307 - Covering for Him

Returning to his own body was faster than the outward journey. Instinct guided his soul home, sparing him the need to keep checking his direction. By the first light of dawn, he had reached the Land of Demons and returned to his original Yin Release body.

"Ah..."

Naoki climbed out of the hollow tree and stretched.

The sealing formulas surrounding the hollow were intact. No person or animal had approached while his soul was away. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The giant wild boar came over, circling him eagerly.

Naoki jumped onto its back and patted its head. "Good work. You've earned yourself some credit this time!"

The boar had not been with him long, but it had proved useful whenever it mattered.

He released the Summoning Technique to send it home, then immediately entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode and flew toward Konoha.

A few days later, he reached the village.

He still did not know what had happened to Team 11, or whether the Shadow Clone Shisui had used to cover for him had been exposed. Rather than openly enter the village, he slipped home first.

The courtyard gate Shinno had kicked off its hinges was repaired. Suzu, Shion, and Taruho were sitting together over lunch.

Suzu hurried to greet him. "Naoki, you're finally back!"

Shion ran over too, looking up at him expectantly.

He took the enchanted gourd from his waist and handed it to her, telling her and Taruho to carry it upstairs.

The priestess's soul was temporarily sheltering inside the gourd, and he had no idea how much longer she could last. He did not want to waste what time remained. Mother and daughter deserved a chance to say everything they had not yet been able to tell each other.

Once Shion and Taruho were upstairs, he turned to Suzu. "Tell me exactly what's happened in the village these past few days. Don't leave anything out."

She nodded and gave him a full account.

After that night of chaos, the village had sent more than a thousand shinobi to search the surrounding area for Naruto without finding him. Just as the Third began to fear he was missing, they discovered that he had somehow returned home on his own. He was fast asleep in bed, as though nothing had happened.

Then, yesterday, Team 11 had finally run into Danzo while trying to get past Root's cordon and return to the village. Outnumbered in the ensuing fight, Kakashi and Guy had both suffered serious injuries. Fortunately, Homura Mitokado, the adviser sent to bring the team back, had arrived in time to rescue them.

The incident had nearly provoked an open clash between the Uchiha and Danzo. Even the Third had given him a severe reprimand.

"So Danzo went through with it after all." Naoki sighed, then stiffened. 'Wait. If Shisui was attacked, won't that expose the cover story he was maintaining for me?'

He quickly asked, "Has anyone asked you where I am?"

Suzu shook her head. "No."

"Has the village sent anyone to look for me?"

"Not that I know of."

He relaxed. "Good."

Homura had rescued the other three members of Team 11 from Danzo only yesterday. Until then, no one outside the team had known whether Naoki was with them.

From the sound of it, his teammates had not revealed his absence. All he needed was a plausible explanation, and he could come and go openly again.

Of course, Suzu was only a chunin, with limited access to information. Naoki contacted Shisui by ninja crow to make sure. Shisui confirmed that Team 11 had not exposed him. They had told the Third he had become separated from them during the chaos.

Four-person teams often sent some of their members out to gather intelligence. In an emergency, getting separated was hardly unusual.

"Those guys..."

Naoki smiled. It felt good to know they had his back.

Now that he understood the situation, he deliberately circled outside the village, made himself look travel-worn, and hurried back through the main gate. He was immediately summoned to the Hokage's office.

The Third asked the usual questions, but Naoki could tell his mind was elsewhere. The events of the past few days had clearly left him overwhelmed.

Leaving the Hokage Building, Naoki thought, 'Being Hokage is no easy job.'

He went next to the Uchiha compound to visit Shisui, who was recovering from his injuries.

As soon as he saw Naoki, Shisui said, "Senior, you were right. Lord Danzo really is after my Mangekyo Sharingan. I let my guard down..."

"It's a good thing Kakashi and Guy were there!"

Shisui nodded. "Yes. If it hadn't been for them, he probably would have succeeded!"

Meanwhile, at the Uchiha clan head's residence.

"Clan Head, can't you even trust us? Why didn't you tell us the Police Force had a secret unit?"

"Exactly. The people you've been training in secret are Uchiha too. Why hide them from the rest of us?"

"Who is that unit commander? Are you really still going to keep it from us?"

The clan's elite shinobi demanded answers, one after another. The apparent lack of trust infuriated them.

Fugaku stood with his arms folded, his expression grim, and said nothing.

He had intended to investigate quietly. But so many Konoha shinobi had seen Shinno's complete Tailed Beast transformation that everyone was curious about the Uchiha who had defeated him alone.

As the story spread, it had somehow turned into a rumor that the Uchiha maintained a secret unit unknown even to the Third Hokage. The shinobi who defeated Shinno was supposedly its commander.

Even many of Konoha's jonin believed it. The Uchiha clan was in an uproar.

After finally getting the others to leave, Fugaku spotted Itachi walking along the corridor and called him over.

Ever since that night, when an Akatsuki member had abducted Sasuke and Itachi had rescued him, Fugaku had felt that something about his elder son had changed. It was a change in his bearing, difficult to put into words...