Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Danzo
Upon opening my eyes I felt like I had just closed them. I thought I would still be in Konoha. In the same ruined street. And the red haired man who had struck me would still be standing in front of me. Hopefully with a reason for his actions. But that is not the case.
At first my vision is blurry. The only sense I can completely feel is the feeling of some form of restraint wrapped around my arms and middle. Instinctually I tense. A strong scent reaches my nose before my eyes clear. It is heavy in the air; the scent of moisture mixed in with the cold strong rocks and minerals of the earth. A long, wakening shiver starts at my shoulders and spreads all the way down to my toes and makes goose bumps on my arms and legs form as I see a large stone room with a high ceiling that no doubt echoes if you make a big enough noise. This is not right. Where am I?
My eyes dart left, right, up and down, ignoring the strands of my hair that gets in the way. Trying to take in all the information I can as quickly as possible. I am up high; high on a balcony that is covered by a tapestry. However the tapestry is thin enough that it can be seen through. Looking down I see a long table with six people sitting at it. One sits directly below the balcony I am in, facing away. I cannot see his face but I can tell it is a man, and he appears to be wrapped in bandages. There is an old bald dwarf like man dressed in red. A younger man is also wearing red, but it matches his red hair. And it looks like he has a tattoo on his head. But I cannot make out what it is. Then there is this really beefy, dark skinned man with blonde hair that clashes with his skin tone. The last male is tall and elderly, with a long beard and mustache. The only female in the group is all in blue, and has long, spikey reddish-brown hair that goes all the way down her back. Who are these people? The intimidation leaking from these six people rises all the way up to the balcony and I flinch despite the drowsiness that is swimming around in my head at the moment. Why am I here? How did I get here? Do they even know I am here?
Once fully awake I try to sit up so I can call out. If they know I am here maybe one of them will help me get back home. Or if they are a part of the reason I am here maybe I can at least get some answers. However, I cannot even sit up. The restraint around my arms and middle tightens, and I am reminded that I did not come here, where ever here is, by my own free will. A hand snakes around in the corner if my eye before reaching up and covering my mouth, right under my nose with such force that I cannot even part my lips. However, the hand somehow did manage to get my hair out of my face.
My eyes snap up as I strain my neck into an uncomfortable angle to see the red haired man from the village; the man with the thoughtless eyes that had knocked me out. Straining to look in the left in the same awkward angle I can just make out a masked man. Who does not even glance in my direction. All of his attention is on the intimidating people at the table on the other side of the tapestry. What is going on? I ask myself as my eyes widen. This is not a good thing to wake up to.
"The five Kage conference has come to order" The older, taller man announces and the intensity in the room instantly rises. The five Kage? As in the leaders of all of the major ninja villages? I can vaguely recall Iruka-sensei talking about the different leaders. But why are they all together? Which one of them is the new hokage?
A brief silence feels the room as they all take each other in. Before the youngest man starts taking about jinchuuriki. What are jinchuuriki? Why are they talking about it? Why am I here? Nothing is making sense.
The bandaged man says something that merely sounds factual to my ears, but killing intent flares up so fast at his words. In a bout of unexpected movement the red haired man who is pinning my arms together, following his masked partner, jumps out from behind the tapestry, taking me with him. Eight other shinobi follow suit, appearing from different tapestries with their weapons or fists drawn. In a spur of energy that is beyond me I feel my body flying through the air as my captor releases me so that he may draw his own weapon. But I am not free. He skillfully drops me next to the man that has half of his face wrapped in bandages, and keeps one of his arms in a sling, tucked inside his clothes. With his one mobile arm he reaches out and grasps my upper arm before I even comprehend that my feet are on the ground. His hand wraps around it fully, and he harshly applies pressure with his cool, callous hand. I gasp in both shock and pain as my knees tremble. What is going on? Are these people even human? I did not think it was possible to have this much anger and power in one room.
"Avoid these disputable acts!" The taller older man bellows once all of the shinobi are in a deadlock. A little too late to be telling them that, I think to myself.
"Stand down", the bandage man orders the red haired man that knocked me out and the masked man. They instantly obey. If they are his followers does that mean it is the bandaged man who wanted to kidnap me? My head spins. I am so confused. There is too much going on and I do not have enough knowledge to figure things out on observation alone. Maybe I should have paid better attention during Iruka-sensei's lectures. The four other Kage call off their shinobi before the bandaged man adds "You may leave the child". Another deep shiver runs down my spine, but this time it is not due to the cold. What does he want from me? As the ten shinobi retreat back up to the balconies my eyes dash around the room. Trying to make eye contact with someone; anyone who might take pity on me. Besides curiosity I see no sympathy. I should not be here. I do not want to be here. But this is not like last time where I can run away for my life and be picked up by friendly people and a pineapple head who take me to a nice village. I cannot run. I do not even know where I am. And, there is no one dying for me this time so I can escape. I am truly alone. Despite my presence and obvious terror no one comments. Instead they continuing talking like no aggression were ever displayed in the first place.
"I didn't call this meeting to discuss that", the blonde haired man interrupts. I tune out what they're talking about. There is no point in listening. It will make no sense to me either way. I need to get out of here without any of them noticing before they are done talking. Easier said than done. But why would I be here if I was not a part of their plan somehow. It makes no sense. I am not powerful. I am just a academy student. An orphan that the village felt obligated to take in. But it is the only thing I can think of that would cause these almost super human people to kidnap me and hold me against my will while they are having some important meeting.
But how do I escape when I am standing in plain sight? I gulp as my eyes start to feel heavy with tears. This is it. There really is no way out this time? No one is coming to help. There is nowhere to run. I do not understand why or how this is even happening. Did I do something wrong?
The conversation wraps up with the decision to form an alliance for the solution to whatever their problem is. The taller older man declared that the Hokage should lead the alliance while nodding at the bandaged man who has a hold on my arm. But the Hokage? That means that this man is Danzo. My eyes widen and my back stiffens. Why would the leader of my own village have me kidnaped? Somehow I cannot help thinking that Tsunade would never do something like this.
I could feel the uncertainty around the table at the taller older man's words. It seems that they did not want this new hokage to be the head of the alliance. But before anyone can reject the only woman at the table speaks up; addressing Danzo. "Why is this girl here lord hokage?" She asked, taking me in with her eyes, no doubt noticing my shakiness.
Danzo's grip on my arm tightens, causing me to bite my lip to keep silent. This is bad. I need to get out of here now. "This child is a peace offering for the raikage", Danzo said deliberately slow; making sure every word is easily heard. Curiosity peaks at his words and all is silent; egging Danzo on. My heart speeds up. Who can a person be a offering? "Raikage", Danzo addresses. "Your main goal at the moment, I believe, is to hunt down the missing nin Sasuke Uchiha". The dark skinned blonde man nods as I flinch. That name. Why does it always comes up? What is so important about Sasuke that he comes up so often? How is he involved? I can hear the smirk in Danzo voice as he continues. "Upon my commencement as Hokage a number of files that Tsunade-hime had kept hidden became available to me. One such file being about an orphan refugee. She was found by one of Konoha's squads and told an interesting tale about running away from the land of Earth after witnessing her family's slaughter". No one at the table shifts or even reacts to this news. Bloodshed is too common to them. But I cannot help it when my breathing hitches and my chest tightens. Hearing my story from someone who has no business knowing it makes it sound ten times worse. "It was then revealed that this child's father was a missing nin of Konoha. He had fled the village after witnessing a member of his clan killing one of their own". At this they all tense. So they are familiar to what father's story references to as well. Who does not know? "This child has been living in Konoha since the squad brought her there without the elders' knowledge of her true identity. In the Public records Tsunade-hime wrote her down as a lost orphan. Only a select few in the village know of the girl's heritage. The child herself does not know of which family her blood comes from, and I believe this was to keep the truth inside the village and out of the ears of the remaining Uchiha". Danzo explains. However it seems by the looks on everyone's faces they have already caught on to what Danzo has planned, everyone but me. Uchiha, I repeat in my head slowly. Is that my last name? "I'm sure if the Raikage were to spread the word of having an Uchiha child Sasuke Uchiha will eventually come to you. And once you take care of the miss nin all I ask is that you Support Konoha's lead in the alliance and return the child if she survives." If I survive? I pale at his words. Does that mean they might kill me? And what will happen if I do survive? What does this new hokage have planned for me if I do survive? A sinking feeling in my stomach tells me that it might be better if I do not survive being the raikage's bait. Father always said shinobi thought nothing about killing non-shinobi. But I had begun to think differently after meeting people like Naruto, Neji, Chouji, pineapple head, and Iruka-sensei. I should have taken my father's words to heart and never have forgotten them. Most shinobi are heartless. I should have died with my family when I had the chance. Somehow I think it would have been less painful than whatever future this new hokage has planned for me.
The bald dwarf like man stands up and says, "If the child was born in the land of Earth she should be released to the stone village". So that must be the village that he is in charge of. His words have no mention of possible death. I should take his side and pray his argument wins, since it seems that Konoha no longer wants me. However, I am beyond taking sides at this point. I just want to run. Run and get away from all of this super human kage. And I want to keep running until I am safe, and until everything makes sense. Even if that means I will spend the rest of my life running.
"The child's blood originated in Konoha and Konoha it belongs", Danzo spoke up, silencing the dwarf like man. So I am an it now? I think passively. This is the end. There is no way out this time.
Before any other of the kage can object a figure pasty white figure with green spikey things around his body suddenly appears, growing out of the ground with a howling laugh. All eyes snap to it as the ten shinobi behind the tapestries jump out again, ready for the worst. Danzo's grip around my arm becomes so tight that he has cut off its circulation. What now? "Don't bother with the child. Let's all look for Sasuke together." The figure cackles in a hair rising volume. What in the world is that? I ask myself, forgetting about the death grip that the new hokage has on me in my terror of witness the monster in front of me, the shinobi and the kage.
At once the raikage leaps over the table and grabs the figure by the throat. "Where is Sasuke?" He roars. But before the figure can answer the raikage snaps his neck, which makes me question the point of asking a question in the first place. At once, with little communication search parties are organized by the taller older man, and the shinobi present who have sensory abilities start searching for chakra signatures. Wait; does that mean Sasuke is here? Why would he be here? The raikage and his men run off somewhere in a great expression of aggression leaving the rest of us in the room. Does this mean I am no longer important? Will they let me go? I try to pull my arm out of Danzo's grips but he does not budge. He does not even acknowledge my attempt at freedom.
Everyone sits or stands in tense silence. Occasionally we will hear a ruckus taking place outside of the room, but no one moves to do anything. I do not know if this is best of if they simply do not know what to do. When one of them finally decides to do something the first thing they do is to check the body of the white figure to make sure it is actually dead. In a turn of events the Hokage became untrustworthy and the others are quick to point out his faults. Saying things likes "It is suspicious. Almost like you knew Uchiha would come here" or "It also suspicious with how much of you is covered up. What are you hiding?"
However the young red head male has a different thought. "In a world without trust only cowardice will remain" he said, much to the annoyance of the older people in the room. After a pause the red head man jumps away, no doubt aiming to join in the ruckus that is taking part outside of the room. Following the younger red head, members of different groups start to leave to join in the fight, until the only full groups remaining where the woman's group and Danzo's group. I do not understand what is happening. But hopefully it will end soon. I do not think I can take much more of this.
Moments pass with everyone holding their breath; waiting for something. Something that is completely unclear to me. Suddenly the man that had kidnapped me back in the village leans over and whispered something to Danzo; something about the enemy coming. I had to strain my ears to hear. Is that enemy Sasuke?
Seconds later one of the woman's shinobi announces, "He's here". My body flinches; having no clue if this is a good or bad thing for me. What I would give right know to be back in the village, hanging out with Akio in Naruto's and my tent.
In a flurry of motion the tapestry falls, while being accompanied by a slicing sound. All of the full-fledged shinobi in the room look up and I have to force myself to find the courage to do the same. There standing upside down on the ceiling is a bloody, dirty, younger version of my father, and that scary man with the red eyes. Standing upside down on the ceiling is a man around Naruto's age with black hair and cold eyes. It is the older face of the black haired boy whose team picture I have in my pocket. It is Naruto's lost friend and teammate; Sasuke.
The first one to make a move is the taller older man who jumps up high into the air and unsheathes a katana. Frozen in place at the activity taking place I am completely taken by surprise when the arm in Danzo's grasps is suddenly jerked and I am pulled into a body that is lurching away at a dead sprint. The roughness of it all leaves me breathless, and I cannot help but think what now?
"Sasuke", a new female voice calls out as Danzo takes a sudden turn and the sight of the room leaves me. "Danzo ran away!"
Danzo is running so fast that I have to close my eyes unless I want to add nausea to my list of growing discomforts. Why me? The only sense I have of where we are going is the temperature. It goes from cold to freezing with high winds. Signally that we have ran outside. Where are we that it is this cold? Even the weather does not slow my captor down. And once again, I cannot decide if this is a good thing or not. Next the temperature changes for freezing back to cold with less wind, and then to a mild climate. Where ever we were running to it is a longs ways from where we started. Why cannot this just be over?
The sound of an unexpected explosion fills the air and forces my eyes open. Just in time to watch Danzo's feet jump backwards to avoid the explosion from my position under Danzo's one free arm. For an old man he sure is strong; stronger than me. Danzo lowers me to my feet, and at once I try to run away but I barely make it two steps before I am yanked back. Terrified, frustrated and impatiently I look up at Danzo only to see that his attention is not on me. Following his line of sight I see a three people appear out of nowhere. A strange man wearing the same cloak as the two scary men that destroyed my family and an orange mask with only one hole for one eye, a red haired woman who is wearing glasses, and Sasuke. What is going on? I scream in my head as my heart rate accelerates despite not doing anything. Sasuke says a few words to the people he is with before they scatter. This is bad. I think to myself as I once again try to pull away from Danzo, but my efforts are useless. I am stuck here until he lets me go.
"Sasuke Uchiha", Danzo said as he releases his arm from its sleeve and drags me in front of him to where I am staring at Sasuke straight in the eyes. It is the first time that I really get a good look at them. And what I see does not really surprise me. It is the red eyes. They are terribly cold red eyes, but still the same eyes that my father had, and the same eyes as that man that killed him. As Danzo unwraps his now free arm of its bandages Sasuke merely stares at him. It takes me a minute to realize that there is nothing holding me in place now. I can run. I can get away and fight for my existence. Like my father told me to so long ago on that terrible day that he was taken from me forever. Pivoting on my heels I move to dash around Danzo because I want to get away from both Sasuke and him, because both are scary and life threatening. But Danzo moves; anticipating my actions and blocks attempt after attempt. My shoulders shake as I give up and collapse onto the ground. Why is this happening?
I cannot do this anymore, whatever this is! I am done. No more. Just make it stop! I repeat over and over again in my head. Danzo finishes unwrapping his arm, only to reveal many different red eyes all over his arm. All reason escapes me as I think to myself, what the hell!
"Why do you have sharingan on your arm?" I hear Sasuke ask from behind me in an enraged voice. Sharingan? I repeat to myself. Sharingan as in the red eyes. It does make sense! Sharingan does start with "sha". This guy, Sasuke, and I really are from the same clan. Why? Why him? He does not seem nice at all. Danzo remains silent, staring at Sasuke with quiet calculation. Wanting to see his reaction I turn my head just in time to hear, "Forget it". Sasuke said as he closed his easy for a brief moment to compose himself. "I will kill you".
Danzo's eye free arm reaches a pulls me to my feet by the back of my shirt and places me in front of him. No, I think. No more. I cannot take this anymore. "Do you really want to kill me when I have one or your clan members at my disposal?" Danzo asked with a smirk in his tone.
For a split second I can feel Sasuke's eyes on me and I force myself to make eye contact. Anger and confusion radiates off of him. It seems like he is taking in every inch of me and I cannot help but feel like he is spotting the similarities in our appearances. "I was the only survivor". Sasuke said more to himself. However Danzo responds anyway.
"This child was found on the run from you brother. Before her birth her father fled the village after witnessing Itachi slaughtering the Uchiha clan, his clan. It was believed that he died in the slaughter by his team, and it seems that your brother believed he had died on mission. He escaped to a different country where he found the time to have an offspring". How many times is this man going to share my family's story as if he knows me? I ask myself, quivering under Danzo's hold.
Glaring at Danzo Sasuke asks in a tone of disbelief, "Girl, what was your father's name?"
Quaking in my sandals I take many deep breaths before uttering in a soft voice that barely carries, "Hisao". A flash of recognition crosses Sasuke's face. Did he know my father? But Danzo gives him no time to respond. Picking me up by the back of my shirt he runs forward at Sasuke, using me as a human shield. I stop breathing. With the arm with many eyes Danzo reaches around me to punch Sasuke, causing me to flinch, but he does not even lay a finger on him. Something winds around my middle and I am pulled away from Danzo causing the back of my shirt to rip just and exposing my upper back to a breeze as a purple skeletal mass surrounds me and Sasuke, blocking Danzo's attack. I cannot say that I am in better hands now, because Sasuke is pretty scary, and feels just as dangerous as Danzo. However, I can say I am glad Danzo does not have a hold on me anymore.
What had pulled me away from the old man, which I now realize was Sasuke's arm, lets me go, forcing me to support my own weight, before a giant purple skeletal arm lunges out and catches Danzo in its grip. Is it finally over?
The hand starts squeezing Danzo so hard that blood starts pouring out of his mouth. Soon after the purple skeleton starts to turn in to a purple body, with tendons and all. With Sasuke and I still in the middle of it. A second later the purple fist gives one last squeeze, smothering Danzo and causing blood to sputter out in all direction.
However not even a moment of calm passes before Sasuke is being attack again from behind. He turns around first just as the purple skeleton protects him again, and I follow seconds later with my arms wrapped around myself as the only form of protection I can give myself. It is too much. I cannot keep up. Standing in front of us with his arm raised in attack is Danzo. But how? I just saw him get squeezed to death.
Many times Danzo and Sasuke fight, and it always ends with Sasuke gaining the finishing blow and Danzo somehow appearing alive somewhere else. In the latest round, somehow, I ended up flying through the air and landing on the side lines next to a red haired girl in glasses, skinning my knees and elbows in the process as Sasuke summons a huge hawk and lands on its back. Without sparing a glance in our direction he yells out. "Karin, keep her out of the way" to the woman. However, this Karin person's attention is all on Sasuke and Danzo. I am not even sure if she heard him. Here is my chance. I can make a run for it. At this point who would notice? Who would care? And yet for some reason I cannot bring myself to run. I cannot bring myself to take my eyes off the one person I might share kinship with. Especially not when all the answers I need and crave about my family lies with him. The last round ends with the giant hawk disappearing and Sasuke shoving a lightening blade through Danzo's chest, and this time Danzo did not appear somewhere else. Panting heavily, Sasuke takes in his win before falling backwards, and landing on his rear out of exhaustion. Danzo is dead, or so we thought.
"Sasuke!" Karin yells as she does running to him. She pulls back her sleeve and offers her arm to him. I sit up into a kneeling position with my legs sticking out on either side of me' too tired to stand. So I stay where I am and watch. Just in case Sasuke turns out to be as dangerous as I perceive him to be. Sasuke takes hold of her wrist and bites down, acting like he is drinking her blood. I grimace at the sight. What is the point of doing that?
Suddenly active Danzo reaches up and begins to take off the bandages around his head, only to reveal one last red eye; instantly gaining his attention. Sasuke and Karin stand up, and Sasuke lunges at Danzo with more lightening erupting from his hand. But Danzo dodges by jumping around Sasuke, and runs over to Karin. He wraps an arm around her throat and pulls her close to him; taking her hostage to use as a human shield, much like he had done with me. I guess it is a good thing I chose to stay where I am. Sasuke does not hesitate as he charges up another lightening attack and charges. In one move he impales both Danzo and Karin. My whole body tenses and freezes. I thought they were friends. Almost as if in slow motion, the woman falls to the ground in a heap, soon followed by Danzo. And this time he does not get back up again.
