Just a quick note to apologize for the long wait. I know you guys are liking the story and I like writing, life just gets hectic sometimes.

Sorry fam ❤
___

Naruto paced in his room, the wall had been fixed a week after Sasuke and his fight as punishment. Naruto gave Yamato the silent treatment after that, which only extended the cold nights for another few days before Naruto apologized. Again.

The blonde sighed, he wished Sasuke would hurry back and deal with his brother. Naruto wasn't sure what to do with the older Uchiha. He seemed to always understand the messages Itachi would send but he could never respond in the same way. It was frustrating for the young Jounin.

With another sigh, Naruto leaned against his window frame and stared out at the village. There used to be trees in the way of the view but since the attack, those had been uprooted. 

"Hey kid" A voice called from below. 

Naruto glanced down with an annoyed expression at his peace and silence being interrupted but stood up straight when he noticed Tsunade staring back at him.

"Granny Tsunade?" Naruto questioned as if he didn't believe his eyes. She was awake! Naruto quickly jumped out his window and landed in front of a tired Tsunade.

"Why didn't anyone come get me? I would have been there when you woke up!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown.

"I don't know. Shizune said you were busy with Jiraiya" Tsunade stated with a soft smile on her lips. She was glad people cared about her to worry and want to be there for her.

"You must see me as someone important to you if you came to see me instead of sending someone" Naruto smirked cheekily.

Tsunade's smile quickly vanished with a growing irk mark on her forehead "Baka. I only came to hear what you were doing with Jiraiya and where your teammates are"

Naruto didn't lose his smirk "that's still something you could have sent someone for"

The blonde's smirk was quickly cut off with a smack to the head.
___

Sasuke eyed Danzo's arm as he had just severed it from his body but before he could react, the arm disappeared and Danzo, once again, stood at the top of the bridge pillar. The Uchiha grit his teeth in frustration. 

If he wanted to have a battle of the eyes, Sasuke would give him a hell of a fight. His eyes widened as his Mangekyou Sharingan came to life. He watched as Danzo reeled back in surprise though he couldn't see the masked man anywhere. 

As Danzo readied himself for an attack, black chakra leaked out of Sasuke and formed into Raven's before surrounding the bandaged elder. Danzo narrowed his eyes as he looked around for what may come but as Itachi materialized before him, the elder paused.

"This is...Itachi?" Danzo muttered. 

Itachi stepped forward, his pupils tensing as blood starts to pour and nerves protruded from the whites of his eyes. 

"Die" Itachi glared as black flames engulfed Danzo, sending him into a fit of pain.

But as Danzo internally calculated the amount of pain he was feeling, he realized the Genjutsu could not replicate true pain, so the pain he felt wasn't real. Neither was the Amataresu Itachi had used on him.

Danzo eyed Itachi but addressed Sasuke "I commend you for placing me under Genjutsu." 

Sasuke quickly took the opportunity to lunge at Danzo, but his body came to a halt before he could strike. Danzo continued speaking, even praising his brother, but Sasuke could only focus on the black marks growing across his body. A Curse Mark that paralyzes the body. Sasuke wondered back to when Danzo had laid a finger on him but realized he didn't have time to think of it as Danzo took his blade from his hands and prepared to strike him down.

"Why?" Danzo suddenly questioned, though Sasuke could not respond "Why was it necessary to fight for trash that is Itachi? I take no pleasure in ending the life of a Leaf shinobi and I will personally give the news to Itachi...just before I kill him myself" 

Sasuke glared as Danzo flung the sword down at his neck. In that moment, Sasuke remembered all the times he'd had with his brother, the sacrifices he'd made. He wouldn't go down just yet. 

As if someone had snapped their fingers, the atmosphere suddenly changed and large purple chakra burst from Sasuke's body, pushing Danzo back before the sword could strike. 

Sasuke had finally revealed his Susanoo as it stood proudly in skeletal form. Danzo had dropped the sword and covered his arm that had been damaged in the dodge.

The young Uchiha's eyes closed as he focused his power into the Susanoo. Slowly, it grew muscles, skin, and armor to form a half-complete Susanoo. Lastly, the Susanoo grew a shield and a sword of its own.

Sasuke grunted in pain, both from the curse mark and his eyes, as he forced his chakra into the curse mark but it was nothing compared to the pain Kakashi had dealt them in the past. The curse mark faded and Sasuke looked to Danzo, ready to finally kill him.

___

"I see. So Kakashi took over as Hokage and Sasuke accompanied him as a guard" Tsunade muttered in thought.

Naruto looked off into the distance as he wondered how the meeting had gone. He hoped Danzo wouldn't cause too much trouble being demoted so suddenly and in front of the other Kage. It would be the ultimate disrespect in Danzo's eyes but at the end of the day, it wasn't about saving face. It was about keeping the village safe.

"Now, what were you and Jiraiya up to? He isn't meant to be out of bed yet" Tsunade questioned with an accusatory glare.

Naruto sweatdropped and waved his hands in surrender "I didn't know anything about being bedridden but..." Naruto stated before dropping his hands and becoming serious "We went to see Itachi."

Tsunade reeled back in surprise "What? Naruto-"

"-I know but I needed him to know. Itachi is innocent, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tsunade sighed "And you thought if Itachi told his story to someone in power, they might be able to help clear Itachi's name..."

Naruto stayed silent which confirmed Tsunade's theory.

"Look kid, it's not that most of us don't understand that something about Itachi's story was off from the beginning-" Tsunade explained "it's that innocent or not, it is fact that his clan was massacred by him and without evidence to prove whether or not he was ordered to do so or something else, the elders and villagers aren't going to be swayed without having someone to blame. You of all people should know how this world works" The blonde Hokage finished with a solemn expression.

"But we have proof!" Naruto exclaimed before shutting his mouth. He knew he wasn't meant to share that, not without his other team members, especially not without consulting his sensei first, but the young man felt frustrated beyond anything he'd ever felt. There were too many emotions mixed into this. He felt ashamed as he'd purposefully gone through torture and interrogation training so that things like this wouldn't occur.

"What proof could you possibly have to help Itachi's case?" Tsunade questioned, her Hokage persona coming out. The thought of outing those that had something to do with the Uchiha massacre was important to Tsunade. She knew something was off. The reports had stated guards were moved away from the compound that night and multiple civilians had come forward complaining about screaming but no one was sent until it was too late.

Naruto stayed quiet, unsure of how to continue.

Tsunade sighed "Naruto, I cannot help him or you if you won't let me."

Naruto stared into the determined eyes of his Hokage and found only the will of fire.

"A few years ago..." Naruto began "We knew something was strange about Itachi's actions so we broke into the Hokage tower-"

"Excuse me?"

"Wait, don't interrupt" Naruto stated unconsciously though as soon as the words left his mouth, a drop of sweat slithered down his forehead in slight fear.

"Ehm...you see, we found a file in the Third Hokage's desk. A file of what really happened that night" Naruto continued.

He explained everything that happened has happened since then, including Yuki and why they left the village. Including their clan's mission.
___

Sasuke panted as he stood with shaky legs before Danzo. The elder smirked with victory in his eyes but Sasuke knew who had truly won.

Danzo glanced down at the only eye left open on his arm "You were too hasty. My eye is still open" He muttered, Sasuke could have sworn he heard relief in his voice "I win" Danzo stated as he withdrew his wind chakra blade from Sasuke's chest, paying little mind to the lightning blade in his own chest.

"you may think you've seen through Izanagi-" Danzo paused as he felt his chakra remain the same. Izanagi had meant to activate by now but as he realized that it hadn't, Danzo realized he was in much more trouble than he thought.

Sasuke withdrew, his Mangekyou Sharingan still activated as he stared at the bandaged man, who fell to his knees with blood dripping from his lips.

Sasuke had observed Danzo's worry on the closing of his eyes and used it to his advantage. As Sasuke killed Danzo the final time for his last eye to close, he placed a Genjutsu on him so that it would appear that the eye was still open and, therefore, encouraging Danzo to act more rashly than he would have intended to had he known. 

"Danzo..." Sasuke muttered as he stared down at the man, thinking about the journey he had been on to defeat him. It was finally a reality.

"How?" Danzo muttered.

Sasuke wouldn't satisfy him with an answer. The man could only accept defeat now. 

Danzo's arm with Hashirama's cells suddenly sprouted roots, growing into a tree beside him before the elder cut his arm off. It was clear he had lost control over the cells.

The Uchiha raised his hand to finish Danzo's life with Chidori when the not-so-bandaged male suddenly jumped back and undid his head bandages, revealing another Sharingan.

As if Sasuke could feel the familiarity, he knew it belonged to Shisui Uchiha.

"Sasuke..." Danzo muttered "I will bring you down. I will be the one reformer who will change the ninja world!" Danzo yelled.

Sasuke's glared intensified "And how would you do that? By killing more innocents?"

Danzo breathed heavily as he returned Sasuke's glare "Sacrifices must be made in order to achieve peace"

"That is not peace" Sasuke snapped before manipulating his Chakra into a Chidori.

Danzo flinched back before pausing. It seemed he was thinking over his next move but Sasuke wouldn't give him the option as he lunged forward with incredible speed, his Chidori making contact with his abdomen.

Danzo grunted, the Uchuha's hand had breached the other side of his body.

"If I die...I...won't let you live!" Danzo sputtered as blood dripped from his mouth.

Danzo ripped open what was left of his shirt as a black seal appeared on his chest, growing by the second.

Sasuke quickly caught on and ripped his arm from the elder's abdomen.

Danzo released his last suicidal jutsu, not giving Sasuke the chance to escape.

The Uchiha watched with wide eyes as his life would surely end at this moment.

Sasuke closed his eyes and within a blink of an eye, the bridge exploded, Danzo being the cause.

Tobi sighed as he held Sasuke under his arm, unconscious from the blast. He had teleported the raven-haired male out of the way at the last second and stood under the bridge on the water.

The masked man glanced down at his distant cousin with malicious curiosity. He had surpassed Tobi's expectations and he would use it to its extent.

"You can put him down now" A voice startled Tobi as he hadn't sensed anyone sneaking up on him. He turned to see the legend in the making: Kakashi Hatake.

The man stood with an eased stance, not the slightest bothered by Tobi's presence and the fact that his student was in the hands of the enemy.

The only maliciousness Tobi could pick up easily was the man's eyes. Kakashi's glare could kill and Tobi surely felt unsafe.

"Shall I take him from you instead?" Kakashi spoke again once he realized the masked man wasn't budging.

"Kakashi Hatake..." was all Tobi could say as he came to terms with who stood in front of him.

"Hm? Do I know you?" Kakashi questioned.

Tobi and Kakashi stared at each other for a moment, their minds coming up with the copious amounts of outcomes that could occur here.

It was at that moment that Sasuke began to stir and both men jumped into action.