The Protagonist System
323 The Lost Village

I sat at the temporary table I set up in my room as Yui confronted Anko about the copied map they had found. I stayed out of it until Yui opened the scroll and it showed the east coast of Fire Country and the set of islands with a swirl mark on them. It wasn't a detailed map, so it took me a moment to figure out what it showed.

Wave was a large island off the coast and it was minuscule in comparison to the huge islands further up the coast. However, I knew on some of the other maps we had that were not marked with anything and were reported as unclaimed wild islands. Since there was no reason for ships to go there, no one did. You couldn't hire them to go through the supposedly unexplored and unsafe water, either.

Anko tried to deny knowing anything, then Yui pointed to the similar swirl on her ninja headband and said it was altered slightly, like many other Konoha headbands. Why? What was so important that she was denying she knew anything about a map of whirlpools?

It only took that one question for my telepathy to pick up the truth from Anko's mind. It wasn't a map of whirlpools like Yui claimed, though. It was a map of Whirlpool Country, the Land of Whirlpools, where the Uzumaki Clan had made their home and it was destroyed by three other nations because they were becoming too powerful.

“Yui, stop harassing her. If she doesn't want to tell her friends what she knows, we shouldn't force her.” I said and Anko turned away from us. “It doesn't matter why she's withholding information.”

“But... it could help us.” Yui said with defeat in her voice.

“If she was ordered to keep it a secret, or it was declared a secret of at least A-Rank, then we can't ask her to betray her oaths to the Hokage or the village.” I said and Anko looked embarrassed. “They would declare her a missing-nin and want her dead. You know that.”

Anko opened her mouth to say something, then she sighed and shook her head.

“I'm glad I didn't do this out where everyone else could hear.” Yui said and started to roll the map up, then she shrugged and left it there. “We can't add it to the one we're making if it's a declared secret.”

“That's probably why it's a copy with no original. The original was destroyed to ensure the secret was kept and they missed that because it was misfiled.” I explained and Yui nodded. “I'll make more paper for you and we can attach them together to make one full map and then we can fill in the missing pieces.”

“After work tomorrow.” Yui agreed and gathered up the other maps to put into an expanded bag. She gave a sad look to Anko and left the room without saying anything else.

“I'm sorry.” Anko said and still couldn't look at me.

Since I wanted to ease her mind, I reminded her of something else as I lifted my shirt. “Is it still a death penalty punishment to discuss an S-Class secret, even if the other person knows about it?”

“Yes.” Anko said and glanced at me, only to gasp at seeing the sealing ink pattern on my skin.

“We all have to keep secrets, both for our own good and for the good of others.” I said and let my shirt go. “Don't let what you know sour your feelings about...”

“It already has!” Anko shouted and took a breath and let it out. “It already has. I know information that you don't, and if you knew about it, you wouldn't forgive me or anyone else from the village over it.”

I gave her a searching look as Anko's mind went over how Konoha was so intricately linked with Uzushio for years and had been good friends, that the shinobi corps had adapted the Uzumaki symbol of a swirling whirlpool into their headband designs to honor them.

That was when her thoughts went to how the citizens of Uzushio called their friends in Konoha for help, when the other hidden villages were attacking them, and the Third Hokage refused. Hiruzen Sarutobi was afraid that his forces would be wiped out as well and it was better to protect his own people and let the Uzumaki Clan die, for the good of all.

I sighed and walked over to her. “Anko, it's not your fault.”

“No, I... I know. It's just... why... I can't figure it out.” Anko said and didn't pull away when I put my arms around her. “Why would the Hokage treat you like garbage after what happened to your parents? To her village? How many people died because of his decisions? It doesn't make sense!”

I sighed again and hugged her tightly. “It does if you put the value of others above that of a single individual. Sacrifices need to be made and isn't it much more sensible for only a select few to suffer to keep everyone else safe?”

Anko hugged me and rested her head on my chest. “You're talking about the Jinchuriki.”

“Among other things.” I said and rubbed her back. “In case you didn't notice, despite two different Kages of hidden villages knowing the truth, they both chose to not admit that they lost their captured tailed beasts.”

“Because it would make them weak and look bad.” Anko responded.

“Yes, the last thing a man responsible for an entire village full of ninja needs, is to be seen as weak.” I said and leaned back slightly to look down at her face. “Yagura is a prime example.”

“Him?” Anko huffed. “I wanted to punch his arrogant face in as soon as I saw him.”

“I thought you said you were a horrible judge of character?” I asked and she chuckled.

“I'm letting you hug me while we're all alone, aren't I?” Anko asked with a smirk on her face.

I laughed and let her go. “Good point. You need to head out for your usual patrol soon.”

Anko gave me a pointed look. “How did you know I do that after everyone else goes to bed?”

“I'm not an idiot and you take your job to protect us seriously, even when you're joking around and carrying on.” I said and motioned towards the bedroom door. “Try to not stare into my window too long this time.”

Anko barely blushed at being called out on it. “I was trying to figure out if anyone had broken into your room, either through the door or the window.”

“You weren't trying to figure out how to bypass the chakra wards and protections?” I asked with a smile.

“That's how I determine if anyone else is able to.” Anko countered and smiled back.

That was actually a good argument and I couldn't refute it. She knew that and kept smiling. I nodded and she accepted my silent surrender to the argument. She walked over to the door and paused as she looked back at me.

“I really am sorry we can't talk about... a lot of things.” Anko said and left the room.

I waited for a few minutes, to make sure no one else was going to enter my room, and went to the bathroom to shower. I dried off and added a little something down there to my perfect penis and carefully wrapped a clean towel around my waist and waited.

When I felt Anko's presence pass near the wall of the mansion and would approach the view into my window, I left the bathroom and walked over to the bed. When she came into sight and could see me as well, I turned slightly and dropped the towel and revealed what I had done to myself.

I felt the protection wards drop around the window a second before the window shattered and Anko slid across the floor on her knees. Her trenchcoat was flung away just before she reached me and her eyes were locked onto my erection. It wasn't because it was perfect, either. No, it was because there were extra large and hollowed out dango balls stacked on it, making it look like a giant dango skewer.

“I love you!” Anko said and opened her mouth wide and slipped it over the first dango ball. She sucked on it just enough to soften it and pulled it off with her lips and chewed it up, then she slipped her mouth over my tip and suckled on that for nearly a full minute.

She really knew what she was doing as her tongue slid over and flicked around the head before she opened her mouth wide and moved down to engulf the second dango ball. She repeated softening it and pulled it off of me with her lips, chewed it up, then sucked on the revealed part of my penis for two full minutes before widening her mouth once more and didn't gag as she took in the third large dango ball.

I felt her throat constrict around me and moaned for her, which she liked hearing, and she pulled the last dango ball off and chewed it up. She looked up at me with love in her eyes, making her hasty declaration earlier into the truth, then she proceeded to give me a spectacular blowjob that would have put a professional prostitute to shame.

I realized then that was exactly the point. Some of the best kunoichi were trained for things like this and Anko made sure I knew she was doing her best to get me off. My first load went down her throat and she moaned at both the delicious taste and the amount, because she knew I hadn't been with anyone for a couple days and had saved up just for her.

Anko stood up and licked her lips, dropped her skirt to show off that her fishnet outfit didn't hide much of anything from her neck to her thighs. She dug into it to pull on her tiny thong and it dropped to the floor after it snapped. She

“You gave me the best dessert ever.” Anko said and let out a little moan as she turned around and bent over and presented herself to me. “Now it's your turn to have mine.”

I knelt and drove my tongue into her, making her moan again. I barely started lapping at her and she came right away with another moan. It had been a long time for her, probably because of how the people back in Konoha thought of her, even after they knew she had the cursed mark removed. Years of her treatment didn't magically evaporate just because she was no longer one of Orochimaru's backup plans.

I was sure that was also why she was fully into letting me had all of her, too. I had been the one to save her from servitude and potential death, so she wasn't going to give me anything but her best, and it showed. She participated in every position, even when she didn't have to, and she enjoyed it a lot more than she realized she would.

When we were cuddling in bed afterwards, Anko understood why Tsuru and Yui were devoted to me and loved me as much as they did. I didn't just have sex with them, I gave them what they wanted, what they needed, and ensured that they were happy. Their lives were filled with both purpose and love, and they couldn't have asked for anything more.

Anko started to silently cry, because she realized that now included her, and she didn't believe she was worth the effort or deserved it.

“You do. You do.” I whispered and held her, kissed her forehead and her cheek, and kept whispering that everyone deserved to have someone love them for who they were.

Anko clung to me for quite some time before she fell asleep. I took out a dreamless sleep potion and poured a little down her throat, just to make sure her own thoughts didn't betray her. I stayed awake for a while longer and thought about what I was going to do about the Uzumaki's lost homeland. Do I rebuild it, restore the Uzushio Hidden Village, and make it a target for the other villages?

I shook my head at that thought. We were already getting a lot of attention, good attention, so why would I turn it all into a negative by bringing back a destroyed village? There was no point, except to gain the ire of all the other hidden villages from the threat of the return of their feared opponent.

No, it was better to continue my current plans to slowly strip the troublesome chakra beasts from the world and stop all of the existential threats before they manifested. That meant acting under everyone's noses and no one would ever know it was us doing it. We wouldn't be targeted by the remaining Akatsuki and I could catch them unaware and when they least expected it.

I closed my eyes and let sleep claim me. I would be up at the break of dawn, like usual, and my work on both the Water Daimyo's mansion and making the world's first massive water park a success. Who could have guessed that having fun on various waterside rides would make the clear divide between shinobi and civilian practically disappear?

*

Ikkyu Madoka, the Land of Fire's Daimyo, had been incensed when he heard about what happened to Konoha's ninjas. He had even contacted the Daimyo of the Land of Wind for clarification. That started a set of meetings and involved the Daimyo of the Land of Earth as well, since they were all neighbors.

The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village was asked to attend to add his own thoughts on what was going on. They soon found out that the man had nothing but contempt for Konoha shinobi and the Third Hokage in particular.

Their actions, whether intentionally insulting or not, had set the tone for all of their interactions. Where was the years of trust they used to have? The trusted allies of years gone past? Because it was their empty platitudes and false claims that had caused the current crisis.

The Kazekage also claimed that it didn't matter if there was someone else behind the assassination attempt being performed at his private residence, because Konoha was complicit by allowing the infiltration in the first place. They allowed traitors to stay in their village and never did anything about it.

When he was asked for proof, the Kazekage produced copies of incriminating documents that referenced the long dead Danzo Shimura, many ROOT operatives that still worked for Konoha, a few ANBU special forces, several academy teachers, several civilian bureaucrats, several high ranking Clan members, and tons of informants that would hand information over to anyone that paid them.

The Fire Daimyo hid his anger at all of that dirty laundry being aired in front of such a large gathering, then realized he could use it to his advantage. Like his own hidden village, he was sure theirs had secrets and traitors in them as well.

“Before you ask, we don't.” The Kazekage said when he saw the older man's face show a glimmer of hope. “My shinobi are constantly screened by our T&I department and anyone disloyal or proven to be a traitor, are dealt with immediately and not allowed to gather information to sell later to save their lives.”

“You run a hidden village better than my Tsuchikage.” The Earth Daimyo stated. “The old man loves his village too much and refuses to step down or allow a younger person's viewpoint to influence his own.”

“You could order Onoki to retire.” The Fire Daimyo said to try and deflect the conversation away from what he should do with his own hidden village. He had already paid the ransoms to have the captured shinobi returned to Konoha and put on hold the plans for the village to apply for more loans.

“I tried.” The Earth Daimyo said with a drawn out sigh. “There's no one else near his current level of power to take over and he refuses to choose a successor, since that would mean admitting he needs one.”

“Then what do we do?” The Land of Wind Daimyo asked. “We've already cut the available missions by half and reduced the remaining ones by an entire rank to cover Konoha's lower available shinobi forces this month.”

“The other villages can take up the slack with the reduced ranks of missions.” The Fire Daimyo said and didn't let his worry show. Konoha had always had the reputation of having the strongest shinobi and they couldn't afford to lose that high praise, even temporarily.

The Kazekage didn't mention the successes of his children, mostly because he was sure they would hate it if they had to cut their Chunin training short to do normal missions. Then again, perhaps he could give the idea to Akiko the next time she visited her fiance. Doing extra missions as training wasn't too big of a stretch for them, was it? They also had several strong ninjas with them to keep them safe.

The latest meeting ended with no real resolution to the problems Konoha faced and there didn't seem like there was going to be anything but more discussions about what not to do with the shinobi of a hidden village.