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Chapter 10 – Meetings

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts'

"Biju/Biju-mode Jinchuriki speaking"

'Biju/Biju-mode Jinchuriki thoughts'

~ Konohagakure Council Chambers, 9:57 pm ~

The councils of Konoha had gathered in response to an emergency summons by the Hokage mere hours ago. From the way the summons was worded, something had clearly angered the venerable leader of the Leaf, and, if what their children had told them earlier was true, the Clan Heads fully understood the Hokage's rage.

However, despite the urgency of the summons, the Hokage was nowhere to be seen. Granted, the meeting was not due to start for another few minutes, but Hiruzen had always made a point to be in the council chamber long before anyone else arrived. As the seconds ticked away, the councilors began to shift in their seats uneasily. All of them, even the normally obtuse civilians, could sense an undercurrent of danger in the air. The Clan Heads and Elders instinctively knew that tonight, the Hokage would be putting on quite a show.

Just as the clock struck ten, the doors to the chamber flew open, propelled inwards by a chakra-enhanced shove. Storming into the room, his chakra blazing around him in a maelstrom of power, was Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in full Hokage regalia. To his left marched Jiraiya of the Sannin, the usually jovial Sage's expression as murderous as his sensei's. Surrounding the pair of S-ranked shinobi was Team Ro, each of whom were leaking killing intent.

As he walked up to his seat, Hiruzen pointedly ignored the rest of the room, all of whom were staring at him with a mix of awe and trepidation. Once he was seated though, he allowed his burning gaze, as piercing and potent as any dojutsu, to roam the room. Everyone who met his gaze had to fight the urge to cower, so terrifying was the rage in his eyes. Even the Elders, who had know him since childhood, found it difficult to meet their old friend's gaze.

Once he had made a complete visual circuit of the room, he steepled his fingers before his face and leaned back into his chair. "I suppose you're all wondering why you're here, yes?" He asked, his tone mild and welcoming. The civilians, except for Teuchi and Mebuki (the smart ones), immediately relaxed, taken in by his seemingly calm demeanor, and voiced their agreement to his query. The Shinobi Council and the Elders were not so easily fooled though, having been on active duty long enough that their sixth sense was screaming at them to grab their belongings and hightail it out the nearest exit.

Hiruzen closed his eyes, sorting his thoughts out in his head. "Well, the main reason I called this meeting was to address certain… issues I've uncovered in our Academy syllabus." At this, several members of the educational branch of the civilian council blanched and whimpered.

Ignoring their obvious distress, Hiruzen calmly continued, his eyes still shut. "Of course, I was… understandably shocked that several of these oversights were signed and approved by members of this august body. So, I decided to look into the records to see if this was merely an unhappy accident." Danzo's remaining eye widened imperceptibly, an action that went unnoticed due to the glares being shot at the civilians.

Once he was certain that his words had sunken in, Hiruzen opened his eyes to glare at the civilians. "Imagine my surprise when I found several discrepancies in not just the Academy syllabus, but also in the village finances, numerous property deeds, and illegal modifications to the Civilians Charter. All of which bore the seals of both the Board of Education and the Merchant's Guild." He leaned forward in his chair, all pretense of civility gone as killing intent began to flow from his body in waves, causing the air temperature to drop noticeably.

In a cold, hard tone he ground out, "So tell me, why exactly did you see fit to subvert my authority? To steal land and money from the clans and village? To cut out all mention of the Uzumaki clan from our history? To pervert the Academy graduation system? Tell. Me. Why." At this point, his killing intent flared, causing a few of the older civilians to keel over, dead, their hearts stopped cold from the strain, and over half of the others to pass out and/or soil themselves.

By this point the entire shinobi council was glaring daggers at the civilian side, leaking killing intent of their own (Teuchi and Mebuki having wisely vacated their seats to stand next to Mikoto, who was standing in for the Uchiha seat), and the civilians, those who were still conscious that is, frantically whipped their heads around to look for a way out. Unfortunately for them, Team Ro and the on-duty ANBU quickly surrounded them, ensuring no possibility of escape. Rapidly losing what little color was left in their faces, the civilians turned imploring eyes to the Elders, who had always been in their camp before, only to be met with a pair of angered and disgusted glares from Koharu and Homura, and an emotionless stare from Danzo.

When no reply was forthcoming, Hiruzen straightened up in his seat and addressed the room in a harsh tone, his anger having cooled to cold purpose. "Very well. ANBU, take these… vermin to Ibiki. Tell him that he has my full permission to use any and all mean necessary to extract the needed information from these parasites." He glanced at Team Ro. "Snake, go help Ibiki. Now get them out of my sight." The civilians barely had time to blink before the ANBU violently subdued them, breaking more than a few bones in the process, and carted them away. As the ANBU left, everyone could practically feel Snake's vicious smile, sending shivers down their spines: she was not known for her mercy. The chilling cackle she let out as the doors closed did little to assuage their nerves.

Strangely enough, as the civilians were led away, Danzo made no attempt to undermine Hiruzen's orders. As his eye roamed around the room, he could tell that to oppose his rival in this would be to invite disaster, so he kept silent, mentally making plans to deal with the civilians before they could talk.

Taking a breath to compose himself, Hiruzen turned to Mebuki and Teuchi, both of whom were looking repulsed by what their former colleagues had done. Gesturing at a pair of clean chairs sitting off to the side behind a desk, he said, "Mebuki-san, Teuchi-san, please, take your seats. Now that the troublemakers are gone, we can get down to some more serious business."

Nara Shikaku calmly glanced over at the Hokage and asked a question, though it came out more like a statement, "Choosing replacements for the Civilian Council?"

Hiruzen shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. "Not during this meeting I'm afraid, Shikaku-san. Mebuki-san, you and Teuchi-san draw up a list of potential candidates for the positions after the meeting. You can bring the list to the next meeting and we'll decide who to choose then. For now though, I believe we need to go over the files I dug up." At this point, a chunin walked into the room carrying an armful of folders, which he promptly handed out to all the councilors. Opening his own folder, Hiruzen continued, "The first order of business is to deal with the damage done to our education system. I propose…"

~ Naruto's mindscape, 10:30 pm ~

Kurama was the picture of serenity, his massive body limp and unmoving, seemingly dead to the world. Naruto had gone to sleep several hours ago, after spending the evening out with the Nine, otherwise he would be wondering why Kurama was lying so still. However, though his body was unmoving, the fox's mind was whirling around at a frantic pace as he slowly reactivated a long-dormant link in the back of his head. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open as the link flared to life, pulling his consciousness into an empty room.

In Sunagakure, a massive sandy creature with one enormous tail reared his head up from inside his seal. The tanuki blinked for a moment, then a grin spread across his face. "Finally. I thought you'd never call, Kurama-nii."

In Kumogakure, a two-tailed cat and an eight-tailed ox froze in the middle of their conversation as the call reached them. "Well," rumbled the ox, "it seems our dear brother has decided to contact us. Shall we?" The cat just gave a feral smile in response.

At the bottom of a lake in the Land of Water, a titantic turtle with three tails and a spiky, armoured shell opened his one eye and gave a rumbling growl of recognition. In the misty forests of the same country, a giant six-tailed slug ponderously lifted its antennae.

In the rocky outlands of the Land of Earth, a four-tailed ape and a five-tailed dolphin-horse stiffened in surprise and smiled.

Behind a massive waterfall in the countryside, a giant beetle snapped awake. She looked around blearily for a moment, then her eyes lit up in recognition.

~ Shared biju mindlink~

Kurama looked around the formerly empty room and smiled as the forms of his siblings shimmered into being. When all nine of them had fully solidified, each of them just took several moments to study each other, relishing the feeling of being reunited again after so long.

After several moments of peaceful silence, the Yonbi spoke with his usual brusque attitude. "Neh, Kurama, what took you so long to contact us? Matter of fact, where've you been all this time? Last I heard, you'd been sealed into that Mito woman."

Kurama chuckled as he locked eyes with his brother. "You're rather behind the times then, Son Goku. I'm currently on my third jinchuriki."

The other eight biju exchanged confused glances at his statement. "Shouldn't you be on your second at most?" Asked the Nanabi. "I mean, I'm not the best at math, but I'm pretty sure humans don't die off that quickly."

Kurama growled deep in his throat and his eyes flashed, causing his siblings to shift uneasily. They had only seen Kurama get truly angry once, and he leveled an entire mountain range by the time he'd calmed down. "You're right, Chomei, I should be on my second. She was attacked while giving birth to my current vessel and perished in the aftermath."

"Attacked?" Murmured the Sanbi, his single eye widening. "That's… unfortunate. But surely you could have escaped in the confusion?"

Kurama grunted. "I would have, had that Uchiha not been there." The other biju felt their blood run cold, and the Sanbi visibly shuddered.

"Sharingan." Whispered the Nibi, her voice tinged with sympathy. "Kurama…"

The fox snorted and glanced away to hide the shame in his eyes. "I failed, Matatabi. 'Most powerful of the biju.' BAH! What good is all that power when I can't even fight off a genjutsu?" In response, the Sanbi frowned and swatted Kurama upside the head with an armoured tail. "OW! Isobu! What was that for?" Isobu just glared, his body trembling with suppressed emotion.

The other biju stared at Isobu in surprise. Their armored sibling was well known for being the most sedate and peaceful of the nine, partly due to him being a turtle, so seeing him swat Kurama like that was unexpected, and not a little unsettling.

"You alright Isobu?" Asked the Hachibi, Gyuki. "You look a bit… out of it."

Isobu took a deep breath and closed his eye to calm himself. "What… what do you guys know about the civil war in Kiri?"

The biju exchanged confused glances at the strange tangent, and shrugged in unison. All except the Rokubi, Saiken, who said, "Well, my vessel hasn't been around Kiri much, especially since the war really got going, but last I heard was that the Anti-Kekkei Genkai faction was on the verge of defeat."

Isobu chuckled. "You're a little behind, brother. The Mizukage was defeated just a week ago. The Anti-Kekkei Genkai faction should be done with in the next few months."

"Wait. Mizukage… why does that title ring a bell? What's his name again? Oh yeah, Yagura. That's it." Murmured Kokuo, the Gobi, to himself. Then his eyes bulged out and his head whipped round to stare at Isobu. "Wait a minute, isn't Yagura your vessel?" At Isobu's hesitant nod, the biju gasped in unison, their eyes wide.

"WHAT?!" Bellowed Kurama as he leapt to his feet. "Isobu… how? Why? All those innocent lives…"

"You think I don't know that?" Snapped Isobu, his voice cracking with grief. "You think I don't regret every. Single. One?" As Isobu's reply turned into an anguished yell, Kurama slowly lowered himself into a sitting postion, his expression carefully blank.

At this point, Shukaku, the Ichibi, decided to interrupt in his usual fashion: loudly. "Oi, oi! Why the depressing topic, huh? Not exactly the best way to spend the first family reunion in a hundred years."

Matatabi and Chomei giggled at their youngest brother's indignant tone and expression and even Kurama cracked a grin. Isobu, however, glared at him. "That's because, Shukaku, this is important. I spent the better part of seventeen years under a Sharingan induced genjutsu." The other biju sobered up immediately at that statement.

"Seventeen years… who dared?!" Roared Saiken as he straightened up, rivers of corrosive slime beginning to flow down his body, enraged that he had been unable to help. "Isobu, who did it?"

Isobu shrugged. "I don't know who. All I know is that one day this masked Uchiha came into the office and got both Yagura and myself in a genjutsu. Next thing I knew, Yagura was dying and the seal was weak enough for me to break free and escape to the water. I… don't really remember much of what happened in between. Just bits and pieces."

As the other biju began to murmur amongst themselves, Kurama's ears perked up. "Wait, a masked man, you said… did this mask happen to have a single eye-hole and look like a swirl?" Isobu nodded slowly, his eye wide in surprise. "Let me guess, the mask was bright orange, he was just over six feet tall with short, spiky black hair, and he wore a loose, black robe. Am I right?"

By this point, the other biju were staring at Kurama with wide eyes at his detailed description. "Y-yes." Stuttered Isobu. "How did…?"

Kurama snarled. "That same Uchiha forced me to attack Konoha twelve years ago. He's planning something, he has to be. Why else would he cause all this chaos…?" As he trailed off, his eyes widened in realization and his expression turned pensive.

Chomei nervously fluttered her wings, recognizing the look on Kurama's face. "You don't think the time of the Prophecy is upon us already, do you? I mean, what sign do we have?" Kurama shot her a knowing look and a sneaky grin.

Gyuki snorted. "Alright Kurama, out with it. What's so amusing?"

Kurama chuckled. "I've already seen the sign. My vessel, Uzumaki Naruto, is the Child of Prophecy. He has Grandfather's powers."

There was a stunned silence, then Shukaku leapt into the air with a whoop of delight as smiles began to bloom on the faces of the other biju. "YEAH! This is going to be fun. How good is he, Kurama?"

"From what I know about Grandfather, I daresay that Naruto may one day surpass him." At their disbelieving looks he added, "Probably helps that he's directly descended from our Grandfather. The Uzumaki are related to the Senju, after all."

"Oh. Right." Muttered Son Goku. "Hold on, how old was he when the power manifested, and what caused it to appear?"

Kurama's expression turned sad. "Ah. I'll answer your second question first, brother. He was attacked by a rather large mob of villagers and a trio of shinobi on his birthday." At their stunned and horrified expressions, he added, "Most of the village believes that he and I are one and the same, and by hurting him they are harming me."

At this point, the flames that comprised Matatabi's body flared up and her mouth opened in a feral snarl. "How DARE they?! To attack a, a child! Why haven't you destroyed Konoha yet, Kurama? I can assure you, had they treated Yugito-chan like that, Kumo would be a smoldering crater by now." The other seven biju, each of them in similar states of rage, voiced their agreement with their sister.

Kurama grunted and lay back down. "Two reasons. First: I did not want to become a monster like our predecessor. Second: Naruto asked me not to hurt them in any way. Matter of fact, he made me promise to defend them when needed, if at all possible." His siblings spluttered in surprise at that statement, Shukaku especially.

"B-but, why?" Stammered Shukaku. "I mean, at times I've had to demand that Gaara let people off when they anger him. Even then, he usually ends up injuring them in some way, and you're telling me that your vessel would rather protect them?" Kurama nodded, an amused smirk on his face. "Kid must be a saint." Muttered Shukaku as he sat down.

Kurama nodded. "I've said it many times, that village does not deserve him." His expression softened. "He has our father's spirit. I saw it in him the first time we met, right after the attack that gave him his powers." He closed his eyes and braced himself for his siblings' reactions. "He was four."

As he predicted, the other eight let loose roars of fury, filling the air with oppressive killing intent as their chakra swirled around them. Kurama calmly allowed them to vent their rage into the air for a few minutes, then he flared his own chakra, easily overpowering that of his siblings. One by one, the other biju settled down, cowed by Kurama's overwhelmingly powerful presence.

Kurama chuckled. "I'll be honest, after getting to know Naruto better, I've reacted much the same way as you just did. Every time, Naruto's managed to rein me in."

"A kid managed to calm you down?" Demanded Kokuo incredulously. "You've gone soft Kurama."

Kurama gave an indignant huff, ignoring the snickers and giggles of the other seven biju. "You wish, Kokuo. Naruto happens to have immense willpower and a bigger stubborn streak than the entire Senju clan put together."

"He sounds pretty headstrong then, huh?" Muttered Son Goku. "How do you put up with him, Kurama. If memory serves, you're not the most patient of beings."

Kurama chuckled. "Truth be told, had I not known what his life was like, and the coping methods he'd developed, I'd probably have gotten angry with him many, many times for some of the crazy stuff he's tried over the years. Of course, he always consulted me first, and his arguments were usually irrefutable." He shook his head sadly. "He is far more mature than he should be for his age. I still curse the villagers for destroying his childhood like that. Still, better to be overly mature than a complete nitwit." He repressed a shudder. "I can't even imagine what it'd be like if he acted like a twit to get attention."

"Why would he act like a twit?" Asked Matatabi. "It wouldn't accomplish anything other than making him the laughingstock of the village. I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to-" Gyuki pointedly cleared his throat at her statement and shot her a semi-incredulous look. "Oh… right. Forgot about him."

Chomei giggled. "Problems in Kumo, my dear sister?"

Matatabi rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Speaking of that, we have no idea what each other's vessels are like." Commented Shukaku, his expression saying that he had just realized something blindingly obvious. "Should we, you know, discuss it?"

Isobu nodded. "Now's as good a time as any I suppose. Your idea, Shukaku, you go first."

So, proceeding in order of tails from Shukaku to Kurama, each biju gave a brief introduction about their specific jinchuriki. Shukaku spoke of Gaara, the youngest son of the Yondaime Kazekage. He told them that Gaara was a quiet child, mostly keeping to himself and only coming out of his shell with his siblings, Shukaku, or his uncle, Yashamaru. Nevertheless, Gaara had a bit of a temper and was prone to attacking people (not his family, he was used to them) who irritated or attacked him, which happened rather often, given the stigma against jinchuriki. However, Shukaku suspected that their dislike of Gaara seemed to stem from rumors spread by his father. As such, both he and Gaara disliked the Kazekage, who treated him (Gaara) like he was a crime against nature and thus not fit to exist.

Matatabi went next, and she proudly told them that Yugito, her twenty-plus year old vessel, was, in contrast to Gaara, a well-respected jonin of Kumo. Yugito was also one of the few S-ranked kunoichi in the world, due to a combination of her own talent and her synchronization with Matatabi. Other than that though, there was not much for her to tell them, as Yugito had had a relatively normal life growing up, owing to the lack of anti-jinchuriki stigma in Kumo thanks to Killer B, and was as actively social as any other jonin her age.

Isobu found himself in an identical situation as Matatabi: Yagura had, fortunately, grown up with minimal prejudice from the citizens of Kiri, mostly due to the laws put in place by the Mizukage of the time. That, and Yagura's reputation for being incredibly creative with his water affinity and with Isobu's coral attacks, meant that most of the more prejudiced villagers tended to keep their distance. Among his own peers though, Yagura's easy-going and inquisitive nature made him very easy to get along with, so he was well liked by many people in the village. This popularity is what saw him elected as Mizukage despite his young age. From there, he began to try and abolish Kiri's reputation as the Village of the Bloody Mist. Unfortunately, the advent of the Third Shinobi World War and the Uchiha put a stop to those plans.

Son Goku and Kokuo had identical stories for the most part. Both jinchuriki, Roshi and Han respectively, were S-ranked shinobi and jonin. Also, both had suffered prejudice while growing up, though not to the extent of mob attacks. The worst they had to endure was the occasional foolhardy villager attempting to 'cleanse the village' of their presence. Such individuals were normally left beaten up in an alleyway for the ANBU to find.

According to Son Goku, Roshi was always a bit of a loner, a condition that was exacerbated by his treatment in the village, and elected to roam the outskirts of the Land of Earth in order to protect its borders. He never went on missions, content to simply laze around in the wilderness, and the only major action he ever saw was during the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars. It was during these conflicts that Roshi crossed paths with the Sannin and Namikaze Minato, developing a form of mutual respect and a tentative friendship with the Konoha shinobi. Due to this, he opted out of the attack on Uzu near the end of the Second War.

As for Han, he stayed closer to home, acting as a last resort defense strategy in the event that war ever reached the walls of Iwa. As such, he was regularly seen near the village, though only the Tsuchikage ever dared to approach him directly. Recently though, the Tsuchikage, Onoki, had started bringing his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, to speak with Han, seeing as she was his most likely successor. Despite a rough start, Han and Kurotsuchi now got along very well, the kunoichi seeing the jinchuriki as a pseudo-uncle of sorts.

Next was Saiken. His vessel, Utakata, had been an active member of the village shinobi force for years, aiding Kiri's troops to great effect in the Second Shinobi World War. However, he was not present at the siege of Uzu, having grown sick and tired of the fighting. When Yagura came into power, Utakata eagerly threw his lot in with him, glad to rid the village of its bloody history. However, when Yagura began his campaign against kekkei genkai and restarted their bloody graduation exam, Utakata defected from the village, sickened by the actions of his former pupil and best friend. At present, he roams around the Land of Water, keeping away from populated areas due to his increasing dislike of humanity's penchant for violence.

Like Gaara, Chomei's vessel, Fu, was a young child and hated by her village, Takigakure. However, unlike Gaara, who much preferred to be left alone, Fu was a sociable individual and found her isolation from the village incredibly difficult at times. Other than the village leader and his immediate family, namely his son, she had no friends and no one to care for her, which placed great strain on her mental stability. Were it not for Chomei, Fu could have gone crazy from loneliness.

As for her treatment in the village, the shinobi, fortunately, preferred to ignore her, but the villagers tended to riot whenever she so much as showed her face in the village proper. As such, the village leader had assigned Fu to guard the massive tree in the center of Takigakure, the source of the Hero's Water. Over time, she had managed to carve out a rather cozy little home in the heart of the massive tree and, since supplies were delivered to her, she never left it, preferring to invite visitors in instead of going outside.

Gyuki went next, and his exasperated retelling of Killer B's youth sent his siblings into hysterics, though Matatabi was courteous enough to give him a sympathetic look before succumbing to laughter. Turns out, as a child, Killer B aspired to be a rapper as well as a shinobi and he would regularly speak in rap in an attempt to be 'cool'. This also served as a coping mechanism for dealing with some of the prejudice he faced as a jinchuriki. Over time though, Gyuki had managed to break him of his rapping, mostly because he had been on the verge of ripping his ears out to end his torment. Fortunately for Gyuki's sanity, Killer B's increasing success as a shinobi meant that the village was more accepting of him, which encouraged him to give up rapping as a coping mechanism. Of course, he still aspires to be a rapper after retiring and continues to rap every once in a while, mostly to annoy Gyuki.

As for Naruto, well, Kurama gave them a summary of his life in the village, and the consensus was that Naruto was the worst off by far. It did not help that most of the hatred towards him was due to the actions of the Uchiha that fateful night so long ago, which merely increased the feelings of hatred the siblings had towards him. Though Kurama kept the more sordid details of Naruto's life under wraps, what he did tell his siblings was enough to reignite the fires of rage in their hearts. Kurama actually had to pause several times to let them calm down. As he ended his tale with the earlier meeting in the Hokage's office, his siblings just sat and stared at him.

"Well, you've certainly had an interesting time, Brother." Said Isobu, earning a grunt of agreement from Son Goku. "Almost makes me wish I was sealed in him."

Kurama chuckled. "Yeah, the kid's something else. Never boring with him. He attracts trouble like fire attracts moths." With a grunt, he stood up and shook himself. "Well, it's been fun, but I think we need to be getting back. I'll call another meeting soon, alright?"

With various grunts and other sounds of agreement, the biju began to fade away, disappearing back to their respective locations. As the last one, Matatabi, disappeared, Kurama allowed himself a small smile as he closed off the link, the room vanishing around him as he returned to Naruto.

~ Underneath Konoha, Root Headquarters, 1:47 am ~

Danzo was irritated with how the council meeting had gone. All that time he had spent placing mild suggestions in the empty heads of those shortsighted bigots, wasted. Now he would be forced to use more… clandestine methods to fulfill his goals. As he sat, fuming, in his chair, he began to mutter to himself under his breath.

"Well played, old friend. I did not anticipate you finding out about the changes I… encouraged the civilians to undertake." He allowed a small smirk to cross his face. "Still, you believe that it was the Civilian Council who was ultimately responsible. How wrong you are."

Leaning back in his chair, the old cripple thought back over all the plans he had made that had led to the meeting. Ten years ago, he had paid several of the more prominent councilors a visit, using the time spent with them to subtly enhance their hatred towards Naruto. Following that, he had influenced these same individuals to make certain changes in the village. The implication of the civilians in the changes to the Charter, the modifications to the Academy syllabus, and the stolen land were merely cover-ups for where the stolen money really went. The Shinobi Council might believe that the councilors took the money for themselves, much like how all the illegal changes were for the councilors' benefit, but the money actually went towards the funding of Root.

Despite the success of that plan, one thing continued to gnaw at him, much like it had every day for the past twelve years: the jinchuriki. He had carefully orchestrated all of the boy's suffering, from the mobs to the hatred of the villagers to the sub-par instruction delivered to him at the Academy, in order to isolate him, make him susceptible to manipulation, and still the boy had managed to find friends. He silently cursed the Clan Heads for encouraging their children to befriend the brat. Even worse, Hiruzen supported this. Could he not see that these emotional bonds were weakening Konoha's greatest weapon? He cursed the day Hiruzen forbade him from taking in the boy. He could have made him the ultimate weapon: cold, heartless, and utterly without mercy. A tool to be wielded by himself, for who else would have the discipline, the mental fortitude to command the power of the mightiest biju? Still, there was still a chance to make the boy see things his way. He just needed to get rid of Hiruzen.

Before that though, he needed to deal with the councilors, lest they incriminate him during the interrogations. Granted, with the memory modifications done to them, that chance was minimal, but better safe than sorry.

Just then, there was a knock on his study door, dragging him out of his reverie. Looking up, Danzo glanced at the friend-or-foe recognition seal inscribed on his desk. Seeing the names of his two most trusted operatives, he pressed a button, unlocking the door and allowing them entry.

Once inside, the two operatives immediately knelt before him. "Danzo-sama," Started the one on the left, a Yamanaka by the name of Foo. "our mission was a success. The minor uprising in the costal villages has been rendered silent."

Danzo nodded his approval. "Excellent work. Both of you." He leaned forward in his chair and handed the other operative, Aburame Torune, a sheet of paper with names written on it. "Now, I have another mission for you. I want you to go to the holding cells in the T&I building. Find these civilian councilors who were arrested tonight and… deal with them. No loose ends. Understood?"

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

Danzo leaned back and smirked. "Go."

~ Amegakure, 11:00 pm ~

In a large, circular room located at the heart of Ame's tallest tower, five cloaked figures, four males and a female, gathered, each standing at a specific point around a circle. Then, as though summoned by some unseen signal, several purple holograms materialized in the room, filling four of the five remaining spots.

One of the holograms, a large, dome-shaped lump with a metallic tail, spoke, his voice hollow and echoing, as though spoken through a metal drum. "So, we're all together again. Heh, haven't met up like this since Orochimaru left."

The hologram immediately opposite him, a large man with green-pupiled eyes and a covered up face rumbled, "Yes. It has been a while, hasn't it? Found anything new to practice your… art on, Sasori?"

"Oi, oi!" Barked the hologram next to Sasori, a young man with long, blond hair that covered one eye. "You call that garbage art? I'll tell you what art is, Kakuzu! An explosion!"

"Deidara, shut it! You f-" Kakuzu shot the speaker a look, causing him to swallow his curse. "talk too much." Grumbled the silver-haired hologram with the triple-bladed scythe standing next to Kakuzu.

At everyone else's surprised looks, Kakuzu said, "I got tired of his incessant talking, whining, and swearing. So I decided, since I can't just shut him up permanently, I'll rip his tongue out whenever he starts to get too irritating." He gave a dark chuckle. "It took a few tries, but he got the message."

Hidan glared at Kakuzu and made to start yelling when the orange-haired figure at the head o the circle spoke, his purple, concentric-ringed eyes glaring around the room. "Enough. I trust the missions I assigned are all completed?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Kakuzu, report."

Kakuzu straightened up and Hidan slammed his jaw shut with a clack. "Hai, Leader-sama. We've successfully completed nearly thirty bounty-hunting missions. In total, we've managed to add over four hundred million ryo to our finances."

The Leader nodded. "Good. We will have need of the funds. Sasori, Deidara?"

The two artists exchanged a glance and Sasori decided to speak. "We've been meeting with the contacts of my spy network and establishing new contacts in the villages. At present, we have nearly a dozen sleeper agents and spies in each of the Big Five, and many more in the smaller villages. The only place we've had difficulty establishing any sort of foothold is Kiri. Their security is even tighter now that the Civil War is over."

Sasori paused here, seeming to gather his thoughts. "It would appear that Orochimaru has plans for his former home. He has formed an alliance with Suna to attack and destroy Konoha during the Chunin Exams." As he said this, everyone's eyes flicked over to the young man standing next to the massive figure with a wrapped up bundle on his back. The young man gave no reaction other than to slowly blink, his Sharingan calmly gazing around the room.

"I see." Muttered the Leader. "We shall have to make plans to deal with the traitor at a later date. As for Konoha, the fate of one village is of minimal concern to us. Itachi, Kisame, what of you?"

Kisame grunted, shifting the bundle on his back slightly. "Well, Itachi and I have been looking around for information on the jinchuriki. We have a general idea of where they are, we just don't know who they are. Not yet." Itachi merely nodded his agreement.

The Leader nodded slowly, though it was clear that he was displeased with the lack of information. Turning to the only other male who was physically present in the room, a strange dichromatic being with a venus flytrap around his head, he said, "Zetsu, go investigate the villages. Find out as much as you can about the jinchuriki. Who they are, where they are, how much their village values them, and how easy it would be to capture them. Go." Zetsu nodded and melted into the ground.

Looking back around the room, the Leader continued, "I want all of you to rest up and, if possible, try and obtain additional funds. We will be starting our primary missions soon." He looked around one more time. "The world will soon learn of the name Akatsuki. Dismissed." With that, the holograms faded away and Itachi and Kisame made for their temporary quarters in the tower.

Once the door shut, the female member turned to look at her old friend. "Nagato…"

He glared at her. "I am not 'Nagato' anymore, Konan. I am Pein, and soon the world will know the meaning of the word. For I am a god." His glare sharpened. "You would do well to remember your place. Despite our history, I will not hesitate to make an example of you if necessary." His piece said, he whirled around and stalked out of the room without a backwards glance, missing the hurt look in Konan's eyes as she gazed at his back and the single tear that flowed down her cheek.

~ Itachi's quarters ~

As soon as the door shut behind him, Itachi hung up his robes, walked up to his desk, and grabbed a spare piece of paper. Sitting down, he began to write down the key points of the meeting he had just left.

Once he had finished, he quickly folded up the message and placed it to the side of his desk. Bringing a hand up to his mouth, he bit his thumb and flipped through a set of hand seals. Slamming his bleeding hand palm down on the tabletop with an utterance of "Summoning Technique", a sealing array appeared under his hand followed by a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a single raven was standing on the desk, looking straight at Itachi.

The Uchiha prodigy gave a small smile and rubbed the raven's head affectionately. With swift, practiced movement, he sealed the message into the small harness on the raven's back. "Deliver this to Jiraiya-sama as fast as possible." The raven bobbed its head and hopped out the window, immediately latching onto an updraft and angling towards Konoha.

Once the raven was out of sight, Itachi locked the window and sat down with a sigh. Stretching, he stood up and made for the washroom to wash his face. As he was drying himself off, he heard the familiar sound of his room door opening and closing. He closed his eyes and reached out with his other senses, feeling for the chakra of the intruder. Upon sensing it, a smile flitted across his face as he walked out of the washroom.

As expected, he saw Konan standing by the window, looking out over the rain-soaked expanse of Amegakure. As Itachi approached her from behind, however, he heard, muffled but still audible, the unmistakable sound of sobs. His brow furrowing in concern, he gently took Konan by the shoulders and turned her around to look her in the face. Her devastated expression broke his heart and he immediately wrapped her smaller form in his arms. As he did so, Konan's arms automatically wrapped around him and she buried her face in his chest as she wept.

Itachi held her gently as her tears began to soak into his clothes, wanting desperately to know what had happened, but knowing that she was in no condition to tell him. Eventually, Konan's sobs petered out, having cried herself to sleep in his arms. Itachi gazed down at her tenderly, marveling at how beautiful she looked when at peace, and gently kissed her forehead. Shifting his grip, he picked her up and laid her on his bed, tucking her in.

Once ensuring that she was comfortable, he locked the door, walked over to his chair and moved it next to the bed. Sitting down, he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes to rest, silently vowing to get to the bottom of the issue first thing in the morning.