-Next day-
Pov: Tsunade Senju
"So you are leaving? Good, I cannot stand your annoying attitude" I sigh as Shuzo stretches before leaving the gate.
"What? I'm not the annoying one- you are!" He seriously replies.
"Me? You and your outrageous training schedule make taijutsu masters look zy!" I argue, he trains all the time and when he sits down its meditation or when he finally gambles with me he takes all the money!!
"You drink ze about and gamble all the time- how is training more annoying than your constant bar trips!" Shuzo is offended.
"Oh no- massages, training and massages- that's all you did this entire trip with you!" I retort.
"Okay we get it- you are both annoying!" Naruto grumbles and I sigh.
"How is the arm?" Shizune asks and I look at Shuzo's wrapped arms.
"They feel fine, after a few days they should be E-rank massage capable" He smiles and Shizune nods.
"Good to know, I will see you in a year for our appointment? You are sure you can reduce the time frame on the skin massage?" I ask.
"Yes- I should have improved my massages by then, and when I get chakra flowing through my arms I should be more than better!" Shuzo smiles.
Haaa- I can wait for smoother skin.
"I won't take up much of your time, tell Ryū I am in the nd of stone alright?" Shuzo waves as he begins to jog away from our small group.
"Got it!" Naruto waves back.
...
"Now lets get going, Konoha needs you Tsunade" Jiraiya eggs me on.
"I know... I know... lets get that information on Thorn" I sigh as I contempte the paperwork ahead of me.
---
-8 days ter-
Pov: Naruto Uzumaki!
*Wobble!* *Wobble!*
My water balloon wobbles violently and I sweat as I try to learn this jutsu... nothing has been as annoying to learn as this thing!
How can I manage to learn this? Its been so long since I started...
"Oi- brat, show me to this Uchiha" Tsundae sps the top of my head and I look up.
Oh.
OH!
We are back!
*Pop!*
I am soaked in water as the balloon pops but that doesn't diminish my excitement!
"Lets-" I start but Jiraiya grabs my jacket.
"Shh- Naruto, go home and unpack... Me and Tsunade have a few things to deal with before your friend especially the fact that two genin are guarding the gates instead of special Jonin..." Pervy sage says seriously as we approach the gates.
...
"Hello! Welcome to Konoha... Jiraiya the toad sage... Naruto Uzumaki... and Lady Tsundae!" One of the Genin pulls out a scroll and scans the names to match ours, they look up and widen their eyes as they see the granny.
"I am such a big fan!" The genin yells and cps her hands.
"Oi- attention Akari, Ryū is still in the vilge" The other genin whispers and Akari stands straight and gets straight back to work.
I tilt my head in confusion.
"Why are two genin guarding the gates" Pervy sage asks in a cold tone.
"Lack of workers- we had some ninja capable but due to a myriad of things happening like the hospital break in the other night all capable ninja where sent after these incidents" the genin shrug.
"What break in?" Tsunade asks.
"... Oorochimaru of the legendary sannin arrived and took Sasuke Uchiha with a few other ninja" Akari smiles awkwardly.
"what..?" I whimper out.
---
-3 days ter-
Pov: Sasuke Uchiha.
*Gasp!* *Jolt*
I rise out of my bed and stare around me at the people who stand and watch.
"Sasuke Uchiha? Finally awake- Oorochimaru wants to see you" A red haired dy yawns and kicks me as she lifts her legs off my bed and starts walking to the door.
...?
"What...? What happened with Itachi...?" I Grumble and grip my eye as I look around.
I grip my hair and shake as the pain of memories assault me- ITACHI, HE- he- he... I couldn't- but I wanted... but he was... he was right there and he got away...
Slipped out of my hands... I wasn't strong enough.
...
Why am I not strong enough.
...
"Oi- hurry up ya brat!" The dy yells and I look around again through my ruffled hair.
My pained gaze looks at the dy and I get up.
"This isn't Konoha's hospital" I snarl at her and stand straight... wobbling a little as my legs struggle.
"Oi, smart one here huh?" She chuckles to herself and I start moving my chakra.
*Chirp!*
I sternly look at her as I perform my hand signs and lower my hand into a chidori- she backs up a little and my eyes dye red.
"Where am I?" I ask.
"My base on the border of Lightning" A calm voice interrupts me from the right and I sm my hand towards it.
*SLAM!*
The chidori crashes into a wall as the room rumbles and I look around for the man... I cannot see him...
"You need strength don't you...?" The voice emits from behind me and I kick backwards only for my leg to be caught and my body to be pulled upwards.
I tsk my tongue at my lethargic body.
"I have strength" The Legendary sannin, Oorochimaru says to me.
My eyes widen and I throw a few handsigns into a fireball jutsu- *Sm!* I am dropped onto the ground and kicked into the dy behind me who wraps her arms around my torso to catch me.
"Come on brat, lets get you killed..." The dy chuckles again as she drags me through the halls and Oorochimaru follows while grinning at me.
"We need you to cooperate Sasuke Uchiha, if you don't that mark is going to kill you" Oorochimaru states.
"You just said that you where going to kill me!" I yell back.
"Of course, but the mark will kill you slowly... while my upgrade will only kill you temporarily- making you stronger with the marks enhancements" Oorochimaru hisses out as he calmly walks after me.
Enhancements...?
"Let me go! I don't need you for power!" I struggle.
"Don't hide it child... I can see your eyes sparkling at the thought of an upgrade..." Oorochimaru ughs to himself in his chilling tone.
"We have a whole afternoon to convince you, so take your time" Kabuto appears from one of the hallway doors and leans against it as he pushes his gsses upwards.
Kabuto...? Why is he...
I look around in panic as I struggle to resist in my recently awakened body... the smiles on the people in this hallway make the hallway feel ominous.
I gnce at where I am being led and see a wooden barrel on a table, multiple people stand around it as we approach.
"If you take more than an afternoon however.... Khekhehehehe" Oorochimaru gestures to my mark and I sweat.
---
Pov: Ryū
*Sm!*
"I understand your concerns but that doesn't change anything, my battle sages are perfectly capable of their jobs and need no supervision!" I retort to the council of elders.
"And yet Hiruzen wanted these sages to grow- if we increase the number of battle sages with our spare genin than we need more ninja to manage them" Danzo states once more.
"I said that Kanata and Katsuko can handle things- you want more management over my battle sages? I pick the managers" I refuse Danzo's obvious power py.
"Danzo is right, the battle sages have been doing surprisingly well maintaining order in the vilge while most of the ninja are gone- we need more of them as these genin are enhanced to deal with any surprises fast- meaning we cannot wait for you to train more managers and Danzo has a whole list of capable ninja" another member of council insists.
"I am using the funding not to grow numbers but improve quality, this lightning is dangerous out of control and can get people killed" I reply.
"Hence the managers!" Another council woman groans.
"The 'managers' know nothing of controlling my lightning formu- these are zy attempts to pull my own genin away from me" I shake my head and sigh.
"They have enough experience as almost all of these ninja deal with seals- something that can handle your lightning" Danzo argues.
"The seals I made work fine with the numbers I selected- you are messing with a very carefully constructed group that I have built up on my own with my own efforts- whether you like it or not I decide who can take the lightning or not" I shake my head as the council frowns and grumbles again.
If I have to repeat myself one more time-
*SLAM!*
"You wanted me?" Tsunade senju herself stands at the door and sms it open with both arms.
"Finally! It is good to see you again Lady Tsunade- I understand it is a lot but Konoha needs you" The council woman stands and bows towards her.
"Yeah, I got the speech already- give me the Hokage's seal keys, first thing I am doing is reading up on 'Thorn', then I am visiting the hospital" Tsunade bursts through the Hokage office we hold this meeting in and walks over to the desk where everything she needs to become Hokage ys.
"Wait- we need to officially appoint-" One of the council members speak up.
"Let her be, she will be Hokage anyway and has the right to those seal keys... are you not curious about 'Thorn' too?" Danzo shuts down the council man and the room goes silent as Tsunade digs through the desk.
...
"Ryū correct? I am Shizune, nice to meet you- Shuzo has told me about you" She says.
"Shuzo? He was... that message makes more sense now..." I think on the quest notifications and furrow my brows.
"How was he?" I ask.
"Gave Oorochimaru his arms back- you understand exactly what must be done if he cannot fulfil his promise" The toad sage leans on the entrance door and looks at me sternly.
"He did...? Mending massage huh?" I nod to myself as more things click together.
"Shuzo seemed in good spirits-" Shizune starts to talk about Shuzo before Tsunade loudly crunches the scroll she is holding in surprise anger.
?
Isn't that the scroll that Lord third was working on with me right before he died?
"You... have the right to kill the next Hokage if you deem them inadequate...? Your vote for the next Hokage in times of emergency also counts as the entire councils vote and can overrule the council..." Tsunade looks at me with awe and so does the council.
...?
...!
Oh shit- that's the unfinished draft- Lord third pced that as the temporary stand in for that scroll in case Danzo was going into power and I needed to pull Lord thirds orders out.
That's the one scroll that's messy and a draft... meaning that the scroll has many loopholes and grand states of power in my favour...
Oh no...
Lord third wasn't meant to die so soon...
"Ryū has the authority to resist arrest even if it seems unwful... Ryū's words are to be trusted over the Hokage's at all times..." Tsunade reads another line in shock and the whole room goes silent.
...
It really is just a very basic and simple written draft for the future... it was meant to be re-written and overlooked at least ten more times in a more professional and much more reasonable way...
Like 'In times of emergency and need, when the Hokage is under suspicion by Ryū the council must hear him out and take both the Hokage and Ryū into custody for interrogation...'
That was what it was meant to be like...
"This scroll was dated 13 years ago... are you telling me that Sensei gave you power above his own head for fifteen years... wait. No. No way... Minato let you have that power... or did he give you that power?" The toad sage opens his mouth in shock as he figures out the timeline that Lord third faked.
...
We both agreed that it would be harder for the council to disagree with Lord fourths orders than Lord thirds... as the vilge would hold it against the council for spitting on the heroes image.
Lord third would have kept it running for thirteen years anyway...
Its just... the contents for my backstory had a lot less power and impact compared to the unfinished draft.
I was meant to just be an examiner of the next Hokage... barely notable in the selection of the Hokage and only really able to deny one person of the hat... Danzo.
Thorn was supposed to be a small organisation that hunted a monster a long time ago and now hunts the monsters within Konoha, the traitors and parasites.
I was meant to be a heavily wounded war veteran who took up a smaller role in T&I.
But this scroll plus my arrogance with Danzo in the hospital... if I wasn't tempted to get that scroll I wouldn't have done that.
...
I will say that the scaring of Danzo was its own reward in of itself.
Haaa' why did it complicate so quickly?
"This is... a bit to process" Tsunade grips her nose and squints her eyes.
"Shuzo told me of your group and it's dealings... this monster that can hurt Oorochimaru- where is it?" The toad sage asks.
...?
What has Shuzo done?
"Expin" I ask.
"Shuzo cimed that a monster will find Oorochimaru's scent in a year and come after him- I was also promised to follow in on this ambush" He states.
...
That notification... killing Oorochimaru in just one year? Why is Shuzo boasting so much? Giving him his arms? What am I missing?
"Monster... Kenzo?" Danzo asks warily.
Fuck it. I bluffed and lied my way into this mess I can lie my way out.
"Permission to speak Lady Tsunade?" I ask.
"Proceed" She looks me in the eyes.
"Kenzo... Shuzo... Me- the st members of Thorn have tried dealing with this monster before... but it doesn't stay down. A burning soul that sticks to people and harasses them, twists them and haunts them... the monster named {Oswald} broke my knee and before it could permanently injure me more I sealed one part of its soul within me" I state.
Taking a breath I continue.
"The Mind of {Oswald} haunts me and whispered in my ear constantly to break myself... I- I woke up with my leg missing and I cannot remember how Shuzo put it all back together... I couldn't stand living with that thing in my ear- Shuzo has the soul part of the monster... if he wasn't as talented as he was he would have been dead long ago... I don't ask him what he is undergoing as he wants to be left alone to rex... to travel" I sigh and gulp dramatically.
"Kenzo is the most recent member of Thorn... having taken on the third part of the monster we refer to as the body... the instincts, the vile dreaded bloodthirst of that burned soul... the st Thorn member to take that part and seal it within died killing every member except for me and Shuzo... it tore me apart to rip apart my old friend like that..." I thank the mask for hiding my expression from these elite ninja- I grip my hands and look at them as they tremble slightly.
"The monster is leaking into the snake, it will leave a scent... Shuzo will use it to temporarily weaken the snake before dragging him down to a level in which the weakened Thorn can handle him" I state seriously to the rather shocked and silent room that processes the horrific words I just said.
I internally smile as I dig my hole deeper, if I am to be buried in this background I have forged than I better make it spectacur.
"Why would they give you permission over the Kage's word when you have that 'Monster' in your ear?" Shizune asks and I think for a moment.
Bury the lie in more lies.
"It is because I am able to keep it at bay- if the monster were in control anyone would be able to notice... you wouldn't be able to call me 'Ryū' anymore" I smirk and the room thinks for a moment.
...
"Plus you misunderstand how the seal works- we split the monster into three and made it useless... the only one that can currently affect the real world in anyway is in Kenzo now... although I was sure we had that handled until recent events" I sigh and gnce at Danzo who lowers his gaze.
"So this whispering? It doesn't harm you anymore?" She asks.
"No- it only ever affected me the one time and that was during the very night it was sealed, I am sure everyone is aware of how seals can be... off when transitioning a living creature into a seal" The room nods and I take a breath.
"So is this monster like the tailed beasts? What is the monsters origins?" Tsunade asks.
"{Oswald} was found during an experiment on time and space seals where he nded on this world... I don't know his origins but he certainly isn't from here- we do know that he used to be humanoid at least" I nod to myself.
"His appearance- expin it" Danzo orders.
"A small child burnt alive... who twists and turns into a monstrous bck boned beast that devours blood like none other" I mock scorn when describing myself.
Technically I have been saying nothing but truths for a moment here.
"How many members of Thorn existed?" Tsunade asks.
"Thorn had..." I try and remember the amount Lord third said... but Shuzo is added onto that list and he wasn't part of Thorn at all.
...
Think- what would I think...?
"Shuzo... and a few others where not apart of Thorn officially, the records numbers you can find in your new vault Hokage-sama" I state to Tsunade who accepts that and moves on.
Phew... we haven't drifted from each other so far that we can't come up with same lie- Shuzo still thinks like I do.
"Expin to us the details of your current mission" The council woman asks.
...
"My current mission is to maintain the seal on {Oswald} and ensure he isn't released- I will be monitoring Kenzo and Shuzo until new orders are established" I state.
"Good- because I have new orders for you" The Hokage says.
"Yes Lady Tsunade" I bow my head.
"Stay in Konoha and maintain a public image that gains you trust- I can keep some of these scrolls but I need you to stay in town and get to know the pce if you wish to remain as the head of internal investigations and keep the responsibility of watching the Kage closely" She says.
"You are not... removing my ability to speak against you?" I ask in shock, no vilge has someone with that much power... not even Lord third would allow that past a first draft.
"No- in fact I want you at every meeting that I have from now on and I want you to be my second advisor just after Shizune" She points to Shizune and I chuckle awkwardly as I understand.
She is unloading responsibility towards me- like Lord third with Danzo... except my responsibility will remain completely in the light of day, everyone will judge me.
...
And everyone will either mock my failures or praise my achievements.
A risky game that I will py... but winning politics in Konoha? I am sure to cement my backstory and self if I succeed.
------
Quest received!
Become trusted by Konoha as a political figure in just one year- ensure Konoha thrives under you!
Reward: Two S-rank skill scrolls!
------
I rub my forehead and let the pain settle before quickly looking up at the people in the room.
"Understand Hokage-sama, it will be done" I nod my head confidently.
I know nothing of politics...
Thanks for reading :)
