GBA: Funny story but 2 months back when we were prepping to upload chapter 35, I had a brainfart and forgot that we had managed to extend the lead we had over the current published chapter from 10 chapters to 12(now 11 because of the mutual writer sick week RaNK and I had last month) at some point so I did math and thought we were on this one: chapter 37. So, I had done editing work on this chapter thinking it was next to go up only to realize things felt very out of order and realize I had skipped two chapters. I amaze myself at times with my idiocy.

A/N: Alright! Welcome back to Guardian of the tailed beasts. And with this chapter, we are starting a new albeit minor arc. But anyways...let's get on with it. And...happy reading.

CHAPTER 37: KURENAI'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS…

The red eyed genjutsu mistress didn't know whether to be surprised or amused or downright irritated about just who she found to be sitting on the Hokage's seat.

It had been three days since she had regained consciousness from the non-stop nightmares that Itachi's Tsukuyomi had induced due to losing consciousness while under its influence. And having been someone who was widely acknowledged and who prided herself in being a genjutsu specialist, the fact of being brutally taken down by a genjutsu was a very hard pill to swallow for Kurenai.

To see Tsunade-sama back in the village and being her attending doctor was quite the surprise. It had been a decade since the Senju princess had been seen in Konoha.

But she got more intrigued when Tsunade told her that there were more surprises waiting for her as she handed the genjutsu mistress her discharge papers.

Bowing down to perhaps Konoha's greatest kunoichi, Kurenai left the hospital. On her way home she was quite startled about the little gossips she heard about a new Hokage having been appointed. But she needed rest and to be freshened up at her home.

So many plans had to be made following…the incident.

And just as she had shut the door to her house after entering, a small yellow toad popped into her house making the dark-haired woman raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"You are requested to report to the Hokage's office in two hours." The toad delivered its message and puffed away in smoke as Kurenai acknowledged the message with a nod.

'It seems a lot of things have changed while I was knocked out.' The woman thought to herself with a sigh. Her head was still dizzy, so a warm bath and a nap of an hour was the first thing on her mind and she did just that, before making her way to the Hokage tower.

And as she knocked the door, she was intrigued by the voice that asked her to come in. It was the legendary sannin, Jiraiya.

Kurenai's suspicions were confirmed when she saw the self-proclaimed super pervert behind the table. Before she could think of anything though, a shiver ran down the genjutsu mistress's spine as a chilling thought of what Jiraiya could order Konoha's kunoichi entered her mind. What if he just ordered them all to start wearing extremely revealing skirts and tops? It's not like Kurenai didn't prefer a little flashy outfit for herself, but the thought of what the author of everyone's favourite smut and the self-proclaimed super pervert could ask for was a scary perspective, even for Kurenai.

That was a paranoid thought most likely, but it stands to reason that there had yet to be a Hokage actually willing to abuse the theoretically unlimited authority they held within Konoha.

But she clamped down on the thought, it was a paranoid thought based on previous behaviour. Jiraiya's track record showed that countless times he could control his urges the moment things were serious and do his job.

Composing herself, the Yuhi woman bowed politely. "Congratulations on becoming the Hokage, Jiraiya-sama. And accept my greetings." Kurenai stated in a formal tone.

Jiraiya raised her hand and acknowledged her greetings with a smile.

"Thank you, Kurenai and please have yourself a seat." The white-haired sage asked.

The genjutsu mistress complied and Jiraiya began speaking.

"Firstly, I must apologize for having sent for you so soon after you were discharged. Actually, it was not my intention to send for you until tomorrow but unavoidable circumstances emerged."

"It's alright sir. I am well rested, so if I am required to, I am fully prepared to join my duties immediately."

"Good to know. But the reason I asked for you is to learn some things from you personally before making a decision on what kind of mission I should give you."

"Anything with my past missions, Lord Hokage?" Kurenai asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "Indeed, but before that, I have some more things I must inform you." He stated. "I have reshuffled the genin teams. Especially Team-8."

Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise.

"It might sound harsh, but I want to be fair here. Inuzuka Kina, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata; all three of them are quite capable as trackers, no doubt. But I see no merit of having you lead a tracker team when nothing is listed on file for you that merits you for a tracker team. Honestly, having three genin focused on tracking seems like a waste of time and talent on a specialization that rarely demands training from graduation to be proficient. Honestly, I'm surprised no one has filed a complaint about pigeonholing based on clan stereotypes, and even more towards no complaints about misallocation of your time and talents. Few in Konoha place a strong emphasis on Genjutsu in their arsenal. You stand out, especially due to your lack of a Dojutsu which Konoha has associated with genjutsu specialists due to both our recently deceased comrades, the Uchiha, and our clashes with the Chinoike Clan before their own dissolution. Skilled Genjutsu users can ambush others in the middle of flat open field, Orochimaru taught me that…one good thing I can remember about the bastard before he started obsessing over immortality and selling his humanity for it. I'm reassigning you to a position that makes better use of your time and talents." Jiraiya didn't mince words, except till the end.

"I have asked around for the reasons you requested the tracker team and it seems to me that you didn't want to repeat the mistakes you did with Yakumo with Hinata. I realize that you were rightfully concerned about Hinata's mental state of those days with how her family treated her. You blame yourself for the mess that Kurama Yakumo has become and wanted to make sure that nothing similar happened to Hinata." Jiraiya stated as a fact.

Kurenai didn't respond but her looking down in regret upon the mentioning of Yakumo's name was an answer enough for Jiraiya.

"However, you and I both know that Hinata's strengths don't lie in genjutsu…rather in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and even iryo-ninjutsu, which Tsunade-Hime had agreed to teach her."

"What! Tsunade-sama…How did she agree to that, she had never taken a student after Shizune-san."

"Correct, but she made a bet about teaching Hinata medical ninjutsu against Naruto and Hinata and those cute lovebirds won." Jiraiya stated smiling. Kurenai smiled as well knowing that Hinata was making good progress.

"Anyways, back to the topic, Hinata has a strong lightning affinity, possibly some development of her affinity for fire. So, it actually makes more sense to put her under Kakashi's supervision. Kakashi's abilities with raiton might only find their match among the Raikage or their closest subordinates, so training under him would definitely let Hinata make strides with the lightning style and he has more experience in both taijutsu and ninjutsu than you do, that Sharingan of his has been useful for more than just copying Ninjutsu…his mind is a library for countless techniques and technique theories, so wouldn't you agree that from a purely professional point of view, Kakashi would be a better teacher for her?" The toad sannin asked.

The words hit Kurenai like sharp kunai. It was true though; she had let her personal feelings supersede her professionalism when she had requested for Team-8 has a team of trackers.

"Also, Kakashi with his hounds is actually a capable tracker." Jiraiya added.

The genjutsu mistress looked down.

"You are…right…Hokage-sama, I might have let my…personal feelings…cloud my judgement. I am prepared to offer my resignation."

"No need of that." Jiraiya stopped Kurenai before she could say anything more by raising his hand.

"Konoha can't afford to lose an asset like you. But yes, whether you like it or not, I am disbanding team-8 as a tracker team. Hinata is being moved to Team-7. Naruto has been promoted to chunin, but he will be staying with the team."

"Well, Hinata will definitely appreciate being in a team with Naruto…" Kurenai admitted with a little smile, glancing sideways.

"I am certain of that; she and Naruto are just amazing as a team. Anyways, Kiba is being moved to Team-7 as well."

"Kiba too, has Sasuke been promoted?" Kurenai asked. "I am sorry, I might be a bit behind the current matters."

"It's quite alright. Being knocked out and spending extended periods in the hospital is something we all shinobi have to go through." The toad sannin reassured. "As for Sasuke, he ran off the village, probably to Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru!? But you, Asuma-…-san, Sandaime-sama, and the Raikage fought him together and killed him… right?"

Jiraiya sighed. "That indeed happened, but his curse marks had a nasty surprise. They hide a fragment of his soul within and with a simple curse unsealing jutsu, the teme can be revived from death, effectively making that sneaky bastard immortal unless all curse marks are erased out of existence."

Kurenai listened to the explanation in horror. 'Anko has one, she's walking around with a piece of the man she hates most in the world in her neck. If it has part of his soul in there, can he start influencing her…make his voice sound like it's her wandering thoughts? Anko fights to keep it supressed her every moment even when she's asleep. Messy fights have proven that putting in her all will cause that control to waver enough that it starts pushing through. How much would it take for the mark to be able to so thoroughly subvert her control that it manages to trick her into believing she has it back under control when in fact it has completely inverted the control dynamic?' "Anyways, that boy seemed to be a walking time bomb to me, it makes me more frustrated than ever to not have been able to deal with this even if I had seen it coming, just because I also became lax thinking Orochi-teme is dead. Orochimaru was an escape artist. I can't count how many times our team only managed to escape because he had a way out planned even in a theoretical suicide mission that didn't involve abandoning the objective. Anyways, back to the topic: Hinata, Naruto, and Kiba are in Team-7 now. Shikamaru is also promoted, so I am having Shino replace him in Team-10."

Kurenai looked downwards. "So, it will be solo jonin duties then…" She mumbled.

"Quite the opposite." Jiraiya responded with a smirk. "I was thinking of creating a potential genjutsu specialist team. Sakura Haruno was a perfect starting point and then I found another boy ideal for this team, a boy named Ranmaru with a very powerful genjutsu enhancing dojutsu that the Naruto and the former Team-8 found in Tanzaku town where they had gone to locate and have Tsunade returned to Konoha."

Kurenai listened with amused surprise to Jiraiya's words.

"As for the third member, you get the chance to finish your unfinished business."

"You mean Yakumo!? Godaime-sama!?" Kurenai couldn't hide her shock. "But I have sealed her abilities to use her kekkei genkai! She can't be a ninja anymore!"

"A poor decision in my personal opinion. She should have been allowed to master it like the rest of the Kurama clan. But still a decision I could see some reason in being taken, considering the incident of her losing control that got her parents killed."

Kurenai stayed silent.

"Anyways, I have received the reports from Yakumo's ANBU guards that her seal might be weakening. And if Sasuke's example is anything to go by, if the seal holder's willpower doesn't hold then the restraining seal will erode. Suna's jinchuuriki Gaara was an example as well. Kami knows how much effort and headache it took me to completely redesign that piece of crap that they called a seal to make sure that both him and the Ichibi will be comfortable with what Naruto has taught us regarding better Jinchuriki stability. So, taking these precedents into account, it would be safe to assume that if Yakumo's willpower is faltering, then it's only a matter of time before her seal breaks. A routine checkup on her mind led to the discovery of a powerful secondary personality being present in her mind that could subvert Yakumo at theoretically anytime. I want to make sure that it won't be this 'Ido' but rather Yakumo herself that emerges out of that. But for that purpose, I need someone who she knows, someone who she could trust to make this happen, to have her reignite her willpower and master her power." Jiraiya explained in a serious tone.

"I-I should be the last person on that job then, Hokage-sama!" Kurenai protested. "I promised Yakumo that I'd help her become a ninja but then she overheard my conversations with Sandaime-sama and inferred that I was actually sent to kill her, she completely distrusts me now, and I didn't even keep my promise of letting her be a ninja and sealed her bloodline limit instead. I would be the last person she would trust."

"Yet at the same time you are the only person she could possibly trust. Who else? Her uncle? He wants her dead and she knows it. Do you have any better suggestions?" Jiraiya asked with a hardened expression.

"N-No sir." Kurenai replied.

"Neither do I. Besides, if you get through to her, you will be able to fulfil your promise of making her a shinobi, don't you think?" Jiraiya doubled down.

Kurenai had to nod in agreement with him.

"Take this week off and then get on this. I will assign you an escort when you are ready to go for it."

"Understood, Hokage-sama…and thank you for giving me a chance to finish this unfinished business of mine."

"You're welcome. Dismissed."

"Please excuse me." And Kurenai left the office, lost in her thoughts back on Yakumo.

*The following day*

The new strange looking thing, floating in the air above the village, was causing quite the commotion.

The guards jumped to alert as the Hyuuga among them scanned the thing out with their Byakugan. On the terrace of the Hokage tower, Jiraiya was handed a pair of binoculars by an ANBU and took a good look at the airship and noticed the Yukigakure symbol…with a conspicuous bit of orange paint splattered on depicting the kanji for nine.

His lips curled up into a smile. "Quite the entrance you are making, Gaki." The toad sannin mumbled.

The airship floated and slowly descended towards Konoha as the populace looked at it with utter amusement.

Inside its cabin, Naruto and Hinata were glancing down the window

"Whoa, the village looks so small from up here." Naruto said in amusement.

"It's a wonderful view, Naruto-kun." Hinata agreed.

Meanwhile on the ground, Jiraiya ordered the alert ninja to ease up and let them know that the airship was not a threat.

"Man, what a flight!" Kiba exclaimed from another part of the cabin. "I really wanna get on another, pity this one's coming to an end."

"Arf!"

A Yuki ninja who was working as the anchor operator, jumped down with the airship's anchor as soon as the ship lowered to twenty feet above ground and put the anchor in place in a large training ground, which the ship's captain had decided to make the landing ground. As soon as the anchor was in place, the ship was brought downwards gently and gradually.

People actually amassed to see this strange thing. They had never seen an aerial mode of transportation before.

But their amusement, turned into disgusted whispers as soon as the doors of the passenger cabin opened and Naruto and Hinata came out of it.

The couple could definitely sense the sudden change in atmosphere and the under-breath whispers at the Kyuubi brat. Hinata grasped Naruto's hand firmly and he clasped her hand back.

Though, it seemed that recent events had caused a drastic change. The whispers seemed to just be a vocal minority of the crowd.

One soon eclipsed entirely by one man.

"YOSH! SUCH A YOUTHFUL VOYAGE AMONGST THE CLOUDS! MY FLAMES OF YOUTH HAVE BEEN FANNED BRIGHTER!" Gai proclaimed as he jumped down the airship followed by Shino and Kiba.

Once their passengers had disembarked, Gai signed a paper with given to him by the first officer. And with the formalities complete, the airship ascended to its domain among the clouds once more.

Naruto and Hinata made their way into the village.

"Man, I can't wait for the day when these things are regular here." Naruto said looking up.

"Hai. It was really kind of Koyuki-san to have agreed to share the technology of airship and railway building with us." Hinata stated with a smile.

Then suddenly Naruto's face fell a bit. "We have to part ways and head home now, right…we've been in one room all these days that I just…dunno…don't feel like heading home alone…" Naruto said looking down. "Why do good trips have to end?" He sighed.

Hinata clasped his hand. "We are going to be together forever, Naruto-kun." She whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, I know but still, it kinda hurts, I just wanna live together with you already…"

"And I don't think I can sleep without you resting on my chest anymore." Hinata admitted with a slight blush.

"Yeah, me too, can't sleep without snuggling into your arms."

"Though, I am really glad that we have been placed effectively on the same team, we can be together and sleep together whenever there is a mission."

There was no telling if anyone had managed to hear that slightly poor yet innocently phrased statement, but there was a raucous laughter that sounded after the sentence was said.

After exchanging their parting pleasantries (little pecks on each other's cheeks for our favourite lovely couple), the four kids parted ways, as Gai let them go home and chose to go and file his report with the Hokage himself, and reveal the return of one of Konoha's lost treasures.

*In the Hyuuga compound*

Hinata entered and made her way to her father's study.

"You're back…" Hiashi stated with a stoic tone. Hinata also saw that her aunt Kyoko was also there in her father's study room.

"Yes father, our mission and its extension were all complete…" Hinata responded.

"You must have been so tired, Hinata-chan. Take some rest, I want to hear about this mission from you later." Kyoko said with a soft smile.

"H-Hai, aunt Kyoko." Hinata slightly bowed and left the room.

Kyoko sighed as she got a bit closer to Hiashi.

"I wonder why I didn't ever make more of an effort to bond with the little lady in her childhood…" The Hyuuga woman said looking down. "Perhaps, like Neji, I was also in some corner of my heart blaming her for Hizashi-kun's demise…and for my son being sealed…I should be asking for her forgiveness. I have to…"

"I am even more guilty for making her childhood so difficult…I have failed in so many ways as a father that I might never be able to fully make up."

Kyoko pulled herself closer Hiashi a bit more and put her hand on his shoulder. "We let our wounds of days gone by keep us blinded to the present. Naruto-kun is owed a lot of gratitude from us."

Hiashi's face stiffened a bit.

"Don't tell me you are still wary of the boy?" Kyoko asked with a little bit of concern and admonishment evident in her tone.

Hiashi sighed. "Everything I have learnt about Naruto, only adds to the fact that the boy is fiercely loyal to those he considers dear and near, even to the peril of his life. And from the reports we have gotten about the two of them, the two are fiercely protective of each other…however, Hinata is so much like Hitomi that it scares me to no end, so much like her that I sometimes have nightmares about her joining in Hitomi in afterlife far sooner than she should…and with who she has chosen for herself to be her man and with him being a jinchuuriki, I can only see Hinata throwing herself into one dangerous situation after another without sparing a thought about herself, for his sake."

Kyoko clasped Hiashi's hand as the Hyuuga clan head continued.

"It scares me so much that it almost compels me to separate them and force the cessation of all contacts between the two of them…" Hiashi completed.

And earned a slap on his cheek from Kyoko, albeit a soft one.

"You aren't doing that. Just now we were talking of the number of ways in which we have failed Hinata and then you suggest to take away from her the only thing that has brought her out of her shell and allowed her true strength and power to emerge? Even if I believed you were serious, I would find a way to dissuade you from such idiocy." Kyoko warned.

"I said almost Kyoko-chan." Hiashi defended himself and paused slightly at the verbal slip up. "I have no intention of pushing my child back into that very despair she has only recently come out of. I think we only have to strengthen ourselves and let her commit to her own decisions and the path she has set for herself. And even if I wanted to, the determination in her eyes say that she will never allow herself to be stopped. She is stubborn, just like her mother was. She wants Naruto and she will make him hers forever, that's without a doubt." Hiashi said looking down.

Hiashi and Kyoko sat in silence for the subsequent few minutes.

"I don't know what I will be able to do when Hinata turns 16 and the time comes to officially declare the Hyuuga heiress to the public. I know that by that time, Hinata would be completely worthy of becoming the heiress again, but I am also certain that she will decline, even if offered. My only hope to avoid the worst-case scenario is to get the two of them married or engaged to be married by the time both are sixteen, before the elders can say a word about forcing the issue on branding her." Hiashi stated with clenched fist. "It will all come down to who acts first…" He added.

"I have repeated it time and again Hiashi-kun. Take a stand for her, me and Neji will not blame you if anything were to happen to us, I promise."

"No matter how many times you say it to me, I still don't have the courage to take that step…" Hiashi responded shaking his head. "I have become weak, a statue of iron with feet of clay, now with everything I have lost…I can't afford to lose any more."

Kyoko sighed. The concern was endearing but the caution was starting to become a real irritant. They both had heard from a revolutionary's manifesto that 'evolution requires sacrifice.' While that particular revolutionary had been exposed for being a power-hungry aspiring conqueror, that particular phrase did have merit.

"Anyways, we still have some time for that, with Hinata back, Uzumaki Naruto must be here as well. I don't want to put off meeting him any longer anymore."

"You are right. I am also very intrigued and interest to meet Hinata-chan's little boyfriend." Kyoko said with a little giggle.

"Hmm…I will invite him here first thing tomorrow morning, over breakfast. Does that sound good?"

"Well, might be a little rushed but I am not opposed to it. Let's do this."

Fine, I will tell Hinata over dinner to invite Naruto for breakfast."

"Make sure not to glare at her or make her nervous." Kyoko cautioned.

"I will."

Kyoko leaned and pressed herself against Hiashi's broad shoulders and sighed again as Hiashi gently clasped her hand and the closed their eyes praying for a better life and future for their children than the pain filled nightmares their lives had been.

GBA: okay, so how many had actually been suspecting where we were taking Hiashi and Kyoko? That was one of the plot points inspired by New Chance, an homage to this fic's roots. We had been sticking to a mandate of 'Show, don't tell' regarding them ever since we decided on that plot point. It majorly recontextualizes a lot of the scenes they appear in and quite a bit of the dialogue. Anyone realize what Kyoko had on her when she first appeared in the scene that Natsu debuted in for this fic? Hehe. Well, that's all I got to say. RaNK?

A/N: Well that's a wrap for the chapter. So, as everyone can guess this is the Yakumo Kurama arc, one of those filler arcs that were a little bit more interesting. ANd honestly, Yakumo was a character worth the attention, the clan name 'Kurama' is quite an interesting choice and it's a real pity that Yakumo's character was never explored further. But anyways, I am hoping to correct it in this fic, meaning exploring the character beyond this arc, from time to time. And with that, let's wrap things up for today. Thank you very much for reading my work and for the continued support. See ya all in the next chapter.

RaNK001 and GBAboy313 out.

Cheers and Peace.