Chapter 10

Naruto sat across from Danzo in a tea shop. It was surprisingly empty and the two were alone. Although Naruto knew that his men were around. Naruto was prepared but was calm. He knew the elder would not make any sudden moves that would bring him in the light.

"So, you said that we need to talk. So, talk." Naruto said calmly.

"So little respect. This is your mother's upbringing at work." Danzo said. Naruto did not react to the insult. "I need to know what you are planning with the last Uchiha."

"Last I checked, the old man warned you about your spying on Sasuke." Naruto said amused.

"I am coming to you. What are you planning?" Danzo demanded.

"All you need to know is that Sasuke's ambition will work in tandem with the village." The blond-haired person said.

"Do you really believe that? His ambition will only lead to the village being in danger." The elder stated. Naruto scoffs at him.

"Are you going to sit here and lecture me about the village's safety when you are the one who weakened it in the first place?"

"It had to be done. The Uchiha were planning a coup. They would have caused destruction on a level that would have been as bad as the Kaguya incident. I will never apologize for what I had to do to protect the village."

"Nice speech. However, if those words were coming from anyone else, it would hold merit. You fancy yourself as the second coming of Senju Tobirama. The only difference between you two is he knew when a line was crossed. He would have dealt with the coup ruthlessly, but he would have done it himself. He also would never have included non-combatants. You can try to walk in his steps, but you will never, never, be the patriot the Nidaime was. It was why he did not choose you to be Sandaime." Naruto stated. He realized that he struck a nerve with the slight flinch in Danzo. However, the elder was quick to hide it.

"You play a dangerous game young Namikaze. I am not your enemy but if you continue to test me, that will change." Danzo warned.

"Don't make empty threats Shimura. It didn't work on Itachi, and it doesn't work on me." Danzo did not say anything else and stood up. He walked out of the shop. Naruto just watched the man leave. He sighed and was very frustrated. He stood up and left the tea shop after a few moments. He had a sister to talk to.

XXX

Naruko was throwing kicks and punches in the backyard, working up a sweat before dinner. She was curious about what her brother and mentor talked about but she was not allowed to be a part of it. She could only hope that Danzo got through to Naruto. She continued to practice when Naruto stepped out from the house. The look on his face worried her a bit but she hid it quickly.

"Naruto, what…" she began.

"No, you're done talking Naruko. I am going to ask you one question and you're going to answer it." He stated seriously. Naruko was stunned but quickly got annoyed.

"Who do you think you are talking to me like that Naruto?" Naruko spat.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Naruto demanded. Naruko took a step back at his tone. "I want to know what your problem is with me training Sasuke?" Naruto stood there, arms folded and waiting for her to speak. Naruko got serious and looked at him.

"Sasuke is dangerous. Him, his clan, they're dangerous. The ability to control the Kyubi, no one should be able to do that. What if Sasuke gets too powerful from your training that he gains that ability? Are you so sure that he wouldn't use it against the village? I am your family, and I am just looking out for you." She answered.

"I asked why you have a problem, not your mentor." Naruto said.

"That is my reason!" she shouted.

"No, it isn't. Do you think I can't see his words from yours? Don't insult my intelligence." The two stared at each other with narrowed eyes. Naruto sighed before speaking again. "You don't need to worry about me when it comes to Sasuke. I'll be all right when training him." He stated.

"Damn it Naruto, don't be a fool!" she shouted at him. Naruto turned away from her and walked away. Naruko glared at him as he walked back to the house. If he was just going to ignore her warning, then she was going to do something about. She was going to protect her brother whether he wanted it or not.

XXX

Naruko made her way over to her target. She was still mad about yesterday. It only got worse when her mother sided with Naruto. Well, it didn't matter what they thought. She was going to put a stop to this now. She arrived at her target, standing before the two boys and puppy.

"Hey, we need to talk Uchiha." Naruko said with a hard tone. Sasuke just looked at her without a care, which only made her angry. "This thing between you and my brother isn't going to happen."

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked.

"I won't allow you to use him so you can complete your ambition. If you want strength so bad, get one of your ass-kissers to train you." Naruko spat.

"Your brother is the one who came to me and offered to train me. He certainly doesn't seem like an ass-kisser. He sees something in me besides my name. Why do you care anyway? You mad that he will train me and not you?" Sasuke mocked.

"I don't care what you think. I'm telling you how it is, and you are going to stay away from him." She spoke.

"I don't think so. If Naruto wants to end our arrangement, he can tell me himself. He doesn't need his jealous little sister pretending to care about him." He stated.

"Jealous?" Naruko demanded.

"What else could it be? Everyone knows that he attempted to train you before, but you couldn't even follow simple instructions. You're just jealous that he'll be passing his knowledge onto me." Sasuke said. Naruko balled her fists and was furious.

"You're just like the rest of your damn clan. You take what doesn't belong to you. Jutsu, skills, my brother, all your clan is good for is taking things that don't belong to you. That's why they were taken from you Sasuke! Maybe that's why they're dead!" Naruko exclaimed. The grounds got quiet after that exclamation. Naruko looked stunned at what she said, and Sasuke was too. That quickly turned to anger, and he stood up, chakra beginning to pour off him. Naruko quickly got ready for a fight when Kiba got between the two.

"Sasuke don't let her jealousy work you up man. She isn't worth it." Kiba said, Akamaru barking in agreement.

"You stay out of this dog-boy!" Naruko shouted. Surprisingly, Kiba did not engage her.

"Look, let's just leave and cool off. Don't let her win. You are better than her." Kiba stated. Sasuke glared Naruko but Kiba's words managed to get through. He nodded to Kiba before looking at Naruko.

"I will not forget this insult. Count on it." Sasuke said. Kiba led his friend out of yard where no one stopped them. Naruko glared at the retreating duo when she noticed the looks that she was getting. They were not appreciative looks. A lot of them were looks of disgust. Naruko huffed and stormed off in the other direction.

XXX

Naruto arrived at the spot for his meeting. He had about five minutes before meeting his contact. He indulged himself with the training ground. He had some fond memories of this place. This where he would watch his father and his students. His mom was also with him sometimes. Those were some fun moments.

"Fond memories?" Naruto turned to see Kakashi. He gave him a smile.

"Something like that. Most of my fond memories of dad are here. There's also mom's stories about when I was a baby. Something about baby vomit, which again, I'm sorry about that." The blond-haired person said with a nervous chuckle.

"Kushina needs to stop telling those stories. Anyway, I managed to get the commander on board with your request. You'll have to do it under guard though with members of my old team." Kakashi explained.

"That's more than enough. Thanks, big brother." Naruto said.

"Why can't Naruko be that adorable?" The jonin joked. After a while, Kakashi's posture got serious. Naruto noticed this and wondered what was wrong.

"Something on your mind?" Naruto asked.

"I have to ask, what is the end goal is here? I'm simply curious. You have to know that there are those higher up would be watching." Kakashi asked. Naruto got a somber look on his face.

"Two months before the massacre, I had a talk with Fugaku. We talked about the curse of the Uchiha, the Nikushimi no Noroi. He told me that the love and friendship in his clan is so great that when they lose that, it turns into hatred. I know that everyone can feel that type of hatred but the way he spoke about, I couldn't help but see what he was talking about when I look at Sasuke."

"Understandable. He did lose his whole family and the one who did it was someone close to him. I would feel hatred too."

"The way Fugaku spoke about it, it's more than that. When it comes to the Uchiha clan, the hate that they experience is nothing I've ever witnessed. The way taicho spoke about it, I can't allow Sasuke to go down that path. I owe his parents, his clan, to end this curse with him. I have to." Kakashi looked at the conviction in his sensei son's eyes. He could see that he was determined to see this through. He scoffed in amusement before giving him an eye smile and ruffling his hair.

"Just don't be afraid to ask for help kid." Kakashi said.

"Thanks bro." Naruto said happily. The two got off the serious topic and started to talk about lighter things.

XXX

The weekend came soon after. Naruto and Sasuke were picked up by ANBU members around mid-day. They were brought to a secret location that very few knew. They arrived at a room where two other ANBU were waiting. Sasuke was really confused and wondered what was going on here.

"What is this?" he asked.

"This is the start of training. You want to be an oinin, you need to know who you're hunting. A family friend arranged this for me." Naruto explained and pointed to a file that was on a table. Sasuke made his way to the table and looked at the file. When he opened it and saw a familiar face, he was shocked.

"This is…"

"It's heavily redacted so you won't learn much. However, what you do learn will be enough. You have five minutes and that's all you'll get. I'll be outside." Naruto turned to leave when he stopped at the door. "Learn well Sasuke. After this, the training will begin, and you will find me to be much harder supervisor than Iruka." With that Naruto left the room. Left alone with the two ANBU, Sasuke took a seat and put all his focus on the file. This was the start of his ambition, the start of his goals. He would do as his sensei said and learn what he could.

XXX

"So, he has ignored my warnings?" Danzo asked.

"Yes, he has. After leaving the ANBU base, he took him to one of the training grounds and began to train. That is all." A masked ninja reported.

"Very well." Danzo said and the ninja vanished. Danzo was not pleased by what his agent reported but he should have seen it coming. That boy was just as stubborn as his mother. However, he was also like his father. He would admit he could never get a read of Minato Namikaze when he was Hokage. The man revealed little when the two would meet. Naruto was the same.

"Still, I must learn what he is planning with Sasuke. However, I must step back and watch for now." Danzo said to himself. He hated it but he had no choice. Lucky for him, he also had an ace up his sleeve. Naruto might have the last Uchiha, but he had the Kyubi jinchuriki. His was the better weapon.

XXXXX

Translation

Nikushimi no Noroi - Curse of Hatred

Oinin - Hunter nin

Authors' Notes - Happy New Year everybody! Hope the new year met everyone health and happy. Anyway, here is as new chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Again, Happy New Year!