Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Thoughts:
Inoichi found himself in a dilemma. Last night, his student Tenzo had come clean about being a Root agent. The Third and he had suspected the child was more than just a genin when Danzo had recommended him for Inoichi's team. He never thought the child would admit it, and not just that, but tell them what Danzo plan's were. That's why he was now facing an unhappy predicament. Despite what he'd told Naru yesterday, he knew the chances of back up arriving on time were slim. If it wasn't for the war, it wouldn't be a problem, but Konoha's forces were stretched thin as it was. This meant his team might have to stop Danzo's plan themselves.
The blonde-haired male sighed. Getting in a fight with Danzo's agents was not a wise decision; his genin were not ready to take on Anbu level shinobi. However, if they didn't stop whatever mission they had, his team risked being killed by Mist shinobi in retaliation. It would be a bloodbath either way. He'd sent a message to the Hokage and prayed that a team of shinobi would make it in time. If not, then his team might have to fight. Man, he hoped not! Minato and Sakumo would kill him if the Mist or Root didn't, if anything happened to Naru and Kakashi.
It was a troublesome situation, as his old teammate Shikaku Nara would say. What he needed was a plan. He went over his choices. Leaving Mizu was out of the question; that would make it look like Konoha was planning against them from the beginning. The team couldn't warn the Mizukage because he wouldn't be able to distinct between Root and regular Konoha shinobi. That left him with two choices left. One, he quietly waited for a back-up team that may or may not arrive, or his team could try to stop Root. That was a crazy idea, and he knew it was suicide. However, they couldn't risk Mizu turning its rage on Konoha. Even if Konoha was the bigger village, Mizu had a hell of a shinobi force. Plus, Hiruzen would look like an incompetent leader if they didn't stop Danzo.
Err, he really hated the Old War Hawk right now. Why couldn't the old geezer stay out of things? He had no choices left. Today, he would do a quick assessment of his team's skill set, and pray they would be good enough to fight. Kami, help them.
Naru was pacing furiously back and forth in the hotel room. Once again, Danzo fucking Shimura had overstepped his power. Her team could very well pay for that with their lives, and the village could be hurt in the future because of this. If Danzo's plan went through, Mizu would be led to believe Konoha didn't keep their treaties and wasn't trustworthy. All it took was one shinobi to blab to another and the rumor would spread. If the Fire Daimyo learned of this, it could hurt Konoha getting missions. Damn it! Did Danzo ever think about that? Probably not. He was so blinded by power. Kami! She hated that man.
Kurama growled from inside his cage. "Now that is another human I wouldn't mind destroying," he said.
Naru nodded furiously in agreement. "If I knew it wouldn't kill me, I'd let you out of the seal and let you destroy him," she said.
Kurama grew silent as he thought over Naru's words. "Hmm, you might be on to something, Kit. Perhaps you could summon me outside the seal?" he said.
Naru stopped pacing. That was actually a good idea. Why hadn't she thought of it before now? "Hmm, do you have a contract I could sign? Also, if I summon you out of the seal, could you shrink yourself? It would freak out the entire content if you burst out at full height," she said.
Kurama laughed at the image before turning serious again. "Yes, I have a summoning contract. All the tailed beasts do. However, because we've been sealed away, the contracts have been lost to humans. How do you think Madara summoned me to fight Hashirama?" he asked.
Naru rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I actually thought he found you hanging out in the forest near Fire Country. You didn't answer my second question. Can you shrink?" she asked.
The Kitsune sweat dropped; his kit had the weirdest imagination sometimes. "Of course I can shrink myself. Here I'll show you," he said. A moment later, his body glowed and shrank until he was the size of a regular fox.
Naru's eyes glowed with excitement. "That's terrific Kurama! Wait? if you could shrink, why didn't you do it earlier?" she asked.
Kurama closed his eyes and swayed his tails. "I prefer being in my true form, but if it gets me out of this cage for a bit, I'll go small," he said.
Naru sweat dropped. "Ok, anyway. Do you have the contract so I can sign it, or am I going to have to find it?" she asked.
Kurama smirked. "Of course I have it, Kit. I took with me when I was sealed inside of Mito," he said.
Naru smiled a foxy grin. "Let's do this!" I just wish I could see Danzo Teme's face when his minions come back as failers," she said.
Kurama couldn't have agreed more.
Kakashi was out for a walk on the hotel's walking trail. He was frustrated and confused by the situation he found himself in. He was angry at Tenzo for lying to him about who he was. Tenzo had been cool, and he thought maybe the two of them could be friends. He should get over being mad at people lying to him. That was part of a shinobi's job. Perhaps what he was furious about was that it was someone he believed was on his side that had lied. Silently, he promised himself to never let that happen to him again! From now on, he'd suspect everybody. Except for his dad, Naru and his dad, or any else who proved other wise.
The other issue he was frustrated about was the predicament his team had been put in. Inoichi-sensei had said he was calling for backup, but Kakashi knew through his dad that Konoha's shinobi forces were thin. That meant there was no guarantee that they'd get any backup. His team might have to stop Danzo's plans on their own. Was he capable of doing that? He knew he was a good fighter, but he didn't think he was ready to take on Anbu level shinobi. He didn't really have a choice, though.
Sigh, he just prayed both he and Naru would get out of this alive. Kami, he hoped that back up came through.
Tenzo was in conflict. He felt guilty for telling on Danzo, but he also felt guilty for lying to Naru and Kakashi, who he viewed as friends. As he sat inside his room think this over, he could hear Naru pacing back and forth. "She's mad at me, and I can't blame her," he thought.
The wood user shot a glance at his sensei, who was sitting at the writing desk in the room's corner. "He's mad at me, too. Judging from his reaction last night though, he already suspected me," he thought, turning his attention to the third empty bed in the room.
A sigh escaped him as he glanced at Kakashi's empty spot. "I really messed up with Kakashi-kun," he thought sadly. He really liked the Hatake and had even started thinking of them as friends. "There goes that," he thought.
Turning his attention back to Inoichi, he noticed the man was staring at him. "What is it, Inoichi-sensei?" he asked.
Inoichi looked at the boy sternly. "Tenzo-kun, what level would you put yourself at?" he asked.
Tenzo had to think about that for a moment. He had been told by Danzo-sama that he was about Chunin rank, but he didn't know for sure. "I think I'm about Chunin rank, or so I've been told. The problem is that I have had no one to fairly test my strength out on," he said.
Inoichi looked thoughtful for a moment. "I would like to test you for real today. If the four of us are going to survive this, then I need to know where your true skill set lies. I'll be testing Kakashi and Naru as well," he said.
Tenzo nodded. "That's only fair. Oh, and Inoichi-sensei for all that it's worth, I really am sorry," he said, looking away.
It took him by surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Inoichi smiling. "It isn't your fault, Tenzo-kun, it's Danzo's. I want you to know that I realize you've put yourself in danger by talking to us. However, I am also proud of you for defying orders," he said.
A sad smile graced Tenzo's lips. "Thank you Sensei. I've still messed up with Kakashi-kun and Naru-chan," he said.
Inoichi grimaced. "Yes, you have. Though I don't think you've hurt Naru as badly as you have Kakashi. The only way to fix that is to regain his trust, which won't be easy," he said.
The boy sighed. "I thought you might say that," he said. Inoichi just grinned.
Meanwhile:
Hiruzen had been having a fairly decent day. His paperwork was almost done, and he'd gotten to eat lunch with his wife. However, his good day was about to end. He'd been working on the last stack of mission reports for the day when a Jonin from headquarters came rushing in holding a piece a scroll.
The Hokage looked at the Jonin sternly. "What is it, Natsu-san?" he asked.
The now identified Natsu handed Hiruzen the scroll he was holding. "Sir! We've received an urgent message from Jonin Inoichi Yamanaka, requesting immediate back up for Team Twelve," he said.
Hiruzen's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Natsu, did Inoichi state the reason for his request?" he asked.
Natsu nodded. "He said to tell you, "The Roots have revealed themselves to the Tree," he said.
Hiruzen's eyes widen in shock before they turned dark. "Natsu, get me Jonin Minato Namikaze, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Kushina Uzumaki, Now!" he said.
Natsu saluted and left to retrieve the Jonin. Once he was gone, Hiruzen made a gesture. A second later, an Eagle masked Anbu jumped down. "Eagle, get me Danzo now! If he refuses, you have my permission to use force to drag him here," he said.
Eagle saluted. "Hai! Hokage-sama!" he said, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"What have you done now, Danzo? You just better hope nothing happens to those kids," Hiruzen thought.
Author's note: So here's chapter twenty one of the Gold Siren! Please tell me what you think. Also, I've recently started redoing some of the older chapters on this story. The chapters I've redone so far are Two, Three, Four and Nine. Please check them out if you have time. Thank you, Nerdzone6.