Village Hidden in the Leaves (Konoha)
A distraught eight-year old Naruto headed back towards his apartment while trying to beat the approaching night. It had been a bad day for the whiskered blond, though that was close to every day unfortunately. He'd spent most of the day at the park, trying to find someone who'd at least talk to him. But most of the kids either flat out ignored him or hurl out insults to him. The real sad part most of those who yelled at him were the adults. It was a few months until he'd be enrolled into the Ninja Academy, yet with how things were going for him Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he'd be treated any differently than how he was now. If only something could happen that'd change his life for the better…
Little did Naruto know that tiny changes in one's destiny can bring monumental changes. In one world, the one we all know, Naruto went home for the evening with no problems whatsoever. In this one though, things took a different turn. Naruto decided to head down an alleyway to take a shortcut home. Unknown to the blond, this particular alleyway went behind a bar, where a certain nasty drunk had just been thrown out of. Also unknown to the boy was the Anbu guards who watched over him every hour of the day to make sure no one said or do anything to the jinchuriki that they'd regret, were switching shifts at the moment and for approximately five minutes no one was watching over him.
Naruto went down the alleyway, ignoring the rats and occasional stray dog that littered the area as he kept his head down. So caught up in his gloom, Naruto didn't see the large, smelly man in the middle of the path until he lightly brushed up against him. The drunk, who shall remain nameless, was about to yell at whoever it was that ran into him. That was, until he saw that it was the demon holder, the one who held the same fox that destroyed his home and business that day eight years ago. Now if the man was sober, he'd simply yell at the kid and stalk off before his anger made him do something that was sure to get him arrested or worse. But in his inebriated state, the drunk didn't think about nor care for the consequences for his actions and sent a vicious kick at Naruto's unprotected ribs.
The blond child gave a startled yelp in surprise, pain, and fear. He landed in a nearby puddle with a splash and he looked up at his attacker with wide, scared eyes. While most adults had made it clear they didn't want anything to do with him, and some seemed to downright hate him, no one had ever gone as far as to physically attack him before. Naruto found the experience to be especially terrifying.
"Stupid demon brat," the drunk slurred as he stalked towards the blond and raise his leg for another kick, "the Hokage shoulda killed you the second you were born!"
With that, the kick connected with Naruto's chin and he saw stars as a razor sharp pain made itself known. The whiskered child tasted blood as his lip split. Whimpering in pain, not even able to cry out due to the pain in his face and bruised ribs, Naruto curled up into a ball in the dirty puddle water to try and make a smaller target of himself. Instead of backing off, the drunk seemed to get angrier at, in his mind, the demon's attempt at playing innocent and proceeded to ruthlessly kick the child in any place he could reach. Naruto gasped in pain and fear as the assault continued, screwing his eyes shut in a feeble attempt to block out the pain. Unknown to either people, Naruto started to subconsciously pull on his chakra in his panicked state.
Being his first time calling on his chakra, it was still raw and untapped. This, along with the fear-induced adrenaline coursing through his veins, caused him to pull his chakra from deep inside, tapping into genes that had previously been dormant and would have stayed that way if not for this one incident. The man pulled up his leg for another powerful kick, but instead of hitting ribs the man's foot met water. Naruto's body distorted a bit as it went from a solid to a liquid and back, much to both of the alley's occupant's surprise. The man, thinking it was some sort of demon power and the boy was about to unleash hell upon him, turned and started to flee the alley but didn't get far as dark figures suddenly leapt down and subdued him. This was the last thing Naruto saw as the stress from the day, the fear of what was happening to him and exhaustion from unlocking his chakra for the first time all took their toll. The last thing the watery blond saw before passing out was that his hands seemed to be losing their shape and forming puddles of pure water.
Scene Break
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stood outside of a hospital room door with a gloomy expression on his face. Yesterday evening, one of the Anbu he had placed to guard Naruto came barging into his office with dire news. When he asked what was wrong, the boy's Anbu guards explained that they had been switching shifts for the night and that had created a blind spot for a few minutes, but when the guard finished shifting they saw a shocking sight. A drunk had been attacking their charge and, when they moved to stop him it was to the surprise of all that the victim had suddenly turned part of his body into water, making his attacker's blows harmless. The Anbu had apprehended the man before he could flee the scene and was now in custody, but what was really worrying was what happened next. Naruto, losing consciousness, seemed to lose control over whatever was happening to his body and his entire form became liquid, leaving behind a set of clothes lying in a puddle.
Thinking quickly, one of the members of the guard used a minor Water Jutsu to pick up the puddle that had once been a boy while another used a sealing scroll to place the water in. They'd taken the sealed water-boy to Konoha's hospital in hopes that something could be done and that what happened could be explained. This brings us to the present as Hiruzen stared at a large test tube that contained what had been his grandson figure but was now clear water. The aged Hokage couldn't help but frown at what had been partially responsible for this event; the time it took to switch the guard. That was a serious mistake that Hiruzen planned on correcting, but first he had to deal with more pressing matters such as finding out exactly what happened.
The Third went over multiple ideas on what happened but he was brought out of his musings as a med-nin came up to him. The medic gave the aged leader their report on the liquidized boy. "At first it was thought that the liquid was the remains of a Water Clone, but after extensive research we've found traces of human DNA mixed in with large amounts of chakra in the water. The DNA matches that of one Naruto Uzumaki. There is more, Lord Hokage," at this the medic paused, which worried the Hokage.
"What is it?" Hiruzen asked in all seriousness.
The medic took a deep breath and looked the Professor straight in the eye. "The tests done on both the DNA and chakra show the unleashing of a previously recessive bloodline awakening, most likely brought on by the stress of the attack. But we cannot at this time identify the nature of the bloodline."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, nicknamed The Professor, already had a good idea on the exact nature of the bloodline. If his memory served him correctly, and he sure it did despite his age, he'd only heard of one type of bloodline that changed the user's body into water. The bloodline was that of the Hōzuki clan of the Village Hidden in the Mist, called the Hydrification Technique. He'd personally fought and met several users of the clan during the wars, including the Second Mizukage. The Hydrification Technique, while not one of the more flashy bloodlines out there, was none the less a powerful ability. In addition to allowing the user to turn their body into water, making them virtually both immune to physical damage and natural masters of Water Jutsu, it also allowed them to increase the strength of their limbs by focusing water into that specific area. The only downside was that the user had to constantly keep their bodies hydrated.
The Third quickly grabbed his pipe from his robe and took a deep puff, the smoke help calming his racing mind. He knew that he needed to gain control of this situation and fast! The first thing he'd try to do was to comfort Naruto once he'd gain consciousness and let him know what happened. Hopefully, the old man could calm the boy and tell him in a way that would not upset him further, but also show him the severity of the situation. With any luck it'd allow Naruto to regain his physical form. That led to the next problem: how to get Naruto to control his new bloodline on a more regular basis? Whenever a bloodline is awakened, it's always necessary for the wielder to learn how to use it to avoid hurting themselves and others. It wouldn't work to have Naruto simply ignore the bloodline, because that could lead to severe physical and mental problems such as activating his abilities against his will.
What Hiruzen needed was a teacher for Naruto, but who? Asking the Hidden Mist was unlikely since his sources had reported that they were at the brink of civil war, mostly due to Yagura's, the Fourth Mizukage's, increasingly erratic behavior. And finding users of the Hydrification Technique was rare outside of the Mist Village. The best bet was to find a missing-nin who had the bloodline and convincing them to join the village. But as far as he knew, none of the known missing-nins had the bloodline! So what was he to do? This was a question that pestered Hiruzen through the rest of the day and into the night. When he returned to the office the next day, hoping to hear about improvements on Naruto's condition and hoping both the Anbu and the hospital staff kept their vow of silence on the matter, the old Hokage sat at his desk nursing a building headache. There was then the fluttering of feathers, as the messenger hawk arrived to deliver the daily mail.
The Third looked at the pile of foreign mail and noticed a report from one of his spies in the Hidden Mist among the pile. Deciding he'd see if there was any news that'd help him with the current situation, Hiruzen went over the report. The results weren't good; apparently the Mizukage had decreed all bloodlines in the Land of Water's territories were now outlawed and those possessing bloodlines were either driven out or killed! This report helped the elderly Kage make a final decision.
'There is no helping it, I need to send an agent to the Hidden Mist and try to find a Hōzuki that would be willing to come to the Leaf before they get wiped out. Offering protection and a place to live away from the Bloody Mist should be enough of a motivator to gain their interest. It must be done,' Hiruzen thought resolutely, 'for Naruto's sake as well as for the sake of the Village. The only question that remains is how to track down the clan…?'
"Yo," a lazy voice sounded behind the old man, making the aged Kage smile as he turned to face the new arrival. "Kakashi Hatake reporting that Team 7 has failed the second Genin Exam once more," the one eyed jonin said as he stared at his leader listlessly.
"Ah Kakashi, I'm glad you're here. I've got a special assignment for you," the Third started as he began the younger man's debriefing.
Scene Skip (Outskirts of the Hidden Mist Village)
"Hurry Suigetsu! The Hunters are coming!" a teen around the age of fifteen yelled to a child of eight. The boys appeared to be brothers as they had near identical, shoulder length silver hair, purple eyes, and sharp, shark-like teeth.
"I'm runnin' as fast as I can, Mangetsu!" the now named Suigetsu shouted back, hastily gulping down water from one of the water-bottles that were hanging off of his belt. Suddenly, a kunai knife went whistling through the air and went right through the younger brother's head! However, instead of a burst of blood and bone there was a splash of water as the boy gave a yelp of surprise, his head quickly reforming from water.
"Oh great, they found us! Thanks slowpoke," Mangetsu said sarcastically while staring at the younger boy and at the same time keeping his guard up as several people wearing masks that have a red wave on them suddenly appeared in the clearing they were in.
Suigetsu gave his older brother a hand gesture that most eight year olds shouldn't know and bit back, "Hey, shut up! If you hadn't been sleeping in so much, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Whatever," the Second Coming of the Demon grumbled as he took off a large sword draped along his back, "At least I'll give Hiramekarei a workout!"
"Careful!" one of the masked men shouted, "Despite being children, they both are at the same level of the Seven Swordsmen!"
The brothers gave identical sharp smirks as Suigetsu brought out a tanto sheathed at his back while the bandages fell off of Mangetsu's blade. "Don't worry," they said in unison, "It'll all be over soon!"
Time Skip (15 minutes)
The duo stood amongst a large pile of bodies, idly wiping their blades of any blood. "That was pretty good, but you need to work on your technique a little more. It took you nearly a minute longer to kill your half then it should have," Mangetsu lectured as he re-wrapped his blade.
Suigetsu was just about to tear his older brother a new one when he suddenly felt a blade pressed against his neck. "Drop your weapon or the brat dies!" one surviving Hunter-nin hissed as he tightened his grip on the katana underneath the boy's head. Judging by his wounds and the blood on him that wasn't his, it showed the man had gotten wounded during the fight but used his dead comrades as camouflage until he found an opportunity to strike.
The older brother was about to ask if the man was stupid, seeing as their bloodlines made direct attacks like that useless, until he noticed the slight spark coming off the blade of the man's katana at random intervals.
'Crap! A Lightning user!' he thought in a panic. That was the only chakra type that could cancel out and cause harm to a Hōzuki, even in their water state. Seeing no alternative, the swordsman slowly lowered his large sword to the ground and stood back up with his arms raised. Before their attacker could do anything else, however, there was a shout by an unknown voice.
"Lightning Blade!" the voice said before suddenly, the Hunter's body went rigid and a hand coated in electricity exploded through his chest, killing him instantly. When the man dropped, it showed a tall man standing in the Hunter's place with a large cloak draped over him, hiding his features from view. The figure shook the blood off his hand before looking at the two brothers, who had gotten close together the second the Hunter was killed and took up a defensive position.
The man made a 'come' motion with his one hand and said in a hushed voice, "Other Hunter-nins are coming, we've got to move quickly or they'll be on us in minutes." With that, the figure turned and started to move through the fog. The swordsmen duo looked at each other for a second before they crept after the man, keeping their guards up in the event this was a trap. After nearly a half hour of walking they reached a cave where the man went into. Making sure the entrance wasn't booby trapped; the brothers went in after him. Halfway into the cave they came across the man at a makeshift campsite with a smokeless fire lighting up the cave. As the man sat down, Mangetsu stepped forward.
"Look, not that we're not grateful or somethin', but what's this all about? Who are you and what do you want from us?" the elder brother asked while keeping his hand near the hilt of his sword.
The man lowered the hood of his cloak to show a head of spiky silver hair and a masked face, with a headband that had a leaf symbol on it tilted over the man's left eye. The man seemed to smile at the brothers with his one eye and said in a relaxed tone, "And hello to you too, Mr. Mangetsu and Suigetsu Hōzuki. My name is Kakashi Hatake and in answer to your question, it's not so much what I want but what the Hidden Leaf Village wants. Please tell me, would you be interested in a change in scenery? All it'll cost you is some tutoring lessons."