The moment Naruto rounded the corner, escorted by shadow clones he had created for exactly this purpose, the seven women stopped.
Their expressions transformed.
The soft devotion that characterized their every interaction with Naruto vanished, replaced by something cold. Hard. Murderous.
"He's out of range," Anko confirmed, her voice carrying none of the maternal warmth she displayed around her boy. "He won't sense what happens next."
"Good." Sakura's green eyes had gone flat, calculating. "I have thoughts about that meeting."
"We all do," Satsuki agreed, her Sharingan spinning to life with lazy menace. "The Hokage needs to understand something."
"Several somethings," Ino added, cracking her knuckles.
"About how we feel regarding their treatment of Naruto-kun," Hinata finished, her Byakugan activating with veins that pulsed an unsettling red.
Tenten and Temari exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.
Seven women turned and walked back toward the Hokage's office.
Their footsteps echoed through the corridor like a countdown.
The ANBU stationed outside the office door saw them coming.
Two elite operatives, veterans of countless dangerous missions, took one look at the approaching women and made a tactical decision.
They stepped aside.
Some battles weren't worth fighting.
Some enemies couldn't be stopped.
And the killing intent radiating from those seven transformed figures suggested that anyone who interfered would not survive the experience.
The door didn't so much open as cease to exist—Sakura's chakra-enhanced fist reducing it to splinters that scattered across the office floor.
Inside, the Hokage and his advisors looked up in shock.
Jiraiya, still present from the earlier meeting, immediately dropped into a combat stance.
"What is the meaning of—" one advisor began.
Anko moved.
The advisor found himself pinned against the wall, her clawed hand wrapped around his throat, her massive form pressing him into the stone with irresistible force.
"The meaning," she said softly, "is that we're going to have a discussion."
The other women spread through the office with predatory efficiency.
Satsuki's fireball technique—compressed to a pinpoint of searing heat—hovered inches from one advisor's face, close enough to blister skin without quite igniting it.
Ino had invaded another advisor's mind, not controlling but observing, her presence a violation that left the man frozen in his seat with terror.
Hinata stood before the final advisor, her Gentle Fist stance promising a death of a thousand strikes if he so much as breathed wrong.
Tenten's weapons formed a cage around Jiraiya—kunai and shuriken suspended in the air by wire so fine it was nearly invisible, each blade positioned at a vital point.
Temari's wind held the windows sealed, preventing escape or reinforcement.
And Sakura stood before the Hokage himself, her transformed figure looming over the ancient leader with cold fury etched into every line of her face.
"Sakura," Hiruzen said, his voice remarkably steady for a man surrounded by death. "This is treason."
"This is correction." Her voice carried no heat—only ice. "You denied Naruto-kun something he earned. You humiliated him in front of subordinates. You made him feel—"
She stopped, reconsidering.
"You reinforced his belief that the village will never accept him. That no matter what he achieves, no matter how strong he becomes, you will always find reasons to reject him."
"The decision was based on legitimate concerns—"
"The decision was based on fear." Sakura leaned closer, her green eyes burning. "Fear of what he might do if given official authority. Fear of losing control over something you never controlled in the first place."
"You're not wrong about the fear," Hiruzen admitted. "But that doesn't make the decision incorrect."
"It makes it cruel." Satsuki's voice cut across the room. "Unnecessarily, pointlessly cruel. You could have promoted him and addressed your concerns through oversight. Instead, you chose public humiliation."
"There was nothing public about—"
"Shikamaru was there," Hinata interrupted, her soft voice somehow more threatening than any shout. "Witnesses were there. Word will spread. By tonight, every ninja in Konoha will know that Uzumaki Naruto—the boy who defeated a Hyuuga prodigy in seconds, who made Orochimaru flee, who demonstrated power beyond most jonin—was denied chuunin rank."
"They'll know the village fears him," Ino added, her presence still violating her captive's mind. "They'll know you think he's too dangerous to promote. And that fear will spread. Will grow. Will become justification for the same hatred that broke him in the first place."
Hiruzen's aged face tightened with pain.
"I am trying to protect the village—"
"The village." Anko's laugh was sharp and ugly. "The village that beat him. Starved him. Isolated him for twelve years. That village?"
Her grip on her captive's throat tightened slightly.
"That village doesn't deserve protection. It deserves to burn."
"Enough."
Jiraiya's voice cut through the tension.
The Sannin had remained motionless within Tenten's weapon cage, but his eyes were fixed on the women with desperate intensity.
"I understand you're angry. I understand you want to protect him. But this—threatening the Hokage, assaulting advisors—this isn't protecting Naruto. This is guaranteeing that the village will see him as a threat."
"He is a threat," Temari said simply. "To anyone who harms him. To anyone who threatens him. To anyone who makes the mistake of thinking they can control or contain or diminish him."
"And we are extensions of that threat," Sakura added. "We are his will made manifest. His protection when he cannot protect himself. His vengeance when vengeance is required."
She turned back to the Hokage.
"This is your one warning. Your only warning. Treat Naruto-kun with the respect he deserves, or we will take everything from you. Your position. Your village. Your life."
"You can't—" an advisor started.
Anko's grip crushed his windpipe.
The man slumped, unconscious but alive. Barely.
"We can," Anko said, releasing him to fall to the floor. "We are. Consider this a demonstration."
Hiruzen looked at the fallen advisor, then at the women who had invaded his office with such casual violence.
"You would destroy Konoha for him."
"Without hesitation," Sakura confirmed.
"Without regret," Satsuki added.
"Without mercy," the others chorused.
The old man was silent for a long moment.
"He doesn't know you're doing this."
"No. And he won't." Sakura's voice carried absolute certainty. "This isn't his burden to carry. This is ours. We protect him from threats. We eliminate obstacles. We ensure his path is clear."
"Even from himself?"
"What do you mean?"
Hiruzen's eyes—ancient, tired, carrying the weight of decades—met Sakura's.
"Naruto doesn't want violence committed in his name. Doesn't want people hurt because of him. If he knew what you were doing right now..."
"He would tell us to stop," Sakura admitted. "He would say it was unnecessary. Counterproductive. That he doesn't care about the village's opinion or the council's decisions."
"Then why—"
"Because we care." Her voice softened slightly—not with warmth, but with absolute conviction. "We care when he cannot. We feel when he cannot. We act when he would choose inaction."
She stepped back, her transformed figure still radiating danger but no longer immediately threatening.
"The promotion decision is made. We accept that—for now. But the pattern of disrespect ends today. The casual cruelty ends today. The assumption that Naruto-kun can be dismissed or diminished or denied without consequence—that ends today."
She gestured, and the other women began withdrawing from their positions.
"You have one chance to make this right. Future missions, future opportunities, future recognition—give him what he deserves. Not because you fear us, but because it's correct."
"And if I don't?" Hiruzen asked quietly.
Sakura's smile was beautiful and terrible.
"Then we'll have another discussion. A longer one. A final one."
The women departed as suddenly as they had arrived, leaving behind unconscious advisors, a shaken Sannin, and a Hokage who suddenly understood exactly how much the world had changed.
Outside the office, the seven women reformed around the path Naruto had taken.
Their expressions softened instantly, the cold fury giving way to devoted warmth as they moved to rejoin their shared focus.
"Do you think they understood?" Tenten asked.
"They understood," Anko confirmed. "Whether they'll act on that understanding remains to be seen."
"If they don't..." Satsuki's Sharingan flickered briefly.
"Then we follow through," Sakura finished. "But for now, Naruto-kun is waiting. And he's more important than anything we left behind."
The others nodded in agreement.
They found Naruto exactly where he'd stopped to wait for them, his shadow clones having dispelled upon their return. His empty blue eyes observed their approach without comment.
"You were delayed," he noted.
"We had something to take care of," Anko said, immediately wrapping herself around him. "Nothing important. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Your heart rates are elevated. Adrenaline signatures suggest recent physical exertion or emotional intensity."
"We're just excited to see you again," Ino deflected, pressing against his side. "Being apart from you—even for a few minutes—it's difficult."
Naruto observed them for a long moment.
He knew they were hiding something. His analytical mind cataloged a dozen indicators of deception, half-truths, and redirected attention.
But he chose not to pursue it.
Whatever they had done, they had done for him. Their devotion, however it manifested, was oriented entirely toward his wellbeing. And if they wanted to keep certain actions private...
He could accept that.
"We should return home," he said. "I have training to resume."
"Of course, Naruto-kun." Sakura's smile was radiant with relief. "Whatever you want."
They departed together, eight figures moving through the village streets.
Behind them, the Hokage's office sat in stunned silence.
And the balance of power in Konoha shifted, imperceptibly but irrevocably, toward something new.