NOVPUB
Chapter 170 - CH 170
"Naruto be silent." Tsunade said officially, clamming the teen up instantly and getting him to stand at attention. She had to hold back a look of shock, 'That was all it ever took to get him to stifle? Why didn't I just order him to do that after I first took this job?' She got herself refocused, "This is going to be a problem very soon. If they've already shown the capabilities to kidnap them right from inside of their villages and they're just now being forced to fight to obtain the jinchuuriki then they might be able to infiltrate Konoha and begin a conflict with Naruto before anyone could assist him. If they work in twos, one could simply deal with Naruto while the other keeps any potential back-up at bay."
Gaara spoke again, "And with the jutsu that they displayed to us they wouldn't even have to show up in person to complete missions. Although it seemed to make their body doubles nowhere near as effective as their true selves. Uzumaki was able to hold off both of them and seemed ready to keep going, and when I appeared to lend assistance the battle didn't continue for much longer. Together it was fairly simple to dispatch them."
Onoki's mustache twitched, "So that means that after this defeat they'll know to actually send the true operatives next time no matter which jinchuuriki they target next... I need to find and recall Roshi." Gaara looked out of the window at his village, "They won't send anyone after me or Uzumaki so soon after the last encounter. They will wait to further analyze the latest information that they have on us from the short encounter. They will probably pursue the other jinchuuriki that are less informed of their existence for the time being."
Onoki clasped his hands in a satisfied manner, "Well that's fantastic. Now all I have to do is shore up my defenses and get Roshi back into Iwa and everything will work out."
"I'm not sure about that." Naruto said plainly before remembering that he was supposed to be silent for the time being. When all eyes turned to him he gave Tsunade a look asking her for permission to speak. She gestured for him to proceed, "Well how long do you think it will take for you to find this guy Roshi?"
Onoki shrugged, "Two weeks at least, but we will be able to locate him."
Naruto shook his head, "That might not be fast enough. No matter where he may be they still might be able to find him. I went to my ancestral home for personal reasons and told only my jounin squad leader where I was going and they still found me. They probably know where he is already and are just waiting him out if they didn't take him already."
Tsunade's eyes widened at Naruto's explanation, "Do you get reports from Roshi updating you on his condition Tsuchikage-dono?"
Onoki growled, "No we don't. I allowed him to leave many years ago to allow him to learn to control the power of the Yonbi no Saru, it was better that no one was around while he was training to utilize that power."
He had some sort of point there as far as learning to control the demonic power went. To everyone else's knowledge, Iwa didn't really have an area for no holds barred training like the other villages had. Suna ninja could simply head into the desert and cut loose, Kiri ninja had designated islands that they could use, Kumo had their own mysterious island with many strange and gigantic creatures inhabiting it, and Konoha had the Forest of Death that Naruto used frequently. Allowing him to use his power inside of the village's generally provided training grounds would have been a bad idea for at least half a dozen reasons.
The grizzled old kage continued speaking, "So you're saying that he may very well already be captured."
Naruto nodded, "Well yeah. I'm not saying it really, I'm more or less speculating, but it's not much of a stretch to say so."
"That's all we need to hear right now Naruto." Tsunade said to get him to finish talking. Naruto simply stepped back next to Shizune and stood at attention. Onoki snorted, "I still think that these affairs should be handled domestically. The jinchuuriki should be a country's own responsibility. I will not divert any of my forces to assist you to protect your own weapons. This is just the way of keeping the status quo."
Gaara and Naruto narrowed their eyes at the weapon comment but didn't say anything about it. Both of them accepted it at this point that they were generally meant to be used as weapons, but to hear the way that he had said it as if they weren't people worked their nerves somewhat. Tsunade, Shizune, Kankuro, and Temari actually visibly took it worse that the two demon containers in the room did if the scowls on their faces were any indication of the underlying tension in the room. Tsunade and Shizune were trying to keep Naruto from rationalizing his thought that way, and they figured it would be hard enough to keep Naruto from labeling himself as a weapon due to his time with Danzo without others actually identifying him as such. Temari and Kankuro had spent years since Gaara's defeat to Naruto making sure that he knew that he was their brother, not just Suna's ace in the hole.
Tsunade attempted to speak through the tension, "That's fine. Suna and Konoha will simply have to reach out to the other villages with jinchuuriki still remaining to ensure that everyone is prepared for the growing threat." With the knowledge that unless directly involved once more, Iwa would not aid either village, the meeting shifted away from Akatsuki.
XxX
"Damn it..." Naruto said dejectedly as he and Shizune had returned to their hotel with Tsunade after the meeting, "I can't believe they left to go home already. They probably think that I'm avoiding them. I haven't spoken to anyone else in forever."
Shizune patted him on the back consolingly, "It's okay Naruto-kun, you can find them when we get back to Konoha, right Tsunade-sama?" Tsunade was taking the current down time to paint her nails and answered vacantly, "Huh? Oh, yeah sure... maybe. If I don't have any more missions lined up for him when we get back."
Naruto sighed, "There's going to be another mission..." He said as he walked towards his futon at the foot of Tsunade and Shizune's beds, "There's always another mission. Damn overflow of assignments." He lay down on top of his temporary bedding.
Tsunade rolled her eyes and kept at work on her nails, "Stop whining brat. You were the one that wanted all of the real missions, remember?"
Naruto scoffed from his spot on the futon, "You work me like a rookie chunin. Now I don't want to be a sissy or anything, but can I get some downtime again?" 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
"Downtime?" Tsunade almost bellowed, "Since when do you need downtime you walking chakra battery?" "Since you send me on jobs that last a month or longer consecutively." Naruto said as he sat up at the foot of Shizune's bed to let the older woman play vacuously with his hair, "The only thing I've had time to do these days is get my hair cut. Do you want to know what I dream about these days? Sleeping in my own bed. There's something wrong with that. I've been getting back-to-back B-ranks and the one S-rank you just sent me on, not to mention this one, it should be A-ranked right?"
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