Stolen Hero
Don't own Naruto. Never have, and probably never will.
The Yondaime's hands shook as he dipped the paintbrush into the ink, trying to block out the screams of the dying that rang from outside of his office. The air was heated to a very uncomfortable degree, and the stench of blood and smoke hung around his nostrils, refusing to go away even as he gagged on it. Outside his window, an eerie red glow shone, the promise of the Kyuubi that was fast approaching his village. Already, hundreds of ninja had been lost, and the casualties were only growing higher the closer the beast came to Konoha.
Then the baby lying in front of him stirred, and Namikaze Minato forgot everything else.
It had taken him a long time to work up the courage to propose to Kushina; his bravery on the battlefield all but vanished whenever he talked to girls, and his fear of her rejection had him weak at the knees - kami help him if any of his enemies ever discovered his crippling weakness. However, to his delight, she had accepted, and the news that their Hokage was due to be married (and hopefully produce a large brood of powerful heirs) was accepted with great joy by the rest of Konoha, though there were a few that muttered darkly about their beloved Yondaime being seduced by a foreigner who was only interested in his wealth and power.
But Minato didn't care about any of that, and his happiness was only doubled when Kushina accepted his proposal. Their marriage happened quickly, as they were keen to hide the rapidly growing bump Kushina now carried behind a veil of respectability, though from the ecstatic reactions from the population of Konoha when they heard that he had a heir on the way, he doubted they'd care if he had simply knocked up a few of the women that Jiraiya-sensei had tried to entice him towards on his stag night.
But now was not the time to think of such things. Leaning forward, Minato began to slowly and carefully trace out the seal he had designed so painstakingly while his ninja died in the slim hope that they could delay the beast to give him enough time.
Though most fuinjutsu masters needed to work in peace and quiet to achieve the best results, the stressed Hokage's expertise was far above that of most fuinjutsu masters. Within minutes, it was done; the thick whorls and lines of drying ink forming the Shiki Fūjin, the seal that would hold back a demon.
Naruto had stopped crying now, his wide blue eyes blinking up at the Yondaime, making him look strangely solemn in the flickering candlelight. Minato exhaled, gently picking him up and turning to the door. "Forgive me…my son."
It was finally over.
In the late evening of October 10th, the greatest Hokage Konoha had ever known had fallen against the most fearsome of the bijuu, but snatching a victory as he died. For by summoning the shinigami, Minato had managed to create a jinchuuriki, sealing the Kyuubi into his newborn son.
There had been much confusion over who should succeed the Yondaime; he had been young, healthy and strong, and the people of Konoha had never anticipated his reign ending in such a sudden, brutal manner. A few clan heads had tried to put themselves forward for the spot, but it had eventually been decided that the Sandaime, who had led them well before stepping down, should resume his former role as Hokage.
Sarutobi was not happy to hear of the choice - he was old, and he had wanted to die peacefully in retirement - but even as a former ninja, he was willing to make any sacrifice necessary for his village.
Even at times like this, when he found himself cleaning up messes left by Minato that should never have been made in the first place.
"Hokage-sama, that creature must be put to death! It is a danger! An abomination!"
When the Sandaime had called the council of Konoha together, it had been to discuss plans for rebuilding the village and to explain Minato's final wish about Naruto. He had pondered whether it was wise to reveal Naruto's situation, but too many ninjas had seen Minato riding towards the Kyuubi with an infant in his arms. Keeping what had happened quiet would be next to impossible.
However, though he had painstakingly explained just what Minato had done (sealing the Kyuubi into the infant without taking over its body) the council apparently refused to listen to reason.
Half of them were calling for his death, so that the Kyuubi would never have a chance to rise again, while the rest seemed to be split up into different factions.
Most were indifferent, not calling for his death, but offering nothing in favour of keeping him alive. Danzo had suggested putting him in a 'specialized training program' (if he really thought that Sarutobi was that gullible, then the rumours of the war-hawk's senility were taking on a very realistic tint) while only a small number, consisting of Aburame Shibi, whose kikai bugs could easily tell the difference between a bijuu and a jinchuuriki, Kurama Murakumo, who could sense that Sarutobi wasn't going to be moved on this issue and had no desire to provoke his wrath, and Inuzuka Tsume, who whilst not favouring Naruto himself, was loyal to the Yondaime and thus wouldn't dream of ignoring the man's final wishes were arguing for him.
"Surely, Sandaime-sama, you can see that it's too dangerous to be left alive! It should be disposed of, before the beast takes control again!"
Sarutobi glared at the speaker. "Fugaku, I am shocked at what you are suggesting. Killing an innocent child is not only reprehensible, but it would be a mockery of Minato's final wish. Or did you think he was joking when he asked for his son to be declared a hero?"
The room suddenly went quiet, every eye fixed to the small bassinet that was sitting next to Sarutobi. The infant inside was fast asleep, courtesy of a genjutsu that Murakumo had been kind enough to cast on him so that he could sleep peacefully while his fate was decided by the council. However, the spiky blonde hair, facial features and the round blue eyes that had looked up in bewilderment before the genjutsu had closed them were almost a perfect mix of Kushina and Minato's genetics. There could be no doubt of his parentage.
Unless, of course, you were a stubborn council member.
"S-son?" Fugaku spluttered out, his dark eyes flickering nervously between the baby and Sarutobi, who stared back at him coolly. "That's impossible!"
"Is it?" Sarutobi asked, gently lifting Naruto out of the bassinet. He leaned forward, letting everyone get a good view of the child's face. A low murmuring filled the chamber, along with a few panicked whispers.
Fugaku went pale, but the hatred in his eyes did not fade. "I find it hard to believe that the Yondaime-"
"Would make every sacrifice for his village? Would offer up his own child as a jinchuuriki? Would seal the most powerful of the bijuu away into his only son so that Konoha would be saved?"
Fugaku planted his knuckles on the table, staring coolly at the Sandaime. "No, Hokage-sama. None of us doubt the Yondaime's loyalty to his village. And perhaps it is true, that the body biologically is his son. But that is all the more reason to not waste his sacrifice by allowing the beast to live!"
"You fool," Hyuuga Hiashi murmured, stirred into action by his rival's words. It did not matter that Hiashi did not care for the child, did not matter that, had Fugaku said nothing, the clan head would have been content to remain silent and allow Naruto to be carted off for execution; once the Uchihas had declared themselves to be against the jinchuuriki, then the Hyuugas were directed to protect him. "The Kyuubi is bound to his soul, but unable to access his mind. That is the purpose of a jinchuuriki - to contain the power of a demon, but restrain it with the mind of a human. He is no more demon than a jug is the water it contains."
Fugaku snorted. "The Kyuubi has never been contained, and it is the most powerful of the demons, far above even Kumo's Hachibi! Every jinchuuriki that we know of have problems with controlling their individual bijuu - and those are with seals that were worked on for months, years even! The seal used to contain the Kyuubi in...in that," - he gestured at Naruto with his face turned away, as if it disgusted him to even look upon the baby - "boy was designed by the Yondaime in less than three days, and with the stress of a demon approaching our village bearing upon him! How could there not be mistakes?"
The other council members shifted uneasily, no doubt thinking of the elaborate seal on the child's navel that had already been fading when the Sandaime brought him in. It had looked incredibly complicated, far beyond their comprehension - and if they could not even begin to understand it, how could they spot any mistakes within it?
"Not only that," Fugaku continued, sensing a slowly approaching victory and determined to seize it, "but the Kyuubi is amongst the most cunning of the bijuu. It can warp minds, tempt the powerful, indulge the weak, prey on fears, draw out darker desires. Even if the boy is truly a boy and not the creature itself, he would eventually come into contact with the creature. And in that case, how long would it take for it to persuade the child to release it?"
Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "You do seem to know a lot about the Kyuubi, Uchiha-san. Tell me, does this relate to the rumours about the Uchiha's...supposed link to the creature?"
A crash resounded through the chamber as Fugaku leapt to his feet, sending his chair falling to the floor. "You dare-"
"THAT IS ENOUGH!"
Both clan heads froze, turning to see the Sandaime on his feet as well. "We came here not to fling about old myths," - he shot a stern look at Hiashi - "nor are we here to discuss the lynching of a child. Naruto's mother is still alive, and she would no doubt be furious to find that anyone had attempted to kill her son."
This announcement caused a ripple of surprise through the room. Inoichi raised his head, staring at his aged leader. "Kushina? But...reports indicated that she-"
"Suffered complications during childbirth that proved fatal," the Sandaime recited. "A misreport by an inexperienced medic-nin. Kushina managed to pull through in the end, but the stress of the Kyuubi's chakra combined with the birth caused great damage to her internal chakra network."
There were looks of sympathy from the female members of the council. It was a well-known fact that, during pregnancy, the foetus would siphon off a small portion of the mother's chakra for itself. The amount was so minimal that most barely noticed it, and there was usually little trouble. But occasionally things could go wrong with the transfer even at the best of times - and giving birth while the Kyuubi was attacking was hardly the best of times!
"Where is Kushina now?" Shikaku asked, leaning back in his chair as the other members of the council shifted in their seats, looking worried. It was one thing to call for the death of the body of an orphaned child - but the son of the Yondaime Hokage, their beloved savior, was another matter. And while it was possible for those who wanted to deny Naruto's appearance to claim that his resemblance to Minato was either a coincidence or a cruel trick by the Kyuubi to mock his defeater, Kushina would be able to confirm Naruto's identity as her son - and as the wife of the Yondaime, there could be little doubt of who his father was.
"Currently unconscious. She had to go through several operations to repair the damage, but the medic-nins inform me that she'll be out in a week or so."
Fugaku folded his arms. "And who, pray, will care for the child in the meantime?"
Sarutobi frowned. "He will be kept under ANBU guard until Kushina is ready to care for him. I trust there are no objections?"
The council members shook their heads, though Sarutobi wasn't fooled by their show of obedience. He had no doubt that there were plots whirring through quite a few minds, that hatred for Naruto was still bubbling beneath their calm façades - but he trusted in his village. Once the embers of their rage had been given a chance to cool, their minds would clear and they would be able to recognize Naruto for what he was - a hero.
Days passed. Though still in shock, and mourning their losses, Konoha turned its attention to recovery. The countless bodies were retrieved and those which were identifiable were returned to their kin while those which were ruined beyond recognition were buried in a field with one large marker acknowledging them as victims of the Kyuubi. The damaged buildings were patched up. The rubble was cleared away. The wounded were tended to. It would be a long struggle for Konoha to get back to where they had once been, especially without the Yondaime as their leader, but though it was a lot of work, they were beginning to take the first steps.
The work was hard, but it also gave people a chance to think, to reflect as they surveyed their village, battered but not broken. The Kyuubi had reached the walls of the village, but it hadn't actually got inside. If it had, the casulities would have been far, far higher. And only the Yondaime had been able to stop it.
But, according to the Sandaime, the Yondaime's victory would not be possible without the aid of a child - and not just any child, but his son and heir, the Yondaime's final legacy. If Naruto hadn't been there, then Minato would have been helpless to stop the Kyuubi's rampage, and Konoha would have been completely wiped off the map. And that...would make him as much as a hero as his father.
The population of Konoha was split. Great ninja were revered, and the same respect was often shown to their families, especially if they started producing more than one. The people had been overjoyed at the announcement of the Yondaime's approaching fatherhood, and they had been eagerly anticipating the birth. Surely, more than a few argued, the Kyuubi didn't change any of that. Naruto was still the Yondaime's son, and he had helped stopped the Kyuubi. He deserved to be honoured as his father had been.
At the same time, there were those who were terrified of the Kyuubi - even shinobi who knew that Naruto wasn't the beast, didn't want anything involving the Kyuubi near them at all. And there still remained a large number of those, mostly civilians, who refused to believe that the Kyuubi could be safely locked away in an infant, and were refusing to acknowledge him as a human being, let alone the Yondaime's heir.
Things were getting close to a boiling point, and the Sandaime was waiting desperately for Kushina to wake up. The elderly kage thought that it would be far better when Naruto had his mother to care for him and also publicly confirm his identity. Naruto was going to have a hard enough life as it was - but with his mother supporting him, life should be better.
Really, Konoha - especially the Uchiha clan - should be thinking more about the future. Sarutobi had never condoned the idea of hunting down bijuu to seal into children, no matter how appealing the prospect of such power was during war-time. It had just never seemed to be worth it - the sacrifice of both a life and a child for the dangerous power of a bijuu that could easily turn on them. However, now that they actually had one, he could become a great shinobi to aid Konoha - though Sarutobi had no intention of treating him as a mindless weapon as Danzo wanted.
Konoha was weakened, but it would get stronger again. And, if trained properly, Uzumaki Naruto could be a powerful asset.
A pity that the Sandaime never considered that there were others who felt the same way.
The elderly man, half-hidden behind the large desk he sat at, laid down the report he had been reading. The shinobi standing in front of him snapped to attention, ready to answer any questions or carry out any orders his kage asked of him.
"You are sure that this is correct?"
The shinobi bowed, his hiate-ate glinting in the light. "Positive, Tsuchikage-sama. Everyone in the village knows; though there is a law against speaking of it openly, they find ways to share the news."
A long eyebrow was raised. "Sarutobi was foolish enough to tell the civilians? And they blab about it as if it was nothing?"
The shinobi shrugged, his head still lowered respectfully. "They hate and fear the demon, Tsuchikage-sama, and they do not have the discipline or sense to not speak of village secrets. Even the ninja are similiar. And they all acknowledge the rumours of his parentage, though some deny that they are true, whilst others do not seem to be sure."
Onoki leaned back in his chair, his eyes drifting to the window. Though it was night, the large, curved buildings of his village were easily visible. The ninja of Iwagakure were proud of their tall structures, which were said to be among the biggest in the five nations. Looking at them calmed the kage whenever he was in a bad mood or pondering a bad situation, as he was doing now.
At the height of its power, Iwagakure had been something to behold. Their population was strong, their economy stable, their technology reasonable. They commanded five more smaller villages, who operated separately but were beholden to the Tsuchikage. Their shinobi forces, if not as inclined as to churn out legends every generation like Konoha, were loyal and reasonably skilled, and made up almost three quarters of their population. They had surpassed most of the other main villages, and there was even talk of them shoving Konoha off their pedestal as 'Most Powerful Village.'
But then the war had come. Iwa had entered it with confidence, sure that they would win. They had more ninja than Konoha, they had more allies than Konoha, the Sandaime Hokage was, while still a formidable foe, growing old and stuck commanding his troops from afar, Konoha's White Fang had already fallen by his own hand, and the Sannin, whilst strong and deadly ninja, were only three shinobi who could not be everywhere at once.
But then a new legend had arised, bringing hope to Konoha and horror to Iwa. Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash, who, with his teleportion jutsu, managed to wipe out every troop he went up against, who inscribed a seal that constantly teleported poison into Iwa's water supply, who left Iwa starving when he blew up their supply bridge, who had practically won the war for Konoha and made a mockery of Iwa whilst doing so.
Iwagakure had been furious, and the Tsuchikage had spent years waiting for an opportunity for revenge. Oh, none of his ninjas would survive one on one against the Namikaze, and the man was too smart to fall for an ambush - but there had to be some opportunity, some chink in his armour that Iwa could use as revenge.
And then, five years after the war had ended, the Tsuchikage received a report that simultaneously infuriated and delighted him - the Yondaime had fallen, not by the hand of an assassin, but against the Kyuubi when it attacked Konoha. And not only did he die without shame (for who could stand against the mightiest of the bijuu and hope to live?) but he did so by felling the beast, saving Konoha and leaving a legend that would be revered for decades to come.
Only he hadn't killed the beast. If he had, then Onoki would have found that too bitter a pill to swallow, for how could anyone surpass such a legacy? The genius who trained under Jiraiya and then taught the copy ninja, who reduced Iwa's troops to a shadow of their former glory, who became the youngest Hokage in history as well as the most talented fuinjutsu master in the five elemental nations, only to fall in battle whilst slaying the Kyuubi, achieving the goal that no one could hope to try before departing life before age could wither his glory...People in the past had been deified after death for less.
But the Yondaime had been just as mortal as the rest of them, with the same inability to kill the chakra monsters. So he had merely created a jinchuuriki instead, as had dozens before him. Iwa had created a total of five jinchuuriki, four of whom had caged the Yonbi, which had been captured by Iwa decades previously. The current holder was Roshi, who was only five years younger than the elderly kage, though his bijuu helped to keep pace with opponents far younger than him. The other jinchuuriki held the Gobi...which was a less than stellar success, and one that Onoki preferred not to think of.
However, even with those two, the thought of Konoha having the Kyuubi in a jinchuuriki made the Tsuchikage deeply uncomfortable. The Kyuubi was the greatest of the nine, and the strength gap between it and Kumo's Hachibi was as wide as the difference between the Tsuchikage and an ordinary chunin. Only two ninja had been able to control it in recorded history - Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara - and even then, they had only been able to generally direct the beast, and the strain it had put on them was said to have cost them dearly. But if the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was able to control the beast, or at least gain some measure of its power as Roshi and Han had done with their own bijuu...
It really didn't bear thinking about. A child such as that could become an incredible weapon, and Onoki could see why Namikaze had decided the trade was worth it. The exchange of his life for the safety of his village and someone who might one day surpass his genius with the raw power of the Kyuubi...that would make sense for any ninja, if they were brave and loyal enough to make such a sacrifice.
But that didn't make it any less of a blow for Iwagakure. And so, the Tsuchikage ordered his spies to investigate the child, and determine, if they could, the exact nature of the seal and just how much power the boy would have access to. Though the brat was only a few months old, it was said that the jinchuuriki of Suna already had sand dancing at his whims. Having actually glimpsed the Kyuubi from a distance once, Onoki certainly didn't like the thought of a baby that could nonchalantly fling around the beast's chakra.
It was a week before his spies reported back to him. They had been unable to discern the nature of the seal that bound the Kyuubi, partially because of their low rank (after the war, both sides had dug deeply into their forces to find any planted agents, and only the most unremarkable had escaped) but mostly because it seemed no one else in Konoha did either. The Yondaime had designed the seal in three days, but it was incredibly complicated, and apparently no one could unpick it. That was annoyingly vague, but the spies had also brought back another bit of news, one that was just as interesting and potentially damning for Iwa.
Apparently, the jinchuuriki was the Yondaime's infant son.
The news was shocking to the Tsuchikage. His spies had reported that the Yondaime was in a relationship - unfortunately the kunoichi in question, a member of the Uzumaki clan, was also a highly capable jounin, who tended to be assigned missions either with strong team-mates or away from the border of Tsuchi no Kuni - the Yondaime was not a fool, he knew his love would be in danger from his enemies as well. The spies had also told him that the woman was said to be pregnant, and the Tsuchikage had known that the brat would be a target from every village the moment he was born, Iwa included.
But never in Onoki's wildest dreams would he have imagined that the Yondaime would sacrifice his legacy like that. Kumogakure had long since had a practice of creating jinchuuriki out of their kage's relations, as had Suna, but even then, they were nothing more than tools to the village, to be trained and discarded as their villages saw fit. That the Yondaime, who was famous for seeking peace despite his strength and disliking the way shinobi were used as tools for their villages, would turn his own son into one seemed quite out of character.
But then again, perhaps the Tsuchikage was looking at it the wrong way. If the Yondaime was truly such an idealist, then he probably would have seen it as his duty to condemn his son to the existence of a jinchuuriki, unable to ask any other parent to give up their child, even though it would have been their duty as members of his village to provide him with one - that was, after all, what Onoki had demanded for the Gobi, lacking any family of his own.
Bah. Why Namikaze had chosen his son didn't matter. What did was that Iwa now had a very large problem on their hands.
Though there were no major wars currently being fought, peace could never truly exist in a world of shinobi. The villages were forever locked in a cycle of uneasy ceasefire, followed by war, followed by ceasefire. Eventually, another huge war would begin again, and Iwa would be against Konoha again - there was too much bitterness on both sides for the villages to ever be allies. Only this time, Konoha wouldn't have the Yellow Flash on their sides.
They'd have something nine times better.
This, obviously, could not be allowed to happen. Iwa would be slaughtered if the child was allowed to grow up into their enemy; even Han and Roshi would not be able to beat the combo of the Kyuubi with the Yondaime's power. Even if the boy had only a scrap of the Yondaime's genius he would be a threat to Iwa. The obvious solution was to remove that threat.
But how?
Killing the child would, perhaps, be the easiest option. Right now, Konoha was weak, still trying to pull itself together after the Kyuubi attack, and the leakage of information to the civilians meant that it had been easy for the Iwa spies to find out where the baby was being kept. It would be easy to slip in an assassin, who could quietly murder the child and disappear before anyone knew what had happened. The Yondaime's line would be ended, along with the jinchuuriki's potential.
Despite himself, a frown tugged at the Tsuchikage's lips. That seemed...rather a waste.
His eyes flickered over to the wall, where a lighter patch showed where a kunai had been rammed into the wall. It had nearly given the elderly kage a heart attack when he discovered one of the Yellow Flash's special kunai had been placed in his office, ready to take the man there whenever he wished. In fact, Iwa possessed dozens of those kunai...yet they were unable to use them. After years of studying them, the frustrated researchers had decided that either there was a second part of the process that they were not aware of, or the Yondaime had managed to bind it to himself so that only he and those of his blood could use it.
If the latter was true, then the child could be able to master the jutsu, and be a terror to his enemies just as the Flash was. And if he couldn't...well, the Yondaime had been acknowledged as an amazing ninja even without his teleportion jutsu. The Kyuubi could more than make up for the lack of it.
Even if they did get rid of the child, they would still struggle against Konoha. After all, though war was always a threat, unless something dire happened to change the balance, the Tsuchikage doubted that a large one would be arriving for years, plenty of time for other legends to arise from Konoha. Though he had the potential to be the greatest, Namikaze's heir was just one of many children that would grow up to be warriors for Konoha. Iwa might rid Konoha of that edge, but they still needed one of their own.
And suddenly, inspiration struck.
The Tsuchikage leaned forward, his fingers curled, as if to twist into hand-seals at any given moment. "This is what you are to do..."
Despite his status as Hokage, Minato had never actually moved into the mansion set aside for the village leader, despite Sarutobi moving out before he was even put in office. He argued that neither he or Kushina needed a house so large, and anyway, thanks to the numerous seals he had added, his house was probably even safer than the Hokage's mansion. Though not happy about it, the people of Konoha had agreed, and so Minato and Kushina had lived instead in a comfortable home near the Hokage tower, with plenty of security features as well as everything a young family would need.
However, with Minato dead and Kushina lying unconscious in the hospital, the house had locked down completely, allowing no one inside. Because of this, Sarutobi had to instead arrange for Naruto to stay under heavy guard in a small building on the edges of the village, away from anyone who might try to do him harm. Apart from some filthy looks and the occasional pebble tossed at the walls (any perpetrator was swiftly caught and punished by the ANBU standing guard) it was generally avoided by the villagers, and the ANBU guards were beginning to become relaxed.
Careless.
Uchiha Seigi scowled as he glared up at the house he was meant to be guarding. It was a simple, one-story building, with narrow windows and a roof that had clearly been fixed recently. This area of housing had been abandoned a long time before the attack, and when he was younger, he and his cousins had explored the buildings around it, egging each other on despite their fear of the creaky stairs and shadows.
Now Seigi was older, a proper ninja, and he was still scared - only this time, it wasn't of intangible shadows, but very real monsters, with red fur and blonde hair, with innocent smiles and killing intent that sent grown ninja falling to their knees in terror. The young ANBU had been one of those calling for the demon's death, and that their prayers hadn't been answered annoyed and disgusting him. The body might have been the Yondaime's son, but that didn't excuse the demon that lay within.
Folding his arms, the ANBU leaned against the wall of the building, wrinkling his nose behind his raven mask. The Hokage might have ordered for him to stand guard over the demon, but he never explicitly stated that he had to be in the same room as it - and, to be perfectly honest, if he was in the same room as the creature that had slaughtered so many of his kinsmen, the Uchiha would probably be the one attacking it. No, it was better for all concerned if he just stayed out here.
The fact that this place was situated near a private hot-spring, and thus he got a lovely view of quite a few scantily-clad females looking for a break from all their hot, sweaty labouring was just a bonus, naturally.
However, it was now the dead of night, and few of those who were up would head off to a hot-spring. No, they'd be hanging around the bars, or training, or going out on dates, the things that everyone else was able to do while he was stuck guarding a monster that should have been put to death the instant that Konoha had the chance. And to make things worse, he had been standing guard for hours after an intense bout of training, and he was feeling tired.
Yawning, the ninja settled back against the wall of the building, the cold brick doing little to alleviate his drowsiness. He wouldn't fall asleep on the job, of course he wouldn't, but there was nothing wrong with just getting comfortable or allowing his eyes to drift shut for a few seconds before he forced them open.
He was an Uchiha after all, an elite. Even if he fell asleep, he would awake in an instance if a civilian tried anything funny. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone could tell if he was sleeping when he was wearing his mask. With that in mind, Seigi drifted off happily, unaware of what was happening under his feet.
If you asked anyone from Konoha about Sentai Jin, most would be able to paint a pleasant, if somewhat plain picture of the man. He was a refugee from Kusa, who had fled to Konoha during the Third Shinobi War along with dozens of other civilians. He was in his late thirties, and worked as a gardener, living in a modest apartment. He was friendly enough if you talked to him, but he mostly kept himself to himself - he was quite a shy man and being rather plain, didn't get many dates. Every year, he took a holiday to Umi no Kuni, his wages as a gardener not allowing anything more exotic. In short, he was just one among many civilians - except for a few small differences.
Namely: he was in fact a chunin from Iwagakure, who had been sent to infiltrate the village, and hadn't been recalled when the war ended; his superiors deeming him far more useful where he was. Every year, he would make a trip to a small, out of the way location in Umi no Kuni where he would give a report about Konoha and what he had managed to discern of its weaknesses.
It wasn't much - he was posing as a civilian, after all, and civilians really only had measures of their village's defence revealed to them when they were being ushered behind protections as their ninja prepared to fight those who would invade them - but every bit of information, no matter how useless it seemed, could end up being useful some time in the future.
However, just because he was posing as a civilian didn't mean that he had allowed his skills to degenerate to their level. In fact, as a chunin of Iwa, Jin had been quite high-ranking. He was quite weak when it came to genjutsu, and his taijutsu was nothing to write home about - but he was one of the best Doton users in his age group, and he also happened to be a chakra sensor. His spying ability had helped him survive in Konoha, but it was the former abilities that would allow him to perform this mission for his village and finally return to Iwa.
He had been watching the ANBU guards all day, trying to find an opening. At first, he'd hoped to act when the guards changed, but they did so rarely, and when it did happen, they were more alert than ever, as they knew that it was then that anyone trying to attack would strike. Jin might be good, but he couldn't tell who was who under their animal masks, and thus he had no idea if he would be able to slip past them or if he'd be caught and dragged off for interrogation. Not willing to risk it, he sat behind the house, watching and waiting.
Finally, an ANBU came whose chakra was weak and drowsy; the man was clearly tired. It was only a matter of time before he fell asleep. Sure enough, after about an hour, the man's chakra started giving off the soft, relaxed pulses that signalled his unconsciousness. Jin smiled grimly.
'Finally.'
He could have climbed the walls using chakra, but that wouldn't have really got him anywhere - the windows were too small to fit a child through, never mind a full-grown man. Instead, he made a few hand-seals and sunk into the earth, his body passing through the soil as if it were water.
The Sandaime would have preferred for there to be at least two ANBU guarding Naruto at all times, with one outside the house and one actually in the room with him. However, with so many dead and so much work to be done, the baby was generally watched over in one-man shifts. And so, when Jin swam up under the floorboards of the house, prodding at them until he found a couple loose enough for him to shove them up and drag himself into the room, there was no one in the house to see.
Shaking his head to get rid of the dust, Jin clambered to his feet, looking around. The first floor seemed to be nothing more than a small kitchen, except that the only used thing seemed to be the microwave - clearly, the jinchuuriki was being fed on heated formulae. There was a sterile look to everything, as if no one went in there at all, which said a lot about the ANBU's dedication to guarding the baby. That was good - he would have more of a headstart if they were lax about the jinchuuriki's security.
Jin didn't need to look to see if the child was upstairs; the chakra battering at his senses was proof enough. It was an odd juxtaposition, the gentle warmth of an infant's chakra cushioning that dark, sickly energy that was a shadow of the Kyuubi's wrath, but it was all that he needed to know that he had got the right place.
Creeping noiselessly upstairs, the man was surprised by what he saw. The room was completely dark with not so much as a candle to light it, and it took a while for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he saw that there was a single piece of furniture in the room - a large crib in the corner, the slender bars on the side making it look awfully like a cage.
Jin strolled over to it, looking down curiously. He had never really seen either of the Iwa jinchuuriki, and so he wasn't sure what to expect from this child. But the baby looked oddly normal. A head poked out of the blankets, topped with spiky yellow hair that was frighteningly familiar, while the features all seemed to be typical of a week-old infant. In fact, the only abnormality that Jin could see were the six whisker-like lines that curved over the chubby cheeks, giving the slumbering child a slightly feral look.
The sound of laughter drifted through the window, and Jin glanced to the side, alarmed. Luckily, it seemed that whoever it was had already passed the house, but it reminded the Iwa ninja that he needed to get a move on.
He reached into the pouch that he had hidden under his shirt, and pulled out the string of explosive tags he had brought. Twenty of them, more than enough, and all easily purchased at any of the shinobi stores in Konoha, even for a civilian. Hundreds like it were sold every week, and tracking down who sold these particular ones and to who would take the authorities a while. Even when they did find him, what would they have? A civilian gardener, no doubt bitter about the Kyuubi and determined to take vengeance, who had probably died with the child when he misjudged the tags.
Jin worked quickly, slapping the tags on the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls, around the crib. The tags were set to go off in five minutes after they had been placed, but he could easily work with that. Then he carefully reached into the crib. He had no experience with the whole childcare business, but as a ninja, he had been trained to handle delicate objects quickly but without damaging them, and the child didn't stir as he was slung over Jin's shoulder.
Not missing a beat, he spun around and darted downstairs, heading for the opened floor. As soon as his feet touched the bare dirt, he began sinking into it, both he and the child enveloped within seconds. He was going to be very tired by the time he got to Iwa, but Jin figured that it was better to hurry now and slip out while Konoha was confused rather than conserve energy and get caught - or blown up.
Behind his mask, Seigi's eyes snapped open. Looking around, the Uchiha was relieved to see that no one had spotted him sleeping on the job. But then...what had woken him?
Frowning, he turned around to look at the house. He couldn't see anything that suggested anything was wrong. There was no fire, no screaming, no sudden wave of toxic chakra. But still, he felt uneasy.
One hand on his kunai, he took a step back, despite how silly he felt. Bah. It was probably nothing. Everyone was on edge, having to host a demon in their village. He glared viciously at the window of the Kyuubi's room. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the demon's presence that had made him wake up, unwilling to let him sleep when it wanted him to waste his valuable time guarding it-
And then the house exploded.
In his tower, Sarutobi's head snapped towards the window, a frown on his face. 'What on earth...'
Getting to his feet, the kage strode over to the glass, hands already twisting into the seals necessary to perform one of the many jutsus in his arsenal. His mind was already whirring through the possibilities - another village attacking, an already weakened building collapsing, even - though he shuddered to think of it - the Kyuubi escaping...
Then he saw, in the distance, the wreckage of the building where Naruto had been housed, with no Kyuubi in sight, and suddenly realized that things in the village had reached their boiling point - and he had been unable to prevent Naruto from falling in.
It took a week for a civilian to travel from Konoha to Iwa, assuming that everything went well along the journey. Ninja, however, could make the journey in half that time, less if they were feeling pressed. And after spending three days with a baby, Jin was certainly feeling pressed.
He hadn't gotten along with the brat at all. It cried loudly, it was always hungry, it forced him to make stops when he could have run all night, it made horrible messes that he had to clean up, and when it wasn't doing all that, it was sleeping, forcing him to hold it awkwardly while he ran. No, Jin was very happy when he saw the tall buildings of his home village, knowing that he could give up the child to his superiors as soon as he made it in.
What happened to the brat beyond that wasn't his problem.
The Tsuchikage's eyes flickered around the room. He was sitting at a large table, with himself at the head. Sitting with him were six others, all of whom were waiting respectfully for him to begin. Or at least pretending to. He knew full well that more than one of them would like to take his place, or at least see him kicked out of it. But he was an expert at maintaining a balance, and he didn't think that he had a great deal to worry about from them.
For now, anyway.
Settling back, he examined each of them, judging their expressions and wondering how they would react to his news. Of course, there was no question of his decision being overturned - he was the Tsuchikage, and his word was law. Even so, it would be interesting to see what they would have to say about it all.
The man sitting nearest to his right was definitely among his most trusted. At sixty-eight, Nagaimichi Eiya was far past his prime as a shinobi - in fact, the Tsuchikage doubted that he'd be able to stand up to a kitten now. However, his mind was as sharp as ever, and he stayed on as Iwa's main strategist when he could no longer participate in field missions. It was his guidance that had allowed Iwa to survive for as long as they had in their war against Konoha, and the Tsuchikage knew that he could rely on his loyalty if things went badly.
Next to Eiya was someone infinitely less trusted. Sakame Kenji, the twenty-six year old head of the Sakame clan. The Sakame clan were taijutsu masters, no small part of which was their kekkei genkai, the Koton. As their head, Kenji was one of the most powerful wielders of both their kekkei genkai and fighting style. Heralded as a genius from a young age, he had made Jounin at fifteen, and was one of the few who had battled the Yellow Flash and lived (though the Tsuchikage was more inclined to believe that his survival was due to Namikaze being called away to another battlefield rather than Kenji actually beating him as the man had boasted). He also made no secret of the fact that he had his eye on the Tsuchikage's hat, and had hinted more than once that Onoki should think about retiring.
Bah! As if Onoki would do that. The old man was just as rational as he had been in his youth, and his skills were certainly still kage-level. The suggestion that he should step down in favour of a younger, weaker shinobi was both insulting and proof that the arrogant Kenji was not fit to lead Iwa.
Sitting next to Kenji was another headache for the Tsuchikage, but in a different way. Houseki Fusao was head of the small Houseki clan, wielders of the Shoton kekkei genkai. A powerful kekkei genkai to be sure, and one that made Fusao a good ninja...but the man was also a serial womaniser, despite being married. He had had numerous affairs, both outside Iwa and in it, his libido apparently stopping him from seeing the damage the Shoton could do in the hands of someone loyal to Iwa's enemies.
To make matters worse, he had fathered more than a few illegitimate children by village women over the years...all of whom had been quietly aborted. While the mothers (Most of them barely out of their teens) stated that it was their choice to do so, the Houseki clan had a lot of influence, and definitely wasn't above harassing an expectant mother if it kept their kekkei genkai out of an 'outsider's' hands. As long as they didn't cause too much conflict, the Tsuchikage wouldn't interfere...but things could turn nasty quickly if they tried to do that to one of the other clans.
To Fusao's right was the youngest person at the table - Kamizuru Suzembachi. The twelve year old chunin was also the most lowly ranked of them all, and her opinion did not hold a lot of weight. But still, she was a tough child. Orphaned at the age of nine, she had taken over the duties of clan head and mother to her siblings with a surprising fervour, and was also desperately trying to regain the honour the Kamizuru clan had lost when they were defeated so badly by the Aburame clan of Konoha. If she did, then it would be quite an achievement - despite being the descendants of the Shodai Tsuchikage, the Kamizuru clan were seen now as being an embarrassment to Iwa thanks to their resounding defeat.
The only other female at the table was Musei Kasumi, head of the Musei clan. This clan specialized in stealth, and it was to members of that clan that most of the assassination missions went. What was all the more impressive was that they had no kekkei genkai to help them at all, and yet turned out just as many jounin as either of the Houseki and Sakame clans. More importantly, Kasumi was personally loyal to Onoki, as he had been on the same genin team as her grandfather, and had been good friends with him.
The last person at the table was someone no one personally knew but Onoki. Head of Iwa's ANBU forces, he was known only 'Ichi', the number etched into his otherwise plain white mask, which he never took off. Even if someone managed to discover his true identity, it didn't really matter. The man had no family, lived alone, and ate, slept, and breathed ANBU. As far as Onoki knew, no one had called him his real name for over five years. Ichi had buried himself so deeply in this false identity that it had become who he truly was.
Nodding to himself, the Tsuchikage placed his hands on the desk. "As you are all aware, a chunin agent that was stationed in Konoha has now returned to our village. The information he brought was nothing new...however, he has brought us something infinitely more valuable as well."
The rest of the table gazed at him in rapt attention, knowing that he would reveal what this was. The curiosity was evident in their gazes, as was the greed in Kenji's eyes. Doubtlessly he thought that it was some kind of jutsu or other weapon, and was hoping to get his hands on it somehow.
"He has brought us...a jinchuuriki."
Eiya stiffened, his milky eyes wide. "A jinchuuriki from Konoha? But that must mean...he brought the vessel of the Kyuubi?"
Onoki nodded, pleased. "Indeed."
A heavy silence spread around the room as the others absorbed this news. Kasumi raised her head, her hiate-ate glinting against her dark hair. Her voice was raspy, but in the silence, it was as loud as thunder. "But Tsuchikage-sama, rumours from Konoha have stated that Namikaze used his own child as the sacrifice. Was...was that true?"
Knowing that it would be impossible to hide once the child was seen, the Tsuchikage nodded. "Yes."
For a few more seconds, silence reigned. Then...
"WHAT?"
"Tsuchikage-sama...we can't-"
"It must die! Iwa must have its vengeance!"
"ENOUGH!" Onoki bellowed. "We have been given a chance to strengthen Iwa, and by Kami, we will take it!"
Eiya nodded, his face thoughtful. "The Kyuubi held immense power. If the child could utilize it, we'd have an incredible weapon on our hands."
"But it's the spawn of Namikaze!" Kenji hissed, his face taunt with anger. "He slaughtered our brothers and sisters, he made a mockery of us! Now he lies beyond our reach...But his child does not. How can we let it live when their blood still cries for vengeance?"
Suzembachi looked unsure, but straightened up. "But surely he can make up for that? If he can take vengeance for what his father did?"
"Don't be foolish," Fusao shook his head. "He was born in Konoha, he is one of them. He'll turn on us, just watch him!"
Onoki folded his arms. "He may be born in Konoha, but we will make him part of Iwa. Both of our jinchuuriki are strong; with three, we will be unstoppable. As part of our forces, the child will be a great asset." His tone left no room for any more arguing.
"What will his name be then, Tsuchikage-sama?" Kasumi murmured. "We cannot call him Namikaze, the people will know who he is in an instant, and they will be furious."
Onoki pondered this for a moment, thinking back over generations of lost Iwa shinobi, of their names which they no longer had any need for. "Let him be called Kazama Naruto. Uzu no Kuni sent most of their refugees to Konoha; it would make sense if they selected an orphan to seal the beast in. And if they then abandoned the child..." He shrugged, a smirk on his face. "No one could blame our patrols for investigating, could they?"
However, the kage did not note the dark look on Kenji's face as the clan leader left the room. Nor did he realize just how deeply the man's hatred ran, for both him and the Yondaime.
But when the entire village knew by the next day that Iwa had the son of their most hated enemy in their grasp, a helpless baby without means of defence...now that was when Naruto's problems really began.
This story is based on the 'Stolen Hero' challenge by Hektols, read his profile for more information. Part of the challenge was that everyone knew about Kushina's pregnancy, but I am making this an AU when it comes to the Uzumaki family history, such as Kushina being the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Creative liberties will be taken quite a lot, due to the lack of information regarding Iwa, but I will try to keep thingd believable. For now, though, please review!
