Chapter Eleven
"Ouch!" Shikamaru adjusted the pressure on the muscles around Temari's right shoulder at the sound of her protest. He looked over to the clock on the wall, 0115. Between lack of sleep and the events of what was now last night, Shikamaru's head was stuck in a fog. His ability to focus was further hampered by the fact that his wife was wearing only a leopard print bikini that hid little. In the past few months, he'd been so in the zone that he'd forgotten how damn hot his wife actually was.
"Sorry, troublesome woman," he adjusted his hands around the shoulder. Massaging her hip and shoulder had been regular practice over the past year as she began retraining after near life-ending injuries sustained in the war. Temari had qualified for the Iron Shinobi competition despite having only just regained most of the use of her arm and leg six months before the qualifier. She was a top contender to win this year. And then all this shit happened.
"You going to stop moping," she sassed. "I hate it when you do that!"
"I wasn't moping, troublesome woman," he quipped, continuing to work his fingers into her upper traps. "I am freaking tired! The world is ending! And I haven't slept a normal night in months!"
"At least you have your fire back," she grunted as he worked the muscle back and forth, "I was starting to worry you'd lost it for good!" Temari was egging him on, and he was ready to play for a change.
"I'm sorry, I was worried about my wife's recovery!" He put her on her side and began massaging over the scars on her right hip and thigh. "It wasn't easy being a caregiver, therapy aide, training coach, and SHAVER OF LEGS!" As he worked her thigh, Shikamaru noted two things he'd missed in his exhaustion: Temari had shaved her legs, and she was wearing perfume. The floral scent evoked strong memories. She'd worn it each time she'd posed as a drug lord, the Queen of Poppies, during the Fatal Lust crisis. Temari had also washed with a matching bodywash and shampoo the night they'd first had sex. Shikamaru's pants began tightening.
The points of data: leopard pattern bra and panties, perfume, and shaven legs – lined up with his memory of the night she ruined him. On that first night, she had come on strong and proceeded to fuck his brains out. Having not known Sunan customs, Shikamaru didn't find out until later that it was Temari's way of asking him to marry her. "Did you hear what I said?!" her voice shook him out of reminiscence.
Temari was now sprawled out on her stomach, toned body barely concealed by the thin bits of leopard print material. Shikamaru had been so distracted as to not notice her shifting around. Between the bulge forming in his pants and the frustration of the impossible situation around them, something snapped. Two can play this game! Shikamaru grabbed the waistband of her panties above her butt, pulled it taught, and released the material. He enjoyed the brief flash of her incredible ass before the material came back down with a snap. "Hey, you… scoundrel!" she protested, unable to hide a laugh.
"Scoundrel?" he eyed her, not believing she'd used such an archaic word. "Scoundrel," his lips curled into a smirk as he sent a tendril of shadow up her leg to her thigh, and up to her buns. "I like the sound of that!"
"Ha! Stop that! You dirty man!" Temari giggled, "That tickles!"
"Dirty man?" he tickled her side until she rolled to her back, "I'm not the one wearing leopard underwear, or," he lowered his face toward her neck, "perfume!"
"Helpless boy!" Temari's arms gripped him around the neck and pulled his face into her cleavage. She laughed first with a villainous tone, but her laughter turned into a hysterical shriek as his lips began kissing and sucking along her chest. "AHAHAHA!"
"Who is helpless now?" Shikamaru teased as he continued to suck hickeys along Temari's chest and neck. In the back of his mind, he could hear the warnings about what happened the last time the world was ending and he'd thrown caution to the wind. Rather than slowing things, Shikamaru sent shadowy tendrils up her legs and began dragging Temari's panties down.
"Where the hell…" she cackled, "… was this side of you the last two years!" She clawed at his shirt as she began peeling off his offending bits of clothing.
"I guess," he slid a hand up her back and unclasped her bra with practiced skill, "I've officially reached, 'fuck it!'" Shikamaru sucked up her neck to her ear. There was the unmistakable contact of her hands pawing at his belt, button, and fly. Soon, Temari was freeing him of the confining material with skillful use of her arms and legs.
Shikamaru slid his hand down her body to her womanhood, and his fingers glided between her already moistened folds. "AH!" He remembered well where to touch and found her pleasure spot. "AAHHHAHHAAA!" Temari moaned. After months of bottling things in, after being in denial of their current situation, the sound of her pleasure was musical. "You sex fiend!"
"I didn't hear you complain before," he freed a finger and entered her channel – hot, soaked, and ready.
"I wasn't complaining!" she spread her legs further, "I was pointing out a fact!"
"Opinion," he quipped, moving his finger back and forth within her.
"FACT!" she shouted with a laugh, "now enough with the foreplay!"
Finally, he did pause, "Temari… protection or not?" Her injection was still good for a few months, and the world was potentially going to end before it became an issue if something went wrong.
"Take me bareback!" she left no doubt as to her desire, and Shikamaru obliged. As he entered her, she giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"It would take a world-ending crisis and a good fight to get your blood boiling again!"
"I wish I had your cavalier attitude," he thrust deep but controlled, "and your confidence."
"I've been pretty much dead once before," her walls squeezed along his length, beckoning him to cum. "One gains some perspective after coming back from that."
"Asuma told me the same thing," he heaved, "the day you and I got married." He moved within her, feeling human for the first time in a long time.
"I'd say it's very liberating, but I'd be lying if I told you that I'd do it all again," her legs wrapped around him. "Shika, it means a lot to me," she grasped his hand, "but I don't want this if you're only doing it because the end could be near."
Shikamaru held himself in her deep, "I'm not doing this because things are going to shit; I'm doing this because I love you and I'm tired of things getting in the way!"
"Good boy!" she teased.
Shikamaru move within her again, her velvety inside again inviting him to let go. "Ah!" he gasped, unable to resist. Temari threw her head back as he came, it was several moments before she too, reached her climax. He stayed within her as the moment faded. He and Temari had shared love many times; this time he pondered the future. If there is one.
"Got something on your mind, sex fiend?" she smirked the way she did when annoying him for fun.
Shikamaru slipped out and lay beside her. "Why do you ask questions you know the answer to?" He sighed, "Troublesome woman."
"How bad is it?" she asked, sticking her tongue out, "Crybaby!"
"That is… complicated."
"Look," she took his chin in her hand, "you just fucked me. I'm tired, I'm achy, and now is not the time to be cryptic! Explain it to me like I'm an academy student!"
Shikamaru scowled but soon softened his gaze. She's your wife, and what you are about to tell her is not going to stay secret for long. "The Hokage had her conference with the other Kages; Kumo has some kind of chakra cannon – some super weapon." He stared longingly into her teal eyes, "They think they can obliterate the moon with it."
"That's good, then, right?" Temari's voice rose.
"No, not good," he replied, "It could have serious repercussions regarding our planet's ecosystem – serious disruption of ocean tides, weather patterns, and the like."
"I get that, but if the moon hits us what's the difference?"
"That is where it gets complicated," he answered, "The last several days it has slowed its descent, significantly."
"You think its because this Toneri guy didn't get Hinata?"
He nodded, "That part has me worried."
"How, as long as we keep Hinata, he can't drop the moon, right? It would kill her, too."
"And think about what happened tonight," he added. "You, yourself told me you thought he was holding back. And then, there was the security breach at the Hyūga Compound."
"What the fuck could he get there if not Hinata?" she asked.
"Leverage," he shrugged, "kidnap her mom, her sister, or any other high level members of the family to put pressure on her to surrender."
"Shit," Temari sighed. "We're in for it in the next few days, aren't we?"
"I already alerted the Hokage and Hinata of my worries," he rested his head next to her. "Everything that can be done is being done… I just wish there was more." He sighed, "It's like waiting for you in the operating room all over again."
"If you hadn't married me, would it have been a big deal?" she asked.
"Temari, you were, are special to me," now he turned her head to face him. "Even if we had only been friends, I would have been there fretting over you the whole time."
"It means a lot to me to hear that, husband."
"Wife," he replied.
"Shikamaru, I know this is a shit time to ask, but the baby thing…"
"Yes?" he stared with minor concern.
"I want to see Akemi, but I'm also putting it on hold."
"Wh-why?" he asked. Temari had been adamant about seeing Akemi and looking at their options to have children.
"Coming home, coming back to Konoha," she started, "made me remember that I'm not that old. Here, I'm not some princess men are chasing after. Here, I'm with you."
"What brought this on?"
"Your mom reminded me that you and I hadn't had a proper honeymoon. She suggested Anami Island."
"She would," Shikamaru sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Anami is known for more than it's observatory for the heavens…"
"Like?"
"Bluntly put, it's a place where couples usually go to have sex wall to wall," he smirked, "It's only of the only places where polyamory and polygamy are the norm versus the exception."
"Ten to one odds you were conceived there!" she teased.
"No, smartass," he grinned, "I know exactly where I was conceived! My parents preferred to be out in nature!"
"Can't be much different than the desert plateau," she squeezed him close, "I love you, crybaby."
"I love you, troublesome woman," He reached for the lamp on his nightstand and turned out the light.
Ino awoke to the sensation of a vice around her head and incessant pounding of her heart having changed places with her brain. As she blinked against the bright morning grey, panic gripped her as she discovered herself naked in someone else's bed. Oh god what did I do!
"Don't try moving too fast, pretty lady," Sai's voice was equal parts soothing and embarrassing. The memories hit in a painful flash: forcing her tongue in his mouth, flashing her boobs, and proceeding to strip naked and sprawl out on his bed. Dear god, I'll never drink again!
"Sai…" her cheeks burned.
"Here," he helped her sit up, "drink this, slowly."
Her head was killing her to the point she didn't care about the blanket falling off her, "Thank you," she sipped what turned to be a glass of ginger ale.
"Do you drink coffee?" he asked.
"Please," she nodded, taking another sip before finally covering herself. "Sai, about last night."
"It's okay," he turned away, "we can just forget that it happened."
"Do you want to forget that it happened?" she asked, heart slowly tearing. Ino watched a potential future flash before her eyes and go up in smoke over last night's drug and alcohol-fueled indiscretion.
"I don't want to, but…" he paused, turning to stare back at her, "Ino, I don't want to hurt you, either." Sai looked down, "I'm so confused."
Confused? "About?"
Sai stared thoughtful, "Ino, was last night the alcohol talking… or was it you talking?"
"Sai," Ino swallowed, waves of mild nausea making complicated through difficult, "it was both."
"Both?" he tilted his head like a confused puppy.
"Sai… I," Ino weighed if now was the time to confess what had been on her mind, "I've had feelings for you for some time." She took another sip of the ginger ale to ease her sour stomach. "It is why I have spent so much time with you outside of missions the last few years."
"Is it… why you posed for me?" his voice wavered as he asked.
"Part of it," she admitted, looking at the amber liquid, unable to meet his eyes. "After I became ANBU/KIB, I found you attractive. I- I know about all the terrible things you went through as a child. I didn't want to press too hard."
"Ino," she felt his hand under her chin, and she was eye to eye with him, "Women… don't usually pose nude for artists freely, right?"
"I mean," she chuckled against the butterflies in her stomach, "I don't know anyone else who does." God, I feel so stupid right now!
He nodded to steel himself, "That really was you hoping I'd take notice, then. I mean, I thought it was, but I couldn't tell."
"It was… did you like what you saw?" Ino swallowed her heart. Sai was the only man to have seen her nude.
"Y-yes," he nodded, "I didn't know what it meant. I still don't understand," he shook his head. "I'm so bad and understanding my feelings, understanding affection."
Ino's heart fluttered. She sensed that they were at a now or never inflection point. She could keep quiet, and they could remain stuck in between for all time. Or you can act and decide whether this is the end or a beginning. "Sai," her cheeks burned, "kiss me."
"W-what?" his normally expressionless face cracked at his eyes and mouth shot wide open.
"Sai, I've heard it said a kiss is the moment you know if it is real or not. Please, I want to know as badly as you do!"
He drew closer, and Ino drew back slightly, becoming increasingly aware of her nudity. Sai paused his advance. Don't send a mixed message! Ino leaned in, halving the distance remaining. "Ino, I've never done this! If I'm no good…"
"Don't think about it," she cut him off, "Just let it hap—" Her words were cut of by the soft, warm sensation of lips against hers. Sai was no expert, but he'd clearly been planning this, too. Ino noticed a slight hesitance at his withdrawal. He doesn't want it to be over!
"H-how was that?" he stammered, eyes remaining wide.
"Nice," she licked her lips gently, tasting him still on them.
"What now?' he gasped, pale cheeks dotted red.
"Well," Ino smirked as daring overcame the grogginess of her hangover, "How about I kiss you? Would you like that?"
Sai nodded softly, "Yes."
Ino drew in closer, "This might be a bit more intense that the last one." Ino brought her lips to his and lingered, sucking his bottom lip gently. "Hmm…"
"Is something wrong?" he whispered to her lips.
"Not at all!" she resumed the kiss, hand grasping the collar of his top. Ino became more forceful, parting his lips and gently sliding her tongue across his. Bliss temporarily overwhelmed the grinding hangover. Lips sucked and tongues caressed for several more moments before they had to break.
"That was… amazing!" he gasped.
"Yes, it was!" Ino smiled in relief. She weighed their situation – she was nude, he was mildly interested, but she was also substantially hungover. Quick casual sex might be an enjoyable thing, but she wanted more out of her first time.
"Ino, as much as I could keep going, we should stop for now," Sai potentially picked up on her thoughts. "We have work to do, sadly."
"Dinner later?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied. She went in search of her outfit.
Hokage Kushina Uzumaki tented her hands on the Hokage's desk in a vain effort to keep herself focused. Amidst the tumultuous last few weeks of the moon falling, Hinata nearly being abducted, and preparing for the near inevitable disaster less than two weeks away; the issue of Neji and Tenten's familial feud rose to the surface.
Given the severity of events occurring around them, Akemi and Tenten's parents had been for indefinitely delaying this meeting. Hinata and Kushina on the other hand, insisted the meeting proceed.
"I feel a bit intimidated," Tenten's father, Yoshi Tamura, said as he scanned the room. "A Hokage, a former Hokage, a clan leader, and the hero of the Hidden Leaf." He gestured to his wife, "I have only my humble self and my wife."
"Mister Tamura, I assure you I am only here to assure the law is enforced and to mediate as best as I can." She gestured toward Minato and Naruto, "They are here for Hinata's safety."
"Yes, we are familiar with the issues at play," Keiko Tamura, Tenten's mother, nodded. While there had been a general statement issued on the moon crisis, the rumor mill was alive about Hinata's involvement. In fact, Kushina, herself, had to disperse several crowds of demonstrators of people both afraid of what was and angry at Hinata for it happening. Someone talked.
"Perhaps we should get to the issue at hand," Hinata spoke in her soft, almost motherly tone.
"I do not know what you hope to accomplish Lord Hyūga," Yoshi started, "I am not letting my daughter marry this lecherous cad!"
"Father, please," Tenten, now visibly showed signs of rounding on her slender frame, "we've been in love since we were genin!"
"Tenten, know your place!" Yoshi snapped.
Kushina knew Yoshi was something of a traditionalist. Even with the great progress female civilian and shinobi had made in the past decades, chauvinism and misogyny were still alive and well in all Shinobi villages. "Mister Tamura, please," Neji spoke in a voice softer than Kushina ever remembered the normally stoic boy speak, "I'm in love with her, too. While I admit circumstances are not ideal…"
"Not ideal!" the man roared, his face turning red, "You knocked her up!"
"Dear, please!" Keiko reached for her husband's arm, and he snatched it away angrily.
"I will not grant my blessing to them as a couple or as husband and wife, and that is final!" he shouted.
"Mr. Tamura," Hinata's voice became heated, "Please do share with us what your major objection is to Neji."
"Aside from that no-good thug knocking up my daughter, he is everything wrong with the noble clans! He takes what he wants, produces nothing, and will abandon my daughter the first time your life is in danger, Lady Hyūga!"
"I see," Hinata replied. Good job, girl, get him to put his cards on the table. "Whereas I cannot do anything about your opinion of my clan, I can do something about your last objection." Hinata turned to Neji, "Neji, as leader of the Hyūga Clan, I hereby release you and your future family from any and all obligations to protect me and everything I hold dear."
"What!" Neji balked. "Hinata, that was a role I inherited from my father!"
"Yes, Neji, but the world has changed, and so has the clan. As much as I disagree with Mr. Tamura, he is right. You are about to be a father and have a responsibility to your wife and unborn child. It would be the height of arrogance to insist that you continue filling the role that your father filled with my father."
"But Hinata, who will protect you?" Neji protested.
"I will be filling that role," Naruto spoke. "As an advisor and future husband, it is my responsibility, Neji. It's time for you to stop being your father and live your own life and forge your own destiny."
"Touching as this is," Mr. Tamura interrupted, "this doesn't change my stance on objecting to the marriage."
Time to educate the man on how much things have changed. Kushina's lips tightened into a smirk that she saved for when an enemy had become ensnared in a cleverly laid trap. "And you may continue to object until you're blue in the face," Kushina started in a small, almost childish tone. "However," her voice dropped, regaining its seriousness, "I'm afraid your stance leaves me no choice but to remind you of your legal rights, and your lackthereof in this case."
"What the hell are you talking about?" the man replied.
"Dear, she's the Hokage!" Keiko reminded her husband desperately.
"All the same, what do you mean, my lack of legal rights?!" he huffed, face turning red. This man seriously needs to see a doctor about his blood pressure!
"Mr. Tamura, I am aware of your threat to disown Tenten from your family and disinherit Tenten from your family business. That part you are within your rights to do, and I have no recourse other than to try and mediate that dispute should you wish to press that right." Kushina locked eyes with the man, his were deep brown and bloodshot. "However, to actually block or annul the marriage, you have no legal standing."
"What!" the man rose from his seat.
"Sit down, sir," Hinata ordered, "You are in the presence of the Hokage!"
"I knew this was going to be a legal farce!" he growled as he resumed his chair.
"Legal, yes. Farce, no," Kushina corrected. "Tenten and Neji are both legal adults and both have the rights of legal adults. They may enter any contract, including the contract of marriage, with or without parental consent and approval." Kushina paused, letting the words sink in, "And as of earlier this afternoon, they have chosen to exercise that right." Kushina opened a draw and extracted her copy of the formal marriage document between Neji and Tenten.
"They WHAT?!" Yoshi's face turned red as a beet as he stood again at the sight of the marriage document.
"So you see," Kushina tented her hands, "Right now, you can decide whether or not you gain a son or lose a daughter." Kushina turned her hands up, "The decisions of others sometimes force us to make our own decisions…" Kushina's eyes turned to the photo of Minato and his team. Rin and Obito had been manipulated to terrible things by Madara, who in turn was being manipulated.
"A touching sentiment," an unfamiliar masculine voice broke the moment.
Kushina looked up to see what she assumed was Toneri standing off to the side of the group. Terror flooded Kushina, taking her back to an awful night when a secured safehouse guarded by ANBU, multiple protective seals, midwives, and Minato had not been able to keep Obito out. If anything, Toneri's ghostly appearance was even more terrifying than Obito's. Obito was always a terrorist in a mask. This man, this thing, looked like something that had stepped out of a horror movie.
"What is the meaning of this!" Hinata demanded.
"Hinata, you've proven yourself a difficult prize to claim," the man answered in a tone all-too calm considering he was in the presence of so many powerful shinobi. He gave an unnerving smile, "Please, come," he extended a hand, "I can't guarantee the safety of your friends and family otherwise."
"Hinata!" Kushina spoke sharp and crisp, "If you go, he has nothing stopping him from dropping the moon right this instant!" Girl, don't be stupid! Any guarantee he'd offer now is a fake one!
"Toneri, stop this madness!" Hinata pleaded, "Your actions will kill everyone and everything I care about, regardless!"
"Just know I gave you a chance for this to happen peacefully. Whatever happens from here forward is your responsibility!"
"Enough of this shit!" Naruto charged forward, ramming a flying sidekick into the ghostly figure. As Naruto hit home, Toneri crumbled to pieces. A goddamn puppet!" There was a concussive blast and the sound of breaking glass as Kushina was thrown forward into the Hokage's desk. The impact of the desk on her ribs and stomach knocked the wind from her, and the shockwave left her ears ringing.
Kushina blinked, and the world moved in slow motion. Toneri was holding a green orb of chakra in front of Hinata, and the girl's normally strong, springy limbs gave out like a puppet with its strings cut. He said something unintelligible, and another puppet seized her. Goddammit move!
The puppet made for the gapping maw of the now shattered windows. "HINATA!" Kushina focused enough to summon an adamantine chain around the offending puppet's neck, and she jerked with the force of a mother bear protecting her precious cub. The puppet's head went one way and the body fell forward over the window sill – carrying Hinata down with it. OH GOD, NO!
Kushina shoved off the desk to the window. Hinata fell like a ragdoll toward the concrete below. Kushina summoned a series of her chains, and they shot forth like tentacles. Catch her! Catch her! The chain laced beneath Hinata neck, back, and legs. As she felt Hinata's resistance in the chains, Kushina let her slip just a short distance further before completely stopping Hinata less than a meter from the ground.
Beads of sweat rained down Kushina's armpits and back as she held Hinata, both from the force needed to stop the fall but the hope that she hadn't inadvertently killed the girl by trying to save her. Kushina had read too many stories and comics where an improperly secured rope went from being a lifesaving bit of gear to becoming an inadvertent hangman's noose. Crushed organs, internal bleeding, a broken spine, please baby, be all right!
Kushina summoned the strength to haul the chains up, carrying their precious cargo back up the side of the building. Initially, Kushina panicked at Hinata's limp form, but, she faintly opened and closed her eyes and blinked as Kushina pulled her up. Support her neck and back, just like a baby, until you're sure she's not injured! Kushina heaved the improvised cradle up and over the window sill and carried Hinata onto the Hokage's desk. "Honey, can you hear me?!" Kushina fought to restrain panic.
"Kushina… Naruto, everyone?" Hinata formed words as Kushina felt first along the girl's head and neck.
Kushina paused her exam long enough to survey the room. Neji and Tenten were tending to Tenten's father, passed out on the floor. The wreckage of a dozen puppets littered the floor. Naruto sported a fat lip with some blood dripping, and Minato likewise sported an angry bruise and a small cut above his right eyebrow that was bleeding profusely. "We're fine," Kushina assured her, "are you hurt?"
"Just weak," Hinata struggled to move, but Kushina restrained her from getting up, "whatever that orb was, it completely drained my chakra."
The door burst open to security teams of ANBU entering. "I need medics over here!" Neji shouted, starting CPR on his would-be father-in-law. "He's having a heart attack!"
"Kushina, please," Hinata took her hand, "help me up! I-I can help!" Against her better judgement, Kushina aided Hinata up and steadied her to her feet. Whatever the effect of Toneri's jutsu had been, it must have been temporary. Hinata went from uncertain to sprinting to Yoshi Tamura's side. Hinata wasted no time, placing her hands on the man's chest, and emanating the purple glow of her chakra. "Sir, stay with us!" she pleaded. "Naruto, get us to the hospital, quick!" Naruto sprinted to Hinata's side, and they both vanished in a flash.
No sooner had the two disappeared did Kushina feel the sickening buzz of her cellphone. Kushina withdrew the phone to see Akemi's number illuminating the screen. "Akemi?!" she answered.
"Kushina! They took Hanabi and Akane!" the normally calm medical-nin screeched loud enough to be heard by everyone. Minato's face cracked in shock. Hanabi and Akane, what better way to get Hinata to surrender!
"Goddammit!" Kushina slammed a hand on the Hokage's desk.
"Kushina… I need either Hinata or Sakura here right now!"
Terrible confusion flooded Kushina, as well as the cold grip of fear. "Akemi?" her words came out hollow.
"It's Konohamaru! He's badly injuried, and I can't stabilize him! He's going to die if I don't have assistance now!"
Kushina exchanged glances with Minato. He nodded, "I'm on it!" He disappeared in a flash. She heard shouting and the line went dead.
As Minato disappeared, Kushina surveyed the wreckage of the situation and her office, wondering how the hell they were going get out of the situation. He has Hanabi, he has your baby, you're adoptive son's life is in the balance, and Toneri nearly got Hinata killed while trying to snatch her. His plan had been layered, and suddenly, the feint at the Hyūga compound last time made sense. He wants Hinata to come to him, and now he has everything to ensure she does.
Kushina pulled open the drawer to the desk, looking at a photograph Himawari brought from the future. The image of her children and grandchildren as well as others smiled back, a beacon in the dark. Kushina's hand clenched into a tight fist. He wants Hinata, let's give him all he can take and more! Up until now, they had been on the defensive, playing keep away. Now that her daughter and apprentice were in peril, it was time to take the offensive. Toneri wanting Hinata to come to him was his potential blind spot, and now they had no choice but to use it.
Kushina brought her phone up and dialed Kakashi. "Lord Hokage?"
"Kakashi, get everyone assembled; we're going hunting!"
Author's notes: Hello everyone, and thank you for reading. I hate to end this chapter here, but I had a pretty nasty back injury, and that significantly slowed my progress. Fear not, the next chapter will include all the details I wasn't able to include in this chapter. From here forward things are going to start heating up. Rest assured, the outcome of events to follow will vary greatly from The Last. Until next chapter, stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you then.
