"Is that really okay?" Obito asked, glancing at Sasuke beside him after the boy had just made such a display in front of the Akatsuki.
"Before this, didn't you want to kill him as quickly as possible? So what changed?"
Sasuke lowered his head.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he slowly raised it again, and when he spoke, his voice came out low and trembling, carrying a warped kind of excitement that made even the air around him feel wrong.
"I did... yeah, I did. Even now, there's nothing I want more than to kill that bastard."
He paused, his breathing turning heavier.
"But killing him isn't enough."
After learning the truth, Sasuke had come to understand something.
"Itachi never did any of that for me. Maybe, in his own twisted and disgusting way, he convinced himself it was love... but in the end, what he really wanted was a loyal dog for Konoha."
"A strong, obedient dog that would protect the village in his place."
Obito's eyes narrowed behind the mask, thoroughly pleased with that answer.
It seems making him read all those yandere BL stories wasn't a waste after all.
Sasuke had never wanted to read that kind of thing. He wasn't stupid—he knew Obito was messing with him in his own warped sense of humor. But when Obito called it a test and said he would help him gain more power if he finished them all, Sasuke endured it anyway.
"And what do you plan to do now?" Obito asked, pulling himself from his thoughts and getting straight to the point. He was genuinely curious what kind of answer Sasuke would give.
Sasuke's expression twisted.
"I'll cripple him," he said without hesitation.
"I'll take both of his eyes and then I'll have Orochimaru operate on him and...
...turn him into a woman." (PS: FAAAAHH)
His voice grew darker with every word, his breathing growing rougher, more uneven.
"He destroyed the Uchiha clan with his own hands, so I'll make him reproduce it himself."
"And after that... I'll help you take control of this world."
"Even Konoha."
"I want him to watch it all happen. I want him to see everything he tried to protect collapse right in front of him. I want to destroy his dream... and every pathetic sacrifice he ever made for it."
By the time Sasuke finished, he had said it all in one breath.
"Haa... haa..."
He stood there panting, his face flushed with a feverish excitement that would have looked horrifying to anyone else.
If an ordinary parent had seen their child looking like that, talking like that, they would have smacked him on the spot.
But Obito?
Obito only felt proud.
He reached out and patted Sasuke on the shoulder.
"I expected nothing less from you, Sasuke," he said, forcing down the laugh that threatened to escape. "Then go through with it."
"And don't forget... no matter what happens, I'll be backing you."
Obito almost burst out laughing right then and there.
The plan Sasuke had come up with was so vicious, so needlessly cruel, that even he found it beautiful.
This really was...
Subarashii.
--
Konoha Village
Inside the Hokage Tower, Tsunade sat behind the Hokage's desk with one hand pressed against her face.
The mountain of paperwork in front of her had already reached the point where it looked less like work and more like punishment.
Her expression was already bad enough to scare most people out of the room on sight.
But Shizune, who had been standing beside her long enough to grow numb to it, simply kept sorting through the files with a tired look of her own.
"Sunagakure has sent another message," Shizune said, placing a scroll on the desk. "They're asking about Gaara again."
Tsunade's eye twitched.
"Of course they are."
Her voice was flat, but the irritation underneath was obvious.
How could they not ask?
Their jinchūriki had been taken during the invasion, dragged off by Uchiha Sasuke of all people, and Konoha had failed to stop it.
It was embarrassing... yeah, but Tsunade didn't see it that way. Those bastards had attacked their village, and when everything went to hell, they started shifting the blame. If anything, they should've been the ones paying compensation.
But then again, it was Orochimaru—another rogue Konoha shinobi—who had killed their Kazekage and started this war, so even Tsunade didn't know what the right answer was. If it had just been the Sand acting out and picking a fight, she would've smacked them down without a second thought.
But it wasn't.
Tsunade clicked her tongue and picked up the scroll, only to toss it back onto the desk a second later.
"They can keep asking," she said coldly. "The answer won't change just because they repeat the same question five times a day."
Shizune gave her a helpless look. "Lady Tsunade..."
"I know."
Tsunade let out a sharp breath and leaned back in her chair.
The truth was simple.
Konoha had no good answer to give.
They didn't know where Sasuke had gone after leaving with that masked man.
They had no confirmation on Gaara's condition.
And they had even less of an idea what Orochimaru and Akatsuki were planning now.
Everything was scattered.
Everything was irritating.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Enter."
Kakashi stepped inside first, followed by Asuma.
Tsunade's gaze hardened as she folded her hands in front of her.
"Report."
Kakashi straightened slightly.
"We still haven't found a trace of Sasuke or the masked man," he said. "The search teams came back empty-handed again. It's like they vanished completely."
Tsunade's fingers tapped once against the desk.
Space-time ninjutsu.
Of course they wouldn't be able to track that bastard. Honestly, she'd have been more surprised if they could. And even if they somehow did, it probably wouldn't amount to anything in the end.
Just thinking about it made the whole effort feel pathetic, and for a brief moment, she almost felt sorry for them.
"And Naruto?" she asked.
Kakashi paused for half a second before answering.
"He's training."
That made Tsunade snort softly.
Training.
That was one way to put it.
After failing to stop Sasuke, then failing to bring him back, Naruto had thrown himself into training with a stubbornness that bordered on self-destruction.
He smiled when people looked at him.
He talked loudly, acted the same as always, insisted he was fine.
But anyone with eyes could tell he wasn't.
The brat had taken it hard.
Harder than he let anyone see.
Tsunade finally spoke again, her tone more serious now.
"What about Akatsuki?"
"That's the problem," Kakashi said, scratching his head. "We don't know enough."
A criminal organization made up of S-rank missing-nin. Possible ties to Orochimaru. A masked man with unknown abilities. Uchiha Itachi still out there somewhere. And now Sasuke had willingly thrown himself into that nest.
The whole thing smelled rotten.
And the worst part was that the rot had already spread too far to cut out cleanly.
"The Sand Village is already pressuring me," Tsunade continued, her voice growing colder. "One side wants us to focus everything on retrieving Gaara. The other wants to officially label Sasuke a traitor and be done with it."
Behind the mask, Kakashi's expression turned bitter, but there was nothing he could say.
Asuma stood beside him in silence, though if someone looked closely enough, they might have noticed the darkness flicker through his eyes.
Tsunade ignored whatever complicated thoughts the two of them were carrying and spoke in a firm voice.
"For now, the priority stays the same."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Stabilize the village. Rebuild our forces. Gather intelligence. And if even the slightest lead on Sasuke or Akatsuki appears, I want it on my desk immediately."
Kakashi and Asuma both nodded, then excused themselves and left the office.
The office fell silent again.
For a while, the only sound left was the weight of the quiet itself.
Then Tsunade let out a long, tired sigh.
"Phew..."
"Whoa, that was a heavy one."
The voice came out of nowhere, light and amused, carrying the kind of playful mockery that made it sound like the speaker was smiling for no reason at all.
"Don't tell me the great Hokage is already exhausted. The day's not even over."
Tsunade and Shizune both froze the moment they heard that infuriatingly familiar voice.
Then, very slowly, the two women turned their heads toward the source at the exact same time, their movements so stiff it looked like old trauma had grabbed them by the neck.
Bad memories surfaced immediately.
Space began to fold in on itself, twisting into a spiraling distortion. It looked almost like the air had turned to water, rippling and warping under the touch of some invisible hand.
Then a man stepped out of it.
His hands were tucked casually into his pockets, his posture loose and relaxed, and he looked far too handsome for someone this annoying. A pair of dark glasses rested on his face, and the lazy grin on his lips made one thing immediately clear.
Whatever little dignity this room still had left was about to be personally insulted.
He glanced around once, taking in the mountain of paperwork, Tsunade's murderous expression, and Shizune's already dead-inside face.
Then his grin widened.
"...Seriously?" Obito said, dragging the word out in exaggerated disbelief. "This is the Hokage's office? I thought I'd accidentally walked into a funeral with how miserable it feels in here."
Shizune slowly turned to look at Tsunade.
Tsunade slowly turned to look at Shizune.
Then both of them looked back at Obito Uchiha.
Obito tilted his head.
"What?" he asked, sounding genuinely entertained. "Why are you two looking at me like you've seen a ghost?"
Tsunade raised two fingers to her forehead like she was physically trying to stop a headache from splitting her skull open.
"I've had more than enough on my plate lately because of your bullshit," she said flatly. Then she narrowed her eyes. "So tell me honestly... are you here to make my day even worse?"
Obito smiled without missing a beat.
"Depends."
He glanced at the paperwork again, then back at her.
"How bad was it before I got here?"
The corner of Tsunade's eye twitched.
Meanwhile Shizune quietly took one careful step back.
Experience had taught her that whenever Obito wore that calm, smug expression, it meant he was absolutely about to do something insufferable.
Nothing good ever followed that look.
Then Tsunade's expression suddenly changed.
The anger on her face faltered for just a moment, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks before she could stop it, like something deeply annoying had just resurfaced in her mind at the worst possible time. It was brief, but obvious enough to make the mood in the room turn even stranger.
She shot to her feet so violently that the desk rattled, papers nearly flying everywhere.
"You bastard!" she snapped, jabbing a finger at him. "The Hokage's office is off-limits! I'll never give in to you again!"
"..."
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