Red Nara

Shrugging - there was still exactly one free space left in the scroll - I quickly gathered up the additions to the collection of corpses led by the dog, and a dozen minutes later Hatake and I set off toward the nearest border of Kaze no Kuni and Ho no Kuni, immediately picking up a pace much faster than the average jonin could keep up.

***

Putting aside another completed form, I took a good stretch and leaned back in my desk chair with satisfaction. Sure, a change of activity is useful and seeing foreign villages is a little interesting, especially considering the inherent danger to life, but there's something appealing about returning to a familiar job when everything is so familiar and predictable. A real break from the extreme vacation.

We ended our trip with an expected scandal, when the Yamanaka extracted from the prisoners (I agreed to loan them only on condition that they were returned in good condition - the clans have much more privileges in this respect) the background of the plan to destroy the Genin and their escorts.

The only thing is that the orders to the jonin were passed through tenth hands and in general as if not from Tsuchikage, but from someone in the council, so the old curmudgeon shrugged it off, exemplarily executed the chosen culprit and that's where the political scandal stopped. Everyone understands everything, but formally it will not be possible to pick on.

Hiruzen also thanked all the members of the delegation in front of the village council and gave them a bonus in the amount of B-rang's mission fee (a damned stingy man!) in addition to the money they were supposed to pay, but his face could be used for acid. The head of the Hyuga clan looked no better, but the three allied clans were glowing with satisfaction.

Sarutobi had been killed, Hyuga had been seriously wounded, and the clan-less trash and some chunin Nara were practically unharmed and on horseback, the result of one of the strongest shinobi not counting. Of course, everyone here knows that I'm a chunin only on paper, but that's just a fact!

You can't explain it to everyone, and the clan's reputation has already taken a serious hit. Poor Hizashi was declared unfit to be the head of the clan after a week and was labeled as a side branch. Hello canon, my ass. And thanks to his unwillingness to give me a tokubetsu jonin patent, Hiruzen looked very stupid at the meeting, especially when Sakumo publicly expressed his bewilderment at this fact and recommended to correct such an unfortunate mistake.

Considering that he'd gotten a good deal of grief from the kage's personal report, it was a very graceful revenge to make the latter look uncomfortable. The formal decorum was maintained, but almost everyone could see the subtext. Only the hokage nodded, but he didn't even give a verbal confirmation of the promotion. Asshole!

It was a bit unpleasant, but it was enough to involve the head. Hiruzen wouldn't be able to hold on to the new rank for long anyway. So, by simple logic, soon there will be an attempt to eliminate me by other people's hands, and if I do not want to give this moment to the monkey, then I should give myself the opportunity. But that doesn't burn.

Also, what I didn't like about this event was the uncle's too wide-eyed grin and his glances with the rest of the trio. On the one hand - the prestige of the clan and the alliance is growing, so I'm glad, but on the other hand - they could have been up to something in my regard.

Unfortunately, there was a downside to getting into serious trouble - all my women, friends, comrades, acquaintances, and just friends felt it their duty to inquire about my health, to show concern, and other such things, accepted in relation to a man who had gotten out of a serious trouble with honor, and with a profit for himself.

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