As Shota along with Pakura and her genin team left the Hokage office, the genins breathed a sigh of relief. The heavy atmosphere inside the office had been difficult for them to handle.
The young shinobi looked tired and a bit shaken after facing the Third Hokage's powerful chakra pressure. They walked a little faster as they left the building, glad to be outside in the open air again.
Maki said with a sigh, "That was intense, Pakura-sensei."
One of the boys said, "The Third Hokage was scary. I could not even breathe at the start. I felt I would have died if Pakura-sensei was not there."
Pakura smiled gently at her students. "Now that is a lesson for you. Never underestimate a legend of the shinobi world despite how old or tired they look. They would be dangerous even if they were on their dying bed."
She continued teaching them with a calm voice. "But also never show your weakness in a negotiation against them. Because once they see your weakness, they would take full advantage of it."
"Pakura-sama, I also learned a lot from you. You were truly brilliant," Shota said with genuine admiration in his voice.
Pakura smiled, and that smile made Shota's heart flutter like a leaf in the wind. He thought, 'Control yourself, Shota. Control your teen hormones.' He tried to keep his face calm and cool on the outside, but inside he was cheering like a fan who had just met his idol.
Pakura said, "You being in the meeting helped, considering his power move would not have worked if you used your dojutsu on him. And good job not using it since it helped solidify our alliance."
She then asked, "So what is next?"
"We will be staying here for the next two days to see how much Konoha has suffered, the extent of their damages, and what of their elites that had died in the attack, especially their jonin. The council might still want to know about all of this even though we are even in an alliance," Shota replied.
Pakura nodded and added, "Let us try to find what caused this attack either. It would be helpful considering now that we would be having two Jinchuriki in the village. We need to see if it was the Jinchuriki himself losing control, the tailed beast breaking of the seal, or something else."
Shota nodded as they exited the Hokage building to be met by Choza, who escorted them to where they would be staying. Along with Choza there were a few other shinobi, and one among them was Kakashi, who had an empty look in his visible eye.
'It is sad, really. Kakashi has witnessed all of his loved ones die. His mom died during childhood, his father committing suicide when he was a kid, then he had to watch his friend sacrifice himself for him, then the iconic Chidori to his other friend and teammate's heart, and then his sensei dying. Truly tragic, and yet he acted so cool during canon,' Shota thought.
The weight of Kakashi's losses made Shota feel a deep sadness for the young jonin. He could see the pain hidden behind that mask and the single visible eye.
Kakashi had lost so much at such a young age, and it would shape him into the strong shinobi he would become .
Shota felt respect and sympathy for him, knowing how hard it must be to keep going after so much tragedy.
'Truly, if someone has the most sad backstory in this world, it is him. And no, I would not call Itachi's backstory sad. Fucker was the one himself that killed his own family and his lover,' Shota thought with a shake of his head.
He compared the two and felt that Kakashi's pain was more real and unavoidable. Itachi had made choices that led to his suffering, but Kakashi had simply lost everyone he cared about through no fault of his own.
He then thought about how the Hokage had made them help with their war with Kiri. Suna was already in a small war with Kiri, so it was not that they would be joining a completely new war.
'If I am not forgetting things, they had asked for Pakura's life in exchange for peace in canon. And Rasa had given Pakura-sama as a sacrifice since he felt threatened of her influence in the village. But now he cannot do it considering I am the anti-corruption unit leader, and like hell I would let anything happen to my Pakura-sama,' Shota thought.
'So the council and Rasa will have to approve of this mission since Kiri would not be backing down anytime soon with their requests not being met,' he thought as they continued walking.
The group moved through the damaged streets of Konoha, seeing the signs of the recent attack everywhere. Shota kept his eyes open, noting everything that could be useful for Suna later.
The mission was going well so far, and he was determined to make the most of their time in the Leaf Village.
The sun was beginning to set as they reached their temporary quarters. Shota could not wait for night to fall because he had accepted going to Konoha for one particular reason.
It was time to get himself a power up.
--------Author Notes---------
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