Night walker, huh?
Perhaps Shisui was right and he was the night walker. For Naruto, the night was day, and day was, at most, night.
Uchiha yes, a member of the military police force, yes, but he walked the night and the slept through the day if he wasn't training.
At least, according to Itachi, this was the epitome of a true shinobi. The ideal shinobi for the Light of the Uchiha clan was one who walked through the shadows, seeking neither fame nor rewards for the death attraction work in protecting the Hidden Leaf.
Naruto had no desire to be clothed in glory or recognition. Itachi may be beloved and worshiped by some fanatics, but Naruto did not envy it.
His fellow clansman fame brought much needed relief to their outcast of a clan and its maligned members. Maybe it was envy or just irrational fear.
Whatever the case was, being Uchiha, if you were not either Shisui or Itachi was not particularly a joyous experience.
For this reason and then some, Naruto walked the night.
Most of his activity in the night was patrolling through Area 44's fences. It was one area the superior protectors of the village – the Anbu – did not patrol.
And as result, there were less clashes when it came to who had custody of any suspects. It was usually silent.
Every now and then, he caught something.
It was around 3am when he sensed movements deep into the forest. He usually lay down on the earth, never minding any dangerous insects or wild animals that could get the jump on him.
Those who sneaked through the forest did not hop through the trees. One was easily detectable that way.
While lying, he could easily detect the slight tremors of footsteps on the ground.
Naruto quickly got up, closed his eyes as he scanned for their general direction. They were three of them – moving away from the village.
Intruders or Anbu? He knew the forest like the back of his mind. He's spent his three years of service within the Military Police running about this place and even setting up traps.
He'd never truly caught anything, just annoyed the Anbu – and that gave him a little joy.
When he opened his eyes, a fully matured Sharingan glowed deeply into the night. Its hypnotic gaze turned the world crimson around him.
In a dark blur, he vanished.
It was indeed three shinobi. They were masked.
The distinctive masks worn by Root forces. Possibly heading somewhere to cause trouble.
He should just let them be – but Naruto hated these scums. He felt contempt so deep that it could shake the very foundation of this village.
Their master was the root of some of the Uchiha's suffering. The slime ran a political campaign, mixed with dark arts to turn his clan into a disease that the villagers were all too keen to avoid.
Danzo was corrupted by the teachings of the Nidaime Hokage. But there was really nothing he could do about it.
He was just a thirteen year old officer of the Military Police Force. He wore no headband of Konoha for he was not a shinobi of the village.
He'd never even stepped foot into the shinobi academy.
While his feet slowly dangled on the branch of a tree, he flared his chakra a bit – just to alert them of his presence. They immediately halted and entered into a protective formation.
He stood from where he hid and hopped through the couple of trees before landing behind the group.
"Illegal aliens running through the night… where do you think you're going?"
"None of your business, Uchiha. "
"It is my business. I am the Uchiha who enforces order.
And you're disturbing that order. You're not Anbu who report to the Hokage.
"
"We're in a hurry, leave us. "
The robotic voice had no emotion nor any sense of nervousness. It was just cold calmness to be envied by any shinobi who worked in the darkness.
"You're not supposed to exist. If we don't see you, it is not a problem.
But if we see you, it becomes a problem. " Naruto replied with cold indifference.
"I'm placing you under arrest for suspicion of carrying out covert operations without any authorization from the Hokage. "
"Stand in the way and your life will be forfeit. "
"Try me, tools. We will see who will forfeit their lives.
"
"It doesn't have to get to that point. " An Anbu dropped in between the two parties.
He had appeared out of nowhere and landed without a sound. The Root may have remained stoic behind their masks but there was a slight twitch in their chakra.
"Leave, Uchiha. You need not stop them.
"
To be dismissed so ruthlessly while in the job felt like a stab to his pride. But Naruto was used to the constant jabs from the Anbu.
There were only a few he could count that he worked along with but the majority, they always wanted to assert their superiority over the Police Force – for Naruto, it felt like they wanted to stamp authority over the Uchiha. He thought it was ludicrous.
No one had that power. Not even the Hokage.
He ignored the Anbu and faced the Root shinobi. "If I see you again, I'm arresting you.
" He said. Meaningless words.
They were under direct orders from Fugaku not to do anything against Root shinobi. He just said it to have the last word.
He didn't even wait to for anyone to speak.
Such was the sad state of things.
By 5am, Naruto had already given his report at HQ and had gone back to the Clan compound. Others were getting ready for the new day, he was going to his long deserved sleep.
2pm
Naruto wouldn't say Itachi was his friend – it would be overreaching to claim otherwise. The genius of the clan was someone he trained with – and yet, the never got along in the same way as he did with Shisui.
Was it envy? Naruto did not envy Itachi – not even a little. The Uchiha had everything.