A/N: Hey guys. Just a quick notice. If you've read my profile this would seem repetitive, but just remember that these chapters are still just old ones I'm polishing up. I wrote a lot before publishing anything, so I've got a store of finished chapters that just need some sprucing up before they're put out there. When I start writing chapters 'fresh' again, I'll let you guys know with a notice like this one.

That's that. On with the story.

Chapter 9

Sai leaped through the treetops, scraping off bark from the strong boughs that supported him as he ran towards his home village as quickly as he could.

He was fast. At sixteen he was already an Anbu for the greater part of four years, so he should have easily outpaced a chūnin of the same age.

This chūnin, however, was trained by one of the Legendary Sannin, and had kept ten minutes ahead of her entire group for most of their two and a half day sprint back to Konoha.

Sai smiled. This, he realised, was the power of bonds. Her bonds were stronger, and so she outpaced him.

But wait. Sai glanced at Hinata. He had observed her, or more accurately her rage towards Danzō. Her bonds with Naruto were just as strong. Her killing intent was sublime. Then, why was she behind?

Was something other than bonds powering the chūnin he had come to call friend? That was not good. If this was a physical effort, then the abuse of some sort of chakra enhancement like soldier pills was probably the cause.

No, not good at all. He knew from personal experience.

He started pulling ahead, now greatly concerned for his comrade. The artefacts taken from the battle site, as well as Danzō's corpse, slowed Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato, so they brought up the rear.

As Sai increased the distance between them, Team Eight was slowly pushed from front (Sakura was too far ahead to be counted) to middle position.

It was only a day ago that Sai figured out that Sakura's excessive attention towards him during the mission was her way of trying to help him: she had thought that, under Danzō's stony eye, he was reverting to his Root training.

He wanted to tell her that she had been wrong, but she had gained her ten minute distance by then.

What made Sai's eyes dull and his face blank was not some lingering loyalty or fear towards Danzō, but rather the suppression of an insurmountable anger that begged to be unleashed upon the man.

After hearing what he had done, the only thing that ran through Sai's mind was How. Dare. He.

Did Danzō know nothing about bonds? No. If he created a training regimen to eradicate them, he had to know something.

He knew. He just disregarded them. Threw them away like garbage, trampled them into the dust. Treated them as if they were worthless.

This made Sai angry. But if he had shown even the slightest amount of anger, Danzō would have known, and the following… dispute… would have hindered the mission.

And that mission had to be a success. For Naruto's sake, if nothing else.

He had seen the bonds between the original Team Seven for himself, and in the process regained his own bond with his brother. He recognised that they were precious things. If Danzō could not see that, then he was not fit to be Sai's master, leader, or comrade.

And when his anger grew too hot, whenever he was on the verge of verbally striking out against the man who had destroyed Naruto's chance at rebuilding his most precious bond, Sakura always reined him in, thinking that he was reverting to an emotionless tool.

Somehow that made him even more angry, but extremely grateful.

He reached the village first (second) and immediately hit the rooftops, heading straight for the hospital. He knew that was either where Sakura went, or where she was carried after collapsing.

As he flew, a bird met him in mid-air.

Not a real bird, but a girl with long black hair wearing a bird mask. She was a member of Anbu Root. Sai tried to remember her name, but could not. She had never gone on a mission, therefore she had never received a name.

"Sai-sama. Is it true? Is Danzō-sama dead?" She was young, about a year or so younger than Sai, but that and her gender were the only two things her voice gave away. Monotone and flat, she asked about the death of her master with the same emotionless drone as she would the colour of the sky. Her voice had been stripped of all identity, just like Sai's had once been.

In response to her question, Sai opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue as far as he could. She leaned forward very slightly – too much would be too revealing of her anxiety – and looked.

There was silence on the rooftop for a few moments. Then, pinching the edges of her cloak, the girl's arms trembled as short breaths shook her frame.

"Sai." It was Kiba. He looked uncomfortably at the quietly crying girl. "You okay?"

"Yes. Please go on without me. I have (he glanced at the girl) other matters to see to."

"Gotcha man," Kiba nodded and leaped back to the rest of the team, who were walking solemnly in the main street, carrying Danzō's corpse between them in a stretcher as was proper procedure.

Sai quickly shielded the view of the street from the girl. He was not sure, but strongly felt that if she saw her master's corpse, she might end up in the hospital as well.

As he desperately tried to remember how he had referred to her, for she was one of the few Root members he was actually acquainted with, she reached into her pocket and unrolled a scroll with a complex seal on it.

As she made the signs to activate the seal, Sai finally remembered how he had once referred to her.

It was not a name. Was that why her title refused to climb out of his throat? It seemed that his body refused to address her in Danzō's cold way.

Instead, an on-the-spot nickname took its place and lightened his mind.

Kashikoi Tori: The Bird who Manipulated the Cage.

She was a master of seals, one who would have surpassed Danzō had she been trained another year. Her ability was on the level of one with a Kekkai Genkai; she could seal just about anything, or anyone, in a mere moment and release them just as quickly.

She was one of Anbu Root's Dark Horses – a member who never left the cradle of roots, never went on a mission. One who most other Root members did not even know about.

Sai only knew about her because, as one of Danzō's most highly prized subordinates, he had trained with her a few times to master his own sealing technique – unfortunately to no avail.

They had gotten along well though. Well, as 'well' as two emotionally stunted people could get along anyway.

Kashikoi Tori, Tori for short, pressed her hand to the seal. The circle and script spiralling outwards glowed an angry red for a moment, before disappearing in a flash.

"I've told the other members at Headquarters." She tried to maintain her blankness, but her voice was wetter and trembling. Sai was secretly glad for this. He had learned from his new friends that speaking emotionlessly did not make one seem stronger, and was simply unpleasant to most listeners.

"So, it really is true. Then, now I am free to speak." Sai was immediately alert. "Sai-sama, I am glad that you returned alive at least. If I had to choose between the two of you –" She quickly shook her head before she went any further.

"You share a… bond with the Jinchūriki, correct?"

"Yes."

She nodded and clenched her fist, gathering courage. "Then, I have something to show you, Sai-sama. It is something myself and the other Dark Horses of Root were making preparations for upon Danzō-sama's return. Follow me."

Sai did so at once. He followed her down into the very bowels of Root headquarters, and then further down still, into areas that were restricted even for him.

She knew the encryptions and secret seals for every door and every trap made to protect those doors. The moment they had left the part of the headquarters that Sai was familiar with, was the moment they stopped using keys.

She was truly an elite member. If Danzō was Hokage, Sai would liken her to one of the Elders, except that this one would have never gotten a say in any of Danzō's decisions. Not like Danzō had gotten that and then some with Tsunade.

The hypocrisy made Sai swallow back a thick wave of anger. Such strong feelings were still new to him, and feeling them for the first time while trying not to show them in front of an acquaintance was hard. He wished Sakura or Naruto were here to tell him how to hide such boiling emotions.

"We're here."

Sai looked. It was a metal door as plain and unremarkable as any other in Root. He reached out a hand –

"Don't touch it!"

– and froze. Maybe it was the fact that this was her first time expressing emotion since she completed her training to eradicate them, but the fear in her voice convinced Sai that a fate worse than death awaited him if he touched that door.

"Sai-sama. If I make a mistake, this door will glow. It will be your only warning. As soon as you see a change, run from here as fast as you can."

She didn't tell me not to bother with saving her, Sai thought. Not because she wants to be saved, but because she thinks that I would not even think of such a thing.

The admittance that, only a few months ago, he would not have thought about her life made Sai sad. Or was this disappointment in oneself? Was it regret? More anger?

Sai cut into his palm with his fingernails to dispel the confusing train of thought. He had to focus on preparing to escape with Tori, if it was needed. His right arm had received first aid treatment on site, but he still could not move it around too much.

He reached back into his pouch, long since adjusted to be more accessible to his left hand, and pulled out his ink scroll.

Tori slowly brought her hands together in the first seal. The door remained unchanged. From that moment, Tori's hands were blurs; making ten-long seal sequences in less than half a second.

So this door was not only encrypted with the correct sequence, but timed too. If one did not do it fast enough…

Sai slowly pulled out his brush and dipped it, his eyes glaring at the door, his pupils consciously dilating, looking for the slightest illumination.

Tori clapped her hands together. The final seal. The silence was so heavy that Sai thought it might weigh him down, should he and Tori still need to flee.

A lock clicked. A tiny breath, a sigh of relief, escaped from Tori. Sai smiled and put away his ink scroll.

Tori opened the door and, holding up a hand to Sai, stepped towards the room, careful not to cross the threshold. She looked around the cold blackness for a few seconds and nodded, signalling it was safe to enter.

The door closed behind them. The room, as big as an amphitheatre, was immediately lighted with over a hundred green fluorescent chakra bulbs and torches.

Sai stared, taking everything in.

This time, there was no way he could hold his emotions back.

The bird mask stared, as tears began to flow down Sai's face.

Every inch of the room was covered in sealing script, the smell of chakra-infused ink overpowering even for him. The only spaces in the seals were six circles, four along the leftmost wall and two in front of them. In the middle of those two stood a small stage, also covered in seals, with a circle left clear for the person to stand there.

This person was most likely to be Danzō.

Directly in front of the stage, fifteen feet away were eight chains, attached to the room's eight corners. They lay along the ground, meeting in front of the stage in a perfect crisscrossing pattern. The chains were thick, four had shackles attached to the end of them, and all were inscribed with seals.

Tori spoke, describing the purpose of this room and what Danzō meant to do.

Sai could see it all play out before him like a hellish performance.

The six Dark Horses standing in the circles, surrounded by pillars of chakra as they powered the seals. Danzō standing on that stage with arms outstretched, ready to receive the power that, in his own twisted mind, rightfully belonged to him. And hanging in the centre of the room, bound in those chains, writhing and screaming in unimaginable pain as the seal in his stomach opened and the Kyūbi was pulled out, was Naruto.

Naruto who, after the ceremony was complete and the shackles were released, would fall to the ground dead.

Dead at the feet of Konoha's new Jinchūriki.

"Tori." The girl flinched. The word held different energy to normal words, and seemed directed right at her being.

This was what was called a name. Her name.

Sai was not angry with her – she had only been following Danzō's orders. A few months ago, he would have been the same, seeing the Jinchūriki – seeing Naruto – as just another necessary sacrifice for Danzō to obtain greatness.

Such a low and meaningless existence he had lived.

But not anymore. His precious friends had helped him escape that fate. He would help Tori the same way.

From this day on, she was Root no more. Sai swore it on his own blood.

He took her hand. She gasped but did not pull away. "Tori. Can you leave this room open?"

"No. The door must be closed when anyone enters or leaves."

"Then I will need you to come with me. We're going to go get the Hokage and bring her here."

The look on his face was terrifying, not because it expressed one strong emotion as Tori had read about (such as cases of great sorrow or hatred), but because everything conflicted with the other.

Furious eyes spilled tears of great sorrow, which ran over lips curved in a gentle smile.

Tori could not look away from that face, even if Danzō rose from the dead and ordered her so. She could only nod and let herself be led by the hand, out of Naruto's never-to-be death chamber.

Nothing could take her away from a patient in need, and even less could rip her away from tending to someone she cared for.

Tsunade Senju had lived by that code for most of her career as a medic-nin. It was why Kakashi had to brief her about their, for lack of a better term, utter failure of a mission in a hospital room, while she tended to an unconscious Sakura.

When Sai burst into the room, hand-in-hand with an Anbu she had never seen before, wearing a chilling patchwork of emotions on his face and telling of a secret room in Root with ties to the Kyūbi, her long-held code was finally broken.

Tsunade left Sakura to Shizune and followed him immediately, with Kakashi close behind. They were joined by Jiraiya along the way, whose senses for these kinds of things seemed to have doubled since his encounter with Pain.

In the Exorcism Room, which Tsunade would now forever call it, despite whatever its proper name was, Kakashi was the first to break the weighted silence that followed Sai's explanation of the room's purpose.

"It all makes sense now. I knew he had an ulterior motive, and this room with that arm of his only confirms it."

"Explain."

"Yes. We retrieved Danzō's right arm from the remnants of a large tree found at the battle site. According to Sakura's description, the rest of the tree was probably eaten away by Danzō's final jutsu. However, even though the tree's main body and roots were destroyed, it resisted any of our attempts to penetrate it, and only responded to Yamato's Mokuton."

"That means…"

"Yes. The tree was also a result of the Mokuton, or more accurately, the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Danzō's arm reacted to Yamato in the same way. He said it felt familiar, like part of his own flesh."

Tsunade's fists clenched. "Orochimaru," she hissed. "I knew he had kept ties when the Third was alive, but to think it was to this extent."

"Actually, there's more…"

Tsunade stiffened at the rare hesitation she heard coming from Kakashi.

The jōnin lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan, and in a warp of memory she was standing in the middle of a storm, facing a desperate blond who shouted something that, at the time, truly made her question his sanity. Many good shinobi have had something snap at being denied missions that were personal. And that blankness…

But now she knew it was no invention. The next words that filled the chamber were a repeat of Naruto's very own:

"Danzō has a Sharingan under those bandages on his face. And he has ten more in his right arm."

Sai pressed his lips together, pushing back a disturbed gasp. Kakashi's mismatched eyes grew wide. "How did you –?"

"It's true," Tsunade intervened with clenched teeth. "Isn't it?"

Kakashi nodded dumbly. "I looked at the arm with my Sharingan and saw a few residual streams of Uchiha chakra. Although a few of them were damaged, we were able to open the ones that were merely closed."

Kakashi swallowed the heavy disgust that had lodged in his throat and was beginning to seep into his words.

"It's as you said, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade slowly bowed her head. If she did not, the rage in her expression might have alarmed Tori, and for now, she wanted the girl on her side as much as possible. If Danzō let her in on something that even Sai did not know about, it spoke volumes about her status in Root.

"I suspect the eyes on his arm were for battle purposes," Kakashi continued, his tone neutral but his words flowing quickly. "Since some of them were closed permanently, he probably used them for forbidden techniques."

"Like what?"

"Well…" something in Kakashi's eyes dulled; with a brief wince Tsunade knew she had stumbled into 'that' territory. "An old friend told me about it long ago."

He paused a moment before quietly clearing his throat. He continued, though the dullness in his eyes remained. "It's called Izanagi and it's a forbidden dōjutsu of the Uchiha clan. Whenever it is used, a Sharingan loses its light."

"Permanent blindness then."

"Yes. Unlike the normal uses of the eye to cast genjutsu into reality, this technique can turn reality into a genjutsu. In other words, it can reverse the effects of any situation and change the outcome. For example, if a person were to get an arm cut off in battle, use of the Izanagi will restore the person to their whole state, as though the amputation was only a dream."

"That's unbelievable," Tsunade whispered, biting a nail. "So then, Kakashi, can you…?"

"Yes, if I ever needed to. But it's only good for one shot. The light of one eye per use; the price is too steep to be used effectively in battle, unless very special circumstances prevailed. However, with the way Danzō was set up…"

"Ten Sharingan…"

"Ten reversals. It's enough to give even the lowliest genin overwhelming odds against a Kage."

"Yet Itachi still beat him."

"The fatal blow came from a stab wound through Danzō's heart. Judging from the wound, the blade remained lodged in until his final moments. According to Sakura's description, and the fact that we could find no sign of the blade on the site, I believe that Danzō's last jutsu was (he looked around the seal-scripted room with unhidden loathing) a sealing technique."

Tori gasped. Everyone in the room turned to her. She stepped back a little, her muscles tensed in obvious distrust.

"Tori." Her muscles relaxed like a flicked switch. Sai was smiling at her, and still holding her hand. "Go on. Tell them."

"I refuse. I will not betray Danzō-sama," for the depths of her loyalty, her voice was as grey as stone.

And Sai's was just as cold. "Danzō is dead."

"Does loyalty die with death, Sai-sama?"

"No. I only meant that his seal can't do anything anymore. I do not know if this is… normal… but I made an oath with myself. I swore on my own life that you would be free from Root."

The masked girl grew still, impacted by Sai's words.

"Since you are free, you do not owe Danzō anything. The Hokage is your master now."

A small gasp from the emotionless girl echoed through the chamber. In a quiet voice with a barely existent trace of curiosity, she asked, "Is the Hokage your master, Sai-sama?"

"Yes, she is."

The fingers of the hand not holding Sai's curled slightly. The bird mask nodded slowly. "Very well then. I will speak."

Master, huh. Not very accurate language but Tsunade understood that, with how she was raised, this was the best way to get her to understand.

Though it was terribly sad.

"It was probably the Reverse Four Symbols Seal," Tori began uncertainly, sidling a little closer to Sai. "It's a seal that can only activate when the one using it is…" she shuddered. Sai squeezed her hand. "The one who's using it has to be at the point of death. The seal extends for a wide range and pulls anything and anyone within that range into the caster's corpse. Danzō-sama… was fatally wounded and resorted to that… to…"

She shook again, tiny gasps escaping her as she cried.

No emotion. No weakness. The act of crying was scorned by the laws of shinobi, but here, it was sacrilege. She must know this. And yet she cried. Committing this sin was easy to her – easier than it was to any other member in Root.

After all, she had already committed the greatest sin of caring for her mentor, parent and master a long time ago.

A soft-hearted, emotional crybaby whose personality was so strong that part of it survived, no matter how Danzō tried to kill it.

She was a rare gem. But at the moment, her appeal was faded in Sai's eyes. No, more like it was blocked with Sai's new concern of getting her to stop. After all, he had never seen someone cry, so how could he know how to stop it?

Finally, Sai raised his hand awkwardly and gave her a single pat on the head. It was too hard and came across as more of a brisk tap.

Tori's head snapped up, her crying shut off like a slammed door. She bowed forward an inch to the adults staring at them.

"I apologize," she said in a perfect monotone. "That was inappropriate."

Danzō you bastard. What the hell have you done to these kids?

"Tori, take off your mask."

The girl stiffened and backed up a few steps, pulling Sai's arm a little. "I – I truly am sorry Hokage-sama…"

"I'm not punishing you," said Tsunade, something in her voice just a little bit stricken, "I just want to see your face. Take off your mask."

Sai nodded at her, his smile back in place. At least it was better than his 'comfort'.

Tori removed her mask, revealing a very plain face with dark, half-moon eyes. Except for the areas that were reddened or marred with tear tracks, her skin was a sickly pale hue from lack of sunlight.

Tsunade smiled. "Nice to finally see you, Tori."

The reddened areas darkened as Tori averted her eyes and answered with a silent nod.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Tori, about that Reverse Four Symbols Seal, does it have any relation to the Four Symbols Seal?"

Tori nodded, glancing to Sai for approval once again before continuing, "The Four Symbols Seal was the inspiration for Danzō-sama's seal. They're exact opposites of one another."

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade turned to her friend.

"Naruto's Eight Trigrams Seal is made up of two interlocking Four Symbols Seals. Danzō did his homework; he probably had the exact same seal ready for the transfer of the Kyūbi." He turned to Tori. "Could you tell us exactly what Danzō was planning to do here?"

The girl swallowed and, clutching Sai's hand with jaw set in determination, she began.

"Danzō-sama was rather proud of this plan. I, too, thought it was foolproof, but it seems we've underestimated the Uchiha. They're very…durable."

She stopped there and put a tentative hand to her throat.

She still fears the Curse Seal even though she's been talking freely all this time, Tsunade noted. If she's that scared, then we can believe what she'll tell us next.

"Before Sai-sama gave me my new name, I was previously called 'Seal' by Danzō-sama. That was my purpose. I alone was responsible for the maintenance of all the seals used in Root Headquarters, and on Root members. I supervised and maintained the strength of the Curse Seals. Danzō-sama even trusted me enough to let me check the seals he placed on his own body from time to time.

"Naturally, I was in charge of the sealing process for this (her jaw worked as she searched for a word)… project. I was supposed to interlock four Four Symbols Seals instead of two, which in theory would have worked as a distiller to separate the Kyūbi's chakra and its will, allowing Danzō to freely use and manipulate the beast's chakra right after becoming its Jinchūriki."

A seals master? Her? Tsunade was stunned, though she hid it as she fired a quick question at Jiraiya.

"Is a Sixteen Trigrams Seal possible?"

"I suppose it could be, though if it wasn't used on Naruto, I imagine it carries some terrible risk."

"Yes. The seal is very hard to complete, even in perfect conditions. It is the ultimately perfect seal in creating a Jinchūriki, but if the performance of it is off by the slightest fraction, both sealer and potential Jinchūriki will be overcome by the seal's power and die. The seals on the offering stage were to protect Danzō-sama from such a backlash. If I failed, I would not take anyone else with me. Someone else would then perform an Eight Trigrams Seal. It would have been a great shame to me if Danzō-sama had to settle for second best because of my ineptitude… but I think my failure was likely."

"Not likely," said Jiraiya gravely. "Definitely. The Fourth Hokage is the one who performed the Eight Trigrams Seal. If he didn't go for more than that…"

Tori nodded in agreement. "I still would have tried. If there was even a chance for Danzō-sama to obtain the ultimate, I wanted to help him."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. Tori, feeling his contempt, shrunk back.

"I was the same," Sai said, his lips thinned. "Naruto was nothing more to me than a stepping stone to Danzō's greatness. But I realise now that I was wrong and I regret my former way of thinking. I think Tori is capable of regrets as well."

Tori blushed slightly. Jiraiya's eyes softened.

Sai, noticing this, smiled. "Go on with your story," he encouraged.

She turned to Tsunade this time, who met her blank gaze. "Danzō-sama knew you would pursue Itachi Uchiha eventually. He planned to be the one to go on that mission, while the Jinchūriki –"

"Naruto," Sai gently reprimanded.

Tori blushed again and tried to push out the name. Her head moved forward and back as she struggled, mimicking her namesake.

"Naruto," she finally shoved it out of her throat like an errant chicken bone. "While Naruto stayed in the village. We prepared paralysis seals around Naruto's apartment: when Danzō-sama had defeated Itachi Uchiha, he would send a message to us and we would activate the seals. Then we would take Naruto here and prepare him for the ritual."

"Why did Danzō need to defeat Itachi?" Tsunade asked, struggling to keep her voice as emotionless as Tori effortlessly made hers.

Little did she know that the young girl, as she spoke, was also puzzling over the fact that saying Naruto's name made describing what she and her fellow Dark Horses had been planning to do to him much more difficult.

And the way Sai was squeezing her hand only made her feel strange, as though she was hurting him in some way.

She realised that she did not like the feeling of hurting him. She concluded then that she did not want to hurt him. Ever.

So she voiced this emotion, and refused to speak any more. Until Sai squeezed her hand again and urged her on with a gentle smile.

"He wanted Itachi Uchiha's eyes, or more accurately, his Tsukuyomi. He would implant them within himself, and with them would take control of the Kyūbi. It would make the extraction process much smoother."

When she was met with a heavy silence, she looked to Sai. He gave her a nod, but did not seem able to smile anymore.

Strange. And…discomfiting. She had grown to like Sai's smile, and wanted to see more of it.

"There's one last thing. I do not fully understand this particular secret, but Danzō-sama seemed the most… attached to it. It was something about Six Paths Chakra."

Sai looked quizzical, but the adults looked horrified. And they were doing so well hiding their emotions a moment ago.

Again. Strange.

"I will try to repeat what he said as best I can."

For her, that was absolute verbatim. It had to be. She was a Dark Horse: with what she knew, Danzō only ever issued her spoken orders in person. And he never repeated himself. The last time she had forgotten one of his orders had been five years ago, and the punishment – guised as standard procedure to ensure she was not an imposter – left her nearer to death than her own forced birth and subsequent incubation.

Though she did not know that. And with Danzō's death, she never would.

"'With Senju and Uchiha chakra already moulded together inside me, it is only a matter of time. Shisui's eye is powerful, but it is not developed enough. Itachi's eyes have lived longer, seen more, they are the ones I need now. Hashirama's cells have made my body strong enough to contain the Nine Tailed Fox, and when I become a Jinchūriki in complete control of the demon's chakra, I will have everything I need. That monstrous chakra will act as the catalyst between the Six Paths Chakra and Itachi's eyes, transforming them into the world's most powerful dōjutsu. When I have those eyes, I will denounce Tsunade, obliterate Akatsuki, and rule over not just Konoha but all the Shinobi nations. The time of bureaucracies and truces are at an end: this is what we need, a new era with only one ruler. When my era comes to be, only then will Konoha be truly safe. Only then will we have true peace.'"

When she finished, Sai was the first one to speak. "I do not fully understand myself, but that does not sound good."

"I must admit it did not sound so good to me either."

The brisk clacking of heels startled them both: Tsunade was walking to one of the seal-scripted walls, her hands clenched into fists.

When she brought her fist back, Tori spoke for the first time without Sai's approval.

"Hokage-sama, don't –!"

The fist slammed into the wall with the force of a hundred elephants. The room shook, but the wall did not suffer even a scratch.

Instead, the ink scribed onto its unmarred surface snaked off, wrapped around her fist and arm and burned into her flesh.

"Wait, don't fight it!" Tori rushed forward, letting go of Sai's hand so she could perform the seals as she ran. She touched both palms to Tsunade's arm and the seals retreated to their original stations.

"This room was prepared to hold a thrashing Kyūbi in case the worst happened," Tori explained. "It cannot be destroyed or even dented by brute force."

Then, realising that she had just shouted, touched the Hokage without permission, and likewise spoke soon after, the girl froze, her eyes wide and petrified and her mouth open with strangled starts of sounds jumping out every few seconds.

Sai was the one running this time; he held her hand and she started breathing again.

"That was good, Tori," he reassured her. "That was very good."

"Yes," Tsunade agreed, meeting her eyes as she healed her arm. "That was very good. Thank you for the information, Tori."

A nervous glance to Sai. "You're welcome, Hokage-sama."

She smiled at her warmly then turned sternly to Kakashi. "Take Sai and Tori and see what you can do about those seals around Naruto's apartment."

"S-Sai-sama…?"

"It's all right. This is a mission, Tori. Your first mission from the Hokage."

When the three left, the door slamming shut immediately behind them, Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, still nursing her burnt arm.

"We're not telling Naruto about any of this."

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose, contrasting with the black rage in his eyes. Tsunade would have shuddered if she did not feel the same.

"Why not?"

He prepared the seals to open the door as he talked, only needing to see Tori perform them once. Tsunade fixed him with an unstable expression of sadness and anger, all bundled together within the purest loathing of Danzō.

"What good will it do?"

"This can't be real! You can't be my brother! Because…"

"I acted as the big brother you desired in order to measure your capacity." Sasuke flinched. New tears flowed to replace the ones that had grown cold on his face.

'No…you acted that way because you love me…you…'

"You will become the rival that I require in order to test my capacity. You have that potential."

His Sharingan widened slightly in suppressed excitement. Sasuke could sense his anticipation, twisting and swelling like a grotesque growth, grinning and rising out of the freshly spilled blood of his clan.

"You have been jealous of me, and you have hated me."

'No… Nii-chan… please…'

"You continuously aimed to surpass me. Because of that, I will allow you to live for my sake."

'Because of my potential? Is my potential so much greater than the rest of theirs?'

'No… This can't be real! Genjutsu! This has to be a genjutsu!'

'If it's not… if this is real… then kill me… please just –!'

Itachi's foot moved to the side, kicking up some dust. Sasuke flinched back.

'No. I don't wanna die!'

Itachi scowled. The derision on his face broke something inside of Sasuke.

"Killing you as you are now would simply be a wasted effort." Itachi turned his back.

'Where are you going?! After all this, you think you can just…?!'

"Foolish little brother… If you wish to kill me, then hate me, detest me, and live a long, unsightly life. Run and keep running… Cling to your pitiful life. And one day, when you have the same eyes as I, come before me!"

"After the massacre, that transcript was all they were able to get out of Sasuke with hypnosis."

Jiraiya took another sip of tea. He swallowed and released a great sigh.

Two more days had passed since Naruto's first awakening, making it four days total since he and Jiraiya faced off against Pain and miraculously came away with only one missing limb between them.

The two days passed peacefully. The only noteworthy occurrences were the sealing of Danzō's exorcism room, and Naruto's training with the Kyūbi's chakra.

The latter was going splendidly. Since the technique was not ninjutsu, it did no damage to Naruto's slowly healing chakra reserves (the only ailment even the Kyūbi could not help with). If anything was concerning, it would be how adept Naruto was at this technique. His filter's strength and selectiveness had grown exponentially, and he was now able to draw and hold the chakra with relative ease and duration.

It was still only a sliver of chakra, but that was easy to improve.

So their training passed without incident, until now.

The discussion began with a casual question. After the blond told him about his confusion concerning one of the most deadly, powerful and insane ninja the Leaf had ever produced, the Sannin pulled some strings to retrieve information that would set his student's head straight.

Judging by the pale, livid face and deathly quiet air that settled over the blond, it worked.

"There seems to be gap in it somewhere. Itachi probably said more things to Sasuke, but that information was blocked by powerful genjutsu seals. Like he is now, Sasuke was too young back then to try and break through them.

"By the time he was old enough, he probably would have run a Chidori through anyone who tried."

Jiraiya took another long sip. The violent crumpling of parchment cut the sip short.

"Oi, that's the only copy we have. The Third and Tsunade are the only ones who've seen it, and I only got special access to it as the Third's former student. Be careful –"

"Here." The scroll was shoved into his chest. Jiraiya scowled, set down his tea, and took it from the painful grip of his irate godson.

"I hope this clears up any confusion you had about Itachi." Naruto slid off the bed of his new hospital room (this one thankfully without a hole in the wall). He took his IV drip with him as he walked over to a small cradle on the opposite table.

"He said it himself. He was pretending all that time to be a loving brother to test Sasuke. It's sick. He's sick."

Naruto scooped up the sleeping child from the cradle and held him close to his chest.

"If you still feel that the rules have to change, that you must do something about Itachi, then keep training and grow strong so that if the time ever comes, you can complete Sasuke's justice for him."

Naruto pulled out the IV needle from his arm. Jiraiya only blinked. And picked up his tea again.

"At least put on a cloak. Or some shoes."

"Weather's warm. It's night. I'll be back before dawn. Cover for me."

"I'll try. But if Tsunade comes –"

Naruto was gone. Jiraiya blinked again then moved to sit over by the window facing the Hokage Mountain. His eyes strayed to the face of the Fourth. He sighed and took another draught of tea.

"Nawuto?"

"Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry 'bout that."

Sasuke did not mind. The small smile above him comforted him. He looked past it, to the starry sky above.

"Are we outside?" he asked, sitting up.

"Yeah. Look out there, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked. His jaw dropped even as his ears stood straight up.

"Wow!" he gasped at the sight of all of Konoha spread out below him, the vast expanse of lit up buildings twinkling like a bed of stars. A few shinobi leaped deftly across the rooftops, some going to missions, some returning, others going to see friends or lovers.

But even though it was night, shinobi were not the only ones moving. Vendors on the streets selling food and wares, people walking home from long days of work or missions, friends chatting, lovers darting into secret places, employers with short fuses yelling at incompetent employees…

Konoha was alive and thriving. Watching all of that life, living in their own worlds but moving together to make the whole and heart of the village; Sasuke could not describe the feeling.

He was entranced, his heart swimming with sentiment and familiarity, his nose taking in all the different scents of home, his ears hearing all the sounds.

It was magic.

A large, warm hand landed on his head. He looked up at Naruto with wide, glowing eyes.

"It's… it's so…"

"Yeah. It is."

The two watched Konoha in silence, watched as the village slowly went to sleep, as people filtered out of the streets into their homes, shopkeepers locked their doors, and the lights inside the buildings flicked off one by one.

Finally, when most of the village lay in darkness, save for a few stragglers (all of which were shinobi residences) and guard posts, Sasuke closed his eyes and whispered,

"Goodnight, Konoha."

The warm hand landed on his head again. "Wanna know what my dream is, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna become Hokage."

Sasuke turned back to look at him, his eyes huge. "Really? Why?"

Naruto smiled and patted the rock beside him. "Look where we are, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked around; the rock they were sitting on had spiky bumps sticking out, almost like…

He looked up and saw the stony chins and noses of two other faces.

"We're on Hokage Mountain!"

"Yeah. Right now we're sitting on the head of the Fourth Hokage," Naruto said with a mischievous grin. Sasuke leaned forward over Naruto's legs and looked into the dark fall.

"It's true! Wow, we're so high up…"

"Yeah. You can see the whole village from here. That's why I'm gonna become Hokage."

Naruto leaned forward, his eyes brimming with something that Sasuke could not describe. But it was gentle, warm, and fierce all at the same time.

"I always wanted to be Hokage. Ever since I was your age." Sasuke's ears stood up and twitched, his tail swaying slightly. Naruto chuckled. "I would run around in the streets shouting 'I'm gonna become Hokage! And then you're all gonna respect me! Believe it!'"

Sasuke laughed. Naruto, with his finger pointed out towards Konoha's protective walls, blushed slightly.

"Hey, quit laughing! I was only a kid back then!"

"But I'm a kid and even I wouldn't do that," Sasuke giggled. "Naruto you're weird!"

"Why you little…" Sasuke squealed as Naruto tickled him. The kitten fought back, leaping at Naruto's face and making him fall backwards. He sat on his chest in triumph, only to be trapped there by two strong arms.

Naruto rubbed both his ears; Sasuke nuzzled his chin, purring happily.

The stars twinkled silently overhead.

"At first," Naruto continued. Sasuke quieted, his tail absently rubbing one of Naruto's arms. "I wanted to be Hokage to make everyone in the village acknowledge me."

"Why?" Naruto smiled. Of course Sasuke would not understand something like that. He was acknowledged from the day he was born.

"Because of the Kyūbi. You see, I'm a Jinchūriki. That means I have this huge chakra monster sealed inside of me."

"There's a monster inside of you?" Sasuke whispered, trying but failing to imagine what that looked like.

He suddenly gasped. "That's the 'it' that pretty Nee-san was talking about!"

"Yeah," Naruto suppressed a smile at hearing Sasuke call her pretty. He really had to let the kid know about her true age.

"Is the Kyūbi where that warm chakra you pull out sometimes comes from?"

"Yup."

"That's a monster?" Sasuke asked quizzically.

"Yeah. The chakra's only warm like that because I make it so. If the Kyūbi had its way… well, it wouldn't be good."

"Why?"

"Because it's full of hate. It hates everyone, and if you ever felt its real chakra, you'd go mad."

Sasuke shuddered. "That's scary."

"Yeah, it is. That's why I'm learning to control it."

"Because you're the Kyūbi's jinchūriki?"

"Right. Long ago, the Kyūbi attacked the village, and to stop it, the Fourth Hokage gave his life to seal it inside of a new-born baby."

"And that was you?"

"Yeah. When the Kyūbi attacked, a lot of people died. So when people found out I was the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki, they ended up hating me for it. I was hated by the entire village. And I couldn't make any friends because everyone's parents would tell them to stay away from me."

"People are dumb." Naruto, in his surprise, sat up and looked at Sasuke. The kitten was scowling, though once again, his fat cheeks softened it into an adorable pout.

"If the Kyūbi wasn't put inside of you, everyone in the village would be dead. You saved everyone. You're a hero. People are dumb if they don't know that much. Also –"

"Sasuke?" The kitten was pulled into a tight hug. "If you say anything else, I'm gonna be so happy that I'll start crying. And there's some more stuff I wanna say. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Thanks." He sniffed, loudly, and rubbed his eyes before continuing. "So that was the first reason I wanted to be Hokage. But as I grew up, that changed. I wanted to protect those precious to me. And I wanted to protect the place where all my precious people lived."

He spread out his arms, encompassing the village settled silently below them. "I wanted – I want to protect Konoha and everyone in it, and the peace of the entire village. So I'm gonna become Hokage. That's my dream."

Sasuke thought on that a little. He nodded. "Then I'm gonna become Hokage too."

"Huh?" A bat flew overhead, screeching inaudibly. "Huh?! Wait, what?!"

"I wanna be Hokage."

"Why?!"

"All the stuff you said."

"Wha – Sasuke, hold on. Don't you have another dream?" So you don't have to steal mine?

"Yeah! I'm gonna find Nii-chan and we're gonna make a whole new clan together. And then I'll become Hokage!"

Sasuke looked up with a confident smirk, only to find Naruto's smile gone. Without a friend to accompany it, his own smile vanished.

"Naruto?"

"Sasuke." The solemnity in his voice unnerved him. Sasuke knew whatever Naruto had to say would not be good.

"Remember when I told you that Itachi did a really bad thing to you?"

Oh no.

"Yeah."

Naruto took a deep breath. Now or never. "Well, Sasuke, Itachi's the one who…"

"Killed my clan. Right, Naruto?" Naruto grabbed up the kitten and held him so close that their noses were almost touching.

"Who told you?" a pair of angry blues bore into dark, waterlogged eyes. "Who?"

Sasuke slowly shook his head, the tears spilling over. "No one told me. I figured it out."

"How?"

"Why you looked so… wrong when we were talking about Nii-chan in the cemetery. Like you were in pain…"

You noticed?

"Why the jii-chan with white hair didn't want to tell me. Why you lied to me and said you didn't know." Naruto's eyes grew huge. Sasuke smiled, but it was not a smile at all. It made the little kitten look broken. "You can't lie, Naruto. Your eyes look fake when you lie."

"Sasuke…"

His voice shrunk to a tremulous whisper. "Nii-chan's strong. He's strong enough to do it…"

"Sasuke." He brought the kitten closer. Their foreheads bumped together. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Waterlogged and broken, the kitten's voice was almost gone, "Because I hoped it wasn't true."

Naruto, falling back and holding Sasuke in a too-familiar position, let the kitten cry. Not even the best of ninja could fault him for it.

The night went on. Nearing midnight, Sasuke's cries softened to a stop.

"Why'd he do it?" the exhausted murmur questioned.

Naruto inhaled, the kitten rising on his chest. "To test his capacity." Sasuke was silent. "He said that he pretended to be a good, loving brother to measure you. He wanted you as a rival, so he let you live. So that he can test himself against you in the future."

"He said that himself?"

"Yes."

"Who'd he say it to?"

"I told you…that you have amnesia right? He said it to you."

Sasuke was shaking, his claws, as usual, digging through Naruto's thin hospital shirt and into his chest.

Naruto swallowed and closed his eyes, willing himself to ask this final question, praying that he did not just ruin Sasuke's second chance at a happy life.

"Do you hate him?"

The silence stretched. Naruto's arms tightened around the kitten, unable to hold himself back any longer.

"Don't hate him," he begged with barely hidden desperation. "Please don't hate him."

"Don't…hate him?" Sasuke's voice was dead. Naruto's heart almost followed. "He killed my clan. He killed our parents. He left me all alone. You're telling me not to hate him?"

"Yes. I won't lie. You have every right to hate him. I hate him for what he's done to you. But I'm begging you, please don't hate him, Sasuke."

"Why shouldn't I hate him?"

Naruto almost told him his selfishness, 'Don't hate because it would break my heart.' But that was wrong. This was too important for Naruto to put his feelings first.

But his feelings were all he had. His heart broke open and spilled out all the words it's regretted never saying.

"Because you're strong. You're stronger than him, Sasuke. Hatred. Power. That's Itachi's way. But you're free. I'm your family – so you have nothing to avenge. You're free to live any way you want to. You don't have to give yourself to hatred because Itachi tells you to. You don't have to dive into the darkness for power because you're already strong. You don't have to be alone, or cut all your bonds I – I won't let you. If you try to do that I'll kick your ass. I mean it, I really will! Hating Itachi will damage you. Hurt you. Change you into a bastard you were never supposed to be. So live in the light, Sasuke. Screw your brother! He doesn't deserve to have you as a rival! You're my rival anyway, no one else's! So don't you dare go to the darkness – you – you're – I know you're stronger than that!"

Out of breath, Naruto finally stopped. Silence was only cut by his ragged inhales, as his chest heaved out of control.

Sasuke lay there, breathing quietly in contrast, his claws raking lightly over the thin cloth covering Naruto's chest.

When his breathing calmed, and blood finally went to his brain, Naruto hated himself. What did he hope to do with all that babbling? All he did was confuse the kitten with unnecessary things.

He deserved to be called an idiot.

The silence grew stifling, but Naruto's shame still could not bring him to speak. Finally, just as he was about to apologize, the small claws grazing Naruto's chest stopped.

"Free?" Sasuke breathed out the word as though afraid of it.

He was. His brother had given him a duty. His clan's blood had been spilt, and Sasuke was to answer their cry for vengeance.

Yes. He did not need his brother to be the criminal to know that he was an avenger. Such things as justice and hatred long determined Sasuke's path before he had ever heard his brother's command.

His only mistake was in thinking that Itachi was already travelling this path. That was why he was not in the village taking care of Sasuke. He had gone out to seek the vengeance owed to them both. After the cemetery, Sasuke only wanted to find his brother so he could join him.

But now his brother was guilty, and Sasuke was left alone to seek vengeance.

Except…

"You said I'm free."

… Naruto was saying something different. From Naruto's lips came a word that Sasuke had never associated with himself after learning of the death of his clan.

"W-what?" Naruto thought he heard a shaking whisper. "Sasuke?"

The criminal he hated was Itachi. The one he had to defeat was…

Nii-chan.

Murderer.

Nii-chan.

He has to die.

"Do you hate him?"

A trembling question, blown across Konoha by a cold wind. The arms around him waited for his answer in trembling fear.

"No. I don't."

Naruto released his held breath. It shook on the way out. "Why?" He did not dare think that his babbling had helped. He was not brave enough to entertain such reckless hope.

Sasuke's breath shook on the way in. And kept shaking. Rage was building inside him, making him breathe too fast. "I'm angry, Naruto. I'm so angry at Nii-chan right now that I want to scratch his face! I want to keep scratching – I want to gouge out his flesh until there's nothing left!"

Naruto winced.

"I want him to feel the same pain, the same fear that he gave to my clan! I want to hate him. I should hate him. No matter what you tell me, I must hate him!"

His breathing calmed a little. His claws retracted from Naruto's flesh. "But, I can't. No matter what I do – when I think of my Nii-chan… I can't hate him."

"Why not?" Naruto coaxed when the kitten silenced.

Another shaky inhale. "Because… you're my Nii-chan, Naruto."

Naruto blinked slowly and waited. Now was not the time to show how happy that statement made him.

"I try to make Nii-chan say those words in my head, and I try to imagine the massacre, and I try to hate him. But when I do… I see your face. When I think of my Nii-chan, all I see is your face.

"And I can't hate you. I can't ever, ever hate you. I can't look at your face and hate you. I can't smell you and hate you. I can't hear your voice and hate you. When I'm with you, all I can think about is my good and loving brother. Because…no matter what… you're my Nii-chan. And Nii-chan's my Nii-chan too!"

Sasuke climbed up his body, using his claws as a grip, until he was face to face with Naruto.

"I love you. And I love Nii-chan. No matter how angry I am at either of you… I can't hate any of you!"

Naruto trembled with the growing hope in his heart. But he could not jump in full-mast. The memories of a vengeful Sasuke consumed by the darkness were still too raw in his mind.

"Sasuke… Are you sure that's how you feel? Are you sure you can keep feeling that way…?"

The kitten stopped him with a watery smile. "You're the same, Naruto. Even after the village hated you and hurt you, don't you still love it? Don't you still want to be Hokage?"

Naruto, in a rare moment thought by many to be impossible, was speechless. His mouth was open, but no words could find the will to come out.

He just stared at Sasuke's face, twisted with emotion, the kitten's tears dripping onto his own cheeks. "Naruto. Nii-chan… is bad. He needs to be punished for what he did to my clan. I can't hate him. But I still have to stop him. That's my duty as an Uchiha, and as his brother." He swallowed courage with a big gulp. "It doesn't matter… if Nii-chan's love was just pretend…"

It did matter. Naruto, who could see the cracks deepening in Sasuke's heart as he said those words, knew that it did matter.

But Sasuke blinked his tears away and pushed on, leaving Naruto to marvel at his strength.

"My love wasn't. Because he's my Nii-chan, I love him. And because I love him… I'll stop him."

Naruto again tried to speak, but after a moment gave up and shut his mouth.

Those last three words were raw with resolve, and utterly drowned the hatred inside similar promises Sasuke had made in the past.

Revenge out of hatred. Justice out of love. Naruto would never be eloquent enough to describe their difference, but he would never forget those words: an army's strength from a babe's lips.

Sasuke took a breath. He wasn't finished yet. He closed his eyes, tugging on one of the few memories he had left.

"Nii-chan once told me that we're unique brothers. He'll always be there for me, even if it's just as an obstacle I have to overcome. Even if I do hate him."

He opened his eyes, and met Naruto's. "Nii-chan's still too big an obstacle for me to overcome. I'm not strong enough to stop him by myself. So will you come with me and stand by my side? Will you help me, Naruto?"

Naruto's lips parted, a tear escaping each eye. For the second time since he met this strong, strong kitten, words spilled out of his mouth as naturally to him as breathing.

"Yes. I'll help you, Sasuke."

A/N: Oh no an OC! Lol. Yeah, what can I say? Hope she wasn't too intrusive.

Favourite, follow and review – all show me the love and make me very happy.

Speaking of reviews, there are some awesome reviews that I can't PM to, so I'll reply to them here:

Mary: This is way overdue but thank you for being my first review on my first Naruto fanfic ever. If you're still reading, I hope you're enjoying this story.

Bunnyguest: Glad you enjoyed the Iruka crying scene – it was fun to write. The fact that Danzō never got punished for giving shinobi info to Orochimaru is pretty strange – I chalk it up to dirty politics (aren't they all?) lol. I hope you have a good idea about how big Sasuke is now – I wasn't too specific in the story because it just didn't seem to fit – but if Naruto can carry him around in his jacket and stuff, you should have a good idea.

Guest (both of you): Thanks a ton.

G-man… G-man… G-man G-man G-man: Why you have no profile? You're a steady reviewer and your comments are thoughtful and well-expressed… do you have any idea how much it's going to increase the word count on this chapter just to reply to everything? Well, can't be helped.

First, I hope it's clearer now how kitty-Sasuke fits into this. I know – with this concept I really could've gone a lot of different directions, but in the end kitty-Sasuke stuck with me, so here we are.

Second, the respect is much appreciated. Truly. I'm glad you're enjoying Sasuke's change, and I'm glad that everything's believable and 'pretty damn awesome'. Thank you.

Third, I know right? Even if they could only fight as ETs, Itachi vs Danzo would've been awesome to see. I was writing completely from scratch – imagining a fight between these two was really hard, considering they are both such serious and powerful characters. I was debating the same thing about the Izanagi, but I never thought about Itachi chopping off his own leg. That would've been hardcore to say the least. Also, massive thanks for your canon comments – saying that anything that I've written should have been canon is a HUGE compliment.

You've mentioned a few times that my writing is similar to Serendipity's… … … … I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm hugely flattered because Serendipity's an awesome writer and saying that I'm like him is a compliment. But… it also means that I'm a copy-cat (no pun intended) and I don't have a definitive style of my own. Which is true. I really have been emulating Not Sick's style, and I'll explain why.

You see, I tend to be a bit long-winded and complex in my normal writing, and that's something I've been trying to change. Serendipity's style is one of the most balanced I've seen – simple but not overly so, and with sufficient depth and meaning to keep a mature audience interested. I feel it's the way 'Naruto-canon' is written as well: Simple words. Short lines. Big impact. Not Sick has mastered this, and I want to master it as well. It's the pithy stuff that stays with people, after all.

As I keep writing, hopefully my own style will develop and become distinct. Until that happens, a 'Not Sick' vibe will probably stay with my story for a long time.

Fourth (you see? The word count's completely messed up now), when I read 'Madara level boss' I cracked up laughing. I'm glad you've warmed up to Sasuke's transformation, and that you're looking forward to Itachi's development. Hope you keep enjoying this story.

Phew, that's everything. Again, favourite, follow and review as you like. I love all you guys.

See you all next time!