Summary:

' "Please Itachi… I know I can't save Sasuke but I can save you." Itachi considered these words before knocking Naruto's hand away.' Redemption begins in the form of salvation, at least that's what Naruto believes. ItaNaru Spoilers for Manga Chapters 365+

Pairing:

ItaNaru

One-sided SasuNaru

Challenge From:

xXxFrostyIceCubexXx (um, I luff you very much! I swear it's good so please, please, be nice to me, yes! Heh, :D )

Warnings:

Character death, Manga incorporation, predictions as to 'what happens next', sexual situations later on/eventual Yaoi.

Cursed Salvation, Descending Redemption

Chapter Twenty Five

Deceit

the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating

だますこと

"Are you sure you packed it Naruto-kun? Because I really don't think you did and it would be horrible if it suddenly started to rain and you didn't have them. I mean you could catch a cold in the middle of nowhere and really need them!"

Naruto glanced at Fukasaku who shook his head gently. Obviously Ma got like this a lot so Naruto just took it in his stride.

"Of course is Pa here had just asked Tsunade-sama to summon you back or something we could be – oh here they are Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nodded sheepishly as Ma tucked in a pair of bright pink gloves. She had knitted them herself exclusively for Naruto, claiming that the wool was orange. Obviously her eyesight wasn't as good as it had been once for it had turned out pink and Naruto could hardly refuse such a nice gesture.

"Right then, are you full? If you're hungry then I'm sure Tsunade-sama could wait a minute while I fix you up something. Have you been to the toilet? There's nothing worse than getting halfway there and realising you need the loo… Pa did it once and he didn't stop moaning about the lack of toilet paper so-"

"Ma! Let the poor kid go."

The female toad tutted at Fukasaku before looking at Naruto,

"Don't grow up to be like this crotchety old man, Naruto-kun. Be brave! Rescue a lot of damsels! Or… knights. Depending on which pendulum you swing by."

Naruto looked at Ma as if she was crazy before shaking his head and picking up the bag the toad had packed for him. She had insisted that he take a few 'gifts' home and so packed lunch (that was enough for ten people), a small frog statue that she claimed was just an ornament and the gloves that Naruto had attempted to 'forget'.

"Okay then, take care on the road dear and look out for trouble."

Fukasaku almost whined into the palm of his hand as he spoke,

"He's the Hokage Ma! He knows how to protect himself."

Ma wheeled round to her husband and Naruto winced at her voice.

"Even more so then! He's an important person and you're just going to be abandoning him at the border of the Fire country! Shame on you Pa!" Ma turned to Naruto and her voice lowered into a soothing tone, "it's okay Naruto-kun, Ma's here to keep the nasty toad away. No doubt he was mean to you before… if I had known; I would have come with you. I thought he might have learnt some manners!" The last word was shouted and Fukasaku finally appeared to have had enough.

"We're going then Ma, see you later."

The toad waved a webbed hand at them and Naruto thanked her once again.

"Now this will probably feel very odd to you," Fukasaku said outside of the house, "but it's the only way you can do it. I want you to imagine the edge of the fire country… or somewhere that you know is outside of Konoha yet inside the Fire country."

Naruto nodded as he thought of the surrounding forests of Konoha.

"See you soon then kid!"

Naruto almost broke concentration yet froze as he felt a push forward and something cold envelope his body. A moment later he was back to normal and he opened his eyes to see the fading marks of a reverse summon on the ground.

Naruto smiled and took a lungful of air; it wasn't clear or fresh like the mountain air he had grown accustomed to but it was home air. It had the smell of leaves, of Konoha and of Naruto's home. Naruto began walking, the cloak that pronounced him as Hokage hidden in his bag; he would only put it on when he drew up to Konoha's gates… after all, who knew what was waiting for him as he got back.

With that thought in mind, Naruto sped up his running until the outside world was little more than a blur; somehow whatever lay ahead smelt of something dangerous.

だますこと

He was an old man and there was really no place in a shinobi's world for the elderly. Look at what it had done to the Sandaime; dead by his own protégé and Madara? Well, Madara was a whole other issue. The man was clinically insane; his life dominated by a giant fox – of all things – and held a sick fascination for the remaining Uchiha brothers as well as the destruction of Konoha.

When the Akatsuki had first formed, Konoha had been on slight worry. Only slight because the Akatsuki were merely a group of rogue Nin gathered together and there was nothing alarm-bell ringing about that. It was when Uchiha Itachi declared himself a part of the Akatsuki that Danzou really worried about the group but when Madara approached him, the aging man realised that the organisation were, for lack of a better word, dangerous.

Madara had offered Danzou power – the power to be on the throne of a new Konoha, a new Fire country and a new world, a world that was dominated by Madara and governed by people who were blessed by him; namely Danzou and the Akatsuki.

When he received a messenger bird asking the whereabouts of the nine tails, Danzou had replied immediately that he was within one Uzumaki Naruto, an orphaned child with no clan or penny to his name. He was alone and this would make him a far better target than one who was protected. The Akatsuki had lapped up Danzou's information and the man had been rewarded with money.

The money was, of course, used to install new features on the ROOT organisation, make it a better place to train and to become the 'perfect' Shinobi. The place was modelled on what happened in Madara's previous village, an almost barbaric system and secret tribute to his master.

Of course the Sandaime had been none the wiser, neither had the Godaime, as both heeded his wishes and remained successfully away from his site, saying that they had given him full control over what he did and not even the Hokage was to interfere.

The Rokudaime, however, would have none of that. Not only had the man visited his establishment (after taking one of his soldiers away from it before) but he had questioned them, put ideas into their skulls and had the former ROOT hand out a possibility of losing the tribute to Madara.

And looking at Namikaze Naruto as a sixteen year old and remembering him as the child slept in the old man's embrace, Danzou couldn't help the feeling that swelled up inside of his chest. For a moment he had wondered if it was the feeling fathers had when their son won an award or their daughter when she was kitted out on prom night, smiling and proud of the child. Even though Naruto was nobody's child, in a way he was everybody's.

Eve through the barbaric training Danzou had always treated ROOT as his extended family, watching as the children grew into the perfect specimen of a soldier.

After all, without the emotions that hindered many others, without the ties that held them to alliances or petty deals, they wouldn't be able to betray anyone. With this soldier, people would be able to trust one another and trust that their mission, their secret, their story is in safe hands.

Danzou had experienced betrayal in many forms but there was one thing he would never do and that was to betray an alliance he had made. Danzou was loyal and it was for this reason that he had a faithful Shinobi spying in Amegakure as part of the opposition in the civil war. The Akatsuki may dominate the city but there was always the other side and you can never have too many viewpoints.

Danzou had truly regretted Naruto's reaction to the death of Mujina-san. She had been a valiant soldier yet the 'family' connection had run too deep. However the two members managed to get the girl – the child – up on the rafters was a mystery to Danzou but he had been disgusted when he found the body hanging by a snapped neck and rope, the two criminals dusting their hands as they ruled out the opposition.

Which turned Danzou's thoughts back to Amegakure and the Akatsuki. Madara would know soon that Danzou had kept the truth from him, insisting instead that Tsunade's Hokage seat had been held by Homura and Koharu. Madara had swallowed it easily – after all you can hardly keep a Hokage a secret forever – and Danzou expected it to blow up in his face at any given moment.

When the huge black raptor soared in through the open window, Danzou knew. A yellow rimmed eye glared at him as the ROOT Captain untied the scroll on the bird's chest and folded the paper out. His hand jolted at the words and he buried his head in hands. There was a single word on the page, two small characters, yet it meant the world to him.

"Namikaze."

It was all the man needed to know; Madara knew about Naruto and so he would suffer the consequences. There was only one thing to do now and that was to explain himself, go to Madara and buy time for Naruto to counter these new happenings. All he needed to do was write everything down, send the raptor off to find Itachi – the bird had to know his chakra – before slipping out of Konoha and getting away in enough time so that he could get to Amegakure before someone stopped him.

Danzou could buy Konoha enough time to adapt to this change and he planned to do just that. Deep within him, Danzou knew that Naruto was a perfect Hokage; he was kind, knew how to treat each person with just enough respect and yet still manage to make a friend of them and was simply inspiring. Like his father had been.

Although Danzou had lost to Minato, there was no way he could deny that the blond was a brilliant Hokage. Danzou had even actively taken part in the congratulations at the ceremony for Minato's induction into office and smiled as his new Hokage smiled. There was just something about the man that drew you like a moth to a flame.

Naruto held a stronger sense of the quality. It was as if all the shunning and harsh words had served to improve the man's love and Danzou had felt no regrets when Tsunade anno0unced that she wanted Naruto to succeed her; on the contrary, Danzou had merely wondered when not if Naruto would be Hokage. He had, after all, defeated Sabaku no Gaara, Hyuuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke to an extent and mastered the Rasengan in such a short period while bringing the Godaime back to Konoha… all in all Uzumaki Naruto had been a fine Shinobi and Danzou was proud to call him Hokage.

Danzou sealed the letter and spoke to the bird in a low tone. It took off with a screech and Danzou packed a few belongings in a bag; mainly food for the road.

After all, he was an elderly man going on a long journey. He may have been a Shinobi of calibre at one point but everything ages and everything dies. The food would be a welcome to his stomach as he walked into what would be his death.

だますこと

Naruto smiled at the guards as he passed through the gates. They saluted and Naruto waved them off, donning his cloak as he paused.

"So how have things been for you?"

Izumo and Kotetsu shrugged their shoulders,

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Naruto-sa-"

"Nope. Don't call me that; it's just Naruto. Never 'sama' or I'll keep you on gate duty for the whole month."

The two Chuunin paled considerable and they shook their heads.

"That's what I thought. Well I best be off to see Baa-chan then so I'll see you later."

Naruto walked away, greeting people on his way towards the Hokage tower and dreading what he would find. If Tsunade saw a reason to call off his training then it had to be one heck of a reason… or at least one heck of a letter.

"Ah, welcome back Naruto!"

Shizune stood with a cup of coffee and a smile at the door to the tower. Naruto smiled at her before half-hugging her with his unmarked arm and following her as she walked up to Tsunade's office.

"We still have the bird in question upstairs with Itachi; it actually seems quite content to remain with us. The letter we have tried to unseal yet it only seems that your blood or chakra will suffice so that is the main duty. Itachi will be beside you just as a precaution and we will find out what was in that letter."

Naruto nodded as he listened to Shizune's explanations half heartedly. In all honesty he was more concerned with seeing Itachi and Tsunade than reading a letter Danzou had sent him and wondered why exactly.

Why was he more worried, excited, whatever about seeing two people than he was with a letter from Danzou? If Danzou was writing then it meant something had to have happened… after all the man could surely come and visit the Hokage office if he wanted to talk about something.

This was obviously deeper and it disturbed Naruto. Something was wrong and he could only hope that is had no affect on Konoha itself and was merely some official document that Naruto needed to handle with secrecy.

Yet… what document required such precautions?

"Here we are Naruto, would you like a tea or coffee?"

Naruto shook his head yet thanked Shizune and they entered the office. Naruto's eyes wandered to the large bird sitting by Itachi and he took in the dark brown plumage with appreciation.

"He's a beautiful bird. Is there any way we could train him to be a Konohagakure messenger? Imagine sending him on missions eh?"

Tsunade had to admit that Naruto was on the right track; to send this bird somewhere such as the Lightning country or an impressionable village as a slight show of power was a political move that would actually work and yet the bird…

"He's an Akatsuki bird Naruto. We believe that Danzou was in contact with the Akatsuki before sending the bird to Itachi with a letter for you."

Naruto nodded and walked up to the raptor. He squawked and Itachi instinctively rubbed the back of his head.

"It's okay, this is Naruto." Beady eyes looked at Itachi before he ruffled his feathers and gazed at Naruto, determined to find out if this newcomer was a threat or friend. Apparently he made up his mind as a beak nipped at Naruto's hand; the bird pushing its soft head into the palm of Naruto's hand in a show that craved attention.

"I like him."

Tsunade sighed,

"You like everything Naruto."

Naruto frowned.

"It's not true. I don't like Danzou; all he did was lie, scheme, plot, betray us all and more!"

Naruto was pushed into a chair with the letter in his hand.

"Read it and if it is of any importance, tell us."

Naruto nodded and split the wax to the letter with his chakra. The paper crumpled open and he read the smeared ink.

Dear Naruto,

I am sorry for all the grief I have put you through in the past; I know it has been hardly professional of me but I needed to so that for the sake of Konoha. The elders have their own game and I must admit that I was a part of it until you stepped up to the seat of Hokage.

You could see it in Tsunade-sama's eyes; you were always going to succeed her, no matter what you might think. Tsunade and Jiraiya picked a winner when they chose you, Naruto, and I can say with all my heart that Minato-sama, Kushina-sama and Jiraiya-sama would be so proud of you.

I held you, you know, when you were a newborn baby. You had the seal still visible and you were left alone in the bustle of the hospital; just a little orphan trying to welcome the world amidst such destruction. I am sorry I didn't hold you for longer but now I see the person you have become, I cannot help but feel proud to call you my Hokage.

You probably don't understand why I am saying this and as I will be unable to explain it to you in any other way, this letter will have to suffice.

I have been in contact with Uchiha Madara, leader of the Akatsuki, for a while now. My mind forgets the time when we began contact but I fed him information that he wanted to start with because he offered me power.

When I noticed you, though, that all changed. I changed, Konoha changed and it was a good change. I sent an agent into Amegakure to spy on the Akatsuki from their opposition within the village and began to feed Madara false information regarding you.

I told him that the Hokage seat was empty and that the Advisors held it for Tsunade-sama as of when she returned. He believed me and I truly think we could have passed it off until we were ready. And here lays the problem; Madara knows about you.

He sent me a single word with the bird that held your name. I do not know how he got a hold of the information but it saddens me to know that I wasn't enough to protect you.

To repent for the sins I have caused, I have gone to face Madara on my own. I know that I will never be able to defeat him, or even come close, but I have to slow him down and if by sacrificing myself I can do that then I shall. Konoha doesn't need an old man like me anymore and it deserved a Hokage who can trust everyone, a Hokage like you.

I hope it has been enough time to come up with a counter plan to whatever Madara had planned and I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.

I officially pass the ownership of ANBU Ne to Namikaze Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage and also pass on that I was too late to save the Badger masked member. By the time I reached the room, she was already dead on the rafters.

I wish you all the best in the future and…

I ask that Itachi can forgive me. It is understandable if he doesn't but… I just want him to know that I am deeply sorry for what we caused.

Danzou.

Naruto was silent after reading the letter and he crumpled it as he buried his head in his hands. Of course they would need to go to the advisors to confirm what was said here – and then look for Danzou in case – but Naruto knew. He knew that Danzou was true to his word and it saddened him.

Right in front of him had been a person who was nothing like what people portrayed him as. He had been mistaken so many times and yet had never bothered to change the opinion, using the façade to hide behind as he protected Konoha.

Naruto began to realise that his vision of who needed redeeming was skewered; if he couldn't recognise those that needed saving when they were under his nose then how could he hope to fight against Madara?

"Naruto…?"

The voice sounded far away yet Naruto knew Tsunade was only a short distance away. He passed the letter over with a sigh and spoke,

"Danzou… he's a nice guy."

Everyone looked up at the contradiction to what Naruto had said before and Itachi understood perfectly; Danzou had merely been a man set on protecting Konoha yet had been pulled in too deeply, much like he himself had.

Only, this time, there was no fox to help Danzou and Naruto couldn't save everyone.

だますこと

Notes:

Well here we are again! Hello everyone and thank you for your reviews! In case you didn;t notice, I have another oneshot up! It's called Restraints and I'd appreciate it if you took a look at it.

I have humbugs...