Chapter 44: Closed Door Meetings

The privacy seals in the walls automatically swirled to life as his office door clicked politely shut, and Sarutobi Hiruzen—leader of his village, the third Hokage, a man feared and respected across the Elemental Nations—just… stared at it, for a long moment. He wasn't truly seeing the door at all, his mind more focused on other matters, on memories.

Some were recent.

Others were… markedly less so.

He again pictured that unexpected update he had just gotten from young Minato—how the shinobi had been standing, right in front of his desk, not quite frowning but with honest worry in the line of his shoulders. It had been so similar to that earlier meeting with Uzumaki Kushina and the young members of the newest Team 7, unsettling inferences and all.

Except, of course, that the pursuit-and-capture Minato had detailed to him all but proved those alarming conjectures to be true.

The young jonin plainly loved and trusted the village, to have so readily brought their own investigation forward, especially considering what the findings implied. But also, to have even found and faced that concerning truth in the first place, Minato had not let that trust blind him.

Not like Hiruzen had done.

Lacing his fingers together, he rested his forehead in his hands with a heavy sigh. Although he had been toying with the idea of retiring in a few years, he did not really think of himself as an old man—even if, by shinobi standards, he certainly was. But at this moment he could feel every day, month, year of his life weighing down on his shoulders: every unquestioned moment, every inaction, pressing with the force of uncomfortable truths realized.

Hiruzen knew he had been lenient with his old friend, his once-rival.

He hadn't thought that could be a problem.

To be honest, even now, he wasn't sure there was a problem. In all likelihood, Danzō had made the right choice. If he had learned something new that could potentially put the village at risk, he was certainly correct to detain the individual in question until they could get answers.

But… why hadn't he reported his action to his Hokage?

Why hadn't Danzō told him?

(One of his oldest friends?)

That's what worried him.

He should have been informed. It's technically possible that the record simply hadn't reached him yet, had been shunted somewhere in the non-critical stacks of paperwork and lost for the moment. Not to mention, there's any number of perfectly justified reasons Danzō would purposefully delay his report.

Perhaps he simply did not think it was worth bringing to his attention immediately, or maybe he simply didn't wish to come forward without more answers, or—

Hiruzen sighed, pushing back his chair to stand and walk to the window.

He was doing it again.

His old friend had his reasons—surely he did—and it was not Hiruzen's place to make excuses for him. No matter how much he had been doing that lately, without even really noticing.

That had to stop.

With deliberate purpose, Hiruzen moved to prepare a summons—setting out a scroll, ink, and brush on his desk. It was already getting fairly late, but he needed to hear from Danzō directly. Then he would get his answers, and learn what had really happened and why.

(And begin to untangle the snarl in which he'd found himself.)

=X=X=X=

Orochimaru swept through the halls of the underground facility, determined purpose overshadowing the simmering annoyance bound tightly in his chest. He was heading to his main lab and the problem awaiting him there.

This would not be worth his time.

But, alas, he knew well his position in Root. While he had significantly more leeway than a mere agent, he was still a shinobi—a tool used for the greater whole. If the commander drops by for an inopportune visit, he cannot just ignore him.

Unfortunately.

Leaving Tsunade behind in the cell with the civilian was something of a gamble, but he didn't have many options. He doubted she would do anything beside questioning the man, thought that was troubling enough: the blacksmith would likely provide her first in-depth impression of the kekkei genkai project.

(At least he wouldn't be in the vicinity.)

That was a concern for later, however. Right now, he had a limited amount of time to consider approachs for the difficulties awaiting him in the upcoming meeting. Normally he would not bother—he would not have needed to, as his goals had closely aligned with the direction Commander Danzō was leading Root.

That had changed.

Orochimaru had known, as soon as he decided to contact his old teammate and bring her into his research, that he could only do so by moving contrary to the commander.

As such, he had been very careful to keep his actions undetected: applying the same diligence he would if the village had been enemy territory and not his own. Though naturally, since this was Konoha, he had advantages he wouldn't have had elsewhere. The authority to ease along a few of the trickier aspects, for example, such as making a subtle adjustment to the patrols for some Root agents.

A very small change, of course, but enough to create an opening for a single minute; more than enough for a shinobi of his caliber to leave the village without being detected. His return alongside Tsunade and her apprentice went similarly unnoticed.

Not that anyone would have even thought to look for him, as he had left behind a shadow clone to maintain his usual routine. After all, there would be no need to wonder where he had gone if nobody knew he had even left.

Nothing of note had occurred during his brief absence: two of the test subjects had perished, while the rest had continued their steady decline. The shadow clone he had left on standby had spent some time in the lab cataloging any changes and taking extensive notes. There were no great insights therein, simply more observations of the same draining waste.

He was eager to see how Tsunade's assistance would impact his experiments, several half-formed theories for potential procedural adjustments tingling at his fingertips: if the subjects could be kept stable for long enough, then…

Orochimaru permitted himself a small scowl, annoyed that he could not immediately proceed to testing and implementing such changes. Those plans must be set aside for the moment.

If the focus of this inconvenient meeting was not his recent unsanctioned venture outside the village—and of that, he was certain—that did beg the question of why.

When he got his answer a minute later, he felt… conflicted.

"The Hokage knows of Root's involvement." In the same manner one might give a condemnation, Commander Danzō disdained, "He was concerned that we may be overreaching ourselves, simply for taking in a suspicious outsider for closer questioning without his express authorization."

Orochimaru did not react beyond a lone raised brow, going over the implications for a thoughtful moment: while unexpected, and certainly with the potential to turn ruinous, ultimately this development was a non-issue. If it only concerned the blacksmith, which did appear to be the case, that meant his more delicate projects remained unknown.

For now.

"It reflects poorly on him, to become so shaken over something so minor," the commander continued. He scoffed and shook his head. "One delayed report, and our Hokage would doubt the loyalty of even his most trusted compatriots."

Lie: the report was not delayed, Danzō had not planned on writing one at all.

Orochimaru simply nodded with a sort of bland agreement.

Idly, he wondered if it would have seemed so obvious before: not because he couldn't have noticed, perhaps, but simply because he wouldn't have cared to look. Regardless, certain recent revelations had led him to reevaluate what other details he may have mistakenly been taking for granted.

Given that the situation with the blacksmith was largely justified, not informing the Hokage was a distinctly unnecessary breach of protocol; there was no real risk in reporting that a person of still-largely-unknown background had been brought into custody in light of some new discovery.

But, in this case, weighing the risks wasn't the point.

Simply put, the commander didn't think he needed to report to the Hokage. Whether that was because Danzō did not think the Hokage should know of his activities or because he saw himself as above doing so entirely, it made little difference.

In a way, it was rather satisfying to realize: like finally fitting together the pieces of a particularly annoying equation, or finding the missing reagent that melds the entire mixture.

Orochimaru strode over to one of his shelves, unsealing a small scroll with a tap. He tucked it away in a pocket without unrolling it.

"What fickle trust," he replied, finally, though in truth he was thinking of himself.

The councilor watched him with a gimlet eye.

As entertaining as it could be to find an answer to a question he had not even thought to ask, in this case, Orochimaru just felt derision: partially at himself, for taking so long to notice, but most of all at the man in front of him.

Danzō had overreached, and not only in his handling of the present situation.

After all, the councilor had set his own limits on the kekkei genkai research. They had been reasonable, common sense restraints. It was necessary to keep everything secret, so everything must be done alone.

And those restrictions set a thread of control so subtle as to be nearly unnoticeable.

Honestly, Orochimaru was frustrated that he had not seen it earlier—that he had not thought to evaluate all aspects of his research process, up to and including the cultural biases at the foundation.

His current experiment methodology would be able to produce valuable results, but not without losing most of the subjects along the way. He had refined his system, round after round, taking each failed group under his saw and scalpel to record the changing effects with each injection—it would work eventually.

But it was not efficient.

It was not as effective as it could be.

Because it had to be kept secret… because the Hokage could not know.

He resisted the urge to scoff, given Danzō was standing right there. Though it galled to admit, even just to himself, he could recognize his mistakes—though most who knew him would likely find it hard to imagine.

Secrecy, while important, had been hindering his progress.

Unacceptable.

"I explained the situation to him, of course." Danzō folded his hands one over the other on the handle of his cane. "The Hokage agreed that the blacksmith should remain in our custody for a while longer. That said, do not waste any more time on him than is needed to get answers."

Orochimaru did not reply—didn't even move, not even a blink—but he seethed at the implication. As if he had been the one to bring in such a distraction from the Wood Release project, as if he had willingly chosen to add one more thing onto his already overflowing schedule.

But he remained silent, his small and eerie smile unchanged.

"At the very least," the commander continued, his one visible eye sharp with an unspoken threat, "it would seem that your choice to delay any… invasive investigation has had one benefit after all."

"I suppose it has," Orochimaru coolly replied.

"To that effect, the Hokage said he is not to be harmed." Danzō looked slowly around the lab, to the various needles, tools, and knives pristinely organized on the counters. "Clean up after yourself. You have three days before he is to be released."

"The consideration is appreciated."

"Take the necessary precautions."

Meaning secrecy seals to insure silence—standard procedure, in the rare cases that a captive was actually to be freed. More fatal seals were far more common.

Orochimaru had his doubts that any of their subtly controlling seals would function as desired on a body devoid of chakra pathways, even when inked directly to the skin. Of course, a broader damage-based approach would still be effective; nothing he had seen suggested any immunity to physical chakra presence, merely an incredible resistance to finely controlled jutsu.

Meaning that it is likely that nothing as precise and delicate as he would prefer would actually work, and death was not his end goal.

But what he said was simply: "Of course, Commander Danzō." He gave a shallow bow, a sly smile, and kept his tone cool as ice.

Then, finally, the commander turned and left.

Orochimaru remained where he had been standing, simply taking a moment to consider the options arrayed before him. The seal used to ensure silence in Root's agents—the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal—had promise, though he was unsure of its efficacy on a target lacking chakra pathways.

Alternatively, a seal to induce general paralysis would still be possible, but to take effect the mechanism would likely need to be more akin to a powerful electric discharge than an elegant chakra-puppeted disablement. Considering the already documented irregularities with the subject's physicality, designing such a shock would be… unwise. There may be other unforeseen differences, and an accident could easily damage the subject's mental faculties.

The options only seemed to trend more lethal from there.

Adapting a seal designed to silence into one designed to harm or kill would be a simple matter, but he would rather not waste his time. He had more important projects to focus on, and he didn't particularly want the man dead.

Although…

Orochimaru allowed himself a small smile, turning the option over in his mind and considering it from all angles. An unusual solution, he decided, but one with potential. After all, a seal had been requested of him and so a seal he would deliver.

(What it would actually do was another matter entirely.)

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

According to Urban Dictionary:
Closed Door Meeting - When your boss wants to hear himself talk so he calls you into his office and tells you to close the door.

At one point while I struggled to get this twisty snake's thoughts down for this chapter, my own thoughts got peeved and spat out "Orochimaru? More like 'Orochi-moron'" before promptly devolving into laughter. So yeah, you could say I'm a comedic genius.
Despite the struggle (or because of it, perhaps?), I had fun with this. Figuring out the exact wording for some parts was a pain, but I'm happy with the result. And some of those sentences were just plain satisfying to piece together! Hope you like it, too!

The next chapter for this fanfic will be in April, I'm posting a chapter to Under the Veil come March. I was so caught up in this chapter that I totally blanked on the UtV one until last week, but now that I've got an idea for it I'm really looking forward to writing it.
Sorry again for the wait times, but having a full month to focus on one chapter has done wonders for my brain (even if this chapter still beat me up as I tried writing it, but in my defense Orochimaru is a twisty bugger).

Thanks again for all the favorites, follows, and reviews!

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