Author Note

Hi there and welcome to another chapter of Cursed Eyes.

Not much to comment and not any reviews to answer, so let's get going.

Please enjoy.

Cursed Eyes

Chapter 28 - Vengeance

Beta: Scheffinator

The members of the ROOT ANBU were all ready to move as soon as the attacks rumbled the inner base.

They were trained to be mindless soldiers, all of them ready to move without a slight sense of hesitation to at least presume that for all intents and purposes, none of the outside world knew of their existence. To everyone else, ROOT ANBU was officially disbanded by a decree signed by the late Sandaime Hokage. That being said, for someone to make a move at them, especially now, as tension ran high with S-ranked missing-nin running around, causing havoc. Still, their mission right now was to get rid of this new threat. So, moving like two separate units, each one towards the respective two gates that were just now blasted into nothing, the ROOT ANBU members all heard two distinguishing voices in the shadows of the dark hallways.

Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)

From the doorway that Jiraiya blasted, many fighting toads, varying in size, advanced all of a sudden and engaged against the ROOT Soldiers.

From the doorway that Naruto blasted, many fighting tigers, varying in sizes and colors, advanced all of a sudden and engaged against the ROOT Soldiers.

At this point on, the summons being here indicated, quite clearly, as to whom the enemy was, however that was inconsequential at this point. What mattered to the ROOT ANBU was to defend their base and rid themselves of the threat, no matter the fact that they were being attacked by shinobi carrying the same leaf insignia. The toads barreled through the opposition with taijutsu, kenjutsu and water based ninjutsu. The tigers, while equally fierce animal combatants, had a more varied skill set, mixing taijutsu, kenjutsu, their claws, genjutsu and wide-scale elemental ninjutsu. However, it was not to say that the ROOT ANBU were easily beaten, as many of them had splendid skills and agility to overcome stronger opposition. For those who managed to avoid the summons, they had to face the shinobi from the surface.

Sarutobi Asuma was seen using his wind-enhanced trench knives on a few adversaries, but when he saw many ganging up on him, he had to switch tactics and used a smoke bomb to evade, before gathering smoke in his lungs.

"Katon: Haisekishou (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning)"

The ROOT ANBU who tried attacking the son of the late Sandaime Hokage all received the smoke blast and only a few felt the layer of chakra amongst the smoke, until it was too late as Asuma ignited it with his teeth. The technique caused a major rumble in the base as Asuma moved on to their next targets, while grabbing his knives once more.

Yamato, for his part, kept his own batch of enemies at bay with his Mokuton ninjutsu.

The ROOT ANBU used their respective swords to slice through the thick trees, but Yamato was quick on the uptake and kept them occupied. Still, ROOT ANBU didn't know the meeting of the word quit and used Doton ninjutsu to get below ground and appear behind the wood user and emerge with a quick sword jab straight at Yamato's strike was met with surprise and even a grunt of pain from the wood user, until the ROOT attacker realized that he had stabbed a wood clone.

Still, Yamato was easily being clobbered by the ridiculous amount of ROOT ANBU, even after the Summons attack. He was about to get attacked again, when Tora surged with his quick agility and sliced two ROOT ANBU's hands before they realized what happened. The fellow ANBU looked at each other, none bothered by their outfit fully drenched by ROOT ANBU's blood and they moved on. Still, as Asuma, Yamato and Tora advanced, they had to stop and deal with plenty of ROOT ANBU along the way.

Looking upward from the battle raging on, many crows were seen flying towards a specific location.

The ROOT ANBU, though, made the mistake of looking straight at them, only to be caught at Naruto's illusions.

That alone tipped the scale of the fight in Yamato, Asuma and Tora's side as they managed to finish their opponents easier. Despite them being mindless drones, it still took one to two seconds to escape from a genjutsu. More than plenty of time for seasoned Jonin to slice their heads off. Soon, the crows all joined together to reveal the actual Naruto, before he revealed his sword and vanished once more, with his Mangekyou Sharingan ability to move around, through portals. His Sharingan was moving as if independent from his sockets, blocking, slashing, blocking and sashing again.

His timely intervention allowed Asuma, Yamato and Tora some breathing time, permitting them to advance towards their one and only target.

===With Jiraiya and Kakashi===

Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Kakashi were seen advancing towards the position they knew to be Danzo's Office.

It was planned between all of them that they would be the ones to advance and try to capture whatever intel they could find in the warhawk's office, though if one of them managed to deal with Danzo before Naruto approached, then this would be preferable. Naruto may be skilled, but Danzo was a master in subterfuge and using mind tricks to get his way. They were afraid that Danzo would get to Naruto and if he managed to do so, then Danzo would get his hands on the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the Kyuubi.

However, that thought went to hell as soon as they heard an explosion and saw it coming from the man's very office.

"Of course, that bastard would burn everything. There goes that plan." Kakashi turned to Jiraiya's lament as they soon ran once more, still intent on facing Danzo.

"We can still capture him and Naruto can extract information from him with the Mangekyou." Jiraiya hummed in thought at the plan as the base's destruction carried on.

"Unlikely that Danzo will let us capture him, but I guess it's the only plan we have now. Let's go, Kakashi." The cyclops Jonin nodded as they dashed forward, but had to stop as a rain of kunai stopped their advance. In front of them, two foes appeared, fully dressed in ROOT ANBU masks and with the beige overcoats, hiding all possible details about their characteristics and possible shinobi traits. Kakashi and Jiraiya stood into position as they observed their opposition. Both knew, however, that these two were different from the rest.

"So, which one is your pick, Kakashi?" Jiraiya smirked, liking his odds here, though Kakashi was more reserved about it, while revealing his Sharingan.

"Densetsu no Sannin Jiraiya and Jonin Hatake Kakashi…" the one from the right, slightly taller than the other, took a step forward and revealed his sword. "Konoha has no room for traitors in our midst. So, you two shall meet your end here tonight." Kakashi looked at the one talking and used his Sharingan to lock eyes with the foe. He could perceive a few strands of red hair hidden by the overcoat, but that alone didn't give him much. However, at the very least, he had already chosen his opponent.

"I shall take him on, Jiraiya-sama. Can you deal with the one from the left?" The Sannin nodded with a smile as his eyes landed on the one from the left.

"Sounds good, though I can't help but notice that we are not alone, I wonder why." He smirked as soon as his experienced eyes saw the subtle flinch on his opponents' pose. Against a regular Jonin, his movements wouldn't be perceived at all, but Jiraiya was not a Sannin for nothing. Still, the silent foe was well hidden, so Jiraiya wouldn't bother finding him or her, until he was attacked. His target was now within sight. All of a sudden, the four known combatants shunshined away to different locations.

===Kakashi's Fight===

When Kakashi next morphed into view, he was face to face with the red-haired ROOT ANBU from before. Instantly grabbing a kunai, he turned to observe his opponent.

"Please don't waste time trying to observe me, Hatake Kakashi. You won't be able to." Kakashi just observed, not bothering to run with the obvious taunt tactic. Still, there was a reason the elite ROOT ANBU chose to use that overcoat. And considering that this specific enemy can be a member of one of Konoha's prized clans, Kakashi just couldn't know what special skills this opponent has hidden. Taking a breath, Kakashi felt like a youngster once more, when he first joined the ANBU forces and had to get used to this more subtle kind of fight. Still, it didn't mean that he was ill-equipped to handle any foe that he came across.

"It seems you had a bit of an edge, ANBU-san, you know who I am and you must know my profile…but I don't know anything about you." The scarecrow Jonin didn't waste much time and used his agility.

The ROOT ANBU matched his speed easily and released the ANBU issued sword, parrying the kunai. Kakashi and the ROOT ANBU stood grinding their respective weapons as Kakashi looked straight at the opponent's eyes.

"It's futile to attempt your Sharingan at me, Kakashi."

The ROOT ANBU had enough kenjutsu skill to redirect Kakashi's blow and aim a precise blow to the scarecrow Jonin's torso. Kakashi's hand grabbed his wrist, before he could continue. The precise thrust surprised Kakashi, both at the precision and the strength behind it as well. Soon, it became a dance of movements from both elite Jonin shinobi as Kakashi found himself quite uncomfortable. Fighting against such high level shinobi without the sharingan's aid was something he had done a long time ago, when he was but a teenager.

While the Dojutsu allowed him to follow the movement of chakra, Kakashi just couldn't anticipate this foe's movements. A sudden pain hit him as the ROOT ANBU's sword drew first blood, making a considerable slice on Kakashi's forearm, before Kakashi made evasive actions and hurled waves of shuriken at middle distance to keep the ROOT ANBU occupied.

The tactic worked as by the time the ROOT ANBU reached his position, Kakashi's right hand was already crackling in electricity. The ROOT ANBU managed to evade before Kakashi's Chidori charged hand sliced his head off.

Still, the ROOT ANBU moved with enough grace and agility, while making hand seals. Kakashi felt the genjutsu entrap him instantly and released it. He received a strong kick on his chest for his efforts. Using the flying momentum to flip and land on the ground, the ROOT ANBU released a great horde of shuriken and kunai at Kakashi, forcing him on the defensive. Kakashi, however, didn't see another version of this ROOT ANBU morph behind him. A quick look backwards made Kakashi's eyes widen at the specific way his hands were joined together, before Kakashi quickly replaced himself before being caught in the ROOT ANBU's Shintenshin no Jutsu.

The scarecrow Jonin took a while to collect his breathing, noticing that if he were one second later, he would be a goner at this point.

Knowing that he was facing a member of the Yamanaka Clan didn't make his job any easier, here. This guy could easily be on Inoichi's level of skill, meaning that Kakashi wouldn't be able to escape with his life, if caught.

"So, you're a Yamanaka?" The ROOT ANBU only snorted.

"Knowing that won't make a difference. Now, prepare yourself." The ROOT ANBU used a quick shunshin and appeared right in front of Kakashi, before sword and kunai clashed once more. Kakashi used brunt force to gain momentum and forced the ROOT ANBU on the defensive, however Kakashi stoon stopped his movement to strike and kill his foe, when he felt that something was off. Immediately backing away, trusting his experience, he observed as his foe suddenly transformed into a small wooden puppet with a cursed seal on its forehead.

"Hmmm…" The real ROOT ANBU appeared, from Kakashi's back, walking like the fight had just begun. "I had timed that perfectly. You should have hit me…why didn't you?" Kakashi at this point was narrowing his eyes at this guy.

The scarecrow Jonin counted on two fingers, the foes who made him as uncomfortable as he is now. Mixing a cursed Fuinjutsu technique, using a puppet and timing it just right to capture any seasoned Jonin.

So, Danzo had someone like this all along, huh. Remembering that he owed his adversary an answer, well, he just answered with a long series of hand seals, before gathering air inside his lungs.

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

The fire meteor charged menacingly and bombarded the ROOT ANBU's location.

"I don't feel like giving you an answer. Suffice to say, though, I'm quite impressed…just who are you, really?"

The ROOT ANBU then appeared from below ground, indicating an earth affinity, at the very least.

"I really have no name, Hatake Kakashi. At least, no name to give you, that is. Now, prepare to die."

Kakashi just stared at the enemy, wondering what he was about to do, but strangely, he didn't do anything. Except that Kakashi's danger sense kept screaming for him to move, for some reason. He wasn't caught in a genjutsu, nor was he caught under that cursed seal's influence. So, why…what was he missing here? Unless,…unless, they were not alone in this fight. When Kakashi saw another ROOT ANBU with his fingers glowing in blue chakra, about to strike at him, Kakashi realized too late that he was caught in their trap. When a pillar of earth rose just behind Kakashi and the clear Hyuuga member ROOT ANBU's glowing hand, Kakashi used this opportunity to dash away, just as Naruto appeared to attack this new foe.

"Let me deal with this guy, Kakashi…that was the Jyuuken just now."

The scarecrow Jonin looked at his former student and nodded, before turning to the foe that was waiting for him.

For a moment there, Kakashi got scared at the amount of blood on Naruto's outfit, but clearly none of it was his own, but the enemy's.

"Thanks for the save, Naruto." A subtle nod was his answer, before Kakashi returned to his fight against the Yamanaka, while Naruto focused on his Hyuuga opponent.

===Jiraiya's Fight===

Jiraiya observed the ROOT ANBU in front of him. Usually, he would over abuse the taunt strategy, but against a ROOT ANBU, that would get him nowhere. Going through the possible strategies in his mind, the Sannin went straight away with his long white hair, turning himself into a porcupine, turning his hair into senbon. The ROOT ANBU used his agility to evade the hair senbon, however Jiraiya noticed something interesting. Going with his guts, he dashed forward, with a formed Rasengan in hand and slammed it on the ground close to the ROOT ANBU officer, who jumped away from the path of destruction.

Using shuriken and kunai, the ROOT ANBU kept Jiraiya at bay and got his answer.

"Huh, you prefer long range and keeping a distance, huh. Interesting for a ROOT ANBU." Jiraiya was about to push further, when he saw the ROOT ANBU gather what appeared to be a black substance in between his hands and threw it at his path.

Jiraiya evaded it, before seeing the black substance slam on a pillar behind him and disintegrate it completely.

"Wow, that would have hurt quite a lot if it hit. What was that?" The ROOT ANBU said nothing and this time advanced. Jiraiya used single-handed hand seals and gathered fire in his lungs. The contained fireball was met with that black substance from before and the fireball dissolved. The ROOT ANBU had quickly shortened the distance and Jiraiya noticed that the ROOT ANBU's skin wasn't white, black or even a mix in between, but purple. Going through hand seals, Jiraiya slammed his only hand on the ground.

Doton Doryuheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall Technique)

The perverted Sannin used this momentum to go back and plan this fight accordingly, however, before he could have time to ponder, the earth wall slowly but surely disintegrated.

His experienced eyes, however, saw the specific pattern in which the earth wall disintegrated. Being one of the oldest shinobi in Konoha still alive, Jiraiya has been into a great load of shinobi assignments with pretty much all of Konoha's shinobi clans. Even those who no longer existed. And the pattern in which the wall disintegrated, the answer was jumping on his face. Back when he was a Jonin in Hiruzen's employ, there was this Aburame named Shikuro who specialized in a specific type of kikaichu bug, known as Rinkaichu.

"Interesting to see Danzo having his hands on the Rinkaichu. I thought that this was a secret from the Aburame Clan." That had the desired effect as at least the opponent stopped moving. "The last guy I knew who used those was Shikuro. Are you related to him by chance?" The ROOT ANBU at first didn't open his mouth, but Jiraiya was too experienced to see that he only needed a push. "Well, Shikuro was quite the shinobi, you know? I would have thought that he would pass on his skills to his offspring, so looking at the Rinkaichu once more, I thought you were his son. Am I mistaken?" Still nothing and this time, Jiraiya went on for the jackpot. "Although, Shikuro must be rolling in his grave if he knew his son had joined a murderer and a criminal like Danzo."

"You shall cease your mouth this instant, Gama Sennin." Jiraiya smirked.

"Oh, he talks. I actually thought the bastard had rid you all of your own free will." The ROOT ANBU had advanced with great speed, but Jiraiya noticed tension in those movements. Immediately charging a Rasengan, Jiraiya used it against the rinkaichu fist from the ROOT ANBU. The highly concentrated ball of energy was too much for the nano-insects to disintegrate. The blast, resulting from the clash, ripped the ROOT ANBU's arm off. Jiraiya had to give it to the ROOT ANBU program, though, as he saw the ROOT ANBU not at all bothered about his arm blowing off.

Still, the nano-insects made him too much of a threat in close-range. Using evasive maneuvers, Jiraiya created some distance and chose a different strategy here.

Going through hand seals, just as the ROOT ANBU released the full wave of nano-insects, Jiraiya focused on his chakra for the Kekkai: Gama Hyoro (Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison). The entire scenario shifted into an acid pool with chunks of gigantic insects. Jiraiya, then, kicked his sandals and the acid pool rose like a geyser, corroding the ROOT ANBU's nano-insects entirely. The ROOT ANBU was surprised when a toad tongue trapped his body, before Jiraiya came flying and slammed a rasengan on his stomach, sending the ROOT ANBU straight towards the acid pool.

The perverted Sannin thought about removing the barrier technique before the enemy was killed, but this foe was far too dangerous to let live.

===Outside the Base===

Shimura Danzo stood at a clearing close to the hidden entrance to the hidden ROOT ANBU Headquarters.

It was located a few kilometers away from Konoha, hence why no one has ever bothered to look. The grass danced to the cool wind temperatures at night, as the old Warhawk looked up at the Moon, wondering about the choices he had made in his life. Wondering about the ones that crossed paths with him once or twice. Wondering about those to whom he modeled his life. The Nidaime Hokage, Hiruzen, Kagami…his old team throughout the First Great Ninja War. An almost imperceptible shift in the wind allowed him to clear his throat and smile, before he turned.

"Took you long enough to come here…" Naruto stood there, though with his breathing labored and his outfit filled with blood. "Though, I'd say you don't appear ready to face me." Naruto narrowed his eyes as he eyed the man responsible.

Both directly and indirectly responsible for his life shifting the way it did.

"Sorry it took so long to get here…that Hyuuga that worked for you gave me quite a fight. Sealed a couple of my tenketsu, before he was killed." Danzo only smirked at that, while removing the arm he hid behind his robe. Naruto saw as Danzo slowly removed the pins from the metal gauntlet.

"I'm glad that he was able to keep you company for a while. Tokuma Hyuuga was considered by his clan to possess one of the strongest Byakugan in his clan. Though, I take it that the better Dojutsu won in the end."

That only served to piss Naruto even further as he remembered just how the man in front of him treated his subjects. By this point, the gauntlet has fallen on the ground and Naruto eyed the strange arm, with a skin complexion different from the other. Though, before progressing with the fight that may or may not get him killed in the end, Naruto had to ask. Everyone in the ROOT ANBU base followed this man without a second thought…but, strangely so, the man wasn't even concerned about them…all he ever thought about was using them to fit his needs.

"Is everyone a mere tool to you in the end?" The question really surprised Danzo for one second, but then he actually opened up a smile.

"Huh, for someone so skilled and blessed with good genetics, you certainly are quite naïve, huh boy." Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, while the old warhawk explained. "Shinobi are tools…every last one of them are tools for the leader to use at his own discretion. Thinking otherwise is quite foolish and asking me that question just proves to me that you still have a lot of room to grow. If only, your potential wasn't wasted by the foolish Godaime Hokage, huh, placing quite possibly the village's most powerful asset in a rescue team, when she should have used you as a power deterrent against the other villages, make them respect Konoha."

"Asset!?" Naruto's outburst was only met with a cold nod filled with indifference.

"Of course…you're the nine-tails jinchuuriki and owner of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan…the amount of power you possess could easily make our enemies tremble. Imagine what I could do with you under my control."

Naruto closed his eyes in fury, as his body trembled. When it opened, the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan appeared in all its splendor and Danzo took a step back.

"Because of your actions, Uchiha Itachi was forced into killing his entire family…because of your actions, Uchiha Itachi had to kill his heart and traumatize his little brother…because of your actions, Itachi ended up attacking me." Danzo was surprised at the revelations being spilled by Naruto. "Not only your actions against Itachi, but your dealings with the other villages, with the snake Sannin…even Akatsuki at one point." Danzo's only visible eye opened up at this point as the pieces of the puzzle as to how Tsunade came to act against him had finally revealed itself.

"I see…so, Itachi had told you…but as to how you knew about the rest, it's truly an enigma." Naruto smiled at that.

"The fact that you consider your subordinates as mere tools, perhaps you couldn't care less if one of them is missing. The subordinate codenamed Sai, for instance…ring any bells? Yeah, that seal you place in your tools' tongue to forbid them from speaking doesn't much work on the mind. The Sharingan allows me to overthrow your seal command and convince him to talk. Shame that he didn't survive, afterward, so I guess your seal worked in that regard, at least." The old war hawk kept it to himself for a while, as he remembered the operative Naruto mentioned.

"Well, when a tool loses its purpose, it's no longer useful to me, isn't it? Now, I believe we're done talking."

Danzo said, before going through hand seals and dashed straight towards Naruto with his strange arm, aiming for a punch.

However, for the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it was all moved in slow motion as Naruto dodged the punch and aimed a side-kick straight at Danzo's chest, sending him flying. Naruto was about to follow on his attack, when he looked closer at the arm that Danzo had shown before. Before, he wasn't much focused on it, but now he looked closer and realized, much to his horror, that the arm was filled with Sharingan eyes, all alive and swirling as if it still belonged to someone still alive.

"You truly are sick in the head, Danzo." Naruto said, before going through hand seals.

Katon: Shiroi Hidan (Fire Release: White Fire Projectile Technique)

Danzo saw the bright white fire projectile and went through seals of his own, gathering a typhoon of wind around him to protect him from the blast. Naruto didn't wait for the man to recuperate and used a shunshin to stand closer, while already holding his sword. Danzo saw him moving and instantly got into position, this time holding a wind chakra laced kunai that looked like a sword. With it, Naruto and Danzo danced in a kenjutsu fight and Naruto wondered why he was following his every move…no wait, he wasn't following Naruto's move…he was anticipating it.

Focusing chakra through the sword to harden it against Danzo's wind sword, Naruto looked at the other eye…hidden by bandages.

"You have implanted a Sharingan as well!?" Danzo didn't even dignify with a response, before the bandage got loose, revealing a full-fledged three tomoe Sharingan eye spinning.

Danzo, then, used fast speeds to get within Naruto's defense and pierced his chest with his wind sword. The look of shock in Naruto's place was replaced by a body full of crows as Danzo looked around, snarling.

Itachi then appeared, staring deeply at him and Danzo had to fight his own chakra to recover from the genjutsu. Still, he was able to in the end, but his reward was an Oodama Rasengan straight at his chest. The swirling ball of energy slammed straight on Danzo and sent him flying towards the nearby forest. Naruto allowed himself to breathe easier, before he had to duck a few wind-laced shuriken from slashing his body in half as Danzo appeared directly behind him, completely unharmed from the perhaps the strongest close-range attack he had in his arsenal.

His Sharingan would have perceived something if Danzo had escaped his Rasengan, he didn't. Naruto also wasn't under a genjutsu. Keeping that to himself, Naruto's sword glistened under the moonlight as he moved in different directions to advance towards Danzo. The war hawk then went through hand seals to stop Naruto's movements, before gathering air inside his lungs.

Fuuton: Shinkugyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)

Naruto saw the fast moving and precise attacks and managed to dodge, while advancing, so Danzo redirected his attack towards the ground to lift up a dust cloud to obscure his movements. Still, it wasn't enough as Naruto slashed the dust cloud and almost reached for Danzo's neck. Still, it was enough for him to once more use his wind style laced chakra sword and pierce Naruto's chest with it. The Sharingan wielder used a replacement and appeared behind Danzo, before going through hand seals.

Doton Doryuso (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears Technique)

Danzo's body turned into a bloody pincushion, before his body vanished as if he was never there. Following the chakra that appeared a few meters to his right, Naruto once more saw Danzo completely unharmed.

"As I expected, you are quite skilled, Naruto-kun…too bad it isn't enough to defeat me." Danzo commented, thrilled at seeing Naruto's irate visage.

"I don't know how you are doing this, so I will have to kill you over and over again."

Naruto screamed as he focused chakra through his eyes, making Danzo's eyes widen as his body was suddenly engulfed by the black flames of Amaterasu.

Once more, Danzo appeared in a different location, completely unharmed, but Naruto noticed the enemy's chakra diminishing. Whatever it is that he's doing, he can't be doing this forever. Going through hand seals, Naruto slammed both hands on the ground and Danzo observed it unfold. However, much to his surprise, a sudden pillar of lava erupted behind him and made him snarl before the wave of magma engulfed his body completely, turning his body to a skeleton. Just like before, another Danzo appeared by Naruto's side, looking just like before.

"And you are able to use lava ninjutsu as well, quite a marvelous asset indeed, Naruto-kun." The Sharingan wielder stood in position, not at all bothered to look that from the ten Sharingan eyes in Danzo's arm, only five remained.

"Huh, if you are wondering if I can tire, Danzo, you're sadly mistaken." Snorting, Danzo merely formed a ram sign and released whatever technique it was that he was doing.

"Yes, indeed. Trying to tire a jinchuuriki out, what was I thinking?" Naruto was about to comment, when all of a sudden, he felt his body stiff for some unknown reason. As he looked straight at Danzo's Sharingan eye, he noticed that it shifted form to reveal a sudden Mangekyou Sharingan as well. "When Shisui came to me with his plan to stop the Uchiha Clan coup, he had explained to me about the power of his own Mangenkyou Sharingan called Kotoamatsukami. You can't hope to fight me in this, Naruto. As of right now, you shall be under my direct control." Naruto wanted to negate the man's words, but he found he couldn't. His body was non-responsive and his mind drew a blank. Danzo allowed himself some time to save some chakra as his eyes looked at Naruto.

"Hmm, perhaps I had lost ROOT, but at least Tsunade had given me the most powerful tool to use. Wha…"

Danzo then wondered what was going on from Naruto's body, a flock of crows that hovered above their heads emerged.

The sky turned red as the crows circulated around the two fighters, until one specific crow landed on Naruto's shoulder. Danzo stiffened as soon as he saw, much to his surprise, that one of the crow's eyes had a Sharingan eye, the same shape from the one that Shisui had. The crow had burst into flames with Shisui's eyes, but not before it was being used straight towards Danzo's eye, nullifying Danzo's Kotomatsukami. Naruto, this time, felt his body moving once more. And looked at the crow bursting on fire and Danzo holding his bleeding eyes.

"How…" Naruto eyed Danzo's outburst. "You couldn't possibly prepare yourself against Shisui's Sharingan. Just h…no, Itachi…"

Naruto wondered about that, himself. He then remembered when Itachi said in his mind that he had Shisui's eye to use in case it was necessary. The Sharingan wielder couldn't help but bow in even deeper respect towards the elder Uchiha. If possible, he managed to plan kami knows how many steps ahead. Well, Naruto wasn't about to stop and moved to attack Danzo once more, piercing his stomach with his sword.

However, just like before, Danzo vanished and appeared further away. However, his right eye was bleeding profusely and his chakra was even lower than before.

"I remember Itachi telling me great things about Uchiha Shisui, Danzo. And you using his eyes to try and attempt to control me only served to piss me off!" Danzo then noticed as Naruto focused chakra through both eyes as Itachi's Susanoo skeleton formed around him. Before Danzo could move, his body had received a strong punch from Susanoo, breaking enough bones to kill. And just like before, Danzo had vanished, appearing behind Naruto, attempting to use his wind techniques, but to no avail. He could feel his chakra levels quite low and he realized that he only had a few tools left to use.

Naruto saw as the man's arm started trembling as Danzo molded enough chakra, while doing hand seals.

Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan (Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees)

From within the dense foliage, Naruto saw as many tree logs appeared and went straight towards him. His surprise at Danzo somehow using wood release techniques was short lived as Naruto went through hand seals of his own, before gathering chakra inside his lungs…enough to withstand this mighty technique from the past and use one of his own.

Katon: Gouka Mekkyaku (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)

The torrential flame beam met against Danzo's range of tree technique and a mighty explosion rocked the area, as Danzo saw Naruto's technique overpower his own. He snarled as he could feel his chakra diminishing even more, forcing him to abandon the technique and had to use the Uchiha's forbidden technique Izanagi to escape Naruto's fire inferno from reaching him. He was successful, though right after appearing in another location, Danzo suddenly doubled in pain as his arm started acting up. Naruto noticed that the man right now had almost zero chakra to use at this point.

Danzo, for his part, knew that he just couldn't use the arm anymore from the risk of Hashirama's cells taking too much of a toll on his body.

The old war hawk noticed that Naruto just wasn't interested in giving him much room for breathing and sent another fire attack at him, forcing Danzo to use the last remaining eye on his arm.

"Well, it seems you are finally at the end of your chakra, Danzo." At this point, it became clear to him that his time was finally coming to an end.

"Hmm, so it seems…ha.…haha…" Danzo replied, in between lack of breath and spilling tons of blood. "It appears that Konoha has made a wrong choice in the end…though, I shan't be alive to see it." Naruto maintained his distance as Danzo talked. "Without me…without ROOT to maintain the peace from the shadows, Konoha shall soon crumble into dust. It was us who kept the Leaf's superiority this entire time. Killing adversaries before they could grow to become a threat…everything I did was foremost in Konoha's best interests."

"Surprisingly so…" Danzo looked up as he saw Naruto. "I believe you. Goodbye, Danzo." Naruto said, before going through hand seals.

===At the Fire Capital===

At the Fire Capital, Genma's team appeared inside the Daimyo's castle and met up with the Ninja Monk and head of security Chiriku.

Itsuko, Kasumi and Genma then combined a special infiltration assignment to invade one of the Daimyo's councilors to arrest him, based on evidence that he had been Danzo's mole inside the castle this entire time. Of course, the counselor had contingencies in place, in the presence of a full ROOT ANBU team, in case someone found out. The team from Konoha was ready, but Chiriku soon showed everyone that Ninja Monks were not to be played with, handling half the team by himself, leaving Genma's crew to deal with the other two. Inside the councilor's house, there were secret papers that came from the Daimyo's Office, which the counselor would send straight to Danzo's knowledge, so that he could use it as leverage against both the Daimyo and even the Hokage.

Trade routes that benefit Fire Country were sometimes targeted by Danzo to force the Daimyo's hand into hiring Konoha's services.

Even placing fake criminals from other countries' employment to make it look like another country was interfering with Fire Country's economy.

The Daimyo just observed as Chiriku escorted the arrested councilor, before he turned to Genma, the leader of the mission.

"Please extend the Hokage my appreciation for her help…"

Genma bowed in respect to the Fire Country's leader, before turning to Kasumi and Itsuko who were waiting for their orders now.

===In Konoha===

Everything happened in less than ten minutes as Uzumaki Naruto's, Uchiha Sasuke's, and Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan eyes watched Shimura Danzo's body melt under the stream of hot lava.

The others soon joined his back, all of them quite injured, but otherwise fine. Tora was helping Yamato stand, while Asuma was checking on Kakashi's injuries sustained after his fight with the Yamanaka ROOT ANBU. Jiraiya, for his part, observed the scene and stepped forward to place a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulders. The Sharingan wielder just couldn't divert his eyes away as he wanted to register it until it was done. He wanted to register this closing chapter in his life, which would finally allow himself and his mind a proper rest, now that he managed to avenge the deaths of Sasuke and Itachi as well as the old Uzumaki Naruto. The one he would have become, if Danzo hadn't done what he did, forcing Itachi's hand and making him the criminal.

Jiraiya, after a moment, realized that the kid needed his time alone and looked back to Kakashi, Asuma and Tora.

Those three were the closest to Naruto, so they could keep him company.

He needed to report everything to Tsunade.

===Next Day===

As it was a SS-ranked assignment, there was no record of what happened.

At least, no public record, that is. Only the Hokage, the Daimyo, its councilors and the mission participants became aware of it. As such, Senju Tsunade now stood with her arms crossed, overlooking her regular ANBU force recovering the dead ROOT ANBU on the ground, while the two elders and Shizune looked around frantically, trying to make sense of everything. The Hokage, from the outside, looked distraught at the existence of such a force hidden below ground, while on the inside, visibly relieved that those whom she selected managed to come out unscathed from this mess.

And observing the damage, she was expecting that at least one or two would end up killed in the process.

"Tsunade…this is a tragedy…if this leaks out to the public, who knows what the consequences will be?" The Hokage turned to her advisors and Shizune.

"I concur with councilor Homura…which is why as of now this shall be labeled an S-ranked secret, punishable by death. My ANBU shall conduct a thorough investigation here, but these grounds are officially locked up by my decree." Both councilors couldn't find anything to refute her order, as both looked around for some time, before dismissing themselves. Both Tsunade and Shizune heard the elders conversing as to Danzo's machinations without their knowledge. Tsunade, for her part, was at least appreciative of Danzo for burning all documentation he had in his office. While making sure that securing it all was adamant, destroying it all at least allowed the truth of Danzo's dirty schemes around the elemental nations to burn along with him.

Hell, the description of the man's death by Naruto's lava stream technique was vivid enough in her mind.

At least, this way, Konoha is no longer in risk of receiving the other villages' wrath, which would have happened, had the truth came into light, before she could contain it.

"Okay, Shizune…" The woman in question turned to see her leader. "Please take the bodies back to the morgue for our analysis…yours and my eyes only…I shall return to my office."

The assistant nodded solemnly, as she saw the ANBU personnel place the bodies inside the bags for later study.

===At the Uchiha Compound===

Inside the Uchiha Compound, one Uzumaki Naruto stood there, just staring at the empty compound grounds. Ever since he remembered himself, this place had assaulted his dreams. Seeing and hearing the noise of Itachi's sword piercing and slashing flesh…followed by his monotone and detached tone of voice as he killed every last member of his clan. Every time he closed his eyes, the images would come back and transport him back to that fateful day. His mind wasn't registering the smooth sounds of the tiny bamboo waterfall and the carps jumping beautifully from the water. He wasn't also registering the beautiful sunlight that graced the now empty compound with its presence. Only his legs walked on their own, taking him towards the house where the Uchiha brothers once lived, happily with their parents.

His eyes then widened slightly as he saw both Itachi and Sasuke inside the house, playing together and laughing together.

Naruto permitted himself this very sight, since this place always brought nothing but nightmares to him.

It didn't take very long before the scene morphed to Itachi carrying a young Sasuke on his back as both walked away from Naruto, before they stopped and looked back to the one who managed to avenge them…the one who avenged the Clan.

Both Itachi and Sasuke had a peaceful smile on their faces as they both nodded to Naruto, before Itachi walked away once more, carrying Sasuke on his shoulders.

"Ready to go, Naruto-kun?"

He then turned to see his friends, comrades, and girlfriend as Itsuko, Kasumi, Kakashi, Genma and Asuma stood there, waiting for him to say his last goodbyes to the two people who, both directly and indirectly, changed his life. With a relieved smile, Naruto allowed himself one more look at Itachi and Sasuke's direction, before turning back and walking casually towards his peers. For a long time, he was driven by thoughts of vengeance and now, perhaps, he could allow himself a small measure of peace.

Author Note

Ok, that's it for now. With Danzo's death and ROOT no longer in place, a chapter had closed in Naruto's life, allowing him to move on with his life. Now that he has fulfilled Itachi's ultimate assignment, Uzumaki Naruto is now free to move on and deal with the other threats that still remain.

Please tell me your thoughts.

Next update: Nidaime no Sairin