Chapter 10
DANZO SHIMURA
Danzo's frustrations were beginning to grow, with every new failure, as his men continued to fail him in eradicating a simple pest.
"He survived," he asked the boy kneeling in front of him with gritted teeth as he read the report.
"Again," and this was the third time that Danzo had tried to get rid of the boy, yet each time he had managed to come out alive, and he was beginning to realise that he might have made a mistake in not rooting out this problem sooner.
He had waited for a few months, and let it fester, and now the pest had grown into an insect—one that refused to die.
"There were two of them," the boy with the spectacles began, and to this day, Danzo wondered just exactly which master he served, for Kabuto Yakushi was a man with a dozen loyalties.
The boy was a covert genius who had embedded himself in not just one but nearly half a dozen centres of power, making for himself distinct personalities to fool them all.
Sometimes he wondered if he was fooling himself as well, but such a level of skill in a ninja was hard to come by, so he was willing to turn a blind eye to his doubts, as long as he remained useful.
Not loyal—but useful.
"Yet they were able to take down an entire unit," the boy informed him, and once was luck, twice perhaps chance, but thrice. This went beyond luck and chance.
"This complicates the matter," Danzo whispered as he turned away from the young Kabuto and considered all his options, for if he were to try again, it might raise suspicion with Hiruzen.
Even now, there was a chance that Hiruzen might be able to identify his involvement in the faulty intelligence report. If he were to try again, he would risk exposing himself and his intentions.
"Do you wish to try again, Danzo-sama?" Kabuto asked, and after a second, he shook his head.
"No," and Hittori would be disappointed by this, but it wouldn't matter for Hiruzen had told him of his plans for the boy, and according to that, he would be getting an opportunity to handle him soon enough.
"Let him be for the time being," Danzo ordered.
"Is that really wise, Danzo-sama?" and it was unlike him to question his decisions, and so he glanced back at the young boy with a raised brow.
"What do you mean?"
"It took him just a year to get powerful enough to defeat an entire unit of Hunter-nins all on his own. So, is it really wise to give him more time to grow even stronger?" and that was indeed a good thought.
"The boy has grown strong indeed," Danzo whispered, but none of it would matter if his plans with Orochimaru came to fruition, for then he would become the Kage, and that would make all of the boy's powers useless.
"But none of it will matter in front of the orders of a Hokage," and those eyes glinted as Yakushi nodded his head.
"I see," he whispered and lowered his gaze.
"I apologise for doubting you, Lord Danzo," and then there was the other matter.
"Moreover, there is a chance that the boy will participate in the upcoming chunin exams," and that surprised him, for he was a veteran of the exams and though he had the power to pass them anytime, Kabuto Yakushi had failed them each time, for he did not partake in the exams to become a chunin.
He would take part in them to gather information about rival shinobi and villages, both for him and for his other master.
"It wouldn't really surprise people if the boy were to run into an accident during one of the stages," and that would be a far cleaner solution than any.
"I can trust you to handle that, can't I, Yakushi?" and the boy with the glasses nodded.
"Of course, my lord," for as powerful as he may become, it would be quite a while until that boy was powerful enough to deal with one of his best agents.
"What am I to do with the information trail?" Unlike Hiruzen, the ANBU were a rather paranoid bunch and would want to look into the matter.
"Obscure it as much as you can," he ordered, for he could not have them causing trouble for him at the current time.
"Make it so that nothing can be traced back to the Foundation and me," and with that, he made to leave the cage, as Kabuto nodded and vanished with a whisper.
"As you wish, Lord Danzo..."
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HIRUZEN SARUTOBI
Nearly a year ago, Hiruzen had made a gamble as he had chosen to antagonise one of the village's most prominent clans, as he offered aid to one of their exiles. And it was not the first time someone had been expelled from the clan, and in each such case, the fate of the child in question had always been tragic.
One could not say whether it was through destiny or design, but no exile had ever gone to lead a fulfilling life, for such an incident could unravel centuries of tradition. This was why allowing Hikari Hyuga to become a ninja despite the opposition from the clans had been a gamble for Hiruzen, for he saw that the village was in need of a shinobi like him.
A young prodigy of unparalleled might, whose mere presence and promise stilled the hands of their enemies. And while he was not at that level yet, he was not that far from it either.
"Take off the mask," he ordered, and the young Hyuga clan boy removed the sparrow mask from his face. His face still had the signs of youth and immaturity, yet his gaze had now become sharper, and his spine straighter as the young boy gazed into his eyes.
Young and prebuscent as they may be, yet his eyes held none of the naivety and immaturity that plagued the rest of his age fellows who were still academy students/
"It seems like you have managed to do the impossible," he praised, for in front of him lay the report from the ANBU commander, Dragon.
"Rarely have I ever read the ANBU commander give a recruit such praise," and the boy smiled as he gave a shy nod.
"Dragon-san is very kind," he added, and Hiruzen knew for sure that he was not so kind as the boy in front of him claimed him to be, and the only two recruits that he had ever praised were Kakashi and Itachi before him.
"Sit," he invited the boy, for this was to be a long discussion. And he hesitated at the invitation, but still sat down opposite to him as Hiruzen closed the file, for words could tell one only so much about a shinobi.
"I was told that you wish to be a Hokage," he questioned, and though Yugao had told him about it already, he wished to hear it out of his mouth.
"Yes," he answered after a nervous blink.
"Why?" and this was why Hiruzen had chosen to defy the clans and let the boy become a shinobi even though he knew of their apprehensions, for if an exile was to succeed in life, it could set a bad precedent for the rest of the clan members and cause absolute chaos.
"Because I wish to change the Hyuga clan," and it was a lofty goal, one that would be far more difficult to achieve than the boy understood.
"You do understand that a Hokage has a rather limited say in internal clan matters," and the Caged Bird Seal was an internal matter of the Hyuga clan, and undue interference could cause other issues.
"I know, but we have a plan," and the words caught him by surprise.
"We?" he asked, and the boy nodded.
"Yes, Hinata and I," and that was Hiashi's daughter, and yet it also showed him that the boy had the mind to understand the intricacies of power and politics, just like Itachi.
And thinking of him filled him with regret and pain, for Hiruzen had failed that boy. And his failure had cost the village a promising prodigy and the legacy of one of its founding clans.
"I am going to become the Hokage, and she is going to become the clan head, and then together we are going to change the Hyuga clan for the better." He prayed that they succeeded in their journey. Now the reports from Iruka began to make much sense, for he had mentioned how the Hyuga Princess had been continuously asking him about a certain applicant of the academy.
"And what of your brother?" he asked, and the boy's expression dulled at those words.
"Is he not part of your plans?" he asked, for they were brothers.
"His rage blinds him, and he is unable to see beyond it," and yet he was the elder of the two.
But age mattered little when it came to geniuses. And there was no doubt now that the boy in front of him was a genius.
"But he will understand soon. He will," and he seemed sure of it, as Hiruzen felt the burden on his shoulders lessen just a little bit as he stared at the young boy.
"Well, you have proven yourself worthy of being a Konoha ninja, but while until now you have traversed in the shadows, it is time for you to leave them behind," and Hiruzen would not repeat the mistake he had made with Itachi.
"The Academy has its graduation exam in a week. You will rest until then, and afterwards you shall be placed in a genin team," and that would help him make bonds and friendships beyond his cousin Hinata, and deepen his connection to the village.
"As you wish, Lord Hokage," and with that, he dismissed the boy, and just before he was about to leave the room, he stopped at the door and turned to face him once more.
"May I request my own, Sandaime-sama?" and he nodded.
"Yes, you may," and then it would be up to him to grant it or not.
"I would like your permission to investigate the source of intelligence behind three of my missions," and that was quite an unexpected ask, and Hiruzen knew exactly which three missions he spoke of.
And while it was not uncommon for intelligence to be false or wrong, the boy's insinuation was clear that he suspected foul play. And sad to say, it was not entirely out of the realm of possibility, for the Hyuga clan elders were hardly the kind to sit down and forget their humiliation.
"You may," he answered, and in the end Hiruzen could feel the shift in the air, he could feel the coming of a new era, and as the Hokage, it was his duty to give the new generation the wings to fly in these winds.
"You may investigate them, but only as Hikari Hizashi. Not as an ANBU agent, Sparrow," and the boy nodded.
"Yes, Lord Hokage..."
.
.
.
And a few days later, as the classes at the Academy came to a close, a young and worried Hinata stepped out of the academy, her mind still worried about her missing cousin.
She had asked everyone she could about him, including Neji-nii, yet had received only a short and succinct reply from Iruka-sensei and nothing more.
'He is fine,' he had said, but had refused to share more, and though this was reassuring, it had been nearly a year since she had last seen him. And so, when a familiar voice fell into her ears, her head snapped up at once.
"Hey there, cousin," and she glanced up and couldn't believe her eyes for a second as the object of her worries stood there in front of her.
"Hikari?" she asked, as he gave her his usual smile.
"How have you been, Hinata..." and despite the clan member guarding her, she ran forward and flung herself into his arms, as he laughed.
"Where were you!" and as the two cousins met, Hinata failed to notice how Hikari's gaze continuously lingered towards the man watching them both from the window above.
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