Sealing Salientia - Chapter 6: Plans - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia:
What he wasn't expecting was the ear-piercing squeal that resulted in that lady of the night spying the bundle in his arms, which was subsequently followed by her scrambling over to him and fawning over the child with little remarks of how adorable and cute he was. And what better way to disarm an angry woman after an awkward entrance or strange question than with a cute baby? Jiraiya was blessing his luck.

Konoha
Midnight, October 12th, Year 65

The nine-tailed entity of chakra currently imprisoned within a childs' abdomen was about as content as he could be at the moment. Aside from the mostly destroyed seal framework that had him pinned in place, that annoyed him. And that he was even trapped at all was horrible, a continued blow to his ego. And that he could do absolutely nothing to change either of the previously mentioned things.

What he was doing, however, was feeding chakra to his containers' senses to improve them. Already he could see with something approaching clarity. His sense of smell had burgeoned enough now to distinguish the horrid scent of human male and human female pheromones competing in a fight for supremacy in the stagnant air of his cavernous domicile. Which really wasn't all that impressive considering how saturated everything was with it, he was surprised the humans could stand it.

He was starting to wish that he hadn't been so keen on gaining access to the senses, as he could tell that the male was in rut, the female was in heat and had plenty of other male scents on her. A harlot. A human harlot. A disgusting human harlot. A disgusting human harlot that was intent on squeezing the cheeks of the child he was imprisoned within. Okay, so he wasn't that content, he supposed, as the derogatory adjectives continued to pile on to the mental description he had going.

At least he had started making serious headway in the minutes after waking up. The infant had been insistent upon receiving sustenance immediately, which was good. A weakling cub that had to be coaxed into everything would be so much harder to raise. But, already this cub was demanding to be fed, asserting its' tiny will onto others using what it knew how to use. Even if that was only screaming, it was effective. And whatever was effective was good enough in his book. No rules were too great to break if it meant accomplishing your goals.

A scant few seconds after the babe had started taking in nourishment, the monstrous being encased within could feel it entering the systems surrounding him. With some poking and prodding using his tendrils of chakra that he had interlaced throughout the spacious and detritus-filled opening he was in, he had discovered some of the various parts accessible to him. While his true form was simply a being of chakra, he was known to take a vulpine transformation from time to time. This allowed him to find that the human form was comparable to the vulpine form at least in part, the humans ingested products in a similar manner and used many of the same body parts. Using such knowledge of how a fox would react, he found various places around the body that were receptive to him pushing small amounts of his chakra to stimulate activity.

He had located areas within the chakra network near the stomach and the intestines, two areas he was quite familiar with and how they acted. Pushing his chakra into the mesh of pathways surrounding the areas was not difficult, apparently the seal that held him in place had a greater reach than just the area he was in and it allowed the child to absorb chakra from the creature anywhere that it intermingled. This caused the stomach and the intestines to work faster and more efficiently, much the way that the tiny humans enhanced their leg muscles to jump further and higher.

He hadn't yet found a way to reach the brain or the mind and he wasn't honestly sure if he wanted to. Human minds were strange and filled with untold issues, but this one was a child's and therefore likely less complex than others. Still, he knew that a mind was a dangerous place to go messing with, as he had been quite willing and able to use various illusory techniques in the past on the pesky gnats. Often, he would cackle with glee as they lost their minds from his powerful skill, but he tended to much more enjoy just destroying them with a more impressive straight-up display of power.

Causing the child to work overtime to develop the body quickly was going to be laborious, but he was betting on the results being worth it in the end. As the sustenance kept coming and kept getting used, his container pushed ever further with the white-haired human, forcing him away from his potential conquests of love and getting all the nutrients that he could handle. With the guidance of the malignant chakra activating everything, he generated plenty of new growth and worked on enhancing those senses even more.

Ensuring that they systems were working as best as he could push them for now, he made his primary goal to grow out of this ridiculous infant stage immediately. When he was 'born', he had been ready to do nearly everything already. He could walk and talk and play and fight and use chakra and many more things from the moment of his creation. he couldn't understand how humans had been able to procreate and conquer so much if there were this feeble and pathetic from birth. He had thought that modern humanity was inconceivably weak before being stuck in a newborn and now knew that he had been wrong. Being alive and unable to fend for yourself was a sickening experience. Doubling down on his efforts to build the child up, he resumed his focus on the task at hand. Even as the perverted lecher caused ever more pheromones to cascade through his nose, the stench of human procreation overbearing to the point where the Kyuubi felt he may actually be crying.

Oh, the things he would do to survive.

Fugaku Uchiha paced a path through the downtrodden streets of the city, encased within darkness as night fell. His mind was churning with all that had happened in the span of the last 30 hours. When a close family friend went into labor to deliver their new baby boy, the time period had started joyously. Then, the news that the Kyuubi had been spotted started the landslide of traumatic incidents that smashed down upon his village. Hundreds of shinobi, from elite to genin, dead. His own wife had been gravely injured and appeared to stand little chance of returning to shinobi life. The person who embodied the villages' spirit and hope, the Fourth Hokage, dead. The Kyuubi wasn't even defeated, merely restrained into a child.

Then, several things had fallen his way. Even though the Third had been temporarily placed back into office, the council was working on an official permanent replacement. Everyone had been talking about either retaining Sarutobi or promoting the former Hokage's pupil, Orochimaru. Out of nowhere, a stray councilman had remembered that Fugaku himself had been brought up for consideration for Hokage previously and announced the option. Immediately pouncing on the opportunity, as such things should be taken advantage of, he used his superior political maneuverability around Orochimaru as the snake-like man stood in the very same chambers. Capitalizing immediately on the weak point of the Sannin, he went on the offensive using some unsubstantiated reports of human experimentation rejects having been mysteriously found. All it took was a small seed of doubt and Orochimaru was effectively eliminated from the consideration of Hokage title. Fear was such a potent motivator that he had decided to use it again. The civilian portion of the council was made up of fools that had no right to hold any power over any portion of the shinobi life, but as such, they were also woefully unprepared to understand the sorts of dealings with chakra that entangled the circumstances around the Kyuubi vessel.

He was well aware of how sealing worked and knew that the child was no more guilty of being the beast than a scroll was guilty of the message contained within. As should have been every ninja clan head member of the clan council. However, in a display of weakness and blatant capitulation to try and maintain the peace that happened years ago, Hiruzen had increased the civilian council's numbers and power. Now, Fugaku would use that very group against him. Stirring up the fears of the civilians was simple. None of them had ever felt anything even close to as terrifying as the presence of the beast and reminding that the beast would be walking around in the village with them, talking and growing up with their children/grandchildren, visiting their stores and daring to speak with them, was more than enough to rile them up dangerously. He was perceptive enough to notice the slight glares he got from a few of the Clan heads that could see through his successful attempt at manipulation. The Nara clean head seemed especially heated with his steely-eyed gaze. But, none of that mattered against the opportunity that had been presented. Furthermore, nobody else had spoke up to give away what his ploy was. He may have angered some of them but that was okay. The Uchiha would thrive off of the conflict anyway. And before him lay the ultimate prize, one that not even Madara himself had been able to seize, the office of Kage.

Continuing to wind his way down the dirt roads, through the brightly lit marketplace and moving into the more dim residential areas, he breathed in a deep breath of nighttime air, filled with the multitude of scents that came from living on the edge of a forest, but still inside a bustling town. Street food mixed with lantern oil clashing against fresh pine and the sweet scent of the soft breeze. This was what he now had to protect. HIS village. The one that the Uchiha had helped to create would be become his legacy.

And all it had taken was a promise. He could tell that Hiruzen had been adamant about not killing the container. As far as he was concerned, it made perfect sense to do so. Jinchuriki were well-known to be incredibly powerful and to throw away a trump card such as one would be stupendously idiotic. The only way to winning over the council from choosing Hiruzen to take back over was to concede to their wishes and removing the jinchuriki. While it would have decidedly been beneficial to raise a loyal and willing soldier that was incredibly powerful, Konoha had done fine without one for years and would continue to prosper without. It was an annoying loss, but an acceptable one.

He had been disappointed with that thought of having to kill an infant, but he had done things just as bad during the Shinobi wars, the slaughter of innocents was simply a side-effect of their jobs. He would have taken no pleasure in it, but if it was necessary to protect the Leaf, he would do it in a second.

Then he hadn't had to. Chuckling to himself, he wondered what the monkey-man had done. Fugaku had only activated the Sharingan on a whim, to try and use a genjutsu to create an environment beneficial to him, making it less likely for the civilians to speak up and to let Sarutobi hopefully launch on a diatribe that he could use against him. His surprise when he watched the infant wrapped within the kage robes and swaddled in cloth, morph into an adult human hand, was so great, he had almost lost his composure. Mind whirling with new information and possibilities, he quickly decided to use it to his best advantage. Obviously, whatever trick the old man had used was effective at fooling everyone else since nobody had said a single thing. And even most civilians should be able to tell between the face of an infant and an adult hand. Though, there were days that he had his doubts if they were even that perceptive.

Since nobody else was saying anything about it, this must be some sort of trick. With renewed vigor, he realized that he could have the best of all plans. He wouldn't have to kill an innocent on this day, which would weigh much less heavily on his soul. He could perform a bit of showmanship to cement the civilian council being on his side. And he could let the Sarutobi follow through with whatever plan he had concocted. Knowing the sentimental old man as he did, it probably was something filled with kindness and mercy that would hopefully lead to a loyal Leaf jinchuriki in the future.

So, he had used the opportunity to be extra 'cruel', knowing that the fear tactics he had practiced on those who never had to experience the agony of being a ninja, would be easily placated with such a display completely alleviating their fears.

He did regret stealing the spotlight from Hiruzen Sarutobi, at least to some degree. While he acknowledged that the man would probably hate Fugaku's guts afterwards, he did still respect the now former Hokage. After all, the man had led the village successfully through multiple great conflicts, always coming out on top. Heck, he had even named his recently born second son, Sasuke, after the leader's father, even asking him for permission to do so. They had invited the older man to the compound many times over and had exchanged countless stories with him and his wife.

And the monkey summoner was an immensely powerful shinobi in his own right, knowing hundreds of techniques, possibly thousands. He had felt the destructive powers of the Kyuubi the night before and tonight felt almost an equally destructive power of a kage-level shinobi decimating a training ground. He knew that pissing off Hiruzen was going to be his biggest problem going forward. The man was a political powerhouse, a physical powerhouse and his only glaring weakness was his compassionate side. Of which, Fugaku knew he would receive none of.

He reached the outer walls of his clan compound and after being granted entrance by the Uchiha on gate duty, walked up to and into his home. Itachi was already home and sleeping, having been tasked with the care of his baby brother while Fugaku was in council meeting and Mikoto was in the hospital. The boys were both fast asleep in Itachi's bedroom, the older boy having set up a couple of alarms to alert him if there were any intruders into the room. Smiling in pride at the thoughtfulness and care his oldest son was taking in protecting his new brother, he continued on his way to the master bedroom. He would have to bring the boys first thing in the morning to Konoha General and visit her with some fresh flowers. He knew a place that he could gather both the blooms and potentially some intel in the form of gossip. The Yamanaka flower shop could always be counted on for both. Perhaps with more information, he could gain some insight into what was really happening with the old man.

The good news was that he had the means of defusing the situation between the two of them, since he knew of the trickery that the man did and could potentially explain his reasons. He would have to cement his position first within both the council and the daimyo's court. Then, with that consolidated, he could see what the situation may have been with the child and the man he still respected.

Until then, he would have to deal with Sarutobi's anger. Which was not a pleasant aspect.

Orochimaru was not disused to stalking the streets late at night, the darkened alleyways in the red-light district had long been a perfect place to snatch unsuspecting experimental test subjects. He wandered through the dirt paths, ignoring the lantern-light doorways and the women that often attempted to seduce the slovenly pathetic men who were lowly enough to listen to their siren call. He had no need for the pleasures of flesh. Love and romance being a construct of human imagination that had never found a way within his psyche. He felt no sorrow for the men that he had surreptitiously captured and conducted his experiments on, their own desires bringing them to their demise further binding the concept that love and lust were best left alone in his mind.

No, he haunted the pathways of the district tonight in pursuit of something completely different. It didn't matter his current location, he simply needed to pace and think. And thinking furiously he was. Fugaku being Hokage was going to ruin nearly all of his plans. He already had deigned to leave this pathetic peaceful village behind and create a place where he could work without fear of being caught. Taking in wastrels and lost souls from Konoha was difficult, because when too many people disappeared there were investigations and inquiries. He didn't particularly mind being caught, but it would hinder his science and that's what he cared about more than anything else in the world. Something or someone causing his progress towards his scientific research to halt was akin to someone causing Jiraiya's progress towards his own inane 'research' to stop. It wouldn't end well.

Thinking of his wandering teammate for a moment, he wondered where the man had gone. He knew Jiraiya had been in the village, there was little mistaking the large figure and his chakra signature. Besides, the scent of toads had been all over Sarutobi-sensei. But he hadn't seen toad hide or white hair since the council meeting that he had stormed out of.

Shaking his head as getting side-tracked, he again concentrated on what needed to be done. He had planned to create his own village in one of the smaller surrounding countries that wasn't as prosperous as Fire, but still had a large population where he could obtain subjects from without noticeable chunks of the populace going missing. He also had planned on taking in as many missing-nin as possible, using the numbers as rank-and file soldiers to create a position of power, counting on Minato to not be aggressive enough to try and strike down a new competitor.

Orochimaru's gambit wasn't going to fly with 'Wicked Eye' Uchiha in charge though. This required a complete re-think of his ideas. It was going to require time. But that was his end goal anyway, to have enough time to do everything.

AN: Looking back on what I've written so far, that's about 30,000 words for the events that spanned a whole of approximately 8 hours. Expect the future chapters to be a bit more spread out in regards to timespan, though the next few days will still have many events that will take place and need to be covered for the plot further down to make sense.

Also, who saw that coming? Fugaku saw through the deception, but played along with it anyway, since it worked in his advantage. This story won't really have too much in the terms of "bad guys" or "good guys" but everyone working under their own motivations and will solidly be a shade of gray. Good to some extent and also bad to some extent. I feel that fits the ninja world much better anyway. If you always have an explicit good guy and an explicit bad guy, then the story becomes predictable. What I find much more interesting is a story in which a person is thought of as a hero by some and as a villain by others and each of those people that think that also range on a scale from good to bad. A whole slough of interactions and personalities clashing in their own way, completely messy and incoherent. That's humanity. And that's what I'm aiming for.

Fugaku Uchiha:

Name meaning: 'Mount Fuji'

Age: 33 (current)

Rank: Fifth Hokage

Stats:

Ninjutsu: 4.5

Taijutsu: 4.5

Genjutsu: 5

Intelligence: 4.5

Strength: 4

Speed: 4

Stamina: 3

Hand seals: 4

Total: 33.5 (A little less powerful that the legendary Sannin during canon Naruto, about equal to canon ANBU Itachi)

'Wicked Eye' Fugaku gained his name during the Third Shinobi wars for his usage of genjutsu to trap entire enemy squadrons. A war hero, he had been put up as a possibility by the fire daimyo in consideration for the appointment of the Fourth Hokage position, but the Konoha council was too enamored with the meteoric rise of Minato Namikaze.

He has unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan, but has kept it a secret from almost all of Konoha ninja. His Mangekyou abilities have only ever been seen by enemy shinobi who did not live to tell the tale and remain a mystery. Similar to other Uchiha, his stamina is his weak point when forced to use his Mangekyou Sharingan. Using his abilities of the evolved form causes his stamina to drop quickly. He has prolonged experience wielding the three tomoe form, which has a negligible effect on chakra drain.