ALTERED CIRCUSTANCES

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters used save those I made up. No profit is earned. This is just for fun.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like many Naruto fics, I just changed a couple of things from cannon to see where it would go. If you want to find out what I changed, read and find out.

CH.1 Chance meeting

Denkouyama Hiroshi was not an exceptional ninja, not according to his teammates or sensei at any rate. He was a ninjutsu specialist and had no talent at genjustsu at all. His taijutsu was barely acceptable according to his sensei. Of course, his sensei wasn't saying much anymore. Kurama-sensei and one of his teammates had been killed on a mission the week before.

Two missing nin, chunin level according to the bingo book Hiroshi had later consulted, had ambushed them on behalf of the smuggler the team had been tracking. The battle had been short, but fierce and Hiro had been the only one to escape unharmed. His remaining teammate, Takeda Aiko, had killed one of the missing nin, but had taken two deep sword wounds in the process. The medics said that she would be at least two months recovering.

Hiro had killed the remaining nin, his first kill, by using a family jutsu. It was one that Kurama-sensei had always called a 'cheap trick.' Cheap or not, it had gotten him and Aiko home safely or at least alive.

With Aiko facing a long recovery and the rest of his team dead, Hiro found himself at loose ends. He trained daily, as all dedicated ninja did, but there was virtually no income without missions. The D-ranks he was able to get helped some, but there were only a few that could be handled by one person, let alone a genin six months out of the academy. After doing three in one day, exhausting but he really needed the money, he was headed home. The last thing he needed was unlooked-for trouble to divert him from his soft bed. Naturally, that was what materialized in the form of a fight in an alley.

Don't get involved, he told himself, it doesn't concern you. He looked anyway and stopped in his tracks. What the-? A kid. There was a ninja he didn't recognize beating the daylights out a blonde boy who couldn't have been more than seven.

"Monster!" the man snarled aiming a kick at the boy that was already curled into a ball on the ground. "Why has the Hokage let you live?!" He drew back for another kick but instead jumped back to avoid the flying kick that Hiro aimed at his head.

The genin had only a few seconds to take in the man's appearance and chakra level. He was high chunin at least, probably jonin. Not good.

"Don't interfere," the man snarled. "That demon is getting what's coming to him!"

He's talking, Hiro realized, only slightly relieved. More time to think. "He's just a kid. What could he have done to justify that?"

"Not your business," he spat. "Move now and I won't kill you for defending that thing!"

"Not gonna happen," Hiro told him flatly, preparing to die.

The boy he was defending provided the distraction at that moment. "I din't do nothin'! Why-"

"Shut up, demon!" the jonin snapped. "You killed them! Our comrades, our Hokage. Don't think you're fooling anyone!"

"The Hokage?" Hiro stared at the man in confusion. "The Yondaime? He died killing-"

"That is the demon!" the man insisted. He had to stop himself from glancing at the boy behind him. The man thought that the kid was the Kyuubi no Kitsune?

"I see," Hiro nodded. "You're crazy." Giving up on reasoning with the man, he made three quick hand seals and snapped his arms wide. "Raiton: ko hibana!" Lightning arced between his palms and, at his command stretched out toward the jonin. The man jumped back, caught off-guard by the unfamiliar jutsu. It served two purposes. It drove his opponent back the necessary distance for his next jutsu and it created a flash of light bright enough to catch the attention of any nearby ANBU.

While drawing the kunai he would need, he stretched his senses, trying to get an idea of how long it would be before help arrived. He almost dropped the kunai at what he discovered. I am so screwed.

Then there was no time to think, only act and react. The split second hesitation had given the jonin time to attack. He had, fortunately, chosen to throw a brace of shuriken instead of charging. Hiro blocked with his kunai, not daring to dodge while the helpless boy was behind him, and succeeded in diverting all but one the opened a gash in his left bicep. Then he threw his kunai, his hand slipped into the long practiced single hand sign for the Jisei no jutsu as soon as the blade left his hand.

The jonin naturally saw the blade and the explosive tag attached. He also noted the hand sign, although he wasn't sure of its purpose. Playing it safe, he sidestepped rather than blocked, planning to let it sail into the street behind him. His eyes widened in surprise as the blade changed trajectory in midflight struck the metal guard on his forearm, adhering to it. Hiro did not see this. He had already turned and thrown himself down over the boy while praying his cheap trick worked again.

The note was keyed to detonate on impact and the blast had the desired effect. Shrapnel and a few softer objects he preferred not to think about struck his back and head, but none hard enough to cause injury.

The explosion brought him the attention he'd wanted earlier, but he wasn't sure he should be celebrating that. Three masked ANBU landed in the street beyond the alley and quickly moved to secure the scene. He identified himself to the one that addressed him and stood back while the ANBU operative examined the boy.

"Your intervention is appreciated Denkouyama-san. We will deal with the situation from here." He finished his examination of the boy. "You'll live, Uzumaki." Then, to Hiro's shock, he grabbed the boy by the collar and tried to haul him upright despite one leg being obviously broken.

Uzumaki Naruto, Hiro recognized the name and belatedly realized who he had rescued, howled in pain and dropped as soon as he was released.

"What are you doing?" Hiro demanded. "He needs a hospital. I think he has some broken ribs as well. He needs to be moved carefully."

"Hardly," the masked ninja snorted. "Nothing keeps that one down long, unfortunately." He turned to face Hiro directly. "Our duties lie elsewhere. If you feel he needs medical treatment take him to the hospital. Either way, he'll be fine."

Before he could think of a suitable answer there was a strangled cry and he looked to the spot that his opponent had been thrown by the blast. Amazingly enough, the man had survived the explosion, though it was unclear how long he would have survived. One of the ANBU had buried a kunai in the man's chest. "Why..?"

"He broke the Sandaime's law," the man answered, pulling out the blade and wiping it clean on the dead jonin's shirt. Hiro had enough puzzles on his hands at the moment, and shelved questions about that until later.