"They'll stay or leave with me. I plan to talk to Konoha's Hokage once I get the chance. If they intend to make me wait past nightfall, I'll leave."

"I will wait with you, then."

"Alright." He'll lean back, but glance vaguely over to Shikaku, who shrugs and walks over.

"I can tear Naruto away from his little reunion," he says. "Properly, I shouldn't be encouraging you to wander around Konoha on your own."

"Whatever," Sasuke replies. Shikaku inclines his head, then fetches Naruto (who promptly insults Sasuke, who gets mildly riled up but calms down quickly, apparently faster than Naruto was expecting). 

Karin and Juugo fall into step behind Sasuke, who is walking somewhat more slowly than he usually would, chakra fluttering a bit oddly.

Overexertion, perhaps. Not her area of expertise.

Ellisaria follows them.

Suigetsu catches up with them on the walk over, and then Naruto's pulled aside just before the command tent, and there's a brief conversation where Sasuke tells Karin to help with search and rescue - she scowls - he tells her to just point out buried people on a map, and Suigetsu to stay with her.

The remaining three - Sasuke, Juugo, Ellisaria - are allowed into the tent, then. There's two elderly shinobi - a man and a woman - waiting for them, alongside two quiet guards.

"I would've expected the Hokage," Sasuke says, voice mild.

"There's still much to be done, and Hokage-sama is our best healer. Surely you understand that, as a leader yourself," the woman responds, voice the same even tone.

Sasuke inclines his head. "Very well."

The woman leans back, says, "Konoha is quite grateful for your help, though, Uchiha-dono, and that of your allies."

"Of course. In fact, I would propose a more firm alliance, details of course to be ironed out once the dust has settled..."

What follows is mostly polite nonsense, Sasuke visibly becoming strained as it goes on - mostly emotionally, his lips whitening every now and then, his eyes narrowing a bit - but for a teenager he does a decent job of suppressing it. Still, the result seems to be that Konoha will consider an alliance. When the Lady Hokage is available, of course.

Sasuke nods deeply to them once they've run in circles a bit, cuts off the conversation, and gestures for his companions to follow him out.

"Sorry for dragging you into that," he mutters to Ellisaria. "But I wanted a moderate show of force. Not that the mess is unexpected... Karin indicated their Hokage's unconscious, still, and Orochimaru's notes on those two were mostly 'obstructionist old coots.' Don't think we'll be getting far, but a good basis for future peace is important..." He shakes his head. "Karin doesn't think the Hokage will be awake anytime soon, and I'm not inclined to wait around."

"Nor am I. After an incident like this, one should look to one's own security. Or if one is feeling proactive, it could be an opportunity to further weaken one's enemies."

"Main enemy I'm concerned with right now is Akatsuki."

And some of Konoha's internal structure, but, well, influencing foreign powers to clean house isn't an plan he should announce in the middle of the street.

"And they are likely to be in disarray. They invested significant resources, and lost their putative leader. Speaking of which, you may wish to make overtures to Amegakure at some point."

"Now's likely a good time for it, yes. Especially if Konan is sincere."

"Let me know if you'd like me to make an introduction."

"I might. It'd help the formalities."

"You and she will get along, I think. You have a... similar mindset."

"Maybe." He goes quiet, apparently thoughtful.

He's welcome to his thoughts.

"Do you need me to fly any of your people home?"

"I can get everyone."

"Then if there is nothing else you wish to discuss at this time, I will take my leave. You know how to contact me."

"Alright."

She finds a clear space to transform and takes off back towards her lair. She makes a detour to Isobu's lake, to check that he's still there.

He is, though there's some nervous shinobi around the border, who look up when she arrives.

They should know she's a friend. And if they don't know, then she's not.

She gives Isobu an accounting of the day's events.

He's definitely interested, and mostly curious to hear about Kurama's host ("sounds like a nice boy", is Isobu's main comment. "Kurama probably hates him just on sheer principle.")

(Apparently the shinobi are there since there was a concern about Akatsuki trying to get to Isobu, using the Konoha attack as a distraction. Sasuke even called in a favor with the monks. Nothing's happened here, though.)

That is good to hear. She had also brought up the possibility of a visit, if Isobu would like that.

That'd be nice, yes, he hasn't gotten to see Kurama - or any of the others, really - in quite a while. 

She'll follow up next time she sees him, if hasn't happened by then.

With a few pleasantries to conclude the visit, she files the rest of the way home. She doesn't intend to do much for the next while; she needs time to finish healing. The slug kickstarted the process, but her own skills do not trend in that direction. Time and rest, with what magic she can do to help things along.

Sasuke spends the next few weeks mostly focusing on diplomacy and shoring up his own defenses (the fake Madara had infiltrated at least some of his base, and what he told Sasuke - about Konoha's crimes, about the truth behind his family's death - well, Itachi's confirmed some of it, and the handful of spies Sasuke inherited from Orochimaru have confirmed Tsunade's still out, and that bastard Danzo has been maneuvering to be named Sixth Hokage - )

If it was just Sasuke, he would've already left to confront and maybe kill Danzo. But he has an entire village to look after, and a significant amount of responsibility for the whole nation is on his shoulders, and it's not just his own life or even Itachi's he'd be setting on fire - 

He does trade eyes with Itachi, restoring both their lost vision, and sets her free, starts integrating her into his guards on her request. 

He tightens his alliance with Amegakure, makes inroads on his more immediate neighbors, does what he can to help the daimyo improve trade...

And then the Akatsuki apparently have recovered enough to move against Kumo, stealing the last of that village's jinchuuriki, and a Five Kage Summit is called.

Sasuke spends maybe ten minutes hesitating over whether to (diplomatically) crash the summit, before deciding his coalition is strong enough and, anyways, he's allied with one of the two bijuu no longer under Akatsuki control.

The actual Kage can each bring two guards into the summit itself. It'll be polite to keep to that. Karin would be invaluable, but he's refined his communication with her enough he doesn't need her hovering over his shoulder, so she can stay with the larger entourage...

He sends a message to Konan, in case she wants to join him, and goes to find Ellisaria. Itachi's the only guard with him, Karin staying behind to manage his tightened defenses.