Code NSE Five.
The National Security Emergency Code was not something that could be activated lightly. Invoking it usually meant exigent circumstances had arisen. The number five was indicating that it was an internal threat and classifying the report as S implied that the nature of the report was extremely sensitive.
It was enough to put everyone on edge.
But what was downright alarming was that Naruto was involved.
This fact alone gave the incoming report a priority equal to an incoming enemy attack and demanded immediate and undivided attention.
That was why Shikaku instantly stopped his report and yielded the floor to the newcomers.
They were looking like they had just crawled out of some dusty hole, but Shikaku was not interested in their appearance, but rather in the way they carried themselves.
It was more than obvious that they were close. Shikaku could see the trust in each of their movements; in the casual way they breached the others' personal spaces and the total ease in their body language when they brushed against each other.
There was a confidence and purposeful certainty in their movements that belied their age.
They made a strange, yet fitting picture.
Uchiha Shisui, graduated at age six, made a name for himself during the Third Shinobi War.
Uchiha Itachi, graduated at age seven, Konoha's youngest ANBU captain.
Uzumaki Naruto, graduated at age six, jailer of the Nine-Tails and capable of making countless shadow clones.
Three extraordinary children. All of them prodigies in their own right.
It was both baffling and unsurprising that they had found each other.
But was even more fascinating was the formation they had unconsciously taken.
One would have expected the two older boys to take a protective stance to shield their weakest member.
But they hadn't.
Instead, they had fallen into a pattern that many tightly knit ANBU units used. One that implied the confidence they had in each other's ability to protect their backs.
There were huge gaps in their ages and ranks, and yet the two older and more experienced Uchiha were seeing Uzumaki Naruto as an equal.
The slight glint in the Hokage's eyes told him that he had come to a similar conclusion. "Report."
Uchiha Itachi bowed and stepped forward. "Yesterday around eleven pm, we found one of Orochimaru's laboratories."
The Third almost dropped his pipe.
Shikaku froze.
They had found what?
As if receiving an invisible cue, Uzumaki Naruto pulled a scroll out of his bag and handed it to Uchiha Itachi.
The young ANBU captain received it and presented it to the Third. "We have found evidence that Shimura Danzo has been colluding with Orochimaru in order to create Sharingan eyes artificially."
The Third dropped his pipe.
Shikaku cursed.
This would be a long day.
Orochimaru.
Danzo.
Sometimes Hiruzen was not sure which of them was the bigger mistake. It was if these two solely existed to give him a headache.
A traitorous student and, Hiruzen was not even sure what Danzo was anymore, a traitor? The word left a sour taste in his mouth. A friend taking the wrong path? It did not feel right either.
He was getting way too old for this. If only Minato had lived…
He sighed and looked at the children in front of him. "What happened?"
To his surprise, Naruto was the one who answered. "Yesterday afternoon Shisui and I wanted to eat dango with Itachi. But the people on the street were glaring at us. It made me uncomfortable. So I took them to the southern end of the town. There is an abandoned store unit I've found. I thought we would be unbothered there."
The Hokage felt a pang of guilt. To think that Naruto was so uncomfortable in his own village that he had to hide in some abandoned hut just to meet with his friends. Minato would be appalled.
"We found a sealed entry there," Uchiha Itachi continued, "we thought it led to a cellar, so Naruto unsealed it."
The Third blinked. Naruto did what? He looked at the young boy, who shrugged. "It was a simple barrier array. Not really difficult. "
A simple barrier array? Not difficult? Hiruzen was torn between amusement and disbelief. Amusement because Naruto had just sounded like Minato and disbelief because he was sure nobody had taught the child sealing yet. "You know Fuinjutsu? How?"
"I have given him a book, Hokage-sama," Uchiha Shisui cut in, "My ancestor, Kagami, has learnt a bit from the Nidaime Hokage and left some notes. I gave it to Naruto when he expressed his interest after hearing about it during training."
The Third raised an eyebrow. "This is very generous of you."
The jonin grinned. "Well, I have to support my little brother."
Hiruzen felt his face soften slightly. "Indeed."
But he was slightly worried. Fuinjutsu was a dangerous discipline and nothing to experiment with. "I have to implore you to be careful, Naruto. Do not experiment on your own."
"I'll stick closely to the instructions," Naruto replied. He sounded uncharacteristically serious.
When had this child grown so much?
He sighed. "Very well. What happened after that?"
"We discovered an empty tunnel, Hokage-sama," Uchiha Itachi continued, "We followed it and reached another room with a secret passage. It was open, so we assumed we had simply found another entry to Konoha's emergency escape tunnels."
The Third inclined his head. Konoha's underground network was rather extensive. Most of the important buildings were connected to it to ensure a quick evacuation in case of an emergency and to move supplies and troops across Konoha without coming under fire.
It was the duty of the ANBU to secure it.
It was not far off to assume that a storage unit would be connected to it, too.
"We assumed wrongly," Uchiha Itachi's face took a grim expression, and the Hokage realized they were reaching the important part. "Because what we found was a door that looked like the entry to a laboratory. "
An underground laboratory. Shikaku furrowed his brows. He had been part of the 'Underground Purge' that had followed Orochimaru's treachery.
A special task force had been gathered to sweep the escape tunnels. They had discovered twelve unauthorized secret passages and three laboratories filled with questionable experiments.
The forensic and research department was still trying to decipher their usage.
After the search had been concluded, the underground network had been officially labeled clean, but apparently, they had missed something substantial.
Shikaku was not surprised. He had always doubted the verdict, but the Hokage had been quick to believe Danzo's words.
But now it seemed like his suspicion had been justified.
This was one of these times he hated having his thought proven true.
In front of him, Uchiha Itachi stopped in his explanation and Uzumaki Naruto seamlessly continued from where he had left off.
"There was a seal for noise cancellation on the door. I did not get around to getting a closer look, but I am sure it was part of a secrecy barrier."
The Third's face darkened. "Are you sure?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, I am."
Shikaku almost smiled at the boy's tone. The Fourth had used the exact same one when someone had questioned his sealing abilities. It was a strange mixture of certainty, nonchalance, and something that Shikaku had jokingly called the "Namikaze Presence."
It was the ability to make your conversation partner feel inadequate by sheer accident.
The Third's lips twitched. Undoubtedly, he was thinking along the same lines. "I see. Proceed with your report."
Uchiha Shisui stepped forward to heed the order. "We decided to investigate."
The Third was displeased. "With a genin among you?" he asked sharply.
Uchiha Shisui did not twitch under his warning gaze. "Naruto was worried that he had overlooked a proximity trigger, so we decided it would be best to investigate before the owner of the lab was notified of our presence and had the chance to remove potential evidence. Between Itachi and me, Naruto was completely safe at any point of time. Besides, Naruto has not hindered us once, but rather proven himself to be a vital asset, Hokage-sama."
"We trust in his skills, Hokage-sama," Uchiha Itachi agreed evenly, "and his judgement."
The Hokage's eyebrows shot up. Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi were among the best Konoha had to offer. Especially the young Itachi was known for having high standards.
For him to say that he trusted in Naruto's skills and his intellect was high praise.
The Third felt a distant sort of pride. Naruto would become someone great someday. Like his parents had been. They would be proud of him. He knew he was.
Still, he was not pleased about the child being put in danger so soon. But now was not the right moment to discuss this.
They had more pressing matters to consider. "Continue."
The three boys exchanged short, grim looks.
"We went in," Uchiha Itachi finally replied, "…and we found eyes…Countless deformed Sharingan eyes."
The Hokage rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And how do you know Danzo and Orochimaru are involved?" he asked tiredly.
Uchiha Itachi pointed at the scroll on his desk. "We found files and a ROOT agent guarding the laboratory."
Uchiha Shisui placed a prisoner scroll next to the storage scroll.
The Third sighed deeply. "Very well. Shikaku, please go and get Ibiki. After this, we need to gather a unit to search the laboratory as quickly as possible."
"The three of us offer our services, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage looked at Uchiha Shisui. "I will gladly have you and Itachi, but Naruto…"
"He is needed to undo the camouflage array he placed on the door, Hokage-sama," Uchiha Itachi interjected, "We will not be able to find the door without him."
The Hokage was stumped. Naruto was even capable of making camouflage arrays? Just how much had he missed?
He sighed. "Very well. You three will be part of it. I trust you will look after Naruto."
"Of course, Hokage-sama," Uchiha Itachi agreed easily.
Had the Third not known that Itachi was a respectful and obedient shinobi, he could have sworn that the child had just scoffed at him.
Shoving that ridiculous thought away, he stood from his chair and walked around to look at the three children. "Jonin Uchiha Shisui, Chunin Uchiha Itachi, Genin Uzumaki Naruto, you have done your village a great service. Your discovery will go down in your records as a S-rank mission, and you will be paid appropriately. I am placing a gag order on everyone involved in this. This matter will not be spoken off outside this room. Is that clear?"
He received four "Yes, Hokage-sama," from the assembled shinobi.
"Good. You may rest now. I will call you once I have looked through this."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the children replied again and bowed in unison.
Tobirama scrutinized his former student. Hiruzen seemed tired and weary. It was more than obvious that he was looking at a man way past his prime.
There was hardly anything left of the young and determined man he had once been. Time had clearly left its marks on him.
Tobirama watched as an aged hand thumbed through the files and caught himself developing a faint, yet foolish hope that, perhaps, there was still some resolve left in the man he had once made his successor.
On the surface, the Third's face was unreadable. But Tobirama knew his student. He could still read him like an open book - and that was why he could clearly see the churning emotions flashing through his student's eyes. Disappointment, wariness, sadness, and disbelief were warring for dominance.
In the end his gaze dulled, and Tobirama recognized the look as the one he had often seen on the faces of his defeated enemies.
Resignation.
This was the moment Tobirama was forced to accept what he had already known: Hiruzen had lost the will of fire.
He turned away.
Behind the Hokage's desk the ever-watchful picture of Senju Tobirama wavered, and a crack appeared between protective red eyes.
As the new day dawned behind him, Sarutobi Hiruzen was left alone with the proof of his friend's treachery and the shattered portrait of the Nidaime Hokage.
End Of Arc II
A/N
Dun. Dun. Dun. And now we have reached the end of Crimson Eyes. I admit, I am kind of sad. I loved writing this arc. But I guess I've more to look forward to. :D
Now, I've introduced something new today:
The underground escape system: Central buildings and strategic points are connected via tunnels. Parts of the network can be closed off by closing passages or sealed entries. Not every part of the network is accessible to everyone. Civilians have restricted access, Shinobi according their ranks. Movement is only allowed for ANBU, authorized individuals, upon reveicing orders or during an emergency. ANBU units are regularly patrolling it.
Two short infos:
1) I am crossposting on AO3 under the same name and title. If you prefer to read over there, please feel free to switch over.
2) We'll never hear the full "Senju Succession Speech" from Tobirama. But if enough of you are interested, I can have Butsuma give it to Hashirama in a spin-off (it will be published as an extra story and be about Hashirama succeeding his father). Please let me know if you are interested.