AN: Sorry this took so long, but it was rather difficult to pick up where I left off from last chapter. Originally I was going to progress a lot more down the timeline with this chapter, but then both parts just kept on getting bigger and I decided to cut it off. Hopefully it'll mean that it won't be too long before the next update comes in :)

[Edit 10-1-2016]: Just some cosmetic changes, nothing to see here, move along people.

Chapter 8 – Training and Traitors

The feral looking boy carefully crouched behind a thick bush, eyes with slitted pupils warily taking in the dense forest around him. His hands, tipped with claws instead of fingernails, were curled beside him, ready to lash out at his target at the merest hint of its presence.

Sweat dripped down the boy's brow, rolling over the triangular tattoos on his cheeks, but the child didn't move from his stance, afraid that he'd give away his position to his illusive enemy. He sniffed the air, but even though his nose was many times more sensitive than that of an ordinary civilian, he still wasn't experienced enough to confidently pick up a trail as mixed up as that of his opponent's.

He and his enemy had been both prey and predator for a couple of hours now, and their scents were everywhere in the thick forest, and intermingled to boot. Growling softly at yet another handicap, the boy shifted a little on his feet, his sharp eyes desperately scanning his surroundings for a glimpse of his companion.

'With Akamaru by my side, I could've pick up that blonde bastard's scent easily.' Kiba Inuzuka thought to himself, annoyed that he had lost his best friend early on during the hunt, which had quickly dissolved into this cat-and-mouse game.

'And I hate cats.' The boy thought, before carefully making his way to a thicker, larger bush moving on all fours, the movement coming as easy to him as walking upright did.

A rustling from a couple of feet to his left made him whirl around and jump towards the sound, a battle cry coming from his lips as he grinned savagely, showing off pointed canines glinting in the low hanging sun.

'I got you now!' he thought triumphantly to himself, only to try and halt his moment in mid-air, because stumbling out of the bush, looking disoriented and disheveled, fell his trusted friend and companion, the puppy Akamaru.

Regrettably for Kiba, however, was that he wasn't a proficient Fuuton user and thusly couldn't control his movements while in flight. The result of that unfortunate fact, was that the flying lad ended up flat on his face, his feet pointing nearly straight up at the sky above.

With a groan, the young Inuzuka extracted himself from the head-shaped hole, and quickly grabbed the (formerly) white puppy in his arms, squashing it against his chest. Akamaru barked happily and gave Kiba's scratched up face a few licks.

"Oh, I'm so glad I found you, Akamaru! I was getting worried that that blonde asshole did something to you!"

Akamaru gave an affronted bark, as if the mere idea that someone would've been capable of overpowering him was ludicrous at best. Kiba laughed at his puppy's defiance, before hugging it once more to his chest.

"I know, I know, but still. That guy is tricky, before you know it he'd have you walk in to some kind of trap…"

Kiba trailed off, as stumbling out of another bush, came another Akamaru, looking just as disheveled as the first one had been. An awkward silence fell in the clearing as the boy stared at the two identical looking dogs with a completely shocked look on his face.

'The sun must be getting to me… I think I'm seeing double…'

The two puppies began madly barking at one another, each one accusing the other of being an imposter and that Kiba should attack right now, before it was too late! Kiba looked from the dog in his arms to the one standing a few feet away, before his expression hardened, and he whipped out a kunai-

"OUCH!"

-and stabbed it towards the dog in his arms. The fake Akamaru jumped clear of his arms, surrounded by a poof of smoke when he landed, revealing a blonde boy with three whiskermarks on each cheek and metallic-looking bandages wrapped around his hands and forearms.

"How did you know it was me?" Naruto asked with a grin, showing elongated canines of his own, though they weren't as pronounced as most of the Inuzuka's were.

Kiba straightened from his crouch, Akamaru quickly bounding over at his side, growling at the blonde as he did, while the feral boy started flipping the blunted kunai up and down in his clawed hand.

"You can change your form to that of Akamaru, but you didn't change your scent." Kiba replied with a toothy grin of his own.

Naruto frowned at the answer, obviously berating himself in his mind, before a disgusted look crossed his face.

"You sniffed me?" the blonde asked in a horrified voice.

Kiba and Akamaru simultaneously face-vaulted, before Kiba pointed an accusing finger at the still somewhat bleak looking Naruto.

"You licked my face!"

Naruto simply looked affronted at that, turning up his nose with a haughty scoff.

"Of course I did! I had to act like Akamaru didn't I? Admit it, you were totally tricked by my transformation!"

"Like hell!" Kiba jumped up at that, before taking out another practice kunai, Akamaru lowering his stance next to him.

"I'm gonna pay you back for that you bastard!"

Naruto cracked his knuckles, his grin firmly back on his face, as the wind picked up around them, throwing around leaves and ruffling their hair and clothes.

"You sure you're up for that, Dog-Breath?"

Kiba's features seemed to grow even more feral, as he crouched low, the kunai held loosely in his hands. Most Inuzuka didn't really bother all that much with weapons due to their role as trackers, and their close-range fighting style; usually their claws, teeth, and ninken were more than sufficient for tearing the enemy to ribbons.

Unfortunately, Akamaru was still too young and small to really function as a close-combat companion and Kiba wasn't proficient enough with chakra yet in order to harden his claws enough for them to be useful in a fight.

Blunted kunai would have do to, for now at least.

"Hell yeah, I'm up for it! You can't use your chakra cloak, remember?! Choji's dad said so!" Kiba yelled gleefully, expecting to knock the blond down a peg or two.

Naruto simply grinned as he settled in a very sloppy Goken-stance, one that would make Gai cry (and had in fact done so on numerous occasions in the past) as he made a 'come-hither' motion with one hand.

"Who said I'd be using that technique?"

And before Kiba could question the cryptic statement, Naruto shot forwards, one bandaged fist cocked back. Despite the fact that the fist was obviously not covered in swirling chakra (and considering this was Naruto, there was no need to fear that the fist was secretly strengthened with a little charka anyway, as Naruto didn't do little) Kiba still reacted reflexively, having seen Naruto's shroud in action several times before.

He crossed his arms in front of him as he jumped back, but he was taken by surprise when Naruto didn't let the punch fly as he had expected, but instead was suddenly covered by a thick shroud of smoke. And from the shroud burst something that made Kiba's eyebrows disappear in his messy hairline as his mouth fell open in shock.

"Oh come on! That's just not fair!"

Because where mere moments before had been a small blonde child, was now a gigantic monstrosity, bearing down on his jumping form. And as Kiba had painfully experienced just a short while ago, it was very difficult to maneuver in mid-air.

The horrifying beast appeared to be a cross between an oversized direwolf, and a bear on steroids, with glistering fangs that shone from a drooling maw large enough to swallow him whole. Akamaru, his brave and trustworthy friend, threw himself at the monster without even a moment's hesitation, utterly fearless in the defense of his friend and master.

Unfortunately, Akamaru, no matter how courageous, was still a puppy, and even as he bit down on the thick fur of Naruto's new form, it still barreled on, not even noticed the slight weight of the small dog now trailing behind it as an odd sort of flag sticking out from his shoulder.

Naruto, or what used to be Naruto at least, jumped at the airborne Inuzuka, who couldn't do anything but close his eyes and tightly hold his kunai out in front of him. In his mind, he could see those monstrous jaw get closer and closer, about to snap down on him, trapping him between those glittering teeth-

SMACK!

"UZUMAKI!"

-before he could hear Naruto's form give a strangled yelp, as both he and the monster crashed into the forest-floor. Opening his eyes, Kiba saw the enormous beast lying flat-out on the ground, holding its head with two oversized clawed paws, each one about as large as the average ninken.

Standing over Naruto's prone (and whining) form, stood Chouza Akimichi, his hand outstretched from where he had given Naruto a slap upside the head.

Said Uzumaki transformed back into his regular form with a poof of smoke, clutching his head with a wince.

"Damn sensei, you hit real hard, ya know?!"

Chouza snorted, steam coming from his nostrils.

"I know gaki; you keep whining about it with every chance you get!"

Naruto sprung to his feet at that, head-trauma forgotten as he pointed an accusing finger at the Akimichi Clan Head.

"Only because you hit me with every chance you get!"

SMACK!

"Shut up gaki! I don't even know what you're talking about!

'But Akimichi-dono… you just did…' Kiba thought with a sweat-drop as he stared at prone form of Naruto, who was now sporting an impressive bump on his head.

"And besides that, Uzumaki, you deserved a slap upside the head! What have I been teaching you for the past year?!"

With a groan, Naruto sat back up, rubbing his abused head with a wince, even as he reluctantly answered the mountainous Clan Head.

"Animal forms are not for battle." The Uzumaki said unhappily, but if the Akimichi noticed, he didn't say anything about it.

"Exactly! You are a shinobi; unless the Inuzuka deem you ready for Beast Combat, you'll fight like one! However, that being said, it was a clever move, transforming yourself into your opponent's familiar: considering that most nin-companions are usually smaller than the average human, it will be something that very few ninja will expect, as only your unique Henge allows you to transform into something smaller than you're regular form. Be wary of using it on higher level shinobi however. It worked on Kiba, because he can't sense chakra to save his life-" "Hey!" "- but a Jounin, or even a mid to high level Chunin? They'll notice something's up the moment you come close enough. Can you tell me what else you could've done better?"

Naruto worked himself to his feet, and dusted himself off, as Kiba gladly let Akamaru jump into his hands, both of them tired and dirty from the intensive exercise.

"I shouldn't have waited?" Naruto hazarded, prompting a nod from Chouza.

"Correct. The moment young Kiba took you in his arms, you should've struck! And not with your beast form as you just did either! Tell me, what should you have done?"

At this, Naruto worried his lip between his teeth, his face scrunched up in thought as he tried to look at their sensei's question from every possible angle. Kiba turned away from the blond in order to sooth and groom a ruffled Akamaru; he had seen this post-training discussions a couple of times now, and there wasn't really anything new for him there.

Chouza always trained Naruto into the ground, and then would ask the boy whether he knew what he did wrong, and what he should've done instead. While the Akimichi Clan Head would always tell the blonde if he was right or wrong, he never told him outright what the correct answer was, wanting Naruto to develop a more tactical mind.

Unfortunately, while Naruto could be very tricky in his fights, he didn't really do all too well with proper tactics and strategies; he was much better at coming up with a plan on the fly, keeping his enemy on the wrong foot, and eventually make him second-guess just about everything in his surroundings.

A rather memorable training exercise had pitted both Kiba and Choji against Naruto, who had permission to use every trick, prank and misdirection he could think of, but wasn't allowed to engage in direct combat.

Kiba had been paranoid about checking his bed and clothes for itching powder for weeks after that.

However, none of those tricks had been planned out beforehand; in fact, there had been a couple of traps that hadn't really gone off properly, as Naruto hadn't had the required components prepared for the test, despite having been told of it the day before.

Now, while Naruto wasn't exactly stupid, he had also had an incredibly rough and lonely childhood, and wasn't really all that academically inclined. Which meant that these post-training discussion tended to drag on a bit, as Naruto quickly became frustrated and confused with the complex strategies that Chouza tried to instill in him.

It was a good thing that the Clan Head had as much patience as he was large, or otherwise Kiba had a feeling that Naruto's head would be sporting a lot more bumps and bruises.

As it was, however, these discussions meant that Kiba had a short break for about ten minutes, which he used to play with his closest friend, who loved the attention and the chance to relax for a little while.

"I should've used my weapons?" came Naruto's hesitant voice.

"A possibility, yes, but can you say with absolute certainty that you would have been fast enough, or strong enough, to force Kiba into surrendering? Do not forget Akamaru either; he may seem small right now, but in a few years, he'll be large enough for Kiba to ride. You sure you want to risk a knife fight with someone when you have a trained ninken of that size at your back?" Chouza's deep voice replied patiently.

Kiba smiled down at the puppy in his arms at the comment about him riding Akamaru into battle. He couldn't wait until his friend had reached that size, but until that time, he was perfectly content with allowing the tiny dog to hitch a ride on his head.

"I should've incop… incapa… restrained him?"

"Incapacitated. And how would you do that?"

"Transform?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling?"

"Uzumaki…" Chouza said, his voice stern.

"Telling. I'm telling you I should've transformed."

"Okay. In what would you have transformed?"

"Something to bind him with. Rope?"

"You know that your senses are heavily muted when you transform into objects. If you were to transform into rope, then how do you know that your enemy won't signal for help, or grab for a weapon?"

"So I transform into a rope with eyes… I transform into a snake!"

Kiba could see the Akimichi Clan Head grimace at that, before giving a slight nod.

"A good idea, but try to avoid using it within Konoha for as much as you can. After the betrayal of one our best shinobi some years ago, snakes have gotten a somewhat bad reputation, I'm afraid."

"Like foxes, huh?"

Kiba frowned at the odd question, even as he scratched Akamaru in just the right spot, the one behind his ears. Sure, foxes weren't all that tolerated within Konoha, at least, not since the Kyuubi attack, but it wasn't as if every fox in sight was lynched on the spot or something. At most some stones were thrown at the crafty scavengers, but otherwise they were left to their own devices.

So why did Naruto sound so sad when he asked his question?

"Aye. A bit like foxes." Chouza said in a subdued tone, before clearing his throat.

"Now, the reason why a snake is a good idea for restraining someone is the fact that they simultaneously act as a threat to your captive; snakes can easily poison or crush whatever is in their grasp, so if your enemy has back-up in the form of, say, a ninken, or even fellow shinobi, then the threat of a snake will allow you some breathing room.

Now, why don't you show me a snake-like form that you could use to restrain an enemy shinobi? Remember, you can transform in anything you can think off, it doesn't need to be an actual snake."

"Ossu!" Naruto barked, as he pulled off a crisp salute.

With only the barest hesitation, Naruto flew through the hand-signs required for the Henge, intimately familiar with them after nearly a full year of training, before he was surrounding by a cloud of greyish smoke.

Kiba worriedly noticed that the cloud was rather large. Easily twice as large as him, in fact. Then, a small breeze blew away the obscuring smoke, and Kiba suddenly perfectly understood the fear most civilians had for snakes.

Because, sitting in a large heap of coils in front of Chouza, was a scaly horror that Kiba just knew would bring him nightmares for about a week or so. The snake-like thing was incredibly thick, with some coils thicker than Kiba's body, and as it reared up it easily towered over the Akimichi Clan Head, who himself was the largest man that Kiba had ever seen.

It's head only faintly resembled a snake, covered as it was in a veritable mass of horns and spikes. And that was just one of the many heads that swayed in front of Chouza, countless yellow eyes staring unblinkingly at the enormous Akimichi.

Naruto had transformed into a hydra, and while the multitude of independently moving heads were unnerving in their own right, there was still the body of the snake. Every few feet, it sprouted what appeared to be a smaller snake of its own (though smaller was subjective here; they were easily thicker than Kiba's thigh) creating a mass of pseudo-arms. With all of them writhing as they were, Kiba could see that they looked more like tentacles than snakes as he had thought at first glance, with the suckers lining the underside of each one and with the boneless-looking curls and turns they were making.

It also was covered in blaring orange high-lights.

Chouza stared for a long moment at the sinuous being in front of him, before he closed his eyes and pinched his nose with a sigh.

"Uzumaki, it's only the fact that you currently have more than one head that I'm not giving it a smack right now, simply because I have no idea which one of them I ought to smack in the first place."

Naruto's head (or at least, those that were facing in their sensei's direction, at least) all tilted simultaneously, much like Akamaru would do when he (pretended) not to understand something.

In the puppy's case, this usually involved commands like 'sit!', 'stay!' and 'No! No peeing on the bed! Akamaru, stop that right now!'.

"What'sss wrong sssensssei?"

Chouza's eye twitched, as a tick-mark formed on his forehead.

"One: cut it out with the fake snake-speech. It's overdone, and one of the worst clichés out there."

Naruto sadly ducked all of his heads at that.

"Yes, sensei." He said sadly.

"Two: WHY ARE YOU ORANGE!?"

At that, Naruto reared up defensively, all of his heads turning to face Chouza, who had gained another tick-mark, and a rather impressive shade of red on his face.

"Well, I had to compromise with the furball somehow, right?"

"Hey! Akamaru didn't say anything about your freaky transformation, you bastard!" Kiba yelled, protectively cradling the puppy against his chest.

He had to use all the willpower he had in order not to show the chill that went down his spine when over half a dozen pair of large yellow eyes swiveled around to stare at him unblinkingly.

"Can you actually see out of all of those heads?" Kiba asked with morbid curiosity, even as he unconsciously backed up a step.

"A good question, Kiba. Well Uzumaki? How operational are those additional eyes of yours?"

Immediately, a few of the transformed Naruto's eyes swung back towards Chouza, while the rest remained fixed on Kiba, much to the feral boy's distress.

"Yes, I can see out of all them. I can even taste smells now… which is so weird, by the way." Said the head closest to Chouza, an odd expression on its scaly face.

"I can also talk with all of them. They're all completely functional." One of the heads facing Kiba suddenly spoke up, almost making the young Inuzuka yelp in surprise.

Chouza seemed completely at ease with the snake-like horror in front of him as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"That's interesting information. I'll be sure to put that in my report to Hokage-sama. Hmmm, Uzumaki, please turn back into your human form. I wish to test something."

Around eight nods answered his request, before Naruto changed back into his human form, which brought a sigh of relief from both Kiba and Akamaru.

"Right, I want you to form additional eyes on your body, gaki. An eye in your forehead, the back of your head, your hands, wherever you can think of."

Naruto frowned at the request, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his dirtied pants.

"I'm not sure I can pull off small transformations like that, Sensei. It might not work if I try to do more than one at the same time, or use too much chakra than the little I need."

"Then simply use more; transform your entire body, but transform it into your body, this time with more eyes than usual."

Naruto furrowed his brow, before he grinned and started running though the hand-seals.

"That might just work!"

And with a familiar poof of smoke, Naruto transformed yet again. But this time, instead of a monstrous beast standing in his place, there was now simply the form of the small Uzumaki, appearing unchanged at first glance.

For a split-second, Kiba thought that Naruto had messed up the Henge and hadn't transformed, but then the blonde raised a hand…

… with a sky-blue eye blinking from its palm.

Kiba had only realized he had screamed when he heard its echo sounding back to him, as well as both Chouza and Naruto turning to look incredulously at him, the latter with about four or five eyes, randomly placed on his face.

"What? It just… caught me off-guard, is all." The feral boy coughed into his fist, a blush lighting up his tattooed face brighter than the sun.

"Really? I turn into a gigantic snake monster and a gigantic wolf-bear monster, but you scream when I still look like me?" Naruto asked affronted, placing his fists on his hips (and thankfully hiding the extra eyes from view).

"Just goes to show that your regular face is ugly enough, bastard." Kiba shot back almost automatically, as he resolutely stared at a spot that was anywhere else but Naruto's multitude of eyes.

"Heh, I guess I walked right into that one, didn't I?" the other boy admitted with a rueful chuckle, before Chouza cleared his throat.

"Uzumaki, the eyes? Can you see through them?"

In response, the blond lifted his hands (smirking at the way Kiba flinched at that) and turned his head a couple of times, before lifting the transformation again (smirking even wider when the Inuzuka couldn't quite contain his sigh of relief).

"Yep, I can see through all of them just fine, Sensei!"

Chouza nodded, his brow furrowed in thought, though his expression was pleased.

"Just as I suspected. I thought as much when we discovered that you can transform your sense of hearing and smell. It was only logical that you could transform your other senses as well."

The Akimichi patriarch clapped his hands, making both boys jump in surprise, before he turned on his heel.

"Right then, let's call it a day! I'll still have to add both of your new transformations to my report Uzumaki, as well as our discovery about how you can further change your sensory input. Kiba, I think your mother would like to hear about today's training as well, so you better head on home too."

Both boys cheered at that, giving whoops of joy, and trading each other high-fives, as Akamaru yipped in happiness-

"And where do you think you are going?"

-before Chouza's voice crashed into them like a bucket of ice.

Without removing the bucket.

"We're going home, right? With you, right?" Naruto asked hesitantly, though Chouza's gleeful expression made sweat break out on both boys faces.

"Going home? Well that's entirely up to you. As for going with me… well, we can't have that, now can we? After all, today's exercise was meant to train Uzumaki with his possible tracker-forms, now wasn't it? So, in order to train those, you'll just have to track your way home. Good luck!" the Clan Head called out with an eye-smile, as he flew through a couple of hand-seals, before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

A shocked silence fell over the clearing, as both Kiba and Naruto stared at the spot where their sensei had stood mere moments ago.

"Hehehe, say, Kiba, you know the way back to Konoha, r-right?" Naruto asked with a twitching eyebrow and a strained smile as he turned towards his fellow trainee.

"Hehehe, I was rather hoping that you remembered it, Naruto, which you do, r-right?" Kiba answered, his expression mirroring that of the blonde.

For several long seconds, both boys stared at each other, before Akamaru gave a sad whine. At once, both of them snapped, and the forest was shaken by a yell of despair.

"OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHI-"

Shisui desperately tried to control his breathing as he stared at the opponents in front of him. It was only his skills as an ANBU operative and talented Sharingan user that had allowed him to survive the first hectic seconds of the ambush that had taken him completely by surprise.

Even as he stared at the assailants as they were revealed by the moonlight, he had trouble wrapping his head around their identity. While he had never seen two of them before (somewhat worrying, as his position within ANBU and the photographic memory provided by the Sharingan meant that he knew the faces of just about every ninja employed by Konoha, voluntarily or otherwise) but the third figure was all too familiar to him.

"Danzo…" he growled, as he gripped his tanto even tighter.

The aged advisor to the Hokage seemed completely unbothered by being recognized by one of Konoha's loyal ninja's, and hadn't even bothered to disguise himself in any way, not so much as a simple mask to conceal his face.

It either meant that he had been authorized in his actions, which was worrying… or that there wasn't a single shred of doubt in the man's mind that he would be able to keep Shisui from talking, which was absolutely terrifying.

Danzo may be old and crippled, but those things meant less in the shinobi world than they did in the civilian world, and the aged man had been apprenticed by Tobirama Senju himself, the Second Hokage and brother to the First Hokage, who had been the mightiest ninja in the history of Konoha, and arguably even that of all the Elemental Countries.

So if he thought that this fight would be a breeze, then Shisui was pragmatic enough to throw away his pride and admit that the old man was probably right.

"What do you want, Danzo?!"

Surprisingly, the advisor answered his question, his tone even and calm, as if he were simply discussing the weather, and hadn't just tried to murder him on the spot.

"I know that you were ordered by Hiruzen to use your Kotoamatsukami on the leaders of the Uchiha Coup. I also know that the use of that technique is extremely limited, with a very long cooldown."

"So what?! If I use it on the leaders of the Coup, then we'll avoid any bloodshed! We'll avoid a civil war, we'll avoid a World War!" Shisui challenged, desperately hoping for back-up that he knew wouldn't come.

"Avoid war? Ha, the naivety of your youth is reflected in that ridiculous argument. Avoid war, you say? Our world is war, boy, and I will see Konoha come out on top of all of them!" Danzo barked harshly.

"No, there are… other means, that will allow for the pacification of your rebellious clan. Your eyes, however… now those I have a use for. To influence anyone you can lay your eyes on… world leaders, Daimyo's, Hokages, and you wanted to waste it on some upstart Uchiha brats!" the advisor continued heatedly, before his scarred face smoothed itself out into an emotionless mask once more.

"Uchiha Shisui, by order of I, Shimura Danzo, ROOT shall now take your eyes, and use them for the betterment of Konoha. I could command you to not resist… but we both know that whether you resist or not will make no difference in the end."

As the aged ninja spoke, he took out an ordinary looking kunai from within his wide robes, while his two companions took up battle-stances behind him. Shisui eyed the diminutive blade warily; while a kunai on its own wasn't all that impressive, Danzo had been a Fuuton user of some renown before he had retreated to the shadows, and any weapon, no matter how small, was unbelievably deadly in the hands of someone who could control wind to the degree that masters such as Danzo could.

'This is the end, then. This is where I die… to think that my death would doom my own clan, because I was killed trying to save them… but perhaps… I can get to Itachi in time.' Shisui thought subdued to himself, accepting his fate as a true shinobi should and raised his tanto in front of him.

With a sudden burst of speed, Danzo shot forwards, streaking towards the Uchiha with an agility that belied his crippled appearance. It was only Shisui's Sharingan that allowed him to position his tanto to catch the deadly blade made from pure wind-

CLANG!

-when something blocked Danzo's path, another tanto holding back the advisor's weapon. The sounds of battle reached Shisui's ears, and a quick flick of his spinning eyes showed that the squad the Hokage had assigned to watch him had engaged Danzo's bodyguards.

One of them appeared to be slumped over, as an ANBU in a Hawk-mask suddenly turned on its fellows, while the other was desperately trying to tug off his gloves as he tried to both evade his attackers, and stay close to the defenseless body of his comrade, which was already sporting a few cuts from when he had been too slow.

All of this he registered in less than a second, time slowing down to a crawl before the might of his eyes, before he looked back towards Danzo and the ANBU who had saved his life. Salamander, Shisui's Commander, traded blows with the Hokage's advisor at a speed that seemed fast even to his Sharingan.

The Commander's style was both smooth and brutal, flowing from one strike to the next without pause, raining down blows on every part of Danzo that was within range, not hesitating to augment his attacks with punches and kicks, or even a jutsu within clashes.

However, while the Commander's style was smooth and brutal, Danzo's style was just brutal; short stabs and slashes, each one without wasted energy, each one interrupting whatever attack the Commander tried to get off. The aged ninja showed its greater experience in the underhanded way he fought, forcing the Commander into weapon-locks, allowing him to spit windblasts from point-blank range, and combining jutsu with close quarters combat with a flawlessness that made Shisui realize just how dangerous decades more of experience could be in ninja fights.

However, despite the clear gap in skills, Shisui didn't even hesitate for a second to jump into the fight, using his Sharingan to keep out of his Commander's way, while trying to abuse every opening he could spot. While using the Sharingan allowed his skill level to quickly rise to match the two formidable fighters, he still had a long way ahead of him if he ever wanted to match them in experience as well.

This was shown best when he had thrown a flurry of shuriken at Danzo, his Sharingan showing him the exact moment his Commander would disengage in order to dodge a windblast right before it happened. The plan had been to engage with a Shunshin under the cover of the shuriken, allowing him to get in close, and cut Danzo down where he stood.

Countless times before he had used his pin-point accuracy with the Shunshin in order to get close to his enemies, and countless times he had taken his enemy unawares, allowing for a quick kill, even against the most skilled of ninja.

Danzo wasn't taken unawares.

Mid-shunshin, his Sharingan negating the tunnel effect that came with the high-speed technique, Shisui could see in clear detail how the aged advisor disengaged from the ANBU Commander with a spat windblast, while simultaneously altering the flow of the air around him without even using hand seals, making the shuriken fly harmlessly past him without the need to dodge, as he turned towards the exact spot where Shisui would land-

SLAM!

Pain.

Pain radiating from his side as he looked up at the moonlit sky above him, his thoughts completely scattered. Slowly he tried to sit up, hissing as his (probably) broken ribs flared in protest. He blurrily looked at where the various fights were raging, distractedly noticing he had been flung away dozens of feet from the warzone.

He could see several ANBU lying on the ground, their purple coloring making it obvious they had died, while the ANBU with the Hawk-mask was pinned to a nearby tree, impaled with several tanto, kunai and shuriken, while three of her colleagues lied dead at her feet, most of them slashed to pieces, the wounds obviously coming from her Fuuton jutsu.

However, the renegade ninja that had controlled her had been slain in turn, if the burnt out husk was anything to go by. The other traitor ninja was still alive, his purple hands showing how he had killed the other ANBU, but the surviving ones had learned quickly, and were keeping their distance, some reading throwing weapons, while other were flying through hand-seals.

The purple-handed ninja didn't try to flee because of two reasons;

One, Shisui, as out of it as he was, could pick up the labored breathing from the ROOT traitor, a clear sign of the shinobi's utter exhaustion.

Two, he was missing a leg.

However, the more important fight was still going strong, between Danzo and Salamander. It was immediately clear what had happened at the end of his ill-fated Shunshin; a spire of hardened earth stood jutting out from the forest floor, its tip blunted at the very last moment.

Apparently, his Commander had summoned an earth spear and smashed Shisui out of the way of a kunai that would have ended his life then and there, if its location from where it was still sticking out of the spear was anything to go by.

His Commander hadn't come away from saving his subordinates life unscathed though, as there was now a long diagonal cut in his porcelain mask, thin rivulets of blood streaming from it, covering the Salamander motif in a vivid red under the bleak moonlight.

Despite the grievous wound, the Commander had given as good as he got, since there were a few noticeable cuts in Danzo's robes, while he bled from some unseen wounds, staining his clothing in a blotched crimson.

However, even as the remains of the ANBU squad managed to finally kill of the purple-handed traitor, Danzo managed to strike his final blow, ending his own fight.

Blood must have seeped into one of the Commander's eyes, since when Danzo dashed to his left, while throwing a wind-enhanced kunai to the right, Salamander focused on the kunai for just a second too long, not seeing Danzo until it was too late.

In a single smooth motion, the advisor reached into his robes, took out another kunai, covered it in wind-laced chakra, extending the blade several feet, before swinging itself upwards…

… straight through Salamander's left arm, cutting it clean off at the elbow.

"NOOOO!" Shisui roared as he struggled to get to his feet, but the life-saving damage that his Commander's spear had done was too extensive, and with a cry of pain he fell back down.

To Salamander's credit though, he gave no more than a grunt at the injury, before shooting forward and head-butting Danzo in the face, shattering his own mask, while the advisor's head snapped back, a stream of blood coming from his broken nose, while the bandages flew clear from his face, exposing the gnarled ruin of what once used to be his eye to the world.

Danzo immediately kicked the ANBU Commander back, and drew back the enhanced kunai, clearly intend on cleaving Salamander's head clean off his body.

He swung-

"Kawirami!"

-and beheaded an ANBU with a Goat-mask, who at the very last second had replaced himself with his Commander, who was quickly caught by the remaining black ops ninja.

Danzo nodded approvingly at the action, clearly impressed with the shinobi's fearlessness and willingness to die for the mission, before he turned to look around at his remaining foes.

They were in a sorry state, Shisui supposed; many of his fellows had been caught off guard when one of their own had suddenly turned on them, and the ninja that had remained consciousness had clearly used an unknown technique, if the number of bodies were any indication.

Those few that had survived were all in bad shape, with him and the Commander being the worst off, with a crushed ribcage and one limb short, respectively.

However, Danzo wasn't looking too good himself; even though he was one of the most skilled and experienced ninja in Konoha, he was also one of the oldest, and his age was starting to catch up to him. Add to that, that Salamander had been quite skilled in his own right, and the aged ninja was looked rather worse for wear.

His face looked horrible, with a completely crushed nose, and with his missing eye exposed. While his wide and dark robes hid most of his wounds, they were still ripped in numerous places, and were completely stained with his blood. The advisor's stance was slumped and his breathing harsh and ragged.

Apparently, Danzo himself noticed this as well, because he appeared resigned when he turned towards the prone Shisui, his kunai loosely in hand.

"I may perish here… but I will succeed in making Konoha strong! And it will only grow strong in war; peace will only make us weak. So, while I applaud both your skill, and your misguided loyalty to Konoha, I'm afraid it will end here, Uchiha Shisui."

And with that, he threw the kunai at the prone ninja, before he used the momentum of his swing to take out another kunai, before he lengthened it and made to swing at the grouped together ANBU, who refused to abandon their Commander, and instead made to shield him with their body.

"ENMA!"

"Right!"

Before he could even start his swing, he was struck in his belly by a large staff, which rapidly extended itself, carrying the advisor clear off his feet and into the rocky ledge behind him. While this happened, Shisui's Sharingan barely managed to catch a figure simply snatching the wind-infused kunai by the handle (the one part not sharpened by the technique) before turning it around and throwing it at the prone form of Danzo, striking him in the shoulder, and pinning him to the wall.

Danzo didn't even so much as grunt, simply slumping forwards in defeat (for as much as the kunai in his shoulder would allow it, that is)

"I agree, Danzo. Tonight it ends. But it ends, for you."

A wistful smile played around Danzo's chapped lips, the desperate and repeated use of his Fuuton-jutsu having damaged them to the point of bleeding.

"Ah, Hiruzen, my old friend…" the traitorous advisor rasped, his voice pained from the weapon still embedded into his shoulder.

Shisui looked up in awe as his Hokage, clad in full battle regalia, stood in front of the huddled ANBU squad, while a second Hokage stood in front of Shisui, having saved his life by catching the kunai aimed at his eyes.

The one in front of him, quickly turned into a puff of smoke, revealing itself as a Kage Bunshin, while the one holding the staff currently pinning Danzo against the wall turned to look over his shoulder.

"Salamander, thank you for your excellent services tonight. Konoha is both proud and privileged to count you amongst its numbers. Go, return to your base and receive medical attention. By my order, no expense shall be spared in saving your life; tell the medics that they'll have to retrieve Tsunade herself, if that is what it takes."

With a weakly muttered 'Hai, Hokage-sama' the Commander, whose face was still hidden from Shisui by his comrades, was flashed away, leaving only Shisui, the Third Hokage, and a secured Danzo.

"Uchiha Shisui, report!"

Despite his pain and possible concussion, Shisui immediately answered his Hokage. The aged leader was brimming with fury and power, and his voice had shaken the young Uchiha more than any of the multiple near-death experiences he had had tonight.

"Hai Hokage-sama! I was on my way to where the Uchiha gather to plan their coup, intending to use my Kotoamatsukami to convince their leaders to agree to a peaceful solution, sir. However, on route I was intercepted by Shimura Danzo and two ninja's I did not recognize. When I asked about the meaning of this, he attacked me, and it was only because of my Sharingan that I didn't die, Hokage-sama. I asked why he was doing this, and Shimura Danzo revealed that he did not wish for a peaceful solution with the Uchiha, but wished the power of my eyes for himself."

"I wished that power for the betterment for Konoha, you brat!"

"SILENCE!" the Third Hokage roared, shaking the ground beneath them, as Enma dug itself a little further into Danzo's stomach.

"When will you learn, Danzo?! The Konoha you fight for: IT DOESN'T EXIST! IT IS A KONOHA WITH YOU AS ITS HOKAGE, AND YOU WILL SACRIFICE ANYTHING TO SEE IT HAPPEN! DO YOU DISPUTE THIS?!"

Instead of answering, the pinned advisor simply glared at his former friend, even as more and more blood seeped from the deep wound in his shoulder.

"DO YOU DISPUTE THIS?!"

Danzo coughed, spitting out blood, before he defiantly lifted his scarred chin.

"I wished for a strong Konoha, Hiruzen. If that means that it needs to be led by me, instead of you, then so be it."

"And what would you have made me do, had you claimed Shisui's Kotoamatsukami? Well? What atrocities would I be forced to give my consent too, were it you that controlled my thoughts, hmm?" the Third Hokage almost whispered, his body shaking with restrained fury, great and terrible enough it had destroyed entire armies in the past.

Danzo kept silent, but couldn't contain the brief flicker of his eye towards the prone Shisui, who was watching this confrontation between living legends with wide eyes and halting breath as the Hokage chakra pressed down on him.

"I see. With Shisui dead, a confrontation with the Uchiha would be unavoidable, and breed the conflict you so crave. And whatever I would try to do, in order to achieve peace, you would veto, bringing your own dark schemes to the fore. And I would have no choice but to agree. Tell me, Danzo, what were you planning to do with the Uchiha, when they were all dead? Take their eyes as well?"

Danzo spat out some more blood, now looking decidedly bleak from all the blood-loss, but his voice was still strong and his one-eyed gaze still steady.

"Whatever do you mean, Hiruzen-"

"DO. NOT. LIE TO ME!" the Third Hokage roared, before Enma was pulled back, and smashed into Danzo's abdomen… once… twice… three times, each hit shaking the ledge the advisor was pinned to, each strike accompanied by a strangled gasp and the sound of breaking bones.

"We found the graves, Danzo! All of them!"

'What graves?' Shisui wondered, but he kept his mouth shut, cowed by the sea of rage almost visibly swirling around his leader.

"T-then you f-found the one t-that was e-empty as well." Danzo replied through pained gasps, fixing his rival with a baleful glare.

For just a second, it seemed to take the aged leader aback, before his face twisted in an ugly snarl, as the rage came back twice as hot, Enma digging even further into the traitorous advisor's mangled body.

"The Kyuubi-"

"The Kyuubi?!" Danzo yelled back, before he was interrupted by a coughing fit, splattering the front of his robes wet with blood.

"You would trust the Kyuubi on its word?! You would trust the judgement of demons before your own?! This, Hiruzen, this is why Konoha will always be weak with you as its leader! Konoha needs me if it wants to be strongest of all the Villages, and I will plunge the entire world into an eternity of war to see it happen!" Danzo roared, blood and spittle flying from his mouth.

At once, all of the fight left the Third Hokage, as he suddenly retracted his staff, letting Danzo drop into a heap on the ground, before tiredly leaning on it.

"I see now, what I have made myself blind against for far too long. You cannot be trusted with the safety of Konoha, and in the end, will only bring ruin to it and its people." The aged leader said with a pained and tired voice.

Danzo appeared as if he wanted to protest, but instead started choking on his own blood pooling into his mouth.

"Shimura Danzo, hereby do I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, brand you a traitor, to its people, to its beliefs, and to its Hokage. As executing you now would bring an instability that would only harm Konoha even further, I order ANBU-operative, Uchiha Shisui, to use his personal jutsu, Kotoamatsukami, on you, to force you into solitude and to make you retreat from any and all positions you may hold, both in and outside of Konoha. After a month, you will quietly pass into the next world, and a brief ceremony will be held, explaining that your advanced age, alongside an old injury, have led to your death. May it be so."

Danzo was now screaming in fury, spitting out blood even as it flowed into his mouth. The Third Hokage turned to Shisui with a sad expression on his face, even as he approached him and crouched down next to him.

"Can you stand, operative Uchiha Shisui? Your Village has need of you."

That last sentence, spoken with an utter conviction, revitalized Shisui in ways that he didn't think were possible anything outside of a personal visit of Senju Tsunade herself. It wasn't that his pains or injuries were eased or lifted, but instead, he found a fire inside of himself, a fire that allowed him to grit his teeth and bear those pains and injuries, because dammit all, Konoha needed him, and as a shinobi of Konoha, he would always be there for his Village.

With a pained grunt, Shisui worked himself to his feet, swaying as he did so. The Third Hokage quickly supported him, allowing the young Uchiha to lean on him for balance. After gasping for breath, Shisui managed a tired salute, even as he half-hung of his leader.

"It appears so, Hokage-sama."

The aged ninja smiled sadly, before gently walking him towards the incapacitated Danzo. It was clear that the advisor was trying to get away, but one of the many strikes of Enma had probably broken his spine, as his legs did little more than twitch at his frantic movements.

With a gasp, Shisui sunk to his knees, so he could look the traitorous old ninja in the eye in order to use his personal technique. Danzo, in a desperate fit of strength, spat out the blood in his mouth, staining Shisui's clothes even further, before snarling at the young Uchiha.

"Uchiha Shisui, I, Shimura Danzo, order you to stop, right now!"

Shisui stilled, before slowly glancing to their left. Confused, Danzo followed his gaze, his remaining eye widening when he saw a cut off arm, lying not ten feet away from them. Shisui bend a little closer to Danzo, his shattered ribs screaming at him in agony, though his voice remained level as he addressed the traitorous ROOT leader for the last time the latter would be aware of it.

"I don't take orders from you. I take orders from him."

And with that, Shisui's Sharingan morphed from its three spinning tomoe into a four-pointed pinwheel, activating his Kotoamatsukami.

And Danzo screamed.

AN: I hope you liked both Naruto's first steps towards experimenting with his shape-shifting and Shisui's fight. I'm a little worried that Danzo is a little too OOC, especially during the end, but then again, this is a Danzo who has yet to complete most of his schemes that we see in the anime. I dunno, you tell me :)

Fun Fact: Asuma's cigarette is never lit in the official American version. Like Graves, this guys just can't get his cigar... or, you know, cigarette in this case. Whatever.