46 Ch.46

--Zach's POV--

After leaving Tsunade there in the courtyard I went and did what anyone would have done in my situation, I went and got a drink. Here I am at the place where it all started, downing Jack and cokes like it's water. Feeling a gentle hand caressing my back as the owner of it came and sat down next to me. Looking over I saw a familiar big-tittied goth looking at me with a gentle smile.

Hecate: "I saw what you made, and I have to say it's very alluring. I would think that it would piss off Hades. But, a life for a life should smooth everything out."

Zach: "Shanks."

She ran her hand down my side and onto my thigh. She leaned in and whispered in my ear.

Hecate: "You know, that kind of reworking of the Jutsu makes me want to reward you."

Hecate bit my ear after that, and it caused my whole body to shiver. Downing the highball glass I placed it down on the bar and turned to her. I could see undisguised lust in her eyes as she licked her lips and bit them. Turning back to the bartender I put a sack of money down to pay for everything and stood up. Hecate let out a devilish smile as I turned towards her.

Zach: "I don't appreciate this. I'll be leaving"

Hecate: "Well damn, thought I could snag you this time."

She just pouted and disappeared in front of me, like she was never there in the first place. A normal person would have thought they were hallucinating and blame it on the alcohol. Shaking off the situation I stumbled out of the inn and made my way over to the Senju graveyard. Looking up at the sky it had already become dark and I just sighed, no one had come and gotten me to let me know I could come home. All I can do is give her time, and give her proof of concept.

Reaching the mausoleum that I was searching for, I placed my hand on the nameplate and wiped the dust and dirt that had been collecting on him. Sighing a bit I read over what it said, 'Here lies a beloved brother, and future Hokage.' but right below it etched out by what looks like a chakra scalpel 'Also, a proud uncle.' Reading that last line I clenched my fists and banged softly on the plate.

Pulling my hand back I moved it into my pocket and pulled out one of the pieces of quartz that I kept on me for spontaneous crafting. Concentrating a little I created a golden ring with the quartz at the centerpiece, having it perfectly sized for my index finger. With a little more concentration lines of coded fuinjutsu started to appear etched into the quartz. This had only taken me 3 minutes to complete while standing in front of the tomb.

After I finished I balled up a fist and punched into the entrance of the mausoleum and yanked off the door. Tossing it away, I knew that I had made quite a ruckus. I convinced myself this was for the greater good, but we all know this was a selfish reason to make my wife happy. I walked in and up to the closed coffin that kept Nawaki's remains and placed the hand with the ring on top of it.

Zach: "You'll be back soon brother-in-law."

With that, the coffin disappeared into the right that I had created. It was about time I stopped relying on Tsunade to carry everything and do my own lugging around. Turning around I headed out and made my way out of the cemetery, ignoring all the stares from the shinobi's that came over to check out the disturbance. Making my way to the main thoroughfare I disappeared into the crowd and quietly left the village.

--Tsunade POV--

My whole world was in pieces right now. I've been in our room ever since Shizune came and got me from the courtyard. She's been here with me the whole time trying to console me. Hearing a large crash of what sounded like metal somewhere outside brought me out of my self-loathing. Jumping up I looked over at Shizune who just nodded her head and we made our way to the sound of the disturbance. Looking around we saw other Shinobi heading the same way so we decided to slow down a bit. Knowing that if it came down to a fight, I shouldn't be the first one to arrive.

But as we got closer my heart started to drop again. We were headed to the Senju graveyard and I had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on. By the time we had arrived, it was confirmed. My heart sank as I looked at the mausoleum that housed Nawaki's remains bashed open like it meant nothing.

Before I could collapse to my knees back into despair Shizune caught me and placed my arm around her shoulder. I was just staring off into the distance trying to figure out why Zach is doing all this.

Shizune: "Anbu!"

A cat masked Anbu appeared right in front of Shizune and awaited orders.

Shizune: "I need you to bring Inoichi and Shikaku to the Senju house."

With that, the Anbu just nodded and disappeared. At this time I still couldn't speak, and I felt like I was drowning. I just want to know why!

Shizune: "Everyone! This is classified as an S-Class secret! You will not speak of this until we find out what the explanation for this is!"

After Shizune said that everyone nodded and disappeared. She then hefted me and guided me back to the mansion. As we arrived we were met by a concerned Inoichi and Shikaku, along with Jiraiya who didn't seem bothered at all by the situation. Everyone made their way inside and into the receiving room where I was sat down on the couch in my catatonic state.

Shizune: "I'm sure the Anbu informed you why you two are here, and Jiraiya I assume you saw it."

Inoichi: "Yes, but I fail to understand why he would steal Nawaki's corpse."

Tsunade: "He wants to use Impure World Reincarnation on him. He perfected it in the time chamber."

I said in a despondent voice.

Shikaku: "WHAT?! Why would he use that? It's no better than making his brother-in-law a slave!"

Jiraiya: "Now hold on. Did Zach not tell you?"

Tsunade: "He told me enough."

Jiraiya just stared at me, and I stared right back.

Jiraiya: "You didn't even let him speak after we left didn't you?"

Tsunade: "Why would I? He wouldn't listen to me, so why would I listen to him?"

Jiraiya just started laughing at that and it really pissed me off. Everyone else was staring at him like he had a second head.

Jiraiya: "Tsunade, when I say that Zach has perfected the Impure World Reincarnation. What do you think it means?"

Tsunade: "The reincarnated souls retain their personality, giving them the freedom to approach a given task however they like so long as it broadly carries out the summoner's bidding. On the one hand, this makes them more useful in combat because they know how best to use their own abilities and, if deployed against somebody they knew when they were alive, there is a possibility for psychological warfare." (A/N: Thanks Fandom for making that easy.)

Jiraiya: "Is that all you think of Zach. YOUR ZACH? YOUR HUSBAND? THE MAN WHOLE STOLE YOUR HEART?"

I stayed quiet after that, but the room wasn't quiet for long as Jiraiya continued.

Jiraiya: "Think really fucking hard Tsunade. What would a man who pretty much left his world behind just to be with you? Someone who comes from a place where slavery is appalled by everyone. Does that sound like something he would do?"

I instinctively shook my head no, he would not do something like that. That's why I'm so pissed at why he's doing this, and to my own family at that! I don't want my brother back bad enough to never know if he was going to be compelled to do something.

Jiraiya: "There you go again, overthinking things and being narrow-minded. I can see it in your face that you're winding yourself up again and justifying your actions. You're in the wrong here Tsunade."

Tsunade: "Oh yeah? You think you know everything, then tell me."

Jiraiya: "Fine! That man is a fucking genius! When he said that he perfected it, he perfected beyond the original Jutsu. He not only can bring them back to 100% of everything but even got rid of the control the caster has over the reincarnated! He did this for YOU! You selfish bitch, you didn't even give him a chance to explain. This tonight can be easily explained."

I fucked up. Replaying the last couple of days, I really fucked up. While I was in a mental loop of my failures over the last couple of days the others continued the conversation.

Shikaku: "Well then why the hell did he break into the grave and steal the body?"

Inoichi: "Yeah, why wouldn't he just wait for this to blow over and talk it out?"

Jiraiya just laughed.

Jiraiya: "He's probably shit face, I know I'd be if I got kicked out by my wife. Probably thought 'Hey, I'll show her and show up with her brother alive and healthy.' But hey, that's just my opinion."

Shizune: "Makes sense. So we can be sure that Zach did not go rogue?"

Jiraiya: "Hell no he didn't go rogue. He's just pissed and probably about to take the fight straight to Orochimaru."

Orochimaru's name brought me out of my funk and I stared at Jiraiya.

Tsunade: "Why is he going to Orochi?"

Jiraiya: "Well, that's the one thing he couldn't remove from the spell. He needs living sacrifices in order to bring the person back."

I just blinked at that, mind blank all I could think was that it was too dangerous. Zach's not a shinobi and Orochimaru's base is surely trapped to hell and back. With that, my mind started to work again. Sitting up straight I got a hold of myself and displayed more confidence.

Tsunade: "Jiraiya, bring Zach home. He's not ready for Orochimaru alone, he's not a ninja and you know how slippery the snake is."

Jiraiya: "I will, but first since we have Inoichi and Shikaku here I'd like to lay out the rest of Zach's plan."

Tsunade: "Fine but make it quick."

Jiraiya explained what Zach had told him about bringing back the 3 Uchihas at the expense of the elders. I was in favor of this, and it even got praise from Shikaku. But this also brought up what to do about the spell, since it's really no longer a Jutsu.

Tsunade: "With being able to bring people back, how are we going to draw a line of who's worth it and who's not."

Inoichi: "That will be hard, hell even I've got people I want to bring back."

Shikaku: "Same, I lost too many friends in the last war."

Shizune: "I honestly think we should cut it off after the Uchihas."

That surprised me, I thought Shizune would want to bring back Dan at the very least. I looked at her in disbelief, and she returned it with a weak smile.

Shizune: "Dan wouldn't be happy to return."

Thinking about it I could only just nod at that and accept her answer. It would be awkward if we did resurrect him. That also quelled the others since someone would actually turn down resurrecting someone they love.

Jiraiya: "Eh, I think there might be 3 more. Dunno who the sacrifices would be, but I'll bet ya Mito, Kushina, and Minato."

Tsunade: "Sounds like something Zach would do. He's always had a soft spot for the boy."

Shizune: "And you haven't since seeing the whole picture?"

Tsunade: "True, but now that this is settled."

I turned to Jiraiya and gave him my serious face.

Tsunade: "Bring my husband home, tell him I'm wrong and we need to talk. This is an S-Class mission. Dismissed."

Jiraiya just did one of his wacky poses with a silly grin.

Jiraiya: "Will do Hokage-sama!"

And like that Jiraiya disappeared and I just now realized that he was a Shadow Clone. The old bastard was in on it from the start, I can't punish Zach since I put myself in the dog house. But Jiraiya will be fair game to take out my frustration. I realized that I was letting out an evil chuckle and a creepy grin.

Shizune: "May the gods help Jiraiya."

Inoichi and Shikaku just shiver, already picking up that Jiraiya is a dead man. But after everything was revealed they felt a sense of relief that even if a clan is on the brink of extinction that not all is lost.