Just as she left, a knock came at the door.
She opened it only to see an ANBU wearing a dog mask.
"What are you doing on my property?" she frowned and snorted.
"Lord Fourth asked for your presence immediately," the ANBU replied, returning the same cold tone.
Kaede was about to shut the door. She wanted nothing to do with that puppet called Hokage because she knew those old rags would never surrender power to someone who wouldn't take orders from them.
But since Shinku was here and had heard the Hokage calling her, it meant that this matter involved Megumi.
"I am coming," she said.
Closing her door, she went back to meet the guests she had just left.
"Sorry, but I think that is it for today and I—"
"I am coming with you to meet the Hokage," Shinku interrupted, already sensing that this woman didn't want him near that child.
"Sure, let's go then," Kaede replied.
She locked all her doors and windows before they set out. No one spoke on the way. Shinku wanted to confirm his suspicions about that wolf.
"Kaede, was that the boy's kekkei genkai?"
"No, I own them. And what is your business with my son's kekkei genkai?" Kaede snapped. She remembered clearly why she never got along with this man.
"You own a summon?"
"Hahaha, what a lame joke, Kaede. You and I both know you hate summons. Those things bared their fangs at my daughter, meaning they share the same hatred that Megumi does. Am I right?" Shinku said, now certain that Kaede was trying to make her son as emotionless as she had been during her ANBU days.
"Correct, but there's no reward for you, teacher," Kaede replied with a small smile.
"Kaede, you can't take care of this child alone. You should let him build bonds with other people too," Shinku said, not giving her any room to breathe.
He could already see why the boy was becoming a problem.
What worried him most was that a five-year-old had defeated a Chunin-ranked Uchiha. It still baffled him what kind of training this crazy woman had put the boy through in just a few weeks.
When they arrived at the Hokage building, the Fourth Hokage sat at his desk with his hat slightly tilted. To his left sat the Third Hokage and the two advisers, along with Nara Shikaku and Tsunayoshi.
On the right side of the room stood a boy in a prison uniform, handcuffed, with two guards beside him.
"Megumi," Kaede called out.
The stone-faced boy turned and looked at his mother. He smiled briefly and gave her a nod, but when his eyes met the unfamiliar old man and the two people he despised, the smile vanished, replaced by a cold, deadly look.
"Kaede, the reason we called you here is to inform you that your son will be released, but he doesn't want to," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a dry tone. "He said he doesn't want to owe anybody a favor."
Danzo was not pleased with how his friend was handling the matter.
He had spoken to Hiruzen about recruiting the boy into Root, but the old man always refused, saying that the boy needed to embrace the Will of Fire first.
"This child is spoiled. He shouldn't return to Kaede. And why do you even need his mother's permission to send him to the Nara clan?" Danzo said, his eyes narrowing.
He wanted Megumi to join the Nara clan first before bringing him into Root. Once under his influence, he would find a way to obtain the summoning contract from Kaede. Making the mother and son clash was, to him, all for the sake of the village.
Megumi gave Danzo a cold side glance and frowned. "Why are you so interested in my business?" His lips curved into a mocking smirk. "Are you the Hokage, or that man sitting there like a dummy?"