Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 119 NEW TEAM

I got to the front of the house to find my old team waiting for me. Hinata was taller and more filled out. Her hair was grown down past her shoulders and I had to admit, she was beautiful. Kiba was more muscular, and his faithful companion Akamaru was as tall as his waist now. 

“Hinata! Kiba!” I yelled excitedly running to them. Grabbing them in a hug I enjoyed the surprised looks on their faces. I was a lot taller than them and I was sure I looked nothing like my 12 year old self. 

“Weston?” Kiba barked. “What the hell kind of mission you been on?” He asked in amazement. “You look completely different.”

“Different good I’m sure,” I said with a laugh. “Look at you Hinata, more beautiful than I remember.” She blushed deeply. “What? Still can’t talk?”

“I can talk,” she said with more force than I expected. “In your letter you said you’d be gone for 2 years. Not 2 and a half.”

“You’re right. I found the sacred land of sea turtles and was there way longer than I planned,” I admitted. “What’s the matter? Already move on from me?” 

“We did actually,” Kiba said with a smile. “About 6 months ago we were assigned a new team member.” Kiba motioned behind himself. I noticed the twink there. “This is Sai.”

“What?” I asked, putting on a shocked look. I was a little surprised but I knew who he was. Black hair, pale skin, weird fishnet clothes. Sai had taken the place of Sasuke in team 7. He had some weird Bloody Mist sort of ritual he had to go through back in the day. Where he had to kill his best friend. His skills were very cool though. He could manifest his drawings from his chakra.  

“How dare Kurenai drop me,” I said walking up to the new guy. “And for this pretty boy.”

“Hello,” Sai said putting a smile on his face. 

“Don’t give me that fake smile,” I said. “Hinata please tell me you haven’t dumped me for this guy.”

“What?” She asked nervously. “I don’t know-“

“You heard her, Sai. Hinata is in love with me. Not you. No matter what you try.”

“I never said…” Hinata whispered. Blushing she looked fo her hands. Quieting down. 

“Damn, I broke her already,” I said. “Sorry Sai. I’m just playing with you. You too, Hinata. I know you couldn’t stop loving me.”

“I never said-ugh why do I let you do this to me?” She asked. 

I barked a laugh. “No idea. So what? You guys sent by the Hokage for me?” 

“Yeah. We just got back from a mission when we heard the news,” Kiba said. Turning around he and I headed out the door while the other 2 followed. 

“What? No Kurenai? She hate me?”

“Nah. We are all Chunin now. We haven’t had her looking over our shoulder for a while,” Kiba said. Akamaru barked. “So where the hell you been?” 

“I got lost. Hinata and I made a secret rendezvous to express our love for one another. But I got turned around. Ending up near the ocean I found the land of turtles.”

“Yeah yeah. And what really happened?” Kiba asked. 

“Super secret mission for the Hokage. But I really did find the land of turtles. It was in this huge underwater reef. They taught me their secret ninja turtle martial arts.”

“Dude, I don’t believe you,” Kiba said. 

“I’m serious,” I said. I did the summoning jutsu hand seals. Focusing like Kame said I kept my burst of chakra minimal as I used the summoning jutsu. I was pleasantly surprised to have Michi appear. 

“What’s up?” He asked, looking at me. 

“Nothing. My friends didn’t think I could summon a ninja turtle,” I said. 

“I’m not a ninja,” Michi said. 

“Yeah whatever,” I said, picking him up. “You miss me?”

“I saw you like a week ago,” ‘Michi said, annoyed. “I was sitting at home eating. You need something?”

“I…guess not,” I said. He turned into smoke and disappeared. “Damn, how’d he do that?” I asked. “See. He’s a ninja turtle.”

“Can you summon small ones?” Hinata asked. 

“Oh my god. There were about a million baby ones there. It was the cutest thing,” I said. “I’ll try to summon some later.”

“Ok,” she whispered with a smile on her lips. 

“What about you guys?” I asked. So they caught me up on their Chunin exams. All the missions they had done. And drama around the village. I hadn’t missed much. We got to the Hokage’s office and she let me right in. 

“You all can go back,” Tsunade said. Kiba and Sai nodded. Walking out. 

“Um okay,” Hinata hesitated. 

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll stop by later so we can catch up.” My potential fiancé nodded and ran off. “What’s up my favorite Hokage?” I asked. The blonde woman hadn’t aged of course. Still in her normal attire she appeared to be in her late 30s. Large chest showing some cleavage I eyed it without shame. 

“You said 2 years,” Tsunade said. “It’s been 2 and a half.”

“It has. Heard anything from Naruto or Jaraiya?” I asked. 

She hesitated. “I uh heard they were seen entering the Land of Fire. They could be here in the next few days.”

I let out a sigh. “Good. Then it will start soon,” I said. 

Tsunade frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I know,” I said. “I’ve been doing a lot over the last 2 years, Hokage. Lots of training for this.” I looked around. “I happened to hear that Danzo died. Do you feel the area is…safe for sensitive conversations?” I eyed her assistant. 

“I can guarantee it,” Tsunade said. 

I nodded. Sitting in the chair I had decided my course of action a long time ago. “Akatsuki is on the move once more,” I said. 

“How can you know this?” She asked. 

“Where do you think I’ve been for the last year?” I asked. 

“You infiltrated them?!” She asked, genuinely worried. 

“No,” I said. “I’ve been gathering information. They are on the move. They have 4 or 5 teams of 2 members. They will begin gathering the Jinchurikis and ripping the tailed beasts from them.”

“Who? When?” 

“Any day now,” I said. “They will kidnap the Kazekage.”

“Gaara?” She asked with a gasp. Her assistant stayed quiet but was writing notes. “Why him?”

“One of their members is from that sand castle of a village. He has spies there. And why wouldn’t they start with the 1 tailed beast?”

“This is not good,” Tsunade said. 

“No shit,” I said. “None of it is. But I have a plan for them.”

“A plan?”

“Oh my god. Hokage. Stop interrupting. Just let me talk,” I said, rolling my eyes. She glared at me but stayed quiet. “I have a plan. We know Akatsuki is coming. We can prepare for them. They are extremely powerful. But they are only 2 men. I think if you let me go with a team I choose, we can save him.”

“I’ve already set that up. You’ll be moving to Team 7,” Tsunade said. 

“I will?” I asked. “Honestly that’s perfect. But we need to move now. Before Naruto gets back.” Tsunade frowned but nodded. 

“What else?” She asked. 

“You need to warn the other Kages. Whoever has a tailed beast. They will all be targeted in the coming weeks. And you need to call for a meeting with all the kages.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s coming to a head, Hokage. Everything has been leading toward this point. If we can keep Naruto, Gaara, and a few other Jinchurikis out of their hands we could put a damper on things. But the real problem is they have the advantage. We are divided right now. It will take all of us to beat them. Call for a meeting now. They’ll say no. Once their Jinchurikis start getting attacked they’ll realize you were telling the truth and agree.”

“Even Kirigakure?” She asked. 

“land of the mist? Of course. Why not them?” I asked. 

“I’ve heard rumors that Akatsuki started there,” Tsunade said. 

“No, they didn’t start there. I don’t know where they started. But I do know it wasn’t there. All of the kages will be needed for this,” I said. “Did you make lots of underground facilities?” 

“We made lots of tunnels leading outside of the city,” Tsunade said. “We have drills sporadically to make sure people know how to use them.”

“Good. I’d prefer we don’t need them. But I’m glad we have them just in case,” I admitted. “Anything else you need?” I asked. 

Her eyes widened as she grew angrier. “I need a hell of a lot more than this. I risked a lot following what you said Weston. All with very little proof,” she said. “I need to know what you know.”

“Like what? Tsunade I really don’t know what I could tell you that would make you feel better. We are going to have a busy few weeks. Akatsuki will be right at the center of it all. Akatsuki and Naruto.”

“Why Naruto?” She asked. “Why don’t we just lock him away and then Akatsuki can’t get him.”

“Because we couldn’t lock him away far enough to keep them out of their hands,” I said. “Naruto is special. You know that. Not only his lineage. But also his attitude. He wants to be the Hokage. I believe he can do it.”

“And what about you? What do you want?” She asked. I hesitated. “Do you want to become Hokage? You could be playing a long game here. Keeping yourself at the center.”

“Become Hokage…? Fuck that,” I said meaning every word. “Look at your desk. It’s littered in papers. You know my mission. I played the Mizukage’s assistant for months. Her desk looked barely better than yours. I wouldn’t wish this job on my worst enemy. No, I will be a retired ninja after this war is over. Spend the rest of my days with a girl on each arm. Let you and Naruto handle all of this crap.”

Tsunade actually cracked a smile. “Fine. So you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”

“I’m doing it. Because I can change it,” I said. “I can limit the damage. Do you know what happens to a Jinchuriki when you take the tailed beast out? They die. I want to save them. Save them from dying. Keep them in one place and make the enemy come to us with every single ninja on the planet to fight the army of Akatsuki. We fight the war that is coming on our terms. Not theirs.”

Tsunade studied me for a while. Then letting out a sigh she said, “Call team 7 and Temari here.” Her assistant nodded and walked out. 

“Temari is here?” I asked. A little nervous. 

“Yes. The Chunin exam was coming up. She was working with Shikamaru on planning it,” she said. 

“Right…” I said slowly. Growing a little angry Shikamaru had 2 and a half years with her while I was off…seducing a kage. I wondered if the sand ninja girl remembered me. We had only had a little bit of fun. That was years ago. 

Tsunade asked some clarifying questions but as the 3 people walked in I moved to the side of her desk. On the opposite side of her assistant, Shizune. 

“Kakashi, Sakura, Temari,” Tsunade said. “We have received information that the Kazekage may be attacked soon.”

“What?!” Temari asked. Gaara was her brother. Of course she was worried. 

“I don’t think it will happen for a few days,” I said. “We should have enough time to get there and lay a trap for the people attacking.”

“And you are?” Temari asked, eyeing me. 

“Temari, darling,” I said, putting on a hurt look. “How could you forget our time together in the Chunin exam?” Her eyes widened as she studied me again. “I beat up your brothers and everything.”

“Weston?!” Sakura yelled as she stared at me wide eyed as well. 

“Jeez, calm it down with the yelling. Hokage, she’s your apprentice. How did you not beat the yelling out of her?”

“I don’t know,” Tsunade said. “I was quite surprised by your looks as well.”

“You played it off well,” I said. “So I know Naruto’s not here. But we have a short window to go and save your brother. I think we should head out at first light.”

“First light?” Tsunade asked angrily. “Don’t you think you should head out now?”

“What?” I asked, seeing my own mistake. “But I uh just got back to town. I need a reunion. And to say hi to people and-“

“You’ll have plenty of time for that after you come back. This was your plan Weston. You said that timing was important,” Tsunade said. She appeared to be enjoying the saddening look on my face. 

I sighed. “Okay. Let me at least…change clothes…and replenish ninja stuff. Yeah, that’s it. Um, 2 hours. Meet at the South Gate?” 

“We need a little more information than this,” Kakashi said. 

“I’ll uh catch you guys up on the way,” I said. “Just meet me at the South Gate in 2 hours.” I looked behind me and opened the Hokages back window. I didn’t hesitate to jump out. I needed to empty my balls badly. Reina, Hina, and Shinju wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t.