The God War Part 3
The Sandaime was appointed as Hokage about four years before. He and Danzo are 36. Jiraiya is 17.
(-)
"Hokage-sama," Sakumo greeted quietly, opening the door all the way.
"Is the boy still asleep?"
"Yes, would you like to come in?"
"If you have time."
"Considering you're the one who gives me orders and has the majority of control over my life, I would say you have the answer to that." Sakumo closed the door behind the Hokage.
"Is that a problem?"
"Considering you've all but benched me, a bit, but nothing I can't handle."
The Sandaime smirked back at the cheek and refocused on the purpose of his visit, peering into the room with the sleeping boy. "With all the rumors about the Namikaze clan, I expected teeth, claws, and the strength of a Bijū with demons for children." The Sandaime commented when Sakumo gave no indication of continuing the conversation. "When you introduced Masao-san, I didn't believe you, he seemed so plain and ordinary for a civilian, there seemed to be no way he could have been a ninja. Yet, when he stood between his son and the ANBU, I could see him holding back more power than I thought possible, releasing the exact amount he needed to make the ANBU think twice, but not enough to reveal himself as a high-level threat and lock down the building. It was as if he knew exactly how much chakra the seals would allow before going off. When he moved, it was faster than the shunshin, yet he used no jutsu. He let the ANBU catch him as if he expected it."
"It sounds very similar to what I remember of him from the mission."
"The man is easy to figure out. He cares for his family more than anything, yet at the same time, he is impossible to predict. His clan leader betrayed him, yet he still trusts his son into our care. I honestly don't know if the boy is a trap or a treasure."
"I believe him to be both. Last night was interesting, to stay the least."
"How so?"
"He is four years old, yet is smarter than I am and can argue better than most adults. I asked him to change into clean clothes and he deliberately manipulated me until he got himself out of changing, and he knew it the entire time, yet he still did as I asked. With all his intelligence, he seems to have a deficit of general knowledge disproportional to his intelligence."
"Interesting kid, and nothing like the demon I expected."
"On the way to the Hokage tower, his father revealed the boy possessed an incredible ability to learn, mastering how to use chakra to stave off hunger in less than a day, by only watching his father. He learned an A-ranked technique with no instruction. On the way back, I asked him how he learned his clan's signs, the boy picked them up in a week by only listening to his father respond to his mother's signs."
"Why wouldn't his father sign back?"
"It was the torture we attempted on him by burning his hands with chakra, completely destroying his ability to ever use chakra again. The man recovered from something irreversible, apparently in a week, and we indirectly augmented the boy's skills at the same time."
"The kid's a genius."
"In comparison to the rest of his clan, I don't think he is. When I mentioned the word, he didn't know what it meant, as if it was never applied to him before." Sakumo nodded as the Sandaime's expression soured. "Konoha can't afford to make an enemy of this clan. I was even considering we keep the boy and make him one of our own shinobi. The longer I talked to him, the more certain I became of that being the worst possible decision we could make. His father already showed he had enough influence in his clan to attempt to relocate half of it. With a bit of planning, I believe the man could and would destroy the village in a day if we even hint at taking his son. With half the clan behind him, if they are anywhere close to his level of prowess, they could destroy the village in an hour and I doubt we could even slow them down. The boy is fast enough to escape an ANBU, at least for a second, I have little doubt he could escape the village if pushed to it. Not only that, but I got a taste of the kind of power the boy holds. Remember the old story about how the Sage of Six Paths intended chakra to be shared, but shinobi weaponized it instead?"
"That's a myth."
"I'm not sure about that anymore. I think their clan uses a form of chakra for the purpose described in the story. I don't think he has the technique mastered, but he had better control over his own chakra than most of our Jōnin. Better than me. Being in the technique was amazing. His chakra filled the room, nearly physical. I expected it to burn me, kill me even, especially when the technique made my own chakra circulate. Imagine the safest, most comfortable place you can think of and that's what it felt like. When he lost control of the technique and all of that security vanished, I nearly begged him to do it again. I didn't even notice my own chakra was about to kill me. I don't know how, but the boy stabilized my chakra, probably saving my life. When I asked him to explain the technique, he panicked and I couldn't get anything else out of him."
Minato interrupted him by walking into the room rubbing his slightly bloodshot eyes. "C'n I use this?" He asked Sakumo, holding out an inkwell and quill, acknowledging the Hokage's presence with a glance.
"As long as you sit at the table." Sakumo continued his conversation with the Hokage with ANBU signs. I'm curious to see how he would react if he was forced into hurting someone. I want to know if he could.
He's too young. If he was older, I would consider setting up a test forcing him into such a position, but—
"I know that about me; you don't have to hide it."
"I wasn't aware we were hiding anything." The Sandaime responded evenly.
"Not you. Shadows." Minato slung a drop of ink at the two of them, who nearly broke cover in surprise as the drops hit. "And he rude." Minato pointed behind him, the last drop striking the ANBU in the forehead, staining the mask. Unfortunately, the last ANBU he antagonized was the same one who failed at catching him the night before. The ANBU immaturely yanked Minato's chair out from under him, but by the time the ANBU grabbed the leg of the chair, Minato already sat in the chair opposite, carefully dipping the quill in the ink and flinging a second drop at the ANBU's nose, which went through the eyehole of the mask when the ANBU tried to dodge.
"Heavens forbid that he meets the Uzumaki princess," The Sandaime grumbled pinching the bridge of his nose, earning him odd looks as the ANBU clawed at his face. "ANBU move to the perimeter. Now," The Sandaime ordered. "Minato-kun, if you didn't want them here, you could have asked me to tell them to leave. You don't have to antagonize and embarrass them."
"They meant guarding you. If ink kunai, everyone'd be dead. They did bad."
The Sandaime bit down a laugh as Sakumo smeared a droplet of ink across his forehead. And you can't even scold him for it because he's right. Sakumo signed, standing up to rinse off the ink before it dried.
Just to be ornery, Minato flicked a drop of ink at the Sandaime, who caught it, but a second drop slipped through his fingers and stained his nose. Minato covered his mouth to hide a laugh.
"Sensei!" Someone burst through the front door. Minato spun around in surprise, knocking over the inkwell, which the Sandaime quickly righted.
"Volume, Jiraiya." The Sandaime scolded as the new arrival swung around the corner.
For a long second, Minato stared at the new arrival. To everyone's surprise, Minato's face turned red.
"You were there!" Minato screeched. "Yori-kun 'most died 'cause of you!"
"What're you talking about, gaki? Sensei, the reports you asked for just came in. The Hime is looking for you to try and get you to sign a stack of—" Jiraiya squeaked as Minato leapt forward in a blur and punched him in the stomach. "What the hell, gaki? I don't even know you!" Jiraiya wheezed as he dodged a second punch to the face, grabbing Minato's arm and trying to hold him at arm's length. Minato twisted out of his grip and managed to land the third punch in Jiraiya's eye. Sakumo tried to grab the boy but missed and Minato nearly knocked Jiraiya out with a well-aimed jab at the back of his neck. Jiraiya landed on all fours, swearing. Wrapping both arms around the inexplicably aggressive kid and pinning his arms to his chest, Sakumo dragged him away, but not before one of Minato's flailing legs cracked one of Jiraiya's ribs. "I'm gonna beat you to a pulp, you little rascal!" Jiraiya gasped, his face mashed into the floor ruining the effect of the threat. "As soon as I can breathe," He amended.
Jiraiya turned to get a good look at Minato. The boy jerked against Sakumo's grip.
"You're that kid from my visit to Taki last year!"
"You could killed him!" Minato choked before giving up on struggling and rubbing his eyes furiously.
"How'd you even know it was me? I was wearing a Henge!"
"You use Senjutsu. No one can."
Jiraiya swore. "The old geezer mentioned someone would recognize me because of it but I didn't think—hold on! How do you know about Senjutsu?"
Minato glared at him. "You hit him too hard! You 'most kill him!"
"Listen kid, I panicked, and I'm sorry. It was my first solo mission, cut me some slack. I asked Tsunade-Hime to take a look at him when I got back to base and she said he would be fine so no harm done?"
"You stole my book," Minato snapped back stubbornly.
"That was your bingo book? I thought it was the older kid's! How old are you anyways? Wait, you're a Namikaze kid! What're you doing in Konoha?"
The Sandaime stood up and grabbed Jiraiya's ear, dragging him out of the room. "Thanks for the talk, Hatake-san." He said politely over Jiraiya's protests.
As soon as the door closed, Sakumo released the boy, wincing as the Sandaime began to chew out Jiraiya. "Alright, Minato-kun, what was that all about?" Minato did not move as Sakumo sat down in front of him.
The boy rubbed his eyes. "I played with other big kids. He ran away from big house. I saw my book and told him to stop. Yori-kun told 'im to give it back. He 'most grabbed me then hit Yori-kun with a big punch and 'most killed 'him." Minato kept talking, but Sakumo could not understand anything else. After a long minute of trying to understand Minato's mumbling, he attempted a distraction.
"How about we go and buy you a change of clothes? You're going to be here for at least a week, you're going to need something to wear which fits you better."
"No."
Minato stood up and walked into the living room, sitting on the window seat staring out on the main road, watching everyone pass and the Sandaime continuing to scold Jiraiya. Sitting down beside the boy, Sakumo followed his gaze, fixed on Jiraiya. "I won't try and defend him, but he's a good kid who attracts trouble. He spent almost a year training three orphans from Amegakure how to take care of themselves for no other reason than he could. So what if he messed up on a mission? He's far from perfect, just like the rest of us, including you, and at least everything turned out alright in the end."
"I know. I want to say sorry."
"What is Senjutsu? And how do you know about it?"
"Special chakra all over the place."
"What other types of chakra do you know about?"
"No."
"You're a strange kid."
Minato pulled his knees tight against his chest, and ignoring Sakumo, stared out the window as Jiraiya stomped out of sight, reluctantly following the Sandaime.
"I'm going to make breakfast," Sakumo sighed, walking out of the room. He made a small plate for himself and another for Minato, but when he returned to the window, he caught a glimpse of the boy's back, hood up, vanishing around the corner.
Biting back a curse, Sakumo raced out the door, only to lose the boy a second later in the crowd of people. After a minute of frantic searching, Sakumo caught sight of a small, blond head, when a horse nearly trampled the boy. The cart obscured him for a second as Sakumo leapt over the street, long enough for Minato to roll underneath the cart and attach himself to the lose boards underneath. Keep a careful eye on both Sakumo and Jiraiya, Minato stayed underneath the cart until it turned off the main road. He rolled out from underneath. Before he could stand up, strong hands grabbed his arms and set him on his feet. Minato squirmed as the Jōnin beat the dust off his clothes.
"You should be more careful, kid. You could've gotten hurt underneath that cart."
"Yes, shinobi-san."
"Are you lost, kid? You're too young to be out by yourself."
"No, shinobi-san."
"Where's your parents?"
Minato hesitated.
"Fine, don't tell me. Keep your hood down so people can see you." The Jōnin leapt up into the rooftops.
Minato ran when he sensed the Jōnin stopping to talk to Sakumo. At the same time, he felt Jiraiya break away from the Sandaime. Minato sped up, flitting through the streets to intercept him. Jiraiya turned down a nearly empty street and Minato caught up a second later, grabbing his wrist. Jiraiya reacted abruptly, grabbing Minato's wrist in turn and slamming him against the nearest wall, a hand on his neck.
"What the hell, gaki?" Jiraiya snapped when Minato's hood slipped off his head. "Sensei just told me no one is supposed to know you're here." He released the boy's neck, but still kept a firm grip on his arm, yanking up his hood. Minato twisted out of his grip, shoving the hood back.
"I'm sorry I hit you," Minato started sincerely, his fingers twisting into knots behind his back as he bounced on the balls of his feet and stared at Jiraiya's shoes.
"No hard feelings, gaki," Jiraiya assured him after a moment of surprise.
"How did you learn Senjutsu?"
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about it?" He retorted. "Not even Orochimaru or my sensei or even the Nara knew anything about it until after the toads decided to teach me."
Minato shifted uncomfortably, taking a small step backwards. "To-san told me."
Jiraiya scrutinized the boy shifting uncomfortably. "I might not know a lot about your clan, kid, but I'm the only Senjutsu user since the Shodaime. I know for sure no one from Taki ever used Senjutsu. How did you find out about it?"
Minato took another, larger, step backwards, away from Jiraiya's intensity. "I don't gotta tell," he argued, crossing his arms.
"Fine, I'll just figure it out for myself, runt," Jiraiya grabbed Minato's arm, deftly foiling the boy's attempt to escape, and frog-marched him back towards Sakumo's house.
"Lemme go!" Minato shouted as soon as they stepped out into the main road.
"Hey! What're you doing to that kid?" Someone shouted and everyone near turned their heads towards them, disapproving scowls flashing around them. A dark-haired man pushed his way through the crown.
"Jiraiya-san, this is the third time this week! Do you always have to cause problems?"
"I apologize for the disturbance, Uchiha-san, I am on a mission."
"Ah, you're always on a mission of some sort. What could a child have to do with your 'mission'?"
"I am expected to bring this boy back to his guardian."
"And who might this boy be?"
"I'm sorry, that's classified."
"And who might his caretaker be?"
"Also classified."
"So what can you tell me about this 'mission'?"
"It's very classified?" Jiraiya quailed under the Uchiha's disapproving glare.
"Please release the child."
"He'll run and then I'll have to chase him down again."
"Who are you, kid?" The Uchiha addressed Minato.
"Make him let me go and I'll tell you."
"Let go of the boy, Jiraiya-san."
Jiraiya glanced around and grumbled, releasing Minato.
"Your name, kid," the Uchiha demanded.
"I never say when!" Minato promised, slipping past Jiraiya and racing down the empty alley.
"Hey!" The Uchiha shouted.
"I told you he would run!" Jiraiya grumbled, turning on his heel to race after the boy. The Uchiha followed.
"Damn, that kid is fast!" Jiraiya cursed, pushing his way past people, struggling to keep up with Minato, who had a much easier time weaving between the legs of the civilians.
Minato glanced over his shoulder, grinning.
"He's laughing at us!" The Uchiha squawked indignantly.
Jiraiya managed snag Minato's hood, but the boy swerved and Jiraiya lost his grip, crashing into the side of a cart as he failed to match the boy's change in direction. The Uchiha leapt up to the rooftops to gain space, activating his Sharringan to find an opportunity to jump down and catch the boy, but nearly lost the tiny kid in the press of much taller adults, forcing the Uchiha to leap back down and continue to follow the boy on the ground. With an abrupt burst of speed, Sharringan increasing his ability to avoid the civilians, the Uchiha grabbed the boy's hood, yanking him backwards. Minato bastardized one of the Taijutsu moves he watched his father spar with, rolling with the sudden unbalance and pushing himself back towards the Uchiha faster than the man expected. Minato slammed face-first into his chest, slipping his arms out of his jacket and snatching his father's scroll from an inside pocket then slithering out the bottom while the Uchiha regained his balance.
A very loud, un-Uchiha curse turned heads as Minato raced away opposite of his previous direction, grinning wider than before. In his distraction, he lost track of Sakumo, who followed the sounds of the disturbance and dropped down in front of Minato. The boy's eyes widened and he dodged to the side. Sakumo's arm reached out to catch him, Minato spun closer to Sakumo and ducked, trying to dive through the man's legs as he widened his stance to give himself a better chance of catching the boy.
Minato underestimated Sakumo's speed and the man managed to grab his heel. Minato stumbled, off-balance, giving Sakumo the time he needed to grab the side of Minato's torn and bloody tank top, absently noting the shuriken wounds healing nicely, and spin him even further off balance as the civilians backed away quickly.
Minato landed on his back with an indignant squeal, trying to roll out of the way, while Sakumo grabbed his ankle and lifted him off the ground, upside-down. Minato tried to curl himself up and grab Sakumo's wrist, but exhaustion from the race made him give up after the first try, arms dangling a foot off the ground and grinning mischievously up at an exasperated and slightly annoyed Sakumo.
"Is this going to be a regular thing for you?"
Minato shook his head.
"Was there a reason for that stunt?"
Minato nodded, grin widening to ridiculous proportions, but his face beginning to turn blue with the difficulty of his breathing.
"Are you ever going to share?"
Minato shrugged.
"What's with the scroll?" The Uchiha asked, snatching it out of Minato's hand, dropping the boy's jacket at the same time.
With a massive amount of strength and breath, which Sakumo could not believe the boy still possessed after outrunning an Uchiha and Jiraiya, recently named one of the Legendary Sannin, Minato jerked towards the scroll, nearly wrenching himself out of Sakumo's grip and screaming wordlessly. Sakumo set the boy on his feet and snatched the scroll away from the Uchiha before he could open it, handing it back to Minato, who collapsed at Sakumo's feet, opening the scroll as if to make sure it was still unharmed.
"You are no longer needed here, Uchiha-san. Go back to your patrol." Sakumo responded at the Uchiha's indignant spluttering. When the man refused to move, Sakumo pulled his hitai-ate out of his pocket alongside a second badge. The Uchiha paled and left quickly. Missing the entire exchange, Minato slumped back against Sakumo's legs.
"The boy's just gonna get off? Without even getting scolded?" Jiraiya scowled.
"Did he damage anything?"
"No but—"
"Did he hurt anyone?"
"No but—"
"Did break any village rules?"
"No but—"
"Did he directly disobey an order?"
"Yes!"
"And what order was that?"
"He didn't give his name when the Uchiha asked for it."
"He didn't tell me so! He asked. I never said I'd say then!" Minato interrupted between gasps.
"As far as I can tell, the boy has done nothing wrong, only twisted a few words, something I recall you enjoy immensely. Should I be reprimanding you for it?"
"No but—"
"I'm sure you have something more important to do than arguing with me over semantics. Have a nice day, Jiraiya."
The gathered civilians took this as their queue to resume their own business as Sakumo picked Minato up by the armpits and setting him on his hip, snatched the jacket out of the dirt, heading towards the nearest clothing store. After a few steps, Minato laid his head on Sakumo's shoulder, arms wrapping loosely around his neck, fingers fidgeting with his collar. At first, the familiarity took Sakumo by surprise before he remembered: no matter how intelligently or physically superior compared to most children his age; he was still only four, overly trusting with a contract to cause trouble.
When they reached the clothing store, Sakumo poked Minato's side. "I'm not picking out your clothes, kid." When Minato lifted his head, the man continued, "You're going to pick out at least three sets of clothes, no bright colors."
Minato looked around, confused. "There are clothes in stores?"
"Of course, where else would we get clothes?"
"The old ladies make them. They got good stories but To-san's better," The boy finished in a mumble.
"There are other ways to get clothes. In big clans, they often make clothes for themselves but for civilians or in little clans like mine, we go to a store and buy them."
"Why didn't the rest of your clan come back last night?"
"What do you mean?"
"It was just me and you and that lady. Why didn't the rest of your clan come and sleep too?"
"They have their own houses to sleep in, why would they come to mine?"
Minato's brow scrunched in confusion.
"How does your clan sleep?"
"It's cum-mun-mal!"
Without Minato noticing, Sakumo slipped a minor privacy seal, which prevented sound from traveling more than a meter away. While he had no qualms about using Minato to gather intelligence on other clans, he did not want the boy responsible for spreading his clan's information across the entire village.
"We sleep outside sometimes to can see giant booms of light in the sky. Once we get to be a shinobi, we get our own room!"
"I see why you're confused. In Konoha, there is the big village walls and there are littler walls separating the clan's houses from the civilian's houses. Inside each of the clans, there are smaller families and they each have their own house. My wife and I have one house and there are two other families who each have their own houses."
"Konoha is strange."
Sakumo laughed. "Sometimes it is; however, as strange as we might be, you have a job to be doing." Sakumo activated a seal behind his ear and put one on the boy's ear so they could easily hear each other, feeling slightly guilty for scolding Jiraiya, especially after stealing half his stash of pre-made seals. While Sakumo trained himself intensively in understanding seals, all of the Sandaime's attempts to help him learn to create his own seals backfired horribly. His handwriting just was not good enough, which greatly amused Jiraiya and whenever the subject came up, earned him merciless teasing. Instead of making his own seals, he took to stealing Jiraiya's remaining seals whenever he returned from a mission and held no intention of stopping, at least until Jiraiya figured it out and started actually trying to protect his things.
"That was a seal!" Minato said, his hand going to the spot behind his ear.
"Good job, it makes it so I know exactly where you are and can always hear you. I'll take it off at my house, but for now, I don't have to worry about you wandering off," Sakumo set the boy on his feet in the children's section. "Now go find some clothes, I'll follow you."
Minato wandered forward tentatively, staring wide-eyed at everything. Sakumo observed him carefully. While he could be fairly certain the tank top belonged to the boy, the jacket and pants were undoubtedly stolen, considering how poorly they fit. The jacket's sleeves rolled up twice and the hem nearly reached the boy's knees. The pants seemed ready to slip off his waist. Sakumo felt slightly annoyed by the fact he could see the boy's ribs through his shirt. Masao did not strike Sakumo as negligent, even if he did seem forgetful when it came to everyday essentials.
"Hey kid, do you eat with your clan?"
"On special days. I don't like it. Ka-san makes me eat."
"So what do you do all day?"
"I play by the gates."
"Do you go to school?"
"No. Mean teachers."
Sakumo kept his face carefully neutral. Under every circumstance he could think of, avoiding school would be a sign of a troublemaker or a kid headed nowhere, but everything he knew about Minato pointed towards a promising future. Sakumo chalked it onto the growing lists of questions to ask the boy's father. If he ever returned.
Minato touched one of the shirts frowning at the leaf symbol on the front. "What does that mean?"
"It's the symbol for the village."
"Why is it on a shirt?"
"So the children can show they are part of the village."
"But isn't it a hidden village? Why's it everywhere?"
"You have a point, gaki, I don't know."
Minato turned away and started wandering towards the section with clothes for to-be shinobi. He pulled a long-sleeved, not-quite-black shirt off the shelf. It looked incredibly similar to the shirt his father wore when Sakumo encountered him on the mission. He looked up at Sakumo for approval. He nodded and held it up against the boy's back to ensure it would fit before folding it over his arm and gesturing for Minato to continue. The boy wandered forward stopping in front of a table with shorts of every color.
"Pick one," Sakumo urged, carefully keeping the slight impatience out of his voice. Minato picked up a pair the same color as his shirt. The half dozen hidden pockets on both the shirt and shorts did not escape Sakumo's notice as he held up the shorts to Minato's waist, quickly exchanging them for a better-fitting pair.
"I'm done." Minato said quietly. Sakumo sighed and picked up a second pair of the same shorts and shirt, plus a mixture of other essential clothing. Minato followed, one hand holding tight to the loose fabric around Sakumo's knee.
"One last thing, you need shoes."
"I don't like shoes."
"Why not?"
"They're heavy and they make me trip."
"You'll get used to it."
Minato shook his head.
"It's not safe to go barefoot. In Konoha, everyone wears shoes. There're sharp stones in the streets, and the steps are not always smooth."
"I don't step sharp things."
"I'll make you a deal. You only have to wear them when you're on the streets, okay?"
Minato looked up at him. "I don't like shoes. I can't run in them."
"You'll get used to it."
"No."
"Why don't you at least try them?"
"Ka-san doesn't make me wear them."
"What if I could find you a pair that doesn't trip you?"
"No."
"Fine."
"I'm tired."
Sakumo lifted the boy onto his hip and brought the clothes to the front counter.
"Is the kid going to the academy?" The woman behind the counter asked.
"Maybe, but not for another few years," Sakumo responded, surprised how quickly Minato fell asleep on his shoulder.
"He's adorable. Come back anytime."
Sakumo took the bag and left with a nod. When he reached home, he tried to lay the boy on the couch, but his little fingers refused to release him and Sakumo did not have the heart to force the boy away. Instead, he sat down and pulled out the book from the night before. Eventually, Minato began fully relaxing, his fingers releasing the tense grip on his shirt, a grip nearly exclusive to shinobi forced to sleep on the field. Sakumo shifted the boy so his head did not tip in an awkward position and give the boy a headache later on. He used a kunai to grab a blanket just out of his reach and lay it over the boy's bare feet. A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Come in!" Sakumo called quietly, "I'm in the living room."
Shinobi footsteps, poorly disguised as civilian footsteps entered the house as the newcomer found his way into the room. "Hatake-san," the man greeted.
Sakumo resisted wrinkling his nose at the smell of blood. Clearly, the man recently returned from a mission. Examining his dark robe, Sakumo noticed the flecks of blood on his sleeves and the bottom hem, alongside a tear in his robes, where a poorly bandaged wound peeked out. "Shimura-san," Sakumo responded. The man's eyes narrowed. Under most circumstances, Sakumo would give the man more respect, but the ROOT agent in his shadow put Sakumo on edge, the second ROOT inching his way into Sakumo's blind spot only increasing his tension. Shinobi rarely went anywhere but the mission desk before ridding themselves of the blood-smell. "What do you want?" Sakumo demanded, allowing the anger to fill his voice.
"That boy must leave."
"Why?"
"If his clan found out he was here, Konoha will be destroyed in a day. No one messes with the Namikaze children."
"First, his presence here is between myself, the boy's father, and the Hokage only. How did you find out?"
Danzo took a step forward attempting to intimidate the Hatake, but Sakumo's only worry was how to get Minato out of the room if the ROOT agents decided to be as forceful as the rumors said. "I have near-complete access to the Hokage's files. I am privy to every aspect of this village, you know that Hatake-san."
"You are aware of my opinion on the matter." Sakumo smiled slightly as the ROOT agent stepped on the paralysis seal behind him.
"Release my agent."
"Send them out and we can talk. I do not appreciate them searching my house. While the Hokage may be willing to allow you to act without constraint outside of Konoha, he has made it clear you are to remain within the law inside the village gates. Searching a superior's house without provocation is illegal."
"You are harboring an enemy; you have provided plenty of provocation."
"First, neither Takigakure nor the Namikaze are enemies of Konoha, even if we aren't on the best of terms after the recent incident. Second, I have the Hokage's permission to take care of this boy. Are you going to tell me what your visit is truly about, or are you going to continue to groundlessly accuse me?"
"Why didn't you kill the Namikaze when you had the chance?"
"Because I never had a chance. The man allowed me to touch him. He demanded I take care of his son. In addition, killing a shinobi who refuses to fight back is generally frowned upon. What is your purpose here?"
"I'm taking the boy."
"On what grounds?"
"Resistance of arrest."
"There was no attempted arrest. Tell me straight, Shimura-san, why do you want the boy?"
Danzo sneered.
"Please leave my home," Sakumo ordered.
"Not until you hand over the boy."
"I will not 'hand over' anyone to you Danzo, especially not without orders from the Hokage."
"You will follow my orders."
"Shimura-san, I am not on active duty right now, therefore the only individuals who may order me to act are a village official. You may be one of the Hokage's Council, but you have no power over civilians. Even if you were a village official, I am a registered shinobi, unless I have done something warranting arrest, I am not obligated to follow orders from anyone by a higher-ranked shinobi, a position which you do not have, considering only the head Jōnin is higher-ranked than I. None of these matters, considering this boy is under my protection, by the Hokage's orders. No order supersedes his; therefore, Shimura-san, you have no right to be giving orders, you have no right to search my house, and you have no right to threaten me or this boy in any way. I am well within my rights to order you to leave my home along with your agents and not to return without invitation, effective immediately."
Danzo hesitated before complying. As soon as the door slammed, Sakumo laid his hand on the boy's head, checking his pulse to see whether the intrusion woke him. Before he could, the boy sat up and looked at him with wide terrified eyes.
"I'm not going to let him take you," Sakumo assured him, hoping the boy awoke after Danzo made his threats.
Minato buried his face in Sakumo's shoulder, his small body trembling and tears dampening his shoulder. Sakumo wrapped his arms around Minato, holding him tightly, unsure of how to react.
Eventually the boy fell back asleep.
After almost two hours, Minato still slept and hunger began to gnaw at Sakumo. Unable to decide if the boy felt the same, Sakumo detached the boy's grip, waking him abruptly. Unlike most children, who rubbed sleep out of their eyes, Minato watched him carefully; eyes instantly clear of all sleep, a skill most shinobi fail to develop until after they begin active mission work.
"Its past time for breakfast," Sakumo explained. "I'm hungry, are you?"