A/N: Happy birthday to one of if not the greatest anime protagonists! Happy birthday Naruto! On Naruto's birthday, let's just talk a bit about all those memes showcasing the so-called 'talk no jutsu', which kinda tend to show Naruto as some one-trick pony who resorts to shouting if his shadow clones or rasengan fail. Wrong! Naruto applies his talk no jutsu while simultaneously attacking the enemy, switching tactics on the go, during a fight, he attacks both psychologically and physically and hence his enemies get no chance to survive. And also, talk-no-jutsu is not applied at every single enemy our blonde hero has come across, he instinctively applies it on those, he feels he has a chance to get through. That's why it was applied on Pain, on Obito, on Zabuza, on Gaara, on Neji, on Sasuke, but not on Madara, Kaguya, Toneri, Momoshiki or Isshiki. Besides, his lectures to his enemies, which basically forces the enemy to either surrender or commit suicide (saving Naruto the trouble), usually come after Naruto has comprehensively beaten them in the fight. So, let's not generalize it and make fun of the Hero of the Shinobi world. Talk no Jutsu is actually a pure genius. Even Itachi resorted to it when he used it in conjunction with Izanami on Kabuto. Anyways, there we go.
And with that, wish you a very happy birthday again, Uzumaki Naruto. And with that, let's get on with the chapter. (Finally didn't miss October 10th after 2 years.)
GBAboy313: We have heard the comments, while we wish it could have been put a bit more politely, we completely agree that the Hyoumi segment in the previous chapter had some crippling flaws in its execution (especially the massive text walls) and we will be working to redo it in a more natural/better executed way. Also, before we forget again like we did last month, Guardian of the Tailed Beasts is now on AO3 under both RaNK001 and GBAboy313. Only up to chapter 3 right now due to time constraints and the fact that I'm going through each chapter with a fine-toothed comb to root out any remaining editorial errors and the early chapter will have the infamous editor commentary bits removed and implemented into the natural flow of the chapter like I did with later ones after insensitive jackholes in the reviews got me down and caused me to stop doing them. So, if you want to read those early chapters without the commentary, got to go to AO3 for now because I don't plan on removing them from the FANFIC version until I get the time to actually edit old documents for such a purpose. Also, both writers got sick right before this chapter came out so I doubt we will be releasing anything else this week even if it was in the cards, with that out of the way: happy birthday Naruto.
CHAPTER 36: Meanwhile in Konoha…
While our favourite pair and the rest of Team-8 were settling Tsunade's debts in the Land of Snow, let's go back a few days and go back to Konoha and see how things are going at home.
For starters, Jiraiya was still adjusting to his new job. He was holding off the inauguration ceremony to let the repairs be completed and more importantly, he was waiting for his godson to comeback. Tsunade was already there and with Naruto and Hinata, he would have all of the (Remaining, sadly) important people in his life here when he swears in.
For some time, Hiruzen came to the office to check on his student and assist and advise him with all the responsibilities. But to the old man's satisfaction, Jiraiya adapted to his duties very quickly. And Shikaku and Tsunade were obviously there to help him out.
So, now the old man was spending a lot of time at home, actively training Konohamaru and his gang. Ebisu had been relieved of his duties of tutoring Konohamaru, honourably of course as Ebizu had done his job well even if he had been proven wrong by others a time or two during his time teaching the young Sarutobi. There was an idea passed around that Ebizu might take over as Jonin-sensei for whatever team Konohamaru ended up on.
More importantly, Hanabi had integrated herself with Konohamaru's group so she had also become a de facto student of Hiruzen, much to the old Hokage's delight, as it meant being able to officially teach a Hyuuga things other than Jyuuken. In his opinion: this was a step towards breaking the shackles of rigidity in the Hyuuga clan.
The Hyuuga elders were at a total loss, Hanabi was their hope of continuation of their traditions in the clan. She had been trained so flawlessly to be the perfect heiress. She was talented and quite adept at Jyuuken for her age. They had no regret about throwing the clan head's elder daughter away and discarding her like trash.
But the defeat of the prodigy of the branch family at hands of the demon brat had thrown all their machinations and plans astray.
The elders were so furious at Neji that they were considering killing him through the caged bird seal already. The clan head Hiashi, he was of no concern to them, they had him in a death grip. The right eyes and ears in the right place and time had gotten valuable information to ensure he would follow their will. He was not going to oppose much regardless of what they did. Love was the death of duty, the ultimate weakness.
However, their hand had to be played with caution. If they killed Neji and Kyoko rebelled, either by killing herself or attacking them directly, then it was surely going to incite a rebellion from the branch side. And if Kyoko was dead, either by her own hand or through the caged bird seal, Hiashi wouldn't be held by anything anymore and he would slaughter them all.
This was a long exposition that ultimately boiled down to Neji was too valuable to kill even if to make an example, as the consequences would be dire.
The tighter one attempts to make their hold on power, the more it slips away through one's fingers.
'Damn that branch family failure!' Was what the elders thought of Neji these days. It was a fact that the boy was a prodigy, better than any Hyuuga save for one, but still they despised the boy just because of his birth into the side branch. Because he was born to a caged bird father he was bound to be treated as an expendable tool for his whole life as far as the Hyuuga elders were concerned.
And now Hanabi was slipping out of their hands gradually as she had befriended the third Hokage's grandson and the elders could do absolutely nothing due to Konohamaru's status as the honoured grandson. They could plot about assassinating Naruto, but Konohamaru was another matter altogether. They knew better than to incur the wrath of the 'Professor' as well as a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas and who knows how many others.
So, the elders only gritted their teeth and bide their time hoping for some miracle that would save them along with their traditions.
Meanwhile, under Tsunade's supervision, the medical corps had been revitalized and, on her suggestion, Jiraiya had increased funding towards the medical program. Though there was a rumour or two that Tsunade had resorted to alternate means of persuasion with just how quickly it happened and just how much funding the program got overnight.
(these rumours were baseless, though Jiraiya would be able to die happy had it been the case)
Also, under her care, Asuma and Kurenai had regained consciousness. The two had been removed from duty for the time being as both had been put into comas following exposures to one of the most intense illusions ever devised by a human, only matched by the Sanbi's Haunted Memory Mist. Asuma and Kurenai needed time to truly rest and recover.
Asuma and Kurenai had provided a test case for the next patient suffering from a similar coma. A coma that had last for five years. The Slug Sannin had to devise several plans for how to proceed with this case as they were walking into several unknowns. Hiruzen had authorized limited experimental treatment of the patient, limited due to trying to conceal this patient from enemies who would seek her death or acquirement if her survival was discovered, and not wanting to cross lines that Danzo had thrown himself over with stoic glee. The Patient's previous treatment had halted muscle atrophy past the first year of her forced sleep…beyond that, the medics who had been assigned to her didn't really know what their treatments of her had achieved beyond ensuring her continued survival and somewhat ensuring a less intensive recovery process whenever she returned to the land of the living…if she ever did.
The biggest concern had been the fact that the Patient had been rendered comatose when she was 12-13, and was now 17 approaching 18 years old…she had missed out on years vital to the development of the human body. It would take a miracle (or the closest approximation which was either a Sannin devoting themselves to solving a problem or Naruto and Kurama stumbling into a situation and defying all possible odds) to ensure that this problem could be fixed in the first place. With so many unknowns and the domination of medical attention that this Patient would require, Tsunade made the decision to leave her be until such a time when those necessities could be afforded.
Danzo had been kept in the dark thanks to a combination of the medics being picked were ones who had no ROOT connections and being ones that didn't have Danzo's attention in any way and thus would ignore them going missing if a strange period of absence was noted.
With affairs regarding the last coma patient in order and awaiting a time when the coma patient could have Tsunade's undivided attention, the last Senju was now focused on treating the injuries of those who had been rendered comatose after the failed 'Sasuke retrieval mission'.
After that, she got to Konoha's last chunin exam injury that hadn't fully recovered. She needed to perform a very risky surgery on Lee and she needed to obtain Gai's permission before going for it, so she was waiting for the jonin to arrive back from Snow.
How was Sakura coping with Sasuke's desertion, you might ask? Well needless to say, she was devastated.
She still remembered the day she had seen that form of Sasuke's, when he had woken up but with his body having taken a different form altogether for the first time. That was horrifying and more horrifying was imagining what her crush/love was going through mentally and physically while all this happened.
Let's take a glance at how that event unfolded.
A week after that day when Sasuke had nearly lost control and had gone into the curse-mark-2 state, was when this incident happened.
There were Oto-nin in Konoha, under cover, a woman with spiky light blue hair had snuck into the village with a very specific task at hand soon after the chunin exams with some others. The chaos of the invasion was a good opportunity to sneak in and stay hidden.
Guren was distraught and devastated upon learning of her master's demise during the war. But when Kabuto had returned after escaping from his captivity, he had reassured her that the master can be revived and that she needed to focus on her task and get Sasuke Uchiha to Oto for her master's sake. Ever the Orochimaru loyalist, Guren had agreed without asking any questions and had set about keeping an eye on Sasuke as the boy underwent treatment following his encounter with Itachi.
She had been made aware of the restraint on the Uchiha's curse mark weakening when she had heard the commotion his waking up had caused and that was a clue that the window of opportunity would open soon. The timing only needed to be better.
What helped more was when after escaping, Kabuto managed to have another Oto-nin, Arashi of the Fuma clan, snuck into the village.
And luckily for her and to Konoha's misfortune, the next time Sasuke was jolted awake from his nightmare filled sleep was in the dead of night, a time when the security at the hospital was slack, especially considering that from Konoha's point of view: nobody was after Sasuke and the Sharingan at the moment. Who would be? Orochimaru had been dealt with.
Taking advantage of the lax security measures around the hospital at night, Guren and Arashi would make rounds of the hospital to watch and monitor their target closely. And that night, a week after the day Sasuke had first been jolted awake, he was awake again.
As soon as Guren and Arashi had confirmed that, they immediately snuck into the Uchiha's room.
Sasuke stared at them blankly for a few minutes.
"What do you want?" The Uchiha asked in an annoyed tone as his eyes hardened.
"For you to join us…" Guren answered with a serious face.
"Why would I do that?" Sasuke asked again, his eyes hardening.
"Because staying in this village won't do you any good. We are aware how much you desire power. And you also know how much power that mark on the back of your neck can give you." Guren stated pointing towards Sasuke's curse mark.
Sasuke touched the mark on the back of his neck, it still felt burning and slightly painful. And he had to admit it was an intoxicating power, as if it was urging him to call upon it, to burst open all restraints.
"We can help you master it." Guren said.
"Why should I trust you?" Sasuke asked.
"For starters, you are not the only one with this mark." Guren moved the neckline of her kimono just a bit and showed the curse mark she had. Positioned at the front centre part of her collarbone.
Arashi also showed the one he had at the back of his neck.
"So, you are Orochimaru's minions?" Sasuke asked in a serious and annoyed tone.
"Yes, we are ninja from Otogakure, the Village Hidden in Sound. We want to escort you there, our master desires you." Guren said with a little smirk.
"Orochimaru…that snake lost and ran away like a coward when he found that the tables were turned against him, why should I go to such a loser to acquire power?" Sasuke retorted.
Guren was angered beyond her wits at her master being talked down like this. But she still had to fulfil her master's wish.
"He was cornered by the Hokage, the Raikage, Jiraiya and the Raikage's assistant and all the ANBU and still fought, it took all their strength to make him stop fighting and flee."
Meanwhile it needs to be stated that Orochimaru being killed in Konoha's outskirts had been kept secret from the public, and those below Jonin, since Oto was still a possible threat and required more investigation, so naturally the truth that was disclosed to the public was that Orochimaru had fled. This allowed for the lower ranking shinobi to be on guard at their duties. But the higher ranks were taking it easy due to being in the know of Orochimaru's death at the end of the Suna-Oto invasion. And it was the ANBU that were required to keep watch over the hospital.
Fatefully, and unfortunately so, Jiraiya was yet to fully assess Anko's curse mark. Fukasaku had warned him about it, but the new Hokage had been overwhelmed by various responsibilities. He had never even imagined having to become Hokage in the first place. So, the first few days were quite overwhelming.
"Orochimaru-sama was the Third's favourite student, the one he taught the most before Orochimaru-sama began looking beyond what normal ninja consider acceptable. He is the greatest of the Sannin. He has surpassed death itself. Don't you think someone like that can give you the power you seek?" Guren doubled on.
"Think about it Sasuke. Truly think." Arashi stated.
The Uchiha had to think. Well, obviously his mind was not working straight with the curse mark at play and the restraints on it slipping. The jealousy of Naruto seeing that he was able beat the guy Sasuke failed to beat, seeing that new jutsu of his, and seeing that he was progressing rapidly from that dead last that he was to now matching him or even surpassing him…Unacceptable! It showed how far behind he fell while someone else got everything Sasuke wanted and more.
And yes, Kakashi taught him the Chidori, but he himself stated that it was just because he was matched up against Gaara, someone who could have killed him. Otherwise, Sasuke was certain that Kakashi wouldn't have bothered, while Naruto apparently was already being trained by Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. (Being unconscious, Sasuke was unaware about Jiraiya having been made Hokage.) 'Even Itachi was more interested in Naruto than me…' What was he doing? For all the praise this village heaped on him, they were not teaching him anything at all, they were not helping with his growth. Not Kakashi, nor any of the teachers at the academy, not the Hokage and definitely not his teammates. Naruto was someone who pushed him to be stronger, but that was such a slow process and Sasuke didn't have forever to wait.
As far as Orochimaru was concerned, Sasuke had seen his power. He knew that the Snake Sannin was more powerful than Kakashi, so obviously he could teach him more. But could they be trusted?
It was as if the curse mark whispered to his ear. "Come to me Sasuke…." In a low tone sounding like a snake's hiss.
Arashi and Guren began getting alarmed as minutes passed by. Lax security or not, if they were by any chance spotted, they might be able to escape but their plans for the moment were done for.
"Fine." Sasuke stated. The curse mark, jealousy, and all the after effects of Itachi's Tsukuyomi doing their job perfectly.
Guren and Arashi smirked. "In that case, sneak out of this hospital, grab whatever you want and meet us outside the village gates. We'll knock the guards out and wait for you there." The crystal release user stated and the two Oto-ninja vanished in shunshins.
Sasuke got up; his mind had been made. Meeting Itachi and seeing Naruto's rapid progress was enough reason to do this, he needed power and needed it fast. At his present power levels, Itachi wouldn't even spare a glance at him, let alone taking him seriously. Meanwhile the blonde idiot was making incredible strides. Yes…the village wanted to make Naruto stronger, not him. It had to be the case, and if that was the case, if the village was holding him back, then he wanted nothing to do with it.
The last Uchiha quietly left the hospital, grabbed his stuff and walked off.
Soon enough the gates of Konoha were in sight, a few more steps and he would be off on his journey for power. Not bound by this village that was holding him back.
Surely, a part of his mind wanted to stay back. After losing his family, Team-7 had grown to become a family to him. Sure, that was right. Naruto was like that annoying little brother who would never shut up about competing. Sakura, despite her annoying fangirlish traits could actually prove herself useful when it was required and was someone that he knew he could trust. Slowly a new family was being formed around him.
Family…he needed to sever that bond; he couldn't have a family. Family would hold him back…hold his growth and quest for power! Only those who were unrestrained by family could achieve true power. And if he had to kill Itachi, he needed to sever all bonds. He can't have friends; he can't have a family.
He was an avenger.
That was what he was, vengeance was his only goal. No other thing could have a place in his heart.
"S-Sasuke-kun!" The Uchiha stopped in his tracks upon hearing the known voice.
'Why did it have to be her!?' The Uchiha thought to himself as he turned back to see his pink haired teammate.
"Y-You got up!? Y-you were d-discharged!? What are you doing here? At this hour?" Sakura asked as she rushed to her crush and began checking on him. The Uchiha stood motionless being unable to decide what he should do immediately. It was then that Sakura noticed the little backpack on Sasuke's shoulders.
"W-Where are you going!?" She asked stuttering.
"Away." Sasuke answered bluntly. "Somewhere I could attain the power I need to kill Itachi." He stated flatly.
"Y-You're leaving t-the village!? N-no way! It's not safe!" Sakura began pleading. "We are a team; we are training to become stronger! W-we are l-like f-family…y-you…don't leave. We need you! I need you!" She cried.
"We are not children anymore Sakura. We need to go our separate paths and I am going on my own. Don't try to stop me."
"B-but…I want you here! I love you! Sasuke-kun!"
'Don't say such words…I don't need to hear them. Don't make me second guess myself…' Sasuke thought to himself. He was the avenger, the last hope of the Uchiha. He could not allow himself to be swayed from his path and his resolve by some love confession.
"Sakura…You are annoying."
"Sasu…" Sakura stopped when Sasuke blurred to her back. She never saw the swift chop coming and her world went dark.
As the petite pink haired girl fell on the ground, Sasuke watched her with an expressionless face. But indeed, he was feeling a pang of guilt over his actions. He wanted to kill Itachi, these people he never wanted to hurt them. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura, he knew they were his well-wishers and so were the rest of those in his class, they didn't wish anything bad for him and neither did he. But if they were to stop him from gaining power and extracting his revenge, something that was everything that defined him, then he would come down hard on them, if they were to try to stop him, he would fight back with full force. He wouldn't allow anyone to stop him.
He was Uchiha Sasuke and he had a duty to fulfil.
With some effort, Sasuke picked the unconscious Sakura off the ground and put her gently on a nearby bench and walked off into the night.
It wouldn't be until dawn that the news of his defection from the village would be known.
As soon as Jiraiya heard of the news, he was confused out of his mind. When he asked for ANBU to be dispatched behind Sasuke's tracks, to his annoyance, he found that most of the ANBU were on border patrols and many were actually recuperating from their injuries, that they had sustained during the invasion. Most jonin were on essential duties. Therefore, he had to manage with what he had.
He summoned Inuzuka Hana, Hyuuga Neji, the ANBU captain Tenzo and Team 10, though Asuma was not available due to still being unconscious at the hospital due to Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Therefore, under Tenzo's command, Jiraiya dispatched the 'Sasuke retrieval squad'. He also sent a letter to Suna through his frog summons to dispatch any available reinforcements to assist with the missions.
The mission was going to end in utter failure.
And that was not enough. Jiraiya couldn't understand who still wanted Sasuke with Orochimaru dead.
But he was due to experiment on Anko's curse mark that day. And his gut feeling was telling him that he was in for a nasty surprise.
So, he had hurried to have the examination done. And the analysis connected all the dots. He had summoned the elder toads Fukasaku and Shima during the analysis.
And after careful analysis and examination of the curse mark, everything was clear. It used a mix of nature chakra imparted from the snakes of Ryuuchi cave as well as the kekkei genkai of an unnamed clan which allowed for accumulation of nature chakra and its application. Though lacking the extreme chakra control those undergoing senjutsu training learnt, it deformed the body greatly but it granted a massive power boost regardless. But the most terrifying part of it was that it contained a fragment of Orochimaru's soul, his consciousness. It basically allowed the Snake Sannin to invade the consciousness of the holder of the curse mark and influence the person to do his bidding, should the subject's will be weak enough.
Needless to say, all those doing the analysis were horrified beyond belief. As long as a curse mark wielder existed, Orochimaru was never going to be truly dead. A simple curse unsealing jutsu applied on the curse mark was going to do the trick. In a way, the Snake Sannin had achieved immortality.
'You really one upped all of us, Orochimaru…you sneaky bastard.' Jiraiya begrudgingly admitted in his thoughts.
Tsunade's arrival in the following days definitely helped with easing some of the toad sage's mental pressure. Seeing her gave him some new strength internally, he could take a breath of relief.
Kakashi for obvious reasons was devastated about Sasuke leaving the village and considered it his personal failure. Jiraiya had to make quite the effort to calm the cyclopoid jonin down. He could only wonder how his godson was feeling. Though for some reason he felt like Kakashi while devastated about Sasuke, was also feeling some sort of relief and the copy ninja had reassured him that Naruto was holding good and Hinata had it all under control.
Kakashi knowing about the existence of a certain Uchiha woman was a surprise, but then again, he was one of the Third's most trusted ANBUs back in the day, so it should not have been that big of a shocker to him. It was upon taking charge as Hokage than Hiruzen told him about the girl. As the spymaster, he was aware of Itachi's true loyalties but still this one was a shocker. So, Jiraiya went back to work without much pondering over.
He had made sure to see Sakura though and had asked for her forgiveness for not being able to act fast enough to prevent Sasuke defection. The girl didn't say much but needless to say, she was mentally devastated and very sad. And it was under those circumstances that Jiraiya also had to inform her about the team reorganizations and the fact that the pinkette was to report to Kurenai as soon as she regained consciousness.
Days past and under Tsunade's care, Kurenai and Asuma quickly regained consciousness. It was now the day that they were supposed to be discharged from the hospital.
Jiraiya was busy looking over some documents in the Hokage office when he heard the knock on his door.
"Come in."
Jiraiya didn't raise his head from the papers as the door opened and someone walked in.
"Greetings, Godaime-sama." The voice said and Jiraiya raised his head.
"Kurama Unkai-san. Good morning. It must be urgent that you had to come in person, unannounced?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama. As you might be able to guess, it's about our heiress." The Kurama clan head replied, referring to his niece.
Jiraiya put the paper he was working on, on the desk and looked straight at his visitor. "Oh, anything happened to her?" The Toad Sannin asked.
The Kurama shook his head. "No, but I have been observing her, she seems to be starting to lose control. I have been pleading about this to Sandaime-sama before and I plead to you again. Yakumo is a grave danger to the village. If she loses control over her power, she would a danger to everyone in this village. You know that the manifestation of our kekkei genkai in her is the strongest in generations, but stronger the power, the stronger her Itou would be and we can't imagine what would happen if she fails to reign it in and submits to it. Just sealing her access to it won't be enough. She is still capable to unleashing powerful genjutsu by merely painting! And as long as she can cast genjutsu, there is the possibility of her Itou emerging. We can't just let her be! She…" Unkai stopped and breathed heavily.
"It pains me to request this, but Godaime-sama, Yakumo must be eliminated, otherwise she could cause a great harm to this village. So, I wish to plead again to have ANBU eliminate her and make sure that it is painless!" The Kurama clan head pleaded.
Jiraiya stared blankly at Unkai's face as the man bowed down with his plea.
"While I am aware of the risk her powers pose, I am also aware of how great an asset she can be to Konoha once she gains complete control of her powers." The white-haired sage stated. "Unkai-san. Be patient, I can't just sacrifice such a promising shinobi without even trying to help her. I have my plans for her and within next week, I will be taking action. But I will take the hard choice if I find out that nothing else can be done, I won't sit on this one for any longer than it is required, you have my word."
Unkai didn't say anything.
"I know you're worried and rightfully so, but let your Hokage make one more attempt. You may be excused." Jiraiya stated.
Unkai bowed and left the office, with a dissatisfied expression.
'I hope he doesn't try to take things into his own hands. I have to increase Yakumo's ANBU security. Alright.' Jiraiya thought to himself as he casted the hand-signs for the summoning jutsu. A toad appeared on his desk. "Please find Yuhi Kurenai and ask her to come here." The Hokage ordered.
The toad nodded and vanished immediately as Jiraiya turned his chair around and stared outside the window for a few seconds.
It's been days since he had been able to do any research. The self-proclaimed super pervert sighed; it was going to be quite a few days before he might get a chance at that.
Jiraiya turned his chair around and went back to the documents he needed to check.
A/N: And done! Naruto's birthday and we don't feature Naruto or Hinata in the chapter. Oh, the irony. But oh well. Anyways, we are transitioning to the next arc which deals with Yakumo Kurama (another interesting little filler arc from the anime.) I am certain that within a few chapters, we will be through that arc as well and then move on to the next. Thank you again for all the love and support. Also, as GBAboy addressed before the start of the chapter, the issues with the previous chapter will be cleaned, since improve on the older chapters in certain intervals, so it will be edited and updated as well, don't worry. Also, sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused during reading that chapter. And thank you. We'll do our best to do better next time. And with that, let's sign off here for today.
See ya all in the next chapter.
Cheers and peace