Naruto the Sharingan Wielder
Chapter X: A New Plan of Action
In the last chapter, we have witnessed the interrogation of both Naruto and Sasuke about the murder of the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately, naruto has been deemed unconscious due to another recurrence of the Tsukoyomi and he hasn't woken up after the interrogation. Now the Hokage plans to settle him down with another family. The decision that he will make will shake an entire village to its very foundations. It will be a difficult decision but read it and enjoy.
Everyone in the room was pretty shocked to hear about what the Hokage had told them. "Are you serious about this? You already placed naruto in the safe hands of the Uchihas and now you are planning to put him in a different family? We don't need more bloodshed and violence here in konoha any longer." Shouted a villager.
"I understand your frustration, sir. But this is our only chance to save naruto from being hunted down by that serial killer Itachi. You already saw what happened to that child in the courtroom. I just don't want him to have to suffer the same nightmare that he had previously encountered." Replied the hokage.
Suddenly the entire office was boomed with the shouts of "Kill the demon murderer!" from every single one of the villagers. The guards tried their best to calm them down while Shikaku Nara covers his ears from having to hear all this noise in the morning. "Man, does everyone here have to be so noisy every single morning? Ugh!"
Also present in the office was Shibi Aburame, the leader of the Aburame clan. He decides now to send his kikaichu bugs directly on the villagers to keep them quiet before disaster strikes. Once the villagers were silenced, the hokage continued his message. "As I am sure you guys are aware, it was my fault when I placed him up for adoption by the Uchiha clan. But now, from what we can see in these reports, itachi still is considered a threat to Konoha and therefore must be captured and sentenced immediately for his crimes. However, we also know that the mysterious criminal organization known as the akatsuki are after Naruto as well because they are pretty active at this point with Uchiha Itachi as their member. It seems that Itachi is actually after the beast inside of Naruto for a long time now and that's why he used him to get what he wants."
Inoichi stood up from his seat and said, "I always thought that Itachi was a child prodigy and a great asset to this village as well, but with him a part of the Akatsuki, how did he end up getting away with murder this easily? Why does he want what's inside of a child like Naruto anyway?"
"He's right; Naruto has been through too much already. We cannot allow him to suffer anymore painful torments from a former child prodigy that betrayed his own village. Let's not lose hope on the child because we need to ease his pain. From what I can see, Itachi doesn't seem to show signs of respect for his own people. With him getting away with murder, who knows what sort of danger Konoha will be in. Hokage-sama, are you sure about putting Naruto under our care? Because if this happens, then we will be put under a lot of stress while looking after him." Hiashi spoke with a worried tone.
Everyone else in the room seems to agree with Hiashi on the question in point about taking care of Naruto after the murders of the Uchiha clan. Some of them fear that Naruto might be too much to handle and others feel that he will only get in everyone's way. The Hokage paused and looked at everyone in the room while saying, "I am sorry everyone, I don't have any other choice. I did the best I could to protect that child from all the obstacles that he had encountered. But give it some time, okay? Naruto will be in safe hands with you and I promise he will not be a burden. Please do me this favor; that child's life is more important to you than just me and the village itself, I hope you all can understand why I'm passing this responsibility down to you."
The scar-faced jounin, Nara Shikaku, thought for a moment while rubbing his forehead and said, "This village has seen its troublesome days since the defection of that child prodigy. But I do agree with you about Naruto's life important to us. After all, I cannot let that child lose hope if he plans to get through this nightmare. But if you really want us to take care of him then….. I don't seem to mind."
The leader of the Aburame clan spoke up as well, "I would also plan to look after him if my son Shino does the same thing. We cannot allow this nightmare to consume him any longer because his pain is our pain. But rest assured, that child prodigy will not escape a murder charge."
Finally, the leader of the Inuzuka clan stood up and added, "It pains me to say this, but I agree with Shikaku Nara and Hiashi Hyuga. Naruto has been through a lot, but for us to look after him will only put him in more danger. Now I am not saying that I will not take up on this offer, but are you sure you want me to do this, Hokage sama?"
"If Naruto can get through this nightmare, I am sure you will be more than happy to help him, Tsume-sama. Of course, everyone else is more than welcome to try it." Replied the Hokage with a smile.
While all the other council members and civilians looked on in disdain, the clan heads doesn't seem to mind about the decision that the Hokage has made. Once everyone agreed on what they need to do, they left the office and headed over to the hospital where Naruto was residing. Some of the parents had a little bit of fear inside of them about the child because it will take them a while to warm up to him, but for the rest of Naruto's friends, they don't seem to see him as a threat after all. Back in the office, Tsunade-sama arrived and said, "Sarutobi-sama, me and the medical team have stabilized the child for now, but we cannot allow this brutal torture to affect him for the rest of his life. How could a child prodigy like itachi have allowed this to go so far? I just couldn't imagine the hardship that naruto has led up until now, and now these crime scene photos of a cold-blooded killer won't bring peace to this village."
The Hokage looked up from his desk and said, "Tsunade-sama, you did what you could for the child. Naruto is the least of our worries now, but our primary concern is to keep him under observation by the other clan heads until we are certain that the child can look after himself. Furthermore, that traitor uchiha Itachi is still at large, which means the Akatsuki are going to be planning something big and none of us are going to be able to handle those thugs alone. We need all the help we can get."
"Are you saying we should ally with the other nations to fend off the akatsuki to keep naruto safe? That would be a big risk and we cannot afford to put everyone's lives on the line, especially not after what happened recently. To be honest, I don't think naruto's sharingan power will be enough to defeat the Akatsuki alone and I think he will need a lot more than just using his eyes and ears out in battle. I do believe that a special training regiment will be needed since you told Shikaku and the rest of the clan heirs to keep him under their wing, what do you think?"
"Let wait and see how his recovery goes, okay? Besides, I think Naruto will need to conserve his strength since he has been through too much already. If we think his recovery and strength is progressing well, then we can set up the training regiment to get him ready for upcoming battles against Itachi and the akatsuki. At this point, we should probably take a break from this work and get something to eat, what do you think?" replied Sarutobi while filing the papers back into his desk for later use.
"All right then, we will leave Naruto in the hands of his new found friends and family. We both need to have a drink and a break anyway." She said to him as they both headed out the door and went to a nearby restaurant to cool their jets.
Back in the hospital, things has been going smoothly for naruto, but still he didn't wake up after that interrogation from the Anbu commander. However, the cause of naruto's headaches was from the effect of Itachi's powerful attack. Although the effect has been dissipated for now, he still suffers from the after-effects of the technique and will take several months to recover. As he opens his eyes, he could see that he was still in the hospital and realized that someone must have sent him here for observation. While he attempts to get out of the bed, he still feels a little bit of pain in his head while trying to walk along the hospital hallway. But before he could set foot outside the hospital, he could see the clan heirs walking towards him from the entrance. He wondered why they were here and what their plans are. As naruto tries to walk back towards his room, he could feel someone's hand holding onto his arm as they headed back to the recovery area.
"I presume that the Hokage has sent you guys here to keep me under your watch for a while until I can make a full recovery right?" said naruto with a bored look on his face.
"How very perceptive of you, Naruto-san. I knew you would be expecting us to come here after the Itachi incident. But with that out of the way, how are you feeling?" asked Inoichi.
"Well, given the fact that I nearly had a seizure, the recovery process is still slow. However, the headaches are still coming and going. When I saw those gruesome photos, it just makes me sick to my stomach after witnessing what happened. I could never forgive that monster for what he did to his own parents and a family that Sasuke and I loved so much. That tragedy still haunts me as my life goes on without them. If only I had been there sooner, then Sasuke's parents wouldn't have died," replied Naruto.
Shikaku looked at him while trying to rub off his groans. "Listen to me kid; you've been through enough already. That tragedy will not bring Teiyaki and Fugaku back, and it's time that you learned to move on. I know it's hard, but trust me: you have to let it go. You can't just sit around and grieve over their loss because it's far too troublesome for you. They died as heroes and they will be remembered as heroes. Sure, we might not have known them to be our close friends, but we all want justice for them. So, try not to take this too hard on yourself okay?"
"Yes, he's right. Listen, we all understand that you want to get some payback, but now it's not the time. We need you to be at a hundred percent full strength if you want some action. Hokage-sama told us that the Akatsuki are planning something big against you. So he recommends us to keep an eye on you until you are able to regain your strength back. Don't lose your focus or your hope, because you will need them to keep yourself safe, do you understand?" said Hiashi while holding Naruto's hand.
"I do understand, Mr. Hiashi, but even if I am not at full strength, I can still go after Itachi Uchiha and make him suffer a horrible death just like what he did to me. I want to show him that no one disrespects the Uchiha clan and gets away with it!" said Naruto as he clenches his fists.
"Those are some brave and bold words coming from such a determined loudmouth like you, but you are not even CLOSE to being at full strength yet! Weren't you paying attention to us when you were told to conserve your strength? Itachi is far too powerful for you to handle on your own because the akatsuki could easily come after you right now with that host inside of your body!" barked Tsume. But then she looked at Naruto with a worried look on her face and continued, "When we first met you, we all thought you were a complete stranger, but now we know better. You've been like family to us ever since that lunatic took away everything that you loved so much. We don't want you to be burdened of any pain or suffering now, do we? You should probably head back to bed and get some rest okay?"
Naruto looked at them while wiping the tears from his eyes and said, "Gee, you guys really seem to care a lot about me. When Itachi was here, he never showed any signs of caring or any loyalty towards me. I thought for certain that he was planning to be like a brother to me but it never happened. But again, I really want to thank you guys for understanding the pain I went through, I really mean it."
"Well, you are welcome, but we will check back on you soon okay? Right now you need your rest, but you will be released from the hospital soon. Take good care of yourself, buddy." Replied Choza.
Once the clan heirs left the room, naruto went back to bed and thought about what they said to him. But he was pretty happy that people will look after him for a while until the threat of Itachi has been disposed of. "Maybe they are right, I'm pretty much a loner and I don't have anyone to look after me. But all of that will change soon. I will show Itachi what it means to have people showing their support and protection for those they love. Soon, he will regret ever setting foot into this village!" He then heard footsteps in the hall and dashed outside.
"Hey! Wait up! There was something else that I wanted to tell you guys." Naruto said as he followed the clan heads.
"What is it, Naruto?" asked Shikaku.
"Well, you see, I have a confession to make: I am a loner and I have no family. But you guys were right about me not ready to face Itachi yet, but still I want to thank you guys for the words of encouragement. I am trying to avoid thinking about what happened to me but I also want justice done for Sasuke's family. I will not allow Itachi to destroy the family that I love so much, not anymore. So is there a chance that I could move in with one of you guys until I am able to look after myself?" he asked convincingly.
Amazingly, a bunch of surprised looks appeared on their faces as the heirs looked at each other. Then they smiled at Naruto as he was being serious about his plan. "Are you sure about this Naruto? You should inform the Hokage about the plan first thing in the morning before we will approve it. In the meantime, please get some rest and we will check back on your soon okay?" called Choza as they continued their way out of the hospital. Naruto waves back at them and returned to his hospital room for the night.
By the next morning, Naruto was discharged from the hospital and went straight to the Hokage's office. He then knocked on the door of the office and the Hokage said, "Come in!" As Naruto opens the door, he walks over to the desk and said, "OJi-san, I wanted to tell you something important so please listen."
"I am kind of busy here but I'm all ears, Naruto-san. Go ahead." Said the Hokage while reading the paper.
I would like your permission for me to stay with one of the clan heirs for a while until I am able to keep myself safe. You did mention to them that they would take care of me until I am able to keep myself fully protected right? It's been really hard you know for me to see a family going through something like this and it never goes away. Really, it has been affecting me for the rest of my life. Although Sasuke and I both miss them dearly, they will be remembered for life and not be forgotten. Anyway, will you be able to let me stay with one of the clan heirs for a while?" asked Naruto with a look of nervousness on his face.
The Hokage looked up from his papers with a look of confusion on his face. He wondered why Naruto had asked for this strange request in the first place. "But I already had a meeting with the clan heirs yesterday and I talked to them about keeping an eye on you. Are you saying that you want one of them to be your temporary guardian? If so, you could have told me this sooner and I would have arranged it. However, my first priority is to keep you under watch until you are able to keep yourself safe. The reason why I did this was to keep you out of trouble by any means necessary. We all know you've been a loner ever since, but that will change soon. So, are you willing to handle this?"
"Of course Ji-san, if it's about keeping me alive in one piece, then by all means go for it. Besides, I am not about to let some cold-blooded serial killer take away what belongs to me and my friends. I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to keep myself out of danger. Now I know you want justice for the Uchiha clan, but no one is going to let you handle this on your own because you need all of our help to get rid of the Akatsuki threat once and for all." Replied Naruto as he sat down on the Hokage's desk while taking the papers from the old man's hands.
"Naruto-san, what are you doing with those papers? Give them to me because they are highly confidential, please?" said the Hokage.
"One moment please, Ji-san. I think these papers might peak an interest towards Ibiki Morino because he already knows about why that child prodigy did this. Besides, my question is this: why didn't the Anbu launch an investigation into Uchiha Itachi's past? Maybe that might help us understand why he slaughtered his entire clan and turning heel against his own village. This is not the Itachi that we know anymore from what we can see in these papers." Continued Naruto as he heads out the door.
"Wait, where are you going with those papers, Naruto? Come back here!" called the Hokage as he ran after the child into the streets.
"I am going to head over to the Anbu interrogation HQ immediately! There is something that we might have overlooked about Itachi Uchiha. In other words, we need to gather some information about his past here in Konoha, maybe it can shed some light on why he chose to join the akatsuki." Called Naruto after the Hokage as he jumped from rooftop after rooftop towards the Interogation tower. "I am getting too old to be chasing after you, Naruto. But if you really want to dig into Itachi's past, then go right ahead because given the circumstances beyond my control, I don't know what else we can find on Itachi." Thought the Hokage as he followed Naruto into the tower.
Once Naruto and The Hokage are in the tower, they could see tons of Anbu guards working in the labs here in the tower and some are watching suspects being questioned about where they were when someone is killed or goes missing. "So this is where every single person or witness gets questioned and then gets thrown into jail if they confess to a crime right?" asked Naruto.
"You are very observant and a funny little child, aren't you? What brings you here to my headquarters, Naruto?" asked Ibiki with an evil glint on his face.
"Well, according to these papers that the Hokage was studying, it shows that we might have overlooked something. We never figured out about Itachi's past maybe his past can help you, or shall I say we, to find out why he killed his entire clan. We might be able to gether more information about his dark past that could shed some light into his connection with the Akatsuki." Said Naruto as he handed the papers over to Ibiki.
"His past? What does his past have to do with him murdering his entire clan? We already asked everyone in the village about itachi and they all said that he was quiet and shy. He doesn't really talk much about his personal life because he kept to himself a lot. Why do you want to know about his personal life?" asked Ibiki with a confused look.
"Well, I think he might have been hiding something from his parents and he never said a thing to them about putting me in danger. Maybe he was being abused or tortured by his parents and they never cared much about what he does in life or his accomplishments. I am assuming that he never got any attention from his parents because they spent all their time with his little brother Sasuke because they put a lot of faith in him, hoping that he could inherit some of the most powerful techniques for his own clan and…" before Naruto could continue, Ibiki then asked him, "Are you saying that abuse and neglect caused Itachi to go beserk? That's it! That's the missing clue that I wanted to hear from you all along! Naruto, you just saved my men a lot of time searching for that missing piece of the puzzle. Thank you again for your help!" barked Ibiki with a smile on his face while shaking Naruto's hand.
Surprisingly, Naruto looked at him with a shocked look and said, "Well, there is no need to thank me but you are welcome. Ibiki-san, but did Itachi really get abused and neglected by his parents?"
"That is highly likely, but as this investigation continues, we might be one step closer to avenging the Uchiha clan, bring Itachi back to the village, and close this case once and for all. After all this time, we never did figure out about Itachi's past, but now we know why he deserted his own village. Once we notify the Anbu guards, we should be able to track down the whereabouts of that child prodigy. Thank you for letting me know about this. If we had waited any sooner, then it would be too late to stop that monster. Anyway I thyink you should go him eand rest up for a bit, if there is any other information, I will let you know, okay Naruto?" said ibiki with a smile on his face.
"All right then, keep me updated if you have anything new. I will see you later then Ibiki-san!" he then dashed out of the Interrogation tower and headed home with the Hokage following close behind him. "That kid never ceases to amaze me after figuring out a vital clue about Itachi Uchiha. First we find out that Itachi betrayed his village, now he is abused and neglected by his own parents? This is one hell of an investigation being conducted here in Konoha. I just can't believe we never figured out that one crucial piece of clue about Itachi the first time when I sent Naruto to be looked after by them. The entire council of konoha will be shocked to hear this news about the fateful life of that child prodigy. The clan heirs need to be informed of this as well," thought the Hokage as he returns to the office.
Elsewhere, Sasuke was back at his compound to clean up the mess left behind by Itachi after the recent events. "I should have stopped Itachi myself, I feel like a traitor myself for not saviung my family. But with what Naruto going through, it's my entire fault for putting him through this." He chided to himself while avoiding the visions of that horrible day.
"No, Sasuke-san, you are not to be blamed for this. It was the mental instability that drove Itachi into committing this heinous crime. Naruto ws only caught in the middle of it and Itachi referred to his near death experience as "Collateral Damage" because he wanted to test his power on an innocent child like him." Said a voice from behind him. As Sasuke turned, he was shocked to see the ghost figure of his father appearing right in front of him.
"Holy shit! It's the ghost of Christmas past!" shouted Sasuke as he tossed kunai knives and shurikens all over the compound and popping holes into the walls. The ghost sweat-dropped as he watched his son going crazy, but not before he calmed his son down with a hug.
"Sasuke, calm down, please! It's only me; now I can understand you are going crazy about what Itachi had done, but it won't bring me or your mom back, trust me. Anyway we've overhead what the Hokage had told the village about your brother joining a criminal organization trying to steal tailed beasts from other shinobis, so it's up to you to decide how to put an end to this. This whole village is counting on you to stop your former brother from getting what he wants." Said his father while in ghost form.
"But what if I make a mistake? What if I am not strong enough to defeat my brother? What will happen to the village then? What will Naruto-kun say to me if he finds out that I am going to fight Itachi?" protested Sasuke, but then, Fugaku laid his hand on the boy's head and said to him, "Son, don't worry, everything will be all right as long as you prove yourself to be as strong as your brother. We've taught you everything you know already so you should be in pretty good shape. As for Naruto, I am sure he will catch up to you soon. Also how is his recovery going at this point? I just hope that the Tsukoyomi hasn't caused permanent damage to his brain. We both fear that if anything bad happened to Naruto, then this village will be in danger as we know it."
"Well, from what Tsunade-sama said, his recovery is going well, and the Tsukoyomi hasn't damaged much in his head, but he still has visions of what Itachi did to you guys since then. He hasn't gotten over that nightmare. At this point he is both physically and mentally scarred for life. But other than that, I think he will make a full recovery. Thank you for your concern about him, tou-san. The Hokage is doing everything he can to ensure that Naruto is fully protected from danger." Replied Sasuke while breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness for the Hokage, that guy sure knows how to keep a child safe, doesn't he?" smiled Fugaku. Even Sasuke had a wink as well though he was more worried about what the future will hold for that innocent child. "I hope you will take very good care of Naruto while he's here and don't worry we will always be with you in your spirits, don't lose hope, okay?" said Teiyaki before disappearing.
"Wait! Don't leave me here all alone! Please, you have not told me how to deal with Itachi Uchiha yet! Come back!" barked Sasuke.
"We are sorry Sasuke, but we cannot stay here for much longer. Don't worry, as long as Naruto is safe with you, than we are both proud of you for taking good care of him. I know you will avenge us so please, do what you must to save Konoha!" called his father as the ghosts disappeared into thin air. Once they are gone, Sasuke sank to the ground while wiping his tears away, but soon, his tears turns to anger as he straps his ninja gear on and prepares himself to send the child prodigy and former brother to his doom. "You are going down Itachi nee-sama! I will show you what it feels like when you are given your own death sentence by my hands!" he thought to himself as he leaves the compound to prepare for his plan of attack.
Back in the tower, the Hokage was preparing for another meeting with the council members to discuss about Itachi's past and the neglect from his parents before the murders occurred. In the process, he was planning to keep all clan heads informed of the situation at hand. This time, everyone will make sure that the akatsuki threat will be disposed of immediately to ensure Konoha will be a safe place for all.
Moments later, the council members gathered with the Hokage at the tower and said, "Do you mind telling us why you called us here about Itachi Uchiha? He's already escaped the Anbu's grasp so why are you still going after him? After all, he did murder his family in order to test his powers."
"Yeah, but its more than just about this whole murder spree, my friends. Itachi also had a dark past and it involved his parents as well since they neglected him and not paid too much attention to him. Perhaps Itachi was jealous of the attention that his little brother has been getting all this time. I do believe that he must have taken his rage out on his parents because of it. Somehow, Sasuke never even knew what was going through the mind of his older brother when he attacked his own family on that fateful day. Frankly, Itachi never told us about his past and he claimed that he wasn't evil back then. But now, it was all a lie to get the power inside of Naruto and this was the vital clue that we missed while we investigated the death of the Uchiha clan." Commented the Hokage while reading the reports.
"Are you serious? You mean all this time, itachi was jealous of his brother getting all the attention and he killed his parents because of that? What kind of a sick , twisted, psychopath would want to do this to his own parents? And also why did he have to drag Naruto into this mess as well since he didn't want to be a part of the fiasco?" called a villager from the council member. Everyone else in the room seems to agree that this plan could be far too dangerous to pursue.
"Man, you council members are very troublesome; the report gives detailed information about itachi wanting to test his powers on his parents, including Naruto so that he will gain enough strength to take away the host inside of that child. From what I read, the papers do not tell lies and believe me, I've had a talk with the child and he fears that his safety could still be jeopardized if that child prodigy is not caught. He was badly weakened by that monster and did his best to fight back, but that bastard proved to be far too strong for Naruto to handle alone." Called Shikaku as he entered into the room and taking a seat adjacent to the Hokage's desk.
"This is unbelievable, not only is Naruto our problem, but now Itachi Uchiha? This can't be right, that kid should have died in the hands of that traitor, but his life gets spared? Just wait though, that kid won't even be able to stand a chance of surviving when that former child prodigy returns. He will definitely put an end to that kid for good and we won't have to deal with him ourselves," Said a frustrated villager.
Shikaku wanted to strangle that villager for using that death threat remark, but he sighed. "Naruto, how am I going to keep you safe if these crazy-ass villagers keep coming after you? I know you are just an innocent bystander, but you don't deserve this." He then turned and walked towards the desk and asked, " Hokage-sama, how do you propose we bring Itachi back to let him answer for his crimes he committed against this village?"
"Well, I suppose that we can send out the Anbu guards to set him into a trap and then lure him back here, this way we won't have any problems putting that serial killer behind bars. We will call it Operation: Lone Assassin, which means that the former child prodigy isn't really that caring of anyone anymore, but now he has turned into something far more evil. Before I can personally put this into action, I need you to bring Naruto in here immediately so that we can get his opinion on apprehending that traitor." Said the Hokage.
However, the villagers didn't seem to like the idea of getting that child involved since he might get hurt a second time. They fear that he might still stir up more chaos for Konoha if he is going after Itachi.
"Wait, I object, why do you need to bring Naruto into this? This whole thing started between those blood brothers and now you want to put this kid through another round of torment? I don't think so!" chided the Council member.
The Hokage stood up from his desk and interjected, "There is no need for any objections and I am in no way to put Naruto through a torment. All I need from him is his approval on our plan to hunt down that lone assassin once and for all. But first, get off of Naruto's back already, he has been through enough." He then paced around the room for a bit before sipping on tea.
"Hokage-sama, Naruto will be glad to hear of your approval of capturing Itachi Uchiha, let's hope this plan works because this is our last shot at closing this case once and for all. As troublesome as it may be, I know Naruto will not have any objections." Said Shikaku before disappearing into a puff of smoke. And so, with the Hokage tempted to bring that missing-nin back, operation Lone assassin has officially begun.
And Stop… I know this took me a while to write, but now I've added in some new ideas as to how itachi should be hunted down and brought back. Operation Lone assassin is a mission to track down all former ninjas that disappeared from various villages after they committed crimes against their own people. So since itachi is one of them, I would probably assume that this was more than just him being a lone killer. But this will be discussed in a later chapter. Anyway please read this and let me know what you think. This chapter took a while but more will be on the way. My question is: will konoha put an end to the Itachi case once and for all? You will see in the next few chapters. Till then read and enjoy.