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>>4163486
“Then tell me… what is all this?”

Konan-han considers her response for several minutes, quietly finishing her cup of sake before holding it out. You pour, and she begins.

“I was only five years old when I met Yahiko. We were already orphans by then, surviving by stealing food together… ‘Pain’ was six, a year older than me, when we met him later that year. Back then I knew little about him, or about the Rinnegan. No more than he himself knew. What we did know was that were it not for each other we would all be alone in the world, completely helpless.”

“We met Jiraiya-sensei during the war, and over the objections of Orochimaru and Tsunade he decided to train us all. At first I assumed he felt guilty over what happened in Amegakure as a result of the war, however he eventually explained that he knew the significance of the Rinnegan. That was part of why he decided to train us for three years… because he knew of the myths surrounding it.”

“Summarize them for me, please,” you ask.

“That the bearer of the Rinnegan would become a God… either of creation, or of destruction. They possess exotic powers, which go beyond the normal rules that the rest of us must follow.”

“So Jiraiya was right to train him,” you suggest. “But I gather things didn’t go the way that any of you planned.”

Konan shakes her head sadly. “No. For a while we were successful… Yahiko’s ideals guided Akatsuki, though Yahiko himself believed that he was simply laying the groundwork for Pain to change the world. He believed in Pain and the Rinnegan even more than he believed in himself.”

“And then he died. That part you already know…”

“And your place in all this?”

Konan is quiet for a while. “No one has ever asked.”

“I’m asking now,” you insist. “I already know that you and Pain don’t see eye to eye on everything.”

“True,” Konan admits. “I swore when I was a child that I would help to make our childish dreams into a reality, and when Yahiko died he entrusted everything to Pain.”

“The man who would be god,” you muse. “But what kind of god did Yahiko think he would become, and is that the same as what Pain wants now?”

“I cannot deny that Pain is a different person than he was before… the experience of Akatsuki’s destruction and our friend’s death changed him.

“Is that why you’ve never called him by his name when we’ve talked?” you ask.
>2/3

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>>4163490
Though she looks guilty, Konan-han nods. “Yes. ‘Pain’ is who the boy I once knew has chosen to be. The identity of one who sees things as though from a god’s perspective.”

“You’ve mentioned that before,” you remind her. “But is a ‘god’s perspective’ what we actually need?”

“You have the same concerns as with the other members of Akatsuki,” Konan correctly assumes.

“A man who starts to think as though he were a god could be capable of… well, anything.”

Konan nods quietly in agreement. “You’re not wrong in that.”

“Then how far do you trust ‘Pain’ to carry on with the dreams of the three orphans who began Akatsuki?”

“It’s a difficult question,” Konan admits. “But I have to admit, there is… something that has sown seeds of doubt in even my own mind.”

“The one calling himself ‘Tobi’,” you guess.

“So you have heard.”

>Was HE the one who put a genjutsu on the former Mizukage Yagura? Because SOMEONE did, and I doubt it was Itachi.
>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?
>What has you concerned about him… and what have you done about it? I can’t see you as the passive type.
>Other?

>>4163493
>>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?
>>What has you concerned about him… and what have you done about it? I can’t see you as the passive type.
as accusing that might seem, i really can't see konan do *NOTHING*

>>4163493
>>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?
first one is getting away from this train of though

>>4163493
>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?

>>4163493
>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?
>Who is he? Why does he have any influence at all, when none of us know him? Why DON'T we know him? What does he have to hide from us? Konan-han, whatever's going on... you know it isn't right. Don't turn a blind eye to it. Listen to your heart.

test

>>4163493
>Other?
Kill self immediately.

>>4163493
>>What has you concerned about him… and what have you done about it? I can’t see you as the passive type.

>>4163493
>>How much influence does he have over Pain right now? And is that influence in keeping with Akatsuki’s old principles?
>>What has you concerned about him… and what have you done about it? I can’t see you as the passive type.
>>Was HE the one who put a genjutsu on the former Mizukage Yagura? Because SOMEONE did, and I doubt it was Itachi.

>>4163493
>>Was HE the one who put a genjutsu on the former Mizukage Yagura? Because SOMEONE did, and I doubt it was Itachi.

>>4163493
>Was HE the one who put a genjutsu on the former Mizukage Yagura? Because SOMEONE did, and I doubt it was Itachi.

Might as well go for the throat. Disappointed we didn't learn more about our dad.

>>4163493
>1d6, high roll
>best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4163654

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4163654

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4163654

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4163654

>>4163659
>>4163657
>>4163655
>>4163660
at least we got dubs

>>4163655
>>4163657
>>4163659
>>4163660
Big oof.

>>4163654
“… how great is his influence now?” you ask. “And is he pulling us in a direction that Yahiko would approve of?”

Konan rises from her seat. “Yahiko is dead.”

“But his dream can’t be,” you counter.

“Situations change, Naori. People change.”

“But did they change for the better?” you press. “Sensei… you can’t be serious right now.”

“The path that Tobi and Pain are walking is the only one which leads to our goal,” Konan asserts. “And my entire meaning in life is to see that goal achieved… if Pain believes that Tobi is right, then I will work to support him. If Pain believes that Tobi is a problem, then I’ve prepared a means of killing him.”

“Then you don’t trust him?” you press again, now on your feet as well.

“No,” Konan replies angrily. “Of course not.”

“And do you trust me?” you demand.

“Yes,” she replies, narrowing her gaze. “Why?”

“Then if I were to threaten to leave Akatsuki over the direction we may end up taking, what would you do? If I were to decide that Akatsuki had fallen too far from its own ideals to be salvaged?”

“That won’t happen,” she asserts.

“Seriously? You just said it yourself that you don’t trust Tobi, and it sounds like he has more sway with Pain now than you’re comfortable with. Hell, you don’t even call Pain by his real name because of how much he’s already changed.”

“Does this concern you, or not!?”

“We’ve had to adjust our expectations,” Konan-han admits, her tone still somewhat sharp for such an admission. "So it concerns me. But not enough to change my mind."

“Adjust your expectations? About how many lives to expect to lose?”

“Yes.”

“Then how many is Pain willing to accept losing?” you press. “Nine lives? A village? A nation? At what point does Akatsuki become as bad as people already think we are?”
>1/2

>>4163720
“It’s my duty as your former student to tell you when I think you’re wrong about something,” you declare.

“And you think I’m wrong to support Pain now that he’s listening to Tobi?” Konan demands.

You shake your head. “I think you were wrong to stop listening to yourself. I think you know in your heart how wrong it is, how dangerous it is that your childhood friend is playing god. And I think you’re sad about the direction he’s chosen.”

“And I personally think it’s sad that you’ve chosen to simply follow him rather than truly help him.”

Konan winces… her fist clenches and her muscles visibly tighten. “Why, damn it...”

“.. I know you’re young, and naive, like we were then. I know, logically, that I’m the one who’s right. So why do I feel like I’m the one who’s wrong?”

“Because you don’t want to be right,” you assert. “You want to believe in the dream you abandoned for being too naive. And you want your friend to believe in it again too.”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

There’s a long, drawn-out silence.

Then Konan-sensei pushes the door to your room open. “I need air. Excuse me.”

>Follow her.
>Wait for her to come back.
>Go home.
>Other?

>>4163752
>>Wait for her to come back.

>>4163752
>Wait for her to come back.

>>4163752
>>Wait for her to come back.

>>4163752
>>Wait for her to come back.

>>4163752
>>Wait for her to come back.

Well, that could have gone worse.

>>4163752
>cry like the 17 year old girl we are

>>4163752
>>Follow her.
This isn't gonna win but fck it. I want to Uzumaki

>>4163752
>Follow her.

We sound awfully sure of things. Where's this conviction coming from? I'm not complaining, just voicing how this comes across. Sure Tobi is suspicious, but Naori is sounding downright mutinous already off of hearsay. Admittedly he deserves every bit of it and then some, but that's still meta at this point.

And Konan must really trust us if she's openly discussing doubts which in canon are buried so deep that the rock has gone mushy.

Maybe it's an undocumented bloodline ability for Uzumakis to do this sort of thing.

>>4163752
>Follow her

>>4163752
>>Wait for her to come back.

>>4163752
In the end you choose not to follow her.

Instead, you find yourself compelled to slam your forehead against the wall in frustration… ‘tell me I’m wrong’, you said. What a joke. Normally you know better than to be so blunt, but instead you’ve just trampled on your former sensei’s feelings. Of course she’s upset since you basically stopped one step short of accusing her of betraying her lover’s memory.

But you can’t say that you were wrong to say it.

You’ve admired Konan-sensei for years. You didn’t just slavishly imitate her unique style of ninjutsu, you adapted it to fit your own needs so it would become a cornerstone of your abilities. You’ve long wanted to make her proud of your growth and accomplishments, and you know that she’s taken you into consideration since before you were even recruited into Akatsuki.

In any event, it’s strange to think that you just had a fight as though you were equals. Eventually you settle back in at the table, having worked out none of what the spat has made you feel.

It takes a half hour for a particularly morose-looking Konan to return, her eyes red and irritated.

“Are you...” you begin awkwardly.

She nods curtly. “Is your head okay?”

“It’s been better,” you admit.

“Thank you for giving me a few minutes to think,” Konan admits. “Had you followed me, I’m afraid I might have said or done something that couldn’t be taken back.

“Did you reach some conclusion?” you ask hesitantly.

Konan nods curtly. “Hanzō did more than rob us of Yahiko that day… what he truly took was our hope. Without that hope, everything we built withered into nothingness, which is when Tobi approached us.”

“And he took advantage of that,” you guess.

“I believe that was his intention,” Konan agrees, “though to what end even I cannot be sure. In any event, I decided something tonight after our… argument.”

“Please tell me what that is,” you reply, hoping for the best.
>1/2

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>>4165096
“I suppose after closer consideration Pain and I have been taking our orders from Tobi in secret,” she admits. “Recruiting S-rank criminals was his idea, to which we agreed. Taking the tailed beasts was also his idea, to which we agreed. He was the one who placed Karatachi Yagura under genjutsu as well… a measure to which we agreed.”

“But what I have come to realize is that none of that restored the hope Akatsuki had lost. What eventually restored my hope was meeting you, and training you, and seeing you succeed in the face of adversity. Hearing you espouse the same principles Yahiko held dear until the day he died.”

“… really?”

She nods curtly. “That’s why when you confronted me, it cut so much closer than I believed it could.”

>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?
>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.
>Then I’ll ask you for wide latitude in how I act from now on. Can you assure me that?
>Other?

>>4165176
>>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>that puts you, me ...
>would pain even listen?

>>4165176
>>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?
>>So that puts you, me, and Itachi-han all on the same page regarding Tobi.

>>4165176
>>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?
>>Then I’ll ask you for wide latitude in how I act from now on. Can you assure me that?

Guys, don't reveal informations about Itachi. That's not our secret.

>>4165176

>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
>>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
>>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
>And what about Pain? Would he even listen to you anymore at this point?

>>4165176
“Will Pain even listen to you anymore?” you ask quietly.

“I very nearly struck you before,” Konan-han admits, seemingly ashamed of herself. “And I agreed with what the substance of what you were saying. Pain most likely will not listen… and at this phase, why would he? I believe that taking the tailed beasts is currently our best option.”

“And do you disagree?”

You shake your head. “I had qualms about it when it meant taking the lives of their hosts, but if that remains nonlethal then that essentially clinches it.”

“I agree,” Konan-han nods curtly. “However, aren’t we thinking further ahead than that?”

“To a point after we’ve taken the tailed beasts.”

“Precisely.”

“There must also be a right and a wrong way to take the tailed beasts,” you admit. “In an order that does not leave an obvious target for the great nations.”

“Agreed,” Konan-han replies, “that would be consistent… but...”

“… but the question is more of what Tobi intends to do with the tailed beasts once he and Pain have them.”

“The man I knew wouldn’t use the tailed beasts as weapons,” Konan insists. “However, Pain is not the man I knew. I believe he would use a tailed beast in battle… there are ways to do this. The sharingan for example is said to be able to control even the nine-tails.”

“But you can’t say if he would use a tailed beast offensively,” you guess her line of thinking.

“Tobi may be thinking that,” Konan admits. “And Pain might agree… Naori, would you be willing to use a tailed beast like that?”

>Against a similar threat? Yes. But only if left no alternative.
>I guess that depends entirely on the nature of the tailed beast.
>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.
>Other?

>>4166650
>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.

>>4166650
>>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.
>They're a beast, but can they be reasoned with?
>People call shinobi weapons too. They're wrong.

>>4166650
>>4166687

>>4166650
>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.

>>4166650
>>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.

>>4166650
>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.

>>4166650
>No, I don’t think I would as a matter of principle.

>>4166650
>>4166687

>>4166650
Started the update too late, so it'll be early tomorrow instead.

>>4166650
“… I don’t think I would,” you admit.

Konan favors you with a quizzical look. “Explain your thinking.”

“They’re alive, aren’t they?” you reason. “The have chakra and genjutsu can affect them?”

“That seems to be the case,” Konan admits.

“If even my sword can be considered ‘alive’ then that should be the case,” you agree. “So should one treat a living, thinking being as a mere tool? Even if the form that life takes is different from ours?”

“So you see their re-imprisonment under our control as a simple change of scenery?”

You nod curtly. “Absolutely. They were sealed away for a reason, and all evidence suggests they’re a threat if we let them run loose. But there’s a clear difference between stealing them and using them, and that’s the moral line Akatsuki shouldn’t cross.”

“And so if Pain crosses that line...” Konan reasons. “I see.”

“It’s a hell of a line to cross,” you insist. “The last time a tailed beast attacked a village thousands were slaughtered… the whole world knows what a tailed beast can do, and it’s exactly that knowledge Akatsuki is taking advantage of.”

“As I said, I cannot say whether it will come to that,” Konan reiterates. “And if Pain is to be convinced of anything now it will need to be under extraordinary circumstances… only a single moment will present that opportunity. To seize that opportunity should it come I will need to remain precisely where I am.”

She hands you a sealing tag.

“However, if I am given any indication that Tobi and Pain intend to do something which goes against your moral convictions, I will give you advance notice and secure your safe withdrawal from Akatsuki and from Amegakure.”

“I understand,” you nod. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“It may never,” Konan replies. “But I’ve studied your adaptations of my Shikigami no Mai, so if it does come to that I will inform you via this tag. If it turns red that is a warning. If it turns black, then it is time for you to find your own path.”

Your response is to briefly embrace your former sensei… something you’ve had the urge to do for years.

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it.”
>1/2

>>4168351
“The time has come for Akatsuki to resume its mission,” Pain declares. “The next target is the one-tail beast Shūkaku, currently sealed inside the Fifth Kazekage.”

“That’s a pretty high-profile target,” Kisame muses. “May we at least hear your reasons?”

“Sunagakure and Konohagakure are currently in an alliance, with two tailed beasts between their villages,” Pain explains. “And Konoha’s must be sealed last. Taking Takigakure out of the picture changed little, but creating exploitable weaknesses among the great nations should be avoided.”

“Our reports suggest that Iwagakure has little control over its jinchūriki, meaning it will not be able to exploit any weakening of the Suna-Konoha alliance’s strength. Kirigakure is geographically isolated which plays to its favor, while Kumogakure currently is only within striking distance of Konoha which will lose its jinchūriki last.”

“So the next move will be to target a jinchūriki each from Iwa and Kumo in quick succession,” you suggest. “Then what?”

“That depends entirely on how the next three capture missions progress,” Itachi-han muses, “along with what happens when Isobu, the three-tailed beast, re-emerges.”

“That will come later,” Pain declares. “In the short term, team assignments will need to be shuffled again on a temporary basis. Sasori?”

“I have several deep-cover agents within Sunagakure’s jōnin council,” Sasori-han explains. “This will facilitate our entry into the village.”

“It is also wise to allow each member of Akatsuki to gain experience confronting jinchūriki,” Pain adds… actually not a bad idea. “Konan and Naori have both fought jinchūriki alongside me, and Itachi fought Karatachi Yagura alongside his previous partner Jūzō. Hidan and Kakuzu were the ones who captured the seven-tails jinchūriki.”

“Fū,” you correct him. “She has a name.”

“This means that another member of Akatsuki should accompany Sasori,” Pain continues, ignoring you. “One who has not yet fought a jinchūriki. I was thinking Deidara… unless Naori has any particular desire to fight against the one-tail jinchūriki herself and deny Deidara the valuable combat experience?”

>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.
>I’ll fight Gaara.
>Other?

>>4168380
>>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.

>>4168380
>So who will be my temporary partner? How about hidan?

Let's kill him, finally.

>>4168380
>I’ll fight Gaara.

>>4168380
>>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.

>>4168402
Yeah if Naori acts excited enough about it maybe they'll rethink whether it's a good idea or not.

>>4168380
>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.

Is there any actual reason to pick a temporary partner? Was there something else to get done that requires the other members of Akatsuki to be active as well?

Honestly interested in pairing with the others, just curious what for.

As for Hidan, the man would be amusing to hang around if he weren't so ill in the head. I don't even feel mad at this point. He's like a child.

Might be nice to study him and his technique again, though. Either to find a counter or just to advance our knowledge of chakra techniques.

>>4168445
>inb4 we get Kakuzu and he tries to kill us

>>4168380
>>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.

>>4168380
>>So who will be my temporary partner? Please not Hidan.
*cough*

>>4168380
Will update a little later in the evening.

>>4168380
“So who will I be paired with?” you ask, “and what will we be doing?”

“You are to be present in the hideout where the sealing will be performed,” Pain tells you. “You will accompany Itachi and Kisame, using your shadow clones to help provide cover for Sasori and Deidara’s withdrawal from Sunagakure.”

“A sensible precaution,” you agree.

…

“So how do you really feel about this mission?” Kisame eventually asks you, once you rendezvous in the physical sense just on the border of the Land of Wind.

“Conflicted, of course,” you admit. “I consider Gaara and his siblings to be my friends. All the more reason I need to get this right.”

“We will be meeting with Sasori’s contacts within Sunagakure after they enter the village,” Itachi-han explains. “How will you proceed?”

You form the hand seal and produce two shadow clones. “This should be more than sufficient to canvass the desert between Sunagakure and the hideout.”

“Understood and agreed,” Itachi nods curtly. “Then we’ll be seeing you once the sealing is set to begin.”

…

You are a shadow clone of Raishō Naori… at this time, possibly the deadliest shadow clone in existence. You and the other clone just like you have begun your patrol by spreading paper butteflies, each of which is either hidden in the sand or otherwise masked from easy detection. Since you have nothing to distract you, both of you take the few seconds of motionlessness required to enter sage mode. You also take a military rations pill just at sundown on the day when Sasori and Deidara are meant to capture Gaara.

Your fellow clone will do the same in three days’ time, as the consequences of your own use of the double-edged tool start to manifest.
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4168918
kisame hm?

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4168918

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4168918

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4168918

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>>4168918
The battle is a lot more pitched than you might have anticipated… a lot of powerful chakra being thrown about. But you can’t see any of it clearly, so you don’t know how bad the damage might be to Sunagakure itself. What you can tell is that casualties are remarkably light considering it’s Deidara doing the fighting, if there even are any casualties.

In the morning there’s a scuffle in the desert, though it doesn’t amount to much. Sasori and Deidara are presently on their way to the lair where your real self is waiting.

Your focus however must be on the chakra signatures rapidly approaching where you’ve hidden the bulk of your tracking butterflies. Swift as a hot wind you arrive in front of the group of Suna shinobi, genjutsu slowly revealing your presence like a shimmering mirage.

“… Naori, no...”

You turn to face the lead shinobi, none other than Temari.

She’s obviously upset by your appearance, in the uniform of the organization which just defeated and stole her little brother.

“Temari,” you greet her quietly.

A mousy-haired genin, one who you recognize from the chūnin exams, demands to know what you’re doing in an Akatsuki uniform. So that little student of Gaara’s recognizes you from back then…

“Please,” Temari pleads with you even as she draws a straight, double-edged sword from a scabbard at her waist. “Please tell me this isn’t happening.”

“I can’t do that,” you assert. “Me wearing this uniform isn’t something you expected.”

“Of course not!” Temari snaps. “I didn’t think...”

“There are two possible reasons for that,” you reply. “Either you misunderstood me, or you’ve misunderstood Akatsuki. But to clear something up, I haven’t changed. And at no point have I ever lied to you about my intentions.”

“You killed Fū!” she protests. “What possible misunderstanding could account for that!?”

“Fū isn’t dead,” you reply.

Temari stares at you in doubt. “Akatsuki is after the tailed beasts.”

“Correct,” you nod. “But Fū didn’t die. And if I have anything to say about it neither will Gaara.”

“… I don’t understand any of this!” Temari declares loudly. “What the hell do you mean, you’re extracting tailed beasts from their jinchūriki, aren’t you?”
>1/2

>>4168986
“I wouldn’t be cooperating with Akatsuki if I had no way to preserve the life of a jinchūriki,” you explain. “Seriously, I know this doesn’t look good… but I do have my reasons, and there are lines I’ll refuse to cross.”

“… how am I supposed to believe you?” she demands.

“You have no rational reason to,” you admit. “The only way I should have to prove myself is to bring your brother back to you alive at the end of this.”

“But until then, he’s your brother… and if you try to kill me here I’ll understand.”

“Teamri-san,” one of the senior shinobi of their slapped-together unit mutters to her. “What do we do?”

>Your instincts telling you to fight me are correct. I’m ready when you are.
>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.
>I refuse to fight you, Temari. No good will come of it, for anyone involved.
>Other?

>>4169019
>>Your instincts telling you to fight me are correct. I’m ready when you are.

Got a job to do.

>>4169019
>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169019
>>Your instincts telling you to fight me are correct. I’m ready when you are.

>>4169019
>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169019
>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169019
>>I refuse to fight you, Temari. No good will come of it, for anyone involved.

>>4169019
>>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169019
>I have no desire to fight you ...

>>4169019
>>Your instincts telling you to fight me are correct. I’m ready when you are.

>>4169019
how long can we hold sage mode for?

>>4169072
>since we learned the sword trick, probably indefinitely
Provided we are conscious/able to concentrate

>>4169076
I don't think the clones get copies of swordfu.

>>4169019
>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169019
kiss her

>>4169086
This, but at the end of the fight just before our clone poofs.

>>4169086
...honestly tempted, just to laugh, but also we've messed with Temari and her trust enough.
(maybe later)

>>4169019
>>I have no desire to fight you, but all this is a waste if I don’t stop you here.

>>4169081
Advanced clone techniques at the level of the shadow clone do in fact copy equipment. The only limitation seems to be complex mechanical devices.

>>4169019
>>Your instincts telling you to fight me are correct. I’m ready when you are.

>>I don’t suppose you’d back down to clear that two favors you still owe me?

>>4169205
>link to the post or it doesn't count

>>4169019
>1d6, DC 11
>best of three
>SP: 6/6
>ES: 0/2 (0T)

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4169337

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4169337

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4169337

>>4169337
Spend an SP to pass?
>Yes
>No

>>4169358
>>No

>>4169358
>Yes

>>4169358
>Yes

>>4169358
>>Yes
It’s just the one.

>>4169358
>>Yes

>>4169358
yes

>>4169358
>Yes

>>4169358
“Temari… I don’t want to hurt you or your comrades,” you insist quietly. “But if I simply let you pass, then everything that’s happened so far will be meaningless.”

“Then it seems we’re at an impasse,” Temari replies. “I have no choice.”

“You owe me twice over,” you remind her. “I know I can’t convince you to trust me, but I’d write those off just for you to consider my position… the reasons I might feel that I have to do this.”

She watches you carefully, with a look of dawning comprehension. “You’re… actually serious, aren’t you?”

You nod curtly. “Do you remember what I told you? In the forest after Naruto and I fought with Gaara?”

“You said you weren’t going to be the one to start the next world war,” Temari recalls.

“Nor would I sit back and watch someone else start it,” you repeat your own declaration to her from more than two years previously.

Temari weighs your words heavily.

“Temari-san!” the mousy-haired girl snaps. “What are we even doing!?”

She hurls a meteor chain in your direction… or else some other sort of weighted cord weapon. You hardly pay it any attention, simply sidestepping with the bare minimum of movement at the last possible instant.

Temari’s eyes widen slightly, before her brow furrows. “That movement...”

“Who cares!?” the genin protests, recovering the weighted end of her weapon. “We have to save Gaara, we’re just wasting time!”

“Matsuri!” one of the other jōnin, a woman with dark markings on her cheeks, barks. “Calm down… we’re dealing with an Akatsuki here, one like the man who defeated Gaara-dono single-handedly.”

“You can’t be so reckless… but Temari, I have to agree with her.”

After a moment, Temari shakes her head. “No. We were sent to patrol the border. Elder Chiyo and the teams from the Hidden Leaf will pursue the other Akatsuki.”

“How… how can you...”

“Naori,” Temari addresses you. “I didn’t even see you move just then… and that was no illusion, was it? If I’m right about you, you could have killed us all at any point.”

You glance down at the sand to her side. “I wasn’t gonna say it like that…”

“But it’s true.”

“… probably. Yes.”
>1/2

>>4169503
“But you didn’t want to,” she continues. “In fact you seem genuinely desperate to avoid harming anyone without need… you really haven’t changed at all.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” you sigh, “Akatsuki are still your village’s enemy for the present and foreseeable future. That is the way of the world, but it need not be the way of people, to borrow Gaara’s turn of phrase.”

“You’re serious?” Matsuri chuckles nervously. “I can’t believe I'm hearing this.”

“If it’s any consolation, Matsuri-kun,” you sigh, “I’m just a shadow clone. I’m not even really here.”

“… if you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you myself,” Temari threatens you. “And I still hope that Team Kakashi and elder Chiyo stop you. But for now… for now, we go our separate ways. A battle here won’t save my brother. It’ll only get my team hurt.”

“It's the right call,” you nod quietly. “And I seriously hope that when all this is over, we won’t have ‘enemies’ anymore.”

“If it ever comes to that, I’ll expect a proper apology.”

You sigh, turning your back on the group. “If it comes to that, you and your brothers will be at the top of the list.”

>tbc tomorrow

>>4169503
Damn. How would Naori ko 3 ninjas instantly?

>>4170219
sage mode is nice

>>4170219
It'd look a little like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwueXDPG6c&t=40

>>4170322
She would pwn them and speak with an ultra high voice?

>>4169503
You are the real, flesh-and-blood Raishō Naori, and Deidara has just dumped Gaara unceremoniously at your feet.

You can feel your eyes narrow. “Show some grace, Deidara.”

Carefully, you loop your arm under Gaara’s shoulders and across his chest, carrying him to the center of the hideout and laying him out in front of the statue that Pain has summoned.

“Shadow clone.”

You position yourself on the ground, standing near Gaara, with the clone focusing solely on the task of sealing while you perform your technique to turn him into a pseudo-jinchūriki. The process takes a whole three days.

…

You are a clone of Raishō Naori, and you have maintained a three-day vigil in the desert. As expected, the memories of your fellow clone hit you as she disperses… and they hit you like a load of bricks. On day one she narrowly avoided a pointless fight with Temari and a bunch of her fellow Suna-nin, but despite there having been no blows exchanged you can tell that everyone who left that encounter was hurt.

She spent the next two days much as you have, albeit weighed down by a sense of guilt, stewing in it alone in the desert.

Not long after that you get the message from the ‘real you’ to return to disperse… the sealing is complete.

…

You are a clone of Raishō Naori, and the memories of previous clone rush into your mind as well… such as they are. All it really amounts to is reliving the sensation of learning what transpired between yourself and Temari… a renewed sense of guilt despite knowing that what you did was the right thing in the grand scheme, and that as you promised Temari her brother is still alive.

If only just. Shūkaku was much less than cooperative when you tried to tear a part of him off… you won in the end, but it really forced you to reconsider how you managed to save Fū’s life. Chōmei must have actively been helping you save its host to account for the vast difference in difficulty, especially considering that Shūkaku is noticeably weaker than Chōmei.

“Are you up to date?” Sasori-han asks you.

“That bastard Deidara had plans of his own,” you growl. “He’s not doing what we agreed on… the ‘real me’ is chasing him down.”

“I agreed with you,” Sasori-han reminds you as the disorientation of three days’ accumulated experience passes. “But I lack the speed to intercept him. So I remained here to destroy the evidence and delay our pursuers.”

“And I left… well, I left me to help.”
>1/2

>>4170424
“Correct,” Sasori-han muses. “The Second Hokage’s techniques are something else. No artistic value, but infinite practicality. In this case, perhaps it will be sufficient to help you avert a war breaking out over this.”

Even as you’re speaking, the giant stone blocking off access to the hideout shatters… two kunoichi enter.

“Sasori of the Red Sand… and Raishō Naori of the Rain,” elder Chiyo greets you bitterly. “One of you I have expected to stoop to this. The other I must confess comes as a surprise.”

“Granny Chiyo,” Sasori-han greets his grandmother. “So you’re still alive. And remarkably well-preserved… ‘lifelike’ even.”

“What are you doing here?” Haruno Sakura demands.

“Save it,” you roll your eyes. “I’ve already been guilt-tripped by Temari, whose opinions I actually care about. You’d just be wasting all of our time trying to do the same.”

“Sakura-chan,” Chiyo insists sternly. “She is correct. Reasoning with criminals like these is a waste of your time.”

“As opposed to reasoning with a criminal like yourself?” Sasori-han counters. “How many lives have you ended, granny Chiyo? And what sort of a bounty has that earned you?”

Chiyo draws a number of kunai, suspended in front of her by a chakra thread.

“Stand back, Naori-san,” Sasori-han insists. “Whatever you do, you are not to interfere.”

“Am I to understand this is a personal fight?” you ask.

After a moment, he responds. “Do you really need to ask?”

You glance up at the duo in front of you.

>I’ll agree and withdraw. Show me a splendid battle, Sasori-han.
>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.
>I disagree. Personal fights don’t serve our goals, Sasori-han.
>Other?

>>4170452
>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.

>>4170452
>I disagree. Personal fights don’t serve our goals, Sasori-han.

>>4170452
>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.

What a fun wrinkle in the story. Perhaps this will light a much needed fire under Sakura?

>>4170452
>>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.


She needs some sense slapped into her, and honestly, it'll be cathartic.

ALso I know he's technically a murderous psychopath, but I like Sasori and don't want him to die to a fourth rate main character.

>>4170452
>>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.
time to decompress

>>4170452
>>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.

>>4170452
>surely haruno-kun is of no interest
It's just gonna be Naori dodging and evading sasukras incompetent swings

>>4170452
>>Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of interest. Let me fight her outside.
Oh man if Sasori would live that’d be great.

>>4170452
“Surely Haruno-kun isn’t of any actual interest,” you roll your eyes, “not to you at least. Let me take her outside and deal with her my own way.”

“Go ahead,” Sasori-han tells you. “You’re right… my business is with granny Chiyo.”

You try to take a slow circle around your opponents, though elder Chiyo has other plans. She unleashes the kunai, all aimed at Sasori, while a simple attack forces Sakura onto her back foot, with sequential attacks pushing her further away from Chiyo and towards the entrance to the hideout.

Once standing on the river outside the hideout, you make your intentions clear.

“Head up the cliff to the woods up there,” you tell her. “It’s best if we keep clear of Sasori-han… I mean, I don’t wanna get poisoned by mistake.”

“I’ve got to get back to Chiyo-sama!” Sakura insists angrily. “I’m not gonna let you divide and conquer like this!”

“Divide and conquer...” you muse. “You’re so far from the truth.”

“Why you… !”

Haruno Sakura charges you with powerful blows, not a single one of which comes anywhere close to connecting. She’s too slow, her attacks almost painfully linear, though she’s clearly powerful based on how hard her axe-kicks land. In fact you’d hazard a guess that you’re dealing with the approximate power of Rock Lee’s taijutsu from back during the first chūnin exams.

Once you’re done getting the measure of her abilities, you start to counterattack. Diverting blows and counterpunches are enough to turn the tide of the engagement… a shot to the ribs here, an elbow to the back of the head there. The cumulative effects are gradual but noticeable, since your strength by shinobi standards is not exactly phenomenal.

But you do rapidly take a toll.

“What the hell are you?” Sakura eventually demands. “How is it you can just be toying with me like this?”

“You really don’t understand it?” you ask, casually kicking her wrist aside before landing a snap-kick on her shoulder that sends her crashing to the ground. “The reason I brought you up here?”

“I think you do. You’re a smart girl… though maybe you’re missing a key piece of information. I’m normally Sasori-han’s partner. I know his abilities better than most.”

“Then you brought me out here… for what?” she demands as she gets up. “To save me or something?”

“Sasori-han’s poison is exceptional,” you admit. “Makes me look like a total amateur, and unlike mine his is designed to be lethal. Now, elder Chiyo has some experience here, but you don’t.”

“Letting you die would be against my...”
>1/2

>>4170782
It’s in that sentence that the ground beneath you gives way, a total cave-in of the hideout. You and Sakura each leap between falling chunks of earth and boulders, managing to evade being crushed to death. Evidently this was caused by a clash between Sasori-han and Chiyo. The former has evidently lost Hiruko and is being forced to rely on the Third Kazekage puppet, while Chiyo has unsealed a collection of ten puppets in matching white outfits.

“Is this the ‘Chikamatsu’ collection you mentioned?” you ask Sasori-han.

“The very same,” he informs you. “I must say the opportunity is thrilling.”

“Chiyo-sama!” Sakura rejoins elder Chiyo… that’s absolutely not what you wanted to happen.

“Damn,” you mutter, having been presented with a new scenario.

You can either step back and let Sakura and Chiyo fight against Sasori-han, or you can try to separate them again despite Chiyo’s interference with this Chikamatsu collection. The problem in both cases is the Third Kazekage’s poisoned iron sand technique… under normal circumstances Haruno Sakura would stand zero chance of beating Sasori. She has no place in this battle.

>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.
>Try to overwhelm Chiyo and her puppets, at least long enough to get Sakura away from her.
>Try to finish off Chiyo, the one thing keeping Sakura invested and supported in this fight.
>Step back for now. Wait for the right moment to act.

>>4170837
>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.
this is the quickest and least intrusive manner, this fight is personal, besides, everyone that matters already knows or suspects the 'ringan

>>4170837
>>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.
i am not a big fan of this, but intruding in the fight i find is worse

>>4170837
>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.

>>4170837
>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.
Keeping the sharingan a secret wasn't going to last, especially with how obvious our second eye is.

>>4170837
>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.
the fact that we kept it "hidden" this long is pretty impressive

>>4170837
>>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.

Doesn’t Sakura supposedly have higher resistance to genjutsu with her chakra control?

>>4170933
checking the wiki, "Obito Uchiha had been able to completely control Yagura Karatachi with a genjutsu, despite the latter being a perfect jinchūriki" and a tailed beast could inject chakra into their host to disrupt their chakra network and theoretically break genjutsu much like Sakura should be able to.
so. sharingan is just bullshit

>>4170837
>Step back for now. Wait for the right moment to act.

>>4170837
>Try to take Sakura out with a genjutsu, even if it means surprising her with the sharingan.

>>4170837
>1d6, DC 9
>best three of four

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4171202

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4171202

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4171202

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4171202

So is there any chance Sakura gets to be somebody here? I mean, this is pretty much the height of her canon career: playing an instrumental role in taking down Sasori.

To her credit she also made a cure to Sasori's poison too, something he didn't think was possible.

>>4171213
if you want to watch canon unfold, watch the anime.

>>4171225
You misunderstand.

I am asking if anyone thinks Sakura has any chance of mattering in this scenario here. Weighing what she can do, does she have any hope of bucking Naori's low opinion of her with how far she's come.

And either she was sandbagging us earlier, or she's even weaker than canon with her strength. Lee is more fast than strong.

>>4171246
Sakura shouldn't be able to resist a sharingan genjutsu, so I doubt she gets to do anything here.

and she didn't impress Naori with her strength because she didn't manage to land anything.

>>4171246
She was probably trying to probe us, and thats lead to Naori not thinking Sakura is up for the challenge leading naori wanting to protect Sakura, but at the same time that means we aren't really respecting her as a ninja.

>>4171296
Let me know when she does something worthy of respect.

>>4171246
>or she's even weaker than canon with her strength
According to the reference materials Part II Sakura has similar raw strength to Lee in the Chunin exams, and both fight by enhancing that strength. Lee by exceeding the usual limits, Sakura by adding more chakra.

And honestly, Sakura's not even that impressive in this fight in canon. Like she knocks around the Iron Sand building blocks (which were already floating), breaks Hiruko, and then breaks the Third Kazekage puppet with a sucker punch. But what does any of that actually accomplish? Sasori just pulls out more puppets, he doesn't even get mad. And when she hits Sasori's main puppet body he just reassembles himself like it never happened.

And her taijutsu skills to back up that raw power are still only adequate.

>>4171338
We should kidnap her and do a ninja bootcamp.

Or just do a genjustu suggestion to go train with Lee and Guy.

>>4171338
>And honestly, Sakura's not even that impressive in this fight in canon.

she doesn't even dodge by herself.

>>4171371
>Literally more useful as a puppet controlled by a real ninja than she is on her own

>>4171349
Isn't she being trained by Tsunade? Isn't Tsunade like top 10 or at least 20? If even she can't pound Sakura into shape I doubt anyone could.

>>4171494
It's not that Tsunade doesn't have the ability, it's that she doesn't have the time or inclination. Sakura is basically getting Tsunade's table scraps and being told to 'make it work'.

>>4170837
You use the shunshin to attack Sakura again, drawing Umekiri in an instant and slowing down just at the last second, allowing her to draw a kunai and defend herself… had you not, you would have taken her head in an instant. But instead you push in close, unsealing your sharingan and casting a genjutsu on her even as it begins to register what you’ve done.

Once she’s paralyzed it’s easy to pivot on your back foot and hit her with a powerful roundhouse kick that sends her crashing to the side.

“Sakura-chan!” Chiyo cries out in alarm, only to find that you’ve already sheathed Umekiri and raised your hands.

“This strikes me as a family matter,” you explain, walking away. “Neither Haruno-kun nor I have any right to interfere.”

“I assume you want me to stay out?”

Sasori nods slowly. “Please.”

“Then out is where I’ll stay,” you declare, sitting on a large stone next to where you kicked Sakura to.

…

The battle resumes in earnest with Sasori using the Third Kazekage puppet’s Satetsu Kaihō, with three of the white puppets forming up with one standing on the shoulders of the other two. Chiyo calls this technique “Sanbō Kyūkai”, and it crushes a hole through the wildly propagating ‘roots’ of the Satetsu Kaihō. A fourth white puppet launches a ball through that gap at tremendous speed, which shifts like clay to show a vaguely lion-like visage filled with fangs, which catches and seals the Third Kazekage puppet by slamming it into a stone wall.

The iron sand begins to drizzle down, losing its cohesion.

“You’re still pretty sharp, granny,” Sasori commends his grandmother. “I think it’s high time I put in a little effort.”

Sasori casts aside his cloak, revealing his puppet body.

“So that is the explanation,” Chiyo realizes aloud.

The two of them start back into it, this time with their positions rapidly reversing. Between the intense blasts of fire and high-pressure water jets, powerful enough to split stone and disperse clouds floating high above, the Chikamatsu puppets go down one at a time. It seems their reliance on each other has become something of a weakness for Sasori to exploit… disable one of a set of three and the other two can no longer perform the collection’s strongest abilities.
>1/2

>>4171598
Chiyo holds out heroically, but once Sasori releases his Performance of a Hundred Puppets the result is a foregone conclusion. With fewer than half her puppets functioning the sheer number is overwhelming. A lot of Sasori’s puppets are taken apart in the process, but it’s all just a matter of grist before the wheel as it were.

There’s a sudden stirring towards your side.

Sasori fires an anchor from his torso, pulling himself and his spinning blades towards Chiyo now that she has no puppets to defend for her.

“Chaaa!” Sakura shouts, having cast a genjutsu to mask her movements as she tries to intercept Sasori with a chakra-enhanced punch… to nothing.

Chiyo blocks Sasori’s attack, sacrificing a one-time shield built into a puppet arm she’s kept hidden to only take one, nonlethal blow, and Sakura realizes what you’ve done to her.

“Magen,” you answer her unasked question. “Kyō Tenchi-ten.”

Sasori-han raises a poisoned blade, slowly, doubtfully, looking down at Chiyo.

“Chiyo-sama!” Sakura shouts, charging after her senior… too slow.

You meet Sasori-han’s eyes, and for an instant he hesitates.

Two puppets, previously buried under the rubble, emerge in an instant.

Sasori continues to hesitate as the two puppets thrust their swords into his torso.

“Sasori-han?” you ask, confused about what happened. “You should have been able to dodge that… so… why?”

“Call it… a whim,” he admits, motionless between the two puppets. “You know, I’d been wondering it for a while myself… nothing a mere puppet could create would be worth preserving, but at the same time I was trying to ‘perfect’ myself by becoming an undying, unfeeling puppet. Can you see the dilemma?”

In your silence, he continues.

“I had hoped that fighting granny Chiyo, and the Chikamatsu collection, would reveal just how much of Sasori still existed to be preserved, but it was Mother and Father who did that.”

“Sasori,” you realize. “Those puppets...”

“Yes,” he confirms. “My first, created in the image of my own parents. You’re right of course, I had the ability to destroy them easily. But… I couldn’t.”

“The one small part of you that you couldn’t turn into a puppet,” you suggest. “Are you saying your goal was impossible all along?”
>2/3

>>4171338
I, personally, agree with everything you say. Any portrayal of Sakura being a credible threat in things like the movies or filler all too often have to resort to making stuff the fuck up since there isn't much in canon they have to work with.

What I was wondering was how you were going to handle that fact.

Sakura's baffling lack of capability as a ninja remains one of the most immersion breaking things about the series.

It's to the extent that some authors choose to give Kishimoto a break and take the view that just because canon Sakura doesn't get shown doing certain universal ninja things, doesn't mean she can't. Hence, any departure from canon events is an opportunity to portray her in a way that is more consistent with what would be expected of someone with her background. Within reason.

But forget all that, it's probably more trouble than it's worth to mess around with. I just notice you usually like to go for realism, so I was curious what you were gonna do.

The problem began with Kishimoto not knowing how to make a likeable female character. And by the time he got to the point where he originally planned to expand on her story, he was afraid of doing anything with her at all due to her unpopularity.

Poor guy thought Sai would be a hit too. baka

>>4171338
>>4171697
Really though, I don't think she was ever meant to be more than an adequately high level jounin. She clearly never makes it to the same stage as Nart or Sauce, in part because she never had a bloodline hack, tailed beast, or a more than average level of competence to begin with. She stands as a relatively average ninja by the standards of her setting, who just happened to be in close proximity to a bunch of ninja gods.

>>4171688
“Completely,” Sasori-han admits. “Girl, pull my finger.”

Sakura stares at him, still teary-eyed from when she was sure that Sasori was about to deliver the killing blow. “… what?”

“The one with the ring,” Sasori instructs, holding out the appropriate hand.

“… why?”

“I’m feeling self-indulgent,” Sasori rolls his eyes, though he keeps a straight face. “Just do it, quickly.”

Sakura pulls off Sasori-han’s right thumb, revealing the end of a syrette. You recognize what it must be immediately.

“The antidote… you had that prepared in case you ever accidentally poisoned me.”

“You won’t be needing it now,” Sasori-han admits. “But granny Chiyo knows things… certain techniques that have been classified as kinjutsu in our village. If you fail, you may need her alive.”

You feel your eyes narrow. “I see what you mean. So, what will you do now?”

“Raishō Naori, what do you mean?” Chiyo demands… so she doesn’t know?

“I mean what will you do now, Chiyo,” you lie. “Now that you’ve killed your grandson your family spat is concluded. Do you intend to press your luck by picking a fight with me?”

You definitely don’t want to tell her that Sasori-han used a clever genjutsu to make the container for his actual beating heart appear on the opposite side, meaning that Chiyo impaled him in the wrong place.

“You’re a member of Akatsuki,” Sakura observes, turning and raising her fists.

“The cloak give it away?” you roll your eyes. “What about it?”

“You know about Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi, don’t you?” she demands. “You even have a sharingan...”

>Itachi gave it to me in a chance encounter and if I ever meet Orochimaru I’ll kill him myself.
>I’m under no obligation to tell you anything, especially not about current Akatsuki members.
>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?
>Other?

>>4171729
>>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?
are you seriously that petty?

>>4171729
>If i ever meet that bastard orochimaru again, i'll kill him myself. As for my eye, it wasn't stolen. Kakashi has one himself, and he's no thief either. Besides that, i'm not Itachi's handler. I've only gone on a single mission with him. Does that satisfy your questions?

>>4171729
>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?
>I’m under no obligation to tell you anything, especially not about current Akatsuki members.

Yeah have to agree, she has her priorities completely wrong. She needs to see the whole picture and not get blinded by Sasuke all the time. Be better and become better.

>>4171729
>>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?
God, she really is nothing more than a cum sock.

>>4171729
>>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?

>>4171753
Really Sakura just wants me to have Naori to lie that she took care of Sasuke and took his eye, just to see how Sakura would react and then teach her a lesson.

>>4171729
>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?

You aren't acting like the person Tsunade hime knew you could be.

>>4171729
>I’m under no obligation to tell you anything, especially not about current Akatsuki members.
>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?

>>4171787
Naori doesn't do pointless cruelty, my dude.

>>4171807
I wouldn't call it pointless, it would be a valuable lesson to concentrate on what is on hand and make her realise all the obstacles she has to overcome are so much more stronger than her.

But you are correct, it would be somewhat uncharacteristic for her.

>>4171814
>it would be a valuable lesson
It certainly would at that, however I don't believe Naori would really want to take responsibility for Sakura. And, even if she did, I think Naori would prefer not to use such a cruel method.

I do share your impulse to make probably the least realistic character a little more bearable, however. Now's not a great time is all.

>>4171729
>The eye was given to me and I have permission to use it from the original holder.
>>4171749

>>4171729
>>Itachi gave it to me in a chance encounter and if I ever meet Orochimaru I’ll kill him myself.
>The eye was given to me and I have permission to use it from the original holder.

>>4171807
This

>>4171729

>>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke so you could jump into his pants?

>>4171729
>I thought you were here to help Gaara, not chase after rumors about Uchiha Sasuke?
“HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.”

>>4171729
>"Look, I get you like him, love him maybe, I don't know. But you have to realize, when you focus on him, you are missing the bigger picture."
And to answer your questions, I haven't seen him since konoha and Orochimaru I want dead, to be honest.

Why are we even engaging and explaining shit to Sakura? Naori owes her no explanation

>>4171729
Your response is to smack Sakura across the face.

She stares at you in shock as you give her the tongue-lashing she so thoroughly deserves.

“If Gaara dies, Iwagakure uses this as an opportunity to muscle in by starting a war that’ll either drag Konoha into it through your alliance, or force you to write that alliance off… you came here to save him, right?”

She nods silently.

“Seriously, you should get back to that instead of wasting all our time asking vapid questions about your traitorous little boyfriend.”

You turn your back on both of them. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to bury my former partner. I owe him at least that much.”

“If you want Gaara saved so badly...”

“I am chasing after him, you’re talking to a shadow clone,” you interrupt Sakura, wheeling around and tapping your left cheek under your eye. “And if it gets your ass moving any faster it’s Uchiha Izumi’s eye, I have her permission to use it, and if I had anything on Orochimaru I’d have either passed it on to Tsunade-han or killed him myself.”

“Quit. Wasting. Time.”

…

After they finally leave, you survey the damage to Sasori’s body.

“You came down on her quite hard,” he observes. “She bothers you.”

“More so than ever before,” you admit, giving up on his current form and rummaging around through the debris for a more or less intact body compatible with his heart container. “I feel embarrassed to even be associated with her as a kunoichi.”

Sasori-han chuckles at your expense. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been in lo...”

A single punch knocks the heart container out of Sasori’s chest before he can finish the word. Instead of immediately plugging him into the puppet you’ve selected, you pass a few moments playfully tossing the heart container into the air and catching it.

“Whoops.”

You deliberately drop the container, letting it roll for a bit before retrieving it and putting it into its new home.
>1/2

>>4172411
naori is best little sister

Yfw Sakura falls for the same fucking trick as Zabuza and Haku’s

>>4172411
“I feel deeply protective of my remaining friends,” you insist. “I feel guilty about what I’ve done to Gaara and Fū, who I also consider my friends. I felt ashamed when Temari confronted me in the desert, about the way she looked at me when she realized I’m a member of the organization that took her little brother. I feel frustrated that Itachi-han is dying and I can’t do anything about it. And yeah, maybe I’m a little incredibly pissed that my friend Ajisai was sent on a mission that got her and her team slaughtered.”

“But I don’t let those personal feelings get in the way of what I feel is the right thing to do. For Sakura, those personal distractions seem to be the only things that matter to her.”

“So yeah. She pisses me off.”

“Because she behaves the way you wish you could.”

“… sometimes,” you admit.

“Take my last bit of advice,” Sasori-han suggests, testing his new limbs before throwing a ragged cloak over himself. “Trust your feelings more… especially if you have a good heart, what you feel is right sometimes will be right, just as the things you feel are wrong sometimes are.”

You consider his thoughts quietly for a moment. “So where will you go?”

“Anywhere,” he replies. “Somewhere far from here, where I can start over. Maybe find new inspiration.”

“Well, Sasori-han,” you muse. “It’s been… real.”

“Here,” he tells you, handing you his ring. “Take this to your real body and do with it as you please.”

You nod curtly. “I get it.”

…

You are Raishō Naori, the real Raishō Naori, currently chasing down Deidara after he ran off with Gaara’s unconscious body.

You’re not the only one chasing the same prize, of course… Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi are also in pursuit, meaning that you’re in a bit of an awkward position. You intend to save Gaara’s life even if it means fighting against Deidara, but you also aren’t in a position to kill Deidara as even now he still technically hasn’t done anything against Akatsuki’s goals and aims. Neither can you allow him to die, either through inaction or by helping the Konoha-nin. But you also have a promise to keep to Temari.

You didn’t save Gaara’s life during the sealing process just to let him be killed over whatever petty vendetta Deidara has with him.
>2/3

>>4172434
You’re overtaking Deidara on foot, your tracking butterfly having revealed that he’s not heading for the Ishigakure hideout for interrogation as he had agreed to when you parted ways. He may be on to you now, as he’s sped up since you started to draw closer, or he may be responding to Hatake Kakashi being close by.

The way you look at it you have a few choices.

>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.
>Meet with Kakashi and Naruto, explain your position and offer your help.
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.
>Other?

>>4172422
To be fair, it worked on Kakashi at first.

>>4172442
>>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

>>4172442
>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.

>>4172442
>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.

>>4172442
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

>>4172442
>>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

>>4172442
>>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.

>>4172442
>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.

>>4172442
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

Honestly we are not his enemy and having a common enemy should make him more amenable.

>>4172442
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

>>4172442
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.

>>4172442
>Keep at a distance, use the Konoha-nin as a distraction to secure Gaara.
>Make sure Gaara is the real one and not a bomb to take you out.

>>4172626
Gaara not being a bomb is a good thing to check.

>>4172442
>>Overtake Kakashi and Naruto and confront Deidara yourself.

>>4172442
>1d6, high roll
>taking three

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4172663

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4172663

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4172663

>>4172663
You realize that the most effective way to do this is to hold nothing back, and so even as you overtake Kakashi and Naruto you’ve already relied on Okuni to gather natural energy.

To your surprise, after shadowing the Konoha-nin through a mad series of explosive clay attacks, each either ignored by Naruto or deftly evaded by Kakashi’s clone tricks and shunshin bursts, something exceedingly strange happens. Deidara’s body begins to visibly warp around one single point, like someone pinching a tablecloth and twisting it clockwise.

You also see the flow of chakra within the clay Deidara uses as a medium for his exploding techniques… earth and lightning, an advanced dual-nature kekkei genkai.

The pause doesn’t last, however, and a few seconds later the spatial warping resumes… this is the chance you’re waiting for. It comes and passes as though in slow-motion.

Using the sharingan and your senjutsu-empowered senses, you carefully adjust the path of your leap by shifting your body posture, drawing Umekiri in a crackle of electricity and essentially riding the rotating spatial distortion as though it were a current. Your blade slices effortlessly through the head of the clay bird, and as your momentum tumbles you through the air you ‘reach’ towards the head with Kongō Fūsa to grab hold of it.

Slinging the head forwards on just upper body strength and rotation alone, you slice the head open to reveal Gaara himself, still alive and unharmed… though you can see that won’t stay that way for long. There are a number of tiny, perhaps pea-sized bombs just under Gaara’s skin.

You draw senbon from your waist pouch and charge them with electricity, taking a split second to aim using the sharingan before sinking ten needles into ten targets, disabling the clay bombs using your lightning chakra.

Once this has been achieved you use Kongō Fūsa to pull Gaara back towards yourself, and transform the paper making up your cloak… into wings.

…

Naruto, Team Guy, and a visibly exhausted Kakashi have rallied where your short glide on mimicked wings carries you to perch deftly at the edge of a clearing, Gaara tucked under one arm and Umekiri drawn in the opposite hand.

Once your momentum has been perfectly negated, you allow yourself to settle onto the strong tree limb under nothing more than your own body weight.

A now-armless Deidara pants, standing next to his headless clay bird in the clearing.

“Naori!” he protests. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!? Same team!”

“I could ask you the same thing, Deidara!” you roar back, your anger not even feigned. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done!?”
>1/2

>>4172707
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAo4e8K1kpY
In case you wanted a musical pairing.

>>4172707
“I did what you were too much of a coward to do!” he insists as you transform your wings back into a cloak.

“You were going to kill him over your arm,” you observe, seeing straight through his bullshit. “You lied to us, jeopardized Akatsuki’s long-term position, and got Sasori-han killed covering your butt.”

You then point the tip of Umekiri’s blade at Lee, who was about to make a pre-emptive attack. “And you! The moment any of you try and do something I don’t like is the moment you wake up two weeks from now in the hospital.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Deidara protests. “What do you mean, my man Sasori’s dead?”

“Exactly what I said!” you snap. “Dead. As in deceased. No longer of this world. Lights out. The big sleep.”

“All because you were such a big freakin’ baby! What, you think you’re the first Akatsuki to lose a body part or something? Grow up!”

“Look, you bastards!” Naruto shouts, finally stepping forwards. “I don’t care about all that, and honestly I’m not sure I understand everything that’s going on. But dammit, give Gaara back!”

“Can’t do that,” you reply, floating to the ground with a flutter of your cloak. “The moment I do I’ll be vulnerable to attack.”

“You really think we’re gonna attack you and risk Gaara?” he demands.

“It’s not you that I’m worried about,” you clarify. “It’s Deidara… the dangerous man you’ve essentially cornered.”

>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.
>Elder Chiyo and Haruno-kun are on their way here now. I intend to hand Gaara over directly to them for treatment.
>As his punishment for being a colossal jerk, feel free to beat Deidara if you can. I’ll continue to safeguard Gaara personally.
>Other?

>>4172758
>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.

>>4172758
>Elder Chiyo and Haruno-kun are on their way here now. I intend to hand Gaara over directly to them for treatment.

>>4172758
>>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.

>>4172758
>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.

>>4172758
>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.

>>4172758
>Let Deidara withdraw. Then I’ll be happy to hand Gaara over to you unharmed, like I’ve been TRYING to do from the start.

>>4172758
>>Elder Chiyo and Haruno-kun are on their way here now. I intend to hand Gaara over directly to them for treatment.

>>4172758
>>Elder Chiyo and Haruno-kun are on their way here now. I intend to hand Gaara over directly to them for treatment.

>>4172758
“Here’s the deal,” you explain carefully. “Deidara will withdraw, you won’t follow. Then I’ll hand Gaara over to you like I’ve been wanting to this whole time.”

“I don’t need your help, dammit!” Deidara protests.

“Maybe not,” you shrug. “But this thing can’t move forward until you’re out of the picture, and as much as I hate you right now I’m obligated to help you.”

“And what makes you think we...” Guy begins before Kakashi holds his arm out in front of his fellow jōnin.

“Guy… don’t antagonize her,” he warns calmly. “This girl… as strange as it may seem, she may be in the same league as Jiraiya-sensei, or even the Fourth Hokage.”

“What was that!?” Lee demands. “What do you mean, that she is ‘in a leauge’ with such famous shinobi?”

“I’d like to know that as well,” Tenten agrees. “Neji, what do you… Neji?”

Hyūga Neji glances away from his teammates. “I agree wholeheartedly with Kakashi-sensei’s assessment.”

“What is going on here?” Guy-han demands. “Kakashi, don’t hold back on me now, what are we looking at?”

“I have no idea how it could have happened, but Raishō Naori has become a perfect sage.”

Guy looks at you with a new degree of… not fear, but apprehension. “Kakashi… are you sure?”

He nods grimly. “I’m positive. We should take her up on her offer and consider ourselves fortunate.”

“Oh, come on!” Deidara protests loudly. “Why don’t you quit sucking her..”

“Deidara,” you interrupt his outburst. “Leave now. And be sure to take all your toys with you… anything else I’ll consider deliberate undermining of our mission and I’ll deal with you accordingly.”

“Tch...” Deidara scoffs. “Fine then. But this isn’t over, Naori.”

“I’m sure our comrades will be keen to hear your side of the story,” you counter.
>1/2

File: __temari_naruto_series_an(...).jpg (61 KB, 562x472)

61 KB JPG

>>4173238
After lending Deidara a few explosive tags to get rid of his clay bird, which was too large for him to recover without hands, and sending a shadow clone to retrieve his arm for him, you consider the situation secure… just in time for Suna-nin to begin arriving. First is the duo of Chiyo and Sakura, for whom you lay the still-unconscious Gaara on the ground in the clearing, shaded by a nearby tree.

“The senbon mark the locations of several explosive charges,” you explain, “placed into his body by Deidara as a trap. They’ve been disabled, but they’ll need to be removed or the entry wounds will probably fester.”

While Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo all fuss over Gaara, and Team Guy tries to keep Naruto out of the way so that he doesn’t slow Sakura and Chiyo’s progress by ‘trying to help’, Kakashi and Guy remain vigilant, their focus entirely on you.

It’s even more awkward when Temari and her team arrive… you can start to sense others not far behind.

You start to work your way away from the scene, but Temari won’t let you. She stomps across the clearing, fire in her eyes as she grabs you by the outer collar of the kimono top you wear under your cloak.

“You…” she mutters with a sharp glare, which eventually softens.

“… thank you.”

After a moment, she releases you. “Elder Chiyo says that he’ll be fine… I have no idea how the hell you did it, but you stuck to your word.”

“Like I said,” you sigh, straightening your collar. “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

“I’m not apologizing,” she insists.

You shrug. “I never expected you to.”

“Good,” she nods curtly. “Glad we could straighten that out.”

“Go on, get out of here,” you insist, pushing her shoulder lightly. “You should be there when Gaara wakes up.”

She considers you with a strange look… you’re not entirely sure what she thinks of you after all of this, and it’s likely that she doesn’t know herself. But she does return to her little brother’s side.

>Linger here until Gaara wakes up. Away from the crowd at least… but you want to make sure.
>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.
>Give Kakashi Sasori’s ring. It may be too early to know, but it might buy you extra time in a possible scenario where you defect.
>Other

>>4173269
>>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.

>>4173269
>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.

No point staying there for too long. They have both Sakura and Chiyo doing healing so Gaara should be fine.

>>4173269
>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.

>>4173269
Did our clone teleport? How did we come to know about sasori's "death" while also having his ring on hand?
>Just leave
Not sure how strong we are but this is turning into a lot of people who are hostile and it would not be unreasonable for them to try to capture/kill us.

>>4173269
>Linger here until Gaara wakes up. Away from the crowd at least… but you want to make sure.
>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.

>>4173269
>linger
>Adress Kakashi

>>4173269
>>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.

>>4173269
To clarify, the ring serves a role in coordinating the sealing technique particularly when performed using members who are spread apart. Giving Kakashi the ring will literally slow the process of sealing down, since Naori would be taking a second ring with her upon defection.

The fewer people active in the sealing process, the longer it takes.

>>4173314
The clone summoned Kijani before dispersing herself. Forgot to mention that while I was writing.

I've been a bit distracted over here, sorry.

>>4173269
>Give Kakashi Sasori’s ring. It may be too early to know, but it might buy you extra time in a possible scenario where you defect.

>>4173269
>>Address Kakashi-sensei before you leave.
We should probably thank him for de-escalating the situation from breaking down further.

>>4173414
I'll second this notion

>>4173269
>Give Kakashi Sasori’s ring. It may be too early to know, but it might buy you extra time in a possible scenario where you defect.

>>4173269
You briefly contemplate giving Sasori’s ring to Kakashi, but that might be too easily traced… you’d never get away with it, and if you held onto it you’d still be taking two of the rings out of circulation in the event that you were forced to defect. But you still wish to speak with him before there are too many Suna-nin present.

“I wish I could stay until Gaara regains consciousness,” you admit to Kakashi, “but there’s going to be too many Suna-nin around pretty soon… my being here’s likely to cause a problem. So keep an eye on him, would you?”

“… how do you mean?” he asks suspiciously.

“I only know of two pseudo-jinchūriki,” you explain, “and the process was more difficult for Gaara. It probably has something to do with Shūkaku itself, though I can only guess.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kakashi demands. “Whose side are you even on?”

You chuckle. “Seriously, with your big jōnin brain is that really the best question you can come up with?”

“It’s the question that matters right now,” Kakashi insists sharply.

“It’s a stupid question,” you counter. “The question you should be asking is the one I myself can’t answer just yet… whose approach to things best represents what Akatsuki is? Deidara’s, or mine?”

You spare a glance at Gaara, as Sakura removes the last bomb from his body and Chiyo begins to close.

“In any event,” you continue before turning back to Kakashi. “Thanks for helping me untie my proverbial hands back there.”

“One more question,” he presses before you can leave. “Why did someone like you join up with Akatsuki?”

You shrug. “Ask Gaara and Temari about me. Then, the obvious answer will be the correct one.”

…

“Did you manage to reattach your arm?” you ask at the next meeting.

“With some help from Kakuzu I got both reattached,” Deidara replies, looking resolutely away from you. “Hurt like hell, hm.”

“That’s good,” you nod.

“Wait… that I got ‘em back or that it hurt?”

“The obvious question,” you continue without answering Deidara, “is how we’ll re-shuffle our pairings. Sasori-han’s death was a sore blow.”
>1/2

>>4174459
“For now Deidara will meet with Tobi, the new rookie,” Pain lies… you’re pretty sure that it’s only Hidan and Deidara who believe that lie at this point, since Kakuzu’s probably smart enough and experienced enough to know better.

You think.

“So that means I’m paired with Zetsu,” you nod.

“I look forward to working with you.”
“Try not to get in our way.”

Zetsu speaks in two voices, seemingly with two divergent lines of thought… interesting. Where the hell did ‘Tobi’ even find a guy like this? In any event the reason for this arrangement is perfectly transparent: Tobi wants to keep an eye on you, and doesn’t want you to see him using whatever abilities it is he has.

Even within Akatsuki, you’re effectively under monitoring.

…

You meet your new partner outside, in the rain, when he emerges from the ground.

“I know you’re here to keep an eye on me after my partner was killed, and after my ‘altercation’ with Deidara,” you tell him before he gets a chance to speak. “You should also know that I can sense when you’re nearby. I expect my privacy when we’re off-mission.”

“Oh my, what a frightening girl we’ve been paired with!”
“Understood.”
“We’re not exactly frontline material I’m afraid, so we’re no match for you.”

“And keep those damned spores or whatever you’re releasing to yourself,” you insist sharply, having sensed something amiss and used the sharingan to check it.

“Ah, so you noticed that as well...”
“We may as well be trying to fool Itachi...”
“I suppose it can’t be helped.”

No good at combat… you have to assume that in your future missions you’ll basically be expected to fight solo.

Speaking of which…
>1d6, taking the third roll only

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4174468

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4174468

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4174468

Zetsu following us isn't ideal, but it was expected. Now we just have to avoid showing our hand for awhile.

>>4174468
Your mission is to head back to the Land of Fire, to the outskirts of Konohagakure… evidently there’s been some word of Orochimaru’s subordinates making a move of some sort. The intelligence doesn’t cover their objective, or who it is, but only that they’re going to invade a ruined temple there within the next few days.

“Just stay out of my way,” you sigh.

…

You manage to slip across the border easily enough in an afternoon rainstorm, letting you avoid the Konoha border patrol without incident. And it there’s anything Zetsu can do it’s sneak around, since he seems to be extremely skilled at infiltration. So he doesn’t actually need any of your help.

>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.
>Track down the likely invading shinobi and observe them.
>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.
>Other?

>>4174501
>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.
>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.

>>4174501
>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.

>>4174501
>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.
>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.

Informing Tsunade must be done in the most careful way possible. We don't know how good sensor skills Zetsu has, but we can presume that if he is good at infiltration, he most likely has good sensor skills too. So utmost care in secrecy!

>>4174501
>>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.

>>4174501
>>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.

>>4174501
>>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.

>>4174479
>>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.

>>4174501
>>Inform Tsunade that you’re dealing with an Orochimaru-related incursion.

>>4174501
>>Approach the temple and hide, wait for whoever it is Orochimaru sent.

>>4174501
Since it's close, in addition to hiding out,
>Tip Tsunade off
>Don't tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>Tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>>Tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>Tip Tsunade off
But do it with utmost care and secrecy

>>4175105
>Tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>>Don't tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>dont

>>4175105
>>Don't tip Tsunade off

>>4175105
>Tip Tsunade off