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It was ridiculously easy for him to kill the shinobi tasked with taking the child to the hospital. Doubtless, it was because of his sheer skill as a shinobi. Or maybe her extreme lack of skill. Regardless, it wouldn't be until they started clean-up that they discovered her throat had been slit by a kunai.

In any case, the man carried the squawling brat through one of his many labs, finally arriving at a room he had set up for a purpose similar to the one that had caused him to be driven out of his home village. Placing the child in one of the tubes covering the walls, he approached the only space on the wall not taken up by a tube, and began sifting through the scrolls covering the shelves in the wall until he came across the one he was looking for.

Applying some chakra to the scroll, but only enough to produce one of the vials in it, he shook the vial of red liquid briefly as he approached the child once again. Setting things up so that the blood in the vial would be replicated as needed, he set it to splicing the DNA in a matter of hours. It would be an extremely painful process for the child, but his unique status would bring the brat through it. And the man who had set up the process was fully aware that he did not have much time. Sensei will likely be searching for the brat now. He thought, activating some security measures as he exited the lab. Instantly, steel doors slammed into place, silencing the baby's cries to his ears. Finally, I was about to kill the child and be done with it, experiment be damned.

Slamming his palm into the floor of the room, he poured some chakra into it and grinned in satisfaction as the seals covering every surface of the room lit up. Straightening from his former position, the traitor let off a grunt that told of his aggravation. "Such a chakra-consuming technique for only one use." He muttered, then shook out his arms in preparation for those who would come to attack him, and retrieve the brat that was doubtless screaming behind the steel door.

After all, it was a painful process.

Sarutobi blanched when he realized that Naruto was not where he should be. He mobilized his ANBU to seek out the boy. It was possible for the hospital staff to have missed filling out an admittance form in the rush of attempting to heal those that had more pressing injuries than a recently born baby.

Exactly one hour later, the pipe he'd been smoking worriedly in an attempt to calm his frayed nerves was dropped from his lips as the ANBU reported that they had not found the boy. Quickly mobilizing all available Konoha forces, which included his old teammates, they set to locating the missing boy. It would be the second time in as many days that he donned his armor, and he hoped it would be the last.

Taking his teammates with him, they began to navigate the underground of Konoha, reluctantly led by Danzo. Yes, the man's ROOT operated out of the tunnels, but it was a necessary evil. For future wartime efforts, they would need shinobi willing to take suicide missions, and ROOT did whatever Danzo wanted of them. Hiruzen did not have to condone what Danzo did to recognize something useful when he saw it.

The cyclops in question led them through the tunnels, swiftly approaching one of Orochimaru's deserted labs. His scouts had reported the area inaccessible, which meant the snake was here. Laughter greeted them as they entered the antechamber, with Orochimaru, clad in the Akatsuki cloak, there to greet them.

"Hello sensei. I see you've brought your old teammates as well. Excuse me if I do not follow protocol, but I have to keep you from entering the chamber behind me for another fifteen minutes." The Sannin declared, shifting into a ready stance.

A soft clack resounded through the room as the resident warhawk's cane hit the floor. "Are you alright, old friend?" Sarutobi quietly asked, the staff of the Monkey King held in his hands.

"I am fine, Hiruzen." Danzo replied, removing the bandages wrapped around his arm. What appeared to be a wooden substance covered it, and he quickly flashed through some seals before thrusting an open palm towards the White Snake, a wooden barrier rising up from the floor to encase the traitor.

Orochimaru jumped out of the way, using the attempted cage as a springboard to launch himself higher. Attaching himself to the ceiling through application of chakra, the Sannin raised an eyebrow at Danzo's arm. "It seems that not all of my research was destroyed, eh?" He commented dryly.

Hiruzen merely filed away Danzo's new ability for later consideration. Danzo's base was in the tunnels, which meant he had far easier access to any of Orochimaru's research. It would be a simple matter to spirit away some of the research materials.

Orochimaru formed some hand signs quickly, leaping backwards as he did in order to give himself some more distance from his opponents. As much as he was loath to admit it, all he was doing here was stalling them. "Doton: Doryu Heki!" He cried out, spitting the stream of mud several yards in front of his former sensei.

Instead of a simple barrier, which was the original idea for the technique, the one who sought immortality displayed his mastery over his own elemental affinity as he created a solid wall that blocked off the rest of the room from his foes.

Following the wall with another set of seals, Orochimaru spit out several renditions of Katon: Hosenka, baking the mud into clay. While no match for some truly powerful techniques, the clay wall would serve to force his opponents to waste chakra attempting to get past it.

Orochimaru was broken out of his reverie at the sound of the wall breaking, followed swiftly by a large group of kunai and shuriken thrown at him. Easily dodging the pitiful attempt, Orochimaru cursed as he was suddenly surrounded by several copies of each of the foursome before him. A single punch rendered one of the copies of Sarutobi into a puddle of mud that quickly fell to the floor, confirming the snake's suspicions, before he set to the task of destroying the clones, which began attacking him in earnest.

Mud clones were far less chakra intensive than shadow clones, but, much like water clones, they were far weaker than the original.

His senses saved this skin as he barely dodged the extension of Enma's staff form, followed by jumping up once more as the staff was suddenly swept to the side.

At the smirk spread across Sarutobi's face, Orochimaru cursed, realizing his mistake. It was near impossible to maneuver in the air, and Shunshin was useless while in the air. As Himura's Suiryuudan bore down upon him, Orochimaru countered with a Karyuu Endan, bathing the room in steam that he quickly capitalized on. "Suiton: Kirigakure No Jutsu!" He called, holding the requisite seal until the room was covered in mist.

He was not skilled in the Silent Killing Art, but he was simply trying to delay them. He channeled chakra to his ears, heightening his sense of hearing. The labored breathing of the elderly warriors, and as close together as it was, told him that they had put their backs to each other, ensuring that Orochimaru could not kill them one by one.

Suddenly, one of the sets of breathing vanished, and the shuffling of feet notified him that the remaining trio had shifted into a standard Manji formation, although a close one. Where was the other one, however?

A blade piercing his chest from behind answered his question as the owner of the tanto grinned in satisfaction. Danzo cursed when the White Snake's corpse dissapeared from his tanto's edge, dissolving into smoke. "It was a Kage Bunshin!" He called into the room, fully aware that the fighting was now over. He had been informed by his spies that there was no one else other than Orochimaru in the room. It also explained the Snake's lack of chakra, which Danzo had originally put down to dealing with Konoha nin and ROOT on his way to the lab.

The steel slab behind Danzo opened, and the first sound to greet the foursome was the screaming of a baby in pain.

Sarutobi sat at his desk several minutes later, still clad in his battle armor. Tsunade held the white-haired baby in her arms, though she looked none too pleased to be doing it, and Jiraiya was leaning against the wall.

Danzo's bandages were once again covering his arm, and the cane was also back in place, which he was leaning heavily against. Danzo had put his back to one of the walls, and ensured that each of the room's exits were visible to him. Koharu and Homura had seated themselves in the couches that had become their second home, and the room's final occupant was the one to break the silence.

"What's with the gathering, Hokage-sama?" Shikaku Nara asked, his face the picture of confusion.

"That is what you are here for, Shikaku. The baby that Tsunade-hime is holding is Uzumaki Naruto, and the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Yoko. He is also an unofficial member of both the Namikaze and Senju clans. Namikaze, because of who his father was, and Senju, because of Orochimaru's experimentation." The Professor declared sadly, his face displaying his own grief in a rare display of complete loss of emotional control.

"I see. I take it Orochimaru is long gone?" At the Sandaime's confirming nod, Shikaku breathed an annoyed sigh. "Alright. So, what's next?"

"If I may interrupt, old friend, perhaps you should go over why we are the ones being told this information. For the benefit of those among us not... strategically minded." This last comment was directed towards Jiraiya, causing the self-proclaimed Super Pervert to scowl.

"Very well. Myself, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu are aware because we found Naruto. Tsunade and Jiraiya are aware because they are my chosen successors, not to mention that I want Jiraiya to keep an eye on Naruto, should Tobirama-sensei's DNA do something to the seal. Shikaku has been made aware because he is the Jonin Commander. Any questions?" Saruotbi asked, to which Danzo once again voiced his opinion.

"Is there a reason why I am not amongst your chosen successors?" He growled out, to which Jiraiya scoffed.

"It might be because you'll lead Konoha into a war you cannot win." The Toad Hermit muttered, receiving a silencing glare from his sensei for the comment.

"Danzo, you are not amongst my successors because Konoha needs your full attention focused on your ROOT program. We will need your ROOT should Konoha enter a war." Sarutobi left the reasons that they would need it unsaid. Danzo recognized what they were, however, and gave a nod. The crippled man had decided, long ago, that he would do whatever it took to preserve Konoha. If that meant destroying everything he'd built, so be it.

"Everything that has just been discussed is declared an S-Class secret. Discussing this secret with anyone outside of this room without my, or Naruto's, permission, will result in swift punishment, in the form of execution. That goes for you as well, Tora." He stated, the last part directed to the short ANBU standing behind him.

"Hai." The boy stated quietly, then resumed his silent vigil. "Very well. As my first act as Hokage, I regret to inform you that we will not be fulfilling Minato-kun's wishes due to Orochimaru's actions. That is all. Dismissed." The newly reinstated Hokage ordered, to which each of the room's other occupants, save the child ANBU, left.

The Hokage slumped in his chair, picking his pipe up from his desk and re-lighting it. Soon, the room was bathed in the smell of pipe tobacco. "I just hope that Minato-kun will forgive me." He stated quietly, the words heard only by himself and his silent protector. He breathed a sigh before pulling some paperwork towards himself, and began filling it out.

This, he would do himself. After he finished with this set of paperwork, he would leave a Kage Bunshin to fill out the rest of it and go home and get some much-needed sleep.