It only took four years before the tension between Kumo and Konoha became too much for either side to continue playing at peace. The Miyazaki massacre, a total of 146 deaths; 76 Kumo Shinobi, 43 Konoha Shinobi, and 23 bystanders, and the worst was an Iwa Genin team with their Jounin leader. Ōhnoki was fuming in his office, Hiruzen knew that for a fact. After all his second son was that very Jounin leader, thankfully it was well known a Kumo team killed the man.
It wouldn't be a great war, but Iwa was sending 10,000 men to Kumogakure's capital. Word was that the Raikage was going alone to take down the force, arrogant, but in the realm of possibility. But all this was over nothing but a stretch of fields on the north border. He couldn't quite help his dark humor, 'At least the fields will be well fertilized by all the corpses.' Hiruzen sighed and put down the report, at the very least it was proof that the academy was doing its job. The academy was now a four year program, so across all of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) Konoha and all her satellite villages had churned out 243 Shinobi this half year. Ergo 81 new Genin teams to manage.
Less than the last half year, but the quality of Shinobi. Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at the jump this year made, he had reports of current Chunin struggling against a pair of newly minted Genin. The two's teamwork was said to be immaculate and they covered each other's flaws well. Yes he would be keeping his eyes on Izumo and Kotetsu. Along that line of thought, the class itself was a very tightly knit group, they had a bond that came with the struggle they faced. He had high hopes that this wasn't a fluke, and that this was the way things were going to be.
He wouldn't be able to tell until he personally knew someone before and after schooling. Thankfully he had just the person to test that way, little Naruto was laying prone under the coffee table practicing his Kanji. The blond child was a pleasure to be around as his sunny disposition and looks were coupled well with his excess of energy. He had a shrewd mind for a child and picked up the little details a great deal of the time. He got it from his father, and from his mother, the boy carried her determination and combined with that little bit of childish ego we all had in the beginning gave the boy a never say die attitude. People loved him, he had taken steps to assure that yes, but it really was Naruto that made it happen. Those steps however were a hassle to take.
It started when he had tracked down the perpetrator of the ghosted curriculum, he found Danzō at the end. The war hawk had been quite surprised all things told, as it was illegal he could have executed Danzō. However they knew each other too well for that, instead he had given Danzō a deal. Danzō now had free reign of a maximum of 250 B-rank shinobi and up for the much messier work even Anbu couldn't be seen doing, in return Danzō would tell him everything. Of course Hiruzen didn't fully trust his old friend so there were more than a few moles and information taps. Such a precaution had come in handy very quickly, Danzō had planned to release Naruto's Jinchuriki status.
That obviously couldn't be allowed, he had threatened Danzō but the man was stubborn and he knew even if Danzō said he wouldn't, he'd still go and do it. So he did something else, he told Danzō to wait until the boy started the academy. Danzō agreed to that as long as he could have his previous Ne (Root) operatives back from when the Yondaime shut him down. Once the agreement was made, Hiruzen thrust Naruto into the limelight, taking him as his adopted grandson. He hoped to show Naruto in a favorable enough light that his status wouldn't matter to anyone when the time came.
"Hey Jiji! You're thinking too much again." The boy spoke while frowning down at the paper with his tongue stuck out in a childish show of concentration. Hiruzen chuckled and picked up his hat from the desk, "Thank you Naruto, I'm glad to have you to keep me focused." The small child looked up with a megawatt grin as he finished his Kanji assignment. "You're welcome Jiji, hey I'm done with Ebisu-sensei's assignment can I go play at the park?" Hiruzen made a show of thinking as he glanced sidelong at the child.
"I don't know Naruto, Ebisu tells me you haven't been paying very much attention to him during sessions." It was a bit unfair to the child to say this as the boy already had exceptional handwriting, of course he wouldn't pay very much attention. The child shot out from under the coffee table in the middle of the room with fire in his cerulean eyes. "Oi Jiji you promised I could go play with my friends when I finished!" Hiruzen smiled at the boy, "I suppose I did, and what do we always keep?" The boy calmed slightly and with a smirk thumped his chest. "We always keep our promises!"
Hiruzen Looked over the boy and gave a nod at the Shinobi-esque ensemble. Black pants and running shoes with an earthy brown short sleeved shirt, the boy favored long sleeves but it was too hot for that. "Okay, be home before 6:30 for dinner okay?" The boy nodded and shot out of the office, Hiruzen waved a hand towards the door as he spoke. "Inu, follow him and try to get him to sense you." A silver haired man materialized from the shadows above and asked? "Have him sense me Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen nodded, "A training method from my days, localize your chakra presence to target him only. It helps with chakra sensing on his part, and is a chakra control exercise for you. Now go." The Anbu nodded and shimmered in place before vanishing from the eyes. Kakashi would look after the boy, not only because of personal investment but also because of his duties, the teenage prodigy needed a break but he wouldn't stop working. So minor jobs were the only way to get the boy to rest. Now to get back to work, there was trouble on the horizon. Kumo was at the center of it all, they had pissed off two of the great five, he would do his all to prepare.
(~)
The four (and three quarter!) year old Naruto ran down the minutely busy side street towards the Senju playground. The history behind it was what drew him to it more than the other playgrounds, it was named after one of the founding clans of Konohagakure. He had always wanted to be a Shinobi ever since he had begun to understand what it was that his clan did. He went by Uzumaki Naruto but he was the adopted Scion of the Sarutobi clan. He was basically the emergency heir in case Asuma-oji and little Konohamaru died.
He didn't think on that very often though, he was still his parent's child (though he didn't know their names). His Jiji had told him stories about them ever since he could understand what he was saying. His dad was an exceptional Shinobi with a great deal of charisma, though Jiji did say he was a bit daft with any interaction with girls. His Mom was a kick-ass Kunoichi, Jiji was honest when he said she sucked at Genjutsu but excelled at Nin, Tai, and especially Kenjutsu. He knew it would be easiest to follow in her footsteps given his surplus of chakra. But he wanted to also be good at something his dad was also amazing at, so he turned to his dad's apparent escapades in Fuinjutsu.
Fuinjutsu was his heritage, the stories his Jiji told him about the Uzumaki started with their tragic end at the hands of Kumo, Iwa, and Mizu. But as he travelled further back in time via his grandfather's voice he understood why they were hunted down. Fuinjutsu was capable of nearly anything one put their mind to from the mundane explosive tags, to blood tied security fields. Naruto just called it awesome to put it in fewer words. But back to the main point was that the Uzumaki were the number one experts on the subject, he was a half Uzumaki so he humbly decided to be the best in Konoha. Jiji had told him it would be hard and the old man hadn't been wrong about anything yet. So he would train extra hard so he could be the number one expert.
As he ran Naruto had to dodge to the side of a rather out of place cabbage cart in the middle of the alley. He was about to continue on before a familiar voice grabbed his attention. "Kaa-chan we're going to be late!" Naruto skidded to a stop and bolted towards the voice, "Kiba!" Said boy swiveled around to face the blonde. "Naruto! I thought you were going to be busy until really late." Naruto shook his head as he caught his breath for a few seconds. "I finished early, let's go! I want to beat Sasuke to the hill." Kiba nodded and tugged on his mother's wrist. The feral woman looked away from the woman she was talking with to her son.
The feral woman spoke with a surprisingly sweet tone despite her gravelly voice. "What do you need Kiba?" The shaggy haired boy bounced on his heels and pointed at one of his first (non Inuzuka) friends. "Can I just run to the park? Naruto will be with me so it will be safe!" Tsume gained a smirk at the relatively tall blond, "Safe with this runt?" Naruto pointed his finger out at the woman as he shouted, "Oi Tsume-oba do you want to fight!?" The woman barked a laugh and ruffled both children's hair, "Go on you tykes." Both kids began running from her towards the Nara compound. "KIBA!" The two boys stopped in place, "Go to the academy and pick up Hana when it gets out, got it?" "GOT IT KAA-CHAN!"
Tsume chuckled lightly as she shook her head. "They're too cute, anyways what were you saying Yoshino?" The Nara matriarch suppressed her uncomfortableness with a smile, "I was just talking about Miyazaki village." Tsume winced slightly, one of her clan was at the scene, Hiro was traumatized. "I hear the old fencesitter is going to war over his son." Yoshino tilted her head and nodded, "Shikaku is up in arms about it. He is looking at who will be the next Raikage." Tsume nodded, she would have to do the same. She'd been in too many battles with Shikaku to ever bet against his predictions.
"Ay, the Raikage's son. He went to to toe with Minato and has a good head on his shoulders. Easy choice." Tsume looked over at the familiar intruder of their conversation, "When did you get back Mikoto?" The woman looked at Tsume strangely, "It was only a quick trip to Takachiho, Fugaku had us move fast." Tsume nodded, "Did you know your kid is at Senju park?" Mikoto laughed openly at that. "Oh you should have seen Fugaku's face at that. First thing when we get back is we're told that Sasuke is there by Itachi."
Both women snorted at that, "So Shikaku thinks the Raikage will die too huh?" Mikoto asked as she shifted the bag she held to her other hand. "I don't anybody outside of Kaminari no kuni (land of lightning) thinks he will survive." Yoshino said softly, "I just hope this doesn't escalate any farther, or at least happens without us taking part." Both women agreed fully, they parted ways then with promises to talk later.
(~)
"Hey Sasuke." The black haired boy looked over at the blond. "Yeah Naruto?" "Did you hear the Sandaime Raikage died?" Sasuke couldn't help rolling his eyes, "I don't think anybody in the world hasn't heard yet idiot." Naruto frowned as he thought about that but nodded eventually. "To die of exhaustion instead of wounds after facing 10,000 Shinobi. He was crazy strong." Sasuke nodded as he played with the grass in front of him, attempting to tie a knot his brother had showed him. "He was a Kage idiot, of course he's strong."
"Do you think Jiji could have beaten him?" Sasuke stopped short at that. The two shared a small silence before the dark haired boy nodded shakily. "I don't know, but Hokage-sama is super strong. Yeah, yeah! Sandaime-sama would wipe the floor with him." Naruto nodded at that and layed back on the grassy hill with a suspiciously smug grin. "But I bet Yondaime-sama could take them both with his hands tied behind his back!" Sasuke nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah but the Nidaime could beat the Yondaime."
Naruto shook his head, "No way Sasuke, the Yondaime was way stronger. He killed a Bijū, Nidaime-sama is strong but even he couldn't do that. Heck even the Shodaime couldn't do it. He just trapped them in his Mokuton and gave them to the other villages." Sasuke looked skeptical at that so spoke his mind. "Nidaime-sama never faced a Bijū Naruto, I bet if he did he could do it too." Naruto shook his head once again, "Nah, I don't think so." Sasuke was about to argue back that yes the Nidaime was awesome and could of course kill a Bijū but Naruto spoke first.
"Hey Neji, Hinata! Over here." The blond shouted as he waved his hand in the air to alert the two Haha cousins. Both black haired children sauntered over with Neji's father as their guard. "Hello Naruto, Sasuke." The ever polite Neji spoke as she smiled at his two friends. "Took you awhile guys, what happened?" Hizashi took the liberty to speak for the children. "Kumo has sent and ambassador to Konoha to formally introduce the Yondaime Raikage. Hiashi must be there to welcome them, we were just seeing him off."
Sasuke gave a short nod and turned his attention back on the series of knots he was making. Naruto however didn't let the subject die, "Ooooh, is the new Raikage strong, is he evil, is he a Ninjutsu expert or a Taijutsu expert or maybe a Genju-." Hizashi smiled at the boy as Hinata giggled at the puffing blond. "Slow down Naruto, to answer your questions. Ay the name of the Raikage is a Nin-Taijutsu expert. Yes he is very strong, he has fought the Yondaime-Hokage multiple times. As to the question of whether or not he is 'evil' as you say, we are finding that out via the ambassador's words."
(~)
Hiashi stopped writing for a moment as he heard a noise outside in the courtyard. While not uncommon at all for someone to talk a walk at this time it was the lack of a chakra presence that alerted him. The Noble clan of Hyuuga had always been strict, but such a thing as curfew among Shinobi was ridiculous. So instead something else was implemented, after 10:00 pm it was strongly suggested that guests would broadcast their chakra. Instantly disproving that you were an infiltrator, after all what good was stealth when you basically yelled at the chakra sensitive. So Hiashi stood up from his home desk and activated his Byakugan.
Privacy among the Hyuuga clan was a non-entity, you saw under the clothes of your fellow classmates at first activation whether or not you wanted to. But there was courtesy, and intimate moments were done in the small hours of the morning when day broke. No one used the Byakugan at such hours, after all the main training exercise of the Hyuuga involved the night time. The Hyuuga compound held a total of 24 light sources, all in the guest house provided for the more important guests. All other Hyuuga facilities needed no such things, the Byakugan had no need of light to see. But even he needed to rest his eyes after having them activated for so long, the early morning was the perfect time to do so.
Hiashi quickly spotted the perpetrator, a short and stout man completely covered from head to neck in a tight armored clothing. He held a canvas bag over his right shoulder, the idea of it was novel. Trying to hide something from a Hyuuga with a cloth bag, laughable. Though the contents of said bag lit a fire under Hiashi as he bolted through the rice paper door to his office. He was a cold and distant man yes, as were all Hyuuga to those they don't know. But touch his daughters and there wasn't a Kage dead or alive able to stop him without killing him.
Hiashi sprinted towards the wall of his family's home and neatly leaped over the high wall. He spun in mid-air to latch himself upside-down on a rather large tree branch that hung over the wall. He dashed from branch to branch all while keeping his focus trained on the kidnapper. Hiashi quickly gained on the man as he was able to move faster, after all he wanted to grab attention Once suitably close he leaped forward to land on his left foot swiftly using his right to take the legs out from under the man. Using his right hand Hiashi plucked his eldest daughter from the man's lose grip and spun so his back faced the man. Hiashi bent his knees and back to arch towards the fallen man and using his left hand slammed two fingertips on to the back of his neck. An audible snap reverberated around the wooded grove as the Kumo ambassador's vertebrae became powder in his neck.
Already being turned from the man Hiashi walked away while the Anbu swarmed in. He quickly cut the bag open with a chakra blade and held his daughter close as he began the short walk to the compound. He noticed now that Hinata gave a small snore every so often, 'Forced sleep then, I'm glad it's not a paralysis.' An Anbu strolled up beside him, the Kunoichi's hair was a rather bright purple. "Hiashi-sama, Hokage-sama wishes to speak to you as soon as you attend to Hinata-sama." Hiashi gave a controlled nod as he fastened his pace, he would also inform the elders before hurrying off to meet the Sandaime.
(~)
The Konoha council-room was a cacophony of noise as the more outspoken among them yelled out what they thought should be done. Hiruzen let it wash over him, picking out the small pieces of advice that could be gleaned from the words. But it was futile to scream about, the Yondaime Raikage had them right where he wanted them. Upon inspection it was learned that the Kumo ambassador had somehow escaped the monitored hotel he stayed at without notice. That in and of itself was toeing the line of legality of contract Shinobi guests had to sign.
The man had then gone on a merry jaunt through the silent Chunin break room, not a file in the place was still there. Last and certainly the worst was the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga Scion Hinata. He didn't understand why they did it at first, Kumo had already dug a deep enough grave for itself, why would they then do this? The Raikage had then sent a message via the near instant communication highway set up by Amegakure. Hanzo Hattori was thinking ahead when he made it, Ame had stations all across the world that Shinobi delivered to each other to create a fast track message system. It was well known the price for a speedy delivery was the knowledge they were sending.
The Raikage's words were simple, in layman's terms it read. 'The ambassador was on standing orders to communicate my ascension to the Raikage title. Jounin Mutsuo Toi's actions were not ordered and Kumo will not take responsibility.' The man also had the gall to ask for compensation for the loss, with all out war as the alternative. They wanted the perpetrator, ergo they wanted the Hyuuga clan head.
Tsume, ever the outspoken one during these stuffy meetings shouted out what she thought. "We can't just let this fucker walk all over us like this." Hiruzen sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Tsume what would you have me do? Go to war over petty blackmail? He has our hands bound behind our backs." Tsume huffed and sagged into her chair. The aged Kage looked up at the dark shadowed masks dotted around ceiling. Hiashi took the time to speak. "He only asked for the killer, does he truly know who did the act?"
Hiruzen nodded slowly, "Yes, he listed your name specifically in the message." Hiruzen held up his hand to dispel the shouting that was sure to start. "The leak has fled the village, we believe that this was his only purpose." Hiashi scowled as he glared into empty space. The room was silent as they waited for their Kage to speak his decree. "Call the bluff Hiruzen." Every pair of eyes swing over to Danzō when he spoke.
Hiruzen raised a grey brow at his old teammate, 'Danzō usually keeps quiet during these meetings. What are you thinking?' The grizzled war hawk took a moment to look around at the assembled Shinobi. "To those not in the know, it was a near hostile succession." That raised a few brows, not just because of the information but just who was sharing it. Danzō trained his remaining eye onto the Kage sitting a few seats away. "The Sandaime Raikage passed on the title before he left for his final battle. The trouble is that no one but the new Yondaime heard him speak those words. Even if Kumo's war council was considering him a candidate, he had already declared himself Raikage to the Daimyo before they had agreed."
Shikaku looked somewhat pleased by the news. "They have a disjointed succession. Would the war council even support him if he tried to declare war on us?" The question went up with a smirk as Shikaku thought about the circumstances. Hiruzen himself gained a rather large smile at the news, it looked like giving Danzō Ne back was already paying dividends. "With that bit of knowledge this has become a much easier decision. We will ignore the Raikage's demands. This is your Kage's decree. Dismissed."
(~)
This fanfiction is something of a cross between my desires for a Harry Potter fanfic and a Naruto fic. I want to have the focus on the academy like I would Hogwarts classes, people focus very heavily on the story after the academy that they show very little development of characters through that time period. I wanted to see how it would go if I focused very heavily on the academy while showing all the behind the scenes with the adults. I can only hope it turns out as well as I seem to think it will.
NaruHinaf: Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to review. I hope to be able to continue to deliver work on a fairly loose schedule so your wish for more shall come true.
