Naruto
The Divine Sharingan
By: Lady JenDragon
Disclaimer: No…no, I don't own Naruto.
Author's Notes: I will be allowing anonyomous reviews for the next month or so at the request of some reviewers just to see how it goes. Also, I will be busy in the coming weeks so expect a longer delay in chapter updates. Hate to do it but unfortunately, it must be done. Until then, enjoy.
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Chapter Fourteen
The Uchiha-Hatake Triplets
Kakashi waited until all of the ninja filed out Tsunade's office, hands in his pockets. It took a few minutes with everyone figuring out how to approach their next mission. He leaned against the wall of the office lazily. The Hokage eyed him suspiciously, understanding his body language.
"I take it you discovered something?" She waited.
Kakashi counted to ten before beginning once the door finally closed. Any lingering ninja would look guilty if they tried eavesdropping at the door. This information was worth waiting for and Tsunade appeared to be patient today.
"I think I've found the hidden Uchiha archive."
His response needed no explanation. Tsunade leaned forward in her chair. He had her full attention now. Kakashi kept himself from smiling openly, choosing to keep an outward aloofness about him. For three years they searched for the secret forbidden techniques archive.
"Archive?" Tsunade frowned. "The one Nakane said we'd never find?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Okay, where is it?" She hated being kept in suspense.
"Haruno Sakura."
Kakashi watched Tsunade's face change from surprise to anger. A reaction they shared ironically upon learning of the archives location. Tsunade did not like knowing her pupil was used to hide the archives either. Though he served the Hokage, he never forgave Tsunade for forcing him to marry Uchiha Nakane who used others like some used a bar of soap.
"WHAT?" Tsunade got to her feet, leaning on her hands toward Kakashi, her face contorted in anger. "You mean she PUT it in a non-Sharingan holder?"
"Exactly." Kakashi spoke solemnly. "What better place?"
He knew better than to fuel Tsunade's legendary anger. He once saw a chair fly out of her window. That had been shortly after Naruto left her office at the beginning of her reign as Hokage of Konoha.
"You're sure Sakura has the archives?"
"I saw no symbol indicating possession, however the Blood Crystal did change color when I returned it to her." Kakashi wondered why Sakura treasured it so much.
"The Blood Crystal is enough to indicate the possessor of the archives alone." Tsunade calmed down. "And how are we to access this archive?"
"I don't know." Kakashi shrugged. "Do the written archives kept here mention a technique to access the forbidden techniques archive?"
"Only while the archives are possessed by a Sharingan trait holder." Tsunade swiveled her chair around to look outside. "There's nothing about retrieving the archive once it's been hidden."
Kakashi kept quiet.
"So we're back to square one then." Tsunade nodded, her eyes on her reflection and Kakashi's just over her right shoulder. "At least we know where it is. Have you made progress on the archive section your wife placed with you?"
"Little, I'm afraid." He twitched slightly at the use of 'wife'.
Kakashi realized he spent no time working on the archives stored in his mind this last week. His triplets required a lot of time and attention just to get them down for the night with one bedtime story. Four years and he still did not have this parental thing down yet. He longed for the days of bachelorhood.
"That's not helpful, Hatake."
"It is what it is."
"Keep an eye on Sakura." Tsunade decided the next step should be taken with care. "We need to keep this secret for as long as possible. If Orochimaru finds out about her, then he may attempt to get to her."
"So, it's true then?" Kakashi asked gravely.
"Yes. He took Anko instead of Sasuke as his new container this last time around." Tsunade fumed that a woman became Orochimaru's new container. "She stepped in front of the boy and let it happen voluntarily. Orochimaru had no choice but to take her then. His time was up in the old container. She definitely measured up to his expectations. Her last hurrah against her old master, I guess."
"I see." Kakashi lowered his head.
Anko knew what would happen if Orochimaru acquired the power of the Sharingan. She sacrificed herself to keep her old mentor from acquiring Sasuke's body. At the cost of her own life. Kakashi would have done the same in her place.
He left the Hokage's office shortly after that, hands still in his pockets. Kakashi sighed as he exited the building.
'Nothing's easy, is it?'
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The small form hidden under the bush in shadows waited patiently, eyes concentrated on his target. He was known for his reserve under pressure as well as his timing. Another form next to him also waited, slightly more anxious than his neighbor, his darks eyes shifting around the courtyard. The third form, lazily drummed his fingers silently on the ground, eyes shifted up.
"Go!" The first form whispered.
Three black figures streaked towards the house, aimed directly at the small window above the large flowering bush. Water running echoed in the bathroom just inside. In an instant, they formed a human ladder, the top little ninja just barely capable of peeking into the room.
"Gotcha!" Came a loud voice from behind.
The human ladder dispersed, surrounding the larger Naruto in full ninja uniform. Kunai in both fisted hands, the small forms clad in black inched towards the larger ninja. Thickets of silver hair peeked from under black head wraps, some covering their eyes and face.
"I knew you couldn't resist seeing Sakura-chan in the bath!" Naruto laughed out loud.
The three small ninja stood straight up, pouting in disappointment. The game was over for the day. They were caught far too soon.
"We just wanted to peek!" One of the three declared, folded his arms in rebellion.
This was Uchiha-Hatake Daisuke. The only triplet not named after a father or grandfather and certainly not named after any ancestral Uchiha or Hatake. He liked his hair short and sticking straight up when it was not tucked under a black wrap like now. His anger tended to give him away and he had trouble figuring out some of the Genjutsu seals sometimes. His foot pounded the soil, agitated that they were caught so easily. He was the most anxious of the triplets and often provoked an attack too early.
"Daisuke!" Sakura yelled, coming around the corner of the house fully clothed in black dress, ninja shorts and shoes carrying a blue blanket stuff with unknown objects. "You little pervert! You should know better."
"Me! It was Makumo's idea!" Daisuke pouted, pointing his finger at his brother.
"That's Kashi, not Makumo, stupid." Naruto corrected, pointing over his shoulder. "Makumo's over there."
Makumo, named after Nakane's father, was the strategist of the three. He liked working out puzzles and coming up with solutions to problems. He did not like Taijutsu as much as Genjutsu but excelled at both. He displayed more reserve than Daisuke and normally kept to himself. He liked his hair long and tied it in a tail at the base of his neck. The black wrap currently hid his long locks. Something his father disapproved of for a ninja.
The third triplet was Uchiha-Hatake Kakashi. Named after his father, he preferred to be called Kashi to distinguish himself from his family. Much to his dislike, Kashi displayed all the characteristics that made his father Hatake Kakashi the famous copy ninja. He showed calm reserve under pressure and rarely displayed any emotion. And he chose to hide his face. Neither of the triplets did. Even at four years old, Kashi kept his feelings in check. Like his brothers, his silver hair was hidden beneath the black wrap used for this mission that failed. He preferred to keep it long in the front and cropped short in the back and spiked it high. The hairstyle reminded many of Uchiha Sasuke's but with silver instead of black.
"They have at least two things in common with their old man." Naruto said under his breath. "Hair color and perversions."
That remark brought all three triplets to immediately attack Naruto with their Kunai's at one time. The elder ninja easily evaded the throws, punches and kicks of the young soon-to-be ninja, if they graduated early like their father. A few weeks would tell the tale.
Soon, all three triplets lay on the ground, Daisuke on his back, breathing heavily and worn out. Naruto went and sat near the house in the grass next to Sakura setting out a late lunch on the dark blue blanket. The Uchiha-Hatake triplets enjoyed playing games with Naruto when he visited. They went a little easier, at their father's warning, with Sakura though she played hardball a lot.
"Was that really necessary?" Sakura asked, opening a package of Mochi balls.
"Which part?" Naruto looked over at Sakura.
"Hair color and perversions?" Sakura reminded him. "They're a little young to understand perversions."
"Young?" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "This coming from the intended victim of a peek show? I think you're confused, Sakura-chan. Who do you think they learned it from?"
"True. But they don't see it the way you or I do." Sakura glanced at the triplets getting to their feet. "At four, they only repeat what they see. They don't care about what they see nor do they understand why they're doing it. It might freak them out if they ever succeed. Anyway, they only know that we don't approve of this behavior. So they do it. They just want to be one of the big boys."
"We need to curb them early." Naruto said, waving Sakura off in disagreement. "That'll keep them from following in the old man's footsteps."
"Kaka-sensei never peeked like that?" Sakura lifted her chin defiantly.
"How do you know that?" Naruto looked at her slyly. "You hanging out with him now, is that it?"
"Oh, honestly." Sakura slammed the salad down.
"Calm down, Sakura-chan." Naruto pushed his hands before him towards her. "It's okay! I get what you're saying! When is Kaka-sensei coming back?"
"If you want to leave, then do so." Sakura growled.
"Nah, I just want to know how much time I have to run his rugrats into the ground before he gets back." Naruto folded his arms, plotting his next attack after lunch. "I'd like a little payback from last time."
Sakura felt a sharp pain in her back, her left shoulder dropping as a result.
"You okay?" Naruto asked concerned.
"Must've pulled a muscle yesterday." She winced. "I'll take care of it later."
The triplets walked towards them, eyeing the blanket and two Chunin level ninjas.
"Hey!" Daisuke started, eyeing Naruto's suspicious look. "What's going on here?"
"Lunch, stupid!" Makumo slapped Daisuke up side his head and plopped down beside Sakura. "Come on! I'm starved!"
Kashi sat down next to his brothers quietly, the closest to Naruto. Only he would dare sit close to their nemesis. True, father enjoyed doing battle with them when he was home. But father had been away on a lot of missions lately. Sometimes, another ninja would stay with them. Battling a number of the different ninja's improved their skills. But they always held back.
But not Naruto, their favorite opponent. He kept them on edge, always using stupid tricks rather than actual techniques to defeat his brothers and him. This showed them that they were still too young to truly take on true ninja if they continued to fall for such obvious traps. One day, Naruto would fall to them. With that happy thought, Kashi picked up his bowl of rice and chopsticks, eating his meal slowly.
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A form watched the five eating lunch in the small courtyard of the Hatake/Uchiha-Hatake home from a rooftop at a fair distance. Lifting binoculars to his eyes, he pivoted until he found his targets, their faces visible in his view. His dark eyes narrowed, searching each person, laying his gaze on the only female.
"She wears the Blood Crystal." His voice whispered.
He lowered the binoculars to her neck and chest. The crystal must be kept hidden beneath her black dress and ninja shorts, he concluded. He spied her at the Memorial Stone and the exchange with Hatake Kakashi yesterday. The crystal's color changed dramatically from blue to pink in less than a second. The archive was hidden in the young Kunoichi, a non-Sharingan trait holder.
'Interesting choice to hide the archives indeed', he smiled.
Orochimaru was correct in assuming Uchiha Nakane would go to great lengths to ensure the archives would be difficult to locate and extract. Not even killing the woman would release the forbidden techniques archive.