Chapter 108. Tea and Sake.
I ran away after diverting Tsunade's rage to Jiraiya. He always planned to make Tsunade Hokage if anyone asked him so the blame wasn't invalid.
Everyone was preparing to return to their villages, the second half of the exam was cancelled and the word would need to be sent out. Since this was a major event something else would have to take its place. The merchants made a lot of money with these events, cancelling would be a loss for everyone.
"Should I suggest a festival?" I muttered. A festival would be a good substitute but then there was the problem with the entertainment.
"Father!" I turned at the call, though I don't know why. Fu crashed into me with the force of a missile. My feet dragged into the snow from the force. I gritted my teeth and channelled chakra into my feet to find purchase. The ground broke with the friction but I was able to stop our movement. I sighed in relief, looking down at the cannonball that crashed into me.
Fu nuzzled her face in my stomach, her wings twitching with happiness. I couldn't tell if it was Fu or Chomei. Round orange eyes looked up at me and sparkled.
"Where have you been, Father!?" She cried.
"Ah, I was handling village duty," I patted her head.
"Does that mean we can play now?"
I blinked. An idea forming.
"Why don't we play with your siblings also?" she pouted, wanting me all for herself. She then looked down, her eyes shifting in thought.
"Okay!" she declared.
I smiled at her innocent smile. I interacted with them but wasn't in control of my body then. I brush her soft hair. We turned towards the hotel where the Kages resided. The first stop is Shukaku.
Gaara opened the door when we knocked. He looked at us sleepily, rubbing his eyes and yawning. I stared in amazement. Did he just wake up? Was his relationship with Shukaku so good now?
Pale blue-green eyes regained focus as he blinked away the sleepiness. I could tell when he could finally see me, he froze.
"Hello. We're going to have some fun, do you want to come?" I asked sweetly, brushing his messy red hair.
"Ah!" he gasped, stepping back. "Father!?"
"Hm?" a hum came from inside the room.
"Who is it, Gaara?" Rasa asked, entering the entryway at the call.
Gaara froze, his eyes flickering from gold to pale blue-green. Shukaku was acting up.
Rasa opened the door to see Fu and I in his doorway. I waved.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a stern voice.
"I'm here to kidnap your youngest son!" I declared grabbing Gaara's wrist. Rasa moved the sand from Gaara's gorge bursting out to stop me but we were gone in a swirl of pink petals.
"Kunoichi!' Rasa screamed.
Standing atop a building we looked up at the hotel. I didn't want to do that again.
"Let's just kidnap the rest," I said, biting my thumb and weaving hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
In a poof of smoke six black-haired, green-eyed puppets appeared. Leaning against each other like dolls, they looked like they were sleeping.
"Wow, I saw those in the exam!" Fu pointed. "They were crazy!"
I chuckled.
They were going to write stories of the horrors of the chunin exams. A battle broke out in the middle, and the leaf village revealed themselves as savages. Heh.
I reached down and placed chakra rod earrings in the puppets' earlobes, and Sakura ornaments in their hair. All dolled up I channelled chakra into them and brought them to life. They stood and scattered.
"Now we wait," I said, crossing my arms.
"What exactly do you want to do?" Gaara asked. I blinked at his shivering frame, he was still in his PJs. I pulled a robe from storage, and wrapped him in it, smiling apologetically.
"We'll be leaving soon, so I thought I would spend some time with you while avoiding my own problems," I confessed.
"Avoid your problems, Papa?" Fu asked and I wondered why I even responded to that title.
"My team is just worried about me, that's all."
"When someone worries about you that means they love you, right?" Fu asked.
"That's right," I patted her head.
The hotel exploded. Lightning roared from one floor, arcing after four bodies that fell. In swirls of petals, four out of six of my puppets returned, each holding a Jinchuriki.
"What is this?" Utakata cried.
"Sakura?" Yagura asked in confusion.
"..." the stone Jinchuriki's were quiet.
I smiled at them as I sealed away the puppets, turning to the battle of Raikage and his Kidnapped Jinchurikis. I moved.
With Minato's help, I was with the cloud Jinchurikis in a flash.
"I'll be borrowing these two!" I called to his bewildered face. "Thanks."
"No, you don't!" He yelled diving after us.
Petals surrounded us and we vanished from sight.
"Get back here!" screams of rage rang behind us as we ran. I ran with a trail of eight Jinchuriki's behind me and an angry Raikage.
"This is fun!" Fu cheered as she flew beside me. This was now a game of Hunter and Missing-Nin. We walked around the village buying dangos and trading stories when Raikage attacked. He was furious I dared to kidnap his little brother, son? Ducking under lightning strikes as we ran, it was odd the others found this fun.
"It's been a long time since we were at war," Yagura chuckled, leaping over a cracked ground. "To think we would be playing such a game now~"
"Why are we even running?" Utakata yelled. "We did nothing wrong!"
"Do you want to stop running and find out if he'll attack you?" Roshi asked.
Utakata looked back, saw the red face of the Raikage, and sped up.
"Sorry about him," Yugito spoke softly. "He's a bit on edge because of all that happened."
Killer Bee rapped something about the lightning's rage, but it was lost among the actual lightning attack I dodged.
"Everyone stay together!" I called back, calling on my summons and choosing a faraway destination. In a swirl of petals, we were gone.
Raikage screamed.
It was cold. The stronghold remained empty after the exam was cancelled. I sat on the cushioned sofa in exhaustion.
"Ugh," I groaned. "Not what I had in mind." I pulled out a scroll, unravelling it on the table. With a pulse of chakra, a feast appeared before me. "Now! We eat!"
"Couldn't we have done this from the start," Gaara grumbled, taking a seat. The others took seats around the table with their own complaints, but soon everyone was eating well.
"All he does is rap, you know, it's frustrating that he's supposed to be stronger than me," Yugito complained to Fu, who ironically was stronger than her.
B was rapping to Han and Roshi who responded in grunts of sympathy and pats on the back.
Everyone at the table had a tragic childhood. With the tail beast inside them, hatred was bound to follow them. I thought of Naruto and smiled into my Sake cup. My summons reported that he was discussing the best way to corner me with the others. I smirked as my summons surrounded him and teleported him away.
Naruto appeared on the cushion next to me looking confused. The other Jinchuriki stared at him momentarily before returning to their meal and conversation.
"How nice of you to join us," Yagura greeted Naruto flatly.
"I was wondering about you," Gaara admitted. "You were always with, Father."
"Father?" Naruto asked. Gaara pointed at me and I waved.
Naruto looked more confused.
"Eat," I told him, handing him a plate. "Worry about problems tomorrow."
"Okay," Naruto accepted and ate.
"So Father raised you?" Fu asked with astonishment.
"Ah, well, basically," Naruto stuttered, fidgeting with his cup of tea. "She was there for me when I was all alone."
"How bad was it?" Utakata asked casually. "The hatred I mean."
The table went silent, everyone having experienced varying levels in their own village.
Naruto lowered his head.
"It was really bad in the beginning. The night I was born I became a Jinchuriki, so I didn't know anything different. For as long as I can remember, the villagers hated me and I didn't know why."
"No one told you what you were?" Yugara asked. Naruto shook his head.
"When Sakura appeared, I forgot all about their hateful eyes," He smiled brightly. "Sakura protected me from everyone!"
"Aww," Fu whined after a moment of silence. "I want Father to spoil me too." She pouted.
"My case is much like yours," Gaara said. "I wasn't told why the villagers were afraid of me and were trying to kill me."
"They tried to kill you?" Yugito exclaimed. "That defeats the whole purpose of a Jinchuriki."
"Heh," Gaara chuckled. "Father, ah, I mean the KazeKage, thought it would make me stronger." he smiled sadly, "It worked in a way."
I patted him on his head, already knowing the tragedy that was his life.
They took turns talking about their experiences and how they overcame them. Hand and Roshi were the worst of it, having to live on the outskirts of the village and only used as a weapon. Though I'd say Gaara's is the most tragic followed by Naruto. Both were the sons of Kages, Jinchuriki's since birth and unloved.
Hashirama squirmed at the stories.
Minato was back and Rasa had seen the light. I can only hope everything works out now.
I glanced at Yugata who laughed with Utakata, his presence nagged at my mind but I couldn't understand why.
Sakura!
I closed my eyes, taking a sip of sake as I responded to the call.
What is it Ino?
The Raikage said you kidnapped his Jinchuriki! She screamed in panic. What the hell did you do!?
I sighed. I stood, picking up a stronger Sake.
"Father?"
I smiled at their concerned faces.
"Enjoy yourself, I need to use the ladies' room."
I disappeared in a swirl of petals.
The Raikage was going on a rampage. How he allowed Killer Bee to be mistreated, I'll never know. Tobirama stood before Hiruzen in a trashed room as Raikage made threats, demanding the return of his Jinchurikis. I looked around at the bewildered jonins ready for a fight. I took a few gulps feeling the burn as it ran down my throat.
"Kyaa," I sighed in satisfaction.
Raikage's hard eyes found me and I smiled at him, my face red.
Golden sand rushed towards me from behind, blocked only by the swirls of pink petals.
"No now, what's the reason for all this excitement, huh?" I giggled. "We're all friends here."
"Return my son!" Rasa demanded.
I looked at him from the corner of my eyes.
"Oh, he's your son now~" I teased. "I honestly thought you two didn't have a good relationship." I turned to him and smirked. "What with all the assassination attempts and all."
Sand surged towards me like waves. His face was hard as he glared at me wrapping his sand around my barrier to crush me.
"Sand burial jutsu," I shook my head. "Well then."
Without another word, a wall of water appeared washing Rasa and his sand back.
"You took your time, Tobi~"
Tobirama stood before me with a stern face. Everyone here was a child compared to him who was in a child's form.
"Why are you picking fights with the Kages?" He chastised me. I pouted.
"I'm not picking fights."
Lightning sparked off my summoned sword, from Raikage's sneak attack from behind.
"That wasn't very nice," I told him. He smirked at me, his lighting intensifying.
"No Lord Raikage!" someone screamed before the room floated with a flash of light.
The room exploded with a loud boom. Electricity charged the air making my hair stand on ends. Smoke wafted through the space obscuring the damage done but from Raikage's confident chakra, he probably thought I was char.
I took another swig, the sound alerting Raikage. I waved a hand, and a gust of wind dispersed the smoke, revealing the sand covered room, Rasa being the sanner of the two Kages. My sword cracked and scattered into red petals around the Raikage as he leapt back, alert.
"I'm not sure why you decided to act foolishly, but I assure you, B and Nii-san are safe with me." I stepped towards him, trusting Tobirama to keep Rasa at bay.
"Do you think I'll let you do as you like?" He stood tall, releasing a bust of lightning that vaporized the red petals swirling around him. "My Jinchuriki's don't belong to you! I'm the one who raised them, not you-" his breath hitched.
I couldn't hide my grin.
I realized he was staring and covered my mouth.
"Sorry, you were saying something about parental roles?" I asked. "Are you perhaps angry because your Jinchuriki's referred to me as "Father," or have they already told you who I really am?" I smiled at his frustrated face. "I might not look it compared to what you're used to but I am a woman. Can't you be a bit gentle?"
"Only a fool would underestimate a Kunoichi!" He declared ready for another round.
"If you think that," I smirked. "What does that make you?"
He didn't answer, coating himself in lighting and rushing in.
"Sakura!" Tobirama called his reflexes the fastest.
I didn't lose my smirk. Raikage appeared before me, his fist closing in on me with incredible speed.
But it was futile.
Raikage dropped to the ground with a thud.
The room was quiet with disbelief.
"What did you do?" Rasa asked, dropping his sand and revealing the other shinobi's in the room. Tobirama walked over to me, kicking Raikage to see if he was dead.
"He underestimated me," I answered simply.
Tobirama frowned and inspected the fallen Kage closer. He sniffed the air and pulled back.
"Smells like," he stopped himself, looking up at me. "The flower petals.," he concluded.
"He turned them into dust and obediently inhaled them all," I confirmed.
Tobirmam shook his head. "How long will he be out?"
"Long enough for me to enjoy my tea party," I responded, petals already swirling around me. "I'll leave the cleanup to you."
With that, I left and rejoined the Jinchurikis who were talking about love interests.
"What? You have a wife and child!?" Naruto yelled indignantly. "Just how old are you!?"
"I might look like this, but I am an adult and the Kage of my village," Yugara answered, amused.
"You promised to share your secret, I reminded him as I sat down.
"Ah, yes," He nodded. "Well first you need to take daily baths in the blood of your enemies-"
Thwack. I threw a bottle at him.
"I want to be youthful, not a vampire!" I yelled. The other chuckled and I sulked at the loss of good Sake.
"Don't be mad," Utakata poured me a new cup of Sake. "I'm pretty sure he's being serious." I glared at him too.
"Now, now, Let's leave the blood baths for the battlefield," Roshi offered, raising a cup, Han nodded in agreement.
We ate and drank good wine until the table was empty and everyone sans Gaara and Naruto was terribly drunk. I was seeing doubles by the end of it so I didn't trust myself to send anyone anywhere. I called a springfly to me and instructed it to bring one of my comrades. I was thinking of Tobirama but I couldn't be sure who it met first.
Three sheets to the wind with Naruto fussing over me when I felt the familiar flames enter the stronghold.
This was supposed to be them going home, but I felt the need to wrap up the Jinchurikis relationship so no one could ask, "How did they get so close?"
Next Chapter
October 15
Until next time
Night song~
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