Chapter 9

A Traitor among us

"I don't trust Kama to handle this situation obediently. I want you to watch him and see if his loyalty to Root has been compromised. Test him, if you are unsure."
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
Danzo's eyes met that of the dark figure, a silent threat in the air. "I hope you also keep in mind where your loyalties lie. Despite the rumors going around, I am neither blind nor deaf and I do not take kindly to renegades. Should you fail to report to satisfaction, your clansmen will be the ones to suffer. You'd better remember this."
"I will not fail you, Danzo-sama", the voice was shaking ever so slightly and Danzo knew he had gotten the message across.

Naruto was thrilled. At last, it was happening! He got to search one of Orochimaru's bases. The chance that Sasuke was there was abysmal, but not completely gone. Besides, he had to start somewhere. Moreover, he was accompanied by the two squads with the highest success rate in all of Root, so their cards weren't bad at all. Kinoe was their team leader, one of the most experienced shinobi in the organization and one that Naruto genuinely liked. Besides, his Mokuton jutsu was nothing to ignore.
The underground hideout was difficult to find. In stark contrast to his initiation mission, this base was actually well hidden and they spent a day searching for traps. When Sai finally stumbled upon some containment seals in the assumed perimeter of the hideout, it was already dark out. Reconnaissance was twice as cumbersome at night, but it was better to act fast and strong than to risk giving themselves away. The element of surprise was on their side this way. Or so they hoped; they were lucky to have a real seal master in their group, or the wouldn't have gotten through them without losses. Efficiently, Sumi was able to gain them entrance through the wards in just over under an hour.

The base was empty. The tracker from squad one, Gunsen, had confirmed that there was no chakra signature present. However, he could also feel that there was a lot of chakra residue on the walls. Which could mean that either it had recently been visited or there were seals active - and the use of those was anyone's guess.
"With the possibilities of unknown seal work, you need to be extra careful of traps. See what information you can find and meet at point 2 in 0060 minutes. Dismissed."
He nodded at Naruto. "You're with me, Naruto."
Together they headed to the north of the hideout. It was an endless maze of rooms and corridors without purpose, that just ended in the middle. Diversion techniques. The hideout was pretty well thought out, Naruto grudgingly admitted.
After yet another room, they walked into one that was a fully equipped laboratory. There were a few broken vials left, and most containers were empty. Naruto clicked his tongue. This was disappointing.
"Seems like they expected visitors, they didn't leave anything of importance here."
"We should check in with the others if they found something."
"Yes, Taicho-sama."
"Kinoe is fine, Naruto." He stared at him. Outside of squad two, people refused to call him by his given name. But Kinoe really was a kind soul. He smiled back.
"Sounds good to me."

Sai and Sumi headed east. So far they had only found a few empty scrolls and nothing noteworthy. Still, Sai couldn't shake the feeling of dread building in his stomach. The chakra residue was getting stronger, so much that he was starting to feel it, too. Something was happening here and he had no control over it.
A swishing sound alarmed him and he could only just evade the flurry of Shuriken swarming him. Getting ready to counter strike, he noticed it was just a trap rather than an enemy shinobi.
"Woah!", Sumi breathed out, amazed. He pointed at the wall. "Such elaborate seals! A masterpiece truly!"
Before Sai could stop him, Sumi's hand was already stretched out to examine the patterns. 'Damn seal fetishists! They can't keep from touching!', Sai cursed. To believe he was one of the best shinobi at Root and yet was about to make a horrible beginner's mistake.
Sai threw himself against the red-haired ninja, just as a bright blue light emanated from the walls. Sumi collapsed, out cold, but at least he was breathing. A movement next to him and he threw himself down, as the wall the seals had been ingrained in, crumbled. It must have been a genjutsu infused seal, he awed. Then it hit him. The smell was awful! Something was rotting behind the hole.
Frankly, it took all of him to stop from vomiting right on the spot. It was a wonder his nose didn't start to bleed from this abuse. Of course, he didn't let his discomfort show. The mission took precedence over any discomfort. One last look at the unconscious Sumi by the entrance and he headed through the hole in the wall.
Inside was a huge corridor that lead to more rooms. This base hadn't been as abandoned as the first impression led to believe. He didn't want to leave the other shinobi there, but he needed to be stealthy for whatever awaited him in the shadows.
He chose one of the three steel doors to examine first and to his luck, it shrieked loudly when he stepped in. Despite his emotionless nature, he almost shrieked himself. Body parts lay cut up all over the laboratory, eyes conserved in glasses, animal cadavers next to human corpses, sometimes even combined.
Human experimentation.
Of course, Sai knew what the snake Sannin had dedicated his life to. But to see it for real was another thing. He stepped glanced at the corpse closest to him, which was spread out on an examination table. A young child with way too many muscles and splotches of fur all over its body. A chimera, he gauged. Examining the room further, he uncovered scrolls filled with detailed information.
'Bingo! Primary objective found.'
Swiftly, he stored the scrolls in his bag and exited the laboratory. Out in the corridor, he decided to look at the other rooms before heading back to meeting point 2.
As soon as he entered the next room, dread filled his whole being. Unfortunately, he couldn't pinpoint it until it was too late. Another chakra signature made itself known! Even Sai's lightning fast reflexes couldn't dodge the needle that was roughly struck in his neck.

The group was meeting in a timely manner, as was standard for Root. Nothing short of mortal peril would keep one of their shinobi from arriving on time. Still, Sai wasn't late, just the last to arrive
with an unconscious Sumi in his arm.
"He is not hurt, just unconscious." He assured the others. "There was a seal in the walls that made him pass out."
Kinoe nodded. "Good, we're all present. Report your findings."
Sai stepped forward and unrolled one of the scrolls he had brought. "After the seal was activated, I did come across some records of experimentations. I gathered up all the evidence and information I could find." He showed the scroll to Shuko, who was standing next to him. Odachi narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
"Chimera experimentation! Damn!", Shuko cursed.
Kinoe nodded. "This is the information we were sent to retrieve. Good job, Sai."
"Damn that snake creature!" Naruto yelled. "To disregard human life like this, how sick can someone be?"
"Well if Orochimaru didn't do this, someone else would conduct the research surely." Sai retorted.
Kinoe nodded. "Orochimaru and Danzo actually used to work together, before Orochimaru left Konoha. "A lot of experiments were used for advancing our modern medical jutsu. Let's destroy this base before we can head home and deliver the scrolls to Danzo-sama."
"Wait a second", Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What will Danzo do with this?"
"It is not our place to know", Odachi promptly replied, voice lowering a little forcefully.
"Danzo will just continue what the snake bastard started, won't he?"
Kinoe's hands clenched ever so slightly, but he remained quiet at Naruto's outburst.
"And you aren't bothered by it? What will Danzo do to innocent children with this information? To create crossbreed humans and animals?"
Kinoe looked pained for a second before he closed his eyes.
"You guys can't be serious!", Naruto yelled.
"There is nothing we can do about it!", the wood user replied angrily. It was the first time the others heard him raise his voice. "We have specific orders!"
"So? Where's the problem? We just burn it, destroy all evidence and return to base." Naruto crossed his arms. "Danzo will never find out."
The others were too stunned for a moment, before they noticed the pain that Naruto was in, his loyalty seal kicking in.
"That is treason! Damn it, you can't be serious to go against him like this!", Tessen from Team 1 exclaimed. "The pain will get stronger the harder you think about deceiving Danzo-sama! Give it up already."
Shuko chuckled lightly. "Wouldn't be the first time Naruto went against orders."
Sai seemed surprised but shrugged it off. "It's likely that Danzo will continue whatever research he is conducting by himself, whether he gets the documents or not."
"Doesn't mean we should support it!"
"Naruto, it is dangerous to go against Danzo-sama's wishes. This could impact all of us." Odachi stared at him, trying to figure out what Naruto would do now.
Naruto took a deep breath and then looked at all of them, one by one. "Most of you grew up around Danzo. You know what he does to ensure loyalty and to bend one to his will. We may be tools, but we have feelings, too. I will not let him play his game of chess when lives are on the line. For the defense of Konoha I'm prepared to make sacrifices, to be a tool. But I am also human and I condone this injustice! Even though Danzo manipulated all of you, threatened you, you can still think for yourselves. Do you think this is right? Do you think that humans should be experimented on?"
Kinoe bowed slightly. "Growing up, I always wondered what would have happened, had someone stood up for me the same as you do right now." Naruto had a vague idea what he meant by that but didn't pursue it. Another voice demanded his attention.
"Are you prepared to face the consequences, Naruto?" Odachi asked quietly. "To have our destinies and possibly our blood on your hands?"
"I will take full responsibility, should this ever get out."
Odachi sighed and turned around. "Fine by me."
Nobody else made a move, neither to support nor stop him from executing his plan.
Naruto readied himself and formed the hand seals for a small fire jutsu. The assembled shinobi watched as their mission lit up in flames.
Their team leader rose to speak. "Time to raze this hideout to the ground. Split into teams and don't leave any evidence. That is more important now than ever." At his words, everyone left hastily.

"Come Naruto, I'll need your help to get rid of the research I found." The blond shinobi nodded and left together with Sai.
The older teen navigated with ease through the maze of corridors, Naruto duly following him. The whole situation in the base disgusted him and he felt his emotional control crumble away. So he tried to ease the atmosphere with some small talk.
"I really need to up my navigation skills", Naruto offered.
"Sure."
"Moody much?" The other teen stayed quiet and Naruto sulked. Sai was pissier today than normal.
When Sai finally led him to an entrance of heavy doors of stone, the tension was palpable. Quickly, Sai went through a series of hand seals and smaller a palm into the seal work on the door. It opened up and revealed another big hall. Naruto whistled jokingly. "I never knew you had a way with seals, Sai. We should sit down and exchange knowledge sometime."
Sai smiled in his special creepy way and nodded at Naruto to enter first, which the younger ninja complied with easily. Sai put the torch on the wall as the doors closed by themselves.

"So", Naruto smirked at him. "What an honor to finally meet you again, Orochimaru."
The other ninja's eyes went wide. "You're more perceptive than you let on, Jinchuuriki. Tell me, what did alarm you of my presence? I thought I had impersonated that emotionless tool quite well."
"That's where you're wrong. Sai hides his emotions well, but they are always there." He smiled wryly. "Besides, your chakra signature reeks."
"You are wrong as well, Uzumaki. Orochimaru-sama is still back home, awaiting my return. Don't look so disappointed, I will take you to him, soon enough." With a pop, the henge was gone and Kabuto stood before Naruto.

"You!", he hissed.
"Me, indeed. Will you come of your own will, Uzumaki, or do I have to use force?"

That's it! Sorry for having a short chapter this time, but university is really kicking in with work at the moment. . Tell me what you think though! Naruto just can't keep out of trouble... Next time: Did Naruto learn how to kick ass and is it enough to defeat Kabuto? Who is the traitor that Danzo pulled over to his side?