Explaining To Do

Far away, Jada suddenly materialized just outside Orochimaru's hideout near the sea. She landed lightly and scanned the empty stretch of rocky shoreline.

Behind her were Karin, Jugo, Alice, Margaret, and Alexander.

Before Jada left to meet with Itachi in secret, she and her friends managed to raid both of Orochimaru's hideouts as well as earn the trust of both Jugo and Karin.

The process was made easy once they heard that Orochimaru was dead. Then there was the fact the players knew virtually everything about their backgrounds.

As a show of loyalty, Karin even revealed the locations of the other hideouts. Mainly because the players desired to also find Suigetsu.

Now, standing there, Jada knew what she had to say was going to change a lot of things.

Alice was the first to break the silence, asking, "What was that all about?"

Turning to face them, Jada answered, "It's… I think things just got more complicated."

"And that means?" Margaret wondered.

"It's huge, okay?" Jada repeated. "I'll tell you guys back at the Leaf if that's okay."

Jugo stepped forward and said, "Something huge should be explained now."

Before Jada could respond, she looked at Alex, who gave a nod of confirmation. So she took a deep breath and finally said, "The Uchiha clan's been revived."

The impact of the news was felt immediately.

"An entire clan's been revived?" Karin asked with eyes widened.

"Wait, wait," Margaret paused, looking confused. "How do you know this? Did you see them or something?"

"Well," Jada hesitated, unsure of how to explain her relationship with Itachi. "I didn't see them, but I know it's true. I mean, I wouldn't be saying this unless I was sure."

"And how do you know it's true?" Alex asked, studying her.

"Look," she firmly said. "Just trust me when I say that they've been revived."

The others wavered as they tried to process this information. Yet none doubted her. Jada's face told them she was holding something back, something that weighed on her. Her sudden disappearance plus the hurried return all pointed to a truth they couldn't ignore.

After a moment, Karin voiced her thoughts, saying, "I wonder how Sasuke's going to feel about this."

That caught everyone's attention. So Alice asked, "How do you know Sasuke?"

"Huh?" Karin wondered.

Little did she know, she wasn't meant to meet the Uchiha for at least another year or so. And while they were technically meant to encounter one another in the Forest of Death, that event never occurred thanks to William's involvement.

Karin hesitated, then answered, "I met him a few months ago, here, in this hideout. He didn't talk much, but when he found out I was an Uzumaki, his expression changed a little."

The others looked at her, piecing together what that might mean.

Alex rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "Sasuke must have gone looking for Naruto after meeting you. That's the most likely reason he disappeared."

Although Alex was right, Margaret frowned and asked, "Why would he do that?"

"He wouldn't," Alice answered.

"She's right," Alex agreed. "I think someone's manipulating things. Otherwise, he wouldn't have just vanished after joining Orochimaru."

Karin and Jugo were confused by their conversation.

"What are you guys talking about?" Karin asked. "Who's manipulating whom exactly?"

Alice quickly interjected, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Jada herself was already connecting the dots. Whoever was involved with the Uchiha revival was also likely responsible for Sasuke's disappearance.

"Then that means we're dealing with one big enemy," Jugo quietly said.

Everyone knew he was right, but there was a shared sense of uncertainty. No one except Alice could pinpoint that it was Arthur behind all this.

The waves crashed softly against the rocks nearby as they stood silent for a moment, each lost in thought.

"Urgh!" Margaret howled. "I can't make head or tail of what's going on now!"

"We'll find who's behind this," Alex smiled.

"How can you be so calm against someone who can bring back entire clans?" Alice probed.

"Panicking won't help," he calmly replied. "Besides, we're all in this together."

"So, what's the plan now?" Karin asked.

"We'd like for you two to come with us back to the Leaf Village," Jada said, stepping forward.

Karin and Jugo exchanged surprised looks. The suggestion was straightforward, but it felt strange. Both of them had been enemies of the Leaf not long ago. While neither was wanted, heading into enemy territory was a bit of a shocker.

Karin's eyes flicked to Jugo, then back to Margaret. She hesitated, unsure of this.

Who could blame her in this complicated situation? Especially after Orochimaru had died.

Neither of them had committed crimes that would land them on the Bingo Book, so legally, they were allowed to stay in the village.

"It'll be fine," Margaret assured them. "We're not enemies anymore. Orochimaru's gone, so it changes things."

"The two of you were being manipulated anyway," Alice stated. "That's all it was, and you're not responsible for what happened in the past."

Karin and Jugo looked at each other again. Neither had known of the other's existence before now. Perhaps Karin might have had a little knowledge since Jugo was being held as a test subject. Yet they wouldn't officially become acquainted until Team Hebi, Sasuke's team, was formed.

Meeting these new allies, learning of their pasts, and being asked to trust them? The shift felt sudden and almost rushed. But, given what they'd just learned about everything, they saw which side to choose.

"Alright," Kain finally said. "I'll go with you guys. What about you, Jugo?"

Jugo first looked at Alex, then asked, "Will you still help me find Kimimaro like you said earlier?"

The way that the players managed to subdue Jugo was by using Kimimaro's name. That was the main reason Jugo had joined them: because Alex claimed that he could track down Kimimaro, or at least believed he could.

"I promise," Alex replied.

Jugo's expression softened slightly, trusting the promise.

"Alright," he simply said. "I'll come, too."

Without wasting time, the others gathered around Jada for her to use the Flying rajin.

Woosh!

Upon disappearing from the hideout, they almost instantly reappeared back in the Leaf Village. The streets were busy but familiar, and their destination was clear: the Hokage's office.

They needed to explain everything—what they'd learned, who they'd found, and what they suspected was coming next.

"This place sure hasn't changed," Karin said, looking around.

The group had almost forgotten that she'd technically visited here during the Chūnin Exams.

"It's peaceful," Jugo added, enjoying the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Alex decided to step away. When Alice noticed, she was prompted to ask where he was headed.

"Back to the Hyūga clan to make arrangements for Jugo," he smiled. "I'm sure you guys can explain things to lord Fifth, right?"

With a plausible explanation, Alice watched him go. Suspicion crept inside her since something about his departure felt off. But she kept silent. Now was not the time to voice her doubts.

"Let's get going then," Margaret stated.

"Right…" Alice replied.

It wasn't long until they arrived at the Hokage's office, where Tsunade sat behind her desk. She looked up as the group entered and said in a stern tone, "You have a lot of explaining to do…"

Tsunade had listened carefully as they laid out everything: Orochimaru's death, the revival of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke's disappearance, and the possible manipulation behind it all.

All of that was very hard for her to take in. Had it not been for years as a kunoichi and their astounding feats in the Leaf Village, she may not have believed them.

"That was very reckless of you," she finally said after accepting everything. "Going behind my back, rushing into these dangerous situations. I should have you all suspended for disobedience."

The group exchanged uneasy glances. No one argued with her; they understood her frustration. Thankfully for them, Tsunade didn't take that step. Instead, her tone softened slightly.

"But I can't deny that your actions did help bring down Orochimaru. For that, I'll thank you. Just, next time, come to me first to work together on things."

The group was relieved to be praised. They honestly had no idea how Orochimaru's former teammate was going to take things.

After a moment, Tsunade frowned as her face darkened.

"Now," she began, "since you've confirmed Orochimaru wasn't involved in the recent resurrections, I'm more troubled. Because whoever is behind this is more dangerous than I thought." Then she turned to Jugo and Karin. "You two can stay in the village, but you'll first need to tell us everything you two know from the Sound Village. That's the only way we can understand what's happening."

As the Hokage, Tsunade hadn't forgotten all the treacherous things the Sound Village had done. And just because Orochimaru was claimed to be dead didn't mean that his past actions as a wanted fugitive didn't need to be cleaned up.

Jugo and Karin agreed without hesitation, eager to be part of the effort.

With the mission briefing over, the group was finally allowed to leave.

"Can you believe we didn't get a reward for taking down Oro?" Margaret said aloud as they walked out of the manor. Only Jada and Margaret were with her, yet neither acknowledged the question. "Hey, are you two even listening?"

"One second," Alice said, turning to Jada. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"No way you two are just gonna leave me hangin'!" Margaret said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sure," Jada replied, leaving Margaret dumbfounded.

Once they were away from her, Alice looked around nervously before speaking. "Something's terribly wrong."

"You're telling me," Jada responded.

"No, I mean when we got back, I didn't sense Jasper's chakra."

Jada looked down with an unsure expression. Alice understood why she had acted this way: Jada didn't like Jasper, not at all. She considered him a bad influence, someone she was wary of.

"Since we're being honest," Jada quietly said, "I can't sense him either. I mean, I can't sense the flying raijin mark I put on him."

"You did what?! When?"

"Right before I sent him and Will back," she honestly replied. "I thought it'd be a good idea to keep a better eye on him after… you know. But now I can't sense him either."

"When did you lose track of the mark?"

"I think a few hours ago."

Alice's heart sank. She felt a deep unease.

"That's not good," she softly said. "I get that Jasper's not exactly trustworthy, but I thought he'd be safe if left in the village."

"I'm sorry," Jada said apologetically. "I should have told you, but I just didn't want to worry you and—"

"It's okay," Alice replied. "You marking him isn't what bothers me. It's the fact that we lost him when I should have been taking better care of him."

The two stood in silence for a moment, each lost in thought.

Then Alice tried, "What if he's just outside of both of our sensing ranges?"

Jada shook her head, explaining that's not how the Flying raijin worked.

"I keep forgetting that you didn't watch Shippuden," she added. "When I sent Will and him back here, I could clearly feel that they were in the village."

"Then what happened?"

"I think he went home… After that, I lost track of the mark."

While Alice again tried to state that maybe the mark just vanished, Jada countered that it was nearly impossible to remove a mark once it was created.

That left Alice with no other option but to believe Jasper had indeed gone missing without a trace.