A/N - And the rewrite continues! It's currently March 30, 2021, when the second chapter's rewrite was finished! The next chapter is probably going to merge what was written in chapter three and four as those are both very short chapters. Then, after those, probably a major time skip with some flashbacks sprinkled in there. I really liked this chapter, I think it definitely flows a bit better than the original but I did keep a lot of the dialogue from the original because I didn't see any need to change that aspect of it. Other than that, enjoy!

The trek Danzō took to the Hokage's office was a quick one, the man jumping over and across rooftops with precise and experienced steps. His charge, who had still been in his arms since the explosion of his compound, was beginning to look pale. The metal bat Naruto had been holding from before had, at some point, slipped from his shaking fingers and disappeared into the night. Upon further look, Danzō could see the boy trying to will his nausea away. It wasn't helping that every time he looked down at the roofs they were passing, his stomach would lurch as if he would puke right then and there.

Still, Naruto managed to control his stomach mostly as they finally stopped at the doors of the Hokage's office. The older of the two didn't hesitate to waltz right into the building, the doors flinging behind him in his wake. As he made his way to the middle of the lobby, Danzō placed the blond-haired child down, steadying him for a second. He searched to make sure nothing too serious besides shock had affected the academy student before the older man turned around and made his way towards the stairs.

Naruto, in a sudden panic, reached out and grabbed the bottom of the man's cloak frantically. Maybe it was his weird fear of the Hokage's office or the way people always stared at him with narrowed eyes and a stern jaw. If it was even worth the thought, it didn't seem like Danzō minded him practically hanging onto him at all, continuing to make his way up the stairs of the building.

Now that he was at ground level, the blond-haired child started to notice many little things that he hadn't noticed upon entering the building with his face buried in Danzō's chest. Like how the receptionist liked to smoke inside the Hokage's tower, hidden behind a plastic plant - definitely a fire hazard, Naruto mused to himself - all while the woman stared blankly into the space in front of her; she didn't even notice when he and Danzō passed her. It was things like that and how an elderly couple kept glaring at him whilst standing huddled against the wall of the staircase, talking amongst themselves. With his eyes losing sight of them and thoughts on a race, Naruto almost missed the way many of the ninja - some with masks, most without - bowed, their attention directed onto Danzō, and moved to make room for him in the tiny stairwell.

But, out of all the little things he noticed, it was how fast his heart was beating right.

The duo had only made it up to the second floor when the activity in the building had spiked which was surprising, to say the least, given the time of night it was. Most people would be in bed, Naruto mused to himself, but, then again, he should've been in bed himself. People were bustling about in quick, frantic succession. Civilian council members the blond-haired academy student remembered Hiruzen pointing out were panicked-looking, their face pale and features tight. Many shinobi had approached Danzō, relief obvious on their faces but the man simply kept on walking up the stairs.

Sometimes, Naruto would catch the older man looking down at him as if he was making sure that the boy was still there. It made the blond feel happy to think that Danzō was doing such a thing despite how cruel he sounded when they'd first met.

It had only been a couple of minutes later that the two had finally found themselves standing in front of the Hokage's office door. Despite knowing that the room was mostly soundproof from years of making himself known there, Naruto could clearly hear the great sounds of furious yelling traveling into the hallway. So many voices filtered out that both he and Danzō couldn't exactly make out what the people inside were talking about. The academy student fiddled with his fingers, glancing up in a lone eye that gave him courage; he never liked the sound of people yelling.

The eldest of the two didn't bother knocking on the door like some diplomat. Instead, he swung the door open, similarly to how he'd gone about the first door they'd passed through earlier and waltzed in with an aura of authority. All conversation within the office had ceased, staring with wide, disbelieving eyes. All the while, Naruto was still holding onto Danzō's cloak for dear life.

Upon their abrupt entrance, Hiruzen jumped out of his seat, hands steadying him on the office desk. He looked Danzō up and down, pausing to search once more before giving a sigh of relief at having not seen any visible mark other than a few scuffs to his old friend's clothes. "Danzō, I'm glad that you are alright." He laid a hand on his heart, smiling softly.

"It is nice to know that I am still wanted in your presence." The older man scoffed, having made that same joke to the other many, many years ago, "Though, I probably wouldn't have gotten here as unharmed as I am had Naruto not shown up in my home this evening." His words were directed with a slight nod downwards to where the boy was still standing perfectly still.

"Maybe if I stay like this, no one will see me?" His mind cooed in his panic.

However, it seemed, at that moment, all eyes were on him. Both shinobi and civilian council members had finally noticed the small and pale blond-haired academy student still attached to Danzō's cloak. The Third Hokage cleared his throat, most of the people in the room unwilling to tear their eyes off the boy. "Naruto?" The older man tried, blinking in surprise while he glanced between his successor's son and his old friend. His eyebrows furrowed together in question, utter disbelief written on his face, "I'm not sure that I understand how he plays a part in your compound exploding, Danzō."

"I, um…" An embarrassed blush filled Naruto's cheeks, words feeling constricted in his throat. He may have always strived to have the village acknowledge him, but this was the wrong kind of attention. It wasn't the hateful stares or the sputtering of those he pranked without fail, it was confusion and shock, not the good kind-of shock either.

It seemed, however, that the man above him could sense his plight, directing all attention onto him. "At approximately 11:14 P.M., I heard scurrying in the ceiling of my kitchen. Upon further inspection and a thorough kick to it, Naruto appeared before me, informing me that several ANBU members had planned to assassinate me tonight." Danzō supplied, waving a hand to the boy, "Had he not crawled through a hole in the force field of my compound and snuck inside my house, I could have sustained severe injuries or died."

Hiruzen absorbed the information quietly before setting his dark eyes on the eight-year-old boy in a piercing stare, "Naruto… you were there?"

"Um, yes, sir."

"How did you know that ANBU members were behind the attack?" An abrupt council member spoke up from the crowd; no one was sure if it was the likes of shinobi or civilians.

"U-Uh… Um…" Who knew that the most out-spoken and loudest kid in all of Konoha would be here tonight, stumbling over his words and stuttering. Naruto chalked it up to the events of the night, his shock from killing someone and the booming sound that resounded after they'd fled the compound.

There were too many people staring at him, waiting on his answer. With the way their faces contorted the longer it took him to answer, the more the blond-haired boy could clearly see some sort of resentment growing there. It made him incredibly nervous, given his history with those kinds of people in the alleyways and at the dead of night.

His hands tightened around Danzō's cloak, tugging on it slightly, accidentally drawing the man's attention; he hadn't meant to. Naruto glanced up at the older man, hoping that Danzō could supply the words for him again as his throat constricted once more. Instead of an annoyed look or the tell-tale signs of anger decorating his face, there was an almost soft and kind-looking there instead. "You can do this." Either Danzō was sending him a mental message - if ninjas were even capable of that - or Naruto was finally hyping himself up. For obvious reasons, he guessed it to be the second one.

"Well?" Another council member called out, letting their aggravation show in the way they sighed deeply.

"You're not in trouble, we just need to know what happened." Hiruzen tried dissolving the situation while also hoping to ease the blond into speaking.

Naruto took a deep breath, visibly trying to relax even when his stomach flipped again. "Um, so… there are these two ANBU guys that, um, Hokage-Jiji made them watch over me during the day." He waved his hands around in dramatics, an unconscious habit he had while telling stories, "Well, I overheard them talking a few days ago while they were standing on a roof outside my apartment. They were talking about a compound on the edge of the village. A friend of Hokage-Jiji's lived there a-and they said that they were going to… um, k-kill him."

The Third Hokage nodded at his words, "Okay? What events led to you going to Danzō's compound or did you just immediately go there to tell him?"

"Well, I decided to… do something bad?" The academy student shuffled his feet, looking away with shame.

"What did you do, Naruto?" The older man asked him, eyebrows furrowing as everyone in the room hung on the boy's every word.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt so I… I may have stalked - um, watched them for a couple of days to try and figure out what was going on and who they were trying to hurt." Naruto's face flushed in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I found out where Danzō-san was living and who all was involved… or who I thought was all involved." He fell silent for a moment, face paling significantly as he looked back up at the man he'd saved that night. "Danzō?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry I didn't know Hummingbird was involved…" The blond-haired academy student mumbled out, hands finding the cloak once more.

"It's alright, child. Sometimes the strongest enemies are not the ones you face, but are the ones that sit in your blind spot." Danzō dropped a hand on the boy's head, ruffling his hair slightly, "Had you not killed that ANBU for me, I doubt I would be standing here."

Naruto flushed, looking back down at the ground, having not really been given praise before, "Thanks…"

Hiruzen coughed into his hand, gathering the attention again. "I… have many questions but I'm not entirely sure where to start." He sighed heavily, fingers holding his nose, "Naruto, why didn't you inform me when you'd learned that there were traitorous ANBU in the village?"

The academy student stared at him plainly, speaking in clipped sentences. "I was in too deep by the time I realized I'd been listening in on too much of their conversation. If they knew that I knew as much as I did, they… probably would have k-killed me." He fiddled with his hands again, "I can outrun a lot of the Chunin in the village, but I don't know if I could outrun an ANBU if they decided to chase me and I know for sure I can't fight them."

"There were six of these traitors, Hiruzen, five that showed themselves to him." Danzō supplied, "He would be outmatched in every which way shape and form."

"I see…" The Hokage mumbled, pulling out his pipe to smoke a bit.

"But how did you get into Danzō-sama's compound? It is impossible to get in without his blood playing a factor." A shinobi council member voiced from across the room, leaning against the wall.

"That was easy!" Naruto startled to life, excitement to his voice, not noticing the shocked faces of those around him, "There was a big hole that I crawled through and got in."

The man in question chuckled slightly, looking to the council member who'd spoken, "It wasn't that simple, Shikaku."

The Nara man tilted his head, "Mind explaining then?"

"I'd been traveling quite extensively for months so I haven't been home in a while. I hadn't had the chance to make arrangements for someone to come and check on the seals surrounding my compound so, yes, there was a hole in the force field protecting my home." He motioned his head down at the academy student, "This is how the little one got in."

"I'm not little!" His plea fell on deaf ears as the adults continued to converse.

The Third Hokage looked at his long-time friend from across his desk as he smoked from his pipe, "I'm going to assume that those rouge ANBU agents would have already known about this."

"You'd be correct. They were probably just waiting until I appeared at my compound to strike." He stated.

"Alright, so, let me get this straight." The old Sarutobi man began, stepping around his desk to stand before everyone in the room, his words directed at Naruto, "You overhear two ANBU agents that I sent to look after you - which is a feat in and of itself because you shouldn't even know that they're there, to begin with. You hear that they and four others were going to kill a friend of the Hokage's and then proceed to stalk these members. Am I following right so far?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. So, you then decide to go over to Danzō's compound to warn him that he's being targeted by some of the most elite ninjas in this village. I assume that he fights these members?" He gets a nod from the duo involved, "And where were you during that time? Were you also fighting ANBU members?"

"No," Danzō interjected, "I hid him in one of the rooms away from the fight."

"Then how did he save you from Hummingbird, which is a whole other thing.=?" Hiruzen rubbed the sides of his temples.

"I got scared…" Naruto mumbled out, eyes on the floor yet again, "I thought that the ANBU guys had gotten Danzō-san and that's why I hadn't seen him in a while. I didn't want him to die… So, I left the room with a metal bat that I found, and…" There was a hand on his head again, carding through the strands in a relaxing sort of way.

"Hummingbird, the sixth ANBU member that both Naruto and I were unaware of, finally showed itself. I had been too distracted by the five traitors before me that I didn't even sense them sneak up behind me. Naruto, however," Danzō looked down at the blond, sky blue eyes staring back at him, "he took the initiative and swung the bat, successfully downing Hummingbird. I took the other ANBU member's shock into account as I grabbed Naruto and fled the scene, escaping without too much fuss."

"I suppose, given the context, that explanation makes sense." Hiruzen's face suddenly morphed into something more thoughtful, "I still have one more question."

"What is it?" His long-time friend responded.

"How the hell did your compound end up exploding?!" The Third Hokage expressed, waving to the window where you could still see smoke billowing off in the horizon where the compound lied in flames, "Danzō, you should have been able to take out those ANBU agents with no problem but your compound explodes?! I think you can see where my confusion is coming from, old friend."

"And I think you can understand my position, old friend." He made a face, "I really couldn't go all out with Naruto still in the compound, hidden away where I couldn't see him and protect him from both the ANBU's abilities but as well as my own. I would have hurt or killed him by accident had I gone all out."

"I'm sorry…" Naruto mumbled against his leg, where his tired body was now fully leaning against. Guess the lateness of the night and the shock finally wearing off was taking its toll on his small body.

"It wasn't your fault, kid." Danzō stroked the boy's hair before returning back to his conversation with the Hokage, "I was at a slight disadvantage because of that. Even beyond that, those traitorous ANBU had set my compound of fire with their multitude of jutsus - where I could not go all out, they brought all they had to try and assassinate me. I was fighting against falling debris and trying not to catch on fire in the process while also fighting against five differently-equipped ANBU agents who coordinated with each other expertly well."

Hiruzen sighed deeply, "On any other day, I would have taken that as a compliment but I am sorry for the trouble they put you through."

Danzō raised a hand, looking annoyed, "That sixth ANBU agent that Naruto hadn't known about prior to this entire evening had done a damn good job at keeping hidden for most of the fight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I don't think I need to reiterate how dead I would have been had Naruto not taken care of the hummingbird-masked member."

The other man nodded, "Yes, I am well-aware by now."

"By this time, most of the compound was either completely destroyed in our fight or was on fire. I made a decision that resulted in the compound exploding." He waved a hand in his explanation, "I have secret passageways underneath my compound hidden along certain walls of my home in case something happened which, in this case, did. Within the walls of these passages is a button that will cause my compound to self-destruct. It's how I protect myself and my secrets. There, now you know why my compound exploded."

The Third Hokage nodded slowly, glancing between his long-time friend and Naruto who was slowly dozing by now, "Which of the ANBU members were involved, Naruto?"

He jumped at his name, rubbing his eye tiredly, "Tiger and Leopard are the ones that you assigned to me. Boar, Lemur, and Bat were the other three that I found out were involved when I followed them. And Hummingbird is the sixth one that came out of nowhere." The blond yawned quietly.

He was so tired that he didn't even notice all of the ANBU agents in the room tense up at the mention of who was involved in the attack.

Hiruzen nodded, "Thank you for your time. Danzō, Naruto… I'm glad you both are okay. I was worried when there were reports flooding in about an explosion. I thought we were being attacked."

"You're welcome," Danzō stated.

"You're dismissed for now. If there is anything else, I will call for you." The Third Hokage said, waving them off with a tight smile.

Danzō bowed slightly before turning, the cloak slipping out of the academy student's gripping hands. The older man waltzed out of the room and down the stairs with fast steps. Naruto spun on his heel, running out of the room after the man. His tiny legs wouldn't let him go as fast as he wanted.

"W-Wait!" He called out, seeing Danzō make his way out of the building. The academy student ran as fast as he could, slamming the door open. He could see the other man start to take steps away from the Hokage's office. "Wait, please!"

Danzō stopped, turning his head to look at the boy, "You should head home, you need rest after a night like that."

Naruto finally caught up with him now that his target was stationary. "I need to say something!" He took deep breaths to calm himself.

"What is it?" He questioned curiously.

"I know that I didn't do much when you were attacked… I feel really awful because of it." Naruto's mouth turned into a tight frown, eyebrows furrowed, "All I did was stalk someone and get in your way. You said it yourself - since I was there, you weren't able to fight to the best of your abilities."

"I already told you it wasn't your fault," Danzō stated, turning to face the boy fully.

"I'm aware." He shook his head, "I just.. I'm a coward, Danzō-san… I was so scared to leave that room. I just…" Naruto lifted his head to stare the older man in the eyes. "You're strong, really strong. I saw just how strong you were near the end of the fight when I… killed that guy. I want to be that strong one day. I guess what I'm trying to ask is…" He took a deep breath, "Will you train me?"

Danzō's eyes widened, in shock from such a statement. For years, ever since the day of Naruto's birth, he's begged and begged Hiruzen to give the boy to him so he can train and mold him into a powerful ninja. He had never expected that such an opportunity would present itself to him in this way. Cards that had never been dealt with him were already in his hand.

He tried to hide the grin that wanted to appear on his face, "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Naruto nearly shouted out, hands close to his chest while being balled into fists.

"You said 'yes' too quickly." Danzō was quick to say, "I'm the leader of an underground unit that goes by the name of Root - we're like the ANBU but better and much more secretive. There's barely anyone in this village that is aware of our existence."

"Woah…"

"Training for Root operatives is hell, I'm not so sure that you'd last." He was grasping at straws, pulling all his trump cards for that push of determination he wanted to see from the boy, "You've barely thought this through - it's been almost two hours since we've met. By wanting me to train you, you are signing yourself up for a lifetime career. Becoming Hokage would no longer be in your sights as a Root operative. Your whole life, personality, wisdom, outlook - everything, it's all going to change. Are you sure that you want to be trained in the way of Root?"

Naruto took a deep breath, seriousness falling over his face, "Yes."

Danzō, finally, let the grin spread on his face, "Alright then, Naruto. Tomorrow, at five, I want you to meet me at this exact spot. Bring nothing but the clothes on your back."

"Yes, sir."

"I hope that you know what you're doing because your life is about to change." With those words finally said, the man disappeared with a swirl of leaves.

Naruto stared at the leaves, a content smile on his face as he started to make his way home. "I know what I'm doing." His mind cooed happily.