So, pardon me for the long wait, because I restarted my computer and it LOST this entire chapter despite me saving it. (demon rage) But no matter since I had it copied to a friend to read before I could put this out, and the rest which I hadn't done yet had to be finished.

Anyhoo, thirteenth chapter of "Vespertine" to thank for this, so here comes long-awaited action. :D

Chapter Seventeen

Danzo Cornered!

It turned out Ino had been released when it was found she was innocent, but she was kept close to her father or another clan member at all times, and while that was a relief for Sakura, Itachi knew that it was devastating for her friend because she had to bear with her lover on the line for execution.

Suna was also present, in time for the second part of the Exams. The opportunity was presenting itself.

He and Naru as well as the company got the word as soon as Sai was brought to them outside the village barriers, thanks to Yamato's help. "Never did I think the day would come when I finally see a place that isn't with Danzo-sama," he said, then shifted his disbelieving attention to Itachi, still unable to believe what he had just heard, but he also had good news to report.

"It seems that all the clans except the Hyuuga are more than ready to revolt against the Hokage, after careful planning and secrecy. Everything has gone on long enough. They want it done before the Chuunin Exams come to an end, even if it means the remainder has to be postponed."

That means the Hyuuga are to be dealt with, and Neji will have to be against his own people because of what they made him do to Hinata, besides Danzo.

Behind them, there was Naru embracing Sai and telling him she was so happy he was alive, that Ino was safe, too - except being under watchful eyes from then on, but as far as the Uzumaki was concerned, it would end soon - and that made Sakura happy to know. Neji Hyuuga, Kakashi and Shizune were conversing with some other Shinobi who were present with their captain and swore allegiance.

As for Itachi himself, sans Kisame and Deidara who were waiting for his command - rather, his shadow clone with them, and another of himself with Gaara within the village - he was hidden in plain sight once more with his henge in place, as was his other clone with the Kazekage, once more assuming "Tashi" and therefore called such. But either way, both parties outside would get the message from here.

Sasuke and his team were not present, either, for now, but they also had another clone so they would also get the signal.

And meanwhile, Gaara was meeting with Danzo, and that meant the real Itachi would receive the notice if their plans would change, and then he would let the others know.

~o~

Night fell when he finally met with the one he needed, now that their villages joined for the Chuunin Exams. Very soon their trainees would face each other. "Lord Kazekage. Ah, it's a good opportunity to converse over a cup, if you wish." He gestured to the arrangement displayed at the table in the Hokage's office, having been suggested as means of a small link between "allies" while their subordinates had reign to interact - or clash, but they ought to show more discipline than that.

No doubt the Genin were doing what was considered immature, if you asked him. Children should learn discipline early or not, just like in his day.

The young man regarded him without a blink, so it was difficult to read him through. This child, a former Jinchuuriki who survived the Akatsuki onslaught, happened to be a friend of Naru Uzumaki's, but hadn't gone against his village's alliance with Danzo's. This the Hokage appreciated with every fiber of his being. That meant his position was assured with this one association. "Yes, I thank you," Gaara said when he sat down, smoothing the front of his garments as he accepted the placed cup of green tea which he inhaled delicately and hummed with appreciation. "But what concerns you, Lord Hokage?"

"Much," Danzo answered. "In regards to the missing Naru Uzumaki and the Akatsuki. I have reason to believe they could be coming this way soon, especially when one of my own was sprung past security during the previous night. He was sent out on my orders to see where she was taken, but he refused to divulge, so I had no choice but to keep him in custody until he talked, but he has likewise aided and abetted, so he should have faced proper punishment. Which is why I know that she and the Akatsuki are coming here, if she knew what became of the friend who was protecting her - or perhaps a handful of loyal Shinobi have betrayed me and this village to join with her. Hence the escape." Leave out the Uchiha brat.

"...you think she is coming back here to overthrow you with all the help she can get, because she does not approve of your brand of order, as there are those who equally don't." That cup was held in both hands after a single sip and nothing else, the owner attentively listening, while behind him were his brother and sister, and a third who he had no idea was a "spy" in the ranks.

"Precisely." Danzo shook his head. "These young people today...choosing their friends over this village, or believing in ideals rather than law and order, what is in everyone's best interests. In the old days, they learned lessons the hard way."

Gaara put the cooling cup down on the table. "Lord Hokage, as likely as this is, is there any solid grounds that Naru is working with the Akatsuki?" he asked.

What a...stripling! Danzo Shimura had no idea how to come up with a rebuttal, because while the boy was on the mark, he had to invent another means. "Indeed, though two of my best subordinates never made it back. It is grounds that the Akatsuki had something to do with it in order to cover their tracks all this time. They had found that our Jinchuuriki was taken towards your village, or perhaps to the enemy's headquarters. They have laid low until now." The Kazekage nodded, though he didn't seem entirely convinced because this was purely suspicion, and it irritated the Hokage to no end.

"I can offer assistance now that I am here, but here we are in midst of the Chuunin Exams. I'll have a handful of my own Shinobi play vigil with your own, if it shall put an ease on your conscience, should that be what you want," Gaara finally stated, forcing a smile and picking that cup back up to finish it all in a single, smooth gulp now that it was cooling down.

Now, Danzo could smirk back. His suspicions were unfounded, and he could rely on the Sand after all.

But what the Hokage could not know was that the Kazekage had no intentions of following through on his promise, because fortune did not favor the Rokudaime.

It was then and there that, after Lord Gaara and his trio left the office, the explosion was heard moments later, from miles outside the village. Danzo jumped from his seat behind the desk and rushed to his window to see the smoke and fading light beyond. He hissed; damn it, they were here.

"So, you've come, Naru - and Itachi. You've all come. I'm waiting for you."

While you face my subordinates before you come and find me - or I can have you all trapped like mice before you do.

~o~

Everything happened as they discussed.

Kakashi-sensei and the others are ready to get away the civilians if it gets worse.

Shizune and Sakura are going to heal any wounded.

Itachi, Neji and I are going to find and fight Danzo because he's not going to run anywhere.

But first: everyone has assumed the position, after Deidara has dropped the bomb several miles away from the village, enough to get attention to investigate. That means he and Kisame are going to distract them...but what if they end up KILLING any Leaf Shinobi?!

What could she do about that if it happened? She had to do what she must, after all. Kutone on her back and ready to flaunt before that rat snake's eyes before she released its power; she had never been so excited and nervous, and with Itachi beside her as well as Neji, though the latter had to don his ANBU mask and join the ranks of his subordinates for the sake of his cover and his part.

Before she went with the elder Uchiha brother, she briefly shared the sight of the village with the younger. "This place is so much...different," Sasuke mused as he gazed without a blink upon the devastation, and at the patrolling ANBU above it all: the barricaded windows of homes and the smoke spots from old fights.

I could have ended all that suffering in a heartbeat compared to this.

You took the words out of my mouth, Naru thought through her teeth, but to Sasuke's words and not Kurama's, scowling so much the lines between her brows deepened. This was what she saw clearly if seeing the view from the Sixth Hokage's mountain wasn't bad enough.

Sakura was with them, too, on Sasuke's right while Naru was on his left. "Yeah, this isn't the home I love," she hissed. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and then to the other, surprising them both.

"I never thought I'd say this, but good luck to you both."

Naru could finally smile as they went their separate ways.

The brothers did their work simultaneously if separate from each other: the guards above ended up trapped in illusionary worlds, which gave them the advantage to make way for the Hokage Tower without trouble. "Leave me to deal with my people should they find out I'm involved," Neji told her and Itachi when they briefly met up. "Don't worry if you see our friends, Naru." They have to be fighting now, at this moment.

And yes, the fighting was beginning: some Leaf and Sand-nin were out there investigating that mysterious explosion which drew them away, and others assisted with getting civilians out of here to the evacuation shelter. Metal clashed in the air as words were shouted like a bone-shattering mantra.

And it was then and there that she and Itachi found themselves meeting up with Shikamaru who by this time was partnered with Tenten and Lee. Boy, was she glad to see them! They didn't recognize Itachi because he was still wearing his disguise even now. But when they saw her, they dropped the subdued ANBU to the ground and called her name concurrently. She had never been so glad to see either of them.

"I'm so glad to see you, my friend!" Lee crowed. "Springtime is returning!" She had to laugh; same old Rock Lee, and they needed him. "And who is your friend?"

"Yeah, I like him already," Tenten said, eyes flashing along with her short sword.

"This is Tashi," she answered. "Someone I met in Sunagakure."

Shikamaru lazily grinned. "I knew it. Kakashi told us all to be ready since we all knew you'd do it." Then his attention fell to the big girl behind her back. "New surprise, right? That's what you're all for."

Naru grinned back. "You have no idea." Then she felt her face twist. "Where's that rat snake of a Hokage who had Hinata and Konohamaru killed?" she hissed, making all but Shikamaru flinch; he told her that the old man was up in his office, and there were the lights still on. Having an idea, Naru weaved the signs to create more than enough shadow clones, one staying here with her three friends, the rest scattering around the village - and that left her and "Tashi" to go into the tower where their hunted was waiting for them.

Scaling the wall? Done.

Finding a window to pry open and then put genjutsu on any ANBU or fellow Shinobi - only when they tried to apprehend Naru herself? Also done.

Finally, she and Itachi were outside the double doors that led to the Hokage's office. With that, she drew Kutone from her back and released her normal chakra into its hollow but complex channels so she could jab it through the middle and break the doors apart so that she and Itachi were before the man they were looking for.

"Look who is here!" She couldn't resist giving the show with her weapon and the words that went out of her mouth, since it was her and the man she loved against this one - the one who led Itachi to his doom, and his enemy was standing here, ready to finish him off with her.

"Yes," Danzo replied, clearly bored and unimpressed, "I anticipated your arrival. I'm impressed you didn't choose to kill anyone on the way. I would have expected that part of you to change, Naru."

She spat. "I'm not like you - or should I add, I don't let others do dirty work to keep my record spotless? At least I'll have the pleasure tonight with you especially," she said. Itachi remained silent, glaring daggers from a calm face, and ready to drop his disguise anytime. I look forward to seeing the old man's face when he sees his foe's true face.

I can't wait to see that, too, runt.

Danzo sneered with only his eyes. "I look forward to that, Jinchuuriki. Also, who is your comrade? Someone that the...Kazekage employed for you? So our allies betray us once more, and this time with you and your friend, the Uchiha brat." He figured it out; oh, well, he's surrounded, no matter.

Naru lifted her nose at him, smirking and not giving the old relic the benefit of the doubt. "That's right, Danzo. You're going to pay for everything you did, but mostly for what you did to those I love, if not directly: Konohamaru, Granny Tsunade, Hinata...but yeah, you're directly gonna be punished for keeping your hands clean about this man here."

When Itachi dropped his disguise, Danzo's eye was broad with unbridled horror, and the name left his lips in a harsh whisper.

~o~

"It's been a long time, Danzo."

"Indeed, but what will you accomplish now that you are here with the Jinchuuriki, Itachi?"

His fingers itched to draw what he had beneath his cloak out against this man, and the threat of exposing him as he promised to the entire village was in play, if not for what he still had to do as Akatsuki leader which was still on the agenda. "Labeling Naru won't get you anywhere, for it shows how much you are unable to let go of old fears. I'm branded as a missing-nin because of you, but that will eventually change. I will have no qualms about killing you especially tonight, worry about the rest tomorrow. But before that happens, I'm going to reclaim what doesn't truly belong to you," he said icily.

Shisui's eye.

But Naru looked at him from the corner of her eye. "What are you talking about, what doesn't belong to him?"

"Something of the Uchiha he wrongfully stole, and you know what that is." It was then that her eyes widened with remembrance, and then her gaze turned hatefully back to Danzo who was reaching up for the bandages that covered the right side of his face.

"Oh, yeah. You got something of Shisui's you have no right to."

It was by this time that he revealed the eye: a Sharingan. "You know everything then, Uzumaki. I shall enjoy killing you and taking the Nine-Tails to put into someone more fitting for my interests. You really are too much like both your parents, after all: too compassionate, too loyal to individuals rather than a whole...and unlike them, you are a traitor for choosing treacherous Uchiha."

Itachi's strings were pulled then and there as hers were. No more talking. Naru, help me fight him now. He looked down at her with the message in his eyes, and she got it, for she looked up at him and then leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips which shocked the fraud of a Hokage who represented everything they stood against.

"With pleasure, baby."

I hope what you saw was satisfactory enough, and I really did try to not make it too similar to Itachi and Sakura vs. Danzo in the same chapter of the inspired story. But in the end, it was fitting that Shisui's eye had to be taken back, and a bit of dialogue similar.

I noticed no one reviewed last time, so pretty please. The end is nearer in a few chapters. :( Don't wanna miss!