A Wary Future

A Wary Future

Four, bronze colored, snake-like eyes peered into the sun for the first time in six years; the first time since Sasuke's betrayal. For all those years, the memory of Sasuke and what he had done formed the solid glare of determination behind those serpentine orbs. Now, finally, he was strong enough, safe enough to come out of his hole. Finally, he could rebuild what had been destroyed, take what had been stolen and maybe, just maybe, he could have revenge on the avenger.

Despite his strength and determination, Kabuto could not withstand the merciless sun that he had been so long without and he suspected his companion couldn't either.

"It's okay Mira, we'll get used to it again." He consoled his only friend.

Wiping tears away from his face, he stepped out of what for too many years had been home, one of the many secret hideouts that served as Orochimaru's safe house network. The sun felt like fire on his skin. In reality there were only ten of these maximum security safe houses, each being able to house only ten people. This one only housed one person. Kabuto and, always by his side, Mira, a coral snake that was firmly wrapped around her owners arm were the sole inhabitants of the shelter for six years. In it, Kabuto had studies the amassed works of Orochimaru and himself. He gained knowledge and skill previously unimaginable. He was certain he had surpassed Tsunade in medical techniques. There were only two people who knew about these hideouts, Kabuto and the Uchiha. Remembering this hideout was the only way Kabuto could have survived the madness that erupted after Orochimaru's death.

Kabuto kept the memory of That Day close to him. He relived it when opened his eyes in the morning until he opened his eyes the next morning. There was no in-between time. He had just left to bring the herbs for the post-procedure nausea Orochimaru would feel in a new body, Sasuke's body. When he heard the struggle down the hall, he thought it was just the pain of switching bodies. How was he supposed to know the technique could be fought off?

Foolishly, Kabuto had waited until the struggle had ended. Orochimaru did not like to be seen in a weakened state, a true warrior. When the servant and medic-nin finally slid the door open, he was standing eye to sharingan eye with…someone.

"Which one are you?" He had asked

"Which one do you think I am?" Sasuke's voice replied

He should have known from then, but he couldn't imagine that Sasuke could have won. In the end, he should have known, but didn't. Either way it would have been too late. He couldn't defeat the Uchiha, not yet. Before he could congratulate his master on his new body, he found himself staring into the dark abyss of the sharingan eyes. When his vision came back into focus, he was greeted by the form of his master, trapped in his own dimension. It only lasted maybe a second, but the sharingan always did mess with time. It seemed like forever that Sasuke gloated over his victory. Finally he came back to the real world and saw Sasuke's figure retreating while his useless paralyzed form stared watching.

By the time he recovered, Sasuke was long gone. Besides, by then he had bigger problems.

"Sorry Mira. It was an accident." He had unconsciously been clenching his fist.

Mira knew it was an accident. She had spent enough time with him to know when he was remembering. After the first year, she stopped biting him and he worked even harder not to hurt her. He would have gone crazy without her and she would have died without him. They both knew it, but neither ever brought it up. It made him remember again.

o-O-o

Hanabi's penetrating eyes analyzed the face in front of her. Most of it was calm, controlled and ready for anything; the skin was not tight, but smooth. No sign of tension, no sign of any betrayal, but then there was the eyes. The eyes were the portal to the soul and with the Byakugan, Hanabi saw the fear deep within them. With the fear came anger and Hanabi knew that when someone was afraid and angry, all hell could break lose. Despite what she knew, she tried to conceal her thoughts from the subject of her analysis. She was getting better at it too.

She saw those eyes everyday, sometimes twice a day, always full of fear and anger and sometimes contempt. Hanabi was getting used to it although she could find no solid plan to get rid of them.

Turning away from the mirror, the Hyuga Clan leader finished dressing and went to breakfast. Certain that she was the only one who could look into her eyes, Hanabi sat at the head of the table with complete calm and confidence. She knew that every pair of eyes would be watching her, they always were. They were the same people who got her the position she was in. They made her the leader of the most powerful clan in the world. The least she could do was handle the responsibility that came with the power.

When the branch member finally arrived with her bowl of steamed rice and miso soup, Hanabi picked up her chopsticks and slowly, respectfully began eating. Each clump of rice that was brought to her mouth was swallowed five times, swallowed and given three seconds to settle before another clump was swallowed. So far so good. All she had to do was get through the meal and maybe they would trust her to do what was right.

She had made a mistake once, at her inauguration. She was supposed to keep her eyes open through the entire ceremony, signifying that she would be vigilant to the clans needs. She had blinked. They had seen. It was then that she realized just how much responsibility she had been given. She did everything she could to calm the minds of the elders, even branding her sister with the caged bird seal without showing hesitation. It was the least she could do. They were smarter than her. They must have had a good reason. Since then, she had done a good job mostly because she did what her father always said. She listened to her elders.

Now sixteen, Hanabi did not regret what she had done. She would not have gotten the backing of the elders if she did not. Besides, Hinata was not cut out for this kind of life. Hanabi was the strong one, she told herself that everyday, so it must be true. Seeing her chopsticks shift she told herself once more, right before one of the grains of rice fell. Her eyes caught the beauty in simplicity. She noticed the pearly white of the grain as well as the light shadow cast by the overhead lights. The air between the grain parted while it sped to the table, the flawless table with a tightly weaved tablecloth, intricate designs coursed over its entirety, but not on the spot. The spot was where the grain would land. She had calculated that a few milliseconds ago and it didn't seem to be changing course. Then it landed, rolled two centimeters and stopped.

Her heart froze. They didn't act like they noticed but they must have. They saw everything. Needing to keep up the act of calm, Hanabi continued eating but her thoughts never left the grain of rice that everyone saw.

o-O-o

Old weary eyes looked down once more to the week old medical files. Tsunade would not last very long. Although she was technically in her fifties, the amount of cellular regeneration she had undergone made her closer to her late eighties. The only reason she had lasted as long as she had was because of her training. She could even have lasted longer. Ironically, maintaining her constant genjutsu of youth added to her age due to stress and constant use of chakra.

Danzo lifted his eyes. He was not supposed to have seen this. A lot of the things he saw were things he should not see, but they found their way to him eventually. Shizune had procrastinated on burning this long enough to use a copying jutsu that the late Sai invented.

As always, Danzo weighed the implications of this information thoroughly. The opportunities were obviously endless. Tsunade's reign nearly cripple the village on multiple occasions. It had been a miracle that he could pull as many strings as he had from behind the scenes, a miracle and years of practice. There were also many prominent choices for Hokage when she did die. Yes, so many benefit of her death, especially a quiet, natural cause.

But Danzo knew Tsunade never did things quietly. She would be a thorn in the villages' side even after she died. He had learnt to read her twenty years before. She would spend her last breath paving the way for Uzumaki to become Hokage.

"Over my dead body." Danzo mumbled

"What was that, sir?" His constant guard asked

"Nothing." It was rare that Danzo let his thought escape through his mouth, but this time it was understandable. Naruto Uzumaki caused two of the three major catastrophes of this generation and that was if you believed that the kyuubi attack wasn't his fault. Konoha was still recovering from the second and third Akatsuki attacks.

Being a smart man, Danzo could see that none of that was Naruto's fault. The problem was that the now-united populace saw him as Kyuubi. No, Danzo's problem with the boy was not the Kyuubi, although he would always think it would have been better if he were killed at birth. The real problem with Naruto was that he was an idiot. There was a time when, to become a genin, you had to take an I.Q test. Of course, like in the civilian populace, the stupid ones were the strongest.

Despite all of his problems with Sarutobi's policies, Danzo also recognized that the man was a scholar. He could handle diplomatic situations, manage paperwork and put on a public face for the village. Even his reluctance to show aggression was good for something. The only thing remotely good about Tsunade's leadership was that it stopped Jiraiya from being Hokage and sometimes he wondered about that. Jiraiya may have been as dumb as a rock but he knew when to be smart. That part of Tsunade's brain had been killed by copious amounts of alcohol. She could only think of one thing at a time, and until she stopped breathing, she would think of Naruto as the next Hokage.

Taking one last look at the file, Danzo stood up and began his work. He had an idea of who the next Hokage should be. The big problem was convincing him to take the job. The small problem would be making him Hokage.

o-O-o

Kabuto reached the closest Den close to dawn. He should have gotten there much sooner, but when midday came, the sun was just too heavy on him. After so many years in the dark, his skin had become deathly pale and was very sensitive to light. That problem would stop eventually, especially with the amount of outdoor trekking he was doing. The sun wasn't good for Mira either. She didn't make a fuss, but he knew she was used to the cold damp safe house. He was proud of her bravery, but didn't want her to be hurt. She would adapt but until then, he would need to find as much shade as he could.

As far as he could see, the Den was average. It was moderately concealed and underground. There were about one hundred of these Dens spread out around the Sound with a few more hidden ones in both Lightning and Fire country. Each was supposed to hold up to seven hundred, although many held more. They were supposed to be like neighborhoods in a village, but without leadership, they had turned into more like province; provinces that needed to be united once more. Kabuto walked closer to the Den. He shouldn't have found it so easily. There were supposed to be some genjutsu around it. He told himself that the inhabitants had just gotten lazy. Its opening was a set of shallow stairs that made their way to a flat wall that only a specific set of hand seals would open. Once again, Kabuto's past as the right hand of Orochimaru came in handy. Forming ten seals, he watched the wall seemingly dissolve into a walkway.

Kabuto stepped in and traversed the halls, knowing them like the back of his hand. There should have been some guards watching the entrance, but he did not see anyone so far. That made him more wary. Holding Mira closer to his body, he walked on at a slower pace. There were ways he could seal her into an object to make her safer, but when he tried earlier, he knew she didn't like it. He promised never to do it again. Pushing his past mistakes behind him, Kabuto walked on.

Then he saw what he expected, but hoped not to see, the first of many blood splotches. In the center of this one was a dent in the wall made by some kind of blade. He walked on and confirmed his original suspicions. There was no one here, no one alive anyways. As he got closer to the center of the Den, the bodies littering the walkway grew in numbers. Some of them were obviously ninja. Others were children and even harmless animals.

The center of the Den was outlined by a crater nearly fifty feet in diameter. He would have been slightly worried if there were not two bodies spread across the room instead of one. Some sort of suicide attack.

After Orochimaru's death all hell broke loose. In a matter of days nearly all the prisons and holding cells had been destroyed. Many inmates had decided to kill each other, but more decided that their revenge should be taken out on innocents and Sound ninja. Without Orochimaru, there was no way to hold back their use of the curse seal. It was a disaster. But as bad as that was, it had not caused the massacre in this Den. None of these bodies had curse seals on them. No, this was caused by power hungry officials. Everyone seemed to think it was their right to rule after their master's death.

Kabuto had been wise enough to go into hiding without trying to claim his rightful place. They would not be swayed by the simple logic that he was Orochimaru-sama's right hand. The more logical his argument was, the more likely it was it was to get him killed. He wasn't strong back then, not compared to those freaks. He had grown some of them himself. They were made to kill. They were genetically modified and tested to get the best out of them. Needless to say, they were not all sane.

A few things had changed since then. There were fewer of them, for one. They were still crazy and still strong, but now Kabuto was just as strong and he had the upper hand. He had transferred the mastery of the curse seal from Orochimaru's remains to himself. If he could find Juugo, Kabuto might find a way to remove the seal, whether they liked it or not. There were other things that he did to ensure his victory.

Long ago he promised himself that he would not go to Orochimaru's extent of genetic reconstruction and so far, he had done only minor changes. As a ninja who used to need glasses, perfect vision along with thermal imaging was too good to waste. Neither was the ability to shed skin. He would live for a good seventy years before signs of aging, and that was only if he couldn't improve on Orochimaru's goals.

It was going to be a hard task, but he would help the Sound village shed its skin and become greater than what it used to be. This Den was devoid of life, but not all of them would be. The ninja of the sound were survivors. They were alive somewhere. All he had to do was find and unite them.

"Let's go Mira. We have work to do."

o-O-o

Breakfast had gone by without any further disgraces and Hanabi put on a front of a good mood. She had to. She was meeting with Hado, one of the Elders. He had another problem with the branch members. Her father had told her all about the dangers of the branch family. As a child, he told her the story of the noble Kaguya clan that was overthrown by their branch members. After just one year of infighting, the few main branch members left were placed in cages like dogs and only let out to fight. Hanabi would not be responsible for letting something like that happen. She would get submission by all mean necessary.

Hyuga Hado thought on similar lines. He had brought about several laws that would ensure the clans safety. Random searches of branch homes were a small price to pay for ensuring the safety of the most powerful clan in the world. Anyone who disagreed could be punished.

"Good morning Hanabi-sama. I trust your breakfast was well." Hado said, his head bowed in respect.

"Yes it was very good. What have they gone and done now?" Hanabi asked, trying to ignore the itch telling her he knew about what happened at breakfast.

"Good, straight to business. Your father would be proud. It's not really what they have done that bothers me. It's what they haven't done. With so many restrictions on them, I expected a small amount of resistance." Hado said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"They aren't foolish enough to try anything. They know we control them." Hanabi said, finally with sincerity.

"Be that as it may, we must be wary. There is a story you may have heard of, the 'Kaguya Rebellion'" Hado began.

"Yes, my father told me the story when I was young." Hanabi was glad to show her knowledge.

"The Kaguya were overthrown because of years of complacency. They believed they were safe and that ensured their destruction. We must keep an eye on them. Your cousin Neji has already learnt classified techniques. If he were to attack you, do you think you could form the protective seal before he killed you?" Hado cautioned her.

She wanted to say that she could defeat her cousin, but she knew the truth. He had years of experience and was an ANBU squad leader. Hanabi had only recently become a chunin. If he wanted her dead, she would die. The only solace she had was that he wouldn't do something like that. She was his cousin after all.

o-O-o

Even though he had been through it countless times before, the screams always got to him. He had been told by several women that a man could never understand the pain of childbirth. From the sound of it, they were right. An extra blood curdling scream almost made him lose his calm exterior, but he somehow managed to handle it. The first time had not been as good. He threw up on one of the doctors and was sent out of the ward.

This time, he was determined to see his son…or daughter as soon as possible. Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting and hoping, the screams where replaced by the softer wails of a baby. In reality, the cries of a baby are one of the most annoying sounds ever made, but when those cries signal that the baby can breathe you ignore the minor inconvenience.

Minutes past before he got the okay from the doctor. He tentatively walked into the operation room, trying not to look at the mucus and placenta being cleaned off the ground. He focused on the smiling figure of Kinia. She had produced his first child three years ago and he was grateful to her. He could not imagine anyone wanting to go through that more than once. She was one of his favorite wives. In her arms, she held a beautiful girl. She already had dark wisps of hair and from what he could tell, there were no blemishes or deformities.

Before letting joy overflow him, like he had done once before, he looked over to his first wife. She was the chief doctor and if anything was wrong with this child, she would use her special medical jutsu to find out about it. Lately she had been shaking her head after a birth more often, instead of a smile to say everything was fine. There was just something wrong with their blood sometimes. It couldn't be fixed. It couldn't be changed. All he could do then was say goodbye before it was taken away. He did not know how many more times he could handle that sadness, and just waiting to hear a yes or no drove him crazy every time.

He did not have to worry this time. He got a smile broader than ever and all was well. He did not have to say goodbye. This was not just some child. This was his daughter. He could name her.

"Kina." He said, tears of joy springing out and rolling down his face. He was overwhelmed with pride and safely let his joy show.

"Uchiha Kina."