A/N: I apologize for the wait on this chapter. Life sort of kicked me around for a bit, and another story idea has been percolating and winning in the fight to be written. I want to assure all of you, I plan to finish this story all the way through to the inevitable conclusion. So, without further adieu, chapter 2.
Five years. Five years had passed for the young Nephilim since the Hokage had given him his family estates. Dante was resting at this point, having trained for the past four hours with Yugao, Anko, and Hana. They were all sitting on the back veranda watching as his Shadow Clones did yard work to repair the damage from the sparring session they had just completed.
They had ended the training early tonight as Naruto had his Academy graduation exam the next day. Naruto had been keeping up his mask every time he left the estates. The mask that he fabricated for the villagers safety of the happy-go-lucky idiot. Anko, Hana, and Yugao were the only ones he allowed to see the bitter, cocky person beneath it.
"Dante," Anko asked, catching him dazing off as the sun began to set, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"
"Quite. Jiji knows about Mizuki and how he has been sabotaging my education and selling information on Konoha. He has had me keep up my other self so that Mizuki will not be suspicious of us." Naruto glanced at Anko, catching her eyes with his own. "That bastard will handed over to you tomorrow night, Hebi-hime." Anko could feel her face start to heat up a bit at his pet-name for her.
Hana smirked a bit at Anko's blush, before asking Dante, "But do you really have to fail the exam to make this work?" She did not understand the point of going that far, as it would be simpler to just have Mizuki snatched and taken to Anko and Ibiki in Torture and Interrogation.
Yugao was the Anbu assigned to 'catch' Mizuki tomorrow night after Naruto did whatever it was that Mizuki requested of him. She was the only Anbu who currently knew that Naruto was working on capturing the spy Mizuki. "Hana, the reason why it must happen as they have planned is in case Mizuki has other informants. This way, it will appear that a random chance encounter and luck is what killed Mizuki. The Hokage already has a rumor ready to spread that Mizuki was killed while trying to steal village secrets. His other informants will be wary for a time, but we can hopefully lull them into thinking they are safe as Mizuki will have been 'killed'."
"I still think it could be accomplished without Dante having to fail." Hana was not quite happy that her friend continued with his idiot facade for so long.
Dante sighed, knowing that even after all this time; Hana was the one member of his small group of friends that did not quite understand the importance of masks. She, fortunately, never had to wear one which Dante was thankful for.
"It'll be fine. I can bring Rebellion with me and have it stored in my tattoo." Dante pointed towards his back to make his point.
When Dante had first entered his family's mansion five years ago, he had been astounded by the massive building. The grounds were huge, requiring about a 10 minute walk from the gate to the front door. Being seven, his legs weren't as long as the other four people with him so he marveled and got distracted by the mansion and grounds he would be living in from that point on. He eventually caught up to the group, maneuvering around them and opening the door.
He was greeted by the sight of a massive hallway that led into an even bigger foyer. Naruto and the three women with him were all impressed by the size of the place. The stairwell was huge, leading up and around to a balcony overlooking the foyer itself.
"Wow." Was all Naruto could say. Anko and the others agreed as they tried to take in the massive building's layout.
"Naruto," the Hokage called his attention, "these are the scrolls you father and mother left for you. The mansion, as well as the outbuildings and grounds, are yours as they should have been. I will increase your monthly allowance, but I do not want you to have complete access to your monetary inheritance just yet." He handed the boy two scrolls before he patted him on the shoulder and started to turn around. "You can explore the rest of the day, but I want you to start the training from the first scroll tomorrow. I have a horrible feeling that your father's enemies are still on the lookout for you."
The elderly man had Yugao follow him as he left, while Anko and Hana stayed behind with the young boy. Dante, at this point, could no longer contain his excitement, and started pulling Anko and Hana after him to explore the mansion.
"Come on! Come on! We have a lot to explore!" Anko and Hana giggled as he raced away from them and opened a huge set of doors to their left. They opened to reveal a longer hallway leading to another set of doors. Dante got a bit ahead of them, racing towards the set of doors and pulling them open. The room beyond was barren. Very ornately designed, but lacking in anything except a few pieces of furniture.
The two young women followed him out of that wing, closing the doors behind them, before he ran up the foyer stairs and went around to the left side of the balcony. The doors to their immediately right were open. Anko noticed that there were many other doors around the second floor of the mansion, but these were the only ones that appeared open. She quickly looked down at Dante, watching as he slowly made his way down the hallway. He turned the bend, the hallway sweeping to the left to another set of open doors.
Together, the three entered the massive room. There was a single desk in the center of the room, and the book shelves around the room had been cleared of whatever knowledge they contained. Behind the desk was a picture of Minato Namikaze, the Devil Knight Sparda, standing tall with the sword Rebellion being held as if it were a cane. The strange thing was that the painting had the face scratched and ripped out of the painting. Dante filed that away for later and walked around the desk, noticing that the desk drawers had been ransacked for something.
"Someone's been here. Someone even the Hokage does not know about." Dante cautioned the girls, even though he was sure that they knew that by the room being cleared out. Dante took another quick glance around the room, before he turned towards the picture of his father. He tried to imagine the face to match his own, but couldn't quite make it work. He noticed a strange circle under the name plate of the painting as he tried to commit the proud image of his father into memory. He turned away from the painting, grabbing the hands of the two women, and started walking out.
"Girls, you know now that I am not human. I don't quite know who could get access to my parent's mansion, but please, be on guard as we continue exploring." Anko tussled up his hair, happy that he was concerned for their well-being.
"We will Naruto-kun." Hana assured him, still trying to get over the impressive size of the compound. She kept thinking that the main Inuzuka compound could fit into one side of the mansion Naruto now lived in. She noticed that Naruto had stopped, looking at both of them with a serious visage.
"In the mansion, I would prefer to be called by my real name. Dante, son of Sparda and Eve." Nar…Dante requested of them.
Anko smirked, full out teasing plastered across her face, "Fine, but that's a mouthful to say, Dante-chaaaann."
"Only you, Anko, can get away with calling him that." Hana mumbled to herself, watching as Nar…Dante glared half-heartedly at his Hebi-hime. She knew it would take a bit to get used to his new name.
After a bit of a stare down, Dante relented to Anko, telling her "You win for now," before he started walking out of the room. Hana shared a glance with Anko, knowing that Yugao would need to be updated about Dante's new name from Anko. They shared a smirk, before they followed the young nephilim out back to the second level of the foyer. He jerked his head to the left, walking down the shorter set of stairs, and then back up their twin set to the other side of the balcony.
The doors to their left were now standing open. All three of them were now worried, as they were certain the doors had been closed before as they went up the staircase. Dante stood in front of the girls, walking nonchalantly further into the mansion. The hallway mirrored the one to Sparda's room. They went around the bend to the right, and opened the doors to find another room full of empty bookshelves. There was another desk in this room, as well as a loveseat and a rocking chair near one of the big windows.
What caught Dante's attention was the picture of a beautiful red-haired woman in a painting similar to his Father's picture. She was holding up a blue rose, but what caught Dante's attention was the wing that appeared on the right side of the painting and went off of the canvas. Dante would see now that he resembled his mother in his facial structure more than his father, but got his father's hair color and style.
"Mom?" Dante walked towards the painting, catching sight of the name plate that said 'Eve' and a circle much like the one under his father's painting. He stood in front of the painting, catching a faint glow from the circle below the painting. He brought his right hand up and tapped the circle. His hand felt as if it was being burned, so he yanked it away.
He shook the hand, starting to feel a hot sensation now emanating from his upper back.
"Dante, what is that on your back?" Anko saw that a strange symbol on his back was starting to faintly glow through his shirt.
"What?" Dante glanced back, seeing the faint glow begin to fade. He lifted his shirt, seeing a scar-like protrusion on his right shoulder blade, and that he had a mirrored one on his left. The issue with it was that it appeared to be in a specific pattern, so it was not a normal scar.
"What does it look like?" Naruto asked the girls.
"It appears to be a sword, piercing through a hollow circle, with three lines coming off the sides of the circle. The lines are shaped to look like… wings?" Anko looked to Hana, who nodded at her description.
"AWESOME!" Dante pulled his shirt back down, looking back up at the picture of his mother. He glanced around the room after finally tearing away from her picture, and together, the three beings spent the rest of the day exploring the mansion and grounds.
Dante, the very next morning, had opened the letter from his father. It was very bland, very cut and dry on how to summon his sword, Rebellion, through the tattoo/scar on his back as well as some basic katas to practice with it. He was very excited to find out that his father had used Rebellion and had been waiting to pass it on him. He got a whistle from Yugao and Anko when he first summoned it.
The blade was longer than he was tall, so he realized immediately that he would be unable to wield it correctly at this point. As he realized the difficulty with wielding his blade now, his jaw dropped as the blade shortened and shrunk to match his body size. It now was only four feet long, and the handle had been shrunk as well to make it easier to wield for him.
"Holy…" Anko could not believe the sight she had just witnessed.
"Crap." Hana finished for her, even more shocked at the sword's change.
Yugao was the first to recover. "Well, Dante, I think it's time to start your training." Her grin, combined with Anko's and Hana's evil smirks, made Dante feel as if the temperature had dropped 20 degrees.
"Bring it!" He shouted, ignoring the fear for a bit as the three women began his torture regimen.
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Dante brought himself out of his memories. Yugao excused herself, but not before Anko got in a parting shot about her date with Hayate. Yugao chose to ignore her, before shun-shinning off the property.
"I'm glad we figured out how to add you three to the estate's security seal arrays so that you don't have to enter through the front gate anymore." Dante was nervous every time it originally happened as he didn't want the general populace to know where he lived. More than that though he didn't want Anko, Hana and Yugao mistreated for associating with him.
"Worried about someone finding out where you live?" Hana asked.
"No, more worried that people would start to associate you three with me when they do find out. I don't want you mistreated because of me." Dante continued to stare out over the yard, feeling the memories return from each of the shadow clones as they completed their work.
Dante had hit a proverbial wall when he had been training for the Clone jutsu. After many, many attempts to create a successful one, Anko and Dante had approached the Hokage and asked if Anko could teach Dante the Shadow Clone technique. They made their case that Dante had too much chakra, and even though the old man was a bit reluctant, he allowed it. He went with Anko and Dante to the Namikaze/Sparda estates to ensure that the young nephilim didn't kill himself.
After showing Dante the hand seals for it, Anko created one solid clone, while the Hokage created two. Dante mimicked the hand seals, and to the surprise of both of his elders, created over 500 copies of himself.
"Hot damn! I get tired from creating three, and four gives me chakra exhaustion!" Anko exclaimed, forgetting for a moment that her superior was right next to her. His slight glare at her choice of words made her chuckle sheepishly, bringing her left hand to the back of her head.
"Dante, are you tired at all?" The Hokage asked as he surveyed the group of clones.
"Not really. I still feel like I could do an entire day of training," Dante shrugged, clearly not as impressed by the amount of clones as the other two.
The Hokage went over to one of them, poking it in the forehead a bit to ensure it was solid before he winked at it out of view of Dante, and then quickly pulled out a kunai and plunged it into the clone, causing it to dispel.
"Dante, what did I do before I dispelled the clone?" Sarutobi hoped he would catch the hidden ability of the shadow clone technique.
"You poked it in the forehead then winked at it. Creepy old man."
Sarutobi smirked, turning to look at the Nephilim. "But how did you know that, my back was turned to you?"
"Once the clone…dispelled…" Dante trailed off for a bit, "I gained its memories." A huge smile went over his face. "Which means I can have my clones practice things and I can gain their knowledge! Perfect!" Dante dispelled the group he had, looking over to Anko and the old man for further input.
"Now we up your training regimen." Anko's smile chilled Dante, but he put up a brave face. Anko began to tell him to create clones in groups, ordering the groups to work on different things as she went. Once she was finished, she turned to Dante, a wicked smile plastered on her face.
"Also, we start to work on your family's taijutsu, but to do so, we'll need help from a specialist." Dante could almost sense where they were now going to head to; worried about the spandex-wearing green beast he had met a year ago in a rarely used training ground.
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Dante watched as the sun finally set, letting himself relax as the heat from the sun dissipated. Hana excused herself shortly after, shun-shinning back to her families vet clinic to work for the rest of the evening. Almost as soon as Hana left, Anko stood up from her own chair and walked over to where Dante was seated. She sat down next to him, letting her own sadistic mask fall as she leaned against the young blonde. Dante lifted his arm and put it around her, not quite able to reach up and around her shoulders just yet.
They sat in silence, listening to the whispers of the creatures of the night as they began their nocturnal activities. Anko never felt as at peace as she did near the boy next to her. She knew that many would see what she was doing as wrong due to his age, but she honestly did not care. Out of all the men she knew, this boy, no, this young man, had suffered much and yet still held onto his sanity. He always knew what to say to make her feel better. Or, lately, how to embarrass the hell out of her in front of Hana and Yugao. Now that she thought about it, she needed to get him back for his last prank he pulled on her.
"Hebi-hime." Dante drew her attention back from the machinations it had gotten into for her payback. She looked to her right, catching his blue eyes staring at her.
"Are you worried?"
"In all honesty Dante, I'm terrified for you. However, I know that Hana and I have already made sure you understand what happens if you die before you complete your promise to us." She saw Dante's face flinch for a second, remembering that particular training session.
"But of course, my Hebi-hime, how could the roguish, dashing Nephilim forget his promise to his two most cherished people?" Dante quickly smirked at her, throwing his fear to the wayside.
"Damn right, Dante-chan," Anko knew it would rile him up.
"Hey hey hey. No need for that suffix anymore." Dante's smirk grew wider, knowing exactly what she was trying to do.
"Oh? And what suffix do you think you should have, Dante-chan?" Anko shot back.
"I think it should be Dante-sama to you, young lady!" Anko smiled at him, the smile that make all men fear for their life, and man-hood. Just as Dante was about to bolt, she grabbed him in a headlock and rubbed her knuckles along the top of his head until his head felt like it was on fire.
Once she let him go, she stuck her tongue out at him as he reached up to check and see if he still had hair there.
The night wore on as they traded banter back and forth. Eventually, they fell asleep on the patio, the night warm enough to stay outside without worrying about the temperature.
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Dante hated it. He hated having to act like he was depressed about failing the pathetic excuse for an exam. He hated having to listen to the pink-haired banshee and the stupid Yamanaka scream about how cool 'their' Sasuke-kun was for performing a low-level fire jutsu for his test. Naruto was itching to just put a kunai through their throats to shut up the two loudest fangirls, but he reigned in that urge quickly.
Thinking back, he was surprised at the length Mizuki went to ensure he failed. The genjutsu placed over the written test, the slight wind manipulation to offset his thrown weapons, and the coup de grace was the chakra seal Mizuki had slipped in the back of his jacket before the Jutsu portion of the exam. Dante could hear Iruka-sensei congratulating the other kids through the classroom door. Dante scowled, walking right past the door and outside to sit on the swing.
He was already pissed about having to act his part, as he had decided that he could live with it for a bit longer. Once he was officially a Genin, he would drop this stupid mask he wore and act how he always felt he should. The proud son of Sparda and Eve. He saw Mizuki walking towards him while the other children were being congratulated by their parents or caretakers. Dante knew that his mission was now about to begin, to bring this traitor into custody discretely.
"Naruto-san, tough break on the exam," Mizuki told him as he leaned against the pole of the swing.
Dante mentally rolled his eyes, but played along as his other self would, "No worries Mizuki-sensei. I'll pass it for sure next year, dattebayo!"
"Well Naruto-san, I have a special make-up exam for you. But, you cannot tell anyone about it. It will test your stealth and information gathering abilities."
Dante was now intrigued as to what Mizuki was going to have him do. What would require me to be good at stealth? Dante thought, realization hitting him just before Mizuki told him about his 'make-up' exam would be.
"Naruto-san, your make-up exam is to get into the Hokage tower, get the Scroll of Sealing, and learn one jutsu from it. Meet me at the abandoned shack near the Namikaze estates in the forest." Dante picked up on the glee in Mizuki's voice at the mention of the scroll and the estates.
Son of a bitch thinks he can frame me for this? Boy am I glad I'm not an idiot. Dante thought, before his vixen spoke up.
But you certainly act the part, quite well I might add. Are we certain it's just an act? His Kyu-hime told him.
Hey! I only act like that to throw suspicion away from my true abilities. He could hear Kyu snickering in his mind. Laugh it up. You know how Anko and Hana 'trained' me when they wanted me to read about those boring history lessons! Both he and his Kyu-hime shuddered at the memory of THOSE training sessions.
Well, they do like their men to be smart. And in Hana's case, the Alpha of the pack. Naruto blushed a bit at the insinuation of his friend.
"Naruto, are you ok?" Mizuki asked him, pretending to be worried about his health.
Dante quickly shook his head. "Sorry Mizuki-sensei, I got distracted. I'll complete this exam and be at the meeting place later tonight! Dattebayo!" Man, do I hate acting like an idiot, mentally rolling his eyes at his own mask he wore.
"Good luck, my boy." Mizuki turned, not noticing Dante giving him the middle finger as he walked away.
Dante turned to go find Anko, giving a subtle nod as he passed a Neko-masked ANBU member. He had purposely left Hana out of the execution of this plan as she was going to be working all night. He ignored the jeers and taunts from the rest of the villagers, knowing that soon he would be vindicated.
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ANBU operative Neko was waiting in a tree, watching as her young friend tried to appear as if he was having difficulty with learning whatever he had seen in the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. To the untrained eye, he appeared to be unable to mould the chakra for the Jutsu he was learning correctly, but to her, she could tell he was just bored with the acting.
Her sharper-then-normal hearing alerted her that someone with training in ANBU was approaching Dante. She pulled out her sword, ready to attack the traitor before he could hurt her young friend.
"Naruto!" What Neko did not expect to see was the school-teacher, Iruka, burst through the foliage and land next to Dante.
Oh, no, She thought, worried that Iruka may blow the whole operation.
Dante's face slipped to surprise for a micro-second, but he allowed it to move to the big grin he normally wore. "Hey Iruka-sensei! Did I complete my extra exam?" Neko was silently impressed how calmly Dante was accepting the change in mission parameters.
"What extra exam? Naruto, you are in so much trouble right now! Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"Mizuki-sensei said that I could pass if I managed to get the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and learn a single jutsu from it. Since I learned a jutsu from it, do I pass?" Neko sensed another presence approaching the two ninja in the clearing. She tensed, ready to spring the trap on the traitor.
"Naruto-san! You did it!" the silver-haired traitor called out to Naruto and Iruka. Iruka turned, immediately placing himself in front of Dante. "Now, give me the scroll, and then you can be a full ninja."
Before Iruka could reply, Dante called out, "Nah, I don't think I'll be handing this to you. See, I know exactly what you're trying to do." He moved around Iruka, the stunned Chunin seemingly frozen at the change in Dante. Neko had to admit, the bumbling idiot he presented was quite a change from the confidant young man he truly was. A bright light followed behind him, and Rebellion appeared on his back.
The young nephilim pulled the sword off his back, and the action is what kicked Iruka out of the shock.
"Naruto! Don't! Get the scroll and get out of here! I will hold off Mizuki for you to escape!"
"Nope. We need the traitor alive and relatively unharmed. Anko-chan is waiting for him to spill all of his secrets." Neko watched as his eyes glanced in her direction, and she moved to get into place behind the traitor.
"Shut your mouth demon!" Mizuki spat out, drawing a wakizashi sword off of his back. Neko knew this would be an easy fight just from his stance. Especially for Dante as she and her boyfriend, Hayate, had been helping to train Dante since he turned 8.
"No. Not demon, stupid human. Nephilim," and with that, Dante charged, his eyes changing from their bright blue to a reddish color, and the white iris turned to a black.
The fight was brutal and short. Mizuki was knocked unconscious with the side of Rebellion. Neko moved from her spot and landed next to Iruka, making the man jump.
"What is going on?" Iruka demanded of Neko. However, it was Dante that answered him.
"Sorry Iruka-sensei, this is an ANBU ranked secret mission. No details are to be given out until the Hokage permits it." Dante finished tying up the traitor as he told Iruka this. As he turned to them, he began to fade.
"Naruto!" Iruka called out, glancing around for the young man he had grown attached to throughout his schooling.
Neko, however, knew something about what was happening. Ever since Dante had started to get stronger, he would randomly get pulled into what he called Limbo, an alternate dimension very close to their own. She had never actually seen Naruto get pulled into it, as usually Anko and Hana were with him, but she was surprised to see that she could still see Naruto. He was, however, devoid of all color, and it appeared as if a wind was blowing through his image, certain sections of himself fading and reappearing constantly.
"Neko-san! I got pulled into Limbo! Get Mizuki to Ibiki and have Anko get here with her normal kit. She'll know what to do." Dante turned around, drawing Rebellion again and seeming to disappear.
"Iruka, I order you to go home. If you have questions, bring them to the Hokage later!" Neko quickly grabbed up Mizuki, leaving the shocked teacher behind, and then shun-shinned to the Torture and Interrogation building to drop him off with the scarred head interrogator, Ibiki Morino. She immediately hunted down Anko and informed her of what had happened. Together, they made it back to Anko's apartment and grabbed the roll of parchment that had the necessary rune array cut out of it. She also grabbed a can of spray paint that had the compound that she and Dante had made that allowed him to leave Limbo.
Neko lead Anko to the last place she had seen the apparition of Dante, but it appeared that he was gone from the copse of trees. As they both listened to the wind shift around them, Anko was the one to pick up the sounds of fighting that were getting nearer to the Namikaze compound. She tapped Neko on the shoulder, and motioned for the ANBU member to follow her.
Once they reached the edge of the compound, Neko could hear the sounds of a massive battle happening around them. As she continued to look around for her young friend, Anko moved to the wall of the compound, holding up the paper array and spraying the paint mixture over it.
"Dante, hurry!" Neko heard Anko shout, just as the branch Neko was standing on shook violently, as if something has smashed into the tree itself. She looked down, and saw the ghost-like Dante as he sliced through the demon he was fighting. Neko herself could not see the creature, but she knew that Anko could. Anko had been able to see them since Dante's first and up until this point only trip to Limbo.
She watched as Dante cut through it, and then ran to Anko, placing his free hand on the array. Neko was amazed as Dante seemed to phase into their reality and become solid once again. He looked up to Anko, smiling, before putting Rebellion on his back, dispelling it back to his tattoo.
"Well, that was fun. I haven't been to limbo for that long since the first foray there about three years ago." Neko smirked as Anko smacked him in the back of the head, berating him about the danger he was just in.
"Hebi-hime! Hebi-hime! Listen! Ow! Hey!" Dante cried out as she smacked him again. "LISTEN! I'm safe, the demons in Limbo didn't recognize me, and the ones that did are not able to discuss it anymore." Neko saw his confidant smirk come back. Anko was winding down in her rant now, until eventually she petered out and wrapped him up in a constricting hug.
He struggled against her for a bit until she allowed him to breathe again. Neko drew their attention to her and lead them back to the Hokage's office to give their reports. The old man was pleased with the capture, and gave Naruto the pay rate for an A Rank Mission. Sarutobi dismissed Neko, and had Anko and Naruto stay behind.
"All right Naruto. I have an on-going S-rank mission for you."
"Hit me with it old man!" Naruto put his arm around Anko's waist, secretly enjoying the blush on her cheeks.
"You are going to be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin, but it will not be official until after the Chunin exams in six months. I would like to put you onto a Genin team to keep an eye on Sasuke Uchiha. Your other teammate will be Sakura Haruno, and your team leader will be Kakashi Hatake." Sarutobi kept his eyes on the young Nephilim.
Naruto played out the benefits in his head, finding that the cons for this team far outweighed the pros, before asking "Why? Why put me on the team with the egotistical Uchiha and the dead-weight Howler monkey?"
"Your mission is three-fold. Keep an eye on the last Uchiha, and if he appears to be trying to defect, you are to eliminate him before he leaves. Hopefully, you can make Haruno into a functional shinobi, and kick Hatake's ass into gear. You will be second in command if Hatake is incapacitated." Anko's mouth dropped open in shock at Naruto's orders.
"You know those two will never go for it. I would be fighting them the entire time to give them orders."
"I know you will bring them around. Especially since you had decided to get rid of your mask, correct?"
"You play dirty old man." The smirk on Naruto's face took away any of the normal bite he had. "All right. I will accept the mission. However, I want the S-rank mission to be kept off the books until we get closer to the Chunin exams. I don't need that ass Danzo finding out about it and then trying to stop me, or trying to kidnap the Uchiha before I can eliminate him."
The smile on Sarutobi's face belied the seriousness of the mission he had just assigned. "Also, you will need to be warned. Itachi Uchiha is not truly a traitor, as the village has been lead to believe. He was ordered to eliminate the Uchiha that were planning a rebellion against our people. After he escaped the village, he sent a message along to me with his report. He completed his mission, and had only killed 15 Uchiha males. Someone went in after he was there and slaughtered the rest. Itachi agreed to take the blame, until he could find out who did it."
Naruto whistled, keeping Anko tight against him so that she would not sink down onto the floor from shock. "That is quite a bit of info to drop on us now. Yet again, I ask why? Why tell me this?"
"The odds of you meeting up with him with Sasuke on your team are higher than normal. I request that you fight him as believably as you can, but you must make sure he escapes. He is one of the informants for our spy network."
"All right. Will Hatake be informed of his and mine's status?"
"Itachi's status is a no, and I realize that this makes it much harder for you, but I also understand you are much more powerful than you will be showing for quite awhile. Yours he will be notified of so that there are no issues later."
Naruto looked over at Anko, seeing her eyes were still glazed over from the wealth of knowledge that her mind was still trying to process. Both the aged Hokage and the young Nephilim snickered at her predicament.
"Well Sarutobi, while the lovely miss Mitarashi works over those bits of information, I am going to take both of us home to prepare for tomorrow." With a two-fingered wave to his leader, he shun-shinned he and his passenger to the Sparda estates, settling Anko into her room he had given her to save her money instead of renting an apartment in the bad side of town.
Once Dante himself was in bed, he lay awake contemplating the orders he had been given. He continuously hoped that he would not have to execute his orders about the last Uchiha, but from what he has seen in the class, he could not shake the feeling that he would have to.