Proven Innocence
Naruto had been in the interrogation chamber for three days—and for three days, he had basically been playing quid pro quo with Ibiki Morino. The man was almost as bad as an enraged Lecter… almost, but not quite.
"Damnit Naruto, just fucking confess!"
Dead in the eyes, Naruto said, "Okay Ibiki, I confess—I confess to not making your job easy right now. I confess that you believe I'm being obstinate. Hell, I even confess that you think I took the scroll. In fact, I confess to doing no such thing."
Slamming Naruto's head against the wall, Ibiki swore badly enough that Naruto almost found his ears bleeding.
Leaving him chained to the wall, Ibiki left the building and slammed the door shut.
Now that Morino had left, Naruto finally allowed himself express his fatigue. Panting, he wondered at the miracle that he was still alive.
He was beaten, battered, bruised, and hadn't been fed in over seventeen hours—hadn't been allowed to sleep for longer.
Pondering Katya's reaction upon seeing him like that, he realized that, if she had her way, he wouldn't be out of bed for a week—whereas Ibiki would be in pieces. Although more human than he was (by Naruto's own admission), her dark side could still emerge when she was enraged.
Deciding that both for his peace of mind, and to keep most of the Village (hopefully) intact, Naruto would have to somehow escape from his bindings, avoid Katya so as to not have to explain his wounds to her, and clear his name.
But first, he'd need energy—and for that, he needed food and rest.
Glaring at the security camera, Naruto yelled, "Hey you bastards! I'm willing to make a deal! But it has to be Anko who comes in here—Anko and no one else!"
Exactly twelve seconds later, the snake mistress glided into the room, her usually open-book face a proverbial blank page.
"What do you want, traitor?"
Sighing, Naruto said, "If that's how you're going to be, then you can humor me before I talk. First, I want some decent food and at least three hours of sleep, and THEN I talk."
Unable to really do anything but to follow through with his requests, Anko nodded stiffly before turning and walking away.
As soon as the door was closed, a tear began rolling down her face.
_____
Having slept for a couple of hours—enough time to rest a little, and to digest his recent meal—Naruto's eyes snapped open, clear and focused for the first real time since he'd been incarcerated.
Standing up, Naruto estimated that he had roughly seventeen seconds to escape if his timing was correct.
Augmenting his arms with chakra, he suddenly lunged at the wall opposite from where he was chained, putting all effort into his right arm… and while the chain itself remained intact, the concrete surrounding its anchor shattered so that the entire chain came loose.
Then, using his momentum, he twisted and started pulling on the other chain as well.
They hadn't bothered to shackle his legs—a mistake Naruto made certain that they would regret.
A couple of ANBU burst through the door, only to be hit with a cinderblock flying through the air at thirty miles per hour.
Using the other heavy piece of rock as a flail, Naruto incapacitated another ANBU before he hit the wall with a chakra-infused punch, breaking through.
Throwing his head back in a savage roar as he unleashed half a tail of the Nine-Tailed chakra, Naruto rushed into the Forest of Death before drawing in the energy around him like a cloak.
For the moment, nothing short of the Byakugan would be able to find him.
Naruto murmured, "Ah, the first rejuvenating breath of freedom."
And then, he slept once more.
__________
Katya had been asleep when the ANBU took Naruto, and was in extreme distress now that it had been five days since she last saw him.
She was almost ready to try to break in and find him personally, when she heard a rasping voice behind her curtain say, "Don't… go crazy."
Turning around, she had to stop herself from screaming as Naruto fell through the window, most of his bones broken.
Quickly putting her hand to his neck, she was relieved to find a weak but steady pulse.
Picking him up and bringing him to the bed, she started performing what few medical jutsu she had learned in previous centuries.
As she growled at her self-perceived incompetence, Naruto coughed a chuckle and said, "Katya-chan… you're so beautiful when you're frustrated…"
And then, he blacked out.
_____
She kept him in bed for three days, doing all in her ability to nurse him back to health.
At dusk on the fourth day, Naruto sat up in his bed, ignoring Katya's protests.
"Naruto, you're still too weak—"
He silenced her with a glare before saying, "I've recovered enough to clear my name, Katya. After that, you're welcome to fuss over me as much as you like."
As she put it in writing so that it was on the record, Naruto dragged himself to his feet, ate some breakfast before making handsigns for one of his original jutsu.
"Ninja Art: Active Camouflage."
The chakra surrounding him began to mimic what was exactly on the other side of Naruto's body, thus rendering him invisible.
Then, knowing that only the Sharingan or Byakugan would be able to detect him, Naruto began his mission to find evidence that he'd been set up.
Leaping across the rooftops, Naruto decided that first, he would have to infiltrate the Hokage Tower itself to see whether or not the Forbidden Fuinjutsu scroll actually had been stolen.
As he made his way there, he made a mental list of other places he'd have to check out, which included the ANBU HQ he'd just gotten out of, the Mission Records Building, and the forensics lab.
All of which were supposed to be impossible to break into.
As he landed on the Hokage Tower wall, he wondered just how 'impossible' this would turn out to be.
Sensing a small, but easily noticeable chakra spike inside the building, Naruto cursed—he'd triggered a silent alarm of some sort.
A large number of ANBU emerged on the scene, weapons drawn. Moving swiftly and silently, they moved almost beyond human perception as they searched for the intruder.
Pressing himself to the wall, Naruto held his breath, praying that he could avoid detection.
After an agonizing five minutes, one of the ANBU said, "I don't like this. Isn't the chakra sensory system supposed to be infallible? How could it be triggered and there be nothing here?"
His commanding officer, by whose voice Naruto recognized her as Yugao Uzuki, said, "It is infallible. Something either came and then left, or it is still here and we can't detect it."
With a silent groan, he realized that they would continue to patrol the area for quite some time.
Shaking his head at his inability to do anything, Naruto resumed climbing the wall. He had to get inside before they brought in a Hyuga…
Finding an open window, he blessed the unknown person's negligence and crawled through. Knowing full well that, were he caught, this would be considered treason, Naruto started looking through the Tower's security reports for the past week and a half.
In particular, he focused on the Scroll Room—the area where all of the Hokage's scrolls were kept, both forbidden and otherwise.
The morning of his arrest, a young ANBU codenamed Sai had been permitted entry to get a scroll for Doton jutsu. Taking out that file, he also found that the Forbidden Fuinjutsu Scroll had been found missing roughly four hours later.
Thinking that this 'Sai' must've stolen the scroll and framed him, Naruto (keeping the file) put everything back in order before leaving through the same open window.
Knowing that he was very close to getting caught as it was, Naruto thought about going back home and finishing his job the following night, but realized that the file would still be missed eventually. No, it was far wiser to finish it tonight.
Now he ran to the ANBU headquarters.
Oddly, his escape seemed to have actually decreased their security—presumably since most of the ANBU were out looking for him. This meant that there were fewer ANBU in the HQ for him to sneak past.
Laughing inwardly, Naruto watched, noting that the patrol changed every seventeen minutes—during which, there was a three-point-six second gap.
The instant the guard changed, Naruto made use of his opportunity.
In stark contrast to the moonless night outside, the building itself was as brightly lit as noon. One might have expected darkness, considering how the ANBU worked, but they maintained excessive lighting to minimize the number of places for intruders to hide.
Considering that stealth was practically useless in there, Naruto released his Active Camouflage.
Instead, he made better use of his chakra by pumping it into his legs, so that he could move as quickly as possible.
He had done so in the nick of time as well, since he was barely able to evade the shuriken launcher traps that were activated by motion and chakra sensors.
As the projectiles clanged loudly against the walls, he knew at that instant that any further attempt at stealth would be futile.
Therefore, he ran all-out towards where he knew the personnel records to be.
Narrowly entering the records room just in time to avoid a group of ANBU that rushed past the door, Naruto allowed himself a sigh of relief.
Going to the cabinet for codenames beginning with 'S', he eventually found Sai's.
And yet, the file was virtually blank—it only had the codename, number of missions completed and failed, and nothing else. Just as he was about to put it back in frustration, he observed one other note: that Sai was part of the Special Forces branch named 'Root'.
Remembering that it had been Root that had tried to kill him and Katya those years ago, his violet eyes began shifting to red.
Then, breaking open a compartment on the ANBU commander's desk, he found out where the Root HQ was—an underground bunker beneath the Monument.
Memorizing the location of the entrance, he said to himself, "It's time to pay Root a little visit, I think."
Right then, he heard a clapping noise behind him—turning around, and he found Yugao.
Before he could speak, the ANBU cut him off. "Naruto-kun, I know that you're innocent, but none of the other ANBU outside of Root do. Remember a few years ago, when you killed Root's Elemental Squad?"
"If that's what they were called, then yes."
"The Root Commander, Danzo-teme, wants to have you either killed or forced into his ranks as punishment for that. So to get you in a position where he could better bargain with you, he had you framed."
Pulling out his switchblade, Naruto asked, "And why haven't you done anything about it?"
Leaning against the wall, she nonchalantly replied, "Because it's well-known in the Ops that we're friends. If I tried to defend you, they would've put me in the same spot for aiding and abetting. Since you escaped, I've been doing a little research on Root—even had a contact get me some information. But in order to get enough evidence to clear your name, we'll have to break in to the Root HQ—a task that you'll find much more difficult than it was to get in here."
Frowning, Naruto said, "I see. Should we go now, or do we need to bring Katya along?"
Taking off her mask, Yugao said, "I don't think that will be necessary."
As she began telling him her plan, Naruto couldn't help but grin.
________
Thankful that Anko had let him sign the contract the year before, Naruto Summoned a massive black snake before Transforming into Orochimaru.
It was a little-known fact that, unlike most contracts, the Snake Contract had two bosses, and depending on which one you pledged your service to, you could summon different kinds of snakes.
Anko, Yugao, Kakashi, and the Sandaime were just about the only people in the Village aside from Naruto who knew this.
When Naruto summoned his Boss, it wasn't Manda.
It was a giant black cobra of equal size, with red markings on its back.
Knowing that Naruto was the only person who'd signed under him, the massive serpent allowed the Orochimaru look-alike onto his head.
"Well Naruto, why have you called me here?"
"I was framed, and we're about to get some evidence with which I can clear my name. Will you help me, Lord Shinagi?"
Laughing, the monstrous snake responded in the affirmative.
And so, the pair began acting as though the real Orochimaru was attacking Konoha. However, thanks to the location of the Root HQ entrance, Shinagi and Naruto themselves were hidden from view.
And since Naruto had previously done a fair bit of research on the Rogue Sannin, he was able to impersonate him rather effectively.
Combining a Genjutsu and a Fireball Jutsu to mimic Fire Dragon Jutsu, Naruto scorched a large number of Root agents before leaping down from Shinagi's head.
Dashing through the cavernous entrance, Naruto deflected a set of kunai thrown at him with his switchblade transformed to look like Orochimaru's Longsword of the Heavens.
Then, making a set of handsigns, he yelled, "Earth-Style: Rising Crush!"
As a group of Root came at Naruto, the earth beneath began to pull them under before it seemingly leapt over and crushed them.
Then, finding—and breaking down—the door to the Trophy Room, Naruto saw the Forbidden Fuinjutsu Scroll, turned, dropped his illusions, and ran like a bat out of hell.
And who was to stop him at the exit? None other than Sai himself!
Eyes now a dark shade of red, Naruto said, "So you're the one who framed me." It wasn't a question.
His voice dead, the ANBU said, "Affirmative."
Gripping his switchblade, Naruto asked, "Why?"
Shrugging, Sai merely said, "Because Danzo-sama ordered it."
Struggling to maintain control over his temper, Naruto asked, "So let me get this straight: you impersonated me, stole the Forbidden Fuin Scroll, and had me tortured for three days, all because a senile old man told you to?!"
Sai, now growing angry, spat, "Don't you dare call Danzo-sama senile!"
At this point, Naruto completely lost control of himself and lunged at the Root operative, his eyes now rubies glistening in their sockets.
Sai created a group of tigers from his ink to intercept Naruto, who countered them with a low-level Wind-style.
Then, Naruto threw a number of kunai and shuriken at Sai, who surrounded himself in armor made of ink—a mistake that would cost him his life.
Naruto threw another kunai with an exploding tag, and just as Sai saw it, he remembered that his ink was flammable…
________
(Three days later…)
Sai had been taken to the hospital for third-degree burns covering his entire body, Naruto was exonerated, and things were beginning to return to normal.
Sadly for Sai, however, he would no longer be of any service to Danzo—or even Konoha, really—as a ninja, since his hands appeared to have been completely burned away in the fire.
As Katya sat down for dinner, Naruto put a plate in front of her, and a different dish in front of his seat.
So while she began on the lasagna she'd made earlier, she asked, "Naruto-kun… did you decide that you don't like my cooking after all?"
Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "In no way at all is such the case. This is simply an appetizer, that's all."
Eyes widening in realization, Katya shrugged and dug in to her food.
At the same time, Naruto produced a serrated scalpel and started cutting through what sounded a lot like bones….
________
Translations:
Shinagi = Death Cutter
A/N: If this seems rather forced to you guys, that's because it was. I literally slaved away at this for weeks, trying to hit the magic "Eureka!!" that would signify my temporary victory against the forces of Writer's Block. Sadly, that "Eureka!" never happened. So instead of enjoying an easy win in the eternal war, I had to spearhead my way through the enemy ranks, zweihänder gleaming with the blood of countless—whoa there, didn't mean to start rambling. At any rate, you get the idea, I think.
My question of what filler work I should publish still stands, by the way. I've got the Prologue for "The Modern League", part of the first chapter for "Wherever I May Roam", and a lot of concept work done for "A Demon Amongst Monsters" and "White Rose". Granted, I haven't actually checked my reviews yet…
