Chapter 9.1- Gamer of the Desert

"And once again, Danzo, you come to me with nothing but failure," I sighed at the man sitting in front of me, taking a sip of my tea. My agents at Root had reported the mission to me the moment it was authorized, but I had turned a blind eye, hoping to see my friend's impetuousness finally achieve something useful for the village he was sworn to serve. Of course, it hadn't yielded any real results.

"I would hesitate to use that word," the man said, pretending to take a sip of his own tea. Danzo was far too paranoid to drink anything he did not prepare himself. Even watching my secretary as she made the tea in our presence was not enough to assuage his constant fear for his life. Others might have been offended by his lack of trust, but not me. I found it cute – cute that he believed I would resort to poison if I wanted him dead. No, I would crush his skull between my hands and watch his life drain away on the ground. Every day, I fought the temptation, waiting for him to outlive his usefulness or for his audacity to overshadow it.

"What word would you use, then?" I asked, playing his game.

"A success, but with a different goal. Yes, I did not secure the Ichibi for Konoha, but we now have a much better understanding of the Jinchuriki's strength compared to the other villages."

"Yes, strong enough to kill three of your operatives."

"They were hardly frontline combatants. They were nothing but skilled spies, at best Chunin level," he said, trying to dismiss the accomplishment.

"Yes, three Chunin at the age of six. Even Itachi cannot boast such a feat." His scowl at the mention of the infamous nuke nin almost brought a smile to my face. The young man's threat still lingered in his mind. The fact that I knew Danzo had wanted to recruit the boy into Root after the massacre made it all the more satisfying to me.

"And why did you terminate the mission there?" I asked, addressing the question that had been bothering me.

"Seven agents already lay dead. The Jounin was much stronger than anyone could have reasonably expected, and the boy was also more impressive. He had yet to unleash the true power of his Bijuu and was capable of keeping up with two Chunin of the same rank."

"I see. And the sand? I recall previous Jinchuriki of the Ichibi demonstrating that ability."

"Yes, that's why my agents waited until they were sure he was unable to use it. Despite catching him far outside Kaze no Kuni, he was still able to summon an extraordinary amount of sand. Reports from my scouts indicate that with the sand, he goes from Chunin level to Jounin. Apparently, the sand alone was enough for him to kill the two agents he was barely staying ahead of."

I hmmed and took another sip of my tea, contemplating the situation. It was evident that Suna was in possession of the next prodigy of their generation. Gaara of the Desert would become a threat if allowed to fulfill his potential. The thought of another ninja with the raw talent of Itachi but with the added power of a tailed beast unsettled me.

"Another Jinchuriki stronger than ours," Danzo stated, and I resisted the urge to bare my teeth at him. Those who didn't know him well would fail to detect the subtle nuance in his tone, but it was crystal clear to me. He wanted Naruto. Again.

"Naruto is off-limits, Danzo. Do not test me. I only tolerate your impudence due to your loyalty to Konoha."

"You know of my loyalty. You are the Kage, Hiruzen. You know that to make the great tree flourish, a few branches must be sacrificed. The Nine-Tails is one such branch. The attack from its jinchuriki put us in this situation, and now, with over a third of our shinobi force unable to fight in a war, and no jinchuriki to speak of, we might be the weakest among the five." I didn't point out how he was clearly leaving Mizu out of his assessment. He was right. I felt the weight every day. During the last war, we had Minato, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya running interference, and we just barely made it out intact. By the time the other villages sued for peace, we were on our last legs, barely able to maintain the facade of invincibility. Now, without most of those S-ranks and with our forces nearly cut in half, if war were to break out today, we would be the victims, not the victors. Despite that, Naruto was off-limits. I made a promise to Minato years ago. His son would know the dream Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei gave their lives for.

"No. Not Naruto," I said, shutting down the idea.

"Then the Uchiha," he said, and I resisted the urge to laugh. Itachi would kill both of us before letting Sasuke anywhere near Root. Danzo also reconsidered the idea and quietly sat.

"Increased funding and recruitment for Root, then?" he asked. I saw where he had been leading. Danzo was perfectly capable of playing the fool when he wanted to get his way, and now, he was going to. I reevaluated and analyzed our entire conversation in my head once again. I could see how he maneuvered me into canceling out all the other options on my own, making me realize that we had virtually no chance of surviving the next war without drastic action. And then he showed that the only drastic action I would even be willing to consider was the one that ended with him getting his way.

These days, I didn't particularly like Danzo, but I could tolerate him, and restoring his army to its former glory was a distasteful but necessary sacrifice. I knew Danzo. I could trust Danzo. Danzo was my friend.

Xxxxx - Gamer

I looked around as we jumped through the trees. From the moment we set off, we hadn't slowed down for a second, except for a brief pause for me to create a gourd at the end of the desert, marking the boundary between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. I felt it floating behind me as I jumped. I had declined to tie it to my back like Gaara from the anime, not just because I was too short to have the one I made tied to me (it was taller than I was!), but also because I didn't feel like sacrificing my flexibility. Baki had commented that having it like that would give away my abilities, but I couldn't care less, and it seemed he didn't either.

After all, everyone already knew who I was. The villagers of Suna could recognize me on sight, and only a fool would assume their hidden village didn't have spies. I mean, I had obtained a complete list of all the participants from the major villages, along with a list of their known abilities. The standouts I noticed were Kurotsuchi, the nine-year-old granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, and Hana Inuzuka, an average genin from Konohagakure and a member of the Yotsuki clan from Kumo.

A/N: Sneak peek of what I hope to work on with the new chapter. It might take a bit longer than usual. It's that time of the month.