"War, are you certain that will be necessary?" Homura asked, looking over at Natsuko as they sat in the meeting room. They were sat at a rectangle table, Iruka, Itachi, Kakashi, Choza, Shizune and Homura on one side. With Inoichi, Tsunade, Hiashi, Shibi, and Koharu on the other side. Natsuko sat at the head of the table her Hokage cloak sitting on her back, her headband tied tightly around his head. Wearing her usual dark blue jogging outfit with her forest green chunin vest overtop, paired with black ninja sandals, her hair in a ponytail behind her head. Shikaku Nara stood behind her, his black hair in a ponytail as he wore a black jumpsuit with his forest green chunin vest overtop. Natsuko looked over at the woman who'd had her gray-violet hair in a bun behind her head, she wore a white cloth diagonally across her body as she wore a violet dress with a black longsleeve overcoat.
"The man we face. The masked man. Was powerful enough to take on my father, the fourth hokage, the man hailed as the yellow flash, and win. Hell, he showed up at the five kage summit to gloat about just that. While at the summit I analysed as many different solutions as I could. But the end result was the same. Yes, I am one hundred percent sure war is necessary and the other nations have already agreed to form the allied shinobi force to go after Madara." She said, putting her chin on her hands as she looked around the room
"Is there truly no other solution?" Koharu said from the other side of the table, Natsuko glancing over at him. As Tsunade hit the table from where she sat across from Kakashi
"Wake up! The person we're facing is Madara Uchiha! Just one of the Akatsuki was able to completely destroy the leaf." She
said,
"Glad to see your back in good spirits Granny Tsunade… Madara Uchiha attacked the conference, took my rasengan like it was nothing, every other attack phased through him, nothing landed. This is no longer a problem the leaf can solve alone. We need to work with our allies." Natsuko said, looking around the room.
"What jutsu is he planning to cast that he needs the 8 and 9 tailed jinchuriki?" Hiashi asked and Natsuko hummed
"The Infinite Tsukeyomi. To trap everyone in lifelike hallucinations. Draining their chakra away.. Madara said he was doing this in hopes of bringing peace, but I wonder if he is being manipulated as well, which is something I'm going to be looking into." Natsuko said looking around the room
"Hmm, we do have something about the infinite Tsukeyomi in our sacred grounds. Lady Hokage, I can research the infinite tsukeyomi and figure out a way to stop it in the event it gets cast, it's an Uchiha jutsu, so the Uchiha should be the ones looking into it." Itachi said and Natsuko nodded,
"I was already going to ask." She said
"Manipulating Madara? Is there a reason you think that Lady fifth?" Kakashi asked and Natsuko nodded,
"That thing that's always near him, what did he call himself? Black Zetsu? Anyway, I'm going to look through my books once more, but I remember reading about the black mass, in books dating back to the sage of 6 paths. I don't want to say anything for certain, as I'm not entirely sure myself. But if I'm right, then it's more than just Madara we're going to be facing in this war." She said
"Alright. Well, what are your orders? This isn't the time to wait around" Choza said, and Natsuko hummed
"First. My brother is not to know of this war at all. This is being waged to protect him. Which will all be moot if he finds out and joins the battlefield right away. Granny Tsunade I know we would benefit from his added battle strength, but so would our enemy. In order to keep him safe, he isn't to know of the war. Second, I need us to start getting food stocked, rations made, medical supplies, weaponry, everything essential for the war." Natsuko said,
"The Akamitchi clan can handle the food rations preparations." Choza said and Natsuko nodded
"Shizune and Sakura can handle the medical preparations, I'll help the Akamitchi clan." Tsunade said and Natsuko looked over
"Mr. Choza, any objections?" She asked, the man shook his head
"Actually it might be good to have a medical nin helping with the food prep." He said scratching the back of his head, Natsuko nodded
"I'll handle the weaponry," Kakashi said and Natsuko hummed
"Tenten is our weapons specialist right?" She said and Kakashi nodded,
"Take her with you please, when you take stock of and go to request weaponry." Natsuko said and Kakashi nodded once more,
"I can help come up with strategies for battle alongside Shikaku." Inoichi said and Natsuko nodded,
"Any ninja ranked Chunin and above will be authorized. No genin will be setting foot on the battlefield." Natsuko said
"Alright so, since we're all here I assume the feudal lords agreed to sponsor this war." Raikage said sitting at the round table in the cloud, the hats already presented, Natsuko sat between Ohnoki and the Samurai, her light red hair in a highponytail-braid. Her outfit consisted of a light blue jumpsuit, paired with her forest green chunin vest, black ninja sandals on her feet. Behind her stood Shikaku Nara, as he was going to be the Chief strategist for the war. Ohnoki wore his usual outfit, an unnamed stone ninja stood behind him wearing a dark violet outfit, his orange hair held up by his dark violet headband. Ay sat next to Ohonki his left arm on the table, his right having been lost at the previous meeting. Behind him his advisor stood, her blond hair in a bun, as she wore a green tunic with chain armor underneath. Next to Ay, Gaara sat, his red hair falling over his forehead, as he wore his red tunic with the gray armor overtop, paired with black pants, his large gord sitting behind him, Temari stood behind him her blonde hair in four ponytails, as she wore a violet tank tunic with chain armor underneath. Mei sat next to Gaara, her auburn hair in a half up half down bun. As she wore a dark blue dress with chain armor underneath, behind her stood Ao, his outfit not changing from the last meeting. Finally, sitting in between Mei and Natsuko, was the head Samurai. His long gray hair covered on top by the bandages he wrapped around his head. His outfit consisting of traditional samurai attire with an unnamed bald samurai standing closely behind him. The room they were in was Ay's office, with window's right behind them and his desk sitting off to the side.
"Where are we going to hide the jinchuriki?" Mei asked and Natsuko looked over at Ay, as he pulled out a map,
"I was thinking, the cloud has this island that's not on any maps, turtle island. My brother is already there. Hokage, your thoughts?" Raikage asked and Natsuko hummed,
"You're plan is a lot better than mine. I'll send Naruto, pervy sage, Might Gai, and Aoda, it can only be accessed by boat?" She asked and Ay nodded,
"What was your plan, Natsuko?" Gaara asked, and Natsuko looked over before looking away,
"Mt. Myoboku." She said, and Gaara hummed,
"Alright now that that's settled. What of the preparations?"
"So, how did Tsunade react when she found out?" Temari asked after the meeting, Natsuko paling,
"That bad?" She said laughing,
"I'm scary, you're scary… that woman is petrifying." Natsuko said, before rubbing her ear,
"My ear still hurts from her pulling on it.." She said, Jiraiya laughing as he put an arm over her shoulder,
"Ah come on, she isn't that bad." He said and Natsuko looked over
"So your ribs broke themselves?" She said and Jiraiya instantly paled, moving his arm by his ribs as he looked down,
"That was a low blow Natsuko. Low blow." he said and Natsuko hummed in victory, before whispering to Temari what had happened, why his ribs had ended up broken.
Temari walked through the leaf intent on getting to the hokage tent, in order to check on the preparations for war, the village reconstruction was almost completely redone. Passing by children playing with a ball, she was reminded of
growing up in the sand.
"Konohamaru! For the last time! Not. Happening!" Natsuko said from the hokage tent
"Come on Lady Natsuko! I would be a great asset." a voice sounded from in the tent, Temari could here Natsuko groan before something thumped inside, probably her head hitting the wooden desk.
"Fine." She said,
"I can go to the front lines?" Konohamaru said hopefully, as Temari moved the tent flap aside, causing Natsuko to glance over quickly before looking back at Koonohamaru
"No." Natsuko said looking up from where her head was laying against the desk, and Konohamaru seemed to pout
"But if you've got time to stand there and complain, you can take this to Sakura and Shizune, over in the medical area."
"But.."
"It's either that or you can sweep the entire top of the fence around the leaf. Making note of any firelizards. Seems theres a gathering by the west gate" She said looking at a list Konohamaru paled, turning his head to the wide before waving his hands in front of his face,
"I'll get this to Sakura, you bet." he said grabbing the scroll Natsuko was holding out before running out of the tent, his blue scarf trailing behind him.
"Fire lizards?" Temari asked and Natsuko laughed,
"Yeah, they look cute, but if they get angered or scared, they can turn into giant rampaging beasts, about the size of a sand scorpion, but most of the time they're bout as big as the palm of my hand." She said holding her hand out as a reference. Lifting her head, Before grabbing a scroll from her desk, looking it over a moment,
"This is for Gaara… How are you?" She asked and Temari hummed,
"I'm okay. Can't believe we're going to war." She said and Natsuko hummed
"How'd Naruto take the news?" Temari asked and Natsuko hummed, putting a finger on her chin thinking back,
Flashback
"Natsuko, what's up, you needed to see me?" Naruto said noting Jiraiya, Aoda, and Gai already in the tent. All wearing their gear for leaving.
"Naruto. I've been made aware of some… troubling news. You remember bugging me about an S rank mission?" She asked looking over the papers on her desk, Naruto nodded rapidly
"This is it. Pervy sage, Gai sensei, and Aoda will accompany you, you are to head to the hidden clouds turtle island near the land of lightning. Once you arrive you'll be given more details of the mission. This is a top secret mission, nobody must know you're on it. Is. That. Clear?" Natsuko asked, looking at Naruto who nodded,
"Aw man! This is awesome, an S rank mission, sweet" He said
End Flashback
"Well… right now, he's stuck on a small boat with someone who gets seasick, and is probably making a few pitstops on the way to the island. But he thinks it's an S rank top secret mission. So… good?" She said scratching the back of her head, before looking at the papers in front of her, before gasping,
"That's today?" She said standing before almost immediately falling back over, Temari grabbing her arm.
"How are you doing?" Temari asked and Natsuko hummed,
"I'm… I'm okay, sorry if I scared you, I don't know what happened, light headed probably.." She said and Temari hummed, looking at her face,
"You're going to work yourself into the grave before the war if you don't sleep as well, Natsuko." Temari said and Natsuko hummed,
"Yeah I hear you, I just… don't want, to loose you know." Natsuko said and Temari nodded
Konohamaru ran back at Temari who was on her way back to the sand, before having been stopped by the kid. he 'd pushed her to second star with her fan. They were in the middle of the forest, destruction around them, as Temari had been about to approach a red wooden bridge to cross over to make it near the border. Konohamaru got back up when Temari knocked him aside, holding what looked to be a bright blue mass of chakra in his right hand, when a blur of red came in between the two of them, Natsuko standing there a moment later, her hokage cloak moving between her legs from the force of her speed. As her hair moved to the left, standing in front of Temari as she pushed her right hand out, touching Konohamaru's chest and sending the confused child tumbling back towards the bridge, a crater formed from where his rasengan hit the ground.
"Where'd you come from?" He said, dazed and Natsuko hummed,
"… Fighting is prohibited inside the leaf. Konohamaru, tell me this. Who taught you the Rasengan?" She asked and Konohamaru looked over
"Naruto did." He said and Natsuko hummed, nodding, her hands behind her back,
"So, he told you to use it against comrades?" She asked
"Well… no." He said and Natsuko hummed,
"Why'd you stop me anyway. I was gonna win." He said and Natsuko shook her head, as Temari laughed quietly
"No, no you 100% were not about to win. Those two, are known as the cruelest among the kunoichi." Shikamaru said, gesturing, Natsuko tsking, rolling her eyes.
"Should… should we be offended?" She whispered to temari, who huffed, shaking her head affectionately
"I'll let gaara know of the fine ninja coming from the leaf." Temari said and Natsuko hummed,
"Konohamaru, when you've cooled off, come to the hokage's tent." Natsuko said before teleporting away
"Somethings headed towards the island.." Natsuko said at the kage meeting her hand on the table, her curly light red hair was down as parts if the intertwining strands fell in front of her face and onto the cool metal near where her hand was placed. She wore a light blue jogging jacket paired with a matching skirt with black shorts underneath paired with chain armor underneath, her black ninja boots on her feet as her hokage cloak sat on her back
"can you tell who it is?" Gaara asked and Natsuko hummed before looking up, the left side of her face completely obscured
"The Akatsuki. Deidara Kamiruzu. And Kabuto." Natsuko said
"I heard Deidara died, hokage." Mei said as Ohnoki got himself ready to set out
"Reanimation is what we're looking at and I'll place all my bets on kabuto casting it." Natsuko said as she stood, Ohnoki volunteering to go stop the group, as the others stayed back.
"Lady Hokage you wanted to see us?" Itachi asked as he, Shisui, and Fugaku came into the Hokage tent and Natsuko nodded, looking up from the paperwork she'd just completed,
"Has the Uchiha clan made any headway in figuring out ways to stop or temporarily slow the Tsukuyumi if worst comes to worse and it's cast in the war?" she asked and Itachi nodded
"I think blocking the moons light with Susano will work to at least slow the infinite tsukeyomi, we've all begun training in order to master such jutsu." Itachi said and Natsuko nodded, looking over the notes,
"Alright, if it does get cast do we know how to dispel it?" She asked and Shisui looked over
"I'm still looking, unfortunately I haven't been able to make much headway in that department." He said and Natsuko nodded,
"Do you know how many can use the susano? How many can block out the Tsukuyomi?" She asked and Fugaku looked over
"Everyone in the clan who's ranked chunin or higher, has unlocked the Susano ability." He said and Natsuko nodded,
"How sure are you that blocking the moons light with Susano will work? Itachi?" Natsuko asked and Itachi looked over at her
"I think theres a good chance it'll work." He said explaining the way the infinite Tsukuyomi was suppose to work, and Natsuko nodded
"Agreed. I'll let the Kage know at our meeting. Thank you" She said