Parthenogenesis

A/N: Chapters 18, 19, and 20 are all new. Sorry for the wait...

Chapter 20: Load the Mud Cannon

Morio was an ancient man with only a few wisps of white hair left on his liver-spotted skin. He had a wife and a daughter at one time. His wife died in childbirth to his second child, which died also. His purpose in life was his daughter – taking care of her, protecting her, and teaching her. She had died too. She had been beautiful, even for her age. So beautiful that she had caught the eye of a great toad sage. They had a short relationship before she had found out that Jiraiya was not loyal to her or any woman. That had broken her heart and her soul. She fell into sickness and she never pulled out of it. Morio was left by himself for so long, but today, there were two strong chakra presences outside his house.

In his day, Morio had been a strong ninja, and very tricky. He used his mastery over sealing to give his opponents something they had never seen before. It had served him well. However, he felt that today would be the first day his skills would fail him. His bones were old, his eyes were hazed, and his mind was slow.

A soft knock reached his failing hearing.

“Come in. It is unlocked,” Morio said loudly. The door was slid open and two cloaked figures blocked the setting sun. He could barely make out their features with his poor eyesight. They were wearing black cloaks with red clouds. How strange.

“What do you need?” he asked, taking a sip of tea.

“You taught the Fourth Hokage,” the shorter of the two stated rather than asked in a cold, unemotional voice. Morio strained his eyes to make out his features, but he could only make out his long black hair.

The old man nodded. “Aye, I did, but I do not teach anymore if that is why you are here.”

The shorter man spoke again in that chilling voice, “We are not here for instruction, simply information. What do you know about the seal that holds the Kyuubi?”

“The Kyuubi,” the man repeated, taking another sip of tea. He could feel how dangerous these men were. “I have not heard that name since the Yondaime asked me to look over his design years ago. I would never give out such important information…” he trailed off, taking another sip of tea. “However, I will tell you that whatever you are planning will not work. The seal is unbreakable by any means. The Yondaime made sure of that. That is all I will tell you. Please leave my home, now.”

“You were unhelpful.” Itachi Uchiha never showed emotions, however Kisame knew he was angry. The old man was engulfed in the black flames of Amaterasu. That was a sure sign that Itachi was angry.

“We leave,” Itachi said. Kisame could only follow.

O0o.o0O

Another month had passed. Everyday the traveling was slower with Naruto’s increasing size with the pregnancy. He was now obviously pregnant and not just fat.

They now stood at the edge of a forest. The path before them disappeared into the blackness of the forest. It was deadly looking, full of thick vines, huge trees, and briars covering the ground. Travel would be dangerous in this forest. He could only imagine the animals a forest like this would attract.

“Whoa…Forest of Death déjà vu,” whispered Naruto beside him.

Sasuke had to secretly agree. He distinctly remembered not faring well in the Forest of Death. Hopefully, he would fare better here.

The sun was setting. They should probably camp outside the forest for the night. There was no reason to risk it. He was starting a fire when he felt a flare of chakra within the forest, causing him to look up sharply. He hoped that the flare was caused by Morio, but somehow, he knew it was someone else…

O0o.o0O

“Hokage-sama, you are summoned to a meeting with the council,” a masked ninja said, bowing in mock respect. She knew that this was one of Danzo’s Root ANBU. She also knew that he only answered to Danzo and would not take orders from her. She was a bit surprised at the request. It was rather sudden. Council meetings were usually planned several days in advance. She couldn’t help but feel the weight of foreboding on her shoulders. For some reason, she knew this couldn’t be good.

She walked down to the corridor that held the meeting room of the council – a round room with platform-steps that allowed the council members to all see the middle of the room. Homura and Koharu sat in the seats of honor. They were the eldest and had a great deal of influence. Once everything was taken into effect, most could tell that it was actually these two elders that ruled the council. The council had always given into their demands.

However, this had been true for years and it did not surprise Tsunade to see them here in those positions of honor. No, it was the scarred and maimed man that stood directly in-between them that scared her. Danzo had snuck in like a snake in the grass and it seemed as if his forked tongue had earned him the support and ears of the two most powerful elders. Tsunade felt her muscles tense involuntarily. Now she knew that this could not turn out in her favor.

She approached cautiously, but kept her back straight, her head high, and her shoulders back. She would never let this over-ambitious council to take away her pride, even if they found ways to take away her power as Hokage a little at a time.

“Why has the Council been called without my knowledge?” Tsunade asked, her voice strong.

Homura answered, “You’re input was not needed, and neither were your 10 votes as Hokage. We have formed a majority without you.”

“And what is it that you have ruled on behind my back?” she nearly snarled. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate without having to worry about her own village council sneaking around behind her back.

“You are not here to ask questions,” Danzo answered, contempt barely disguised. “You are here to answer our questions.”

“Danzo,” Koharu warned. She stood up and took a place before Danzo. “It has recently come to our attention that you have sent Uzumaki Naruto outside of this village against our advice. Surely you do not need me to warn you that Akatsuki is still after him. If they capture the nine-tails, they will have the power to be a danger to this village.”

“That’s only if they capture him. He is plenty strong, Koharu, and you would know this if you could ever look past his prisoner,” the Hokage responded. They dare question her judgement?

“Do you attempt to explain your actions to this council then?” Homaru asked. The old man was tempting her to send him through a wall.

“I do not need to explain to anyone. You forget that I am the Hokage. You elected me to make decisions such as this!” she argued.

“Do not make us regret it,” Koharu took up where her old team mate left off. “But this is also not why we are here. You sent another with the demon-container. Uchiha Sasuke. You endanger his life by sending him along with the Uzumaki boy.”

That’s all they can find to worry about? They don’t even really care if Naruto gets captured and killed. They only worry for his power being taken and there Uchiha dying.

Tsunade found herself getting angry quickly but knew that it wouldn’t help the situation any. She forced herself to calm down. “The Uchiha was the one to request the training mission with Naruto. You cannot blame me for that.”

Danzo broke in, “Let’s just get to the point.” Tsunade gave him a look that said, Yes, let’s do that quickly before I break something. “The Uchiha has reached and passed the age that he is considered a legal adult. He has not yet picked a wife and he has yet to begin to repopulate his clan.”

“What point are you trying to make, Danzo?” Tsunade asked coldly.

Koharu spoke again, “The village needs the Uchiha clan to become as strong as it once was. The longer Uchiha Sasuke puts off this duty to the village, the longer it will take to village to rebuild its strength. This is why we have summoned you today. As the leader of the shinobi of Konoha, only you have the power to order the Uchiha to rebuild his clan. We, the council, have already voted for this to be so, and using the power given to this council by the First Hokage, the majority ruling must be carried out by the Hokage.”

Tsunade was shocked that this could happen. They were perfectly within their power, yet it seemed so unjust. “What do you expect me to do? Send a message to the Uchiha to tell him to leave Naruto in the nearest town, pick out a suitable girl, and bring her back to Konoha for marriage?” She gave a humorless laugh. “I suppose you want me to tell him to just go ahead and knocked her up why he’s at it to save some time?” Her words were supposed to make the council see how ridiculously meddling they were being.

Too bad they didn’t catch that. “Yes, that would be acceptable. I’m glad you see it our way,” Homura stated. He stood up, addressing all those present, “This meeting is adjourned.”

Tsunade just stood there in shock as council members passed by. She could feel herself shaking in fury. Naruto was pregnant with the Uchiha babies this council wanted so badly yet she couldn’t say anything without putting Naruto’s life on the line. And now she had to get the Uchiha to impregnate another woman just for the whim of this council. This was a mess. She looked up to find that she was left alone in the room with Danzo.

“I know you are behind this Danzo. The Council has never interfered in the personal life of a shinobi since the Fourth Hokage.”

“The Fourth…that was a failed attempt. He died before he could begin a clan. Imagine how strong Konoha would be today if there was a whole clan able to use the techniques of the Yondaime. The council will not let an opportunity like that to pass ever again.”

“And what do you gain by doing this? You never do anything that doesn’t benefit you in some way.” Tsunade pried, hoping that she could get information from the man.

“I gain new soldiers,” he said proudly, “Any future Uchiha children have been promised to me for training. They will serve the council.”

“And what does the council need its own small army for?”

“Hmm…” was all Danzo said before walking out of the door, a small smile obvious on his face.

“Damn him!” Tsunade went straight to her office and then to her desk, pulling out paper and pen in a hasty flourish and causing a great mess and commotion.

“Tsunade-sama! What are you doing?” said Shizune, freaky out at her sempai’s suddenly display of energy and also the mess she was causing – she knew she was going to have to clean it up.

“The council has decided to play dirty and has gone behind my back. The cowards…” She began writing furiously on the paper she had pulled out. “They wish for the Uchiha to bring back a pregnant woman to marry. And they’re going to get just that…” She scribbled some more.

“Shizune!” she ordered, signing the paper with a giant flourish of her pen. “Load the mud cannon and take cover! Konoha is about to get really dirty. I’ll show them that I can play their game better than they can.”

O0o.end chapter.o0O