Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, characters, plots, etc.

Prologue - Chapter 1 - Council Meeting

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, the Professor, the God of Shinobi, had once again been reduced to this. He sighed internally. Politics. His gaze drifted over to the current speaker in the council, a rather rotund merchant representative named Harushi Karimoto. Realising that he had been ignoring the man's words in favour of introspection – again – he focussed in on the man's undoubtedly long-winded speech…

"…and with the influx of commerce that this new venture will bring, I feel confident that…"

…and promptly tuned out again. By Kami, this was dull. It was almost bad enough to make him wish for another war. At least then the whole village council would only be called in cases of extreme emergency, otherwise the civilian council and the shinobi council would deal with their own issues, in the interest of efficiency. Come to think of it, why would it ever be kept together? His eyes slowly panned around the room. The civilian councillors, they looked bored. It wasn't impossible to be interested in what Harushi was discussing, but it was as close as anything could come to being so. The shinobi councillors were the usual for these kinds of meetings.

Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara clan and Jōnin commander of Konohagakure, was asleep as usual, his spiky ponytail rising into the air above him as he lightly snored with his forehead resting on his arms. His long-time allies and fellow clan heads Inoichi, of the Yamanaka clan, and Chōza, of the Akimichi clan, were sat either side of him, the latter slumped in his chair with a look of defeat etched across his face, while the former leant his chair back on two legs, feet propped up on the desk in front of him, clearly gazing into his own little world. To their right sat the Inuzuka clan head, Tsume; a legendarily impatient and impulsive woman, she was subtly demonstrating an impressive amount of self-control if the rage indicated by her grinding teeth, clenched fist and rapidly tapping leg was any indication. Knowing Tsume as well as he did, the Third was positive she would rather be doing battle with the civilian council than listening to them, if only because she'd be able to stretch her legs. Sat alongside her was Shibi Aburame, head of the Aburame clan, and a complete mystery. Sarutobi didn't know how he was feeling, though he also often wondered if the man knew himself. The last and likely most prominent clan head was Hiashi Hyūga, head of the Hyūga clan, the largest clan in Konoha. His impassive eyes gazed at, and potentially through Harushi, giving the distinct impression of listening to, but most certainly not caring about a topic so far beneath him.

Six of the most powerful shinobi in what was arguably the most powerful shinobi village in all of the Elemental Nations, were sat around a crescent-shaped table facing the civilian council. Six A-ranked shinobi, famous far and wide for their feats and their prestige, were sat in a large room debating the merits of various economic policies and actions. Debating being used in the most generous of senses, potentially observing the debate. Or possibly being in the vicinity of it. Knowing of it at the least.

There was a seventh seat at the shinobi table. At the opposite end to the Hyūga seat, there sat an empty chair, the tall back emblazoned with the crest of the Uchiha clan. Since the founding of the village the Uchiha had occupied a council seat and now, for the first time, the seat went unfilled. The recent Uchiha massacre had been preying on his mind now for a myriad of reasons, not least of them an overwhelming sense of guilt. He did not regret doing what needed to be done. Not for a second. He did however, regret the position it placed the late clan head Fugaku's two children in. One declared an S-rank missing-nin at the age of thirteen – thirteen – and the other left orphaned, mentally tortured and, for want of a more accurate term, abandoned. Abandoned by his family for leaving him alone, and abandoned by his elder brother, whom he witnessed destroy his entire family.

Sarutobi continued to reminisce, not noticing that the civilian council had begun to filter out and the shinobi council had begun to wake up.

"Lord Hokage?"

At the founding of the village, an unprecedented problem arose. For the first time in history, the two dōjutsu clans were cooperating, though not without extreme suspicion. For the longest time, both clans had professed that their Kekkei Genkai was the superior of the two, in some cases, had gone so far as to circulate rumours concerning the origins of either dōjutsu in order to decrease demand for their competitor's services. This was all during the time of the clan wars of course, such defamation would not be accepted now amongst the clans of Konoha, and infighting amongst the leaves would only weaken the branches of the great tree.

"Lord Hokage!"

It had gotten so bad that upon the founding of the village, both the Hyūga and Uchiha had agreed to be seated directly opposite each other, entrusting to their fabled eyes the task of detecting the inevitable machinations and deceit of their rivals.

A tap on the shoulder distracted the Professor from his thoughts. He gazed up into the lazy expression of Shikaku expectantly.

"A word in your office Hokage-sama? I've been doing some thinking."

When a Nara thought, the world waited. When a Nara spoke those thoughts, the world listened, and usually obeyed. One must be extraordinarily stupid to disregard the advice of a Nara. As far back as the second shinobi world war, a Nara had held the position of the village's chief strategist. Indeed, whilst the first shinobi world war had been won largely on the back of the strength of Konoha's clans and various Kekkei Genkai, it had come at a great cost, namely the loss of both the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It was a terrible blow, as they had been two of the most powerful shinobi to have ever graced the Elemental Nations, and a great personal tragedy to Hiruzen as well, to lose both of his senseis. The second shinobi world war was a great victory for Konoha, and a large part of that victory was attributed to the tactical genius of the Nara clan, who devised battle plans, contingency plans and emergency plans for every conceivable occasion, and for those events that were inconceivable, they were very good at thinking on the fly.

The fact that Shikaku had been active enough to actually gain his attention and get involved indicated he had been thinking hard about something, and it was significant enough to both keep his attention, and warrant the attention of the village leader. Sarutobi was not extraordinarily stupid.