Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. The Phantom of the Opera, which inspired a great deal of this story line, belongs to Gaston Leroux. There's no way I'm making money from this and absolutely no way I'm affiliated with the creative process of these series/books.
Important note: This is an AU story. Consequently, restructuring of the plotline was necessary. Chances are if there's something that doesn't match up with canon, it's probably meant to be that way. If you don't think so, please, leave me a kind note. Also, please see author's notes at end of chapter. Revised March 15, 2005 because of complaints that the beginning was difficult to follow. Hopefully, it makes better sense now.
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The Phantom of Konoha
Chapter One: Sound of Destruction
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"Kai!"
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"Sakura, please stay where you are for a moment. I'm going to reduce the number of enemies."
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"What's going on?"
"Lee, go after them. Make yourself useful to Konoha. Stop Gaara."
"Sir!"
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"Sakura, dispel the genjutsu around Naruto and Shikamaru. This is going to be an A-rank mission, like the mission to the Wave Country."
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"You think too highly of yourself, Sarutobi-sensei. You are only second on my list. Konoha is third."
"And the first?"
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"We have to pick up the pace! We can't let that green freak catch Gaara!"
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"You hid him well, Sensei. I thought as a substitute for him, I'd get Neji-kun, but the Hyuuga curse seal would cause problems. And, unfortunately, Konoha has little else of value now."
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"I don't know what Genma had in mind, but I want you to stop Lee and then wait for orders in a safe location."
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"What happened to the little Uchiha, Sensei? The one that might surpass Itachi one day—Sasuke-kun—where did you hide him? I wanted to test his abilities in this little exam."
"Uchiha Sasuke disappeared years ago."
"Now, now, Sarutobi-sensei, my spies may not have been able to find him, but I know he's here. The Uchiha Clan has always been a great source of strength for Konoha, and you would have kept the only other survivor."
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It had been many, many years since Konoha had suffered so much damage. A good segment of the city wall had been breached and over two dozen buildings had been completely demolished or damaged so severely that they had to be torn down. The number of dead shinobi was staggering for a village that had existed peacefully for nearly a decade. Konoha managed to escape without civilian deaths although there were several with injuries. However, what had sent most of Konoha into shock was the death of Sandaime.
The ANBU squad that had been trapped outside the barrier had been able to see most of the battle between the Hokage and Orochimaru. It was the last moments of the fight where the sequence of events broke down. All they knew was that Orochimaru fled and that Sandaime had the shikifuujin seal on his stomach and a sword wound through his chest.
Konoha mourned its loss briefly but deeply and moved on. After all, a shinobi village could waste little time for useless grief. Reconstruction of the damaged areas began the day after the public funeral.
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"Watch out!"
Uzumaki Naruto looked up in time to see several planks of broken wood tumble down from the roof above. He yelped and threw himself out of the way just in time. Leaping to his feet, Naruto shook his fist at the boy on the roof.
"What was that for, Gagami?"
Tsuchiya Gagami held up both hands in what was supposed to be a placating gesture. "Sorry, Naruto-kun."
Two teammates could hardly have been more different. Where Naruto was obnoxiously noisy, Gagami was subdued and polite. Naruto's blonde hair was always unkempt, sticking out in every direction. The other male member of Naruto's team had dark brown hair, laced with traces of auburn. A thin braid dangled from behind his right ear and down to about the middle of his shoulder blade. Naruto's regular outfit was almost painfully orange while Gagami wore darker colors: a long-sleeved red shirt, open green vest, and dark brown pants.
"Sorry? You almost killed me, idiot!"
An annoyed look crossed the brunette's face. "Not everyone heals as fast as you, Naruto," Gagami shot back, pointing with his left hand at the bandages wrapped above his right elbow.
Gagami had caught a stray kunai in the Chuunin Exam stadium while unconscious, severing a tendon. Konoha's medical ninjas had easily reconnected the tendon, but it would take some time before the right arm was back to normal. The medic-nins were still treating some of the more critically injured, and they weren't going to waste chakra on Gagami, especially since he was left-handed.
"Never mind, Naruto-kun," Gagami said, rubbing at the sore area on his arm. "Why don't we take a break? Sakura should be back soon." She had volunteered to get some food for their lunch break. Sakura had been helping Gagami tear out broken roofing and lowering it down by rope to Naruto, who stacked it out of the way.
"Do you think she'll bring ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully, his earlier anger forgotten at the prospect of food.
"Probably not," Gagami said, rolling his eyes. "After this, we have to meet Kakashi-sensei at the bridge."
"Gagami-kun! Naruto-kun!" Haruno Sakura waved to her two teammates down the street. Dangling from her left hand was a bundle wrapped in purple cloth.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, ecstatic. Gagami was stepping off the last rung of the ladder when the female member of Team Seven joined the boys. Naruto made as if to throw his arms around her, but she neatly dodged and he ended up with a bento in his arms instead. "Thank you, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, not to be put off. He immediately sat down in the shade and began to eat.
Sakura handed Gagami his bento and they each took a seat beside Naruto to eat. It was a companionable silence between the trio as they ate the first few bites. "I saw Kabuto-san on my way back," Sakura said a few moments in. "He asked me to say hello to you two. His team is going on a mission, and he doesn't know when they'll be back."
"Why does he get a good mission?" Naruto asked in an irritated voice. "How come we have to fix roofs instead?"
"How should I know?" Sakura snapped back. She had never had much patience for Naruto. The two boys had thought at first that Sakura had been largely mild and polite, but after their months together as a team it had been revealed that she had a fairly short and violent temper.
Gagami sighed as the two began to argue. Hopefully they still wouldn't be at it when it was time to meet Kakashi.
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"So you really are as big of a pervert as Naruto says."
"That shouldn't surprise you, considering you always have one of my books with you."
"Still, shouldn't you be less conspicuous when you're peeking?"
"I've never been caught."
"Ah."
"Naruto was quite upset that you didn't train him last month."
"I had to do some spying of my own."
"See anything interesting?"
"Not what I needed to see."
"A spy wouldn't be any good if he could be found simply because you wanted to find him."
"True."
"I'm going to take Naruto with me."
"Today? Well, I have to meet my team pretty soon. Do you want to come with me?"
"Not right now. I still have some more research to do."
"When you're done then?"
"Yeah."
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Naruto was pacing up and down the bridge in agitation. Sakura tapped her fingers on the railing. Gagami had take out a sheet of paper and was absently folding it. Kakashi, to no one's surprise but everyone's irritation, was late.
The minutes went by. Naruto continued to march up and down, muttering. Sakura had stopped drumming her fingers, but her arms were crossed and she was frowning. The piece of paper Gagami had been folding had turned into a hawk while already a second figure was taking shape under his hands.
The sound of a bell made Team Seven look up from their activities to see two people in high collared black cloaks were heading towards them. The red clouds were scattered across the cloaks. The hats the two wore made it difficult to see their faces. There was a bell attached to each hat. The taller of the two had a large object wrapped in bandages tied to his back.
"Can we help you?" Sakura called out first. The genin team was clumped together in the middle of the bridge with the strangers still on the bank.
"Yes." The shorter figure was the one who spoke, but while his voice was soft, there was a subtle sort of menace in it. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"
Sakura and Gagami shot looks at Naruto, who was frowning. "Yeah. Who are you?"
"Uchiha Itachi."
"So this is the Kyuubi kid?" The taller man spoke up, all of his attention on Uchiha, completely ignoring the genin. "Doesn't look like much, does he?"
"What?" Naruto started to say, whether angry at being underestimated or surprised at being accused of housing a demon, neither of his teammates was sure.
Without warning, the tall man pulled the bundle off his back, pointing it straight at the three genin. A giant sword-shaped bundle. "I can kill the other two, right?"
"Yes."
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Author's Notes—
Once again, credit to Lazarus (timelapse at DeviantArt) for the original idea. Many thanks to Kilerkki, my beautiful beta. Gratitude must be extended to Cieloan for lending me abundant source material so that I could recreate a madman's motivation. And, of course, thanks to you readers who've left reviews and/or put me on author alert.
Constructive comments, criticism, praise, etc., are all welcome and wanted. Also, if you came here through Lazarus's DA account, please say so in your review. For updates on my progress, check out my blog (link in author profile).
-Phoenix