The real Orochi had no outward reaction when she received her memories, too content to be bothered by her sensei's continued suspicions. She currently laid on the couch in the arms of her future husband, something they liked to do when they had the compound to themselves. With Karin at the hospital and Tayuya with the other Sound Five members, the Uzumaki manor was empty and the pair would enjoy it while they could. This, it may surprise many to know, was not something Naruto requested or initiated but was started by Orochi herself, though she would claim it was simply an experiment.
Cuddled up and quite comfortable, Naruto spared a glance to the wall mounted clock. It was still early yet, but they should probably settle on plans before it got too late. "Orochi-chan, you want to stay in tonight or you feel like going out?" he asked.
"Hm, no strong preference either way. You?"
"Same."
"I could go for some dango," they heard a voice call out and Naruto groaned. He liked Anko, he really did but she was a weirdo that basically lived with them now even though she had a place and was damn near thirty years old.
"Then go get dango, no one is stopping you," Naruto replied. He heard her enter the room and take a seat on their coffee table, hand held out and looking expectantly at Naruto.
"I could use some ryo, Naru-papa," Anko spoke as if some were the very embodiment of innocence.
"You're a Special Jounin, how are you always broke?" Naruto asked. He ignored the name, the lunatic deciding it was fitting since he was marrying her sensei. It contained zero logic but if he rose to the provocation she'd never stop. As far as the loan, he assumed Anko was smoking the finest of drugs. She made more than him being a senior at their mutual rank and he made good money. She didn't need his money and for sure wasn't getting it.
"Don't be like that, I do ok but I don't have clan account money. Just slide some ryo over to Anko and I'll get out of your hair."
Naruto looked down to his lover but saw she was enjoying this and had no plans of intervening. He rolled his eyes at her smile, everyone was feigning innocence it seemed.
"No, there's a kitchen full of food, a garden and the most varied orchard ever seen. Just eat something here, besides you need some variety in your diet."
Anko rolled her eyes, she didn't only eat dango but it was her favorite and he could have already returned to his cuddles if he'd simply fork over some coin. "I don't want variety, I want dango."
"Then go get some, no one is stopping you!"
"MONEY PLEASE!"
"Kukuku, I could go for some grilled eel," Orochi added.
"Fine, let me-"
"But I don't want to leave." Naruto just buried his head into the crook of her neck while muttering about Shikamaru being right. She felt when he resigned himself to his fate, trying her best not to laugh.
"I'm going to go get everything I need to make all this here but you, Anko-chan, are going to help me. If I have to bribe you with dango I'm not rolling all those things out by myself."
"Wait, you know how to make dango?"
"Don't you?" Naruto asked in disbelief, it wasn't exactly hard.
"Of course not, I buy the dango. I eat the dango."
Naruto looked down to Orochi and asked, "How attached to her are you really?"
"Very," the White Snake answered.
"Troublesome. Well, I'm off," Naruto proclaimed and gave Orochi a peck. Anko whopped at the sight and felt Naruto tap her thigh as he told her, "Shut it, you," as if embarrassed. It took no time for Naruto to slip his sandals on and be out the door. Anko's laughter ended when she was suspended in the air out of reach of everything and with no way to get down.
"What the shit is this?"
"It seems Naruto-kun was having some fun with Jiton, Anko-chan," Orochimaru calmly explained as she reached for a nearby book.
"Aren't you going to help me out here, Sensei?" Anko asked as she hung helplessly in the air.
Orochi looked at Anko from over the top of her book dryly and asked, "Why would I do that?" Anko looked at her as if the answer was obvious, the Snake Sannin laughed in response. "Maybe the next time you find us cuddled on the couch you'll have the good sense to go do something else. Treat this as a teachable moment, hm?"
"Aw, c'mon, Sensei!" Anko exclaimed, limbs swinging aimlessly in the air. She looked like a baby throwing a tantrum which only made Orochi laugh even harder.
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"Hello, son," Minato greeted with sincere warmth. Naruto looked around, confused as to where he was. It appeared to be a nice but humble apartment, his father sitting in a blue chair that matched the couch he was lying on.
"Is this a dream?" Naruto asked in confusion. Bagheera said the elixir he drank would help resolve his internal dilemmas but he wasn't sure a dream would do it.
"No, not a dream. It appears your summons have an interesting connection to the Pure Land but I wouldn't claim to understand it perfectly. Sure beats the Shinigami's stomach."
Naruto popped up and looked at his father, the Fourth Hokage, it all felt surreal. He had so many questions, so much he wanted to know. He didn't know how long he'd be here, it was hard to organize his thoughts. He felt his chest tighten as his thoughts raced, there was too much to process and likely very little time. Naruto felt an arm on his shoulder, Minato having closed the distance between them in a blink.
"Just breathe, son. Just breathe." Naruto nodded and slowly did just that. Minato smiled when he saw his only child start to relax. When Naruto collected himself he asked the question he'd longed to know since he was a child.
"Why?" Why him? Why use the Reaper Death Seal? Why sacrifice himself?
"When the Kyuubi was released from your mother even after everything I did to prevent it, when I learned it was Madara Uchiha that was responsible I took it as a sign. The world would need someone with great power to combat such a threat, greater than any of the Hokage and if you could harness the Kyuubi's strength that person could be you. I believed you were the child Jiraiya had spoken of."
"If you couldn't stop Madara what prevented him from coming to get me when I was a child? You put a target on my back, what kind of parent does that?"
"Not a very good one," Minato joked, "but in my defense, I'd only been one for a few minutes." Seeing his humor wasn't landing, Minato changed his approach, "I knew your life would be filled with hardship because of your status. I didn't think Hiruzen would allow Danzo to do what he did nor steal from your inheritance. I just believed you'd be able to endure those challenges and become something special."
"Suffering doesn't make you special, it just makes you suffer. I was alone and you did that to me. You… you sent me to hell and you think you did a good and noble thing? You're just like Jiraiya and the Old Man. You talk a good game but ultimately you didn't want Konoha to not have a Jinchuuriki and sacrificed your kid in the process." He was angry with and tired of people who grand ideologies leaving the work to others. Not just Jiraiya and HIruzen but Ito as well.
Minato looked down in shame. He'd been so sure of his actions, he always was as it was the trait that allowed him to press forward. But seeing Naruto's pain, hearing the resentment in his voice hurt more than the Kyuubi's claws ever could. However, there was one thing Naruto was wrong about and Minato needed him to know.
"I didn't seal half of the Kyuubi in you for the village. Your mother hated being a Jinchuuriki. She wasn't told what was going to happen to her until well after she'd arrived. She never fully forgave Mito nor Hiruzen for that, for taking her away from her family for a village that wasn't her own, even if it did save her life. No, I didn't do that for the village. I sincerely believed, Kyuubi or not, you were to be the Child of Prophecy and I thought the Kyuubi would help with your trials.
The Kyuubi being released was a cataclysm, there's no other way to describe it and I didn't think any ninja could fight someone that could unleash that upon the world without a lot of help. I made many assumptions, I thought Jiraiya and Kakashi would be a regular presence in your life. I thought Hiruzen's Will of Fire would extend fully to my son without exception. I thought so many things that turned out not to be true.
I am truly sorry, Naruto. Sorry that my belief wasn't the wind beneath your wings but a boulder on your back. Sorry for the pain I caused you. And I'm so sorry that you see my last acts as me being a Hokage instead of a father. So much can be blamed on the chaos of the night, of knowing Kushina was going to die and having failed to protect her but it wasn't right to put so much weight on you, especially when I wasn't there to help you manage it.
I still believe in you. In you, son. But I won't hold you to an unfair expectation, I won't burden you with that prophecy. No matter what you do from here on, I'll always love you. I'll only ask that you be the best man you can be and when you have a child be a better parent to them than I was to you."
Naruto stared at his father with wide, watery eyes. He didn't know what to say. While he hadn't lied, some part of his rant was misplaced anger at recent events but his dad had apologized. For others, there was always an excuse and while his father laid out his thinking, it didn't feel like he expected Naruto to forgive him on his justifications but understand why he did what he did. He felt validated in a way he hadn't previously, seen in a way he hadn't before. He felt lighter, he felt good.
"I guess I can forgive you, just don't seal anything else into me," Naruto joked but his laugh sounded hoarse.
"I'll try," Minato promised. The two would talk for what felt like hours, from fuinjutsu theory to childhood misadventures or anything else they could think of and while the time together was much too short, Naruto healed a part of himself he hadn't known was broken. Even Minato's final words were a much needed salve to the adolescent Jinchuuriki.
"If you should ever start to doubt yourself, feel you've lost your path just know your mother and I are rooting for you so keep pressing, Naruto. Your potential is so much greater than you realize it would be a shame to stall now. When you think you're hit a wall, go harder. When you think you've run out of road, go further. Only then will you truly know what kind of ninja you want to be."
"Naruto-kun?" the sound of Orochi's voice pulled Naruto from his memory. He was brought back to the grotto within the Land of the Panthers. He smiled at his future wife, their wedding just a day away. The slight breezy within the cave blew at her wrap-around-skirt, her matching purple halter top revealing just the slightest baby bump.
"Where did you go?" she asked.
"Just remembering when I met my father, something that should have been impossible given he was trapped in the Shinigami's stomach. Unless someone freed him. You wouldn't happen to have any theories on that, would you?"
"Don't be coy, Naruto-kun. Yes, I freed him by using the correct mask in the temple. I used someone slated for execution anyway so no innocents were harmed." Naruto wrapped his arms around Orochimaru, looking into her citrine eyes.
"Thank you. We met at just the right time, thank you for making it possible."
"Anything for you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. Naruto returned the gesture, his body moving without conscious thought.
"You just can't keep your hands off her, Naruto-chan. Should we expect several new summoners in the near future?" Bast posed having entered the grotto. Naruto rolled his eyes at the elder of the panthers. He suspected it and was proven right, there were no sacred rituals. Bast had lied. He didn't mind, they had thrown Orochi and him a very enjoyable party but she could have just said that.
"We're not really thinking past the one on the way, Granny."
"That is wise," Bagheera stated. "Are you ready to return to Konoha?" he asked of the young man he'd helped raise.
"Yea, this has been great but the others have something planned for us tonight so we have to get back."
"Kukuku, you don't sound excited, Naruto-kun."
"I'm not. If it were just Shika and Shino I'd be beyond happy but having the entire teams of my generation there… uh," Naruto relayed. He understood the politics of it so he didn't complain but they weren't his friends.
"Such are the burdens of seeking the hat. I'm sure it'll be fine." Naruto didn't respond but nodded to Bagheera who returned them to the village. The couple entered their home, immediately being alerted to a commotion in the back.
"It appears your party is already underway," Orochi said. Naruto grimaced but nodded.
"You don't have too much fun tonight," he said jokingly.
"I think I'll manage," Orochi supplied, dryly. "Now, stop stalling and go greet your guests. I'll depart one my bodyguards arrive." She sounded so sarcastic at the mention of the Sound Five, not that they weren't capable but she saw it as farcical that she needed protection. While Naruto had the utmost belief in her abilities he vehemently disagreed but wouldn't voice it if she were allowing them to tail her anyway. A customary kiss goodbye and he went to the back of the manor.
"Naruto!" several people shouted. He was the last to arrive, much to his embarrassment. The Uzumaki apologized but all waved him off. Choji was manning the grill and Naruto resolved to do something nice for him while also hosting an event where the Akimichi didn't cook. He made his rounds to all but gave a little more time to a special guest.
"Kazekage-sama, what are you doing among this collection of scoundrels and reprobates?" Naruto asked as he shook his fellow Jinchuuriki's hand.
"I'm slumming it for the night," Gaara replied in a perfect deadpan.
"I guess I shouldn't find it too surprising, you are around Kankuro a lot."
"Oi!" Kankuro shouted in mock offense but was ignored by the containers.
"Thanks for coming out tonight, Gaara. I won't let anything that could tarnish your standing go down so relax and enjoy."
"Naruto!" Jiraiya called to get his godson's attention. Once he had he tossed him a bottle of sake as he made his approach. "Now, listen, I got Minato good and sauced during his bachelor party and I won't break tradition so be prepared because you're drinking with the Toad Sage tonight."
Naruto took a swing from the bottle to placate Jiraiya. Maybe he was being uptight for no reason. He took another drink and decided to relax.
Elsewhere, Orochi had arrived at her own party, a local spa, and was instantly assaulted with a tiara and a sash that said bride. If Koharu hadn't been insistent that it was tradition she'd burn both items. The ladies of her party included the usual members of the kunoichi gatherings plus Tayuya and Karin. Thankfully, Tsunade didn't have any insipid games planned so Orochi could enjoy her mani/pedi in relative peace. Or she had been before Tsunade called for everyone's attention.
"Listen up, everyone. As you know, we are here to celebrate Orochi-chan's last night of singledom, though I doubt she has much attachment to it. Yours was not a straight nor easy road. Mistakes were made, by you and others but you found your way back. And now look at you, future wife and mother. I'm so happy for you, truly. And with that being said, I just want you to know a few things, you're my sister Orochi-chan and I love you. Keep that in mind because when your little one gets here I'm spoiling them rotten. And you'll have to forgive me because we're sisters so you have to love me back, haha!"
A round of cheers were heard when Tsunade finished her speech. Orochi mouthed a silent thank you to her best friend. Normally, she'd be repelled by such a show of emotion but she could make an exception for Tsunade, for her sister.
Hours later the parties end and Tsunade was walking with Orochi back to the Senju compound. "So, I didn't have a good time to tell you this but something came in while you and Naruto were away," Tsunade started. "Onoki sent through a treaty proposal, agreement of mutual defense."
"That's not worth the paper it was written on," Orochi said.
"I agree but we're boxed in. If I let the preemptive strikes continue then Konoha looks bad and it gives Iwa and Kumo justification to come at us for provoking war."
"Let them, with Suna and Oto we have the clear advantage. Just crush them and be done with it, we'll earn the contracts back."
"Maybe… you're more than likely right."
"But?"
"I don't know, maybe there is a way to flip this, make it so Onoki has to respect the agreement and get Kumo to negotiate a real peace treaty. Either way, you two get to go on a real honeymoon now so that's a plus."
"Tsunade, don't let what you hope happens blind you to what needs to happen," was Orochi's only warning. Soon the two arrived and settled in for the night. The morning came fast, as there was a flurry of activity around the village for the wedding of the Snake Sannin and the Honorable Son and Head of the Uzumaki Clan. But even with the frenzy, it was worth it.
Orochi opted for a traditional look, hair done up in a bun and adorned by purple pansies. Her red iro uchikake was decorated with purple and gold snakes as well as several floral patterns. Naruto opted for the traditional wedding attire but wrangled his spikes into a single high ponytail. The two exchanged vows before family, friends, and acquaintances and then moved onto the reception. It was a lovely and memorable day for the couple and they departed with a host of well wishes as Naruto teleported them to their destination in Moon Country.
The pair couldn't know that there had been a plan to make the day memorable for the wrong reasons. Twenty thousand Iwa and Kumo ninja would have marched on Fire Country, overwhelming the border defenses. The ploy meant to force Naruto to confront the massive army with whatever back up he could have cobbled together. Back in the village, Han and Roshi were meant to cause wide scale damage, potentially kill some high ranking ninja and work with Yugito and Kirabi to ruin as much of Konoha as they could before retreating.
Onoki sat in his office contemplating the plan he'd delayed. The peace treaty was a farce but it would prevent the ever image conscious Konoha from doing anything rash. He looked to the other occupant in the room. There was no trust between them, just an acknowledgement of mutual interests overlapping but if this went wrong Onoki wouldn't hesitate to attack.
"You better hope you're right, Zetsu-san."
"I am. In just a few months you and I will get everything we want."