NEXT DAY
Haruka stared Tsunade straight in the eyes, clearly disappointed.
Tsunade was trying very hard not to look away, but Haruka's intense stare was making it difficult.
It had been decades since she felt this awkward, she hoped that somehow, magically, nobody would know that Jiraiya picked a fight with someone while he was attempting to kidnap someone else.
It was a futile hope, since it was very obvious that The Order worked closely with the Crows.
But sometimes, even in the darkest of times, you had to still hope for the best.
"I apologize for the actions of my Shinobi, I assure you it won't happen again." Tsunade promised quietly.
Haruka's stare did not falter.
"Do you know why I decided to ally with Konoha?" She asked abruptly. "Despite our... distaste for Shinobi?"
Tsunade didn't know how to answer that.
"The rest of the leadership, they all argued for staying neutral, to avoid interaction with any Hidden Village as much as possible." Haruka continued on. "They were convinced that it would lead to nothing but trouble."
"But I pushed for an alliance because I believed that we could all benefit from it, that Konoha was better than the rest, that we could trust them more than others." Haruka sighed quietly. "I wanted to believe that the Village so reputed as being less bloodthirsty and cruel than the rest could be a reliable ally."
"The others trusted me enough to give this plan a chance, we knew that Konoha wouldn't be willing to jump head first into a partnership with us, so we offered a deal that was overwhelmingly in your favor, just to get you to agree, while still making sure that The Order got something out of it."
Tsunade listened quietly, she already deduced most of this, but having it confirmed was a relief.
"The information we found in Otagakure was horrifying, but the files on Danzo and his operations made me feel relieved." Haruka admitted. "In any other village, a person such as Danzo would not need to hide his actions so much, he would have been celebrated and given even more power."
For a moment, Tsunade felt like that was only partly true, that Suna might've condemned such actions, but then she remembered the reports about Suna's Jinchūriki, and realized that perhaps any Hidden Village other than Konoha would be corrupt enough for such a thing.
That was slightly depressing.
"When I presented that argument to my peers, they reluctantly agreed, so we went through with our plan." Haruka summarized. "And what happens next?"
Tsunade grimaced and looked away.
"On the same day that we formalize our alliance, one of your Shinobi attempts to kidnap someone who lives here, and then when confronted, decides to try and capture the person who stopped them."
Haruka was fully glaring at her now, and Tsunade really couldn't blame her, if one of the Order's members had done this in Konoha, it would have been an immediate dealbreaker.
But still...
"Jiraiya was attempting to retrieve a Missing-Nin from his own village, even if lives in the Capital under your watch, he is still a traitor and a deserter." Tsunade tried to defend weakly.
It was weak reasoning, she knew that, Sasuke wasn't even listed as a Missing-Nin, she had decided that the soft approach was the best one, considering her own apprentice and Naruto's feelings for Sasuke.
She had a feeling that going up to Naruto and Sakura and saying 'The Hunter-Nin have killed Sasuke.' would lead to some unpleasant reactions.
And while that could have been justified, even if it was rude and insulting to the sovereignty of Wave, attempting to capture Ayumu afterwards made it much harder to make excuses.
By this point, it was clear that it didn't matter if Kakashi was wrong and the Ayumu running around was actually the reported Saint Ayumu, no matter who he actually was, he supported the Order.
"This is the second time Konoha has started a fight in Wave with the justification that their opponents were 'Missing-Nin'." Haruka countered sharply. "And this is also the second time you've neglected to inform us beforehand."
Tsunade really hated it when people used logic and reason against her.
"That is... fair," Tsunade admitted awkwardly. She wanted to say more, but Haruka had already made it clear to Kakashi that she didn't buy into their bullshit, so it was useless.
The two women stared at each other silently for a moment, until finally, Haruka sighed again and looked away.
"Konoha will be paying compensation, both for the damage caused by the fighting and as an apology for the panic caused. And just to make it official, as of this moment, Sasuke Uchiha is a recognized citizen of Wave, under the protection of The Order." Haruka decided.
Tsunade nodded slowly, that was better than expected, they could ask for millions of Ryō in damage costs and Konoha would still be making a profit, not to mention the information on Danzo and Orochimaru's spies and operations in Konoha, that in a way was almost worth more than any money they made from the trade agreements.
"I will accept your terms," Tsunade agreed. "I apologize once again for causing you trouble."
Haruka sighed in irritation but waved off the apology.
"Just make sure that Jiraiya apologizes to Sasuke personally, I think he deserves at least that much."
Tsunade smiled wryly, that sounded like something Jiraiya would complain about, but considering the trouble he had caused, she was fully willing to force him.
"I can do that," Tsunade promised. "But before we leave, I wanted to ask, would it be possible to talk with Ayumu? He has shown some knowledge that is... sensitive."
That was an understatement, Jiraiya said Ayumu knew about his dream of peace, using very specific wording that only a few people knew.
She, of course, also knew of the meeting between Ayumu, Naruto and Sasuke, but she had chosen to ignore it, since at the time there was nothing tying him to The Order directly.
Now thought, it was basically confirmed, considering his words and actions during Jiraiya's little kidnapping attempt.
She didn't care much about Osamu, apart from a good relationship with Ayumu and, from what Jiraiya said, incredible talent for combat, he didn't seem to know anything.
Haruka's expression shifted into something slightly sad.
"Ayumu is dead." Haruka stated quietly. "He died in on a pyre, burned alive."
Tsunade blinked in confusion, that made no sense, he had literally been seen yesterday, what was Haruka talking about?
Haruka spoke again before Tsunade could ask.
"He died on that pyre, through the mercy of our God, he can return, but only for a short time, it is quite likely that once he rescued his friend yesterday, he went back to rest by the Watcher's side."
That was an extremely strange explanation, Tsunade would have called bullshit, but she thought that she had a good read on Haruka, unless she was a skilled in deception on the level of a master spy, she believed what she was saying.
She decided to leave it at that, pushing would likely lead to nothing.
She was starting to dislike dealing with Religious people, this whole thing was a confusing mess.
Shikaku and the analysts would be having a fun time trying to decipher what was actually happening here.
"I understand." She nodded politely. "Thank you for telling me."
Haruka accepted the thanks with a nod of her own, clearly distracted by something else.
"In any case, I think we're done here?" Tsunade checked, when Haruka nodded again, she bowed slightly and turned away. "Then I will take my leave."
Haruka returned to staring at her desk as Tsunade walked out of the room.
Well, that was a mess, but less bad than expected, there was a chance Jiraiya and her would have to fight their way out if The Order decided they had broken the agreement beyond repair.
Her ANBU fell into line behind her, ready to defend her against any threat.
But it was looking like it wasn't needed, the only trouble that happened was caused by her side.
They walked past the main street, it was filled with stands and stores selling various foods and items, from weapons to food to various nick-knacks.
She really wanted to buy a few bottles of sake right now, but she resisted the urge, the last thing she needed was The Order seeing her stumbling down the street drunk out of her mind.
But then she had a thought.
If Sasuke was staying here, then the moment Naruto and Sakura heard about it...
She turned around to head to a liquor store she had spotted earlier.
Once inside, she slapped down a few thousand Ryō on the table.
"Give me ten bottles of your best."