A/N: The real chapter six has arrived. It's a short chapter this time as it refused to cooperate, only ~5k words (Codex included, author's notes excluded). Next chapter should be longer by a few thousand words.
I implore readers that have already read chapters one through three before the 16th (or 17th, depending on timezones) of April 2015 to re-read the chapters, as they have been touched up in greater or lesser degree. Chapter four and five remain untouched.
Now, without further ado, Chapter 6 of Child of the Fox, in which Team Seven is assigned their first C-rank, and other things happen.
Child of the Fox
They were the Shadows, Hunting in the Night, even though it was just past noon on a typical Fire Country autumn's day. Three Shadows they were, each fulfilling a specific role, though all three were at least passable in the skills of the others, and had more skills that weren't on the official record, as good ninja are supposed to. They were relatively inexperienced, but they were good. Good enough to collectively earn the nickname 'Hunters' among their peers, despite only being active for all of three weeks, proving once again that the gossip circuits have a tendency to blow some things way out of proportion, though many sort-of agreed that it could make a good tentative nickname when they heard why they were called such.
They held the record for the shortest-ever recorded capture of Tora, the cat belonging to Madame Shijimi, the first wife of the current Fire Lord, taking exactly twenty-two minutes from mission acceptance to receiving the cheque for a completed mission. This absolutely shattered the previous record of four hours, thirteen minutes, and twenty-eight seconds, held by the team that would go on to become the personal bodyguards of the Yondaime Hokage. It should be noted that they had several unfair advantages to accomplish such, including, but not limited to, the sharpest genin eyes, the tied-sharpest genin nose, and the sharpest genin brain.
Currently, two of them sped with great speed across the rooftops of Konoha. Focusing chakra into their legs allowed them to temporarily enhance their muscles to make leaps longer than any civilian could, or run faster than any civilian would ever be capable of. Speed or strength-dependent sporting events like races or discus throwing expressly banned the use of chakra for precisely this reason.
The pair's eyes roamed to and fro looking for the target of their hunt, their ears alert to any sound made by their furry, four-legged quarry. Naruto sniffed a few times in an attempt to pick up tora's rather peculiar scent, but it was so weak as to be useless. Practically the entire village held some measure of Tora's scent, due to the very frequent escapes from the clutches of Madame Shijimi. A soft crackle in their ears, courtesy of ear-mounted radios given to them by Kakashi-sensei before their first mission, gave the pair pause.
"Kitsune, Kawarimono, this is Taka. Target spotted two blocks south of Ichiraku's."
"Copy, Taka. Over."
"Understood, Taka. Kawarimono and myself are on our way. ETA approximately two minutes. Over."
"Copy. Taka out."
The names they had chosen for themselves were somewhat unoriginal, in Naruto's opinion. He was Kitsune, though neither of the other two attributed it to the fact he was literally half-fox, or that he was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, preferring to think it was in reference to his not-so-innocent grin. An ear-to-ear grin with closed eyes that, in combination with his natural whisker-shaped birthmarks, looked a lot like a grinning fox.
Sasuke was Taka, since the Uchiha clan had long held something of an affinity to hawks. Both the summon contract of the animal in question was held by the Uchiha until it was stolen a few decades before Uchiha Madara was even born as well as the actual animal itself, as it was often associated with the sun, fighting spirit, and nobility. Kakashi-sensei was Karasu. He looked like a scarecrow, but since that was his actual name, they decided to lop off the 'scare' part and use that. Kakashi-sensei made no protest. Sakura was the only one of the three that had some originality to her codename, having chosen a species of Koi often associated with the sakura trees.
Naruto and Sakura turned and set off once again, speeding towards the location designated by the third member of their team, causing Naruto some mild shock as he realized it was now officially three weeks old.
Three weeks, Naruto thought with a snort of amusement. It feels like ages already. Teme's not as much a teme as I thought, though he's still as focused as ever on gaining power, and Sakura has actually proven useful and concentrated, rather than a fangirl as she was in the Academy, even if she does revert to her fangirling from time to time. Mom still refuses to tell me what was so special about the Haruno that the Kitsune settled in Fire Country, though.
Based on their current target, the four-legged furball of Doom called Tora, and its attraction to Sakura he guessed it to be something feline-related.
It was just a shame Tora wasn't actually a half-demon cat from Nibi descent, or he could have just asked directly why Tora liked Sakura so much. He put the question out of his mind for now as Sakura and himself landed on the roof opposite the one Sasuke was perched on.
"Taka. Kitsune and myself are on site. Where is the target? Over."
"It ran into the second alley on your right-hand side. Over."
"Copy, Taka. Over."
They jumped a few buildings to their right and peered down into the alley. Sure enough, there was a cat with a light brown hue to his fur lounging about in the alleys. From this distance the shadows of the alley blocked their sight on the red-purple hairband on his ear, but they were pretty confident that they had found Tora.
"Sakura, do your thing," Naruto said.
"Right," Sakura said with a nod. The next moment, she had jumped from the rooftop into the alley and Naruto watched in disbelief as Tora jumped into Sakura's arms, happily purring away. Even seeing that for the eighth time, Naruto continued to be amazed. He swore the scratches the damn feline had given him when they did this for the first time itched even now, despite his regeneration factor. Sasuke still had the thin scar under his right eye from the same source.
"Kawarimono reporting in. Target captured. Over."
"Confirm target, bow on left ear? Over."
Sakura turned Tora around so that his left ear was in full display, revealing a purple bow that none of them would be caught dead with. It wasn't so much the colour, they had no problem with purple, but the fact that it was a bow.
"Bow confirmed. Target Tora confirmed. Over."
"Thank the Kotoamatsukami," Sasuke said in a tone that spoke of long suffering. Naruto wouldn't put it that particular way, but he fully agreed with the sentiment. This would be their thirtieth D-rank, and Naruto felt that they were ready for a C-rank five D-ranks ago, but Kakashi-sensei had not taken them on a C-rank yet, preferring to go over the various protocols for the missions instead. He understood why the man did so, but that didn't make it less frustrating.
"Karasu, target captured. Over."
"Copy, Kitsune," their sensei drawled over the radio. "Rendezvous at 02-22. Out."
"Copy. Out," Sakura and Sasuke repeated the message. A soft thud close by indicated that Sasuke had jumped from the rooftop to join the two.
"Let's return the damn cat," Sasuke said, glaring at the cat who was happily purring in Sakura's embrace. In silence, the three travelled to 02-22, known to any other ninja as the Hokage Tower.
– – – –
Danzō ran his thumb absent-mindedly over the top of his cane, the digit slowly tracing the well-worn path in the aged wood, now nearly four decades old. It was one of the few tells he allowed himself to have these days. Those unfamiliar with him would dismiss it as the idle movement of an aged man, while those who did know him knew it spoke of him being displeased. The slower, the more displeased he was.
The digit in question was currently racing, relatively speaking, across the bulb that adorned the top of his cane. The past few weeks had been very promising for a few high-risk operations, and he thanked the Kami once again that the near-fatal catastrophe of four years ago – also referred to as 'which Uchiha decided it would be a good idea to hypnotize villagers into attacking the village's Jinchuuriki?' – returned the spine that his old friend-turned-nemesis had lost following the Third War several decades ago, not that the lost spine was unanticipated. Hiruzen had always been one to promote peace over war, but the appalling death toll of the Third War – at least sixty-two percent of the entire Shinobi population according to the most accurate intelligence – had pushed him so firmly into the 'peace' camp that he had no option but to look even deeper into the Abyss, praying that it did not look back. And then... the Kyūbi attacked twelve years ago, and the little spine Hiruzen had was drained. Again, this was not unanticipated, but far from welcome.
Hiruzen had already retired, and came out of retirement to run the village once again. It wouldn't entirely surprise him if Hiruzen had never properly mourned for the loss of his wife, Sarutobi Biwako, who was lost during the attack. It had taken Hiruzen's surrogate grandson nearly dying, and he would have died had it not been for the Kyūbi, to harden Hiruzen once more. It wasn't up to his standards post Second War, but it would suffice. Under the new policies, Konoha was once again a Shinobi village, rather than a village that happened to have a high amount of Shinobi living in it.
He briefly looked at the young ROOT agent kneeling before him. Contrary to popular belief amongst the people who knew of its existence, not every ROOT member was emotionally compromised. ROOT had been brought into existence to perform those tasks that could not be associated with Konoha in any way, shape, or form. Which included infiltration, in addition to sabotage and assassination.
Being an emotional null was a benefit only to the sabotage and assassination branches of ROOT, where combat and death were the point. Where combat was to be avoided, or to be postponed until the most opportune time, such as deep-cover infiltrations, emotions were, like kunai and cleavage, just another tool to be wielded. He firmly suspected that Hiruzen had forgotten over the decades that he was a true Shinobi, and knew a good tool when he saw it. He also knew what would happen if tools went out of control, and it had been for this exact reason he had always suggested emotional training for the young Jinchūriki. If a Jinchūriki lost control of his emotions, the beast inside would be able to take control and run rampant. As long as they kept tight control over their emotions, they would be fine. Contrary to what people might have thought, a complete absence of emotions was almost as bad for a Jinchūriki as losing control of them, as the Bijū was usually capable of engendering emotion in the host regardless of the seal, anger or rage of some kind was popular, which the host wouldn't know how to deal with. He knew, better than almost anybody, that emotionally dead Jinchūriki were unstable Jinchūriki and would blow up within a decade as the Bijū figured out the limits of their seal and the kinds of emotions they could send along when the Jinchūriki inevitably drew upon their chakra. They did not have a replacement Uzumaki available to house the Kyūbi, so that would be... ill-advised. At least before Uzumaki-san reproduced, after which he would be mostly immune to his brand of emotional deadening anyway. Not that it mattered that much, if the brat's mother was any indication.
He returned his attention to the report made on the single most important operation ROOT was currently performing. Operation Solar Flare, also known as 'keep the Jinchūriki loyal to Konoha' had apparently stabilized tremendously in the fortnight between the Forbidden Scroll incident and team assignments – even more so than the time period after Yūhi-san made him her ward –, and it unnerved him a little. Where was the Jinchūriki diring this fortnight? He had been seen twice, once to get his ninja registration picture done and once to visit Umino-san in the hospital, but where had he been the remaining time? Was the apparent loyalty only a ruse, initiated by a malcontent citizen that got their hands on the Jinchūriki and essentially abducted him from under the watchful gazes of both the normal ANBU and ROOT? Or was there, as the Jinchūriki himself implied, nothing more going on than finding a person he called 'mom' and wanting to spend some time alone with them?
The easiest way to ascertain this would be to get an agent inside Team Seven, but Haruno-san was not suited for such a life. Maybe if he had gotten to her a few years earlier, but not in the short while before the teams were assembled. The Jinchūriki's other teammate was a no-go as well. The psych reports on Uchiha-san were rather unnerving, and he did not grant such a descriptor lightly. Despite Mikoto-san bringing in Yamanaka Inoichi to heal the mental damage done by Uchiha Itachi, young Sasuke was a deserter waiting for a good reason to desert. He could do little about the situation, since Uchiha-san had not yet actually done something wrong, and had several agents posted around the young Uchiha around the clock.
Had this been pre-Great Purge he would have been in trouble for this action, for ROOT had never been a very populous organization, but the Great Purge was just the prelude to a harder Hiruzen making his reappearance on the internal and international scene, freeing up dozens of ROOT assets in the process. Due to his newly released assets, he had an agent in place to obtain some of the most unsettling information that Danzō had received lately.
Orochimaru had founded a village, and was attracting missing-nin by the hundreds.
He had, not even that long ago, considered working with Orochimaru to get rid of Hiruzen despite the traitor's vow to destroy Konoha, because a destroyed Konoha would be better than a Konoha under continued guidance by the pre-Purge Hiruzen, but he had eventually declined working together. It wasn't out of a sense of disgust at working with a traitor, but because Hiruzen had found the spine he'd had in the Second War again. It had been this very same Hiruzen that had forced a little introspection through private conversation, and he had arrived at a conclusion that was a very, very bitter pill to swallow.
He was one of the worst candidates for the Hokage position, and it was all due to his age. Konoha needed stability. A short-lived Kage like him – Danzō was fairly certain he would be dead somewhere in the next five years – would be disastrous after Hiruzen ruled for longer than most people had been alive. The Godaime would have to rule at least ten years before the Rokudaime took over, and everyone important wanted Uzumaki in either of those positions for a variety of reasons, regardless of what they said in public to appease the people underneath them.
Another point against his own ascension to Godaime was that too many of the ninja whose support was crucial to attaining the position believed that he trained nothing but emotionless tools, and they had been indoctrinated too heavily to support him. Not even the Daimyō could install him as Hokage if he did not have the support of at least the jōnin, and he had the three most influential ones, Hatake, Maito, and Sarutobi, firmly standing against him. Konoha would suffer too much fighting power if they were removed from their positions, so he had his hands metaphorically tied even if he had still wanted the position.
But his operatives were a different matter. They had a lot more freedom to do what was necessary, and more importantly, no-one knew who they were. They hadn't been found out by the Great Purge of four years ago, and he was going to make the very most of that.
It was going to be tricky, but he was Shimura Danzō, student of Senju Tobirama, survivor of three Shinobi Wars, and the man known as Shinobi no Yami. If there was anything he was good at, it was playing things from the shadows. He raised his eyes, looking the agent that was still kneeling silently in front of his desk right in the eyes.
"Agent 316, I have a mission for you..."
– – – –
"Hokage-sama," Sasuke said after they had returned Tora to Madame Shijimi, much to the dismay of the feline in question. "Genin Team Seven requests a C-rank mission."
"Do they now?" the Hokage asked, glancing at the other two. Sakura and Naruto nodded when his gaze fell upon them, and he turned to Kakashi. "And you, Kakashi-kun?"
"I think they're ready."
The comment was essentially purely for procedure at this point, but nonetheless wo grins, and one supremely satisfied smug expression, broke out on the faces of the genin. When they discussed how to best handle requesting a C-rank, they had agreed that it would be best to have Sasuke ask, as he was still somewhat prone to slip into 'disrespectful addresses' – Sakura's words, not his –, and Sakura was too nervous to ask things of their Hokage. They had also agreed that the clincher would be Kakashi's approval, as they were only ninety percent certain that he would approve the request.
"Well then, let us see what C-rank missions are available," the Hokage said as he grabbed the folder marked 'C', and Naruto barely managed to stop himself jumping up and shouting 'yatta' like he used to before Kurenai-nee took him in. She had not curbed his enthusiasm, but she had tried to curb his exuberant displays of such, and for the most part she succeeded.
"There's scroll delivery, border patrol, and escorting a mercantile caravan to Suna."
"What do you think, my kawaii genin?"
"Are any of them expected to see combat against mercenaries?" Naruto asked, earning him a raised eyebrow from the Hokage, Sakura, and Sasuke, while Kakashi just frowned. "Because if so, I'd like to not pick that one. Get my first mission out of the village done as peacefully as possible, ya know?"
Four nods. "That sounds... wiser than I'd have expected of you even a month ago, Naruto-kun. I remember you being a rather reckless hothead," he added with a teasing smile.
Naruto stuck out his tongue, earning a soft chuckle from the oldest of the five currently in the office. "Very mature, Naruto-kun," he said as he tossed a scroll to Kakashi. "Scroll delivery, the mission office has the actual scroll that needs to be delivered."
"Is the mission time-sensitive, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked.
"Not particularly. If I remember correctly the delivery needs to be made in Tanzaku Gai at the latest two weeks from now. Even to a slow ninja, that is at most three days away."
The quartet that was Team Seven nodded.
"The mission office will have further details. It is scheduled to last approximately a week."
Kakashi-sensei nodded. "Come on then, my kawaii genin. We depart from the West Gate in two hours. Until next week, Hokage-sama."
"See ya, jiji!"
"A good day, Hokage-sama."
– – – – Two hours later, West Gate of Konoha – – – –
The gates of Konoha were impressive monolithic structures made entirely from wood. Like the forests surrounding Konoha, this wood was not entirely natural in origin, as it was created by the Shodai Hokage through the use of his Mokuton and reinforced with seals by his wife to withstand extreme punishment, well beyond what even the Nanabi was capable of delivering. Naruto frowned as a memory rushed forward upon seeing them in all their splendour.
"Remember, musuko-kun,' his mother said after a short lecture on the nature of elemental chakra, 'sub-elements can be accessed without Kekkei Genkai, but the concentration required to do so puts practically all jutsu beyond the very basics out of reach of anyone who hasn't put ridiculous amounts of time into practicing the elemental combination. Once this combination is instinctive, the sub-element can be used like a normal element and the more difficult jutsu can be trained. Elemental combination to form sub-elements is rather rare, though. Before my rampage, Konoha had three users of the Shakuton, two of the Shōton, four of the Futton, and six of the Yōton."
Naruto tilted his head. "What's the point of elemental Kekkei Genkai then?"
"Kekkei Genkai lock out all other affinities in exchange for strengthening the elements associated with the Kekkei Genkai, and attune the body itself to the sub-element, allowing things that bypass normal human restrictions. The result is more like magic than anything else. To give you a few examples, the Yuki clan, native to Mizu no Kuni, can create mirrors from their ice that allows the Yuki member to travel between them, though I don't know the mechanics behind that. The, again Mizu native, Terumi clan can blend with lava and use the magma underneath the earth's crust as transportation. This is only possible because in their lava forms they don't need to eat. And these are but two of the examples of the miracles that elemental Kekkei Genkai wielders can do. Naturally, body-type Kekkei Genkai like the Shikotsumyaku or eye-type Kekkei Genkai do not adhere to such rules."
It had not come up then as he had been too distracted by the thought of finding out his own chakra nature, but he had looked through the books since then and come to a stunning conclusion. All sub-elements had non-Kekkei Genkai wielders of that element, with one exception.
Wood.
Seeing the gates of Konoha had triggered a memory of that discussion, and reinforced the question Naruto now had on his mind. Surely, wood would have been a high-priority target to imitate once people saw what Mokuton could do, right? He could understand that the Shodai was tight-lipped about Mokuton, as information was a ninja's lifeblood and the knowledge of how to imitate Mokuton would eventually have leaked out to Konoha's enemies, making the development of counters to Mokuton possible. After the Shodai died, however, people had tried to re-create the Mokuton using the little information the Shodai had shared. Earth and Water.
Naruto could see how Earth and Water came together to make wood, but he did not understand why no one had succeeded in imitating wood, despite what had to have been extensive experimentation.
Logically, there had to be something that people were missing. Chakra ratios, a third element the Shodai hadn't shared... something. Naruto refused to believe that Mokuton was the only sub-element actually locked to a bloodline, especially given the records showing a lack of the element in the Shodai's children and grandchildren.
So...what made Mokuton so special?
"You there, blondy?" Kakashi-sensei asked. Naruto blinked a few times before nodding.
"Yes, sensei," he dutifully replied. "I was just thinking about something and must have lost track of my surroundings."
Kakashi-sensei nodded. "See to it that you don't get distracted by that out in the field. We don't expect bandits, mercenaries, or enemy nin on this mission, but that doesn't mean the possibility of stumbling across them is zero," sensei said sternly. Naruto gulped a little and nodded.
"Good. Now, we were busy with checking packs," Kakashi-sensei supplied.
"Fifty kunai, fifty shuriken, two sealing scrolls filled with food, three filled with water, one scroll with field medic supplies, twenty metres of wire, and other assorted trap-laying equipment," Naruto rattled off, taking the items out of the bag as he mentioned them.
"Good enough for a C-rank," Kakashi-sensei said after a moment. "I personally prefer four kunai for each shuriken, but that's not for everyone. You can pack it back up." Naruto nodded and did just that.
"We leave as soon as blondy is done packing his bag."
– – – –
Naruto yawned as he walked up the stairs to his hotel room in the only hotel in Tanzaku Gai that catered to ninja, which meant it had thicker, sturdier walls, soundproofing everywhere, and places close to the bed where they could store blades and other items they would need if they were abruptly woken.
The trip to Tanzaku Gai had been calm, just as he wanted for his first time out of Konoha. They had assumed a triangle formation around Kakashi-sensei – the VIP as he carried the scroll – and taken to the trees. They had rushed towards the village so that they could get a few days relaxation in while the festival was here in Tanzaku Gai. Apparently, Jiji had given implicit permission for that by saying that he would see them next week.
Naruto didn't get it, but didn't very much care as a few days relaxation sounded very good indeed after the grueling three weeks that they had so far. And in his case, that was just team training. His mother had been training him in the art of sealing and general chakra manipulation – he had a quadruple affinity, though his Raiton affinity was so weak it might as well not have existed –, and the spirit of his sword had been training him in the art of the blade. She had said that he would be instructed in the second part of her existence, the art of ice manipulation, after he had learned her name. It was somehow different from Hyōton according to the spirit, but when he asked how she wouldn't elaborate, stating that it was some he would learn after it was unlocked.
His mother had set an hour per day aside for just mother-son bonding, but the rest of his waking moments he spent training in one thing or another. It boiled down to the fact that if he hadn't had his Yōki-fueled regeneration, he would be a permanent cripple from overexertion of his muscles.
"Remember, Naruto," Kakashi's voice drifted to his ears as he was already halfway into his room. "We make the drop tomorrow morning at 0800."
"Acknowledged, sensei," he replied, letting out another yawn as he shambled into the room. He set the alarm to something that looked like 0700 and fell face-down on the bed, still fully dressed. He may have been a stamina freak, but running for ten hours with only minimal breaks along the way had taken its toll on him, though Sakura and Sasuke were obviously much worse off. He was asleep in moments.
– – – –
"Hey boss, you'll never guess what I spied stumbling into town tonight."
The aforementioned boss, a hulking giant of a man, looked up from the file he was reading towards the man that had just entered his office. "Well, spit it out."
"Sharingan no Kakashi, and three brats that I think are his genin."
The giant raised an eyebrow. "Kakashi?"
"Yes," the other said with a grin. "And his brats are a civilian girl that I think will fetch quite the sum to the proper people, the last available Uchiha, and a blond."
The giant's eyes narrowed. "Blond?"
"Yup," the other confirmed, his grin widening and gaining some bloodlust. "It's not pale enough to be Yamanaka blond either."
The giant grinned viciously. "Well then, send out Ayumu and Daisuke to get some intelligence. I want to know what they'll be doing while they're here and how long they'll be staying. Stress the importance that they do not harm either Sharingan no Kakashi or the brats. We'll capture them and make it a group effort. No need to be selfish in revenge, no?"
"Indeed boss," the other said with a nod. "And thanks."
"You're welcome. Now get out of my sight."
The other nodded and left the room.
The giant leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation. Fifteen years of waiting was about to come to an end, one way or another.
After fifteen years of dreaming up plots, vengeance would be his.
– – – – Codex: On demonic humanoid forms
Written by: Bastet, Acting Queen of the Neko-ichizoku
Second draft for: Neko-ichizoku First Grade Educational Text, 'Illusions and You: A Primer on the Art of Disguise'.
'Why do we assume human forms?' and 'why do these forms have both our ears and our tails, rather than looking fully human to blend in?' are two questions, paraphrased of course, that young demons often ask when they are taught how to assume a basic humanoid shape, and these questions are very valid.
Similar to many things demons do that don't make sense at first sight, the answer lies rooted in history. Before the Sundering of the land, demonkind warred among itself with abandon. Treaties were attempted, but the delegations were ambushed time and time again. The Inu first reached the idea of holding treaty meetings in neutral ground. Human ground to be specific, for hunting humans was a pastime of all demon clans – with very few exceptions, like the Kitsune and the now-extinct Hōō – and none wanted their hunting grounds tainted.
Demons do not exactly blend in with human society, however, so the Inu had the grand idea of taking on a human shape. The clan they were meeting at the time, my clan, joined them and the first successful treaty negotiations in demon history occurred on human soil.
Some problems arose swiftly, however, when the third such meeting, between the Ōkami and the Tora, was interrupted in a highly ironic manner by a hunting party of Inu and killed to the last. In death, the Yōki holding the illusion of their human forms together dispersed and the Inu clan amended the protocol they had brought into life. By adding their tails, they hoped to pass their non-humanity off as roleplay – a favoured human pastime even then – and signal to hunting sorties that they were not, in fact, human.
It lasted all of two attempts before an Ōkami exile dyed and trimmed his tails to look like a member of the Inu, and proceeded to wipe out the delegations.
The ears, distinctive to each individual species at an extremely base level, were added to the human(oid) disguise following this incident. This, too, was passed off as roleplay to curious humans.
When five thousand years had passed without further incident, the seven hundred and thirty-eight Daiyōkai of the time gathered and beseeched their patron deities to enforce this. The patron deities acquiesced and changed the genetic code of all currently living demons to make the transformation into a human form without tails and ears biologically impossible.
There are rumours that the Kitsune have managed to bypass this rule, but none are sure how. Numerous theories are abound, naturally, but the Kitsune themselves remain silent on the matter.
To this day, though the human lands are inaccessible to us, the practice of assuming human forms continues because despite the Jūbi's rampage at the Sundering, many demons from that time yet live, and they have been unwilling to change their ways.
– – – –
Translations:
Ichizoku: Clan
Hōō: Phoenix
– – – –
A/N: As in canon, Danzō wants what is best for Konoha. Unlike canon, my Danzō has seen (through application of not a little bit of off-screen force) that he isn't what Konoha needs in the post-Sandaime era that everyone knows is coming, even if they don't want to accept that.
Until recently, he was not in a position to do anything about it. Agent 316 is a relatively recent acquisition and, as 316 is in infiltration/intelligence branch of ROOT, has normal access to emotions. Enter, puppermaster!Danzō. At least, that's the intent.
Naruto goes on a C-rank, and as his is Naruto and the Universe is constantly plotting against him, it hits a snag. Resolution of this snag will occur in the next two, maybe three chapters as it is currently planned.
I mentioned in an earlier author's note that I have since removed, I said that the chapter featured a competent!Kakashi. This implied a belief that canon Kakashi was incompetent and I now retract that statement after thinking on it a bit more.
I believe that canon Kakashi, with no obvious war on the horizon, decided that teaching his genin ninja techniques could wait and that he would focus first on their character. Creating bonds and shaping why they fight before teaching them how to fight, due to his own past and the mission at Kannabi Bridge. When his genin were not receptive to his teaching, he decided to give them a slice of actual ninja life. Enter, Wave. In the time between Wave and the Chūnin Exams, team 7 reverted to their usual dysfunctional self and Kakashi decided that the upcoming exams were a good opportunity to wake the genin up to the reality of ninja life. Since they were in Konoha, they were unlikely to die during them, accomplishing the objective with minimal risk.
Enter, Orochimaru. Enter, curse seal of heaven. Exit, Kakashi's plan.