The shinobi flickered once before vanishing from the tree altogether.
Hiruzen let out an exhausted sigh as he noticed - from his crystal ball - the ROOT shinobi observing Naruto before he disappeared. What was his old friend upto ? He had already warned him - about trying to turn Naruto into a weapon - and quite strictly at that.
Danzo had not brought up that topic again, seemingly accepting his decision. He had also noticed Danzo becoming kinder - as compared to the initial days of ROOT - as his age caught up to him.
The days and ages were changing. The times changed from era of clan wars to that of villages. From the establishment of Konoha to his appointment as the Third Hokage.
He had also observed Danzo's nature changing from the coldness of an old warmonger - that Danzo once was - to the warm-ness of an old man.
The times were changing - and probably for the better - unless his old friend was onto something. He needed to talk to Danzo about his actions and intentions towards the village's jinchuriki. So he did by calling his personal ANBU agent.
"Neko !" He called in soft but commanding voice.
"Hai Hokage Sama !" The female ANBU said crouching in front of him - with one knee on the ground -.
"Inform the messenger ANBU, we need to pay a visit to my old friend" He said.
"Danzo-sama ?" She asked in a worried tone.
"Yes "
"But Hokage-sam-" She was cut in between.
"There's no need to worry, just prepare a messenger so that they can inform the ROOT shinobi about my - unexpected - visit" Hiruzen said calmly.
"But Hokage-sama, we can call Danzo-sama over here. You don't have to visit the ROOT Headquarters" Neko said still a little worried.
"Neko " He said in a low voice - smiling before continuing-
"Danzo is not a missing nin that I should be afraid of. He is a war-veteran, an elder and my old friend and he should be treated as such. And I just want to share a cup of true and a chat with my friend" He completed smiling.
"Understood Hokage sama. I'll immediately inform the messenger. When are they expected to have your presence ?" she asked.
"Tomorrow morning at the time you find suitable " He said.
Neko nodded to him and sunshined to complete her task.
Hiruzen sighed before smiling and then stood and stretched his back. It was already late and he needed a much deserved sleep before meeting his rival.
Naruto stopped trying to lift the heavy rocks when he observed his surroundings and realized it was not much longer until the rays from sun reached the earth. The atmosphere was dark blue- along with almost non existent blackish hue-. The temperature had reached its lowest point of the day - well as low as it can be in a spring morning- as cool breeze was blowing. He could also hear the chirpings of birds.
He needed to complete the last part of his training before the sun rised. After all, he didn't like so much brightness - he would need to work on that part - of the day.
So he quickly discarded his white tee and dived head first in the river.
The almost icy water quickly washed away any tiredness that he was feeling along with sweat and dirt - from his minor injuries and his body-.
He tried to remain underwater but couldn't remain for more than three minutes and reached the surface. He enjoyed the water for few minutes before he observed a green figure starting to emerge from the far end of the road that ran along the river bank.
He kept staring as the figure began to become more detailed until he saw a person with green tank-top and pants - with bowl haircut - jogging.
Judging from his physique and the time - it was currently 3:30 A.M - he appeared to be a shinobi.
Seeing the shinobi approach he decided to test if he could hide from the shinobi or not. If he remained hidden then the shinobi would pass and if he was caught then the shinobi would try to help a drowning boy.
So he filled his mouth with air and dipped his head under water.
Gai had already noticed the blond and chuckled - lowly - seeing the child's antics as he decided to play along and passed - even though the blond hair were quite noticeable even underwater and the white t-shirt lying on the bank gave away everything - him - he would've helped the seemingly drowning kid if he had not known better - and noticed the voice of a low 'Yay !' as he passed the blond and moved further away before continuing on his morning warm-up with a smile on his face.
Hiruzen sat in a seemingly civilian coffee shop while one of his ANBU - dressed as civilian - talked to the 'shop manager'. After few minutes the ANBU returned to him and whispered in his ear.
"Danzo-sama has been waiting for your visit, I have talked to the manager, she will show us the way " ANBU said.
Hiruzen nodded and followed behind his ANBU. When they reached the desk he received a slight bow from the ROOT agent - which he returned with a smile - and then the female agent took them to the store room of the shop and pushed a button behind a cupboard which resulted in a wall sliding as the stairs to an underground base appeared.
Hiruzen and his ANBU reached the stairs and prompted the 'manager' to close the wall.
They walked down the stairs - ANBU walking in front of Hiruzen - and were met by 2 agents who escorted them to Danzo's office after giving the Hokage, a bow.
They arrived at the main office room as the ROOT agents gave a bow to Hiruzen and left.
Hiruzen looked at his ANBU asked him to stay there. He nodded and stood as Hiruzen went inside.
The door opened as Danzo looked up from his paper work.
"Aah Hiruzen ! I am quite fortunate to have the Hokage himself in my humble abode. Please have a seat " Danzo said - with a faint smile - pointing towards the chair.
Hiruzen smiled and took the seat as Danzo rang the bell on his desk and ROOT agent guarding the door entered the room.
"Can you bring us some refreshments ? " Danzo said.
the ROOT nodded turning to leave before he was stopped again.
"And please see we are not disturbed, would you ?" - It was not really a question - Danzo said.
"Hai Danzo-sama ! " He said before leaving.
"Now then, what can I do for you, Hiruzen ?" Danzo said.
"Why ? Can't I meet my rival just for the purpose of meeting ?" Hiruzen said.
Danzo looked at him a little suspiciously before smirking.
"I highly doubt that you would take the time out of your schedule just for the sake of meeting but I'll just assume that was your reason " Danzo said with smile followed by a mutual chuckle between the two.
During their conversation, their teas had arrived so they drank tea in comfortable silence before Hiruzen broke the silence.
"How much time has passed since we last shared a friendly chat... Don't you think, Danzo ? " Hiruzen said.
"Indeed " Danzo complied.
"I'm sorry Danzo... You always wanted to be a Hokage and I took that dream away from you. " Hiruzen said with a sad smile.
Danzo remained silent for a few minutes before saying.
"What happened Hiruzen ? Does anything worry you ?...
I am not sure if I'd be of any help but I'll try to help " Danzo said.
Hiruzen gave a chuckle before shaking his head in negative.
"Nothing of that sort, I was just observing the generation which would become shinobi to protect their home, our home... I realised how much time has passed.
When I think about it, the days when Konoha was just built and we used to play in the village, feels just like yesterday." He finished.
It was Danzo's turn to chuckle this time.
"Indeed. The times are changing, from Hashirama-sama's generation to ours. From ours to your student's generation. From theirs to the current generation... " Danzo agreed.
"Speaking of current generation, Konoha is expected to have quite a good shinobi population with all the clan heirs graduating along with the jinchuriki. Don't you think, Danzo ?" Hiruzen said trying to lighten up the mood.
All pieces clicked in right place in Danzo's head as he now understood the reasom of Hiruzen's visit.
"Aah ! I now understand why I have been graced by the presence of the Hokage himself. How foolish it was for me to assume I could hide my agent from God of Shinobi's crystal ball " Danzo said in a slight sarcastic tone.
"Yes, that was the main reason of my visit Danzo. I hope that you are not thinking about weaponizing the jinchuriki " Hiruzen said in a slight serious tone.
"Hiruzen, you know, after you had refused my 'offer' to train the jinchuriki, I was very angry about your decision. I tried to somehow have an influence on him but couldn't, due to your ANBU. But after several - atleast 13 - failed attempts to capture or lure him, I decided to focus on more urgent problems that needed to addressed.
" As the years passed, my focus was shifted to several important missions/assignments that needed my immediate attention but the matter of jinchuriki always remained at the back of my mind.
A few months back, one day when I was sitting in my office, I had nothing left to do for the day. So, gradually, my thoughts shifted to the past, I contemplated the deeds I did, the missions I ordered, my training methods, the in-numerous assassination missions, my life, my childhood, our rivarly, that night when Tobirama-sama died.
When I was thinking all this, I realized how immoral - but necessary - some of my decisions were while some were just because I felt them necessary. That day I decided to change my methods, my decisions and even myself. But alas, it was too late.
As I was contemplating all this, one of the ROOT report found its way to my desk about how the village's jinchuriki was no longer being sighted during the day. Deciding to take the matter in my hand, I ordered my agents to keep an eye on him. After observing him for several days - through my agents - I realized that there wasn't anything wrong with him. He had an introverted nature and just avoided the crowds and as a result used to roam the streets when there were little to no crowds - at night -. "
Hiruzen chuckled at this before Danzo continued.
"I thought how similar he was to me when I was a child. After a few days, a report came to me that included an incident when the jinchuriki was seemingly noticed intercepting a rabid dog who was apparently the yamanaka heir who in turn was - blissfully unaware of her surroundings - playing with sand with her back turned towards the dog, in the evening a little after the sun had set and his father hasn't apparently come to pick her up.
The jinchuriki quickly jumped towards the dog and after a small fight - brawl - and a few gashes on his body - forced the dog to flee. He did all this without being noticed by the heir and by the time she had noticed he had already left the park continuing whatever training he was trying to do.
This little detail peaked my interest and sealed my belief that he was similar to me. That was also the day, when I decided that if I was ever going to pass my legacy to someone, then that someone was going to Naruto. Not as a ROOT agent, not as a village's jinchuriki, not as a weapon, but as my grandchild.
Say Hiruzen, would you accept my last wish to take care of my grandchild before my age catches to me ?" Danzo finished with unfamiliar watery eyes that suited his face more than his cold demeanor.
Hiruzen was processing all these things while he noticed warmth and little tears in the eyes of the seemingly world's most ruthless man. This man was serious, Hiruzen thought and before saying anything he gave Danzo a hug, not as the one between Hokage and his advisor, but as the one shared between two close friends that they once - and probably again - were.
The hug lasted for a few minutes before they both returned to their seats sharing a comfortable silence before Hiruzen broke it.
"Danzo... You truly loved the village. I thought I had lost my old friend but today I realized that I had not lost him, we were just walking on different paths that will merge from today onwards" ' till our last breaths...' Hiruzen said before adding the last part in his mind.
"You can take care of your grandchild, Danzo, your legacy. But say, how will you approach him ? I doubt you will kidnap him now that you consider him your grandchild." Hiruzen finished with a wide grin followed by a mutual chuckle.
After some time Danzo said - putting his elbows on the desk and his finger intertwined in front of his mouth, in a thinking position -
"Just observe Hiruzen, how this ROOT Commander completes his life's last mission as an old man. " He finished with a light mutual smirk - shared between both of them-.
Author's Note -
So here is the 2nd chapter of this story. Honestly I wanted to add a little bit of Naruto and Danzo's first conversation in this chapter but it already took me 1.5 day to write this chapter and then 3-4 hours to type it.
I thought it would be a pretty long chapter but it was not- why ? lol- but now I am exhausted and I still have my studies to complete so I'll leave you with that.
Leave a review if you'd like.
See ya !