Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Zero: Chains of Desperation

    Sarutobi Hiruzen felt mildly ill as he sat in the council room, feeling the prickling gazes of the various shinobi and civilian representatives that bore into him like kunai. The dim lantern swung minutely from side to side, casting odd and sinister shadows along the ground. All in all, the atmosphere was tense, like a balloon on the verge of popping.

   And Hiruzen would be the one to personally pop that balloon.

   "I propose we release the Chi no Dorobō, Uzumaki Naruto," he said with faux calm.

   The balloon turned out to be filled with poison. 

   "Absolutely not!"

   "Hokage-sama, how can you say that?"

   "There's no way we can release that child!"

   The reactions of the civilians were much more volatile compared to that of the shinobi, but that did not mean that Hiruzen was ignorant of their silent agreement.

   He raised his hand, quelling the panicked protesting temporarily. 

   "Allow me to explain my reasoning, and if it is found to be unreasonable, I will never bring up this topic again." 

   He was lying, the result of this meeting was set in stone.

   Casting his gaze around, Hiruzen was relieved to see the council members would allow him this much of chance. Their gazes, however, turned sharper, and Hiruzen keenly felt the phantom of a kunai placed directly against his throat about to draw blood.

   Taking a breath to compose himself, he began: "We are too weak."

   Seeing the civilians about to get riled up again, and even some of the shinobi, Hiruzen raised his hand once more.

   "This is an objective fact, and no matter how much you and I want to deny it, it is impossible." He sighed. "The clouds of war are brewing once more, and currently, we stand no chance at defending ourselves, much less putting up a proper fight. Our current military strength is that of a medium-sized hidden village, to that fact, Shikaku-san can attest."

   The gazes turned to Nara Shikaku, and for a brief moment, Hiruzen's taut nerves relaxed.

   "It's true," Shikaku said, voice grave. "Ever since the massacre, and even before, if I'm being honest, our strength has been on a slow but steady decline."

   "We need more time to gather strength, and for that, we need a deterrent. We need a deterrent so horrific that no one would dare to question our strength so easily." Hiruzen placed his palms onto the table, face severe. "This is why I propose to temporarily release the Chi no Dorobō, so that he may serve as that deterrent in the Chūnin Exams."

   It was Yamanaka Inoichi who spoke up first this time, gazing knowingly between Hiruzen and Shikaku. "Are you confident in controlling the Chi no Dorobō?"

   "You can't be seriously considering this, right, Inoichi-san?" Inuzuka Tsume had a look of disbelief on her face as she assessed Inoichi. "Have you forgotten that the Chi no Dorobō was the sole person to commit that massacre in the first place? My daughter almost died by his hands!"

   Another wave of heated discussion rippled through the room, and Hiruzen felt exhausted as he raised his voice to say, "Enough!"

   There was sweet silence once more, but Hiruzen couldn't find it in himself to feel relieved.

   "To answer Inoichi-san's previous question: if I were not confident in containing the Chi no Dorobō, I would not have mentioned this." There were a few murmurs at this, and Hiruzen continued, "I've already sent a letter to Jiraiya to request his return, and he will personally seal the Chi no Dorobō to prevent any mishaps from occurring."

   The conversation picked up once more, but it was less rocky. Hiruzen allowed for it to happen, patiently waiting for the discussion to be over and the verdict to be reached. Though, in the end, it mattered little what the verdict actually was. This meeting was more of a formality than anything, he and Shikaku had discussed this privately weeks prior. After much deliberation, they both decided that this was the best choice.

   They did not have the luxury of options.

   There was a noose tied around Konoha's neck, and the executioner was about to pull them up so there was nothing they could do except flail around like helpless children. And when they died, their body would be thrown to the wolves and be torn apart piece by bloody piece.

   It was either do or die, and Hiruzen could only place his hope on the Chi no Dorobō, as twisted and absurd that logic was. Perhaps he would live to regret it, or perhaps he would see Konoha rise from the ashes and be reborn.

   In the end, maybe he would even be thankful.

   Or maybe, he would die without even being able to feel despair.

├┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┤

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎-𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎.

𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟽𝟿𝟶

- 𝙵𝚘𝚡