Hokage's Office, Two days after Operation: Kage Falls
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi
"So much for taking in the Kage quietly, we can only be thankful there were no permanent casualties. Dr Yakushi, what is the status of the bomber?" Sarutobi was doing his best not to show his displeasure at the situation regarding the Kage, though the 'upside' to the situation was that the ANBU had taken no chances with the other undercover operatives, meaning that none of the others had a chance to prepare contingencies if they had any.
"Given that he lost an arm, and his right leg below the knee when he was 'taken into custody', the fact that he is still alive is probably the best status update I can give right now. I've assigned a couple of the more senior medics to him, they should keep him alive long enough for interrogation purposes. We couldn't reattach the arm though, given the… method of removal." That made sense, Hiruzen mused as he watched Dr Yakushi level a glare at the unrepentant Jounin who completed the capture of the Kage in question.
Kakashi-kun's Chidori jutsu was remarkably destructive to tissue and bone upon impact, and given the implication of the man's arm being removed entirely, perhaps the Copy Ninja had used the fabled Raikiri instead.
"He looked like he was going to try and do hand signs… Given he had just set off a bomb in central Konoha, I didn't want to take the risk of further booby traps." Sarutobi nodded, even if he didn't believe a word of Kakashi's report.
The Jounin was remarkably vindictive when suitably provoked, and he had a soft spot for ANBU members given his former position. Deciding that it was best he move things along, before Kakashi said something to annoy the good Doctor further, Sarutobi indicated towards the door with a casual wave.
"Kakashi-san, I need you to go and speak to your 3rd pupil, now that he is awake and stable enough for discussions. Despite giving your team a preliminary pass to their Genin test in these circumstances, you will still need to test them, if and when Naruto-kun is capable of returning to active duty. I need you and Nono-san to test him, both physically and psychologically, over the next two days. I would do it myself, but given the henge the attacker used, Naruto-kun's reactions to my presence do not lend themselves to...Civil discussion."
Nono winced, no doubt remembering this morning's 'incident', where Sarutobi had come to visit through the main door to the hospital room Naruto was being kept in...
Even as he waited for Koala to open the sliding door, the ANBU keeping with protocol even in his case, something that showed how serious she was taking her new role as Naruto-kun's permanent guard, Sarutobi could tell that this meeting was not going to go well.
Naruto's entire body language had stiffened when the boy caught sight of him, and Hiruzen could feel a spike in the boy's chakra even as he stepped into the room, and it wasn't just the boy's personal chakra that filled the air.
"Hokage-sama." There was an uncertain wariness to Naruto's greeting, as if the boy was on the verge of trying to run or attack him, despite the fact Hiruzen had instructed his guards to remain visible for this visit to put Naruto more at ease.
The formality of the address wasn't exactly unexpected, given what the poor boy had suffered, but it still brought a pain to Sarutobi's chest as he did his best to smile disarmingly.
"Naruto-kun, I am sorry to hear what happened to you…" Naruto was getting more and more stressed by the moment, and without really thinking about it Hiruzen stepped forward to try and comfort the boy.
"NO!" Even as a wave of Chakra shot from Naruto, Hiruzen could tell that probably hadn't been the cleverest move to do.
It wasn't exactly dangerous to the old Shinobi, though it caused him to brace against it as he slid back across the tiled floor a few inches. What was more concerning was the terrified look on Naruto's face, as his chakra manifested around him like an angry mother bear.
But even as Hiruzen compared the reaction to the other bouts of accidental manifestation he had come across in his time, Dr Yakushi was already moving him towards the door.
"Sorry Hokage-sama, but this level of chakra usage is dangerous for Naruto-kun, especially as he doesn't seem to be in control of its actions…" The breaking of glass in front of him, as another surge of chakra shot in their direction and shattered the glass window that separated Naruto-kun's room from the corridor, served to highlight the medic's point quite well…
Not as bad a reaction as Sarutobi had feared, as the boy himself didn't seem to be consciously attacking him. But if his chakra was responding to his subconscious now, that made him volatile, especially as a potential Genin. If it could be trained though…
"Understood Hokage-sama, I will take him to meet the rest of his team if Dr Yakushi will permit me and he's up to it. He won't want them to see how weak he is right now, but the sooner we manage that issue, the quicker he will be able to fit in. Anything I should be particularly cautious about?" It was a difficult question for Sarutobi to answer, primarily because they still weren't sure what exactly would set the boy off, but also because whatever he told Kakashi would end up with his other two Genin learning one way or another.
"Avoid mentioning my name or title as much as possible, given the attacker's disguise any mention is likely to have Naruto withdraw into himself, if not react in a fight/flight manner. Also, prevent any form of physical contact, we cannot be sure how much control he has over his chakra right now. Otherwise I will need you to 'push the boundaries' somewhat, if Naruto still wants to be a ninja, we cannot afford to be too cautious." As much as it would pain him to do so, if Naruto couldn't handle simple interactions with people he already knew, Sarutobi would take him off active duty indefinitely.
Whilst there were missions that didn't require social interactions, almost all of them were missions that involved killing in one form or another, which would no doubt make the problem worse not better.
"Understood Hokage-sama, I will ensure that his teammates are aware of the basics of what they need to avoid…" With a nod from Sarutobi, Kakashi formed the hand seals for a Shushin, disappearing in a burst of leaves.
Dr Yakushi followed a couple of seconds later with her own nod of understanding, though she would no doubt need to leave watching Team 7 to some of her subordinates, the hospital would be hectic enough as it is for her with the aftermath of the bombing.
Sarutobi leant back in his seat for a moment, tensing as he stretched as many muscles in his body as he could, doing his best to ignore the painful protests many of them gave at the action. Whilst he would like nothing more than to go for a long walk, something that would allow him some small measure of relaxation as well as a chance to stretch his legs, his ANBU guards had already indicated he had people waiting for his next meeting.
With a tired sigh, as it was already clear that he wasn't going to get home at a reasonable time this evening, Sarutobi waved for them to be let in. He straightened in his seat a little as Inoichi and Ibiki walked into the room, not because he thought they would care about his slightly slouched posture, but because he knew what they were here to talk to him about.
"Hokage-sama." Inoichi's greeting was slightly more formal than Ibiki's nod, but given the scarred investigator had been sleeping about as much as Sarutobi had since the attack on Naruto, Sarutobi was more than prepared to forgive the slight break in formality.
"Gentlemen, what news do you have on the Kage interrogations?" Whilst Dr Yakushi had been stabilising the bomber, and dealing with the other injured from the attack, the T&I department had been very busy dealing with the rest of the shadowy ninja division.
"Here is the full report so far Hokage-sama. Of the 57 Kage members apprehended, 13 of them were compromised significantly or completely, including Kage Commander Jounin Otogawa. Of the others, at least 15 of them can be dismissed or demoted for gross misconduct, and 7 other members have gone to ground." That, that wasn't actually as surprising as Sarutobi thought it might have been, it had been a private fear of his since the beginning of this debacle after all.
Kigo Otogawa had been one of Konoha's longest serving ninja, which was in no small part helped by his position as Kage Commander meaning the Yondaime kept him from many of the more dangerous missions available when he appointed the man. For the department to have fallen as far as the initial reports indicated, the hierarchy of the Kage had to be corrupted as well.
There had never been an indication that Otogawa had been anything but completely loyal, when Sarutobi had returned to the Hokage position and interviewed him, though perhaps his faith in the Yondaime had stopped him from digging as deeply as he perhaps should have.
"How badly are we compromised?" The tiredness, that came with so many years in the Hokage seat, seeped into his words without him really meaning for it too.
But this, this was the evidence that he had feared to find more than any other. The ANBU Cadre dereliction could have been explained as a more recent incident, the squads too used to more than a decade of peace and lulled into a false sense of security. The Kage bomber could have been an isolated spy, even if that would have been hard to believe.
"Jounin Otogawa's list of clients is… extensive to say the least. He has sold information about Konoha and it's Ninja to at least 20 different people, both inside the village and further afield. We don't know who some of these 'clients' work for, but at least half a dozen of them are former people of interest in cases ranging from murder to espionage…" It was painful to listen, the sins of those he had thought of as family laid out before him, and for a moment Sarutobi thought he felt the sharp pain in his chest of the heart attack Dr Yakushi had been warning him of for years.
But, as Ibiki then began to summarise the depths of how compromised Konoha's security was, the pain faded to a dull ache that he recognise as guilt.
"The others range from full on espionage, these have already been confined to high security cells, to selling their silence to keep quiet about other Shinobi's misconduct. A Kage Kunoichi undercover at the academy, Chuunin Suzume, accepted various bribes from Mizuki to ignore things that would have lead to us arresting him months ago. Whilst most of the Kage haven't done things that would allow us to claim they are traitors, at least half of them have ignored things amongst our other Ninja that could be signs of espionage and corruption."
Sarutobi reached up with his hand to grip where his nose met the skull, rubbing it for a few moments to try and alleviate the building headache brewing in his skull, before asking the question he probably didn't want to know the answer to.
"How many of them are clean?" The sour look that crossed Ibiki's told Sarutobi his answer before he even opened his mouth.
"5 of them are completely clean, not including the ones that were part of the Mythos cadre, and about a dozen others only have minor misdemeanours related to not reporting suspicions about their superiors in the Kage." Which meant that at best 20 of the Kage would be returning to duty without repercussions, and whilst the numbers weren't anywhere near acceptable, it was much better than they originally feared.
And perhaps, amongst this steadily growing list of embarrassments, there was opportunity…
"We have names and addresses of those that bought information or bribed the Kage?" For the first time in the conversation, Ibiki smiled, in a manner that reminded Sarutobi of a hunter ninja coming across a tavern full of drunk and unconscious Missing Ninja.
"Arrests are already taking place Hokage-sama, in relation to 'the terrorist bombing' that occurred in the market. My department will be busy for quite some time…" Given they had already processed over 100 ninja in the past week, Sarutobi had no doubt of Ibiki's prediction/implication.
The corrupting elements in Konoha's shadow were coming to light now, and for every rock they turned over the size of the problem would only grow...
!"£$%^&*()+_
Academy Training Ground 1, one week after 'Graduation Day'
Rookie Genin, Ino Yamanaka
"3 more laps to go Ino-chan!"
Ino hated running laps. Don't get her wrong, she knew that as a Ninja she needed to do a lot of running about, but running around in a circle was at best boring and at worst embarrassing. But as her new sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, called out to her once more Ino knew that she was more embarrassed by her team than her own performance.
Whilst Sasuke-kun had already finished his laps, and was now performing Taijutsu kata along with Kiba, Shino and Hinata under the watchful eyes of Team 8's sensei Kurenai Yuuhi, she was the next closest to finishing their 25 laps of Academy Training Ground 1. The other graduated teams were using the other Academy Training Ground, though from what Ino had picked up from her 'contacts' on the other teams, it was only their three teams that had completely passed their Genin Team testing.
Chouji was the next closest in the group, only half a lap or so behind her, though the boy was so red in the face that Ino honestly thought he was going to collapse at points.
"Shikamaru-kun, if I see you slow down again, I will be volunteering you to be the practice opponent for every spar today. That's on top of gathering all the practice weapons up later!" Asuma sounded more than slightly frustrated with the young Nara, and it was only when Ino spoke to him quietly after their first couple of sub par training sessions that the man was able to start motivating the so called 'genius' of the Nara clan.
As she passed Shikamaru, for at least the fourth time this morning, Ino levelled a glare at the lazy boy. It was bad enough she was so far behind her beloved Sasuke-kun, but her entire team was getting shown up. Forehead didn't count, because she was civilian born and not a Clan Heir like the rest of them…
"Come on Forehead! I'm catching up with you again!" The pinkette growled ominously at the 'affectionate' nickname Ino had for her rival.
But, as Ino watched the girl gain a new burst of speed, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of her former best friend. It wouldn't stop her pounding her into the ground if they were sparring later, but it stopped Ino from doing anything to further wind up the rather volatile girl. Instead, Ino returned to her thoughts on the subject that most people had stopped discussing on the day of graduation.
The fact that Iruka had disappeared to find Naruto of all people, and the implication that the loudmouth had somehow managed to get the decision about his Genin exam reversed somehow, paled in comparison to the chaos that erupted when the Black flare was spotted out of their window 15 minutes later.
ALL of them knew what that meant, and considering how many of the Clan children's parents were classified as 'S-rank' targets, even Shika had been getting his kunai ready to go assist in whatever was going on. They were literally graduating that day, but they had all thought at the time that graduating the Academy had made them Genin, and response to a Black Signal Flare was required by EVERY non-essential Ninja.
The timing of the Black Flare had been bothering the part of Ino's brain that knew something was up though, something her friends had not too kindly referred to as her 'gossip sense', and the fact that it was a pair of ANBU that arrived in the classroom to stop them leaving only made it 'ring' all the harder in her mind.
The fact that Sasuke-kun's team was only two members right now, and that no one would answer their questions about what had happened with the Black flare attack, only made Ino focus on the issue more. She knew she wasn't the only one, Shika had managed to half heartedly muster up half a dozen questions of his own at various points. After performing a genjutsu cancellation to make sure she wasn't being pranked, Ino knew it was a sign that he was probably more interested about this than he had ever been in the Academy syllabus.
It wasn't even as if the dots were hard to connect, so either the adults thought they were all idiots, or they weren't trying too hard to stop them investigating. In fact Team 7's sensei, who in Ino's opinion was the weirdest of their new teachers by far, seemed to be trying to encourage them. His half answers, and pointing out of which particular parts of her inquiries he was not going to answer, always gave her something to go and ask someone else about.
She'd spent most of her time over the last week investigating one way or another, other than that horrible afternoon when a bomb was set off in one of the market areas, and she had still been unable to find anything concrete. All she 'knew' at this point was that Naruto had done something to earn his graduation headband, her dad wouldn't be specific but it sounded like he had gotten into a fight or something.
Then things got a little hazy, but she was almost certain that Naruto had been attacked as part of the incident that had generated the Black Flare. It was the only thing that the sensei's had confirmed, and it was only due to Kurenai-sensei reassuring a frantic Hinata on the third day of training that Ino knew the poor boy was still alive, and hopefully going to recover enough to become a Genin.
Ino knew the fact they were hiding the seriousness of Naruto's injuries, as well as the fact that none of them were being allowed to visit or even know where he was, meant that the injuries were definitely more serious than a spar gone wrong or whatever excuse they could have used otherwise.
"Right, that will do Ino-chan, two extra laps is a good show of determination though! Come grab 5 before joining in the kata practice. Sakura-san, you can stop there for today, make sure to stretch before you rest girls!" Asuma-sensei's voice made Ino succinctly aware of quite how painful her legs were all of a sudden, obviously she had been lost deeper in her thoughts than she would have thought possible.
"H-Hai Asuma-sensei… Any news on Naruto's recovery?" Whilst her repeated questioning about Naruto had initially drawn odd looks from not just Sakura but the others, she hadn't felt the need to justify her curiosity to them, and after a couple of days most of them didn't bother reacting any more.
"Yes actually, Kakashi-san wants to take Sakura-san and Sasuke-san to see him today, and he should then be able join us for training in a few weeks." Ino had been expecting the usual negative response in all honesty, and it took her a moment before her mind registered that she hadn't been blown off for once.
"Really? What about the rest of us? I know Hinata-chan wants to see him again…" The Hyuuga squeaked rather adorably, but if she thought her crush on the blond boy was a secret, then she was going to be horribly disillusioned.
But at this point the teasing of her fellow Kunoichi had been a secondary benefit, her focus had been fixed on Asuma-sensei, despite her rather haggard breathing. The man was a skilled Shinobi, something he had proven by handily defeating all 8 of them at once without even drawing a weapon, but Ino found him remarkably easy to read.
And as she expected, the minute flinch and frown that crossed his face was all the answer she needed, even if they were covered a moment later with his usual easy going smile.
"Not right now, Naruto is still recovering from his injuries and…" There was the sounds of a Shushin from behind her, but it was the shock that Asuma-sensei showed in the minute widening of his eyes, that made Ino turn around to see who it was.
Kakashi was stood in his usual relaxed manner, though he had an arm firmly placed on the shoulder of the boy she had just been asking about.
"Kakashi, Hokage-sama explicitly instructed…" Ino didn't have to have been trained by her father in the more 'subtle' arts of the Yamanaka to see the boy's reaction to the Hokage's title, even if the boy tried to play off his flinch as nothing after it happened.
"Naruto-kun insisted that he would be able to cope with this, his exact words were that 'better to get this over with in one go' or something cute and adorable like that. Besides, I think some sun would do him some good at this point." Even as Ino giggled, Kakashi's attempt to wind Naruto up as a method of distracting him from their stares obvious though effective, she couldn't help but look the boy up and down in slight shock.
Naruto had never been big, in fact Ino had been rather surprised how well he did in Taijutsu given his very light build, but now he looked practically gaunt in comparison. Cheeks, once covered in baby fat, were now almost drawn tight over his cheekbones. His jumpsuit looked like it almost might fall off him if he moved wrong, and Ino could see the end of a belt that was drawn far too tightly around his waist, no doubt being the only thing keeping his trousers up.
"Kakashi-sensei!" To her surprise, Naruto didn't get overly wound up and have a tantrum, something that had been a rather unappealing habit of his previously, and his voice barely rose above the level Kiba usually used.
It was almost as if the boy was afraid of making too much noise, even as he seemed to notice their staring. He did his best to give his usual massive grin, but even when they were at the Academy Ino could tell that it was somewhat a front, now it was like looking at the bared teeth of a cornered animal.
"Eh, Hi Guys… You better not have all been learning kick ass Ninjutsu without me Dattebayo!" Even his hands showed how much their classmate had suffered over the last week, there were still several stitches around the forefinger of the hand he used to wave, the discoloured skin visible making it clear the digit had been cut off.
"Hello Naruto-san, not yet. Our Sensei have just been doing physical training so far, though they mentioned some chakra control training at some point next week I think." Ino was speaking without really thinking, the psychological training her father had given her kicking in, and she realised with a small internal groan that she was probably going to have to become Naruto's friend.
The others, other than Shino and perhaps Shika, wouldn't have the patience for dealing with someone who had evidently been attacked and badly injured. Sasuke-kun might understand, given what happened with his Clan, but the two boys would spend all their time butting heads rather than talking.
"Not that you can join in right now Naruto-baka, you look terrible! What happened to you?" Ino instantly re-evaluated the worst possible person for Naruto to be around right now, Sakura probably meant her words in a different manner than they came across, but as Naruto froze in place it was clear that their sensei weren't going to be much use right now.
"Asuma-sensei, as I am up to date with my kata, how about I take Naruto and run him through some basic exercises with Hinata-chan? I am sure he will be able to catch up in no time, and then he can join in with our other exercises…" She could have just left it, after all she had probably only talked to Naruto half a dozen times in the Academy, but Ino knew her Grandfather would never forgive her if she did.
Kabaji Yamanaka had been captured in the Third Shinobi war, and had been held by enemy forces for 3 years before the Yellow Flash brought the war to its rather abrupt end. Whilst she loved her Jiji, Ino had always known that the haunted look that entered his eyes was never quite going to go away, and that was similar to the look that she could now see in Naruto's eyes.
The last thing he needed to do now, and probably ever, was talk about what he had just been through with them. Given the approving nod that Kakashi-sensei sent in her direction, even as Sakura got rather worked up over the fact she had been ignored, Ino indicated off towards the weapons training area whilst maintaining a healthy distance from Naruto.
There had been just one time she had tried to grab her Jiji when he had been lost in his memories of the war, and thankfully her Dad had managed to catch her as the elderly Yamanaka threw her across the room with a panicked reflex. When Naruto felt a little more comfortable, they might try some light sparring, but for now weapon drills would suffice…
A/N: Firstly, Big Thumbs up to Sir Omega here, as he inadvertently pointed out another way that the attack has an impact on Canon. Iruka going to get Naruto, then the Black Flare, then neither Iruka or Naruto returning to the class, is going to generate questions amongst his classmates. Genin are meant to respond to a Black Flare, which means they have to know what it stands for.
As I've alluded to here, nobody has made the jump to Naruto being the S-rank target yet, Ino merely thinks he was caught in the crossfire for example. But as the damage done to Naruto becomes more prevalent (A week pretty much without food and water will have caused significant weight loss, as the Kyuubi's chakra converts other sources of mass into what is needed to keep Naruto alive), the more questions will be asked.
Speaking of, what do people think of my Ino? Still a Fangirl, though with significantly more depth afforded to her than given at this stage in Canon. I've also tried to explain why her clan training doesn't afford her the combat advantages that the rest of the Rookie 9 have, as it is more focussed on information gathering and psychology. Because of this grounding, Ino follows in her father's footsteps with her first 'patient', not that Naruto would accept being called as such.
The little introductions to each Scene break, the introduction of place, time and person in bold, comes on the back of several people reviewing. They say that the jumps are a little jarring, and that sometimes the context is a little hard to get at first.
Why are the Teams training together? With all the security problems going on in Konoha, not only does it allow Kakashi to go lead the ANBU teams, but it also means that the Clan heirs are in one place that can be secured relatively easily. Assuming that there are a couple of weeks break after each Class graduation, the Academy can be turned into a Genin training centre in this time.
Regarding Naruto turning up, despite being weak enough that Sakura could beat him in a Taijutsu fight right now, it comes back to one of Naruto's key psychological characteristics. In Canon, it is shown as being headstrong and refusing to give up in the face of adversity. In this story, the same characteristic is morphed into his refusal to be seen as weak, even if trying to prove he isn't will kill him if he isn't careful.
Regarding the investigation, the more stones that are unturned, the bigger the ripples of corruption spread. But, despite the massive damage this whole issue does to Konoha's pride and confidence, there is now the chance to start turning the tables. Kage ninja that are selling information will be offered a chance to work as double agents, or else.
Some of the foreign/domestic agents in Konoha will realise they're in trouble before Konoha can turn the tables, hence 7 of the Kage going into hiding before Kakashi's teams could strike (*COUGH* ROOT *COUGH*). But those that haven't, present as much an opportunity to Konoha's Intelligence department as they do a problem now.
A Question asked in the review last chapter, if Orochimaru had used Kusanagi. Yes he did, but given it's properties and the fact no one knows it's Orochimaru, the medics will just assume it is a 'normal' Chakra Blade coated with poison.
Big thanks to Treant Balewood, Eirik, Thomas Smith and Druid, for being supporters of my work. I'm still getting goosebumps when I write stuff like that. :P And if anyone wants to become a Fanling of mine (see previous chapter and/or search 'Defiasstone2' on Google and begins with P), I would be hugely grateful.
Anyway, let me know what you think boys and girls!
Defias Out!