Chapter 4
When the Akatsuki gets to Konoha´s gates there is no doubt about their identity; Yahiko does not believe in hiding himself, after all. He wish that everyone in Konoha knows they´re coming, he wants to inspire fear, and, of course, he wants to make sure the people he wants to be present are inside the village.
Otherwise, this would only a loss of his time.
As he expected, Jiraiya and Tsunade are in front of the village. At their back, is a horde of shinobi, including Kakashi and Gai, as well as ANBU and other jounnin. They all look ready to battle.
Yahiko smirks at the latent bloodlust; Hidan laughs at his back, Deidara and Kisame shift their weight, Itachi sighs, Konan and Nagato remain impassible. Truth is, neither of them is impressed.
“Jiraiya-sensei.” Yahiko greets his teacher, taking his Amekage hat off, allowing everyone see his face. “Hokage-sama.”
Politics are a nuisance in Yahiko´s opinion but he is aware that they´re very important in a world that stills breathes inside the shogunato. That´s why he decided to play his role as Amekage as presentation card.
Jiraiya looks like he´s going to cry as he whispers his name, recognizing him (them) almost immediately.
“What does Akatsuki wants here?” Tsunade states; wary, but not overly aggressive.
It´s a good start.
“As Akatsuki? Nothing.” Nagato says coldly. “As shinobi of Amegakure, an alliance between our nations.”
Tsunade grits her teeth, but her brown eyes taking a calculating glint. “So you brought an entire battalion at my doors?” Her voice is heavily sarcastic and this time, her tone is aggressive.
“You have ANBU.” Yahiko explains lazily. “I have them.”
Not that he needs any kind of protection, but in this case, they´re truly posing as Pain bodyguards.
Tsunade is not amused by the comparison, but it’s not Yahiko´s fault her ANBU are all incompetent and his Akatsuki´s aren´t.
Jiraiya intervenes before things can get ugly, “An alliance?”
“Akatsuki´s dream is World Peace.” Nagato says, “Our plan was to take the bijuu and use them as a weapon to unite the nations. Nevertheless, this has changed as recent events had brought to our attention a more imminent problem.”
Now, this, caught everyone attention.
The Akatsuki are monsters. For something or someone to force them to reorganize their priorities, well, let’s just say that puts things into perspective.
“One we are sure you would like to known before it´s too late. There´s the reason behind our proposition.” Yahiko lets them ponder before continuing, “Now, as a proof of our good will, I´ll allow Jiraiya-sensei to put a seal on me.”
This shakes Tsunade, she eyes him in shook. She´s not the only one.
It´s a stupid thing to do; a seal could easily destroy someone and only seal masters are capable of see the little details that could change a containment seal to an execution one.
Tsunade purses her lips, “What´s the treat?”, she asks looking directly to Yahiko´s rinnegan.
“Uchiha Madara.” Pain answers; poison dripping of their tone. The hate they feel towards the man is easy to see and for a second their chakra spikes, allowing the Konoha-nin had a taste of the power they held.
“He´s death.” Tsunade says, but her eyes show her doubts. “He´s been death for a long time.”
“Would you beat your Village on that?”
“I think we should hear them, hime.” Jiraiya says, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Tsunade looks at him for a long seconds before relaxing and nodding her acceptance, Jiraiya expression softens as he walks forward, Yahiko coping the movement, so they will meet at the middle of the road.
The Akatsuki tense at one (yes, including Itachi.) as Yahiko allows Jiraiya to take his arm and start drawing a seal on it. Neither of them is fond of the idea but this is what Yahiko decided so they had to accept it.
It’s a big show of trust; one Yahiko plans to use so Jiraiya softens towards them.
“Done.” Jiraiya says softly; his eyes shining with unvoiced questions.
Yahiko makes a show of staggering when the sannin finishes, even when he doesn´t feel any difference, because his chakra may be locked up by the seal but Nagato´s still flows over him thanks to the piercings.
He´s sure he still could pull a Shinra Tensei if he wished it, which is a heavy safe net to lay on, since he can easily erase Konoha if they tried anything against them.
He has been experimenting in the last weeks and has come to the conclusion that even though he´s alive, he pretty much still is the Deva Path, meaning he could probably be killed but maintain his conscience and power as long as Nagato was alive.
That helps them all to feel a little better about the situation that was happening, never mind that both, Nagato and Konan, were glaring as hard as they could towards Jiraiya.
Ah, and Hidan was singing curses and treats under his breath.
“Very, well.” Tsunade sighs. “Welcome to Konoha, Amekage-sama.”
At her words, the jounnin leave and the ANBU fade into the Village, for having a so heavily armed front towards another Kage is not only considered rude but also an action that could initiate a war.
Yahiko eyes Kakashi with veiled curiosity, the man is still present and even if his posture is relaxed, his eyes speak of violence.
The Copy-nin is not looking directly at Yahiko, but at his back. His eyes narrow as Itachi moves, slowly, graceful, until he´s at Pain´s side. His facing forwards, black eyes hard as steal, nothing in his posture or face betraying the fear that wares inside him as the idea of facing the past causes him.
Yahiko slowly entwine their fingers; the sentiment behind the movement a clear warning that Itachi is under his protection. But also, a silent promise to the young man.
Itachi sighs as he allows Yahiko to softly pull him forwards as he walks towards the entrance, feeling at odds, but trusting Pain just enough to allow himself to be vulnerable at the eyes of the outsiders.
As they enter, the Akatsuki draws everyone´s attention. There´s no shinobi alive that doesn´t know what the black robes and red clouds mean. But seeing the headbands of Ame in every member was a little shocking.
“Is Naruto-kun not in the Village?” Itachi asks, lazily looking around, curious about the blond that meant so much to Sasuke.
Tsunade glares at them, hands turning into fists.
“Hime.” Jiraiya hisses.
“We don´t mean harm towards Uzumaki Naruto,” Yahiko sighs, fighting to not roll his eyes.
Tsunade huffs, relaxing her posture again.
“He´s on Mount Myōboku” Training to acquire the sennin mode.
Yahiko hums, having also head the warning his sensei hided in his soft-spoken explanation: He would not be able to touch the kid no matter what.
“Good.” He says, “He will need that strength if he wants to bring Sasuke back to Konoha.”
Kakashi startles, Tsunade frowns, and Jiraiya eyes grow ridiculously big. It´s incredibly amusing.
Itachi sighs. “Really, Leader-sama?”
“That´s his goal in life. Isn´t it?” Yahiko shrugs. “We must appreciate the wonders of friendship.”
Itachi shakes his head, looking to the side so he can hide his smile.
Yahiko is entirely compromised to see more of this soft, soft, young man so he tends to treat him like a little brother. Also, finding that Itachi seem to ship SasuNaru was amusing as hell, because he needed someone who could understand his shipping heart and Itachi was proving to be that person.
“How…?” Kakashi cuts himself but it’s too late.
“I know things.”
Konan giggled; Hidan and Deidara laughed brightly, while Kakuzu, Nagato and Kisame, rolled their eyes fondly at the smug words.
Seconds later, the Akatsuki is leaking bloodlust and ready to fight. The playful air having vanished as it never had existed in the first place.
Itachi´s susanoo has come to life; covering himself and Yahiko. Mangekyo spinning aggressively.
Konan has covered Nagato in a shield of paper. Kisame has drawn samehada and is positioned in front of the couple, ready to defend any attack, while Deidara has formed c-3 figures and is ready to take action.
Hidan has hurled himself at the enemy with a unholy scream, cutting it in half with his scythe; Kakuzu used his fire and thunder to hit the corpse in the next second.
The only evidence of the attack is the branches that turned to life and went for Yahiko´s head.
Kakashi is crouched in front of Tsunade, sharingan blazing and lips parted in a snarl. The two sannin have grim looks on their faces and are ready to fight the Akatsuki if needed.
Yahiko is shaken; not because of the attack itself but because there´s only one person inside Konoha who can use Mokuton. The same person who´s laughing from the shadows like this is all a game.
Hope fills his chest and before he can think about it…
“Halt.” Pain orders; cold, forceful.
The Akatsuki freeze. Hidan obeys immediately, lips pursed and eyes shining with worry. Kakuzu back away and relaxes his posture. Itachi´s susanoo fades.
Yahiko walks slowly towards the branches, touching them hesitantly. “Noah?”
“Hey, Jerk.”
A smile forms at Yahiko´s lips at the soft reply.
“Hey, Assbutt.”
Noah materializes of the branches, eyes glittery and a wobbly smile. He looks exactly as the last time they saw each other: A weird mix of all the existent versions of Tenzo.
“Yamato?” Kakashi´s voice is a whisper.
Noah and James are hugging at the next second; laughing, sobbing, touching and prodding the other to make sure it was real.