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CHAPTER ONE- A CHILD OF THE NIGHT
The hottest day of the summer so far had drawn to a close as a drowsy silence hung over the Village of Konohagakure in the land of fire. Shops and vendors had shut for the day and a quiet stillness filled the air. Lawns that were once emerald green now stood parched and yellowing—a result of the recent of their usual activities, the inhabitants of the prospering village had retreated into their homes and had switched off their lights , attempting to get a good night's sleep before the sun's rays rose up again. A few of them had left their bedroom windows open in the hopes of inviting in the non-existent cool breeze. The only person still up at such a late hour was the Hokage, who stood near his office window, peering out into the deserted streets below as he mulled over thoughts in his mind.
The man was tall, thin, and very old, judging from the silvery mane of hair that flowed from his head , all the way to his shoulders. His grey goatee was neatly pulled into a knot and from the looks of it, you could guess that the man had a habit of stroking the it whenever he was in deep thought. Jet black robes hung across his thin body, with a flowing, maroon cloak draped across his shoulder, its end lying silently on the tiled floor. His nose was very crooked and peculiarly shaped and both his eyes were a brilliant purple shade in color. This man's name was Kabuto Hatake.
The room he stood in was a large, circular room, with stacks of paper work covering majority of the area. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables,whirring and emitting little puffs of black smoke that dissipated within seconds. The walls of the room were covered with large portraits of the previous Hokages who had occupied the office before him.
Letting out a somber sigh, Hatake turned away from the window and sat back down in his chair. The moment he did so however, the door of the Hokage office burst open and a woman hurried inside. She had a very stern aura about her would make anyone think twice about getting into an argument with her . This severe looking woman looked like she was only in her early twenties but something about her eyes gave away the fact that she was much older than that. She two was wearing a cloak, a purple one used for traveling . Her long raven colored hair was tied up into a tight topknot and she looked distinctly , her most distinct feature was the jaded crimson crystal that was embedded in her forehead.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this late night visit, Izumi?", Hatake chuckled softly as he eyed his friend's disheveled appearance.
"Is-Is it true,Kabuto?!", Miss Izumi panted . She was breathing as if she'd just run a mile long marathon.
"Hmm?', Hatake responded, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Is Raksh really gone?", she persisted, watching his face keenly for an answer.
"We may never know.", Hatake responded after a while."But he has vanished without a trace at the moment , yes."
"There's been words passed around the village. I must've passed at least a dozen celebrations on my way here. You know what everyone's saying?About why he's gone? About what finally stopped him?" , said Miss Izumi.
It seemed that Miss Izumi had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss;the reason why she'd traveled all the way from Sunagakure, abandoning the chuunin meet and heading to the Hokage's office as fast as she could when she received word of what had happened. It was already made clear that despite what everyone else was saying, she was not going to believe a word until Hatake himself told her the facts.
"Well..What they're saying is.. " , she pressed on when the Hokage chose not to answer," is that last night Raksh turned up in at the Hamada's place. Everyone's saying that- Akira and Ichiro Hamada are-are-that they're dead."
As she uttered those words, Hatake's brows furrowed and his light, cheery mood suddenly evaporated.
"Oh god..", Miss Izumi gasped in shock, "Akira and Ichiro... I-I can't believe this, Kabuto."
"It's alright,Izumi. It's alright.", Hatake muttered, nodding to her to take the seat in front of his desk.
"The boy lives,Izumi." , Hatake remarked quietly .
"W-What?", Miss Izumi mumbled shakily.
"Sadly Ichiro and Akira are no more, yes. But somehow-their boy is alive."
"B-But... how is that possible?",Miss Izumi croaked.
"We can only make a guess. We may never know," Hatake responded bleakly.
"I just can't believe it.", Miss Izumi mumbled , still reeling in shock."After all he's done...all the people he's killed...he couldn't kill a little boy?"
Miss Izumi pulled out a lace handkerchief from her cloak and dabbed at her moist eyes. Hatake eyed her silently before he turned away and gazed out the window into the inky black sky.
"W-What do you intend on doing with the boy then?",Miss Izumi muttered .
" It wouldn't be safe for him anywhere in Konoha for the time being. Many of Raksh's followers are still at large and one of them might take it upon themselves to target our village to find the boy.", Hatake replied.
"Wait.. You don't mean-"
"I plan on holding a meeting with the Inter-village ministry tomorrow about the incident and I've already made contact with the other Kages about what has transpired. The Mizukage has kindly offered to keep Ichiro's son under his protection until further notice. Although I made the request to keep the boy hidden. Possibly at one of Kirigakure's orphanages so as to reduce the chances of any of Raksh's followers finding him .", Hatake stated firmly.
"Kabuto-you can't! This is cruel! The boy just lost his parents and you want to send him away from our village as if he's some sort of criminal!?", Miss Izumi fired up, jumping to her feet.
" Eh.. Izumi. You're going about this all wrong about-"
"How am I wrong about this!? You're essentially treating him like he's the one who's done something wrong here!", Miss Izumi remarked sternly, folding her arms across her large bosom as if trying to stop herself from lashing out at the man in front of her.
"It's what's best for him . At least now . It wouldn't be safe for the boy to stay here given the current circumstances. He'd be hunted for god knows how long.I've written a letter to the Mizukage explaining what all has happened . ", Hatake remarked without flinching under Miss Izumi's stern glare.
"A letter!? You think you can explain all of this in a letter!?", she hissed in disbelief . "I wouldn't be surprised if Kazuhiko Hamada's name is entered in the history books ! There won't be a shinobi alive who won't know his name!"
"Exactly!", said Hatake, eyeing her seriously . "It would be enough to turn any child's head. Famous before he can even walk or talk. Famous for something he probably won't even remember. Can you not see how much better off he'll be , growing up in a far off land away from it all until he's old enough to take it without crumbling like a strand of ramen?"
Miss Izumi opened her mouth to argue back, then seemed to decide against it, swallow her anger back down.
"But how's the boy getting to Kirikagure?", she instead asked,sitting back down.
"I've tasked Manuke with bringing the boy here from the Hamada's house. I will personally carry out this task myself.", Hatake replied.
"You think it-wise-to trust him with something as important as this?"
"I would trust Manuke with my life, should it come to it," said Hatake.
"Well..I'm not saying his heart's not in the right place. It's just-"
Miss Izumi stopped mid sentence as there was a sudden puff of smoke that engulfed the room . A second later, the sound of a pair of feet colliding with the tiled floor echoed through the air. Miss Izumi covered her mouth with her sleeve as she coughed through the thick smoke. Hatake stood up and waved his arms around in a swirling fashion. As he did so, the cloud of smoke began swirling with his motion and it simply evaporate into thin air, leaving the room clear once more.
The new entrant was a man who would easily stand out in a crowd of people due to his outlandish sense of fashion. He was much shorter than the other two and he looked like he hadn't taken a bath for the past week. A large pointy brown hat covered his head, almost falling over his eyes and the only thing that kept his hat on his head was the large, bulbous nose that was his defining facial feature. The strange man stood rooted to the spot, staring at the other two before he glanced down at his hands,in which he held a tiny bundle of blankets.
"Ah! Manuke!", said Hatake, sounding relief, "Took you longer than I'd expected."
"Sorry, sir. Lord Hokage sir. Wuz a bit difficult . Young Takashi Kuro helped me out when I told him of my important mission."
"No problem, was there?", Hatake inquired keenly.
"No Lord Hokage sir. Don't know why the Hamadas wanted to stay right at the edge of the village. House was like a bunch of boulders when I got there. But managed to get him out before the people on the street started swarming in.", Manuke nodded.
Hatake and Miss Izumi moved towards Manuke and bent forward over the bundle of blankets in his arms. Inside it, just visible, was a tiny baby boy, fast asleep. There wasn't much to make of him, except for his small tuft of jet black hair.
The three of them stood there silently, watching the little boy snore peacefully in his blankets. Not a care in the world.
" Well then.. Let's get this over with before any more problems arise.", said Hatake softly, as if afraid that his voice would wake up the sleeping boy.
"Right. Sorry sir.", Manuke chuckled and he seemed a little sad at having to hand over the boy from his grasp.
Hatake took the boy carefully in his arm and turned to the other two with a serious expression.
"I'll handle things down here until you get back. Good Luck.", said Miss Izumi , as if she'd read his mind.
With a final nod , there was a loud pop and Hatake disappeared , leaving behind a puff of smoke in his wake.