"Cough!"
Aoba cleared his throat, drawing Shizune's attention over, "Shizune-neesan, nothing's happened in the village these past few days, right?"
Shizune gave Aoba a resentful look and sat back down in her chair.
"What could possibly happen? Everything's normal."
After guarding an empty house alone for more than a week, her resentment was practically tangible.
Aoba of course noticed it too, but with outsiders present, this wasn't the time or place for anything else. So he changed the subject and began introductions.
"This is Fu from Takigakure, the Seven-Tails' jinchuriki."
"Hello! My name's Fu."
Seeing Aoba begin to introduce her, Fu happily stepped forward and held out her right hand to Shizune.
"Can we be friends?"
"?"
Shizune blinked, momentarily taken aback. Fu's attitude was far from what she expected of a jinchuriki.
But she still extended her hand and shook it.
"Hello, I'm Shizune. Welcome to Konoha."
"Fu will be living in Konoha for a while. I'll leave the arrangements to you, Shizune-neesan," Aoba continued.
"Living for a while?", Shizune glanced at Fu, then back at Aoba, looking even more displeased.
"You're not going to explain properly?"
"Takigakure was attacked by Akatsuki. We were worried she might be targeted again, so we brought her back here. Besides, this was Sensei's suggestion."
Aoba wasn't lying. It really had been Tsunade's idea back when they were in the Land of Iron.
Maybe at the time, Tsunade hadn't realized the Seven-Tails' jinchuriki was a girl.
"Lady Tsunade…", Shizune hadn't expected it to be her idea either. Biting her lip, she turned toward Kakuzu and Sasori, who had been silent the whole time.
"And who are they?"
"They're the two Akatsuki members who attacked Takigakure, Kakuzu and Sasori."
"What?"
Shizune's eyes widened in shock. She'd thought Kakuzu looked familiar earlier, but never imagined two Akatsuki members would just stroll into the Hokage building.
"Is Konan-nee at the Hokage offices right now?", Aoba asked.
"Uh…", Shizune nodded instinctively.
"Then I'll take these two to her. Shizune-neesan, I'll leave Fu to you."
"Eh?", Before Shizune could say anything more, Aoba was already leading Kakuzu and Sasori out of the Hokage's office.
"You're planning to have us work under the deputy leader again?", Kakuzu asked curiously.
"Is that a problem?", Aoba replied.
"No." ×2
Kakuzu and Sasori shook their heads in unison.
Still, they couldn't shake the feeling that maybe this "defection" had been for nothing.
When they reached Konan's office door and saw the two large words "FINANCE DEPARTMENT" written on it, Kakuzu suddenly thought this might not be such a bad place after all.
Aoba knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Konan's cool, clear voice came from within.
Aoba opened the door.
"You're back?"
When Konan saw who it was, she immediately stood up, pleasantly surprised.
But the movement she was about to make, to rush over, froze the moment she noticed the two figures behind him.
"Kakuzu? Sasori?"
"Long time no see, Deputy Leader."
Kakuzu and Sasori greeted her awkwardly.
They were surprised by her reaction. Back in Akatsuki, she'd always been cold and expressionless, never even smiling.
For some reason, both of them suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Pain.
"Aoba, what's going on here?", Konan turned toward him.
"It's a long story," Aoba smiled, walking up and picking up the cup on her desk to take a sip.
Konan blinked. There was only one person in this office, meaning that cup was hers.
But she didn't mind.
"Then make the long story short."
Konan sat back down, a little annoyed.
"They attacked Takigakure, trying to capture the Seven-Tails' jinchuriki. We happened to be there. After my… patient persuasion, they abandoned the darkness, left Akatsuki, and joined Konoha."
Aoba summarized briefly.
Konan's expression turned strange.
She didn't blame Kakuzu and Sasori for defecting so easily. After all, she wasn't really in a position to judge.
Besides… knowing him, his so-called 'patient persuasion' probably meant he beat them half to death, held a kunai to their throats, and then started persuading them.
Can't really blame them for choosing life.
Still, Akatsuki didn't have many members to begin with. Uchiha Itachi was very likely a Konoha agent too.
At this rate, Akatsuki was being hollowed out piece by piece.
"If Nagato finds out, he might come after you…", Although they had an agreement, Aoba had now made the first move against Akatsuki members. Nagato likely wouldn't sit idly by anymore.
"That's why I plan to go to Amegakure in a few days. Will you come with me, Konan-nee?"
"Mm."
Konan agreed without hesitation.
She was worried they might end up fighting, and if she was there, she could help keep things under control.
"Good. I'll let you know when it's time," Aoba replied.
"So you want me to keep these two under my supervision?", Konan gestured toward Kakuzu and Sasori.
Aoba nodded. "You were Akatsuki's deputy leader, you understand them better than I do."
"All right."
Konan suddenly felt something strange.
She'd clearly left Akatsuki, yet it didn't feel like she had.
From what Aoba said, it sounded like he even planned to recruit Nagato into Konoha someday.
If that happened, she, the first one to defect, might ironically end up as Akatsuki's new 'leader.'
"Mm. In that case, I'll leave them to you, Konan-nee. I've got something else to handle."
After giving instructions, Aoba turned to leave, planning to check on Fu's situation.
"Wait!", Konan suddenly called out to him.
"Konan-nee?"
"Are you coming home for dinner tonight?"
"Yeah."
———
Aoba returned to the Hokage's office.
It seemed the two women had finished talking, Shizune was working through papers at her desk, while Fu sat restlessly on the sofa, glancing around like she couldn't sit still.
When she saw Aoba come in, her face immediately brightened.
"Shizune-neesan, have you finished arranging things for Fu?", Aoba asked first.
Shizune looked up, "Since her safety's the priority, she'll stay at Lady Tsunade's place."
"For daily routine, she'll attend the Ninja Academy. If you're free now, take her to meet Iruka."
Iruka was currently the head of the Ninja Academy. Having once been the homeroom teacher for Aoba's own prodigy class, plus his skill and responsible attitude, he'd naturally been promoted.
"The Ninja Academy?"
Aoba looked a little surprised, he hadn't expected Shizune to make that kind of arrangement.
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