I'll like to remind my readers, this is called a fanfiction for a reason, the story will not be following cannon. There will be a difference in the character's personality and strength. And fanfics are fanfics so some stuff are obviously gonna seem exaggerated.
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They'd planned everything out carefully. Everything. From top to bottom, left to right, east to west. You get the drift. What they did not take into account was the absence of the target himself.
Kakashi was gone, not a trace of him left. But a true Shinobi knows better than to abandon a mission just because of unexpected circumstances. Kakashi or no, they were going to break into his house. With wills set on fire and heart determined, they carried out the operation that was carefully planned for several days.
"Dude. Are you serious?"
Naruto who was in the midst of climbing into Kakashi's house through the window stopped abruptly at the new voice interrupting him. With a foot and half a body in the house, he turned to the new interruption and sighed.
"This isn't what it looks like. I just wanted to... Check on you. Yup just checking on you y'know."
Kakashi stared at Naruto, unimpressed. His eyes flickered to Anko next, Naruto's usual partner in crime.
"And you? What are you doing here?" Kakashi sighed, almost giving up trying to talk sense into those two. They are a hazard, he'd want to stay away but the situation he was in doesn't allow that.
"I'm accompanying my favorite baby brother of course! Why? Do you want us to go?" Anko sniffed into her sleeves and wiped her fake tears with the back of the hands.
"Yes. Yes please."
"Mean." Anko had the audacity to pout at Kakashi.
"Don't." That one word was packed full with the disgust he felt towards Anko's pout, he averted his eyes.
"Are you gonna keep us out here? Really?" Naruto questioned, with a foot and half a body inside Kakashi's house.
"You don't seem like you're 'out here waiting' to me." Still with all that said, Kakashi still reluctantly opened the door and gestured for Anko to enter. And Naruto climbed into the house.
Sitting together in the dimly lit house, empty dinner plates left by the side forgotten. The previous laughter filled talks and teasing chatter left only silence. "I heard that the senior academy students are graduating early." Anko stated, even though not meant as a question Naruto answered. "Hm, they should be fine." He thought back about his temporary classmates, most of them clan children.
"Only the clan children and a few others will pass the tests, I don't think the school expected the rest to pass anyways. A few weeks earlier won't hurt. I guess." Kakashi finally voiced, and Naruto shrugged in response.
"Any news on that classmate of yours?"
"Sakura? I heard some from Iruka." Naruto glanced at Kakashi, "Not exactly pleasant, you'll be surprised cause I almost swallowed my own tongue when I heard."
Anko-the only one not up to to date with the happenings because of her days spent cooped up underground in interrogation cells of the T&I department-looked between Kakashi and Naruto confused. "What did I miss? Who's that Sakura brat you guys talkin' bout."
"Sakura. Haruno Sakura. 12 years of age as of this year." Naruto settled back into his chair knowing that this conversation is gonna take a while.
Kakashi gestured for Naruto to continue, while Anko was lost in thought, seemingly serious for the first time in a while.
"I asked Iruka off-hand if he knows anything about Sakura, I didn't expect him to. He didn't tell me much or rather, he couldn't." Naruto's eyes flickered between the two opposite him back and forth before settling his gaze on one of the scratches on the table.
"All I know now is that Sakura is involved with, Danzo."
"Shimura Danzo?" Kakashi confirmed. He didn't get an answer.
Anko who was staring down at the legs of the take unmovingly suddenly exclaimed, "Haruno! I knew I've heard that damned name somewhere. Haruno Ume, a shinobi from Amegakure found near the south wall buy the Anbu patrols. I remember that brat clearly since I was the one interrogating her, little shit claims that she lost her memory. And it turned out to be true after a Yamanaka came and checked. We only knew she's a Ame Shinobi from her head protector, in the end we couldn't find out anything so we released her."
"I doubt it was a coincidence, the last name I mean. Do you still have access to Haruno Ume's data? We can check if Sakura's DNA matches with hers." Naruto sighed rest his arms on the table. "It's gonna be troublesome."
"You were the one who wanted to investigate her, I'm not even complaining." Kakashi huffed childishly, earning himself an eyeroll from Naruto and a chuckle from Anko. Then they relapsed in a comfortable silence once more, with Kakashi reading his stupid literature. And Kakashi glared at the author with disdain.
•°•°•°•
As the day of the Graduations came rolling by, Academy training grounds overflowed, Iruka's office was always filled to the brim with students, and Naruto slept.
To speak the honest truth, ever since that kid assumed the position of an Anbu captain, he hasn't been getting much sleep.
(No wonder Kakashi handed Naruto the position so willingly)
The only plus side about a promotion is the higher pay, so Naruto gritted his teeth and bore with the paperwork. Everything for a good retirement life or something like that.
It seemed like Naruto was making up for all the sleep he didn't get on the past, he dropped dead into hibernation, not even waking up when Iruka came into his house to check on him. The blonde stayed in that state for a full month, waking up right before graduation.
When Iruka saw Naruto strutting towards the Academy early in the morning, eyes still squinted in tiredness, he knew something was wrong. Not because he was early for the first time since meeting Kakashi-even though that was kind of weird-but because of of what he was wearing and the way he walked.
As much as he hated his new mission, Iuka knew that Naruto is not someone who would abandon his mission half way through. And abandoning his disguise now is as good as announcing to the whole world that he fucked up.
Gripping the window sill tightly, Iruka grumbled incoherently before jumping right off the window ledge and landed right in front of Naruto. He quickly wrestled the confused Naruto into a headlock and shunshined back into his office.
"What are you doing?! You disappeared for a whole month and came back with your mission forgotten?" Iruka glared at Naruto, goodness knows how much he went through just to ensure that Naruto can settle right into the Academy flawlessly and naturally. The fact that the Anbu captain Fox is Naruto is not a well known didn't make it any simpler, and because of that he had to construct a whole new identity for Naruto. But the said blonde decided to ruin everything by appearing at school without his disguise. Now the whole world would know that Naruto is not the Naruto they know, the council will start asking questions and the whole mission of protecting the last Uchiha will go right down the drain. And in case I have yet to mention to you the importance of this particular mission, I will take the pleasure to do so now.
The Identity of Naruto was totally under the wraps, only the Hokage and team scarecrow knew. The same could be said for the mission Naruto was assigned to. The council was only informed that a member of the black ops would be protecting Uchiha Sasuke. If the council find out that Naruto is the Anbu member assigned to protect Sasuke, they are gonna be mad. Real mad that the demon brat is protecting the last uchiha. And once the connection between Anbu captain Fox and Naruto is made, the council will push all the blame of the Uchiha massacre to Naruto. Team scarecrow is a well known Anbu team, and when Uchiha Itachi massacred the clan, an accomplice was suspected to be present, and the primary suspect was the captain of Itachi's Anbu team. But Captain Fox was directly under the Hokage and thus received a certain level of protection so the council couldn't touch him.
Once the council successfully push the blame into Naruto, the Hokage would be in danger. The captain of the team directly under the Hokage is affiliated to the Uchiha Massacre. Sarutobi Hiruzen will lose all the trust the council built up over the years, and Danzo would use this chance to strike. He would push Hiruzen out of his sit and assume his position as the Hokage. Then it would be game over. The initial plan for Itachi to return to Konoha after everything is over will be impossible.
That is exactly why Naruto cannot be flaunting his unhenged face around, much less turn up to school in his Anbu attire with his trademark sword hanging behind him.
In answer to Iruka's question, Naruto handed him a scroll. "Everything you need to know is inside, my identity was exposed." Simper and straight to the point, Naruto was being serious for the first time in a while.
Iruka accepted the scroll and unsealed it carefully.
It was a contract, one signed in blood and ink then bonded to a seal. In other words, the contract physically restrained the contractors from blurting out anything their not supposed to. Iruka glanced at Naruto disbelievingly. As if to answer Iruka's unspoken question, Naruto opened his mouth, but didn't proceed to further explain trusting that the older man knew what it meant.
On Naruto's tongue sat a disgustingly beautiful seal. It was an irony, the detailed lines weaved together carefully to form a delicate piece of art, yet it was a cruel reminder of a caged freedom that can never once again be freed.
"Root..." Iruka breathed, in his eyes shone a silent protest and sadness—and a tiny bit of pity—that he never bothered to share. He crushed the scroll in misplaced anger, Naruto didn't deserve anything that was done to him.
Naruto let out a chuckle of dry acceptance, "The contract goes both ways, I can't accept his present without giving one back to him can I?"
Iruka finally smiled at that, nodding his head in agreement. "Good job. I knew you wouldn't have quietly let him do this to you. But why? As much as Danzo hated you—us—he'd never openly go against the Hokage's blatant protection."
"As I said earlier, this mission was compromised since my Identity was exposed..." Naruto hesitated for a moment before he continued,
"I sneaked into the root headquarters."