At last, the Hidden Leaf came into view in the distance. The village was facing an unprecedented crisis, and time being of the essence, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shizune had made a beeline for Konoha without taking a single break.
Even though Lady Tsunade was irreplaceable in the people's hearts as the last princess of the Senju, there would unfortunately be no time to hold a funeral; a Sixth Hokage needed to be named without delay. The Hidden Leaf would not function properly without its shadow; every facet of village life was inextricably bound to the cult of personality revolving around the Hokage.
"It'll be fine, it's an emergency!" Shizune cried over the wind rushing in their ears. She pointed towards the red building below. "Land on the roof of the Hokage Residence; we've no time to go in through the village gates!"
Garuda let out a sharp cry as it swooped down, landing on the roof of the Hokage Residence's main wing before vanishing in a puff of white smoke.
Barely had the soles of their sandals hit the ground when a squad of masked ANBU operatives flickered before them. Sakura's eyes briefly flicked towards Sasuke; his expression betrayed no emotion, but his knuckles had gone white from tightening his grip on the hilt of his chakra blade.
"Have the Jōnin Commander, the ANBU Commander, and the Konoha Council gather in the Hokage's office!" Shizune called as she strode towards them. "Immediately!" she added, seeing that none of the ANBU were moving. "It's an emergency!"
"Apart from the ANBU Commander, the people you mentioned have already gathered there," the ANBU squad's captain said. "Orochimaru has returned— and he's revived the former Hokage. There was nothing any of us could do to stop him, but it doesn't look as though he's come to pick a fight. He hasn't killed anyone… yet."
Shizune and Sakura gaped at him in shock. Now, of all times!?
"Orochimaru has asked for an audience with Lady Tsunade… has she not returned with you?" the ANBU captain inquired. Seeing the grim expressions on the two kunoichi's faces, his head drooped slightly. "I see. So, it's true, then… that telegram from the Land of Iron's Samurai General was not a bluff."
…
"Good," said Nara Shikaku, the Jōnin Commander, as Sakura, Sasuke and Shizune stepped into the Hokage's office. "You're finally here."
Upon seeing Orochimaru sitting behind the desk she had performed lesbian play on with her Shadow Clone a few days ago, Sakura knew exactly how Konohamaru must have felt seeing Lady Tsunade sitting in his grandfather's seat, four years ago.
"Ah, you've finally returned from the Gokage Summit? That was rather quick," Orochimaru said pleasantly, taking a sip of tea from Lady Tsunade's second-favourite cup. "But where is my dear old friend, Tsunade?"
The Hokage Residence was completely surrounded by ANBU elites, but Orochimaru was just sitting there, sipping on his tea contentedly… was he not scared of being poisoned?
"Get out of that chair," Sakura growled, eyes blazing. "You haven't the right to sit there."
Despite her harsh tone, Sakura did not dare make any rash moves.
Although Sasuke was standing by her side, she knew he had gone to see Orochimaru after leaving Team 7, and she had no idea what he had promised him… in any case, he was glaring at Mitokado Homura, who was calmly sipping some tea in his seat in a corner of the room.
Furthermore, and most troubling of all, the First, Second, Third and Fourth Hokage were standing behind Orochimaru obediently. In all likelihood, Orochimaru had upgraded the Edo Tensei Jutsu again, and this time, the entire village was his hostage, not just the Third Hokage.
"Kindly hold your tongue, Miss Sakura," Shikaku said warningly, turning his back on Orochimaru to shoot her a glare. "Antagonising Lord Orochimaru in this manner serves no purpose."
Sakura frowned. Those words… was there some hidden meaning to them, or…?
"To answer your question, Lord Orochimaru," Shizune said coldly, "Lady Tsunade is feeling a little under the weather because she drank too much at the Gokage Summit after‑party. We've left her at an inn to recover, but she'll be right as rain once she's slept off her drinks. I expect she'll rejoin us within a day or two."
Shizune was trying to take advantage of the gap in information to bluff Orochimaru, whose stance was still ambiguous; if she revealed Tsunade had died, the Sannin's three-way deadlock would collapse, and the Hidden Leaf would have one less card to play in this treacherous game.
Orochimaru's yellow, vertically slit‑pupilled eyes narrowed.
"…she's dead, isn't she?" he said after a slight pause. Unexpectedly, his snide, self-assured expression softened slightly. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Tsuna's… dead…?" Hashirama said in shock.
Sakura's pupils dilated.
"How dare you," she snarled. "You murderer—"
"Why don't you tell us why you've returned, Lord Orochimaru?" Shikaku said quickly. "I'm sure this isn't just a social call…"
Orochimaru chuckled.
"Buying time for something, are we? That's quite cute," he said mirthfully. "I don't dislike your type, Nara Shikaku… but I assure you, my people haven't invaded your village. I've come alone… of course, for my own safety, I've brought the Hokage, as insurance…"
Hashirama and Minato both smiled and gave her a little wave, and the Third Hokage looked as though he were desperately resisting the urge to stare at her chest… but the Second Hokage was looking at both her and Sasuke as if they were nothing more than scum beneath his sandal.
"Well, to answer your question…" Orochimaru went on, licking his lips. "I've come to present my candidacy for the position of Sixth Hokage."
"You must be joking!" Shikaku blurted out. "The villagers will never recognise you after what you've done to Lord Third!"
The Hokage was more than just a simple civil servant; the people looked to the Hokage for guidance and protection. On top of being powerful, the Hokage needed to be popular and virtuous… and in Sakura's opinion, after the trainwreck that had been the Lord Third's administration, a pair of balls… or at the very least, a spine.
"But what if I were to tell you that Pain, the Akatsuki's leader, was coming here in person to take the Nine‑Tails Jinchūriki and destroy the village?" Orochimaru said casually. "From what I hear, Pain very nearly killed Jiraiya, as well as one of the village's mightiest Jōnin. I've fought him before and lived to tell the tale… I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that without my support, the village has no chance of survival…"
!!!
"Miss Sakura, what are you doing?" Shikaku said in surprise.
Sakura walked up to Orochimaru and knelt before him in seiza, bowing until her forehead touched the floor. She had just had a sudden stroke of genius, but she would need Orochimaru's help, and the dogeza was the only way she knew to communicate her sincerity… and if that was indeed Shisui's chakra she was sensing about his head, wherever it had come from, perhaps it would make him receptive to her pleas…
"Please, Lord Orochimaru," she said tremulously. "Please revive Lady Tsunade like you did the others… I'll do anything to see her again… I beg you…"
Orochimaru leaned over the Hokage's desk and looked at her interestedly.
"Anything, you say?" he said. "Raise your head…"
Sakura did as he asked, and he looked into her eyes.
"What if I told you I wanted those eyes of yours?" he said, licking his lips. "I'm quite interested on following up on a certain rumour I heard… about something called the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, I believe? In theory, your eyes should be quite compatible with Nanashi's… your Uchiha chakra is more similar than that of sisters."
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. Where in the world had he heard…!?
"Your Cursed Seal of Heaven is still functional," Orochimaru sniggered, tapping his nape with a finger. "You hold no secrets before me, Sasuke-kun…"
Sakura faltered.
If she lost her Sharingan, she would lose an enormous portion of her powers, but if her gamble paid off... when Naruto vanquished Nagato and convinced him of the error of his ways, he would use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, and every deceased person for kilometres around whose souls had yet to pass on to the Pure Land would be revived... including any Edo Tensei zombies that happened to be wandering around!
"I… I'll do it," Sakura said shakily. "I'll give you my eyes."
"Sakura, I forbid you!" Sasuke growled, taking a menacing step forward. "The Sharingan is the Uchiha clan's pride, and if you insist on giving your eyes to that creep…"
Sakura resisted the urge to flinch or blink as Orochimaru reached over the desk to pluck out her eyeballs, but before Sasuke could draw his sword, two familiar figures appeared between them… in the exact spot from which they had vanished, weeks ago.
Naruto and Jiraiya blinked in surprise, and then...
"Get the hell away from my Sakura-chan…" Naruto roared, drawing back his fist… and with a single punch, he sent a surprised Orochimaru crashing through the bay window at his back and into the street below. "…you perverted freak, ya know!"
"Narutoooo!" Sakura cried in dismay. "You ruined everything!"