*Nightingale*
THIS IS NOT THE SEQUEL TO SAVE ME! This story was originally named Heart Attack but I changed it after hearing this song since it matches the story line better. In this story, be prepared to have your first impression twisted to the point where you have no idea what to expect from these characters. This story is based off of the song Nightingale by Demi Lovato (Check it out! I love this song!). Enjoy!
Normal POV
"Damn it!" The fifth Hokage cursed slamming her hands down on her desk snapping it in two.
Normally Shizune would have scolded the blonde for breaking her office desk for the fifth time this week, but today she couldn't say a word. How could she when they were tittering on the edge of war? If the situation was different then she would have scolded her, but not now.
"Repeat the information you gathered." Tsunade barked at the top ANBU team standing in front of her. The captain of the team adorning his porcelain weasel mask stepped forward.
"We followed Orochimaru's movements throughout Amegakure. From our surveillance, we found that he is recruiting rouge ninja to join his army in his attack against Konoha and our allies. Also, we found that the Akatsuki and Iwagakura have also joined his army. Judging from the numbers of his allies, Konoha's downfall is inevitable." He summarized in a monotone voice not showing a hint of his worry.
Tsunade cursed again slumping down into her chair biting her thumb nail trying desperately to think of some kind of plan to save the village. So far, she's been drawing blanks. She hesitantly looked up into the cold white mask of the ANBU captain with an almost desperate look in her eyes.
"Do you have any battle strategies that could possible help us protect this village?" There was a pregnant silence before the monotone of the ANBU captain cut through the air like a blade.
"I do not, Hokage-sama." And with that one line, all hope was lost for the Land of Fire. With a heavy feeling of dread pushing painfully on her shoulders, the fifth Hokage stood from her chair and stared expressionlessly at ANBU team one.
"I want you to rely to all ninja- regardless of rank- to start evacuating the village to Sunagakure. I will send word to Gaara along with the information you have gathered. If what you say is true about their numbers, then we cannot risk an attempt at trying to protect the village. No one is to stay behind in the village." all three ANBU nodded their heads in understanding.
"Hai Hokage-sama." They said in unison. Tsunade sighed shakily falling back into her chair feeling an aching feeling in her gut to drink some sake.
"You are dis-" a banging on her office door cut her off. She narrowed her auburn eyes at the door before calling them inside.
Instead of seeing ninja squads enter her office, she was greeted by the sight of two massive men in loose fitting pants with axes tied to their backs and scarves covering their mouth and nose walk in. Behind them, was a middle aged man in dark green robes with a shimmering gold trim wielding a golden staff with a crystal sitting at the tip. His footsteps were soundless thanks to the flat white skinned boots wrapped around his feet and half of his legs. Bringing up the rear was two more massive men closing the door to the room behind them. The man smiled at Tsunade's shocked expression causing the crow's feet at the edge of his eyes to grow.
"My apologies for my sudden intrusion, but are you the leader of this village?" The man's kind voice sounded smooth with a firm edge to it that seemed more welcoming than intimidating. Tsunade found herself unconsciously lowering her guard as she stood. The two men standing in front of the elder tensed immediately.
"Yes, I am the Hokage of this village." She answered eyeing the two men warily before turning her attention to the elder man. The man's smile grew slightly as he stepped forward and bowed his head in respect. Once he straightened, he looked directly into Tsunade's eyes as he began to speak.
"My name is Hishimo Haruno, king of Spirit Nation." Tsunade raised a brow at the man in contemplation. How is he a king of a nation she has never once heard of? Sensing her confusion, Hishimo laughed softly. "Our nation is a long ways from this country. It is very far North- past the mountains that create the barrier from your 5 nations to our kingdoms. It has been a few centuries since any of our kingdoms have had contact with your warring nations, but it seems your enemies have found a reason to disrupt our peace." At the last line the man's voice became dark and heavy with a foreign accent that Tsunade has never heard before.
"What enemies of ours have attacked your kingdom?" Tsunade warily asked getting a bad feeling deep in her gut. If an enemy of Konoha was attacking a foreign nation, could these kingdoms have a power that could aid them in the war?
Hishimo turned his eyes from the fifth Hokage and scanned over the ANBU team of three standing silently next to the broken desk of the Hokage before turning his attention back to the Hokage.
"A group of men infiltrated our castle late at night during guard change and snuck into my youngest daughter's room. Her guardians were able to dispatch of the team before they could get near her, but one of them escaped. His name, I believe, is Orochimaru." Hishimo's eyes closed for a millisecond before he opened them with a calmer expression on his face. "We do not know his motives for attacking my daughter except for the fact that she is the heir to the throne, but we do not know this enemy as you do and we fear that there is a traitor in the castle that is helping him to get closer to her. This is why I have come here today to ask if you would provide her sanctuary until we can catch this traitor." He glanced over once more at the ANBU team with a slightly raised eyebrow before turning his attention back to the Hokage. "My youngest son will be with her along with both of their guardians for protection and my first born son will come on a schedule of your choosing to provide an update for you and to check on the safety of my daughter. You will not have to provide any personal guards for her. I just ask that you guard her from this enemy that you are more knowledgeable of." The king finished looking deeply into Tsunade's eyes with an unwavering calmness.
Tsunade processed this new information in her brain burning it to memory before she started to speak.
"I will do as you ask of me and protect her to the best of my ability from Orochimaru. I only ask if you will agree to ally your kingdom to Konoha and provide aid when asked and we will do the same for you." Hishimo smiled softly at the Hokage in understanding.
"You would ask to ally yourself with a kingdom you know nothing about? Tell me, is this war you are facing so unwinnable for your side that you would take that risk?" Hishimo asked staring intently at the big busted woman waiting for her answer. Tsunade's face went blank as she leant on the remains of her destroyed desk.
"This war has made me very desperate." She said simply. Hishimo nodded in understanding walking forward and sitting in a chair situated in front of her desk. The four massive men immediately made a square around the man eyeing the team of ANBU emotionlessly.
"Very well, I accept your terms. Now, I think you should know about the abilities the people of my country and my children possess since we will be aiding each other." Hishimo smiled before continuing. "Our country was founded by the mother of the illegitimate child of Katar- the demon who fathered the nine great demons- and her child, Chikyu. It is said that Chikyu derived her name because of her link to nature to which she passed to our ancestors. From this link, we are able to shape shift into creatures that belong to one of the three realms of nature- the sky, the earth, and the water. The people of my country only are able to belong to one of the three say for the royal children. They belong to two instead of one."
"Why is that?" All heads turned to the masked ANBU that spoke next to the ANBU captain. A senbon stuck out hazardously from his porcelain boar mask. The king smiled and leaned back in his chair relaxing.
"My family is the only direct bloodline related to Chikyu and, as of such; we have a stronger bond with nature. For example, I am of the air and land while one of my guards is of water. Does that answer your question?" Hishimo mused glancing teasingly at the young ANBU member.
"Hai, King Hishimo-sama." He answered curtly shrinking back feeling the weight of the glare his captain was sending him from behind his mask.
"Now, I'm afraid I have failed to mention one more thing to you." Hishimo's smile faded from his smooth face to be replaced by a slight frown. "There is… one more realm of nature that is extremely rare that a royal child can belong to, and I am afraid that my daughter belongs to this realm as well as the other three." Tsunade raised a brow.
"I thought you explained that a royal child can only be of two. How is that possible?" Tsunade questioned sitting in her chair. Hishimo repressed a sigh as he looked at the ANBU captain with the weasel mask before looking out of the window.
"There is a legend that has been passed down for generations amongst my people. It is the legend of the cursed child of Katar." A faraway look glazed over his eyes as he continued. "It will be on a night when the moon is full, but no stars shine that a royal child will be born dead. The skies will weep, the earth will cry out, and the waters will lash out with grief. Until ten stars shine in the sky together will the child be blessed with the spirit of Chikyu breathing life into the dead child. This child will grow to lead the lands into two hundred years of peace, but if the child dies, the lands will be cursed with two hundred years of hell on Earth." Hishimo turned his gaze to meet Tsunade's shocked auburn. "That is the curse my daughter bears. Her belonging to all four realms is because of Chikyu's spirit and that is why it is of the utmost importance that you keep her safe in your village, Lady Hokage." Tsunade stared stupefied at the man in front of her far to overwhelm to speak. Luckily, the boar masked ANBU spoke the question that was still on her mind.
"What is the fourth realm?" He asked quietly. Hishimo turned to face the ANBU that spoke with a sad look in his eyes.
"The realm of the dead, but most just call it the realm of spirits. I myself know next to nothing about it along with everyone else in the world say for my daughter herself. She is rather reluctant to speak of it however." This time, he did sigh. When he opened his eyes he stared intently at the porcelain weasel mask of the ANBU captain. His eyes narrowed as he continued to stare. "I feel as if I have met you before miser weasel. What is your name, if I may ask?" The ANBU captain paused for a second before he reached up to remove his mask.
Onyx clashed with forest green as he held gazes with the foreign king. He bowed deeply making sure his upper body was parallel to the ground.
"My name is Uchiha Itachi and I don't believe I have met you before." Itachi smoothly said straitening. Hishimo rubbed his smooth chin for a moment before he turned to the guard on his immediate right.
"Please call in my sons and daughter please. We will have to discuss their arrangements together." The guard bowed down on one knee then exited the room. After a few seconds, the door opened once more two allow two muscular women to entire with lances held tightly in their right hands with the same mask hiding their nose and mouth like the four male guards.
Followed closely behind them was a petit girl with thick soft pink hair ending at her waist and bright emerald eyes walk in with tiny bells sounding at each step she took due to the ankle bracelet clasp around her right ankle. A silver translucent veil starting from the waistband of her mid-thigh length dark green shorts fluttered behind her matching the gloves that covered the length of her arms perfectly. Her top was merely a sleeveless half shirt with a thick collar around her neck but a diamond shaped whole at the top of the chest showing off the slightest bit of her cleavage that was close to rivaling the Hokage herself. Just like her father, she wore the same skinned boots that ended just below her shorts.
Right behind her were two men-the one on the left was half a head taller than the man beside him- with muscular but lean figures showing off years of training. The shorter of the two had ruffled black hair while the other had long dark red hair that was tied in a high ponytail. Both had the same forest green eyes as the king. Both were clad in loose fitting black pants with the same shoes as Hishimo tied over them ending at just above the knee. Black skin tight muscle shirts covered their torso with white gloves that covered the length of their arms like the girl in front of them. Bringing up the rear were two more massive men like the ones surrounding the king. Seeing them, the king stood with a smile on his face as all three of them bowed to the king. Hishimo returned the gesture and waved the three of them forward.
"Lady Hokage, I would like to introduce to you three of my children. My eldest son, Prince Cyan." the man with the long dark red hair bowed in respect to Tsunade before straightening and scanning the room casually with his forest green eyes. He paused momentarily at the ANBU captain with a raised eyebrow before turning his attention back to the Hokage while the king continued to introduce his children. "This is my youngest son, Prince Kotetsu," the other male mirrored the gesture his brother did, but instead of looking around, he kept his gaze held steadily on the Hokage. "And this is my youngest child, Princess Sakura. She is the one I have told you about." The girl bowed deeply smiling brightly at the Hokage. Tsunade stood and bowed slightly at the three royal children before turning her gaze to Sakura.
"So, you are the Princess that will be staying with us in Konoha?" Tsunade asked politely. The young girl smiled.
"Yes I am." She replied in a sweet lyrical accent that sounded extremely foreign to the Hokage. "My brother is also going to be staying here with me along with our guardians if I am not mistaken." Tsunade nodded in conformation to the girl before turning to the two men staring her down.
"Prince Kotetsu is the one staying here with you, right?" at the sound of his name the prince nodded glancing momentarily at the ANBU captain standing silently in the corner.
"I am, Lady Hokage." He stared intently into her eyes as his rough lyrical accent took on a more firm tone. "You will have to forgive me if I may sound rude, but I do believe we are supposed to be discussing our living arrangements and the measures your village will take to keep my little sister safe from the enemy." Tsunade raised a brow at the young man but nodded anyway.
"The best way I can assure her safety is if she were to stay at the Uchiha residence. They are the only clan in this village that has a personal history with Orochimaru and has the knowledge of him to keep him away from her. As an added bonus, our ANBU captain here is the heir and his second in command is also a member of that clan." All eyes turned to the unmasked Uchiha standing stonily in the middle of his team. "Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui, your next mission is to escort the royal family to the Uchiha compound where they will be staying." A smirk found its way to the Hokage's lips as she added in an amused voice. "And tell the clan heads if they have an issue with it to take it up with me."
And that's the end of the first chapter! Tell me if you like it and I'll finish it! I hope you enjoyed!