Chapter 224: Hyuga Clan (1)
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Sakura was standing in the Hokage's office with Naruto, and she meekly let Tsunade know about their request.
"So, as Neji had said, Sasori has a spy in Orochimaru's ranks. That spy and Sasori are supposed to meet in 7 days from today." Sakura reported. "I… and Naruto plan to go there – tomorrow morning – in Sasori's stead and get information about Orochimaru's hideout from the spy. Once we do that, we plan to go and rescue Sasuke."
Tsunade looked at her face for a long minute, but once she glanced at Naruto she just sighed. "Kakashi is injured, you know that? He isn't and wouldn't be in a position to take missions for a week or two."
"..."
"..."
"On top of that," Tsunade continued. "You lack a teammate. From the report of the Akatsuki battle, I am not sure if you two alone would be able to handle Orochimaru in the worst-case scenario where you'd have to fight him."
After a long minute of silence, Sakura was about to sigh, but Naruto finally said something.
"We will manage, somehow!" Naruto yelled from beside Sakura. "We can't just give up on this chance to take Sasuke back! Granny Hokage, please!"
Sakura flinched at his blunt 'Granny'. She watched as Tsunade glared at Naruto before sighing.
"Lady Tsunade," Sakura said. "I… I can ask Neji to heal Kakashi-sensei. His cat knows some advanced Medical Jutsus."
"Really?" Tsunade blinked in curiosity.
"Yes. That cat- Kurai, she healed Kankuro when I was having trouble. And all it took was a few seconds." Sakura said. "As for our teammate… we can ask Neji to join."
Naruto blinked at that. "Yeah! With Neji, even if ten Orochimarus appear, we will be fine! He defeated the Sh-"
"Naruto!" Sakura immediately threw a punch at Naruto's abdomen, making him fall to his knees with his lips sealed.
"Augh… sorry about that." Naruto said from the floor.
"Unfortunately, no." Tsunade shook her head at Sakura's question, ignoring Naruto entirely. "He is a Jounin and has a team of his own. I am doing you a favour by allowing you guys to go after a missing-nin like Sasuke at all. I can't compromise more by sending Neji."
"..."
"Fine," Tsunade sighed. "Someone… recommend a new teammate for your team already. As for Kakashi, you can ask Neji if he can help or not, and if he can't I will prepare a trustworthy Jounin captain for you. Just make sure you return safely, okay?"
Sakura sighed but nodded in the end (while forcing Naruto to nod). This was better than nothing.
Now, she just has to wait until Neji returns.
—★—
It took Neji and his girls around 3 hours to reach Konoha by flight. He could go faster but had to take a moderate speed because of his girls. Once there, he showed his identification and mission scroll to the gatekeepers and was soon allowed inside. There, he went to Hokage's office. Because although Tsunade met him before, it was an unofficial meeting, and they still had to report the completion of the mission the usual way.
Temari tagged along because she had a scroll of her own to get the approval of.
-Knock Knock!
"Come in."
Upon knocking twice, he heard Tsunade's commanding voice as he stepped inside with his Team.
"Ah, it's you Neji." Tsunade's stoic face loosened, though she did look confused at Temari's appearance.
On the other hand, there were two more people present in the room. Though some might confuse them for a single person using Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"Neji, my student!" Might Guy yelled out, giving Neji a thumbs up. "I heard of your legends in the recent mission, I am proud of you!"
[Might Guy - Low Tier 8]
"Me too, Neji, my eternal rival!" Rock Lee gave a similar thumbs-up, one of his eyes closed and his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth. "How I wish I was present there to fight the Akatsuki as well!"
[Rock Lee - Peak Tier 6]
Neji smiled at them. He liked the positivity of them both. Also, it seemed their Tiers were only considering their Base Form powers. With the Gates open, they would surely be stronger.
'Speaking of the eight gates…'
Neji would have to ask the big man to teach that to him sometimes, and given their relationship, he was sure the Green Beast wouldn't let him down.
"Good to see you guys too. But yeah, you should have gone with me, it was fun." Neji said, walking over to Tsunade as he handed her over the mission scroll.
"Great job with the mission, but don't listen to them, Neji." Tsunade said, accepting his scroll as she eyed the green duo with playful annoyance. "They just returned taking care of two Akatsuki members themselves."
'Damn, they did!?' Neji snapped his head in their direction, watching Might Guy grin widely. "Really, sensei?"
"Hah! My student, just because you're a jounin now, I can't let you overshadow me!" Might Guy curled his biceps. "Hokage-sama speaks the truth. We took care of two guys named Hidan and Kakuzu. The former in particular was annoying, he was actually immortal. A follower of some God called Jashin or something. However, he's now being interrogated by Konoha ninjas, after all- what is immortality when you have broken arms and legs?"
Heh. He had a point. Also, this meant even the small fact that Neji and Guy had different teams now had created many deviations in the timeline, more than there already were from Lady Luck's reality overwrite. Hidan and Kakuzu were supposed to face Team Asuma and Team Kakashi respectively, but they rather faced Guy's team. Though Neji wasn't that shocked that these two managed to defeat those two.
"Are you guys okay though? The Akatsuki are quite strong, honestly. You guys probably got pushed to use 7th Gates." Neji asked, genuinely worried.
"Oh yes, we had to. We were hurt quite badly too, but Hokage-sama healed us." Guy said. "Though we are told not to take missions for a while, and it still hurts."
Neji poked Kurai after hearing that, hearing her groan. She still ran to the green duo, making them blink in confusion, as she cast a spell.
"[High Heal]"
Two magic circles materialised under the two beasts, but they didn't step out of them. Soon, everyone watched as a pure green light shone from the magic circles, enveloping them both before setting off a few seconds after.
"…Whoa." Guy and Lee looked surprised at first, but they soon grinned. "Damn, Kurai learned some good Jutsu since the last time we met, huh? I feel better… than ever. Holy shit, the pain in my lower back is gone!?"
"Sensei, my knees don't hurt anymore too!"
"Lee!"
The two men hugged, muttering weird lines to each other while Neji decided to ignore them and focus and turn into a shocked Tsunade.
"Are you fine, Lady Hokage?" Neji asked, worried.
"I-" she eyed Kurai. "What's your cat's name, again? I am sure she must be famous in the land of summons if she's this good. Even Katsuyu, my Summon, wouldn't be able to heal that level of deep and old injuries, let alone so fast."
"Her name is Kurai," Neji said, catching Kurai in his arms. "But I doubt the Great Slug would recognise her. She's a shut-in, to speak. Not many know her."
Unlike Neji, Kurai didn't have a background of her own. Her new memories only consisted of the times when she was summoned by Neji. She had no real identity in the land of summons.
In any case, Kurai didn't seem to like his excuse. "You know, it's not me who's a shut-in. It's mommy. She doesn't go out, not my fault. And you rarely take me out. Tsk."
"Oh, she has a mother?" Tsunade asked, curious. "What's her name? I am sure Katsuyu would know her."
"Her name is Kimi Sugihara," Kurai replied, grumpy. "And shes a better blonde than y-"
"Ahaha, Kurai, why don't you go play outside?" Neji interrupted her. 'Unless you'd like me to un-summon you and send you back to my inventory?'
"...Bye, Papa! See you later!"
Kurai immediately turned around, lumping out of the window.
"Huh? Hey, I couldn't hear you!" Tsunade, curious about what the cat was about to say, reached out her hand, but Kurai had run out by then. "Aww…"
"In any case," Neji cleared his throat. "We have… something special to approve of too. Temari, if you will."
Temari, finally brought to attention, pulled out a scroll and handed it over to Tsunade. When Tsunade started to read, Guy and Lee decided to take a leave.
"Come to train with us sometimes, Neji!"
"Yeah, I bet it will be fun!"
The duo said before running off while muttering something about celebrating the renewal of their flames of youth after Kurai healed them.
Meanwhile, Tsunade read the scroll with a small frown. From time to time, she took glances at Temari as she read. Finally, she released a deep sigh and put her fingers together after putting the scroll down.
"'Along with the other gifts we agreed upon to give Kohona for their help, we are also sending one of our top Jounins. However, she is to work with Neji Hyuga only.' That's what the scroll said, in short." Tsunade read, eyeing Neji and Temari for a moment before she sighed after visibly controlling a scowl. "Well, a new Jounin to the village isn't a bad thing, I suppose. I will leave her lodging and everything else in your care, Neji. Make sure she spends the best time in Konoha."
Temari smiled at the last part. "Don't worry, I am sure he will make sure of that one."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes on that but didn't say anything else on that topic. "In any case, with this the meeting is dismissed. Please check your payment for the mission on your way."
Everyone bowed, before taking their leaves. However, when Neji was about to leave, she called. "Wait… Neji. Can you stay back for a minute? I swear it wouldn't take long."
Temari seemed to narrow her eyes on that, but once Neji agreed, she and the others had no choice but to go.
"So, what's up Lady Hokage?"
"I told you to call me Tsunade when we are alone, right?" Tsunade said, gesturing to him to take a seat.
"True. But are we ever alone? Don't you always have Anbu lurking around here?" Neji asked, taking a seat on the other side of the table.
Tsunade smiled, resting her chin on her hand. "I have sent the Anbu away. I always do that whenever I am alone with you, Neji. But you already knew that, didn't you?"
Neji smiled at that, taking a similar pose as her. "I did. But that's exactly the point. You should have put your guard up the moment I asked that question since I should always know if there are people around me or not. Right? Hey, I might be an impostor, any day. You should stop sending the Anbu away."
Tsunade revealed a smile at that. "I can tell apart an impostor from the real one. Always, when it comes to you."
"Are you sure?" Neji asked, his eyebrows raised. "Are you certain that- just because someone has white hair and blue eyes, you wouldn't assume they're me?"
Tsunade immediately froze.
"...Did I say something wrong?" Neji said in feigned ignorance, blinking. "Hokage-sama, are you-"
"I- I am fine." Tsunade interrupted him, suddenly her eyes wide. "Um… I- Neji, I am sorry, but can you leave? I am not feeling well. Sorry to waste your time like this."
Neji pretended to try to object but then closed his mouth. "Alright."
Then, he walked out, leaving a confused and disturbed Tsunade in the office.
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