Chapter 77: Making deals

The news of Tsunade’s death had saddened everyone. She was well liked by most of the population. For diverse reasons. Because she was a good Hokage, of course, but also a Senju. There were those who respected her for being the greatest kunoichi or medic in the Elemental Nations then those who adored her because she had the biggest pair of tits on the continent. Shallow as that may be, it was still a form of respect.

It worried everyone to know that their leader and protector had died in battle to let the troops retreat. It had sounded like a defeat and it was. That she had taken down the Tsuchikage was a small consolation.

When Hiruzen announced that per the late Godaime’s wishes her successor would be Riku, hope bloomed again in people’s hearts. Riku has saved the village thrice now. Once when the village was razed to the ground. Once when the Kyubi attacked again and once when Iwa and Kumo launched a surprise invasion. They knew that if a shinobi could lead them to victory it was him.

The speech he gave was, in Minato and Hiruzen’s opinion, perfect for those dark times. Pointing out how much Konoha had endured and that she would endure even more because they were strong and had each other. It lifted everyone’s spirits.

None of the clan Heads, either from minor or major clans, had any objection to voice when Hiruzen told them point blank that Riku was now the Rokudaime Hokage. If anything, most of them were pleased by the news. Especially Hiashi and Inoichi who were their leader’s father-in-laws.

The ceremony officializing the investiture had been postponed until after the end of the war. A decision Riku took and that wasn’t received unanimously. Some thought it would help with morale but Riku disagreed.

Currently he was drabbed in the Hokage robe and was hearing the hat. By his side were Hiruzen and Kakashi. In front of them on the ground was the very same scroll which contained Zabuza and Haku but also more undead captives. Crouching down, Riku activated the storage seal and Uchiha Itachi appeared in a puff of smoke. Removing the tag on his forehead to let the man speak, Riku took a step back and greeted the man.

“Hokage-sama.”

His onyx eyes were devoid of emotions but to the trained eye there was calculation behind them.

“Sandaime-sama, Kakashi-Taicho.” Itachi continued with the greetings.

“Itachi-kun.” Hiruzen nodded. His voice had a genuine hint of regret. “I’m sorry to meet again under such circumstances.”

“You’ll have all the time in the world to talk later.” Riku cut in. “There are more urgent matters to discuss.”

Itachi’s eyes landed on Riku once again. This time curiosity was clear in them. “I do not recognize you. Who might you be to be the Hokage?”

“Senju Riku or perhaps you would have heard of my other name. Warudo Riku.”

That surprised the Uchiha, a twitch of his brow being proof of it.

“Short story short. I’m Danzo’s Hokage pet project. Son of Tsunade and Minato. raised in the same condition Minato had been raised.” Riku quickly explained and moved on. “And as of three days ago, Rokudaime Hokage.”

A nod of acknowledgement was given by Itachi. “I saw her fall after taking down the Tsuchikage. She fought bravely and saved many lives that day. My condolences. “ His voice sounded genuine. It was however obvious to him that Riku didn’t care.

“Let’s get straight to the point. I know about your clan’s wrongdoings.” Itachi’s eyes darted to Hiruzen who shook his head. “We know Danzo fucked you over. He’s dead now. I…” Riku turned to Hiruzen. “I killed him myself?”

“Since it was your chakra sealing tag that activated his cursed seal which killed him. Technically: yes.” The sandaime confirmed.

Riku turned back to Itachi. “We hope you still arbor love for Konoha and request your help.”

“I know little of Madara’s plan if that is why you summoned me. I’m afraid I can’t help you much. I gleaned very little information since I was brought back. It was only two days before my capture.”

“We know it’s not Madara but Uchiha Obito.” This time Itachi’s eyes darted to Kakashi whose face was blank and buried in his open icha icha. “We know his overarching goal so information is not what we need. What we need is your help in dealing with other ninjas that have been brought back. S-rank shinobis. Kage level shinobi. We believe Orochimaru and Obito stole the bodies of many legendary and powerful ninjas and simple troops can’t deal with them.”

“That is correct.” Itachi nodded. “I didn’t see many of them as I was one of the last to be reanimated but I saw enough. The jinchurikis, for one, have been brought back and can use their biju’s chakra.”

Riku sighed. “You have a choice to make, Itachi. One: you’re going back into the storage seal until the war is over. When it is, I will teach you the seal to release the Edo Tensei and your soul will go back to the Pure Lands. The other option is to fight by our side. We really need your skills. In exchange there is the possibility of you being resurrected fully. Not as a corpse but as a living being. Your name will be cleared and you will have the opportunity to rebuild your clan.”

“What about my brother?” The man inquired.

Riku blinked. “You don’t know?”

“The last news Jiraiya-sama shared with me was his capture and imprisonment for defection. I passed away a couple months later.”

Sighing again Riku told the truth, looking Itachi square in the eyes. “The Akatsuki broke him out and recruited him. When they attacked the village in a combined assault with Kumo and Iwa, he was among them. I killed him myself.”

While Hiruzen facepalmed loudly, Itachi was stoic. Inwardly he was greatly disturbed by the news.

“I had hope that he would direct all his hatred towards me and, left with nothing, would come to protect the village first and foremost.” The Uchiha said in a sad voice.

“Stupid plan.”

Hiruzen interjected on the spot. “Riku!”

“It is what it is.” The Rokudaime retorted. “If we delude ourselves we never learn to not make the same mistake again.”

Kakashi agreed with that. “That’s true. A shinobi is a master of lies and illusions yet-’’

“He must not fall prey to his own.” Itachi finished.

“Children teaching me the rules of the shinobi book.” Hiruzen grumbled.

To his surprise and Kakashi’s, Itachi chuckled.

“The last Uchiha defeated by a Senju. History repeated itself.”

“No.” Riku denied. “Wether my name is Senju or Warudo, it doesn’t matter. I could care less about it. I’m first and foremost a shinobi of the leaf and it was as a shinobi of the leaf protecting his home that I took your brother’s life.”

The silence that ensued was heavy. Itachi, for the first time, began to truly consider the man in front of him. He, that had been burdened by a clan name, burdened by being the heir and the expectation of his whole clan appreciated the words he had just heard. In his opinion clans were less important than the village. It was her division that made Konoha strong but also weak. It was important for the different clans to mingle with others and the regular people but it was also important to keep the family intact. A very delicate balance that his own clan had failed to find and it led them to extinction by his own hands.

“He was brought back too. That’s why I’m surprised you didn’t know. Captured too.” He pointed at the scroll under Itachi’s feet. Not far from the empty storage seal, a full one had the name Uchiha Sasuke under it. “The possibility extends to him too if he chose to help. The problem is, we’re pretty sure he wants to take down Konoha for the whole massacre of your clan. He wouldn’t have joined Akatsuki otherwise. Not without knowing the truth.”

“Mada- Obito helped me that night.” Itachi revealed. “I wouldn’t have been able to do the deed by myself in such a short amount of time. He probably twisted the truth to get Sasuke to join his side.”

He fell silent for a moment. A few seconds at best. All to make a decision. With his eyes closed he pondered the options he had.

“I will fight for Konoha once again. Regardless of my brother’s choice. Whether I’m agreeing to be resurrected is something I need to think about more. The Uchiha… were a blight upon Konoha in the end. Incapable to break free of the cycle of hatred. I had hoped…” He paused there and shook his head. “Nevermind.”

Riku stepped forward again and much like he did to Zabuza and Haku, began drawing a complex seal on the undead in front of him. Soon enough Uchiha Itachi was free of the compulsion seal controlling him. Without any delay, they summoned Sasuke next and his reaction was quite the opposite to his brother. Once his head was freed, his stare landed on Riku with nothing but hatred. Riku was unphased however. Sasuke had not been a good opponent since their academy days nearly ten years ago. They had three confrontations after their graduation and each time Riku dominated him. Each time more easily than the previous one.

“Sasuke, enough.”

Hearing his brother’s voice, Sasuke turned his head to the side in shock. “Nii-san? You were brought back too?”

“I was.” Itachi nodded. “And just like you, was captured. Senju-sama was kind enough to free me from Orochimaru’s compulsion.” Sasuke sneered at Riku but Itachi called him to order once again. “He will free you too if you join Konoha in the fight against-”

“Join Konoha?! When they forced you to wipe out our whole clan?!”

Riku sighed and turned to Kakashi, giving him a flat look. The cyclops just shrugged his shoulders and waited in silence. So far he hadn’t had much to do and was more of a spectator.

“I wasn’t forced, Sasuke.” Itchi denied. “I made the conscious decision to do it. For Konoha’s sake and yours. The coup would have failed and the village ripe for the taking by enemy nations.”

“You don’t know-”

“I do know Sasuke.” Itachi’s voice turned cold. “The fact that two shinobis took down the whole clan is proof enough. The elders’ arrogance blinded them to the truth. The sharingan is a formidable tool but a tool nonetheless. It’s not perfect, it’s not omnipotent. Furthermore, instead of earning the respect of everyone they demanded it, for the past glory of our ancestors while themselves did nothing. They needed to be dealt with. To break the hold the power of the sharingan and hatred has over our clan.”

Hearing this, Sasuke snarled in rage. “Then why push me towards that path in the first place?! I thought-”

“Because he believed you were smart enough to take the other path of what he told you he chose.” Riku interjected and everyone looked at him. “He played the bad guy, making sure you hate him so much that the very idea of following the same path disgusted you. The only other path you had was the path to rebuild the Uchiha clan properly, free from the pride of the sharingan. Unfortunately, you’re a bigger idiot than he is.” His tone was terribly flat from the stupidity of the two brothers.

“What the hell do you know about-”

“He’s correct.” Itachi cut in, stopping Sasuke in the middle of his insult. “It was stupid of me to try to manipulate you like this. And it was stupid of you to let your hatred blind you. Sasuke…” He paused to be sure he had his little brother undivided attention. “There is more to the massacre than-”

“I know everything there is to know about it. Madara told me all of it.”

“Did he tell you he helped me that night?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise. It was clear that it wasn’t the case.

“I… No… He said…”

“Oh my god.” Riku slapped his hand on his face. “Sasuke, did you really trust the words of a stranger wearing a mask because he had a sharingan? A stranger that was part of an organization the brother you hated worked for? What are you? Five? Never heard of stranger danger?”

Kakashi couldn’t help himself. He snorted and didn’t even bother to hide it, Sasuke’s glare rolling off his shoulders.

“He was quite sheltered as a child.” Itachi shared.

“Being the son of the police chief didn’t make things any better, I bet.” Riku sighed, not for the first time in the past half hour. Dealing with Uchiha was really tiring for him.

Itachi agreed. “Indeed, no. But that's not the point of why you were summoned, Sasuke.”

“I’m not fighting under that asshole! He killed me!”

“A punch with super strength to the face. Honestly? That was the cleanest kill of that day.” Riku shrugged his shoulders. “Regardless, I’m offering you the same choice I offered your brother. You can go back into the storage seal and you will be released to the pure lands when the war is over or you can help us fight. In the latter case there is the possibility of you being truly resurrected. You’d be as alive as I am and will be able to rebuild your clan. As for an incentive, Madara was the one who unleashed the Kyubi on Konoha and took control of it. Everything that befell the Uchiha after that is a result of his actions that night.”

This time, Sasuke kept his calm. He fixed Riku with his gaze but seriously considered the options he was given.

“How are you planning to bring us back to life?”

“The rinnegan.”

“The what?”

“The rinnegan is the progenitor dojutsu of the sharingan. One of its abilities allows that. Unfortunately the only pair in existence is currently in the enemy’s hands. The objective is to steal them.”

“Pain will not be an easy opponent to deal with.” Itachi shared from his knowledge of the man.

“Pain is currently in a cell with his friend Konan. We kicked his ass a few months back and took the rinnegan. Unfortunately Zetsu stole them back during Iwa and Kumo’s invasion. It’s Obito who has them now.”

Sasuke got confused. “Who?”

“Uchiha Obito. The real name of the man passing himself as Madara.”

Itachi spoke up to try and convince his little brother to join the fight. “Sasuke… The Uchiha are given a second chance. A chance to be what they always could have become had their arrogance and lust for power not dragged them down.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Riku interjected and the brothers looked at him. “It’s going to be difficult. I can officially clear your name. Both of yours. But you’d have to work very hard to restore the prestige of your clan. The Military Police is now open to every shinobi interested and competent enough. It’s not beholden to the Uchiha clan anymore. You’ll have to find a new niche to make money because once the war is over, unless Sasuke has proven he can be a shinobi of the leaf he’s not being drafted into the corps.”

“What?!”

This time it was Kakashi who explained. He hadn’t been aware of Riku’s plan for Sasuke but he understood why. “You defected twice, Sasuke. You were part of the invading force and well… you’re not a team player. There is a reason why I made Team 7 focus on teamwork first and foremost. No leaf-nin is going on mission solo and an inability to work with others would have shot down your career fast and any chance of receiving advanced training or help to go after Itachi.”

“I needed power!” Sasuke defended himself.

“And how did that work out for you?” Riku cut in. “We were relatively even in the academy in Taijutsu. You ended up with the best Jonin-sensei of the year and I ended up in the genin pool. Yet I completely trashed you time and time again despite being left on my own to learn and train. The truth is: power was available to you in Konoha, you just were too impatient to get it.”

That shut Sasuke up on the spot because it was the truth. Naruto and Riku became insanely strong while staying in the village. If not physically at least affiliated to it. And while his time with Orochimaru had been very fruitful, he felt he was lacking when he battled his former teammate and was killed with one punch from Riku.

“Prove that you can work with others, that you really care about the village as a whole…”

“Fat chance of that. Konoha still ordered the slaughter of my whole clan.” he looked at Hiruzen with hatred.

“I didn’t.” the old man answered simply. “Save for your father, only the leaders of the coup were sentenced to death.”

“That’s the truth.” Itachi confirmed. “I received further orders that night from Elder Danzo. I was told there was a change of plan and to kill everyone. It was only after the deed was done that I realized about the man’s treachery and falsification of the order.”

“His hatred and jealousy toward your clan was borderline obsessive.” Riku added. “He’s dead now.”

Itachi chimed in again. “Sasuke… Hatred has never done our clan any good. Look at where it led us. The clan, us.”

Struggling with his feelings, Sasuke looked at his brother. “How can you…”

“For you and… for mother.”

Sasuke blinked at the mention of their mother. He hadn’t thought of her in years. “What about mother?”

“Where do you think I got my ideals from?” Itachi revealed. “Mother saw first hand the fall of our clan. Not by Konoha but by our own hubris. She was the one to teach me differently, hoping that once I became the head I could bring change. Change for the better.”

“Mikoto was the one who warned me about the coup.” Hiruzen had his own revelation surprising both Itachi and Sasuke.

“Mother did?” The eldest asked in surprise.

“Yes. A week before you came to me with the information, she wrote a letter asking for help. As a result, I met a few times with your father in secret, hoping to diffuse the situation peacefully.” He shook his head. “Nothing came out of it, unfortunately.” He looked at Sasuke. “I’m deeply sorry about what happened to the Uchiha. I had hoped that with the elders gone, the plan of the coup would be abandoned and that negotiating with your father without the pressure of the elders on his shoulders would bring forth a consensus that everyone would agree. I knew what kind of man Danzo was but I didn’t know how low he had fallen. The idea he would just seize the opportunity to wipe the whole clan…” Hiruzen shook his head again. “I miss your mother dearly. It was always a breath of fresh air to see her. She reminded me a lot of my old teammate Kagami.”

Sasuke blinked, not knowing who Kagami was.

Itachi was the one to explain. “Shisui’s grandfather. Mother’s uncle. He died a couple years before you were born.”

“All this is very touching but I’ve things to do. Sasuke, what will it be?” Riku interjected, done with the whole thing.

The young Uchiha diverted his gaze from Riku to his brother. After receiving a nod. He sighed.

“I agree.”

Riku clapped his hand. “Perfect.” His tone didn’t contain an ounce of happiness about the result however. “Kakashi.” He called out as he retrieved his fuinjutsu tools from his BoS and began to work on Sasuke.

“Yes, Hokage-sama?” The cyclops lazily turned a page of his book.

“Starting tomorrow. You’re in charge of Team 7’s training, not just Naruto. Have Itachi help you with it.”

The icha icha in Kakashi’s hand was lowered and he did a double take to look at his superior. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Sakura is-”

“Reinstated as of right now. Her file purged of her wrong doing. On top of that, I will teach her the strength of a hundred seals. She has perfect chakra control and your team needs a Taijutsu specialist on top of a medic. “

Kakashi pointed out something. “I already have to babysit Zabuza, now you want me to take under me my team again? The ones with the worst personality clash in Konoha’s history?”

“They’re adults now. They grew up and are aware of their shortcomings.” Thɪs chapter is updated by novel-fire.net

Riku, now used to draw the seal, finished in record time and freed Sasuke.

His former teammate complained. “...You just want to give me a constant headache.”

“What’s this I hear? You want you and your team to train every day before dawn with Gai?”

Kakashi’s face paled right away and his tone changed. “Mah, Mah~ I’m fine with my team reforming, Hokage-sama.” He waved his hand in dismissal.

Hiruzen let out a laugh at the sudden 180 of the silver haired jonin while Riku smiled in amusement. With nothing more to say, he left the Botib once again. This time he didn’t go back to his office but to the prison. He had a couple of people to talk to.