23 Council Meeting 

Mito Senu-Uzumaki sat in a lightly padded wooden chair in Konohagakure's meeting room. Alongside her were the heads of the village's major clans and the village elders. They sat across from each other with a large rectangular table between them. At the end of the table sat an empty chair where the Hokage should sit, and further behind his chair was a red wall with the kanji for fire written in thick black ink.

Staring at the wall, she couldn't help but be taken back to when her husband created all of this. Before, politics took hold of the village she helped to build. Back when everyone was looking to the future with idealism. 

Each large clan who joined the budding village back then had a spot on the table. However, as things grow, they naturally change. The next generation replaced the heads, bringing new desires. Elders needed their seats, so they expanded the table. That should have ended the major changes, but a clan who joined after the village was formed insisted they also receive a seat.

It was Tobirama's decision to add the Shimura Clan to the table. Coincidentally, the Kurama Clan graciously stepped down from the table simultaneously. The given excuse was they wanted to keep the peace in the village. Since then, the new clan head, Danzo, had been polluting the political waters. The opening of the doors brought Mito's attention back to the present. Everyone present stood up as Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the room. Upon taking his seat at the head of the table, everyone else resumed their seated position.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am sure everyone wonders why I brought forward the quarterly meeting on such short notice. Before I get into that, Mito had approached me with a proposition, which I think should be shared first." Hiruzen gestured for the oldest person present to speak.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Mito stood up gracefully. "As you know, the Uzumaki children and their guardians have stayed in the Senju compound since their arrival. While giving Kane - one of the children - a tour of Tobirama's old jutsu collection, he shared an interesting idea with me. The technique called Impure World Reincarnation is used to pull a deceased soul into the body of a living person. Kane had the idea of using that technique on strong prisoners to allow our adult ninjas to train with the deceased-"

"Is this really what you wanted to share with the higher-ups of the village? The ramblings of a 3-year-old child? It seems that old age has caught up to you, Mito." Danzo's scathing voice interrupted her. The head of the Sarutobi clan also voiced his displeasure. "I sincerely hope this is not the proposition you wished to bring before us." A few heads nodded at this, while others frowned for one reason or another. The main reason was the lack of respect Danzo used when addressing a direct founder of the village.

As much as she disdained politics, Mito was no stranger to it. "It is indeed part of what I wanted to share, Danzo. However, I would not dismiss Kane's words. The child is only three years old, yet already blooded. In addition to that, as of yesterday, he has officially reached the standard of a Uzumaki Seal Master. That would make his words the ramblings of a grandmaster if he were non-Uzumaki." Danzo's elite poker face cracked slightly. His brows furrowed, and his lip twitched periodically in the corner.

Smiling smugly, Mito moved onto the Sarutobi Clan head. "As for my proposal, I would not present the words of a child of such a young age. My proposal concerns the recent muddy rumors about grave robbers in the village. I propose a proper investigation into the source of the rumors and a proper check of the graves of the fallen shinobi." The heads of the clans almost unanimously nodded their heads at this. Finishing her proposal, Mito addressed the Hokage. "We cannot send our shinobi to the battlefield if they know that their corpses will be desecrated after they have been retrieved. It is also a great demoralizer to future generations to have their idol memory tarnished like this." After throwing this well-crafted side ball, she sat back down.

To Hiruzen's credit, he didn't seem fazed, which she found slightly concerning. "All in favor?" The hands of all 12 council members were raised in a rare sign of cohesion. "A unanimous decision. Anbu will conduct an investigation into the identity of the grave robbers and the source of the rumors. The ROOT will be in charge of checking the remains of fallen shinobi. Any concerns?" Mito raised her hand at this. "What is it, Mito?" "I would like to be able to check the remains of my late husband and his brother personally." Hiruzen nodded his head. A perfectly reasonable gesture, but for some reason, Mito felt uneasy. "Of course. You will be notified when the late Lord First and Second will be unearthed. Now, onto the main topic. I brought this meeting forward because we received a message that Uzushiogakure had been attacked. An alliance of the four great nations has begun a crusade to eradicate the Uzumaki due to the danger their fuinjutsu pose. They have declared that we will be targeted by them as well should we lend military aid. Uzushiogakure has also sent a message requesting aid or asylum should any Uzumaki reach the Land of Fire. I have sent three squads as initial help. Now, we need to decide how we will respond."

Mito felt the world open up beneath her. She should have known that something would happen; her gut is always right. "Who did you send?" she asked, uncaring that she was interrupting the ongoing conversation. Danzo opened his mouth to admonish her, but Hiruzen stopped him. "I sent out my team and two other three-man available squads. Do you have any input on how we should proceed?" Mito nodded. She may have been shocked, but she was no stranger to war growing up in the Warring States era. "Frankly speaking, we are not ready for an all-out war. We should send a few teams to support the three but still keep them low in number. We cannot afford to attract the attention of the alliance. However, losing the Uzumaki would be bad. We should focus all our efforts on bringing as many of them into the Land of Fire as possible. They would bolster our fighting force, and their seals will also prove an important asset in the fight that will be coming."

"A sound plan. I am glad you haven't given in to old age yet." The clan head of the Nara offered his support to her proposal. "All opposed to this plan, raise your hand," Hiruzen called for the vote. The Shimura clan was the only clan that raised a hand in opposition. "The plan has been decided. How many men should we send in support?"

Ultimately, the council sent six three-man squads to support the emergency response teams. Nawaki ended up chosen to be one of these 18 supplementary ninjas.

A/N:

A different format. Do you guys like the bigger paragraphs or the smaller ones?