Son of the Sannin(Back)

The Byakugan Princess, Part I

Author's Note: And with this chapter, this story breaks the 500K words mark! Whohoo!

Something I want to point out no one asked but im still gonna say how Obito put Toneri under a genjutsu if he had no eyes. The answer is simple: he used Kotoamatsukami, which doesn't need to make eye contact in order to work (remember that Danzo used it with his eye bandaged). With that said, I'm not going to address this point again.

So, here we being an arc that I've been wanting to write since pretty much the beginning of this story. Man, time sure flies, doesn't it? Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it:

Naruto was in the Hokage's office. The only other people in the room besides him and his adoptive father were Tsunade and Shizune. After giving him the report on the Suna mission, Naruto requested to talk with him, Tsunade and Shizune about certain developments that happened during the mission. Most importantly, the fact that Orochimaru had somehow cloned Hagane and Kaida.

"I can't believe that monster would go such lengths for mere Bloodline Limits," Shizune commented in disgust.

"Sadly, I can. Orochimaru always wanted our children the moment knowledge of their abilities reached his ears, and if he couldn't have the originals, he'll get replacements," Jiraiya said in subdued anger.

"Mom?" Naruto asked Tsunade, who had been silent the whole conversation.

Tsunade didn't say anything, and merely looked at the village outside the window. Her breathing was rather heavy. Naruto felt compelled to crack a quip on how he was expecting her to trash the whole office in a fit of righteous anger upon hearing her former teammate's actions, but she remained surprisingly calm.

"If Orochimaru send our kids' clones against you is because he doesn't care if we know about them. And in my experience, that's never a good sign," Jiraiya stated, crossing his fingers under his chin. "Did they have cursed seals?"

"No. Well, they may have, but if they did, they didn't use them. And given that we ended up winning, the fact that they choose retreat over using them points towards not having it," Naruto reasoned.

"Of course. According to Anko, there's only a ten percent chance of surviving the sealing process. He probably doesn't want to risk them," Shizune said.

"That doesn't remove the possibility of branding them in the future," Jiraiya added.

"Indeed. But what we should ask ourselves is what are we going to do with them," Shizune pointed out. An air of uneasiness set upon the office. "I know they're clones of your children, but they're also Orochimaru's minions. How should we...deal with them?"

"Save them," Tsunade said, turning around, a determined fire burining in her eyes. "Those kids shouldn't be judged by the crimes of their creator. In fact, I'm sure they aren't even aware of their origins. Maybe we can use that to convince them to come to our side."

"Easier said than done," Shizune said with a sigh. "Orochimaru conditions his servants into being devoted to him with an inhuman zeal."

"Yes, but Orochimaru shows little to no care about his minions either. Plus we do have a history of turning our enemies to our side, if Zabuza and the Sound Genin are any indication. And once they're safe..." Tsunade pointed out. Her eyes then narrowed. "...I'll beat the life out of that pale skinned bastard with my own bare hands."

"That's if I don't beat you to it first," Jiraiya interceded, before forcing himself to calm down. "Well, now that we know this, we can plan for the next time Orochimaru sends those clones against us," Jiraiya said, closing the discussion. "Is there anything else you'd want to tell us, Naruto?"