I'm aware that the meeting in this chapter took place immediately after Naruto's fight with Pein in the manga, but for my purposes I'm changing it. This is fiction (of fiction) and Imma do what I WANT.

Zephrys

~Trono~

The Daimyo of the Fire country was not a terribly urgent man, that much was obvious by his vacant expression as the council met to discuss the future of Konoha. Even to a Nara like Shikaku, this lack of concern was aggravating.

"There is something else we should consider first," Danzo's voice cut through, authoritative as always. "Who will be the next Hokage?"

Shikaku's eyes narrowed in suspicion. While he was grateful for the refocusing of topics, he was instantly wary of Danzo's intentions, and with rumors floating around about a certain blond, the urgency in his voice was more than a little concerning.

"Can we not wait until Tsunade recovers?" The Daimyo stated rather than asked.

"My Lord, Tsunade is still in a coma. We can't decide on a plan for the village when we don't know when she will wake up. Besides, she is partially responsible for Konoha's destruction."

"Well then," the Daimyo said. "What of the Yondaime?" If he noticed the gasps and scoffs from the councilmen, or the stiffening in Danzo's shoulders, the Daimyo didn't acknowledge it. "They say he has been resurrected. It would be much easier to hand the position back to him, would it not?"

"My lord, do you really believe the rumors of an excited people?" One councilman said incredulously, earning himself a slight glare from a second councilman.

"Even if they are only rumors, what would it hurt to check before making such an important decision regarding the village?"

"Many villagers were dead, and the resurrected by a jutsu. Why is one resurrection so much harder to believe than the resurrection of thousands?"

"Enough!" Danzo barked, startling the Daimyo and the councilmen. "This decision cannot wait on the mere basis of speculation! The village needs action now, we have waited long enough!"

The outburst more or less confirmed Danzo's intentions to Shikaku. The old man was after power, and was determined to get it. It was time to act.

"The rumors regarding the Yondaime are not mere speculation," Shikaku said loudly, cutting through the murmurs of the room.

"What do you mean?" the first councilman asked, his voice incredulous.

"I have seen him myself," Shikaku explained, watching the look on Danzo's face grow hard. "He is being cared for by Shizune and guarded by ANBU troops in a private tent, similar to the one set aside for Tsunade-sama. Hatake Kakashi has verified his chakra identity to be the true Yondaime."

"Preposterous!" the same councilman scoffed. "If the rumors are true, then why hasn't the Yondaime come forward before now?"

Thunk

For a brief moment, every eye in the room landed on the kunai now lodged in the center of the table, three pronged and oddly distinct scripting up the handle.

A sudden displacement of air, a flash of yellow, and a familiar man stood in the center of the table, his arms crossed across his chest as his cloak settled around him.

A councilman fell back in his chair to the ground, the other two let out sounds of surprise, and the Daimyo's face lit up in apparent joy as a smirking Shikaku noticed the whitening of Danzo's face.

Namikaze Minato looked coolly down into Danzo's intense glare, an easy smile barely touching the corners of his mouth.

"Maa, sorry for showing up so late, but sitting inside the stomach of the Shinigami for sixteen years didn't sit very well with me, I'm afraid." The Yondaime Hokage's eyes swept across the room, pausing briefly to nod at Shikaku. "By any means, I'd like to hurry this up. I have it on good authority that a certain medical-nin is after me for leaving my bed before she could give me a proper check up. Besides," he paused, and his gaze suddenly became fierce as lighting, "I have a long overdue meeting with my son."

This chapter is very short and and I'm very sorry, but I have an explanation. I have struggled with writing this for almost a year now, and believe me when I say, that I've been trying. You see, I have this entire fiction planned out, every scene every encounter, all the way up to the ending. But for some reason, I could not get this scene out of my head and into text. I had a big confrontation planned for Minato and the council in this chapter, addressing the issue of Danzo and setting up conflict, and also address Minato's anger about Naruto's poor treatment. However, I could not write it in a way that I felt fit into the story, and fit with the character. So I've changed my plan. I've given you a hint to the confrontation that takes place. But the truth is, my story is supposed to be focused on Minato and Naruto, not the village politics. I've drawn out their reunion at this point, and Naruto's first encounters with both Minato and Kushina were the main reason I started writing this fic.

So I'm sorry for the wait! This is just me as an author learning how to write and be true to my dialect without sacrificing the story, and hopefully you will see it that way as well. Thank you to the people still reading! You're reviews keep me motivated! I read through them often, and they mean so much to me :)

Hope this will tie you over for a few days!

Ducky