Naruto had always been an early riser, given how many people seemed to dislike him he had always preferred travelling round the village before most of them were awake, but as his conscious returned this time it was as if his body was stuck in concrete. For some reason his mind was sluggish as well, and it took him several moments of slowly awakening before the pain pierced the last vestiges of his tiredness like a blade to the gut.
"Aaahh" His pained cry was cut short, as the agony of his chest reminded him that he was in fact very familiar with the pain of being stabbed in the gut now, thanks to the Faux-Jiji that had come to him the night before.
Every wheezing breath was painful enough that Naruto was almost tempted to try holding his breath, though his now fully functioning mind knew that would merely delay if not increase the pain he was feeling.
"He's awake, fetch Doctor…" The sound of voices made Naruto open his eyes, and he realised he wasn't in his apartment anymore but instead in a dark room that he didn't recognise.
As more pain washed over him he tried to move, but Naruto realised that pretty much every limb was in a plaster of some sort and suspended in the air, and trying to move any of them was more than painful than trying stay still. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness Naruto saw a nurse arguing with an ANBU just outside the door, who seemed to be reluctant to let her inside, relenting eventually and allowing the door to be opened for the nurse to come inside.
"Uzumaki-san, can you hear and understand me?" With all the pain he was currently experiencing, Naruto was not in the best of moods to put up with stupid questions like that.
But as he opened his mouth, to tell the nurse exactly how well he could hear him, Naruto realised how much his throat and mouth hurt. If that wasn't enough, the mere act of his sharp inhalation of breath made it feel like his lungs were about to explode, causing him to let the breath out before it could even be fully formed.
He settled for a pained nod instead, which seemed to give the nurse enough information, as he turned away and headed off to somewhere on Naruto's left. It was at this point Naruto realised that the ANBU had followed the nurse into the room, the Koala masked woman's hand not having left the hilt of her weapon even as the nurse returned with a plastic cup of water.
"Uzumaki-san, I want you to try and drink a little of this water, if you can't swallow it effectively please spit it out. I know you are confused right now, but Dr Yakushi will explain everything when he arrives I promise." The feeling of helplessness and being weak was the most frustrating thing Naruto had ever felt, even as he felt the chilled and soothing feeling of water dropping from the cup that the nurse had tilted over his face near to his mouth.
Swallowing was a challenge, his entire throat feeling like it had been covered in sandpaper, but Naruto was more than stubborn enough to power through such a feeling. It helped that the pain in his throat was still far less than that in his chest, though as he felt the water reach his stomach he rapidly changed his mind.
"Bleurgh!" Throwing up whilst your entire body was effectively immobilised was quickly raised to being one of the top 3 worst experiences of his life.
He was able to throw up the majority of the the foul smelling contents of his stomach onto his front, but given his lying position some of it remained in his mouth. He had heard the phrase 'drowning in your own vomit', but it was a terrifying realisation that such a thing could very well happen to him.
"Calm yourself Uzumaki-san." Suddenly there was a burst of chakra from the nurse, and the vomit he had been beginning to choke on suddenly rushed from his mouth to join the rest of the vomit that had been pulled from his chest off to his left.
It didn't get rid of the smell or the taste though, which meant that Naruto was happy to accept a second swig of water, and this time he was able to keep it down despite the painful feelings from his stomach.
"Such a reaction is common after almost a week with no food or water Uzumaki-san, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Ah, Yakushi-dono." The nurse turned and bowed as there was the sound of the door to the room opening and closing, though it was only after the ANBU relaxed and shifted back to the corner of the room was Naruto able to see the somewhat familiar figure at the doorway.
"Nono-nee!" His voice had returned enough that he was able to use it, but given how much everything hurt, he kept his attempt at a happy greeting as short as he could.
"Naruto-kun, please do not try and speak any more, okay? I understand your frustration with being forced to stay still because of your injuries, but when I explain things, you will understand how lucky we are you are able to talk at all." The mention of his injuries, as well as the implication of how serious they were, brought memories that Naruto had been doing his best not to think of since awakening…
"Jiji!" Naruto was surprised to see Hokage-Jiji, as he cautiously opened the door to his apartment, after all he had only seen the old man an hour ago at the Hokage tower.
But seeing one of his favourite people was a good way to distract him, from the thoughts about the Kyuubi being inside of him if nothing else.
"I just thought I would check in on my way home Naruto-kun, I know that the events tonight will have given you a lot to think about." Naruto beamed at the thoughtfulness of the old Shinobi.
Given that it was nearly midnight, and the Old Man's house was on the other side of Konoha, it was a rather large detour for the Hokage to make when he could be heading home to sleep.
Moving towards the kitchen, where he always kept some of the special tea leaves that he knew the Hokage quite liked, Naruto was surprised when he heard the Hokage close the door behind him. Not because he didn't think Jiji would carry out such a menial task, but it had long been tradition between them to leave the door open for Jiji's ANBU bodyguards to flit in behind him. The last one of the shadowy warriors to enter would close the door, before moving to hide in the shadows.
"Jiji, you might as well leave the door, I don't like buffing out the scratches lockpicks make on my lock." Which more than enough people had done, when he had first moved out of the orphanage to relieve some of the pressure on Nono-nee and the others.
"I wouldn't worry about it Naruto-kun, I told them to wait for me outside. I didn't think you would want people swarming your apartment right now…"
A sharp pain to his cheek brought Naruto out of his memories, now that he looked back on it such an action had been extremely suspicious, even when the Hokage didn't want them there he had two bodyguards following him ALL the time. Nono-nee smiled apologetically as she lowered her hand, obviously she had been the one to slap him back to reality, something that Naruto was more than thankful for.
"Sorry Naruto-kun, but even though you are healing well I can't risk you going into shock, it will badly affect your recovery. Now, I know the last thing you want to do is think about what happened, but we haven't been able to find any substantial evidence of who attacked you. So I am going to ask you some simple questions okay? Just nod or shake your head, don't try and do anything else yet." Thankfully it didn't hurt anymore to nod than it did for him to breathe, so Naruto did his best to hide the pain as he followed her instructions.
"The attack happened a week ago, so don't worry if you can't remember something straight away, Naruto-kun. Given what you went through everyone will understand if you can't answer many questions right now." Nono-nee's tone made it sound that whoever she was talking about wouldn't have a choice in accepting his inability to answer.
His mind was focussed on the other information she provided however. He had been out for a week? What about him becoming a genin? Before he could get wrapped up in that particular brand of self doubt, Nono-nee was speaking in the slow and steady manner he had always associated with her.
"Naruto-kun, we found that you had first been injured in the hall of your apartment. Was this because the attacker broke into your apartment?" It was clear, even to Naruto, that Nono-nee wanted to ask considerably more than just that short question.
But he was glad she had restrained herself, after the initial adrenaline had worn off he was finding it somewhat difficult concentrate fully on what was going on around him. He shook his head, the false Jiji hadn't broken in after all.
Naruto had been injured in the hallway because he had been somewhat paranoid, after what happened with Mizuki-teme and all…
"Jiji, I've just put the kettle on, would you like Smoked Leaf like usual?" Naruto didn't know why, but it was like his entire skin was trying to let him know something was wrong, every instinct telling him to fight or flee.
It was why he had asked the Old Man such a simple question, especially one that nearly everyone in Konoha knew the answer to.
"That sounds like just what these old bones need Naruto-kun, thank you." Or at least, they thought they did, Naruto thought as he moved back into the hall.
Smoked Leaf tea was widely renowned as one of the best brands of tea leaves in Konoha, and this reputation was in no small way enhanced by the fact that the 3rd Hokage was a prolific drinker of it.
However, over the last few years Jiji had started switching to simple green teas in the evening, something about it making it difficult for him to sleep and tan… something. Given how much Jiji had thrown himself into his work over that time period, the number of people who would have noticed this change in habit were very few in number.
He found Jiji, or at least whoever was pretending to be Jiji, far closer to the kitchen end of the hallway than he imagined he would be, given that the entrance to the Lounge area was much earlier in the corridor on the opposite side. The imposter was looking at one of the pictures on the wall, one of Naruto and the Hokage out on top of the Hokage Mountain looking down at the village, and he turned to face Naruto with a grandfatherly smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"What's wrong Naruto-kun, you look like you've seen a ghost…" And in that moment Naruto knew for certain that this wasn't Hokage-Jiji in front of him, and everything went to Maki moments later.
Naruto snapped back as Nono-nee finished writing something down, the nurse now doing something with the IV bag Naruto could see up to his right.
"So you opened the door for them?" A quick nod was followed by a grimace as the motion jarred a muscle he didn't even notice he had before now.
"Were they disguised as someone familiar?" Despite himself, Naruto gave a small grin as he nodded once more, at least Nono-nee didn't think he was dumb enough to ignore one of the most important rules at the orphanage.
"Never open the door to someone you don't know, even if they claim to be an ANBU! If you do, then the Oni will steal you away, and eat you whole!"
"Given they were disguised, and Iruka-san was in the hospital, there are only a few people we can think of. Was it me they were disguised as?" Naruto shook his head, though he didn't know how he was going to specify that it was Jiji that had been the intruder's disguise if Nono-nee didn't ask directly.
"Was it Hokage-sama?" Thankfully Nono-nee seemed to have a list of people ready, though nodding at the fact that someone dressed as the Hokage had tortured him was something that still made his stomach sink.
"Given the fight you got into with the attacker in your apartment hallway, we have assumed that you realised that it wasn't really Hokage-sama quite quickly. Was it obvious that they weren't actually Hokage-sama?" Thinking back to his memories, Naruto shook his head a little uncertainly.
Naruto had been tired, not to mention distracted with other matters when he had opened the door. Had the imposter been more obviously not Jiji than he thought? And he had just missed these signs until they had done something obvious enough to raise his suspicions?
"But you did realise that they weren't who they were claiming to be?" A more certain nod this time, though Naruto knew if he hadn't been on edge because of Mizuki-teme leading him on, then he probably wouldn't have noticed at all.
"And when they realised you knew, that is when the fight started?" Naruto got half way through the nod before he found himself replaying that moment once more in his mind.
Naruto opened his mouth, though what he was going to say hadn't been fully decided yet, but the imposter reacted to something before he could even finish drawing in the breath.
Obviously something in Naruto's face or stance had let the imposter know he had been found out, as a fist implanted itself into Naruto's stomach hard enough to knock the breath right out of him. Even as Naruto's mind struggled to comprehend what had just happened he found himself flying through the air down the corridor, towards the front door.
"Given you defeated Mizuki-san, I expected more of a fight from you. Obviously the traitor was weaker than I thought." Flipping in the air, even as his lungs seemed to work out that they were lacking in the oxygen that they very much needed, Naruto pulled his hands together to perform his new jutsu.
He couldn't call out his jutsu, Naruto had been winded enough times in spars to know that he wouldn't just be able to breath again just like that, but that wouldn't stop him tryi… All thoughts left Naruto's mind, as suddenly pain erupted from his hands, and the fake Jiji was FAR too close to him with a blade in hand.
The bloodthirsty smile on the fake Hokage's face was so out of place in comparison to the usual grandfatherly smile that Naruto knew it would haunt his nightmares.
"Better, though I cannot have your clones giving the game away so soon… Naruto-kun."
And if there was something that would haunt his dreams forever, it was Jiji's voice calmly expressing an almost exaggerated level of joy at the torture he had proceeded to inflict upon him, until Naruto passed out with pain for the third time. The imposter was gone when Naruto next awoke, but the sheer pain that had been resonating throughout his entire body had made all the memories before he woke up here more than a little blurry.
"Naruto-kun, are you ready to continue?" At Nono-nee's concerned question Naruto nodded.
He just hoped there weren't too many more questions, otherwise he wasn't going to be able to stay awake...
!"£$%^&*()_+
"Check his vitals, and I want full bloodwork to make sure there isn't anything we missed whilst extracting the poisons." As Nono gave her two nurses their instructions, she managed to resist wincing as Naruto winced in his sleep in front of her.
Since Kabuto had fallen into the ranks of ROOT, on that dark night so many years before, Nono had promised herself that she would never fail another of her charges. Looking from the battered and brutalised child in front of her, one that despite his prisoner had been one she had been unable to do anything but attempt to nurture, Nono knew she had failed miserably.
"About what we expected, right Hokage-sama?" Looking off to the far side of the room, the Kage medical suite in single most secure building in Konoha, Nono saw the exhausted form of the Hokage sat in the same chair he had spent every night in since Naruto had been found.
"Not what I had hoped I suppose, but given the circumstances…" The attack had taken a toll on all of them, as it hadn't taken long for the basic news of the attack to get out to the general Konoha populace, even if the details seemed to be secret for now.
"It is obvious that even with the Kyuubi's regeneration powers, don't give me that look Hokage-sama, I'm not messing around with stupid law of yours. As I was saying, even with the regeneration giving him a replacement lung, it is clearly not powerful enough to help him recover entirely from the trauma. And as I told him Hokage-sama, until he is ready to answer more questions comfortably, we will let him recover." Most people, in fact Nono couldn't think of anyone other than Hiruzen's close family, would have dared to speak to the Hokage in such a way.
She heard the Koala ANBU gasp at her disrespect, but she had been Hiruzen's personal physician for nearly 10 years, and as the old Shinobi nodded his head in agreement Nono knew she had just the right amount of wriggle room.
"No need to be concerned Dr Yakushi, I will leave Naruto-kun in your capable hands, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to see him right now anyway. Have we had the reports from the surgery?" Nono waved one of the files she had picked up when she had rushed into the room, though a brief glance through it gave her little to share.
"Other than a very potent poison, probably coated on the blade before the attacker entered the apartment, there were no metal scrapings on the bones or in the tissue on the dense muscle. That either means a chakra metal blade was used, one of good quality at least, or we are looking at a very proficient wind blade user." Which narrowed the list of suspects down either way, in this case the lack of evidence was as useful as actual evidence.
"Well that rules out most Chuunin and below, though even if we assume this was a Konoha Shinobi not a foreign spy, that leaves us with dozens if not hundreds of suspects. Our investigators have yet to find a single fibre or skin sample out of place in the apartment as well, which means either the attacker was a ghost or…"
"They have had infiltrator training…" As one of Konoha's greatest former infiltrators, Nono knew the Hokage wasn't bringing it up for no reason, and she was already going through the list of potential suspects in her head.
Skilled Infiltrators, with chakra blades long enough to have left the wound deep enough in Naruto, were few and between in Konoha. Most of them were on deep cover assignments abroad, though the few that weren't were going to be receiving a 'visit' from her the moment she got off shift.
"Understood Hokage-sama, I will go and give the apartment a look, with the assistance of Special Jounin Mitarashi as she has some experience in these techniques. I assume she has been cleared as a potential Kage?" Whilst she had not been there for the initial Konoha Council meeting, Nono had been filled in by Hiruzen when she arrived to make her report.
"She is cleared, Jounin Hatake and his team are preparing a village wide strike tomorrow with members of the Mythic ANBU, the three Kage in their ranks surrendered peacefully when confronted. It seems that not every member of that department are as lost as we had initially feared, they have been checked by Yamanaka-san and his clan members and declared clean enough. Some had noticed some irregularities amongst the 'Numbers', but didn't think it was important enough for them to report to myself or Tora. They have been, 'corrected', in their view for going forward."
Good, Nono had never liked the idea of the Kage, they sounded far too much like ROOT for her liking. There was no way the Hokage would keep the Kage active after this mess, even if he didn't announce it publicly like he did with the attack on Naruto. The public arrest of three ANBU Squad leaders, for 'treachery against Konoha', had already done enough damage to civilian perception on Konoha Ninja
"Well, if he wants help Hokage-sama, I am sure I can shake the rust off for one last mission…" Nono wasn't much for violence, which was why she was a good spy and doctor rather than a great Shinobi.
But Naruto was one of hers, and nothing was more dangerous than a mother bear defending its children…
!"£$%^&*()_+
"Usagi in position, on your signal Inu-taichou." Adjusting the once familiar mask, back from when he had been the youngest ANBU captain in history, Kakashi found himself looking down at the last of their targets.
After retrieving the hard copies of the Kage shinobi, the plan to quietly bring them in had to wait for the initial furor of Naruto's attack to die down. Given the uproar, many of the Kage they had stalked had suddenly become far more cautious in their activities, and that would have made a coordinated strike impossible. The Kage ranged from shopkeepers and normal civilians, to Jounin like the one he was currently watching walk through the market stalls on the street below.
"She's made you Koala, either that or she's far more paranoid than her file implies…" Shizuka Namori was, according to her official Shinobi record at least, the quintessential career Shinobi.
3 years as a Genin, 8 as a Chuunin in four different departments including a T&I role, before ascending to Jounin in the Jounin exams 3 and a bit years ago. A large number of B and C rank missions to her name, with half a dozen A-ranks that were more politically important than actively dangerous, nothing that would make her stand out in any way.
"Sorry taichou, I know you wanted me to get closer, but she has been checking every window and mirror as she walks. Your orders?" The Koala ANBU recruit had been a last minute addition to Kakashi's team on the Hokage's order, and Kakashi had the feeling that this was for more than just additional manpower, especially given the somewhat disdainful looks she got from the Mythos ANBU.
"She will either try and lose you in the crowds, or she will head to the side streets to confront you. If it's the former, let her lose you. We will shadow her from here, fall back to point Charlie and await further instruction." That was if it came to that, judging by Shizuka's unhurried change in direction towards one of the roads leading off the market, she was planning a far simpler approach.
"Close with her Koala, it seems Jounin Namori doesn't appreciate being followed. Usagi, give the signal, strike teams to intercept at their discretion." There were two simple clicks in acknowledgement, and Kakashi could see events unfolding around Konoha in his mind's eye.
Shop signs being switched to 'closed' and civilians being firmly but politely removed, as men and women either in ANBU clothing or more casual clothing moved into action. Normal citizens moving to answer the door, as masked figure snuck into houses and apartments through windows and other secondary access points.
It was probably the single largest internal security operation performed inside Konoha in decades. And as Shizuka ducked into an alleyway, with Koala following quickly behind, Kakashi knew it was time for him to take a more active role in it's completion.
"Who are you?" Dropping silently into the alleyway, Kakashi found Shizuka pinning Koala to a wall, with a large kunai at the plain clothes ANBU's throat.
"I would put that away Jounin Namori, one would almost think that you want to hurt someone with that." Kakashi maintained his casual tone, causing Shizuka to drag Koala around to place her between them, even as Usagi slipped into position above and behind her in case she tried something.
"Hatake-san? I thought you left ANBU years ago. What is going on?" It seemed that Shizuka wasn't a fool either way, though she lowered the kunai and released Koala, she didn't put the weapon away or relax from her combat ready stance.
"The Kage have been compromised Namori-san, I need you to relinquish your weapons and come with us." Kakashi had never been one for subtlety on the job, though he did enjoy shocking or joking with his opponents, and judging by Shizuka's face she was unsure which he was doing.
"This is because of the Uzumaki incident? I thought the arrest of so many ANBU meant things were about to come to a head." With a sigh, Shizuka placed the kunai back in her pouch, before moving to undo her kunai pouch.
"Can we do this quietly? I am assuming that, if I come out clean, I can go back to normal dut…" Shizuka cut off as there was the sound of an explosion in the distance, causing Kakashi to reach for his radio and turn it to the general comm channel.
"All teams, report!" There was no immediate response, so Kakashi indicated for Usagi and Koala to secure Jounin Namori, before he leapt back to the rooftops.
It was easy to see the source of the explosion, off to the southwest of his current position. Even as Kakashi moved towards the source, he could see the normal ninja forces already moving to respond.
"Inu-taichou, target resisted when confronted… Tori and Orochi are down…" The voice of one of the ANBU team leaders in his ear made it clear the situation was serious, the man sounding like he had been injured in the attack as well. A purple flare soared into the air as Kakashi landed at the site of the explosion, the remnants of a small bookshop billowing with flames, several Chuunin working to fight the flames as well as rescue those inside.
"All units, suppressing cuffs on all targets. Team Tengu, converge on my position and find the target, lethal force is authorised if required." Whilst the T&I department would want the traitor alive, as Kakashi watched one of the ANBU pulled from the building screaming from the burns covering her body, he decided he wasn't in the mood to be forgiving.
Even if they did bring the traitor in alive, a couple of mangled or missing limbs wouldn't stop them being available for interrogation…
A/N: Naruto is introduced! Honestly, if I hadn't introduced him here, I think we could have gone several more chapters before that happens.
Nono is Kabuto's 'mother figure' and orphanage worker in canon, and Kabuto ends up killing her after she infiltrates Kumo and is mind washed by Danzo. It seems a silly move by Danzo in my opinion, so in this version she has survived, and splits her time between being head of the hospital and helping at the orphanage.
This won't have a big impact on Kabuto's storyline, though with his parental figure around he might not fall as deeply into the world of ROOT/Sound.
And of course, events continue to spiral from the original attack. You can either believe that Orochimaru didn't know about the existence of Kage when he attacked Naruto, or more likely that he has infiltrated them with his spies as well.
What Orochimaru missed, if he cared at all, is that so many of the Numbers ANBU were in on abandoning their posts. If it had just been one or two teams, then the reaction by Konoha wouldn't have been as serious, to avoid a potential panic. But with mass dereliction on the table, Sarutobi has no recourse other than to assume the entire system is rotten.
So, whilst no one will work out it was Orochimaru for quite some time to come, the ripples of the attack will be wide reaching to say the least.
On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.
I did set up a .on account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.
I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.
Let me know what you think guys!
Defias out