A/N - fair warning, massacre chapter. I did try to keep it in line with the story, but I've already decided to take the Uchiha Massacre seriously instead of a crack approach. I got a little tonal whiplash just writing this chapter, so I'm not sure how you guys are gonna like it. Crossing my fingers that it actually turned out well.
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-Naruto-
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Naruto was having a good dream (Fuzzy decided to dedicate the last few days to chakra sensing), but an extremely agitated presence outside his door woke him up. Naruto grumbled, very annoyed at his dream being interrupted by whoever was outside. He paused to focus on the presence for a second.
Huh. It's a little angry, but mostly it's panicked and worried. That's definitely concerning. And there's another upset one hiding on the roof. They're not even bothering to hide their chakra... Shisui? Why the heck is Shisui hiding on the roof? He knows Naruto can sense him there! Then who's outside? ... Itachi? Why are Shisui and Itachi here? And why are they so upset?
All sleepiness and annoyance flying out the window, Naruto ran to his door and pulled it open without hesitation.
"Itachi-san? What's wrong? Why is Shisui hiding on the roof?"
Itachi actually looked openly nervous. That can't be a good sign.
"Naruto, will you promise to stay calm? We need to explain something, and we need you to stay here while we figure out what to do next."
Calm? Naruto usually doesn't bother with such pedestrian things as staying calm, but if Itachi is so sure, Naruto can try. He nodded resolutely. Itachi took a deep breath. He called for Shisui to come over...
And Shisui's missing an eye.
Someone's definitely going to die tonight.
"Naruto! Stay calm! Let us talk first before you burn down the village!"
Oh. Naruto's pouring out Kurama's chakra. That's fine, he can totally use it to destroy the idiot who did this. But Itachi is right here. Whoever did this would have to be good enough to get the jump on Shisui, which means that this is a skilled ninja. Naruto's pretty good for a kid. He could probably beat a fair amount of ninja on just pure power and a little resourcefulness, but a smart and/or skilled enough ninja could totally beat him in a fight. Kurama piped up.
"Think of this like a prank. The most brutal prank possible. You need a plan of action for maximum effect, right? Take your time, think it through, and strategize with the two geniuses in front of you. Or at least put on the illusion of calm until they tell you who to disembowel."
Ah. That's good enough motivation to stay calm. Ish. Naruto can at least listen to what they have to say. He took a deep breath, carefully hid Kurama's chakra, and stared them down until they gave the story.
Apparently Danzo is a desperate idiot. He wants to use Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan to manipulate Jiji into ordering a massacre of the Uchiha. So he snuck up on Shisui and stole it. Yeah, this idiot's going to die.
"Don't run off yet, Naruto," Shisui butted in before Naruto could run off in a righteous frenzy, "We have to find Danzo first, right? If we know Danzo's going to try to get to the Hokage, we can trap him there using Lord Third as bait. But that won't work if Danzo knows what we're going to do."
Naruto glared at him to get on with it already! Shisui sighed and continued.
"I go and warn Fugaku-sama. That way the clan can be prepared and Danzo thinks that I went to my clan head instead of the Hokage, so he feels like he can make his move. You make a show of tearing through the village, doing as little damage as possible, because Danzo knows we're close and you'll be pissed that he hurt me. Itachi camps out and guards the Hokage, and attacks Danzo the moment he comes in sight. If the initial ambush fails, Itachi flares his chakra as much as possible. You'd be able to sense it and tag-team him, and I'm sure Fugaku-sama can send police with me to join you two. Politics means the Hokage would have to give Danzo over to the Uchiha, since we're the clan he's betraying. Since you're our friend, we'll even let you help us castrate him. Sound good?"
"Perfect," Naruto replied impatiently, and turned away to start rampaging (without actually rampaging because doing much real damage would be a headache for everyone involved). He paused and turned back to look concernedly at Shisui.
"You'll be ok, right? You're bleeding and you've only got one eye... "
Shisui laughed and waved him off.
"I'll be fine. Hey, maybe you can sic your cult on ROOT!"
Shisui ran off, laughing at the irony. Itachi sighed, and shot a grimly determined look at Naruto. Naruto nodded back, and ran off to do what he does best. Chaos!
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-Danzo-
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So far, everything was going well. Danzo had the precious Sharingan he coveted so, and it seemed Shisui had miscalculated and went to warn Fugaku before the Hokage. Still, Danzo wasn't an idiot. Shisui was very close to the Jinchuuriki, who would get extremely enraged the moment he realized what had happened. And the Jinchuuriki had an unknown sensory ability, which might have warned him about Shisui's injury. Already, the child was flying through the streets and exuding an ungodly amount of the Kyuubi's power.
Danzo smiled to himself. Perfect. He was right in misleading Shisui. Yes, he could go for Hiruzen, but that's what they're expecting. The most effective way to achieve his goal is to get the perfect tool, who just happened to be rampaging through the streets with absolutely no protection.
It was a risky move, to be sure. Danzo didn't know as much as he would like about the Jinchuuriki's sensory abilities, but the sensory abilities would do him little good once Danzo got his claws on the child. Danzo just had to catch the child in genjutsu, even for a second, and he'd be the victor.
He sent a few ROOT to the Hokage, to distract whomever Shisui had asked to guard him. If it was Itachi, he would surely attempt to come to the Jinchuuriki's aid.
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-Naruto-
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Naruto was fuming. Even better, Fuzzy was mildly angry. It made pulling out Fuzzy's chakra and whipping it all over the place even easier. Naruto might not be happy about it, but if his job was to make Danzo feel more secure by showing they didn't know where he was, he was going to put on the best damn performance of the century! And he could daydream about how to make Danzo regret everything once he was caught!
He drifted off, running on autopilot. There was an annoying ringing in the back of his head, but Naruto was good at tuning things out. Fuzzy howled out of nowhere, but Naruto was used to Fuzzy whining so he didn't really pay attention.
Until Fuzzy started shrieking so loud it practically drowned out every other thought in Naruto's head.
"MINE! HOW DARE THAT INSECT TRY TO TAKE MINE!"
Naruto wasn't really paying attention (it was almost like he was falling asleep), but he noticed an absolute rage pouring out of him. Was that his? No, Naruto wasn't really feeling much of anything. Weird. Wasn't he angry just a minute ago?
Naruto drifted off. Kurama screamed.
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-Hiruzen-
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Hiruzen was too old for this. He rubbed his temple, and faced Fugaku to repeat the story again.
"It seems Danzo had a vendetta against the Uchiha clan, and attempted to act on it by stealing Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan and using Kotoamatsukami to use Naruto to destroy them. Doing so enraged the Kyuubi to the point where it overwhelmed Naruto and possessed him, presumably to protect him since the Kyuubi didn't even try to break out. Thankfully, the Kyuubi decided to forcibly drag Danzo out into the woods. It tried to disintegrate him through prolonged exposure to its chakra, but it seems Danzo had stolen a large number of Sharingan and used them to cast Izanagi. The Kyuubi was unbothered and just kept chasing him down to disintegrate him again and again until Danzo simply ran out of Sharingan and died. Naruto is fine, if a little disoriented, and the Kyuubi receded once it was sure Naruto was alright. Jiraiya is keeping an eye on him now."
Fugaku leaned back to process the story. He eyed Hiruzen for a moment, then spoke up.
"You do realize we will not take the loss of Shisui's Sharingan lightly, correct?"
Hiruzen nodded gravely.
"And Danzo was working to isolate our clan for years before this, yet you did nothing about it?"
Hiruzen nodded again. Fugaku narrowed his eyes and thought for another moment.
"Naruto will be put under the protection of my clan."
Hiruzen winced to himself. He somewhat expected that. Fugaku was perfectly in his rights to make political demands in this situation, and it made complete sense to demand something along those lines. Realistically speaking, Fugaku could outright demand full custody, plus reparations for Shisui's lost eye, and Hiruzen would most likely fold in order to avoid conflict. Not that he's thrilled with the prospect; the situation is more than difficult as-is. With Naruto and the Kyuubi and possession in the mix, anything involving them will make things a thousand times more complicated. Hiruzen was hoping to cover up the Kyuubi's involvement in Danzo's defeat as much as possible. It'd be impossible to hide Naruto's activity that night, as he had made it abundantly clear that he was angry and on the hunt, but if they played their cards right they could make it seem as if Fugaku or an Uchiha killed Danzo. It would be better if Danzo could have stood trial, so Hiruzen could have given him over to the Uchiha for penance, but with the Kyuubi being the killer it only made things more difficult.
Hiruzen would prefer if Naruto could avoid the fallout as much as possible. But Fugaku had a fair amount of investment in the child, and Naruto had friends among the Uchiha. And, at the very least, he hadn't demanded custody. Only for Naruto to become a ward of the clan, meaning that any and all rights to guardianship and protection of Naruto would be given to the Uchiha. Losing rights to the village Jinchuuriki was certainly a hard blow (a very hard blow), and Jiraiya would not be pleased, and it would throw the politics in the village very much into the Uchihas' favor, but it was a relatively small price to pay. Especially because Naruto would technically remain a part of the village, even if he would be a ward of the Uchiha rather than the Hokage. It was a far better deal than losing an entire clan (and possibly their Jinchuuriki too, since Naruto might have just decided to follow them anyway), especially one as prestigious and powerful as the Uchiha.
Fugaku narrowed his eyes again. Hiruzen was hesitating too long. He sighed and resigned himself to dealing with the political fallout. The council would not be happy, but he could convince the more level-headed ones to accept it. They'd just have to make it work.