Naruto: Tails of the Four

Written by DivineGuidanceAlpha

Requests and private comments may be sent to HitoSorrelius

Synopsis: A re-writing of Naruto, beginning just before the Chunin Exams. Four shinobi trained to be assassins find themselves without a home. A kind offer from the Third Hokage aligns them to the Hidden Leaf Village, where they try to make a new life for themselves...but old ghosts and new enemies threaten their new home already, and it may take losing each other to gain the strength to save it.

Arc 1: Arrival; Chapter 01: Pilot

Shiden Arashi was known for following the rules. He was the best shinobi in their Village because of that. The Village Hidden in the Hallowed Ground had four rules, four very simple rules, pertaining to missions: One, complete the mission, no matter what; two, there will be no witnesses to your actions; three, everyone comes home alive; four, clean up after yourself. Taking these rules to heart was easy for Shiden, and outside of missions, he became quieter, more discreet because of it. He was a neat freak and a team player at the same time, and he was glad to do so.

There was no rule about what to do if you returned from your Jonin test to find your entire Village gone. Not just the people, not just the shrines to the gods; the people, the buildings, the shrines, the graveyard, and a good concave dome of earth beneath the Village. It was as if the Hallowed Ground had never been disturbed a hundred years ago, when the Five Clans made a unified contract with the Five Gods. There was no rule about what to do in this situation, no plan built by any of the clans or their Chosen about what to do when a whole Village has been simply erased off the geography of the Earth. There was one inkling of a plan in Shiden's mind, and he was quick to suggest it as they looked at their now-nonexistent home.

"We need to get to the next Village over. If it is also like this, we may have some kind of chakra monster on the loose, and stopping it...should've been easy for our kin. Which means that there was a traitor, or there was an unknown factor. If the next Village is gone...at least we know what to do."

Shiden's twin brother, Raizen Shipuu, was not known for following the rules. He wasn't known for much, actually, since his brother was continually outshining him. He was equal to his brother in strength, but his brother was the smarter and more skillful. In this case, he didn't argue. There was no rule for anything like this, but they knew how to hunt chakra monsters.

As a Chunin and a lesser sibling, Rai was constantly angry, chafing against his brother's shadow whenever it drowned him. This time, however, there was no shadow. There was no precedent for this situation, save Genjutsu. However, all four of them had the perfect cure for that sealed inside of them. This was no trick, no illusion. "If there is a chakra monster out there that can do this, it is on par with the Four Gods. We may need to unleash them if such is the case."

He could feel the monster inside rumbling with delight at the thought of facing another power equal to itself. The form shifted and changed with the fancy of the will imbued to it, but it was always Zaphos, God of Blood.

The next in command after Shiden, Koen Enryuu, was not a rule-breaker, but he wasn't one who settled well under rules, either. His role as Chosen was one of chance, being the child of the Side Branch for his clan. However, the Main Branch's youngest generation could have no children, and his parents died in the illness epidemic that had claimed a great number of the Fifth Clan when the boys were just babies.

His own God, Hissorius, demanded blood for this incident. The great serpent of magma was coiled tight, ready to strike at anything. Koen kept the burning rage at bay with the practiced calm of meditation. While Shiden decided their path as Acting Jonin, he would focus himself. Still, Raizen's words stoked his fire in many ways; revenge was always sweet, and pushing one's limits with the strength of a God helping was an addictive rush, especially with the power of his lineage at work.

The last member of their squad, the medic, was of three minds. This was, extremely unfortunately, a literal definition; the Chosen of the Kugarian Clan had two personalities existing in his mind, as well as the God of Metal. This was a heavy strain, as it made the clan's faith in him very thin; having only the fearful backing of your parents and the rantings of a giant metal hydra as support didn't improve the situation for either of them.

'We must hunt down the cause of this and devour them whole!' The hydra roared.

'I am tempted to agree with the giant metal monster, but we have other orders. We were going to be sent as a good faith gift to the Hidden Leaf Village for the Chunin Exams,' the logical side, who called himself Ren, added to the conversation. He was practical and duty-bound, like Shiden, but he wasn't willing to let the rules keep him from speaking, especially from speaking his mind.

'I agree that we need to obey our orders. However, we also need to help our family. We may be all that are left of the Hallowed Grounds shinobi.' Normally, Tenso wasn't one for such debate. He was happy-go-lucky, full of energy, ready to kick ass and take names. It was an easy cover for the loneliness and sadness that only his other persona could sense and feel. Even the other three didn't see or understand it.

Like Koen, Tenso was meditating on his answer, trying to get his mind in the right zone to decide what to do. Unfortunately, closing himself off from everyone but himself only fed his mental problems.

Perhaps the mental problems were reparations with the God for all of his power. One of his ancestors had been of the Hyuuga clan, and he could partially activate the powers of the Byakugan. Unlike the nearly unlimited range of the full eye technique, his was more like tunnel vision; he could focus only upon a single target, and he usually had to be able to see them first. Also unlike the Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga, his own style was of piercing the chakra points to make them bleed out, not blocking them. Combining this with his clan's Metal Summoning Jutsu, he was a deadly force alone. This insight into the human body also made him perfect for the team's medic position. It helped even more that the two sides divided the tasks evenly, swapping body control as necessary.

Ren broke the meditation, looking to the others. They could tell by the way he wasn't bouncing around that it was the logical side. "...It doesn't matter what happened. This kind of power...it's beyond the Four. This kind of thing is the realm of the Great Villages, of Tailed Beasts. We don't claim leadership, nor do we challenge your decision, Shiden, but I suggest we go to the Hidden Leaf like my orders were going to be. At least there, we can make a solid base of operations and plan for the future. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, left here for us."

Three sets of eyes were staring at him, but none with anger, only shock and disbelief. Two sets went to Shiden, who had locked eyes with Ren. He didn't flinch, his gaze steady and unwavering, firm despite the pain of loss.

"...I agree with Ren," Shiden finally said, the other two staring more at their de facto leader. "As much as it hurts, whatever did this is probably long gone. We have nothing holding us here, and four rogue shinobi with powers like ours wouldn't go unnoticed. Tenso has to go for the Chuunin exams anyway, and I think you two deserve the shot, too."

"We are already Chuunin!" his twin protested, only to receive a sharp glare with plenty of threat behind it. It took all of his resentment not to just flinch and apologize.

"We are Chuunin by our Village's standards. We never went for proper examination and recognition with the other Villages. We'll be lucky if they let me pass by with it, since the only evidence I passed my Jonin test is a head in a bag and a mission ticket."

Koen finally spoke. "Much as I would love to follow you into killing the nearest monster we can find, Rai, Tenso does have an obligation, and Ren has a point. I don't like it," he snapped as the other opened his mouth, "but it is true. Our home wasn't attacked or destroyed, it has been utterly annihilated. There isn't even a scent left!"

Raizen closed his eyes, breathing slowly and deeply to calm himself. "...You're right. Forgive me for being rash, brothers." Three heads nodded in unison, all looking mildly pained as they fought the rage of their own god. "So...how do we get to the Hidden Leaf?"

Shiden pulled a map from his pack, unrolling it and laying it out for them all to see. "They are located in the Land of Fire, so that instantly narrows it down a bit. As to the exact location, I think Tenso has that."

The smallest member of the group closed his eyes for a moment, and when they opened, they were wet, two small tears leaking out. "Yeah, I know it." He moved to the map and drew a circle. "There's a barrier around it for a certain distance. As soon as we set foot into it, they will know we are there." The other three locked the location in their minds, then Shiden rolled the map up and put it away.

"Let's get going, then. There is absolutely no reason to stick around here any longer." He started first, jumping off the edge of the cliff that had once held his house, straight down into the forest. The others followed more slowly, Koen second, Rai third, and Tenso last. He activated his Byakugan to take a look around, just to try seeing if there was anything strange. Not even a trace of chakra or life.

"...Goodbye, old life," he muttered to himself, then jumped like the rest. They were without a home, and their journey had just begun.