Otokage

Rumor Mill

Naruto ran down Konoha's streets with the image of Hidan ringing in his head. The Akatsuki had been quiet for such a long time and the world was fine with them finally disappearing off the face of the earth. Why here? Why now? And why the hell did they come as Oto shinobi? He barged into the Hokage's office to see Kakashi twirling a pen in his hand and staring at something on his desk.

"Naruto! You should've knocked!" Kurenai chastised. "What if Hokage-sama had been in a meeting?"

"S-Sorry, Kurenai-sensei," he apologized. "I was in a hurry, so..."

Kakashi set down his pen and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maa, it's fine. Don't worry too much over it, just be more careful next time. What do you need, Naruto?" he asked. The jounin pursed his lips.

"I just saw Hidan, the Akatsuki Hidan, just goin' around the village like he belonged there! And he told me that he was doin' some work at the hospital for some 'exchange program' with Otogakure. What the hell was he talking about?"

Kakashi and Kurenai shared glances.

"I was going to make an announcement soon, but..."

"But what?!"

The were interrupted by a series of knocks at the door. Kakashi allowed them in, Naruto's eyes growing wide at the sight of Kabuto. The aforementioned gave a friendly smile before turning his head and mouthing a few things to his associate. The Hokage cleared his throat.

"These are Otogakure's diplomats, Yakushi Kabuto and Uc—um..."

Tobi stepped forward with a lopsided grin. "I'm Tobi. Just Tobi."

Kurenai's eyebrows knit together as she watched Kakashi drop his gaze and tap his fingers on his knee. She recognized it as one of his nervous tics, but she couldn't understand why Tobi was making him so uncomfortable. Suddenly, he forced a jovial smile onto his face even as his tapping sped up.

"Diplo...? What?!" Naruto cried. He pointed an accusing finger at Kabuto. "Don't you remember the things he did to Konoha? To Sasuke? Hell, it's because of him that the snake bastard—"

"On the contrary, I had nothing to do with Orochimaru entering the village. I was merely a spy for him. You can't exactly blame me of such things, considering the countless amount of such spies that have been sent to Otogakure in the past. A mission is a mission, is it not?"

Naruto glared at him, but said nothing.

"Besides, I only follow orders. If you have a problem with what I've done, you would have to take it up with Orochimaru. Not exactly possible, is it?" he said as he pushed up his glasses. The two stared at each other for a long while before Tobi tapped his arm.

"She's not going to be happy if you decide to start up a fight. Calm down a bit, Kabuto-san," Tobi warned. Kabuto smirked.

"She still finds it funny. It'll be a good story to tell."

The Konoha inhabitants in the room had one, collective thought.

'She?'

Kakashi clapped his hands together. "Well, Yakushi-san, what is it that you came here for?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject. Kabuto handed over a stack of documents he needed signed as well as a note from the Otokage. As he and Tobi left the room, Kakashi sliced open the envelope and read the letter addressed to him. He felt his old student's curious gaze from across his desk.

"Naru—"

"That's Sakura-chan's handwriting," he commented quietly. Kakashi looked up.

"It's just something similar, I'm sure," he assured. Naruto relented and laughed and scratched the back of his head.