AN: I admit, I'm a little surprised. This story has received quite the positive feedback, even though it's my first foray into anime fanfiction. That said, a couple of things have come up in reviews that need to be addressed:
1. The Uzumaki will not be snatching and running with Naruto. I know many of you would love to see a story where the Uzumaki rebuild Uzushio outside of Konoha influence, but that's just not feasible in this story. First off, they're not even a cohesive, united group. Secondly, they're not wealthy enough to rebuild a village on their own. Third, no one is suicidal enough to allow the most feared clan of the Second Shinobi World War to set up shop in their country when it means three of the five villages will probably invade out of spite. Fourth, Naruto is Konoha's breathing WMD; there's no way they'll be able to take him and hide without Konoha setting up a continent-wide manhunt.
2. Still not a harem story. Don't even know what the pairings will be.
3. The Uzumaki are not all-powerful. Some of their members, yes, are nearly at Kakashi's level, at it, or above it, but these members make up less than 1% of the clan's total membership. Keisuke himself could be considered at around the Sandaime's current strength (age erosion included).
4. Names will be provided at the bottom of each chapter to remind you all of who's who in the Uzumaki Clan.
With that said, happy reading!
-MB
"I see," mused Keisuke as he listened to the team's report. "This is troubling indeed."
"I don't see why," groused Natsu, sitting amongst the clansmen, a little ticked that he'd been left behind. For good reason, too, considering he had the subtlety of an electric-powered jackhammer in a crystal glass shop. "He's one of us, right? Let's just grab him!"
THWACK. Within a moment, Natsu was on the floor as Keisuke retracted his hand from having chopped him on the head. "Quiet, you," he chastised as he pondered things through, idly blowing out smoke from his pipe. "The evidence is still circumstantial...but I agree it merits perhaps a more direct approach," he judged.
"With respect, Choro-sama," spoke up one of the adult clansmen. "Would it perhaps not simply be wiser to proceed as Natsu suggested? We don't know how Konoha might receive us after all this time, nor does it seem that they respect our name anymore, judging by the child's treatment."
It was a valid concern, and one that, as Keisuke regarded the gathered clansmen, had many supporters. Whatever the boy's parental circumstances were, there was really no reason to go about disrespecting a clan that had for so many years stood by Konoha through thick and thin, leading right up to its own destruction.
"I agree with the moron," Takeshi grunted, ignoring Natsu's yell of indignation. "The brat's been treated practically like an animal. Other that his mysterious sugar daddy and that ramen chef and his daughter...and maybe his teacher, I can't really name anyone else who's got his back, even among his age group."
Takeshi's opinion started a wave of discussion throughout the crowded room as every member of the Clan, from the age of fourteen and up, discussed the team's findings, after having been briefed by Keisuke. The Elder, for his part, watched quietly as small debate clusters formed, with some opinions threatening to get quite heated.
For his own part, Keisuke had a theory to perhaps explain the boy's treatment, though it hardly justified it. Cross-referencing what he knew of Kushina's voyage to Konoha with the fact that this lost clansman was most likely her son, there was only really one logical explanation.
"Enough," he declared, raising a hand. Almost immediately, the room quieted. "I understand your concerns, but I may know why he has been treated so badly," he announced.
"Not many of you may know, but before Lady Mito married the Shodai Hokage, she was dragged into a fight between the original founders of Konoha, Hashirama-sama and Uchiha Madara," he informed them, and was quite pleased to see the various scowls of disgust at the Uchiha name. The Uzumaki had long held a history of animosity against that clan in particular, greatly disliking the Sharingan's infamous ability to copy techniques. For a Clan of Fūinjutsu specialists, nothing was more abhorrent than plagiarism.
"Everyone knows the story of the Valley of the End, Jiji!" Natsu groaned. "Get to the good part!"
THWACK! Another chop to the head quieted the boy, causing the room to sweatdrop as they watched the irritated elder retract his hand once more.
"What those of you who haven't reached Third Grade in fūinjutsu all don't know is that the Shodai didn't just defeat the Kyuubi when Madara summoned it, but sealed it away using our techniques," he continued as if he hadn't just inflicted bodily harm on a clansman, a small grin forming. "Into Lady Mito."
Dropping that bomb had its desired effect, as nearly everyone in the room that hadn't chosen to become an expert in fūin techniques looked gobsmacked. Though the Shodai's access to Uzumaki sealing techniques wasn't all that surprising, considering he was Mito's lover, the fact that their honoured ancestor had been a Jinchuuriki was. Such an act, for obvious reasons, would've been kept buried. However, for a clan of Fūin specialists, most were beating themselves over the head for somehow having overlooked such an application of their techniques to explain the sudden disappearance of the Nine Tailed Fox.
"And that's not all, another certain member of our clan was chosen to succeed Lady Mito once her life neared its end," he added, enjoying the growing looks of stupefaction amongst his clansmen. It wasn't every day he could get so much of a rise out of them.
"Lady Kushina..." Akemi breathed, eyes wide and her hands up covering her open mouth. Keisuke eyed her for a moment, somewhat appreciative that she would play along, despite knowing already.
Keisuke nodded, causing another wave of whispers to explode. Raising a hand to silence the crowd, he continued. "Due to her special — even amongst our own — chakra, and her ability to create Chakra Chains, it was decided by her father, our Clan Head, to seal the Kyuubi into Kushina once Lady Mito's life neared its end." he tapped his pipe onto the tatami and cleared it of blockage before taking another drag. "We were successful, and she left Uzushiogakure to be Konoha's Second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."
"...much as I'm loving the history lesson, gramps, " Raiden grouched, having known all of this already. "What's that got to do with anything?"
A tick mark developed on Keisuke's forehead at the rude interruption. Unlike with Natsu, however, he didn't raise a hand against his grandson. Not out of favoritism, really, but just because Raiden wouldn't shut up even if he did. "I was getting to that," he grouched. "Honestly, I'm old! I like to take my time with things!"
Cue mass sweatdrops.
Coughing slightly, Keisuke glanced both ways shiftily before continuing. "Anyway...where was I? Oh, right! Kushina became the second jinchuuriki, she died, we got screwed over," he summed up, causing more sweatdropping. Nonetheless, he began to grin mischievously "But here's a question I have for all of you — if she died, and we know she did, where did the Kyuubi go?"
Silence.
Keisuke enjoyed the way they stared at him, having honestly not given thought to the most fearsome of the Bijuu's disappearance thirteen years ago.
"I admit, I hadn't thought of it myself until now. Like most of you, I suppose I took it for granted that perhaps Kushina had sealed the Kyuubi inside her when she died, taking it down with her," Keisuke conceded. "Yet it begs the question, doesn't it? Bijuu can't be killed; we seal masters know that," he saw the appropriate section of his clansmen nodded at that. "Even if it had, let's call it, 'died,' it would have regenerated at some point. And the only way to keep beasts of that level out of trouble longer than that is to seal them away. But not every object can hold a Bijuu...especially not the Kyuubi. So, naturally, we must conclude that it was sealed into someone else."
He paused again to enjoy another drag of his pipe. "So who was it?" he asked calmly.
Again, silence reigned in the room until Hikari shakingly got to her feet, looking stunned. "That boy...he's the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?!"
"Makes sense, don't it?" Keisuke said with a knowing smile, even as the room exploded into shouts of surprise and negations. "We know the Yondaime was the one to defeat the Kyuubi — Konoha's been bragging about it for years," cue a few grumbles of agreement. Over the years, they'd come across many a Konoha ninja gloating about the victory of the Yondaime over the fearsome Kyuubi. "And now know that, like Hashirama-sama and Mito-sama, he had access to our seals through Kushina. It's only logical that he used them to seal the Kyuubi into a child, the best possible host for such a beast. This is why Konoha will never just let him leave the village — he's far too important a strategic asset for them to let him walk away."
Demonstrating why he was the one in charge of the Uzumaki exiles, Keisuke watched as his logic brought them all around to his side.
"That having been said, Konoha might not have honored our sacrifice, but we honor our loyalty to family," Keisuke reminded them, causing more than a few to straighten their spines. "And the Senju were family. That boy, charged with Lady Kushina's burden, is family. We are Uzushiogakure's Uzumaki Clan, which means we stand for each other, or else...?" he prompted.
"We all go down as one!" he heard his audience voice the time-honoured answering call that served as the clan's motto.
Keisuke smiled in self-satisfaction, pipe in mouth, and nodded as he crossed his arms over his diminutive chest. "Damn right. Now let's go get us a lost clansman."
Naruto was having a bad day.
No, that word wasn't quite enough to describe the feelings he held for today. In fact, if he had to describe how he felt, he would've said a mixture of rage, impotence, sadness, and resignation.
What had happened to cause such a shift in the boy's state of being, you ask?
The graduation exam.
For the third time, third time, he'd failed the damn exam — and always on the very same part: the bunshin. Naruto couldn't fathom why, but he'd never been able to produce a decent bunshin in his life, even when he trained at home or at the training grounds. No matter what he did, he'd never pulled it off, and a large part of him felt it was patently unfair that one of the required qualifications for graduating was the ability to pull it off. After all, he'd never needed it to escape his pursuers before, so why was it so critical for him to learn it?
Unfortunately, he knew Iruka would never let him pass without knowing it, no matter how much he protested.
Sighing despondently, he watched as parents came to pick up their kids, congratulating those who had passed — those being all but him. Even Choji and Shikamaru's parents had come by and gushed over their kids. Kiba's mom had given him a small love tap on the head before giving him a congratulatory noogie.
He winced slightly as he watched a few glare his way and start muttering, knowing full well they were once again disparaging him. A few mean ones even spoke aloud about how great it was that he'd failed.
Naruto felt a twinge of something dark rise up in him as he heard them ridicule him, but he ruthlessly squashed it down. He wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing him break down!
No matter how tempting the thought of doing so was.
He was just about to leave, however, when he saw Mizuki, Iruka's co-teacher, come up to him with a smile and a wave. Naruto liked Mizuki — unlike Iruka, he seemed happy to lend a hand.
"Sucks about your exam, Naruto," the kind teacher said with a commiserating smile. "You know, I did try to convince Iruka to give you another chance, but you know how he is."
Naruto looked down sadly. "Yeah...man...he's so uptight! Why can't he give me another shot?!" he demanded a little angrily, but also sad that the man who regularly treated him to ramen couldn't even understand that he was asking the impossible of him.
"I think he's tough on you because he sees a little of himself in you, you know," Mizuki comforted the boy, making Naruto look up in surprise. "After all, he wasn't exactly the model teacher he is now back when he was your age. Heck, I think he would've given you a run for your money!"
"No way!" Naruto breathed with growing wonderment. Straight-laced Iruka? A hellion like him? Inconceivable!
"Way," Mizuki confirmed with a smile. "You know, he's an orphan too...when he was younger, pranks were the way he had others pay attention to him. So don't be too hard on him, alright? He's probably trying to set you on the right path."
Naruto looked down, absorbing this new facet of his straight-laced teacher. "Still..." he mumbled, downtrodden. "It would've been awesome if I could've graduated..."
Mizuki fell silent and gave Naruto a careful look. "You know...if you really want to impress him...I may know of a way..."
Hikari swore as she jumped from roof to roof, having just returned to Konoha only to find bad news awaiting her.
Apparently, the young boy she'd saved from getting killed was being accused of stealing a rather important village relic, and from what she could hear, there were quite a few voicing their desire to kill him.
Naturally, this was unacceptable to her on both a personal level and as a result of her orders form Keisuke.
However much the Uzumaki elder wanted to move forward with claiming the boy, he first needed to consult with the other cell Elders, a move which could take some time. Despite this, knowing that the boy had it rough in Konoha, he'd ordered a forward team assembled to watch over the potentially lost kinsman while the necessary red tape was cleared.
Hikari was one such member.
Raiden, however, was not, and that had caused a few problems. The First Dragon had been enlisted into watching over Keisuke along with Kimiko, just in case it ever leaked that the four remaining Elders of the Uzumaki clan were meeting in the same place. She shuddered to think what ninjas from Kumo, Kiri, or Iwa would do in order to capture the Elders, if that ever happened.
Unfortunately, with Kimiko and Raiden away on other business, and Akemi forced to stay back to handle Clan business while Hiroki was away as well, that left very little in terms of adequate field leadership. Eiji had been a potential choice, but everyone just as quickly dismissed him after realizing the teen was an expert seal master, but not exactly a field leader. Natsu was also right out, despite his status as Second Dragon. If he was ever given a leadership position in anything, odds were his short temper would get their covers blown. Takeshi was also excluded from consideration for the same reason.
In the end, by process of elimination, Hikari had been assigned with the role of field leader, while the remaining field-worthy Uzumaki clansmen fell into line behind her. As it was, she'd picked Amaya, Yuki, Takeshi, Sora, Natsu, and Maki as back-up, feeling that having the three remaining Dragons in her team would buff up the otherwise green team.
"Something feels wrong about this situation," Yuki observed as he landed deftly beside Hikari while she took note of her bearings. "Our observations didn't suggest a thieving streak in the boy."
Landing behind the two, Amaya nodded. "It's too out of character," she confirmed.
"Doesn't matter," Hikari said as the rest of the team landed on the rooftop. "Whatever our conclusions are about this, the people of this village seem to distrust him enough to believe him capable of high treason. We need to get to him first before they kill him out of spite," she said firmly.
"Y-You don't think they'd really k-kill a child, do you?" Sora asked wide-eyed.
Takeshi clicked his tongue irritably. "If he's Jinchuuriki like the geezer thinks, then I wouldn't put it past them," he said, somewhat annoyed. Isolated or not, the Uzumaki had seen and heard of numerous cases where Jinchūriki had been mistreated.
"Maki," Hikari spoke up, choosing not to answer Sora's question, even though she was thinking along the same lines as Takeshi; though she needn't say anything else as the seal master preempted her by kneeling on the rooftop slamming her hand on the concrete.
"Already on it," the redhead said with a grim look as she raised her free hand in a half-Ram seal. "Fūin!" she intoned, causing a spiral of black characters to spread out from underneath her palm. "Tsuiseki Fūin!"
Before the seal master's eyes, the spiralling characters coalesced into a circle, which then began to hold glowing dots within its circumference. By the looks of it, there were quite a few, but only one glowed green — their target. Thankfully, she'd remembered to bring along a sample of their lost kinsman's DNA from when they'd run tests on the jumpsuit.
"He's about a klick north-east...that way!" she concluded, pointing towards what seemed to be the east entrance. "There's maybe a good three dozen other contacts heading that way, and two of them are nearing the boy!"
Hikari clicked her tongue in irritation. "We'll never make it before those two, but we can stall the others, at least," she judged, eyeing her group, who stood ready to receive orders. "There's nothing for it. Amaya, Yuki — you two take half of the incoming ninja. Takeshi, Natsu — you two take the other half. Only stall; we don't need the trouble a couple of body-bags will bring us," she told her kinsmen firmly, knowing they were prone to letting themselves go in a fight. She then turned to the remaining two girls. "Maki, Sora, on me. We're going to save that boy. Sora, get ready to heal him if necessary."
"Hai!" the group acknowledged their orders and split up. Relieved that there'd been no challenge to her authority — though she guessed the urgency of the situation had something to do with that — she led her group towards the east gate, knowing that they'd really have to haul ass if they were to reach the boy as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, though she had much faith in her kin's ability to hold back the angry ninja, she also couldn't risk overlooking the possibility of their failure. "Maki," she spoke up as they landed near the gate, taking a brief second to look over the imposing wooden doors. "Seal this gate," she ordered.
"Taichō?" questioned Maki, surprised.
"Natsu and the others are strong, but we can't overlook the possibility that a few might get by them," Hikari explained. "Seal it. Don't let a single person get through."
Maki nodded firmly. "Understood," she agreed before flipping through a rather impressive amount of hand seals. "We'll want to be on the other side once the seal is up," she pointed out as she continued to flip through hand seals. Without further ado, the trio jumped past the gates, with Hikari glancing back just in time for Maki to twist around mid-landing and slam both hands on the ground.
"Fūin!" she called out, causing the ground to suddenly spurt hundreds, if not thousands of ink-black characters, all erupting from underneath her palms in a massive, swirling fashion. "Hyakuju Rashomon Fūin!" she roared as she brought up her hands, pointed them — palms up, fingers clawed — at the open gate, and then brought her hands together in front of her in a clap.
As though by magic, the gates groaned as they were forced to close with a speed they were unused to, slamming shut before their eyes. This wasn't the end of Maki's technique, however, as the two great spirals made of characters before her shot a single line of the ink-black characters at the gates, then raced across its frame until they formed a large X-shape.
Maki was breathing hard when the technique finished, which was announced when the cross shape glowed green. "That...ought to keep them at bay for a while," she said, swallowing loudly. "They can still go over the walls, though. I can't do anything about that. Not without Eiji-kun," she pointed out, landing heavily on her rear and holding herself up just barely. To be honest, had she done the sealing with her partner, she wouldn't have been this exhausted. Performing such a high level sealing by herself, however, was incredibly draining.
"It'll do," Hikari said seriously, noting her cousin's haggard condition. "Get out of sight and rest up, Maki," she ordered. "Sora and I'll finish the mission."
Nodding tiredly, unable to gather enough strength or willpower to answer, Maki slowly complied with her orders by all but dragging herself into the nearby foliage, certain no one would really find her, given her low enough chakra levels.
Hikari, meanwhile, looked down at Sora. "We're already behind schedule," she told the younger girl. "We'll need to kick it up a notch. Can you handle that?"
The fourteen year old girl nodded firmly. "I'll be fine, Hikari-nee-chan!" she vowed.
Nodding in satisfaction, Hikari put the pace on the last leg of the chase by jumping for the furthest most tree she could feasibly reach, almost vaporizing the branch she landed on with the amount of chakra she'd put into her feet. To the Fourth Dragon's credit, she landed on a branch just opposite of Hikari's, and didn't seem too shaken by the fast pace she was being put through.
Hikari smiled. Maybe they'd be able to get there on time after all.
Remember when Naruto said he'd been having a bad day?
He took that back.
Today sucked.
Mizuki — that treacherous, backstabbing asshole — had played him. No, not just played him, but used him.
As instructed, he'd taken the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage Mansion, even going as far as using his patented Oiroke no Jutsu™ against the old man himself. While that had been amusing, to say the least, he'd been surprised at how easy it was to get the scroll, considering it was supposed to be a priceless relic. Why hadn't there been more security measures?
At the time, Naruto had brushed such concerns off — or rather, completely overlooked them. Figuring this was proof enough that this was a legitimate make-up test for those having failed the graduation exam, he'd taken the large scroll and scampered off. To be honest, he'd felt like he'd gotten away scot-free, but apparently someone had tipped the village off.
Only now did Naruto realize it had been Mizuki's plan all along.
As instructed, he'd taken the oversized scroll (seriously, was someone overcompensating or something?) to a clearing outside the village walls (odd, but who was he to question a teacher?), where he'd sat waiting for Mizuki for exactly 1.5 seconds before his ADD kicked in.
Figuring he had nothing better to do — and hey, forbidden scroll of awesome sitting next to him! — he'd opened the monument to ninja overcompensation and started reading through it, only to find a couple of boring-as-hell seals, a few techniques that sounded lame, and then he'd hit the jackpot.
The Kage Bunshin.
Seeing the name of his most vile and repudiated of enemies (Bunshin), Naruto felt his stubborn competitive streak activate in full force as he vowed to get this technique down, fist shaking in the air and all. He'd show everyone! No technique would get the better of him!
Of course, Naruto was so obsessed with beating his eternal foe that he'd overlooked the fact that he was not, in fact, attempting a Bunshin, but a Kage Bunshin. Thus, when he celebrated getting the technique down, after surprisingly little tries, he'd thought he'd mastered the Academy Bunshin.
It wasn't long after, however, that he'd been made aware of how played he'd been.
Iruka, the ever dependable goody two-shoes, had arrived first, surprising Naruto. Grinning like the idiot he was, he'd rubbed the back of his head and asked Iruka if he'd passed the make-up test, only for the teacher to look at him as though he were mentally unstable. It was only after mentioning Mizuki that Iruka finally put the pieces together, and just as Iruka was about to give an exposé about how Mizuki was a traitor, said backstabbing wonder arrived, pinning Iruka to a nearby shed with kunai, and offered to tell Naruto why everyone hated him.
And hey, between a lecture from Iruka or juicy secrets regarding why his life was a living hell, Naruto's choice was a no-brainer.
Of course, he'd never expected to hear that he was the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Which was odd, really, since he'd never really felt like a fox. Nor did he especially like rare meat. Did foxes even eat ramen?
In fact, how did a demon of that size become so tiny? Shouldn't he have been much more powerful from the get-go? Moreover, if he was a giant walking disaster of nature dedicated to the destruction of all living things, then was it really wise for them to antagonize him?
Naruto didn't voice all of these concerns, but it did strike him as extremely lazy reasoning.
Either way, Mizuki had come in, given his rather — in Naruto's opinion — cliché speech about how everyone hated him, even Iruka, and how he'd never be loved.
Okay, so maybe it was cliché, but it still hurt hearing it. In Iruka's defense, however, the man was busy shielding the Forbidden Scroll — or so Naruto thought — from Mizuki.
"Naruto, run!" his teacher shouted urgently at him, just as Mizuki made his move and threw the massive Fuma Shuriken he'd been carrying around. With predictable results, as Naruto was still rooted to his spot, Iruka was forced to tackle Naruto to the ground, only to get his back nailed by the oversized shuriken.
"Gah!" grunted Iruka in pain as he felt the pointy implement of throwing pain lodge itself near to his spine. "Naruto...run...please..." he begged the child beneath him. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry for everything..." he apologized, tears streaming. "I...I also lost my parents to the Kyuubi...I grew up with no one, too...you...must've been in so much pain...so I wanted to be there for you like no one was there for me..."
Naruto was touched. Really, he was. He'd never heard anyone say anything like that to him before, or even looked at him with eyes that reflected nothing but caring and honesty. Even so, this was all too much for the boy, and he quickly scampered off with the scroll, needing some time alone to process things.
"HA!" gloated Mizuki as he watched his prey run away. "See, Iruka?" he continued with a smirk. "That brat's never going to forgive anyone! He's the Kyuubi! I think I'll go do the village a favour and kill him now, since you won't be any trouble anymore."
Iruka watched helplessly as Mizuki jumped away, unable to follow. Slamming a fist onto the ground angrily, he cursed himself for his weakness before slowly collapsing as his wounds began to take their toll on him. Had the Fuma Shuriken landed a few millimetres away, he would've been fine, but as it was, he would probably pass out from blood loss within minutes without medical assistance.
In fact, his vision was just getting blurry, causing Iruka's thoughts turn to how he'd never thought he'd end his life this way.
"Oi, Sora, we got wounded down here!" he heard a girl's voice dimly shout at the edge of his consciousness. "Heal him while I go after the boy!"
"Ngh..." Iruka tried to speak, but feeling quite weak from his wounds. He wanted to protest, to tell his rescuers that Naruto wasn't the culprit, but the words failed him as the darkness started to claim him.
Meanwhile, Sora looked at her patient worriedly as her hands glowed green, healing chakra working feverishly to repair the many wounds. "Ayayaya...you've been hurt badly, Nii-chan," she mumbled as she worked.
"Ngh..." Iruka grunted painfully as he was forcefully kept from passing out from the pain.
"Calm down, everything's going to be fine, Nii-chan," she comforted him as the wound in his back began to slowly seal up. "Don't move and I'll be done in a jiffy!"
"Na...Naruto..." Iruka moaned in pain.
Sora's expression lit up at the name. "Is that his name?" she asked happily as she continued working. "Then Hikari-nee-chan will see to it that Naruto-sama is safe and sound!"
"...sama?" Iruka groaned, confused. He'd heard Naruto be referred to in various ways, ranging from child (the Hokage loved that particular form of address for his ersatz grandson figure) to monster (from the more idiotic members of the village). However, he'd never once heard him be referred to as "sama." To Iruka, it was just inconceivable.
Sora smiled brightly at her charge, though Iruka could clearly see the glimmer of sorrow behind that smile. In a way, it reminded him of the way Naruto sometimes smiled.
"Naruto-sama is Naruto-sama," she said simply, not venturing more information. Iruka was now doubly surprised with the young girl. Not only was she rather young to be so skillfully using healing techniques, she also seemed well aware of the need to stay tight-lipped regarding information. Though he couldn't place her being much older than his students, he was surprised that she seemed leaps and bounds more skilled than any of them — including Sasuke, the genius of his generation.
An explosion sounded off a ways ahead, causing Iruka to flinch slightly and Sora to smile as she recognized the chakra signature. "Ah, Hikari-nee-chan seems to have everything under control. How about we finish up here so we can go meet up with them, nii-san?" she asked with a perky smile.
It was all Iruka could do to nod slowly.
Hikari had no trouble finding the running duo.
Naruto, as untrained as he was, was sadly leaving behind a rather obvious trail that made it easy for Mizuki and Hikari to track him. Mizuki, on the other hand, was trained, but still left a decent trail for Hikari due to the fact that he doubted anyone would interfere before he killed the blonde brat.
Sadly for him, Hikari was in a rather foul mood given the circumstances, and so was in no mood to humour the traitor as he went about his homicidal objectives.
Jumping from tree to tree, she reflected on the situation at hand. Before leaving the Uzumaki compound/village, Keisuke had taken her aside to impress upon her the gravity of her mission — not that it wasn't plainly obvious as it was.
Still, his words that moment resonated within her even now.
Keisuke, dressed in his traveling gear and partaking from his favourite pipe, frowned at Hikari seriously as he sat cross-legged before her on the tatami mat. "Tell me, Hikari-chan, do you know why it is that despite so many of us still living, our clan has not chosen a new leader since Lady Kushina's demise?" he asked her after blowing out some puffs of smoke.
Hikari frowned back, honestly not knowing the answer. Then again, she hadn't exactly asked herself that question before, due to the fact that most Uzumaki clansmen just accepted the current status quo. In such situations, short of actually desiring power, not many would question the way the group was being led. "I...no..." she admitted regretfully.
Keisuke smirked as he held his pipe in one hand. "Nor do the others," he said, comforting the girl. "Yet, the answer is simple: none of us can become Clan Head."
Hikari blinked at that answer, feeling more confused than before. "I...don't understand. Couldn't you become Clan Head, Jiji?" she asked. Indeed, if Keisuke declared himself Clan Head, she doubted anyone in the group would protest. After all, everyone understood that the man who'd kept them safe all these years had been him.
Keisuke gave a brief, true laugh at the question. There was no hint of mockery in it, either. "Oh, Kami, no!" he said, still chortling. "What a terrible idea! Me? Clan Head? I'd rather chew my foot off!"
Hikari sweatdropped at the Elder's rather...candid response.
"Hikari-chan, Clan Heads of the Uzumaki aren't chosen due to skill or influence," he told her simply after he'd regained self-control. Taking a drag from his pipe, he let out a small stream of smoke. "Were it so, any arrogant brat could challenge the Head for his position. Hell, that idiot Natsu would be all over that, I imagine!" he added with a snort. Sadly, Hikari couldn't deny that, causing her to sweatdrop.
"Clan Heads in our clan are chosen...differently," he said, though something about that response nudged at her curiosity. Was he perhaps keeping something to himself on that subject? That wasn't an unreasonable assumption, considering she was barely qualified to even lead this mission. "We don't choose the most powerful member of our clan, nor the most political, because they don't represent all of us," he explained.
"A Clan Head must be strong, yes, but he must also be wise. He must be influential, but grounded. More importantly, he must unite the Clan behind him," he stated, nostalgic sadness oozing from his tone. "That is why no living elder of our clan or active member can become Clan Head — none of us can unite the Clan."
Hikari blinked again, a little unsettled by that claim. "But the clansmen here love you, Jiji!" she protested. "If you put your claim forward, we'd back you up in a heartbeat!"
"And what of the clansmen in the other cells?"
Hikari was brought up short by that question.
Keisuke sighed as he blew some more smoke idly. "Hikari-chan, you're very kind is saying you'd all here back me up, but our clansmen here are but a fraction of the Clan," he reminded her. "Just as you see me as your leader, so do our kinsmen elsewhere see their Elders as the natural choice for leadership," he informed her before gazing out the window at the setting sun. "We do not try to take the position of Clan Head, then, to avoid bitter power struggles. I have already seen so many of my family die, Hikari-chan...I do not want to have to kill any of them for a title I do not even want."
She sat there, stunned by the elder's words. She, to her shame, admittedly had wondered why Keisuke had not simply laid claim to the title of Clan Head. She knew Raiden had also wondered, as he often complained while drunk that the old man should have the stones to seize what was naturally his.
Looking at Keisuke now, however, Hikari could see every single year of his life reflect on his image. He didn't look weak, by any means, but he did look tired. So very tired, it seemed, by the way he slouched and gazed out at the red sun with eyes that seemed torn between the present and a distant, comforting past.
"Why are you telling me this, Jiji?" she asked after giving him a moment to reminisce.
"Because this boy, if he is who we think he is, could finally change things," Keisuke answered without breaking stride. "A bona fide descendant of the former Clan Head, born outside of our self-imposed divisions, could unite the cells and bring our family back together again," he added as he turned to face Hikari. "I am entrusting the fate of our family to you, Hikari-chan. See to it that nothing happens to the boy...whatever the cost."
She understood why Keisuke wanted the Clan Head lineage alive — with so few Uzumaki left, now was hardly the time to remain divided. Yet, without the division the Elders had imposed on the day of Lady Kushina's death, they would have easily been hunted down by their enemies, and the family wiped out. Still, as Keisuke had said, a new clan leader could change all that. If nothing else, he could be their way into a new village.
At least, until the day came when they would reclaim Uzushiogakure.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that, for all its happy facade, the clan wasn't exactly doing well. Behind the smiles and parties, she knew that most of the clansmen were just going through the motions. She could tell just by listening in on Uncle Hiroki's stories about his youth, or that of Keisuke's. Even Aunt Nana reminisced from time to time, as did the other adults.
It pained her to see her clan hurting so much. Without Uzushiogakure — without the Clan Heads to give them direction — the Uzumaki had been slowly decaying. If something wasn't done soon, she knew it wouldn't survive and the Second Great Shinobi War would claim its last victims at long last.
"Enough running, demon!" she heard her future Clan Head's final pursuer shout further ahead. Glaring, the redhead picked up the pace, already thinking of which summons she would use to put the bastard in the ground.
Meanwhile, Naruto was backing up against a tree, the Forbidden Scroll kept close to his chest — literally — as he looked at Mizuki, somewhat terrified. Any other day? He would've charged blindly — he was good at that, after all. This time, however, he was clearly informed of how outmatched he was, having seen Iruka go down rather easily.
"That's right...give it up," Mizuki was leering at him dangerously and goading at him to give him the scroll. "Just hand it over, and I'll be sure to make it quick."
Now, Mizuki might not have been of jonin rank, but he was still a trained ninja of Konohagakure. Thus, when he felt the dangerous amounts of killing intent suddenly flare up right behind him, he instinctively tried to jump away from whatever it was, but quickly found himself restrained with one arm twisted behind his back and a kunai at his throat.
"Who's going to make what quick?" hissed a low, female voice — his captor's no doubt. Mizuki started sweating nervously as he thought through every move in his arsenal, trying to figure out a way out of his current predicament.
Unfortunately, none came to mind.
Naruto, for his part, merely stared as some stranger, out of nowhere, appeared crouching behind Mizuki and just as quickly held the chunin teacher in a restraining hold. Her fiery red head of hair tugged at something within Naruto, but what really sold this woman to him was the fact that she was trying to take down the man who'd been trying to take him down.
Still, he'd been burned once, and he wasn't about to let that happen again. Still backing away from the two ninjas, Naruto figured that a few more steps would give him an adequate line of sight for his next foray into escapism.
"Hold it," he heard the woman call out to him, still glaring at her prisoner as she kept the kunai primed against his throat. "Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked him plainly.
"Who wants to know?" he challenged right back, stopping despite his prior conviction to keep running. "Hell, who the hell are you?!"
"For once, a good question from that demon," Mizuki grumbled before wincing as the woman's kunai cut superficially into his neck. "Kami, woman! Back off! This is official Konoha business!" he bluffed.
Unfortunately, Hikari was well aware of his bluff, and called it. "If that's true, where's your backup, moron?" she pointed out with a glare. "Even if it was, though, you'd be shit out of luck, asshole. I'm here for the kid; Konoha can rot for all I care!"
Now Mizuki was well and truly panicking. He'd thought he'd been taken prisoner by some odd passerby, or maybe a Konoha ninja who'd been told by Iruka what had happened. The tone of the woman's voice, however, betrayed no lie — she would truly gut him where he stood if she wanted to — Konoha be damned.
Naruto, for his part, was getting sort of tired of being ignored. Thirteen years of neglect saw to it that his need for attention was primed for mischief and absolutely zero stealth skills. "Oi! Don't ignore me!" he yelled at the two, surprising Hikari by the volume of his shout.
Mizuki, however, was very used to Naruto's shouting, and, like a trained ninja, quickly rammed his head into Hikari's, wincing as the kunai cut just a little bit more of his throat — though only breaking skin. As she cursed, he jumped away from both Naruto and her, glaring at the two as he grabbed at his bleeding throat.
"Wrong move, bitch!" he roared as he proceeded to form a variety of hand seals. "Bunshin no jutsu!"
With a few dozen explosions of smoke, Mizuki vanished from their sight, only to suddenly reappear as the smoke cleared, but as a dozen Mizuki's.
Glaring at the new small horde of assholes to beat down on, Hikari jumped in front of Naruto and motioned for him to stay where he was. "Stay behind me," she ordered. "I'll protect you," she vowed fiercely.
Naruto gaped at the redheaded girl, unable to believe what he was hearing. He'd often read about such situations happening in the few books he owned, but he'd never thought he'd be on the receiving end of such a heroic gesture.
"Who are you?" he asked, awed.
"A good question," one of the Mizuki's sneered as he began twirling a kunai amongst his fingers. "After all, I'll need to identify your corpse when I deliver you both to the Hokage. I imagine I'll get a commendation for this," he mused out loud, seeming very pleased with himself.
Glaring, Hikari slid her back foot another inch as she readied her fists for some up-close fighting. "You've got it backwards, I think," she taunted him. "The only reason you'd get my name is so that you know who beat your ass into the ground!" she roared as she flew at the clones, knowing she'd only be able to deal any damage to the real Mizuki.
"A headlong assault?" sneered Mizuki, unconcerned. "How stupid."
Sure enough, Hikari flew right through the clone she'd aimed for, heading directly for a tree behind it. She wasn't a ninja for nothing, however, so despite Naruto's cry of alarm, she merely did a mid-air spin, landed her feet on the trunk, and stuck to it using her expert chakra manipulation, a savage grin already on her face as she raised her head to meet with the Mizuki's stares and placed her hands on the trunk right beneath her.
"Sorry, moron, but I forgot to mention — I'm not a Taijutsu specialist," she taunted, just as her hands glowed bright green. "Kuchiyose!" she cried out, causing Mizuki's eyes to widen in realization.
"Shit!" Mizuki swore as all the clones went for her, kunai raised and primed to kill her in order to mask his real self.
"Yamainu! Kerberos!" she called out, causing two puffs of smoke to explode on the ground near the tree. "I call on thee!"
Twin howls pierced the night sky as the two great wolves darted at the advancing clones, only to be momentarily confused as they passed right through them.
Even as the wolves gave confused grunts, looking around for their prey, Hikari sighed and smacked her face in exasperation, even as Mizuki and Naruto stared at the confused wolves. "They're bunshin, you idiots," she grumbled. As powerful attack wolves as they were, the two were pretty new at this whole ninja fight thing, and they hadn't yet learned to take the time to literally sniff out their opponents.
Fortunately, wolves had great hearing, so upon understanding their situation, the two attack-minded biological machines of death used the instincts their species was known for and began hunting the real Mizuki. Unfortunately, things didn't seem that simple, as the wolves continued to flounder about, unable to find the real one.
Frowning, Hikari pondered on what this could mean, when she heard a voice cry out.
"Nee-chan! Above you!"
Working on instinct, Hikari launched herself forward, rolling on the ground just as Mizuki slashed at her back. To her confusion, however, the blade he was wielding had done no damage, despite having been well within range.
It was only too late that she realized she'd been had. Unfortunately for Mizuki, Hikari wasn't quite that incompetent, and quickly dodged to the side, sliding to a halt just as Mizuki sprang out from the ground, an ugly sneer in place.
"Damn brat!" he snarled. It was all he managed to say, too, as Yamainu and Kerberos rushed him. Though Mizuki was able to evade the two wolves, Hikari was far from over, finally grabbing onto her massive scroll and unravelling it just a foot.
"KAI!" she yelled, causing Mizuki to widen his eyes as a torrent of kunai and shuriken rushed at him, quickly causing the ground he'd been standing on to look like a rain of metal had hit. Sidestepping smoothly out of the way of Mizuki's retaliatory throws, she unravelled the scroll a bit more as she laid it on the ground, quickly making a Tiger seal. "KAI!"
This time, Mizuki was unpleasantly surprised to find a two torrents of fire and water racing at him. Apparently, when the woman had told him she was a Kuchiyose specialist she hadn't been kidding. Who knew what else that damnable scroll of hers held?
And speaking of scrolls, every second he spent fighting the obviously quite strong girl meant he came closer to getting caught trying to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Of course, this whole caper would've been over by now if that damnable woman hadn't interfered with his little hunt of the demon brat.
Wait.
A heinous idea popped into Mizuki's head as he dodged another hail of sharp stabbing implements. All this time, he'd been trying to take on someone who was quite obviously better than him, when her weakness was all too obvious!
Timing it perfectly, he waited for the next summoned strike to hit him before bursting into smoke, suddenly replaced by a log. Hikari looked around suspiciously, considering that she was still quite surrounded by Mizuki's harmless Bunshin clones. Still, he'd shown considerable mastery of the clones, if he'd been able to control them to seemingly act independently — something she knew was incredibly difficult and a testament to the man's chakra control.
"Where is he?" she muttered to herself. He would never allow a man so determined to kill their future Clan Head to get away. Not on her watch!
"Oi, nee-san, where'd the bastard go?" called out Naruto then, causing her to pale as she realized what Mizuki had seconds ago.
"Naruto-sama!" she let the honorific slip out unconsciously, confusing the boy. "Jump!" she called out frantically as she raced towards him.
Despite his confusion, Naruto's self-preservation senses were attuned enough to understand that the girl was completely serious, and instinctively jumped forward towards Hikari just as the older teen jumped over him towards where Mizuki was apparently lunging to plunge a knife into Naruto's back.
Bringing up a kunai from below, she smiled grimly as she realized she'd evade his blow and finish him off with hers. Seconds seemed to pass like hours as she neared his heart, only for her grim sense of satisfaction to evaporate as she passed right through. A Bunshin clone.
"Oh, sh—" she started to swear, only for the ground beneath her to burst, revealing two hands that grabbed at her legs and pulled her into the ground. Reappearing in front of her, Mizuki sneered down at her, only for Yamainu and Kerberos to launch themselves at him. Unfortunately, this one, too, happened to be a Bunshin.
"Stupid dogs," he mocked them as the dog pile worked to extricate themselves from each other.
"They're wolves," Hikari growled as she looked up at the traitor, fully aware that she'd been played.
"Whatever," Mizuki brushed her words off. "A mutt's a mutt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a demon to kill and a Scroll to steal," he said as he moved towards Naruto, who once again seemed of a mind to dart off.
"Don't run!" she called out to him. "He's aiming for that! The moment you do, he'll be on you!"
"Oh, don't listen to her," Mizuki said with a mock pout. "A little more of a chase would be fantastic. Plus, you know I'm not the real Mizuki. I know! Why don't we play a game?" he taunted with a sick grin.
Only to disappear and reappear behind him, a kunai at Naruto's neck. "Let's play 'find the real Mizuki.'" he offered darkly, just before a gush of blood erupted from Naruto's neck.
Yelping in pain, the blonde nonetheless managed to get away just before the kunai managed to cut deep enough to nick his carotid artery. Damn, now he was as wounded as that bastard was!
...Wait.
Wounded?
Naruto gazed at the Mizuki clones still littering the clearing, paying direct attention to the traitor's neck.
No blood.
That was impossible — Mizuki had been wounded by the captured nee-chan before the fighting had begun, right? So naturally any of the Mizuki's who weren't bleeding from the neck were fakes!
"Oi, nee-chan!" he called out to the redheaded girl, who was still trying to extricate herself from Mizuki's trap. Unfortunately, he'd managed to land some paralysis tags on her legs, preventing her from using her arms to get out. The irony was not lost on her, either. "Can those do—" he paused, noticing the wolves' glare. "err...wolves track blood?"
Hikari blinked at Naruto, unsure where he was going with this. "Yeah, of course, why?" she asked.
"That asshole Mizuki got nicked when you captured him, right? But his clones are fine!"
Eyes widening, Hikari realized the brat was right — and just as quickly wanted to ram her head on the ground for being so stupid. After all, how could she have overlooked such a ridiculous detail?!
"Yamainu! Kerberos! Sniff that bastard out!" she ordered her summons.
Mizuki, for his part, was not pleased with this turn of events, and his clones reflected that by glaring at the duo. "Sharp little pest," he growled before giving another sick grin and suddenly reappearing beside Hikari's head, kneeling beside her and keeping a kunai to her throat. "Still, I've got the upper hand here. So back off, mutts!" he ordered the two advancing wolves. "Or else your summoner gets to meet the Shinigami!"
"Ignore him!" Hikari counter-ordered. "Sic the bastard!"
The two wolves, however, could not do something that would endanger their summoner — it simply went against the summoning contract. Thus, left without recourse, the two wolves spared Naruto and Hikari a regretful look before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Sneering, Mizuki withdrew the kunai from Hikari's throat, raising himself to his full height to gloat at his victory.
Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on Naruto's streak for unpredictability.
Before Mizuki was able to speak a single syllable, something large and heavy rammed itself into his face, knocking him flat on his back. Blinking away the stars, the Konoha traitor realized he'd been beaned with the Forbidden Scroll.
Just in time for Naruto to close the distance and launch himself at Mizuki's fallen form, landing a solid punch into the man's bruised face.
Mizuki, however, wasn't a Chunin for his looks alone, unfortunately. Pushing Naruto roughly off of him, he jumped onto his feet and glared at his former student viciously.
"LITTLE BRAT!"
Before he could react more appropriately, however, Mizuki stopped short as he noticed that the blonde had his hands set up in an unfamiliar seal. Unfortunately for him, however, his temper had run its course, and so he was well beyond his usual caution now.
"I'm going to enjoy gutting you, you little demon!" he roared as he charged the awaiting blonde, who just prayed his jutsu would work.
"Run!" Hikari shouted frantically as she tried to fight the restraining seals.
Naruto shook his head, his gaze steadier than it had ever been. "No more running," he said with a sort of strange, calm detachment. Pumping as much chakra as he could, figuring that more would be better, he called out the name of what would, years from then, become well known as his signature jutsu.
"TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
Post-AN: Again, if you recognize it, it's not mine. Plot still is, though. Sorry if some of you wanted an alternative to the Forbidden Scroll, but it really worked for the purposes of this chapter to introduce the Uzumaki en masse. Sets things up for when they have to deal with the Hokage. As for why he fell for such a stupid trick despite being -the- Sandaime, the explanation for that will be in the next chapter.
December 13, 2013 Update: Chapter has been revised.
Glossary:
Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Mass Shadow Clone Technique
Tsuiseki Fuin - Tracking Seal
Hyaku Rashomon Fuin - One Hundred Rashomon Seal
Taicho - Captain/Commander/Leader
Uzumaki no Fuinjutsu - Uzumaki Sealing Techniques
Names (Fairy Tail Homologue)
Keisuke (Makarov) - Uzumaki Clan Elder
Raiden (Laxus) - Uzumaki Clansman, Grandson of Keisuke
Akemi (Mirajane) - Uzumaki Clansman, First degree cousin of Raiden, older sister of Daisuke and Miyuki
Daisuke (Elfman) - Uzumaki Clansman, younger brother of Akemi, older brother of Lisanna
Miyuki (Lisanna) - Uzumaki Clansman, younger sister of Akemi and Daisuke
Eiji (Fried) - Uzumaki Clansman, first degree cousin of Raiden and Akemi/Daisuke/Miyuki
Yuki (Gray) - Uzumaki Clansman by marriage (stepson of Uzumaki Nana)
Kimiko (Erza) - Uzumaki Clansman, second degree cousin of Raiden
Hiroki (Gildarts) - Uzumaki Clansman, nephew of Keisuke
Nobuko (Cana) - Uzumaki Clansman, daughter of Hiroki
Takeshi (Gajeel) - Uzumaki Clansman
Natsu (Natsu) - Uzumaki Clansman
Hikari (Lucy) - Uzumaki Clansman, first degree cousin of Nobuko and Amaya
Amaya (Juvia) - Uzumaki Clansman
Sora (Wendy) - Uzumaki Clansman, third degree cousin of Natsu and Takeshi
Maki (Levy) - Uzumaki Clansman, fourth degree cousin of Eiji, sixth degree cousin of Takeshi
