Hello everyone. This is Estelle aragorn and the following fic is a Naruto centric story that happens to be a crossover between Naruto series and the Lord of the Rings. This idea was bugging me for quite sometime and as a result I have put it down in writing. I hope that you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Lord of the Rings. Naruto is the property of Mashashi Kishimoto, while Lord of the Rings is a brilliant piece of artwork by J.R.R Tolkiens. No effort is being made to gain financial benefit from this story.
Summary: When Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi in Naruto, never he meant Naruto to be used as a tool at the hands of the village and neither did Kyuubi want him to be one. As Naruto grows up to be an extremely powerful shinobi, he realizes this and starts to forge his own destiny.
Date: June 19, 2006
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The Legend of the Dark Elf
Chapter 1 – The Demotion
The third Hokage of Konoha looked up from the mountains of paper work and sighed. Standing before him were two of his most powerful Anbu members. One had a sinister fox mask on his face. The stance that he held himself in radiated authority and power. After all he was a Kage class shinobi, whose name was feared in the circles of S-Class Missing nins throughout the ninja world. His blonde locks that seemingly defied gravity, reminded the old man of his successor, at that age. The Yondaime was a brilliant shinobi, but the young individual who was standing before him had surpassed all the greatest shinobis in history, even the Yondaime who was considered as the strongest ninja in the five great shinobi villages. After all like father, like son. However, what attracted his attention most were, the cold blue eyes of the shinobi. These cold eyes were devoid of life and even he shuddered at the level of menace that rolled from those. Only being the Hokage and one of the few people that the blonde respected in the village made the old man immune to the menacing and steely countenance that hid behind those lifeless eyes. Sarutobi, the third Hokage shuffled through the profiles of the blonde individual, that only he as a Hokage could access.
Name: Kazama Naruto
Rank: Kage level ninja
ANBU codename: Fox, also called as The Red Lightening
Age: 12
No. of Missions:
S-Class –
12
A-Class – 20
B-Class - 30
Father's name: Kazama Arashi, Yondaime Hokage Sama.
Mother's name: Kazama Yuki
Ninjutsu: Off Charts
Taijutsu: Off Charts
Genjutsu: Off Charts
Blood lines: None
Remarks: Kazama Naruto is the carrier of the nine tailed bijuu, Kyuubi that is regarded as the strongest among the bijuu's and has unimaginable powers. Kazama Naruto is also known for his defeat of the famous missing nin Orochimaru. He has killed Akuma Shinko, an S-Class Missing Nin and the leader of the terrorist organization Akatsuki. He is also credited in the recovery of Uchiha Itachi and uncovering the real murderer of the Uchiha clan, who happens to be Orochimaru. The powers of Kazama Naruto are unknown as it is said that he has even surpassed the level that his father had attained during his prime. He can summon, his summons being toads and demon foxes. Has extremely high chakra stamina.
Sarutobi let out a pained sigh. The Yondaime's last wish was that Naruto be seen as the hero of the Village. However, the animosity that the villagers extended towards him tempered him to be a vicious shinobi. There had been several attempts at assassinating him when he was a young child. If that was not enough, he had to constantly face the efforts of the villagers to belittle him, to beat him and abuse him. He never had children of his age to play with. Initially, he endured all this with a smiling face, but the Hokage knew, this was breaking the child. His initial move to place the child in an orphanage under the impression that he would have some contact with children his age backfired. The caretakers had abused him and purposefully made the children to hate him. He was isolated. He received almost non-existent care. By the time, the Hokage had taken him away from the orphanage, the child had become extremely frail. But, his spirit was not broken. He always laughed the pain and loneliness away at that time. It had surprised the Hokage to no end that how could the child be so mature and understanding and at the same time so naive. His goal was to become the Hokage, so everyone would acknowledge him.
His move to place Naruto in a quarter also did not work well. The caretakers that he hired for Naruto did not take care of him. Some even went to the extent of aiding in assassination attempts. The assassination attempts increased and Naruto was not safe. Relief came in the form of Miyazaki Rin. Rin was the third member of the erstwhile team 7 that the Yondaime had been the Jounin Sensei of. Uchiha Obito had died on a mission. After that Hatake Kakashi had withdrawn into himself. After their sensei's death, both Kakashi and Rin had thrown themselves into their training. Kakashi became an elite jounin and ANBU captain. Miyazaki Rin became an exemplary medic nin. She decided to baby sit Naruto. Never had been the boy so happy in his life. His 'nee-chan' would be there for him and he never would feel loneliness anymore. Rin cared about Naruto and protected him from the hostilities. The Hokage had heaved a sigh of relief. But the happiness had been short lived for the boy. For it had been few months after Rin started taking take care of Naruto that Naruto's life had turned down upside down.
Flashback
'Nee-chan said that she had something for me when I got back home in the evening', thought a sunny blonde child as he ran along the alleys of Konoha. He was in a blissful mood, for he was going to get his first gift from some one else. Due to his obliviousness, never did he see a group of shadows that was trailing him nor did he hear the telltale whooshing sound that accompanies a shot arrow. An arrow pierced his right shoulder. Naruto gasped and fell down vomiting a lot of blood.
Foot steps were heard. He turned and looked up. A kick impacted his chest. He wheezed and spat a mouthful of blood. "How did that feel, demon? You are nothing but a nuisance and a murderer to our society. You must die, demon", said one man.
By now the group had surrounded him and cut off any chance of escape for the blonde child. The child looked up and saw the Uchiha crest and Hyuuga crest. He froze in fear. These were the strongest in the village. He called for help, but nobody heard him. He called for his nee-chan, for old man Hokage, but a strong hand hit him at a pressure point that silenced him temporarily.
Elsewhere
Miyazaki Rin was worried. Naruto had not returned home. She had prepared his birthday cake. As time passed by she became more and more worried. Naruto was never late. So she dressed up and rushed out to look for the blonde. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop in search of the kid that had become her younger brother and quickly grown on her.
Back
What she saw nearly stopped her heart. There was Naruto, being beaten into a bloody pulp. There were several incisions on his body. His right eye had swollen. He was coughing blood, a sign of internal bleeding. The people surrounding him were shinobis and elite of the elite. She gulped as one prepared the hottest fire attack in Konoha and the rest threw shurikens at the young boy.
"Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu"
"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu"
"Naruto-kun", yelled Rin as she jumped in front of the attacks to protect the child. All the attacks collided on her, cutting and burning her body fatally.
Hearing his nee-chan's voice Naruto looked up tearfully. But his face became pale when he saw her limp body covering him from the incoming attacks. Blood flowed from her mouth. All attacks stopped. Naruto slowly looked into her eyes that had held earlier so much life, but now were lifeless. "Nee-chan" cried the young boy.
"Why, why nee-chan?" Even though she was in extreme pain, she smiled at the boy and wiped his tears. She wheezed out, "Because you are my precious person, Naruto-kun; you are my younger brother."
She gasped out, "Naruto-kun, I do not have much time left. Where, I will be going I would be in a better place. I will be with my friends."
Naruto cut in, "Then take me with you". Tears were now flowing from his eyes. He cradled her head in his lap. "Don't leave me nee-chan. I do not want to be alone again."
"Naruto, you have much to live for. Promise me you would become the greatest shinobi in this world. But please never turn into a bloodthirsty individual. Promise me that you would always be just. Promise me that you will never crave revenge for me. Become strong so that you can protect others. Do not become a mindless murderer."
Naruto weakly nodded, "H-Hai, nee-chan."
With that Miyazaki Rin breathed her last. And the last vestige of cheerfulness that Naruto had in life was lost. He looked up at the murderers. One of them commented on how it was good that the demon-protecting bitch was killed. Something foreign bubbled inside him. All pent up anger came out as he cried. His voice turned into a roar as red chakra started seeping out from his navel as nine massive tails of chakra manifested around him.
The demon that was asleep till now woke up as rage undefined in history coursed through Naruto's veins. Hissing sounds were heard from his wounds as they started healing up. The shinobis were terrified at the raw killing intent that exuded from the child in front of them. This was the same pressurizing and choking fear that they had felt from the bijuu almost five years ago. The child started sporting feral changes. There were massive claws on his fingertips and toes. Elongated canines adorned his face. The form of an ethereal fox demon encompassed his small body. When he looked up, the blue iris of the boy was gone. Instead, they were blood red with a slitted pupil at the center. The shinobis in front of the boy hit the boy with their most powerful attacks. But a single tail flick managed to deflect all the attacks. Finally, the boy charged at them with insurmountable speed and madness raging from him. The raw killer intent was turning the minds of the ninjas into mush. The shinobi did not know what hit them.
The entire village woke up to the disgusting aura that was being let loose. They were terrified. Most of them had just one question in their mind. Had the seal broken? Sarutobi with his goup of ANBU personnel hurried to the site. What he saw terrified him. Broken and cut bodies of the Uchiha clan members and Hyuuga clan members lay strewn across the road. Blood was splattered around on all the compound walls. In the center sat Naruto, cradling the body of Miyazaki Rin. An ANBU personnel near him in dog mask gasped at the site. Sarutobi looked at the person, who currently had his head bowed. Hatake Kakashi had lost everyone dear to him to the village. Red Chakra was forming a barrier around the duo. Slowly the barrier collapsed and the red chakra seeped back inside Naruto.
Sarutobi cautiously approached towards the sniffling Naruto. "Naruto-kun." He heard the boy muttering something like, "They killed her, they took her away from me", while caressing Rin's forehead. The Hokage painfully sighed and pried the young and tired boy from the corpse. He motioned towards the ANBU to carry the corpse of Miyazaki Rin to the Hospital. He looked at the child in his arms. His cheeks were tear strained. "Naruto-kun", he sighed.
End Flashback
Naruto had stayed in the hospital for quite sometime. Miyazaki Rin had been given a state funeral on the eighth day. Kakashi had escorted Naruto towards the funeral grounds of Konoha.
After the funeral, Naruto had confronted the third Hokage.
Flashback
"Hokage-sama, train me" asked a morose looking but defiant child. The Hokage looked from his desk to look at a bandaged Naruto standing in front of him. All childishness and mischievousness had vanished from the countenance of the child in front of him.
"Naruto-kun you are too early to train. Your younger body and mind will not take the stress of the rigorous training of a ninja. A child can go into rigorous training only after crossing his sixth birthday. That is the reason why we start accepting children at the ninja academy only when they turn eight. You are just a child now, only five years of age. So I think -- "
He was interrupted by the child, "Honestly speaking, Hokage-sama, nothing can put more strain on my body, than having a bijuu sealed inside my body."
Sarutobi's eyes widened, "You mean, you, you know."
Naruto's eyes darkened. "Hai, I know about the Kyuubi. I have talked to him."
Sarutobi was by now frantic. "Is the seal okay? Is is he trying to escape?"
Naruto chuckled sadly, "No Hokage-sama, he is not trying to escape. The Yondaime's seal is drawing the essence of Kyuubi into me. However, one thing that you all have wrong, is that if I were to be killed, then the ninetails will die with me. The Kyuubi is a nature spirit and not one of the tailed demons. It is nature's way of balancing power. So if it were to be destroyed, it would get assimilated back into the earth and reform again into the ninetails. Heck, had he not agreed to be sealed into me, even the Death God would not have been able to seal him. After all, he is actually the God of destruction. So, he is as powerful as the shinigami. The natural calamities, the tsunamis that destroy countless lives, the earthquakes, the storms, that keep on acting from time to time are actually the work of this natural force, the Kyuubi. He was the nature's way of balancing the power struggle between the eight great bijuu during the demon wars.
But that all aside, I want you train me. I do not want what happened that night to ever happen again. I do not want to loose my precious people, because I am weak. I understand, that I am a human sacrifice. But never would the people of this village look at me as that. They would see the demon that destroyed their lives five years ago. So they will attempt to take away everything that I cherish. I want to become strong. So you will train me. And I want to know who my parents were."
The Hokage mulled over what he had heard from Naruto. He replied, "Naruto, your father was a powerful shinobi and had many enemies. If people were to discover that you were his son, then your life would be in danger. I never told you about them because of this reason. You would have attracted many more assassination attempts."
Naruto took this with understanding. He said, "Hokage sama, a person is always proud of his or her legacy. So I would like to know about parents, any inheritance that they left me and about any family techniques that they left me. I will not reveal my actual identity till I have become strong enough. Please Hokage-sama, my life till now has been just a lie, I do not want any more deceptions."
Sarutobi looked at him and could not decipher how the child could become so mature. He painfully sighed and cursed the village and its myopic inhabitants that had snatched the childhood from a child.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. If you say so, then so be it."
With that he got and searched a few archives. He took out something that resembled a scroll and gave it to Naruto. "Smear some blood on the scroll and it would open."
Naruto did the as instructed. The scroll opened. Naruto opened the scroll with shivering hands. He looked at the names.
Sarutobi was looking at the child in front of him. A number of emotions flitted across the blonde kid's face. Surprise, then anger and finally his face became still and there was a look of resigned acceptance on his face. He started chuckling. "Figures. What a great story. The hero of the village sacrifices his life and the future of his child to save the village. The wife of the hero and the mother of the child dies at childbirth. The child is hated by the villagers and is wanted dead by the same villagers who the hero of the village died to protect. What a grateful bunch!" Sarutobi was looking at Naruto with trepidation. If the child lost control and let out the Kyuubi then his village would not survive a second onslaught.
"Naruto-kun, please do not turn blind in your hate to the village. I know you have been wronged. But many villagers are innocent. They do deserve to survive."
Naruto cut him in anger as his eyes turned red temporarily, "If someone as pure and innocent as my nee-chan had no right to survive in this godforsaken village, then nobody in this world has the right to live." Sarutobi hung his head in sorrow. Seeing this, Naruto took few breaths to calm himself. "Don't worry old man, I promised my nee-chan that I would never extract revenge on this village for her. I will become strong so that such an incident never happens again. I will become strong so that I can protect those that I consider precious to me. I would never turn into a blood thirsty monster. But remember this Hokage-sama, I will neither forgive nor forget." He stood up, "I will come tomorrow at four in the morning for my training." With that he left the Hokage's office.
End Flashback
Naruto, from that day trained under the Hokage's tutelage. He worked tooth and nail to achieve his objective. As a result he progressed in leaps and bounds. Within three years he had reached ANBU level. Another two years and he had become as strong as the sannin and surpassed them. His repertoire of jutsu had become enormous. The demon fox was also teaching him techniques, for he had started a set of new seals that Sarutobi himself had never seen before – demon seals. The devastation that he slowly became capable of was maddening. He perfected all of Yondaime's techniques and also started learning about seal crafting. In that field, he also showed his genius. He became a seal master at the age of eleven, becoming the youngest of all seal masters. Kazama Naruto revolutionized the area of seal making as he added demonic seals to his repertoire.
The remarkable fact was that no one knew about his identity. Naruto never lived in the village. He had a temporary lair in the 'Forest of Death' at the outskirts of the village. Due to this everyone in the village thought that the blonde child was dead. Whenever Naruto came to the village, he had a mask in front of his face. Behind the mask was a demonic genjutsu(illusion technique) that not even the Hyuugas and Uchihas could see through. In the company of others he always used to have this mask on his face. No one in ANBU and none of the council elders knew about him. Only three people knew about the progress of the blonde – Jiraya, the toad hermit, one of the sannins of Konoha, who had the misfortune of being the sensei of the blonde after Naruto turned eight. Naruto disliked perverts and Jiraya was the height of perverseness. Hataka Kakashi was the other person who knew about the kid's progress. After all, getting beaten by the kid on many occasions had made him to learn the lesson to never mess with the blonde kid. However, he being the sparring partner of Kazama Naruto had the luck of copying some of the most devastating techniques that Naruto used. Too bad, these techniques required a hefty amount of chakra. Only Naruto was able to use these techniques effectively and remain standing. The last person to know about Naruto's progress was the Hokage himself, who used to monitor Naruto's progress.
Sarutobi sighed as he looked again at the duo. His sight fell on the shorter of the duo. She held herself with elegance and authority, portraying every bit the aristocratic heiress of a noble clan of Konoha. After all, she like the Kazamas was royalty in Konoha. Also young, she had established herself as the strongest kunoichis in the five great countries. She wore a bird mask. Her hair was black in color and had a lavender streak running through them. She also was cold, almost as cold as ice, but unlike Naruto she showed her emotions some times. The Hokage leaned forward and perused her profile.
Name: Hyuuga Hinata
Rank: Sannin level ninja
ANBU codename: Eagle, also called as The Death Goddess
Age: 12
No. of Missions:
S-Class - 8
A-Class –15
B-Class - 35
Father's name: Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuuga clan
Mother's name: Hyuuga Hana
Ninjutsu: Excellent
Taijutsu: Off Charts
Genjutsu: Off Charts
Blood lines: Byakugan. She achieved the highest level of Byakugan doujutsu and has been the first after the founder of the Hyuuga clan to be able to do so.
Remarks: Hyuuga Hinata is the current heiress of the Hyuuga clan. However, she is actually the head of the clan as she had defeated all the Hyuuga elders and her father in a contest for the leadership of the clan. She has taken the Jyuuken ryu to its highest possible level. Also known as the Goddess of Death, she specializes in swift assassination tactics. Her Byakugan is the highest level of the Hyuuga doujutsu and is called the 'Eyes of Divinity'. It allows her to predict the movements of the opponents and read minds. The other advantages of the Byakugan eyes are also available to her. Her Jyuuken is different. Unlike the normal Jyuuken, she can in one strike to anywhere on the human body, inject a lethal amount of venomous chakra into the body, thereby destroying chakra pathways, thus leading to sure death of the opponent. Her Taijutsu style is called as 'The hands of the Death Goddess'. She is known for defeating the S-Class Akatsuki criminals Hoshigaki Kisame and Sasori of the Hidden sands. Along with being a taijutsu specialist, she is an exemplary medic nin. Her capabilities in the medical field are rumored to have surpassed those of the legendary medic nin Tsunade of the Sannin.
Hyuuga Hinata was one main house Hyuuga member who was respected by everyone in the Hyuuga clan. She had grown into a force to be reckoned with. Sarutobi could not help but reminisce about the young, shy and timid heiress that used to have a crush on Naruto.
Flashback
Sarutobi, covertly gazed through his crystal ball, monitoring Naruto's workout lessons in the forest of death. He was proud of the young shinobi. At the same time he was quite sad. The child was loosing himself in his training. He had not talked to anyone for the past two years. His social skills were lacking. The Hokage could not help but curse the villagers. He could not help but sigh at the foolishness of the villagers as they continued to antagonize the young boy. Over the years, Naruto's house had been razed by a mob of villagers. Many thought that Naruto died in that blaze. However, Naruto had foreseen this and moved some of his more valuable possessions into the lair inside the forest of death. This cave was guarded by a wall of chakra that was fatal and poisonous to anyone other than Naruto. But Naruto's most prized possession was the necklace that Rin had given to him. He used to wear it around his neck at all times. He had stopped coming to the village other than his scheduled visits to the Hokage once a week.
As Sarutobi was looking through the crystal ball, he saw a white glint towards the corner. Someone was concealed and watching Naruto. Sarutobi focused and got his answer. Hyuuga Hinata was trailing Naruto. He had observed this on many prior occasions. He, being the Hokage never missed the signs. The redness of her face when she looked at Naruto, watching Naruto for many hours on end, the sorrowful eyes when Naruto was belittled all indicated towards a blossoming crush on the part of the little girl towards the blonde shinobi. Sarutobi knew about Hinata and the way her father used to belittle her. Sarutobi knew that the girl had potential, but with no one to appreciate and encourage her and many of the main clan members' attitudes of belittling her, she had started withdrawing into her shell. Over the years, she became more and more diffident. Her performance at the academy was falling. Sarutobi realized that she required someone to pull her out of her shell and Naruto was the best possible candidate. And who knows, she might be able to pull out Naruto from his self-inflicted isolation. However, one thing he was sure and quite concerned with. If Naruto found that she was trailing him, then he might harm her out of misunderstanding and he was going to prevent it.
Few months later in the Hokage's office…
An eight-year old Naruto who had just made it to the position of the captain of the ANBU corps of Konoha stood in front of the Hokage.
"Naruto-kun," started Sarutobi, "I am extremely pleased with your progress. ANBU level in just three years. You are quite the prodigy. You broke Uchiha Itachi's and Kakashi-san's records. I am proud of you."
A rare small smile flitted on the child's face, but disappeared quickly. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
'So much for being happy', sighed Sarutobi. He continued, "I have called you to assign you a mission. You are going to train one student to the best possible means."
"WHAT?" exclaimed Naruto with face scrunched up in confusion.
"You heard me right. You will be going to get a student."
"But Hokage-sama, I am not qualified to be a teacher. There are more apt teachers than me in this village. I mean I am just growing and I have much to achieve."
Sarutobi held up his hands to silence Naruto's protest, "This is not up for argument. While you will teach this student of yours, you are going to continue your lessons with Jiraya and your duties as the ANBU captain. You will be entrusted with protecting this student of yours. You will be escorting me as a bodyguard and we are going to meet this student of yours."
Years of practice of obeying orders from superiors shut down any further protests from Naruto. He schooled his features and became reticent again. "Hai, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage cursed himself for his stupidity. Like before, Naruto did not get to have any say in this. The demon was sealed in him and he could not say anything to avoid it. The Hokage took all his decisions. He unwillingly had to submit himself to the misbehavior of the villages. He never had a say in anything. The Hokage was regretting forcing his decisions on Naruto again. Anyway the damage had been done already and both of them moved out of the Hokage tower.
They started moving towards the non-civilian sector of the village. The villagers, on their way paused to look at their Hokage with awe. Naruto was looking down, totally apathetic towards the reactions of the villagers. Since he had his mask on, the usual sneers, scowls, looks of disgust were not directed towards him. Sarutobi winced at the prospect of Naruto walking in broad daylight without his mask.
"We are here." Naruto looked up. Slowly his face turned into that of a twisted sneer. It was the Hyuuga estate. The anger in him was palpable and started rolling from him in waves disturbing the inhabitants of the clan. Sarutobi had to clench his hands at the overpowering killing intent that rose from the blonde shinobi. The Hokage sighed. Though it had never been proven, the Hyuuga and Uchiha council elders had a hand in organizing the attack on Naruto, on that fateful night. Of all the people in the village, Naruto hated the Hyuugas and the Uchihas the most. He absolutely loathed the two most powerful houses. Seeing that his killing intent was running haywire everywhere, Naruto calmed himself by taking few breaths. After all, it was unbecoming of a shinobi, let alone an ANBU captain to loose control over his emotions. After he was sufficiently calmed down he turned towards his benefactor and asked in a venomous voice, "Sarutobi-sensei, why have you brought me here?"
"Naruto-kun, this is where your would be student lives." Sarutobi replied with steel in his voice.
"You give me a Hyuuga student, knowing fully well about the feelings that I harbor for them?" asked Naruto increduluously. "My hands are currently itching to slaughter this sorry excuse of a clan. If they had not been that useful to the village, I would have been rooting for their extermination a long while ago."
Sarutobi recoiled back at the venom in the child's voice. However, he was not the Hokage for nothing. He replied back with equal force. "Naruto do not let your opinions blind you. Otherwise, what would be the difference between you and the myopic villagers? The villagers look at you as if you are Kyuubi. They attribute the destruction done by Kyuubi to you. You attribute the sins of few people to the entire clan. So tell me Naruto, how are you different? All this time have I taught nothing to you?"
For the first time, Naruto reeled back from the words of the Hokage. As much as the village, the Uchihas and the Hyuugas had wronged him, he realized that he was nothing different, for he let his prejudices cloud his vision.
Naruto dropped his head and muttered loud enough for the Hokage to hear, "Sorry Sensei." Unknown to him, Sarutobi smiled a little. So there was a chance to redeem the boy from the isolation that he had imposed on himself. And Sarutobi was going to move heaven and earth to succeed in his objective.
They moved inside the clan gate. The guards bowed to them. Sarutobi paused for sometime. "Naruto-kun, I know ANBU captains have to keep their identity concealed from the public. However, during high profile meetings like council meetings or meetings of the elders where ANBU captains have to attend, it is a protocol to remove the mask." Naruto's eyes behind the mask widened. "Currently, there is a meeting going on. All the important members like the clan heads, clan elders and the heirs are going to be in attendence. I was invited. You have to remove the mask once you enter inside."
Sarutobi moved and paused for sometime in front of the dojo. He motioned for a Hyuuga branch member to inform the people that he had arrived.
Inside the Hyuuga estate
The council of Hyuuga elders, and Hyuuga Hiashi, the clan head were in a meeting. Also in attendance were Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress of the clan, Hyuuga Hanabi the younger sister of Hyuuga Hinata, and Hyuuga Neji, the son of the branch house head. The four elders, Hyuuga Hikari, Hyuuga Genji, Hyuuga Koharu, Hyuuga Myojin were in attendance. Hyuuga Hiashi was looking at the four elders. His eyes fell on his childhood rival, Hyuuga Hikari. Hyuuga Hikari was a downright vicious and ambitious woman. She had lost the clan headship battle to him. However, she made it to the post of one of the elders. She always antagonized him, opposed all his decisions and harbored a pathological hatred towards him and his family. The other elders were not that aggressive. Hyuuga Genji used to align more towards Hyuuga Hikari and he had marked the elder as possibly hostile. Hyuuga Koharu was the Sandaime's teammate and was quite sensible. He was also on the council of the village elders. Hyuuga Myojin was younger than him, but proved to be a quite loyal to him. Two against him and two possibly for him; as a result, he had realized that today the situation would be quiet impasse. So he had invited the Hokage to attend the meeting. The Sandaime and the Yondaime had always helped him during his time of needs. The Sandaime had been a father figure in his life, while the Yondaime, Kazama Arashi was a good friend of his and his teammate of genin days. So he had always believed that the Hokage would always be impartial.
He surveyed the others in the room. His nephew Hyuuga Neji was turning into a prodigy. However, the boy bore a pathological amount of hate towards the main family whom he considered the reason behind his father, Hyuuga Hizashi's death. The clan head had always cursed Hyuuga Hikari for coming up with the solution that led to his brother's demise. Next he looked at his three-year-old younger daughter, Hanabi. She was growing well and would start training in the Hyuuga arts next year. Next his gaze fell on his eldest daughter Hinata and he could not suppress his grimace. Seated in the corner with her head bowed, and dressed in a kimono she looked like a doll. She looked delicate and had no idea what fate had in store for her. She was to be the main topic of discussion for this meeting and he had no heart to expose her to these monsters that were seated before him. Unknown to many, the Hyuuga clan head had a soft spot for his eldest daughter, as she resembled his dead wife the most. However, the numerous kidnapping attempts that were done on her, the constant belittling by all the elders and the losses at the hands of her cousin brother who was downright vicious in attacking her, had quashed all her confidence.
He also could not fathom his little girl's attraction towards a certain blonde demon vessel. Yes, Hyuuga Hiashi knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto. He also knew that Naruto was his old friend, Kazama Arashi's son. He happened to find this when he had gone to meet the Hokage after Rin's death and had overheard the conversation between Kazama Naruto and the Hokage. Never had he cursed himself more than that day. After that he secretly started keeping tabs on Naruto and he knew that he had been promoted to the post of the ANBU captain that morning.
He was interrupted from his musings by the false sweet voice of Hyuuga Hikari, "Hiashi-kun, I think you should start the meeting, as all are present."
"Hah, Hikari-san patience is a virtue. I have invited a good friend of mine to this meeting as well. He must be here in sometime." Hyuuga Hiashi replied with the same fake smile.
"And, you did not deem it important to inform us about this 'good friend' of yours." Hikari continued in the sugary voice but inside she was boiling with anger. "Not a good way to organize things."
"This friend of mine was invited at the last moment. So, I could not inform you. And the last time I checked, it is no where written in the Hyuuga constitution that the clan head required the sanction of Hyuuga elders to invite someone to the council meeting." Hiashi asked her pointedly.
A branch house member interrupted any further argument. "Hokage-sama has arrived."
With that the Sandaime was ushered into the room. Accompanying the Hokage was blonde child wearing a fox mask. He had a sword strapped to his back. It was the legendary sword 'Tenken', which is said to have been a gift to the Kazama members from God Inari. Not all Kazama members could yield the sword. Yondaime was the first in a thousand years to yield the legendary sword. And now his son was yielding the same sword. Hiashi was Yondaime's genin teammate and knew about the legend of Tenken. His eyebrows rose up. 'This was going to be interesting, very, very interesting.'
"It is nice to meet you Hiashi-kun", greeted the Hokage. It was an honest greeting and lacked any of the underhandedness that he associated with those of the Hyuuga elders.
He politely greeted the leader of the village and looked at Hikari. He tried to suppress a laugh. Hyuuga Hikari was scowling badly.
"Sarutobi who is this young boy, that you have by your side", asked Hyuuga Koharu.
The Hokage smiled. Hiashi noticed this and could not suppress a smile as well. "Ah Koharu, this is the captain of the ANBU corps. He was promoted to the post of the ANBU captain, today morning. I will let him introduce himself."
Sarutobi then motioned the child with a hand sign. Everyone seemed quite interested. The mask slid of the face, revealing a sun tanned face and cerulean blue eyes. Three whisker marks were visible on each cheek. The room erupted into chaos. In that chaos no one noticed a small gasp. Hyuuga Hiashi turned and saw that his daughter was looking unabashedly at the boy with a rosy tint on her cheeks.
Cries of 'how can you make him the ANBU captain', 'he should not be given such power', 'he is dangerous' erupted across the table from different Hyuuga members. Hyuuga Neji was looking at the blonde, like a hawk, scrutinizing him and measuring him up. Hyuuga Hanabi was looking at her sister, confused at her reaction towards the boy and then at the stoic boy. Sarutobi was calmly looking at the chaos with disgust. And the blonde haired shinobi was stoic as ever.
"Silence", thundered Hiashi, "if we can continue this discussion like civilized people rather than street ruffians it would be better."
Immediately the chaos stopped and some members looked ashamed.
Hyuuga Hikari spoke first with venom, "Why is that boy here? I understand that you were invited Hokage-sama. However, we Hyuugas do not associate with the likes of him whose parentage is questionable. He is an orphan. His parents might have been low-lifes like him. He should be"
Before she could continue further in her diatribe, a powerful killing intent froze everyone in the room. It was so overpowering that the people sitting across the room had difficulty to breathe. But since it was directed primarily towards Hyuuga Hikari the most, she was bought down to her knees. All eyes went to the blonde shinobi. His eyes had turned red and there was a black slit at the center of each eye.
"Naruto, get a grip" shouted the Hokage. Hearing this the killing intent was reigned in by the blonde shinobi, but the terrifying feeling still lingered in the air and the eyes did not change from the terrifying red.
Naruto calmly strode forward towards the Hyuuga who was panting. His gait looked like a predator, who is going to pounce on its prey. His body radiated with power and people understood, how he could become the ANBU captain. Sarutobi and Hiashi were looking at him in trepidation. Naruto pulled up the chin of the lady and made her face him forcibly. Hyuuga Hikari was started shivering after looking into those diabolic eyes. Then he talked in a low guttural voice, "I could execute you right now for treason; because by insulting my parents you have insulted one of the previous Hokages of the village."
Hyuuga Hikari blanched and stuttered, "N-Never. Someone like you cannot be the son of a Hokage." She ended a bit strongly. But then on closely looking at his face, comprehension dawned in her eyes and she paled. Konoha had only one Hokage with cerulean blue eyes and blonde spiky hair, the Yondaime.
"Yes, the real name of Naruto-kun is Kazama Naruto, the son of Yondaime Hokage, Kazama Arashi. His name was changed to that of Uzumaki, to protect him from possible acts of retribution at the hands of the enemies of Arashi." Sarutobi said to the stunned council members. Naruto retreated back to his original space and watched the proceedings with a disinterested gaze.
"Okay, now since everyone is here we would like to begin the meeting." Hyuuga Hiashi spoke in a commanding tone. They discussed mundane affairs initially. After some time Hyuuga Hikari who was still shaken from the earlier encounter with the blonde shinobi brought up the topic that he had dreaded till now.
"Hyuuga Hiashi, in the last concluded match between Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Neji emerged victorious. It is really a shame to see a main house member getting beaten by a branch house member. Hyuuga Hinata has been trained in Jyuuken since she was four years old. She has not activated the advanced Byakugan eyes. Moreover, she has lost over all the matches with Hyuuga Neji in the last four years. I think that she is not suitable for the position of the Hyuuga heiress. I understand that the actual age when the heiress is chosen is usually twelve, but she does not have the potential to lead the clan. It would be better if you start training Hyuuga Hanabi in the Jyuuken and stop training Hinata."
Hyuuga Hiashi was calm but inside he was panicking. Hinata hung her face in shame and sorrow.
Before anyone else could speak, the Hokage spoke, "I think it is a bit harsh to brand Hinata as a branch member before you have given her a chance to prove herself. However, this is nothing of my concern, as I am not interested in the affairs of the Hyuuga clan. I am here to remind the Hyuuga that it is time that they uphold the promise that they made to the Kazama clan."
Kazama clan was the most powerful clan in the history of ninjas. They were even older than the Hyuugas. The promise that Sarutobi was speaking was made even before the time when Konoha was created, a time when groups and clans of ninjas used to roam in wilderness. A Kazama clan member had saved a Hyuuga clan head and the Hyuugas in gratitude had promised that every third generation they would send the Hyuuga heir to learn about the Kazama way. In this way the Hyuuga would relinquish the Hyuuga training and effectively become a Kazama. In most of the cases the heir was usually married into the Kazama clan.
"I think it is time to send the Hyuuga Heiress into the Kazama clan as there exists still the last Kazama. Kazama Naruto would train Hyuuga Hinata. She also might get training from Jiraya, the toad sannin as he was the teacher of the Yondaime and the sensei to Naruto-kun. And since you want Hinata-san's jyuuken training to stop, I think this would be the best solution."
End Flashback
And with that, Hyuuga Hinata came under the tutelage of Kazama Naruto. No one knows how, but Naruto was able to bring Hinata to ANBU level in just three years. His training methods were not disclosed and even Hinata was not forthcoming with answers. Hinata also revolutionized the medical field. Her punches and kicks were devastating like Tsunade. At the age of twelve she won her bout with Hyuuga Neji and cemented her claim on the title of Hyuuga heiress. Next she had challenged her father. Hiashi knew that what Hinata wanted. He was one who had taken great pains to keep track of Hinata's training, but he had never actually seen her in a fight. He actually knew that Hinata had long ago surpassed him. In what followed, Hiashi was defeated by his eldest daughter. Hinata's use of the taijutsu style "the Hands of the Death Goddess", elicited a few gasps from the older Hyuuga members. Used by Hyuuga Hiroshi, the founder of the Hyuuga clan, the taijutsu style "the Hands of the Death Goddess" was a lethal style that could only be yielded by a Hyuuga who had mastered the very advanced Byakugan eyes, 'Eyes of Divinity'. However due to the stagnation that the Hyuuga clan had brought upon itself, the style was lost in history. She was also quite skilled in sword fighting.
Hinata claimed the leadership of one of the strongest clans in Konoha. Then she made a radical move. She dissolved the council of elders. There were quite a few protests. But the support of her father, Jiraya of the Sannin, Kazama Naruto, the heir to the Kazama clan, and the Hokage of the village, enabled her to deal with the council. The corrupt members were punished. She decreed the curse seal illegal and made moves to remove it from the foreheads of the branch members. Unfortunately, after a certain age, the curse seal becomes intertwined with the human chakra system. So, all those who were salvageable, especially the children and the teens had their curse seals removed. She then created a new body of elders, which comprised of clan members from both branch and main house. She entrusted the leadership of the council into the hands of her father. She also made her father the temporary head of the clan, until she turned twenty and would be able to handle the clan duties.
The Hokage looked at the two shinobis. The duo complimented each other perfectly. Over the years, Naruto had mellowed a bit. He still harbored distrust for the villagers. However, he had opened up to Hinata and trusted her. As a result, the hate that was stumping his growth was not clouding his vision. Hinata on the other hand had lost her shy demeanor and had become a powerful and determined kunoichi. Over the years, the crush that she harbored for the blonde shinobi was gone. She now loved Naruto with all her heart. She also knew about the Kyuubi. Both of them worked together as teammates in the ANBU taking SS-class missions and easily cracking them. Sarutobi did a mental jig. Konoha was militarily very strong. All major enemies of Konoha had been defeated. Uchiha Itachi, who was brought back by Naruto was now a functioning jounin teacher in Konoha. With the death of Akuma Shinko, Akatsuki had collapsed. A few members were still at large. However, the only one to be concerned was an S-class missing nin Hinrashi Genma. Orochimaru, the real reason behind the Uchiha massacre was alive and plotting. But he feared the duo of the Red Lightening and Goddess of Death and was afraid of coming out in open. The morale of the shinobis was at an all time high. And, with all this he had managed to pull Naruto out of his shell.
However, he immediately remembered why he had called the duo here and grimaced. Now since Naruto's identity was out in open in front of many villages and not the least, the council, the council was all set upon making his life hell again.
"Naruto-kun, I have been reviewing the achievement of your team from your individual profiles. I am quite satisfied with your performance. However, what I am going to broach to you is quite a distasteful topic." Sarutobi paused looking at Naruto and Hinata. Both had stiffened.
"Naruto-kun, I am going to demote you to the status of a genin, starting effective from today." He stopped and looked at the blonde shinobi for any reactions. He did not find any. But his posture started seeming a bit resigned after hearing this.
His teammate on the other hand was not that controlled. "What?" shouted Hyuuga Hinata.
"Hai Hinata-san, I am demoting Naruto-kun to the position of a genin. In his place you would be taking over the spot of the ANBU captain."
"But why, you say that our performance has been quite satisfying and he has not broken any rules. Then why are you demoting him." Though she was trying to restrain herself, she was having difficulty in concealing her anger.
"The council of village elders has something to do with this, does it not?" Naruto opened his mouth for the first time.
The Hokage hung his head, "Hai Naruto-kun. My hands are tied. They were asking for your exile. They did not want so much power in your hands. I had to fight with them and in the end managed to make this compromise. I am extremely sorry."
"However, you also have another motive, don't you?" 'Damn the kid read him like a book, no wonder he was the ANBU captain at such a young age', thought Sarutobi.
"Yes, I do have an ulterior motive. Naruto, Konoha is getting quite strong. As a result, most of the enemies of Konoha fear our village right now. The addition of the two of you has bolstered our defences making the village almost impregnable. As a result, some of our opponents have started to resort to underhanded tactics. They are going to target our genin teams who happen to be the future shinobis of the village and the pillar of its military and economic strength. Moreover, information has reached me that Orochimaru has allied with Hinrashai Genma, who was the second in command of Akuma Shinko. As a result having you in a genin team will suit my purpose for protecting them until they grow up and are capable of protecting themselves. I have also received information that Orochimaru is after the Sharingan and is believed to strike during this year's chunin exam."
Naruto was mulling over the above information.
Hyuuga Hinata spoke, "Hokage-sama, if this is the case, I request you to demote me too. I have a valid reason. Whatever, you might say; I know that the council is hell bent on making it difficult for Naruto-kun. If I remain in his genin team the council will not make any more such decisions as their decisions would also affect me. They would not want to anger the Hyuugas. So I would be an insurance against the council's malice."
Naruto was shocked. "You do not have to do this, Hinata-chan." The girl cut him off, "I insist Naruto-kun. I never leave my precious people unprotected." She added with a small smile.
The Hokage was stunned and awed by the determined girl. This was the girl who would lead her clan and the village to greatness. He could not help but feel proud of the girl.
"Okay. Kazama Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata you both are genin teammates from now. Your team will contain of just both of you and your jounin sensei. Tomorrow, the new batch of genins will graduate from the academy. You would go to the academy in the morning at ten, to be debriefed and get to meet your jounin sensei. Even though you two would be definitely more powerful than your sensei, I am giving the team leadership to the jounin to avoid suspicions. Dismissed." With that said the two of them vanished.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Somewhere else at the borders of snow country, inside a cave, two figures were meeting. The first one was a serpentine figure. He was very tall. His face reflected insanity and madness. Power was flowing through him. As he walked through the halls to the meeting place, the guards could not help but repress shudder at the overpowering menace that seemed to be flowing from the individual. He made it to the central room where the second figure was seated.
The second figure was seated at the table having his dinner. However, the disgusting aura that he seemed to radiate even in a calm state dwarfed the menace that the first was radiating. He looked up and the second figure could not repress a shudder. The blood shot eyes looked into pale yellow ones. The person seated at the table smirked.
"Orochimaru, why have you shown your face at a place where you could be killed in seconds?"
Orochimaru calmly spoke, "To forward a proposition, that will help you revive the Akatsuki and also to take your revenge, Genma-san"
Genma had sworn revenge on the Red Lightening of Konoha for destroying the Akatsuki and defeating him. Genma had barely made out alive of the tussle between himself and the Red Lightening. He also had a vendetta to settle against the Goddess of Death. His younger brother, an S-Class missing nin, Hinrashai Hontaru had been killed by her. Unlike his superior, Akuma Shinko, Genma had no delusions of defeating the Red Lightening of Konoha in a straight out battle. He had settled for getting him out of the picture. He was waiting for a proper time to strike and take down both of them when their guard was down. However, time was running out and as a result he had become quite impatient. As a result, he became interested in Orochimaru's proposition.
"I am listening"
"Genma-san, you must know by now that it is almost impossible to get a hold on the Kyuubi-brat. He is too powerful for his own good. Secondly, now you are too less on the number of soldiers. You must know that I have taken over a new village called Sound. I would like to ally with your forces so that we can eliminate the threat. If we eliminate them, then no one can stand in our way. Then you can go after the remaining vessels."
"How do you plan to do it? And what do you get out of it?" asked Genma.
"Oh! I want nothing but to raze Konoha to ground and also the Sharingan. As for how, I realize that the two that we talk of are very dangerous. I have come across this that might help us. Please have a look." With that Orochimaru forwarded a scroll towards Genma.
Genma perused the scroll and his eyes widened.
"Hmm! This can work. We can ambush them and corner them, while someone else will caste the jutsu." Genma muttered. "Fine then. I would have my spies tailing both of them." With that Genma left. Orochimaru was about to leave, when a voice cut him off, "Listen Orochimaru, I am allying with you. However, if you even think of double crossing me you will not live to regret it."
With that said, the second most feared ninja in the world departed.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Author Notes
1. Naruto, in this fic is something like a prodigy. I have made him very powerful. However, he is quite tenacious and with added advantage of having Kyuubi in him makes him powerful. How the two of them, Hyuuga Hinata and Naruto became so powerful will be explained in the next chapter.
2. The council members, the Hokage, Jiraya, Hinata, the Hyuugas, and Hatake Kakashi are the ones in the village that know Naruto's identity as an ANBU captain. No jounin, no ANBU member knows about him. Someone, from the Hyuuga clan leaked the secret and as a result, the village council members started poking their nose in his life.
Until Next time
Please Read and Review.