Chapter 1: The beginning of another Tragedy

Arc One: lost innocents

"But you said you would spend this evening with me, didn't you, old man? "

Naruto stuffed his cheeks out slightly, showing his childish innocence in full display. Hiruzen couldn't help, but slip out the small embarrassed smile on his face.

They were in a small café in the local small family business, across from the Orphanage where Naruto currently lived. Hiruzen has taken Naruto here to explain a certain predicament of his.

"Sorry, Naruto. I, too, though I would be free, but as you can see, the work of Hokage is a never-ending devotion to his village. I am sorry…"

It really wasn't his fault. He finished all of his assignments and paperwork in advance to spend some time with Naruto, but the emergency council meeting was suddenly called, saying that it was an urgent matter to attend to. It wouldn't be a lie to say that Hiruzen was feeling sad to disappoint the boy, but it was, what it was.

"Can't you just, I dunno, send one of those clones of yours? "

"I could, but that would be disrespectful to the rest of the members, Naruto. Tell me, how you would feel, if the friend you suddenly called and waited for, decided to send a fake of himself. Would you not feel bad? knowing that the real one decided you weren't important enough to come in person? "

"I... Well, I guess… "

Naruto thought of the same scenario with one of his friends in Orphanage, he would feel sad if something like that happened. Hiruzen kneeled in front of the young boy and patted his head.

"Naruto, it pains me as much as you, to disappoint you like this, but tell you what? Once I am finished with the business, I will buy milk and 4 cups of ramen and call you straight away to my office, how does that sound, my boy?"

"That! Make it 8 cups and yes! "

"Hahaha"

The sudden excitement and happiness at the mention of his favorite food brought utmost joy to Naruto's face, it even made Sarutobi laugh in amusement. The gloomy mood was suddenly disappearing like it never existed in the first place.

"Well now, off you go back to the orphanage then, boy. I will send one of my subordinates when I am finished with work "

"Yes! Don't you dare forget your promise this time, old man! Or else, I will just steal that hat of yours and become the Hokage myself! Dattebayo!"

"Ha-ha "

Naruto grinned as he exited the café and head straight to the Orphanage. Hiruzen watched the retreating form of the boy from the window for a little while with a melancholic smile, before he sighed tiredly and looked at The Hokage Tower across the Village.

"Haa, you would do me a favor in all honesty, my boy…"

---

On the south side of the village, a couple of Chunins were resting on the top of the gate, taking their well-deserved break from 12 hours of patrolling shift.

" Ah, this hits a spot! "

Exclaimed one of them as he chucked down the remaining bottle of fruit juice. Having a fresh cool drink in the midst of hot weather, was really pleasuring and refreshing.

" Careful not to choke on it, Samegozu."

"What an honorably death of Shinobi that would be, Imagine going to the cemetery on the rainy day and reading this on one of the tombstones: ' Here lies Samegozu Satoshi, a proud Leaf Nin, who choked on a bottle of Juice ' "

" Pff-Hahaa!"

"Oh, shut it! bunch of you! "

Whilst the group laughed at their frustrated Friend, none of them detected the presence of Shadows that slowly surrounded them from all sides.

---

"Got you! Haha! "

One of the kids in the Orphanage yelled as he tapped Naruto who was trying his best to stay clear of the kid's range.

"Ah dang it! Not again! "

he pouted as he chased after his attacker.

" Ahaha! you won't get me! you won't get me! "

The picture itself was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a bunch of kids, playing a tag game. Naruto returned shortly after his talk with Hokage and started playing with his friends, whilst patiently awaiting the old man's call for him.

" Huf, Come on Guys, let's just play something else, I suck at this! "

Naruto yelled in annoyance as he gave up chasing after the kids. He always got caught and had to chase others every time he played the tag game. It was obvious he was bad at this and it was frustrating for the boy to be the end of the stick every dang time.

"Then what do you want to play?" Asked Cuzuki, he was one of the first friends Naruto has made in the Orphanage when he joined. Naturally, they were close since they grow up playing and living together like the other kids, but Naruto shared a more close relationship with the boy compared to other kids. they were as close as siblings one could say.

" I Dunno... I. "

Come to think of it.

"Where is big sister Nami?"

She was one of the most beloved caretakers in the Orphanage, everyone knew her and loved her. She joined the Orphanage, shortly after The Attack of the Great Demon. The moment she joined; she spent every moment of her day looking after the kids of the orphanage.

She often times spent playing with them, teaching them all kinds of games and tricks. Naruto and other kids sometimes had a 'Council ' meeting with her, discussing what type of games they could play after they got bored of playing one over and over. She loved children and children loved her back.

Now that he looked around, he hasn't seen her today at all. That was weird since she usually was with them till the evening.

"I don't know Naru, but I saw her this morning when I was going for the toilet! She was walking away with ninjas! they looked so cool! " Said one of the kids

" N-Ninjas!? "

" Wha?! Really! "

Naruto and Cuzuki looked at each other as other kids exclaimed in astonishment. Ninjas were 'the cool guys 'who protected the village. They were known amongst orphanage kids to do all types of tricky stuff, from walking on walls to spitting fire from their mouths. It was one of the big reasons why kids were fascinated and looked up to them. Many of the kids wanted to become Shinobi themselves someday. Cuzuki and Naruto secretly dreamed of becoming one together ever since they learned of Ninjas in the books.

Naruto wanted to ask for more when suddenly the door of the room opened and the very attention of the discussion walked in.

" Sister Nami! "

" We heard you were with Shinobi! Is that true?! "

" Are they as cool as in books!? "

" Tell us! Tell us! "

It didn't take a second for kids to surround the poor Woman.

"Now, Now, settle down all of you... "

The woman's gaze traveled from one child's face to another, before finally settling down on Naruto. The said boy blinked in confusion; he could swear to see her eyes suddenly lose all light and face shift for a brief moment.

"The food will be ready soon, so please take your sits, I will talk to you guys later, so for now please settle down. "

"Okay! "

"About time! I am hungry! "

"What's the matter, Naru? "

"Uh? Um, nothing, it's just, it felt like Sister Nami looked, sad?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Dunno…"

"But She looks fine? you must have imagined something, common, others are waiting."

Cuzuki Shook his head and took Naruto's hand as he led the boy and himself to where the rest of the kids were.

After eating their afternoon lunch, kids played games and talked with Sister Nami for a while before some of them started yawning tiredly. The caretakers took them to their shared room to take an afternoon nap. Despite numerous protests, kids gave up in the end and followed caretakers words.

"…. I don't want to sleep. "

Naruto looked besides him. Cuzuki was lying down on the bed next to him grumping to himself in annoyance.

"But, weren't you the one yawning the most among all of us? "

The boy frowned and glared at Naruto.

"Just because I yawned from boredom, didn't mean I wanted to sleep! "

"Eh? "

"Don't 'Eh 'me! It's annoying to go to bed every time I yawn on a whim… "

"But, sisters said, when we yawn that means we are tired and have to sleep"

"Not always! I yawn when I am bored too, that doesn't mean I want to sleep"

The boy grumped to himself softly. After that, some time passed between the two, without a word until suddenly Naruto called out for him.

"Hey, Cuzuki…"

"what?"

"I met Old man Hokage today. The grandpa I was talking about yesterday…"

"…Yeah? How was it?"

"we, um, talked. He took me to this restaurant nearby here; I ate a lot of cool food. It, it was nice…"

"lucky you then…"

Cuzuki shifted slightly in his bed. A dim distant look reflected in his eyes.

"…was it really that nice? How did the food taste?"

"It tasted really good! Not like the food in here… I-I don't mean to say the food in here is bad or something! It's just…It was different…and grandpa Hokage. He laughed with me and told me all kinds of stories about shinobi! "

Naruto smiled softly, losing his young mind to the memories he spent with Sarutobi.

"It felt like… I felt like… like those kids, we saw smiling with their parents in the park. I wanted for it last more, but he had to go somewhere…"

Cuzuki looked closely at Naruto's face. He suddenly felt some unknown force grabbing something in his chest. A melancholic sad smile slowly took a hold of his young face.

"That is good, maybe he will adopt you, Naru…"

"Y-you think? But we don't know much about each other…"

"didn't you say he spends a lot of time with you? Why would anyone do that with any of us, if they didn't want to adopt us in the end? "

"I guess…"

"I am sure that is the thing…"

The boy turned around and hid within his blanket. He was silent for a while, only letting out few muffled noises every now and then, before finally speaking up.

"Just, just don't forget us, don't forget our promise if you really get adopted, ok?"

"wh-what? Of course! I would never forget any of you! I will never forget about our promise No matter what!"

Naruto's expression shifted from surprise to disbelief before his gaze took on a new light as he kept on talking.

"How could I forget about the books we read together? The stories we listened to from Uncles and aunts who once were shinobi? Didn't we promise to become shinobi together and protect our village and see the outside world? The endless sea of sand, the big oceans, the iron mountains! To see the world outside the village's walls! I will never forget any of that! More than that, I will never forget you, you are my friend! "

Cuzuki smiled inside his blankets as Naruto shifted awkwardly in his bed after the heartful confession.

"Besides… We don't know if I really get adopted, so, let's just stop talking about that, Dattebayo."

"Yeah. Sorry, it's just…Naru?"

"yeah?"

"We are going to be together right? Always? Like we promised?"

Naruto smiled happily.

"Yeah."

"Good, good…" Cuzuki's mind slowly drifted away in silence as he slowly fell asleep.

Naruto stared at the back of the boy. A smile morphed on his face.

'No matter what, we will become ninjas together, you better believe it Cuzu, Dattebayo.'

He listened to his soft breathing for a while before looking up at the ceiling. He had to sleep too, but he wasn't tired, and besides…

'…What if, what if the old man calls for me when I am sleeping? I will miss out on my time with him, I couldn't spend my time with him today, I can't afford to miss out on this one chance too, I must not fall asleep! '

He stretched his eyes as wide as he could and glared at the ceiling.

'Must. Not. Sleep! '

He tried stretching his eyes for as long as he could before finally getting tired and abandoning the idea.

'They said Sis Nami met Ninjas… I wonder how they looked. I do usually see some accompanying old man, but they are hiding all the time.'

The boy blinked as he thought about Shinobis. Naruto didn't hide his fascination with them. Just like other kids, he looked up to and wanted to know more about them, but His feelings on the subject were much stronger than his fellow dreamers since he was planning to seriously become a Ninja alongside Cuzuki. Ever since they were little toddlers, all they could see was the giant walls that surrounded it. He loved the village just like everyone else, But Naruto wanted to look past those walls and see what was past it. Cuzuki shared this sentiment with him. The idea that they could one day become the protectors of the village, just like the ones they looked up to, and be able to go outside the walls and see the world was thrilling for the duo, so much so that, whenever they through of it, they small hearts would beat in excitement.

Badum-Badum!

'I will be shinobi! Dattebayo! '

He was planning to ask the old man to go to the Ninja academy today, but since he was busy with work, he postponed their meeting today. This was why Naruto didn't want to fall asleep and miss his chance to talk with Old man today, more than ever.

"Hm-! "

Whilst losing himself in thoughts, he felt irritation in his lower part of the body.

'I forgot going to pee! I shouldn't have drunk so many juices today, Grandpa Hokage warned me too, but I didn't listen… '

Naruto sit up on his bed and looked over the room, before resting his eyes on the door. He swallowed his saliva nervously as he slowly got up, trying to make as little noise as possible to not alert children in the room, before going to the door.

The building was engulfed with night. The only source of light being the moon for comfort. it was hard for Naruto to see where he was going. The sudden thought of getting lost sent chills down the spine of the little boy. He tried to make out the vague image of the place but quickly stopped as the soft source of light came behind him.

"…What are you doing here? "

He froze up. He knew the voice of the woman. He slowly turned his head and saw the figure of sister Nami. She held a lit candle in her right arm. The light partly careless her face, her eyes on another hand fully absorbed the lights, making the lovable sister look very scary. Naruto gulped.

"I-I was looking for t-toilet…! "

"…"

"I r-really! I tried to be quit a-and-!"

The woman looked at the nervous stuttering form of the boy. Naruto noticed her hands trembling as if she desperately tried to hold back something within her.

"Naruto…Follow me."

she suddenly said, confusing the little boy.

"W-where?"

No answer. She simply started walking and Naruto instinctively following her from behind.

"B-Big Sister Nami?"

She remained silent as He kept calling out her name, Naruto at this point was starting to feel nervious.

"Sister?"

"J-Just…!"

suddenly she stopped walking and her body shook as she let out a quick soft rasp. When she finally looked at him, Naruto saw her expression of stillness finally break and she show her distraught expression. she silently kneeled in front of him. the whole situation felt weird from Naruto's perspective, but he kept his silence.

"Just, follow me okay?

"O-okay."

Naruto felt something from her words. wither it was sadness or something else, he had no idea, but for the sake of not upset his big sister even more, he nodded his head and followed her from behind obediently.

Nami walked in front of him. Whilst he couldn't see it, small hot tears were running down the cheek of the woman as she kept biting her lips in anguish.

Suddenly She let out with a hoarse voice.

"Naruto, K-know this, I love y-you just like the rest of the children here… This has nothing to do with you."

"..?"

---

Tap-Tap-Tap...

Hiruzen tapped his fingers on the table, whilst resting his cheek on his hand as he stared at the Merchant, who stood nervously in front of him and the council, reading the report in his hands. The clan Heads were present in each respecting chair. The elders, who managed Village's Economical and financial affairs sat beside Hokage, who sat at the Table on a slightly larger platform that overlooked military council members around the table and Non-combatant representatives at the end of the table.

One could say, the placing of chairs was making it clear who stood above who in the village's Inner Political circle of power.

"… and so, from the reports we got from The Land of iron, I think it will be most beneficial For Leaf if we rise the prizes of exported home-made products by 23%. That way…."

Tap-Tap-Tap…

It seems Hokage wasn't the only one who was getting bothered by the situation. Numerous Clan heads were showing annoyance on their faces, Even Elders looked a bit displeased save for Danzo, who never showed any kind of expression on his faces ever since the second Great War ended.

"… Will be a win on the grand scale of things, at the end of the day. My colleagues and I studied Land of fire's History of economical exploits whole heartily, so that…. "

TapTapTap…

The annoyance was really starting to show its presence in his heart, but The Aged Veteran kept his mind cool. He still remembered Naruto's excited face at the prospect of spending some time with him, which calmed the annoyance he felt right now. Soon, Naruto's birthday would be becoming and with it, the 6th anniversary since the Ninth great Demon suddenly appeared in this world and demolished Most of the leaf. A 6th anniversary since it was defeated by the late Fourth Hokage.

Naruto would be 6 soon. An age where the typical child was ready to be trained in shinobi arts. With the basic knowledge and study, he acquired in his upbringing in the orphanage, it was now time for Hiruzen to think about the boy's future. He was planning to buy him an apartment close to the Hokage tower.

He imagined the boy feeling lonely at first, so he was planning to make it his goal to visit the boy every third day. It would be a while till he reached adulthood when finally he would be able to hear the truth about his parents and would be ready to receive the key to his Parent's house as well. It would be an understatement that Hiruzen was reluctant of declaring Naruto as the Rightful son of the late Fourth. The legacy, that came with many enemies, would be tough and dangerous for him to carry. Sarutobi was thoroughly planning on training the boy as a proper ninja with help of Kakashi and Jiraya so that he could stand on his two feet against the enemies, who would hold grudge against him for his father's deeds.

Hiruzen knew Naruto was thinking about being a ninja and enrolling into the Shinobi academy. Given his secret status as the demon sacrifice, as well as the descendent of the Uzumaki clan and son of the late Hokage, it was just inevitable for him to become a shinobi. Still, Hiruzen wanted to create an illusion for the boy that he was free to choose any other way of life if he so desired. So that he would think the decision he made to become the shinobi was his own and not because of outer influence. It was the least he can do to make the boy feel free in his own decision.

"Sigh… "

"-S-so, that other can…"

Hiruzen sighed tiredly at the heart-breaking fate of the boy, whom he loved as his own grandson. Funny enough, his sudden reaction was misunderstood, which caused the atmosphere in the room to shake. The merchant was sweating bullets, it seemed he mistook Hiruzen's expression as dissatisfaction for him.

Well, he wasn't far off.

"A-And by doing so, it is guaranteed for us to have the upper hand in the end! What do you think Hokage-Same? "

Ah, finally, it seemed the man was done with his preaching. Hiruzen looked straight in the man's eyes, the latter shook nervously under the powerful gaze.

"… What I think?"

"Y-yes? "

Hiruzen crossed his fingers together and hid his gaze behind his robe. The rest of the clan heads quietly fixed their posture, it seems Hokage was going to ask what was on the minds of the rest shinobi representative.

"What I think is, what is this?"

"E-excuse me? "

"The only thing I heard from the beginning to the end, was basic economic plans to fix our Village's damaged income from the market, which we have discussed here before, dozen times at that."

"That's, W-we thought it would be better to quickly fix this problem as soon-"

"I understand that. Fixing the damaged state of our economy is a top priority just as much as fixing the physical damage our Village has suffered 6 years ago. I do not need you to remind me that, honorable Kuraki-san. Whilst we took priority in fixing the physical damage, that doesn't mean we have neglected the economic crisis our village is facing from within. I thought you knew that since I have seen your subordinates at the table of those meetings. What I don't understand is, why did you summon an emergency meeting for such a basic discussion? Elders, did you know the contents of this meeting beforehand?"

"No, we didn't."

"No, Hokage-Sama."

"You didn't know the content and still declared the emergency? "

"…We, wished to see the reason for this sudden call as well, but the head merchant and his subordinates stubbornly insisted for the meeting to commence first hand."

"We aren't ones to hesitate when the future of our leaf village was mentioned in their request, so we called the summit. We are as surprised as you are, to find out the 'important discussion 'was simply another economical timetable of ideas." Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane glanced at the merchants, followed by the annoyed, impatient, and indifferent gazes of Clan heads.

It was an understatement to say that Hiruzen was one of the most experienced ninjas in the whole Elemental nation. He was called the god of shinobi for a reason after all. So, when he saw the merchant's nervous gaze, awkward body language, and uncontrollable nervous facial expression of Merchants subordinates behind him, the countless years of experience and his battle-hardened heart whispered in his ears that something wasn't right.

"…I am going to ask this once. What is the real purpose of this meeting- "

Slam!

"Hokage-Sama!"

The doors of the room were suddenly slammed open by one of the shinobis as he barged in. The sudden uninvited and disrespectful behavior of the leaf Shinobi forced Hokage, Elders, and several clan heads to stand up in anger.

"What is the meaning of-!?"

Hiruzen's voice was caught in his throat as he laid his eyes on the battle-damaged and wounded appearance of the ninja.

"Hokage-Sama! We were attacked by an Enemy Shinobi! "

"What?!"

"The south gate of the village has been breathed! We have identified the group of 23 enemy ninja!

"What is the situation? Have they been captured yet?"

"Yes sir! Anbu has them surrounded, but we have suffered some casualties, they have some sort of explosive seals on their bodies, some of them have blown themselves up when our forces tried to subdue them. Several Civilians and Chunins are in critical condition!

"The suicide Bombers? In this day and age? This doesn't make sense! How did they even cross the land of fire without being detected!?"

"Now is not a time to speculate Koharu! Hiruzen, we need to act quickly!"

Hiruzen's mind was racing. The God of Shinobi's face was unreadable, but his eyes were as cold as Shinigami's. The rare expressionless and tactful face of the cold calculating leader who has sacrificed the better half of his life leading his village has shown itself to the witnesses in the room. Behind his façade, Hiruzen's heart kept beating with anger and humiliation.

'They dare attack my village, with me in here in the bright daylight like this? Have they finally lost their minds?!'

His eyes darted to the shaking form of the head merchant Kuraki and his subordinates, Hiruzen's gaze took a look of a ferocious old lion that was ready to tear apart his prey.

'They are involved in this.'

"Capture everyone non-military representative in this room and lock them up tight in cells under the stick supervision."

Several shadows appeared around Kuraki and his men, the gazes behind the shadow operatives' masks were calm and collected, yet cold and calculating. They slowly surrounded the group like a pack of wolves ready to tear their prey apart. The scared and petrified looks of the men in the group was a sight to see.

Head merchant Kuraki stemmed on his words as he helplessly glanced at Hokage's and the Clan head's judgmental emotionless gazes.

" H-Hokage-Sam-"

"Silence"

The sudden release of Sarutobi's high amount of chakra pressure within the room was too much to the untrained body of merchants as they fell down on the ground, helplessly gasping for air as every military representative stared down at them with distaste.

"I will deal with you bunch later, get them out of my sights."

Without further ado, the shadows disappeared, taking the bodies of the frozen merchants and their leader with them.

"Crow"

Suddenly a shadow with a marked crown mask appeared behind Sarutobi, kneeling and obediently waiting for orders.

"Report."

"We have them surrounded, sir. Every last one of the invaders are within our sights, our operatives are keeping them at bay. they are covered in some sort of complex seal of explosives, that activate once the host is killed or self detonates. The initial blast of the gates, on top of the 14 confirmed suicide bombings lead to 24 critical wounded. These are 11 civilians and 4 Chunins, 10 Genins. We have also confirmed 15 civilian and 2 Chunin's death. We are still searching for more survivors."

"how come we haven't heard nor felt Explosions in here?"

"It seems the room has a seal that blocks any kind of outside interference, including noise frequency and vibration. I have noticed this when I failed to contact my subordinates stationed in here."

"What? This room is sealed?"

" Yes, we are still searching for-"

"I believe I have found that very seal, Hokage-Sama. "The attention within the room suddenly fell on Hiashi Hyuga, who silently distanced himself from the group and now was staring at the curtain wall with an interest. The veins within his eyes were pulsing as he touched the wall and slowly ripped something off. The piece that he ripped off, suddenly lost the color of the wall it camouflaged and transformed into a paper with a seal drawn on top of it. The Crow quickly flickered next to the Hyuga Clan head and started studying the seal in the clan head's hand.

"it seems the worm has crawled into the apple, deep enough to make it rot. This attack is not externally influenced in its origin, it was planned from within. We have a spy among us, a spy that has wiggled deep enough in our ranks to put that seal under our nose without us detecting anything. They have played us like a damn fiddle. "

Fugaku Uchiha whispered as he slowly let out a tired sigh as Hiashi, who has returned to his seat, nodded in agreement.

"They dare… It seems the Elemental nation has been looking down on us more than we initially thought. We shall discuss this matter alongside the information we will extract from Merchants later, now we must focus on the problem at hand. Spread out and commence emergency protocol 03. "

"Yes, Hokage-Same!"

---

Ever since he learned how to walk on his two feet, he was an honest, hardworking citizen, who tried his utmost to makes his family. He met his wife when he was still a teenager. It was a love built on trust and sincerity. Every day after that was warm and bright for him. They had 2 children together, one girl and one boy. Their laugh was contagious, their smile was pure, their dreams for the future were naïve and yet beautiful just like every child's, the man and his wife were happiest they could have ever been with such a warm family. He even made it his daily routine to got up every morning and prayed for the safety and the wellbeing of his family, before going to work. Even the tiring harsh work in mines was forgotten in an instance in the evening at the sight of seeing his loved ones waiting for him to join for dinner. They always waiting for him to get home for dinner, until one day they didn't. he still remembered the crater that was once his house, the crashed body of his wife under the rocks, the mess of flesh, bones, and red-yellow body liquids that was once his children, He wasn't even there when they died. They disappeared like they didn't exist in the first place…

He remembered His anguish, his sorrow, and despair as he slowly opened his eyes.

Somewhere in the darkroom, several candles shone brightly, illuminating the whole room with many people of different origins within.

Women and men, some old and some young, some cripple and some covered in all kinds of scars. All kinds of people were in there. Most of them had frozen expressions, some had faces devoid of emotion, some were engulfed in grief to the point that some of them were even crying.

Some people's faces adored the look of the anger.

He slowly stood up from where he was sitting. He looked around the room, glancing from one person to another. Once meeting his gaze, People either looked away or simply shrank back into the darkness, trying to hide their faces.

He looked at them for a while, until finally, he spoke up.

"Enough with this atmosphere. If any of you won't do it I will, so that you can go sleep at night without any regret."

"How can you say that? We are here, literally planning to end the life of an innocent child. Don't you feel any hesitation at the idea…?"

Asked one of the people in the room. The man stood in on his feet for a while, his face hidden by the shadows of the room.

"All I know is, the monster that took everything away from me is hiding inside that boy's body…"

The Man's name was once Sakuzu Saragoshi. One of the hundred victims who had lost everything in the Demon's attack.

"And I will make it pay…That thing, that fuckin abomination, if it means I can hurt, kill it, torture it, make it FEEEL at least fractions of my pain, I Don't care where it's hiding, whether it is boy or toddler, I will … I Will!"

Sakuzu's rambling stopped short as the door of the room was open slowly by Nami as She went into the room, leading Naruto alongside her within, his, alongside the gazes of the people in the room fell onto them. Naruto blinked at the sudden source of multiple lights within the room, his expression changed, even more, when he saw people in there, staring at him.

"He is so young…"

"a child…"

People's whimpers fell to silence for Saragoshi's numb ears. He stared at the child, who looked no older than his daughter before she was crushed by the giant pawn. He felt numbness spreading through his whole body.

"…That is him? The one that hosts the thing?"

He asked as he looked over the scared form of the child, his face crumbled like he just ate something bitter.

"Yes…" the pathetic hoarse voice of Nami was heard.

The Man started walking towards the duo.

"J-just…Let's finish this quickly without making him feel any- "

Nami's voice caught in her throat as she saw the man quickly closing the distance and throwing a hard kick into the Poor Boy's stomach, Sending the petrified child at the wall.

"W-What the hell are you doing!? "Nami screamed as she slammed her hands at the back of Sakuzu's head in panic, before quickly Dashing to the boy, painfully whimpering on the ground.

"Naruto!"

"All the years of torment… finally brought me here to that thing…"

"He is just a child, you sick man! We agreed to end his life as painlessly as possible! What are you doing!?"

Nami screamed at the man as she checked on Naruto.

"S-Sakuzu, what have you done? This is not wha-"

"Did you forget your Grandchildren?"

Sakuzu Cut the old man, who tried to stop him, off. The old man's expression froze on his face at the mention of his dead Grandchildren.

"Did you forget how they were burned to ashes?"

The old man's body shook.
" Y-you, how dare you…"

"Did you forget their gruesome death so quickly?"

Sakuzu looked at the man in the eye before glancing around the room.

"Did you all forget what has that monster done to your loved ones? Unlike you, I didn't have the luxury of actually having a body to bury. My beloved wife, my children… all I have left to put under the ground was a mess of the body parts …I didn't forget, I never forgot. I see their messed-up bodies every time I close my eyes."

He clenched his teeth as anger and hatred took hold of him.

"This boy has that thing locked up inside his body. They are connected, it can feel whatever he can feel."

He slowly started walking towards Nami and Naruto.

"meaning, by hurting him, I can hurt the thing."

He stopped and looked behind him. The look of madness slowly crept up in his expression as his pupils shook, anyone with sanity could tell the man has lost his mind.

"I don't care if he is an innocent child, I will torture him to torture the thing inside him before I end its abominable life. Whoever tries to stop, I will kill them myself."

"Y-You, you crazy! "

Nami rasped in horror, her eyes franticly glancing between the man and the people inside the room. Some of the witness` bodies shook with fear of the man. Some looked lost, unbelieving of the current situation.

Step-step

Some took a step forward next to the man. Their expressions were similarly lost, but behind the confusion lied the anger and madness, it didn't take long to figure out what they were going to do, judging by these expressions and no one here was willing to stop them.

"You! Y-You! This is a child! A Child! We agreed to end the demon within him without making the boy suffer! You can't! you can't!"

The group slowly got close to Nami and dizzy Naruto as the silent onlookers slowly watched the scene unfold in silence. Seeing how the words weren't working, Nami tried to grab Naruto and drag him away.

"Naruto! Wake u-"

Suddenly a foot was slammed in her head. The woman stemmed as several men jumped on her and started kicking her in the head to knock her out.

The dizzy and lost eyes of Naruto shook, as he saw several shadows slowly crawling up towards him, the poor boy mistook them for shinobi.

Excitement and hope engulfed his heart as his face was crushed under the foot.