Chipped Mask

Part III - A Kiss Goodbye

Disclaimer: Only Mia is mine.

Warning: PLZDON'THATEME

Beta: Lavendor Queen

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

"Ah, and here we are again," I declared, taking a gentle sip from my hot chocolate and staring at the background appreciatively.

Tobi gave a small hum of acknowledgement, before he frowned and disappeared in a small puff of smoke. I stared at the blank space.

"Oh, so... I'm the only one telling the recap? Well, that's no fun."

I shrugged. "Alright, well, nothing of huge major importance occurred. Naruto went off to find Tsunade and succeeded, he made the same bet with her and won—learning the Rasengan in the process. Tsunade returned to Konoha, but because she didn't have to directly confront her phobia like she did in canon, she had to attend a couple months' worth of therapy. I know because the therapy sessions were actually in the T&I department, because she was getting them through Inoichi. She's actually become fairly close with Anko and myself. The three of us, make-up the rowdiest of kunoichis (even though I'm not actually a kunoichi) in Konoha. We have a nickname, like... the sinful trio, I think. I don't know. They don't ever really call us that to our faces, because Tsunade would kick their asses and Anko would emotionally scar them. As planned, though, Tsunade is our current Hokage, Hiruzen stepped down a couple years ago and is on as an advisor. She complains a lot about it, but I know she secretly likes the position."

I grinned. "She did train Sakura for a while, mostly fine-tuning all the medical knowledge Sasori passed down to her. Speaking of Sasori, the two of them actually went off on a training leave, just like Naruto! She actually traveled with Deidara and Sasori for a handful of months, before returning to Konoha, staying a couple months, then leaving again. I know Deidara and Sasori are quite fond of her, and she is equally fond of them. Sakura's a mean kunoichi when it comes to taijutsu, but her speciality lies in poisons, senbon, chakra strings, tactical-thinking and minor genjutsus. Basically she's the type of person who slowly drains her enemies strength and ability without hardly lifting a finger, before bothering to finish them off. She's damn good as a medical-kunoichi, too, but she's not as proficient in the area as she was in canon, choosing instead to focus on her own battle-area."

"She's not the only one to leave on an unexpected training trip. Hinata left, too. She stayed in Amegakure with me and Konan! I can't tell you how surprised I was by that one, but she was all for it. Konan absolutely adores her, and makes no effort to hide the fact. To be honest, I was surprised the two knew about the other's true identity, but Konan explained to me she had figured out who Hinata was a while ago and by that time, she was already fond of Hinata that she didn't mind that she came from Konohagakure. She only stayed in Amegakure for roughly a year and a half before returning to Konoha to further improve on her Hyuuga training, but damn... she's kind of like a mini-Konan, except way nicer and way warmer."

"I know Sasuke wanted to train with Itachi, or well, with his PenPal, but Itachi wasn't quite ready to explain to him the truth about the massacre, so he managed to persuade Sasuke to wait a while longer. Naruto wanted to meet up with his PenPal, too, but I was able to convince him to wait a while longer too. Let's see... Oh! Deidara wanted his own PenPal, especially considering how much he discovered that Sasori and Sakura seem to get along, and I've set him up with Ino-chan. Ino-chan seems to adore her PenPal, and that's been going on for a year and a half."

I hummed, stretching out onto the lush couch. "Kakashi and I are still friends, he's one of my two best guy friends aside from Tobi. The other being Itachi. Oh! Jiraiya knows about the Akatsuki, the truth, and the two of us... well, three of us including Itachi... have fine-tuned my grand plan. Jiraiya's also devised a seal to use during the bijuu-sealing that won't kill off the jinchuuriki. It's pretty bad-ass.... What else am I forgetting?...