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Ch 8

Danzo had one of his guards with him. Most of the time guests aren’t allowed guard escorts when entering a clan home let alone the acting Hokage's home but 12 years ago Danzo barely survived an assassination attempt. Ever since he’s milked that to have personal guards with him all the time.

Danzos guard scanned the area for threats like they would be able to do anything while in Hiruzen's presence. They wore a bear mask and had a large frame to them but other than that seemed unimpressive. I stood up and bowed to Danzo which he ignored and sat at the plush chair opposite of Sakumo, deliberately not looking at anyone.

“I see Amon has stopped wasting his time in the sand and has come home.”

I bit back a response, already feeling the looks of disappointment I would get from Hiruzen and Sakumo if I responded.

“Danzo, the council agreed with Amon’s proposal to have an embassy at the Sand village. It was Lord Fourth's first act when he took office.”

“Yes, but I can’t help but imagine that Lord Fourth would still be here today if one of our village's most competent Fujitsu experts had stayed instead of taking up landscaping in the desert.”

“Well, then it was a good thing you were still here.” I regretted saying it the moment it left my lips. I just insulted not just everyone in this room but this village with that comeback. Before I could apologize to the others, Danzo slammed his cane into the ground and Bear Mask made a move to draw his sword. With a flick of my wrist, I detached a bandage from my arm and made it fly towards the man. Before he could react, the bandage wrapped itself around the handle and sheath of the blade, locking it in place.

“That’s enough, do you forget where you are,” Sakumo shouted. Hiruzan was still inhaling from his pipe but I could tell he was getting ready to step in if me and Danzo had continued.

“Control your student's tongue Sakumo, or I will.” Danzo threatened.

“Everybody, You are angry and tired. Tempers are flaring up. We will have plenty of time later to go over what if’s.” Hiruzan rested his pipe on the table and stood up. Walking Hiruzan opened the back door to the room and went in to roll out a baby in its carriage. “I talked to Jiraiya but he suggested to get your opinion, Amon.”

I stood up knowing who I would see inside. He was so small but his spiky yellow hair was a dead giveaway. “Hey there little man. What’s your name?”

“His name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki,” Hiruzan said with pride and warmth in his voice.

I paused letting the name sink in being the first time I heard it said out loud since being reincarnated. “Minato…Minato named his son, Fish Cake Swirl?”

Sakumo let out a sound that he covered up with a cough. Hiruzan stammered a response. “I…no, no Minato named him after the main character of Jiraiya’s book.”

“Jiraiya’s book? Jiraiya’s smut book? Minato named his son after the protagonist of an erotic fiction novel?”

“I wouldn’t say it like that.”

“Did Kushina know?”

“I mean…she knew”

“Did she?”

“She knew it was the main character of a…popular book that…Jiraiya wrote.”

“She didn’t know what kind of book it was, did she?”

“I can’t say off the top of my head if she knew or not. She was in the house with a copy of the book. She could have read the book…at some point.”

I looked up to the ceiling, “I’m so sorry Kushina. It could have been worse, he’s name could have been Johnny Sins.”

“Look we are missing the point. Could you give the boy a check-up to make sure he’s healthy?”

I focused on Naruto, my mind going a million miles a second. Everything that has happened and will in the future. How am I supposed to react to the boy who is basically the center of the universe?

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Doing a deep scan with my mystical palm jutsu I noted everything I could down. With an apology, I took Sakumo’s seat and carefully, I took Naruto from his crib and sat down with him in my arms. Everyone remained silent as I brought out a notebook and started drawing out Naruto’s chakra network.

“What are you doing?” Hiruzan asked curiously.

“I’m trying to figure out if there has been any long-term damage too little Naruto here’s chakra pathways. I’m not a Hyūga, I can’t just look and see but slowly and very, very carefully feel my way through. Minato shoved half the nine-tails into a baby, there was some… strain.”

“How do you know that?” Danzo said accusatively.

“I was friends with Kushina and studied under Mito Uzumaki. I know the nine-tailed chakra. There is roughly only half of what there should be in the boy.”

“What happened to the other half?” Sakumo asked alarmed.

“Sealed in a different host,” Hiruzan answered quickly, giving Sakumo a look to not ask about it.

After taking another moment to make sure I had everything right I returned Naruto to his crib. Walking back to my notes I used my chakra control to move the ink from my pen and folded the paper to make a paper doll with a 3d render of Naruto’s chakra network.

“Like I said before, the boy has gone through the wringer when it comes to chakra. I wouldn’t say it’s damage but.”

“The fox has affected him?”

“Yes, Naruto is going to have a hard time not pumping too much chakra into Jutsus. Think about pipes and water, Your network is the pipes while your chakra is the water. For the average person you can regulate the water pressure to pump water through the pipes to get to where it needs to be. Naruto has tunnels instead of pipes and sewage instead of water.”

“What’s your point?” Danzo glared.

“He’s going to have an uphill battle when it comes to chakra control and performing Jutsus. At least in the beginning.”

“Tch, Minato crippled his son. Hiruzan you need to entrust the boy to me.” Danzo demanded.

I reacted before I knew it and stepped towards Danzo. His guard stepped in front to block my path and reached for his sword my bandage was still restraining. The man tried to draw the blade but it barely budged. With a pulse of my chakra, I gave the bandage a command. The cloth bandage coiled tighter and one moment the sword that was whole but restrained in its sheath shattered from the pressure. The room remained silent as the sword fragments raddled down to the bottom of its sheath.

“Amon, sit down,” Hiruzan said staring me down. With a huff and a nod, I sat back down, watching me Hiruzan turned his attention towards Danzo. “No.”

“Hiruzan don’t be a fool. The boy needs to be trained and made loyal. Our enemies won’t just sit by and let our weakness go unanswered.”

“Minato asked me to look after his son. I won’t let the hero who sacrificed his life for this village have his son be used as a weapon.”

“The boy became a weapon the moment Minato made his son the nine-tails jinchuriki.”

“The answer is no Danzo, not him.”

“He’s a cripple. We can’t just leave him in the hands of an outsider.”

“If you are referring to Nashi Uzumaki, she is currently helping deliver one of the Damios court officials children as we speak,” Jiraiya spoke entering the room. “I just got a message from Orochimaru. He’s guarding the location in the capital in light of recent events.” Jiraiya saw me sitting in the chair in a bad mood and asked. “What did Amon do?”

“He insulted me and attacked my guard.” Danzo let out with malice dripping from his voice.

“Ahh, so nothing new.” Jiraiya said with a smirk.

“Danzo wants to make Minato’s son a member of Root.” Sakumo filled in.

“Yeah, that will do it. If needed I can take care of the boy, at least till Nashi returns from the capital.”

“No, your spy network is too important to put on hold, especially now. We need to know the actions of the other villages. We will table the discussion of what to do with Naruto. The other villages, have any claimed responsibility for the attack yet?”

“No, they seemed just as surprised as us.”

“I already told you Hiruzan, there is only one group capable of doing this. It was the Uchiha.”

“You know who carried out the attack?” I asked knowing he didn’t.

Danzo glared at me but took the bait anyway. “It could only be the Uchihas, They have never forgiven the Leaf for the death of Madara.” Hiruzan sighed, clearly not hearing this for the first time. “They attacked the village because they are jealous that Minato was made Hokage instead of Fugaku Uchiha.”

“You are claiming Fugaku Uchiha assassinated Minato Namikaze?”

“He is the only one in the village who could have.”

“Could he, you think he is so strong.”

“H-He wouldn’t have to be. The fourth’s guard was down.”

I stared at Danzo for a moment then I turned my head towards Hiruzan. “Lord Third, I’m sorry to be so rude but could I see the protection details Lord Fourth made for his son's birth.” Hiruzan slid a file that was already on the table to me. Opening it I skimmed the contents. “And Lord Danzo, do you have any proof of this?”

"Fugaku is the head of the Leaf's military police. He can cover his trail.” He said as I kept skimming. The rest of the room was quiet which was telling. Jiraiya doesn’t know and can’t think of an alternative, Hiruzan is tired of arguing with Danzo and just wants the matter done with, and Sakumo is remaining silent to avoid being accused of being biased.

“Just so I can get this right in my own head. You believe Fugaku Uchiha managed to One.) discover the secret location where Kushina was giving birth. Two.) managed to kill the guards and get the jump on Lord Fourth in a way that he would not detect nor be able to escape from. Three.) Then took control of the nine tails and summoned it inside the village to go on a rampage.

“The Fourth escaped the initial assault.”

“But didn’t get help nor tell or leave a clue to Fugaku’s betrayal.”

“Are you trying to mock me, Amon?”

"I’m trying to understand the events of the biggest tragedy that has ever befallen this village. A tragedy you Danzo, without any evidence, have accused the head of a founding clan of this village. May I ask where does Fugaku claims he was during the attack?”

“He was seen helping civilians escape to the shelters.”

“Did you see him?"

“I-I saw someone who looked like him during the attack.”

“Looks like? You think it was an imposter?”

“It would be easy for a Uchiha to disguise himself as Fugaku.”

“A conspiracy now?!”

“Amon,” Hirazen said with warning in his voice.

“My apologies, I’m just trying to understand. Danzo, you are completely right. It is possible for a Uchiha to disguise themselves well enough to fool you. I mean you were busy at the time, ordering Root to evacuate civilians to the shelters. It says so in this file here.”

I waved the file in the air and opened it to read. “Oh my apologies, I’m such a fool. I was reading Fugaku’s actions during the attack, you were, hold on let me read here. You ordered your men outside the village during the attack? Well, that can’t be right.”

“Root received intel of a possible threat to the village.”

“So you ordered your men to leave the village?”

“To preemptively stop the attack!”

"And masterfully done I might add.”

Hirazen signaled Jiraiya .“Alright, love birds. Clearly letting you two in the same room together was a mistake. Amon, Wait outside. We will discuss your disrespectful attitude to a village elder when you come back.” The man stepped in.

Jiraiya grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the office.