The Return [p. Haru and Navi]

[Note: This takes place after the Kage Summit Just so no one gets confused or anything.]

It had been a fairly dull trip back to Konohagakure no Sato after the Kage Summit in Iron Country. Haru could feel the influence of Gyuki clawing at him, trying to change him into something more like that Raikage he'd just recently seen in person. It was bad enough that the leader of Funkagakure no Sato was still alive even after the fire attack that he'd rained down on the man but there was also that Kurisu guy who was definitely mentally unstable and a psychopathic alcoholic force of destruction. There seemed to be a number of villages that were not only in disorder but were controlled by cold blooded and insane leaders. There was no way he was going to just let the bijuu change him, but did he truly have a choice?

The concern he pushed back for a while but couldn't quite ignore was Navi's response, early in the meeting, to Kurisu talking about killing some more villagers either in Kumogakure no Sato or in another one. "Yeah, maybe another village," Navi replies to the Raikage with a soft chuckle.  Haru knew Navi also had a bijuu but had also always shown a superior level of control over it. Of course he didn't know if Navi was trying to just keep peace at the meeting or if there was something more to it. He didn't truly believe that Navi could be anything like those other leaders he'd seen, hell he'd watched Navi grow up from being a Genin all the way to ANBU and to Hokage. No matter his thoughts on it, he respected Navi greatly and had no right to be questioning the actions of the Hokage unless those actions became a threat to the village which that wasn't the case.

Looking up at the trees scattered through the village, seeing bits of light pushing through the leaves. He realized in that moment that while the bijuu might have caused Navi to do some things that he wasn't sure about there was the fact that Navi had enough control to prevent things from getting out of hand while Haru didn't feel control over his own. 'It was a mistake to accept this from Viper...' he thought to himself, knowing what he had to do. 'I'll have to ask Navi to take the beast from me, even though that will mean the end for me.' he'd rather die than let the bijuu turn into anything like those monsters he saw at the summit.

In most cases when meeting with Navi he'd try and be first but that wasn't going to happen this time. He made his way to the Hokage's office and as ANBU he was free to make his way up there, knocking on the door before entering although he'd stop Navi asked him to not enter. Assuming he made his way through the door, he'd stand a few feet from the Hokage's desk wearing his ANBU outfit. "Hey boss, how's it goin'?" he'd ask while taking off his mask. He didn't want to start off with asking for the removal of his bijuu, first thing was first. Make sure there wasn't a mission or order he'd need to do before the request.

(The following events take place following the Kage Summit, this is a flashback to establish relevance and account for the discrepancies regarding the character of Haru.)

The Yamaki leader was standing over his desk this day, his palms planted firmly on the table in front of he stared thoughtfully down at the dire situation in front of him. With a flick of the wrist, a thread of chakra would jump out from his fingertip and slam the window shut. Following this, the thread would close the blinds before reeling back to his finger and dissipating. His gaze never left the desk, which mercilessly held his full and undivided attention. 

Upon the desk was Monopoly, that board game where you buy up all the property, purchase things and over a period of several hours make all of your friends and/or family hate you. It was a very absorbing game, and Navi required absolute silence and concentration in order to snatch victory. He had been playing for several hours now, and in that time he felt his wits grow sharper and analytical ability go deeper. Truly, this was the game of domination. He made a quick mental note to destroy his chess board later, as it was a clearly inferior game. All you had to do in that game was "Capture the King". After several boring talks from a supposedly 'wise' elder about strategy and thought process, Navi had won in a single move by reaching out and picking up his opponent's king. What was clearly a display of the elder's jealousy for his brilliance, the old man stormed out of the room. "I guess he had never been beaten that badly," Navi said to himself. 

His mental note made, the Hokage returned his attention to the game of Monopoly. This was a grueling experience for him, as he was now faced with a tactical choice rivaling those of his past when a Captain of the Black Ops. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. What should he do? 

"Should I play as the cowboy piece or the little dog?" 


They both had tactical advantages to be sure, but which would be superior in this game? Navi wiped his forehead again and collapsed into his chair. Perhaps he should take a break. 

A knock came at his door. 

"Yo," he called, reaching into his desk to pull out a crisp Fanta Orange soda. 

It was Haru, a capable member of the Black Ops that would greet him and proceed to take off his mask. Navi wondered if he should ask him to play the board game with him, but quickly decided against it. It would be better if he mastered the complexities of the game before challenging anyone. When asked how everything was going, his thoughts drifted off to the Kage summit. 

"Well, we've basically dominated our enemies and I am currently heading a nation that has forced every other nation to submit. It seems most of the current threats are eliminated, so now I just have to worry about future ones. Fortunately, I've begun to take the necessary precautions to prepare us for them." 

His eyes fall back to the Monopoly board. Precaution number one would be to master this game of trickery, then he would surely be ready to face any future threat the Leaf was faced with. 

"So what's going on?" he'd ask with his eyes flicking up from his desk, taking a sip of soda as he waited for a response.

Well at least Navi hadn't actually seemed to change much, though the events of the Kage Summit had made Haru question that it was apparent that there was no need to be that concerned. Looking at the desk and seeing that Navi was playing a new game put him at ease, though he wasn't sure how well he'd do at the new game Navi was playing, Monopoly, but the results would probably end with Navi dominating the game much like Konohagakure no Sato had been doing to the rest of the world for a while now. Besides he'd seen Navi destroy people in other games and he had more important things to deal with right now. Perhaps Navi would know of a way to remove the bijuu without causing death but regardless Haru had made his choice.

Navi's response about the Summit reinforced Haru's faith in the man. Haru was glad to hear that Navi wasn't planning on going and marching on other villages or anything like that. Of course it helped that the other villages had conceded victory to the Fire Nation and thus prevented a lot of possible wars and battles. "You handled the Summit great, even though some of the other Kage seem to be, uh, insane. I'm glad they decided to not fight back." he didn't want to think about what would have happened had this all resulted in war. "I'm sure any future threats will remember that Konohagakure no Sato made the rest of world surrender." it would be foolish for someone to oppose Konoha but there'd always be small groups and people who'd be foolish enough to do such a thing and sadly lose their lives over it.

The time had come with Navi asking him what was going on. "I'm not sure what you'll think, but to be blunt, I can't handle the bijuu inside me." there was no need to dance around words and waste anymore of Navi's time, it was best to be straightforward. "After being at the Summit and seeing other Kage and their guards, I don't want to end up like that horrible Raikage and Kazankage. You've got incredible control over yours but I don't and I feel it makes me a risk to the village. You've seen my lack of control once before." Haru knew that the military aspect of having such power in an ANBU was very advantageous; however, it was a double edged sword for if the bijuu could take over the person they'd risk destroying a lot of the village. Navi had seen the lack of control though when the two had sparred, Haru could barely remember much from it but he remembered enough to know that if Navi hadn't been able to fight through his own bijuu influence and stop Haru then Konoha could have been in trouble at that time.

Navi was pleased to hear that Haru thought he handled the summit great. He thought he had handled the summit great too, although a part of him wished that the Kages DID fight back. He would have liked for Konoha to seize control with force, as that feels like it was an approach which would maintain power unchallenged. Plus, it would have given him a chance to test himself against the Kage of the world. Haru continued by mentioning that future threats would likely remember that Konoha had made the world submit to its jurisdiction. 

Maybe so, but it wasn't the Hokage's job to relax after the threats had been dealt with. Navi worried about the future, and felt it necessary to ensure safeguards were in place. If Konoha's military was at a peak now, then perhaps the nation would be best served with a reduction in force. Perhaps those resources could be better spent on watch for future threats, rather than at the ready during a currently peaceful state. 

Haru started to continue: "I'm not su-," Navi cut him off, he just then thought of something far more important than what his subordinate had to say. 

"To be blunt, you can't handle the bijuu inside of you," it was important not to dance around the issue and waste more valuable time which could be spent on mastering sophisticated board games.
"After being at the Summit and seeing other Kage and their guards, I've decided that it would be best to isolate you from people like the Raikage and Kazankage. I have incredible control over my beast but your lack of control makes you a risk to the village." 

Haru would surely protest, but by way of insurance Navi quickly added: "I've seen your lack of control once before". 

His purely original thought process surely hadn't crossed Haru's mind, and even if it had, there was no way it would have been said as concisely or expertly as Navi had. Should everything proceed as expected, the Yamaki would proceed.

"Listen closely Haru, as these are your standing orders," as the Hokage spoke, his finger tips would glow with a brilliant blue chakra. 

"You are now deactivated from all active ANBU operations, you will only be relieved from standby mode if one of the following conditions are met," the man stands from his desk. 

"Condition 1: You perceive a threat to the well being of the Leaf Village that cannot be stopped without your intervention," the man pushes in his chair.

"Condition 2: You are contacted by Captain Brenner under the call-sign 'Azrael'," the man walks towards Haru.

"Condition 3: You die from this," the man would slam his palm into Haru's chest and tear the demonic energy from his body, channeling immense amounts of his own chakra in order to extract and temporarily seal the beast. 

At least Haru really only had to worry about the first two conditions.

Haru did as told, being an ANBU had taught him already to listen closely and do as told. He wasn't sure what to think at first when being told that he was being put on standby and would only come off standby on 3 conditions, granted the third condition seemed like it would solve itself right now. Adhering to the first two conditions would be easy, assuming did survive in order to meet the third condition, he just wasn't sure that he'd survive the extraction since jinchuuriki usually don't survive it. 

There was an intense feeling of exhaustion and soreness that resulted from the process, the eight tailed beast was powerful and so the effects of losing it were probably more extreme. He'd survive even if he didn't know it at the time as he began to lose consciousness. "Thanks boss." was all Haru could managed before there was only darkness, his body falling to the ground unconscious. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- The Aftermath.

It had been quite a long time since Haru went and spoke with Navi, the end results of the day being that the bijuu was removed from Haru and the ANBU placed on standby. During that time nothing had required Haru to intervene to save the village nor had Captain Brenner contacted him by rules of the conditions placed on him by the Hokage Navi. While nothing had removed Haru from his standby order, that did not mean the time was uneventful. 

Haru could only work from just outside the village, a small hidden in the forest of Konoha. Because of his status, knowledge barely made its way around to him, so while his own time was fairly dull the rest of the world was going through vast changes that he only got to hear about in brief moments. He'd spoken to outsiders and heard of sad things and some good things, some news nearly made him act on Condition 1 but held off because he had faith in the rest of the ANBU.

He'd heard stories of Kirigakure no Sato being revived and that Kumogakure no Sato had been taken over by powerful missing ninja. It was just as hard to believe as Navi's death, but Haru had also heard that Echo Uchiha passed away in the Kumogakure no Sato take over. Hard as it was to imagine, Konoha lost its Best Hokage and Best Shinobi very close together. The regret had been hard to get past, He had a hard time sleeping and wished that he'd been there to help either of them. While he knew only a little about Echo's death, he knew even less about Navi's death. Haru only ended up learning of Navi's death by accident from some wandering civilians who spoke of a new Hokage having to be chosen though the people didn't seem to know anything else, and while both deaths hurt badly, he knew that letting it break him would be a dishonor to Navi and Echo both. Time heals and with the emotional training he had received during ANBU training he was able to move on from the deaths and grown mentally stronger in the process. 

Recently the news had caused more concern for Konoha. Haru learned that a former Raikage by the name of Kurisu Ametsuchi had settled down in Konoha and had a family, not only that but the man had also become Hokage. Haru had a very hard time understanding how someone like Kurisu, who was known to be some kind of alcoholic psychopathic serial killer type of person had managed to even get to stay in Konoha let alone become the Hokage. It was outrageous and horrifying, but Haru had no choice but to have faith in Captain Brenner and hold out hope that perhaps the former Raikage wouldn't do anything as bad as what he'd done during his time in Kumogakure no Sato.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Present Day.

Inside of the small house, outside of Konoha, Haru was just finishing up polishing his legendary sword, Decaforce, otherwise known as Ten Commandments. He could feel that the day would come when he'd get to use the sword again, and that there may come a time when he must get blood on the sword once more and take a life. He hated having to kill, but there were times when it was required, even if most of his kills took place under strict ANBU orders he could not deny that it was sometimes necessary. With Navi and Echo both dead, Haru's opinion on necessary kills had grown more harsh but he still couldn't ignore that life is precious and people sometimes do deserve a second chance and can change, but that doesn't count as an excuse for everything. 

Walking over to the fireplace, he'd set the sword on its side above the fireplace on a frame. For now he'd simply wait until he was needed or called upon, with that he'd go sit in a nearby chair and read a book on advanced sword techniques, even if he couldn't spar against anyone he still wanted to keep his mind sharp.