Naruto: Tango with Death

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"Lady Shogun, I think I have something interesting for you."

I was relaxing in my garden, tending to the flowers, when one of my servants approached and talked to me.

I did not say anything, and continued what I was doing, so he said, "In a certain casino of the city, Tsunade Senju was spotted yesterday night. She does not seem to have any other purpose here than gambling, but I thought it would be better to warn you."

I paused to ask, "Do you have anyone tailing her now?"

The Anbu nodded, so I added, "Pull them away. If you think you can tail Tsunade without her knowing, you are overestimating your capabilities."

The Anbu opened his mouth, but I continued, "Beetle, Tsunade may have deserted the village, she still deserves decency. Especially if she can sense you."

Beetle lowered his head and said, "I understand, Lady Shogun."

He was about to leave with the Body Flicker, I could tell with his body's movements, so I added before he left, "While you pull back the tail on her, use the occasion to invite her here."

Beetle didn't get to answer as he barely got to hear what I said when he disappeared, unable to stop himself.

Overpowering people allows you to mess with them so easily. I'm evil.

With Beetle away, I resumed to my gardening, to clear my mind. I had finished reading every report yesterday, helping myself with my clones at one point, and I had assimilated all that knowledge over night, and made a plan.

But for now, I wanted to rest my mind a little, and so I went for gardening.

It took me back to the good old times, when I didn't have to worry about things. I remembered Sagaki Sensei, my Kunoichi Class Teacher.

I had started my classes with her thinking they would be utterly useless, I didn't see a point to flowers, yet it is that very class that ended teaching me the most.

Sagaki… as far as I know, she still lived in Konoha, teaching at the Academy there. I should try to go talk to her sometime.

She, along with Naruto's generation, represented the past to me, the times when I was only but a naive child.

Before the war, before any of the killing, before any of the terrible things I did…

I was but a woman from a peaceful world, reborn into a little girl within what I thought to be nothing but mere imagination.

I still believed I would be able to follow the main cast and grow alongside them, and live a happy life.

But I was only naive. The world never went along with my will or my plans, and I was forced into a life I never envisioned for myself.

I mean, it was my choice to graduate from the Academy, but at the time, what other choice did I really have?

I was still an innocent child who had been forced into a fight to the death with a seasoned war veteran, and had won by a miracle I could still barely explain to this day.

I may not like admitting it, I was terrified and traumatized by the experience for a long time, and it resulted in me pushing forward my graduation by a big deal.

However, I do not regret my choices. Of course, my life did not turn as happy as I had first planned for it to be, but looking back, hadn't I had made those choices, I would have probably died a sad death, or lived an even worse life.

Besides, as cool as it would have been to grow up alongside the main cast of the manga, doing so would be stripping my identity away from myself, and that would have been terrible.

I may have done many things I would qualify as monstrous in my past life, I still stand by the realization I had back when I opened the Gate of Life just before facing Kumo's Army.

I wholeheartedly accept my life choices, and believe I have led a good life to this point, and whatever happens from now on, I am satisfied with the choices I have made until this point.

My image may be tainted by my plan for this rebellion, but in the end, all that matters is what one fight for. Before, I fought for myself.

During the war, I fought for my friends.

But today, I fight for something greater.

And so whatever the consequences may be, it is time I make the hard choice, for it is what a good leader must do. And what am I, if not a leader?

After all, as I've already been told, I can't shoulder the entire world by myself, and so even if I have to become the devil herself to build a future for my home, then so be it.

"Didn't know you had a thing for flowers."

I didn't show any physical reaction to the sudden voice, I was far too used to it for that, and simply replied, "They are the ones calling me the Flower Princess, figured I could play the part."

Jashin snickered, "If only they knew what you did to your first kill, they would find a whole new meaning to the title."

I said, "It doesn't matter what I did or not, it's all an act. The one who wins is the one who makes for the best illusion."

"So you intend on using your skills to make for the best illusion?"

I snorted softly at his question, and replied, "No, I'm going to tear it into shreds, blowing the truth into their faces, whether they like it or not."

Jashin mumbled, "What about whether you like it or not?"

"In the end, I am selfish, like any human being. I do what benefits me, and as it stands, what benefits me is the good of the land. We have two wars, one internal and external, as well as a deeply corrupted government. And to that, with my available means, I only see a single way to deal with all of this."

Jashin asked, curious, "And that is?"

I smiled, but did not answer as I suddenly heard a loud thunderclap. My head instantly turned into the direction of the loud sound, probably like everyone else in the city, but what troubled me was where it came from.

It was the direction of the prison, where I had posted Hideto to guard Hirahisa. As for this thunderclap, it was the measure we had created against Kiri, were he to be facing a foe he couldn't deal with.

And so without a moment of hesitation, I opened all Four Gates and burst off with the Body Flicker, tearing silently through the sound barrier.