Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the world he lives in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story only for my pleasure and I don't make any money with it.
Chapter Eight: Interview with Danzou
Slowly Sasuke returned to the present, the waiting-room of the hospital, Juugo and Naruto sitting next to him and looking at the pictures of the parade. Juugo was asking Naruto questions: "Why do they dress up as women? Why do they wear chains?"
Sasuke enjoyed Naruto's embarrassment, as he did his best to answer the questions, but he took care not to open his eyes and show that he was listening, lest he should have to answer some of the questions himself. He wondered what Juugo knew about sex, given that in reality he was eighteen, not twelve; on the other hand Juugo had spent most of his life in Orochimaru's dungeons (not, as Sasuke himself, in Orochimaru's entourage where he had learnt rather too much.) Still he would not put it past Juugo that he was just making fun of Naruto.
"There's a picture of the two of you!" Juugo exclaimed, and suddenly Sasuke was wide awake: There they were, sitting side by side on a bench in the darkness, watching the play, nothing compromising, still it gave Sasuke the creeps.
"Do they read the paper in Konoha?" he asked.
Naruto was troubled too, and it took him several seconds before he answered: "I don't think so. Ordinary people read hardly any foreign newspapers there, and I guess that at the Intelligence Service they prefer the more intellectual papers."
He hoped that he was correct. Better not worry, he could not find out about it, nor could he do anything about it. He liked the picture: Sasuke and himself, peacefully watching the play, nothing showing that they had only recently met after years of separation. He would cut it out and keep it so that once Sasuke had left he would be able to look at it and remind himself that Sasuke had really been there at his place, and that it had not only been a dream.
Karin returned to tell them that things were going well and that they no longer had to worry about Suigetsu.
"It's been a bad alcohol intoxication, but he's stable now. He will wake up some time in the evening, or at the latest tomorrow morning. I will stay so that he will see a familiar face when he wakes up."
Sasuke doubted that Suigetsu would be happy to see her. "We can relieve you", he said. "Juugo?"
He did not want to take the next shift himself as he was burning to read the other articles, and to ask Naruto for some explanations.
Juugo seemed at a loss. He shifted from side to side in his chair and did not look into Suigetsu's eyes.
"What's wrong? Sasuke asked, not used to this behaviour.
"The boys I met yesterday asked me to teach them some more juggling. I told them it was impossible as we were going to leave today, but as we are now staying for another day..."
Sasuke sighed. Juugo was correct, of course, and Sasuke was glad that he had had some fun at the festival. He could not deny him this wish.
"Go and juggle!" he told him, and then Karin: "We will relieve you in the evening."
He and Naruto went back to Naruto's place, Naruto glad that Sasuke and his team would stay at least for another night, Sasuke resigned. It did not matter that much, he told himself, searching for that Blessed Realm was as much a waste of time as staying in this town. If only Suigetsu had remembered that he was seeking healing and had not worsened his state of health by getting completly drunk...
At least there was one advantage, he thought while Naruto was preparing tea: Now he was at leisure to read the newspaper Naruto had bought. He still had to integrate it into his system: that Konoha had been destroyed, that this Danzou, who had probably been the driving force behind the murder of his clan, had become Hokage. The latter was, in a way, welcome news: If the people of Konoha had made the murderer of his clan their leader, he did not need to have a bad conscience if he destroyed the village and killed them all. Only that the village had already been destroyed, and even though his Amaterasu was much more thorough than whatever jutsu had destroyed Konoha, there was little greatness in turning the debris left from the destruction into mere dust. It seemed that most inhabitants were still alive, so he could still dream of hunting them down with his Amaterasu, but the fantasy did not give him much satisfaction. He was not in a particular vengeful mood anyway, not now while he was sitting on Naruto's bed and Naruto was passing him some tea.
"Are there any pictures?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, even coloured ones", Sasuke answered.
Naruto got a box of biscuits from the cupboard and sat down next to Sasuke to have a look at the pictures too.
"They had not finished the wall when I left", he said, "and all six portraits were still covered in scaffolding."
"Isn't this the most superfluous thing to rebuild when everything is in ruins?"
"They need the symbol", Naruto replied, repeating what Danzou had said when he had ordered the portraits to be put on top of the priority list. "They need the portraits as a symbol that Konoha is still firmly rooted in the past and that the new Hokage will protect it just as former Hokages have. They need people to trust in their new leadership."
He wanted to defend Konoha against Sasuke's accusations, but silently he wondered whether quickly rebuilding their homes would not have made people trust in their new leadership too.
Making Konoha appear strong, Sasuke thought, even if it is all in ruins, so that no other country might make use of the opportunity to attack it. Just what they had told Itachi: Konoha must not look weak. He looked for the area where the Uchiha clan had lived – only small stones and mere splinters of wood were lying around. He wondered what they would do with it now – probably not rebuild it, as no one was ever going to live there again. Would they turn the area into a park, or clear it up and build new houses, for other people? But who would want to live there?
The guy who had called himself Madara had told Sasuke that the clan had not always lived in that area close to the walls of the village, on a space that was too small for the people living there so that it always had been crowded and poor, compared to the other major clans of the village, but Sasuke had not noticed this, nor had his parents made him feel it – for him it had always been home, and there had been woods and ponds nearby where he had loved to play with his brother or his cousins. Now soon all traces that the Uchiha clan had once been a supporting pillar in the edifice of the military power of Konoha would be gone – he looked for the place where the head quarters of the military police had been; they had not begun to rebuild it, why should they, the building had stood empty since the murder of the clan.
Coldness gripped at his heart, his clan had been wiped out, it had been eradicated as if it never had existed, and he had escaped the destruction only by mistake. If things had gone Danzou's way, he'd be dead as well, denied the right to exist just as the rest of the clan. He felt even colder – he had to remind himself of his plans for revenge – he would not simply disappear – he would set a sign and see that Konoha would disappear with him, showing the world again that the Uchiha clan had once been one of the most powerful ninja clans and that it would not dissolve into nothing as ripples dissolved after a stone had been thrown into water.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, gently touching Sasuke's arm and bringing him back into the present. "It's terrible, I know. I was not there when it happened, I arrived just a few minutes too late, and I could not believe my eyes when I saw it. I thought we had taken the wrong way. Luckily, most people had survived."
"How?" Sasuke asked, glad about the distraction. Naruto's presence felt comforting, but also a bit confusing. He had difficulties thinking clearly when Naruto was sitting so close to him, but he liked it, and he thought that he could afford enjoying it as tomorrow he'd have left anyway.
"Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage sacrificed herself. Via her summon she transmitted her chakra and her cell regeneration jutsu to the villagers and saved them, at the price of using up all her chakra and ageing in no time, so that she now appears as a woman of ninety years."
He paused, wondering what else might be of interest to Sasuke. "Sakura is fine. She survived the explosion without being injured. Kakashi got severely wounded, not from the explosion but from fighting the invader. He'll survive, but it's uncertain if he'll ever again be able to work as a ninja."
Who else? "Our former classmates are well. Master Iruka too. Shikamaru has broken a leg, but it has healed by now. He'll probably have to marry Temari from the Sand; he got her pregnant."
"Oh, has he?" Sasuke asked, as if this information was more interesting than anything else Naruto had said. Naruto realized that there had been indeed few people Sasuke had cared for.
"What about you?" Sasuke asked. "Did you get hurt?"
The sudden warmth in Sasuke's voice caught Naruto unaware. "As I told you, I only arrived when the destruction had already occurred. I got a bit hurt in the aftermath, when I fought to drive away the attacker. It's already healed; the kyuubi is looking after my wounds, as you know."
"Sure, I forgot."
Sasuke turned the paper to read the interview with Danzou: One last glance at the portrait – it would help to remember what his enemy looked like. Naruto remained at his side, reading with him, pouring him some more tea.
Interviewer: Danzou Sama, Rokudaime Hokage, Konoha has been struck badly. What will her future be?
Danzou-sama: Konoha might have been struck badly but it won't be her end. Thanks to my predecessor's, Tsunade-hime's efforts, most villagers have survived, and the ninja organizations are still largely intact. Konoha's strength had never consisted in the thickness of her walls but always in the courage and patriotism of her shinobi.
Interviewer: So how does this go together with putting safety structures on top of the priority list? Why not see that providing the population with essentials, as food and housing, is guaranteed first?
Danzou-sama: Nobody remains hungry, and no one has to sleep under the open sky. But people's most immediate need is not housing, but safety. They need to know that the government is doing everything to prevent another attack as this. We are willing to ensure this.
Interviewer: Other countries might see this focus on defense as a potential threat after the long period of peace and signs of mutual goodwill and understanding under your predecessors.
Danzou-sama: My predecessors, for all they did in order to further the prosperity of the village, have not been able to foresee and prevent this attack. Their policy of reconciliation and disarmament has been proved wrong: They failed to see that there are forces out there who don't care about peace but only have one aim: Destroy Konoha and what it stands for. Peace talks won't do when we are dealing with them. We have to show them the full extent of our power and make them clear that we won't tolerate their actions.
In a perverted way Sasuke enjoyed reading this interview. So this was the way of thinking of the man who ordered the murder of his clan. It felt good to associate a face and some words with him, it felt good that there was again a person whom he could blame for his clan's sufferings, it felt good that there was again somebody he could hate. He went on reading.
Interviewer: Another question, if this is okay to you: The kyuubi's jinchuuriki who took it upon himself to drive away the aggressor, lately hasn't been seen by anyone. There are rumours that he has left the village.
Danzou-sama: He has not. He is staying in a secret place within the walls of the village. We are not going to tell the public where he is, as the fewer the number of people who know his location, the fewer are able to betray it. He is protected by the most sophisticated traps and genjutsu devices imaginable to conceal and guard the entrance to his hideout. Where he is training and preparing himself so that he can truly fulfill the jinchuuriki's original purpose of being the village's ultimate weapon in a situation of desperate need.
Interviewer: Some people would suggest that this is mainly a measure to keep him under control.
Danzou-sama: Well, during his fight he was again overcome by the kyuubi. People were scared. Not only for the village's safety but also for his own it is preferable that he stays at a place where the kyuubi can be kept in check. If he fully transforms, and he was very close to it, he will vanish as a person and won't be able to retransform. It is for his own protection.
For a second Sasuke believed what he had read: That Naruto had been shut away to keep the kyuubi under control. He had to look to his side to assure himself that Naruto was still here, reading the newspaper, and very obviously not hidden away in Konoha. Or maybe here was the place where Naruto was being kept, in this town where no one would expect him?
"It can't be", he said, thinking loudly. "He's not well guarded here, or I wouldn't be sitting at his side."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked – he had read the article at a slower pace than Sasuke.
"Danzou is not protecting you particularly well, is he, letting me get this close to you?"
"What's the matter? You are not going to hurt me, are you?"
"What about Akatsuki?" The idea had just come to Sasuke's mind – considering that Akatsuki was still chasing after him, Naruto was behaving in a dangerously careless way.
"Danzou does not have to protect me against Akatsuki – it was me who defeated Pain, their leader, not Danzou."
Wasn't Madara their leader? Sasuke thought.
"Do they know where you are? What if they come searching after you?"
"They won't. This town is too far off track of anything. And if they come, I will defend myself, and the town."
A vivid image of how the town would look like after Naruto had defended it in its narrow streets appeared in Sasuke's mind.
"What if they prefer not to be defended and rather turn you over?" Probably not to Akatsuki, however, who were well known as a gang of criminals, he thought. "What if they realize that the kyuubi's jinchuuriki is living among them, and tell you to return to Konoha to avoid a conflict with that Danzou?"
It was still a speculation, based on the fact that Naruto was obviously not in that well-hidden place Danzou had been talking of, and that he was not the type who would be happy with such a confinement.
"They won't! Most of them don't even know my full name."
"What if that Danzou sends it to them, along with an accurate description and some photos?"
"He won't. He doesn't even know I am here."
So that was it, Sasuke thought. No long-time mission, if Naruto had not suddenly become an exceptionally good actor, which he doubted. Still Naruto was too careless, he thought, both about Danzo and about Akatsuki.
There was a natual solution for this problem, but Sasuke hesitated to suggest it to Naruto, as it would make his revenge much more complicated.
"Anyway, he wouldn't send for me", Naruto continued, "even if he knew that I am here. If he did, he'd have to admit that I have never been hidden away in this secret place of his in Konoha."
Just as with Itachi, Sasuke thought. At all costs avoid giving the impression that you might be more vulnerable than your neighbours think you are.
"Have you finished the article?" he asked. "Can I turn the page to read the comment and that other interview?"
A/N: I know, I am an old woman who thinks that politics is more interesting than sex. I try to keep in mind that my protagonists are young boys - but considering their situation, I think that they are quite preoccupied with politics too.
Oh, and I tried for some indent for the article. I tried it with the html version, and it seemed to work, but then it did not get saved.