Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, hands steepled in front of him as he stared down at four seemingly innocent scrolls on his desk. These small pieces of paper had caused the Hokage no end of trouble these past days. While few knew of their existence, each of those few was powerful, hoping to exert their influence over the future of the scrolls. Many of their ideas were even good, but Hiruzen would be making the final decision on what became of these scrolls.

While the suggestion put forth by Danzo held merit, there were issues with his idea. Konoha did not need the extra attention it would generate.

Koharu's idea, in contrast, was too conservative. Hiruzen would always strive for peace, but peace was only maintainable from a position of strength. Surrendering an advantage in the hopes of placating a demonstrably hostile agent would serve no purpose. Rather, it would embolden that agent to continue their hostilities.

No, Hiruzen had already decided what to do with these scrolls, he was just second guessing himself. He found himself doing that a lot these days. Was it his age or a fear of pride clouding his judgment that caused him to hesitate? Either way, he had sat in his seat too long. He needed a successor soon. But that did not have any bearing on the actions he must now take.

"Hound." Hiruzen said.

An ANBU appeared in front of him, head bowed. "Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen picked up two of the four scrolls and held them out to Hound. "Gather your team. I hereby issue you an S-Rank delivery mission. You are to bring the contents of these scrolls to the land of water. A rebellion is stirring in response to Yagura's genocide against Kiri's clans. Deliver these to the rebels to inflame the conflict."

Hound accepted the scrolls. "As you order, Hokage-sama. What is our timeline?"

"Deliver the scrolls as soon as you are able, but do not endanger your team or allow any Kiri nin loyal to Yagura to discover you within their borders."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hound disappeared in a flicker of leaves.

Hiruzen was many things, but he was not stupid. The swordsmen were in his borders for a reason. While he did not have solid proof to confirm his suspicions, he did not need proof to retaliate. No foreign Kage would threaten the prosperity of his village's future without recompense. By giving Kiri's rebellion two of the prizes won by Team Fist, they would gain legitimacy in the eyes of many loyal Kiri nin, increasing the scale of the rebellion and causing considerable trouble for Yagura.

If Konoha benefited from this chaos by aiding in the installation of a cordial new Kage, well, that was simply good fortune.

Hiruzen scooped up the remaining two seals and secreted them away in his robe. He would hold onto them for now. He did not trust Danzo not to 'lose' them. They would be safe in his care until it was time to give them to their rightful owners. The scrolls were a burden; one Hiruzen would bear until it was absolutely necessary to pass them on.

Hiruzen sighed, triedly. He'd already burdened those two with so much. He'd give them as long as he could before drawing the eyes of the entire Elemental Nations onto them.

X

"Where are we going?" I asked, eyebrows raised as I looked around. Civilization was steadily disappearing behind us.

This afternoon while I was tending to my garden, Shikaku showed up out of the blue and told me to come with him. He started walking away before I could ask questions and forced me to jog to catch up. I'd contented myself with the silence as he led us towards the Clan's forest, but now we were far removed from the compound and deep in the forests surrounding the Nara lands. If I didn't trust Shikaku implicitly, I'd think he was luring me away from prying eyes so he could stab me in the back and dump my body in a pre-dug hole.

"The woods." he curtly replied, hands in his pockets.

"I can see that. Is there a specific destination in the woods, or are we just walking?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How long we have to walk for."

I stopped walking, tilting my head as I looked at Shikaku's back. "Did you drag me out here so we could wander aimlessly together?"

"Pretty much. Keep up, troublesome." Shikaku said without stopping or slowing down.

I sighed, lamenting the lost time I could have spent doing literally anything else as I caught back up.

We walked for another fifteen minutes in silence. I put my irritation out of mind and just enjoyed the woods. It had been too long since I just went on a walk. I'd been in my garden because I was trying to clear my head, but this was working much better.

"Thanks." I said.

Shikaku raised an eyebrow at me. "For what?"

"For getting me away from the house. This is nice."

Shikaku frowned. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but that's not why I brought you out here."

I frowned. "Then what are we doing?"

"Waiting."

My eyebrows furrowed. My frustration was back. "Waiting for what?"

A bleating sound pulled my attention away from Shikaku. One of the Nara deer was emerging from behind a tree. I hadn't heard her approach.

"For that." Shikaku said. "Would you mind taking us to him?" Shikaku asked the deer.

The deer bleated again then turned, bounding off into the woods.

Shikaku nudged my shoulder. "Keep up, troublesome." He started running after the deer.

Now supremely confused, there wasn't much for me to do but run after Shikaku. He brought me out here to chase deer? I enjoyed the company of the deer as much as any Nara, but that didn't mean it wasn't weird to randomly chase after them in the woods. And who was the 'him' Shikaku mentioned?

A soft bleat pulled my attention away from Shikaku. Laying in a hollow of a nearby tree was a small fawn, its eyes fixed on me as I ran.

I stopped. "Shikaku?" I called after him, but he was already gone, chasing after the doe.

I pursed my lips, looking between the fawn and the direction Shikaku ran off in. I seriously doubted anything would cause the fawn harm in the Nara forest. Aside from the Nara, there were also super-powered chakra deer that patrolled this forest. The fawn would be fine. Still, its spots made it look criminally cute.

I crouched down and slowly reached out to pet it. The fawn chirped happily as it leaned into my touch.

"You be good, little one. Listen to your mom. Eat your grass. All that good stuff, yeah?"

The fawn yawned in response.

I chuckled and backed away. "I see you've got everything well in hand. See ya!" I took off after Shikaku.

At my top speed it wasn't long before I caught up to him. He wasn't running at a very hard pace.

"I was afraid you got lost." he said dryly as I came up next to him.

"A black cat crossed my path. I had to go around rather than risk bad luck."

"Brave cat wandering into our woods."

"You gonna tell me why I'm out here now?"

"Nope. Not my job."

I gave him a dry look. "Then whose job is it?"

Shikaku came to an abrupt stop. I had to backtrack a bit because I'd ran a little past him. He raised a hand and pointed off into the trees. "His."

I followed his finger and froze.

Emerging from the shadows between the trees, illuminated by rays of sun cutting through the space between leaves, was the single most majestic creature I had ever laid eyes on. It was a deer, but that did not feel like an apt descriptor. The creature was easily four times the size of a fully grown adult buck, the large chakra-assisted ones we had in the forest. His coat was white like ivory. Regal antlers rose high above him, framing his head like a crown. It was a marvel how fluidly he slunk between the trees being as large as he was, but not a sound was made as his hooves made contact with the earth.

"Shikaku, it has been some time." a grandfatherly voice said. It took me embarrassingly long to realize the deer was speaking.

Shikaku shrugged, hands once more in his pockets. "I've been busy. Sorry we haven't had time to chat."

"I did not take offense." The deer said. He was only ten feet away now, looking down at us like a giant staring down at a small rodent.

"Anyway, this is the brat." Shikaku said, shoving me forward.

I stumbled only a step before catching myself, but I was too stunned to say anything.

Since when did the Nara deer talk? Actually, since when were there deer I didn't know about? I think I would remember this from the anime.

The deer leaned down, peering at me. "Shinto is your name, correct? Aika spoke highly of you."

"Uh…hi?" I did not expect this when I woke up this morning. Was I still dreaming? That would honestly make more sense then the Elemental Nations suddenly turning into 'Generic Disney World #7'.

"So what do you think?" Shikaku asked the deer, suddenly serious.

"Think about what?" I asked, looking between him and the deer.

The deer shook its head. "In a moment, Shikaku. I have yet to introduce myself. It is good to meet you, Shinto. I am Cernunnos."

"Pleasure." I said slowly.

"So?" Shikaku said expectantly.

The deer shook its head again. "It is as you feared. His chakra is too imbalanced. He would make a poor candidate."

Shikaku clicked his tongue, clearly upset.

"I'm sorry. Poor candidate for what?" I asked, looking between the two of them. I wasn't about to be possessed by the messiah deer, right? Shikaku wouldn't do that to me.

"One of the First Hokage's techniques. I wanted to see if you could learn it, but it's not important now." Shikaku said dismissively.

I froze, dots connecting in my head. Clearly summoned creatures. First Hokage techniques. Chakra imbalances. "Sage mode?"

Shikaku raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm not surprised you put it together, but if Cernunnos says it won't work for you, it won't work for you."

I was reeling as I looked at Shikaku. "You were trying to get me to learn sage mode?"

Shikaku's shoulders slumped. "Sorry for getting your hopes up."

"No… I… Thank you." I… I was speechless. Shikaku brought me here, revealing something that was very clearly a Clan Secret if only he and Aika had interacted with Cernunnos in the hopes of helping me to learn one of the most busted abilities in Naruto.

I didn't know he cared about me that much.

Blinking suddenly cloudy eyes – when did I get allergic to the woods? – I turned back to the deer, Cernunnos. "What do you mean my chakra is too imbalance? Is it because of my overabundance of Yin chakra?"

The deer nodded. "Yes. Shikaku did not undersell your intelligence. Sage mode requires one's chakra to be in balance. I doubt you would be able to achieve it even with years of careful training. You simply have too much Yin chakra."

That sucked. A lot. Sage mode was absurdly powerful. Hearing the expert Shikaku brought me to say I would never be able to use it was more than a little demoralizing, but I forced myself not to dwell on it. My overabundance of Yin chakra made me more dangerous than anyone with Yin techniques. I owed my shadow and genjutsu supremacy to it. It was a trade off. Besides, there were much cooler things to focus on.

"So… Do you and Shikaku have a summon contract or something?" I asked the deer.

Shikaku snorted. "We did things differently than others."

"Shikaku speaks true." Cernunnos said, a touch of amusement in the deer's voice. "Our home became…inhospitable, so we reached an agreement with your ancestors. There were few of us left and we had lost our home. We would live here, and in exchange we would protect your young like our own."

"Fast forward and now we're here. We have a contract, but it isn't a summoning contract. If you want a summoning contract, I can talk to some people about getting you an apprenticeship." Shikaku said.

"No, that's… I was just curious. So you protect the forest?" I asked the deer.

Cernunnos nodded. "I do. I have also trained several Nara over the years."

My eyes widened in shock. "In sage mode?"

"No." Cernunnos said. "I have yet to find a Nara who is both suited to the training and willing to undergo it. I have, however, imparted my fighting style upon many of your kin."

"Um… Not to be rude, but I don't see how a quadrupedal fighting style would translate well to a biped with arms." I said. The differing anatomy would certainly throw a wrench in how the fighting style was used.

Shikaku sighed. "Shinto, just shut up and let Cernunnos teach you. I'm gonna head back. You two have fun." He turned around, throwing a parting wave over his shoulder as he walked away.

I awkwardly looked up at Cernunnos as Shikaku left me alone with the mythical deer I'd met all of five minutes ago. "So…um…Should I address you as–"

"You may call me Cernunnos, Shinto. Shikaku and Aika spoke of you so much that I feel as if we are already acquainted. Now dodge."

"Dodge wh..Oh shit!" I fell back into my shadow as silver antlers speared through the air I'd just occupied.

"Aika was correct! You are a quick study! I will hold nothing back!" Cernunnos cheered, sounding supremely happy as he bounded after the shadow flowing across the forest floor.

I exploded out of my shadow up onto a tree as two mighty hooves moved to smash me. "Shikaku, you bastard! Warn me next time!"

X

Walking through the forest, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face, Shikaku looked up at the sky. "Promise fulfilled, you cooky old aunt. Cernunnos will take good care of your boy."

Shinto would be occupied for at least the next four hours. Shikaku didn't feel like waiting around, so he headed home. Shikamaru was probably slacking off. He needed to go give his son a loving kick in the ass. It wouldn't be too long now until he was out of the Academy. What kind of father would he be if he left the job of whipping Shikaku into fighting shape solely up to his Jonin sensei?