Hiruzen untensed his face and looked at Danzo warily. His old friend held his gaze, perpetually unperturbed despite his initial reaction to the man's nonsensical request. Not that he could still call him a friend after he tried to have him assassinated.

"I beg your pardon? You want to take the Fourth's son under your wing?"

Danzo didn't seem intimidated by the harsh, distrusting tone he used as he stepped closer to the desk separating them.

"Yes. I want him to become a Root nin." His almost nonchalant tone had the effect of displeasing the Kage even more.

He slams a hand on his desk. "Are you out of your mind? Can you even fathom what's inside of this child? And you want to bring him into the elite?"

The Root leader narrowed his eyes, taking on an irritated expression. He didn't appreciate Hiruzen talking to him as if he didn't understand the importance of his own plea, as if he just foolishly wandered into his office without considering all variables.

"You told me the Fourth's wife asked you to take care of the child - what's his name again?"

"Naruto."

"Naruto," he repeated. "What do you plan to do with him? Adopt him, or put him in an orphanage until he's old enough to live on his own? Then sign him up at the Academy for free?"

The Third got up from his armchair forcefully and rounded his desk to come face to face with an unimpressed Danzo. Their eyes battled for dominance, challenging the other not to divert his gaze. Without looking away, Hiruzen leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms.

"Mikoto Uchiha offered to take him in. She was Kushina's closest friend and one of the only people who knew about her pregnancy."

Danzo scoffed roughly. "You want to put a jinchuuriki in the hands of Uchihas?! We are on the brink of a civil war and you're considering putting a weapon this powerful in the enemy's grasps?!" He shook his head in mock exasperation. "And you say I'm out of my mind."

"The Uchihas aren't our enemy -"

"Yet,"

"And Naruto's not a weapon! He's an infant, an orphan! He needs a family to accept him because you know damn well the village won't."

"He's not just an infant, Hiruzen. The way I see it, he could grow up to become our greatest defense... or our worst nightmare. I'm just making sure it won't be the latter."

The Hokage clenched his jaw as he seemed to consider the Root leader's words carefully. He couldn't ignore his arguments; there was a very real possibility that Naruto would turn on the village in the future. Whether it's the Kyuubi possessing him - which is the least likely option as Minato had become an expert in sealing jutsu (he did marry an Uzumaki) - or Naruto himself if he's pushed too far by the villagers. They would never accept him, much less love him which is why he was planning on giving him over to Mikoto. After all, if he became a Police nin he wouldn't know whether he was hated for his job or for the demon he harbored.

Maybe... keeping him away from the civilians altogether was the best course of action. Maybe Danzo was right; he usually was. The man was his most important advisor and his guidance often proved to show significant result as well as it prevented precarious situations.

The man in question smirked, discerning the look of acceptance in the Hokage's eyes. He's always been able to manipulate him for some reason, and apparently even an assassination attempt from him wasn't changing that. Was it the guilt of taking away his dream twice, of being the light to his darkness or was Danzo just good with words? He couldn't say.

Either way, he got what he wanted from him again.

He walked away from his rival, glancing back one last time as he opened the door to leave.

"I trust you'll make the right decision."

"Where is he?! I demand to see him!" Mikoto exclaimed.

Hiruzen kept a blank face, refusing to manifest any emotion, any doubt.

He had just walked into the Uchiha compounds (something a Kage isn't supposed to do - he summons people), looking for the woman to tell her about his decision concerning Naruto. He had anticipated her reaction which didn't make it easier for him to tell her.

Fugaku stood next to his wife, his usual stern look plastered on his face. He wasn't for adopting the jinchuuriki in the first place but he didn't appreciate the Hokage upsetting his wife.

"You said we could keep him. My wife was Kushina's best friend! Surely this is what she would have wanted."

"I said it was a possibility but that I needed time to make a decision." He looked at Mikoto again. "You may have been Kushina's friend, but she entrusted me with her son. I made the decision I deemed was the safest, for the village and for the child."

The woman was holding her own sleeping son in her arms. He started to wake up upon the noise of their dispute and Hiruzen gave him a wry smile when he looked in his direction.

"Listen. You already have your hands full with your own newborn -"

She interrupted him dryly, "His name is Sasuke."

He startled. That was his father's name.

"… I assure you Naruto is in good hands. He's being taken care of by… one of my most trusted friends."

It was a half-lie, half-truth. He did trust Danzo to do what was best for the village but he also didn't trust in his loyalty to him.

Mikoto shook her head sadly as her husband rubbed her back. Fugaku didn't want this stressful situation to take its toll on her. As the Hokage had put it, she had her own children to take care of. But she couldn't just abandon Naruto. She was supposed to be an aunt to him, and Sasuke would have been like a cousin, a brother even. And that was before her best friend died! The logical thing to do now was to become his mother.

But Hiruzen took that away from her and Kushina, and he was the Hokage again, the most powerful person in the village. If he said she couldn't have Naruto, then she must move on from that thought and do her best to take care of him from afar.

"I just want to see him. Can I see him?" Mikoto pleaded.

"Not right now. But you will, I promise you."

A small whine broke the tense atmosphere reigning in on them. The whine soon turned into a louder sound as Sasuke started crying.

"Shhhh," Mikoto started rocking him in her arms. "It's all gonna be okay."

With a baby in his arms, Danzo paced around in the Root HQ under the eyes of his men. One of them approached him hesitantly.

"Shimura-sama, why are we baby-sitting the jinchuuriki? Couldn't we have left him in the orphanage until he became old enough to train?"

While he was holding the child the way a caring parent would - carefully, supporting the child's small head and neck - there was no warmth or fatherly affection in his eyes when he looked at him. Only greed and satisfaction.

He glanced up to give the ninja interrupting his time with the jinchuuriki a quick look, then kept on pacing around.

"This child. He's like a kinjutsu; strong but volatile, hazardous. We don't want him to ever look anywhere else but towards the Leaf. That's why we need to make him dependant on us, to make us all he knows and trusts so he wouldn't even think of betraying Root. Because betraying Root is betraying Konoha."

He was still reeling from the humiliation from two months ago, when one of his own cheated him, choosing the Hokage over Root and Danzo and revealing his plan to kill Sarutobi.

"So -"

"So I'll change his diapers if I have to, because this is how it's done. This is... conditioning."

The masked Root nodded and excused himself.

Danzo tried to keep his smirk in check as he walked back into his office. For the first time in years, the stars were aligning for him. The most powerful weapon in Konoha- no, in the Shinobi World had fallen into his lap.

Or… it didn't.

He worked for that asset, just like he worked hard for everything else he's ever earned; Root, his position in the Council, the trust of the Elders… Hiruzen's never worked that hard in his life. Everything he has just fell into lap; his family name, his legendary students, his position as Hokage, Danzo's counsel.

He was lucky right from the start, blessed by the stars. Danzo wasn't.

This is what will make it all the more satisfying when he takes his Hokage seat from him. Danzo now has all the cards at hand to start a coup d'état and he won't miss his chance. He will revolutionize Konoha and become its greatest leader even if it takes years.

After all, he was a patient man. He's already waited decades.

It's all written in the stars, they say.

He's never believed in that saying. If it were true, he'd never get the chance to fulfill his ambitions, it just wouldn't be in the cards for him. Nothing is written in the stars, or set in stone and that's the beauty of free will. Fate is a book you write yourself and he intends to write his glory.

A/N: hope u liked the prologue!

for pairings... i haven't decided yet as this is not a romance fic, but i might do some naruino? idk. narusaku's my otp but i don't see them working out in this. maybe something else, we'll see if people like this first. EDIT: naruino it is.

tell me what you think in the reviews, if you think i should continue this!