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Danzō was looking at the boy, still in that accursed orange jumpsuit, who was sitting opposite to him, his desk covered in mountains of papers a barrier between them. And he had an uncomfortable feeling that a barrier of some kind was needed.

The last time he had spoken to Uzumaki Naruto the boy had been fidgeting, which might have been boredom, but which he had chosen to interpret as nervousness. Now Uzumaki was holding his head higher and his eyes reminded Danzō unnervingly of late Namikaze Minato. The Yondaime Hokage had been a man who could move mountains if he felt there was need and for all his offspring was undignified and fairly ridiculous with his obsessions, he had apparently taken after his father more than Danzō had known.

"I offer my congratulations for your show of understanding of human mind. Have you considered specializing in interrogation?" he asked mildly. Uchiha-san might have been a fluke and Sabaku no Gaara a coincidence, but three times already formed a pattern. It was peculiar how someone so straightforward and obnoxious could be so apt at manipulation. Too bad this compromised Hibari-san.

"No, I have not, and your people skills suck. These people need some joy in their lives. Scratch that, they need a life. And that Cursed Seal of yours is plain evil, what are you anyway, Orochimaru-wannabe?" Naruto-san's voice was loud and grating. His voice had yet to break the first time and that such a childish, ignorant voice questioned him was unacceptable.

Danzō felt the burning in his eye under the bandages, was sorely tempted to rip them off and give the insolent, out-of-control weapon a reminder of its place, but he merely gripped the edge of his desk until his knuckles stood out white and sharp.

"Do not compare me to that nukenin! I am a loyal servant of Konoha and all I do is for the protection of its people, even when naïve idiots like you refuse to acknowledge this." How was it even possible, Danzō lamented, that out of four, count them, four Hokages half had been soft hearted tree-huggers?

Then again, the Professor had been a good Hokage before he had suffered monumental lapse of judgement and named Namikaze Minato his follower. The man hadn't been himself ever since. That line could be blamed for much.

"You think you can protect people by hurting them? I wouldn't agree with you about sky being blue if you said so!" Naruto-kun protested, his arguments having sunk back to the Academy level. Danzō would have felt vindicated if he hadn't been so baffled.

"What would you call it then?" If the little ingrate said green… He probably would.

"Periwinkle." Or not. Danzō wasn't artistic in the least and he wasn't one to dazzle with fashionable clothing, but even he knew what periwinkle was.

"One, periwinkle is a shade of blue so in effect you are agreeing with me. Two, it isn't even the shade of sky." Take that, he thought smugly.

"Statistically sky is more often periwinkle than light blue, believe it!" But Naruto-kun refused to acknowledge his winning arguments. And as far as he was concerned the sky was neverperiwinkle.

Uprooted, Chapter 5