Danzo kept his promise to Hiruzen and at least once a week Fuzen was sent to visit him at the Hokage office. In the beginning, Root members escorted him each time he went, but after learning "Shadow Walk", he"d always gone by himself.After a couple of times of him appearing out of nowhere, it"d developed into a weird game of hide-and-seek. If Fuzen managed to sneak in unnoticed until he decided to reveal himself, he would get an hour in Hiruzen"s personal library and if he didn"t go unnoticed Hiruzen forced him to visit a second time during the week.
Bringing along another pa.s.senger, which made it take a bit longer to perform this technique, Fuzen knew it was unlikely he could surprise Hiruzen like he used to.
However, as there was something worth his attention on the line, Fuzen pretty much on a whim decided to try something new. Hovering like a spectre within the world of darkness, he surveyed all usable exits in the Hokage office and much to his surprise they had significantly reduced since his last visit. He knew it was getting late, so the only way for there to be this few options for him to choose from was if Hiruzen had rigged the game.
Normally he would stick with the pa.s.senger the entire time and make them materialize together, but if he did the same again, he"d no doubt lose. Fuzen had an idea of what might work, yet having never tested it, he didn"t know if it"d work. It might be at the cost of Danzo"s life, but what Danzo didn"t know wouldn"t make him angry. And as the saying went; what happened in the dark stayed in the dark.
With Danzo as the test subject, Fuzen separated from Danzo and began making only him materialize. Like a puppet master, he stayed in the world of darkness controlling Danzo ascent to the world above. When he felt sure Danzo had the attention of Hiruzen and the stationed guard platoon he felt stationed above, did Fuzen start to materialize on the ledge outside one of the opened windows.
Within a second Fuzen was finished and could hear Hiruzen and Danzo argue.
"Oi, old man!" Fuzen showed himself and placed one foot on the doorframe.
"Hey, you cheated," Hiruzen said turning around in his Hokage chair.
"Nah, that"s cheating," Fuzen corrected and pointed to the room that had been cleaned up and now had extra sources of light leaving few dark corners inside the office.
"And don"t tell me you"re redecorating!"
"As a matter of facts, I am," he looked towards Fuzen, challenging him to call him out on it.
Both of the crossed their arms eyes locked onto each other, neither giving an inch. Fuzen was impressed by Hiruzen, he put on a most impressive display of acting that Danzo could learn from.
"You owe me two hours..." Fuzen held up two fingers to punctuate what he meant, knowing Hiruzen would understand.
"Fine, fine. You can have two hours after we have you checked out at the hospital," he surrendered.
Danzo knew he was missing out on something, but remained as a silent bystander.
"Didn"t know you could do that," Danzo commented.
Knowing full well what he was referring to, Fuzen decided to put on his best performance having learned from Hiruzen.
"Huh? What?" He feigned ignorance, picking his ear with a pinkie.
Taking a quick look outside the window and seeing bad weather approaching, he decided to use that as an excuse.
"We should probably go before the rain comes."
Not giving the opportunity for any follow-up questions, he left towards the hospital using the "Body Flicker".
Left inside the office was an angry Danzo and a Hokage about to fall down from his chair from laughing too hard.
"Don"t laugh too hard. You do remember he"s moving into the city today, right?"
Recalling that fact silenced Hiruzen immediately, and he collected himself.
"We should get going as well I"m not sure the hospital can handle him without any of us present," he admitted.
Arriving outside the hospital, they saw Fuzen at the entrance surrounded by female medical-nin.
"What is he doing?" Questioned Hiruzen.
"You"ll find out soon enough," Danzo sighed knowing full well what Fuzen was doing.
As two of them came within listening range of their conversation, Hiruzen felt he might strangle the kid right there.
Apparently, he"d been trying to convince them he was there to retrieve medication meant for the Hokage who"d been having some problems in the bedroom and needed to have a little medication to get it up.
Taking action, Hiruzen quickly went to stop the little scoundrel.
"Sorry ladies, we"re here for an appointment. Sadly, this little guy fell and hit his head very hard," Hiruzen smiled while taking a firm hold of Fuzen"s neck.
He"d no intentions of little him out of his sight.
"She is down in her research lap nr. 4 waiting for you. Take the stairs to the floor below and down to the end of the hallway," one of the women directed them unsure of what to believe.
As the trio went down the stairs and out of sight by the hospital staff, Fuzen started talking.
"Hey, I was just trying to " – Hiruzen smacked his the back of his head – "Ouch, that hurt!"
"Deserves you right for pulling stunts like that."
"Entirely your own fault for cheating and being a bad loser!" Fuzen justified himself.
"And you!" – he turned to Danzo – "You knew..."
Danzo merely shrugged. He"d had enough time with Fuzen to know he sometimes pulled stunts like this in retaliation. Childish, yes, but quite an effective strategy. If anything it showcased the kids" resourcefulness.
Following the provided instructions they reached the door at the end of the hallway.
Knocking on the door, they waited.
"Hang on! I"ll be right there," came a female voice from the other side.
A few seconds later the door was opened, and a truly impressive sight greeted Fuzen.
A young Tsunade invited both Hiruzen and Fuzen inside her research lap. Danzo didn"t gain an open invitation like the other but joined them none the less.
Fuzen followed right behind her and appreciated what he saw. As a true connoisseur and collector of women, there was no mistaking it. He would definitely have her at some point in the future.