My curious adventures with the Nine-Tailed Fox

In the dimly lit, wood-scented atmosphere of the Hokage's office, Hiruzen and his three advisors were gathered around the table, deep in a heated debate about the Cloud Village. Danzo spoke with his emotionless and cold demeanor.

"...for this reason, we must attack with all our might and intimidate them, Hiruzen!"

Koharu frowned, displeased with what she heard. She was strictly against this aggressive stance.

"Out of the question, Danzo. The village cannot handle another all-out war. We must compromise; the village is in a very weak position after the Kyuubi rebellion."

Danzo did not like his idea being refuted at all. Hardening his attitude further, he objected.

"That is exactly why we must attack! We must not show our weakness to the other villages! If we compromise, we will expose our weakness! We must attack and intimidate them!"

Homura, at the other end of the table, was also on Koharu's side. Looking seriously at Danzo from behind his glasses, he interjected.

"I understand what you mean, Danzo, but we are not facing a normal village. The Raikage is too impulsive a leader; if he deploys the Bijuu to the battlefield, we'll be screwed. Can you personally stop the Jinchurikis?"

Danzo, however, had no intention of stepping back. With his unwavering belief in his own power and methods, he continued to insist.

"We have the sealing arts of the Uzumaki! We can suppress the Jinchurikis! We can capture them and demand a ransom."

Koharu instantly noticed the loopholes in this plan and raised her voice a little more.

"Or we will provoke the Raikage even further and make him attack us! Besides, Killer Bee is a perfect Jinchuriki. Sealing the Kyuubi cost the Yondaime his life! How do you plan to seal the Eight-Tails?"

Nodding slowly in support of her, Homura voiced his concerns.

"Your plan is very flawed, Danzo. The risks are too great. The village needs a recovery period! While fighting the Cloud Village, the Stone Village could stab us in the back! Furthermore, the Sand Village still holds a grudge against us; Rasa might attack us for a bit of prestige."

Danzo's single eye narrowed dangerously at these 'cowardly' approaches around him. With an ice-cold tone, he cut them off.

"Let them try, and we will bury them again! Konoha can conquer all the nations! There are so many techniques left behind by the master, but they cannot be used because of your cowardice!"

Hiruzen sat in his chair at the head of the table, his fingers intertwined, silently watching his advisors. Actually, everyone at the table had valid points in their own way. After carefully weighing the current situation of the village and the pros and cons in his mind, he agreed with Homura and Koharu's cautious approach. Just as he was about to voice this decision and put an end to the discussion, the wooden door of the office was knocked with a dull sound.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

The heated argument inside ceased instantly. The advisors and Hiruzen fell silent and turned their heads toward the door. They were in an important meeting in the Hokage's office. They all knew very well that only their most trusted ANBU guards were standing watch outside, and unless there was an emergency concerning the village, no ninja would dare interrupt such a meeting. Hiruzen straightened his posture and called out in a calm but authoritative voice.

"Enter."

The door opened silently. The ANBU member, wearing a porcelain Raccoon mask on his face, glided inside without making a single unnecessary movement and knelt respectfully in front of the table.

"Hokage-sama."

With the experience of his years, Hiruzen instantly recognized who the soldier before him was from his stance. Frowning, a slight shadow of concern fell over his face.

"Raccoon? Is there a problem regarding Naruto?"

The ANBU codenamed Raccoon confirmed in a professional tone, completely devoid of emotion.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Hearing that the subject was the vessel of the Nine-Tails, the faces of the three advisors instantly tensed. Danzo's hand involuntarily tightened around his cane. Ignoring the tension in the room, Hiruzen waved his hand slightly.

"Speak. What happened to Naruto?"

The eyes behind the Raccoon mask swept over the advisors for a moment, then, with a slightly cautious but clear expression, he delivered his report.

"Hokage-sama... Uzumaki Naruto is currently heading to the Uchiha Clan."

This brief sentence had the effect of a paper bomb dropped in the middle of the room. While the three advisors froze in shock at what they heard, Hiruzen only flinched slightly. Though a momentary surprise appeared in his eyes, it was quickly replaced by deep thought. Danzo's reaction, however, was much more violent. Slamming his cane hard against the floor in anger, he shattered the silence and hissed in a threatening tone.

"You allowed him!?"

Raccoon remained completely unfazed by this sudden outburst; he merely shot a sharp glare at Danzo through the dark holes of his mask. Ever since the assassination attempts directed at Hiruzen and especially at Hatake Kakashi, the ties between the standard ANBU organization and the ROOT division under Danzo's control had been completely severed, replaced by a secret hatred. The ANBU members despised Danzo. They were solely Konoha's shadow and the Hokage's sword; they had to answer to neither those obsolete advisors nor ROOT. As if reminding him of his authority, Raccoon spoke in a calm yet equally cold voice.

"Hokage-sama forbade us from interfering in his daily life unless there is a life-threatening danger. The child only wants to go shopping, but because of some narrow-minded people, he cannot get what he wants in the village, so he said he wanted to try his luck with the strongest clan in the village. I do not see a life-threatening danger here, Danzo-sama. I came to receive instructions from Hokage-sama because of political matters."

The veiled implication in the soldier's sentence struck the three elders in the room like a slap in the face. While the advisors' facial features tightened with anger, Danzo narrowed his good eye dangerously, scrutinizing the insolent ninja before him.

"You are very disrespectful toward the advisors, Raccoon! Is this how Hiruzen disciplines you!"

Raccoon was not in the least affected by this threatening demeanor. Without budging an inch from where he knelt, maintaining his posture, he continued.

"ANBU is an elite organization that takes orders directly from the Hokage. Who are the advisors to demand an account from an ANBU? Furthermore, ever since my captain, Hatake Sakumo, died, the number of people I respect other than the Hokage is few."

Narrowing his eyes sharply behind the mask, he increased the weight of his words.

"And you, the council of elders, are not among those people."

Homura and Koharu's faces turned purple with rage at this open insult. Danzo, however, had reached his limit; he slammed the tip of his cane against the floor once again, hard enough to crack the wooden floorboards.

"Do you want to be punished, Raccoon!"

Raccoon, who had long since transcended his rank and the fear of death, responded to Danzo's cheap threat with only a mocking nod of his head. There wasn't the slightest tremble in his voice.

"Oh? What is your punishment? Are you going to arrange an assassination for me just like you did for Kakashi? If you have forgotten the terror of the Wolves on the battlefield, go ahead and test me, it's free to try, Danzo. But do not expect mercy from me like Kakashi."

At these incredibly audacious words, all three advisors involuntarily flinched. Danzo's body went stiff with rage; a pure desire for bloodshed gleamed in his one good eye. His hand gripping the cane trembled, he parted his lips and was about to deliver a heavy retort, when Hiruzen, who had been watching silently until that moment, let his authoritative voice echo through the room.

"ENOUGH!"

This single word was enough to cut through all the tension at the table like a knife. The eyes of everyone in the room instantly turned to the old Hokage at the head of the table. With a tired but unshakable expression of a leader on his face, Hiruzen focused on Raccoon and gave a clear instruction.

"I understand, Raccoon. Keep an eye on Naruto, I will be there shortly. I have full faith that the Uchiha will not do anything."

As soon as he received the order, Raccoon bowed his head respectfully and instantly vanished without leaving even a breeze. When they were left alone in the room again, Danzo, like a hunter who had missed his prey, angrily struck his cane against the floor once more.

"You are too naive, Hiruzen! You must immediately get the Kyuubi away from the Uchiha!"

As his anger gave way to a calculating and dark hatred, he locked his eyes directly onto Hiruzen's.

"Also, that ANBU must be punished! Give him to me."

Unable to digest their authority being so severely shaken by a subordinate, Koharu and Homura sided with Danzo without hesitation.

"Danzo is right, Hiruzen. That ANBU went too far; he must be punished."

Homura leaned over the table, trying to steer the topic back to the main danger.

"Also, we must put the Jinchuriki under lock and key, he shouldn't just go wherever he wants."

Hiruzen, who had shown patience toward his friends for a long time, narrowed his eyes in a truly dangerous manner this time. He stopped smoking his pipe and leaned slightly toward the table.

"The ANBU who just left was one of Sakumo's Wolf unit. None of what he said was a lie."

Turning his gaze directly to Danzo, he spoke, emphasizing every single word.

"When the news that you orchestrated an assassination on Sakumo's son spread within the ANBU, the surviving members of the Wolf unit were preparing to raid ROOT. I barely prevented bloodshed. This is how massive the stupidity you committed was, Danzo! You almost made the two sides slaughter each other. So no, Raccoon will not be punished. I deliberately let him speak; ANBU takes orders only from the Hokage. Do you think I didn't notice the three of you trying to infiltrate the ANBU?"

Hearing that the secret plans behind their masks had already been unraveled by the Hokage, the trio suddenly flinched. Taking advantage of their momentary vulnerability, Hiruzen returned his tone to its calm but terrifyingly authoritative state.

"Let this incident be a good lesson for you. As for the Naruto matter, didn't I tell you that you no longer have the right to voice an opinion on this subject?"

Koharu, her pride unable to stomach her authority being so disregarded, made a sharp retort.

"Hiruzen! The Uchiha are very dangerous! They must not be together with the Jinchuriki! We must go and get him, and teach him the boundaries he shouldn't cross!"

Hiruzen, however, giving absolutely no credence to this panic, slapped a rational truth in their faces.

"If the Uchiha had approached Naruto, there could be a risk, but the Uchiha clan is deliberately staying away from the child, and now the child is going to them of his own free will. Do not forget that Uchiha Mikoto is Naruto's godmother, designated by Kushina. You've tortured the child enough; he already doesn't know his family, he is ostracized in the village, so at least let him try his luck elsewhere."

Homura did not find this logical. Disturbed that decisions made in the past were now causing them trouble, he objected.

"Kushina made decisions based on her own whims. Besides, we couldn't have foreseen back then that the Jinchuriki would change and be this brat!"

Hiruzen took his pipe from between his lips and stared hard at Homura. The biting tone in his voice was clearly palpable.

"Is that so? Since when has your opinion mattered when a mother chooses a guardian for her own child?"

Seeing that things had gone off the rails and they had completely lost control, Danzo slammed his cane against the floor much more violently this time and raised his voice.

"Hiruzen, come to your senses! Remember what our teacher said about the Uchiha clan!"

The mention of the Second Hokage Tobirama's name created a nostalgic expression on Hiruzen's face. He certainly hadn't forgotten his old master's words; he nodded slowly and replied.

"Of course I remember. A clan that experiences emotions to the extreme, and a clan that loves deeply when it loves."

Koharu, as if plucking out the dangerous part of this sentence with tweezers, completed it in a cold tone.

"And that love drives them mad."

Hiruzen shrugged, brushing off this exaggerated paranoia. He didn't look at matters in black or white like the advisors did.

"That only happens when they lose it; there is no such situation in the Uchiha right now, and I haven't come across a clan member who has gone mad to the extremes."

Homura tried to break Hiruzen's comfort by bringing the darkest name in history to the table.

"Going mad just once is enough! Have you forgotten Madara?"

Hiruzen's gaze instantly turned ice-cold. He shot Homura a sharp look that made him feel he was underestimating the weight of that name.

"Not just anyone can be a Madara, Homura. If they could, the Senju clan would have been erased from history, and the Uchihas would have ruled the world."

Faced with this simple but unshakeable historical logic, Homura shut his mouth. However, Danzo had no intention of giving up; like a vulture locked onto its target, he persistently continued to impose his own agenda.

"We must keep the Kyuubi away from the Uchiha, Hiruzen!"

Hiruzen took a deep breath. He was truly sick and tired of this endless paranoia and their attempts at domination. A surprisingly relaxed and slightly mocking smile settled on his face, something highly unexpected of him.

"Fine."

Hearing this one-word approval, the three advisors took a deep, relieved breath, finally thinking they had made themselves heard. The moment they shifted in their chairs to leave the room and give orders to their own men, Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and spoke.

"Go on then, stop Naruto."

Sensing the mockery in Hiruzen's voice, the three elders froze. When they turned their heads to the Hokage in bewilderment, Hiruzen was leaning back, taking a long, pleasant drag from his pipe, looking at them.

"But if Naruto asks you why you stopped him and you can't find a logical answer, and if Naruto holds a grudge against you, don't expect help from me. Because I will not help you in the slightest, I will not reconcile you with the child whose ostracization you caused, and I will not allow you to lock Naruto up. If you are ready for the consequences, go right ahead, stop the child."

As these words poured out, the air in the Hokage's office grew heavy. It was as if the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. The three elderly bureaucrats did not want to face the risk of being marked as a personal enemy by Konoha's future Jinchuriki. Hiruzen, on the other hand, comfortably continued to smoke his pipe as if nothing had happened. After a few seconds passed, he leaned toward his former teammates with curious eyes, as if watching a theatrical play.

"Well? Aren't you going?"

The three elderly bureaucrats were left staring at Hiruzen, that helpless and dark shadow settling over their faces. They were preparing to open their mouths and list new excuses to make him change his mind, but they had no time left for that anymore. Even though Hiruzen believed in the Uchiha clan and Fugaku, as the Hokage of Konoha, he couldn't leave his job to chance. In a few seconds, he would go to Naruto's side...