AN: Nas! Sorry for the wait… I got lost in the road of life… kind of. The first part was kind of difficult to come with, but I manage. I still believed that it could be better, but after the fourth edition I leaved like that. Again, I want to thank all of you that had added this story to your favourite/alert lists. Especially, I want to thank Nevix, a lot of his suggestion helped me with the Danzo part, and is helping me with another future plot point that is going to be used in this story. Thank you man!
Now, enjoy the show^^
Chapter 7: Old age and treachery…
"Learn to recognize when speed is not important. Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all other times. It is not necessary to always strike the first blow, to provide the first solution, or to reach a goal before anyone else does. In fact, it is sometimes vital to strike the last blow, to give the final answer, or to arrive after everyone else." - Unknown
Sarutobi Hiruzen had walked a path that not many people survived. Being a ninja meant that one life span was rather short, being the average age 35 to 40 years. He had at leas double of that. And not just he, his teammates, his students and Danzo were the only ones in all Konoha to surpass the 50 year mark. He had survived the 3 Great Ninja Wards and with that came a lot of invaluable experience that could not be matched. He had the sure knowledge that he could encounter and win his way out with minimum damage, not because arrogance or superiority complex but because his lifelong experience gained through hardship and adversity.
His gut and instincts were always honed and ready to save his life once again, always guiding him through dangers and deception. And at the moment they were telling him that something was really wrong. Two hours ago, Hyuuga Hiashi had sent him a message telling him that he was attending a large Hyuuga gathering about internal affairs and an upgrade of their compounds security. If anything happened that require his attention as member of the council, them he named Nara Shikaku as is proxy. It was a strange decision, not usually done, but not out of place either. The thing about it was that Hiashi just did something like this once, when his wife gave birth to his eldest child, Hinata. Not even the Kyuubi attack or the "Uchiha incident" had made the man to be out of reach.
"Rei, tell me what do you think of all this." Said the old Hokage without facing his guest. Yuurei, or The Ghost, was a especial ninja. "Ghost" was a personal shinobi of the Hokage, and respond only to him. His main and only mission was to go through the shinobi ranks and indentified "Internal Threats". The Yondaime put him out of commission when he was instated in his post, but the Sandaime pull it into service again after the affairs with the Uchiha. It was thanks to it that the Hokage was aware of many spies in the village. Nobody knew exactly how many small rebellions had been stopped ever since The Ghost started to walk among them either. It was testament of its skill that showed it its results. Because of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen trusted its opinion in high regard.
"I could not penetrate their new defences, which confirms the upgrade that was mentioned. But nobody had step in or out of the compounds ever since Hyuuga Hinata returned from her afternoon classes. It seems unlikely, but it can be related to her surprising win on the taijutsu examination." Said Yuurei. Its voice could not be identified was male or female. Nobody knew if it was a girl or a boy, or how old it was, thus the reason why it was called "IT".
"I see. What do you think about the Hyuuga girl? Does she post any threat?"
"At the moment is difficult to say. She is a really good actor. After her "drift" with Uzumaki Naruto, she had stayed in character in the public's eye. But it was confirmed that her… personality changes…started almost 9 months ago, the same day that the Barrier Squad registered the abnormality on the wards."
Those made Hiruzen think about that particular accident from the last September. The Barrier Squad reported that a little black dot appeared for almost 23 seconds on their scans before disappearing completely. They didn't know what it was or what it meant, since it was not contemplated in the different energies levels spectrum before.
It may have been registered as a malfunctioning on their part if it had not been that they reported a second sighting in the message: "Two dots appeared." It was simple but Hiruzen immediately knew what it meant. The abnormality showed it self again in a troubling day: October 10, the day that Naruto and Hinata were forced to kill in self-defence and the day that both of them learnt the truth about Naruto´s status as a jinchuuriki.
Thinking about the blond made the old Hokage sigh. The old Sarutobi was one of the few people in a whole village of ninjas that didn't hate the boy for his burden, at least not entirely. As a ninja being renowned as "The God Shinobi" and "The Professor", he understood the Sealing Arts more than the usual amateurs. He was not in the same league as his perverted (and a genius at that, if he say so himself) Jiraiya, or the late Yondaime, but he was almost there. As such, he knew the difference between a jinchuuriki and the bijuu they jail. That being said, Sarutobi was human. Until this day, he didn't know what had happened during Kushina´s giving birth to Naruto, but something when wrong and in the process his beloved wife was killed. A tiny little part inside him felt an immeasurable hatred toward the nine-tailed fox, and, in some extreme situations (like when he got drunk during his wife's death anniversary and started to contemplate killing Naruto for good, despite that the kid was only 4 years old at the time. He even justified himself thinking that death would spare the kid a long suffering life) and transferred some of that hatred to the kid. But Sarutobi kept himself in check all the time, making sure that his stray thoughts die with him. One of the reasons that the old leader didn't adopted the kid from the start. It was better be safe than sorry.
Sarutobi knew that his age was against him. He still was a feared Shinobi, and with good reason, and he knew that the only reason why other villages didn't attacked Konoha during the aftermath of the Kyuubi Disaster or the Uchiha Massacre was because of him. He needed to start looking for a replacement, and soon. Jiraiya was an option, though hi will need some convincing. The other option was his other stray student, Senju Tsunade, that if they could find her. At the moment, the only other two choices that were availed in the village were Hatake Kakashi and, God forgive him, Maito Gai. Just thinking about the face of the green spandex jounin on the Hokage Monument brought horror shivers through his spine.
"Something else to be inform?"
"Hai! It was by coincidence, but during the Hyuuga Hinata surveillance it was noticed that a veteran genin, Yakushi Kabuto, had been spying the genin hopefuls of this year, especially on Uchiha Sasuke. His stealth skills are beyond his current rank. During further investigation, it was discovered that said genin used the information that he collects in something he calls Ninja Info Cards where he seals the information in similar fashion that the Decoding Unit does. Is still unknown what he does with the information but it is said that he capitalize on this during the chuunins exams, which he had taken 6 times already."
Sandaime knew that Yuurei didn't mention Kabuto casually. Yuurei suspected something about the genin, something afoot, and he trusted those instincts. In the end "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."
"For now, let's leave Hinata and Naruto as secondary mission, but if something happens with those two, tell me. I am going to change my plans just in case about them. For now, pay close attention on Yakushi and use your judgement in the matter. Inform me of anything else that you discover that is of importance."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
"Fu, what's the matter?" asked the quietly Himura Danzo, the "Darkness of the Shinobi".
"Danzo-sama, our Hyuuga agent, Hyuuga Hibana, informed that she was called to the Hyuuga compounds to an emergency meeting. It seems that all the Hyuuga in the village had been called too."
Danzo closed his visible eye, something that he did while deep thinking, after listening one of his most trusted Root agents. Contrary to popular believe, Danzo did not brainwashed his underground faction. He didn't need brainless tools that needed to be said all what they have to do. No, what Danzo needed where capable ninjas that could think and adapted to the best of results, no matter the methods. True, he conditioned to eliminate their emotions as much as he could, they didn't interfere with their decisions and their duty, and to increase their pain and torture resistance. He knew that he had succeed, despite that not many survived the training that he provided, because his Root was a lot better that the standard ANBU or any equivalent that the other villages had.
"What measures had been taken?"
"Hibana had implied all the security protocol, just in case, and will inform us as soon the opportunity arises."
"Good. Tell Shen that use his bugs to keep tads of the Hyuuga District and as closed as he can of the Hyuuga Compounds."
"Is already done, Danzo-sama. Both him and Torune had been trying to get in, but it seems that the Hyuuga had upgraded their defences and are know too difficult to penetrate without arising the alarm."
THAT troubled Danzo. He didn't what another Uchiha event on his hand, the Leaf had suffered enough from it. But the second thing was that he didn't like to be kept in the dark. Information was, along side deception, the most powerful tool a ninja could have. Something wasn't right.
"Then tell Torune and Shen to desist, we can risk to be discover. When Hibana returns, keep a check on her and use the AP-N on her."
"Hai, Danzo-sama!"
The AP-N or the "after long term infiltration mission protocol" was used regularly on ninjas that had return from long missions, especially infiltration ones, to counter act what was commonly known was "become native". It was not frequent that it happens, but it was regularly implemented just in case.
Danzo had designed the program himself after the "Keiji Saito Epiphany". Years ago, an unnamed ninja was selected to infiltrate Iwa for a whole year to get information about what was happening. After six month past the deadline, it was sent a party to retrieve the agent. It was a success, sadly.
Somehow, the ninja had convinced himself that his was a Iwa ninja called Keiji Saito, his alias, and that he had been captured by Iwa eternal enemies. The result was something that nobody expected. Keiji escaped from the facilities where he was detained and committed suicide blowing himself, and half of the ANBU Quarters, with explosive notes. They were some injured but not causalities.
But the incident brought home a problem that hadn't been faced before. And like that, the AP-N was born.
Danzo took this opportunity to, first, gain support from the civilian council and some Clan Heads and, second, to twist the process in a more...aggressive…version for his Root agents and captured enemies. When used in a certain way, Danzo discovered that his version of the AP-N could do de opposite on enemies, that is "convert" ninjas of other villages into his services. It had a 57% of success because it depended a lot on the individual, but experience had taught him a lot. At the moment, he had at least one Shinobi from every mayor village and some of the minor ones. This is one of the reasons his spy network was more successful than any other.
Danzo was not a saint, he wasn't a hero, he was vigilante, he was a patriot, and he was a Shinobi. A true Shinobi works in the dark. They do not seek glory or recognition. They do not seek their own desires or ideals. They are servants; they do whatever needs to be done in the service of their masters, in this case the Hokage who in turn serve the Daimyo. If one wanted glory or honour they should be samurai, but samurai were corrupted, even if they started like honourable men, they lost their way most time than not. He knew; there had been a lot of occasions where his agents had to resolve revolutions caused by the people oppressed by "one a time honourable samurais and warriors". What a joke. A Shinobi work through deception, in the shadows.
They lie, they cheat, they killed, they even rape sometimes so the majority of the people don't have to face the ugliest side of humanity. Danzo knew that he was a monster; he had done too many things to say otherwise. But if the villager kids were spare of the fate of being a Shinobi, he would die with a smile on his face.
Because such was the live of the shinobi. And nobody would know about it.
Umino Iruka was thinking about his students, like he always did. More specifically, he was thinking on Haruno Sakura.
He admitted that, despite her potential, at first the girl didn't had the mentality to be a true kunoichi. Them something happened, because overnight she started to take seriously her training. He had his doubts, but seeing her during today's taijutsu evaluation being toe to toe with one of the best taijutsu practisers, Uchiha Sasuke, made him realize that he didn't understood how deep was her resolve.
And what a shock it came to the chuunins instructor. Yamanka Ino, Sakura´s best friend, had informed her that the girl had come with that taijutsu style by herself, combining some basic academy ones that she had found in the library.
It was noting short of amazing, and Iruka knew then and there that he girl will be someone that will mark history. But that made him think of what happened at the end of that match.
Uchiha Sasuke didn't handle well being shoved off like that and had assault Sakura even if he had defeated her. In the end, she had some bruised rigs and emotional turmoil as result. He saw her face in the hospital room after being declared ready to go after some treatment while Ino told her what had happened form her point of view.
The infatuation of the girl for the Uchiha had received a low blow and he knew that it was the main reason why she was a genin hopeful to start with. That is why he was at the Haruno´s from door at these late hours, to talk to Sakura about continuing her ninja career despite everything that had happen.
Knock, knock. The door opened after a couple of minute for a pink haired man with deep gray eyes behind a pair of glasses.
"Yes, can I help you, chuunins-san?"
"Hai, Mr. Haruno. I'm Academy Instructor Umino Iruka and I had come here to speak to your daughter…"
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And cut…
I feel evil. I figured that you could wait another chapter before releasing what will happen with the Hyuuga. I knoe is kind of short, but is just a interlude of what is going to happen next^^. Also, I want to use another points of view to give some insights of the mayor characters and to make things more entertaining. Hopefully you like.^^
Next chapter will be at some point during the weekend. Like I told you, I had been kind of busy, but will clear my schedule as soon as possible^^
R&R.
