And so here it is, the next chapter. Sorry for the gap in there, but stuff happens, you know? Again, I don't own Naruto or any of the moves/items from the Legend of Zelda series.
Chapter 4
1 year later
Konpaku leapt from rooftop to rooftop, following his target. Even though he didn't have any ninja training, this was actually a pretty simple exercise for anyone with enough strength and thanks to a few accessories he'd been allowed to bring with him from his homeland, he had strength in spades. He could tell his target was trying to find him, trying to tell which angle he would strike from. Konpaku simply smiled. His enemy might have been good, may have exceptional skills, may even be a near genius when it came to ambushes and traps, but when it came to stealthily stalking an adversary, Konpaku knew he had the advantage.
The lone figure on the street was looking around desperately. He knew he wasn't alone, he knew that the attack could come from anywhere at anytime, but he didn't know where Konpaku was. He was having a mild freak out because he knew he was doomed even if his head refused to accept the fact. He had already decided that if he was going to go down, he was going down fighting. Suddenly, he spun around, some latent sense telling him that the attack was coming from behind. He lifted his arm, hurling the weapon in his hand toward Konpaku without even checking his aim. It was a panicked response, but he hoped it would at least throw off Konpaku's aim. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as he felt the cold smack against his skin, followed by the chilling feeling of water drenching him.
"Nice try Naruto, but you'll have to be faster than that to beat me," said Konpaku, holding another water balloon in his hand, smiling at the dripping form of the boy in front of him. Even though his wet hair hung across his face, his smile was bright.
"You win this round Konny, but now it's my turn and you're going down," shouted Naruto, grinning the whole time. He was already pulling out another balloon to fill with water.
Konpaku winced at his nickname. He knew Naruto only gave nicknames to people he liked, but Konny just sounded so much like a girls name. "Hey Naruto, why don't we see if we can get some of your friends from the academy to train with us?"
Naruto's bright grin stayed on his face, but Konpaku could sense that it had changed from a real smile to a forced one. He inwardly sighed as he already knew exactly what Naruto was going to say.
"Nah, they all have family training and stuff like that, they don't have time to play around with me," said Naruto, trying to downplay it all.
Konpaku adopted a look of mock seriousness. "Now Naruto, you know this isn't just playing, this is important tracking, stealth and detection training." Konpaku let his face break out into a big grin. "Just because we're using water balloons instead of kunai doesn't mean this isn't serious business."
Naruto laughed at that before settling down and running off to the nearest public faucet to fill his water balloon. Konpaku followed him, still wanting to get an answer to his earlier question. "So Naruto, why don't you invite one of your classmates to train with us?"
Naruto got a sober look on his face, but Konpaku couldn't see it as Naruto was watching the water balloon fill up. "It's nothing, really, I just don't want to accidentally say or do something that might give away….you know, my secret."
Konpaku sighed, this time out loud. "You know Naruto, when the Hokage and I told you about that, we didn't do it so you would have an excuse to stay away from people."
Naruto's head whipped around, looking at Konpaku with an almost deadly seriousness. "No, you just told me why everyone else stays away from me. If the one thing that's keeping people away from me is something I can't change, then what's the point of even trying? I'll never be able to change enough to satisfy them, not as long as I've got this thing in me." Naruto clenched his free hand over his stomach.
Konpaku actually smiled when he heard this. He had been poking and prodding at Naruto for over a year after he had been told about the fox, trying to figure out how Naruto felt about it. Naruto had been a very private person, removing himself from the rest of society. At first Konpaku had thought it was because that's what Naruto was used to, seeing as how he had been separated from everyone else at the orphanage, so he tried to help Naruto open up. But over the last few months, he had realized that Naruto could open up, if his friendships with the Hokage, the staff at Ichiraku and himself were any indication. The problem was, Naruto didn't allow himself to open up unless a huge amount of effort was put in and most people didn't have the kind of patience needed to deal with it. He had no new friends at school, he hadn't made a single new friend since he moved out of the orphanage and into his apartment. He had even tactfully avoided Hinata after they had been released from the hospital and as far as Konpaku knew, they weren't friends either.
"Naruto, you're wrong," said Konpaku, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He met the boys angry look with one of his own.
"How can you say I'm wrong?" shouted Naruto. "They all hate me, they don't want to know me and nothing I do can change their reason. They hate me because I have IT inside me."
"No Naruto, they don't hate you because you have it inside you," said Konpaku, his voice calm and level. "They hate you because they don't understand you. They hate you because they think it can get out, they hate you because they think it controls you, they hate you because they don't really know you."
Naruto was on the verge of tears by now, struggling to hold onto the anger and hatred, but it was slowly being washed away by a sea of pain, of hurt, of loneliness that had been building up for eight years of neglect and rejection.
Konpaku crouched in front of Naruto, bringing their faces level with each other. "If you take the time and make the effort to show them the real you, then they won't be able to hate you, no matter what. Because right now, you're just hiding behind the fox and that's all anyone sees. But if you make the effort and show them who you really are, then they will have no choice but to ignore the fox and see you, and Naruto, you are someone that no one can hate."
At that simple declaration, Naruto lost what little control he had left and started weeping openly, throwing himself against Konpaku's chest. Konpaku just held him, glad they had finally gotten that out in the open. Now maybe he had a better chance of helping Naruto make some real friends.
…...
Later that night, Konpaku was walking toward the Hokage tower when he ran into a surprisingly familiar individual.
"Ah, hello again, Captain Weasel," said Konpaku, grinning widely. "If you're here for another rematch, I'm afraid I don't have the time. I've been called by the Hokage to attend a meeting."
For his part, the anbu managed to keep the annoyance at his nickname off his face. Ever since that incident a year ago, when he had met the ambassador, he had been testing himself against him, trying to match his own skills with this unknown element. He lost more often than he won, but his wins were starting to come more frequently. "That's quite alright Ambassador Gajin, I've also been called by the Hokage. Let's walk together."
Konpaku smiled at Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, master of the Sharingan eye and head of the anbu black ops. When they had met, Itachi was a captain in the black ops, and when Konpaku learned that his name actually meant weasel, which was the same as his anbu mask, he couldn't help but give him that nickname. Itachi actually took it rather well, giving him his own nickname and demanding to spar with him from time to time. Konpaku had to admit, the boy was good, very good, and likely to get only better. It was no wonder they called him a genius and a prodigy, but like the Hokage had said, it was a lot of weight to bear.
"So, how is that young boy coming along," asked Itachi, starting off the small talk for the evening. "He's one of my brother's classmates, what was his name again?"
"Naruto," answered Konpaku, smiling at the memory of earlier. "He's doing quite well, he actually managed to land a blow on me in training today. Though I he still needs to work on his aim. I always tell him, the first hit should be the last hit, but he doesn't have the aim yet to make that work."
Itachi smiled a little. "Sounds like he might turn out to be a decent ninja. I just hope he has a good instructor for jutsu."
"Yes, that's something that I can't teach him unfortunately. I've been teaching him hand to hand and weapon forms, but all this chakra stuff is still way beyond me."
"I seem to recall that you have your own bag of tricks though. Things that can even match jutsu in their destructive power."
Konpaku smiled softly. "Well, we may not access chakra like you do, but we Hylians have our own tricks. The only problem is, we can't really teach them like you do, every individual has to come up with their own."
"Still, that can be an advantage sometimes. Remember how I reacted when I found out my Sharingan couldn't copy your moves?"
Konpaku couldn't help but chuckle at that memory. "Yes, I remember you being so shocked that I got the first hit in for free. Remember how Gai gave you that lecture about keeping your guard up at all times?"
Itachi just groaned. "I've been trying to forget. That man is a wonderful ninja, but a very strange person."
Just then they both arrived at the Hokage tower. Walking in, they looked around for the usual guards, but tonight there was no one. That was odd in and of itself, but when they saw that the Hokage's secretary was also missing, they knew something was really off. Konpaku slipped a dagger from it's sheath, motioning for Itachi to cover his back. He opened the door to the Hokage's office slowly, noting that the light was on before throwing the door open and charging into the room.
"Mr. Ambassador, we really need to stop meeting like this," said a bandaged man sitting in one of the seats facing the Hokage's desk.
"Yes, it is rather strange that I always get a sense of evil and foreboding around you, Danzo," said Konpaku, sheathing his dagger before walking over to take a seat. Of all the council members that Konpaku had to deal with, Danzo was the worst. His militaristic warmongering was really annoying, especially to Konpaku. He had already caught several of the older mans spies and agents trying to steal information from the embassy, but he could never trace it back to Danzo explicitly. He knew that Danzo resented his very presence in the village since he never stopped talking about how useless alliances with other villages were.
"Konpaku, Itachi, thank you for coming at such a late hour," said the Hokage, looking a little weary this evening. "I'm afraid this is a rather grave situation and since the Ambassador doesn't know anything about it, I think I should take a moment to fill him in on the situation."
Danzo and Itachi both nodded, letting Konpaku know that whatever was going on, they were both in on it together. That thought alone made his skin crawl. The villages number one military genius with more ambition than a whole class of new genin pared with the best ninja in the village short of the legendary three Sannin, who Konpaku had heard about, but never met. If those two were working together on some project, then he didn't even want to think about what kind of things could be done. Between the two of them, they could probably destroy entire villages if they had a mind too.
"About two years ago, Danzo approached me with some information regarding one of the clans of the village. He said he had indications that this clan was planning on a coup. I looked over his findings and gave permission for him to conduct a more thorough investigation. When he came back with more information a year later, I was forced to look into it myself."
Konpaku scowled slightly, his brain already rushing ahead of the conversation. If this was about a clan in the village getting ready to go rouge, then why was he here? This was what most would call an 'internal matter' and he wouldn't even be informed until after it was taken care of. Unless he was some sort of outside observer, someone who's judgment the Hokage trusted, which implicitly meant that he didn't trust the other two sitting in this room. Konpaku suddenly felt very nervous sitting next to Itachi.
"I assigned one of the best anbu in the village to investigate the claims that Danzo was making and if possible bring me a list of the conspirators. Unfortunately, his findings confirmed Danzo's investigation and revealed that the entire clan had knowledge of the plot. Now, we are here to determine what should be done. I have brought you here, Ambassador, because if we go to war with this clan, I believe your people may be the only ones capable of meeting them head on in a fight."
That shocked Konpaku a little. He knew the clans of the Leaf Village pretty well after eight years of living among them and he honestly didn't think there was any one clan that tough. Every clan had it's own style that had advantages and disadvantages and unless you could combine all of the styles together, you'd be at a huge disadvantage taking on the whole village with a single clan. "May I ask, Lord Hokage, which clan is it?"
The Hokage looked even more somber for a moment before looking directly into Konpaku's eyes. "It is the Uchiha clan."
Konpaku was shocked senseless for a moment before he almost violently reacted. "That's utterly insane! They're the village's police force, why in the world would they try to take over the village? They've sworn to protect it both from without and from within for the goddess' sake."
The Hokage sighed, closing his eyes as though to ward off a headache. "I'm afraid this is partially my doing. It is legend in the Leaf Village that the founder of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, could use the Sharingan eye to control the nine-tailed fox. After the fox's attack eight years ago, a rumor circulated around the village that the Uchiha were responsible. Because of it, they were shunned, feared and rejected wherever they went. Even though they were still a respected and powerful clan, they were forced to move to a new section of town further away from the important parts as a security measure. At first they were assured it would simply be temporary, but as time passed, it became normal. This fear and mistrust has pushed the clan into madness. They are planning on taking over the village and Itachi here knows the whole plan."
Itachi nodded somberly. "I'm afraid my father is the person who came up with the plan. He expects me to have a leading role in it, even going so far as to have me kill another in the clan to unlock the hidden power of my Sharingan. My clan is too far gone now, there's nothing left worth saving. They are drunk with delusions. They believe in their own superiority so much that the very thought of defeat does not even enter their minds. They are sure that no matter what they do, they cannot lose, and because of that, any negotiations will fail immediately. Indeed, trying to negotiate at all, even letting them know that we know what they plan, will only cause them to attack now instead of later. I am afraid that unless something can be done, there will be civil war in the Leaf Village."
"And that is why I have one hundred Root agents ready and waiting for the order to strike," said Danzo, finally contributing to the conversation. "We cannot afford to wait another moment. Give me the order and the Uchiha clan will be dead by morning."
Konpaku couldn't believe what he was hearing. His mind was still trying to grasp what was being said, what was being considered. Suddenly, his brain latched onto something and he couldn't help but bring it up. "Wait a moment," he said, turning to Itachi. "So all that sparring, all those times you said you wanted to test my strength, you were just trying to see if the Hylians could beat the Uchiha, weren't you?"
The Hokage raised a hand to keep Itachi from answering. "That was done under my orders, Mr. Ambassador. We had to know which of our allies to call on in case of a full blown war with the Uchihas. Please, do not hold it against Itachi. He told me he was your friend and that you sparred from time to time and I asked him to evaluate your combat abilities."
Konpaku groaned slightly before putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in all at once. The things we're discussing are horrible. Our only choices seem to be either genocide or civil war."
The Hokage closed his eyes again, this time to try to control the tears which were forming. "It is a sad thing, but we are beyond certain that the Uchiha will not negotiate. We must either take action now and try to control the damage or we must prepare for a long and arduous war that will leave us vulnerable to attack by other nations."
In the seat next to Itachi, Danzo smirked softly at the Hokage's words. He knew the Hokage would have no choice but to order the extermination of the Uchiha clan and he would be ready with his Root operatives to kill the men, take the children and train them into his own personal fighting force and maybe even capture a few of the women to breed up a new generation later on. With such a force behind him, he was confident that his ascension to Hokage would be assured this time. All he needed was the go ahead from the current Hokage and that was nearly assured.
"Lord Hokage, I have a request," said Itachi, startling Danzo out of his thoughts.
"You may ask it," said the Hokage, wondering what his top ninja might want.
"Please, allow me to destroy the clan."
Konpaku almost jumped out of his chair. "What the hell? Are you insane, Itachi, that's your family."
"It has to be done, Konpaku, and as a member of that clan, it is my responsibility to make sure that it causes no harm to the Leaf Village. I am the heir to the Uchiha clan and so it falls to me to take responsibility for it's mistakes," said Itachi, his voice strong, his face completely sober and emotionless. "My only request is that my clans disgrace is never known. I will flee the village and become a rouge ninja, but I ask that my clans honor at least remain intact."
Internally, Danzo was panicking. If the Hokage allowed it, then his chance to get his hands on the Uchiha power may be lost forever. He had to do something and quickly before the Hokage had the time to agree to this ridiculous proposal. "You are only one man, you cannot possibly take on the entire clan yourself. It would be better to send in my Root members."
Itachi just smiled coldly. "If it becomes known that the Uchiha clan was exterminated by anbu, then people will want to know why and my clans disgrace will be made public. I'm just asking for a chance. If I fail, then the clan will not blame you and you will have a chance to finish them off later. But if I succeed, then no one need ever know why my clan had to die."
Konpaku was twisting up in knots inside. He felt sick, confused and a hundred other emotions that he couldn't seem to put a name too. Then, quite suddenly, he had an idea. It was a cruel, nasty, dangerous and insane idea, but it just might work. "Lord Hokage, I think you should let Itachi try," he said, shocking everyone in the room. "He is correct about one thing. They still don't know he's been working for you. Even if he doesn't kill the whole clan, they won't know why he's killing them and that may shake them a little. Besides, if he kills enough, maybe they'll realize that they're not invincible and call off the attack."
The Hokage was surprised to see Konpaku actually advocating this, but he figured that he really had no choice in the matter. "Very well, Itachi, you have permission to try. If you succeed, I will declare you a rouge ninja and you will have 48 hours before I send the anbu after you. I hope you make the most of that time. While you are gone though, I do hope that you will still secretly protect the village from the outside, just as you have done all your life from the inside."
Itachi rose from his chair, already thinking about what would need to be done to prepare for this mission. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. You have my word that no matter what happens, I will defend the village with my life. By tomorrow morning, you will know if I have succeeded or failed. Goodnight gentlemen." Itachi vanished in classic anbu style, leaving the rest of them to finish the meeting.
"If you will excuse me, Lord Hokage, I get the feeling that tonight may be a good night to stay in the embassy. With your permission, I'll take my leave." Konpaku then departed in his own fashion, appearing inside of his embassy for a moment before running up the stairs to his private room. Inside, he opened an armoire and began to remove various pieces of armor. They were more rigid and sturdy than normal ninja armor, but also heavier and in some cases they restricted maneuverability. Konpaku was used to this, however, and he knew that tonight, he would need to cast aside the veil of politician and fully embrace the warrior he had been and still was. He looked longingly at his shield for a moment before placing it back inside the armoire. As much as he would have liked to use it, he knew that he couldn't afford any identifying features tonight, and a shield with the crest of Hyrule on it would stick out too much. Draping a cloak over his body to hide his armor and weapons, he turned toward the window and took off into the night, ready to put his plan into action.
…...
In another part of the village, Itachi was going over his own preparations. He strapped his anbu armor on piece by piece, slowly letting his emotions take over. He had found that if he let his emotions out while preparing for a mission, it was easier to suppress those emotions during the actual mission itself. And so, for what he figured was the last time, he let his emotions out, gave them full reign as he slowly prepared for what would probably be the most difficult mission of his life. It was a little difficult since the tears blurred his vision but he knew that he needed to purge himself of all emotions now or else he wouldn't be able to do this mission.
Itachi picked up his anbu mask, looking at it almost forlornly. He had been through a lot while wearing this mask. For each mission in the anbu, it had been more than a mask, it had been his identity, his alternate persona, the person he could become while on missions, then take off and put away while at home. Tonight though, he would need to become that person again, but this time without the mask. He needed people to see his face, he needed them to know that it was Itachi Uchiha that slaughtered the Uchiha clan. Even though he had addressed the possibility of failure with the Hokage, he knew that with his evolved Sharingan he would not fail. He would kill them all and then he would run. He would keep running for the rest of his life, sacrificing his freedom and his happiness to make sure that his clan died with honor at least instead of as the traitors he knew they really were.
Itachi tossed the mask aside, not really caring where it fell before picking up his sword. It was a fairly standard ninjato, but like his mask it had served him well for years now and he wanted to bring it with him. He quickly and expertly strapped it to his back, adjusting it slightly before walking out the door of the shrine he had been preparing in. It seemed fitting to him that he would prepare for his clans extinction in the clans secret gathering place, the same place where they had planned the destruction of the Leaf Village. Stepping into the cool night air, he looked up at the full moon, taking one last deep breath to compose himself before vanishing toward the Uchiha complex.
At least, that had been the idea. Before he could move, before he could even let out the breath he had been holding, a sharp, searing pain shot through his body. A hand reached around from behind him, gripping his mouth, holding back his cry of surprise and agony. His brain registered that he wasn't hit in a vital spot, but the pain was intense and it took most of his training to keep from blacking out. He tried to turn to see his attacker, but the hand across his face prevented him from doing so. A second later, the attacker identified himself when he whispered into Itachi's ear.
"Sorry Itachi, but I can't let you do this," said Konpaku, twisting the dagger slightly in his friends back. "I know you want the clans honor to remain intact, and this way, it will, but you won't have to suffer for it. Now, I'm going to move my hand, but you have to promise not to scream, okay?"
Itachi nodded a little before the hand came off his mouth. "W-why are you doing this?"
Konpaku smiled a little, even though he knew Itachi couldn't see him. "I told you already, I can't let you ruin your whole life just to save the reputation of your clan. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell if you won't. Tonight, the Uchiha clan will meet a mysterious fate. No one will ever know exactly what happened, but you at least will have one hell of an alibi. If you say that it was me, then people will want to know why and then your clans honor will be ruined. Don't worry though, I won't leave any evidence that it was me. Now then, before I go, any requests?"
Itachi tried to move his legs, tried to do something, but the attack from behind had hit a pressure point and his legs felt numb and heavy. "Please, spare my brother. He's innocent in all of this, he doesn't know about the clans plan. I was going to leave him as the only witness to my crime, so please, don't kill him."
Konpaku nodded softly. "It'll make things a little more difficult, but consider it done. Now then, all I need are some of your kunai, and we'll be all set." He reached into Itachi's pouch, pulling out two kunai before gently laying Itachi on the ground. "I can't exactly kill the whole clan with my own weapons, they're a little too distinctive in a ninja village. And since you're the only person who knows my fighting style, no one else in the whole village will know it was me. I know that anbu patrols don't usually come by the Uchiha clan since they're the police force, but luckily for you this shrine is right on the boarder. If you manage to crawl a few blocks away, you should be found and taken to the hospital and by that time, my job will be done." With all that said, Konpaku vanished, leaving a stunned and bleeding Itachi to start his crawl toward the center of town.
…...
By the next morning, the news had swept the village. The elite Uchiha clan was massacred, the Uchiha prodigy was in the hospital badly wounded and even his younger brother had been injured, though he would survive. It was a terrible shock to the villagers as most of them worried for their own safety. If the Uchiha clan could be wiped out in a night by some mysterious enemy, then how could they know for certain that they were not in danger. The Hokage had tried to help placate the fears of the people, announcing that the incident was being investigated by the very best, but everyone knew that the very best investigators in the village were laying on cold slabs in the morgue awaiting autopsy. So far, the only thing certain was that every victim had died of precise and almost instantly fatal kunai wounds. Even the Uchiha brothers were unable to testify about what had happened as they were both still unconscious. As the months rolled on and no new developments had been made, the people slowly forgot their fears and eventually life returned to normal in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
And cut. So, once again, thins are starting to diverge even more from the original. For those who were concerned about the NaruHina stuff happening too fast, no need to worry about that. Even if Naruto is a tinny bit smarter than before, that's only because he's actually got someone paying attention to him. He's still an oblivious idiot, as you will start to see in the next chapter. Until then, hope you've enjoyed it.