Orochimama

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he stared off into the night sky from his office. Not the Hokage's office, but his own personal one that had only ever belonged to one Sarutobi Hiruzen and his clan. He didn't get a chance to use the thing very often. A fine layer of dust rested over the room and it echoed in a strangled silence under the weight of memory, as old places often do. No one had truly used the room in almost 40 years. Even Konohamaru never got the courage to disturb the reserved weight of his personal study. Ever year or so he'd hire someone to come in and dust and tidy the place up.

In his private thoughts he'd named the room the Future's Ember. It was where he tried to ignite the Will of Fire into his students.

It felt a waste. The only one of his students to still have it was Jiraiya, and he had never needed to be taught it. His perverted student had always burned brightly. He'd thought he'd instilled some of it into Orochimaru, but time showed he hadn't. Meanwhile Tsunade-

The door to the room was pushed open with forceful irreverence and Hiruzen felt himself blink at the sight.

"Tsunade?" He asked incredulously as the woman strode in with a tray holding a teapot and two cups; he recognized the set as his own.

"Sensei." Tsunade greeted casually and placed the tray down on the table with a clatter.

"What are you doing here? I know you hadn't left but I'd assumed it was because you found somewhere to drink yourself into a stupor." Hiruzen noted.

Tsunade gave a snort, far from insulted.

It seemed his student was at least not lying to herself about how she lived her life.

"Nah. I started to leave, but Shizune begged to be able to stay for a little while so she could visit family." Tsunade flopped into her chair on the other side of the desk, though it did far more interesting things to her anatomy now than it used to.

"Just that?" Hiruzen asked doubtfully.

"I might have also realized that the with the Chunin exams happening here that means the best gambling in Fire is happening right here." Tsunade admitted before poring the tea into the cups with a deft hand. The smell of steeped jasmine filled the room and a smile arose to Hiruzen's face without his permission.

Jasmine tea was what they always used to have with their time in this room.

"Well, far be it from me to try and convince you to leave Konoha so soon, regardless of your reasons for staying." Hiruzen chortled.

"Exactly. Now, spill, who do I need to be making bets on?" Tsunade demanded.

"Do you even know whose going to be in the final round?" Hiruzen asked doubtfully.

"No." Tsunade said without shame. "Spill it."

With a shake of his head, he handed his old student the names of those that made it to the final round. He could feel the frown on her face as she glanced down the list.

Temari

Haku

Zaku

Suigetsu

Tenten

Lee

Neji

Dosu

Sakura

Naruto

Gaara

"Who the fuck are all these people? You didn't even write down clan names." Tsunade demanded with irritation.

"Temari and Gaara are both children of the Kazekage. Temari is a powerful wind user and Gaara appears to be a jinchuriki that is capable of taking on many jounin." Hiruzen stated as he took a sip of his tea.

"So bet on him?" Tsunade asked mildly.

"He will have the best odds, yes." Hiruzen admitted. The kid was good and he was dangerous. It's why they had given him a pass during the preliminaries. He might have truly injured one their own ninja if he fought them; the boy wasn't exactly stable.

"Then there isn't much money there. Who has the bad odds but seems like they might go the distance? Whose the dark horse?" Tsunade asked.

"There's- no, no one really comes across like that."

"Ah. You hesitated, someone came to mind. Who is it?" Tsunade pressed.

"It is my emotion that says he has a possibility of winning, not my head. He really hasn't shown the ability to back it up as of yet. My heart just wishes that he would prove my brain wrong."

Tsunade frowned then checked the list before her head snapped back up. "It's Naruto, isn't it?"

Hiruzen blinked in surprise. "You know him?"

"Went to check on Jiraiya and found him training the kid. He's a rude little shit." Tsunade stated as she took a gulp of her tea like it was liquor and propped her feet up on Hiruzen's desk.

Laughter bubbled from Hiruzen and he leaned back in his own seat. "Yes, he is that."

The room lapsed into silence as the former sensei considered bringing up how much said brat resembled Nawaki. No, best not to shake the boat. Tsunade's dead brother was a sore subject for her even four and a half decades later. Besides, she'd surely already noticed.

"Did he tell you his dream?" Hiruzen asked instead.

"Yeah. Kid doesn't seem sharp enough to-" Tsunade stopped as she caught the wistful smile on his face. "Holy shit. It's him. You want him to be your successor."

He debated denying it. He debated denying that he didn't have a whole lot options around so he was a bright spark of hope for a man that didn't want to die wearing the hat. He debated denying that the only thing that kept him going sometimes was the future he saw in the hands of a boy that kept getting beaten down by the world and not only kept getting back up, but seemed to be getting back up with a more and more optimistic attitude each time. Instead, he settled for, "The Will of Fire burns so brightly in Naruto it is sometimes blinding."

"Great. Another kid meant to die too soon." Tsunade's voice was quiet, but the words were pushed with the weight of the world behind them and the Third Hokage felt something inside him wilt.

It did always seem like those with the brightest spark got taken out the quickest.

"Perhaps, but I am old and I need all the hope that I can grab onto." Hiruzen took another sip of his tea, hoping to warm his insides.

"You're really that desperate for someone to pass the hat to?" Tsunade asked incredulously. "Why don't you just give it to-"

Her voice faded and a look of contemplation crossed her face.

"Please continue. I would love an answer to this question." Hiruzen prompted.

"Er- what about that Hatake kid? Wasn't he supposed to be some genius?" Tsunade seemed to rally.

"Yes. Kakashi-kun is brilliant and would lead Konoha wonderfully. Unfortunately, he lacks the raw power to go with his talent. He frequently suffers chakra exhaustion and I suspect he pushed his chakra coils too hard when he was too young and they became stunted. For years he's trained and not had a large difference in his raw chakra amount." Hiruzen said with a shake of his head. Such a waste of brilliance. Kakashi would have been the equal of the Nidamine Hokage if he just had the power to go along with his depth of ability.

Tsunade gave a huff, but said nothing further. She'd likely noticed his hidden point.

Jiraiya wasn't suited to the position, and Tsunade refused to fill it, but they were the best two to take his place and they refused to. He realized it was unfair, but a part of Hiruzen was hurt that neither of his loyal students wanted to fill his position.

The weight of history of the room again began to descend in the silence and began to choke out the potential of conversation. Which seemed to be the only way meetings with old friends and students went anymore. Then, much to his surprise, Tsunade broke the silence.

"I thought the Uchiha was supposed to be in the tournament?"

"No. Sadly, he was knocked out in the preliminaries. In raw talent, he was the equal of his opponent, but it was a ninja from Sound that seemed to have some technique that attacked the inner ear and upset his balance, hearing, and vision. He was caught too far on the backfoot and couldn't recover." Hiruzen bemoaned. Having the Uchiha in the finals would have been a major draw for the crowds too.

"Really? That's a damn handy ability." Tsunade stated distantly. The fact was barely of note for her.

"Yes, there are several interesting abilities among the Sound ninja participating. For example-"

The two just sat, talking about the odds of the various ninja participating in the exam. They talked about the past, joked about the wide eyed kids that had no idea what they were getting into, and they had jasmine tea. They got to just sit down and just enjoy each other's company in a way he'd be longing for one of his students to do for decades; which was why he hated to ask the question.

"Why are you doing this Tsunade?"

"I'm just milking your for information for the gambling." Tsunade said dismissively.

"I would love for that to be true, Tsunade, but it is not. Please. The truth."

The blonde woman stared at him, her face blank as she searched Hiruzen's eyes.

"Sensei." She stated before sighing and running a hand over her forehead. "There's just been a lot of old ghosts and unanswered questions going around lately. I just- I wanted to check some stuff for myself, and that means staying in Konoha for a while."

Hiruzen gave a nod. He understood what she meant. This whole business with Orochitama had unburied many memories and Hiruzen himself was still trying to decide how he felt about the whole thing.

"Well, I am more than happy to talk with when you need it. I find conversation with an old friend is the best way to excise ghosts." Hiruzen stated as he reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle. "Sake helps too."

Tsunade threw her head back in a laugh and downed her tea to make room for the liquor. It wasn't perfect, and he felt he was still missing something about the situation, but Tsunade was here for the first time in decades and he would enjoy her company with gladness. Especially with the looming threat of something happening during the last stage of the Chunin Exam.

Though with Tsunade being in town? By his estimate it at least tripled the chances of him coming out of everything alive with her just being nearby.

One could never truly be ready, but with two of his students with him, he doubted much could take them by surprise.

xxxxxx

"We're ready." The Mist ninja stated to me firmly and with the confidence only available to teenagers.

Most the rebels looked far younger than I expected, and it twisted my gut to see them all prepare to raise their blades against those that they fought alongside for years. Civil wars were rarely pretty.

"Don't move until we give the signal." Mei stated sternly and the kid gave her a nod before glancing over at me and seeming to become emboldened and walked off with a spring in his step.

I was still, in many ways, the boogeyman of the Elemental Nations and I underestimated the effect it would have on morale for the group Mist Ninja's I had agreed to help overthrow their tyrant. After all, if you had the Boogeyman on your side, then your chances seemed pretty good. I just shouldn't expect to continue to have a warm reception after we were done.

I'd killed a LOT of Mist ninja. I might be sporting more curves and a sunny disposition now, but that sort of thing didn't tend to just be forgotten by anyone. Aside from your average voter.

"A part of me didn't expect you to show up." Mei stated from her seat; calling it a seat is actually rather generous. It was a few branches and twigs that used a small amount of canvas to convey the idea of a seat. A theme for all the things in the Mist Rebel camp it seemed.

"I gave my word. Plus I have entirely selfish reasons for being here." I promised.

"Oh? Such as?" Mei asked.

"Well, I'm hoping to be able to grab the man that has been using genjutsu to control the Mizukage for quite some time. Most especially, I hope to get a chance to kill his little Ying-Yang helper." I stated lightly and Mei's face hardly twitched at the statement. Curious. "I also have the benefit of being stuck in this hot tent with an attractive woman. Why, it might get so hot and humid we might just need to take our clothes off and-"

Mei's face morphed into disgust and she recoiled away. "Stop! Your insufferable flirting is horrible."

A wicked smile graced my face. "Ah, you believe it."

"Yes, I do believe your flirting is horrible." She stated firmly.

I ignored her. "You reacted to that, but not the statement about your Kage. You believe it. You have already accepted that he's been a puppet."

Mei glared at me. I smiled back and gave a wave.

"Fine, yes, I've come to believe your tip off. His behavior matches long term genjutsu manipulation and explains away a lot of his inconsistencies that we had previously just marked up to him being mad. That doesn't leave this room; I can take control of things if it was just a mad Mizukage. If there is more beyond that it will complicate thing and people will look to lash out at other nations in blame, regardless of if they are to blame or not."

"True. You need the valiant loyalist to strike down a tyrant because she loves her village oh so much, not the woman that might be in on a conspiracy." I acknowledge and attempted to lean back and look comfortable in the chair. It was a lost cause. I could either look comfortable, or be mildly less inconvenienced than standing, I couldn't do both. I abandoned the attempt and instead chose to lean forward and rest my chin on my knuckles and my elbows on me knees. "If that's the case, it would be best if you beat Yagura without my direct help."

"What?" Mei asked, alarmed. "You're trying to back out now?"

"Oh no! Nothing of the sort." I laughed and waved a hand before going back to position. "I'm going to make sure that your fight with Yagura is private and I'll wait in the wings to stop the person controlling him, or any other backup he might have. I'll try to keep eyes off my fight too, so no one notices."

"That is not a bad idea. If you can ensure that no one else interferes in the fight, then...I won't even need most of my forces. As soon as Yagura is dead, it's mostly just clean up. Most people will swear to me; after some politics and bitching for a few months." Mei stated in consideration.

A strength and weakness of the Ninja world. If you were strong enough to kill their old boss, most ninja thought it made you the new authority now. There would be loyalists, but they tended to not want to die to the much larger population.

"Not just that. My Sound Four can create a barrier that no one will be able to pass through and enclose the space for the fight." I promised.

Mei's eyes widened. If I could make sure her fight was in an enclosed space, it would be much easier for her. Both her lava and acidic steam would far deadlier and it would take away Yagura's strength of numbers.

"His Coral Release would also be stronger in a confined space and I'm not confident I can beat him all by myself." Mei admitted.

"Then don't. Take Zabuza with you. Having him on your side will also show this has been something long in the works and speak to your guile for being able to rise so high despite being an ally to the last attempt."

"That...could work." Mei admitted and I gave a clap as I clasped my hands together.

"Great! That just leaves one last tiny detail. Do you have plan for what to do with the Sanbi?" I asked before slowly standing and giving a stretch to my back. Mei stood far quicker and with little regard for her hardworking chair.

"Do you have intentions on it? Is that why you're helping?" She demanded fairly. I was essentially implying that I'd like to take their nukes. The power of a tailed beast could not be understated.

"Mei. I've told you Akatsuki's plan. If you don't have a damn good place to put the Sanbi, then I absolutely am going to take it and put it somewhere safe."

"If we lose it, then other nations will see it as a sign of weakness and attack."

"You have me. I'm more deterrent than an untrained Jinchuriki would be. Besides, the only one in a position to attack you would be Lightning, and if they deployed to attack you Iwa would crush them from the other side while they were weak. Besides, Mist is a pain to invade and do anything to. Now, if you have a safe place to put the Sanbi I'll be happy to leave it. Otherwise, I'm taking Isobu with me when we're done." I stated seriously, with nary a wink or innuendo.

"Isobu? Is that-?" Mei stops and seems to consider my words, turning them over in her head before sighing. "No. We don't have a way to contain him. All our best seal masters have died due to being traitors or under mysterious circumstances. We can't seal it away again when Yagura dies."

"Then I will make sure he stays safe." I responded firmly.

"Right, and it just so happens to strengthen your village's position." Mei said with a sign. "The more I deal with you the more I'm afraid of what I'm unleashing on the world by not killing you."

"Ara ara! Don't be so silly Mei-chan!" I said while I waved my hand dismissively. "There's no way you could kill me."

The way her eye twitched was just art.

xxxx