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Authors note
Check out my story challenges, The Great Shinobi War and Son of Battles, on my profile.
Special thanks to Inarealpickle and Simonmountney for proofing. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I should have responded to everyone, but if I missed you, I apologize. All reviews/criticism is welcomed. Without further ado, I give you chapter three of Naruto: The Reckoning
This will be AU (obviously) and Naruto will be two years older than Canon. Which means that the Kyuubi attack will be two years earlier.
Summary: A single moment's hesitation during the Kyuubi attack changed everything. Now as the world rushes towards war, a new order begins its rise.
'THOUGHTS'
LINEBREAKS=CHANGE OF SCENE/POV
Chapter Three
Danzo sighed silently as he listened to the team give their report. It had been a very hectic and tiring three years for him, as despite his experience leading ROOT, the increased work load of leading the village, not to mention dealing with the effects of the Kyuubi attack, left him with very little time to rest. Not that he could afford to show it.
Once the report was done, he dismissed them, deliberately waiting a moment before calling out. "Hizashi-san, a moment of your time if you would." The Hyuuga Jounin halted in his tracks and allowed the others to file out before returning to Danzo's desk.
"Is there something you need, Hokage-sama?" The pale eyed man asked neutrally.
Danzo was privately impressed. Even he couldn't detect the anger that he knew the Hyuuga held. "Take a seat, Hizashi-san. We have much to discuss," Danzo ordered as he continued to read over and sign the various forms on his desk.
The man looked like he wanted to refuse, but he sat none the less. "And just what could a man like yourself possibly have to say to a lowly servant like me, Danzo-sama?" Hizashi let just a trace of bitterness enter his tone.
Danzo felt like smiling as he nonchalantly responded, "Well, I was hoping we could talk about our agreement, but if you feel you have more important things to do then we can wait until later."
That got his attention. "What, you mean to say that you're finally going to uphold your end? Why now after all this time?" The Hyuuga asked suspiciously.
Danzo could understand the man's anger. After all, he had been the first Hokage in the history of Konoha to take a stand and say he'd intervene in clan affairs. Yet, he hadn't done anything to back up his claims. Until now. "I've been a little busy these last few years, what with rebuilding our village and such. Surely you don't think the plight of your clan to be more important than the safety and security of our village?" Danzo answered finally looking up from his paperwork to stare the Jounin in the eye. When the man didn't say anything, he continued, "Now that things have settled down somewhat, I can afford to turn my attention to our agreement."
With those words Danzo turned his attention back to his work, letting Hizashi stew for a minute. One minute stretched into five with only the sound of shifting paper breaking the silence. When it became obvious that Hizashi wasn't going to speak, Danzo decided to continue. "There are certain things that I need you to do before I can abolish the seal, so the sooner you accomplish them the better."
He really had to give the Hyuuga credit for his emotional control. The only sign of the Jounin's anger that he could discern was a slight narrowing of the eyes. "That wasn't a part of our agreement. You promised to remove the seal if I was able to grant you the support of the Hyuuga Branch Jounin. I did so. You have no right to try to change our agreement at this stage."
Mentally smirking, he replied, "You'll find that I have quite a few rights as the Hokage, Hizashi-san." Danzo paused to let the subtle threat sink in before continuing. "Besides, I'm not changing the agreement at all. The things I require of you need to happen in order for me to abolish the seal."
Rather than respond, Hizashi just stared at him, his face as much a mask as the ones the ANBU used.
"First, I want you to get me a copy of a scroll containing any and all information on the Caged Bird seal; how it works, how it's applied, everything," Danzo stated bluntly, drawing a surprised blink from Hizashi.
"What do you need that for?" The man asked neutrally.
Fixing his face into a blank stare, Danzo answered, "So I can create a way to remove it of course. The Caged Bird seal is one the Hyuuga clan's greatest secrets after all, so I'll need to study it in order to destroy it." That couldn't be farther from the truth. He had a copy of the very scrolls he was asking for stolen decades ago, and had long since worked out a way to destroy it. He'd just never seen a need to use it that would be worth the consequences. Not that Hizashi needed to know that.
Indeed, the middle-aged man nodded slowly in understanding. "And the other conditions?" He asked cautiously. Danzo felt like smiling. The Hyuuga were renowned for their self-control, yet he could sense the very seed he had hoped to plant. Hope.
'Truly, there is no greater emotion than hope,' Danzo mused to himself. 'Given just the tiniest sliver of hope and a man will fight long after he should be dead to attain their prize.' "There is only one other condition, though it can wait until I've studied the Hyuuga scrolls," Danzo explained. "When the time comes, I'll need a Branch Hyuuga to test on, in order to make sure the counter seal works."
"Yes, I suppose that makes sense," Hizashi conceded cautiously. "Do you have any idea how long it will be until you are ready, Danzo-sama?"
He made a show of sighing tiredly -not that he needed to- and shaking his head. "I'm afraid there's no way to predict that."
Hizashi breathed deeply before standing. "If there is nothing else, Danzo-sama," turning the Hyuuga Jounin made his way towards the door, "I'll see to getting you what you need."
He nodded absently as he studied the departing ninja. It seemed he needed one more push. "Your son turned two recently didn't he, Hizashi-san?"
The man halted just in front of the door. "Yes, last month," he answered woodenly with a tinge of sadness and despair lacing his voice.
Danzo stood from his desk and made his way to stand by the slightly taller man. Carefully setting his hand on the Hyuuga's shoulder -as carelessly trying to grab a ninja was just a bad idea- Danzo spoke softly, "I might not be able to make any promises about deciphering the seal…but I promise you this. One way or another, your son will never know the burden of the Caged Bird seal. I swear it." He emphasized his oath with a reassuring squeeze, before releasing the startled Jounin.
For his part, Hizashi stared at him with slightly widened eyes before regaining his composure and giving a respectful bow. "Hokage-sama." With that the man left Danzo alone in his office, smiling ever so slightly.
'Good, hope and gratitude will make a very loyal addition to my power base.' What's more is that he hadn't even had to lie, which got around that pesky Hyuuga reading ability. He would put his plan into action before Neji was sealed. All he really needed time for was to set up the perfect excuse to make his decree. Once that was done, he could swiftly have the Branch members freed and his power base would swell.
'Of course,' Danzo mused as he retook his seat, 'there will be dissenters; both from the Main Branch as well as the other clans of Konoha. But those few die-hard traditionalists will be vastly outnumbered by the many…humanitarians… who have always been appalled by the Hyuuga Juin Jutsu.'
No, his popularity and support would only grow from this, uniting the bulk of the village behind him.
Some might think of him as a hypocrite once knowledge of his own use of Juin Jutsu got out- and it would eventually- but he was confident that the differences in use and method would dissuade such thoughts. After all, the seals on his ROOT shinobi only prevented them from giving away any secrets, which could only be beneficial. The Hyuuga's on the other hand, used theirs to enslave and in some cases, torture and kill a large part of their own family.
Danzo's seals did nothing of the sort -young Naruto being the exception of course- but it wasn't like Danzo had any intention to actually use it unless the boy lost control. In which case, such precautions could save the entire village. In fact, so long as the boy was loyal, he didn't think he'd even have to worry about Sarutobi and his remaining students doing anything foolish.
Though he doubted they would ever forgive him for his actions three years ago, Danzo was confident that they'd at least accept his rule once he proved that he was looking out for the village's best interest, as opposed to the "war mongering" he had often been accused of by some.
Oh, he wouldn't shy away from war when necessary. And once the next war started -as there would always be another- he would be as ruthless and brutal as necessary to crush their enemies and bring about a lasting peace. Really, he and Sarutobi weren't that different, with the exception of the Sandaime's softening in recent times. The old monkey could be just as ruthless as him when war was upon them.
Danzo could still remember when Sarutobi ordered the invasion of Ame no Kuni during the Second Great Shinobi War. That invasion had left the smaller country in ruins, with most of its people little more than refugees and the infrastructure nearly destroyed completely. And the man had been well aware that it would happen, yet somewhere between the end of that war and beginning of the Third War, Sarutobi had begun to soften.
Frowning, Danzo thought about that. Perhaps it would be best to give Sarutobi some kind of job or task to keep his skills sharp. After all, even the God of Shinobi needed to work to keep from rusting, and retirement probably hasn't done much for him.
Storing the idea away for later consideration, he turned back to his work and read over a familiar proposal. The anniversary of the Kyuubi attack had just passed, and already yet another fool was asking for permission to hold a festival to mark the occasion.
'Idiots.' he thought with a scowl as he denied the request yet again. Throwing a village wide party to celebrate the anniversary was an insult to the many shinobi who gave their lives to defend them. The day should be spent in remembrance and in honoring the fallen, not getting drunk and trying to make a profit from it.
While he was on the subject, last week marked the third anniversary of the attack. 'Which means young Naruto is already three. Where does the time go?' he mused silently as he considered paying the small Senju family a visit. On the one hand, he did say three years. On the other hand, Tsunade would probably be rather anxious and…short tempered…right about now. The last thing Danzo wanted was to be seen running from a panicked and enraged mother in the middle of the village.
'So, do I go now and risk facing a…irate…mother…or do I wait a couple more weeks and hope that she calms down a little?' Danzo pondered for a moment. 'Of course, letting her stew for a few weeks might just make her even more wound up.'
A moment later, a Chuunin entered bearing a new stack of papers for him to read over and sign. Glancing at the top paper to see a request from Fugaku for yet another increase in funding for "repairs" to the Uchiha district.
"Now it is then," he murmured as he casually set fire to the request before donning the Hokage hat and heading out into the streets. Of course it wasn't quite that simple. What should have been a forty minute trip to reach the semi-isolated Senju house took nearly two hours due to all the well-wishers and so forth that he had to stop for. And it wasn't like he could blend in while wearing the Hokage robes and hat.
Eventually, he did make it to his destination and finally considered just how he'd go about this. He had sent some of his ANBU to secure a training ground for young Naruto's test already, but the tricky part would be getting there without any…incidents.
Staring up at the sky, Danzo muttered, "God damn you, Minato. This would be so much easier if you weren't so fucking "noble". You dumb shit." Steeling himself, Danzo walked up and knocked on the door.
When several moments passed he knocked again, before the door was ripped open. "Good day, Tsunade-hime," he greeted cordially. "How are you this fine day?"
The look on the woman's face was similar to a Genin staring down an A-rank Katon jutsu. All the various emotions were there, fear, anger, sorrow, despair, and others, all flitting across the woman's face. A brief moment later, the look solidified into a mixture of rage and terror.
'Oh dear-' Danzo performed a quick Kawarimi to dodge the fist that tried to cave his face in. "Be calm!" He called as he extended a hand, halting both Tsunade and the various ANBU who had started to intervene. Of course, Tsunade instantly darted at him again.
What followed was probably the closet he had come to death since the First Great Shinobi War. Of course, that was probably because he was only dodging and deflecting, rather than fighting back. Sweating slightly as he barely dodged her fist, he cursed when the ground under his feet cratered in from the force of her blow. Dodging a round house kick that probably would have decapitated him, Danzo ran through some seals and threw a weak Daitoppa Jutsu at her, knocking her back several feet without causing actual harm.
"Are you calm now?" He asked as calmly as he could.
Before she could answer -or continue her attack- a new voice made itself known. "Who are you?"
The two adults simultaneously turned to see the small blond haired boy standing in the doorway to the house, peeking around Tsunade's student curiously.
Thankfully, the boy seemed to snap her out of her rage and she hurriedly moved to scoop the boy into her arms.
Shifting his robes back into position, Danzo calmly made his way over to the trio. "You must be Naruto-kun. I'm the Godaime Hokage. How are you?"
Said boy stared at him with wide eyes before spluttering, "You're one of the faces!"
"Faces?" Danzo asked semi-curious, semi-incredulous.
In response, the boy spun as well as he could in his mother's arms to point off at the distant Hokage Monument. "Which one are you?" Naruto continued excitedly.
Sweat dropping slightly, Danzo reminded himself that the boy was only three before answering, "The fifth one."
The little boy gasped again before chattering about anything and everything.
"So, Tsunade-hime, why don't we get under way?" He asked cordially as he began walking away. After a short few seconds, the trio joined him.
They walked on in silence for a time before Danzo decided to do something he absolutely hated. Small talk.
"So, Naruto-kun," he began casually, "you seemed quite excited about the Hokage Monument earlier."
The blond child looked up at him in confusion for a moment before his face lit up in excitement. "Oh, you mean the faces! I'm gonna climb them someday, only don't tell Kaa-chan cause she doesn't like to have fun!" He chattered as if Tsunade wasn't holding him in her arms.
Danzo listened with half an ear, nodding and such when appropriate. The only thing that really caught his attention was "And then when I grow up, I'm gonna be a doctor ninja like Kaa-chan!"
'Medic-nin? I suppose it makes sense considering his mother. He might even have a talent for it…' he mused before nodding in understanding. "I see. That's quite a noble goal, Naruto-kun. We'll have to see if I can't help you out in that respect."
"Really!" came two surprised voices, though the younger one's was full of excitement while the elder's was suspicious.
"I don't see why not," he replied with a smile. "So long as you promise to work hard and do your best, Naruto-kun."
"I promise!" The tiny blond yelled excitedly, almost as if he thought Danzo would retract his offer if he didn't accept fast enough.
For his part, Danzo just nodded in acceptance, taking note of Tsunade staring at him suspiciously. Silently cursing his predecessor once again, he led the rest of the way in silence.
After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the small, semi-remote training ground that Danzo had chosen for young Naruto's test. Well, test might be too strong a word really. All they were going to do was check his flexibility and such, along with a minor check on the boy's mental level.
"Alright, Naruto-kun," he said kindly as he turned to face the boy, "I need you to go with Taka here and do a few things for me."
Instead of answering, the excitable child asked curiously, "Who's Tak-aah!" He ended with a shout when the ANBU appeared in front of them, seemingly from thin air.
Danzo nodded in acknowledgement to the ANBU he had selected for this task, before observing Naruto reacting in a typical startled child fashion. The young Jinchuuriki buried his face in his mother's chest, before cautiously peeking a slightly watery eye at the strange newcomer.
'That reaction is going have to go…' Danzo mused as he tried to coax the young boy out of his shell. "This is Taka, Naruto-kun. I need you to go with him so he can run some tests on you. Can you do that for me?"
The boy looked hesitant. "I don't know," he said slowly, looking to his mother for guidance. "Kaa-chan says I'm not supposed to go with strangers."
Tsunade stared down at her son as he looked to her for reassurance. Her first instinct was to say no, and dash away with her son, far away, like maybe Mizu, or Kaze.
Unfortunately, that wasn't really an option at this point. Instead, she carefully set him down on his feet and knelt in front of him. "It's alright, Naruto-chan. Go with the nice ANBU. Kaa-chan and Shizune will be right here, okay?" She said with a smile that she certainly didn't feel.
"Ok!" Naruto chirped, reassured by her approval. He wasted no time in running up to the ANBU and bombarding him with questions. "Are you a ninja? How come you're wearing that funny mask? Can I hold your sword? I won't break it, I promise! Please!"
Said ANBU ignored his questions and led her son towards the center of the training ground, leaving her to try to keep an eye on her son and on Danzo at the same time. Quite the feat, but then again, nothing motivates a mother quite so much as when her baby is on the line.
As the ANBU had Naruto go through various motions, Tsunade glared at Danzo angrily. The man even had the gall to raise an eyebrow as if to ask, "What?"
"So what was that about?" She hissed angrily. "Haven't you done enough to my son? Isn't it enough that you stole his life from him, now you want to pretend before ripping away his dreams?" Oh, if looks could kill, she'd turn that one eyed-bastard into a twitching corpse!
For his part, the half-blind piece of shit didn't even turn away from observing her son in his coldly methodical way when he answered. "Not at all, Tsunade-hime. In fact, I meant exactly what I said. You more than anyone know that few have either the talent or the desire to learn Ijutsu. Even fewer have both, and as your son, Naruto-kun might be one of those rare few. Perhaps he might even surpass yourself in skill, both on the battlefield and in the medical one. Or maybe he'll only be able to learn a few. Either way, some training with Ijutsu can only benefit the boy."
By now, Taka had helped Naruto strip down to his underwear and was having him perform a series of stretches while observing his muscles -what little he had- and joints, looking for any problems.
"Of course," Danzo continued, "it goes without saying that we'll be placing the emphasis on his combat abilities. But being able to heal himself will give him quite the advantage, and you and I both know that we don't have enough shinobi proficient at Ijutsu. So if he wants to learn, who are we to refuse?" The entire time the bastard watched her son, even as he responded to her anger. "And may I remind you, I didn't do this to your son. That fool of a husband of yours did. I didn't decide to make Naruto-kun a Jinchuuriki, Minato did. And if I had been asked, I wouldn't have let him do it. Which is apparently more than can be said for you, Tsunade-hime."
It was only through sheer force of will that she didn't flinch at that last part. Tsunade might have objected, but in the end she did consent to Minato's plan. Something that had quickly become her greatest regret.
Her only comfort was her belief that Minato at least didn't intend to turn their child into a weapon. She had to believe it.
'This is weird,' Naruto thought to himself as he hopped around on one leg, trying to balance himself. This Taka guy said they were going to see if he was ready to be a shinobi, yet all he had done was make Naruto do these stupid stretches and stuff. 'When are we gonna do the cool stuff!' He huffed to himself as the masked man had him bend over and touch his toes. 'This is boring!'
"Alright, that's enough. Get dressed." Taka's raspy voice broke through his thoughts.
Suddenly nervous that he might not have done good enough, Naruto hurried into his black shorts and white t-shirt. Once he was dressed, the ANBU motioned for him to follow and started walking back to his Kaa-chan and the fifth face. "So…did I pass?" He asked nervously.
"Pass?" Taka asked in confusion. At least, Naruto thought it was confusion. The mask kinda made it hard for him to tell.
"Yeah, did I pass the test or not?" He asked again, this time in impatience.
The ANBU just stared at him -or at least he thought so- for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yes. Yes you passed the test."
Feeling much better, Naruto grinned happily and quickly ran towards Tsunade excitedly. "Kaa-chan, Kaa-chan! I passed! Did ya see, did ya!" He yelled as he barreled into her stomach hard enough to get a small grunt from her. To his great disappointment, instead of acknowledging his great achievement, she just wrapped her arms around him and kept talking boring adult stuff with the masked man and the old guy.
Pouting, Naruto wrapped one arm as far around her waist as he could and tugged at the front of her shirt with the other. "Kaa-chan," he whined impatiently, "did ya see?"
This time, she picked him up and passed him off to Shizu-neechan, seemingly ignoring him again.
Suddenly worried that he might have done something wrong, he drew into himself a little even as he wrapped his arms around Shizu-neechan's neck and buried his face in her chest. 'Is Kaa-chan mad at me? Why? The masked guy said I passed so I did good right?' Naruto questioned himself as his eyes began to water up. Tilting his face up to hers, Naruto asked, "Shizu-neechan, did I do something bad?"
His sister started for a moment before looking down at him and asking, "What makes you think that?"
"Kaa-chan's mad at me," he sniffed quietly.
Her face softened at that as she quietly cooed. "Of course she's not mad at you. You did very well during your test. It's just that she's worried, that's all," she reassured him with a smile. "Your Kaa-chan and I are very proud of you Naru-chan."
"Really?" He whimpered softly.
"Really," was her response.
Somewhat relieved, Naruto still felt the need to double check. "Really, really?"
"Really, really, Naru-chan," Shizune said with a laugh.
Oh. Well, in that case there's no worry. And just like that he was all smiles again. "Did ya see me pass? Huh, did ya?"
He only had a moments warning before he was suddenly plucked away from his neechan's arms and into another familiar pair. "Yes, we did. I'm very proud of you, Naruto-chan," his Kaa-chan said as she hugged him tightly. "In fact, I think we should go get some ice cream to celebrate. What do you think, Naruto-chan?"
Needless to say, Naruto heartily approved. "Yay! I want chocolate! No, vanilla! Wait, no! I want mint flavored!"
Shizune giggled and asked, "What about strawberry flavor, Naru-chan?"
"Blech!" Naruto said in disgust. "Strawberries are yucky!"
Tsunade smiled fondly as Shizune teased her son the entire way to the nearest ice cream stand. Naruto of course, managed to make a complete mess of himself with his chocolate ice cream. Not that she could find it in her heart to scold him too much. Not when this could be the last bit of a normal childhood for him.
She shook her head at that thought, trying to keep herself cheerful lest Naruto somehow pick up on her sadness. He could be amazingly perceptive at times, in his own childish way.
Smiling at him as he fussed while she wiped at his face with a napkin, Tsunade promised herself that she would cherish these last few days and do her best to make them joyous for her son. It would all change all too soon.
It was several days after his "test" with the old man and the masked guy that Naruto found himself in front of small building inside the village marketplace. Well, to be accurate, his Kaa-chan was standing in front of the building while holding him in her arms. To their right stood Shizu-neechan, holding onto the family pet, Tonton.
Looking over the outside of the building, Naruto could safely say that he liked their house better. He still didn't understand why they had to come live here. He was sure that he could learn to be a shinobi while staying at their house just as well as here. Plus, their house was much bigger. Yet no matter what argument Naruto had, his Kaa-chan kept saying that they had to. So, here they were.
Once inside, they descended a set of stairs, and then proceeded through a series of hallways until Naruto had to admit that maybe this new place was bigger than he thought. Not that it meant it was better than their house.
Finally, after walking forever -read fifteen minutes-, they arrived in a huge room with balconies and mirrors high up on the walls. Standing in the middle of the room were two men.
One was a really old guy with bandages wrapped around his head, wearing funny clothes, and the other was a young man who looked like he was around Shizu-neechan's age, maybe a little older. He wore a cloth around his head with a metal plate on the front and a dark long sleeve shirt and pants. He also had a pair of sunglasses on, despite being inside.
The old guy was the first to speak. "Ah, good, you've arrived. I trust you are well, Tsunade-hime, Naruto-kun."
Had he been paying attention, he might have noticed when Tsunade scowled at the robed man and almost unconsciously tightened her grip on him. But since he wasn't, he went ahead and asked, "Who are you?"
His family stifled their chuckles while the sunglasses man looked somewhat askance. The old guy for his part didn't seem to be affected. "We met the other day, don't you remember, Naruto-kun?"
Puzzled, Naruto stared the man up and down several times before unashamedly declaring, "Nope."
This time Tsunade didn't even bother trying to hide her laughter, much to Naruto's confusion. 'Did something funny happen?' He wondered as he looked back and forth between his Kaa-chan and the old guy.
"My name is Danzo Shimura," the robed man began. "I'm the Godaime Hokage."
Naruto blinked in confusion for a moment before realization set in. "I'm gonna climb your face one day," he pointed out sagely.
"I'm sure you will," Danzo said politely. "Now, let me introduce you to your new sensei. His name is Ebisu, and he will be training you for the foreseeable future."
The now identified Ebisu nodded to him and gave a respectful bow to his Kaa-chan.
"Oh," Naruto said unsurely as he looked to Tsunade for guidance.
"Is he qualified?" She asked while scanning Ebisu from head to toe.
"Ebisu is one of the greatest instructors the Ninja Academy has ever seen. I have no doubt that Naruto-kun will master the basics under his tutelage," Danzo answered calmly.
Ebisu himself stepped forward and gave another respectful bow. "Tsunade-hime, it will be my honor to instruct young Naruto-kun. I assure you, I will do my utmost to help him become a proud and worthy shinobi of Konoha."
Sensing that the conversation was quickly approaching boring, Naruto tuned out most of it and occupied himself with playing with his Kaa-chan's necklace.
He didn't understand why, but staring at that necklace was one of his fondest activities. It always gave him a soothing feeling that he normally acquainted with being held in his Kaa-chan's arms. Years later he would look back on that and realize that he should have asked someone about that. It would have saved him a lot of grief.
He was snapped out of his fun when he was set on the ground in front of Ebisu.
"Why don't we let them get started," Danzo began as he turned to the others. "What do you say to a tour, Tsunade-hime? I'll show you your quarters and the infirmary."
"Kaa-chan?" He asked in confusion as she and Shizu-neechan started to walk away with Danzo.
She stopped and knelt in front of him to run her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, Naruto-chan. Shizune and I are just going to see our rooms and put things away while you have your lessons. We'll be back in a little bit." She seemed to pause for a moment before continuing, "Do your best and listen to Ebisu-sensei, ok?"
And with that, he was left alone with the sunglasses man, his…sensei.
For a moment they just stared at each other before Ebisu broke the silence. "Take a seat, Naruto-kun," he said while motioning to a traditional table. Once the two of them were seated, he spoke again, "Let us start with some rules. You will address the Hokage as Hokage-sama, or Danzo-sama. You will address me as sensei, or Ebisu-sensei. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it without a fuss. When I tell you not to do something, you will not do it. That being said, if you have any questions at any time, you should ask them. The only stupid question is an unasked one. Understand?"
"Kay," he replied, only to be met with a glare.
"What was that?" Ebisu asked in a dangerous tone.
Blushing slightly, he tried again, "Hai, sensei."
"That's better," Ebisu nodded in approval. "Now, I understand that you already know how to read, correct?"
"Hai, sensei," he replied with a proud smile. Most kids his age couldn't read at all!
"Very good, Naruto-kun. In that case, we can begin your lessons immediately," Ebisu said as he pulled out a sealing scroll and unsealed a number of books. "We'll start with writing, mathematics, science, and geography. Once I feel you've progressed far enough, we'll begin working on manipulating chakra, and from there to chakra control. Of course, you'll also go through a series of stretches and light work outs to build up your physical conditioning at the same time. For now, you will be awake and in this room for your physical exercises by six o'clock, five days a week. After breakfast we'll work on your studies until lunch, and then continue until supper. You will have free time to do what you wish after supper, though you will be in bed no later than eleven o'clock. You will have weekends to yourself," he paused there to adjust his sunglasses. "Any questions?"
For his part, Naruto couldn't help but gape a little. Sure, the workout stuff sounded fun, and writing was probably important, but the rest of the stuff sounded really boring, not to mention pointless. What does a ninja need to know about math? "Sensei, do we have to do all that stuff? Can't we just skip the science and stuff?" He asked with a whine.
Ebisu remained calm and answered, "I assure you, as boring as they might seem now, each of these subjects are important. However, if you learn them well enough and quickly enough, we can move on to other subjects. Sound fair?"
Pouting slightly, he agreed nonetheless. "Alright. I promise I'll have this boring stuff learned in no time!"
"Then why don't we get started," Ebisu said as he reached for the first book in the pile.
"This is the infirmary." Danzo said cordially as she looked over the room. Tsunade could tell that Danzo had spared no expense when it came to this infirmary. All of the latest medical equipment could be seen around the room, which was kept in immaculate condition.
"The head of the ANBU medical core is Sanada-sensei. You'll be working with him whe-"
"What?" She interrupted with a scowl. "What are you talking about? I never agreed to any such thing!"
She was beginning to hate this man more and more as he calmly explained, "Well, it's not like Naruto-kun needs you to be around twenty-four hours a day. And if Sanada-sensei needs your aid, it only makes sense that you give it. Besides, you can teach some of the medic-nin in your spare time. God knows watching a three year old learn about math is sure to be boring."
That drew a blink from her. "Math? What are you talking about?"
This time Danzo actually raised an eyebrow. "I'm talking about Naruto-kun's lessons. I suppose I should have told you the plan for his training, but I thought it best to wait until Ebisu-san had some time with him. Obviously they'll start with the essential skills taught in the Academy."
Staring at him, Tsunade asked incredulously, "Your teaching him math and science? Geography? What was the point of getting him an "elite tutor" and moving us to ANBU headquarters just to teach him the Academy curriculum?"
This time, Danzo was the one to look incredulous. "What would you have me do, give him a scroll for the Rasengan on his first day? Or teach him how to summon? He has to learn to walk before he can tree hop. Besides, I'm sure that between Naruto's learning ability and Ebisu's penchant for teaching, he'll have the Academy curriculum mastered to a sufficient degree soon enough." By now they had left the Infirmary and arrived outside a pair of rooms. "Besides, we can afford to take our time for now. It's been three years since the Kyuubi attack, and almost five since the end of the Third Great Shinobi War. While we must remain vigilant, there is no reason to make hasty decisions."
Tsunade wanted to curse herself for it, but Danzo's reasoning made a cold, methodical sense. She supposed she should be thankful that he was going slow with her son's training. Yet none of that stopped her from entertaining the fantasy of crushing Danzo's head between her fists like a rotten piece of fruit.
"Anyway," he continued, "these will be yours and your student's rooms. As you can see, they are only a short distance from the infirmary, and the dining facility is just dow-"
"Wait a minute!" Tsunade interrupted angrily. "What about Naruto-chan's room! Why are we separated?"
Seemingly unperturbed by her anger, the old geezer answered, "Young Naruto-kun's room is back by his training area. The room locations are for your convenience-"
"Don't give me that bullshit!" She spat angrily. "You're just trying to-"
"Tsunade-hime," this time it was Danzo doing the interrupting, "it's not like you have to actually stay in this room all day. You can even sleep in young Naruto-kun's room if you really feel so strongly about it. I gave you these rooms so you could be found quickly if your skills were needed," he explained with a tinge of exasperation in his voice.
Biting back on her anger, Tsunade nodded grudgingly and allowed Danzo to continue his tour.
Naruto yawned sleepily as his Kaa-chan carried him back to what he had been told was his room. She had come back from wherever it was that she and Shizu-neechan went at lunch, and had stayed with him and Ebisu-sensei for the rest of the day.
His first lesson with Ebisu-sensei hadn't gone as well as he hoped, and even though they hadn't done any physical training, he was exhausted. Who would have thought that studying math and science could make you so tired? Although, the part where it was past ten o'clock and his normal bedtime was nine o'clock at the latest might have had something to do with it.
Staring at his Kaa-chan's necklace, Naruto couldn't keep his eyes open for long and he eventually succumbed to sleep, unnoticing of her tucking him into his new bed -which was quite large- and crawling in with him.
He was also too tired to fully wake when she gently pried his arms off her several hours later and hurriedly left with a worried Shizune who was whispering something about an emergency and needing her to come quickly.
So when he finally woke enough to notice that he wasn't in his room -temporarily forgetting where he was in the manner of a young child- he did what was natural. "Kaa-chan, Shizu-neechan!" He called, hoping one or the other would come. When neither did, he slowly slipped out of his bed and made his way to the room's sole door. Reaching for the oddly low doorknob, Naruto opened it, intent on finding his Kaa-chan or neechan. So, he was quite surprised when he bumped into someone just outside his door.
Backing up, he gazed upward at a masked person with long blond hair. "Kaa-" he began before the masked person made a rectangle shape with their hands.
And then Naruto knew no more.
Translations
Kaa-chan=Mommy
Juin Jutsu=Curse Seal
Taka=Hawk
Neechan=Sister
Sensei=Teacher/master/doctor
Hime=Princess
Did I miss any?
AN: There you have it. I was trying to make Danzo more realistic and less "BWAHAHAHA! I'm going to rule the world"ish. Let's face it, military and political leaders have to make some hard choices, and sometimes they have to choose the lesser of two evils. Before anyone says anything, I know that Naruto isn't talking properly in some places and that he's pretty fickle and forgetful. That's intentional, not a mistake on my part. Anyway, the next chapter should involve a two year time skip. As always, any and all reviews/criticism are welcome.
Peace, Vaan.