Disclaimer on chapter 1

Flashback no Jutsu!

"Indeed, but instead of using your own son as the container… I offer you… an alternative" said a solemn Fugaku.

"An… alternative?"

"Yes…"said Fugaku, whose activated Sharingan were slowly spinning, "My newly born son – Uchiha Sasuke."

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A tense silence found its way into the Hokage's office. A million questions running through the head of the Yondaime Hokage, but none would be answered as long as he remained in his state of shock.

"Fugaku-kun… Do you know what you are saying?" asked Azuma.

"… Yes," said the Sharingan wielder, "I fully understand what I'm offering and the way I see it… This situation would benefit us all."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Azuma, "I know we've been friends for awhile but-"

"Exactly! I cannot merely stand by and watch as a good friend needlessly sacrifices his life and the future of his family" said Fugaku.

"What! Listen, there's no other option!" shouted Azuma.

"THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER OPTION!" shouted back Fugaku.

Azuma was shocked silent at the surprising outburst from his usually stoic friend.

"Oh? … Do explain. We have not the time for idle chatter" said Sarutobi.

"Understood, Sarutobi-sama. Please – hear me out. I have thoroughly thought things through. I can easily see what will happen if you go through with your kamikaze tactic. There are 'flaws' in your plan, Azuma-kun," said Fugaku.

"Flaws?"

"Yes. Although there's nothing fundamentally wrong with your plan to seal the Kyuubi away, and it'll work in the here and now… I can see that you haven't given much thought to the future of these actions," explained Fugaku "which is acceptable, considering the circumstances."

"Tell me Azuma-kun… What will happen to your son?"

"He'll become the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and the hero of Konoha for-"

"Unfortunately, you're wrong about that."

"What?"

"You know these villagers… You know these shinobi. You should've known perfectly well that after a disaster like this massacre, they'll need a scapegoat."

"…"

"Who do you think they'll use Azuma-kun. They can't attack the body of the beast… So why not try the next best thing. Who do you think they'll go after?"

"… Naruto."

"That's right."

"…I see…," Azuma said with his eyes downcast.

As this was going on, Sarutobi was contemplating everything that was going on within the room. 'These are all legitimate reasons on why Azuma shouldn't seal the Kyuubi into his own child… but then why offer up his own?'

"I want to know something Fugaku-san" said the Sandaime.

"Yes?"

"I can tell that you speak the truth. Naruto will most definitely live a hard life if Azuma was to go through with this process. I must question why you offer up your own child when you know the consequences it will bring."

Fugaku just chuckled – puzzling both Hokages. "As I said before – this will benefit all of us. I have taken into account many things my dear friend. The loss of you, Azuma, will be a great blow to Konoha's morale and power. Losing you would also result in the loss of a father teaching the next generation of Kazamas – greatly reducing Konoha's power in the long run judging by how powerful you are. Now as to why I offer Sasuke for the sealing is fairly straight forward and simple. We can protect him with the greatest of ease. The Uchiha sector has some of the most elite of shinobi residing within its walls. If anyone is fool enough to actually treat him as the demon itself, they will be dealt with appropriately," the Hokages do just a tiny sweat drop to this, "Not to mention Sasuke will eventually be able to have a greater control on the demon when his own Sharingan emerge. He will be strong. There's no doubt about that. With all the training he will be going through, he will be a fine shinobi for the Leaf and become a strong symbol for the clan."

"Sigh You make many good points Fugaku-kun… Just one tiny detail that you didn't cover – my soul is still required for the sealing" said Azuma. His hopes were steadily rising as his friend continued talking… That is, until he remembered that the sealing would kill him.

To this, Fugaku simply smirked – once again confusing the hell out of the other two. "Azuma-kun, I know you. You always try to do things while keeping collateral damage to an absolute minimum – even going as far as to sacrifice yourself… HOWEVER! There is a way to complete everything and still have you alive!" said the man with a face-splitting grin. "Of course, it's not what most would consider ethical. It requires you to change the seal slightly so that the Shinigami doesn't take out your soul… but that of someone else's."

"Now wait a minute!" said Azuma, "You can't possibly expect me to sacrifice someone's soul!"

"This person stopped being human a long time ago" said Fugaku, "It's interesting really… You'd think he'd stay away from Konoha when it's being attacked by a bijuu, but I suppose the opposite is true. He tried to sneak around when everyone's busy with the attack. Heh – It's just too bad for him that every Uchiha within the village has been on high alert since the beginning of the attack. He tried to slither away, but against the combined might of multiple elite Sharingan users… Orochimaru didn't stand a chance!

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A/N: And the plot thickens! Thanks to all my reviewers! The ideas just kept on coming so here's another chapter! I know there's a lot of dialogue, but it is necessary to set up for the big picture. I'm open to ideas as well. I'm pretty much typing as I go. As to why Fugaku seems so OOC, well, I happen to think everyone was less of an ass before the Kyuubi attack. :P Now! What's gonna happen next!?! Find out next time on - The Switch.