CHAPTER 12: ROOT

Chapter 12: ROOT

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Naruto narrowed his eyes right at Danzo. This guy was a cunning and sly man, Naruto just knew it. He was a cunning and sly boy himself. What was his motive behind this all?

"What is ROOT?" Naruto asked, getting straight to the point. He suddenly felt the weight of the ropes that were tied around home slowly vanish out of thin air. Naruto looked behind him.

There was Anbu there, cutting his ropes as the two spoke out.

"ROOT is a subdivision of Anbu that I have created myself. I am its leader, Shimura Danzo," responded Danzo, observing Naruto's actions as he answered the question about ROOT.

"Does the Hokage know about this?" Naruto asked, suspicious of what Danzo was currently planning. And to his surprise, Danzo nodded at the question that Naruto had just asked him. "Of course, Hiruzen knows. Although, it seems he is on the brink of disbanding ROOT itself," said Danzo. His keen eyes were on Naruto like a hawk.

"And what is your motive with me?" Naruto followed up with another question that needed to be answered. Danzo stayed quiet for a few moments. It seems he's trying to get as much information as possible. Danzo thought, narrowing his free eyes towards Naruto.

"I have a proposal for you, Ahihcu Naruto," Danzo said, an ominous vibe was all Naruto felt down his spine. He stayed silent to let Danzo continue and to know what the proposal actually was.

"Do you know what that proposal is?" Naruto shook his head, although he had a clue on what the proposal/deal actually was. Danzo's voice range throughout the room that they were in.

"The proposal is quite the prestigious one — you are one of the few people that I have met directly. You should feel honor." Naruto did not say anything, already coming to the conclusion that fits the words that were about to come next.

"I would like to invite you as an Anbu for ROOT," said Danzo, letting Naruto widen his eyes for a split second before letting his eyes turn back to its original form once more. "And why is that exactly?" Asked Naruto, his face staying neutral.

"Your abilities. . . they are way too exceptional to be wasted upon. You are young and yet your abilities to succeed in the shinobi arts are on prodigious levels that people have only seen in people like Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, and Namikaze Minato." There were many more, but these 3 are one of the most notable people in recent generations.

"You sent your ROOT Anbu after me. Was your goal to tire me out to the point where I was most vulnerable? And you were willing to sacrifice the life of your subordinates to catch me. Why?" Naruto asked another question, it seemed continuous and endless at this point.

"Yes, that was exactly the goal. But it seemed like hold lots of stamina like what my Anbu has reported. And the reason why I was willing to sacrifice the life of one my Anbu is quite simple. . ." There was a eery silence that created much suspense to Danzo's words.

"It is because," Danzo's voice was menacing. "Self-sacrifice is the way of true shinobi. The person that fought you sacrificed himself for the greater cause, which was my plan." Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.

So this is Danzo's way? Naruto thought, eyes still narrowed at Danzo. "By the tactic that you pulled, it seems like the old man doesn't want you to recruit me to ROOT." Naruto saw Danzo widen his eyes for a nanosecond before his look returned back to normal.

"And this conclusion was based off of?" Asked Danzo, noting of his perceptive abilities. Naruto stayed silent, creating even more suspense just like how Danzo created his own.

"You said that the Hokage knows of this subdivision called: ROOT. And since the Hokage knows of this subdivision, you must've at least brought this idea up to him. Then the Hokage turned it down." Danzo was quite surprised at Naruto's level of deduction and reasoning.

"How would you if Hiruzen were to turn it down? You weren't there." Danzo was now trying to pull information out of Naruto. He looked at Danzo, stoically like usual.

"If the old man had accepted your proposal for me to join ROOT, then I would've probably been summoned to his office with you present in there as well. But I wasn't — I was attacked and lured in by the ROOT Anbu as bait for me. Then some of your other Anbu came in and knocked me out." Danzo was amazed, though he wasn't pleased with the knowledge that Naruto managed to collect.

He's way too perceptive for his own good. Thought Danzo, not expecting such perception in detail at such a young and ripe age. He eyed Danzo with his uncovered eye.

"Hiruzen and me. . . we are good friends, but we don't share the same ideology. Though we do have the same goal of protecting Konoha, we just go about it in utterly different ways." Naruto nodded at those weird. "What is your goal for the creation of ROOT?" Naruto asked, seemingly suspicious of the existence of ROOT.

"I have two goals in mind. The first one is to protect Konoha with the use of ROOT. My second goal is to make Konoha the ruler and make all the other villages, nations, and lands fall under our rule — Konoha's rule. This shall be done by the use of the large amount of members in ROOT." Naruto narrowed his eyes at Danzo.

"So, you want Konoha to have absolute rulership? A rulership that no one can defy?" Danzo smirked, nodding his head up and down to signal Naruto that he was correct.

"You want Konoha to become a dictator?" This was not pleasant to hear at all. Danzo nodded, finally seeing that Naruto was seeing the bigger picture than just shinobi fighting around.

"That is correct," said Danzo, confirming Naruto's thoughts with words and not just a simple nod with the head. "People won't simply agree to that," stated Naruto, knowing that getting everyone to agree was impossible.

Yes, Naruto likes saying he was a so-called 'King'. But that's not how Naruto interprets it. He doesn't want to become a legitimate King/Emperor that rules over the world. No, he wants to become the strongest, though his recent thoughts of stopping his potential growth is hindering such thing.

"I'll find a way around that. I am a person that has done things that Hiruzen is too afraid of doing. This is one of them. I don't want to become Hokage, but I want Konoha to rule over the other nations with no problems." Now, this got Naruto a bit confused.

He's saying he doesn't want to become Hokage, but it seems like actually wants to. How will he do the things he wants without rising up in power? Naruto thought, seeing how Danzo kept on contradicting himself quite easily.

This just proves that he is incompetent. Naruto thought, no longer narrowing his eyes at him. Naruto observed Danzo once more, getting a clear and thorough look at Danzo. Naruto could hear footsteps all around him.

You will be great help in my plans to take over Konoha. Thought Danzo, tasting the victory that was soon to be in fruition once everything was lined up and ready to be executed. "So I will ask you again," Danzo's eyes were piercing into Naruto's soul.

"Will you join ROOT?" Asked Danzo calmly. There was millions of thoughts racing inside of Naruto's brain at the moment. He doesn't know about my heritage, so will be simply sacrifice me once I am of no more use? Yes, that is the only correct answer. Naruto continued to think endless things.

There must be more to his plan that he is not revealing. The only way for me to know the rest of the said plan is to join ROOT and their ranks. Will Danzo tell Hiruzen of this development? No, definitely not. It seems like Danzo is a secretive man. Naruto finally came up with a conclusion.

He says self-sacrifice is the way of true shinobi. Let's see how much that takes him and myself. I, Uchiha-Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, will sacrifice myself for the greater good. Because evil can only be defeated by greater evil. Naruto thought, eyes also gazing into Danzo's soul.

"I. . . accept your proposal to join ROOT," answered Naruto, getting a slight and satisfied smirk from Danzo himself. Danzo looked at Naruto, seeing any potential hidden motives behind Naruto's stoic face. He found none, yet.

"Good, the members of ROOT have no names, no emotions. We strive for the future of protecting Konoha with all we have." Naruto nodded, bowing down slightly. "Yes, Danzo-sama," said Naruto in a respective tone. This brought more satisfactory to Danzo.

"Welcome to the unseen ones that support the great tree of Konoha with its bindings — ROOT." Naruto continued to bow down slightly to show respect.

"2 of you, escort Naruto out of the HQ." Naruto stopped bowing down and soon got escorted by the 2 people that took up the job to get Naruto out of HQ.

"May I have permission to speak, Danzo-sama?" Asked one of the main ROOT members. Danzo looked at him, nodding his head at him to signify that he could. "Will you be giving Naruto a cursed seal? He could spill information in the future." Asked the ROOT member. Danzo shook his head.

"While giving him the cursed seal will undoubtedly help — I simply can't do so. That boy, he has personal connections with Hiruzen. It would be simply too risky for me to do it, considering how perceptive and keen Hiruzen is." The ROOT member nodded at that bit of information.

"I understand, Danzo-sama."

~~~

Naruto was walking in the Konoha streets, alone. People were slowly disappearing to their homes to rest for the night. Did he tell you that it was just about the 1 AM?

The deflating crowds disappeared, leaving only Naruto. He sighed. Naruto was now a member of the subdivision called ROOT. Damn, how low has Naruto fallen? Quite a bit.

Naruto soon met eyes with his apartment complex. His life was going to be much harder now than before. He was going to be evolving in skill at a phenomenal rate, considering how demanding ROOT and Danzo himself will be.

Naruto walked up to his part of the complex. He outstretched his hand and grabbed hold of the doorknob. Naruto entered, closing the door that was just right behind him. He took off his sandals and made his way towards his bed.

Naruto crashed down onto his bed. He looked up into the ceiling that blocked his view from the beautiful night sky that illuminated the world and the people that inhabited it. Naruto started to think.

Danzo, I'll play your little game for now. But I'll have you know, that I do not get controlled so easily.

~~~

It was around a few hours earlier in the day, and Satsuki was currently dragging Itachi to the usual training spot. "Look! I am a lot netter now at throwing kunai!" Satsuki yelled, dragging her fat brother.

"Alright, Alright, Satsuki. I'll look from here while you do what you want to show me." Satsuki nodded, walk towards the middle of the clearing that she was so used to using.

She pulled 2 kunai from her holster and positioned herself. Itachi noticed this and raised an eyebrow. Hm? Her form is different now. He thought, mentally noting this. Itachi watched as Satsuki threw the 2 kunai at 2 out of the many target board with a bullseye.

Satsuki looked at Itachi and smirked. "Perfection. See, I got better than before. I am one step closer to becoming better than you." There was a lot of pride laced in Satsuki's voice.

"I see, you progressed quite quickly in the span of a few hours. You usually don't hit a bullseye, but it seems like you can do it now. Did Naruto teach you?" Satsuki nodded bitterly.

"Duh. You ditched me so you could do your Anbu duties. I had to resort to doing your suggestion that you told me to do." Itachi nodded at the words that rushed out of her mouth.

"It seems like he was good teacher to you. Don't you think he would be a good substitute for my absences?" Satsuki huffed, shaking her head vigorously. "No! You're much better at teaching than that idiot Naruto! Plus, he says that this was only a one time thing." Satsuki yelled, not accepting what Itachi was saying.

"Well, I guess you will have to beg him to train you. I'm going to be on my Anbu duties a lot more frequently now." Satsuki deflated, obviously disappointed at what Itachi was doing. Itachi sighed.

"But begging Naruto will hurt my pride! I would rather keep my pride intact than beg to Naruto." Satsuki refused to do such a thing. Itachi chuckled with a light and slight smile at the end.

"You know, sometimes it better the loosen up and ignore your own pride for once, Satsuki. Limiting yourself because of your own pride will only hinder ones growth as shinobi." Satsuki narrowed her eyes at her brother, questionably.

"Now you sound like Naruto. He talks like some ancient God who knows everything when in reality, he doesn't." Satsuki groaned just thinking about Naruto saying that.

"He says these types of things?" Satsuki nodded at that question. "Yeah. He keeps saying that overestimating oneself will limit a person's true potential. And that overestimation will get them and their comrades killed in action. He's weird like that." Satsuki was now complaining about Naruto's nature as an individual.

"It's unhealthy to compare yourself to another person, Satsuki. That will also hurt your own self-esteem in a way that will not benefit your overall potential." Satsuki groaned out loud.

"Stop talking like some ancient philosopher that was lost in time! It doesn't help me!" Complained Satsuki, not happy at what Itachi was saying. "Did Naruto say similar things during that training session?" Asked Itachi, walking out of the forest with Satsuki.

"Yeah, it helped? What about it?" Nodded Satsuki, noticing at what she said but was too late to retract it. He saw Itachi's light smile as he looked at her. "See? It does help." This made Satsuki huff in utter annoyance.

"Alright, let's go home." Itachi poked Satsuki's head.

~~~