Chapter 61

I was summoned to the Hokage's Office the day after arriving back in Konoha. This would be my last meeting with Lord Third, and even then, only thanks to his being the reason that I had been sent to the Fire Temple to begin with, as Lady Tsunade was now officially the Hokage. In essence, Lord Third was there officially only in an advisory capacity, as he had been the issuer of the mission, and the seating arrangements showed it.

Lord Third was seated in a chair to the side of the Hokage's Desk, while Lady Tsunade took the Hokage's seat, with a dark-haired Kunoichi standing just to the right and behind her who had to be Shizune. Lady Tsunade looked amazing, you would never tell that she was in her early sixties, thanks to the Medical Jutsu she constantly had running that energized her cells and gave her the body of a woman half her age.

Her blonde hair, done up in two ponytails, had not a hint of gray in it, and her impressive bust showed no signs of sagging. She wore a grass-green Haori over a gray top, with black hakama and a black obi. Shizune meanwhile, was more mousy, an unassuming, black-haired, kunoichi with a soft voice and serious demeanor. She was far more slender than Tsunade and wore a black yukata over a mesh armor shirt.

"Thank you for coming, Choji-Kun." Began Lord Third.

"Of course, Lord Third. I take it you wish for me to brief Lady Tsunade on the reason for and result of my mission to the Fire Temple?" I questioned.

"As the new Hokage, I need to know things of critical importance. Sensei says this counts., so spill." Huffed Lady Tsunade.

"Very well, where would you like me to start?" I queried.

"Tsunade knows about your. . .unique circumstances. I have briefed her on those myself. I think just the particulars of your mission and what you found there will do for now." Answered Lord Third.

"Very well. So, to start with, Lord Third sent me out to the Fire Temple because Inoshishi-no-Kami warned me that the Akatsuki are looking to gather the Jinchuriki together to unseal the Obsidian Empress and cause some sort of Apocalypse. I was sent to the Fire Temple to delve into their Archives to see if they had any information on the history of the world behind the Obsidian Empress and her defeat or anything that might help defeat her should she come again." I summarized.

"And did you?" Asked Lady Tsunade.

"I did, at least partially. I found a bit more knowledge of the History of the World than most people have, along with a Fuuinjutsu Formula that harms Demons and Akuma, though I doubt it would do much of anything to the Obsidian Empress herself. The Sealing Formula for binding powerful demons like the Obsidian Empress was missing, worn away due to time and the elements." I responded.

"I see. Is there anything else you can add that would be useful? 'Cause if not, this sounds like only a partial success." Demanded Lady Tsunade.

"Our best bet is always going to be keeping Naruto from Akatsuki's clutches. They need all nine Jinchuriki's Tailed Beasts to unseal the Obsidian Empress. So long as only one Jinchuriki remains out of their hands, they can't break the seal in Demon Country." I advised.

"All right. I'm gonna call this mission a success then. I'm upgrading this to an S-Rank Mission, which means you are not to talk about it with anyone that doesn't have clearance for S-Rank Mission Details, understand?" Questioned Lady Tsunade.

"That also means you'll be paid over one million Ryo, so it's not all bad." Chimed in Shizune, speaking up for the first time in the meeting.

"Indeed. I think perhaps five million is appropriate." Nodded Lord Third.

"Right, I understand completely." I agreed.

"Good. Now get out of my office, I have a lot of paperwork to do if I wanna be able to enjoy a night drinking!" Snapped Lady Tsunade.

I nodded, saluting before leaving. I stopped by the mission desk to collect my pay, thankfully, not having to wait long for the Chunin on duty to confirm my pay for an S-Rank Mission and headed out into Konoha once more. Asking around, I found that Shikamaru and Ino were both out on Missions, Shika had taken a C-Rank to escort a Timber Merchant to the Capital while Ino was out on a B-Rank Mission to Deal with a Missing-Nin from Shimo out in Hot Springs Country who had been ambushing merchant caravans.

Naruto was in town, though, as he'd just come back from a C-Rank Mission to clear some bandits out from the woods near Tanzaku-Gai he'd taken immediately after returning with Jiraiya from looking for Tsunade. Apparently, the Bandits had stockpiled two-million-nine-hundred-thousand Ryo from their raids, and even with the Village taking a twenty percent cut of the loot, he still wound up with two-million-four-hundred-twenty-thousand Ryo after getting his mission pay. Predictably, he'd immediately begun to blow the money on food, sweets, and stuff.

I found him grinning from ear to ear as he stuffed dango into his face five at a time at the Rising Phoenix Tea House. He had at least a dozen plates of dango, takoyaki, and other food sitting on his table. I chuckled to myself as I watched him startle as he spotted, me, start choking on his mouthful of dango, then immediately slam his fist into his chest a few times before the dango finally went down his gullet, dislodged from where they'd been caught. He took a deep breath, before calling out to me.

"Oi, Choji! Come here and siddown will ya? I've got a story to tell you for once, Dattebayo!" He called out, waving me over.

I made my way over to his table and offered a greeting of, "Hey, Naruto. How's it going?"

"You've got no idea! Ero-Sennin taught me a neat new trick and I even got to use it before we found Tsunade-baa-chan! See, we had just missed her in Otafuku City and had managed to track her west into Grass Country to a Town called Yasumumachi when we ran into this guy just over the Border. Apparently, he was one of Hanzo the Salamander's newest batch of Jonin that deserted when the War started to turn against Hanzo a couple weeks back. Benimaru of the Hundred Staves, Ero-Sennin called him. Anyway, he had a buncha variations on the Doton: Ishibo Sōzō no Jutsu (Earth Release: Stone Bo Creation Technique), ones that worked off Suiton Chakra, ones that shot multiple staves at you, the works!" Began Naruto, excitedly.

"So what did you do?" I queried.

"So, the Jutsu Ero-Sennin Taught me was one of the Fourth Hokage's, can you believe it? It's called the Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere) and it kicks ass, Datebayo! It totally beat the pants off of the various Elemental Bo Creation techniques that Benimaru had!" Grinned Naruto.

"I'm familiar with the Rasengan. I'm guessing you used it to smash through his various Elemental Bo staves and then hit him with it? That could be a fight-ender by itself, especially if the opponent isn't wearing armor or hasn't toughened their body somehow." I mused.

"Yeah! The guy didn't even know what hit him!" Nodded Naruto, vigorously.

"Sounds great, Naruto. So you got a bounty as well as the mission pay?" I asked.

"No, stupid Hanzo isn't putting out any new bounties. Apparently, he needs every Ryo for the war effort now that the rebels have the upper hand. At least that's what Ero-Sennin said." Grumbled Naruto, grin flattening into a grimace.

"Which is why you immediately went and took a C-Rank bandit-clearing mission?" I questioned.

"Yeah! And hey, those bandits had a whole pile of Ryo for the taking, so it's not all bad, Dattebayo!" Agreed Naruto, smiling once again.

As Naruto popped another stick of Dango into his mouth, I could only sigh in fond exasperation. His moods were as changing as the winds, though that was nothing new. It was reassuring in a way that even through everything that'd happened, with the Invasion and the Shinobi life, that Naruto was the same as he'd always been.

"Never change, Naruto." I chuckled.

"Don't plan to." Chirped Naruto.

We talked for a couple of hours, with me ordering food of my own, just catching up. Naruto wanted to hear how the Pirate Mission in Noodle Country went, as I hadn't had the chance to tell him yet. Meanwhile, he swapped the details of the Bandit Mission with me. Apparently, the Bandit Leader had turned out to be the Lord of Tanzaku Gai's Half-Brother, pissed that his half-Brother was the lord instead of him even though he was older by a few years, just 'cause his mom hadn't been their father's favorite consort. The Guy had a major stick up his ass that Naruto couldn't help but make fun of, both in the retelling and during the mission.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. For our meeting, that came after a few hours of hanging out, swapping stories, eating, and shooting the shit. Apparently, the Hyuga had booked the Rising Pheonix for a function and we were shooed out by the owner not fifteen minutes prior to the first of the Hyuga showing up, just enough time for us to pay our bill and our table to be cleared for the Hyuga function.

Naruto clearly hadn't been pleased by all that. He'd grumbled about Lord Hyuga being a total jerk the whole time we were paying our bill and heading out. I let him rant, he'd run out of steam eventually, and it was true. Lord Hyuga was a jerk, and I wasn't just saying that because he was a political opponent to my dad on the council. Hiashi Hyuga was a stuffy jerk with a stick up his ass that would make the one that the Bandit Lord near Tanzaku Gai had up his ass look like a twig in comparison.

He also quite clearly had been angling for the Hokage seat once Lord Third retired, only to be waylaid by a candidate that nobody could protest in Tsunade. That stick up his ass had likely only increased in size accordingly. Idly, I wondered if he had booked the Rising Phoenix to discuss a potential coup with his clan, but I quickly discarded the possibility. There was no way that he'd do something like that in such a public place, after all.

"Hey, Choji. I gotta go. Sasuke wanted to meet with me and Sakura at five about something and I should head over to his townhouse soon." Spoke up Naruto after we'd wandered around for a good forty-five minutes.

"Yeah? I wonder what he wants?" I queried.

"No clue. Knowing Sasuke? He probably wants to crib off any techniques or notes I or Sakura picked up. You know Sakura was formally accepted as one of Tsunade-baa-chan's new official apprentices? I heard Ino's been looking to ask about doing that when she gets back from her mission too." Shrugged Naruto.

"Huh. Good for Sakura. She was struggling to find a niche in the Shinobi Forces. Sounds like she finally found one." I remarked.

"Yeah, I'm happy for her. Problem is, Sasuke-Teme's being a dick about it. With me being a Chunin and Sakura getting special attention from one of the Sannin, he's been left in the dust." Sighed Naruto.

"Hopefully he won't do something stupid." I frowned.

"Oi, if anyone from my team is gonna do something stupid, it's me, Dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto in mock offense.

I snorted at that, and we both broke into a bout of chuckles before I looked at Naruto and said, "Seriously, Naruto. If he tries to do something stupid, don't let him drag you into it. The guy has a major chip on his shoulder 'cause of Itachi and he might try something drastic if he feels he's being left behind."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I really do have to go, though." Affirmed Naruto.

"Right. I guess I'll see you later, then." I nodded.

"Later Choji!" Waved Naruto before he began speeding away toward the Uchiha Townhouse near the Hokage Tower.

For myself, I headed home to get some evening training in at the Akimichi-Ryu Dojo before spending some time with my family for the evening. Dad was, uncharacteristically, home for the night instead of having to pull double shifts for work as the Quartermaster General of Konoha to sort out reconstruction. Two months after the Invasion, things were finally starting to get to a level where the village was recovered enough for him to forgo that. It'd taken a few months into the timeskip between Naruto and Shippuden to do that the first time around, a testament to the lack of casualties compared to the first timeline.

The next day, Ino and Shikamaru made their way back into the Village from their respective missions and the three of us spent the day hanging out, shooting the shit, and getting in a little light training along with Naruto and Kiba. Shika showed off his new Jutsu during training in a bout against Kiba, the Kage Kubishibari no Jutsu (Shadow Strangulation Jutsu).

Our last stop of the day before heading home was to get Lady Tsunade to accept Ino as an apprentice, which she did the moment she realized that she wouldn't have to start from scratch and teach Ino the Shōsen Jutsu (Mystic Palm Technique). Then, we all headed for Yakiniku Q for dinner before heading home.

I didn't know it then, but it would be the last peaceful day before a shitstorm of events rained down on us. While I had been hanging out with friends, several forces and players had been making moves in the background and a couple of different events were about to come to a head, with me caught in the middle of them.

Starting with the defection of Uchiha Sasuke to Otogakure not two days later. . .

XXXX

AN: This was a bit of a cooldown chapter, as we're gonna go straight from this into the alternate Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Mostly, this was to introduce Tsunade and Shizune to the fic, along with giving you guys a bit of slice-of-life cooldown before the action starts up again.

Yes, this also means that Naruto now knows the Rasengan. Choji can't be the only one with a kickass offensive jutsu, after all. Ino also now gets accepted to be one of Tsunade's apprentices alongside Sakura. As for Shikamaru, well, he grabbed the Shadow Strangulation Jutsu because it was low-hanging fruit, easier than the Kage Yari no Jutsu (Shadow Spear Technique) by a lot.

Sasuke's gathering with Team Seven was his last-ditch attempt to catch up. Naruto wouldn't teach him the Rasengan or the Kage Bunshin because Jiraiya forbade him from teaching either, and Sakura is only halfway through learning the Mystic Palm, and so couldn't teach him. The Sound Four, now fortified with a new member after Jirobo's death in the Invasion, took advantage of that.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the start of the alternate Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Stay tuned. . .