CHAPTER 2

Although he'd already spent an hour arranging and rearranging his weapons, changing and making up his mind, Naruto set the kunai knives out in front of him once more. The tips were laced in a deadly poison, adapted from a black salamander's secretions, just as were most of the shuriken in his possession. It would supposedly bring instant and painless death to the victim. but the way its colour jumped out from the blades like a permanent blood stain seemed to scream the opposite. And he would have to inflict that on people he knew, people he spoke to each day and trained with. His friends.

But it was for the entire village's protection that they gave him this horrific task.

"We've been monitoring the movements of the Uchiha clan," Tsunade had told Naruto as he stood in front of her desk, "and a select few from ANBU black ops have infiltrated the organisations beneath the head family."

He remembered struggling to control the shock and sudden anger that spread across his face. He spent a lot of his free time around the Uchiha clan. Behind their appearance of stern coldness and perhaps arrogance, they were extremely loyal to one another and were a family. Naruto liked that feeling.

"What, why? They're part of this village, you should been focusing on the threats we have from outside! There are good leaf ninjas out there getting killed, putting their life on the line right now, because they don't have enough back up. And you're just sending ninjas off to do pointless rubbish like this!"

Tsunade ignored his outburst and the closed fists which surely annoyed her. "All of what we gathered is classified information that not even can be told. But I knew you would need to know some reason for your next mission."

Naruto was still watching her with a furious glare, his brow crumpled underneath the metal forehead protector.

"The Uchiha clan is corrupt. They are planning to commence a violent coup d'etat." His replying stare was blank and so, sighing, she rephrased. "The Uchiha's are going to murder thousands. If you don't stop them before they get the chance to."

"Stop lying." Naruto refused to believe this, his eyes bored into the table. Tsunade's voice was too hard and blunt; she must believe what she'd told him. To take a glance at her face, where her eyes would be surely clear of any untruthfulness, would only beat his heart deeper down the hole forming in his chest. The Uchiha clan couldn't be evil.

"I don't have time to waste with lies, Naruto." She stared at him until finally his eyes lifted to meet hers. "Look at this."

On the table she pushed over a file. Slowly, he walked over and opened it. The entire front page was covered in inky characters which carefully detailed a mission strategy, headed OPERATION: BLACK DEMON. Naruto scanned through the text, his eyes widening as the truth he feared was proven by this neat and tidy piece of paper. It showed the hokage was to be killed, all opposing villagers slaughtered, ninja teams taken down. An elaborate signature at the bottom confirmed it. This was an assassination mission, signed and approved by Uchiha Fugaku.

"No…" Naruto whispered.

"As you can see, this is a threat which cannot be ignored and must be dealt with immediately," she carried on, closing the file and placing it in the drawer of her desk. "All attempts at confronting Fugaku, or any other Uchiha for that matter, have ended in denial and hostility. The mission plan mentions a date various times throughout and we can only take this for when they will attack. That date falls on equinox, two days away."

In his room, Naruto hit his fists against his head, trying to dispel the memory of that conversation. He knew why he was doing this. They'd chosen him as having enough power, both his own and the Kyuubi's, and experience in ninja operations to carry out this covert mission.

But all he could think of now was how he would explain to Tsunade why Sasuke Uchiha wasn't killed along with the rest of his clan. And how Sasuke would look at him when he returned from the fake missions he'd sent him on. How he would be responsible for murdering his best friend's clan.


Author's Note:

Thank you for reading!

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