It was an abnormally dark night in the village hidden by leaves, dust particles floated across Hiruzen Sarutobi's vision, visible only by the pale moon light that shone through the office's window. The old man smirked as a shadow itself across his desk, unwavering.
"You got in here rather quietly, I hope you didn't do away with the ANBU that were guarding me." Hiruzen chuckled lightly, smoke wafting from the pipe that rested between his lips.
"Of course not, Lord Third." He whom the shadow belonged spoke quietly.
"You know, Jiraiya is a very efficient spymaster. It's rare that you bring me any news... Itachi." Hiruzen spoke. Itachi stepped forwards into the moonlight, showcasing his tired eyes and odd garb. Draped across the Uchiha's shoulders was a black cloak emblazoned with red clouds, the trademark of the Akatsuki.
"Lord Jiraiya is not privy to the inner workings of the Akatsuki. As a member of the organization, I am." Itachi explained.
"Yes, that is true, but I thought this infiltration of yours was supposed to be permanent. You're supposed to be seen as an S-Rank missing ninja, and never to report and news to the village personally." Hiruzen countered. Itachi faltered momentarily. He was completely aware of what his mission was, however much he may hate it.
"This...this was too important. It had to be directly from me to you." Itachi explained succinctly. Hiruzen nodded and smiled at the young man.
"You're a good man, Itachi," Hiruzen sighed, "I can only hope one day you can be accepted back into the village one day, that we can reveal your motives." Itachi shook his head at the sentiment.
"I think not Lord Third," Itachi said, "A pleasant fate awaits not he who betrays his comrades, no matter the circumstances." The missing ninja was suddenly wracked with a series of painful coughs. Hiruzen looked at him sadly.
"I see. Well, what is this news that you've brought me, young lad?" The third Hokage asked.
"I've discovered the Akatsuki's main motive. They wish to capture the Jinchuuriki, and extract the tailed beasts from them." Itachi informed. Hiruzen's eyes widened, his thoughts immediately jumping to their village's local Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki. The boy held the Nine-Tailed Fox within him, a dangerous and malevolent beast that was sure to wreak destruction in the hands of a group such as the Akatsuki.
"I, ah, I see. When will they come for the boy?" Hiruzen asked. If a group of dangerous S-Rank missing ninja were going to attack the village, they would need to be ready. Naruto, too. The lad would need to be ready to fight in case he was confronted.
"Around three to five years, no more, no less." Itachi stated. Naruto would be no older than fifteen years old when they would come for him. Then, a thought struck Hiruzen. Who better to train a Jinchuuriki than another Jinchuuriki?
"Do the other hidden villages know of this?" Asked the Third Hokage, as he formulated an idea. Itachi shook his head.
"Perhaps, the Jinchuuriki should be hidden away, in an undisclosed location. This way, they won't be able to find them, and they can train together to be better prepared if they did." Hiruzen suggested. Itachi nodded thoughtfully.
"That sounds like it could work, but please refrain from discussing that matter any further with me. It's likely that the Akatsuki will execute me if they find out I leaked this information, I'd rather not have any information that they can torture out of me."
"Yes, I understand. Will you at least be able to tell me the locations and identities of the other Jinchuuriki? That way I may be able to communicate with them and their villages leaders on the subject." Hiruzen frowned, knowing he was asking much of the Uchiha already. The sickly man merely nodded.
"Of the Hidden Cloud there is Killer Bee, host of the Eight-Tails, and Yugito Nii, host of the Two-Tails. The former is the Raikage's brother and considered the village's guardian, while the latter is one of their elite Jonin." Itachi began explaining.
"Ah, those two might be harder to wrangle out of their grasp, considering our history with the Hidden Cloud." Hiruzen supplied.
"Of the Hidden Stone there is Roshi, host of the Four-Tails, and Han, host of the Five-Tails. Neither of them currently resides in the village. Roshi left to garner a better understanding of his tailed beast, and Han left because the village did not accept him." Itachi continued. It made Hiruzen think of Naruto, who was also shunned by his own village. He wondered if one day Naruto would abandon the village because he could no longer stand the neglect. "Of the Hidden Mist is Yagura, host of the Three-Tails and current Mizukage, as well as Utakata, host of the Six-Tails and currently regarded as a missing ninja."
"Yagura of the Mist is one of the Jinchuuriki? I can't believe this was unknown to me, it will be even harder to get him to agree to my plan." Hiruzen contemplated.
"Of the Hidden Sand they have Gaara, host of the One-Tails, and youngest child of their Kazekage. It is known that he has very poor control over his tailed beast, and that it frequently takes over his body when he slumbers. The final one is Fuu from the Hidden Waterfall, host of the Seven-Tails." Itachi finished. Hiruzen nodded, absorbing all of this information.
"Thank you, Itachi. You've done a great service. I hope one day, in some form, I can repay you." Hiruzen sighed. Itachi shook his head once again.
"All that I ask is that you keep Sasuke safe, that you protect him from his own vengeance lest it drive him to villainy." Itachi frowned as he thought of his younger brother.
"I'll do the best that I can, Itachi." And with that, the missing ninja broke apart into a murder of crows and disappeared. Hiruzen sighed deeply. Naruto, at the age of nine, had only started at the academy a couple of years ago, and it seemed that before he would even graduate his entire life would be uprooted. Alas, the Third Hokage knew what he would have to do. It was time for the Five Kage to convene.
Six Months Later – The Hidden Waterfall
"Ha, not that I'm ungrateful or anything," The leader of the Hidden Waterfall, Shibuki, started hesitantly, "It's just...why have I been summoned to convene with the Five Kage, in my village none the less?" He finished, shrinking back slightly under the gaze of the powerful village leaders. Shibuki was young, a mere seventeen years old, and he never thought that he'd be forced into a situation so early in his career as a village leader.
"Well you see lad, this meeting was called to discuss the Jinchuuriki," Hiruzen began to explain, "Your village happens to be the only one without a Kage that harbors one." Shibuki nodded slowly and took a moment to look around the table at which they sat. He'd only heard tale of the Five Kage Summits, no one knew exactly what happened at them. Each Kage was seated equidistantly around the table, their hats laid before them as a symbol of respect. Behind each of them stood their personal body guard, hand selected by the Kage themselves. To Shibuki, it was all very intimidating.
"And what of our Jinchuuriki, Hokage?" Grumbled Ay, the Fourth Raikage. Behind him his bodyguard, a rather bored looking young man who was said to be a powerful student of the Raikage's, rolled his eyes, seemingly rather used to his Kage's personality.
"They are in danger, Raikage," Hiruzen spoke calmly, "I have received word of the Akatsuki's motives, they want to capture the Jinchuuriki, to extract their tailed beasts." Around the table, eyes widened in shock.
"And you believe that they have the power to achieve such a feat?" The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, spoke up.
"You would know better than anyone, Fence-Sitter, you've hired them before," Interjected the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. Onoki glared at him, a snarl starting at his lips. Hiruzen waved his hand to subside the coming argument.
"Yes, they are powerful enough to accomplish it. After all, they are comprised of the most dangerous missing ninja from almost every village in attendance." Hiruzen informed them, to which they all sullenly agreed, bar the Raikage. Ay was rather smug about none of the Akatsuki's members being from his ranks.
"And what do you propose we do?" Onoki asked.
"Simple, I believe we hide the Jinchuuriki away," Hiruzen stated blandly, and raised his hand to halt everyone's outbursts, "Yes, yes. I know what you're going to say. I know that over the years we've liked to use the Jinchuuriki as so-called weapons, but if all of them were hidden away, no village would have an advantage over the other. Plus, the Jinchuuriki would have an oppurtunity to train with each other, to teach those less experienced." With the last two words he eyed Rasa and Shibuki, knowing how young their own two Jinchuuriki were as well.
"Hn," Ay grunted, thinking over the matter, "You've been rather quiet about this situation, Fourth Mizukage, considering you are a Jinchuuriki." Ay snorted, targeting Yagura. All eyes turned towards the young Mizukage, who just stared ahead rather blankly. Even his bodyguard, Fuguki Suikazan of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, was rather unnerved by his appearance.
"Everyone, get away from him now!" Hiruzen shouted, startling the attendants. Following the Hokage's word, however reluctantly, everyone backed away from Yagura.
"Explain yourself, Hiruzen!" Onoki shouted, dropping formalities.
"That is not Yagura Karatachi, not anymore. He's under some sort of powerful genjutsu. I'm not sure if I can dispel it." The Third Hokage growled. Everyone immediately stood on guard, if there was a genjutsu that Hiruzen Sarutobi could not dispel, they could very well be in trouble. From seemingly nowhere, a rather malicious laugh rang out.
"I should have known better than to bring him here with you around, Lord Third, renown as the Professor." Spoke an unnervingly deep voice. From the shadows appeared a man cloaked in black and donning an orange and black mask with long unkempt black hair. "I was hoping to hear the entirety your little plan, but I suppose it doesn't matter much." He looked at Yagura and chuckled, "Don't worry, the Akatsuki is not going to initiate their plan early, but poor Yagura here won't be around much longer..." With that, the man grabbed Yagura and disappeared into a swirling vortex emanating from his mask.
"…Alright, Hokage, tell us more about this plan of yours." Rasa broke the silence, gold dust still hesitantly floating around his person.
"I'll keep it short. Gather your Jinchuuriki, regardless of whether or not they still live in your village or are missing ninja," Hiruzen explained, regarding the Hidden Mist and Hidden Stone, "And in no more than two years they will be arranged to be sent to a secret, nigh impenetrable fortress in the Land of Iron. I've already spoken with Mifune on the matter, he is in agreement."
"The Land of Iron? That's rather genius, even the Akatsuki will be hesitant to try and invade a neutral samurai led country." Onoki nodded, "I will gather Roshi and Han, farewell. Kitsuchi, we're leaving." The Tsuchikage said as he floated away towards the door.
"Hmph, my brother and Yugito will be informed. Come, Darui." Ay confirmed, striding away as well.
"Yes, I will inform Gaara of these...new circumstances." Rasa intoned quietly, secretly relieved that his village would be free of the demon Shukaku. "Baki." He summoned. Hiruzen looked to the still startled Fuguki, and nodded.
"I trust you will relay this information to your village's leaders." The swordsman nodded, "Do not let it fall into the hands of anyone else." Within seconds Fuguki disappeared, having body flickered away. "I trust you know what to do, Shibuki." Hiruzen nodded at the village leader, who was stunned by what had just transpired.
"Y-yes, of course, Lord Hokage," Shibuki nodded, and set off to locate Fuu. Hiruzen nodded at Genma, and they began their course back to the Hidden Leaf.
Two Months Later
Hiruzen sighed, having finally received a report from the ninja he'd sent to check up on the Hidden Mist. Fuguki had been assassinated by a missing ninja who had stolen has sword when he was returning from the Five Kage Summit. According to the report, with Yagura gone the coup de'tat of the village had succeeded, and Mei Terumi was instated as the Fifth Mizukage. She had sent word saying that she agreed with his plan for the Jinchuuriki. She reported that they had a search going for Utakata, and that they had located where the Three-Tails had reappeared and had someone to seal it into. With the Three-Tails having reappeared, it meant that Yagura must have somehow been killed rather than captured.
"Send for Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen told one of the ANBU secretly stationed around the office. Not too long later, Naruto bumbled in through the office door rather roughly.
"Whatever, the paint washes off, jerk!" The boy grumbled. Giving him a glance, Hiruzen had to suppress a chuckle. There was blue paint splattered across the boy's whiskered cheek, and various other colors on his white shirt. Naruto turned to face him and gave a wide smile, "What's up Gramps? Am I in trouble or something?"
"Not this time, Naruto. However, this is very important." Hiruzen replied grimly, worried about how the news may affect the child.
"Important, huh? I know I'm great an' all but you don't have to name me Hokage this early, Gramps!" Naruto laughed, however once he saw the expression on the man's face he sobered up, "So, uh, what is it?"
"Naruto, not that you deserve their scorn, but do you know why the villagers despise you so? Why they refuse to let their children play with you? Why they try so desperately to sabotage your very life?" Hiruzen asked sadly. He tried his best to help the boy's predicament, but at every step the likes of Koharu, Homura, and Danzo shut him down. Really, sending the boy away might be a good thing for him.
"N-no," Naruto frowned, "I mean, I know I pull a lot of pranks 'n stuff but that's just 'cause I want people to notice me, ya know? That doesn't mean they should hate me so much. Kiba pees on people's mailboxes for crying out loud!" Naruto exclaimed. Hiruzen sighed, having heard tale of the Inuzuka boy's antics.
"You're right, they shouldn't hate you for that. They shouldn't hate you at all. In reality, they hate what's inside of you." Hiruzen admitted. Naruto's face twisted up in confusion.
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto, around ten years ago, on October Tenth, the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked our village. It was only defeated when the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal it away." Hiruzen explained calmly. Naruto only grew more frustrated.
"Well yeah, everyone knows about that! What does that have to do with me?" Naruto grumbled.
"My boy, did you ever stop to think about where the Fourth Hokage sealed it?" Hiruzen asked, still retaining his calm countenance.
"Well, no. Not really."
"He sealed the fox inside of you, Naruto." Hiruzen finally admitted. Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
"T-the Nine-Tails is...inside of me?" He asked softly, clearly in disbelief.
"Yes." Hiruzen answered simply. He waited for the boy to assimilate the information before he told him anymore. Naruto felt a mixture of emotions; understanding, anger, sadness, grief. He finally knew why the villagers treated him like trash, and it wasn't even his fault! It was the damned demon that lived inside of him! Naruto had to stop himself from raising a fist and slamming it into his stomach to scorn the beast.
"Why?! Why would he seal it inside of me?! Why would I deserve that?" Naruto yelled at his village's leader, eyes full of tears.
"There are secrets wrapped around that answer, Naruto. Secrets I can't yet tell you. The simplest answer I can give you right now? He believed in you. He believed you would have the determination and tenacity to master the power of the Nine-Tails like no other could." Hiruzen explained. It wasn't a lie, Minato truly did believe in his son, it just wasn't the whole story.
"He believed in me?" Naruto asked no one in particular, once again struck with disbelief. His personal hero, the Fourth Hokage, believed in him? It was awe-inspiring to the ten-year-old boy.
"That's not all, Naruto. You are not the only one of your kind." Hiruzen told him, causing Naruto's eyes to light up in surprise, "There are eight others like you, with tailed beasts sealed inside of them, they are called Jinchuuriki. The main reason I called you here is to inform you that in two years you will be sent away, to where I cannot tell you, but you will be with these other eight Jinchuuriki, and you will train with them to control the Nine-Tails power."
"I'm going to be sent away from the village? So, I won't be able to become the Hokage?" Naruto asked sadly. Hiruzen shook his head at the boy/
"It won't be forever, Naruto. You will be back in due time, your dream is not lost, but this is imperative. You need to be able to control the Nine-Tails." Hiruzen explained. Naruto nodded, conflicting emotions clashing within him once again. "Make sure to tell no one of your prisoner, Naruto. You are free to leave." Naruto nodded and dragged himself out of the door.
Hours later found the boy sitting by himself on a bench, kicking at rocks and trash, frown set on his face. A certain Hyuuga heiress saw this scene and put on a frown herself. Even more so than the troubles in her own life, seeing Naruto upset made her upset in turn, and Naruto was frequently upset. Today was a different matter, though, he seemed to be an entirely different manner of upset this time. It seemed like it was something different that made him upset this time, not the villagers. So, today Hinata was going to talk to Naruto, and she wasn't going to faint.
"N-naruto?" Hinata asked, approaching the downcast boy. He looked up at her with eyebrows raised, surprised someone was actually coming to talk to him.
"Eh, what's up, Hinata? Did you get caught up in one of my pranks or something? If you did I'm sorry." Naruto apologized, immediately assuming he'd done something wrong. Hinata vigorously shook her head.
"N-no, of course not! You just looked really upset. I wanted to see if you were okay." Hinata admitted. Naruto blinked in surprise at the fact that someone aside from Iruka or the Hokage was concerned for his wellbeing.
"Ah, yeah it's just that," Naruto paused a moment, gramps had told him not to tell anyone about the fox, but didn't specifically forbid mentioning anything else, "I gotta leave the village in a few years." He admitted.
"Leave? Are you in trouble?" Hinata frowned. She didn't want Naruto to leave the village. Naruto's tenacity powered a lot of Hinata's drive, just seeing him try so hard inspired Hinata to try hard as well.
"Nah, I actually get to train with some really strong people!" Naruto grinned. Hinata timidly smiled back at him.
"T-that's good. Are y-you go-going to be gone forever?" Hinata asked shyly. Naruto shook his head.
"Nah, Gramps Hokage said I'd be able to come back to the village eventually, believe it!" Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up, causing Hinata to smile much more confidently.
"Well, I-I'm sure you...you'll get really strong!" Hinata managed to stutter out.
"Thanks, Hinata! I'm sure you'll get really strong too, ya know?" Naruto said, and enveloped the shy girl in a tight hug, "Thanks for talking to me, Hinata! I feel a lot better now!" At physical contact, the Hyuuga's face lit up a bright red and she fainted within his arms. "Eh, Hinata, are you okay?" The Jinchuuriki asked, receiving a small squeak in return. Hinata managed to recompose herself and stood up straight.
"W-well, I'll see you to-tomorrow, Naruto." Hinata stammered before rushing off to the Hyuuga clan compound. Naruto waved and then looked down at his stomach. Ya hear that, Nine-Tails, I'm gonna get real strong and I'll control your power!
Haha, we'll see about that...
Hey guys, sorry this chapter isn't too great, but I really wanted to start off this story. I really think all of the other Jinchuuriki are underutilized characters and I really want to give em a bit more depth... except Yagura, I guess. Sorry, Yagura fans, nothing against the guy. I just got other plans, ya know? I was planning on including a scene with Iruka in this chapter but I'll save it until the next one. Next chapter the Jinchuuriki Stronghold officially starts.