❝𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒉𝒂❞

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 24: 𝑬𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈

Tenzou stood before the masked Madara and his hooded companion wearily eyeing the two of them. The "agreement" they had worked out was quickly proving to be nothing more than an alliance filled with distrust. Like he could ever trust either of them to begin with. He still wasn't convinced that the two people standing before him wouldn't try to take the pleasure of killing his cousin but he figured he would deal with that when it came to it.

'Besides' he thought to himself 'I could always just kill them.'

"So when do we strike?" Tenzou was impatient. Thanks to the Uzumaki blood inside of him he was back on his feet several days after the beating he took from his blonde cousin. Now he was ready to strike back at Naruto, ready to make him pay for the beat down he had endured with added interest.

"Soon Tenzou. Soon. First we must tie up loose ends with our...partners...before we can make any move on Konoha. We will need many more troops than we currently have." Tenzou watched the mask turn his way so he was now staring into the lone Sharingan the masked man possessed. "This is where you come in Tenzou. Your task is to gather troops for our army. You will have at most one year to do this."

"Yes Madara. Trust me" Tenzou's expression grew wicked, "you will have your army."

And he knew right where to start.

Sasuke sat on the roof of the old Uchiha complex and remained silent as he pondered his new life. He ignored the rain that hammered down on his already soaking body while silently contemplating what came next. He also found himself regretting the past more and more. The fact that he was still here though was a testament to the loyalty his friends still felt to him despite everything he had done. All of his desperate attempts to sever the bonds he had with them seemed to fall under the "mistakes and accidents" category for them. He found his thoughts wondering to his brother. The brother Naruto had resurrected. The brother he needed to go visit.

With that last thought Sasuke stood and resolved to never fall into the "what if" game. He wouldn't become a burden because he plagued his mind with "what if" scenarios. With that resolution in place he started to jump over the rooftops to visit his hospitalized brother.

Sakura silently closed the door to her son's room and breathed a sigh of relief. She had spent the last 1 hour in his room singing lullabies to put the irritable infant to sleep. She moved out to the couch and plopped down on the comfortable sofa to take a breather when she sensed a familiar chakra heading up the stairs to the apartment. Her eyes widened in horror and she bolted to the door in order to intercept the source of a potential disaster. The door flew open only to be caught by Sakura's quick hands. With the door in her left hand she balled up the right and let loose into the chest of the man in front of her. He was lucky that there was no chakra infused in it.

She jumped onto him and straddled his chest with one balled fist ready to pound him into oblivion.

"When you come in here you better be so silent that not even an ANBU could hear you. I've spent way too much time putting him to sleep for you to wake him up. Got it?!" She hissed her warning to him and was satisfied to see two terrified blue eyes staring up at her. His blonde, unruly hair bouncing as he nodded his head so fast she actually thought he might snap it.

Her demeanor changed instantly and a smile spread across her face. She scooted backwards and kissed him. Naruto, forgetting they were outside of his apartment, deepend the kiss considerably. Sakura melted into the kiss and returned the action by matching his passion with her own. They had become oblivious of their location and instead focussed on the mind numbing make out session they were engaged in on the ground outside his door. Right before Naruto was about to reach for her shirt they both heard someone clear their throat next to them. If they listened closely a perverted giggling could be heard in the bushes.

"Am I interrupting?" Kakashi just barely glanced at their crimson faces before returning his attention to the perverted book that was a constant in his life. In a record time both people were standing, blushes and all, and staring at the masked shinobi.

"You two looked lost so I thought I'd help you remember where you were while I was walking the path of life." Kakashi's smile was evident even with his mask on.

"So what you meant to say was Gai is wanting another rivalry match right Kakashi-sensei." Sakura wore a smug smile as Kakashi's smile rapidly disappeared. He slowly nodded when suddenly Gai's voice rang through the air from several blocks over. When the two lovebirds looked back at Kakashi he was gone. Chuckling to themselves they made their way back to their apartment. Sakura, completely forgetting their previous activity, was about to go make dinner when Naruto spun her around and captured her lips with his own.

"I'm not finished with you." Naruto said once he broke the kiss off. "We were only interrupted. For me that just means I pick up after the interruption. You should know that Sakura-chan." He grinned at her as she failed to suppress her own grin. When he started chuckling she glared at him.

"If you want to keep going you'll shut up and keep kissing me Baka." That was the only invitation he needed but he decided to skip the warm-up and instead threw her over his shoulder and began to make his way to their room. Sakura shrieked and giggled the whole way there and laughed outright when he tripped on his own foot as he tried to set her down. They both flopped onto the bed but Naruto smoothly recovered by kissing her as soon as they hit the bed at the end of the fall. Just as he was about to lift her shirt the mood was ruined by Minato's crying. They both let out a frustrated sigh but when Sakura got up to take care of him Naruto scared her half to death by using the Substitution Jutsu to switch places with her.

"I've got this Sakura-chan. You just relax there." He smiled at her and vanished around the corner. By the time he returned Sakura was fast asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form before stripping down to his boxers and climbing into bed next to the sleeping kunoichi.

"Sleep good my cherry blossom." He gently kissed her before carefully wrapping her in his arms.

"Tell me where to find him before you end up like your friends over there." Tenzou held the terrified man off the ground by his throat while using his head to nod in the direction of the other 5 thugs he had killed. They had tried go jump a hooded man thinking it would be easy money but they couldn't have been more wrong.

"I'll say it one more time: Where is your leader." He tightened his hand and the man finally began to choke out his answer.

"He's in the bar! That's where he always is. Ask the bartender to visit the man in the VIP room. Tell him Ichinara sent you! Please just don't kill me!" The man broke down into sobs. Tenzou threw him on the ground and the man bowed at his feet.

"Oh thank you! Thank you, thank-"

"Your life was forefit the moment you attacked me." His sudden intake of breath was cut short when Tenzou's blade tore through his skull. He noticed the blade protruding from the man's mouth and grimaced before he yanked the blade free. He glanced up at sign several buildings down.

"The Kitsune Bar." He read the sign a few more times to commit it to memory before he turned towards the alley with bodies strewn throughout it.

"Gouka Mekkyaku!"

Later people would always say that the flame seemed to appear out of thin air but regardless of how it got there over 3 blocks of the street would be missing by the time the blaze was brought under control. Now he would use the chaos to follow in his favor. Tenzou smiled realizing just how easy this was going to be.