Mari Makinami
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_______________________________________________________
Chapter 25. Brand New World
Temari squinted at the warm gust, letting out a loud tired sigh as she was gazing lazily down upon the dimly lit streets of night Sunagakure.
Standing there on the top of their office, to everyone else, she looked perfectly fine and calm just as usual, but to someone who knew her, and especially to her younger brother – the Fifth Kazekage, who was standing not far away – it was evident that she felt pretty troubled and conflicted.
Gaara knew for sure what was on his sibling's mind this night, because the very same thing had been bothering him for the last two months without pause, so her current sleepless state was hardly surprising.
The Kazekage himself certainly shared her concerns, if not more.
It had been a little more than three years since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. And to the entire ninja world, things were going relatively smoothly... well, all in all. Aside from a few artificially created local conflicts, no significant wars had happened ever since that day, but it wasn't just because everyone decided to live peacefully all of sudden, obviously – there was a very good reason to it.
In fact, this very reason was what had caused the higher echelons of Sunagakure spend countless sleepless nights in thinking and attempting to come up with a solution for the situation they found themselves in – and this night was no exception.
Needless to say they failed miserably at that.
All of sudden, they found themselves being hostages. The hostages held in the grasp of the supreme power which, ironically enough, had saved them all from the Infinite Tsukuyomi in the past.
And while it hadn't been any surprising for Gaara to find out that Uchiha Sasuke was plotting something concerning the entire ninja world once again, what really had made Gaara's hopes and delusions crumble all at once was the realization of the simple fact.
Their world had been conquered by the most powerful and influential people alive without anyone noticing how and when exactly it had happened.
For many centuries, there were always two or more opposing major powers in the world of ninja, no matter what happened, and they were always relatively equalized by the nine tailed beasts. The nearest to their age long term confrontation that he could remember was the ancient unending war between Senju and Uchiha, which had concluded with the formation of the grand system that was still in place – the system of Hidden Villages.
Then there was the legendary feud between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, which at the time had been making the entire world tremble in fear as everyone was waiting for its outcome.
After that, the first generation of Akatsuki had been formed, which in the end had led them to the Fourth Great Ninja War, the most global scaled and destructive conflict the history of ninja had ever known.
Speaking frankly and sincerely, deep inside, Gaara expected and maybe even hoped for Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto to become the next Madara and Hashirama. After all, the Kazekage was young, of course, but he was no fool – and he had realized it very quickly after becoming the leader of his village that ninja needed something to unite against. And the Uchiha was fitting for that role just perfectly considering the amount of crimes he had already committed by that moment.
Besides, without a doubt, Uzumaki Naruto would've been able to become the figure that would unite the world against this new threat in the face of his former friend.
That's how every Kage had secretly presumed it would've gone.
But instead, something completely unexpected had happened. Something that had made them belatedly realize how miscalculated their presumptions really were.
Instead of becoming the threat their world needed desperately in order to prolong the fragile peace, Uchiha Sasuke had sided with Konoha. Moreover, his influence had grown very wide in no time, and in a mere year after the war it had already become fairly obvious that both him and Naruto had obtained full control over Konohagakure.
In other words, the two shinobi who possessed the power to destroy anyone and anything that would stand on their way... had joined together. And the events that took part in Amegakure shortly after the war's end had shown it clearly that they had sided for one single purpose – assuring Konoha's dominance over all the other countries.
It went exactly according to the Uchiha's plan, of that Gaara was absolutely sure. Only someone like him could've come up with something as twisted – this way, the two of them, Naruto and Sasuke, were controlling the leaders of every single country in the world, and aside from said leaders and their entourages, everyone was oblivious to the reality, thinking that everything was back to the former pre-war state.
Except nowadays every single conflict, every single mission, nearly every single death was planned. Planned by the certain group of people that had basically obtained the monopoly on wars.
Gaara lowered his head as the wind was blowing his hair and readjusted on his finger the simple silver ring with a yellow signet, the kanji on which meant 'Wind'.
He was now a member of this very group. He was responsible, too.
But there hardly was a better way... was there?
He clenched his teeth, taking a step closer to Temari who, as it seemed, was too lost in her thought to notice him.
No. Naruto was right to trust the Uchiha on this plan.
This way, they were able to control everything. To narrow the casualties down to minimum. To somehow balance out the shaky economics of every country, and thus to prevent the necessity of children dying early in various pointless bloodsheds like it had always been happening in the past.
"He should be here soon... I don't recall him ever being late," the blonde woman muttered, crossing the arms on her chest and frowning, but not looking at her brother.
"That is true. Something must have happened. Do not worry about it, though. If that is the case, Naruto will come after us shortly," the third person added from the left of them, and Temari flinched as her head snapped towards the familiar soft voice that was a bit subdued by the mask the black haired woman always wore in their presence.
It looked a bit frightening, even for Gaara's usually indifferent attitude, but what was even more weird... it had no single hole in it – not even for the eyes. Basically, it was a simple black metal mask that covered the entire face of the young kunoichi who, just like the Kazekage now, was a member of Akatsuki.
The most mysterious member at that.
Aside from the mask, she was wearing a monotone black coat with the Uchiha crest on its back, along with dark blue tight pants and a pair of typical ninja sandals. Nothing that could draw anyone's attention – the Akatsuki had decided that it was better not to wear any uniform in order to hide their true allegiance, yet remaining able to recognize each others through the rings.
And this particular kunoichi was especially hideous.
Always calling her in accordance with the kanji on her own ring – 'Byaku', which meant 'white' – they didn't even know her real name. The only piece of information concerning her identity that Naruto had spilled once before was that she was an Uchiha – Sasuke's wife, to be precise, but that was nearly all they knew about her.
Whatever ability she possessed, be it a Sharingan or some variation of Sennin Mode, evidently it allowed her to either see or sense everything around her despite the mask, and although she was now facing the direction opposite to them, somehow the Kazekage was sure that her eyes were set on him in that particular second.
"Well, if you say so...," Temari mumbled perplexedly, not daring to sound rude with her around, albeit Gaara knew for sure how much his sister disliked this woman.
The female Akatsuki member shrugged, and something he couldn't quite explain made the red haired man think that she smiled under the mask.
"That's how they work, always covering each other's back." Gaara frowned at the weird comment – it was too unusual for her to be this chatty, if it was even a right word to use in this case.
"You seem to know a lot about them...," he paused, deciding not to finish the sentence as they heard her chuckle under the mask.
"I grew up watching both of them from the distance, so you are right, I know them well," she replied simply, surprising the siblings with an unexpected revelation.
"Is that so...? What's your home village, then?" asked Temari, glaring at the kunoichi who turned her head slightly, as if to look at the blonde over her shoulder.
"That is a silly question, Temari-san."
Gaara sighed, shaking his head as his sister gritter her teeth in apparent anger.
The question was indeed silly – why would she tell them the truth anyway if she didn't even feel like telling them her name? Besides, they weren't her friends or even her comrades – Gaara was her accomplice in Akatsuki, but that didn't really mean anything when it came to personal relationships.
"As you well know, I belong to the Uchiha clan. Naturally my home village is Konohagakure," came the even more unexpected reply, making both the Sand's ninja gasp in surprise.
Temari raised her eyebrow skeptically, while Gaara let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least she was humane, given that she clearly had a sense of humor. That was already something. She wasn't just a merciless and mindless slayer like many others, including Gaara himself, had imagined her to be.
"That much is obvious, of course. I must say, it's a pleasure interacting with you in a non formal way for once," he responded indifferently, which made the entire sentence sound a bit sarcastic, but Gaara didn't realize that – after all, it was his usual manner of speech.
"Is it?" She chuckled again, raising up and finally turning towards the two of them. "And here I thought it was anything but pleasure, considering how carefully everyone in your village avoids interacting with me."
She sure caught them off guard with this blunt and impolite statement, which was true, of course. Neither of the Sand Siblings knew what to say to that, but before they could come up with a response, she added,
"Not that it's not understandable, though. We, Uchiha, have quite some reputation."
The corners of Gaara's lips raised a little bit.
"I don't think that is the exact reason to our attitude. The aura of secrecy that surrounds your clan and you, in particular, most likely is."
She hemmed.
"Secrecy...? Are you interested in something in particular?"
Temari's eyes widened, while Gaara's face remained as impassive.
"Just like that?" asked the blonde.
The masked woman shrugged again.
"Why not? Try it."
"How old are you?" Temari asked immediately, making Gaara glance at her, surprised by the strange question. Why did it, of all the other things, matter to her at all...?
"I'm a few years younger than you, Temari-san." The Sand's kunoichi frowned, apparently not understanding how could she be so sure. "I've seen your page in the bingo book," the Uchiha added, answering the silent question.
"How did you manage to survive the massacre?" asked the Kazekage then, making the kunoichi turn her head slightly in his direction as if to face him.
"I was away at the time. After that, I have been raised in complete oblivion for a few years. For the sake of my own safety, everyone hid it from me... who I really am," Gaara didn't show any visible reaction, but it didn't miss his ear how her voice changed for a second at the end of the phrase. Apparently this particular topic was sensitive for her, so it was better not to push further.
"Has anybody in Konoha ever seen your face, or you wear the mask at home for some reason, too?" The leader of Sunagakure was about to glare at his sister – that certainly sounded offensive on her part.
But apparently the Uchiha didn't care – in fact, she let out something that sounded like a quiet giggle, to his surprise.
"Many people have. In fact, even you have seen my face, Temari-san. You just don't remember me. I, however, do remember you from the times when you visited Konoha."
"Why exactly do you hide your face and name?" finally asked Gaara, not really counting on a sincere answer.
She sighed, lowering her head.
"Because Sasuke told me to. I'm sorry, I can't tell you the exact reason. It is about the safety of our clan. There are only a few survivors, as you certainly know, and he values my life way too much to let the information about my identity and my past spread."
"A careful husband, huh?" Temari turned away, smirking – apparently Gaara wasn't the only one who hadn't really expected their shady companion to be so polite and open.
The masked kunoichi turned away again,
"He is a very responsible man, Temari-san. He never leaves any chances for his enemies."
Gaara frowned thoughtfully, watching as the woman stepped back to the edge of the floor and leaned against the metal fencing, lowering her head down as if to look at the village.
Sasuke's enemies... but whom did he consider his enemies nowadays? That was a good question.
The atmosphere around them changed the same second the blond man appeared on the roof next to Byaku, slipping off the edge the and nearly falling down the next moment, yelping and waving his hands awkwardly as he tried to maintain the balance and thus making Temari slap her face, shaking her head.
"You just never change, do you...?" she mumbled while Uzumaki Naruto grinned, finally jumping over the fence and nodding appreciatively to the Uchiha who had caught the collar of his black shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, helping the man not to fall down in the final second, although it was most certainly unnecessary knowing his capabilities.
"Thanks! And hey there, Gaara, Temari! Ugh...," he groaned in irritation, wiping the dust off the back of his orange pants and looking at the mask quizzically. "Is it really necessary? Who the hell cares at this point?"
She spread her hands in resignation.
"Apparently Sasuke does."
The Uzumaki rolled his eyes.
"Blah, blah, blah... they will find out, eventually. You could at least just use a bandage to cover the eyes, y'know."
"The later, the better. I don't mind it anyway."
"Even knowing that they probably think that your face is ugly and scarred or something like that? Or maybe Sasuke just wants your beauty all for his eyes alone? That possessive bastard!"
She chuckled, shrugging indifferently once again.
"Why are you so concerned with this anyway? And besides, if I were you, I certainly would rather put a mask on right now."
"Huh?" Naruto's gave her a baffled look. "What do you mean?"
"Probably the lipstick on your right cheek, genius."
The Uzumaki gasped, and this time even Gaara couldn't hold back a smirk.
"Oh... ugh! Why do I always end up being the embarrassed one?!" he groaned, wiping the eloquent mark off his face.
Byaku giggled.
"Probably because both of you are careless knuckleheads. You are spoiling her with your manners, do you know that...? And what if you came to the meeting like that?" she paused, enjoying Naruto's scowl. "But I guess it is inevitable, knowing you. Anyway... where is Sasuke? He promised to come after us."
"Oh, that... well, he had to go somewhere, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell anyone just because I can sense where his chakra is located... and don't make this face, I can sense your emotions as well, y'know!" He laughed awkwardly, scratching his nape as she crossed her arms on her chest.
"Fine, we can talk about it later. You should make haste now, we are being late. Is everybody else there yet?"
"Nah. Kakashi-sensei will be late, but that's Kakashi-sensei for you. And Sasuke, well... he probably won't come over tonight. But you're right, we'll discuss it afterward. Hey, Gaara! Come here, I'll teleport us to the Tower!"
The red haired shinobi met Temari's worried look before sighing, striding towards the jinchūriki and suppressing a rare happy smile.
No matter how much time passed, no matter how much all of them changed, some things still remained the same.
They were still friends.
***
The tall man with long black hair that reached his shoulder blades and covered one side of his face completely was slowly walking down the relatively quiet main street of Konohagakure, carefully ignoring the multiple greets and cheers coming from here and there. In spite of the fact that it was a deep night in the village right now, those people who were still outside recognized him and wanted to show their gratitude to him in every possible way.
After all, Uchiha Sasuke was the reason to their well being, along with Uzumaki Naruto.
And not that Sasuke minded it in general, no. In fact, he was pretty much satisfied with the popularity he had managed to earn back throughout the last few years – after all, this way his renascent clan wouldn't be molested and despised as it had been until the massacre.
But right now, their attention certainly was annoying to him. His mood was already pretty bad as it was, considering the fact that he had spent the previous day on wandering around another dimension, and much to his displease, it turned to be completely futile – he hadn't found what he had been looking for.
Not to mention that he hadn't seen his wife in weeks ever since she had been sent to Sunagakure to watch the Kazekage and their village council, and that was also pretty... irritating, to say the least. He wasn't allowed to just teleport into her room over there whenever he wanted – she had also been watched, of that he had no doubt, and he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to either of them.
After all, nobody aside from the Kazekage and his siblings knew the full truth about Akatsuki.
"Sasuke-sama, can I please–"
"Sorry, I'm busy right now. Later," he decided not to look into the girl's disappointed eyes, passing by the already closed grocery store and coming to the entrance of a small, rather unattractive caff.
Stepping inside, he spotted the person he was looking for in an instant – she was sitting near the window in the farthest corner of the relatively small room, waiting for him, although for a stranger it would look as if she was just getting wasted as usual. There were little to no visitors aside from them at the time, and apparently the manager decided to take a nap, which was understandable, so Sasuke decided not to waste any more precious time and came close to the older woman's table, sitting down and taking a sealed scroll out of a pocket of his cloak.
"Here. I haven't managed to find the second one, though. Apparently it's hidden in a different dimension, and I don't have any chakra left to keep jumping between them. I need some rest."
Tsunade took a sip out of her cup, undoing the seal on the scroll and looking at its contents curiously as she unrolled it.
"Uh huh... as we expected, I can't read any of these. Can you...?"
"No. Not even the Rinnegan is working on this one. The writings are probably too ancient, so I suppose it will take time to decipher them."
The former Hokage nodded thoughtfully, hiding the scroll under under her green-grass haori and looking around just to make sure that nobody was watching them.
"Don't worry, I've put everyone within a mile radius under a genjutsu. Not even the Hyūga are interested in what's going on here right now."
The Senju grinned, shaking her head and taking another sip.
"Sneaky bastard. Do you want some?" She nodded at the bottle, to which Sasuke shook his head.
"No. I still have some things to do this night."
"I thought you were too tired to use your space-time ninjutsu again, weren't you? You need some rest, brat. It doesn't take to have a Sharingan to see that you are way too stressed and exhausted."
The Uchiha looked away, not bothering to take anything from the table despite the fact that he hadn't eaten for two days straight by that moment.
"It's... strange. If she had a backup plan for her return, that means that she certainly had known it beforehand that we would defeat her. Knowing how arrogant she was, she wouldn't have bothered with that otherwise. But how is this possible...? How could she know?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the confusing conclusion.
"Are you asking me? You are the smart ass here, go figure it out," Tsunade barked, taking a few more sips of the burning liquid.
But Sasuke ignored her comment, keeping thinking aloud,
"She also seemed to have recognized both me and Naruto, now that I think about it... is it possible that she can foresee the future?"
"Nah, brat, that's unlikely. Think about it this way: if she was a prophet and if she knew for sure that you and Naruto would seal her anyway, why even bother fighting you guys? That's illogical, and this Kaguya person doesn't make the impression of being an idiot," the blonde replied, to which Sasuke nodded slowly.
"That's also true. However, it doesn't make any sense. Black Zetsu told us that he had been trying to revive her for centuries... his attempts always failed until recently. And to think that by some lucky coincidence she has been revived precisely during our age, when the potential vessel for her backup plan was born... it makes absolutely no sense to me. She could've just waited for a few more years to take the control over Hinata's body, just like she intends to do now, apparently. But she allowed Zetsu to proceed with their primary plan nonetheless... damn it, this is killing my brain," he groaned, gripping his head tightly and leaning against the back of the cheap chair.
Tsunade sighed, propping her chin in her hand and giving the man a pitiful look.
"You're overworking yourself, brat. Go and take some rest. We'll figure it out, eventually. This scroll you have brought will also probably help us a lot. There is no rush."
"You don't understand–"
"Oh, shut up, I understand you very well, Uchiha. You are concerned with the life of your wife, and that's perfectly fine, but–"
"No, you don't! It's not about just her life!" he interrupted her, raising his voice a bit which made the Senju frown. "It's about this entire world! Me and Naruto, we don't have the necessary power to do it again. Should Kaguya be revived for the second time, we won't be able to seal her away anymore. We can't allow this to happen, no matter the cost!"
She raised her thin eyebrow skeptically and took another sip.
"Oh, really? Then kill her, and the problem will be solved."
Sasuke gasped and narrowed his eyes, glaring at the woman dangerously.
"What did you just say?" He growled, activating his Sharingan.
"You heard me. Finish her off, and it will become impossible for Kaguya to revive. You said 'no matter the cost', didn't you?" She smirked, meeting his nearly literally incinerating gaze calmly. "What is it? Not as easy as it used to be anymore, huh? So you've changed for real, after all. That's a relief."
He kept glaring at her for a few more seconds before snorting and looking away.
"Whatever... killing her is not an option. I will not allow anyone or anything to hurt her. Nothing bad shall happen to her."
"Then stop being all talk and do something productive. For instance, take a drink and go have some rest." She pushed the second cup towards him, which the Uchiha finally grabbed reluctantly.
"What's with the recent samples?" he asked, feeling as the warming liquid streamed down his throat, pushing the stress and frustration away for the first time in weeks.
"They are all good. At this rate, her DNA will change insignificantly during the next decade, which makes it safe to assume that her body won't be suited to withstand significant amounts of potent chakra and thus to becoming Kaguya's vessel in the next hundred years at least, unless a catalyst will be applied."
"A catalyst...?"
Tsunade nodded, and her expression finally changed to a more serious one.
"Anything that will give her chakra and body another significant boost. For example, some of the granddad's cells. Or a more powerful dōjutsu. Or a bijū at that. Although, considering that we've destroyed nearly every sample of said cells, and you obviously are not dumb enough to give your left eye away, the only thing you need to be careful of is not letting her become a jinchūriki."
"That's not going to happen. Anything else?"
"Yeah." She put the cup back onto the table, crossing her hands in front of her face. "Are you planning on impregnating her anytime soon?"
Sasuke's eyebrows raised in surprise as he chocked, beginning to cough.
"What... what kind of question is that...?"
The woman sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"It's a normal question, brat. You've been married for three years by now. Naturally that is something you would want to do, considering that you intend to revive your clan and all that."
He wiped his chin, trying to cover his blush awkwardly at the same time – the reaction had been caused not by the touchy topic, but rather by his own embarrassing reaction to her question that certainly had taken him off guard.
"No. We're not planning that anytime soon," he finally said. "Why?"
"Because your child can become a catalyst, too. So here is my advise: if you want a happy family without risking the world's existence, don't even think about having children with her until you find a way to counter Kaguya's plan. Got it?"
He nodded, frowning at her words.
Not that they were in rush when it came this matter, but still... knowing that his wife bearing his child could actually become a cause for the world's end wasn't any pleasant to say the least.
"Fine. I'll be going now. Thanks for the drink."
"No problem, brat. You needed it," she smirked, becoming serious once again a second later. "Take care."
"Yeah." He raised up from the table, walking quickly to the exit.
Breathing the refreshing air of the night street, Sasuke stood there for a few more seconds, looking around aimlessly has he was sorting the new information out.
He needed to keep Hinata safe no matter the cost. And despite the likelihood of her receiving a catalyst seemed to be pretty low, it wasn't nonexistent, of that he was sure.
First of all, he would need to ask Naruto or the Kyūbi to contact the other tailed beasts and to ask them to stay the hell away from Hinata. And while he had no doubt that she wouldn't willingly become a host for a bijū, there had been the precedents of people becoming the hosts against their will.
And should Toneri come to their world again, he would be able to put the beasts under his control, of that Sasuke was fairly sure.
In other words, the bijū needed to be warned about him, too.
Other than that... Tsunade basically told him that she would care about the remaining First Hokage's cells. And the only things that possessed the threat to them was...
His own left eye.
But the probability of Hinata stealing his Rinnegan for whatever impossible reason she would need it was below zero, of that he was also sure.
The man sighed, finally striding forward with his hands in his pockets.
Did it mean that they were relatively safe for now? So long as Hinata used the seal of contraception, they probably were. Yet still, the overall amount of things that could potentially go wrong made him feel pretty frustrated and worried.
But then again, maybe he really just needed to rest and to finally see his wife...
"Hey, you there." The Uchiha stopped suddenly, making the young woman that was walking towards him stop as well, raising her head and staring at him. Her eyes widened – firstly in fear, and then apparently she recognized him.
"I... I... Sasuke-sama...!"
"Be quiet." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Do you happen to know if there is a flower shop that is still open this late?"
Maybe he had enough chakra for opening just one more rift, after all.
***
"Damn it, everyone else is already here! Just what the hell is wrong with your Hokage, Naruto?" Darui drawled, looking lazily at the ceiling of the hall and playing with the ring on his finger, the kanji on which meant 'Cloud'.
Hinata focused her Byakugan under her mask on the Uzumaki, doing so rather reflexively than on purpose, for her thoughts were lying completely elsewhere at the moment.
"Eh, sorry, everyone... something must've happened, you see..."
"Kindly stop complaining, Raikage-dono. We're all well aware of the Hokage's habits," Mei Terumi giggled, covering her mouth with her palm and leaning against the back of her chair. "Besides, Uchiha Sasuke isn't here yet, either."
"He will not come," Hinata said quietly from her spot at the big round table, making everyone else look at her questioningly. "Sasuke is handling an emergency situation somewhere else right now."
"Huh? An emergency?" asked Karin, frowning and then smirking. "Is there something wrong in Hidan's village again?"
"Oh, shut up, *****. My village is just fine. You should watch your own den!" the immortal man growled from his spot, making Karin sneer. Annoying Hidan had become a habit among the Akatsuki members lately.
"Why, Kusagakure is doing well, thank you, sweetheart," the Uzumaki woman replied, making Hidan grit his teeth in anger.
"Hopefully you're doing better than you did in your apartment back in Oto, Karin..."
"Oh, shut up, Suigetsu...!" Her face changed from a mocking one to enraged within just a second at his comment.
"Anyway, maybe we should start without the Hokage? It's not like we have much to discuss anyway," Kurotsuchi from Iwagakure mumbled, appearing notably annoyed, which was understandable to the others – Ōnoki still hasn't passed the tittle of Tsuchikage down to her, and technically the young woman couldn't represent her village in Akatsuki yet as Ōnoki himself wasn't aware of their conspiracy, and her role in it had to be hidden from the old man for the obvious reasons.
"Yeah, I guess–"
"Now then, sorry, everyone," the silver haired masked man appeared out of nowhere as the space at his spot twisted into a swirl, making him land right into his own chair which in turn made a few of the present people gasp in surprise. "I was preventing a small civil war in our country when I remembered about this meeting."
"About damn time, Hokage," Darui smirked, finally taking a more collected pose with a more serious expression.
"Hokage-dono," Gaara nodded in a greeting, to which Kakashi nodded as well.
"What happened, Kakashi-kun?" Orochimaru asked curiously, eyeing the younger man.
"Nothing significant, just some domestic problems concerning our daimyo. Anyway... so, where was I... oh, right. Kurotsuchi-san ... how are the things in your village going?"
"No significant changes as of now. I'm actively working on it."
"Do you need some kind of intervention?" asked Jun, who was currently the formal leader of Amegakure. "I'm sure we could arrange that without breaking the pact."
The kunoichi shook her head.
"Nah, I don't think that's necessary. The old man is just being stubborn, but I'll get under his skin."
"Yeah, sure, we all know the way you *****es do that to us men," Hidan let out an evil sneer, making Kurotsuchi smile at him politely.
"Sorry, but what you, of all people, can know about these ways?"
Most of the others smirked or even laughed at her comment while Hidan himself reddened, which was rare for him, shutting up and turning away without continuing the fight for once.
"In either case, there is no rush for now. We'll keep avoiding Iwagakure while forming and executing our plans until you take your place as the next Tsuchikage. I still want you to participate in our meetings in order to be informed, naturally," she nodded, and then Kakashi took a few scrolls and papers out of the seal on his sleeve. "As for our current agenda, the main issue we're going to face is the Land of Iron."
"So the samurai refused to cooperate, huh...? Should've known that, they are very principled people," Orochimaru grinned, clearly excited for the upcoming propositions concerning their plan.
"Why not just send Naruto in there? His clones have worked perfectly in every single operation so far, and this way, the casualties are minimized," uttered Yutaka who was sitting next to Karin with his usual blank face.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple this time," Kakashi sighed, putting aside the scroll he was holding. "Pretty much like Orochimaru-san said, samurai are very principled people, nearly bigoted at that. It would've worked just fine if not for one problem – every single men and most of women in their country are like that. They won't go down without a fight, and no words will work on them unless we find a political solution, preferably completely peaceful. Which, in turn, is hardly possible without setting another Great War in motion before we settle things in the remaining hidden villages, especially in Iwagakure."
"In other words, the Land of Iron should be the last to handle. But what exactly is the problem here, Hokage-dono? From what we know, there is no rush," Mei reasoned, giving Hatake an estimating gaze.
"It's not that simple! They have gathered three bijū!" Naruto exclaimed, making nearly everyone in the room, including Mei, gasp in shock.
"But... isn't that against the Pact...?" Gaara muttered as his face darkened notably at the news.
"No, it's not," replied Kakashi. "According to Naruto's intel, the beasts came over their territory willingly. Or, well, not exactly... they got baited on purpose after Sanbi came there accidentally and their connection with him was severed."
"Does it mean that... that they have three jinchūriki now?!"
"Precisely," Hatake nodded, and Hinata moved her eyes to Kurotsuchi who now looked pretty scared.
"In other words, our only options are either causing a bloodshed, followed by the elimination of the whole country... or another Great War in the upcoming years?" asked the female Uchiha, making the Hokage sigh sadly.
"Which is why we need to come up with a plan to solve this dilemma as soon as possible. And fortunately enough, I have an idea."
"What is it?" asked Darui, looking rather puzzled than scared by the new information.
"We are going to arrange another Gokage Summit in the Land of Iron soon, and there, we will all sign a new pact. No... an additional paragraph to the existing one, given that the Pact is not to be changed in any way other than breaking it completely according to what's written in it."
Hinata closed her eyes, feeling the increasing pulsing pain in her temple.
Not only the last few weeks she spent in Sunagakure were an utterly boring hell for her, but she also had to take part in this stupid act where everyone thought that they actually had a vote on the decisions the organization made...
Disgusting.
And on top of that, Sasuke wasn't there...
"We are going to sign the agreement according to which every single country is to accept the supreme command of Gokage should another threat to the world like Madara and Jūbi appear once again. Any insubordination in this case is to be punished lethally. Considering how militarized everything about their culture and tradition is, their leaders will take the bait and sign it as well, without a doubt."
Darui narrowed his eyes and grinned.
"Oh? And who is going to be Madara this time? Has the Uchiha finally become bored and wants to play a big shot again?"
Both Naruto and Hinata nearly jumped up from their seats simultaneously, clenching their fists and making the young Raikage raise his hands apologetically.
"Woah, woah, sorry, okay? Jeez, you people are so hot headed, it was just a joke, for ****'s sake," he mumbled, while Kakashi just sighed tiredly again, shaking his head.
"Please sit back, Byaku, Naruto. And no, Raikage-dono. Sasuke is needed elsewhere for now. No, actually, we're expecting an outer enemy to come to our world soon enough. According to our intel, it can happen any moment now, although it's only possible during a lunar eclipse, and we're not sure when exactly they are going to strike."
Everyone went silent for a few second while Hinata's heart began to beat faster.
The Sixth was talking about Toneri and the rest of Ōtsutsuki, that much was pretty clear. But what made him so sure that they would pose a threat to their world? After all, from what they knew, Toneri was only after her alone. Or maybe...
Her eyes widened under the mask at the shocking realization.
What if the Sixth decided to provoke Toneri and to use him for their goals?
Trying to calm herself down and ignoring what the others were saying, the Uchiha was rapidly thinking on the multiple possibilities that were swirling in her head right now.
First of all, it was very smart, she had to admit. Whatever power Toneri and his clan possessed – and it was probably immense judging by the two Ōtsutsuki she personally knew – this way, Kakashi was assuring the highest possible chances for them to withstand the upcoming confrontation. And aside from that, a large scaled battle would distract Toneri from looking for her, earning them the advantage of time...
Moreover, it would allow them to solve both of their biggest problems once and for all. Uniting the world for good, and preventing Kaguya's return...
No, their Hokage wasn't just smart. He was a genius strategist, that's for sure.
Yet still...
Deep inside, Hinata was afraid to think what was going to happen when Toneri would arrive. She just wanted it all to to end... she wanted a peaceful life with her husband and her clan. She wanted to come back to her home village.
To become a mother...
But instead, she had to keep fighting. To keep acting before everyone including herself, making it seem like she was unbreakable... a perfect kunoichi, one of the strongest in the world.
And now she couldn't even see Sasuke...
The Uchiha nearly groaned in frustration, suppressing her outburst in the last moment - but evidently the others were too absorbed by the discussion that was going on, so they probably wouldn't notice it anyway.
Sometimes Hinata just hated her life.
No, of course, she realized that she couldn't really complain. Comparing to how she had been living until she met Sasuke, it was like comparing hell to paradise. And while they were still allowed to live, travel and do missions together, it was perfectly fine. No, more than just fine – she loved that, much like she loved everything about her husband himself.
But without him... the world was losing its colors rapidly. And she was starting to feel rather depressed pretty quickly.
And what made it all even worse, she knew for a fact that Sasuke felt the same way. That he suffered because of this situation, too. That he missed her just like she missed him.
To some other woman, the idea of someone like Sasuke craving to see her this much would probably be flattering and pleasant. But to Hinata, it wasn't. She hated the idea of her beloved one feeling bad, no matter what was the reason to it. Especially when she could relate to the feeling herself.
And on top of that, she had been waiting for this day in the same way she had used to wait for her birthdays back in her childhood. But it turned out that she wouldn't see Sasuke anytime soon, after all...
"Byaku, what do you think? Can you make it?" Kakashi turned to her, making the young woman snap out of her depressing thoughts, raising her head up and, for the first time ever, being grateful to her mask – fortunately it was hiding her burning red face right now, because she had literally no idea what he was asking her about.
"Damn it, Kakashi-sen... I mean, Hokage-sama! Of course she can, what kind of question is that?"
"Naruto, I'm not asking you," the Sixth interrupted his former student, making him grimace. "So, Byaku. Can you accompany Sasuke's group in this mission?"
Her heart skipped a beat.
"I... of course, I can do that," she replied cautiously, not really caring about the details of the mission.
"Very well, then," Kakashi clapped his hands, nodding approvingly. "We'll set this plan in motion in a week. For now, Naruto will teleport all of you back to your previous assignments. Thank you for coming, the meeting is over."
"Fine by me," Darui mumbled, raising up from his spot, and so did everyone else.
Feeling her heart racing insanely, Hinata approached one of the clones Naruto had just created in order to use his Flying Thunder God jutsu on the leaders of the villages, gripping his hand and pulling the blond away from the others.
"Naruto, I–"
"Yeah, I have noticed that you spaced out for a second. You haven't heard about the details of the mission, have ya?" he asked quietly, giving her an empathic look. Sometimes she was beginning to forget that he could feel people's emotions. What a nice ability...
"No," she sighed, lowering her head in shame.
The blond smirked, whispering,
"Don't worry, it's all good for ya. Unless you mind me and a bunch of other idiots taking part in that mission Sasuke is going to lead."
"I... no, I don't really mind it," she smiled under the mask, and the Uzumaki smiled in return, tapping her shoulder reassuringly. "But what kind of mission is that...?"
"Oi, Naruto! Get your ass over here and teleport us back to Kusa! I need to take a shower after talking to Suigetsu, I'm feeling dirty!" Karin yelled, waving to him and making Hinata realize that she had actually been talking to the real jinchūriki all this time, and not to a shadow clone.
"Oh? Careful, Karin, your boyfriend might get jelly at such confession. But I can feel ya, many girls feel the need for a shower when I'm around," the white haired swordsman grinned, while Yutaka, who was now holding Karin's hand, remained calm as usual, not even caring to react – after all, such clashes between Suigetsu and Karin were something everybody in Akatsuki grew accustomed to.
His girlfriend, on the other hand...
"Okay, listen, I gotta go before they kill each other. Sasuke will tell you everything, okay? See ya," Naruto winked at Hinata, making her nod perplexedly as he stormed towards his own and Sasuke's cousins.
Turning around, Hinata walked slowly towards the familiar stairs of the Tower that had become their home throughout the previous years, thinking about everything she had found out this night.
She hasn't been to their room in weeks, and for some reason, she didn't even want to enter it, knowing that Sasuke wasn't there anyway. But on the other hand, she felt so tired after this incredibly long day... Hinata needed to have some rest, and sleeping outside her bed just because she was feeling depressed would be beyond ridiculous.
She wasn't a teenager anymore, after all...
Opening the door to their room that had become pretty comfy during the years they had spent living here, the Uchiha took the mask off, finally deactivating the Byakugan and enjoying the freedom as she was unbuttoning her coat, tossing it aside as well. She would have the time to put it in its place in the morning anyway...
Yawning soundly, the kunoichi took the dark blue top off as well, standing there next to the mirror in her underwear only when she felt the two strong hands grip her from behind, hugging tightly and making the young woman yelp in surprise.
But she recognized his smell instantly, of course.
"Sasuke...!" She turned around, only to get pressed against the wall the next second as Sasuke kissed her on the lips passionately, slowly moving to her neck and making his wife gasp intermittently as she hugged his neck.
"I missed you so much," he whispered against her lips, pressing his forehead against her own and looking into her white eyes.
"Tell me about it," she smiled, kissing him back. "Why didn't you come after us? What happened?"
"Nothing serious. I just wanted to buy you these, but all the stores were already closed," he pointed with a nod of his head at the humble bouquet of red roses that was floating midair next to them.
Hinata sneered, shaking her head and kissing him again.
"You'll have to tell me about it, you know. I won't give up until you do."
"I know. And I will tell you, but later. We have more important things to do right now." He raised her up in the air with his hands, making the kunoichi let out a squeal of delight, and rushed towards their bed.
