Darui had been in Iwa for several days. He'd made no progress, the Tsuchikage wanting to speak about everything but the reason for the Kumo Nin's visit. Now, he was headed to a rock garden, hopefully, to start their talks in earnest. He moved silently across the gravelly walkways, it not even requiring effort. As he trudged along he eventually spotted Onoki sitting by a cliff. Darui joined him, making sure to make his presence known.
"Darui-san, thank you for joining me," Onoki greeted.
"Thank you for having me, Onoki-sama," Darui responded.
"Despite what your time here may indicate, I do tend to prefer getting to the point of things. I won't apologize for giving you the runaround as I needed to know what kind of man you are. You see, after his abrupt exit from Suna, no sitting Kage will ally with Ay. Sure, none of us sincerely believed he fled in fear, but that is the perception and it is one that benefits us all."
"Forgive my bluntness, Onoki-sama, but if the answer was going to be no then why the games?"
"Because Ay would have lost his temper, blustered and threatened. Even with an inferior hand, he projects strength as if the world will cower as a result. You remained patient and focused. That's good to know for the time ahead."
"Times ahead?" Darui questioned.
"Ay has made war an inevitability. If for no other reason than to reclaim your jinchuuriki and Kumo's loss of reputation. Add to that, Tsunade is not Hiruzen and won't extend herself as far for the sake of peace. No, war is coming and I am confident Kumo cannot win though I doubt that's news to you. Even if your goal is to kill much of the new generation, how many will you sacrifice to do so? How many of your future will you jeopardize just to hobble Konoha's own?"
Darui remained silent. He didn't disagree with the protector of Iwa and felt no need to mount a hollow defense.
"So, Ay's war is inevitable. Unless it isn't. You have one chance to avoid this, Darui-san but I do not know if you have it in you to do so."
"And what is this path that is clear to only you, Onoki-sama?"
"Iwa will not ally with Raikage Ay, that is the way it must be. But I would enter a partnership with Raikage Darui," Onoki explained. He saw the Kumo Jounin have no outward reaction but that didn't surprise him. He'd taken the man's measure and did not find him wanting. Onoki turned to leave him saying, " I'll leave you here to think about that," as he departed. Darui would stay there for several hours before returning to his room.
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Tap. Tap. Tap. No other sounds could be heard from the Hokage's office but Tsunade's slow, deliberate taps. The office was full, her ANBU detail hidden in the shadows, Jiraiya standing at her side, Shibi Aburame and Shikaku Nara standing behind their sons. And, most importantly, the three vexing brats, two standing at attention, the last in clear defiance.
A part of her wanted to wring their little necks, strutting into her office and abducting an asset and then disappearing the body. The Hyuuga and Inuzuka ANBU present at the scene hadn't reported any sign of Kabuto. It was an excellent display of tradecraft. The ninja in her was impressed. But they completely undermined a future operation, one of unknown significance. Maybe she should point them eastward and send them on a campaign of conquest, mandating none of them could see their respective girlfriends until Kumo fell. That would be adequate retaliation. She fought back a smirk, reasoning it'd probably take them a month. Then she observed the Nara, noticing he seemed twitchy for a Nara and recalled the last time Temari had been within the village. The Godaime knocked her estimate down to two weeks.
"Hime," Jiraiya called out, likely afraid that her silence was just the build up to an epic tantrum.
"How do you three want to play this? Sure, you covered your tracks so there is no evidence but last I checked, I'm not military police and don't require any. Or, better yet, the lack of evidence is surely evidence in itself. So, you want to play the denial game or you want to cut the shit and confess?" Tsunade asked.
"Before they answer, Tsunade-sama, we feel we must point out that Kabuto Yakushi had made an attempt on their lives once before," Shikaku started.
"I'm aware," Tsunade responded. "The Sandaime saw fit not to take official action against him," she finished in disgust.
"Yes, he refused official action but never forbade the inflicted clans from seeking retribution. As I am sure you are aware, should a Konoha ninja ever attempt to target a clan ninja, the clans are empowered to seek retribution proportional to the offense. If this clause is to be ignored, it must be done by official decree and due compensation must be given to the targeted parties and their respective clans," Shibi explained.
"Furthermore," Shikaku picked up, "the Sandaime's refusal to punish Kabuto and his decision to hide the traitor's actions could be taken as another attempt by the Sandaime to interfere in the internal workings of the Uzumaki Clan as Naruto was the primary target. The Sandaime may have wanted Kabuto to try again, hoping for success so he'd have much weaker and potentially more pliable members to manipulate."
"So, your argument is whether or not they did it, they had the right to do it because Sensei didn't fill out the proper paperwork?" Jiraiya asked in mild disbelief.
"Yes," Shibi answered. His response was met with a sigh from the blonde Hokage. She should have known, with both clan heads being in the tower before their sons had even arrived, that the boys had figured some way out trouble should they be brought in. It was a deft use of politics and if she ignored their arguments it'd cause a strain between her and two parties she couldn't afford to alienate.
"As Sensei hadn't notified you of Kabuto's actions nor taken the proper steps to forestall any retaliatory efforts, I have no choice but to close this matter but please be aware of my great displeasure. Maybe you had a right to do what you did but it doesn't make it right. I hope we can live with the consequences of your actions. Everyone, save Jiraiya and Naruto, is dismissed." The Nara and the Aburame vacated, both Shika and Shino giving Naruto's shoulders a friendly squeeze before they left. He was alone now.
"I'm mad at your teammates but I am deeply disappointed in you," Tsunade said and had to ignore the twinge of pain she felt when Naruto's face seemed genuinely hurt by her words for the briefest of moments. "Before you say anything, I know Kabuto tried to kill your team. I know he was likely going to try again and maybe it is unfair I expected you to just accept he still had a use, but he did. He was our best chance to get Zetsu and you took him off the table entirely. Not only that, but you should have trusted that I wouldn't let any harm come to you."
"You couldn't promise that," Naruto argued. "You had no idea how he'd try, what he'd do and when he'd spring his trap. Him out of the village was one thing but this place is either my home or it isn't. The old man couldn't seem to decide or just didn't give a shit to. I thought you'd be different."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tsunade asked as he was now her turn to be hurt.
"I know what it is to go to sleep surrounded by enemies, to only have a degree of safety because someone I couldn't trust was holding the leash on people who'd see me harmed if they could. I can't allow that now and certainly not someone that close to Orochi."
Tsunade's eyes lit up in realization. It wasn't just revenge or fear for himself. "I get it, Naruto," she said with a soft smile, "I do. But you could have cleared it with me instead of trying to get away with it. I believe you'll sit in this chair one day but when you do I want you to make being Hokage admirable again. Sensei's last years tarnished things and I'm widely seen as a placeholder. I don't mind, it's more or less true. But if you want to be like the Hokage of old you have to hold yourself to a higher standard." Naruto nodded and Tsunade dismissed him. Once he walked out the door Tsunade made an exaggerated groan.
"There are several things to dislike about this job but the hypocrisy may be the thing I hate the most," Tsunade complained as Jiraiya took a seat in front of her. Jiraiya laughed in response.
"Yea, if it'd been you, we'd be picking up pieces of Kabuto from across the village," Jiraiya said, acknowledging her legendary temper. "But you made a good point about Naruto holding himself to a higher standard so it isn't outright hypocrisy and I think he loves his surrogate Aunt enough that any adolescent surliness was stamped down. My concern is what are we going to do for the next several months? Minato went A.W.O.L to save Kushina and she wasn't pregnant at the time."
"Oh, he told you?" Tsunade asked, not really surprised that Jiraiya knew but became so when he shook his head no.
"I'm not a perfect Sage but I can sense everything the kid can, and Orochi's little bun wasn't hard to pick up. I'm sure Sensei doesn't know yet but you need to let me know when he does."
"You can't protect him from himself, Jiraiya nor should you be expected to."
"It isn't so much about protecting him as preventing the most harm I can."
"Prevention is better than treatment but Sensei doesn't want to let this go. Unfortunately, whatever my fondness for him is, Orochi and Naruto are the more valuable assets. If I have to fix the problems he creates you need to understand what my solution will be." Jiraiya looked at Tsunade in shock.
"You'd kill Sensei?" he asked.
"His obsession with Orochi has put this village at risk, Jiraiya; multiple times. He allowed Nagato to attack within the village's walls. He let a double agent act freely within the village. He could have caused Naruto to, if we were lucky, go missing ninja and if we weren't lucky… I don't want to think about the results. And if I hadn't left that loophole open, who knows what Team Kurenai would have done to get at Kabuto, consequences be damned."
"Wait, you knew they were going to try something?"
"No, but of course I suspected they might. What kind of ninja would just accept someone trying to kill them and got away with it? It wasn't just an assassination attempt, extracting a bijuu can't possibly be a painless nor fast process. As soon as I knew Kabuto turned I could have bought off the three clans. This was a contingency, one I hoped I wouldn't need but here we are."
"You're more devious than people give you credit for."
"I'm a lady of many faces."
"Oh, really? You should feel free to show me your "O" face anytime." Jiraiya didn't even mind the punch that followed as he noticed a slight pink to Tsunade's cheeks. No, it was totally worth it.