The clan heads and the Village Elders are gathered for a meeting. Danzo is unhappy about something.
Lord Third has a good idea of what that something is, but he already has his response prepared and the entire situation dealt with. Danzo is just going to have to accept it.
Unless of course Hiruzen is wrong and Danzo called the meeting about something else.
Danzo stands to address the council. "I have requested the meeting to discuss the Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki," he says.
So, Hiruzen was right.
"What about the jinchuuriki?" asks Hiashi, breaking protocol with a faint smile on his face.
"I have learned that as of two days ago the boy left his foster parents and started living with the genin Iruka Umino," Danzo informs the council.
"That's old news," says Shikaku. "You just called this meeting to be troublesome."
"Naruto is friends with my daughter now," says Hiashi smugly.
"Yes and Naruto thinks you are a nice man," says Shikaku, hiding his grin behind his hand.
Tsume Inuzuka starts laughing hysterically.
The laughter is contagious and soon the entire council, minus Danzo the other two elders and Hiashi himself are laughing their heads off.
Danzo bangs his stick on the floor a few times. "Order!" he calls. "We are here to discuss the new living arrangements of the jinchuuriki!"
"Why?" asks Shikaku. "My student seems to be taking good care of him."
"That is not the issue!" Danzo grinds out. "That boy is a ward of the village! He cannot be under the care of a minor who is not even a citizen of the Hidden Leaf!"
"According to the treaty between the Leaf and the Whirlpool," says Fugaku. "Citizens of the Whirlpool have automatic citizenship in the Leaf and vice-versa."
"Shut up!" snap Danzo. "No one asked for your input!"
Fugaku opens his mouth to protest but Shikaku interrupts. "By inviting him to this meeting you asked for his opinion."
There is a profound hush around the table. In all of Hiruzen's memory he does not remember anyone except the Fourth standing up to Danzo on behalf of the Uchiha clan.
Hiruzen decides it is about time he stepped in. "What is your issue with Naruto Uzumaki being placed in the care of Iruka Umino?" he asks Danzo.
Danzo turns to the Third Hokage and replies, "We cannot trust the care of our village's most powerful weapon to a child from another village!"
"Then instead," says Hiruzen. "Why don't we trust the heir of the Uzumaki clan to to the heir of the Umino clan?"
Fugaku walks away from the council meeting feeling stunned and light headed. Danzo had caved eventually, after Hiruzen made it clear that Naruto is staying with Iruku, end of discussion. Apparently, The Third already spoke with the jinchuuriki's foster family and told them not to worry about the boy anymore. The meeting had happened so fast after Shikaku stood up to Danzo on Fugaku's behalf that Fugaku had missed most of it due to his shock.
He had long ago given up hope that he would ever be accepted by the other clan heads. Maybe there is hope for the clan after all. Maybe if it's just Danzo… Maybe the clan doesn't need to rebel after all…
Now if only he could find a way to convince the clan.
Like that is actually possible.
And this was probably just a one off thing anyway. The council always unites against Danzo where Minato's son is concerned.
Shaking his head, Fugaku sighs and goes back to the police station to finish his paperwork.
"Naruto," says Iruka seriously. "This is yours." he hands Naruto a key. "Try not to lose it. If it starts raining while I'm at training I want you to go straight home. Don't stay out in bad weather, alright?"
"Okay," Naruto agrees, nodding. "So what's the key for?"
Iruka suppresses the urge to facepalm. "It's for the apartment door."
"Oh!" Naruto grins. "So I get my own key?"
"Naruto, you need your own key," says Iruka patiently. "If I go on a mission you will be on your own until I get back. And I can't lock you in until I get back, especially if the mission takes a week or more."
"Oh."
After Iruka drops Naruto off at the park, he runs to meet his team. Thankfully he is on time today. Taking care of Naruto takes more time than he thought it would.
Shikaku sensei arrives shortly after Iruka, followed closely by Kotetsu and Izumo. "Iruka, you have done the one thing most spend their lives avoiding doing," says Shikaku.
"What's that?" asks Iruka, confused.
"You attracted Danzo's attention."
Iruka suddenly feels very, very cold.
Hinata runs straight up to Naruto when she arrives. "Look!" she says, pointing at a gap in the front of her mouth. "I lost my first baby tooth!"
"Wow, really!" Naruto stares at the gap in Hinata's teeth. "I haven't even got any wiggly teeth yet!"
"So what are we gonna play today?" asks Hinata, bouncing up and down in excitement.
Naruto thinks about this. He really, really wants to pull a prank. "Let's prank someone!"
"Who should we prank?"
Naruto looks around the park, searching for likely victims. His eyes rest on a boy with a funny hat on. "That kid!" he point him out to Hinata.
Hinata grins. "Let's put laxatives in his lunch-box!"
"What are laxatives?" asks Naruto, curious. "Are they a type of bug?"
"No, silly!" Hinata giggle. "Laxatives make you need to poo real bad!"
"Where do we get laxatives?" asks Naruto.
"I'll get some from that shop," says Hinata. "You stay here and keep an eye on the target." Hinata runs to the shop just down the road and vanishes inside. Soon she reappears and presents her weapon of choice to Naruto.
A few minutes and a lot of sneaking around later, and the selected target's food is laced with a child-safe laxative. After the children have all stopped and had lunch, one little boy in a hat runs as fast as he can to the park toilets, making it just in time.
Hinata and Naruto giggle to themselves. The boy looks so funny, running around like a headless chicken.
Danzo slides across the forest floor, his individual steps invisible to the human eye. The person whom he has come to meet drops down out of the trees, landing behind him.
"What do you want, double-crosser?" asks the Mist jounin.
"I want you to kill someone for me," says Danzo. "But do not make it look like an assassination. Simply attack his team the next time they leave the Leaf and ensure he is killed in the conflict."
"Why do you want him dead?" asks the Mist shinobi.
"He is getting in the way of plans I have," replies Danzo. It is easier than trying to explain exactly why he needs this particular shinobi dead, but that is what it essentially boils down to.
"Who is this man?" asks the Mist ninja.
"Not man," says Danzo. "Boy. He is still but a child. Do not be fooled by his youth; he is more skillful than you might think."
"And who might this boy be?"
Danzo pulls a photograph of the boy out of his pocket and passes it over his shoulder to the Mist ninja behind him. "Here is a photograph of the boy. I believe he is familiar to you?"
The Mist ninja is silent for a while. Then; "How much are you willing to pay me?"
"How about XXXXX in advance and XXXXX when the job is done?" suggests Danzo.
"Cough up all the money now and you can consider it done," says the Mist ninja.
"No," says Danzo calmly. "You will only receive payment when I see fit. If you do not comply, I will kill you where you stand."
"And that's supposed to scare me how, exactly?"
Danzo sighs. This is going to be harder than he thought. "You should consider yourself fortunate I decided to hire you rather than kill you," he says. "I can give you the advance fee now, and set it up nicely for you to kill the boy. Or alternatively, I can kill you now and hire someone who agrees with my terms."
"Fine," says the Mist ninja smoothly. "Pay me to do your dirty work. But if I fail to kill this boy, take it as a sign that I am dead."
"If that boy returns from his next mission alive, and I find out you are still living I will hunt you down and kill you myself," says Danzo.
"Oh, I'm so scared," says the Mist ninja sarcastically.