Hello and welcome to yet another story that I have started to get the creative juices flowing. This is one of 2 or 3 alternate reality stories that I have been toying with writing for a while now. The premise being what if the Uchiha massacre never happened, but instead they were successful in launching their coup against the Sandaime Hokage. This is probably my favorite of the ideas that I have but since I have already given the summary of the story let's get to it shall we.
From the Ashes: chapter 1
Amongst the rubble
The sounds of battle could still be heard in the distance as Uchiha Fugaku made his way down the desolate streets of Konohagakure. His face was etched with a grim look as he continued his trek towards the center of the village. As he walked down a barren street several figures began to approach him, his comrades and clan mates joining in his march towards the redemption of the Uchiha clan. Finally reaching the Hokage tower at the center of Konoha, Fugaku gave a nod and his compatriots began to storm the building.
The unspoken order had the desired effect as several hidden ninja appeared from the building and formed a defensive line in front of the marching Uchiha.
"Stand down friends." Fugaku said raising his hand causing both sides to stop for a moment. "We need not have more bloodshed." Fugaku began looking around the gathered Konoha loyal ninja. "It is clear that the Uchiha have won this day. We want a peaceful resolution to this conflict and as such we will offer mercy to you now if you will but lay down your arms and join us." Fugaku finished The Uchiha patriarch smirked as he saw several of the shinobi opposing him looking questioningly at one another before some of them started to walk towards the Uchiha faction. As the first of them reached the clan and turned to face their former allies Fugaku knew their victory was certain.
"Kira-kun don't do this." A female voice yelled at a male jonin walking to join the Uchiha. The now named Kira stopped for a moment before looking back at her with a pained expression on his face.
"Hima-chan we have lost." Kira said before taking up a position among the Uchiha forces.
"All of you who have joined this clan of murderers will be brought to death at the end of this." A new voice thundered down at them. Fugaku looked up in shock seeing Shimura Danzo appear at the top of the Hokage tower. To his left stood Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. As he said this several hooded ANBU Operatives appeared encircling both forces. "Uchiha-san." Danzo began to say with a confident smirk on his face. "This is the point where you ack…" Danzo looked down in surprise at the bloody sword protruding from his stomach. Fugaku breathed a sigh of relief seeing who had just stabbed the scheming war hawk.
"You have done well my son." Fugaku said as Itachi withdrew his sword from Danzo's abdomen before swiftly beheading the old man.
"Itachi-kun how could you?" Hiruzen asked being utterly dumbfounded by the prodigies actions. Itachi merely looked at the aged Hokage, and in that moment Hiruzen could see that Itachi was incredibly torn by what he had just done, as tears streamed down his face.
"Hokage-sama you can order them to step down and end this now." Itachi said before using a shunshin to appear at his father's side.
"Fugaku this will not end the way you think it will." Hiruzen finally said before removing his Kage robes to reveal his battle attire. "I am prepared to lay down my life for this village." He stated causing all of his loyal shinobi to take battle stances. The members of Danzo's root forces also prepared themselves for combat.
"Hiruzen your infractions against my clansmen can no longer be ignored." Fugaku said activating his sharingan as he stared at the elderly Kage. "We know of your plan to eliminate the Uchiha!" He shouted eliciting gasps from several of the gathered shinobi on both sides. Hiruzen merely slumped at this.
"I was against that idea Fugaku." Hiruzen said his gaze never leaving the Uchiha leader.
"You say you were against it, and yet you did nothing to stop it from happening." Fugaku yelled beck his sharingan whirling angrily. "You would have let us all be slaughtered by that fool Danzo. This we cannot forgive Hiruzen, now stand down." Fugaku ordered. As Hiruzen considered his options, the stand off below him finally reached a head when one of Danzo's root nin yelled out.
"You have killed Danzo-sama. Kill them all." The masked root member cried out. Before Hiruzen, Fugaku, or anyone else could react the root members had shot into action cutting down members on both sides of the battlefield. Itachi brought his sword up to block the strike of one of the masked figures before disappearing, causing two more to impale each other.
"Stop this at once." Hiruzen ordered the root member who appeared to be in charge. The masked nin merely turned to look at the old man before returning his attention to the battle below. "I ordered you and your men to stand down." The aged Hokage growled out. Again the masked ninja turned to look at the Hokage.
"Our orders from Danzo-sama are clear in the case of his death Hokage-sama. The root nin paused before continuing. "We are to eliminate all who are deemed responsible, and immediately place a new Hokage in power who was more in line with Danzo-sama's designs for the village."
"Place a new Hokage?" Hiruzen asked shocked by such a blatant threat.
"You have grown weak Hokage-sama." The root operative said brandishing his sword. "While Danzo-sama wanted the title of Hokage for himself, he knew that he would not be able to carry it for long. Danzo-sama's goal was to find and train a successor who would continue his ambition." Finishing his explanation the root nin shot at the aged Hokage. After parrying the strike, Hiruzen jumped away as no less than 30 of the hooded shinobi began to assault him.
Meanwhile on the ground the Konoha loyalists and the Uchiha factions had formed an uneasy alliance of necessity, as Danzo's forces attacked everyone present. It was not long before swords and kunai gave way to jutsu. One Uchiha member was quick to grab a Leaf shinobi and shunshin out of the way of a massive katon technique which promptly destroyed the building behind where they had previously been standing. The two unlikely allies shared a brief nod before turning and attacking the root agent together. As the fighting continued the root agents began to lose ground. It wasn't long before they were completely on the defensive.
Hiruzen continued to cut down several of the hooded nin, however the old man was beginning to grow weary. His age was slowly creeping up on him, as it became harder and harder for the aged Kage to keep pace with his many assailants. The old man was covered in several cuts and bruises. Quickly running through a set of hand signs, He slammed his hand down shouting out.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A large cloud of smoke appeared where Hiruzen had hit the ground. Slowly it began to clear revealing The Monkey King Enma. His white fur shone brightly in the moonlight, as he surveyed the scene in front of him.
"It would seem things have gone a little sideways for you eh old friend?" He asked earning a smirk from his summoner.
"Your skills of observation are as adept as ever old friend." Hiruzen said back in a sarcastic tone. "But now is not the time. It would seem that with Danzo's death his minions plan to supplant me and install a new Hokage more in keeping with his vision for the village." Hiruzen explained.
"So the old warhawk is gone huh?" The Monkey King asked looking over his shoulder to receive a nod from Hiruzen. "Good riddance, his vision for Konoha would have led to its demise. Now how can I be of service Saru-san?" The question earned a small chuckle from his comrade.
"They believe me too weak for the position of Hokage. We must show them that age has not lessened my determination to protect this village." No sooner had he finished, than a hoard of Danzo's soldiers renewed their assault. Fighting with almost a second wind, the Kage and his summon partner began to lay waste to the root nin attacking him. This new burst of energy however quickly began to fade as again age began to slow him down.
Fugaku looked to his left to see one of his clansmen be cut down by 3 different root nin. He ran through the hand signs before unleashing a large katon jutsu, promptly incinerating 2 of the 3 responsible. The third barely escaping the inferno, only to be cut down by Itachi. The clan head nodded at his son in acknowledgement. His eyes however widened as Itachi let loose a hand full of shuriken, which he promptly dodged. Hearing a grunt of pain, Fugaku turned around to see yet another root nin now littered with shuriken. He was quick to capitalize, removing the attackers head from his shoulders. As the battle began to turn in their favor the Uchiha faction, and Konoha loyalists forced the root nin back. Still however they could not get anyone past Danzo's minions to help their Hokage. Some of the root nin noticed that the battle was not going in their favor, realizing that they would lose this fight and that they would all certainly perish as a consequence of their actions a choice was made by their leader.
"Konoha has failed, Danzo-sama will have his fresh start." He said putting his hands into the tiger sign and beginning to gather all his remaining chakra. Hiruzen took notice of this action and immediately rushed at the supposed leader of the root. He was stopped however as several blades impaled him. He had failed to notice their approach in his charge. "From the burnt ashes, the great tree of Konoha shall sprout again." He yelled activating Danzo's failsafe should he ever be usurped by the village. Enma appeared quickly by Hiruzen's side, taking down the nin who had stabbed him. The old Kage coughed up blood, as he summoned a large shuriken launching it at the leader of Danzo's remaining forces. The projectile flew true burying itself in the center of the root operatives face, killing him instantly. It was too late however as several explosions rocked the compounds of the main clans of Konohagakure, as well as the Hokage tower and the cliff where their likenesses had been carved.
Hiruzen slumped forward falling to his knees coughing up more blood. He knew he would not survive this encounter, feeling Enma's presence disappear as his chakra reserves began to fade. That combined with the act of extreme, and senseless violence left him feeling weary of the combat around him. One of the root nin approached the down, raising his sword for the killing strike. As He prepared to swing the sword down, a large red construct of chakra in the shape of an open hand appeared to block the strike. Hiruzen looked up to see the source of the figureseeing Fugaku surrounded by the ethereal chakra.
"Danzo's evil will not be allowed to continue in this world. We the Uchiha will see to that." Fugaku said as the skeletal figure began to cover itself in muscle before a shroud formed leaving only 2 glowing eyes visible. Without a word the root ninja began to fall back, many falling as they tried to flee. As the common enemy left, the fighting died down between the two factions.
"Hokage-sama you need medical treatment immediately." A loyal anbu wearing a dog mask said, earning a smirk from Hiruzen.
"No Inu-san my time in this world is ending." The aged Hokage said with a smile. Soon all present began to gather around the old man as he lay on the ground. "Before I die there is a matter we must attend to don't you think Fugaku?" Hiruzen asked the Uchiha patriarch. Fugaku landed next to the elderly man as his Susanno dissipated. "This all started because I failed to control Danzo, we must start aiding the civillians that were caught in the middle of this." Hiruzen said before coughing, feeling his body growing weaker. " It is true Danzo and his root forces started this by attacking the Uchiha without my permission. The fighting between our two sides was all to serve Danzo's purpose of ridding himself of the Uchiha as well as any loyal enough to me to try and oppose him."
"Hokage-sama." Itachi said tears streaming down his face. Fugaku walked towards his son resting his hand on his shoulder.
"As the Sandaime Hokage I name Itachi Uchiha as my successor." This declaration from the downed Sarutobi shocked everyone around him into silence.
"Me?" Was all Itachi was able to ask.
"I know Itachi that you can help mend the split between your clan and the village. My sensei was a fool to push such a valuable ally away, but I will not make his same mistakes." Hiruzen explained before being overtaken by another fit of coughs. "There is a boy in my office, Fugaku he is their son please correct my mistakes and make sure he grows to be worthy of their legacy." Hiruzen finally said before his eyes closed for the last time. A final exhale marked the passing of Sarutobi Hiruzen, as many gathered began to openly weep their leaders demise.
"I am proud of you my son." Fugaku said turning to look at Itachi, only to gasp at what he saw. Itachi's Sharingan had evolved, the three tomoes combining to form a curved three pointed star.
"Gather all able bodied ninja that we can find and begin sweeping the village for survivors. I want all available Anbu to begin seeking out and destroying any remaining root ninja inside the village before fanning out to catch any stragglers within a ten mile radius. Inu I know you are aware of how to enter Danzo's lair, so I want you to take two squads and begin searching for anything of value. Eliminate all threats that you find." Itachi said in a quiet but commanding voice surprising all who were present before they bowed and began to execute the orders given by their new Hokage. Fugaku smiled despite a small bit of dissapointment. Had everything gone according to plan he would have become Hokage, however seeing his son take command of the situation he knew that Sarutobi had made the right decision.
Well there you go the first chapter of From the Ashes. Leave a comment on what you think. I fully intend to start updating old stories of mine again, and possibly continue this one depending on what everyone thinks of it. Life has been a bit hectic, new job, getting married, and whatnot. Anywho tell me what you think. I am open to pairing suggestions as I am not completely settled yet. I will say NaruxHina and SasuxSaku are out as I hate those pairings.