Defectors of the Leaf (Discontinued)

6

The next two weeks passed fairly uneventfully. Hiruzen had been receiving progress reports from the ANBU currently working on the bones of the new village, holding secret meetings with the clan heads to work out the escape plan and routes, and now it was again time for the council meeting.

"Welcome, everyone, to this council meeting," Hiruzen Sarutobi announced once the members of both councils were sitting down.

"Hiruzen, have you decided on your answer to my generous offer?" Danzo asked, failing terribly at masking his twisted anticipation and delight.

"Yes, I have."

"And?" Homura asked impatiently.

"You can't have Naruto or any of the orphans. As you said last time, having a youngster around wouldn't be good for the health. But I wouldn't have to take care of Naruto by myself, as I have my children who can help me while I'm taking care of the village, whereas you don't have anyone who could help you take care of a young child, let alone the entirety of the Leaf's orphan population, am I right?" Hiruzen said as he raised an eyebrow slightly, daring Danzo to disagree.

It was then that Danzo realized he was trapped. If he disagreed, he'd either be A) admitting that an older person could take care of a young child just fine, effectively saying that Hiruzen could take care of Naruto; or B) revealing that he'd disobeyed a direct order years ago and kept his ROOT working in the deepest, darkest shadows. Either way, his plans would be set back quite a bit, and he couldn't have that, meaning he could only do one thing: back down and wait for the right time, because now obviously wasn't the right time.

And so, after hardly any time at all, Danzo gave his answer. "That is correct. My apologies."

Hiruzen nodded. "Now, on with the meeting."

================= With Naruto

"He's gonna get me!" came the call of a six year old blond boy as he playfully ran from a three year old brunette boy who was giggling and chasing after him.

Asuma Sarutobi was sitting on a couch watching the two as they played tag. "Just be careful with him, Naruto. Don't need his mother coming after the two of us," he smiled.

Naruto let the little brown haired boy get him before he stopped and looked at the older man. "Don't worry, Mr. Asuma! I can out run almost anyone!" he proudly declared before taking off after the other boy who was standing a short ways away trying to draw Naruto's attention back to the game.

Asuma sighed. "Naruto, I told you you can call me big brother or just Asuma," he reminded the boy.

Naruto slowed to a stop, his face scrunched up in a frown. "But you aren't really my big brother and it's not nice to call someone by just their first name."

"You're right, but I gave you permission to call me big brother or by my first name, so it's disrespectful to not call me one of those."

Naruto's frown morphed into a look of confusion as he turned so he was completely facing Asuma. "But... That still doesn't make you my brother, does it?"

Now it was Asuma's turned to frown. "Would that be such a bad thing?" Asuma asked.

Naruto's confusion melted away as he started shaking his head rather furiously. "Oh no, not at all. I didn't mean it like that. It's just, no one's ever been my brother before."

Asuma grinned. "Well, that's a relief. I was looking forward to being your first big brother, after all."

Naruto's jaw dropped as he looked at Asuma with wide eyes. "Really?!" he asked in disbelief.