How we choose to live (english version)

Ryuna (Clone 1):

Kaito, seated at his desk in the office, was working on a report about the completion of the buildings that would house the former Root agents. They would still remain in an area Ryuna had purchased with her own money—not exactly within the Clan Complex, but adjacent to it—along with the new school, craft workshops, the teaching hospital, and the new orphanage where children from all smaller orphanages across the Land of Fire had been relocated for their safety. Considering that this was Danzo's preferred hunting ground, Ryuna worried about the possibility of others doing the same—not now, perhaps, but in the future.

As Kaito spoke, all she could think about was what had happened during her panic attack. About how, perhaps for the first time, Ryuna had asked for help with something truly important, but he hadn’t really helped—not in the way she needed.

Then go and do what needs to be done. Defend our home.

You’re not strong like Minato-nii; you’re strong like a dragon. Show them why they should fear us.

He had pushed her even further in a situation where Ryuna was already crumbling under everyone’s pressure and expectations. Obito was the one who had offered support, who had seen how she felt and actually cared.

Kaito was like the sea, she remembered her father's words. The sea doesn’t stop its waves just because people aren’t ready to be struck; it doesn’t slow its currents just because they might destroy a ship. The sea is relentless, and you either adapt or drown.

Both Kaito and Ryuna were reflections of being raised in the midst of war, but each had grown differently.

Kaito, for instance, once his mind was set on something, couldn’t be swayed from that goal. He would keep moving forward, even if it killed him or those around him. This trait was useful among high-ranking shinobi, who believed missions were above all else—a valuable asset in the field but a burden in personal life.

Ryuna, on the other hand, often found herself in situations where her decisions could mean the survival or death of her comrades. Her father had cultivated an extremely analytical mind in her. If you’re an eight-year-old child making choices that could get those around you killed if you’re wrong, you learn not to feel. Panic doesn’t help; neither do fear or insecurity. None of that helps. Emotions distort facts, and distorted facts lead to ineffective strategies. Even if you have a good strategy, letting emotions take over is a recipe for failure.

Ryuna learned not to feel.

Not entirely, not like the Root agents. She understood emotions—she needed to, in order to predict what the people around her might do next and act accordingly. Anticipating others was what kept Ryuna alive and her family safe. But being able to understand emotions and being able to handle them when they happened to her were two completely different things.

Suppressing emotions had consequences, such as a certain insensitivity to how her words might affect others. It was also difficult for her to maintain casual conversations with people. She could listen to Anko’s gossip all day, but if someone asked her to contribute, she often didn’t know what to say. Ryuna hated that feeling of inadequacy, so she buried herself in work, where her way of speaking was efficient rather than awkward.

"Iruka’s been studying the seals you put on the building’s beams, doors, and walls," Kaito continued, unaware of his sister’s reflections. He spoke of Iruka’s curiosity with humor and even affection for the boy, who had been adopted into the Takeshi clan the day before. "He’s absolutely enamored with your seals, Ryu."

"Considering his talent for fuinjutsu, I’d say the feeling is mutual," she scoffed. "Are you helping Iruka, Yugao, and Hayate with their ninjutsu?"

Ryuna was never particularly skilled with ninjutsu beyond medical ninjutsu. She could manage the basics from the Academy, but anything more advanced required more focus than she could afford in battle. Ironically, iryo-ninjutsu, seen as one of the hardest techniques, came naturally to her because she often healed herself and her brother during training sessions with their sensei.

She already taught kenjutsu—though she had recruited their grandfather to help cover the basics—and some fuinjutsu to her students. Hiruzen had likely assigned these three to her because two wanted to learn swordsmanship and the other was interested in seals, but she wasn’t training one-trick ponies. Even if her best skills made her suited to teach these specialties, it wasn’t enough to create well-rounded shinobi. Ryuna was acutely aware of her own shortcomings and had spent years of her youth overcoming them just to survive and avoid watching people she cared about die in front of her.

Again.

Jack of all trades, master of none. Better than being a master of one.

Limiting her students’ learning to Ryuna’s own limitations was an excellent way to get them killed, and she knew it. So she recruited others proficient in areas she didn’t excel in to teach her trio. One way or another, they would learn.

"Yes, yes," Kaito confirmed. "But the kids need to learn discipline, to respect hierarchy. Give them a good sparring beatdown or something."

Yes, that was an issue. Yugao and Hayate hadn’t liked Ryuna being chosen as their sensei; they felt belittled. Ryuna was young, a woman, and not particularly famous for anything besides being a jack-of-all-trades who civilians occasionally approached for legal advice or other problems. Before becoming Hokage, no one outside Konoha knew her as more than "one of Orochimaru the Sannin’s students." Neither genin considered her fit to be their sensei.

"I’ll think of something," she agreed, already wondering how she would teach them proper respect.

"And the kids?" When Ryu raised an eyebrow at her brother, he clarified, "Karin, Naruto, Isobu, Garu, and Kurama. They’re already four years old—it’s time to start basic training. They’re older than we were when we started. Maybe Shukako could learn too, even though he’s younger. I don’t think he’d want to be left behind."

Ryuna remembered how their father had invented a game to play with her whenever he was home. Kaito sometimes joined in, but he was more hyperactive and would get bored, running off to play with friends. Ryuna, however, wanted her father to look at her, to feel proud and pay attention.

The game was a simulation: he’d present a scenario and a problem to be solved, and she had to come up with a solution. The more creative, the better.

Ryuna remembered how she started obsessively studying the Clan Library to prepare for these games. She also remembered how pleased her father looked when she came up with an unexpected solution, and how happy she felt when he praised her. How it conditioned her, over the years, to always try to solve the problems in front of her.

After becoming Hokage, Ryuna studied many old mission reports, some of Takeshi Shin’s among them. While reading, she realized that some of her father’s plans were, at least in part, strategies Ryuna had created to impress him. He had been using her, presenting real mission scenarios for which he’d later be deployed. Perhaps he could have created his own plan—after all, Shin wasn’t an idiot—but he wanted to test Ryuna’s ideas in practice and was willing to risk the mission to do so.

Ryuna was torn between feeling deceived in her attempts to earn the approval of her often-absent father and a slight admiration for his pragmatism. His methods might have been manipulative, but Ryuna had only survived this long thanks to what he taught her.

Now she faced the dilemma of figuring out how to teach her own children.

Should she follow her father’s example and teach them practical skills through seemingly innocent games? What bothered her most, Ryuna realized, was that her father had lied to her. Lied by omission, perhaps, but he had never told her those scenarios were real—that the people she suggested should be killed were real people, not characters in a simulation.

She closed her eyes and forced her feelings down. Now was not a good time to deal with them.

It was never a good time.

"I’ll think of something," Ryuna assured him. "Is Hahaue watching them?"

"What do you think?" Kai scoffed. "You know how she is with pups."

Kurama:

4 years earlier:

The interdimensional space where Kurama and Isobu were confined was vast and peculiar. There was no sky—not exactly. Instead, there was a ceiling devoid of clouds, wind, or sun, yet it seemed to emit a natural light and stretched into infinity, oscillating between shades of amber and gray. The ground appeared to be split into two: a motionless ocean, shining like a lake, and flatlands as far as the eye could see. Though expansive, it was a place Kurama could traverse in just 10 minutes of running.

Despite being larger than the cramped cells Kurama was used to, the space was still a prison, and resentment burned in his heart. The humiliating way he had been kept over the past decades...

Kurama paced in circles, his paws crushing the ground. He hated the silence as much as the company.

"This is ridiculous," he grumbled for the thousandth time, glaring at Isobu, who lay curled near the edge of the space. "I should be in that damned village, full of worms, crushing them all, not... here!"

Isobu lazily opened one eye but didn’t reply. Kurama's presence always put him on edge, even though he knew Kurama wouldn’t do more than talk. It was an animal instinct to stay guarded in the presence of a predator. Still, it was nice to have someone to bicker with.

"Are you going to keep pretending to sleep?" Kurama growled, his tone dripping with mockery. "You're as useful as a rock, Isobu."

Isobu let out an audible sigh, raising his enormous head.

"Keep walking in circles like an idiot," Isobu said lazily. "Maybe you’ll dig a hole in the ground and get us out of here."

Kurama shot him a glare that could incinerate a forest.

"And what do you suggest? Sit and accept this?"

Isobu narrowed his eyes, and Kurama stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anger. The fox was looking for a way to vent his frustrations.

"Do you want to test your luck, little brother?"

Isobu didn’t back down, but his voice remained calm.

"Go ahead. Maybe I’ll finally find peace if you tire yourself out and stop complaining."

They stared at each other for a long moment. To a human, the fight that followed would have seemed apocalyptic, but to them, it was a typical sibling spat. Bijuu Bombs were hurled effortlessly, but it ended as easily as it began.

Over time, however, their arguments waned. Trapped together, they fell into a silent routine. Sometimes, Kurama would growl sarcastic remarks about the humans who had sealed them; other times, Isobu would make subtle observations about the vastness of their space, studying their new prison and the freedoms and comforts it offered. Though different, there was something comforting in not being alone, having only their jailers for company.

Then the monotony was broken.

A small figure suddenly appeared at the center of the space. A human stood there, as out of place as she was fragile in this realm of giants.

Kurama was the first to move, his massive paws thudding against the energy-infused ground as he approached the girl, his ember-like eyes fixed on her, teeth bared.

"What’s this? Another despicable human come to play master?"

The girl stepped back, stumbling momentarily, but didn’t flee. Her eyes stayed on Kurama, then shifted to Isobu, who approached cautiously but less threateningly. Neither knew what to expect from this unusual situation.

"I... I’m here to talk!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling. "I... I’m just a Shadow Clone. This body will dissipate if you attack!"

Kurama scoffed, his tail slamming against the ground with force. He could destroy her easily, but all the time spent here had yielded no solution to escaping this cell. As comfortable as it was compared to previous seals, it was still not freedom. Maybe he could find a way out with this human foolish enough to enter.

"What do you want here?" Kurama growled thunderously. "What do you want from us?"

Isobu raised one of his tails as if to request patience.

"Kurama, stop." It wasn’t as though Isobu had less hatred for humans than Kurama did. His younger brother simply preferred to know exactly who he was antagonizing before resorting to violence. He was much calmer than Kurama had ever been, though just as lethal when given the chance. "Let’s hear what the human has to say."

The girl watched their exchange with curiosity, and Kurama wanted to attack her just to make her stop staring. He hated how humans looked at him as if he were an animal to be understood and caged—a chakra battery to be used without consideration.

"What do you want, human?" Kurama asked begrudgingly.

"First of all, my name is Takeshi Ryuna. It’s an honor to meet you both, Kyuubi-sama and Sanbi-sama," the girl said, bowing, exposing the back of her neck in a gesture animals associated with submission but Kurama recognized among humans as a sign of respect and trust. It felt strange to be the target of such an action. "Getting straight to the point, as I’m sure you both prefer, I’d like to negotiate the terms of your freedom."

What?

"If there’s a name or form of address you prefer, please let me know," she added as if it were an afterthought. "Agreements, whenever possible, should be made with a degree of mutual respect between the parties involved."

Both Kurama and Isobu froze, their minds unable to process anything beyond the absurdity of the situation. Freedom, a notion they had pursued for so long, had become so abstract in their minds. Running through forests, with their biggest concern being keeping humans out of their territory, now existed only in dreams.

Kurama growled. It was too good to be true.

"What terms would these be?" Isobu asked, equally skeptical of the proposal.

The girl took a deep breath before speaking. Kurama could sense her nervousness and even a little fear, but not nearly as much as most humans would feel in their presence. According to what he remembered from his previous jailer, the Shadow Clone was a technique that created a chakra duplicate, tangible but easily destroyed with a strong enough blow, sending the memories of the clone back to the original body.

Ryuna wasn’t at risk of dying here, but fear was instinctive. Just because you knew you wouldn’t die didn’t mean your instincts stopped screaming at you to run. Kurama’s desire to end her miserable existence wasn’t diminished simply because this wasn’t her real body.

"My proposal is to set you free, on the condition that you live in Konoha for the next 12 years," she explained. "You would live freely during this period. Free and under my care."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. The mere idea of living among the humans who had imprisoned him for decades nauseated him. They were the same people who only felt hate, hate, hate, and made his head ache.

The memories of his time in the previous seal almost made him flinch, recalling the stone to which he was bound like an insect pinned for amusement. Chakra chains made every tiny movement impossibly uncomfortable. His own chakra was stolen by his jailer, used as if she had the damned right to possess it!

"Do you think we need your protection, human?" he roared, outraged. "I will devour every weak worm that tries to attack me! I will tear their flesh and ensure their deaths are slow."

Isobu stepped forward, carefully placing himself between Kurama and the human, his deep voice strangely calming.

"Ryuna-san," his brother said, addressing her far more respectfully than either of them had addressed a human in a long time. "What other limitations would be imposed on us, besides the time spent under your care?"

"You believe her?!" Kurama asked, incredulous.

"Has any other human bothered to talk to us before imposing their will on us?" Isobu shot back with a piercing look before turning his attention back to the human. "What happens if we refuse?"

Ryuna hesitated, her brow furrowing slightly in thought, but she still hadn’t lied. Kurama felt reasonably confident in his ability to sense people’s emotions through their chakra to know that.

"If you refuse... things will remain as they are now," she finally replied, surprisingly honest, with no hint of apology in her voice—just a statement of facts. "I can try to improve this place over time, maybe add some plants and animals, but you would remain trapped here."

Ryuna looked at the two Tailed Beasts expectantly, awaiting their verdict. Despite the fear and nervousness Kurama could feel buried within the girl, she was also determined.

"What do the other humans think of this?" Isobu asked.

Once again, Ryuna hesitated before answering. Her nervousness increased considerably, making Kurama even more curious.

"The other humans don’t know," she eventually answered. "No one else would know you’re free."

"Why do you want to free us?" Kurama asked, voicing what had bothered him since the beginning of this conversation. The one thing that made no sense. "What do you gain from this bargain?"

Ryuna’s shoulders slumped, and so many emotions swirled within her: guilt, fear, nervousness, anger, and helplessness. Despite this, her expression showed only a slight twitch. It was strange to be so aware of her many feelings without them showing outwardly.

"Kyuubi-sama, I don’t know if you’re aware, but your current Jinchuuriki is a newborn baby," she said. "A baby I’m responsible for. I don’t know if you’re aware of how few ninja survive as Jinchuuriki long enough to reach adulthood, but it’s rare enough that Konoha only has one at any given time."

Kurama vaguely remembered a human pup crying and how his jailers kept themselves between him and the child. His memories were cloudy, both from the rage that consumed him and the red eyes with tomoes that dominated his mind. That small child was his new Jinchuuriki? A child who had barely lived, trapped in him. From what Ryuna said, she saw the child as a victim too, but then how did she...

— How are you going to free me without killing your pup? — Kurama asked, curious.

— I created this seal, and I can modify it — she said, decisively.

— If the Jinchuuriki could be separated from their Bijuu, it would have already been done — Kurama said. He may not be an expert, but you don't spend so much time trapped in a Master of Fuinjutsu without learning a thing or two, even as isolated from the outside world as he was — My previous jailer would have liked to get rid of me.

— The Ninja Villages where you and your brothers are trapped wouldn't have allowed this kind of knowledge. They don't even allow these things to be studied because no one wants to be a Jinchuuriki — she replied — People are turned into this against their will and forced to live with the burden of being a human prison and to fight for their survival because they know others wouldn't hesitate to kill them to get what they carry, because the alternative is death. No Master of Fuinjutsu has ever really tried to separate the two and save the Jinchuuriki. You, as weapons, are considered more valuable than a single human life.

Her anger flared as she spoke, and the only outward sign was her clenched fists and her harsh voice. An indignant rage so similar to what Kurama felt for humans that it intrigued him.

I created this seal, and I can modify it, she said.

— And if after 12 years have passed, we decide to destroy your Village? — Kurama poked, curious to hear the answer.

— If after all this time I haven't managed to make you rethink that decision, then maybe humans deserve to die — she said, fear and guilt filling her human body.

— And what about me, why will you free me? — Isobu asked. Yes, if Kurama would be freed because of who his Jinchuuriki was, then what would happen to his brother?

— As I said, Naruto is a baby, I can't test this... well, this ritual, for lack of a better word, on him — she huffed with an eye roll — Your Jinchuuriki is older and has a better chance of surviving if something goes wrong.

— You're going to use me as a guinea pig — Isobu clarified.

— Someone has to be the first — she shrugged. Surprisingly, Ryuna was calmer now that all the explanations had been given — What do you say? Do you agree to the terms?

Both brothers exchanged a meaningful look. Maybe it was all a lie, but the chance that it was true...

— Hey, human — he called — My name is Kurama, and you'd better be warned that if you betray me, I’ll kill you and every human I find, and it will all be your fault.

Ryuna had a spike of fear and nervousness, but her expression didn’t change.

— Well, my name is Isobu.

***

Currently:

The sun had not yet fully risen, and the small home Kurama had grown accustomed to over the years was far from quiet. The kitchen was already overflowing with sounds—chairs scraping, utensils clinking, and Karin's irritated voice loudly complaining about something Isobu had done, while Kurama himself chuckled in the corner at Isobu taking the blame for his mischief.

Kurama knew Isobu would seek revenge eventually, but he would enjoy the victory while it lasted. These human bodies, so weak and fragile, made their routine battles less entertaining and more painful when they had to deal with scratches and bruises.

Kurama hadn’t expected to wake up in the body of a human baby and silently cursed himself for not asking Ryuna how she planned to keep other humans from discovering that he and Isobu were free. Even the most oblivious of humans would have noticed a Tailed Beast of his stature roaming about. Turning them into flesh and bone was an unexpected solution—one Kurama had never considered before. The simple idea of needing to eat, sleep, or defecate was so far removed from his reality that it had never crossed his mind.

Ryuna's promise to care for them made much more sense when he realized how she would free them.

His strength was nowhere to be found. He could feel that his chakra was still there, somewhere out of his reach, but he could access such a minuscule portion of it that Kurama would hardly have noticed its existence if he weren’t so desperate to find it. He was as defenseless as any human cub would be.

He discovered, once he learned to speak and managed to interrogate Ryuna with Isobu's help, that their bodies couldn’t handle so much chakra, so most of it would remain sealed. If the two of them trained, they could grow their chakra coils to withstand a larger load. She assured them that no one else had access to their chakra until then.

Kurama wanted to hate her for it, he really did. But he was also so relieved to finally be free, to see the sun, feel the wind and rain, and smell the earth and wet grass. Ryuna, despite everything, had cared for Kurama and Isobu with great care the entire time they were there. When they finally managed to speak, it felt wrong to be angry at her when she was always so kind.

It was like spitting in the face of your father.

Then she brought two more babies with her: Shukako—his most annoying brother—and Garu, who he was certain was another Jinchuuriki, around Naruto’s age. Having two of his brothers near him and free, in a sense, was unprecedented. They hadn’t spent so much time near each other without trying to start a fight and splitting up again since their father died.

In the corner of the room, Haruki, the leopard, observed the chaos with her golden eyes half-closed. Still lying down, she let out a long sigh before rising with the elegance of someone used to such scenes. She walked over to the makeshift crib where Shukako, the youngest of them, was beginning to fuss out of hunger and discomfort. With an affectionate lick to his head, she calmed her brother.

Kurama didn’t judge her—after all, all of them had been on the receiving end of Haruki's feline affection, and he was sure Matatabi would never let him forget how much she enjoyed it if she found out. He’d lost count of how many nights he fell asleep to the leopard's purring.

At the kitchen table, Garu was trying to spread jelly on a slice of bread, his expression focused on the task. But his clumsy coordination caused half the jelly to end up on the counter, and Naruto diligently swiped his finger through it, licking it clean with pleasure.

“Naru, you can’t eat with your hands!” Garu exclaimed indignantly when he noticed what Naruto was doing, immediately extending a spoon. “You have to use the spoon.”

“Hm,” Naruto nodded, mimicking the mannerisms of the Uchiha with whom they spent more time than Kurama liked. But Mikoto-obasan was so nice to him and always cooked things he liked, so Kurama was willing to let it slide for now. Naruto took the spoon from Garu and began trying to scrape the fallen jelly from the table with it, failing miserably.

Watching Naruto struggle with the sweet treat, Kurama thought about how attuned the boy was to him—always sensing when he was sad, angry, or frustrated, and rushing to hug Kurama, calling him niichan. It made him wonder if their separation wasn’t as final as he had expected.

“Stop that right now,” Haruki ordered, her low, threatening voice enough to make Garu, Naruto, and Karin halt their actions. Isobu ignored Karin’s disconnected childish rant as he occupied himself with a puzzle. “Garu-kun, Naru-hun, don’t fill up on jelly before breakfast! Karin-chan, stop fighting with your brother!”

The siblings paused for a few seconds, exchanging hesitant glances. Karin looked slightly sulky, but Kurama had seen the scene often enough to know she just wanted to be doted on by okaasan for a bit. Ryuna, despite leaving a clone in the house to care for them, had many responsibilities and was always being called away to solve some problem, so Karin sought more attention by causing trouble. Garu carefully put away the jar of jelly, and Naruto scooped up the remaining sweet mess with his hand and shoved it into his mouth before Haruki could stop him. The leopard let out a warning growl, and Naruto hid his sticky hands behind his back with a fox-like mischievous grin.

Ryuna entered the room with hurried steps, her hair messy and a suspicious ink stain on her cheek—a sign she had spent the night working on some secret project. Her comfortable home clothes were dotted with colorful ink and mud, the result of the children’s many games. She was always rushing somewhere, always doing something, whether crafting new seals or cleaning the house and preparing meals for the kids.

With the arrival of new “pups,” whom Kurama discovered were orphans moving into the neighboring house, he worried that he and his brothers would be neglected. But apparently, Ryuna had decided to create a new clone to care for those children.

“Good morning, my little troublemakers,” she murmured, already picking up Shukako and kissing his forehead. She ruffled Isobu’s hair gently so as not to disrupt his game and held Karin’s hand to lead her into the kitchen.

Ryuna placed the baby in the high chair with automatic skill while warming up milk, putting Karin on the counter with Naruto and Garu, and cutting fruits for breakfast in the sink, far from the little children. She seemed to do everything without thinking, as if her body was already programmed to handle the routine.

Haruki approached, watching her with concern and sniffing the air.

"You need to rest more, Ryuna," the leopard warned. "You won’t last long like this."

Ryuna huffed, not taking her eyes off the bowl she was stirring.

"Rest? Haruki, you were here yesterday. I spent hours reviewing those papers, and when I finally managed to, Garu had that nightmare..."

Her mother didn’t show any external signs of tiredness, but she felt exhausted. Kurama could feel it, even weakened as he was, her mix of negative emotions. Anger, sadness, disappointment, betrayal, guilt, powerlessness, fear, exhaustion, and pain.

Kurama heard the commotion outside with his much more sensitive ears than a normal human’s, but he didn’t know why. He had a strong suspicion that his mother was involved in it somehow. She had taken him and his brothers to the underground shelters and left them there with Haruki while she went out to do who knows what.

Ryuna put some baby food in front of Shukako, letting the child try to eat on his own to practice. She was careful to place the spoon in the baby’s hand and help him the first time to show the example as she did at every meal. Shu always ended up eating everything with his hand anyway, so Kurama couldn’t understand the insistence.

Kurama pushed those thoughts aside as he approached Ryuna, hoping she would see him. She did almost immediately and smiled at him as if he weren’t a Tail Beast, the Nine-Tailed Fox. The murderous monster who killed Naruto's parents — they were close to Ryuna — and tried to kill his own brother, Naruto, too.

"Shukako!" Kurama called impulsively, before even realizing what he had seen. Oh, yes, Shu was about to throw food at Garu just to provoke the child into revenge. Maybe it was because Garu had been his Jinchuuriki before, but Shukako seemed to enjoy chasing the boy with pranks. Even so, Garu didn’t seem resentful, although he sometimes became suddenly tense and cautious as if he expected baby rice to be thrown at his favorite toy at any moment if he lowered his guard. This only served to confirm that Bijuus and their Jinchuurikis maintained some degree of connection — "Don’t even think about it!"

Ryuna looked at Shu, warned by Kurama’s reprimand, and went over to the youngest.

"Behave yourself, young man, or I’ll have to eat your nose," she warned, pinching Shu’s nose gently, just enough to turn the tip red and make the child cross-eyed, trying to see if his nose was still there. "Don’t waste food, that’s wrong, Shu-kun!"

Haruki was soon at Shukako’s side, making it clear she would supervise him for the rest of the meal. A poke from the leopard’s snout was enough for Shu to refocus on his food instead of his nose.

Kurama often wondered how Shukako was adapting to this new existence, but he would have to wait until his brother learned to control all those mouth muscles to articulate coherent sentences.

Ryuna turned her attention to the older children, kissing the top of each one’s head now that they were all gathered. Kurama couldn’t sense any negative feelings coming from any of his siblings, and wasn’t that bizarre? That neither Isobu nor Shukako seemed to hate this place? Isobu, he had discovered, was adapting very well to his new life; he liked to spend his days by the Naka River under Haruki’s supervision so he wouldn’t drown, regardless of his original chakra form being aquatic.

"So, little ones, how was the night?" Ryuna asked while preparing each of their plates and serving them.

"I had a weird dream," Karin answered with a pout. That explained why she seemed more clingy than usual earlier. It was strange that he was so used to these humans showing up in his room to sleep with him that he didn’t even wonder anymore why they didn’t want to sleep alone, he just made space and accepted. Karin went to his room and slept there, soon followed by Naruto, but he suspected the second one had come because of Kurama’s own dream with his old prison inside Kushina. Naruto had sensed something was wrong and went to him, not caring about what had happened, just being there. "But I don’t remember what it was."

"It’s okay, sweetie, you can always come to me when you need," Ryuna promised, picking the girl up in her arms with one hand while giving her breakfast with the other. She didn’t promise that it wouldn’t happen again or that she would solve the problem. Ryuna, he had discovered, didn’t make promises she didn’t believe she could keep.

Meanwhile, the other siblings were already fighting over the last piece of bread with jam. Garu and Naruto were too distracted to see Kurama secretly snatch the sweet while Isobu stole a whole spoonful of jam from the jar as Ryuna tried to make the two boys stop fighting, with Karin still in her arms.

This domestic life was something very easy to get used to.

Nagato:

8 years ago:

The cold wind blowing through the mountains where Uchiha Madara kept his hideout seemed to reflect the emptiness inside Nagato since Yahiko's death. He watched the clouds gather on the horizon, wrapped in the black cloak with red clouds that symbolized his new cause. Konan was a few steps behind him, silent, but her presence was an undeniable comfort.

The world for the two of them had lost its color. The smile of his friend as he died right in front of him would never leave his mind—it was a memory that would always visit him in nightmares.

"It was a shame, Nagato," Madara's hoarse voice pulled him from his thoughts. The old man emerged from the shadows of the cave, his words always tinged with a mix of understanding and sympathy. "The inability of humans to live in peace always ends up killing the idealists. I was like you and your friend in the beginning."

Nagato turned to the old man, who must have been near 100 years old by his appearance. He doubted there was anyone else that old among the ninjas.

"You speak of pain as if you understand it, Madara. I’ve heard about your story, about how you turned against your Village and tried to kill your own friend," his voice was deep, carrying bitterness in every syllable. "Don’t dare compare me to you."

Madara laughed, a dry and almost mocking sound.

"History, Nagato, is written by the victors, so of course I will be the villain in it," he snorted as if mocking himself. "I dedicated my life to peace so that my brothers could live, so they could grow, and I kept pursuing that dream even after they died because I didn’t want others to feel like I did. But Hashirama, ah, Hashirama, he was so much like your Yahiko. He dreamed of a perfect peace, where people simply chose not to fight... Tell me, Nagato, Konan, how did that work out for you? Didn’t you have to fight to protect your peace? Did your refusal to fight or kill stop Hanzo? Hashirama spoke to me about his dreams of peace, and I couldn’t help but think of our children paying the price for our naivety."

"Then you decided to kill him?" Konan narrowed her eyes.

"Of course not. Do you have any idea how strong I am?" Madara grimaced. "All the fight people say happened, it was all a big lie to make it easier to hate me. The truth is far less glamorous: Hashirama knew I trusted him despite the history between our clans, because we shared a dream. When my vision strayed from his, Hashi embraced me while talking about his peace, and then stabbed me in the back."

People, even ninjas, are always vulnerable with the ones they care about. There is trust in that relationship. For, right after the Warring States Era, for an Uchiha to allow a Senju to get that close would require a lot of trust. But it was easy for Madara to accuse Hashirama when there was no one alive to contradict him.

"I managed to escape because of the Nine-Tails, which was nearby and got angry with us for entering its territory. I took advantage of Hashirama’s distraction and used my Sharingan to make the Beast distract Hashi," Madara spoke, tired. "I later found out that he imprisoned not only the Fox, but all the Tailed Beasts and distributed them among the Five Great Shinobi Countries as a gift... A gift for peace, no less. Tell me, child, what peace did this gift bring? How long did this gift bring peace?"

Nagato and Konan had somber expressions because even if Madara was lying about how Hashirama obtained the Tailed Beast, the events that followed matched what they knew of the history. Normally, the First Hokage was praised as a hero. The God of Shinobi.

A god whose gifts brought only war and misfortune.

"Peace lasted as long as Hashirama was alive because he was too strong to be confronted," Madara explained in a dark tone. "Peace was maintained by his strength alone. The strength of a man capable of defeating Tailed Beasts and feeling safe in handing such weapons to his enemies with the assurance that, even with them, no one could defeat him."

"So, in your opinion, for there to be peace, the leader must have power that cannot be surpassed?" Konan concluded the thought, suspicious and casting a sideways glance at Nagato, hoping to discover what he thought. She did this a lot since Yahiko’s death days before, when Madara took them off the battlefield, with Nagato exhausted after his first time using the Rinnegan at its full potential.

Madara shrugged carelessly.

"Power is a means to an end," he clarified. "Fear is the answer you’re looking for. People don’t attack someone powerful for fear of what will happen to them if they do. People don’t obey the laws for any moral superiority, but out of fear of prison or execution."

"A peace fueled by fear is really peace?" Konan frowned.

"It’s better than no peace," Madara replied darkly. "I’d give anything to see my brothers grow, if someone had offered me that peace when one of them was still alive? I would have grabbed it without thinking twice to save even a single one of my brothers."

How many people hadn’t lost entire families in other nations' wars? They weren’t even involved in the conflict, but had the misfortune of living between titans who wanted to crush each other. How many people hadn’t starved because the battles destroyed their livelihoods?

"If people understood the pain we feel when they destroy everything we have, when they kill all our loved ones..." Nagato spoke softly and resigned. "If they understood that, there would be no more wars. No one would want to feel that."

"Of course not," Madara laughed humorlessly. "They’re ninjas, for them, there is no problem in the world that can’t be solved with brute force and a damn jutsu! Most have never encountered a force so great that it couldn’t be overcome no matter how hard they tried, no matter how much they kept their determination."

Nagato didn’t respond. He knew there was truth in Madara’s words, but every step on this path seemed to take him further away from what Yahiko dreamed. Konan, by his side, narrowed her eyes, but didn’t speak. Her loyalty to Nagato was greater than her distrust of Madara.

"What do you hope to achieve with all of this?" Konan broke the silence, her voice calm like a sharp blade.

Madara raised an eyebrow, surprised by the question.

"Peace," was his simple answer. "The only peace that ninjas can accept."

"Why are you telling us this?" Nagato decided to ask. They had been in this cave for a few days, and it still hadn’t become clear.

"I’m old, in case you hadn’t noticed," Madara spoke mockingly as he pointed to his own body. "I can’t do much on my own, but I can pass my will forward. I can’t let my dream for peace die with me. I can’t let all my efforts to make peace with the clan that killed my brothers, my whole family, be in vain. I dedicated my whole life to this!"

Nagato stood there, looking at the old man the world had painted as a great villain who was against peace, and all he could think about was that Yahiko died for peace because they were the only ones who believed in it. Those in power, those from the Great Nations, wouldn’t give up their position of power, living in the belief that they could defeat any opponent who stood against them. So why take the risk of lowering their weapons and asking for peace? It only took one person breaking the agreement for everything to crumble again and return to square one.

"Now you understand," Madara’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. "I will continue your training, Nagato. The power of the Rinnegan is still immature in your hands, but soon it will be a weapon to shape the world."

"What do you know about the Rinnegan?"

"Oh, kid, I know everything there is to know," Madara spoke mockingly. "If you have these eyes, it must be because you have some Uchiha blood somewhere in you, after all, the Rinnegan is a variation of the Sharingan. Don’t take my word for it, you’ll be able to prove my words during our training. If I can help you, I hope you’ll believe me."

This made sense, thought Nagato, there was nothing to lose in this deal. He nodded.

Zetsu emerged from the ground, his plant-like figure split in two, white and black. A disturbing little creature that always appeared without warning at the most unexpected times. He also had a strange sense of humor, but considering that Madara called him his Will personified, he wouldn’t argue with a delirious old man.

"I will help you on your path, Nagato," Zetsu’s voice was almost a whisper, a promise. "That’s what I exist for, for peace."

Nagato stepped away, his eyes fixed on the horizon. The weight of what lay ahead seemed overwhelming, but at the same time, it was inevitable. Yahiko always wanted to change the world. Maybe it was possible, even if pain was the price to be paid.

"Yahiko believed in a better world. I can’t disappoint him." He murmured, more to himself than to the others.

"You are not alone, Nagato" Konan stepped forward, placing a hand on Nagato's shoulder. Deep down, Nagato realized, Konan didn't truly agree with what Madara said, but she didn't have a good enough argument to refute his ideas either. He would trust that if she discovered anything, she would warn him as soon as possible. — "Let's pursue this dream together."

For a moment, the ghost of Yahiko's smile seemed to form in Nagato's mind. He closed his eyes, letting the memory warm his heart. He would make sure the world honored his friend through the peace that was to come.

When he opened his eyes again, they were determined.

"Let's move forward. If Pain is the way, then we will make it our ally."

***

Pain:

Currently

TRIGGER WARNING!!!!

With Konan in Ame along with Nagato and Pain Gakido, who could absorb chakra from anyone he touched. They should be enough to ensure the safety of Ame now that Madara-sensei was dead. They were more than enough.

Meanwhile, Pain Deva (who could control gravity) led Pain Asura (the taijutsu expert) to recruit a famous shinobi from the underworld to join their new Akatsuki, while the others went after someone else who could also be useful for their plans. Someone whose ideals might align with Pain's.

The Shinigami became famous for killing powerful criminals and those too corrupt to be punished by the laws of men. Many also called him Karma, for sooner or later, he would come for you with divine justice.

It took a few days before they found a trail, but when you're as powerful as Pain, finding answers isn't a matter of if, but when. Shinigami was a hard person to find, though it seemed like he never stopped to eat or sleep or buy clothes and weapons. He was only seen while hunting his next victim. So, instead of trying to find Shinigami, Pain searched for those who fit the profile of his targets and had Konan leave pieces of paper in each town or village, just waiting for any sign of the rogue ninja hunting his next prey.

And then they found him.

Pain watched with interest as Shinigami shoved a blade into the anus of a merchant who, according to what Pain discovered, paid starving families sacks of rice for the dubious pleasure of deflowering their youngest daughters. The younger, the more he paid; the record was a 3-year-old child who didn’t survive the experience. The fact that he also had a monopoly on rice in the region meant that all he needed to do to leave poorer families desperate was raise import prices.

Shinigami began to fuck him with the blade.

— "What's the matter, dear?" — the rogue ninja spoke with that artificial voice coming from the skull mask that no doubt was the source of his nickname — "Don't like it? Maybe I should try harder?"

— "P-please, please!" — he begged through tears — "I-I'll do whatever you w-want! D-don't kill me!"

Shinigami tilted his head, considering.

— "Alright, but with one condition" — Shinigami asked, the voice sounding strange with the hiss of the mask. Demonic — "Make me believe you're enjoying it."

— "W-what?" — Pain was in the perfect position to watch the merchant's horrified expression.

— "Make me believe you're enjoying our little game, and I'll let you live" — Shinigami said — "I give you my word."

The merchant sobbed a little before gathering courage and starting to moan in a pathetic imitation of a prostitute. How many times, Pain wondered, do women have to fake enjoying the abuse they suffer for the sake of survival? How interesting it was to see the tables turn.

— "Is this the best you can do? Come on, Tanaka-san, try harder" — Shinigami said with pity in his voice as he continued to torture the man — "Make me believe."

A slight shift in position showed Pain that the merchant’s penis had been amputated and cauterized to prevent bleeding, but the pain must still have been intense. How was Shinigami keeping him conscious?

Tanaka began to beg.

— "P-please, c-continue... It-it's g-good..." — he screamed with pain evident in his voice, tears and snot all over his face — "D-don't stop!"

Shinigami stopped the torture, and that seemed to fill the merchant with hope. The rogue ninja removed the blade from his intestines and brought his mask to the man's ear.

— "I don't believe you" — Shinigami whispered in his ear before slashing the blade across his stomach, allowing his intestines to fall to the ground, but the merchant didn’t die from it. No, this would be a slow and painful death.

Pain watched as Shinigami used the merchant’s intestines to tie him to the bed like the man used to bind his young lovers. Tanaka had a ritual whenever he bought a child's virtue, and Shinigami was meticulous in carrying it out, even dressing the man in an expensive silk nightgown that was now soaked with blood.

This was someone who understood Pain.

END OF TRIGGER

"Shinigami" Pain’s voice broke the silence of Tanaka's property garden after Shinigami finished "I come not as an enemy, but as an admirer of your work."

The rogue ninja stopped, tilting his head slightly, like a predator studying its prey. His masked voice reverberated:

"And what do you want from me?"

"I am Pain, and I am creating a world of peace. The true peace, the only one that can truly be achieved" Pain said with conviction "I want you to join your strength with mine. Together, we can end the corruption that you fight alone now. We can save this world."

Shinigami laughed, a dry and hollow sound.

"Seems like I need your help?" Shinigami mocked "I won’t change my ambitions to fit your political pretensions, Pain-kun."

"Politics? No, I will achieve peace by crushing anyone who opposes it" Pain clarified "Besides, speak to me with the proper respect."

"Since when does Shinigami owe respect to men?"

"If you are the true Shinigami, then I am God" Pain said "The God of True Peace. The God of Pain, and you will bow to me."

Without warning, Shinigami charged, moving like a shadow blurred in the rain. The katana flashed for a moment before cutting through the air toward Deva's body, the only Pain revealed to the rogue ninja. He reacted quickly, dodging with a fluid sideways step, but the blow passed through Shinigami's body as if he were made of mist.

Intangibility... how interesting. He could understand how the rumors about this rogue ninja started.

Pain Asura fired a salvo of missiles from his extended arm from where he was among the trees, but they vanished inside Shinigami before reappearing with their trajectory completely altered, heading directly toward Pain Deva a second later. The katana descended right after, attempting to cut Asura’s mechanical arm, but Pain Deva used Shinra Tensei to push the attack away with a powerful repulsive force. A force that also repelled the missile toward Shinigami.

Shinigami hit the trees behind him and fell to the ground but quickly got up, showing no sign of pain or imbalance. If it weren’t for the several trees and remnants of Tanaka’s luxurious garden scattered around them, it would have been as if the attack had never happened.

"He's not just letting the attacks pass through, but absorbing them?" Nagato murmured, analyzing the enemy's combat pattern "This doesn’t work on everything, though. The apparent lack of damage is the problem."

Shinigami quickly turned, distracting Deva, and delivered a direct blow to Pain Asura, who launched his own hand in a long-distance attack. But his opponent didn’t even bother dodging, letting Pain’s hand be absorbed into his body.

Again. Pain wished he had more time to understand this jutsu.

"Why are you attacking me?" he asked, genuinely confused "Don’t you desire peace?"

Pain raised his hand, activating Shinra Tensei again. The wave of devastating force scattered rain and mud, knocking down trees and shattering rocks around. Shinigami was thrown back, colliding with a stone wall this time. Couldn’t the rogue ninja absorb things too large?

But the rogue ninja simply got up again, unharmed. He charged again, this time spinning at high speed, his katana whirling in a deadly arc.

Deva used Pain Asura to intercept, shooting blades through his stomach and other parts of his body in response. One of them nearly hit Shinigami when he took too long to react, but the rogue ninja jumped out of the way, indicating that he wasn’t completely invulnerable.

He then jumped in an instant, trying to pierce Yahiko directly in the chest with a footwork worthy of a samurai.

"I understand your trick now." Yahiko’s voice sounded calm. Pain activated Chibaku Tensei, raising a gravity sphere that began to attract fragments of the surrounding terrain, trying to trap Shinigami in a stone cocoon.

Shinigami jumped, allowing himself to be carried toward the gravity sphere and then... absorbing the technique.

The two adversaries stared at each other from a distance, Shinigami’s breath as calm as Pain's. The masked rogue ninja still showed not a single inch of skin, but that wasn’t the most eccentric thing Pain had ever seen in ninjas, so it was easy to ignore. Pain remained still, his Rinnegan eyes observing every detail.

"You are not an ordinary opponent, Shinigami. Your abilities are formidable, but this fight serves no purpose."

"And your purpose is to save the world by force?" Shinigami slowly lowered his katana, but without losing his defensive posture "You fight like someone who believes in that. Someone who truly believes they are invincible. A god, you called yourself."

"Because I believe. Not because I wish to take this position, but because people fear the wrath of God, I will take this name and use it to achieve my peace" Pain stepped forward, his voice thick with conviction. "Only through pain can people understand the true value of peace. Only through pain can they understand the suffering they cause each other when they fight against peace. Your moral code is similar to mine. Join me, and we will ensure that those who cause pain feel it as well."

There was a long silence before Shinigami sheathed his katana.

"Very well, Pain-san. I will consider your methods, but I will not let my guard down." Shinigami conceded. "If you disappoint me, this alliance will end as quickly as it began."

Pain nodded. He could abide by these terms.

"So you are now part of Akatsuki. Prepare to fight for something greater than any of us."

Jiraiya:

Jiraiya was hidden in the shadows of a tree, still in disbelief at the scene he had witnessed. He watched, unsure of what to do, the tense interaction between Pain and the nukenin known as Shinigami. Ever since he started following the mysterious assassin, Jiraiya had hoped to uncover something surprising, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

The leader of the Akatsuki, the man named Pain, was not just familiar. He was Yahiko, the boy Jiraiya had trained many years ago.

Realizing this, Jiraiya’s heart nearly stopped. The shock hit him like a punch from Tsunade right in the stomach. Yahiko... alive? How?

He clenched his fist against the trunk of the tree, trying to suppress the flood of emotions threatening to spill over. Memories of his days in Ame came rushing back: Yahiko’s confident smile, his words about wanting to bring peace to a world torn apart by war, his determination to protect Nagato and Konan. The loyalty of the two friends to the dreamer.

But the Yahiko before him was different. His face was pale and expressionless, his presence carried a cruelty that didn’t fit with the idealistic boy Jiraiya had known. He was cold, calculating.

When Shinigami finally sheathed his katana and agreed to join the Akatsuki, Pain showed no emotion. He simply nodded, his gaze distant and impenetrable. As the group began to disperse, Jiraiya carefully withdrew to a safe spot, unable to contain the whirlwind of thoughts.

In his makeshift shelter, Jiraiya finally allowed himself to breathe deeply. He removed the hat that had hidden his overly conspicuous hair in the dark of night and sat down, leaning against the cold wall.

Yahiko is alive, but so changed... Are Konan and Nagato still alive?

He closed his eyes, letting the memories of the past surround him. He remembered how he found three hungry and desperate children during the war, how Nagato, with his Rinnegan, had shocked him. The three had been so loyal to each other, and Jiraiya had trusted that they would be fine as long as they stayed together; they would balance each other out.

When Jiraiya learned of the deaths of the three at the hands of Hanzo, he blamed himself for not staying in Ame, for not protecting his students. The loss weighed as heavily as that of Minato, the only disciple he had felt truly understood his heart. Now, discovering that at least Yahiko was alive brought an unexpected joy, but it was soon followed by a painful ache. At least one of his students was still breathing.

The idea of reporting Yahiko to Konoha made Jiraiya feel nauseous. He knew that, if he did, Yahiko would become a target. The Akatsuki had been born as a peaceful organization years before, but it was obvious it was now following a different path.

Jiraiya needed to know more before taking action. The boy he had trained couldn’t be completely lost.

"What happened to you, Yahiko?" he murmured to himself.

Jiraiya opened his eyes, staring at the dirt floor. He knew he needed to return to Konoha and report what he had discovered about Shinigami. But as for Yahiko... he couldn’t make a decision yet.

The Sannin ran his hand through his wet hair, sighing. He remembered the promise he had made to himself to protect his students, to guide them toward a better future. Maybe one of them was the child from the prophecy the Toads spoke so much about. Even if Yahiko had changed, Jiraiya needed to believe there was still a chance to bring him back.

"I’ll find you again, Yahiko." He stood up, putting his hat back on. "And if Nagato and Konan are alive... I’ll save them too."

Tsunade:

The School Hospital was shrouded in a tense silence. Outside, people continued with their lives, ignorant, gossiping about the latest events. Inside, however, the atmosphere was oppressively calm, interrupted only by the hum of medical equipment.

Shizune had gone out to find out what had happened and returned with disturbing reports. Learning that there were two Jinchuriki being held hostage by the girl in a coma on the hospital bed wasn't the craziest thing she had heard. Finding out how her clones fought was very different when you heard the details of a 14-year-old girl capable of defeating an entire army.

If the damage caused to the clones was transferred to the original body, then she shouldn't have survived so long. Except it was reported that many attacks were completely absorbed, which led Tsunade to think of all those extra chakra networks that shouldn't exist. Maybe some kekkei-genkai? Tsunade didn't recall any kekkei-genkai from the Takeshi clan, but maybe something had passed through a clan marriage. This was common in Uzushio, where different members of the Uzumaki clan could inherit one, several, or none.

The most likely explanation was that it was some sort of seal, judging by how the girl used seals to heal. The bastard version of the Yin Seal was as much an abomination as it was a work of art.

Tsunade worked with calm practice, her hands surrounded by the glow of medical chakra as she studied the strange healing methods of the unconscious Hokage. Beside her, Orochimaru observed, his expression as enigmatic as it was irritating. He had discovered his student while watching her fight, because apparently, someone who fought against her so many times in sparring could identify a clone from a distance. Even so, Oro was surprised to learn the cost of the technique and finally understood why Ryuna didn't use it during training against her sensei.

This was a suicidal technique.

" I noticed she was healing through autophagy, consuming fat to replace the damaged organic tissue," Tsunade said, without even looking at him, pointing to a spot on the side of Ryuna's body where her ribs were visible due to the lack of fat. She looked like a severely malnourished prisoner.

Orochimaru watched without expression; he didn't seem surprised by the healing methods his student used.

" Fascinating, isn't it?" he murmured, his voice low and insidious. " How far is someone willing to go to not lose?"

" It's not fascinating, it's stupid," Tsunade retorted, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the inside of the body.

It made sense that the fat was used because it was a different organic material, but it was broken down and integrated into the body. Breaking its molecules again was easier than recycling the organs themselves. If the lung, for example, was damaged, it was easier to break the fat molecules and clone the lung in real time, replacing the wounded tissue with a completely new healthy one, without any scars, than to take the tissue from the lung itself and recycle it into a new one.

She didn't need to force the acceleration of cellular mitosis like Tsunade did in her healing, but her process was more mechanical. The seal had a kind of "recipe" with all the biological information about Ryuna encoded, with a small margin of alteration to allow growth. When something went off the established pattern, whether good or bad, the body only saw it as an attack and started the process of cloning the damaged part, closing all the holes.

It wasn't the best healing method for an emergency on the field due to the costs for the patient. The advantage was that, in theory, this method should be able to heal the body completely, without any sequelae from the injury. This was just crazy, and it reminded her of her grandfather's miraculous healing — miraculous healing that cost years of his life because that was the price to accelerate cellular mitosis indefinitely. Sooner or later, the cells simply stop. This was how Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, died. Killed by what made him almost immortal on the battlefield. Ironic, isn't it?

Tsunade, with just her healing, could have saved Ryuna's life, but not her health. At best, she could never be a ninja again.

" This girl is suicidal," she thought aloud.

Orochimaru let out a soft laugh.

" Suicidal, perhaps. But that's what makes her such an... interesting leader."

" Interesting? She almost killed herself, Orochimaru," Tsunade scolded, sternly. " You should have stopped her. This technique can save many lives and allow debilitating injuries to be completely healed. It will revolutionize medicine, but it is too dangerous to be used the way she does!"

" Stop her from developing this technique and lose the chance to see her prove how far she can go?" Orochimaru tilted his head, his tone almost amused. " You know me better than that, Tsunade. I've always liked testing limits."

Tsunade stared at him, her eyes filled with exasperation and anger. What was he thinking?

" This is not an experiment, Orochimaru. This girl is your student, and you let her destroy herself just to satisfy your sick curiosity."

" Don't be dramatic, Tsuna. She made that decision on her own, and I'm sure she didn't even remember me. She was trying to protect Konoha, after all," he mocked. " Besides, it's such a fascinating social experiment."

The mention of Ryuna as an agent of her own destruction irritated Tsunade even more, but she swallowed the words. Protecting Konoha was Dan and Nawaki's dream, a dream they died before they could achieve.

" A social experiment, seriously?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

" Yes, to prove Shin's theory that the limitations of someone's potential are imposed by society," Orochimaru explained. " Absolutely fascinating."

" What do you mean?"

" Let's assume I say I want to be immortal, truly immortal," he said.

" Impossible. Crazy. No sense at all," Tsunade answered easily.

" But what if instead, you asked 'how' I would do that?" he provoked with a manic smile Tsunade had gotten used to over the years. " Ryuna spent years learning the word 'impossible' because Shin refused to say it, and instead, he asked 'how,' and made her explain, then he pointed out flaws in the plan she needed to cover. Nothing is impossible, you just have to figure out how to make it happen. Everything is possible."

" So when society says something is impossible, they are placing a limit on people? An unconscious limit."

" That's right!" When was the last time Tsunade saw Orochimaru so excited about such a simple and harmless scientific project? " The first time Shin reported results from this experiment was with Ryuna's Fuinjutsu. Unfortunately, Kaito was a very sociable child, and he learned to limit himself with his friends, but not her, she was shy!"

Was he celebrating the fact that his student couldn't make friends when she was a child? How odd to celebrate. Who was Kaito?

" What's with the Fuinjutsu?" she asked, besides how bizarre it was.

" It's a completely new structure," he explained. " Shin always drew seals, and his children saw him do this, so one day, Ryuna, at 2 years old, drew random symbols with crayons and showed them to her father, pointing at the Fuinjutsu seals. She thought she was making seals too. Instead of saying she was wrong, he asked her to explain, then made her improve until one day, a seal worked! Shin only taught Ryuna Uzumaki Fuinjutsu at 6, but by then, she could already make seals in a completely original pattern that no one could decipher!"

" Like tattoos?"

" Tattoos are a different technique using seals too," he explained briefly before laughing. " She doesn't explain the details to me, because she thinks I should figure it out on my own."

Tsunade laughed aloud at that. Yes, handing ready answers to Orochimaru was too easy. The man loved conducting his experiments and studying everything; giving him the methods would spoil the fun. Even so, not everyone had the guts to refuse the Snake Sannin.

" How did she do that?" she asked after a moment, convincing herself not to insist on a pointless discussion, pointing to Ryuna's body on the bed.

" Well, she got hurt while playing when she was little and was taken to the hospital to be healed. That's what her father told me, at least," Orochimaru said, remembering. " She saw the medical ninjas and became interested, so her father gave her all the books from the library he could find on medicine, and she studied them because she was 5, and no doctor would accept her as an apprentice so young, not in the middle of a war. No one wanted to be a babysitter. When she started training with me, the constant injuries motivated her to learn to heal faster."

" I see your idea of training hasn't changed a bit," Tsunade muttered. Her butt ached just remembering the sparring sessions with Orochimaru. " Who thought it would be a good idea to let you train little kids?"

"Takeshi Shin, the father," Orochimaru replied, clearly pleased to see Tsunade's grimace at this. "Anyway, she was terrible! She blew up all the fish, I thought she had no talent, so I let her keep failing instead of interfering. I was curious to see what she would do. Did you know her first kill was when she was being strangled by an enemy and used medical chakra to explode him the same way she did with the fish? You were lucky not to be there, I spent three days pulling pieces of entrails out of my hair after that. Her technique came from many studies in biology and anatomy, and good old 'trial and error'—which I enjoy so much."

Tsunade was equally happy not to be forced to witness such a bloody atrocity, thank you very much. Even so, her professional side wondered what the girl was doing wrong for her technique to fail so violently.

"And the chakra networks? How didn’t she exhaust herself with all those clones?" Tsunade had so many questions.

"The artificial chakra networks? She never mentioned anything about that, very secretive about that specific technique," Orochimaru had a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "But the apparently infinite chakra is a bastardized version of Sage Mode. Blame the Perverted Toad and his big mouth for that. He and Minato kept talking about how they could reach Sage Mode in front of a child, and all Ryuna understood was that Hashirama was very good at it and that it helped him talk to plants."

"And she just copied it? What, did she invent a new mokuton?" That was something Tsunade would love to see.

"Oh, no, I made that one, although Tenzo can take some credit considering everything..."

"What?"

"It doesn’t matter," Orochimaru waved it off. "She just found out that Shodaime could reach Sage Mode more easily because of his connection with the plants, so Ryuna created a similar connection with a bonsai."

"As if it wasn’t from mokuton?"

"She planted the seed in soil infused with her chakra, watered it with chakra-infused water, pruned it with a chakra scalpel. The plant grew surrounded by Ryuna’s chakra," Orochimaru explained. "It took four years before she started to feel the little tree, and even longer before she learned to pull chakra from the bonsai to herself. The plant was filtering natural chakra for Ryuna the same way it filters carbon dioxide and turns it into oxygen. But she couldn’t go around fighting with a bonsai, so she started collecting the branches she pruned from the tree, burned them until they turned to charcoal with chakra fire, and used the charcoal to produce ink for Fuinjutsu."

"Ink for Fuinjutsu that channels natural energy?" The idea was too crazy to even consider, even for Tsunade, who still remembered her grandfather talking about how plants were alive and spoke to him. "I suppose she used the same ink for her tattoos."

"That’s right," Orochimaru agreed. "But it’s not a full Sage Mode. Ryuna is only able to keep her reserves full, which protects her from chakra exhaustion, but it doesn’t give her any abilities beyond that. Not like it does for Jiraiya or how it did for Minato. I suppose that’s the problem with taking shortcuts."

The two old teammates sat in silence for a moment, both with their minds on their own experiments and plans. Tsunade was thinking about all the things she’d have to do to teach Konoha’s medics and how she could incorporate Ryuna’s method. Needing a complete body mapping to clone the necessary parts wasn’t very practical, but she could work on perfecting the technique and making it easier to replicate.

"Is she going to survive?" Orochimaru asked, his voice without apparent emotion, but his golden eyes shone with something that seemed like genuine concern.

It made sense, despite everything, that Orochimaru would become attached to the person who had accepted him so completely. Someone who had also given him a position of trust that would allow him to continue pursuing his ambitions. Respect, trust, and power—three things Orochimaru enjoyed most.

Tsunade stared at him for a moment before answering.

"Yes, but only if she stops acting like an idiot and rests."

"Resting was never her strong suit," Orochimaru smiled a wry smile.

That wasn’t the strong suit of most ninjas.

Before Tsunade could respond, Ryuna began to convulse on the bed, and new wounds started to appear right before their eyes. Was it another attack in Konoha? What was happening?

"It’s not any of the clones in Konoha," Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, thinking the same thing as her. "People are still cautious because of the recent events, no one would attack so soon."

Orochimaru seemed to be trying to convince himself as he spoke. Not yet, it was too soon.

"We’ll find out why later, now help me here!"

At least the damage wasn’t as bad as Tsunade feared. Knowing what she did about healing, she only needed to make sure it wasn’t an instant death. If she had time, she could heal anything.

In all the commotion, Tsunade didn’t even realize she hadn’t frozen at the sight of the blood.

Shikaku:

Shikaku Nara contemplated the weight of the past, like a shadow that was always present, following him. People said he was a born strategist, that the Nara were geniuses, but not even his sharp mind could undo the tangled web of decisions and omissions that had shaped the last years of Konoha.

After the Nine-Tails attack, chaos had engulfed the village. Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime, had fallen as a hero, sealing the beast inside Takeshi Ryuna, who had Uzumaki blood. But his death left a dangerous void in power that threatened to undo the hard-won Peace Treaties. The Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had reassumed the Hokage mantle, but he was far from the leader he had been in his glory days. In hindsight, the illness that had been eating away at his mind explained his disastrous choices.

Among Hiruzen's mistakes, the most grave was his deliberate blindness toward Danzou Shimura. Shikaku knew, as the Yondaime's advisor, the extent of the elder's crimes: experiments on children, manipulation of information, political assassinations, and the creation of the Root, a private army that answered only to him. Minato had been gathering evidence against Danzou, but his sudden death had interrupted the process.

Shikaku clearly remembered the sleepless nights after the Fox's attack. He held the evidence in his hands, but the weight of his responsibility as a father and leader of the Nara clan spoke louder. Confronting Danzou would risk the safety of his family—Yoshino and his little Shikamaru—and his clan. Under Hiruzen's rule, any attempt to accuse Danzou would be like throwing stones at an impregnable wall. He had chosen to minimize the damage, ensuring that Danzou didn't take more aggressive actions, but he hadn't dared confront him directly. He tried to piece together what the elder had broken while trying to prevent others from falling under his control, pulling them out of his reach.

He hadn't always acted in time, and his protection could only extend to the shinobi, because he couldn't protect all the civilians too. He was just a man with limited resources and many people close to him who could be used against him.

Danzou only needed to lay his hands on his wife or child, and he could have the Commander Jonin under his thumb like an Aburame insect waiting for orders from its master.

Then came Takeshi Ryuna, who, at the age of 13, took on the task that no adult had the courage to carry out. She gathered the clan leaders and presented irrefutable evidence not only against Danzou but also against the Sandaime, whose negligence could no longer be ignored.

Hiruzen, in his weakened state exposed by his healer under pressure from the Daimyo, was forced to retire. Danzou, on the other hand, fled before the said meeting, leaving himself undefended—this was something that made Shikaku doubt because it simply didn't match Danzou's modus operandi, he would never miss the chance to defend himself and promote his own image in the process. His disappearance was very convenient, but no one else questioned it, and he never complained about the sharpness of the kunai handed to him.

Shikaku remembered how Ryuna had seemed triumphant that day, as if she wanted to shout “I won!” in their faces, showing that she was better than they were. That she had solved what no one else had been able to, whether through genuine ignorance or negligence. It was a slap in the face of every clan leader.

The Daimyo, realizing the instability in Konoha, seized the opportunity to impose his influence. He appointed Ryuna as the Godaime Hokage, claiming that her courage and intelligence made her the ideal choice. For Shikaku, this was an obvious political maneuver. A child Hokage would be easy to manipulate.

Jiraya had been out of contact since he sent his last message about finding the Shinigami’s trail, and they hadn't been able to inform the Sannin about what had happened to his sensei. Months had passed since the power shift. With the Sage Toad out of the game, they also had no way to convince Tsunade to take the hat, even if they could send some trackers to find the last Senju. Konoha had no viable candidate to take the hat. All the other members of the Council or ninjas of the Village with the power and position to do so had been accused of negligence against Konoha for not dealing with Danzou earlier.

Many clan leaders were happy when they heard Tsunade had arrived in Konoha, but that happiness faded when the news spread that Ryuna had already won over the woman. Senju's reluctance to take the Hokage position was well-known, and any hopes of getting her to take it died with her apparent good relationship with the former leader of the Takeshi clan.

So when the Daimyo appointed Ryuna? No one had any arguments to refute the decision except for her age. After all, it was she who solved the problem. It was she who did the work that none of them even tried.

“If you need to be saved by a child, then you can accept being governed by one,” the Daimyo's words to the Council echoed in his mind.

But Ryuna wasn't as manipulable as people had expected. Still, her path as Hokage had been brutal, with the elders and many common ninjas treating her with disdain, challenging her authority at every opportunity. Even the clans that sympathized with her hesitated to openly support her, fearing reprisals or the instability that her leadership might bring.

Shikaku had been one of them. He respected Ryuna, but he believed the best way to protect Konoha was to let her give up the hat on her own. He hadn't extended his hand when she needed it, thinking it would be better for her in the long run.

Still, she kept her composure and was diplomatic, always trying to please everyone. She spent days working and trying to find solutions that would please as many people as possible only to be rejected out of spite. She hadn't been chosen by Konoha but imposed on them. No one wanted her wearing that hat.

The notable exception, incredibly, was Orochimaru, who supported proposals regardless of what the others had decided to do, not caring if he was gaining political allies or enemies. He didn't care about anything, in fact. But his support was easily dismissed as just the sensei supporting his model student.

The following months showed how wrong they had all been, making them swallow each insult. Ryuna bore, alone, the weight of leadership, facing internal and external enemies. Iwa and Kumo, getting so close to the Village with their armies, gave Ryuna the unexpected opportunity to prove her strength. A strength no one expected her to have, something he heard some young people who watched it all compare to the very Hashirama.

Ryuna had transformed the perception that ninjas had of her. Her gaze, once filled with hope and plans for the future, but at the same time burdened, had become cold and calculating. He hadn’t realized that, before, even when she was so rational, she had never been cruel. All her plans and words, at least in the moments he witnessed, were kind. She told brutal truths because they needed to be said, so people could have the chance to improve, not to hurt and force everyone to submit. Every time someone attacked her or cursed her because of the Fox, they received a calm, cold, and rational response, but calm, instead of righteous anger.

Now, Ryuna looked at everyone as if they were enemies. Obstacles to be overcome—or eliminated?—instead of allies to rely on.

He felt guilt, a guilt that silently ate away at him. He, like everyone else there, had abandoned, through omission, a child on a political and social battlefield without even offering her a shield. More than that, he had underestimated her strength in insisting on staying there against all odds.

The murmurs of the elders still echoed through Konoha's political corridors. Homura and Koharu continued to disdain Ryuna, their veiled comments irritating Shikaku more than he would like to admit. But now, no one dared openly challenge her, with justified caution because no one knew how strong she truly was. Ryuna hadn't even used the Fox's chakra in the fight against the Kages, and that said a lot about her individual strength.

Shikaku knew that Ryuna no longer needed him, but he wondered if there was still time to repair the mistakes of the past. Perhaps he could finally repay the young Hokage the support she had never received when she needed it the most.

***

When Ryuna entered, he noticed how the atmosphere had changed.

She wore a white dress with a loose skirt, made of fine fabric, and her hair was unnecessarily neat, the kind of attire you wouldn’t see normal people or even kunoichis wearing, but nobility. Her bearing was worthy of the Emperor’s court, though only the oldest noble clans, the Kuge—Uchiha, Aburame, Akimichi, and Hyuga—could tell if his speculation was correct. He remembered, in the back of his mind, that the Takeshi were teachers, and teachers were the only people before whom the Emperor himself would bow.

Her image now contrasted sharply with what they had all seen just two days ago in front of the walls of Konoha.

“Godaime-sama,” everyone greeted once they overcame their surprise.

“Let’s begin,” Ryuna said in a languid tone, settling into the Hokage’s chair and resting her face in her hand in a lazy gesture. The slight disrespect her posture conveyed was something that would never have happened before.

The topics of that meeting were thorny: the future of the former Root agents and the lack of workforce. There was the risk, albeit small, that Kiri might test the borders to see if their spies, who no doubt were scattered around, had reported accurately on the strength of the new Hokage. But mostly, they were expecting a significant increase in mission demands after such a dramatic show of strength. With so many requests to fulfill and concerns about security, they needed more people. Konoha hadn’t yet recovered from the losses of the Third Great War and the Fox’s Attack.

“With all due respect, Hokage-sama, integrating the former Root agents into Anbu would be the most sensible decision,” Homura argued, keeping a soft and submissive tone as if simply presenting the facts, even if he didn’t like them. This was appropriate considering his connection with Danzou—being too friendly with the man’s ideals wouldn’t do any good to his image. “They already have the necessary training, even if the way it was acquired is regrettable.”

“I’m sorry, Homura-san, but I won’t force anyone to become a Konoha ninja,” Ryuna replied with a bored expression. “That would just make our ninja’s loyalty uncertain. I can trust my Anbu to defend Konoha because they chose to fight for this Village. That’s a position of trust I won’t hand out to anyone just because they have the skills.”

“Well, you’re right about that, Hokage-sama,” Koharu agreed, her expression stern and wrinkled with age. “In that case, we’ll have to expedite the graduation of some Academy students.”

“No,” Ryuna replied immediately, her voice firm, not changing her posture in the chair for even a second, but irritation permeating her tone unmistakably. “We won’t have any more children graduating early.”

“Hokage-sama, we still need more people in the field to meet the workforce demand,” Hiashi reminded her. He was somewhat bitter (more than usual) since he announced at the Council meeting months earlier the abolition of the Caged Bird Seal. His mood worsened when Ryuna was around or mentioned in a conversation, which made Shikaku wonder what role their Hokage had played in this particular event.

“Hyuga-sama,” Ryuna spoke slowly, “my decision stands.”

“Hokage-sama, your position is noble but unrealistic. Konoha needs to survive before it can prosper, and survival requires sacrifices,” Homura argued, diplomatic as always. Shikaku wasn’t fooled by the old man who had always been so eager to support Danzou’s proposals with fervor when alone with the Third Hokage, taking advantage of the illness in the old man’s mind. He, Koharu, and Danzou would often join forces to overthrow Hiruzen in discussions. “Ninjas are Konoha’s weapons, after all. They exist to protect this Village and maintain peace, and everyone is aware of the dangers. Dying for Konoha is an honor.”

“Since when do ninjas care about honor?” Ryuna rolled her eyes before lazily assessing the rest of the room. “Anyone else care to give their opinion?”

Silence was her only response, and Shikaku saw her gaze sweep the room, pausing on the faces of each person. Finally, she shifted in her chair, hand resting on the table, fingers tapping rhythmically on the wood, nails making noise with each tap. He knew that look. It was calculating, cold, but also filled with something he couldn’t quite identify. Perhaps disillusionment. Perhaps anger.

Ah, he realized, it was disappointment.

Shikaku could argue in her favor, but then how would they ensure Konoha’s security? They didn’t have enough people, that much was certain, and they had been operating beyond capacity for some time, sending shinobi on consecutive missions without giving them adequate rest. They needed more people if they were to handle all the work.

Ryuna stared at the ceiling, pensive, for a few seconds during which no one dared speak. Shikaku remembered how, before, people would have used this opportunity to express their opinions and make demands, without any respect for their Hokage.

“I, personally, believe that our shinobi are, above all, human, and the idea of sending children into dangerous situations, whether they wear a hitae-ate or not, makes me uncomfortable,” she spoke with a tone of lament and a gentle smile on her face. Every word that came out of her mouth was submissive, but her eyes didn’t match the scene. “But what can I do except bow to the will of the majority?”

She searched through the pile of papers in front of her before selecting one. With a distinctly feline movement, Ryuna stood and walked until she was in front of Homura, the dress’s skirt rustling softly as she walked, but her steps were completely silent. With a smile that reminded him a bit of Orochimaru, she handed the file to the elder. The Sannin himself seemed to be enjoying the show from his comfortable chair.

Homura looked at the file, confused, before opening it. He became even more confused as he looked at the contents.

“What is this?” he finally asked.

“Oh, Homura-san, it’s been so long that you no longer recognize a mission request?” Ryuna hid a smile behind her hand in a gesture Shikaku had seen countless noble girls make, but it never seemed as twisted as it did now. He would never look at a shy noble girl in the same way again when she was flirting with her fiancé. “This is a mission for you to complete, Homura-san, and for Koharu-san too.”

“What?” All the Council members held their breath, a terrible premonition hanging over them all. “We’re retired.”

Ryuna laughed, and it wasn’t the laugh of a child. It was sadistic and bitter.

She looked at all of them as she would at an enemy. An enemy she couldn’t kill, but could make wish they were dead. Just as she had looked at the Raikage during the negotiations.

“Oh, Homura-san, weapons don’t retire,” she laughed as if it were a joke about the elder. “I’m sure it will be an honor for you to serve your Village.”

The elders had dug their own graves. What could they say now that wouldn’t make them seem like they valued their lives over the lives of Konoha’s youth? That wouldn’t make them seem like old people who enjoyed sending others to die while they stayed safely in the Village?

“Hokage-sama,” Koharu pleaded, now realizing what she had done. What kind of monster had she fed and made her enemy? “I ask that you reconsider, I have a hip injury that was the cause of my retirement.”

The Hokage’s smile didn’t waver when her eyes turned to the elder.

“Don’t worry, Koharu-san... even broken weapons have their use,” she spoke sweetly, ignoring the growing tension between the Council members. “They can be used to distract the enemy while the mission is completed, for example. Your sacrifice will be appreciated, all for the good of Konoha!”

Even the clan heads who secretly supported Ryuna were tense, all realizing what their inaction had caused. The monster they had created in their negligence. The memory of how she had defeated the Kages of Kumo and Iwa, was a fresh threat hanging over everyone’s minds, making them abandon any thought of opposing the Hokage. The silence now was a punishment for the silence before.

How appropriate.

“I suggest you hurry up,” Ryuna broke the silence with a purring voice, looking at the elders with evident pleasure in her expression. “The client is waiting.”

Shikaku saw the Hokage’s eyes turn as red as the Nine-Tails. A subtle reminder that everything she had done two days ago had been without even touching the Fox’s chakra.

Koharu and Homura left with strained expressions, but in a silence that spoke of knowing they had lost and could do nothing about it. Meanwhile, the Hokage remained standing in the middle of the hall, with the clan heads’ seats scattered around her. She stared into nothing, her jaw clenched as if to hold back more acidic words that wanted to be heard.

"Oh, what a mistake I made!" Ryuna was suddenly smiling at all of them, pretending that nothing had happened. Her abrupt mood changes could fool most common people, but everyone in that room saw how superficial this shift was, nothing more than a mask of politeness. "I forgot to hold a vote! Well, Koharu and Homura consider this mission an honor, so let them enjoy it. Meanwhile, why don’t we settle things among ourselves? Alright, who thinks our ninjas should be treated as weapons, please raise your hands!"

She clapped, and this was a macabre caricature of childish behavior she had worked hard to avoid showing ever since Shikaku had known her. She strived to reassure people and appear mature and reliable, but now she seemed to act like a child, provoking all those who had called her childish before.

No one raised their hand.

The Anbu on guard, however well-trained they were, were not irrational or insensitive weapons. They had family, wives, children, siblings, parents, and so on. They fought and killed to protect their precious people, so they wouldn’t have to do it. Shikaku had no doubt that once this meeting was over, Ryuna would give all of them permission to talk about what had happened here with anyone they wanted, and all of Konoha would know which clan leaders considered their children disposable tools and which did not. That if any of them voted against the Hokage’s will, they would have their clan members retired and sent to die in the field, and the entire Anbu watching would ensure that every elder knew exactly who to blame for being pulled out of their well-deserved rest.

At that moment, anyone who dared raise their hand would have the Anbu as an enemy, and even if they didn’t kill you immediately, one day you’d need their help, and they’d be late. Unfortunately.

Ninjas were such vengeful creatures.

Which, ironically, only proved Ryuna’s point: they were all human, no matter how well you trained them, they would never be weapons.

"Oh, no one?!" The Hokage didn’t even try to make it look like she wasn’t threatening them and enjoying watching them submit. "Alright, now who thinks our ninjas are human? Please raise your hands!"

Every clan leader raised their hand in a funeral-like silence, the only one seeming to find any of this amusing was Orochimaru. Not even Tsume of the Inuzuka clan was laughing. If the Godaime’s government would be like this, it was a grim portrait of what the future held.

"Good, we’re all on the same page," she clasped her hands and was returning to her seat when Shikaku cleared his throat, making her stop. "Yes, Nara-sama?"

"How are we going to deal with the lack of personnel, Hokage-sama?" he dared to ask, hesitantly.

"Refuse the missions if we don’t have the personnel for them," Ryuna replied with an arched eyebrow as if he were an idiot for not thinking of it himself. "We’re not obligated to accept every mission, clients can take their requests to other Villages."

"Hokage-sama, that would give an advantage to our competitors," Hiashi argued, disturbed by the whole situation.

"Taking missions isn’t the only way to make money, Hyuga-sama, but it is the way that kills the people whose protection is my responsibility," Ryuna replied sweetly, but with irritation hidden behind every word. "I’m not going to send my exhausted ninjas on risky missions for pocket change. Do you have any idea how much money is invested in each of our shinobi? An S-rank mission barely covers 10% of the investment in a single jonin, let alone a whole team, an investment whose value is always growing, and you expect me to send them to die and waste it all? You expect me to send children, who are only an investment, and it will take years of missions for them to start generating any financial return, into mortal situations on purpose? I see that you all suffer from a severe lack of understanding of how the economy works," she mocked. "Let the other Villages take some contracts, we have good land, fertile, our civilians are hard-working and pay their taxes, we won’t be poor anytime soon."

It... wasn’t like the idea had never crossed her mind over the years, but all previous Hokages seemed to think Konoha had to accept every contract sent, just so the other Villages wouldn’t get them. They were at war, so Shikaku could understand why, but it still felt strange that Ryuna seemed not to care about allowing potential enemies to make such profits at Konoha’s expense.

"And what if they go to Kumo or Iwa?" Hiashi looked like he was about to pop a vein as he tried to control his outrage.

"Then I’ll wish them a safe trip, or have you forgotten we have a peace treaty with both Villages?" Ryuna didn’t even blink. "That happened only two days ago, Hyuga-sama, I hope you’re not having any memory problems?"

The provocation about the Sandaime’s condition and the consequences of it made Hiashi clench his jaw to keep himself from responding to the Hokage disrespectfully.

"And the Daimyo?" Shikaku asked. "When Konoha completes missions for other nobles and wealthy merchants, it gives the Daimyo influence, and in return, he increases the investments made in the Village. If we stop increasing his influence, he’ll stop sponsoring us."

"Let me worry about the Daimyo," she said, and Shikaku could almost feel the disdain in her voice, no matter how disguised it was. "Worry about doing your job before you try to do mine, Nara-sama."

A cruel reminder, but well-deserved, about Shikaku’s past actions. After all, it had been his duty to investigate and bring down Danzou.

A tense moment of silence before...

"Are you drawing inspiration from Danzou to define how your government will be, Hokage-sama?" the head of the Kurama clan, Ren, asked. "The way you impose your will on us is tyrannical."

Ryuna sat back down, unbothered.

"In case you’ve forgotten, Kurama-sama, I tried to be diplomatic and please everyone, but you insisted on making every step of the way difficult," she snarled the last word, abandoning for a moment her innocent act. "My job is to protect Konoha, not to cater to the whims of the Council. In an ideal world, what benefits the clans benefits Konoha, and what benefits Konoha benefits the clans. But if you’re going to keep insisting on screwing me over just because things didn’t go the way you wanted, then I’ll run over each one of you if necessary to ensure the survival and security of my people."

"Danzou also believed he was doing what was best for Konoha," Ren added, darkly.

"Danzou wasn’t Hokage," Orochimaru reminded them with a sweetened voice and a murderous expression, a snake-like smile on his face. "You all seem to suffer from the illusion that we live in a democracy. Konoha is a dictatorship, and the word of the Hokage is law."

"As Orochimaru-sama reminded you, Danzou wasn’t the Hokage. He couldn’t even take full responsibility for his actions," she said, almost spitting the words. "He was like a child spreading his own shit on the walls and calling it art, and then expecting the Hokage to come clean up his mess or take the blame for not controlling him better. Or are you going to deny you blamed Hiruzen for Danzou’s actions? In the end, the only person who takes responsibility is the Hokage. Me. I’ll be the one who has to send people on missions, who has to do all the dirty work and take responsibility afterward, so I’ll be the only one making the decisions, damn it!"

No one dared speak anymore.

The meeting went on, but it was like a cheap imitation of the usual Council meetings.

With a sigh when it finally ended, he stood up and looked out the window. Konoha’s future was still uncertain, but one thing was clear: Ryuna wouldn’t just be remembered as the Godaime Hokage. She would be remembered as the leader Konoha didn’t deserve, but desperately needed. Even though her methods were more aggressive and her ways more cruel, Shikaku couldn’t help but notice that everything she did was to defend the people who were usually forgotten or seen as easily disposable.

Maybe she wouldn't be loved, but she would be remembered.

Ryuna (clone 4):

She was gripping her hair in her fists while trying to force air into her lungs and stop feeling so much anger and fear. Her mind was in chaos, and Ryuna couldn’t think.

Calm down, you can't snap, the Anbu can see you, she told herself, they can always see you.

You are Hokage, calm down! She hit her fist against her head, trying to make the pain stop. People need to believe that you can do this so they can trust your decisions, panicking doesn’t show confidence! If you don’t believe you can do this, then why would anyone else? Calm the hell down!

Just stop thinking, stop feeling, push everything deep down and stop. Ryuna has work to do, and she can’t stay here freaking out, she needs to...

Warm, calloused hands grabbed her face firmly, but it didn’t hurt, it was terrifying. A bit of water dripped onto her skin, distracting Ryuna from her thoughts, finally making her mind fall into blessed silence.

Kakashi was holding her face—no, he was holding her hands that were gripping her own hair. Kakashi was trying to stop her from baldly tearing her hair out, apparently. Doing so brought their faces very close, and he was a handsome boy, with an elegant bone structure, good muscles, intense eyes, and a slender body. With this sudden realization, Ryuna grimaced at the idea that she had reached "that phase" that Anko always talked about.

But now, she just felt anger.

"Calm down," Kakashi said, looking at her with concern. "Breathe in, hold, and then let go."

He definitely had experience dealing with panic attacks, whether they were his own or someone else's, Ryuna didn’t know, but she was just so angry. The momentary silence from the shock of seeing Kakashi speaking to her had already passed, and the noise came back. Ryuna just wanted to hit something, scream, and make everyone feel the same pain she did.

How could they go on fine, when they were the cause of her sleepless nights, her pain, fear, and anger? Why could they be fine and go on with their lives as if it were nothing? What right did they have?

Ryuna shoved him, and Kakashi let himself be pushed. He was stronger and could stay there until Ryuna needed to resort to chakra-enhanced strength to get him out. He should also know, a part of Ryuna’s mind she wasn’t fully hearing right now, that it wasn’t smart to restrain a ninja during a panic attack, or there could be a violent unconscious reaction.

"Now you're concerned?" Ryuna spat the words with vitriol. "What’s the problem? Was the damn stone where you spend your days busy today?"

Kakashi hesitated, hurt by the attack on his own trauma from someone who had never judged him before. Ryuna knew, deep down, that her anger wasn’t really directed at Kakashi, not truly, even though part of her resented him a little. It wasn’t rational, but feelings never are; that’s the problem with them.

Deep down, Ryuna knew she didn’t want to yell at Kakashi, but the anger made the surface opaque, and it was impossible to see what was hidden in the depths. The anger just wanted to hit something and cause destruction. It didn’t matter what it hit.

"Ryuna, I’m trying to help you..."

She laughed because this was absolutely hilarious. Now he wanted to help? He’d show up every now and then for some training and thought that was enough?

"How lucky for me that you managed to pull your head out of your ass and realize you’re not the only person in this world! Oh, no, you and the names carved into a stone aren’t the only people in this world," she mocked, acid dripping from every word. "You know, I’ve always admired your father, he was the damn hero, and he represented my Will of Fire! People before mission, lives before money or politics! You, Kakashi, are just like your father... in both the good and bad things."

Obito—oh, he was there too. Holding a glass of water, and Ryuna vaguely remembered someone had dripped something wet on her face to pull her out of the panic attack from earlier—stepped forward, placing himself between them. The soothing hands were so easy to ignore when she realized she had hit her target.

Ryuna was like a shark who smelled blood in the water, and Kakashi was bleeding his emotions like a pig left to die.

Someone had to stop her. Why wasn’t anyone stopping her?

Why hadn’t anyone stopped her at the Council meeting? Why had they let her do that? Why was no one stopping her?

"Ryu-chan..." Obito tried to start.

"You’re just like your dad, Kashi," she mocked, cruelly, tears streaming down her face. Please, someone stop me. "He fought for Konoha his whole life, and in the end, he chose to abandon you. Now, you’re a great shinobi, fighting for Konoha and taking on more missions than any other ninja in the Village, but you chose to abandon Naruto. Why? Is looking at him and seeing Minato-nii hard? 'Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash,' right? Your shitty motto is a joke when you go against it every single day you choose to spend your time in front of a stone talking to the dead instead of paying attention to Naruto who’s still alive!"

Kakashi was visibly contracted, his shoulders hunched in, waiting for the next blow, not daring to move out of the way. His masochistic, suicidal side told him he deserved everything. Even in this, he was like Sakumo.

"I bet when you leave here, you’ll mourn how terrible you are for your dogs or that stone instead of fixing things," she laughed without humor, crying from anger, sadness, and frustration. "Who knows? Maybe you’ll follow your dad’s example and end it all. Sure, because that was such a genius idea! Learn from your mistakes and do better? Nooo! Let’s do solo S-rank missions and die in the field like a hero, because THAT WILL FIX EVERYTHING, DAMN IT!"

Ryuna felt her own face hot with anger and tears, panting, exhausted. The anger that had been driving her finally subsided, satisfied, and was immediately followed by guilt. What did I do?

"Kashi, I..." Help me...

"Hokage-sama, may I be excused?" Kakashi said with the flat voice he usually reserved for the Hound.

"I..." What should she say, "sorry"? That wouldn’t erase the last few minutes, wouldn’t fix anything.

She didn’t want to be Hokage because she didn’t want this. This shit situation where she couldn’t be angry and scream because no one could answer her as equals. It was like kicking a fallen dog or sparring with someone in a coma. She couldn’t feel anger, couldn’t lose control, and holding everything deep inside just resulted in a worse explosion when the pressure became too much to contain. What should I do? No one will stop me because I’m the Hokage, and the Daimyo, who should be able to do so, is under my control. Who will stop me if I cross the line?

She saw that Kakashi was still there, waiting for her permission to leave, his expression too blank to be healthy.

Don’t leave me...

"You can leave," she conceded. Kakashi was out even before she finished the last word. "Obito..."

The silent Uchiha was looking at where Kakashi had just been, deep in thought.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" he asked. She cringed internally at the title that had only brought disaster to her life.

"Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you protect Kakashi?" she asked, fearing the answer. She so desperately hoped she was wrong.

"Because you are the Hokage." Ryuna felt her stomach sink and couldn’t help but shrink a little. Against all her expectations, Obito continued: "But... nothing you said was false. It’s been years that I, Rin, and Guy have tried to get Kakashi to move on, and nothing worked. Maybe we were being too careful with his feelings to get any reaction. It took me almost dying in that cave for him to finally value people’s lives, so maybe he needs a blow as strong as that to truly change."

That explained his silence and the lack of accusation in his eyes when Ryuna finally dared to look at him. Obito wasn’t one to stay quiet when something bothered him. It was a relief, in a way, that she hadn’t messed everything up, but it still didn’t fix things.

I can’t lose control and explode like that again. I need to be calm, like Mom taught me, so people can trust me.

"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid," Obito assured with a sad smile distorting his scars.

"Thank you," she managed to say. When Obito was about to leave, she called again.

"Wait!"

"Yes?" he looked back with the Mangekyou active, a Kamui whirlpool spinning in front of him to take him wherever Kakashi was.

“I have a mission for you. It’s not urgent,” she promised, feeling guilty for bringing it up. Obito needed to go check on Kakashi before anything else, after all.

“Okay, what is it?"

Am I really going to do this? What kind of person will this make me?

“Kill Homura and Koharu when they’re returning from their mission,” she said. With all those calm feelings back, she was able to think, and her mind began to remember all the plans she had made before the meeting. It was so much easier when there was a plan to follow, even if her body was still suffering from the aftermath of her outburst. “They should take a few days to come back, so you have time. Do it without it being traced back to us.”

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Obito had a sadistic smile as he disappeared in a whirlpool. The elders were not loved by the people despite their political influence.

Maybe Ryuna should have felt guilty for their deaths, but she couldn't find anything within herself to care. Those two had closed their eyes so many times, been accomplices, and benefited from the misery of so many that Ryuna wanted to see them dead. She wanted them to suffer.

The plan was to take control of Konoha so that Ryuna could make the changes she needed. She hadn't planned on feeling so much anger, nor had she expected anyone to try to stop her. The many hours she spent thinking of answers and justifications for questions and challenges that never came. Everyone simply accepted, with some symbolic protests and political discussions at the beginning, that she could impose her will on everyone just because she wore the same hat as an old man from decades ago who was a popular figure.

"What sense does that make? And if Ryuna ordered the extermination of a clan under the excuse that it was for the good of Konoha? Would the Council accept that? Would her Anbu obey? Would anyone even try to stop her for real, fight against her if necessary?"

It only showed that the reforms she planned were very necessary, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Ryuna still had some faith in the Konoha system; she wanted to believe it wasn’t that bad, that Danzou was an aberration. The problem was it was even worse than she had imagined. There were so many flaws in the government that she didn’t even know where to start.

The worst part was that Ryuna couldn’t do all the work now; she needed to do damage control after the attack on Konoha, review the defenses, reform the team system, increasing the number of members, assigning two jonin to each genin team of 3 whenever they went on a mission outside the village. Teams with chunin should have at least one jonin. In Anbu, no one under 18 could go on a mission with fewer than 2 older companions, and anyone under 12 could only go on a mission with a full team and always had to be accompanied by at least one older member.

None of these measures would have been approved by the Council, so she needed to subjugate them first. Besides that, which was a more immediate measure to save lives and resources, there were also all the administrative reforms. The entire bureaucracy and administrative system would have to be completely restructured. The village had grown 10 times its original size since its foundation, and it was obvious that what worked back then had become an obstacle now, but Hiruzen wouldn’t dare change the system his beloved sensei, the Second Hokage, had created. Everyone acted as if Tobirama could crap out S-Rank jutsus and groundbreaking ideas, so claiming that she could do better was sacrilege.

Ryuna sat at the table and forced herself to think about the work and nothing else.

She needed to get things in order quickly so she could dispel some clones and relieve pressure from the Original's body, or she wouldn't survive the week.

***

There weren't many Root agents alive, despite the large number of deaths and the size of the mass graves that the police agents found when they searched the ruins of the organization. It had been 5 months since Danzou's fall and the discovery of the first Root base.

"Hokage-sama, the investigations conducted by the Police Department confirmed that Root operated extensively beyond Konoha, with secret bases in nearby regions, not only in the Land of Fire, but there are also signs of activity in neighboring nations. We found records of covert operations that included espionage, sabotage of official Village missions, and political manipulation in other villages, often compromising alliances and Konoha’s security," Uchiha Fugako reported as they moved towards the field where the former Root agents were waiting for her. "We also discovered evidence of target eliminations within the Village, including shinobi from important clans, under Danzou’s direct orders, aimed at weakening potential opposition. Recovered documents suggest that Danzou had contacts in other nations for information exchange, indicating a larger scheme for international control and manipulation. The organization’s structure was brutally efficient, with mechanisms to cover tracks, but the destruction of these bases and dismantling of their networks significantly weakened their operational capacity. However, concerns remain about agents or external contacts still active, who could pose future risks to Konoha."

Ryuna couldn’t say there were no other agents outside of Konoha, as she had used the Root seal to summon everyone back, pretending it was a summons from Danzou. If she said that, people would realize that Danzou was within her reach, and she had plans for the old elder.

However...

"Don’t assume all agents carried a Root seal," she warned. "Don’t think it would be so easy to identify all of them. The only agents I could gather were those with the seal."

"Nara?"

"Hokage-sama, after the capture of Danzou and the dismantling of Root, we identified 104 members, 85 active agents and 19 recruits. The agents range from 9 to around 30 years old, with the highest concentration between 14 and 17 years, while the recruits, from 4 to 9 years old, show high physical and psychological vulnerability due to brutal training, including lethal practices. About half are of civilian origin, 33% come from smaller or renegade clans, and 17% have erased backgrounds. Many show severe trauma, especially the younger ones and advanced recruits, while veterans show psychological resilience and residual loyalty to Danzou. I recommend differentiated medical and psychological treatment by age, gradual reintegration into the ninja society, and rigorous monitoring of veterans to prevent reorganization. This work will require coordinated effort to ensure the safety and effective recovery of Konoha."

She hoped that the seals she placed on the rooms would help the agents feel safe in their new homes. The seals should prevent anyone from entering the room while the resident was inside, protecting them from external threats. Except for Ryuna and Orochimaru—who was the new head of the clan—no one else could enter any of the rooms without the owner’s permission.

Still, the younger children might fare better being reintegrated into the orphanage? The building was large enough that there could be a wing for the ex-recruits, with an adult nearby to help the children talk and resolve their trauma. There were about 792 children already living in the complex of buildings Ryuna had ordered to be constructed. The accommodations were simple: rooms for up to four people and a common area, with communal bathrooms in the hallways for easier cleaning. Each building had a cafeteria run by a team of cooks, including an Akimichi chef to ensure balanced meals. Since Ryuna offered craft workshops and the school provided free lessons, she only required community services from the adults: cleaning the buildings where the orphans lived was one of those services.

The buildings were constructed in a semi-circle to create a common area where all the children could play. Currently, Ryuna kept a clone in each building to help the children and care for the younger babies.

It was a lot for one person to do alone. She needed to delegate, but to whom? Who could she trust to take care of everyone without leaving anyone behind and without acting out of prejudice? Maybe she could find several people to take on different responsibilities, but the problem remained: who?

The other clan leaders were too busy leading their own clans, and adding responsibilities on top of that would only result in poorly done work. But much of what Ryuna needed were skills learned during her Clan Heir lessons: politics, finances, resource management, and people management.

The entirety of the Takeshi property, including the clan complex and its dependencies, housed over 1200 people: orphanage children, families that lost everything in the Fox's Attack or in successive wars, the poor, prostitutes, unemployed. Ryuna was managing all of them alone, along with the contracted staff, her clones, and paying for everything out of her own pocket. It wasn’t sustainable. None of this was.

She sighed.

"Yamanaka, report?" she asked.

"Hokage-sama, after five months of investigations and assessments, we’ve completed the initial process with the 104 Root members. The Mental Walks revealed deep psychological trauma, especially in the recruits and younger agents, with blocked or distorted memories due to Danzou's conditioning. Around 70% exhibit dissociative emotional responses, extreme distrust, and difficulty discerning legitimate authority from manipulation. Among the veterans, we identified traces of residual loyalty and dangerous tendencies that require monitoring. Younger children show greater receptiveness to treatment but need continuous support to overcome the impact of the brutal practices. We recommend a gradual rehabilitation program, combining psychological support, social reintegration, and intensive monitoring, prioritizing the restoration of trust in the Village. These individuals can be reintegrated, but only with strategic care and a controlled environment."

"You said they can’t discern legitimate authority," Ryuna asked, thoughtful. "Who would they recognize as authority besides Danzou?"

"The Sandaime, Hokage-sama," Inoichi spoke after a cautious hesitation. "Danzou used propaganda that they were doing this for Konoha’s sake with the Hokage’s knowledge, who at the time was Sarutobi Hiruzen. It’s likely they would respond better to the Sandaime’s commands."

"How many of them are familiar enough with Hiruzen to recognize an imposter?" Ideas were racing through her mind with every second. The face of the Sandaime lingered in her thoughts. Maybe...

"Some were part of his Anbu guard," Nara replied, relieved that Ryuna didn’t snap at the disrespect to her authority.

Ryuna lowered her head, considering. She signaled for one of the Anbu agents following her to approach. Genma did so, using his tanuki mask. He knelt, waiting for the command.

"Get me some of the Sandaime’s clothes, please," she asked, and the tanuki disappeared in the next second, leaving a few leaves behind.

Ryuna focused: the mannerisms and speech patterns of the Sandaime were selected from her mental file reserved for the old Hokage. His appearance, voice, height, weight, walking style, his expressions. Everything cataloged within minutes in her mind, every encounter she’d had with the Sandaime providing material for the imitation to be believable.

This Ryuna was nothing but a clone made of chakra, blood, and water; her form was defined by her mental image. Her shape, fluid like water, changed and changed again until it fit the appearance of the former Hokage.

"Shit," someone murmured nearby.

"What kind of henge is that?" Fugaku asked, frowning and activating his Sharingan.

"It’s not a henge," Ryuna didn’t explain what it was.

Within minutes, Genma returned with the clothes Hiruzen used to wear when he was Hokage. The clothes fit perfectly, and Ryuna gave a nod to herself, satisfied.

"Tanuki, what do you think?" she asked, imitating the voice and mannerisms of the old Hiruzen. "Do I look like him?"

Maybe she was embodying a younger, more energetic Sandaime, but she couldn’t copy the old man completely. He, in his state, was no longer suitable to be Hokage. Copying him beyond the surface didn’t make sense.

"Very similar, Hokage-sama," Tanuki’s voice held a hint of humor.

"Very well, then, let’s go."

Climbing up the high platform—probably made with an earth jutsu—and having a clear view of all the former Root agents was uncomfortable. Seeing small children shrinking away from the adults responsible for them was not something Ryuna wanted to get used to.

"Alright, attention!" Ryuna Hiruzen called to the crowd. Not that there was any noise or side conversations to interrupt; everyone was already looking at her. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, student of Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime. Your former leader, Shimura Danzou, has been removed from his position as the administrator of the Root program due to evidence of his corruption over the years. As Hokage, it was my duty to enforce the law, even with my old friend."

The sentimental tone might not appeal to their hearts, as conditioned as they were, but it would serve to give realism to her character. Those agents who had been guards of the Sandaime would notice an abrupt change of heart. None of these people had seen Danzou’s fall firsthand, none of them knew that Hiruzen was no longer the Hokage.

Here is the translated text with the dialogues enclosed in quotes instead of dashes:

"You served Konoha very well from the shadows, but the Root program has been officially shut down," she said firmly. "Perhaps someday, if necessary, we will recreate the organization with the proper updates, but for now, Root represents a great cost with few benefits, so I hope you do not resist the change, as it is here to stay. All of you will be officially registered as citizens of the Village, you will receive documents, and then you will immediately begin your new training to acquire the skills needed for your new position."

She had heard, over the last few months, how silent the Root agents were. They didn’t speak to their superiors unless it was to answer a direct question. They didn’t ask questions and followed orders with whatever information Danzou deemed fit to share.

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Your new training will include: theoretical classes on law, history, mathematics, biology, geography, literature, and basic etiquette. In addition, you will participate in extracurricular activities such as music, dance, crafts and drawing, fishing, cooking, gardening, or swimming. If anyone has preferences, they can choose; otherwise, you will rotate between activities until you find one that you are better at than the others or that you enjoy more," she continued in a commanding tone. It was so strange to have to give orders for them to find a healthy hobby. "Your ultimate goal in this training is to develop new conditioning, and I expect dedication to this task. To achieve this goal and prove yourselves fit for new tasks, you will need to: develop individuality, likes and dislikes, friendships or enmities, you need to be able to understand complex social interactions. An agent who cannot hold a casual conversation is a burden."

At this point, Ryuna felt that the imitation of Hiruzen was so superficial that anyone could tell the real one would never speak this way to people. He had a grandfatherly way, which, although it made most people feel comfortable in his presence and trust him, wouldn’t have worked here. Appealing to feelings or the Will of Fire was not the way here.

You need to speak in a way that your audience can understand the message.

"Once you have completed this training," she said in a final tone, "You will be fit to choose whether you remain in active service or live civilian lives, fulfilling your duties to Konoha through trade and other activities unrelated to combat or espionage, but which fund the operation of this Village. None of you will be punished for following a different path or forced to follow a particular route because of a unique talent. Regardless of the path you choose, I will ensure that it benefits Konoha."

Now, some threats to make sure everyone stays in line.

"That said, you are not permitted to engage in conflicts unless it is in self-defense or in defense of a third party. However, if it happens, you will still have to answer for your actions, especially if someone gets hurt or dies," she continued, casting a penetrating look at the crowd. "The lives of every citizen of this Village are a resource, an investment, and the loss of any life represents a loss. I expect you to keep this in mind," she paused for a second. "You are dismissed, please follow the chunins there to your new accommodations."

She finished and walked off the podium with small steps, only remembering at the last moment to maintain the theater of Hiruzen.

The chunins had received specific instructions a few minutes earlier, and Ryuna already had a building waiting for them. It was smaller than the others, but it was also more fortified, built for residents more likely to start fights.

Ryuna still needed to decide where she would house the Jinchuurikis from Kumo who were being kept in a coma in her seal.

But first, she needed to find people to delegate her work to, and Ryuna already had an idea of who she could recruit. She just needed to know if they would accept.