Chapter 3 - Shadows Between Breaths
"Between the moment of potential and destruction lies a single breath."
Summary: A more rational Danzo takes on Team 7 to inherit his own Will of Fire. The world changes accordingly.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters within, and too many will likely make a mockery of them. To those easily offended, or disturbed. Turn back. To those with an open mind and eyes that can look past differences, welcome and enjoy.
Dawn crept across Konoha's southern gate, painting the weathered stone in muted amber hues. The morning air carried the crisp bite of early autumn, heavy with the scent of dew-laden grass and distant pine. Team 7 materialized from the lingering shadows precisely as the guard tower's bell tolled eight - their arrival a study in synchronized purpose.
Sasuke's dark eyes swept the perimeter, cataloging every subtle shift in the morning breeze. Beside him, Sakura's stance reflected weeks of rigorous conditioning, her forward-ready position speaking to newfound confidence rather than mere training. Naruto completed their formation, his customary energy tempered into focused awareness, chakra senses extended like invisible fingers probing the surrounding area.
Shimura Danzo stood waiting, his singular visible eye taking in his students' perfect approach. No praise was offered for their punctuality - excellence had become their baseline, anything less unthinkable after months under his unforgiving tutelage.
Minutes ticked by, marked only by the steady rhythm of their breath and the occasional rustling of leaves. Ten minutes. Twenty. Sakura's fingers twitched, a tell she hadn't quite mastered, but she maintained position. Thirty minutes.
Danzo's voice cut through the silence, precise as a surgeon's blade. "Naruto."
"Hai, sensei." The response came without hesitation.
"Our client appears to be experiencing difficulties with punctuality. Older man, robust build, weather-worn complexion. Gray hair. Locate and assist."
A slight nod, and the Naruto before them dispersed in a whisper of smoke - a shadow clone, positioned hours earlier in anticipation of potential complications. The real Naruto remained steady in formation, his sensory web expanding to track his clone's progress through the village.
"Sasuke, status report."
"Three civilian merchants within fifty meters, two shinobi on gate duty, one ANBU patrol passing northwest to southeast approximately two hundred meters out. No hostile intent detected." The Uchiha's response came in clipped, efficient phrases, each word carrying the weight of certainty.
"Sakura."
"Formation maintained, chakra levels optimal, team equipment check completed at 0745 hours. Medical supplies doubled as requested, extra soldier pills distributed." Her voice carried none of its former hesitation, each syllable backed by iron conviction.
The minutes stretched on, broken only by the gentle whisper of wind through leaves until Naruto's clone returned, shepherding a distinctly disgruntled Tazuna. The bridge builder's face bore the flush of recent sleep and lingering sake, his irritation palpable in every heavy step.
"So this is what passes for ninja escort these days? Children and a cripple?" Tazuna's words slurred slightly, aimed more at the universe's perceived injustice than anyone in particular.
The team remained motionless, their stance unchanged - a response drilled into them through countless hours of psychological conditioning. Only those who knew to look would notice the subtle tensing of Sakura's jaw, the microscopic narrowing of Sasuke's eyes, the barely perceptible fluctuation in Naruto's chakra field.
Danzo's response came measured, each word carefully weighted. "Your tardiness has already been compensated for through our initiative. The mission commenced the moment you engaged our services. Team Seven has already secured your safety during your... delayed arrival."
Without waiting for response, he turned to his team. "Standard escort formation, reverse triangle. Naruto, maintain sensory web at maximum sustainable radius. Sakura, ground control. Sasuke, aerial threats. Move out."
They flowed into position with liquid grace - Naruto dropping back to form the rear point, Sasuke and Sakura taking left and right forward positions respectively. Their movement spoke of countless hours of practice, each step placed with deliberate precision, every angle covered with ruthless efficiency.
As they passed through the great gates, Naruto's eyes briefly flickered with barely contained wonder - his first time leaving the village since his birth. The emotion was quickly masked, but not before Danzo caught it, filing away the observation for future reference. Let the boy maintain some spark of his nature; it would serve its purpose in time.
The morning sun climbed higher as Team Seven moved out onto the forest path, their formation a perfect demonstration of Danzo's training methodology - three distinct personalities forged into a single, deadly efficient unit. The Will of Fire that burns in the dark, preparing to face whatever shadows awaited them beyond Konoha's walls.
Naruto's clones melted into the surrounding foliage with practiced ease, each one's chakra signature carefully masked - a skill that had taken weeks of brutal drilling to perfect. As his consciousness expanded through the network of duplicates, his thoughts drifted to the previous evening, their first taste of freedom since Danzo-sensei had taken them under his wing.
The memory surfaced with crystalline clarity: stepping into the Uchiha district, the fading sunlight casting long shadows across empty streets that somehow felt less haunted than they once had. Their footsteps had echoed against weathered stone, a rhythm that spoke of life returning to long-abandoned spaces.
Sasuke had led them through the main house with quiet reverence, every movement a ceremony in itself. The dining room, when they'd reached it, bore signs of recent care - dust cleared away, old memories respectfully preserved while making space for new ones.
"You really went all out with the cleaning, Sasuke-kun," Sakura had noted, her voice carrying that mixture of gentleness and steel that had become her trademark. The way she'd positioned herself slightly in front of them both - a habit born from countless spars where she'd learned to be their shield - hadn't gone unnoticed.
Naruto had inhaled deeply, catching the subtle hints of incense and tea beneath the aromatic spread of their feast. His enhanced senses, honed through relentless training, picked up each distinct note: the rich umami of ramen from Ichiraku's, the delicate balance of vinegar and rice in Sakura's sushi selection, the sweet undertones of the fruits Sasuke had chosen.
"The incense," Naruto had found himself saying, fingers unconsciously moving to adjust his hair in a gesture he'd picked up from Sakura, "it's not the same as what you usually burn, Sasuke."
A slight smile had touched Sasuke's lips. "This blend is reserved for clan ceremonies. For welcoming new family."
The weight of those words had settled over them like a blanket, warm and somehow both terrifying and comforting. Sakura's eyes had grown wide, while something warm and unfamiliar had bloomed in Naruto's chest.
They'd settled around the low table, and Naruto had found himself mimicking Sakura's graceful seating posture without thinking. When she'd caught him at it, instead of teasing, she'd merely adjusted his position slightly with a gentle touch to his shoulder. "Better for your back during long missions," she'd explained, but her knowing smile had suggested something more.
"Speaking of missions," Sasuke had interjected, producing an elegant sake set that bore the Uchiha crest, "there's a tradition we need to observe."
As he'd warmed the sake with a precisely controlled Katon jutsu - the kind of chakra control that would have been impossible for any of them three months ago - Naruto had caught himself admiring the delicate way Sasuke's fingers had moved over the ceramic. The same fingers that could form lethal hand signs with blinding speed now demonstrated a grace that spoke to generations of ritual and belonging.
"Since when are you so interested in proper serving technique, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had teased, but her tone had carried genuine appreciation.
"Since I have people worth serving," he'd responded simply, and even Naruto's enhanced senses had barely caught the slight tremor in his voice.
The conversation had flowed as freely as the sake after that, training disciplines momentarily set aside. Naruto had found himself drawn into what he'd later realize was distinctly feminine gossip with Sakura, discussing everything from hair care to the proper way to maintain callused hands without losing dexterity.
"Wait," Sakura had exclaimed, "you make your own beauty products?"
Naruto had blushed, hand moving to rub the back of his neck before catching himself - another habit Danzo-sensei had worked to break. "Just basic stuff. The stores..." he'd trailed off, but understanding had flickered in both his teammates' eyes.
"Show us," Sasuke had commanded, though his tone had been gentle. And so Naruto had pulled out his homemade preparations, demonstrating techniques born of necessity that had somehow evolved into something more.
"The honey helps seal in moisture," he'd explained, unconsciously adopting Sakura's instructional tone, "and the green tea has antioxidants that-" he'd caught himself then, noticing both his teammates' intense focus. "What?"
"Nothing," Sakura had smiled, sharing a look with Sasuke that Naruto couldn't quite interpret. "Just... it's nice seeing you like this. Relaxed."
The evening had culminated in Sasuke rising with formal dignity, sake cup in hand. "To Team Seven," he'd intoned, and the words had carried the weight of ancient Uchiha tradition. "To family."
Now, as his clones systematically swept the route ahead, Naruto felt the phantom warmth of that sake cup in his hands, the echo of belonging that had nothing to do with blood and everything to do with choice. His senses remained sharp, training never fully forgotten, but something fundamental had shifted.
For the first time in his life, he wasn't just playing a role or trying to fit someone else's expectations. In that quiet evening with his team - his family - he'd caught a glimpse of something genuine, something that felt right in a way he wasn't quite ready to examine too closely.
A clone's subtle chakra spike pulled him back to the present - movement ahead, nothing threatening, but enough to warrant attention. Naruto's fingers flashed through the team's private sign language, developed through countless hours of silent drills. Time to focus on the mission, but the warmth of belonging remained, as steady as his chakra pulse.
The clone's memories hit Naruto like a splash of ice water - sharp, clarifying, impossible to ignore. His enhanced senses caught the metallic tang of water where there shouldn't be any, the subtle wrongness of a puddle under clear skies. Training kicked in, muscle memory flowing through the hand signs before conscious thought could intervene.
"Menacing puddle ahead." The coded message flowed through his fingers, each gesture precise - another gift from endless hours of drilling under Danzo's watchful eye.
Sakura and Sasuke's confusion radiated through their chakra signatures - a language Team 7 had learned to read as clearly as spoken words. Their expressions remained neutral, another mask crafted through repetition and necessity.
"What?" Their synchronized response came in quick, efficient signs.
Naruto's excitement betrayed him, voice breaking through when hand signs should have sufficed. "You heard me!"
Danzo's disapproving glance carried the weight of a thousand failed training exercises. "Plan your engagement," his hands commanded, the slight emphasis on 'plan' a pointed reminder of past mistakes.
Naruto's mind raced through their practiced formations. M-Play - their basic counter-ambush tactic, drilled until it lived in their bones. His fingers flashed the command, and his teammates responded with perfect synchronization, melting into the forest on either side.
A flash of memory: Danzo's voice, cold and precise during their first counter-ambush training. "Your enemies will expect genin to panic, to break formation. Use that expectation. Make it your weapon."
Naruto burst forward, playing the role of impulsive rookie - a part that came too naturally for comfort. The puddle erupted, revealing two dark-clad figures linked by a lethal chain. Their movements spoke of experience, of countless successful ambushes against less prepared targets.
Another memory: Sakura's voice during tactical training against this particular formation favoured by Kiri Shinobi. "The chain is their strength and their weakness. It maintains their formation but limits their individual movement."
Sasuke struck first, his timing perfect - the product of hundreds of synchronized attacks practiced until they could execute them in their sleep. His target went down hard, unprepared for a genin to move with such lethal precision.
But something went wrong.
Sakura's target - Gōzu, Naruto's mind supplied from memorizing Bingo Books with his clones along with hundreds of other texts to bring his education up to snuff- reacted faster than anticipated. The chain meant for Naruto whipped around, catching Sakura across her face. Twin lines of red bloomed from jaw to forehead, barely missing her eye.
Training took over. Naruto's kunai found its mark at the base of Gōzu's skull, the killing stroke clean and practiced. But his enhanced senses caught everything - the metallic spray of blood, Sakura's sharp intake of breath, the way Sasuke's chakra spiked with barely contained panic.
Flash of training: "Every victory has a cost. Every success carries the seed of future failure. Learn from both."
Danzo moved with decisive efficiency, pushing past the frozen genin to administer antivenom and perform basic field healing. His rough jutsu closed the wounds, but Naruto could already see the scars forming - permanent marks of his tactical failure.
"Perhaps this will be a lesson on tactics for you." Danzo's words cut deeper than any blade. "It's unwise to split up a team when facing enemies of unknown skill and ability. Better to stay on the defensive until you have a more thorough understanding of the situation."
The disappointment in his sensei's voice was unnecessary. Nothing could match the weight of guilt settling into Naruto's chest as he stared at the angry red lines marring Sakura's face. His first real command in the field, and he'd nearly gotten his teammate killed.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of motion and silence. Danzo informed Tazuna of the mission's elevation to B or A rank. Sakura moved with slightly dulled reflexes, the poison's lingering effects evident to Naruto's heightened awareness. Sasuke maintained position, but his chakra roiled with suppressed emotion.
As darkness fell, Naruto's clones maintained their vigilant perimeter, but his mind kept returning to those scarlet lines on Sakura's face. Each time his enhanced senses caught the slight metallic scent of her healing wounds, something inside him cracked a little more.
He'd wanted to protect them. Instead, his first real test as part of their team had left an indelible mark of his failure. The weight of command, of responsibility, pressed down like a physical thing, squeezing the usual light from his eyes and stealing the warmth from his chakra.
Final training echo: "A leader's greatest burden isn't the weight of their own failures, but the marks those failures leave on others."
As Team 7 settled into their evening formation, Naruto's enhanced senses caught the subtle shifts in his teammates' breathing patterns, the way Sakura's hand occasionally drifted to her face, the tension in Sasuke's jaw. Each detail was another weight added to his burden, another crack in the foundation of his confidence.
The night stretched ahead, long and dark, filled with the whispers of what-ifs and might-have-beens.
Firelight danced across the clearing, casting writhing shadows that seemed to mirror the thoughts tumbling through Tazuna's mind. The sake had worn off hours ago, leaving behind a clarity that felt more curse than blessing. His weathered hands trembled slightly as he stared into the flames, seeing not the crackling wood but the fresh scars on a young girl's face - scars that existed because of his deception.
"I..." His voice cracked, drawing the attention of four sets of eyes. "I never meant for children to..." The words died in his throat as Sakura straightened her posture, rolling her shoulders in a deliberate display of strength. The angry red lines across her face caught the firelight, but there was no pain in her expression - only a predatory satisfaction as she tested her recovering muscles.
Across the fire, Sasuke sat in seiza, an ancient Uchiha blade across his lap. The rhythmic scrape of whetstone against steel provided a haunting counterpoint to the forest's nighttime chorus. His movements carried the weight of ceremony, each stroke precise and purposeful. The training sword he'd carried since graduation lay carefully wrapped beside him - a boy's weapon set aside for the reality of their profession.
Tazuna's gaze shifted to Naruto, and his words failed him again. The boy sat in perfect stillness, legs folded in meditation, yet his face betrayed minute reactions to unseen stimuli. A slight narrowing of eyes, a twitch at the corner of his mouth, fingers moving in microscopic gestures - reading a stream of information from the clones that flickered in and out of existence at the edges of Tazuna's awareness.
"How many?" Danzo's question cut through the night air.
Naruto's response came without opening his eyes. "Seventeen active clones maintaining perimeter. Three more scouting ahead along potential approach vectors. Two henged as civilians gathering intelligence in the nearest settlement." His voice carried none of its usual energy, weighted by newfound responsibility.
"Optimal positioning?"
"No, sensei. I could improve coverage by shifting the northeast quadrant two degrees and elevating the southern scouts by approximately three meters."
"Proceed."
The subtle changes in Naruto's expression spoke of clones dispersing and reforming, a tactical dance invisible to civilian eyes but evident in the way Sasuke's shoulders relaxed fractionally and Sakura's posture shifted to account for the adjusted security web.
"Your children..." Tazuna tried again, the words bitter as unsweetened tea. "I've brought your children into a war they-"
"You mistake youth for innocence." Danzo's interruption carried no heat, just cold certainty. "And you assume ignorance where there is strategy." He turned his single visible eye toward the bridge builder, its depth containing shadows deeper than the surrounding night. "Gato's involvement was neither surprising nor concerning. His reputation precedes him, as does his preference for hiring missing-nin as enforcers."
Tazuna's throat went dry. "You... knew?"
"The moment you entered our village." A slight gesture encompassed his team. "They were chosen for this precisely because they are ready. Your deception was anticipated, planned for, and incorporated into their training."
As if to emphasize his point, Sakura flowed to her feet in a single liquid movement, her body showing no sign of the poison that should have left her bedridden. "The antidote was prepared two weeks ago, sensei. Specific to the Demon Brothers' preferred toxins." Her voice carried pride, not accusation.
The whetstone's rhythm never faltered as Sasuke spoke. "Their attack patterns were documented in the Uchiha archives. Predictable, once you account for the psychological advantage they typically hold over their targets." His words carried the weight of generations of tactical analysis.
A clone flickered into existence just long enough to deliver a scroll to Naruto's hand before dispersing. "Civilian movement patterns suggest three potential staging areas for future attacks," he reported, eyes still closed. "I've adjusted surveillance accordingly."
Tazuna stared at each of them in turn - these children who weren't children at all. The firelight caught Sakura's scars again, but now he saw them differently. Not marks of his failure, but badges earned in the line of duty. Sasuke's blade gleamed with deadly purpose, an heir claiming his heritage. And Naruto's stillness spoke not of youth's restlessness contained, but of a predator's patience.
"Rest." Danzo's command carried the weight of authority earned. "Naruto's clones will maintain watch. Tomorrow, we demonstrate to Gato why crossing Konoha was his final mistake."
As Tazuna settled into his bedroll, sleep proved elusive. The sounds of the night were changed now - every rustle of leaves might be one of Naruto's clones shifting position, every shadow potentially concealing a deadly-efficient shinobi who merely happened to wear a young face. His last thought before unconsciousness claimed him was a prayer of pity - not for the children he'd endangered, but for those who would mistake youth for weakness in the days to come.