The next day, Ren and Temari returned to Sunagakure while Kankuro and Gaara stayed stationed at the borders with a somewhat reduced Suna army.
There was nothing more they could do. The army was left there just in case the new Iwa commander tried to do some shenanigans, but other than that, Suna scouts would be monitoring their position while the Suna command hoped their army would not just scatter and swarm their territories from those now unguarded spots across the northern borders.
Other than that, for the next month, Suna will be busy trying to scramble and patch up the holes in their defenses and putting down the disruptions Iwa ninjas will no doubt start causing soon in the northern part of the country.
The situation was pretty much cooked, and the only thing Suna could do was damage control.
Ren had to give it to Iwagakure and Onoki. He took the possibility of Sunagakure coming to help Konohagakure out of the equation for months with this move. And that's if he didn't have the skeleton force he left behind to do anything but sit on their side of the borders in the Land of Fangs.
But if there was one thing Ren knew about ninjas... they couldn't just sit still and do nothing. A lifetime of training made them men of action. The chances that the Iwa army would do nothing were slim. Especially if some ambitious dipshit wishing to rack up accomplishments took over the command.
At least, one thing was unmistakably positive. The war had indeed entered a passive state for Suna after just one battle. The next part will be bloody and full of smaller skirmishes, but it has nothing to do with Ren. As a Konoha ninja stationed in Suna, they wouldn't send him on a mission even if they could.
Pride was such a peculiar thing, but if it worked in his favor, Ren decided he would take it. For him, barring any unexpected upheavals, the war has ended right here and then.
Poor Temari, though. Just because she returned to Suna, it didn't mean she was out of the hot water. Instead, Ebizo threw her into organizing the Suna forces for the next part of the war. Something that made her require at least half an hour in the evening to scream at the mirror in the bathroom in sheer frustration.
But... she kind of had it coming. This was exactly the thing she needed to experience and learn if she was to take over the village as its next Kazekage. The joys of command, logistics, and paperwork. She wasn't going to get much free time in the foreseeable future.
Pfft. Yeah, Ren decided they could keep their high positions. This chunin would rather eat a nice meal, relax on the sofa, and read the unimaginative slop they presented over here in this world as a fantasy book.
Temari also appreciated having a home-cooked meal ready when she came home in the evening. There wasn't much for Ren to do these days, so he could do at least that much for her.
And other than that, he spent his time in the Little Garden, where Ino or Hinata usually showed up to accompany him. Just like right now. He sat in the armchair in the living room in their house in the Little Garden, reading the newest edition of Icha Icha Paradise, the fearless leader and her cute assistant.
He especially found the Tsunada character amusing, the supposed leader of her village. One could wonder where Jirayia had gotten that idea, right?
Oh, there was also her assistant, Shizane. Ren kind of doubted Jiraiya was going to survive his next visit to Konoha. Not after the steamy threesome scene where his main character, Jiraja, talked the bright-eyed and thirsty Tsunada into taking her on her desk while Shizun-, ahem, Shizane was playing with Tsunada's chest and making out with Jiraja.
Then again, maybe Jiraiya will survive at least for a little longer. Last Ren heard, the man went on a long, two-year journey with Naruto and Karina... er, Ren meant Karin. His bad. Karina was Icha Icha's writer's new co-writer. How could he ever mistake her for somebody perverted like that?
'But damn, these Uzumaki are something else.' Ren inwardly hummed as he realized that it was most likely Karin who had talked Jiraiya into writing that scene.
She really hated Tsunade's guts for some reason. Ren had no idea what happened between them. He only knew that taking Sakura as her apprentice was the last straw that broke the camel's back as far as Karin was concerned. She hated the pinkette's guts due to her past behavior toward Naruto.
Then again, Ren's information came mostly from Ino, and that girl was just as big a gossip as in canon. She was just much subtler about it here. So, he couldn't really say what was fake and what was real information.
Ino said that Tsunade supposedly suggested the revival of the Uzumaki line, which would mean Naruto would have to have children with many women. Honestly, Ren highly doubted Tsunade did that. She was a part Uzumaki, too, and with her medical ninjutsu, she could still make herself fertile despite her age.
If she wanted to revive the Senju or the Uzumaki line, she would start with herself.
No. That feud had distinct markings of Danzo's influence. But that dipshit was long dead, so... doing one plus one equaled Sarutobi. Or rather, his friends Homura and Koharu. On second thought, those two were more likely than the old coot.
Ren had no idea if the shit-flinger would fling shit even at his student.
Ren imagined that creating such a misunderstanding would not be all that hard for those people. It was not like Karin could barge into Tsunade's office and demand answers. Especially not now that she is out of the village with Jiraiya, and Konoha was at war, which made Tsunade busier than ever.
Ino only knew about it because she was friends with Karin, and the redhead had a lot of mean words to say about Tsunade in her letters. She really poured her heart out to Ino and complained in a language bad enough to make even a sailor blush.
But that was Karin's side of the issue. And she might not have the correct information. Ino had told her as much and advised her to wait and not do anything rash before confirming Tsunade's side, but by then, the new Icha Icha was already on its way to the shelves in the shops.
Opsie?
Poor Shizune was catching strays.
Ren almost regretted that he was no longer in Konoha and couldn't see what faces Tsunade and Shizune would be making when Kakashi showed up with the newest Icha Icha in front of them.
Oh, he had no doubt they would find out extremely quickly. A lot of ninjas read that Icha Icha garbage. Especially in Konoha, since it was low-key known that Jiraiya was the writer. Many had the bright idea to look for clues and hidden advice on how to be a better ninja in these books.
And Ren learned that from Gai. The precious summer child still believed that's why Kakashi always read that book.
It made Ren so bewildered when he found out that he felt honestly embarrassed to correct him. He eventually decided not to. Ignorance was sometimes bliss.
Yes. Kakashi was such a great ninja thanks to all the advice he soaked up through Jiraiya's marvelous work. Totally.
Anyway, the Jonin might be able to hide it, but the chunin were not subtle enough. Some of them would throw Tsunade strange or embarrassed looks. And she would absolutely notice. One look would mean nothing, but once it happens again and again? She would start investigating, and from there it is just a hop, jump, and salto while strongly asking her more timid subordinates a few questions. Voila, she would know.
But as far as Ren knew, Tsunade's office hadn't suffered any major damage recently, so the woman was most likely still in the dark about this recent masterpiece of literature.
For now, with bated breath, he awaited the explosion that was no doubt coming.
Suddenly, hearing the door to the room open, Ren raised his eyes from the book and saw Hinata coming in. He smiled at her, only for his lips to settle into a concerned frown as she smiled back a tired smile.
He noticed the black circles under her eyes and sighed. Konoha was not yet fully at war. It was in the preparation stages. Ren, Hinata, and Ino's actions in Kumo delayed them quite a lot, and Iwa was both busy with their spat against Suna and was also far away. There was still some time before everybody was ready for the war to erupt on that side of the continent.
Sadly, war meant more dangerous missions. Despite this time still being the prelude to war for Konoha, Hinata was already extremely busy in the Konoha hospital.
The sweet girl refused to give up on a patient. She regularly used multiple clones to treat several people at once. So far, no one died on her operating table under her precious hands, and the Konoha ninjas started to notice. Her reputation soared.
They started to hail her as the second coming of Tsunade, much to her annoyance.
According to Ino, that annoyance was mutual. Somehow, with her body reading tricks, Ino managed to glean from Tsunade that the woman both envied Hinata for truly having such an amazing record and deeply admired her because of it.
But she also found it embarrassing and upsetting to be compared with it because, well, it made her remember all those people she hadn't managed to save during her early medical days. Which, in turn, made her think about the people she didn't manage to save later on. Which, then, led her to think about the important people in her life she lost and... Dan.
It was still baffling to Ren how much Ino could tell about a person with a few glances. He wondered what she could tell about him, but at the same time, he'd rather not know.
His fragile ego might not be able to handle the blow.
Ren put the book down and grabbed the nearest pillow before putting it on his lap and looking at Hinata while patting it in a wordless invitation. Hinata instantly perked up, her smile slightly widening as she sped up her pace while she walked toward Ren.
Reaching him, she leaned in for a long kiss, and then, she lay on the sofa while resting her head on the pillow on Ren's lap, watching him with her eyes narrowed in delight. She sighed in contentment, feeling the fingers of Ren's right hand go through her hair as his fingernails started to gently scrape against her scalp.
Watching her weary face, Ren inwardly frowned. It was good that she never let anybody in her care die. But her dedication and kindness were clearly taking a toll on her. He didn't like seeing that.
Sadly, there was not much he could do to help.
Resisting the urge to shake his head, he rested his left hand on her stomach and playfully tapped his fingers right where he knew she was ticklish, making Hinata involuntarily giggle and squirm.
With the mood lightened, he stopped before it could become uncomfortable for her and smiled at her again before asking, "How was your day, sweetheart?"
---
AN:
Yeah, so I got kinda fed up with writing about the war.
I took some time to re-evaluate where I go with my writing and decided to shift the angle a bit. The war will still go on, and it will be very important going forward, but I don't think I will put so much importance on armies clashing and whatnot.
That will still happen in the background, but I probably won't use much wordcount to properly describe it unless the main characters are a part of it.
I want to do more light-hearted Hinata and Ino content for now. I want to actually get to the whole Akatsuki scheme with Edo Tensei content. And I want to lightly portray the schemes in Konoha, too.
I feel I got tangled up with the war, and my writing suffered for it. So, let's see if I can untangle myself, yeah?
PS: Yes, the title was totally intentional. You expected something else, didn't you? Lol.