Pre-Chapter A/N:Bit of a late upload. Been a bit of a wasteman tbh. More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Experimenting with two chapters a week, we'll see how long I can keep this up for.
I stared back at Iwa. This was the place, for good or for ill, that would mark the beginning of my legacy. Here I had fought the Third Raikage to a standstill and then been robbed of a true conclusion by a foolish woman. A foolish woman who had gone on, along with her Suna allies, to kill my cousin and one of her teammates. The other sits in a seal now, waiting to see if we can manage to fix him with the greatest medic of our generation having been killed before her time. And this was also going to be the first time in history that one of the Five would fall. It would be replaced by another, I knew. Maybe if I tossed my weight around and fought any village's attempt to become one of the Five, then that would take longer, but what was the point?
"Toshiro?" I asked, and my genin teammate stepped up. He had grown into a man of his own with time. A fantastic swordsman, a master of genjutsu in his own right, but oh so lacking. I wondered if that was the ultimate fate of any who did not bear the last names Uchiha or Senju. To strain and strive but be our lessers in the end. He was about to form a ram seal before I was reminded of something. "Inoken, unseal the good Tsuchikage for me, would you? I want her to see that I always keep my word," I said, a small smile appearing on my face. She hadn't done anything to gather my ire other than her stubbornness, but there was a lot of that, to be fair. Far too much of it, all things considered. Her neck was held too straight for something I had my boot on, and I wanted to show that to her. I wanted to see the despair on her face as she realized what she had chosen—what her stubbornness and pride had wrought.
Inoken, good man that he was, had an easy enough time unsealing and waking her, while Shika captured her in her shadow, forcing her to rise and stand next to me.
"You can let her talk, right?" I asked.
"If she spits a fireball at you, that's not on me," Shika said, but still, I saw the woman's neck free itself.
"Watch the fate of Iwa, Tsuchikage-dono. This is the value of your pride," I said. Toshiro brought his hands together, and in a chain of explosions, each one bigger than the last, Iwa fell. The wall was first, giving us an unobstructed view of the buildings that remained collapsing to rubble thanks to specially placed charges. Good. It took about five minutes in all, but when it finished, I cast my Byakugan across the breadth of Iwa and smiled when I saw nothing taller than my knee.
"And what do you have to say about that, Tsuchikage-dono? Would it not have been better to bend rather than break?" I said, turning to her.
"Worth it," she said and then spat a rock that I caught before it even got close enough to reach my head. And then I dropped it like a hot potato when I felt the saliva still on it. "You will forever be remembered as the Tsuchikage who lost Iwa their home. The last Tsuchikage."
"Like I said, worth it."
"You should be out there." I heard her footsteps—cane moving before feet followed—before I heard her voice speak. I hadn't turned around, but then again, I had sensed her chakra walk into the building minutes earlier. She was moving slower than she should have. Her voice was quieter as well.
"Doing what? I'm more useful in here. Thinking."
"Celebrating your victory. If you must put everything in political terms like your insufferable granduncle, then be seen with the people in their moment of joy," she said.
"A moment of joy. I wonder how many have lost family in this war."
"It could be all of them, and it would not matter because, in the end, you gave them victory."
"Does the same apply to you?" I asked, turning around for the first time. "Does Tsunade's death not matter because we won in the end?"
"It matters. But in the end, it means she gave her life for something. For this village."
"Fuck the village," I said, and I wasn't surprised when she took a step back, eyes flickering about the room. It was not a wise thing to say as Hokage, but fuck it. "Tsunade didn't die for the village. She died for me. Chiyo went after her because she was related to me. I was the one she wanted, and when she saw she could not have me, she turned right around and went for the next best thing. She wanted me to hurt. Me. Not Konoha, me. It was personal," I said, words flooding out of me like a torrent. Once one left, the rest followed in no time, defying any attempt to stop or control the tide.
"Indeed. And will you allow her to win? Stand here sulking like an outcast while Hiruzen no doubt whispers his poison into the ears of those who will listen?"
"Chiyo won't win. Whatever joy she gets from causing me pain won't match what I will do to her in return," I said. The letter I had sent the second I'd gotten back to the office would see to that. Because Suna was the object of my attention now, and one way or another, I would have my vengeance.
"And in your search for revenge, you will allow your grandfather's village to slip from your fingers. Don't be stupid, my son. I raised you to be a lot of things. Stupid was never one of them. Get down there. Show off some ninjutsu for the children. Dance with a Yamanaka maiden or two. Play Shogi with the Nara. Cement yourself as their Kage. It is not enough to be a warrior. Now, you must be a father."
"I can't. I close my eyes for a second, and I see her smile. Every time I dare to sleep, she's there asking me why. Why I couldn't help, why I didn't put Chiyo down when I had the chance. Why I sent her there knowing I didn't even need her in fucking Iwa. Why…"
"Do you think I don't hear Tobi's voice as well? Do you think my conscience has cleared me for sending him to save my family and having him not come back? I had hoped this would change with the village, but all the village has done is not prepare you adequately. You will love, and you will lose that love. My children, my husband, my siblings, cousins, friends, all dead. Each one is another voice in my head. And one day you will have so many voices that they will all blend together. Now leave here. Do what you must. If you fail to rule in the present for fear of a ghost in your ear, then you might as well be dead." Her voice was colder than I'd ever heard it.
"Yes, Grandmother." And what choice did I have but to obey?
"May I cut in?" I heard another voice cut in during the middle of the dance as I spun Kira Yamanaka—or was it Yumi? It was impossible to tell with the two of them. Well, as I spun one of Inoken's sisters around the floor.
"Kind of in the middle of—" I said without even turning to Uzume, not wanting to be rude. Grandmother had specifically mentioned dancing with the Yamanaka, and I had little doubt there was some game she was playing there. I wouldn't want to go and achieve the exact opposite of whatever it was she wanted.
"No, no. I think I see my sister looking for me," Yumi? Kira? said, looking over at Uzume over my shoulder and seeming to go a few shades paler.
"Oh, alright then," I said, trying and mostly failing not to let my mirth show on my face. I turned around to see that she had changed out of her armor for a simple Kimono. Well, simple for the Uchiha. It was made well, black, and had flames licking at the bottom. It fit her well, I thought.
"Really? Flashing scary Sharingan eyes at Yumi Yamanaka?" I asked.
"That was Kira," she said.
"I knew it," I said, finding my first guess had been accurate enough. Her look was far from pleasant as she regarded me. "And what is with the sudden interest in the Yamanaka?" she asked, her tone implying something.
"Nothing. Grandmother mentioned dancing with them, so I just figured," I said with a shrug as I accepted her into my arms. One arm went to her waist and the other to her shoulder.
"She did, did she? Perhaps I should speak to the Yamanaka myself."
"You have dealings with them?"
"Not at the moment, no," she said. "But that's enough about the Yamanaka."
"You asked about it in the first place," I shot back.
"And now I'm changing the subject. I didn't expect to see you here. I don't think anyone did."
"Grandmother," I said, like that meant everything, and it did. "I didn't take you for the impromptu festival kind either," I said.
"A bird whispered that you were here, and I had to come see for myself."
"A bird?" I asked, looking about with my Byakugan. I could spot a certain Hyuga girl off to the side watching us dance with a smirk on her face. "Uraume?"
"Ask me no questions, and I will tell you no lies," she said, basically confirming that it had been my Hyuga cousin who had called her here.
"Well, now you've seen me," I said.
"And you will keep dancing if you know what is good for you," she said pointedly when the music of the present song came to a stop and I made a motion as if to step back.
"Of course. Whatever you say," I said as I led her around the floor in another dance. I hadn't even known that Uzume could dance, if I was being honest. I knew Uraume and I had had classes, but that was a Hyuga thing more than anything else. I didn't imagine the Uchiha of all people would have all that much interest in giving their children that kind of training. Any kind of training that didn't make them better at killing people seemed like the kind of thing they would consider an absolute waste of time. At least, that wasn't the case. And Uzume was a brilliant dancer. Part of it had to be our bodies understanding each other better than anything else, of course. If she shifted her weight, I could tell where she wanted to move instinctively, even before my brain registered it, and I was already moving to match her.
"So what next?" she asked.
"What if I don't want to think about that? What if I just want to sit and enjoy the moment? Stop and smell the roses, if you would," I said.
"You? I'd believe it when I see it. That head of yours doesn't know how to stop thinking. For you, there's always a problem to solve. Always an issue to deal with. It's the one thing that is truly consistent about you all the time. You never stop."
"Sounds like you're a fan."
"I admire it, yes. How no matter what happens, you never get bogged down. It's always onwards and forwards, and almost always for something bigger. A fact that has me apprehensive considering the last thing we did. So tell me what is on your mind so I know if I have to start planning a conspiracy to tie you to your bed," she said, and I laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. I had no control over it. My head just tilted back of its own accord, and the loud, boisterous thing escaped my mouth without giving me a choice in the matter. It took longer than it should have for me to get myself under enough control to stop. And when I did, it was to find Uzume looking at me with a strange sort of smile. The kind that said she wasn't sure whether to laugh with me or see to it that I got some help.
"Well, if you must know, I've been thinking."
"Never a good thing," she said, and I couldn't help but laugh again.
"Yes, yes. But war is easy. Ruling is going to be much harder. For war, I just had to point you all at an enemy and go kill them. But now I actually have to figure out shit. We need to get the academy back on track. The missions we've been rejecting need to start getting accepted, and we need to announce that we are open for business very early on. The gold we took from Iwa means we have money to burn for some time, and I think we need to put that to good use. Part of me wants to change how we approach paying shinobi. Another part wants to focus on the academy. We have so much we learned from our clans that we could include in the academy from the jump and get the genin off to a more equal start. Then there is Kusa and our situation there. I annexed it on a whim, but I can't really go back on that because the country would just fall into chaos, and beyond that, it's a useful buffer zone between our main border and Earth. We could even use them as a feeder for talented shinobi and a place to send those who don't really impress here. Then there's the fact that even with everything, we're still technically at war. I've sent terms to Suna, but as for Mizu and Kumo, it's impossible to say what's going on there one way or another, and—"
"Breathe," she cut in. I snapped the genjutsu in an instant, sending her a tired look while she smiled. "It felt like I was going to watch you talk until you ran out of air. Why do you even have so much on your mind? I know I made a joke about it, but do you actually ever stop?"
"With so much to do? How could I ever?"
"Quite easily. Dance with me some more, Shorirama. And no thinking. Just focus on my movements," she said.
"I don't think it's going to be that easy to prevent my brain from working," I said, and it wasn't.
"Really? Watch me," she said, and then, in full view of what had to be the entire fucking village, she pushed her body so close to mine that there wasn't enough space between us for air to pass. And then she leaned up and planted a kiss on my cheek. She was right. I didn't do any thinking after that.
URAUME
"You'd have thought that it would have taken them less time than it has to figure out that they like each other." She heard the voice behind her and didn't even bother to turn. She had seen Shikahime's approach from a mile away—literally. Scouting with her Byakugan was a bit of caution that she was unsure would ever leave her after the war. Getting caught off guard out there would have meant a quick death and a shallow grave. Those instincts weren't the kind to leave quickly.
"Sadly, I think our cousin is the one delaying things now. Uzume seems to have a good grasp of what she feels and how she feels it," she said in reply.
"Hmmm. Then why the delay? They've been dancing around each other since before we even became genin all those years ago. She should grab him and take him to a dark enough corner. Even he can't be oblivious with her mouth around his—"
"Do not be crass, Cousin. She is scared that he will not feel the same, and he, on the other hand, has not thought about it much," she replied. It still shocked her that Shorirama still had not realized just what their Uchiha friend felt for him. For such a smart man, he could be so blind sometimes. The irony of which never ceased to get to her. He could see in far more detail than she could, after all.
"Well, she has to get his head out of his arse sooner or later. I can't imagine that Yumi or Kira would do all that much waiting when they see an opening," Shika said.
"If you want your friend's sisters to survive the year, I'd suggest advising them to stay away. I've seen the kind of things Uzume can do with her genjutsu."
"If she won't make a move, why should she be so offended when someone beats her to the punch? All's fair in love and war, and all that." Uraume had to turn to make sure it was actually Shikahime she was talking to and not someone else. No one who even knew Uzume slightly well would make the mistake of expecting reasonable behavior from the Uchiha girl when it came to something she had strong feelings about.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll tell the girls to back off," she said when the incredulous look Uraume was pinning her with sunk in.
"Good. It would be for their own good. And while you are at it, tell their mother to stop the games she is playing with Mito Uzumaki. A ticked-off Uchiha burning down the Yamanaka district is not the kind of mess I want on my shoulders," she said.
"Your shoulders? So you're going to take the job then?" she asked.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Uraume turned back toward Shorirama's dancing form. The offer to become the head of the Anbu had not come out of the blue. She had been the de facto head since Shorirama took the position at the village's helm, after all, and Dragon perished in the retreat from Frost. But Shikahime had been an actual member of the organization before the war began. How would she deal with an outsider taking charge of her organization?
"None at all. Just wanted to know who to inform of my resignation."
"You've received an offer as well?" she asked.
"Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Strategy. A new division of the Konoha military. I anticipate that we'll be working together a lot in the future."
"Indeed."
A/N: We see some of the steps Shorirama is taking in the aftermath of the war to keep things on track and ultimately build a better village. Next six up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)(same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.