9 Backbone CH 9

The aged Hokage saw the compliance in both Jiraiya and Tsunade so he passed them another set of folders with his plans regarding the mission he assigned to them with free reign to add anything he might have missed. Both accepted the folders with glee written on their faces.

"Next on the agenda is the entire village itself, mainly the council and Danzo. Here is a draft of my plans, please read it and tell me what you think."

He then passed them both some documents regarding his future plans for the Leaf. After a few minutes of reading, both Sannins have evil smirk on their faces that sent ghostly shiver down the concerned body's spine. This is going to be a long year for those in the Leaf.

(Time skip: 1 week later)

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk lounging around thinking about some of the changes that has been made after a week of his student's arrival.

Tsunade and Shizune took a day to relax and plan for their pest-control project in the Konoha hospital before really rocking the foundation down. The Slug Sannin stormed the hospital the next day and reviewed every single report with the help of Shizune. It seems that a lot of issues were swept under the rug – some concerning the funding that SHOULD have gone to the development of the hospital but was instead diverted to persons unknown.

Most of the reports, however, were about Naruto and she didn't like what she saw which resulted in one of the walls on the first floor to disappear due to her temper. It was the only time in Konoha history that the hospital was empty of all personnel since all of them vacated the premises when the Slug Sannin demonstrated her displeasure…using her fist.

The next day, a lot of hospital personnel were fired on the spot except for a few who remained faithful to the oath they took when they set to work as medic-nin. She took the mantle of Director with Shizune as her assistant who will be handling the interviews for the hopefuls.

She immediately formed a council of trusted doctors to oversee the various areas on the hospital that should have been done a long time ago. Kaito, Naruto's personal doctor, was given the head position of his pseudo-council of medic-nins that alleviated some of Tsunade's tasks. She also designated separate departments in the hospital for different purposes, like a Research and Development department for the improvement of Konoha's medical studies and application; an entire department devoted to potion research and antidotes, and so on. She had trouble with the funding at first but the Sandaime opened up the village coffers for her use since it will soon be refilled after the planned audit.

She also started a draft of lessons to be included in the Shinobi Academy to slowly integrate the idea of medic-nins for future Genins. This would require her and the Hokage to meet with the current director of the Academy to properly implement the changes.

It was slow work but it was progress all the same.

Jiraiya wasn't also slacking off in terms of setting up his spy network outside the village. He utilized his toad summons as a means to relay messages to him back to Konoha to make sure that he didn't miss anything. Only important messages were required for him to leave the village but so far none of the reports require him to take such actions so he remained at the home front to continue his spy network.

The secrets he were able to ferret out in the village in only a few days since he started was enough to take his mind off his 'research'. That was how dirty Konoha has become and the Toad Sage was literally rolling in mud.

With only a week of the Leaf Spy Network under Jiraiya's command, some anomalies have been brought to the Hokage, namely Danzo's ROOT program which was set as a priority by Sarutobi. With an ingenious application of toad recon summons in different parts of Konoha, he discovered hidden locations of various ROOT headquarters, their position in the village, various missions outside the village, and Danzo's connection with the civilian council. All of these reports were currently on Sarutobi's desk which he just finished reading and waiting for Danzo to answer his summons.

Danzo was currently walking along the halls of the Hokage Tower towards the Hokage's office where he was summoned. It was early in the morning that one of the Hokage's personal ANBU dropped by in his home and promptly announced that his presence was required ASAP. A cold shiver ran down his spine and a tightening in his gut told him that this meeting would not be pleasant…for him.

When he reached the door, he immediately straightened and was about to open the door without bothering to knock as a slight to the person on the other side of the door when the Hokage's voice almost made him trip.

"Glad of you to answer my summons Danzo. Please come in." the voice of Sarutobi came from the other side of the door.

Danzo sniffed and proceeded to open the door and was about to berate his ex-teammate but stopped when he saw the Hokage's face. The tightening in his gut that he experienced earlier came back in full force upon seeing the expression on Sarutobi. It was the face that he only saw during war time.

It was the face of the Professor, the God of Shinobi, the Sandaime Hokage of the strongest Hidden Village in the Elemental Nations.

Sarutobi smirked when he saw the apprehension in Danzo's eyes. Good. Time for the next phase of the plan. "Please sit down Danzo. We have much to discuss." The aged Hokage almost crooned which made the old war hawk sweat a bit.

Danzo sat down in front of the Hokage and mustered every bit of courage he had in his system and glared at the other person. "What do you want Sarutobi? Why have you summoned me this early in the morning? This is…"

He was interrupted when the sudden flood of killing intent filled the room coming from the Hokage. The cold fury in the aged leader's eyes spoke volumes and will mean a lot of pain later if he didn't shut up right this minute. He gulped.

"I think we need to make some facts clear Danzo-san since it seems that you need re-educating in terms of village protocol. Let me ask you a question and I WANT you to answer me? Understood? Good. Now first question, who is the Hokage of this village?" the aged Hokage asked in a deceptively calm voice, penetrating eyes never leaving his prey.

Danzo, fortunately, held back a biting retort before answering. "You…"

"Good. Then how come you are questioning MY orders about summoning you? You LIVE in this village. You HAVE a position in this village. You ARE a shinobi of this village. SO THAT MEANS THAT YOU ARE UNDER ME DANZO. Now please tell me, are YOU supposed to question me when I summon you to my office?" asked the Hokage in a deathly calm voice.

Quailed by the coldness in the Hokage's question, he swallowed his pride and decided to play it safe. "No, Hokage-sama. I apologize for my rudeness."

Sarutobi gave Danzo a calm and calculating gaze. "Good. It seems that you LEARNED your lesson well Danzo. Now, tell me, how is your ROOT program coming along?" he asked in a calm and conversational voice to make sure that his opponent is caught off guard.

"You already know that the ROOT program was disbanded, Hokage-sama. So why are you asking me this pointless question?" grated Danzo who was already sweating on the inside and thinking of ways to get out of the situation.

Sarutobi didn't give him that option to escape.

"Oh really? Then these documents I have before me are false?" asked the aged Hokage as he waved at the folder in front of him. He opened the folder and proceeded to read what's in it. "Let me see. According to this document, we have a total of 25,000 residents in Konoha, both Civilian and Shinobi. Is that correct Danzo?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. That information can easily be accessed through the Konoha Archive and in the Shinobi Library." Danzo answered promptly, not realizing the trap in such a harmless question of numbers.

"Good. Very good, Danzo. I know that they are open to the public but there is more. Let me see, ah yes, it says here that there are a total of 15,000 civilians in the leaf plus a total of 7,000 registered Shinobis – both retired, in reserve, and in active duty. Now tell me Danzo, where is the 3,000 that was unaccounted for?"

Danzo was sweating at this point since the remaining numbers coincided with the number of shinobis he currently have in his underground ROOT program. He was about to defend himself when the Hokage beat him to it.

"You know what I think Danzo-san? I think that these remaining unaccounted numbers are under your program."

Deciding to go with the innocent card, Danzo rebuffed the Hokage's claims. "I don't know what you mean Hokage-sama. I have no idea why there are 3,000 unaccounted numbers in Konoha."

Sarutobi smirked. Oh he got him now. Time to add the icing to the cake. He pulled out a piece of paper from the folder and read on for the benefit of his sweating opponent.

"Is that so Danzo? So does this mean that the people training under Sector 2, 10, 13, 14, and 42 aren't part of your ROOT program? You mean that there is another organization in the Leaf that I didn't know about that has a seal on their tongue and with the kanji of 'ROOT' on their masks? Are you sure Danzo?"

Danzo was sweating now. How in the world did Sarutobi know about his hidden training grounds and bases? This is impossible. There were all well-hidden. Paper trail was non-existent and all information regarding his activities was underground. The seal on his ROOT shinobis was full proof and he was sure that none of them tattled on him. How? He was about to say something but Sarutobi just raised his hand indicating for him to keep silent and leveled him a glare that could easily freeze a Bijuu in its tracks.

"Listen to me Danzo. I know ALL about your ROOT program and how you disregarded my order of disbanding them. I should have you killed for treason and let all your ROOT shinobis tortured for information after the seal is removed from their tongues." He paused to add to Danzo's unease. "Oh which reminds me, I already have the counter seal to it so they will surely squeal everything when Ibiki and Anko plays with them."

Danzo slumped in his chair. Everything is now out in the open and nothing he could say will protect him from his death. He gave the smirking Sarutobi a tired look. "What do you want Sarutobi?"

Inwardly, the Hokage pumped his mental hands in triumph and proceeded to the next phase of the plan. "Don't worry Danzo. You won't be executed for treason. Oh no. I still have use for you, old friend." he said in a sickly sweet voice that promised a lot of pain if he refused.

Seeing no disagreement from Danzo, Sarutobi continued.

"I want you to officially reactivate the ROOT program…" Danzo's face perked up when he heard this but slumped down again when he heard the next part. "…under my command. Starting today, I will take control of your ROOT with you at its director. It will be a shadow branch of Konoha military that will operate under guise. You will submit to me every single document, secrets, and plots you have under your program which I will peruse at a later time. Let me remind you Danzo that I know ALL of your moves and one wrong move means a day of torture at the hands of my trusted interrogators. Understood?" Seeing Danzo nod. What else could he do but agree.

"Good. You may leave. I expect everything here on my desk in 2 days; it should be enough time for you to relay the new order of things to my new subordinates. Do this or else." He added the last part with a burst of pure killer intent that made Danzo sweat.

With that, he dismissed a defeated Danzo while proceeding with the next phase of his plan.