Mari Makinami
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I'm a bit early with the new chapter this week, but hopefully you guys enjoy it. It's the longest one I've written so far, beware!
There's gonna be 2 more weeks of weekly updates until I'll probably return to 'every other week' schedule. Enjoy!Special thanks to
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who's made that awesome banner in my sig! You're awesome, bro! 
Also, for those who want to read the chapters with better formatting as well as the beta'd versions of some of the old ones, here is the
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. I also usually update there prior to any other sites!________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 17. The Immortals
Hyūga Hiashi was a very patient man. It was only natural, for patience was one of the most important elements of discipline, and the teachings of his clan traditionally were all about discipline above anything else. But at the same time, to say that he was an unemotional person would be a big misconception. And although everyone else in the room felt quite depressed and gloomy that dank, chilly evening, the Hyūga clan's Head was feeling and thinking many different things as his wrinkled eyes were running over the accurate, curt lines written on the paper he was currently holding. The scroll was covered with various seals and glyphs of secrecy, but since Hiashi had arrived later than the others, they had already been deactivated.
Everyone in the room, including the Sixth Hokage, was carefully watching the man's reaction, expecting or perhaps even craving to see the spark of rising anger on his tired face, but it wasn't giving away anything at all.
Group 1
Uzumaki Karin, female, 17;
Originates from Kusagakure;
A- to S-rank medic kunoichi, sensory type, capable of using the extremely rare Uzumaki clan kekkei genkai (the chakra binding chains).
Hōzuki Suigetsu, male, 18;
Originates from Kirigakure;
S-rank kenjutsu master, one of the successors of the Seven Great Swordsmen, presumably impossible to kill due to his clan's kekkei genkai (the ability to transform his body into water).
Group 2
Jūgo, male, 19;
Originates from Otogakure;
Former test subject of Orochimaru the Sannin, capable of using the most powerful version of the Cursed Seal;
Mentally unstable.
Unknown shinobi, male, age of mid-twenties;
Originates from Uzushiogakure (according to the symbolic on his forehead protector);
Possess a pair of Sharingan eyes (presumably stolen), capable of using Mangekyō Sharingan (the exact abilities are unknown);
Group 3
Jun, male, age of late twenties;
Originates from Amegakure;
A-rank shinobi, known as one of the strongest in his country, no specific information on his abilities is available;
Isn't teamed with anyone at the moment.
Group 4
Ashura, female, age of early twenties;
Origins are unknown (doesn't wear any recognizable symbolic);
No specific information on her abilities is available.
Teamed with Orochimaru the Sannin, no extra information on whom is necessary.
Group 5
Indra, male, age of early twenties;
Origins are unknown (doesn't wear any recognizable symbolic);
No specific information on his abilities is available;
The current leader of Akatsuki.
Hyūga Hinata, female, 17;
Originates from Konohagakure;
S-rank kunoichi, has shown the ability to use multiple A- and S-rank techniques of significant destructive power, as well as the extremely rare kekkei genkai known as Shikotsumyaku which makes her hard to kill or incapacitate.
"The copies of this report have been sent to the other four Kage, so everyone mentioned in this list is officially nukenin now," said Kakashi.
Not bothering to read the actual detailed report on the recent events in Amegakure, Hiashi finally put the scroll back on Hatake's desk, raising his eyes to meet the calm, studying gaze of the Sixth. The gray haired man was sitting on his usual workplace with his arms locked before his half-masked face, and neither of the two shinobi could figure out what was going on in the other's head.
"Hiashi-sama," quietly uttered Kō, slightly bowing his head to his senior. "If I may–"
"No, you may not," the older Hyūga snapped, rapidly thinking and trying to decide what to do from this point onward.
It was clear that the Sixth was expecting some specific reaction from him now. To see his daughter in the list of members of the reestablished Akatsuki wasn't something Hiashi couldn't imagine given that the rumors concerning the group were spreading among the highest echelons of Konoha for a few weeks by now. But even those who had taken those rumors serious seemed to be inclined to think that this version of Akatsuki was merely a wannabe party. Some bunch of bigots who wanted to play villains and to use the fear of the notorious group of terrorists that still lived in many people's hearts, nothing more.
Yet still … this message that Orochimaru had sent them clearly implied that the current line-up was at least on par with the previous one. The fact that they were able to take Amegakure over in just one night was only proving the reliability of the information they'd received from the sannin who'd agreed to be Konoha's spy in their midst in exchange for the truce between their village and Oto. To him, as a former member of Akatsuki who still had the necessary connections, it was more than a suitable job.
Especially considering the benefits he would receive in the end.
And the fact that his hapless Hinata had reached such level was shocking, but intriguing at the same time. Perhaps even amusing to some extent. Not only his daughter he always considered a waste was now a member of the group of the most dangerous and powerful ninja alive, but she also somehow had managed to acquire the legendary kekkei genkai of their rivals who had ceased to exist long ago. And on top of everything else she also had teamed up with the mysterious leader of the organization himself. Apparently Hiashi really had been underestimating her all this time, and that was a huge mistake on his part…
He was barely able to hold a scowl as he clenched the fingers on his left hand, looking at his palm absently.
The Hyūga frowned.
Even months ago in Tanzaku-gai, he had seen how much his daughter had improved in the short time of her rogue status. She was able to use the highest level version of Jūken by mixing in some lightning chakra in the same way Kakashi Hatake's Raikiri worked. It wasn't supposed to simply disable one's tenketsu during a fight, but rather to completely obliterate the chakra nodes, ruining the chakra system around them permanently.
Because of that, ever since that night Hiashi wasn't able to channel chakra into his right hand, which basically rendered him incapable of proper fighting without using kinjutsu. Even Tsunade and her student weren't able to fix such damage, and he was too prideful to accept an artificial hand, not to mention that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to suppress the First Hokage's potent chakra.
Apparently Hinata had found herself a very good tutor … it had to be someone of untold power and skill to make her achieve such impressive results in such a short time.
But who could it possibly be?
No mater how arrogant he was, Hiashi wasn't a fool. He would never deny that there were some shinobi who stood leagues above himself and his entire clan. The last war had shown it clearly – the Uzumaki boy, along with Uchiha Sasuke, had managed to defeat Madara who had been toying with the entire Shinobi Alliance. It was obvious that these two were powerful enough to be able to wipe out the entire Konoha if they wanted to, and it was the villagers' greatest fortune that both of them stood by the Leaf's side.
And they weren't quite unique despite being extremely rare. The First Hokage, Madara, Obito, the Fourth, Itachi – either of them were out of their league.
But most those Hiashi was aware of were already either dead or they were on Konoha's side. And the problem was that while only the Uchiha boy and the Kyūbi's jinchūriki could fall under the Hyūga Head's suspicion as either of them potentially could guide Hinata to become what she had become, Hiashi was certain neither of them would ever want to deal with her. The jinchūriki was too loyal to Konoha to side with a nukenin, and Uchiha Sasuke … while he could do that in theory, there was absolutely no evidence to assume that he had decided to train her. Basically because he had no reason to do that at all – from what Hiashi knew about the former clan of his rivals, they were far too arrogant to associate with those whom they considered lowlifes, and as far as he knew, Sasuke had never even shared a word with his older daughter.
On top of that, the Sixth himself had vouched for the boy …
It was a dead end, without a doubt. If there was someone of that level out there, they all were in trouble. Konoha was in danger, and by the way he looked at him, Hatake Kakashi clearly realized it himself.
The least Hiashi could do in this situation was to find Hinata and make her atone for her sins …
"Basically …," the gray haired Hokage finally looked away, leaning back in his chair and letting out a heavy sigh, "It's not as bad as it looks," he said, raising his eyes to the ceiling of the office thoughtfully.
"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" Hiashi muttered impassivly, though being very surprised by his words.
"They are not aiming for Konoha. If anything, once we've received the confirmation from Orochimaru that Akatsuki had reclaimed Amegakure, their attacks stopped completely."
So that's how it was? It didn't make sense, but then again, nothing about the new Akatsuki did. But if this was the case, then their goals probably didn't concern the Fire Country. Perhaps Hinata was the one to make them stop ...? If his daughter remained anything like the girl he had once known, it would've been very much like her to do so.
And if this was the case ... perhaps that's why she'd decided to join Akatsuki to begin with?
"What are their intentions then?" Hiashi asked perhaps a tiny bit more sharply than he had intended, frowning.
"Who knows …," the Sixth shrugged, still staring at the ceiling, "It could be anything, really. Starting with bijū and finishing with the original plan that Pain believed in. But it seems that Konoha is out of their interests for now. That's relieving."
"And what are we supposed to do in a situation like this?" Hiashi barked as his mask of indifference finally gave a crack. He couldn't stand seeing Hanabi, his younger daughter and the heir to his clan, standing beside the Hokage with an absolutely emotionless expression, as if she didn't care one bit about the information they'd received from Orochimaru. There was something very bothering in the picture, but Hiashi couldn't quite grasp what exactly it was.
"What can we really do, Hiashi-san?" Kakashi asked as his eyes slided at him lazily, "We're bound by the Pact of the Five Great Nations. We can't attack them on their territory no matter what. And unless they attack us, we can't help it."
"But that's my daughter we're talking about!" he finally exploded, slamming his palms onto the wooden table. "She must be taken care of!"
"What are you suggesting, then?" the Hokage's friendly, nearly mocking tone was just too irritating to the Hyūga clan's Head.
"I–"
"It's our clan's business. We don't have to act on behalf of Konoha. We have our ways," Kō interrupted him, avoiding to look into anyone's eyes. And just as he had said so, Hiashi noticed something strange – apparently his right hand's words finally made Hanabi feel something too strong to keep calm, and by the short glare the girl had given to Kō, it wasn't good at all.
Hiashi smirked. At least his younger daughter was a proper Hyūga – apparently she had wanted to suggest it herself, but Kō had beaten her to it.
But then again, come to think about it … if the intel they'd received was accurate, then his older daughter turned to be the most powerful and ambitious Hyūga in centuries. And despite his desire to punish her for the things she had done, the man couldn't help but feel proud for her deep in his soul.
"That's an interesting suggestion. Normally I would agree, but as the current Hokage I have to ask you: do you realize that whoever gets caught or even noticed and recognized taking part in this operation, the person will be labeled a nukenin and an international criminal the same second? You, Hiashi-san, are no exception," Hatake certainly had the nerve to say something like that to one of the most honorable council members of Konoha and to the leader of the most powerful clan of the villageno less … well, not counting the Uchiha, of course. Hiashi still tended to forget that he actually had returned…
Damn the boy. Apparently he'd forgotten about his promise to bring Hinata back to her clan to meet her judgement ... or perhaps he didn't? What if one of those unknown Akatsuki members was actually him in disguise? Sasuke surely was capable of pulling something like that. And in this case ... perhaps their plan wasn't as hopeless as it seemed to the others?
"We're fully aware of the possible consequences, Hokage-sama," Hiashi replied, finally regaining his cool at the reassuring thought. "Kō is right. It needs to be done, and as the head of the Hyūga, I will be leading this operation if you allow us to proceed with it."
Kakashi srugged, giving him a slightly confused look.
"I obviously don't allow it, but of course, it's totally up to you. Whatever you decide to do, I'll act as if I never was aware of it."
Hiashi nodded his head in appreciation. Perhaps he didn't quite like Hatake Kakashi, but at least the man was a true shinobi who understood how their world really worked.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"But I have to warn you, Hiashi-san," the eyes of the Sixth suddenly became serious for the first time during their entire conversation. "I'm not trying to underestimate your clan in any way, mind you. But I also understand your feelings concerning this … situation, and I can't help but be worried about you. If the information we've received is true, then you'll have to face at least two S-ranked ninja within in a hostile village without any cover to come to your aid. As far as I'm aware, you never happened to deal with Akatsuki … but I did quite a lot. They are extremely dangerous. Don't get deluded by the fact that's it your daughter – according to the intel we have, she's a Kage level kunoichi now. And the capabilities of her partner are absolutely unknown, but he obviously wouldn't be their leader for no reason. I wouldn't be surprised if he's also partly the reason of Hinata's … progress, provided that they really are teamed now. And I think it's obvious that since the leader had chosen her to be his partner, there was a good reason to it as well."
Hiashi frowned, looking at his younger daughter. Strangely enough, Kakashi's words wasn't what really bothered him at the moment. He wasn't sure what the young Hyūga who stood there in her ANBU uniform was thinking now, but he clearly had caught a glimpse of smile on her lips as Kakashi had finished his last line.
What on earth did she find amusing in such a situation …? She didn't think they'd allow her to join them and face her sister, did she? Foolish child …
"I'm aware, Hokage-sama. But as the head of the clan, I have to stand up for our honor. Even if our lives are in line, we must execute the betrayer no matter the cost."
The Sixth sighed again, closing his eyes.
"Suit yourself, Hiashi-san. But I have one condition. None of my ANBU from your clan is to be involved with this mission. If I find out that at least one of them was allowed to join your group, I will personally do everything to compromise the entire operation."
Hiashi smirked. By saying that, Hatake was only doing him a favor – this way, he wouldn't have to waste his time dealing with Hanabi. While she could possibly argue with him, her father, she was disciplined enough to follow the senior's orders, and that she did – her face was absolutely expressionless again as she heard the words of the Sixth.
"Sure, Hokage-sama. Then it's settled, I believe. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss? We need to prepare for what is coming."
Kakashi shook his head dismissively, lowering his eyes.
"No, you're free to go, Hiashi-san. Take care," he added, and considering all the circumstances, it sounded nearly mockingly again which made Hiashi clench his teeth.
The Hyūga turned away without saying anything else, moving out of the office. Kō followed him right away, not looking at anyone else either.
A minute later Hanabi finally sighed, turning her Byakugan off.
"They've left. That went surprisingly well, Hokage-sama. I was afraid that he's gotten suspicious, but apparently I was wrong."
Kakashi gave the girl an eye smile, putting his pen away after writing down something short.
"Indeed … I wanted to ask you, though. How's your training with Gai and Lee-kun? Is everything alright? Don't they push you too hard?"
Hanabi smiled warmly, amused by his care.
"No … in fact, I already can open two Gates. I should be able to open the Third Gate soon enough, but Gai-san told me that the Fifth is most likely my limit if I don't want to risk my reproductive system, which I obviously don't. And, anyway, I won't be reaching this level anytime soon – perhaps in a few years, if I train hard enough. But it's so incredibly effective! I guess nobody has ever assumed that it can go along with Jūken so nicely. The combination of our clan's techniques with Gōken is truly amazing, as well as very deceiving and unpredictable in combat."
Kakashi nodded approvingly. He could imagine it. Gōken and Jūken always were considered to be the complete opposites, but come to think about it, if Hanabi really had managed to find the balance between them ... perhaps the duo would turn to be a perfect combination in the end, the styles completing each other like Yin and Yang.
Hatake smiled. He really enjoyed the fact that the Hyūga clan was soon to be led by someone so open-minded and creative.
"Very well … I'm looking forward to seeing it myself. But I didn't ask you about it without a reason. Say, do you think you can manage maintaining the control over three Gates in a crucial situation?"
She blinked, confused and a bit embarrassed. She actually had meant about two or three more weeks when she had told the Sixth about her progress...
"I don't know … I think I can open the Gate itself, but I might not be able to handle the drawbacks just yet. Gai-san told me that it's uncertain if my body is prepared enough or not. Why, Hokage-sama?"
"Because I'm going to assign you to an S-rank mission now, and I want to make sure that you come out of it alive. You're going to have ample time to train during its course, but the stronger you are when you come there the better. Something unexpected may and most likely will be happening in that area. After all, it's a foreign village that's on the brink of war."
Her eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't he going to …?
"Regardless, we have little choice on the matter. Right now I need you to meet the certain two Akatsuki members in a few hours. Don't worry, you're familiar with both of them so that part's going to be fairly easy. They'll be needing your assistance with some messy job, and once you're done, you'll have to stay away from the village for a while. We need to make sure that Hiashi doesn't do anything foolish to you before going for his guerrilla assault. I'm not sure how long it's going to take, so the best option is to stick to them until it's over. Then you'll be able to come back and take the leadership over your clan."
Hanabi nearly jumped in joy as she realized what exactly he was ordering her to do. Her birthday had passed just two days ago, but she couldn't possibly have asked for a better present.
"And who these two can possibly be?" she smirked sheepishly, unable to hold a happy sneer as she felt the foretaste of the long-awaited reunion with her sister.
Kakashi smiled under his mask. It was truly amazing that the girl hadn't lost her cheerful attitude despite being an elite ANBU kunoichi who had already went through quite a few nasty missions at her young age and who was familiar with the darkest aspects of being a ninja.
"You'll see it soon enough. For now, you are dismissed."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" she squeaked, using Shunshin no Jutsu to get out of the office as Kakashi kept smiling, slightly shaking his head. It was amazing how strong both Hiashi's daughters turned to become. If only the man realized how invaluable they were ... the upcoming tragedy could've been avoided.
The Hokage could only pray that neither of them would end up repeating Uchiha Itachi's fate.
"Hm-m, Shizune ...?" he called his assistant, unsure if she was there in her workplace or not. But apparently she'd already returned from the archive – the door opened, and the black haired woman dressed in her usual long dark kimono entered the room, looking at him questioningly.
"Kakashi-sama …?"
"Could you please bring me some tea? And something to eat would be nice, too. That was one hell of a day," he asked, still feeling a bit shy to give orders to the woman who looked pretty tired herself. After all, he had never imagined that he'd become a Hokage one day, and sometimes the man felt like he still hadn't gotten used to the position.
Perhaps he'd never be.
"Of course," she smiled softly and left the room, heading to the nearest store.
Tha man stretched his arms, yawning. It was already late in the evening and he still had some paper work to finish. Quite a lot of it, in fact. He even considered using a shadow clone to do it, but then he thought that on the other hand, nothing and nobody was waiting for him at home, so there was no rush anyway...
The last few months were incredibly hard for him in many senses. Ever since Kakashi'd had the talk with his two former students right before the Uchiha had left, it took the Sixth Hokage long weeks of sleepless nights to come up with their … or rather his current plan. But before he was able to formulate it, before he could decide what he must do as the leader of Konoha, he'd had to find and to analyze the flaws in the philosophies of both Naruto and Sasuke. And especially in their views on the definition of Hokage.
Naruto's intentions always were good, but at the same time he was too naive. He believed that peace would last forever just because people had suffered the pain of loss during the war and they didn't want it to repeat. The sole fact that he had managed to convince Sasuke to change his views or, as the blond called it, 'to pull him out of the darkness', had lured the son of Minato-sensei into the false belief that anything could be achieved with words and good will. That understanding each other could make people stop fighting.
He was wrong.
Naruto had been confused by the successful outcome of his duel with the Uchiha, and he was so happy about it that he hadn't realized his own misunderstanding of what really had happened between him and his friend.
As a matter of fact, both of them had understood each other even prior to the fateful fight at the Valley of the End half a year ago. Defeating Sasuke didn't make the Uchiha understand Naruto any better – it made him accept some of Naruto's views. But the truth was that both of them had to spill blood to be able to come to this truce. Suffering helped them, not understanding. Naruto had changed Sasuke by force, not with words alone. What the jinchūriki considered his greatest success and the ultimate proof of his idea of peace ... in reality, it was actually quite the opposite. And judging by their recent conversation that had taken part just prior to Naruto's departure to Amegakure, Naruto had already started to realize it, slowly but imminently.
Words were important, sometimes far more important than power, but words alone would never be ample to maintain peace.
On the other hand, Sasuke's idea of the revolution, of becoming the eternal beacon of dictatorship and violence on which people would focus their hatred forever actually made sense, in a way. Perhaps not in every detail, but it did nonetheless. The Uchiha had intended to do something very similar to what Naruto had done to him, but this time to the entire world, forcing everyone to cooperate by using his power and their fear. By making them suffer, by being an everlasting reminder of what they all needed to remember in order to prevent hurting each other.
Becoming something that was supposed to unite them permanently.
It had its flaws as well, though. Being the opposite extremum point on the scale of possible solutions, it could be effective under certain circumstances. But in reality it had to many weak points, which made it unrealistic as well. There were just too many possibilities of something going wrong, and even if they ignored the fact that such existence would be pure misery both for him and for everyone else, Kaguya's example had clearly shown that no dictator would last forever. Nothing in their world was eternal.
Eventually, even stars burned out.
In other words, the positions of both of his former students had their advantages and weaknesses, just like any other point of view. The real question was what choice did they have. Because something had to be done, without a doubt.
And then, after weeks and months of thinking, Kakashi had finally realized two very important things.
The first of them was that since nothing lasted forever, then the eternal peace was obviously impossible in any case. It was but an idealistic, utopic dream.
And the second was that the best possible choice certainly laid somewhere in between the two extremums of the initial ideas of Naruto and Sasuke.
Their world needed the leading power. As it had been prior to the last war, when the Great Countries had been roughly equal to each other due to the balance created with bijū, the wars between them always were inevitable for there was no superpower to solve the uprising conflicts and to play the role of the supreme judge. There simply had been no authority to do so, therefore the only natural way of solving problems always had been spilling blood. Ridiculous misunderstandings between some persons had started fights, and fights had turned into wars where sometimes even entire countries had ceased to exist.
And at the same time, peace was impossible to achieve with the hidden villages system in place – Sasuke was right about that. If a truce lasted for too long, the institutions of ninja started to decay since there was basically nothing for them to do. Ninja who were born and raised for the sole purpose of fighting until their last breath had no job and no way to prove themselves, becoming criminals out of despair and poverty, which in its turn caused havoc within the countries, forcing their leaders to choose between starting a war with another country or sinking into a civil war instead.
And that's what was soon to happen in Konoha if they didn't do something as soon as possible. If Kakashi didn't do something. It wasn't very notable just yet, but the frustration out of their inability to strike Amegakure back was nearly palpable among the ninja in the village. On top of that, the amount of available missions was decreasing with each day. Some shinobi and especially kunoichi even resigned, attempting to go for a life of a civilian, usually only to find out that they weren't suited for it at all, and thus leaving them the only choice. To become criminals.
And Kakashi knew for sure that the situation in the other Great Countries wasn't any different, if not worse than that.
That's how their world had been working until the Fourth Great War, but now everything was a bit different.
If he managed to execute his plan exactly in the way he had thought it through, it could grant them at least a few decades, or perhaps even a century of peace by making Konoha take the leading role in the world.
Since creating new jinchūriki was against the Pact between the Five Great Nations now, the balance between the countries had become shaky. The Pact was the only thing that really was delaying the beginning of the next destructive war, but only naive idealists like Naruto really believed that other countries agreed to it just because they craved peace.
The truth was that they didn't have their weapons of massive destruction anymore, while Konoha still had Naruto and Sasuke. Sure, Kumo still had Killer Bee, but his power paled in comparison with these two, not to mention that it also brought its contribution into the global disbalance.
In the end the said Great Countries were forced to agree to cooperate, even though there was no threatening or any unfriendliness on words between them.
Basically, Konoha already had the upper hand. But it needed to be ensured for the long term. Of course, there would be injustice as the countries were going to be far from equal to the Leaf. But no matter how unfair it was, Kakashi believed that it would be better than letting more lives be wasted in another pointless bloodshed. Than letting children be used as soldiers and get killed. Than letting them turn into monsters the way Obito had …
The good part of this idea was that Konoha wouldn't have to dominate the world by force alone once all the goals of his plan would be accomplished. By creating an outer enemy in the face of Akatsuki, the Fire Country would willingly take the public initiative to become the leading force to fight them. None of the countries were ready to do it in their current economical state – in fact, even Konoha couldn have afforded it if wasn't merely a gamble on their part. But since it was going to be under their complete control, it would be fairly easy to make the other countries believe that the allegedly most weakened by the last war Fire Coutry had solved the problem on its own, hence proving themselves far more powerful than the others, as well as justifying their ownership of the weapons in the faces of Naruto and Sasuke.
It would make them all think twice before deciding to say a word against Konoha's decisions.
On top of that, upon 'defeating' Akatsuki, with the help Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata and the others Konoha would be able to unite all the neutral and small countries together into one immense superpower that would be unbeatable even should all the other Great Countries forge an alliance against them.
And once it would be accomplished, they'd be forced to cooperate no matter what.
The Sixth knew that it sounded dangerous, perhaps even cruel. In fact, it was very close to the initial plan of Pain – his idea of attaining the monopoly on wars and ruling the world with the power of bijū. And if Hatake Kakashi still was just a regular shinobi, he'd probably be against the idea, just like he would be against any other on the matter, but as the Hokage, he realized that this truly was the only way they could ensure the peaceful future for the next generations.
The man suddenly flinched, being torn out of his thoughts as he noticed someone's presence nearby, just behind the open window. It felt familiar so he quickly recognized the man, but he didn't expect him to come to his office so soon.
Has something urgent happened ...?
"Come in. You don't want to get spotted, do you?" the shadow hesitated for a second, but then silently slipped into the room, kneeling before the Sixth. The mysterious person was wearing a black loose overall, and his face couldn't be seen under its hood. The shadow clearly either didn't want or just not dared to speak up first, staying quiet as Kakashi was writing something on a scroll of paper.
"It's quite dangerous to come here with so many Hyūga patrolling the village. It would be very hard to explain why did you come to me like this, at this time," the Hokage finally said, not looking at the man.
"You're playing a very dangerous game yourself, Hokage-sama," he replied, purposely lowering his voice to hide the slightest irritation that still didn't miss Kakashi's ears.
The Sixth squinted at him, giving the shinobi an estimating look.
"True. But unlike you, it's my duty to do so."
"Is it? I don't recall any other Hokage ever intending to achieve exactly what the original Akatsuki failed at," the shinobi said calmly and it only made Kakashi sigh tiredly. This man was imprssively smart.
"We've had this discussion before, didn't we? There's no other way. If you can see one, please, feel free to express your idea to me. You've seen how destructive the last war was, and I'd also seen the previous one. Tsunade-sama had seen the one before that, and she agrees, too. Such tragedy can't be allowed to repeat. Not if we have anything to say about it."
The shadow didn't reply, slightly lowering its head instead.
"I understand it. And you know I do. If anything, I had put my life in line to ensure the success of your plan long before the real deal has started. Not only that– "
"I know and appreciate everything you've done. But you know that it would unlikely be possible otherwise. Our plan still may very well fail. Like you've just said, it's a truly dangerous game indeed."
"I'm not doing this for you or the village, though. I'm not like him. I'm not as strong or smart. I want you to understand it clearly, too," the man blurted but quickly slouched, as if expecting Kakashi to hit him in response. "I apologize, Hokage-sama. I ... it's just–"
"Don't. You have all the rights to be unpleased with this mess. Truth to be told, I'm quite unsure if it's even going to work out should something go wrong … after all, we'd overestimated Hinata's loyalty to the village. But regardless of her own feelings, I don't think there's any other way to ensure Sasuke staying by our side no matter what. He seems to genuinely care about her now according to what Orochimaru states in his report. We were very lucky that she had stumbled upon him back then – if she hadn't, I don't think there would be an opportunity for us at all."
The man slightly cocked his hooded head, and Kakashi could see him frown as his face got highlighted by the moon's shine.
"I never imagined that this position would make you so cynical, Hokage-sama. It's your own student we're talking about. Don't you feel ashamed by doing this to him?"
Kakashi let out a defeated sigh again, rubbing his eyes.
"I was spared of the choice the moment I accepted this mantle," he pointed at his cloak with the red 'Rokudaime' kanji printed on its back. "Besides, the time of sentiments is long gone. He's not a child anymore, and not even my student. If anything, from the certain point of view I could call myself his student now, and the same goes to Naruto. Sasuke will have to endure it, and, well … I don't think he's going to be displeased with his destiny anyway. After all, he's going to have everything he could ever dream of – a clan to rebuild, a safe home to do so, a loving wife and many fights to win. No, I don't think he's going to become a problem for us."
"What if he finds out the truth, though?"
Hatake smiled and shrugged casually, finally putting the scroll aside.
"Then we'll all be at his mercy, I suppose. I don't think Naruto would support us in this case."
His mysterious interlocutor sighed himself, shaking his head.
"It's not even dangerous, it's insane."
"You can't hope to achieve anything without risking something. Being a ninja always is all about risk, you of all people should have realized it by now."
The man finally raised from the floor, coming close to the window he had come through.
"I know, Hokage-sama. Perhaps I just don't really fancy the idea of getting killed by the very woman I love, especially if it can turn to be in vain. That's all."
Kakashi gave him a perplexed look as if trying to figure the shinobi out.
"I don't think it's going to come to this, to be honest," he replied after a short pause, looking as if he suddenly was able to see this man in a brand new light.
"I want it to be this way. It's for the better … of everyone," he sounded so obediently that his voice made Kakashi frown, actually wanting to comfort his subordinate somehow. If he still was just a jōnin ... if he wasn't the one who had led him to this, he'd probably offer the man to go and share a drink, as well as a long admonitory talk, but on the other hand … could it really be helped? Could such devotion even be shaken?
"I see. Well, I still advise you to think about it more and perhaps reconsider something while you're preparing for what's to come. There still is time, and besides, I really think you're wrong about her. She's not going to kill you, " he smiled, seeing as the man slightly flinched. "Hinata is better than that. Anyway ... go and rest for now. You really need it."
The shinobi hesitated for a few seconds, as if wanting to say something, but then he jumped out of the room without replying, disappearing in the darkness of the night street.
And just as he did so, the door to the office had opened and Shizune walked in, holding a bentō and a teapot on a tray.
"Sorry, Kakashi-sama, I couldn't get your favorite … the shops are really short on assortment this late, so … just some rice and meat," she smiled apologetically, coming close to the Hokage's desk.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, Shizune … actually, I don't recall you eating anything today, so–"
"Oh …," the woman gasped, slightly blushing at his concern. "I was too busy with all the paperwork … thank you for asking, but I'll be alright, really. Some diet wouldn't–"
"Actually, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to join me for the dinner at my place. I'd like to enjoy your company without all the formalities. After all, we deserve a break from work once in a while, don't you think so?" he smiled, and she blushed even more.
"Uh … s-sure, Kakashi-sama," she gave him a sheepish smile in return, lowering her eyes.
"'Kakashi' is fine while we're free from duty. Let's go then," the Sixth finally crumpled the scroll and tossed it aside as he took the bentō and moved to the door.
Shizune, hesitating for a second as she felt a bit shocked by the sudden offer, reflexively lowered her eyes to look at the piece of paper.
Her eyes widened. There was a drawing of a rabbit. It was simple, but there was some grace and beauty in the lines, so before the Hokage had a chance to turn around and see her, the woman quickly grabbed the picture and put it into her bag.
"S-sure, Kakashi," she smiled sheepishly, catching up with him.
Hanabi growled as she broke another tall oak with her palm, feeling too frustrated and bored. It was the third hour of waiting for the Akatsuki members to come to the rendezvous point on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire. And while the now fourteen years old kunoichi knew that it could take a while for them to come to the place since she was early anyway, she still felt too excited and impatient to stand still, craving to finally see her older sister as well as the famous Uchiha. Little did she know that their meeting wasn't quite what the Sixth had meant when he'd mentioned that her mission was to assist the two Akatsuki members with whom she was familiar with...
That's why when the Hyūga finally noticed the silhouettes of the dark coats with red clouds on them looming on the horizon, her eyebrows cocked in surprise as she used her Byakugan under the cat muzzle-like ANBU mask to get a better look at the pair that was slowly approaching her.
Not only these two weren't Sasuke and Hinata, but … it was the very man she'd had a clash with just few weeks ago back in Konoha. And the other one … it was a foreign blonde woman she'd never seen before. But wasn't that supposed to be someone she knew …? Sure, one could say that she was sort of familiar with Orochimaru, but the other one...
As a kunoichi and especially as an ANBU member, Hanabi wasn't the one to act recklessly or to let her emotions overpower her mind. That's why she only allowed herself to let out a small disappointed sigh, instantly retaining the self-control as she headed towards he two of them and slightly frowning as she studied their facial expressions.
Apparently the woman was pretty displeased with the sannin – her face looked ridiculously childish as she scowled, gazing at Orochimaru who was smirking devilishly and clearly felt amused, not replying to her tirade, but still listening carefully.
It took Hanabi a few minutes to approach the pair and jump in front of them out of nowhere.
"Greetings, Orochimaru-san … and you …," the Hyūga girl narrowed her eyes at the blonde, unsure how to address to her. Neither of them was wearing the typical forehead protector with the crossed symbol of their home village on it, so Hanabi had no idea what were the blonde's origins. The woman clearly didn't mind it though seeing as she completely ignored the girl's disrespectful gesture, still furiously peering at her partner.
Hanabi had to silently commend their excerpt – neither of the Akatsuki members had shown any reaction upon her sudden appearance, and the Hyūga kunoichi always was very stealthy, so it was unlikely that they had noticed her beforehand.
More like they truly were powerful enough to not care at all.
"Oh … I should've expected Kakashi-kun to send you to our aid when I asked him for someone with Byakugan. Although I'd rather prefer Hinata-chan to tag along … no offense to you, child, but this way I'd have a chance for this nuisance …," he smirked and nodded at the blonde whose face quickly reddened, "...to divert her attention to her instead of bothering me with her … ahem … excuse me, his boring views. Honestly, Ashura … I'd had enough of these hollow talks with Jiraiya. Please, have some respect to your old sensei's friend and spare me of your jabbering."
Hanabi's eyes widened as she observed the blonde's angered face. It seemed like the woman was about to explode as she exclaimed,
"Whatever, you old creep! Sasuke had kicked your arse, Hinata could've beaten the crap out of ya too, and I'll surely do just that if ya keep trying to play around with my head! Mind your own business, 'kay? I don't care what ya do, just stay away from me with your weird ideas!" she rubbed her temples and winced , glaring at the sannin who laughed mockingly.
"Please … I've merely suggested a way to help your poor excuse of a personal life since you'd mentioned it anyway. You don't have to follow my advise, just keep it in mind, that's all. You underestimate the advantages your new jutsu provides you with–"
"I ain't gonna keep that shit in my mind, you freak! I'm not staying in this form permanently! I'm not dating Sasuke for ****'s sake!" she shrieked, shaking and pointing at Orochimaru, making Hanabi laugh under her mask against her own will. She didn't quite grasp what they were talking about and of course, these two weren't Sasuke and Hinata, but they were hilarious to watch nevertheless.
The sannin shrugged casually, raising his hands in defeat.
"Suit yourself. It was merely a friendly suggestion, no need to be mad over such a trivial thing. As the next Hokage, you might embarrass yourself in front of your future ANBU subordinates," he grinned and Hanabi's face blanched as she frowned, looking at the raging blonde thoughtfully.
The next Hokage …? Don't tell me …
"Uzumaki Naruto? Is that you?" she asked bluntly, making the woman snort and form the Dog sign, turning into the familiar young blond jinchūriki.
Her sister's former crush gazed at her with a bit of arrogance and irritation in the deep blue eyes.
"Yea, who else could it be? And who are you midget anyway?" he asked, clearly still being irked by Orochimaru's behavior.
And now Hanabi felt anger rising in her, too. So what if she wasn't that tall ...? She was a girl, she wasn't supposed to be tall anyway! If anything, she was nearly of Hinata's height by now, and unlike her sister, she still had a few more years to grow up a bit!
Still, she couldn't show this dumb man any sign of her true emotions by any means. That wouldn't be very professional of her, after all.
That's why it took Hanabi a second longer than usual to take the mask off her face, brushing the strands of her long brown hair with her palms and giving the blond shinobi a cold glare.
"Hyūga Hanabi. Pleased to meet you," she snapped, moving her eyes to the sannin.
Naruto's face changed the instant he saw her face.
"Ow-w! So you're Hinata-chan's sister! I remember ya!" it seemed that the now cheerful Uzumaki didn't even realize how rude he had sounded just few seconds ago.
She gave him a short impassive glare.
"Really? On the contrary, I don't think I remember you very well. So, Orochimaru-san … my mission is to assist you in every possible way during this mission, but I was told that you are to inform me on the specifics. What are the orders?" she deadpanned, turning back to the sannin and deciding to ignore Naruto who now looked both pissed and baffled again.
The older shinobi giggled, and it looked a bit weird, especially knowing his reputation and his past. At the moment, he didn't seem like an extremely dangerous nukenin that he was at all, more like … a freak. The Uzumaki was right on this one.
"Oh, it's rather simple. Our task is to retrieve the tenth Akatsuki member, and you'll suit just perfectly for ..."
"Wha-a-a? This punk's gonna join us? Kakashi-sensei is totally nuts, I tell ya!" yelped Naruto as Hanabi's eyes widened in shock. She? An Akatsuki member? What a nonsense...
"With all due respect, Orochimaru-san ... to be honest, I don't think I'm powerful enough to be placed in league with shinobi like you, Sasuke-san or my sister …," she mumbled, making Orochimaru giggle once again.
"You didn't think so when you were about to attack me a few weeks ago, did you? Well, don't misunderstood, child. We only need your assistance in finding the last member, you're not going to become one yourself. That's why I've mentioned your Byakugan in the first place."
"Hey! I'm powerful too! What do they even teach you in the academy nowadays?" Naruto drawled, looking gloomy because of the apparent lack of respect on her side.
I guess he's already forgotten how's that when they refuse to acknowledge you. Serves him right...
Despite the caustic thought, Hanabi let out a quiet sigh of relief. Sure, it would be quite a feat to join the group of the most powerful ninja alive, but the kunoichi truly didn't feel like she was ready for it. Perhaps in a year or two, if she managed to acquire the power of the Fifth Gate and to get a hold of her clan's kinjutsu … but not yet for sure.
"Oh, I see now. But why do you need the Byakugan, specifically? Wouldn't a sensory type be better for that job?" she asked, a bit confused.
"Not quite. Naruto-kun right here is sensory type, but I'm afraid that the man we're looking for has no chakra in his body right now, nor any emotions to radiate so that my partner would be able to spot him."
Hanabi frowned, confused by the Sannin's explanation. It didn't make sense at all. One couldn't just survive without chakra in his body, and the part about emotions … of course, contrary to what she'd said to him, Hanabi actually knew well enough who Naruto was, as well as the basics of his capabilities. If the man they were looking for could hide himself like that without even having any chakra, then his power level was supposed to be unrivaled. Surely he'd be able to hide from a mere Byakugan as well, wouldn't he …?
Evidently Orochimaru didn't think so.
"Alright, but I still don't understand who we're talking about," she replied calmly, trying to hide the embarrassing confusion.
Orochimaru gave her a grim smile while Naruto was staring away with an insulted expression, trying to appear indifferent which looked quite comic in the current situation.
"It's an old member of Akatsuki who, fortunately to us, can't be killed, at least not by regular means. His name is Hidan. He had been buried prior to the latest war somewhere within the Nara Clan Forest not far away from Konoha. Once we get there, we need you to spot the exact place, and then to help us retrieve his remnants. Naruto-kun is going to restore his body, and then we must to take him back to the hideout so that Sasuke-kun can convince him to join Akatsuki once again."
The Hyūga gasped, looking at the sannin in disbelief. She'd read the files about the man named Hidan when she was going through the information concerning Akatsuki just a few hours ago. He was a complete maniac who also was responsible for the death of the Third Hokage's late son, Sarutobi Asuma. Why on earth would they need someone like him …?
But she quickly pulled herself together, thowing the indignant thoughts away. She wasn't in the position to question the decisions of the higher ranks. She was a loyal ANBU kunoichi, and she was going to stay on her duty no matter the orders.
That was her way of ninja, after all.
"I see," she finally said, turning around and starting walking in the direction of her home village. "And once we retrieve him, what's our next move?"
"You shall escort us back to Ame and stay there in the hideout, waiting for the orders from Kakashi-kun. I take it you're already informed about the operation that your clan is preparing?"
Of course, she knew about that. They were going to infiltrate Amegakure and to try to execute Hinata. Or rather to willingly walk into the trap set by the Sixth, herself and the Uchiha.
And to die there, finally allowing her to become the head of the Hyūga clan. To free the enslaved Branch House for good and to get rid of the curse that's been there for centuries.
To let her change everything.
And she was going to witness it all, so it seemed.
"I see," she smiled, somehow feeling that Orochimaru could easily read her now and that her excitement made him even more amused. What a twisted man … but was she any better considering what they'd planned for her own clansmen?
"We should hurry up and dig the bastard's grave already. I still have to patch him up, y'know, and it takes a lot of chakra. And my damned head's aching so much, I just wanna come back and have a good sleep …," the blond moaned, "And why couldn't we just take Kabuto in? Wasn't he from your bunch as well, eh?" he asked lazily, looking at the sannin.
Apparently he wanted her and Orochimaru to make haste, but no matter how shameful it was to admit, Hanabi was moving at her highest speed, and Orochimaru looked more less like he was doing the same thing … and it was a child's play for the jinchūriki who didn't seem even remotely tensed as they were jumping from one tree to another, judging by his totally bored expression.
Just how fast could he really be …?
"Kabuto is needed elsewhere. He might join us at some point, too, but not right now. As for your headache … you shouldn't have drunk that much, brat. I was surprised that you and Sasuke were even able to stand straight back in the evening. Considering how happy you were to see each other again, I might want to advice you to reconsider my idea about the two of you–"
"Oh, just shut up, you freak," Naruto growled, rolling his eyes. "It's just that it turned that Sasuke had actually found his relative, and we'd decided to ask the the guy to join us upstairs at some point … his story is pretty sad, y'know. But he's cool, and not a douchebag like Sasuke," he winced again, grabbing his head.
Hanabi quickly caught up with the blond, channeling some chakra into her fingers and then quickly striking him from behind while he was too preoccupied with moaning and mumbling, touching a few certain points on his nape and neck.
"Ow-w! What the heck do you think you're doin'?" he yelped, reflexively rubbing his neck and turning around, glaring at the girl.
"Your headache should be gone shortly. I've cleared your vessels and tenketsu to normalize the blood pressure and the chakra flow. You're welcome," she frowned, turning away.
His expression rapidly changed as he realized that she'd been right – he was feeling much better now, just a few seconds later.
"Wow, it really works! Thanks, Hanabi-chan!"
The girl had to fight the urge to slap the jinchuriki as she rolled her eyes at his sudden change of mood.
He is such an annoyance … I wonder why Hinata used to admire him so much ... hopefully it's different now, she thought, trying to concentrate on the thoughts about her mission.
The next few hours of their trip went relatively calm and silent. She was able to spot every shinobi within the radius of the safe zone around their group so they managed to avoid being noticed at all as they came close to the area where Hidan had been buried, finally making a stop in the middle of the deep forest.
"Hanabi-chan?" Orochimaru looked at her questioningly, clearly willing to receive her report.
"There are a few Nara clan shinobi patrolling this area, as well as one Akimichi and two Yamanaka, but they all are pretty far from us, and we haven't been detected by any of them yet. And just a few yards ahead of us is an invisible detecting barrier covering the whole place, similar to the one around Konoha, but obviously much weaker. Do you have a plan?" the ANBU asked, turning to the two shinobi.
"I guess it's your turn to shine, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru smiled, and for once the Uzumaki boy smirked as well at the man's remark, looking pretty proud of himself. Hanabi gasped as he took a kunai of unusual shape out of his holster.
It had paper wrapped around its hilt. And the paper was covered with seals ...!
"Are you sure that the barrier won't detect this?" he asked, turning to the sannin.
Orochimaru nodded.
"Yes, I'm pretty certain. After all, no Nara can possibly expect anybody who's capable of using Hiraishin no Jutsu to infiltrate their territory all of sudden. They don't know you've mastered it, do they?"
Hiraishin …? The legendary jutsu of the Fourth and the Second? No way!
Naruto smirked.
"Nah, I didn't tell anyone aside from Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and you. Alright! Let's go then!" he threw the kunai directly into the tree a few yards ahead of them, and, without any warning, the teen gripped their hands. Hanabi didn't really feel anything at all – the landscape around her just slightly changed within a split second before she could blink.
"Is … that it?" she mumbled, turning around to see the branch of a tree on which they had been standing just a second ago.
"Did you expect a show with fireworks or somethin'?" Naruto smirked complacently, looking full of himself which was no wonder - he had all the rights to be proud of his mastery of this incredibly complex technique. Now Hanabi really was impressed. Apparently he wasn't as dumb as he pretended to be, after all.
"Yeah, kind of … it's called 'Flying Thunder God', I obviously expected it to be more spectacular. Unfortunately it's as lame as you are," she grinned as the blond's face changed, reddening again.
He was too easy to mess with.
"Just **** you, midget …," he grimaced, turning away.
"Not bad. Now we can at least be certain that you'll be able to deliver us back to Ame without accidently leaving our limbs here," the sannin chuckled, turning to the girl. "Can you see him?"
Hanabi carefully looked around, trying to find anything resembling a tomb.
And there it was.
"A four o'clock," she said just a few seconds later, pointing in the correct direction. "The trees there are destroyed, seemingly by a huge explosion … and underground there is … oh …, "she gasped, frowning.
A head that looked like it belonged to someone really hungry, buried along with a few pieces of his torn body, wasn't something that the Hyūga saw on regular basis. And on top of that, the head's nose was twitching as the person apparently still tried to breath – it seemed more like he did so out of habit since the man didn't need it to survive anyway.
"Is he still alive?" Orochimaru asked, looking a bit surprised. Did he not expect the man to be there?
"Yes, but he looks like–"
"Like shit, eh? Shikamaru told me that he'd exploded the guy's body, leaving only his head in there. Damn it, looks like I'm gonna waste all my chakra for that zombie … Sasuke's so paying my bills for putting me in the team with you creeps ..."
"Hey! I'm not a creep!" Hanabi bristled, gritting her teeth in anger.
"Nah, you're actually worse ..."
"Quit whining, kids. Let's go," Orochimaru jumped forward as the teens gave each other hateful glances, quickly following the sannin.
It didn't take them long to approach the location. Just a few minutes later they jumped down from the trees to see the improvised grave created by Nara Shikamaru long ago.
"So, how are we supposed to retrieve him? If we use anything that takes significant amount of chakra, we may get spotted," Hanabi whispered, keeping looking around for the possible guards.
"I'm afraid we have no choice but to use the most trivial way," Orochimaru smirked, touching the seal on his wrist – three shovels appeared out of it with the smoke cloud as he did so.
Both Naruto and Hanabi sighed resignedly, taking their tools and starting digging.
The girl wasn't sure how long did it take them to get deep enough – it seemed like a whole eternity, and they weren't even able to take a break to eat or drink something since there was a constant threat of being spotted. That's why she nearly danced in joy when the tip of Naruto's shovel finally hit something firm which for once wasn't a boulder, judging by the weak cry it let out.
"Who … the **** … is … tha–"
"Long time no see, Hidan," Orochimaru sneered, gripping the head's gray hair and pulling it out of dirt.
Despite both of them being tired, hungry and sweaty, Hanabi couldn't help but silently commend Naruto's reaction as he quickly had turned back into his female older form Orochimaru called Ashura before Hidan could see him.
"Eh …? Orochimaru? You ****in' bastard ... I'd never think that you'd be one to free me from here …," the head blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light of the slowly rising sun – it wasn't bright at all for them, but for someone who had been in complete darkness for a few months straight it actually was barely tolerable. "No way … you've returned to Akatsuki? Did you manage slay the Uchiha or something?" the head coughed, spitting out some dirt and trying to focus on the sannin's face, but then noticing Ashura and Hanabi who were staring at it with disgust. "I see we have some new members, eh …? I'm surprised that you ****ers actually have come after me. I was starting to think that Akatsuki was merely a group of hookers who–"
"Quite talkative nowadays, aren't you?" Orochimaru finally interrupted him, allowing Naruto in his female form to come closer. "Hold on with your tirade, Ashura right here is going to restore your body."
"Ashura …?" Hanabi noticed a glimpse of recognition in Hidan's eyes, and it seemed weird. As far as she knew, he had never even met Naruto in the first place, so how could he be familiar with his fake personality...?"
"Yes. Be quiet and let me heal you," it was beyond ridiculous to see Naruto's sudden change of behavior and manner of speech as he, or rather she approached the head, putting her palm on its forehead, turning to Hanabi and Sannin. "Be ready, I'll teleport us away as soon as his body is recreated. I doubt we're going to have a lot of time to leave," Ashura's hand lighed up with golden chakra, bathing Hidan's head and streaming down deeply underground, apparently connecting the head with the remnants of its owner's body.
It only took about ten seconds for the new flesh to appear out of the mass of warm chakra, being perfectly attached back to Hidan's head that now didn't even look as if he'd been on a hunger-strike all along.
"That … how did you …?" the maniac gasped, staring at the blonde with his purple eyes wide open.
"Later," the woman gripped the hands of Hidan and Hanabi, allowing Orochimaru to put his own palm on her shoulder as well.
And then they were already standing inside some foreign accomodation. It was an empty room without anything but a humble door at the entrance. Apparently it had never been used before, yet still Naruto had decided to put his seals in this exact place ... was it because it was unlikely to be visited by someone unexpected?
"Welcome the newcomers," the blonde gasped, falling to her knee and panting heavily.
Hanabi looked around, once again amazed by the sudden instant change of location before noticing that Naruto clearly was relatively low on chakra, which was surprising considering who he was. But then again, he probably couldn't use his tenant's chakra since it was likely to blow the disguise, and using the Sage Mode required some preparation time, not to mention that it could mess his Henge in an unpredictable way.
"Na... Ashura-san, are you alright?" The Hyūga quickly jumped to the jinchūriki, offering a hand.
The woman smirked in return, accepting the help.
"Yes … it's just that it takes significant amount of chakra even to recreate a limb, let alone the whole body. And the teleportation was pretty draining as well considering the distance," she said, still breathing heavily as she stood up on her shaking legs.
Hanabi's eyes widened in understanding.
"Was that how you …?"
"Yes. Let's not talk about it, alright?" The younger girl nodded perplexedly, turning to Hidan and Orochimaru.
"Where are we anyway?" she asked, frowning. Of course, she already had some suspicions, but the girl just wanted to be certain.
"The Tower. That's how they call the current hideout," Orochimaru replied, glaring at the naked Hidan who apparently didn't even think about covering himself. "I believe we need to get a new set of uniforms," he smirked as he observed Hanabi finally noticing the other man's nudeness, but she reacted more stoically than the sannin had anticipated – she just turned away, turning off her Byakugan yet not even blushing.
"Yeah, you should …," she could see with the corner of her white eye as Ashura took her coat off, draping it over Hidan's broad shoulders. Apparently he didn't notice how the coat's size changed as she cancelled the transormation on it – the man was too busy with staring at his new hands, clenching the fingers.
"What … what kind of jutsu is that …?" he nearly whispered, moving his wide open eyes to the blonde.
"It's the power you're not capable of comprehending, Hidan. Just be grateful to Ashura for bringing you back to life," Orochimaru grinned, looking at the shocked man.
But apparently his temper quickly overpowered his amazement.
"Huh? Did you just call me stupid, *****? I'm immortal anyway, so I don't know what the **** you're talking about. You better not provoke me, or I'll ****ing murder you right on spot!"
"I'm afraid it's not possible, my explosive friend. I'm immortal, just like you and Ashura … as well as the current leader of the organization."
Hidan looked at him sceptically, and Hanabi's eyes widened in shock and horror. Immortal? It sounded just too unnatural. Fine with the sannin who already was creepy enough, but Naruto … and Sasuke …? How was this possible?
"Right … sure thing. Since when Pain is immortal anyway? Are you trying to **** with me?" Hidan growled again.
Orochimaru chuckled. It seemed that he liked to taunt the man.
"Pain is long gone … the current leader's name is Indra. It's about time you meet with him–"
"Hang on," Hidan interrupted the sannin, turning to the two kunoichi. "Do you have any food? I'm hungry as ****."
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