I don't own Naruto, and I make no money writing this fic. This is an Itachi centered fic about his early childhood and what may have happened to lead him down the path he took. Rated M for violence.
Hogosha in Japanese for protector/guardian.
Hogosha: Part I
I was four when I first saw him.
Mother had gone out to see if she could help the wounded, Father amongst them. The messenger birds had circled overhead and caw-cawed their message far and wide for people to come aid the wounded.
Mother had told me to stay home, even though I had already begun unofficial training to become a shinobi as most my age had due to the brutality of the Ninja Wars.
"Itachi-kun, stay here. You're too young." That was all she said. She expected my utter obedience.
She told me to stay because I wasn't old enough to go, but I wanted to go. I wanted to prove to my parents that I was a good son, and that I would be able to help Father. I was being trained as a shinobi after all, wasn't I? Didn't that mean I was ready to see the battlefields the grownups boasted about – the place where they claimed they had done great deeds and become heroes? Wasn't I ready to be a hero?
But no. I wasn't ready to see the battlefields then, despite what I thought. I wasn't nearly strong enough to be the kind of hero – the kind of protector Konoha deserved.
I was young, too young to even be trained as a ninja, but the Ninja Wars were still going on, and we needed basic training for survival. They trained us, barely more than toddlers, because they feared if too many adults died, we children would perish otherwise. They didn't want us to be untrained, defenseless orphans. The rogue, parentless children in other Ninja Countries slowed down many of the older ninja. If our parents fell, we would be dangerous – to enemy soldiers as much as to ourselves.
But I didn't know that at the time.
So I followed my mother anyway, using my newly acquired skills to hide from her. If I hadn't been so scared of getting caught and getting in trouble, I might have then truly appreciated my own young brilliance at staying undetected from her; I frequently forgot that she had been a jounin level ninja before she had taken on the full time responsibility of being my mother.
As it was, the choice to follow Mother to aid Father mortified me, mentally scarring me for years to come.
It took much longer than I had anticipated getting to the battlefield, a trek much different than going to the market. No, this was long, seemingly longer due to the constant need to hide myself from my mother who repeatedly looked over her shoulder, as though she knew I followed.
The stench told me that we had come upon the battlefield before I had even laid eyes on it. There is nothing quite as disgusting as the metallic rusting of blood spilt upon the dusty ground, a hot summer's sun beating upon the dead bodies to make the foul smell intensify ten-fold, coupled with the smell of charred flesh, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from throwing-up.
Katon jutsu made the air smell rank, and the raiton jutsu made it smell even worse from sizzled and crackled skin.
Bodies littered the open field. The blood soaked into the once dry soil, the dirt caking to form a deep crimson, bloodied mud.
Some of the wounded cried out for help while others did what they could to give their aid.
No one should have to see something like that, least alone a four-year-old child.
My body gave a spasm, a dry heave wracking my body even as I tried to cover my nose from the smell. I fell to my knees in horror, my mind not wanting to process what it saw.
I recognized one of the men who lay dead on the ground. With shock, I realized his head wasn't actually attached. Instead it lay severed from his body which rested mere centimeters away.
My initial horror at the appalling scene made me lose sight of my mother. Finally realizing I was alone – even though I was surrounded by many – I panicked. It was more than terror, more than I could handle. My body wasn't frozen still in horror, but violently moving, shaking with utter fear and panic.
I didn't notice the tears streaming down my face because I was too numb feel.
Where should I go? What should I do? Why had I been so foolish, so very foolish to think that I could help here? Where were my parents?
All I could do was wrap my arms around my body, as though to will away the scene in front of me.
I didn't know how long I stayed hunched on my knees, unsure and terrified of what to do.
But then the enemy launched another attack.
I heard the whizzing of kunai, so much sharper and deadlier sounding than my own feeble attempts at kunai training. The voices of the war cries sounded deep and mature compared to my own childish grunts when the village elders showed me how to do it.
An explosion to my right finally jolted me from my stupor, making me duck for cover, debris flying through the air as rocks and bloodied dirt rained down upon me. The battle raged so much louder than I had imagined. Whizzing kunai, exploding tags, and an array of jutsu made deafeningly explosive sounds.
I began to shake and cry harder, utter terror overcoming me, ten times worse than I had felt just looking at the bloodied battlefield.
"Mama...Papa..." I whispered frightened.
Any ninja who could still fight did so. Those who had been helping the wounded, and even some of the wounded, rallied to fight back.
Off to my right, a woman used a katon jutsu, horribly scorching her target.
I could smell the man's burning flesh from where I stood while he screamed in painful agony as he burned alive.
The kunoichi, however, had little time to savor her victory as a man used a suiton jutsu that knocked the woman off her feet and into a rock nearby.
A man just a stone's throw away stood up, his arm a bloody mess, a feral look of rage upon his face. He had tied his Konoha headband around his upper shoulder to stop a large wound from bleeding. The reflective surface shone brightly in the sunlight, flashing like lightening across the Konoha Leaf symbol.
It seemed impossible that the sun should shine upon such a horrible scene, yet it did so, lighting up the face of the enraged ninja who seated profusely in its rays.
His face contorted in deepest anger and hatred as he drew a katana from his back with his good arm. He took a step forward, but then his body lurched backward as a kunai embedded itself into his exposed forehead, his eyes wide as his body fell.
I've always worn my Konoha headband on my forehead since that moment. It would have saved his life. The folly of his death saved mine years later. He should have used extra gauze, an essential necessity I also made sure to keep a heady stock of in my pouches.
More kunai and more explosions littered the air, and I thought for sure death would find me as it had the shinobi with a kunai jutting out of his head.
Fear gripped me like a physical being, preventing me from doing anything. I couldn't move. I couldn't cry out. I couldn't even breathe.
And then I saw him.
The man had appeared out of seemingly no where!
He stood in the midst of the battle. It seemed that all eyes turned to watch him. He faced the enemy with his back straight, his head held high. His blond hair shone bright against the dark, bloodied mud, as though the sun had waited for him to appear upon such a dark scene. The sun had known it would be needed here to shine down upon his presence and glory.
Who was this brave man?
His cape had bright red kanji down the center that I recognized but didn't process immediately. When I did, I felt even more awestruck.
It was our new Hokage.
Even as I felt a strange sense of hope welling up in me at the appearance of this strange man, he moved like a blur from my sight. For a moment, I feared I had dreamt him up before I realized what was going on. The enemy dropped where they were as a blur of yellow flashed across the surrounding battlefield.
His nickname, the Yellow Flash, was truly accurate.
In a matter of minutes I could hear distant frightened yells of the enemy shinobi retreating, finally muffled as a roar of triumph swept the Konoha ninjas.
"Chase them!" someone cried from the crowd, excitedly urging our Hokage onward
"No. I need to protect my people first. We must get the injured to safety in case they come back for an attack." He didn't even bother to look at the man as his eyes were already focused on an injured ninja, his hands pulling out gauze to temporarily wrap the wound on the ninja's torso.
"You must defend Konoha! Kill them all!" another man shouted, enraged. The Hokage shook his head once.
"I am protecting Konoha, just not as you see it. Right now our enemy is far away from our loved ones! If we chase them we're heading into their border. They will fight harder on their land because we will be threatening their loved ones. Our duty is to protect our own: not kill others. Konoha is not mere buildings or even a place with borders. Konoha is its people. Saving their lives is more important than killing the lives of others. Needless deaths and needles killings should be prevented. If we can save more lives by fighting, then we should do so, but not if it destroys more live than it would save. Killing others should only be used as a last resort. If everyone realized that, then perhaps the wars would end, and we would finally have peace. Our people are dying here, and they're more important to save than to go after others and destroy." Even as he spoke his hands moved deftly, stopping the blood flow of the wounded ninja before him.
... Konoha is its people. Saving their lives is more important than killing the lives of others. Death should only occur when it saves more lives than it destroys...
His eyes turned to sweep the battlefield, taking in everything – even seeing me. Our gazes locked for a moment, and I think the sight of me startled him. I felt slightly embarrassed, reading his look of surprise at seeing a child at a battlefield. I felt even more foolish. I was young, too young, just like Mother had said.
Even so, any embarrassment faded away as he gave me a gentle, kind smile. I felt a deep sense of hope come over me that this man could stop bad things from happening. Hadn't I just seen so myself?
"Attacking is not a good choice of action. Protecting is. It's better to be a protector than a destroyer. After all, a strong defense is the best attack."
Protector. He was our protector. I smiled at him, feeling as though he meant those words for me and me alone.
I wanted to be a protector, a hogosha, just like him.
The moment between us was broken when Mother came running up to me, hugging me tight, scolding me for following after her, fussing over my wellbeing. After making sure I was okay, she went back to Father. He was surprised, but seemed pleased and proud that I had come to his aid.
Even so, as soon as my father's wounds were wrapped, Mother quickly ushered me back to the illusion of security I called home.
To Be Continued...
For those who are also Sasuke and Naruto, also uploaded a short fic called A Debt to Pay today. For any Detective Conan fans, I have a separate account called JelpHasNails where I'll be posting those fics (only one loaded so far). For Star Wars fans, uploaded the next chapter of Shooting Star. Hope you enjoyed the first of the three parts to this story. ~ Jelp