Meetings. As Hokage, it was something Tsunade had to do almost daily. Meetings were something that she wasn't too fond of but today's was one she wasn't looking forward too. Tsunade took one sip from the tea she was offered, keeping her eyes trained on the man who called the meeting, Danzo.
"Alright, Danzo, we got through the pre-meeting necessities," said Tsunade. "So, what do you want?"
"We need to talk about your handling of the fox," said Danzo.
Tsunade didn't like Danzo referring to Naruto in such a manner, but she knew that she couldn't show any form of irritation.
"I'm not in the mood to hear more of the usual 'we shouldn't let the fox out of the village spiel,' Danzo," Tsunade replied. "He's been with capable guardians and even when he hasn't he and his friends have handled being on their own fine."
"Even so… forces that threaten the Leaf grows every day," said Danzo. "We can't afford to have the power of the Nine-Tails turned against us again."
"I understand Danzo, but hiding Naruto away won't help anyone," Tsunade grinned. "Besides you need to give him more credit. He isn't just a little boy anymore. Now, if that's all you have to say, I need to go take care of some more important work. Thanks for the tea."
Tsunade placed the empty tea cup down on the table and took her leave.
"Always the stubborn one, Tsunade…" Danzo muttered before noticing a bird fly towards his window.
The bird tapped on the window 5 times before flapping its wings twice. Understanding the meaning behind the bird's actions, Danzo knew that a major threat has invaded the Root's chambers. With no time to waste, the Shinobi of Darkness made his way to the meeting place of the Root. It was there where he found several members of the Root surround a familiar face.
"Your boys sure do know how to welcome a guest Danzo," the figure snickered.
"Kuzuryu…" Danzo said, sounding as if he was more annoyed than surprised.
The elderly intruder walked forward, ignoring the root members surrounding him and stopped in front of Danzo. Danzo stared into Kuzuryu's gray eyes. They were the eyes of a madman, but one who had no intention of starting a fight. With that fact confirmed, Danzo raised his left hand, signaling his men to leave the vicinity.
"Why are you hear Kuzuryu?" asked Danzo. "What does The Society want with me?"
"Nothing," Kuzuryu nonchalantly answered. "I guess you could consider this a social visit. I assume your little chat with Tsunade didn't go the way you wanted it to."
"Just like Hiruzen, she fails to see the consequences of her not taking action regarding the fox," said Danzo.
"I get it," said Kuzuryu. "I have personal experience with getting him to do what I want him to. But even if that wasn't a factor, things wouldn't be that fun if you had your way."
"I'm not trying to have fun," Danzo replied. "I'm trying to insure the Leaf's safety."
"And you did a marvoloues job doing that when you and your men deliberately did nothing to help during Orochimaru's crush the Leaf operation," Kuzuryu laughed. "Just admit it; you just want to control the Leaf."
"My goal is to protect the Leaf. Nothing more," said Danzo. "It's a far nobler goal then the organization you work for."
"Right…" Kuzuryu rolled his eyes. "You think your some well-intentioned ninja who does what's necessary; but have you ever noticed that those 'necessary actions' only ever benefitted your agenda? Do I have to point out the aforementioned doing nothing during Orochimaru's operation? With those things in mind; we seem to have a far nobler goal than you. You're far too concerned with your own petty plans to truly see the big picture. You say the forces that threaten the leaf are growing? Those forces threaten more than this village you know."
"You shouldn't talk about threatening forces," said Danzo. "Especially given your role in one of the attacks on the Leaf."
"Someone had to get the boy away from you," Kuzuryu shrugged. "And the aftermath results seemed to turn out okay for him… not that you care. All I'm saying is that maybe you should lose the one tracked mind or else you won't be an interesting opponent to beat."
Danzo glared at the confident Kuzuryu, prompting him to snicker once more.
"But we're a fair opponent," said Kuzuryu. "If you want the power of the fox on your side, we can give it to you. Or are you still mad that we beat you to the punch on reproducing a fox?"
"Considering the results of yours, I decided to close that path," said Danzo.
"Yeah, the boss didn't get the results he wanted," Kuzuryu admitted. "But at least we didn't need to employ the help of an outside source like you did regarding the First Hokage cells. Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you; how do you intend to deal with these outside forces?"
"Something like this," Danzo answered as he backed away from Kuzuryu.
Suddenly, a seal appeared beneath the intruder's feet and soon darkness spilled out of it.
"What the-!?" Kuzuryu exclaimed before he was consumed by the dark chakra.
Soon the darkness disappeared, leaving no trace of its victim behind.
"Let your death be a warning to those forces," said Danzo.
"I would if I actually died from that."
Hearing a voice he should no longer hear, Danzo immediately turned around and was shocked to find Kuzuryu still alive.
"I'm honestly surprised," Kuzuryu chuckled. "I don't know why I didn't expect an attack like that from you 'ninja of darkness.' To be honest, I came because the boss still wanted to see if your still up for the game and that attacked just now proved that you were. Naruto, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the Root, etc, etc. I see that this is going to be one interesting battle. We better finish making preperations on our side."
Kuzuryu raised his right hand and summoned a Corridor of Darkness.
"See you, Danzo," Kuzuryu snickered. "I sincerely hope we both get what's coming to us."
With those final words, Kuzuryu was gone, leaving Danzo to ponder what he meant.
"The Society…" Danzo mumbled. "It seems like it's time to truly take matters into my own hands."
Meanwhile in a village faraway; Naruto let out a sudden sneeze shocking, Jiraya.
"You catch a cold or something?" asked Jiraya.
"No," Naruto replied, whipping his nose. "That was out of nowhere."
Naruto wasn't sure why he suddenly sneezed like he did, but he did have a feeling that it was a sign something bad was about to happen.
The Societies: The End
