SHIMMERING MIST : HATAKE SI (Naruto)

Part 23

Chapter 23

KUSHINA UZUMAKI

The whole village was still reeling from the shock of Ohashi's death. The very air of the village was thick with tension, as the whole village could sense a major change. Behind the scenes, the shinobi forces were tense as well, with Iwa and Kumo being relatively quiet, everyone was on edge.

The news about the death of Danzo Shimura had also leaked, and there was major speculation that his death was somehow connected with Ohashi Hatake's death. The Grand Council called by Lady Tsunade Senju, was set to begin today, and all the secrets would be revealed today.

As she turned the corner, she stopped as she found herself staring at a very familiar figure. Minato's apprentice and brother of the recently martyred Ohashi Hatake, and the leader of the Hatake clan stood there a bit anxious as he leaned lazily against the wall, probably waiting for her.

Minato had asked her to help his apprentice, given that it was his first time attending the Council meetings. And though she hated these boring meetings herself, she had attended enough to understand their obscure plots and politics. As she saw him, she was reminded of Mikoto's young apprentice. He had been a natural at these meetings and had fit in quite easily amongst the rest of the clan heads as he sat in Kakashi-kun's place for the last couple of meetings.

"Kakashi-kun," she called out and saw him turn towards him. She didn't miss how his shoulders relaxed a bit as his eyes landed on her.

"Kushina-san," he greeted her respectfully as she walked towards him.

"I hope you didn't have to wait for long," she said sheepishly as they both began to walk towards the room.

"No, I just got here," he said as he looked around and then hesitantly asked her.

"The atmosphere seems extremely tense," he said, and she was impressed by his astute observations and nodded.

"Yes, this is the first time, someone other than the Hokage has called a Grand Council, so the people are a bit tense. And of course, then there is all the intrigue surrounding the unfortunate events of the last couple of weeks," she replied and saw him stiffen a bit at her words before he nodded. They reached the door to the room and stopped as she looked towards him.

"Ok, I know Minato taught you everything about these already, though there really isn't much to do. It's mostly just sitting quietly and listening and speaking up if your opinion is asked. Your seat will be right next to mine, so if you don't understand anything, just ask me," she told him and he nodded.

Then she closed her eyes, and pushed open the doors. The Council room was quite large and had a large table in the center. At the head of the table sat the Hokage with the two founding clans taking sitting right next to him, opposite to each other.

Most of the clan heads were already present, and even Lord Third sat on his seat. She saw Mikoto-chan's husband, Fugaku, glance up at her as he gave her a small nod as she walked past him.

She reached her seat and sat down, with Kakashi-kun taking the seat next to her. The whole room was quiet, and the tension was palpable, and then entered the very person who had called this Council meeting.

Tsunade Senju had a menacing look on her face as she entered the room, her gaze sharp an glinting as she walked towards her seat and sat down.

With this, everyone was present. She then looked around the room and tapped the table twice in front of her. She felt the seals placed around the room activate as she stood up once more.