Chapter 3
Village Hidden in Eddies known to outsiders by Hidden Whirlpool Village was one of the village considered truly hidden due to the location of island it was situated on. The very specialty of this place was its harsh currents and hundreds of big and small whirlpools located around the islands which had been spinning since generations before the island was known to Elemental Nations.
Only way of contacting the island was through air and it was thought that's how Senju clan had been in contact with their sister clan during Era of Warring Clans. Of course, only way of going in and out of the island chain were known to residents of the said island; The Uzumaki Clan.
In all history of Elemental Nations during time of Warring Clans, there were never too many documents or existence of collective source of Information. The best that could be remotely compared to such was Archives of Sarutobi Clan which was said to hold numerous secrets regarding all the clans. Information was the cost that many Sarutobi had given as payment during conducting business.
Due to such fickleness of availability of good information, there was never anything made to document the existence of all the clans which roamed the Elemental Nations. So it was never too much of a hurdle when a new clan was discovered with no known origin. But, subsequent ending of Warring Clans Era resulted in proper documentation of all the information for benefit of village as a whole which resulted in formation of Libraries in system.
For many years, Tailed Beasts had been center of attraction whether it be political purpose or military purpose, their power was known to all and hence always coveted as Weapon of War. One of the many reasons that Senju and Uchiha Clans were considered so powerful was because they had survived a direct onslaught of these creatures of monstrous strength during Warring Era. These clans had established their dominance through such deeds.
According to Five Great Nations had five major Hidden Villages of their known which kept a political balance safe while Military skirmishes of small amount was not uncommon between them. Setting up of small hidden villages with no chance to rise against the great village was safe too which led them to frequently secure ties and alliances.
BUT, when a totally new clan came into existence who had powers rumored to even subdue the greatest of Tailed Beasts made the whole world dead with worry. The Uzumaki Clan was clearly a fearsome clan If they could subdue the mightiest of the tailed beasts with very few sacrifices made the other hidden villages dead with worry. And soon came the news that this Uzumaki Clan had kept ties with Senju Clan of Hidden Leaf Village was a breaking point. Soon this led to turn of events which marked the Greatest Slaughter in history of mankind in Elemental Nations.
Village Hidden in Eddies, before Second Great Shinobi War
"How is it POSSIBLE!" a thunderous voice claimed with anger evident in the voice.
"It is impossible for them to arrive at the shore! Whirlpools with Suijin's grace have protected these islands for more than 30 generations! They were never supposed to be breached!"
"The info is true my Lord. Hundreds of Warships are visible on the horizon even from the village's high walls."
"Report for immediate evacuation then. We cannot risk a war with 3 of those damned villages." Same voice intoned albeit with a suppressed calm.
"The exits are blocked my Lord; we… we think there is a traitor within the walls."
This proved to have more impact on said person as everyone around could see the horrific visage upon his face. Said man had blood red hair reaching to his neck with hazel brown eyes and strong body musculature. He wore a formal blue kimono with red obi tied elegantly. He was Head of Uzumaki Clan and supposedly to be the last one.
"Lord Akihito, we have no choice. The traitor cannot be identified within given time frame; we fight or die." This time a female voice claimed man's attention as he was still in deep thinking due to learning of a traitor within their walls.
Uzumaki Clan had never had a traitor within their ranks. Their people were birthed for the clan and died with the clan. Never had any Uzumaki died on land which was the very same island they were standing on and existence of traitor within their ranks had left their Lord with deep heartbreak.
"Prepare for the worst then, I will secure the archives and belongings of the clan." Akihito intoned in same grave voice as he got up and was turning up to leave the chamber.
"My Lord, we can sink the island with enemies. In Suijin's kingdom, we will be blessed and return to heaven, enemy will succumb to the death on their own." A council man said while getting a shocked look from his peers.
"That would be shaming the graves of our ancestors and don't forget the legacy still lives within Hidden Leaf Village which Sarutobi has vowed to protect to. Such coward's path is not befitting an Uzumaki of your stature Heishi-san. Now, prepare for the inevitable to come and pray for Suijin's blessing.
Akihito made a brisk walk towards his personal chambers within the palace; seeing his second daughter barely of ten beside his beautiful wife made his heart soar with sadness of what was to come.
He quickly woke his wife while his daughter Kuroka rested in peaceful slumber.
"The island has been invaded Akira; we need to quickly evacuate the premises of the palace. I want you to take Kuroka-chan and head to east. Hidden Leaf will take you in, Mito-Sama lives but not for long."
Akira stumbled on hearing piece of news but quickly nodded and took Kuroka on her shoulders and raced toward the exit known only to Royal Family. The cave was only as big for two people and Akihito wanted the Uzumaki to live through his reign though part of him was happy that it was his daughter who would survive.
Later that night, with Army of more than ten thousand Shinobi within their ranks, the Alliance of Cloud, Mist and Stone village marched to end the Uzumaki Clan.
The end resulted of slaughter was five thousand remaining Shinobis of Three Alliance with more than thousand suffered unrecoverable injuries while eleven hundred clansmen of Uzumaki ascended to afterlife for what was to come. Akihito's name was immortalized for killing two Kages of Mist and Stone and many shinobis of great renown while being killed by a backhanded tactic of Raikage. The massacre was nicknamed Battle of Whirling Tides forever to be remembered.
It further led to Tobirama Senju declaring War upon all three Hidden Villages whose alliance had been broken after the slaughter of Uzumaki Clan and hence started the
Second GREAT SHINOBI WAR of Elemental Nations.
Village Hidden in Leaves, Nine Months after Nine Tails Rampage
Hidden Leaf Village was going on through its hardest time since Third Great Shinobi War. The death of their charismatic leader Fourth Hokage was fresh in the hearts of Shinobis while civilians mourned for the losses of their loved ones and their livelihood. Due to shinobi population being cut down to half while influx of missions remained same; most shinobi had to work overtime while many who had retired were being called back to service. It also left the village defenseless while their population were away from the village and ANBU operatives covering S-Ranks high time.
Economy was destabilized causing high inflation while death of largely feared Fourth Hokage had tensed the situation between Stone and Cloud as Minato Namikaze himself was a war deterrent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, reinstated Third Hokage was thinking of all the grave matters to bring the Great Tree back to stand again. He highly respected Minato for his prowess while his dedication to village was second to none. That selfless man had sacrificed even his family to ensure the future of Leaf Village.
Hiruzen too had lost his wife in the attack. Biwako came from a small country clan on the borders of Elemental Nations, he had met her during one of his missions back during Second Great War and was quickly ensnared by her beauty and prowess in medical techniques; it had caused quite an uproar back then as a running candidate for Hokage's seat had married out of blue to some foreign beauty.
His thoughts again circled back to the night of Nine Tails assault. He was present during the actual sealing but was unable to see anything due to Red Yang Barrier set by Minato around the altar though he could still feel the power of Shinigami as he had appeared on Minato's beckoning. Truly Uzumaki techniques were fearsome when controlled properly. Going along the line, he still could not find Kushina's body anywhere near the carnage as his ANBU had scrounged every last area near the altar forest.
He had himself seen Kushina being impaled by one of Nine Tails claw and Uzumaki or not, nobody could live through that. The toxic chakra of a tailed beast was enough to scare even most veteran shinobis away and being impaled by a claw of such toxic chakra made it impossible to live through.
"Councilors have called a meeting Lord Third…" a melodious voice interrupted his thought process as he sighed again. He was never supposed to occupy this position of Hokage for this long. In his youth, he had taken upon the mantle because he was most viable candidate except his old teammate Danzo Shimura who in every word was a Warmonger. 'If Danzo had been Hokage, Nations would still be fighting Second Great Shinobi War' was what most councilors had said at the time while everybody agreed though his position as Senior Advisor agave him a political leeway in civilian matters which had led to most Civilian Council supporting in his endearment most of the time.
"…Lord Third? Council Meeting?" the same melodious voice interrupted his musings.
He chuckled on his forgetfulness blaming old age and got up "I will be there, Kira" he announced while taking a long satisfying huff from his pipe.
Kira had taken up the position of Hokage's Assistant after Asahi was assigned to look after young Naruto.
Like her predecessor, she was quite young too and had a successful life of Kunoichi but had quit the job after her teammates were killed. Hiruzen had thoroughly did her background check before he had appointed the job.
She was quite beautiful with lustrous straight brunette hair and grey eyes. A successful jounin at age of 18 and had already trained a team of genin who were chunin now.
His calm walk continued till council chambers with Kira behind him along with his personal ANBU in shadows ever attentive.
He walked in same commanding manner as he had graced battlefield in his younger days without giving anyone an eye.
"The meeting may start." He intoned watching with a passive gaze.
"Greetings Lord Third, our concern was related to the matters of Red Light District… you see the death tolls have been rising since that night and just a week ago, we found many of the workers missing from their place to be. Seeing how it affects the mercantile and business around, I would like to request…"
"Take your concern to Police Force, domestic matters are their concern. If they feel necessary, I will look upon it." Hiruzen said interrupting the civilian councilors, while councilor bowed his head with gritting teeth.
"Now, any other matter of concern?" he said in a bored tone
"Yes. It has come to my attention that Tsunade-hime had taken upon a child and not just any child but an infant with distinct blood-red hair of our allied clan. We were wondering where did she get the child and why is the child not in village?" Danzo old and frisky voice surprised all the councilors sitting.
Hiruzen was a visage of calmness and peace outside but internally he was going through a myriad of emotions ranging from anger to blaming himself for lack of thought.
He had never counted Danzo in his equations while making plans for the second child! And not counting Danzo had made most of his plans null now!
"What Tsunade does is her own business whether taking in any infant or killing any. I cannot impress more upon the fact the branches she has healed of this Great Tree. And it quite easy to contact her from right place Danzo, ask her. But I am sure, she will root out anything if harm befalls on the infant. As for the child not being in village, I wouldn't know, Tsunade failed to mention." Hiruzen said while leaning back on his chair.
He knew he had lost the round to his earlier friend. Danzo had totally surprised him by asking about the infant and Hiruzen was not ready to deliver a more comprehensive explanation and being quiet was not a possibility for someone of his stature so he had given a vague and ridiculous answer with a subtle threat to remain away from her; knowing Danzo, opposite was going to happen.
"so, I call this meeting to end. Good day" saying he exited the chambers with hurried steps.
'Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it at the end…' Hiruzen thought as he exited the tower for a quiet stroll. He could hear children playing in a nearby park which was untouched and hearing them laugh freely and run around he could definitely say it was all worth it, for the King and for the Great Tree itself…
Hidden Leaf Village; a Year after Massacre
Moon shone brightly in the night sky as a soft gentle breeze passed by the exotic flower garden in Hyuuga Clan Compound. Hyuuga Clan renowned for their pearly all seeing eyes called Byakugan were one of the twelve founding clans of The Great Tree accepted as Village Hidden in Leaves.
Unlike the Sharingan of Uchiha Clan which went harvested from a dead Uchiha Clan member and used by other shinobis was found not compatible with user's body and consumed very large amounts of chakra even if used for ordinate amount of time, Byakugan was found to fit almost any shinobi that could get its hand on the famed eyes; this has led to practice of sealing the eyes lowly members of Hyuuga Clan which upon their death would render their eyes ineffective. This led to the division between clan and made a Branch Family who were deemed unfit to live even in same building which led to the current predicament of Hyuuga Clan of Branch Members serving under Main Family who were unsealed ones and were real prices in shinobi world. Any unsealed Hyuuga was easily worth a fortune on the black market while female ones were almost hunted; after Hyuuga Clan produced beauties most if ever.
Hitomi Hyuuga sitting in Clan's Garden looked up at the full moon in clear night sky, it was very rarely Leaf Village was made known of the beautiful clear night sky because of being in the tropic region had made clouds an ever present entity in sky. She herself wondered of the beauty and elegance that such moon provided to her heart. It was a pleasant feeling in her heart and a soothing sensation in her pregnant stomach that was completed with the presence of moon.
She was expecting any day now as medics and told her and being clan head's wife, it was her duty to provide the clan with strong and healthy heir for the future of clan. Unlike other Hyuuga of main branch she had never excelled in any Shinobi arts be it their own fighting style of Gentle Fist or anything else for the matter, she had married after her parents had arranged the betrothal contract as soon as she had made chunin at fifteen years of age and she knew she was accepted by clan heir at that time due to her beauty alone. She was still one of the most beautiful woman in Hidden Lead and around and possessing a natural elegance that came being with a Main Hyuuga member made her only more desirable.
It had pained her heart when her only love had been married to one of her acquaintances but she had resigned to her fate and accepted it to be something concrete. So she lived for the clan for years to come but now her belly was filled with another life which she simply couldn't help but feel love and affection for the unborn child; it simply didn't matter to her if she loved the man or not.
She looked at the full moon again, wondering if the celestial being could hear and feel similar to them present on the land. There were so many cults spread across the lands worshipping the Moon Goddess as the supreme being, as almighty. She wondered if they were correct in their assumptions, if Moon existed. She stared at the moon enchanted by the appearance and subconsciously prayed for the wellbeing of her child, the unexplainable feeling of happiness and contentment which she felt left her confused and surprised. Was the baby happy by her praying to Moon or was it something else? She neither knew nor cared, but she always wanted to have the feeling with her. Glancing at the Moon for one last time she left the gardens to her room.
Next day she gave birth to a child never ever seen in Hyuuga Clan nor would be.
Asahi, former her Lord's Assistant in service to the village was now sitting in her two-bedroom apartment staring at the sleeping form of nine-months old baby in the crib. His ever so innocent face not reflecting any of the crimes and killings the being inside him had caused. Asahi herself was a practical person and was indifferent towards the child.
But, it was not a pretty sight when she had visited hospital with the baby three months ago for a check-up and could hear painful screams of people inside, body malfunctioning due to only being in the presence of corroding chakra of a tailed beast or a half human looking people walking streets with scars and burn marks evident on their faces after surviving wrath of Nine-Tails.
There was no beauty about what Nine-Tails had done and what it would have done to their home had Lord Fourth not sacrificed himself and life of his only child only for the village. She still couldn't fathom how a man could be so self-sacrificing and to what extent would he have gone for the village. She wondered about the mysterious woman who had given birth to the child in front of her, of what pain she had felt when Lord Fourth had told her what would happen to their child, to him.
But it mattered no more, Lord Fourth was dead and this child was his legacy. She still could remember the smiling faces of her Lord as he flashed in his office every morning with the greatest of smile on his face; as he looked at the village from his office's window with satisfaction in his posture and how he would greet her every day. She missed him terribly even though holding no connection to the man anyhow. Such was the personality of their Lord, his mere presence was enough to remove any kind of doubt she had regarding anything anytime.
She flicked her long blonde locks back as they caressed her cheeks; her Lord had complemented them once so she had grown them out in hope of gaining his attention. At the time she didn't know her Lord's heart had already been taken for.
She herself was getting ready for sleep when a knock resounded on her door. Immediately alert she braced herself with the kunai she had hid near her bra and held it at her back. No one knew where she lived except Lord Third and his personal ANBU and she only answered to Lord Third himself and never had there been a call at this ungodly hour.
"Who is it?" her small voice came out barely above a whisper not wanting to wake little Naruto up.
"Hatake Kakashi" a gruff voice replied back. Her posture slacked but she still kept her guard up. "Name your purpose Hatake-san." She said without missing a beat now.
"Weekly visit, now open the door or should I break it!?" same gruff voice said now seemingly irritated.
She smiled and kept the kunai back, it was Kakashi she could definitely ascertain now.
She unlocked the slowly and visage of Hatake Kakashi with his ever gravity defying silver hair greeted her presence.
Of course, every Leaf shinobi of its worth knew about the Legendary Kakashi Hatake famous for being a Copycat and nicknamed Kakashi of the Sharingan when he was not even an Uchiha. The student of Lord Fourth and prodigy of his generation like traitorous Orochimaru had been, Kakashi was similarly respected and feared by most of them well unless he snapped like Orochimaru had and went on to take an oath to destroy the village like Orochimaru had before he was driven out by combined force of Lord Fourth and Third. They hoped it wouldn't come to that. Leaf needed its best ones more than anything right now.
"How has he been? Anything unusual or reactive like something?" Kakashi asked her hovering over baby's crib.
Asahi gave him a sidelong glance "He's a year old infant Hatake-san. You cannot expect anything from a baby this old except sleeping & eating. Now sit down while I prepare some tea." She admonished her senior before making her way towards the kitchen.
Kakashi sighed in relief and settled on the couch nearby. "I still don't think you should be the one to raise Naruto-kun. He still has family left alive."
Asahi was not bothered by the man disrespecting in her own home blaming his lack of social skills. Kakashi was one of the best Leaf had to offer; give him any type of missions and he would see it completed but tell him to mingle with people and he would act like a petulant child. She just hoped he would improve with time.
"It is neither my decision to make nor yours, Hatake-san. Lord Third entrusted me with the child and I would see he is protected and taken care of till he can do it himself." She said her tone a tad bit colder.
"And that's the only reason Naruto is here with you believe me." Kakashi said his voice had same gruff tone in it.
"So kindly leave the situation as it is. I have much to deal with except you making bothersome comments about the child." Asahi replied not bothering to turn in preparation of tea.
After few minutes of silence, she served the tea while sitting down beside Naruto's crib and shaking it a bit, smiling as his lips too turned up a little bit.
Kakashi quietly sipped his tea and watched them with apt attention as it was something exotic; his gaze shifted to Naruto's sleeping form and he too couldn't help but smile as he could trace the outlines of his sensei's face even in the little child ones.
"I hope you are happy with the choices made by Lord Third's decision Sensei" he whispered more to himself watching Naruto and remembering the girl he had given to Third months ago. He had demanded to know what happened with her but Hokage had simply ignored him instead of even giving a vague answer.
"I haven't known you for long Asahi-san neither am I familiar with what kind of relationship you had with Sensei, but believe me if you need anything to ask for Naruto; don't hesitate. I will be here for him." Kakashi said getting up from the couch and moving towards the door of the apartment.
"Speak only those words which you mean Kakashi" Asahi said as she closed the door. She knew Kakashi had heard her.
Asahi quietly sat down on the bed beside Naruto's crib as she watched him slumber peacefully as she too drifted unknowing of the boy's fate or her for that matter
Village Hidden in Clouds, Raikage's Chamber
"The reports have been confirmed Raikage-sama; Yellow Flash has died due to an internal attack in the Hidden Leaf. Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi has been reinstated but cause of Yellow Flash's death has yet to be found. The general populace is very tight lipped about the attack but it has resulted in destruction of more than one-third of village according to our new spy. Old spy was assumed killed or caught, his reports haven't arrived since nine months." Mabui, a pretty white-haired woman said in a collective voice.
Raikage himself had slicked back silver-white hair with strong musculature. He wore heavy weights around his palms and had a quite fearsome reputation. Fourth Raikage to Cloud Village and son of Third, Ai was considered Second fastest in all of Elemental Nations after Leaf's Yellow Flash whose he couldn't even hope to match.
Ai rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he contemplated death of Minato Namikaze; with him out of equation, Leaf was in a very precarious position now. Minato Namikaze was considered a War Deterrent for a reason and was major factor in Leaf's winning of Third Great War. If he could attack Leaf now while it was still recovering he was sure Leaf would become just like Sand, falling from the scale of threat.
He briefly considered approaching Rock Village for an alliance but quickly repressed the idea. Oonoki though an old goat was a very shrewd man and had decades of experience ahead of him. He knew they would be backstabbed somehow and didn't want any risk on the village. But for an attack to happen, I need to test the security of the village.
"Also Ai-sama, Namikaze's student Hatake Kakashi has been appointed S-Rank threat for five villages including Rock. He has shown Sharingan in many battles and is known to copy any Techniques with just a glance. They are calling him Kakashi of Sharingan now. His body might hold the secret for implanting Sharingan Raikage-sama." Mabui said in a pleased tone for bringing such kind of information to her Lord.
This new piece of info made Ai come to a halt. Bastard's student had already started making name for himself. "Update our book too. Put whatever info you have on him and make bounty for 30-million ryou for now only alive."
Mabui nodded and was exiting the office as Ai called again "Tell Darui to commence the operation Mabui. I expect list of available candidates on my table within a fortnight." Ai's heavy voice echoed as her eyes widened a bit but she nodded and quickly strutted off.
Ai knew one thing very few were aware in Elemental Nations, the relation between Yellow Flash and Red Death and about Red Death's condition due to major stroke of luck. Now if Yellow Flash was dead, what had happened to Kushina Uzumaki. The beautiful redhead was also an S-Rank kunoichi but not in the center of war as much as Minato Namikaze was.
Plans had to be made and time was not their friend this time.
AN: Sorry for the late update, university has been very hectic and lots of work had to be done but now am back and hope so will update soon enough!
Please please Read and Review.