Prodigy

Chapter 3

Naruto sighed as he closed the last folder and slot it into its appropriate spot. After the whole Hyuuga kidnapping incident, he had been asked to take the genin test. He had passed easily and was appointed genin. However, as there were no other genins graduating at that point of time, Naruto was not assigned a squad or a jounin-sensei. Instead he tagged along other teams in their missions. As a result, he mostly took part in C-rank missions as D-rank missions were so easy they really did not need an extra pair of hands. Besides, the whole point of D-rank missions was to improve teamwork and Naruto’s presence could hamper that. When he turned 6, he took part in the chuunin exam held in kirigakure, joining a squad which had one member who had to sit out of the exam due to injuries. Naruto passed the chuunin exams with flying colours, becoming the youngest chuunin, sharing the title with Uchiha Itachi, the genius prodigy child. Ever since he officially became a ninja, his father had took him aside and explained his additional duties due to him being the son of the Hokage and the heir of the Namikaze clan. When he was of age, he would be eligible to a seat on the Hokage’s council as well as one on the shinobi council. As Naruto believed in being prepared for everything, he had taken to volunteering at the Hokage’s Tower to learn more about the work done there. At first, the desk ninja had been wary of the then 6 year-old child, but they soon warmed up to him. He was also given harder and harder tasks, recently graduating from filling up order forms to ranking missions. This was an especially important job as a wrongly ranked mission could result in the death of a ninja squad. However, most of the time, Naruto could be found updating the ninja files. It was a tedious task, recording the mission status of every ninja and updating their files every day. No sensitive information could be found in the file, of course, merely a picture and a very brief description of the ninja’s character and abilities. However, because of this, Naruto could now name several ninjas on sight.

It was not uncommon for Naruto to be the last person in the office. By now, the janitor simply passed him the keys and told him to lock up when he left. Tonight was no different. As Naruto stretched and got ready to leave the Tower, he stopped as he saw light coming from an out-of-the-way corridor. It led to the older conference rooms that were rarely in use anymore. Interest piqued, Naruto stealthily crept closer. “Itachi-kun, I’m sure you understand the need for your clan’s assassination.”
Naruto’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice to belong to Danzo, one of the Hokage’s advisors. This bore looking into. Naruto backed away from the room and silently summoned one of his nin-dogs. Kakashi had allowed him to sign the contract as a reward for making chuuin. He quickly informed Pakkun to get Kakashi to the Hokage Tower immediately, and to get his father as well, if possible. Then he sneaked back towards the room, his hands reaching into his pockets to turn on the tape recorder hidden there. When he was young, he had taken to carrying notebooks around to record down anything he learnt. When he turned 4, Kakashi had given him the tape recorder as a birthday present and told him to use it in place of the notebooks. Naruto had carried it with him ever since.
“Uchiha Itachi, you are hereby ordered to assassinate every Uchiha involved in the conspiracy against the Hokage. That is to say, the entire Uchiha clan apart from yourself and your brother.”
Hearing this, Naruto swiftly entered the room. “I’m afraid you do not have to power to give such an order, Danzo-sama.” He spoke, watching the two ninjas immediately slide into attacking stances.
“What are you doing here brat? This is a council meeting, you are not allowed to intrude.” Danzo snarled, immediately recognizing the Hokage’s son and demon vessel.
“On the contrary, Danzo-sama, according to clause 7 of the Hokage’s verdict no.9, a council meeting is only considered such if it is presided over by the Hokage and it is carried out in the sealed council meeting room which ensures that no one can spy on the meeting.” Naruto shot back smoothly, glad that he had read up on politics after finding out about his future responsibilities. As Danzo glared harshly at him, about ready to blow a fuse, Naruto continued.
“Back to my previous point, Danzo-sama, you do not have the power to order the assassination of the Uchiha clan.”
At this, Danzo smirked. “That’s what you think brat. Your foolish father might be aware that my ROOT program is still up and running, but even he does not know the number of agents I have under my command. I have been biding my time and I now have more than a hundred agents completely loyal to me. So you see, I do, in fact, have the power to order the assassination of the Uchiha clan.”
Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, “If that is so, then why do you require the services of Uchiha Itachi?” Danzo’s eyes widened as he realized that Itachi was still in the room. The Uchiha prodigy was still under the delusion that the Hokage had ordered the Uchiha clan assassination. Furious at his slip, he launched two kunai at the insufferable demon brat.

There was a loud clang of metal on metal as Itachi swiftly positioned himself in front of Naruto and deflected the kunai. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to harm Namikaze-san, Danzo-sama.” He spoke, coolly. “Are you going against me, Uchiha? I’ll have you killed along with the rest of your worthless clan! I was originally going to pin the blame of the massacre on you but now I think I’ll blame the Kyuubi-brat instead. Then I’ll present the demon’s dead body and gain the glory for killing the one responsible for the Uchiha massacre. After that, I’ll graciously take in the mentally scarred Uchiha Sasuke and mould him into the perfect weapon.” Danzo cackled as he summoned 10 ROOT ANBU and sent them to attack the two young prodigies.

Itachi wasted no time in launching his attacks, immediately engaging 3 ROOT agents in combat. However, as 5 more agents flocked to him, he was quickly being overwhelmed. Naruto, himself, had his hands full with the 2 ROOT ANBU that attacked him. Just when it seemed like Danzo would succeed in killing the two ninja, 3 Konoha ANBU teams suddenly appeared and apprehended the ROOT agents. Kakashi swiftly caught and incapacitated Danzo. The Yondaime himself was in the room, blue eyes blazing. “What is going on here, Danzo?” He demanded. Naruto immediately spoke up, “You need to get to the Uchiha mansion! He ordered his agents to massacre the whole clan!” The Fourth’s eyes widened at that as he quickly ordered all the ANBU to make their way to the Uchiha district immediately. “Kakashi, Itachi, you two watch over the captives.” With that, the Yondaime used Hiraishin and flashed away.