7 Chapter 7: Falcon

(Three years later)

A lone figure waited in the shadows. It was something he was very proficient at, after all shinobi were meant to be swift and stealthy.

In front of him was a palace surrounded by an army of Samurai. Now Samurai were not as strong as shinobi but were still one of the most finest swordsman and intelligent people in the world.

One mistake and it was all over for him.

His red eyes carefully observed the movements of the patrols. The guards movements were sloppy and were easy to decipher and as a result he had got past several such patrols and had now entered the Damiyo's palace.

The damiyo's palace was very huge. It had a great number of chambers and various passages leading to different directions. For any other person it was like a maze but not for this person.

He was an Anbu, one of the best and most skilled shinobi of his village. His Anbu gear and the sword strapped on his back were proof of that.

He was Falcon, one of the bravest and quickest Anbu of his village. He had performed some dangerous missions for the sake of his village and this one was not an exception.

His mission was to assassinate the Damiyo of Bird Country and make it look like his own guards had killed him. He did not know why he had to assassinate his target, like every other assassination mission he was just given the target and not the reason for the assassination.

But now was not the time to think about such things, he had a mission to complete.

He quickly performed a specific set of hand signs in order to proceed without being detected.

"Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Hiding with Camouflage Technique)"

This jutsu was one of his finest jutsu in his arsenal, only those with a dojutsu or a sensing ability would be able to spot him. He quickly faded in the shadows and started moving across the corridors at a very steady pace.

Even though this jutsu made him almost undetectable but he had to be careful. He had memorized all the passages of the palace and every possible routes for entry and exit from the palace.

He was about to turn left in order to proceed towards the damiyo's private chamber but stopped when he saw two Samurai looking in his direction firmly. A little sweat started to form on his forehead. He was by no means weak but he could not take on an army of Samurai all alone. Even if he could escape his mission would be a failure.

He carefully placed his hand on his sword's hilt ready to finish of the pair of Samurai. But luckily one of the Samurai joked that they must have been imagining things and went of their own way.

He sighed in relief and proceeded towards his target but had to hide immediately behind a pillar when a patrol passed beside him.

This mission was getting difficult with every passing moment, he had to finish it within a specific timeline.

After a few minutes he reached his destination, the Damiyo's private chamber. It was surrounded by 10 heavily armed samurai who were constantly monitoring each and every activity. The door to the chambers was locked and apparently only one of the Samurai would have the key to the chambers.

His red eyes glanced over the Samurai in grey armor with a red metallic mask covering his face and a sword strapped on his waist. He seemed to have a heavy armor on his chest and legs and had gauntlets covering his arms.

The Anbu assumed that he was the leader of this Samurai unit and as such had access to the room, so he had to keep him alive for the time being while eliminate the rest of the Samurai.

He knew attacking the Samurai head on would only cause more commotion in the palace and as such had a fine plan in his mind.

He performed another set of hand signs quickly in order to cast his jutsu on his targets.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu (Bringer-of-Darkness Technique)"

Immediately the Samurai were surrounded in a world of darkness none of them could see a thing. Their eyesight were completely blocked and nothing was visible in the darkness.

The Anbu quickly leaped at his targets in order to finish them. He appeared behind a Samurai and took out the Samurai's sword and in one swift motion beheaded him with his lifeless body falling to the ground with a thud.

The remaining Samurai quickly became alert but still couldn't see a thing, one by one slashes of a sword could be heard followed by the sound of bodies dropping to the ground.

The Anbu cut threw the Samurai, hitting them in the neck and instantly killing them and before anyone could counterattack all of the Samurai were dead except for their leader.

The leader looked around in the darkness, he knew his men were dead and he was going to join them soon. No matter what he tried the world around him was dark, it was as if he had gone blind in an instant.

"Your abilities are indeed impressive assassin." said the leader in a monotone voice without any emotion in it.

He was surprised when the darkness around him disappeared and he was staring into blood red eyes with three tomoe surrounding it.

The Anbu quickly cast his genjutsu on the Samurai leader and disappeared in the shadows in order to let the Samurai finish the work.

The doors to the chamber opened and the Samurai went towards the Damiyo's bed where he appeared to be sleeping. The Damiyo was a thin bald man with wrinkles on his face.

The Samurai quickly took out his sword and in a swift motion struck the Damiyo in his chest, the man's eyes widened before it closed permanently

The Anbu quickly appeared behind the Samurai and in a quick motion beheaded him with his lifeless body falling beside the Damiyo. He then quickly placed the body of another dead samurai beside the other two dead bodies making it appear that one of them had been trying to save the Damiyo.

He quickly searched through the dead Samurai leader's pocket and found a letter. He read the letter and found out that it was for his daughter.

It pained the Anbu's heart knowing that he was the one who had made the child an orphan by killing her father. The man was someone's father, someone's husband and yet he had killed him for the sake of his village.

Putting those thoughts aside he quickly took out a piece of paper and wrote a suicide note in the Samurai's leader handwriting claiming responsibility for assassinating the Damiyo. The handwriting in the fake suicide note was the same as it was in the letter which the Samurai had written for his daughter. Putting both the letters in the Samurai leader's pocket he turned around to leave the palace.

"Forgive me."

These were the Anbu's last words for the Samurai before he disappeared from the chamber with a single tear dropping from his blood red eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A lone figure was standing in front of the famous memorial stone of Konoha. He was wearing his anbu gear and had his sword strapped on his back. The only distinguishing feature he had was his spiky blonde hair and his falcon Anbu mask.

He knelt down in front of the memorial stone and placed a hand on the stone. He visited this place everyday, this place reminded him of the people he had lost and what they fought and died for.

This person was none other than Naruto Uchiha.

It had been three long years in his life. Three years of suffering and loneliness. He knew that he had to make sacrifices when he had joined Root but he didn't know that the sacrifices would change him so drastically.

Root was a very dangerous organization and the things they had done were inhuman. Naruto had tried very hard to gather evidences against Danzo and his Root and had found out some very interesting facts.

First of all Danzo was secretly recruiting few children to join the organization. Naruto tried to befriend these kids but they had their memories blocked. They couldn't remember where they were from and no matter how hard they tried their memories were sealed.

As a result Naruto had to use his sharingan to enter into the children's minds and the things he found were horrifying.

Danzo used to secretly pay some orphanages all over the fire country and used to take these children and turn them into his drones. Sometimes he even destroyed families of some children just to get them in Root. These children were then trained for years and their emotions were completely removed. They were just drones who followed Danzo blindly and there was no way they could get a normal life back.

Naruto had made a friend in Root who understood that Danzo was a threat and was supporting him.

Naruto had casted his Yami No sekai Jutsu on Torune, one of Danzo's bodyguards. He was really a hard nut to crack but after days of torturing in Naruto's genjutsu he cracked. Naruto's eyes were badly hurt after controlling Torune for sometime but the information he got was worth it.

Danzo used to get financial support for his Root from some wealthy traders in Konoha in exchange for helping them in their illegal cross border activities. He had great contacts with the previous civilian council before Hiruzen removed them.

However Danzo was not a fool and had regularly tried to read Naruto's mind with the help of Fu Yamanaka, one of his most trusted bodyguards. But with the help of Kurama, Naruto was able to seal away some of his memories regarding information of Root and was able to continue his work as a spy. If not for the Nine tails fox he would have been easily caught.

Naruto and Kurama had become quite good partners over these years. Kurama still despised his sharingan but they got along well.

But the most terrifying things that Naruto had found out were that Orochimaru had once been part of the Root and Danzo had supported his activities in the past and they both had worked together on a project known as Project X. No matter how hard Naruto tried there was no further information related to this project and it worried him a lot.

But the most horrible thing he had found out was the Uchiha massacre.

When he was gathering evidence against Danzo he had got faint hints that the elders were involved and had supported Danzo many times. Deciding to find out more he infiltrated the prison.

(Flashback)

A figure could be seen sitting in the dark corners of the Konoha's prison. This prison held prisoners who had committed murders, rapes, capital offenses and treason. The person in the cell was none other than Koharu Utantane.

Life had been quite difficult for Koharu since the last few years. Ever since her teammate Hiruzen banished the civilian council, she and her other teammate Homura Mitokado had been imprisoned for opposing the Hokage and trying to usurp more power for the council. Koharu couldn't understand why Hiruzen imprisoned her, she only wanted to protect the best interests of the village. Hiruzen was far too kind and lacked the strength to take harsh decisions that is why she and Homura always supported Danzo.

"(sigh) What is the point in thinking about it, looks like my last days will be in this prison." thought Koharu tiredly. She had given up on all hope of getting out of this prison, even her own family had dishonored her.

"Koharu Utatante." said a cold voice.

Koharu looked up and found two cold blue eyes looking at her. She could not see the face of the person but judging from his shadow he must atleast be 5ft 5 inch tall and definitely was a shinobi.

"Who are you?" asked Koharu cautiously

"That is an irrelevant question. You will answer my questions." said the person in a cold tone.

"Huh, do you think that you can just barge in and order me?" asked Koharu angrily

"My way is more efficient and you might like it. Mangekyo Sharingan." said the person and immediately a three tomoe sharingan activated in the person's eyes and changed into a shuriken which had three ends drawing towards the sides.

Koharu was shocked to the core and was already sweating bullets. She couldn't believe that an Uchiha had survived the massacre and was standing in front of her and he even possessed the Mangekyo sharingan. The only Uchiha in the village was Sasuke and this person was not Sasuke.

"Impossible...this can't be happening." said Koharu fearfully

"Tsukuyomi."

Koharu found herself dragged into the genjutsu. She was a formidable ninja and knew from her past experiences that the Mangekyo sharingan could cast formidable genjutsu and was even capable of controlling biju. She herself was a genjutsu specialist and so knew that from this point she was in grave danger, the prison staff had already sealed her chakra and there was no way she could get out of the genjutsu easily.

She looked around and found herself bound to a pole with chains all over her body. The entire world around her was black and she could see nothing in that darkness.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about Danzo Shimura. If you tell me what I want it will be less painful." said the person in an emotionless tone.

Koharu was shocked to hear that this person was after Danzo and if he was an Uchiha than he must know about the Uchiha massacre and the culprits behind it.

"I am not going to tell you anything about Danzo or the Uchiha massacre." shouted Koharu with determination in her voice. She didn't realize how stupid her mistake was.

"Uchiha massacre?" asked the person curiously.

Immediately the world around Koharu changed again and now it was all red in color. She was still strapped to the pole and found herself in a sewer. Suddenly a flock of crows came in front of her and to Koharu's utmost horror the crows materialized into a person.

This person was 5ft 5'inch tall. He was wearing an Anbu uniform and had a sword strapped on his back. He was wearing combat boots and fingerless gloves in his hands. His face was hidden by his falcon Anbu mask.

"What do you know of the Uchiha massacre?" asked the Anbu angrily

"Itachi?" asked Koharu with fear in her voice but immediately dismissed that thought as this could not be Itachi.

"Answer my questions." said the person and stabbed Koharu in the chest with his sword.

"AHHHH" screamed Koharu as she was stabbed in her chest. The pain was so real.

"Don't panic. This is only a genjutsu." said Koharu to herself

"Telling yourself this is a genjutsu won't work. This is my world and I control everything here, the next 120 hours will be nothing but this." said the Anbu and started stabbing Koharu with his sword multiple times.

Koharu started screaming at the top of her lungs as her entire body was getting slashed by the Anbu's sword. She tried everything to break out of the genjutsu but nothing seemed to work. This torture continued for several times until Koharu slipped into unconsciousness.

After a few moments Koharu meekly opened her eyes and found herself in the same position as before but this time there were hundreds of copies of the same Anbu with swords in their hands ready to pierce her. Koharu pissed right there as she could not beleive what she was seeing.

"NO, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. PLEASE HAVE MERCY." screamed Koharu with tears falling from her eyes.

"Only 119 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds more to go." said the Anbu sadistically

Koharu couldn't believe what she was hearing, all this time, all the torture she had faced was only a second in this genjutsu. Before she could think any further all of the Anbu started stabbing her body with their swords.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" yelled Koharu at the top of her lungs. Her old body couldn't take this torture any more.

"Tell me everything you know about Danzo and the Uchiha massacre or else suffer." said the Anbu coldly

"I (pant) will (pant) tell...you everything (pant) I know (pant) but please stop it." begged Koharu with tears falling freely from her eyes.

"Very well, what does Danzo have to do with the Uchiha massacre?" asked the Anbu curiously

"He (pant) was (pant) the one who convinced Itachi (pant) to eliminate the Uchiha clan." said Koharu tiredly

The Anbu's eyes widened on hearing that, everyone told that Itachi had lost his mind due to his Anbu career and had killed his clan.

"Why did Danzo want to eliminate the Uchiha?" asked the Anbu dangerously and pointed a sword at Koharu's throat.

"After the Kyubi attack we suspected that the Uchiha clan were behind it. Because the Mangekyo sharingan has the ability to control the biju, so we placed them under the strict surveillance of the Anbu blackops and shifted them to the outskirts of the village. And after sometime our fears came true, you Uchiha started planning a coup to take over the village." spat Koharu venomously

"A coup?' asked the Anbu in shock

"Don't lie to me, you know about this! The Uchiha were traitors and were a threat to the village." yelled Koharu angrily

This shocked the Anbu to the core and also made him angry at the same time.

"Did you find any proof that the Uchiha had controlled the biju?" asked the Anbu angrily

"It was a possibility, we had to look after the best interests of the village." said Koharu coldly

"You blamed the Uchiha clan without having any proof of their involvement." said the Anbu angrily and stabbed Koharu in her right eye.

"AHHHH" screamd Koharu in pain as her right eye was destroyed by the sword.

"What did you do next?" asked the ANbu and stabbed Koharu again.

"AHHHH, we (pant) made Itachi (pant) our spy and (pant) and kept an eye on the Uchiha's activities. But things became worse and they started planning a coup to take over the village." said Koharu

"And you made Itachi kill his clan?" asked the Anbu sadly with a few tears dropping from his eyes. He could not imagine what pain the man must have gone through.

"Hiruzen and we the elders ordered Itachi to eliminate the Uchiha. If the coup had happened it would have led to civil war in the village and would have destroyed our nation. You Uchiha's were selfish and only looked after your own interest, you do not know the importance of the village. Hiruzen wanted to negotiate with the Uchiha and wanted a peaceful solution but he was naive, you Uchiha's could never see reason, so we forced Hiruzen to eliminate your clan. You were a threat to the village." accused Koharu

"How could Itachi do this?" asked the Anbu sadly

"Itachi was different, he understood the importance of the village and the peace in the shinobi world. He decided to protect the village by eliminating his clan but it seems that he failed as he has let another Uchiha live besides his brother. He was always too soft and kind." said Koharu with a frown.

"You eliminated my clan and made by brother a murderer without having any proof. What else do you know about Danzo?" asked the Anbu and started stabbing Koharu angrily with his sword.

"Danzo had a base somewhere in the village where he did all his activities to protect the village. Only Orochimaru and few of Danzo's men know of this. That's all I know." said Koharu, She was exhausted by the torture and could not take it anymore.

"Is that all?" asked the Anbu and leaked a lot of KI which made Koahru gulp in fear.

"H..a..i" muttered Koahru meekly

Suddenly to Koharu's utmost horror the nine tails fox appeared behind the Anbu and looked at her meancingly. Koharu cowered in fear, even in this world the fox was still meancing and was ready to kill her.

"What is this? I told you everything I know, let me go!" begged Koharu fearfully

"For your crimes against my clan and my brother I will not let you live." said the Anbu coldly

"NO! NO! NO!" yelled Koharu

The fox then jumped towards Koharu and stared tearing her flesh piece by piece. Koharu's painful screams echoed in the entire area.

The Anbu deactivated his Mangekyo sharingan and looked at Koharu's dead body. Her eyes were wide open and her body lay still in her prison cell. She couldn't handle the torture anymore and had a heart attack that took her life instantly.

The Anbu stepped towards her body and closed her eyes.

"Do you think that it was the right thing to do Kurama?" asked the Anbu

"I don't know about that, but it sure was a lot of fun. Damn, its been ages since I have enjoyed like this. You are a true kitsune Naruto." said Kurama proudly and laughed.

"Its just a lot to take in. My clan was wrongly accused and even though I know what they did was for the village, I cannot forgive Danzo and the elders for making Jiji and Itachi do this." said Naruto sadly. The Uchiha clan were his family and no matter what happens Naruto was not a person who would abandon his family.

"Whatever Naruto, I don't give a damn about the Uchiha, you should not overuse your Mangekyo sharingan. You know it is dangerous don't you?" said Kurama

"I know." said Naruto and wiped out the blood that was coming out of his eyes.

"Itachi, I will look after Sasuke and I will make sure that you get your justice my brother." thought Naruto with determination

(Flashback end)

Some people may wonder how an academy student was able to do such things but Naruto was not an ordinary person.

Danzo had trained him in espionage, recon and tactical warfare and assasination in order to act as his spy against Sarutobi.

The Root Anbu were quite skilled and had trained Naruto in kenjutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Danzo had even personally taught him fuinjutsu.

Naruto was quite skilled in fuinjutsu and Danzo had saw that. He taught him all he knew about fuinjutsu. For an old man Danzo was quite skilled as he had helped Naruto in mastering his wind and water affinities.

Danzo taught Naruto about calligraphy and all the basics of Fuinjutsu. Naruto learned that it was easy for him to learn Fuinjutsu, it was as if he had natural talent in it. Danzo taught him a sealing jutsu too. Naruto was not an expert in Fuinjutsu but he certainly wasn't an amateur either.

After all this hard training Naruto was at the level of an Anbu captain. Danzo had even once said that he was on par with Itachi Uchiha.

After learning about the truth of the Uchiha massacre and Itachi's sacrfice, Naruto's respect for his brother increased and he swore he would protect Sasuke. He still remembered the day he told Sasuke his truth.

(FLASHBACK)

"Because you and I are brothers" said Naruto and looked at Sasuke with his three tomoe sharingan.

Sasuke's eyes widened on seeing Naruto's sharingan. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"This can't be happening. It is impossible. This must be a genjutsu." thought Sasuke

"KAI" yelled Sasuke and expelled a large amount of chakra.

After a few moments he opened his eyes and to his utmost shock Naruto was still sitting there with an amused smile on his face.

"You really think that I'm an illusion?" asked Naruto in an amused tone

"Bullshit, Itachi killed my entire clan except me. You cannot be an Uchiha!" yelled Sasuke in angry tone

"(sigh) While it is true that Itachi did slaughter our clan, he did not know about me being an Uchiha so I was spared." said Naruto softly. He knew it must be very hard for Sasuke to accept this, even it was hard for him to accept that he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Who were your parents? I have never seen you inside my clan compound." asked Sasuke curiously after a few moments.

"What kind of idiotic question is that? You do remember I was an orphan right, how the hell I am supposed to know my parents?" accused Naruto in mock anger

"Oh. sorry about that." said Sasuke a little sheepishly

Naruto's eyes widened on seeing Sasuke apologize, he never expected the emo of the academy to apologize. Sasuke saw Naruto's disbelieving look and got curious.

"Is there something on my face?" asked Sasuke

"Nope" said Naruto and started laughing loudly

"WHat the hell! WHAT IS SO FUNNY DOBE!" yelled Sasuke

"Nothing its just funny to see you the emo broody king to apologize." said Naruto and continued laughing.

"Hn" muttered Sasuke but also had a rare true smile on his face, one which he never had since the last few years.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san I finally have someone who can understand me and maybe help and we maybe we can earn back the glory of our clan." thought Sasuke with determination

"When did you awaken your sharingan?" asked Sasuke curiously

"I was 6 at the time, I was training with Kakashi and it just awakened." lied Naruto even though Sasuke was family he still had to be cautious with anything related to Danzo

"Just like Itachi." thought Sasuke in amazement and also frowned a little as he had not awakened his sharingan and an Uchiha was incomplete without his sharingan.

"I tried to be friendly with you but you just wanted to be left alone so I decided to let you be until you get some sense in that thick skull of yours." said Naruto with a smile

"SHUT UP" yelled Sasuke and both the boys stared at each other but after a few moments started laughing loudly.

Sasuke was truly feeling happy after all these years, everyone in the village pitied him, the elders sympathized with him, girls became his fangirl, boys started envying him for his looks and skill. In a way people only saw him as the "Last Uchiha", "Poor Boy", "Sasuke-kun" and all other titles. None of them could understand him but Naruto was different than anyone in the village.

He had been observing Naruto since the beginning of the academy. Naruto reminded Sasuke a lot of Itachi, he was kind and gentle and always encouraged others to do better. He did not care about names, clans or ranks he was just a natural person who understood people. Sasuke had seen many people look at Naruto with hatred an he couldn't understand what made them hate Naruto so much but Naruto never gave up and always strived to become better.

He liked Naruto but also envied him. He was an enigma to Sasuke and also at that time he was too traumatized to socialize with other people.

"Hey Sasuke, can I ask you something?" asked Naruto quietly

"Shoot." said Sasuke

"Why do want to kill Itachi so badly?'' asked Naruto sadly. He too could understand Sasuke's reasons for killing Itachi but revenge always led to a person's downfall

Sasuke closed his eyes and decided what to speak. He hadn't told anyone his reasons but Naruto was his only family left so he would like to have some type of friendship with Naruto.

"I loved Itachi more than anything. He was my idol, I always tried to surpass him, he was the prodigy of our clan. People looked up to him even my father only paid attention to Itachi. Mother tried to be the peacemaker in the family. But Itachi was different he was always there for me, he always aspired me to be better and tried to encourage father to pay attention to me too. You remind me a lot of Itachi, it is as if I was just looking at him." said Sasuke sadly

"I am like Itachi?" asked Naruto curiously

"Yes, Itachi was a kind and gentle person just like you before he.." said Sasuke but stopped as he remembered that night. He clenched his hands but was surprised when Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand your pain Sasuke, but what did Itachi tell you when you confronted him?" asked Naruto cautiously. He knew he was in dangerous territory but if Itachi was like him then there must have been reasons for him to slaughter his clan.

"He told me he killed our clan because he wanted to test the limits of his own ability. He even showed me how he slaughtered everyone over and over again." said Sasuke with tears in his eyes. He could not hold his emotions which he had held for so many years. Naruto embraced Sasuke in a warm hug and let him cry on his shoulders.

Sasuke cried for a few minutes but calmed down and gave Naruto a thankful nod with a warm smile

"From what you have told me Sasuke, I don't believe Itachi slaughtered our clan just to test his ability." said Naruto cautiously

"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke curiously

"He was already an Anbu blackops captain at the age of 13. That means he was one of the best shinobi of our village, only the Hokage and few others were stronger than him, so that reason he gave you is not true. Also if he showed you that he killed our clan, you must remember that genjutsu can be easily made and manipulate people. If he did kill our clan why did he spare you?" asked Naruto curiously

"He told me he wanted me to get the Mangekyo sharingan and come to kill him to avenge our clan." said Sasuke angrily

"Mangekyo sharingan?" thought Naruto but decided to find out later.

"Do you really believe that lie, if I was Itachi why would I want to measure by strength against a kid when I single handedly killed one of the best clans in the entire shinobi world. It doesn't make any sense, also if he was really the kind and gentle older brother then he loved you more than anything." said Naruto shocking Sasuke

"WHAT? ITS ALL LIES" yelled Sasuke being unable to accept the truth.

Sasuke then remembered all the good times he and Itachi had. What Itachi did for him, one part of his mind was just begging him to understand that what Naruto was saying was true while another part of his mind was unable to accept this.

"Look Sasuke all I'm saying is that we will confront Itachi and ask him the truth. Until then don't try to waste your life on revenge. You do remember we have to rebuild our clan right?" asked Naruto happily

"Yeah I guess you are right, but I still want to talk with Itachi and if I find that what he did was for his own ability I WILL KILL HIM." said Sasuke with determination

"Fair enough, I'll even help you with that." said Naruto casually.

"What?" asked a shocked Sasuke.

"Well, we are from the same clan so we are brothers right? We fight together we die together." said Naruto with a warm smile

"Cheeky bastard." muttered Sasuke with a grin

"No matter what happens Sasuke I've got your back from now on." said Naruto and held out his fist to Sasuke

"Thank you my brother." said Sasuke with a true smile and punched his fist with Naruto.

"I can still kick your ass you know..." said Naruto cheekily with a huge grin on his face

"CYCLOPS"

"EMO"

"CYCLOPS"

"EMO"

They both argued for a few minutes but eventually settled down and talked about different things. Naruto finally understood what Kakashi said, Sasuke needed a person who could understand him and it could only be an Uchiha.

"Hey Naruto, if you talk about this to anyone..." said Sasuke dangerously

"Does Emo have a reputation to keep?" joked Naruto

"Hn" said Sasuke

"Alright but that's gonna cost you.." said Naruto with a huge grin on his face. Sasuke paled on seeing that, he knew Naruto was quite mischievous.

"What do you want?" asked Sasuke tiredly

"RAMEN!"

(Flashback end)

Naruto and Sasuke had become best friends during these years. If one could say they were like brothers. Sasuke was still a little broody but he eventually opened up and mixed with the rest of his classmates and this proved to be a huge benefit for Ino and Sakura who always pestered Sasuke for dates. Naruto enjoyed a lot on seeing Sasuke's annoyed expressions when the fangirls troubled him.

Eventually Sasuke started to train with Naruto and Kakashi and was able to activate his sharingan with two tomoes in each eye. Naruto still remembered how Sasuke bragged the day he awakened his sharingan. Sasuke was quite a skilled shinobi and was proficient with fire style ninjutsu and shuriken jutsu. Kakashi had trained them very well over these three years.

However Naruto's life was not all that smooth, he had started to get distant from his friends in order to investigate more about Danzo and his activities. He felt a lot more lonely but he knew he had to do this for the sake of his village.

Naruto thought that he had covered his tracks well but what he did not know that Hiruzen and Kakashi had noticed the change in his behavior. Hiruzen had started to get suspicious about him and Naruto could still remember when he was confronted by Hiruzen.

(Flashback)

Naruto was standing in the library of the Sarutobi compound. The library had a large variety of books that Hiruzen liked to read. There was a small armchair in the middle of the room for a person to read peacefully.

Hiruzen was sitting on the armchair but instead of reading a book he was staring at Naruto. The library had some privacy seals which Naruto had noticed, so it meant that Hiruzen must want to talk about something important.

"So what's up Jiji, why'd you call me here?" asked Naruto cheerfully trying to avoid further suspicion.

"Naruto you've been acting strange lately." said Hiruzen flatly and narrowed his gaze at him

"Nothing strange about me. I just have my own work to do." said Naruto impassively

"If that is true where are you nowadays? You skip the academy, sometimes you even send your clones in your place. You are not meeting up with your friends any longer. The only ones you see are Kakashi, Sasuke, Anko and Kurenai. Its been months since you even visited Konohamaru. What are you up to?" asked Hiruzen sternly and leaked a little KI.

"Hn, I figured you'd find out sooner or later." said Naruto with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" asked Hiruzen warily

"You are a good man Jiji, but you trust people very easily.'' sighed Naruto

"What?" asked Hiruzen curiously. But he felt something that the answer he might get won't be pretty.

"There is a coup being planned in order to overthrow you." said Naruto confidently

"WHAT!" yelled Hiruzen angrily

"That's the truth." said Naruto impassively

"What are you up to boy? What do you know?" ordered Hiruzen losing all the kindness he had. He loved Naruto but the village was more important than one person and if Naruto was a threat then he would have to deal with him, no matter how much pain it may cause him.

"I am a Root Anbu captain." said Naruto shocking Hiruzen to the core.

"What do you mean?" asked Hiruzen already knowing some of the answer.

"I have joined Danzo who is planning to overthrow you to take over the village." said Naruto sadly

Hiruzen's eyes widened on hearing this and he immediately gazed at Naruto sternly, he forgot that this boy was like his grandson but now he was a possible threat to the village.

"How do you even know Danzo? I had disbanded Root." said Hiruzen confidently

"Each of us lives dependant and bound by our individual knowledge and our awareness, all that is what we call reality. What you believe might just be an illusion. Root is operating right under your nose with Danzo acting as its leader." stated Naruto without averting his eyes from Hiruzen.

"How did you get involved in all of this?" asked Hiruzen tiredly

"Its better if I show you." said Naruto and activated his sharingan.

He then showed Hiruzen everything, how he came in contact with Danzo, what Danzo revealed to him, and how he had decided to watch Danzo to protect the village and his entire time in Root.

Naturally Hiruzen was first shocked that all of this had happened right under his nose. What kind of Hokage was he? Naruto was right he was getting soft. He was also horrified at seeing what Naruto had to endure and felt guilty as he suspected Naruto so easily. The boy only wanted to protect the village as a true shinobi.

"Jiji was all that true. What Danzo said?" asked Naruto hesitantly.

"Yes" said Hiruzen solemnly

"Very well" said Naruto stoically

"Do you hate me Naruto?" asked Hiruzen sadly

"No I do not hate you or anyone else. My life is too short for hatred or revenge, I do regret that you took away my Oba-chan but for all you've done for me I can forgive you and can atleast try to understand your position." said Naruto with a short smile

"Thank you Naruto. I know I have failed you but I only wanted to look after you. Jiraya too wanted to look after you..." said Hiruzen but stopped when he saw Naruto's cold look.

"Save it, I know Jiraya must have been busy and I do not hate him but he failed as a godfather. I did not want to be doted by him but if he could even have visited me once in my life I would have been happy knowing that I have a godfather. But that's all in the past, now what do you want me to do?" asked Naruto

"What is there to do? Get away from Root, I will deal with them." ordered Hiruzen

"I'm afraid that is not possible. If you try to act hastily it will lead to civil war in the village. I know you have the numbers but Root Anbu are far quite skilled then our regular shinobi. We need to find out every information about Danzo and his forces. We need to know his strategy. If you want to destroy a nation then you need to first destroy its leadership. This will lead to chaos and the morale will be low and the enemy can win easily. If Danzo wants to take over the village then he must first eliminate you and the Jounin commander and higher ups, then he could easily take over the leadership of the village. Also we do not know the location of Danzo's forces so we are temporarily blind." explained Naruto briefly

Hiruzen was stunned by the explanation and thinking that Naruto had showed. He did not look like a 14 year old but looked like a veteran shinobi and strategist.

"Amazing, how can you think like this?" asked Hiruzen proudly

"Danzo has trained me in recon, espionage, assassination and tactical warfare." said Naruto shocking Hiruzen again

"How strong are you?" asked Hiruzen curiously

"I'm at the level of Itachi Uchiha. That's what Danzo had said." said Naruto frankly

"Impossible" said Hiruzen in shock.

"Whether you believe me or not its your choice. I will have to continue to act as a spy." said Naruto

"No, we'll figure something out. Naruto its too dangerous, you can even get killed. I promised your parents and Tsunade that I will look after you. I simply cannot send you to your death." persuaded Hiruzen

"That is a possibility. But my life is not important. What is important is the village and the village alone." said Naruto with determination

Hiruzen eyes's widened on hearing this. He could see a reflection of Tobirama Senju and Itachi Uchiha in Naruto. It made Hiruzen proud and sad too. Proud for Naruto to be a true shinobi of the village and sad that he did not value his life.

"Naruto... I cannot sacrifice you." said Hiruzen sadly

"Self sacrifice is the duty of a true shinobi Jiji. I will provide you with all the information I can find about Danzo. I'm the only one who can do this." said Naruto

"Naruto I.." said Hiruzen with a few tears in his eyes.

Naruto dropped to his knees and bowed his head in front of Hiruzen.

"Jiji, you and I both know that what can happen if this coup is executed. If I'm right I will be the assassin who will kill you." said Naruto sadly

"I know you are the closest operative who can get to me and Danzo knows that. If this coup happens and even if we defeat Danzo, our village will become economically unstable, customers will not trust us if there are such problems in our village. More such factions could be formed, and it may lead to the fourth great ninja war and countless innocent lives would be lost." said Hiruzen sadly

"That is why I am asking you to let me eliminate the entire Root Anbu Blackops." begged Naruto

"NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS." yelled Hiruzen angrily

"Believe me Jiji if there was any other way I would have done it. Even if you kill Danzo his operatives would continue his legacy and will pose a major threat to the village. I have some friends who have been reduced to nothing but drones who are just designed to kill and follow Danzo. If I kill them then no one would suspect that there was a coup in the village, I am a Jinchurriki, the people of this village don't like me Jiji, the people will easily accept me as a traitor." said Naruto sadly

"Do you even know what you are saying? You will be forever remembered as a traitor and a murderer. You will be a missing nin and will always be hunted. Your life will be worse than death. What about us? Kakashi, Anko, Sasuke, Konohamaru, your friends and most importantly Kurenai. I know that you love her." said Hiruzen

"You know?" asked a shocked Naruto

"I know you better Naruto. You have loved her since long, ever since you became her student, you two have gotten close. Even Kurenai likes you a lot more than any man in this entire village. Do you really not care about her?" pleaded Hiruzen

"I love her more than anything. But I must do this, please Jiji I beg you to never let anyone know the truth about me and my feelings for Kurenai. It will only cause more pain. For the sake of the village and the children of this village you must let me do this." said Naruto with tears dropping from his eyes

Hiruzen knelt down and hugged Naruto tightly, his old heart couldn't bear this, he had already seen such a thing in the past and for Naruto to go through all of this was unbearable. But Hiruzen knew what Naruto said was true, this was the reality of the shinobi world.

"Forgive me Naruto." said Hiruzen sadly

"There is nothing you should be sorry about. I have chosen this path and I will follow it to the end. I am the son of the fourth Hokage and as such it is my duty to protect my village. This is my will of fire." said Naruto and got up and started walking towards the door.

"Minato and Kushina would be so proud of you. You truly are a hero Naruto." said Hiruzen regretfully. He hated himself for being a Hokage right now, to sacrifice one of the closest person in your life was the burden which every kage had to bear for the village.

"I just wish that one day we can create a peaceful world." said Naruto sadly.

"Naruto did you really had to go through all that?" said Hiruzen remembering a memory Naruto had shown him.

"Yes." said Naruto and showed Hiruzen his Mangekyo sharingan.

"Take care Jiji, I'm going to visit Konohamaru." said Naruto and left the room.

"Why did it have to end like this?" thought Hiruzen regretfully

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was walking towards the training arena of the Sarutobi compound. He knew what choice he had made and the consequences that would follow.

"You sure about this Naruto?" asked Kurama cautiously. He didn't care what Naruto did to the villagers but he did care about Naruto even if it was a little bit. Naruto was the only one who didn't label him as a mindless biju but as a companion.

"I am Kurama. I am the only one who can do this, I cannot let this coup happen, it will destroy the village." said Naruto firmly

"Why do you even care about this damn village at all? After what they did to you, why do you want to protect them?" asked Kurama a little angrily. He was quite displeased by Naruto's foolishness.

"Then what was I supposed to do, destroy the village for my revenge?" asked Naruto with a snort

"Well it would be fun." said Kurama with a chuckle

"If I take my revenge and destroy the village then it would only bring more pain and misery. I grew up without my parents but that does not give me the right to destroy the peace my parents and my brother gave their lives for." said Naruto sadly as he remembered a certain grey haired boy.

"Tch, you are still naive but I still got your back. Well it would be a lot more fun when you do what you have to do." said Kurama with a dark chuckle

Naruto sighed on hearing this, he knew that he could not change somethings of Kurama but regardless he was thankful to the beast for sticking by his side and being his friend.

"Naruto-NICHAN" yelled Konohamaru bringing Naruto out of his thoughts.

He looked up and saw Konohamaru in the training field alongwith Asuma Sarutobi and Ebisu. He gave a respectful nod towards Asuma as well as Ebisu, even though the latter scowled in return.

"What are you up to Konohamaru?" asked Naruto and ruffled Konohamaru's hair.

The little boy muttered something about annoying older brothers, everyone laughed on hearing this, even Ebisu chuckled a little.

"I am training with Asuma-ojisan and Ebisu sensei." said Konohamaru curtly

"Well if they allow I can teach you something too." said Naruto with a smile

Konohamaru had a big smile on his face and turned towards Asuma who just shrugged and lit up his cigratte, however Ebisu had other plans.

"I am sorry that is not possible boy. I am sure I can teach honorable grandson all he needs to become Hokage, I am Jounin, an elite ninja and as such I am better than you." said Ebisu curtly but if one could observe carefully he was a little annoyed.

"Not this again." thought Asuma tiredly. He knew Naruto from the beginning, he couldn't understand how could Ebisu be so naive and still hold grudges against the innocent boy.

"Well then why don't you have a fight with me to show me that you are worthy of being the honorable grandson's trainer. If you need help why don't you and Asuma team up together against me." retorted Naruto with a smirk

"That won't be necessary. I think I can fight you perfectly." said Ebisu calmly

"Asuma, Ebisu fight with him." said a new commanding voice

Both the men turned around and saw Hiruzen standing behind them with Emiko with him. Asuma couldn't understand why Hiruzen was saying this Naruto cannot fight a jounin, can he?

"This is an order. Konohamaru step aside now." said Hiruzen in a commanding voice.

"But-" said Emiko worriedly but was cut off when Hiruzen firmly raised his hand and silenced her. Everyone could feel the pressure Of the third Hokage of Konoha.

"Guess he wants to test me." thought Naruto

"Asuma, Ebisu go all out on him. Don't hold back, he is not what he looks like." said Hiruzen

"HAI" both the men replied in unison, Asuma's voice had a little doubt while Ebisu had a confident tone in it.

All the combatants stepped up in the training ground while Hiruzen, Emiko and Konohamaru stood on the far side of the training ground.

Hiruzen was keenly observng Naruto, from what memories Naruto had shown him, he had seen so many dangerous missions and opponents that Naruto had defeated in his covert operations and the gruesome training he had undergone, he was sure that if what he had seen was true then Asuma and Ebisu were no challenge at all for Naruto.

Emiko was quite worried for her surrogate son, she knew Naruto was quite powerful for a person his age but Asuma was also a one of the guardian shinobi 12 of the legendary fire temple and was a worthy opponent. On the other hand Ebisu was also quite skilled, she just wished that Naruto did not get hurt.

Konohamaru was very excited about this battle, Naruto was his idol and only if he could defeat Naruto then he could become Hokage. He wanted to know how strong his big brother was.

Asuma was quite curious when he saw Naruto standing calmly in front of him and staring at him. It was as if he had no fear in him, or he was arrogant. Asuma dismissed the latter he knew Naruto was a kind and gentle boy.

Ebisu was anxiously waiting to start the fight, this was the moment where he would teach the Kyubi brat a lesson.

"Let's do this Kurama, but no sharingan. Everything else is a go, I'll have to prove it to Jiji that I am indeed a worthy Root Anbu captain." said Naruto in his mind.

"Whatever Naruto, just kick their ass and give me some fun." said Kurama with a chuckle

"Got it."

Asuma and Ebisu nodded with each other and immediately launched a daozen Kunai and shuriken at Naruto at tremendous speeds.

Naruto just stood there calmly, these attacks were quite fast but he was so used to his sharingan that such attacks were below normal for him. He himself launched a dozen of his shuriken towards Asuma and Ebisu.

Both the shurikens collided with each other with precision and dropped to the ground with a lot of sound.

Asuma and Ebisu both went through a couple of hand signs simultaneously with great speed.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)"

A large fireball the size of a boulder was release by both the Jounin and was rushing towards Naruto at tremendous speed.

Naruto had already recognized the hand signs and had finished performing his own jutsu.

"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)"

Naruto unleashed a large amount of water from his mouth which surrounded him on all sides and protected him fron the fireball. Both the Jutsu clashed with each other and the entire area was covered in steam.

When the steam reduced Naruto could see Asuma and Ebisu's amazed faces. He could understand this as he had created water without any water source nearby.

"His Water affinity is strong." thought Asuma with a smirk.

"Impressive." thought Ebisu with awe.

(With the spectators)

"Tou-san that was..." said Emiko in shock

"AWESOME!" yelled Konohamaru happily. He was really proud of his big brother now, who was fighting head on with two Jounin.

"You haven't seen half of what he can do." replied Hiruzen calmly. He knew Naruto was just toying with the Jounin.

(With Naruto)

"My turn" said Naruto with a smirk and finished his last hand sign and jumped high in the air.

"Fūton: Shinkūha (Wind Release: Vacuum Wave)"

Naruto took a deep breath and send several wind bullets towards Asuma and Ebisu with tremendous speed. Wind style attacks were one of the fastest attacks after lightning and Naruto knew that. He had seen Asuma and Ebisu use fire style which was weak against wind and so he decided to use his wind attacks.

Both the Jounin's eyes widened when they saw several wind bulletes headed towards them. Asuma was a wind style user so he knew these attacks better and was just able to perform a substitution at the last moment.

However Ebisu was not so lucky, he was hit head on by the attack and was sent flying in the air with numerous lethal cuts on his body.

"AHHHHHH" screamed Ebisu in pain.

But he was more surprised when he saw Naruto standing a few feet behind him and had already finished the ram hand sign.

"SHIT!" cursed Ebisu

"Katon Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)"

Ebisu eyes widened when he saw several small fireballs hitting his body and started burning him. Before he could do anything he saw Naruto looking at him coldly.

"KATSU" yelled Naruto

All the fireballs on Ebisu's body exploded in a second and burned various parts of Ebisu's body badly and sent him crashing in a tree with a loud thud. Naruto unleashed a hail of shuriken hitting Ebisu all over his body and pinned him to the tree. However Ebisu had already fallen unconsicous.

"One down, one more to go" said Naruto calmly

(With the spectators)

"What just happened?" asked a stunned Konohamaru. His sensei was just beaten so quickly that he couldn't understand.

"How did he beat Ebisu, Tou-san?, one moment he was there and the next he was behind Ebisu," asked Emiko in confusion

"Naruto formed a shadow clone to attack Ebisu from behind." explained Hiruzen

"But I didn't even see any hand signs." said Emiko. She was a medical ninja and as such knew many things about shinobi.

"That's the trick he formed a shadow clone without any hand signs.!" said Hiruzen calmly to the stunned mother and son.

"He is from the Namikaze as well as the Uchiha clan. Both the clans were famous for their speed and jutsu and Naruto is an excellent shinobi, I can see why Naruto was recruited by Danzo." thought Hiruzen analytically.

(With Naruto)

Asuma was shocked on seeing what had happened. The fight had only just began and Ebisu was already down. Not only that his opponent was able to use jutsu of three different chakra nature and his speed was unparalleld.

"What more tricks has he got up his sleeve?" thought Asuma cautiously

Naruto jumped high in the air and threw a shuriken towards Asuma.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)"

The one shuriken now multiplied into hundreds of shuriken which were going to kill Asuma very quickly.

"I must act quickly" thought Asuma and gathered a large amount of chakra.

"Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"

Asuma released a large amount of wind which collided with the shuriken barrage strongly. The Jutsu's power was so destructive that many of the shuriken were now heading towards Naruto who was descending towards the ground.

"Not bad." thought Naruto and subsituted himself with a nearby log.

Asuma attacked Naruto and attempted to send a right hook to Naruto's face. Seeing Asuma's movement Naruto quickly blocked the attack with his left hand and qucikly made a leg sweep at Asuma's legs. Asuma had put a lot of power in that hook and Naruto could feel a slight bruised hand of his own. But before Asuma could defend he was already on the ground as he lost his balance.

Naruto backflipped a few meters away from Asuma in order to avoid the kick that Asuma had aimed at his chest.

"If I try to fight him head on with brute force I will suffer some serious damage. As expected the Sarutobi clan members have great physical strength. Then I should use..yes" thought Naruto

"You are indeed a worthy opponent Asuma-san." said Naruto with a smile and gave a thumbs up to Asuma.

"You are also quite skilled." complimented Asuma and proceeded with a couple of hand signs.

"Katon: Haisekishō(Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning)"

Asuma released a lot of gunpowder from his mouth which surrounded Naruto on all sides and flicked his cigratte in the smoke making a large explosion.

(With the spectators)

"NARUTO-NICHAN" yelled Konohamaru in fear as he saw Naruto get caught in the explosion.

"Its not over yet." said Hiruzen.

"What do you mean Tou-san?" asked Emiko a little worriedly for her surrogate son.

"Just wait and see." said Hiruzen calmly

(With Naruto)

"Maybe I went a little overboard." thought Asuma hesitantly

He quickly ran up to Naruto's body and was shocked to see the body disperse into a flock of crows. Suddenly someone stabbed a kunai in Asuma's throat. Asuma looked back and saw Naruto standing there with a neutral expression on his face.

Asuma tried to hold back the blood that was coming out of his neck but failed miserably, he dropped to the ground.

"Its over. Yield now." said Naruto and pointed a Kunai at Asuma's chest.

Asuma was just barely able to nod but to his surprise suddenly the Naruto around him disapperead in another flock of crows. Asuma looked around and saw that he was piled up to a tree with many shuriken all over his body preventing him from moving.

He saw Naruto standing in front of him with a kunai pointing towards Asuma's throat. Asuma looked down and to his surprise his slitted throat was now perfectly well and had no injury on it.

"Shit, Genjutsu!" thought Asuma angrily on not being able to detect the genjutsu.

They both head clapping and turned around and saw Hiruzen looking towards them with a smile. Emiko was already healing Ebisu who had just woken up and Konohamaru was looking at Naruto as if he was a god.

"Nichan is so powerful." thought Konohamaru in awe.

"You were splendid Naruto. You were able to emerge victorious against two highly skilled Jounin of our village." congratulated Hiruzen with a warm smile but on the inside he was also feeling a lot sad as Naruto was now the perfect candidate for the top secret mission.

"I just tried, Asuma-san and Ebisu-san were also quite formidable." said Naruto happily

"Don't joke kid, you played with us. How did you casted a genjutsu on me, I didn't see any hand signs?" said Asuma with a small frown and started removing all the shuriken from his body and Naruto also helped him out.

"Remember the thumbs up I gave you..." suggested Naruto

Asuma's eyes widened on hearing this, now everything made sense to him.

"The moment you saw that you were in my genjutsu." explained Naruto

"He is indeed Kurenai's student." thought Hiruzen proudly

''What about the fire jutsu?" asked Asuma curiously

"Jutsu is a balance between physical energy and spiritual energy which is executed by performing hand signs, when you increase the amount of chakra in a jutsu which is more than required it becomes unstable. In my jutsu I increased the amount of fire chakra as a result the fireballs exploded as the amount of chakra was not in right proportion. If I had put anymore chakra then Ebisu-san would have died." explained Naruto

Everyone was quite impressed with Naruto's jutsu and how he was so skilled with it.

Naruto noticed some blood leaking from Asuma's shoulders and decided to heal him.

"Let me heal you up." said Naruto and started his medical ninjutsu on Asuma's wounds.

Everyone was quite shocked on seeing Naruto perform the medical ninjutsu. It was a very tough shinobi skill and only a few were able to master it, this proved that Naruto had great chakra control required for a medic nin.

"You know medical ninjutsu?" asked Emiko in surprise

"I just read about it in the library, and learned it on my own." said Naruto with a smile. Only Hiruzen gave Naruto a knowing look saying he knew where Naruto had learned medical ninjutsu.

"Nichan you have to teach me all these jutsu, please!" pleaded Konohamaru with his puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry about that Konohamaru you have a better teacher than myself. He can teach you better than me." said Naruto and poked Konohamaru on his forehead.

Ebisu's eyes widened on hearing this, he couldn't believe that the Jinchuriki was saying this, he expected the boy to boast about his victory but it was quite the opposite.

"But you are the best Naruto-Nichan" argued Konohamaru

"Being the best isn't always meant to be. When you have power you become arrogant and start to lose sight of yourself, even if you were a good person. Right now I am skilled only because of Kakashi-nisan, Kurenai-chan and Anko-chan. If they hadn't trained me I would not be at this stage. Ebisu-san is a good teacher." said Naruto with a smile

"But I lost to you." said Ebisu quitely. He was ashamed after seeing what Naruto was truly like and he was so wrong about him and considered him only a nuisance.

"Ebisu-san there are no short cuts for becoming Hokage. Do you know why Konohamaru wants to become Hokage?" asked Naruto calmly.

"Because Hokage is the strongest shinobi in the village." said Ebisu curtly

"You are wrong. He wants to become Hokage so that he could be recognized. The people of this village only see him as the honorable granson of Sandaime-sama, even you only see him as that, if you can see him as Konohamaru Sarutobi I am sure that you can make him a splendid shinobi and can be a better teacher than me for Konohamaru." said Naruto with a warm smile.

"I'm sorry for my rude behavior Naruto-san" apologized Ebisu

"Its alright." said Naruto and accepted the apology.

"Nichan thank you for understanding me." said Konohamaru with a few tears in his eyes.

"That's what big brothers are for right?" asked Naruto happily

"Hai" said Konohamaru with a smile

All the others also smiled on seeing this, all the doubts which Ebisu had for Naruto vanished from his mind as he could now finally see Naruto as a shinobi of Konoha.

"I just wish your sacrifice will not be in vain my son." thought Hiruzen sadly.

(Flashback end)

It had been a few weeks since his revelation to Hiruzen. The Root Anbu's activities were getting a lot more intense. Naruto knew what he had to do for his mission, it would only be a matter of time before that faithful day would come. Until then he would try to keep an eye on Danzo and get as much information he can for the village.

Naruto knew the entire Root Anbu blackops would be together before the invasion at one place for the final strategy and that was the moment where he will have to put aside all his personal feelings and strike.

Naruto picked up his Anbu mask and looked at the memeorial stone, he still couldn't forget his brother. Danzo had been giving him a lot of assasination missions in order to make him strong enough to kill Hiruzen. Naruto knew he was a major pawn in the entire scheme. Naruto had become a lot more distant with his classmates.

Kakashi and Kurenai had asked him many times what he was up to? But Hiruzen had covered him and always gave some excuse to not make them suspicious of him.

Kakashi and Anko had became a lot more close in the past three years, if one could say they were...

"Nah, that can't be possible." thought Naruto with fear. He couldn't imagine what would happen if Kakashi and Anko got together.

Naruto had become quite close to Kurenai in the past three years. His training was now complete and Kurenai had declared him as her equal in genjutsu. Kurenai was Naruto's life, he loved everything about her. She was everything he wanted in a life partner, she was...

"Oye Brat, stop rambling in the past...we have to go and if you are serious about this mission. Forget about her." said Kurama solemnly. He knew how much Naruto loved Kurenai but if he had decided to take this path then this was the best choice.

"Right" said Naruto and placed his Falcon Anbu mask and disapperead into the shadows.

He didn't even know what Kurenai truly felt for him...