A/N: My apologies- I've actually had this written and up on DLP for about two months, but I forgot that I hadn't put it here. I've got some time off until the end of the month, so I'm hoping I can nut out the rest of this arc- maybe another five or six chapters- and well as the start of the next arc. Or not. I'm kind of bored, to be honest, and that doesn't help the muse at all.
We'll see
In the following weeks, the sudden ambush and subsequent retreat of Team Sigma was unnoticed by all. Whatever explanation or excuse was made for deaths of Akiyama Minoru and his families was completely overshadowed by the dramatic rise of civil unrest that plagued the nation. All throughout the land of fire, the civilian populace rose up in protest of one minor scandal to another.
Chunin Military Police officers were caught accepting bribes. Protest.
Konoha shinobi collateral damage destroyed the crops of a farmer. Protest.
Konoha shinobi were too slow in apprehending a pirate raid off the coast. Protest.
The new levy hit small businesses, gathering monies for the restoration and repair of villages damaged during the Blitz. Protest.
More often than not, they were minor affairs. Disgruntled citizens would gather at the nearest place of authority, shout a few things, and then disperse once Konoha's Military Police arrived to sort them out. Sometimes, it was easy to see the strings that were being played by the nobility, as both minor and major nobles used the rumbling discontent to their own advantage, playing citizens against other nobles, against the Fire Lord or against Konoha itself, purely for their own advantage.
Even Konoha wasn't unaffected. There were mutterings from some of the shinobi. The civilian populace of Konoha was beginning to be viewed suspiciously, and the posters that sometimes appeared for an hour or so before abruptly vanishing did not help.
The Fire Lord had called for calm, and for the most part it seemed to be working. There had been no more wild riots, and very few incidents of citizens acting violently towards the Military Police. When such a thing did occur, it was handled quickly and professionally, the person arrested and detained to await trial.
Despite the lack of violence, the tension was there. Something was festering beneath the surface of the Land of Fire, and all it would take would be a single spark to set it off. As such, there were those who needed to ensure that they would be ready for the oncoming storm.
"Dodge!"
Naruto darted backwards, avoiding the barrage of shuriken that peppered the ground an instant later. Before he could regain his footing, a blur of movement appeared to his left, and he hastily fucked a kick, before bringing both arms up to block a hefty blow. The force behind it sent him sliding backwards, his sandals scraping against the ground.
Even before he had stopped, Naruto had flipped through two hand-seals and brought his hands up to his lips. He inhaled, reared his head back and spat out fire. It rose up, the air suddenly becoming hot, a giant, spiralling ball of flame three times his height surging forward. Despite the fierce power behind the technique, the blond ANBU knew that the technique would not connect. Nonetheless, he hadn't used it with the intention of wounding his opponent, and between the raging fires, the smoke and heat, Naruto was able to escape using the Body Replacement.
It was a good escape, and one performed just in time. A few moments later, the perfect sphere of flames was gutted and its form collapsed, a giant, writhing mass of flame falling upon the ground, grass and shrubs catching alight. A loud-pitch whine filled the air as two streaks of water burst through the flames and caught the log that Naruto had replaced himself with dead on. They high-pressurised bullets of water pulverised the wood, smashing it into splinters.
From his new position on one of the many trees that surrounded the clearing, Naruto watched on. He was panting, his brow sweaty, and his limbs shaky. Fighting against such opponent was tiring. Nonetheless, blind stubbornness kept him going on.
Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!
He slapped his hand on the branch as he channelled lightning chakra through his fingertips. Wood creaked and groaned as a furious discharge of surging bolts tore through it, racing towards the ground. It left the base of the tree in a surge, tearing apart the earth and shattering stone as it roared towards the fiery mess in the centre of the clearing. A large figure was casually lumbering out of it, and the lightning screeched as it smashed upon a hefty, spiked shield.
A large toad stood there, unconcerned with the fire around it. Four times as tall as Naruto, its horizontal-slatted eyes appearing unconcerned, it was lumbered on forward, batting away the lightning-release technique with its bone-like shield as easily as one would swat a fly. Jiraiya sat on top of it, giggling and blushing as he poured over some kind of magazine, his left hand holding it up and his right hand taking notes on a small, spiral-bound notepad.
The toad's hind legs tensed, and Naruto's eyes widened. He darted to the right, using a nearby tree branch to launch himself away from where he had been standing. The large toad smashed onto the tree, its webbed hand coming down and slicing through the trunk like it was paper. Naruto smiled grimly as he landed on another tree, his right hand up and making a single hand seal.
Detonate!
The explosive tags that he had left on the tree began to glow and crackle. In a second, they would explode right around the toad.
It would be a second too late.
With a surge of speed, the toad grabbed the cracked and falling tree branch that Naruto had laid his explosive tags on and hurled it straight at him. Naruto's eyes widened as the branch came towards him, the explosive tags primed and just about to explode. He had an instant to react, or to escape, and he quickly reversed the hand-seal.
Dispel!
The tags glowed and exploded, but instead of the great gouts of fire only smoke came from them. Naruto felt a measure of relief that he had managed to disable the tags. Then he was hit in the face with a branch. His mask took the brunt of the attack, but it still sent him flying from the tree and he landed on the ground roughly, bouncing once or twice before stopping.
The giant toad landed above him, its shield raised above its head, poised to slam down on him. His back aching, Naruto gritted his teeth and slammed his hand down on the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Flow River!
The ground beneath the toad liquefied and began to flow like a river. The current caused the toad the stumble and the shield missed him by metres, slamming into the ground next to him. On his back, Naruto flipped through some more signs and slammed his palms on the ground.
Summoning Technique: Arise, Titan!
The ground rumbled even as the toad regained its footing, and suddenly Naruto was forced up into the air as a mountain of rock beneath him tore its way free from the ground. Two large hands emerged first, covered in thick, oozing tar, with veins of fire. Then came the upper chest, reinforced by thick slabs of granite, thick goblets of molten rock dropping from the crevices in the stone. Finally, the head came last, a human skull made of stone with a leering, frozen smile of razor-sharp teeth and two eye sockets filled with flame.
On top of that head stood Naruto, his hands twisted in a single hand-seal and his face scrunched up with an intense look of concentration. His cracked mask dangled from his belt, and his dirty and muddied cloak flapped about him. The Titan rose to the toad's height, steam rising from its very form as the moisture in the soil and air evaporated almost instantly.
On top of the toad, Jiraiya had stopped pouring over his book and regarded the construct in front of him with narrowed eyes. Naruto could see him stroking his chin, and talking quietly to his own mount. The toad nodded and dashed forward, closing the distance in two huge leaps and bringing its shield down upon the construct of earth and fire with tremendous force.
The Titan's left arm rose and it blocked the blow- but just barely. The shield smashed into the rock and chipped off a huge chunk of the forearm, lodging itself halfway through the arm of the Titan. 'Blood' of red-hot magma dripped from the wound and the toad recoiled, yanking at shield futilely. The Titan raised its right hand and reared back, delivering a slow but mighty blow. The toad copped it right on the head, and while the momentum of the punch sent it flying backwards, it also allowed the toad to wrench the shield out of the Titan's arm.
Naruto made a single hand-seal, his smile grim.
Fire Release: Titan's Roar!
The titan's mouth glowed with an ominous red light, and then from it came a huge gout of flame that made Naruto's previous fire-release techniques look like the light of a candle. The toad, still dazed by the blow, watched on helplessly- but then Jiraiya made a move. The Sannin flipped through some hand-seals and a giant slab of earth rose up in front of the toad. It had been positioned in such a way that made it divert the gout of flame rather than outright block it, and while the Titan's roar did envelop a large part of the forest with fire, it left Jiraiya and his summon untouched.
Naruto was panting, glaring.
"I think that's enough!" Jiraiya's voice called over the distance. He patted his summon on the head, murmured something to it and then watched as the large toad disappeared with a puff of smoke.
His veins burning with chakra, his adrenaline raging, Naruto wanted to keep the battle going. Nonetheless, he slapped his hand on the Titan and the fires within it died down. The glow of light disappeared from the Titan's eyes and it began to crumble, massive slabs of earth falling apart and turning into soil and earth. Almost five seconds later, only a mound of slightly-warm earth stood where the massive construct had been, and Naruto moved down to join Jiraiya back in the clearing.
The fires that Naruto had originally started had almost gone out with very little damage, which was understandable. Fires created with chakra very rarely lasted longer than a few minutes, needing fuel, oxygen and more chakra to sustain itself, while the plants in Training Ground One had been created by the First Hokage himself, and were able to withstand much more than the usual forest.
The young blond flopped down onto the ground with a sigh as Jiraiya chuckled, coming to sit down cross-legged next to the ANBU Captain.
"You're getting good with that thing," he remarked, ruffling Naruto's hair despite the youngster's muttered protests. "If you could finally get it to walk, you'd be able to counter most of the summons out there."
"I know," Naruto muttered. He was scowling.
Despite his best attempts, his progress with the Titan Summoning Technique had stalled. He could only make it about six metres tall before it collapsed in on itself. While it was an impressive construct, its lack of mobility was a severe disadvantage in a real fight. Naruto had only mastered the one long distance attack, which could be easily blocked, and the Titan still couldn't turn very well, which meant that flanking manoeuvres were definitely a weakness. Combined with Naruto's inability to use other techniques with most of his attention focussed on the Titan, the construct, while appearing formidable, had a number of weaknesses that Naruto needed to fix.
"Ah, cheer up!" Jiraiya said cheerfully, knocking Naruto out of his critical thinking with a gentle clap on the back. "Here, have this."
He held out a flavoured ice-block. Naruto looked at the proffered treat with a raised eyebrow, but he nonetheless took it.
"Thanks," he said quietly.
Jiraiya smiled and mussed up Naruto's hair, smiling as the boy swatted at his hands ineffectively. There was a moment of peace between them as the two of them sat there quietly, eating away at their frozen treats. Jiraiya finished first, licking his lips and letting out a huge breath.
"Anyway, now that we're finished sparring…" Jiraiya began, and he turned to Naruto with a mischievous smile. "Did you wanna see something cool?"
Naruto's eyebrows rose. Something cool? He nodded silently, even as he thought about what that could mean. Despite his eccentricities, Jiraiya was a Sannin, and his knowledge, power and skill were right up there with the Third Hokage. Was it going to be an earth technique? Maybe a fire technique? Perhaps the vaunted Toad Sage abilities that Naruto had only ever heard whispers of.
Jiraiya grinned and slammed his hands down on the ground. A second later, there was a flash of smoke and a small, red toad appeared. It eyed Jiraiya with what seemed like reproach but nonetheless allowed the Toad Sage to pick it up and place it on his lap.
"This is a technique that allows me to see through the eyes of my summon," Jiraiya murmured as he stroked the toad's back. "Put your hand here."
Fascinated, Naruto placed a hand on the toad. He winced as his vision wavered and went fuzzy, and suddenly here was looking at two different sets of images in his mind. It was hard to differentiate between them as the images overlapped with each other, but Naruto carefully tried to analyse them each in turn. One set of images was from where he was sitting, of dirt and grass and a smiling Toad Sage.
The other set…was that steam? A wooden fence, and small shrubs. Something wet- water? And was that somebody coming? Fabric was dropped and Naruto caught a flash of bare flesh. He jerked back, horrified, his cheeks flushing and his mouth flopping up and down as he temporarily lost the ability to form words.
Jiraiya roared with laughter.
"W-What the hell?" Naruto spluttered. His cheeks felt warm, and he felt tremendously embarrassed and mortified- yet strangely fascinated nonetheless. "What the hell was that?"
"That was my research," Jiraiya grinned. He gestured at the front invitingly. "Come on, have another look. Nobody will ever know."
Naruto stared at him, horrified. "This is really creepy," he muttered.
Nonetheless, he shuffled back closer to the Toad Sage, his cheeks red, and he tentatively reached out for the toad. Just as his fingers grazed the summon's back, it promptly disappeared in a flash of smoke and a mournful corak.
"Ah, Tsunade found the other one," Jiraiya murmured. He gave an uneasy smile and jumped hastily to his feet. "So, looks like I need to check out something. See you later, Naruto!"
He promptly disappeared in a flicker of movement that Naruto was barely able to see. He sat there, his cheeks slowly regaining their normal colour, staring at the back of the retreating Sannin. Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his head, still feeling quite confused.
He finished off his ice-block, and was just about to get up and begin training again when a terrible presence bore down on him. He whirled around, his heart racing, as something incredibly powerful approached him. It was full of righteous anger and terrible wrath, and was horrifyingly familiar. Naruto just sighed in resignation and turned away. An instant later, Tsunade landed in the Training Ground, her form wreathed with golden fire, her fists clenched and the veins in her forehead throbbing.
Before she could say anything, Naruto pointed to the left.
"He went that way," he proclaimed dully.
Tsunade scoffed as she followed his finger. She seemed to making some calculations in her head, and the conclusions she reached made her tremble in anger.
"That slippery little bastard," she growled. Her fists clenched and the golden fire around her became even more pronounced, but then she sighed and it faded away. She turned to Naruto, regarding him with suspicious eyes. "Hey, brat! Didn't I feel your chakra as well?"
Naruto's mouth opened and the lie that came out was so smooth that he almost half-believed it himself.
"No," he said flawlessly. "I was training here, so maybe some of my chakra caused some interference or something. I wasn't doing anything."
Tsunade cocked her head, considering him carefully. Then she gave him a vicious smile, looking down at him. "So you didn't see anything?"
Naruto paused, his eyes unconsciously lowering to her cleavage, and his cheeks gave the slightest flush.
Tsunade twitched, her fingers giving a little spasm, and she chuckled hoarsely. "Doing some training, huh?" she practically purred, stalking towards him like a hunter towards its prey.
Naruto backed away uneasily, gulping.
"Well, if my good-for-nothing teammate has the time to help you out, maybe I should as well," Tsunade continued, smiling dangerously as she moved closer and closer to Naruto.
"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly-" Naruto began hastily.
"I insist," Tsunade interrupted, rubbing her hands with something that looked like malicious glee. "I have a great exercise for you. Let's play a game, Naruto."
"What type of game?" Naruto asked, already feeling like he was going to regret the answer.
"Ever heard of a game called dodge ball?"
"Yeah," Naruto answered slowly, eyes wide.
Tsunade smiled, raised her foot and stomped on the ground. It shuddered and rumbled, a fissure appearing where her heel had struck the ground, and Naruto watched with wide eyes as a jagged rock twice as large as he shot out of the ground. The legendary Sannin caught it effortlessly, holding it in one hand, leering down at Naruto with a truly dangerous expression.
"It's like that," she said sweetly. "Except I use this. I call it 'dodge rock'."
Naruto stared at the boulder and gulped. "Fuck," he uttered morosely.
"Oi, Naruto," Tsunade called out, a wicked smile on her face. She drew back her arm, her golden eyes flashing. "Dodge!"
"Ow… wait… no, don't do…ah!"
Naruto winced as Tsunade ruthlessly pulled out yet another splinter from his back, not seeming to care about his feeble protests one bit. The 'game' had gone on for about fifteen minutes, and in the end it had left Naruto utterly exhausted and trembling, his clothes in tatters, his armour heavily dented and his supply of kunai and shuriken turned into scrap. Tsunade had thrown pretty everything at him except the kitchen sink- and if Training Ground One had possessed a kitchen, she would have chucked that at him as well.
From boulders, she had moved onto branches, then entire trees, swinging them around with the ease as one might swing a fly-swatter to kill a bug. Nothing Naruto had pulled out seemed to have stopped her- she had even backhanded his Titan into a thousand pieces and thrown its rapidly-crumbling head at him with enough force to leave a large crater in the side of the cavern.
Whoever said Tsunade was a close-combat specialist had never seen her throw a rock the size of a house a good hundred metres.
In the end, Naruto had ended up pinned underneath said rock, unable to move his limbs as Tsunade towered over him. She had smiled down sweetly at him and asked if the view had been worth all of this effort.
Privately, Naruto thought that it rather had.
At least the Sannin had been courteous enough to drag him to the hospital, and she had even started patching him up. It was pleasant, mind you, but no other doctor would have gone near him, so he was just grateful that somebody was tending to his wounds.
Tsunade had made her status as his 'personal physician' quite clear, and nobody in the hospital seemed suicidal enough to contradict her.
"There, almost done," Tsunade said briskly. She ran her glowing hands over his arms, and some of the tension and aches immediately faded as she worked on his forearms. "Tell you what, kid, you can take a hit."
"Practise, I think," Naruto responded dryly.
Tsunade snorted as she continued to run her glowing hands on him. Her deft finger touches left goose bumps on his arms, and he practically sighed in relief as she worked out a kink from his shoulder. It would have healed sooner than later, probably in an hour or so, but there was nothing quite like a medical technique to speed things along.
"Anyway," Tsunade said as she moved behind him. Naruto heard a rustle and the sound of tearing fabric. "What's this I hear about Team Sigma getting a larger roster?"
"We added a new member," Naruto answered. "Uchiha Sasuke. He's been working- gah! That's cold!"
Tsunade ignored him and kept applying the paste to his lacerations. Naruto could feel that some of them were quite deep, but there was really no need to put antibacterial cream on it! He told the medic that, and she snorted.
"I don't care if you can grow back your limbs," she snorted. "I'm your doctor so you'll do as I say."
"Whatever," Naruto muttered sourly.
Tsunade continued on, unconcerned with his darkening mood. "One of the Uchiha in Sigma," she mused quietly. "To think that a member of that clan would be in the squad that acts as the Hokage's personal bodyguards- my uncle would be spinning in his grave."
"He's a good shinobi," Naruto said defensively. His fists clenched. "Don't trash my squad, you old ha- gah!"
Tsunade applied the next patch with a little bit more pressure than what was necessary.
"Watch your mouth, you little punk," she growled, squeezing his shoulder until something creaked.
Naruto turned and glared at her defiantly. She glared back, golden-brown meeting his crystal blue, and then her lips twitched. She sighed and dropped the stare, continuing to wrap a bandage around his shoulder.
"You're a brave, little brat, aren't you?" she asked. There was a note of something in her voice that Naruto couldn't recognise. After a moment, she kept talking, and her voice had softened considerably. "So you get along with all of your teammates?"
Naruto nodded. "They threw me a birthday party the other day," he said. He smiled at the memory of it, and leaned in closer to Tsunade. "I got presents," he confessed. He sounded quite pleased with himself.
Tsunade's mouth was slightly open, and she shook her head and smiled softly at him. "That's good," she replied. "Anything good?"
Naruto nodded. "Four sets of kunai, a spool of wire- the conductive type, really expensive and not on my equipment list, so I have to buy it myself… what else? I got a new whet stone, a pack of barbed senbon, four smoke bombs, and a teddy bear." He paused. "I think Towa was just trying to stuff around, but I like it."
"You have a teddy bear?" Tsunade asked with surprise.
"Yep," Naruto nodded. He slammed his fist in his palm. "We made some modifications, replaced the eyes with a makeshift senbon launcher and stuffed a smoke bomb in its chest. Then we hooked up some wire, and when I got back to the Tower I attached it to the door frame. If Konohamaru comes sneaking in, he's gonna get twenty senbon shoved right up his ar-ghh!"
Tsunade had finished tightening the bandage with an exasperated expression on her face. She shook her head wryly.
"Boys," she murmured fondly. She reached behind her and chucked Naruto a bottle drink that she had somehow hidden in her medical bag. "Drink up."
Naruto took the tonic and took a deep gulp. He shuddered- the vitamin and nutrients might have been 'essential to a growing boy's needs' or whatever, but it tasted truly bad. Couldn't they have added a little bit of sugar to it?
Tsunade was watching him, and as he put down the nearly empty bottle, she reached over and ruffled his hair.
"Gah, why is it always the hair?" Naruto despaired, trying to shield himself from the older woman.
"You," Tsunade proclaimed fondly, "…are a weird kid."
Her hand drifted to his chest, where the First Hokage's pendant sat. He had never really taken it off since the time he had 'acquired' it off of her, and Naruto sometimes honestly forgot that he still had it on. Now that it was in the presence of a Senju, he could feel something within it stir and resonate with Tsunade's touch. The Sannin's fingers ghosted over the priceless jewel.
"Dan would have liked you," she murmured.
Naruto didn't know what to say to that.
Then, she withdrew her hand and scoffed. "Nawaki though," she said sternly, "would have hated you. He'd have kicked your arse."
"He could have tried," Naruto muttered.
Tsunade let out a single laugh and folded her arms over her chest. "He was a fast little shit," she mused. "Faster than any Genin I've ever seen, although there's that one taijutsu genin that comes closer than any others. Come to think of it," and here she eyed him critically, "You've gotten a lot faster since our last spar as well."
That had been a spar?
Naruto vaguely recalled that their 'spar' had left an entire forest devastated and Team Sigma mentally traumatised as Tsunade had picked them apart with her immense strength.
He smiled weakly. "I'm just awesome," he proclaimed somewhat hesitantly. "Or so Yuuka keeps telling me."
"Oh? Tsunade raised an eyebrow, suddenly looking interested. "Who's Yuuka?"
"A teammate," Naruto answered, looking at Tsunade strangely.
"A girl teammate?" Tsunade pressed.
"Yeah," Naruto drawled, nodding slowly. He cocked his head. "Is that a problem?"
"Oh, no," Tsunade shook her head, her smile becoming predatory. "There's no problem, Naruto- but do tell."
"Tell what?" Naruto replied blankly.
"Is she beautiful?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowing as she catalogued his every reaction.
Naruto's mouth moved uselessly, and his cheeks flushed. "I'm… I'm totally not having this conversation," he finally responded. He jumped up off of the hospital bed and pressed his ANBU tattoo.
In a puff of smoke, Naruto's dented armour and tattered clothes were replaced with a pair of shorts and a white shirt.
"Have you had the talk yet?" Tsunade mused. "I wonder if I need to go over it with you."
"The talk?" Naruto repeated carefully.
"You know…" Tsunade gestured with her hands. "When a man and a women love each other, they…"
"Oh, fuck no," Naruto swore, and he disappeared in a blazingly fast Body Flicker, leaving the Sannin behind to chuckle quietly to herself.
Naruto would have liked to take the rest of the day off. He hadn't been rostered on for any missions, he had fulfilled his weekly training requirements in the last two days and he was still pretty exhausted from the rather intense confrontation with Tsunade. Regardless, the bird that soared past his head and dropped a white feather into his hand was rather insistent, and with a sigh Naruto made a hand-seal and disappeared in a flicker of movement.
A few minutes later, Naruto appeared in the Hokage's Tower. He had sealed away his casual clothes, and he wore his flak vest over a black shirt and a pair of pants. The blond adjusted his headband so that it sat straight on his forehead, and then continued walking down the hallway. Members of the Jonin Guard nodded at him as he passed them, and Naruto waved back in a friendly greeting.
It was only when he had passed the last of the checkpoints to the Hokage's Office that he stopped, his eyes widening.
A black-cloaked figure wearing a patterned white mask stood before him. Red stripes curled down the side of the man's mask to form an intimidating snarl. The ANBU operative was walking towards the Hokage's Office, but he noticed Naruto's approach and paused.
"Good afternoon, Ferret," the man greeted coolly. Like the ANBU Commander, his voice was partially synthesised, deep and unemotional. "I have heard of Team Sigma's successes in the field. You are to be commended."
"Hello, Kitsune," Naruto greeted back just as coolly. "I didn't know you were back."
Kitsune gave a tiny shrug. "Our mission in the Land of Hot Springs is complete. As such, Alpha Platoon is reporting back to Konoha for reassignment."
The two ANBU operatives fell into line with each other and began to walk towards the Hokage's Office. Kitsune was taller than Naruto by a fair margin, and Naruto worked hard to keep his stride in line with the senior operative.
"Good mission?" Naruto asked after a few awkward moments.
"We reached our objectives in a satisfactory manner," Kitsune replied.
"Oh," Naruto uttered. He scratched the back of his head. "Awesome."
The two ANBU operatives reached the doors and entered the Hokage's Office. The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, carefully studying one of the many documents that littered his table. Kitsune paused at the head of the Hokage's table and knelt, while Naruto moved past him to stand behind the Hokage's left shoulder.
"Rise, Kitsune," the Hokage said, his voice a rumble.
Kitsune did so, and he stood there, tall, proud and unmoving- the perfect shinobi. Behind the Hokage, Naruto rolled his eyes. Damn it, Kitsune was such a suck-up! The other operative probably saw his eye roll, but nonetheless he stood there unflinchingly as the Hokage finished reading the document and placed it down on the table.
"Report," the Hokage commanded.
"As per your orders, Alpha Platoon entered the Land of the Hot Springs and immediately began searching for any remnants of the Cult of Jashin," Kitsune said. "The Fire Lord was able to negotiate official clearance with the local Feudal Lord, and we began looking at their records."
He paused.
"Despite severe losses sustained during the Crusade against the Land of Lightning, the Cult had managed to build up their numbers to dangerous levels. There were approximately seven monasteries hidden away in remote regions, with approximately three thousand members in total. We followed reports of disappearances and abductions and located five of the monasteries. As per your orders, we implemented the scorched earth doctrine."
Kitsune cocked his head.
"There was some collateral damage. Several of the cultists had integrated themselves into local villages. Many members of the minor nobility had been turned, some forcefully, using a brainwashing method still unknown to us. Their overall goals seemed to be once again the complete control of the Feudal Court. We tracked down every agent and member of the Cult and neutralised them. Our last count indicated that six-thousand, four-hundred and twenty-seven men, women and children were put to the torch. Fifteen villages were burned. All seven monasteries were destroyed. All associated books and artefacts were gathered and destroyed."
Naruto's eyes widened and it took all of his control not to gape at the other ANBU Captain in the room. Alpha Platoon had killed over 6000 people in a matter of months? What he was hearing made him feel uneasy, but he ruthlessly squashed down those feelings and reminded himself just exactly why Alpha Platoon had been deployed.
After all, the Cult of Jashin had invaded the Land of Fire, butchered hundreds of citizens and attempted an assassination of the daughter of the Fire Lord.
Naruto clenched his fists. The Cult, and anybody who had associated with them, had gotten exactly what they deserved- or, at least, that's what the blond boy told himself.
The Hokage nodded, looking unmoved by the statistics that he had just heard. "And the status of your squad?" he continued.
"Out of twenty-five ANBU operatives, eight were killed in action," Kitsune reported in a monotone. "The Cult possessed some fearsome techniques involving the use of blood. Their largest monastery was protected by a barrier technique that liquefied the flesh of any individual within the radius of it. We lost a squad in our initial scouting attempts."
"I see," the Hokage murmured. "I trust that you have documented this technique?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kitsune bowed.
"Very well," the Hokage said. He waved Kitsune away. "Dismissed, Captain. You and your men have two weeks of leave. You have earned it."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kitsune said. He bowed once more, and then disappeared.
Naruto was left alone in the office with the Hokage, but the old man didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk. For the next couple of hours, the young blond silently worked at Sarutobi's side, filing paperwork and sending of messengers. There were times when Sarutobi would just stare out the window with his pipe, letting Naruto handle much of the logistics by himself.
It occurred to Naruto as he was stamping approval on a budget request that he had just approved the movement of more money than he would ever earn in a lifetime. It also occurred to him that he was technically committing treason at the moment as he used the Hokage's stamp to authorise yet another document. He finished it off by signing Sarutobi's name, his use of the signature practically identical to the old man's own.
Towards the end of the day, when the sun was beginning to dip over the Hokage's Monument, there was a knock on the door. Sarutobi stirred in his chair and looked up from his cup of tea. Naruto stood up from his seat and strode across the room to open the door.
An old man stood there, heavily bandaged. His arm was close to his chest, held up by a sling, and one of his eyes was covered by his bandages. He held a cane in his hand, and he wore a faint and unassuming smile.
"Good evening, Uzumaki Naruto," Danzo greeted quietly. "I have an appointment with the Hokage. Is he available?"
Naruto turned his head and saw Sarutobi give him a slight nod. He pulled on the door and held it open as the injured elder walked into the office, heavily favouring his left leg. The cane tapped rhythmically along the wooden floorboards as the old man limped to the desk and sank into one of the seats.
"You're dismissed, Naruto," the Hokage said quietly. He waved the young blond away, despite the ANBU operative's half-formed protests. "I can handle of the rest of this myself. Thank you for your assistance today."
Naruto nodded, and with one last, curious look at Danzo, left the office.
The door closed with a quiet thud behind Naruto's departure, and it left Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo alone in the office. The God of Shinobi and the Darkness of Shinobi sat on opposite ends of the table, the former puffing on his pipe. Danzo slowly reached into his robes and pulled out his own pipe. The Hokage raised an eyebrow as the other elder shinobi lit the end of the pipe with an expert flare of fire-natured chakra and puffed on it.
"Alpha Platoon is back," Danzo commented. "Their presence will be well-needed in the coming days."
"Indeed," Sarutobi responded. He took a sip from his cup of tea. "It appears that conflict is inevitable, my old friend. One way or another, war is coming to the Land of Fire."
Danzo made a noise in the back of his throat. "How vexing," he murmured. "To think that there's a squad of foreign operatives conducting missions on our own soil…" His fist clenched against his pipe, and his nostrils flared.
Sarutobi smiled ruefully. "I am torn between anger and admiration," he admitted. "Whoever is responsible is doing such a superb job. I am loathe to admit, but they might even be better than your vaunted ROOT."
"If it still existed," Danzo added a moment later.
Sarutobi smiled. "Of course," he agreed graciously. He rubbed at his chin with his thumb. "On a more serious note, it's becoming quite apparent that we might need to start considering the worst case scenario."
Danzo paused.
"Should the Village lose the support of the Fire Court, it might become necessary to appoint a Hokage who will be able to regain favour of the nobility," Sarutobi continued grimly. "It cannot be I. The rumours of my 'involvement' with the last Fire Lord's demise are poison to my position."
"Who will take the spot then?" Danzo asked. "Is your newest apprentice the one who will rise to the position?"
Sarutobi smiled bitterly. "No," he rejected. "Naruto is 'The Right Hand of God'. His prestige is tied to his relationship to me. While he is beginning to make a name for himself, he is still perceived as being 'under my thumb'." Sarutobi shook his head. "No. Naruto becoming the Fifth Hokage will not help fix this crisis."
"Besides," Danzo said, "Uzumaki Naruto is still too inexperienced for the position. There are better shinobi for the job."
"Like yourself," Sarutobi noted with wry amusement.
Danzo smiled thinly. "I would be a possible candidate," he admitted. "Nonetheless, I would not want the position in such circumstances. The kowtowing and bowing that would be required in such a state of affairs would force me to use drastic measures. I might just have to overthrow the Fire Court should such a thing happen."
Sarutobi froze and pinned his rival with a terrible glare. "That's not funny."
Danzo was unaffected by the Hokage's displeasure. He seemed to be mulling something over. "While it is commendable that you are considering all outcomes to our situation, I believe that you're focussing too much on our defeat and not enough on our victory."
Sarutobi looked amused. "Am I now?" he asked. "Do tell, Danzo. What are you thinking?"
"Uzumaki is in your shadow," Danzo responded. He puffed on his pipe for a few moments. "Like you said, his status is tied to your own. Use that then. Don't lose the battle. Use your jinchuriki to your advantage. Force him to the front. Make him the public face of your campaign. Your victory will not only protect the status of the Village, but it will allow Uzumaki to become acquainted with the Fire Lord and the nobility. They will know his worth, and they will remember it when the time comes."
Sarutobi sighed. "When the time comes…" he mused to himself.
"How long?" Danzo questioned. He seemed genuinely curious.
"I want to say tomorrow," Sarutobi murmured. He chuckled. "Perhaps, though, if all goes well, then in five years I will be able to take off the hat. Naruto can pick it up when he is 18- and then the Village will be his responsibility."
"Should it survive that long," Danzo murmured quietly.
Sarutobi chuckled wearily. "Should it survive that long," he agreed.