Please leave a comment or PM if you have any questions, suggestions, concerns, or just compliments. For the sake of this work, the elemental balance will go earth}lightning}water}fire}wind. Thanks to SmallFountainPen for betaing chapters 57-73. Thanks to SoaringJe for betaing beginning with chapter 116.
Day two of negotiations started with each party preparing their own tea.
The Tsuchikage had one of his guards hang back as a sign of good will, but he didn't contest Deer's presence—probably because Deer = Nara, and he had control of the lights.
Well, Deer wasn't about to argue.
It hadn't been quick, or easy, to decide how they were going to end the conflict. It couldn't be a normal peace treaty, for one—officially, they'd never gone to war. Instead the focus was on creating ways that both sides could present the end as a victory, and then creating checks to ensure neither party pulled out down the line.
One of the Hokage's clones had sat up with him for hours last night, explained everything he thought might happen (after all, neither party had admitted to anything they actually wanted on the first day; that would've been far too risky).
ANBU Deer felt pretty good, then. Felt pretty confident about how things were going.
And then the second day started.
The Tsuchikage sat down his tea, pointed to the map between both leaders.
"Do you know of the Land of Contention?"
"Vaguely," the Hokage lied, leaning forward to examine the country bordering Earth's east. "I believe they are not particularly united?"
The Tsuchikage hummed agreement. "That has been true, historically. There are a number of different nobles that claim rule over the whole of the land, and yet none had sufficient power to actually exercise sovereignty."
"Something has changed?"
"Yes. Two eastern ninja—Hidan of the Jashin faith and Kakuzu the Unkillable—made their way to the Land and are progressively taking it over through excessive violence, both against the general population and the nobility."
"What is their goal?"
"Unclear. Power seems the most obvious, and Hidan is certainly one of Jashin's most faithful, but at the moment their focus seems to be securing the whole of the land under their control—and that, of course, is assuming they stop at the Land of Contention's borders."
The Hokage's eyes flickered over the map overlay the Tsuchikage had brought out, frowning.
"Both have S-ranked bounties already from every major hidden village, don't they?"
"Yes, and as of yet no village has claimed the prize. Both have decimated several villages in the Land of Earth, and Hidan's best efforts have ensured that our efforts to stamp out Jashin-worship have failed."
"Quite dangerous," the Hokage said, and then he looked up. His blue eyes met the Tsuchikage, just a hint of amusement at the edge. "And I suppose Iwa does not mind undertaking the task to rid the world of these two? And if, by chance, your village also expands into the freed territory, all the better?"
"It does not seem particularly fair that Konoha be the only one to expand."
"Truthfully, we have only taken some of Uzushiogakure's land, and it is not as if we are the ones that wiped it of its inhabitants."
"Bygones of a past era, before either of us had any control," the Tsuchikage replied smoothly, not denying Iwa's role but also denying his own place in it.
"And yet we want this peace to last long after we leave."
"And equal power is the most likely to ensure that."
"Is it?"
"Do you actually disagree with our plan, or do you wish to continue picking at scabs?"
"We could… fund Iwagakure's work to rid the world of two monsters," the Hokage said. ANBU Deer blinked. He hadn't—well, money was money. He'd thought they'd offer manpower, if anything.
"And in return…?"
The Hokage leaned forward, grinned. "Let's talk borders."
.
Bokuso frowned.
This was their last chance.
It hadn't been a poor result: they had a strong contract with the lemurs and a possible contract with the finches. After some hours, they'd even managed to come up with a contract for the pika; elderly or disabled Academy teachers would sign to get the ability to reverse-summon themselves and as much of their class as possible in times of danger, and the pika would be allowed to do the same.
Bokuso was well aware that the result was so good it was being treated as an out-and-out victory.
Nevertheless, he wanted… more.
It was the lemurs' fault, really; after that rousing success, his sense of appropriate odds was skewed: a frustrating tic of his inherently flawed perception.
It had still hurt, every time someone did not come back.
Most didn't.
This—
This was their last chance.
They'd already waited just under forty-eight hours.
His children were uncomplaining, but clearly increasingly unhappy over his overfull schedule.
Everybody was focused on the existence of the existing summons: on working with the lemurs, the pikas, and the finches on coming to an agreement on the specifics over how a summoning contract with a hidden village should work.
And Bokuso was in a field.
Waiting.
Hoping for one last success.
He had already killed ten ninja.
Ten ninja whose family would never have a body to bury.
Their deaths were a mystery: were they quick? Painful? Obvious? Did the ninja have a chance to try to escape?
(Did they hate him, in their last moments?)
Forty-eight hours.
Nearly forty-nine, now.
Nearly eleven deaths, now.
He waited, his insects reporting back more and more frequently in response to his distress.
He would not regret his actions, but he would allow himself to admit he wished as little harm as possible.
What would it take, to ensure just that?
.
Fugaku was concerned.
It was not that Suna had stopped courting the Uchiha, it was…
How they were going about it.
The liaison was still clearly interested, still clearly very concerned about the Uchiha losing interest.
But before, before he would leave and come back with more offers, with more information.
Now he left and came back with nothing.
Oddly, Fugaku was increasingly certain it was not because the liaison's superiors were uninterested.
It seemed more to be that the Kage himself had become focused on other concerns, had pushed the Uchiha to the back of his mind; if they agreed to secede, all the better, but it was no longer something he would be investing additional resources into.
And Fugaku should have been relieved about this.
Ideally his kin would become less and less interested as Suna's interest waned, would allow him to stay in his home with his son as he wished.
Instead he was concerned.
He could make as many deductions and inductions as he wished about Suna's behavior based on their clandestine reasons, but the fact was that he had heard nothing outside of that.
No mention of why the Kazekage would have suddenly become distracted.
No hint of a challenge against the Land of Wind that might be changing variables.
Was it something Konoha simply did not know?
Or was it something being hidden from the Uchiha?
And what should he do about it?
.
Ebisu didn't know what to do.
It was the first time his team had been put back together, sent on missions outside the village walls, since the attack on the train, and he'd actually been a bit excited when they set off to protect the merchant caravan.
It had been three days, now, and he was certain.
Asahi wasn't eating.
Or, well, he was eating, but almost nothing.
He'd tried to talk about it with Aoba, share his concerns, but Aoba had recently been offered a position with the Uchiha Military Police and he was studying non-stop for it and waved Ebisu's concerns aside—"of course Asahi's eating," he'd said, "why wouldn't he be?"
Why indeed.
They still had over three weeks to go (the caravan was employing them for their entire time within Fire's borders, was actually a Wind caravan but hadn't bothered with any ninja from Suna) and Ebisu was worried.
Really, really worried.
(He'd tried to talk to Asahi, too, been brushed off like his concerns came from thin air. Asahi had taken to patrolling on his own during mealtimes after that, always said he ate while he worked.
(Never took any cooked food with him.
(Never, as gross as it was to track, went to the bathroom.)
What should he do?
What could he do?
And how quickly did he have to do it, before Asahi did permanent damage?
.
Kushina flew through the trees, wind dancing across her skin as she rushed past the various roads, trees, and bushes far below her feet.
It took only four hours to make it to the meeting spot, but it was four hours too long—she hadn't managed to get any information from Minato before he left, and he usually told her everything.
At least he and Obito seemed fine, taking some time to eat and recuperate outside enemy territory.
Both grinned as she dropped into the clearing, neither surprised at her presence.
"Well?"
"No hello?" Minato said. "No, 'nice to see you, love'?"
"Hello, nice to see you, love. Well?"
"I'm here too!" Obito got into it.
Brat.
"Well?" Kushina repeated, ignoring him.
Minato's grin was about to break off his face. "There will be peace on our western border," he said. "At the end of the week, in just two days, it will be announced, and we will finally be able to stand down almost half our forces."
"What. Wait, really? Really, really? You—really?"
"Sensei was great!" Obito said. "The Tsuchikage was like, we need money to do this massive thing in the West, and Sensei was like, that's fine, go for it, but I want to make sure you don't go to war with us ever again, so I want free borders, I want people moving back and forth, I want trade, I want your ninja to know so many Fire civilians that they are much less willing to hurt our people ever again."
"That's it?"
"That's what the Tsuchikage said!" Obito shouted.
"There's a reason countries don't generally allow free migration and trade," Minato pointed out. He was hiding a smile, clearly felt far more confident about his plan than she did.
"It's mutual, though," Kushina retorted. "Or isn't it?"
Obito flinched, looking past her; her ANBU guards were catching up, but that was fine. She glared at Minato.
"Yeah, it's mutual," Minato said. "Mutual made the literal price much, much lower."
"Then why is it worth it?"
"Why indeed?"