Another path

Negociations - or how things come back to haunt you

< I just realised we reached the 4,4k views, that's so great ! As always, thank you all for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
I'm working on a drawing of Naru's outfit, I don't know yet if I'll add it in this chapter or the next though.
Anyway, take care and have a nice day everyone ! >

< Edit : I ended up putting the picture in this chapter, I'll put the colored version in the next one. >
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The door closed behind Kakashi and his group. Asuma's eyes settled back on the woman before him.
She was stunning to say the least. She had long, wavy crimson hair that framed her face gently. Her porcelain skin only enhanced the glint of her golden eyes. Her voluptuous lips were currently curved in a slight smirk.
Long fingers laced together as her chin came to rest on them.

- Now, would you care to tell me your actual motives ? Surely, you did not come all the way here just for some discussion, did you ?

The two men gulped loudly. The Uzukage's demeanor was gentle and welcoming but her eyes held a fierce glint that suggested she wasn't pleased with their presence.

- As you probably know, Uzukage-sama, Konoha and Uzushio used to have very strong ties in the past. The Senju and the Uzumaki were brother-clans so when Tsunade-sama caught wind of the village's rebirth, she wanted to know if the village her grandmother was born in was doing well.

- ... I told you already, I'm not here for pleasantries. You are wasting my time, Sarutobi Asuma, and that in itself can be considered an offense. So I advise you stop sputtering nonsense so we can get down to business.

- M-my deepest apologies, U-uzukage-sama !! I didn't mean to offend you in any way !... Hm. So, to put it simply, our village wishes to make an alliance with yours. Also, we'd like to know if Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naru and Tenten wish to come back to Konoha.

- At last ! It was obvious you wanted an alliance, I heard about what Konoha has been reduced to. And I will be very clear : we have no interest in this.

Both Asuma and Neji winced. They knew that was the most logical answer to give but they had hoped for clemency...

- Why ? We could help your village grow !

- Sarutobi, you can't even believe what you're saying, can you ? My village has been growing in both power and fame for five years now, making alliances while yours crumbled apart. Our genin are acknowledged as the best trained among all shinobi villages and we literally got all of your missions.
So my answer is the exact same as it was two years ago : no thanks.

- Please, Uzukage-sama, we need this alliance. We know you don't. We know your village is powerful and ours has fallen from grace but this is a matter of survival for us.

Somehow, she seemed to get angrier. It looked as if her hair became fire, glowing brightly while flying around her. Asuma instantly realised his mistake and cursed himself for not thinking this sentence through.

- You... It seems as though you aren't aware of who I am, so I will tell you. My name is Ôtsutsuki Kurama. My daughter, Ôtsutsuki Suzuka -formerly known as Uzumaki Naru- has been abused by your village in ways not even torture units would fall back on. And despite this, we allowed you inside our village and I spared you some of my precious time to listen to your senseless demands. You want to talk about survival ? I will not lift a finger for you people until you're forced to endure the same trials as my daughter. Then maybe, you will learn the sense of this word you use so lightly.

Asuma began sweating profusely. Things were getting out of hand and with how it was going, it would end with them being kicked out without a chance to make amends.