Naruto Mugenden
Chapter 2
Naruko Uzumaki!
–
Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap.
Taptaptaptaptap.
They were in one of the special training grounds. Naruto liked this one the most of course because it was where Team 7 had trained together the very first time. Most of the village was probably still asleep if the sun's position in the sky was any indication. Naruto had seen neither hide nor hair of Orochimaru. Sakura was there, safe, but only regarded him from afar briefly before she ran back to her classmates. A growing pit in his chest forbade him from going to look for Kakashi-sensei or Captain Yamato.
In the midst of his questions and heartache he routed these feelings, and concentrated on the problems that were in front of him: a blonde girl jogging in place.
"Sai-sensei!" she cried, "So what are ya gonna teach me huh-huh, are you going teach me to fly, or how to breathe fire, or-or maybe how to make a big shuriken!"
Naruto closed his eyes. This was getting too surreal. Sakura would probably jokingly ask if this girl reminded him of anybody in particular. He sneered at the thought.
"Don't be ridiculous Naruko-chan, why would I teach you a jutsu that makes a big shuriken?"
Amusement carved itself on the girl's face. "Then you're gonna teach me how to fly!"
Naruto, again, closed his eyes. As if he even knew how to do that. "No," he began and cleared his throat, composing himself.
"Then, what?"
"Trees," he replied with a pointing gesture. "I am going to teach you how to climb a tree."
She paused and then asked if she was serious.
"I am," he said. "Watch closely." He walked to the nearest tree and began walking along the side of it, until he was upside-down on one of the branches. He even lifted his knee to make a show of it. "Think you can do this?"
Naruko's expression broke with shock. "That's so cool!"
"Give it a try." He explained the basic steps of gathering chakra in the feet and… lost her immediately. "Chakra is the energy that all of us have. Ninja train to use it to do stuff like I just did. If you focus it the right way you can stick to the surface of the tree and climb up the way I did."
The girl nodded vigorously. "I got it!"
"Good, let's see." He smiled and gestured for her to join him. The girl ran straight for the tree and plummeted face-first after just a few steps, rubbing the side of her head.
This was going to take longer than he'd thought.
–
Being in Jiraiya's sandals was a role reversal Naruto hadn't asked for. The very first time they'd met, the pervy sage hadn't even wanted to teach him. Too busy spying on naked women, he finally agreed to do it for reasons Naruto still didn't fully understand. What mattered was that he'd found Jiraiya spying on a bathhouse so, in theory, he'd find him again at the biggest bathhouse in Konoha. Most importantly, it was Mixed Bathing Day.
His excuse was that they were here for training. That didn't put an end to the dirty looks Naruko was giving him until he clarified that A, they could train without being disturbed, and B, he wasn't some creepy pervert and that she could wear whatever she wanted to the bath. He went shirtless with orange trunks and Tsunade's necklace. Naruko came out wearing a practical orange one-piece with a white cloud pattern. She'd gotten in and demanded the next exercise when her eyes fell on his chest.
"Hey Sai-sensei, what is that?" She pointed to his necklace. "It's beautiful."
"Huh, this? " he said, his voice catching before he worked his lips into a grin. The image of Tsunade being young and attractive in this world flashed through his thoughts. Naruko probably didn't know who that was so he didn't see a need to explain properly. "An old lady lost it to me in a wager, actually, ha-ha-hah!"
Naruko's head tilted to the side. "What was the wager?" That Naruko, albeit sluggishly, glided on top of the steaming bathwater in her swimsuit wasn't lost on him. It was no small feat, he noted with some mental pride that she'd learned from tree-walking and adapted to water-walking so quickly.
Naruto stared up at a passing cloud for a moment. Then, clapping a fist into his palm, he said, "We made a bet that if I could learn an extremely difficult jutsu in a week's time, she would give me this." He raised the necklace up with his fingers.
"An extremely difficult jutsu?" Naruko's eyes glistened.
"Yup." He made a seal for a Shadow Clone. The second Naruto went to work as Naruko, again, watched with her eyes fixed on him. Rasengan formed in his hand, he lowered it into the water and shifted to s crouching position. "Observe." He lowered his body so that the propulsion from the Rasengan shoved him forward with the same force of a boat's motor.
He skimmed on the hot bath's surface for ten seconds then let the Rasengan dissipate and stood up.
"That's amazing!" she shouted.
He gave her a thumbs-up. "It's called the Rasengan."
"Cool, cool! So teach me how to make that spinning ball thing in my hand!" She started making sputtering sounds in an attempt to imitate the sound his Rasengan made in the water.
Naruto stopped her. "Hold on there sport, I can't teach you how to do that all willy-nilly." The girl dropped into a pout. Squinting, he said, "This is an S-rank, super-dangerous jutsu, and if you're not careful it could kill someone. Plus, you can't do it until you learn how to make a Shadow Clone first."
Naruko's face went from disappointment to something… worse.
"That's my worst area!" Naruto blinked as she continued. "Ah come on, there must be some way you can teach me the Catsengan without clones!"
"Uh, fraid not," he said with a sigh, "and it's pronounced Rasengan."
Naruko's wails got even louder.
–
The water balloon popped and a 14-year old girl's voice scared a flock of birds from a tree that morning.
"I did it!" the girl cheered, jumping up and down.
Naruto, or Sai-sensei as he was getting used to being greeted, stared at the soaked scraps of latex by the girl's feet. It had been a couple of hours since he'd shown her the first steps to creating the Rasengan, gone into town to purchase some balloons, filled them with water from the river, and left her alone for a few minutes near a river to practice the steps over and over again.
He wiped the surprise off his face, putting on his most scholarly expression the way he imagined his sensei might have. "I can see that. Good, but that's just the first step to learning this jutsu."
"Psch, I'll have it mastered in no time," Naruko said with a hand raised, palm forward.
"We'll see about that, believe it." He found it harder and harder to contain his irritation. They'd started the Shadow Clone training and Naruko had it down in minutes. For him, it'd taken at least an hour and he was tired. The Rasengan took him weeks to get the basics down.
"Yeah," the girl shouted, bouncing on her feet. "Soon as I learn this jutsu, I'm going to be Grand Hokage, believe it!" She threw up a victory sign with her fingers. Then her hands covered her mouth and her hips swayed side to side, feet balancing on her toes. "Hee hee, I'm going to be so cool!"
"Grand Hokage?" He looked at her with a thin sneer. Naruko enthusiastically bobbed her head, not even opening her eyes to see him. "What makes you think you can pull that off?"
Naruko zipped from high energy to an offended stance. "Are you kidding!? Once they see me pull off this amazing jutsu they'll have to make me Hokage! They'll see how incredible I am and acknowledge me!"
The answer made Naruto's stomach drop with the force of spoiled milk. Pushing aside his growing worries about finding a way home – finding out what this home even was and what Orochimaru did to the 9-Tails – he knelt down on top of the water and asked. "Naruko?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you want everybody to acknowledge you?"
"Huh?"
"Do you think that's even possible as you are, where you are right now?" he said, glowering. "You're out of your depth in a world full of people who don't acknowledge you. You're still a kid. So you know a few jutsu, big deal. If you want to be Hokage, you've got a long way to go."
"Of course!" she said, hands on her hips. "I know that!"
Her lips shrank and her attention went elsewhere. "Do you?" he asked her. "Do you know what sort of long haul you're signing up for?"
"Yes!"
With his eyes closed, he added, "...and all of the friends and allies you could lose along the way?"
"It's not like-" She bit her lip then pouted. They remained silent for several uncomfortable seconds. It's not like I have any friends, he guessed she was about to say. "All my life everybody's been acting like I don't exist. Once I become Hokage they won't have any choice. The Hokage is the most respected member of the village." Her foot stomped the dirt. "I'll make them acknowledge me, believe it!"
Naruto peered at the waves rolling by on the soft surface of the river. The way the water cascaded and shifted from the slight pressure of chakra pushing through the chakra coils in Naruko's feet.
–
Naruko made no secret that she was in the academy getting ready to take the graduation exam. The clone jutsu kept giving her trouble. A simple clone could perform basic stuff and fool somebody who wasn't paying attention, maybe. There were now three Naruko's practicing kunai tosses against a tree. Two Naruko's were dispatched to remove the embedded ninja tools from the tree. The real Naruko was chomping at the bit at the thought of having minions to do her evil bidding.
Or at least, the one he suspected was the real one.
Sai kept his lips flat and his eyes slow, but he couldn't help letting his chest rise with pride.
"The kunai throwing group is doing splendidly." Naruko grabbed her hips and puffed her chest out. "The sandwich-making team should be back any minute now."
Naruto nodded. "Your rate of progress is amazing Naruko-chan." He saw her beam at that. "I think we should refine what you've already gotten down, but-"
She leaned over and stretched her neck, batting her eyelashes right at him, sensing the second 'but' coming.
"-but, I can show you a preview," he finished. He bit his finger and wondered if the ninja watching him since he'd arrived were curious enough to intervene. Naruto was confident in his years of getting around village ninja with no problem. He wasn't that good, no, they were watching him now, waiting to make a move. The taste of blood in his mouth sent a surge of muscle memory through his hands.
His palm met the ground. The result was silence. He made a confused noise and re-did the hand seals. After three attempts, the same result: the summoning jutsu didn't work anymore.
"C'mon boss, that was lame. I thought you were gonna do something cool," Naruko said.
The noise that comment made him release was halfway between a cry for help and a desperate aggravated shout. "I… I guess that jutsu doesn't work anymore."
"Anymore?"
He replied with a nod, shoulders slumping and eyes closed, pointed upward. "Ever since I got back to the village, it's like I… things have been off."
If he couldn't summon allies then he was in some serious trouble. This world grew more abnormal by the hour. Did coming here somehow sever his contract with the toads? Was that even possible?
Naruko didn't have an answer for him and was more concerned with the next stage of training. Naruto eventually restrained his growing list of questions and humored her.
They did kunai-tosses, tree-walking, water-walking, a brief spar between teams of shadow clones, and stopped for lunch of course. They'd found a store that sold rubber balls for Naruko to begin the next part of her Rasengan training. The store clerk gave them a nasty look when they left. If Naruko had noticed it, or the fact that her teacher's energy seemed halved the rest of that evening; she said nothing about it.
They practiced some more, went home to Naruko's apartment, slept and repeated this routine for a few more days until Naruko's big day. So far he hadn't gone far from Naruko's side or her place because the pretense of being her friendly neighborhood sensei seemed to be keeping him alive. He'd tried to go to the store once and sensed his Shadow Clone pop from an unseen attack. The clock seemed to be ticking down to how long he could stay here, unattended and attending.
–
Iruka Umino. Chunin-rank, Konoha Academy instructor. His jaw hung down as his least promising student made hand seals in front of him and Mizuki.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
…and made two clones stand next to her. The clones then high-fived each other, locked arms with smiles, and posed together as their instructors looked at them. Iruka, gobsmacked, hurriedly regained his composure. She'd technically done as he asked and made clones of herself. There was no other choice but to pass her except… he asked to see her afterward to discuss some things. Naruko flashed as he presented her headband to her and agreed to the meeting.
"Naruko? May I ask, how did you learn that jutsu?"
His student smirked and her clones popped into smoke. "I uh, had a little help."
"Help?"
She scratched the back of her head. "His name's Sai. He's one of those ninja that go far away for a really long time on missions. He showed up and we had a misunderstanding, so he offered to teach me!"
The words pelted Iruka. He forged a smile. "Ah I see," he said, "well maybe I can meet this sensei of yours some day and give him thanks. I… always knew you could apply yourself with the right help, Naruko."
His student departed with several skips and hollers. Iruka sat back down and exchanged glances with Mizuki, his hair whiter than usual. When Iruka asked him if he was alright, Mizuki answered he was just as surprised as Iruka that their little truant was so talented.
"Iruka?" Mizuki asked him, Iruka's head lifting from his examination sheets, "I think… one of us should make a report to Lord Hokage."
Iruka nodded and silently agreed that Mizuki should be the one to go. Mizuki walked to the door and Iruka, head tilting down to the grading forms again, thoughts wrapped in the mystery of what sort of mystery person could teach Naruko that jutsu, missed Mizuki lingering by the door before it closed.
Naruko waited by the tree in the academy's recess yard for him. Iruka waved and plunged down next to her, sitting with his legs crossed against the tree and Naruko copying him.
"Look Iruka-sensei!" She gripped both ends of her shinobi headband tightly.
"I'm proud of you Naruko. So proud." Iruka closed his eyes. "Naruko," he said. "That jutsu you showed us is considered a high-level secret that our village doesn't like showing to just anyone. We don't expect any genin to know about it let alone be able to do it."
Naruko's head swerved, her eyes glossy. "Then that means that Sai-sensei really is an elite ninja!"
He nodded again and wanted to laugh. Of course she'd missed his point. "I'd think so too." He paused. "Naruko, has this 'Sai' shown you any other jutsu like that one?"
"Yeah, yeah, like this one thing he did with his hand." She stood and Iruka disregarded the pit suddenly in his stomach. She opened her palm in front of him and continued, "It was this ball thing that was all SWISH and SWOOSH."
"I see."
"-he showed it to me while we are in the bath together-"
Iruka grimaced.
"What's wrong Iruka-sensei?"
"It's just… I'd like to meet this friend of yours Naruko," he said with a weak smile. "He sounds like a pretty cool guy."
The girl practically exploded. "The coolest!"
–
There was no putting it off, ignoring it, or denying it now. The Village's Memorial Stone, a black, diamond-shaped monument to the shinobi who gave their lives to keep their village safe. There was no sign of the name "Hiruzen Sarutobi" anywhere on it. He'd combed it inch by inch – Sasuke Sarutobi, Tobirama Senju … the Third was still alive. The invasion had never happened in this world.
He was dreaming. He had to be.
The sun was low and getting lower. Naruto had gotten there when there was light out and fell asleep sometime in-between. He'd spent several minutes just finding the right location in Konoha's cemetery – he'd never gone to the cemetery except during funerals. When he woke he tried again only to achieve the same result. The Memorial Stone stood higher than the rest of the headstones. Most were just a single, raised slab of stone with names, messages, and parting wishes written on them. The stone was erected in the third of Konoha's many cemetaries.
He knew he needed to go back and greet Naruko at home; her big day and she'd definitely be running home to wave her achievement in his face. She deserved it after all, and here he was confirming something he already knew. What should he do now? Go see Naruko and continue the charade? Wait for the Third Hokage to arrest him? Maybe Naruto could convince someone he wasn't crazy. Standing, he made a hand seal and tried to break the genjutsu.
Nothing.
"Boss!" came the familiar voice. Naruto's head whipped up; Naruko ran towards him and behind her, decidedly walking to match the girl's pace, was Iruka. He locked eyes with Naruto. "We waited for you," Naruko said, "We waited for a whole hour at my place but you never showed! Why are you hanging around in a graveyard-ow!"
A fist swatted the back of Naruko's head. She nursed the lump on her head while Iruka, opening his eyes, glared at her. "Naruko, stop disturbing the cemetery."
"Agh, Iruka-sensei, that hurt!"
Iruka cleared his throat then walked closer. Naruto remained paralyzed until his teacher, or his doppelganger at least, offered to shake his hand.
"So you're Sai, the one my knuckleheaded student has been raving about. I'm Iruka Umino, an academy instructor and chunin."
Naruto's eyes fell on Iruka's offered hand. He took it awkwardly and shook. "Uh, nice to meet you… I'm uh, well… I'm honored to meet Naruko's favorite teacher."
Iruka held his hand briefly and reddened. "Favorite?" he said with a smirk.
Naruko became as bright as a tomato. She yelled at Sai but he wasn't paying attention to her. Iruka-sensei. Iruka-sensei… Iruka-sensei!
Naruto lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Iruka.
"Ga-h-hey, whoa!" Iruka tried to step back. Naruto hugged tighter before coming to his senses and breaking the hug, back stiffening as they parted. "Have we met?" Iruka asked. "Do you know me?"
"Uh, of course, I-Iruka-sensei!" It was the teacher's turn to look surprised. "Y-you probably don't remember me because I, uh, graduated pretty quickly! Five or six years ago, I believe, ah-heh."
Naruko finished rubbing the back of her head and jogged to stand between her two teachers. She raised her fists with excitement. "You were taught by Iruka-sensei, too!? Oh, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, so that's why you know so much!"
Naruto peeked at her in the corner of his eye. Suddenly he realized there was something wet and itchy on his hand. Iruka's face went taut with a grin and his eyes lowered.
"Yep, now I know you're lying."
Naruto paled, a leaf caught in a storm.
A seal worked its way up along his arm. Iruka met his eyes with utmost seriousness. "Do you think you can spy on Naruko like this like some kind of pervert and nothing will happen to you?"
Sai tried and failed to move his arm. His legs, hands, feet were unresponsive. It was as if something invisible restrained him. Naruko gasped. "Boss!" But Iruka got in front of her, watching him as he struggled only to breathe let alone defend himself.
"Stay back Naruko!" said Iruka, hand placed in front of her. "This man is an impostor!"
Sai tried to argue. The jutsu made it hard to form syllables. "He's not an impostor, he's a genin who just got back from a mission!"
"Naruko, I'm your teacher so listen to me!" Iruka said, shaking his head. "There is no ninja in our village's roster named Sai Uzumaki. Think about it, why haven't you ever met somebody with the same last name as you?"
"But-!" The blond shuddered. Her eyes swiveled between her teachers as she processed the information. It took every last bit of energy he had for Sai to speak out.
"No!" Iruka and Naruko went wide-eyed. Sai wobbled furiously as he fought against the binding. "That's… not…!"
The breeze changed. Iruka, present as always, shouted for Naruko to get down. He shoved the girl with all of his might and there was a huge thunk as a four-pointed shuriken lodged in his back. Iruka crumbled into heaving, bleeding pieces. The attacker landed in the grass nearby.
"Ah Iruka, sorry," said Mizuki, the face of evil. "I wouldn't suppose you were getting ready to take care of the 9-Tails yourself, were you?"
A panting Iruka rolled onto his back and sat up, kunai already in hand. Despite his injury the barrier held strong and Naruto fought for every breath. Still on the ground, Naruko panicked and demanded to know what had happened and why her sensei had a shuriken in his back.
"Mizuki? The hell are you doing?" Iruka said with ragged breaths.
"Naruko," Mizuki shouted, ignoring Iruka as a group of figures appeared, flanking him. "Or should I say, fox spirit!" Naruko stiffened as he continued: "The people of the Village Hidden In The Leaves have a special belief, a will of fire! Love is the key to peace, but there can't be any peace so long as you live!"
Iruka pulled himself to his feet and guarded a shaking Naruko.
"Hah!" Mizuki pointed his finger at Iruka. "See, the fox is already taking control of Iruka's mind!"
"Iruka-sensei, what is he talking about?" she said, her eyes wettened. "And let Sai-sensei go, this must all be a misunderstanding, he's not–!"
"Quiet Naruko," he yelled, "Mizuki, stop this!"
"Too late Iruka!" The traitor sneered. "We're going to make sure that the fox is taken care of and burn the remains!"
The people that gathered around them bore the uniforms of Konoha shinobi. Naruto gritted his teeth; they didn't hide their headbands. These were 'proud' ninjas of the village he'd fought to protect all his life, and here they were, standing together, letting Mizuki do all of the talking.
Iruka knew every single one of them. "Tsubaki." His mentioning of that name caused a woman-looking member of the group to shiver. "Yoroi Akado." Another one of the mystery assassins lifted his head. "Tatsuma Aburame, Kotetsu Hagane. Did Mizuki talk all of you into this?" he asked, more to himself than them. "I know why you're all here!"
Naruto didn't know any of them, but the crowd had grown. A row of people surrounded Naruto, Naruko, and Iruka on every side. There were more people in this part of the cemetery than graves. Naruko's eyes searched with fright, glancing at her teachers. "Sensei, Boss, what do we do? They're everywhere!"
"Kill the demon fox," someone in the crowd of armed ninja shouted.
Naruko shrank, her blood going cold. There was genuine fear in Iruka's shoulders now. The corner of his eye found Sai, still paralyzed from the neck down, mouthing angry warnings with clenched teeth. Iruka frowned and started preparing a hand seal.
"Naruko-"
"Sensei," she said, her voice desperate. "I don't understand, what are they talking about?"
"-they don't know what they're talking about, don't listen to them, no matter what!" He looked at Naruto. "Sai, or whatever your real name is, if you're a part of this, I'll make you regret putting Naruko's life in danger!" He faced Mizuki and his crowd of killers. "Mizuki, if you do this you're betraying the village and its number one law. It'll be all over for you. Let Naruko go and I'll release your lackey!"
That made Mizuki snarl. "Seriously, you think that fake ninja has anything to do with our righteous cause?"
"What the," Iruka paused, eyelids fluttering.
Mizuki revealed a kunai with a paper bomb attached to the hilt. Several more as well in the hands of his cohorts. Naruto growled, wanting to scream at his teacher to let him go already. He could help put a stop to this. This was happening almost like it did before. Mizuki wasn't a match for him, he knew that much, and the others might provide more of a challenge, but they couldn't fight twenty or fifty of him.
"Kill the demon fox!"
"Kill the demon fox!"
Mizuki took the first throw. "Burn them all. The Will of Fire won't be put out because of the 9-Tailed Fox or anyone under its influence!"
It was no good. As things were now, it was Iruka versus a group some 20 to 30 strong all on his own. Naruto couldn't help, couldn't move, couldn't think. He couldn't protect Iruka like he did in the past, or the young girl he'd spent the past few days training in secret. There was movement in the crowd.
"Die, Nine-Tailed Fox!"
Iruka pivoted toward Naruko and yelled at her to run away.
Naruto closed his eyes as the paper bombs landed at their feet and-
–
"We're going here next, Itachi," said Shisui Uchiha, scratching the dark bed of spiky hair under his Konoha headband.
Itachi blinked awake. At his friend's request, he nodded and followed him up the stairs to a porch. They knocked on the orange door in front of them. A woman answered the door and Itachi thought he heard the sound of something heavy landing on the floor.
"Um, good afternoon Shisui," the red-eyed woman greeted them. "Itachi."
Itachi's eyes bored into the back of the Konoha symbol on the back of Shisui's flak jacket. "Good afternoon Miss Kurenai. Sorry to bother you, but we're being tasked with going door to door-"
"-to give everyone a heads-up, routine security checks." Kurenai's head turned, looking back into her apartment for a moment before her attention returned.
"Correct."
"I'm well aware. I've been home all day and I'm off-duty, so I can't say I've noticed anything strange as of late. Thank you, and please give Captain Fugaku my thanks as well."
"I see," said Shisui, slightly bowing his head. "Thank you, and my apologies for disturbing you and Asuma-sensei. Please be careful if you both go out tonight."
The raven-haired woman blushed more than Itachi would have thought possible. The fringes of her hair livened, black arms of hair twisted in knobs and pulled strands. She excused herself without another word or hint of embarrassment and closed the door. Shisui spun around and Itachi noted his invisible grin as the color in Shisui's eyes returned to normal. Whether it was a private affair, infidelity, a stolen item, or a hidden truth there wasn't much that the Sharingan couldn't see. The Uchiha could see worlds of information that most people couldn't.
The pair made their assignment into a stroll and wandered leisurely through the village. Their posture was professional and upright, but skilled ninja would have moved faster and with more purpose. They were good friends killing time on an obviously bogus assignment. More than ever, Itachi understood why Shisui was his friend and ally when they both spoke out during the meeting. The former captain of the Uchiha police, and Itachi's stern father, shot them the ugliest look Itachi ever saw his father muster when someone suggested they help the clan killer instead of killing them.
"I'm telling you Itachi, your dad's pissed at us," said Shisui, arms held behind his head in a stretch.
"You still think my father is benching us?"
Shisui frowned. "Come on, you're not that dense. Making us make house calls, all of a sudden? Total disrespect man."
They passed a poster. 'CLAN KILLER ON THE LOOSE' it said; a huge black-and-white artist's sketch hung above it, and on the center of it was the image of the killer that the Uchiha had hunted for days now. The person believed to be responsible for the slaughter, and the hospitalization of Hinata Hyuga.
Danzo and Sarutobi-sensei named it 'The Hyuga incident.' Danzo had gone so far as to even accuse Lord Third of going soft the same as with Orochimaru, and look at the death it caused! Lord Third's voice darkened afterward while he briefed the Uchiha policemen of the situation at hand. With the numerous killings, no, the near-massacre of an entire clan happening in a single night, everyone was one edge. Some believed the fox had returned while others thought it was terrorism, probably Hidden Rain or Hidden Cloud given their history of conflict with the Leaf. Some believed the Uchiha were responsible due to their rivalry with the Hyuga. Of course, the question people weren't asking was why the killer had left little Hinata Hyuga alive, albeit in a coma.
"Next house," Shisui said, interrupting his thoughts. An orange door again.
They were to go door to door, perform regular checks on Konoha's citizens, and report any strange behavior to Fugaku as soon as possible.
Itachi nodded silently and knocked on the door.
Tap, tap.
He tried again.
Tap. Tap.
–
Naruto Mugenden
Chapter 2
Naruko Uzumaki!
END