Twilight didn’t know how to feel at the moment. She supposed that the best way to describe way to describe it was anxiety mingled with joy. Her parents were standing at Ponyville station unannounced. She had hoped to have at least a week before having this confrontation; but now things were happening fast. It was Naruto that brought her out of her panicked state.
“Mama, who are they?” He asked watching the two unicorns make their way towards them. Shaking herself free of her stupor she responded,
“Naruto, these are Twilight Velvet and Night Light. They are my parents.” She felt some reservation in introducing them as his adopted grandparents, she didn’t know their opinion on the matter. The mare suddenly felt her heart rate elevate when her passenger slid from her back and run forward to the older ponies.
“Naruto wait!” But the bundle of energy was already putting his arms around Twilight Velvet,
“Hi Grandma! I’m Naruto!” The shock was apparent on her parent’s faces. The boy then extended the same greeting to his new Grandpa. The two elder ponies exchanged looks of surprise before Night Light caught the little boy up in a hug,
“Well hello little guy. I’m your Grandpa Night Light, and this lovely mare next to me is my wife Twilight Velvet, she is your Grandmare. But I suppose you already know that?”
“Come on Night stop hogging the hugs!” Twilight Velvet reprimanded, butting into the embrace and encompassing the blond in a hug of her own.
Relief washed over Twilight seeing her parents react to Naruto in such a way. She sighed and walked over to her child,
“Mom, Dad, allow me to introduce Naruto Uzumaki. He’s the colt from my letter.”
“And he is just plain adorable Twilight.” Her mother told her.
“Perhaps we should head to the castle? I’m sure the little guy is hungry.” Night Light suggested. As if right on cue Naruto’s stomach let out a loud growl. His embarrassment solicited a round of laughter from all present, minus Naruto of course.
On the edge of the Everfree forest there resides a quaint cottage surrounded by different animal shelters. The occupant of said cottage is none other than the kind Fluttershy. Here she tends to her animal friends and help the animals of the Everfree recover when they are injured before they return to their homes in the forest.
Today the butter yellow Pegasus was helping a new addition to her care. Earlier that morning a vixen had come pawing at her door, in need of a place to stay and very ready to deliver a litter of fox kits.
Now there was a new littler of baby foxes taking up residence in the corner of her cottage, with a very frightened Angle Bunny hiding upstairs from his natural predator. Of course, Fluttershy’s attention was on the newborns and their nursing mother. Fluttershy had taken the liberty of draping a small blanket over the new family and was checking if the new mother,
“Is there anything else that you need Misses Fox?” The kind mare asked. The vixen shook her head with a content look on her face.
“Oh, good.” Then Fluttershy’s expression fell. Concerned the vixen barked at her.
“I’m alright Misses Fox, I have a lot on my mind.” Curious, the fox’s expression asked the mare to explain.
“Well, my friend Twilight found a child to call her own. I see how much love the two have for each other and I guess it makes me kind of jealous.”
The fox’s expression changed again and Fluttershy backed up,
“Oh no! I could never be angry at her for having something that I don’t! It’s just that… Well, I think I want a foal of my own. I want to feel the same kind of love; but I don’t know if I…”
A low growl from the she-fox caught her attention. Several minutes passed as the fox lectured her in language only understood by other woodland animals and Fluttershy. When the vixen was done Fluttershy nodded,
“Thank you for the advice. I guess I should make an appointment.” Taking a pencil in her mouth Fluttershy left herself a note: “Make appointment with doctor.”
With a feeling of confidence Fluttershy puffed up her chest, she hadn’t felt this resolved about anything for a while.
“I’m going to do it.” She told herself and all the animals that were listening, “I’m going to be a mother!”
“And that concludes today’s business. Everyone understand what they need to do?” The chief secretary of the Hokage asked all the clerks that served the office. They had been reviewing the schedule for the next day. The Hokage had officially ended his day in the office a few hours earlier but those that served under him had to finish sorting out the approvals and mission requests. Some of these were chunin that were off season of teaching at the academy, but some of them were full time hired professionals.
The group broke apart so they could get to their assignments, heading to their varying offices to file paperwork. One clerk, Kenshi Yakamoto, was the last one to enter his dark office space. He entered the darkened room and flipped the switch. When the lights didn’t come on he came to attention. Trying the light switch a couple more times he closed the door and looked to the dark space,
“I thought we were finished.” Kenshi said into the darkness. Seemingly from nowhere an orb of light came into existence and illuminated the Man in the Mask sitting on the desk that occupied most of the room. When he didn’t say anything Kenshi continued,
“You said that if I presented the village council with that excerpt from an all but forgotten law that you would leave me alone. No more contact until Naruto was much older. That I could live something close to a normal life.” The Man in the Mask finally spoke after Kenshi said this,
“There has been a complication. There are forces plotting to kill you.” Kenshi groaned,
“And I have my involvement with you to thank for that.”
“You volunteered to join up with me. You have no one to blame but yourself for accepting my initial deal for power.”
“Yah, some power. All the good that’s come from it is being stuck behind a desk playing faithful clerk while you and everyone else is out running around having grandiose adventures.”
“We all play a part Kenshi. Many of the others consider yours the hardest role to play. You have to deceive everyone around you into thinking that what they see is what is really who you are.”
Shaking his head at his superior’s stubbornness Kenshi got back to the original topic,
“So just who is it that is out to get me?”
“Mostly Danzo and his men. There isn’t any major gain from your death other than a form of petty revenge. They see you as the reason why Naruto is out of their grasps.”
“In other words you want me to watch my back.”
“I will have something watching you at all times. I’m keeping it in shadow mode until your life is threatened.”
Kenshi’s mind tried to process who or what would want to remain in shadow mode for extended periods. Shadow mode was dimension hopper’s lingo for being in a world but not fully there. It was like being invisible and intangible at the same time, however your view on the world was distorted as well. The experience of Shadow mode drove most insane, to have someone in there constantly…
“Just who or what are you keeping there?”
“Pray that you never have to find out.”
With that the orb of light vanished and the office’s overhead fixtures turned on. With the room illuminated again, just as Kenshi expected, the Man in the Mask had vanished. Letting out a sigh Kenshi moved to his desk and started working on his tasks. Other people thought his job was hard? Tedious was more like it.
At that moment Hiruzen Sarutobi was making his way through the last place anyone would have guessed, the Uchiha district. Under usual circumstances he would have summoned the Uchiha patriarch to his office, but for something like this Hiruzen wanted to show his earnestness in the request. He also wanted to give the family a sense that they were in some degree of power by meeting them on his home turf.
He could feel a degree of hostility from the members of the clan watching him. Hopefully what he would do today would diffuse the situation that was growing in the village.
Finally, he reached the house he was looking for. He knocked and a short while later Mikoto answered the door,
“Lord Hokage! What brings you here?”
“Good evening Mikoto, could I speak with you and your husband?”
“Of course, please come in.”
Mikoto led the Hokage into the famiy room where she invited the aged leader to sit while she went to retrieve her husband. Hiruzen reviewed his plan, hopefully this would not only further what they could expect from Naruto, but also diffuse the tension between one of the founding clans and the rest of the village.
It was a few moments before the two returned and took sitting positions across from him. Fugaku was as stoic face as ever.
“Lord Sarutobi, what brings you to my home?” He asked politely. However, the Hokage could tell that there was some of the resentment within him that was building as the distrust of the clan grew.
“Fugaku, I was wondering if you would be interested in a proposition. It is in regards to your son, Itachi.” This made the patriarch raise an eyebrow as the student of the first two Hokages continued.
“Within the next week or two I expect Princess Twilight Sparkle to return from her home land with one of the Diarchy that governs her land. We will establish a trade agreement to fully legitimize Twilight’s adoption of Naruto. As part of that agreement I will insist on a Konoha influence within her homeland. Something to ensure that the village’s best interests are met. As part of this presence, I was hoping that you would permit Itachi to join them.”
The request took the parents of said ninja by surprise.
“Surely Lord Hokage you could just give him this as an assignment, seeing as he is one of the village’s ninja.” Fugaku commented, not seeing the bigger scheme that Hiruzen was playing at.
“Indeed I could. Itachi is a fine ninja. Skilled, loyal, everything that a Leaf ninja should be proud of. There is but one skill he is lacking though for the plans I have for the future. I hope that by having him play a part in the land of Equestria he will fulfill two roles. The first will be to mentor Naruto in the shinobi arts. Help the boy establish the basics of what he needs to know once he comes to the academy. Princess Twilight all but begged for someone to teach Naruto since she very well could not.”
“And the second?” Mikoto asked.
“I want Itachi to learn how to play in an international theater. To learn the rules of diplomacy and how to help your country and people get ahead.”
“Why would you want…” Fukgaku started but then realized the ramifications. Seeing that the father understood Hiruzen confirmed it,
“I want Itachi to become my successor.”