Chapter Forty-three

Night came and all meetings were done. Kuramamaru and Hinata were alone in their home eating some chicken and rice while cuddling next to a fire, the former's arm around the latter. Hanabi was currently out, having her arm looked at to make sure the skin was healing properly. It was a nice serene scene, the kind that no one who cared about the couple at all would want to ruin for them.

"You okay Kuramamaru-kun?" Hinata asked, laying her head on his shoulder. As comfortable as she was, she suspected something was affecting her beloved and no amount of comfort would make her ignore that.

He pulled her a little closer moving his arm around her petite frame. "Mostly, but something is bothering me. We've been doing this for almost four years now, haven't we?"

Hinata nodded. She could still remember that day when Kuramamaru came to her asking her to leave the village with him. So much has happened since then, not just to them but to everyone else as well. "Yes, and it's almost over."

"Can we really be so sure?" He asked, staring ahead at the fire, sighing for a moment then tightening his grip around her. "I still believe we can win, but it's been four years. Not one or two, but four. Can we really be sure it will end sooner rather than later?"

"What's wrong? You've never been impatient before." She had to admit it was surprising to see this side of him. "What's really bothering you?"

Kuramamaru sighed again. "I guess when we went into Wave I was assuming that would have been the end. The final battle to end the war and be done with Namikaze. Then the only thing left to do would have been get rid of Akatsuki so the jinchuuriki can relax, and you and I can finally have our own life. The life we've been wanting since we left Konoha, where we're not bothered by anyone. Not your father, not Kurenai, no one trying to separate us or dictate how our lives should be."

Hinata gently put a hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat. "Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. We would end the war, work on the aftermath, and get everyone home again."

"And look what we got instead, just another arc in it." The whiskered redhead muttered, his tails wrapping with Hinata's tail.

"We've waited four years, we can wait a little longer." Hinata soothed. She saw it didn't have the desired effect on the male hanyou. "Kuramamaru-kun, is there more to this that's bothering you?"

"I guess you could say that. I mean, when you get right down to it, this entire war has been dominating my entire life. From literally day one. Twelve years being conditioned to be a disposable weapon that doesn't know it's disposable or a weapon, and four years fighting against that role and the ones who assigned it to me. Sometimes I think all that's truly changed is which side I'm a weapon for."

He paused for a moment to rub his eyes like he had something in them.

"I hoped all this would come to an end, and finally, finally I could be something other than a drafted soldier. But now it's still going, and what if when the day finally does come, I don't know what else to do with my life?"

Hinata did not answer for a bit, and she knew she didn't have to do anything other than remain in his arms for now.

"I know what I want, what we both want, but what if I can't give it to you? What if I end up needing another enemy to fight, like Namikaze does? I know I'm not like him, I'm an Uzumaki through and through, but what else can I do with my life except fight? What else can any ninja do when there's no more war to prepare for?"

"The ninja system has always been flawed Kuramamaru-kun, it's a lesson we've had to learn and relearn a lot since we got here." Hinata chimed in.

Kuramamaru nodded. "Tell me about it. Favoring the easy student and neglecting the needy. Ashigaru-sha. Education that's designed more to instill loyalty than actually teach skills. Hypocritically claiming to act in the name of the greater good. I swear if the Sage of Six Paths knew what people were going to do with chakra he would have let the stuff die with himself."

"At least our kits won't have to spend their whole lives in a war." Hinata offered.

Kuramamaru smiled a bit at that. "Yeah, a life where they know they're wanted and loved. A life where they don't have dead mothers and judgmental fathers. A life where they have real friends, not wolves in sheep's clothing. Heh, amazing how much common ground we actually have, isn't it?"

Hinata nodded happily. "Enough to make us compatible and understand each other, but not so much that we're practically the same person."

Kuramamaru looked amused for a moment. "Oh speaking of being the same person, guess what I learned while fighting earlier? Remember how Mom described Kakashi, as an orphan who would do anything to gain any semblance of approval from the hokage? Apparently my old 'friend' Tenten was the same."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, well aware that the whiskered redhead had once called the weapon user a friend back when they were still young and living in the orphanage, though time and circumstance had pulled them apart.

"Well, I learned from Tenten while we were fighting that everything I told her dad to tell her after we took him prisoner, he never actually told her. She swore we were going to kill him and it was only the Sandaime's power that saved the man. Anyway, I showed her the memory of what he had confessed to me about, mainly why he adopted her in the first place. I suppose I was feeling some stupid form of sentimentality, wanting to see if any part of her remembered being my friend." muttering the last line to himself.

"That's not stupid, but doing it at that time probably wasn't your best idea." Hinata noted.

Kuramamaru smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head for a moment. "Anyway, of course I saw one of her memories too. It showed one of the matrons coming to her and saying they wanted her to pretend to be my friend. Her job was to make sure the bullies never went too far in picking on me and I actually died. She also had to keep an eye on me whenever I was out, and find things I cared about so they knew how to better hurt me."

"And she agreed with no problem?" Hinata asked, not being that surprised. With how the majority of people in Konoha were back then it was really no surprise to her that someone would do such a thing.

"Actually, at first she disagreed. At least as much as 'I dunno' counts as disagreeing. But then the matron told her that the Sandaime said it was a good thing for her to do, that she'd be one of his favorite people of all, and immediately Tenten agreed completely. That's how easy it was for her to be okay with letting other people hurt a child younger than herself. She didn't even ask why the adults wanted it or why I 'deserved' it, she just heard the hokage would call her a good girl and that was all she needed to hear."

"Wow, that is a lot like what we'd expect from Kakashi."

"And for a time, myself too." Kuramamaru added quietly but also distastefully.

Hinata moved his head to make him face her and then kissed him. "No, you were never that desperate for approval Kuramamaru-kun. You wanted love and acknowledgment, but you also knew the difference between right and wrong and knew it wasn't worth getting love by ignoring that. Kakashi and Tenten decided that they were okay being loved for doing wrong things."

"But technically, you could argue that they were manipulated into this. Kind of like a lot of us were." Kuramamaru pointed out in a devil's advocate kind of way.

Hinata did not look convinced. "Maybe, but remember that time you saved me from those bullies? What if before you could, the hokage told you that you'd get free ramen if you let them hurt me? Would you take his offer?"

Kuramamaru shook his head. "No way. While I might have been tempted by the offer at the time, how could I ever enjoy that ramen knowing what you had to go through for me to get it? It wouldn't be right."

The white-eyed girl smiled. "That's the difference between you and them Kuramamaru-kun, manipulated or not. You care about what your actions will result in. They care about what they'll be rewarded for. Tenten was okay with you being hurt as long as she got something out of it. Just like Kakashi, just like Kiba, just like Sasuke and Sakura, they decided the reward was worth any harm they caused. Remember why we're in this war in the first place. We're not doing this for the reward, we're doing this because Namikaze needs to be punished."

Kuramamaru gave her another kiss. "Thanks Hinata-chan, it's nice to hear someone other than myself say that."

"This better be the place." Sasuke said to himself when he reached a torii gate. Said gate had two stone fox statues at its base and on either side of the gate was a forest, showing a clear pass deeper into the territory beyond it. He could see some hills and more trees out there but no signs of civilization, but he was certain this was the domain of the foxes.

"Someone here can get me back to actual people. No more stupid frogs, toads, whatever animal they are." He muttered, walking up to the gate. But when he got there, it was like he walked right into a brick wall. He fell backwards and grit his teeth, hand over his nose with his eyes shut tight in a grimace.

"What the heck?" He asked, slowly getting up on his feet. This time he reached his hand out, and despite there being nothing but thin air in front of him his hand could only go so far before being stopped. Annoyed, he did the reasonable thing and moved to go around the gate. The exact same thing happened.

"What's going on? Is there some of invisible barrier around the entire place?" He asked, moving further away and finding no break in the barrier. Coming to a stop, he groaned in frustration. "If I can't get in, I'm going to make the foxes come to me."

His sharingan spun and black flames erupted within his view. While he himself couldn't get onto the grounds, apparently these flames could so the trees caught fire. He smiled and stepped back, knowing sooner or later that someone or something will notice this little bonfire of his.

"There's a fire?" Kyuubi asked, having just been informed of the situation by some patrolling foxes.

"Yes, just on the border of Shobikou. And the flames are black."

"Black?" Kyuubi repeated, remembering a very specific flame he had seen in the past. "Did you see any humans in the area?"

"Yes, one male standing there looking at the flames. It was like he was waiting for someone."

'How the hell did a Uchiha get here? Wait which one?' Kyuubi thought. 'Either one could potentially have a summons contract, but one wants me while the other likely wants Kuramamaru. Well it's not like I intend to give either one of them what they want.'

"What do we do?" The foxes asked.

"Simple, I'm going to defend my territory." Kyuubi said with a grin.

'What's taking them so long?' Sasuke thought, impatient. He had expected a bunch of foxes to show up trying to put out the Amaterasu, but so far he hadn't seen so much as a bird. The fire was getting bigger and whatever barrier that prevented him from getting inside the area didn't apply to them.

The ground started to shake a little, making him get a bit defensive. The tremors increased and soon enough he saw something come into view. Something towering over the black flames and the trees they were burning.

Sasuke gulped, though he would forever deny it, when he realized this was the Kyuubi in all his titanic glory.

'This is better. I can make this beast submit like Madara did and then I will get back to Earth and make my father submit to me. He will have no choice seeing I have Kyuubi under my control.' He thought, grinning. "Obey me fox!"

To his surprise, Kyuubi laughed. "Stupid boy, did you seriously think that just because one Uchiha could do that all of them could?"

"I am an Uchiha and a Namikaze! You WILL obey me!"

Maybe if Sasuke had actually been using his eyes for something other than trying to magically force a bijuu into submitting to him, he might have seen the large paw raise up and come down fast enough to react to it. But he did not and he got stepped on by Kyuubi, as if he was just a bug to the fox.

Kyuubi lifted his paw and there was a dazed and hurt Sasuke imprinted on the ground, alive but definitely not going anywhere under his own power anytime soon.

"Restrain him now."

Jumping off his back were several Nara and Yamanaka, who came up to him. The Nara used their shadows to ensure no movement or surprise attacks, and the Yamanaka used minor neural-disrupting jutsus to limit his ability to control his limbs. After they were done Kyuubi lifted the completely helpless Sasuke with a tail and carried him off. The Yamanaka and Nara stayed behind to try and get rid of the Amaterasu flames.

After the utter destruction of Taki, Namikaze sent his army north. Along the way they encountered some Taki nin trying to fend them off. It was likely they were trying to help the main group of survivors escape more than actually defeat the Konoha nin. None of them survived all slaughtered like lambs by wolves.

After about an hour's march, the Konoha nin managed to catch up to the survivors of Taki. It was mostly civilians and genin, with a couple of chuunin and jounin standing guard. The cluster of people was a fraction the size of Namikaze's forces, even excluding the dead members.

"Please, leave us be." Shibuki requested, standing before the group of survivors. He was trying to look like a brave leader, but everyone could see that he was literally about to piss and shit himself in fear. Including his own men, which made them suspect a request for a painless death would be more likely to be answered than what their leader was asking for.

Namikaze came forward, smirking like he was a genin again and had just won the Chuunin Exams. In his hands was a canteen, open, and a little bit of water trickling out the side of his mouth. "Hmm… I suppose I could… but what's in it for me?"

"What could you want? You've already taken everything our village has to offer." Shibuki stated. He could not believe that the famous Yellow Flash of Konoha was here leading a massacre on his village and now essentially bullying those that got out alive. And he was sure he was not the only one surprised that this was their current reality.

"Minato let them go." Shibi said, coming up next to the hokage. "You got what you came for, they pose you no threat short term or long term. There is no reason to torment them any further."

"Naruto posed no real threat short term or long term years ago, and look where that attitude got us." Namikaze said back heatedly. "Besides, any one of these people could chance upon an Uzumaki and tell them about us. I'm not going to give them a chance to do that."

"And what could they possibly say about you that the Uzumaki forces don't already know or suspect?" Shibi challenged.

Namikaze didn't answer, he just reached back into his trademark cloak and pulled out two blades hidden behind himself. These looked sort of like a combination of a kunai and a kitchen cleaver, serrated on the bottom edges and as long as his forearms. The Konoha emblem was embroiled on both sides of both weapons. Armed with these blades, Namikaze dashed out and began butchering each of the remaining Taki citizen, shinobi and civilian alike.

No one from Konoha's forces was ordered or compelled to participate, so they just stood there watching as their leader slaughtered these people one by one faster than an Akimichi devouring potato chips. Some of the poor people tried to fight back or escape, but Namikaze went about getting each of them. He wasn't even bothering to use the Hiraishin, rather it was more like he was just reinforcing his running muscles with chakra to go faster like many ninja do.

Three minutes after he started, Namikaze stood triumphantly over the dead body of Shibuki, blood splattered all over him. None had been spared, not even the babies, and he looked so damn proud of himself. It was almost like looking like a cross between Itachi and Orochimaru right then.

"There, no future allies for the Uzumaki, and I've got a taste of just how effective the Hero's Water is for me." He said, cleaning the blades before sheathing the behind himself.

Jiraiya stepped forward with a smile. "Not bad kid. You can still fight like you did back in the war. Though why haven't you been fighting the Uzumaki like that?"

"Oh that's simple. I want Kushina and Naruto alive when I take my rightful place as ruler of the world. Well, Naruto will have to die for that, but Kushina seeing it all will make her death that much sweeter. Killing her like this..." He gestured to the many corpses around the area. "...just wouldn't be as meaningful after all the hell she's put me through all these years."

'Did he just say 'ruler of the world'?' Several ninja there, living and dead, both thought. Wondering what he meant some of the ninja glance at each other and back to the bodies than to Namikaze.

"Spread out, see if anyone did happen to escape. Kill them all. No exceptions, or you'll die in their place." Namikaze ordered.

Everyone spread out, some happy to obey and some now rethinking everything they had been told over the years, but still obeying.

Following Sasuke's trail, Mikoto and Sakura finally reached the edge of Shobikou. They would have gotten there sooner since Mikoto was a trained jounin and knew several ways to cheat long distance travel, but Sakura could not keep up or repeat the cheats herself, so Mikoto was forced to travel at Sakura's pace. But now they were at the torii gate, and at the gate were six foxes, looking like they had been waiting for the two women.

"They were right, more would come." One of the foxes said as five got defensive while one ran off.

"Where is my son?" Mikoto demanded, glaring at them with her sharingan. "Where is he?!"

"If your son is the one who tried to burn down our property and command our leader, you'll see him soon enough." One of the foxes told her.

Mikoto grit her teeth, looking ready to fight. "Give me my son back or I swear I'll-"

"If you wait just a moment for someone to come, I'm sure they'll be happy to escort you to your son. Who before you ask is alive and… relatively well."

Mikoto didn't like the sound of that and started to do a hand sign. But Sakura grabbed her wrist and pulled her hands apart. "Don't! There's no need to start a fight if they're already doing what you want them to do."

Mikoto fumed but nodded, keeping her eyes on the foxes. 'Sakura's naive, any enemy that agrees to what you want without putting up a fight is up to something.'

After a wait that wasn't too long but longer than she preferred, Mikoto saw someone coming her way. Someone that was notably more human than vulpine, and there were three of them. Her eyes narrowed when she got a good look. "I knew I'd find you here."

"Hello Mikoto. When your son came here making demands, I had a feeling someone would come along after him. Gotta admit, I was surprised and relieved to be told it was two women instead of who it could have been." Kushina greeted, with Kuramamaru and Hinata on either side of her, none showing their fox traits at the moment.

Sakura silently gasped and pointed at Kushina. "That's her. That's the Kyuubi."

Mikoto looked at the pinkette like she was crazy, while Kushina and her company laughed. "What the hell are you talking about? That's Uzumaki Kushina, the mother of Uzumaki Naruto. She's a lowlife bitch but she's not the Kyuubi."

Sakura shook her head, still pointing at the Uzumaki matriarch. "But… but she came into my house one night and said she was the Kyuubi and gave me some kind of curse."

Kushina grinned and giggled. "Yeah, I lied. Kunoichi do that little girl. Though that curse was real, if you consider self-fulfilling to be real."

"Give me my son back!" Mikoto demanded.

Kushina pointed into the fox territory to somewhere they couldn't see. "He's right back there, in a special forest. I suppose I could take you there, if you'll agree to be shackled for the trip. Don't want you causing a fight after all." Mikoto glared and looked ready to bolt. "Though if you want to go off and find him yourself, I should warn you that it's impossible for humans to enter this land without being connected to the foxes. So unless you've got a summons of your own that can force their way in like the foxes did to the toads, you don't have any another choice. So, you going to play nice for once Mikoto?"

Growling in the back of her throat, Mikoto grit her teeth and allowed the Uzumaki patriarch to chain her hands behind her and restrain her with some other chains. Sakura was included, and the Uzumaki led them into Shobikou, with the foxes following along.

"Naruto you idiot, why didn't you tell me Sasuke-kun and I were related?" Sakura asked while they walked. She tried glaring at the former blonde but her being tied up with chains was diminishing any intimidation factor she expected to have.

"Would you have believed me if I did?" He asked back, keeping an eye on her but never looking her in the eyes.

She lost her glare and hung her head, knowing the answer. "Yondaime-sama says there's some kind of ancient goddess chakra stuck in the moon, and he's convinced you guys are trying to take it away from him. Is that true?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes listening to Sakura while Kushina blinked, though neither stopped walking.

Kuramamaru looked confused and glanced to Hinata, who shared his expression. After a moment the same thought crossed their minds. "I may or may not know a thing or two about this goddess. But why would I tell you anything?"

"You screwed up my life with your keeping secrets and attacking the village killing my parents! You owe me!" She insisted.

"The only thing I owe you is something you don't want me to give you Haruno." He replied in a threatening tone. She could swear he growled slightly, reminding her of Kiba.

"Just why do you hate me so much? What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Kuramamaru and Hinata came to a stop briefly before getting right in front of Sakura, looking her firmly in the eyes. Kushina, having heard this too, stopped as well and turned to glare at the young woman as well, forcing Mikoto to stop too.

"What did you ever do to me?" Kuramamaru asked back. "Remember back in the Academy when they used human-shaped dummies for target practice? And you asked if they could be made to look like me?"

Sakura winced as that memory came back to her. "It was a joke."

"I wasn't laughing."

"Neither was I." Hinata added, glaring at Sakura but not activating her byakugan. "And how about the fact you told Ino that I would have been better off being kidnapped by Kumo then being his girlfriend? Was that a joke too?"

Sakura sheepishly fidgeted, not expecting the former Hyuuga heiress to be aware of that. "I was just looking out for you. I thought he would destroy your life if you ever got together with him."

"Oh don't act like you ever gave a damn about my happiness Haruno." Hinata growled. "You never talked to me, you never spent time with me, you never invited me anywhere. You didn't give a damn about my life or who I was with as long as it wasn't the Uchiha. Trying to keep Naruto and I apart was you trying to hurt him, not you trying to help me. At least when Yuuhi pretended to care about me she spoke to me too."

"And where do you get off saying I would have destroyed her life?" Kuramamaru cut in. "You were the abusive one back then. All the punches to my head. Both back and front of. The taunts and put-downs. I sure as hell never did those to anyone, but you were doing them like you were being paid for it. Or were those supposed to be jokes too? Because real comedians don't make the same joke over and over again."

"But-" Sakura started.

"And I'm still especially irate over what you did with his eighth birthday." Hinata cut her off. "Remember that one? When you and several other kids claimed you got him a cake? Then you gave him a plate full of mud, calling it a mud pie? And you tried to force him to eat it? Then you went to all the teachers and adults claiming you tried to do something nice for him only for him to throw it away? And they punished him all sorts of ways for it, refusing to hear his side of the story or see any evidence? And you laughed about it for days because that was exactly what you wanted from the start?"

Sakura recalled that event, and decided not to say more.

"That one really gets me pissed. Because after that when I tried to do something genuinely nice for him he was terrified it was another attempt to get him in trouble. Thank Kami-sama the Ichirakus were willing and able to give him my gift in my place. Because you had to be a bitch and make him believe he had no right to celebrate his own birth."

"So why do I hate you Haruno Sakura?" Kuramamaru growled back. "The real question is why do you hate me? Because I don't remember ever giving you a reason to."

"You deserve to be hated." Mikoto spoke up. "You and your mother are threats to Konoha. Like all the other villages. You deserve to be torn down and stripped of all value. Minato-kun may be wrong about this moon goddess crap, but he's completely right about ridding the world of you."

Kushina responded by putting a chain around the Uchiha matriarch's neck and tightening it. She tried to fight it, but there was nothing she could do with her arms restrained. She couldn't even risk using the sharingan on Kushina, lest she never get to her son.

Smirking, Kushina made them continue on their way, with Mikoto looking angry and breathing heavily while Sakura looked defeated and being as quiet as possible.

After the slaughter of the Taki citizens and confirming there were no remaining survivors accounted for, Namikaze continued on with his army, claiming the next target was the daimyo of River Country. When asked why, since that target had no militaristic strategic value, he justified it by saying the funds and resources stored there would be of use to them. After all, many of them still needed food, water, clothes, and money to continue doing their job. Not to mention it might draw the attention of the jinchuuriki or make the Akatsuki take his offer more seriously. Either of which he was okay with.

For this job he had his Edo Tensei forces go on ahead with him for an optimal fear factor in the battle. The still living ninja were allowed to make camp at the remains of Taki and recuperate as they were not needed for this battle.

"Am I the only one here who thinks this is crazy?" Tenten's father Higurashi Tetsuiro asked, sitting down to a simple meal with a few comrades. Technically everyone was there, but most were situated into groups having their own conversations. Closest to him were Tenten, Tsume, and Shibi.

"What do you mean?" Tsume asked.

"Taki was our ally. Yondaime-sama could have bartered or negotiated if he really wanted that water so badly. But did he ever try?"

Tsume growled. "He's the Yondaime Hokage and Taki was some pisshole in the forest. He didn't have to ask them for anything. They should have just given him the water on demand."

"She's right Dad." Tenten said with a nod.

"But when did he ever give the demand?" Tetsuiro asked. "We showed up and started fighting everyone. Yondaime-sama didn't even go for the water until after the fighting was over. Does that sound reasonable to you?"

"He's right Inuzuka-san." Shibi chipped in trying to be the sensible one. "As a hokage, Namikaze-sama should have made an attempt to communicate with Taki beforehand and open channels for negotiations. That's what leaders are supposed to do. But I am under the impression that he merely came here unannounced for the purposes of genocide and theft of village property."

"Minato-kun shouldn't have to ask for what he wants! He should just take it!" Tsume defended, folding her arms defiantly.

"Bullshit!" Tetsuiro spoke up. "If you really believed that Inuzuka then you would have been barging into all our houses and any shops in Konoha over the years and just taking what you wanted left and right without paying for it! And as far as I know you never did that! You obviously have some understanding of morality or consequences, yet you say the hokage we're supposed to follow and trust shouldn't? Do you not see the contradiction here?"

"We're at war did you forget that idiot? Did you forget that we've lost almost everything because of the fucking Uzumaki? Minato-kun doesn't have the luxury of being nice to anyone! Especially when anyone could potentially be an ally to the Uzumaki! For all we know Taki was how they found out we were in Wave in the first place!" Tsume stated.

"Yeah, someone had to tell them." Tenten agreed, looking angry at the idea.

"But you can't confirm that, can you?" Shibi asked. "You have no proof that Taki did anything wrong to Konoha, you have no proof that Taki had any connections to the Uzumaki, and you have no proof that Namikaze-sama made any attempts to avoid confrontation with them. All we know for certain is what we've witnessed, and I don't know what you witnessed but I witnessed an extermination, not a war."

Tsume clenched a fist and rose to her feet. "You sound like you're thinking of betraying our leader bug boy!"

"Think what you will Inuzuka, but let me ask you one thing just to put your entire argument into perspective. Would you be saying all this if the one responsible was not someone who appealed to your baser urges and primal lusts?"

"What are you saying?" Tsume growling at Shibi.

"Do you need it spelled out for you?" Tetsuiro asked. "He's saying the Yondaime makes you a horny fangirl and you'll support whatever he does as long as there's a chance he'll give you his dick if you do! But if it was someone like Danzou responsible for this, would you be saying he had every right to take what he wants just because he wants it?"

The Inuzuka growled and looked ready to claw his face off. "That's none of your damn business!"

"But it's not inaccurate, is it?" Shibi inquired. "After all, you deflected the accusation rather than denied it."

Tsume took a stance looking ready to strike the Aburame head in two seconds. But before she could, Shibi let out his swarm hovering around him while he continued to sit, forcing her to hesitate. "Go ahead, I'm sure that Namikaze-sama will be thrilled to know you started a fight just because someone questioned you."

Tsume grit her teeth and briefly glanced around. Now all the living Konoha forces were silent and looking her way. There was no way she'd be able to silence them all. Grumbling, she sat down and made an effort to look at and speak to no one.

Tetsuiro then looked to his adopted daughter. "Tenten, do you really think what Yondaime-sama did here was reasonable?"

"He's the hokage Dad, he can do what he wants."

"That's not what I asked. I asked what did you think of what he did." Tetsuiro repeated.

"I told you, he can do whatever he wants. Like the Sandaime told me, the leaders are the ones who make the rules and they're always right. We follow them and make them proud. That's how it works."

"Even when said leader is killing innocent people in order to steal from them?" He asked.

"He's the one in charge, he had a good reason for it. I'm not here to question what he wants me to do, it's my job to just do it." Tenten insisted, sporting the most no-nonsense face she possibly could.

"And what do you think that reason is?"

Tenten shrugged. "I don't know and to be honest I don't really care. Whatever reason he had it was obviously the right one. After all, he's the one in charge. You don't get to be in charge if you have bad reasons to do things. That's not how it works."

Tetsuiro looked at his daughter with wide eyes, unable to believe she had just said that. What did the Sandaime teach her before she was adopted? Did she truly believe that people in charge were incapable of doing the wrong thing simply because they were in charge? Was she completely ignoring that things like corruption and political scandals existed? How did she explain the fact that Itachi used to be an Anbu captain? By her logic he should have been the absolute last person on the face of the earth to commit fratricide, and yet he had.

"Tenten, I think you and I need to have a talk."

Kushina, Kuramamaru, and Hinata led Mikoto and Sakura through Shobikou and to a forest that looked just like any other forest from the outside. Though this one did have stone pillars ringed just outside it's natural borders, pillars that had obviously been placed there rather than were part of the natural environment. Along the way they went around a kitsune village, and Sakura thought she saw some people in there too. She wasn't sure and couldn't identify anyone, so she kept silent.

They went inside the forest and eventually came to a stop just outside a clearing with a hut where Mikoto and Sakura could see Sasuke. He was in chains too, kneeling in the grass in front of the hut with both arms tied to separate trees keeping them apart. He looked tired and a closer look showed his ankles were chained together but not tethered to anything.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto and Sakura shouted upon seeing him.

Right away Kushina manipulated her chains to separate the two aforementioned women and tie them to two other trees on the edge of the clearing before they could react. Both their arms remained behind them, making their current position a little uncomfortable and themselves still defenseless.

"Let us go you bitch!" Mikoto yelled, struggling to get free.

"Mikoto, don't be stupid. You didn't really believe I would just let you and your son attack me and my son as soon as you were together. Sakura maybe can get away with claiming to be clueless here, but you knew I would do this." Kushina told her.

"And if you intended to kill me you would have done so rather than tie me up. So what do you want?" Mikoto remarked. "What kind of sick revenge has you been planning all this time?"

Kushina, Kuramamaru, and Hinata laughed, confusing the others. "Revenge? That's what you think we've been prioritizing all this time?"

"Of course! That's what you've been planning since you escaped Konoha! Revenge against Minato-kun and Konoha!" Mikoto declared, looking at Kuramamaru while saying this.

Kuramamaru shook his head with a sigh. "No, revenge is a hollow goal. Sure I'll feel good to get that asshole out of my life once and for all, but it would mean absolutely nothing if I didn't have any plans for what to do when it's all over. And above all else, I want to have a life when all this is over, not just another target."

"Then what do you want if not revenge?" Sakura asked confused.

Kuramamaru grinned. "Punishment." He paused for a brief moment. "Punishment to Namikaze for playing God with everyone's lives, yours and ours included. Punishment to the toads for making him believe it was his right to do so. Punishment to the sannin and Sandaime for supporting this insanity for their own personal pleasures along the way. Punishment to Konoha for buying into the hype with so little resistance. And punishment to you three for trying to destroy our lives for the fun of it."

"What gives you the right to decide any of that?" Mikoto protested, struggling against her chains.

"We have the ability to, therefore we have the right to. Isn't that how Namikaze justifies what he does Mikoto?" Kushina asked back, to which Mikoto just glared more. "But what really gives us the right was you yourself. Once you and Namikaze and everyone else decided to antagonize us, you gave us all the right in the world to retaliate. Only a bully would say a two-sided fight was unfair."

"What if we apologize?" Sakura cut in. Everyone turned to her wondering if she was serious or finally gave into desperation. "I'm sorry for hurting you so much Naruto. I was told to do it. Everyone told me I was supposed to and no one ever said otherwise, I just got caught up in it. You would have done the same if you were in my place back then."

"No, no I wouldn't have. I may have been a prankster and a ninja, but I never hurt someone for fun."

"Yeah right! You ripped my eyes out! If not for fun then why?" Sasuke yelled.

Kuramamaru gave him a lazy look. "You tried to use your eyes on Kyuubi-sama, remember? Me removing them was thinking ahead so you wouldn't be able to. It wasn't for fun, it was foresight."

Sasuke then smirked. "You didn't think ahead far enough, because I got a new pair."

Kuramamaru smirked back folding his arms. "Oh trust me, I did think that far ahead Sasuke."

"But what do you want with us?" Sakura asked. "You have us for what now? You gonna just leave us here to die slowly?"

Kushina shook her head. "No, I've got something much better in mind. This is my punishment for her most of all." She then gestured towards Mikoto who sucked on her teeth.

"You keep your hands off her!" Sasuke warned. "If you really think you're so damn tough you'll release me and face me like real ninja!"

Kuramamaru held his sides while chuckling. "Why would we fight you Sasuke? We've already beaten and humiliated you in several ways."

"The hell you have!"

"Look at yourself Sasuke, look around you." Hinata spoke up and took a step forward. "You're in chains. You're incapable of fighting back. You have no support coming, no allies aware of where you are, no means of escape. How is this not a victory for us over you?"

"You didn't beat me in a real battle! It doesn't count!"

Kuramamaru laughed. "What is this, the Academy? You think there are rules to all this? Or did you think this would all boil down to some kind of epic showdown between you and me? Because right now I've already beaten you. Not through brute force or any kind of superpower, but through deception and sneak attacks. Like a real ninja."

Sasuke glowered. "Big talk for someone who knows he can't win if he fights me face to face."

"Isn't that exactly how ninja got started in the first place? Because they knew they couldn't take down samurai in face to face fights and had to resort to deception and sneak attacks to win?" Hinata mockingly asked. She shook her head and turned towards Kushina "I thought the Uchiha clan knew the history of shinobi fighting. Aren't they supposed to be a great clan?"

"Just because you have a doujutsu doesn't mean you can't miss the point." Kushina stated.

Sasuke looked ready to use his sharingan, but before he could Kushina then made all the chains holding the captive three disappear. Sasuke, Sakura, and Mikoto dropped, aching a bit, then they gave the Uzumaki woman confused looks.

"I said I was doing this to punish Mikoto, remember?" She asked everyone. "Well, in my opinion, an 'epic showdown' between her son and mine is the best way to do that. After all, last time we talked she was so convinced that her side was going to win. So certain that her boy was going to be some kind of prince while mine would be killed off then forgotten. What better punishment for her then to see her son lose to mine?"

Mikoto glared. "You do that and all you'd be doing is killing my son in cold blood. That would only prove everything I've ever said about you or your kind right."

"Which is why we're not doing it right now." Kushina clarified. "We'll give you a week to prepare. Make it fair, give you a fighting chance to have your showdown and win. If you win, you can go back home and tell Namikaze whatever you want. If we win, well, I don't know yet, but I've got seven days to figure it out."

"Sasuke will win. He's been training for this for years. Your son will die like he was always meant to." Mikoto stated.

"Wait, can't we work something else out?" Sakura asked.

"Oh sure. You can surrender. Admit we beat you. Then the showdown will be unnecessary." Kuramamaru claimed.

Sasuke frowned. "I don't surrender. I'll 'punish' you for taking my eyes dobe. A week is too much time for me to get ready."

Kushina, Kuramamaru, and Hinata smiled. "See you in seven days. Oh by the way, whatever you do, do not exit this forest. Do so, and you'll turn into a fox permanently."

"And why should we believe that?" Mikoto challenged.

Kushina then showed off her fox traits, stunning them. "Do you really want to risk it?" She then walked away, followed by Kuramamaru and Hinata.