An Altered Path
Chapter 2: Flashing Lights
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or S-cry-ed.
It was a quite night within Konohagakure no Sato. The full moon hung in the sky illuminating all under its light. On this night all was silent as the villagers and shinobi slept peacefully. In fact there were only a few people even up this late within the entire village. Those would be the night staff of the Hospital and the ANBU members who would watch over the sleeping village from the shadows.
The only other person up was the reinstated Sandaime Hokage. After the Kyubi's attack Sarutobi had been forced to come out of retirement. In doing so he had been forced to dust off his sword (read: pen) and once more do battle with the greatest enemy of his life (read: paperwork).
The old man had just finished one such battle with his hated enemy and was happy for a break in this battle. Tired eyes glanced out over the village from his office window before landing on the stone faces of the Hokage Monument. He said a silent prayer for his sensei's the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage's. He winced as thoughts of his wayward student Tsunade passed through his mind.
His gaze however soon moved towards the sculpture of his successor to the Hokage name, the Yondaime. He sighed in the four years since the battle against the Kyubi Minato had yet to emerge from his comatose state. In fact he had been forced to publically announce the death of the incapacitated Hokage to keep the man's enemies, both outside and within the village, from making a move against the defenseless man.
His thoughts soon turned towards another blonde haired, blue eyed resident of the village. A small smile came to his face whenever he thought of the small boy he called a grandson. After the battle with Kyubi he had told everyone of the failed attempt at sealing the beast but had refused to name who the vessel would have been to everyone including the council.
As planned he had had one of his Ape summons near the battle who had quickly grabbed the newborn before anyone could see him. The next day the blonde had been taken in by an orphanage within the village. His excuse at the time he had delivered the child was he had found him within part of the ruins of one of the hospitals. Within in a week after the orphanage had had time to check up on the boy's parentage and find nothing he had adopted the boy.
Since then the blonde had been living a normal life, at least as close to normal as you could get in a shinobi village. Having the blonde around had definitely livened things up within his home as the family loved the blonde as if he was born into the Sarutobi clan.
Turning from the window the elderly shinobi opened a drawer within his desk and removed his pipe. Looking in the drawer and removing some tobacco he filled his pipe before lighting it with a minor Katon jutsu. Taking a puff he looked up just in time to be greeted with a puff of smoke which cleared to show the ANBU captain known as 'Inu'.
Next Morning:
Konoha was abuzz with excitement as the citizens of the village celebrated the signing of the peace treaty between Konoha and Kumo. Booths had been set up along the road that both the children and adults could enjoy. There had even been a parade held earlier in the day.
We now find a young boy lay out on the couch within the Sandaime's office exhausted from the events of the day. Sarutobi had woken the boy up earlier in the day and taken him to the parade. Following that they had proceeded to visit many of the booths within the village. Now he sat leaned back against the couch within the Sandaime's office, four bowl of Ichiraku's wondrous ramen stacked in front of him.
Sarutobi took a moment to look over the tired looking boy. His green shorts and black shirt had a few stains on them either from paint or from ramen respectively. A porcelain ANBU like mask was worn on the boy's face and his once spiky blonde hair was now matted down with a few of his bangs hovering over the mask.
With this description alone many would believe the boy was asleep. Sarutobi however knew otherwise, Kazama Naruto had far too much energy to be asleep right now. Sarutobi smiled over at the resting boy before glaring at the stack of papers which had forced them to return to the office earlier than expected. Still the man knew that he still had one more stop to make for the day, one in which he knew Naruto would enjoy.
"You're not tired already are you Naruto-kun?" Spoke the elderly Kage in mock shock causing the boy's head to turn his direction so he could see into the boys blue eyes.
"Too bad I had wanted you to attend a party with me today" finished the man. The blonde's eyes lit up at the words of his grandfather and he was up with his old energy seemingly replenished.
"First though we'll have to get you some more presentable clothes."
Elsewhere:
In a certain sector of the village the residents there were celebrating for another reason, today marked the fourth birthday of their clan's heiress Hyuga Hinata.
A few people however were not celebrating; they were the twins Hiashi, the oldest and head of the Hyuga clan, and Hizashi, the younger of the two and head of the branch house. It was a rare thing to see the two of them together these days both having their own duties to attend to.
Of course there was another reason the two were hardly ever around each other and that was the division within the clan. The Hyuga clan was divided into two separate parts the Main family and the Branch family. Regardless of this however both brothers currently sat together in Hiashi's study brooding over a certain even of the day.
While Hinata's birthday had indeed been celebrated a dark shadow had been cast over the event as the clan's elders had branded Hizashi's son with the Caged Bird seal forever marking him as a member of the branch family. A knock on the door broke the brothers out of their thoughts soon enough.
"Enter" said Hiashi before taking a drinking from the sake he was currently sharing with his twin.
When the door opened a man walked in wearing the Hyuga clan's casual kimono. Both of the brother's eyes narrowed seeing the bandana covering the man's forehead and began secretly planning the death of the elders.
"Hiashi-sama, Hizashi-sama" greeted the man bowing to each before continuing.
"Hokage-sama has arrived." With his message delivered the man left the presence of the twins feeling the suppressed killing intent that the twins had been holding back since he entered.
When they arrived at the front gates they found a sight which gave each of them pause. Standing next to the Hokage was a boy that could be no older than four years old. He wore blue pants with bandages wrapped around the end and a white shirt with red flames which stopped in the middle of the shirt. His blonde hair was broken into many small spikes and blue eyes looked over the grounds in awe.
'He looks just like him.' Thought the twins in sync with one another.
"It is a pleasure to see you again Hokage-sama." Said Hiashi breaking out of his shock.
"Likewise Hiashi-kun, Hizashi-kun." Returned the Hokage giving each of the men friendly smiles.
"While I'm surprised I am honored you could join us today." Said Hiashi.
"Yes well I believed Naruto-kun here needed to meet people his own age instead of staying within the compound all the time." Replied the old man getting nods from the two Hyuga's before him.
"Naruto-kun" said Sarutobi bringing the boys attention back to himself instead of the grounds.
"These are Hiashi and Hizashi the heads of the Hyuga clan's two families. We actually came here for Hiashi's daughter's birthday party." Finished Sarutobi getting a smile from the blonde at the word party.
With the introductions and greetings out of the way the group headed deeper into the estate. It was as they entered the gardens that the group came to a halt. Numerous people lay around the place having a giant picnic. Still it was only one of them that caught Naruto's attention.
It was a young girl with bluish black hair that went down to her mid back. She was wearing an white kimono with sakura petals designed on it. Her lavender eyes shined like pearls and she had a smile on her face that seemed to make the world brighter if only a little. Next to her sat an older version of her that could only be her mother.
"Tenshi (Angel)" whispered the blonde in an awe filled voice, his eyes momentarily flashing golden in color.
While the change in his eyes went unnoticed his awed whisper did not as his adoptive grandfather smiled while the two Hyuga's hid their own smiles.
"Naruto-kun these are my wife Hanako and my daughter Hinata. Hinata-chan, Hanako-chan this is Kazama Naruto he is Sarutobi-sama's grandson." Spoke Hiashi getting the introductions out of the way.
"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu Naruto-sama (Pleased to meet you)" said the blue haired girl with a smile.
"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu Hanako-sama, Hinata-sama" said the blonde bowing to both.
"O-tanjoubi omedetou gozimasu Hinata-sama (Happy Birthday)." Said Naruto getting a smile from the young girl.
"Domo arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much" came the reply.
The adults couldn't help but smile at the exchange between the children who were now acting as if they'd known each other all their lives. Sarutobi himself was definitely glad he'd brought Naruto along knowing the boy had been in desperate need of a friend his own age.
As the two children got lost within the joys of the party Sarutobi along with the Hyuga twins left to discuss things in private. This of course left the children under the watchful eyes of Hanako who watched the children with a small smile upon her face.
"That is one polite child you've got there Hokage-sama." Stated Hizashi once they were inside the privacy of Hiashi's office.
"Yes well you both know how Suzume is when it comes to manners." Replied Sarutobi getting shudders from the brothers.
"Still its great having him around he somehow managed to liven things up." Said Sarutobi with a fond smile.
"Still I was unaware that you had taken a child in Sarutobi-sama." Stated Hiashi.
"Not many people do know that. In fact only the boy's bodyguards and the clan know." Informed Sarutobi getting a nod from the Hyuga head.
"I found Naruto-kun four years ago in the rubble of one of the destroyed sectors of the hospital. After the orphanage failed to find anyone related to him I adopted him myself." Explained Sarutobi getting understanding nods from the men.
Soon enough the hour became late and the party began to wind down. Hinata and Naruto had ended up falling asleep after watching the sun set and had been moved to Hinata's room by Hanako. Sarutobi smiled seeing the two children sleeping and deciding to let the blonde stay left in a puff of smoke promising to pick the boy up in the morning.
Hours later a shadowy figure crept silently within the walls of the Hyuga estate. As they navigated their way through the estate the figure made as little noise as possible as they stuck to the shadows. Finally reaching the room where his target should be he slid the door open as quietly as possible.
He cursed silently seeing his target being held within the arms of the blonde boy almost protectively. With a quick usage of the Kawarimi no jutsu he switched his target with one of the larger stuffed animals within the room before hurriedly making his way out the door. Almost as soon as he stepped out the blonde's eyes snapped open glowing gold.
Not even five minutes later the entire estate was awake and on full alert as the guards had passed by and found their heiresses room empty. Hiashi's Byakugan blazed to life with a blast of chakra as he pushed his sight to it's limit. He quickly found the fleeing man and took off after him a trail of dust following in his wake.
Meanwhile the kidnapper was making his way through the forest but was surprised when he found the blonde boy standing in front of him with his back leaning against a tree. Naruto turned to the man his eyes still glowing gold and his pupils having turned to slits. The man raised an eyebrow at seeing the boy's eyes before shrugging it off. Pushing his back off the tree the boy looked the man dead in the eyes. Unfortunately the intimating look in his eyes was lost due to his rather small stature.
"Those are some unique eyes you have there gaki, perhaps if I take you back as well Raikage-sama will give me a bonus." Said the man with a chuckle.
Naruto grinned a grin fit more for a demon than a child at those words as his chakra began to escape him causing the mans eyes to widen at the amount of power being put out. He watched in awe as a strange light began to surround the area before the ground started shaking and chunks of earth and trees seemed to just disappear.
Hiashi and Sarutobi arrived on the scene not three minutes later to find the area damaged beyond belief with the kidnapper on the ground twitching and Naruto sleeping within a tree, Hinata held protectively in his arms. Looking around both men wondered just what could have caused all this damage and exactly where that power surge had come from.
AN: That's it for this chapter Next chapter will come when it comes as I said I'm not focusing on this fic right now. Still tell me what u think so I could decide if this fic is worth the effort or not.
