"I'll do it. Alone," Naruto announced. All in the Hokage's office wanted to argue against it but were silenced by Naruto's next words, "None of you truly know what it's like, to have to earn your humanity in the eyes of others. True, you all have reputations because of what you've done but not for what you are. Finding those people that see you, really see you takes the sting out of the constant rejection. It makes the air breathable, just a little bit. Kirabi and Yugito should hear this from someone like them," he explained but said no more as he exited.
Now, the three Sannin, the Sandaime and his two advisors sat in the office, most of them drinking. Ay's death felt like a monumental shift and yet, possibly, changed nothing. Kumo may still, eventually, declare war as a show of strength, Iwa will likely side with them as Kumo would give greater concessions. Kiri was still unknown and Suna would stand with Konoha. Things would get tense, the war before the war would start soon as the various ANBU factions waged their campaigns. It would bubble over into skirmishes, missions just accidentally overlapping more than they had in a decade. Then, one significant act, one valuable piece would be lost and war would begin.
"Wars are neither won nor lost but endured, regretted and repeated. Tobirama-sensei said that to me a week before he sacrificed himself," Hiruzen said. He'd thought he'd gotten away, that by neutralizing the Akatsuki he'd never have to truly contemplate war again. The room fell silent once more but there was no denying this had become a war council.
"I know we were all thinking it and waiting for Naruto to leave so we can discuss it frankly, what is to be done with the Jinchuuriki. They were here to keep Ay in line but that's moot," Homura stated.
"Extract the bijuu, that'll be the cost for Kumo's attempt on Tsunade's life and the failed invasion,' Koharu answered.
"Hohoho, "extract them,'' she says," Jiraiya responded in mock joviality. "If it were easy, every village would do it and we'd just stop making jinchuuriki. You have two people who could potentially do that and I feel confident in saying neither of us will reseal a bijuu into a tea kettle, let alone another person." Jiraiya knew he was on dangerous ground, it was unwise to tell the Hokage what he would and wouldn't do but Naruto wasn't the only one that learned on their training trip. He understood why Minato did what he did but the cost was high, maybe too high, to do a simple tactic.
"Now is not the time to be soft,"Homura said, ignoring Jiraiya's statement about the skill required.
"If Naruto-kun refuses then the matter is settled to my mind," Orochi spoke and the unspoken threat was received.
"That means killing them is out as the bijuu would reform here and we can't assume they'll be as amiable as the Kyuubi was."
"There's also the problem of you only having five active duty ninja that could kill Kirabi and one of them, Gai, wouldn't survive the fight," Jiraiya pointed out. He was confident he could bout likely not without great injury.
"We can't just be reactive, not this time," Koharu argued. She didn't mean to be critical of Hiruzen but Konoha had held its hand out in friendship to be spurned time and time again, it was enough.
"I agree," Tsunade said. "We'll enter into negotiations with Kumo's Godaime, Darui-san. While that's happening, we go hard at Iwa. I'll have Shikaku draw up a list of targets, I want them set back a decade."
"Only way that happens is if…" Hiruzen didn't finish the statement. "No, Tsunade."
"Intel shows Darui was in Iwa before the coup. Onoki clearly backed his play if not suggested it. His removal is mission critical. Maybe the next generation can do better, either way, Onoki goes."
"Even if you get a list of necessary targets, who would you send? All ANBU teams will be dedicated to their own affairs and we can't send an invasion force without Onoki noticing," Homura pointed out.
"Team Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. They will be given the list and ordered to stay behind enemy lines until the job is done. They'll have frontline combatants, intelligence gathers, trackers, assassins, and three members that manage to pull a job on the Sannin and get away without a trace. The Kazekage will be sending a small unit of his own and we'll iron out the details when he arrives."
"Even if they are successful, that wouldn't force Onoki to leave the village," Koharu stated.
Hiruzen immediately frowned, the full plan of Tsunade's finally dawning on him. "But the decimation of a large attack force he will no doubt send when he receives word of Konoha teams operating right under his nose may. That decimation not just led by but possibly defeated at the hands exclusively of Minato's only son. Onoki will be incensed. You ask too much of him, Tsunade."
"It's no different than when you had us fight Hanzo," the Godaime calmly explained.
"There were three of you," Hiruzen retorted just short of yelling. "Three of you, each an adult and having been a ninja for well over a decade. Trained by me personally. And you still failed."
"I don't have to justify my decisions to you," Tsunade said, frostily, as she glared at her sensei.
"If you do this then don't plan on naming Naruto your successor. No sitting Kage beside Gaara will trust him and Iwa will hate him more than they ever hated Minato. The cycle will just begin anew."
"Then no more Iwa is the solution. Maybe no more Kumo?" Orochi offered in all seriousness. "Just because these villages do exist doesn't mean they must continue to do so. If Tsunade's plan is such a bad one then I say why not eradicate Iwa. I won't be pregnant forever, I'll raze them to the ground. No mercy, no survivors."
"Just kill everyone that opposes you? If you ever wonder why I never named you as my successor remember this conversation."
"I don't need any more examples of your cowardice, Sensei, I have enough to last several lifetimes."
Hiruzen had been so busy admonishing her ruthlessness, the true revelation of her words took a minute to sink in. "No," he exclaimed.
"Kukuku, sorry, can't coerce me into getting rid of this one and I really recommend you don't try."
"I…" the Sandaime was stunned speechless.
"It's not the topic at hand so if you could focus," Tsunade admonished. Hiruzen nodded, Orochi simply sat in silence but never lost her smile.
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"You're lying!" accused Yugito while Kirabi sat in silence. Ay-sama killed by Darui in a coup? Who could possibly believe that?
"I'm sorry I'm not," Naruto replied. The older woman scoffed, it being the superior reaction to losing it in front of the enemy.
"You're sorry? Why? You wanted Ay-sama dead, that's the reason we're here in the first place. Why are you pretending to care?" Yugito shook as she spoke to her fellow container, the core of her being wanting to strike him, kill him. This was his fault. Kind words and soft tones wouldn't change that, wouldn't change anything. This wouldn't have happened if they were there, Darui would have never even considered it. But they weren't there, they were here and she blamed one person in particular for that.
"Because I know what it is to lose someone that accepted you, made you feel normal."
"What could you know? You're the son of the Yondaime, you have no idea what it is to earn acceptance," Yugito insisted.
In other circumstances, such presumption would have angered Naruto and he felt himself become a little hot at her ignorance but he just couldn't bring himself to correct her. It was an argument that would go nowhere. She didn't really care what Naruto's childhood was like, it wasn't the point. She was in pain and wanted an outlet for it, someone to blame and fight.
"Then tell me," Naruto suggested. Yugito went wide-eyed at the soft spoken words. "Tell me what it was like, I'll listen."
Yugito began to speak but stopped herself, the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi balled up her fists and took a deep breath. "I won't let you use my past against me, Uzumaki," she stated before leaving their temporary home. It was just Kirabi and Naruto, the Kumo ninja's sunglasses making his face unreadable.
"The offer still stands, Kirabi-san. Or I can leave."
"When the old man passed, big bro was brought low and lost his spark. Selected to lead, had to play his part. Tried to stop Eight-O's flow but I float and sting like a pro. Good man doing bad things. And now he's in the throes of what death holds. A past from a present, forever froze as death is cold. But alive in memories, in the stories I'll tell. Adventures of the A-B unbeatable combo, stuff of fairytales. The Killa's flow's tight so I'll spit it fairly well. The brave Eight-O and unruly Ay the bold. Be at peace, bro, rest your soul. I'll say my piece until it's time to go. Fool, ya fool. Ya, feel me, Mr. 9?"
An interesting question, Naruto thought because he'd never claim to literally understand Kirabi's raps but for some reason he always felt like he understood the intention. It was why he could honestly say, "Yea, I feel you."
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"She just doesn't know when enough is enough," Hiruzen said. He'd left the meeting disturbed, clear to all present and it was Jiraiya who followed after him. Now alone, and nearing the Sarutobi compound, Hiruzen started to vent. "To get pregnant, to trap Naruto. Were her fangs not in deep enough? She'd involve an innocent child again? What would Minato think?"
"He doesn't get a vote so it doesn't matter," Jiraiya said. The look of offense and shock didn't surprise him but if his sensei were so concerned about what Minato thought Naruto would have had a vastly different life. It had long been time to deal with things as they were.
"Jiraiya-"
"You need to stop, Sensei. You think you can reconcile with Naruto while still hating Orochi and you can't. However justified you feel in doing so, they are a family. Hell, they are getting married in a month."
"And you've done nothing to discourage it; in fact, you're actually paying for it."
"Of course I'm paying for it. I always was, I'm the boy's godfather. As far as discouraging it, he's not some child that will just blindly obey anyone. If I pushed, it'd eventually end up in a fight and he'd do what he was going to do anyway. I'm not being laid up in the hospital for an empty gesture. But you push the kid enough to make him fight you seriously and see how that goes."
Hiruzen bristled slightly, even in his advanced age he wasn't accustomed to not meriting someone's full effort in a fight; it was a blow to his pride. He ignored it to continue his point. "What kind of relationship do you think they have? Is Naruto constantly compromising himself to manage her, to not lose her interest? Even if he could, no child should be expected to do that. Children need love, patience, and guidance; things she's incapable of giving. What happens if she deems the child a disappointment and decides a few experiments will fix what he or she may be lacking?"
"You're not exactly the shining example of healthy relationships, Sensei. As far as the rest of it, your concerns are mostly about your inability to see Orochi and Naruto as anything more than the images you froze in your mind. He isn't some weak, easily manipulated boy. She's not the embodiment of evil."
"Kukuku, why thank you, Jiraiya," said the disembodied voice.
"Shouldn't you be anywhere else but here?" Jiraiya asked in slight frustration. These two just loved tearing strips off each other and while the cold war had deescalated it only needed a little push to ramp back up.
Orochi scoffed, "I'm just a clone so don't worry, I didn't come to cause any problems."
"What do you want?" Hiruzen asked.
"Not to get your take on my potential maternal skills. If I cared or valued you at all I might be hurt, Sensei."
"Can you just say your piece, I have things to do," Jiraiya requested.
"Of course, of course. I simply came to inform Sensei that I'm done."
"Done?" Hiruzen asked.
"Kukuku, yes. Done. The game isn't even fun anymore, too much like kicking a defenseless, stupid, wrinkled, stupid, old man."
"You said stupid twice," Jiraiya pointed out.
"He's stupid twice over," Orochi replied. "So, if you have some grand scheme it won't work. If you are waiting on me to do something, I'm not. I win, I won and I'm going out on top."
"No one believes that and I certainly won't be lulled by your false promises," Hiruzen declared. She couldn't give up her games as it was a fundamental part of her psychology and their dynamic. Hiruzen felt something churn at her genuine laughter, bristling at being made a joke.
"Fine, Sensei, you stay hypervigilant and I'll live my life as you waste what little remains of your own. What a fitting end, dying a bitter, old fool," She said between laughs. Having relayed her message, the clone dispelled.
Jiraiya looked toward his former teacher and saw the man looking defeated and hollow. It confused him, which must have been obvious when Hiruzen met his gaze. "She wasn't supposed to win. She doesn't get to win," the elderly man stated.
"I don't see why not or why you'd be opposed to it. Her win has her working for the protection and embetterment of the village. It's basically the Will of Fire, that which you claimed she trampled on. If you value it so highly then you should be pleased with this outcome. If not, you just look obsessed with a woman you rejected but somehow believed she'd never move on."
"I am no such thing," Hiruzen swiftly refuted. To accuse him of such a prurient motivation was beyond offensive.
"Eh, I've seen it before. You'd be in good company, as far as scumbag behavior goes. Maybe I'm wrong but it certainly appears like you need to be the center of her world and hate that you aren't. It's not a good look, Sensei." The two men continued to walk in silence, one fuming over his students' words and the other hoping he was finally heard.