knocked out pervert on the ground, the third from her Goddaughter, the last bit of family she had left, who wants her to be the first Kage of her village, a huge honor, and the young girl picked her as her first choice it seems.
Choosing to ponder it over a few drinks, she re-entered the bar and sat down next to her apprentice, Shizune, who had opted to stay back when she punched Jiraiya.
"What happened, Lady Tsunade?" The young woman inquired.
Sighing, Tsunade began the long explanation of the current events. When she was done, she noticed that Shizune was in deep thought, and looked like she wanted to speak her mind. "Shizune, what's on your mind?"
Shizune, jumping slightly from the question, looked at her teacher and answered. "Do you want me to be honest?" She asked, getting a nod from Tsunade, "I think the choice is simple and easy." She answered, getting Tsunade to look at her with a "Continue" look.
Sighing, she elaborated. "On one hand, you can heal Orochimaru's arms with a small chance of him actually reviving my uncle and your brother. The other, you could return to Konoha, a place you hate, and be their Kage and spend the remainder of your days serving the village. Or, you could go with your Goddaughter, be the first leader of her village, and spend the remainder of your days with family, as well as leading a new village, where you know the Daimyo personally. It's really an easy choice." She finished.
Tsunade pondered her words and found that she was right, but she couldn't just leave now. After all, she had an ex-teammate to deal with, resolving to approach Naruko when she received her summon, and explain her situation and plan to her, she left the bar and headed to her hotel room with Shizune, also stepping over the slowly waking Toad Sage, making sure to step on the man's crotch as she did so, causing him to yelp in pain.
xxx Later That Night xxx
Tsunade was sitting on the uncomfortable couch in their hotel room when a puff of smoke brought her attention to the small coffee table in front of her, once it cleared it revealed a small white fox, with a light blue belly, its ears and tail tipped in light blue.
"Are you Tsunade Senju?" The little fox asked.
"I am, I assume you are…" she trailed off, hoping the fox had a name.
"I am Lady Naruko's personal summon, and she named me Setsuna (A moment; an instant). I have been sent to inform you that they are in a hotel two blocks from yours, called Asahi (Morning Sun), in room 115." With that, the little fox vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Setsuna…" Tsunade tested the name on her tongue, "Cute name… Shizune." She called, causing said woman to poke her head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth, "We're going to the Hotel Asahi, tomorrow morning." Shizune nodded, and returned to the bathroom, presumably to finish brushing her teeth.
Stretching, Tsunade stood and approached the bathroom, deciding to follow her apprentice's example. After all, she may be an alcoholic, but that doesn't mean she couldn't keep her teeth as clean as possible.
xxx The Next Morning xxx
Waking from her slumber, Naruko went to sit up, only to feel a weight on her chest. Looking down, she saw Setsuna curled up in a ball of fluff, sleeping peacefully.
Restraining herself from squeezing the cute little fox, she gently prodded the sleeping canine, causing her eyes to open and groggily look at her.
"Lady Naruko…" the fox mumbled, she yawned, while stretching her legs "Good morning."
Naruko smiled and began petting the adorable fox, "Good morning, Setsuna, you ready for today?"
She nodded, "Yeah, mom said I could stay with you until I was needed in the summoning world, and once that was done I could come right back."
Naruko's grin nearly split her face, "I look forward to having you with me."
Setsuna hopped off her summoner's chest to allow the girl to change, only to hop onto her shoulders and curl around her neck when she was finished.
Looking herself over in the mirror, Naruko smiled in acceptance, her blonde hair was left to flow down her back, a black baseball cap pushing the top of it down, her jaw-length bangs seeming longer than usual as a result. She wore a white v-neck t-shirt, with the Kanji for "Spring Daimyo" on the right side of her chest, two gold necklaces hung from her neck, one in the shape of the Uzumaki clan spiral, the other in the shape of the Namikaze clan's logo, three bracelets circled her left wrist, the lowest one was black, the middle one was gold, and the final, highest one was red, she had on black jeans, that were folded up at the bottom, her weapons pouch was strapped to her right thigh, while the sheath for her Ninjato was attached to her lower back, the hilt facing the right (Who said she couldn't be prepared for a fight while wearing casual clothes?), white shinobi sneakers adorned her feet.
With Setsuna curled around her neck, she left her room to begin breakfast for her and Haku, just as she finished setting the table there was a knock at her door, sensing to see who it was, she frowned, not recognizing the two strangers, making a shadow clone to open the door and see what they wanted, she approached Haku's room to wake her up.
She entered only to find that she was already awake, and the outfit she wore brought a small blush to her face. She had her long black hair done in a low ponytail, she wore a dark blue cropped tank top that showed her tone abs, brown fingerless gloves on her hands, she had on tight blue jeans that accentuated her curves, her weapons pouch was strapped to her left thigh, the sheath for her white katana attached to her right hip, she wore brown shinobi boots that wrapped around the bottom of her jeans.
Clearing her throat to get the girl's attention, Naruko spoke, "I fixed breakfast, and there are two strangers at the door." With her peace said, she left the room before her blush could grow further, all the while Kurami snickered at her host's growing affection for the ice user.
Returning to the kitchen she received the memories from her clone, which consisted of a short conversation where the two men told her to come with them, followed by her clone being cut in half when she told them no. She looked at the door just as it was kicked off its hinges.
The men walked in like they owned the place, and she didn't like it, unleashing a lot of killing intent at the pair, she began in a low voice "You pick that door up right now and put it back before I shove it up your ass and throw you into the nearby river."
The two men, utterly stumped at the amount of killing intent and the fact they were being ordered to fix the door they broke, numbly did as she demanded.
When the door was fixed, Naruko nodded approvingly and looked to her two uninvited guests "Now, sit on your knees…" she crossed her arms and glared when the two didn't move immediately, she continued when they had followed her order. "Okay, what the hell do you want with me?" She demanded.
The shorter of the two spoke up, still reeling from how easily this girl had ordered the two of them around, he wasn't afraid to admit that the girl terrified him though, "We're with the Akatsuki, and we were sent to bring you back with or without your consent."
She raised a delicate eyebrow, "What do you want with me?" She asked, tapping her foot in anticipation.
"Not you… What you hold…" The short one said cryptically.
Her eyebrows furrowed, "You want Kurami? What for?"
"That I cannot say." The short one answered.
"What are your names, and do you have anything to do with the guys I found attacking Fu on my return from Konoha?" She asked, her glare intensifying causing the two's backs to unconsciously straighten.
"My name is Itachi Uchiha, this is Kisame Hoshigaki, and yes those two were members of our organization, their names were Hidan and Kakuzu…"
"I know their names, they were talking to one another before the fight began. My mom and Fu killed Hidan while Kakuzu escaped." She cut him off.
Itachi didn't say anymore and only stared at her with an emotionless face.
Naruko, seeing that they weren't going to say anymore and figuring she'd got enough information let out a little more killing intent and spoke in a commanding tone, "Leave and tell your leader to leave me and the other Jinchuriki alone or I'll personally shove my Ninjato through his dickhole and out his ass." She stomped her foot to accentuate her point and whatever spell that seemingly had been cast on the men broke and they stood up and left without any further problems.
Once they were outside the taller of the two turned to his partner, "Hey, Itachi, she was scary."
Itachi nodded, "Yes Kisame, she's scarier than Madara, that amount of killing intent was intense."
"What should we do? Do we do as she asked?" Kisame asked.
Itachi only nodded before vanishing in a murder of crows, Kisame followed in a shower of water. Just as the water hit the ground, Tsunade and Shizune showed up and entered the hotel.
"Let's see, room 115, 155…" Tsunade muttered while looking for the room number... "Ah, here it is." She exclaimed before knocking.
Naruko had just sat across from Haku at the table and was about to explain what happened when there was another knock at the door. "Again?" She growled, Setsuna doing the same.
She approached the door herself this time, not bothering to check who it was beforehand, and flung it open "I thought I told you…" She trailed off when she noticed who it was "Oh, Godmother, sorry had some rude visitors before you showed up." She stood to the side and gestured to them "Come in, Come in." She urged.
Tsunade and Shizune entered and sat next to one another at the kitchen table, while Naruko entered the kitchen once again, "You too eat breakfast this morning?" She asked, getting two headshakes. "Alright, give me a moment and I'll whip up something."
Tsunade took this time to let her eyes roam the room, it was nice and spacious, bigger than her and Shizunes. The front door entered the living room, to the right was the kitchen where they sat, and to the left was a hallway that had 3 doorways, two on the left and one on the right. She guessed the two on the left were bedrooms while the right was the bathroom. Straight across from the front door was a large glass window with dark gray curtains on either side of it, a glass door leading to what appeared to be a small balcony. The view she could see was beautiful, nothing but the luscious forest that belonged to Fire Country, the sun rising from behind the distant mountain that marked Konoha.
She was broken from her admiration of the room when a plate of fried eggs, sausage, hash browns, gravy, and a glass of orange juice. Looking up, she watched as Naruko placed another plate identical to her own in front of Shizuna.
Naruko sat down in her spot across from Haku and began eating, with the others following her example. When they were done she explained what had happened this morning to them, after that, Tsunade told her that she wanted to accept her offer but there were a few issues first.
"What are the issues?" Naruko asked.
"First, Orochimaru, is an immediate threat, and I have to meet in 7 days to give me my answer, then there's Jiraiya and Konoha, he's not gonna like me "betraying" Konoha by becoming a kage of a different village."
Naruko seemed to ponder the issues, and developed an evil smirk, causing Tsunade to raise an eyebrow.
"What are you scheming?" She asked her young Goddaughter.
"That snake bastard is waiting for your response, correct?" She paused and waited for an answer, getting one she continued. "… and Jiraiya will follow you if we leave after the battle, correct?" She once again waited for an answer before continuing, "What if we leave that same morning and stand them both up? In their confusion they both slow each other down, giving us a head start."
Tsunade looked at her like she had grown a second head, "Are you suggesting we abandon Jiraiya to Orochimaru?" She asked in a slightly dangerous tone.
"Yes, and no… Yes, because it's highly possible Jiraiya would approach Orochimaru, and no, because Jiraiya isn't stupid enough to fight the man and his apprentice alone. Plus, the thought of standing up the Snake Bastard is appealing…" she paused, before speaking so quietly that Tsunade almost didn't hear her. "Even though I have a personal grudge against him…"
"What was that?" Tsunade asked, hoping she'd say it louder.
"Nothing, nothing… anyway, the important thing is getting back to Spring Country, so I can continue my plan to build the village. I also need to plan how to offer the few people I care about in Konoha a position in the village, along with offering refuge to the fleeing clans from Water Country."
"Fleeing clans from Water? Is it really that bad there?" Shizune asked.
Naruko nodded, "My spies have informed me that the rebels are on the verge of losing, I plan to head there myself to aid their effort in the war and make my offer to the clans who wish to leave. However, I need to contact the clans that have already fled first and get them settled in."
"Aren't you worried they'll lose the war before you can help?" Tsunade asked.
"No, from what my spies have told me, I estimate that they'll lose the war in a year, which is plenty of time to do what I need to beforehand."
"Who are you offering positions to in Konoha?" Tsunade asked, intrigued.
"Kurenai Yuhi, Anko Mitarashi, Ayame, and Teuchi Ichiraku, I would like to offer it to Hana Inuzuka, but I'm not sure how that would go…" she continued after a brief pause, "Yugao Uzuki, I heard her boyfriend died before the exams and I want to offer her a place away from Konoha. I owe her my life, so the least I could do is offer her a place away from the memories and hopefully help her cope with the loss."
The last bit caught Tsunade off guard for a second, "You owe her your life? What happened?" She asked, visibly worried.
Naruko leaned back in her chair and looked up to the ceiling, "It happened when I was 5, I had been out late after staying at Ichiraku Ramen. On my walk home, a few drunk men saw me and decided that that night was the night to "kill the demon". You can imagine how that went, and I'd rather not go into detail, just know that I was about to be killed when she showed up and beat the men to bloody pulps within seconds."
Tsunade was pissed and felt her hatred for Konoha grow more, further influencing her decision to join her Goddaughter. "Okay, when do you plan to ask them?"
"Well, I've had my people building the village for the past month, and it's nowhere near complete but it's been built enough to accommodate about 15,000 people. So the moment we return I'm going to send my summons to inform the clans that I contacted before coming here to make their way to the location I told them. While that's going on, I'll send Setsuna here…" she petted her as she said this, "... to Konoha, so she can reverse summon me to my old apartment, from there I'll make my way around and offer those I mentioned."
Tsunade nodded and was impressed at how planned out this seemed to be, idly wondering how long she'd been planning this village. Deciding to voice her question she asked, "When did this plan for a Village start?" She asked.
Naruko took a thinking pose, "It was back when Kakashi brought Princess Koyuki to the then-named Snow Country, he wanted to know if I'd return to Konoha, and that got me thinking about how my country didn't have a shinobi village."
"How long ago was that?" She asked, not knowing the details.
"A few months, I think. I'm not entirely sure, I've been so busy with planning the village, doing paperwork, managing my spy network, looking for my lost family members, making alliances, keeping tabs on potential allies, and potential enemies, searching for you…" she spent a mock glare at the woman for being so hard to find, getting a chuckle from said woman, "Anyway, long list short, I've been busy."
"You said something about potential enemies, do you have some?" Shizune asked.
"Not sure yet, I mean sure there's Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, but other than those two the only other threat is Kumogakure. The Raikage has already attempted to send spies in, though I don't hold a grudge against that, since I have done the same but was successful. Although there's still a chance he might try something, he is an ambitious man after all."
Tsunade nodded in agreement, "What about your alliances?" She asked.
Naruko hummed in thought, "There's Earth and Iron Country, I was allied with WaterFall but after learning of their treatment of Fu I broke it off. There's a potential alliance with Water after I aid them in the war, I would say Konoha but I have yet to deem them worthy as they still celebrate me leaving to this day."
"Fu?" Shizune asked, not recognizing the name.
"The Jinchuriki of the 7-tails." Naruko answered.
"Wait, you have the Jinchuriki of the 7-tails in your army?" Tsunade asked in shock.
"Yes, I hoped to bring all the Jinchuriki together so we can help each other, though I think the only other one I have a chance to bring here is the Jinchuriki of the 2-tails, as my spies informed me the other day that she's treated like a slave while the Jinchuriki of the 8-tails is treated like royalty."
"Why not attack Cloud and bring her here yourself?" Shizune asked.
"I want to, but it would look better politically if we don't attack first. I hate politics, but they're a major part of leading a country so I've gotten good at it."
Shizune looked like she wanted to protest, but Tsunade cut her off, "She's right, Shizune, her village is new and incomplete, if she attacked another out of the blue she'd be painting a target on her back, however, if she successfully defends and attack from another it would send a message to other's that they may be new but are not to be fucked with."
"It also says that we aren't hostile, but don't take being attacked laying down and will fight back." Naruko added.
Tsunade nodded sagely, "Correct…" she glanced outside and her eyes widened, "Holy shit! We've been here all day!" She exclaimed when the apartment door opened and Haku walked in with multiple bags in her arms.
Raising an eyebrow Haku asked, "You all were still talking? I left a few hours ago to get food?"
Naruko looked sheepish and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, kinda, we had a lot to talk about and time flew. What did you get for dinner?"
"That's a secret." Haku said with a wink, getting a point from the blonde.
Naruko let her pout fade and looked at Tsunade, "So, Godmother, you want to stay for dinner?"
Tsunade nodded, along with Shizune and they proceeded to make small talk until the food was done, after having their fill they said goodbye to Tsunade and prepared to spend the rest of the day relaxing.
"This is nice…" Naruko mused aloud, "Spending time with my best friend, and not doing paperwork or having an immediate issue to handle."
Haku nodded, flopping onto the couch next to her, "Yeah, we've been so busy these last few months that we haven't taken time to relax, other than sleep and the few hours we spent with your mom, sister, and cousin."
"You want to watch a movie?" Naruko asked, getting a nod from Haku.