Tenzo eyed Itachi from his perch on the roof. Rain beat down, rattling away minutes into the deepening night. The target had hardly shifted weight from one leg to the other. Tenzo wasn't going to relax, to lighten his scrutiny, even if the Itachi was so stil-

Itachi put a hand under his masked and scratched. The hand dropped back under the robes.

Tenzo blinked. How... human. The thought struck an uncomfortable cord. Tenzo tried not to think on it, and scanned for the two teams supposed to arrive. He couldn't hardly see, thanks to the rain, and certainly couldn't hear them before the six ninja landed in the center square. The largest ninja, a musclebound man wearing a bandanna hitai-ite, looked ready to tackle the Uchiha if necessary. His female partner however, seemed far too relaxed. The other two men, one Hyuuga and one Aburame, looked about the same as those stoic clans always did. If they were wise, Tenzo thought, they'd be just as ready as the biggest.

The Hyuuga spotted the corpse of the stumbling bum in the nearby alley. The woman stepped up to Itachi and began asking questions; though Tenzo couldn't make out the words, he assumed it was the standard list. Itachi's answered, expressionless.

The Aburame joined the Hyuuga and activated his radio. "D-5 reporting," the Aburame's voice fuzzed in Tenzo's ear. "We have a deceased, cause of death unknown. Potential suspect. No identification. Likely homeless. He carried a Kunai. We'll bring the evidence out of the rain."

No one responded. Tenzo tapped his radio to make sure it was working.

"Control? This is D-5, do you copy?"

"Maa, this is control," a response finally crackled back. "The previous controller is relieved. ...please repeat," the controller said, sounding as though he couldn't care less.

Tenzo recognized the feigned laziness. The old bird-based message system was always authorized by the Hokage, and were with due respect. Since Konoha had begun using radio technology, though, some of the ninja had trouble following orders delivered by the greenies given the radio job. With Kakashi in charge, though, you wouldn't find any loyal ninja brushing off his orders. ...not that the lazy tone helped any. Tenzo smiled.

Questioning lasted for several minutes. The woman thrust a finger at the alley and pushed into the Uchiha's space. Maybe she would be a good investigator... Her over-sized partner stood nearby, trying to look intimidating. Everyone was entirely too relaxed. Tenzo, at least, kept his hands no more than a few inches apart; if he needed to form a seal, he was ready. Finally the questions concluded. The woman gave repeated Itachi's orders to find the Hokage near training area 68. Itachi leaped to roof and off into the night.

Tenzo had played his part here. Like a fine weapon brought out only for greatest needs, he was to return to the sheath. The Hokage would contact him for a report. Until then, he would return to his apartment. Tenzo edged back and slipped into the rear alley.

-ii-

Naruto felt consciousness flicker toward him. He tried to move, but his arm didn't listen. He tried again. He settled for just breathing. Soon he slipped under.

-ii-

Itachi's landed from the tree line into the open field, and bowed. The Hokage nodded to Itachi, ordering him to follow, and they set off through the tall grass. A few squat trees passed them by, swaying, before they came upon three structures Itachi knew. Inside they went into a living room devoid of light except for that which came from the stairs leading down. Itachi was familiar with those stairs, even more so than the rest of the house.

Down the hallway and into the room marked "Waiting" he followed, stepping in behind the Hokage. His breath calming as he glanced around the room. An EverYoung and Hyuuga-sama were both here. Upon seeing him, brief amusement flash across Saesha's face before returning to her somber expression. Hyuuga-sama's face just barely reflected the grave atmosphere, but he didn't seem to recognize Itachi behind the ANBU mask.

"How is he?" the Hokage asked immediately.

The EverYoung turned her eyes to Itachi. "Agent, guard the boy," she said, inclining her head to a door with a small black kanji for 'Rest' above it. "You would do well to keep your Sharingan off."

Hyuuga-sama narrowed his eyes and glanced to the EverYoung. Itachi did not obey, however. She was not the Hokage. Killing intent began to play its way up Itachi's spine. Itachi still refused; the intent swelled, heavy, like cold lead poured down one's head and shoulders. Itachi turned his face to the Hokage. The Hokage nodded his consent. Itachi released his dojutsu and stepped past the EverYoung. Every sense was on edge to make up the difference. He stepped through the door and the last of the killing intent faded.

Itachi stared at the sleeping blond boy, then slowly rested his right hand in an equipment pouch.

-ii-

When the door shut Sarutobi turned to Saesha.

"He won't see again," she said.

The Hokage let his face become a mask, an old habit he used when digesting horrible information. "What if Tsunade were able to treat him?"

Saesha scowled. "She is better than me, but even she can't repair chakra vessels that have been so burnt out. The entire region is char, I had to cut a lot of black off before I found living tissue."

"Is the seal intact?" Hiashi asked immediately.

"Everything that I know about it says it's working fine."

The Hokage removed his soaked outer robe and laid them over a seat, then sat with care. Once settled he asked, "How did the chakra system burn out?"

Saesha scowled and took a breath before launching into her explanation, "From what I can tell the Kyuubi began pushing its chakra through the seal faster than it could be converted. That would be all well and good if the boy's system had had more years to adjust to the Kyuubi's chakra, but at this point it is still too foreign. Now, if the Kyuubi's chakra is mixed with the boys, it heals more than harms. But that wasn't the case when it got to the eyes. The mixture was off, too much Kyuubi and too little Naruto. At that point, it left severe burns wherever it tried to heal."

She paused a moment, tapping her lip, and then said, "I have a theory as to why the rest of him actually healed, and just the eyes burned." She glanced to the Hokage, and then continued without prompting. "If you're bleeding out of your neck and your torso is diced, you need to fix that to stay alive. You really need to stop bleeding before you need to see. I think the chakra was directed to heal the lethal wounds first."

Sarutobi eyed Saesha. Kushina never talked about how much the Kyuubi... interacted with its jailer, or even how intelligent it was in that sealed state. It hadn't seemed to influence Naruto, though. So maybe he didn't need to be concerned.

"I don't know if Naruto was directing the chakra," Saesha continued, "or the Kyuubi, or maybe-though I seriously doubt it-instinct. No matter, the things that needed to be healed for immediate survival were, and the blood loss from the eyes was stopped, but," she paused. The corners of her lips twitched down. "The boy will not see again."

"What about transplants?" the Hokage pushed. He would exhaust every option, for Minato and Kushina's sake.

"Is anyone willing to give the boy their eyes? Hiashi, I'm sure you'd be willing to give your heir's eyes?" she said. Hiashi scowled, causing her to snort. She continued, "Even if there was a donor, the burning extends back into the nerves too far. A transplant is useless. We'd have to carve the optical nerve out of the donor, reshape Naruto's eyes sockets, and heal the nerves together. I couldn't even reach the area without defacing the boy more. And then, because of the chakra burnout, the eye would atrophy soon anyway."

Sarutobi folded his hands, pressed his eyes together. The weight bored down on him. The worst hadn't happened, but at least Sarutobi had mentally prepared himself for that. This was a different kind of horrible, something he was completely unprepared for.

Still, he would ensure Minato's legacy. He owed them that much, and more still. Much more.

-ii-

Consciousness flitted through Naruto's mind. And it hurt. He stirred.

His hands searched and found the sheet lying over him. His eyes wouldn't open; his hands sought why and found bandages restraining his eyelids.

Memories returned, a terrifying mosaic of the previous night. His heart pounded faster. In the center of picture, the memory that was the strongest: a red tipped kunai, right before it had gored his eye. He clenched the sheet. Everything was sore, ached. He gulped, and even that hurt.

"You are safe."

Naruto jerked away from the voice and fell from the bed. He hit a cold floor, scrambled back. The covers twisted around his leg, an attacker. He shook the leg, pushed away until he pressed against a wall. He pushed away, down the wall until he wedged himself in a corner. His tried to speak something, screaming or begging he did not know. Nothing came out. He turned his face away and through his arms up in defense.

"Relax, you are under protection," the same deep voice said.

Naruto's head snapped back around to face the voice, his breathing hitched less. He wanted to believe those words. Something told him they were fake. But Old Man had always been real with him. Naruto needed something, him, right now.

"Old Man," Naruto croaked.

"I... my voice recently changed. Is that what you mean?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, his mouth hung open. "Ho... kage," he eventually managed.

"He is just outside this door. Would you like me to get him?"

Naruto remained silent; could the old man even be here? He dropped his arms and hugged himself, then swallowed.

"...you are safe," the deep voice said again.

Naruto held himself tighter, his skin bumping up with a chill. Naruto realized he was only in underwear. He didn't care.

"Are you angry with him?" the same voice asked.

Naruto shook his head.

Moments past in silence. Naruto tensed, listening for an attack. He held his breath, trying to hear every movement the other made, until he felt like he was suffocating. But he risk it.

"I have made it safe," the voice said like the world would do what he told it to. It hit Naruto like a splash of water. "The Hokage has made it safe," the man added a moment later. "Would you like me to get him?"

Naruto trembled, then nodded. The movement of cloth, the light touch of ninja sandals across the floor, the sound of skin being placed on a metal handle, all were acute in the abandonment of the room. The door swung open and then clicked shut, leaving Naruto in his sea of darkness. His arms, mindless, without command, untangled the blanket from his leg and wrapped it around him.

The door opened, but he couldn't hear footsteps. Naruto faced the sound and stopped breathing again. Someone released a long breath from their nose.

'...like, a sigh.'

"Hello Naruto," a recognizable voice said just as the old man's scent reached him. The way the old man said it... was like how Naruto felt that night. He knew they would be as mean as aways, but still hoped maybe, just a little, he wouldn't be hated on his birthday this time. Even if he knew his hope would be crushed. That's what the old mans voice sounded like. The feeling made Naruto's stomach turn.

"Old man," he croaked no louder than a whisper. His expression rose - hope - but then fell.

"The Hokage is here, do you feel safe now?" the unknown voice asked. Naruto didn't answer.

The old man took a deep breath and said, "Naruto, do you still want to be a ninja?"

He snapped to attention. "So my eyes will be fine? They're going to get better?" he begged.

"No..." the Hokage whispered.

"Yeah they will, that way I can be a ninja!" Naruto ignored the pain in his throat. "I'm gonna be a great ninja! I'm gonna-"

"You can," the Hokage cut him off, "but your eyes will not get better."

Naruto's mind was full of promotions, an older version of him wearing a confident smile, blue eyes lit by the sun. He brushed aside the attempt to shatter it.

"Naruto," the unknown voice said.

"I'll hit 'em from twenty miles away, and-"

"Naruto," the voice said again.

Naruto paused and looked at him.

"Your eyes are gone."

Naruto's mind ignored that. He could see his confident smile. And maybe a Hokage hat, then he could finally fiddle with those things that dangled off it all he wanted.

"We need to figure out what's going to be the best for you now that you're blind," the Hokage said professionaly.

The cotton pressed to Naruto's eyes moistened. His mouth turned down.

"No!" He shouted. "No!" He pulled the sheet tighter around him. "No!"

"Naru-"

"No! No no!" It stung, blood tickled the back of his throat. His next "no!" shot it into his mouth, warming his lips.

"Stop speaking!" a woman shouted over him. Footsteps rushed toward him; Naruto braced. His throat tingled - a healing technique, he knew. The pain in his throat eased. "Don't talk any more, understand? You nod or shake you head, gently, if you need to talk at all. Nothing else."

Naruto nodded,, and tried to keep his his tears hidden.

After the healing feeling left she said, "You may talk to him again."

"Naruto, do you still want to be a ninja?" the Hokage pressed.

Naruto didn't really hear what the Hokage said. He pressed the heels of his hands into the bandages over his eyes.

"Don't do that," the woman said and pulled his hands away.

He filched violently at the contact, then yanked his wrists from her grip.

"Are you crying," she snapped.

Naruto didn't answer.

"Are you crying?" She repeated a touch more gently.

He nodded, barely.

The woman stood up and shouted, "You two, out! Out-out!"

They shuffled out without a second word. When the door shut the woman grabbed him and lifted him into the air, making his stomach turn. Naruto started to squirm but she slapped his hand. He jerked back and his breath froze. Then she set him on the bed. With whooshing and a whip of air a blanket lay over him, and Naruto let himself breath. Just a little.

The woman started to say something, but it turned to a sigh. She started again, but didn't finish. After a moment or two more she walked out, the door clicking behind her. With no one there tight feeling lessened, and Naruto uncurled. He could breath deep. He didn't really feel like crying - not that he ever wanted to. Finally the words of the old man came back.

'...still be a ninja?'

Naruto's breath caught again. He had to be a ninja! But... could he? He wanted to clench his teeth in resolve. He wanted to shout it. It would take a lot of effort. He'd do that in a little bit. Right now, though, he might... have to... sleep...

-ii-

Itachi's eyes followed the woman as she shut the door to Naruto's room.

"He needs to wait a bit longer before you two have a shouting match," the EverYoung said to Konoha's leader. "You can worry the kid with the details later."

The Hokage creased his brow and nodded.

Hiashi stood and approached, his face relaxed. "Hokage-sama," he interjected, "I would like us to reconsider where the boy will be staying long term."

The Hokage paused. "We can do that later. For the time being Naruto will stay with the EverYoung. Right now I need to focus on capturing the assailant, and showing him some justice at Ibiki's hand. Saesha, please help repair the boy's psyche. He needs some stability."

The EverYoung nodded a bow.

'...not deep enough to be respectful,' Itachi thought. He hadn't seen the EverYoung around Konoha's leader, but he expected more reverence. Though, considering how she acted in the past, it wasn't a surprising. Itachi's eyes flickered down in though, and then back up.

The Hokage pulled his robes tighter and moved toward the door. Itachi opened it for him and asked with a bow, "What are my orders, Hokage-sama?"

"Stay and guard Naruto until I give you further orders. Obey Saesha, unless she orders you away."

"Hai," Itachi replied.

Saesha frowned harshly at the both of them. She traced her lips with her index finger and then said, "Whatever you're playing at, Saru, I'll play along."

The Hokage grinned... impishly? It was a bit unsettling.

A moment later and the grin was gone, replaced with power and professionalism as the Hokage. He left and Hiashi followed, his aura of authority nearly as strong.

Itachi stared after them for a few moments before returning his attention to room's only other occupant. She had her hip cocked with her hand placed on it, her eyes directed to the side, indicating recall. Her eyes moved to him.

"Touch the boy and I'll kill you. I don't let people touch my patients. Unless, you know, if the patient is punching them. Then it's okay."

Itachi's mouth quirked behind his mask.

-ii-

Itachi stared into the pearly shell of his Vita-Lite Soldier pill and rolled it between his thumb and index finger. He had eventually sat while guarding the medical room and indulged in one of the weak soldier pills already, and now pondered biting into a second.

He tipped his mask up and placed it in his mouth and savored the flavor before allowing it to escape down his throat.

His impulse, due to the often repeated habit, was to activate his Sharingan after ingesting one. After so much repetition the fresh rush of chakra seemed to flowed there automatically. It was with some difficulty that he prevented his dojutsu's activation. For a moment he wondered if this was anything like the rest of his clan experienced, but then discarded the thought. The distraction caused his Sharingan to partially appear. He lowered his mask, closed his eyes, and blew out a deep breath until the feeling of pressure the Sharingan produced faded.

The click of the door mechanism snapped Itachi's eyes back open. A spiky mess of blond hair poked out, followed by the distinct whisker-marked face of Uzumaki Naruto. The boy turned his head slowly, listening across the room. The moment Itachi took his next breath the boy's head jerked his direction.

"Who are you?" Uzumaki asked, voice far from healed.

Itachi's eyes traced a whisker before he answered, "Uchiha Itachi."

The boy's eyebrows rose above his bandages, drawing Itachi's attention. "Am I in trouble?" The boy asked and swallowed, causing himself to cringe.

"No." Itachi assumed the boy was intimately familiar with how many Uchiha were in the police force, due especially to his pranking record.

The eyebrows dropped behind their cover. "Oh. ...You're that guy from earlier, right?"

"Hai," Itachi answered and ignored the rising temptation to enjoy a third vita-stim. After a pause he asked, "do you recognize me by my smell?"

"Naw, your voice. Are there chairs in here?" Then he asked more quietly, "What's going on?"

"Saesha-sama said you must rest."

He lowered his head. "Yeah... okay," he near-whispered, and then returned to his room.

Itachi placed his hand in the pack containing his vita-stims and played one between his fingers. After a moment's deliberation he removed an empty hand and began practicing the transition between two obscure hand seal.

-ii-

Hiashi stood next to the Hokage at the ANBU investigation headquarters. Harsh fluorescent lights bathed the corpse of a middle aged drunkard. His body reeked, from life, not death. A Police enforcer was acquiring dental records with a mold and the best pair of Hyuuga eyes were inspecting the darkened chakra system-best Byakugan for the job, not the best. He didn't have the fastest eyes, and his peripheral vision was surprisingly limited, but his were the sharpest.

"There are light signs of chakra entry on the left side of the laryngeal prominence, aside from that, nothing," the lower ranking Hyuuga reported.

"And his eyes?" Sarutobi specified.

"They are stressed, some of the neuro pathways are burnt out, but there is absolutely no traces of chakra entry there. You should know that the chakra vessels in his stomach, adrenal gland, and rage centers of the brain have all been stressed and are causing the surrounding tissue to degrade at an accelerated rate."

Hiashi's Byakugan could see no such thing but that didn't surprise him. He was surprised by the self assuredness of the branch member; it spoke well of the Hyuuga clan in front of Konoha's leader.

"Anything else?" Hiashi demanded.

"No sir, nothing I would call relevant to the investigation. His liver shows severe alcoholism, he probably had a lower back injury when he was young, but nothing involving chakra or an obvious ninja source. He's never molded chakra in his life. That is what makes any foreign chakra entry so apparent." He turned to Sarutobi. "I am confident this is the best I have to offer."

"Thank you," the Hokage said, teasing the barest hints of a smile from Hiashi's lips.

Its existence was short. "Dismissed," Hiashi declared and turned his attention back to the corpse without a second glance.

"Hai!" The branch member bowed swiftly and left.

When he was gone Hiashi furrowed his brow and turned to Sarutobi. "You will have our full compliance throughout the investigation, Hokage-sama. Will this be handled by the Konoha Police or ANBU?"

"A Limited Joint Operation for the time being," Sarutobi answered. The single light source enhanced the many wrinkles Hiashi had seen find their way onto the Hokage's face over the past decade. Hiashi looked away.

Having finished the dental mold the police officer collected a hair sample, stowed it in a baggie, and retrieved the fingerprinting kit.

Hiashi furrowed his brow deeper. "Joint. That means three parties are involved. That's not going to be very efficient."

"...True, but it won't be that way for long. Right now everyone is needed to lock down Konoha and search for more suspects."

The police officer placed the corpse's finger on an ink pad and rolled it. He then placed it on a special paper, then repeated the process with two more fingers, and then placed them and a kunai each in their evidence bags.

"I'm going to announce this matter classified," the Hokage said. "If you will, Hiashi-sama, please use your clan's gifted eyes to the best of their abilities."

"Hai. They will be posted throughout Konoha and the perimeter as well."

Hiashi fully expected the Hokage to understand what an offer that was. The Hokage had ordered all the Hyuuga to alert without consulting Hiashi, and the Hyuuga did not appreciate being at the whim of anyone who wanted a good pair of eyes. To have his full clan do such a thing, Hiashi was nearly bending over backwards for the man. For the Hyuuga politics, however, there was much to gain.

Sarutobi nodded and swept from the room. Hiashi remained a bit longer, staring at nothing in particular before he also took leave.

-ii-

The police officer watched the Hyuuga clan head leave with a certain sense of relief and then returned to his work. The clipping of tweezers and the crinkling of plastic bags did not need to keep him company for long before his Inuzuka partner arrived clinging to a cup of tea.

"Where's your dog?" He asked offhandedly as he checked the dead man's pupils. They were dilated to the point of making the iris a tiniest band of brown around the outer edge.

"He's home for the evening, a 'breeding break'," she answered before crashing into the nearby chair in typical Inuzuka fashion.

The officer smiled. "O-ho, I bet that's hard for him."

"Him? Nah, it's hard for the bitches," she grinned and took a gulp of the rather black tea.

"So, do you have breeding programs, or is it all about 'true love' for the dogs?" he asked as he marked the baggies with their evidence codes.

His partner wrinkled her nose at the permanent marker smell and answered, "Breeding programs, though there is some personal choice involved. Mostly they just don't care."

She threw back the rest of her tea and grimaced at the heat, then stood as he recapped the marker. She moved over and gave the air a general sniff, then frowned and sniffed again.

"What?" He asked as he sealed the evidence box.

"I smell drugs," she said and pushed him aside to get to the corpse. When she leaned down and sniffed the body's armpit, then mouth, the officer was reminded of how glad he was that he wasn't born Inuzuka.

Her expression became dark, and, despite having expertise in the field, she declared "I don't recognize them."

-ii-

A/N: And here's 2!