You'll Regret This

Inside the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, the embers in his pipe flickering.

Utatane Koharu stood by the window, her arms folded across her chest.

Mitokado Homura sat on the sofa, his back straight.

The three were discussing something.

Just then.

Bang!

Someone kicked the office door open.

The door slammed into the wall with a deafening crash.

Hiruzen frowned and looked up, ready to reprimand the intruder.

But the moment he saw who stood in the doorway, he swallowed his words.

Shimura Danzō stood there leaning on his cane, his face dark as a storm cloud.

Hiruzen set down his pipe, a trace of impatience in his voice.

"Danzo."

"You're still confined to your compound. What are you doing in my office?"

Danzo did not answer.

Leaning on his cane, he walked into the office one step at a time, his footsteps echoing through the spacious room.

He stopped before the desk and stared coldly at Hiruzen.

"I've been suspended for only two days..."

Danzo forced the words through clenched teeth.

"And Konoha has already fallen into this mess."

Hiruzen's frown deepened.

Danzo went on, his voice rising.

"Hiruzen, without my Root..."

"You can't get anything done as Hokage."

He paused, then drove his cane hard into the floor.

Thud!

"If that's how it is, you might as well reinstate me."

Hiruzen said nothing. He lowered his head and looked at the extinguished pipe on his desk.

Several seconds passed in silence.

Then he looked up at Danzo calmly.

"Danzo..."

His voice carried a weariness Danzo had never heard before.

"I've decided... to resign as Hokage."

Danzo froze.

Then his eyes lit up.

Resign as Hokage?

Hiruzen was going to resign?!

Danzo's breath caught.

Had Hiruzen finally come to his senses?

Was he finally willing to pass the Hokage's seat to me?

His hand tightened around his cane and began to tremble.

But Hiruzen's next words doused his hopes like a bucket of cold water.

"I've decided..."

Hiruzen's voice was calm and firm.

"To bring Jiraiya back and have him serve as the Fifth Hokage."

Danzo's expression froze, as though someone had slapped him hard across the face.

The joy that had just flared inside him shattered.

So after all that...

He wasn't passing the position to me?

He was giving it to that fool Jiraiya, who spent all day wandering the world?!

Danzo's chest heaved.

Then he exploded.

"Have you lost your mind?!"

Danzo was practically roaring.

"You want an oily fool who spends all day roaming around to become Hokage?!"

"Hiruzen, have you gone senile?!"

Hiruzen said nothing.

He picked up his pipe again, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Smoke slowly spread through the air.

Danzo refused to let it go and kept shouting.

"Look what you've done to Konoha!"

"The Uchiha Clan affair still isn't settled, and you can't contain public opinion in the village anymore!"

"The Fourth Hokage's former subordinates are protesting in the square! Your authority is in tatters!"

"And instead of figuring out how to solve these problems, you want to wash your hands of them and leave?!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you're not fit to be Hokage!"

At that, Koharu and Homura could no longer sit still.

Koharu strode forward, frowning.

"Danzo, that's enough!"

Homura stood as well.

"Danzo, Hiruzen has his reasons for this decision..."

"You've been suspended. What right do you have to come here and tell him what to do?"

Danzo turned and swept a cold gaze over them both.

"You two..."

His voice dripped with scorn.

"Instead of trying to talk Hiruzen out of it, you're trying to lecture me?"

"Do you not want to keep your positions as elders?"

Koharu's face stiffened, and Homura frowned deeply.

But just then.

Bang!

Hiruzen slammed his hand onto the desk! The crash silenced the entire office.

Everyone looked at him.

Hiruzen rose to his feet and fixed his gaze on Danzo.

His voice carried anger suppressed for years.

"Danzo!"

"If it weren't for you, how would the village have ended up like this?!"

Danzo froze.

But Hiruzen did not stop. He went on shouting.

"We had both Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi, each with the Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"The Uchiha Clan couldn't have caused any trouble!"

"But you had to think you knew better!"

"First, you ambushed Shisui on the road and stole his Mangekyō Sharingan!"

"Then you sent Itachi to slaughter his clan!"

"And what happened?!"

Hiruzen's voice grew louder.

"Most of the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan were slaughtered!"

"Uchiha Itachi deserted in the end!"

"And now Uchiha En has awakened the Sharingan and become the head of the Uchiha Clan!"

"All of this!"

"It all happened because you insisted on doing things your way!"

Danzo's face flushed scarlet.

His eyes bulged, and veins stood out on his forehead.

"You have the nerve to blame me?!"

Danzo was nearly screaming.

"Name one thing I did where I wasn't taking the blame for you!"

He stepped forward and drove his cane into the floor.

"You got to sit up there as Hokage, upright and incorruptible!"

"I worked below as Root, taking all the blame for you!"

"Every dirty deed was pinned on me!"

"And now you turn around and accuse me?!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you've had it easy as Hokage!"

Hiruzen's face had turned grim. He took a sharp drag on his pipe, then blew the smoke out forcefully.

"Danzo!"

"You're still confined to your compound!"

"Go back at once, and stop coming out to cause trouble!"

Danzo gave a cold laugh.

"What? Did I hit a nerve?"

He stared at Hiruzen, his gaze full of mockery.

"You're going to find Jiraiya?"

"Heh..."

"Do you think he'll listen to you?"

"If he listened to you, he wouldn't still be out there searching for some Child of Prophecy!"

"That old toad on Mount Myōboku has practically brainwashed him!"

"And you still trust him?"

Hiruzen's fingers tightened slightly around his pipe.

He said nothing.

Danzo continued, his voice thick with derision.

"You want someone brainwashed by a toad to be Hokage?"

"Hiruzen, you really have grown old."

"You're so old you can't tell who truly has Konoha's best interests at heart."

Hiruzen drew a deep breath.

He raised his head and looked calmly at Danzo, his voice icy.

"Danzo."

"Remember this..."

"I am the Hokage."

Danzo froze.

Hiruzen continued, enunciating every word.

"I don't care what you think."

"I am still the Hokage."

"So... go back."

"Without my orders, you are not to take another step outside the Shimura Clan compound."

Danzo's face darkened completely.

He glared at Hiruzen, his eyes burning with fury and resentment.

After several seconds of silence, he gave a cold snort.

"Hiruzen..."

"You'll regret this."

With that, he turned and left.

His cane struck the floor hard, going thud! Thud! Thud!

He reached the doorway and slammed the door behind him without looking back.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

A deathly silence settled over the office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood motionless.

Wisps of smoke still curled from the pipe in his hand.

But his hand trembled slightly.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a look.

Both looked utterly helpless.

A long time passed.

At last, Utatane Koharu sighed.

"Hiruzen..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand to stop her.

He slowly sat back down, lifted his pipe again, and took a deep drag.