Clang. Clang. Clang.
Kunai rang together and skittered aside. Naruto dropped onto the stone slab without a scratch.
At the edge of the platform, Sasuke's scarlet eyes went round. The instant Naruto leapt and loosed his kunai midair, the silhouette in his mind overlapped with Uchiha Itachi. The same grace. The same precision.
A few minutes earlier, Naruto had told him to watch every motion with the Sharingan, then performed that dazzling shuriken work right in front of him.
Sasuke had only ever seen that technique from one person.
Now Naruto had slipped through six hidden volleys from the tree mounted crossbows, evading kunai that knifed out from dead angles. There was no room left for doubt.
"Did you see it clearly"
Naruto asked as he hopped down from the slab.
Sasuke nodded first, then locked eyes with him. "Why do you know that man's shuriken arts"
"I learned them," Naruto said, tilting his head, voice cool. "When you were little you snuck here to practice exactly what I just showed. But without the Sharingan you could not catch the finer motions when Itachi used his art. You tried copying anyway and twisted your ankle for the trouble."
Sasuke's face changed. Naruto had already proved he could know people's secrets. After a few quick turns of thought, Sasuke asked, "What is the truth behind the Uchiha massacre"
"With your current strength, you still do not qualify to know."
"What. You said if I awakened the Sharingan you would tell me the truth."
"You misunderstood." Naruto shook his head. "I said only those who have awakened the Sharingan are qualified to hear it. I never promised to tell you immediately."
"You are not calm enough. And you only have single tomoe. You are too weak. What good would the truth do you now."
Color drained from Sasuke's anger. He wanted to argue, but the throb in his swollen cheek reminded him how their fights had gone. He really was too weak.
Yet when he thought of that night, rage and grief tossed through him like a storm. His face twisted against his will.
Naruto watched the warping expression and thought a moment. "Fine. Since you opened your eyes, you have earned at least this much. I will tell you two things you should have noticed already. If you do not, your life may end cheaply."
Sasuke's pupils tightened. As his emotions cooled he frowned. "What do you mean"
"At the root, the Uchiha were wiped out because of the Sharingan."
Sasuke's fists clenched, but Naruto lifted a hand to halt him.
"Listen and think. If you are not truly foolish, you will see how many parts of the massacre make no sense."
"First. The Uchiha ran the Konoha Police Force. They were trained to handle emergencies. When Itachi moved, do you mean to tell me no one raised an alarm"
"The Police HQ is not far from the Hokage's office. Are the Hokage's ANBU blind"
As the words landed, a chill crawled up Sasuke's spine. He was impulsive, not stupid.
There were so many officers. Most were clan elites. Not one alarm. And the office was right there.
Civilians might miss it. Would ANBU miss it too
"Well. Thought of something, have you"
Naruto saw Sasuke's face flicker through understanding and dread. That was enough.
Sasuke leaned back against the slab. His chest rose and fell. He fought to clamp his feelings down.
"Do you want me to go on"
Sasuke closed his eyes. After a long breath, he nodded.
"Second," Naruto said, glancing at the sunset. "After the massacre, aside from your own home, the village reclaimed the Uchiha district in less than half a month and replanned it."
"They left you no secret training manuals, no clan records. They did not even tell you where the recovered bodies were taken."
"How do you think they handled those bodies"
Sasuke's eyes flew open, face darkening. "How"
"I said two things. I have said them." Sensing the Third Hokage approaching his house, Naruto drew out three scrolls and handed them over. "Go to the Academy library and read about the Third Great Ninja War. Look up the hero file for the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. You will find something interesting."
Sasuke swallowed his frustration. "You still did not tell me the truth about the massacre."
"That is right." Naruto's tone changed. "Take this advice. Do not swallow everything people feed you. Use your head. When your eyes reach three tomoe, I will let you see with your own eyes what happened."
"And do not let the village know you awakened the Sharingan. You will understand why after you read that hero file."
Sasuke took the scrolls in silence. His mouth twitched, but he did not speak.
"I have to head home." Naruto tapped the scrolls. "Two contain ninjutsu and taijutsu fit for you right now. The last holds protective gear and weighted blocks. The crossbows in the trees are yours for training. I wrote down how to reload and retract them."
Sasuke glanced up at the mechanisms among the branches. When he turned back, he froze.
Naruto was gone.
The Second Visit
"Naruto, you know why I came."
The Third Hokage sat on a chair on Naruto's second floor, gaze stern.
Naruto nodded and kept quiet.
"Why do you wish to graduate"
Naruto made a bashful face. "I wanted to try. In the library I saw someone who graduated at five and later became a hero on the battlefield."
The Third's expression eased. "Is that all"
Naruto nodded again.
The old man knew exactly who he meant. After a moment of thought his lips lifted in a smile. "Naruto, do you want to be a hero"
The Next Day
At noon dismissal, Sasuke finally walked into the library with a bruised face. He found a volume on the Third Great Ninja War, sat in a quiet corner, and opened to the record of Kannabi Bridge.
When he read that Hatake Kakashi, an outsider, had successfully received Uchiha Obito's transplanted Sharingan and was celebrated as a hero, the blood left his face.
Remembering Naruto's question about how the clan's bodies would be handled, he began to understand why Naruto said the massacre came down to the Sharingan.
He stepped out into the sunlight and felt a strange chill. He had never truly known the village he had grown up in.
Under the bright sun, Konoha felt like the same night that had terrified him for weeks.
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