As the sun rose, painting the sky in a soft crimson glow, Akashi and his mother arrived at the door of Konoha.
"So this is Konoha!"
Akashi looked at the massive wooden door in front of him with attention.
"The color is different from what I saw,"
"Of course, it's different; I already warn you not to rely too much on that dream in the future; the simple fact that we are here will probably change many things," Kana said simply; they had already discussed extensively what he saw in his premonition.
"I know,"
After his first kill and after letting him the time to recover, things changed for Akashi; if previously she made sure to avoid any potential enemies, she later started to actively move to meet them, and in just three days, Akashi ended up killing fifteen more genin before they arrived to Konoha.
'Choice is not real. She spent ten minutes telling me how she chose who she would kill when she never gave me that choice,' Akashi grumbled inwardly
He knew that she had done it due to the war so he wasn't really mad but just venting.
"Princess Kana, Prince Akashi. Welcome, welcome to Konoha! This is such a pleasure and an honor to have you in our humble village," An old man from the welcome comity said with a huge smile. Beside him was another old man who was more reserved.
'He is an enthusiast,' Akashi noted,
'A ninja and a civilian, the civilian is probably from the civilian council and the other must be his equivalent for the ninjas, he isn't someone that I saw, well, Mom already said that I shouldn't rely on what I saw, it not like it even gave me any deep information really,'
Soon, they were led into the village; Akashi looked around with curiosity and attention; after all, it was indeed the first time that he was out of his village, and even in Uzushiogakure, he tended to remain away from the village.
'The infrastructure similar to Uzushiogakure,' Akashi noted
The houses and constructions were traditional and mostly made of wood, and the roads were well made, cleaned, and spaced enough to allow about ten to walk shoulder to shoulder without any problem.
The citizens seemed happy for the most part; the streets were animated, full of shops, and stood without being disoriented.
'Konoha is much bigger than I thought. But I should've expected that it natural if they want to accommodate all those ninjas clans with various needs and secrets.'
'I don't even need to use mind eyes to feel those ninjas around me,'
Soon they arrived at the office of the Hokage
"Good morning Princess Kana, it's nice to see you again, Prince Akashi, it's a pleasure to have you in our beautiful village, please sit down, sorry for not coming to get you, please take a seat,"
"I understand, You are still dealing with a war after all"
"The pleasure is our master Hokage," Akashi replied; while he looked at the man in front of him, his eyes shone with a touch of surprise.
'This guy… is fucking strong,'
"The pleasure is all mine, my prince, huhu,"
The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi standing in front of him was nothing like the old man of his vision the person in front of him even though he wasn't very tall he appeared to tower above the others in the room, even with that oversized robe that he was wearing Akashi could see that he had a strong physique, his amiable and kind smile failed to hide the sharpness in his eyes.
And his chakra, Akashi didn't have to use his mind eyes to notice the sharpness and murderous intent barely contained by the man.
'He is completely different from that weak and decrepit old man that I saw, is it because the war is still ongoing? Haa, Time really spare no one,'
While Akashi was thinking that his mother was already exchanging greetings with everyone present in the room, there was the Hokage; beside him was a younger and sharper Danzo Shimura, and a few others were there.
"If I may, why did you decide to grace us with your presence after so many years, princess?" Danzo asked why his usual taciturn tone.
"Nice to see you too Danzo Shimura, it's been a while, you still look like you just discovered that his wife cheated on him, don't worry we won't stay long,"
"Huh,"
Her joke made a few people smile while Danzo just scoffed
From that, Akashi realized that his mother knew the people in the room personally; he wasn't surprised. After all, as princess of the Uzumaki, it was perfectly normal that she had contact with them.
"Well to answer your question many reasons, I have decided to come to see my aunt now that the war is no longer as fierce, you know she is one of the only people in the family with whom I am on good terms right now, I wanted my son to see another village than Uzushio, and a few others things,"
At Kana's explanation, Hiruzen just nodded his gaze, turned toward Akashi, and flashed a kind smile.
"Well you are always welcome in Konoha," he then turned toward Akashi with his usual smile "Your Highness, this is a pleasure to meet you I heard a lot about you I hope that you will like your sejour in Konoha,"
"I hope so too sir," Akashi replied with his most innocent and eager smile,
Soon Kana engaged in a discussion about nothing and everything for a few minutes before they left for the Senju compound.
….
"Hooo, I am so happy to see you again, Kana. It has been so long. You haven't changed at all,"
An old red-haired woman said sweetly as she crushed Kana in her arm
"I'm very happy to see you again Aunty Mito, you haven't changed either,"
"What do you mean I haven't changed? Can't you see how old I look? This isn't how good to lie to your elders,"
Kana just laughed awkwardly; it was true that she had lied, as Mito had grown tired and older since the last time she had seen her.
She is even also visibly much older than her older brother who is Kana's father.
"And might you be," she said looking toward Akashi beside them
"Huh, I am Akashi Uzumaki; nice to meet you, huh…"
He couldn't end his sentence when his baby cheeks were affectionately grabbed and pinched by the old woman.
"Ohh, look how cute he is. I know who you are Akashi, I am so happy to finally meet you,"
She said before picking him up like he weighed nothing; before he could react to the situation, Akashi found himself carried around by the old woman.
"It has been so long since I had a baby in my arms," she said as they moved around the compound
"I'm not a baby, I am four,"
Akashi protest just made the old woman laugh
"He is so cute,"
"I know right,"
The said played and pinched with Akashi's plump cheeks
"Anyway, where is the little Kushina? Isn't she with you?"
"The little Kushina, yes she is often with me, but not today she had a mission, I thought it was too early but as ninjas, we know that it is not up to her to choose when to go,"
"So they let her get out, huh,"
"She is not far from the village, and… she isn't alone, she is in good hands,"
Even though its sentence seemed ordinary, everyone present understood the dark implication; after all, as a jinchiruki, not only is Kushina never alone, but her freedom is also very restricted.
While carrying Akashi around, they walked and talked, ate and joked, and reminisced.
….
In Konoha's underground
Danzo Shimura was standing in the shadows with two confident beside him, while his other subordinates were kneeling in front of him, their masks hiding their features.
"Rapports,"
"Master Danzo, the princess, and her son spent most of their time in the Senju compound with Lady Mito. And when they went out they didn't venture very far and stayed near the compound, before returning, from what we saw they decided to take residence with Lady Mito in the Senju compound "
"So they won't move into the Uzumaki compound, huh,"
He replied with a hint of deception in his voice; contrary to the Senju compound, the Uzumaki compound had been deserted for a long time, so the moment he heard that some Uzumaki was coming, he took the liberty to make modifications to be able to monitor them more easily.
"My lord would that even have successful, after all, she is the princess of the Uzumaki, she has was to detect a seal in her compound,"
"But not all of them, and this isn't like she can know who put them for sure; over the years, the Uzumaki who inhabited that compound placed their own seals; this place is riddled with seals," he explained.
After a few seconds of silence, Danzo talked once more
"Do you really think that she may know something,"
"It is a possibility. With the destruction of Uzushiogakure imminent I can't allow any mishaps,"
"We can't eliminate them in Konoha," the ninja on Danzo's right said
"Yes, but once they leave we will have or chance, she mentioned that they will not stay long, plus I doubt she will stay in Konoha once the attacks on Uzushiogakure start, it will be our chance to eliminate them," the one of the left said
"Even if we can't attack them in the village, we can make their lives here difficult enough that they will not want to stay. The old man of the Uchiha clan has long wanted to have his revenge on the Uzumaki for the death of his son… "
"Yes, we can use the red eyes to drive them out of Konoha before eliminating them with the rest of the Uchiha." Another of his ninjas echoes his sentiments
"Huh, it would be a shame to lose the kid, the child of a Uchiha and an Uzumaki if I can get my hands on him and groom him, he can become the perfect host or powerful assets for my roots, or we can even use him as experiment subjects,"
"Go, use our men and connection in the Uchiha clan to prepare the terrain and make sure that things go as planned,"
Once everyone had dispersed Danzo slowly rubbed his bandaged eyes with longing
"Will I get another pair of Mangekyo from him,"