Plans

Kurowashi landed on the roof of the Hokage building after three hours of flying.

"Don't forget to visit us kid. Shirawashi-sama is hoping to see you in the future. Don't take too long." Kurowashi said as he disappeared into smoke.

"Hiroki-kun, thank you for helping Konoha through this ordeal. You will be rewarded for all of this." Hiruzen said.

"Thank you Sandaime." Hiroki said.

"You three can leave now. There are things I need to take care of." Hiruzen said as he went to his office. Hiroki, Orochimaru and Jiraiya left after that.

———

Inside the Hokage office...

"Hiruzen, you called for me. Is there something important? What happened in Suna? You came back earlier than expected." Danzo asked as he arrived.

Hiruzen had a serious look on his face. It was now hard for him to face his friend after knowing that he was working in the background against Konoha. He kept silent for two minutes while staring at Danzo. This made Danzo wary because he wasn't used to the serious stare Hiruzen was giving him.

"Danzo, what can you tell me about ten shinobi that tried ambushing our entourage?" Hiruzen asked.

Danzo gulped as he felt Hiruzen suspect him.

'Damn it. Hiruzen was to return two days from today. Did something happen? There's no way that my root anbu would say anything about my plans. The seals I put on them would not allow that.' Danzo thought in silence.

"I don't know Hiruzen. Who were the....?" Danzo was about to ask before he was interrupted by Hiruzen's killing intent. He felt great difficulty to breath.

"Don't lie Danzo. You sent root anbu to stop us and make it look like Suna was attacking us. Why Danzo? Why did you become so low? What happened to the will of fire that sensei taught us?" Hiruzen asked each word laced with anger.

Danzo knew that there was no way to get out from this. His only choice was to come clean.

"Hiruzen, I did this only with the best interest for Konoha in my mind. Konoha doesn't need any help from..."

"ENOUGH!. You are not the one to decide the future of Konoha. You are not the Hokage. You are only a part of the council that I placed you in. You have no power other than the one I gave you. I should have you executed for this crime you committed against Konoha." Hiruzen said as he exploded in anger. He then calmed down and said: "From now on you are to disband root and it's member. You have until tonight to hand over the documents and files of everything you have done these past years. You are to undo the seals on the tongues of each member of root. You have been relived from your council duties as well. You may leave now." Hiruzen said.

"But..."

"LEAVE, NOW!" Hiruzen yelled. Danzo didn't have a choice and left the office unwillingly.

———

"Ni-san, Ne-san, are you home?" Hiroki asked as he knocked on the door.

Kushina hurried and opened the door, welcoming Hiroki inside.

"Hiroki, good to see you. How was your mission? I want you to tell me everything." Kushina said.

Hiroki then told every detail about the mission and how Danzo tried to stop the alliance between Konoha and Suna.

"I always knew that that man was no good. The old man should have dealt with him long ago. Minato tried warning him of Danzo's doings, but he never believed." Kushina said.

"Well, there's no way he won't take any decisions against Danzo now. He recognized the root anbu and they confessed everything thanks to your seals ne-san. I guess you had a hand in all this in, a way. Hehe." Hiroki said.

They kept talking for a few minutes longer. Hiroki then left her house. He went to the forest of death for some practice, but on the way he met up with Orochimaru.

"Hiroki-kun, good to see you again. I was wondering if you could help me with some of my research? If you have the time, please follow me to my lab." Orochimaru asked.

'Child he already have started doing human experiments or is it the cursed seal. Either way, I need to check out and try to keep him from going to the dark side. Once he starts, he'll then lose his humanity little by little.' Hiroki thought.

"Sure, Orochimaru-san. I'll try my best to help you, but I don't know if it's going to be much. Hehe." Hiroki said as he followed Orochimaru to his research lab.

"This here is my secret lab Hiroki-san. Feel welcome to come anytime you need a help with something. I'll be here most of the time."

"Thank you Orochimaru-san, but what do you want my help with?"

"I saw that you have a great knowledge with seals. Right now I'm working on a seal that will let me reincarnate in another body. Thus allowing me to live for ever. Will you help me with it?"

"Orochimaru-san, that is actually something impossible to do, unless you get a living body and soul and use it as sacrifice. It is almost like the Nidaime's impure world reincarnation. And it is a crime against life itself." Hiroki was now thinking if he should tell him about synthetic life form and help Orochimaru. He nodded his head and decided to talk about it. "What do you know about synthetic life form?"

"Synthetic life form? What is that?"

"Let's say it's is a created life. A life created from experiments. Take shadow clones for instance. They are a copy of yourself, but they don't really have a body of their own. If you are able to create a copy of yourself, a clone, you could transfer your soul to that body, thus extending your own life." Hiroki explained.

Orochimaru kept thinking about what Hiroki said for some minutes. He contemplated the theory behind what he said and saw that it was something that might actually work.

"Hiroki-kun, do you know how to create a synthetic clone?" Orochimaru asked.

"I don't know, but I can get you some material to help you create one. There's only one small problem." Hiroki said.

"And what is that problem?"

"Time. You'll have to wait for me to get that 'material' and I don't know how long it will take. It could take me from a few months to some years."

"I'll be waiting excitedly for that day Hiroki-kun." Orochimaru said as he walked around the lab while writing down some notes. Hiroki then stopped him and said: "Promise me you won't use another's life for this experiment and I will hand it to you. Do we have a deal?" Hiroki then extended his hand to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru then shook hands with Hiroki as he promised not to use a life for this experiment.

Hiroki then left towards his apartment. He had wanted to go to the training ground and see Minato and the others, but they were out of the village doing a mission.

"I guess I'll just have to go practice somewhere. The first battle that would start the war will not happen since Suna and Konoha are now allies. The next battle would probably be against Iwa or Kiri as they used the opportunity to attack Konoha since we would have been busy against Suna, thus weakening us. There's also Kumo in the end of the war. I can't forget about Ame. Hanzo plotted against Nagato, Konan and Yahiko. He felt threatened by them and their corporation, akatsuki. Danzo also helped as he wanted the war against Iwa to continue after Minato was nominated Hokage. That bastard wanted to continue the war even though everything was already over so he could gain more power. I better work hard and prevent Nagato from becoming Pain. The future is not going to be easy in the years to come. I think I'll go to Hidden Fog Mountain and train under Shirawashi. Sage mode will be a great help. Not to say that it will also be a great place for me to practice mokuton." Hiroki said to himself as he walked home.