Reporting to a far superior officer while on the bottom of the totem pole typically meant someone else higher but below that official would handle it. Unfortunately, the Leaf's anbu were stretched thin enough as is, so they were deployed with a skilled tracker sensor ninja the moment he was available. Their path led to a brief stop on the outskirts of the Fire Temple before a complete one at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice, lacking authority to risk making another village think their own was plotting plays with its current infighting. Four turning into nearly a dozen in two days from what they could gleam had them running as fast as possible. Even if they were present for the graverobbing, it would've succeeded anyway.
The three stood before Chiriku, a stalwart bald monk. A young man with a full head of hair sat to his side and was looking down to avoid attracting his attention. Both listened to their report of the graverobbers' movements. Whoever he was, the boy grit his teeth at their ineffectiveness. None blamed him.
"While we have superior numbers, their capabilities seem beyond ours," the experienced agent said. "It seems as if they're stalling for something or perhaps even measuring our ability before they go all in."
Chiriku inclined his head an inch. "Indeed." His eyes narrowed. "Though for what purpose if they're after corpses?"
"Either they want someone's attention or they're dealing with infighting as a bunch of ragtag foreign independents," Shikamaru chimed in.
"With what we know now, it cou–"
The door to the temple chamber slammed open, making them shift into stances and draw weapons. A purple blur ran forward and would've been slashed by Sayuri if their superior hadn't put a hand on her shoulder. Shikamaru nearly pulled off the reverse rat sign before he realized who it was. It, really she, crashed into him, nearly knocking them both down.
"I missed you," she said with her familiar voice breaking.
"What are you doing here?!" He steadied them both over hugging her back. "This is serious!"
"I'm afraid that might be my fault." Asuma walked in overly steady, trying to hide his struggle chasing after her.
He grimaced behind his mask. "Aren't you a bit too close to this?"
"No glad to see you?" He smiled. "Looks like the anbu taught you some professionalism." Turning focus to Chiriku's relaxed form, his smile grew then soured. "I wish our reunion came under better circumstances."
"As do I," the monk said.
They turned to the temple door opening again with far less caution. Kakashi led his team through them and forward. Sakura was avoiding any and all contact, especially eye contact, with Sasuke, who kept glancing at her in concern. A figure most never expected to see again nor ever saw looked annoyed beyond belief even with the mummy wrap around his face.
"Are you all they sent?" Shikamaru asked with disbelief.
Kakashi shot him a look. "You know how much work we do these days if you of all people are on it."
"Fucking got 'im!" Sayuri laughed and immediately regretted it as everyone turned to her, a stranger. "..Yo." She raised a hand before pointing her thumb at her mask. "'Cat' reporting for duty."
"Ferret," the adequately named anbu in a ferret mask introduced himself. "Good to know you're here, Kakashi Hatake."
"Just how bad is this?" Sasuke asked, turning his attention away from his teammate.
"One of them feels like a Tailed Beast and the rest are all jonin or at the very least have the chakra capacity of a jonin, save two I'm sure are sensor specialists."
"Don't tell me this is Kakuzu again." Dosu sighed as those out of the know looked at him. "Long story."
Kakashi grimaced at the memory. "Neither the Hokage nor Asuma properly briefed us about the situation because of the urgency, so we'd very much like to be now please."
Chiriku turned to Asuma, who was too transfixed with the other sitting monk to register his words. "What do you know of a jutsu called Limelight?" That snapped him out of it.
"I've never heard of it." His eye widened at the significance. "...Oh."
"Back in the Third Great Shinobi War, dad was looking into things he could use as leverage against the other villages or just destroy them with how bad things were," Asuma began. "The Stone and the Cloud each had two perfect jinchuriki while we couldn't risk setting the strongest Tailed Beast loose trying to tame it." He looked down. "Orochimaru was still with us then, so he told him to come up with something and he did." Taking a long drag on his cigarette, he looked up, reminiscing of old times. "'Lightning chakra is the transmission of power between opposing points.' Everything between is shocked as a byproduct. There's nothing saying there can't be more than two points, specifically spread across a large area; say, around a village. Maybe even a country if there's enough. So just get three or maybe even four powerful shinobi with lightning chakra affinity and find out the right signs and application of lightning chakra to do it."
Sakura's face scrunched. "But it didn't work, right?" Their village still existed and Orochimaru knew..
His expression turned grave. "No. It did. Kitane, Tou, Seito, and Nauma were picked out for their ability with lightning chakra and developed the jutsu with Orochimaru."
"Then why…" Ino drifted off, realizing complications no doubt arose.
"First test nearly killed them because they were too close to the focal points they created. Second test was more successful but it left their hands burnt nearly to a crisp from the sheer heat all that lightning generates. The final test went perfectly, except they realized the sheer amount of chakra it would take to be effective against an entire village would drain them beyond dry." He shook his head. "But aside from that, if they actually succeeded, what do you think the other villages would do when they found out, nevermind the resources it would take to rebuild what we'd annihilate or the men needed to hold all the other Lands?"
"They'd try to develop their own, try to kill the people who could use the jutsu, or band together to destroy the Leaf if they found out," Dosu answered.
Asuma breathed out smoke. "Exactly. And I know how useful it sounds on paper, but properly arranging three or four shinobi around a hostile platoon is a bit impossible with sensor ninja around to inform them a few isolated hostiles are charging something huge. Just deploy a few of your top guys to take them out." He scoffed. "You couldn't form a defensive guard around each without getting noticed ahead of time or risking friendlies getting caught in the blast." Scratching the back of his head, he bit down on his cigarette. "It was, at best, a last resort or last spit in the face to an enemy by denying them our taken turf or destroying their home with all their civilians if we thought our village was done for."
Sayuri squinted at him from behind her mask. "How do you two know about it though?"
He blinked. "I was deep in the fighting and knew a lot of people, being the Hokage's son, so I was trusted as a kind of talent scout and appointed project manager to teach me some kind of responsibility, but I think the old man just wanted me to take more after him." He looked at the other jonin. "If it weren't for your psych profile at the time, you would've made the cut." Pointing a thumb at his old friend, he laughed. "As for him, we told each other everything." Sparing the boy in the corner of his sight a glance, he felt just a tinge of guilt in his chest, knowing it had to be done.
"You all ending up on the Twelve Guardian Shinobi can't be a coincidence," Shikamaru said.
"I talked to them about it when the project was over. Around that time, there were a few attempts on the daimyo's life to instill a succession crisis, which would distract us from the war effort. They failed but a lot of his guards died, including Guardian Shinobi." He shrugged. "When the war finally ended, those spots were still vacant, so they decided to take them because why not? They already knew each other, none of them wanted students, and people rarely ever take shots at the daimyo outside of war time." A sad smile found its way onto his face. "I got into a fight with dad one day and left the village. My reputation and their word vouched for me. Rest is history you already know."
"So who is our enemy?" Dosu asked. "If Orochimaru helped develop the jutsu, he wouldn't need to steal corpses."
His gaze steeled. "That's what we're going to find out." As much as he thought he'd regret it.
It could only be a few people, and he knew for sure he wasn't one of them. Either it was Orochimaru or, knowing his luck, it was someone who somehow survived that slaughter years ago. One was the more dangerous opponent, but the other was far more troublesome. Killing the same friend twice would haunt him forever.
No other Steam ninja bothered the four strays. Without a doubt, reports of their horrid ambush spread among the ranks and they knew to leave them alone, risking the innocents around themselves along with their lives if they didn't. Murder surged in Suigetsu's chakra every time he saw them, but it wasn't worth the energy as long as they knew their place. Karin noticed strange shifts when they were around shady parts of settlements they passed through, recognizing shame and temptation, alongside an ever growing sense of anxiety. He stopped by one alley and was out in the same minute.
In front of them was a ship, the biggest all but Suigetsu had ever seen. People that seemed from all manner of lands manned it. Sunrise City was one of the biggest ports in the world and many merchant vessels stopped by to trade and resupply. Those looking to get back home or travel also paid for passage.
He walked toward a man who appeared to be the captain, notable for his fancier choice of dress, next to a few resting deck hands and a samurai in full plate armor. "Where are you headed?"
"The Land of the Moon." The would-be captain said, eyeing them.
"Well, we're going to the Land of Water now."
He scoffed, the samurai putting his hand on his sword as duty ordered. "Are we?"
"Yeah." The samurai's sword passed straight through him. "You tin cans always think you're hot shit." He pointed and scattered his brains through his helmet onto the pier.
"Wha—" His knee was perforated gently to avoid damaging the artery.
He stomped on his screaming head the moment he fell to his knees to push him against the snowy wooden boards. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear! If you say a single fucking word to anything I say other than yes from now on, I will fill you with tiny holes until your dumbass bleeds out!" He brought his face down to glare at him. "Got it!?"
"Y-Y-Yes!" He choked through the pain.
"Good!" Suigetsu looked to the staring crew members. "Well? What the fuck are you waiting for? Supplies are stocked, right?" He scoffed at their nervous nods. "Drag this cripple to the wheel and bandage him up."
They looked to the Steam ninja posted at the dock, but they just ignored them. Lacking any local backing to make up for the loss of their highly trained mercenary, they went along with it. Suigetsu led them up their newly acquired ship. Of course, his tagalongs had questions.
"You do know we could've taken a ship going to the Land of Water instead of stealing this one, right?" Karin asked, shaking her head at his whole display.
Naruto scoffed. "Don't be lame; look at this thing!" He held out his arms and Jugo copied the gesture, thinking there was some special feeling to it. "We're riding in style!"
"I wanted it, so I took it." Suigetsu groaned. "Can't you understand that much, woman?"
Karin's face scrunched. "'Woman?' What's that supposed to mean?
"You are a woman, aren't you?" He deadpanned.
"Could've fooled me." Naruto ducked a slapping chain. "You look like a boy sometimes, alright?" He launched himself into the air out of a few wrapping ones with wind chakra. "I'm just being honest."
"For the love of…" Drifting off, Suigetsu patted his pockets. "Where did I…"
He landed right by the perplexed wheel-handling captain. "By the way, we're going to the Land of Whirlpools first."
"No we're fucking not." Suigetsu stomped over to them, eyes telling more than needed to be said.
Naruto smiled before thinning his lips into a line. "I can kill you so leave it." He returned the look. "Or is that what you're doing all this for?"
He stared at him for a minute, rubbed the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Fine." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what he acquired far earlier. "Just light this up for me."
He blinked at the shoddy-looking roll of paper. "...Huh" Tilting his head, he lifted a hand to its tip. "I haven't seen one of these in years." A snap of his fingers sprang a spark. "Mind if I try?"
Suigetsu rolled his eyes before taking a drag. "Sure."
Karin squinted at them. "What are y—" Her nose twitched and so did she. "You can't be serious." She gaped at Naruto putting it to his lips. "Don't do that!"
He breathed in, burst into a coughing fit, and wiped his mouth. "But I've never…" He tilted his head. "Huh…" Blinking, he looked around, finally settling in after a minute. "..We're on a snow boat."
"Oh for the love of!" She pointed an arm at him and looked to Suigetsu. "Well, I hope you're happy! Now he's going to use drugs to cope!"
"It's just a little grass; aren't you from the Hidden Grass?" He took the not-quite-medicinal cigarette back. "And no he's not." Taking another drag, he shook his head. "This doesn't make you forget."
"Then why are you smoking it?!"
Suigetsu glanced at the crippled captain. "Do you even have to ask?" He shook his head. "Can't turn it off, but you can't see shit."
She scoffed. "I can see that you're an asshole."
"No," Naruto said, "he just wants to be loved." He leaned back and fell down. "Doesn't everybody want to be loved?" Jugo walked over to him but he shook his head. "I'm..good. Thanks and sorry… I'm so sorry."
"How is that even affecting you?!" She squinted at his unchanging chakra. "You're faking it."
"I'm not, but I'm still the same." He smiled. "I'm not, but I'm still the same." Blinking, he frowned. "I'm not, but I'm still the same." Sadness and hurt crept into his voice.
"Come on." Suigetsu handed the burning roll out to her.
"No!"
Naruto raised a finger as if he had the correct answer. "Yes."
Suigetsu sighed. "You just don't know how to have fun." He laughed at the denial on her face.
"I'm fun!"
"No you're not," he said matter-of-factly.
Karin crossed her arms. "You guys are just miserable."
"Bitch." He didn't react in the slightest at her chain passing through him. "Out of all of us, you care the most about people you really shouldn't."
"People only care when I make things worse," Naruto muttered to himself.
"Oh, so I'm miserable because I'm not as much of an asshole as either of you?"
He squinted, as if she said the dumbest thing he ever heard. "No, you're miserable because you're a neurotic woman riding a fucking high horse because the worst you ever had to deal with was a few guys groping your pathetic excuse for an ass and tits." Skillfully maneuvering his aquatic limbs, he preserved the cigarette for further smoking.
"She let me rub her… Just a girl and already so big but not pregnant." Naruto grabbed his head as Jugo began rubbing his back. "Please…don't be pregnant. Anything but that, please. She…They deserve better than that."
"Having something tragic in your life doesn't mean anything you do is right!" Karin, too absorbed with the one who could still stand, was at her limit.
"When have I ever tried to justify a single thing I've done?" Suigetsu groaned, not feeling relaxed at all. "I don't have some grand tragedy in my life, anything I feel like I'm missing, or something to prove." He sighed as he held out the 'happy' smoke one more time. "Now are you going to try to chill, or do you really want to keep bitching?"
"If it will make you shut up!" She snatched it out of his hands, took a drag, and burst into a coughing fit. "See?!" Handing it back, she waved away the smoke and stood unamused for a minute before it kicked in. "...Woah."
"Yeah, that's that good shit." He looked down. "Am I ri–" The odd muttering he'd been hearing the entire time finally registered. "Oh, you're freaking." Squatting down, he observed his current state.
Naruto covered his face, trying to block everything out. "The weight of the air is torture… I want to be reborn as something pure, but there's only bad things here."
"Focus on the good things, maaaan."
"Don't make me. I can't…" Giving a long drawn-out groan, he rocked himself. "Idon'twanttothinkIdon'twanttothinkIdon'twanttothinkIdon'twanttothinkIdon'twanttothinkIdon'twanttothin–"
Suigetsu patted his shoulder and pointed at the sky. "Hey." He laughed at him getting up to look.
"Wh-Wh-What?" His head turned on a swivel.
"See that bright thing beneath the clouds?"
He squinted. "The sun?"
A wide shark toothy grin spread across his face. "It's a star." He snickered at the utterly mystified look on his.
"...Holy shit."
While Suigetsu amused the other newcomer by pointing out mundane facts about everyday things, Karin sprawled out on the snowy deck herself. She rolled around a bit, getting a feeling for it. On her back, she raised her hands to block the snowflakes and laughed, realizing she probably looked much like a cat. That reminded her of something.
"I'm..an orphan, you know?" She looked up to their upside-down figures. "But you don't see me killing people just 'cause."
Suigetsu laughed. "That's most ninja." He hummed while she pouted. "Though, you are from a dead clan."
She copied his hum. "My mom said we were scattered across the lands." Groaning, she shook her head. "I thought everyone with red hair was an Uzumaki, like an idiot, when the only other I ever met is blond."
"Did mine have red hair?" Naruto asked in a whisper filled with yearning.
"Stupid red."
"Why don't you ever talk about her?" He clutched his heart. "Please don't… Please don't."
"Because she's dead and I didn't know my dad," Karin answered, not knowing who he was talking to and spiting him.
It opened in his chakra if not literally. "I… I just wanted you to love me." The words, desperate and earnest, came deep from the depths of his soul, drawing her to cry audibly.
"Fuck." Suigetsu shook his head. "Don't get high with people who don't know how to get high." He tried to go for another drag to see the roll between Jugo's pouting lips, having felt left out and upset it was having no effect on him.
"We're going home!" Karin bawled. "We're going to see our family!" The tears ran down the sides of her face. "It's okay, Naruto!"
Suigetsu sighed. "It's not, actually: the Land of Eddies is cursed." He looked to the nearby terrified deckhands. "People who leave shore there just disappear, right?" Their nods had him nodding to a beat in his head. "Yeah… Yeah. Yeah!"
"...But why though?" Naruto asked, distracted from his woes again.
"We gonna find out." He collapsed into a puddlegetsu. on to the deck. "And it's probably going to suuuuck."
He gave another groan as Jugo joined them. "That's just life."
"You're just high, man."
"No… I'm just hurt."
Laying there, they bickered and observed their surroundings for a few hours, to the terror of the commandeered crew. Whatever joy or terror they felt was gone by the time it got dark. Their positions remained comfortable, having been in them for some time despite the snow melting from their body heat. A few thoughts remained.
"...Suigetsu," Naruto said. "You did all this because you could, right?" He turned to see his nodding head. "Life is unfair and shit just happens, so who cares?"
"Pretty much." Suigetsu yawned. "You get it."
"Yeah… Who fucking cares what anyone does?" He frowned. "Torture, neglect, and villify children. Rape, steal, and drug women. Enslave, kill, and mutilate men." Gritting his teeth, he could barely restrain his growl. "It makes me sick!"
"...Huh?"
"There's no punishment. Retribution, sure, but no one actually cares unless they can get it, which is almost always through a shinobi." Raising his upper body, he glared at the few present deck hands with red eyes, scaring them even more. "Look at these worthless pieces of shit. They're no different than the villagers back in Mori and those Steam ninja."
Karin's face scrunched in confusion and at the audacity in the way he sounded. "They're all weaker than us."
"So what? They think what we did was wrong, right? None of them want to do what we're telling them to?"
"What the hell are you getting at?"
"They have no spirit, conviction, or faith: they have no 'virtue.'"
"Are you still high?" Suigetsu asked, nodding along. "Or am I? Because you make perfect sense."
"How?!" Karin gaped at him.
Naruto grimaced. "They're people, and they let themselves be slaves. They're ninja but beg for mercy from the enemy. When I first heard the word, I really didn't get it but now I do after ruling over these fucking idiots." He shook his head. "If they don't believe anything or follow anything, they may as well be cattle, which is exactly what they are."
"You just said you hate the idea of nothing being wrong!"
"I did and I do." He looked back at the civilians, as if seeing through them. "Those without virtue can have anything done to them as far as I care."
She really couldn't believe the absolute certainty in his chakra. "Then why don't you hate Suigetsu for not standing up to you just then?!"
"Because he already did, and he's just going along so he can finish what he started all this for." He turned to him, expecting confirmation.
Suigetsu laughed in surprise. "Yeah." Standing up, he frowned and looked out at the water. "...Did you know the entire time?"
"When I saw the boat, I did."
Karin looked from one to the other before settling back on what was always the main problem. "...Does Rika lack virtue then, Naruto?"
"Just like a woman to go straight for the balls." Suigetsu shook his head.
"She has it." He wasn't angry or surprised he mentioned her at all. "I can't believe it, but she called me a good person." Smiling at the memory, he felt the pain of who she reminded him of. "Guess no matter what shitty things I do off whims, I can't get rid of that."
"Then… Then what do you want?" Karin finally asked. "Why are you with Orochimaru?"
"...I'm going to make everyone who ever crossed me pay." His eyes reddened and his whiskers deepened. "I'm going to kill everyone who comes after me until they stop." Before Kurama's chakra could bubble around him, he relaxed. "Then… I'll decide what to do from there."
Suigetsu sighed. "You're hopeless."
"I know." He looked at them both and smiled. "Thanks for calling me out." A grin that hadn't been on his face for the longest time spread open. "I forgot what it felt like to be normal."
They exchange confused looks before realization struck. He'd been a walking god among men for a good few months and a living demon for most of his entire life. Most lacked the will and foresight to confront him about anything, like they did until recently. Kabuto was the only one to outright put his foot down, and he was the one person he seemed to actually listen to aside from Jugo.
All, realizing it'd been some time since they saw him, looked around and found him sitting off in the corner with his cheeks puffed. He looked angry and frustrated in the most childish way possible. From the way their three way conversation was going, it could be from anything. Asking felt like a bad idea though.
Naruto wasn't afraid. "What's wrong?"
"Everyone got to be funny and say weird things but me." He looked away, very much upset he had all the rest of it and still wasn't affected.
"...But you do that all the time."
Jugo blinked. "Huh… I do, don't I?" He relaxed.
"I am never getting high again," Suigetsu said, grimacing at the thought.
"Good." Naruto nodded. "Because I'll kill you if you do." Stretching, he yawned. "That shit's poison."
Karin tilted her head. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."
Suigetsu clucked his tongue. "And here you were yelling at me about it." He laughed at her blush.
"You were being a bad influence on Naruto!"
"He's a bad influence on himself!"
"Man, if only you knew," the young man in question muttered.
She gave them both looks before focusing on him. "Wait a minute, you think I have no 'virtue?'" He did agree with Suigetsu about the comparison to the Steam ninja.
"Honestly?" He gave her one of his own. "Why are you even here? You don't like what we do but stand by and do nothing about it anyway."
"That's…" She drifted off, realizing his point, and twitched at Suigetsu bursting into further laughter.
Naruto frowned. "If we weren't related and you weren't useful, I would have never bothered with you." He widened his eyes slightly at the visible pain on her face at those words.
"I.. I don't know where else to go," Karin admitted. "I've been gone from my village for years now, I was a genin for a week, I have manifested several kekkei genkai, and I'm too powerful to just walk in to any asking for a place." She held herself. "My mother told me never to tell any or they'd…"
"That's fine." He smiled. "We're family, right? Family is supposed to pick family over everyone else," the pain, want, and earnestness deep in his being when he said that was only visible to her.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes when she embraced him. He gave a small laugh when Jugo joined in. It was all so ridiculous, but that was the world they lived in. Killing countless in the pursuit of profit was justifiable in interest of the villages yet monstrous if done for one's self regardless of reason.
Their journey continued.
With what little information they had, there weren't many moves they could make. Splitting up was a bad idea against greater numbers, but they had three graves left to defend. The monks, however inferior in ability, were backing them up although the best they could do was harry the enemy and act as meat shields. A price too big to pay meant they had to though, not that they didn't mind: it was their home under attack and their responsibility.
Shikamaru, Ino, Sayuri, and Ferret were posted at the grave most distant from where the group was last detected, Asuma not wanting to lead the remnants of his team in such a personal mission. Asuma and Chiriku had the grave closest to the temple and therefore closest to the rest if they needed reinforcements. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura covered the last grave closest to the enemy. Dosu was on the walls of the temple itself, far more useful as living non interceptable comms and a long range sneak attacker if necessary. He would've preemptively ruptured the ear drums of every hostile, but they deduced from the recorded movements by Ino and Ferret their sensors were superior, and he would die first to bizarrely advanced Earth Style jutsu the monks observed them using from an impossible range.
"They're coming," Ino and Ferret said in unison, sparking the monks to draw weapons and drop into stances.
In the darkness of the woods, two identical men in different clothes with swords walked out. Neither looked happy but one was more passive. The sterner of the two took point, stepping over pit traps and deliberately triggering the projectiles. Sparks flew from a shining unidentifiable blur smacking every shuriken and kunai away. All along, he never broke his stride and his hand remained on the hilt of his blade.
Sayuri gaped alongside Ino behind her mask. "Holy shit!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru squatted down and made the signature hand sign of his clan.
His shadow, already merged into the blackness of night, immediately took form. Spikes erupted from the nothingness to skewer his enemies. Then they stopped. As if something held them back at the last second, the sharp tips rested just before they could pierce their vitals.
"Brother mine." A voice said from all around them. "Brother mine?"
"What the…" He stared as a skull-masked woman in two dimensions emerged before him. "Another one of Orochimaru's experiments?" Gritting his teeth, he struggled to muster control over the shadows.
"The Snake." She tilted her head. "Ah, you seek the boy marked by The Hateful One." She hummed, droning in their ears. "I see him sailing into the void between worlds." Getting closer, everything was clearer yet uncertain. "The broken shards of creation reflect eternity." She froze. "...Who is that behind him?" Her form moved close enough to kiss, eye-holes lined perfectly with his. "Ah… I understand. He must descend to become exalted."
Nothing dwelled behind her mask. Both sensors couldn't detect her chakra until the second his shadows stopped. Even if they could, it wouldn't have mattered. She was too captivated by insight his chakra unintentionally streaming into her, transmitting his thoughts to give her endless being focus, gave to kill them. They were already outclassed.
AN: I did not mean to info dump that much in the beginning, but it seemed impossible. Can't exactly justify leaving everyone out of the loop and introducing it through dialogue all throughout. Besides, gives me time to flesh out Asuma a bit. This filler was kind of his own arc, huh? Granted, it could've been done better. And I will do my best at that. Just don't expect this to end the same way. I mean, I just threw in something completely original into the mix to lead into something else way later. Got other things planned too.
Did not mean to have the ship scene go on for so long either, but it really felt like they all needed a moment to be people. Most of their relationship as a group has been bickering following Naruto's orders rather than real personal interactions. This, at least this part of the story, is Suigetsu's arc though because I want to do things with Suigetsu. God, all of Taka was a waste of potential. Just living plot armor for Sasuke.
Morality and child soldiers are two very interesting contradictory things. Cognitive dissonance is a very common thing these days. Human ethics are an absolute mess. If you know a bit, you'll better understand the point of view Naruto has at the moment. Virtue ethics (Naruto), Utilitarianism (Karin), and Egoism (Suigetsu). Deontology is coming up and I guess has always been a thing (Minato, Danzo, and Hiruzen). Doing the right thing is complicated, and I guess that's now the theme of this arc because I didn't have an idea for one. Weird coincidence, honestly. I just think about this kind of stuff in relation to characters when I try to make everything feel more alive while I'm writing.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM and inform me of any possible errors or contradictions because I have been working overtime for the better part of month and my mind isn't completely there when I write these days, unfortunately.