The Sarutobi compound reeked of tobacco smoke. I landed near the gates, avoiding the earful I would have heard if I entered from above. Rolling up the carpet I flung it over my back and had my bandages secure it to me. Sakumo waited for me to pack up and guided me in.

I had been to the Sarutobi estate a few times in the past when I was a kid, but the place had changed since. Back when I was here, there was five homes and a warehouse with a small training yard for the purpose of performing katas and meditating.

Now two of the homes had been replaced and merged with the yard. I wish I could recall whose homes those were but the names escaped me. I continued walking towards the main house but Sakumo shook his head and lead me to a smaller house off to the side.

Opening the door I grimaced as a literal smoke cloud flowed from the entryway. Walking in I saw Hiruzen sitting on a couch with scattered paperwork on the coffee table and using his crystal ball. From the angle I was at I could see he was monitoring the construction teams. Two men had just brought out the body of a man who looked like he had been crushed to death.

“Shinku Yūhi has been missing since the attack. One of the Hyugas found him ten minutes ago. He was trying to save a young boy but…” Hiruzen stopped talking and turned the crystal ball off.

For the first time Hiruzen looked at me and smiled the best he could manage. “Amon, It’s nice to see you again. I wish it could have been under better circumstances but glad to see you are alright.”

“Thank you, Lord Third.”

The room went silent and I went to sit on the couch opposite Hiruzen, Sakumo sat on a plush chair in between the two of us. Hiruzen’s face was unreadable as he looked down at nothing. Minato’s death was still raw with everybody here.

Before everyone could just keep their heads down and focus on the work in front of them, but now that a few days have gone by the shock was wherein off. I decided it was best to try to power through the best I could. “Well working backwards. The hospital is mostly fine now. At the end of the day, it’s a hospital, somebody is having the worst day of their life right now but that’s the same old, same old.”

I got noddes from both of them but not much else so I continued. “The Sand Village is doing fine, Scratch that they’re doing more than fine. I dare say good. You wanted to speak with me about possible future actions they will take, After current events.”

“Yes.” Hiruzen finally spoke after taking another long puff from his pipe. “The village will be seen as weak after the nine-tails attack. Minato stationed you in the Sand. How do you think their village will respond?”

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Taking a deep breath and rolling my shoulders I answered. “Well, the first thing they're going to do is try to obscure their actions from us. I left the Sand the moment I heard what happened, They didn’t kick us out and would let me back in if we asked but they will use this time to make a game plan.”

“The Kazekage is a shinobi through and through. He will always try to hide his actions to the best of his ability and strike when he feels like he can reach his goal. Rasa’s goal is to make his village powerful and he believes military accomplishments are how he’s going to reach that.”

“Can’t you say that about every Kage?” Sakumo added unhelpfully.

“Well, can you say that about the first through fourth?” I said gesturing to the third. “Every Hokages goal more or less has been about peace and protection. The current Mizukage is trying to unify his people and shake off the bloodthirsty reputation that their previous Mizukage worked so hard to cultivate.”

“We are in danger of getting off-topic. You think Rasa will try for military action?”

“Yes, but I don’t think he will attack us. The man’s had a chip on his shoulder since before the war. He got his seat because his predecessor was assassinated by Sasori and has been looking for a chance to show off.”

Hiruzen smiled when I said that.“I heard you had a hand in arresting the fallen puppeteer.”

“I did, and Rasa has been annoyed with me since.”

“Annoyed, Amon, what did you do?” Sakumo said like a parent just receiving news about their child’s antics at school.

I waved my hands defensively “When I was at the Sand, I got a tip of Sasori’s location. It was clearly a trap. Sasori wanted to kill the student of the man who killed his parents so he tried to lure me out for an ambush.”

“Oh.”Sakumo had a guilty look on his face so I continued past it.

“Even tho it was a trap, the man is an S-class criminal of an allied nation so I decided to spring it.”

“But?” Hiruzen chipped in.

“But with more than what he was expecting. Before I left I recruited puppet master Chiyo, the man's grandmother. Just enough strength to capture the man but not enough to scare him off.”

“Hmm, I see the problem.”

“Problem? I mean I guess bringing a man’s grandmother to a fight about avenging his parents is weird.”

“Amon didn’t ask for permission first.” Hiruzen correctly guessed. “Rasa looks weak in the eyes of his people. Sasori was a traitor to his village but also a war hero in the previous war. Rasa never got a chance to fight and earn himself any accolades. Having a Leaf ninja, The student of the man who killed many of their people, and a famous and well-respected member of their village, Chiyo, whose own son was killed by you Sakumo, working together to bring a fallen hero to justice.” Hiruzen paused to take a puff and blew the smoke up to the ceiling. “It strengthened the ties between the Sand and Leaf’s people, but in doing so made it look like Rasa couldn’t do it himself.”

“Were you not able to do anything to let Rasa save face?”

I was about to respond but Hiruzen beat me to it. “That was the goal. The Wind daimyo has been disappointed in the Sand Village and their Kazakage’s results in the past. It is not unheard of for hidden villages to be decommissioned. That was one of your selling points to me and the other elders when you requested the assignment.”

Sakumo reared back like he was struck and looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. I felt the need to justify myself but Hiruzen continued. “Rasa is going to do something to get the daimyo’s attention.”

“Yes, My guess, in the coming weeks the Sand will announce their condolences. They will say how sad they are that their strongest ally has been so badly weakened and as are ally they will do all they can to help. Send some second-hand medical supplies and anything else that will make them look good. Claim they sent twice as much as they did, and then they will offer to pick up the slack. Rasa will tell his daimyo that we are too weak to rely on and that any mission that he would have sent our way should be sent to the Sand instead. If we are unlucky, he will do the same for the fire daimyo but personally, I don’t think Rasa is daring enough to think of that.”

“Hmm, a problem, but one that can be mitigated. However, the sand village is not the only reason I called you here today.” And with that, the door opened, and in walked one of the most hated characters in Naruto. “Danzo, glad you were able to find time in your schedule to join us.” Hiruzen greeted, and I knew this meeting was about to get aggravating.