"Lord Raikage, after crunchin' the numbers these past few days, I can tell ya straight: for over a year, Chief Uchiha Makoto's been playin' ball with every damn plan Cloud Village threw his way."
"No sketchy moves, no red flags hintin' he was fixin' to bounce from the village."
Inside the Raikage's office, Azuki's voice stayed ice-cold and pro, like she was givin' a textbook mission debrief. She kept any personal crap locked down tight.
"From what I saw firsthand, plus what Lord Bee described, that night it was Shisui of the Body Flicker and another Uchiha sneakin' in, plannin' this shit for ages. They straight-up kidnapped the chief."
She paused just long enough to let it sink in, then kept rollin' with that "zero-bullshit" analyst tone.
"Key detail: while they were draggin' him out, the chief still managed to leave a note. That screams he wasn't leavin' willingly."
"At the very least, he was tryin' to ping the village somehow. Usin' Flying Thunder God to fight back? Pure survival instinct."
"Hell, odds are Shisui and the other Uchiha forced his hand."
Azuki's words hit like a sniper rifle: every syllable calculated, layin' out cold facts while low-key paintin' Makoto as the victim. She never outright defended him; just steered the evidence so the conclusion wrote itself. Classic misdirection.
Bottom line? She wanted Makoto's ass scrubbed clean of blame and every ounce of guilt dumped on Itachi and Shisui.
Samui watched Azuki take the lead, her plump lips twitchin' like she wanted to jump in, but she bit her tongue. Ever since wakin' up from Shisui's nasty genjutsu and coolin' off, she'd replayed that night on loop. Makoto's weird-ass behavior stuck out like a neon sign.
The three of them had been crashin' together every night, no barriers, sleepin' buck-ass naked; it was their routine.
But that night? Makoto flat-out demanded both girls bundle up head-to-toe before hittin' the sack.
Dude knew somethin' was comin'.
Samui wrestled with it, but in the end she swallowed the words. A cocktail of betrayal sting, guilt for the village, and some mushy crap she couldn't name churned in her gut.
The Fourth Raikage's hawk-sharp eyes zeroed in on every twitch Samui and Azuki made while reportin'. Azuki's face? Flawless urgency and loyalty. Samui? One split-second hesitation, eyes dodgin' left. Bingo; somethin' was off.
He never doubted the girls' loyalty to Cloud. But c'mon; they'd been livin', eatin', and bangin' the same guy for over a year. Ninjas are human, not robots. Feelings creep in, especially when the original mission was literally "get closer than close" to the target.
The Raikage looks like a meathead gorilla on steroids, but the dude's sittin' pretty as Kage for a reason; sharp as a tack, reads people like comic books.
Still, some shit you don't say out loud as boss. He flicked a glance at Darui's old man, Tutai, standin' beside him.
Tutai, cagey vet with perfect sync to the Raikage, caught the signal and stepped up. His one eye narrowed, voice turnin' interrogation-room serious.
"Samui, anything you wanna add to Azuki's rundown?"
"Or maybe some weird detail she missed?"
Samui's brow twitched, but she locked it down fast. Head shake. Flat tone. "Nope. Azuki covered everything I know."
Off to the side, Yugito leaned against the wall, arms crossed, cat-slit eyes glintin' like she was piecin' together a puzzle nobody else saw. No clue what was brewin' in that head.
Raikage sucked in a breath, shoved his emotions into a box, and had Samui hand over Makoto's crumpled note.
He snatched the ratty paper, eyes rakin' over the chicken-scratch handwritin' and the balls-to-the-wall blunt message.
His face did a full mood-swing carousel: pissed, resigned, frustrated, choked-up… then, buried deep under the scowl, a micro-second of "you gotta be kiddin' me" smirk.
This Uchiha punk was a freakin' legend. Not only did he pull insane stunts, he left goodbye notes that were straight-up performance art.
The office went dead quiet except the Raikage's heavy, pissed-off breathin'. Air thick enough to chew.
After an eternity, he slammed the note on the desk; WHACK! Papers jumped like they'd been tased.
Samui and Azuki both winced.
Raikage's voice dropped low and lethal. Final call.
"Move your asses! Pick the best of the best, form an elite envoy squad, cook up a bulletproof excuse, and haul ass back to the Leaf!"
"Mission's simple: make secret contact with Uchiha Makoto. Whatever it takes; bribes, blackmail, sweet-talk, I don't care; drag that punk's ass back to Cloud Village!"
The second the words left his mouth, Samui and Azuki stepped forward in perfect sync, voices overlapping.
"Lord Raikage, let me go!"
Headin' to the Leaf for this? Suicide run. After the last snatch-and-grab, Konoha and the Uchiha were on red alert. Nine-lives-to-one odds. Didn't faze the girls one bit.
But before the Raikage could answer, Tutai shut it down.
"Samui, Azuki; your main gig this past year was playin' live-in maids to the chief. Training time got gutted, power-ups stalled."
"This op's a marathon and high-stakes. Better leave it to stealth and recon pros."
"Your priority? Git gud, fast. Don't waste that talent."
Raikage mulled it, stayed quiet. Deep down he trusted the girls, but the nightmare scenario? They hit the Leaf, see Makoto, and the silver-tongued bastard flips 'em. Or worse; they ghost and never come back.
Lose the kid and two future superstars? Yeah, no. Village couldn't eat that L.
Atmosphere in the office turned funeral-parlor heavy. Darui stood front and center, still rockin' his trademark "I'd rather be napping" slouch.
Dark skin, messy white hair, bangs swallowin' his left eye like he gave zero fucks. "Thunder" and "Water" tattoos on his shoulders, giant blade strapped to his back.
Only dude to inherit the Third Raikage's black lightning, rockin' the Storm Release bloodline. Swordplay plus lightning on steroids; village golden boy and Raikage bodyguard-in-waiting.
The hot-potato mission? Landed square on Darui.
He scratched his white mop, mouth droopin'. "Man, what a drag… this kinda hassle…"
Tone pure Shikamaru-level "troublesome."
But if you squinted, you'd catch the glint under those lazy lids; predator waitin' to pounce.
"Quit whinin' like a little bitch!" Raikage roared, slammin' a dinner-plate hand on the desk again. Files did another jump-scare.
"Success only, failure's not an option! You know how bad we need that kid for the future!"
"Flip the damn Leaf upside down if you have to; just bring him back in one piece!"
"Yeah, yeah, got it…" Darui drawled, but his spine straightened a hair.
In the corner, Samui and Azuki heard the final roster call; they were officially benched.
Samui's face stayed arctic, ice-blue eyes givin' nothin' away.
Azuki let a flicker of disappointment and worry slip before lockin' it down.
Almost in sync, their eyes met. No words needed.
A year-plus of shared nights, shared fights, shared everything; built a bond tighter than blood. One glance and the message was crystal: We're not sittin' this out.
Makoto got snatched on their watch, plus he'd saved their lives. Public duty, private debt; didn't matter. This was their mess.
Subtle nod. Silent pact.
Plan A's off the table? Cool. Plan B: go rogue.