Ch. 5

Meeting

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose as he puffed on his pipe, praying for some relief from the current stress he was feeling.

Inoichi had done his mind walk, and the results were enough to make Hiruzen want to hurl.

The Forbidden Lake was sentient, sentient enough to drag people from across another dimension so that they could be converted into tremendous amounts of chakra in this world.

"A greedy world," the being whispered into her soul.

The Shadow was the tender of the tree on the other side of the lake and had been feeding the other tree ninjas for their chakra, not that the girl had known. She had not known where the scrolls and weapons the Shadow had gifted her had come from. She had not understood the purpose of the training, the fighting, or the foreign language called Japanese that she and the being spoke fluently in.

"A greedy world, that will not have my little tree," the being whispered into her soul.

She had not understood why the being had tilled the soil as it had, it had been very careful to keep it from her but with fresh eyes giving new perspective, Inoichi had understood what had been happening. With each life, the tree had produced more fruit, and the being had fed it to her.

It was disturbing. But not as disturbing as learning that the being, Shadow, called the young woman little tree and had raised her.

A criminally neglected child left to die by a parent who knew the dangers of the lake and did not care. The child's mother had been careful to have the child indoors by the time the father arrived home and to swiftly send her out the door when he had left for work since before the child could remember.

Once the child remembered her mother trying to take fruit from the tree when she was eight. It was the only time Shadow had ever scared the child. The mother had fled, not looking back for her daughter as Shadow had made himself known.

"Only for you my little tree," he had whispered into her soul. The fruit that day had been especially sweet.

…

Hiruzen's pipe fell from his mouth as he went over the blood work they had done.

He barely noticed as the floor began to burn and one of the Anbu appeared to hurriedly put it out. The Anbu yelped as he burned his foot and tripped into the drapes. Another Anbu appeared and dragged the other out of the drapes as another finished putting out the flames.

Hiruzen barely noticed as he swiftly read and reread the report a third time. She was nearly immortal. Her cells didn't have a decay rate. Her regeneration would be unparalleled, bones denser, muscles stronger, and immune to all poison. Her chakra would be colossal. She would be a monster, just like the creature that had raised her, a tailed beast in all but form. In a way, it made sense in a twisted manner. She had absorbed a good portion of the tailed beast's chakra during her transformation when her body had been deciding on a form. The red of her hair shouldn't have been surprising.

He sat back and thought of the repercussion of Iwa or Kumo getting their hands on the girl and shuddered. There was only one course of action.

He had to do everything in his power to get her to be a part of his village or foster enough goodwill that she would never attack them. He wasn't even sure they could seal her away as they do tailed beasts, and if they did, he wasn't sure they could stand against the Creature if he sought to free his little tree.

…

Hiruzen watched from the shadows as the young woman and little Naruto interacted. He had been so overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation that he had forgotten the rest of Inoichi's report.

She was kind, and innocent in a way only seen in civilians. The child laughed as she chased him around, playing silly games.

She was fiercely protective. She shielded the child behind her when Anbu appeared suddenly, moving with almost equal speed despite no training and no chakra.

And she would be deadly to those that threatened what was hers, he noted as her teal eyes turned into chips of sea glass. The guard had the wisdom to leave the missive for her on the grass before departing, understanding that approaching would be unwise.

He would have to ensure that this was handled very carefully.

Hiruzen looked down at the foolproof plan Shikaku had concocted to achieve their goals. He grimaced at the part Jiraiya would have to play for their success. If Jiraiya was as petulant and resistant to the plan as Hiruzen expected the man to be, they were going to be doomed.

…

Hiruzen could tell that Jiraiya was very displeased with the plan.

Hiruzen had been displeased since this whole mess had landed in his lap. He had the equivalent of two-tailed beasts in his backyard that he was going to have to protect from both foreign and domestic interests while hoping the loose elements in his village didn't antagonize either of them into leveling the place. He loved Naruto, but why would the child have a love for a place that had actively neglected and despised him?

Why would the little tree, now named Moriko by the child, want to cherish and protect such a place? He would have to give them both reasons to do so.

"I can't take a kid, or a random civilian woman along," Jiraiya finally said. Hiruzen could feel his frayed nerves snap.

"That RANDOM civilian woman is practically the daughter of the Creature that has been terrorizing the Elemental nations for the past 80 years! She's practically a tailed beast! If we tried sealing her, the Creature could level this village and no one would realize where the bodies had gone until it was too late! On top of that, I'm sure DANZO in his INFINITE WISDOM is going to fuck up a PERFECTLY GOOD ALLIANCE with the Creature and his child if he ever knew! Trying to take her from HER ADOPTED CHILD, of all people, NARUTO isn't going to endear the village to EITHER OF THEM! AND NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU BEING DIFFICULT AND WONDERING IF YOU'LL FUCK THIS UP!" Panting he sat back in his seat as he buried his face in his hands. His student looked suitably disturbed.

"And you want me to what?! Train that thing?" his student demanded aghast. Hiruzen looked up from his hands with a deadly glare.

"She was perfectly human before this whole mess started! The Creature's been feeding her the fruit of an immortal forbidden tree for years because the Forbidden Lake is SENTIENT and has been dragging foreigners into this world so they can be turned into chakra! On top of that, it located Naruto and tried to use him to force the metamorphosis but instead, she stayed it's hand and adopted the child! It put the boy's hand in her mouth when her transformation hit! It knew what it was doing! With the fruit of the forbidden tree and the power of the nine tails absorbed into her, she's practically an immortal civilian! She doesn't understand half of what was happening because it has been happening so long it's normal for her!" He ranted before sighing once more as he tried to bring his blood pressure back down. Jiraiya looked horrified.

"What the hell are you giving this mess to me for?!" he yelled as his mentor took a deep breath and held it to keep from screaming again.

"Because," Hiruzen grit out between clenched teeth, "You are the ONLY one that is outside the village constantly with enough standing to endorse her as an apprentice to the village! You're it Jiraiya! There is no one else so respected or revered for their reputation! I can't ask Tsunade! She doesn't have the contacts needed to create the false history the girl is going to need to stand up to the scrutiny of Danzo's shadow troops!"

"Jiji!" the door swung open and silencing seals disengaged as the little boy ran to his side face gleeful. Naruto swiftly tried to climb into the old man's lap while holding a drawing. The young woman right behind him chuckled before easily lifting the little tyke and setting him carefully on Hiruzen's knee. Jiraiya seemed to be momentarily stunned by her beauty. Her features were a mix of Japanese and exotic beauty, giving her a unique and eye-catching face.

"What have you got Naruto?" The old man asked with a grin as the little boy beamed and proudly presented him with his drawing. He could feel his stress decreasing as the happiness on the little face eased his heart.

"Moriko-nee said that when she was little in school the kids would make drawings of their family." He said before pointing to the people in it. Hiruzen turned his attention to the drawing and smiled as he took in the scene. His heart nearly stopped.

"See? That's you, that's me, that's Moriko-nee and that's Uncle Kage," he said happily. Hiruzen could feel his stress rising when the young woman placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Her eyes seemed to be searching for a moment before realization lit in them. She seemed surprised, then curious.

"You know about Shadow? How do you know about him?" she said a bit confused. With a sigh Hiruzen scrubbed his hand over his face, really wishing he didn't have to deal with this.

"It's you?! Y-you're the immortal civilian with a-" Jiraiya shut up swiftly seeing Hiruzen's face. She frowned looking more bemused than before.

"Immortal?" she asked before looking at the Hokage's annoyed expression. Seeing his expression speak the truth she blinked rapidly, clearly flabbergasted by the whole thing.

"Huh, I guess I should have suspected something," she muttered before lifting Naruto from his lap.

"Come on Naruto, I think Hokage-oji-chan was in an important meeting," she said as the boy looked crestfallen.

"He didn't like my drawing," he said morosely into her shoulder as they approached the door.

"Nonsense, he loved it. He was just a little surprised to see Shadow there and the other man-made him upset, none of which is your fault. Let him sort out business and we'll have lunch with him when he's done," she soothed as the child perked up.

"Really?"

"For sure." And with that, the door closed. Jiraiya's eyes closed as well, as he struggled to come to terms with the new reality he was going to have to deal with. The child clearly saw her as family and she clearly cared for the little boy.

If she could be as powerful as they feared and hoped, she would be a tremendous asset to the village. While the Creature had not taken any of their shinobi for the past seven years, denying its child could be just enough for it to start picking off their already weakened forces, forces still recovering from the Nine Tail's attack. If it took her and Naruto to another village for training and protection it could doom the leaf in the next few years with Konoha ripe for the picking. If she was attacked by Danzo and his forces in hopes of gaining a new weapon, the best that they could hope for was the Creature killing Danzo and his forces, the worst case would be it destroying the village in retaliation. He sighed.

"What's the plan?" he asked tiredly. Hiruzen took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"She's an immortal and practically a tailed beast. One day she is going to run into the Akatsuki since they have shown a great interest in the tailed beast from what you have managed to gather. Even if she isn't trained, she's going to step between Naruto and the threat, so we might as well give her the resources she's going to need and hopefully make her a part of the village. If not a part of it, then an ally. For that, she's going to need a rock solid cover to protect her from Danzo and the training needed to defeat S class missing-nin."

"What if she doesn't want to be a ninja?" Jiraiya demanded. Hiruzen looked more stressed and conflicted than before.

"If there are threats coming for Naruto, then I'll do the training." Both trained ninjas flinched before looking at the doorway in shock. She stood leaning against the closed door, the shadows making her eyes flash in the dark.

"H-How did you-" Jiraiya shut his mouth as she grinned chasing some of the darkness from her face.

"It's a little trick I can seem to do now from Shadow. Not sure why," she said with a slight shrug as both men internally panicked. If she had some of the Creature's power there would be little that could stop her. She came forward to sit with them at the table. Hiruzen quickly remembered to reengage the privacy seals on the room, cursing himself for his foolishness. To be fair in his tenure as the Hokage he had never had to deal with such a wild situation before.

"So people are after Naruto? And who is this Danzo you guys referred to?" she asked as the two men grimaced. One long-winded explanation later she frowned at the table chin resting in her hand.

"That's a bit much to take in," she muttered as Jiraiya snorted.

"You're one for understatements, aren't you?" he said dryly as she grinned cheekily before winking at him. Despite the short red hair, she was a beauty with her flashing teal eyes, pale skin, perfect white teeth, and vibrant red hair. To his utter embarrassment, his face went cherry red as his mentor chuckled. He looked away swiftly. If there was such thing as forbidden fruit, it was her. Especially if he was to be her teacher. She giggled and he flushed deeper annoyed at his bashfulness.

"So you guys want me to become a ninja of the village? What would that entail?" she asked with curiosity as Hiruzen puffed peaceably on his pipe, seeming far more at ease with the situation.

"Well, ninjas typically run missions for the village. A lot do field work, but there are a lot that stay home to help run operations or manage their clans, or to run Clan politics and village policy. Our heavy hitters are usually out in the field right now since we have such a shortage from the nine-tails attack," said Hiruzen as Moriko frowned.

"Well, I was training to be an officer in the Air Force before I was summoned by the lake. What are your policies for rest and recovery time? Do you have Phycological evaluations and how often? How has the repopulation and retraining of your forces been going? Are there areas that have been slow going? What can I do to help?" she asked as Jiraiya blinked in shock. Hiruzen just looked like a great weight had been taken off his shoulders. Jiraiya had just thought that she was an untrained civilian.

"Wait… what is an Air Force?" he asked slowly as she grinned. One long-winded explanation later both ninjas looked mind-boggled.

"You have a force that fights in the air?" Hiruzen demanded eyes wide. She laughed her smile bright.

"I was training to be a fighter jet pilot, one of the fastest and deadliest aircraft they had," she said, a touch of pride entering her voice. Their eyes nearly bugged out. Maybe sending ninjas to their already deadly world wasn't a good idea.

AN: I changed Naruto's age to four in the previous chapters since I wanted the timeline in that area.