Something Precious

Chapter Thirty

"Woah! So you took out six jounin level ninja all by yourself!? Teach me your ways." Obito pleaded enthusiastically, admiration basically pouring out of him.

"Sit down you idiot." Kakashi pushed Obito, who had been leaning across the table, back down to his seat.

Naruto chuckled; he was reminded of how he had been just the same when he was a genin. It was very ironic how similar he had once been to this Obito and yet they had grown to be mortal enemies. He tasted the bitter tinge of irony. He only hoped he could paint a slightly better future for the young boy.

Minato also chuckled fondly at his student. "So are you a taijutsu specialist then?" he asked Naruto. Naruto shook his head which surprised everyone.

"No. I specialize in ninjutsu, but a lot of my jutsu can be quite. . . destructive to put it lightly." he shrugged. Minato considered this for a moment.

"Could you show me some time?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as it often did.

"Uh. . . sure. . . sometime." Naruto agreed hesitantly because he could think of no good excuse to refuse. His hesitance was noted but only fueled the Namikaze's need to know.

"Anyway, you wanted to go over more about the Root ninja right? As well as what to do about them?" Naruto grasped as a way to divert the subject. It worked, Minato pushed all thoughts of ninjutsu to the back of his mind to be gone over at a later, more convenient time. He knew what Naruto was doing, but the idea of being spied on by Danzo really set him on edge for some reason. He had never taken to the Leaf elder and this just threw any residing trust out the window, into a blazing fire then to have the wind pick up the ashes and sweep them away. . . more or less, he may be a tad dramatic. But it really did upset him!

"Do you have a plan?" he asked expectantly. Naruto held up a hand in a motion that said 'slow down, we're not there yet'. Minato tried not to sulk but kept his face serious.

Naruto quickly briefed the others on the situation concerning Danzo.

"So they are watching us right now? That's. . . unnerving." Rin commented. Naruto nodded in agreement and pointed to a space outside of the window.

"They are in the shadows of that building. The one with the flowers." he told them and Obito rose from his seat again, craning his neck to get a better view.

The jounin leader of the team already knew this - he had been keeping careful tabs on them since Naruto had pointed them out in the lot - but still couldn't keep his eyes from straining against the shadows to try and at least glimpse at the hidden figures he knew where there.

"What are we going to do about them?" he asked. "I know you said it didn't matter but I think I speak for the whole team when I say it makes me uneasy just knowing they are there. I was thinking we could lure them out some how then immobilize them. That way we can question them ourselves and bring them to the Hokage as proof of Danzo's treason." he suggested. Naruto 'hmmed' thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that would be the wisest choice of action, in fact I was thinking along the same lines myself." he agreed. His eyes grew more thoughtful as something dawned on him. "We can't interrogate them though."

"Why not?" Kakashi inquired.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts to face the boy as he answered. "Every Root member has a seal on their tongue." he opened his mouth wide and pointed to the place the seal would be. "Righ therrr." he told them before closing it.

"So what does this seal do?" wondered Rin as she leaned into the table with her head in her hand.

"It is placed there to keep any of Root's members from leaking intel. If they try they become completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak." he explained. Minato was interested in how a seal like that would work, he wasn't one to brag but he was quite skilled with seals.