a Cure worse than Cause

Summary:

At the tail end of the Third War, Iwa and Suna along with 3 minor nations consolidated and Kumo and Kiri formed a coalition. All these could be traced back to Konoha's meddling.

Now, with every enemy allied, Konoha expects an unwinnable uphill battle.

Naruto, a civilian orphan, sets out to end all bloodshed, enmity, and war. He intends to bring peace to this godforsaken world.

Genre: A/U, Rational, world-building, and hard-fiction.

Characters: [Naruto U., Hinata H.], Sasuke U.,


Overview / Warnings: (please read before story)

Naruto is neither Jinchuriki nor related to Minato or any other big name Shinobi. He will possess only one bloodline, chakra chains, similar to his mother Kushina.

Nine-tailed fox did not attack Konoha, thus Minato is still alive. This leads to the Uchiha clan NOT being massacred.

The Senju clan dissolved during the first war, thus many younger shinobi will have part senju blood. Hinata is part senju.

Jiraiya, Minato, and Itachi are the power ceiling. Period.

No Kaguya. How chakra came to be will be explained in the story.

No Madara. He dies at the valley of the end. All three shinobi wars will be explained in the story.

No resurrection. Simply because it doesn't make sense, especially infinite chakra.

Nobody is a saint or devil. Everyone has their agenda and reasons. As the story progresses, you will find almost everyone is wrong from other's perspective.

Orochimaru and Danzō are not one-dimensional evil. They are evil, just with more depth and reasons. Danzō's past will play a major part in the story. Hint. Land of whirlpools Hint.

Every clan has "kill your loved ones for the next upgrade." I wish to write a story where "chakra" itself is corrupt, like the holy grail from fate/zero. Every clan will have their version of eternal mangekyo sharingan, few are aware, while most are not.

The Hyuga clan do not use a 64-palm strike. Hitting your opponent 64 times and doing less damage than a hit with sword is stupid. In this fic, forcefully closing chakra points liquifies internal organs. Doing the same to the chakra gate, the respective organ pops like a balloon.

Senju clan has the Mokuton bloodline. Because Why not? This will have a major impact on the past and future.

One reason to read the story: dark and realistic hard-fiction.


a Cure Worse than Cause

Chapter 0: Prologue

Evil deeds, even with good intentions, ends only in Hell!

1716 Hours

Hokage Tower

Hiruzen Sarutobi, silent as a statue with a face looking as if carved in a stone itself, calmly turned to the window and looked upon his village. As far as he could see, throughout the village, a lively festival was in full bloom. Sentiments all around the village could be described in three words.

Triumphant. Boisterous. Spirited.

The village hidden in leaves was celebrating. Her citizens were lively, exultant, and up roaring. Most people were busy eating different food being provided free of any cost, others were drinking heavily discounted alcohol, and a few were singing. Many could be seen flirting and a few were shouting. In short, people were busy doing everything their heart desired.

These people had an excellent reason to be this joyous. The 9 years-long war had finally ended, and it did so in their favor. They had emerged victorious. They had won The Third Great Shinobi War.

Shinobi stationed far and wide, behind enemy lines, as spies deep in the enemy hierarchy, and many captured as prisoners of war were finally sent back home. After a long time, they were together with their family, friends, and loved ones.

Fête had been going on and on for 12 consecutive days. Still, people intended it to last for another 2 weeks. Shinobis of all ranks along with civilians of all status partied harder than they had ever done before. The state happily helped them with free sake, free food, paid leaves, and withdrew restrictions to support their celebration.

The aura of glory, covering the entire village as blue sunny sky covers the pasture, ended on the outer edge of the glass window. Behind Hiruzen, the sentiments of the room could be narrated in another three opposite words.

Despondent, Crestfallen, Exasperated.

The War Room was heartsick. People were shell-shocked and gloomy, but mainly hopeless. They talked, discussed, debated, argued, accused, cursed, and blamed. As time passed, their despair grew. They got infuriated, aggravated, and unnerved. All these could be blamed on two missives.

The first missive was made of ocean blue silk fiber with oak wood as it's base. Dark black clouds with yellow lightning over the raging ocean were neatly drawn over it. Stretched across the table, it beautifully depicted a raging sea storm. The missive had been sealed with a unique, previously unseen, seal. It was a strange overlapping combination of seals of Land of Water and Land of Lightning.

On the surface, the message enclosed was a simple declaration of alliance between both said nations.

Reading between the lines, new design for official missive, a new seal and referring themselves as Land of storm, massive also said, not so subtly, about unification not coalition it was claiming to be.

This was terrible news in every sense.

Kiri hated Konoha for the Second war.

The Second War was initiated by Iwa. Suna joined the fray on the first blood. In response, Konoha mobilized the entire force towards the north-west to slow their advance. Seeing this as a great opportunity, Kiri attacked with a force exceeding 5000 by the east sea.

The entire Kiri Navy, over 100 massive ships filled with enough ammunition to last multiple years, sailed parallel to sky, noodle, and honey country to disembark on the eastern shores of the Land of fire.

Just 12 kilometers east of shore, this sure-shot victory march turned into despair. There, Kiri Shinobi saw something plucked straight from hellish nightmares. A rain. A rain of boulders, each weighing hundreds of tons.

Tsunade Senju tore 3 mountains that day. Each boulder she threw was coupled with Shuriken shadow Jutsu. Hail lasted for an hour and survivors could be counted on fingers. The entire vanguard was completely wiped out. Five out of seven swordsmen did not see the end of the day.

Kiri withdrew from war instantly. But the damage was too big to be ignored. Their academy had to churn Shinobi in hundreds to fill in the power vacuum.

On the other hand, Kumo had a moral reason to hate Konoha.

Between the end of the Second war and the beginning of the Third, every Kumo Shinobi with a bloodline fell as autumn leaves. Every single bloodline child showed symptoms of "blood plague," a new viral infectious sure-kill disease. Kumo had to bury child caskets in thousands.

Kumo blindly attacked Konoha on the first evidence linking plague to it. This is how the Third war started.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Their blind rage towards Konoha had brought them together.

While the first massive was kunai to the shoulder, it was still bearable. But the second massive was a point-blank explosive tag to the face.

The second missive was made of reddish-brownish cotton with oak wood as a base. It depicted a beautiful rocky mountain range with a strong sand storm on the horizon. Similar to the previous massive, it too contained a unique seal. But this was not a combination of pre-existing ones, but entirely a new one.

The message was a declaration of unification of the Land of Earth, Ashes, Stone, Woods, and Wind.

Each of those nations had bad blood with Konoha. Konoha had killed half of the Kazekage there ever had been, and was responsible for the fall of every previous Tsuchikage. Land of Ashes, Stone, and Woods did not have Shinobi villages because the last ones they did have were wiped out by Konoha.

Konoha's enemies were now in cahoots.

Hiruzen kept looking upon the village celebrating the current triumph, unaware of approaching shadows of their impending doom. While the so-called elder council, arguing behind him, had not come up with a single strategy. In this 29-hour long meeting, all they had accomplished was accusations. They pinned blames for every event that led to this disaster of a mess.

"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad," Hiruzen pondered. He, too, was hopeless, but disappointed more. Disappointed in incompetent council and their blame games.

*BOOM*

A chakra induced slap on the steel door created enough sound to silence every occupant.

"Leave. Take the remaining day off. Shower, eat, sleep, but most importantly participate in fête. Show your happy faces in public. Be back in here by 1100 hours Tuesday, next week."

"Hokage-sama"

"Sensei"

"Hiruzen"

Without waiting for a reply, he walked out of Hokage tower into the crowd. Everywhere he went, people greeted him with utmost respect. With a happy and smiling face, he greeted everyone back. More smiling faces he saw, more past regrets surfaced. News would reach these people sooner or later; and they, for sure, will deduce where it would lead to. This fête may very well be the last.

"Good evening! Hokage-sama." A 6-year-old Itachi greeted him with enthusiasm. Hiruzen, bending a little to match his height, happily ruffled his hair. Itachi pouted and tried shaking him off without any success.

His father's growth stunned everyone, including him. He grew in every Shinobi art of Shinobi. He mastered the rarest of them. His potential could not have been ignored even by the oldest of toad sages. Many consider him as a "hero that won the war". Itachi was a cut above him.

"Where are your parents? Did you run away, or did they forget you like last time?" Hiruzen inquired while picking him up. Placing Itachi on his shoulders and letting him play with the ceremonial hat, he walked towards two strongest chakra sources nearby. He may very well return this not-so-lost child.

"Hokage-sama, I could have passed the academy last week. I looked at the question papers, and I knew all the answers. Every single one. I also knew the basic required jutsu. But, I didn't." Itachi inquired innocently. Hokage chuckled at Itachi's poor attempt of digging deeper and kept walking.

Minato Namikage with an orange tint around his eyes, rushed out of the restaurant hurriedly, bowing and apologizing to Hokage. His pregnant wife, Mikoto Uchiha, following a bit slower, did the same. Hiruzen laughingly waved those sincere apologies away.

Itachi asked the same question to his father, he had already done so before but not in front of higher authority. None of his parents wanted him to graduate too early, Mikoto gave him vague answers while Minato expertly switched topics.

"Grow up to a good man; not a strong man. We already have a thousand men to fight; but a few to lead them on the right path. I believe one day you will lead this village." Hiruzen mouthed wisely to the young child.

The happily laughing family cemented his plan. He can delay this war. Not too long, but enough for the next generation to be ready. All he had to do was play his trump card, one reserved for the worst of all situations.

Midnight — S rank — Mission — Maximum — Confidentiality — Duration — 1 month.

Hokage walked away while waving some hand sign, seen by none other than Minato.

Hiruzen spent a few more hours roaming aimlessly, interacting with anyone who wished to. Once the crowd got halved, he walked towards Hokage mountain. Climbing stairs, one at a time, without any hurry, he collected his thoughts. He climbed all the way to the top and took a seat in between the heads of his teachers, the First, and the Second. Together all three of them looked at the village-wide fête, wondering if there will be another, or it will be the last.


2146 Hours

Hokage Mountain

A silver masked Anbu simmered into existence, a mark of perfectly executed shunshin. Upon arrival, he instinctively sent a few brief pulses of natural chakra. Once sure of privacy, he began his debrief.

"Hokage-sama"

"Dragon." Hiruzen spoke in a sad yet firm voice, interrupting the mission report.

Anbu code names were always based upon a real animal; never mythical, imaginary, or fictional ones. The dragon, however, was the first case where traditions were ignored. His mythical powers begged for a mythical name.

"Move the entire war room to the safe house 'cottonwood'. Summon the entire Upper echelons of Anbu there. Have alpha, beta, and gamma battalions memories everything we have on Iwa, Suna, and Kiri respectively. See if members from other battalions have a desire for a long term S-rank mission. Have them on standby, ready for departure in 3 days' time."

He along with the gamma battalion had just returned from an 8-month-long mission. Alpha battalion was away for over a year. Others shared the same or worse luck. They had just received a well deserved break.

"Please give them a month," Dragon requested. He knew most of his men had barely even rested. They would happily march again, if ordered; but even with experience of three wars, he couldn't see reason here

His request was not given any response. Hiruzen kept looking at the village below. Dragon knew a lack of response was closer to a denial than a permission.

"Hokage-sama, I too would like to participate in this mission." If his men had to cross enemy lines; he would be the first to do so.

Hiruzen kept looking at the horizon. Minutes passed, still no response was given.

"Dragon, my old friend. Come. Take a seat next to me."

Dragon, the Anbu Commander, practically grew up on battlefields. Born in carnage of the First War, killed in Second and took charge in Third. His strengths aside, he was a rare species of Shinobi whose moral compass grew stronger with each life he took. He was also one of the few whom Third called "old friend."

Dragon, Anbu commander, was not needed, but instead an old friend dragon was.

*Click*

Dragon took off his mask, attached it to the utility belt, walked a few steps down, and sat to the left of Hiruzen.

"100 Anbu. One hundred crème de la crème Anbu. Their movement is enough to spark another war. And you are sending them into enemy territory. You are playing a dangerous game."

Dragon took out a tobacco pipe, prepared it masterfully like he had done it a thousand times, which he did, and presented it to Hiruzen.

"I couldn't disagree more, Dragon. I really couldn't. Bigger picture…," Hiruzen tried justifying his approach until he was interrupted.

"Bigger picture, end-goals, and good intentions. All these are just plain words, words of excuses spoken by hypocrites."

Hiruzen cursed. He really wished to argue on it. He thought of a comeback; but the more he gave it a thought, the more he agreed.

Hiruzen reached out for his Hokage hat. He pulled out two scrolls safely sealed within and tossed it towards the Dragon.

"We committed thousands of atrocities, genocides, and massacres while lying to ourselves, disguising and whitewashing. All bad karma has finally come to bite us. This war, this upcoming war, will wipe us out and all because of our own meddling," Hiruzen pondered.

Once you have lived your entire life where superhuman deeds are a daily occurrence, you, sort of, become immune to surprises. But, these scrolls pulled the rug underneath him.

The more he read, the more everything made sense. Gloominess of Hokage to reassignment of entire division.

Hokage wouldn't admit; but he will. Everyone is out of depth here. They desperately need a new plan, a new approach, a new angle to this, and they need it fast. This time, anbu won't be enough.

They need someone smarter than the entire council. They need someone who has seen a war, lost someone in a war, led in a war; but not too much.

Furthermore, they need someone who hates war; and would go to any length to avoid it.

'There is only one person lazy enough to sleep off a war; Shikaku Nara', Dragon decided.

"Shikaku Nara. Let's hear him what he has to say, before we take any next step," Dragon stated

Hiruzen was not in the mood to talk. Any further attempt would be wasted breath. Dragon gave in and joined him in his musings. If Hokage needs to vent, he would happily be the night pillow.

Dragon laid down his back and looked upon the sky full of stars. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a few slow puffs.

"Saru, we live in a cursed world. A fucked up godforsaken evil world. Here, killing your family is awarded in mythical powers. The more brutally you kill, the superior your awards are. Here, killers are heroes. Here assassination, murder, rape, and every other evil are the norms," dragon began sadly.

So they vented. For hours, they smoked, drank, and talked. They wondered where they all went wrong. Maybe everywhere or maybe nowhere.

A few hours later, Dragon simmered out of existence. He had a clan head to kidnap.


0018 Hours

Hokage Mountain

"Hokage-sama."

Around midnight, Dragon took his leave. As soon as he was gone, Minato flashed in. On his right knee, right fist to ground and head hung low, he patiently waited for his orders.

Calling Minato, the youngest shinobi ever to hold S-rank, a prodigy would be an insult. He was beyond that. He created Hiraishin, a space-time jutsu, at a tender age of 15 and that too from scratch. Something many have tried and failed. Even him, the professor, couldn't replicate that feat, and he had personal notes from second to consider.

But the true ace in his sleeve was senjutsu. Ability to access and hold even the tiniest of natural chakra, multiple ones worth by hundreds. With it one could sense people kilometers away making them immune to ambushes, walk away from most lethal attacks, and throw most chakra intensive jutsus like party favors. And he mastered it. In a true sense. A perfect sage by the age of 16.

His appearance just after Dragon's leave spoke volumes.

Hiruzen reached out for his Hokage hat. He pulled out a white scroll safely sealed within and tossed it towards the Minato.

Mission scroll comes in different colors with different wood cores. A white scroll stood for assassination of a civilian, while sandal wood stood for enemy territory. Blue colored silk thread tied around the scroll meant mission importance is of Ex-level. Tossing it with the left hand signified the mission being non-documented.

Minato practically smacked it from the air and read it all within in a blink.

The first phase of the mission was as easy as one could be. Someone of his caliber could do it blindfolded, hand tied and even chakra sealed. On top of all that, the victim was pre-informed and willing for the cause. He just had to swipe his sword through her neck.

The problem was the second half. Location of execution: Kage tower of Kumogakure. He would have to safely and discreetly carry her to Kumogakure. And he would have to do all these without using any Konoha-specific jutsu.

Nobody wants a repeat of the last war; at least not just 13 days after it ended.

"Hokage-sama. It will be done." Minato quietly accepted the mission.

Many naive people have a fantasy of putting comrades before missions. Leading war shows you the reality. S rank missions have to be completed; no matter the cost. And this mission was Ex-level in priority.

Minato hadn't been dismissed, so he waited for a few pointers or words of advice.

"A very few people know she exists. Fewer know who she truly is. But, those who do care for her are not to be trifled with. Keep this mission a secret, even from the highest authority and closest friend," Hokage warned.

"This mission never happened." Minato was long gone. With his speed, he could be in wave country before the sun breaks.

Jiraiya along with many believe him to be the next child of prophecy, the one who will bring true peace. Hiruzen was one of them. He, too, shared the same belief.

The Chakra, itself, should have never been discovered. Just the knowledge of its existence brought down the human population from ten billion to a hundred thousand. In the last three millenniums, humanity, as a whole, went through some of its darkest days.

The first child of prophecy, the first Hokage, brought some resemblance of peace and order. Civilians were used to be nothing more than slaves, but now they hold enough power to even sway the strongest and mightiest. Now they have a working constitution, a police system, and structural society.

What changes will the next child of prophecy bring?

Hiruzen was, once again, alone with his thoughts.


0058 Hours

Nara clan compound

Main house

'Body Replacement Jutsu' is a simple run-of-the-mill E-rank Jutsu. Every genin, worth his salt, could do it at the drop of a hat and does so at the first sign of incoming. Hell, even promising 2nd-year academy students knew this Jutsu. Replacement is easiest to do with your clone, then with something equivalent to your mass precoated with your own chakra. Smaller, farther, and foreigner the object more chakra intensive and delicate surgical precision it needs.

Replacement with something not having your chakra is challenging but doable, but with someone with its chakra network is whole another deal. The more developed chakra networks a shinobi has, the lesser chance he will be replaced.

This is the reason; you never hear someone replace himself with an enemy just before kunai hits him. It happens, rarely, when your enemy has at least a thrice the amount of chakra and control to put even a medic to shame.

Similar are the cases with body flicker. Carrying yourself; easy. Carrying object; doable. Carrying someone else; good luck.

Thrice cursed, straight from the damned hell, the Third great Shinobi war was finally over. After a month-long truce, another 2 months of the armistice; a peace treaty was finally signed. For the last 12 days, everyone everywhere was busy celebrating or mourning.

Shikaku was doing both, multitasking, one could say. He was drunk, more drunk than he had been ever before. The reason; because now, he did not have to look behind his shoulders every 5 seconds. He did not have to sleep deep in mud just to fool trackers. Most importantly, he did not have to choose who lives and who dies; he did not have to play a game with the lives of his fellow men like damned pieces of shogi. He did not have to draw a mission and lay plans, being fully aware of inevitable casualties.

War was finally over and with a little luck he wouldn't have to do all these again.

"War is not a fucking game. People are not pieces to use and thrown like….," he caught himself just on the edge of the stairs. Falling, again, won't do him any good.

*Sigh* "I am pathetic; I should have seen Inoichi, but first probably a little sleep."

So he did. He slept. At least for another 10 minutes.

Drunk and fast asleep, his instincts came ablaze; jolting him out of deep slumber. "Fast" was the first thought crossing his mind, as he was being replaced by an attacker's clone, which looked more like Shikaku than a drunk him could. The attacker shunshined both of them across Konoha carrying him like a sack of potatoes. Faster, much faster, than he could flicker himself on his best day.

Still, he was not in line for Jonin commander only due to his intellect, clan politics, or nepotism. They were a few of the primary reasons, but not only. He had a bingo-book entry as A-rank shinobi for solid, good reasons. He may not have been as flashy or fast as Minato or can rain literal hellfire as Sannin did; He still holds the record for most death assists in the last decade. His fingers twitched into a sort of 'ram' hand sign.

His shadow shimmered, extended, moved, and joined to that of the attacker; grinding both of them to a complete halt.

The attacker with his complete face covered behind a pure silver mask, a mask painstaking crafted just for his face, looked straight into my eyes, and shrugged my paralyzing control over shadows with practiced ease and continued carrying him at a renewed faster rapid pace.

Shikaku had never seen that mask before, only heard whispers of. He had never been introduced; but he knew he was second on the hierarchical ladder; just below Hokage himself. He did not try again.

Around 50 kilometers north, after being carried like a potato sack for the past 16 minutes; he was thrown into some underground hiding safe house. Latches clicked, and the manhole was shut tight, leaving him alone in the tunnels.

Looking around, all he could see was natural dust, rocks, and roots. Nothing stood out, giving him my exact location. But everything from rock structure, ground dust compositions to the roots of trees above looked native, thus he could say he still was near Konoha.

Anyone would have panicked and rightfully so, especially a few years younger himself, but the last few years had put a sort of damper on his nerves. Now he feels an unnatural calmness in this sort of situation, like being trapped within enemy territory without any means of communication back home.

He needed to find a way out. But before that, he needed a clue, reason, or motive behind the attacker. Most importantly, identity of attackers and source of the breach that enabled them access to clan compounds. And to accomplish all of that I had to purge traces of alcohol, he could not in the last 18 minutes.

A few minutes later, the entire south wall shimmered out of existence. Another individual with a similar yet different mask walked in. "Come," ordered a 'hare' masked individual. And so, he did. He followed him into the bunker, memorizing every detail he could. He took 2 consecutive left turns in the tunnel, 1 right, another left, and a few more rights. Walking in circles in a well-architected catacomb for another 6 minutes, he was presented into a chamber big enough to fill hundreds.

The room was well-lit. It had more light than an open field on a sunny day. There were hundreds of light tubes with twice the amount of light-emitting seals than necessary.

He squinted while blinking, adjusting my eyes to the sudden change in brightness, and looked around. The room was massive yet filled to the brim. Seals far beyond his comprehension were drawn all around the room. There were over 2 dozen tables, each surrounded by people. Few tables had maps led out, while others had stacks of documents led out. The atmosphere was ghastly. Everyone looked somber. Anbus supervised efficiently. Speaking of ANBUs, they were in every single corner, not even pretending to hide, just standing plainly in view.

He was escorted to the center, there was a gargantuan table. Upon which lies the most detailed map, surely a cartography masterpiece, he had ever seen. While geography and topography were accurate, political borderlines were new and hasty drawn. The land of Earth, Ashes, Stone, Woods, and Wind was painted in a single brown color with a thick black border in the East and dotted in the west. Similarly, in the east, Land of Lightning and Water were painted in the same sky-blue color but a thick black border surrounding their respective country.

It was not any ordinary room, hideout, or safe house. It was the War Room of Konohamaru and the Fourth Shinobi War has already begun.

"Memories every detail." As if he needed to be told. "Ask if you don't understand anything." That came as a surprise. So began an hour-long lecture on the current situation and reason that led to the reformation of the political map of the entire elemental nations. How Land of Earth annexed Land of stone, woods, and Ashes and a major part of Land of wind causing consolidation of 2 major and 3 minor nations. How the Land of Lightning gave their forbidden scroll to the Land of Water in exchange for 20 Women from each of 17 bloodline clans, leading to an alliance between both major nations.

He was somewhat aware of the scenarios given to him, but not of the consequences. Still, every piece of information laid before him was not shrouded in lies, deceit, bias, or propaganda. They were presented as factually as possible. Thus, they must have been classified way above his pay grade.

A new escort came up to him and for another hour he had to endure statistics. Information on every single nation, major and minor, cities and especially hidden shinobi villages, estimated position and number of troops, and the true location of hidden villages.

Lecturers changed and topics changed, and he was given another tool needed to strategize the fourth shinobi war. Little by little, as the day passed, his quiver grew.


Minato had a dreadful feeling about this mission. Nothing in this mission had made any sense. Last time he had felt like this, his team was ambushed by Raikage, his equally strong brother, and a platoon of Kumo-anbu. Like there is something just outside his senses.

Mission parameters were exceptionally vague, which was rarer than a living dragon. Bureaucrats within the Konoha mission division loved to dictate the flow of mission. However, this time, he hadn't been given a time limit nor any guide on 'how the mission must be done' or 'in which order'. From planning to execution, everything was left on him. One and only demand was guaranteed confidentiality.

A black haired, brown eyed, middle-aged 'Minato' walked past a corpse, indistinguishable in looks, out of the eastern forest. A physical disguise always outperforms transformation. As an extra layer of security, and to make his disguise more civilian, he suppressed and sealed his entire chakra network.

By the time Minato was in wave country, the sun was already over his head. It took him longer than he had anticipated. It took another four hours to find her.

A heavenly smell and a long line of customers patiently waiting next to a ramen booth was not something he was expecting; still, it was not too surprising. Until he looked up the name of the shop: "The best ramen you would ever taste Shop." He took his words back, he was surprised. Someone out there had a worse naming sense than him, that was something he had never considered possible.

He couldn't approach her now; not with this level of crowd, even with a disguise. He decided to wait till she closes her shop. With nothing else to do, he too joined the line. By the looks of people, the name may even carry some weight.

After a dozen bowels, he agreed, the name wasn't just a boast but an honest review. The owner/cook knew really well what she was doing. From spices to noodles, from broth to temperature; everything was a perfect blend.

"You must have been starving." The Redhead owner was delighted to see someone enjoying her food to this extent. "Here, take it. A bowl on the house"

"Not starving. This ramen is just divine," Minato replied in between gulps. "Would you mind sharing your recipe?" Chuckling, she just walked back to entertain other guests.

Minato kept an eye on her. He kept stealing a glance here and there. He couldn't let his target out of his sight. Her being really gorgeous had nothing to do with it. Smooth silk red hair, and violet-blue eyes weren't helping him with the lie.

Minato didn't want to approach her in public. He waited for her within the shop for an hour and two outside. By 1900 hours, dinner rush was over and after another hour she was done with the shop.

She hit the road for 5 minutes, hiked into the forest for another 10 minutes, and walked into a rundown shrine. The shrine was old, older than most shrines he had seen. It was in bad shape, everything, from stone floor to door, had weathered. Despite all that, surprisingly it was clean. There wasn't a space of dust anywhere.

Kushina picked one of hundreds of old creepy masks plastered all around the shrine, dusted it off in some sort of ritual and placed it back. Slowly, she did it again, and again, and a few times more. She went on for over half an hour.

"Come out. I know you have been following me." Kushina informed me while cleaning strange old masks. "Tell me what do you want?"

"I am from Konohagakure." Minato stepped out of the shadows. "I am Minato Namikaze. Back in academy days, we were classmates for a year. Remember? I used to sit in the first row. You suddenly stopped coming. Didn't know, you moved to wave country. "

Without any reply, Minato took a more professional air and threw the scroll towards her. "I have been assigned a mission to assist you."

With a bird shaped mask in one hand, she picked it up with the other. Her face tightened with each sentence she read.

"No. I can't. I won't. Go back to your Hokage and tell him that I apologize." Kushina spoke in a harsh and sharp voice. She threw the mission scroll back and went back to her masks. This time, she had a bear and a gorilla shaped mask in her hands.

With just a sentence, a rejection, his mission difficult not only grew but skyrocketed. Carrying an unwilling or unconscious person all across the land of lightning would truly be a challenge.

"I was told that you were willing for the cause." Minato tried steering her. Scroll clearly mentioned her eager desire just a week earlier. If she had changed her mind in the last few days, he may very well change it again.

"Now, I am not. I changed my mind. Everyone does, so did I." Kushina hadn't even turned once back to face him. She kept cleaning masks.

There was not even a single shred of doubt in her voice. She wasn't hesitating. Whatever had changed her mind; must have been huge. Without any other choice left, Minato pulled out bigger guns. He quietly unsealed his chakra.

A small stream of chakra from his toes seeped into the ground. It slowly snaked its way across the field, taking a hold of her.

Genjutsu: Deep slumber

Deep slumber was the nearest to hypnosis one could normally get. It compelled the victim to lean towards the idea, even if it harms them. But, there was a real weakness.

A-rank genjutsu on a civilian was overkill. But, it was the only genjutsu he knew which didn't cause any pain other than light hallucinations. Once it took hold of her, he walked down to her.

"You are everything that your clan had left behind, the last living breathing member. Nobody else breathes. They killed them all, everyone else. Every single person. Every member of your family, and every one your family knew. They murdered your neighbors. They butchered sick, elders and even infants. Not only that, but they even burned your whole village to the ground; save nothing. Don't you want to take revenge? Isn't this mission you always wanted? Isn't it all you ever desired for?"

Minato knew it was cruel, underhanded, and just plain evil. He didn't want to use her past to force her suicide, but did not have any other choice. He was instructed to complete the mission at any given price. And he had done worse. A part of him kept thinking what her dying was supposed to accomplish.

"Don't you wish to avenge your mother? What about your father? Your few-month old sister? Your home? Your motherland? It is nothing but rubble and ash. I can help you. I will help you. Together, we will avenge everyone. They will pay for what they did, and with blood they will. What is stopping you? What pathetic reason you have that is worth more than the blood of your entire clan."

She clenched so hard her fingertips bled. Her teeth were pressed so hard; gums bled. Her violet blue eyes turned red for a second. She was beyond pissed. She was furious. But she didn't lash out or argue; just kept cleaning masks.

Minato had just salted some serious unhealed wounds. He saw her clenching those masks with bleeding fingertips; he had gotten her furious enough to cloud her judgement. But, to his dismay; she regained her senses just as quickly. A part of him was appreciating the build quality of a gorilla-like mask and a panther-like mask she tried to crush.

"I am pregnant. I found out about it yesterday. I was willing to die. Now, I can't. I can't harm him, you know. He will be born, and he will grow. I will raise him well. He will be happy,..." Kushina mumbled.

'Shit'. Every diplomatic bridge just burned to the crisp with this new news. He had seen Mikoto promise the world to their firstborn. He had seen her fury when Itachi returned home with a few bruises. In the last few minutes, he had crossed every red line by asking her to assist her in killing herself and her first unborn child.

"I am sorry. I really am. I truly apologize from the depth of my heart. I am heartless, as you may think." Minato quietly whispered to himself. The only way forward was to manhandle her. "But this mission is not an optional one."

Minato was about a meter away, when her chakra pulsed. An immense amount of raw chakra burst from her every chakra point. The ground shook, wind blasted off, carrying everything within 10 meters away as if hit by a high tsunami.

"Go. Go back to your village. Konoha has always been an ally. It has helped my clan every single time. I do not want to hurt you." Kushina insisted in an ice chilled voice while collecting blown away masks.

Kushina kept carefully picking scatter masks with one hand, while holding a fly mask with the right hand. She looked less interested in the fight about to unfold, and more in dusting off masks.

Minato walked past the blown tree. Hokage hadn't lied, but hadn't been honest either. She wasn't a civilian. She may not have been given shinobi training, but she was further from a civilian, than his fellow shinobi were. The amount of chakra she used just to purge genjutsu was more than most S rank uses in a month.

Minato flashed right behind her, delivering a condensed chakra powered chop to her neck. It was delivered with enough force to break the back of her neck. Most people would have died on the spot, few Jonin would have lost consciousness. Kushina didn't look even fazed. She turned and looked directly into his eyes. She switched from armadillo mask to spider.

He instantly threw a three-pronged kunai above.

Ninjutsu: Shadow Shuriken jutsu

Thousands over thousand kunai rained, hitting everything but both. Now, there were at least a kunai within every meter squared plot.

Uzumaki style: Forest of constraint.

A red chain shot from the ground next to the feet. Minato easily dodged it with minimum movement. A second chain shot from the other side achieving no hold. A third, a fourth, a fifth, and more followed. Numbers grew rapidly and within seconds they were in thousands.

From ground, trees, and even the temples, chains burst open. Each moving on their own, trying to get a hold on him. He would flash to the other side and chains would be there next instant. He was fast. And he was agile. Still, he couldn't keep up a cat and mouse chase where he was outnumbered by a factor of thousands.

Lightning style: Sword of thunder

A sword made of pure lightning sliced chains left and right, but they were being replaced much more rapidly. With no option left, he flashed 500 meters behind.

She was either S rank on her own or masks were amplifying her power by a ridiculous multiple. In either case, he needed to overpower her and quickly. If he could knock her out even for a second, he could, in theory, seal her chakra and take away those creepy masks.

Summing Style: Council of elders.

Minato was a perfect sage. He could get into sage mode within a single minute. But right now, he didn't have the luxury of time. He didn't want to see what more her masks could do.

Most immortally, He really didn't want to give an Uzumaki enough time to draw seals.

"Minato-chan. What did I tell you about summoning during dinner time? I was just about to add salt, and now the broth is going to be wasted." Ma looked disappointed. Pa looked around for any sign of the battle of the enemy, but found none. The only thing out of the ordinary was Minato collecting natural chakra as fast as he could.

"Ma! Pa! Natural Chakra. Pure and unadulterated. Maximum flow. Now." Minato commanded in a harsh tone. He would beg for apologies. He would make it up somehow. Later. But right this moment, he couldn't waste even a second.

Within 10 seconds, Minato was in sage mode. With 2 elders collecting natural chakra for him, he could now use his aces without depleting his personal reserve.

With toad-like eyes, he flashed back to the field. He had excepted Kushina to flee, or at least to have moved into a public area. Instead, she was sitting on a chair made of chains. Previously scattered masks were now neatly piled next to her. With a tortoise mask on, she looked demonic.

With his sage mode boosting his senses, he finally understood the reason behind his dread-like feeling he was having for the past few hours.

Her chakra reserve was huge. No, scratch that, it was titanic. He had more chakra than the Hokage himself, yet it dwarfed next to her. Worst part, it was potent and sharp. His hunch about masks was proven right. They were not made up of ceramic like they looked, but of pure condensed natural chakra.

Sage style: Avalanche

Earth shook, rose and moved. Entire forest and fallen trees within a hundred meters moved forward. Over 10 million kilogram of rock, dust, mud and trees were thrown at her.

Sage style: Tsunami

Every droplet of water in the area was gathered, forming a bigger wave than that of the previous avalanche. With a height over 20 meter and length more than 100 meters it was simply an overkill. Combined: unnecessary.

Sage style: March of Time.

Minato expertly combined the previous two devastating jutsu and created multiple replications of itself. The attack hit her left and right, and it did so again. She was being crushed with a force more than enough to crush a mountain to dust.

He was sure she would survive this. He just wanted her to stay underground for a few more minutes. Lack of oxygen would surely do the tricks. If not, he would hit her a few times more.

To his utter surprise, his sure kill shot fell off like water on a hydrophobic surface. A kaiten-like bubble withstood his strongest attack, which he had created to counter Ay's lightning armor. He was sure no one could walk out of this alive, less alone, unscathed.

Ma and Pa had their eyes fixed on nothing but masks. Minato didn't know. But, they did. There wasn't a way where they were getting out of this fight without losing a limb or two.

"Go. Go back. Return. You are quite strong. With your ability to teleport between your markers, you can return to your village any time you want. Why didn't you do so?" Kushina had yet to move from her make-shift throne.

'Minato-boy, don't let her wear the toad shaped mask.' Pa seriously warned in whispers. He really did not wish to betray him, but if commanded, he would not have any other choice.

"I can't. Hiraishin has a major flaw. Chakra cost. It increases exponentially. Teleporting a few meters costs less than a D rank, but a kilometer costs more than an S rank. Konoha is hundreds of kilometers away, and I can teleport 10 kilometers away on my best day." Minato answered her to find what the elders knew about masks.

'What do masks do?' Minato whispers back to the toad elders. If he can find its function, he may very well find a flaw to work with or at least circumvent around them.

'Remember the summoning scroll you signed with us. It is nothing but a cheap replica. These masks are the original contract. While wearing one, you own the entire clan and everything that comes with it. You can summon any member, and they will follow your every command.' Ma answered in an irritated voice. Ma didn't tell him about the best feature of the mask, the sage ability. By the looks of it, she didn't need to. The opponent was strong, so she will give her that. But, even she didn't know how to use them.

"Hiraishin? Huh. So, you are the flasher everyone keeps talking about. You really are famous. Even civilians know you." Kushina took off her turtle mask. "Everyone keeps talking about how you can teleport anywhere and how you summon mountain sized toads to battle."

Minato flashed to her right, he had already guessed what was about to happen.

"HOLD HIM STILL!"

She had a mask beneath. A brown mask, orange eyes and dark dots all around. All in

all, it looked like a poorly drawn toad.

Ma, with all her natural chakra powered strength, took hold of Minato by right of his neck. Pa did the same, but from the left. Together they were millimeters away from snapping his neck like a twig.

"Never return. With your life, I consider our debt repaid." Kushina inches away from Minato, looked directly into his eyes and warned.

"TAKE HIM BACK TO HIS HOKAGE."

Kushina thundered to the elders. "And do to tell him, The royal bloodline of Uzumaki will not be extinguished. The prince of the sea will be born. My son, Naruto Uzumaki, will not be harmed. He will grow up. He will live his life, the way he wishes to."

Kushina slides the mask half off her face. She looked directly into Minato's eyes. Her fox-like retina along with a red sage line across her face send chills down to the war veteran.

"Harm even a single hair on him, and I will personally unleash the nine-tailed fox upon your damn village."


2213 Hours

Cottonwood

"This way," after 21 days, silver mask reappeared escorting Shikaku to another location, some sort of lavish meeting room for higher-ups.

"Shikaku-kun, come on in," as soon as he was next to the door, Danzō welcomed him in. Sitting next to him, Hokage smiled at him and gestured to him inside. The room was just big enough to accommodate a large oval oak table and 12 chairs around it. Left to him sat Danzō Shimura, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi. On the right sat Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane. Anbu with a pure silver mask stood just behind his left shoulder. Three more ANBUs with a similar silver mask but with animal faces painted upon stood alongside him.

On the other side of the table, the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade Senju, were discussing among themselves. Three more people were sitting next to Sannin, to whom he just could not identify. Minato Namikaze was standing just behind Jiraiya-sama along with Fugaku Uchiha, Hiashi Hyūga, and 6 more people he did not know.

All in all, this room had enough firepower to single-handedly conquer a small nation without any casualty. All he could do was bend his right knee, right fist to the ground, and bow his head low.

"Hokage-sama, you summoned me!"

"At least, he has a sense of humor," Tsunade-sama snorted. Her giggling teammates agreed. "And balls to jest in dire situations," Orochimaru-sama added.

"Take a seat," Hokage-sama said, dismissing the antics of his old students. Tsunade-sama waved her hand in a half tiger seal and a plant grew rapidly while taking the shape of a comfortable chair.

He should not have taken the seat when people mightier and more important were not allowed to. He could not refuse and show disobedience or reject offers, delaying critical matters needed to weed out.

Furthermore, he knew, for sure, the reason for his presence here. They were not planning to wage another war, but to prevent the next. Half of the people sitting here have won all of 3 great wars, and the remaining half were deciding factors in the last two. People standing around him have killed battalions, few of them have killed entire divisions, and one of them had slaughtered an entire army all alone, that too within a blink. These people are Gods in the art of war but naive in peace, and so was he.

"Starting with the obvious, to prevent any misunderstandings," Hokage began. "The Fourth Secret Shinobi War is imminent." "" years," Danzō took over. "Is our estimate."

"So, the million ryō question is how long can we delay the inevitable and how," Jiraiya-sama finished.

"14," Shikaku expostulated. Everyone doubted his estimate. They did so for a good reason. Truth be told, even he was not entirely sure. A 9 year estimate had been reached by God of Shinobi and Shadow of Shinobi in conjunction. Since nobody voiced any complaint, he continued. "Unlike the previous three, the next war will be short but decisive."

"It will be an all-out war; with Iwa-Suna and Kumo-Kiri on one side and Konoha on the other. With a single purpose of our complete and utter destruction. History will repeat itself. We may face a similar tragedy as that of the Land of Whirlpools and Land of the Sky."

Most had already reached that conclusion. None had voiced it, until now. They were just hoping to be wrong.

"Any attempt done towards the preparation of said war will only shorten its arrival. The only way to delay is to blindly ignore its possibility."

Danzō face-palmed. Hokage started preparing his pipe. Jiraiya took out a few bottles of sake. Tsunade waved again, creating chairs for everyone. Once everyone got comfortable, the silver-masked anbu ordered, "Continue."

"If we militaries, they will too. If we increase the number of students, they will do the same. Same with outposts, equipment, medical facilities," he resumed. "Statistics will kill us. They have twice the resource pool and enough workforce to outpace us in preparation of this war," he went on.

"This is evident, get down to your strategy," somebody in the back urged him to.

"Everyone in the inner circle should retire," he stressed. He expected pandemonium, not a deafening silence. My last sentence was enough to warrant capital punishment. He would have received one already; the only thing delaying it was their desire for a fresh new look on the matter.

"We, our entire village, see Hokage-sama as a kind old man. But, every other nation out there calls him "the old death". " Shikaku balanced his chair on the last two legs. He got himself more comfortable than he should. But, he did. "A total of 10 Kages have died on the battlefield. And you, Hokage-sama, have done half of those yourself. Every peace talk you gave, every armistice, treaty, cease fire; they accepted from you were forced. No one could refuse you, and no one did. But, not in the future. With you as our head, the only thing I can see is an all out war in the next 4 years."

Nobody spoke a word. Everyone knew it. There was a point in repeating a fact all well known, to drive home his next idea.

"The same thing could be said about your right hand, Danzō-sama, elders, sannin, and others present here. If we have to even look like we are seeking peace; we can't let these people hold the flag. The world hates them enough to ignore any offer we give."

"We need a new leader. Someone who is famous and respected within our village, and feared abroad for what he can do, not for what he did. Minato Namikaze."

"Anything else you have to add?" Orochimaru-sama asked, trying to steer to the next topic, before the shouting match started.

"We have to restructure our entire economy. People will flock to two new and strong villages, not the weakest. We need new sources of income. I have a few ideas as to what to do, but the fastest would be to replace the fire lord."

Nobody objected, but the distaste could be seen all around. The first went a long way, fought everyone including his own brother to place and empower the fire lord. No shinobi wanted a mere civilian to lord over. But as time passed, a clear separation of civilian hierarchy did wonders. Civilians grew leaps and bounds in every aspect, from technology to living conditions. Time proved him right.

Sensing no desire to reverse the deeds of the founders, Shikaku moved to the next point.

"Academy. Double its duration, from 4 to 8. Reduce its semester length from half a year to a month." So he spoke. They won the last three wars not because of numbers, but talents. All he had to do was strength and better the very same talent manufacturing hub they have. He also elaborated a way to 'bring' rare talent from all across the world.

Lastly, he presented a plan to merge all clans.

He went on and on for the next 3 hours. He was not disturbed or questioned, just a few clarifications here and there.

Once he had nothing more to add, he was escorted back to his house. At least this time peacefully and with a little respect.

He knew he had kicked the hive. Every plan and proposal, he had spoken, needed to be revisited, calculated, revised and implemented. Within a week, everything will be a buzz, and his work load will not increase but multiply.


The following months opened the box of Pandora.

The village hidden in the leaves opened up, announcing its true location to all. As opportunistic businesses moved here, land next to the village wall saw extreme rapid development. Land within the wall was redesigned from the ground up. All minor clans were moved, and major clans absorbed most land nearest to them.

The third stepped down and took a position as head teacher in the academy. Danzō along with the elder council followed similar paths.

Every single person who had served two wars were awarded and honorably discharged of their duties. Retirement. A new word was coined. Sannin took extended leave to enjoy their retirement. Almost the entire Anbu did the same.

Minato Namikaze took the mantle of Fourth Hokage.

These announcements send ripples around the world. But, the thing that threw the tsunami was Kyuubi.

7 months after the end of the Third war, the nine-tailed fox wiped Kumo off the face of earth.