Chapter 50 - Too Much of a Good Thing?

Ekyt listened to Tsunade’s sales pitch. It was very good, and equally as tempting. But the years had made Ekyt skeptical. Years of being told ‘sorry, no sensei’, and suddenly one falls into his lap? It was suspicious.

“It only took near-death for me to get a sensei?” Ekyt said quietly, not meeting Tsunade’s eyes. “Is there something I don’t know…some reason I was held back until now? Something I haven’t been told before?” Ekyt’s eyes now looked pleading. “Please tell me. We have a trust between us now. It’s not like…before. There’s no hunting, there’s no chasing, there’s no nothing except loyalty.” Ekyt felt his head suddenly lighten. He chalked it up to the concussion and kept listening. Tsunade’s voice sounded a little…flat. But again, concussion must have been causing that. Ekyt just went with it and listened the best he could.

Tsunade’s amber eyes met Ekyt’s. “I thought you were a threat. A threat to the very boy you’re protecting.” Ekyt watched her, but her words didn’t quite fit her mouth movements.

Shock reverberated throughout the room. It was deadly silent for a minute or so. Tsunade and Shizune shared a knowing glance. Ekyt sat back, stunned by this admission. The day outside belied the confusion inside; outside was harmonious and peaceful. Inside, dark clouds were gathering. Or so it seemed. The old Ekyt would have been incensed and stomped off; the old Tsunade would have him hunted down. Now that there was a trust, there was only silence.

“Why? What made you think of me as a threat to Naruto?” Ekyt asked, finally prompting Tsunade. Tsunade took a deep breath, releasing it as a heavy sigh.

“Because of how similar you were. Think of it like this: Neither of you are naturally talented. Neither of you had anyone to trust. Both of you had a crush- on the same girl. Both of you aspired to become something better, something greater than you were before, and you both pursued it with an unwavering diligence. Naruto had a demon fox in him- you have inner demons. But you both persevered, even with nearly unequivocal roadblocks before you.”

Ekyt shook his head. “That says we’re similar, not that I’m a threat to him…”

Tsunade nodded. “I know. But look at this- Naruto chose to overcome his demons by making friends. You isolated yourself from others. But you both kept improving. To the point where, if I had to name one of you as my successor…it would have been tough for me.”

Shock again. Tsunade continued, seeing that Ekyt in no shape to ask any questions at this moment. He was letting himself show an awful lot of shock for someone normally so boarded up to emotional impulses.

“You see…Naruto is my sentimental choice, while you were my natural choice. I had others- Kakashi, for one. But Kakashi would never accept this burden- he’s too laid back. You and Naruto, on the other hand, are men of action. Naruto posses sheer force, and an ability to adapt to any environment or situation. You posses logic and an ability to learn, and then adapt on that. But you had an edge- the people in this village would more readily accept you as their leader than they would Naruto…”

Ekyt felt his mind fuzzing up. He shook his head again, but that didn’t do anything except remind him that he still had a concussion. “You could just choose Naruto and put me on the council or something. I mean…damn it…you’re lying. You’ve got to be lying. And…there’s something wrong with me!” Ekyt stood up suddenly, his chair clattering to the ground. Tsunade didn’t look surprised. Ekyt tried to stay calm, but he was suddenly feeling a pain. But it was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It was the kind of pain that made you wonder if cutting your fingers off with dull kunai would make it feel better. Ekyt was keeping himself in a state of well-controlled near-panic, though he could tell his eyes were darting around freely. His hand keep jerking toward his kunai pouch. There was too much going on. “God…damn it!” Ekyt muttered, swaying on his feet. His first instinct was to pull out a kunai and end the genjutsu, but some instinct told him that if a kunai got in his hands, bad things would happen.

“I had a feeling… a genjutsu dormant in your system. The Akatsuki let you off easily- too easily. No matter how good you are, they’ve killed stronger Shinobi than you. They didn’t get to fully implement their plan, for some reason. Now you’ve got a genjutsu inside you. Tell me what I said to you just now. Repeat it back.”

Ekyt repeated it. “…But you had an edge- the people in this village would more readily accept you as their leader than Naruto…”

Tsunade cracked Ekyt in the chin, knocking him unconscious. Shizune looked taken aback, immediately dropping down to check Ekyt.

“He’ll be fine, I’m just breaking the genjutsu.” Tsunade shook out her hand, looking at Ekyt on the ground. “You heard what I said, right Shizune?”

Shizune nodded. “What Ekyt repeated to you…it was nothing like what you said. You said ‘Your chances for survival are nearly one hundred percent if you don’t get involved’…”

Tsunade laid Ekyt on her desk, sweeping it clear of scrolls and papers. “This is Itachi’s work. He mixed two genjutsus together- one affected Ekyt’s hearing; the other affected Ekyt’s ability to act based on what he was hearing. If he had heard what he THOUGHT he heard…”

“…he would have been outraged. He wouldn’t have calmly asked why…the Akatsuki meant to use him as a tool. They wanted him to attack us from the inside…” the truth of the situation rapidly dawned on Shizune. “The second genjutsu poked around his brain and found his emotional controls. It removed ‘adrenaline’…”

Tsunade shook her head. “No. They made it so Itachi could regulate the adrenaline. When Ekyt got up, he would have attacked if I hadn’t struck immediately. This means they could have used this against Naruto as well…Ekyt only became conscious of the genjutsu at the last second…Naruto might not have noticed at all. And if he didn’t, the Akatsuki could, remotely, harness the power of the demon fox. Ekyt was a test subject. The trouble isn’t not knowing- it’s how we react to this…”

Shizune closed her eyes for a moment. “Sakura is a genjutsu type ninja…Ekyt is as accomplished as anyone who is available right now (Kurenai and Ibikki, both jonin, have better things to do). Have him instruct them both in countering and sensing genjutsus.”

Tsunade considered this, but shook her head. “I’ll speak with Sakura myself. As for Naruto…Jiraiya tried to teach him genjutsu, or at the least how to break it. If he hasn’t picked it up from a legend, Ekyt won’t help. Sakura might have a chance to learn…that leads to the problem of keeping the reason for these lessons quiet. I’d have to have a good excuse…Sakura’s sharp, she’d pick up on any BS right away.”

Ekyt stirred, then sat up, rubbing his jaw. “A ‘release’ would have done it, M’Lady,” he joked.

“Oh, don’t whine, I didn’t even use a fourth of my power,” Tsunade replied. “So, you’re awake- how long, and how much have you heard?” Tsunade had resigned herself to the fact that Ekyt had heard enough to have already formed an opinion of the situation himself. He was handy like that- his thoughts immediately turned to the mission.

“Why don’t you just tell her the truth? Or, at least, the truth decorated a little bit. Something like ‘To combat Itachi Uchiha’s genjutsu’. She’s not aware of Naruto’s situation, but she does know that the Akatsuki are after him. Even throwing in the name ‘Uchiha’ would have a profound effect on her, I’d bet.” Ekyt shook his head, moving his jaw back and forth, making sure Tsunade hadn’t done more damage than she intended. He seemed fine, if not a little sore, so he dropped the matter.

“That would make sense. She still feels a little bitter toward Sasuke?” Tsunade seemed surprised to hear this. Ekyt shrugged as if he wasn’t sure, no matter what he said.

“If I was in her shoes…I would be bitter. Then again, she’s not me. But I still don’t think it would hurt. It’s something of a honor to be mentioned in a sentence with Itachi. Sakura has a small ego, but maybe playing to her pride a little would help.”

Ekyt looked away, trying to pretend he didn’t feel violated by that damned genjutsu. “There’s a storm coming, isn’t there?” Ekyt asked Tsunade. He had asked the Third Hokage the same question, and soon after Orochimaru made his move.

“Yes…there is. The question is what role we will all play.” Tsunade looked back at Shizune and Ekyt. “That’s why I want you in ANBU. I need you to have that training. Because we’re prepared for this war, but we don’t have the strength we did against Orochimaru. We have a smaller number of ninjas, and some are too young to fight a war. Especially against an enemy we’re not sure of.”

“An enemy we know…we just don’t know which one. M’Lady, this goes against the grain…but what about a trick? Something easy that will draw our real enemy into the open. We alert our allies to our plan, so they don’t get any ideas about pulling a fast one. Our alliances with all but the sand are shaky, at best.”

Tsunade sat back. “You have some idea of what’s going on…no doubt Sarutobi-sensei had a hand in that. Just what do you plan to do? If I agree, I’ll do what I can to help.”

“We project weakness. Weakness would lead to a traitor. And we have someone born for the role right in our village. Sasuke Uchiha would be perfect. To others, it would be a chance to ‘prove his strength’- that is, to outsiders. To us, it lays out bait.”

“And what is this ‘bait’?” Tsunade was genuinely intrigued by this discussion. She had toyed with ideas like this herself, but she couldn’t focus on just this one issue. A Hokage had many problems to solve. Doubling as the chief medic-nin didn’t help. So a ready-made plan falling into her lap would be perfect.

“You die. Sasuke kills you to prove his strength. Meanwhile, I file in with the Akatsuki and feed them information. Sasuke will draw Orochimaru into the open, and my misinformation to the Akatsuki will keep them at bay. One threat at a time that way. No matter what, only Orochimaru has the manpower to wage a war. The Akatsuki are good, very good, but what they can do is limited to their number. They’re too black, they can’t recruit conventionally.”

Tsunade didn’t like the idea, but there wasn’t much choice but to consider it. It was a bad plan- it was just very risky to all involved. Like a gamble…but the stakes aren’t ryo, they’re lives…

“Keep your plan in the back of your head. I don’t want things to get that desperate. If they do- then we go for it. We roll the dice.”

--

“Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi looked up from the book he’d been reading for the last hour. He fond Naruto approaching. Sighing inwardly with worry, Kakashi put on his game face. Naruto squatted down next to him, looking Kakashi straight in the eye.

“How come I’m different like this?”

Kakashi started to remark about the nine-tailed fox and the village’s fear, but Naruto waved that aside.

“No! Why did Pervy Sage teach me so much? And why are we still dealing with the Akatsuki? Even after what they did to Gaara, I want revenge, but it’s not like grandma Tsunade to just let that happen- even I know that a pure revenge mission is stupid. So what’s this all about, huh?”

Kakashi was backed into a corner now. With typical Kakashi-calm, he said simply:

“Well, we’ve dealt with the Akatsuki the most. Sasuke and you are both at risk, so it only makes sense to make you guys stronger, right?”

Naruto looked confused, but admitted Kakashi had a point.

“That’s why then. They want your demon, and Sasuke will clash with his brother someday. So the question is: why aren’t you training?”

Naruto took off, yelling something about getting back to work. Kakashi grinned under his mask, thinking that some things would never change about his squad of knuckleheaded ninja. That was just fine with him.

--

Hayate was nervous. Normally, his mellow nature never let him show it. But this was different- marriage, as Hayate was learning, was scary as hell.

“Come on, you can do this,” Ekyt said coaxingly. “To the village, it’s like you’ve come back from the dead. You can handle marrying the girl you love. All you gotta do is say two words, then plant a kiss on her!”

Hayate gulped again. “(koff) What if she says no?”

Ekyt smirked. “Then you’re a free man. No, I’m kidding- she won’t say no. She was by your bed every day, she never left your side when she could help it. When we all thought you were dead, and I even mentioned your name, she teared up. Now, it’s time. Go tie the knot, you can do it. Just go with it. Once you get out there, you won’t even feel a nerve I bet.”

-

Hayate was nervous as all hell. Of course…I ask the boy wonder who’s never had a girlfriend for advice. But still…I do love her. Problem solved.

“I do. (koff)”

“You may kiss the bride.”

--

The reception wasn’t going to be Ekyt’s cup of tea. After pretending he could dance with the maid of honor, Ekyt sought out the bar. He vaguely wondered if his drinking was becoming habitual. To answer his question, he looked around. What greeted his eyes:

Hayate and Yukao
Naruto and Sakura
Sasuke and Ino
Lee and Linda
Yuushi and Kantai
Shizune and Genma
Kimimaro and Temari
Asuma and Kurenai
Neji and Tenten

Ekyt gave a derisive snort toward his own thoughts and reached for the earthenware cup in front of him. He muttered ‘kanpai’ to himself, then downed the alcohol. He grimaced- it was ‘sweet’ sake. Still, better than a dose of reality- he was too much of a realist.

“Sensei?”

Ekyt heard Yuushi’s voice, then saw him hop up onto the stool next to him. It was a dark room, so that when you eventually got drunk you didn’t have lights blinding you.

“Something wrong, Yuushi?” Ekyt murmured, downing a second cup. He nodded when the bartender offered him a third refill.

“Well…I was just wondering what an appropriate age is to get married at.”

Ekyt thought for a moment, leaning forward. “Well, I’d say at least eighteen, although personally I wouldn’t think any younger than twenty-one. Why do you ask?” As if I couldn’t guess…how does this kid with problems coming out the wazoo get his life in order faster than me?

“I just…well, I really love Kantai. That’s all.” Yuushi knew Ekyt-sensei could smell BS a mile away. But to his surprise, Ekyt didn’t say anything about it, despite having to know where this conversation was headed.

“Love is what matters. Age is irrelevant, I guess. But still, it’s a heavy commitment. Not that I know from personal experience, just guessing based on how nervous Hayate-sensei was. And-”

CRASH! KABOOM!

“C’mon, wassa hell ya wai’in for?! Don’ shtare a’ me wilth those big white eyes! Shtand an’ fight!”

Ekyt got up out of his seat, turning around to find an apparently drunk Lee picking a fight with a sober Neji. Drunken Fist- uh-oh!

Ekyt ran over, meeting Gai’s gaze on the way. They both clambered on top of Lee, pinning him to the ground. Tenten forced bread and water down Lee’s throat, while the bartender apologized profusely for her mistake and handed Gai a bottle of Eki-kyabe (sp) for the hangover he was sure to have.

The incident, in retrospect, was perfect for Ekyt. He didn’t see any of the kisses the girls suddenly placed on their guys. It was better that way. Best to deal with drunk Lee now and look forward to his ANBU training.

-

Ekyt wasn’t the only single person in the village. There was another kunoichi, but they were incompatible, that was for certain. For one, this kunoichi had her eyes elsewhere. Unfortunately for her, that boy was taken.

Hinata watched on shyly as Sakura kissed Naruto’s cheek. She burned with a deep lush of a mix of envy and anger. With a sigh, Hinata turned her back on the scene. She hadn’t said anything when Naruto was fair game, so she had lost out, fair and square.

Still…it seems like everyone has a boyfriend or girlfriend these days. I just need to try harder!

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