I don't own Naruto
Chapter – 2 Life Taken
5 years ago the Kyuubi (Nine tails demon) attacked Konohagakure (Village hidden in the leaves) and did considerable damage to the village. Fearing the destruction of the village, the fourth hokage Minato Namikaze used his life to save the village by sealing the Kyuubi into his newborn child Uzumaki Naruto and hoped that people would see him as a hero rather than a demon. After the Kyuubi massacre, the previous hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was reinstated as the hokage and told the people about the Kyuubi and the boy who contained it.
From then on fear took over the people and they saw the boy as a demon rather than its container. He also made a law stating that whoever speaks about the Kyuubi openly or tells their children or anyone about this will be severely punished. He made this law in the hope that the next generation of shinobi will not know about this and will treat Naruto fairly. Naruto was then put in an orphanage with all the other orphans and Hiruzen hoped that this will be enough to let him have a normal life.
Naruto – Age: 5 – October 7
"It's been two months since the academy started and no one wants to even talk to me. Why?" thought a five-year-old boy with a sorrowful look on his face. He's wearing short orange pants and white shirt, goggles on his head and shinobi sandals sitting on the pole in the park. Suddenly two shinobi appeared in front of him.
A tall shinobi with messy brown short hair and wearing the anbu standard attire and a mask that has seven light tannish colored markings on it and the other one is also wearing the same clothing but different mark with dark blue markings on it.
"Who are you?" asked Naruto surprised by the shinobi's appearance. "We are anbu shinobi, Uzumaki Naruto," said one of the shinobi. "How do you know my name?" asked Naruto.
"We know a lot of things about you. That doesn't matter. What matters is we would like you to come with us" said the other one. "Sorry I am not in the mood to come, maybe some other time," said Naruto gloomily and walked away.
Immediately he was hit in the back of his head and fell down. "No, is not an option," said the anbu with the blue markings and carried the boy on his shoulder. "Let's go Hinoe," said the other anbu and both of them started running. "What about the other boy, Kanoto?" asked Hinoe.
"There's a separate team bring him in. Since we have captured Naruto our mission is done" said Kanoto. After a few minutes, "can this really be done?" asked Hinoe. Kanoto stopped running with Hinoe stopping a few feet in front of him.
"Hinoe, are you doubting our leader and his capabilities?" asked Kanoto clearly angry. "Of course not…but something like this is unheard of" said Hinoe hesitantly. Kanoto started running and Hinoe followed him.
"Well…you are right, this is not something that has been done before but our leader's fuinjutsu is extremely strong. That's why I think nothing will happen" said Kanoto. Hinoe didn't respond and both of them continued running.
Kanoto and Hinoe appeared near the border of the Land of fire, just before Yugakure (hidden hot water village). landed on a nearby clearing. They placed the boy on the ground. Another shinobi brought another boy and placed him on the ground beside him. Then all the shinobi went down on one knee when they saw who was coming out of the forest and into the clearing.
A fair-skinned old man with a cane, having black shaggy hair and his right eye bandaged can be seen. He is wearing a white shirt with a black robe over the top, covering his right shoulder all the way to the feet.
"Danzo-sama the Kyuubi jinchuriki as you requested" and the anbu and laid the boy down on the ground. "Good and I am guessing this is the other boy who has a strong constitution," said Danzo looking at the other one. He is pale-skinned, black hair and wearing a black shirt and pant and shinobi sandals.
"Yes, Danzo-sama," said the other one. "Are the bodies ready, Kanoe?" asked Danzo. "Yes, Danzo-sama" replied Kanoe who has short, shoulder length brown hair wearing the same attire as the rest of them and a beak shaped mask. He opened a scroll and placed his blood on it. Out of the smoke came three bodies.
The four shinobi's were wearing the same red outfits with brown flak jacket attached to it with mesh armour attached to the ankles. "So these are the three Iwagakure shinobi," said Danzo looking at the three bodies.
"Hai Danzo-sama, these three Iwagakure shinobi are considered as rogue ninja by Iwagakure and as such, they won't be missed nor will Iwa create too much commotion regarding these shinobi's," said Kanoe impassively.
"But Danzo-sama we are near the hidden hot water village, won't it be more effective to use Kirigakure rogue nin?" asked a shinobi who was tall, has black hair tied in a top knot wearing a multi-coloured mask. "It is as you say but, we should also be wary of the hokage. He is an intelligent man and we must deal with carefully"
"Right now our relationship with Yugakure is quite stable and Kirigakure has a much more favourable relationship with Yugakure due to their trade deal. So when he finds out Naruto is missing and it is due to a few Kirigakure missing-nin, especially if it's near Yugakure he would start doubting and it will lead to unnecessary investigations. It is imperative that there should be no in-depth investigation in this matter and we must do everything to prevent it"
"That's why I have used Iwagakure shinobi who hold a much larger grudge with us and they would do something like this and plus since these guys are rogue nin announced by Iwagakure, they are not liable for what these guys do and hence Konoha also can't ask anything regarding this. Some Iwagakure shinobi are also extremely antagonistic to Yugakure due to their close ties with Kirigakure so when investigating on why these shinobi were here there will be no clear reason for that. It's always best to keep the enemies guessing" and Danzo smirked for that last statement.
"Hai Danzo-sama" responded everyone. "Good, Kanoe do you remember the plan on what to do for the next three days?" asked Danzo. "Hai Danzo-sama, after today, I will transform into Uzumaki Naruto and roam around the village for the next three days proving that he was alive. On the tenth of October, Hinoe, Hinoto and Kanoto will transform into the three missing Iwa shinobi that you see here today" said Kanoe showing his hand on the bodies. Danzo nodded his head.
"We will make sure to create a diversion for the anbu who is always following Naruto and then create a scene and make sure the citizens see us capturing one Uzumaki Naruto. After that, all of us will run at top speed and arrive here where we will place the bodies. Before the anbu arrives, our root shinobi along with you will be waiting here. Then it will lead to the conclusion that we fought with them and they tried to take the Kyuubi from Naruto and we stopped them but not completely"
"The whole narrative if finished correctly, according to me it would be like this. Three Iwagakure missing-nin captured one Uzumaki Naruto in order to release the Kyuubi and destroy the village. While they were escaping, they were found by Danzo-sama and a few of our root shinobi. But before we could save Naruto, the Iwagakure shinobi in haste tampered with the seal and released the Kyuubi"
"But fortunately, Danzo-sama and along with his shinobi were able to stop the Kyuubi rampage by using a self-repairing barrier. Since Naruto was nowhere to be found at that time and the barrier not being able to withstand the rampage for long, Danzo-sama sent one of his shinobi to find a baby but due to time constraint, they settled for a five-year-old kid. He used the Gozu Tenno (Ox Headed Heavenly King) to seal the Kyuubi into the boy" finishes Kanoe.
"Good," said Danzo with a smirk after hearing the explanation. "Also, I will be placing an additional shinobi in the crowds for backup in case the people don't notice Naruto being abducted. I will be sending someone here a few hours before the execution time and deform the landscape to make sure that it looks like a battle" said Kanoe as he returned the bodies back to the scroll.
"Very good. The name of this mission is Operation Jinchuriki and it will start from today. Today we will unseal the Kyuubi from Naruto and then we will seal it in this" said Danzo as he opened a scroll and from the smoke came a pot which stood at five feet tall, orange in colour with a thick white rope tied around its rim and a wooden lid on it. The pot has a stylised kanji for chakra on it.
"Sir, what is this?" asked the anbu who is having short purple hair and wearing a bearlike mask. "This Tsuchinoe is a sealing urn. We don't know who made this but it was during the time of the shodaime hokage Hashirama Senju. We will use this to seal the Kyuubi" said Danzo.
"But how does this work?" asked Tsuchinoe. Danzo opened the urn and took out a strip of paper with the kanji for chakra on it. "We place this paper on the Kyuubi and the urn automatically sucks it in"
"Is it reliable?" asked a large anbu who has a long greyish brown hair that he wears in a high ponytail and his mark has dark green markings. "It has been used once before and it works. So it can be used this time. Any more questions?" asked Danzo and looked around.
"Good, the select four will use the Kekkai Shiho Fujin (four corner sealing barrier) to keep the Kyuubi in place after it's released and then I will use my sharingan to temporarily stop its movements. At that moment the barrier team will release the barrier and Kanoe will then place the seal on the Kyuubi. After that, the Kyuubi will be automatically sealed inside the urn. Is that clear?" shouted Danzo.
"Hai Danzo-sama" shouted the rest. " Now wake up the boy, I want to talk to him," said Danzo and Kanoe immediately woke him up.
"Where am I?" answered Naruto sluggishly as he cleared his eyes and looked around. He saw Danzo in the middle and the rest the anbu surrounding him.
"Hello kid, My name is Danzo one of the elite shinobi of Konoha and it is my root shinobi who have brought you here," said Danzo. Naruto looked up at Danzo, "so why did you bring me here and what is a root shinobi?"
"I have created my own team of Shinobi called root and who are in my opinion a level above from normal shinobi and they are completely dedicated to protecting Konoha and as for why we brought you here…do you know why everyone hates you?" asked Danzo.
Naruto looked shocked, "you…know?" asked Naruto and Danzo nodded his head. "There are beasts who are big in size and their power exceeds beyond imagination and every shinobi nation around the world wants to get their hands on them and control them so that they will have more power than the other village.
"In our village, there is a beast which rampaged Konoha called as the Kyuubi. There was lots of death and destruction due to its rampage. The Konoha no Kiirioi Senko (yellow flash of the leaf) used his life to stop the Kyuubi rampage and sealed it into a child. That child is you" said Danzo. Naruto was shocked to hear the statement.
"You are what is known as a jinchuriki (the power of human sacrifice) That's why people hate you. They don't see you as the container but as the Kyuubi. That's why no will talk to you, no one will even look at you and no one will acknowledge your existence" said Danzo with one eye opened.
Slowly tears started forming around his eyes, "that's why people hate me because I am the monster who killed their loved ones" thought Naruto and started crying.
"In order to remove the problem which is plaguing the village and you, I have a solution," said Danzo. Naruto wiped his tears and looked at Danzo.
"You see we have decided that you are unworthy of being the Kyuubi container and are a liability so we decided to remove the Kyuubi from you and seal it in the boy beside you," said Danzo. Naruto looked at the boy sleeping beside him.
"Why do you think people hate you so much? There are two reasons. One people fear the beast inside you and second is that they don't believe in you to control the beast. After observing you I have come to the conclusion that you have no great talent and thus unsuitable for being a jinchuriki as such we will eliminate you" said Danzo and removed the bandage from the other eye.
"I have no talent…..I am unworthy…..I am the fox…..no one likes me…" these thoughts ran in Naruto over and over and over again. "Nooooo" shouted Naruto and grabbed his hair in frustration and started crying heavily. Suddenly red coloured chakra started forming around him. "Good. His rage and frustration has caused the seal to weaken and is leaking the Kyuubi chakra" thought Danzo.
"Kanoe, take the kid away, everyone to be in formation" shouted Danzo. Kanoe grabbed the kid and vanished and four shinobi surrounded Naruto. As the red chakra grew Naruto appearance changed. He acquired fangs, claws and slitted pupils. "Wait," said Danzo and used Izanami on Naruto.
Naruto became paralyzed and stopped moving for a few seconds. Danzo immediately opened Naruto's shirt. Chakra formed around Danzo's fingertips. "Gogyo Kaiin (Five Elements Unseal)" shouted Danzo and placed his hand on Naruto's stomach.
First, the seal on Naruto's stomach appeared. "I see Minato used Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) as expected. Good thing I knew about this beforehand and made the necessary preparations" thought Danzo as he turned his hand clockwise. His whole right hand was covered with seals. Slowly the seal started dissipating and after a few seconds completely vanished.
"Everyone be ready" called Danzo as he moved back. "AAAAHHHHHH" shouted Naruto suddenly from the top of his voice. The red chakra started oozing out from him and the Kyuubi came out from his stomach. The ground started shaking and a huge red fox roughly equalling the hokage tower appeared in front of them. The four people immediately used Kekkai Shiho Fujin and trapped it inside.
It started thrashing inside the barrier. Even the root anbu who are trained to lose their emotions started to sweat the sheer size and the amount of chakra it emits. "Don't falter. This is the test of your training. It's still weak as it is just now released so you can still do it" cried Danzo.
The fox let out a roar which almost knocked the four shinobi out. "Hey stupid fox I am right here" and the fox looked at Danzo and was about to attack him when it was suddenly stopped. "Now Kanoe" yelled Danzo.
Kanoe appeared in front of the fox and placed the paper on his head. Danzo immediately opened the lid. The fox as sucked into the urn and Danzo immediately closed it. While Danzo went on one knee and started panting the rest of the anbu shinobi were sitting on the ground to catch their breath.
"Using Izanami twice sucked most of my chakra and also my stamina drained pretty quickly. I still have to increase my stamina" thought Danzo as he slowly got up and put the urn back in the scroll. "Tsuchinoe" called Danzo and she appeared before him. "I want you to see whether everyone is okay and also check the surroundings in case any shinobi coming here due to the tremor," said Danzo and she vanished.
Kanoe, appeared before him, "sir what about the boy, Naruto?" asked Kanoe. "I don't think even an adult can survive a Biju extraction let alone a five-year-old child but it's better to check…." Before he could continue a voice called him from behind.
"Danzo-sama a group of Kumogakure shinobi are heading this way," said Tsuchinoe with a slight pant. "Why are Kumogakure shinobi here?" asked Kanoe. "Never mind, all of us will retreat. Kanoe I want you to take the boy and throw him into the nearby sea. His body will sink and there will be no trace of him" said Danzo. "Hai Danzo-sama" answered Kanoe.
Danzo and the others vanished using the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu) while Kanoe picked up Naruto and ran to the nearest river. He then proceeded to dump him there and vanished.
[Hidden Hot Water Village]
Few minutes before the tremor
"Thank god we found that guy in the hidden hot water village, else we would have to be searching for that guy forever and it would be a drag," said a medium height dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose, black eyes looking bored with short white hair. He wears a high collared sleeveless uniform with tight pants, bandages on his wrists one-strap-over-one shoulder Kumogakure shinobi.
"For you, everything is a drag, Darui. Like when you found out that our mission involved a lot of searching, you wanted to not do it since it was such a drag and I had to force you to accept it" said a young man of medium height, dark eyes, high-fade cut blond hair, wearing the standard attire of a Kumogakure ninja with a black forehead protector. He also wears black elbow-length arm guards and red and white shin guards with a pair of sandals. He carried a large foldable cleaver-like sword strapped to his back.
"Sorry, but I had to make an effort to not do this mission also. If I had been successful, I would have enjoyed the rest which I well deserved. I don't know how you can always be this serious Cee. The worst part is to have come all the way here and not enjoyed the onsen what a drag" said Darui lazily. Both of them were standing outside a hotel.
"Thank god Bee was not here or else both of you would have kept on talking and talking until my ears bleed off," said a man smilingly as came from inside the hotel. He's in his 40s, wearing a stylised forehead protector in the form of a blue coloured hat. He's wearing the standard Kumogakure outfit with red and white shin guards with sandals.
"Actually it would mostly be Darui's lazy expression with Bee's nonsense talking throughout Dodai-san," said Cee smilingly. "Sorry," said Darui lazily. "Don't say when you don't even mean it" said Cee who is clearly annoyed. "Sorry," said Darui again. "Just now I told" and before Cee could complete the sentence there was a tremor.
It passed after a few seconds. "what was that all about?" said Cee startled. All three of them looked in the direction of the faint red glow. "Let's go," said Dodai and all three of them started running. As they were running closer, "Cee, I want you to check if there are any shinobi nearby" said Dodai.
"Hai" replied Cee as he stopped and immediately formed a Ram seal and closed his eyes. "There were a few adult chakra signatures and two child ones but all of them disappeared," said Cee. "His Kanchi no Jutsu (Sensing Technique) has improved from last time," thought Darui. Dodai nodded his head and all three of them resumed running.
When they came to the location, their area before them was cleared unlike its surroundings but they could not go because the crater is located on the opposite side of the border. "Who or what was fighting here," said Dodai as became astonished as he saw the crater on the ground. Both Cee and Darui were looking around and were mindful of not crossing. Suddenly a pop sound came, "Just now I heard a sound of something drop in the water" thought Dodai as he walked towards the opposite direction but not crossing the border
"Cee, I want you to check whether anyone or anything is there in that direction," said Dodai pointing to that direction. Cee went near the place and used his sensing technique. "Dodai-san, I detected a small child but the signal is getting weaker by the second," said Cee in panic. "Okay, lead the way said Dodai. Cee started running along the border followed by Darui and Dodai.
"The child is in the water," said Cee alarmingly as they arrived on the land nearest to the sea. Darui immediately put the blade on the ground and dived into the river. "Make sure you bring him to this side of the land" shouted Cee. "Where is he," thought Darui as he swam deeper. "There," thought Darui as he saw the boy and swam deeper and retrieved him to the surface.
"Cee" shouted Darui as he got out of the water. "All right," said Cee and started checking for his heartbeat. "How is he?" asked Dodai. "He's still alive but barely," said Cee as he placed both his hand on the body and a green glow can be seen.
"Wait, what is that marking on the stomach," thought Dodai as he looked at the leftover mark on Naruto's stomach as it was slowly fading. Dodai kept looking at the boy and became shocked, "If this marking is a sealing jutsu then this boy had a biju inside him and someone must have forcefully removed it but he is still surviving"
Meanwhile, Darui and Cee were concentrating on Naruto.
After a few minutes, "how is he Cee?" asked Darui. "He's stabilising but I have to constantly supply chakra or he won't last. I don't know what happened to him but he must have gone through hell for sure" said Cee sadly. Darui remained silent.
"What do we do Dodai-san? We can't just leave him here, he will die for sure" said Cee.
"Cee, how much chakra do you have left till we get back home?" asked Dodai. "If I have to constantly use my chakra in healing him and run at top speed I can last for a day and I also have three chakra scrolls as a reserve," asked Cee. "If we use that on Naruto during our trip to Kumogakure how long do you think it will last?" asked Dodai.
"On my estimation, If we run at top speed and reach Kumo in three days then we can manage," said Cee.
"Good this is the plan. All three of us will run at top speed to Kumogakure. In the meantime, Darui you will carry him with the chakra scroll strapped to his back which is constantly supplying chakra keeping him alive. We will only stop to change the scroll. The only way we can save him is when we are in Kumo" said Dodai sternly.
"I can attach a scroll to his back but how do you know that in Kumo we can save him?" asked the confused Cee. Darui also looked at him in question. "I don't have time to explain but I will tell you after we reach Kumo. Be prepared this is going to be an exhausting run" said Dodai. Cee and Darui nodded their heads and started to attach the scroll on Naruto.
"If this boy can survive a biju extraction…even if only for a few minutes, then the only way to save him is through that. Hopefully, the sandaime-sama will accept my request" thought Dodai nervously.
"Dodai-san, we are ready," said Darui as he was carrying Naruto. "What about your sword?" asked Dodai. "It is in the sealing scroll I brought," said Cee. "Let's run to our heart's content," said Dodai and started running and followed by the other two.
[Hokage Residence]
"Being the yondaime for four years and you still suffering from paperwork duties, you don't know how much I am enjoying this" chuckled the man as he came inside and closed the door. He is a light-skinned, grey hair man with wrinkles and liver spots over his face wearing a haori with a red, full-length kimono tied using a white leash.
"I don't know how you have managed to do this all these years sandaime-sama," said the frustrated man who was seated at the hokage table with bulk of papers lying on both sides. He has fair skin, blue eyes and dull pink hair which is styled in the shape of cherry blossom and his sideburns flows into an angular moustache and a bit of stubble on his chin. He wore the standard attire of a Konoha nin and above that the hokage attire with his cap on the table.
"On a better note how is your daughter doing at the academy?" asked the sandaime smilingly.
"She's doing just fine. But it seems she fighting over her best friend because the both of them like the same guy. I think she can do better than that" sighed the man. "Don't worry Kizashi, I think this just a phase and she will get over it" said the sandaime as he blew his pipe.
"Hopefully she does, what brings you here Hiruzen-dono?" asked Kizashi as he was continuing his paperwork. "Actually, I was wondering about Naruto and how he's faring at school," asked Hiruzen worriedly.
"Naruto is currently at his home, the anbu I have assigned is giving me everyday reports on his day to day activities. At school, he's all alone and no one speaks to him, including my daughter" said Kizashi sadly.
"I thought by putting the law to ban people from speaking about the Kyuubi to the next generation will help him have more friends but it just backfired," said Hiruzen unhappily. "Minato and I were part of team Jiraiya and we were good friends. Out of team Jiraiya, the only one remaining alive is me. I wonder what Jiraiya-sensei would have done" wondered Kizashi.
Both of them didn't speak for some time. "I know that the position of the fourth was initially offered to Minato and when I asked him why he refused. You know what he said?" asked Kizashi. Hiruzen didn't talk.
"He said that he wanted to spend more time with Kushina and also develop his abilities even more. That's why he didn't have a team also. He also said he recommended me because I have the aptitude and tenacity of a kage that he didn't have. When I think about it was not true at all. In fact, he was the one who was more suited to become hokage" said Kizashi as he got up and walked to the window.
"Now don't put yourself down like this. You showed the Deiton (mud) release to the whole world and I knew a lot of people who feared to take you on due to your unique kekkei genkai. Be proud of what you have achieved Kizashi" said Hiruzen smilingly.
"Your students also exceptional. Kakashi and Obito are both strong and are known throughout the elemental nations because of your tutelage. After the Kyuubi attack when handing over the position of kage to you the village was still struggling to recover but due to your natural leadership abilities, it became much easier. Don't doubt yourself too much Kizashi" said Hiruzen as he took out his pipe and started blowing.
"I have always wondered and I am pretty sure to cross paths with him on some issue or the other, how do I deal with Danzo, sandaime-sama?" asked Kizashi. "Don't worry about Danzo, leave him to me. Since I gave my position to you, lots of free time are available for me and if there is any issue you can be assured he will be dealing with me. You best focus on the other issues" said Hiruzen.
"That is a relief," said Kizashi sporting a small smile.
Again silence ensured. "On to another topic, it seems Iwagakure has selected their next Tsuchikage. It's Gari who uses Bakuton (Explosion style) kekkei genkai. I have fought him a few times in the past. Even my Deiton had some trouble with that" said Kizashi.
"I see. First Sunagakure, then us and now Iwagakure. All are slowly moving towards the fourth generation of leaders. Who are Kirigakure and Kumogakure are going to choose as their fourth" wondered Hiruzen and continued blowing.
"I don't know about Kirigakure but Kumogakure is most probably going to select Ay, son of sandaime raikage Raiden. According to Minato who had fought with him in the past, his speed is more or less the same as Minato and also he learned a quite a few techniques from his father the current raikage" said Kizashi.
"Knowing that man, I don't think he will give up his position of raikage even to his own son," said Hiruzen. "But I am still wondering who the yondaime Mizukage is going to be. They have a lot of strong people in their ranks but not exactly sure which one is going to take the mantle" said Kizashi scratching his head.
"The sandaime mizukage, Hanzo the Salamander is pretty strong himself. But knowing him I am pretty sure he is looking for a successor himself" and blew his pipe.
"Whoever it might be, it only going to get fierce from now on so be ready. It's going to be an uphill battle for everyone involved" said Hiruzen impassively. "Yes Sir," said Kizashi firmly.