Yo. It's been a bit. Here's a longer chapter for the wait. Could've split it into two, but both would have felt incomplete if I had, so here's the whole thing.
Naruto could confidently say that the last four years had been the best of his life. He had inexplicably found himself in an environment where no one death glared at him should they have decided to acknowledge his existence at all. He no longer had to pull teeth to get any sort of attention from anyone that mattered. He no longer ate unfulfilling meals in the isolation of his kitchen. He no longer spent entire stretches of sleepless nights wondering why he was even alive if his existence felt so meaningless and bothersome to literally everyone around him. He even had two people who cared about him unconditionally, and one of them was technically seven people, so he had eight people caring about him unconditionally? Regardless of how he spun it, he had a family now, and that was literally all he ever wanted.
Now, at age 12, Naruto felt the best he had in his life. Years of rigorous training with Uncle Nagato and his mo- Konan had practically transformed him from a pathetic, malnourished shithead with higher-than-average stealth and evasion skills into a legitimate shinobi. He was well on his way to becoming the badass ninja who demanded respect and acknowledgment that he always sought out to be, and it was all thanks to Nagato, Konan, and the giant, fuzzy tsundere inside of him.
"Watch your fucking mouth, brat."
Oh, right, the Kyubi could hear his thoughts, but only if he was paying attention. He still didn't really know how he felt about his deepest, darkest, most hidden musings being a front-page newspaper for a giant chakra monster.
"How the hell do you think I feel about it? I didn't ask for this."
"Neither did I, Kyubi, but I still really appreciate your presence."
"Bite me."
Speaking of the Kyubi, it was about time for his usual training with wielding the Kyubi's chakra. Generally, Uncle Nagato would be around as Pain to oversee it and ensure that nothing went wrong. However, Naruto felt confident enough to try gaining a handle of more than one tail on his own. He eventually needed to take the training wheels off anyway, so why not take a chance on that now?
So that's how he found himself within his mindscape and approaching the golden bars of the seal separating him from a grisly death at the hands of the most powerful creature alive, at least by the creature's own estimation.
"It's not simply by my own estimation, you little shit," the Kyubi growled from behind his place curled up in a ball behind the bars. "I possess more destructive potential in a single tail than most puny, insignificant creatures could ever possibly fathom."
"I've noticed," Naruto chuckled. "I feel like I'm on top of the world when I'm using one tail's worth of your chakra. It's difficult seeing past the red haze sometimes, but I mostly have the hang of it. I just have to maintain my calm as best as I can."
"Riveting," the Kyubi yawned.
"Pulling your chakra out of the seal to practice with it is really painful, though," Naruto continued. "I don't mean in the sense that it's burning my chakra network or anything like that, but more like I'm fighting against the seal trying to keep your chakra inside at all costs."
"That is the nature of seals, yes," the fox absently snarked before he processed what Naruto said, then perked up. "Though, this seal should be drip feeding my chakra into you to be assimilated into your system. It's how I've slowly been degrading it over time to escape. Perhaps there was a failsafe put in place that I wasn't aware of…"
Naruto listened to the giant fox's musings, then he sprang an idea of his own. "What if I tried tearing a piece of the seal off?"
The Kyubi froze, staring at Naruto for nearly a minute in total silence.
"…What?" The fox finally asked to see if nearly a century of imprisonment had finally worn on his psyche.
"What if I tore a piece of the seal off?" Naruto repeated. "Y'know, to loosen it up a bit and allow more of your chakra to flow through. If there's something within the seal actively fighting back against allowing more of your chakra through, then we could easily work around it by manipulating the physical manifestation of it."
The Kyubi continued staring at him, now aware that he wasn't, in fact, going crazy, but his container had instead. "…I objectively have more to gain from your death than from your continued existence. I'm not the correct entity to pose this question to."
"See, I knew you cared," Naruto grinned at the massive fox.
"On second thought, by all means, do it," the Kyubi growled in frustration. "I hate you. End my suffering."
Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not an idiot. I know what breaking the seal would do, and I haven't found any ways to safely release you without killing us both. That doesn't mean I won't find one."
"Hn," the Kyubi grunted. He so dearly wanted to despise the wretched spawn of his previous jailer and the accursed blonde that dared to split his power and seal him away… but goddamn if the little kumquat made it really difficult to do so.
"I don't have the key, so we'll have to brute force it a little bit," Naruto continued and approached the seal to tear off a piece at the corner. "It's worth a shot."
Before his hand could reach the seal tag, however, someone grabbed his wrist, preventing him from advancing any further. Startled, Naruto turned to see who the hell managed to get into his mindscape, and he froze when his blue eyes met another pair just like his own. Staring down at him was a face he had seen countless times back in Konoha; hell, he stared up at a stone rendition of it nearly every day.
"Yondaime…" Naruto muttered in stupefaction.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Naruto," the Yondaime chuckled, releasing his wrist.
Naruto's shock grew even stronger. "Y-you know my name??"
"Of course," he replied, putting a hand on Naruto's head. "I gave it to you, my son."
"Your… son…" Naruto murmured, his eyes becoming unfocused as the enormity of what was just revealed crashed down upon him.
Minato grew concerned when his son went catatonic, and he made to kneel down to his level to check if he was okay. However, a swift, hard knee to his groin stopped that dead in its tracks, and he collapsed to the ankle-high water on the floor with a groan.
"You son of a bitch!" Naruto shouted, tears welling in his eyes and a snarl pointed at the former Hokage. "You're my father? And you sealed the fucking Kyubi into me?!"
Minato groaned, then he brought his gaze up to face Naruto's. "I did it because-"
"I KNOW WHY YOU DID IT!!" Naruto screamed, the tears flowing freely down his whiskered cheeks. "I know why you did it. I just… everyone hated me. No one would even look in my direction, and when they did, it was nothing but scorn. I had no one. The old man didn't even care, not really. I spent so long with no one but myself and being made to believe that my existence was nothing but a burden that I started to believe it."
He forced himself to pause and take a few deep breaths, all the while Minato could do nothing but look on in despair. He had peered through Naruto's memories when he placed a hand on his head, and what he saw would have made his blood boil if he wasn't made exclusively of chakra. The fact that Naruto left the village entirely by the time he was 8 was the maraschino cherry on the shit sundae.
"I know why you did it," Naruto muttered, his tone practically broken. "I was just… so alone."
He felt his father bring him into a tight hug, and he choked back every tear that threatened to spill even further. He wouldn't cry anymore. He refused. He had done enough of that in the past, and he wouldn't do it anymore, not over Konoha. He had a family now. He wouldn't cry over long-since spilled milk.
Minato, meanwhile, shot the Kyubi an annoyed glare when he noticed the fox silently watching the whole ordeal. "Do you mind?"
"And exactly where the fuck am I supposed to go?" the fox annoyedly shot back.
Minato's eye twitched, but the soft ruffling of his son's snorts in his haori kept him from moving them to another realm within the mindscape. He didn't quite understand how Naruto had managed to worm through the Kyubi's emotional defenses, but he was thankful that he somehow had.
"I almost forgot how snarky you could be when you weren't ranting and raving about feasting on our flesh, Kyubi," Minato jabbed.
"And I think you're a cunt, so let's call it even," the Kyubi retorted, drawing an audible laugh from the youngest blonde.
"Fair," Minato sighed before breaking the hug and putting his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "I'm sorry. I really am. Though, I suppose it's little consolation at this point. Apologizing isn't going to do away with all of the pain you experienced at my hands."
"It's not your fault," Naruto muttered, looking down. "I mean, it is ultimately, but you didn't influence the village to look at me with contempt and fear, nor did you tell the old man to keep me at arm's length as much as he could."
Naruto's head snapped up, and his gaze narrowed at his father. "You didn't, right?"
"No, I didn't," Minato shook his head with a chuckle. "To answer your other question, I sealed half of the Kyubi's chakra inside of you because I believed that you could master this power. I did it because you're my son."
"Wait, half?" Naruto inquired, and Minato nodded. "Where's the other half?"
"He sealed it within himself," the Kyubi spoke up. "The entirety of my power would have utterly annihilated you had he chosen to seal all of it, so the flashy fuckhead took half of it with him to the Shinigami."
"Oh…" Naruto muttered, then he turned back to Minato expectantly. "Can I get that back?"
Minato sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Uh, about that… I don't have access to that. I'm just a chakra imprint, so I don't actually possess the other half. It's literally trapped within the belly of the Shinigami with my soul."
"Ugh, dick," Naruto bemoaned.
"Tell me about it," the Kyubi grumbled.
Minato probably should have felt a little indignant that his son and the Kyubi were ganging up on him like this, but in truth, he felt a flutter of vindication. Naruto had not only already been making progress with using the fox's chakra, but he was also actively befriending it. Perhaps the masked man who orchestrated the events of that night wouldn't be such a threat to him in the future.
It was a wonderful thought.
Temari did her very best to withhold the sigh that threatened to escape her. Surrounding her at the large roundtable was Suna's Council, a collection of, in Temari's opinion, a dozen old fogies with a few token, young jonin sprinkled within. Then, there was herself, dolled up in a ceremonial Kazekage robe and hat much too big for her because no one had gotten around to making her one that actually fit, so she was stuck wearing her father's for the time being. She didn't really mind; she was fast-tracked into the position, after all, so there probably just wasn't time to make a smaller one for her before they pushed her out in front of the village as the newly inaugurated Godaime.
Then again, Konoha's Sandaime had a robe and hat that fit him, and there was no way in hell that he was taller than her.
Realistically, she wouldn't even be wearing it all that often. Most Kage had a second set of more comfortable clothing to wear when the ceremonial robes weren't really necessary, which was most of the time. Her father's obsession with projecting his power just led him to buck the trend and wear his robes all of the time like a weirdo.
A slight nudge from behind brought her back to the present, and she cast a quick glance to her sensei and de facto advisor standing a bit to her right. Somehow, Baki knew she was zoning out of the meeting when she should have been paying attention, but goddamn was this meeting drier than the fucking desert they called home. How the hell had her father endured this shit on a regular basis?
She didn't even know what the hell the old councilmen were prattling on about other than just to hear themselves speak. A quick survey of the others in attendance at least showed that she wasn't alone in her boredom; Yura, a fairly new addition to the council, was doing his best to appear attentive, but it wasn't difficult to pick up on his growing agitation with the monotonous discourse. Taking it a step (or twelve) further was Granny Chiyo who hadn't even bothered trying to put up a front, blatantly sleeping in her seat beside her amused brother, Ebizo.
"Now, onto our next order of business," one of the elder councilmen drolly declared, and Temari wasn't too sure if she was thankful that they were moving on or dying inside that the meeting was continuing. It was likely a mixture of both.
"Suna's existing financial woes were greatly exacerbated after the botched invasion of Konoha," he continued with a grim tone, and that seemed to garner more focus from the roundtable. "Our Daimyo is still passing missions along to Konoha, and he's doing so at an even greater rate in the wake of our defeat as some sort of roundabout punishment for failing to get out of the doldrums that he put us in. Konoha, ironically enough because of the invasion, isn't exactly in a financial position to turn the missions down and forward them to us, either."
"So, we're effectively stuck between a rock and a biju," another elder groaned.
"Indeed, and we no longer possess Lord Rasa's gold dust to chip away at our debt," the first elder forlornly replied.
"Perhaps we could send envoys to minor nations to the west that could possibly be in need of assistance from a shinobi village, particularly from one of the Five Great Nations?" came the hopeful suggestion from a third elder, clearly grasping at straws for a bandaid to slap over their troubles while they came up with a longterm solution.
"Groveling at the feet of pissant nations and irrelevant shinobi villages is hardly emblematic of one of the Great Nations," a fourth elder scoffed at the proposal. "Our purple-clad dipshit of a Daimyo would freeze us out entirely for going behind his back, especially for something so demeaning."
Temari, meanwhile, was back to dimly observing the interplay with her cheek resting in her palm, not particularly caring to appear invested at this point. She watched the old crones bounce suggestions and complaints back and forth for several minutes, each one being shot down with another complaint thrown into the mix. Pretty soon, she had enough.
"Have you considered just taking him out?" Temari sardonically floated to the council if for no other reason than to just interrupt the deadlock and move things along.
"Of course not," one of the elders scoffed. "Such a ridiculous proposal, but given your inexperience in your position, it is expected at this point."
…Ain't no fucking way he just blatantly condescended to her like that with no recoil from any of his contemporaries.
Her head slowly and very deliberately lifted from her palm, and she took off her hat, setting her teal gaze onto the elder that now had her undivided attention. Her hat now resting on the table with the kanji for 'wind' facing the roundtable like a sharp reminder of just who the fuck they were in a meeting with, the room grew even more tense than it already sort of was given the subject matter.
"No, let's discuss it," Temari insisted with a sharp tone, cutting through any lingering boredom in the room. Even Chiyo's eyelids twitched, indicating that she was paying attention despite not actually opening her eyes.
"Our 'esteemed' Daimyo is the reason we're up shit creek without a paddle, and he's walking along the bank hurling insults at us the entire way," she continued, firmly holding the room's attention in her grasp. "He's an enemy of the village in all but name. Why not take him out?"
"W-we can't just do that, Lady Kazekage," one of the elders stuttered.
"Why not?"
"Because that's blatant treason! It's literally the most treasonous that treason can get!"
"And?"
A light snort escaped Chiyo, who still hadn't opened her eyes. Even so, her smile told Temari that she either approved of her idea or at least found it amusing. Ebizo remained stoic, but the wary looks on the faces of the others indicated that she didn't quite have them yet.
Temari had an idea of how she could win them over, but she wanted to hear the opinion of someone she implicitly trusted, so she turned to her former sensei and current advisor. "What do you think, Baki-sensei?"
Holding in a sigh at her insistence on calling him "sensei" after telling her that she no longer had to now that she had far more authority than him, Baki simply shrugged. "I'm honestly surprised that your father never tried anything of the sort. Maybe he was just afraid of it possibly leading back to him and being ousted from power. He was a paranoid man at the best of times, for better or for worse."
"Didn't save him against Orochimaru," she muttered, and Baki couldn't really disagree.
Satisfied with the opening his response gave her, she turned back to the council. "The Daimyo has been acting directly against the health of our village, so he needs to go. Simple as that. If it were literally anyone else posing this sort of catastrophic threat to Suna, we wouldn't even be having this discussion; they'd already be dead. But since it's in the context of the culprit being the Daimyo, we pussyfooted around the issue, and now, here we are."
It was a ruthless proposal, certainly, but it wasn't an illogical one, especially coming from the perspective of the nation's Daimyo being framed as an explicit threat to the welfare of the village because he indisputably was at this point. Sure, foolishly staging an invasion on their closest and largest military ally wasn't exactly pussyfooting, but it was cutting off their nose to spite their face, and they were objectively worse off for it. To add insult to injury, the source of their turmoil that they were trying to address in the first place was still pulling his shtick, effectively kicking them while they were down. The longer her reasoning marinated with the adults in the room, the less they could justifiably oppose the idea.
Well, most of them, anyway.
"This is absolutely preposterous," the original elder that condescended to Temari balked. "We are not seriously considering a childish endeavor from a 15-year-old girl with merely a fraction of the political savvy that we all possess, right?"
To his chagrin, none of his colleagues spoke up or even nodded their agreement. On the other hand, Temari smelled blood in the water and pounced, refusing to allow a second slight to slide on the off chance that people were silently considering the old coot's bullshit.
"What's up with you?" She asked, her teal gaze piercing through him like a laser and rooting him to his seat.
"I-I beg your pardon?" he asked, but Temari spoke again right as he got the words out.
"Who's the Kazekage?"
"I don't understand-"
"Me, I'm the goddamn Kazekage now. I can assign whatever mission I want. I can commission whatever activity I want. If I wanted to, say, commission a mercenary organization to permanently remove the Daimyo from power and install a more Suna-friendly successor in his place, I'm well within my rights as the ultimate authority of this village to do so, and you'd do well to remember that."
Chiyo finally cracked an eye open and chuckled. 'Way to get that blustering fool to put a sock in it,' she internally cackled. She was glad Karura's girl had some fire in her. Maybe the village's youth wasn't such a lost cause; she wouldn't hold her breath, though.
"How exactly would we go about this?" Yura hesitantly asked Temari, not giving away what side of the issue he stood on. "Should the attempt fail or your involvement be revealed…"
"I'm well aware of the risks," she responded as he trailed off, leaving the possibility of the Daimyo (present or successor) having her head unsaid. "That's why we'd pay the mercenaries I have in mind in cash and in person, with a little extra on top to ensure their silence."
"An under-the-table deal…" Ebizo mused, speaking up for the first time that entire meeting.
Temari nodded in confirmation, then her gaze narrowed at each and every person at the roundtable. "There wouldn't be any written record of this mission ever happening, because as far as everyone outside of this room is concerned, it didn't."
If it wasn't already clear that the decision had been made and she was simply telling them what she was going to do as a professional courtesy, that did it.
"What mercenaries did you have in mind?" Yura probed, and Temari smiled.
"What have you all heard about Akatsuki?"
Obito's grunts echoed through a canyon in the northern region of the Mountains' Graveyard as he struggled to warp the last bit of the mountain into the Kamui dimension. He had been at this for months, and now he was exceptionally appreciative of the existence of contract seals that allowed him to summon the Kyubi into the village directly rather than having to warp it to and fro. Still, he had gotten a solid hang of it, cutting down the time it took to completely warp a stationary, mountain-sized object to five seconds. Assuming he got a biju under a genjutsu first, it would only take five seconds to send it to the Kamui dimension. That was good, right?
He tried not to think about the two-toned pain in his ass that suckered him into training something so asinine, but it was difficult to divorce the fleeting visual strain from the talking vegetable in question.
"How goes it, Obito?" White Zetsu called out from a spot a few yards behind him.
Speak of the fucking devil.
"Fine," he growled, turning his head and shooting the creature protruding from the ground a glare through his peripheral vision.
"You seem to be making good progress," Black Zetsu commented on the gargantuan crater where a mountain once stood.
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Obito scoffed before the space in front of him distorted, and the mountain that had been taken was promptly deposited back into his original spot with a literally earthshaking thud.
"Don't get snippy with me," Black Zetsu chided.
"I've been doing nothing but warping fucking mountains back and forth for months. Excuse me if I'm a little testy."
It was the cheerful voice of White Zetsu that responded this time. "Have you cuddled with your Rin body pillow recently? That should alleviate your stress."
"Why are you here, Zetsu?" Obito sighed, already feeling the migraine setting in.
"Iwa is requesting our services," Black Zetsu answered.
Obito paused his ministrations and turned to face Zetsu fully. "For?"
"Ohnoki's wariness of Ame and Akatsuki potentially upending the status quo is nearing a head," Black Zetsu said.
"With the Gobi jinchuriki out of their grasp and the Yonbi jinchuriki traveling the world in his retirement, Ohnoki wants an insurance policy in case war breaks out," White Zetsu added on.
"Get to the point, Zetsu."
"They're commissioning us to steal the Box of Ultimate Bliss from Kusagakure and deliver it to them," Black Zetsu complied.
That caught Obito by surprise, and his scarred face scrunched in confusion. "That old wives' tale? Does that old fool seriously believe a myth like that will tip the scales in their favor?"
"They're nervous with Akatsuki right on their border," Black Zetsu answered. "Their only other options are storming Suna or Taki for their jinchuriki and leveling the village, but what's stopping the survivors or anyone else from commissioning Akatsuki to invade them and steal the jinchuriki back?"
"They'd be practically inviting an aggressive response from their neighbors with the already mounting hostilities, and they can't be certain that they'd come out the victor in their current state," White Zetsu finished.
Not able to find any fault with the logic, Obito grunted. "Fine. I'll put Itachi and Kisame on it. In the meantime, perhaps we can capitalize on Iwa's clear desperation…"
Sakura exhaled as much of the exhaustion out of her system as she could, or rather she tried to. It had been another long, excruciating day of training with Kakashi-sensei, and she was positively wiped. Running a hand through her disheveled hair that she had let grow out in the six months she had been out of the village, she made her way towards a nearby river to refill her bottles. She technically didn't need to since she could refill them rather easily with a water jutsu, but why needlessly expend chakra when there was a fresh source available?
While she was musing over water jutsu, the gains she had achieved and the things she had learned in her time training floated through her brain. Apparently, she had two natural affinities, which was already exceedingly rare, but rarer still was those affinities being to earth and water. Who knew? (She didn't, and that was part of why she was even out of the village in the first place.)
As she approached the bank of the river, she realized that there were already people there, which was unexpected because Kakashi-sensei had typically gone for remote areas to conduct their training, creating as few distractions as possible. Still, seeing a random passerby gathering herbs or water wasn't particularly out of the ordinary, even in remote areas.
What was, however, were the cloaks they were wearing. Black robes with red clouds emblazoned on them adorned the frames of a redheaded girl with glasses who appeared to be around her age (maybe a year older? It was difficult to tell). She recognized them as the same one worn by Pakura and the blonde from the bridge in Nami.
The same head of unruly, blonde hair that was sitting beside the redhead on the riverbank.
Wait a goddamn minute…
She quietly backpedaled and darted behind a tree, only peeking around the other side to get a look at them while remaining unseen. Finally taking in the sight of him removed from the context of a stressful massacre on a bridge, fascination took root within her as she observed him. Her eyes trailed across his whiskered cheeks and his bright, blue eyes peeking through a spiky, golden curtain of hair. Now that she was able to truly observe him, she couldn't help but notice how much he resembled the Yondaime. Were they possibly related? His slashed headband was that of Konoha, so was he part of the village at one point? No one to her knowledge possessed that particular shade of blonde hair but the Yondaime, not even anyone in the Yamanaka Clan. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but she'd have to look further into that at a later date if she remembered.
The longer she observed him and his redheaded companion, the more she began to have thoughts about herself and Sasuke. He was admittedly almost as handsome as Sasuke, but that was secondary to the clear bond the two appeared to have. They were comfortably bantering as far as she could tell, which was far beyond the relationship her team used to have…
"Thinking about Sasuke again?"
The voice of her sensei jolted her out of her forlorn train of thought, and she looked up to see Kakashi eye-smiling down at her from a branch above.
"How long have you been up there?" she indignantly huffed.
"Since a little bit before you got here," he casually responded. "…I wanted to see him."
"Naruto?" she asked, remembering his name from the ordeal at the bridge.
Kakashi nodded. "He seems… fine. Like he doesn't even need me…"
Well, clearly. Whatever he was doing to become as strong as he was at his age was working well enough. She doubted he'd even need the village if her sensei was successful in bringing him in like he seemed to want to, but she suspected that there was a lot more going on emotionally, so she kept that thought to herself.
"What's your relationship with him?" she cautiously probed. "You seemed to know him when he showed up at the bridge, and you were wary of him, as if he might've been a threat. Is he dangerous?"
There was a lot more that she wanted to ask about, such as the meaning of the cloaks and why Pakura felt inclined to save her rather than completing her mission, but she'd do one thing at a time.
Kakashi was silent for several seconds in response. He didn't look back down at Sakura, instead keeping his downtrodden gaze on Naruto. "His father was my sensei."
Sakura was taken aback by the news. That would definitely explain his attachment to Naruto, but it only added more questions to the pile.
"But your sensei was the Yondaime…" Sakura trailed off, and her eyes nearly shot out of her skull. "Holy shit, that's the Yondaime's son?!"
"Yes, he is," Kakashi sighed. Naruto hadn't been in the village for nearly eight years at this point, and the Sandaime was dead, so there was no point in keeping that secret from her.
"But- I- what??" Sakura stammered. "What the fuck, sensei? There was nothing in the academy about the Yondaime having children!"
Kakashi sighed again. This was going to be a long day. "Sensei died the day he was born; the day of the Kyubi attack. He and Kushina gave their lives to seal the beast inside of him to protect him as well as the village. Naruto is what's known as a jinchuriki, like Gaara, except Naruto seems to be mostly well-adjusted, while Gaara, well, isn't."
"A jinchuriki?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded. "A container of a biju; literally a sacrifice. Naruto was chosen to contain the Kyubi to keep it from destroying the village. There are eight others out there that functionally serve the same purpose… to varying degrees of success. Again, Gaara."
Meanwhile, Sakura's brain was moving at 100mph. "The Yondaime had a fucking child, and we didn't even know about him?? Why is he out of the village?? Who would allow that, especially if he has the fucking Kyubi sealed inside of him??"
"At some point nearly a decade ago, he escaped the village and never came back," Kakashi morosely explained. "Every attempt to find him or even just recover a body came up with nothing. According to the Sandaime, none of our spies in other villages ever reported any sightings of anyone fitting his description. Eventually, we just accepted that he had died somewhere in the wilderness outside of the country."
While Sakura was silently taking all of that in, Kakashi turned his gaze down to her and slightly diverted the subject. "Do you remember a little blonde boy around the village when you were young? A loud prankster that got into all sorts of shenanigans?"
Sakura blinked, then she considered the thought. "I… vaguely? I kind of remember a boy like that who was maybe a few years older than me. We played together at the park a few times before he just up and vanished one day. I remember being pretty sad about it because he would always get nasty looks from the adults for no real reason, and all of the other kids made fun of me for my forehead, so I guess we sort of bonded over that?"
Sakura shook her head. "I know, it sounds stupid in hindsight. He always seemed really depressed deep down, like he was faking that megawatt smile he had. It never really reached his eyes."
She looked towards Naruto and Karin at the riverbank. "It's kind of a far cry from what I can see from him now… at least I hope so."
By that point, Sakura had mostly put together why Naruto left the village. The nasty looks and malicious whispers all of the adults sent his way back then were beginning to make sense with the context of his jinchuriki status, but that still left a few questions unanswered…
"…Why would anyone treat the Yondaime's son like shit if he's the fucking son of the Hokage, first and foremost?" she turned a frown up to her arboreal sensei and questioned. "And that's not even to mention the fact that he was the only thing standing between the village and its destruction!"
"No one knew about him being sensei's son, not even him," Kakashi answered. "Everyone knew about him containing the Kyubi, though. Except for him, that is."
Sakura stared at Kakashi for an unnervingly silent few seconds, and he would have to be forgiven for nearly squirming under her blank scrutiny given the subject matter.
"That's… really fucked up," she incredulously began. "Like, ridiculously fucked up. And almost certainly why he left!"
Kakashi sighed. "Yeah, I know. I can't go back and change the past or undo my failures, no matter how much time I spend being absorbed by them."
Another silence fell over the duo. It wasn't very often that Kakashi was this vulnerable and candid about his past. In fact, it quite literally never happened. Sakura made a mental note to get her sensei into therapy the minute they set foot back in Konoha.
"Why haven't you gone over and talked to him?" Sakura broke the silence. "This is a chance meeting, and he doesn't even know that you're here."
"Oh, he already knows I'm here," Kakashi casually assured. "He knows you are, too. He's been sending us subtle glances every so often, so he's well aware of our presence."
He was spot on, as over with the Akatsuki duo, Naruto cast a final glance to the tree that Kakashi and Sakura were sequestered in before returning his gaze to the river.
"Are you going to approach them at all?" Karin asked, and Naruto shook his head.
"Kakashi is undoubtedly a tortured soul," Naruto denied. "I'll let him take that step on his own when he's ready. This more than likely won't be the last time our paths cross."
"That's really considerate of you," Karin smiled.
"I may not harbor much love for Konoha, but I'm not a monster, Karin," he shrugged, then his gaze flickered downstream. "Tayuya should be back sometime soon-"
"Naruto, I have a mission for you."
The voice of Pain echoing in his mind paused whatever he was going to say. Hearing his sudden intrusion immediately put him on edge, as Pain handing him an impromptu mission in the middle of their training trip meant that whatever task that was ahead must have been of the utmost significance.
Karin took note of him suddenly freezing, but her questions were answered when Naruto spoke aloud.
What do you need of us, Pain?" he asked.
"Suna is commissioning Akatsuki for an assassination."
Naruto blinked. An assassination was a little trivial for this situation. "Of who?"
"Their Daimyo."
"Oh…" Naruto muttered, the massive implications sinking in. This assassination was no longer trivial.
"Indeed."
"Assassinating one of the major Daimyo? That's really risky, even for us."
"Channel your chakra. I shall explain further using the Astral Projection Jutsu."
Ah, so it was serious. Naruto sent Karin a brief signal to keep an eye on the two Konoha-nin before he closed his eyes and performed the ram seal. Within moments, he felt a firm tug, and he opened his eyes to find himself standing before the Rinnegan. To his left was the holographic projection of Pakura, who he could tell was even more tense than he was.
"So, the Wind Daimyo," Pakura uttered, making her discomfort known.
Pain nodded. "Earlier, an emissary from Suna was intercepted at Ame's gate. Rather than delivering a missive from his leader, however, he insisted that the newly installed Kazekage had a request for Akatsuki that could only be delivered verbally to me in person."
"They wanted no paper trail of this whatsoever," Naruto muttered.
"That doesn't surprise me," Pakura said. "Assassinating their own Daimyo sets an awful precedent, and it could collapse their entire nation if even one thing goes awry. Forgive me if I'm overextending, but this feels out of bounds for us, Pain."
Pain nodded. "I understand your concerns, and I tend to agree. This is unorthodox and not a commission that I would generally entertain. However…"
His Rinnegan landed squarely on Naruto. "I took into consideration what you advised in your report from your conversation with the jinchuriki of Kumo. You referred to Suna and Kumo as wildcards and mentioned that it would be far more beneficial if Suna reemerges as an ally to Akatsuki when they regain their footing."
"And I suppose that this is a surefire way to see that happen," Naruto surmised.
Pain nodded in confirmation. "In addition, one of the major Daimyo freezing his shinobi village out until they collapse is troublesome. We would have likely had to deal with him on our own volition sooner or later."
"How do we know that this is a legitimate request?" Pakura questioned.
"That is what you are going to confirm," he answered. "You will return to Suna with the emissary and personally collect the payment from the Kazekage herself."
That surprised both of the projections. Pakura was never shy about her refusal to return to Suna, just as Naruto wasn't shy about his feelings towards Konoha.
"Does it have to be me?" Pakura questioned, trying to keep the bubbling emotions out of her tone.
"Yes. You may think of it as a show of force if it helps. No one in Suna comes close to approaching your power, and they are very familiar with you. The sight of one of the deadliest shinobi in their village's history operating under the banner of Akatsuki will articulate just how poor of a decision it would be to cross us should they have ulterior motives."
Pakura sighed. She couldn't argue with that. "So, I'm simply going to collect our payment for the mission?"
"Correct," Pain affirmed. "Naruto will conduct the assassination."
"Any particular method?" Naruto asked.
"I'll leave that up to your discretion. The emissary relayed that the Kazekage simply asks that there be no ambiguity of his fate left, but there does not necessarily need to be a body."
Naruto hummed with a nod. "Well, that works out. We were already sorta headed in that direction."
"Oh? Where to?"
"Tetsu no Kuni. I want to get a few things made from their chakra metal for Karin and Tayuya. I'll take care of the Daimyo on the way."
"Who is the emissary, if I may ask?" Pakura spoke up.
Rather than respond verbally, the door to the office opened, and the Human Path entered with an unsettled Baki who couldn't possibly mask how uncomfortable being in the presence of the Rinnegan made him. Then, the two holographic projections turned to face him, and he nearly went pale. Looking back at him were fucking Pakura of the Scorch Release and a man whose colorful outline strongly resembled the Yellow Flash.
'What the fuck did we get ourselves into…' Baki internally cried.
Sasuke was glad to be out of that dreadful lair for once. The dark and foreboding nature of the claustrophobic, torchlit hallways was endearing at first, but it very quickly wore on him. He didn't realize just how much he enjoyed the outside world until it was taken away from him.
At the very least, it was always kept clean despite what the stench of blood, death, and despair would have one believe. Say what you will about Orochimaru's psychopathic drive for scientific advancement, but the man did not like having a dirty base outside of designated areas. The hallways consistently smelled of lemon Pledge, and even the rarely used passageways were never dusty. Sasuke made a mental note to inquire about who Orochimaru hired to clean the base at some point.
That was secondary, though. He was finally above ground on a supply run with Kabuto and Yukimaru. He didn't really like Kabuto all that much; he was such a weirdo, and he got the impression that even Orochimaru felt similarly. How creepy do you have to be to be off-putting to Orochimaru of all people?
Yukimaru, on the other hand, was a different story. Sasuke found that he didn't really mind the other boy as much as he thought he would. He was a weak, emotional wreck at first, and Sasuke had initially written him off as a deadweight that could only serve as a decent punching bag for his development. However, Yukimaru's almost exponential growth took Sasuke by surprise, and the boy proved to be a reliable whetstone for himself and his own training. Orochimaru took advantage of Yukimaru's water and wind natures being a perfect counter to and match with Sasuke's fire and lightning natures to leapfrog their respective ninjutsu acumen.
Over the course of their constant spars, the two had grown to respect each other, and Sasuke very much respected Yukimaru's rapid improvement. They even sort of bonded over their shared desire for vengeance, despite what Sasuke knew about the reality of Yukimaru's situation that Yukimaru himself wasn't aware of. Sasuke occasionally thought about revealing the truth to him, but he ultimately decided against it. It wouldn't be right to remove him of his raison d'être. Sasuke knew that he would feel absolutely lost if for some reason it was revealed that Itachi was actually acting on orders from the Hokage the entire time and never wanted to slaughter their clan, as preposterous as that sounded.
That was enough exposition dumping for one day, though. Sasuke and Yukimaru were patrolling the area around one of Orochimaru's bases in the dry hellhole that was Tsuchi no Kuni while Kabuto was inside dealing with the rabble and collecting the supplies they needed. While bored out of his mind, Sasuke was just glad to be out for once-
"Sasuke, I sense two massive chakra signatures up ahead," Yukimaru spoke up with a bit of urgency in his voice, yanking Sasuke's rapt attention.
Right, Yukimaru was a sensor, and a surprisingly capable one. It was something about his bloodline being highly chakra sensitive as well as possessing very potent chakra. It made Yukimaru's biological father the perfect candidate to be the Sanbi jinchuriki or something like that. Sasuke wasn't really paying attention to the lore, but he was paying attention to his comrade's warning.
"How massive?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowing.
"One of them exceeds Lord Orochimaru's by a country mile. The other isn't nearly as big, but it's still considerable. It's… honestly kinda similar to yours, Sasuke."
Sasuke's fully matured Sharingan activated, and he glared at Yukimaru. "How similar?"
"…I'd say familial," Yukimaru hesitantly answered, and Sasuke darted off in the direction Yukimaru sensed them before he could stop him. "Goddamnit!"
Itachi was at the most difficult crossroads he had ever encountered. Staring into his Sharingan was an ultimatum that would decide his fate for the foreseeable future, one that he could not afford to make the wrong decision for, lest he find himself in unimaginable ruin the likes of which he would not wish on even the most wretched of souls in existence.
There were 23 flavors of pocky on the shelves in front of him, and he had to decide which one he would purchase for their mission to Kusa.
Dragging toddlers out of their hiding places in their freshly murdered parents' closets and impaling them through the heart with his tanto was far easier than this.
He sighed, knowing that Kisame was growing impatient outside of the convenience store. However, he could not rush this decision. Far too much was on the line for it to be made haphazardly.
"ITACHI!" a familiar voice bellowed from the edge of the aisle shortly after the bell on the door rang, signifying someone's entrance.
"It's been a long time, Sasuke," Itachi uttered in his practiced villainous monotone. Internally, he was cursing. His foolish little brother was interrupting an important task.
"I did what you said," Sasuke growled, his curse mark coming to life and a Chidori raging in his palm. "I've cultivated my hatred into power, and now, I'm going to kill you and avenge our family!"
Then, Sasuke stabbed his hand into the shelf of snacks and rushed toward Itachi, which made Itachi uncharacteristically panicked. If he advanced any further, he would begin cleaving through the pocky. Itachi would not allow that. His Sharingan transformed into his Mangekyo, and he met Sasuke's charge just before the raging teen could destroy the holy grail of snack foods.
"Tsukuyomi," he whispered, meeting Sasuke's furious gaze and stopping him in his tracks.
Meanwhile, Kisame was growing rather impatient with his partner. Taking upwards of 30 minutes to make a selection of pocky wasn't unusual, but they had a mission to get to, and Kisame didn't particularly feel like wasting anymore time. They were lucky that they weren't really pressed for time to begin with.
Then, barreling towards the convenience store entrance was what he could've sworn was a smaller, angrier Itachi. He didn't pay Kisame any mind as he charged through the door, and Kisame quirked an eyebrow before putting it out of his mind. Then, a loud crackling erupted from within, snapping his attention back to the store just in time for a smaller (somehow) version of Yagura to charge into the store, as well. His interest sufficiently piqued, Kisame decided to step inside and see what the hell was going on for himself.
What met him was Itachi holding his smaller clone by the throat, and the clone had a glazed, catatonic look about him. Itachi must have used Tsukuyomi on him, which was confirmed when Kisame spotted just how close the pocky on the shelf came to ruin. The Yagura clone was tense, his eyes darting back and forth between him and Itachi as if he was preparing for a fight. Kisame wasn't really interested.
"You all set?" Kisame asked his partner.
"Foolish little brother," Itachi muttered before tossing him to the Yagura clone. "Yes. Let's go. I'll just get one box of each flavor."
Kisame could merely roll his eyes and sigh. They really needed to stage an intervention for him.
As the two members of Tsuki no Me got what they needed and left, Yukimaru was barely easing up from the enormous amount of tension he held. Those two were part of the organization that Lord Orochimaru was once a member of, which was bad enough on its own, but he could reason that they were Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, the two most dangerous members of the group and far out of both his and Sasuke's leagues at this point. He knew informing Sasuke of that similar chakra signature was a bad idea. Despite how much the two had grown, they weren't ready for their respective vengeances just yet.
He looked down at the comatose Sasuke in his arms, and a long-suffering sigh escaped him. Kabuto was going to be really annoyed about this.
Orochimaru was no fool. He knew that wrinkly dipshit was on his way to see him the minute news of his escape/expulsion from Konoha made its rounds. When Kabuto returned to the base with the corpse of a ROOT-nin, he knew that he had to meet Danzo in person, so he sent Sasuke and Yukimaru across the border with Kabuto on a supply run in case the expired cripple got any funny ideas about his next vessel's precious Sharingan. Orochimaru would kill the fucker himself before he allowed Sasuke to fall into his hands… assuming that he made it out of Konoha with his fake arm intact, otherwise just his hand.
Awaiting the old fool's impending arrival in a cave far off the beaten path (there was no shot that he'd allow Danzo anywhere near any of his bases), Orochimaru smirked when he could hear the faint clacking of Danzo's cane approaching him. He idly wondered why Danzo held onto the façade; it wasn't like he needed it, and he knew that Orochimaru knew that. Perhaps his former teammates kicked Danzo's ass up one side of Konoha and down the other harder than he thought.
"Orochimaru," Danzo addressed with a measured tone.
"Danzo, how nice it is to see you again," Orochimaru purred. "I wasn't expecting a visit so soon."
"I have no time for games, Orochimaru," Danzo growled. "I knew when my scout never returned that you knew of my approach."
"I suppose that's true," Orochimaru mused. "So, do tell; why are you here, and why haven't I killed you yet?"
"Because we are still useful to each other," Danzo answered without missing a beat.
Orochimaru hummed. "I don't really agree, but I'm curious as to your reasoning. What use could you possibly be to me in your current state?"
Rather than respond immediately, Danzo instead silently looked around the dark, dank cave they were speaking within. "Is this a typical meeting place for you?"
"Get to the point already, Danzo," Orochimaru sighed.
Danzo returned his gaze to his pale associate. "I'm well aware that Otogakure is nothing more than a sham to obtain individuals from the various shinobi clans of the nation to experiment on, as well as any civilians you can lure to your table with honeyed words and promises of greater things. It's simply a means to an end, that end being continuing the experiments that got you expelled from Konoha in the first place."
"Experiments that you initially signed off on," Orochimaru cut in with a smirk.
"It is why your invading force during the Chunin Exams was so pitiful," Danzo sharply continued past the snide interruption. "You did not possess quality shinobi, nor the resources or infrastructure to sharpen these tools into viable weapons to begin with. That could all change with my assistance. I know intimately how a village functions and how quality shinobi are bred. You already have this nation's Daimyo wrapped around your finger; there's no reason we could not create a true hidden village out of Otogakure."
"…Would that not entirely defeat the purpose of going underground?" Orochimaru slowly questioned, wondering if the disgraced elder had finally gone senile. "There's a reason I have bases scattered across the continent. Konoha doesn't know how to find me, and I'd rather keep it that way."
Danzo smiled, and it was as ugly a sight as Orochimaru remembered it to be. "Which is why we pool our resources together to eliminate Jiraiya, Tsunade, and any other traitorous whelps poisoning Konoha."
"So you can step in and take the reins of the village as you always wanted," Orochimaru surmised.
Danzo nodded. "Without Konoha's desire to hunt you down, you could continue your research in relative peace, only then with the added benefit of being able to do so out in the open with a competent shinobi force at your beck and call rather than a ragtag group of monsters and disposable bodies."
Orochimaru couldn't say that it wasn't an interesting proposal. However, he was also well aware that everything came at a price. "Besides the Hokage seat, what exactly do you hope to gain from this?"
"You know what I want, Orochimaru," Danzo replied.
Orochimaru snorted. "I figured as much, and I'll have to decline. Sasuke is off-limits, and that is not up for debate."
Danzo sneered, but before he could speak, Orochimaru continued. "However, he isn't the only Uchiha around. There's another that I could point you in the direction of."
"Itachi is not an option," Danzo attempted to shut the thought down.
"I'm not talking about Itachi," Orochimaru smoothly replied, smirking at having Danzo's complete attention. "There is another with a powerful Sharingan up for the taking."
"Who?" Danzo lowly demanded.
"Now, now, hold your horses, Danzo," Orochimaru almost laughed at having the upper hand. "One thing at a time. Now, how exactly would you go about 'sharpening these tools into viable weapons,' as you so elegantly phrased it?"
The trek back to Suna was undoubtedly the most tense and awkward experience of Baki's life. Traveling with him was a long thought dead war hero who, if her curt explanation of how she ended up joining Akatsuki was to be believed, could have just as easily become Suna's most dangerous missing-nin next to Sasori of the Red Sand. He genuinely didn't know who would win in a fight between those two, and he hoped that he would never have to find out.
What made the trip so awkward was Pakura's refusal to speak beyond answering his initial question about how she was alive. She wore a smoldering scowl the entire way from Ame to Suna, making it very clear that she did not look forward to returning to the village in the slightest. Baki couldn't say that he blamed her; she and Rasa never really saw eye to eye on anything, and she had been a viable candidate for Kazekage should anything happen to him, and her popularity only skyrocketed after her feats during the Third War. It wasn't too farfetched that the ruthless and eternally paranoid Yondaime would have had her killed to eliminate any potential political obstacles.
That didn't make the silence only filled by the sound of their sandals impacting the sand of the desert any less uncomfortable. The discontent within his traveling companion grew more and more palpable the closer they approached the village's walls, and Baki couldn't say with absolute certainty that Pakura wouldn't outright attack the moment she set foot in the village. It worried him more than anything had since Gaara's last rampage, because just like Gaara, he knew that if she chose to annihilate everyone wearing a Suna headband, there wasn't much he could do to stop her short of cutting her head off with a wind blade.
Unlike Gaara, however, he knew she would never allow him the opportunity to do that in the first place.
As the village's walls grew even larger with their approach and the shinobi guarding the entrance came into view, Baki only hoped that this wouldn't end in bloodshed. He couldn't figure out just why the hell the leader of Akatsuki sent Pakura of all people to handle the transaction beyond striking it in the village's hearts that crossing them was the worst idea possible. If that was the only intention, then it was certainly working, and that was exemplified by the faces of the gate guards when they laid eyes on Pakura.
"Holy shit, is that…" Baki heard one guard attempt to whisper.
"I don't fuckin' believe it…"
"But she's been dead for 15 years!"
Baki sent a hesitant glance her way, but her expression hadn't changed. The smoldering scowl was still present for all to see, only now Baki could swear there was faint smoke wafting off of her head.
"Halt!" one unfortunate guard landed in their path as they approached the narrow opening in the wall surrounding Suna that acted as their main gate.
Baki sent him a look that told him to tread lightly, and he sent Baki a minute nod back, but he unfortunately still had a job to do.
"State your business," the guard said after turning back to Pakura.
No one was prepared for the strongest, most potent killing intent outside of a biju's to slam into them with unrelenting force. Several of the guards, most being fully fledged jonin and battle-hardened chunin, were damn near brought to their knees under her gaze. Images of the living legend slaughtering them in gruesome ways before kicking down their doors and doing even worse to their families flashed through their minds like a depraved slideshow. The amount of pure hatred pouring off of her put even Gaara's to shame.
"Move."
Not a single word more was uttered and not a single word more was needed. The present shinobi parted and hugged the wall as tightly as they could to clear a path for her and Baki to enter, and that's exactly what Pakura did.
This was fucking absurd. Baki was the strongest jonin in the village. It was why he was trusted with leading a squad comprised of the former Kazekage's children, Gaara in particular. It was why he was the liaison between Orochimaru's righthand and Rasa in the lead-up to the invasion. In front of Pakura, though? He felt like a child. The only people who ever made him feel so insignificant were Rasa, the Sandaime, Sasori, Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ay the Unruly and Killer Bee, a rampaging Shukaku, the leader of Akatsuki, and Chiyo that one time he had to wake her up after a council meeting concluded.
"Official Kazekage business," the sweating Baki muttered to the guards as he passed, and he only received shaky nods in return.
As they traversed through the village and Pakura pointedly ignored the blatant stares of shock she was receiving, the magnitude of what he had just felt dawned on him. That wasn't simply a silent display of power from an angry, S-rank kunoichi; that was the level of power that Temari needed to be at in order to be taken seriously as a Kage. She was already young, and while strong, she lacked the sheer wealth of experience and participation in wars that most Kage possessed. That wasn't even to mention the fact that she still had a ways to go in order to be as proficient with wind as even he was, and she needed to surpass him by several magnitudes to not have to punch above her weight class on the international stage.
He could only sigh at that. They certainly had their work cut out for them. With that in mind, though, a wayward thought occurred to Baki as he followed closely behind Pakura in their approach towards the Kazekage's Mansion with ANBU tailing them from the shadows. Perhaps Temari could reach that level sooner rather than later with adequate help…
Upon entering the Kazekage's Mansion, they quickly made their way to his leader's office, but they were met by a meditating Gaara in front of the office's door.
"Gaara?" Baki hesitantly asked. The boy had been unusually calm and far less homicidal recently, which wasn't a bad thing, but Baki couldn't help but be put mildly on edge by the sudden change.
"Hello, Baki-sensei, Pakura-sensei," Gaara greeted with a respectful nod to the two.
"Sensei?" Pakura asked in mild confusion, confusion that was shared in greater measure by Baki.
"You helped guide me to a new path to filling the void in my soul that I used to attempt to fill to no avail with wanton violence," Gaara explained. "I consider you a spiritual sensei of sorts."
…Baki had absolutely no idea what to make of that. He didn't even know that Gaara and Pakura had even met. He wasn't privy to what had happened while the three siblings were kept as prisoners in Konoha after he managed to escape the failed invasion.
Pakura, on the other hand, would be lying if she said that wasn't flattering. It definitely helped brighten her mood, that was for sure.
"Why are you sitting outside of the office?" Baki hazarded.
"I overheard a few of the elders discussing plans to assassinate my sister, so I killed them," Gaara revealed matter-of-factly, shocking Baki. "I'm standing guard in case any others approach with malicious intentions."
Baki had absolutely nothing to say to that. Luckily, he didn't have to.
"Good job, Gaara," Pakura complimented and ruffled his hair, shocking Baki even further that his automatic sand defense didn't block the attempt. "You're already making for a fantastic bodyguard."
"Thank you," Gaara nodded.
Completely thrown for several loops, Baki could only numbly knock on the door and await allowance for entry. Upon receiving it, he opened the door and entered with Pakura following behind him.
"Ah, I was hoping you would be the one they sent," Temari greeted them with a smile, ushering them inside of the office and activating seals within the walls that prevented any sounds from leaving the room once the door was closed.
"Lady Kazekage," Baki addressed with a bow. "The mission was completed with no unforeseen snags to speak of."
"Temari?" Pakura finally voiced her surprise, then a smile took shape. "After talking with Gaara, I suspected that it would be you, but I'm surprised you actually managed to get the hat."
"I was the only candidate," Temari shrugged, then she motioned to the chair in front of her desk. "Please, have a seat. It had to have been a long journey, especially if you two ran nonstop."
Pakura accepted the offered chair with a grateful sigh while Baki remained standing and allowed the two to conduct their business.
"So, let's not waste time," Temari began, retrieving a scroll from one of the drawers and placing it atop the desk. "I assume the job is happening as we speak."
Pakura nodded. "The person responsible for handling the Daimyo was deployed at the same time Baki and I left Ame. If he hasn't already left the capital with his corpse by now, he's almost certainly nearing it."
"Fantastic," Temari nodded, then she slid the scroll across the desk. "There is the equivalent of five S-rank mission payments in that scroll for the magnitude of this undertaking."
Baki's eyes widened in surprise. He knew a job like this would be expensive, but holy shit…
"You sure your village is in a position financially to be throwing this kind of money around?" Pakura questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Paid for out-of-pocket," Temari assured, making Baki's eyes widen even more. "I'm rich by virtue of being the daughter of the Kazekage. Spending a ton of my own money for the benefit of the village is a no-brainer."
Pakura shrugged then took the scroll, stashing it within her cloak. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"You, as well," Temari smiled.
Before the business could officially conclude, however, Baki spoke up. "Actually, Lady Godaime-"
"Sensei, please," Temari stopped him with a twitching eye. "Drop the formalities."
Baki sighed. "There was something I wish to bring to your attention, along with an idea I wish to float to the both of you."
"What is it?" Temari questioned.
"Forgive me if I'm out of bounds, but you need to get stronger," Baki flatly stated.
"I'm aware of that, Sensei," Temari deadpanned.
"No, I don't think you truly are," Baki insisted. "Did you feel that killing intent earlier?"
"You'd have to have been dead not to," Temari answered. "I thought it was Gaara at first, but he was outside of the office the entire time. Then the ANBU informed me that you had arrived."
"They were in the way," Pakura unapologetically shrugged.
"See what I mean?" Baki said, thumbing in Pakura's direction. "If what Gaara said outside was true, and I already have my suspicions as to which elders he was referring to, then you already have some detractors within the village. Imagine the scrutiny you'll inevitably have to navigate on the international stage. As Kazekage, you don't just need to become the strongest shinobi in Suna, but you must become positively undeniable to all of your peers, since whether we like it or not, the other four Kage are now your peers."
Temari's expression was the picture of conflicted. On the one hand, nothing Baki said was untrue, and she knew that. She knew she could contend with most jonin in the village by now, but she wasn't the strongest by any stretch of the imagination. On the other hand, her pride was a little wounded at the frank summation, and she wanted to say something about it.
"I hate to say it, but he's right," Pakura sighed, drawing Temari's attention.
"You, too?" she groaned.
"Kid, I like you, but you're punching way above your weight class right now," Pakura bluntly stated, then she held up her hand to count off. "Jiraiya of the Sannin, Fence-Sitter Ohnoki, Ay the Unruly, and Mei Terumi. If you're not terribly familiar with Mei, she led a successful rebellion against the previous Mizukage, who was a perfect jinchuriki. Gaara out there is strong, sure, but he's anything but perfect. And these are the four names you are now technically in equal standing to."
Temari hated how little she could dispute their arguments. As she slumped ever so slightly in her seat, Baki spoke up next.
"You have the hat, the robe, and the title, but you are functionally not a Kage; not yet. But I swear on my pride as a shinobi of Sunagakure that I will make you into one…"
Baki slowly turned his head towards Pakura, who had apparently seen where he was going with this and was glaring daggers at him.
"…Provided Pakura is willing to assist?"
"Go fuck yourself with a cactus," Pakura spat.
Baki deflated with a heavy sigh. "It was worth a shot."
"I'll do it," Pakura said, shocking him and surprising Temari. "I'll help you turn her into a proper Kage."
"Wait, seriously?" Temari said, dumbfounded. "I thought even being near the village was too painful for you. You're willing to stick around for however long this takes?"
Pakura nodded, but her eyes remained locked onto Temari's. "Gives me a reason to be here outside of any speculation that Akatsuki had any part in the Daimyo's accident, so I'll do it… on one condition."
"Name it."
Hozuki Castle was in shambles. The famed Blood Prison of Kusagakure had become the sight of a battle seeing the warden, Mui, backed by several Kusa councilmen trying to weaponize the Box of Ultimate Bliss to restore glory to Kusa pitted against the duo from Tsuki no Me seeking to retrieve said box. Needless to say, things were not going too great for Mui and the gang, nor any of the guards of Hozuki Castle at Mui's command. They were mostly slaughtered by Kisame while Itachi calmly approached the giant box, idly wondering how they'd lug this thing all the way to Iwagakure. He was intercepted by a battered and bloody Mui, though, having harvested enough chakra from the ninjutsu Kisame was haphazardly throwing around to achieve his ulterior motive.
"Stay away, Uchiha," Mui grounded out, limping towards the box. "You will not deprive me of my chance to see my son once again!"
"Your son?" Itachi asked, somewhat curious about why this man needed a giant box that only did anything in myth.
"Yes, my son, Muku," Mui confirmed. "He was sucked into the box so many years ago, and he's been trapped all this time. I will free him, and you will not stop me!"
Itachi quirked an eyebrow at the raving man, but he did not interfere. He supposed that he could allow the man to free his son from the box before they collected it. Mui fed the chakra into the box, then fell to his knees before it.
"BOX OF ULTIMATE BLISS! HEED MY WISH! LET ME SEE MY SON, MUKU!"
The box began emanated a dark, purple aura, and the eyes of the faces carved into its walls began to glow red. Pretty soon, the faces adorning the box began to fall off one by one until a single face remained, this one with its mouth agape, creating an opening into the box. Itachi watched on in muted curiosity as Mui stepped forward, and a skinny, shirtless teenager slowly stepped out to meet him.
"Muku…" Mui said in shock at seeing his son once again.
"Father…" Muku replied before extending his arm and stabbing a massive claw through Mui's chest. "I'm free."
At first, the sight had Itachi's curiosity, but now it had his attention. He watched the teenager transform into a demonic, bony, headless creature covered in black feathers with a mouth on its chest, massive wings, and a long tail. It was an absolutely repugnant creature with shrill shrieks to match. Even Kisame paused his slaughter of the guards of Hozuki Castle and incitement of a prison riot to stare in curiosity at the horrible sight.
The creature's roars echoed around the island, bouncing off of the treacherous whirlpools surrounding Hozuki Castle. With a few flaps of its gargantuan wings, the creature took flight, hovering over the dispassionate Uchiha. As a red ball of chakra began forming in its chest-mouth, the ground erupted in a flash of orange, and an ethereal sword pierced the creature right through its ungodly mouth. In an instant, the creature was sucked through the Totsuka Blade and into the gourd at the hip of Itachi's Susanoo.
Just like that, the battle was over. Itachi's Susanoo dispersed, and his Mangekyo Sharingan reverted to its three-tomoe state. The demon, Satori, had been purged from the Box of Ultimate Bliss, rendering it completely inert.
"Wallahi, Itachi!" Kisame shouted at his partner from atop the prison. "We're supposed to deliver that thing to Iwa!"
Kisame jumped down and landed beside him, visibly annoyed by his partner's actions. Itachi merely shrugged.
"We were tasked with bringing them the box," Itachi coolly replied. "They said nothing about what was inside."
"…I need a vacation."
"Hn."
It should not have been as easy as it was to infiltrate the Wind Daimyo's palace. It shouldn't have been even easier than that to seduce the Daimyo with a simple application of Sexy Jutsu to get the known hedonist alone in his bedroom. Now, the naked Daimyo was wrapped up in chains and being held above the bed by Naruto who was trying his very best to keep his eyes away from the ruler's raging erection at being bound and manipulated. Another chain snaked out of Naruto's back and crept around him before stabbing into the Daimyo's gut, eliciting a strained groan from the naked lord. Naruto did his best to miss any vital areas, but he did have to yank the chain out of him and splatter his blood across the bedsheets.
"That should leave enough of an indication," Naruto muttered. "Don't want them to think that you simply ran off."
"…Are you here to kill me?" the Daimyo fearfully inquired.
"No," Naruto denied. "Not here, anyway."
"…I won't say that I'm not into this."
"Stop talking. Please."
Then, he bit his thumb and flew through a quick set of hand seals, summoning Aoimori to the room.
"What's up, boss?" he asked before his eyes landed on the man bound in chains. "…You get down with some really freaky shit, don't you?"
"Shut it," Naruto groaned before slapping a paralysis seal onto the Daimyo's forehead and handing him to the small salamander.
"Stash him in the temple at Kuromizu Swamp," Naruto instructed, and Aoimori nodded before hopping onto the naked man's head.
"This have anything to do with the grave you had me rob?" he asked his summoner.
"Yeah. I'll come get him when it's time."
With that, Aoimori nodded and disappeared back to Kuromizu Swamp, taking the Daimyo with him. Naruto sighed, glad to be over with that episode.
Taking a moment to look around, he marveled at how nice the bedroom was. Naruto would admit that the palace was substantially more ornate than he was anticipating. Granted, he hadn't been inside of very many, and those he had been inside of were in much smaller nations than Kaze no Kuni. Still, while he wasn't expecting a series of interconnected yurts or anything of the sort, the sprawling palace was massive and crawling with samurai. From everything he heard, the Daimyo was a frugal man that preferred to cut expenses whenever possible. Perhaps that only extended to outgoing expenses, as he clearly didn't have an issue with spending money on himself.
Well, those days were now behind him. Soon, he'd serve as the vessel for Naruto's eventual meeting with his biological mother.
Summer courses suck, but if they get me my damn degree by December, I'll keep thugging it out. I'm pretty sure I just passed a test, but I'm way too wired on 11 a.m. Monsters to know for sure. Anyway, how's life?
Pakura's impromptu onsen trauma dumping with Temari actually paid off. Who would've guessed?
Took some liberties with how the Box of Ultimate Bliss is opened. Don't worry about it, it's fine.
Thanks for reading.