I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Run In

Ryuu walked down the street in silence, Yomo sitting silently on his shoulder, looking around. Ryuu stopped as he reached a weapon store and walked inside. He didn't need any weapons, nor did he want any. His tanto and trench knife were all he needed. He did, however, feel like it would be good to have a backup in case he lost them during a mission. At least until he could recover them.

He walked through the store in silence, scanning around. He found a double-edged tanto with a round tsuba that he liked, and a single kunai that was silver, rather than the standard black. He bought both, paying for them and then beginning home. About a quarter of the way there, however, he noticed a pair of ANBU following him, both with black cloaks and similar Oni-styled masks. He calmly made his way through the village until he saw a third ahead of him. He turned down a side street, getting the distinct feeling that he was being shepherded somewhere. He continued walking until he found yet another ANBU blocking his path. He turned left, heading down a deserted side street, making it halfway before a line of four ANBU appeared in the street ahead of him, two appearing on his left and the four from before stopping behind him. He looked around, his Sharingan activating as they all stood silently.

"Ryuu Uchiha," a voice on his right said, Ryuu turning and drawing his new tanto, readying himself for an attack.

Standing in the doorway was a man wearing a white robe under a lighter black one, and his right arm inside of the black robe like it was useless. His left hand was resting on top of a gnarled walking stick and there were bandages around his head and over his right eye, messy black hair sticking up from the bandages. Ryuu's Sharingan was able to see chakra flowing through his right eye constantly and his right arm to several points, but the chakra wasn't doing anything, just focusing at those spots then leaving again. Still, though, Ryuu could sense that this man was very powerful.

"Who are you?" Ryuu growled.

"My name is Danzo Shimura," Danzo said. "I supplied you with your teammates during the Chunin Exams."

"I see," Ryuu nodded. "Thank you for that. Now what do you want?"

"To talk to you," Danzo said.

"Then talk," Ryuu said.

"This is hardly the ideal place to have a discussion," Danzo said. "Come inside and let me make you some tea."

He gestured at the building he had left, and Ryuu glanced up at it before back at Danzo.

"I'll pass," Ryuu said. "If you want to talk, do it. Otherwise, I'm going to go home, and you'll have to kidnap me to stop me from doing so."

Danzo regarded him in silence for a long moment. "As you wish. I am the leader of a faction within ANBU known as the Foundation."

"I know who you are," Ryuu snarled. "What do you want with me?"

"I would like to recruit you," Danzo said.

"I refuse," Ryuu said.

"I think you should reconsider," Danzo said. "You're incredibly powerful, just like your brother. He once worked for me, you know."

"I know," Ryuu growled. "I still refuse. I know how strong my brother was, telling me he was strong won't make me any more inclined to join you."

"You could be a hero," Danzo said. "Unsung, of course, but a hero none the less. The work you would do would keep the village, and everyone in it, safe from harm."

"I'm not a murderer," Ryuu said. "I actively try not to kill, and when I do it's because it was unavoidable. I have no interest in working for you, I have no interest in speaking with you, and if I ever find out that you approached any of my friends, for any reason, I'll take it as you trying to harm them. In that case, I'll crush you. Stay away from me, stay away from my friends, and stay away from Fu. She's not your concern, she's not your problem, and she's none of your business. Do I make myself clear?"

"Completely," Danzo nodded. "Take him."

All of the ANBU darted toward him at once, only for Ryuu to vanish, reappearing two streets over, in the middle of a crowd and making his way rapidly toward his house. He sensed the ANBU dispersing into the crowd and grit his teeth, trying to move faster. After about two minutes, a man stepped out of the crowd off to his right, a kunai dropping out of his sleeve. Ryuu caught the man's arm, taking the kunai and hurling it into the man's foot, the man shouting in pain and dropping, Ryuu acting surprised and scared like the rest of the crowd, who all backed away. Ryuu backed up further, disappearing into the crowd just as two of the ANBU arrived in their cloaks and masks again. Ryuu made it to a back alley and took off at a sprint. Three ANBU followed, but just as they rounded a corner after Ryuu, they stopped, staring at the empty alleyway.

Ryuu rose from the ground in a deserted part of town, sprinting toward his house just in time for three of the ANBU to appear in front of him, two with katanas and one with a pair of kunai. However, just as they landed, Yomo cawed at them from above. The ANBU ignored him but Ryuu sighed in relief. Then, Fu crashed into the ground behind the ANBU, stabbing two in the back of the head and snapping the third's neck.

"Are you alright?" Fu asked, hurrying over to him.

"I'm okay," Ryuu nodded. "There're more, though. There were ten initially."

Fu nodded and they began to run away from the corpses, only for the other seven to appear in front of him, one of them barely using his right foot. Ryuu and Fu stopped, readying themselves as the ANBU spread out slowly.

"You must be Fu," the only one wearing a white cloak said. "Danzo Shimura is very interested in you. You'll be coming with us."

"I don't think so," Fu said calmly. "I prefer to not be locked in a cell."

"Don't worry," the ANBU said. "Lord Danzo isn't going to lock you in a cell. Animals and monsters get locked in cages."

"Watch your mouth," Ryuu snarled, gripping his new tanto tightly. "You can say whatever you want about me, but I'm not going to sit around silently while you badmouth Fu."

"We're wasting time," another ANBU said.

"And just what is going on here?" a voice above them called out, everyone looking up to see Kakashi, Guy, Yugao in her ANBU uniform, and Asuma Sarutobi all standing on a building on Ryuu's left with Sasuke, a crow Ryuu had sent after him on Sasuke's shoulder.

"It looks like someone's been causing trouble," Guy said.

"It looks like seven someones are trying to kidnap a couple of children," Yugao said.

"What do we do?" one of the ANBU asked.

"Withdraw," the leader said. "We'll deal with them later."

All of the ANBU vanished, Ryuu sighed in relief. Kakashi and the others landing around them.

"Are you alright?" Yugao asked.

"We're fine," Ryuu nodded. "Thanks to Fu."

"And all of you," Fu added.

"Why were they after you?" Kakashi asked. "They were Foundation, right?"

"They said that Danzo wanted to lock Fu in a cage," Ryuu said. "So they definitely know what Fu is. As for me, they may have wanted me as a way to draw Fu out, but they still went after me so Danzo might have wanted something else. He asked me to join before he sent the ANBU after me."

"I think I know what he wants," Kakashi said. "Your Sharingan. As Shisui's brother, there's a chance you inherited his Mangekyo powers, if you were able to awaken them. For your sake, pray you don't."

Ryuu nodded. "So what do we do?"

"For now, the two of you will be guarded," Kakashi said. "You'll be with at least one jonin at all times. At least for now. The next Hokage will be able to put Danzo in his place, but for the time being, you'll be under our supervision."

Ryuu nodded and Yugao volunteered to take the first shift of babysitting. The others nodded and left. Ryuu sighed and leaned back against the wall, sliding to the ground and holding his head in his hands.

"Are you really okay?" Yugao asked.

"Why?" Ryuu asked. "Why is Danzo willing to publicly attack and kidnap me and Fu?"

"Danzo's always been extreme," Yugao said. "I got Kakashi blackout drunk once and Kakashi told me that he once tried to have Kakashi's Sharingan stolen. But once the Hokage was told, Danzo backed off so as to protect himself. Danzo's...well...He's a snake. Eventually, he's going to be killed for his sins, and no one will mourn him. But until that day, he's going to be a pest."

Ryuu nodded, sighing. He held the kunai and tanto he had bought out to Fu, who blinked in surprise before accepting them. "You should be better equipped, if we're going to be dealing with Danzo's ANBU."

Fu nodded, smiling. "Thank you." She kissed him, and he kissed her back before pushing himself up and turning to Yugao.

"Alright," Ryuu said. "Let's get training."

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