The Cursed Sharingan

Chapter 15

It didn't take long to relocate to Naruto's house. Jiraiya was glad he thought to, because he doubted Itachi realized that when he knocked Naruto unconscious her clones would disappear, leaving their kids home alone. It was still very late at night or more correctly, very early in the morning. At four am the house was silent in an eerie way for the older man. 'Every time I've been here it's been during the day and it's always loud. This seems wrong, but that's probably because I'm feeling guilty about Naruto' he mused, turning his eyes to the blonde in his arms. He gently laid the slumbering girl on the love seat, examining her morosely. As soon as she was placed down Naruto curled into a ball, bringing her arms up to protect her chest with one fist laying by her cheek. The teen's expression was tense, having carried her distress over into her forced slumber.

The two remaining original members of Akatsuki took the time to examine the living room they appeared in. It was colorful, yet tastefully decorated. It was also very neat, something they weren't expecting based on what little they knew of the jinchurriki. Despite that, it simply screamed Naruto. All in all the effect was very homely, giving off a warm and inviting vibe.

Itachi immediately disappeared upstairs, leaving the three alone-plus one sleeping Naruto. "I suppose we should get back to business, but there is something I want to ask first. Between everything that has happened it fell on to a back burner, but it is very important nonetheless. When we spoke earlier, Nagato you said that Hanzo teamed up with Konoha to betray you. Are you positive he had help from leaf ninja?" Jiraiya asked, falling onto the chair tiredly. Despite his obvious weariness, he still fixed his former student with a hard gaze as they took up seats on the couch.

"There was a group of Konoha Anbu with him. They wore all black and did not have forehead protectors, but from their techniques it was easy to tell which village they were affiliated with" Pein answered, his expression severe.

Jiraiya sighed loudly. The aging sannin ran a shinobi calloused hand roughly through his hair in frustration. "There is no way for me to prove this to you, but based on my knowledge of both the village and my sensei-who was Hokage at the time-I can assure you that Konoha had no part in this" he stated wearily. Upon seeing Pein's displeasure, Jiraiya hurried to continue. "This is known by few, but there is a faction in Konoha called Root lead by a man named Danzo Shimura. This faction is something that Sensei was always aware of. When the Fourth Hokage took up the mantle he had Root disbanded, but Danzo just turned it underground and it has stayed that way since. Root is comprised of shinobi and kunoichi hand picked by Danzo. Most of them are orphans who underwent severe conditioning from childhood. Very few of his methods are known, but from what little we know, none of it is good. He uses a seal placed on the tongue to keep his members from betraying him. Based on your description I'm positive that these ninja were Root ninja. I have no idea why Danzo would involve himself in the politics of Amegakure, or even more worrisome with Hanzo, but I doubt any of it is good. While Root is something that the Hokages and most of the higher ranking Ninja in Konoha are aware of, Danzo covers his tracks well. Root has been a serious thorn in Konoha's side for a long time. It has been impossible to prove just how deep Danzo's subterfuge has gone. I do have my suspicions though...that he was working with Orochimaru" Jiraiya explained tersely, his tone dark at the end.

Throughout his explanation Konan and Pein grew steadily tenser. Nagato didn't have to look at Konan to tell that she was upset by their former sensei's words. "How is it possible that such an organization can exist within your village? If what you're saying is true then Root has been around for the reign of three separate hokages for a span of at least thirty years" the rinnegan user stated aptly, quickly assessing the information that was handed to them.

Jiraiya's lips curled lightly in reaction to his student's intelligence. 'It's not hard to see how Nagato could successfully rule over a village, he has grown tremendously' he noted fondly. "Danzo is around the age of the the third Hokage, they were close friends in their early years. Maybe rivals is a better term for it. Either way, Danzo's goal was and always has been the betterment of Konoha. He created Root to undertake the dirty tasks that needed to be done to protect Konoha. The way sensei explained it, Danzo will do anything to protect or better Konoha and Root was created for this purpose. At first sensei was against it, but he realized that there were morally questionable things that needed to be done. There was Root, ready to do those things no questions asked. It was a better alternative then assigning assassinations and other dirty business to his own Anbu. This was also around the time of the war, when every man or woman counted. Sarutobi-sensei couldn't afford to shut down Root at such a critical time. Knowing Danzo's interests were in Konoha's best interest is probably why sensei didn't take action. Minato though-" he explained, cutting off to clear his throat from the emotion that welled up at the name. A tiny fond smirk graced the white haired man's mouth. "Minato, he realized the danger in Root. It was one of his first acts as Hokage to disband it. An organization loyal to someone other than the Hokage had all the makings of a civil war that he did not want to happen. It was no secret that Danzo was after the Hokage title. He was not the only one left bitter by Sensei's decision to make Minato the Fourth. Orochimaru also wanted to be Hokage. While Root was with Sarutobi-sensei-at least publicly, there was nothing to say that Danzo would remain loyal to Minato or that their ideas of Konoha would be the same. At any point in time Danzo could decide that he didn't like how things were and revolt against Minato. While publicly disbanding them did little other then send Root underground it had the added effect of putting that old war hawk on the defense. The plan was to wait for Danzo to screw up and then have Root completely shut down. Problem was it turns out, Danzo does defense very well. Sadly, Minato did not get to take down Root during his time as Hokage" he finished, his face withdrawn and sad.