He re-approached Konoha.
A few days after his spar, a set of relief of teams had arrived at the border, and now the two genin teams were returning to bring word that Suna had tried to attack again.
That was a matter for the new Hokage, once they were appointed. Which might well be soon. In fact it seemed to be right now.
Something loud was happening in Konoha. Something loud and raucous, with cheers and shouting.
He walked clean up and over the wall around Konoha and began to move along the rooftops towards the noise.
And there it was. People. More people than he had ever seen. Or heard. He unconsciously crept further back into the shadows of the rooftop.
He had to see who this person was, and he crept to a rooftop edge. It was like being back at the Daimyo's castle. No one was watching the rooftops, everyone absorbed in the event.
He heard the commotion coming up the street. He recognised some of the people in the street.
a couple of teams of ANBU stood in a loose outer box, Talon at their front, walking stoically behind the mask. They surrounded four people.
He recognised Jiraiya, the hair was a giveaway, and he recognised Baka walking beside him, his expression fixed in a wide smile. The two women who walked in front of them he didn't recognise.
He looked more closely at Baka. He was walking gingerly, his side clearly causing him pain.
He rolled back onto the flat roof as Jiraiya's head shifted in his direction. He then stared up into the man's face.
"Hello Naruto, I am Jiraiya. We met briefly before the invasion."
"I remember your name Jiraiya-san."
"San? Can a Sannin not get any respect?"
"Titles mean little to me. Prince, pauper or jonin, if they are my target they die."
"Good. We need to talk."
"Need?"
"Well, I want to talk to you enough that if you try and escape I'll just capture you and hold you still."
Naruto realised that the man could. He wasn't the most powerful shinobi that Konoha had left for no reason. No sense in fighting it then.
"Ok let's talk."
"You're a very to the point person aren't you?"
"Yes."
Even if it was usually a crossbow bolt point.
"Not here, meet me atop the monument at sunset. I need to do some...research."
"Ok."
The man left, and Naruto decided to watch the slowly dispersing crowd a little longer. People and their interactions were proving to be more interesting every single day. There were so many and they were so varied a different and illogical.
He decided to go and wait atop the monument. It wasn't as if he had anything else to do.
He waited atop the monument. He hadn't been here before, and he now knew why. There was not very much cover atop the monument.
The archive library was there, as were a couple of other safe houses. Other than that, a small copse of trees still remained.
He wondered why the archive library was at the top of a mountain when it would be more convenient and efficient to have it nearer to the elevation of the city. Why would it be there unless you wanted people not to visit it?
He slipped into the woods and went to ground before activating his Byakugan. He was alone. He felt the effects of the mission he had just been on begun to catch up to him.
When was the last time he had properly slept? During the mission he'd only caught a few hours at most, and those had been filled with odd images.
Faces. Nothing but faces in his dreams. Some more prevalent than others.
He remembered them as if walking into a great hall of portraits. At the far end, larger than any of the others was a portrait of his former lord Danzo. The face was shrouded in darkness and shadow, half of the face in a calm expression of calculation, the other half and the bandages over his eye hidden in the darkness.
It was a perfect symbolisation of the man as far as Naruto was concerned. Calculating, dark and clever. Making decisions in the light with one hand and others in the dark with his other, out of sight.
Under it was a portrait of the Hokage, sitting back in his chair with a slight smile on his face. Or was it looking at him with concern and pride when he had been asking Naruto about how he felt?
Either way, it was the face of someone who wanted good for him. He had to admit the Hokage had been good to him, trusted his abilities and gave him things to do. Purpose. But he was fully in the light. No actually, there were some shadows under the eyes. A sign of age? No, a sign of something different. His hands were folded. A legacy of some of the hard decisions that he had had to make? Or the things he had done.
After all, his subconscious was good at picking things up.
There were more images, decreasing in size as their importance dwindled in his mind. He found pictures of Kurenai and Kakashi and Anko, each representative and expressive in its own way.
Kakashi's face in the picture had his mask on, and Naruto realised that despite a shadow of what dwelt below, that this was his real face. His actual face.
He glanced down the endless room and saw the pictures of the ANBU, of Talon, Pig and Hare. They were represented by their masks as well.
Kurenai's face was set in...kindly disapproval? A hint of admiration and respect? He realised he was using words for concepts he didn't truly understand yet like it was perfectly normal.
Then he saw the genin. He walked over to them, seeing the pictures too descending, yet big enough to pick out details. A glance back at his Lord's photo saw it towering behind him, hand seemingly guiding him along still, but there was some separation. It grew with every step, as if his were slightly longer than that of his Lord's.
Hinata and Baka's photos stood out, Hinata's face set in the one he had tried so hard to remember. He reached out a finger and ran it around the contours of the face, trying to pick out the emotions there. All of them. Every single one.
Baka's was there, grinning out at him, open as a book. The face, the smile. The hair that defied comb and brush. The hidden shyness in the eyes, the hunger of someone who wants to rise upwards.
Then Neji, set in anger and frustration, staring at him with hateful eyes. He realised Neji was representing all he really knew about hatred. It stared; he could swear it was looking straight through him.
Shino was there, again collar raised and glasses up, impassive yet somehow approving.
Kiba and Tenten had small, insignificant portraits. Then there was Sasuke's photo.
It was turned away from him, no matter where he moved, it looked away. It looked down at him, and away at the same time. Yet it was so small and insignificant. He realised it somehow had its back turned to every other portrait as well.
He realised Sakura didn't even register, but even as he did, a small portrait of a fist falling towards him emerged. It kept emerging and he sliced it off as came too close. The portrait fading into nothingness.
Then he saw the door. It was shrouded in darkness and shadow, a black door on a black wall covered in shadow.
But still devastatingly clear.
He didn't consciously move near it before it swung open. The darkness inside seemed to expand, but it wasn't darkness. It was shadow. Quarter-light, used and perfect for hiding in. The light that made shadows real and the real nothing but shadow.
The kind of light and dark he had used to kill with before.
The portraits all hung in the dark here as well. He realised what it was.
The prince hung, falling in his death pose with the bolt sticking from his chest. Gato was falling too, throat turned into bloody ruin by his blade.
There was Haku, a bolt sticking out from his head. The Suna jonin, flying away from an explosion that had come from nowhere. Gaara, his head separating in an explosion that slew him.
He walked down the hall, slowly increasing to a run.
Every single one.
Every single kill.
He felt some pride in his work, knowing that he had done these things for the good of his country and land, for his lord.
It didn't bother him in the slightest.
There was a flicker of a ghost coming towards him, a pale white figure with long hair bounding upwards towards him from some way away. It was like he was looking with his Byakugan.
Then it did bother him. The light was rising behind him, and now it was getting very dark. He tried to activate his Byakugan, but it wouldn't. He could barely see the photos.
Then the Suna girls face, splattered with blood and screaming in pain began to swim into focus. He waved his arm forcefully to the side and the painting tumbled into the ether where the wall had been.
There was a murmur as the portraits began to surround him on all sides, the floor becoming darkness and well as an enclosing sphere of dead faces surrounded him.
Then he realised the room contained nothing but one portrait before him. He knew what it was, he tried to turn away but as he did it followed him, forming before his eyes, getting closer and closer.
He tried to shut his eye but it wouldn't. Then he realised he had both his own eyes and he was younger.
Then the bloodstained dress came into view, and the tanto blade sticking out slightly off from where he had aimed to strike.
Then the face. The face. The screaming bloodied fearful face. The face that held the sound of his worst nightmares and fears. The sound of footsteps and screams. The sound of his breathing and a second stab, and a third. The rustle of trees. The sound of blood splatting on the walls and furniture. Then the sound of the scream and the sound of footfalls on the earth.
He swung the crossbow up and fired.
The white haired man snatched the bolt from the air and grinned at him.
"Good job on seeing me coming. You're as good as Talon and Kakashi reported. You weren't aiming to kill right?"
It had been a dream, just a dream. He recovered his composure.
"Indeed."
He rose from his kneeling position to a standing one. He barely remembered moving and firing, but it was the reflex he was trained in.
"I know all your abilities, although I'll have to read Kurenai-chan's report to see if you produced anything new from your bag of tricks. You interest me Naruto."
"Why? There is more to what you say than you let on."
"Yes. I want to take you out of Konoha and train you to take over my spy network."
Naruto read into the statement as if he'd been doing it his whole life.
"There is more than that."
"Yes. There is."
"What is it?"
"A trivial reason."
This man was too obvious he began to realise. There was something else at work here, and he was making it more obvious than necessary.
"It isn't."
"Look. Come with me and I will teach you how to become even stealthier than you already are which is extremely. Hell, I expect at some stage you'll create a jutsu for hiding in plain sight on a summer's day in the middle of the street. I also want to teach you a new technique?"
"Show me."
Jiraiya held out his palm, and a blue ball of chakra began to form in his hand. Naruto switched the Byakugan vision on mentally, seeing the swirling chakra condense and be contained by Jiraiya's control. It was certainly a sight to behold.
Jiraiya slammed the ball into a rock, ripping it to pieces with power. Chakra exploded outwards from the ball as the control was suddenly released from it.
He turned the Byakugan off to see the man grinning at him.
"Pretty cool huh? Awesome technique! No hand seals, just pure control and strength. Deadly."
"Too showy and visible. It would blow my cover before I could use it."
The man nearly fell over backwards at that comment.
"It is extremely useful for you. No hand signs."
"Slow charge up. Limited range. My crossbow and tanto are better bets."
"More damage."
"I only need one cut. Across the neck, into the heart. Maybe poisoned and then anywhere if it hits a blood vessel. I do not kill so directly. I'm an assassin, a ghost. Not a butcher."
The man sighed.
"You are not like your father."
That was interesting.
"You knew him?"
"Trained him."
"As a genin? You were his sensei?"
"Yes."
The man was literally pouring information into his ears.
"You do know that all teams are recorded in photographic evidence and makeup in the archive library not twenty feet away right?"
"Yes?"
"So I could go and find out now. All I need to do is look for your genin teams, find the photos, and look for resemblances."
"Oh."
Was he really just an idiot?
"Or did you know that I already knew?"
"You know your father was the fourth?"
"I do now. Are you really a Sannin?"
The man chuckled.
"You are just like him. Totally disrespectful in every way. He was funnier though."
"I am not disrespectful, only curious. You are a spymaster yet got tricked so easily, assuming you were telling the truth."
The man gave an exasperated and overly animated sigh.
"Look. My offer stands. Come with me, take over my network. I know all about your training and upbringing in the dark. I offer you a different darkness to play with, one where you can receive the praise you deserve, where you don't have to perform the darker deeds. Where people do not die."
"I will consider it. You have taken Baka as an apprentice already though."
"How?"
"It is your right as a Sannin, and he was with you when you came in with the new Hokage."
Jiraiya shrugged his great shoulders.
"Very observant. He helped bring Tsunade round to the idea of coming back, and fought well. His Spirit Transformation Technique is remarkable. Tsunade really saw Dan in him; it was his technique as well."
"Good. I think he is better suited to your ministrations."
"Why?"
"He's like you. I am not."
This seemed to sadden Jiraiya deeply. The shoulders sagged a little.
"But I'm your godfather."
"In name only. A ceremonial title is not right. In every respect you are a stranger."
"I want to change that."
"I don't. I am content doing what I am doing; assuming Lady Tsunade accepts my services."
The man walked away slowly, shoulders a little slumped.
"My offer will always be open to you Naruto."
Naruto nodded. As the man disappeared from view, he moved towards the archive library. Time to check the facts.
He moved up the walls of the closed and alarmed building with grace and speed until he reached a small open skylight above the hall. For a hall with so many secrets, it wasn't hard to break in.
He dropped down; walking down the dome it was set into with practised ease. He looked at the signs, and followed the corridors.
Eventually he found what he was looking for.
He moved towards his location without making a noise. He ran his hand along the signs he could see in the half-light of the moon from above, feeling the Braille code to find the letter he wanted. Then the sub-team. He found the folder and quietly left.
It was lighter outside, and he opened the folder and saw the photograph. And there it was. The truth. He'd known it was the truth the instant that Jiraiya had said so. After all, who else could have been there to seal the demon into him?
Even so, he was staring at his father's face at about his age. The hair was longer and spikier, the man wearing a white hooded jacket.
He was almost the exact opposite of him. He ran a hand through his short hair. It was the same colour, and he wondered if it would grow out like that. Not that he would let it.
"You didn't accidently let it slip. Your facade of idiocy is impressive. I can see you."
The chameleon jutsu Jiraiya was holding against the wall not a few feet away fell away slowly, the white haired man coming into focus as it did so. Jiraiya walked over behind him and knelt to see the picture.
"Thirty years ago, and I'm just as handsome as ever. But your father...he was something special. Not many people thought he had what it would take, but I saw it in him. He was brilliant, special, nearly perfect. He was a ray of sunshine. So fast, so precise, all he needed was an opportunity."
"He is the exact opposite of me."
"Really?"
"He is light, and only light. I know of the deeds of the Fourth Hokage. His techniques, including the one you showed me. His speed. His power. His ability to kill on instinct. But he is not what I am. I am a weapon who only kills when I am ordered; he is a Kage who kills when he needs to."
"I think you're more like him than you know. You only need one opportunity and you're precise and fast on the uptake too."
"I disagree. I suspect he understood people instinctively as well."
"He did, although he was a big of a goofball."
"I am unfamiliar with that term."
"You'll figure it out eventually, it's not always about what the word properly means but more about what it implies."
Naruto considered this for the future.
"Can I go? I wish to meet the new Hokage."
"Not quite yet. I'd like to see your seal."
"If I refuse?"
The man was very suddenly behind him, holding his arm behind his back.
"You won't."
The arm was released and Naruto shed his cloak and the upper half of his body glove. Pale flesh that hadn't seen the sun shone a little in the moonlight. There wasn't much substance, he certainly wasn't muscled or toned to an excessive degree, but the physique served him well.
"Channel a little chakra."
Naruto made hand signs and projected the genjutsu.
"So, whilst I have a look at this, what genjutsu is this?"
"It makes it hard for people to focus on us directly whilst we are stationary. I tend to use it with other genjutsu to help me fully hide."
"Useful. Right, the main seal looks in order. I have no idea what the rest of it is. It appears to be a very strong suppression seal. Very strong. Very, very strong. Incredibly crude as well. You can only channel about three to five percent of the chakra you could otherwise normally channel you realise?"
"Yes."
"If you removed this you would be a one man army."
"But spotted by every chakra alert life form within five miles."
"True. I can see why you keep it. Hang on. That. That is something I do not like. That looks forbidden."
The man was touching a spot on his side which had an indistinct little seal on it. He knew what it was and suppressed any physical movement.
"Oh, that seal. I have yet to use that seal."
"Good. That seal should never exist, and never should have existed. Danzo's work I take it?"
"It was amongst the first procedures I undertook at the start of my training. The suppression seal and the other seals were created before I had even touched a weapon. I see the importance of it now, but I remember the pain."
"I am going to remove that abomination though."
"No. If you try I will stab you through the neck."
Jiraiya saw the blade hovering. Whilst he could have just broken Naruto's arms and forced the removal, the young man was stubborn.
"Fair enough. Never use that. That seal is...evil."
That seal. A nondescript looking series of characters in a small matrix that sat meshed into the suppression matrices. A small, almost innocent looking creation.
Possibly the darkest piece of seal arts.
"The memory eating seal."
He voiced both their thoughts at the same time. The seal that he could use if he chose to lock away a part of himself and the memories he never wanted to recall.
He had been tempted before. He would never use it.
"Well, I have places to be Naruto. I shall talk to you soon, Hopefully."
Naruto nodded as the man leapt off the top of the monument down into the city below. He could survive that fall easily.
He considered dropping in on the Hokage immediately, but realised he had a much better way of doing so. He smiled as he moved for a rooftop close enough to the Hokage tower, after taking a small moment to see if he could find any more patterns in the starlight.