Project Hana

by Sublimey

Danzō, Orochimaru, Madara. Somehow, Hana's got to figure her way out of the end of the world... and make sure no one she likes dies on the way there. (How much of herself is she willing to give up to keep them safe?) SI, Inuzuka style.

26. Chapter 26 - The Fallout

An: I'm trying to get back into the habit of updating every other weekend! Hopefully I can stick to it! But if not, please forgive me… I am in the process of editing and fixing up old chapters, so there's some good news there!

Side note! I'm really sorry if that last chapter with Obito's speech gave anyone trouble! I'll be going back and refining the text distortion, I use it to symbolize Madara taking over his brain, but I might go back to just using bold so you guys can read it better. Sorry for any trouble!

Edit: Thanks for FreelanceBum for beta'sing, I owe you my entire freaking LIFE dude, I'll be thanking you from beyond the grave

M for character death and (minor) gore, sorry!

Word Count: 15,536

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Chapter 26: The Fallout

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It had to be some sort of Genjutsu. Her chains fells to the ground like dead weight and Kushina's arms reached out towards the masked man as he flew towards her. Her mouth moved but no sound came out, and her hair whipped around her face as some sort of portal opened up and the masked man pulled her in.

"No, no—!"

Minato's hand phased through Kushina's shoulder a second too late, fingers running through her hair before the vortex pulling her in snapped shut, and he stumbled forward. Her tangled scarlet hair was all that was left as her chakra signature faded, and he realized that she was utterly and truly gone.

Minato's face was blank in shock as he let his hands fall to his sides, and felt an abysmal nothing, nothing, nothing well up in his chest.

Other than the few scarlet strands of her hair in his grasp, there was absolutely nothing left.

He didn't reach her in time.

"Now you know what it feels like!" He stranger hissed, his voice high with exuberant joy as if he took pride in the entire disaster. "I took your heart away. You know what it's like! You know—"

Minato's hands found the masked man's throat, and an alarmed gasp escaped the figure as the two of them went tumbling to the ground. Minato's face was impassive, his eyes unblinking as chakra gathered in his palm, and he slammed a fully formed rasengan into the man's chest, smashing him into the ground with a thunderous crash.

The man's damnable mask cracked and split to reveal his lower mouth, and he threw up the contents of his stomach as he struggled to pull himself back onto his feet. White viscous fluid dripped onto the ground, floating in his bile and dripping out of his open wounds, but Minato paid it no mind as he hit the stranger a second time, sending him flying thirty feet away until his body crashed into a nearby building, and he crumpled against a wall.

Minato blinked. He was at the stranger's side at an instant, Hirashin seal planted firmly on the fleshy meat of the man's neck as he held him up with one arm, staring into his one, spiraled red eye. With a flare of chakra, he knocked away the man's genjutsu as he tried to take hold of him, and Minato tightened his grip on the stranger's neck until the man was blue in the lips.

"Give her back." He ordered, ignoring how light the stranger was compared to him and how his feet were too short to touch the ground. Minato only tightened his hold on his neck. "Did you hear me? Bring her back this instant."

The stranger seemed to struggle to breathe for a moment, grasping at the firm hold Minato had on his neck with his one good hand, while his other seemed unresponsive and continued to drip white fluid down the side of the building. His mouth curled into a snarl, the scarred half of his mouth twisting into an ugly shape, before he spat at the ground Minato was standing on. He dropped to the ground and phased through Minato's hand, intangible once again.

His voice was raspy, but as triumphant as ever as the Kyuubi raged on behind them. "There's nothing you can do anymore. So long as I'm alive she exists within my dimension and lives another day. You touch me again Minato, and she dies. You understand? You don't call the shots anymore. I do."

A torrent of air began to swallow the stranger's body up again, and Minato found himself staring down the remains of his wife's kidnapper.

"I don't care who you are, or what your motives are..." His words were like heated steel as he stared unblinkingly at the man— no, teenager—who had the audacity to take everything dear away from him. "If you did it all for some revenge fantasy, or any other reason... I will hunt you down for as long as I live. You will never find peace. That is my oath to you, as my honour as a shinobi and my duty to my wife and village, believe it."

"I will," the boy hissed at him, clinging to the weeping, white wound on his stomach. His dark cloak fell away to reveal white spiraled skin dripping off him in oozing rivers. "I just hope you don't disappoint me. I'll give your regards to your wife, Namikaze."

And then his body was sucked away into the wind, Minato unable to follow.

…

He stared at the puddle the boy left behind, and cursed at himself in frustration.

Minato was alone in an empty field, the Kyuubi wreaking havoc behind him, a missing wife, a motherless son, and a fistful of scarlet hair in his hands; he had no idea what he was going to do.

He tucked the strands of Kushina's hair carefully into one of his coat pockets, and covered his face with his hands, taking a breath.

This was all such a goddamn nightmare. Kushina was gone. Totally, and completely gone. He couldn't feel her chakra signature anywhere, and from what he had witnessed from other people being sucked into their attackers vortex, they had either been spat out as lifeless corpses or thrown at allies and used as meat shields. He didn't know… what it was, exactly, but it was some sort of Dojutsu and allowed the user to have access to space-time techniques. Coupled with the masked man's ability to control the Nine-Tailed Fox…

There had only been one person in recorded history capable of controlling the Kyuubi with their eyes, but it was impossible to think that Madara Uchiha was still alive. It just wasn't possible—

—Unless he had access to a younger body? But the weight and height of the masked man were too small to ever have come in contact with a living, breathing Madara. The Uchiha would have had to been pushing past his nineties, and Shinobi just weren't capable of lasting that long after a lifetime of stress to their bodies. Elderly veterans were rare, even by modern standards, but from the warring states period? It was almost unheard of.

But it was Madara Uchiha. He went down in history as both one of the most awe-inspiring shinobi of the land and the most terrifying. Minato couldn't rule out the possibility that there could be some connection to him, but there was also a much larger possibility that the masked man could be anyone with a connection to the Uchiha. After all, their Dojutsu were capable of extraordinary things…

Minato could recall the few short lines he had been sent in the mail from an unknown sender, and wondered how much they really know about their attacker.

'I leave you this letter in the hope (…) that nobody inside the village take unnecessary blame.'

Had the person who sent him the letter known all along that Minato would suspect the Uchiha?

Ugh, what a headache. Minato rubbed his temples.

There were too many things for him to take account of, he couldn't keep his thoughts straight. Part of him wished that he took Kushina's place or that at least the two of them were taken together, and wouldn't have to be separated, but… his mind came back to their child. Tiny, helpless Naruto, who never got the chance to feel his mother's touch or be held in Kushina's arms.

He was being kept safe in a fully sealed, entirely impenetrable bunker Minato had tagged with his Hirashin, being tended to by several medical officers, but… Minato couldn't shake the feeling that he still wasn't safe. He had to hold his son in his arms to really know that he was going to be fine, that some kid in a mask wasn't going to swoop in again and rip the only reminder Minato had of his wife away from him.

The fact that Minato couldn't possibly do anything to help Kushina made him want to pull his hair out. She was relying on him, she trusted him to do the right thing. She believed in him, dammit! And she had ultimately paid the price. It was all his fault. There was nothing he could do to go back and change things. He had made a decision, and despite all the reassurances and planning, Kushina had been taken away to who knows where, the Bijuu ripped out of her, and her son left motherless.

Minato didn't know what to do. He was only twenty-four, he didn't know how to be a single dad. He didn't even really know how to be a real Hokage.

The Kyuubi crashed and roared again behind him, and Minato was pulled out of his thoughts and back into the real world, where his decisions cost people their entire lives.

"Will you shut up? I'll get to you eventually!"

The Kyuubi continued to scream and wreak havoc across Konoha. Somehow, it didn't hear him. Figures.

Minato ground his teeth together and took a step forward, preparing himself to deal with the Fox once and for all, when he heard someone clear their throat nearby.

"Lord Hiruzen!" Minato was at the Third's side in an instant, helping the elderly man back up to his feet. He looked to be in bad shape. His arm was out of its socket at an awkward angle, and the old man sucked in a shaky breath, his lungs wheezing with a grotesque gurgle. "You need medical treatment, I can take you to an officer if you can handle standing for a little while."

Sarutobi shook his head and straightened himself up, brushing the dirt and dried blood off of his platemail. "There's no need to worry, I'll be alright, just give me a few moments..."

Minato winced as the old man popped his arm back into place with a sickening crunch. His eyes lingered on the deep scarlet burns running up Hiruzen's arms, and dread pooled in his stomach. "Are you sure you don't need someone to look at your hands? Those chakra burns look bad, and your reserves are looking dangerously low."

"I have to hand it to that masked kid, he certainly caught me off guard…" Hiruzen said thoughtfully to himself, wincing as he rubbed circles into his bad shoulder. "I'm afraid most of my energy went into sealing part of the Kyuubi into Kushina-san... " He looked around the area, and then solemnly stared Minato in the eyes when he realized they were the only ones around. "She's not here anymore, is she?"

Minato looked down at the ground and let out a shaky breath. "He took her."

"I'm sorry." Hiruzen put a hand on his arm and shared a meaningful look with the Yondaime when he finally glanced back up. "I know how much work you put into trying to avoid this outcome. If there's anything I can do to help…"

Minato stared back at him. "You lost your wife too, it would be unfair of me to ask that of you Sarutobi-sama."

"Perhaps the both of us need a moment to ourselves," the Third said, deep in thought. His eyes were misty as he spoke, but his voice was clear. "To tell you the truth, it doesn't quite feel as if she's really gone."

"I...I know what you mean." Minato wiped at his face with a trembling hand, and willed his fingers to stay still as he felt the weight of the world crash down upon him in that moment. "It doesn't feel like it's real."

"Like you're walking in a dream," Hiruzen nodded, his gaze heavy. The old man smiled and brought his hands gently together as the water in his eyes spilt over, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Biwako and I were married for sixty years. We knew each other as children, I can't imagine what life could possibly be like without her."

The sight of his teacher's teacher openly crying in front of him was profoundly disturbing to Minato, but the impact of the Third's words hit him right where it hurt, and all he could think about was scarlet hair and violet eyes. "None of this should have happened. It's not right."

"It isn't," He agreed, nodding his head. "Even after so many years I've been alive, death has never been right, or fair." He chuckled, catching a teardrop as it fell from his chain and into his wrinkled hand. On his finger was an old, worn wedding ring with a dozen dents and scratches to its surface. Somehow, even though all the fighting, it had remained intact. Minato wondered if he had ever seen Hirzen take it off in the years he had known the elderly man. The Third let out a shaky breath. "I had always hoped that I would die the first out of the two of us."

Minato numbly nodded his head in agreement. He still wished he could have taken Kushina's place, somehow. Even though there was a possibility she was still alive, not having Kushina by his side felt wrong on the worst possible level.

As the Kyuubi lashed out again in the distance, Minato winced and tried to get a hold of himself. Wallowing in self pity was only going to get him so far.

Hiruzen seemed to have the same thought process, and he quickly pulled himself back together as the Kyuubi howled into the night sky, fighting with Konoha shinobi as they put their lives on the line to keep the village safe. "If Jiraiya had been here, I wonder what the outcome would have been…"

"Does it matter anymore?" Minato's hands fell to his side, and he clenched his fists. "He wasn't here when we needed him most. For months I tried to get a hold of him; there's no possible way I can forgive him for ignoring my letters. Kushina is gone!"

Sarutobi dragged a hand down his face, grimacing. "The land of hot springs is the worst place for him to be at this moment. Dammit, Jiraiya…"

Minato cursed under his breath and tried not to dwell on it at the moment. "Have you been able to hear from Danzo's units at all? His side of the operation has been completely silent."

"If that means his teams have been completely wiped out, or that he's no longer cooperating with us…" Hiruzen's frown deepened, and he motioned for Minato to follow him as they made their way in the direction of the Kyuubi. "Danzo has been my confidant for decades, and I would personally put my life on the line for his innocence, but even I have to admit that his ambitions have sometimes gotten in the way of his loyalties at times."

Minato looked at him worriedly. "Do you feel as though it could lead to him turning his back on the village?"

"The role of Hokage has always been his priority, but even I can't fathom the idea of him allowing a foreign nin into the village to let loose as much chaos and destruction that the Kyuubi has brought." Hiruzen sighed and looked away from him. "There has to be another reason behind his disappearance."

"I trust your judgement of his character Lord Hiruzen…" Minato wasn't exactly sure if he should hold his tongue or speak freely, but after a reassuring nod from the Third, he continued. "My dealings with Danzo-sama have… made me aware of his aspirations and opinions of me rather clearly. He doesn't see me as a true Hokage, but more… like a child trying on a hat. He doesn't trust my decisions."

"Do you?" Hiruzen asked genuinely.

Minato swallowed and looked away. "I did once…. I'm not quite as sure anymore."

"That feeling is natural. You've been dealt an unfair hand at the beginning of your role as leader. With time, one grows more accustomed to hard decisions and the weight of the village on your shoulders."

Minato looked out into the sea of fire and destruction left by the Kyuubi, the smoke and ash wafting through the air, and he closed his eyes. "I'm not sure if I want to get used to this."

"Yes, well, I can promise you that most of the time, the village isn't actually in flames." Sarutobi shook his head, an exhausted expression on his face. "We should put an end to this once and for all, regardless of my student or confidant's assistance."

"You already said that Kushina has half of the Nine-Tails inside her, correct?" Minato could feel dread curling inside his stomach, but he pushed it down and waited for Hiruzen's response. The old man's nod of confirmation only made him even more uneasy.

The Third took notice of his anxiety and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "At this point, there's no changing the past, what happens to that half of the Kyuubi is out of our hands at the moment. What we need to focus on is containing the remaining half as quickly and with the least amount of loss of life as possible."

Minato pursed his lips, hoping that what Sarutobi was suggesting wasn't what he thought he would be. "We could contain the Bijuu inside a scroll and keep it contained until further notice… It's risky, and might take longer…."

Hiruzen shook his head. "Too much time has been wasted fighting already, there's no telling how many lives could be lost trying to keep the beast still. None of our active sealing masters have access to adamantine chains, a paper scroll wouldn't be able to hold it for long." he shot Minato a long, heavy stare.

"He's not even a day old," Minato all but begged. "There has to be another way. Please."

"I understand your reluctance to sacrifice your only son." Hiruzen faced him and the two of them stood and looked at each other, man to man. "There are countless lives at stake, Minato. Your village needs you to make the tough choice I'm asking of you. Besides taking another parent's child, I can't see any other alternative."

Minato shook his head vehemently. "I don't know if I can, I don't think Kushina would forgive me if I do what you're asking. We'd be forcing an infant to shoulder our problems for us. I don't want to do that to him, Naruto just lost his mother."

"Your son is an Uzumaki, his bloodline gives him a better chance of surviving the Kyuubi's chakra than anyone else in the village. His odds are in your favour Minato, it would be murder for any other child." Hiruzen stared him straight in the eyes, each of his words clear as day. "I cannot force your hand, but you have to make the choice yourself. Not as a father, but as your village's leader. Do what you know is right."

Minato swallowed and tore his eyes away from the Third, looking out again at the demolished buildings and destruction let loose on the village. His hand found the pocket where he stowed the few strands of Kushina's hair, above his heart, and he closed his eyes.

Do what was right.

Did he even know what that was anymore?

Minato's hand dropped to his side, and his eyes hardened. He let out a long breath between his teeth and bowed his head.

Naruto... Kushina…

"...Forgive me."

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"P-pardon me, coming though, sorry! uuhh…" Under the Hokage monument, within one of the many packed bunkers, Hasuki Inuzuka clutched a little bundle of blankets closer to his chest as he desperately tried to navigate his way through the terrified crowd of people around him. They could all feel the earth tremble each time the Kyuubi dug its claws into the hard earth, and some individuals were openly sobbing as everyone tried to locate their friends or loved ones that had been lost in the chaos. Hasuki was one of those people.

Though, he would have liked to think he was keeping his cool a lot better than some of the other civilians around him.

"Please, I-I just need to know if a Hana Inuzuka was brought in since I last checked, or if her name has popped up in another of the other shelters." Hasuki's hand wrapped around the sleeve of an incredibly frazzled and overworked officer and he refused to let go until he finally got some answers. With his other arm, he awkwardly supported a sobbing Kiba as gently as he could, but he could only focus on one kid at a time. "She's an academy student, brown hair, has three Ninken who wouldn't ever leave her side—or, well, they might sometimes, Kemuri is too curious for his own good—but she was last seen at school and she's the daughter of Tsume Inuzuka the current clan head. I need to know if you've seen her, because i-if you haven't I d-don't know what I would d-do—"

"Reports will come in when they do, you'll just have to wait until new intel comes in, sorry." The Chunin roughly jerked his arm out of Hasuki's grasp and returned to his duties.

Okay, maybe Hasuki wasn't keeping as cool as much as he would have liked, but that still didn't mean the guy had to be so rude! Hasuki blinked away the tears in his eyes and went back to soothing Kiba, patting the poor baby's back in a poor attempt at trying to calm him down.

Kiba wailed into his ear, hiccupping in between each loud sob as it wrecked his body, and all Hasuki could do was hold him close. "Yeah, me too little guy…"

"Inuzuka-san?" A small voice cried from within the crowd, catching Hasuki's attention.

"I-Itachi-san?!" Hasuki rushed forward to meet the pale Uchiha as other people streamed by them near the gateway. "Are you okay? Where are your parents? Have you seen Hana?"

"I haven't seen Hana since recess, hours ago, I'm sorry…" Itachi seemed to go three shades whiter at the mention of her name, and he took a moment to compose himself. Behind him, Shinko carried an exhausted and tear streaked Izumi through the doorway, and Itachi seemed to remember his original purpose. "Hasuki-san, do you know where the nearest medic is? Izumi blacked out and we haven't been able to wake her up since-well..." he cast his eyes to the floor and seemed to wince at some sort of memory. "Her father was with us, but he didn't make it…"

"It was bad. Really, really bad." Shinko turned a shade of green just thinking of it. She scanned the crowd and the looked back at Hasuki. "Have you seen my parents anywhere? I need to find them and make sure they're okay."

"We need to make sure Izumi is alright first though," Itachi reminded her, unwilling to budge. Thankfully, Shinko agreed with him.

Hasuki shifted Kiba's weight in his arms, and bent down to take a look at Izumi's face. Her skin was a white pallor and her cheeks were streaked with dirt and mud, and dark splotches of blood marked her face, soaking into her clothes. Hasuki looked at the two children worriedly. "This isn't her blood, is it?"

"It's not." Itachi said, his voice strained. "We couldn't do anything to save her father. There was just so much…." He cringed and closed his eyes, shaking his head as if to dispel the image form his brain. "We wouldn't have made it if we tried to get him out. There was no way to save him in time."

"I'm so sorry." Hasuki stood back up, holding Kiba tight to his chest. "I can take you to the nearest clinic, but I'm not sure what the medical officers will be able to do for her at the moment. Last time I saw, they were already in over their heads working on critically wounded patients. They might just tell you to keep an eye on her and wait until she wakes up. There are a lot of people that need attention right now."

"As long as we can get her help, that's fine." Itachi helped lessen the load Shinko was carrying by slinging Izumi's arm over each of their shoulders and lifting her up off the ground with their arm. "Which way do we go?"

Hasuki parted the crowd ahead of them, winding through the busy hallways populated with sick and injured patents sitting on the ground waiting for their turn. He eyed the men and women with bleeding head wounds and children with poorly administered bandages but urged the children behind him forward.

As she scanned the passing faces, her attention elsewhere, Shinko's foot came in contact with another person's, and the three of them went tumbling to the ground.

Hasuki found himself passing the bundle in his arms over to the youngest child in exchange for a concussed and bruised Izumi. The blood on her clothes soaked into the light green fabric of his T-shirt, but he couldn't let that bother him at the moment. "Itachi-san, can you hold Kiba for me? It's just a little farther to the clinic and then we can rest. The two of you must be tired."

"U-Um," Itachi awkwardly adjusted his hold on Kiba's legs until the baby sat comfortably in his arms. Thankfully, the only sound Kiba made was a slight whimper after being passed from person to person. "Okay. I've got him, I'll make sure he's safe."

"Good. After we help Izumi out, we can go look for both of your parents, okay?" Hasuki patted the top of Shinko's head after she got her bearings back.

"O-okay," she murmured, her face burning in shame. Once they started moving again, she made sure to mind her steps, but her eyes searched every face in the crowd for someone familiar, even after her tumble. She desperately wanted to see her parents faces, alive and well. Hasuki sympathised with her.

As they got closer to the main clinic and the surgical rooms, the young girl's eyes lit up in recognition, and she shot past Hasuki and Itachi. She bounded towards a woman with long braids trailing down her back, similar to her daughter's braided pigtails. Despite the older woman's skin being a couple shades lighter, the family resemblance was readily apparent.

"Mama!"

"Shinko!" The woman bent down and swallowed her daughter up into a crushing hug, her shawls wrapping around the small girl with a comforting warmth. She looked over Shinko's shoulder to lock eyes with Hasuki and Itachi. "Are you with my daughter? Thank you so, so much for bringing her back to me safely. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't get to see my little girl again. I'm in your debt."

Balancing the weight of Izumi in his arms, Hasuki nodded his head at the boy next to him. "You should thank Itachi-san for that, the three of them came down together; I was just bringing them to see a doctor."

Itachi's expression was grim and downcast. "If anyone should be thanked, it should be Kotaru Uchiha. Without him, we wouldn't have known which way to go to find shelter."

"I see…" Shinko's mother gently let her daughter go and stood up, but the two of them remained connected by their tightly clasped hands. Her voice was soft as she spoke, and she stared at the unconscious Izumi resting in Hasuki's arms. "Despite only knowing the man for a short while, I know he would have never wanted to leave his daughter in such a state… When Izumi-chan wakes up, you can tell her I know which bunker her mother is in and that she's okay. I'm sorry it had to come to this."

Hasuki wiped a patch of blood off of Izumi's forehead and sighed. "I'm sorry too, Inari-san."

Shinko pulled at her mother's arm and desperately tried to get her attention. "Mom, Mum, Mama! Where's papa? Tell me he's safe, tell me why he's not here with you."

"Oh sweetie." Her mother bent back to to her level and looked her gently in the eyes. "He's waiting for surgery right now, the doctors say that he's going to live, but…"

"But what?" Shinko's eyes were wide and glassy, and without knowing exactly what happened, Hasuki could practically recall the death of Izumi's father on the young girl's face. "Tell me he's fine, tell me nothing bad happened. Where is he? Let me go see him!"

Her mother's hands locked onto Shinko's wrists and barred her from entering the waiting room behind her. "You cant, I won't let you see him like this."

She still struggled to free herself from her hold, but her mother's grip remained strong even when Shinko's eyes watered and threatened to pour down her face. "Mama, I just saw a man get impaled by a telephone wire, I don't care what papa looks like, let me be with him and hold his hand!"

"Don't tell me that was Kotaru—" The older woman went a sickly pale color and recoiled back as if struck. Her eyes landed on Izumi and she shook her head vehemently, her grip on her daughter loosening. "I-I had no idea…"

Shinko ripped herself away from her mother's hands and dashed past her into the next room, away from Hasuki's line of sight. He could hear her calling for her father amongst the moans of agony coming from the severely injured patients inside.

"Shinko, sweetie, wait!" and her mother dashed after her.

Not wanting to be left behind, but afraid of what Itachi and baby Kiba might see, he shot the Uchiha a warning look and covered the boy's eyes with his free hand as they followed after them. "If you peek between my fingers, Mikoto-sama will skin me alive—and I would let her—the same goes for you if you let Kiba see anything."

He felt Itachi nod his head and gently close his eyes under his hand. The young boy tucked Kiba into the crook of his neck so the baby couldn't see in front of him, and the two of them shuffled forward into the crowded room of the dying and near-deceased.

The heavy scent of bodily fluids and rancid, gangrenous tissue hung in the air, and Hasuki had to tear his eyes away from some of the patients that they passed, through their torn ligaments and twisted bodies remained fixed in his brain. Izumi shifted in his arms, but remained unconscious, a part of him was deeply grateful she kept her eyes closed the whole time as they made their way through the dozens and dozens of cots laid out on the ground. These people were dying, in the most critical state of emergency, and they were lying out in rows for the entire world to see. They deserved someone to tend to them, to heal them. Where were the doctors?

In a dark corner of the room, on a little cotton roll, Sinko stood clutching the bedsheets to her father's cot as her mother tried to drag her away.

Her tearful sobs had turned into frustration and anger. "Why isn't anyone helping him if he's been here for hours? I can see bones sticking out of his arms and chest, why have them just ignored him this whole time?"

"Shinko, honey, the doctors are doing everything they can, but there are so many other people here... please don't raise your voice, the men and women nearby are in pain, and if we cause too much trouble your father might not get the treatment he needs."

"What do you mean? They can't just deny him help! I can smell the infection in his arm from here—If they don't do something right now, he could end up dying." She shook her head from side to side and her eyes scanned the room for a medic. She looked as if she was on the verge of starting a fight. "Is it because he isn't considered a full citizen? That's bullshit! He's a human being just like the rest of us, why should he have to wait hours in this bed while even another minute could end up taking his life?"

A man in a blood splattered white lab coat padded over to them with a scowl on his face. "Is there a problem here? Do I need to get someone to escort you out?"

Hasuki stepped in between the small family of three and blocked the medic's view of which patient they were crowded around. "Not at all, sir. We were just visiting a loved one and the conversation got a little heated."

"Keep the volume down please, there are people suffering." The man signed and turned back to return to his duties. Hasuki gently placed Izumi in a nearby chair and instructed Itachi to stick with her before he sped after the doctor.

"Um, excuse me, sir? Is there any way you can tell me when the gentleman I was visiting is going to receive any care? He seems like he desperately needs it right now, and nobody's helped him in a while."

The doctor shook his head and seemed to pay him no attention. "I'm sorry, but I can't disclose patient information to civilians, he'll have someone assigned to him when there's someone available."

Hasuki took a step towards him, non-threateningly. "I'm a trained medic—well, mostly trained— and I'm not affiliated with the family at all. Do you think you could give me access to your waiting list? I'm fully capable of tending to some of your critical level patients while they wait for surgery. I could probably perform a few myself if given the right equipment."

That got his attention. The older man turned and looked over the young Inuzuka with a critical eye. "What sort of training have you received? Are you willing and able to perform Diagnostic and healing Jutsu? Are you familiar with the standard Konoha procedures for emergency surgery and care?"

"I've been going to night classes every weekend for the past couple years after the war ended. I'm more than proficient in Healing Jutsu, and know how to treat both human and animal injuries alike." Hasuki shifted awkwardly under the Doctor's stare. "But I haven't received any certificate or anything to prove my worth, since graduation to full-fledged medic requires near perfect attendance, and I work as a babysitter every day of the week."

The doctor looked at him disapprovingly. "And you still feel as though you'd be able to help? Those hours in class are meant to teach you what to do, otherwise, you'd be harming the patients with your incompetence rather than helping them." He shut his eyes and turned away from him. "You may return to your associates."

"Please, wait!" Hasuki's hand shot out to stop him from walking away. The doctor's eyes stared him down with a thunderous expression, and Hasuki withdrew his hand and shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just that I can't stand around like this while people are dying. I know I don't sound like much, but my grades are perfect even though I barely go to class. You can look up Hasuki Inuzuka if you really want to waste time, but even you have to understand how precious that is. I can help, your staff is already overworked, let me lend my services, please."

The man paused, thinking it over before he sighed and shook his head. "Fine, alright, you may have a point."

Hasuki sucked in a breath and stole a glance back at the corner where Shinko's family were huddled, he glanced back at the doctor and brought his hands together. "Does that mean I can help?"

"Yes, but—"

"Thank you! Thank you thank you!" Hasuki took the doctor's free hand and shook it with both of his, shaking the poor man's whole arm with enthusiasm. "I can start right away! I swear, I'm a fast worker—!"

The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed to himself, rubbing his sore wrist after Hasuki released it. "There's a woman down the hallway in charge of keeping track of supplies, there should be a spare pair of scrubs and a full box of gloves waiting for you if you tell them that Doctor Tanaka sent you. The lady behind the counter should be a woman named Natsumi Nomura, if not, locate me and we can figure something out. Nomura-san is just a school teacher, if she leaves her post, that could cause problems."

"Natsumi Nomura—?" Hasuki repeated out loud to himself.

Doctor Tanaka nodded, and handed Hasuki a clipboard full of patient information and a list of things required to treat each patient. "You know her, good. You should be able to sense her Chakra from here then. If you can't, then you're of no use to me. Now go, get moving. I have people to tend to, you've taken up enough of my time as it is, and I will be looking up your name by the day's end, I assure you."

With a rough shove sending him out the door, Hasuki sent a short reassuring wave to Shinko's mother and pointed to the clipboard in his hands, before making his way towards the familiar chakra signature he recognized down the hall. He swerved past men and women with crutches and gently pushed past the crowded and injured civilians, until he found himself standing and looking at a massive group of people all clamouring at a tiny built-in window with a sign above it that said 'Triage centre,'

"Please, one at a time, I can can speak with all of you so long as you dont dont start shoving. I understand you need help, but I can't give it to all of you at once—"

Hasuki eased his way up through the door on the side and slid into the room while Nomura was busy. Over her shoulder, he could see her hastily writing down medical reports for three different people at once as they spoke to her, and she was pulling at her hair in frustration.

"Okay, that's you three done, hand these to a doctor once someone comes to check on you, and they should be able to take it from there." She breathed a sigh of relief as part of the crowd petered off, taking their injured loved ones with them, before more people fell into place and she was up to her elbows in even more work than before. She rubbed her forehead and sighed, turning around in her chair. "One moment, please, I've been sitting here for four hours, let me get a drink—"

Hasuki passed her a bottle of water before she turned around completely and realized someone else was in the room, and she jumped.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" He picked up the plastic bottle off of the floor and handed it to her again as his old teammate collected herself.

"How did you get in here? Actually, no, don't answer that, I don't have the time." She snatched the drink out of his hand and chugged the whole thing in front of him, wiping her face with the back of her hand when she was done. She took a deep breath, and, when she caught him staring at her, cringed and handed the empty bottle back to him. "Uh…. thank you…. I didn't mean to be, uh, rude or anything."

"You're busy, it's fine." Hasuki awkwardly scratched the back of his head and clutched his clipboard to his chest. "I was told by doctor Tanaka to come here for medical supplies, I'll be helping out as one of the medics for the next while."

She blinked at him. "Oh! That's, uh, great. Congratulations! Or, errr…" she cleared her throat and awkwardly looked away from him. In light of their village's current emergency status, congratulations wasn't really an appropriate word to use. "There's a box somewhere in the back here with scrubs and stuff. I can get it for you, if you would just move over to the side…"

In the tiny office, he skirted over to the side as much as he could as Nomura reached up to grab a large box from a shelf. He pursed his lips and stayed silent, letting her struggle for a moment with the weight before his nature got the better of him and he reached up to help her.

"I've got it… It's fine." Hasuki retracted his hands and went back to holding his clipboard as Natsumi picked through the contents of her box. While she worked, she shot a glance up at him and pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "I didn't know you made it down here—though….. I'm glad you made it. How's Hana-san doing?"

"...She's missing," Hasuki said quietly, between grit teeth. Natsumi paled and shook her head, returning to her box in silence. When the quiet dragged on too long and Hasuki found himself fidgeting with the uncomfortable proximity between them, he spoke again. "Do you think you could keep an eye out in case she's brought in and I miss her while I'm working? And Itachi-san's parents as well. Just… uh, keep me posted?"

Natsumi sighed and looked back up at him. "There's a lot of people flying past my window, I don't know if I could do that…"

"Please," Hasuki stressed. "Just do this one thing for me, I swear, I'll pay you back. I'll owe you."

She flinched at his pleading tone and pulled out a pair of scrubs that fit his weight and height, pushing them into his arms without looking at his face.

"Fine… sure, okay." She glanced back up at him, her eyes hard and her shoulders set. "But I don't want to hear about you owing me anything Hasuki Inuzuka. For all intents and purposes, I owe you more than anything. This is just a favour for an old friend." She swallowed and tucked a pieces of hair behind her ears, looking down at the ground. "If you could even call us that anymore."

Hasuki sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. They had been teammates, what, when they were twelve? Eight years had passed since their team had disbanded… a lot had happened since the two last saw each other. The time they had spent apart had turned the two of them into fully grown adults, changed by the disaster of a C-rank mission that tore their team apart, but… perhaps they could put the past behind them and be civil? At least, as long as they two of them had to work in close proximity.

The silence stretched out between them again, and Nomura flushed and turned her back to him, determined to get back to work. "W-well, uh, I'll keep out for Hana for you, I promise."

"Natsumi." She spun around at the mention of her name, and Hasuki pulled her into an awkward, one-armed hug. His hospital scrubs bunched up between them, and he could hear Nomura take in a sharp breath. He pulled back before things got too weird. "I'm glad you're safe. Take care of yourself, okay? Don't go another four hours helping people without having a drink of water, you're supposed to be smarter than that."

"R-right," she laughed awkwardly, adjusting her glasses in the dim lighting of the storage room. She looked up to him, and her smile was genuine as she crossed her arms over her chest and beamed at him. "I'll make sure to do that, doctor Inuzuka. You know… I bet hospital scrubs would really bring out your eyes." Her eyes seemed to twinkle as he laughed out loud at that. But soon, she was back to business as someone called for her at the front of her desk. She looked back up at him. "Now get out of here before I have to push you, there are people who need your expert medical care as soon as possible, and they need your help. Get to it!"

"Right!" With a flutter of cheap plastic fabric, he pulled on the scrubs overtop of his regular clothes. Natsumi coughed into her hand and shuffled back to her desk, pulling out a fresh set of medical reports and deliberating with more people at her front desk as he got his smock tied and everything in order. With a final snap of an elastic band tying his hair back, Hasuki took his clipboard and tucked it under his arm.

"Good luck," Natsumi said, nodding her head at him as he left the room, a fresh, determined look on her face. It suited her, Hasuki decided.

"Good luck," he said back, waving a hand over his shoulder as he sped off in search of Shinko's family in the intensive care ward.

...

The hallways were still lined with the injured and sick, but as they reached out to him for help for their children, he finally understood how overworked and understaffed the doctors were for them to dismiss the people reaching out for aid. After the tenth person stalled Hasuki on his way to Shinko's father, and his reserves were starting to dip, he had to jog the last bit back to the ICU. Every person calling out to him was a regretful wound to his chest as they no doubt were in just as much need as anyone else in the entire underground bunker.

He could only help as many people as he could, though. And the patients on the verge of death were his first priority. As much as he desperately wanted to help, they would have to wait their turn amongst all the other suffering and injured people.

As he approached the dark corner where Shinko's father lay dying, he sympathized with doctor Tanaka's brisk and cool disposition. There were just… so many people to sympathize with, it was overwhelming. Hasuki had never really wanted to become a medic and had only pursued the study to be a better caretaker, but he seriously considered the idea of becoming a doctor as his hands lit up with a diagnostic Jutsu and he sent his chakra through the gangrenous and infected wound that Shinko's father had on his bicep.

There were just so many people that needed help. Hasuki took a deep breath, and started shutting off the nerves in the aging Suna man's system, his heartbeat settling to a calm and relaxed rhythm as the injured man's face no longer showed any sign of pain.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sniffled a tearful Shinko, her mother's arms clasped around her small shoulders as the two of them clung to each other for comfort.

Hasuki took a deep breath, and urged the two of them to give him some more space as he pulled up his surgical mask and nodded at Itachi to take Kiba far away from the ICU. "He needs immediate surgery, and I'm sorry, but by the way the infection in his arm is spreading, he may have to lose his left arm if he's going to survive, but…"

"But he will survive," Shinko's mother said, her eyes steely and hard even though they leaked tears all their own. Her daughter buried her face into her shawls, and the older Inari stared up at him with a fixed expression her face. She had complete faith in him, and despite how not once, ever, had he ever been given that kind of responsibility before, her faith bolstered his own, and he nodded back at her. "Then I trust that you will bring my husband back to me when you're done."

Hasuki swallowed his anxiety and took a deep breath. "I will," he said with total confidence, for the first time in his life. "I'll bring him back to you."

As the two of them followed after Itachi into a waiting room, Hasuki glanced at the sleeping form of Izumi, still slumped over in her chair, and then the unconscious face of Shinko's father in his hospital bed.

He readied his chakra reserves, and his hands lit up with bright green healing Jutsu as he got to work. "I'll make sure all of you make it out of this alive. I promise."

He could only hope that while he worked, his own loved ones would come back to him as well.

.

~ X ~

.

'TEAR INTO THE FLESH, BITE DOWN WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, TEETH RIPPING, MOUTH SNAPPING AT SOFT FLESH. DO NOT FALTER. DO NOT STOP.'

A massive beast with two independent thinking heads barreled forward and bit into the meat of the Kyuubi's neck, ripping into the beast's jugular and sending a spray of chakra-infused blood onto the streets below.

'FORWARD, FORWARD. IGNORE THE PAIN, SNARL LIKE THE BEAST YOU ARE AND SWALLOW THE FOX WHOLE IF YOU MUST.'

Despite being half the Kyuubi's height, and only coming up to the fox's shoulders, the man-beast transformation held its ground and pushed the Nine-Tailed Demon back with all its strength, one set of jaws clamped on the fox's throat and another set of jaws wrapped around the beast's muzzle, forcing it's mouth shut.

There was a thunderous muted growl from the Kyuubi as it struggled against the teeth digging into its flesh, and it's tails lashed out behind it as it attempted to rear up and swipe at the two headed dog biting down on it.

With a puff of bright white smoke, another man-beast transformation sprung up beside it, and a larger dog with an equal amount of heads and tawny brown fur barreled into the side of the Kyuubi and pinned it, crushing buildings and sending debris flying in its wake.

The transformation holding onto the Kyuubi's throat and muzzle released its hold, but soon the two beasts circled upon the Kyuubi and their four combined heads bit down on every soft spot the fox had. The creature writhed in fury and pain as it was mauled to pieces, bright orange chunks of demon chakra lighting up the sky, and a low moan escaped it's jaws as its throat was torn to pieces.

The second man-beast transformation stood back and admired its work, while the smaller one, the first, remained poised over its enemy, waiting for the moment it knew the animal would get back up.

'THIS IS AN UNYIELDING BATTLE, A GOD SUCH AS THIS WOULD NOT BOW ITS HEAD IN DEFEAT SO EASILY. WE ARE NOT DIM-WITTED ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THIS IS OVER YET.'

The smaller two-headed beast barked an order to the larger one, which was ignored. It turned its head to listen in on the minute cheering of nearby shinobi who took the Kyuubi's momentary submission as a sign that their fighting was over.

'FOOLISH.'

The ground quaked underneath them, and soon, the Fox regenerated itself and lashed out again with new energy, sweeping the larger dog off it's feet and pinning it to the ground by its conjoined throat. The smaller, wiser man-beast transformation leapt on top of the Kyuubi and ripped at its haunches, pulling it off the other transformation before it could do more harm to the people inside.

The Kyuubi snarled and turned on the smaller dog once the transformation beneath it popped and fizzled out of existence, and its full fury was turned on a new target as it lashed out with all its might and slammed the two headed dog into the ground with its front paws. The transformation cracked, ribs squeezing together under the monumental pressure of the Kyuubi pushing its full weight on its ribcage, and the two heads wheezed for air and mercy the Nine Tailed Demon Fox would not give.

The Fox opened its great jaws and fit one of the two heads inside its mouth, attempting the crush its massive skull with his teeth, before an explosive tag went off near its eye, startling the Kyuubi and dragging its attention elsewhere.

'WEAK...Ness….'

The Man-beast transformation beneath the fox's feet dissipated as the creature hissed and bared it's teeth at three massive Akimichi who swelled in size and stood as the Fox's new opponents. A new battle of giants began as men and women threw themselves at a monster three times taller than even their largest body transformation.

Through the smoke, Tsume and Kuromaru wheezed and coughed, clutching their ribs as they limped away from the battle, tails between their legs. With their man-beast transformation dissipated, their chakra coils were reeling and needed a moment to readjust, which meant the two of them were out of the battle until they recovered.

Bad news for the Akimichi who were barely tall enough to reach the Kyuubi's knees. Thankfully, there were a few other Inuzuka capable of pulling off Man-beast transformations, and they were able to fill in where Tsume and Gonza's transformations soon enough.

Ugh, speaking of Gonza…

"You bastard, learn to keep your eyes on the prize next time!" Tsume chucked a rock at Gonza's shiny, bald head as he limped his way over to them, his ninken Jikosuke close behind.

He batted the little rock out the sky like a bug and scoffed at her insult. "You wanna pin the blame on someone Tsume-chan? At least I'm not the one severely out of shape and lagging behind as the rest of the men follow your orders."

"Shut up and help me to my feet," Tsume grunted as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Gonza's big meaty hand stretched out and grasped her arm, and he pulled her up onto her feet with a rough jerk. She shot him a dirty glare. "You really want to give me shit after I've been on maternal leave? I had a fucking baby, I didn't exactly have time to train when the goddamn Kyuubi decided to bust down my door."

"You let yourself get soft, don't even try to deny that." Gonza smirked down at her and crossed his massive arms over his chest. Jikosuke at his side sat down and licked her paw, watching them with her tiny, calculating eyes. "You should know better, you're our leader. In wartimes, any moment the enemy could spring up—Just because the village likes to parade around singing songs of peace doesn't mean that the danger is gone." He swung his arm out as if to put emphasis on the fact that the Kyuubi was wrecking havoc just a couple blocks down from them. "We're never safe! And it's foolish and weak of you to delude yourself otherwise. You poison the minds of our clansmen with that kinds of garbage!"

"It always come back to this, peace, pah." Kuromaru sighed and lowered his head, staring the two humans as they argued. "You worry yourselves over the sanctity of your clan, but you care nothing for the men and women who are fighting right now for the very lives. Where are your priorities?"

"You speak as if you understand the words you're using, wolfdog, and yet all I hear is pointless growling." Jikosuke bared her teeth at Kuromaru and the two canines circled each other, light tawny fur and dark silver blue, night and day. "If your partner had spent her time bolstering our units instead of weaning her young like a common bitch, perhaps the clan would have been better equipped to deal with this sort of calamity."

Kuromaru lunged at her. "How dare you speak of my partner like that you cur!"

Gonza pulled his ninken back before Kuromaru's teeth dug into Jikosuke's hide. "Will you control your ninken?! Now is not the time for infighting."

"As if you didn't bring this on yourself when you started picking at my role as leader, again." Tsume grabbed the back of Kuromaru's collar and made sure he wasn't about to lunge again, but she didn't bother trying to hold him back. She eyed Jikosuke and all of her fine, smooth hair, and shook her head at Gonza with an exhausted sigh. She almost pitied the man. "You know, people like safety. They don't like living in a constant state of fear, that's no way to bring up a family, and that's no way to rule over a clan. There's a reason I'm valued as clan head."

Gonza cocked his head to the side and squinted at her, curling his lip. "Yeah? And why's that?"

"Because they want to believe in a future where they can raise their kids in peace." This time she really did hit him with a pitying look, and it seemed to catch him and his ninken off guard. "Of course it's unattainable, but if our brothers and sisters can go to bed at night and close their eyes, and don't have to see all the horrible images of war and death and calamity when they fall asleep—then the sacrifices you, me and the rest of the veterans made during the last war would have been worth it."

Gonza stubbornly pursed his lips and looked off into the distance, his eyes lingering on the columns of smoke and ash wafting through the air. "I won't ever be able to forget the battlefield, no matter what you say. You'd be a fool not to remember what it was like."

"But I want to," Tsume said earnestly. "I have a daughter and a newborn son, they deserve a mother who doesn't have circles under her eyes every time she wakes up. Our clan deserves a leader who doesn't twitch every time someone makes a loud noise. The war happened, battles happen, but we need to enjoy the time we have when we're out of it."

"You're telling me i should just stop and smell the flowers sometimes," Gonza muttered, rolling his eyes.

Tsume kicked him in the shin. "I'm telling you that you should enjoy being alive while you still can, idiot."

Gonza winced and rubbed his leg with more emphasis than really needed, as if he was mocking her strength. "Tsume-chaaan, what happened to your fighting spirit? You used to be so much rougher when you were younger."

"Ruff-er?" Jikosuke asked, looking up at the two Inuzuka.

Kuromaru's ears flattened against his head and he glared at the female ninken. "Don't ever speak again."

"Your partner is more bark than bite, how pawful fur you to deal with," She said, snickering to herself as she playfully darted away from Kuromaru's snapping jaws.

"Kuromaru," Tsume said, a warning tone to her voice as the eyepatch ninken haled in his pursuit. By his widening eye at her tone, Tsume smirked down at the ninken and shared a glance at Gonza. "Don't be rude, apawlagize."

"Not you too!" Kuromaru shook his head vehemently and backed away from them. "I'll apologize when I'm in hell." He paused and glared at Jikosuke when a thought came to mind. "Or when she does first for being rude."

"I have nothing to apologize for," Jikosuke said, pointing her dainty nose up in the air. At Gonza clearing his throat at her, she huffed and her ears pressed back against her skull. She shot a meaningful look at Tsume, who had her eyebrow raised expectantly at her. "Okay, I'm sorry. You are more than just a common bit—" Gonza cleared his throat again cutting her off. "—well, uh, you know the word what I meant. You have my sincerest apawlogies."

Despite being satisfied by her words, Kuromaru still narrowed his eyes at her. "You just had to go the extra mile and slip that bit in, didn't you?"

The beautifully groomed Ninken sparkled under his harsh stare, and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself as the wolfdog growled at her. "Try as I mutt, it was the leashed I could do."

"Shut up, shut up, oh my god." Kuromaru closed his one good eye and whined as if the words coming out of her mouth physically pained him. He turned to his partner. "Your coils aren't back to their regular state, but can we please go somewhere else? I'm getting a headache."

"Does my wordplay truly mind-beagle-ing? I'll do better next time and try not to hound you as much." She snickered, chasing after Kuromaru as he did as much as he could to keep his distance from her. "Don't terrier self up about it!"

"Leave my sight!"

"Come on Jikosuke, don't dog him!" Gonza called out to the two ninken, and smirked as Tsume rolled her eyes at him. He looked back at her and frowned. "And here once I thought you were on my side for once."

Tsume groaned. "Please, God, that one was bad. A dog making puns is cute, when a grown man does it, that's just pushing it."

He sighed and the two of them fell silent as their ninken traded heated words and playful wordplay. Gonza shook his head as the dogs started to get out of range, and looked at Tsume again. "Jikosuke is pretty far away now… Think I should collar back?"

"I can't take my political enemy seriously if he insists on making a fool out of himself," Tsume said, holding a hand up to his face to shut him up. He scoffed at her tiny fingers, and knocked her hand away with ease. She glared at him. "What happened to that moment where I was speaking the truth and you were actually listening for once? Here I thought were were actually making some headway."

Gonza scoffed and shook his head. "The day I start listening to a woman is the day my wife leads the charge into battle and I stay home to do the cleaning. Come on, Tsume-chan, you can't really delude yourself into thinking that I was actually listening to you."

"It's like I'm talking to a brick wall," She huffed, minding her sore ribs as she crossed her arms over her chest. She shot a look at Gonza's throat, and glanced up at him as he rubbed it absentmindedly. There were teeth marks still imprinted in his skin. "You two really got torn to pieces huh? Maybe next time you should pay more attention to your enemy than the cheering applause of your fellow men. Next time, you might not have me around to save your ass."

Gonza bristled and wrinkled his nose. "Yes, well, I—"

"Father! I have news!" A darkly clad Anbu stumbled forward in front of them both, panting as if he travelled a great distance to reach them. "The Third and Fourth hokage are in position to resume sealing the Kyuubi and require your and the current clan head's participation again! They'll be setting up their sealing jutsu within the next few minutes, so our clansmen need to be in position as soon as possible!"

Gonza sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, sighing in defeat at the sight of the masked Anbu. "Son, the point of special ops is to keep your identity a secret. Who's going to take you seriously when you're blurting out that you're my son? You're supposed to make your way through the ranks on your own merit, not mine, ya' bonehead."

"I-" Anbu Jackal shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth, and then bowed his head in shame. "Forgive me, I wasn't thinking…"

Tsume sighed and shot Gonza a look. "Cut the kid some slack, he just made it to Chunin, the kid's allowed to make mistakes, especially with all the responsibilities you heap on him." She gestured with her whole arm as Anbu Jackal took off his mask and turned it over in his hands, revealing the prepubescent face of his teenage son, Ashitaka.

"'Takeru, we'll talk about your Anbu career later on, You—" He turned on Tsume and pointed a finger at her accusingly. "—don't tell me how to parent my own son. It's none of your concern."

"Ashi' is a member of our clan, his shinobi career falls within my jurisdiction, actually," she huffed, but let the matter drop. Tsume turned to Ashitaka and gestured for him to put his mask back on, which he begrudgingly did after a nod from his father. "Where's your ninken? I want the two of you acting as my liaison with the Hokage as we get into position. You're not at your best without your partner."

The teen bristled at her tone. "I can do well as a shinobi without Chiisuke with me!" Tsume raised an eyebrow at him and he shrunk a little bit under her stare. "But… She wanted to say hello to Jikosuke…"

"Hello! Hello, hello!" A bouncy, orange Vizsla puppy bounded towards them, sniffing the air around the three Inuzuka before settling back down by Ashitaka's feet with an enigmatic energy to her. "There's a very big fox nearby! Have you seen it?"

"Yes, they've seen it Chiisuke," Takeru said in a pained voice, patting the puppy's head as it looked appraisingly up at him. "They couldn't have missed it. It takes up the entire sky."

"That's very true! You're so right Ashi-chan!" she licked his hand and sprung back up to her feet, her tail wagging behind her as she circled around his legs. "Will we be able to go say hello? It seems awfully playful tonight!"

"Chiisuke, that's a demon fox, you're not to approach it," Gonza warned, shutting down the young ninken before she got too far ahead of herself. He rubbed back of his head in thought as he stared down both son and dog, a deep frown on his face. "In fact, neither of you are to get close to it. I can't have you running into battle, it's way out of your league."

"But dad—"

Gonza cut him off before he could start. "This isn't something you can make me budge on, the second you stick your head into the battle, it's real. Without a man-beast transformation, you're just another fly on the wall, an annoyance. I won't let you go out there and get squashed."

Tsume coughed into her hand and looked down at her nails as if she wasn't completely aware of the fact that they were ignoring her presence. The Gonza family bias ran deep, and was readily apparent that neither of them respected her position as their leader. "Not to mention, your clan head already said she wanted you to keep her in contact with the Hokage. You know, an actual job instead of running into the heat of battle with no plan."

"I would have a plan!" Ashitaka shot back heatedly, causing his ninken to jump at the sudden spike in volume. He lowered his voice a second alter, and his Jackal mask swiveled over to look at his dad. "And I can do a man-beast transformation! Just… not very long."

"Come on, get out of here before you end up hurting yourself." Gonza rolled his eyes at the kid before whistling at his ninken to return to his side. The two of them took a couple measuring steps towards the nest of destruction the Kyuubi was making of the nearby buildings. He squared his shoulders, and glanced back at Tsume with a spark in his eyes, dismissing his son there and then. "You ready to get back in the battle or do you need a couple more minutes to prepare?"

Tsume huffed and shook her head in exasperation. "I'm ready when you are, but…" She turned her attention back to the severely off put Ashitaka. "I'd like to ask you something first, Takeru. I know you can't be everywhere at once, but if you hear anything about my daughter Hana, would you tell me immediately? I don't know if she made it to safety or not."

The teenager nodded his head grimly, and disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaves, his chakra signature appearing several blocks away, speeding back towards the place he came from, his ninken right on his heels. At her side, Gonza shot her a puzzled look.

"Not worried about your son or that ingrate you let hang around your family?

"I know they made it to the monument, and I trust Kiba's safe in his care." Tsume frowned up at the older man, her eyes hard. "Don't let him know I said this, but Hasuki's like family to me now. You insult him again, and you insult me, back off."

"Oh, so it's like a two-for-one deal, eh?" Gonza laughed at her severe expression, and let out a loud guffaw when she flipped him off. He slammed a big meaty hand on her back as if the action would comfort her, rather than knock her off balance. She dug her feet into the ground and grit her teeth as her whole frame shook in defiance. "Ha! No, no, okay, I admit, at least the kid proved he as some loyalty to the clan after looking after your brats for so many years. It's a shame what happened to his Ninken, he would've made a good support unit."

"You can't have a single conversation without talking about fighting," Tsume huffed. "And people say I'm bad at conversing with other people, jeez."

"Look," Gonza rubbed the back of his head and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You may be the bane of my existance, an annoyance, and a completely incompetent leader, with very few redeeming qualities—weaker than me physically and totally riding the coattails of your father's role as clan head before me," he said, looking at the ground. Tsume pursed her lips, waiting for the other shoe to drop before she kicked his ass. "But… I know what family means to you. Your brothers and sister—"

"—Brothers, period."

He held up his hands nonthreatening. "—Okay, fine, jeez. I'm trying to give you a compliment, but fine, argue with me—"

Tsume frowned at him. "—It's not an argument when I'm right, and you're being blatantly disrespectful of the dead."

Gonza civered his face with his hands and groaned, staring over from the beginning. "Okay, whatever, moving on." He took a deep breath and crossed his arms in front of him. "Your old man would've been happy to see you welcome more people into that big empty house of his. I hope your daughter is safe, too many Inuzuka have died already, and as a parent, I wouldn't want anyone's kid to die on a day like today." He rubbed the back of his neck and still refused to look Tsume in the eyes after he finished. "So there. Can we get back to fighting now?"

After a heavy silence, he finally looked back at her, only to receive an incredibly strong punch to his shoulder as payment.

"Oh you jerk, don't go saying nice things like that! I might actually start caring," Tsume hissed, punching in the arm again for good measure.

He drew away, this time in actual pain. "I was being nice! Why the hell did you punch me?!"

"Because hating your guts is so much easier!" She yelled back. "When did you suddenly develop emotional intelligence?! Don't ever speak like that to me again, oh my god."

"I don't understand you, woman," he whined, rubbing his bruising arm in great pain. If someone looked at it clearly, they could see the imprint of Tsume's knuckles in his skin as it glowed a bright neon pink. "That's the 'thank you' I get for bringing myself to your level? Consider this conversation over and done with, feelings are for girls, I'm going to go punch a fox."

Tsume groaned and followed after him as he trudged off. She caught up to him easily enough, and elbowed him in the side, making him wince again, but she shot him a lopsided grin. "I appreciate it though. Thank you, I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah," he huffed, though he didn't seem so bothered by her outburst anymore. He brought his hands together into a seal and she could feel his chakra build in his chest alongside his ninken. She did the same a moment later as they approached the Kyuubi at an advantageous angle. He shot a look at her. "You ready to get back in the battle?"

Tsume looked down at Kuromaru, who looked back up at her with a confident sine in his eyes, and she nodded. "Ready! One, two—"

Gonza and Jikosuke transformed in a cloud of smoke a second before she gave him he signal, and she groaned.

"Fine! Fuck it!"

The two of them followed suit, smoke and ash swallowing her and Kuromaru up as their transformation gained height and stature, and they rose up above the ruined city skyline. They stood almost head to head with the other transformation, long tawny brown hair and dark silver-blue fur blowing in the wind as the Kyuubi stirred the elements up in its endless fury. The two dogs stood proud, unyielding in the face of such anger, and their four heads rose to the challenge as the kyuubi stopped its assault on the flagging Akimichi and sniffed the air, recognizing the scent of its former enemies.

The Akimichi fell back the moment the fox's attention was drawn back to the pair of double headed dogs heading straight for it, and the two of them were back in the fray, jaws snapping and teeth digging into flesh as if they had never fallen in battle in the first place. Their allies held position and waited for them to strike as one, so that they, too, could move in for the kill. The thrill of the battle was in the air, and worldly concerns bled away into the background as the two wolves circled their prey.

'A COMMON ENEMY,' the single, uniting thought of Tsume and Kuromaru's transformation agreed upon. 'HOW RARE IT IS THAT THE MAN-BEAST IS TOLERABLE. FOR ONCE, WE HOPE HE DOES NOT FALTER.'

Beside them, one of the two heads of Gonza's transformation howled out a war-cry, it's other head, and surprisingly, both Tsume and Kuromaru's heads, echoed him.

It was going to be a good, hard battle.

.

~ X ~

.

Shikaku was being tended to by an Anbu unit and was slowly coming to as Danzo made his appearance finally, bleeding profusely from a gash in his forehead and sporting several bloody imprints on his robes.

Hiruzen and Minato shared a look, their earlier doubts of the man's loyalty slipping away as the story came out and Danzo had an opportunity to explain himself.

"—Before I knew it, the perpetrator had phased through a dozen of my men and had sucked the other half into some space-time Dojutsu in his eye. It reeks of sharingan involvement, we should corner the Uchiha clan and force them to give up any names they might be hiding of missing nin or those who would intentionally turn on the village. It could be anyone behind that mask."

Minato watched him thoughtfully. "You think we should suspect them because they might have something to do with the jutsu used tonight? I don't want to jump to any conclusions and direct the blame to an entire clan who make up the backbone of our village."

"When you get to my age, Namikaze-san, you understand that sometimes, being suspicious can save countless lives," Danzo harrumphed, limping past the Yondaime to approach his old friend who was hurriedly setting down complicated seals around the small wooden platform they had created for baby Naruto to sit on. A single mistake, and the whole thing would unravel, so he was being particularly careful about it, adding in a few extra additions to the circuit that took Minato a few moments to decipher. Danzo looked less than pleased with how long Hiruzen was taking, and his lips thinned as he took in the deep damage done the Sarutobi's arms, frowning at the damage the Kyuubi dealt to his long lived rival. "Must you keep going, Hiruzen? The boy is more than capable finishing the seal, if you spend another moment fretting over it uselessly, you could keel over and die. How would the other nations view our country if they heard the third Hokage was so up in arms doing someone else's job he worked himself to death?"

"Then the other nations would remember me as a man dedicated to keeping his village safe above all else," Hiruzen replied, only looking up at his longtime rival once he was completely finished. As he got up off his knees, his joints cracked painfully, and the old man held his injured arms close to his chest as if that would make the intense pain go away. "My part of the seal is done, though. We can continue on with the rest part of our plan."

"Which is…?" Danzo asked skeptically. The blood from the gash on his forehead dripped down his chin onto the ground below—almost as if it were with impatience—as each drip counted for priceless seconds ticking by.

"I don't recognise this symbol, Sarutobi-sama," Minato pointed out, looking down at a particularly odd shaped design on the wooden platform they had constructed. He took a closer look at it, squinted his eyes as Naruto wriggled in his arms, exhausted and tired after being born only a new hours earlier. "It looks like… soul? It's not a symbol I would have used myself. Are you completely confident that this won't throw off the entire array?"

Hiruzen nodded his head and allowed Minato and Danzo to look over his work, understanding their confusion. "It's not something I've ever used regularly, but at this point, it seems like the time to use it to it's full potential."

Danzo narrowed his eye at the old man, not taking his words at face value. "What you choose to do may impact the future of the village, I urge you to think clearly on this subject, and to not allow your judgement to swayed by your current emotional status."

Minato squawked at Danzo's complete disregard of Biwako's death, and waited for Hiruzen to defend himself, only, no heated words came as he expected.

Hiruzen simply patted Danzo's shoulder and smiled at his old friend. "I appreciate the concern. You don't have to worry, the seal will hold, I stake my life on it."

"You'd be doing more than that if the faulty thing ends up breaking," Danzo darkly muttered, watching as Hiruzen walked past him to stand next to minato. His one dark pupil watched the two of them under a heavily lidded eyelid, and he sighed and looked away. "I wonder if you even listen to me at all, or if you've just been deaf all these years and I'm only finding out about it now. I wouldn't be surprised in the last, coming from you Sarutobi…"

"What was that? Could you say that again?" Hiruzen put a hand up to his ear and smiled when his old friend scowled at his joke. "There, there, let a grieving man laugh, why don't you?"

He turned to Minato and nodded, letting the younger man gently (hesitantly) place the child in his arms onto the podium in front of them as the Kyuubi raged on below them. Up above the village, standing on the top of first Hokage's forehead, the seal lit up the moment Naruto landed in the center, and bright red ink crawled over the baby's skin, burning with the same harsh glow as the words written down in a spiraling, circular pattern over the whole platform. With the whole podium built with Hashirama wood, the chakra-laced platform glowed like a bright red beacon, drawing all attention to it from every direction.

As the Kyuubi's head rose up out of the smog and dust it had created—distracted by Inuzuka and Akimichi pinning it down to the ground—it's eyes widened with recognition as the light from the seal intensified even more, reaching out with invisible hands and pulling the Kyuubi forward, dematerializing it's form and sucking the demon towards it with a tenacious hunger.

The beast cried out in vain as it's claws sunk into the ground, tearing at cement and uprooting streetlamps in its desperate attempt at escape,. Soon enough it's paws melted away into smoke and the creature's body was lifted from the ground, chakra returning to it's basic form and its physical body deteriorating like vapour.

Hiruzen and Minato slammed their hands into the wood as the Kyuubi got closer, their chakra intermingling with the seal work as the demon chakra began filtering into the small, infant Uzumaki that awoke with a startled cry as poisonous orange chakra infiltrated his core and was sucked up into his system—

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry!"

—And the baby was a screamer.

"I know it's bad, I know little guy, just hang in there a little longer, it'll be over soon!" Minato winced as his hands burnt from the seal, but it hurt more to see his newborn son in so much agony already. He didn't know if the poor baby could take that much stress.

Danzo held onto his cane as the demon chakra sent up a dust cloud around them and the swell of chakra sent the nearby Anbu to their knees. "He can't hear you! Just get it over with!"

"He's not as resistant to the Bijuu's chakra as Kushina," Hiruzen shot back at Minato, understanding his anxiety immediately. "Just keep a steady hold on the nine tails as much as you can to lessen the load on him, and we should be fine!"

"Okay, okay, I—" Minato found his attention drawn towards the glowing seal Hiruzen had scrawled into the array, glowing with a striking white-blue colour as opposed to the intense red that coloured the rest of the platform. He shot a warning look at Hiruzen, suddenly doubting his words from earlier. "Sarutobi-sama? What's happening?"

Hiruzen shook his head and slumped a little as the blue seal grew whiter, visibly sucking up the older man's remaining chakra and something else with it.

Danzo was at his side at an instant, the Kyuubi forgotten as most of it was pulled inside baby Naruto, and Minato was stuck keeping the seal stable. "What is the meaning of this? What have you done you old fool?!"

Minato realized with a crashing realization just what he had done, far too late. "You altered the array so that it used your soul instead of your chakra to seal the Kyuubi. Why? We could have done it without you sacrificing yourself!"

Hiruzen fell to his side, the seal glowing brightly without his contribution anymore, and he shot the two men crowding over him an exhausted smile. "A weak seal would strip the child of having a normal life without constant supervision, at least now with my soul binding it…."

"You've gone senile, you daft old man!" Danzo caught Hiruzen in his arms as the last the of the Kyuubi was sucked inside the spiral array on Naruto's stomach, and the bright lights from the seal sputtered and died, no longer useful. "What did I just say about the other villages? With your death, they'll pounce on us like animals. The village needs it's Hokage at a time like this!"

Hiruzen's mouth curved into a smile, and his head weakly turned towards Minto, holding a sobbing child in his arms, rocking it with a tender care. "Then it's a good thing that it has one to pick up where this old fool left off, don't you agree?"

"Hiruzen," Danzo stressed, pulling the old man closer. The gash on his forehead dripped down onto the old man's cheek, and it dribbled down the side of his face as if Danzo had shed a tear into the face of his old friend. "You never did listen to a word I said to you, did you?"

Sarutobi gently patted Danzo's arm, closing his eyes with a peaceful sigh. "I'm thankful I had your companionship, my old friend. Having you here by my side in the end was a blessing."

Danzo shook his head in disgust and looked up at Minato, as if pleading the Yondaime for help to make the old man see reason. "Namikaze, don't tell me you're okay with this. This is lunacy! Tell him he's crazy."

Minato's eyes were wide and glassy as he knelt down next to Hiruzen and he bobbed a sobbing Naruto in his arms. The infant wailed and screamed with demon chakra coursing through his system, but the only person that seemed bothered by the noise was Danzo.

"Sarutobi-sama…" Minato's breath caught in hs throat, and he looked down and clasped Hiruzen's hand with his, gently squeezing his palm. He sniffled, and looked down at the old, tarnished wedding ring on the Third's finger. "You said you always hoped you were the one to die first… I think I understand why you're doing this now."

"What is he talking about?" Danzo asked, sounding very desperate now that Hiruzen's chakra began fading. "Namikaze, what do you mean?"

"Biwako... I'll be with you soon…" Sarutobi chuckled as the sun came up of the horizon, painting the night sky a pale, gentle pink as the sunlight touched down on the rest of konoha, caressing the old man's face with a warm glow. "K...Konoha lives another day… Minato…. you have my faith…. Lead them through….. these troubling…. d….dark times…. The fate of… their... safety…..lies….on… your...…..should…..ers…."

"Hiruzen? No, no!" Danzo cursed as his old friend's head lolled back and his chakra signature faded from existence, his expression peaceful, as if the old man had simply closed his eyes for an early morning nap.

Minato held Naruto a little closer, the baby's cries ringing out atop the Hokage monument. He sniffled, tears spilling over his cheeks onto the Third's cold, clammy hand. "He's gone."

"I can't accept that," Danzo hissed, tearing himself away from the body of his former friend. Minato gently eased the Third to the ground, careful not to jostle his head or disrupt the peaceful expression on his face.

He leaned back and held Naruto close, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hands. "A-at least he wasn't in any pain."

"That's all you have to say for yourself? At least he didn't suffer?" Danzo's eye was wide and glassy despite his decades of training to keep him from doing otherwise. "You have no idea what you're talking about here—the kind of man he was..."

He took a deep breath and composed himself, his eyes fixed on the body on the ground. He shook his head and looked out at the village below them as the rest of Konoha breathed a sigh of relief now that they no longer had to fear for their lives. Danzo's eyes stayed fixed to the skyline as he took out an old, worn pipe from inside with robes, and he tapped it against his cane to clear the soot from the inside chamber before relighting it.

He stole one last glance back at Hiruzen, and he shook his head, his voice bitter. "Always the martyr, even to the very end." His one eye glanced at Minato, and the two of them shared a long, pregnant silence. Opening his mouth, an ashy white cloud of smoke escaped Danzo's lips and evaporated in the warm morning air. "I... trust you don't require my services this very second? I… require… some time alone."

"Yes, of course," Minato bowed his head in sympathy, and soon enough, he was left alone for a with the corpse of his teacher's teacher, and his crying, sobbing son.

In an act of respect he took off his long white jacket and laid it over Hiruzen's body.

...

Anbu soon swarmed the area after that.

"The third is dead!"

"Lord hokage, what are your orders?"

"Is the container stable?"

"Are we to continue with the evacuation of the village?"

"Sir," Anbu Hound limped forward and bend down on one knee, paying his respects. The morning sun hit the young man's spiky silver hair with a blinding light. "We await your signal."

Minato sighed and tucked Naruto into the left side of his jacket as he sat up. The handful of surviving Anbu were bruised and battered from all the fighting, but he had to commend them all for sticking it out so long. Even though some of them (his eyes glanced at Hound as the teenager continued to kneel) were completely out of their league fighting the Masked man and the Kyuubi at once.

Internally, Minato knew he would have to eventually come up with a name for their masked attacker, but at the moment, he was too tired by the entire world to even care anymore. The immediate threat had been dealt with, but hundreds, if not thousands of people needed to be pulled from the debris and ruined buildings the Kyuubi had torn down in it's rampage.

"Have our units focus their energy on recovery of civilian life," Shikaku suggested, hobbling over to the podium and sporting several new scars to his face. He held his side at an awkward angle, and two medics trailed after him holding gauze and bandages. He ignored them and ordered them to focus their attention elsewhere, a deep groan escaping his throat as he sat down next to Minato. "Even with the barriers we put up, there's still no telling how many people were able to evacuate in time. Send units of three and assign them to a grid, corresponding with each major road. Evac to bunkers isn't necessary anymore, but they should have better equipment than what we have on hand. We should get some guys setting up shelters too..."

Minato sighed and nodded to the handful of Anbu captains he knew were listening. "Everyone hear that? As soon as you're able to regroup with whatever shinobi you can find, I want a perimeter set up and each block blanketing the area."

"And… What of the Third?" another young Anbu asked as most other units were already gone.

Hound shot the young boy a scathing look behind his porcelain mask. "Jackal, it's not your job to ask what the Hokage will do. You listen to what he has to say, and obey."

"M-my apologies, Hokage-sama." The recruit bowed his head in respect and only lifted his gaze when Minato sighed and waved away the offence. After Jackal gave a brief detailing of their current Inuzuka and Akimichi units from the battlefield, the young man sped off with Hound at his heels, no doubt berating him.

"Well, I guess we're alone now."

Shikaku pulled out an old, foul smelling flask from his jacket pocket and took a shot from it, wincing as the aftertaste hit him a second later. He tucked it away and rubbed his temples as if he had a monumental headache building.

After the day the both of them just had, Minato wouldn't have blamed him.

"Someone's going to have to notify the Third's children that their parents died," Shikaku rubbed the back of his neck. "The grandkids too, probably."

"It's my job to tell the whole village," Minato shot back. "What else is a Jonin Commander good for again, exactly?"

"Beats me," the Nara muttered, pulling out his flask again now that he had even more on his plate. The second time he drank from it, he didn't wince as the aftertaste hit him. Instead, he just sighed and the two of them watched the clouds as the sky got lighter and the sun rose above the Land of Fire.

The rest of the crisis was out of their hands now. Minato didn't know if he should have felt thankful, or deeply wounded by that fact. It was a little somewhere in between.

The only thing he could do now was hope for the best and do what he could. Everything outside his realm of influence would have to wait until later. He could only have faith that Kushina would return to him soon.

Though, admittedly, he had never been much of a religious man.

He would try to be.

For her.

.

~ X ~

.

An: End of chapter 26.