Mending The Past To A Better Future

42. The Burrow (part 2)

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With Minato’s express permission, Naruto, Kakashi, Obito, and Itachi were allowed to take a day’s rest off of active duty in order to determine the location of Danzo’s base of operations. 

He’d given them a quick farewell and a promise of keeping in touch, before giving them black porcelain masks. Not ANBU grade, but something that would hide their identities. 

It smelled like clay and paint in one, and Naruto slipped it over her face, the cool frame fitting like a second skin. Turning, she looked at Kakashi, who donned it not dissimilar to how he would his regular ANBU mask, and as he did, Naruto took note of how his posture straightened and his body became more battle-ready. 

Obito, much to Naruto’s amusement, fumbled with the mask, and Itachi was as silent and graceful as always. 

“Okay,” Naruto said quietly as they stood at the outskirts of Konoha, away from gate patrol. “From here on out, we will have code names. I will be Kitsune. Kakashi, you will stick with Hound. Itachi, you are Raven, and Obito, you are Kaju. Is that understood?” 

They nodded in muted agreement, and Naruto sighed, slipping on her war persona. It was, indeed, a war.

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Kitsune and Raven traveled to where she remembered sensing the least amount of chakra signatures. It was better to enter from a safe site where too many grounds wouldn’t be stationed. They burrow underground, and at first, the cloying scent of sweetness and plants makes Kitsune want to hurl. And then it’s overwhelmed by blood and sweat. 

The first thing she does is check the area for chakra signatures, and most of them trail down deeper into the caverns. There’s solid steel structures and bridges in the underground, and Naruto can’t help but wonder how no one had noticed the construction of this place. 

“Come on,” Kitsune says. They had left Hound and Kaju on the other side of the facility, and they were going to meet somewhere in the middle. Hopefully. 

“It smells sweet,” Raven commented neutrally. But if it was Raven saying it, then there was clearly more to it than he was letting on. “Like drugs and decay and sugar blossoms.” 

“As far as I know,” Kitsune says, signaling for them to move forward, “Experiments were being conducted to test for Mokuton users. In fact… if I’m correct, there should be one Mokuton user here. Maybe that’s why it’s so…”

“Green?” Raven suggested. Kitsune hummed in agreement. There were bridges and metal poles, but there were also great wood planks that towered through the ceiling, acting as support beams. Leaves and vines grew on the cave walls almost embraceful; the further they moved, the sweeter the smells were. 
E

nergy tingled on the edge of Kitsune’s senses, so she put an arm out to halt Raven. She nodded ahead to the masked figure, and they ducked behind one of the steel rods, observing.

Without seeing any facial expressions, it’s generally hard to determine the emotions of someone. Even with chakra sensing, Kitsune can barely see the tiny tinges of emotion Shinobi allows to slip through. Perhaps, the largest chakra expression she can think of off the bat is Kaju, both past and present. For the past, he’d mostly been swirling with rage and guilt, but he was never afraid to hone those feelings into a warrior’s blade. And for the present, Kaju was a lot happier; more cheerful and kinder. His chakra signature back then had been an inferno ready to burn the world, while his chakra signature now was breathy; light and fluttering and calming. This person – whoever they are under the mask – might as well be dead. Kitsune can’t feel anything. Even people who are good at hiding their emotions like Hound always had something to show.