Vengeance in Seven Days

By: Crystal Avatar

Disclaimer: I do not own the character names Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata and Fugaku. But I do own this story and plagiarism is a BIG no-no, boys and girls! Boo-yah!

Author's Note: Welcome to chapter four! Time to strike in 'Day Four- Accomplishment'! Please R&R- every one of you! Grrr!

C.A

Punctuation Notes

"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)

Day Four – 'Accomplishment'

His mouth felt dry and thirsty. His head was light and misty.

He raised his head with a sudden gasp. He had fallen asleep at his desk on top of all of the plans he had drawn up for the attack. They were complete. The theory had been finished.

Now the attack was yet to be carried out.

Naruto had already marked the poison General Kamakura had given him to kill the traitor. His intentions were now to sneak into the mayor's manor where the target was hiding.

Leaf Security Chief Fugaku Uchiha.

While he always had a reputation for being arrogant and overly proud, he had also been a loyal and reliable police chief for Leaf's leaders for years, until six months ago when he became sick with a rare and disfiguring disease. Since then, he had confined himself to his own room allocated within the mayor's grand and generous mansion and since that day he had grown bitter and calculative of a way to avenge himself against the Tokugawa rule.

It had been the young lady, Haruka, a maid from the mayor's manse, which had revealed everything to him during her bout of sorrow and grief last night.

It was her words he recalled now.

"Sasuke-sama became so abrasive after his father fell sick. I could understand his rage and frustrations at his father's state, but why must he insist on treating the other attendants and I in such a cruel manner everyday we serve them? We work hard and loyally to please them, especially Fugaku-sama, whose quality of life must be preserved out of respect and kindness, but it is as if they are unaware of any of this. They abuse us because they know they can without fear of punishment or retribution. I just wish that they realized…"

'Sasuke…' The name Sakura had mentioned earlier at the mayor's gardens stabbed at Naruto's heart like an arrow. Sasuke was the boy Sakura was kissing.

"Fugaku-sama? Who is this man?" Naruto mused, trying to change his mind's subject.

"Fugaku-sama is our police chief, Shinta-san. It is understandable that you were not aware of this, but everyone in the village knows who he is and of his job. Why, it is thanks to him that those guards you have seen in the uniforms have been posted all about the town. He is in charge of every one of them and has kept us safe from a great deal in past trepidations."

"He sounds to me like a great and noble man."

Haruka sobbed, but fought hard to keep the tears inside herself.

"He was, Shinta-san. He was… Now his sickness has crippled not just his physical form, but also his sense of rightly compassion and common kindness. This disease of the flesh and mind," and now Haruka's voice dropped to a whisper, "has corrupted him."

Naruto remained silent, and at about this point Misa and Hiroko had given their guests some food and drink to last the night. Not willing to suffer any more stress and worry, the two proprietors of the Inn confessed their intentions to rest and left to their room upstairs.

Naruto was relieved that he could truly be alone with the maid now.

"Keep talking," Naruto urged. "What do you mean by corrupted? Haven't physicians yet checked on his health and began treatment for his disease? He is a high-ranking official!"

"Yes, that's true. The greatest health experts our land could provide have already reviewed him, but to no success. Doctors from Fortress Tokugawa had even been sent to see him, but they had failed to bring any luck, saying that Fugaku would eventually, slowly and painfully, die of this disease. It was the worse news the mansion would ever hear and as such, we were all sworn to keep it inside the mansion. Fugaku made us… proud man that he is."

"I see… this disease must be dreadful. It really is a pity to see a great man tarnished."

"Tarnished? You don't even know the half of it…"

Naruto's eyes widened. The young maid paused and took a sip of water, quickly and eagerly, before pausing to finish her sentence. A life-changing revelation was about to be made.

"While we attendants of Fugaku-sama and his son have suffered bitterly at the hands of their abusive tongues and gestures, that is nothing compared to the rumor that Fugaku-sama has gone mad… and draws schemes of vengeance from the room in which he has kept himself."

"Vengeance?"

"Yes, Shinta-san, vengeance. I should not be telling a stranger like you this… but… I feel I must tell someone now, for if I were to hold this trauma in, I would grow just as mad as he is! I feel much relieved telling an outsider like you who is not familiar with our circles and ideas… if I were to tell another villager… I know that I would surely be killed. We are, I hope, both protected by your anonymity and silence, right, Shinta-san?"

"Of course, Haruka-san, you can trust me. So tell me more about his plans for vengeance?"

"He is insane. The pride and arrogance he had held before the disease has festered into hate and rage at the government he sought so eagerly to serve. From his point of view, he has served the Mayor of Leaf and Lord Tokugawa well and that he deserves a physician that can cure his disease. When Lord Tokugawa's doctors failed, he requested that doctors from other realms be invited to treat him. He was flatly refused this proposal by the Lord, saying that the invitation could be unwittingly extended to other ninja seeking to infiltrate our lands."

"A hard, but wise decision. Fugaku-san would die with honor."

Haruka dotted the tears from her eyes and looked Naruto straight in the eye.

"True… but I am compelled to agree with him because I can see the state he is in. He has no luxury to die on the battlefield at the end of another sword… no honor at all. He is confined to his futon, to rot away like a dead animal. He knows that he now has no dignity."

"Another way to see it, I suppose," Naruto agreed diplomatically.

Haruka paused before adding, "Still, I can't bring myself to see why he should resort to blatant treason…"

Now Naruto was sure he had found his target.

"Treason?"

"Shinta-san, I fear that I must finally tell someone and that has to be you. I don't know whether or not there is any credence to his insane intentions to bring down Lord Tokugawa's reign, but he passionately seeks revenge against his government. Just the other day, the other maids were telling me rumors about him giving details about our Lord's defenses to Lord Kusunoki, master of one of our neighboring lands. Is this not treason of the highest kind?"

By now, Haruka had stopped sobbing. Her tears had dried and she had been cupping her water and looking down the whole time. The rise in pitch in her voice showed that she was greatly relieved to finally lift the heavy burden of secrecy on her shoulders by confiding in a person whom she thought to be an outsider.

"Yes, Haruka-san, this is grave news indeed. Something must be done. But wait- what about the mayor? Does he now know what his own appointed officer is scheming under his nose?"

"Shinta-san, what you must understand is that Fugaku-sama's reach is wide and firm. He has control over most of the guards, which are mostly corrupt by now as well. He has made it very possible for the mayor to never learn of his intentions to bring down Lord Tokugawa."

Naruto paused to admire his visitor, "You are brave and courageous to come forward, Haruka-san. I admire your loyalty to your Lord. You will be protected I assure you."

Haruka shrugged the remarks indifferently.

"I am not like the other maids and servants of the mansion. I alone had made up my mind days ago after Master Sasuke had scolded me unfairly. I had made up my mind to tear the veil of silence and tell someone… now I hope someone like you can warn someone that could do something about this, whether it is madness or not. if these rumors are true, he must be stopped. Poor Fugaku-sama, where once he was a proud servant to our land, is now a debilitated and corrupted shadow of his former self…"

"I sympathize with you, Haruka-sama. Something can be done… but first you must tell everything you know. I must ask you some questions that may be helpful for when I pass this information on to the right authorities. I assure you- he will be delivered to redemption."

"I hope so, Shinta-san. I will answer any question you pose."

"Good," Naruto beamed as he drew a small brush from his kit and some paper.

And now, the finished product of that long and intense night of note taking was before him.

A detailed map of the mansion, including entrances and hidden doors, was drawn in front of him, ready to lead him to Fugaku's room. Sentry patrol routes and shift times, gate opening and closing times, and a roster of the guards who kept watch over Fugaku were also noted.

Naruto was ready to execute his plan.

Naruto had waited till nightfall to make his attack.

He was dressed in black and was wearing his full-face mask for the operation. Other than his uniform, the only gear he had with him was the vial of poison the General had given him. Gaining entry into the mansion was easy thanks to the intelligence Haruka had supplied.

He waited in the general garden in the northern section of town where Sakura had brought him until ten in the evening. After holding a stealthy crawl position in the bushes for five hours, he was glad to finally get up and dash through the mayor's gate, which was scheduled to begin locking down at five minutes past ten, which was, quite luckily, the last guard shift change for the night. When the gates opened to let the outer guards in to rest and the resting guards up to work, that's when Naruto dashed for the opening into the mayor's garden.

One he had made it into the inner gardens, his first instinct was to dash towards the bush he had been hiding in the day before, where he had witnessed Sakura kissing the boy. Before he could do this though, he had to dodge a guard who was slowly passing him- something he did not predict from his notes. He slinked against the tall, outer walls and blended into the darkness as he passed by unknowingly. From there, he proceeded to the shrub.

Haruka had told him about an old cellar door that was set into the ground on his side of the mansion. She told of how it was normally covered in dirt, but to look for the gap in the cherry blossom carpet that was disturbed every time the doors were opened.

Sure enough, after a few seconds of dodging guards and discreetly searching the ground by the mansion, Naruto found a blank rectangle in a section of the cherry blossom fall. He felt for an iron ring to grab on to and slowly lifted the door open to permit his entry into the cellar.

Now he was inside the mansion.

Naruto had been instructed that Fugaku's room was somewhere on the fourth floor of the mansion on the eastern side. There were little or no guards on the cellar, ground and first floors because there were no sleeping quarters on them. The second floor, however, rested the cooks, servants and maids, while the third were the internal guards' barracks. The fifth floor belonged to the mayor and his family and was the most heavily guarded floor.

Creeping to the second floor was easy. This is where he found the kitchen where Fugaku's late evening soup was being prepared. Fugaku had been receiving extra food due to his illness and it was ironic now, Naruto thought, that that gesture of recovery would serve to be his undoing. Naruto dumped the vial of poison into the steaming soup on the tray and turned towards the stairs at the end of the hall. When he reached them however, he froze.

How would he know that that soup would definitely reach Fugaku? Sure, Haruka had assured him that, but if they were wrong, Naruto would have no more poison with which to deal with his target under the parameters that Advisor Yukimura and General Kamakura had set.

He cursed under his breath and snuck upstairs, just as footsteps, those belonging to the servant carrying the tray of soup, tapped a few feet behind his back.

As soon as he entered the fourth floor, Naruto was forced to quickly slink against another wall to gain cover in the dark as another guard passed by. He also took this opportunity to allow the young female soup bearer to pass him. With this move, he could now follow from behind.

Very soon, the servant made her way into a room on the eastern side of the wall, remained inside for several seconds, then left through the same door with only the tray in her hands.

Naruto had to enter that room.

He crept down the lengthy hall just as the servant had begun descending down the stairs and waited up against the wall of the suspect room. He paused and listened for a noise.

He could hear the sound of slurping. Very loud slurping.

Naruto waited a moment more.

Then he heard a raspy cough. The coughing continued for a few more seconds.

Naruto took this as a sign that no one else was in the room. At that point he slid the door open and stepped inside and into the plain view of the light of a lantern.

The first thing Naruto noticed was the bandage all across this old man's face. From the waist down he was covered by his futon, but the bandaging seemed to cover nearly all of his body.

The old, sickly man noticed him straight away.

At that moment, Naruto knew, he had come face to face with the traitor, Fugaku.

"A ninja? Here? But how?" The old man gasped between violent coughs.

Naruto remained silent.

That's when the old man took one look at his soup, then another back at the mysterious ninja who just seemed to be watching him. That's when he pieced together what had just happened. His eyes were still expressive between the bandages and seemed disappointed.

"I offer you no resistance, ninja. Look at me. It is about time Tokugawa had detected my actions and sent someone to deal with it. About time that bastard did something."

"You knew you would pay for your crime."

"Yes… I would pay. I would be killed. I'm not afraid at all of the fact, except that I expected to die on the end of a sword. To be killed off by this damned sickness was one thing, to die of a toxin when I expected a blade is clearly another circumstance where I have been cheated at."

Naruto watched him clutch his chest and cough blood. It would be slow and painful, like the disease. He felt that the choice of toxin that his superiors had made was no accident.

"It is too late though, young ninja," Fugaku said with no emotion, "Lord Kusunoki has already drafted plans for an invasion of Lord Tokugawa's lands. I was to receive a doctor after the attack was underway… but you would serve me well. Give me what I deserve, ninja."

Fugaku's hands wandered somewhere behind him and drew something from it's scabbard. It was an ornately decorated katana, complete with the Uchiha family seal on it. From his close distance, Naruto was able to notice the picture of a small fan etched into the hilt on the blade.

"Kill me by sword. I beg of you, as my last request."

He coughed and gagged, throwing up more blood and no doubt making noises loud enough to arouse attention from the guards in the corridors. From Naruto's thinking, it was a straightforward choice. He decided to grant the old man his wish.

He came forward, snatched the sword and decapitated the defenseless, sickly, old man.

After the act was done, he quickly left the mansion the way he had entered before anyone could discover his work. He left feeling no emotion or remorse, no anger or even relief.

His mission was complete.

"Father! My time has come and I must leave for Leaf to assist Naruto!"

Her voice was firm and full of pride. She was always a passionate lieutenant in her father's army. Only her beauty matched her patriotism and she was a stunning leader in more ways than one. She was also a loud announcer and was talkative about many things.

"Okay, Hinata. But please be careful on your trip. Once you are there, find Naruto as soon as you can and stay close to him. He will have the field knowledge to protect you."

"I can care for myself! I am an officer of the Tokugawa army, after all."

"Yes, my daughter."

Her deepest secret: She was in love with the young ninja, Naruto.

"Filled with great power/ A rage unlike no other/ Behold my fire!"

It was a poem she had created herself and one she recited before every battle.

DON'T YOU DARE MOVE! COMING UP! "Day Five- Conflict"

I hope you enjoyed Chapter Four!

In the next part…

Lady Hinata has arrived at Leaf!
Is Naruto's mission really complete?
All of the characters finally come together and conflict ensues!

The world is a small place and bloodbaths are inevitable…

Push on for some love rectangles in the next part!