Interlude - The ROOT of the Issue:

“Danzou-sama” a masked ANBU in the usual black and white armor entered the ROOT leader’s compound and knelt, awaiting acknowledgment.

“What is it, Rat?” The heavily bandaged man asked, his single eye gazing down at his subordinate. If he remembered correctly, Rat was assigned to collect information on the happenings surrounding the Ninja Academy and its graduates this week, a rather inglorious task, and usually completely uneventful, but Danzou hadn’t gotten to where he was today by discounting the little things.

“The rumors about Tsunade’s son are true. He entered the village yesterday with the Sannin, Jiraiya, and I was able to confirm his identity at the genin graduation tests today.” Rat’s voice emanated from behind the mask sounding only slightly muffled.

Danzou’s eye widened and he frowned at the news. He’d nearly discounted the bits of information he’d received the previous day as wild tales. The source had supposedly been two gate guards only recently promoted to chuunin on their third time attempting the test. Neither of the two were known for taking their positions particularly seriously, and he doubted they’d ever advance in rank again. The data he’d gathered on them said they were generally unmotivated and not well suited for information gathering or much of anything else, as far as he was concerned. They weren’t nearly serious enough to make it far as shinobi.

Besides, the rumors had it that the boy had the Mokuton and possessed his mother’s freakish strength, and everyone knew those techniques were unique to the originating individuals. He’d certainly tried to have them replicated in his own troops often enough.

“Were you able to determine the veracity of the rest of the rumors surrounding the boy?”

“Not all of them, sir. He does have some sort of animate plant, but it doesn’t react in any way like the Shodaime’s Mokuton was said to work. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was somehow influenced to act by his moods, taken in through the ambient chakra around him. It seems to react automatically to the environment without his conscious will; other than that, I can’t say. All of his shinobi skills were far above the rest of the graduating genin, but he did not over-play his hand in the exams aside from the jutsu portion, so I cannot be sure the extent of those skills. Though he may have some of the Nidaime’s talent with water jutsu as he was able to produce three mizu-bunshin from a single glass of water, instead of the required basic clone.”

The old soldier frowned and paced a few steps across the yard, deep in thought. If there WAS some truth to the rumors, especially if he had any of his great-grandfather’s Mokuton skills, it would be well worth his time to make a play for control of the boy. He still regretted letting himself get out played for the Tenzou child – he’d foolishly believed the Hokage’s reports that all of that batch of Orochimaru’s experiments had died, the entire group unsuccessful in gaining the first Hokage’s abilities, and had subsequently lost him to the general ANBU ranks instead of gaining him for his own. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again, especially when the genuine article was the new prize.

He took a few more moments to mull over the best course of action before asking, “Is that all?”

“No, sir. Tsunade-hime was seen entering the village this morning; she and Jiraiya-sama had some sort of altercation over the boy’s training that all but emptied the bathing area for several hours, then she met with the Hokage in the afternoon, and later rejoined her son and Jiraiya-sama at their inn. They seemed to have resolved their differences as there was no further property damage or civilian casualties.”

Damn, the boy’s mother could be a difficult obstacle. Jiraiya was considered somewhat of a buffoon by the council with his tasteless books and lack of decent breeding, but Tsunade-hime had a good bit of weight to throw around, being the closest thing Konoha had to royalty, especially if she were willing to trade on the council’s desire for her to return to the village with her heir. By all accounts, she was a shrewd and protective woman. He’d make a play for the boy, and if that failed, he’d have to make due with closely following his progress and perhaps persuading him directly. It would be a dangerous gamble, but with a child of that potential and political power under his thumb, his options would be nearly limitless.

“We may be able to monopolize on the Sannin’s argument about his training. What exactly was the issue, and are you certain it was resolved?” He asked aloud.

“I couldn’t tell for sure, Danzou-sama, on either count. Tsunade-hime's killing intent cleared everyone out, so I could not blend with the crowds, and I did not want to get close enough to be seen or sensed by either Sannin. The conflict was a violent one. From what I could gather, Tsunade-hime was not pleased at Jiraiya-sama’s preempting her authority by returning her son to the village.”

“Hmm. Thank you, Rat. You may return to your duties. I expect a formal report on this later.” Maybe Tsunade-hime wouldn’t be returning permanently to Konoha, after all? That would fit his plans much better than if she were to stay. If he remembered her personality correctly from when she was a girl, she was more likely to throw wrenches into his works than to be helpful, especially if she still held a fondness for her old sensei, which it would seem she did if her visit to him was any indication. He’d have to fish for a bit more information to be sure before making a move. "You are dismissed."

The rat masked ANBU silently stood and bowed politely before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

†

When the master of ROOT made it to the Hokage’s office, the chuunin doing reception duty informed him that the old man could be found in his private library located down the hall. He politely thanked the boy, a Hyuuga of good breeding – main branch, and then made his way in the direction of the specified room. Very few were allowed into that section of the tower; in fact it was sealed so that only the Hokage’s blood could access the wing. It was only reachable by other people when the Leaf’s leader was using the facility, and it automatically alerted the man of each entrant.

Danzou nodded at the two ANBU guarding the doorway, noticing one of them had the red hair and otter’s mask of Uzumaki Kushina, another he’d lost to the old man’s manipulations. The last remaining warrior of Whirlpool’s most prominent family would have done well in his ranks with some emotional conditioning. As it was, she was far too undisciplined for his tastes and she knew it. To say they did not get along would be a gross understatement. Nevertheless, he maintained his expressionless mask and didn’t acknowledge her further as he knocked on the library’s door and opened it without waiting for an answer. The members of the senior council were allowed to seek the Hokage out in this chamber, after all, so the ANBU could not really stop him, regardless of the impropriety. After all, what harm could a crippled old man do to the supposed greatest ninja in Fire Country?

The room beyond the portal was extremely impressive. He’d tried to get operatives into this sanctuary on multiple occasions to copy the information housed here, but its protections were vast, and he wasn’t willing to tip his hand to the Hokage just yet; he still had hope of replacing the old fool when he finally kicked off. If not with himself (he knew his injuries would probably preclude him from the running), then with someone of his choosing that would be more…amiable to his ideas for the future direction Konoha should take. Perhaps the Senju boy would fit that bill? Whomever he ended up choosing, when everything came to fruition, he intended to be the power behind the throne, and then he’d have all the access he desired. Sandaime was old; it was really just a waiting game now.

He might not even have to wait that long to get at the walls lined with priceless scrolls and tomes. If the Senju were really to return to Konoha, a good portion of this may very well be leaked back into the private sector. Much of this knowledge had been amassed by the Shodaime, and even the Hokage wouldn’t dare keep it back from his legitimate heirs should they make a bid to the council for its return. Knowing the sentimental old fool, he might even turn it over without a fight out of some misguided sense of honor – Tsunade-hime had been his student, after all, and it was no secret the Professor held a deep fondness for all the members of his original genin team. Danzou happened to have it on good authority that he’d even been unable to kill the traitor Orochimaru when he’d had a chance.

The Hokage shuffled out from the dusty stacks to see who had entered and found himself completely unsurprised to see the partially crippled council member. He knew it was only a matter of time until people learned of Naruto’s existence, and the vultures began to circle. It was hardly a shock that Danzou had turned up first. He was a particularly large vulture, after all. “What can I do for you, Danzou?”

“Hokage-sama. I will be brief, as I’m sure you have already deduced what I’ve come for.” They were polite to each other in public for the sake of their respective images and because they weren’t really able to further damage each other yet, but in private they made no qualms about the politeness being merely a veneer. The Sandaime had managed to discredit him once, but he’d clawed his way back into power and wasn’t going to go down again so easily. “I want to exercise my right as a senior council member to make a recommendation about the training of one of the new genin.”

Despite his injuries, the man was still a formidable shinobi, though he was good at playing the innocent cripple when he had too. A council member’s right to request input in new genin teams had been instigated for situations such as when clan heads wanted to make sure the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation stayed intact. Leave it to the old bastard to warp that courtesy for his own designs.

The Sandaime raised an aged eyebrow; that was a tactic he hadn’t exactly expected the man to take. Surely he wasn’t about to admit to the continued existence of his supposedly secret ANBU squad? They’d been ordered to disband into the regular ANBU troops, but the council was inclined to look the other way when he continued to take a hand in their training.

Danzou was not that foolish, “I have heard rumors of Tsunade-hime’s son passing today’s exams. I feel his breeding and abilities qualify him for immediate fast track training into one of the ANBU squads. As you may have heard, I have a proposal ready to go before the council about a mentorship program for shinobi who show early ANBU potential, and I think he would be a perfect candidate for the first batch of such shinobi.”

“And you would, of course, volunteer to direct that new movement? That proposal will never pass the council. and his mother would kill you. Your methods are barbaric, and your request is transparent.” The Hokage put his pipe between his lips and frowned at the other man, surely he didn’t expect for him to agree to that request?

“My former soldiers are nearly twice as effective as the average new ANBU recruit. The council knows that. My original unit would never have been dissolved if it had been up to them. Besides, it’s only fitting that someone of Senju’s status receive the best tutoring possible…I’ll be requesting the Uchiha as well, by the way, when he graduates next year.”

“Your request is denied. I am the Hokage, and I get final say in all ninja related decisions, INCLUDING team assignments - the council's input is merely a courtesy, as you well know. Even if it weren't, Senju Naruto has already been assigned.”

“To who? The council has not even SEEN any of the team rosters yet! We don’t even convene for another hour!”

“My student, Jiraiya, has exercised his right to accept an apprentice outside of the usual team assignments, a right granted to him by the council that he never traded on, unlike the other two Sannin.” Jiraiya had taken a whole team, but as a reward for their services, they’d been offered the opportunity to take single students instead, in hopes that the one-on-one mentorship would generate more shinobi of their own superior quality. Orochimaru had gotten Mitarashi Anko, and Tsunade had taken Shizune. The offer had never been rescinded. He had every right to “first dibbs” on Naruto. It wouldn’t go up in front of the council for approval, and that decision was looking more and more like an especially wise one. He was sure Danzou was just the first of many who would be all too eager to collect on the Shodaime’s legacy.

The old soldier frowned and bowed slightly, conceding the field, for now. He hadn’t been prepared for that, but he wasn’t willing to give up yet. He was sure another opportunity would arise. “Very well. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few issues to attend to before tonight’s meeting.”

“By all means.” He’d barged in without permission; Sandaime found it a bit ironic that he bothered with the polite formalities on taking his leave. He’d have to assign a few more ninja to keep an eye on the man. He knew this wasn’t over, and it would be unspeakably disastrous if he discovered Naruto’s secrets before the time was right to reveal them to the world.

†

ANBU were incredibly discrete as a rule. Most shinobi were, and ANBU were elite shinobi. It was something of a requirement for the job; still, only the most trusted were assigned to guard the Hokage because they were often present and therefore unable to avoid overhearing the occasional delicate political discussion. Kushina was frequently given this duty because while she was known to be a bit boisterous, she definitely knew when to keep her mouth shut, and she hadn’t risen so quickly and highly in the ranks by making use of privileged information. Ninja that did that never got very far in Konoha. As such, she knew quite a bit about the current political climate in the village, and always had the latest gossip.

She couldn’t deny that she was rather curious to hear Senju Naruto was in town. She’d thought of him often in the past several years and was pretty eager to see what kind of a ninja he’d grown into. It’d be over her dead body that bastard Danzou would sink his filthy claws into the kid. Kushina owed Tsunade a debt for healing her teammate, and an Uzumaki always repaid their debts.

--The good kind, and the bad. It was just rare that fulfilling both kinds ran together so well as this. If Danzou knew what was good for him, he should definitely be watching his back.

Her musings were cut short by the arrival of Hyuuga Hiashi looking like a man on a mission. Unlike the previous visitor, he waited politely for permission to enter, but he certainly didn’t wait for the door to even close completely before assaulting the Hokage with his Naruto-related request.

The kid had been there for two days and already he was stirring up the council more than anything else had in a decade. Kushina grinned; she knew there was something special about that brat from the moment she’d seen him as a toddler.

†

“Sandaime-sama, forgive the intrusion, but I wished to discuss something with you prior to tonight’s meeting.” The Hyuuga’s clan head spoke in his normal formal monotone. Sandaime hated it. There was very little more boring than listening to a Hyuuga speak.

He sighed. Sometimes he hated his job. Dealing with the council was more trouble than the paperwork sometimes, “Of course, Hiashi-san.” And of course, he had to be polite no matter how annoyingly predictable they were being or how ridiculous the request…

“I have heard Tsunade-hime has revived the Senju clan by bearing a male heir and that he has returned to be a Shinobi of the Leaf.”

“Indeed. You have heard correctly.” Sarutobi reluctantly replied; it would be pointless to hide it. He wished Jiraiya had been a bit more discrete.

Hiashi cleared his throat and straightened his clothes a bit before speaking, though his face remained it’s normal stern mask, “As you know, the Hyuuga clan and the Senju clan have close ties dating back to even before the great Shodaime founded Konoha; as such—“

“Forgive me, Hiashi-san, but if you are about to suggest a political marriage alliance, even for the noble purpose of bringing the Senju clan more firmly back to the village - which I'm sure is your intention, you know you should be talking to the boy’s mother, not to me. Also, Naruto-kun is only 11, as is your oldest daughter, with little Hanabi-chan being even younger. Don’t you think you might wait a few years to bring this sort of thing up?”

Hiashi looked affronted at the interruption, and a bit embarrassed that he’d been that transparent about the request. “Of course, I merely wanted to remind you that we have the oldest claim and preempt any other agreements. I thought perhaps you might be persuaded to speak with Tsunade-hime—“

‘Sometimes it really sucks to be Hokage. Nidaime-sama never told me there would be days like this,’ Sandaime sighed, resolving not to mention it to Tsunade-chan either, should she agree to be Godaime. She’d probably change her mind. He reluctantly settled in for the second of what he knew would be many long-winded Naruto related discussions. The council meeting tonight could only make it worse. He firmly believed the social elite of this village had too much free time. As the Hyuuga droned on and on about the merits of his youngest daughter and her suitability for an older boy he’d never met, Sarutobi wondered if he should suggest they all take up hobbies…he’d heard a game called “golf” was becoming quite popular in Grass Country…

†

The sun rose as usual into clear skies over Konoha and the Yamanaka Flower Shop the next morning. Yamanaka Ino had been given the early shift by her mother. “What a way to start my vacation from Academy classes.” She grumbled aloud. “I’ve done nothing but study all week, and now I’ve got to work. This sucks. I can’t even go track down Forehead Girl and tell her the newest bit of juicy gossip!”

As luck would have it, the fates weren’t completely against her that morning. No sooner than she’d wished she could go find Sakura, than the girl walked into the shop causing the little bell over the doorway to jingle merrily in greeting. “Good morning, Ino-Pig! Mom sent me to get her weekly flower order.”

“Your mom’s got a weekly order now, Forehead Girl?” Ino opened up the box containing little cards with the shop’s orders written on them, and flipped through to the ‘H’ section for ‘Haruno’.

“Yeah. She’s into this Feng Shui thing now, and convinced that fresh flowers improve the ‘energy’ of the house.”

“Cool. I’ll go get them; Dad did the order this morning before he left to go training.” Her dad was one of those weird ‘morning people’ freaks.

“I’d better come help; there’ll be a lot of them.”

The two girls headed into the back room. Ino flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and then started gathering the things listed on the card, “I’m actually pretty glad you came in here this morning, Billboard. I wanted to officially let you know that I’m withdrawing from the Uchiha Sasuke fanclub.”

Sakura was so shocked that she dropped the lilies she was holding, “What?!”

“Well, he’s so yesterday, you know? Now that Tsunade-sama’s son is going to be around more there’s no reason to drool over such a boring and cold boy like Sasuke-kun. They say he’s got Shodaime’s kekkei genkai, and that’s way more ‘in’ than the boring old Sharingan.”

“Blasphemy!!”

“You wouldn’t say that if you saw him! I got a glimpse of him yesterday as we were leaving school. You know he came to Konoha just to take the Academy tests a year early. He’s our age and already he can pass the tests without even attending a class even ONCE. He’s a genin now, and they say he’s not joining a team because he’s apprenticed to the great Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin. On top of that, he’s the last descendant from the founding clan of the village, AND both the first and second hokage! Rumor has it, he’s even got a killer attack plant that obeys his every whim like some super defense!”

“W-wow! But still, there’s no way he’s as dark, handsome, and mysterious as Sasuke-kun.”

“The tall, dark, handsome thing is way out of style now. You’re always so behind the times, Sakura! As for mysterious, this guy’s got it in spades! His mom’s raised him outside of Konoha for his own protection, and they say his father was such an awesomely powerful ninja with so many enemies that there’s a law or something about saying his name! He’s definitely a prince or sultan or something.”

“That’s stupid! There’s no way a prince or sultan or whatever would be allowed to be a ninja! It’s too dangerous!” Sakura planted her hands on her hips and glared at her rival.

“Hey, I’m just telling you what I heard! The Senju founded this village, you know, that makes him as close to a prince as we’re ever going to get! Besides, he’s definitely exotic looking – he’s got these cool clan markings or tattoos or something on his arm and one side of his face, with dark tanned skin and impossibly blue eyes!” she sighed dreamily.

“Well, okay…you can join his fanclub if you want too, but we’re definitely not letting you back into Sasuke-kun’s if you change your mind! There’s no room for the fickle minded in the race for Sasuke-kun’s heart!” Sakura tossed her hair and nodded decisively.

“That’s fine with me, as long as you promise not to change YOUR mind and go after Naruto-kun later!”

“Deal!”

“…so does this mean we can be friends again?”

“Sure, why not? Oh! You should come over to my house tonight! We can do each other’s hair and discuss the relative merits of broody dark ninja boys and mysterious and exotic blond ones!”

“Awesome! I’ll bring low-fat ice-cream!”

†

Naruto had started sneezing last night and hadn’t stopped sneezing all morning. Ivy wouldn’t stop writhing about his head protectively as if she was trying to fend off whatever was bothering him. Tsunade was loathe to leave him with Jiraiya if he was coming down with something – heaven forbid he was becoming allergic to his leafy pet. He didn’t get sick very frequently unless it was excessive chakra use/Kyuubi related, though probably more often than he would have if his bloodline didn’t prevent Kyuubi from completely controlling his body’s defenses and immune system, but he was overall pretty healthy. “Are you sure you’re okay, Kiddo?”

Naruto ducked out from under his mother’s reaching hands and angrily stuffed Ivy back down around his waist for what felt like the millionth time – at least she was staying where he put her longer than usual since he woke up. He tucked his new necklace into his shirt while he was at it, and then had to dodge Tsunade again. She was being so freaking GRABBY this morning! She’d tried to feel his forehead to take his temperature three times already and hugged him TWICE! You’d think she had some kind of weird new resolve to embarrass him in public or something. “I’m fine mom! There’s probably just some weirdoes talking about me!”

“Well, okay, but come back here and give me a hug and let me fix your hair. It’s sticking up in all directions.”

“Moooooooom! I’m a NINJA now!”

Jiraiya grinned happily. It was so refreshing not to be the target for once…

†

Shizune opened the door to the little house they’d been renting when she left for Earth Country, “Tadaima!” She set TonTon down and turned on the lights. How strange. Where was everyone? They couldn’t still be asleep. Both of them weren’t exactly morning people – unless Naruto was on a larger than normal training kick. He got his sleeping habits from his mother, but his natural inclinations were usually over-ruled by his impressive drive to better himself, besides, it was almost time for lunch!

Everything was pretty much as she’d known she’d come home to find it. Laundry was on the floor, extra pairs of shoes thrown haphazardly near the door instead of lined up neatly, a box of cereal left sitting out on the table next to a new stack of I.O.Us... “Tsunade-sama! Naruto-kun? How strange. Where is everybody?”

†

“Bye, Mom! Tell ‘Zune I’ll miss her and give TonTon some scritches for me.” Ivy rose around Naruto’s back to wave farewell with a leafy tendril.

“Oh, crap.” Tsunade groaned.

“What?...You forgot to leave her a note telling her where you were going, didn’t you?”

“It’s not my fault! I was frantic, wondering where YOU were!”

“HEY, I left a note!”

†

“Tsunade-sama!! Where IS everyone?!” Shizune wailed.

†