A/N: I am currently going through the first stages of starting to rewrite the first three chapters and adding Chapter 4 to the mix. As one reviewer pointed out, thank you UzumakiRend32, that some of my content was a little rushed and the timeline got confused. I also will say that pairings, while a part of the story, are not fully going to be a focus. They will develop naturally as not many people start seeing one person, date, and then marry that one person. The pairings will start to come into play as one-sided crushes or flirtatious interactions as they are younger teenagers, but the pay off will be down the line as they are closer to actual adult age. Now to point out, from what I can gather, the major incidents in timeline occur in this order: Kyubi incident- Konoha 12 are newborn to 1 maybe 2 years old, Cloud Incident- Konoha 12 are 3 to 4 years of age, Uchiha massacre- Konoha 12 are 8 to 9 years of age, Start of Canon- Konoha 12 are 12 to 13 years old. For the purpose of this story they occur in this order: Kyubi incident- Konoha 12 are newborn to 1 maybe 2 years old, Cloud incident- Konoha 12 are 4 to 5 years old (so instead of just being three years after the death of Minato till Cloud declared non-aggression with Konoha, it took a little more involvement from the Sandaime and other higher ups to bring A to the peace table), Uchiha Massacre- Konoha 12 are 8 to 9 years old, Canon start- Konoha 12 are 12-13 years old. Academy, also from what I can otherwise gather, starts somewhere around the age of six. I would also like to plug a podcast that I have been listening too for the last year or so that has helped me tremendously, Fandom Flux Podcast. Also: if anyone would like to Beta Read for me, send me a PM. Thank you and enjoy the chapter.

~~~~~Konoha Streets, Nighttime~~~~~~~~

The darkness had fallen deeply into the streets and alleys, only intermittently broken up by the occasional pools of lantern light hanging from various poles. A small blond boy was walking hand in hand with a lithe figure in a grey, full-length cloak and white animal mask. "It's too late for you to be out at the park, Naruto."

"But it's the only time I can play on the swings without the other kids forcing me off. I just want to have fun too." The blond boy responded to the figure leading him through streets with a slight pout and a whine to his voice.

They continued in silence for a couple blocks before a loud crashing of a trash can alerted to the older of the two to potential danger. He snapped his head to his right as he saw a man dressed in the black bodysuit and hood that is usually associated with infiltration missions. "Naruto stay here." He let go of the boy's hand before starting to take off after the man, noticing a bundle that was moving minutely on the man's shoulder.

"Halt!" Two men barreled out of the same attic dressed in long beige, traditional robes. The man that was running with bundle glanced over his unburdened shoulder before trying to speed up again.

The young operative then disappeared in a swirl of leaves and reappeared on a rooftop in front of the fleeing man. He brandished a kunai and jumped towards the man as the other pursuers had finally started to catch up and caused him to spin around to evade their dual attacks. The operative used all his stealth experience to get directly behind his target and plant the kunai into the small of his back through the spine. The man dropped to the ground with a yell as the bundle bounced off his shoulder and the operative caught it before it could hit the ground with much force. "Lord Hiashi and Lord Hizashi, the target has been apprehended. Please cease and desist with any further hostile actions."

"Yes, Operative Wolf." Hizashi said as he approached the bundle that the operative still had while it squirmed. He took the bundle and opened it to reveal a young toddler age girl with blue hair and pupil-less eyes. "Lord Hiashi, your daughter is safe. Thank you for your help. How long before more ANBU show up?"

"They are already here, Lord Hizashi. I was running point on a squad doing a night patrol." Three more adult figures started to materialize from the shadows as they approached the original operative. "Operatives Horse and Bird take the prisoner to Torture and Interrogation and see that Inoichi and the other high standing interrogators are alerted that this is going to be a rush job for the Hokage." He pulled off the hood from assailant and immediately noticed that it was the ambassador from Kumogakure that had arrived in the village just the day before. "Actually, Inoichi needs to be alerted and him alone. Take the back entrance and allow no one to see the identity of his new play-toy. Operative Goat inform the Hokage of this incident and tell him I'll be there once I drop off our original package at the care facility." The operative bowed respectfully to the two highest members of each branch of the Hyuga clan before heading back down the street to where he had left Naruto.

"That was so cool! You moved so fast." Naruto was bouncing on the toes of his feet as his watcher returned. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"No, not yet, Naruto. You still need to grow and learn the basics before you can do anything like that." The operative stooped down as he approached and quickly lifted Naruto onto his shoulders and quickly made his way back towards the orphanage that Naruto resided with a quicker pace then he had before. "Now let's get you home for the night." The young boy made a noise of disagreement but was quickly starting to flag even for his high energy due to the late hour. The drop off was made soon after and the operative turned towards the Hokage Tower and disappeared in another swirl of leaves as he started his trek to where the lights high above the skyline were starting to kick on in the tower.

~~~~~Hokage Office, Soon After Incident~~~~~

The operative from the incident kneeled in front of the desk of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Behind the desk was Hiruzen, seated in his throne-like chair, and his three-member Elders Council. "Lord Hokage, Operative Wolf reporting in. The incident occurred when Team Ro were doing our regular sweep of the village due to the presence of hostile diplomats within the village. We encountered young Naruto at the park just outside the Academy grounds on the playground equipment. My team stayed within the shadows and I approached the boy. He quickly settled down once he recognized the ANBU attire and started to proceed with me to the orphanage that he currently resides in. On the way, we heard a crashing sound emanating from an alleyway; and the Kumogakure then emerged in standard infiltration gear. I ordered Naruto to stay put and my team stayed in a defensive position around the boy in case he was a priority objective in the attack. The man then took off away from myself and Lords Hiashi and Hizashi emerged hot on his trail. I proceeded to then use the Body Flicker Technique to reposition myself above and ahead of the target. He then spun around when Hiashi and Hizashi got within physical striking range with their clan techniques. I then applied chakra to myself to speed up my movement and closed range before he was ready for me and struck with my kunai to his lower spine, rendering him unable to move and engage due to the shock of loss of severing the nerves there. I then had two of my team gather him up and transport him through the ANBU entrance to the Torture and Interrogation department and to retrieve Inoichi, while the last member came to rouse you. Lord Hizashi was identifying that the bundle the Kumo ninja had been carrying contained Lady Hinata. I then took Naruto back to the orphanage and proceeded here while the Hyuga members headed back to their clan compound."

"Good, Kakashi, excellent work. Inoichi has started in on the interrogation. I'll need a written report from all Team Ro members by the end of your rotation tonight. You're dismissed." Kakashi then saluted and disappeared in a Body Flicker. Hiruzen then motioned for his Elder Council to take the seats in the office while he took a bottle of rice wine from his desk and proceeded to fill a saucer for each of the people present.

"Well, this leaves an interesting predicament for us to guide the village through." An elderly man with glasses said as he accepted the saucer Hiruzen was offering him.

"That it does, Homura. Do you have any insights into the situation Koharu?" Hiruzen asked as he finished handing out the saucers to the three in his office while avoiding eye contact with the heavily bandaged man that was watching his moves closely since Kakashi had left the office.

An elderly woman with two senbon needles holding up the buns in her hair took a sip of the rice wine before taking a second two gather her thoughts. "Well, we can expect A to be rather up in arms over this but if Inoichi can gather who exactly gave the orders we can either blackmail him into staying at the peace table in a now neutral location to the two of us, say somewhere just outside of Takigakure or maybe Yugakure, or we can offer up the information of who was trying to subvert him to meet in the Lightning Daimyo's court with representatives of the Fire Daimyo's court present to hammer out a treaty that he'll be bound to more than a non-aggression pact because of the Daimyo's being involved and the risk to their admittedly larger economy due to Daimyo influence as a hostage piece."

The bandaged man just continued to sit still with the saucer on the arm of his chair untouched, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. "Hiruzen, this can't be allowed to pass unpunished. That would leave us looking weaker to Iwagakure and Sunagakure. We have the treaty with Sunagakure; but, without your predecessor here to deter Iwagakure, we might not be able to keep them from trying to reignite war."

"Ah, Danzo, I'm surprised it took this long for the war option to be introduced by you."

Homura sat forward and put his empty saucer on the desk and waved off the offer of another. "We honestly can't let it go unpunished, but we can't try to back Kumogakure into a corner or even seem like it. A would not take something like that lying down and would potentially still reignite war but then they'd drag Iwagakure into it and we'd be right back in the mire of the Third Shinobi World War as Sunagakure and Kirigakure are too affected by casualties and we'd all be fighting a two-front war."

"I know we can't let it go unpunished. We need to be prepared for anything, but we must have a balance the punishment with pros for us and cons for Kumogakure. This also needs us to start looking at the future. What's the latest take on Jiraiya's report about the other Kages and our own rumblings of misgivings in the village?" Hiruzen steepled his fingers as he looked to Danzo, knowing that the man would have been going over the report religiously since they received it the day before via summoned courier.

"A is willing to continue building his military even during the time of a non-aggression treaty. His weapon production has only slowed down by about a twenty percent margin versus the forty percent margins of Sunagakure and Iwagakure." Danzo started off saying, then swiftly followed with the next village on level of threat. "Onoki of Both Scales is scaled down but they're still putting out several more genin teams a year to try to bolster their ranks and weapon production will most likely spike again here in the next couple years. Rasa, on the other hand, can't bolster his ranks too much and due to the beginning signs of the Daimyo funneling some of his funds elsewhere, namely us and Amegakure, he's facing the beginning of some hard times. I don't see them trying anything for the foreseeable future as he hides behind their mutual treaty with us to improve their genin quality and get another war chest going so he can contract out to Ishigakure and the Land of Iron for weapon materials. The hardest to read would be Yagura…"

"Ah, yes, the reasonably young Mizukage has closed their borders and the first grumblings of resentment have started to come from the Land of Water since he assumed leadership halfway through the war. He's become more tyrannical and the seeming unhappiness of squads like the Seven Shinobi Swordsman towards some of the Kekkai Genkai clans has started to push out refugees just before the full closure of borders." Koharu said as she finished topping off her saucer with the proffered bottle of rice wine.

Danzo cleared his throat and started up again once Hiruzen motioned for him to continue. "Yes, Yagura hasn't slowed down at all in weapon production. The problem with that is that there hasn't been a single team leaving Land of Water areas of influence for the last three months. Something is boiling over the top there. Closed borders there is going to slow down our information flow unless we can have Jiraiya there in a mostly permanent capacity for the next couple of years. Plus, the rumblings of Orochimaru being spotted crossing over to the outlying islands last month means trouble for us if his experiments continue in the vain from when he was chased out of the village last year."

Hiruzen sighed deeply and downed his saucer in one go. "Yes, Jiraiya left a message on the report that he was going to breach the borders over there and I'll send a courier for him to set up base for the next three years. Orochimaru, on the other hand, is going to be a hassle because we can't afford to send a frontline team like Team Ro after him with Kirigakure on heightened alert. We'll have to have watchers on the major ports from here on out. Now, what about the Uchiha concern that Jiraiya brought to our attention when he went through one of their ancestral supply towns?"

Homura held up one hand in front of him to cut off the other two that had moved to start speaking. "It is troubling that Fugaku is dealing with a build-up towards a coup d'état. The isolation that we resorted to after the Kyubi incident is only working against us at this point. I think we need to start assimilating them more regularly and putting a few plants in the Military Police Force to keep tabs as well. We should also look at the young rising stars of the Uchiha clan like Shisui and Itachi. Shisui is looking to be fast-tracked from chunin to jounin, and Itachi graduated early and looks to be becoming a chunin in the next two exams."

"Good ideas. I think that would be beneficial, but we also need contingency plans for everything. I would suggest that we look to bring Fugaku a step closer to be a part of a leadership role for the village. I think if we set up a secondary council beyond ourselves that addresses conflicts within the ranks of our chunin and jounin that would be manned by Fugaku Uchiha, Hiashi Hyuga, and Choza Akimichi. Shikaku Nara would also be helpful here as the Jounin Commander and would be a voice of reason along with Choza while the mindsets of Fugaku and Hiashi are more strictly ingrained through their own clan politics." Hiruzen said as he looked to Koharu.

"I agree with that set up, but that also still leaves the problem of the various mobilization states of the other countries. We need to ramp down on outer appearances and keep going towards a higher level of troop preparedness in case this ploy with Kumogakure hits rock bottom."

"Danzo, you want to say something here?"

"We've known each other since Tobirama took on your team after the passing of Hashirama. I know how you feel about the increased risk we've seen in early graduates like Kakashi and even some of the trauma that has been observed in Itachi for his battlefield clean-up duties the past two years. The problem is that we cannot allow the continual coddling of graduates that we also see. Root, while essential and needed for some operations, can only stay truly clandestine with a limited number of operators and I'm quickly approaching that number with the ones that slip through our academy cracks. The academy needs revitalized; and weapon production needs to be scaled down within the village itself. A loophole would be the caravans we get from the Fire Daimyo. That would easily allow us to reallocate some of our ninja blacksmiths to the capital where they would work out of the samurai and guardian districts and slip in the products with the caravans of food supplies and mercantile products."

"The academy revitalization would look like what?" Curiosity peaked by the suggestion, Hiruzen eyes practically glimmered in the low light of the office.

Koharu made the first suggestion. "We've always set aside D-ranks for the genin, but we could downgrade some of the in-village ones for the last three years of academy to do and we can get a clearer view of team dynamics that develop in the class. That would lead to a higher graduation rate of the Jounin Test from the sixty percent it currently sits at up to a better eighty or ninety percent."

Homura spoke up at this point at this point. "We could also work on chakra control for the first two years of the last three years and test for chakra element the beginning of last year so that we know what development they need to get so they can be battle ready."

Danzo sat forward, "We should also incorporate weapons training and physical training from the beginning year. They usually enter at six and six years would at least allow them to be proficient at kunai, shuriken, and another weapon that would help expand adaptability for when they're on a battlefield and low on chakra."

"We could also incorporate a lot of the jounin and some of the upper chunin that are on village furlough into training the children in their D-rank missions, mock battles, and logistic planning sessions so that our upper echelon is imparting tried and true methods while also keeping them sharp. The coming academy year starts next month. Get a new curriculum started and we'll gather the chunin instructors here in two weeks to give them their new marching orders. The war isn't something we should be seeking, but even in peace we need to prepare the future generations for when we step down. Now we need the results from Inoichi to see what we send to Kumogakure in response for this foray and attempted kidnapping of a clan heir."

"What is the carrot and what is the stick in this situation?" Homura said as he looked to Danzo and Koharu.

"We can't afford to dangle continuing warfare as the stick in this situation. Our economy needs to recover, especially after the Kyubi's attack, and it can't do that if we spring right back into the middle of a war. The realistic stick would be that we would be able to publicly embarrass the whole of Kumogakure through the Lightning Daimyo's court and deter a lot of the clandestine operations away from them while also now possessing a political prisoner. Demanding one of their younger ninja like Darui, A's protégé, or Yugito Nii, a promising chunin, as additional hostages would also make this a worthwhile stick to use against A." Danzo said as he leaned on the top of his cane.

"The carrot would be that we could have a total treaty that would be affirmed by us turning over the information leading to the apprehension of rogue elements instead of aiding them through our own networks. We could also then offer up a few small snippets of information that would allow them to better prepare against Kitsuchi, Onoki's son, and the jinchuriki that Iwagakure possess. I know for a fact that Roshi did not make an appearance on the battlefields that Kumogakure occupied when they turned on each other after the Kyubi incident didn't take us down quite like they thought it would." Hiruzen said as he rubbed and twisted his goatee between his thumb and index fingers. "I would like to adjourn for tonight and will reconvene when I get the report from Inoichi. Good evening." The rest of the Elder Council stood from their seats and started to head for the door as Hiruzen light a pipe and started to smoke and write down notes.

~~~~~Hokage Office, Next Afternoon~~~~

Hiruzen sat at his desk while looking towards the windows that looked out over the village. The sun sat low above the Hokage Mountain as it moved towards evening. A knock sounded from the entrance to his office and broke the spell of monotony that he had settled. "Enter."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." A tall, lithe blond man said as he entered and bowed before approaching the desk of his village leader. He withdrew a folder from his jacket and set it on the space in front of the Hokage and opened one side to show a small stack of papers. "The Head Jounin from Kumogakure has gone through the opening stages of interrogation. We were able to gather that the main objective was to try to get a thorough look at our defenses and whether the non-aggression treaty would be worth it. The secondary objective would be to get the non-aggression treaty signed. The objective of opportunity was to get a main branch Hyuga if he could while in the village. The order was given by A himself, but the scroll bore the symbol of the Sandaime Raikage and not A's own symbol. The implications are interesting as this shows A is still trying to strengthen his hold on power since the passing of his Sandaime three years ago."

"What else was garnered from the interrogation thus far?"

"The interrogation has confirmed that Killer Bee attained the full synchronization with his Tailed Beast. Nothing else of note has been discovered at this point, but we have only been through the last month or so of memories. We will be continuing after he finishes his medical treatment for the spinal wound that Operative Wolf of Team Ro inflicted upon him."

"You're dismissed, Inoichi. Keep me updated on your progress and proceed with the plans to bring in Ibiki Morino for the department. He should be returning from a final deployment around Kirigakure in the next few days."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Inoichi snapped a salute and spun on his heel to head back to door.

"Operative Cat please retrieve Operative Wolf for me and then tell the Elder Council that we will convene in two hours." A female draped in a beige full-length cloak and a cat mask appeared before the Hokage and saluted before disappearing in a Body Flicker Technique.

Hiruzen then proceeded to wait, lighting his pipe and setting out two cups of tea. A displacement of air alerted Hiruzen to the new presence in his office. "Kakashi, take a seat."

The man was now in regular jounin garb of blue shirt and pants with a dark green vest over his shirt. A blue facemask covered from the nose down and his headband was slanted over his left eye. His silver hair was sticking up in a fashion that reminded Hiruzen of the long grass atop a scarecrow that Kakashi was named after. "You wished to speak to me, Lord Hokage."

"Yes, I believe it is time that we faced down one of the problems that is going to be quickly approaching in one of our youth." Hiruzen offered a tea cup to Kakashi and motioned to the seat that was to left side of his desk. "Young Naruto is going to be needing a more hands on approach soon. With this incident and reports we've received, I believe that we are going to be overhauling even our peacetime curriculum to better reflect the realities of a ninja's lifestyle. While it won't be as hyper-focused as a wartime curriculum, it will be something that looks at the skills of an individual and pairs them with the skills of a team. Naruto can't afford to fall behind because he doesn't have the backing of a major clan or the monetary support that would allow civilian family students to keep pace."

"What is my assignment?" Kakashi sounded hesitant to the old Hokage.

"Your first assignment will be to see a counselor from the Yamanaka clan about any mental blocks and barriers that has been affecting your daily life and duty performance. I will be sending out what needs to be focused on in these sessions."

"But Lord Hokage!"

"Silence. I've allowed you to be held back by survivor's guilt and I can no longer allow that to happen. I need you to be there for the boy, and you are my only permanent solution to this conundrum. You have a connection with his heritage and you are in the village on a regular basis. Not to worry, though, as Jiraiya will also be facing down a couple of his demons by looking in and teaching the boy as well when he is in the village for his yearly reports. You will be solely responsible for his basics in the rudimentary skills and socialization so that he does not act out. I need him to be taken seriously when he enters the academy. I cannot entrust him to any of the clans without upsetting any political balance we have going within the village, and any of the civilian families would be unwilling to take him in."

"Understood, Lord Hokage. If I may?"

"Come in for your parameters in a week. You're dismissed." Kakashi disappeared in a body flicker as the words left the Hokage's mouth. "What am I to do with those three?" Hiruzen mused to himself as he sighed and took a deep drag off his pipe.

The time passed quickly for the Hokage as he awaited the arrival of his Elder Council. He had eaten a bento box and finished off his tea as he awaited the arrival of his old teammates and rival. He stood and opened the door to his office as the time for the meeting approached.

Danzo was the first to enter through the door a few minutes later. "Hiruzen."

"Danzo," Hiruzen nodded to the man and started to settle in to his chair as Danzo did the same on a small couch against the back wall, "we have the initial report from Inoichi. It will make things more interesting in the game of politics, but we should be able to get a rather good boon for ourselves."

Homura and Koharu were in the office soon after Hiruzen had spoke and exchanged greetings with the two previously present members of Konoha's Elder Council. "Now, to get down to business. The Head Jounin was sent with a two-fold mission that was luckily thwarted. He was to gather information on some of our defensive installations and guard rotations. The signing of the non-aggression treaty was secondary to him and A, most likely to be used as a cover for an invasion within the next few years if we showed any type of weakness in our scaling down from the full-scale warfare. Right now, we are the only two nations with active forces skirmishing along the borders of Yugakure, Shimogakure, and the Land of Rice Paddies. The order to try to kidnap Hinata Hyuga, or any main branch Hyuga really, was given by A; yet the problem there is that the memory shows the mission scroll was marked and a holdover from the Sandaime Raikage. I believe that, while he was fine with the mission being carried out, it was ultimately an appeasement gesture to the council holdovers so that A could firmly establish that it is his power that is ultimate in Kumogakure. It does not let him off the hook. I have already had the two chunin that accompanied our new guest apprehended and sent to the Fire Daimyo's court to be held hostage and traded back to the Lightning Daimyo for some of our own prisoners of war. That should slow down any information making it back to A in time to counter any reasonable demands that we have."

"What were you thinking to send to them?" Koharu asked.

"I believe, foremost, that we demand that we be returned any prisoners taken over the last six months and once they are accounted for we will release half of the prisoners we have. The remaining half will remain here in Torture and Interrogation for another year to ensure the Raikage holds to the non-aggression treaty. Second, we will ask for the second son of the Daimyo to be sent in exchange for Head Jounin in six months' time. He will then reside under the close tutelage of Chiriku at the Fire Temple. Lastly, the non-aggression treaty will entail that we scale back by only fifteen percent in our production of war resources while they must decrease their production by thirty-five percent."

Danzo nodded his head and looked to Hiruzen. "How will we hold them to making sure that their production will be held to that lower level?"

"Danzo, as much as I might come to regret this decision, Root will have to be semi-disbanded as you will be spending time in the Lightning Daimyo's court for the foreseeable future if these terms are accepted. I plan to have the Fire Daimyo disguise your credentials as a retired general sent to keep an eye on his youngest daughter as she learns the culture of the Land of Lightning. I trust you have a Root operative that would be able to fill the role as the youngest daughter."

Danzo gritted his teeth slightly at having to tipping more of his hand then he was comfortable with to Hiruzen. "I do, Lord Hokage."

"Good, A should receive the missive in the next few days once we send it after this meeting. Koharu, I will also need you to send the trackers that are apart of your courtesan course after Lady Tsunade. I was thinking that a crash course in medical training and a dedicated medical ninja program would be good for our growing academy students. The ultimatum is she either returns willingly or she can refuse and Shizune will be required to return in her stead and her protection thoroughly disavowed regarding international threats and debt collectors."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Homura, I need you to do one thing with the artisans. Have our highest-grade forgery makers get productions of mercantile passes to the land of iron, our deep agents in the merchant's guilds around the nations to gather surpluses of chakra metals, and for the three main armorers for ANBU to start producing varied sets of chakra metal weapons once those surpluses start slipping into the village."

Homura bowed in his seat slightly. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Hiruzen and Danzo were smiling at the plans that were starting to formulate while Homura and Koharu were contemplating the return of the God of Shinobi to the forefront of Konoha's military complex. "Welcome back, Hiruzen, we have missed the plots and plans of our captain and commander that Lord Tobirama appointed." Homura said as he proceeded to stand and hurry from the office for the Cryptology departments sister-department, Cartography and Forgery.

Danzo stood and Koharu quickly bowed to Hiruzen before heading for her own destination in the red-light district, the Autumn Leaf Bough. Hiruzen looked to his long-time rival. "Hiruzen, what of your era of peace now?"

"My era of peace looks to be needing to be born from the miseries of war, and while I am ready the rest of the world is not. Till the world is ready, I must raise a 'king' to take control of the village and lead her into that era of peace."

"Well, who is the 'king' now that Minato has passed? None of the clan heads can put aside enough of their personal politics well enough to be accepted by more than half the remaining clans and the young generation now has no one responsible enough."

"You will see, my friend. My 'king' will be a formidable piece more in the line of Hashirama than I think any of us have been able to attain." Danzo looked at Hiruzen sharply as the man then spun on his heel and looked once again to the Hokage Mountain, a clear dismissal to the bandaged man. "Now, time for you to set your pieces in order, and remember that Kinoe will eventually be mine. He can clash with Kakashi all he wants under your orders, but the Will of Fire wins the mind just as much as the heart." The parting shot was enough to upset Danzo that he left without even an attempt at a respectful departing word.

~~~~Konoha Meeting Hall, One Week after Hyuga Incident~~~~

The assembled clan heads stood before banners denoting the clan they belonged. A horseshoe-shaped table lay before them and varied administrative chunin bustled about the room as they set small pots of tea at each setting place for the various political stalwarts of the village. Hiruzen took his seat while the gathering bowed in his direction and using a closed fist against the front of their left shoulder to salute him. "Welcome, Lord Hokage, we are here to serve the Will of Fire," chorused out from those gathered.

"The Will of Fire illuminates us all." Hiruzen answered the per functionary greeting. "I have gathered all of you here to inform your clans of decisions that the Elder Council and myself have made in regard to preparing our village for the future regarding the incursions of our opponents." He motioned to the various men and women to sit and waited for his honor guard to head for the doors to guard from the outside, his only protection still present being Kakashi in regular jounin garb standing three feet behind him and to the right.

"We will be changing the academy curriculum. There will no longer be these times of focusing on basic educational classes for full days and only be running physical exercises three times a week to close out the day. Chunin instructors will be receiving the new curriculum advisories and materials within the week. Most of these changes are rather agreeable and, while one or two might be hard, they are necessary to the betterment of our village. These changes are going to be whole-scale. Basic education such as science, math, and history will only be taught in the mornings of their six years at the academy. Physical exercises, taijutsu, and basic weapon handling will be taught thoroughly in the afternoons for a student's first three years. D-ranks that are rudimentary within the village will no longer be the responsibility of genin but academy students. They will be accomplished based on class day rotation throughout the classes' afternoons for their final three years. The final three years, when not doing these D-ranks, will have afternoons that will be part jutsu training, part mock battles and simulations, tactical overview exercises, basic first aid, camp training, or specialization exercises. We will also see chakra testing that usually waits for their advancement to chunin being implemented at the beginning of the final year so that we may push them towards the right branches of elemental jutsu for them to better succeed." Hiruzen flipped one sheet of paper that had been in front of him over and set it aside while the clan heads started to look at one another in mild shock, not quite knowing exactly how the Hokage had decided these changes necessary.

Fugaku Uchiha looked at some of the looser allies that still associated with his clan, the Kurama Clan and Shimura Clan. His stern face was more relaxed today when he realized that this would play into his hands more than he had hoped. Changes like this would only help his second son become stronger and push his clan further ahead of any of their rivals. He smirked lightly before voicing some of the questions his fellow men and women were thinking. "Lord Hokage, why are these changes coming so close to the new academy year and how will we catch the current classes up to this curriculum?"

"The latter question is easiest to answer. The classes currently enrolled will be adopting the new schedule; but instead of personal specialization, they will receive accelerated team finding and team specialization training. The incoming class will be the first to get the full new curriculum." Hiruzen then looked across the table and nodded to Hiashi Hyuga. "The changes are coming due to an incident that occurred this past week. The Head Jounin of Kumogakure was here on non-aggression treaty talks with ulterior motives. Those motives were found out when he infiltrated the Hyuga clan compound and abducted the clan heiress, though he was aiming for any main-branch member. He was pursued by Hiashi and Hizashi through the back alleys of the northern district. The infiltrator then came across an ANBU patrol, Team Ro, that was escorting a young Naruto Uzumaki to his care facility. Operative Wolf entrusted Naruto to the remainder of his team and tactically approached the target. He got in front of the man while Hizashi and Hiashi got his attention from the front and disabled him with a catastrophic injury to his spinal cord. This allowed the Head Jounin to be apprehended and entrusted to Torture and Interrogation. Inoichi Yamanaka then conducted the interrogation through the night and into the day."

The clan heads started to talk quietly amongst themselves and Hiruzen called for silence once more. "The orders were originally made with the intention of giving A an insight into our defense strategies and constructs. The addendum of abducting a Hyuga member was a holdover order from the former A, Sandaime Raikage. This has allowed us to send and receive a missive from the current A to tell him our demands to continue the non-aggression treaty talks and his acquiescence to them with pressure from the Lightning Daimyo because of pressure exerted on our behalf from the Fire Daimyo. Talks will resume in Yugakure with representatives from our village, Kumogakure, and both Daimyos. The boons so far will allow us to quicken the pace of economic recovery for the village and have a hostage in the Head Jounin for the next year and the Lightning Daimyo's second son within striking distance at the Fire Temple for the foreseeable future."

Nara Shikaku raised his head from the lowered position he had adopted as soon as he sat down. "And what do we owe Kumogakure? A would not have taken this lying down."

"We only owe them the two chunin retainers that were sent along with the High Jounin that the Fire Daimyo has been holding for us and reparations for rebuilding of their coastal cities we obliterated through fire-ships to the tune of one twentieth the repair costs."

"That is rather agreeable. I'm guessing with pressure from the Daimyo that A could no longer refuse." Hiruzen nodded to Shikaku's assertion about the reparations.

"In the village, we will also be revamping some of the command infrastructure. Shikaku Nara will continue as the Jounin Commander of our forces and Fugaku Uchiha will continue as the Military Police Force commander. They will also be taking on new duties. Fugaku, you will be asked to start up a new unit incorporating Yamanaka and Inuzuka clan members along Uchiha clan members with the police force. This will open the scope and reach to deal with incidents from the academy onward when regarding our shinobi forces. Shikaku, you will be working alongside the Aburame clan to improve and expand our medical and weaponization knowledge regarding our rare local flora and fauna. Choza Akimichi, you alongside Hiashi Hyuga will combine the resources and talents of the Akimichi and Hyuga to reform our agricultural and regular building infrastructure and grounds. The Barrier Team will be marking more area outside the Southern and Western walls that will be included in an outside defense system for use in agriculture. In the village itself, we will go over the expansion of buildings and defense systems. These four: Shikaku, Hiashi, Choza, and Fugaku will be leading a Jounin Council that will deal with any disputes that arise from these expansions and our forces from chunin and above amongst themselves."

Hiruzen took a deep breath and flipped to his last page of notes. He took in the nods and murmured agreements from the clan heads. "Clan compounds will also be affected by our expansion and revitalizing defensive strategies and structures. The smaller clans will be brought alongside the larger clans and there will be no walls separating anyone. We are all a part of the village of Konohagakure and will not allow false suspicion and misplaced distrust to separate us further. This suspicion and separation by walls within the village just make us have to work harder to work together and accomplishes some of the enemy's goals for them."

The gathering paused in silence as the statement settled over them. Hiruzen smirked plainly for them all to see as he uttered what some of them had probably thought he had been missing since he re-ascended to the role of Hokage. After several seconds, a snort broke the silence as a wild-looking woman started to beat her fist against the table in front of her. "Ha! Hit the nail on the head with that one." She continued to laugh as the rest of the clan heads looked between her and the Hokage. "We can finally stop tiptoeing around the shitstorm that has been going since that night three years ago. We need to hash it out or our packs are just going to tear each other apart till even a stray dog could cow us."

"Agreed, Tsume, that this has gone on for too long. The Senju are not as prevalent as they were as a clan in the Warring States Period. The Uchiha have been looked at with mistrust since that night because they did not engage, but that was by design. Danzo gave the order to protect civilians as was their job as the Military Police Force. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans can only take us so far as our numbers are down because of the previous war just as the Kurama, Izumo, and Hatake clans are. We must entrust ourselves to each other to be the strong force that takes us through the next war. Our smaller clans will bolster and strengthen our large clans and incorporated as needed in the expansion. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans are continuing in gathering information of techniques and knowledge from around the nations. The Kurama clan will set aside special teachers for students that excel in genjutsu, so we can strengthen all skills. Holding to the Will of Fire has been the hallmark of the Hatake clan and I look forward to seeing how that can be instilled through tutoring those that need it most."

Hiruzen motioned over his shoulder for Kakashi to step forward at this point. The young man came to attention at his side in mere moments. "Kakashi Hatake will be the first to bring up that special tutoring. From this point till the academy, Kakashi will be responsible for the care of Naruto Uzumaki in his down time. Now, there is no discussion with this. Killer Bee has achieved full synchronization with the Eight-Tails and we can't afford for our own charge to be neglected, even unintentionally. He has received the parameters of what to expect with this assignment. Village furloughed upper chunin and jounin will also be aiding the academy students' missions and mock battles as team leaders and advisors, so we can come to find the best team dynamics and the teachers that can be assigned to those teams. I plan to have our genin graduation and direct implementation to be raised from the current sixty percent active-twenty percent administrative-twenty percent reserve ratio to ninety percent active-ten percent administrative reservists in the next few years."

The assembly looked amongst each other before Shibi Aburame spoke up, his quiet voice echoing in the pause. "I can see the logic to this, Lord Hokage, but how will we balance pay for these stints as instructors while they are furloughed."

"The rates for B-rank and up missions to increase so furlough instructors will receive an on-going D-rank pay for each time they are home and teaching. Discounts will no longer be offered to new clientele and only the feudal lords will receive ongoing discounts. That is all for today. Start meeting amongst yourselves about the expansion plans and coming up with suggestions for teachers amongst clan members so that we can begin at the start of the academy year. Thank you for your presence and involvement today."

~~~~Hokage Office, Later that evening~~~~

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi as the man shuffled about the office. "Kakashi, you are aware of the special circumstances to your protection detail?"

"I am, Lord Hokage. He cannot know of his heritage and status for his own protection, but I still don't think I am a good choice or that this is a particularly good course of action."

"Kakashi, I already said I cannot give him over to any of the clans and the civilian side of the village won't touch the situation because of the information leak, orchestrated by begrudged veterans, spreading the exact circumstances behind his situation. If he keeps down the path he's on, he will slowly but surely start acting out for any attention whatsoever. If we look at the logic of that, he will start escalating. That escalation will spread to village-wide incidents. Those incidents will lead to him being brought before me and I can't risk ostracizing him by punishing him beyond a small slap on the wrist. Now, that information would start getting attention from information gatherers sent to Konohagakure by places like Iwagakure and Kumogakure. They would send word to old codger leaders and recently offended leaders about how a young child is running circles around village security and where those holes in security are. The boy isn't being punished appropriately and was orphaned in the Kyubi Incident. The puzzle pieces would quickly come together for someone Onoki, especially when he got a physical description of Naruto. He is not so frail or indecisive as some would like to believe. A is prone to anger and once the pieces fell for him, he would strike out of spite."

"I understand, Lord Hokage. Any other directives for my assignment?"

"Jiraiya will meet with you and the boy when he is in the village for his yearly reports. I want the two of you to just help guide him until he is in the academy. Once the academy starts, officially you will be done as he will be integrating into normal activities; but you will help with tutor as I can afford for you to in secret. That is something that will need to be impressed upon Naruto: that he cannot show his full strength at any time in the academy. Jiraiya will also be teaching him more frequently over his last three years once his ideal team situations start to show."

"I will carry out your wishes, Lord Hokage." Kakashi body flickered away out of the office as Hiruzen dismissed him.

The Hokage stood in the window of his office as the lanterns to light the streets for those in the late dusk and early night flickered into being. He was slowly taking draws off his pipe as the shadows grew long. His back was straight as the ceremonial robe waved slightly in the light evening breeze being allowed in from a side window. He continued to look at the visages of his predecessors and successor. Ideas and improvements were soaring through his mind as quickly as he could comprehend and note or dismiss them. "The first hammer beats on the new weapon of Konohagakure have fallen. I can only hope and trust the process to further craft that weapon into something that while both sharp and precise can be placed back in its scabbard without burning away the world around it."