“You called this meeting Hiruzen?” Shikaku Nara said as he entered. Looking around, he noticed many notable clan heads were in attendance. As usual, Nara sat beside the clan leads of Yamanaka and Akimichi.
“Hmm, oh yes, thank you, Shikaku, for joining us. I don’t want to waste too much time with everyone here, so if anyone here you think should be here but isn’t, please feel free to inform them of the contents of this meeting.” Hiruzen turned away from discussing with one of his aids and addressed the room. Some troubling news has come across my desk this mourning, and after discussing it with the village elders, I am ready to proceed.”
The room had nothing but trained shinobi in it; even the aids to the Hokage and clan heads were at a minimal chunin rank with years of experience, but even so, the wave of discomfort traveled around the room. For the Hokage to feel the need to discuss with the village elders and then the clan heads of the village today could affect the village's future.
“Several days ago, Sunagakure launched ships from the Demon Desert towards the Land of Tea. Unconfirmed reports show they have also increased security along the borders of the more minor villages. Once they made landfall, their shinobi made to secure several small villages along their coastline.”
“Are they trying to start another war!?” One of the more minor clans representatives spoke up.
“I sent a message to their Kazekage, but he has yet to respond. A lord of the land of wind claimed it was not an invasion but just a few ninjas going on publicly funded missions in the land of tea at the same time.”
There were some audible scuffs in the room at that response, to which Hiruzen nodded. “Our spies claim that a minor session war has broken out in the Land of Tea, and members have recruited ninjas from the Sand Village while the other side has recruited from the mist.”
Shikaku raised his hand to speak, which Hiruzen allowed. “If you have spoken with the elders, then I assume we have already chosen how we are going to react?”
“As of now, we have decided to allow things to play out more. The Nine-tails attack is still too fresh; we are still recovering from the war, and I’m not eager to start another. The Sand Village didn’t lose too much from the previous war and is making a move to obtain more resources for themselves. In the coming months I will be sending teams to sheer up are relationships with the minor villages, until then I believe the best course of action is to hold back and regroup.” Hiruzen’s words were met with grim faces but nods nonetheless.
Shikaku looked around the room and noticed an absence that should be there, so he raised his hand again. “Shouldn’t Amon be here? Doesn’t he have the most knowledge about the workings of the Sand Village?”
Some of the Hyuga clan members grumbled at Amon’s name being mentioned. “He is currently working with other Jonin on assigning Genin this cycle. After this meeting, I will join them in the final part of assigning Jonin team leaders.”
Shikaku leaned back in his chair. Amon is going to be leading a Genin team. Technically, Amon was the head of a medical base during the war, was the ambassador to the Sand Village, and has been teaching at the academy for the last few months, but even so.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Are we still sure Amon has the temperament for such a position?” A member of the Hyuga clan spoke up. “He has always caused trouble; Amon was the ambassador to the Sand, and yet now they are taking aggressive action in our backyard. Not to mention his past actions. Attacking fellow leaf ninja, he “expresses his opinion” on matters that don’t concern him.”
“There have also been complaints from the parents, such as using genjutsu on his students, keeping them after school, and teaching them “Silly things.” I know he’s studied under the White Fang, but do we trust him with the future of the village?”
“People are saying that he has been scheming with the Uchiha. Where was he when the nine tails attacked?”
Once the Hyuga clan representative finished talking, a flood of complaints came swarming in. Shikaku could not help but remember when Hatake failed his mission. Over the course of a few days, anyone and everyone who had a complaint about the man came out of the woodwork to voice their grievances about him.
Hiruzen smoked his pipe while waiting them out. Shikaku had seen this before; either Hiruzen would wait for everyone to run out of steam, then work on de-escalating everyone. Or, and the more likely outcome, He will purposely show a serene expression for a minute and then snap into an even more enraged state than everyone else. He will start yelling about how you are acting like a child, followed by a lecture either about the person in question, Hiruzen's own interactions with the person, or a historical person or event. He will give you the impression that he is wiser than you and is trying to teach you an important lesson.
“He really does love that professor nickname,” Shikaku muttered under his breath while the room still aired their complaints. Hiruzen has always been self-conscious about his leadership skills. The best way Shikaku has found to deal with the man is to passionately voice a complaint and then provide a reasonable solution to the problem.
“ENOUGH! You are all complaining like children who have dropped their ice cream. Amon has proven himself time and time again. He had the trust of the Daimyo when he was appointed as a member of the guardian twelve, MY trust when I sent him to lead a medical base on the frontlines of the war, and Namikaze’s trust when he appointed Amon as Ambassador.” The room went quiet at Hiruzen's words.
“Well?” Hiruzen growled. “Anyone else have woes about Amon they feel the need to get off their chest, Nara, any complaints with Amon?”
The Shikaku in question was lost in his own head and took a second to realize his opinion was asked for. “Hmm, I think he is a bit emotionally distant and enjoys going against the status quo, but other than that, he’s fine.” Shikaku shrugged. Hiruzen’s eye twitched in anger while everyone else rolled theirs.
Something had been nagging at Shikaku's mind since he walked in. Looking at the people in the room and studying their faces, it finally clicked. “Where’s Hizashi?”
“What, I don’t know. Nobody could find him, so I was sent instead. I will relay everything to clan head Hiashi once I return.” The Hyuga Shikaku didn’t know the name of said. Hizashi would lousily come to meetings like this as the head of the branch family, while Hiashi would stay in the Hyuga compound to deal with intern affairs. This meeting had been going along for a while, but Shikaku was late tending to the deer on his estate. A ninja should have found Hizashi by now, and he should have been here to show respect to the Hokage. Shikaku could only think he wasn’t here because he had not wanted to be.
“Why?” Shikaku said under his breath. “Why not here? Why today?” Shikaku shot up from his seat before the thought could ultimately form in his head, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. “My apologies, lord. Third, something has come up; may I take my leave.”
With Hiruzen’s permission, Shikaku bolted from the room. Behind him, he could hear chuckling, probably about when nature calls. However, Shikaku was busy praying he was wrong, that he was overthinking things, and that he was just paranoid. He hoped it was just a coincidence that they were both missing.
Shikaku leaped from building to building toward the Hatake residence. Sakumo mentioned that Amon hadn’t gotten his place yet and had taken over his dojo. Once Shikaku arrived just outside the property, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He could see Amon entering from the street, holding what looked like leftovers from a nice restaurant.
Shikaku was ready to turn around and head back when he saw the last person he wanted to see. Hizashi had been waiting for Amon to return. Hiding in the shadows on a roof across the street, Shikaku watched Hizashi Hyuga emerge from an alleyway and follow Amon into the courtyard. Shikaku decides to stay hidden to give both parties the benefit of the doubt on what is about to happen.
Amon dropped off the leftovers on a railing in front of a rocking chair on a patio and turned to face Hizashi. “You know, it’s hard to imagine that you could get lost. The Byakugan is great for finding your way home, but yet here you are. If you need help, I can draw you a map.”
Hizashi took on the genital fist combat stance, which is famous for its use by the Hyuga. “You can not be allowed to become the Hokage.”