~Bulletproof~ SasuSaku Mafia Story

Chapter 25 ~ Consequences

According to the Uchiha tradition, every year's ball event was followed by a long and extensive team debrief. The entire Uchiha family would get together and report about updates, status reports for deals, contracts, missions, summaries of enemy tactics and so on. This was the one event where Madara and Fugaku flew in yearly. The elders, at this point, refused to come to the ball. It was too intense and active for them, and they drastically preferred staying outside of Konoha in their respective regions.

The Uchiha clan had been gathered in the main conference room since noon of July 16, a day after the ball. Suigetsu, Shisui, Izuna, Tobi, Madara, Fugaku, Juugo, Marcus (family lawyer), Sakon, and Sasuke sat around a large table.

"Okay Juugo, that's enough about the Akamichi dispute update. Thank you." Sasuke turned to Sakon. "Okay, your turn. Report on your progress."

"Yes sir. First, the Otsutsuki bombings: we were able to confirm the involvement of the Akatsuki. As I reported before, we found pieces of their signature cloaks near both the casino and where the deal was taking place. It is impossible to narrow down which members were present, but they always wear the black cloaks with red clouds when they're out on missions."

"Yes, yes, good. This gives us grounds to plan a counterattack against the Akatsuki without backlash from other clans. What about Karin? Have you located her?"

"Unclear, sir. We found a body matching Karin's description by the Sand Village landfill. The body was too defaced for a clear ID: missing fingers, teeth, deformed face. Impossible to tell if it's Karin or not, but our theory is that the Akatsuki eliminated her before we could get to her. She knew too much about both mobs, anyway."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Killing her first would be a rational move, especially if they suspect Kabuto already gave us incriminating information. We can for now presume Karin dead. Thank you, Sakon. Uncle Madara, how is your progress?"

"Ah, yes, yes, my dear boy. As most of you know, I was tasked with locating a new potential partner after the untimely demise of the Otsutsuki clan. So, I've been searching for potential ammunition dealers near my area. Sasuke cleverly decided to move our ammo sales through international channels after the bombings, as the Akatsuki will have harder time putting out such hits in my area. Sasuke, I found a potential partner who is interested. His name is Killua, and runs a small family operation, if you know what I mean."

Madara cleared his throat.

"But, the issue is that he is very underground. No one knows much about him, no one can vouch for him. He agreed to show us his previous sale records for transparency, but I'm not sure what to do with that. We'd have a way to confirm he is trustworthy and his records are clean before we work with him. Otherwise, I think he is a good substitute for Kaguya. Rest in peace."

Sasuke listened to him attentively.

"Uncle, I will visit you in Kirigakure and pay him a visit."

"Of course, it's been a minute since you visited! I'd love to host you for a few days, the house misses you." Madara's face brightened up. He was getting lonely in that huge vacation home by himself with his employees. The idea of his nephew visiting, even for work, was exciting.

Madara ran Uchiha operations in Kirigakure - a small beautiful city in the middle of a tropical island far enough from Konoha. In his old age, he'd decided to lighten his workload and move to a nice retirement spot - hence the island. Now, he mostly oversaw international deals.

Sasuke nodded and turned to Marcus.

"Marcus, updates on Zabuza?"

"Sasuke-Sama, I was unable to bail him out, as the Uzumaki asshole convinced the judges that Zabuza was a rare witness that could get the police closer to the mob. However, I was able to move him out of the Konoha prison. He has transferred jails a few times, as I wanted the Konoha PD to have less access to him. He's currently in the Hidden Mist prison, and he's doing okay. They can not yet hold a trial for him, as Ms. Haruno is still missing and they don't know if she's dead or alive. They don't have enough evidence against him and therefore can't really do much - they didn't find Sakura's blood or any sign of her demise at the scene, so Zabuza is very much just a suspect."