I don't own Naruto.
Great Name
Prologue 02 - These Hands That Sweat
Hiruzen kept up with his two guards before him. In front of them were three more guards clearing the way for the main formation to weave through the streets of Konoha. Instead of cutting through the market district and straight to the Tower, Hiruzen elected to skirt around, away from prying eyes. After all, they were carrying an important figure in Konoha's future. The less people know of him, the better was his chances at surviving.
In this tight formation, Hiruzen was flanked by his royal guards. From time to time, Hiruzen noticed Enma's silhouette weaving between rooftops. Rather than running with the convoy, Hiruzen instructed Enma to take to the skylines for better visibility.
When they approached the rear northern entrance of the Tower, his men signaled for the gatekeepers to permit passage. After the convoy filled the courtyard, dozens of guards ran about to their stations to protect the occupants of the Tower. As soon as Hiruzen got off his horse, his men surrounded him, covering him and Naruto with a large black cloth. There were additional guards to guide them to the Hokage's quarters.
Enma snuck into the party.
Hiruzen addressed him immediately, "Protect me until I get to my quarters."
"Understood," Enma answered leaping into the shadows.
"Lord Third," one of his guards communicated. "Twenty-eight meters to your quarters."
With his vision limited, Hiruzen trusted his royal guards to navigate him and Naruto to sanctuary. He was warned when the ground inclined or declined, when they reached a set of stairs, or when they paused to get confirmation of their safety. Hiruzen was thankful that Naruto had been asleep the entire time and nothing interrupted him.
Hiruzen recognized that they breached the Tower. The air changed. Aroma candles that his wife loved so much reached his nose.
His men screamed at Tower servants.
"Back away and get down!"
"Hey! Back up!"
"On the floor! Down to the floor!"
"Kneel! To the floor! Now!"
"Keep your eyes down!"
"No one look up!"
Again, his guard peeked inside. "Staircase, my lord."
Hiruzen acknowledged the guards notification. The staircase the guard mentioned led to the private quarters belonging to the Hokage.
Since the beginning of the Kyūbi's attack, the Hokage royal guards branched five dozen of its enlisted samurais to safekeep the Hokage's family. Considering the reports of Kushina and Minato's direct confrontation with the enemy, the royal guards were, then, dispatched to protect Biwako, the Third's wife.
The large double doors swung out and the men choreographed an obtuse u-formation to cover the gaps on the doors. Hiruzen exited the concealment and turned to the guard that was notifying him earlier, "Kosuke, question the servants. If they ever so much as whisper, silence them."
"As your Shadow wills it," Kosuke bowed.
His guards closed the double doors allowing him to move about freely.
A woman with amber hair exited the kitchen. She was dressed in an elegant kimono. Her bed hair was visible from kilometers away. She wrapped her arms around Hiruzen the moment her eyes laid upon him.
"Thank the Sage!" Biwako cupped his cheeks. "I prayed for your well-being the entire time. I'm happy that the Sage listened!"
Her movements were slow and flowing. There was a rhythm to her. She could control the speed of her limbs. Her cheeks sagged slightly, but they were full and vibrant with color. Her hands were warm, most of all.
Everything that Minato and Kushina weren't.
Hiruzen could feel his eyes dampen again. It filled his vision, blurred it. Threatening to trickle down if he didn't have the strength. And, of course, he didn't.
"What's wrong?" Biwako asked, her eyes turning melancholy.
Hiruzen moved the boy in his arms cautiously. He lifted the wrap to reveal Naruto's sleeping face.
Biwako's expressions turned to shock, horror, then agony. She insisted that she take Naruto from his arms. After they switched hands, Naruto enjoyed her warmth.
Biwako found it difficult to speak as if the air was sharp. "The streets will be filled with food, drinks, dances, and parades. I will organize it personally. Konoha will celebrate its saviors for weeks!"
"Later," Hiruzen snatched a wooden chair from the dining table and plopped down. His knees rattled. They were screaming for him to sit down since he witnessed the Fourth Hokage save Konoha by sealing the Kyūbi into his son. "Let the people mourn their families first."
Biwako's voice was fragile, "Not even a full day yet and this one already lost so much…"
"I promised him, Biwako." She turned to him. She looked devastated to see him like this. "I promised him that his boy would grow into a powerful shinobi."
"So, we return to the trenches once more."
Hiruzen was relieved to know that she recognized his intentions.
"Yes, my love." He replied, "Konoha requests for us again."
"Our time was not wasteful, Hiruzen. We planted seeds, allowed roots to roam, the whole forest transformed before our eyes. Good and bad changes. But, we have done beyond what was expected of us. You wanted us to rest our hands! Minato was to succeed our work. So, don't surrender. Give the labor to someone else!"
"Who would you choose?"
"Jiraiya," she replied immediately.
Hiruzen shook his head. She didn't know Jiraiya as much as he did. "He loves Konoha, but Tsunade will always come first. It wasn't the right choice then, it isn't now."
"Then, Shikaku."
"He's a brilliant tactician, not a brilliant leader. The man has a gifted mind for battles but falls short to commerce. Just look at where his clan stands in wealth. Ranked last in the Land. Konoha cannot follow them and succeed."
"You can stand aside and let Danzo try…"
Hiruzen squeezed his right hand, pumping blood into them. He needed the gears inside revolving. There was so much work to get done today.
"His vision for Konoha conflicts against mine. He would undo years of our toils. Our clan stands at the apex of wealth, influence, and security. A few years into our retirement, we would be pulled into disputes again. This time at a lower, much lower, standing. I refuse to give space."
Biwako closed the gap between them, "Foolish monkey!" She let out an exhausted breath. "You're a foolish monkey, but a good monkey."
Hiruzen grabbed the hand that didn't support Naruto. He kissed her hand twice, "I'm sorry for pulling you along."
"I've been with you through all of Konoha's worst days. I don't plan to desert you now."
Her words were sweet. Just enough to bounce him back to his feet and moving. He fought through the pain in his knees. Konoha called to him.
"Won't you rest," suggested Biwako, "You and the boy need it."
"No, I need to act fast." He went into the Hokage's personal office. Hiruzen was always fond of Minato's tidiness and organizational skills. He found the topographic maps and trade directories easily. The pen and ink were thoughtfully stored as well. "Stop the bleeding. I need to speak to the council right away."
Summoning all the council members were difficult. Geographically challenged was the better way of putting it. Most of the time, clan heads were beyond reach. Occupied with matters dealing in business of work or pleasure. So, when Hiruzen couldn't speak to the clan heads, he settled for any available representatives within Konoha.
As he walked to the conference room, his guards updated him to all that attended the meeting. Mikoto Uchiha represented her husband. Hiashi Hyūga rushed to the conference as the daimyō of the Land. Danzo Shimura came as the general of the Konoha Armed Forces. Koharu Utatane, the prime minister of Transportation and Commerce. And, lastly, Homura Mitokado as the prime minister for the Health department.
He walked into a spacious room with its occupants standing in front of their floor cushions. Between each cushion were short tables that held their teas. They waited for Hiruzen to take his spot. When he sat down, everyone joined him.
Hiruzen took off his Hokage Hat and gestured for his secretary to pass a small leather notebook, "As you know by now, the Fourth Hokage fell in battle against the Kyūbi this morning. Minato, who had an exceptional peculiarity for planning, strangely neglected to institute a successor in the event of his passing because of his overloaded endeavor in foreign affairs. The Fourth's ledger will tell you of his struggles in his reign. As dictated by the First, the Hat shall fall back to me until I champion a new kage candidate to lead us in these trying times."
"Lord Hokage, if I may," Danzo requested.
"Proceed."
"You have fought for us since your youth. You served in battle with the First and the Second. You developed Konoha in its most peaceful era. You navigated us through the Third Great War. And, you led the Fourth in your vision to secure the Land's prosperity. I have no doubts that you will pull us back to the top."
"I agree," this time, Mikoto spoke. "I know I'm only a stand-in for my husband…"
Homura wouldn't allow her words to go by, "You are an Uchiha. A highly decorated kunoichi of your standard would be an impressive ambassador for the Uchiha clan. There is no need to degrade yourself by referring to your person as a 'stand-in', Lady Uchiha."
"Thank you for your kind words, Lord Mitokado." A smile breached for a brief moment before Mikoto continued. "As I was saying—as an ambassador for the Uchiha clan—no one would honor us more than having you as our leader again."
A nod came from Hiashi, "The Fourth's passing is tremendously despairing. However, having you hold the Seat is incredibly reassuring."
"I stand ready at your command, Lord Hokage." Koharu boosted.
Homura chimed in his support as well, "You've led us through impossible odds before. I have no doubts you can do it again."
"Thank you for your kind words and support. If we are to rebound from this devastation, it will only be possible through everyone's hands." Hiruzen studied the council members. They clung to his words. "As you have assumed, yes, Lady Uzumaki has passed and with her departure comes a new Jinchūriki. I want to protect their identity for the time being. Until they completely understand their new role within the Armed Forces, within Hi no Kuni."
"Lady Uzumaki was with child," Danzo remarked. "What happened to her child?"
"The baby died during the delivery. Strangled by its own chord. Long before the Kyūbi was taken from Lady Uzumaki."
Everyone in the room was taken back. Sorrow plastered on their faces. Mikoto, in particular, openly shed tears and fought hard to keep her sadness at bay.
Hiruzen studied Danzo's expression. There was no twitch. Not a single tick or strange movements on his face. Just incredibly still.
"I see," Danzo said. "Incredibly horrific. It pains me to hear what they went through."
"Yes," lightning flashed in Hiruzen's eyes. "That's why we must succeed. Minato and Kushina and many others, their sacrifices will not go in vain. Konoha must rise again. We must guide our people out of the darkness. In order to do that, I need to know our current situation."
"Our count has reached five hundred fifty fatalities. More when we unearth the rubble," answered Hiashi.
"Keep counting the fatalities. Return the bodies to the families at their consent. I want them to mourn properly. And close the city."
Koharu arched a brow, "I beg your pardon, Lord Hokage?"
"Close down the city. No one enters or exits. We open only after our counts been finalized by Lord Nara."
"Lord Hokage, Lord Nara is in Butsuma dealing with pirates." Danzo reported.
The growing menace had inconvenient a few of their routes for weeks now. The technological advancement of steam-powered ships made it difficult for most of Hi no Kuni's current service ships. Mizu no Kuni and pirates were the only organizations to enjoy the full power of steam-powered ships. If Minato didn't prioritize the networks into Kaze no Kuni over upgrading sea routes, Hi no Kuni would have a piece of that luxury.
Hiruzen expelled a long cloud from his pipes, "If I remember our last conference correctly, Lord Hatake is in the area. Reroute him to Butsuma and bring Lord Nara here. His men have excellent eyes and ears. They will make sure to stop whatever may have slipped past our fingers."
"It will take two days travel. Then, most likely a week for Lord Nara to initiate the count."
Homura broke in, "That's almost two weeks of stagnant operations! Lord Hokage, the merchants will riot. Our economy will plunge."
Hiruzen turned to his old friends, "Lord Mitokado, Lady Utatane, I need you to continue the survey. Start with tourists and traders. When Lord Nara arrives he will commandeer the operation. That should give him four days. As for those static two weeks, Lady Uchiha, you mentioned that the miners discover a new vein?"
"We tunneled a new site and all evidence points to a new vein," answered Mikoto.
"Excellent! Give grants to households and commercial entities. Make sure to provide provisions to tourists and traders. When we receive the new supply of iron from Izuna, sell it at a higher price."
"The price of our iron is already expensive. Will we still have buyers when we increase the scale?"
Koharu explained it for Mikoto, "Nami no Kuni is building a bridge to the mainland and Yuki no Kuni is looking to improve their capitol after the civil war. They can negotiate with other Lands. However, we're the closest suppliers to those Lands. If we close the Fukuda trade route and initiate strict inspections at Shinohara, it should discourage traders and likely use other roads which will then delay shipments."
"Forcing them to rely on us," Mikoto abridged.
"Compelling, Lady Uchiha," Hiruzen corrected. "Compelling them to rely on us. 'Forcing' has such a distasteful sound to it. Lord Hyūga, I need you to be in Kawarama. I require reassurance that the Akimichi's will support us in these trying times. Some of our farms were devastated in the attack."
Hiashi delivered a simple nod to Hiruzen's request, "I will leave at once."
With the provisions out of the way, Hiruzen wanted to move onto investigations now. "Lord Shimura, did you find anything about the attack?"
The secretaries worked together to place a glass box filled with mud in front of them. Then, Danzo's secretary weaved through handseals. The mud transformed into a topographical view of Konoha with a clear depiction of the disaster. The southwestern districts were toppled and a large chunk of the western walls were destroyed.
Danzo chronicled, "We haven't gathered much, but we have determined this as a single-actor event."
"An individual caused this much destruction?!" Koharu parroted.
"Indeed," Danzo blew out smoke. "No reports of group movements. No receipts of large-scale operation. All we can do is to restructure the destruction and, hopefully, pinpoint their process."
Hiashi wasn't satisfied. "So, what do we have?"
The secretary labored to demonstrate a mud-Kyūbi rampaging on a mud depiction of Konoha.
"The Kyūbi was summoned in the Katsuta district. The beast destroyed the district and toppled the western walls in its arrival. Katsuta is mostly resident to low-income families that work on our farms so it's safe to assume that the attacker wanted the beast to completely wipe out our fields, starve us out. Instead, the Kyūbi chose to advance towards the city."
"They didn't have full reign on the beast." Hiashi recognized.
"Some of the samurais have confirmed that the Kyūbi struggled to progress deeper into the city without any interference from us. Like it was fighting to control its limbs. We will have to investigate those findings further in the coming weeks. Onto other issues, the western walls is near the Irino highway. Foreign powers could use that to stage a siege at any part of our rebuilding. I suggest heavy military presence while we refortify the walls."
Irino highway was a crumbling network until the Fourth decided to update it in his campaign to increase relations with Kaze no Kuni. It was probably a coincidence, but there was a gnaw in the depths of his gut that Hiruzen didn't like. "Agreed. I want our forces redeployed immediately."
"Unfortunately, Lord Hokage, reorganizing our armies will not be so simple." Danzo relayed. "Our numbers are shrinking. We had low service count before the attack and lost more to the Kyūbi. Not to mention the small army we sent to Izuna. We are spiraling down."
Hiruzen turned to Mikoto, "Why?"
Mikoto was hesitant, "…bandits also learned about the new vein. We found them tunneling near Aso. By our estimates, they were going to reach the new vein before we did. We managed to take control of their site. However, their samurais proved to be more capable than we determined. We can't hold that site and protect Izuna at the same time. That's why we asked for support. That's why I was here, to oversee the deployment."
"If we turn them around, we might lose Aso. At that point, it will be difficult to dictate our prices to Nami or Yuki." Danzo added.
Hiruzen sighed, "We will have to buy mercenaries, then."
"That also comes with complications," Hiashi compounded. "Kiri has been recruiting mercenaries by the thousands, shinobi, samurai, it's all the same to him. The Mizukage plans to outlast his retainers."
"They desire a new kage?" Koharu questioned.
"One that listens to the noble families. But, we are optimistic that the current Mizukage's regime will remain. The mercenaries in his service are high profiled."
"How did he accomplish that?" Danzo asked.
Hiashi motioned for his secretary to deliver a couple of scrolls to Hiruzen. Unrolling them, Hiruzen swept through the accounts. Hiashi answered Danzo's question. "He sold them property titles. Which, he took from noble families. He's cleaning Kirigakure, one district at a time. There might be an opportunity for us there, but we need more observations before anything can be finalize."
A chance to install an intelligence depot.
Like a rare gem, the accounts sparkled in Hiruzen's eyes. "Finally, some good news."
Hiashi looked pleased, "It will be at your call, Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen rolled the scroll and gave it to his secretary. He carried on the conversation, "Going back to the mercenary issue, simple contracts will suffice. We don't require strong combatants merely the appearance of one. Fill that highway with our Land's insignia. When other agencies see our forces on Irino, they will be cautious and give us time to prepare. Counterintelligence needs to be at peak performance for the time being."
Hiruzen was looking at Danzo.
Danzo received the message, "I will adjust our services to suit Konoha's needs."
"Then, our conference has ended—"
"I have something to say, Lord Hokage!" Mikoto pressed.
"What's on your mind," allowed Hiruzen.
"I know…" Mikoto breathed in a good amount of air as she worked to realign her words. "There have been reports of the Kyūbi being controlled. From past accounts, it is known that Sharingans are capable of taming Tailed Beasts. The Uchiha Madara has used the Kyūbi against the Land before. But, I swear to you, Lord Hokage. I, nor any Uchiha, bear any abhorrence to Hi no Kuni. We love our home and we have done our share of defending this Land!"
"Lady Uchiha was with me," Danzo furthered her statement. "We were finalizing the supplies for the reinforcement when the Kyūbi attacked."
Hiruzen held his palm out, "I have no doubts of your or your clan's patriotism. I know that everyone in this room would die fighting for this Land. The Great War was plagued with foreign shinobis taking Sharingans from deceased Uchihas. They may have found ways to preserve it and implant it in another host. That's why the survey is so important. To shed light to our enemies. To locate any vulnerabilities. To improve our infrastructure and prevent this from happening ever again. And to guide our leaders of tomorrow. I hope this reassures you, Lady Uchiha, that discrimination has no presence in my reign."
"Of course, Lord Hokage!" There was a faint shade of red in Mikoto's cheeks. "I just wanted to alleviate any concerns in the Uchiha clan's loyalty."
"Don't be afraid to reach out if you need assistance. And, I extend my help to everyone. We're never too far from one another." Hiruzen stood first, wearing his Hokage Hat again. "We face a mountain ahead of us. But, if we communicate well and bear each other's weight, we will move it. Our forest will overcome the mountain's shadow and we will feel the sun's warmth again. Our rise will send shockwaves to those who want to keep us on the ground."
Everyone in the room bowed.
In one breath they voiced their loyalty to him.
"As your Shadow wills it!"
Thanks for reading my story! =)
