Chapter 174: The Cloud Incident
Disclaimer:
Naruto and all its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 174: The Cloud Incident
"Jiraiya?" Naruto took a seat in front of the Hokage's desk. "He made a stop in a nearby town. He should be here in a few days."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't he come here directly? He knows I expected him to arrive with you and present the last report in person."
"After leaving the Cloud Village, we've been traveling for months without stopping at any town or city for rest. I assume the stress got to him. He seemed very anxious to go visit som—"
"You know what?" Tsunade interrupted. "I'd rather not know the details. I'll talk to him when he returns."
The Hokage sighed as she leaned back in her chair.
After a moment of calm, she looked back at Naruto. "That matter in the Cloud Village…"
"Jiraiya said you've probably received some news by now," Naruto commented.
"We did, but…" Shizune threw a worried glance at Tsunade.
"You want our side of the story. That's understandable" Naruto hovered his right hand over the Hokage's desk.
With a puff of smoke, a small red toad appeared.
"This isn't the usual messenger toad that Jirarya sends," Tsunade observed the little creature with curiosity.
"No it is not, this one works for me," Naruto explained, staring at the toad. "Gamaji… the scroll, please."
The toad opened its mouth and produced a small white scroll.
After Naruto took it, the toad disappeared without a word.
He unsealed the scroll and laid it open in front of Tsunade, who promptly picked it up and began reading.
Both Naruto and Shizune waited patiently while she absorbed the contents.
Tsunade was fairly expressive while reading it, her face going through several drastic changes, which made Shizune even more curious about the scroll's contents.
She had only seen the reports and letters sent from the Cloud Village, and they didn't paint a favorable picture of either Naruto or Jiraiya.
Tsunade finally put the scroll down. " I see...it makes more sense now. "
Shizune noted that Tsunade looked very relieved after reading the report, like a huge with had been lifted from her shoulders.
" Are you and Jiraiya aware of the other side of the story? Do you know what the Cloud Village is claiming happened?" Tsunade asked Naruto.
This one nodded. "We have a vague idea, yes. I presume they're blaming us for the death of their jinchūriki." Even without stopping at any populated area, they could make an educated guess, given the circumstances.
"Yugito Nii. Blonde kunoichi, twenty-nine years old, and the jinchūriki of the Two Tails. They claim two ninjas from Konoha invaded their territory five months ago, killed her, and stole the Two Tails' bijū before escaping," Tsunade recounted.
"They're threatening us with war if we don't return the bijū and compensate for her death," Shizune added.
"That's not exactly what happened," Naruto said. "Someone else did that before we arrived."
"Akatsuki… that's what the scroll says," Tsunade noted.
"You saw them?!" Shizune shivered at the mention of the name. They had been gathering information about that organization for the past two years. Akatsuki consisted of some of the most dangerous missing-nin in the continent.
" I was trying to get inside the village through the sewer system. I heard some commotion going on and went to investigate. I only saw one of them. A tall guy with purple hair and a strange weapon. I found him next to the corpse of the Cloud ninja. He had already sealed the Two Tails inside a container."
"According to this"—Tsunade held up the scroll—"you killed that Akatsuki member and escaped with the container."
"That's correct," Naruto confirmed.
"Are you sure you killed him?" Tsunade pressed.
"I cut off his head. I'm fairly sure he wasn't alive when I left," Naruto replied, confused by the doubt.
"That's strange… because the Raikage never mentioned finding the body of another foreign ninja. They claim the only ones spotted nearby were you and Jiraiya. That's the basis for their accusations," Tsunade explained.
Naruto considered this for a moment. "They could be lying... it could be an excuse to make demands from our village." He knew the relationship between Konoha and the Cloud was tense at best, and they'd made war threats in the past.
"Perhaps…" Tsunade didn't dismiss the possibility. Still, the current Raikage didn't strike her as someone who resorted to such tactics.
"But wait," Shizune interjected. "If you retrieved their missing bijū, then… maybe we can still fix this." She glanced at Tsunade before continuing.
The Hokage stared at Naruto. "Where is it? The report doesn't mention that part. Is it with Jiraiya?" It was obvious that Naruto was not carrying any container with him.
"It would be best if we wait for him to return. You can ask him then," Naruto replied.
He wasn't sure how Tsunade would react to the full truth. For now, only Jiraiya knew it, and he had suggested avoiding the topic until they could come up with a better explanation.
That vague answer gave Tsunade a bad feeling, and she could already sense another headache approaching. "Fine then…" Wanting to move on, she decided to drop the subject for now. "We'll continue this discussion when he's here."
The Hokage then gestured to her assistant. "Bring that thing here. You know...what we talked about the other day."
Shizune looked confused for a moment. "Oh...already?!"
"Bring what?" Naruto wondered aloud, but Tsunade only gave him a cryptic expression.
Shizune returned, carrying a uniform in her arms. "I thought you were going to wait a bit longer."
"There is no need for that. Let's get this over with." She grabbed the uniform and placed it on the table. "Naruto, how would you like to become a Jonin?"
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