Hello everyone.

Here is another chapter of Reaching Reason. I have been very busy with planning plot points and creating character traits. As a result, I haven't had much time to actually write it.

I am testing a couple of things with formatting in this chapter, so as always please criticize my work.

I am also aware of how dark my writing is and all I have to say to that is this: It's just the way it is.

I know that if an entire story is dark, then it won't be as impactful. Emotional moments will not hit as hard as they would have if happy or comedic moments preceded them.

I will try my best to not keep the story in one singular tone, but it has been proving difficult.

Even if you only read this small message from me, thank you for your time.

Now, let's wake up, shall we?

*Revised 10/26/23*

Chapter 2: Awakening

Eyes darted back and forth beneath eyelids. Breaths became short and erratic, incoherent sentences mumbled.

'Naruto..'

Cerulean eyes shot open as Naruto Uzumaki woke up with a start.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he quickly took in his surroundings.

He was in a clearing that was flanked on all sides by tall, swaying trees. The morning sun peeked through the topmost branches, its light nearly reaching him.

A slight breeze took claim of the grassy field, the wind gently shook the yellow marqueriles and wild roses that dared to grow on the edges of the clearing. The night's chill still lingered, as fall was fast approaching.

Shivering, he cursed. He'd fallen asleep in the training ground again.

'Who said that?' he thought to himself, thinking back to the strange voice.

After concluding that it must have just been a dream, he stood and yawned.

"I should get back to the village, I've got some shopping to do today," he said to nobody in particular as he reached his hand high in a stretch.

He was rewarded with the blissful feeling of bones and joints popping due to sleeping on the uneven terrain for a prolonged period of time.

He picked the grass out of his hair and began his trek back to civilization.

As he walked down the trail that connected the training grounds to the village, he took in the calming sight of the forest.

Birds hopped from branch to branch in the tall trees that sheltered the trail. One such bird held a squirming worm in its beak. It dangled the helpless creature over the hungry mouths of its offspring. Finally, it released the wriggling creature into the baby birds awaiting mouths.

Another breeze swept through as the temperatures of the environment shifted from the morning cold to the afternoon heat. The gust plucked leaves off of their branches making them flutter through the air like nature's glitter, landing gently wherever they choose.

Some would be picked up by the wind again, while others would simply remain in that position until they decomposed.

Naruto caught one between his fingers and twirled it around. 'It sure is nice when there is no one else. It's calming, all my worries seem insignificant for a moment.'

Looking up ahead, he spotted two dark haired figures heading his direction.

'One tall and one short. They must be ninja up early to train before anyone else takes the training ground,' he thought as he let the leaf go.

It was taken by the wind once more until its journey abruptly ended between a pair of rocks. It would surely decompose there.

As the figures got closer, he was able to discern their features.

The taller of the two was a boy no older than fifteen, he had his dark hair tied into a low ponytail. His onyx eyes stared ahead, he simply looked where he was going. He had a calm demeanor about him.

Upon seeing the Uchiha insignia on the boy's shirt, Naruto came to a realization.

'I knew he looked familiar, but that crest gives it away. That's Itachi Uchiha. People call him a prodigy, he graduated from the academy way earlier than normal.' He looked to the shorter of the two. 'Which means that must be his sister.'

She had slightly spiky hair that went down to the middle of her back, just past the shoulder blades. She looked to be around Naruto's age, seven or so. She was clearly excited for something, judging from the skip in her step and the grin plastered on her face.

Sasuki Uchiha walked excitedly alongside her brother. He had finally agreed to train with her again today! After so many rejections, today was finally the day!

"Big brother, what kind of training are we going to do today? Am I going to learn a super lethal jutsu? Or learn how to use a sword? Or what about the Sharingan, are you going to teach me how to unlock the Sharingan?" Sasuki asked rapid fire questions, unable to quell her eagerness.

"Calm down, Sasuki. It'll be nothing like that, you'll see," Itachi said.

Sighing at the cryptic answer she was given, Sasuki opted to look ahead to the training ground they were heading towards.

To her surprise, she saw a boy no older than her leaving the field.

Observing him in detail revealed that he had spiky red hair that cascaded just past his neck. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes unblinkingly looked ahead. His clothing consisted of a plain gray shirt with a red swirl in the middle and dark red shorts.

Just as the raven haired duo passed the lone redhead, their eyes met. Fearful onyx gazed into sharp blue for a moment that seemed to last forever.

'H-His eyes! They're so… empty..'

Her mind was now thoroughly distracted from her training. That boy unnerved her. He had an aura about him that screamed to stay away. But the eyes are what threw her off the most, it was like looking into an emotional abyss. Not an ounce of the curiosity and exuberance you would expect of a child was present.

Sasuki kept walking in silence.

Itachi looked at his little sister. Something was clearly bothering her, and he had a good idea as to what it was.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

After a long moment, Sasuki finally spoke up for the first time since passing the strange boy.

"Big brother.. who was that boy that we just passed?" she asked in a meek voice.

Itachi stopped suddenly, causing Sasuki to do the same. He turned around and watched Naruto's form retreat in the direction from which they had just come.

"That is Naruto Uzumaki. You may have heard that name at least once, not in a particularly good light I imagine," he replied with a small frown.

Sasuki looked from Naruto's receding silhouette to Itachi.

"Itachi, how can someone as young as me look so.. I mean.. the only people with eyes like that are people like father."

Itachi closed his eyes. "He is someone who has been dealt a difficult hand. Unlike you or I, he has no one; no parents, no siblings, no cousins, not even a clan."

Clenching her fists, Sasuki turned to walk in Naruto's direction. She would have gone to him too if Itachi hadn't placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Sasuki. No matter what you hear about Naruto Uzumaki, I want you to form your own opinion of him based on merit. Do not let anyone else tell you what to think about him."

He let go of her shoulder and he turned to walk towards the training ground once more.

"Come, Sasuki. You still want to train, don't you?"

She hesitated, debating on whether or not going after the boy anyways. Then she thought about how rare of an opportunity it was to train with her brother and decided against it.

'Naruto Uzumaki..' she thought. She spared him one last glance then ran to catch up to her brother.

Looking up to the canopy of trees above their heads, Itachi couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.

'Naruto… there is no doubt you and my sister would become friends. However, getting involved with the Uchiha is getting increasingly risky. I know what needs to be done.'

The crimson haired boy walked steadily towards the village, knowing well what awaited. However, that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment.

'Itachi Uchiha and his sister. Hmm, the look in her eyes was typical. Itachi on the other hand..'

Itachi's eyes were a mystery. There was no fear, there wasn't even veiled contempt. There was simply understanding.

'What does he know about me? Does he know why I am treated differently? I would very much like to have a conversation with him.'

As the various buildings that made up the village entered his vision, his thoughts took a negative turn. These types thoughts seemed to be more frequent lately.

Why did he even train? He didn't even bother to enroll in the academy, since a parent's signature was needed in order to attend.

'What's the point? Why am I here? Other people have their dreams.. I don't really have any. I never wanted to be anything except for-' He cut himself off and looked at the ground. '..Day in and day out, it's always the same.'

He had been happy at one point, he even had a dream; to become the Hokage. The reason was simple in his mind. People clearly disliked him for an unknown reason, yet they loved the Hokage. He would therefor become Hokage so people would like him. Foolproof.

But through the years the glares never lessened. The muttering, the name calling, the subtle hatred that the entire village seemingly possessed, the inability to make even a single friend.

It was as if he murdered their families or something.

After years of no progress, he began to undergo a change in mentality. One day he simply stopped smiling, he found he no longer cared for his dream. It was pointless. Why did he have to prove anything to these people at all?

He shook his head, brooding never fixed any of his problems. Instead, he directed his thoughts to the task at hand.

'Right, groceries. Most importantly, I need to get some ramen,' he thought as he reached into his pocket.

He pulled out a deflated frog wallet and opened it, revealing only a handful of coins.

After meticulously counting the coins several times, he cursed. 'Damn, only 11000 Ryo. I'll have to ration it, but it should be enough to hold me over until the next stipend.'

Upon entering the great village, the usual sight greeted him.

People flooded the busy streets, couples walked with their hands intertwined, laborers worked tirelessly moving various materials and tools, and merchants tried to sell their goods for as high as people would buy them.

It was like a grand play that ceased its spectacular performance as soon as he arrived.

The people that flooded the bustling streets parted as he walked through them. It was comical really, people dropped whatever they were doing just to stay away from him.

He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and walked faster towards the grocery store.

Upon reaching his destination, various shelves of different commodities filled his sight. He began his contemplation.

Ignoring the irate store owner, he scratched his chin in thought. 'I really want ramen, but the ration bars would last me far longer. Hmm, maybe I'll get one cup of ramen then ten ration bars. Yes, I like that plan.'

He grabbed his cup of ramen, counted out ten ration bars, then put everything on the counter in front of the cashier.

"Is that all? That will be 9600 Ryo," spoke the gruff voice of the cashier after ringing up far more than eleven items.

"9600? But the ration bars are only 300 yen each and the ramen is 2000, where are you getting 9600?" Naruto asked incredulously, looking at the ration bars price tag to make sure he didn't make a mistake.

The man slammed his hands on the counter.

"Price went up! Gotta make a living somehow," he growled.

Naruto scoffed at the blatant lie and pulled out his wallet.

"Fine, I have just enough. Here."

After handing the money to the cashier who snatched it out of his hands, he collected his items and marched towards the exit. He opened the flap to the outside world and stepped out- directly in front of a man pushing a wheelbarrow full of dirt.

"Argh! What the hell?" yelled a dirt covered Naruto who cradled the arm that took the brunt of the impact.

"Hey! Watch where you are going, kid! Now I gotta shovel all this-" The man's eyes widened as soon as he saw who it was that he ran into.

'It's the Kyuubi kid. He probably did that on purpose, deviant little bastard. I've had enough of this shit,' thought the man as he watched Naruto dust the dirt off and pick himself up from the ground.

Naruto kneeled down to pick up his groceries that had spilled everywhere.

After picking up all the ration bars, he reached for the ramen only to find the container was busted. He watched dejectedly as the uncooked noodles spilled out of the plastic container.

'Everything always seems to be against me. Can't even enjoy ramen until I get paid again.'

"You! I can't take it anymore! Walking around the village without a care in the fucking world!" screamed the wheelbarrow man with a manic glint in his eyes.

The villagers that were making their morning rounds paused to watch, curious at the developing scene.

Naruto looked up to the enraged man with empty eyes.

"I didn't do anything to you, I don't even know who you are. Could you please step aside so that I can go home?"

The man's body shook with laughter. "Hah! Home?! This place will never be your home. You murdered my little sister seven years ago! Suki… She was pregnant and you fucking killed her! You.." The man shut his eyes tight and clenched his fists. "Fuck it! I don't care about the damn decree. You, boy, are the fucking Kyuubi!"

Gasps sounded in the crowd that had formed around them, but no one tried to dispute the distraught man.

Naruto stared wide-eyed into the hateful face of a clearly broken person. 'Kyuubi? The fox that attacked the village on October.. Tenth. The day that I was born. Could it just be a coincidence? No way.. it answers too many questions.'

"I'm.. the Kyuubi?" he whispered to himself. The murmers of the crowd and the irate man in front of him seemed to disappear as his mind reeled.

It was only the man's snort of amusement that snapped his attention back to the real world.

"Yes! You are the Kyuubi. This village will never accept you! Look around you!" He gestured to the large crowd that had now formed. "All of these people feel the same way that I do. Their eyes say it all."

Naruto examined the gathering of people for the first time, and it was true. Everyone was looking at the scene with rapt attention. Some even displayed excitement at the verbal beating.

His eyes snapped back to the man as he caught movement. He felt himself tense as he watched the man reach into his pocket and pull out a worn, rusty blade.

"I really don't know how someone hasn't killed you yet, you pitiful thing. Lost all your power, huh?" The man said, shakily pointing the blade in his direction.

His mind screamed for him to run, or try to defend himself as he watched the man break into a sprint towards him. But his body refused to respond. It was as if his legs were weighed down by cinderblocks.

With each foot the gap between them lessened, he felt his heart pound louder and louder in his ears. It was almost deafening.

But the puzzle was now complete; the reason why he was alone. Maybe.. maybe this man was doing him a favor. Based on where he seemed to be aiming the knife, it looked like it would be a relatively painless death.

'So.. either I am the Kyuubi or I am related to it somehow. Seeing as I'm not brimming with power or covered in fur, I doubt it's the former. Ah well, it doesn't matter anyways.'

He watched idly as the knife drew ever near, time itself seemed to slow. The villagers' hungry eyes was the last thing on his mind.

Just as his entire field of view filled with the frame of his executioner, he closed his eyes.

Inside of a seal on her own body Kushina Uzumaki pounded her fist against the chains that held her captive until they bled. She had been stuck there, forced to watch the entirety of her son's less than ideal upbringing.

She screamed out within the seal as she watched what was happening in the real world.

'Naruto! Kyuubi, do something, he's gonna die!'

A monotone feminine voice responded.

"Be quiet, Uzumaki. There is nothing that I can do from within this accursed cage. The only thing we can hope for is that the fool misses anything vital," replied the Kyuubi, nine Adamantine Chains rattling behind her angrily.

She'd created the chains years ago to emulate her tails as they brought her comfort.

'Surely he'll survive this, it would be pitiful to die inside this child,' she thought, gripping the bars to the cage tightly.

She flinched when she felt something wet hit her forearm. One. Two, three splashes. Reaching up to feel her face, she felt something warm leaving trails down her cheeks.

'Am I.. crying?'

Without any warning, the calm weather outside of the cage abruptly morphed into a torrential downpour.

'No… No, I am not crying, it was simply the rain. This seal is a representation of Naruto's mind and right now he is in turmoil.' she rationalized.

The force of the wind coming off of the ocean threatened to send her flying into the bars on the opposite end of the cage. She quickly used her chains to tether herself to each side of the cage in order to remain still, and plopped down on the concrete floor.

"Damn it.." she muttered, her long red hair whipping around behind her.

"This is for Suki, fox- agh!"

In an instant, the man crumpled to the floor from a swift chop to the neck.

"Go. All of you." A new person spoke.

Naruto blinked and looked up at his savior. He was wearing a dog mask and a gray vest with a tanto strapped to his back.

'That mask.. I remember reading about masked shinobi.. ANBU black ops..' he thought to himself absently.

His heart still pounded in his ears. He fully prepared himself for that to be it, the struggle was supposed to come to an end.

"Naruto Uzumaki, we are going to see the Hokage," the silver haired man said succinctly before placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.

The world became a blur.

In just a second the world focused once again and Naruto hastily grabbed the nearby chair to steady himself.

'What the hell was that? I feel sick.'

"He is aware of what he contains, Lord Hokage," said a voice behind him.

He turned around to find the source, only to see that no one was there.

'I didn't even hear him move..'

Turning back around, he took the time to absorb his surroundings. It was a circular room with mostly empty walls. The only spot that held anything interesting was an area with pictures of the village's previous leaders. There was a desk in the middle of the room that had paperwork piled high on top of it and a large window a few feet behind it.

The Hokage himself was observing the village through said window with his hands clasped behind his back.

Naruto remained silent, unsure of how to start the conversation.

"Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sure you have questions for me?" the Hokage said.

Naruto focused his attention squarely on the man in front of him.

"I contain the Kyuubi."

The Hokage nodded in confirmation. "Yes, you contain the spirit and essence of the Kyuubi. The Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal it inside of you, saving the village in the process."

"How noble," Naruto said monotonously while looking at the picture of the grinning Fourth Hokage on the wall.

Turning his gaze back to the current Hokage, he asked the question that had been bothering him ever since he came to the conclusion that he contained the fox.

"How exactly do I contain the Kyuubi? I mean, how is that possible?"

The Hokage puffed on his pipe and turned around to look Naruto in the eyes.

"With the art of sealing. The Fourth Hokage used a very advanced sealing jutsu to stop the beast. You are like a kind of container for the fox. When you learn to channel your chakra, you will see the seal that keeps the beast at bay appear on your abdomen."

"I already know how to channel my chakra, I did it by accident once during training," Naruto said, already lifting his shirt.

He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration.

Channeling his chakra was always like dipping his hand into an ocean of liquid nitrogen; utterly freezing to the touch. But, if you reached deeper into the metaphorically subzero energy, it quickly became scaldingly hot.

He simply dipped his fingertips into the ocean.

He opened his eyes and looked at his stomach, where to his surprise, he saw it. A circle with smaller concentric circles inside of it was flanked in eight directions by various symbols. At the very top and bottom of the were two completely black triangles. The smallest circle in the very center was also completely black.

"Amazing.." Naruto said in awe as he poked and prodded at the ink work of art.

Hiruzen was starting to grow uneasy at the sight of him fiddling with the seal and decided to change the subject.

"Naruto, how would you like to be enrolled into the Ninja Academy? You may end up becoming a full fledged shinobi of Konoha one day if you try hard enough."

Naruto dropped his shirt and chuckled. "Heh, a ninja? Why? To protect what? To have pride in what home? I have nothing. The people here spit at my feet, Lord Hokage."

The older man deeply inhaled the smoke from his pipe, then exhaled. 'It's worse than I thought. The decree I created did absolutely nothing that I'd hoped it would. I'll have to use the same strategy I used on Kakashi when he was this way.'

Hiruzen hummed. "Why not? You never know what could happen. You said it yourself, you have nothing to lose. What's the harm?"

Naruto stared blankly ahead, that question was actually a thought provoking one.

'Why not? Why not… I.. guess I have nothing else to do. I might as well see where this goes. Just for the curiosity of it.'

"So, Naruto, what do you say?"

Naruto slowly nodded his head. "I'll do it, I'll join the academy. If only out of curiosity."

Smiling, the Hokage pulled out a handful of papers from seemingly nowhere as if he'd planned this.

"Since you have no parent or guardian, you'll need to sign these yourself," the Hokage said, handing him the stack of papers.

Naruto took the papers from the wrinkled hands of the great leader and sat in the nearby chair.

As he filled them out, Hiruzen asked some of the questions he had for Naruto.

"So Naruto, do you have any goals? I remember when you were a child, you would run around the village shouting about how you would be the greatest Hokage," he said with a fond smile on his face.

The scratching sound of the pen leaving its ink on the paper stopped.

"No. That dream died long ago," Naruto said wistfully.

The scratching sound then resumed its rhythmic pace.

Smile slipping from his face, the Hokage responded. "Well, what about now? What is your goal now?"

The sound didn't stop immediately this time. After a few seconds, Naruto set the pen and papers on the Hokage's desk.

"I don't have a goal, Lord Hokage. I don't have a dream. My reasons for living are the same as my reasons for joining the academy; just for the curiosity of it." Walking towards the door, he continued. "I've completed the paperwork. Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, Lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head.

"No, Naruto, you are dismissed. Don't forget the academy starts next week."

"..Right," Said Naruto, taking his leave.

Hiruzen looked at the grinning picture of Minato on the wall. 'I tried to preserve his childhood, Minato...'

"Kakashi," he barked.

In a gray blur, the white haired ANBU from before kneeled before Hiruzen.

"Why didn't you interfere sooner? You know the punishment that man will receive for breaking the decree don't you?"

Kakashi shifted slightly, his discomfort made clear.

"I apologize, Lord Hokage. I was at the memorial stone," he said with no inflection in his voice.

"On top of that, Naruto wasn't meant to find out about the Kyuubi until he turned eighteen or became a Chunin. Since you abandoned your duties for personal reasons, you will also be punished accordingly, do you understand?" Hiruzen spoke harshly.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Your punishment will be in effect once Naruto graduates. Since you adamantly refused to take a Genin team every single time I offered, you are to be his Jounin sensei." Hiruzen sat gracefully in his chair. "He is just like you were after the Kyuubi attack; lost without purpose. You two will be good for each other."

"I understand, Lord Hokage."

The Hokage looked like a defeated man in that moment, his true age showing on his face.

He sighed once more. "You are dismissed Kakashi."

The white haired ANBU disappeared from the office.

Blue eyes concealed by crimson hair darted from person to person. Naruto watched their hands, their shoulders, and their legs for any fast movements.

One man he had his eye on reached into his pocket.

Naruto tensed, his heart began to beat rapidly. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. This time he wouldn't be caught off guard.

Having found what he was looking for, the man began pulling his hand out of the pocket. Whatever it was glinted in the sun, indicating something metallic.

'A knife! I'll kill him now before he even has a chance,' he thought, his own hand creeping towards the pocket he kept a kunai in.

The man brought the object up to his mouth and quickly lit the cigarette that dangled from his lips.

Naruto stopped dead in the middle of the street, his hand gripping the handle of the kunai in his pocket so hard his fingers turned white. Nausea hit him like a truck, he covered his mouth and ran into a nearby ally where he emptied the contents of his stomach all over the brick foundation of the building he leaned on for support.

A frown broke out across his face as he looked at his shaking hand. 'What the hell is wrong with me? I need to get a hold of myself.'

After wiping the bile that coated his mouth on his sleeve, he continued his journey home.

The longer he walked, the more the people in the streets thinned out. He was approaching the residential district. Feeling safer with less people around, he allowed his mind to wander.

'The academy.. Heh, it's funny, I'm making more progress towards the goal of becoming Hokage than I ever did now that I don't want to be Hokage anymore.'

His feet took him deeper into the residential district, far past all the fancy apartments. He entered the slums, where the homeless littered the streets. Some could be seen picking through trash, while others were simply collapsed on the ground.

Ironically, Naruto actually felt safer here than in the heart of the village. Everyone was far too inebriated to even realize who he was.

He walked through the streets of the broken and the poor until he came across a large apartment building with many of its windows shattered or boarded. He abruptly turned into the dark, rat filled alleyway of the familiar building and ascended the flight of stairs that lay at the end of it.

'Two thirty-nine, two forty, ah here we are. Two forty-one, home sweet home,' he thought to himself as he entered his key into the lock and twisted the grimy doorknob.

Stepping inside, he let loose a sigh of relief. Familiarity brought him comfort.

The plain white wallpaper that coated the walls was barely hanging on, the adhesive was failing. A familiar musty smell emanated from the carpet, no doubt it had seen better days. The furniture was all dated, multiple tears with stuffing escaping out of them could be found on the couch. The kitchen was sparse, an oven and a microwave was all that was needed.

Opening the creaky cabinet that he stored his small amount of food in, he set all but one of the ration bars inside. He then sat down at the kitchen table with his bland treat and tore open it's plain packaging.

He sunk his teeth into the tasteless nutrients, he let out a hum of disapproval.

"Hn. This still tastes terrible, I really wish I had ramen," he said to himself, thinking back to the crushed cup of noodles.

He shut his eyes tightly, remembering the cup of ramen also made him remember what happened after picking it up.

'I contain the Kyuubi.. The Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into me. But why? Was I simply the closest baby? Or was there more to it?' He shook his head and took another bite. '..Ah, it doesn't matter anyways. Everyone that was involved is dead.'

Looking out the window, he saw that it was only around noon. He still had the whole day to do whatever he wanted. After the incident earlier, he opted to stay inside and read more on different training methods. The book he was reading now was teaching him basic chakra control exercises.

He was unable to even do one.

Outside of Naruto's apartment on a nearby rooftop, the white haired ANBU observed the boy through broken window.

'He's reading again. I don't think he'll go back out for a while, I should have a few minutes,' Kakashi thought to himself.

He disappeared in a blur then reappeared in front of a well polished stone with countless names inscribed into it. Reaching out, his gloved hand traced three names in particular.

'Rin, Obito, Sensei.. I'm afraid I won't be able to visit you as much as I have been. I made a grave mistake today.' He took his ANBU mask off, his white hair gently flowing in the warm afternoon breeze. 'I am to be Naruto's sensei once he graduates. I never wanted to lead a team of kids, Sensei... I hope I can be half the leader you were to us.'

He allowed himself few minutes of grieving before he put his mask back on and body flickered back to the rooftop.

He would not abandon Naruto again.

A dark spiky haired ANBU knelt before an older man with similar hair and a bandage over his right eye with a cane held in his hands.

"Lord Danzo, I believe I've come up with a strategy to stop the coup d'etat. I will use Kotoamatsukami to force the clan higher ups to dismantle their plans," spoke the dark haired ANBU with a raspy voice.

After a moment of silence, Danzo tapped his cane on the ground. The noise echoed throughout the dimly lit room.

In an instant, several ANBU surrounded the lone ninja and drew their tantos.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that to happen, Shisui. That would be a colossal waste of the ability your eyes possess. I'll be taking your eyes to use for the benefit of the Hidden Leaf, I'm sure you understand," replied the bandaged man.

Shisui stood casually, his posture looking far too relaxed for someone about to be attacked by multiple shinobi.

"Tch, to think you'd try something like this. I guess he was right about you," he muttered.

His right eye poured blood as it morphed from a normal Sharingan into a four-point pinwheel.

"Kotoamatsukami."

The single visible eye of the older dark haired man widened, then closed. The ANBU that surrounded him stiffened before sheathing their tantos. They quickly darted back into the shadows.

Danzo opened his eye again and looked curiously at Shisui.

"You said you had a plan to stop the coup d'etat?"

Shisui swayed on his feet and shook his head.

"No, not anymore. May I take my leave, Lord Danzo?"

The old shinobi gave a dissatisfied hum. "I should advise you to not waste my time, I'm trying to find a peaceful resolution to this crisis."

Shisui clutched his bleeding eye, using that technique on so many people was taxing.

"Understood, Lord Danzo," he replied before promptly vanishing using a body flicker.

End of Chapter 2

I apologize if anything seemed rushed in any way, as I said earlier I haven't had much time lately to write as detailed as I would like.

I will probably make several revisions to each chapter after their initial release.

Thanks for reading.