Naruto: Alone...
Well hello folks, Arganaut here with the newest installment of Naruto: Alone. Well everyone, last chapter Naruto's life once again went into the hands of the council of Konoha. His life hangs in the balance... by simple thread. How will Naruto get out of this sticky situation? Will Naruto get out of this sticky situation? And if he does, what will be the side-effects? Well all these questions will be answered in this chapter, but first we must get to the pressing issue of most of the reviews that were sent to me for the last chapter:
VFSnake- Well you see, Naruto hasn't exactly learned the lesson of 'just tell the truth and you won't get hurt'. No, he learned the 'just lie your ass off, deny everything!' lesson, so he may not be telling the entire truth. And... NO! That idea has been taken already used, and I will not go with clichés!
pyro-chan the dragon king- ... I'm sorry, crazy says what now?
MissNaye- Well his skills with stealth, weapons, survival and traps are okay, but when it comes to Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, chakra control, and all general knowledge of the ninja world... yeah not that great. So he wouldn't become ANBU for a while...
vnvanman- Now then, that might not be true. You see, Itachi is a highly respected member of the Konoha ninja community. Though he is suspected of murder, come on, why would anyone suspect him of killing his entire clan (or even think he would be able to for that matter?)?
Zoneshifter D- Well yeah, wouldn't you use Yamato's Ghoul Eyes? And yes, I am aware that Yamato's name is not actually Yamato, but I figured that on ANBU missions like this (or any other occasion where he is needed to have some cover) that Yamato would be used. Also, I always figured that Kiba's dad was either dead or a civilian (since we didn't see him during the invasion of Konoha). In either case, Kiba would spend more time with his mom during training, and would therefore pick up on her traits to become his own.
AustIn- He was just nearly driven insane by a serial killer who killed his entire clan, chased down by the best ninja Konoha has, just went through being freaked out by Yamato's Ghoul Eyes, and now he's going to be interrogated by a bunch of people he doesn't even know... if I were him I'd be terrified.
Dragon Man 180- Well when you think about it Naruto did have an advantage over the ANBU. You see, the ANBU are always off on missions to other countries, so therefore they don't have the luxury of memorizing their own town for their uses. However Naruto spends nearly every single day running around the place. Placing traps, learning the terrain, etc. So of course it would be impressive... however, think about what would have happened should Naruto not been in his own 'backyard'.
FictionReader98- Though he may be old enough to listen and defend himself... he's still a child, he doesn't know all the tricks to keeping calm during an event like this. Well you see, he's still using logic. You see, its logical to kill a threat before it becomes a major problem, however it is also logical to know that Naruto in his current state could not kill the entire Uchiha clan, even if the demon chakra did flare up, it wasn't long enough. Now then, yes his fan club is a big help... but how helpful will they be after this? Also, Yamato was just there when it happened, no special reason really.
And don't forget, Ibiki is a professional, he won't change his decision purely based upon his opinion on someone.
i unno- No! I will not sink to using clichés! I have said that so many times before, now it's just giving me a headache!
Well, now that's out of the way, let's get on with the next chapter of Naruto: Alone!
Chapter 10: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Part 2
The Konoha Council Meeting Room
The door began to slowly open as the group of ANBU walked in, Naruto in tow with his hands tied together behind his back, Sarutobi blinking slightly as he looked at them.
"Was this truly necessary?" The aged Kage inquired, the ANBU all nodding at once as they pushed the boy further into the room.
"He proved himself to be quite troublesome when he had his hands free to perform jutsu and other tricks of his. Binding his hands would ensure that he couldn't do too many things to try to get away again... originally we had tied him up completely, but once we arrived it seemed safe enough to allow him to walk in." The ANBU stated, Sarutobi just barely keeping himself from chuckling underneath his breath as he waved off the ANBU.
"Very well, dismissed." Sarutobi said as the group of elite ninja nodded and disappeared in an instant. Meanwhile Naruto was even more freaked out then he had been about an hour ago when that freak Itachi tried to do... whatever he was going to do to him! There were all these people here, some staring while the others sent glares at him. He was being restrained by whatever the ANBU guy put on him, and the only person he knew in the entire room, the old man, didn't look like he was doing much of anything for him.
'Life really sucks right now...' Naruto thought as after a minute Naruto turned to look at Sarutobi, who had a serious look on his face at the moment.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but it has to be done like this... for a little while anyway." Sarutobi said as Naruto nodded, not really knowing what he was talking about, but got the jist of it. Sarutobi then walked forward to face all of the people, but Naruto wasn't paying too much attention to them. What he was now looking at now was the one man standing in the corner. The man had a scar across his face and his headband wrapped around his head like a bandanna, and he was intently staring down at the young boy.
Naruto was feeling anxious around all of these people. Then, Sarutobi said something that caught his ears and his attention immediately.
"This meeting will now come to order: Naruto Uzumaki is to be questioned for possible involvement or knowledge as to the events leading up to the massacre of the Uchiha clan." Sarutobi said as Naruto twisted his head straight towards them.
"Say what?" Naruto shouted as everyone looked at him.
"Indeed, you have been brought here under the suspicions of having been near the site of the massacre, if not directly involved in the murders." One of the council members said as Sarutobi winced. He really wouldn't have chosen that set of words, he'd at least try to lay it on a bit thinner. Sarutobi looked at Naruto, who at this point had a look of fear, confusion, and anger written all over his face. Sarutobi sighed as the council member continued. "So, first things first, Naruto Uzumaki: did you in anyway assist or lead the mass murder of the Uchiha clan?" The councilor asked as Naruto nearly exploded.
"Hell no!" Naruto shouted as Sarutobi sighed. Naruto's energetic attitude would not get him out of this one... that's for sure... he was going to have to be a bit more tactful. As the murmurs that had erupted amongst the council quieted down, Shibi Aburame stood.
"Hokage-sama, would you mind if I presented the case to Uzumaki..." Shibi said in a tone-less voice as Sarutobi nodded. "Naruto Uzumaki, about an hour and a half ago, and ANBU squad that had been placed around the Uchiha district after the mysterious murder of one of their members beforehand, the ANBU sensed a..." Shibi began saying as he carefully chose his next set of words. "Strange chakra erupted, for only a second, from the area. They investigated and found several bodies, and a Sasuke Uchiha unconscious on the floor of his house." Shibi said as Naruto just about went ballistic.
"I didn't do that, dammit!" Naruto shouted as the council kept on staring at him. "What, look at me, do I really look like I could possibly kill off an entire clan, I mean come on! I'm a thief, sure, but I ain't a psycho!" Naruto continued, Ibiki carefully watching the boy's body as his eyes narrowed.
'Well, as far as I can tell, he isn't lying.' He thought to himself as he looked him over. 'He's showing signs that COULD point to lying... but looking at the situation he's in now, they could be caused by simply being nerve-wrecked.' Ibiki thoughts were silenced as Shibi nodded.
"Then would you like to tell us your side of the story, Uzumaki?" Shibi asked as Naruto froze for a moment. He may be pretty young, but even he knew that if he told them the entire story that he would get nailed by these guys. Naruto swallowed a lump as he tried to steady his breath before beginning 'his side of the story'.
"Alright then... so you see, I was at my place... just cooking some food..." Naruto said, trying not to give away too much about what he did, how he did it, and where he did it. "When I decided to go visit a good friend of mine from the Academy, Sasuke Uchiha..." Naruto said as Ibiki raised his head, raising his voice to gain the attention of the chamber.
"That's a lie." The interrogator said as Naruto looked at him with widened eyes, and the members of the council began talking amongst themselves. Naruto stared at the man for a while longer before a thought entered his mind.
'What, can he read minds or something?' Naruto questioned in his mind as Tsume Inuzuka pointed at him.
"I'd suggest you don't fudge the truth there runt. Makes you look real bad if you're already starting to lie to us." Tsume said as Naruto swallowed a huge lump in his throat.
"Well... alright then... I really went to the Uchiha district to pick a fight with Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto said as murmurs erupted from the council members. Shibi was the only one amongst them who did not break out into murmurs, as always. Once they died down Shibi looked straight at Naruto.
"Tell us Uzumaki, why would you want to start a fight with the Sasuke Uchiha?" He asked as Naruto scoffed.
"Because he always beats me in straight on Academy fights, and he was so arrogant about it. I thought if I could get at him without him knowing I was around, then I could beat him them." Naruto said as everyone quickly looked at Ibiki, who simply nodded when Naruto was finished. Sarutobi felt a headache coming on; so far the 'trial' as the council called it wasn't going so well for Naruto. So far he had just told the council that he was prepared to fight Sasuke... and the fact that he lied about it at first would be all the more reason for them to doubt his innocence... not like most of them thought he was innocence in the first place.
Shibi nodded as he wrote most of this down, and looked back towards Naruto. "Alright continue Uzumaki." Shibi said as Naruto nodded.
"Alright... so I snuck over to the compound, and I was looking around for Sasuke... when I noticed something weird..." Naruto said as everyone's eyes became glued upon him. "It was mostly empty, save for a few kunai and shuriken... I walked around... and I found corpses." Naruto said as many council members began whispering. "I walked around... and before I knew it I saw someone run out of some house in the compound, so I followed him... thinking he had something to do with it." Naruto said as everyone looked at Ibiki, who had not spoken up during after his first interruption.
"I followed him to an alley... and when he turned around... I saw that it was that one ANBU who chased me a couple years ago, Itachi Uchiha. And he said he massacred his clan..." Naruto said... as all hell broke loose.
"WHAT!" One of the council members shouted as suddenly the entire room broke out in shouts and curses. The eyes of many of the occupants in the room greatly widened at the accusation. "This is preposterous! Itachi Uchiha is... or perhaps was one of the best ninja Konoha has ever produced! For him to commit such an atrocity... I can hardly even begin to swallow the notion!" The council member shouted as others shouted the same message. Naruto jumped back a bit at the noise of the shouting.
"Hey, interrogator, how about doing your job and telling us whether or not this is bullshit?" Tsume raised her tone towards the interrogater, whom merely looked over at Naruto with a stone cold look in his eyes as he analyzed Naruto.
"As far as I could tell..." Ibiki said as many people leaned in towards him, waiting for him to speak. "He was not lying... he showed absolutely none of the physical signs associated with the act... his testimony of Itachi's involvement in the act is, according to him, truthful." Ibiki said as the council exploded once again.
"Ibiki must not be able to tell the difference between this child lying or not, there's no way such a statement could be true." This statement, and many mirroring it, echoed throughout the chamber. Though as soon as these were said, Ibiki sent a glare and killer intent at them that even caused Naruto to shiver a bit.
"Are you questioning my skill?" He said in a low tone as many of the council members remained silent. "I am a professional... you all brought me here because you knew I do my job and do it damn well. Now you'll either take my opinion as it is, or stay silent. But I will not have my craft questioned in such an insulting manner..." He said as the council room quickly quieted again, the members of the council immediately cooling their heads as the meeting continued.
"Well fine then... but do you honestly expect us to believe that Itachi-san could have possibly massacred his entire clan?" Tsume asked, having been calmed down by Ibiki's killer intent.
"Just a few minutes ago many of you were all ready to believe that this child was capable of such an act. Now its questionable whether or not, as you all just described Itachi, one of the best ninja we've produced could possibly go through with the act?" Sarutobi rather quickly fired back, the faces of some in the council chambers immediately becoming sheepish in the fact of this sudden realization. Before the meeting could continue, the proceedings were once again disrupted by the sudden entrance of an ANBU into the chambers.
"Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama!" The ANBU shouted as he ran in and Sarutobi looking over at the approaching ninja.
"What's the matter?" Sarutobi asked, the old man as inquired as the ANBU whispered something into his ear, and Sarutobi's eyes went wide with shock. "WHAT! What are you waiting for then, get him in here!" Sarutobi shouted as the elite ninja nodded and ran off. The entire room was silent before Tsume raised her hand. "Yes Tsume, what is it?" Sarutobi asked in a slightly excited tone.
"Well... Hokage-sama... what the hell was that?" Tsume asked suddenly as Sarutobi sighed before walking into the middle of the room.
"It seems that Sasuke Uchiha has woken up from his unconscious state." Sarutobi said as many of the council members gasped. "With his testimony we'll hopefully be able to put this all to rest" Sarutobi said as Naruto's eyes widened. Would he finally be able to get the hell out of this mad house and back to his... place he lives at. I mean, yeah this was great. Naruto slipped out a small smile, being careful for none of the council to see it.
"What's with the grin brat?" Unfortunately Tsume caught the grin just before he could conceal it. Despite this, or perhaps inspired by it, Naruto looked at her, this time allowing the cocky smirk to slip out as he looked at her.
"I'm just excited that he's about to get me the hell out of here!" Naruto said in a cocky tone as Tsume simply raised an eyebrow at him as once again the doors burst open, several ninja bringing Sasuke Uchiha in with a wheelchair. Naruto, though he was happy to see the Uchiha that would set him free, he was... surprised to see his rival in such a dismal state
'What the hell happened to him?' Naruto thought to himself, the question quickly forgotten due to the matters at hand. Naruto kept his cocky visage up as Sasuke was wheeled right beside Sarutobi. Sarutobi knelt down to Sasuke's level, with a stern look on his face, and looked at Sasuke. He was absolutely pale, his face without a trace of emotion.
"Sasuke Uchiha... can you tell us who it was that killed your clan?" Sarutobi asked as Sasuke glanced in his direction before looking forward. Though it was soft, and not too loud, everyone in the room could hear the echo of the words he spoke... words that crushed the intentions of many council members in the room who had wished to see Naruto sent away.
"Itachi..." Sasuke droned as he looked up at the council members. "Itachi... killed them... killed them all..." Sasuke said as Sarutobi nodded and stood up.
"Thank you Uchiha-san. Please, take him back to the hospital." Sarutobi ordered the ninja as, after a quick bow, they began wheeling Sasuke out of the room. After Sasuke left, Sarutobi looked at Naruto, smiled at him, and turned his attention back to the council. "With that testimony from the only true witness, I hereby acquit Naruto Uzumaki of the crime of slaying the entire Uchiha clan... and announce that from this day on, Itachi Uchiha will be an S-Rank criminal, and all the precautions, penalties and actions to be taken with it." Sarutobi said as the entire council nodded.
"Meeting adjourned!" Sarutobi shouted as the council members began exiting. Sarutobi sent Naruto one more smile before undoing the ties that bound Naruto's hands together. As he was released Naruto gave Sarutobi one more quick grin before speeding out of the room... completely unaware that, despite his innocence, a key series of events had taken place to begin the spread of a new rumor around town.
The Next Morning
The next morning, Naruto woke up in his tent and stretched himself out. He did a bit of scratching here and there, before quickly getting out of his tent. Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. Naruto liked these kinds of days, they were way better than the rain that seemed to accompany him whenever bad things happened to him. Naruto cracked his neck as he went over to his clothes pile, and picked out his completely back outfit. Since it was so warm thanks to the sun, he didn't bother with the jacket... however, he did put on a backpack, with all his extra stuff in it... just in case. He yawned quickly before walking out of the alley.
Normally, Naruto would sneak around town so he could get to the Academy more quickly, so he could talk to the people in his fan club for a while, but on days like this, a little walk was just what he needed. However, as he walked through the streets... he noticed something odd.
He noticed was that the normal people were keeping a very, very sharp eye on him... normally they had a bunch of stuff that they had to do... but they were now intently watching him as he walked. It made Naruto a tad nervous; sure, there would be those in the village that would cast glances of him as he passed, and then those who'd even follow him closely to make sure he didn't do anything wrong... but this was the first time in a long time that they had so intently watched him just moving around town.
With a small shudder and a quick jump into his step, Naruto began to hurry to the Academy, hoping to find some escape from the rather... unusual attitude of the populace.
The Academy
Children were outside the Academy, talking, laughing, and playing. No one knew that just outside of the Academy Naruto was hastily walking towards the entrance of the building, hoping to get away from the eyes of the people so that he could finally relax. A small smile graced his features as he walked into the Academy yard.
"Hey there everyone." Naruto suddenly called out, knowing more than a few of the people in his club would be out and about. It was when he heard all of the sounds that had been going through the Academy yard a few minutes ago go silent that he looked up to see that everyone was simply staring at him.
They were staring at him with a sudden nervousness in their eyes that he hadn't seen for in their eyes before. They were walking away from him, slowly as he moved forward. He wasn't expecting this at all. Naruto looked around, and then suddenly he saw that four people ran for him. Naruto looked at them, and saw that they were Neji, Tenten, Lee, and Hinata. Naruto sighed as he looked at each of them. "So, anyone of you guys now what's going on here, or am I just going to be left in the dark?" Naruto said as each of them looked at him with a worried look.
"Naruto-san... Street Fox... did you really participate in the Uchiha Massacre?" Tenten said as Naruto's eyes widened.
"Wh-what!" Naruto shouted as he looked at each of them. "Where would you hear that?" Naruto asked as Neji pointed towards the village.
"It's been going around the village, that the Uchiha clan had been slaughtered." Neji said as he looked at Naruto. "A lot of people around the village say that they saw you being chased by ANBU late in the evening, and that you were later seen being dragged off to the Hokage's tower... some people came to their own conclusions on the matter." Neji said as suddenly what happened this morning clicked in Naruto's mind.
'The people... fuck, I might've gotten cleared by all those old people in the room, but if everyone outside just saw me being chased down by the ANBU...' Naruto thought to himself as he hurriedly shook his head.
"I swear to you all, by my name as the Street Fox, I had no part in that! All these old ninja people said I was innocent, you have to believe me!" Naruto said as they all sighed.
"We all just needed to hear that... Neji said that the elders of the Hyuga clan were saying as much when the clan head returned... don't worry, we trust you." Tenten said with a small smile, Naruto taking heart in it as the others spoke up.
"Thank goodness Street Fox, I was so worried, but now that you have said that you have not I am relieved!" Lee shouted as they all nodded.
"Ye-yes Na-Naruto-san, we believe y-you." Hinata said as Naruto smirked as he looked at all of the other kids.
"So I suppose... that all the others really don't think that they could be wrong..." Naruto said swowly as Neji nodded.
"Yes... and I've checked around... you want to know what's left of your club?" Neji said as Naruto nodded, and Neji spread his arms out. "You're looking at them." Neji said as Naruto's eyes widened and looked around at them. He sighed as he looked at each of them with a small smile.
"Well... at least you guys are the most loyal to me..." Naruto said as they all smiled before the bell rang. "Well see you guys later." Naruto said as he began walking into the building... the other children filtering in front of him...
Indeed... it was one step forward for Naruto Uzumaki... but was two steps back...
R&R