An Influential Man

I don't own Naruto. Recently, I noticed that I've been somewhat neglecting some of the older series of Shots in the Gallery. As such, I've decided to fix that by revisiting as many of them as I can write a plot for. This one is set in the Demonic 'Verse, better known as the series of Shots that consists of Shots 3, 4, 5, 11, 23, 27, and 38, and is meant to show this Naruto's interactions with Hiruzen.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was unable to move from his current location. This was a displeasing occurrence, as he was currently in the body that the Yondaime had sealed him into, which was devoid of any sign of life for him to try to corrupt later in life. Fortunately, this situation meant that the body had space for him to inflict his will to eventually achieve mastery of the husk. Another bit of good fortune was that he had managed to cast and maintain a glamour to keep his tails and eyes hidden before the other insects came. The first to arrive was an old, wrinkled insect dressed in battle armor, who picked him up and turned to the insect in the mask that looked like a Dog as he said, "Minato had told me that his name was going to be Naruto. Still, he had many enemies, so I thought that we should call him Naruto Uzumaki in honor of his mother."

The Nine-Tailed Fox silently raged at the insect's presumption. His name was Kurama, and he was not going to accept any names that the insect that sealed him was going to name its spawn. Nevertheless, he had no method of exacting his vengeance on the old insect at the moment, so he would bide his time. Once he was able to control this form, he would come up with a suitable method of escaping and punishing his jailers.


When the husk reached the age of one, the Nine-Tailed Fox had become numbed to the old insect's presence. He was clever, as far as insects went, but there was not much for him to say either for or against the old insect, as the man kept an eye on the defenseless husk he was trapped inside of, but this was the same man that insisted on praising the insect that had sealed him away and continued to refer to him by the name that the husk was supposed to have.

"Happy Birthday, Naruto," the old insect said, his hands behind his back, "I brought you a gift. Meet Gama-chan."

The old insect handed him a strange frog that felt more like the things wrapped around him, keeping his husk warm, with something soft and malleable inside. Deciding to see if it tasted good, the Nine-Tailed Fox gnawed at the thing with his currently toothless mouth, only to determine that it was absolutely not food, but it did feel nice against his jaws. He noticed the old man smiling at him with that kind smile he often had on his face and determined that it was normal behavior for insects at the age of his current husk to react to such items in such a way.


When the husk reached the age of three, the Nine-Tailed Fox determined that he did not hate the old man. Though he didn't allow the Nine-Tailed Fox the right to explore on his own, he appeared to only be doing it out of concern for his safety, and never seemed to act out of malice. Idly, the Fox often wondered if he would show the same mercy if he knew that the boy he was looking at all the time was merely the husk that the Fox was possessing, with emotion-based glamours hiding his features.

The Nine-Tailed Fox's mind never allowed itself to remain on that topic for long, for reasons that the Nine-Tailed Fox could never understand. Nevertheless, the Nine-Tailed Fox spent most of his time in the old man's office, where he often heard discussions between the old man and whichever one of his subordinates came it at any given time. No, Naruto definitely did not hate the old man.


At the age of five, Naruto the Nine-Tailed Fox was in the middle of telling the old man about his experiences that day, or at least the series of events he was willing to divulge in the way he decided to divulge them. As such, he told how he rescued Hinata and how he made friends with the Yamanaka girl, though both stories purposefully omitted his demonic method of doing both and he avoided mentioning Sai entirely. Really, there was no need to reveal either thing, as that could endanger him in this village.

Smiling at him indulgently, the old man nodded his head until he finished. Once the blond had stopped speaking, he simply said, "That's very good, Naruto. I'm very proud of you for making new friends. Still, for my sake, could you please not wander outside of the village? You could get hurt. Don't worry, you can go anywhere you want in the village and make friends with whoever you want, but you need to be where I or a jounin can find you."

Naruto merely nodded, agreeing to stay within the village. He doubted that it would be good for him to travel far in his current condition, anyway, even with his power getting closer to being fully accessible.


At the age of seven, Naruto the Nine-Tailed Fox was in his cell, chained completely to the wall as the old man entered, a blank expression on his face, causing him to look older than Naruto ever remembered him looking. They both stared at each other, neither making a sound. In an attempt to make the old man feel more comfortable, Naruto applied his glamour, once again rendering his bound tails invisible and hiding his real eyes.

"They tried to take Hinata from me," Naruto said, "I was not going to let that happen."

"I believe you, Naruto," the Hokage said with a sigh, "but the political backlash of what you've done is staggering. You killed someone who was, as far as the Raikage is publicly concerned, helping to create a peace treaty. Meanwhile, on the civilian's side of things, they and several of the shinobi of the village want to know why Mizuki was killed."

"He was a traitor to the village who planned on giving information to Orochimaru," Naruto responded simply.

"I see," the old man nodded before his face once more darkened, "Were it feasible, I'd let all of you out, but were I to release you, Kumo would be claim that it was a government sponsored assassination and all contracts were voided unless Konoha gave in to its more ludicrous demands."

"I understand, sir," the blond nodded, "I will abide by what's necessary for the time being."


At age nine, Naruto idly noted that it had been two years since he and his team had allowed the Anbu to catch them. The old man came to visit and often told him about the village and what was going on around the world, though Naruto didn't really need it, since he had Ino to gather that information from others. Really, if not for the steel chains supposedly binding him, his change in size and ability, and the change in scenery, Naruto might have mistaken this for the earlier years of his life from the point he was sealed inside his body.

It was strange to the blond, as it was to Ino, as neither of them could find any real intent on the part of the old man other than to visit the cell. As a result, Naruto didn't bother using his usual methods of dealing with his jailers when the old man came, as the old man never asked questions. He had other things on his mind as it was, given that the Kurama girl could prove useful, and Prisoner 010-T-10 wanted to escape. Once he had more cards in his hand for dealing with them, he would propose an alliance of sorts, but until then, he was sitting in his cell waiting for the next meeting with the old man.


At the age of thirteen, Naruto noticed that the old man hadn't visited at his regularly scheduled time, but assumed that he was busy dealing with the Chuunin Exam, which the guards had noted were going on. To everyone in Solitary Confinement's surprise, a sudden explosion could be heard. Mentally calling for Ino, he asked, 'Was that one of our fellow guests of the village?'

'No,' Ino remarked, setting the conversation to an interconnected set for every member of their little group in Solitary, 'It wasn't anyone in solitary, or even one of the guests of the lower security wings. It seems an invasion is going on.'

'How is that possible?' Sasuke asked, 'We caught the only spy in the village. Without a spy, the attack should have been impossible.'

'A new spy was likely implanted in the time between our arrest and now,' Sai remarked, his mental voice the same monotone as his speaking voice, 'Were a ROOT agent attempting to find any information on a village they were ordered to destroy, then the proper course of action in the event of an informant being killed would be to send in another infiltrator who would escape notice, preferably someone who could appear to be mundane while hiding an interesting set of capabilities. The subject in question would have to have a very poor self-image in advance, so praise to their skills as a spy would be a source of pride, thereby reducing the likelihood of them confessing their actions. Once their pride has been appealed to and dominates their ability to make decisions, it would be a necessity to induct them into the organization, at least on an honorary level, which would give a sense of purpose to them. Once they outlived their usefulness, they would, of course, be terminated.'

A few hours later, the guards returned from the battle, somewhat injured, but still able to perform their pointless duty. Upon taking their knowledge of events from their minds, Ino reported, 'It appears that the battle was won, but the Sandaime Hokage died in combat against the traitor Orochimaru of the Sannin.'

'Very well,' Naruto responded, feeling a strange emptiness he couldn't place set in, 'Please disengage from my mind. I would like some time to myself.'

'Sure, boss,' Ino remarked, not bothering to question him or probe his thoughts.

When he was fully alone, Naruto remained silent, trying to fully grasp what Ino had said. He never really thought of the old man as capable of dying before this moment. He was aware that he would eventually die, as that was an inevitability, but he never expected this to happen. It was odd, and he didn't understand exactly how it could have happened.


At the age of fifteen, Naruto was sitting idly in his cell when Ino mentally remarked, 'The traitor Orochimaru of the Sannin was killed by his former teammate Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Jiraiya also refused to hold onto the title of Hokage and talked his other teammate Tsunade Senju into taking up the role.'

'Interesting,' Naruto remarked, 'We might be able to use this to our advantage. keep waiting for a situation that sounds like it could be of interest to us.'

'Sure thing, boss,' Ino agreed, once more probing the guards minds.


At the age of sixteen, Naruto smirked at Ino's news. The guards weren't sure what was going on, but Tsunade Senju seemed to be in need of some sort of outside assistance. That was the cue he'd been waiting for.

"Guards!" he called out, causing the two men to head to his cell to see what he wanted to discuss.

Looking through the barred window of Naruto's door, the one on the left asked, "What?"

"I would like to speak to the Hokage," he said, hiding his smirk in the shadows, "It's important."