Chapter 39 - A few months later. (1/2)

Off if the Forest of Death somewhere. Kai and a few members of the Clan were resting against a large tree. It had been several months since the picnic and the weddings of various people.

A Jonin appeared a few feet from Kai with a scroll. Walking over and taking it from him, he read it quickly, then once again for good measure. Dropping it behind himself, a hand reached out. It was Gemini grabbing it and disappearing back into his shadow.

Several people flinched when they saw this. Even those who had been around Kai, still had trouble getting use to the comings and goings of the little ninja. But they all agreed to never assume Kai ever acted alone.

”Good work. Tell your Kage thanks for the assist. I will honor our agreement and leave his village alone for the next five years.” Waving the Jonin away Kai braced himself. The ninja himself then disappeared after the signal. Kai looked at his clansmen.

”Alright, you all are dismissed for the rest of the day. Go enjoy time with your families. Make sure you alert of your surroundings.”

”Yes, Lord Senju!” The members said before disappearing to return home and to their duties. Only a few were left behind such as Hisa and Pakura.

Along with Tsume and Mastica. An Uchiha was off to the side.

Pakura was sporting a decent size belly now and refused to stay at home most times. Her reasoning was simple ”the enemy will not care if I was pregnant so it doesn't matter.” Kai didn't care to argue about it. Hisa was adamant about staying near to make sure the delivery had no troubles or any complications pop up.

”What did the scroll say?” Pakura asked. She walked over and entwined her arm with Kai's. ”Is it trouble or something more diplomatic this time?”

”Nothing actually too important.” Kai smiled as they all walked through the forest. ”The Rain Village Kage, has given me information on Garra of the desert. His mother is not faring well. The medical teams are no longer capable of keeping her alive much longer.” Stopping to collect the right words to say, Kai looked over to Pakura. ”She has at most two months before the body becomes completely dead. Apparently, her 'spirit' is weak, if it wasn't for the Puppeteers using some extreme methods she would have perished in her coma already.”

Pakura gripped Kai's arm tightly. She knew what she wanted to ask but was scared to do so. Her life has been better for over half a year now. She is expecting triplets soon in a few months, and her sisters are expecting as well. But she could not give up her promise to help her old friend. Especially with what they have done to her youngest.

The reports have come in sporadically over time. Garra has been kept confined at times and subject to inhumane torture. If not for the responsibility she had, she would have charged in and taken the body of her friend and Garra with her. She was convinced by Anko that would be a deadly move.

”What about the Hokage? Any new word about increasing alliance relations with them?”

Tsume choose this time to chime in. ”No. The council pointed out how terrible it would be if we concede anything more. With his mind changed the Hokage is aware of the terrible outcome. The deal, if found out will have a negative impact on the population. If they find out the minute details it is something we do not want. The heads all refuse to budge anymore as well. If it wasn't for Kai's help with smoothing things over with the Uchiha clan and providing additional food.” Tsume said sternly. She paused to let it sink in. ”We may have had a civil war on our hands in the future. With pressure from the Fire Daimyo as well, we can't do anything more. I am sorry Pakura.. but you may have to give up on them.” Tsume stepped back after saying that.

”I can't do that.” Pakura said gripping Kai's arm. Her silver wedding band shining in the sun. ”Please! As your wife. I ask you to save them!”

”Lady Pakura you ask too much!” Mastica shouted at her. Tsume grabbed and pulled her back telling her ”do not interfere. It is not our place you know that.”

”But…” Mastica stubbornly started to say before stopping. She looked at the ground growling. 'Why did he have to marry her? There are more than enough women in the Leaf village to help him rebuild the clans. That filthy outsider will ruin everything.'

Tsume watched her second. Seeing her growl in frustration and holding in barely contained rage. She knew what bother the women but didn't have anything she could really offer her to calm her down. 'Dammit, this was so much easier when we didn't know who she was formally. Even with everything she has done around the village, Mastica can't let it go.' Organizing her thoughts she looked to Hisa, signaling the woman to talk later. 'She will have to get herself under control soon. Especially with the ”heat” coming soon.

'Wonder what she has to say?' Hisa thought as she listened to the various conversations.

”Woosh, woosh”

Gai and Kisame appeared in front to the side of Kai. ”Lord Senju!” Gai addressed as respectful as ever. ”There is a report from the perimeter. You were correct about the Cloud village. Several of their ninjas have been spotted in various locations of the village outskirts. They are disguised as travelers and merchants. The Inuzuka team along with Uchiha team have been able to sniff them out.”

”Grr is that supposed to be a joke.” Tsume snarled. Realizing she seemed to be on edge, she wanted to apologize to the man. But before she could, he already spoke up.

”A joke. What do you.. oh I see. Of course not Tsume. I would never.” Gai said smiling.

”I thought it was funny. Hehe, who knew you had it in you Gai.” Kisame chuckled. In the last few months, the two had become friends if not rivals. Much to the happiness of Kakashi. Looking at Kai his voice became more serious. ”Various checkpoints have some of these ”people” out and about.” With him doing air quotes Kai could barely keep his composure. ”It is just genin but I suspect they were placed there as a backup. A show of numbers. Most likely the genin just think it is a grade E mission. Keeping them in the dark about the severity of what is going works in their favor.”

”What they don't know, can't screw the mission over. If the genin knew how important the mission was they would most likely fail at their infiltration and disguises. Makes sense for them to have a more carefree attitude. That only comes with being a greenhorn.” Kai looked at the different people around him. Noticing there trouble faces he felt it was need to push them a little. ”Go ahead and speak. No need to be shy.”

”Heh, they may be too scared to. But I will ask,” Kisame said with a toothy grin. ”The Hyuga clan, are they worth it? You have spent a great deal of effort and ruffled a lot of feathers in the meetings for this.”

Hisa tensed up at this. Despite the clan's treatment of the branch family, they were family still after all. Several members approached her to try an reconcile the situation. Hisa was no fool. She knew some were trying to curry favor with her. Several branch members knew something was up. With Kai pointing out problems of their set up in clan meetings, things were changing. It was slow but changing. Despite her efforts, she felt her anger leaving her about the clan's treatment towards her and others.

”Kisame. They are not worth it at all. There are less than twenty people in that clan that I care about.” Kai said rubbing his chin. With a snap of his finger, he remembered something else at that time. ”But I know Anko and Hisa themselves would like something done now.”

”I.. don't .. you don't have to,” Hisa said.

”What kind of husband would I be if I don't try? Besides I don't like their attitude all too much.” Shrugging his shoulders, Kai looked back at the other two.

Kisame smiled and laughed. ”Heh figured as much.” Looking at the others he decided to press some other matters. ”So when are you going to get more women pregnant. You haven't' forgotten about that have you. Currently, only your wives are pregnant. Shouldn't you speed up the process soon.”

”Ahh, you are right about that,” Kai said sighing lightly.

”There are some Mist Ninja I can introduce you to...” Kisame stopped talking when he felt Sameheda quiver a little. Looking back he saw the intense glare coming from Tsume. Mastica was damn near frothing at the mouth.

”Eh, calm down everyone. I have been working on that problem actually just... have been enjoying the last few months before I begin.” Kai said trying to get everyone to settle down a little bit.

As the unofficial Advisors to Kai, the two always had something to say about the former's decisions when it affected the village.

It's not like Kai didn't know what was going on. Gai kept him stable with the minor clans. Kisame happened to be a great liaison with the Mist ninja that settled in. The council had approved the team of Genin under him. He was allowed to have complete autonomy with them. Overriding their clan's various rules. With help from the Hokage, they believed this would help keep him in the village. With the Jonin team under his command as well, the council was satisfied with the number of people keeping tabs on him.

Danzo played his part very well. With the Hokages inner circle along with Kai's wives, they knew that the Hokage and he no longer had a feud going on. As far as some of the heads knew, the two men had been competing for Kakashi.

'Still, have no idea with the woman from the Uchiha clan though. What was Danzo thinking I wonder?' Kai thought. Thinking about Aria he looked over to her. She was an Uchiha but did not have the pinwheel and was happy for it. She was part of the branch family but had a lot of autonomy due to her connection with Root.

In Danzo's own words, ”having her around will help gain the Uchiha trust even more so.” Kai himself paid it no mind. The woman listened and always did exactly what was needed of her. She reminded him of Gemini a little. But slightly creepy.

Shaking his head Kai remembers the talk between the Heads last month. A lot of them didn't believe the Cloud Village would try anything. Even with the evidence retrieved from the interrogation of the surrounding ninja that had been caught in other countries they wish to keep the peace.

'Despite all the different meddling of myself and other different factors. Hinata's birthday is still happening somewhat like it was before. What to do?' Kissing Pakura on the head, Kai made up his mind. He looked to the sky briefly and hoped he had the strength for what came next.

”Husband what is it?” Pakura asked with a sinking pit in her stomach. Subconsciously she grabbed her belly in fear.

”With Oreo currently incapacitated, I will rely more on your decisions for those who wish to do the village harm Aria. As her second I have faith you will make sure nothing untoward happens to the village and the clan.”

”Of course my Lord. I will return to the Uchiha compound and alert them as needed.” Aria nodded her head before disappearing.

”Mastica, Tsume, I need you two to take some of my clansmen from the infiltration division.” The two women tensed up. ”Head to the Village Hidden in the Sand and extract these two targets.” Handing them both a scroll with the plans of the mission Kai looked to Hisa.