The Missing Hokage – Diverging Paths
Naruto had been beaten; his body simply had no more fight left to give. The spray from the waterfall had started to re-soak his bright orange clothes.
Sasuke bent over to look his rival in the eye one last time before throwing his scratched forehead protector on the ground. "I'm sorry." He ruffled the blonde's hair. "But avenging my clan comes before everything else. Even Team Seven."
"Sas-uke."
"Later, Loser." Sasuke muttered before he turned and began to walk away.
A slight breeze ruffled his bangs and blew them into his eyes. His blue shirt fluttered ominously. The slight hiss of something flying at high speeds through the air made him duck instinctively, he wasn't a second too soon as the next instant a sand shuriken had blasted off an entire chunk of rock from the cliff face, showering the immediate area in dust.
When the dust cleared he could see a stone-faced Gaara staring impassively down at him from the top of the waterfall. His teal colored eyes reflecting no emotion while his robes billowed.
There was no warning before someone punched Sasuke in the face, sending him skipping across the surface of the river to crash into the opposite wall of the valley. Standing on the water glaring at him was Rock Lee.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan once again, but his weakened body could do nothing to avoid the wave of sand that encased him from all sides.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Sakura was waiting for her team to return at the village's main gates with bated breath. Ino had already left for the hospital to make sure Chouji was going to live. The worry on her friend's face for her teammate made Sakura fear for Sasuke even more. Naruto's well being didn't really occur to her, and when she realized this she felt more than a little guilty. But feelings of guilt were quickly drowned by anxiousness; it had been more than two days! When was Sasuke coming home to her?
As if summoned by her thoughts, Rock Lee ran through the gates carrying an unconscious Uchiha in a fireman's carry. Gaara was following him, although it looked like he was gliding rather than running. They both passed Sakura without really noticing her; such was their focus on getting to the hospital. Behind Gaara was a cloud of sand that was carrying her blond-haired teammate.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Naruto's body had healed itself in record time, a few more minutes and he would have enough chakra to create a few clones. Such was one of the benefits to being the container of the Kyuubi. Hey, there had to be some perks to balance the bad out, right?
His eyes opened and he scanned the hospital room. The only other occupant was Garaa who was staring unblinkingly at him. Naruto almost jumped out of his skin. "Greetings Uzumaki Naruto."
"Greetings – I mean, hey Garaa, nice to see you, wat'cha doing here?" asked Naruto before he took a better look around at his surroundings. "And where's the bastard?"
"I do not know to which 'bastard', you are referring to, but I am here to protect you while you sleep."
Naruto blinked before a small smile spread across his face. "Uh, oh, thanks. It's kind of you to give up sleep just to keep me safe-"
"I don't sleep."
"…oh. Still, thanks." Naruto turned his nose up into the air and took a sniff. "It smells like Konoha." Naruto looked at Garaa in bewilderment, "What do I need protection from in Konoha?"
"Assassins." Garaa turned his gaze outside for a moment.
"Wha? Assassins? What assassins?" There was a scream followed by a squelching sound. Some red liquid dotted the window.
Garaa turned his gaze back to Naruto as the blood began to drip down the outside of the window. "One of those assassins." Naruto's eyes widened.
"Who are they? What do they want with me?"
Garaa blinked for the first time during the conversation, "I do not know who they are. Their headbands are unfamiliar. But one thing is clear Uzumaki Naruto," Garaa frowned slightly, "their mothers want your blood."
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Sakura was sat at the bed of an unmoving Sasuke. Ino had just told her that Naruto was the one who'd fought Sasuke. But Naruto wouldn't have – couldn't have beaten Sasuke so badly – right? Right?
Kakashi walked into the room and addressed Sakura. "Sakura? I have something to tell you about Naruto. It's an S-ranked secret so you can't tell anyone else. But as his teammate, I think you should know."
"Does this have anything to do with his banishment and Lady Tsunade's abandonment?" Kakashi thought hard about his reply.
"Yes and no Sakura. But Tsunade's abandonment does mean that I can tell you now. You see, twelve years ago when the Kyuubi attacked…"
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
10 Hours Earlier
Ino tackled Shikamaru into a hug. "He's going to be alright! Chouji's going to be alright!"
Shikamaru, after being released from the embrace, let out a long sigh of relief and slid down the wall to sit (slump) on the floor.
"Hey, who was he fighting that put him into such a state?" Asked Ino.
Shikamaru crossed his legs, uncaring of the fact that the nurses were giving him funny looks for sitting on the floor when there was an empty chair right next to him. "Some big guy called Jirobo."
Ino put a hand on her hip and sent an irritated gaze down upon her teammate. "Details Shikamaru, details."
"Uh, he could manipulate the Earth to trap us while he absorbed our chakra, but other than that I wouldn't know. I didn't fight him."
"Oh, who did you fight then, if it was one on one fights, who fought who?"
"Ino, this is troublesome, besides I don't think I'm supposed to tell-" Ino kicked him. "Fine, I fought some wench named Tayuya, Kiba had to fight this weirdo with two heads, Neji decided to take on this guy with eight arms and Naruto engaged Sasuke. Happy? Good, now leave me in peace woman."
Ino kicked him again before skipping off to find Sakura and share the gossip. In the background Chouza Akimichi bear hugged Inoichi and Shikaku at the same time and began to spin them around in glee.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Danzo was blissfully happy with this opportunity. The chance to end such a dark chapter of Konoha's history was upon him, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.
Uzumaki had been allowed too many freedoms and was now out of control, his control (Konoha's control). A weapon that had the potential to be so powerful being out of his control (Konoha's control) was simply unacceptable. The tool had to be discarded before it started doing too many things on its own. He couldn't let Uzumaki grow up to become Hokage and take his life's work away from him could he? No! That's why he had to die before he started changing the minds of the villagers.
Danzo called an emergency council meeting, but with the Akimichi clan head at hospital with his son, and the Aburame clan head out on a training trip, the only other great clan head left was Hiashi. Plus, the Hokage and her assistant were battling to save the lives of a few Genin so she wouldn't be here to stop him.
With Naruto's ninja support in the council stripped away, the only one who would even attempt to oppose the assassination order was the civilian elder Yoshida Kenta, but he would be a bit busy for the next few hours, what with his business going up in flames and all.
In the back of his mind Danzo hoped Yoshida would get back on his feet soon. The fat man controlled a good percentage of Konoha's marketplace after all.
As Danzo entered the council chambers and took in the righteous fury on the faces of the people sitting restlessly in their seats, he couldn't help but smile. Today was going to be a good day for him… and for Konoha.
Too bad for him that Homura and Koharu didn't notice the meek wall flower by the name of Hyuuga Hinata who was listening to them plan the execution of one Uzumaki Naruto. Maybe then Shukaku's red haired host wouldn't have met Konoha ANBU's strike force with a wave of sand and a maniacal smile.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Naruto didn't really understand what was going on except that he, Granny Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata and the Sand Siblings were hauling ass out of Konoha. Naruto thought they were just trying to escape the (bad) ANBU, but that didn't make much sense, couldn't Granny just crush them? "Oi, Granny Tsunade, what's going on? Why are we leaving Konoha? What's with all the bags and scrolls?"
Tsunade ignored him, her eyes were hard. She punched a tree as she ran past, turning it into not much more than saw-dust. She increased her speed and ran further ahead. Shizune answered him, "Because, Naruto, you've been banished."
"…WHAT?"
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Sasuke knew something was wrong when he woke up and saw the white ceiling of a hospital room. When Sakura screamed into his ear, "Sasuke! You're awake! I was so worried!" he decided it would be better if he just went back to sleep.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
When Shino returned with his father to Konoha, he knew something was wrong. It was not something he could pinpoint. He frowned and made his way towards Team 8's regular training field.
After finding it deserted he headed towards the Hokage tower. He instantly became alert when he saw it was crawling, scratch that, swarming, no, well, there were Genin everywhere, some had clipboards, and most were just trying to look busy. Shino frowned again, such lazyness. When walking into the tower he was forced to step over an upturned plant.
Yamanaka Ino waved at him and ran over, "Hey Shino, Where've you been?"
Shino ignored the question and took another silent scan of the reception. There was a hole in the wall and a landscape painting was being removed from the pile of rubble in one of the corners.
Ino was not used to being ignored and stomped her foot. "Hey, I asked you a-"
"I heard you Miss Yamanaka. I was on a training mission with my father to construct a second colony of Kikai beetles to bolster the strength of my allies and my immune system. Now, would you mind informing me of what has occurred while I was away?"
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"…So then Lady Tsunade just went ballistic and trashed the place, I think she was totally wasted, I mean, more so than usual, and that's saying something, I mean, I heard from Sakura who heard it from Shikamaru, that this one time she was so smashed that she tried to seduce-"
"Miss Yamanaka," Shino interrupted, "could you tell me what happened after she damaged the Hokage tower?" Seeing Ino's glare he remembered who he was speaking to. "Please."
"Well after that ANBU arrived, but they really didn't want to mix it up with a drunk Sanin in the middle of the village." Ino took a breath and looked around covertly, seemingly to check if anyone was eavesdropping. Satisfied she leaned in towards Shino and continued, "This isn't common knowledge, but I heard Daddy tell Mommy that Uncle Chouza told him that Lady Tsunade stole the scroll of seals and then abandoned the village."
Ino could see Shino's eyebrows rise above his glasses.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
A/N So this is chapter one of my take on the 'Missing Hokage' challenge put forward by Perfect Lionheart. Look for the chapter update next week!