At long last, the hour of the Gokage Summit had arrived.
One by one, each of the Kage and their guards— save for the Hoshikage, snubbed yet again by the five great nations and denied an invitation— were led through a maze of underground tunnels to the undisclosed chamber where the Gokage Summit would be held.
"Sakura!" Tsunade hissed, glancing over her shoulder as she took her seat. "Your chest is sticking out through the drapes! No need to stand so close! Back up a little!"
The meeting room was semi-circular, with a U-shaped table in the centre where the open end faced Mifune, the samurai general and summit host, seated at his detached desk. From his perspective, left to right, sat the Mizukage, Kazekage, Hokage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage. Behind each Kage hung a banner bearing the characters for their nation's emblematic element: water, wind, fire, earth, and lightning… and it was behind these banners that each of their guards had concealed themselves, out of sight and out of mind.
"Sorry, Milady!" Sakura whispered, taking a step back. "I forget how big I am, sometimes."
Shizune's eyebrows twitched.
"Place your Kage hats before you," Mifune began. "For you, the Five Kage, assemble here in response to the Lady Hokage's summons."
Sakura tilted her head left and right, trying to peek through the gaps between the banners. The view behind these things wasn't exactly stellar. She wanted to see the other Kage! They'd all entered the room one by one, and as a result, she'd only caught glimpses of them and their guards.
"My name is Mifune, and I shall be the one presiding over these proceedings," Mifune concluded. "Now, let the Gokage Summit commence!"
Sakura had the distinct feeling someone was glaring at her, and sure enough, Kurotsuchi, the Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter from the Iwagakure delegation to her left, was shooting her the nastiest look imaginable. Sakura responded in kind, pulling down one eyelid with a finger and sticking her tongue out at her.
Old grudges died hard, apparently.
Indeed, Kurotsuchi hadn't forgiven Sakura for humiliating her in front of the Anti-Mōryō Allied Army and the Holy Miko Shion at the awards ceremony… and for stealing her breasts. But hang on— that last bit wasn't Sakura! She hadn't stolen them; the real culprits were Orochimaru and Tsubaki!
She was actually innocent, for once!
"I'd like to begin with why I've called this Gokage Summit," Tsunade began. "The Akatsuki represents a clear and present danger to the shinobi continent and our way of life. The fact that they're collecting our Tailed Beasts is highly concerning, so I propose we present a united front against this unprecedented threat—"
A woman's scoff echoed suddenly across the chamber, cutting short Tsunade's well-rehearsed speech. Sakura frowned. The voice was familiar, but not Terumī Mei's… Zabuza wouldn't have brought her anyway— she was a political rival he couldn't easily get rid of, and inviting her as a guard would only have granted her clout and legitimacy that he did not care to give her.
"Was there something you wished to say, Lady Kazekage?" came Mifune's voice through the curtain. "The Lady Hokage has the floor."
Sakura frowned. Lady Kazekage? The Leaf was sheltering Gaara after he'd lost his Fifth title during the Sand Council's coup in the Chūnin Exams, but she'd thought some male council member had taken over as Sixth Kazekage. Who was this? If only she could see through the curtain…
"You claim the Akatsuki collecting Tailed Beasts threatens the Five Great Villages, Lady Hokage?" the woman said, her voice dripping with derision. "Then why, might I ask, is the Leaf— not the Akatsuki— the one violating the contract your First Hokage had all the first-generation Kage sign? The very contract guaranteeing each of the Five Villages and Takigakure eternal rights to their Tailed Beasts?"
"I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about," Tsunade said coolly.
"Gwahaha!" Ōnoki guffawed. "Lady Kazekage, you speak as though your first Kazekage actually signed that contract at that very first Gokage Summit! But your village already had the One-Tail when the First Hokage rampaged across the continent, capturing all the other eight beasts! You wanted land and thirty percent of what the other villages would have paid to Konoha for their Tailed Beasts, instead of buying a second burden, and he shut you down! Hahaha!"
As expected of the man called Ōnoki of Both Scales, he truly lived his life sitting on the fence. He wouldn't let anyone get away with anything!
"That's beside the point," the Lady Kazekage said coolly. "The point is Konoha has taken our One-Tail Jinchūriki and refuses to return him… while the Lady Hokage has the gall to claim the Akatsuki are the ones collecting Bijū!"
"Do you have proof?" Zabuza said calmly.
The truth was that the Hidden Sand had no proof. The trail had gone cold.
"My guard has more information on the matter," the Lady Kazekage replied. "Lady Chiyo, if you would?"
The sound of an old woman clearing her throat rang out.
"It is certainly true that we found traces of the Akatsuki when we set off in pursuit of Gaara's kidnappers," Lady Chiyo said, her voice trembling slightly. "An Explosion Style rogue ninja from Iwa, and my very own grandson… Sasori of the Red Sands."
"There you have it, then," Tsunade said irritably. "There's your proof."
"However, as we tracked the trail through the Land of Rivers," Chiyo went on, "it quickly became apparent that the two Akatsuki operatives had lost badly to their Hidden Leaf opponents. My grandson… died at the Hokage's disciple's hands. I confronted her myself, but she fled. It's obvious the Leaf obtained Gaara from that clash— that is, if they weren't the ones to kidnap him from the start."
Silence fell on the room.
"Enough about the Akatsuki!" A roared, shattering the silence. "I have something to say about your disciple, Hokage! And I suspect we all do! She's the only reason I even bothered to come in the first place! If there's anyone who's threatening the shinobi world's peace, it's her! She's put a spell on my brother Bee! He won't stop rapping about her, day in and day out!"
"I've something to say about the Hokage's disciple too," Ōnoki's voice rang out. "Bring her out, so that we may all have a good look at the woman who's singlehandedly shattered the balance between our nations, hmm?"