Chapter Two: Team Danzo
Hokage Tower
In the past Hatake Kakashi had considered himself a teacher of the sink or swim variety with a good deal of pride. The idea being that by giving only minimal amounts instruction or information it forced students to learn how to piece together information on their own. Sometimes scraps of intel were all you had to work with in the field and learning to draw accurate conclusions from those pieces could be life saving.
It was how Kakashi himself had been taught and how Minato-sensei had been instructed as well. It was the method the Third had used to train the sannin. However it was the people who flourished under this approach to tutelage that revealed it's glaring flaw: they were all already considered geniuses before becoming genin. The hands off approach allowed them to cultivate that genius uninhabited. Admittedly though these days Kakashi seldom used that word to describe himself.
While Sakura was one of the most intelligent shinobi of her generation she came from a civilian family. She couldn't get supplemental training at home the way someone from a shinobi clan could. While Kiba came from a very well respected clan and quite talented he was ultimately not an innovator. Lastly was Team Seven's Prodigal Son: Uchiha Sasuke who, perhaps along with the boy's new teacher Orochimaru, pointed out a third flaw in such an approach: the lack of supervision could be disastrous if the student in question was mentally compromised in anyway.
He had tried to steer Sasuke away from revenge but clearly it hadn't been enough. Perhaps if Itachi hadn't subjected him to a Tsukyomi mind screw session things might have gone differently. Kakashi knew better than most the futility of dwelling on "what if" scenarios. The copy ninja did however entertain visions of the torments he hoped Uchiha Itachi would receive in whatever hell awaited him in the afterlife for his sins.
Not for the first time Kakashi found himself seeking to atone for past wrongs. As Hokage he was working to reform the educational system in Konoha. First and foremost making monthly psychological exams mandatory for all active prospective shinobi and once a year for all active, non-ANBU shinobi. It was a reform Inoichi had been demanding for years. While team leaders were supposed traditionally responsible for determining rather or not shinobi were fit to serve but perhaps more impartial judges were needed.
So far the move had generally been well received; Hiashi-sama was still fuming that Neji's promotion to jonin had been shot down after a less then favorable review. Kakashi was now given to understand the Hyuga was pressuring that poor girl of his to make jonin. You didn't need a deep understanding of the human mind to see that the young woman was either going to get killed trying live up to her father's expectations or end up trying to pull an Itachi.
On a more personal level he had made time amidst his responsibilities as a Kage to train his students however he could. He had helped them developed their elemental chakra affinities, earth for Kiba and water for Sakura. The later had even been given access to the Senju's library of Water style techniques. At the present he was seated with his students in the living room of the Hatake clan compound about to brief his students on some the villages dark secret's.
His students cross legged across the table from him clearly ready for him to begin. The reluctant Hokage though was still grappling with how much to tell them. He would have to tell them about what to expect from Danzo's team of course but was it time to tell them about Danzo himself? Part of him hoped this was an opportunity to make amends for more personal mistakes? Among his regrets, and they were legion, Minato's son ending up in Danzo's clutch's was among the top three.
The silver haired Kage sighed before setting four manila folders on the table, "Your mission to follow up on the lead you got from Sasori has been approved." He said opting to go with the good news first, to their credit they both looked more suspicious rather than happy.
"There's some bad news." Sakura stated rather than asked, her jade eyes the folders she tilted her to the side looking rather catlike.
"Arrangements have been made for a three man squad and a jonin to accompany you." Kakashi placed his hand on the folders, "In order to prepare you adequately I'm going to have to reveal several S-Class secrets that you cannot breathe a word to anyone about." Being more used to his laid back side his students were taken aback by how serious he sounded, "Do you understand me?"
"Of course Kakashi-sensei." Sakura assured him,
"You can trust us." Kiba added,
"Are you two famliar with a man named Shimura Danzo."
"Wait," Sakura realized that name sounded familiar, "isn't he one of the elders?"
"Yes," Kakashi answered, "he's also a warhawk who once challenged the Third for title the Hokage. These three," the Kage slid three of the files over, "are his students, officially they are listed as chunnin but I would expect them to actually be ANBU level in terms of their skill."
"So these guys were his genin team?"
"Yes, I am given to understand they are very loyal to his agenda."
"His agenda?" Sakura's tone indicated she was beginning to catch on, "So retrieving Sasuke isn't their main objective?"
"Danzo is an ambitious extremist, it's not inconceivable that he's using this mission as a way to make contact with Orochmaru and the Sound Village. I don't believe they would go as far as to try and eliminate either of you. I doubt Danzo would be bold enough to try eliminating my students." There was dangerous glimmer in his eye, "Consequences be damned I would kill him and I will imply as much when I see him tomorrow. Right now I'd like you to review those files so you can have an idea of what to expect if things go wrong." Sakura and Kiba both picked up a file, "You may recognize them."
Sakura opened the file to see a picture of a very androgynous dark haired boy who apparently only went by his codename, Sai. The parts of his record that weren't redacted indicated that he was a very skilled shinobi if not the most powerful.
"Are you kidding me!?" Kiba exclaimed and shoved his folder in Sakura's face, "It's Naruto?" He looked at Kakashi with a clearly relieved expression, "I remember this clown, he got thrown out of the academy. Only person I ever heard of that happening to actually. Is this Danzo guy into charity cases?" Sakura stared at the photo of the blonde haired boy in disbelief. She couldn't even remember the last time she had though him much less actually laid eyes on him. Expulsion aside Naruto had been a horrible student and an obnoxious troublemaker. Then again she wasn't the same person she had been years ago, actually thinking about how she had been during her academy years made her realize it was a change for the better.
"It's a little hard to imagine sensei." Sakura said as she took the file from her teammate to get a better look.
"There's an understatement." Kiba said derisively and smirked no doubt in memory of some of Naruto's antics. Kakashi's one visible eye was narrowed, his posture made it clear he wasn't amused. Kiba imediately quietened down.
"Under Danzo's tutelage Naruto has become a formidable shinobi," an emotion flickered in Kakashi's eye to quickly for her to make out, "He's not the person you remember." Taking a closer look at the photo Sakura noticed the hardened look in his eyes. There was no trace of the absurdly cheerful smile he used wear all the time. The file also listed him as the team's combat specialist which seemed at odds with her memories of a boy barely passable in taijutsu.
"So who's the third member of this team?" Kiba asked opening the last folder, the Inuzuka groaned, "Of course it's her."
"Who?" Sakura asked,
"The bipolar cousin of his," Kiba answered, "Uzumaki Karin."
Uzumaki Residence...
"Karin-san," Tenten greeted as politely as she could manage, "it's nice to see you again." The weapon's enthusiast had tried over the years like Naruto's cousin. The best she could manage was a well cultivated tolerance for the girl's eccentricities and less then amicable attitude towards her. The crimson-eyed kunoichi managed a stepford smile of her own before replying.
"It's good to see you too." Karin said standing in the doorway,
"Is Naruto here? I have something for him." Tenten held up a case made lacquered wood, Karin seemed to be fascinated with her nails before answering her question.
"He's in the training room." Karin closed the door so she could undo the chain before reopening it, "you can come come in if you want." She said adjusting her glasses,
"Thank you." Tenten replied before entering the modest three bedroom apartment that housed the last known members of the Uzumaki clan. It was such a contrast to the opulence of the Hyuga and Uchiha compounds, the apartment had a generally cozy feel to it. Potted flowers and herbs were abound giving it a floral smell and most of the walls were decorated with surprisingly well done landscape paintings save one.
On the wall directly across from the entrance hung a black banner adorned with the red spiral symbol of the Uzumaki clan and an ornate shrine devoted to Naruto's mother and Karin's parents. She found it telling that shrine seemed to be the most expensive thing in this apartment. She was given to understand they had sank sizable amount of cash into paying for the handcrafted mahogany table that the photos and offerings sat on. At the center were two photos in ornate frames. One was of Naruto's mother, Kushina, who quite easily the most stunningly beautiful woman Tenten had ever seen. The other was a partially burnt photograph that apparently was supposed to be of Karin's parents. Apparently it was the only one she had of them sadly enough.
"It really does help us feel connected to them." Karin said quietly before sighing, "Naruto's in the kitchen, not the training room." The redhead admitted, Tenten regarded the girl for a moment before asking the obvious question:
"What would I have found in the training room?" She almost didn't want to know the answer. Karin went from melancholic to maniacal in a heartbeat.
"Sai is doing a self portrait," She replied, "in the nude." Karin then went to grab her purse from the coffee table and yelled, "Tenten's here, I'm going to see Hinata-chan."
"Tell her I said hi, have fun nee-chan." Naruto responded in a distracted tone. The red eyed girl looked at Tenten who was trying desperately to purge the mental image of a naked Sai from her mind.
"I definitely will." Tenten suppressed a desire to plant numerous sharpened weapons into the retreating back of the Uzumaki girl. Instead the brunette went in to the kitchen where she found Naruto seated at the table with all his ninja gear laid out. She frowned a bit knowing that meant he was going on another mission soon. He looked up and smiled, to her relief the bags under his eyes were gone at least.
"Hey, what brings you here?" Despite Karin and her worries about Naruto going out again so soon Tenten couldn't help but feel giddy as she held up the case.
"My dad finished it last night," She sat the case down in front of him Naruto put down the kunai he had sharpening, "he said it was one of the most challenging custom order ever but he enjoyed working on it." Naruto opened the case to reveal an exotic looking dagger. The blade itself was a foot long that narrowed to a weighted tip. Along with the horizontal H-shaped grip meant the katar, also called a punching dagger, was exclusively a thrusting weapon. Naruto picked the weapon up to check it's balance before thrusting the katar at imaginary foes using the blade as if it was an extension of his arm. The blade then glowed blue as he channeled wind chakra into the blade, "Made from high grade chakra-conducting metal just like you specified." Naruto grinned as the chakra blade extended six inches out from the weapon.
"Tell your father he has an extremely satisfied customer," He said returning the katar to it's case. He looked up at her, "but to be honest I just order stuff from him so I can see that beautiful daughter of his." Tenten blushed at his "admission" and smiled,
"You may want me to omit that last part, he's a little overprotective," Tenten said playfully before seeing an opportunity and like any shinobi struck, "but if you formerly introduced yourself to him so he could ask you about your intentions regarding his stunningly beautiful daughter." Naruto's eyes widened slightly when realized she had sprung trap on himself. Her boyfriend though gestured to a manila folder on the counter behind him and said:
"I have a mission coming up." Tenten folded her arms under her chest and sighed,
"I figured that out already," She told him, "what I don't get is why you're making such a big deal about meeting my dad. He's nearly as over protective as I make him out to be." Naruto sighed,
"I'm not the guy most people want thier daughter bringing home for dinner." Tenten knew that a lot of people didn't think highly of Naruto but didn't think her father had ever been one of them. The village's dislike of Naruto and by proxy Karin was something Tenten had once chalked up to Naruto's days as the resident prankster. But the reactions she sometimes got out of adults when she had mentioned his name seemed to go beyond anything a prank could merit. It bordered on an almost religious fear as if Naruto was going to start raining down plauges on them at any moment.
"You don't know if my dad is one of those people," Naruto kept his face stoic but Tenten knew him well enough to know that he was still hesitant. For the progress Naruto had made in emotional self control his eyes still seemed to convey every emotion he felt. Looking at the file on his counter she added: "I've never complained about how long you're away on missions. I've never asked about the details no matter how much I want to because I know you're not allowed."
"I really don't like keeping things from you Tenten-chan." He said, guilt clearly gnawing at him.
"Danzo-sama is your sensei and a village elder, if he orders you to keep quiet about something you don't have a choice." Tenten said, "You do have a choice about meeting my dad though. I never kept anything from him before."
"This mission shouldn't take longer than a week," He said finally, "Can we do it when I get back?" The brunette beamed and hugged him,
"Don't sound so glum," She said, "I actually think this might be fun if give it a chance." Seeing him look resigned she added: "Have I ever lead you wrong before?"
"No," he admitted, "never." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then got an eager look in his eye, "Do you feel like sparring? I need a break from counting kunai." Her expression became just as eager as his own, some couples went for jogs they trained with weapons.
"Are you going to use the katar?"
"Not this time," Naruto said as he picked his blade of choice off the table, "The mat should already be set up." Tenten looked at him oddly,
"Karin said that Sai was in there..." She didn't want to have to actually say that,
"I had forgotten about that." Naruto admitted, "Sai's taken an interest in artistic nudes, please don't kill him if he asks you to model for a painting."
"I make no promises." She said blunty, "We can find a vacant training lot then." Tenten turned to go only to come face to face with a completely nude Sai. The porcelain pale boy smiled at her,
"Tenten-chan how are you?" He asked her as if nothing was wrong. If her brain hadn't short circuited at the sight of Sai's bare body she might have taken note that both his smile and tone were genuinely affable. Years spent on Maito Gai's team had given her a tolerance for...odd behavior. Perhaps this was why she simply said:
"I'm fine but will you please go put some clothes on." He tilted his head at her,
"Does the sight of my nude body tempt you to infidelity?" He asked her in a courious tone, Tenten's expression turned positively livid.
"I think it tempts her to murder," Naruto said in a deadpan tone, "please put some clothes on."
"If you say so Naruto-kun." Sai went to the refrigerator and helped himself to some juice while the the couple offered silent prayers that didn't opt for something that would have required bending over, "the painting is finished, would you like to keep it?"
"No, if you do another landscape painting I wouldn't mind having one of those. Karin says it's important to stick to a theme in decorating." Naruto told him calmly, a sign of how used he was to Sai's...eccentricities.
"It would clash with the other paintings." Sai concluded and then looked at the weapon's mistress "Tenten-cha-"
"No w-" Naruto cleared his throat she noticed a pleading look in his eye, "no where to put it you should ask..."
"...Her sensei...Maito Gai." Naruto finished, "Now please get dressed!" His patience had clearly hit it's limit. When she was sure Sai had left Tenten looked at Naruto and asked a question that had been burning in her mind since she had first met his socially challenged teammate:
"How do you work with him?" Naruto just shrugged,
"On missions it's actually pretty easy." He answered to her shock, "Sai's an excellent ninja, not that different from Rock Lee really."
"I guess but why did you suggest he take that my sensei?"
"Because mine has no sense of humor." He answered, "So do you still want to spar?"
"Sure."
Hatake Residence...
"...that's why I believe the Third allowed Root to revived." Kakashi sighed, "I honestly doubt that Danzo ever actually disbanded the organization he does claim that they no longer use their more...distasteful training methods."
"Distasteful?" Sakura said when she managed to find her voice again, "It's barbaric!"
"Why the hell did the Third Hokage even allow a group like that to be set up in the first place!?" Kiba asked, "We're supposed to be the good guys! This is the kinda crap I expect Kiri or Iwa to pull, not us! Do we put demons in little kids too like Suna did to Gaara!?"
"It was war Kiba," Kakashi said, "and in war a clear view of right and wrong is the one thing that is easier to lose than your life. Sometimes choices are made to ensure survival and victory that are reprehensible in hindsight. The Hokage looked at the clock on his wall, "I want to remember everything I've told you, especially about that jonin." He told them as he picked up the files, "I do have a personal request." His tone was oddly hesitant,
"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asked,
"I want the two of you to be cautious...but I also want both of you to understand that Naruto...isn't that different from Sasuke." With that he grabbed his Kage robes and left with his students.
Uzumaki Residance...
Naruto and Tenten circled one another, their expression's focused, weapons raised. Tenten was using a pair of tonfas while Naruto favored something more exotic. The ninja of Uzushiogakure, being an island nation, had made contact with numerous foreign cultures adopting weapons and ideas from them. It was a trait that contributed to the perception of them being a "barbaric" people by the the nations of the continent save the Land of Fire. Their weapon of choice came from a chain of islands to the far south, a knife called the bolo. Unlike the katar the bolo was almost exclusively a slashing weapon. The pair Naruto owned were twelve inches in length that curved and broadened about an inch above the curved wooden handle and narrowing again just before the tip.
Naruto finally made the first move opening with a left handed slash keeping the blade in his right close free to block any counterattacks Tenten launched. The Weapon's Mistress blocked the incoming blade and then mirrored Naruto's stance. They moved not unlike a pair of dancers shifting between attacking and blocking and counter attacking as if in tune to unheard. Naruto's style of attack was aggressive but focused fully taking advantage of his superior physicality and natural ambidexterity. Tenten's style relied on skill and agility with an emphasis on out maneuvering her opponent.
She weaved between the slashes to deliver hard strikes to Naruto's stomach, shins, and jaw. While not putting all her strength into these attacks they would have disabled or at least slowed most opponents while her boyfriend seemed to be able to just shrug them off with ease. It wasn't unheard for some shinobi to be that resilient so Tenten figured it made for good practice in case she ever had to fight someone. Naruto also held back always staying his blade just before it would have made contact. Considering how he seemed to favor going for the neck and his aptitude for Wind manipulation she didn't want to think about what it'd be like to fight Naruto for real.
This continued on for sometime with Tenten working up a sweat while Naruto showed little in the way of fatigue. Their focused expressions had given way to playful grins, while not without his faults Naruto was definitely a good catch. She couldn't help but wonder sometimes about the missions he carried out for Danzo-sama. The lack of answers did give him the air of mystery that appealed to the closet romantic in her. As they sparred Tenten found herself wishing more and more that she could get a glimpse of the hidden side of Naruto.
Root Base...
Danzo sat beneath the light as he addressed the masked subordinate kneeling before him. The Konoha elder's face was a stoic mask concealing the ambivalence he felt for the jonin. While he sometimes thought of Naruto as a beast Danzo knew his student/weapon was at least a loyal beast. While the man before him had done much for Root his loyalties not so clear cut, "Do you understand your assignment?" Danzo asked while not for the first pondering rather or an...attitude adjustment was needed. The elder though had learned the value of having freethinking men under his command and so opted to save that option for another day.
"I do Danzo-sama," He replied in a courteous tone, "so the village and our enemies will get a glimpse at the fruits of your labors and just in time for Akatsuki to begin renewing their activities. How much of this did you orchestrate?"
"Actually this opportunity landed in my lap quite by accident." He admitted, "But it's one I plan on exploiting to it's fullest."
"Two birds, one stone." The masked man said with a touch of dark humor coloring his tone, "And of course it'll be good to work with Naruto again. Anything else Danzo-sama?"
"No that is all."
AN: First off a big to vikraal for giving me a far better divergance point for this story than what I had planned. Alright the next chapter has Team Danzo meeting Team Seven, what will Sakura and Kiba think? One thing I promise is that the tone will get darker in parts as the story progresses
Just to let you know the jonin is not an OC, an imaginary cookie to the first person to guess who it is.
On a more important the next two chapters will be followed by a flashback chapter from the POV of one of three characters, since I can't decide which one to go with I'll let you vote, the poll is on my profile. Please remember to review