9526: Hey my fans! Here's my new story. I'm not quite done with The Lion& the Fox, but I had this idea in my head for a while and after weeks of formulating the story's plot I came up with the first chapter. And don't worry; I'll still keep The Lion & the Fox updated. So Let's rock this!
Chapter 1: Trade Off
Hiruzen looked out of his office. He took puffs of his pipe once in a while to ease the migraine he was receiving, the smoke of the tobacco enveloping his body with a slight cloud of smoke. Today's events had drained him of his energy. The Hokage raised the parchment in his hand to his view; with a sigh he reread the civilian disturbance overview. Another villager attempted to harm Naruto again. The villager was put into jail for assault of a fellow villager of Konoha. Saying the villager was furious would be an understatement, the angry villager had cursed the blond for what he had done. No matter how hard the blond tried to rub his eyes to cease the river of tears the flowed from his eyes. Just as he was taken away, the convict cursed the Sarutobi's name which made the sentence even more severe.
"This is happening too many times" the Hokage said to himself. No matter how many laws he made to create the blond, it seems as though the villagers won't even take to consideration of the consequences. He thought of maybe that Mizuki was organizing the harassment that the boy was receiving but he denied all accusations. Even though he denied everything that was said to him, he made sure that the chunnin was being investigated. So far nothing was founded, he knew that someone, somewhere in his village he or she was manipulating the villagers hate to attack the blond. He needed a permanent solution that would ensure Naruto's safety, but the question is, what could he do?
Then it hit him, an idea came to him in a flash. In seconds, the idea manifested into a plan then to a blueprint. The Sandaime Hokage walked towards briskly to the buzzer found on his mahogany desk and pressed it. "Aiki-san, please send a message to the Yondaime Mizukage, wishing to meet of matters of importance to both our countries" he instructed through the buzzer.
"Hokage-sama?" the secretary asked, confirming what she had just heard. This was indeed a shock, ever since the war, Kirigakure and Konoha were on neutral terms, why in the world would he now to make a treaty with Kiri.
"Please do not question my authority, I need to meet with him" The Sandaime answered a little bit sternly.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
-Scene Change-
One Week Later:
Sarutobi walked through the halls of the Hokage tower, heading towards the conference room. He was certainly happy that the Mizukage decided to meet with him. Just as he was at the door of the conference room, the old man took a deep breath before went into the room. The conference room was a small oval shaped room and there was a matching circular table in the center of said room, a door was in the back that led to the back exit... Around the table were his former teammates back when he was a mere gennin trying to find his place in the shinobi world; was Homura, Koharu, and Danzo. The three of them looked sternly at the Hokage.
"Hiruzen, reconsider what you are doing here" Homura suggested to his teammate. "We are about to make an alliance with Kirigakure. They could easily back stab us if we let them in with open arms. Not only that but they have the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shū in their arsenal." Sarutobi sighed and sat between his council. He simply nodded his answer.
"Why do you wish to even establish an alliance with Kiri?" Danzo bluntly asked his rival.
The Hokage reached inhaled deeply into the pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Sanctuary for Uzumaki Naruto" he answered. The elders eyes widened in shock, silence began to overtake the room. Not a single sound left anyone's mouth, as they clearly heard the Sandaime Hokage's phrase. Finally the cloak of silence was shredded as Danzo chuckled. The crackling laughter brought the rest of the elders of their thoughts.
"Surely you jest, Hokage-sama" Danzo said, regaining his composure quickly. "The jinchūriki can't be trusted to a new ally, if Kiri agrees with the terms. The container of the Kyubbi no yoko mustn't fall into enemy hands, let alone Kiri's power hungry hands. If anything should be done about the jinchūriki of the Kyubbi no Yoko, it should be trained to be an agent of Konoha. What even possessed you to even consider such an idea? Maybe you should choose a successor and retire my friend; old age has clouded your judgment."
"Danzo, you know better than to talk to your superior with such insubordance" Koharu scolded her ally. The Hokage raised his hand to stop the two from bickering. The elders backed off from each other, and respectively looked at their leader.
"I understand your concern Danzo, but the villagers' uneasiness of Naruto is growing exponentially. The attacks against the boy are growing more and more vicious. I will be damned if I let you change Naruto into your own dog. Besides, Naruto and many children around his age will be attending the Ninja Academy soon, and many parents will be reluctant to send their children to the Academy with Naruto's history. With the shortage of possible gennin, we will have a shortage of future shinobi in general. Are you ready to have our shinobi forces be dramatically cut down, Danzo?" Sarutobi asked critically. Before anyone could counter the Hokage's claim, the back doors widely opened to reveal two men between the open doors.
On the right was a man with black hair going to the base of his neck and a black mustache that sprouted out to its respective sides, that only went about a couple inches from his face that was only about a couple of inches long. He had cobalt black eyes behind round spectacles with a couple of wrinkles around his eyes that revealed his old age. He wore a blue vest over his bleached white robe with golden edges on the ends; on the back of the robe was the kanji that stood for Council. The man on the left was dressed in a very similar robe of the elder Sarutobi, but with a purple finish and on the hat was the kanji for water. The man had short olive green hair with part of his hair growing to growing to cover his right eyebrow. He had purple eyes but with no pupils, on his left cheek was a line of stiches went to the near edge of his left eye. The man looked as if he was only 30 years old.
The nearly arrived kage looked at the Hokage "Hokage-sama" he said simply nodding his greeting to the elder kage.
Sarutobi looked at the young kage and smiled "Ah Yagura-san, thank you for seeing me at such a short notice" the Hokage greeted back.
"Why have you called me?"
The Sandaime smiled at the current Mizukage, it would be tough to win over him but he had to do this for Naruto. The boy had too bright of a future for it to be dashed away by the villagers of Konoha. He would've trained the boy personally, but he would have gotten harsh criticism by his villagers and would only worsen the treatment the blond was getting. "I have called you to make a peace treaty with Kirigakure" the old man said.
"We only came here to see what you can offer Kiri, through this peace treaty" the councilman said to the Konoha representatives as he sat across from Danzo, who glared at the man with his one revealed eye. The man stared back at the ROOT leader with a matching intensity. Yagura looked at his friend and smiled "We must be nice to our hosts, Harusame" the Mizukage chuckled, while sitting next to the Kiri counsel representative and Koharu but across from the Sandaime Hokage.
Harusame sighed "Sometimes you're too polite for your own good" he protested.
Yagura turned towards the Hokage "Before we talk about the requirements for us to establish the treaty, I'm curious" the Mizukage said. "Why do you intend to make peace with us? As I took it, you never showed any interest in us. So why would you, without a warning want to be allies with us?" the young man's eyes lacked emotion, his face seemed to be kind, but his eyes were cold.
"Uzumaki Naruto" Hiruzen answered simply. The Kiri men looked at the Hokage.
"Uzumaki Naruto, is the jinchūriki of the Kyubbi no Yoko. He is constantly harassed by my villagers, it's as though the villagers do not even fear the laws I place on them, it seems making the punishments more severe is not taking the effect I wish it would. I would have the boy adopted into my family, but if I do my own family will be dragged into this matter. I cannot let both my grandson and Naruto suffer because of the Kyubbi" the Sarutobi continued his statement. The old man clenched his liver spotted fist tightly. A small haze of smoke released from his mouth as he exhaled deeply.
The Mizukage propped his head from the palm of his hands. "So you want me to take him with me to Kiri, is that correct?" he concluded.
"How do we know it isn't a trap?" Harusame asked bluntly. "For all we know, the jinchūriki could be unstable and letting him in our village will be like detonating a bomb on ourselves. You will not only take down a powerful enemy, but gain more ground. That ground can come in handy if Iwagakure decides to finish the war they have started."
"We would do no such thing!" Koharu retorted. How dare this outsider talk down Konoha, the strongest of the shinobi nations, with so little respect?
"Give me one reason why you wouldn't? You could easily have done it!" Harusame shot back at the female member of the Konoha elders. Shouts of arguments went back and forth between Kiri and Konoha counsel representatives, while the kages stayed still, watching their respective colleagues act like children from the academy. The quarrel went on for several leagues of minutes, until the temple on the Hokage became too big to ignore. The Hokage intertwined his chakra with his vocal cords, through his nearly perfect chakra control.
"QUIET!!" the Hokage roared. The room suddenly grew deathly silent, not even the sounds outside of the Hokage Castle entered the room. It was as though even reality froze from the anger of Konoha's Professor. "Yagura-san, do you have anything to say?"
The Mizukage toyed with a pencil on the table. He looked up, violet met obsidian. He sighed "I personally understand what it feels like to be a jinchūriki, for I had the Sanbi no Kyodaigame sealed within me." The Hokage's eyes snapped in shock, his eyes wanting for him to explain the reason why he had placed the word "had" in his sentence. This matter was something that would later be examined, but until then he would have to be content with what the Mizukage said.
"Yes, the Sanbi was removed by my father, the Sandaime Mizukage, when I was only 3 years old, by creating his own seal. It is indeed unfortunate that he died due to chakra exhaustion of the executing of the seal. Our researchers are currently looking for my father notes on the seal, we have evidence that if we figure out how the seal works, we can further advance to extent and how thorough our seal techniques and ninjutsu." The Mizukage said with a hint of arrogance laced in his words.
Before another word can be said, the main door swung open allowing beams of light to hit the people in the room. A small boy was between the door looking at Kiri and Konoha members of a high caliber. The boy had golden blond hair with 3 whisker marks dragged across each of his cheeks. He wore a plain white tee-shirt with blue shorts. His shoes clacked on the ground as he ran towards the Hokage.
"Hey! Old man you were going to teach me how to summon that monkey you used to beat up that guy who hit me a week ago today. Come on let's go!" the blond said while tugging the old man's robes. Hiruzen looked at the boy with an amusing look on his face, as he watched the blond desperately trying to pull him off the chair. The Hokage placed his hand on top of the boys head.
"Naruto, didn't I tell you I would teach you that technique when you become the Hokage?" Sarutobi asked the child, who crossed his arms and began to pout. The Hokage laughed at the boy's disappointment.
Danzo however didn't take kindly to the unexpected interruption. "How dare you, you insulate boy interrupt a treaty meeting. If I were the Hokage, you would be punished severely" Danzo hissed at the blond. Naruto turned around to the ROOT leader and stuck out his 7 year old tongue at the shinobi branch leader.
"Bite me Cyclops" he shot back at Danzo. A large tick mark appeared on the elder's temple. A laugh cut Danzo off from the tongue lashing Danzo prepared to give Naruto everyone including Naruto turned to the source of the laughter. Yagura was blocking his mouth with the inside of his left fist, to cease his laughter. Finally, when he calmed down he smiled at the blond. Naruto smiled back, due to how warm the smile received. He only got that smile from Iruka-san, the old man, Tschui-san, Ayame-san, Asuma-san, and the old man. Yet here was someone, who he never met in his life giving him such a warm smile.
"You must be Uzumaki Naruto, am I correct?"
Naruto nodded his answer. "Yep, that's me. Uzumaki Naruto, Godaime Hokage. Soon, will be known as the best shinobi of the Konoha." The blond boasted. Yagura continued to smile.
"I hope you're ready for the paperwork that comes with the job" Yagura warned the blond jokingly.
"Don't worry, I'll just summon that monkey the old man did; when he fights bad guys, to do it for me. So that way I could go and eat more ramen!" Naruto cheered. Everyone excluding Danzo laughed at the boy's plan, Sarutobi laughing the hardest. He remembered when he first was instated as the Hokage, and tried the stunt Naruto suggested. That had earned him a whack on the back of the head by a floating Bo staff, who glared holes in the Hokage's forehead for weeks.
Naruto looked left and right to find all the old people laughing at him. He hadn't figured out what was so funny, that caused everyone to laugh. "Whats so funny?!" he yelled.
Sarutobi looked at the blond, after settling down his laughter. "Please, Naruto, we are discussing important matters about the future of Konoha. Don't you want other countries to see how great Konoha is?" he asked. The boy nodded his head furiously. "Now, step outside while I finish up this meeting. If you're good, then I might treat you to some ramen."
Immediately, the blond's face lit up and mockingly saluted his leader. "I am at your command" the blond said with a goofy smile, trying his best to act like robot but his constant giggling ruined the act. With that said, the blond ran out the door he came from. Hiruzen sighed in relief that he was able to get Naruto out of the room in less than 5 minutes. "So what is your answer, Yagura-san?" the Hokage turned the focus to the Mizukage who too had his mind set back on the meeting.
For minutes, the Mizukage stayed silent. All eyes were on the young kage, as he was in deep thought. A bead of sweat drop from the elder kage's face. The water trickled into the beard and finally splotched on the ground. Just as the Professor of Konoha began to add into his case for the young Uzumaki, Harusame looked at him and slightly shook his head as if to not interrupt the green-haired man's train of thought.
Finally, Yagura raised his head from his gathered fists. By unclutching one of his fists, he motioned Harusame to come near him. Harusame sighed in annoyance and got up from his seat and strolled towards his leader. The Kiri councilman leaned over so that the Mizukage can whisper something in his ear. For only minutes, exchanges of sentences where shared between the two. After just 2 minutes the two broke away and with a nod from the kage, Harusame returned to his seat.
"My colleague and I have discussed your proposal; we have decided that we will take the boy into our village." Yagura announced. Eyes snapped open in surprised excluding Harusame, but for different reasons. Everyone whose eyes were open, were simply surprised, while Danzo was in disbelief. Danzo clenched his fist tightly in rage. He was certain that Yagura would decline the treaty due to what he did to his own academy students, giving Danzo the chance he needed to persuade the other council chairmen to train Uzumaki to be the ultimate killing machine. And now, Sarutobi Hiruzen threw another wrench in his plans.
"I have only one proposition, that when Naruto comes to the decision of becoming a Kiri shinobi that you will personally teach him." The Hokage said.
"That can be arranged" the Mizukage countered.
The Sandaime Hokage simply smirked, looks like fortune smiled down upon him today. Koharu cleared her throat to get the attention of everyone in the room. "Sarutobi, the decision of a treaty must first be accepted by the ninja counsel. Since Homura, Danzo and I represent the ninja counsel the decision rests on our vote." The former kunoichi reminded her former obnoxious teammate, whose heart sank from hearing her say that. She turned towards the other representatives. "Homura, Danzo how do you feel about the treaty of Kiri, which gives them full custody of Uzumaki Naruto?"
"I believe that relying on Kiri to take care of Uzumaki Naruto's personal affairs is incredibly humiliating. The treaty should be thrown out of question" Danzo said coldly. Sarutobi sighed at the old war hawk's statement. This was way too predictable. He looked towards Koharu and Homura. It was all on them.
"I disagree with you. The complaints about Naruto have been only piling up lately. Maybe relocating him will be best for Konoha and him" Koharu stated. There was only one person left that would determine Naruto's future. It all depended on Homura's decision. Would Naruto stay in Konoha, only to be eaten alive by the villagers' rage; or he could go to Kiri with the possibility to living a peaceful life, without worrying about the villagers trying to make his life a living Hell. Sarutobi inhaled a deep amount of his pipe in anticipation of waiting for his teammate to come to a decision.
Homura sighed "Danzo, regularly I would agree with you when it comes to making sure we could use the Kyubbi jinchūriki as a weapon" he said. Sarutobi exhaled a grand amount of smoke in disappointment. "But I will have to disagree with you on this matter. As Hiruzen stated before, keeping Naruto in Konoha will have a giant pull on the amount of potential shinobi. Also, by having Kiri as an ally we will have access to naval exports. So I agree with the signing of the treaty."
Sarutobi smirked; looks like Naruto will be leaving Konoha. Yagura saw this and his face went from as cold, to a puzzled look. "Sarutobi-san, I have only question left for you to answer for me." The Hokage looked up.
"Won't you feel any remorse what so ever when the boy leaves? You and the young Uzumaki seem very close. And I understand that you can't adopt him into your family, since you will be involving them into an affair that they have no business with. Why are you prepared to easily hand him over to us?" he asked. The Hokage looked back.
"I made a promise to his father to give Naruto, to give him what is best for him." Sarutobi answered, which just made Yagura looked more confused. "It seems that giving Naruto a new home to live in will be best for him. So that he could have a fresh start" Yagura sighed.
"We might as well start working on this treaty" Harusame said tiredly. Ideas went through the room, of the requirements of the treaty.
-Scene Change-
The sun was setting and Naruto was sitting on a bridge near the only restaurant that would accept him. His body rested on the bridge's sides, while his legs were kicking the air in boredom. The old man was supposed to treat him to a meal of ramen, but he couldn't find the old man anywhere. He tried to enter the room numerous of times, but that lucky entrance to the meeting room was long gone. He sighed and decided to walk towards the ramen shop, maybe Teuchi and Ayame would want to hang with him until the Hokage showed up.
"Hey Teuchi" Naruto said while he entered the kueass pushing the flap open as he did. "Can I hang with you until the old man shows u-"his sentence was never completed when he saw the man he had been waiting for almost the whole day? The Hokage was sitting in a seat with his pipe still in his mouth, looking at the golden haired boy.
"Naruto what took you so long? For a minute, I thought you didn't care for ramen anymore" the old man jested while smiling at the boy.
Naruto looked the Hokage in surprise. Here he was, walking around the town killing time and it looked as though he had been waiting for the boy for about an hour. "You old fart! I've wanted ramen all day!" the boy yelled. This made the Sarutobi crackle with laughter.
"Why don't you sit down and order your meal already" he suggested. Naruto snorted and took a seat right next to the Hokage.
"One large miso!" Naruto called to the cook.
"Hai, pa one large miso!" Ayame repeated to her father. Teuchi walked in the back of the restaurant to get the order ready.
"So Naruto what did you do while waiting for me all day?" Hiruzen asked the boy. Naruto crossed his arms and began to ponder on what he had done this afternoon.
"Well, I tried to get back in. But those bakas, Izumo and Kotetsu, stopped me every time. So I got bored and decided to hang around at the playground. I didn't feel like sticking around that long so I wanted to hang around the bridge." Naruto explained. The boy looked down at his shoes, as though something was bothering him. Sarutobi saw this and sighed. The villagers again, he concluded to himself. The boy's mood changed when his order appeared in front of him. The aroma put a smile on the blonds face as he licked his lips in anticipation. "Ramen, ramen, I love ramen!" Naruto sang and began to inhale the food.
The Hokage chuckled at how fast the blond was eating his food. "Naruto there's something I want to talk to you about" he announced after minutes of observing. Naruto pried his eyes from the ramen bowel and looked at the Hokage. His mouth full of a stream of ramen noodles. When he turned to the Hokage, beads of the ramen soup spluttered everywhere. The Hokage wiped his face from the noodles.
"It's not safe here."
Naruto cocked his head to the side and slurped up the last of the noodles in his mouth. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"You have to leave Konoha." The Hokage said, his eyes filled with sadness. He knew this talk was going to happen, but he had no idea it would be this hard.
"I don't wanna leave!" Naruto cried out. He looked in the ramen bowel that only held the soup. His reflection showed in the soup. His sad face looking back at him. "If this is about crying in the courtroom, I'm sorry."
"This isn't about what happened in the courtroom. It's for your own safety" the old man continued.
Naruto snapped his head back up at Hiruzen. "I'll be safe with you" he pleaded.
"Naruto, don't worry. I found you a home far away from the villagers. They won't be able to touch you." Hiruzen explained. "Please Naruto; don't make this harder than this has to be."
"No! I'm not leaving! No, no, no, no, NO!" Naruto screamed. He felt his arms tighten under pressure. He saw Hiruzen was holding his arms together. With a swift pull, Naruto was resting on the Hokage's chest.
"I'll miss you, Naruto" Naruto's eyes opened. Muffled cries echoed around the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
-Scene Change-
The sun was up as the Hokage was facing a small group near the north gate of the village. The group consisted of Yagura without his formal Mizukage robes. He wore black baggy pants with a just as black short sleeved shirt. Over his black clothing, was a small green robe that was wrapped around the clothing. He had a green sash around his waist; over it was the Kiri headband. Beside the Mizukage, was Harusame dressed up as he was in the meeting. The two was side by side with 2 Kiri chunnin at the sides. Between the Mizukage and Kiri's chief councilman was a certain blond haired boy. Strapped to his back was a blue book bag, which contained all his clothing; which wasn't much.
Yagura stretched out his arm towards the Hokage "I hope the meeting will be the beginning of fortunate events between Konoha and Kiri" he said with a smile. The Hokage looked at his hand and stretched out his own to meet the other kage's hand.
"As do I" Sarutobi said simply while shaking his hand. Naruto looked at the two kages. He looked down on his chest to see a necklace with a black pendant that had the kanji for fire.
Flashback:
"Yagura-san will be taking you to Kiri" Hiruzen announced to the blond. Naruto wiped the tears from his face.
"Who's Yagura?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen exhaled the cloud of smoke from his pipe. "The Mizukage, Naruto" he answered. Naruto looked down to his feet, he kind of understood why he had to leave, but he didn't want to.
"That sounds far" Naruto complained. "I'm scared."'
The Hokage sighed for the 5th time. He had to get Naruto to corporate, but how? That's when an idea came to his head. He reached from the back of his head and untied a necklace around his neck. When he was done untying it, he presented it to Naruto. The blond looked at the necklace. The rope was slick black; it was holding a black pendant that was the kanji for fire.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"It's a necklace that was given to me by my father. True, he wasn't a shinobi he wanted me to have it for good luck. When I wear this necklace, I feel like I'm connected to Konoha, even though I would be in enemy territory far away from the village" the Hokage answered the boy's question. "I will still be attached to my village."
The Hokage motioned for Naruto to come closer. The boy approached the elder and bowed his head. The Hokage leaned over to tie the necklace. When he was done, Naruto broke away and put his fist on his sides.
"So how do I look?" he asked confidently.
Sarutobi smiled "Like a boy touched by the Will of Fire." He said and touched the necklace. "As long as you have this on, you will always be connected to Konoha."
End of Flashback
Naruto ran into the Hokage's arms. "I'll miss you old man" he said while hugging the Sandaime Hokage. Hiruzen eyes opened in shock and hugged the boy back. "Remember Naruto……"
"The Will of Fire will always be in me" Naruto said finishing the Hokage's sentence with a smile on his face. Naruto pulled away from the kage. "Don't worry old man; I'm going to come back. So you better be ready to give me that hat when I comeback." Naruto pumped his fist in the air, Yagura smiled at the blond's antics.
"Come now Naruto-kun, we will be leaving now" Yagura said. Naruto smiled and took the Mizukage's hand. Yagura led him away from the village gates with Harusame at his side, followed by the Kiri chunnin. Hiruzen watched as the blond along with his new ally walked away, the boy's blond hair swishing as he took his steps. Never before has the old man felt his heart being pulled in two. A chunk of himself was walking away from him in the form of a blond child. Hiruzen brought his hands together and clamped them, and quickly made a quick prayer for the blond; wishing him safe journeys.
Naruto, I wish you happiness in Kirigakure. I wish for you to have the life that you deserved there, maybe someday the villagers will regret their treatment towards you, The Sandaime Hokage walked away with his robes whistling through the wind. As he strolled, a single tear trickled down his cheek and slowly dropped to the ground.
-Scene Change-
As the Kiri group walked through the woods, the Yondaime Mizukage looked at the sun that was being partially blocked by the mist that enveloped the terrain. The ray of the sun touched his face warming the side of his face. Before he could think of anything, he felt tugging on his green scarf. The elder blond turned to the source to see his new villager beside him with an innocent face.
"Yagura-san, what does Kiri look like?"
Yagura look at his guards who stopped their pace, making the whole group halt any further advancement. Naruto looked at the Mizukage to find out what was happening. The guards made a long stream of hand seals, chakra pulsing through each seal. Naruto turned his face towards the guards, his eyes widened in admiration of how cool they looked. The guards ended on the ram seal "Kai!" they called.
Slowly, the mist in front of them began to thin out as though there was a door made of air just opened up to the group. Naruto looked at his feet to notice he was at the edge of a very shallow hill. Naruto took a step back, rocks slide down the hummock. Yagura looked at Naruto and outstretched his arm towards the air over the ledge "This is Kirigakure" he announced to the newcomer.
Naruto looked over the ledge to find that a village resided at the ledge. All of the cylindrical shaped buildings hung at the sky. The mist draped over the town in a slight mist that wasn't as heavy as the mist that the group encountered at their week journey. The hidden village left Naruto breathless, Konoha was never this wonderful to look. The only time it came near was the annual cherry blossom festival when the trees were all painted pink by nature.
"Am I going to live here?" Naruto finally said after minutes of admiring the village. Yagura nodded and began to walk down the hill that will lead them to the village gates.
-End Chapter-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------