The Cloud Over The Leaf

The Hokage Building even at night was busy as Minato was still buried in his paperwork with drowsy eyes.

'I really need an assistant to handle some of this mess.'

Minato rubbed the bridge of his nose as he took a quick break from his work and sighed.

He felt a sudden shiver crawl up his spine as he paid attention to his surroundings.

'This sensation. It must be...'

[Hello again, 4th Hokage.]

Minato looked around for the source of the sound, but couldn't find it.

[I'm in your shadow. You can't find me that easy.]

"Akumu... Please stop surprising me like that."

[Hehehe! Gotta stay on your toes, Yellow Flash. You never want anyone else to sneak up on you like that mask did.]

Minato's expression became serious as Akumu mentioned that ninja.

"Will you tell me more about him now?"

[Yes, in a way. I have some other information for you as well.]

Minato nodded his head

"Before you begin, may I call some people to receive this information as well? I have a feeling you will have some big news again."

[Sure. You should probably call Shikaku and Fugaku. They would be the most relevant for this information. I don't trust those other old ninjas besides Hiruzen.]

Minato nodded his head as he planned to do just that.

"Eagle, please call Shikaku-san and Fugaku-san to my office."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

A hidden Anbu quickly went to fetch Shikaku as he wondered why exactly was the 4th talking to himself.

'Perhaps he is too tired from the paperwork? Maybe it's a new Jutsu?!'

The Anbu shook his head of those thoughts as he focused on his task.

15 minutes later.

*Knock Knock*

"Come in."

The door to the Hokage office opened as Shikaku and Fugaku entered the room.

"It's quite late. What did you need of us, 4th Hokage-sama?"

Shikaku asked Minato,wondering why he was called here so late in the night.

Minato motioned Fugaku to close the door as he turned to look around the room.

"Everything you here from now on is confidential. Understood?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"I called you both here to receive information together with me from Akumu. I would love your input on how we should proceed with the information we'll receive."

The two men grew serious at the possibilities of the information Akumu could give the Leaf. He had already helped them find information on Danzo and Orochimaru no one else anticipated. They wondered how important this information would be.

"When will the Akumu arrive?"

[I'm already here.]

Everyone besides Minato felt a shiver as a large wolf came right out of Minato's shadow, appearing directly behind him.

Shikaku took a deep breath to calm himself and focused his attention on the black wolf. Fugaku also monitored the wolf curiously as his size had increased since they last met.

[Nice to meet you all officially! You can call me Akumu. I hope we can get along well for years to come.]

Akumu bowed his head slightly at the two men.

"It's... our pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Shikaku responded back to Akumu as he and Fugaku also gave a courtesy bow.

The two men were surprised as they hadn't expected Akumu to be so polite. 

"Tenzo. Chairs for our... human guests please."

Two chairs suddenly formed behind the two, prompting them to sit down.

The two sat down slowly as Akumu went to the side of the desk to give Minato space.

Fugaku was a bit confused as he looked at Minato.

"Is it ok for Hiashi to not be here?"

[It's fine. The information I have now is just relevant to the two of you. When he's necessary, I'd like him to be hear about this as well.]

Fugaku nodded his head at Akumu's response.

Minato looked at Akumu with a smile.

"Now then, the first thing I want to do is thank you for your information last time. With your help, we've saved quite a few lives that may have not made it. I even have a daughter now."

""What?!""

[A daughter?!]

Akumu and the others were surprised as this was something no one knew!

"Yes. I found her in Orochimaru's lab, the one you found for us. She appeared to be the last of her clan left out of the survivors."

Minato shook his head softly.

I couldn't ignore those eyes for revenge against Orochimaru. I wanted to help her with her wish, but also to give her a happier life. I brought her home to meet Kushina and Naruto. Kushina took a liking to her quickly, but Naruto didn't get along with her at first. She's been very good for motivating Naruto with his studies now though. She's showing great potential for being a ninja. I just wish I can do something about her hatred."

Minato's eyes became a bit cloudy as he quickly shook his head. 

"Please take care of her if you see her. Her name is Shizuka. She'll take my last name once she's strong enough."

"I didn't know you had adopted a child, Hokage-sama. Congratulations!"

"Congratulations! I'll have to get a gift for her."

[Congratulations!  I hope she'll be able to clear her vengeance.]

Minato nodded his head as he remembered the main topic at hand.

"Sorry for changing the subject at the start, but can you tell us the identity of the Masked man?"

[ I won't be able to tell you. I will instead give you a hint this time.]

Minato face scrunched slightly, but he still waited patiently for any information he could use to find the figure.

'I can't let someone who's potentially Madara just walk away!'

[Your hint to find who the identity of the figure is with Kakashi.]

"Kakashi?!"

Minato was surprised!

Fugaku and Shikaku were also caught off guard as well!

"Why Kakashi? Is there a relationship between the two?"

Fugaku asked cautiously. The other two waited for the answer as well.

[All I can tell you is that Kakashi is related to that figure in a way. The best way to find out how is to train him a bit more in a specific direction. I'm sure you'll figure it out.]

"Ugh! What a drag! You deliver nothing, but hints?"

[Hehe! Sorry. It's the way it has to be.]

"How credible is the information you have?"

Fugaku asked as he went over the information received. He had an inkling that the identity of the man was someone he may have already knew. He looked over at Minato's brooding face as he might've come to the same conclusion as him.

[I'm pretty certain on the information I have. If you do decide to attack him with the Hiraishin, I suggest you proceed with the utmost caution.You may also want to monitor all your relatives on missions from now on, Fugaku-san. He might try to gather eyes or even steal the recovered ones if he can.]

Fugaku's hands gripped his seat hard as he nodded his head and decided to get extra security on the eyes they retrieved from Danzo's clutches.

[Now for one of the main points I wanted to inform you about.]

Akumu's eyes slowly opened as he looked at the three men.

Fugaku shot up from his seat in disbelief!

"A Sharingan?!"

The other two were shocked as well as they saw Akumu's white Sharingan.

[I wanted to ask you some information on how to use these eyes effectively once we're finished, Fugaku-san. That is, if you don't mind.]

Fugaku stood still and breathed in deeply to calm himself.

[I'm sorry if you were offended in any way, but my eyes came with my reward last time. I honestly didn't expect this to happen. I hope you understand.]

"No. It's alright. I'd rather a Biju use them than a greedy human. The light was taken from them as well. It's good to see that they were able to used once again."

Fugaku thought for a short while and looked back at Akumu.

"I can give you the basics of how to use them effectively, but I won't give any clan techniques unless you join under our clan."

[I'm fine with the basics. I'm already under a household, so I won't be able to join you.]

"That's fine. I can respect that decision."

The two nodded in agreement as Akumu turns toward Shikaku and Minato.

[The other information I'll let you know is to look out for the birth of an organization that may be called the Akatsuki. They will be controlled by the Masked man and have the goal of collecting all Biju for a sinister purpose.] 

The three's faces, especially Minato's, became stern as he held his hands together.

"I see. So he'll have to recruit people to help with that. Do you know how many may be in the group?"

Akumu shook his head.

[I plan to find out. My estimate is at least 10 S rank ninja, give or take.]

Their faces became grim as the three thought of their own opinions on the matter.

[That's all the information I have right now. I'll let you gentlemen think on countermeasures and such. You would have a better idea on what to do after all.]

"...Thank you for the information, Akumu. We'll take it from here."

Akumu nodded his head and looked at Fugaku.

[I'll look for you tomorrow if you're free. After that, I plan to leave the village to scout some areas of interest in a few days. If you need to contact me, just find Hii Kurokumo.]

"Hii?! How surprising! Sasuke won't stop talking about how fun training is with him. I didn't know he was related to you."

[Heh. Those kids have a lot of fun. Hii also hangs out with Shikaku's son as well. It's only on his rest days though.]

"Haha! I've heard of that as well. It's good the youth are getting along. I wish Shikamaru would train just as much, but I guess he finds it a drag."

Shikaku rubbed the back of his head bashfully as the other two sighed.

[Well, I'll be off now. Use the information how you see fit. Good night.]

The three nodded their heads as Akumu slowly sank into the shadows and disappeared. The three went over the information they received once more, debating into the night. It would be a while before they could leave the Hokage building.

******

Hii was relaxing as he finally came back from his long training.

"Hii-Nii! What did you do for your training?! Did you kill stuff?!"

"That's not the first thing you should ask, Moya."

Hii was sitting in the living room, surrounded by Moya and Yozora. He was reading a book at the table. Moya was pouting at him on one side while Yozora was eating an apple on the other.

Henda sat nearby on the couch, laughing at their little interactions.

"Moya gets straight to the point! Hahaha!"

"Are you Stronger?"

Hii nodded his head at Yozora's question as he read a on medical anatomy.

'I have to find more ways to get stronger or Akumu will just leave me in the dust.'

"Don't ignore me, Hii-Nii!"

"Ugh. Fine."

Hii rolled his eyes as he patted Moya's fluffy head. 

"I had survival training with Akumu. I killed a few snakes.How did your training go?"

"Hehe! We can almost use earth style now! Grandma will teach us more Jutsu once we learn how to control it well. "

"Mmm."

Moya gave a peace sign while Yozora simply nodded. 

"Good. l knew you two could do it."

The twins giggle happily as Henda stood up from the couch.

"Ok! I'm going to make some weapons. You want to help a bit, Yozora?"

"Yes."

"I wanna go to! Can I hammer stuff again?!"

"We'll see if we can find something for you to hit."

"Yay!"

"We'll be back, Hii."

"See you later!"

The three of them head out to the shop as Hii continues to read.

'I wonder where Akumu went to?'

Akumu had left in the morning very excited. 

Hii continued to read about the different functions of the body, looking for a way to increase the power of his Jutsus from the base.

'If I can use Storm Style, maybe... No that might be a bad idea.'

Hii sat down all day as the sun started to set.

[Hii.]

A voice suddenly surprised Hii, but he responded with a smile.

"Welcome back, Akumu! Did you get what you wanted."

[Yep! Go to your room for a bit. I gotta show you something.]

Hii closed his book and headed to his room.

Hii went to his room and sat on his bed. His shadow began to stretch as Akumu slowly came out of it, noticeably excited.

"So what are you going to show me?"

[Something cool!]

Akumu's tail wagged violently as he tried to contain his excitement.

Hii snickered as he wondered if Akumu could control his tail or not.

 "Ok, show me."

Akumu nodded his head as he slowly opened his eyes.

[Look into my eyes and relax your mind. Don't resist, ok?]

Hii nodded his head and looked into his eyes and saw the one tomoe spin around rapidly.

He watched the eyes spin until suddenly, the white pupil grew bigger and bigger. 

"Huh?"

Hii realized he was now standing up in an unknown space. It was a wide, white world as far as he could see. 

"This is a new skill I learned! My ability with Genjutsu is apparently pretty good. It might even be my specialty."

Hii turned around and was stunned.

He didn't see a wolf talking to him at all.

There was a tall man with short black hair looking at him. He wore a black kimono and sandals.

He looked at Hii with a grin he was all too familar with.

"A-Akumu?"

"Yeah. I didn't think I could do this either. It's kind of weird to be human again, even if it is in an illusion."

Akumu rubbed his head as he looked around.

"This is a bit too bland. I wonder if I can....."

The white space suddenly changed into a dojo.

Hii just stood there, shocked at what he was seeing as he couldn't take his eyes off of the room.

It looked familiar, but foreign at the same time.

"There! Much better. Now then, welcome to your new training ground. Since the first one was pretty good. I thought we'd go for another one before I left. This time, however..."

Akumu's smile widened.

"You get to fight the human me."