In the shade of the thick canopy cloaking the mountain east of Tanimagakure, three masked men sat on a fallen log, their eyes fixed expectantly on a fourth, perched in a tree and gazing down from his vantage point at the valley below. At the trio's feet lay ten girls of varying ages, knocked senseless and bound from head to foot in rope.
"Well?" Shigaraki Tanuki eagerly called to the man in the tree. He was a rather gaunt man in a white lab coat, and he was wearing a raccoon dog mask. "Are we still on?"
The low buzzing sound Tanuki had been hearing grew steadily louder, until a cloud of Kikaichū came into view through the trees, swarming around the masked Aburame clan member perched on the high branch. The insects informed him that the marked female was lying completely flat on her back, and that the old female was making the agreed-upon signal with her chakra.
"The Hokage's disciple has refused the order, so Lady Koharu has given us the go-ahead," replied the Aburame clansman codenamed Grasshopper, who wore a mask not unlike that of a Kamen Rider. "Work fast, the enemy search party is approaching fast."
There were only so many places where they could hide in the limited space of a pocket dimension, and the Manyū knew these mountains like the backs of their own hands. They would be overrun within minutes.
"Elephant, Snake," said Tanuki authoritatively. "Go down there and buy us some time."
"Yes!"
Though the order amounted to a death sentence, the fat and thin masked men agreed without hesitation and flickered away. Even if the enemy chose to spare them, they would take their own lives the moment they were defeated, to ensure the secrets of Root remained buried.
Tanuki selected one of the older girls and, with a swipe of his kunai, sliced through her bindings. He flipped her onto her stomach and lifted her shirt, revealing her smooth back. Pressing his hand to her back, he stifled a grunt as he transferred his life force into the intricate sealing formulae that swirled outwards from his palm to her skin like an angry red welt.
"Fūinjutsu: Gozu Tennō!"
The scientist sank back onto his posterior, breathing heavily as he examined his rapidly greying, cracking skin with a mixture of fascination and weariness. But the sound of swords clashing nearby abruptly pulled him from his reverie, and he scooped up three of the baby girls they had kidnapped into his arms.
"Grasshopper!" he barked.
The man wearing the mask with the antennae leapt down to Tanuki's side, placed his hand on his shoulder and performed a one-handed sign, undoing the Summoning Jutsu and reversing their summoning to vanish from the pocket dimension just as Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and a group of Manyū kunoichi arrived, weapons drawn and slick with blood.
"Shit, they got away!" Naruto shouted in dismay.
"The children!" Munekichi said happily as she ran up to the pile of unconscious girls.
But as she counted the bodies, her expression quickly fell. Three were missing, including the patriarch's newborn granddaughter. The kidnappers had retreated to the outside world, and there was no way to follow them.
"That one was cut free," said Kakashi, indicating the girl in question, whose bindings lay under her. "Would you mind if I had a look at her?"
He started towards her, but a tall kunoichi with measly C-cups blocked his way.
"Actually, I would, outsider," she said harshly, before turning to her comrades. "Come, sisters. We're going back to the village."
…
With their help no longer required, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were sent back to join Sakura in confinement. Thankfully, they were moved from their gloomy underground cell to an airier room, though they were still kept under strict watch. Each day, Koharu and Chiriku came to assure them of progress without getting into too many details, and to ask for their continued patience as the negotiations went on.
At last, three days later, Team Seven was freed and escorted to the patriarch's audience chamber at the top of the castle keep. Koharu and Chiriku were already seated in seiza before the dais, while the patriarch's extended family sat to one side of the room, guarded by numerous kunoichi dressed in white and armed with longswords.
"After much deliberation, we have reached an agreement," rumbled Lord Munenori. "Chiriku-dono, would you announce the terms of our accord to all present?"
Chiriku stood to face the audience and bowed.
"In exchange for breaking the Uzumaki Fūinjutsu that holds them prisoner on their mountain," he explained, "Lord Munenori has graciously agreed to join the Hidden Leaf Village as its newest noble clan. The Manyū clan will retain a minor military presence in their ancestral lands, but the bulk of their forces will relocate to the largely unoccupied Uchiha District."
Though he was almost certain that the Hidden Leaf Village had orchestrated the kidnappings, Lord Munenori had had no choice but to yield to their demands and feign ignorance of the glaringly obvious truth.
Though he had been only a year old when the Leaf was founded and had never seen the chaos of the Warring States era for himself, he knew well enough that the Senju and Uchiha clans were unrivalled on the battlefield.
But if his theory concerning Sakura held water, that would soon be set to change…
"However, the patriarch has a few additional demands," Chiriku said. "The first is the following: as she carries the blood of the fiftieth clan head, Sakura and her parents must abandon the name Uchiha and officially join the Manyū clan."
"You want me to change my name again?" Sakura sighed. "Okay, I suppose I can live with that…"
However, Chiriku wasn't finished.
"Secondly, Sakura must marry—"
"NOPE!" said Sakura at once.
"—and should she refuse to marry into the clan, she must instead surrender her firstborn daughter to the Manyū clan leader for adoption."
"NO WAY!" shouted Naruto and Sasuke at the same time.
At the sound of each other's voices, they both turned sharply to glower at one another.
"I called dibs, remember?" said Naruto hotly. "You had your chance, pretty boy, but Sakura's totally in love with me now, didntcha know?"
"Sakura's ancestor married an Uchiha, in case you've forgotten," said Sasuke coolly. "She's as much a part of the Manyū as she is Uchiha. It is our duty to rebuild the clan—" He cleared his throat and added in a small voice, glancing away, clearly embarrassed, "— together."
"Oi," said Sakura flatly. "Just when did I agree to become your baby factory?"
Sakura wasn't particularly keen on becoming a stay-at-home mum, as most of the Konoha Twelve's womenfolk had ended up after the war. After all, she'd just witnessed childbirth firsthand, and it wasn't pretty. At most, she'd pop out two and a half babies— no more.
All right, maybe three, if she was in the mood. But that would be it— for realsies, this time!
"And lastly…"
There was more!?
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stared daggers at Chiriku.
"Several of the clan's kunoichi have been found derelict in their guard duties, resulting in the kidnapping of three members of the younger generation," Chiriku said gravely. "For their grievous negligence, Lord Munenori has passed sentence. They must be punished."
It was to be expected. After seventy years of peace and isolation, the guards had lost all sense of danger.
"Lord Munenori, Patriarch of the Manyū clan, hereby decrees that, as one of the noble princesses of the Manyū, Sakura must fulfil the obligations of her station, for only the main branch may pass judgment on a fellow clanswoman," Chiriku announced. "Sakura must carry out Breast Execution upon those responsible for this tragedy."
Shocked gasps rippled through the audience chamber.
"ALL RIGHT!" shouted Naruto giddily. He knew where this was going, and he liked it!
"Oh shit," said Sakura, her face turning white. "I hope it's not too many…"
In this boob-worshipping microcosm, Breast Execution was the second-highest form of punishment in the Manyū clan, surpassed only by outright execution through decapitation. More than seventy years had passed since such a grave sentence was last carried out…
"I have found the following kunoichi guilty of neglecting their duties," said Lord Munenori calmly. He proceeded to name three individuals, the last of whom was, "Manyū… Munekichi."
The patriarch fixed Sakura with a stare.
He had made many concessions during the negotiations, but it would all be worth it if she truly was whom he believed her to be. If Sakura truly carried Chifusa's blood, the bloodline of the Munamori's princess, then this hybrid had the potential to make the Manyū the most powerful clan in the world, surpassing even the mighty Uchiha and Senju clans…