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"Naruto?" She asked.
Naruto himself was unsure how to react. Here was the woman who came to him in a strange vision just the other day, calling herself his mother. Part of Naruto wanted to believe this really was his mother returned from wherever she had been, but another part of him was certain this was some kind of trick. That part was the part that was winning in his mental struggle, mostly for one reason.
"If you're my mom, where have you been all this time?" Naruto suddenly asked, sounding a bit harsh but it was understandable. Name one orphan who wouldn't ask that when someone claiming to be their mother suddenly showed up after over a decade of being apart.
Kushina looked sad, not hurt sad but more apologetic sad. "I promise you Naruto I will tell you everything, but right here right now is not the best time."
"Then I'm going to get someone to confirm your identity." Naruto said.
Kushina nodded. "That's fair." Her eyes widened when she saw his new tail. "You've got your tail?" She then smiled. "That's terrific."
Naruto was surprised. "Why is that? And why did you say your tail and not a tail?"
Kushina turned around, suddenly a tail of her own appeared from the end of her spine just like Naruto. The only difference was hers was a little longer and the end was shaped more like a heart than a spearhead. "These are normal for our kind. But more on that later." She turned around and the tail disappeared.
"Our kind?" Naruto asked, still surprised. "What are you? What am I?"
"More on that later Naruto. Now, is something going on here or not?"
Now Naruto remembered what he had been doing. "Oh right. Baa-chan's got a crisis. I should probably get back to her now."
"Is it alright if I come with you?" Kushina asked.
"Right now I'd prefer it." Naruto answered, before both headed towards the hokage tower.
"You can't be serious." Tsume said after Tsunade finished explaining her idea. All of the other ninja looked shocked by it too.
Tsunade nodded. "I know it's a risk, but it's the only way to drive the point across and ensure something like this doesn't happen again. Can anyone think up a better idea?"
"Yes. Remove the civilian council from power and put new members in their place." Shikaku told her.
The hokage shook her head. "There's no way of knowing just how far the influence of the civilian goes. Look outside, some of the shinobi are taking orders from them, and it's likely that's not all. They likely already have a contingency plan for if they ever are removed from power and can influence their replacements. Your suggestion, while fitting, is mostly a band-aid idea, and we need something that does more than soothes the problem."
"Your idea will only make things worse." Inoichi told her.
Tsunade looked undaunted. "Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better."
Shibi spoke up. "Hokage-sama, I will admit that if your idea works, the problem will effectively be eliminated, but how can you ensure it will work? And what do you have planned in case things do not go as expected?"
"I admit this will make Konoha a bit of a target to others, but that is while I will be working on my contingency plan in the meantime. It will take me some time, but during that time Konoha should not ruin itself to the point of destruction. If it does, then as shinobi I hope you do the smart thing. When I have everything set up, I will contact all the clan heads and tell them to begin their part and inform everyone they know who supports our cause."
"This is still risky, but... I can't help but feel you may succeed." Chouza stated, crossing his arms.
"That's the spirit." Tsunade said with a smile.
Hiashi sighed. "Since we apparently cannot change your mind on this, who will accompany you in this endeavor?"
"I'm thinking my apprentice and Naruto for starters to minimize suspicion. Since it is hard to guarantee anyone's loyalty right now, I'm afraid I will not be able to get much more right away."
Kakashi stepped forward. "If I may Hokage-sama, I ask that you consider taking my other student Sakura too."
"Will you not be able to train her yourself Kakashi?" Tsunade asked.
"I could, but I'm concerned that someone is going to try to get Sasuke out of prison and absolve him of anything he's being charged with. Such an event would require my uninterrupted attention so I could take immediate action. Plus, it would help to get Sakura away from her parents. I've heard they are both strong supporters of the civilian council so if things happen as you predict they will try to drag Sakura into the problem."
"Interesting point. I will look into the possibility." Tsunade told him. "Ok everyone, you know your roles in this. Start as soon as possible. Dismissed." Everyone nodded, even if a bit reluctantly, then left the office.
Out in the streets the chaos appeared to have died down and there were no more Naruto clones running around chasing or fighting Anbu nin. Some Anbu ninja were still out but it was impossible to tell what they were doing. They were likely looking for Naruto, but to what end was a mystery to everyone except themselves.
Sakura and Ino were out looking for Naruto too. Actually, Sakura was looking for him and Ino was mostly following Sakura. After Naruto's clone left the Yamanaka shop, the two girls were concerned about what was going on. Ino could have waited for her parents to return home, but Sakura couldn't and wanted to find Naruto to see what was going on and if she could help out. He had to be far from his best given he had been at the hospital only hours ago.
"Sakura stop!" Ino called out, only to be ignored. "Even if you do find Naruto, what do you plan to accomplish?"
"More than I would if I stand around and wait for it to be over." Sakura replied, tears in her eyes. 'As soon as I saw Naruto all bandaged up like that, I promised that no one would have to suffer because I was too weak to contribute anything on my own part. I can't let Naruto get in danger AGAIN while I stand back and just watch. I have to do something.'
Both kunoichi had to stop and catch their breaths, leaning against a building as they did so. "Do you have any... idea where he even is?" Ino asked as she panted.
"I think the hospital is a good place to start, and if he's not there we can find Hinata. She should find him quicker then we ever could." Sakura answered.
"Then why not go to her first?" Ino asked.
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