Sealing Salientia - Chapter 13: Theft - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia:
Today, Fugaku would present the civilian council with the official signed and daimyo-certified document that would dismantle them from existing. And he couldn't wait to see their faces.

Konoha
September, Year 68

Fugaku was worried. He had been in peace talks for the past several days and had the feeling that something was amiss. The man across from him was a tall, slim man who had dark eyes with lines underneath them, black hair and a goatee. He wore the older-style flak jacket that had thick shoulder pads. His head was bandaged and a forehead protector drifted off his head down to cover his right eye.

The two had been talking about a potential treaty for their respective villages, which had still harbored ill feelings since the end of the last Shinobi War. While they had maintained the cease fire that had been put in place over the past 4 and a half years, it felt like the tensions between them had only risen. No village had suffered at the hand of Konoha more than the Village Hidden in the Clouds, Kumo. Konoha's Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze had single-handedly taken out entire platoons of Kumo's forces and faced down their Raikage in combat multiple times.

Putting him in the position of Hokage directly after the end of the war had been taken to be a sign of aggression towards the Land of Lightning, even if Konoha considered it to be a preventative measure. Kumo wouldn't dare do anything with that man still in charge.

However, the change in leadership had made them a bit bolder. Over the past few years, Fugaku had consistently received reports from the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Springs, the countries that occupied the land between the two larger nations, that Kumo shinobi were often seen in their lands heading towards Fire Country. While there had not been any blatant violations of the ceasefire, the northern border had been a hotspot of activity for both scouting and mission requests. He suspected that the Land of Lightning was a large part of the cause of the uptick in activity.

The man across from him seemed jovial and smart and highly capable. He had referred to himself as the 'Head Ninja of Kumogakure' on multiple occasions and seemed to carry himself in the manner of those accustomed to having a high prestige role within the village. Having been both the head of a major clan and now Hokage, he was very familiar with the attitude and recognized it wasn't just for show. While he didn't feel threatened by the man, he had little doubt that he was a skilled ninja, probably elite jonin, perhaps close to kage level.

What the man brought to the bargaining table though left a lot to be desired. Fugaku was not exactly a master politician, but he felt well capable at a negotiation table, usually able to get what he needed. Years of dealings with the daimyo had proven that. But this man, he basically gave away everything that the opposing village had to offer on a silver platter.

While this would normally be a sign that the other side was either weak or simply ready to make a deal happen, based on the ninja activity and what reports he had received, Kumo's position on the matters wasn't so weak. There was no reason for the lead negotiator to capitulate to so many different demands in the treaty talks. They had even agreed to reparations for the war dead from Konoha, which Fugaku had simply included as a ridiculous counterpoint to drop out in a show of negotiation. For Log's sake, Kumo lost more of their shinobi than Konoha did and while they had been the aggressor in the war and hadn't been victorious, there was simply no precedent for such actions.

Something was up, but the man, however much he gave away on the table, let nothing show through his smiling mask. He simply couldn't get a good read on what was happening and it was considered rude to turn the Sharingan on someone who you were supposedly working with towards peace. The body language gave away a slight nervousness, but that couldn't in and of itself be taken to be anything worthy of raising suspicions.

He signed his name to the bottom of the paper that the man had just pushed back across the table, signifying the end of the peace talks, but he couldn't help shaking the feeling that this was all a pretense to something else. Rising from his chair and bidding farewell to the Kumo representative, he signaled for his ANBU Commander to be summoned. A quick moment later, once the other man had left the room, a man in an ANBU gorilla mask appeared in a flash before him.

The Fifth Hokage spoke in a quiet tone, wanting to ensure privacy after the Kumo ninja had left. "Commander, I have a bad feeling about that man. Please create an extra detail to follow him tonight. Protocol Sierra Alpha. Also, if you would increase the patrols around the walls for tonight and tomorrow. Raise the alert level if you must, recruit whomever needed." Masuya nodded under his gorilla mask, no need for spoken words. The ANBU Commander disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, off to complete his duties, while Fugaku settled back in to try and tackle what had become the bane of his existence. Paperwork adorned his desk, far more so than the normal amount, as he had been neglecting it over the past couple of days while in talks with the foreign emissary. He was privately hoping that he was just too suspicious for his own good and diving back into the minutiae of the Hokage job might help him get his mind off of the problem now in capable hands.

Masuya Sarutobi hopped rooftop to rooftop in hurried motion. He had one ANBU team already openly accompanying the Kumo representative, not bothering to hide that he was being escorted. For the Hokage to have ordered a secret secondary detail meant he thought something was going to happen. Bouncing into sight of ANBU HQ, he entered swiftly and exited a few minutes later with Team Gamma, who had just returned from another escort mission of a foreign noble to the border of Fire Country. Giving them the parameters of the mission while en route to the location where their target was staying for the night, he explained that they where to remain unseen if at all possible, only acting if the man directly attacked Konoha citizens.

Masuya left his team at the hotel, off to find some extra chunin for night watch tonight, which would be a hassle, but necessary. He was certain he could find some teenaged ninja who needed a little extra cash. He just hoped that it would be enough. He would be taking a watch tonight too, to help in every way that he could.

Noboru Masiyama was strolling through the Village Hidden in the Leaves, enjoying his time there. It was a mid autumn afternoon, warm and calm, with a couple of peaceful looking clouds drifting through the sky. He honestly thought about just finding a grassy place to sit and watch them meander lazily through the sky, but he had important things to prepare for. It had been exhausting the past 6 days, sitting in the Hokage's office, with Fugaku Uchiha staring him down. While Noboru was confident that he wouldn't have any issues getting out if something went wrong, he knew that Wicked Eye Uchiha was not to be underestimated. Not many in the world were given nicknames and those who were, were typically the very most powerful. Konoha had its' fair share too and he wasn't looking to pick a fight with any of them.

With proper preparations though, nobody would even know what he did. The Raikage had entrusted him with this plan and he would see it through. He found himself wishing that it had been the Yellow Flash that was still in charge, as the man had been a terror on the battlefield, he hadn't been well regarded for his intuitive or political abilities. Noboru doubted that he would have raised any suspicions if that were the case. But seeing the buzz of ninja hopping over the rooftops around him, in addition to the detail that was visible around him, he knew that Fugaku Uchiha was alert to something. This meant a change in plans.

A good ninja never went in without a backup plan though and he was nothing if not a good ninja. The original plan of stealing away in the darkness was going to need to be scrapped, he had too many followers to work through such an issue and he doubted that he could elude them all without being detected even once. No, he needed to make it look like something else was happening, so that he would be able to use the distraction as a means of escape. He knew that there was already a planned celebration in regards to this peace talk finishing planned for this weekend, which started tomorrow. All he had to do was wait a few hours and he would have his opportunity.

Returning to his hotel room, he waited until the guard that he could sense nearby was in their own rooms, with the one posted outside his door and another outside his window. Perfect. He could use their own ANBU as his alibi.

He made sure that nobody could see him directly and quickly made an earth clone from the dirt of the potted plant in the room. A minimal chakra expenditure that shouldn't be noticed by any of those outside later and a perfect replica of him sat on his bed, reading a book. He then decided to do things the old fashioned way and took out his blade. Going into the corner of the room that couldn't be readily seen from the window, he stabbed the blade into the floor and began cutting a small opening to the room below. He already knew that nobody else was in the hotel for the duration of his stay aside from the ANBU in rooms on either side of him and the two posted as sentry. The room below him was empty, he was certain. Cutting a small hole in the floor just barely big enough for him to get through, he smirked. This was going to work perfectly. He covered the hole back up with his pack leaning over the corner in a natural way, so that it wasn't immediately visible to any inspecting the room, as he was sure they did. He didn't plan on leaving the place until later tomorrow anyway, so there shouldn't be any possibility of them discovering it.

After dispelling his clone and preparing the dirt for another usage in the morning, Noboru slept like a baby that night, awaiting the time that the plan would be executed.

Darkness. Interminable darkness. Masuya rubbed at tired eyes as he balanced on his perch halfway between them hotel and the outer wall, keeping a close eye on the domicile of the representative from Kumo. Sounds kept distracting him as people worked late into the night, erecting stands and streamers in preparation for the celebration that would be happening to commemorate both the 3rd anniversary of the defeat of the Kyuubi and the finalization of the Kumo peace deal. The people were all worked up to party hard and it was evident in how much work was happening tonight to get ready. The news had already spread of the talks ending heavily skewed in Konoha's favor and everyone was rejoicing.

Blinking tiredly again, he refocused on his mission. The Fifth Hokage had suspected something unusual and had asked for extra patrols of every variety. He watched as the ANBU at the hotel swapped out their positions and then a minute later the secondary team changed their formation as well. Each team of four had a minimum of 2 alert at all times and they had just changed off. It would be the expected time to make a move if one was trying to do so, but apparently nothing was happening as he detected no movement from inside the hotel room, or the building in general afterwards.

Yawning loudly enough to be heard through his mask, he hoped that this was all just a bit of paranoia on the part of the leader of the village. He had been up all day and would likely be up all night too. As the hours passed, he felt more and more confident that nothing was going to happen and as the sun started to come up behind the horizon, turning the eastern sky shades of magenta and orange, he called it quits and headed back to his house at the clan complex, desperate for some sleep. A ninja may be capable of staying up for 24 hours or more when needed, but that didn't mean they enjoyed it.

As he headed home, though, the noise of the city was growing ever louder and already fireworks were being set off about the village, the celebratory mood already engulfing the civilian populace. He groaned, it was going to be a tough time to sleep at all, with the noises of constant explosions constantly waking up those with trained reflexes and light sleepers, as most ninja were.

Noboru started in his sleep, the sound of a small explosion instantly waking him and putting him on guard. As the sound continued, he identified it as firecrackers being lit outside. A quick glance outside the window to the street a couple of floors below confirmed it was just some kids igniting the small string of poppers. He smiled at the sight, not because it was cute, but because the constant noises would make for a perfect distraction. He slowly gathered his chakra, as he was going to need to expend more than before in order to make a sturdier clone to last through the day, while he conducted his real business. This earth clone would need to withstand scrutiny of ANBU, as well as be able to wander around for hours, perusing various stalls and booths. It was liable to be bumped and pushed and interacted with in various ways and it wouldn't do to have it come undone, as that would immediately set off every alarm and ruin the entire plan.

He slowly molded the energy, performed the handseals and expended the chakra, forming a perfect earth clone of himself. He was glad for the skill, as earth wasn't an element many had use of in the Land of Lightning. He had been blessed with a gift in an element that was the natural counter to most in his village, which allowed him to rise the ranks quickly. Deftly maneuvering into his hidden hole to drop down to the floor below and covering his tracks behind him by placing the fallen floorboards back up in the ceiling, he waited until he heard the footsteps of the Leaf ANBU enter his room above. He knew that the larger usage of chakra would alert them, but with the kids outside, he had a perfect excuse. He heard through the ceiling of the room he was currently in, the muffled sounds of his clone explaining why he had just gathered chakra, that there had been the firecrackers outside and he started to defend himself before realizing it was just kids and dropping the technique. It was a viable excuse and he was thankful that it didn't seem that the ANBU were going to push it any further than that, as the footsteps exited the room above.

Quietly, he changed into a generic cloak and outfit that would blend in well with the civilians of Konoha, having purchased it a few days prior. Tucking his ninja headband into a pocket, he waited a few minutes until his earthen clone above signaled that he was ready to go to the ANBU escort. There was some shuffling around upstairs and he could hear the entire group moving out from the hotel, under the guise that the delegate wanted to attend the festivities that were being held that day due to his actions. The first ANBU patrol that had been guarding him left with his clone and he kept waiting. As he has suspected, about a minute after the room above had been vacated, another group entered and seemed to rummage around various things. Thankful that he had replaced the original floorboards, he simply waited for them to finish, which they did so after a few more moments. Seemingly satisfied with the results of their search, he heard them leave the premises as well, watching them jump from the window ledge in the direction his clone was walking.

Noboru waited another 15 minutes, just to make sure nobody would be left from his guards in the area and then quietly snuck out of the hotel window, landing in the alley below. Straightening up, he applied a henge on his face to match a random civilian he had seen in the crowd, just changing the hair color from brown to black. Feeling that he had successfully blended in with the crowd, he started towards his target.

Hitomi Hyuga was exasperated. She was holding her daughter's hand as she marched out of the office of her husband. That bastard! He was always so stern and dismissive when any other Hyuga was around, only relaxing his guard at all when it was just his family. And, of course, those nasty old elders had to be meeting with him. She was sure that if he had been alone, she could have convinced him to join the two of them for a lovely day of celebrations and festival atmosphere. But, no, he had just said "I have no time for frivolity today, lady Hyuga." Then he had the temerity of dismissing her with a wave of his hand. Such a prick! She was going to make him pay for it tonight.

She was probably pulling too hard on Hinata's hand, as it slipped out of her grasp as she kept marching forward. Caught up in the joy of thinking how she could make her husband suffer later, she didn't react instantly, instead stopping in her tracks to wait for her daughter to regain ahold of the proffered hand. Besides, they were in the clan compound and were perfectly safe around this area. Hinata knew the way home from the office, having toddled the short path multiple times to go see her father at work under the watchful eyes of her mother. Hitomi fumed mentally at her husband's audacity for another few seconds before turning around to usher her daughter home.

To her surprise though, her daughter wasn't immediately behind her. A look of confusion took over her face. She glanced from side to side, figuring that perhaps Hinata had just wandered off to look at the koi fish, or perhaps had seen her cousin Neji walking around and went to play. After spending several minutes looking for Hinata in the various nearby places, she whispered "Byakugan" and activated the family's bloodline eye. The Byakugan granted her an expanded range of vision and let her see through many objects. While the office directly in front of her was blacked out due to privacy seals, everything else within 100 feet of her was visible, even what was underground. She could spot the robin sitting in its' nest in the nearby tree, 27 koi fish swimming in the pond and a family of 4 mice burrowing underground. There was a branch family member tending to a nearby garden and another practicing a fighting stance in the next courtyard over. But no Hinata.

Starting to panic, she went towards the only spot she couldn't see. She knew that Hiashi didn't care to be disturbed during work and she had already been in once. He would surely be upset initially, but she didn't care in the slightest. She burst in, flinging the doors open, making everyone in the room jolt. Hiashi's eyes snapped up to hers, anger brewing in them. Hitomi met the gaze evenly and quietly asked "Did Hinata wander back in here?" even though she already knew the answer, as the inner area became visible once the doors were breached. There was no princess of the Hyuga clan in here. Hiashi shook his head, anger still seething underneath, but seeing his wife's concern and realizing that something was wrong was starting to take precedence.

She knew that he wouldn't show it outwardly, but Hiashi loved their daughter. In their private moments, he delighted in bouncing her upon his knee, playing games with her and going through the basic kata of their family fighting style. Hitomi showed her how to be a lady and saw the smile that graced her husband's face when Hinata brought him a tray of tea and cinnamon buns that they had prepared. She knew that his concern for their daughter would quickly override anything else, if he truly believed her to be in trouble.

"We were walking away and she let go of my hand. I stopped a few steps later and she was already gone. I searched around and didn't see her." She obviously had her Byakugan activated, so it went without saying that she had searched using it. She watched as her husband, quickly stepped out of the office, whispered "Byakugan" and the veins around his eyes bulged out. She knew it was part of the look and that her eyes did it as well, but even after years of seeing it, she still found it slightly disturbing watching it activate. Her husband's skill in the technique was far greater than her and better than anyone else in the clan save his twin brother's ability. She immediately knew that he reached the same conclusion as her, as his expression tightened further.

Calling out "Guards!" the branch family members that were within range quickly assembled in front of him. Hiashi ordered them to search the compound for his daughter. Hitomi just hoped and prayed that Hinata would be found quickly.

The man laughed as he carried his bundle to the relative safety of the woods outside the compound. That had been ridiculously easy. The hardest part had been simply vaulting the walls on the clan area going in and out. His real mission, for which the guise had been the peace talks, had been to obtain a Hyuuga eye for the Village Hidden in the Cloud. It had long been a priority of theirs, having attempted to capture many Hyuga in the Third War. They found out after the first couple that the eyes of those adults had never been able to be removed without ceasing to function at all, regardless of how smoothly the transplant went. They had long since concluded that they either needed to take the eye of a living person before death, or just take the whole person. While an enemy ninja was normally relatively difficult to capture, children were easy. By sending one of the best ninja in Kumo, they had taken a huge risk. If caught or captured, they lost a considerable asset and potentially start a new war. If successful, they gain a tremendous new bloodline and can increase their power and prestige.

The bundle squirmed in his hands and he felt small teeth try to bite him. The child was fighting back, even with the situation being as futile as it was. That was a good sign, a warrior would need those instincts. They just had to train the weapon to point at their enemies. Once strong enough and of age, the girl would be given choice of the finest men in Kumogakure, treated like a princess that she was. For now though, those teeth were mildly annoying, so he made haste out through the woods before anything could see or catch up to him. His clone had orders to stay in town until it felt it's chakra running low, or until evening, at which point he would ask to leave the village. The alibi would be perfect, Konoha's own ANBU would verify that Noboru had not been anywhere near the Hyuga compound all day. It would go into the forest and disperse in an inconspicuous area, leaving behind only a small pile of dirt. There would be no evidence and he'd be hailed a hero once back in Kumo.

Hiashi Hyuga was livid, not only at his wife for losing their daughter, but at the ineptitude of the branch members for not seeing anything unusual. A trail of moaning bodies lay behind him, punishment doled out for such a serious offense. He hadn't killed them, just activated the pain sequence for their failures. He quietly seethed as he walked back to his office, mind raging with the potential optics of the situation. He couldn't let this weakness out, to have a clan member, especially his own daughter, kidnapped from the clan compound was incredibly shameful.

He had already called his brother to lead a quiet search and rescue mission, but they had no leads and no official documentation from the Hokage of such a mission. There was little hope of success on such a request. Even if it was vitally important, the chances were very low. He still hoped that somehow Hinata had just wandered off the compound somehow and would be discovered amongst the silly civilians celebrating in the village center. He felt the stinging of a tear in his left eye and quickly blinked it away, there was no time for such an emotional display.

He had to keep this quiet, nobody could know of Hinata's disappearance until a plausible story had been created. Both the hit to the clan's reputation and the shame that they would face would be irreparable if word got out. He knew that he could trust his brother Hizashi to keep it under wraps and the branch members that had been part of the initial search would be cowed by his usage of the Curse Mark on them. They wouldn't dare say a single word to anyone about such an event.

The masked face of an agent whispering something into his ear, Danzo Shimura smiled grimly. While the Leaf would certainly not be happy about the heir to the Hyuga clan going missing, he saw the perfect opportunity to advance his own plans. He nodded in acceptance of the information and dismissed the ROOT shinobi that he had following the Kumo delegate. Apparently the man had fooled the regular ANBU. His own agents had been far more suspicions of the Kumo ninja's intentions, had picked up on the signs that the regular ANBU had missed. Yet another instance where those fools in the ninja force used emotional judgments and were too trusting of someone who should have been viewed as a hostile enemy.

He considered for a moment ordering a hunt for the Kumo nin, to capture the Hyuga princess for himself, but thought better of the idea. While he could probably hide the child well enough within his organization, if she was discovered the fallout would be tremendous. As it was, his shinobi were all still technically Leaf ninja and weren't reported as missing to anyone. As far as anyone outside the organization of ROOT knew, they were all normal. Having someone reported as kidnapped would cause issues that he didn't want to face. Additionally, he had no child care facilties and the girl was too young to operate fully on her own. Perhaps if she had been two/three years older he would have considered it.

He now had the opportunity to do something much better though. He had initially wanted to use the strife within the Uchiha clan to create an opportunity for himself. The opportunity had presented itself, just with a different clan with a special eye based bloodline ability.

AN: This was originally about thrice as long, but I felt that this was a better stopping point, as these events all happened on the same day. What was the second half of this chapter spanned several days and involved a lot of chaos, so I felt it best to leave it to be its' own.

Noboru Masiyama

Name meaning: 'Rise' or 'Ascend'

Age: 36 (as of this chapter)

Rank: Jonin

Stats:

Ninjutsu: 4.5

Taijutsu: 3.5

Genjutsu: 3.5

Intelligence: 4.5

Strength: 4

Speed: 3.5

Stamina: 4

Hand seals: 4

Total: 31.5 (Same as canon Hidan in Shippuden)

Other Information: His title as the 'Head Ninja of Kumogakure' is relatively accurate. Outside of the Raikage, the Raikage's brother and very few others, he is the most powerful ninja in the village. Often tasked with the most difficult missions, he has a stellar record, having served through multiple wars and surviving all of them.

Earth Clone Technique

Rank: C

Requirements: None

Description: This is a Ninjutsu technique that utilizes earth to create a Bunshin clone. Unlike a normal clone, the Earth Clone has the ability to interact more with the environment due to it having physical substance. This allows the clone to carry out attacks on its target. Also, elemental clones can think, but only on the rudimentary level and the concentration for their jutsu needs to be maintained by the user. When this clone disperses, it reverts into a pile of dirt.