The Blessed Realm

Chapter One Hundred Eight: The Raikage's Offer

The next morning, when they were still lying in bed, the boys discussed what had happened and what they were going to do. They agreed not to tell the locals about Madara in order not to worry them.

“He's after the two of us, the people of Music Town aren't of any significance to him,” they told each other.

“What do you know about his powers?” Naruto asked.

“He's extremely good at space-time ninjutsu,” Sasuke answered.

“That's what we in Konoha know too. I once fought him, actually, together with my team, and he used his space—time-jutsu to evade every attack.”

“Else it seems that talking is his greatest talent,” Sasuke continued. “He used this to trick me into forming an alliance with him. It won't work a second time, however, as now I know the truth about good and evil.”

He was lying on his back, with Naruto looking down on him and smiling.

“He can no longer tempt me with the bijuu,” he said, reaching out to caress Naruto's face. “I want you alive, and as a human being.”

He drew Naruto down to him, they kissed and caressed each others' chests and legs, and then they were busy having sex and forgot about Madara. (It was Saturday morning and they had time for this.)

Naruto again contacted the kyuubi, trying to persuade him to be less aggressive towards Sasuke. “He'll protect me,” he said. “He won't let us fall into the hands of Akatsuki.”

It was the day of Killerbee's concert, so as promised in the evening they went there to help carry stuff. The guy from Earth Country also went to the concert, taking his husband with him. Contrary to Sasuke and Naruto he genuinely liked Killerbee's music (his husband preferred conventional rock, while Naruto liked best the music that was accompanied by guitars so that he could sing to it himself. Sasuke still considered loud music torture.)

So when they had finished carrying stuff Sasuke and Naruto went to meet their friends at the entrance hall, with the intention of sitting next to them in the stalls, but Killerbee found them and urged all four of them to follow him to some VIP lounge. There was already a couple sitting there.

“This is the young man to whom I owe my happiness,” Killerbee introduced Sasuke. “And this is Naruto, his boy-friend, and the jinchuuriki of Konoha, and these are – two other friends.” He turned to Sasuke. “This is my brother, the Raikage, with his wife. I've always planned to invite him to my first important concert in Music Town, not in some cellar but on the big stage. Now he can see that I've found happiness here, and that my music gives happiness to people.”

Sasuke and the Raikage greeted each other, and Killerbee told his brother that Naruto was Jiraiya's heir and responsible for the new edition of the Gutsy Ninja.

“My wife is a great fan of Icha-Icha,” the Raikage said. “She is very sorry that there won't be a new sequel. She says that when it comes to romance Jiraiya was better than any female writer.”

The wife blushed. She had tried to flirt with Naruto for some time now, but Naruto had pretended not to notice.

A new person arrived in the VIP-lounge, Killerbee's girl-friend. She and Killerbee kissed each other for almost a minute, making use of the fact that this was considered appropriate in Music Town, then Killerbee laid his arm around her and introduced her to his brother.

“She's my love and everything,” he said. “She and music are more important to me than anything else.”

The Raikage had been staring at the couple from the time of the woman's entrance, horrified or fascinated by the couple's kiss. Even after being introduced to the woman it took him some time before he was able to speak.

“You know my brother's a jinchuuriki,” he said.

“He told me so quite at the beginning of our relationship.”

“You know that for a jinchuuriki his first love always has to be his village, and that my brother will return to Kumo in case of danger.”

She nodded, but then she said: “He's a naturalized citizen of Music Town now. His loyalty is no longer only for Kumo.”

The Raikage frowned, but he didn't answer.

“There's no danger of a new war these days, so this isn't a problem,” Killerbee said.

The Raikage pretended not to listen and kept talking to the woman.

“You also know that a jinchuuriki shouldn't marry? It would mean the end of Music Town if the Hachibi got out of control.”

“It won't happen,” the woman said. “I've met the Hachibi. It won't get out of control. Killerbee has tamed it well.”

She laid her arms around her lover's hips. “I don't care what you say. I will stay with him.”

“You are courageous, and you seem to love my brother,” the Raikage said. “Still you are acting irresponsibly like a fool. I cannot give you any orders, but in consideration of your own town you should give up your love.”

“You can't give either of us any orders, or any advice,” Killerbee said. “We are both citizens of Music Town, and both of us know more about the Hachibi than you ever will. You should wish me happiness, and welcome her as your sister.”

The Raikage didn't answer.

“The concert starts soon,” Killerbee said. “I need to go downstairs. You have some time to becomes friends now.”

The guy from Earth Country made room for the girl-friend and she sat down next to him.

“Don't worry, everything will work out fine,” he said. “Is that the first time you attend a concert of Killerbee?”

“The first big concert,” she answered, and then she made conversation with the two locals until the music started.

Not only to Sasuke, but also to Naruto the music seemed simply loud, particularly in the lower end of the spectrum with frequencies that they rather felt than heard. The rhythm was harsh and monotonous (nothing they could dance to), and the vocals sounded more like shouting than singing. People downstairs, however, had begun to dance, and the guy from Earth Country and the girl-friend had got up and were now cheering for Killerbee. The Raikage followed their example.

“That's my brother,” he said. “People are celebrating him because his music is louder than everybody else's.”

They spent the break in the entrance hall, eating peanuts and drinking some champagne (paid for by the Raikage.)

“My brother has written to me, asking me to unfreeze your bank account and give you access to your money,” he said to Sasuke. “I'll do it gladly, of course, and I also contacted the other kages to coordinate our policy in that matter. Danzou won't be happy of course, but that's not our business. He'll have to solve his problems in Konoha by himself: we no longer support him by sending back deserters and rogue nin, or killing them ourselves, so there's also no reason for us to support the measures he's taken against the Uchiha clan. We hope that you will restore your clan to its ancient glory, and if you need more money, just tell us, we'll lend you some.”

“Yes, thanks,” Sasuke answered. He felt dizzy, confused by the Raikage's unexpected offer. He had been content being no longer considered a rogue nin in Music Town, but being no longer regarded a rogue nin by the ninja countries as well (except Konoha itself) was a new quality. Danzou, not him, was the outcast now.

“Together we will show Danzou that his power is limited and that the end of his days as Hokage is approaching,” the Raikage continued.

Sasuke felt even dizzier.

The husband of the guy from Earth Country took his hand and pressed it. “Your offer is very generous,” he told the Raikage, “but Sasuke does not need any of your money, just access to his own, so that he may use it for his education in Music Town. He does not need much of it either, as the town supports him too, but he needs to be on a more equal footing with Naruto, who's the heir of Icha-Icha. So I guess it's best if he's granted access to just a limited amount of money every month.”

Sasuke gasped.

“I also want to make clear that Sasuke won't use the money to confront Konoha,” the man continued. “If necessary we'll make this public so that Danzou knows this too.”

Sasuke gasped again.

“Who are you that you speak like this?” the Raikage asked.

“I'm his legal guardian. According to the laws of Music Town Sasuke is still underage, meaning that he needs a guardian, and this happens to be me.”

Sasuke was furious, but the man just kept talking, telling the Raikage about Sasuke's plans to become a policeman, allowing no one to interrupt him. Against his will Sasuke was impressed by the way the man did not let himself be intimidated, even though the Raikage was much taller, stronger and heavier than him, and without doubt a formidable ninja. It's not just the women in this place, Sasuke thought, it's the men too.

The start of the second half of the concert ended the conversation. Sasuke and the husband of the guy from Earth Country stayed behind while the rest of the group returned to their lounge.

“Calm down before you join them,” the man said. “Otherwise you won't be able to enjoy the music.”

Sasuke did his best, calming down to a level that allowed him to speak. “What do you think gives you the right to decline the Raikage's offer in my name?”



“You gave me the right, when you asked me to be your guardian.”

“But this is not what we agreed on. I asked you to be my guardian because this was a requirement from Music Town if I wanted to get accepted as a refugee, and I needed someone to sign documents for me, like the application form for the library card, and later my contract with the training center of the police. I never asked you to make important decisions in my stead.”

The man shrugged. “You are free to decide for yourself once you are eighteen,” he said. “It's less than a year from now. But if you are wise you will then decline the Raikage's offer from your own accord. The Raikage is not a bad person, but he's not selfless either. There will be a price to pay if you accept his money, even if he does not say this. He will believe that he has a say in how you run affairs in Konoha, as you are indebted to him.”

Sasuke was silent. He felt that the man had a point.

“You also should think of Naruto. He wants to be Hokage, after all, but not Hokage by grace of the Raikage's approval. He'll want to be able to decide what's best for Konoha without considering the Raikage's wishes. He'll want to be accepted and respected by the people of Konoha, and this is not possible if there's any doubt on his complete unwavering loyalty to Konoha.”

Sasuke knew that Naruto was loyal to Konoha and would always be so. He knew also that it was important that the people of Konoha had this impression too. Being financed by the Railage would signify a severe stain on Naruto's reputation.

“You will have to drive Danzou out of office on your own. Though honestly I still think it's best if you stay in Music Town and wait until he dies by himself. He's old, you're young: it cannot take very long.”

Sasuke was silent, even though he still hated the idea of Danzou dying from a natural cause. He had suddenly remembered Itachi and the fact that the Uchiha had been killed for allegedly inviting other countries to invade Konoha. Accepting the Raikage's offer he'd do exactly the same.

“You use the time until you're of age to consider my words, so that you come to a wise decision regarding the Raikage's offer. Also you should not decide on your own but discuss your decision with Naruto, as he will be affected by it too.”

Sasuke had nothing to answer, and silently they returned to the rest of the group in their VIP-lounge. The concert had already restarted, but Sasuke was not very sorry that he had missed the first song.

After the concert he and Naruto helped to tidy up, and to get the equipment back to the place Killerbee's band used for rehearsals. When they had half-finished Killerbee told them to leave and go to the club where he, his band and associated friends and family would celebrate the concert. “I've always been alone on these occasions,” he said. “Others brought their friends and their parents and their wives, and sometimes their grandparents and their three-month-old babies, but I never had anyone. So you go too, so that everyone sees that I have some friends now who don't care about rap.”

The boys smiled, but Sasuke declined. “It's not possible – I need to talk to you on an important matter when we are on our own.”

Killerbee shrugged, and both Sasuke and Naruto kept carrying stuff until everything was where it needed to be. (They also slowly learnt about cables, microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers, and also about the different musical instruments.) Then they waited for Killerbee to send the other helpers to the place where the party had already started.

“Now what is it that you want to talk about?” Killerbee asked. “Have you reconsidered my brother's offer?”

Sasuke shook his head. “It's pointless until I'm eighteen. According to the laws of Music Town I cannot make such an important decision while I am still a minor.”

“You can leave Music Town,” Killerbee said. “You'll have to anyway when you set out to Konoha to fight Danzou. Then you're no longer bound by Music Town's laws.”

Sasuke considered it. He'd be a rogue nin again, even though the other kages had promised to support him. Their support did not imply that he belonged to any of their villages. He enjoyed belonging to Music Town, actually. He had not cared about no longer belonging to Konoha when he had left the village, as he had been lonely there too, his heart burning with anger, hatred and pain, but he did not feel like that here, and he wanted to remain a prospective citizen of Music Town.

He had a bad conscience that he tended to forget about avenging his clan.

“I'll decide by myself,” he said, closing the subject. “Now what I wanted to talk about: What may I do for you as compensation for my attack against you, and my attempt to deliver you to Akatsuki?”

Killerbee had not expected this, and it took him some seconds before he was able to answer.

“You invited me to a glass of beer, didn't you?”

“That's not an adequate compensation for attempted murder.”

“Then what do you think might be an adequate compensation for attempted murder?”

Sasuke was silent, realizing the inappropriateness of his suggestion.

“I was told to offer you compensation,” he said finally, feeling lame, and a bit ashamed. “That's what people here demand of young criminals.”

“But not for murder, or even attempted murder,” Killerbee replied.

“No, normally not. Normally it's only compensation for petty theft, or breaking a shop window pane, or painting graffiti where this is not allowed.” (He had learnt about this as part of his training.)

“People here think that ninja are primivite and still follow the ancient laws that say that a life can be bought with money,” Killerbee said. “But it can't, and even in ancient times blood money was just a way to prevent a chain of revenge being set off.”

“I didn't speak of money,” Sasuke said. “I spoke of doing something for you.”

“What might you do for me that can be called adequate compensation for attempting to kill me?,” Killerbee said, and then he answered his own question: “I guess you'd need to become my lifelong slave for a compensation that's really adequate. Naruto won't be happy with that. Now come on – they are waiting for us at the party.”

 

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14965-blessed-realm/ .It is now possible to access the thread without registration at the forums.