[THIRD PERSON POV]

The Hokage stared at the man having a tantrum inside his office with a stoic expression.

"Once again Hiruzen, you're once again being too lax!" shouted an elderly man as he slammed his fist onto the table, almost toppling the stack of paperwork that Hiruzen had let accumulate.

The Hokage sighed and continued his explanation, "Danzo, as of now the child does not possess any qualities that would make him a liability-"

"Like hell he doesn't!" Danzo said, slouching back in his chair while shooting the Hokage a hateful glare with his one eye, "You know as well as I that if Orochimaru's lackey is right, the child is someone we need to take control of immediately! One like him has already joined Root and displayed excellent results, give him to me and I'll do the same with him." said Danzo with ill-hidden fervour in his eyes.

The Hokage sighed as if he was already tired by this exchange.

Danzo had stormed into the Hokage's office the second he received word of the child being moved into the Sarutobi clan compound, he had made preparations to coax the child into joining him no matter which orphanage he was thrown into; this was the one place where Danzo had no pull.

"Yes… Kinoe is proving to be a valuable ninja…" accepted the Hokage.

"Exactly! If his potential wasn't nurtured, if his capabilities were exposed, it could spell imminent danger for the Leaf! It was with the first Hokage's manuscripts on wood release that he is nearly as capable as he is now!" explained Danzo.

"Leaving a child with the abilities that Aoki possesses alone is too dangerous to ever be a good idea, he cannot be allowed to operate in the light. Let me bring him to Root and I will make him an asset to the Leaf who will protect it with his life!"

The Hokage had to stop himself from scoffing out loud at Danzo's "request".

However, it wasn't as if he was completely wrong. Kinoe and Aoki both share strikingly similar histories, both were tested on by Orochimaru during one of his rogue experiments and have no memories of who they were previously, furthermore, Danzo's claim of Kinoe's strength was not one he could dismiss.

What made him scoff was how Danzo completely glossed over the fact that the ninja who had displayed "excellent results" was one of the few that Danzo had sent to assassinate him shortly after he regained the Hokage position, he only came to know of this after Kakashi informed him of the impending plan. Kakashi in turn betrayed Danzo, fighting against the Root agents who planned to kill the Hokage, he had spared Kinoe in the hopes that he would grow to be a true asset for the Leaf but it seemed that Danzo had taken his forgiveness for acceptance; now going so far as to demand more of the Hokage.

"I see, was there any particular mission that you needed Aoki's skills for? Must be a difficult one considering how hard you're fighting for him…" said the Hokage, eluding to Danzo's betrayal.

Danzo stayed silent, acting as if the Hokage's words meant nothing to him at all.

Hiruzen lightly chuckled at his friend's act, it was clear to him that Danzo had more complicated emotions regarding the failed assassination attempt than he let on, no matter how hard he tried to fully kill his emotions, not even Danzo was capable of such a feat.

Not wanting to be outdone, the Hokage took out his pipe and lit it with a flick of his finger much to Danzo's chagrin.

"HIRUZEN!" Danzo yelled, fuming at the Hokage's attitude.

"If Aoki's mind is warped, if he goes rogue, if another village abducts him, all of these would be disastrous! What do you have in mind? Keep him in the village and let him grow naturally? You know nothing of his nature! Orochimaru's cunning knows no bounds, are you sure you can even trust the boy? Once again Hiruzen, your actions will destroy the peace you've come to rely on-

"I will take every measure needed to ensure that his growth is one beneficial to the village" assured Hiruzen, "With proper nurturing, he can be much more than an agent who acts in the dark."

"Every measure needed? Like the measures you took for Orochimaru?!" Danzo spat back, reminding the Hokage of his recent failure, "You cannot be trusted with the child's futu-"

"Danzo." Hiruzen interrupted the Hokage, his expression growing cold.

"Aoki will not be inducted into the Root."

Danzo had found Kinoe in one of Orochimaru's testing facilities and inducted him into Root shortly after, he had trained the child and nurtured his mind to be one that Danzo had complete control over, Hiruzen did not doubt that if asked to, Kinoe would once again try to kill him on Danzo's orders.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Not only was Aoki someone whom Hiruzen had found, but he was someone whose potential outshone Kinoe according to the reports kept by the Sannin. There was nothing Danzo could do or say that would result in him acquiring Aoki. If need be, Hiruzen was willing to go so far as to adopt the child in order to keep Danzo away from him.

Danzo understood this. There was nothing more to say.

The man got up from his chair and stopped as he was about to open the door, looking back at his old friend with one eye, expressionless.

"This will be a choice you regret."

*SLAM*

Danzo had left.

Hiruzen stared at the door with a complex expression, equal parts lamenting how their friendship had decayed and equal parts angry.

The Hokage position was not one where you could let emotion take control over you, no matter how much you hurt, you cannot break nor act as you wish to. Hiruzen for the past few years had been trudging through his work, even something as simple as paperwork seemed to take the life out of him. His student betrayed him, his wife had died, and his successor had sacrificed his life for the village while he was nothing but a glorified spectator watching it all happen. Hell, his son wanted nothing to do with him.

Even his best friend wanted him dead.

Tearing his gaze from the door Danzo had just slammed shut, he sighed.

There was no time to pity himself, he could only regret his past weaknesses and do what he could to move forward, anything less would be a disservice to those who rely on him, both dead or alive. The Hokage stared at a picture on his desk, it was of him and his late wife grinning widely on their anniversary, it was a sweet memory that took out the sour taste in his mouth from Danzo's fight.

Hiruzen was thinking about his newest "problem" to fix, Aoki. The Hokage brough out some of the records kept by Orochimaru, intending to re-read them with the thought in mind of preparing a plan of action concerning the child's growth.

This record was kept by one of his students' workers, the one stationed in Aoki's laboratory. When he had stormed it with the Anbu, the worker killed himself, destroying his brain in the process so no Yamanaka could peer through his memories; ironically it seemed that Orochimaru could teach him a thing or two about cultivating loyalty.

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SUBJECT #37

DATE: October 15th

AGE: 5

SEX: M

CLAN: -

CHAKRA: Due to unforeseen growth, measurement has been delayed until November 15th.

ELEMENTS: Water, Earth.

ELEMENTAL KEKKEI GENKAI: Testing required, preliminary results show a high likelihood of existing. Must inform Lord Orochimaru of this soon.

DOJUSTSU: Implantation successful, further attempts at awakening the eye has resulted in failure. I hypothesize that like other implantations, this too will remove the ability of the eye leaving subject incapable of use, further testing still recommended.

CELL ENHANCEMENT: Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju.

CELL SYNC: The once unstable cell synchronisation has also increased alongside Chakra, this has never been seen before, urgent testing is required.

OBSERVATIONS:

The subject continues to grow in chakra and cell synchronicity, this unexpected development has not stopped. My current hypothesis is that the addition of the second Hokage's cells has somehow increased the ability of the child to accept the first Hokage's cells. This conclusion was reached as the concentration of Tobirama's cells within Subject #37 has rapidly decreased in proportion to how Hashirama's has increased, the hypothesis needs to be tested more. I will require more subjects to test this thoroughly, preferably of a similar age to 37.

The use of the Second's cells has not yet resulted in any significant changes in previous subjects, 37 might be the key to unlocking more information. In particular, his cell synchronicity needs to be observed, further testing is required.

The growth in Chakra is beyond what most ninjas achieve during puberty, the reason for this is another that remains unanswered, further testing is required.

37's physical appearance has not changed beyond the reddening of his eye during Tobirama Senju's cell implantation process, the effect on his Dojutsu remains to be seen. The subject is too important to lose on further Dojutsu treatments, I suggest replacing the eyes with that of a civilian to not endanger his body and prevent other detrimental side-effects.

Subject #37 is highly valuable, I will suggest transportation of him to the main facility where he can be further studied, Lord Orochimaru was correct in delaying his disposal. Brain functions steadily improving, I believe he is a possible candidate for Host.

RECOMMENDATION: Addition to the Host project, further testing is required.

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Hiruzen gave it a once over, his eyes, in particular, being drawn to the "ELEMENTAL KEKKEI GENKAI" that was recorded for Aoki, it was a source of great hope and worry for the old man. The Dojutsu also occupied his mind but not to the extent that the former did.

Kinoe's existence proved that Orochimaru has the ability to create children with the first's abilities, even if diluted to a great extent; Aoki's abilities according to the testing was beyond what they had previously observed, if Kinoe who was abandoned by Orochimaru was able to be as potent of a ninja as he was, what would Aoki be capable of if nurtured correctly?

From the moment he understood the gravity of the situation he knew that Aoki was a piece he could not afford Danzo to possess, even if Hiruzen himself was unable to impart his ideals to the boy, he would not allow Danzo to do so by any means necessary. This was one among the reasons that Hiruzen had taken such an interest in the boy and spent so much of his valuable time trying to get the child to acclimate to him.

Aoki was still shrouded in mystery, while the scientist had high hopes for him, Hiruzen knew that nothing could be said of his capabilities as a ninja until he was thoroughly tested.

He would occasionally wonder if the First Hokage would be unnerved by how his cells were being used in the ninja world but comforted himself by saying that he would be happy if it proved to bring something of value to the Leaf, he dearly hoped Aoki would be one of such value.

The boy seemed simple but Hiruzen knew that there was more behind Aoki's actions than most children his age. From the moment he was told that the boy lay awake pretending to be asleep to gain more information about his surroundings, Hiruzen had high hopes for the child. He viewed Aoki's little attempts at manipulating him as quite cute, during his reign as a village leader he's tussled with manipulators far above Aoki's level, although Hiruzen had to admit; the kid had potential.

Although his smiles needed to be worked on a little, he saw Tomo stifle a grin as she called him creepy when he dropped him off.

'I'll visit him in a while' thought Hiruzen, 'Tomo's probably whipping him into shape ohoho!' he joked in his mind, not knowing how right he was.