The Deadly News!

Danzo clutched the scroll and hurried out of Root's underground hideout.

The long stone stairs stretched upward. He climbed them one step at a time, his cane knocking dully against the flagstones. He left the chill of the underground behind, and the higher he went, the more the air smelled of smoke and life.

He pushed open the office's heavy wooden door.

Utatane Koharu sat in a leather chair, her back ramrod straight. She twirled a calligraphy brush in her hand, her gaze fixed on the half-withered potted plant on the windowsill.

Mitokado Homura stood by the window with his back to the door and his hands clasped behind him, staring toward Kage Rock below. Half of it had collapsed, and it still hadn't been repaired.

"What's that old coot Danzo up to now?"

Utatane Koharu finally slapped the brush onto the desk.

"We're busy, and he insists on summoning us."

Mitokado Homura didn't turn around. His voice was heavy. "The Nine-Tails only left a few days ago, and the village is still smoking. If he's in a hurry to see us now, it can't be good."

"Hmph. When has anything good ever come of him calling us over?"

Utatane Koharu closed her eyes and leaned the back of her head against the chair. The office was so quiet they could hear the rebuilding crowds in Konoha chanting below. In that silence, old memories suddenly seeped through the cracks.

It had happened many years ago.

The Second, Tobirama Senju, had taken a few of them, green as grass, on an escort mission.

Rain poured down that night, the mountain road was muddy, and enemy kunai flew from the darkness.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had shoved Lord Tobirama out of the way, taking a blade to the shoulder himself. Danzo, meanwhile, had worn a gloomy expression and hidden in the trees' shadow, only darting out when the enemy showed himself.

They had been completely different people from that moment on, yet the group still huddled together in one tent and shared their rations.

Utatane Koharu remembered Danzo and Hiruzen sitting back-to-back, the firelight playing across their young faces. Neither of them could have imagined that years later, those two faces would come to represent the light and darkness of Konoha.

"Hiruzen has changed."

Mitokado Homura's sudden words interrupted Utatane Koharu's thoughts. He turned around, the wrinkles on his face as deep as knife cuts.

"He's not as resolute as he used to be. Otherwise, he would've reined Danzo in long ago."

Utatane Koharu opened her eyes and gave a cold laugh.

"We old folks should be grateful if we don't cause trouble for the younger generation. I think Hiruzen's fine as he is. Besides, Minato can handle things, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Danzo has changed, too."

Mitokado Homura walked back to the desk.

"He's grown a little crazy. During the Nine-Tails' rampage... No one saw him. Who knows what he was doing underground?"

Utatane Koharu picked up the thread.

"He's a starving stray dog now. We'd better be careful this time..."

Just then, the door was flung open.

Shimura Danzo stood in the doorway, leaning on his cane. His gaze swept over the two people in the room, and his lips curved into a smile devoid of warmth.

"Sorry to keep you both waiting."

He walked in and closed the door behind him. His cane struck the floor with a dull thud.

"But what I'm about to tell you..."

Danzo pulled the scroll from his robe and slapped it onto the desk. Root's black insignia on it looked like an eye staring wide open.

"I'm afraid it'll keep you from sleeping ever again."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, then looked down at the scroll on the desk.

"What's the news? Why make it sound so ominous?"

Utatane Koharu reached for it.

Danzo pinned the scroll down with one hand and glanced at them both.

"Jiraiya and Tsunade are with Orochimaru."

Mitokado Homura froze. "Which Orochimaru?"

"Who else?" Danzo sneered. "The S-rank missing-nin whose wanted poster you both signed yourselves."

Utatane Koharu's hand stopped in midair.

"Impossible!"

She slammed the table and shot to her feet. The chair legs scraped across the floor with a shrill screech.

"Orochimaru defected long ago! How could he be with Jiraiya and the others?"

Mitokado Homura frowned, too. "Why would Jiraiya and Tsunade get involved with him? Danzo, explain yourself!"

Danzo lifted his hand, and the scroll slowly unrolled across the desk, revealing Root's coded records.

"My people saw them with their own eyes. The three Sannin met in the barren mountains along the Land of Fire's border, and Orochimaru even captured a Cloud Village shinobi alive."

Utatane Koharu stared at the writing on the scroll, her pupils narrowing.

Mitokado Homura leaned closer and pinched the edge of the scroll between his fingers.

"Is this true?"

"Root never lies. I have my own methods."

Danzo leaned on his cane, his voice cold.

"The three of them are heading for Konoha with a Cloud Village prisoner. Do you think I'm joking?"

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a look.

They saw the same thing in each other's eyes. Something was wrong—very wrong.

If Danzo wasn't lying, what did the Sannin acting together mean? And if he was lying, what was he up to?

"Let's go find Hiruzen." Utatane Koharu snatched up her coat and headed for the door.

"Right. Now." Mitokado Homura followed, his footsteps thudding across the floor.

They didn't spare Danzo another glance. They pushed through the door and left, their footsteps in the corridor as urgent as a drumbeat.

Danzo remained where he was, staring at the door as it swung back and forth. He planted his cane on the floor, and the corners of his mouth slowly lifted.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura crossed Konoha's battered streets, their footsteps pounding on the stone road. They stopped in front of an old wooden door, and Utatane Koharu clenched her fist and knocked three times.

The door creaked open.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore an old coat and had a pipe between his lips, smoke drifting lazily from the corner of his mouth.

He glanced at their tense faces and stepped aside.

"Come in."

Only one electric light was on inside, casting a dim yellow glow.

Mitokado Homura stepped through the doorway and got straight to the point.

"Jiraiya and Tsunade have returned to the village."

Hiruzen's eyes lit up. He took the pipe from his mouth and rubbed his fingers over its bowl.

"Wonderful. Those two finally remembered to come home."

Utatane Koharu took half a step forward.

"They didn't come back alone."

"Oh?" Hiruzen chuckled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching up. "Who else, besides Tsunade's niece, Shizune?"

"Orochimaru."

Hiruzen's fingers froze. The embers in his pipe flickered. He parted his lips, but his voice came out hoarse.

"Which Orochimaru?"

"Who else?" Mitokado Homura's voice tightened.

"Danzo's people saw him with their own eyes. He was walking arm in arm with Jiraiya, with Tsunade beside them. The three of them are on their way to Konoha."

Hiruzen put his pipe down on the table a little too hard. It clinked sharply. He stood and began pacing around the room, the wooden floorboards creaking under his steps.

Utatane Koharu looked anxious.

"Hiruzen, say something."

Hiruzen stopped and gazed out the window. Half of Kage Rock was still collapsed.

"The night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, Minato told me something."

"What?"

"He said a traveler from a faraway place had saved the village, Kushina, and him."

Hiruzen turned around, the wrinkles on his face cutting deep into the shadows cast by the light.

"Minato looked like he already knew something that night, but he wouldn't say what. I didn't press him."

Mitokado Homura asked, "So you think... that traveler has something to do with Orochimaru?"