Chapter 0 – Prologue part 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I do however own any and all OC characters in this fic. Note that this is not necessarily a harem fic. There will be a poll later to decide what pairing(s) will happen and whether or not Kagura will actually have a harem or be strictly loyal to one/two lover(s).
''Speech''
'Thoughts'
''Entity Speech''
'Entity Thoughts'
Hi No Kuni, 14 years ago.
A small child of a mere five minutes old lay silent in her crib sleeping with her father looking over her. This child is Kagura Namikaze, firstborn of the Yondaime Hokage,Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki of Konohagakure.
Minato watches his daughter sleeping with a heavy heart, for what he has planned might kill this young angel, a sacrifice which he deems is necessary for the future protection of his village. Normally he'd not even consider an act such as this but the ever persistent Shimura Danzo, one of the village elders, has made it quite clear how important it is despite the large risks and with the child's mother exhausted and unavailable it's father has final say.
What act can be so dangerous yet so important you might ask?
The sealing of a mysterious chakra entity inside a newborn child in order to preserve the military might of a hidden village. Turning to the old war hawk, Minato wears a grim face.''Do it.'' He says while lowering his head as a pair of Anbu operatives pick up the child and shunshin out of the room with Danzo in tow.'I'm sorry Kushina-chan, Kagura-chan… but it is for the good of the village…'
Hi No Kuni, 13 years ago.
The date is the 10th of October and the location is just outside Konohagakure, where the demon otherwise known as the Kyuubi no Yoko is rampaging as the shinobi of Konoha are desperately trying to stop it. Minato Namikaze has arrived atop Gamabunta, the toad chief, and performed the Shiki Fujin to seal the fox inside his own son, Naruto. He smiles sadly down at his son as the sealing finishes. ''I fear I've doomed you to a fate worse than death,my son…Hail him as a hero,Hiruzen…''
''I will do what I can, Minato-kun.'' The retired Sandaime Hokage looks sadly as the Yellow Flash passes away.
However the Kyuubi attack is not the only great loss Konoha will feel this night, for several miles away,near the border of Ame No Kuni, a shadowy group are carrying a woman and child into a hidden cave complex. Once inside they enter a damp cell where they tie the woman to a crude surgery table while placing the child in a small crib next to it before walking away to hide in the shadows just as a bandaged old man steps out of them.
He walks up to the child with a heavy sigh and looks her over. Taking note of her red hair and serene violet eyes he can't help but crack a small smile before he turns to her mother.
He motions for one of his henchmen to wake her as he stands a bit back, his face once more one of cold indifference.
The woman groans and slowly opens her eyes, taking in the sights around her which consist of four dark walls, a dirty door with at least eight different locks and various tools for experiments and surgery. Her eyes land on the figure of the old man and she grits her teeth.
''Danzo…'' She spits the name out like venom and tries to break out of her bindings but to no avail as she is still severely weakened from having the Kyuubi ripped out of her.
The old man narrows his visible eye at her. ''Now now, Kushina-san… Don't be like that. You should be honored that I went out of my way to get you. Afterall, it was quite the hassle to get Hokage-sama to sign the papers I asked of him.'' He calmly says with a smug look on his face.
''W-what? Minato-kun would never allow this! He'll have your head for this, Danzo!'' She yells as she starts fighting against the bindings with more ferocity than before.
The old man shakes his head slowly and motions for a ROOT agent to step closer.
''The paper.'' He commands and the agent shunshins away to return shortly after with a paper for Danzo. ''See here, Kushina… Surely you recognize your husband's stamp and signature?'' He holds the paper out in front of Kushina for her to read.
The redheaded Uzumaki does exactly that and slowly widens her eyes.
''No…It must be forged!'' She shouts at him.
''Ahh…It's a terribly sad thing to view such a ferocious warrior be reduced to this. But you're not quite done reading yet Kushina-san. Look further down.'' Danzo's grin turns dark and malicious.
Kushina's eyes widen as she reads the section Danzo is referring to out loud. ''…Two Uzumaki ''specimen'' for ''breeding'' a special elite unit…- M-Minato…? This can't be…''
''Oh but it is, Kushina-san. Be honored that your blood and body will be used to further preserve Konoha.'' The old man states coldly.
''Y-you monster! Let my daughter go at least!'' Kushina pleads and pulls on her bindings desperately.
''I'm afraid I can't do that,Kushina. Your daughter holds something inside of her by Hokage-sama's orders much like your son would have had if the sealing had gone correctly.'' The old hawk says as he nods for a ROOT agent to grab Kagura.
''W-what? She holds-…What do you mean had the sealing gone correctly?! What happened to my son!?''
''The sealing failed. Your son and husband are both dead and Hiruzen has stepped up once more to take the seat of Hokage.'' Danzo tells her with a cold expression on his face.
''No no NO! My son…My poor sochi…'' She feels the tears flowing down her cheeks but she no longer cares.
''Sheesh. I heard you Konoha shinobi were nasty from the Ojiisan, but this is just sickening,un!'' A new voice calls through the darkness.
Danzo spins around to face the darkness. ''Who dares—'' Just as he turns the door is blown open by a powerful explosion that sends the old man flying backwards into the darkness as a group of six Root operatives leap out to protect their master.
A trio of Iwa-nin step into the room. Two of them wear chunin garbs while the middle one wears standard Iwa jounin armor. The two chunins look like brothers and heavily share appearance with each other. The jounin on the other hand is a blonde young man with his hair in a ponytail and one of his eyes covered behind hair, he's tossing a piece of clay up and down in his right hand.
''Kaito-san,Aito-san.'' The blonde one calmly says to his companions.
''Hai Deidara-sama!'' Both chunin charge forward and unleash their jutsu on two of the root agents.
Danzo glares at the blonde one. ''Iwa? What are you doing here?''
''Tch! My team and I were finishing up a mission when we saw some of your people drag an unconscious woman and her daughter into this cave. Despite whatever after war rumors Konoha might spread about us, we're not sick bastards who stand by and let people get abducted.'' He responds as he takes out some more clay. ''Furthermore…Does your Hokage know that you,Shimura Danzo, are kidnapping people in the middle of Hi no Kuni?''
Danzo grits his teeth. ''I have his approval,not that it matters as you won't live past this day Iwa scum!'' The old man begins making handseals.
''Oh no you don't!'' Deidara exclaims as he throws something at Danzo who stops his handsigns to swat it to the floor before inspecting it. ''What? Clay? What're you playing at?'' He asks before glaring at the young man.
Deidara smirks as he brings his hand up in a handsign. ''Art my friend…'' The clay starts glowing. ''…IS A BANG!'' The clay explodes and catches Danzo at the epicenter of the explosion while shaking the cave. ''Kaito,Aito! Free the mother!'' The two chunin nod simultaneously and run up to unbind Kushina while Deidara picks up Kagura and the group rush out of the hidden base.
Deidara lets out a sigh of relief and looks to his companions. ''You unharmed?'' His eyes travel to the rubble behind them and he straightens himself out as his bones pop into place.
Kaito nods. ''Hai Deidara-sama.'' And Aito follows his example before the two brothers set Kushina down gently against a tree.
Deidara walks up to the tree and kneels down to smile at her. ''Are you unharmed?''
Kushina slowly nods before widening her eyes. ''M-my daughter!'' Deidara nods and gently hands Kagura to her. ''She's unharmed also.''
Kushina smiles at him. ''Arigato…for saving my child...''
He smirks. ''Our pleasure! Ano…What's your name and what did those freaks want with you?'' He gives her a curious look as he sits down while his teammates begin setting up a camp.
''Ah! Gomen! My name is Kushina Uzumaki, this is my daughter Kagura.'' She says and holds her child tightly.
''EH?! The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero?!'' Deidara exclaims while looking shocked,causing his teammates to glance curiously.
Kushina confirms it with a snicker and a nod. ''The one and the same.''
''That's quite unexpected...Ah! But where are my manners? I'm Deidara! Founder and leader of the Iwa Explosive corps! The chunin behind me are Kaito and Aito.'' The two chunin nod at their respective names in greeting and wave ever so slightly.
Kushina smiles. ''Nice to meet you,Deidara-san! Say hello Kagura-chan…'' The child looks at Deidara as he smiles and tries to move his finger forward in greeting.
''Hey there Kagura-chan. You can call me Deidara-niisa—ARGH!'' He yelps as his friendly introduction is broken when a toothless Kagura bites onto his finger until a giggling Kushina manages to remove her. ''Spirited like her mother!''
''Hmpf. Cute and deadly are we?'' He looks Kagura in the eyes making Kaito and Aito sweatdrop, swearing they saw a flash of lightning travelling between Deidara and Kagura's eyes.
Kushina giggles at the sight and lifts Kagura closer to her. ''Behave,musume.'' She says sweetly. Deidara gives her a questioning look. ''Ano…What happens now? We can't exactly escort you back to your village considering we're from Iwa and all…'' He asks while Kushina frowns and lets out a low growl.
''I've no intention of returning to Konoha.'' She says after a bit,causing Deidara to raise a brow. ''Perhaps you should explain,Kushina-san?''
She nods and tells him everything that Danzo told her and about the paper with Minato's stamp. By the end of it Deidara frowns with a disgusted look on his face. ''I can see why you wouldn't want to return to that place as it is…I suppose we could bring you with us on the way to Iwa and maybe drop you off somewhere along the way where you'll be safe.''
Kushina blinks. ''Actually… How about I come to Iwa instead? Konoha likely believes my daughter and I to be dead so building up a new Uzumaki clan there would hardly be difficult.'' She says with a smile,causing Deidara to blink. ''I did not realize you were it's matriarch,Kushina-san?''
''I'm not. However, the clan is technically dead so rebuilding it would make me such.'' She gently shifts Kagura's weight a bit as she seemingly ponders the situation. ''Besides…Surely Iwa would like a heavy boost to its Fuinjutsu department?'' She asks while smiling at him.
Deidara sighs and nods slowly. ''We'll take you there but Tsuchikage-sama's got final say in this all.''
Kushina nods with understanding. ''Of course,Deidara-san.''
Deidara nods and turns around to his teammates. ''You heard her,guys. Our guests will be joining us back to Iwa to see old man Oonoki.'' Kaito and Aito nod to him. ''Right then, I'll take first watch.''
Prologue part 1 End