Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
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'Person thinking'
"Person talking"
"Jinchuriki talking inside his head with Bijuu"
'Bijuu thinking'
"Bijuu talking"
"Bijuu talking inside jinchurki's head"
Chapter 22 - In much wisdom
Night time found Hiraku Uchiha about 1km away from the Uzumaki residence, Sharingan activated, so he can pick up Naruto's chakra signature at night and from a distance.
'Alright. Let's see what our jinchuriki friend has to show us.'
Nothing happened until around 1 a.m. when Naruto, under henge as an adult no less, was spotted leaving his residence and heading towards the Red-light district no less.
'Well, aren't we having a perverted streak tonight, Mr. Uzumaki?'
Waiting a bit longer, Hiraku moved in pursuit, all the while maintaining the same distance, but adjusting his angle by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, so he wouldn't lose sight of his quarry. The Uchiha Second-in-command definitely enjoyed being the hunter, stalking his prey. It was a thrilling experience, to be in such a position of power over another. Nevertheless, he did not let his musings distract him from his task. Not much of a hunter would he be if he did.
As he was walking through the district, he noticed Naruto looking around apparently relaxed but, thanks to the light shining on him from the lamps, his Sharingan Eye of Insight could detect that the boy was anything but enjoying this walk. His body looked tense, ready to snap into action at a moment's notice. In short, the kid was scared out of his wits, but seemed to keep a tight lid on his emotions.
'I'll be damned. Look at him go. Kid's got guts, I'll give him that. Wait, what's he doing? He stopped.'
Sure enough, Naruto stopped close to one of the brothels and discretely moved to an alleyway that led to the back of the establishment.
'Ok, I thought you were here for the girls, kid, but it seems you really are up to no good.'
Hiraku focused his eyes to see what the boy was doing. Soon, he saw Naruto taking a meditative position and noticed his chakra flow smoothening out, harmonizing, just like his old Yamanaka genin buddy used to do before sensing their surroundings.
'No way. He's a sensor. Holy shit! Fuck, this whole operation may have been compromised… But wait, if he did, then why expose his ability to me like this? No, he doesn't know about me yet. Maybe I'm outside his range. Pfff, that would be lucky as hell. Guess I'll keep my distance just to be sure.'
As he waited, he noticed Naruto focusing and then, all of a sudden, he broke his posture, landed on all fours and started having what looked like a panic attack. Not long after that, the young shinobi-in-training regurgitated his entire evening menu right on the pavement behind the brothel.
'What the hell? Not sure what's going on but the kid's not looking good. I best intervene now and ask him for answers directly.'
Hiraku made to shunshin to Naruto's but before he even moved, an ANBU agent appeared right in front of him, signaling him to stop his pursuit. Upon closer inspection, Hiraku noticed it was in fact Crow, a.k.a Uchiha Itachi, that gave that order.
"Crow? What the hell are you doing here? And what is going on? Explain. Now."
"Hiraku-san. I am on patrol duty this evening and this is my sector." During his reply, Itachi made eye contact with Hiraku and put him under genjutsu instantly. Inside the genjutsu, Hiraku found himself in an open plain field, standing about one meter in front of an unmasked Itachi.
"Hiraku-san, please do not break the genjutsu until I am finished speaking. I prepared it in the event that you would pursue Uzumaki-san. He told me that you did not completely buy into his statement at the interrogation office and we agreed that there was a high likelihood you would initiate a stakeout.
Naruto is a unique type of sensor, yes, and this knowledge is classified as an S-rank secret. Given today's developments, the Hokage and I agreed that it would be best if you and my father were in the know about his ability from now on, since it became obvious that it was merely a matter of time before you discovered it yourselves.
If you wish to know more about what has transpired tonight, please discuss with my father with utmost discretion. What I can tell you right now however, is that Naruto-san's actions may well have assisted in preventing the extinction of our clan, as well as the doom of Konohagakure.
Naruto-san is currently on a mission appointed by the Hokage himself and must accomplish it without distraction. Have no fear, it is my responsibility to ensure his safe return to his residence.
Also, yes, he is the Prankster king, but please make sure not to bring this information to the public for now. Him being a suspect in your case is meant as a distraction from his actual pursuits. We have yet to decide if we will allow for Naruto-san to be exposed or allow one of our enemies to take the fall for his actions. Depending on how things progress, we will choose the most favorable course of action for the operation."
After only a fraction of a second in the real world had passed, the genjutsu dispelled and Hiraku found himself back in front of the real Itachi, now sporting his classic Crow mask.
"I take it you will ensure Naruto-san's return to his quarters, ANBU-san."
"Indeed. Hokage-sama desired that ANBU protect Naruto-san until he becomes strong enough to protect himself. If the situation becomes dire, myself and other ANBU agents are equipped to neutralize Naruto-san, so there is no need for concern."
"I understand. I will continue my stakeout however. He is a prime suspect in one of our cases and we need to know if he's indeed involved."
"Which case would that be, Hiraku-san?"
"The Prankster King"
"I understand. Do as you wish Hiraku-san, but do not get involved in any aggressive action against Naruto-san, for that is against the Hokage's will. Please follow the proper protocols should you uncover anything of note regarding the boy's behaviors."
"Understood. I will keep observing for now, if you don't mind."
"That is acceptable."
A few minutes earlier:
An unassuming brown haired, brown eyed civilian man was walking at a relaxed pace through the Red-Lights District. All around him men and women were flirting and he could see various establishments where some gambling took place.
"Huh, this place looks so much livelier at night. The few times I came here to scan during the day it was like a ghost town."
"Keep your wits about you, Naruto. The moment you start scanning, there's a high chance you'll get overwhelmed."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
"I don't think I've ever seen you so gloomy, Kurama. Is this scan really gonna be that bad?"
"Probably, yes."
"Then better find a safe spot to do it and not be seen in case I freak out, I guess."
"Look at you, actually using your tiny brain for some much-needed forethought. Who would have thought?"
"Hey! I'm really smart for my age!"
"Yeah, yeah, you keep shouting that at me at least once a day."
"Because it's true! Anyway, think I found a spot. Let's hide in this alley."
"Do act discretely. We don't want pursuers or muggers on our tail."
"Right."
Naruto then entered the alleyway behind what looked like a brothel. According to the map he was briefed on, he was about 50 meters to the north-west of the bunker, so it was well within his underground range. He sat down in a meditative position and focused on expanding his sensing range on the surface first.
It hit him like a train.
So many women feeling repulsion mixed with extasy. So many men feeling a sick sense of domination over these women who were clearly suffering at their hands. Some women seemed to like it though, but the vast majority hated themselves. And it was coming in pulses in each case. With each pulse, he could feel the women's suffering increase, even though on the outside they seemed to force a sense of happiness and joy towards whatever those men were doing to them.
But then, he realized, it was not just women, it was men as well, that were going through the same muddy rollercoaster. He tried to keep things together. He focused, hard, trying his best not to allow what he was experiencing overwhelm him into a panic attack. All seemed to go fine until…
"Natsumi-neechan? No, no, no, no. There's no way she's here. Is this what she does at night?! But why?!"
He snapped.
Falling on all fours, Naruto looked at the ground in panic, his breathing eratic and his mind scrambled by all the pain and self-hate he felt coming from all these people, but Natsumi-neechan in particular. She hated herself like no other. Each pulse making her self-hate grow ever greater. The shame, the angst, and still, on the surface, joy and extasy, and somewhere in the middle of it all, duty.
Naruto couldn't hold it any longer. He puked his guts out right then and there. There was just too much and too ugly. He couldn't bear it.
'I need to save Natsumi-neechan. This is wrong!'
"You'll do nothing of the sort. She's not in danger."
"How do you know, Kurama?! She's hurting! I can feel her! Just like I can feel everyone else!"
"I need you to trust me when I say this: if you go there now and make a scene, Natsumi will never forgive herself. She chose not to tell you for a reason and you need to respect that just like she respects your need for secrecy regarding your abilities."
"But she's hurting! And all those people…"
"Get a grip. Focus on the mission. You wanted to be a shinobi, did you not? This is the world you'll have to deal with. I assure you, before your dreams come true, you will see much more of this and worse, so you better grow a thick skin or the horrors of this world will break you.
…This is the burden that comes with this ability. At least you are not alone in the suffering, so you should count yourself lucky on that account…"
The peptalk seemed to have reached its audience, because not long after that Naruto took control of his breathing and calmed down. He sat with his back against the wall, tears still streaming down his eyes, having felt the suffering of all those people and the darkness in the souls of so many others.
How could the world be so ugly? Was it even worth saving? Would he make the world a better place only for these kinds of people to ruin it?
He closed his eyes and focused, trying his best to gather his strength and ready himself once more for the mission at hand.
One, long, deep breath later and his surface scan resumed. He could feel all that he felt before. It hurt. A lot. And it hurt a lot more knowing he could do nothing about it or it could spell the doom of them all.
'12 agents on the surface, mingling with the customers. Locations locked. Mindscape map and timestamp updated.'
He opened his eyes. He took another deep breath to steel himself for the underground scan. Closing his eyes once more, he initiated the underground scan.
'15 agents. Locations locked. Updates complete.'
After finishing the scan, Naruto sat on the ground for a while, staring into space.
"We can't sit here forever, or we risk being discovered."
"Right. Let's go."
"Might want to fake being a bit drunk on the way back."
"After what I just felt, I don't think that'll be a problem."
On their way home, a few patrons roaming the streets gave them the stink eye and some waved at them merrily, but the trip took place without incident.
When Crow made his way to Naruto's apartment for the scan debriefing, he found Naruto collapsed on the floor crying his eyes out. Naruto for his part, when he sensed ANBU-niisan in the room, bolted and hugged his surrogate older brother for dear life.
ANBU-niisan took his mask off and placed it to the side. He grabbed Naruto, sat him gently by his side with one arm still wrapped around the boy and, heavily burdened with melancholy, broke the silence.
"Guess it's time we talked about what it truly means to be a shinobi…"
