Dosu's Great Escape

Chapter Ten: Truth Comes Out

It had gotten to the point where something ought to have been done.

Iruka knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and heard permission to come in. Opening the door, Iruka moved in and found Sarutobi behind stacks of paperwork. The old man looked up and took his pipe from his mouth.

"Iruka, how may I help you?" asked Sarutobi.

Iruka sighed. "There are three Sound Village Ninja rooming in an apartment next to one of my students, Naruto."

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes, they were here a few days ago. Is there a problem?"

"I'm concerned about the influence that the Sound Village Ninja are having on Naruto," said Iruka. "I'm afraid they may convince him to act against us."

"Meaning?" asked Sarutobi.

"Naruto is a good kid, but he's socially isolated, Hokage," said Iruka. "The parents of the other children in the village have ensured that their children shun him. His lack of emotional support has made him vulnerable.

"I've tried to provide a certain amount of guidance for him. But in the end, I'm his teacher. Not his father. I caught one of them, Kin, sneaking into the academy and I'm fairly certain she's been taking notes on who is in it."

"I see." Sarutobi took a draft of his pipe. "This is highly unfortunate. I will take the appropriate steps soon. However-"

The door opened. Iruka glanced back and saw the bandaged boy entering. He moved forward and fell to a kneel. He was carrying a great many files.

"Yes?" asked Sarutobi, eyes narrowing.

"Hokage, I have a report for you." said the boy.

"What is it, Dosu?" asked Sarutobi.

Dosu drew up the files and put them on the Hokage's desk. The old man took them up and looked through them. He raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"

"A list of all the weaknesses I could find in the Leaf Village over the past few months," said Dosu. "I was able to plant long-lasting explosive tags on several of them without being observed."

Sarutobi put the file down and eyed him. "Why would you give us this information?"

"Orochimaru has thrown us away," said Dosu. "We have no real reason to remain loyal to him. I have only gone through the motions of loyalty to keep Zaku from acting recklessly. Since that time his loyalties have cooled.

"We would only be able to rejoin the Sound by performing a great service. So we have been analyzing your defenses, looking for weaknesses. Now that we have compiled a complete list, we have decided to give this to you as a display of goodwill."

Sarutobi was silent for a moment. He puffed his pipe, sending smoke rings into the air. "...I will investigate these openings and deal with them. Should they be here, I may well have a use for you."

"Thank you, Hokage," said Dosu.

"You may go," said Sarutobi.

Dosu turned and walked out. The old man leaned back in his seat. "This may be a double bluff. Or he may be playing both sides. Either way, arrangements will have to be made to move Naruto out of their area.

"I'll make arrangements-"

Then the door opened again. This time Naruto barged in without so much as a knock. "Hey old man, we need your help!"

"Naruto!" said Ino behind him. "You can't just barge into the Hokage's office like that?"

"Why not?" asked Naruto.