Unbowed, Unbent and Unbroken
Chapter 7: Crack in the Great Tree
The sun had just set sail below the horizon and the village Hidden in the Leaves was blanketed by a warm sky which radiated a mix of orange and red color. Most of the civilians had retorted back to the comfort of their homes. The only people still in the streets were the shinobi patrolling the village and a few shop owners who were just about closing up.
As per their bet, Sasuke had accompanied Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen after their training session. And judging from the grumpy expression on Sasuke's face, it was sufficed to say what he thought about the food.
"I still can't believe that you don't like ramen! It's my favorite food. How can you like it?" Naruto asked with wide eyes and a satisfied tummy. Sasuke merely grunted in response.
"Hmph... Ramen is not my first choice of food. And I don't need to like everything that you do." Sasuke replied. "Plus, that thing is just plain bad…" Sasuke added, almost gagging at the after taste of ramen. Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the look on Sasuke's face. Right at this moment, he felt completely at peace and he couldn't be more thankful for everything he had. However short his life may have been until now, for majority of it all he had known was loneliness and things were slowly starting to get better.
"What are you smiling about, loser?" Sasuke questioned when he noticed the faint smile on Naruto's face.
"Oh! Nothing really!" Naruto replied urgently upon being caught off guard. "Well, I'm going to head to Sandaime-jiji's house for the evening. I will see you tomorrow for training?" Naruto asked once the two reached a crossroad.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Sasuke replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He always found himself a little surprised that Naruto was so close to the Hokage. But as usual, he chalked it to the fact that the Hokage had been looking after Naruto since his birth.
Waving goodbye, Naruto promptly turned left and briskly walked towards the Sarutobi Compound, excited to spend the rest of the evening with Hiruzen. Spending time with the Sandaime after his training sessions had become a sort of ritual for Naruto ever since he began learning the arts of shinobi. However, unknown to him, a group of masked shinobi were discreetly following him from the shadows, keeping track of his every movement. A few minutes later, once, Naruto turned towards an empty street, he suddenly became alarmed. But, before he could even react, he found himself surrounded by six shinobi, all of whom were wearing plain white masks.
"Naruto Uchiha, our master wishes to have a word with you." Stated one of them monotonously. Naruto's body stiffened in his place. He could not sense anything from the group of shinobi surrounding him which was quite strange. He narrowed his eyes as he carefully looked around himself.
"I don't know who you people are. You certainly are not the regular Anbu since your masks don't match them. And who is this master of yours?" Naruto questioned skeptically. He carefully placed his hand in his kunai holster keep himself ready. Still, he doubted if he could take on six highly trained shinobi all on his own.
"Resistance is futile, Naruto Uchiha. We have been keeping watch on you since the beginning and are aware of your abilities. All of your abilities. It's in your best interest to come with us willingly." Stated a bulky man with slicked black hair who took a single step towards Naruto. Yet again, Naruto found himself scrutinizing the man for his choice of words. 'What did he mean by all of my abilities?
As soon as the masked Anbu took another step towards his target, Naruto instinctively released a wave of chakra, thereby covering the surrounding area in ice immediately. However, the six Anbu having predicted the attack, maneuvered themselves into the air in the blink of an eye and threw a barrage of kunai and shuriken towards the white-haired boy. Their objective was to retrieve the Kyubi jinchuriki either alive or dead. Naruto promptly activated his sharingan and calculated the trajectory of each of the projectiles thrown at him. And with impressive agility, managed to escape the attack unscathed. Once Naruto landed a few hundred meters away, he had to immediately duck down to evade a katana and before the assailant could react, Naruto formed a pointed rod made out of ice and thrusted it into the man's chest. As the man's lifeless body fell on the ground, Naruto had to yet again jump out of the way as four more shinobi closed in on him.
'That surprise attack won't work again…' Naruto thought calculatingly. Placing his palms together, Naruto gathered a large amount of chakra around himself and the next second there were numerous pointed ice rods flying in every direction at an alarming speed. While three of the Anbu managed to escape without any harm, two of them were hit in the vital spots and dropped dead immediately. The moment Naruto ended his jutsu, he looked around himself cautiously. Although, the next moment, another Anbu jumped out of the ground behind him and lunged towards him. Naruto barely managed to turn around and swat away the attacker's arm when the other two masked shinobi arrived behind him and impaled a sword through his left calf.
"AHHHHHH…." Screamed Naruto as he buckled down on the ground in immense pain.
"We advised you to come with us willingly. You should have heeded to our warning Uchiha." Stated that same bulky man stoically, before he hit Naruto on the back of his neck.
"Pathetic, human." Those were the last words Naruto heard before he fell unconscious. "Shin, carry him. We need to get back to Danzo-sama quickly." A tall pale boy nodded and moved towards the unconscious boy and placed Naruto on his shoulders. The next second, the three Anbu disappeared from view and headed straight to their base of operation.
Naruto groggily opened his eyes as the memories of the past few minutes registered in his mind properly. A look of panic spread over his face and he urgently looked at his left leg to see that the wound caused by the katana had already healed. Upon looking around, he finally noticed the surrounding or the lack of it. Naruto sat in a large dark area with water up to his ankle. Upon further inspecting the area, his eyes suddenly landed on the tall bars behind him.
'Looks like a cage of some sort. But where am I?' he mused when he suddenly felt a chill course through his body. He had felt this chakra inside of him, on many occasions. This dark and menacing chakra which he knew was the reason for his misery. Despite being right, Naruto took a step back apprehensively, when two large, red eyes with a black slit down the middle glowed from within the darkness of the cage. Following that, nine tails of mammoth size rose from behind to swing around wildly. A couple of seconds later, the Kyubi finally emerged out of the shadows, as he glared down at the child, who was his container.
"You've finally come child… Come closer, so, I can rip you to shreds!" The Kyubi growled, looking down at Naruto. Said boy instinctively took another step behind upon hearing that. But, the next second, he immediately composed himself and tried to calm his pumping heart. It was true that he was scared but more than that, he could clearly sense the turmoil of hatred and the reason behind it, within the bijuu's mind. It was similar to the misguided hatred that the populace of Konoha had for him. He sighed upon realizing that his suspicions had been right all along. He was the ire of the village because of the nine tailed fox sealed within him.
"It's truly sad, Kyubi. That we have to be stuck together." Naruto said somberly, letting down his emotional walls. If the Kyubi was in fact sealed in him, it was also probable that the fox could sense his every emotions clearly. The fox narrowed his eyes upon the child on hearing his words. He was not expecting to hear such words from the child. Yet, it did not deter his hatred for the boy, who kept him locked up.
"No matter what words you human use, it means nothing to me. Your filthy species disgusts me to no end." The Kyubi almost yelled, throwing his paws against the bars of the cage. Naruto merely stood rooted in his place, even as the giant fox kept glaring at the white-haired boy. Naruto was greatly surprised at the amount of hatred he could feel from the fox before him. He didn't understand why, but he felt quite sad. It was only after a few minutes of silence that Naruto voiced a question that had been plaguing his mind for a while.
"Where are we?" asked Naruto innocently. He was honestly quite confused about it. Was he in his seal somehow? If so, how did he get here? And how could he get out? He was well aware that he was unconscious and was being carried somewhere by the three Anbu. He needed to do something to escape. Once again, the Kyubi growled and sent a heated glare towards Naruto. He ended up huffing and simply laid down and rested his head on his paws. He had sensed the dilemma that was going through Naruto's mind and couldn't help but agree that it wouldn't be beneficial for him if his jinchuriki got captured by unknown parties.
"It's your mind. Do whatever the hell you want. Just don't bother me again… unless you want to open this damn seal." The Kyubi grunted and closed his eyes.
Naruto nodded upon hearing the answer, as it began to make some sense to him. Although there were a lot more questions that he wished to ask the fox, he was running out of time. Naruto could sense that he was still in Konoha and needed to act soon. He turned around on his spot and started walking back towards the only exit he had seen in this large clearing. However, he stopped midway and spoke, "Goodbye, Kyubi. I'll see you soon." And quickly ran towards the exit. A few seconds passed as Naruto disappeared from view and the Kyubi opened of his eyes to stare at the spot Naruto was in.
'I never understood what you saw in these humans... jiji. And that boy, I fail to see how you could have such faith in someone you've never met.' thought the Kyubi quite bitterly, remembering the words of his father. He knew very well who Naruto was. Just by sensing the chakra, he could tell the resemblance to his father's chakra. Even among the bijuus, there were certain facts about their father, which only he knew.
Uchiha Compound (about the same time as Naruto is ambushed by Root Anbu)
Red eyes intently stared down at the road below, awaiting the presence of the person, whom he held dearer than anyone. As the wind blew past him, his hands shook lightly in anticipation of what he would be doing soon. Ever since a young age, Itachi had always been perceptive and the notion of life and death had always intrigued his mind. Having been born amidst the chaos of the Third Great Ninja War, he had known war since a young age. The images of thousands of corpses on the battlefield was imprinted on the back of his head and even to this day, often gave him a scare in his sleep. Yet, he would give up his life without a thought, if it meant to protect Konoha. Among the Uchiha Clan, only Shisui and him had the strong will to protect the village in which they were born and learned to look past the bindings of a clan. It was his hope that by cleansing the clan of the impurities, it would give way for the new generation to bask in the light.
He was jerked out of his thoughts when he noticed Sasuke come into view. All it took was a single glance. The moment Sasuke, unknowingly looked above the utility pole to his left, Itachi discreetly casted a genjutsu on his younger brother. Sasuke immediately stopped in his tracks and his gaze lingered above the utility pole for a few more seconds. Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, he turned right and decided to take a longer route to home.
'I'm sure Kaa-chan would not mind, if I come home a little late.' Sasuke thought casually, having decided to train a bit more by the Naka river. He chuckled, as he realized that he'd become a tad bit impulsive in his decisions since meeting Naruto. Yet, at the same time he couldn't shake off the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
As a few more minutes passed, Itachi sighed in relief once he was certain that Sasuke had left. Placing his left hand into his pouch, Itachi took out his Anbu mask and closed his eyes to steady himself. He had already made up his mind and was aware that this was the last course of action left for Konoha. Still, it pained him that the Uchiha Clan would soon be reduced to two people in a few hours. He slowly put the mask on his face and promptly disappeared towards the residential district of the Uchiha Clan compound.
With Naruto and the Root Anbu
As the three Anbu quickly sped through the forests of Konoha, the one who carried Naruto felt a slight movement. But, before he could even react, Naruto sprung himself off of him by kicking his back by both his feet and lunged forward to gain some distance. Naruto momentarily glanced down to check the wound on his leg and sighed in relief. All that remained on his leg was the blood from the wound. He reverted his attention back to his captors and readied himself. The short look of shock had already faded from the faces of three shinobi and now focused completely on their target. They noticed that the wound on Naruto's leg had already healed. The three too readied themselves, knowing well that they could not afford to underestimate the kid anymore.
"Shin, stay back and keep a close watch on the jinchuriki while the two of us go ahead and confront him. You know what to do in case he tried to escape." Stated the apparent leader of the three. However, Shin winced slightly at the tone. It was his weakness that had allowed their prisoner to escape. And he was certain their leader would not accept failure in this mission.
"Hai, taicho." At the end, Shin merely nodded and jumped to the back while he unsheathed his chokuto.
'I cannot compete with them in physical strength. They outclass me easily in that area and I highly doubt I can run fast enough for them to not catch me. The only thing in my favor is the amount of chakra I have and my Hyoton ninjutsu.' Naruto thought as he tried to come up with a quick strategy. His eyes widened however, when two of the Anbu suddenly rushed towards him. Jumping up, Naruto quickly formed a thin rod made of ice in his hand and deflected the chokuto that was aimed for his abdomen. Quickly activating his sharingan, Naruto once again began noticing the movements of his enemies in much clearer vision. As he saw the second shinobi coming towards from the right side, his sharingan then quickly predicted that the first one would try to stab him with a blade hidden in his sleeve. Faster than he ever reacted, while still in midair, Naruto pointed his arms below and an ice spear suddenly formed under the first shinobi which immediately pierced his throat.
The momentary shock of seeing his teammate die halted his movements for a second and the next second, he felt his heart get pierced by the thin ice road. Naruto panted as he finally regained a firm footing on the ground. He stared impassively at the third shinobi who was still standing rooted to his place, shocked that the jinchuriki was able to kill five of the Root Anbu agents. Quickly deciding upon the most logical option, he glanced at the white-haired boy one last time before he disappeared. He had to let Danzo-sama know about the boy's skills. If left unchecked, he was certain the boy would one day become too powerful to be stopped.
Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief on seeing that the last Anbu had left. He immediately fell on the ground as his knees started to feel weak. He solemnly stared at his hands as he remembered how he had killed five people today. He closed his eyes and focused on the air around himself and allowed his heartbeat to slow down rhythmically. However, instead of feeling the sense of tranquility he generally felt from nature, his blood ran cold. The sensation of fear, pain, betrayal and hurt he currently felt from the Uchiha Clan district sent a shiver down his spine. He abruptly stood up and focused all his senses on that part of the village as his legs unconsciously began walking towards his newly discovered home.
The closer he got, the more his heart clenched as he could tell most of the people were already dead while some were on the verge. Increasing his speed, he sped towards the Uchiha Clan Compound and stopped once he reached the gates. His eyes widened in horror at the scene before him and a silent scream for help escaped his small mouth. There were dead bodies scattered all along the main road of the district, the walls painted red with blood of his clan members. For a child of his age, it was truly a ghastly sight to stumble upon. His heart once again started to beat rapidly as he began searching for any survivors, especially Izumi, Itachi, Sasuke and Mikoto. Tears dripped down his face as he clenched his fingers. Running straight ahead, towards the end of the compound, he took a sharp left and entered a small house where he lived along with Izumi.
Without wasting any time, Naruto rushed towards the hall where his eyes laid on the unconscious form of Izumi. Immediately rushing beside her, Naruto almost choked when he felt the extremely weak chakra that resonated within her. Placing both his palms just above her, Naruto closed his eyes and focused all of his chakra on healing her. He had felt Itachi's and Sasuke's chakra in the Clan Head's house and was relieved that they were still alive. He had also felt another chakra; someone he didn't recognize. However, he immediately focused his attention back to what he was doing.
Izumi's body was suddenly engulfed in a thick green chakra as Naruto concentrated all of his energy on healing her. He did not want to lose her… no, he could not lose her, not as long as he was alive. He grunted slightly in pain as he had never converted so much of his chakra into healing chakra at once. Few beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as after about ten minutes, he felt that her heartbeat had returned to normal along with her chakra. As he stood up, he had to summon all of his willpower to not fall back. He felt that he was quite drained after healing her, but at least she would live now. Not wanting to leave her alone, he gently carried her in his arms and ran towards Clan Head's house. He needed to meet up with Itachi and Sasuke soon. He was sure, Itachi would know who was responsible for all this massacre and help him to take care of Izumi.
Considering what he went through in the past hour, Naruto was hardly able to think rationally and after about five minutes of running, he had reached the house. He had seen several more dead bodies along the way and his eyes only showcased the deep sadness he felt. He carefully placed Izumi on a clean sofa and made his way upstairs where he knew Itachi and Sasuke were. Yet again, he stopped in his steps just as he was about to open the door. His hands suddenly froze when he heard Itachi's voice from within the room.
"My foolish little brother… if you want to kill me, despise me, hate me and live a loathsome life..." Every word he heard froze a part of his heart as he understood what had transpired.
"Run away… run away and cling to life. And someday when you have the same eyes as me, come before me." stated Itachi in his monotone voice as the normal pattern of his sharingan swirled to form three spiraling curves around the pupil. The very next second, Sasuke's body plopped down onto the ground as he got caught in Itachi's genjutsu. Naruto heard a light thump sound and knew that it was Sasuke's body. He wanted to run inside and help his friend, but his body would not budge. As it dawned on him that it was Itachi who had killed the entire Uchiha Clan, his whole body merely froze in place, unable to process the truth behind it. A part of his mind screamed at him to even have such thoughts, alas, the reality around him was different. His best friend. His only friend who understood his emotions, had taken away his family. Reality was indeed cruel. He didn't know what to believe anymore. The images of all the dead people kept replaying itself in his mind and his eyes widened with a morbid look as he saw Itachi kill all the members one by one.
'Someone… anyone… please. It's not true. No!' Naruto screamed in his mind. How much ever he tried, he could not stop the flow those memories. Suddenly, he felt his own weight pulling him down and the last thing he remembered before hitting the ground was a pair of sharingan eyes with strange pattern.
About ten minutes later
Itachi stood on the roof an abandoned building at the furthest end of the Uchiha Compound, close to the village walls. His heart was still racing from the events of the past half an hour, coupled with the heavy guilt that weigh on his mind made his hand tremble lightly. But he tried to calm himself through sheer willpower as he tried to gather his thoughts. He slowly removed his mask and kept it inside his pouch. He was certain, he wouldn't be needing it anymore. Before he could think of anything further, he saw swirling vortex appear before his eyes as a man, slightly taller than Itachi adorning a spiraling orange mask.
"So, it's over, huh?" asked the man in his deep voice. The single red eye that glowed through the hole of his mask was clear indication that the man was an Uchiha. Itachi nodded, signifying his answer.
"Very well, we should leave immediately for the Akatsuki's base of operations. I'm sure the leader of the group would appreciate someone of your skills." Stated the man, with no hint of emotion in his voice. Itachi knew the man before him was an extremely powerful shinobi and would someday grow up to be a threat to Konoha. It was solely for that reason he had decided to join Akatsuki. It would be much easier to keep tabs on the threats involving Konoha.
"You should leave ahead of me. I still need to clear out the details of the missions with the higher ups before I can leave." Itachi stated. The man simply nodded, and his body swirled into the same vortex through which he had appeared. Itachi sighed as tears cascaded down his face and he fell on his knees as the gravity of what he had done, now clearly rested on his mind. His hands would forever be tainted, stained with the blood of his clansmen, especially his parents. He clenched his fists as he punched the rooftile in frustration. As a few more minutes passed, his breathing had become much more composed. He could only hope that his sacrifice would usher in a new age for the Uchiha Clan. Standing back up again, he took a deep breath before he shunshined towards the Sarutobi manor.
About an hour later
Hiruzen quickly made his way towards the Uchiha Compound after the Anbu had reported him about the unexpected massacre of the Uchiha Clan. While he easily feigned surprise upon hearing the news, he could help but feel immense sadness regarding near extinction of the Uchiha. Another reason that worried him a great deal was Naruto's presence in the Uchiha Compound. He had become suspicious when the boy hadn't come to meet him in the evening. Generally, he would not worry about such trivial matters, but the fact that Itachi had found him in a battered state had only seemed to make the aged worry more.
Once he reached the Uchiha Clan's district, he noticed that the place was already swarming with dozen teams of Anbu, searching for any survivors amongst the dead. As his wizened gaze looked at the surrounding, he felt yet another pain in his heart. He truly did not wish for a solution such as this. The Uchiha Clan was part of the family he had sworn to protect when he took on the Kage hat. He sighed as stared up at the night sky with a solemn look. A hollow chuckle escaped his lips as he thought Itachi's actions were much more worthy of a Hokage than his own. The eldest heir of the Uchiha sacrificed everything to make sure that the village stayed in peace. It saddened his old heart to know that the general populace would come to scorn Itachi as the biggest criminal in Konohagakure no Sato. His eyes regained a bit of composure as he made up his mind on certain things. He never wished to have a repeat of what happened tonight.
A male Anbu with silver hair wearing a dog masked suddenly appeared in front of the Sandaime followed by a female Anbu who held an unconscious Izumi. Hiruzen's face showed the concern upon seeing the unconscious form of Naruto and Sasuke on Inu. While momentarily shocked that she was alive, Hiruzen gave a slight smile to show his relief.
"Take them to the hospital immediately and make sure they are treated properly. I don't want there to be any problems with their treatment." Ordered Hiruzen, looking towards at his Anbu agents. He noticed the tensed movements of Usagi and realized what her question might be.
"Who could have done this, Hokage-sama?" she asked through gritted teeth. Unknown to most, Usagi often kept watch over Naruto when either Inu or Karasu were preoccupied with something else. Having watched him for several years, she had come to appreciate the white-haired boy. Despite the blatant hatred that the villagers showed towards the boy, he never retaliated in any way and was helpful to those he was familiar with. Even apart from Naruto, she knew quite a few Uchiha, whom she considered her friends. For now, she was thankful that there was a mask covering her face. The distraught look her face portrayed along with the anger she felt was certainly unbecoming of an Anbu.
"Inu, Usagi, I'm sure both of you have a lot of question regarding this incident. However, it's prudent that we not talk about such matters in open areas, at least not now." Hiruzen answered apologetically. Inu wished to retort but kept his silence. Studying the Sandaime's face, Inu realized that the aged Hokage knew more than he let on. Yet, he could not help but sigh in slight relief that Naruto, Sasuke and Izumi were safe. While he didn't know much about the girl, he knew she was someone close to Naruto. Before the two Anbu agents could shunshin towards the hospital, they both heard a name which froze them in their track.
"Itachi Uchiha. The man responsible for the massacre of the Uchiha Clan. However, it's a relief that the jinchuriki is safe. It truly would have been a shame if the Kyubi were to fall in the wrong hands." All the Anbu heard those few words and turned to look at the man, who now stood beside their Hokage. A few gasps could be heard among the present Anbu upon learning that piece of information. Inu unconsciously gripped Naruto a little tighter. Without further ado, Inu and Usagi promptly disappeared from the area towards the hospital.
"Danzo." Hiruzen stated firmly. He eyed his old teammate dangerously. "I didn't think you'd come here." Hiruzen added. Danzo simply glanced towards Sarutobi with his uncovered eye that gave off the expression of boredom.
"Is that what you thought, Hiruzen? Whatever you may think of me, I still wish to protect the village… even if it is from the roots of this great tree." Danzo gave a sly reply, as he shifted his weight a little to his left side, where his left arm rested on a cane. Despite the calm look on the exterior, Danzo was quite livid with himself. He was irked with the fact that six of his agents were unable to recover the Kyubi jinchuriki. Tonight, had provided to be an impeccable opportunity for him to capture the boy, to train him to his own wishes and mold his ideology. He sighed knowing he would have to wait for another time. At least a few of his own Anbu were currently retrieving several pair of sharingan eyes from the dead corpses for his use in the future.
Hiruzen simply ignored the remark made by Danzo and observed him silently for a few seconds. Having known the man his whole life, he knew there was something troubling Danzo. He cleared his throat to get Danzo's attention and decided to speak his mind. He could not allow Danzo to have much free reign in the village much longer.
"Danzo, you're effectively removed from your position as Second in Command of Konoha and denied from having a seat in the council." Hiruzen stated calmly and raised his hand to stop any retorts from his teammate. "I do not wish to hear anything. Tonight, was a tragedy that never should have happened. Konoha suffered a tremendous loss today, but I'll make sure something like this does not happen again." Hiruzen stated with definite power behind every word, as he walked deeper into the compound. Meanwhile, Danzo stood in his place as he stared at Hiruzen's retreating form. His lips curled slightly upwards, denoting the slight smirk on his face.
'Worry not Hiruzen. Soon enough, the tables will be turned.' Danzo thought as he turned around to walk back to the Foundation's base. Quite frankly, he had expected that reaction from Hiruzen considering it was him who nudged Hiruzen in this direction. He would have to bid his time until the right moment and keep a more a secure eye on Naruto. He already knew of a person who'd able to do the task perfectly in a few years.
Author Notes: Greetings to everyone! And my humble apologies for the delay in update. I will hopefully be updating more frequently. I didn't wish to go much into the detail of how Obito and Itachi killed the Uchiha clan members. There are certain parts of the night that I want to keep as flashbacks. The scene where Izumi confronts Itachi will be one such. I really tried to summarize the events of that night along with their future consequences as best as I could.
The story would begin to progress a little fast from here on. Naruto will have a hard time coming to terms with what Itachi did to the Uchiha Clan. Sasuke and Naruto will form a close bond eventually, while his relationship with Izumi would take time. I certainly don't want to rush that part. From here on forward, Naruto's beliefs are going to be challenged a lot at several stages of his life. Also, the relation between the Kurama and Naruto will take quite some time too.
Please do follow, favorite and review the story, if you come to like it! It will mean a lot.
Until next time!
