The Lives Worth Saving

Chapter 7: More Training and Several Surprises Pt 2

x.X.x

"Old man?"

Sarutobi glanced up with a smile, doing a quick scan of the time traveller as he activated the privacy seals. Still tired, he noted, and still a bit pale, not to mention thin, but at least it was better than when he had first arrived.

"Good afternoon, Haruki. Sorry to call you on such short notice, but the Raikage has finally replied and so I thought we would meet earlier so that we could discuss this without it taking way from our other projects. We'll be meeting them in Yu no Kuni a week and half from now from now. The Daimyo there has agreed to lend us part of his land in the forested area outside of Yugakure for the summit conference. We have agreed to bring five shinobi each as our guard and a Hyūga clan representative with a separate guard. I wanted to ask your opinion on that."

Haruki blinked in surprise. This he hadn't expected. He had known that a maximum number of ninja would be set, but he had thought that Sarutobi would pick his own people, the standard Hokage's guard.

"Well," He started slowly, going over the shinobi he knew. "Hiashi-san and Hizashi-san would have to come of course," Sarutobi nodded in agreement. "Having Shikaku with you doesn't hurt either, though you may want to leave him here incase something were to happen in our absence. I can't predict what happens as this did not happen in my time line. If I'm to be there that is one slot. Take Gai. His mastery of Taijustu is second to none and could match the Raikage if necessary in terms of speed and power. Take the two best trackers in the village just in case. They would also be in the best position to sense incoming threats and identify the surroundings."

Sarutobi nodded thoughtfully. "Tsume and Shibi are both on a mission at the moment. That's why they weren't present at the Council meeting concerning Hizashi. Then again, those two try to avoid Council meetings as much as possible anyway. They should be done and rushing back though. No doubt, they've heard about the new development. They'll be back by the day after tomorrow at the latest, so they'll be able to join us. I agree to keeping Shikaku here as well as my ANBU General. That's four."

"We will have to be careful concerning my back story and how the others observe me interacting with the Kumo ninja. I'd like Kakashi to come but..."

Sarutobi nodded at the questioning look directed at him, finding himself mildly amused. "Kakashi's grown attached to you. I don't believe he's ever voluntarily spent so much time with anyone."

Haruki rolled his eyes. "He's just curious. He can't figure me out."

"Ah, well," Sarutobi hid a smile. As far as he knew, not even curiosity could make Kakashi lose the aloof distance he usually set between himself and other people. The Copy-nin didn't have many people who called him friend, and even less people he called friends. Haruki was already one of the latter, whether either of them knew it or not. "He will figure it out eventually."

"Eventually," Haruki agreed. "But not right now."

Sarutobi inclined his head. "Who else then? One more."

Haruki tilted his head in contemplation. "Asuma," He finally decided. "It'll show the Raikage that you trust blood as much as your other shinobi. I can guarantee that the Raikage will bring his own brother as well. And it'll mean a lot to Asuma."

Sarutobi nodded. He had been debating on whether or not to bring his son, and was glad that Haruki had pushed his final decision for him.

"Very well, we'll go with that line-up. But you know that the people you picked will have to know the part you played in Hizashi's retrieval, right?"

Haruki nodded. "I think they're all trustworthy people, and they know how to keep their mouths shut." He paused for a moment before adding, "And I think Kakashi, Genma, Kotetsu, Izumo, Raidou, Kurenai, Gai-san, Anko, Hana, and Ibiki-san should be brought into the loop as well, even though they're staying behind. It would be better if someone in the village knows what's going on."