Red Nara

- We may have been both wrong here, but in planning, who stopped you from thinking of a little contingency backup? - The Hokage sighed, looking regretfully at the finished herb mixture in the tube.

Shaking it out into the ashtray and tucking it away in his desk drawer, Hiruzen leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, casting a piercing glance over his interlocked hands at the as if swallowing a stick the head of Anbu 'Ne' had swallowed.

- We agreed that you would secretly handle the unseemly but necessary matters both inside and outside Konoha, and I would take on the role of fair leader and maintain the village's peaceful reputation in the international arena," Sarutobi said firmly, "and if you're not doing a good job, maybe it's time to consider a successor.

- Don't worry, Hiruzen, I'm still quite capable of competing with you not only on the battlefield," Shimura replied smoothly, not showing his rage - the one-eyed veteran was perfectly capable of controlling himself when necessary - "these plans have failed because of unforeseen factors and the hope of doing the job by other people's hands, so I'll work on developing a direct elimination of both targets, with a guarantee.

- No, you can't do that now - the deaths of such popular clan figures would be too suspicious, so you can't do anything for the next few years," Sarutobi shook his head, "especially since Nara will have something to do for quite some time very soon. You can make plans, but only with a long shot, and in the meantime, eliminate the Kiri spies who got the information - they won't be trusted now anyway.

- Very well, Hokage-san," Danzo bowed formally and left the office at a leisurely pace.

The elderly shinobi sighed and returned to the daily paperwork inevitable for any head of a hidden village. None of the leaders of the various facets of Konohagakure no Sato's activities had ever realized that despite the almost entirely truthful report, Sakumo had not deigned to point out that the kage Bunshins used during the Kage Bunshin mission, who had held back Kiri's main force of swordsmen to death, as well as those who had helped his copies mop up the camp, had not belonged to the author of the report at all, having remained simply nameless clones on paper.

And the surviving partner will not be able to clarify this point - not having access to sophisticated chakra-blocking fuin, other villages prefer to use chemical drugs to keep prisoners unconscious until they are moved to suitable cells. And the reason for such a small inaccuracy, nevertheless with unforeseeably serious consequences, was the genius Nara's unwillingness to too quickly come to prominence on the world stage in the absence of the decades of experience available to other veterans, including as objects in the hunt for a bounty.

A mere trifle for a man who not only saved the lives of the entire team several times per mission, but also allowed the most difficult assignment to be completed without compromising honor.

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