A/N I'd like everyone to note right now that this chapter does not complete the story. Enjoy. :)

Chapter three- Final countdown

Six weeks later

Naruto sat pondering his fathers grave. He couldn't believe that just two months ago he'd marched away from this grave with the intention of never seeing it again. But now, things were different. The last month had done a lot to change his perception of things.

FLASHBACK

Naruto snarled as he threw out another pair of moldy briefs. He knew mist was supposed to be damp but this damp? Seriously? He cursed Danzo for sending him here. Sure he could understand the value of sending him and twenty other root to aid the bloodline rebels of Kiri. After all the second part of his mission was to forge a treaty between mist and root, once the rebels won of course. But he had already started in on a treaty, between Konoha and mist.

He looked up from his angry contemplation of his moldy briefs as he heard Zabuza laugh behind him, "You lost another pair? How many more pairs are you gonna let yourself lose before you take my advice and actually start caring for your clothes?"

The blond glared up at the mist rebel, "Shut up Zabuza. It's not that funny."

The mist nin snorted, "Oh yes it is. Besides, we're living in the middle of a swamp. It's not like entertainment is dropping out of the mossy trees."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Haku, "Zabuza-sama! One our companies is getting hit by an enemy battalion! Their down to less than fifty men!"

The mist ninja and blond immediately jumped to their feet and rushed to get their gear. Naruto ran into his tent and grabbed his basic pack as well as his weapons pouch, he turned to leave his tent when a scroll Shika had left for him caught his eye. He paused and debated for a moment. When Shika and Jiraiya had come to remove his root seal the Nara had revealed that he'd managed to rework the hirashin, even changed the name to the kazaana. That scroll held all the kazaana kunai he'd manged to make so far. Naruto finally grabbed the scroll and stuffed it into his weapons pouch. A battalion was at least 300 men and with a squad of fifty or less facing them having a jutsu like the kazaana around couldn't hurt.

The blond met up with Zabuza, Haku and twenty other ninja at the east edge of camp, "Twenty? That's it? Where are the rest of the men?"

Zabuza glared at him, "Out fighting other battles. It seems our beloved enemies have decided to push a massive offensive. It's taxing our defenses."

Naruto felt a sinking in his gut, "Are these men need elsewhere?"

"They're needed everywhere!" the eyebrow-less jonin shouted, "They're just needed here most."

The Uzumaki sighed, "Send them elsewhere. I have a jutsu that can turn the tide. They'll just get in the way."

A hairless brow rose, "You sure kid? We can't afford to lose."

Naruto nodded, "I'm sure."

Zabuza frowned, "I hope you know what you're doing." Then he turned and directed the twenty men to go reinforce another battle. As soon as they complied; he, Naruto and Haku took off to save what was left of that company."

.

.

It didn't take the three ninja long to reach the company on their eastern border. Or, what was left of the company at least. The battlefield was in pieces, and the company that was fifty was now down by at least another twenty. With more falling even as they watched. Naruto had seen a lot of terrible things, especially since coming here, nut this was one memory that would definitely be coming back to haunt him. Next to him he could hear Zabuza cursing under his breath, "There are almost 200 enemy shinobi. The three of us aren't going too make any difference in this fight." the mist jonin said.

"Yes we will." the blond replied, "Have all our ninja retreat. I'll use my jutsu to even the odds."

Zabuza eyed Naruto doubtfully for a moment then shrugged, "Well they're gonna die if they stay down there so we might as well try it your way."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." the boy muttered as Zabuza walked forward and sounded the retreat.

The mist ninja immediately responded to the call to retreat but were having difficulty getting away. The enemy nin were dogging their every backward step. Naruto narrowed his eyes. In the front is was a mess of enemies and allies, but in the back and middle there were only enemies to contend with. Naruto rolled Shika's scroll out on the ground and quickly unsealed the three pronged kunai inside, "Zabuza Haku, quick, help me throw these into the middle and back of the enemy ranks. Make sure not to throw them too closely together, and try to take someone out with them."

The mist jonin turned to shout at Naruto for his idiotic plan until his eyes came to rest on the three pronged kunai with seals on the handle. He felt his eyes widen as a shiver went down his spine. He may not be a Konoha ninja, but every ninja in the world knew what those kunai looked like and all knew to fear them. Zabuza gave a vicious grin, "Kid is that the jutsu I think it is and do you actually know how to use it?"

The blond glanced up, "It close enough to what your thinking, and yes I know how to use it. Now help me throw these kunai into the battlefield." All three ninja picked up double handfuls of kunai and started distributing them among the enemy ranks. Apparently, Zabuza wasn't the only one who knew what these kunai could do. Because as soon as they started raining down on the enemy. The enemy ranks turned into a boiling mess of confusion, with most still running forward to take out the few ninja left in the mist company, but with enough running back trying to escape the jutsu Naruto was about to use, to bring the enemy battalion to a standstill.

They finished distributing the kunai and Naruto weaved the signs, then with a whisper of, "Kazaana." The blond vanished. There was no flash of yellow as Zabuza had been expecting, but rather the piercing wail of wind traveling too quickly. The wail seemed to be everywhere and nowhere as enemy ninja below him fell to an enemy that was too fast to see. He could see as the battalion went form confidence in their victory, to sheer terror. And then it was over. The piercing wail was gone, and Naruto was back by his side. Watching the very few enemy survivors retreat back the way they had come, while their beleaguered allies cheered over the impossible victory.

Naruto looked down at the battlefield that just moments ago had been teaming with life. But was now filled with nothing but slowly cooling corpses, and he felt ill. How many people had he just killed? 100? More? Naruto rushed behind one of the nearby mossy trees and let himself be sick. Zabuza fallowed after him and leaned against the tree.

"I... I just massacred hundreds of people." the blond said, "I'm a monster."

Zabuza shook his head, "No, you just saved thirty-three allies. The rest is irrelevant. It has to be if you don't want to go nuts. Forget those faces. Forget this battlefield if you can, and burn into your memory the faces of every single one of the people you saved today, and when someone calls you a monster or brings up this fight. Remember the face of every person whose still breathing because you were here."

Naruto stayed n the ground letting out near sobbing breaths for a moment, then he brought himself back under control and stood to go and speak with all the people he had saved. His eyes were a little emptier, but as he memorized the faces of those he had saved; he managed to bear the weight of what he had done.

.

.

Two weeks later a treaty was signed between the two waring factions of mist, as the side against bloodlines was cowed by they bloodline soldier who could do the Yondaime Hokages terrifying technique. Terumi Mai became the fifth Mizukage, and should her skill in leading as she slowly worked to bring the two factions back into one united whole. Of course it would take time for mist to be the unified powerhouse it had once been, but at least now there was a start.

One week later Naruto was back in Konoha with a treaty between Konoha and mist that just needed to be finalized. And there were rumors quickly circulating among the elemental countries of a second yellow flash. A blond ninja that had been nicknamed the shrieking wind for the horrible sound his jutsu made as death reined down on his enemies.

END FLASHBACK

Naruto brought his attention back to his fathers grave stone and lovingly brushed away the dirt that had collected on it, "I never thought I'd be back here so soon dad. In fact I really didn't see myself coming back here at all, but I had to come at least one more time."

The blond furrowed his brow as her tried to think of how to say what he needed to, "I-I want to say I forgive you. For- for sealing the Kyuubi into me. I did hate you for it, but-" Naruto clenched his hand in the fabric of his shirt over the seal, "I think now I understand where you were coming from. I had to use your hiraishin on my last mission. It was the only way my side would win. I killed a lot of people that day, I think the final count was 207, or something. I felt like I was gonna die, being responsible for so many deaths. Konoha has more than 10,000 people. It must have been horrible when the Kyuubi attacked and everyone was turning to you for a way to stop an unbeatable monster. And you had to face the knowledge that if you failed the deaths of thousands would be on your head."

"And not just that night either. I found out while I was in mist that there were rumors of Konoha sealing the nine-tails into someone that was already old enough to be trained. The other nations stayed away from us because they thought we have a weapon of mass destruction ready to go off if they tried anything. By sealing the Kyuubi into me, you saved thousands of lives. Not just that night, but everyday since when people hear that Konoha has the Kyuubi jinchuuriki."

"I'll Never be all that happy about having the fuzz butt sealed inside of me. But, I'm glad you sealed him away. It's better to have one child suffer loneliness and neglect, then to have an entire village of thousands burn. I... don't know how you felt about me. Whether you were happy to be a father or... well unhappy. But, I don't think you hated me anymore. I'm sorry for being so bratty about what you did, what you had to do. I guess... I just wanted you to know that I don't hate you."

Naruto gently brushed his fingers over the gravestone one more time, and then stood. He had a council meeting to get to.

.

.

Hinata shifted nervously in the Hyuuga clan council seat as she watched the other Konoha council members trickle into the meeting hall. Although she'd been Hyuuga clan head for more than six months now, it was still hard not to be cowed by the older more experienced clan heads around her. It didn't take long for all the council members to take their seats, and soon Tsunade-sama was clearing her throat to bring all eyes to her.

"You're probably wondering why I asked you here today." the Hokage started, "You may have noticed that I'm starting in spite of the absence of several minor clan heads, most of the civilian guilds and, of course, councilman Danzo. Well they weren't invited to this meeting and if you tell them it will be your head. Now, I'm sure you've all heard the rumors surrounding Danzo. I'm equally sure some of you have already started looking into them and, maybe even, have started to react to those rumors."

"I was concerned that unsubstantiated rumors such as these might lead to a civil war. So I had one of my most promising spies look into it for me. I have already heard is report, but I thought you might like to hear it as well." Tsunade turned to one of the hidden ANBU, "Tiger please show Nara Shikamaru in."

There was a puff of smoke and then the door to the council room opened and Shikamaru stepped inside and immediately after shutting the door went down to one knee in respect, "Hokage-sama."

The blond kage nodded for the young Nara to rise, "Report."

Shikamaru stood and turned to the council chambers, "I've been studying Danzo for the last month as per Hokage-sama's orders, and while the rumors are terribly blown out of proportion or outright false; unfortunately, most of the rumors do have a grounding in fact. Danzo has slowly been turning the political climate of Konoha in his favor, and while all of you here have been found to have no ties with him, several of the smaller clans do. And what's worse is that nearly 75 percent of Konoha businessmen have at least a few ties to Danzo, and 17 percent of Konoha's active shinobi would side with him over Hokage-sama."

Tsume snorted, "75 percent of our merchants and 17 percent of our ninja and you say the rumors are overblown? That means there are 850 traitors running around being trusted while they work for a rat!"

"While perhaps my friends comment is a bit passionate I must agree with her statement. By what you are saying Konoha could be, at the very least, on the brink of an economic civil war. At the worst we could be facing a civil war." Shibi stated.

Shikaku nodded, "He's right. For the moment we have an overwhelming majority of numbers, but Tsunade-sama has only been hokage for a year. Many ninja would see her inability to prevent a civil war as proof enough that she isn't a capable Kage. They might join with Danzo simply because they think he's the better option."

"Bb-but surely our nnn-ninjjja would bb-be more loyal than thattt." Hinata's quite voice said.

Shikamaru was the one who replied, "Our ninja are loyal, but they are also trained to stay alive. Unfortunately sometimes being loyal to your village means turning against your kage. Everyone of our ninja will weight he pro's and con's of breaching the loyalty to the hokage, and then they'll take the option that turns their stomach the least."

"This is all very interesting," Koharu said, "but I don't see anything besides rumors against Danzo, and I refuse to turn my back on a dear friend for so little proof."

Tsunade sat up, "You're absolutely right. I should have had the proof bought in ages ago. Tiger show them in." The now visible ANBU saluted and then vanished in another puff of smoke."

Soon four ninja dressed like ANBU walked into the council chamber and closed the door behind them. Hinata was startled to see that while their clothes were what an ANBU would wear, their masks were all identical. Plain white except for the Ni kanji on the forehead. She noticed several of the other clan heads shifting in their seats uncomfortably before Choza spoke up, "Hokage-sama why have you brought root operatives into our council. It seems a bit unwise to let them stay here."

The fifth smiled, "Who better to tell us whether the rumors are true or not than the enemies soldiers. Naruto unmask." The blond Uzumaki, or rather Namikaze now, pulled the root mask off with a foxy grin on his face. Tsunade continued, "For the last seven months I've had Naruto running a black-ops mission for me. His mission was to infiltrate root and find enough incriminating evidence to have it shut down and Danzo executed. I think you'll find that he has more than succeeded."

"Why him and not one of our more experienced spies?" Shibi asked.

"For two reasons." Tsunade replied, "One, Danzo would have easily spotted any spy we sent in as he has access to Konoha records. That is a proven fact and was far before these other crimes came to my attention. The second reason is simple. Danzo approached Naruto with an invitation to join root. I could hardly let such an opportunity slip past me. Oh and I didn't really have a choice but to let him stay as his mission started before I was instated as hokage. Now Naruto why you show us what you found."

The blond boy nodded and unsealed a thick pile of papers, "In this pile is the name of every active duty shinobi he's pulled to his side and the name of every merchant who will chose him over Hokage-sama and why, usually he help them skirt Konoha tariffs or other taxes. Also in this list you'll find a signed contract between him and Orochimaru for aid in the invasion in exchange for the kage hat."

The room erupted into angry whispers at this statement, but Naruto's voice steamrolled over them, "And you'll find a rather long document about what really happened the night of the Uchiha massacre. Including the fact that Uchiha Itachi was set up. He thought he was doing the job the Third asked him to do, but instead he was made into Danzo's puppet. Danzo's orders included an order for him to go gather information on the Akutski as a spy. Information he is keeping to himself. There is also a report on how Danzo trains his root soldiers, including the seal he puts on their tongue that keeps them from revealing anything about root. That's the bulk of what this stack contains, but there are a few other minor things."

The room was silent as the blond boy finished. Finally a very pale Shikaku stood up, "I want to see that document on the Uchiha massacre" Naruto nodded and pulled it from near the top of the stack. The Nara clan head quickly started skimming through it and the more he read the more violently he swore. When he got to the end he snapped the rather thick document shut. And glared up at the Fifth, "Hokage-sama permission to go and gut that scumbag?"

Tsunade smiled, "In time but this needs to be handled with delicacy if we still want to have a village when this is done. Now Naruto I believe you have some other information to pass on to us?"

The boy nodded, "As compelling as these documents are, they're not the only incriminating knowledge I got. I got lucky really. There's no way I would have been able to get deeply enough into Danzo's trust to get this information in just seven months time. But fortunately, a little over month ago I was able to find three excellent allies."

Naruto stepped to the side and threw his arm out toward the other three root with a flourish, "I'd like you to meet root's Alpha squad, three of Danzo's most trusted soldiers and completely loyal to Tsunade-sama. These three are not only the only reason I was able to get so much on Danzo, but they are also the final proof I have on what a monster Danzo is." The blond boy turned to the other root, "Go ahead and unmask guys."

The three root pulled off their masks and two of the of the clan heads seemed caught between gasping and fainting from the shock in front of them, while one only seemed confused. It was Shibi who stood first. He went to stand in front of the root member that had his hands fully covered by gloves, "Little brother? Fu?"

Fu froze for a moment then nodded, "That was my name once now I am known as two."

Naruto spotted the council's confusion and spoke up, "It's part of Danzo's training method. He breaks you completely, until there's nothing left of who you once were. He doesn't even leave you the courtesy of a name."

Shibi turned to his little brother, "Is this true? Is there nothing left of who you once were?"

The Aburame root nodded and said in a dead voice, "I learned a long time ago that to be Fu was painful. Being two allowed me privileges and freedom from the torture."

For the first time in a long time the Aburame clan head's face screwed up in anger and the whole room could hear the buzzing of his kikaichu. He wanted to go out and murder Danzo for stealing away his little brother and making everyone think he was dead! Then destroying everything that made Fu... Fu. His anger was given a new focus as he heard the young Namikaze boy gently speak, "You did well two you may put your mask back on and head back to Ibiki."

"No!" Shibi shouted, "He will stay right here. I will not lose my little brother again!"

Naruto's eyes flashed as he looked at the Aburame head, "He will go to Ibiki-sensei, and start on the next session of his deprograming. It's hard enough for these three to reveal themselves and take up identities that they learned long ago were only connected with pain. Don't make it worse by forcing two to move further than he is yet capable of doing. Besides emotions make them nervous. So let him go. He's a Konoha shinobi again and, while he'll never be who he was before, soon he'll be back with you, his family." It took a moment for Shibi to calm his unnatural anger, but he soon nodded and went back to his seat sitting stiffly in his council chair as he watched his little brother vanish in a puff of smoke.

Hinata hardly noticed the Aburame clan head's meltdown, uncommon though it was, for her attention was focused fully on the one female of Alpha squad. The woman had the pale eyes of a Hyuuga and even more shocking Hinata felt like she knew this woman. But at the same time the recognition was so vague that she wasn't sure whether or it came simply because the woman looked like a Hyuuga. The young clan head glanced up at the woman's forehead, a main branch member no less. She wanted to stand and ask who this Hyuuga was, but she found herself frozen. The woman's eyes were so dead. It was almost like looking at a breathing corpse.

"She's Hyuuga Hotaru. Your aunt I believe." Hinata jumped as Naruto seemed to appear at her elbow from out of nowhere. But then turned back to her... aunt. The woman would have to be her mothers sister as all of her aunts form her fathers side were alive and accounted for.

She saw the root women shift in discomfort and felt a wave of sympathy for her and whispered to the Namikaze, "Dismiss her Naruto. I've seem enough to see that she's a Hyuuga main family member. Let go somewhere were she can be more comfortable."

The blond boy put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "You always were a compassionate one Hinata." The girl smiled at her one time crush as he turned his head to look at the Hyuuga root, "Three you're dismissed." The woman swiftly saluted and vanished in a puff on smoke.

Yamanaka Inoichi would never admit it, and he later swore everyone else in the council room to secrecy, but when he saw his cousins face emerge from behind that white root mask he...fainted. His cousin died years ago, and yet here he was standing before him with lifeless eyes it was almost as if he was looking at Orochimaru's edo tensei. But, thankfully, that wretched justu had died with that snake. When he woke up he stood up and just stared at his cousin for a moment before finally rushing forward and giving his cousin the bear hug he'd wanted to give him for years.

The root formerly known as Yamanaka Toru stiffened when Inoichi's arms came around him. Memories of what Danzo-sa- Danzo had done to him for showing such affection in the past swamped his mind and he wanted to whimper or scream or even just let off one tiny shiver, but he'd learned is lessons well in root. The only sign he gave of his immense distress was the way he quickly stiffened in his cousins hold.

Inoichi to his credit, felt his cousin stiffen and pulled away quickly with an apologetic look on his face. All while kicking himself internally, he should have known better then to so impulsively hug someone who had been mentally broken. His job was to break people and, occasionally, put broken people back together. He knew that interaction with someone like this was like walking through a field of land mines. Anything could sent them off, and by the way his cousin was sweating he had a feeling he'd really stepped in it.

The Yamanaka clan head wasn't given time to fall into his guilt though as Naruto suddenly appeared at Toru's side, "Well done four. You're dismissed."

Inoichi watched as his cousin almost eagerly saluted to the blond boy and then vanished in the time it took to blink. The n he sat back in his council seat in shame.

Shikaku watched the bittersweet reunions around him with shock. In the world of ninja strange things happened all the time, but it was still weird to see people seemingly come back from the dead, it was even weirder when the undead acted as if they were, well... dead. But he noticed something strange as he watched Naruto bounce for root to root rescuing them from their discomfort. He'd called all three of the root by a different number. But he hadn't used one. When the three root were gone and the commotion settled he cleared his throat, "I noticed that you called each of those root members by a different number, is there a reason you didn't use one?"

Naruto flinched and looked down in sadness, "Yes, one was the team leader, but he died during Orochimaru's assassination." the blond boy looked straight into Shikaku's eyes, "He died saving my life. I wish I could more for him then just return his remains to his family, but... that's the only thing left to do." the Namikaze pulled a scroll out of his kunai pouch and placed it in front of Shikaku, "I'm sorry."

The Nara clan head looked at the scroll in sadness the rolled it open above the seal that held his family member's corpse was a name, 'Nara Shikage (One)' , the Nara rolled the scroll closed with a frown. Shikage had been one of his best friends growing up, but then, he'd seen what the other root members were like. Maybe this death was a blessing, for Shikage at least. He'd be free to heal in a place where monsters like Danzo didn't exist to pull him down.

Shikaku looked up at the Hokage, and said in a subdued voice, "The evidence has made it very clear that Danzo is a traitor. But to face him directly would be very dangerous. How are we going to take him down?"

Tsunade smiled, "Well the easiest way to kill a snake if to cut off the head. I thought we'd employ a similar method."

.

.

Naruto was really not happy as he walked through the halls of the underground root HQ. The loyal part of the Konoha council had decided, in its infinite wisdom, to send Naruto and Ino in to assassinate Danzo. They made this decision on three factors, Naruto had managed to not only stand toe to toe with Orochimaru for several minutes, but had actually managed to kill him. The blonds exploits in wave had won him the title of the shrieking wind. Which would be a lot cooler name if people stopped asking him if he scream like a girl when he fought.

They also figured that Danzo was old so clearly a chunin and genin could kill off a Kage level ninja with years of experience It made Naruto wonder if they council had a habit of getting high to make the council meetings more interesting. The biggest reason the council sent in a chunin and a genin was because Naruto and Ino were already part of root so there was much less chance of a civil war starting if they were the assassins.

So after two weeks of carefully maneuvering things, as many of the active ninja loyal to Danzo as possible were out of the village on missions making it possible for he and Ino to be here Marching through the root HQ prepared to put their lives on the line for a better safer Konoha, and if they both survived they mutually agreed to go and kill the council. Their generation would be much better leaders anyway. After all they didn't get high so at least they still had all their brain cells.

Ino shivered as she walked next to Naruto, "It's creepy seeing this place so empty. Where is everyone?"

The blond boy glanced around before turning his eyes back to Ino, "As you know the root members who knew about us but wouldn't join us were sent to Ibiki-sensei. Hopefully he'll be able to break their training and turn them into something besides the undead. The ones who are on our side are I also with Ibiki-sensei getting deprogrammed. That just leaves those of root I wasn't able to get to."

Ino frowned, "Which was what? A good half? Even with half of root gone there should still be more action than this."

Naruto looked around again in concern, "I know. But we have a mission to complete and if anyone can tell us where everyone is it's Danzo."

The two ninja made it to Danzo's office without meeting anyone, they were beyond creeped out and by this point but they were still determined so they burst into Danzo's office already in their defensive stances. ...And found the room completely empty. Not only was Danzo or any of his staff not there. But his desk was gone, his files were ashy cinder on the ground and aside from that ashy cinder the room was empty, blank.

"I... think we screwed up." Ino brilliantly observed.

They heard clapping from behind them and turned to see Danzo standing in the only doorway to the room, The two Konoha ninja were trapped. "Well done little project. It only took you falling right into my trap to realize."

The two teenagers slowly stepped back trying to create distance between themselves and their opponent without setting him off, "How did you know?" Naruto asked.

Danzo snorted, "You value yourself far too highly Naruto. Did you really think I'd thrust you with so much after such a short period of time? I had you followed."

The blond boy looked confused, "I never noticed anything. Who did you have following me?"

The traitor smirked and stepped to the side revealing Sai standing emotionlessly behind him. Ino's eyes widened and she moved to step forward but Naruto grabbed her arm, keep ing her from getting too close, "Sai what are you doing? You're supposed to be with the others learning how to feel again."

Danzo laughed, "Oh believe me he wanted to be there. He wanted to be one of the ones that ended those traitors, not just the one that outed them. But I thought he was better served here."

"No." Ino whispered, "No. You're lying! Sai wouldn't turn on me, on us. We're his friends, and... and more."

Naruto was ignoring Ino for the moment instead he was looking straight into Sai's eyes, and he felt his heart break a little for Ino. In those eyes Naruto didn't see any pain or regret. He saw nothing. Nothing but the perfect emotionless root soldier. The blond boy thought back to a conversation he once had with Danzo, "Out of all the emotional triggers in the world the hardest to train root away from are simple teenage hormones. Remember that Naruto it may save you one day."

Naruto had screwed up. He'd taken that comment to mean that Sai would be one of the easiest to turn because of his attraction to Ino, but he had miscalculated. Of course Danzo would spend the longest time beating out the most dangerous, and the moment Sai started showing an interest in Ino the crippled scumbag had probably sent him through some retraining sessions.

The Namikaze boy felt ill. Sai had never been their friend, Danzo had made sure that was beaten out of him before their friendship even had a chance. "I'm impressed." the blond boy said calmly, even as he kept his firm grip on Ino, "I never even suspected Sai of being a spy, and neither did Ibiki-sensei."

Danzo smiled, it wasn't a nice smile, "You'd be amazed at how well root do as spies. They don't have emotions to make them feel sympathy for a target, or to make them panic and screw up when things get rough. Indeed, there's no better spy than a root spy."

"And you used this root spy to make sure I was trustworthy, and when you found I wasn't you had him find out what I was up to. What are you going to do with the others? You made it sound like you were going to kill them." Naruto asked

"You're right," the cripple said, "As soon as Sai found out the location of your prison he gave it to me. I sent my loyal root to kill off all of the traitors."

The two blonds shared a look then Ino took off running toward the door that the two enemies had left unblocked while they monologued. Sai beat her to the entrance and she had to skid to a stop to avoid being impaled on his suddenly drawn sword, "Ah, ah, ah, Ino." Danzo said, "I can't have you running of and ruining the surprise now can I?"

Naruto scowled at Danzo. He'd promised those people they would be free. He wouldn't let this monster kill them all! "Ino, I'm so sorry, but you're going to have to get through Sai. I'll make sure Danzo doesn't follow you. And Ino?' The blond boy pulled his eyes away from Danzo's for a brief moment to look into Ino', "Remember what's at stake." He saw Ino nod out of the corner of his eye as he turned his attention back to Danzo.

Sensei and student stood staring at each other as the sounds of battle started near the rooms entrance. "I think I let you're ego get a bit too far out of control Naruto. You may be strong but you're nowhere near Kage level yet." Danzo said.

Naruto shrugged, "I know, but at seventy-three I bet you're not quite there either."

The cripples eyes narrowed, "We shall see." Naruto felt a displacement of air to his left and ducked instinctively as his eyes widened. He flipped over and saw Danzo standing therewith a sword where his head had just been. Naruto kicked up into Danzo's stomach forcing the air out of him even as he was knocked away. The blond boy flipped back onto his feet and pondered how on earth Danzo could have moved that quickly? He'd been standing in front of him when the sword nearly made an intimate acquaintance with his neck.

He glanced over at Danzo and quickly jumped and flipped to connect himself to the ceiling as a massive wave of earth spread throughout the room with Danzo at the epicenter. Naruto gulped. He'd really underestimated the old cripple. The blond pulled out three kunai and sent them flying towards Danzo with his wind chakra sharpening them.

Danzo put up a hand and grabbed them out of the air and sent them flying right back at Naruto with twice as much wind chakra on them. The blond cut the chakra to his feet and flipped to land on the floor but was forced to jump wildly out of the way as the three kunai shot through the ceiling in such a way that it came falling down on Naruto's head.

The blonds wild jump threw him into a wall. He slid down it, dazed. When his head stopped ringing he saw Danzo standing above him ready to stab him with his sword. Naruto reached frantically for a weapon and felt something soft and powdery instead. He glanced down and saw that is hand had fallen into the ash left behind by the burning of all of Danzo's file's. Naruto dug his fingers into the feathery ash until they met with the ash that had mixed with the dirt below then he grabbed up a handful and threw it haphazardly towards the cripples face.

Danzo cried out in pain as the mixture of dirt and ash hit his eye. The sword falling toward Naruto hit the concrete beside him instead. The blond let out a short sigh of relief as he pulled out a kunai and went for the jugular of the temporarily blinded man. He was knocked away before even a scratch was made and when Naruto looked up again he froze in shock. The bandage had been removed from Danzo's right eye showing the fully formed sharingan that had been hidden beneath it.

The cripple saw the shock on the blonds face and smirked, "Surprised boy? Well just wait till you see my next trick." The sharingan's tomoe started swirling about within the eye and deep inside himself Naruto could feel the Kyuubi stirring, its chakra beginning to bubble inside him.

The blond jerked back from his opponent with wide eyes. In his study of jinchuuriki he'd discovered that a strong enough sharingan user could control a bijuu. But...Danzo wasn't even an Uchiha! How could he have any power over the fuzz but? The tomoe in the cripples sharingan started spinning faster and Naruto felt the pull on the Kyuubi's chakra get stronger. The Uzumaki backed as far away from Danzo as the room would allow and tried to get rid of his panic.

Everything he'd ever studied on jinchuuriki told him that strong negative emotions made the youki come out faster. The blond took a deep breath and as he exhaled he tried to blow his aggression and fear out with the air. He felt himself becoming calmer until he heard Danzo laugh. The blond's eyes refocused on the cripple to see that he hadn't moved at all, he was standing confidently in the same spot with his sharingan spinning madly as he laughed mockingly, "Calming you're emotions only works if your emotions are why the demon's coming out. It will only slow the inevitable here."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in a glare. Danzo was right, the root needed to be destroyed in order for the Kyuubi to stay where it belonged. With determination, the Uzumaki pulled out a kunai, coated it with wind chakra and sent it flying at Danzo with his fist following close behind. He need to get rid of that sharingan.

The cripple casually dropped his head to the side to avoid the kunai and swung his cane into the oncoming blonds ribs with shattering force. Naruto let out a pain filled grunt as he flew backwards. His back hit the wall behind him with enough force to crack it and he slumped to the ground with a whimper.

"You're not very good at this are you?" Danzo asked, "I posses the power to pul the Kyuubi out of you and control it once it's free and you're response in a simple frontal assault? Obviously I was wrong to choose you as my successor. And it seems the council was wrong to send you as their assassin. Still, I thought you were stronger than this."

The blond slowly pushed himself back to his feet. Something was wrong. Usually his wounds would be much closer to healed by now, but this time they were stubbornly sticking around. Naruto coughed as he felt his right lung begin to fill with blood, but he tried to ignore it as he focused on the man in front of him, even as he willed the seal to stay strong.

Naruto pulled out Shika's Kazaana scroll and forced chakra into it as he threw it over Danzo's head. The scroll exploded with a bang. Danzo's eye's widened. Kunai rained down around the cripple as he tried to dodge them all. Naruto finished the hand signs for Kazaana and disappeared to the sound of shrieking wind. He felt the jutsu pull him along as he appeared at random by Danzo again and again and struck out with his wind lengthened kunai.

Finally the jutsu was over and a breathless Naruto reappeared back where he had started while the shrieking died to nothing. With a distressed sigh the blond prepared himself to take in the no doubt mangled corpse of Danzo as he turned around.

The Uzumaki gasped and rapidly retreated as he saw a completely uninjured Danzo standing outside the circle of kunai on the other end of the room, "W-what? How did- How did you survive the Kazaana? It's faster than the eye can see, and even with the shrieking it would be almost impossible to tell where the next attack is coming from."

Danzo shook his head in disappointment, "You of all people should know better than to implicitly trust something created by the Fourth."

"If that was an abstract dig about me being untrustworthy there were way less disturbing ways to get it across." Naruto said vaguely as he studied Danzo's left arm. This was the first time he'd ever seen it as his traitorous sensei had always been careful to keep it hidden. Out of all the things he thought might be under the ever present cloth, he certainly hadn't expected an arm covered in sharingan eyes with all but on open and a face that looked disturbingly like the Shodai's growing out of the shoulder.

The blond shuddered at the grotesque arm, "I guess now I know why you wanted all the Uchiha dead so badly, but ewww."

Danzo fondly glanced down at his left arm, "Ah Naruto. I know it's may not seem like the prettiest of sites, but if you knew the power I contain in this arm alone you would envy me my possession of it. For it is the power of this arm and the sharingan eyes imbedded in it that allowed me to survive unharmed your fathers hirashin." The eyes on the Shodai's face opened and glowed with the signature green of the Senju, "And it is the First's DNA combined with these sharingan that will allow me to break your will and possess the power of the Kyuubi."

Naruto screamed in pain and doubled over clutching his stomach as the seal began to burn. He could feel the seal breaking and the nine-tails chakra overwhelming his own. He tried to will it back. He used every ounce of the will power he'd earned through 12 years of neglect and need to care for himself and pushed it all into holding the Kyuubi back, but it wasn't enough. The combined power of the mokuton and sharingan was pulling the nine-tails out regardless of his best efforts to hold it back.

Naruto painfully turned his head up to look at the smirking face of Danzo. That crippled creep was going to win. He couldn't stop this and when the Kyuubi broke free he would die. His thoughts seemed to freeze there and circle, 'he would die – he would die- he would die-" an idea sparked in the blonds head a desperate crazy idea that would no doubt cause Sakura to hunt him down and beat him into a pulp whether it be in this life or the next, but it was an idea.

One of the blonds hands slowly curled away from it's place clutching the seal and painfully inched its way down to his kunai pouch and pulled one out. Danzo laughed when he saw the kunai in the blonds hand, "Surely by now you've learned that a simple kunai cannot stop me."

Naruto just smiled, "I- I won't let you win. The K-Kyuubi's my burden. Mm-my duty is to keep it from harming anyone." a fire burned in Naruto's eyes. A fire the scorched Danzo heart and made him feel fear, "And I will!" The kunai flashed silver in the light right before it cut through the blonds jugular. Naruto felt his life blood leaving him as he silently laughed at the outraged bijuu inside him, 'If I die you die, remember?' The Uzumaki's head began to spin from the loss of blood as a final thought entered his head, 'Please let me not wake up in hell.' Then with a shuddering gasp Naruto felt his eyes go dim.