What I hadn’t expected however was that Danzo would triple down on hunting me after he was basically told he was going to die in short order. I’m not talking about for medical treatment in hopes of surviving but because he had apparently decided that if he was going to keel over he should take me with him. It was very annoying to say the least, especially when some of his Root shinobi got pretty close to finding my homes new location. The forest of death was positively swarming with these shinobi over the next two weeks which meant it was getting rather difficult to keep my home hidden.-
My only saving grace was that I hadn’t put my home at the top of one of the trees like last time but rather UNDER one of them. Directly bellow the trunk of one very wide and tall tree was a hollow area that I expanded before stuffing my home in it and covering the entrance. The massive amount of natural energy my cocooned caterpillar drew in made that last part easy as I just artificially had one of the trees roots grow to cover the opening for the most part.-
There was still a bit of a gap but not enough to make anyone suspicious that it held a whole house behind it.
“This Danzo person seems rather obsessed with you.” Karin said when I complained about the situation.
“I could understand it when he had plenty of time left to live but this is absurd! He’s going to die soon enough anyways so the least he can do is leave me be!” I said highly annoyed at the situation.
“You said your sensei was going to be the next Hokage right? couldn’t she fix this issue with Danzo?” Karin asked and I nodded.
“That is might hope though what I said is she was most likely going to be the next Hokage, theres no guarantee. Knowing Naruto she’ll probably get the position anyways, that guy is very good at persuading people for some reason.” I said honestly with a chuckle at the end.
“You seem close.” she commented.
“Yeah we grew up together. A bigger pair of oddballs you’ve never seen before I guarantee it. The genius and the fool, opposites in so many ways but perfectly happy with that. He’s a kind and caring person despite how he grew up, hated by most of the village but he never lost that spark of light.” I said with a smile.
“Sounds too good to be true.” she said disbelievingly.
“Don’t mistake me the guys not perfect, FAR from it. He’s a prankster at heart and kinda an idiot sometimes but if there was anyone I’d want watching my back it’s him. He’s loyal to a fault and will very much die to protect those he cares about if it came to that. Plus I believe that one day he may be able to stand next to me as an equal.” I said with a smile.
At the end of the two weeks a change came over the village as Jiraiya and Naruto returned with my sensei and Shizune. Everyone was excited to see my sensei as they hoped that with her at the held Konoha might flourish as it did under the last Senju Hokages. She was even the granddaughter of the first so expectations were high. She summoned me to the village almost immediately after arriving.-
“What gives brat? I came to the village expecting my student to give me a warm welcome only to learn you’ve been all but absent since the old mans passing?” She questioned sternly.
“Blame Danzo, the old bastard has been hunting me this whole time and I had to hole up since retaliating would have ended poorly for me. Matter of fact that’s one of his over there, no doubt to make sure I don’t escape.” I complained while casually outing the Root shinobi nearby who quickly fled after I pointed them out.
“HE DARES!?” she roared angrily.
“Whoa there! Chill chill, you know me better than that, you know I’m not the sort to take things laying down. I have evidence that will ruin him and his reputation in the village but you need to take office first.” I said seriously while stopping her from doing something impulsive.
“How sure are you about that?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
“Absolutely certain, the Third himself entrusted me with the evidence but told me to only give it to the next Hokage and ONLY them. It was his last wish and I’ve kept it to myself until now.” I said honestly.
“I heard you were there for his final moments but I never would have thought he’d leave such a burden to you of all people.” she said with an apologetic look.
I shook my head “It’s fine, the situation was about as messed up as possible so the fact he was able to pass this evidence off before he died is a good fortune. You’ll understand further when you read the evidence yourself, it’s so damning in nature that Orochimaru looks clean.” I said seriously.
“That bad!? But if it was so bad why didn’t the old man take care of Danzo himself then?” she asked confused.
I remained silent at that question as I wasn’t totally sure and didn’t want to bad mouth the dead but I had a VERY good idea why. More likely than not it was because the old man was complicit in these things whether due to inaction or because he had helped in some way. He literally couldn’t bring Danzo to justice without damning himself in the process. It was mutual destruction and likely the reason Danzo had started pressuring me after the old man died. He held back only long enough to make sure that the old man hadn’t left a trap for him after his death and then stopped holding back.-
The funny part was that the old man DID leave a trap for the bastard but it had a delay put on it until a new Hokage took office. After all there was no reason to bother about mutual destruction after he died since he was dead. The worst anyone could do was spit on the old mans legacy but why should he care about that when he was unaffected by it? If anything he’d be hailed as an even greater hero as even with his dying breath he thought of the good of the village.-
My sensei ended up having me move into the Senju compound temporarily while we awaited her inauguration. She also situated Karin there as well since I obviously wasn’t going to leave the girl in my home by herself for who knows how long. Due to that I had come clean about her to my sensei who laughed a lot and praised me to heaven and back before personally going to retrieve the confused Uzumaki.