Uzumaki Naruko: Rise of a Deity
Chapter 1: Kami's Soldier, Fire's Guardian
"MIZUKI, DON'T, IT'S FORBIDDEN."
"YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!"
These words were shouted at Uzumaki Naruko, a 13-year-old prospective gennin with waist length strawberry-blonde hair that was braided into a single tail going down her back. She wore neon-orange pants and a tank-top with white trim that was several sizes to large, even with her above average bust size.
At this moment her mind was in turmoil, finally understanding all the hateful wispers, the murderous glares and the occasional beating from a drunk villager. However, before her mind could take the proverbial plunge into the abyss, laughter was heard.
"If that child is a demon, then I'll eat the hokages hat." The distinctly male voice came from deeper in the woods surrounding the clearing that the three were in. "I'll tell you the truth about the Kyuubi though. Shes not an actual demon, shes a piece of a primordial god. Real demons don't attack villages randomly, nor do they cause unnessary death, especially the deaths of innocents, like children."
As the man enrterd the clearing, those present noticed how he carried himself. Like a noble, yet also like a veteran warrior. He was tall, about 6'2", with long silver that looked smooth as silk yet flowed like water, and golden eyes with a slitted pupil. He wore a long black duster jacket that was obviously well worn, over a black, multi-pocketed, vest and dark red cargo pants tucked into knee length combat boots, at his waist poking out of the jacket was the hilt of a sword.
"Who the hell are you?" Mizuki demanded, all he wanted was to steal the forbidden scroll, kill the demon bitch and leave konoha, was that too much to ask? Now he has to deal with some other fool getting in his way. Well no matter, it will be easy enough to kill this idiot as well.
"Me? I'm just an old man passing by, saw the girl practicing the kage bunshin directly from the forbidden scoll, then watched you attack the guy with the scar and commit high treason by revealing the identity of konohas jinchuriki, which you arent even supposed to know."
Mizuki smirked since he figured this guy was just talking out of his ass. "It doesn't matter, since none of you will be leaving here alive." Mizuki spoke while preparing his other giant shuriken
"Are you sure of that?" The words were spoken in a whisper from behind Mizuki, before he felt pain throughout his spine. It was like someone stabbed needles into every part of his spine, which wasn't far from the truth. Mizuki looked down at the stranger and watched as he just "faded" from existance.
'An after-image'. was his last thought before darkness overtook him.
"Well, that was... kinda boring. So how did the two of you learn of Naruko-chans status as Jinchuriki when the only people who are supposed to know are her, the hokage and those directly involved in the sealing?" The question was directed at Iruka with just the smallest bit of killing intent. Small being relative, cause Iruka felt like he was facing the Hokage on a bad day, or when he had to deal with the civilian council.
"T-t-the H-hokage made an anouncement after the attack. He also ordered the older generation to remain quiet on the matter." Iruka started with a stutter but finished strong... until the last of his statement regestered in the mans ears, then, the killing intent tripled. Naruko seemed unaffected, mostly, she was sweating a bit. "How do you know about it though? I've never seen you before?"
The man smirked at the question. "Thats because I've been on assignment from my mistress for the past thirty years." Iruka gaped at the answer.
"But you don't look a day over twenty-five!"
"So? Immortality is a blessing sometimes. I'm actually around five-thousand." The man stated with a happy grin, and no small amount of sadness in his eyes. Immortaltity WAS great sometimes, and a complete nightmare others.
Iruka felt his jaw unhinge and hit the ground. How could anyone live for that long...
unless...
"Are you Kami-sama?"
"No. Though I do know her personally.
"U-u-u-um, E-excuse m-m-me?" The meek voice voice of Naruko sounded out, gaining the attention of both men. Naruko took a deep breath to steady herself before asking "Who are you, sir?"
The strange man smiled kindly at her, like a family member would to comfort a scared child. "My name is Hiko*, the gaurdian of fire and lord of fire country. I am also your new sensei." The now named Hiko spoke with confidenceand an air of nobility, the highest nobility.
"My new sensei? Does that mean I graduated then?" Naruko asked with joy and hope in her voice. "Please tell me I didnt waste all that time training."
Hiko gave her a fatherly smile and reached down to pat her head. "Of course you passed. You learned a powerful variation of the clone jutsu. You also completed your first A-rank mission in revealing a traitor to the village. Be proud of yourself, your parents are."
Those last three words caused Naruko's heart to skip a few beats. 'M-m-my Parents?' "Did you know them? D-d-did they l-l-love m-m-me?" Naruko spoke in a small voice, almost a whisper, as she cast her eyes to the ground.
"Yes, Naru-chan, I know them in a sense." Seeing the looks from both Naruko and Iruka, Hiko spoke before they could question him. "No they didnt abandon you, they died. I met them both on the other side. Nirvana."
Naruko became depressed at that revelation and just stared at the ground, tears flowing freely as she tried in vain to hold back the sobs, until she felt a pair of feminine arms wrap around her and a soft womanly voice spoke in her ear "Let it out, dearie, theres no need to hold back anymore."
With that, the dam broke and Naruko broke down, releasing all the years of pent up emotions hidden behind the mask of happiness and joy. Iruka and Hiko could only watch on as Naruko cried into the arms of this strange red-headed woman. Hiko knew exactly who she was, but Iruka felt as if he had seen her at some point.
She was aroung 5'5" tall with slightly pale skin, vibrant red hair styled in twin buns with seal tags with the Kanji for 'to hear' hanging from them. She wore a, most likley, very expensive kimono of pure white silk with a dark blue obi. the woman looked to be around her mid to late 20's and has a purple diamond shaped mark in the center of her forehead.
Finally, Iruka's curiosity got the better of him. So he asked the only person in the clearing that might know. "Um, Lord Hiko-sama, who is that woman? I feel like I've seen her before."
Hiko looked over at Iruka form the corner of his eye, then back to the scene before him. "That is Mito Uzumaki, wife of Hashirama Senju, grandmother of Tsunande Senju and first Jinchurriki of the kyuubi-no-kitsune. She is also Narukos personal teacher in the arts of funjutsu and kenjutsu."
Iruka's jaw hit the ground so hard it left cracks. "T-t-t-that's the Firsts WIFE!? How the fuck is she still alive!? She must be nearing 120!" Iruka's reaction seemed to amuse Hiko, if his smirk meant anything.
Reaching into his pocket, Hiko pulled out a small black crystal and showed it to Iruka and Naruko, who finally calmed down enough to pay attention, though she was staring at Mito in amazment at her identity and titles. "This is called a 'soul gem'* , with it I can take the soul of any truly evil person I happen to kill. I do this to garner favors from the Shinigami, in exchange for the souls I collect, he gives me something in return. In this case, 2 soul gems for Mito to return to life." Hiko pocketed the gem and turned toward the scroll of sealing, picking it up and strapping it to his back.
"Now lets head to the village, theres an old monkey that owes me an explanation." At that moment a small ANBU unit showed up, surrounding the group, weapons drawn.
"Halt, by order of the Konoha council, you are to hand over the forbbidden scroll and turn yourselves in for questioning." One of the ANBU spoke, his voice obviously male but bearing no emotions, like a puppet.
"I do not answer to the council, BOY. And you are a traitor if you do" Hiko spoke wtih a cold authority in his voice. "Now you can escort us to the Hokages office and accept the punishment for your actions or you can attack and die fast, marked as traitors and permently disgracing your family name. Decide, NOW!"
The ANBU wisely chose to put thier weapons away, realising they were in deep shit since Naruko and Iruka were present and the Hokage trusted both of them more than he did his ANBU half the time. Hiko simply nodded and turned towards the village, intent on getting to the bottom of why his village was so fucked up since he left, and promising pain to whoever pissed him off first... starting with Hiruzen.
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As Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his offoce finishing the last few pages of his most hated enemy, PAPERWORK, he felt a cold chill run through his whole body, as the Shinigami was gripping his heart. Hoping nothing bad happened to Naruko, or the scroll but mostly his surrogate granddaughter, Hiruzen chose to use his viewing orb to see what was going on with the retrieval teams he sent out.
Just as he placed the orb on his desk to look into it, it exploded, along with his office doors. Along with the destruction of his door came the unconscious body of his secretary... and the massive amount of killing intent that he remembered all to well. With poise and grace that came from years of nobility training and practice, Mito Uzumaki-Senju, his senseis wife/sister-in-law entered looking as he remembered from his youth, without a hair out of place. "Hiruzen, explain." was all she said.
With those two simple words, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the god of shinobi, knew his night was not going to end well, especially since a platoon of ANBU, Naruko, Chuunin Iruka Umino and Lord Hiko walked in behind her. Of them all, Hiko looked the most calm, save for his eyes, which burned with untold rage. The ANBU looked ashamed while Naruko and Iruka just looked at the hokage, or jiji, with curiosity. "What would you like me to start with, Lady Mito?"
"You can start with why Narukos status was reveiled to the public but not her heritage?" This came from Lord Hiko and though it was spoken as a question, Hiruzen knew it was an order. "After we fix the door and deal with these four." Indicating the four ANBU members who stepped foreward to recieve punishment from thier kage. "They were apparently operating on orders from the council."
Hiruzen released a tired sigh. 'I'm getting too old for this shit. And the council is going too far by giving orders to my shinobi.' "You four, remove your masks. You are each demoted to the rank of special jounin, without posibility of promotion and will spend the remaining time of your careers working at the prison. Be thankful I'm giving you your punishment. Lord Hiko would just kill you and leave it at that."
The former ANBU members removed thier masks, set them on the desk and shuffled out, after getting the information on where and when they were to report for their new duties. "Chuunin Umino, you are to submit a written report on what happened this evening by 1700 tommorow. The team assignments will be postponed for 2 weeks by which time I will have decided what they will be. Good night, Iruka." Hiko stated with a no-nonsense tone.
Iruka simply bowed and left, after giving Naruko a hug and a promise for ramen in celebration later. With the newly repaired door firmly closed and the, now conscious, secretary having left, the aged hokage was set upon by two pairs of enraged eyes and one curious gaze. Naruko just watched as Hiruzen started sweating under the gazes of her newest friend/family member, wondering what was going to happen now.
"Where do you want me to start?"
"How about why all of Konoha knows that Naruko is a Jinchuriki when it was supposed to remain secret between her, you and whoever did the sealing."
'Sigh' "I made the mistake of informing the council. In hindsight, it was a stupid mistake." Sarutobi looked truly regretful of that decision. "I did make sure they knew what the concequences of revealing the secret though."
"So you informed them that anyone who revealed the secret would cause the death of the entire council and thier families with the exception of the shinobi council who understand the need for keeping secrets?" This time it was Mito who spoke from her position on the couch. "Naru-chan, come sit with me over here."
Naruko moved over to the ugly yet comfy couch, listening to the conversation intently, wishing she had some popcorn... or some ramen. It wasnt every day she saw her jiji scolded like he did her sometimes. It was very entertaining.
"I did inform them that the concequences of breaking the law would result in the execution of the guilty party, but it would seem no-one listened."
"No shit."
At that moment the door opened, revealing Sarutobi's old teammates and current advisors, along with his old rival, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. As the three walked in, acting like it was a privilege for those in Hiruzens office to meet with them, each member of the elder council froze in shock at the sight of who was sitting on the couch next to the jinchuriki was Mito Uzumaki-Senju. This was very much not good.
"Oh good." The three turned to the other ocupant of the room. "Just the three I didnt want to see." The sarcasm was obvious to all in the room... even the normally oblivious Naruko dead-panned. "Now why did the three of you just waltz in here like you owned the place. I left a standing order that we were not to be disturbed."
Koharu chose that exact moment to voice her opinion. "Any matter concerning the saftey of Konoha concerns us. You have no right to deny us, the elder council, entry into this meeting." Homura nodded his agreement while Danzo just stood there waiting to see what would happen.
"Hiruzen, why has she not been arrested for the theft of the forbbiden scroll and prepared for her training with Danzo?" Homura demanded, fully expecting Sarutobi to simply comply with the demand. Hiko and Mito raised an eyebrow each, wondering when these people gained such arrogance as to believe that they could demand answers from their kage. Naruko just looked at her jiji hoping she wouldnt be arrested when she just made gennin.
Suddenly, everyone felt a massive pressure descend upon the room, as if gravity had increased a dozen times over. Naruko was feeling it the worst, having never felt such pressure before. Mito just placed her arm around Naruko's shoulder, to keep her calm and upright so she didnt pass out, having felt worse pressure during the Clan Wars, Mito didnt react while Hiko had created worse when he was first born.
The elders however, were on thier knees, feeling as if they were being crushed by the pressure. Then they realized who was generating such power, Hiruzen himself. 'Finally, the Kami no Shinobi returns to his old bones. Maybe now he will remember his position as the leader of this village.'
Hiruzen kept his head down, his face shadowed by his hat so none could see the rage in his eyes. "Tell me, Homura. Since when is the Hokage answerable to his advisors? Last I checked this village is a dictatorship, yet you three are attempting to seize power for yourselves." By now the aura around Sarutobi was almost visible, like a dark miasma of untold rage held within a small jar waiting to be released. "As for why Naruko isn't in chains or imprisoned, its because she was tricked into stealing the scroll."
"Actually." All eyes turned towards Hiko... who was cleaning his nails with the tip of a kunai. "Even if that wasn't the case, Kami-sama, Yami-sama and Shinigami-sama have a vested interest in young Naruko-chan's development." At that declaration, the rooms ocupants gained a wide-eyed expression, execpt Naruko who simply fainted.
"Can't say I didnt expect that" Hiko said with a smile.
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While Naruko was unconscious, the elder council members were sent out of the room so the Hokage could give a full debreifing to Lord Hiko, the only person on earth both he and the daimiyo answered to... aside from thier wives.
"So you mean to tell me that you allowed the council to gain that much power, your power, because you were too tired to fight them? Is that what I'm hearing Hiruzen?" Hiko asked in a dangerously calm tone. "On top of that, you willingly released SS-class information to civillians who had no business, let alone reason, to possess such knowledge. All of whom went ahead and allowed such knowledge to leak to the public without being properly punished. And it was all because Minato wanted her to be seen as a hero."
Throughout the entire conversation, Hiruzen was slowly lowering his head in shame, realizing that his past mistakes were the cause of one poor childs suffering, just to appease the masses.`
"We will decide on what shall be done to punish you later. It is late and I, for one, would like some sleep and I'm sure Naruko and Mito would prefer a nice warm bed, instead of this stuffy office." Was Hiko's statement on the matter, with Mito nodding in agreement.
"Saru-chan?" Hiruzen winced, he hated that nickname. "Is the Senju compound still in good condition?" Mito asked.
"It is, but, it hasn't been used in many years, not since your granddaughter left."
"I see" Was all Mito had to say on the matter. However there was a slight tightening around her eyes signifying her displeasure, though at what was unknown.
"You can stay in the Sarutobi compound for tonight. Kami knows I have the space with only a few of us living there." Hiruzen offered.
"Then we shall use that for now. Tomorrow, you shall have a few gennin teams clean the estate." Mito accepted and moved to pick her young clansmen up and carry her towards the door so they could make thier way to thier lodgings for the night.
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000000000000000000000 THE NEXT MORNING 0000000000000000000
Naruko groaned as she woke up, the suns rays hitting her face in the dawns light. Looking around, she recognized the room she was in as the room she would stay in at the Hokages mansion whenever the villagers would damage her apartment. After preforming her morning rituals, Naruko looked in the closet for a robe she could wear for breakfast. What she found in the closet was a new outfit that looked like it was designed for her to wear. It looked mostly like an ANBU uniform, just without the armor and came with a dark blue trench coat with the Uzumaki swirl on the back.
Having donned the outfit, which fit like a glove, Naruko went downstairs to find Mito calmly sipping tea and talking with Asuma and Yume, Hiruzen's children, and Yume's son, Konohamaru.
"Morning everyone."
"Oh, good morning, Naruko-chan. Have a seat and I'll get you some healthy breakfast." Yume stated with a sickly sweet tone, and an almost too sweet smile. Naruko nodded her head rapidly in sheer terror of the tone used and moved to sit between Mito and Asuma. When Yume left the room, Asuma leaned toward Naruko.
"What did you do to invoke her wrath? I've onlyseen her use that tone with Konohamaru and my dad when they dont eat breakfast." Asuma whispered.
"I havent beenover to have breakfast in a couple weeks. She gets mad when I don't come over on weekends and just eat ramen all the time." Naruko whispered back.
"Makes sense. I watched her berate dad for an hour when he didnt come for dinner for three days last night. It reminded me of my mom." Asuma stated with a chill giong down his spine.
When Yume returned, it was with a full plate of bacon, eggs, biscuts and gravy, sausage and a full glass of orange juice. "Now eat everything on your plate or you wont be leaving this table."
"Yes, Yume-oba-chan" Naruko responded with a smile. she loved Yume's cooking almost as much as Ichirakus ramen... ALMOST.
As Naruko ate her breakfast, she listened to Mito telling stories about Hiruzen's childhood... like when Koharu found him peeking on the womens side of the public baths. "...Then she pulled his underwear up so hard, they tore in the middle and launched him over the wall. Iswear i've never heard him scream so loud. It got worse when we all started to beat him for being a pervert, except the Hyuuga women. All of them are perverts so they took it as a compliment."
Everyone laughed as Mito smiled looking towards the doorway at an embarrased Hiruzen while Hiko stood behind him chuckling at the memory of when Hiruzen was 15 and half the Senju and the Nara clans pounded him into the ground before the Hyuuga women saved his ass.
Hiko smirked looking towards an embarresed Hiruzen. "Whats wrong, Saru-chan? Embarrased by the memory, or Mito telling your family that you got your ass handed to you for being a pervert?"
"Both"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
At the sound of the door, everyone stopped laughing, knowing it was either an ANBU messanger or Konohamaru's "tutor". Thus, Yume went to answer the door, which resulted in everyone hearing a shouting match from both aforementioned parties.
"I DONT CARE IF YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR SOME NO-NAME COMMONER THAT PROBABLY DOESNT EVEN EXIST! I AM HERE FOR THE HONORABLE GRANDSON, THEREFORE I GO FIRST!"
"AND I TOLD YOU YOU, TOKUBETSU-JOUNIN, THAT NOTHING COMES BEFORE AN ANBU PREFORMING HIS OR HER DUTIES! NOW STAND ASIDE SO I MAY MAKE MY REPORT OR I WILL DRAG YOUR ASS TO THE T AND I DEPARTMENT FOR SUSPECTED TREASON!"
That statement had successfully shut the arrogant shinobi up however it was the presence of the hokage as well as Hiko that caused both men to pale when they realised thier argument was overheard. Niether men were in good moods at this point, Hiruzen was wondering why he ever allowed his moronic son-in-law to talk him into letting Ebisu tutor his grandson when the man was barely above Chuunin level to begin with.
Hiko was just annoyed that he hadnt even had time to drink his morning coffee before dealing with stupidity.
"L-l-l-lord Hiko. Lord Hiruzen. My deepest appologies for disturbing you this morning. However, the civilian council has called a meeting to decide the Gennin teams."
"Fine. Intercept the decision when they send it out. Make sure only our EMBER unit are the ones guarding the council chambers during thier little meeting to make the interception easier. are there any from the Shinobi council present in the council chambers?" Hiko gave his orders and simply waited for his subordinate to respond.
"As you wish, m'lord. And no, there are no Shinobi present during this meeting. The civilian council are simplyholding this meeting independently."
"I see. You have your orders. Also have a message sent out to the Shinobi council that the Gennin team selections shall be held later this afternoon. Dismissed."
"Sir." With a nod, the Elite ANBU member left to carry out his orders.
Hiruzen turned to Hiko. "So the EMBER unit still operates? I was unaware they still operated in the village without your presence."
"Just because I'm not around all the time, doesn't mean they stop operating. Now, who the fuck are you and why were you attemptind to impede in an ANBU's duties?" Hiko turned towards the still present Ebisu, who stood slack-jawed at the entire encounter. After a full minute passed by and still no answer, Hiko became impatient. "Well?!"
Ebisu let out a small squeek of surprise bafore regaining his haughty attitude and posture. "I am the Elite tutor Ebisu and I am here ti retrieve the Honorable Grandson for his lessons so I may guide him on the path to Hokage, as only I know the shortcuts to becoming Hokage."
Hiko, Hiruzen, Yume(who was still present) along with Asuma and Mito(both of whom showed up to see what the commotion was about) all stared at the man like he had grown several heads during his speach. Each wondering the same thing. 'What the fuck is this idiot talking about?'
"Now remove yourself from my path, commoner, so I may retrieve my charge and begin his lessons."
"Saru-chan?"
"Yes, Mito-sama?"
"What the fuck is this idiot talking about?" Hiruzen turned to Mito with a surprised look on his face, having almost never heard her swear before. Ebisu hit the ground in a face-fault.
"Honestly? I have no clue. I've never heard of a 'shortcut to becoming Hokage' before."
"How did this idiot become a Tokubetsu-jounin? Its obvious just by his chakra reserves alone hes barely above Chuunin level." Mito commented with a noticeable look of disdain, obviously unhappy about such low standards in the village she helped her beloved husband found and raise. "For that matter, why is he even training your grandson? We never put little Tsu-Tsu-chan with a tutor. we trained her ourselves until she became your student."
'Sigh' "You can blame my equally moronic EX-son-in-law. He convinced me that Ebisu is a great shinobi on par with my idiot student Jiriaya, despite the records and his lack of achievments saying otherwise."
At this comment, Yume looked at her father in shock. she had spoken with her EX-husband about sending Konohamaru to the academy, or at least letting her teach him herself. "He told me that you chose Ebisu as Kono-kuns teacher. I left it alone cause despite your choices in the past, you generally make good decisions when it comes to family."
Now it was Hiruzens turn to look shocked. "If it was my choice, I would have had you teach him or taught him myself."
"Hello everyone." The cheerful greeting brought everyones attention to the person in question, Gin Hayabusa, Ex husband of Yume Sarutobi. An average, dark haired civilian from a prominent family who deal in clothes and other wares that made a big name for themselves during the second shinobi war for selling high quality clothes at low cost. "Its good to see you all in good health."
"What the hell do you want, Scum." came the venomous response of Yume, who was normally cheerful... Unless Gin was involved since thier divorce was the result of her catching Gin in THEIR bed with Konohamaru's 18 year old babysitter when he was supposed to be working and SHE was supposed to be watching Konohamaru.
It was later discovered that they were having an affair whenever Yume went on missions while she was still on active duty. Yumes mission ended a day early and she returned home to see her son and husband only to find him just finishing cumming INSIDE the babysitter with her turning around to clean him off for another round... WHILE KONOHAMARU WAS CRYING IN THE OTHER ROOM! It took three ANBU teams to restrain Yume before she killed them both in her rage.
"I came to see our son, sweetheart." Looking over, Gin noticed Ebisu who was his childhood friend. "Hey, Ebisu. Hows it going?"
"I am doing well, my friend. I just came by to pick up the Honorable Grandson for his lesson when these people stopped me from preforming my duties as his teacher."
"AHEM" Both men turned to see Hiko standing there looking annoyed. "Your services are no longer required at this time Ebisu. Now leave."
"And who do you think you are to dismiss me, commoner."
"Your boss."
"THATS A LIE! I AM AN ELITE JOUNIN AND YOU-" That was as far as Ebisu got in his rant before he was cut by the presence of a hand wraping around his throat and lifting him off the ground. Looking down, he realised the hand has attached, not to the "commoner" he was just yelling at... but the Hokage himself.
"Ebisu I am going to say this once and only once. You are no longer my grandsons teacher. He will either be learning from Yume or at the academy. I dont know why I allowed that fool to convince me to let you teach him but claiming you have a higher rank than you possess is tantamount to treason. Now leave my property or you will be spending the forseeable future with Anko."
After being released, Ebisu beat a hastey retreat... most likly to grab a change of clothes if the smell wafting through the air was anything to go by.
Now everyones attention was on Gin. Hiko, in a rare disregard of privacy, chose to read Yumes mind to see why she hated the man so much. What he found angered him. So he decided to read Gin's mind as well. What he found there made him want to beat the man into a permenant coma.
Gin was completly unrepentant of his actions to the point that he believes that he has the right to do almost anything he wants. Hell, he's even cheating on his current wife with a member of the civilian council,who's also married, in excange for favors in order to get on the council and try to have Konohamaru placed under his sole custody to try getting at the Sarutobi clan seat on the Shinobi council.
"Gin. It would be wise of you to follow the orders placed by the judge and stay away from Konohamaru. And by wise, I mean don't be here in the next five seconds or I will drag you to the T&I department myself."
Gin finally noticed the killing intent surrounding him and decided to run like a bitch.
After watching the moron leave, Mito decided that the serious stuff that wasn't her business needed to be left at the door. "Well, lets go finish breakfast, shall we?" thogh the tone was light, the meaning behind the words wasn't.
"Yes, lets." With that, everyone turned to return to the dining room... where they found Naruko had Konohamaru in a headlock.
"Thats what you get for eating my donut you little brat!" Raising her fist Naruko brought it down on Konohamaru's head. "Headlock Noogie of Punishment"
"AAHHHHH, Let me go, damnit. Let. Me. GO!"
"Konohamaruuuuuuu." Looking over, both kids Paled at the most terrifying sight of Yume's Smiling visage. While the smile was pleasent, the image of the Shinigami behind her had both children clutching each other in terror... Along with Asuma and Hiruzen who had backed away from her in fright, having been exposed to said technique several times since she invented it after a dream she had when she was 12.
Hiko just looked impressed by the image, he felt she had captured the Shinigami's likeness well and Mito... Has stars in her eyes.
"Can you teach me that?" Sarutobi wanted to run and hide at those words. "Gods help us all."
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After a full 20 minutes of Konohamaru and Naruko being yelled at for swearing and fighting, everyone finished eating so they could get on with the day starting with Mito looking over Naruko's seal to see what it did evactly. Hiko assured her that the seal wouldn't break easily, considering it was powered by both Naruko's own willpower and the Shinigami. Never-the-less, Mito wanted to examine the seal to see if anything was wrong with it. It was a good thing she was so insistant.
"What the hell are all these other seals doing here!? A mind suppresion seal to make her stupid, a growth suppresion seal to make her both short and unable to retain muscle memory, another to ruin any chackra control she might have, this one looks like a crude version of a mind control seal and the one above her womb is actually hard to decifer. I cant tell if it will make her barren or add the Kyuubi's chackra in order to create a new bloodline." Oh, yea. Mito was pissed. "The worst part is that the Shiki-fuin was drawn by a proficient seal master, while the others were made by someone who is only emulating a seal master."
Hiruzen looked at the seals and felt like he had seen the style before, he just couldn't place where and it was bugging. Like a memory had been suppressed. Hiko saw the look on the elderly mans face and decided to take a look in his mind and found the remnants of a very rare type of Genjutsu... one that belonged to the Mangekiyo Sharingan... Kotoamatsukami, the ultimate mind control Genjutsu. Thus, Hiko dispelled the Control and freed Hiruzens mind.
"Thats Danzo's work. He has been trying to get Naruko into his custody since her birth to turn her into a living weapon, loyal to him and him alone. He's never been happy that he didn't become Hokage and has tried to take the hat from me for decades. He almost succeded the night of the Kyuubi's attack but an old law stopped him since I am still alive."
Hiko released a sigh in annoyance. "Mito, can you remove the seals without killing Naruko? Also, check her back for a deadmans kill switch seal."
Rolling Naruko over, whom they had put into a sleeping state, Hiko's fears were confirmed. There, covering most of her back, was a large seal designed to kill Naruko remotely. "I would have to remove them all at the same time, which could remove the Shiki-fuin. Unless you summon the Shinigami to keep the seal there."
"Fine, I'll go to the clan shrine and retrieve the Noh mask later and we can deal with this tonight. I still have a meeting with the Shinobi council to deal with today."
"Sounds like a plan. I will start working with Naruko-chan on her calligraphy and getting her some new clothes. She wears too much orange for my taste."
Hiruzen handed Mito a piece of paper with an adress on it. "This is the address of a shop I have taken Naruko to a few times to get supplies. The owner is a good friend and remembers Kushina. He is also a seal master so hae knows Naruko is Naruko."
Mito took the paper and placed it in her kimono for later. "Thank you, Hiruzen. You don't know much this means to me." Mito spoke with true kindness in her voice. Happy that Hiruzen was so helpful.
"Ok, we are leaving for the meeting now. We will see you later this evening, Mito. Hiruzen, lets go start putting my village back together."
"Yes, m'lord."
With that both men left the room, heading to the Hokage tower. On the way, everyone who saw the Hokage smiled and nodded, but most were surprised to see him not wearing his robes and hat. Hiruzen had opted to wear his formal Kimono for after he retired and needed to attend meetings as the head of the Sarutobi clan. Which, thankfully, didnt have much in the way of paperwork and the other clan members were willing to help deal with it by reading everything over and then handing over what needed to be signed, which wasn't much since Yume dealt with most of the work.
Upon arriving at the Tower, the Hokages secretary walked up and, ignoring Hiko informed the Hokage about the large amount of paperwork that needed to be signed. "DIdn't I fire you last night?" Hiko asked, thouroughly confused as to why the woman Mito LAUNCHED through the door was still here. Upon actually noticing Hiko, the woman yelled for the ANBU to arrest him.
Said ANBU appeared Behind the secretary awaiting orders from the Hokage... or the man next to him. "Take this woman down to the T & I department and tell them to find out who she actually answers to. tell them to go nuts." The secretary looked surprised that the Hokage wasn't the one to give the order, but Hiko and that the ANBU obeyed. "NEKO." Said ANBU member looked to Hiko. "Report to me when you return. I have a new assignment for you. I should be free for the next few hours until the meeting."
If Neko was suprised, she didn't show it and simply responded with a nod and a "Yes, sir."
Hiko and Hiruzen continued on to the office, only to find five LARGE stacks of paperwork on the desk. Hiruzen groaned at the sight while Hiko looked annoyed. Summoning a few clones from the scales on his body, Hiko set them to work sorting through all the damned papers. They would be done in a few minutes, MAYBE an hour, which still gave him plenty of time to figure out what to do with the various problems in the village. Starting with the academy.
"The academy is supposed to be eight hours long per day, yet it was cut down to five, the classes covered concentrate more on book-work than on practical skill, the Kunoichi classes are less than useless in the field and they dont even tell the kids what kind of diet to eat. Half the damn girls are all eating salads and nothing else. After that, IF they graduate the Jounin senseis exam, they waste time doing things they should already know."
Looking through the files, Hiko became more irritated by the minute. apparently the civilian council had DESTROYED his academy standards, which could be passed only by those who accually wanted to become to protect the village and not by those who wanted glory or some other bullshit like rescuing a princess or liberateing a country.
"On top of that you have them wasting time on D-rank missions AFTER graguation in order to learn teamwork. They should be doing those missions during the last two years of the academy by switching up the team members in order to grow accustomed to learning to work with different people, the money from those missions can then go into the academy to pay for the orphan students to get a good meal at least twice a day as well as get decent equipment. This will be changing starting this upcoming semester. Along with the surface walking exersize and better Taijutsu stye for a more well rounded learning curve. the current one is too restrictive."
KNOCK KNOCK
"Enter."
In walked ANBU Neko, as ordered, presenting herself as a well disiplined Kunoichi should. Hike looked at the woman for a moment before pulling out the two files he had set aside before hand. "ANBU captain Yugao Uzuki, codename NEKO." Hiko acted like he was reading over the file, even though he had already memorised them both. "Former student of the 'Red-death' Kushina Uzumaki alond with Kurenai Yuhi and Genma Shiranui. Exemplary service records, amazing Kenjutsu skills on par with your husband Gekko Hayate-" cough interupted Hiko. "Yes, Yugao?"
"Sir, its just that we arrent married yet. We havn't found the right time. And I was hoping to get out of my ANBU service first."
"Would you like to do so now?"
"Sir?" Yugao was confused by the question.
"Would you like to get married today? Both of you, as well as your friends are in the village today and I was going to tell you that I want you to become a Jounin-sensei for one of the teams this year." Hiko spoke kindly and was offering her a good position. "I was also planning on having Hayate teach basic Kenjutsu and Buki-jutsu at the academy due to his condition and experience. It would be an ongoing A-rank mission with little to no risk."
Yugao was extatic at the idea but she had one question to ask first. "Who would be on my team, sir?" The only person Yugao wanted was Naruko, partly to honor her senseis child, mostly because she loved the little ball of hyperactive sunshine like she was her own sister. Having protected Naruko from most of the stupid villagers as well as filling the blondes fridge when it ran out of good food.
Hiko smiled. It was a smart question. "As of right now I have only selected Naruko Uzumaki as one of your students. the rest will be chosen in a few days or so. The official announcement wont be for 2 weeks though. Ang dont worry about a training plan or anything like that. Myself and one other will be helping with that."
Yugao couldnt be any happier. She was getting married soon, completing her ANBU duties and getting to teach her senseis daughter. The only thing that could make this better would be to have a child herself with Hayate.
"I will be happy to teach Naruko and whoever else you place on my team, sir."
"Good. then all that remains is turning in your mask and getting everyone together for the ceremony. We can have you married in the next few days, so you have time to get everything you want together. Go ahead and talk with Hayate and I will inform the team you will have about it so they can be there." Hiko truly loved weddings, at least Shinobi ones. Short, sweet and to the point. No long speeches, no boring talking about values that civilians like to ignore half the time.
Shinobi tend to make weddings simple, say your vows love each other and everyone is carrying a sharp object... or ten. Plus, Shinobi go for cheap, quiet weddings instead of loud, expensive ones so they can avoid problems like big announcements, lots of complex planning, or spies finding out who is getting married.
Civilians made simple things overly complicated.
"I will talk to Hayate tonight then, sir. Um, one question though, sir? When will the Gennin teams be announced?"
"They will be announced in one week to the jounin who will be recieving teams and two weeks to the gennin themselves. You shall be meeting your team at the ceremony in a few days time, though, so the four of you can get to know one another."
"Very well, thank you, sir. For everything." With that, Yugao bowed and left.
"Are the Shinobi council members gathered yet?" Hiko asked to the hidden EMBER unit in the room.
"They have, sir. They are awaiting your arrival in the council chambers now."
"Good." Hiko and Hiruzen stood and left the office, heading towards the council chambers.
"I will be sad to see Yugao leave the ANBU. She is an exellant squad captain." Hiruzen spoke, having remained quiet during the meeting and simply enjoying his pipe.
"Indeed. She would have made an exellant commander as well. Good head on her shoulders."
"She will make a great Jounin-sensei as well though."
"Agreed." Further conversation stopped when they arrived at the council chambers door and entered.
The council chambers are a simple room set with a set of rising benches on either side of the room, one for the Shinobi council and the other for the Civilian council. In the center of the room was an open space, used for whenever a court-martial proceding took place, which was rare. Against the back wall stood a podium with six seats, three above and three below, though most never knew who the sixth was for since it had never been occupied.
As Hiko and Hiruzen entered the room, most of the Shinobi wondered who the newcomer was and why the third wasn't wearing his robes of office. Both men walked to the podium and upr the stairs to the second level where the Daimyo sat. Upon recognizing Lord Hiko, Kenshin Himura, the Daimyo of fire country stood and bowed deeply to him and moved back to the seat on the right side of the center, signaling his importance and position as the second position of power in the land. Hiko nodded his head to Kenshin and took his seat in the center while Hiruzen took the seat on the left.
The Shinobi in the room, most of whom had no idea whom this man is, were both shocked and confused at seeing the Daimyo bow to anyone.
"Now then, I know many of you are confused as to who this man is so I will clarify for you now." Hiruzen spoke to the room at large, loking around to gauge thier reactions. "This man is the ruling lord of the Land of Fire, the Gaurdian of Fire as well as a direct servant of the Kami themselves. As such, his word in this village and nation is LAW." Hiruzen finished, stressing the titles and the word 'law' to emphasize his point.
Most in the chambers like Tsume Inazuka, Shibi Aburame and Shikaku Nara shrugged and accepted it as fact, Chouza Akamichi and Inoichi Yamanaka simply agreed with their lazy friend and the various other shinobi knew better than to argue if both the Daimyo and Hokage said it. Hiashi Hyuuga didn't care since, as far as he was concerned, the man meant nothing.
"Thank you, Hiruzen. Now, as many of you are possibly wondering why I have appeared now and not sooner..." Here Hiko paused to see everyone nodding in agreement with that statement. "I have been on a long term assignment from Lady Kami herself and have only just returned. I will say that I am quite... Disgusted with the reports I have recieved about the goings on with the village." At this everyone wondered what he meant.
"I can see that many of ypu are confused, so I will explain." Hiko paused, making sure he had their full attention. "Lets start with the Civilian council gaining a disturbing amount of power in this village. Konoha is not now, nor has it ever been, a democracy. It IS a dictatorship. with the Hokage being the dictator, answerable only to the Daimyo and myself. They DO NOT have a vote on the Military decisions in this village. END. OF. DiISCUSSION."
Once again, Hiko paused, noting that many in the room flinched at the statement.
"Next is the act of SLAVERY... which is both disgusting AND illeagal within the borders of fire country as a whole. Thus, the Hyuuga clans 'caged bird seal' shall be removed from all members who e bear it."
"Now hold on right there!" Hiashi Hyuuga stood, angered by this claim that the seal that protected his clan was to be removed. "The caged bird seal has protected my clan from those trying to steal the Byakugan for centuries and that shall not change any-" Hiashi was stopped in his rant by a massive amount of killing intent. All of it from Hiko. Hiko held the killing intent for a full five minutes, affecting everyone in the room.
Shikaku, Inoichi and Chouza were all awake and sweating. Shibi was dead quiet, his hive not making a sound. Tsume and Kuromaru were whimpering in the presence of the ultimate Alpha male. the department leaders of the remaining Shinobi branches were simply struggling not to either move a muscle or fall over dead. Hiashi himself, whom felt the greatest amount of the KI, activated his Byakugan on instinct... And found absolutly zero chakra in Hiko's body, just a blank void.
"The Abomination that you claim protects your bloodline is nothing more than a slave seal with an extra function. Otherwise you, yourself, would bear it as well. As for the centuries thing. Thats a lie in and of itself." Hiko reingned in his KI at this point. "I have here a copy of the contract that each clan has signed since coming to Konoha, that is supposed to be signed by each clan head with the Hokage upon gaining the position. These contracts have not been signed since before I left 35 tears ago. The contracts remain the same with a few minor changes to them in the form of monetary compensation and political support given to Naruko Uzumaki from here on out."
Aside from Hiashi, all the clan heads thought about this statement for a moment, most agreeing that it was a small compensation for basically abandoning the daughter of their closest friend. Thoughts of a redheaded tomboy with a disturbingly short temper and an obsession with ramen moved through their heads. Along with the memory of said redhead chasing her husband and lover through the village with her katana demanding he take his punishment like a man and not the bishounin he looked like. Tsume chuckled a little at the memory.
"Next is the issue with the-" Hiko was interrupted by the opening of the chamber them came around two dozen civilians, each dressed in fine clothes and walking as if they were of the highest class of noble, possibly even of equal status to the Hokage or Daimyo. Moving at a sedate pace, the Civilian council practicaly strutted towards their section of the chambers and took their respective seats, ignoring the glares from all who were present. The sheer attitude that each possesed told Hiko that these people believed the Shinobi should be happy that they were being graced with the presence of the Civilian council. "I'm confused. Hiruzen, Kenshin, did I, at any point, mention discussing any matters that required the Civilian council?"
Both the Hokage and Daimyo took a few seconds to think over his question. "No, my Lord, you did not."
"Not that I remember either, Lord Hiko."
"I see."
The head of the Civilian council chose that moment to stand. "Lord Hokage, you know the laws clearly state that any matter to be discussed about the welfare of Konoha requires the presence of the Civilian council." The rather fat council member spoke with an arrogance about him that told Hiko he truly believed he was of equal status to the Hokage.
Hiko looked over to Kenshin. "Could you pass me the copy of Konohas laws sitting next to you?" Kenshin turned and picked up the book, more like tome, and handed it to Hiko. "Thank you." For several minutes Hiko was silent as he re-read the laws that he had written and updated whenever necessary. After a full ten minutes of reading Hiko closed the book and turned toward the Civilian council. "Since you believe, wrongly, that you are required to be present then why don't we discuss the matter of S-class information."
This statement brought a round of confussion to the entire chambers. Why would this, Commoner, wish to speak of such matters when they wouldn't even inform the Daimyo of them. "Did you know that the knowledge of the village Jinchuriki was to remain a secret known only to the Hokage, the Daimyo, the one who preformed the sealing and the person whose life was made to be sacrificed? And that any who possessed said knowledge was to remain silent on the fact? The fact that you people have been informed of the sealing alone is more than you should have been given, but to have revealed it to the populace is, in itself, a treasonous act."
Looking at the rage filled expressions on the civilians faces, Hiko knew he touched a nerve. "In fact, you should have been aware that revealing such information would have simply ended in your executions had Sarutobi not grown complacent. And it would be a public event, too." Now, they looked scared. "Now, since you seem to think yourselves so greatly important, you shall remain free to sit there and listen as I fix the mockery of a village that you fools created."
The expressions on the Shinobis faces could be referred to as a "kodak moment". It was just that priceless. 'Finally,' Everyone of the Shinobi and the daimyo thought. 'Someone put those fools in their places.'
"Now, as I was saying the next issue on the agenda is the Shinobi academy." Before Hiko could continue, he was interrupted by a loud cough from the Civilian council. "What?" These people were really trying his patience.
"Apologies, sir, but the academy standards are already perfect as they are. The current standards allow for a higher turnout of shinobi and kunoichi to add to the forces-"
"Stop. Talking. Now."
At those three simple words, the Civilian looked like he had swallowed a lemon.
"Perfect, you say? Tell me, do any of you morons know what is needed out in the field? Do you know what skills the other villages teach in their academies?" Hiko paused here to gather his thoughts. "Tell me, what use is flower arranging for budding Kunoichi on the cusp of puberty? How will the tea ceremony stop a bandit or nuke-nin from raping and or killing them? Is knowing that Hashirama was only rivaled by Madara Uchiha going to tell the young shinobi how to dodge a kunai?" Each question asked caused everyone in the room to flinch as Hiko's point struck home. "Currently, the only thing our academy produces is cannon fodder from the civilian families. That is unacceptable by my standards."
Seeing as everyone was sufficiently cowed, Hiko continued. "The original structure shall be returned to the academy with the excpetion that we shall be using retired and disabled Shinobi and Kunoichi to teach the classes so as to return the other active duty instructers to thier regular duties to beef up our forces. Furthermore, I am adding a few courses on politics, Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu in order to create more well rounded gennin. Who knows, we may discover the next great seal-master from this. Or gain a few ambassadors to other villages in order to strangthen ties with our allies and prevent future problems with our enemies."
Everyone on the Shinobi council processed this for a moment. Each one seeing the logic in each of the actions Hiko stated would change before nodding their agreement. Hiko continued when he saw that the Shinobi agreed.
"Next, the D-ranks. Currently they are used to get Gennin teams used to a dozen different jobs in order to prepare for possible missions, such as tracking and capture, learning poisons and antidote or even basic carpentry for an infiltration mission. They also serve as teamwork training. It is also a waste of resourses. We could have academy students preform those missions during the last two years of the academy around once or twice a day depending on the mission, set as four person squads with an instructor to evaluate their preformance while switching up the teams each week to allow them to grow used to working with different people. This will make it easier to work with other squads in the future."
Again, Hiko paused to allow everyone to process this. And again, everyone nodded in agreement. Thus Hiko continued.
"Finally, the funding from any mission shall go to the academy, well, most of it. the kids do need some incentive after all. Also, the Gennin shall be allowed to take on D-rank missions to earn some pocket money or if they need to pay bills if they live alone. Such is the case with many of the orphans." At this, the councils both thought of Naruko. The shinobi were feeling shame, While the civilians were thinking of ways to limit the amount of money the "Demon slut" could earn, not wanting "IT" to have anything nice. Like clean, new clothes or fresh food.
"Now the final part of the agenda today shall be the Gennin teams for this year."
At these words, chaos erupted. The Civilian council were shouting some nonsense that Hiko couldn't quite make out due to the sheer volume of the different voices. All he could make out was something about 'team placements were already decided', 'he cant change things like this' and something about... 'cabbages?' Though that may have been inside his head. Seriously, its a madhouse in there.
Finally, Hiko, Hiruzen, Kenshin and the Shinobi had enough, especially Hiko Tsume and Kuromaru, whom had the most sensetive ears. Pressure filled the room silencing the Civilian council. It lasted for a few minutes as the Civilians tried to remember how to breathe.
When the pressure lifted, Hiko leveled a glare upon the Civilian council. "I already knew about you morons deciding what the team placements would be and had it intercepted as I have a specific way I want it done this time. Now since you have decided to interupt these proceedings more than once, I am having you removed from these chambers. I am sick of looking at the lot of you. EMBER!" At the order, each member of the Civilian council was grabbed by Shinobi they didnt recognize. Each wearing a modified version of the standard ANBU uniform, colored more dark grey than black, the only major difference being the Kanji for ember in darker colors. As one, each EMBER operative grabbed a civilian and dissappeared.
"Now that the distractions are out of the way, we can continue. Kinda wish the distraction was more entertaining though."
