ooo000ooo

Chapter 11

Kishi kaisei

Wake from death and return to life

Kiani… There is a great misunderstanding about pain. We are taught to fear it, to avoid it. But pain is a vital part of our lives. For it is simply a reminder to our body that there is a world beyond our simple shells. We are not autonomous beings. Separate from that which is around us. Everything is connected in life. – Fathom (Michael Turner)

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Present Day

: :Mission Room, Konohagakure: :

Koharu reached for the scroll but Kotetsu held it over his head and well out of her reach.

"Back off old hag, unless you want to fight for it." Kotetsu looked like he wanted her to take that route, but Root was careful to stay out of his and Izumo's reach.

Koharu sneered, "You're picking a fight you can't win, Little Boy. Iruka and the Hokage will likely kill each other with their little brawl and when they do, the Council will arrange for a new Hokage."

"You mean a puppet who's strings you can pull?" Izumo asked. He glanced around, he and Kotetsu were the only Hanta members there. With Iruka fighting Tsunade and Itachi and Shisui god knows where; only Anko, Yajirobi and Kabuto were unaccounted for. Where the hell were they?

Kakashi and his allies stood together but Izumo wasn't about to count on them for sure. Iruka's personal involvement with Kakashi might not work out in their favor, especially when he found out that his father had been Hanta.

"What the hell is going on?" Jiraya roared. The Sanin's presence was keeping the violence at bay, for now, but if he did decide to start throwing punches there was little chance that anyone would be able to prevent a full-on war.

"Yes, why don't you tell everyone," Koharu purred. Kotetsu snarled in response. "Explain how you two, Konoha's great Hanta, turned your backs on the village. Explain why Iruka did not fight Pain. Why none of you stepped forward during Sound's assault on the village."

Kotetsu was honestly surprised that Koharu would so freely admit information that she'd held as power over them for so long. She must have felt she could use it to keep the advantage. And she was right, because he could feel the anger in the room growing. The majority of the shinobi were confused, but charges of desertion were universally hated. He waved the scroll in front of Koharu's face, childish but he knew it would piss her off. "Sure I can. How about I also tell them how you participated in the slaughter of an entire clan and attempted to do the same to two others? Maybe we should also talk about how you've been assassinating shinobi you think you can't control in the village for years?"

Koharu and Homura stiffened. "All lies."

"Right. So you haven't been threating to kill Naruto and Sasuke to keep Iruka from speaking out against you?" Kotetsu tossed the scroll from hand to hand, looking thoughtful. "Why don't you tell them why you want Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"The little boy from the meeting the other day?" Shizune demanded.

"He's of no importance," Homura sniffed.

"No, except that Iruka's attached to him, so it's just another way of the keeping the Taichou of the Hanta under your heel." Kotetsu grinned. "You're so damn scared of us, you've been trying to kill us for years. You just haven't had anyone powerful enough to do."

"You're spinning tales to justify your failures," Koharu stated, regaining some of her composure.

"You blew up my apartment last year," Izumo commented dryly. "You took out the whole building and put three people in the hospital for months."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Koharu said, but the mood in the room was beginning to change. Shinobi were attuned to lies and even though Koharu didn't flinch or give off a single tell, something just didn't sit right.

"Enough!" Jiraya was going to lose his voice if he had to keep yelling. "ANBU, arrest all of them until Tsunade returns."

ANBU moved and were met immediately by Root members, who surrounded Koharu and Homura. Kotetsu and Izumo didn't flinch or make any move to fight the ANBU members who surrounded them, but Kotetsu refused to release the scroll.

"You are not Hokage," Koharu snarled.

"Neither are you," Jiraya snarled right back.

"We are the Konoha Council." Homura insisted. Kotetsu snorted loudly and Koharu glared at him.

"You're also trying to take over," Izumo muttered.

Confusion was starting to make Kakashi's head pound. Iruka was Hanta? So were Kotetsu and Izumo, but who else? Why the hell were Tsunade and Iruka fighting? Kakashi made his way over to Kotetsu and stood toe-to-toe with the surprisingly unafraid chuunin. He could feel the rest of the room watching them.

"Hagane."

"Hatake." Kotetsu was probably having more fun than he should have been, but facing Kakashi, it was hard to think of the silver-haired jounin as anything other than Iruka's maybe/something important. That and his squirrels had been reporting back to him that despite Kakashi's reputation, he still lived a relatively lonely life. That was something that always made Kotetsu's heart hurt. He'd been an orphan with no living blood-family, but he'd never been lonely, and he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. Hatake needed his feather's ruffled, the same way Iruka sometimes did, to remind him that life was more than grand schemes and power plays played out in the backrooms of the Hokage's Tower.

Kakashi waited, he wanted to see how long it would take for the chuunin to start talking. It was an easy though not always reliable way, to identify guilt. Guilt frequently made people feel the need to talk and that gave way to dozens of tells. Either Kotetsu was well trained enough to ignore the urge or he wasn't guilty, but the chuunin didn't flinch. He simply looked Kakashi in the eye and waited. So Kakashi asked, "Why?"

"Be specific," Kotetsu countered, not taking the bait.

"Why?" Kakashi returned.

"Because some of it isn't my story to tell and I won't betray that confidence." Kotetsu shrugged, it was the truth. It wasn't his place to blast out Iruka's family secrets. And he didn't want to have to be the one to tell Kakashi about his father.

Kakashi considered Kotetsu's answer. His gut said the chuunin was being honest. Just how honest was he willing to be? "How long have you been Hanta?"

"Since I was four."

Kakashi frowned. Chosen at four years old? Even ANBU and the Academy didn't allow recruits that age.

"That's pretty average for us," Kotetsu offered. A small olive branch to get Kakashi asking more questions. If Kotetsu could get Kakashi asking the right questions, it'd be more believable then just coming out and telling everyone everything.

"Who recruited you?" Kakashi needed names to make connections.

Kotetsu debated his answer for a second. He'd been recommended by Hatake Sakumo but trained by Tsume. He decided he wasn't quite ready to open the can of worms that was Sakumo and said instead, "Inuzuka Tsume." It was close enough.

Several gasps echoes through the room. Hiashi pushed his way through the crowd, Neji and Hanabi on his heels. "Tsume is a member of Hanta?"

"Well she's retired now." Not that she acted like it.

"We should bring her in for questioning," Neji commented.

Kotetsu and Izumo laughed, wildly amused by the suggestion. "You do that. Just give us a heads up so we can be in another village when it happens."

"She won't come willingly?" Kakashi asked.

"No, she will. You're just not going to like the answers she gives you." Tsume would turn the entire village on its head if she got the chance. "Or what those answers will bring with them."

"The truth needs to come out," Jiraya growled.

"Which one?" Kotetsu returned. "I think you have an idea in your head of what the truth is and I can promise you, that's not what you're going to get." Kotetsu paused, his eyes flicking to the doorway. "Looks like you'll get to see it for yourself."

Tsume, flanked by Hanna and several of her Inuzuka shinobi swept in. Shibi and his own Aburame shinobi followed more quietly. It took Kakashi a second to feel beyond their overwhelming chakra and realize that there were Inuzuka and Aburame shinobi surrounding the entire tower.

Tsume immediately sucked in all the attention. Most of the room had been witness to her explosive temper at least once and they were all expecting a repeat. She stormed to the center like there wasn't anyone else in the room and breezed past several Root members to stand face to face with Koharu. The Root ANBU didn't make any move to stop her. The rest of the Inuzuka and Aburame blocked the doorway and windows and Kakashi abruptly realized they were trapping everyone inside. Hanna stopped next to Kakashi and Shibi quickly joined them.

"What is going on Tsume?" Hiashi demanded. He and the Inuzuka clan leader had faced off in some pretty vicious arguments, especially since Hinata and Kiba had been placed on the same team. They saw eye to eye on nothing and they'd never been able to find a common ground.

Tsume glanced at him briefly, then dismissed him with a smirk and turned back to Koharu. "I heard you put out an arrest warrant for Iruka."

"For dereliction of duty." Koharu answered evenly. There was a cold familiarity between the two women.

Tsume made a point of looking around. "So, where is he?"

"He and the Hokage decided to settle their differences in the Valley."

Tsume laughed, "Of course they did. Fitting place, their forefathers settled their differences there too. Maybe they'll reshape into something worth looking at."

"What are you talking about?" Sai asked, though he wasn't the only one wondering. Tsume ignored him too.

"I would think you'd be fond of the place too. If I recall, you fought your fair share of battles there." Koharu smirked.

"Yeah, I've slowed down in my old age," Tsume smiled with her teeth, "Not that you'd be able to tell."

The smile left Koharu's face and settled into something much darker. "This is not your battle Tsume."

"You made it my battle you little witch," Tsume stepped further into Koharu's face, forcing the older woman to take a step back. "Not only did you try to wipe out my clan, you tried to steal my children and force them into Root. You nearly ripped this village apart in an attempt to gain power. And you've been trying to kill my godsons for years."

"Your loyalty to a dead man's bloodline will be the end of you," Koharu promised. The threat obvious.

It made Tsume smile. "Don't worry, the day that comes, you'll be long dead."

Kakashi moved to get between the two women, to try and restore some order but Hanna grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Don't," the Inuzuka heir murmured. "Let Mother and Shibi fight this battle."

"It shouldn't be a battle," Genma muttered. Two of the village's leaders throwing threats at one another wasn't good for morale.

"It's been a war since before you were born," Hanna said evenly.

"A war over what?" Raido asked, exasperated. Hanna only glanced at him briefly before turned back to watch her mother and Koharu.

"I'll make this very simple for you Koharu," Tsume stepped back, "I've had enough of your foolish attempts to take over the village and kill Iruka, Naruto and Sasuke. Stop immediately or the Inuzuka and Aburame Clans will go to war against the Village Hidden in Leaves. And we'll burn it to the ground."

ooo000ooo

Present Day

: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :

Naruto paced Iruka's tiny living room.

"We need a plan," Sakura said.

"Somethings wrong," Sasuke muttered, "Iruka-sensei should have been back by now."

Naruto let out a cry of frustration and made them all jump. "I feel like the more we learn, the more the history of the village changes. I don't even know where I'm from anymore."

That Naruto's faith in the village might be wavering was a terrifying thought. It had carried them all through some of the toughest days of their lives.

"I don't think it has," Hinata said softly. "I think it's still the same place, maybe the people are different, but that's it."

"Hinata's right," Shino broke in.

"The village is only as good as the people in it," Shikimaru added. "Iruka-sensei said that, remember? When we had that class on the founding of the shinobi villages and why they were all so different."

"It's a good thing we're all different," Naruto muttered. He liked visiting the other villages and seeing how they'd changed and adapted to different challenges. Iruka-sensei had always said to learn from that and Naruto always tried. But now Konoha was struggling to change and move forward from everything that had happened. Part of that healing process, Naruto realized, was facing what the village itself had done and finding a way to prevent it from ever happening again. "The village is still home, even when it's being stupid we still love it."

Iruka hadn't stopped caring about Naruto when he'd made mistakes and Naruto had never stopped caring about Sasuke, even when the stupid Teme was running around with Orochimaru and Akatsuki. Love was a pain in the ass when the person you loved was an idiot, Naruto mused. Then something Iruka had said years ago, when Naruto had been convinced the village would hate him forever and Sakura would never look at him, popped into his head. "Love is a grace, not a list of criteria." He murmured.

It was the only way Iruka had been able to explain the nonsense that was love to the seven-year old Naruto and it had made sense. You could change yourself in every way possible and it still wouldn't make anyone love you. Iruka had always loved like he didn't mind getting a broken heart and Naruto decided then and there to do the same.

Sasuke agreed, if the twinkle in his eyes said anything. Though the Uchiha was still stoic and emotional as a rock, he was slowly growing out of it and having Iruka and Naruto, neither of whom could control their emotions, in his family was slowly bringing about change. He smiled more, despite the dire situation they were now in and he'd voted without hesitation to tell the rest of the Rookie 11 what was going on. The pride made Naruto's heart hurt, not that he would ever admit it out loud to Sasuke. It made the idea of what was coming more bearable and the days beyond that something Naruto was very much looking forward to.

Naruto was lost in thought, Sasuke was becoming very familiar with that face. He'd called it the Dobe's constipation face when they'd first been put on Team 7 but now it made him proud. Naruto had gone from the headstrong fool who'd rushed in without thinking to, well, he still rushed in without thinking and he was still annoyingly headstrong, but it was tempered now with his experience and what Sasuke refused to admit might have been a little genius. Watching Naruto grow was like watching a wolf go from playful pup to alpha leader, though he still had a tendency to trip over his feet at times. It was going to be fun, Sasuke realized, watching Naruto grow the rest of the way to Hokage and he was going to be right by his side as he did it.

"It's the council," Sasuke said and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"So how do we get rid of them?" Ino asked. Could they just kill the council? She didn't think they were ready for that.

"Iruka-sensei will kill us if we butt in," Naruto groaned. Iruka had been crystal-clear when he told Sasuke and Naruto to stay out of it for the time being.

"So what?" Sakura stood, fists on her hips. "You want to be Hokage right? At some point you're going to have to do something someone doesn't want you too."

Going against what he was told wasn't the problem. The problem was that this time it had been Iruka that had told him not to and Naruto didn't want to betray the sensei's trust in him. But she was right, he had to do something. Iruka might be angry, but eventually he'd understand. "Alright, we need to find Root."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "Where's Sai? He could tell us."

"He's with Kakashi-sensei and the others, we won't be able to pull him away without someone noticing." Shikimaru muttered.

"He's not with Root anymore," Ino interjected and then she smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder, "But he has talked about a few places, I'm pretty sure they're Root bases. We can start looking there."

Lee nudged Tenten. "Neji?"

She shook her head, "No. Not yet." She looked to the rest of the Rookie 11. "We don't want to drag him or Guy-sensei into this."

Hinata, surprisingly, agreed. "Leave Neji-san alone. He just got back, he doesn't even know what's going on. He deserves to have a life." She looked sad, the same way she always did when she spoke about her cousin. She'd loved him all her life, even her feelings for Naruto had never been able to completely eclipse her feelings for her cousin. They were all aware that there was a chance this wouldn't end in their favor. By keeping Neji clear, there was also chance he could pick up where they left off and it selfishly allowed Hinata to protect him for as long as possible.

"Alright, we need to find Root," Naruto turned to Ino. "Where do we start?"

Ino smirked, "There's one place, out at the old training grounds. Sai's, well, he hasn't come right out and talked about it, but he avoids that place like the plague. I'm pretty sure it's their headquarters."

"The old INFIL training site?" Tenten asked, Ino nodded. "I've seen shinobi out there, even though the place was marked for burning."

"Then that's stop number one!" Naruto announced. He rubbed his forearm. Iruka had embedded all of them with the Hanta's communication jutsu. Anything they wrote on their arms would be send to everyone else on the link and it took everything he had not to write to Iruka and ask where he was. He'd felt Iruka's chakra spark and he knew Sasuke had too. Whatever Iruka-sensei was doing was important, but Naruto had to fight the urge to run to his teacher and try to help. Iruka-sensei could hold his own, Naruto had never doubted that. But he still hadn't gotten the chance to fight side by side with him and he wanted to so badly.

Iruka-sensei had protected him his entire life, he wanted to the do that same for the man that had given him so much and asked for nothing in return. He needed to protect the village too. Just because a few of the shinobi in it were bad, didn't mean they all were. And Naruto still felt that burning desire to prove himself and become Hokage. He wanted Iruka there that day. And Sasuke, without the village sneering at him for his Uchiha blood.

ooo000ooo

Present Day

: :Valley of the End: :

The four sons of Uchiha Fugaku. Obito. Iruka. Itachi. Sasuke. Summer. Fall. Winter. Spring. Earth. Fire. Water. Lightning. Villain. Teacher. Hero. Orphan. But those last four were interchangeable, weren't they? Because Iruka had been the villain when he'd sided with those trying to overthrow Sandaime; he'd changed his mind. Then looked her dead in the eye and said he had no idea what the Hanta were, when he'd been the leader since he was a teenager. Sasuke had been a villain at one point. Obito had been a hero once. Itachi had been a teacher, despite the distance and rarity of his lessons. He'd taught them all, even when they hadn't wanted to learn. They were all orphans.

Uchiha Fugaku. So much of Konoha's recent history came down to him now. A man Tsunade had only rarely spoken too and had never paid attention too. She'd been gone from the village during the Fall of the Uchiha and the Sandaime had never spoken of it during their few meetings after.

She'd heard all the stories about him. The unbending will and harsh gaze. The unforgiving leader and the strict father. The skilled shinobi who had been considered for the position of the Forth Hokage, before Minato had been chosen. He'd turned it down, according to Sandaime. Which didn't fit with any of the rumors she'd heard about him. But those were rumors, weren't they? Every time the Sandaime had mentioned him, in his letter and the memories he'd left behind for her, his respect and fondness for the Uchiha clan leader was clear. It was hard to picture him, between two such drastically different depictions. But then, the Sandaime had loved Iruka and Iruka had once been part of the group planning to assassinate him. She couldn't get past that, even though Sandaime had.

"What was he like?" She couldn't help but ask.

Iruka blinked, momentarily confused. "Who?"

"Fugaku." The name tasted odd on her lips. Like she was summoning a ghost by saying it out loud.

Iruka stared at her for a moment and she thought he might not answer.

"Are you anything like him?" She pushed. Like father, like son? Brother like brother? But then how did you explain Itachi? And Iruka's years at the Academy. And Sasuke. Naruto, because even Tsunade would never dare say that anyone had a bigger influence on raising Naruto then Iruka. "Did he leave you to finish the job? Or fix his failures?" Her anger made her cruel.

Iruka's face crumpled, the hurt child inside proving much stronger than the disillusioned adult when faced with his dead father. Tsunade had not been old enough to understand her own father's death and she'd been grown enough to deal with her grandfather's. But they had also not chosen to die without a fight and in shinobi culture that was almost unheard of. Hatake Sakumo's suicide had done untold damage to Kakashi, she could still see it sometimes, when the brat was so focused he forgot to hide it.

To hold onto his anger for so long. Clearly Iruka had idolized his father and such a choice must have felt like the ultimate betrayal. On top of everything else that had happened, it made sense that Iruka had never been able to let go of his hatred. A family destroyed, torn to pieces and remade and then set at one another's throats by a village that didn't care. Iruka's anger didn't seem like enough of a response when Tsunade objectively considered the entire history of his family. She'd forsaken the village and her duty as a shinobi over Dan and Nowaki but Iruka, Naruto and Sasuke had lost much more than that.

"My father never wanted to be a shinobi." Iruka's words threw her so much that she had to stop and stare at him for a minute.

"What?"

"My father, Fugaku, he never wanted to be a shinobi." Iruka looked away, his eyes looking somewhere into the distant past. "He wanted to teach children."

Tsunade didn't believe that for a second and it must have shown on her face because Iruka sneered.

"He was the youngest son, fifth born and useless as far as his father was concerned. He didn't like to fight, had no interest in village politics. He didn't even enroll in the Academy at the normal age. He managed to put it off for two years before two of his brothers died and his father forced him to enroll. He was never supposed to be clan leader. He was never supposed to marry Mikoto. He was never supposed to carry Taten Botan."

Taten Botan? What the hell was that? "If he didn't want to do it, then why did he?" She'd never even heard of Fugaku having siblings. She'd never heard much about his parents either. It seemed like Fugaku and his sons had eclipsed everything else about their clan.

"His father and brothers wanted to rebel and kill the Hokage."

"So, there was an attempt!" Tsunade felt victorious, justified. But the blank expression on Iruka's face made her pause.

"Fugaku knew what would happen if they carried out the plan. Other members of the clan came to him and asked him to stop them. In the end, Fugaku fought and killed his own father to stop the rebellion."

Tsunade's jaw dropped.

"He thought everything might go back to normal. That the others would let the matter lie. When the time came he chose duty over desire and gave up on the life he wanted for the one that was needed. That has been the practice of our family back to the beginning."

Fugaku had become clan leader after he'd killed his father. That made sense, he was clearly the strongest of his siblings. Why allow a weaker member to lead the clan? Tsuande wanted to point out that she'd done the same thing. But what good would that do? She had made her choice, just as Fugaku had, and she hadn't been looking for recognition when she did. She couldn't ask for it now. Not from Fugaku's son.

"But it didn't stop there, did it?" It couldn't have, Iruka hadn't even been born during that rebellion. There had to have been a second one, for him to have been a member.

"When I was a teenager, my uncles and half the clan started planning again. I was angry after losing my parents."

His parents. The Uminos?

"I wanted revenge and it was easy to hate the Sandaime when he kept defending Danzo." Iruka paused, trying to choke back the emotion that came with remembering those years. "Fugaku talked me out of it. In the end, I loved our family more than I hated Sandaime. We fought a Civil War within the clan."

Tsunade stared at him in disbelief. A Civil War within the clan? "And those behind the assassination?"

Iruka nodded, "We gave them the chance to change their minds. They refused."

And they'd been wiped out in response. Fugaku and his sons had shown no mercy, not even to their blood kin. Absolute and unyielding dedication to the village. Sandaime had said that once. The ideal shinobi. Tsunade's knees felt weak as she watched Iruka fight back tears. His bloody fists clenched, his chakra fluctuating wildly.

The Uchiha, with a genetic memory, had wiped half of themselves out to protect the Hokage and the village. They had known how painful it would be. Killing their loved ones knowing they would not only feel their anger and sadness, but their betrayal and death. And they had done it anyway. They'd broken their own hearts, inflicted themselves with the Curse of Hatred and Tsuande wondered if the shinobi of the Uchiha Clan had ever even hesitated. Or had their loyalty to Fugaku and his sons made it null and void, a matter not worth thinking about. Had there ever even been a question in their minds that they would do what he ordered them too?

What kind of man could inspire that kind of loyalty?

"The Uminos? The people that raised you, who were they?"

"Members of the Military Police. They died the night of the Nine-Tails attack on the village."

Right, Tsunade had heard that story. Naruto had once told it to her. Parents protect their children. It had driven Iruka to protect Naruto, even though he'd carried the beast responsible for the Umino's deaths.

Had it simply been a goodbye? Or had they known their son well enough to know he would never be able to stay out of it and taken their dying moments to impart a lesson he would never forget? One that would change the future of their entire village? They had been chosen by Fugaku to raise his son. From everything Tsunade was learning, she doubted Fugaku had chosen fools. They hadn't wasted their last moments on something as trivial as a goodbye.

"What did Fugaku want you to do?" There must have been some plan. Some task Iruka was supposed to carry out, someone he was supposed to kill. But the chuunin just shook his head.

"You still don't get it do you?" He sounded mocking and, to her surprise, tired. "I'm not," he paused, "I hate the village, but I'm not going to harm it."

"Why not?" She demanded, and she realized the answer before she'd finished her own question. Iruka wasn't going to harm the village because Naruto was in it and Naruto wanted to be Hokage. Iruka's love for the little boy he'd protected eclipsed his hatred of the village. Iruka had had plenty of opportunities to destroy Konoha or to simply stand aside and let it happen. And while, he had never stepped forward as the Taichou of the Hanta, Tsunade couldn't honestly say he'd turned a blind eye to what was taking place.

Iruka straightened suddenly. The cloud of smoke and leaves erupted midway between the two of them and Tsunade watched in disbelief as it cleared.

Uchiha Itachi and another shinobi, a Uchiha from the look of him, stood calmly amid the dissipating smoke. She was too stunned to speak. Iruka frowned.

"If you two are done being foolish," Itachi drawled, "There are more important things to do."

ooo000ooo

Present Day

: :Abandoned Training Ground, Konohagakure: :

Naruto and the rest of the Rookie 11 carefully crept closer to the abandoned training site. It was fenced off, signs warning it was set to be burned down and then rebuilt posted along the fence. Sasuke and Sakura with him, the rest of the teams spread throughout the trees. They were trying to get a 360-degree circle around the training area, but it was large and oddly shaped, and they had a few gaps. Shikimaru had decided the best course of action was to stick with the teams so no one was alone. They arrived in henge and Naruto was certain Root had no idea they were there. Shikimaru, Kiba, Sasuke, and Hinata were leading the charge. With Sasuke and Hinata's eyes, Kiba's nose and Shikimaru's brilliance they were ready to react to anything. Shino's bugs were spread out behind them, an early warning system.

"This is taking forever," Naruto muttered. The old rotted building was badly damaged, listing slightly to one side. Sakura hushed him as Sasuke darted forward for a closer look. There were no other buildings in the field, but something didn't feel right. Something tingled at Naruto's senses and deep inside him Kurama stirred.

A meadow lark's whistle echoed on the wind. A second answered it. Tenten and Lee were in position. So were Ino, Choji and Shikimaru. Sakura whistled a soft melody and waited. It took a second for Shino's response. Everyone was in position to advance on the building. Sasuke had demanded to take the lead and given how angry he'd been explaining Root's roll in his clan's fall, no one had argued. Sakura was fully expecting to have to pull Sasuke back at some point.

They advanced to the final line of trees before the clearing. Hinata whistled the all-clear. There was no sign of anyone besides them in the training ground. Naruto was just preparing to launch himself across the clearing when the building exploded in a flash of chakra and fire. Sakura tackled him to the ground, covering him as best she could as debris flew through the air.

Naruto's heart was hammering his chest as they looked up. The scattered remains of the building were strewn across the field. A crater was all that was left and in it, Naruto could just make out a staircase leading down into the earth. He started to push himself up only to have Sakura shove him back down.

"Shhh!" She hissed in his ear. He waited. Gai and Kurenai burst out of the staircase, both looking like they'd come out of a brawl. Hot on their heels was a squad of ANBU. Root. They surrounded the two jounins before they could make the tree line.

A Root member with a cat mask stepped forward. "That was a stupid thing to do Kurenai-san."

Kurenai didn't respond, she and Gai stood back to back, ready to fight.

"You shouldn't have come here," Neko's voice was bland, like every Root member Naruto had met, but his words were mocking. "Now you'll pay for your arrogance."

A meadow lark's whistle erupted, and the Rookie 11 burst out of the trees before the Root ANBU could attack. They surrounded the Root members and Kurenai and Gai immediately leapt free of their containment and joined their teams.

Neko turned on Naruto. "You little brat, what are you doing here?"

"Investigating Root. I know you're trying to overthrow the Hokage." Naruto said and stood his ground as Neko drew his katana.

"Stand down," Kurenai snapped, "Your actions are illegal, and you will be arrested under the Hokage's authority."

"The Hokage has no authority here," Neko said and advanced on Naruto. More Root members poured out of the crater.

Naruto was ready to fight, "The Hokage is the only authority in Konoha!"

"How dare you threaten our village! Your vile actions will not be ignored!" Lee declared as he and Gai struck their nice-guy pose and Tenten pulled out one of her weapon's scrolls.

"My honorable student speaks the truth! You will not be allowed to continue, surrender yourself to our custody immediately!" Gai's voice shook the trees.

"You won't get away with this," Kurenai said, her voice steady and strong.

More Root soldiers. Shikimaru frowned, they were outnumbered now. That didn't mean they'd lose but it definitely meant they'd have to change plans. "Plan Echo!" He shouted, trusting Kurenai and Gai were sharp enough to go with it.

ooo000ooo

Present Day

: :Mission Room, Hokage's Tower, Konohagakure: :

Kakashi would never admit it out loud, but he was well and truly scared. Tsume wasn't joking and Shibi looked deadly serious. Their shinobi had block all exits and access to the Hokage's Tower. Yamato had tried to leave and been stopped by two Inuzuka.

"You wouldn't dare," Koharu snarled.

Tsume just smiled and cracked her knuckles. "Sure, I would. If we kill all of you and destroy the village, we can just build a better one on the ashes."

She was serious, and the rest of the room was starting to realize it. Kakashi could feel chakra spiking all over the place. Disbelief and confusion giving way to panic. Hiashi approached Tsume, ignoring Root and grabbed her arm. Kakashi felt Hana stiffen, but he couldn't tell if it was because she didn't like her mother being handled that way or because she knew what Tsume would do in response.

"Tsume, that is enough!" Hiashi snapped, "You will not plunge this village into another war just because you're angry!"

Tsume looked at his hand on her arm. The chakra of her shinobi and Shibi's rose briefly, but they knew better then to interfere. The violet-eyed Hyuuga had a stick up his ass Tsume hadn't been able to dislodge yet, not for a lack of trying. Add that into his ego and Tsume had been waiting for the chance to demonstrate just who's clan was better. Trust him to give it to her. Tsume let her chakra flow free, spiraling out in every direction and it felt like freedom. A refreshing jump into a cold pond, the first stretch the next day after a hard fight.

She saw Hiashi's eyes widen, the slightest indication that he'd activated his byakugan but still not fast enough to stop her. She had him by the throat before he could react, her fingers digging into his windpipe and arterial veins with crushing effect. He didn't panic, she'd give him that. He went very still, limbs loose and ready to fight. His eyes pinned on her. She could feel him gathering his chakra and she waited, in a few seconds he'd realize it was pointless. No matter how much chakra he gathered, he didn't have enough to put a dent in Tsume. She straightened her arm, his feet dangling a foot off the floor. His eyes were still on hers though and it only then occurred to her why. Her bloodline was showing, her eyes slowly turning red as the veins in her eyes burst. Her clan's bloodline gave the Uchiha a run for their money in the demonic eyes department. She squeezed a little tighter, she wanted to see that perfect Hyuuga composer crack. A little bit of panic and she'd let him go. She'd long ago promised Hinata she'd never kill her father and Tsume adored the girl enough to keep her word.

His body wanted to panic. Hiashi could feel his muscles tightening and forced them to relax. He knew the grip she had on his throat would be fatal in a few minutes, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of open panic. Through the Byakugan he could see her chakra, overwhelming and suffocating and a violent, blood red. Like a lion's roar, it made his heartbeat skip and refuse to settle. If it pressed to hard, it could stop it completely. He'd never seen anything like it. He hadn't thought her capable of that kind of power. Her loud, boisterous, brutish ways were uncouth and undisciplined. Hiashi had been furious when Hinata had been placed on a team with her son. One of the many arguments he'd had with Iruka over the years, but neither Tsume or the Academy teacher had budged. Her eyes. Her eyes were terrifying, worse than the few Uchiha Sharinganhe'd seen. The burst blood vessels had turned the whites of her eyes red, her dark pupils barely visible. She smiled, sharp canines glinting. With the red fangs on her cheeks, she was a horrifying image of power.

Kuromaru's howl tore through the air, deafening even from outside the tower.

The wall of the mission room exploded inward. The Rookie 11, led by Shikimaru and surrounding Kurenai and Gai, sprinted inside. Hot on their heels came what seemed like an army of Root soldiers.

"Mom! They're trying to kill Kurenai-sensei and Gai-sensei!" Kiba yelled.

Tsume threw Hiashi at his clansmen and shot forward, knocking the closest Root ANBU back out the opening for her clansmen outside to handle. She grabbed a Root ANBU with a porcelain cat mask by top of his head. He swiped at her with his katana and she grabbed his wrist and pulled. She ripped his arm out of its socket and crushed his skull in her hand. The satisfying crack of his bone under her fingers had the desire effect. The rest of the Root members stopped their advance and she tossed his body and arm at their feet. She felt Shibi teleport to her side, the rising hum of his insects always welcome at her back in a fight.

Someone threw up. It sounded like a few others were barely holding it in. Kakashi readied himself for a fight and forced down his own urge to look away from the pulp that was left of Neko's skull. He wasn't completely sure who he'd be fighting but there was no doubt there'd be a fight. The Rookie 11 stuck close to Kurenai and Gai, both of whom were injured and stayed behind Tsume and Shibi.

He watched Tsume grin and lick the blood off her fingers. Many faces in the crowd of shinobi were too stunned to hide their horrified expressions. Killing was a way of life as a shinobi, but good shinobi didn't celebrate cruelty or brutality. They were necessary tools, not past times. Tsume's display was not something that should have ever happened outside a life or death fight. The bloodlust coming off her was suffocating. Kakashi had never felt such something so unbridled, so uninhibited.

"You bitch," Koharu breathed.

Tsume turned on her with a grin, blood staining her lips. "The bitch," she corrected.

"You'll pay for that!" Homura roared and on cue, Root attacked. Tsume let out a bloodcurdling howl and leapt to meet them.

Shibi, his ever-present cloak rising as his insects took flight, followed her into battle. Kurenai and Gai joined the fray, regardless of their injuries and the Rookie 11 followed suit. Kakashi was distractedly proud of Team 7 as they demonstrated a level of teamwork they'd struggled to achieve before the war.

"Onee-san!" Hanabi's scream made him turn. Hinata, distracted covering Kiba's back, didn't see a Root member throwing a handful of kunai at her back. Kakashi threw his own and knocked them out of the air.

"So we're in this?" Genma demanded, senbon at the ready.

"Capture and contain!" Kakashi snapped and in unison they replied, "Hai!" and launched into the fight.

The mission room wasn't big enough for the fight taking place in it. Everyone's movements and attacks were hampered by their concern over hitting their allies in the close quarters. He couldn't use chidori in this, he'd take out just as many friends as enemies.

"Where's Naruto?" Jiraya yelled. They couldn't find him in the chaos. His chakra put him somewhere near Sasuke but there were to many people to see clearly. Kakashi ducked just in time to avoid losing his head to a shuriken. "God damn it watch where you're aiming!" Jiraya roared.

Naruto ducked a swing from someone's katana and tried to find Sasuke. He'd never call himself the world's best strategist but even he realized they needed to get out of the damn mission room. "Teme! Where are you?"

"Here!" Sasuke's voice at his shoulder made him jump. "We have to get out of this building!"

"Where are the others?" They looked around, the rest of the Rookie 11 were tangled up in Root ANBU and Konoha shinobi. It would be impossible to grab them all at once. He watched Sakura hit a Root soldier with enough force to sending him flying backwards. He took a tangle of shinobi from both sides down with him. Naruto concentrated, gathering his chakra in his palm.

"Dobe," Sasuke's voice held a subtle warning.

Naruto grinned, "Don't worry Teme, I'm just going to give us some breathing room."

Kakashi and Jiraya felt it at the same time. "Naruto, no!" Their yell wasn't in time. They watched Naruto's Rasengan grow as any shinobi nearby tried to get clear. There was nowhere to go. He saw several try to teleport but whatever barrier the Inuzuka and Aburame had put up prevented it.

Naruto slammed his rasengan into the remaining portion of the wall. It shattered, dust and debris filled the room. Blinding and choking everyone. Naruto and Sasuke immediately leapt through.

"Drop the shield!" Sasuke roared and the Aburame shinobi surrounding the tower immediately did. The rest of the battle began to spill out into the streets at the foot of the tower. Naruto hit the ground and turned as he slid. The rest of the Rookie 11 were clear of the Mission Room and he saw Kakashi-sensei and Jiraya-sensei leap clear. He needed to tell them what was going on, make sure they understood so they could help. He had no doubt that they would. But as he moved to sprint for them, he realized he couldn't move his feet. Root ANBU surrounded him. Naruto focused his chakra into his feet and tried shunpo, but it didn't work.

"One of them's a Nara!" He heard Ino scream. But it was too late. Naruto was frozen in place as the Root nin launched into their attack. One of them wielding a huge shuriken, something Naruto had always felt uneasy about since the night Iruka-sensei had taken one to the back protecting him.

"You're dead Uzumaki!"

"The hell I am!" Naruto snarled, he tried to lift his feet, but they didn't budge. He tried to teleport, but it didn't work. Damn the Nara and their shadow technique. When this was over Shikimaru was going to tell him exactly how it worked!

"No!" Sakura's scream alerted the others. The Root nin launched the shuriken. Chakra infused it spun towards him with incredible speed. Naruto could feel Jiraya and Kakashi both sprinting to reach him in time. Sasuke and Lee, even Neji, but none of them would be fast enough he realized. They were too far away, and Root was too close and there was nothing between Naruto and the shuriken.

He dug his nails into his forearm and flared his chakra as much as he could.

ooo000ooo

…tbc…