The Akatsuki's Complacency

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, the Village Hidden in the Mist. 

November, x788. 

As soon as Alfonzo left to take care of the person watching the war from the hill outside of the forest, namely Obito, Mei rushed towards the village entrance in hopes of intercepting Yagura before he could transform into the Three-Tails. 

Unfortunately, she ended up being late. And that was after the fight was brought closer to her thanks to Laxus powerful punch. 

Standing at the crown of a tree, Mei looked on in despair with a set of [Sealing Tags] in her hands. 

"No... I'm too late." Mei said as she watched Yagura grow into the Three-Tailed Beast. However, when she saw its eyes, she narrowed her own. "Is that... a Sharingan? But how? I know for a fact that Yagura never got a Sharingan implanted." 

*Roar!* 

Unfortunately, Mei did not have too much time to think about what she was seeing. Because a surge of magic power drew her attention away from the Jinchuriki. 

Looking in the direction of the magic power surge, Mei's eyes widened to a comical degree when she saw the effect Laxus' surging magic power had on the air around him. 

"How... Is this... Possible?" Mei asked herself in a shaky voice. "His magic power... It's on par with... Yagura's right now..." 

Even though she was witnessing it for herself, Mei found it hard to believe what she just said. Yet, no matter how she looked at the two, there was no other way she could describe what she was seeing. 

However, just like before, Mei did not have much time to mull over what she was seeing. Because the amount of magic power that was gathering in Yagura's mouth was staggering. More than enough to wipe the Village Hidden in the Mist off the face of Earth Land. 

However, Mei was able to relax slightly when she realized that the magic power was just [Water Magic], and not the Tailed Beasts' most destructive attack, a [Tailed Beast Bomb]. 

"Even if it's not a [Tailed Beast Bomb], that much magic power could still destroy most of the village with relative ease." Mei muttered to herself. 

In the next instant, however, all her worries were put to rest when Laxus landed three spells that ended with an explosion bigger than anything she had seen in recent years. 

"Did he kill him?" Mei asked while looking down at the crater made from Laxus' last two attacks. "*Sigh* If we could have captured him alive, removing the Three-Tails before [Sealing] it in a container, would have meant the Mist would have still had a Jinchuriki. But with Utakata defecting from the village under Yagura, we're going to be at a huge disadvantage until we can get at least one Jinchuriki under our control again." 

While Mei was thinking aloud, she noticed a flash of violet light appear next to Laxus, revealing Alfonzo once the light dimmed. 

"Hmm... That must be the one he said was watching the war." Mei muttered while watching Alfonzo clear the smoke. She then seemed to realize something as her eyes shot wide open once again. "Wait... Although it's imperative to get a Jinchuriki of our own again, there's at least one person here who can fight, and win, against a trained Jinchuriki. I definitely need to find a way to ally with Fairy Tail." 

Mei's eyes then zeroed in on Alfonzo while she subconsciously began combing her fingers through her hair, rubbing her fingertips against her scalp, imitating Alfonzo's earlier subconscious response. 

"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to Magnolia in Fiore to discuss things with the Fairy Tail guild master." Mei continued, her face growing redder and redder with every word. "And if I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to get to know a certain young man more intimately... *Giggle*" 

By the time Mei's thoughts reached their end, she was giggling uncontrollably, like a schoolgirl thinking about her crush. Unfortunately, because of her... plans... Mei was not fully aware of her surroundings. Not to say that she would have missed any killing intent that was directed at her, though. 

"Uh... Is she okay?" Laxus, who had just landed on the branch where Mei was standing, asked while looking at Mei with caution. 

"I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied while scratching the side of his head. "I don't think she's under a [Genjutsu], or anything. But for some reason, I'm feeling really uneasy." 

"Should we just leave her be, then?" Laxus asked while looking away from the giggling Mei. "Because I really don't wanna be the one to interrupt whatever it is she's thinking about that could make her laugh like that." 

"Yeah. Let's tell Ao about this." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "He should know what to do." 

After Alfonzo gave his suggestion, he and Laxus made eye contact for a moment before nodding in agreement. Then, they both flashed away from the tree branch, leaving Mei to sink further into her delusions... Until an enemy shinobi, who thought she must have been caught in a [Genjutsu] tried to attack her. 

Unfortunately, that shinobi did not live to regret that decision. Instead, the flesh was melted off his skeleton when Mei snapped back to her senses and exhaled a cloud of acidic mist at him, courtesy of her [Boil-Style] Kekkei Genkai. 

The next few days passed quickly. The war ended not long after Yagura's death. However, the most strenuous part of the Mist Village's Civil War, at least in Mei's opinion, followed. And it was still ongoing. Namely, negotiations with the King of Caelum for her to be recognized as the Fifth Mizukage. 

However, that had nothing to do with Alfonzo, Laxus, Marin, and Shizuka. Though, Shizuka did still find herself with a lot of work to do, as there were many injured during the war. And Marin volunteered to guard her while she worked. 

As for Laxus, he spent most of his time on his lPhone talking with Chico and/or Saya planning their wedding, which had been put off until Alfonzo was done with his work at the Village Hidden in the Leaves, since Laxus' longtime rival had agreed to be his best man. 

Last but not least, Alfonzo was going around the Kingdom of Caelum inspecting all the Sixth Sense Holdings' branches that had been set up in the island country. And from what he could tell, Marin's father, Masumi, had been doing a good job as CEO. 

"I wonder if I should give Lucy's dad a chance, too." Alfonzo muttered as he returned to the room he was assigned in the Mist Village's best inn. "I mean, if he's gotten over his irrational hatred of Lici, I don't mind giving him a job. But he didn't even come to Lucy's wedding. So, I'm not holding my breath." 

Not only had Jude Heartfilia not come to the wedding. However, despite having an lPhone and Lucy's contact information, he had yet to contact her at all since the day he was caught stalking her. 

Opening the door, Alfonzo stepped into the room he shared with Marin and Shizuka. Seeing that the room was empty, Alfonzo was not surprised, as he could sense his two wives at the village's hospital. 

"Well, maybe I'll take a trip to Acalypha with Lucy one of these days." Alfonzo thought aloud. "Maybe there are circumstances that are keeping him from contacting her." 

Reaching that point, Alfonzo walked over to the couch in the room, kicked off his shoes, and flopped down. 

"Or... Maybe he's just an irredeemable piece of shit." Alfonzo continued as he threw his arms over the back of the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "But he did recognize his mistakes in the canon. So, that's unlikely. Maybe he's just ashamed of the way he acted… Who knows?" 

With nothing left to do, it did not take Alfonzo long to fall asleep. 

Earth Land, Ishgar, Undisclosed Location. 

"It's been nearly a week since we heard from Zetsu." The projection of a man with orange hair and purple eyes with concentric circles said while standing atop one of the fingers of the Gedo Mazo. "This is highly unusual." 

"Perhaps he was captured." The projection of a man with blond hair that covered his left eye replied. "I mean, it's not like he was all that strong, right." 

"Even if that's true, no one among us is better at fleeing." The projection of a man with green pupils and red sclerae said in a disdainful tone. "This is why I don't like working with idiots." 

"What was that?" The blond man growled. "It looks like someone is looking forward to an up close and personal display of my art." 

"Just remind me to kill you when you try, and fail, to show off that useless art of yours." The green-eyed man said, almost nonchalantly. "If I remember correctly, your bounty is pretty high. Should be worth the effort." 

Ignoring the bickering, Itachi, who was also present for this meeting, turned towards the man with the purple eyes. 

"It's been a while since Toby disappeared, as well." Itachi said. "For as long as I've been a member of the Akatsuki, we've never been out of contact with both members of a particular team for this long." 

"I am aware." The purple-eyed man replied. "However, I doubt we need to worry about either of them. Perhaps their mission is just more complicated than expected. They are gathering information about the members of Fairy Tail, after all." 

Though Itachi nodded in response, he had a bad feeling about the entire situation. Or rather, he had a hunch that they would never see either Toby, or rather Obito, and Zetsu ever again. Especially when he considered just how talented Alfonzo was when it came to creating magic items. Yet, he would never say anything about that to his so-called colleagues. 

Especially since he was nothing but a spy in the end. A spy who was destined to die at his younger brother's hands for the crimes he committed against their clan. 

'Well, at least I don't have to worry about Orochimaru or Danzo getting their hands on Sasuke after I'm gone.' Itachi thought to himself. 'Even though Danzo gave me his word that he would not harm Sasuke after I took his mission to kill off my clan, I don't trust him. Not at all. As for Orochimaru, he had once tried to steal my body for whatever twisted experiments he was conducting. And even though he was not strong enough to subdue me, there's no guarantee he wouldn't try the same with Sasuke. *Sigh* I really need to find a way to thank Alfonzo Marcus for everything he's done.' 

"For now, none of you need to worry about Toby or Zetsu." The purple-eyed man said with little inflection in his tone. "Just continue to prepare. We will begin hunting for the Tailed-Beasts in earnest in the next few years." 

The purple-eyed man's words managed to pull Itachi out of his thoughts while simultaneously putting an end to the exchange of death threats between the blond man and the green-eyed man. 

"As for the Nine-Tails, if he's still in the care of Fairy Tail once we've captured the rest of the beasts, I'll handle them personally." The purple-eyed man said once he was sure everyone's attention was on him. "Though they may be the strongest guild in Fiore, and possibly the whole of Ishgar, what is a guild... to a god?" 

Used to their leader's divine delusions of grandeur, the other members of Akatsuki did not comment. Though, the projection of a blue-haired woman with amber eyes did sigh quietly. 

"Now, go and prepare." The purple-eyed man commanded before his projection flickered and disappeared. 

Not long after the leader disconnected from the meeting, all but one of the projections vanished, as well. 

"*Sigh* It looks like I'll have to up his dosage again." The blue-haired woman said once her projection was the only one left. "Losing Yahiko all those years ago has really... *Sigh* Perhaps I'll take a trip to Magnolia to ask for a stronger dose of Nagato's medicine from Miss Porlyusica in the near future. But I'll have to be careful. According to reports, Sensei has joined Fairy Tail, as well." 

With that said, the blue-haired woman shook her head. Then, she, too, dispelled her projection.