Danzō's Watchful Eye

During the three years Jiraiya taught the Three Orphans, many things happened in Konoha. It all began with that meeting...

It was shortly after the Second Shinobi World War had ended. Jiraiya had gone to Amegakure, and only Orochimaru and Tsunade had returned to the village. Third Hiruzen Sarutobi had also announced that he would be retiring and that a successor would soon be named. Hatake Sakumo, who had just earned countless military merits, and Orochimaru, the Third's personal disciple, became the leading candidates.

Inside the Hokage's office.

SLAM!!!

"Teacher, why won't you approve my proposal? If every squad had a medical ninja, our Konoha shinobi would have a much better chance of surviving on the battlefield and during missions." Tsunade furrowed her brows and slapped the table, her voice filled with disbelief.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with his eyes closed.

A long silence passed.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade... This isn't something I can decide on my own. I'm the Hokage of this village. Such a change would require reform, and we don't have time to study it right now." Hiruzen shook his head. He knew perfectly well that Tsunade was right, but Konoha was rife with undercurrents, and the other villages were itching for a chance to act. Even after winning the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha remained in a precarious position.

"What could possibly be so important that it matters more than the lives of Konoha's shinobi?" Tsunade asked in confusion.

"The Hokage's position... needs..." Hiruzen began, but Tsunade cut him off.

"Is the Hokage's position really that important? If Second Hokage were here... Never mind. I won't stay in the village anymore. You've disappointed me, Teacher. Once things have settled down next month, I'm taking Chiba with me. He's my only disciple, and he deserves to inherit my ninjutsu." Tsunade turned and left the Hokage's office without looking back.

Hiruzen remained where he was.

He merely tapped his fingers on the desk and sighed. No one knew what was on his mind.

The setting sun bathed Konoha's rooftops in a warm golden glow, casting a soft veil over the village of shinobi. Uchiha Chiba, who had once wandered the Ninja World for many years, slowly stepped through the village gates. He looked tired, but his eyes held a glimmer of determination and hope.

"I'm finally back. Konoha, my hometown, both familiar and strange in my memories. I wonder if it can still accept a clan member who's been wandering abroad for so long... No, I don't need it to accept me. I came here for Danzō and the Hokage..." Now that he had returned, perhaps because of the original owner's feelings, Chiba found himself harboring complicated, profound emotions toward his homeland.

Meanwhile...

Beneath Konoha...

Shimura Danzō, the root of Konoha's Anbu and a man who controlled countless secrets from the shadows, soon received word that Uchiha Chiba had returned.

"Uchiha Chiba?" Shimura Danzō frowned. Things had been going terribly for him lately. First, his old friend Hiruzen Sarutobi had gained the upper hand over him politically. Then five of his most capable Twelve Root Members had fallen, all of them in Amegakure.

"He's Kage Level? Something's not right..."

Danzō had always harbored suspicion and mistrust toward the Uchiha Clan. In his deep, cunning eyes, Uchiha Chiba's return could not be a simple matter.

"Someone, investigate this man's background... And find out when the Sannin took him on as a disciple," Shimura Danzō said coldly.

He immediately sent out the Root operatives most skilled at gathering intelligence and moving unseen to secretly keep an eye on Uchiha Chiba.

Danzō sat in a dim room, poring over one report after another. His brow furrowed, and his doubts grew.

Uchiha Chiba... The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Once Root's report on where he had been taken in arrived, everything would become clear. But Danzō couldn't shake the feeling that beneath the seemingly calm surface, some unknown power and secret lay hidden.

In Konoha...

Uchiha Chiba walked down the street.

"This really doesn't feel right... Was the original owner that attached to the village?" Uchiha Chiba simply shook his head.

Now that he was in Konoha, he was on Shimura Danzō's home turf. He had to find a way to get close to the man. Whether by becoming Hokage or through some other means, as long as he could make the old dog suffer before finally dying in despair, that was Uchiha Chiba's ultimate goal.

"Feeling out of place? You've been standing under that tree this whole time. Aren't you going to visit the Uchiha Clan Compound?" Orochimaru asked with a smile, standing beside Chiba. He wasn't fond of lively places either, but their teacher had insisted that they spend time around Konoha. At least, they would have to do so for the next few weeks.

"Out of place? Well... not exactly. I just don't know how to face them, after all..." Uchiha Chiba didn't care about those so-called clan members. He preferred working alone.

"Is that so? Then get some rest over the next few days. Next week, Lord Hokage will award military merits in front of the whole village. As my disciple, you should be there too." Orochimaru glanced at Chiba's pale right eye and took a jar from his pocket.

The moment he saw the jar, Uchiha Chiba sucked in a sharp breath.

"Teacher... you..." He followed Uchiha Chiba's gaze.

Inside the jar in Orochimaru's hand lay a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan. Their condition and the depth of their tomoe suggested that their owner had been young.

"What are you thinking? I salvaged these from the battlefield, getting to them before the Uchiha Clan did. Their owner was ambushed while fighting Sunagakure. By the time reinforcements arrived, he had almost lost his eyes... By agreement, the Sharingan of deceased Uchiha Clan members must all be returned to the clan. But I kept these for personal reasons. It was right after you lost your sight..." Orochimaru's hoarse voice rang out.

Stealing Sharingan was a crime punishable by death if the Uchiha Clan found out—especially now, when Konoha hadn't completely fallen out with them.

"Teacher, isn't that..." Uchiha Chiba took the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Counting the eye socket that now held one and a half Sharingan, he had his own original Sharingan, as well as the pair Orochimaru had just given him.

"Whatever the case, you lost your right eye. We teachers failed you. Consider this compensation... The eyes of the Uchiha Clan can be transplanted between its members." Having finished, Orochimaru left.

Chiba watched Orochimaru's retreating figure.

"It seems a lot has changed in the world I'm in." Uchiha Chiba put away the jar and sat beneath the tree, watching the bustling crowd in the distance.

Somewhere...

A butterfly slowly beat its wings...

Somewhere...

A storm that had yet to take shape was stirring...