Authors Note: The Number of a Dark God has returned! It's a brand new chapter: hope you like it. Keep an eye out for my other story, and maybe some new ones. This is the first update within 10 minutes. I had to make this chapter last minute, in order for my entire story to make sense. It also pretty much set the stage for the actual story.

Konohagakure; March 0062

Shishui Uchiha was a man affiliated with very few things. He was, of course, affiliated with Konohagakure, his village, and the Uchiha, his clan. However, beyond that, there was next to nothing one could say he "belonged" to. He was not a member of the military police like his brethren, or a member of ANBU like his best friend Itachi; he did not associate with any of the political factions within his clan, or even the local Tea-Lovers club that Itachi frequented once a month. Shishui was an Uchiha of few ties. This did not however mean, in any form whatsoever, that Shishui was a shinobi of neutral nature. The main reason for Shishui's lack of affiliation with any sort of noticeable organization is because Shishui was a type of "negotiator". He was an in-between man, carrying messages, building ties, and discovering points of mutual agreements between opposing factions, so on and so forth.

Shishui was very familiar with moments of intense discomfort, and very sensitive to tense atmospheres. His entire shinobi career had been built around his ability to hone his 6th sense beyond that of his comrades, and opponents. The first step in being faster than others is identifying the moment in which one needs to move sooner than everyone else. Kami knows that he had seen tense situations in his career: the Kumo-Konoha crisis in January of 62, the Iwa-Konoha border skirmish, and of course the Tea-Lovers Association vs. the Coffee-Coveters Club war (Shishui had never seen Itachi's Sharingan spin so ferociously).

Therefore, the situation Shishui found himself in currently was nothing new to him. Yet somehow he knew, somewhere deep in his guts, that this time it was different. A mere foot in front of him stood the Shinobi no Yami, Danzo Shimura. Just behind him was the entrance to the Uchiha compound where the Elders and Fugaku were meeting with the rest of the Uchiha involved in the coup d'état.

"Shimura-dono," began Shishui, the uneasy feeling tightening his chest, "I can accomplish this. It won't be any trouble."

The feeling in Shishui's chest tightened and grew, clogging his throat, as Danzo's smile grew a little larger. Shishui maintained his calm, delicate situations were not won by loosing ones cool.

"I believe," the words fell from the old war-hawks' mouth slowly, "that you over estimate your abilities Shunshin no Shishui."

"I assure you Danzo," he could not hold the irritation from his voice, "my dōjutsu is far more advanced than those elders. A simple glance will end all of this nonsense about revolution."

Shishui's Sharingan sprung to life, spiraling faster and faster. Danzo's left eye remained closed; denoting his good humor in a fashion Shishui thought only Hatake-sensei was capable of.

"Non-sense, you'll only end up ruining your cover and causing early bloodshed."

Shishui stood straight, the tight feeling in his chest and throat gone. The meeting would end if Danzo kept him here with this idle nonsensical talk; he needed to act now before they adjourned for the month.

"Excuse me Shimura-dono, but I at least need to try. The only other option simply isn't an option." Shishui would not allow his entire clan to be slaughtered to satisfy the age-old wish of a half-dead war hawk.

As Shishui made to step pass Danzo, he felt the attack coming before he saw it, or before it even actually began. Yet, as a testament to the old shinobi, Shishui still could not avoid it. Danzo's cane struck the back of his knee and Shishui fell backward to the ground, completely caught off guard by the surprise attack. Danzo's hand dove toward his right eye like the claw of an eagle, desperately trying to pluck the dōjutsu from its socket before Shishui could form his Mangekyou Sharingan.

He would have succeeded also, if not for an echo of a scream that pierced the village from a distance. So tormented was the voice that Danzo hesitated for a fraction of a moment, but it was all that Shishui needed to completely form the Mangekyou Sharingan and perform Kamui. Shishui appeared behind Danzo and his tanto cut straight through his neck, beheading the Shinobi no Yami with one smooth movement. The head slid off and as it fell transformed into a masked shinobi with the kanji for Root on his neck. Shishui kept his stance for a moment, then two, and three. No more of Danzo's special shinobi came forth and the scourge himself didn't reappear.

Shishui looked at the position of the sky, his time was running the short. The council would conclude soon, he had no time to worry about Danzo's failed attempt on his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Shunshin no Shishui had a village to preserve, a clan to save, and a mission to complete.

Konohagakure; December 27th, 0062 –

Kumo-Konoha Treaty Signing (also Hinata Hyuuga's 5th Birthday)

As Jounin Commander of Kumogakure, Gin had been on his run of missions from infiltration to assassination and everything in between. He had never, however, had to conduct something on this level. It was for all intents and purposes a suicide mission, but it was also Kumogakure's best shot at finally getting the cursed Byakugan and beginning their own Kekkei Genkai experiments. He was the only shinobi in the village even capable of pulling it off, and he was damned sure he had it too, until that damned girl woke up and let loose a scream that woke the entire compound. He barely had enough time to grab the heiress and run but he could feel them catching up; and there were more and more of them, and he was running lower and lower on chakra.

He stopped in a clearing to begin gathering his chakra; he would at least take some of the Konoha bastards with him. Just as his chakra hit peak level for the self-explosion jutsu a squad of Hyuuga and Uchiha shinobi encircled the clearing.

"Bye-bye Konoha fucks!"

Before they could react, he began to glow brighter and brighter and emit a high-pitched sound. But just when it seemed he was about to blow, he crumpled suddenly to the ground. The shinobi who had previously ducked for cover looked up to see a sight that would forever remain in their minds.

Hinata Hyuuga with her Byakugan activated and her palm outstretched, and the inert body of Gin of Kumogakure strewn at her feet.

Konohagakure; New Years 0063 – Hokage's Office

Jiraiya stood staring out the window and observing the festivities on the streets below, the sake bottle in his left hand dancing loosely between his fingers. The smell of tobacco filled the office emanating from his Sensei's seat, his old wrinkled lips puffing out smoke rings. The lights were off, providing an air of intimacy and distance at the same time.

"What a fucking year, eh old monkey?" chuckled Jiraiya as he took another swig from the bottle. His eyes wandered from the citizens of Konoha to the monument that held the faces of the men who sacrificed happiness for the average man and woman to enjoy theirs. He smiled nostalgically as his eyes settled on the young face on the far right.

"What a year indeed," spoke Sarutobi wearily as he blew another smoke ring. He looked at the overview of the major events of the year on his desk. The mysterious distortion in Naruto's seal and the emergence of some odd tattoo on his left arm was the first sign that this year would be anything but easy. Then Shishui Uchiha effectively subduing the coup d'état that had threatened Konoha since the time of his own sensei, the Shodaime Hokage. The resulting hidden war that had been waged against Danzo as a result of Shishui's testimony. The Hyuuga affair and the heiress' own actions, which certainly spelled a prodigy in the making, but also meant the beginning of a bitter cold war with Kumogakure.

The village hadn't experienced anything of this magnitude since the Kyuubi attack and subsequent death of Minato, Kushina, and Biwako.

Jiraiya walked over to the desk and sat at one of the seats in the office, giving the annual report a once over and laughing.

"What is so funny?" asked an irritated Sarutobi from behind his cloud of smoke. He had left behind this job years ago for this very reason; no one appreciated the pressure and trouble he went through to ensure their protection. A thankless position, that's all the Hokage was. Sarutobi shook the thoughts from his head and fixed Jiraiya with a gaze, waiting for his response.

"It forgot to mention that within two years pretty much every clan heir or heiress is going to be entering the same graduating class at the Academy," the grin on Jiraiya's face only grew as the Sandaime Hokage's lips parted slightly in disbelief. The grin became a full-blown laugh as the Hokage began to desperately search through paperwork in an attempt to discover what Jiraiya had said was a joke, it had to be a joke… right?

"Saketsu! Bring me the Academy enrollment list for the Class of 0069!"

Jiraiya's laughter turned into a howl as the aide ran into his office and dropped a sheet of paper on his desk and the Sandaime's face grew graver and graver.

"Shino Aburame, Chouji Akimichi, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Gen Kohaku, Daisuke Kohaku, Yakumo Kurama, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka…"

Sarutobi tapped out his pipe and packed it again, this time with his strongest tobacco. He lit it absentmindedly with a mild katon jutsu and sat back in his chair.

"Quite the list, huh old man?" Jiraiya laughed as he popped another bottle open, "and that's not to mention the other names on the second page of the enrollment sheet." Jiraiya was tempted to begin laughing again as the Sandaime did a double take and flipped the enrollment sheet to the second page. He couldn't hold back the laugh however when the Hokage reached over and plucked the sake bottle from his very hands and downed it in one go.

Jiraiya glanced at it and cringed for him: Sakura Haruno, the daughter of Kizashi the Shimmer and Mezuki the Tactician. Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuruuki of the Kyuubi. Shin Kondo, the reprogrammed Root child.

"Yeah sensei," Jiraiya sat back in the chair, "you got your work cut off for you with this generation."

Jiraiya's laugh permeated throughout the office as the Hokage simply stared out across the village, for once truly at a loss of what would come next.

Author's Note: Here it is! The long awaited second chapter and the stage for the story to come. The third chapter should be up within one or two weeks, because my 50 something page outline is mostly done.

Hope you guys like this chapter, it doesn't make much sense and isn't really supposed too. It's just a splash here and there of what happens to cause the events coming. A time skip will occur; the third chapter begins with the graduation of the Konohagakure Class of 0069!

Review and keep an eye out for other stories by The Royal Snaza!