Sealkeeper: He Who Binds

Chapter 124-A "Of Gods and Jars"

Release; 2020.09.21

"Now," Naruto's voice cracked the silence, dripping with equal parts impatient irritation and scalding venom. "Are we ready to act like adults and get to the reason I've called you here or do you still need a few minutes to remember who's in charge?"

The first answer to reach Naruto's ears was the overwhelming silence that had taken hold of the room, five pairs of eyes staring back at him in abject horror. He turned his attention to the young man currently sat on his ass before the desk. "Stand up, boy, we have work to do." Bright purple eyes set themselves upon the older Inuzuka in the room. "Again, front. and. Center." The teal flames surrounding him seemed to crack with his commands, a dance of tongues becoming vipers ready to strike out.

This time there were no objections, the four moving to stand before his desks like Jounin called to the Hokage and the young man scrambling up to stand beside them.

"Ready?" He didn't wait for a response. "Good." The cloak of teal energy was pushed back into his seal with his gratitude to the two who had so readily provided it. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've summoned you to Tsume's office-" The casual use of her name did not go unnoticed but none of them dared to question it at the moment. Out loud, at least. "And that would simply be because Tsume herself is still enjoying a well-deserved vacation. Had she been present I would have simply spoken with her personally. As it stands, however, the Inuzuka leadership is not currently present in Konoha which is rather inconvenient for Tsukuyomi and his Wolves."

The adults shared a look, each trying to figure out if their fellows knew where he was planning to go with this. They could, in the end, at least take solace in knowing they weren't the only one to not be following along.

"With no head and no heir, we must turn to the….five…" Purple eyes counted them and his tone dropped into disappointment as they rested on the young man. Naruto wasn't impressed with the kid but apparently he was one of the best Ninken trainers in the clan at the moment. He was also supposed to be charismatic but Naruto wasn't seeing it. "Of you to ensure the will of Tsukuyomi can be communicated to the Inuzuka."

"Tsukuyomi isn't in charge of the Inuzuka," They boy piped up, instantly earning him a displeased look from bright purple eyes. This only seemed to spur him on more for some reason Naruto couldn't even begin to understand. They did say the clan was brash, he supposed, but to go from cowed to defiant so quickly seemed ridiculous to him. "We'll only listen to Tsume."

"Tsume might be partnered with Tsukuyomi but don't presume to be likewise his equal, if he has instructions for the Inuzuka then the Inuzuka are expected to head his words- especially when Tsume is not present to give them herself. And speaking of not being present," Naruto returned to the topic he had called them there to discuss. He resumed swapping his gaze between the eyes of everyone present in Tsume's office, making sure to hold each and every one for a few seconds at a time. "The Wolves will be departing from Konoha and indeed Hi no Kuni itself by the end of the month. As we will no longer be here to directly oversee what's occurring in the village it will fall to the Inuzuka clan and our other allies within her walls to both keep us informed and to act in everyone's best interest."

"By 'everyone' you mean the Wolves." One of the women accused. She faltered slightly when she became the sole focus of his disapproving gaze.

"Are you suggesting it's not in the Inuzuka's best interest for the Wolves to prosper?" He bit back immediately. "The Wolves who have elevated this family from a mediocre clan in Konoha hardly given any thought after those more prestigious to having a member leading an entire country? The Wolves who are your past, present, and only hope for any sort of future? I might have hoped I would encounter intelligent members of the Inuzuka clan but it appears as if Tsume may be the only one."

"But no, you would be wrong with your assumption." He continued, his voice returning to a more neutral tone. "Believe it or not, anything that aids the Wolves but hurts either you or our other allies in Konoha will, in time, be a negative for all of us. We can't have that."

"But what do you expect us to do? We aren't in charge of the Inuzuka, we don't join in on council meetings to change things." One of the others asked.

"No," He agreed. "You're not and you don't, but each and every one of you holds influence over your clanmates. I expect you all to set good examples and maintain good relations not just with our allies but with Konoha as a whole. The Inuzuka need to be so ingrained within Konoha's every facet that even the thought of you leaving will have the councils scrambling to keep you and bending over backwards to make Konoha a place you'll stay."

The other woman blinked twice as the realization hit, her face twisting into a strange combination of understanding, horror, and admiration. "You're weaponizing the Inuzuka clan to wield against Konoha."

Her comment earned her a pitying look. "Don't be ridiculous- the Inuzuka were weaponized back when Hana reached Nami."

"I-" Hiruzen searched for words to no avail. "I don't even know what to say, Asuma." The former Hokage moved over to one of the seats before the desk and collapsed into it wearily, his cane sat to rest against the right arm.

"Do you have any idea what Konoha will be losing with this? Any at all?"

"They're an ally of Hi no Kuni. They may not be located within Konohagakure in the future but Iroh can still call upon them to defend it. The security we gain not having another group operating in our walls is well worth the price of not having them immediately present." And considering their own forces and the fact that all of Kaze no Kuni was now theirs Asuma didn't think they'd be needing to rely on the House of Wolves anytime soon.

"Ignoring the fact that it was Iroh's decree that the Wolves would be allowed to stay within Konoha's walls and move through them as they pleased, I don't think you're seeing the bigger picture here. The Wolves are not just the Wolves, they have plenty of allies within the walls still."

"And? Their allies can't move through Konoha as easily and we don't have to risk them gaining members outside of Konoha that may just be sleeper agents for one of the other villages."

"If the Wolves pull those allies Konoha will be crippled," Hiruzen pointed out. "And even if they don't the amount of sway they hold over Konoha is nothing to scoff at, it would be easy enough for them to cause damage from across the world- do you really think it's a good idea to antagonize them?"

"The Wolves could, at any moment, inspire civil war." Asuma responded in a bout of understanding Hiruzen hadn't realized he possessed. "But the chances of them doing so lessens dramatically if they aren't here and without their direct support so too does the chances of their allies being victorious in that civil war- further detering it." Asuma spun around in his chair to stare out his window over the village of Konoha. "And his allies within Konoha are less likely to be known by the enemies the Wolves make which means they'll focus on trying to find the Wolves rather than lash out at Konoha in an effort to hurt them."

"You hope." Hiruzen accused. Asuma turned his chair back just enough to be able to meet his father's eyes over his shoulder.

"All we can do is hope, we don't have any actual control over their actions and we know they're prone to taking over the countries they stay in. Even if they care for Konoha as they claim that might lead to them deciding it would be better off in their hands. I won't inflict that conflict or the possibility of Wolf rule over those who trust me to protect them."

"I understand where you're coming from, Asuma, but can't you see that the negatives you're focusing on are far outweighed by the benefits not the other way around?"

"You think I haven't spent every waking moment since we heard of the events in Mizu no Kuni weighing the two against each other? You might consider the benefits over the detriments but I say that's because for some reason you seem to trust the Wolves- I do not."

Hiruzen gave a deep, defeated sigh. "That doesn't mean the two of you can't work in harmony, Asuma, all you have to do is trust in the fact that they consider Konoha their home just as much as you do."

"They're Wolves", Asuma snorted with failing amusement. "Wolves don't share except with each other, I won't risk them becoming possessive during our time of need and seizing Konoha for itself."

As much as Hiruzen knew that wouldn't happen- probably- he could admit that he was able to see how Asuma had reached his conclusions. The reputation of the Wolves really didn't do them any favors in this and it was something Hiruzen really doubted they would ever manage to escape. They might have been able to recover from taking over Nami but there was no way to clear the stain from burning an allied Kirigakure to the ground.

Asuma- and many other leaders, he suspected- would never be able to place their trust in Naruto and his Wolves as Hiruzen was able to.

In that case, he supposed he should be grateful that the matter seemed to have been resolved as civilly as it had been. Asuma wasn't wrong when he said the Wolves would be able to incite civil war at a whim which, admittedly, was a scary thought if you didn't trust them not to do it.

Hiruzen had the benefit of knowing that the last thing Naruto wanted to do was weaken the great tree he considered his home. Asuma was also right about them being possessive, but that didn't mean they were going to try taking Konoha for themselves.

They didn't need to play tug of war between themselves and Konoha's leadership when they considered that leadership part of their Konoha.

It was just a pity Asuma wasn't going to be able to see that.

Gods, gods, what were gods in the end, really? Orochimaru found himself staring down at a dozen half-formed ideas scattered over his desk, none of which even came close to being the god-killer he needed so desperately to ensure Naruto's well-being.

Spiritual beings, sure, and definitely powerful- but was that it? Could there be more or could he be thinking of them as simple spiritual beings- the sort of beings that could be considered masses of Yin Chakra in much the same way Biju were sentient masses of Chakra? If they were, Orochimaru would have options to deal with them, He understood Chakra, after all, and it was something he knew he could directly interact with.

If not, well, he had never been a devout man of any faith so his knowings of Kami lesser and greater were sorely lacking.

In fact, the only being he had any real knowledge of that he would even consider some sort of deity had to be the Shinigami summoned during the Shiki Fuin. As far as he knew not even the summoner could actually interact with the Shinigami during the technique, even though the Shinigami was free to act with the world around the summoner.

He didn't think there had been that much research into the actual workings of the technique considering it cost the user their soul and Orochimaru had always wondered how the hell it had been developed in the first place. He had a feeling it was probably more of an accident than something someone had actually set out to do on purpose but he supposed he'd probably never know.

But for costing one's soul, the payoff was actually quite remarkable- the sealing of someone else's- or something else's- soul. The souls didn't even have to be even as far as Orochimaru could tell, unless Minato's soul had been as valuable as the Kyuubi's. Don't get him wrong, he wouldn't doubt it even for a second if someone told him that was the case, he just had a feeling that exchange wasn't quite balanced.

If that really was the case, you could have those barely possessing enough Chakra to perform the technique removing massive threats such as Kage from the battlefield. It was a hell of a card to hold in your hand and one not given up lightly. But the Shiki Fuin and the Shinigami it brought forth- created? Summoned? Was?- weren't the only thing Orochimaru knew that dealt with souls.

Myths and legends of cursed items and ancient artifacts ran rampant and the soul was a common theme, usually jars of some sort. He had probably passed over no less than a dozen such objects in his search for suitable gifts to send Naruto and if they were as real as his Kusanagi- and as effective as the legends said- then each one possessed the same abilities as a god.

That made them seem far less intimidating, he had to admit, but that wasn't the point. The point was that if they could also contain souls, would he be able to place the soul of one of these gods with? What would happen if you used Shiki Fuin and directed the Shinigami towards the relic? Would they be evenly matched? Would the Shinigami pull a soul from one of the ancient jars? The soul of the jar?

Or what Orochimaru really wanted to answer- Would the artifact pull in the Shinigami? Even if the Shinigami was only a minor deity, a regular sort of Kami, it would give him a place to start for his plans to kill Au in case Naruto ever needed him to.

He would have to find some way to conduct testing, though he knew for a fact that setting up a proper environment for them would be nigh impossible. He'd have to obtain the Kinjutsu, find people to use it, train them to use it, and then have them use it in a way he could guarantee they wouldn't try to make him the target. He also needed to make sure the Shinigami wouldn't end up holding a grudge against him if the first few attempts failed.

And then he had to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to do with an entrapped god if it eventually worked.

With the Inuzuka made aware of the Wolves' upcoming exodus Naruto had returned to his office to review what else he needed to see to in the coming weeks. He had spoken with Hinata who was to stop by later, he had talked to the Inuzuka, Hanabi was organizing her team in packing up their records, and the snake-woman may or may not have been told about their future departure- he actually didn't even know if she was still here, to be honest- and he couldn't bring himself to care. She would find out eventually.

Asuma knew, naturally, though he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up meeting with the Godaime at least one more time before they actually left. Beyond needing to make a final call for Kakashi and Anko he didn't really think there was anything else that actually needed his direct attention. He could probably give Ino and Inoichi the courtesy of informing them before the Wolves left but that wasn't exactly necessary.

Hmm, he might need to find out what Shizune was up to these days- beyond her time spent teaching Hanabi Iryo-Jutsu, if she was still doing that- and figure out if she was coming too. As the lead physician of the House of Wolves she should be coming with them but he was also aware that the woman's former master was the closest thing to family she had left and was still here in Konoha. If he did end up taking her it was probably only polite to inform Senju Tsunade himself, or at least meet her so she knew who it was her surrogate daughter was leaving the village with.

The Daimyo of Nami no Kuni found himself stroking his chin in thought. If he did meet with Tsunade he wondered if it might be possible to recruit her as a medicas well. Sure, she was retired from being a Shinobi but it was probably worth a shot depending on how much of a salary she'd demand for being on-call for the Wolves' medical needs. It would be a good way to ensure Shizune could finish any training- if Tsunade had anything else to teach her- and to serve as a backup in case Shizune was either unavailable or needed assistance.

Hanabi would probably also benefit from having twop people she could learn from.

Naturally, thoughts about Shizune brought Naruto's attention to the people she was most likely with at the moment- Clicky and Rusty. As far as he was aware the two of them were still in Wolf custody, though he admitted it had been a long time since he had last checked that fact in the slightest. He had more or less just been assuming they still had them when, for all he knew, Anko could have used them for entertainment weeks ago.

He would have heard about that though.

Probably.

What the hell should he be doing with the two of them? They had served their purpose already in creating Inoichi his new limbs and he really hadn't had any projects for them since. He either needed to figure out something for them to do or let them go, though that brought up questions about where the hell they would end up going. They could, technically, return to Sunagakure though that was currently under Hi no Kuni- and more specifically Konohagakure- control. Not only would they have to smuggle themselves in but if someone managed to notice their sudden appearance they probably wouldn't enjoy the attention it would bring them.

That said, no one said they actually had to go to Sunagakure, any town in Kaze no Kuni would be more home than being restricted to a room within Konohagakure could ever be. It would also allow them to later enter Sunagakure more easily if they had a backable story about having stayed in a smaller town until they thought things had settled down enough for them to safely make their way home.

They could probably do that without staying, actually, though it would hold much more weight if they befriended a merchant who could vouch for them.

Bah, he was wasting his time. What they did and how they did it if they were released from Wolf custody wasn't a concern of his. They didn't know enough to cause any sort of trouble for him- though Inoichi might lose favor with Konoha's current leadership if people learned that he was currently making use of a body created for him by the order of the Wolves- so it didn't matter even if they got caught or tried to lash out at the Wolves for the time they had been kept.

Again, they could probably lash out at Inoichi but beyond telling people that he was in possession of Hyuuga Hanabi there wasn't all that much else they could do. He did wonder if there was some way to make some sort of heavily armored suit that could be made decently mobile using the same principles as puppetry. The flexibility of Shinobi but the protection of Samurai? That was something that could legitimately benefit all his Wolves out in the fields and make him worry far less for their safety.

He scratched out a reminder to obtain some armor from Tetsu no Kuni for the two to work on when they had relocated and decided- then and there- that they would be coming with them for at least this last project. He'd probably tell them what they would be working on before they left so the two could begin with some preliminary ideas in the meantime, though he also realized that it would be much harder to release them from Wolf custody if they knew any weaknesses to the armor his children were going to be wearing.

A frown tugged at his lips as he realized that. Gaara's brother was a puppeteer, wasn't he? And he had a medic in Shizune and possibly Tsunade when he eventually got around to speaking with the woman. Maybe he'd see what Clicky and Rusty would like to do before giving them such an assignment. If they were already eager to leave he'd give the job to those less likely to move on from their ranks.

No point taking unnecessary chances when it came to the safety of the Wolves.

"Karura, when you next see Gaara let him know I might have a task for his brother at some point."

'Of course, beloved." The Ichibi purred back. 'Is it a secret or are there some details about this work I can pass on?' He knew it was mostly just because Karura herself was curious about the project- maybe he should start involving her in more of them. It would give her something to entertain herself with, give him a second opinion at any time, and serve as another way for them to spend time together. He didn't know why he hadn't already been doing this.

"I had two Sunagakure Shinobi develop prosthetic limbs to replace those I took from Inoichi and they worked just as well as his own flesh. I'm wondering if I can give my children more protection in a similar way without sacrificing their mobility."

'Oooh, I see.' Her first thought was Wolves wearing metal Tanuki suits sneaking through the night but she kept that to herself. 'I'll pass it on, I think they're nearly to Nami no Kuni by now too.'

"Excellent. Thank you Karura."

'Anything for you, Beloved.' Her presence faded slightly in his mind, signifying her attention had been drawn elsewhere. Probably Gaara stopping for a visit or her running over to talk to Mito about the project. It was a good thing she had someone she could talk to about whatever was on her mind that couldn't go talking about it to anyone else. Sure Gaara and his family could spread things around but Naruto knew that was unlikely. Naruko, perhaps, could be told by Mito if the Kyuubi decided to but he wasn't sure what the Uzumaki Heiress might do with any information she received that way.

Honestly Naruto had a hard time imagining her actually utilizing it in any underhanded way. He could still remember their spar, she hardly struck him as the subtle type.

Never had been, really.

But with a potential new task and a rough plan for dealing with the two Suna Shinobi Naruto was fairly certain that everything that needed to be addressed either had been or had just been planned out.

Perfect.

Moving his notes to the file he kept specifically for the random thoughts that struck him he slipped it into his desk drawer and leaned back into hsi chair. It felt good to know that everything was proceeding smoothly and he didn't have anything to worry about or any matters to take care of for a few moments.

Sure, he did have projects to work on but nothing that was so urgent he couldn't take a few minutes to just relax in his office.

Almost as soon as he had closed his eyes to more fully enjoy the moment he heard his office door slam open and a familiar voice shouting an accusation he'd not honestly expected to ever address.

"Tsukuyomi, huh? Didn't think that might be something your teammates or your sister might like to know?!"

So maybe there were a few matters left to take care of.

In a rare occurrence Kankuro had halted his never-ending technical discussion with Sasori to instead consult the map with his sister. "We'd be here, wouldn't we? We took the left fork from that town but we headed south again before the end of the day." One of his fingers made a loose circle in the general area he suspected they were in.

"That was two days ago, we ended up going east for eight hours to circle around the Konoha Shinobi patrolling Hi no Kuni's borders. We're up here-" Her finger pointed to a place more north than his own and, most importantly, above the country of Nami no Kuni. "So we need to be directing ourselves south to get to Nami."

"I'm reasonably certain we should be going almost directly north, not south-east." His finger moved over to the east to land on the coast. "But we can always just keep going towards Hi no Kuni's coast and then follow that. If nothing else, the shape is more distinct there than it is here in these damn forests."

He had a point there, she had to admit. It was hard to keep track of anything when it all seemed to be the same trees over and over again and your only landmarks were occasional towns or lumbermills. There were more landmarks in the north-western parts of Hi no Kuni from what she understood. Things like the Valley of the End where two massive statues would tell you exactly where you were. Unfortunately their travels didn't enter into those parts at all so they weren't going to be of any help.

"I don't suppose we have a choice," she agreed. "But when we get to the coast and you realize I was right don't expect to hear the end of it." Kankuro rolled his eyes at that.

"Whatever, I wasn't the one in charge of navigation." They both shot a look over to Deidara who was desperately trying to untangle his hair from the various branches that had decided to come with him on this trip. The forests were not being kind to the man. "And I sure as hell didn't put him in charge of it, either."

"Hey! I heard that!" They ignored him.

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't have been paying attention," She countered. "You're supposed to be just as much a Shinobi as the rest of-" Temari's words faded as Gaara made his presence known between the two of them.

"Kankuro."

"Yes?"

"Father may have a job for you. Something about puppet-armor for his Wolves."

Kankuro found himself blinking slowly as the entirety of his mental capabilities worked over the words that had reached his ears. He wasn't sure what was more strange- the fact that he was being specifically selected for a task by Gaara's "father" or the idea of making armor for a puppet. They already were sort of armor, weren't they?

And since when did the Wolves have puppets? He'd obviously missed quite a lot, though that could have been because beyond his ties to his brother he had no real association with the House of Wolves.

"O-okay…?"

"Mother told him we'd be in Nami soon." That part Kankuro and Temari could both understand easily enough- If mother had said they'd be in Nami they'd best get to Nami quickly so as to not make a liar out of her.

"We should be," Kankuro assured the once-Jinchuriki. "We were just reviewing the map to make sure we were going in the right direction." Gaara continued to stare flatly at him until Temari shot him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, we'll get there by the time Naruto calls on us." Kankuro and Temari shared a look before glancing over to Deidara, the same thought running through their heads.

"Even if we have to make him fly us there, damn their cover."

Deidara's head shot up from his work fixing his hair, eyes narrowing suspiciously at the two sand siblings staring at him. "What?"

He was, once again, completely ignored.

"Naruko," Tsukuyomi greeted her from his desk, one hand gesturing to the chairs on the other side of it. "How nice of you to visit. Please, feel free to take a seat." Judging by the way she folded her arms across her chest and cocked a hip to one side she wasn't keen on accepting his offer.

"Or not." His hand retracted to meet his other resting on the desk. "Was there something I can help you with?"

"You could answer my question." Her gaze narrowed to a light glare. "Unless you're going to avoid telling me even when I already know you're Tsukuyomi."

"Should I even attempt to inquire how it is you found out?"

"Zabuza's daughter." Her answer caught Naruto by surprise.

"Oh." His lips pulled into a slight frown, more thoughtful than upset. "Zabuza's daughter….?" In hindsight, it had been pretty dumb to stop and speak with those three during the final battle of Kirigakure. Now it looked as though it had already come back to bite him in the ass. Of course, he would rather not dwell on that subject. "I understand she's rather fond of stealing kisses from you."

She hadn't expected him to know that and Naruko momentarily found herself on the back foot. "Wha-"

"Yes, she spoke about it quite readily with Hoshigaki Kisame during the final battle for Kirigakure. I must say, you seem to have pretty good taste. Lovely young woman, probably the only sense Kiri's swordsmen can rely on to pull them from danger."

"That's- that's not the point, were you ever going to tell us you were Tsukuyomi?!"

"About as much as I had intended to inform the two of you that I'm leaving Konoha, so no."

"What?!"

Sealkeeper: He Who Binds

Chapter 124-A "Pots Unrequested"

Patron Release; 2020.10.02

"The answer was 'no', Naruko." One red brow rose in question. "Was there some part of that you didn't understand?"

"What do you mean you're leaving Konoha?" They had just lost Sasuke, damnit, she wasn't losing another teammate in the same easy and definitely not her own brother. Konoha had been home to the Uzumaki for years, he couldn't just walk away from it!

"I mean." He repeated slowly. "That I will be leaving Konoha."

Judging by her expression, she was not amused.

"Why are you leaving Konoha, isn't this home?"

"It is and it was," He agreed with a nod. "But it's time to move on. The Wolves need more space and privacy for our other projects and the Godaime has never been too happy with our presence within his walls. He's asked us, ever so politely, to get the fuck out."

"What?! He can't do that!" She objected. Her folded arms moved down to rest on her hips in blatant agitation. It was a pose his past knew all too well. "You're a Konoha Shinobi and this is your home, he can't just make you leave! Even if he tried, Kaa-san can get him to stop and if he won't listen to her she'll just go to the Fire Daimyo. He can't let this happen."

"Oh, trust me, if Iroh knew he most certainly wouldn't 'let' Asuma do anything like this." It was impossible not to recognize just how uncomfortable it made her when he referred to the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni so casually. It was one thing to know he had been a Daimyo this whole time, it was quite another to see him express such familiarity with what was arguably the most powerful Greater Daimyo in the world. "As it stands, however, Asuma isn't kicking us out or any other such, nonsense." Purple eyes burned into Naruko's blue. "He doesn't have nearly enough influence or manpower to force the House of Wolves to do anything. We're leaving because it's going to suit our needs better."

And also because it would cause some friction between Asuma and Iroh, but that was just a bonus to make it easier for them to go about starting their new projects without being disturbed.

"To be perfectly honest, Naruko, the fact that Iroh doesn't know of this yet works to our advantage. I would prefer to keep it that way." While not just coming out and saying it, it wasn't exactly anything subtle either. Naruto didn't want the Fire Daimyo to learn of this and he expected her to remain quiet about it- especially to their mother who, as she had said, would end up taking a matter like this all the way up to the Fire Daimyo in an effort to stop her son from being forced out of the village.

As he said, he really wasn't being forced out but the last thing he needed was Kushina- even if she was well-meaning- to assume otherwise and start interfering.

"I understand." Her words agreed but her frown told him she wasn't happy about it. "You weren't going to say goodbye, were you?"

"No, I wasn't."

"And what about now?"

He had to pause at that. It was a valid question now that someone already knew he would be leaving and he took a moment contemplating if it was enough for him to change his plans. Really, in the end, itr wasn't that much for him to take a few minutes to say farewells to some of the people he had known here in Konoha- it would just be best to do so right before he left to make sure there was no stir that would further interrupt his plans.

In fact, it might be best to send a Kage-Bunshin back into the village to give goodbyes while he was on his way to either Yu no Kuni- though he highly doubted it would be ready for him in time- or Nami no Kuni so that he wouldn't have to worry about any sort of backlash from the news spreading around Konoha.

Hell, maybe his Bunshin would spread the fact that he was a Daimyo around too, just to make things that much more chaotic.

Or, maybe not. The whole point was not to cause a stir and to keep everything quiet, after all. It would be much more effective for Iroh to learn of his departure weeks after it had occurred- should make the man nice and nervous about what he's been up to in that time. That was the sort of leverage that could prove to be very useful if Iroh summoned him for a friendly meeting.

So no to spreading around his status but yes, he thought that saying goodbye to people- and at the very least his team- wasn't too unreasonable an expectation of him.

"Yes." Came his answer eventually. "I think I will."

That was probably the closest to positive news Naruko had heard during her visit thus far but she'd take it without complaint. No point pushing her luck, after all.

Sakura was going to owe her for this, though. She'd make sure the girl knew.

"Hanabi." Naruto knocked on Mai's open office door to catch the young Hyuuga's attention. "I'm going to need you to be free this evening, there's a matter we need to see to."

She blinked up at him from behind Mai's desk, interrupted from trying to determine which files wouldn't need to be accessed until after they moved them all from Konoha so that they could be packed away fully. "Tonight?" Frowned Hanabi. "I was supposed to be meeting Shizune-Sensei for another lesson."

"I'll let her know it's being cancelled. This is more important." He needed to stop by to talk about the Wolves' upcoming departure with the medic anyway and this would be a good time to speak with Clicky and Rusty too.

Her frown pulled more heavily at her lips but she nonetheless gave him an understanding nod. "I'll be available, Naruto-sama."

"Good," He turned to leave the room. "You're the one the guest is coming here to visit. Would have been a waste if you weren't here."

"You, snake-sage, the Children of Au would call for your assistance." Akishi had actually been looking for the young "Hanabi" she had met or any of the Wolves but she had wandered the maze that was the High-Priest's den for too long without running into anyone else. If she didn't know better she'd assume they were avoiding her for some reason.

The sage in question looked up from his books, red eyes spinning in irritation at the interruption. His work was far more important than anything the snake-like was trying to accomplish and it was only the fact that Naruto had given her a task that kept him from lashing out at her. Even the fact that she was a messenger sent by Au himself wouldn't have stayed his hand.

"And they will not have it, snake-like." Was his immediate answer. "Begone," He waved one hand towards the doorway she 'stood' in dismissively before turning back to his book. "I have matters of actual importance to see to, I have no time to spare to the whims of golden worms."

Okay, maybe antagonizing them wasn't exactly the best thing to do in his position but they had angered Naruto which meant Orochimaru was far from pleased with them and didn't even care to consider any possible repercussions from his actions. He found the way she recoiled back as if physically struck by his words superbly satisfying

"The children of Au work to fulfil the High-Priest's task, your aid of us would be aiding him."

"Tempting, tempting." Orochimaru tilted Sasuke's head to the side and glanced at Au's daughter from the corner of a crimson eye. "But you're being a naughty worm, aren't you?" He didn't give the confused Akishi time to respond. "Even I know he's given you a task as a test. I'm not going to go directly against his will to aid you in a task that is to be shouldered solely by the Children of the Sun."

Akishi was silent for a few moments, during which Orochimaru was more than happy to make his book the primary focus of his attention once more. Devising tests to come up with ways to kill a god was not without substantial research. This was not the kind of work one could afford mishaps in, not at all.

"What if we completed a task for you in exchange?" She eventually proposed. "We wouldn't be getting help, we would be striking a deal to better accomplish the task the High-Priest has set for us."

Red eyes blinked slowly in thought, spinning around the words of the pages before him. Turning more fully to the half-snake in his doorway Orochimaru cocked his head to the side curiously. On one hand, the excuse that it would displease Naruto was more or less airtight, though they did have a point that he probably wouldn't care if they were getting what they needed for others through a trade of services.

On the other hand this was going towards something that Naruto would genuinely like to have completed and simply didn't have a ready plan- or ther time- to accomplish himself at the moment. Orochimaru would prefer it if his prince received what he wanted. He always had and always would.

Which brought him to the dilemma of having to help this Child of Au- whom he was not fond of in the slightest- in order to help Naruto.

Of course, helping Naruto was always going to win in the end, he didn't even really need to contemplate that angle at all.

But what the hell did he need these useless bunch of worms for? His summons obeyed him. Well, with the exception of Manda, of course. Manda didn't obey anybody.

"Before I can even begin to contemplate what it would cost you, what, exactly, was it you needed help with, anyway?"

"We need someone to arrange transport to the capital of Yu no Kuni for us."

Crimson eyes blinked again. Was- "Was that it?" His pitch rose perhaps just a bit more than necessary to express the fact that his words were intended as a question. It was such a simple sort of request Orochimaru was almost disappointed and he was in fact more than a little concerned. If they needed help just to arrange for a wagon, how the hell were they going to accomplish the actual task Naruto had given them?

When Akishi's frown deepened dramatically Orochimaru suspected his face had expressed his thoughts more than he had been aware.

"We are not helpless," She insisted seriously before her demeanour became more meek and sheepish. "But we intend to begin the High-Priest's task as directly as p[ossible. It will take too long to start from scratch here enough to get things arranged for our needs. It would be far more expedient to be able to start in the city we'll be working in as we gather resources and humans to accomplish tasks in the open that we cannot."

They were going to- Oh. A small smirk tugged at the corners of Orochimaru's lips. Now that was interesting to know, he should have expected that they would be at least competent enough to know they would need human compatriots in order to accomplish their task but his opinion of them had not been in any way aided by their first encounter.

That did leave a question though-

"Does the High-Priest know you intend to begin spreading the word of Au among the humans?" A brow rose. "I'm assuming that's how you intend to ensnare them under your influence for this task you've been given."

"That was the plan, yes. I don't see-" Shen didn't get a chance to finish.

"Then does Naruto know? He's supposed to be the High-Priest, is he not? One would think he would have say on how the faith of Au is re-established in the physical world, unless I'm mistaken on what the role of High-Priest would actually entail….?" His question trailed off pointedly, more accusation than inquiry.

Akishi's following frown was filled with more than a little concern and a good portion of worry. Was she going to be displeasing him in her very attempts to get him to assume the mantle? But at the same time he hadn't taken the mantle, not yet. He had been very clear about that. So for now it would be okay, wouldn't it? She began to consider how those she started converting might feel about it. Normally she wouldn't care, but if she was revealing the existence of Au to them and they were to serve as the first foundation of the faithful then having them turn away from Au's light when Naruto took control and did thing differently from Akishi and the promises she would have made could do far more damage than was acceptable.

They couldn't have enemies before they even had a chance to establish themselves, that would dramatically hinder their work.

"He's not accepted the mantle of High-Priest, not yet, but I should consult with him in the very least to ensure that my methods will not cause issues when he does take his rightful place."

Orochimaru hadn't been aware of that particular tidbit and he filed it away for later. "That seems wise. Speak to him, then. If he approves then we'll discuss what it would cost for my assistance. There's no point discussing it if what you intend to do goes against his will." It would also give him time- some, not a lot. He couldn't spare that much to the snakes who had failed his beloved godson- to figure out something he needed done that was worth arranging transportation to Yu no Kuni for them. It needed to be something as easy as it was for him- or whatever Wolf he had do it for him because he was busy- to hire a wagon but something demeaning enough for an elder daughter of Au to be humbled by.

Already he was coming up with nothing but blanks, it might take more time than he really cared to spend on the matter.

"Of course, I shall return with the High-Priest's blessing."

She turned to leave and Orochimaru couldn't resist one last barb. "He's not the High-Priest."

That flinch was just as satisfying as the first.

The first indication of a guest Shizune noticed was when Clicky looked up from their game of cards and scrambled back slightly with horrified eyes. Of course, Shizune was very aware that there was only one person the Suna Kunoichi was worried about here in Konoha so she wasn't surprised to see it was Naruto standing in the doorway.

Well, she was surprised that there was someone there- she hadn't heard anything which made her wonder if she had been neglecting the Kunoichi side of her training too much lately- but who it would be was actually sort of obvious even without seeing Clicky's reaction. It wasn't as if they received many visitors here, after all, and now that Hanabi was spending the majority of her time acting as Mai's assistant she was around even less.

"Ah, Naruto. Was there something we could help you with?" She didn't even bother looking as her hand shot out to smack Rusty's. He wasn't going to be able to use this distraction to cheat again. If nothing else it did assure her that she wasn't that out of practice. She did have to wonder what that said for the fact that she hadn't at all been aware of Naruto's arrival. Based on Clicky's response she hadn't been aware until he was already there, either.

"Just needed to speak with you." Purple eyes met the eyes of the rooms other three occupants. "All of you."

Well, unless Shizune had done something to earn his ire that she didn't know of she was fairly certain it couldn't be anything necessarily bad. Based on the look in Clicfky's eyes and the grim frown on Rusty's face those two probably hadn't come to the same conclusion-

Or knew something she didn't.

She was hoping it was the former.

All things considered talking with the "Inoichi Restoration Group" - as he really hadn't given them any other task as a group and hadn't bothered coming up with any sort of name for them- had gone as smoothly as he could have hoped for. They were, understandably, uncomfortable around him but that meant they had remained mostly quiet and subdued while he spoke.

It was a refreshing change after having to deal with the Inuzuka.

Not completely unexpected, neither Suna Shinobi really wanted to head back to Hi no Kuni controlled Kaze no Kuni and the idea of carving out a new life for themselves from scratch hadn't appealed to either. For that reason they had elected to stay with the Wolves for the foreseeable future despite both of them being wary of him ever since he revealed himself to be much higher up the foodchain than they had realized and they had deliberately ignored the answer he had provided for an extremely important task he'd given them.

That he had let slip the fact that both the former- or last, as you decided to look at it- Kazekage and- more importantly- his son was under his influence probably hadn't hurt any. The Wolves were, unfortunately for them, the closest to "home" they would be able to get so long as Konoha Shinobi and Hi no Kuni Samurai occupied Kaze no Kuni.

With them aboard- and he had spoken about them first for a damn reason, thank you- some of Shizune's possible reservations about doing the same had been soundly eliminated. Not only did she not have to worry about their fates if she left with the Wolves and they didn't, but now if she wanted to keep looking after her team she was going to have to come along.

She had expressed a desire to inform her former master Tsunade where she would be so the woman could reach her if need be but between an honest answer of not knowing exactly where they would be- on accounts of not having received a reply from Ganju yet. Understandable, he was pretty sure that had only been sent out yesterday. Or the day before. ….Maybe this morning? He had too much on his plates these days, though he'd be lying if he tried to claim it wasn't completely his fault in the first place.- and a brighter ray of hope in his casual inquiry as to whether the woman might be interested in joining them- under Shizune's lead, of course- so that the two wouldn't have to part ways.

From what little he had heard from Shizune on the matter previously, the Sannin hadn't exactly been enjoying her Konoha retirement. This was a perfect opportunity to give her something to do and get her out of the village she had avoided for decades. After seeing Shizune light up at his proposal he thought he had a pretty good chance of convincing the woman to join them.

Of course, he still had to meet with the woman and determine if he actually wanted her to join the Wolves in any capacity. She'd be coming with them, certainly, if he could manage it solely because it would further cement Shizune's loyalties to the House- assuming Tsunade didn't try 't to turn her away from them while she was present but she hadn't exactly discouraged the woman from joining them in the first place.- as a loyal medic was an invaluable resource in this world. Whether that was just being present as a guest or as a member of the house, however, he would reserve deciding until after meeting her and, most likely, for after they had spent a significant amount of time working together.

He would have to add meeting with her to his itinerary tomorrow. Assuming he remembered to write it down.

Purple eyes blinked tiredly before drifting over to the calendar sat at the corner of his desk. It was right there- and painfully empty of all the things he had seen to today and over the past week. It was no wonder he didn't know when he had sent that letter to Ganju- he should probably just jot it down while it was fresh in his mind.

Despite thinking that it took another three minutes for him to actually reach for a pen and do so. Seeing it sit there so alone on the otherwise blank calendar, however, made Naruto wish he hadn't. He couldn't even remember what he had done this past week- which day was it he spoke with Asuma? Yesterday? Bah, he'd ask Hanabi at some point- so there was no chance of filling in a whole lot more to make things feel a bit better but he did take a few moments to at least add what he had done today- what he remembered, anyway- to the calendar before crossing them through with a satisfaction he probably didn't deserve. That's what he knew he did today, he hoped there wasn't something he'd neglected to write down that he had forgotten to address.

Largely meaningless task complete- at least tomorrow when he couldn't quite recall what he had done today he'd be able to look back and see- he returned to his thoughts.

Not that there was much more he needed to review. Meetings, meetings, meetings. If he had known he would have to go through so much trouble he would have told Asuma where he could shove his desire to have the Wolves out of Konoha rather than entertain the man and make the move on a limited timeframe. He should have known better, honestly. Luckily there were only a few more people he needed to visit with anyway and they could be dealt with in the coming week easily enough.

For today though, he was done. With a deep breath he let his head fall back against the chair and allowed the tension in his body to slowly begin unwinding. Loose muscle leading to loose consciousness, he began fading into the realm of sleep. No harm in a brief nap, was there? The Wolves were always trying to get him to work less as it was, they should be pleased to know he was doing so of his own accord.

Right before he was able to drift down the final step on the pathway to restful oblivion, however, there was a sharp rap on the door and a snarling wolf popped their head in. "Tsukuyomi-sama, your guest is….here….." They trailed off quietly as they realized they were interrupting and attempted to back out of the room so he could resume when his open palm signaled them to stop.

He knew his children well enough to know they wouldn't hesitate to kick out any guest of his so that he could rest. Unfortunately as the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni that was rather unbecoming and not the image he wanted to show at all. Not that he had really had much luck with managing his image or the global image of the Wolves in the past. He remembered those oblivious mistakes all too well.

"That's fine, child." He was sure his voice didn't help his case any, they could probably hear exactly how much the day had worn him out mentally already. He still needed to pay a visit inside the seal to thank his beautiful girls, too, not that they would have any idea about that. "Show them in." He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose for a second before forcing his eyes back open. He was too likely to fall back towards the beckoning sleep if he kept them closed for much longer. "I assume Hinata's probably stopped by?"

"Yes, Tsukuyomi-sama. My apologies, Tsukuyomi-sama, I didn't kn-"

Naruto raised his hand again to stop the apologies. "I said it's fine. I'm the one who instructed her to visit today. You've done well."

"Thank you, Tsukuyomi-sama. I'll bring them at once." Despite their words they hesitated at the door. "Was- was there anything else you needed, Tou-sama?" They asked. Naruto was fairly certain it was in an effort to make up for interrupting his almost-nap, another form of an apology in a way, but as tempted as he was to say no for that exact reason there was in fact something he could use right now and if it made them feel better, well, it would be remiss of him to remain silent.

"A coffee would be most helpful, if you'd be so kind."

"Of course, Tou-sama." Bowing at the waist they retreated from the room without raising their head and closed the door with a soft click. He could hear their shoes as they spun around and strode down the hall to retrieve both his guest and his requested drink. There was no doubt in his mind which they would consider more important and he allowed that thought to amuse him when he could no longer focus on the sound of their diminishing footsteps to keep himself focused on the waking world.

Most fortunately he wasn't going to be needed much for this next meeting he had arranged.

With her schedule having been forcibly cleared by Naruto, Hanabi had originally planned to either spend some time in her quarters or perhaps reading in one of the absurd number of sitting rooms this place possessed. She hadn't actually had a lot of time- or reason- to explore it more fully but she had recently realized just how big the place seemed to be. So big, in fact, that she was reasonably certain this "apartment" spanned the entire first floor of the complex at this point. As far as she was aware there was only a single area at the ground level that hadn't been absorbed into it and that was only because it was the office for the complex.

She had a feeling that if they could have managed it the Wolves would have moved that up to the second floor and added it to the series of rooms just for something to do.

Unfortunately as nice as her room was there wasn't really anything in it to occupy her time and none of the books in the sitting rooms had caught her interest this evening. So, rather than just lay around waiting for whatever guest Naruto had invited here for her- and wasn't tha strange enough as it was. Why did he think she needed to meet with someone? She sure as hell couldn't remember expressing a desire to see someone or mentioning that she was lonely or something, so what had prompted him to do this?- she had instead retreated to Mai's office and decided to get ahead on some work.

Not that it would do her any favors in the future when she found herself in similar situations and now had less work thanks to her past-self but she couldn't bring herself to care for future-hers not yet existent plights. Besides, it's not like the work here would ever stop. They were running a group that was spread across the globe- regardless of how aware said globe was of their presence- and one that didn't seem to know how to not expand its influence. There would always be work to do, plans to make, and reorganization to be implemented.

It would probably help if she knew more about the Wolves and their goals so she could plan for future events but trying to plan a system to provide proper ranks and authority within the group had already spread into the monumental job of trying to organize the personal files- and mostly the lack thereof- kept on each of the members of this strange Noble House. That's why she was, at this moment, currently trying to piece together some passing semblance of records for her own team. Not only did they make great assistants but they were an excellent control group for her to test her systems on.

As important as she found this work, however, and as much as she enjoyed having something to do after a rather boring stint as the Wolves' political guest it wasn't something so engrossing that she should have lost awareness of her surroundings. "Should" being the operative word, as the next thing she was aware of after realizing Matsuo's school records only existed for three years that weren't even close to consecutive was a soft warmth benign pressed into her face.

Or maybe her face was being pressed into it, she was a bit too busy being smothered to worry too much about semantics.

"Hanabi-chan!" At the voice her immediate reaction to strike whatever had assaulted her slipped away. She absolutely knew that voice and she hadn't' realized just how much she had missed it until that moment. What she hadn't missed, she scowled as she realized what she was pressed into- was being reminded of just how early- and well- her sister had started to bloom. Whatever gene had granted Hinata that had most definitely decided to skip Hanabi and as much as she tried to convince herself she wasn't jealous she might have been just the teensiest bit.

Not that she would ever admit that to anybody.

Watching from the doorway, Naruto drained most of his remaining coffee. In a second here the two would start talking and then he would be free to take his leave and retreat from Mai's office back to either his or- most temptingly- his bedroom. A nap sounded good but a proper nap in his bed? That was beyond tempting.

Almost as if the gods had heard his hopes and wished to mock him by crushing them he heard the unmistakable sound of scales against the wooden floors of the apartment. He only had time to sigh before the voice of Akishi reached his ears.

"Ah, Naruto-sama! I heard you had returned, I've been looking for you. There's a matter most urgent we must discuss."

With a last longing thought about the inviting warmth of a bed he was to be denied and a look at the final dregs of his coffee Naruto realized he really should have just asked for a full pot. It was going to be that sort of day.

I feel like I was supposed to say something here but for the life of me can't remember what.

Thanks, as always, goes to my Patrons.

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