A Hound Should Never Want for a Fox

Chapter 5

Hiruzen puffed angrily on his pipe. A scroll lay innocently on his desk, a though its contents hadn't shattered all pretense of trust between him and one of his oldest friends. He leaned back in his plush leather chair, a headache blooming behind his eyes. Danzou had always followed his own code. Hiruzen was mostly content to let him, given their shared goal of serving the Village. There some things he could not—would not!—forgive, though.

Like abducting Naruto.

It wasn't hard to guess what his old teammate would do with the boy. Hiruzen was not as oblivious to Konoha's dark underbelly as many seemed to think. He was simply of the opinion that the Hokage should be an embodiment of the Village's ideals. As such, he had to maintain a certain distance from the cruel realities of running a shinobi village. If something sordid ever came to light, he needed to be able to deny any knowledge of it without lying. He couldn't do that now, though. Thank you, Kakashi.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, the Anbu team he'd assigned to protect and care for Naruto had sloughed off their duties and left an infant to fend for itself. Thank the Sage for Kakashi, or the child would have starved. Minato would be proud.

And concerned. Very, very concerned.

Hiruzen certainly was.

The contents of Kakashi's report didn't stop at exposing kidnapping and treason, but Hiruzen wasn't sure what to think of the rest. Foxes? Alright, Naruto was the Nine Tail's jinchuriki. It wasn't entirely unbelievable. Toy foxes littered across his Village like an army of well disguised spies? Toy foxes coming to life at the command of a larger, seemingly sentient fox?

That was...disconcerting to say the least.

Hiruzen set his pipe down in the ashtray and stood, suddenly feeling all 56 of his years, and then some. Maybe he should have let someone else take up the mantle of Hokage after Minato's death. It was so sudden and unexpected, and so soon after the end of the war, Konoha needed someone to fill that void. He was the only one who had the necessary experience to keep their enemies at bay in the wake of the Nine Tail's attack. As tired as he was right now, he knew he would make the same decision, if given the chance. Even if it was the wrong one...

None of that mattered, anyway. The past was immutable. The future, on the other hand, could still be salvaged if he acted swiftly. He walked out into the hall, back straight and head held high.

It was time he checked in on Naruto.

🦊🦊🦊

I never intended to show my true form to my dog, but, now that I had, it was the most hilarious thing I had ever done. He knew what I really was now—or, at least, had a vague idea—so he was a lot less willing to leave me or my clones near the baby. He no longer wore his ivory mask in my presence, so graciously revealing all of one eye to me. Even so, I could tell he was tired. He looked so haggard, but refused to leave or rest. It...was endearing, really, if a bit annoying. He pulled all of my clones out of the cot and only let me stay in it when I bared my teeth at him, eyeing me warily the whole time. Silly dog. My baby was clearly happier—and safer!—with me nearby. He smiled so widely when my whiskers tickled his face. Just look at those little fangs!

A knock on the outer door startled the dog. He glared at me before stepping out of the bedroom. I took the opportunity to call all my clones back into the cot and transformed myself to match. Hmph. He wouldn't dare take any of us out now that he couldn't be sure which was me. This time, victory would be mine.

The door opened. Instead of my dog, someone else stepped inside. It was hard to get a clear look from my place among my clones, but this human was older than the ones who usually hung around my den. Hmm. It was possible that my dog had reported the attack on my baby to one of his elders. It was a responsible choice, and my dog was nothing if not diligent. He was a good boy.