Authors Note:
Hello everyone, so I am a day late in posting this chapter, however I will always post by midnight on Tuesday. The only times I wont post on that day every week is if emergencies or a change in my work schedule happens. I wanted to thank you all for your interest in the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. I will answer reviews in this section or even a Q and A every so often.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Final Fantasy, or anything else. I thought up these Original characters to work in any setting. They are only modified for the universe they are in.
Chapter 2: Revelation and meetings
Last time:
"Hokage-sama, as I am sure you have heard, Kiri is in the middle of a civil war." Gengetsu started and continued when he saw the Hokage nod, "However that is not the truth of the matter. It is not merely a civil war, but rather a blood-line purge." Gengetsu let the bomb drop and saw the shocked and horrified look appear on the aged Hokage's face.
Currently:
"What?!" Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, once revered as not only God of the Shinobi and as the Professor, was at a loss of words. How could they try to start genocide on the innocent? There was so many logical flaws that he wanted to laugh, thinking the man in front of him was joking. However he knew otherwise, the man before him wouldn't have lead his people here for anything less than a life or death situation. So organizing his questions he would move to solve this. "How did this come about? Why would they do this?" He asked hoping for a concise answer.
"Three and a half years ago, a war seeking clan invaded Kiri and started a revolution. Although probably almost all of the Kaguya clan perished, the people of the hidden mist village were resentful and mistrustful of those who had kekki genkai. They even held the same hate for those who had hiden and even regular clans. The villagers, civilians and shinobi alike treated us like we were criminals and tensions rose." Gengetsu started explaining, sighing at the memories.
He defended the civilians and shinobi along with the Ringo family and the other clans. However it changed nothing, and to make matters worse Shingetsu had taken his first life when a stray kaguya member found their way into the Hozuki compound. His son had picked up the sword and struck before the man knew what was going on, his training and the grown Kaguya clan man had underestimated the four year old.. Though that was no surprise, his son was considered a prodigy with his sword, having been a natural with a sword at four years old. Just a year younger than most in the mist when they began kenjutsu training.
Coming back to present, Gengetsu decided to continue explaining the situation saying, "They treated us like freaks, calling us monsters and even demons. The Mizukage, had been able to keep the peace, barely. However one day he called for an announcement and then in front of our very eyes we saw him declare that we were banished from the mist and wouldn't protect us anymore." He finished and squeezed Katsumi's hand to comfort her, hoping that despite these years of anguish that they could find peace.
The reactions to the story varied, Shingetsu had known the Mizukage and had actually talked with him shortly beforehand. Shingetsu was surprised from the announcement because when they had spoken the Mizukage was friendly. Hikari was thinking back to three years ago when she saw Shingetsu talking with their young leader and even discussed different books they had read together. She was shocked that it turned out this way and felt furious at the betrayal her best friend took. They had always been close and she would provide comfort for him. Meanwhile the other adults who remembered all this, they knew after this they would eventually have to explain the events to the younger kids among their children's generation.
Hiruzen though, he was severely confused and even more than that he was appalled by the turn of events. 'Just because they have kekki genkai, that makes them evil? That makes no sense, although thinking about it...the nation lost not only their sense of safety, as well as loved ones. Sometimes it can breed irrational hate and aggression.' Hiruzen thought as a blond haired,blue eyed whiskered face popped into his mind, smiling despite the treatment he endured. He considered deeply and carefully what to do about not only the bloodline purge, but also the refugees. 'I do not know how things got this way, however they can find sanctuary here. I will need to brief the council, however as hokage I alone have the final word.' Hiruzen thought wearily, the council was just his advisors and sometimes the clan heads or civilians.
The clan heads would only be involved in discussions that directly impacted the shinobi of the village or their clans, they had no power and would offer advice. He even had a group of representatives for the civilians, called the civilian council. They were only ever brought in for matters that directly impact the non-shinobi villagers, they also had no power. However unlike the clan heads making the shinobi council, the civilians would seek to find a foot hold to be involved in major discussions to create change in their own twisted plans. They had already achieved a few things, however they knew they couldn't move openly as of yet..
"Is there anything else you can tell me, anything that you might not believe to be consequential?" Hiruzen asked jotting down some notes and questions to bring up. However to his surprise, without any prompting Shingetsu stepped forward to report.
"Hokage-sama, I was the one who spent time with Kagura-sama, the Yondaime Mizukage before he announced his support of the purge." The boy stated to the kage's shock, he had expected one of the parents or even another adult clan member to have more detailed knowledge, however the young Hozuki seemingly knew the most about the Mizukage. Shingetsu took a breath and continued saying, "Yagura-sama, seemed exasperated with dealing with the tension in his village and wanted to mend the wound. However, a few days later he seemed over taken by hate for anyone with kekki genkai or even hiden. Either he had been hiding his real feelings or intentions to our side, or..." Shingetsu trailed off softly. The others in the room looking at him in concern.
"Or?" Hiruzen gently prodded, he could see the boy had been hurt by the betrayal of his leader, but he also knew that they needed to get all the information they had. If for no other reason then to understand and put together a strategy for dealing with this conflict.
Shingetsu wanted nothing more than to get this over with, everything since the announcement had been pure hell. There were indeed good moments, however he barely had time to accept his first kill before being sentenced to death due to the purge. The training from his clan and even his second family outside of the clan and friends, had been hellish as well. During the five years they spent trapped there in perpetual battle and the tense periods of down time had frayed his nerves. The things they had to do to survive, all the death and the blood on their hands. He could feel himself down spiraling and zoning out and before he could, he felt some one squeezing his hand.
Shocked back into reality, he saw Hikari's concerned expression, he smiled softly letting her know he was ok and in thanks for helping. Turning back to the Hokage and ignoring everything else, he dug deep to steel his resolve. He continued by saying, "I think he was being controlled some how. I know that sounds rather...irrational. However, just days before he was expressing hope for change and peace. Then he was advocating for the eradication of the very people he wanted to save? That doesn't sound like it was a natural development."
His words seemed to cause the others to be more concerned about the boy. It was obvious he believed Kagura to be a good person underneath it all. However he was also betrayed and hurting, desperately clinging to anything that would prove that he wasn't just blind. However they were intrigued by his theory and they all could agree that it was strange at the very least. However there was no proof and those that had been in the village during those tense days didn't know if they could believe it. Hikari wanted to support Shingetsu in his belief, wanted him to be right that some one he trusted was not pure evil.
For the moment Hiruzen decided to figure it out later, he was interested in and sorting out the cause. However he knew they could discuss this later, for now he needed to know the make up of the refugees of Kiri. How many different clans had come together, what did they intend to do now? They could stay here, provided they take an oath and agreed to be kept under surveillance for a period of time. However he couldn't have them sleeping on the streets and the hotels wouldn't be advisable either, considering they probably barely escaped with what they had with them. No he wanted to figure out this matter first and then they could sort out the truth of the purge.
So taking a deep breath, Hiruzen turned to Gengetsu since he was the representative of the refugees and said, "We will have time to sort out the truth later. However for now let's focus on the current situation." he paused for a moment considering his next words. He continued after taking a breath by asking, "Gengetsu-san, can you please tell me about your group of refugees and the demographics of said group?"
Gengetsu nodded and took a moment to think, there had been a lot of refugees that came with them. They were certainly 200 people they smuggled out and they were resting in a nearby training ground, protected by anbu. He wanted to get things sorted and find a place they could all rest and feel safe for the first time in months. Taking a breath he said, "Hokage-sama, there are over 200 of us. There are well over a hundred Hozuki, eight from the Ringo family, several small families and clans that held kekki genkai such as boil release."
Nodding Hiruzen considered what to do and asked the leader, "How should we resolve this? You could find apartments or houses in the residential sector of the village. I am sure some of the clans could even get loans for compounds if they so choose."
"Actually Hokage-sama, I have an idea on how to settle this." Gengetsu said after thinking it over for a few moments. He continued by saying, "I think that all us, refugees, would like to stay together. If we could buy some land near one of the clans to build a compound allowing for the size of our group, that would be best. After all, we spent so much time living and fighting together, we aren't just bonded by the situation anymore, we have become much more than friends. All of the families and clans have become in a sense a family." Gengetsu smiled when he saw Katsumi, his wife, and Raiden, his long time friend nod in support of his idea. In fact not only did they nod, but Hikari smiled and Tsunade and Jiraiya gave their support as well. The only one who seemingly didn't react was Shingetsu, who was trying to do some simple calculations in his head and putting together ideas to make sure the compound was comfortable for every one.
Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe as he thought on this proposal. As he made up his mind, he exhaled and smiled, saying "Yes, that's a fine idea. Well let's take a look at a property map of the village and figure this out."
Hours later Gengetsu and the others stood waiting in the hallway smiling and discussing in hushed whispers what they would do after they settled in. They were waiting for the two sannin who was in the office having a conversation with the Hokage. Hiruzen staring at his students and decided to get the truth of their presence now. After taking another drag from he asked, "Tsunade-chan, why are you here? You wouldn't have returned unless it was extremely important, weren't those your words?"
Tsunade sighed and looked at her sensei with a pained look and said, "Yes, unfortunately I still had some grieving to do. You see I'm here because Jiraiya had brought Shingetsu-kun to me. He was badly injured as were many of the others." Tsunade looked down in disappointment at her self, before sighing and continuing by saying, "At first I decided to refuse, but then when they had started walking away, Hikari-chan pleaded for my help. This didn't really sway me, but Shizune started healing them, it was then Jiraiya had approached me and told me something that shifted my entire world upside down."
Hiruzen wasn't shocked that she didn't help as Jiraiya mentioned it to him on a status update on Tsunade. He was concerned about her, she had lost so much in her life. First her grandfather, then her uncle and grand mother. Years later it would continue with losing her beloved younger brother and then years later with her lover Dan. She had left the village and stopped practicing medicine, the only fact that kept her from spiraling out of control was that her clan was still alive in Konoha. While concerned he turned to Jiraiya and asked, "What did you say to her? How did you get her to not only help, but to return to the village?"
Jiraiya looked from Tsunade to his sensei and said, "It was pretty easy with the intel I had on the refugees. You see the fact that her clan needed her in the village did help as it was still family, however it was when she learned of closer family in the village as well as some of the refugees were actually Uzumaki that fled from Uzushiogakure during the attack." After he finished he heard something clatter on the Hokage's desk. He saw his sensei dropped his pipe, his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped in shock.
"Wait, if they survived why didn't they come to Konoha or at the very least reach out?" Hiruzen asked after a moment. Before either could answer he continued, "Also why would they go with one of the nations that had attacked them? Kiri would have killed them, why would they risk that?"
Jiraiya sighed and rubbed the back of his head in exasperation, before saying "Well...They thought we had abandoned them to die. As for Kiri, we found out that Kiri hadn't actually attacked. Instead it was disguised shinobi in outfits provided to them by rogue Kiri ninja. From what they had explained to me, they were going to reach out but the last war prevented that and then with the purge they didn't have time."
"That is quite sad to hear, I just wish we could have done more for our old friends." Hiruzen said and looked down in shame. During the attack on Uzushiogakure, they were dealing with pressure from Iwagakure, the hidden stone village. The following war was devastating to all parties involved and with the supposed eradication of the Uzumaki clan, the wounds ran deep. Now they had a chance to help and once again he thought of a blonde haired boy and knew that this was his chance to help him once and for all. His confidence rising, he said, "We will help them and the other refugees, I entrust the two of you to help them with anything they need. I will also send along some of my own clan members and others that can help build the compound we have discussed. As for the cost, I am going to lower all costs they need to pay. These people have suffered enough and since the Uzumaki are residing together with them then we shall provide compensation for our old and new allies."
His two students could only smile and nod, agreeing with the gesture, however they would also help not only with construction and integration, but with the cost as well. Besides they had a special commitment with this new venture. Though Tsunade wouldn't live in the compound she would give them the extra land by the Senju compound. Jiraiya on the other hand would seek out Naruto and bring him to the new compound after discussing who he was and getting to know the boy. The three continued their conversation for another hour and a half, before the two sannin left and lead their charges back to the others. No matter what happened now Konoha and the world were in for major changes.
It was on the way back to training ground four that Shingetsu stopped and turned towards a tree with a deadpan look on his face before saying, "I can sense you, come out and please explain why you are following us."
This shocked Hikari, but not the others, mainly since Hikari had been deep in thought about how things would change now that they could relax a bit and integrate into the village and their new life. However from the cover of the tree two kids walked out, one a blue eyed blonde boy with spiky hair and the other a lavender eyed girl with dark blue hair. They also had been clearly shocked, even though they didn't know that even Naruto didn't know Hinata had been there. He had rather excitedly followed the refugees and he wanted to meet the only other people that didn't glare at him and acknowledged his existence.
"How did you know we were there?" Naruto asked, with Hinata nodding her head in agreement. Once again missing out on the fact that Naruto had ignored being followed.
"I could sense you, while you have a good grasp on stealth, but I could sense your chakra." Shingetsu explained still cautious around them, despite also feeling he could trust these two. His words however did shock Naruto and Hinata, as well as the others with him. They never knew he was a sensor type. It did make sense though when those that had been around him thought about how he didn't flinch or react to seemingly random things occurring around them. He brought everyone back by clearing his throat before asking, " Who are you two and why are you following us?"
The blonde stepped forward and exclaimed, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, future hokage!". However Naruto's words shocked the group, except Jiraiya who smiled at the boy. He meant to go looking for him later, but this opportunity was just too good to pass up. Tsunade was looking the boy over and noticed how familiar he looked, then looked at Jiraiya questioningly since she felt like she was left out on important information. Gengetsu and his group was shocked and then despite wanting proof before letting go that claim, they would ask him once things calmed down. Hikari looked at the boy then at her best friend repeatedly fearing this would some how get out of control.
Hinata stepped forward and bowed slightly, "I-I am Hinata Hyuga, I-I am s-so sorry. I was curious and wanted to meet y-you, but I-I am rather shy" she explained while blushing slightly, feeling embarrassed at the way the situation ended up.
"It's ok Hinata-san, and what about you Naruto-san?" Hikari asked while stepping up beside Shingetsu.
"More than anything I wanted to meet you two and ask, why did you smile at me?" Naruto asked, not used to anything besides being ignored and spoken about in whispers that he could hear.
"It's because you two weren't judging us." Shingetsu explained, this confused Naruto, but the others understood. Before Naruto could ask for an explanation Shingetsu smiled slightly before saying, "True you were curious about us, but the other people seemed to be spreading rumors almost the instant they saw us. Instead you followed us to the Hokage Tower and then all the way out here to get to know us? If that is true than I would be glad to meet you Naruto-san".
Naruto smiled, he was getting to meet people and possibly make friends. His joy only increased when he saw the smiles on the adults faces, it seemed he finally found some acceptance outside of the Hokage and a few others including Hinata, unbeknownst to Naruto.
Katsumi decided to take charge of the situation now, and approached the four kids with a gentle smile on her face. She looked at them and said, "Hello Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan, my name is Katsumi Hozuki. The man with green eyes and brown hair is my husband Gengetsu and this," she gestures first from Gengetsu then to her son. She then continued by saying, "This is Shingetsu-kun, my son with his best friend Hikari-chan. Her father the other man behind me with brown hair and eyes, is her father Raiden Ringo. The man with the white hair is Jiraiya the Toad Sage and next time him is Tsunade Senju."
Katsumi finished introducing as said people either nodded or bowed to the two. Katsumi then said, "If you two want to get to know Shingetsu-kun and Hikari-chan, then you should come with us. We are going to meet up with the others who came with us, I am sure they would love to meet you both." Katsumi said and although her soft and kind voice put the kids at east, those men who knew the tone she was using, knew that if this was some one claiming to be something they weren't and trying to drag the Uzumaki name in the mud, then people would pay. Though she wouldn't hurt Naruto. Katsumi would try to avoid that at all costs, though sometimes in this profession, she didn't have a choice.
Naruto nodded his head quickly as did Hinata and walked up to Hikari and Shingetsu, Katsumi rejoined the rest of the adults and held a quiet conversation and started walking. The kids were following behind them talking.
"Really, you guys are the same age as us?" asked Naruto who like Hinata was excited at the possibility of learning more about their new friends. After Shingetsu nodded, Naruto asked, "What do the two of you like to do for fun?"
Hikari smiled, "Well, we train a lot in many different areas. However other than training, Shingetsu likes to cook and we both enjoy spending time together" she answered for Shingetsu, who fell into the old habit with Hikari of trading sentences. Though he thought she gave a very simplified answer, partially because she didn't really list anything she enjoyed.
"Training? A-are the two of you tr-training to be shinobi?" Hinata asked while looking at Hikari.
"Yes, though we have been training quite differently than most do. You see we train with our families together, they teach us various things. From taijutsu and weapon training to basic ninjutsu to family specialty jutsu." Shingetsu explained taking the question most likely aimed at Hikari, who smiled and nodded to Hinata.
Naruto was taken back by this, he was excited to meet another person aspiring to be a ninja, but again he met some one who had a family. Something he always wanted, he really wanted to train with his new friends even more than before. The thought struck him and he decided to ask, "Would it be alright if I joined you for training?"
Hikari and Shingetsu traded looks before he shrugged and she smiles nodding her head and said, "Sure, you can as well if you want Hinata-san. We would love to train with you both.". However, when she wasn't looking Shingetsu looked at her wondering what she was doing, while he wanted to train with them both he felt that there was something about the subtext of the answer.
However he couldn't ponder about it as Hinata smiled and said, "I-I would love t-to. Th-though I would ha-have to ask m-my father." That thought would have filled Hinata with dread, but she seemingly made two new friends and could spend time with Naruto which to her was an amazing opportunity that she just couldn't turn down.
"Would you two like to be our friends? I just realized we never asked." Shingetsu spoke up realizing that they indeed just kind of fell into thinking and feeling like they had made friends, still he was cautiously optimistic.
"Y-you really want to be friends?" Naruto asked shocked, while he did know they weren't from here, he did not know if they wanted to be friends and was too nervous to ask.
"Of course, we would be happy to call you both our friends." Hikari said smiling at Naruto and Hinata.
"Y-yes I would like to be friends with all of you...if you want" Hinata answered, she was hopeful that they all could become lifelong friends.
"I would too," Naruto said, he was excited because he had no one and now he had at least three friends. He only hoped they would remain his friends, he knew the villagers would tell them that it would be best to avoid him. He didn't know why his life was like this and it hurt to know that everyone seemed to despise him. However, he could only hope that things would be different this time.
Hearing the kids, the adults smiled and continued leading the group to the training grounds. The deal they worked out with Hiruzen was that they would camp out on this training ground until their new home was built. As they saw their friends and family in the distance, they each hoped that the future would get better for all of them.
I finally got the second chapter typed out. So we learned about the purge in this chapter as well as some theories to why it happened. Then we learned that two hundred refugees came to Konoha, please pause and hold that thought for a moment. Next we learned that Tsunade was brought out of her spiral by family and some other reasons yet revealed. In the next chapter we get to see Naruto meet his family and learn the truth of his clan. Then a slight time skip to the compound being completed and start the academy mini arc, thus completing the introduction mini arc. I want to show that when we reach into when the cannon started that things are majorly different already. For starters, there will be a lot more graduates as we realize that Konoha is a major power in the Elemental Nations and that Iruka is not the only teacher in the academy. Also all the characters in Iruka's classroom will be named, though they will fade into the background with occasional appearances.
Now as for the large number of refugees, I was contemplating the amount of people displaced by the purge and felt that since the country was split in half, there were bound to be several groups that would just leave. Thus they came with Gengetsu and his group, also the Uzumaki surviving the invasion. When I thought about Uzushiogakure, I felt we missed out on a great opportunity with the Uzumaki in cannon, don't worry though. The story wont be flooded by them, they are still just background in the story, with plenty of chances to shine though. We also wont be over powering the Uchiha and what happened to the Senju was never mentioned in cannon. Just that Tsunade was the last one. In this story, there are still a good bit of Senju remaining and now we get a reunion of two clans, Naruto will have a family and we get to see more of these wasted opportunities from cannon. Please bear with me as the introduction arc is in full swing.