Dragon in Marvel

↓ Continuation of Part 1. ↓

____________________

"Even if that means that you'll have to share him and he will never be fully yours?"- Lucian pointed out the obvious.

"... What?"- Ino had a bad feeling. 

"Sasuke wants to restore the Uchiha clan, which means he will need a lot of descendants. If he doesn't want to thin his blood more than it's already demanded, he must have a harem."- Lucian spoke as bluntly as an elephant in a glass house.

"But, can't I give him a lot of babies?"- The bad feeling intensified. 

"If he wants to avoid consanguinity problems along the line, then he ought to have multiple partners. Initially, I should have been one of those partners, but due to reasons pertaining to my future, I can't be his partner, but I have a solution for that... The point is, Sasuke will need a harem of able-bodied and supportive wives unless he renounces his dream of the Uchiha restoration."- Lucian stated. 

"..."- Ino stopped hiding and ambled to Sasuke. 

She sat by his side.

Sasuke lazily glanced at her and he found in her a look he recognized, one he had seen in the mirror for the past days.

Both shared the same lost look.

A sense of companionship was shared.

[Too soon?]

'I think it had to happen sooner or later.'

After a contemplative silence...

"Sasuke?"

"Ino?"

"Are you going to restore your clan?"- Ino asked. 

Sayaka appeared on his other side and took the fishing rod from his hands and started to reel in the catch. 

"..."- Sasuke was silent for a moment. 

He started to think about his initial purpose in killing Itachi. Now, in retrospect, it all appeared so hollowed. 

Itachi was as much a victim as he was, just as he was as much a culprit as the village. 

"Would the village allow it?"- He asked himself and the girl on his other side. Ino was left confused about the question. 

"When you make it to chūnin, I will do something... one of the outcomes is that if you still want the option, then you'll have it."- Sayaka answered cryptically. 

"You will?"- Sasuke asked with wide eyes in surprise. He understood what Sayaka was implying. 

 "That was always the plan, I just need to take care of some details in the village and then I'll hunt Mister 'Hokage Mindset At The Age Of Seven'."- Sayaka smiled predatorily. 

"..."- Sasuke went back to thinking about how even more empty felt his revenge now that he had to compete with the monster by his side for the head of Itachi.

Was there a need, a point, a reason, or even a duty to take Itachi's life with his own hands?

Sayaka could have probably done it the night of the Uchiha Fire if she was not so busy fighting to protect the clan, Sasuke thought. And he was not mistaken, if it was not because of Obito Uchiha, she could have dealt with Itachi. 

Let's say I kill Itachi, if I surmised correctly, he is still working under the Hokage, wouldn't that mean that I would be then branded a rogue? Because the village would never really allow me to kill Itachi, so I would need to escape Konoha and track him all on my own, Sayaka would help me, but at that point, she might as well end him... 

These and several other thoughts not expected from a ten-year-old were running through his mind. 

With all of the guidance he had received from Lucian, Sasuke had managed to piece together almost all of the real happenings behind the end of his clan. Lucian left things related to Obito Uchiha out of the guidance, but anything else was exposed. 

Part of the reason for Sasuke's depression was that he realized there was no point in killing Itachi. His brother was not truthfully testing his power against the clan, his life was not in danger, and even less Sayaka's. If it was only this, Sasuke could have continued with his life, but since the village had it out for the Uchiha, Sasuke was left with no future. The village would at best take his descendants hostage, at worst they would die in 'accidents', so he had no path of progress. 

But this changed with Sayaka's implicit statement that she was going to get rid of them.

Sasuke, unlike the absurd statement of Itachi having the mindset of a Hokage at age seven, had the mindset of an angst teenager at age ten, but not only this, due to the guidance—not at all manipulation—of Lucian, Sasuke thought more about his future than anything else. 

Sasuke wondered about what sort of future he would have as a shinobi, was the pay high enough to outweigh all the negatives—like the risk of death in any and all missions—was the retirement plan good—if there was a retirement plan aside from being a council elder—was the health plan excellent—as it should be expected from such as risky job—were the vacation days enough? 

Sasuke thought about how in the future when he had his own family he would be placing the risk of them living without a father present due to how risky the shinobi job was. 

Something in him clicked!

He realized that the true path to his happiness lay elsewhere. He would still need power—because this was a dog-eat-dog world—so he planned to continue training under Sayaka until she deserted Konohagakure, but that was it. He might become a shinobi, but not one absorbed by the profession, he would need to get another form of power, and what better way to start than with the properties Sayaka was handling for him?

He would restore—No! He will do something better than restoring the Uchiha clan! He decided.

He looked back at Ino with a newfound intensity and desire—not of the romantic type, mind you—and he saw in her many things he wanted and needed. Things he didn't see before because he was too obsessed with Itachi.

"Ino... I don't want to restore the Uchiha clan."- Sasuke's words shone a light on her fantasies of waiting for Sasuke at home with a little Sasuke by her side and a little Ino-bun in the oven.

"I want to create a new Uchiha clan, one brought about by my own efforts and those of the ones who support me. One who will learn of the mistakes of the previous Uchiha clan."- The more Sasuke spoke, the more life he recovered. Coincidentally, the more he spoke the more Ino became lifeless. 

"Can I ask you two to support me?"- Sasuke asked with his usual seriousness and assertiveness while holding eye contact with Ino.

"I'll help you in my own way."- Lucian knew the type of support Sasuke was asking from Sayaka was different from the type he asked of Ino. 

Ino felt the gaze laden with expectations and promises and she fell into a genjutsu of her heart's creation, Sasuke appeared resplendent. His words echoed in her heart and loins.

Sasuke held her hands as if it was the most precious object in the world. 

'He's doing great.'

He looked at her and spoke with sincerity. 

"I can't do it without you, Ino."- Sasuke conveyed to her a sense of dependency, of need, of want.

"I promise I will do my best to support your dreams as you will support mine."- Sasuke made her feel as if it was obvious for her to support him, just like he would support her.

"It's something only you can help me with."- He ended his plea with this sentence. 

'Great, now he made her feel as if she was special.'

[Everybody wants to be special, but women particularly want to be special to their partner in a way that would make them appear helpless without them. They want their partner to convince them that they can't do without them. Just like how a child can't do without their mothers. They want to be that island for their partner, which is the feeling that Sasuke is evoking in Ino.]

'That also applies to men.'

[That's true, but men have a bigger desire to protect, not to provide a resting place for their partners. So, although it's similar, it's different. One wants to be the shelter in the storm, the other wants to fight the storm off.]

'This only works because Ino is Ino, but indeed... we have successfully created another beast.'

[At least this time it was knowingly, unlike with Naruto.]

Ino's eyes darted from Sasuke to Sayaka, her face had a fierce blush, her eyes shone with unshed tears from the emotional overload, her knees were weak, her loins even more so—she was the type of girl to mature fast—she looked for assistance in Sayaka, and she got it!

Lucian nodded and faked a smile of support and approval, with a dazzle of pride. That was Ino's tipping point.

"I-I... Y-yesh!"- Ino shouted in excitement. 

The girl was successfully ensnared in the trap laid by Lucian, Madelyne, and—unknowingly— Sasuke.

'I'm sorry, Inoichi.'- Madelyne made a silent prayer for him to herself. 

[It's alright. Ino's future would be brighter as the first wife of the Uchiha clan than as a kunoichi.]

'That's such a low bar.'

[But it's true.]

Lucian was right and Madelyne knew it, being a kunoichi—percentage-wise—was deadlier than being in any other profession. Even the slaves that circulated through the underworld had lower mortality rates than kunoichis.

From that day on, Ino started to spend more time with Sasuke. 

Sasuke took his first step outside his avenger path.

Sasuke, slowly, recovered the pleasant disposition he had before Itachi fucked his life up. It wouldn't go as far as to say that he smiled pleasantly, but he would often have a faint smile while talking with Ino.

Another year went by, and a pink-haired girl, Sakura Haruno, joined the gang. 

"I don't bite, Pink."- Sayaka said to the girl taking refuge behind Ino.

"E-Eh, nice to meet you, my name is Sakura Haruno!"- She introduced herself with so much spirit that one might mistakenly assume she was filled with fearlessness, but that wasn't the case, she shouted from behind Ino, her legs shaking a little and her heart was galloping. 

"Why are you so afraid? I didn't deal with any kids before."- Sayaka always targeted adults, so Sakura's fear seemed unreasonable. 

"My f-father!"- She exclaimed in trepidation.

"Did your father do something to Naruto?"- Sayaka connected the dots, Sakura was a child of one of her victims.

"No! He said it was a misunderstanding, he didn't mean to bump into Naruto."- Sakura said with almost a glare, like the type of glare a pomeranian might make.

'Bullshit.'

"I see, maybe I made a mistake. Can you do me a favor and tell your father that I will visit him tomorrow to apologize?"- Sayaka smiled sweetly.

'Eh? She's nicer than rumors said.'- Sakura thought. 

"Okay! I will tell him tonight!"- Sakura got out of the protective cover of Ino.

After that, Sakura joined the training of the gang, she had to go through the usual ritual of chakra control but she was talented in that. 

"You're nasty."- Shikamaru commented. He was unsteadily floating to Sayaka's height. 

"Are you referring to Sakura's matter?"- Sayaka grinned. 

"Yeah, there's no way that was a misunderstanding, was it?"- Shikamaru knew Sayaka could feel the intentions and feelings of others. 

"No, it wasn't."

"You can always know what others are feeling."- Shikamaru asserted.

"My dōjutsu is special."

"That's a lie."- Shikamaru pointed out. 

Sayaka got closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder to assist him with the chakra circulation of the flying technique. 

"~Hoh, Do tell, how do you know?"- Sayaka asked in interest. 

"You tend to grin when you make a lie that you know no one could disprove, even if they know it's a lie."- Shikamaru pointed at her smirk.

"~Heh, And why do you think it's a lie?"- Sayaka's grin widened.

"You don't use chakra when you do it. If I had to guess it's passive."- Shikamaru surmised. 

"Hahahahaha! Not even the so-called leaders of this village, who are always desperate to gather information about me, noticed that. Well done, Shikamaru!"- Sayaka ruffled his head. 

"Ugh, stop that!"- He complained.

"That father will have to tell his daughter that he lied or he will try to avoid the situation, regardless, Sakura will have her image of her father broken by that single 'apology' you offered. Nasty."- Shikamaru said. 

"I once told Inoichi that child abusers should be thankful I didn't kill them."- Sayaka replied with disinterest. 

"Why do you have such a fixation with children?"- Shikamaru asked.

"You're too young or too innocent to understand, but children are almost always sinless until they begin to change into adults."- Sayaka said almost always because there are plenty of exceptions in life. 

"You're younger than I am."- Shikamaru pointed. 

"Yes, I am."- Sayaka grinned widely. 

"... What?"- Shikamaru.exe has stopped working.

Time moved on, like usual, and the year of the academy graduation arrived. 

This didn't mean much to Sayaka, aside from being her last year in Konoha that is. 

On a regular morning, she found a small snake at her doorstep. It regurgitated a scroll and then poofed.

'Snake Kid?'

[Snake Kid.]

By the end of the day, Sayaka stood outside Konohagakure for the first time since her arrival. She was waiting in a clearing on the dark woods, the night was preciously glowing under the light of the two satellites on the planet. 

"Kuhuhuh! I didn't think I would see you again, Monster Girl, or should I say Aya?... or maybe Madi Futagami?"- Orochimaru snaked his way out of the forest, followed by a grey-haired glasses-wearing teen. 

"Snake Kid, or should I say my Creator? I'm impressed you got to Madi Futagami. Did you get that information from the liver donor of the sand person I found in my body?"- Lucian and Madelyne always wondered how that happened. 

"Hehehe, yes, Madi-sama. I had a fortuitous encounter with a man named Sasori. He exchanged a piece of his liver and information for recounts and pictures of your childhood as Eiko Senju. Tsunade was a sucker for you, so I knew where to find her hidden stash. Apparently, a woman named Sahara was buying them for a high price in Sunagakure."- Orochimaru said with a twitching grin. Even for him, that was crazy. 

"Ah, my little sister is crazy, that's a fact... Snake Kid, you fucked up your soul, didn't you?"- Sayaka floated close to Orochimaru, and she did so in a defenseless way. 

"Very few would notice, and even fewer would approach me in such a guardless way... But, I guess you're not just anybody, are you? The one of the Two Kami?"- Orochimaru stood still while Sayaka hovered around him while studying him. 

"Don't give it that much importance, Snake Kid. I'm the bane of your existence, I'm a goddess of souls, and yours is particularly vulnerable. Yuck! This is a lady's body, do you still have your original body?"- Sayaka asked. 

"Yes, it's not 'liveable', but I still have it. Can the problem be fixed?"- Orochimaru had contacted her for cooperation. 

"I have a few possible solutions... Did you get Sunagakure's method for extended lifespan from this Sasori person?"

"No, that's heavily guarded under a divine decree from Aya Futagami."- Orochimaru laid his eyes on her as if telling her it was her fault he was mortal and puny.

"I could fix your old body and then dump your soul in there after healing it, that would take about one year. We could grow a new body and then dump your soul in it, that would take about 3 years. I can give you the method for extended lifespan for the second option."- Sayaka offered. 

"And the price?"- Orochimaru asked.

"According to the intelligence I gathered, The Alliance will sign a cooperation pact with Konohagakure during the Chūnin Exams, this year. I need your help getting rid of a few pests or holding them back while I carry some much-deserved revenge on certain council of elders, especially on Danzo."- Sayaka spoke in a conspiratorial voice. 

"Oh, and why would someone as detached as you be interested in their deaths?"

"You should be interested as well, after all, they leaked Nawaki's information."- Sayaka spoke with a flat voice, belying her murderous intentions. 

Orochimaru lost the grin he had and an expression of rage accompanied by bloodlust erased his nonchalance. 

"Who do you need to hold back?"- He asked coldly. 

"It's not clear yet if the Raikage and Tsuchikage will come themselves, but it's possible. I need you to hold back the Kages and possibly kill Hiruzen while I end the council and Danzo."

"That's a tall order even for me, I can do the decrepit old man, but the Raikage is too fast, and the Tsuchikage flies."

"Didn't you steal the Edo Tensei when you left?"

"Kuhuhuhu, Moster Girl, you overestimate the technique. It's not perfected so I won't be able to bring the subjects back with full strength. It might be enough for the old man, but not if the other Kages intervene."

"Then don't kill him, just stall them long enough so that they don't interfere with my dealings, I would then move to support you and we can kill Hiruzen together."

"What about the other Kages?"

"They are not my targets, but if they die they die. I wouldn't mind ending Ōnoki, though."

"... That's manageable. I agree, Madi-sama. My humble self will provide you with assistance, eagerly!"- His voice laced with murder and deference. 

"That's disgusting, don't talk like that again."- Sayaka gagged. 

And so the cooperation between the Snake and the Goddess was established.

By the end of the first month of that year, the gang graduated from the academy and officially became genin.

The Ino-Shika-Chō tri was kept together as usual, Hinata was assigned to a team with a child from the Aburame clan and another from the Inuzuka clan. The idea officially was to make a scouting and tracking team, but in reality, Hinata was in that team to protect and level up her teammates. 

Naruto and Sasuke were paired due to the circumstances of their lineage, and Sakura was assigned to this team because the higher-ups found a lack of the Will of Fire in both Naruto and Sasuke. In other words, they were afraid they would run from the village during a mission, or simply choose to give up upon encountering difficulties because they cared not for the village's reputation and had no attachments to it, especially Sasuke. So Sakura was the chain keeping them in the village, or at least this was what they were expecting. 

"Hello, I'll be your Jōnin Sensei."- Kakashi Hakate said as he entered a room with only the trio of his students waiting. 

"Oh, it is Kakashi. Here I was thinking that I had gotten rid of my 'secret admirers'."- Naruto sarcastically said. 

"Don't be rude, Naruto! It's clear by the dead fish eyes on Hakate-sensei that he doesn't want to be here either."- Sakura said, Kakashi catching strays. 

"Sayaka invited us to dinner at her place tonight, are you coming?"- Sasuke asked about a topic he was more interested in instead of his jōnin sensei.

"Oh, that's nice! I love her food."- Naruto confirmed. 

"I'll be there as well."- Sakura said. 

Sasuke made a lazy hand sign and summoned a small snake, he handed the snake a scroll with the reply of his team and sent it away. 

"Kakashi, she said that you had to go if you didn't want your life turning to hell, so I didn't ask you."- Sasuke said after addressing Kakashi, he already lamented accepting this role. 

"*Sigh* Whatever, let's go to the mission's center."- Kakashi walked slowly to the window. 

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke followed after like ducklings.

"Sensei, I thought we were supposed to go through a test under you."- Sakura commented as they jumped over the roofs of the village. 

"Normally, that's the case. Usually, a jōnin instructor would test their students to familiarize themselves with the team. In our case, it's not necessary since I've been with you for years now, as part of my task of monitoring Naruto. I know you, you know me, and I know your fighting styles, that's all that matters."- Kakashi responded. 

"Makes sense, when one spends six hours a day spying on someone, usually you get to know them really well, unilaterally so."- Naruto quipped. 

"Don't get fixed on it, this guy was probably ordered to do so because he was a student of your father."- Sasuke told Naruto. 

"You're not supposed to talk about S-Rank secrets of the village out in the open like that."- Kakashi added. 

"Or what?"- Naruto replied flatly. 

"It's not like there are any enemies of Naruto's father that would dare to attack him."- Sasuke added. 

"I hate to agree with Naruto, but he is right. Kumo and Iwa are in no position to attack Konoha or Naruto, they even had to put down their pride and merge into The Alliance."- Sakura contributed. 

"And all rogue shinobi that visit the village get done by Sayaka, so..."- Naruto finished the barrage of hits on Kakashi. 

How was he supposed to say that he also thought it was a stupid S-Rank secret?

"Don't blame the messenger. Anyway, we have a quota of D-Rank missions to take before we are given an S-Rank mission assigned to this team and a couple of others in particular."- Kakshi said. 

"S-Rank? Is that the sort of missions genin are supposed to take?"- Naruto wondered if the village had finally decided to take him and Sasuke out due to their impertinence and lacking Will Of Fire.

"I'm not taking any suicide missions, Sayaka forbid it as the temporary head of my clan."- Sasuke surreptitiously took cover behind Sayaka's name. 

"I can't take a suicide mission without my teammates."- Sakura's Will of Fire faltered since day one. 

"First of all, you should be ashamed to call yourselves genin. Sakura—the weakest of you—can take on an experienced chūnin with her hands tied behind her back. Second of all, Sayaka Uchiha is the one paying for the mission and that nominated you for it."- Kakashi lamented the day he was implicated in the madness he thought the mission would be. 

"Ah, okay. If it's Sayaka-chan then it's alright."- Naruto dismissed his previous flight or fight response. 

"I see I never had a choice."- Sasuke accepted reality for what it was. 

"That gives me a terrible feeling."- Sakura realized Kakashi never said it was not a suicide mission. 

That day they completed 11 D-Rank missions. They all knew the Shadow Clone Technique, and although Sakura's chakra pool was meager when compared to her teammates, she learned a basic seal of chakra storage from Sayaka. every day she would go to sleep after depleting her chakra to tolerable levels and storing chakra in seals on her skin. She kept these in places covered by her clothing. 

The technique allowed them to paint fences, collect garbage, babysit, and hunt for lost pets at the same time. By the end of the day, Sakura had a killer headache, but she was doing better than the first times Sayaka tortured her under the excuse of training. 

They dragged their selves to Sayaka's house, Kakashi was walking on high alert, he knew of the fate that awaited the ones who stepped close to her house.

'It's open.'- They heard Sayaka in their minds. 

""I hate that.""- Kakashi and Sakura muttered at the same time. They looked at the other and found a strange form of solace in them.

"Sayaka, Kakashi said you nominated us for an S-Rank mission."- Sasuke asked as he made himself comfortable in the living room as if this was his house. 

"Yeah, what's that about?"- Naruto asked, he made his way to the kitchen where food was floating and cooking itself. He opened the fridge and pulled an iced tea bottle and some glasses to share with the rest. 

"I have some dealings in Ryūmyaku, I will also teach you something for which it's better to be at that specific location. Hinata's team and Neji's will also accompany us, along with their jōnin instructors, so it's a whole squad."- Sayaka replied after floating out of her room. she was now donning tattoos on most of her body except her head.

"Those are new."- Sakura pointed out after thanking Naruto for her iced tea. 

"It's part of the dealings I have in Ryūmyaku."- She replied. 

"Where's Ryūmyaku located? I don't I have heard of it."- Sakura asked. She was the best academic student of her generation, she had read a few world maps, but she didn't remember a name as memorable as that.

"The Desert."- Sayaka's words brought a pause to Sakura's thinking. 

Kakashi was previously informed of the mission contents so he was already on the stage of acceptance. 

Sasuke didn't care that much, he knew Sayaka wouldn't let anything too grave happen to them. 

Naruto and Hinata already knew that Sayaka was connected to The Desert, so he didn't pay much attention to it. 

Kakashi who was paying attention to their reactions wondered if his male students were blockheads or if they knew something he didn't, or maybe both. 

"The Desert?! The unexplored, Super SSS-Rank forbidden land?! The place where colossal snakes of sand are said to meander?! Where the keys to immortality and eternal damnation lie?!"- Sakura shouted in question.

"Those are sandworms, and the thing about immortality is bullshit, the Sand People tend to live longer but they aren't immortal. Damnation could be found anywhere, there's enough of that in this village, you don't need to go that far, ask Hakate-Boyo over there."- Sayaka floated to the kitchen to finish the chicken lasagna in bechamel sauce.

"Pfft! Hakate-Boyo."- Naruto snicker. Sasuke looked away while forcing his lips shut.

"Naruto! Is Sensei's nickname what's important right now? We are going on a suicide mission! You should not be clowning right now! Not you, Sasuke, you can if you want."- Sakura's rigmarole lost belligerence by the end. 

"Oh? What if I want to clown with you?"-Sasuke's attention fell on Sakura. 

Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke teasing Sakura was nothing new. 

'Kill me now, please.'- Kakashi thought to himself.

'Don't you feel proud of your pupil, Luci?'

[My inability to feel pride aside, he recognized the talent of Sakura and the opportunity that presented itself in the teen crush of Sakura. He is taking the opportunity and sees every female who approaches him with an open mind, as the head of the future Uchiha clan should. He is doing merit to my teachings, and yours.]

'Hehehe, yes, he is.'

The rest ignored the stammering mess Sakura became and talked about the mission details Sayaka saw fit to reveal. After dinner, they each went back to their homes and the day came to an end. 

In the following three months, they spent their time doing D-Rank missions, back-to-back, and training as if their life depended on it—since Sayaka had told them that they would be tested—the higher-ups had agreed to Sayaka's request because they wanted to scout information from within the sand, also because they wanted for themselves whatever Sayaka was going to teach the kids in Ryūmyaku. 

They had an idea since Jiraiya once mentioned what sort of place Ryūmyaku was, he had gotten that information from Mount Myōboku. There was also the fact that Sayaka had agreed to pay for the mission in jutsu from other nations, including the Lightning Cloak and Dust Release. Greed got the better of them and they ignored that their jinchūriki and one of the last Uchiha—considered flight risks—were going to leave the village, maybe they found solace in the instructors accompanying them. 

It wasn't Sayaka's problem, out of sight out of mind, right? 

Sayaka met Tenten, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame from the teams of Neji and Hinata Hyūga. Might Guy was already a pal of hers, so the only new instructors were Kurenai Yūhi and Asuma Sarutobi.

"Your eyes resemble more the Sharingan than mine, and I'm supposed to be an Uchiha."- Sayaka told Kurenai Yūhi.

"Ehmm, thank you?"- Kurenai said. 

"Is it a compliment?"- She murmured in question to Asuma.

"I don't know, but the Old Man told me to be careful so take it as such."- Asuma whispered back. 

"It was a compliment, you're pretty. And the 'Old Man' forgot to mention that my senses are overall better, so there's no use in murmuring like a wimp."- Sayaka said out loud. 

Behind her Kakashi snickered and Kurenai glared at him, Asuma was looking for a rock to hide under, both in fear and ashamed. 

"Anyway, don't get fixed on the small things. You should join the training too."- She said to the instructors. 

"Yosh!"- Guy eagerly joined his pupils and their friends. 

"Why?"- Kakashi asked. 

"You're weak. Naruto, Neji, and Hinata could solo you, Kakashi. Kurenai and Asuma are no different. Sasuke might have a slightly harder time because he started his training later than the others, but still. If you haven't noticed the disparity between your students and you is because they spared you the shame. Well, Kakashi should be aware."- Sayaka bluntly replied. 

"Sayaka-chan, that may appear so in your eyes, but we are jōnin. My students are remarkable, I'll give you that, and it may be as such because of your tutelage, but I know their limits better than most."- Asuma Sarutobi retorted. 

"..."- Sayaka looked at him like an idiot, a look Kakashi shared. 

"Shikamaru!"- Sayaka called. 

Shikamaru slowly floated from where he was practicing and arrived lazily. 

"Sayaka? What's this about?"- He asked, stifling a yawn. 

"You're going to spar with Asuma Sarutobi, if you lose I'll train you non-stop for 3 days."- Sayaka smiled brightly. 

Shikamaru's face suddenly turned predatorily and looked at Asuma like a life enemy. His chakra was primed and ready. 

"Hey, Sayaka-chan, this is too much. Shikamaru has only been a genin for three months, this is not fair."- Kurenai interjected for Shikamaru, whether ignoring or oblivious to Shikamaru's change was not clear.

Kakashi shook his head from side to side. Asuma was glad that someone was speaking with reason. 

Sayaka simply ignored them and floated Asuma and Shikamaru at a distance, opposite to the other.

"Ready?"- She asked softly, her voice reaching them nonetheless. 

"Mhmm."- Shikamaru assented.

"Shikamaru you don't have to force yourself or take it to heart, just do your best."- Asuma instructed. 

"Start."- Sayaka gave the signal. 

Shikamaru took to the air and floated away from Asuma's reach. 

"He lost."- Kakashi muttered. 

"Yeah, he is out in the open like that, it's not easy to maneuver while airborne."- Kurenai added. 

Kakashi gazed at Kurenai as if looking at an idiot. 

Asuma started to weave hand signs to cast a harmless Fire Ball Jutsu, but midway he couldn't move anymore. 

"What?!"- He looked down and saw the shadow below Shikamaru had sneaked to his and locked him in place. 

"What?!"- Exclaimed Kurenai.

While airborne, Shikamaru weaved five hand signs, and spears of rock covered in his shadow crept to Asuma's vitals. 

"Shikamaru wins."- With Sayaka's verdict, Shikamaru tiredly descended and heaved in exhaustion. 

"Shikamaru, you have to train more your chakra control, you shouldn't need to use a crutch to use ninjutsu. Just because you can fly doesn't mean that you'll have the chance to fly away from all of your problems."- Sayaka preached.

"Hey, I didn't use hand signs for the Shadow Possession nor the Light-Weight Rock Technique, cut me some slack!"- Shikamaru retorted. 

"Those are the two jutsu you use mostly in your life, if you had weaved hand signs for those I would have trained you non-stop for a month at least! You're still a lazy bum!"- Sayaka popped a clone and made her use the Shadow Possession Jutsu on Shikamaru and started to run towards Rock Lee's side of the training ground, Shikamaru followed after.

"No! Don't do this, Sayaka!"- He futilely tried resisting. 

"I'm gonna try to get the lazy bum attitude out of you, be grateful!"- Sayaka replied. 

"Noooo!"- Shikamaru tried to deny reality. 

"That has never worked, has it?"- Kakashi has seen this scene multiple times during his time as Naruto's ANBU. 

"It should help him with his chakra and temperance. Go train with them, you're pathetically weak."- Sayaka half glared at him. His attitude grazed her more than Shikamaru's. At least Shikamaru was a kid, Kakashi was not. 

"I've been training, it's just not easy. Since you told me about the eye I've been trying the chakra exercises you allowed ANBU to witness, I can open the Mangekyō Sharingan a few times but after that, I'm left utterly spent. Do you have any other tips for chakra control or to speed up chakra regeneration?"- Kakashi asked. 

"I have a few, but you need to reach the limit of what your body currently permits before we try more invasive options. Also... If you allow me to inscribe on you I could make you a door-like script to close and open that Sharingan."- Sayaka offered. 

"Are there any downsides to it?"- Kakshi asked in interest. 

"You don't know much about scripture, so you'd have to trust me not to put something funny in the script."

"... I'll think about it."- Kakashi said before walking to join Shikamaru, Guy, and Lee in their training. 

"My Rival! I knew you'd be infected with all of this youth in the air!"- Guy welcomed him with open arms. 

"So?"- Sayaka asked Asuma and Kurenai. 

"How is Shikamaru so strong?"- Asuma asked. 

"You're mistaken about something. Shikamaru wasted about 70% of his chakra in those four moves, he couldn't replicate that again due to the difference in chakra between you, and if you had flickered to his side at the beginning of the spar and overwhelmed him with your speed he would have lost. Shikamaru has a sturdy base, I made sure of that, but he is not overwhelmingly stronger than you, you're just careless and weak."- Sayaka harshly explained. 

"Kurenai is overall weaker than you, Asuma, but she would have fared better with genjutsu than you did. Nevertheless, I believe she would have lost to Shikamaru in the end."

"I'm not saying this to berate you. The Desert is a dangerous place, and I'm not talking about the Sandworms. Have you ever wondered what such big creatures eat?"- Sayaka asked mysteriously. 

"People?"- Kurenai guessed.

"No, there aren't enough people wandering in The Desert for that. The Desert is rich in natural energy, which means that all living beings well-adapted to this environment are big and strong."

"Imagine giant ants, spiders, scorpions, wasps, wolves, foxes, snakes, flies, and overall anything that could be found in The Desert is strong and big. The Forest of Death of Konoha might as well be an oasis when compared to The Desert. I will only help the kids, so you'll need strength to protect yourselves. If you can't help get, out of the way, is what I'd like to say, but the village forced me to bring you with me, so try and train to not be that much of a burden."- Sayaka ended her scolding. 

Asuma and Kurenai were left looking at the other uncomfortably due to the harsh truths they had just learned. 

A week later, at the gates of Konohagakure, a procession of shinobi exited the village. The non-ninjas stared in wonder but soon returned to their daily lives, the shinobi business was the business of the shinobi, not theirs, so it was normal for them to ignore such happenings. 

There were many more than Sayaka initially expected, and about half of the extras were former Root ninjas, but she barely registered their existence. 

"Everyone is ready, let's depart."- Kakashi—the one in charge of the Konoha-nin—informed Sayaka. 

"Then let's."- Sayaka agreed and started to float at the spearhead of the formation. 

The twelve genin and their respective four jōnin instructors moved behind Sayaka. surrounding them were the extras. These were jōnin (Some from ANBU and some from Root) and a few chūnin the village had sent to escort them, obviously, they also sent them to gather intelligence among other underhanded missions. 

The shortest route from Konohagakur to their destination is not favorable because the amount of time spent in the sand would be greater, so the plan was to go through the Land Of Storms, rest there for a day before moving to the Land of Stone, after a day of resting they'd enter The Desert. 

Exiting the Land Of Fire was not that big of a problem, few would dare to ambush them while in the territory of the strongest Hidden Village. 

 "Shikamaru, stop flying. We are about to exit the Land of Fire, you might need your chakra later."- Asuma instructed Shikamaru. 

"Si~igh"- With a heavy sigh, he landed on a branch and jumped forward to move in formation. He looked at Sayaka enviously. 

In all of their years of knowing each other, the closest he had seen her of touching the ground was when she was hovering above a tatami mat while they ate at a fancy restaurant. Whenever he would ask her about it, he'd always get the same response: The ground of this cursed planet is not worthy of my feet.

Sometimes Shikamaru felt like Sayaka was more cringy than Sasuke used to be.

Three days after their departure, rumors in the underground world were going wild about the golden ticket parading herself outside of her village. It wasn't hard to guess the source of the information: Danzo Shimura. After his fiasco with the Uchiha, he had been severely restricted, and this was his way of paying her back.

The underworld wasn't stupid; they knew by now that she wasn't simply a target to aim at, so they coordinated between willing hands, and a force was quickly assembled.

"There's a hostile blockade three clicks from here."- Sayaka informed.

It was the end of the eighth day, and they were about to cross the border to the Land of Storms.

"How many?"- Kakashi asked. He had already been expecting hostiles along the way, knowing Sayaka's bounty that was expected. In the village, it was no secret that she was highly sought after—just not in a romantic way.

"Thirty-six."- Naruto answered.

"There are traps in the way, about one click from the blockade."- Hinata added.

"Should we stop and snipe them from here?"- Neji asked, his dominant hand over his bow.

"Don't ask me, I'm the client. Take it as part of your training. Talk with your sensei and decide among yourselves."- Sayaka dismissed the decision, washing her hands of the situation.

"There's another one, but it's weird."- Naruto added. 

"Where?"- Hinata.

"Way further back, around the edge of my range."- Naruto had to focus to locate the chakra signature.

"I see him, he is using a weird technique, he has five hearts... disgusting."- Hinata commented. 

'Akatsuki?'

[It's the Treasurer of Akatsuki.]

'Ah, right! I remembered! It was the greedy one who kept killing his partners. I don't see his partner so he most likely killed him already or left him behind.'

[Should we kill him?]

'Nah, it's not needed. Let's not be cruel with the puppets of Black Zetsu.'

[I don't think it matters to it.]

'Yeah, but let's see if these instructors have what it takes.'

"He has chakra way above the jōnin level."- Neji said with a grimace, he also found him disgusting.

Hinata and Neji loaded their bows with an arrow inscribed with a cloning script, they filled it with chakra and then pulled back, they aimed, Neji at the ambushers, Hinata at the traps, and let go. 

With the sound of cutting wind, both arrows soared to their targets. Hinata's arrow fell first, it multiplied—like the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—and then hit switches, tags, wires, false coverings, ropes, and all other manners of trappings. 

*Boom* *Boom*- With the sound of multiple explosive tags and landmines going on behind and billowing columns of smoke, Neji's arrow fell. It multiplied just like Hinata's and rained on the blockade. 

"Don't waste your explosives, Hinata."- Neji reminded her, just in case.

"I'll save them for The Desert."- Hinata assented. 

"Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, and Shino, provide long-range support."- Kakashi instructed. 

"Naruto, Chōji, Kiba, Lee, and Shikamaru with Guy, Asuma, and me will engage."- Kakashi got nods in confirmation.

"Kurenai, Tenten, Ino, and Sakura, will do mid-range support and 'protect' Sayaka. So that we are on the same page, Sayaka doesn't need your protection so don't engage on her account."- Kakashi reminded them.

"How unprofessional."- Sayaka complained but no one paid her attention.

Leaving the long-range support behind, Sayaka and the rest moved forward.

They passed a part of a forest that appeared to have been visited by a demolition team. There were uprooted trees left and right, metal wires hanging from branches, fires starting to die out due to the humidity of the forest, and a couple of corpses here and there, though these corpses were mostly half-buried—most likely from ninjas waiting in ambush below the ground.

They moved past the area of demolition and came front to front with a mob of angry, money-seeking, desperate mercenaries. 

No questions or motives were needed among enemies. From the sky, javelins rained. The javelins missed and nobody was harmed, this earned a few laughs from the mob, but the laughter died with them when Naruto started to teleport from javelin to javelin, claiming a life with his chakra claws each time he came into view.

"Damn it! The Yellow Flash of Konoha has a successor! Disperse!"- One of the smart ones said before spiting a monumental amount of water in indiscretion. 

Another weaved hand signs before jumping to a high branch and launching a lightning strike into the water. 

 At the same time, all ninjas—rogue, and village shinobi alike—jumped. Kakashi uplifted a platform from the ground with Earth Release. Guy kick-jumped into a tree housing mercenaries and split it in half. Some of the mercenaries landed in the electrified water and died from the shock, others stood atop the horizontal trunk and faced Guy. 

A few of the mercenaries who jumped away from the water were killed by arrows while airborne, some landed safely but soon dropped dead from venomous bugs.

"Naruto, let's switch!"- Kiba shouted after encountering an opponent wielder of Sound Jutsu, the sound clashed badly with Akamaru's sensitive ears. 

"On your left!"- Naruto shouted before disappearing.

The Shinobi facing Kiba and Akamaru quick-wittedly fired an explosive kunai to Kiba's left. 

"I meant yours."- Only to listen to a voice on his left before dropping to his knees and holding his neck in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

Kiba and Akamaru transformed into bipedal wolf-like dogs and tag-teamed against a Wind Release user. 

Kakashi was lost during the initial confrontation but from time to time lightning would be seen emerging from the hearts of the mercenaries. His preferred attack method, or so Sayaka thinks. 

Back on Sayaka's side, Ino would sometimes focus on Shikamaru and deliver information about the position of enemies, she would do the same to the others but in lesser measure. 

"Incoming."- Sayaka said when she saw none of the girls reacting to the hidden incoming danger. 

From the middle of the formation, a white mask emerged from the ground and opened its mouth. 

Yellow bright flames bloomed from the mouth and all the kunoichi but Sayaka jumped away. 

Seeing Sayaka be drowned in flames brought naught a worry to her guardians.

"Tch! That's the problem with monsters like you."- A baritone voice complained and emerged from behind the formation 'protecting' Sayaka. 

Kakuzu stood there to prevent the long-range team from sniping him, he was implying that if they shot at him he could move out of the way and the arrow or javelin could miss him and hit one of their teammates. 

White-masked monsters of dark grey threads stood behind Kakuzu.

Not waiting for another attack, Kurenai used genjutsu on him. One of the masks disrupted Kakuzu's chakra by using a trigger command he had previously set with script, the trigger being foreign chakra manipulation in his prosencephalon structure.

The same masked monster that disrupted his chakra flow sent a spear of lightning at Kurenai. She jumped out of the way but when the spear struck her previous position it created a differential of potential in its vicinity. Kurenai landed with her right foot but when her left stepped, she was hit with enough current to temporarily paralyze her.

Sakura kneaded a ball of green chakra and using a thread launched it to the fallen Kurenai. When the ball of chakra made contact, by using the thread, Sakura started to heal Kurenai.

Tenten pulled a pole from the storage script in her arms and stood to protect the healer of the team. Sakura wasn't the only one capable of healing but she specialized in Genjutsu and Medical Jutsu. 

Ino weaved hand signs in a hurry and then pointed her palms toward Kakuzu making a triangle between her thumbs and indexes.

"Ugh! Annoying little bitch! You don't even have an acceptable bounty, don't get in the way!"- Kakuzu exclaimed, angered by the literal headache Ino was causing him. 

The headache was serious enough to prevent him from using his body for jutsu. 

Tenten took advantage of this and pointed an opened palm at Kakuzu. In her palm there was a modified storage script tattooed, from it a spear shot at high speed and took one arm from Kakuzu. 

But that didn't mean much to the undying shinobi.

One of the masked monsters sent pellets of ice flying in Ino's direction to disrupt her concentration. She was sweating heavily from the exertion that messing with the mind of someone like Kakuzu brought. 

Tenten jumped defensively in front of Ino and spun her pole to block the attack.

""Mistake.""- Kakuzu and Sayaka said at the same time.

A blade of wind was launched at Sakura under the cover of the ice pellets. Kakuzu had done so to get rid of the healer, as is common sense. 

"Sakura!"- Tenten warned. 

Sakura swung her hand coated in chakra and slapped the wind blade upward, the momentary loss in concentration ended her healing jutsu, but Kurenai had recovered enough—though she pretended to still be paralyzed. 

Tenten saw Sakura was managing well enough and sent another spear in Kakuzu's way. This time, though, she used the Shadow Cloning Technique on the spear and this one multiplied seven-fold. 

Kakuzu unsteadily—due to the headache—jumped away with his monsters, but midflight he was assailed by two genjutsu, one from Kurenai and another from Sakura. Two of his masks moved to disrupt his chakra flow, and the wind element one blasted a huge tornado-like wall of wind toward them. 

Again, the girls jumped away while Sayaka remained still, the flames had died down by now and she was unharmed—as expected by everyone. 

Obscured by the tornado 'cutting' Sayaka apart, Kakuzu added Fire Release to the mix, followed by Lightning Release, and the tornado gained a darker tone with white lightning striking sporadically, script in the masks lit up to allow the perfect blend of different chakra natures.

Kakuzu moved underground leaving a clone above. When Kurenai and the girls circled around the tornado the clone attacked them with a wall of stone spears from Earth Release jutsu. 

With Sakura not needing any more protection, tenten focused on swerving and weaving through the attackers to close the distance to the clone. Sakura defended herself by coating her fist with chakra and enhancing her body to gain super strength. Kurenai swung her kunai in a defensive stance, while Ino took cover behind Sakura and waved hand signs again to attack the clone. 

Surviving the wave of spears, Ino assailed the clone with the same mind-rendering jutsu from before.

Tenten struck it with the end of her pole.

"It's a clone!"- Ino shouted. 

"Too late."- Sayaka commented. 

The ground below the four lit up and crackled in lightning and a white mask emerged. They were struck by the electricity and fell unconscious to the ground. Kakuzu emerged covered in a coating of lightning and the mask turned to dust. 

"These cheap bounty bitches made me sacrifice one heart."- Kakuzu complained. The electricity would have gotten to him as well if he had not used to lightning mask to bear the damage instead of his body. 

The Wind, Fire, and Ice Release monsters stood behind him connected by threads to his body. 

"But you lost."- Sayaka spoke factually. 

"Tch! You're right. At least, I'll take one of their hearts in compensation before going."- Kakuzu also sensed the approaching teams in a pincer attack, the long-range team from behind him and the close-combat team from behind Sayaka.

"Kakuzu, did you ask Pain for permission to attack me? Where's your partner? Did you kill him again?"- Kakuzu was about to use his Earth Grudge Fear to take Kurenai's body with him when Sayaka's question gave him a pause. 

He stared at her fixedly. There were many problems with her questions.

One, no one alive outside of Akatsuki should be able to link his name to his appearance, he was that old. Two, no one alive outside of Akatsuki should know The Leader's name. Three, no one alive outside of Akatsuki aside from Zangei—his bounty exchange master—should know about him felling his partners. 

In conclusion? He fucked up.

"You never saw me here, Girly! Are we clear?"- He glared threateningly.

"Sure, Kakuzu. Be on your merry way."- Sayaka rolled her eyes at him.

'Obviously, Pain will know about this, can't he sense Zetsu spying behind that shrubbery?'- Sayaka thought.

[He can't, that's for sure.]

"Tch!"- Kakuzu absorbed the Earth Grudge Fear and sank into the ground.

Shortly after, the other two teams convened at their location.

"What did you tell him to make him go away, Sayaka-chan?"- Hinata asked. She had been tracking the situation with her byakugan. 

"Just that he wouldn't have enough time to kill me before the rest of you arrived. He saw no meaning in keep trying and ran away."- Although this was a lie, it was also true. 

"Why didn't you kill him like the other who made an attempt on your life?"- Kakashi asked while checking on Sakura's condition. 

"He was interesting, I'll try to find him on another occasion to study him. I don't have the time at the moment."- She was not entirely lying. 

"I see."- Kakashi muttered. 

"We should have those extras do something to earn their bread."- Naruto glared at the distance. 

They had sent the 'Extras'—as Sayaka named them—before them to scout the way, they were supposed to report whenever they found anything suspicious. 

"Actually, they got ambushed as well."- Sayaka replied with a nasty grin. 

"What did you do?"- Shikamaru asked after seeing the nasty grin, one he knew very well.

"I did nothing, I simply helped keep alive those who didn't have the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. As for those with the seal, they should have asked their employer for help..."- Sayaka answered with an uncanny glee to her.

"Well, not all of them died. How lucky."- She said in a flat tone. 

"Root?"- Kakashi asked.

"Who else?"- Sasuke asked with a nasty grin mirroring Sayaka's.

He walked to her floating figure and raised his palm. Sayaka high-fived him!

Yes, they hated Root. 

"Oh, that's great then."- Naruto gave them a thumbs up.

Yes, he hated Root. 

The rest simply ignored the 'devastating' news they just heard and waited for the survivors of the Extra team to regroup to their position.

Yes, no one liked Root.

Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto moved to heal the unconscious girls and after waking them up they decided to make camp for the day. They were all too tired to keep going. 

At some point, Sayaka started to name and number their opportunities for improvement, or screw-ups, Kurenai was not spared. 

Sayaka shared food with everybody but the surviving Root ninjas, no one minded it. After setting the night guard schedule they went to sleep to rest for the next day. 

The next day they made it past the border of the Land of Storms.

Crossing the Land Of Storms was uneventful. It was as if a God and a Guardian Angel were protecting them from danger. They met no trouble and even in the villages they stopped by, they were treated as if they were told to expect them with open arms. So suspicious.

The Land Of Stone was different, although no one engaged with them, there was an escort of Alliance shinobi keeping a perimeter around them. They didn't attack, but they were kept under constant watch all the way until the border with The Desert. 

Iwa and Kumo—now known also as The Alliance—were in no position to gain the enmity of Konoha. Though, even if they wanted to, they would need something the size of a company to deal with the group escorting Sayaka—try a brigade if Might Guy went all out—this is not counting on Sayaka's strength.

They rested for a night and a day at the border, and at dusk, they prepared to trek the treacherous sands of The Desert.

"Something is interfering with my range."- Neji informed as he deactivated his byakugan. 

"This place was once the ground zero of a world-changing battle, to this day there are remnants of the energies and chakra mixed in the environment. If it was only natural energy it wouldn't interfere with your eyes, but the different chakras mixed in the air do."- Sayaka explained.

Chakra can be found in multiple forms, the same as how there's a specific type of chakra generated to open the Sharingan, there are different forms of chakra aside from the commonly recognized natures. 

Sayaka during her previous lives didn't see it as important to cleanse the remnants of chakra from The Desert. She had other things to care for, like the chakra pockets, the rioting chakra and natural energy, the pockets of broken space, and this was only in The Desert. Kaguya's fight with her sons moved to outer space at some point, and Sayaka had to deal with the scars left up there. 

"A world-changing battle, how come?"- Naruto asked. 

"This desert was once a forest grown by the abundant chakra of the first user of Wood Release. It is what it has become now."- Sayaka made some sand float from the ground and compressed into a stone. 

"Did the first holder of the kūhakugan witnessed it?"- Asuma asked. He and the other instructors had been caught up to speed with information about Sayaka before embarking on the mission. 

"No, she was fighting a battle of her own in another place. But the combatants were related to her, so she found out about it afterward and then had to deal with the scars of the fight. This whole desert was once a toxic wasteland, filled with rampant chakra and rioting natural energy, there were pockets of space that served as traps, flash storms that ripped mountains from the ground, and much more. There are still millions of petrified victims buried under the sand."

"The second holder of the kūhakugan had to spend most of her life healing this place, the third holder spent centuries at it, and so on and so forth. It was a task that the holders took for a few lifetimes. Not only here, the Land Of Fire was not much better. The whole world was breaking apart and the holders had to waste centuries and generations fixing the world for humanity... only for you to go and kill each other in stupid wars."- Sayaka kept adding pressure to the stone until it crumbled.

"Which is why I don't like shinobi that much."- Sayaka said to the now solemn Asuma. 

"You don't like me, Sayaka-chan? But I thought we were friends."- Naruto joked to lighten the tension in the group.

Sayaka playfully bombarded him with the remains of the stone. 

"Who were the ones fighting such a battle?"- Sasuke asked.

"The progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and her twin sons. Hamura and Hogoromo Ōtsutsuki."- Sayaka replied. 

"Hamura Ōtsutsuki is the ancestor of our clan, right Hinata?"- Neji asked. 

"Yes, mother said that the Hyūga come from his children."- Hinata nodded in confirmation. 

"And Hogoromo?"- Ino asked, her curiosity and that of the others piqued.

"The last one is the one most shinobi revere, the Sage of the Sixth Paths. His sons are the progenitors of the Uzumaki, Senju, and Uchiha."- Sasuke answered, he had been given an encompassing education.

"That's... What a battle it must have been."- Ino replied, having a hard time picturing a fight of that scale. A problem most of the others were having.

The desert and its unending sands stood as the evidence of the fight. 

"Who won?"- Shikamaru asked. 

"Technically the battle was won by her sons, but the war was lost by both sides."- Sayaka said. 

"What do you mean?"- Shikamaru thought about various scenarios from which that reply could be born. 

"After a battle spanning the whole planet and beyond, and nearly a year, Kaguya was sealed. So the battle was won by her sons. The world was left breaking apart and they were never able to repair it, nor reunite the scattered people who luckily survived the fight."- Sayaka's explanation broke the confines of what they could imagine. 

"Sealed?"- Kakashi asked. 

"The moon (Luna) is sealing her at its core."- Sayaka pointed at the grey glowing satellite. 

"What?!"- Sakura expressed the shock most of them felt.

"Is Juno (the other satellite) sealing the sons?"- Kurenai asked. 

"No, the other one is sealing the outsider that assisted the twins."- She pointed at the reddish satellite.

"So what happened to her sons?"- Shikamaru understood that if they lost the war then something must have happened to them.

"The first holder of the kūhakugan was a friend of Kaguya and she helped raise the twins. When she returned and found the world falling apart and the sons making excuses for betraying their mother, she broke their necks. So there were no winners."- Sayaka's eyes showed a deep pain, the type that breaks souls and drives people to death. 

She regretted it, she was sure of it by now. She had spoken with Lucian and she knew that in the same situation, she would kill them again. She had never forgiven them for what they did and she never will, but... She regrets underestimating the world. If she had known of the sage beasts, she would have put them under her control before leaving. 

That way she wouldn't end up breaking the necks of whom she considered her first children.

The pain they saw in her eyes left them silent.

Shikamaru wanted to ask where the first holder was fighting while she didn't notice the battle breaking the world apart, he had other questions, but he saw Sayaka was not in the mood for more questions and he knew better than enraging his monster friend.

Hinata and Naruto—who had a clearer idea of how the story related to her—grabbed her hands. One for each. 

In a somewhat somber and depressive mood, the journey through the sands started. 

They encountered enough challenges to suffice for the rest of their lives. 

Naruto got stung by a wasp the size of a human infant. He was paralyzed and almost dragged away to have his chakra sucked, if it had not been for the Grumpy Fox activating his cloak he would have died... Or at least Sayaka would have left him to experience a little bit of hell so that he would learn his lesson. 

Shino was enthralled by the pheromones of an insect-eating fungi. 

Kakashi lost his left arm to the pincers of a scorpion of wine-red shell. Luckily the cut was clean so Sayaka used it as an educational experience to teach Sakura and the rest of the healers how to reattach a limb. 

"Why do I feel like you let me lose my arm as an educational aid for them?"- Kakashi glared while closing and opening his reattached hand.

"Don't blame me for your carelessness."- Sayaka said with a grin. Shikamaru shuddered after seeing the obvious lie. 

During the day, they set up special tents inscribed with temperature control and slept soundlessly, Sayaka's heart bled a tiny bit for them and she agreed to take the first guard.

The next night they awoke around sunset and started back up their journey. 

Hinata almost drowned under the sand after falling prey to an antlion. 

The last members of Root lost their lives after the fifth day in the desert. They sacrificed themselves to a pack of desert wolves to distract them while the rest escaped. It was very heroic, and that's what the report will say. No one could prove that they were mentally manipulated, so that's what happened. 

Rock Lee was swallowed whole by a viper, Might Guy jumped into the mouth of the thing to rescue his apprentice... they exited through the back door. It was not true that something is easier to break from the inside than the outside, at least not in this case. 

Asuma and Kurenai were caught by Sakura dancing the horizontal tango. During her and Sasuke's shared shift guarding the camp, she heard something from the tent of Kurenai, fearing the worst she ran to her tent to assist her with whatever had snuck in. She was very surprised by the scene she found and screamed. The rest of the camp found out. 

After some laughter and inappropriate comments, Kakshi scolded them for participating in forbidden practices during an S-Rank mission. But he wasn't so hard on them given that they all felt so very close to death the past days that he understood them. 

He remembered that the same happened during the Third Ninja War once between Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara before the supposed death of the former.

Chōji caught a bad case of chakra and natural energy poisoning, he was oddly sensitive to the mix of both energies. Sayaka had to intervene due to the lack of mastery over natural energy from the healers of the team. 

They lost a Sarutobi ANBU to desert tarantulas. This time it was not due to Sayaka's hand... not that it ever was. 

They met more tragedies along the way, enough to baptize all members but Sayaka in the group. The closer they got to Ryūmyaku the more frequent it was to find pieces of their skin petrifying under the unnatural changes in the concentration of the ambient natural energy. Luckily for them, Sayaka was taking care of that. 

"Why do the monsters never attack you?"- Shikamaru asked after trying for the nth time to clean his body from the bodily fluids of a chakra beast he killed too close for comfort and got covered in their innards.

"They recognize the threat level of living beings by their reserves of natural energy. If it's too little it's prey, too much equals predator. They see me as a predator and you as the rabble."- Sayaka waved her hand and removed the liquids and semisolids covering Shikamaru.

"Thank you."- Shikamaru smelled himself and he confirmed that he stank just as much as the others.

In one of the days—while most of them were sleeping—they felt a new chakra signature appear in the middle of the camp. 

They hurriedly surrounded the intruder who was calmly sitting in the shade of a canopy used for dining under the shade. 

The being was strange, it was probably more accurate to say that it was a very life-like sand sculpture covered in scripture and cursed seal markings. The sculpture-like being dressed like a scholar and had long grainy straight dark blue hair, his skin was... sandy? He was calmly eating some of their leftovers. 

"Leaving aside the chakra signature, I could recognize this cooking no matter in which dimension!"- The being said while licking his fingers. 

"Oh, Shukaku! It's a good thing I didn't have to call for you."- Sayaka said as she came out of her tent stifling a yawn. 

"Madi-sama! It's been just a minute since we last met, hasn't it?"- He waved his free hand to her while using the other to eat voraciously. 

"A few decades, give or take."- Sayaka made way to him and popped a full pepperoni pizza for Shukaku. 

"Aha! My favorite!"- He responded animatedly. 

"Sayaka, this is?"- Kakashi asked, still not lowering his guard. 

"This is Shukaku, also known as Shu-sensei, instructor of scripture in Sunagakure. But you most probably know of him as the One-Tails."- Sayaka informed them. 

"That's me. Nice to meet you, by the way, Aniki."- Shukaku waved at Naruto. 

From inside Naruto, the Grumpy Fox emerged. 

"Shukaku... you have changed."- The Nine-Tails commented as he inspected Shukaku and sniffed him. 

"Haven't we all?"- Shukaku said.

"Madi-sama, do you have iced tea?"- He asked, feeling parched. 

"No, no, no, no, I have changed. You're a different being than the Shukaku I remember."- The Nine-Tails denied succinctly. 

"Hahahaha, you can credit that to Luci-sama. He taught me a lot, and after pursuing the path of knowledge I found a way to increase the level of my life and leave behind my Tailed Beast existence."- Shukaku brought out a crystal sphere from his toga.

Inside the sphere, the resting form of his previous chakra body could be found. 

"As per the agreement, one conscience-lacking Tailed Beast for you."- Shukaku made the sand lift and float the sphere to Sayaka under the wide eyes of those present. 

"Thank you, Shukaku."- Sayaka said as the sphere disappeared into her storage. 

Sayaka set the table with assorted plates of delicacies and everyone made way for the brothers to catch up. 

"Sayaka-chan, what's this about?"- Asuma asked. 

He was as bewildered as the rest. 

"Aya The Ruler of The Sand, made a deal with Shukaku a few centuries ago. In exchange for knowledge, security, and a few other personal and interpersonal guarantees, he would give her, or a future holder, his chakra body. This is that."- Sayaka showed them the crystal sphere.

"Sayaka-chan, are you trying to become a jinchūriki?"- Might guy asked inanely.

"No, it has to do with a private business of mine, something that I will need in a few years."- Sayaka replied. 

'I can already imagine the drama the village would have made if they were given the chance.'

[Good thing they'll be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the death of their council and Hokage.]

'Good thing, indeed.'

After midday, Shukaku gave his farewell to Kurama.

"Are you sure you don't want me to port your people to Sunamushi's?"- Shukaku asked. He could see the traces of battle on them. 

They all perked up after hearing the offer of spatial transportation. 

"No, they need the training. They have made great progress, the following days will be the cherry on the top they need."- Sayaka gave them a sadistic smile. 

That day Sayaka became the MHP of the expedition—Most Hated Player. 

Accompanied by more tragedies and close encounters with death, they made their way to Ryūmyaku. 

"Is it behind that dune?"- Sasuke asked. 

There was a massive dune obstructing their pass.

"Hey! Sunamushi!"- Sayaka shouted. 

*Rumble*- The sand trembled. 

The dune started to flow and geometrical patterns appeared on the sand. 

The dune revealed a gargantuan sandworm and under one of the arcs of the worm's body, they caught sight of the Ryūmyaku. But they were too in awe of the massive worm to notice. 

The worm moved with a fluidity that misrepresented its size. 

Casting a shadow on the surprised visitors, it opened its massive maw and talked.

"Madelyne, it always brings me joy to meet you and Lucian. My kids had told me that they felt you approaching and Shukaku confirmed it a few days ago, I've been waiting for you anxiously since then."- Sunamushi lowered her head to Sayaka's level. 

"I was training these wormlings behind me, that's why I took so long."- Sayaka hugged—as much that was possible—Sunamushi's head.

"I trust you had no problems with the critters."- Sunamushi referred to the chakra beasts they encountered. 

"No, it was fine. That's precisely one of the reasons why I brought them here. They lacked experience."- Sayaka chuckled a little at the still gaping faces of the shinobi. 

The fear that reeked from them—mostly those who shared less familiarity with Sayaka—reached the senses of Sayaka and Sunamushi, but neither cared. 

"How has it been going with the marking?"- Sayaka asked in English. 

"We are all marked, we had no problems. That poor sister of yours went about life in a state of chakra deficiency for a few years, but her face was... she is as depraved as always, even while her chakra was dwindling after marking me."- Sunamushi snickered at Sayaka's expression. 

"She is here, isn't she?"- Sayaka asked. 

"Sister."- She heard a whisper in her ears and a wet sensation in her neck. 

Sahara was so overwhelmingly fast to Sayaka's current capabilities that she didn't register her until she was licking her neck. 

"Sahara do you have to be a pervert in public?"- Sayaka eyed the open-mouthed crowd. 

As if the presence of Sunamushi was not enough, a woman so fast no one could perceive appeared and licked Sayaka's neck. 

"This is my undying love for you, Nee-san. There's nothing pervert about it"- Sahara cradled Sayaka in her arms. 

"Your words are pretty, on the other hand, that expression..."- Sayaka brought her hands to Sahara's face and tried to remove the derangement from it, but she was unsuccessful. 

Sahara ignored her and her expression shifted to stony, she addressed the gallery. 

"Hello, I'm Sahara, sister of Aya The Ruler of The Desert. Welcome to Ryūmyaku. Any guest of a holder of the kūhakugan will be well-received, just don't push it."- Sahara brought Sayaka with her and Sunamushi made way for them. 

Sayaka left a clone with them to guide them in what she planned for them.

Ryūmyaku didn't have buildings, the landscape was shaped to accommodate Sunamushi, but from an aerial view, a formation of concentric circles could be noticed. With the center being the Ryūmyaku itself. 

The Ryūmyaku, a chakra pool of purple color, lighted its surroundings, so from a distance, a pillar of gentle purple light could be seen, especially at night. 

"Why do they use the names of the previous holders to refer to you? She also treated you as if you were her sister."- Shikamaru asked. 

He and the others had calmed down after setting their camp—the place they'd call home for the next weeks—and after thinking about what they previously witnessed he had a few questions. 

"You know how I have a directory of knowledge in my mind, right?"- Sayaka's clone asked. 

Shikamaru nodded. 

"If I take away your memories and put in your body my memories, would you still be Shikamaru Nara?"- Sayaka asked.

Shikamaru wanted to say no, but then he asked himself about the soul, wouldn't his soul identify him as Shikamaru but with other memories?

"He wouldn't be Shikamaru anymore, I don't know if he would be you, but definitely not Shikamaru."- Ino said. Her clan had expertise in matters of the mind. 

"You're right, we are who we are due to the combination of two factors, the mind and the soul—also known as the spirit—if you take away one of these factors, we stop being who we are."- Sayaka said. 

"If you'd these memories—knowledge—since you were born, then you are more the previous holders than 'Sayaka', but since the previous holder would encounter the same predicament, does that mean that all of you are similar to the first holder?"- Ino asked. The other who were listening paid attention to Sayaka's answer. 

"That doesn't track, The Old Man said that Eiko Senju and Sayaka-chan behave differently."- Asuma added. 

"... Then, it all comes down to the soul, doesn't it?"- Shikamaru asked in realization. 

"Exactly, the real question is: Do we all share the same soul? Are we simply a soul reincarnating since a thousand years ago with similar but different personalities? Or are we different souls connected by similar minds?"- Sayaka asked rhetorically. 

There was a silence in the canopy where they were sharing a meal. 

"The answer is: Who knows?"- Sayaka smiled faintly. 

"You know."- Shikamaru pointed at her lie. 

"I do, but I don't want to tell you. Is Sahara treating me as her sister because she knows I am or because I have her mind and feelings and we reassemble each other? Is Sunamushi treating me as her friend because I am or because I have the same character and personality as her friend and are connected by our minds? I shall know the answer but shan't!"- Sayaka mocked the intrigued listeners. 

Not only was Shikamaru annoyed by the unsolvable puzzle, but the others were. Except for Naruto and the Hyūga, who had the answer hinted at them by their parents—parents-in-law in Naruto's case.

"What a drag!"- Shikamaru complained, then he stopped caring, it was clear Sayaka was doing this to annoy them. 

"You should recover your energy, tomorrow I will start with what we came here for."- Sayaka said. 

"You still haven't told us what that is."- Sakura said. 

"... Right..."- Sayaka replied absentmindedly. 

"I'll leave this world in a few years, and so will the residents of The Sand."- Sayaka dropped a bomb. 

"What?!"- Sakura exclaimed. 

"Are you dying?"- Sakura asked. 

"She said leave, not die."- Shikamaru pointed. 

"We won't see each other again, so you might consider me dead, but Shikamaru is right. We are not dying, we are leaving to another dimension."- Sayaka. 

"Why?"- Asked Sasuke. He was shaken by the news but he had felt since long ago that Sayaka behaved as if she was leaving. She would always encourage him to find solutions to problems assuming he didn't have her help available.

"We don't like this world very much, and a few centuries ago Aya found a dimension suitable for life. So she prepared an ambitious plan to migrate with those willing to follow her. Some time ago the plan became a certainty, but I'm not leaving until I unseal Kaguya and take her away with me. I should be able to do it in a few years."- Sayaka mixed truths with lies, and forgo her usual tells when lying.

Neji and Hinata had learned not to get too attached to the reincarnations of Sara Hyūga, it was common knowledge in their family that they were moving at different speeds and lived in different worlds. So, although it pained them, they were dealing with it just fine. 

Naruto was probably the most affected since Sayaka and Hinata were the first friends he made. Yet, similarly to Sasuke, Sayaka had always dealt with him in a way that taught him how to live without her. 

Out of everyone, the jōnin were the most affected, not because of Sayaka's parting, but because they had received info about how the Sand People were attacking countries all over the continent and how that was one of the triggers that pushed Iwa and Kumo to ally themselves, but if they were leaving, why would they cause mayhem? It meant that someone was pulling strings behind everyone's back. 

Not only that but if what they caught from Sayaka's words was right, the sandworms were included in the followers list. What will happen to this place? Who will fill the power vacuum?

What about Luna? What will happen after Sayaka removes the seal? 

They were running these thoughts and trying to account for every implication and possibility. 

The Desert kept to itself, that has always been a truth in their lives. If you don't go to The Desert, The Desert won't come to you. 

After adventuring the past days through it, they started to wonder why the beast didn't escape the harsh conditions of their environment and settle in the surrounding countries. The answer Sayaka gave them was that the sandworms kept them at bay under the orders of the third holder. 

But if the sandworms left? 

What about the chakra monsters of The Desert? 

Let's not talk about what they leave behind, like Sunagakure and Ryūmyaku. Though Sayaka planned to take Sunagakure with her, this was not something they could imagine. 

"You're leaving successors?"- Kakashi asked, after connecting the dots. He was already informed by the Hokage that Sayaka was going to give something to her friends that would benefit the village and was related to sagehood. 

"You're sort of right. Shukaku is the Inheritor of The Sand. He holds all of Sunagakure's legacy—knowledge—so there's no need for successors. But what I will leave with them is just a guarantee, a backup plan if you will."- Sayaka looked at Naruto, Hinata, Neji, and Sasuke. 

"Currently only Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, and Naruto have enough mastery of scripture to learn this technique, but they can share it with whoever they please after mastering it. The rest of you will be further trained, you've made great progress these past days fighting the critters, don't fall behind!"- Sayaka dispersed herself and left them to their thoughts. 

On another side of Ryūmyaku, Sahara was lying naked in the sand with an equally naked Sayaka trapped on top of her by her arms.

"I'm not going anywhere, Sahara. Be a dear imouto and don't asphyxiate me in your bosom."- Sayaka complained. 

"Fine!"- Sahara relented.

Between the sisters, they kept communication through the hashshashins, so there was no need for explanations about the motive of Sayaka's visit. Even more so because Sahara tended to stalk Sayaka through the hashshashins. 

So for the first time in decades. Sahara got to enjoy the company of the object of her obsession all night. 

She treated Sayaka—who was currently smaller than her—as a plushy. She dragged her fingers through the exposed back of Sayaka with one hand and the other through her head, caressing her scalp. 

She repeated this until Sayaka fell asleep on top of her. Through the night, Sahara would wake up and bury her face in the crook of Sayaka's neck, take a deep breath of her smell, and go back to sleep.

She would wake up at least once every two hours and plant a kiss on Sayaka, dangerously close to her lips.

[You're too obsessed with her.]- Lucian spoke to Sahara's mind.

'I wish I could be you and always reside inside of her.'- Sahara shamelessly replied. 

[You're lucky she tolerates your behavior, it's not normal, according to my findings.]

'Of course she does, she is my older sister, and I'm her little sister, this bond is as much a curse as a blessing.'

[A curse?]

'Even though we don't share blood anymore, I know my sister won't let me bed her. I wish I would have born a male, that way I would have a shot at gaining her heart.'

[I see, the curse was in the gender of 'little sister', the blessing in the familial affiliation.]

'Hehehehe, Luci, you know it... How's life treating my sister, Luci?'

[Don't you know?]

'But I only know what my spies tell me, you, on the other hand, have a direct line to her heart. How envious!'

[She's tired of living among humanity. But she knows this is the last life, a few more years and I would take you away with me and leave behind this multiverse.]

'~Hah~ Eternity spent with my sister should be enough to break her walls of sexual preference, I can't wait, but for my sister, I will wait as much as is needed.'

[Isn't it simpler to change your gender?]

'No, this body, this me, is as much hers as she is mine. I can't take it away from her unless she wants me to, does she?'

[No, she doesn't harbor any thoughts about you leaving your female self behind.]

'I know... She is a hard bone to pick, but I will make her join me in physical ecstasy and emotional actuality, after all, we will have eternity for us.'

 [That's if she doesn't find someone else.]

'That would make my work easier.'

[I don't follow your logic.]

'If she finds a man I will seduce him into adding me to their relationship. No sane heterosexual man would deny having an interest in a shimaidon. After that, it's simply a matter of getting my sister used to my presence, before she knows it we would be copulating because it's normal for us to do it while in bed with the said man.'

[Your obsession is strange.]

'In which way?'

[Normally one as obsessed as you tries to monopolize the target of obsession.]

'Ah, Luci that's your fault. Ever since I remember you have always been there with my sister. I got used to sharing my sister because that became part of my normality.'

[In a twisted sense, that's logical.]

Sayaka had two objectives with her visit.

One was to seal the Ryūmyaku in her. It had already fulfilled its objective by helping stabilize the atmosphere of the planet and by providing Sunamushi with a place to comfortably absorb natural energy, which was no longer needed since Abeyance was filled with it.

The second was to start the chosen ones in the path of sagehood Sunagakure had perfected. she could have done this in Konohagakure, but the high concentration of natural energy in Ryūmyaku would give them the initial boost that they need since they are starting their path late in their lives—normally they should start during childhood, not at the beginning of teenagehood. 

Two weeks later, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, and Hinata donned script tattoos from the lowest of their spine to the highest of their skull. They looked both tired and invigorated. Sayaka's clone had pushed them to their limits and taught them how to do it by themselves. 

They were not the only ones that changed, the rest of the kids carried a strange aura of danger. It wasn't that they suddenly powered up, it was simply that Sayaka had made them continuously fight for 18 hours a day for two weeks against all manner of critters. They were on edge. That became their default state. 

Their eyes would rarely settle on a single target and their sensing became almost passive. 

The instructors were no different, with only Guy remaining the same cheerful person. Kakashi looked as if he had gone to hell and returned because he got bored of it. 

His Sharingan was no longer covered, and the sclera of the eye was filled with so much script it turned black. When closed the Sharingan was yellow, it would turn into its usual red when opened.

The Extras greatly benefited as well, and they were both fearful of Sayaka and thankful to her.

"I'm happy with the results."- Sayaka absentmindedly said.

She received nods of support and self-fulfillment. Although slightly resentful, they had to agree, they were also pleased with their results. 

The Chūnin Exams were around the corner, so Sunamushi gave them the honor of carrying them to the edge of The Desert. What initially took them days to complete, Sunamushi did in a couple of hours. 

From there, they sped through in a straight line to Konohagakure. This time they were taking the shortest route, so it wasn't as long as the first time. 

They met no problems along the way because of how fast they were moving, and because this time no one could leak their information about their route or departure schedule. Oh, the joys of not having backstabbers in your lines!

Two days before the deadline, they arrived. 

The shinobi went to deliver their report, and Sayaka went home to meet her snake friend. 

"You feel... different."- Orochimaru said when he came out of the lab in Sayaka's house that she lent him. 

"I am."- She had absorbed the Ryūmyaku.

"So? How is it going? Will it work?"- Sayaka asked while observing a culture tank that seemingly was empty of anything else but a green liquid. 

"Yes. Optical camouflage, chakra sensing interference, obstruction of multiple frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, sound dampening, and much more."- Orochimaro pressed a button and the glass of the culture tank changed. 

Inside of it now a light grey snake with scripture running along its scales was visible. 

It was hard to find a way to get Orochimaru close to Hiruzen. He was not a kage, nor could he pose as one. So the solution was hiding inside a disposable invisible snake. When the time is right he would exit and ambush Hiruzen within a Four Violet Flames Formation barrier. 

"Sadly it's a one-time use. It will be enough, though."- Orochimaru commented.

"Were your Oto-nin accepted without any problems?"- Otogakure was a village Orochimaru founded to collect samples and run studies peacefully while hiding from Akatsuki after he escaped from them. 

"Kuhuhuhu, they were accepted with open arms. Konoha's need to make itself look better knows no bounds. Hiruzen was eager to have my ducklings be 'shown their place' in front of the daimyō and his guests from the Alliance."- Orochimaru found it so ironic how the Hokage made his own resting place. 

"That's good. Try to keep the civilian casualties at a minimum, but don't hold yourself back. They would all die in the next war or the one that follows, anyway."- Sayaka said. 

"How uncharacteristically cold of you, Madi-sama."- Orochimaru commented, he had no problem with this coldness, he just found it contrasting from the being who had acted for centuries on behalf of the innocents. 

"If there's a beautiful painting with a small defect in a corner, and you focus on that defect. It's your fault for not seeing the beauty of it because you focused too much on the defect. I used to think of humanity like that. Beautiful but with some small defects."

"And now?"

"Now it's like the painting was initially folded and only a hundredth of its true size was seen, but after unfolding it I discovered the other 99 parts of the painting were painted in blood and disappointment."- Sayaka was filled with regret and disappointment about a great many things about humanity on this planet. 

"I'm still me, Snake Kid. I won't enjoy it if you kill civilians indiscriminately, but I won't stop you either. You're part of the same humanity I just spoke of, and not the beautiful part. You destroyed the lives of dozens of children, I'm under no illusion that you are the same damaged child I met decades ago. But I'm not more disgusted by you in any form than I am by humanity."

Sayaka's words meant nothing to him, he would have followed the same path if it took him to the result he would achieve in the following years under Sayaka.

"Just take a look at how they treated Naruto, Sakumo, and me. I used to appreciate the forest for its trees, it's time I stop excusing herd behaviors by saying useless things like how they are individually good but are being misled. It's time I recognize that 'Humanity' includes the herd as much as the individual. Humans can be evil, good, innocent, guilty, weak, strong, ugly, beautiful, and many more. But humanity? The same humanity that employed child soldiers as common sense for centuries?"- Sayaka spoke of her disappointment and realization. 

"It's ironic how it took you so long to realize that, with you possibly knowing humanity the longest."- Orochimaru heard nothing new. What Sayaka just described was the same humanity he had always known. 

The humanity that took his parents, and that took the child that brought light into his dreary life only because they were afraid he would become another Hashirama Senju, this is the same humanity that gave birth to him. How could he not know of it?

The day of the exams arrived. New faces were seen all around. 

The first test took place, and all of those who trained with Sayaka passed. 

The second stage was mostly without problems... 

Sasuke sent a snake to Sayaka asking her to provide a safe place to an Uzumaki he saved. Karin Uzumaki. So Sayaka snuck into the Forest of Death and abducted Karin Uzumaki. The girl was infatuated with Sasuke after he saved her. 

Sayaka recognized crazy when she saw it due to her experience with Sahara. 

Sasuke was well-equipped to handle such partners, so didn't worry that much. It was part of his training.

While Sasuke was taking his exam, Sayaka showed the mansion to Karin and this one immediately chose Sasuke's bedroom as hers. Obviously. 

Sayaka took the chance to indoctrinate her into the 'Sisters' thinking and Karin was all for it as long as she got to be with Sasuke.

'Dealing with women like her can be so easy when you're not their target.'- Sayaka thought. 

The Second Stage came to an end without any problems. 

Mostly...

There were too many people from Konohagakure who passed. Because it would look bad for Konoha if too many of their genin passed, Hiruzen did a preliminary round and fixed the matches to allow a certain amount of foreign genin to pass. 

As a result, Hinata passed from her team but later gave up because she had no interest in being the only chūnin from her team. She was afraid she would be given more responsibilities and that would interfere with her free time with Naruto, and she didn't want to fight Naruto or Sasuke during the final stage—who were the only ones who actually wanted to become chūnin, due to the motivation Sayaka gave them. 

Sakura fought Sasuke and somehow that turned into Sakura officially entering Sasuke and Ino's relationship. In one week his harem expanded by two members.

Naruto defeated Kiba. Shino lost to the Lava Release of Kurotsuchi, but it wasn't known if Kurotsuchi would be able to participate in the finals due to wounds she received from Shino.

Ino lost to Shikamaru, and Chōji to Yugito Nii in a hard-fought battle. Due to the healing effect of the Tailed Beast's chakra, she should be able to participate in the finals, even though she almost died to Chōji.

Rock Lee fought Neji and almost won, but his body gave up before the final strike, Neji took advantage of that and put him to sleep with a well-placed hit. After that Neji was seen scolding Might Guy for allowing Lee to go all out. Neji had held back because he knew how much of an idiot Lee could be and was afraid of harming him more than the backlash of the Eight Gates. However, he had to admit that Lee's elemental kicks and punches were a perfect counter to his taijutsu.

Tenten lost to Omoi, the defining factor was in his Lightning Release. 

Other foreign participants squared against the other, but at the end—as Hiruzen intended—there were left four Konoha-nin and four foreign genin. Enough to show Konoha's superiority but not be suspected of sabotaging the contenders.

The finals were set in a month from then. The official distribution ended as:

Sasuke vs Neji

Shikamaru vs Omoi

Yugito vs Naruto

Kimimaro vs Kurotsuchi

"Isn't that Kaguya child dying?"- Sayaka asked Orochimaru. 

"It's because he is dying that I permitted him to participate. His mentality is such that he would rather die while being useful to me than bedridden."- Orochimaru explained.

"Ah, a tool. I've known of those before, never had one see me as their master... sounds disgusting."- Sayaka commented.

Orochimaru wanted to ask if her relationship with Sunagakure was not similar but he held his tongue. 

"Jiraiya is in the village."- Sayaka informed him.

"Will that be a problem for me or you?"- He asked.

"I'll keep him away. You just focus on dealing with Hiruzen-Oh! By the way, I got confirmation that the Raikage and Tsuchikage will be assisting, so you'll have to hold them back but don't focus too much on killing them."

"Won't their jinchūriki accompany them?"- Orochimaru felt that that would be too much even for him.

"The Two-Tails is here, the Eight-Tails will be left guarding Kumo. Iwa doesn't even know where their jinchūriki are, but Ōnoki's Dust Release is problematic... I'll upgrade the barrier, or else it will be all for naught."- Sayaka replied. 

"Then that's good, the Two-Tails will be defeated by Naruto Uzumaki, so she won't be able to interfere."- Orochimaru concluded.

Orochimaru and Sayaka spent more time going over the minute details of their plan.

____________________________________

{A/N: I will type it in the comments of this paragraph because this shit doesn't let me go over 100k characters.

Comments about the fights go here.

Comments about what you'd like me not to skip go here.

}

_______________________________________ 

↓ Continues on Part 3. ↓