Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah all!
Loyalty and Rebellion
Kakashi looked out at the indoor training complex inside the sprawling residence Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato called home. Many of their troops had homes nearby, all connected by a maze-like network of tunnels, but the mansion had most of the facilities. There were many Narutos spread out all over the grassy ground, in clusters and groups jabbering to each other excitedly. The boy was working on some new technique Jiraiya had begun showing him after he was well enough to be released from the hospital.
"Impressive, eh?" Jiraiya spoke up from behind him; Kakashi didn't turn around. He had known the man was standing there for a few minutes already, but wasn't prepared to initiate a conversation with the Sannin after their…discussion. "He's a fast learner, must get it from his dad."
"Minato-sensei was brilliant," Kakashi agreed neutrally, watching as a few of the Naruto clones popped and the original stilled for a second, then began running around even faster, shouting more instructions to his clones.
"Oh lighten up." Jiraiya rolled his eyes, slapping the younger man on the back. "I'm not mad at you, I probably needed points like those slammed into my head. But that's all in the past, and the boy in front of us is the one we have to protect now. Can you agree to protect him at all costs?"
Kakashi eyed the blond boy that looked so much like his old sensei, down to the blond hair and bright blue eyes. "I can."
"Then we're good." Again Jiraiya clapped the man on the back, an even though Kakashi flinched, he grinned under his mask.
"I, Hatake Kakashi, do so swear my loyalty to Amegakure and its people. I promise to obey its leaders unconditionally, and to obey all orders without hesitation." He knelt before a simple wooden chair in a small room, upon which Yahiko sat as the leader of Ame. On either side of the chair stood Nagato and Konan, while in the back of the room Jiraiya and Tsunade bore witness to the oath.
"I, Yahiko, do acknowledge your loyalty and accept you into the ranks of Ame. Welcome, Hatake Kakashi." With the formal words out of the way, Yahiko sprang off his chair and sauntered forward, clapping Kakashi on the back. "Welcome indeed. Now, it's time for some food!"
Two months later, Naruto had been placed on a team consisting of Konan, Nagato, and one of the junior members of Ame, doing a regular perimeter check. Being close to at least two of five major villages, they had to be on constant alert for any activity near the borders.
Naruto was walking along the cliffs near the border of Konoha as the rest of his team spread out behind and in front, looking for any intruders upon their land Nagato's rain could have missed, when he saw a flash of pink and red from the corner of his eye. He turned his head, but it was gone. Passing it off as his imagination, the blond ran a few hundred meters to catch up with Konan, when he caught the same colors again. This time he didn't turn his head, only waited until they showed a third time. The same colors his old teammate used to wear.
"I know you're there!" His yell startled Konan and the other young member of the team, but he didn't care. There were people from Konoha over there, people he knew, and he had no intent of letting them slip by unnoticed. "Come out!"
True to shinobi form, not a leaf stirred from his announcement. Naruto grumbled to himself, but formed a surreptitious seal. He had learned to project clones to places further away from his body, and he sent one into Konoha territory, behind where he estimated the group to be. Not a minute later Sakura darted out of the bushes, sending a kunai back at the clone who disappeared in a cloud of smoke, purpose fulfilled.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried gladly, taking in his once-teammate's appearance. "What are you doing here?"
Instead of greeting him with a smile, the girl glared at him. "I could say the same of you. They told us you died! And I find you here and alive, on the side of the enemy?"
"W-What? We aren't your enemies! We just…" He trailed off as a familiar raven boy stepped out of the foliage as well, black eyes hard. "Sasuke-teme!"
Instead of replying with the customary 'dobe', Sasuke stared at the Ame team, eyes unreadable. His black hair was longer than it had been, framing his face and falling over the back of his neck, and his previous genin outfit of loose blue and white had been replaced for a tight-fitting black mesh and leather suit. Sakura's hair had been cut much shorter, ending just under her earlobes, and she too wore a tighter set of clothing, although in the same shade of red as her previous dress.
"Sakura-chan, why are you dressed like that? What's your team, where –" Naruto was cut off by Konan putting a hand over his mouth and signaling for quiet.
"There's one more person with them, at least jounin rank," she whispered in his ear, and looked meaningfully at Nagato. His eyes narrowed as he tried to see through the foliage, catching sight of a slight rustle in a tree. "Remember what Jiraiya said about Konoha. Danzou is the new Hokage, they're different now." She would have dragged the boy away by the scruff of his jacket normally, but he needed closure. Just as all of them had after the war…it was just a different battlefield.
"Sakura-chan, why are you serving Danzou?" The blond's voice was softer as he stared across the dividing line of two countries at his once-teammates. "Why have you turned your backs on the teachings of the Sandaime and the Hokages before him?"
She was silent.
Sasuke, however, had no such reservations about answering. "You wouldn't understand, weakling that you are," he spat, eyes narrowing. "You 'died', didn't you? Spirited away by a guardian angel. You didn't witness the power of the man. He taught me how to wield the Sharingan, and how to break a bone in a single blow. I've learned more from him in two months than I did in six years with the old school! I'm stronger now than ever, and I'm certainly stronger than you."
"So you forget about the man who fed you and gave you a home, who visited class and looked out for you?" Naruto's voice was harsh as a crow's, blue eyes like ice. Sakura fidgeted under the glare, twitching at her pants with one hand as she looked down.
"You wouldn't understand…it was join or die," she whispered, casting an anxious glance behind her at the trees. "He recruited all the shinobi forces, and most of the civilians too. Those who resisted…" she gave a convulsive shudder. "If the're alive now, I wish for their sakes they weren't. He has some of the clan leaders locked up – for conspiracy he says. Konoha's different now Naruto. We don't have a choice."
"We don't need one!" Sasuke overrode his teammate. "We're finally strong! And we could crush you weaklings in an instant." He made to step forward, to cross the boundary line, but a black clad figure blurred and landed in front of him, forcibly stopping the boy from entering.
"It is Danzou-sama's will that we do not leave Konoha's territory," the man stated in a monotone voice, slightly muffled by his mask. "Danzou-sama's will is law. If the law is broken, you will be punished." Both genin gave a convulsive shudder at that.
Sasuke leaned around the man and glared at Naruto, who was staring at the 'team leader'. "We'll meet again, dobe. And when we do, you'll be nothing but a smear on the rocks, without laws to hold me back." He spun on a heel and disappeared into the forest of Konoha once more, Sakura casting one last glance back at Naruto before following.
The blond boy let out a trembling sigh, sinking to the ground. He had known things were bad, but Konoha seemed as though it was unrecognizable from the place he had left. Nagato placed a hand on his shoulder, offering silent comfort. He too knew what it was like to have his home ripped from your grasp, changed by forces outside his control.
Mitarashi Anko paced the large cell restlessly. It wasn't like she had much of a choice to walk to. Move forward, turn to avoid a wall. Turn again, and again…walk in a rectangle. After a month, she was bored.
"Would you stop that?" The cultured voice belonged to Hyuuga Hiashi, who sat against one of the walls with his eyes closed. There were chakra repressors on both his wrists and ankles, preventing him from using Jyuuken. He had been rounded up as part of the resistance fighting against Danzou. He was honestly one of the last people any of the village expected to take part, thinking the man would hole up in his compound and kowtow to the ruthless leader. Instead he had taken down four Root members on his own before being rounded up as an example with the two of them.
The third occupant of the cell, Akimichi Chouza, was lying down on the small cot he was provided, both arms hanging off the side. He had lost a lot of weight from the lack of food given – the guards didn't really care if they missed a day or not, but his lineage was still apparent in his bulk.
"What are they doing up there?" Anko hissed to herself, though the question was more directed towards her cell mates. "We've been fighting for three months, the lazy bastards should have taken him out by now. It's not that hard."
"You know better than that," Chouza spoke up, voice rumbling in the large stone room. "He has supporters and forces everywhere, and they must avoid being caught. Even if he knows who most are, there must be proof."
Anko growled, but knew he had a point. They had all been taken because they had been 'caught in the act' of doing various things – she had been raiding the library, searching for scrolls confiscated by Danzou. Chouza had been on a scouting mission in the headquarters and been betrayed by a Root member. They never made that mistake again. Hiashi had been in the longest.
"Three of the resistance, locked underground," a voice floated out of a corner, and a figure stepped out of the wall, cloaked in darkness.
"You took your sweet time," Anko turned on her heel and hissed, but backed up when the stranger moved forward. Whoever it was, they were the only link to the outside world the group had. "What's happened?"
"It is almost time, events are moving into place. Konoha has been irrevocably changed." The figure waved a hand and a model of Konoha appeared in the middle of the floor, much as it had at the first meeting of the jounin after Danzou's self-appointment. However this time, Danzou's face was prominent on the mountain, and many of the small shops and businesses of Konoha were gone. In their places were large barracks, meant to hold many troops. "As he overstretches, the rebellion will begin, wiping Konoha clean and starting anew. Pushed from both inside and out," the model crumpled into a ball, "he shall fall. And from the ashes shall rise the new Konoha."
"When?" Anko was frustrated beyond belief. The models were all well and good, but she wanted action, not just plans.
"Soon." With another wave of the stranger's hand, the miniature transformed into a new Konoha, one with the mountain wiped clean of Danzou's face. "It will be a blank slate, use it well." Then the figure was gone, melted into the shadows and through the wall.
Hiashi let out a long breath, closing his eyes. "Soon. Cryptic as always."
Anko nodded her agreement, but stared at a corner of the cell. "Come out, I know you're there." A small snake slithered across the floor to her, winding up her leg until she picked it up and placed it around her neck. "You heard it all?" The snake nodded once, scaly head moving oddly. "Good. Go tell Nara, leave nothing out."