Hidden Leaf Village, Land Of Fire, Elemental Nations.
"Tou-chan, C'mon!" Naruto shouted as he rushed ahead and I hurried after him.
"Slow down, Naruto! We'll get to Ramen Ichiraku, but please be patient," I stated as I managed to catch up.
"Brat certainly has a shit ton of energy," I heard the Fox remark dryly and I chuckled softly.
"Yeah...he's definitely something alright," I thought back to him fondly as Naruto and I arrived at the restaurant.
When we entered the restaurant, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame smiled when they saw us.
"Ah! Alex and Naruto. How are you two this evening? Same order as last time?" Teuchi asked eagerly.
"Of course. Thank you," I said.
"No problem. One miso ramen and one pork ramen coming up," Teuchi declared with a hearty grin and he went into the kitchen to make us our orders.
Two more years had passed since I saved Hinata Hyuga, and I have spent them completing missions as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. Throughout these two years as a shinobi, I had been completing missions that went from D-rank to S-rank, and I have gained the title 'The Shadow Of Death' due to my ability in accomplishing assassination missions without being seen and was placed on the Bingo Book as an S-rank bounty with either kill or flee on sight orders. As for Naruto, he had been pranking to keep his spirits up and even though I should've stopped him, I let Naruto keep doing it for two reasons. One is that it keeps him happy and it cheers him up whenever things get too stressful, and I just couldn't frown upon something harmless that made him happy. Second is that it was a surprisingly excellent training method to prepare him for whenever he decides to enter the academy. When I once explained this to Naruto, he probably redoubled his efforts in pranks. If he could continue to come up with ingenious pranks and mischievous plans, targeting only shinobi and able to escape the shinobi, he would become a master of escape. Not to mention it would seriously improve his stealth if he was able to stay unseen by shinobi while wearing such a bright color like orange.
And it allowed his more imaginative and creative spirit to run amuck, something all shinobi would need in combat. I didn't doubt that because of his prankster ways, he would become a brilliant tactician as a shinobi.
"So Tou-chan, do you think I would become Hokage?" Naruto inquired after our ramen was finished cooking and we started eating.
"Well, son. If you want to become Hokage, you would need to work really hard for it. The Hokage is known as the wisest and most experienced, and they know virtue, honor, wisdom, and are most skilled in jutsu and combat. When you do enter the academy, do you know what area you want to specialize in?" I asked and Naruto tilted his head while looking at me curiously.
"Huh?" Naruto inquired in confusion.
"Okay, let me explain. There are different types of shinobi that range from tracker, frontal assault, defenders, strategists, and many more. To become Hokage, you have to start off small and work your way up. So, have you thought about what kind of career you want to start off?" I asked again and Naruto looked uncertain.
"Um...well...no," Naruto replied hesitantly and I placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly.
"Don't worry, kiddo. You have a whole two years to think about it so take your time in making a decision, though my opinion is that you would be great in frontal assault," I assured him.
"Hmm...I dunno. What do the Hokages do?" Naruto asked me.
"They're mostly frontal attackers in general, but the Fourth Hokage was great in support as well...I suppose it doesn't really matter, does it?" I answered him while I frowned at his question and took it into consideration.
After we were done with eating, I paid Teuchi and we started heading back home just as it was getting dark. As we passed the Uchiha compound, I stopped at the front gates when I caught a powerful coppery scent and I could've sworn I heard a scream coming from somewhere inside the compound.
"Tou-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto questioned as I realized that the scent was blood and I tensed up.
I didn't say anything but just put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, using the Body Flicker Technique to transport us to the inside of our apartment. I knelt down right in front of him with my hands on his shoulders.
"Naruto, listen to me very carefully. There is something very bad happening tonight and I need to investigate what's going on. Stay inside the apartment and do not go outside for any reason," I instructed with a serious expression.
"Why, Tou-chan? What's happening?" Naruto asked me nervously.
"I can't explain, but I really need you to stay here. If you hear someone knocking on the front door, don't open it unless you are absolutely sure it's me. Remember the passphrase I taught you if something bad happens?" I asked him.
"Hai...the passphrase is Rangers lead the way," Naruto recited and I nodded.
"Exactly. Always remember that whenever something happens and if someone knocks on the door, ask them for the passphrase. If the person doesn't say it or doesn't know what you are talking about, then do not open the door, understand?" I asked and Naruto nodded.
I stood up and body flickered back to the Uchiha compound, heading to the front gates and cautiously entering the compound as I pulled out my Kimber Custom. I kept my gun raised, moving through the compound and checking corners, turning onto a street and freezing up at the horrific sight before me.
"Oh my fucking God..." I breathed out in a combination of shock, horror, and disbelief as I saw the carnage before me.
The street was littered with bodies and soaked with blood, the liquid covering the streets and the building walls in a morbid canvas. Seeing the Kuni and other weapons on the ground, I deduced that these poor bastards put up one hell of a fight before being slaughtered.
"Christ...this is a massacre. What the hell happened and how did it happen without anyone noticing?" I thought and the Fox spoke up.
"I don't know but stay alert...I'm sensing a familiar chakra and it's making me want to tear someone apart," the Fox notified me tensely.
I kept moving until I found myself at the front of the military police headquarters and I saw a figure with long black spiky hair, wearing an orange spiral mask with one eye hole. I saw the man was about to execute a woman wrapped in chains with a Kuni and I aimed at him.
"Freeze! Drop the weapon and keep your hands where I can see them!" I announced sternly and just as the man went to look at me, I flinched when the Fox started shouting.
"Don't make eye contact! Look away, now!" the Fox demanded urgently with a little bit of fear in his voice.
"Who is that? Do you know him?" I questioned as I kept myself from making eye contact.
"That's Madara Uchiha! He's the fucking bastard who ripped me from Kushina and forced me to nearly destroy the village with his damn Sharingan! You are a Tailed Beast like me, so he can control you if he wanted to!" the Fox informed me with rage and hatred in his voice.
I was instantly on guard since I knew now that I had the weakness of being controlled by that man.
"Well, what do we have here? I can sense the Nine-Tails chakra coming from you but you aren't a Jinchuriki. Who are you?" the masked man questioned in a deep and powerful voice.
"I won't tell you again! Drop the weapon and let her go or I will use lethal force! This is your last warning!" I warned the man and he chuckled.
"This is unexpected, but how fortunate that we just happen to encounter each other on this night. You've made my job easy...oh well, I'll just have to get the Jinchuriki after you are in my custody," the masked man stated as he turned to me and my eyes narrowed since I knew that he was talking about Naruto.
"Stop! I will shoot!" I threatened the man but he ignored me.
"You are coming with me, Nine-Tails!" the man stated and he shockingly vanished in a split-second.
"What the fuck?! So fast!" I thought in disbelief.
"Alex, Move!" the Fox instructed just as the man appeared right in front of me to grab me.
Thinking fast, I called upon my chakra and the man was sent flying back by the explosion of power that erupted from me. Instantly, my eyes turned red with slit pupils, my nails and teeth turned razor sharp, and I dashed over and grabbed the girl in chains, carefully slinging her over my shoulder and rushing to the entrance. I knew that I had to get this girl to safety and keep my distance from this man since he could teleport in a second to grab me. The good thing was that my chakra could be felt across the village, so reinforcements of every on-duty ANBU and shinobi would be fast approaching this location at top speed.
"You can't escape me, Nine-Tails!" the masked man declared as he appeared right in front of me unexpectedly.
"Shit!" I exclaimed in panic and I fired my gun with one shot.
I was terrified when the bullet went through the man's center of mass like he was intangible and I flipped over the man to prevent being grabbed.
"Fuck! My gun is useless against him! What the hell do I do?!" I thought frantically.
"Just run!" the Fox ordered just as a Kuni came flying at the masked man's head.
The Kuni connected but it passed through the man's head just as multiple ANBU landed in the area and rushed at the masked man, forcing him to retreat by disappearing in a warped space that appeared around him.
"This isn't over," the man vowed as he vanished and I took the time to let out a shaky breath I was holding in.
I withdrew my chakra just as I was freeing the woman and I looked at the black ops operatives, who were looking around and spreading out into pairs so that they could investigate the compound.
"Something tells me that man will be back," I thought grimly as the woman was being checked out by medic-nin.
After being checked out by medic-nin, I was taken to Hiruzen so that I could explain what had happened for me to resort to using my chakra and I told him everything.
"So, someone wearing a mask was about to execute a woman and you tried to get him to surrender, but he didn't comply. The man attacked you and your weapon didn't work on him so you were forced to retreat because of the woman and that's when you had to use your chakra to get the woman to safety, correct?" Hiruzen asked as we were inside the hospital and heading to the room that the survivors of the Uchiha massacre were staying in.
"Yeah, but he knew what I was just by looking at me. I don't know who that man was but he somehow got into the village and killed nearly every member of the Uchiha Clan without anyone noticing. How the hell is that possible?" I wondered and I saw Hiruzen looking like he was hiding something, which made me question him.
"That look on your face...do you know something? Please Hiruzen, if you know how this happened, then tell me," I persuaded him and Hiruzen sighed as we approached the hospital room and I saw Danzo Shimura, and the other clan heads.
"Alex. It is good to see you, though I wish it were under better circumstances," Hiashi greeted and I bowed my head in return.
"Same here, Lord Hiashi," I replied somberly as Hiruzen gestured everyone to follow him.
We all went into the room next to the Uchihas' room and Hiruzen put up privacy seals.
"What I am about to tell all of you must not leave this room. Only Alex, the Elder Council, and the Shinobi Council are to be aware of this. Since the Uchiha were accused of the Nine-Tails attack five years ago, they have been losing popularity and power among all groups within the village, excluding the civilians who trusted them as their law enforcement. Not only that, but after the Hyuga affair two years ago, some have been making rumors that the Uchiha helped the rogue cloud ninja as a way of weakening their greatest rival clan. There was no evidence to make this anything more than a vicious rumor, but it still had an effect," Hiruzen explained.
"And so, with their power weakening, the Uchiha Clan made a decision. They planned a Coup d'etat against the Hidden Leaf Village," Danzo continued and we all widened our eyes in shock.
"No way! Why the hell would Fugaku allow such a thing?! There is no way the Uchiha could win against the whole village!" Choza half-yelled in disbelief.
"Unfortunately, the Uchiha had felt that they were driven into a corner. I had been in negotiations with them to try and make them see reason, but I could not give them what they wanted; namely a much larger influence in the village, seniority over the other clans, and Alex himself," Hiruzen stated, causing me to look at him with wide eyes.
"What?! They wanted me?" I questioned in shock.
"Yes. They felt that as the Nine-Tails' legacy, you were responsible for the actions of the old one and by extension, the beginning of their steadily decreasing power. They wanted you as a weapon to rebuild their power and naturally, we refused," Danzo answered as he patted my shoulder with his good arm.
"So, what exactly happened tonight?" Inoichi asked.
"What happened was that one of the few loyalist Uchiha; Itachi Uchiha, took it upon himself to save the village from the Uchiha Coup. He did this by massacring the entire clan, and we also know from Alex's testimony that he had an unknown accomplice helping him. Only Mikoto, Izumi, and Sasuke were spared and that was because of Alex and the ANBU's intervention, forcing Itachi and the masked accomplice to retreat. Itachi and his accomplice have since fled the village and we have our best ANBU in pursuit, but the chances of capturing them, alive or dead, is nil at this point," Hiruzen answered with a hollow tone as he looked out the window with a grim expression.
Everyone just stared silently at the floor and I started thinking about this whole tragedy. The Uchiha planned to use me as a weapon but I couldn't hate them or curse the dead after what had just happened. Those that weren't involved in the Coup like innocent men, women, and children were butchered senselessly and I vowed to myself that I would drag their killers back here so that they would face justice for their crimes.
"Can I see the survivors so that I can show our support?" I asked quietly.
Hiruzen smiled and nodded, releasing the privacy seals so that we all could leave the room. When I approached next door, I knocked on it and heard someone telling me to come in. I opened the door and saw the three survivors looking worse for wear. Mikoto was sitting in a chair next to her son's bed, a few bandages wrapped around her arms and one on her cheek. Izumi was on her right, looking bruised but not too bad and Sasuke was sitting upright in bed and staring at his hands with a dark expression, clearly looking traumatized with bloodshot eyes and tear stains on his cheeks.
"Alex-san, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming to see us," Mikoto said with a weak smile.
"It's no problem, I just wanted to be here so that I could show support. Lord Third and the other clan heads send their regards," I informed them while my hands were resting on my duty belt, and Izumi perked up.
"Well...we're glad that they are thinking about us and showing their support as well," Izumi said gratefully.
"Of course...how are you all holding up?" I asked tentatively and I saw Sasuke bristle.
"Our entire family has just been murdered by a traitor! How do you think we are holding up?!" Sasuke snapped angrily.
"Sasuke, it's not Alex's fault. He's just trying to be considerate," Mikoto scolded gently.
"Your mother is right, Sasuke. You should apologize," Izumi added a little firmly.
"If he wants to be considerate, he should offer his Tailed Beast Power to help us get revenge!" Sasuke scoffed and I frowned at him.
"I'm not going to do that. Revenge is never the answer and I don't want to prove to the villagers that I'm a monster," I stated firmly.
"You are already a monster, you might as well be useful!" Sasuke yelled in grief and fury.
I stared at the kid in sympathy, knowing just how he felt as memories of Mogadishu and seeing coffins of my dead friends ran through my mind.
"I'm just gonna go now," I stated, causing Mikoto and Izumi to look at me sorrowfully.
"Alex...he didn't mean that," Mikoto told me and I nodded.
"I know...the kid's been through a horrible tragedy and he's still trying to process it. I don't blame him at all, but please make sure that he talks to somebody, because he could really use a friend right now," I said, and Mikoto nodded as I turned to the door and left the room.
"Nine-Tails," I said to the Fox and felt his presence.
"What the hell do you want?" the Fox inquired in anticipation.
"When we find that sick fucker with the mask on his face...I'm going to make him suffer badly before we drag him and Itachi back here," I vowed to him coldly and the Fox chuckled sinisterly.
"For once, I agree with you, Alex," the Fox stated with glee as I left the hospital, the two of us eager to lay out righteous fury against the man in the mask for causing so much death and suffering these past five years.
A/N Well, Alex is pissed so Obito better start praying that he doesn't find him. How did you all like the chapter? Let me know by putting down a review or sending me a private message.