Idea: Hi no Ishi, The will of fire is starting to die out in the older generation, with the loss of the Yondaime; the older ninja just don't know what to do. It is up to ANBU!Kakashi and newly graduated Umino Iruka to keep the will of fire alive in the younger generation. But that's not all they have to do. With an infant Naruto left in their care, can this unlikely duo prevail? (Gender flipped Iruka KakaIru)
Summary: The night of the Kyuubi attack, the Yondaime entrusts the care of his infant daughter to his genius student: Hatake Kakashi and the most promising Academy student: Umino Iruka. Not long after, the duo starts to notice the deep depression that the older generation seems to be falling into. It very quickly becomes apparent that the will of fire is starting to die. The Hokage, seeing this despite his own problems, tasks the young pair with protecting the younger generation. Can they do it when they have a charge of their own to look after? (Gender flipped Naruto and Iruka KakaIru)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
Attention: Flamers will be ignored, blocked or deleted! I will however take reviews that critique my work. Flames don't exist.
A HUGE thanks to The Un-Wanted Angel for offering to be my Beta! And to Silver Flyer, who helped with the majority the last chapter.
Title: Hi no Ishi o Mamoru: Protecting the Will of Fire
(Revival of the Yondaime)
The Shinigami thought for a moment, then demanded more than asked, "Do you have the seals I want ready?"
Taiga breathed deeply. He could do this. He offered the two scrolls and the Shinigami quickly reached over and plucked them from his grasp. She opened and looked them over quickly before nodding and tucking them away somewhere on his person.
She looked over at Taiga again and said, "The words you need are Shinigami Saigen: Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
The Shinigami vanished and Taiga glanced at the others, "Stand back..." Taiga released two more suppressor seals and he began emitting nearly Kage levels of chakra.
He flashed through a group of hand signs too quickly to be seen and then he held his hand outstretched again and he calmly called out, "Shinigami Saigen: Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
A chakra induced cloud spread around Taiga and the space in front of him.
Taiga bit his lip; this would be the first time meeting his brother. Part of him wanted to hide, but there would be no more running away.
On the couch where Hime had been cuddling with air a young woman with bright red hair faded into view, her arms were wrapped around the toddler in a loving embrace.
In front of Taiga however, his older brother, Namikaze Minato, faded into view, both taking a minute to become tangible.
Minato caught his newly discovered younger brother as he collapsed in exhaustion. "I've got you, Taiga," Minato whispered, "Rest, you're safe."
Taiga panted, looking up at the Head of his Clan. He wasn't sure how to feel, should he be scared? Scared of what? Not meeting his brother's expectations?
Everyone stared at the two newly revived parents, Kakashi was in shock, Iruka wasn't sure how to feel, and all the kids were in awe.
Taiga knew that he would be unconscious soon. It almost always happened when he did something like this. He felt his brother gently set him down on a chair and then his brother stood up again and glanced at all of the children. He looked at Iruka and Kakashi for an explanation.
They started explaining about the kidnappings and such and Taiga could feel himself succumbing to unconsciousness. His last thought was of him wishing he could stay awake longer, but that was impossible until he recovered from returning two people. For all he knew, he could be out for a minimum of a day or two and a maximum of two years.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Kybi, unnoticed at the moment, glanced at Little River when she sensed his chakra level fade down to below a good level. She walked over, gaining Little Scarecrow and Harbor's attention. She nudged Little River and then looked up at Harbor. "Reviving you and Kushina must have been a little bit difficult. He's unconscious."
Minato crouched down next to Taiga and suddenly hesitated. He knew next to nothing about his little brother, who had just managed to revive not just one person, but two. He mentally shook his head and gently picked Taiga up. He glanced at Kakashi and then said, "I'm putting him in one of the bedrooms."
Kakashi nodded and Minato walked upstairs.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Minato walked over to the room opposite his and Kushina's and gently pushed it open. He walked into the dark empty bedroom and settled Taiga onto it. He stood there for a moment, and then walked out of the room.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Minato went back down the stairs to rejoin the discussion, when he reentered he was attacked by a small Yellow Flash, "Oof," he looked down, meeting the largest set of Diamond blue eyes he'd ever seen gazing up at him from an equally cute face. "…Naruto…"
"Papa!" she chirped, cuddling into his chest.
Minato chuckled, "Love you, Musume," His grip tightening slightly.
"So Kakashi-kit, you think you can explain why all the children are here?" Minato asked, "We were kind of interrupted before…"
"Y-yes Tou-san," Kakashi replied from where he was sitting next to Kushina. "It started not long after you died, Ino here," Kakashi gestured to the lighter blonde haired girl, "Was the first in a series of kidnappings, and as far as we know, the kidnappings aren't finished yet…"
"I see," Minato replied, "But why are they here?" He stressed the word in curiosity.
"…The Sandaime thought it would be easier to protect them if they were all in one place," Kakashi admitted, "And we didn't really have much of a choice. The apartment Iruka and I rented was just big enough for the two of us and Naruto. We had to move into my father's house once Ino and Shikamaru," Here Kakashi gestured to one of the black eyed little boys, "moved in with us. Shikamaru is an orphan; Yoshino-san and Shikaku-san were both killed during the attempt to take him from the village. As are Kiba and Hana."
"The Hyuuga are here for the same reason," Kakashi continued, "It was actually Taiga-san that rescued them, though he lied about his last name…" Kakashi trailed off.
Minato nodded as he sat on his wife's other side, settling his daughter in his lap, "So you needed the space, I'm sensing two others Kakashi, where and who are they?"
Suddenly Tora appeared out of nowhere and stared at Minato for a second before she hugged him and whispered, "Missed you, Sensei."
Minato was startled and then he asked, not quite believing it, "Rin?"
Rin pushed her mask to the side and grinned. Next to her, Neko appeared and bowed before murmuring, "Yondaime-sama."
Minato looked over at Kakashi who replied, "Rin and Tenzo are the ANBU assigned to protect the children from more attacks."
Minato nodded slowly and then glanced over at Kakashi and asking, "So, how has Naruto been?"
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Upstairs, unconscious, Taiga was having a vision.
It was dark. Unnaturally dark. Taiga looked around. He was standing in front of a gate, but he couldn't get any sense of what was behind it.
Suddenly, a blurry shadow raced out of the gate with a bundle on its back.
Taiga tried to focus on who it was, but all he saw was a single symbol before everything faded. [1]
It wasn't until three days later that Taiga woke up to the smell of someone cooking.
Minato poked his head into the room, "Oh good, you're finally awake. You were starting to worry us, Otouto." He was holding a lightly snoozing Naruto in his arms. "You think you can eat anything?"
"How long have I been out?" Taiga asked his older brother as the door opened wider.
"Almost three days Taiga," Minato replied, "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine…" Taiga replied.
Taiga silently berated himself for not being able to get the vision out of his head. It would fade in and out until he tried to pay attention to it and then it would vanish completely. He was lucky that no one had noticed his jumpiness. He couldn't even remember the symbol that he had seen. He hated visions, but they were useful, in their own right.
Plus he had been out for about three days, which meant that he had to re-ink the seals he had on. They had faded a day after he had fallen unconscious and he had not had the chance to replace them yet.
Taiga walked downstairs to find the redhead cooking. He glanced around for a moment. It seemed like a normal morning, for this household.
Kind of creepy, is what it was to him. Was he so unused to being near people that he couldn't seem to relax fully? Pathetic, considering his control.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
After breakfast, Taiga discreetly glanced around and noticed that no one was paying him any attention. He stood up and returned to the room, deciding to replace his seals now. If only he had known what was to come that night, he would not have done that.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
That night, Tobi stole into the Uchiha Compound, 'I only have to get Sasuke,' he thought, 'good thing too, because I wouldn't be able to handle Itachi, the kid's just too good for his age…'
He entered the main house silently and made his way to Sasuke's room, once inside, he put the boy into a simple Genjutsu to keep him asleep. 'Easy,' Tobi thought with a smirk. He stuffed Sasuke into the sack he'd brought and slipped back out of the house. He hadn't raised the alarm because he was an Uchiha, and belonged there.
He made his way out of the Compound, unaware of the suspicious dark eyes following him.
Itachi snarled in anger, he'd had trouble sleeping and so had gone to check on his brother, only to see a stranger stroll out of the Compound with a full sack slung over his back, "I'd bet the whole Clan that Sasuke was just kidnapped…" he muttered as he raced to get dressed. He stopped just long enough to put his sandals on before racing to the Namikaze Compound.
He forced the gate open, knowing that an alarm would be raised.
Taiga jerked awake, still tired from the reapplication of his seals. He looked out and a shiver of déjà vu overtook him. His vision had come true.
He opened his door and walked downstairs to see Minato opening the door for Itachi. Itachi was gasping for breath as Minato waited to know what was so important. Taiga saw the fan on the Uchiha and recognized it as the symbol in his vision. He stepped forward and asked Itachi, "Which way did he go?"
Itachi looked at him with wide eyes and then pointed toward the gates of Konoha. Taiga nodded and said, "Send Kakashi after me when you get the story from Uchiha-san."
Taiga bounded into the darkness, leaving a very confused group of people.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Taiga winced with pain and exhaustion as he followed after the kidnapper. He should have waited on the seal application process. He wouldn't be able to go above Chuunin level until the morning. And here he was, chasing down a ninja. He could feel a certain irony in this situation, when suddenly, he felt some sort of gas surround him and his eyes widened.
'Knockout gas… shit. My vision didn't extend this far or else I would have waited.'
As he fell unconscious due to the gas, he used a little bit of his chakra to make sure that Kybi would be able to track him if needed.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Minato sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know why he'd do something like that…" he muttered as Kakashi appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What's going on Tou-san?" Kakashi asked.
"Sasuke's been kidnapped!" Itachi exclaimed, panting, "I have to get him back!"
Minato looked down at him in sympathy. "Kakashi, do you still have that kunai I gave you during the War?"
"…I… No Sensei…" Kakashi replied sheepishly, it had been destroyed during the Kyuubi attack.
Minato pulled one out from one of his pouches, "Do you remember how to use it?" Minato asked as he tossed it to his student/adoptive son.
"Yes Tou-san, I remember," Kakashi replied as he caught it, slipping it into one of his own as he walked passed, "Thanks for the safety net."
Good luck Kakashi," Minato called after him.
"Let's go Itachi," Kakashi called as he ran out of the house.
Kakashi and Itachi leaped through the trees an hour later, looking for both the kidnapper and Taiga. Itachi looked around as he came upon a fresh chakra sense that he had only begun to start recognizing. Kakashi noticed and asked, "What's up?"
Itachi looked around and said, "I sense Namikaze-san's chakra, it's very low, and I can smell the remnants of something in the air… I think it might be knockout gas…"
Kakashi paled as he realized what it meant. Not only were people after the kids, now they had people gunning for Sensei's younger brother. Kakashi took out the kunai and called his Sensei to their location.
When Minato arrived, he looked at Kakashi and Kakashi said, "Sensei, there is residue of knockout gas here and also remnants of your brother's chakra."
Minato narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's find them then."
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
When they finally came upon Taiga, his kidnapper and Sasuke's kidnapper had joined together. Sasuke's kidnapper leaped away and Taiga's kidnapper shifted into a battle stance, letting Taiga's prone form slump to the ground.
Minato shifted into his own battle stance, deactivating the seal he used to hide his more animalistic features. "You and Itachi go on ahead Kakashi-kit; I will deal with my brother's kidnapper."
"Yes sir!" Kakashi replied, pulling Itachi with him, "Good luck Tou-san!"
"You as well," Minato called back, His lips lifting away from his teeth in a snarl, revealing a set of super-sharp fangs.
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Tobi dashed through the trees of Konoha's Great Forest, 'These guys just don't give up do they?' he wondered, looking back at his two pursuers and growled, the tiny child in his arms was only silent because he'd knocked him out! "Troublesome brat..." he muttered darkly as he pushed off.
Itachi had murder in his eyes as he struggled to keep up with Kakashi as they hunted the one that had kidnapped his baby brother from his room, "I'll kill him!"
"No. We'll leave him for T & I," Kakashi told him firmly, "You need to stay calm Itachi."
Itachi sighed, "Sorry Kakashi-senpai."
"It's alright," Kakashi replied as he noticed the masked man trip. "Now we've got him!"
The two Konoha Shinobi fell on Tobi in vengeance, and his mask shattered as Itachi snatched Sasuke from his arms and leaped back to let the older, more experienced ninja handle the fight.
Kakashi had lifted his Heate-ite off of his Sharingan and closed his natural one, remembering what his Sensei had said so long ago. He didn't let his surprise show as his long-thought-dead teammate's face was revealed to be behind the mask. He didn't ask why, though he really wanted too. It was now his turn to make Obito see reason. He stayed silent as he beat the living crap out of his old teammate until…
"Kakashi, stop! What are you doing?" Obito cried, shielding his face as he came back to himself. It had been years since he'd been in control of his body, and while he was ecstatic, he didn't like the fact that his own teammate was trying to kill him.
Kakashi stayed silent but stopped, surveying his ex-teammate in confusion.
Obito knelt once he was sure that Kakashi would not continue and vomited, remembering doing horrible things and not having control of his body…
He had forgiven them, for leaving him under those rocks, his team had had no time to dig him out, and then the next thing he remembered was listening to Madara, who was supposed to be dead. He remembered resisting for months before giving in the fucking day before Madara died. That, he remembered, was about the time he lost control of his body.
He remembered training. He remembered killing Kushina-hime and Minato-sensei.
"Please..." Obito whimpered, looking up at his old teammate with a single pleading eye as he came out of it, "Kill me..."
Kakashi shook his head, "I'm not going to kill you Obito, let's go home and get you some help."
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Minato had no problem defeating his brother's kidnapper. He walked over to his brother and noticed how pale he looked, even if he was unconscious. He picked him up and rushed back to the Compound.
When he got there, he put Taiga in his bed and then tried to find out why he had been pale. It didn't take him long to notice the newly re-applied seals. He shook his head and left the room, glancing back curiously at the blood seal on Taiga's neck. It looked like a concealment seal, but for what…?
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
When he came back downstairs he came upon a person with Kakashi that he never expected to see. He looked at Kakashi, "Explain."
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Upstairs, a shadow snuck into Taiga's room and placed something on the desk next to him. The shadow grinned. Taiga would know what his 'gift' was and what it meant.
The shadow left, and on the desk, a small dagger necklace sat. The dagger formed from a completely black stone. [2]
Hi no Ishi o Mamoru
Kakashi shrugged helplessly, "I thought he died! Obito was trapped, being crushed under a pile of boulders!" Kakashi looked down at his other (surprisingly alive) teammate where he lay on the couch. "If I had known that Obito was still alive I would have insisted that we go back and dig him up!"
Minato gave him a skeptical look, "Really?"
"Yes really Tou-san!" Kakashi exclaimed as Rin came in with her bag, only to freeze when she saw who it was that needed medical attention.
"O-Obito..."
[Omake]
This is the other way the scene of Sasuke's kidnapping could have gone.
Obito Amnesia:
Obito blinked in confusion after Kakashi sent him careening into a tree. He groaned in slight pain. '...Funny...' Obito thought, '...Last thing I remember is telling Rin-chan to give Kakashi my eye and being crushed...'
Kakashi paused in his assault when Obito didn't get back up, in fact, he looked really dazed... "Obito, what's the last thing you said to me?"
"…That my eye would see the future for you..." Obito replied, wincing, "And that those who didn't follow the rules were trash but those that didn't look after their teammates were worse than trash…"
A sudden pain enveloped Kakashi's chest, Obito… didn't remember…?
"Hey 'Kashi-taichou," Obito slurred, "Where are Rin-chan and Minato-sensei? Did you manage to destroy the bridge?"
Kakashi was at a loss, how was he supposed to break the news to Obito that Sensei had been dead for five years? "…Rin-chan's back in the village waiting for us Obito, I… Haven't seen Sensei for a long time though…"
Obito groaned as Kakashi helped him up, "What about Kushina-hime?"
Kakashi's heart constricted, what was he supposed to say…? "…Do you remember if they were... expecting...?" Kakashi asked, Minato-sensei had told them that Kushina-hime had been pregnant not long before that mission after all so he should…
"…Yeah…" Obito wheezed, "Did they have the baby yet?"
"Yeah…" Kakashi replied, almost choking, "She's beautiful…"
(End Chapter)
I hope you guys enjoyed the Omake! The dagger necklace is important; it's got something to do with the other village that Taiga was held in.
Editing takes a long time!
Yes, I am going the Canon route of Obito being Tobi and not Madara, I like Obito a lot! I don't know if, in the Manga he was brainwashed (it certainly looks that way) But I've… Ah, Spoilers! Sorry, can't say anything else.
[1] Taiga has some pretty unique talents, he is the Family Oracle or Seer, which appears once every ten generations, maybe and unfortunately he never got any of the training he should have. The Oracle of Seer can see the future and can never be the clan head.
[2] This has to do with the other village Taiga was in before escaping.
Neph