Naruto, Karin and Kiba, listen to Tsume's story with stars in their eyes. Kushina was just so cool. Naruto and Karin were taking notes in the back of their minds for possible pranks that they could play as Tsume finished her story.
"And that is why no one in ANBU wears the regulation underwear, I'm pretty sure the stock still has some itching powder in there somewhere." Tsume finished with a grin. Naruto and Karin were rolling on the floor with laughter and Kiba was struggling to catch his breath. "W-we haha, have to do that sometime!" Naruto struggled to get out in between laughs.
"I can't imagine having to deal with that all day, for weeks. Mom was a genius!" Karin agreed, struggling to find her glasses which had fallen off of her face. "She damn well was pup." Tsume said with a hardly restrained smile.
"What else did you guys do?" Naruto asked eagerly, his tail waving behind him with anticipation. "That can wait pup, or else I might run out of stories to tell you." Both Naruto and Karin looked downcast. They wanted to hear as much about their mother as possible and Tsume had many stories, but even that was limited.
"I-I guess." Tsume rubbed his head. "Don't look so down pup, I bet you'll give everyone in the village a scare pulling some of 'Shina-chan's more well known pranks." Naruto and Karin started chuckling evilly. "Just don't tell anyone I told you about them, got it?"
Naruto nodded. "Don't worry about us oba-chan, we don't get caught." Karin said while pushing her glasses up. "Really, how about all of the times Iruka-sensei drags you back to class and ties you up?" Kiba replied, Akamaru barking in agreement on top of his head.
"That's 'cause we let ourselves get caught. All the Chunin and Jonin that normally chase us lose interest after about three hours, sometimes four if the Jonin are really dedicated." Naruto said. "Yeah, we still haven't outrun an ANBU squad yet though. I think our longest time is...two hours?" Karin asked.
Naruto shook his head. "Nah our longest time was well over three hours, remember? It was when we…we…" Naruto trailed off. Karin refused to meet anyone's eyes. Neither of them wanted to relive that particular memory.
"When you guys what?" Kiba asked, not knowing the details. Karin flinched visibly and Naruto pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his tail around himself. "Kiba, don't ask. They clearly don't want to talk about it." Tsume scolded.
"Oh, I, uh...sorry." Kiba said. The confusion in his voice was evident. "Don't worry about it, you don't want to know anyway." Karin quietly squeaked out. Naruto still had his face buried in his knees, shutting out the world.
"Why don't you guys go take your minds off it. I know that you haven't seen the Hyuuga Heiress in a while." Tsume said, trying to brighten the mood. It worked as Naruto's demeanor did a complete 180 shift. "Crap! We completely forgot about Hinata!"
"Calm down will you?! It's not like we were gone that long." Karin admonished her brother as she pulled on the collar of the shirt to prevent him from running off. "Ne, oba-san, can you take these off?" She pointed at the 'good behavior devices' that rested on their necks.
"The rest of the Hyuuga are stuck up pricks as it is, these will just enable them." Tsume nodded, she shared no love for Hiashi Hyuuga and his clan. The last thing she wanted was an incident with a Hyuuga prick happening with her niece and nephew.
"Sure. Just don't get any funny ideas, otherwise they will become a permanent investment. Got it?" She said in her best 'stern-mother' voice. The twins nodded in tandem. Neither wanted a repeat of the Forest of Death incident with Anko.
Tsume made a Inu seal and placed her hands on the back of the collars, releasing them from around the twins' necks. Karin and Naruto rubbed the backs of their necks and sighed dramatically. "Finally! Brother, we are free from our evil warden!" Naruto smirked.
"Oh the horrors, the suffering we have endured, it feels almost like a dream to be free at last." Naruto continued while making wildly theatrical hand motions. "How will we cope with the world after being held captive for so long? I'm almost faint just thinking about it." Karin put the back of her hand up to her forehead dramatically.
Kiba and Hana were barely restraining their laughs, and still failing quite miserably, but Tsume had a tick mark on her forehead and was slowly growing angrier. "ENOUGH!" She shouted. "You two!" She pointed an accusing finger at the twins. "Scram before I change my mind." The twins shot off like rockets out of the house.
They didn't stop running until the Hyuuga compound was in sight. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath before laughing at their theatrics. Naruto looked towards the main gate of the Hyuuga compound, and his face contorted from happiness to annoyance when he laid eyes on the guards. The two that were guarding the gate were assholes, to them specifically. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Karin asked, brushing away some of her red hair that fell into her face.
"They're at the gate again." Was his only explanation. "Oh." She replied with disgust in her voice. Naruto sighed. "Come on, let's get this over with." Naruto and Karin casually approached the gates and were instantly met with sneers and ill intent.
"What are you two doing here?" The first guard asked in a condescending tone. "We're here to see Hinata-chan." Karin replied evenly. "Feh, Hinata-sama doesn't have the time to meet with the likes of you." The second guard replied.
"Yeah yeah, we're demons, you hate us and want us to die. We've heard it all before, now please let us in to see our friend." Naruto asked in his best polite voice. The guards looked down at them. "We cannot let you in."
Karin rolled her eyes. "I would ask why not but you'd probably just give us some bullshit answer anyway. Alright Naruto, let's be going." Karin turned her back and Naruto followed her lead. The guards smirked, satisfied with a 'job well done.'
Karin leaned over to Naruto and whispered in his ear. "When I turn around, charge your feet with chakra and blitz the gates." Naruto grinned, nodded, and began chagrin chakra to his feet. About thirty steps away from the gate Karin whirled around on the ball of her foot and charged at the gate with Naruto close behind. The guards looked surprised before shouting in alarm. "Intruders at the gates!"
The guards took up battle stances, ready to attack the twins, but just before the twins reached the guards they jumped and completely cleared the wall. Naruto turned around in mid-air to flip them his middle finger. "Screw you, losers!" He shouted at them before landing on his feet and rushing after Karin to go and see Hinata.
Hiashi Hyuuga sat peacefully in the main garden of the Hyuuga compound sipping some tea. Today was a good day for Hiashi. The elders didn't bother him at all, and his daughters weren't getting into trouble. Although Hinata was still a little distraught that Naruto and Karin hadn't come to visit again after their last one nearly a month ago, that was of little importance however. Hiashi knew they would be back, they wouldn't leave their first and perhaps only friend alone for so long. Kami himself knew that those children deserved friends more than anyone in the village. Oh well, he was enjoying the peacefulness of his garden, he didn't want to worry about the minds of children right now. Hiashi took another sip of his tea, hardly bitter at all and lightly sweet. Just the way he liked it.
"Intruders at the gates!"
"Screw you, losers!"
Ah, damn, today was such a good day as well. At least Hinata will be happy. After she beats them up a little bit. Maybe today is still a good day after all.
"Father, what's going on?" Hiashi heard Hinata behind him. Hiashi smirked, just a little bit. "I believe that your friends are here to see you. They should be here…" Naruto and Karin tumbled over each other into the garden with Naruto ending upside down on top of Karin. "Hinata-chan!" They said at the same time. "Now." Hiahsi finished.
"N-Naruto-kun! Karin-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, rushing over to them. "Are you two ok?" They both jumped up to greet Hinata. "Mmhmm! Yeah we're doing ok, sorry we haven't visited in a while. Some stuff happened that we're not allowed to talk about so we could come say hi." Naruto rattled off.
"But we're here now, we would've been here sooner if it wasn't for those mean gate guards." Karin added. As if on cue, the gate guards rushed into the garden. "Hiashi-sama! I apologize for letting these cretins into the compound, if you'll allow us, we will take care of them immediately." The first guard said.
Hiashi smirked on the inside. Today was definitely still a good day. Hiashi fixed them with his sternest Hyuuga stare. "So you mean to tell me that you managed to let mere children get by you?" His voice was practically dripping icicles. "Well...we um."
"I don't want to hear your excuses." Hiashi stated coldly. "I will take care of the intruders, which are my daughters friends I might add, and will deal out your punishment later. You let intruders into the compound, children no less. Expect your punishment to be severe."
The guards were immediately cowed at Hiashi's cold words. "Y-yes Hiashi-sama." They bowed and left to return to the gate. "Thanks again old man pale-eyes!" Naruto said, earning him a smack from Karin. "Show some respect dammit!" "Owowokfine. Sorry, Hiashi-sama." Naruto said with a dramatic bow.
"Thank you Naruto-san, but it's not me you should be apologising to." Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Eh?" He said before looking at Hinata whose eyes were covered by her hair with a dark aura surrounding her. "Naruto-kun, Karin-chan." She said in a dark voice.
"Where were you! You left me alone for over a month!" She admonished them. They had the decency to at least look sheepish. "Sorry Hinata-chan, some stuff came up and we kinda forgot." Naruto said.
"You. Forgot?" Hinata said darkly. "Ehehehheeeehhh." Was their collective reply. "Naruto-kun, Karin-chan, because I'm nice. You two have ten seconds to run." Hinata said. Naruto looked ready to bolt, but Karin saw an opportunity.
She bounced over to Hinata and whispered in her ear. Hinata grinned, evilly. Oh so evilly. Karin shared a similar grin and then they turned to Naruto. When they set their dangerous eyes on him, his danger senses spiked higher than a mountain. "Oh shit." Was all he said before bolting out of the garden with Karin and Hinata behind him. As he ran he could have sworn he heard the words crafty little vixen in the back of his head.
Hiashi watched this ordeal with a restrained grin. His daughter, thanks to the young blond jinchuuriki, had gained a massive confidence boost and was becoming a worthy heiress. He watched with pride as she and Karin chased after Naruto with his Byakugan activated. He smiled. Hiashi Hyuuga genuinely smiled. Today was turning out to be a great day after all.
Naruto dashed around the Hyuuga compound, dodging through and around people as he went, his sister and Hinata hot on his tail. "You can't run forever Na~ru~to!" His sister said in a singsong voice. "Yes I can you traitor!" He shouted back.
"If you know what's good for you Naruto-kun, you'll come back here and take your punishment like a man!" Hinata called out. Naruto gulped, remembering the last time he had been target practice for Hinata's jyuuken. It was a very scary experience, and one that he did not want to repeat.
"Mou, traitor is such a strong word Naruto." Karin said, jumping down in front of Naruto from the heavens. "I was merely securing my own safety." Naruto scoffed. "We were supposed to be in this together. I don't know what you told Hinata, but I'm sure it was something terrible you damn traitor." Naruto said. Karin stuck her tongue out in response.
"Oh Naruto-kun, have you finally decided to stop running." Hinata said from behind him. Naruto spun on a dime to see Hinata with her byakugan activated. "H-h-hey Hinata-chan, maybe we can talk about this?" Naruto asked, backing up slowly. Hinata advanced. "Hmm let me think about it...no." Naruto tried to run but Hinata was faster.
Hiashi smiled as he watched his daughter perform a perfect Hakke Jūroku Shō* on Naruto. He felt bad for Minato's son, but that feeling was overridden by pride in his daughter. Yes, Hiashi decided, today was a great day indeed. But perhaps he should stop his daughter from doing any more damage. It wouldn't do her any good to break her favorite toy after all.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was Hinata's angry face before she used the jyuuken on him. Ah right, she used the jyuuken on him. He was laying down on a couch. He moved to sit up but was pushed back down. "Don't move Naruto-kun."
He looked to his right, to see Hinata's smiling face. "H-Hinata-chan?" His head was in her lap he realised. "Why?" Hinata's smile faltered ever so slightly. "It was punishment for forgetting about me. Don't do it again." Her voice turned serious. Naruto chuckled nervously. "I promise I won't forget about you Hinata-chan."
Hinata's smile brightened. "Thank you Naruto-kun, but we're not done yet." A look of confusion spread across Naruto's whiskered face. "Say what?" Karin leaned over the back of the couch and rested her chin on Hinata's shoulder. "Karin-chan shared some interesting information with me earlier."
Naruto's confusion spiked for a moment. What could she have… Then realisation hit him harder than a chakra enhanced punch from Tsunade Senju herself. "You didn't." He stated, looking pleadingly at his sister. Karin just smirked and nodded her head. "You traitor." He said, voicing his feeling of betrayal.
"Sorry Naruto, self preservation and all that." Karin said. Naruto was about to respond when Hinata began to pet the back of his head right in the sweet spot releasing a purr. Hinata's reaction was immediate. "KAWAII!" She squealed.
Naruto was in bliss. Kami, this felt so good. His eyes became half-lidded as he continued purring. Naruto felt like he was floating, almost completely weightless, everything was right in the world. Naruto didn't even notice when Hinata's little sister Hanabi joined her. Karin was busy reading a book in the corner, but giggling to herself as she watched Naruto on the couch completely put out from Hinata and Hanabi's ministrations. Then Hannabi started petting his tail and all of his strength left his body. Any thoughts of resistance were banished in an instant. A small smile began to work it's way across his face.
"Looks like he's enjoying that Hanabi, you should keep going." Karin said, forgetting her book and joining the sisters in 'torturing' her brother. Karin knew that despite Naruto claiming he hated this, he secretly loved the attention. From what she could tell, not only did this feel good, but the attention made him feel like somebody important enough to be paid attention to. Not the demon fox that should be ignored or attacked.
She moved over to the couch and brushed Naruto's whisker marks. That got an immediate reaction. Naruto's small smile grew slightly wider, his eyes closed all the way and he purred louder. Karin smiled. Oh I'm so going to use this against him. She thought to herself.
Hiashi watched his daughters and the twins from his office, smiling to himself since no one was around to see. Hinata was turning out just like her mother. A kind and gentle soul, but extremely fierce when pushed. He supposed that on some level he felt bad for his fellow man, and felt some need to rescue him. He supposed that it would turn out just the way he imagined, with Naruto thanking him as 'old man pale-eyes.' The thought of that particular disrespect overrode and feelings he had to go and rescue Naruto. Maybe this would teach him some respect.
Naruto had the best dream he ever had. He was surrounded by a bunch of beautiful women in a large bowl of ramen, resting on the soft yet savory noodles. They were all doting on him, delicately petting his canine features. Each touch felt like consuming a bowl of ramen. And they refused to stop. This, Naruto decided, must be heaven. It's the only way that something this good could ever happen to him in his life. Too bad this was a dream, he could get addicted to this. Naruto felt another stroke on his whiskers and let out a content purr. Maybe he already was addicted. Naruto felt the hands pull away.
"No, don't stop." He mumbled under his breath. He opened his eyes. Damnit, that was such a good dream too, he thought. He slowly opened his eyes to see the suppressed giggles of Hinata, Hannabi, and Karin. Naruto shot upright and to the other end of the couch. "What the heck!? What were you doing?" Naruto asked, looking like a scared animal.
"Oh nothing." Karin said, looking seven different types of guilty. "I don't know that you could sound like that Naruto-kun." Hinata said, having a light pink dusted across her cheeks. Naruto's face had a look of horror on it. He looked at Karin. "You...you traitor." He whispered.
Karin laughed. "Self preservation brother dear." She said. "Besides, don't act like you don't enjoy it." She added pulling him into a hug from the side. "I don't." Was Naruto's immediate response, along with crossing his arms and throwing his tail angrily from side-to-side.
Karin smirked. "Oh reeeaaaallllllyyy, then what was that 'no, don't stop' that we heard earlier hmmm?" Naruto's face darkened red and he tried to hide his face with his tail. Seeing an opportunity to jump in, Hinata inched closer and tugged lightly at Naruto's tail. "Don't be shy Naruto-kun, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." She said in a comforting tone.
Hanabi, who is six right now, walked over to Naruto and patted him on the shoulder. "Why don't you like it?" HInata asked. Naruto drew in a deep breath. "We get made fun of at school enough, we don't need more fuel for the fire."
"W-well I think it's cute." Hinata said, pushing her fingers together nervously. Karin laughed. "She's right you know, super cuuutttee." She said in a teasing tone. Naruto just rolled his eyes. As much as he loved his sister he was convinced that she only existed to torture him. "A-ano, Naruto-kun. Ca-can I touch your whiskers again?"
Naruto was about to refuse, but he made the mistake of looking at Hinata's puppy eyes. His resistance crumbled instantly. Naruto, albeit very begrudgingly, leaned over to HInata so that she could touch his whiskers. Naruto felt Hinata's soft hand brush over his whiskers and any resistance he might have given crumbled. Naruto leaned all the way into Hinata's touch until he was laying down again. Once again, Naruto dreamed about ramen.
"Report." A cane slapped the ground, giving extra emphasis to the order. "Hai. Subjects JNU and JKU appear to be living at the Inuzuka compound. They appear to have been accepted into the Clan Head's family, going so far as to call her 'oba-san'."
The bandaged man receiving the report snorted, which was really just him blowing barely enough air out of his nose to make noise. "Fitting. No matter, continue." The masked man continued. "That was as much as I could get without being discovered. They also seem to spend time with the Hyuuga Heiress despite the rest of the clan being against them."
The bandaged man put a hand up to his chin. "I don't know what happens inside the walls of the compound, I could not get close enough without being discovered." The masked man said. "Yes, your report has been most helpful. Dismissed." The bandaged man looked thoughtful. Living at the Inuzuka compound? Perfect.
Days Later…
"Is everything ready?" Naruto asked. Karin nodded. "Base location?" "Check." "Equipment?" "Check." "Seals?" "Check." Naruto grinned. "Stealth gear?" Karin grinned right back. "Check." "Good. Operation: Red Death Returns; is a go!"
Naruto and Karin, outfitted in neon orange jumpsuits, took off towards the Stone Faces to enact their chili powder fueled prank. Why would they do this to the poor unsuspecting ANBU? Simply because they felt the need to one-up their mother who pulled the same prank years before. The challenge they set for themselves, however, was to only perform the prank without getting caught, but to do it while wearing bright neon orange jumpsuits that they found the previous day.
Armed with seals and their own natural speed the twins raced towards the Hokage monument. It took many days of observation and research before they finally discovered the secret entrance to the ANBU HQ under the Second Hokage's stone face. Miraculously, because that is the only reasonable way they weren't spotted, they made it to the bottom of the mountain undetected.
"Let's see, directly below the Second's nose, and three steps up… so riiiight about...here!" Naruto said, feeling around for the entrance. Upon finding it, Naruto pulled out four tags marked 'Release' and placed them on the barrier guarding the entrance in a diamond formation. U-Ushi-Inu *clap* Naruto clapped his hands together pushing just enough of his chakra into the seals to release the barrier.
Karin pulled out four tags marked 1-4 and placed them at the four corners of the entrance way. Each tag was for their own barrier that they were going to set up so that no one could get in while they pulled their prank. The first tag was the 'base' of the barrier, it acted like a foundation that the barrier built itself off of. The second and third tags were the barrier itself, the second tag repelled objects and chakra from the outside, and the third tag repelled objects and chakra from the inside. The fourth tag was the 'key' that allowed certain things to pass through the barrier, like people per se. That way, if Naruto and Karin were chased out of the HQ, the barrier would provide them with enough time to escape. A fool proof plan if the ANBU HQ wasn't ANBU HQ and therefore far better protected than either of them could realise.
Both Naruto and Karin placed their palms on the fourth tag and pushed their chakra into it, allowing them access through the barrier. Tatsu-Ushi-Uma-I "Shikakugōma kekkai!**" Karin activated the barrier and they slipped inside. Everything was going according to plan.
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Dragon(1) sat in his office stacking up the paperwork for the day. For being the head of a Black Ops division, he had a surprising amount of paperwork to do. He had just sat down when Captain Tora entered his office.
"My apologies for the intrusion Commander-sama, but I thought that you would like to know that the barrier to entrance two has been breached." Dragon raised an eyebrow under the mask. "Why haven't any of the alarms gone off and why have countermeasures not been deployed?" Dragon's voice came out garbled thanks to his mask.
Damn that's scary. Tora thought, considering that Dragon shouldn't have even known that, but Dragon always seems to know everything. "Well Commander-sama, I thought that you would like to see who breached the defenses before any drastic measures are taken." That caught Dragon's attention. Silently he stood up and followed Tora to the security room.
"Here, it was these two Commander-sama." Tora said, playing back the video caught by the hidden camera. It showed Naruto and Karin Uzumaki breaking through the barrier on the entrance before replacing it with their own and slipping ANBU HQ.
"Tora." Dragon's not-quite-a-voice immediately grabbing his attention. "Hai, Commander-sama." Tora said with a slight bow. "Bring Shishi, Ookami, Aonagi, and Saru(2) here. But do it quietly, don't alert anyone else." Tora cocked his head to the side. "Sir?" Dragon stared him down through his mask. "Consider it a training exercise."
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The twins wandered the halls of the underground base that housed the village's ANBU division. The dark hallways providing a sufficiently ominous feeling. "Is it just me or is this kinda creepy?" Karin nudged her brother.
Naruto nodded. "Definitely creepy." The two continued in silence, hugging the walls and using the shadows as cover as much as they could. Moving silently down the hallway in a way that only years of experience could allow, the twins moved deeper into the unknown.
They passed doors, rooms and training areas in a hallway that seemed to go on forever. They had yet to find their target, the supply lockers. The plan was to recreate the prank that their mother pulled. Spiking their clothes with chili powder. The only problems were that they had yet to find their target, the HQ was much bigger than they had anticipated, and the longer they stayed the greater the risk of being detected. But failure was not an option, so they pressed on.
Occasionally they placed seals on the walls and on the floor in the shadows. A quick half-ram seal and the tags were activated, primed to go off when released by either of the twins. The dark hallways seemed to wind on forever. The end, if there was one, was veiled by shadow. The twins continued walking for what felt like hours.
"How have we not been caught yet?" Naruto said in a whisper. Karin shrugged. "I don't know, for being elite ninja you'd think they would have found us by now." "How in the world did mom manage to pull this off? There's nothing here." Naruto replied.
Karin looked back down the hallway. It looked like they had barely moved at all! Looking forward once more, she noticed that the hallway had nothing. No doors, no corners and no other entrances. "Naruto wait!" Naruto spun. "We're in a genjutsu."
"A genjutsu?" Karin nodded. "Yeah, look at the hallway, it's completely empty." Naruto looked around. The hallway was indeed empty. "What? What about all of that other stuff that we-" Nartuo's started to raise his voice in irritation but was silenced by Karin's finger on his lips. "Genjutsu."
Naruto shrugged and put his hands in the hitsuji seal. "Kai!" They released the genjutsu revealing multiple doors down the hallway, and the fact that they had barely moved from the entrance. "Wow, we didn't move. Like, at all." Naruto said, slightly amazed.
Karin bopped him in the head. "That's 'cause it was a genjutsu, it made us think we were moving, now come on! Who knows how long we were here for!" she hissed in a hushed tone.
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Dragon stood in the observation room, watching the jinchuuriki. The other ANBU captains had gathered in the room as well. "They broke out." Shishi stated, his voice a deep rumble. "I'm not surprised, they have too much chakra to be caught in a genjutsu for long." Ookami replied evenly.
"It's still impressive for academy students." Saru said from her perch on Shishi's shoulders. Aonagi shook his head. "They'll get caught soon. They're lucky that no one picked up on them dispelling the genjutsu, they have no idea where they're going. They will be lucky to last another ten minutes."
"Aww, such a downer Aonagi. This is fun! How often do we get visitors hmm?" Saru said in a teasing voice. "We are black ops, we don't exist. We should not be getting visitors in the first place." He replied in a monotone.
Saru crossed her arms childishly. "Spoilsport." She stuck her tongue out at him from behind her mask. "Saru, don't be a child." Shishi admonished. Saru pointedly ignored him.
"Tora, how long do you think it's going to take for Inu or Neko to find them?" Ookami asked. Tora looked thoughtful for a moment. "They should be coming back in about…" he stopped to check the clock. "...five minutes."
Saru giggled and adjusted herself on her perch. "That'll be fun." Shishi nodded. "It will certainly be amusing." All five captains turned when they heard Dragon's garbled voice. "Why do you think I brought you here?" He asked rhetorically.
Aonagi nodded his head. "Thank you for the entertainment Commander-sama." Dragon nodded once in response. They all turned back to the monitors to watch the twins.
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Danzō sat in the council room, smirking to himself. He was ready to implement the first step of his plan to get the Jinchuuriki in his grasp and turn them into the perfect weapons. Having them be unofficially adopted by the Inuzuka Matriarch was certainly a pain, but one that worked to his advantage. Once he removed his weapons from that influence he would be able to convince them to come to him. He knew that the siblings were fiercely loyal to each other, making them practically inseparable. And if his theories proved to be true, that could also be quite literal. He would need to assess their abilities once they came to him. As far as the old Warhawk knew, they were being trained in secrets by the Inuzuka Matriarch. What they were being trained in he did not know, some to find out he guessed. His first guess was that they were being trained in how to better control the nine-tails chakra, Naruto had plenty of incidents that were well covered up from him accidentally using it. Perhaps he could collect it for his other project.
Danzō was broken out of his musings when the council room doors opened. He quickly schooled his features into an impassive mask. First to enter the room was the Shinobi council, made up of all the clan heads. Then came the civilian side of the council and the other village Elders, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. If there was one thing that Danzō had in common with his fellow Shinobi council members it was his dislike of the civilian council, even if he was technically a part of said council. Lastly, the Hokage entered. Everyone stood to show the proper respect before the Hokage, who then seated them with a nod of his head.
"Thank you all for attending this council meeting on such short notice everyone." The Hokage opened the meeting with a quick greeting. "Elder Shimura, I do believe you called us here, yes?" Hiruzen said, passing the speech to Danzō."
Danzō nodded his head once. "Yes, I did. However, this matter does not directly concern the average citizen of Konoha, but the clans at large. So please, if any of the civilian councilors wish to leave, do not bother wasting your time here." Danzō said in an effort to get most of the civilian councilors out of the way. While helpful for passing laws and other motions within the village, they would be detrimental here.
Several councilors got up and left, being clearly disgruntled. A few chose to stay. While Danzō would have preferred just the clan heads in the room, having one or two civilians wouldn't upset his plans too much. Danzō cleared his throat before speaking again. "Members of the council, I wish to speak to you about our Jinchuuriki."
Almost instantly Danzō felt a hard glare for both Hiruzen and Tsume. Hiruzen was about to cut Danzō off but led up a hand to silence him. "Please Hokage-sama, let me speak." He said evenly. "Choose your words carefully Danzō." Hiruzen said.
Danzō cleared his throat again before continuing. "I would like to bring this council's attention to the decision made the night of the Kyuūbi attack. It was decided that the Jinchuuriki would be raised as orphans, unaffiliated with any clan to give them a chance at a normal life." He said, quoting Hiruzen at the end.
"What about that decision Danzō?" Chōza Akimichi asked, genuinely curious. "Troublesome, where are you going with this Danzō." The half-asleep Shikaku Nara asked. Danzō held up his hand again to silence any more questions.
"I brought your attention to this because the council made this decision, and it has come to my attention that the Jinchuuriki have recently moved into and with the Inuzuka Matriarch." Danzō said, his face impassive but still with a satisfied air around him. One that Tsume could smell.
Danzō looked about the room, taking stock of the various reactions. Tsume was a cross between shocked and angry, the Ino-Shika-Cho clan heads looked intrigued. Shibi Aburame and Hiashi Hyuuga both remained impassive. The elders and the Hokage also shared intrigue, but Danzō could tell that the Hokage was not happy.
"What are you saying Danzō?" Homura asked his former teammate. "I am saying that this is in violation of the council's decision." Danzō pointed out. Koharu nodded her head. "Indeed it is, what do you propose we should do about this?"
"Now hold on just a second!" Tsume shouted from across the table. "Tsume-dono, sit down. You are in direct violation of the council's decision by housing the Jinchuuriki, you will be given a chance to defend your actions but now is not that time." Homura said, effectively shutting down her argument.
Tsume bristled for a moment, a threatening snarl on her face before reluctantly sitting back down. Homura nodded his head for Danzō to speak. "There is no point in beating around the bush, Tsume-dono, the Jinchuuriki cannot remain with the Inuzuka. They will have to leave."
"What! You can't be serious!" Tsume shouted. "Enough! Tsume-dono, speak out of turn again and you will have to leave!" Koharu said, silencing the Matriarch's outburst. "I am very serious Tsume-dono. The power of our clans is balanced, you having direct influence over the Jinchuuriki changes that balance. That is unacceptable." Danzō replied.
"I am inclined to agree with Danzō-san." Shibi spoke up from the end of the table. "The clans are balanced, not perfectly, but enough so that no one is lording over the other. The Inuzuka having the Jinchuuriki upsets that balance." Tsume's scowl grew more feral.
"Thank you, Shibi-dono." Danzō said, his internal self-satisfaction rising. Amazingly, the few civilians that remained had stayed quiet. Danzō hoped that they remained so for the rest of the meeting.
"I believe that Shibi-san is correct, it would be better if the Jinchuuriki were not influenced by any one clan." Chōza said, with a confirming nod from Inoichi as well. "Are you accusing me of turning them against the village?" Tsume said in a threatening tone.
"Of course not Tsume-san, but what you have to realise is that children's minds are exceptionally impressionable." Inoichi said. "Simply living in close proximity is enough to have an effect on them." The rest of the council nodded.
Tsume's killing intent started to rise. "What would you have me do then? Leave them without family? They didn't even know who their own mother was until a few days ago for kami's sake!"
That seemed to resonate with the rest of the council. The clan heads at least, because they all knew who Natruto and Karin's parents were.
"Are you suggesting that you are their family Tsume-dono?" Homura said. "This is troublesome, anyone with half a brain knows how close Tsume and Kushina were. Honestly? It was just a matter of time until she took them in. I say let them stay." Shikaku said.
"Four votes for them to leave, two for them to stay." Koharu said. "I say let them stay." She finished, surprising most of the council, including the Hokage. "I believe that they need to leave." Homura said, looking at Hiashi.
"The Hyuuga have no stance on this. It matters not whether they stay or leave." Hiahsi said in his usual stuck up way, even if he felt slightly bad for forcing the Jinchuuriki to leave their new home. "Then it is decided. Tsume-dono, you have one day. The Jinchuuriki must leave by then." Homura said.
"Nothing to say Hokage-sama?" Tsume asked. The Third Hokage shook his head. "The council has decided Tsume-san, they must leave." He said, sounding both physically and mentally tired. Tsume growled at him, muttering something about 'spineless' under her breath before turning to Danzō. "Mark my words Danzō, you had better watch your back, or else I'll tear out your throat." She said threateningly before storming out of the council room.
*Hakke Jūroku Shō: Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms
**Shikakugōma kekkai: Four corner barrier technique/method
(1) While doing translations, I found like five different words for 'Dragon' and I don't know which one is the 'correct' one, so Dragon will stay Dragon. (If anyone knows what the correct word for dragon in Japanese is please let me know)
(2) in order, Lion, Wolf, Shark, Monkey