Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter, busy with exams. Goes to show how much I love you guys. :) Leave a review if you like, and Happy Reading!

Chapter 29: The Knucklehead VS The Elder

Naruto was surprised to see no one inside. He went to the chair in the middle of the room and sat. Suddenly, the village Elders appeared before him. He realized that they were sitting there but he couldn't see them because they had shielded themselves until now.

Danzo stared at the Jinchuuriki with distaste. Homura looked at Naruto with a small smile on his face, while Koharu kept her face neutral. Naruto looked at the Elders with a neutral expression of his own and said, "To what do I owe this…honor?"

Koharu spoke, "Where have you been for the last month?"

Naruto replied, "I was training in Sage Mode at Mount Myoboku."

Danzo's left eye widened in disbelief. Homura leaned in with a little interest and Koharu said, "Explain."

Naruto said, "There ain't much to explain. Per... I mean, Jiraiya-sensei has been wanting me to learn Sage Jutsu for a long time now. Due to the Akatsuki wanting to capture me, Lady Tsunade thought it would be a good idea to let me learn the technique. So I went off to the Toad clan in Mount Myoboku and learned Sage Jutsu from there."

Danzo said, "And how adept are you in Sage Jutsu?" Naruto puffed his chest out and said proudly, "Lord Fukasaku, that's the Elder toad who taught me, said that I had become a perfect Sage."

The three Elders were totally taken aback by this sudden development. Danzo could not believe his ears, and the other two were quite amazed. Homura thought, 'So, the boy has shown promise after all.' He said, "Naruto, we have decided to keep you confined to the village until the threat of the Akatsuki is no more."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief and said, "Say what? What do you mean, keep me confined to the village?" Koharu said, "As strong as you may be now, you are no match for the Akatsuki. We cannot risk you getting captured by them. So, you are to remain in the village at all times now." Naruto began to feel the anger rise inside him but maintained his composure nevertheless.

He said, "With all due respect, I don't feel that keeping me confined in the village is going to save me if the Akatsuki come bursting through. You know the strength they have. They even have Itachi Uchiha, one of the best spies and ninjas the Leaf has ever produced. If they want to kidnap me, they can do it at any old time. In fact, if I remain on the move all the time, it will help throw them off the track."

Koharu pondered over this and Danzo thought, 'The boy has promise. I could…'

But what he could exactly, no one would know, since Homura said, "It doesn't matter. The Leaf village is strong enough to protect you. You must remain in the village until the Akatsuki is finished."

Naruto said, "I don't have a problem with that. However, you should realize that you don't have any authority to confine me to the village. That is the sole right of the Hokage and I'm pretty sure that she would agree with me." Danzo's eye narrowed with contempt and he said, "Princess Tsunade is weak and selfish. She has made many errors in her past and will continue to do so. This is the reason that I had the meeting arranged in this room. I will not allow you to leave until you take a Blood Oath stating that you will not leave the village."

Naruto growled, "I'll do no such thing." Danzo said, "Well, then. It seems that we have an altercation." Koharu and Homura gazed at the two of them and decided to stay out of this. Danzo said, "It seems that you cannot be persuaded by normal means."

Suddenly, Naruto started feeling a little light headed. He heard Danzo's voice in his head, saying, "Take the Blood Oath. Do it, for the sake of village." Naruto's eyes went blank and he repeated, "For the village."

Koharu and Homura looked at him in confusion, but Naruto continued to to repeat the same words over and over. Then he took off his coat and shirt of his jumpsuit. He cut his thumb open with his canines and was just about to inscribe the kanji for Honor on his heart when…

The Kyuubi suddenly roared in Naruto's psyche and the confused teen turned to face him. Naruto said, "What's wrong with you?"

The Kyuubi growled, "What the hell is wrong with you, baka? Are you really falling under Danzo's control so easily? After you were able to wrestle control away from me, the Kyuubi, you're going to give up your control to that second rate traitor?"

Naruto said, "What do you mean? I'm not under his control." The Kyuubi said, "You idiot. Can't you see that you've just bitten you own thumb to draw blood! You're going to take a Blood Oath right now!"

The teen looked outside his psyche to realize that the Kyuubi was right. He couldn't control himself however, it was as though his hands were moving on their own. He went back in the psyche and said, "What do I do now?"

The Kyuubi retorted, "Danzo is using one of the Sharingan techniques to subdue you. He's using the Kotoamatsukami. Fortunately, I have seen that technique before. If you relinquish your control over me for a minute, I can get free of it."

Naruto laughed and said, "Do you think I'm that big of a fool? I'm never gonna let you take control." The Kyuubi said, "Whatever. I'm just trying to save you. If you die, I die, after all. But if you want it this way, you can have it." Naruto pondered over that and said, "Will you promise not to harm anyone?"

The Nine Tails said, "You're in no position to bargain, idiot." Naruto said, "Oh, but I think I am. If I die, you die, after all. You said it yourself." The fox said, "Don't be a smartass. Alright, just this once, I won't harm anyone." Naruto smiled and gave up his control.

Outside his psyche, as Naruto was about to put his thumb to his heart, suddenly he stopped. Danzo continued prodding him, but Naruto suddenly looked up and smiled viciously. The Elders saw that his eyes had gone red. Koharu and Homura scrambled back, and Naruto spoke to Danzo, "Trying to force the boy into taking the Blood Oath, are you? I never thought you would use that cursed eye for something so mundane."

Koharu and Homura looked in confusion at the teen and then at Danzo. Koharu said, "What is the meaning of this? What is the child talking about, Danzo?" Danzo said, "I see you've taken control, Kyuubi." The Kyuubi laughed and said, "Not really. You see, I've seen the Kotoamatsukami before, and I know how to get rid of it. That cursed Sharingan doesn't work on someone whose willpower is greater than it. I just don't want the kid to be influenced by a traitor like you. I couldn't care less about the brat."

Both the other Elders stared at Danzo, who unwrapped his right eye and revealed a red eye with a four pin wheel design. He said, "So, you know about the Kotoamatsukami, do you? I never should have wasted my chakra on something like that. It was stupid on my part. But whatever I'm doing, I'm doing for the sake of the village."

The two Elders looked at him in amazement and Koharu said, "I've seen that eye before. It belonged to Shisui Uchiha. How do you possess it, Danzo?" The old Sharingan wielder replied without hesitation, "Shisui himself gave it to me, before he committed suicide. You see, he knew the potential of his eyes and relied on me to use it the same way he did. And Shisui worked for the Root Foundation after all."

Naruto/Kyuubi laughed and said, "Lies."

The Elders looked at him again in surprise and he continued, "That traitor stole Shisui Uchiha's right eye and would have done the same with the left if Shisui hadn't managed to escape. You see, Danzo, somehow, I can somehow see memories of the Sharingan eye which you possess. Shisui was quite clever, leaving behind a trace like that. I can see right now that you stole his right eye, after which he seems to have disappeared. Too bad you couldn't get his left eye. The full power of the Kotoamatsukami is only unleashed when both the eyes belong to the same person."

Danzo got up from his chair and said, "It seems that this is going to be quite a nuisance. I must say, I was rather surprised when the boy let the fox take control over him. I guess he's too weak to control the demon."

Naruto riled up, but Kyuubi said to him, "Don't get angry. It's what he wants. You see, your anger automatically influences my will onto you. And I feed off anger. If you get angry, I won't control myself. Not like I care or anything, but I would rather not destroy the village." Naruto calmed down slightly but looked at Danzo in hatred.

Danzo had now finished unwrapping his right hand from the bandages that had always covered them. Koharu and Homura stared at the arm in surprise and Koharu said, "Danzo, that's…" Danzo smiled and said, "It seems that the boy won't give up without a fight, eh? Don't worry, I have a few tricks to control you, Kyuubi."

Danzo's right hand was completely grey in color. But the astonishing fact was that the entire arm seemed to be covered in Sharingans.

The Nine Tails snarled inside Naruto's psyche, and the boy asked him, "What's the matter, Kyuubi? You afraid of that old geezer?" Kyuubi snorted and replied, "As if. But he possesses the cells of the Shodai in his right hand. As you know, the First Hokage was the only one who could control me without using the Sharingan. And since I'm inside of you, Danzo cannot control me with his Sharingan, but the Wood Style in his right arm can."

Naruto pondered over that. Just then, Sakura burst in and shouted, "Don't you dare touch Naruto, you traitor!" Everyone looked at the new arrival in surprise and Koharu said, "How did you…"

Sakura pointed to the transmitter in her hands and said, "Lady Tsunade suspected that something was up when you didn't allow her to oversee the meeting. She told me to hide a mic in Naruto's uniform, which would allow me to hear everything." Koharu nodded and said, "Call Tsunade right away. We have a situation here now." Sakura substituted herself for Homura and picked up Koharu.

The female Elder shouted, "What is the meaning of this? Put me down!" Sakura shunshined next to the door, and said, "Sorry, I must help Naruto. Please inform Lady Tsunade of the situation. I'll help Naruto hold off Danzo." Koharu nodded and left the room along with Homura.

Danzo smiled and said, "Do you honestly think you can hold me off by yourselves?" Naruto went back into his psyche and said, "Kyuubi, get lost now. This is my fight. I don't want you trying to influence me." The demon growled and said, "You better watch your tone, kid. Or else, I might just kill Sakura here right now."

Naruto forced control back to himself and said to Danzo, "You might just be underestimating us. We're part of Team 7, the most unpredictable team in the world." In spite of the dire situation, Sakura couldn't help but smile.

Danzo said, "Well, in that case, what are you waiting for?"

Naruto said, "Well, if yo want to get beat up so bad, I don't have a problem doing it right NOW!" He charged towards Danzo and started unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks at the old Elder. However, Shisui's eye was able to predict them all, and Danzo simply avoided all of them. The Kyuubi riled up, not having liked being forced out of control by Naruto. Danzo tried to land a punch of his own, and was surprised to see Naruto get hit by it. Naruto flew back into the wall of the Interrogation Chamber, and Sakura pulled him out of it. She said, "What happened?"

Naruto said, "The stupid fox is irritating me." Sakura nodded and the two of them went back into their team stance. Danzo waited for the two of them to attack, but none of them moved. Just then, Tsunade burst in and said, "What the hell is going on in here? What is the meaning of this, Danzo?"

Danzo spoke in a grave voice, "Better keep out of this, Princess Tsunade. I will not allow Naruto to leave this village." Tsunade said, "What the hell are you thinking, Danzo? It is not up to you to see who stays in the village and who doesn't."

Danzo replied, "I am doing this for the sake of the village. As you should be doing, but you are too foolish and weak to do so." Tsunade's eyebrow twitched and then she said, "You traitor. You stole the Sharingans from the Uchiha clan. And you no doubt obtained the cells of my grandfather from Orochimaru, did you not?"

Danzo was slightly surprised to find out that she knew that, but said, "Yes, I did. And they have proved to be extremely useful in controlling the multiple Sharingans. After all, only the Senjus could ever keep the Uchihas in check."

Naruto was getting even more frustrated by this talking and charged in again. This time, Danzo's attention was divided between Naruto and Tsunade, so Shisui's eye could not keep up, and Naruto managed to land a punch on Danzo's back.

Danzo fell forward, but quickly substituted himself for Tsunade and Naruto just stopped short of decimating her with a Rasengan. With fury in his blue eyes, he said, "You would sacrifice anyone, even the Hokage, and still say that it is for the sake of the village? You make me sick."

Tsunade also stared daggers at Danzo, who said, "I will do whatever needs to be done." Tsunade began to speak, but Naruto said, "Grandma Tsunade, I'm going to smack some sense into this traitor right now." She said, "Naruto, as much as I would like you to do that, you can't. Danzo is the head of the Root. If he is killed, the entire Root foundation would be affected. And much as I hate to say it, we need the Root. Without it, the Leaf village would be answerable for a lot of things that they have covered up well."

Danzo nodded, and that riled up Naruto even more. He said, "I don't care. To think that this guy would put you at danger just for what he thinks is right, that's unacceptable. I'm gonna make him pay, no matter what the consequences."

Just then, a voice came from the entrance and said, "I couldn't agree more." Everyone looked at the person and it turned out to be Homura. He said, "Danzo is a traitor to the Leaf. He desecrated the tombs of the Uchiha clan, and also underwent illegal operations with Orochimaru. He cannot be allowed to live. Furthermore, he tried to use Kotoamatsukami against a fellow member of the Leaf village. I fully support Naruto right now."

Tsunade said, "But what about the…" Homura held up his hand, and Tsunade fell silent. Homura said, "I have a person in mind who can at least temporarily manage the Root Foundation." She said, "Well, then. Looks like it's finally time for you to retire, Danzo. Permanently." Danzo grimaced and got into a fighting stance.

Tsunade took off her green overcoat and began to get ready to fight as well, but Naruto said, "Grandma Tsunade, there's no need for you to get involved in this. I'm going to kill him myself." She began to argue but then realized that he could fight Danzo now, being as strong as he was.

Naruto quickly shunshined next to Sakura, and whispered, "Hold my hand." She blushed slightly at the directness of the statement and said, "What for?" He said, "Just do it." She held his hand, and the next instant, they shunshined behind Danzo. He barely could register a look of surprise on his face, before Naruto put his left hand on Danzo's shoulder, and the trio vanished. Tsunade thought, 'Now, where the hell did he take Danzo?'

Homura blinked; he had just seen three people vanish in front of his eyes. He looked at Tsunade with an intense stare, and asked, "Where is he?"

Tsunade said, "No idea, but good that he did. I don't want half the village to be destroyed in their battle as it is. I forgot, but we're under Ninja Ops."

Homura nodded.

Danzo suddenly found himself in a clearing and demanded, "How did you do that?" Naruto smirked and said, "Well, since you're gonna die anyway, I don't see the reason to tell you that." Danzo grimaced and said, "I'm not going down that easily."

Sakura said, "Isn't this the clearing where we trained, Naruto?" He nodded, and she asked, "How did we get here?" He said, "All in good time, Sakura."

She frowned, but shrugged nevertheless, and the two of them faced Danzo again. He quickly signed and said, "Ninja Arts: Summoning Jutsu!"

Sakura and Naruto stared at the cloud of smoke that had just gone up. They looked up in the sky and a figure emerged through the smoke. It was…

"A Chimera?!" Sakura gasped.

The Chimera looked at them with a fierce intensity in its eyes. It was orange in color, with bandages on its head, and a huge trunk, with armor on its base. It had tiger like legs, and was huge.

Naruto said, "Whoa, that's a big summon. I doubt even the Chief is as big as this one." Danzo said, "There is no summon bigger than Baku in the entire world. Prepare to meet your demise. I had hoped that we could come to a peaceful negotiation, but it seems like that's not possible."

Naruto growled and said, "If you think that this beast is going to kill us, you've got another thing coming." He began to sign, but Baku suddenly opened his mouth and a huge vacuum of air started getting sucked in. Naruto was barely able to maintain his balance, and looked at Sakura, amazed to see her calmly standing as though nothing was happening.

He said, "How are you standing still so easily, Sakura?" She replied, "I've boosted my leg muscles with chakra. I don't feel any pull." He considered that and said, "Good going, but just staying still is not going to help us win this fight, you know." She nodded, and Naruto started to come up with a plan. However, Danzo jumped up on Baku's head and signed quickly. He said, "Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Wave!"

A huge wave of wind flew across the clearing, and Baku stopped sucking in the wind, so that the wave of wind hit Naruto squarely in the chest. He gasped and flew backwards into a cluster of trees. Sakura shouted, "NARUTO!" but Baku took a giant leap and landed in front of her before she could move to help the knucklehead. She considered her options, and decided to go for the simplest one. She ducked under a giant swipe of Baku's and picked him up with her bare arms. Her muscles started straining and veins popped out of them. Danzo stared in astonishment as Sakura managed to throw Baku to the opposite direction.

'She's so strong! She's just like Princess Tsunade! I've got to be more careful around her.' Danzo thought. Naruto came back into the clearing, shaking his head to clear it and coughed, "Wow, that jutsu hit me really hard." Sakura heaved a sigh of relief that nothing much had happened to him, apart from his clothing tearing, and said, "Come on. We have to hit them before Danzo can get that beast up again."

But before they could do that, Baku was up again, and was snarling furiously. Danzo stood atop him, and had started signing again. Baku extended his trunk, and the two teens braced themselves, digging their feet into the ground. But when the wind came, it started pushing them back, rather than pulling them in. This totally came as a surprise to the two, and they were pushed back quite a bit, before they could stabilize. Danzo finished his hand signs and said, "Wind Style: Giant Breakthrough!"

Three gusts of sharpened wind chakra flew across the clearing at top speed, amplified by the wind of Baku. Naruto and Sakura paled, as the jutsu bore down on them. At the last moment, Naruto signed in full speed and shouted, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

A huge wall of earth came up from the ground, and protected the two of them from the gusts of wind. As the last gust hit the wall, it crumbled into pieces. Danzo stared in astonishment at Naruto, thinking, 'Where did he learn this jutsu? I thought he knows only the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Rasengan, along with the Summoning Jutsu! Can he have learnt it recently? Or did Princess Tsunade not give me his original report when I asked for it yesterday?' But he had no time to think, as Sakura was bearing down on Baku with a muscle boosted punch. He barely had time to register what had happened before he felt Baku flying behind by the sheer strength of the punch.

Baku snorted in agitation, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Danzo fell onto the ground, and Naruto charged in with a Rasengan. Danzo signed thrice, and Naruto connected with the Fourth Hokage's jutsu, before Danzo could do anything else. The traitor was blasted into the ground by the force of the attack and Sakura looked at the huge hole created with a look of astonishment. Naruto emerged from the hole and said, "That went easier than I thought." Sakura started to nod, before shouting, "WATCH OUT!"

Naruto turned around just in time to avoid Danzo's kunai, which was aimed at his neck. He countered with a kick of his own, sending Danzo flying behind. The old man retreated for a while, and Sakura reached Naruto. Naruto, surprised, said, "What the heck? I thought I got him!"

Sakura nodded and said, "I thought that too. But just as you started walking over to me, I saw a shadow behind you. It turned into Danzo and he aimed that kunai at you. I don't know how, but it seems like he did something just before you hit him with the Rasengan. He signed thrice."

Naruto frowned as he remembered that. Danzo started a long string of signs and both the teens faced him again. Danzo took a huge breath and exhaled, shouting, "Wind Style: Vacuum Blast!"

A sharp line of wind extended from Danzo's mouth, aimed towards Naruto, who quickly jumped to the right. But the wind followed him and quickly grazed his right shoulder. He managed to avoid the rest of the attack and stared at Danzo with a little bit of respect. His shoulder started healing instantly.

Sakura started trying to land a hit on Danzo, but with Shisui's Sharingan, there was no use trying to hit him. Just then, Danzo felt a slight draft of wind behind him and managed to turn Sakura's last punch directly into a throw. He threw Sakura into the draft which he had felt, and Naruto was forced to abandon pooling the wind chakra around him. He and Sakura regrouped again.

Just then, Sakura noticed that one Sharingan on Danzo's arm had closed down. She frowned at the sight and Danzo noticed her looking at his arm with a slight tension. He thought, 'I better finish the fight while I can. The massive amount of chakra I have already used is taking its toll.' He charged towards Sakura, trying to keep her from thinking. Naruto was deciding whether to fight hand to hand or to try a jutsu. Just then, Kyuubi spoke inside Naruto's psyche. He said, "Naruto, I suddenly realized why I was able to sense the Kotoamatsukami. You see, I have seen this Dojutsu a long time ago, even before the Hidden Leaf village was formed. It was used by a man named Shizui Uchiha. I get the feeling that this Sharingan is of a descendant of Shizui."

Naruto nodded and said, "So, how did you counter it?" The fox replied, "I think it is because I have been under the influence of the Kotoamatsukami before. Shizui was one hell of a fighter. I have no doubt that if I hadn't noticed it faster, you would be completely under Danzo's control. However, there is one thing. I was able to read that Shisui guy's memories from his right eye. I don't understand how I was able to do that."

Naruto said, "Leave that to figure out for later. So, what's with this jutsu anyway? How's it work?" Kyuubi retorted, "This jutsu is a GenJutsu which influences a person's willpower against their wishes. It makes you do things you don't want to. So, if you were under Danzo's control, he could make you kill the Hokage or do things that you would never do otherwise."

Naruto pondered over that and said, "How do I find out if he's doing it to me?" Kyuubi snorted and replied, "I saved your ass once. I ain't gonna do it again. Find out your own way." Naruto started riling up again, but he just noticed Sakura flying into a tree and put his attention back into the battle.

Just then, Danzo began signing again. He was signing slowly and Naruto could sense that he was building up a large amount of chakra. He decided to make sure that Danzo could not use his jutsu. Danzo finished signing and shouted, "Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet Barrage!" and began to spit out huge bullets of wind chakra from his mouth. Naruto decided to surprise Danzo and disappeared. He reappeared behind Danzo and shouted, "Rasengan!" Danzo turned around in terror and signed even as Naruto thrust the roiling orb into his chest. He flew behind into the edges around the clearing. Naruto thought, 'Phew! That takes a bit of skill. Thank God he didn't notice me before I came up behind him.' He saw Sakura pulling herself out of the tree and said, "Hey Sakura, you all right?" Sakura snorted and said, "I've had worse with Lady Tsunade."

Naruto smirked and began to walk towards her, when a sudden whizz caused his instincts to take over and he ducked, just in time to see a kunai whizz over his head. It flew in a straight line and fell in between the two teens. Naruto turned around to see Danzo walking back into the clearing, no injury on his chest whatsoever. Naruto thought, 'How on earth is he not injured? My Rasengan was at least one and a half times stronger than usual!'

Just then, a huge explosion behind him rocked the ground, and the two of them realized a little too late, that there had been a paper bomb attached to the kunai. Naruto flew forward by the force of the explosion, but managed to right himself up before he landed on the ground in front of Danzo. Sakura had just managed to shield herself with her arms and keep her balance.

Sakura was also wondering the same thing that Naruto was, when she noticed another of Danzo's eyes closing. She frowned and thought, 'What if there is a correspondence between the Sharingans and Danzo's supposed invincibility?' She decided to test it and said, "Naruto, come here a moment." He shunshined back to her, and she said quietly, "I think that the Sharingans in his right arm have something to do with his ability to remain alive after taking such hard hits." Naruto nodded and said, "I was thinking along the same lines. Every time the geezer is about to die, he does those three hand signs. And every time, one of the Sharingans on his right arm close down. I think it is some Jutsu of the Sharingans that is keeping him alive."

Sakura said, "What do we do? We have no way of finding out!" Naruto smirked and said, "I don't know about you, but I know a way of finding out for sure! I just have to keep killing him until he dies!" Sakura face palmed and said, "Do you know that there are other things in the world besides fighting?" They suddenly realized that Danzo was not fighting, but waiting for them, and Sakura said, "I think that he's low on chakra. That's why he's waiting for us to make the first move. He's being defensive." Naruto replied, "I have an idea. Can you keep him busy for five minutes or so? I'll try going into Sage Mode and attack him then. And I'll see if I can spot something different." Sakura nodded and said, "But make sure you do it quick. I won't be able to hold him off for long, not with his long range Wind Jutsu." Naruto nodded and split off a few Shadow Clones. He said, "Provide a distraction." All the clones nodded.

Naruto sat down to meditate and Danzo's eyes widened. He started to charge towards Naruto, but the clones and Sakura came in the middle. Danzo thought, 'He's sitting still. There's no doubt about it. I never thought that the kid could actually use nature energy. This is bad! I must defeat him quickly or they might find out my secret!' Sakura began to fight Danzo and he decided to take her out of the fight before she could pose a threat to him.

The shadow clones were proving to be a nuisance for Danzo, because he was constantly being attacked by more than person. As a result, he was not able to use the Sharingan to predict the clones' or Sakura's moves. He thought, 'This is getting out of hand. I have to end this now.' Danzo waited until Sakura and the clones were in range, and substituted himself for Sakura. As she stared around in bewilderment at the sudden displacement, he signed and said, "Hidden Arts: Wind Blade Storm!" A barrage of wind chakra blades erupted from in front of Danzo's body. Sakura paled as she saw the blades speeding towards her, and braced herself. But the shadow clones quickly got in the way and were destroyed, creating a large cloud of white smoke. Sakura thanked the clones in her mind and quickly shunshined away, using the smoke as a diversion.

As she fell back, however, she suddenly noticed a shadow behind her, and turned around to see Danzo standing behind her. He didn't look at her twice, before plunging the kunai in his right hand straight towards her heart. Sakura closed her eyes and waited for her death…