- 6 - Meeting the Hokage and Danzo

The trio now found themselves in the Hokage's office with Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage, and Danzo Shimura, the leader of Root.

Izuna watched as his father, Takashi, was filled with anger at the sight of Danzo.

Hiruzen calmly looked at the trio, then smiled and said, "I see you have finally had your son. Congratulations to the both of you. I hate that it had to happen while you two were on a mission."

Takashi then raised his voice. "Akemi shouldn't have even been given a mission, but Danzo insisted that she go. Why is he even here? We're here to report to the Hokage, not to Root."

Hiruzen was about to try and calm Takashi down; he could understand his anger when Danzo interjected before he could respond.

Danzo said, "That's no way to speak to an elder of the village. Remember your place, Takashi. I am an elder and the leader of Root, while you are just a Jounin. Being the leader of Root, I have every right to be here for this debriefing." [A/n: Takashi is an elite jounin due to his mangekyo sharingan, but he has kept it hidden from everybody except his wife, so to the village, he is just an above-average jounin. You will also learn in the future why Takashi isn't kage level with his ms.]

Takashi was about to explode once again when Akemi stepped forward to stop him. She then went on to explain to the two men how their mission went. After a long conversation about the mission, the family of three left the Hokage's office to finally take Izuna home.

***

As the family left, Hiruzen looked at Danzo and said, "Why did you send Akemi on that mission? She should have never been forced to go."

Danzo then calmly looked at Hiruzen and said, "Everybody has to do their part for the village, even if they have to make personal sacrifices."

Hearing Danzo try to skirt around the issue, Hiruzen raised his voice slightly and said, "Danzo, if I find out you are targeting the Uchiha clan, I won't go easy on you. Don't test me."

Danzo, acting angered, said, "I would never. Targeting the Uchiha would be targeting the village. I could never do anything I thought would bring harm to the village, and you should know that." He then turned and walked out of the room, not wanting to continue the conversation any further.

Hiruzen could only watch as his childhood friend walked out the door to his office and hope that Danzo would eventually get over the fact that his sensei, the Second Hokage Tobirama, had selected him to be the Third Hokage instead of Danzo. He knew that deep down, Danzo was still scheming to try and get himself into the Hokage's seat.

---

For every 100 power stones, I'll release an extra chapter.