Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: Big thanks to all those reviewers, fav&alerts. Though I can't reply to all of reviews(since I'm both working and studying), I'm deeply appreciated.
BIG thanks to my lovely Beta Vermouth, who'd done all those troublesome corrections for me.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2.
In a nondescript bunk inside one of Root's secret chambers, Naruto opened his eyes , feeling miserable. It was still very dark and other boys were sleeping soundly, as they were supposed to.
It was usual for him. He often found himself waking up in middle of the night feeling dismal. His body felt heavy, as if it'd fallen into a muddy lake and had to drag himself and his burdensome soaked clothes out of it, his head was dizzy and the urge to throw up was getting more powerful.
Forcing back his nausea, the blond climbed down from the bunk, the old wooden posts creaking under the shifts of his weight.
"Oy-." Somebody hissed, a pair of obscured eyes sending him a glare in the darkness. It was one of the brown-haired twins. Naruto ignored him completely and opened the door of chamber, slamming it behind him.
The sleep-deprived and annoyed orphans began to exchange whispers then.
"Where is he going?"
"He wants to train more, no doubt. Total weirdo."
"Why he's doing it?"
"I don't know, maybe he wants to be praised by Leader-sama..."
X
The landscape outside was a typical sight: Congealed earth and leaves against the pale moonlight. Naruto exhaled, billows of cold air emanating from his mouth as he gathered few pebbles. Then Pushing chakra into his legs, he sprung up and took flight. Using pebbles instead of shurikens, he narrowed his eyes and threw them into the air. The stones cut through the air like sharp knives, striking the targeted treetops.
The blond felt his nausea slowly vanish as he kept on training. It had always been like that. During the day their leader trained them till all of them were on the brink of throwing up. Naruto suffered the same nausea the other orphans felt, but not for the same reason. In fact, it was the exact opposite reason. He felt sick when he was done training just like other kids. After being dismissed, all of the orphans rushed back to their chamber to get some much needed rest. All of them except for one. Naruto stayed outside, going over that day's exercise, time and time again. Only then he felt at ease, only then did the sickness ebb away. He couldn't figure out the reason for it. He just knew that he had to do much more training than the others in order to prevent his annoying malaise.
About an hour later, Naruto went back to chamber, sweaty and panting but satisfied. He picked up one of the towels piled at the corner and wiped his face.
"Oy!"
"Why aren't you sleeping?" The blond immediately frowned when Shin climbed down from his own bunk and approached him.
The grey-haired boy shrugged, then punched the blond's shoulder lightly. "Are you OK?"
Sapphire eyes glared at him, flashing in the dark. "What?"
"You're working like a madman, little brother. I'm worried about your condition."
"Worry about yourself. And stop calling me that."
"Why? Leader-sama said we all are brothers, idiot."
"Cripes, just go sleep. Our regulation starts tomorrow._"
"Shhh!_" The other boys hissed angrily at the two. Rolling his eyes, Shin gave them the thumbs-up before facing the blond again.
"No matter what, you're my brother."
The brooding blond ignored the idiot's words and climbed back to his own bunk.
There were only two weeks left until the day of Konohagakure's biggest festival, which celebrated and remembered the day of the Kyuubi no Yōko's defeat, bested by none other than their beloved Yondaime with the help from his own daughter, Namikaze Minami, Konoha's little heroine. In only a fortnight, the sixth anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat would take place.
The markets were already blooming, people crammed all around them, but no shops were as populated as the ladies' dress shops. Colorful and, luxuriously embroidered kimonos were displayed at every shop window, attracting the eyes of women of all ages. However, ironically enough, such shops held more men than women, since it was a tradition for the husbands, fathers, and brothers to buy the festive garments for their female relatives.
Uchiha Mikoto skid to a halt in front of one of the dress shops on her way back from grocery shopping. For a moment, her black eyes shimmered with excitement at the sight of such magnificent dresses, only to drop in a sad manner an instant later.
'People are ignorant.', thought Mikoto as she gave out a sigh. She wondered whether the festival would actually be held that year. Her husband and leader of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku, was planning to strike on that very same day of festival, the only day when everyone, including the Hokage himself, would take a step back from their duties and relax in order to enjoy the celebration.
No way. Yondaime wasn't the sort of man who would ever lower his guard.
The Uchiha were blind.
Two weeks… She only had two weeks to stop everything!... No, it could be even less, if Itachi -
"Ah, Hokage-sama, it's an honor to have your visit my humble shop!"
Mikoto turned around quickly, hearing the fangirl screams of the young women in the street.
"Look! It's Hokage-sama!"
"Gyaaaaa! Goodness, it's true!"
"Wow, so he's buying kimonos for his wife and daughters?"
"He's such a family-oriented man, Aw…..."
"It seems like the rumor were wrong. Argh, I wish I were his wife..."
The Uchiha female began to feel her heart thumping wildly once again at the sight of the spiky golden head of Yondaime. He exchanged a few words with the old shopkeeper, before entering the dress shop.
The two ANBU guards were having a hard time keeping the drooling women at bay, lest they flooded into the shop.
Mikoto arranged her outfit hastily, brushing her long hair with fingers, and finally feigning a calm smile, she made her way through the wave of people and walked past the sweating ANBUs. One ANBU glanced at her, and noticing who she was, he simply nodded respectfully before concentrating on his job again.
"So you want me to make three special kimonos, Hokage-sama?"
"Four, actually. Including one for a toddler."
"Ah, forgive me for my stupid amnesia, Hokage-sama."
"That's OK. How many days would it take?"
"Hmm, since it's one for an adult's and three for the little ones' -..."
"Good morning, Hokage-sama." The two men turned around to look at the source of the interruption. The shopkeeper blinked while Minato smiled. "Hello, Mikoto-san. It's good to see you again."
Smiling back shyly, Mikoto asked,"you're ordering kimonos for Kushina-chan and the girls?"
"Yes, I guess so," he chuckled good-humoredly. "'Tis one of the things men should do... How about you, Mikoto-san? Have you come to pick out your own kimono?"
"Um, frankly.. Yes." She then blushed. "My husband doesn't really like to pick up 'women stuff'."
Sapphire eyes sparkled with a strange light at this. "''Women stuff'? Seriously?"
"Ye-, yes..." 'Why am I damn stammering?' Scolding herself, Mikoto nodded, her cheeks bright red. She shouldn't have given him such a stupid explanation! Even a kid would know that she was lying!
Poor Fugaku. To be ratted out by his own wife…
Fortunately, the shopkeeper cut into the conversation. "Oh, so that's why. I just presumed that all Uchiha would get their outfits from their exclusive tailors."
"Some of us. But not all." She answered quickly, carefully studying the Hokage's face.
Minato gave the raven-haired woman a brief piercing look, before bursting out laughing. "I wasn't aware that Fugaku-san was such a conservative man. My, my, He need to be taught lessons."
Thank goodness. So he wasn't suspicious of anything?
The shopkeeper grinned at her, too. "It's all right, lady. My shop is one of the best. I'll make a magnificent one for you!"
"Yeah, you don't have to be embarrassed. I'm sure that this shop is fit for a beautiful woman such as yourself." The blond chuckled again.
Mikoto's flush deepened at the compliment. Although it was ridiculous, her heart began thumping at a wilder pace. 'Does he really mean that?"
She then felt an abrupt urge to slap her own face. She was acting like a stupid teenage, awestruck girl!
"Thank you, but.. maybe I'll come back another time." She mumbled in a daze as she spun on her heels, feeling like an idiot.
"Mikoto-san."
She halted at the Hokage's grim voice, nearly gasping. Has he-? Gulping, she turned around slowly. "Yes, Hokage-sama..?" And that time, she did gasp.
Oh, blast it. There was something behind those sapphire eyes.
Her dark eyes began to well up in fear as he slowly strode towards her, his eyes fixed on her own. She gulped, feeling the blood rush through her body.
'I'm doomed. I'm damned. He noticed, he knows!...'
She suppressed a wince. This man's deadly! Of course, he's deadly. What would you expect from Yondaime?
Uchiha Mikoto was just about a second away from bursting into tears when Yondaime handed her something. "You forgot your things."
"..."
Blinking vacantly, Mikoto stared at her grocery bag, the stream of thoughts in her head skidding to a halt for a brief instant. It took her a few seconds to gather herself. She then smiled gratefully at him. "Oh, thank you, Hokage-sama."
His smile was as kind and as pleasant as always. "You're welcome. See you soon, Mikoto-san."
...
After the embarrassed raven-haired woman left (or more like fled from the shop) , Minato fell silent, his deep blue eyes pensive. Suddenly, his previously warm and big smile turned small and sarcastic.
Silly Uchiha girl. Trying to play a game with him, huh?
"Hokage-sama? I think they'll be ready in a week."
"Ah, fine, then. I'll come back next week."
"Thank you for your visit, Hokage-sama! I'm always at your service!"
The boys were set in groups and had senior ROOT members supervising them.
Brows knit in his trademark frown, Naruto glared at his adversary, who looked extremely pale that day. It was one of the brown-haired twins -_ the younger one, code name 'Kei'. Even though he was an inch taller than Naruto, he seemed to have shrunk, looking much smaller than he was.
He was scared, no doubt.
"Go!" The supervisors shouted. The boys launched their attacks at each other, the sound of clashing metal resonating throughout the ground.
Naruto ducked under Kei's swing and gave him a swift, harsh uppercut to the chin. The brown-haired boy grunted and flew back several meters, landing hard on the grass, unmoving.
Naruto frowned again. That one was pathetic. He'd rather have an older one as his rival.
"On your feet!" One of the supervisors yelled at the hapless twin. "Don't give up unless your heart stops!"
He was bleeding from his mouth, and coughing helplessly, Kei slowly stood on his feet, swinging his blade. He then rushed at the blond.
Naruto intercepted him before he could strike. He went down onto his hands, and powered his right foot into Kei's stomach, knocking the air out of the twin's lungs and slamming him into a tree.
The entire combat had taken less than three minutes.
Bubbles of blood oozed between Kei's lips as he coughed painfully. Choking him hard against the tree, Naruto glanced up at the supervisors.
"Kill him." Ordered one of them. "Now."
A look of wild disbelief flashed the blond's eyes before he schooled his features into a blank mask.
X
Horror crept up upon Shin's face as he watched his adversary fall limply to the ground, the blade sliding out from the fatal wound he had delivered to the chest.
Shin stared up the supervisor. He nodded approvingly at him.
Gulping, Shin turned to search for Sai and Naruto.
Sai seemed to have just finished off his adversary. The black-haired boy dropped his head for quite briefly before slowly looking back at him, his eyes blank.
Brothers.
The leader had told them to think of each other as brothers.
And now they were being ordered to kill each other. Something was wrong, something was so terribly wrong…
A terrified scream pierced the air, causing all boys to flinch from its intensity. The ear-splitting yell came from the youngest of the brown-haired twins. A certain blond was just about to stab his chest.
Shin quickly looked around, noticing Kenji. The eldests' knuckles whitened, and his tanned face turned as pale as Sai's at the scene before him. Seeing that, the grey-haired boy shouted at the blond without a second thought.
"Naruto!"
Naruto stopped his movements momentarily, before frowning again. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stabbed the pathetic brown-haired boy's chest with his blade.
Shin clenched his fists, sweats pooling into his palms.
The number of boys had already decreased by half. All of them lay slumped on the bunkers, muscles aching and their breath-starved lungs wheezing. But the physical damage was laughable compared to the mental trauma they had gone through that day. Currently, every one was avoiding each other's eyes.
No- one spoke or shared a word.
No- one slipped into another one's bed to share the warmth and have a chat.
Tomorrow they would be killing each other again.
And no- one wanted to kill each other. Not really...
"You killed him."
Despite the exhaustion, every head turned at the accusation.
Naruto emptied his last glass of water before turning to Kenji. Blue eyes sparkled coldly. "You killed your match too," he retorted bluntly.
"..."
The boy said nothing for a while. He stared angrily at Naruto, who simply gave him a bored and cold look.
"..He was the only family I had left." he hissed.
Cold blue eyes twitched. "He died because he was scum who allowed his emotions to get in the way."
A malicious flash tore across the brown orbs.
"I hate you."
Naruto turned away.
Sai looked up when Shin jumped down from the upper bunk and approached to the blond.
"Naruto."
The blond merely arranged his sheet.
"Naruto... Are you OK?"
Damn.
Naruto whipped his head around. Shin flinched subconsciously at the blazing expression on the younger boy's face.
"Why the heck won't you leave me alone?" snarled the blond. "Why won't you just worry about yourself? Do you think I'm a pathetic weakling, too?"
"D-don't.. Don't fight, please..." A teary voice interrupted them. It was from one of the smaller boys.
"Damnit.." hissed Naruto brusquely as he pushed the grey-haired boy away, and slumped onto his bunk. An annoyed scowl rose to his face again when he sensed a pair of eyes on him. He cocked his head, only to see Sai gazing blankly at him.
"What?"
Sai looked away.
XX
Soft whispers in the dark woke him up, indistinguishable blue eyes opening drowsily.
"...So you agree with me?"
"It's possible."
Damn.
The blond sat up and leaned over, glaring in the direction of Sai's bunker. "You two."
One dark head and one grey head perked up at the sound of his commanding voice. An irritated sigh escaped the blond's plump lips. "What the hell are you doing?"
…
They both remained quiet. Sai gathered his knees within his arms. Shin heaved a gloomy sigh.
"..Naruto."
"What?"
"We may have to fight each other tomorrow. It's just similar to a practice performed in Kirigakure. In that village Academy students fight each other to death in order to graduate."
"Weird village," commented the dark-haired boy.
Golden eyebrows twitched. "You got that right."
"..."
"You're a prat, Naruto." Sai spat callously.
Shin covered his mouth with his hands to muffle his laughter. Naruto was sporting an extremely annoyed look on his usually prim and proper face, and that was just too amusing to watch.
"We do as we are told. We follow orders." The miffed blond spat. "If leader-sama orders us to kill each other, then we should do so. Just like today."
"Kill each other like rabid dogs." muttered the grey-haired youth.
"Like rabid dogs?"
"Like rabid dogs."
"Whatever. Stop being so weak, you piece of scum." Naruto sneered before laying down on his bed again.
An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, but Shin was quick to break it after few minutes. "Oi, golden brother."
"What?" Naruto hissed, resuming glaring at Shin. "Don't call me -"
The elder boy chuckled lightly at his tone. "Hey, if we are pitted against each other, would you give me a quick death like you gave Kei today?"
Sapphire eyes blazed with newfound annoyance. "Sure, idiot. I'll make it even quicker."
"Wow, don't disappoint me then."
Sai bowed his head to hide his giggles.
Another long silence passed over the three boys until Naruto's now calm voice echoed through the dark air.
"Shin."
"Hmm?"
"Don't ever call me your brother again."
…
Silence fell again in the dark chamber.
Itachi stared deeply into Yondaime's eyes, his own dark orb shaking in both shock and emotion. The Hokage stared back at him, but his posture was calmer, and for a moment Itachi wondered whether it could all just be a cruel joke.
"..You will honor your word, Hokage-sama?" The weasel finally managed to speak again. "You'll spare my mother and brother? And my aunt?"
"As I said before, I don't totally agree with Council." He paused, frowning a little in a pensive manner and then resumed his speech, "To be frank, it's a silly idea. Wipe out an entire clan in one night, and then the next day tell the citizens that one boy turned rogue because he lost his faith in his clan and went berserk? Nobody would buy it. Stupid old hags. But more than that, I don't want to put such cruel burden upon a boy like you. Shisui's sacrifice has done enough damage. "
"Hokage-sama?"
"Traitors must be executed, not killed. The Uchiha name will be stripped of its honor and respect. Anyone who's involved in the matter will be executed as well. But," he pressed on, giving the boy a piercing look, "those mentioned three will be spared, just for your sake."
Itachi dropped onto his knees. "Hokage-sama," his voice shook with unrestrained an emotion. "Your generosity is too far too great, especially bestowed upon someone like myself!"
"My generosity is freely given to those who are loyal." Minato softly spoke. "Without your loyalty we could have had a gruesome disaster. You have a noble heart, Itachi. Keep it up, for Konoha needs outstanding youngsters like you. You may leave now."
With a respectful bow Itachi dismissed himself, his chest trembling with delight and hope, yet with some trepidation, anxious about how was he going to tell his mother about the new turn of developments.
XX
As soon as the Uchiha boy left his office, Yondaime's expression immediately shifted into an icy grimace, making a great contrast with the former smile that could light up the whole village. With a cynical snort, he tossed piles of documents backwards and stood by the window, looking down at Konoha. Signaling to one of the ANBU surreptitiously placed outside the window, Minato commanded. "Tekuro, go and tell Danzo-san I want to see him immediately."
The sky was blue. It was sunny day_ too sunny, in fact.
Today their leader Danzou presented himself at the last regulation. Everyone tensed up and fell into tidy and neat lines, coaxing the fatigue out of their bodies as they straightened their sore backs.
Nonchalantly, Danzou studied each and every face with his one visible eye. Some looked pale, some looked numb, some looked cowed...
How many of them were going to survive to see the end of that day? Half? Or only a quarter?
Danzou stepped forward, his wooden staff kneading softly the grass underneath it.
He voiced. "Any kind of emotion, whether fear, hatred, or anger, will prevent you from reaching your full potential. Anyone who's bound by useless sentimentalism is scum. Now let's see how many of you deserve the honorable title of 'ROOT member'. Let us begin!"
Then he began to call up matches. "Sai." Sai gulped. "Match with Kenji."
The two boys exchanged glances from their respective spots.
Danzou kept on calling matches, and Naruto was listening apathetically until he felt a pair of eyes on him. He threw a glance and saw Shin, who winked at him. Naruto scowled.
"Naruto." The blond looked to the front again when his code name was called. "Match with Shin."
Sai looked at Shin. Shin looked at Naruto. Naruto… Naruto merely frowned.
XX
Holding a blade each, the blond and grey-haired boy readied themselves to face each other.
"Naruto," Shin called in low tone, and again, for third time, Naruto ignored him.
Then their leader shouted, "Start!"
Dozens of small feet picked up a pace.
Arms crossed, Danzou watched the combats with a satisfied expression. The old man let out a small amused snort when he spotted Naruto dodging Shin's punch with ease.
Way too easily.
Just as expected. Naruto and Shin couldn't even be compared. The blond held the power of a bijuu. There was nobody there who held a candle to him. They were all so outclassed it wasn't even funny.
Woosh!
Shin was blown away by Naruto's axe kick. The grey-haired boy flew a few good meters backward before hitting the ground with a thud. Blue chakra was swirling around the blond's leg, progressively condensing into a blue cloud. Danzou glanced at it, and smirked inwardly.
Gripping his blade, Naruto immobilized his adversary with his weight. He grabbed the older boy by the collar, the edge of his blade just an inch away from his neck.
"Not that quick." Shin joked between pants.
A hiss escaped Naruto's plump lips. "Shut up_"
Shin struggled a little under him. Their eyes met. Then unexpectedly, Naruto's earlier vivid look shifted into a confused expression.
The distant sound of Danzou's voice rang up then. "Don't hesitate. Don't let emotion hold you back. He's not your brother anymore."
Naruto bit his lips, his hand still halted in midair. He glared down at Shin once again. There was something behind Shin's dark orbs.
The blond gulped. Images of years past swam across his eyes in slow motion.
'What do they call you, little brother?'
'Are you OK?'
'We are all brothers, idiot.'
'No matter what, you're my brother.'
They were all too young...
Still panting heavily, Shin flashed him a smile. "Hey, little bro."
"What the -?"
"Are you OK?"
Sapphire eyes shook with confusion, before fury seeped into his slightly pale face. "You idiot..."
"Naruto." Danzo pressed stern tone.
"Come on," the idiot smiled again. "Like dogs. We have no choice. You'll be fine."
The blond squeezed his eyes shut; his breath trembling as he slowly drew his blade. The next moment he opened his eyes as if startled, stabbing the metal edge into the flesh.
Blood spilled.
Shin's eyes widened for a moment, before his eyes drooped. He gave Naruto one last hearty smirk.
Naruto blinked.
Crack.
The sound of something being broken inside the blond's stomach reverberated in his ears.
Something had indeed cracked.
X
The blades stroked each other. Then a punch came. Sai was thrown backwards, the end of Kenji's blade an inch above his belly.
"Damn!" Cursing under his breath, Sai desperately sought for a chance to dodge. However, he soon found himself in no need to escape, because Kenji suddenly turned away leaving his adversary behind.
"What the -?" Sai's blank expression slowly shifted into ne of sheer horror when he realized that the brown-haired boy was darting towards the blond, who was currently sitting over Shin's unmoving body.
"Hey!"
The watching ROOT guards were about to grab the crazed brat but Danzou stopped them. "Leave it. Let's see what happens next_"
...
Naruto sat staring at the empty air, Shin's body still under his weight.
The baka had smiled.
The idiot had smiled when blood spilled from his neck.
He suddenly felt his nausea rushing over again, as if a bloodthirsty compulsion was urging his body to take action. Looking down at his blood-stained hands, he found them shaking uncontrollably. Something hot was boiling hard inside the center of his body and he felt like he was about to explode.
He then noticed a blurry something rushing towards him.
"Die!"
Almost subconsciously, Naruto ducked under Kenji's swing before grabbing his throat, crashing him down to the ground. Without the slightest ounce of hesitation, he took the blade from Kenji's hand and slit his throat. Kenji's eyes widened in a shock.
Blood spilled once again.
Naruto slowly drew the blade away before slipping it again into the opened wound.
Blood splattered.
He stabbed him again, and again, and again..
... And again. Naruto was stabbing the blade into the openly cut throat again and again, repeatedly, completely indifferent to crimson liquid that was splashing over his face, as if he were possessed by something.
The few survivors screamed faintly at the scene. Although their hands were also stained with blood, they'd never dared to stab their already dead comrades again. Never.
"Enough!"
The blade fell onto the ground at Danzou's voice.
Naruto slowly turned, staring up at his commander. The master gave the boy a curt nod. "Good. Very good."
…
The blond let go dispassionately of Kenji's battered body. He was about to bow to the old man when he suddenly fell onto his knees, starting throwing up.
Somebody screamed...
It wasn't his usual vomit. He could feel the metallic taste of blood inside his mouth, and as he coughed the hot liquid flowed over his fingers.
Panic rose.
"Naruto!"
Naruto felt Danzou's hand grabbing his shoulder. He coughed a few more times, spitting blood.
He blacked out.
Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes. The ceiling was unfamiliar, but he didn't really care. He felt hollow inside. He tried to sit up, but dropped back ointo the cushions, unable to lift his back.
"So how are you feeling, kiddo?"
Naruto's brow rose at the unfamiliar voice. An elderly man with long gray hair and a weird beard was standing by his side, his yellow eyes examining him in a friendly way.
"Who are you?"
"Me?" The man pointed at himself, trying to insert some soothing humor. "My name is Shinno. I'm a special medic-nin from some town out there. Your superior has asked me to check you up, so I did."
Naruto stared at him.
"Now, now; you don't have to glare at me like that." Chuckling, Shinno held Naruto's arm, helping him to sit up. "I have few things to ask you."
Naruto stared up at the medic-nin with strangely empty eyes. "What?"
Weird yellow eyes shone at him as the old man voiced,. "You may give a few answers to my questions."
"As if."
"Hmm? What?"
"I won't tell you anything since I'm not ordered to do so,." Replied the child in indifferent tone.
Shinno chuckled again. "Woah, woah, don't worry, cool kid. This is part of my check-up, which your superior ordered me to do so."
Naruto blinked. Grinning, Shinno started,"So, question one: do you often suffer from some kind of nausea?"
He gave the medic a silent nod.
"Question two: do you feel your body heavy often, like - what do I call that? Oh yeah, like when you've eaten too much?"
Another nod.
"Well, then question three."the man cleared his throat and then continued, "Do you train a lot in order to alleviate from those symptoms ?"
A silent glare was thrown at him. "How do you know this so well?"
"Don't fret, cool kid. It's my job."
"...What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong, boy. It's just part of your growth." He laughed.
The blond's eyebrows twitched. That old man was getting on his nerves, with those constant weird giggles.
"Aw, kiddo. You just reminded me of my daughter. She's just about your age... Do you want to see a picture of her?"
Shinno pulled out a small picture from his pocket totally ignoring the blond's disinterested attitude. "Here. Isn't she pretty?"
Naruto stared at it blankly."..."
With callous indifference, Naruto stared at the reddish-brown haired girl in the photo. She had a pair of rather thick eyebrows and blue eyes _just like his own, and a small mole under the left eye .
"She doesn't look like you." that was all the ROOT boy could say.
The yellow eyes widened in happy surprise. "Wow! You're very observant! Actually, I'm not her biological father. I adopted her when she was a toddler, so..."
Pulling the sheet over himself, Naruto closed his eyes, leaving the old man to chat on his own.
"Interesting, very interesting."
Danzou's lips curled sardonically at the amazed comment from Shinno.
"Then tell me what's so interesting, regarding his condition."
Sitting on an offered chair, Shinno rubbed his hands together, giggling. "As you'd ordered, I did a check- up on the boy. You said he'd vomited blood?"
"Yes. If there's any illness…"
"He's not ill. He's very healthy -too healthy, as a matter of fact."
"..."
Failing at eliciting any sort of amusing response from the old, one-eyed man, Shinno sniffed little as he continued, "The boy has too much chakra and stamina for a child of his age. It's a bit weird, for I'd never witnessed a case like him except for jinchuurikis."
Danzou's brusque voice cut him short. "He's not a jinchuuriki."
"I know, I'm well aware that the daughter of your Hokage is the jinchuuriki of this village."
"Right. And so?"
"'So'? That's why I'm saying it's interesting. His state is similar to those of jinchuurikis, and yet there's no source of that power. Incredible, unbelievable- almost fantastic! That's why he's suffering from things like nausea and blood-vomiting. His body is still too feeble to balance an overwhelming power. Do you understand?"
Silence again. Shinno started to feel utterly bored at the man's calm reaction. With a sheepish look on his face, the medic-nin cleared his throat.
Then Danzou questioned, "What should we do then?"
"Ahem. There's nothing you can do, really. Just let him concentrate on training as much as possible. That's the only way to ease his pain. When he's grown up he'll either be able to control his power or...The power will control him. It depends on the strength of his very own soul."
"..."
His eyes pensive, Danzou merely nodded, causing the medic-nin to be even more disappointed.
XX
After Shinno took his leave, Danzou made a hand sign to both Fuu and Torune, who had been hiding in the shadows the whole time.
"This is an order, Fuu. Tail the old medic-ninja secretly. Once he's out of Konoha, kill him. Don't leave any evidence."
Fuu bowed respectfully as he answered in an emotionless voice, "Hai."
"And Torune, go and bring Naruto here. He'll be joining the Uchiha executing mission."
Sai was staring at his picture book, his frame shaking, and his eyes filling with wetness. Touching the liquid in confusion, he quickly wiped it away and disregarded it. Although his eyes held no emotion, there was a small flicker of sadness that was soon overshadowed by blank disinterest.
'Keep up drawing. You've got a talent.'
His pale finger thumbed through the pages until it reached the center of the book. Three boys drawn together emerged. They were holding each others' hands. One grinning, next one smiling, and the last one frowning.
Shin, Sai, and Naruto.
Sai shut the book. Using a jutsu he dug, a hole under the tree, burying his book into the mud.
So how was it? good? bad?
Shinno appears in Shippuden movie 2: bonds, along with Amaru.
Please review!