26 - Sun Star

"Tsunade-sama, I received another letter, and also there's a pink dragon flying towards the village."

The blonde Hokage had to do a double take at the second part of Shizune's sentence, looking up with utter confusion in her eyes. "A what?"

"A pink dragon," Shizune repeated, pointing out the window, looking surprised when a huge banner was dangled from the dragon. "It says... 'Delivering Blueberry-sama Fuyuka, pls do not attack. I'm a good guy'"

Tsunade blinked a few times to check she wasn't hallucinating. Apparently Fuyuka Hoshino had made a friend who had a giant pink dragon. Well, okay. "And what was the letter?"

"This is a bit worrying," Shizune replied, retrieving a scroll and opening it. "It's from Kyomu Atsumeru, the guy who tried to kidnap Yozora-kun and hurt Shigetsu-kun and Nemuri-kun. He says... well, it's better if you read it yourself."

Tsunade took the scroll, placing it on her desk to read it out loud. "'My name is Kyomu Atsumeru, you may know me as the one who injured your Tsuyoku friends or 'that red bitch', that sounds like something the blue girl might say. I sent this letter to request a meeting, for I would like to propose a temporary alliance. This is because I would like to take down the Akatsuki. Additionally, I have caught wind of a little group you call 'Shadow Star'. I quite like that name, so I hope you don't mind me naming my 'team', you could say, Sun Star. After all, my group has expanded quite a bit in the past two years. Regardless, if you will consider the meeting, please return this letter. Kessho, you can stop writing now. No, no, stop, Kessho, stop writing.'"

Tsunade looked up from her reading with an utterly confused expression. "What the fuck?"

"That's what I thought," Shizune replied helplessly. "What will you do? Kyomu isn't technically a criminal at all, but trusting someone who so readily kills and injures innocent people..."

The Hokage hesitated, considering her options. "I don't trust him at all, but at the same time the Akatsuki is a more immediate threat and..."

The two women were saved from further panic by Fuyuka walking in, followed by an orange haired man with a scythe, the blue haired girl dragging along seven semi-conscious, full grown men.

"These are the guys," the girl announced, dropping them. She had replaced her Stellar Snare with proper rope, so the seven were all securely bound.

"Good, you completed the mission. Shizune, take them to Ibiki," Tsunade commanded calmly. The brown haired girl nodded, dragging the seven out of the room. As she did that, Tsunade turned back to Fuyuka. "Your... orange haired friend is?"

"Sakasa. Smiley Reaper of Iwa or something. Talks a lot," Fuyuka responded, shrugging slightly. "Do I go to Suna now?"

"Oh, Suna! I heard some criminals were doing stuff over there, so I was going to check it out after I left Konoha! It's really sandy there, well, obviously, but it's real dry over there too. It's still a nice place, though. Well, okay, it's really just lots of sand, but I've met some cool people but I never really went inside the ci-"

"Smiley, shut up." Fuyuka shot the talkative male an annoyed glare.

Tsunade sweat dropped slightly. "Yes, but before that. Fuyuka, I believe you have more interaction with Kyomu and me, so I want to ask your opinion on this."

The Hokage showed Fuyuka the letter from Kyomu, the girl's expression morphing into a visible frown. "I dunno, technically he can be helpful but I definitely wouldn't trust the guy, especially with his space time manipulation..."

"I'll go," Tsunade announced all of a sudden. "I'm not agreeing to his alliance, but I'll go see what he suggests. For now, you can go to Suna to join your team."

Two days later, Tsunade and Shizune approached a cave. That's right, Kyomu was still obsessed with caves. Kyomu himself awaited by the entrance, along with Rina.

Shizune frowned at the sight of the pink haired girl. "Huh, I never knew his subordinates were this young. How old is she, 15?"

"I'm 26, just because I'm shorter than average does not make me a teenager, ugh! I'm a whole adult!"

Shizune backed away from the angry girl. "Ah, sorry."

"It's good that you have decided to consider my proposition, Hokage-san, please come in and take a seat," Kyomu greeted pleasantly, turning to walk into the cave. Tsunade and Shizune followed, not before carefully checking the area for traps or jutsu.

Inside, they took a seat on some chairs surrounding a large flat piece of rock. Along with Kyomu, Rina and Kessho there were two others who Tsunade did not recognize from Fuyuka's recounts of her encounters with Kyomu.

One was a teenager (hopefully this was an actual teenager instead of an angry 26 year old) with messy fiery orange hair and red eyes and a grin just passing the 'creepy' line. She wore a white shirt with dark brown shorts, paired with bandages that were probably more decorative than literal visible on her arms and legs.

The other was a man with medium length platinum blond hair and black eyes, dressed in what could only be described as fancy as he spun the translucent pink spoon in front of him around in boredom.

"Well then, Hokage-san, how is the other blondie?" Kyomu asked. Just from the sound of it, it was like he was a worried friend, when he was the one to do the damage in the first place. If it weren't for Miyabi healing day and night for over two years, Shigetsu would have been long dead.

"He's alive," Tsunade replied shortly, a hint of pride in her voice for her village keeping the boy alive.

"Must have been difficult," the red haired man replied plainly, no disappointment or surprise in his voice. It was hard to read his face as well, with his blindness making it impossible to read his eyes and the rest of his face entirely lax.

"Regardless, regarding my proposition," Kyomu continued. "I must say, the 'Akatsuki', they call themself... I dislike them, for no particular reason. I believe they are Konoha's enemies as well, and I am willing to offer my assistance to take them out, and only for that. In the long term, I have no intentions of being your proper ally, but I would like to team up to eliminate the Akatsuki."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes carefully, observing the other five around the table. "And what reason do I have to believe you?"

At that moment, Kitanai walked into the room (cavern?) with a plate of tea and dessert, because no dignified villain tries to talk to their enemy without tea and sweets. Each cup and plate and piece of cutlery was, strangely, made of some colorful translucent material. The brown haired sand manipulator set down the plate, taking a seat as well. "Is Yurei not participating?"

"We all know he's not exactly going to give our visitors a good impression," the blond man commented, picking a yellow cup of tea. "Kessho, good work on this one."

"Well of course it's good work, have I ever made anything that's not good?" the silver haired sculptor demanded. "Don't break it, it's not exactly easy to sneak into Suna just to find some nice crystals."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, exchanging glances with Shizune but not voicing her concerns about the fact that this slightly weird group had handmade tableware made of crystal. The two Konoha kunoichi didn't help themselves to the food either, completely untrusting of Sun Star.

"So, what do you say, Hokage-san?" Kyomu asked after trying to pick up a cup of tea and accidentally jamming his fingers into a piece of strawberry shortcake and quickly wiping it away, pretending he didn't make a mistake.

Tsunade didn't know what to do. Kyomu and Sun Star were far too unpredictable, with no known motive and being entirely hidden until their attack on the Tsuyoku's.

"I don't trust you enough to officially let you become an ally, even a temporary one," the blonde Hokage finally announced. "However, I'm willing to let you assist Konoha when facing the Akatsuki. Just know this- should you make even the slightest move against us during this time, I will not hesitate to have you killed."

Kyomu smiled. "Excellent. Now, I have heard of an Akatsuki attack on Sunagakure recently, I believe it's safe to assume you have as well. Shall I send some of my subordinates to go?"

Tsunade did not trust the blind male at all, but she needed all the assistance. Someone who can kidnap the Kazekage must be powerful, even with Team Kakashi and Team Guy. "And who are you suggesting?"

"Hoka, I believe she is suitable for this situation." Kyomu gestured to the fiery haired girl currently inhaling a (shiny pink crystal) plate of macarons. She looked up, grinning. "Sure."

Kyomu is officially the king of copyright infringement