-1Tsunade doesn't even look up from her paper work.

"No way."

"Yes way," replies Naruto, evenly (and that right there is a bad sign. Naruto's only calm when he's fucking Furious, and right now he is very, very calm). "You want Sound gone, but you can't afford an army of ninja. I can wipe them out with eleven, and right now that's too good a deal for you to fucking pass up."

She growls, but she knows he's right. Madara's war had wiped out half of Konoha's ninja population, but those it had not slain, it had vaunted to greatness. There was not a single genin in the village, and precious few chunin; the Jounin were almost without number. They had earned their titles on battlefields, tearing rank from the throats of enemies nigh-innumerable.

And twelve- children, slackers, luckless fools who'd tasted the rough side of life too many times- had become shinobi strong enough to put even the Sannin to shame.

The silence drags on.

"Fine," she growls. "Take Sasuke. Take your fucking killer's eye. But if you fuck up," and she turns to glare up at him, "you can fucking forget about ever getting to call yourself Rokudaime, you hear me?"

Naruto grins, fox-like, and bows so deep his forehead touches the floor.

"Yes, Ma'am. Always a pleasure to follow the commands of my elders-and betters."

She can taste the sarcasm, but says nothing. After all, what's there to say?