Ripples, Arc I: Fate

Chapter 1: Break Down the Walls

As the two men walked slowly side-by-side under the gentle light of the morning sun, the older of the pair turned to his companion and frowned, accentuating the many wrinkles in his face.

"You're nervous, Yondaime-sama," he said seriously. "Why?"

"For the last time, Sarutobi-san," Minato Namikaze replied wearily, "please don't call me '-sama' anything. It makes me feel old. Besides, you were the Hokage before me; there's no need for you to be so humble."

Sarutobi's frown shifted into a small smirk, the old man still enjoying this exchange even after all the years they'd done it.

"Ah, but there is a need to set a precedent for the others to follow, Yondaime-sama," he said with satisfaction, the smirk on his face only growing as he saw Minato's face fall even further. "If I set an example that such informality is acceptable, the hierarchy of this village will fall apart completely. I, for one, refuse to have that on my shoulders, Yondaime-sama!" he finished in a crescendo of feigned righteous indignation, and the Hokage next to him deflated completely.

"Fine, fine; you win," he admitted. "Again. But to answer your question, Sarutobi-san, I'm not nervous. Just… justifiably tense."

"What do you think they're going to do, Yondaime-sama?" Sarutobi countered. "Assassinate you in broad daylight? Even if they could pull that off, the Uchiha aren't that foolish."

"But they are desperate, Sarutobi-san," Minato replied, his blue eyes gazing off into the distance and into the past, at memories only he could see. "And if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it is never to underestimate the strength of a desperate human being."

Sarutobi fell silent at that, knowing without even needing to look at Minato's face that the Yondaime was thinking of Kushina, his dead wife. The woman who had sacrificed everything for the sake of their child, up to and including her immortal soul.

"We're here, Yondaime-sama," he spoke up again as the pair of ninja reached the gates to the Uchiha clan's section of Konoha. "Just relax, will you? We have the upper hand in these negotiations, and I'm sure even Fugaku will listen to reason once you give him your proposal. Like I said, he might be as stubborn as an oxen, but he's not a fool."

Minato merely nodded, and the current and former Hokage entered into the Uchiha village in silence. They could feel the eyes of the villagers on them as they passed through; some looked on in fear, some in awe and others in thinly veiled hate.

"Oh, good morning, Hokage-sama!" a loud voice rang out suddenly in the silent street as Sarutobi and Minato approached the local Uchiha bakery's storefront. "Would you care for something to eat on this fine day?"

Minato smiled at the older man's usual sales pitch, but shook his head.

"Not this time, Teyaki-san," he answered. "I have some business to attend to. Give my best to Uruchi-san!"

The bakery's owner just smiled and nodded as the two powerful ninja continued on their way, proud to have someone like the Yondaime Hokage as a regular customer: even if it damaged the business he got from his fellow clansmen.

"What?" he groused at the young children who gave him dirty looks, no doubt because of his open support of the Hokage. "Get out of here, all of you! Go help your mothers, or train, or something!"

The crowd of young ones dispersed, leaving the baker to open up shop in peace.

Sarutobi and Minato continued on, passing through empty streets until they finally came upon the house they had been seeking. Two young men were practicing shuriken combat in the middle of the path, but stopped what they were doing and immediately stood at attention as the Hokage approached.

"Hokage-sama," the shorter of the two men spoke first, unruly black hair crowning his head as the red orbs of his Sharingan faded slowly back into black. "We weren't expecting you so early. And Sarutobi-sama," he added, recognizing the former Hokage's face beneath the brim of his wide hat, "we weren't expecting you at all. Please forgive our appearances."

"Think nothing of it, Shisui," Minato answered calmly, the kind smile on his face growing slightly as he looked over at Shisui's sparring partner. "And how are you this morning, Itachi?"

"I am well, Hokage-sama," the heir to the Uchiha clan answered quietly. "And yourself?"

"Tired," Minato said, "but fine otherwise. Is your father in?"

Itachi nodded once, before turning to face the entrance to his house.

"Right this way, Hokage-sama."

Itachi led the way as the trio entered into the main room of the house, where both Itachi's father Fugaku and mother Mikoto were waiting.

"Good morning, Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san," Sarutobi said swiftly, cutting off any shocked remarks Fugaku might have been ready to make concerning their early arrival. "Might we trouble you for a moment of your time?"

Fugaku nodded abruptly, speaking his first words of the meeting to his wife.

"Please go and put some tea on for our guests," he said, and Mikoto left after quick bows to both Minato and Sarutobi. "Itachi," Fugaku continued sharply as his son made to leave the room, "stay here. You are to be head of this clan after my death; it's time you started learning how to run it."

Itachi returned from the doorway and knelt on a tatami mat, giving the Hokage an apologetic look for his father's brusqueness.

"So," Fugaku said sharply after a moment, "what is it that you wish to discuss, Hokage, that was so important you saw fit to bring along such a powerful bodyguard?"

Itachi stiffened at the blatant show of disrespect, inwardly mortified, but Minato stilled him with a look before speaking.

"Sarutobi-san is not here as my bodyguard," the Hokage answered calmly, "but as another party in these negotiations. Nothing more. He simply wishes to demonstrate to you that there are others besides me who wish for the division between the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha to end."

"Oh, really now?" Fugaku snapped back as Mikoto entered with a tray full of teacups, leaving once again after putting them down between the four ninja. "And how exactly do you propose ending a division that has persisted between the descendants of the Senju and the Uchiha for generation after generation, Hokage?"

"Simply," Minato retorted, taking a sip of tea and putting the cup back down before continuing. "By completely re-integrating the Uchiha clan with the rest of the village, and giving the Head of the Police Force a seat on Konoha's governing Council."

Sarutobi almost spit out his tea in shock at the Hokage's words; that was nothing like what the original proposal had said. He could only imagine how Danzo and the other Elders would react to the Hokage going behind their backs like this, and the picture was not a pretty one.

"Are you serious?" Fugaku exclaimed in surprise, as shocked as Sarutobi was. "How did you get the Elders to agree with this?"

"I didn't, Fugaku-san," Minato said, his blue eyes sharp as he stared down the Head of the Uchiha clan. "This is purely my idea, but I believe the Elders can be made to understand the logic behind it."

"Which is?" Fugaku asked, unable to see very much that was logical about such a radical decision. At best, it would give the embittered Uchiha a renewed position of power on the hope that they wouldn't use it to their advantage, and at worst it gave the Uchiha the perfect position to launch a coup d'état from. What did the Hokage possibly hope to gain from this?

Minato sighed, taking another sip of his tea.

"I might be young by the standard of the others who have held the position of Hokage, Fugaku-san," he said after a moment, "but please don't mistake that youth for ignorance. I know exactly what the Uchiha are planning, and I can tell you that your rebellion has no chance of succeeding whatsoever."

Fugaku was struck into silence at the words, and stayed still for a few heartbeats before giving Itachi a decidedly murderous glare.

"I can assure you, Fugaku-san," Minato broke in, "that Itachi had nothing to do with my obtaining knowledge of your plot. I don't need a spy to tell me what people are thinking, and especially not when your clansmen wear their hatred for me on their sleeves. Just know that if you try to revolt, I will destroy you and as much of your clan as I must to protect Konoha."

Fugaku forced his tongue to work again after a few more moments of heavy silence, and when he spoke again his tone was much more subdued than it had been earlier.

"I'm listening, Hokage," the Uchiha head said in a low voice, his glare relaxed from blazing to merely smoldering. "What's the logic behind this plan of yours?"

"Danzo and the other Elders have been pushing for a complete and utter extermination of your entire clan, Fugaku," Minato explained. "Down to the last child."

"What!?" Fugaku shouted, horrified. "How could they—"

"But as it happens," the Hokage cut him off sternly, his gaze softening somewhat, "I'm not a supporter of genocide, regardless of what justification it's given. So I'm giving you this alternative, Fugaku-san, because I believe that wounds from the War we just finished are still healing. Because I believe that the last thing we need right now is to stand divided, considering the power of your clan. Rather than raising the banners of revolt, don't you think it would better for both your clan, and Konoha as a whole, to cooperate with us?"

"It will take more than reintegration to heal the wounds and indignities that have been inflicted on our clan over the years, Hokage," Fugaku replied, "but I am willing to consider this proposal of yours, in light of the alternative."

Minato smiled, finishing off his cup of tea with a contented sigh.

"I am glad to hear that, Fugaku-san," he said, rising from his seated position as he did so. "I truly am. I don't expect an answer from you immediately, of course, but I would like to hear one within a week's time. I plan on using that week to reason with the Elders, so that by the time you have reached your decision there will be no further objections from my side either. Thank you for your time, Fugaku-san. Sarutobi-san, I think we're done here."

"Itachi," Fugaku said to his son, "please show these gentlemen out."

Itachi nodded and got to his feet, and the three of them walked swiftly back outside. When Itachi was certain that they were alone and wouldn't be overheard, he turned to the Hokage with a dark look in his eyes.

"With all due respect, Hokage, sir," he said, "you didn't have to cover for me back there."

"I know, Itachi," Minato answered, "but I did anyway. I know how much of a burden being in ANBU is, and I try to look out for my subordinates in whatever way I can. Not to mention that the sacrifice you're making is an extraordinary one, and it would be shameful for me not to honor it somehow."

Itachi half-bowed to his commander and nodded to Sarutobi before making his way back inside, leaving the current and former Hokage alone again.

"Where the hell did that come from, Yondaime-sama?" Sarutobi asked, incredulous. "Do you realize how little of a chance there is that the Elders will ever get behind this?"

"Yes, Sarutobi-san, I do," Minato answered, his voice weary again. "But to be totally honest, I don't care. You know that was the only solution to the problem that didn't end with the entire Uchiha clan butchered; admit it."

"I never said it wasn't," Sarutobi said grudgingly. "But that still doesn't change the fact that there's no way Danzo would accept something like reintegration, on top of giving the Uchiha a seat on the Council. And that's not even taking the other two Elders in to account; I've known Homura and Kotaru since we were children, and they're so stubborn at times that they make you look like a pushover, Yondaime-sama."

"Still, I would rather at least try my method and see it fail than blindly consign the population of an entire clan to execution."

"And speaking of that," Sarutobi continued undaunted, "why did you tell Fugaku about Danzo's plan? Now, even if your compromise does pass, there's no way the Uchiha don't hold Danzo's extremism against the Elders."

"Fugaku won't say anything, Sarutobi-san," Minato countered, "because, like you said, he's not a fool. He knows that I was serious when I said I would destroy as much of the Uchiha clan as I had to in order to keep Konoha safe. And he also knows that there's no way he could possibly stop me from doing so."

"Well, Yondaime-sama," Sarutobi said tiredly, knowing that he wasn't going to get the Hokage to change his mind, "I just pray that you're right. Shall we take the fast way back this time?"

"Sure," Minato agreed, forming a simple hand seal and focusing his chakra. "God knows what trouble Naruto's gotten himself into now; even with Iruka looking after him when I'm not around, that kid's a handful."

"I wonder who he gets that from," Sarutobi commented with a smirk, vanishing in a puff of smoke before the Hokage could make any kind of comeback. Minato just smiled and shook his head, vanishing as well a moment later.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Out of breath already?"

The nine-year-old Jinchuriki shot his friend an angry glare, straightening up and getting back into a fighting stance.

"You wish, Sasuke," he spat back, beginning to form a sequence of hand seals. Sasuke was faster than him, though, and had completed a sequence of his own longer than Naruto's before Naruto had even finished his.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The fireball that emerged from the space in front of Sasuke's mouth was minuscule compared to the normal size of the technique, but it was enough to force Naruto to roll out of the way.

"When are you going to learn not to try and use Ninjutsu and hand-seals against me, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, a slightly smug edge to his voice as his friend rose stubbornly to his feet. "You've always been too slow with them, you know."

"Fine, Sasuke," Naruto said in a low voice, beginning to focus as much chakra as he could into his forehead. "You're right, my seals are too slow. But what about this!?"

The Jinchuriki broke into a sprint, head down and obviously intending to head butt Sasuke square in the chest. But this time, not even being able to tell what was coming could aid the young Uchiha: Naruto was moving too fast for him to avoid, and there was no time to launch a counter Ninjutsu either.

"Crap!" Sasuke hissed, gritting his teeth and wondering if this was going to be the end of his undefeated record in their sparring matches.

But right before Naruto's head slammed into Sasuke's chest, the Jinchuriki stopped short and the chakra in his forehead vanished. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he moved his feet frantically without moving forward, until he realized that someone was holding on to the back of his orange jacket and keeping him running in place.

"Geez, Iruka-sensei," Naruto whined as he stopped trying to move and turned around to face his teacher, "what gives? Who's side are you on here?!"

"I'm not on anyone's side, Naruto," Iruka answered calmly. "I just know that there was enough chakra in your forehead to crack one, or several, of Sasuke's ribs. Is that really what you wanted to do?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, before a mischievous smirk twisted the corners of his mouth.

"Actually," he said, "it kinda was."

Sasuke just chuckled at the implied threat, while Iruka sighed and shook his head.

"Man," he lamented, "I can't even have breakfast in peace with the two of you around."

"Trust me when I say, Iruka," a new voice broke in, "that your sacrifice is deeply appreciated."

Iruka, Sasuke and Naruto looked over to see Minato approaching, a smile on his face in spite of the tired look in his eyes.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka said quickly, saluting. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop these two earlier."

"Don't worry about it, Iruka," Minato said with a wave of his hand. "They have to learn to fight at some point anyway, and it might as well be against each other. Sasuke-kun, you might want to go back home for a while; your brother has some news to share with you."

Sasuke nodded and turned to Naruto, a playful glint in his black eyes.

"That was our first tie, Naruto," he said. "Keep training, and maybe one of these days you'll actually beat me."

"You little—" Naruto growled, but Sasuke vanished before the Jinchuriki could finish his reply.

"Naruto," his father said easily, "don't let yourself get worked up by your opponent's taunts. All that does is distract you."

"Well how am I supposed to ignore him, dad!?" Naruto half-shouted back. "I've never beaten Sasuke even once! He's too good!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

Naruto was caught off-guard by his father's question, and was quiet as Minato continued.

"Everyone has a rival, Naruto," the Hokage explained, taking a seat on the grass and beckoning for his son to sit beside him.

"Even you, dad?" Naruto asked, and Minato nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, even me. And everyone has a rival because deep down inside, we all need one; someone to spur us on to train harder, and get stronger with each passing day. And besides, you're not going to get mad at Sasuke just because he's getting better at fighting, are you? He's your friend, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess," Naruto admitted after a few moments' thought, his voice low. "But still, I want to beat him! Just once, I want to win! If I lose every time, where's the fairness in that?"

"This isn't about it being fair or unfair, Naruto," his father corrected him, his voice becoming faraway as his thoughts wandered to Kushina once more. "Life isn't fair. Sometimes, things just happen, whether you want them to or not.

"But that's neither here nor there," he continued, his voice changing back to normal in an instant. "My point is, just focus on getting stronger, train against yourself, and soon enough you'll be stronger than Sasuke."

"Really?" Naruto asked, his voice back to its usual level of excitement and his eyes wide. Minato nodded again. "But, what happens then?"

"Well," Minato said with a chuckle and a gleam in his eyes, "Sasuke needs a rival too, doesn't he?"

Naruto caught the joke and smiled, which soon turned into a laugh. Satisfied that his son was back up in high spirits, the Hokage got up and stretched the stiffness out of his shoulders.

"All right, I'm going to go work some more on a Jutsu I've been developing for a bit; I need to relax some before talking to Danzo and the Council. See you later, Naruto!"

"Later, Dad!" Naruto called back. "Good luck!"

"Oh, but before I forget," Minato said as he stopped himself and turned back around, "that Fuuton you were trying to use earlier is formed using Tiger; Ox; Dog; Rabbit and then Snake—you messed it up on the third step by using 'Dragon' instead. If I were you, though, I'd start a little easier than trying a Daitoppa right off the bat!"

The Hokage vanished after that, leaving Naruto alone with his words hanging on the air. The Jinchuriki went over the steps in his mind multiple times, forming each seal in the sequence as he did so to practice how it felt. When he was finally satisfied that he had it down, Naruto took a deep breath, focused his chakra and made the seals in quick succession.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

He felt the chakra materialize and shoot forward, but the fact that the result was nothing more than a strong gale did nothing to dispirit Naruto.

"That's a good start," he said to himself with a grin, before he focused and made the seals again.

By the time the sun set he was going to get this Jutsu down, or his father wasn't the Yondaime Hokage.

I hope you know, Naruto, the acidic voice of the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto spoke up in his head, that Fuuton Jutsu amplify Katon Jutsu."

Naruto was still for a moment at the information, his mouth set in a frown.

"I hate you," he said seriously. The Kyuubi just chuckled.

The feeling is mutual, brat.

The Jinchuriki held his frown for a moment, but it slowly turned back into a confident smirk, this time laced with vindictiveness. Not only would he get this Jutsu right to prove his Dad wrong:

He would also do it just to piss the Nine-Tails inside of him off.

A/N: So there you have it, Chapter 1 of the first Arc of 'Ripples'! I've been wanting to do a more 'in-universe' Naruto story for a while, and this is my first major try at such a story, so I hope it's successful in that regard.

I also hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review; it's the fuel that keeps my writing engine running! I wanted to focus more on world-building in this chapter than anything else, but believe me when I say there is drama aplenty in the chapters to come.