SPECIAL NOTE: Hey, sorry for making you guys wait for the next update. I have a research proposal to write and the deadline is this month so I'm on a schedule and I'm also actively looking for a job 'cause life is that difficult.
Anyway, I hope you like the changes I did with the summary and I revised my first chapter. Also I was writing the sixth, seventh and eight chapter of The Joint Shinobi Selection Program that I didn't upload yet due to conflicting scenes that I either want or not to put in. So…it's in-progress.
REVISED: 03/14/2016
CHAPTER TWO
Sarutobi is having a migraine. Why does he have one? Oh, yeah, the meeting with the village shinobi council that is composed of three of the elders and advisers of Konoha, the heads of the shinobi clans as well as a representative of the civilian council. Discussion about the destruction and the loss was heavy and possible solutions on what to do next were being argued, especially on what to do with the death of the Yondaime Hokage.
Sarutobi has been eyeing Danzo for a while. The old war hawk was up to something and Sarutobi can only guess why, the Hokage position. Sarutobi already submitted an audience with the Feudal Lord and a request to take over the Hokage position until he could find a suitable replacement and thankfully the man agreed.
If Sarutobi could have his way, he would be willing to give his hat to Tsunade or Jiraiya. However, Jiraiya was too busy with the spy network and has no interest of staying in one place. Information gathering and infiltration was Jiraiya's special skills. He highly doubts Jiraiya could do well inside an office with his nose on paperwork. Tsunade, on the other hand, could be a suitable one if she's ever willing to come back and stay and possibly work on her grief but that's going to take a while and he highly doubt Tsunade would be happy to lead a village she resented very much. Sarutobi just hoped Naruto doesn't grow up to like her.
"…and what are we going to do with the Kyuubi?" And there's the number one question Sarutobi has hoped never to be asked. Sarutobi has given an excuse that the Kyuubi's whereabouts is unknown but suspicion that the Yondaime could have sealed the Kyuubi back to Kushina and Kushina's health couldn't take it that she succumb to death and dragged the Kyuubi with her. The two Anbu that Sarutobi drag with him that day were sworn to secrecy so no one knows about Naruto except him, two Anbu, Tsunade and Jiraiya and Sarutobi intend to keep it that way.
"I have already informed you and the council what happened. You all know that before we could reach Minato and Kushina, we couldn't get in the barrier that they put around them along with the Kyuubi. When the barrier was down, the Kyuubi was gone and the Yondaime and his wife are dead." Sarutobi explained, followed by a sigh.
"But there is still no concrete evidence that Minato have sealed the beast?" Koharu asked.
"It could not be proven, the seal was a wreaked on Kushina's stomach that even Jiraiya could not verify if the Kyuubi was sealed or not before she died." Sarutobi answered, a complete lie but it was the best he and Jiraiya can come up with.
"Even if it wasn't, the Kyuubi can't just disappear like that." Homura said.
There was a short pause before Danzo spoke. "If the situation is correct, Konoha remains as the only village among the five great nations to no longer possess a Bijuu. If our enemies find out about this, we are most likely vulnerable. A Bijuu is a powerful mass of chakra powerful enough to destroy a country. The Shodai Hokage has made sure that all nine of the Bijuu are divided to maintain balance within the shinobi world."
"We could just keep the information that we lost the Kyuubi and let them assumed that we still have it." Akimichi Choza suggested.
"We are shinobi." Danzo replied. "Gathering intel is what we do. The possibility that our enemies could find out about this, the more vulnerable we are against an enemy attack, especially when they use the power of the Bijuu at their disposal. We could probably hear about the attack right now."
"So what do you think we should do in this situation then, Danzo?" Sarutobi asked him, suspecting what the man will possibly answer.
"Kiri, Kumo and Iwa have two Bijuu each while Suna, Konoha and the village Taki has one each." Danzo explained. "To maintain the balance of power between the shinobi villages, I say we take one of the other Bijuu."
"What?" the room went quiet, all eyes were on Danzo. Sarutobi wasn't surprised with the suggestion and he has this feeling that Danzo was planning to retrieve a Bijuu for himself to train as the perfect weapon of Konoha whether the council agrees or not.
"Even if it's possible, taking a Bijuu just like that isn't easy. They are highly guarded by their shinobi village." Yamanaka Inoichi commented. A Bijuu is considered a weapon and handing out a weapon like that to another is unheard of.
"And isn't the purpose of the division was to maintain the balance of power? Wouldn't taking a Bijuu destroy that?" Uchiha Fugaku muttered.
"No, it won't." Danzo replied. "We are already in an imbalance. Without a Bijuu, our enemies could attack us as a sign to show their strength and to weaken Konoha."
"And if we take a Bijuu and get caught, it could still lead to war, Danzo." Sarutobi stared at the old war hawk who seemed unfazed to all this. "Something we don't need right now."
"Even if it could lead to a war, Konoha will be strong enough to defend herself if it has a Bijuu and a well-trained Jinchuuriki." Danzo countered. Murmurs can be heard from the others around the room. The man does have a point.
"Are you seriously considering abducting a Jinchuuriki?" Sarutobi whirled Danzo, frowning at his suggestion.
"If the Bijuu has a current Jinchuuriki we extract the Bijuu and sealed it into a worthy Konoha shinobi." Danzo countered.
More like a shinobi you considered worthy. Sarutobi thought and frowned.
"I for one have heard of the problems of three shinobi village. Suna is suffering an economic crisis and there are rumors of disagreements between the Kazekage and his council. A possible civil war could erupt. Taki has succession issues and Kiri is in the midst of a civil war."
How Danzo knew about those is quite remarkable and scary at the same time. Sarutobi knew that Danzo has spies. The man would do anything to keep Konoha as strong as possible and to keep enemies away. Sarutobi don't always agree with the methods Danzo used but it does bother him. The idea of just swiping off a Bijuu and knowing that Danzo will be the one to raise a Jinchuuriki is scary. He does not agree with it.
"If we could get a Bijuu that is the challenge." Nara Shikaku stated. "We can consider taking in a weapon but in the meantime, the village is in need of a Hokage and that should be our first priority."
Sarutobi would love to hug the man right now. This is why the Naras' are always valued. And Sarutobi went on with the discussion that he will be willing to take in the position until further notice.
Utakata ran. He runs as fast as he could. He didn't stop to take a break. He has to run. Mei-sama said so. The Yondaime Mizukage has gone completely insane. It wasn't safe anymore. Mei-sama managed to grabbed Utakata and Yagura out of the Mizukage compound. She and her resistance against the Yondaime have received intelligence that the Mizukage has intention to extract the Rokubi out of him. Why? No one knows. No one knows what's going on with the Yondaime's head anymore.
"Waaah! Waah!" Utakata gripped the bundle he was holding tightly.
"Shhh! Yagura. I know you're hungry but we have to keep moving. I'll get you some milk once we reached a town, somewhere." Utakata talked to the baby, his younger cousin, Yagura, who is just a few weeks old.
Yagura has a patched of sandy blonde, grayish hair just like his father the Yondaime Mizukage, Yukihara-sama (OC). One of the men threw a kunai at them when they tried to escape and accidentally sliced Yagura's cheek right below his left eye. Utakata managed to stitch the wound thanks to his training in the medic squad but right now Yagura is hungry and cold. Traveling with a baby isn't very easy.
Utakata wasn't sure how long he has to run with a baby on tow, he was just lucky that one of Mei-sama's men managed to keep their pursuers occupied while he and Yagura escaped.
He did plan to find Mei-sama but he doesn't know where her base was. The men who tried to help them are all caught up with the pursuers to ensure their escaped and probably wouldn't give the location of the base even if Utakata asked for the protection of everyone who was there.
"Waah! Waah! *sniff* Waah!" Yagura continued to cry.
"Shhh, Yagura." Utakata tried to rock his cousin gently trying to get him to sleep. "I'll find some food soon."
Utakata came out of the forest and noticed a road. He could see lights coming out from the distance. Yes! Civilization! The seven-year-old wanted to cry. He just hoped the people there would be willing to help them, even if they could just spare a little food and milk.
It was a quiet night in Suna. A sand storm brew in the village and everyone is indoors. Rasa stared at the windows watching the sand storm, his mind lost in thought. He was a little agitated. The council wasn't very happy with his decision.
They planned and forced Rasa to seal the Ichibi in his youngest son while his wife was still pregnant. The sealing enforced a premature birth. Now the council is hounding at him about his plans with the Ichibi and how he'll turn his little boy into a weapon.
Rasa knew that the sealing is for the benefit of the village but he wasn't sure anymore. It would seem the council has taken advantage of their power. Suna wasn't like this at all. The council was supposed to guide the Kazekage, not share on its power in ruling. If the Sandaime Kazekage was here and didn't just disappear back in the war, Suna would definitely run the same way as all the other villages.
He heard a door opening and closed and Rasa glanced at his wife, sitting on their bed coddling Gaara on her chest. She rarely, if possibly never, put the boy down. Some of the council members were concerned that the Jinchuuriki was being coddled too much. He is a baby. Rasa thought.
But that's not what Rasa saw right now. Right now, he sees his youngest child in the arms of his wife. Even though Karura agreed with the sealing, she could have died. She's very happy as he hummed Gaara a lullaby even though both parents know Gaara couldn't sleep.
Two-year-old Temari and one-year-old Kankurou are both sitting on the edge of the bed both smiling and listening to their mother's humming. Rasa knew he's going to wind up sleeping with Kankurou's leg on his face and Temari's grip on his leg tonight.
Rasa has just signed and passed a law to the council and those who were involved in the sealing to never reveal to the villagers and other Suna shinobi of the Jinchuuriki status of his son. Karura has begged him for it. She knew what life a Jinchuuriki will take and she wanted Gaara to grow up normal and happy.
The council wasn't happy about it but Rasa was just glad they complied. However, he knows that some member of the council wanted him out of the way. When was leading a village this complicated? All Rasa can think of was to bring Suna to its former glory, the protect its citizens and figure out how to improve the village economically.
The council seemed to disagree. Too many politics and talk about power. What's there to talk about?
"Rasa, dear, are you alright?" Karura's voice broke his train of thought.
He turned towards his wife and saw Temari and Kankurou both asleep on their beds and Gaara was laughing as Karura tickled him under his chin.
"I'm fine just a little frustrated." He replied.
Karura stared at him; eyes of concern were present on his wife. She shouldn't be worrying. The doctor did say she needed more rest.
"Then you should come to bed and rest. You'll have another busy day tomorrow." She smiled. Rasa couldn't help but smile too.
"Alright. Right after I'll figure out how to get those two off our bed and into their beds." He chuckled. Temari and Kankurou were stubborn little toddlers especially when they choose a bed to sleep on.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So far, the best I could do. I wanted to add additional two scenes but they wouldn't fit on the situation. Anyway, hope it's' okay. This was my first fanfic ever written. The other one is JJSP, also on my page. If you guys have any comments or suggestions or corrections, feel free to review or send me a PM. Thanks!
REVISED: 03/14/2016