Chapter 105: Chapter 103 : Planning for Dawn (3)
"And then he slaughtered all of Gato's men with the angels he created." Yuki Haku finished his long story of how he and Naruto met.
"He spared our lives and let us return to Kiri. Ever since then, we've served Mizukage-sama."
Mitarashi Anko smirked at the girly-looking kid. "Sounds like something my soldier boy would do." She said with amusement. Of course Naruto would turn an enemy into a friend, and then assign them in protecting one of the women that held his heart.
"So, what's this S-ranked mission Mei needs me specifically for?" She asked for the twentieth time. She thought that, if she asked enough times, they'd get annoyed enough to actually tell her.
Momochi Zabuza sighed. "The answer isn't going to change if you ask it enough, Anko-san." He shook his head. "Mizukage-sama will debrief you when we arrive in Kirigakure. We cannot explain anymore because we don't know, either."
Anko huffed. It annoyed her that she was called away for a mission right when Naruto was about to return. It sucked.
"Yeah, yeah, I just thought I'd try one more time." Anko replied.
"That's what you said last time, Anko-san." Haku explained.
Anko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, chuckling humorlessly.
This was going to be a long trip, she could just feel it.
...
Four days.
It had only been four days and Tsunade was already regretting accepting the position of Hokage.
Tsunade had thought that Naruto and his students were going to accompany her to the village. They had sought her out and given her the position, after all. But that was not the case. Apparently, Naruto and his students had more urgent matters to attend to, so Tsunade was forced to endure the trip with only Jiraiya.
Oh, Shizune was with them, but she wasn't enough to combat the annoying pervert.
She was really pissed at the "godslayer", which, in her opinion, was as silly a moniker as it was untrue. Uzumaki Naruto did not "slay" a god. Yes, he fought one, but that wasn't actually killing it.
But no one cared whether or not he actual slew a god. Naruto had become something of an icon around Konoha, and the people ate that godslayer shit up.
Even the civilians were whispering about him, which was strange since Jiraiya had explained that most of the civilians outright hated him, and didn't try to hide the fact.
She had immediately gone to her sensei and began treating him the day she first arrived. It would take a little while, but she was sure that he would recover.
His body was still broken, even though he was brought back to life – which still confused her – and needed advanced healing methods. If anyone could survive it, Sarutobi Hiruzen could.
The mess that was left over from the invasion was going to take her months to sort through. Just thinking about it all gave her a headache, which was why she had a bottle of sake on her desk. Sipping from her cup, her mind wondered to the plan Naruto and Jiraiya came up with.
Really, it just made her job all the harder.
Apparently, the Akatsuki wanted the Bijuu. And with their members, attaining them wouldn't be all that difficult. Itachi had told Naruto that they worked in pairs, and that every team could capture a Jinchuuriki.
The only reason they hadn't yet, was because their leader, Pain, hadn't given them the go ahead yet. That kind of confidence usually was born from arrogance, but when the words come from someone like Uchiha Itachi, it carries more weight.
Naruto, however, disrupted their methods. The Akatsuki, with the subtle urging of Itachi, had to finally admit that the Kamikage was not someone they could handle with their system of two for every Jinchuuriki.
Instead, they would hunt all the other sacrifices, like usual, and when it came time for Naruto, they'd all face him. Together.
The fact that Pain is supposedly more powerful than Itachi did not bode well for them. Any fight, any real fight, between Pain and Naruto would be catastrophic to the surroundings, and if other S-ranked shinobi joined in… Tsunade shuddered at the thought.
The clearing where Kisame and Naruto went at it was decimated. Multiply that by somewhere near one hundred and she came to a pretty accurate conclusion.
It would be Armageddon.
And that – Armageddon – was not healthy for the village. So to make sure that Konoha and her citizens were safe, Naruto and Jiraiya came up with a plan. They'd leave Konoha for a few years, warning the Jinchuuriki about the Akatsuki.
That way, if they decided to expedite their plans, their battle – which Tsunade seriously hoped she was as far away as possible when it happened – wouldn't wipe Konoha – or all of Hi no Kuni – off the map.
Within those few years, Naruto would warn the Jinchuuriki, and prepare his students for what is to come. And the Akatsuki wasn't the only enemy they needed to prepare for. Iwa officially closed its borders. This meant that they didn't want to even try to repair their broken treaty.
War was inevitable with Iwa, and quite possibly Suna. The Hidden Sand was without their Kazekage, and they lost a lot of shinobi during the invasion. Their borders weren't officially closed, and they did, allegedly, want to work things out.
So Tsunade was expected to combat the Akatsuki, repair relations between Suna, prepare for war against Iwa, and rebuild and recover from the invasion.
Yeah… why in Kami's name did she accept this thrice-damned position?
Tsunade took another drink of her sake.
...
Sarutobi Konohamaru was the grandson of the mighty Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, the very village the boy was named after. He was an aspiring shinobi working his way to his dream in the academy.
As the grandson of such a powerful man, Konohamaru was expected to be just as elite as his grandfather and uncle, Sarutobi Asuma, who was a former member of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi. Konohamaru, however, was not much more than an average ten year old.
He didn't have a secret, powerful bloodline. He wasn't a prodigy in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu. He wasn't extra smart, and his grades were just above average.
There wasn't much that differed between him and the other academy students. He was an average academy student, with only one thing that made him stand out.
Determination.
Sarutobi Konohamaru never took shortcuts. Ever. His dream was to become Hokage one day, so that he could be seen as more than just the Sandaime's "honorable grandson".
So he was determined to do anything and everything to become stronger, a disposition he required from Uzumaki Naruto, who he was always really close to, Naruto being his grandfather's right hand.
That's why he was out so late, training in the training ground his grandfather granted him access to.
His entire body ached from his head to his toes, and he felt like he'd fall asleep standing up at any moment. He had worked on everything. Academy students weren't taught any ninjutsu yet, so all he could train in was the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique).
He managed to produce one copy of himself today, and that was a victory in his eyes. He had also gone through the kata the academy taught hundreds of times, and the surrounding trees were full of kunai. Yes, the day had been a good day.
As he walked – more like limped – through the silent and empty streets of Konoha, he saw them.
And they were taking her.
And so did the second, and last, special trait of Konohamaru's, blossom.
Loyalty.
Loyalty to Naruto, and his people.
So he followed. He silently followed the figures as they dashed towards the gates with her in their grasps, the breeze blowing her pink hair about.
He needed to leave a trail, but he really hated the way Naruto told him how to do such a thing in a situation like this one.
He looked at his long, blue scarf that once belonged to his great grandfather Sarutobi Sasuke, and sighed.
...
Weekly Power Status
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