The lake where the pair appeared was still, even though Kurama sat right in the middle of it. Chomei appeared next to the two shinobi, her mind entering through her connection with Fuu.
"It takes courage and knowledge to seek out the enemy." Kurama voiced, his voice distant as if he was miles away. Even though he had spoken and moved his head to look at the three newcomers, the water had remained completely still, showing that his meditation worked and the muscles in his body were completely under his control.
"What do you mean? We can not rush head first into the Akatsuki and whatever forces Danzo has." Naruto argued, frustrated that the fox had apparently not been listening as he was proposing the same thing that Fuu had done.
"You don't listen. It takes courage, but it also needs knowledge to do so in the right time. While you certainly have the courage, we don't have the firepower to face them." Kurama reiterated. Naruto nodded, annoyed. His eyes darting around trying to find another way that didn't involve angering the Akatsuki.
"Does Hiruzen have a complete list of Danzo's spies?" Fuu asked.
"Well he does know about everyone that Homura knew. I dont know if Danzo has anyone in the village that the advisor doesn't know about." Chomei replied, her voice so low that it caused the water to vibrate.
"Most likely." Kurama said in reference to the unknown spies.
"Well, we could take out his spies, he is bound to notice that and eventually he will have to react." The green haired girl suggested.
"Well, I guess we can do that. We would certainly get some more intel on the old man and maybe even the Akatsuki." Naruto agreed, smiling at his girlfriend.
"True, but you have to consider that he could very well just come here with the Akatsuki together." Kurama interjected.
"I know, but honestly it would be a win-win situation. Either he comes without the Akatsuki then we can easily capture him, or he comes with the Akatsuki and we have the entire might of the leaf village to back us up." Fuu countered, obviously having considered these options.
"Hm, i didnt think of it that way. It would certainly be better to face them if two sannin and the whole of Konoha standing beside you." Kurama admitted.
"So we just take out his spies until he reacts?" Naruto asked.
"Well we can not just up and attack them, we would need to find a way to get them where it wouldn't raise too much commotion when we attack." Chomei answered, earning a nod from the rest of the group.
"You think the Hokage would be on board with the plan?" Chomei asked, looking at Naruto since the blonde had the best knowledge of the old kage.
"I don't know, it would endanger Konoha, and that is his top priority." Naruto replied, twisting a kunai in his hands.
"Well, whatever Danzo has planned, he will most likely seek revenge against Hiruzen and the first thing he will attack is going to be Konoha, since that is what the old man treasures the most." Kurama stated.
"That's true. However I really don't know if the Hokage will see it that way. We would have to ask him." The blonde boy said, uncertain as to how the man would react to their plan.
"Well, couldn't we just not tell him?" Fuu asked, earning a surprised look from everyone.
"Yeah, I mean the only thing we need from him is the list of Danzo's known spies and we can easily say that we need to know who to avoid. Then we could simply pick them off when the opportunity arises and we would save the Hokage the trouble of deciding and we would get our way." The girl explained her plan.
"I don't know, I wouldn't feel good about lying like that." Naruto said honestly.
"We wouldn't lie, we would just not tell the entire truth." Fuu replied, although her boyfriend shot her a look saying that it would be basically the same thing.
"I was joking, if you don't feel comfortable with that then we won't do it." She added, smiling.
"So, we ask Hiruzen?" Kurama asked the group, earning collective nods. If the Hokage didn't agree with them, then they would have to find another course of action, but for the time they had a plan.
Naruto nodded, closing his eyes as he felt himself and the others leaving his mindscape, except for Kurama of course, although the fox went into his own corner where he stayed most of the time.
Orientating himself, Naruto saw Fuu's black hair falling over his shoulder as he opened his eyes. He smiled looking into the orange eyes of the girl as she woke up.
"How long has it been?" She asked, sitting up.
"A few minutes." Naruto replied, looking out of the window before turning and giving his girlfriend a kiss.
"What was that for?" She asked, a small smile on her lips after they had separated.
"Just for you being you." The red haired boy replied, a grin playing on his lips.
"So, let me get this straight: You want me to send the known spies from Danzo out on missions so you can ambush them and try to get some information from them before imprisoning them?" The Hokage asked, after Naruto had explained their plan to him.
"Basically, yeah." The teen sheepishly agreed.
"And what if he really attacks you here? With Akatsuki at his side?"
"Well, if he attacks then it would be better for everyone involved if we were to stand together. Even without us drawing him out, there is a high chance of him attacking you either way and if he has the Akatsuki on his side why wouldn't he just bring them either way?" Fuu explained, causing Hiruzen to look at Jiraiya.
"It is sound logic. The two of them would never really stand a chance against the Akatsuki on their own, Danzo maybe but the Akatsuki no. And you did imprison the old war hawk, I don't think he has forgotten that." The white haired sannin agreed.
"No offense, but you don't know our current strength." Fuu stated, a bit angry that their skills were so simply assessed without anything to go by. Although Naruto had to admit, he was on the same page as Jiraiya as to the outcome of their fights against the Akatsuki and Danzo if they were on their own.
"It was an estimate, besides you wouldn't have proposed that plan if you were so confident in your own abilities." The sannin replied, earning a scowl from Fuu. Naruto quickly placed a calming hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.
"Well, we did tell you our plan. Are you on board?" He asked, looking at the Hokage.
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't send out teams that are completely composed of Danzo's spies. They are too wide spread for that. I'll have to send some of my loyal shinobi with them. I don't wish them harm." The Hokage demanded, earning a nod from Naruto. He had already expected something like that.
"Alright, I'll give you the list tomorrow. You two find a way for us to communicate when you are outside the village." Hiruzen ordered. The pair of rogues left with a smile, the next few days would be fun.
Ten days had passed since that conversation. There had been a few developments in the plan. Hiruzen had worked out an order in which he would send the teams out to the camp where Naruto and Fuu waited for them. However even the higher ranking spies didn't have any new information about Danzo or his plans. There was apparently already talk among the spies that they were being targeted, but nothing concrete had been decided by their higher ups.
The last spy had been in Anbu, they were getting to the top of their chain of command. According to the list Hiruzen had given them, there were only four or five spies left in the village, the rest were captured in stasis scrolls. Either Danzo was failing to notice that his whole network in Konoha was being decimated or he did notice and just didn't care enough to do something about it.
Even the last spy had no knowledge of any news from his leader or his plans or reactions. They had sent word to him, almost four days ago, that an increasing number of them were being taken out of the equation, but there had been no reply.
Naruto and Fuu were sitting on top of a tree, when they felt the chakra.
"It can't be." Kurama simply gasped, as Naruto jumped up, his three pronged kunai ready in his hand.
Hiya Dragons,
This concludes this chapter. Thank you all for reading.
Dedication this time to erazerxd for the big analysis they wrote on my post for last chapter.
To you reaper, I would answer to the text, but I fear that i would spoiler the future plot of the book. I hope you understand.
Now, for next chapter I want to know if you guys want to have some emotional moments?
Anyways that is it.
Take care and stay safe.
Peace,
Gleam-eyes