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The news reached the front lines two days later, carried by a courier who looked like he hadn't slept since leaving Konoha.
"Gaara of the Sand," the courier said, breathless, "kidnapped from the hospital wing. Confirmed S-rank missing-nin involved. Two guards dead, the ward heavily damaged."
Tsume's expression went carefully blank in the way that usually meant she was one sentence away from losing her temper entirely. "Kidnapped. From inside Konoha. While he was our prisoner."
Anyone else should have either looked horrified or flown into a rage; however, seasoned ninja were much more adept at hiding their emotions.
"Hokage-sama is recalling you personally," the courier added. "Chōsa Akimichi is being sent to take over front-line command in your place."
Tsume didn't argue. Knowing what had happened, it made more than enough sense that the Hokage needed her back, one of the only three clan heads who specialised in tracking.
And honestly, even when she didn't wish to go back, there wasn't room to argue on the matter.
A jinchūriki taken from Konoha's own soil, whether it were their jinchūriki or not, mattered little, and that too at mid-war. It took her half an hour before she was already ready to depart; that's how fast and mobile shinobi are.
By the time Chōsa arrived to formally take command, the news had already rippled through the camp's jōnin, Izumi among them, and it was in the middle of that unsettled atmosphere that Sukuna requested a private meeting.
-x-
The tent was smaller than the ones used for official war councils, chosen deliberately for privacy rather than capacity. Izumi arrived first, arms crossed, already wary — Sukuna rarely called meetings without reason, and rarer still did he call them looking as measured as he did now.
Kiyomi and Neji filed in a moment later, taking their usual places without comment.
And with them there, all members of Konoha's sorcerer's guild had arrived.
No, there was no guild like that, but Izumi had an overactive imagination at times.
"You wanted to talk," Izumi said, cutting straight to it. "Before I get into what happened back in the village, what's this about?"
Sukuna didn't answer immediately, which was unusual enough on its own that Izumi's wariness sharpened further.
"Something happened back in the village. That's why Choza is taking over Tsume, is that it?" Sukuna frowned. At times like this, he really wondered if perhaps promoting her to full-fledged Jonin might be the right idea. At least he wouldn't have to hunt for this sort of news by himself when it was already too late or learn it from someone else.
"More or less…" She trailed off, eyes flickering to Kiyomi for a second before continuing.
"An old friend came back and cause quite a ruckus back there…" She said with a sigh, while neither technically was the original person who had those relationships with Itachi, it was always awkward to talk about him since they still had memories of him and they played the roles of someone who knew him now, 24-7.
Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at Izumi. To Yuki, to be exact, with the original Izumi's memories, Itachi wasn't a lover, or at least the boy who the body she occupied right now fell in love with, even if it most likely would be one-sided.
To Yuki Tsukumo, Itachi Uchiha was just a memory of the girl whose body she was in. No personal feelings attached.
Kiyomi was different, though. Kiyomi was the same girl who had experienced Itachi as a brother, even when Yorozu's memories and powers had mixed in her. So her reaction was understandable.
Sukuna waited for more, but Izumi just changed the topic. "But as I said, later. First, explain why you called us here all of a sudden?"
Sukuna looked irritated but spoke nonetheless.
"There's an organization," he began finally. "Calls itself Akatsuki. I won't go into everything about them right now, but the short version — they're dangerous, well-organized, and their goals aren't good for anyone. Terrorists, essentially, operating across multiple villages, mostly in the shadows."
"So, basically, curse users," Izumi stated.
"Something like them, but worse…"
"How worse?"
"Unlike the run-of-the-mill bad sorcerers, labeled by the Jujutsu higher-ups as curse users, these guys actually think they are doing something for the good cause."
Izumi at that snorted. "So, it's like that idiot Geto Suguru."
"Yeah…" Sukuna nodded.
"Akatsuki… never heard of them, though. Are they like those super-secret organizations or something?"
"Most haven't. Yes…" Sukuna nodded and continued.
"That's rather the point of an organization, if anything." Sukuna's tone stayed even. "A few days ago, during the scouting mission where we ran into that Kumo strike team, two of their members showed up."
"Wait, those jokers were Akatsuki?" Neji (Naoya) asked in disbelief, already the image of the Akatsuki falling below in his mind.
"Apparently, they were after the jinchūriki we were already fighting." Sukuna nodded and continued.
Izumi was hearing this for the first time and didn't know the details, so he had to explain everything from the beginning.
Izumi's arms tightened where they were crossed. "So, they moved at the same time, not only to the village but also here…" She murmured to herself.
Izumi studied him for a long moment before exhaling and getting to her own news. "Gaara's been kidnapped. Taken right out of Konoha's hospital ward. Two S-rank missing-nin, matching descriptions close enough that I'd bet everything I own it was the people from the same group as the one that attacked you guys. Black stretch coats with red clouds on them."
The tent went quiet.
"They took him from inside the village," Izumi continued, voice tightening with the implication. "Guards killed, ward torn up in the process. Tsume's been recalled to help handle the fallout. Political disaster doesn't even begin to cover what this is going to cause once the other villages hear a jinchūriki was stolen out of Konoha's own hospital during wartime."
Sukuna's mind flashed, recalling that one canon event when both Kisame and Itachi entered Konoha after the Third Hokage's passing.
'Could it be…' he honestly wondered, but what was the point of thinking about something which had already passed?
"Let me guess, these people, one of them was my brother." Kiyomi's tone went cold at that.
"That would be my read on it too," Sukuna nodded.
Naruto wasn't there, Gaara was, so they went after him. It did make sense, seeing how Itachi was on Konoha's side from the start. It does make sense if he intentionally didn't capture Naruto, even when he could have; however, he went after Gaara in a heartbeat.
What a ruthless man. Though what one can expect from someone who killed his entire clan.
"Do we know why?" Neji asked.
"Not with certainty. But whatever the reason, it's not small. Taking tailed beasts systematically, across multiple villages, mid-war, isn't something a minor group does for minor purposes." Sukuna decided to hold back on his meta knowledge. It was irrelevant anyway, and if not, then it would be sooner or later by the way he was flapping his wings.
Izumi's eyes narrowed further, some old instinct clicking into place. "This is bigger than a border skirmish with Kumo, isn't it."
"This world has a long history of war, just like the one we came from, and tailed beasts and Jinchūriki are seen like nuclear deterrence. What would you do if someone stole those deterrents right under your nose?" Sukuna asked.
A silence stretched, heavier now, each of them turning the information over. Kiyomi, predictably, was the first to break it, tone deceptively light. "So what exactly are you asking us for, darling? You didn't call this meeting just to share scary bedtime stories."
Sukuna pursed his lips at that. It was honestly mind-boggling to see her going from Mai Zenin to Yorozu and back in a matter of seconds like that.
Sukuna's gaze moved briefly to her, then settled back on the group as a whole.
"I'm planning to go after them," he said simply. "They are annoying, attacked my home when I wasn't there, one of my friends happens to be a Jinchūriki as well, and to be honest… I am just craving a good fight and have a feeling there is someone in there who can give me just that…"
Izumi's expression shifted from concerned to outright alarmed. "You want to go after an organization capable of infiltrating Konoha and extracting a jinchūriki without getting caught."
"Two of their members already died to us," Neji pointed out. "If you ask me, those idiots were no big deal. If anything, I'm now interested in seeing what else this big bad organization has in store."
Kiyomi sported her own very big smile as well, this one was certainly Yorozu. And Mai had her own reason to go after that organization if Itachi was there.
"I'm not asking anyone to commit to anything yet," Sukuna continued. "This isn't an order, and it's not something I expect people to jump into blind. I'm simply telling you what I know, and what I intend to do about it." His gaze swept over each of them in turn, steady and unhurried. "If any of you want to be part of that, let's say have some fun outside this boring camp, I'll take you along. If not, that's fine too. No hard feelings either way."
The tent fell quiet again, that had to be the worst and the best recruitment speech they have ever heard.
xXx
A/N : This is basically Sukuna seeing the problem and thinking, "Man, its already quite late, lets take care of this problem already."
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