The Yellow Flash and The Village of Mokugakure

[Minato Namikaze]

The hospital beds were rather comforting, oddly soft, spacious, and accommodating. They were much different than what he remembered of the usual hospital beds that he frequented back in Konoha. He turned his head to look out the window, night had fallen over the village while they rested. Recovering from the various wounds that they had sustained.

It was rather peaceful and, compared to their last few nights, quiet. Things here were definitely less chaotic. Well… that's how things seemed. But Minato, better than most, understood what a ninja village could be like. The different clans that fought for control in ways of politics and subterfuge. Hell, the Uchiha were a prime example of it, albeit their not so subtle way of going about things.

'Minato-Sensei.' Kakashi spoke, his words turning his sensei's attention to him.

'Hmm?' The blonde hummed in response.

'Tsunade wanted to see us… Don't you think we should-' The silver haired shinobi began before he was interrupted.

'No.' the fourth hokage responded. 'We need to recover first.' he finished. His words were stern, and he had mixed feelings about sitting in a bed all night – doing nothing – but he was sure that whatever Tsunade wanted to speak to them about would still be around in the morning.

'I'm sure that whatever it is can wait until the morning.' Minato smiled warmly. Kakashi replied with a nod. The man's gaze fell back to the scenery outside the window. Wind had begun to stir the tree branches and leaves of the various trees that dotted the city.

'Strange…' The blonde mumbled as he leaned back into his bed, resting his head on the pillow. Sleep came quickly, he was even more fatigued than he had originally thought. But he welcomed it, sleeping was exactly what he wanted to do right now.

The Next Morning

'I see you found your change of clothes.' Tsunade laughed as the two Shinobi entered her office. Their climb up the tree had been short, they had made her wait all night for this, they didn't want to keep her waiting much longer.

'Yeah.' The duo nodded in unison.

'I appreciate that you got an exact copy of my Haori.' Minato smiled as he examined the item of clothing. 'It fits perfectly.' the fourth hokage said as he let the cloak fall over the rest of his newly acquired clothing.

'Lady Tsunade, what did you need me for?' a young voice spoke out as a black haired boy walked into the room.

'Well...' Tsunade started as she pulled a scroll from one of the draws in her desk and dropped it onto the table. 'I am give you three a mission.'

The three of them eyed the rolled up paper. They had all seen mission scrolls before, but they didn't understand why Tsunade was treating this one so differently. They looked up at their Kage, then back to the scroll, their movements in sync as their confusion became apparent. Tsunade sighed as she tossed Minato the scroll.

'It's a little lengthy, so I'll give you the foot notes. But keep it with you.' Tsunade spoke as Minato put the scroll into one of his flack jacket pockets and nodded.

'Every few months, or so, there's a meeting between the four Families that hold the most power in this village.' Tsunade began, leaning forward onto the table with her elbow. 'Usually I have to go and moderate. Make sure that nothing bad happens.' She sighed as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. 'This time, I'm sending you three. I've other business to attend to, and I need to send people that I can trust.' Tsunade finished.

Minato sighed, he didn't like the Idea of getting tied into village politics. He'd already experienced it when he became the Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves, and look at how well that turned out for him... But Tsunade is a scary woman, and he didn't want to be on the wrong end of her fist… again.

'Where do we have to go?' The blonde ninja asked, his question confirming the trio's decision to accept the mission.

'The north sector of the village. There's a large building with a red, dome, roof. You can't miss it.' Tsunade smiled as the trio of shinobi nodded and headed for the door.

'Oh, and one last thing. The families aren't like the clan's you're used to. Some of them have strange customs and beliefs. So be mindful.' Tsunade added, the three of them nodding in unison as they exited her office.

Continued in An Orchestrated Coup