Tsunade usually hated meeting with the Advisory Council. There was an annoying sameness to the meetings. Homura and Koharu would pick apart her decisions and then complain about how slow reports reach them. Today though she was nervous, with a little luck this might be the last meeting she had with the both of them.

Strolling into the room on time for a change was their first warning that something wasn't right. Ordinarily she had them wait if only a few minutes. It was a power game. Without saying a word she could remind them that she was their superior. It was childish and she knew that but, all power games were childish.

Smiling which was another sign of danger for them she began, "Thank you for attending this sudden meeting. As you know four days ago there was an assassination attempt on my life. One of the assassins was a Hyuga but, we can now say he was not acting under orders from his clan. The other assassin who was captured killed himself shortly after but, not before positively identifying Danzou as the man who hired him." The Hokage did not believe that the man had killed himself but, she couldn't prove that.

"Should we truly believe the words of a dead man? He could just be trying to turn us on each other," Koharu commented.

"Danzou actions have condemned him, besides his body has been found." At that moment she truly wished she had Ibiki's ability to read others. The man could tell simply by a small subconscious tick if someone was nervous or lying. It was truly a remarkable ability. After all she had no solid proof that these two had known the details of how she would be removed but, that was just willful ignorance.

After a few seconds of silence she started her main attack, "Danzou clearly had no intention of seizing power by force. If he had he would have been here when he tried to have me killed. His intentions were to be appointed as my successor." She allowed the accusation to remain unsaid for now.

The Hokage monument showed more expression then the two elders sitting across from her. Eventually Homura broke the silence. "If that is true, he would have to be approved by us and that would never happen."

It would've been nice if they had immediately pleaded their innocence but, that would've been too much to hope for. She did her best to match their expressions, "I have information that says otherwise." She was being deliberately cryptic. It was officially known only to a very few people that Danzou's head had not been found with his body. If it had she could've learned just about anything that he had known. Root might have informed them that they had destroyed the head but, whoever was controlling the organization now probably preferred to lay low.

"Let us see this information," Koharu snapped like an old guard dog.

She calmly leaned forward and lowered her voice as if she was imparting a secret, "That might not be the best thing to do. If I were to give the two of you the information, it would also be given to others and then I would have to act upon it. This will cause needless strife."

The two could easily read between the lines. I know you two have committed treason but, I don't want a public spectacle. "What are you suggesting," Homura ventured.

Tsunade relaxed inperspectively. Of the two she had been able tolerate him over the other, "You're in your seventies, no one will think it's odd that you retired. Obviously not simultaneously, Koharu could announce it this week and you could follow in several months. I'll even allow you to appoint your successors pending my approval of course. Go home. Spoil you're grand children rotten."

Homura was obviously beaten but, Koharu seem to be having an internal struggle. If she pushed to see the evidence her plan to get rid of them would be in jeopardy. It was tentative at best but, fortunately she was saved by an unexpected ally.

"Koharu, like you I have always acted in the best interest of this village first and my own second. I've done many terrible things but, I can live with them. Don't make me make another one of those decisions."

The older woman slammed her hand on the table and spat out, "Fine. You'll have my resignation by tomorrow." She rose and headed for the door with all the grace of a princess. At the door she paused for a second and gave one last piece of advice in her official role. "Iwagakure has long sought our village's destruction. They also rarely pass up an opportunity." The Hokage nodded in a silent sign of acknowledgment.

When Yurasu the personal assistant to the Raikage returned to Kumogakure from his brief mission as a liaison, he immediately reported to his village's leader despite the late hour. He was one of a few that had such a privilege. The Raikage was a recluse, meeting with few individuals that passed his orders onto others.

Most of the villagers believe this was because he had seized power in a coup and was afraid of being assassinated himself. If the man did suffer from such fear it would be mostly groundless. He had removed a mostly unpopular leader and while he was not in the same league as the founder of the village he was competent. Except for a few diehards from the old days he was unlikely to be assassinated.

The real reason for his self-imposed exile was a little more complicated. Again he was one of the few that knew the truth and that was only because he had been there. During the violent regime change the current Raikage had been severely wounded by his predecessor. Out of all the other individuals that had participated in the coup he had been chosen because of that wound. A physically weak individual who seize power through violence was palatable to those in the know.

Knocking on the door, he did not wait for permission to enter. The Raikage was standing in front of a map of the continent. He turned slightly to greet him with, "Success?"

"Mission accomplished. Casualties on the low side of expected. Otogakure's leadership has changed and they will not be building any more secret bases. Our access to the continent will remain secure."

The older man turned his attention back to the map and said almost to himself, "Not destroyed. Konoha never changes."

Yurasu eyed his friend and leader. He had not been gone long but, the man seemed to be sicker than before. His eyes seem sunken into his face and his cheekbones shut out like rocky outcroppings. The cane he had so disdained a few months ago was now a permanent fixture to his side. Logically he knew that his health hadn't deteriorated that much but, when peace rested with one man everything was concerning.

"This changes things. I assume they're helping them rebuild," the Raikage addressed him without looking away from the map.

"Yes, they're also trying to convince the non-aligned clans in the area to join with the new village."

"They'll reduce residual anger but, still it's not ideal. You were originally from Iwa what do you think we should do."

Yurasu ran his fingers through his hair. They have had this conversation before. It was taken as an article of faith that Rock would attack Leaf and could quite possibly destroy the village. This would not be good for his adopted village. It was not out of any altruism, they just simply wanted to maintain the balance of power on the continent. "Go along with their plan and then betray them."

"We've done that too many times in our history. Everybody knows to suspect us now." The older man smiled weakly, "That would be too easy." Raising a hand he said, "Waterfall, Grass and Rain. Traditionally they are buffer states for the Leaf Village against Iwa. Now if Iwa can convince Sound to look the other way they could land forces by the sea. Five or six medium-size ships would be all it would take. They could strike south from there. Four possible invasion routes but, which will they take?"

"Perhaps we should switch our alliance now to dissuade any expansionist ideas."

The older man turned around and retreated to his desk. "If we do it too soon they may feel like they've been backed into a corner and attack anyway."

"Wouldn't it be better to have them attack while they're unprepared?"

"That only works if you're prepared and right now nobody is," The Raikage grunted as he collapsed into his chair. "I'm not so foolish to believe we will have peace in our time or anything like that. Really peace is just the interlude between wars. In the end all I want to do is make sure this village is safe."

"That won't be easy."

"I know."

Authors note: And that's the end of Shadow Alliance. It should be pretty obvious but, the sequel is coming and it will be an all out war in the Fourth Great Shinobi War (a title that oddly has not been used yet) I'll be starting that story soon enough but, first I shall take a small break from the series and write a quick detective story involving Shikamaru tracking down a firebug.