Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Author's Note: It's been a long while huh? Gomen...Well here's the new chapter!
I wrote this listening to 'Tune the Rainbow', by Sakamoto Maaya, listen to it too!
Chapter 12: Spoiled and Unspoiled
It was just another ordinary day, if there was an ordinary in a ninja village…
'Damn these never ending paperwork! I shouldn't have made that promise with you Naruto…' the Hokage's thoughts dwell on the name she just reminded herself of.
For a moment she glanced at the photo of the once hyper-active blonde genin she remembered as her 'brother'. Her eyes took the shade of sadness as she stretched her face with both her palms.
"Hokage-sama!" an ANBU appeared without warning in front of her.
"What?" she said in a tone of annoyance for being interrupted of her thoughts.
"We have found…'something' that we think you should see…" the ANBU's voice laced with uncertainty.
"What is it?" she said not liking the tone of the ANBU.
"Captain said that you should see it personally" the ANBU said respectfully noticing the Hokage's changed expression.
"Well, it better be worth all this commotion" she lied. The truth is she would gladly go anywhere that doesn't involve paperwork; she would jump to any opportunity to play hooky.
A few minutes later, in the far reaches of Konoha…
"You didn't say it was this far!" the Hokage bellowed at the ANBU who escorted her.
"Be patient,we're almost there…" he said with a tone of annoyance.
Tsunade was surprised that this ANBU had the guts top use that kind of tone with her. But nevertheless, she will not back down from a mere ANBU.
"What did you say!?" she shouted at him.
"Gomenasai, Hokage-sama…" he apologized but continued "…sometimes you're just too annoying…"
Tsunade snapped. She could feel her veins throbbing in her forehead and her blood boil. She was just about to kill the ANBU with her powerful punch when he declared,
"We're here"
Tsunade looked around see that they were in the far reaches of Konoha. She was even wondering if she was still in Konoha. She noticed there were several ANBU in the area; it was a small forest clearing.
"This way" her escort led her past several ANBU which she noticed were inspecting the ground and examining trees; she made a note to check Konoha ANBU squad's mental health after this.
"Hokage-sama" an ANBU with a hawk mask bowed to her; she deduced that this must be the leader.
"What did you find?" she asked with a hint of curiosity.
"That," the ANBU said as he pointed at something on the ground a few meters away from them.
Tsunade walked closer to get a clearer view, but stopped as she smelled the putrid odor of decaying flesh. From where she was she could make out that it was a piece of large meat which was savagely chopped.
"What is it? Pig?" she asked the ANBU who was a few steps behind her.
"Human" the ANBU answered which made Tsunade's eyes widen.
"Human?" she asked again to know if she heard him right.
"Hai, he/she has been dead for a month—" he handed her a medical report "—our squad medic-nin did an autopsy, also—"handing her a piece of plastic which was labeled evidence; in it was a piece of paper "we found that with the corpse"
Tsunade looked at the paper. There were badly written words on it and some parts were unreadable due to blood smudges. The read the part which could be read; "—sixteen unspoiled meat and sixteen spoiled ones—"'what does that mean?' she thought as she eyed the letter if there was any other clue other than readable part.
"What are your other findings?" she asked the ANBU captain curious to see if he has other things to show.
"Yes, this—"he said handing Tsunade a necklace which another ANBU gave to him.
"!!" she stared at the said item inside the plastic container wide eyed. She quickly snatched the necklace off of his hands which earned her a full attention from the ANBU in the area. She opened the plastic and took out the necklace, seeing this—
"Hokage-sama! That's evidence, you can't just—"he tried scolding her but not loosing the respect in his tone.
"Quiet!" she cut him off "This belongs to me…"
When she said that some ANBU exchange glances.
"Hokage-sama, that necklace belongs to you?" he asked her with confusion.
"I gave it to my brother…" she said almost a whisper.
The ANBU captain knew of the Tsunade the Sannin's personal history. He read it in one of the ANBU's files. What confused him was that Tsunade's brother died a long time ago…
"Then the murderer might have stolen it a long time ago when—"
"No! I meant Uzumaki Naruto!" she cut him off again.
The ANBU were surprised to say the least; when did the demon child become a relative of the Hokage?
"Hokage-sama? Uzumaki Naruto was your brother?" he asked even more confused.
"Idiot! I didn't mean it literally!" she yelled at him "Take all evidence you can find and document it! I want a full investigation as to who this body belongs to and who killed him! Also do not, I repeat, DO NOT mention this necklace in any of your filed documents and investigation reports, understand!?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the ANBU leader complied not even trying to second guess the Hokage.
Amidst all this an ANBU disappeared from their view without them noticing…
A few minutes later…
Somewhere in Konoha…
"They have found something that might destroy our plans…" an ANBU said kneeling to the person in sitting in front of him.
"Danzou-sama?" he asked the person who was staring at the lovely view of Konoha on his patio.
"Let them be…" Danzou spoke at last.
"But—"
"Beautiful isn't it?" Danzou cut him off with a question which made the ANBU look up to him.
"Konoha is a beautiful village. So many dreams, so many ambitions, so many talents wasted by this so called peace" he paused for a while admiring the view "Peace! Bah! Konoha used to have so much power to make the other countries' shake in fear… but now, it's nothing but shell of its former self. The Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime and Yondaime were all cowards…Even the Godaime is following in their footsteps…Stupid woman…"
"Danzou-sama…"
"You, my son, I will put you to power…once the agreement with Orochimaru is finished, Akatsuki will kill him. And then, Konoha will be ours…"
"Hai, Danzou-sama" he bowed and was about to turn to leave…
"Kazuna, never forget what 'Ne' stands for…" he said finally looking at the retreating shadow of his son.
"Hai, Otousama" he uttered as he disappeared into the shadows.
In Orochimaru's lair…
"It is still incomplete but it shows the entirety of Konoha's territory, its weak points and strong points as well as a detailed document of all of Konoha's jutsu and family bloodlines. The copy also has all the names and whereabouts of Konoha's council members and each of their significance to Konoha"
"So you're saying Naruto-kun that if we are to assassinate all these old men Konoha will be in shambles? But you forget Naruto-kun, the Hokage is still alive" Kabuto said fixing his glasses.
"I think Orochimaru-dono will be enough for that task" Naruto said slyly.
"I see. Tsunade is no push-over but I can take care of her and Jiraiya together" Orochimaru said as he handed the scroll to Kabuto "What about you Naruto-kun? Want to join in on the fun?" licking his lips maliciously.
"Konoha is no place for me, neither with nor against them" he replied.
"I see…that's too bad Naruto-kun, I was hoping to see how much you have faired in only a few months with Itachi-kun" eyeing the blonde with morbid curiosity.
"Itachi? You mean that bastard weasel?" he said with a smirk
"Hm, you speak with such familiarity already Naruto-kun. It seems you have already befriended the Uchiha murderer" Kabuto stated a matter of factly.
"Befriended?" Naruto's face scowled "A person who kills his own family is trash!"
"Careful with the bursts of emotions Naruto-kun, some might say you're a hypocrite" Kabuto smirked.
"Konoha is a different story" he said flatly.
"Oh? How so?" Kabuto asked with curiosity.
"Konoha has never been my family..." Naruto said through clenched fists.
"Oh? What of Tsunade? Jiraiya? and all your other 'friends'?" Orochimaru asked emphasizing on the friend part.
"..." Naruto couldn't answer.
"That's enough..." a voice from the shadows spoke; immediately Kabuto threw a kunai towards the source of the voice only to have it fall to the floor with a clatter.
Naruto looked to the shadows and heaved a sigh, "What are you doing here, Otooji?"
"I'm here to tell you that you still have to return to Konoha..." the voice said with a hint of sadness and worry.
At the Hokage Tower...a week later.
Tsunade had just arrived after another sleepless night...it has been a week after that piece of meat was found, really troubling her and still she couldn't understand how this necklace could have been there...unless...'Naruto!'
She was about to walk through the doors of her office when...
"Hokage-sama, Hatake-san and the rest have arrived..." an ANBU informed her.
Hokage was surprised, she thought to map out an entire area it would take a much longer time, but thier team arrived earlier than expected. She walked into the office and lo and behold there they were...so annoying...she doesn't have time for this right now...
"Hokage-sama!" Kakashi declared her arrival with his sheepish grin.
As Tsunade sat down she noticed that it was a perfect attendance, "I'm glad you all made it out safely". Truth be told she really thought this Kujo guy was really going to betray them, but here he was grinning evilly.
"You have come to give a report?" Tsunade wanting to end this quickly.
"Yes, our reports will be separate since there were eight teams of two. So let me start, my partner was Sasuke..."
Kakashi proceeded to tell them everything that he and Sasuke went through including thier encounter with an Onikishi...
Flashback-
'Damn it' Kakashi was running out of chakra and he could only sustain the Sharingan for so long. Inspite of his best efforts, his opponent seems to getting alot stronger than before.
"Rasengan!" Kakashi tried to use his most recent acquisition, spending all his chakra on this last strike.
Kakashi, with a burst of speed, planted a powerful strike with his knee to the demon's chin, then spun around in mid air using his other foot to kick the demon's belly stopping it from flying off the ground. As soon as his other foot reached the ground, he use his other hand to create another variation of his Chidori, 'Chidori Ryou', a sudden jolt of electricity,he cut through the demon's neck but failed to sever it, unleashing the Rasengan on it's face, the neck was no longer strong enough to support it's head causing it to break and the head flying through to the forest floor.
Sasuke then arrived and helped the injured Kakashi to his feet.
End Flashback-
Sasuke was amazed that Kakashi can pull off the Rasengan, he wasn't there to see it but having to hear it from him made him a little bit jealous...'...and he has Mangekyou...'
"That's it?" Tsunade asked playing with the pen on her table looking extremely bored...
"Well, Sakura will enlighten you on the second part..." Kakashi said with uncertainty.
"Well..." Sakura started to tell her everything that happened, including the part about the Biju, hearing this Tsunade snapped the pen into two causing the others to flinch into attention.
"I see...It may have been possible that Akatsuki were in that area..." Tsunade stated a matter of factly.
Sakura told her that unfortunately the biju disappeared when they came back along with Kakashi, whom they sought out.
"Ok, Gai...?" Tsunade somehow knew that she would regret asking...so...
"YOSH! WE-" he started with burst of fire when...
"Good job, Gai! That's enough!" Tsunade cut him off...Tsunade swore she heard the others sigh in relief.
"Noooo...The Hokage is also affected with my eternal rival's cool and hip ways!!!" Gai started to protest when Tsunade punched him square in the face sending him flying through the room.
Regaining her composure, the Hokage shifted her gaze to the last partners there. She noticed that ever since they got there Ino was really quiet, and that's not normal for her.
"Now you two..."
"In Yamanaka-san's stead let me do all the talking" Kujo declared smiling, as others would call it, 'evilly'.
He told them everything that happened...well, if you call lies everything..."...and so we came upon Orochimaru's lair."
"So is that how you mapped out Orochimaru's dwelling, Ino?" Tsunade asked the somewhat unattentive blonde.
"Ino?" Tsunade asked again. at this Sakura pinched Ino on the arm.
"Ow!, what?" Ino asked somewhat startled.
"As I have told you, Yamanaka-san is not herself after witnessing all the brutality Orochimaru's men had done." Kujo stated flatly, he didn't notice that Ino was looking at him with an unreadable worry on her face. Everyone on the other hand noticed this, and were confused.
"Ok, you're all dismissed except for you..." she said pointing at Ino.
As soon as the others were gone..."Now tell me, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Ano...gomen, Hokage-sama..." that all she said as she bursted out of the room crying, shocking Tsunade.
"What the hell..."
In Iwagakure...
"It's here, yeah..." one of the shadows perched on a gigantic rock in some part of town said.
"Deidara-senpai, the Hachibi will be powerful just like what Orochimaru-dono said, you think we can take it?" another shadow spoke.
"Of course, I don't care if he's the Tsuchikage!"
In the outskirts of Kirigakure...
Dozens of shinobi lay dead on the ground...
"I never thought I'd come back to this place" Kisame said as he started to wrap his Samehada with bandages again.
Uchiha Itachi on the other hand was inspecting the bodies "The jinchuuriki is still alive..." he said picking up a boy amidst the bodies...
Somewhere in Kumogakure...
"Stupid kid.." a shadow spoke as she/he lifted a body "...but nevertheless...I have it."
Somewhere far...unknown region...on top of a modern looking building with tubes...
"Good...all we need now is the Hachibi, and everything will be complete"
Afternoon at the Hokage's office...
"Hokage-sama" an ANBU dropped in.
"How goes the investigation?" Tsunade asked the ANBU who she noticed was the same ANBU who took her to see that 'thing'.
"We've analyzed the paper, the blood belonged to the victim...and.." he drifted off.
"And what?" Tsunade getting a little impatient..she has waited for the results for so long enough now.
"The sixteen spoiled meat possibly refer to the sixteen adult human beings killed in the masscre at the park, and the sixteen unspoiled ones also possibly refer to the sixteen children killed in the same massacre"
Tsunade's eyes widened. 'What the hell happened on that day? I don't understand..."
"That actually leaves the other four dead bodies of old people...that's when the other part of the paper takes part..." he said giving the Hokage the cleaned out paper inside a bag labeled evidence...there were now new text visible... "- the four pillars of the old must wither and a new age shall sprout from thier ruins..."
"What the...?" Tsunade was really shocked with all the revelations. "What about the body?"
"Apparently, the body was a part of a torso. What baffles us is that the body should have already decomposed a long time ago..."
"How long?" Tsunade was stunned how a body could have such a low rate of decomposition.
"Sixteen years...the owner has been dead for sixteen years..." the ANBU stated with uncertainty in his voice.
"Who?" somehow she already knew the answer.
"The torso is from the Yondaime..."
TBC
Hope you liked it...
Please give me some sort of ideas, the reason it took so long is because I'm running out of one...