"Show me. Do you have a Byakugan?"
He pulled back the fabric to reveal it. The sight was off-putting, one eye pearly white and the other azure blue. After a brief second, he pulled the fabric back over it.
"Happy?"
"Satisfied. Not happy you drew a weapon on my student. Harm her and you die. You will not hide from me."
"Fine."
Kurenai drew back and mentally calmed herself.
"Hokage-sama, what do we do about Hinata? If she learns her suspicion is correct, she will be duty bound to see him hunted down by her clan for having one of their eyes. It means a main house member had it taken from them. It will not sit well."
"Agreed. However skilled the Yamanaka are, they cannot force her to forget. You must swear her to silence on the matter, and hope her clan does not learn of it."
"I think the fact she wouldn't want him to die will keep the secret safe. She's not the vengeful type."
The Hokage nodded and turned back to Naruto, who was standing still as he waited.
"Anything to add Naruto?"
"No Hokage-sama."
"You could apologise?"
"She is unconscious. It would be pointless."
"Then ask Kurenai to pass it on."
Hiruzen smiled as it took Naruto slightly longer to act than it should have done. Naruto was now looking at Hinata's peaceful form, and he thought there was just a hint that he felt some sort of emotional response to it.
"Kurenai-san, please pass on my...apology to Hinata?"
The way he said it sounded like a child using a new word for the first time. The inflection made the word apology sound like a question more than a statement. It almost made him chuckle.
"I will Naruto. If you'll excuse me Hokage-sama."
She left, cradling the sleeping Hinata in her arms as she made to take her home. Hiruzen turned to Naruto.
"Now for you. You intervened in a mission, explain."
"I was in a better position to eliminate the threats. The two genin teams were not paying attention to their surroundings, and I suspect I saved the lives of some of them. I was only detected as I fell back, and as the team was occupied knew I could make good the escape."
Hiruzen nodded. Saving genin was important, even if it did seem odd to sacrifice an elite ninja for a rookie one. He'd seen enough promising candidates die on the field because a jonin didn't care.
"Well, that team was always going to be difficult to avoid detection. You did well. However draw a weapon on another of your fellow shinobi again and it will be your arm instead of your bow. Understood?"
"Hai, can I go?"
"How do you feel about Hinata?"
There was a pause.
"I don't feel anything, although I would have preferred not to upset her. It was unnecessary."
"So you do feel sorry?"
"If that is what sorry is."
"Embrace the feeling Naruto. When Kurenai examined your genjutsu, did you feel anything about it?"
"Her assessment of my skills was filled with praise."
"Is that good?"
"If it was correct, which I feel it was."
"So you are pleased with the result?"
"Yes."
"Happy? Proud?"
"If that is what they are. I've only ever felt the feeling when I have successfully completed a mission."
"Embrace that as well Naruto. Emotion is what makes us human as well as shinobi."
"I will try. May I go now?"
"You may."
He puffed on his pipe as Naruto went out through a high window into the dark, he was startled by the fact he had been prepared to kill Hinata to keep the secret.
The fact was, eventually news about Naruto was going to spread amongst the teams. He couldn't avoid detection forever.
Naruto slid in through his perpetually open window to his home.
The house was chilly, the fall of night cooling the air so that his breath slightly misted as he breathed. There were no lights on, no indication he was in.
He surveyed his apartment again. A small room, an all in one kitchen, living room and bedroom, with a bathroom tucked neatly into a corner.
He sat on the bed, the sheets still made from when whoever had got the apartment ready for arrivals still made neatly. He didn't sleep on the bed, he didn't really need to. Still, sitting on the firm mattress was preferable to the floor for a few hours.
He shut his eyes and folded his arms as he considered the words of the Hokage again.
Was he happy that his henge and genjutsu were judged well by a fellow shinobi? Certainly it was vindication of his skills, and although not nearly as potent, it was similar to how he felt when a well laid plan came to fruition, usually in the form of a crossbow bolt to the cranium.
He considered his life in a logical fashion.
'Using the time in Root as a datum.
Upsides: More time outdoors, more mission freedom, justification of skills by superiors, net wealth gain in apartment and mission fees. Discovery of new things. New avenue of interest to explore in learning to map experience to emotion more logically.
Downsides: People everywhere. "Peers" illogical and loud. Lack of training by Lord Danzo.'
That last thought caught him unawares. Certainly not having a sensei, and sharpening the skills he already had was gratifying, and he was learning much about the other forces Konoha had to offer.
But still, why did he feel the pressing need to talk to his former master?
Maybe he could. He hadn't been explicitly forbidden after all.
The whispering sound of his cloak was the only noise as he left the apartment in search of answers.
The wall was fairly easy to get around, it could be walked over, moved under using any number of the tunnels he knew, in some cases even walked through. Out into the country, he took the long winding route designed to throw off pursuers, even though his Byakugan told him none were present.
He found the hidden entrance and performed his knock.
A hatchway opened, and he slipped inside, the guard didn't need to look at him, and gave a brief nod to him as he walked past. Each Root member had a unique knocking code that identified them to the entrance guard. The guard knew every knock.
He moved down the long shadowy corridors as if he had never left; the twisting tunnels confusing to anyone but someone who knew the layout. A fair portion of recruits simply didn't make it as they became lost in the labyrinthine structure. The genjutsu up on parts of it didn't help people either.
He found the door, and did his knock again.
"Enter."
It was as if he had never left. The door opened and he walked inside before kneeling.
"Lord Danzo."
"Naruto. I can't say I haven't been expecting a visit from you. I wonder if you can tell me why? You may stand; you're not technically part of Root anymore."
Naruto was quiet for a moment.
"I was meditating on the events of previous weeks, and the missions I have undertaking under the Hokage as you taught me to do for all my missions."
"Anything that required your skills?"
"Just the one. Ambush by an Iwa team, killed three, and left one for interrogation. Then there were problems. I was spotted by the Hyuuga on the team."
"Ah, young Hinata. Shy girl. She must have discovered your eye."
"Yes. It happened within sight of the Hokage and her sensei, so she is bound by trust."
"That is unfortunate. Have you got a cover story prepared?"
"Yes. I hope the issue does not arise again and just have to avoid using the eye when I am trailing a team with a Hyuuga."
"A wise choice. Continue with where you were going?"
"I was considering the pros and cons of my current situation, and one of the downsides I found was that I wasn't being trained by you. Or anyone for that matter. I should have a teacher, as I still have skills to learn. I...don't know why I thought it should be you, given I am no longer Root, and you cannot be seen to be training me. It is illogical, yet I cannot shake the thought."
Danzo's face remained impassive, and looked Naruto in the eye with his own.
"Have you been feeling emotions? Now that you are not Root you should cultivate them. I remember having them, years ago. I don't have that luxury now."
"I felt pleased that Kurenai Yuuhi thought my genjutsu was good, and felt...wrong after I threatened to silence Hinata before fellow shinobi. I think these were happiness and regret, but I don't know. I don't think they would be good to have on missions."
Danzo nodded and knelt down next to the shorter Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It is alright Naruto. What you feel currently is that you miss me and my training. It is natural, even if two months ago I would have scolded you for it. I miss your services, but I cannot train you now. I have taught you all I know about stealth in all things, and you have surpassed me in that.
What you need is a sensei who can teach you more of the subtle arts of death. A poison specialist maybe or someone who can teach you a bit more taijutsu.
In your new role, it may not be long until you find shinobi who will be able to detect you even if your stealth is perfect. I wish you good luck."
Naruto nodded, and wiped his cloak over his eye instinctively. He then looked at it wondering why he had done so.
"Sadness is the emotion I know most about Naruto. I can give you a bit of advice. Do not dwell in it, but use it as motivation to make things better. I am sad I am not Hokage, or that I cause deaths. I use it to push myself onwards to greater things."
"Hai Danzo-sama."
"Now get going, and come back if you feel the pressing need, otherwise best we dwell in the shadows."
Danzo watched as his charge went through the door and vanished into the black tunnels, before turning back to his works.
'I hope you know what you're doing Hiruzen, as you will either make or break that boy.'
...
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