I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters in any way, shape, or form. Hope you enjoy!
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Second Arc: Early Days
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The morning after the festival found Naruto, Sasuke, and the other boys groggily waking to the rising sun. The birds were chirping outside the room, and before long, the sounds of food cooking was heard from the kitchen. Sasuke was up before the others, and headed off to the bathroom to fix his morning hair. Naruto had already changed into a new set of clothes, and was busy dragging the others to help prepare breakfast. The girls came out not much later, each of them in a new outfit for the morning, but all of them dressed simply. Naruto had a plain white shirt on, with an orange swirl on the front. He had black shorts on, which proved to be a good idea as the heat of the day began to settle in. All of the boys had already gathered around a bar with a bowl of cereal in front of them as Mikoto worked over the food in the kitchen.
Kiba and the other boys sported various t-shirts, and shorts, but Kiba's was drawing the most attention. He had a simple black shirt on, but the shorts seemed to have little puppy prints all over. Hinata noticed this first, and giggled lightly. This, unfortunately, drew the attention of the sleepy-eyed Ino.
"Hey, Kiba, is there a reason you have puppy paw prints on your butt?" Kiba coughed up some of his cereal and turned to scowl at the girl as the other boys snickered.
"Yeah, well, they were a gift from my sister, ok?" Kiba barked back at the girl, drawing his bowl of cereal closer to himself. Ino just let her smile widen as she stared closely at the boy.
"So, what was that last night about not being pushed around, huh?" Kiba let out a low growl and turned to look at the offending girl once more.
"My sister does the laundry around the house when mom's away and these were the only thing not dirty, alright? Besides, she likes it when I wear them, and that's all there is to it!" The snickering that had been present before had now turned into outright laughter. Kiba glanced around his friends, looking for some comfort, but found none. Even Mikoto was chuckling at the boy's expense. "Geez, I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?" Ino and the other girls moved over to the kitchen, picking up bowls of cereal from Sasuke's mother. Turning to sit down, they noticed Sasuke coming down the stairs. He was wearing tan shorts and the shirt that Sakura had given him last night.
The boy blinked once as he approached the kitchen, staring oddly in Kiba's direction, who was hunched sulkily over a cereal bowl.
"So, is there a reason for the paw prints on your butt, Kiba?" The whole group burst out into laughter, even as the boy grumbled lowly over his bowl. The group began to make snide comments on his behalf, and started asking questions about the Inuzuka clan traditions. Luckily, Kiba was spared more teasing as a knock was heard at the door. Mikoto smiled as she moved to open it, revealing Tsume Inuzuka, as well as the older generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho.
"You all must be here to get your kids. Come on in, I have breakfast cooking." Mikoto opened the door more, and gestured for the adults to enter. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choiji all jumped up to greet their parents as one, though Kiba still sulked over his meal.
"Thanks. I do hope Kiba wasn't too much trouble. He takes after his old man, after all…" Tsume smirked as she ruffled her son's hair. Kiba blinked, and looked up to smile at his mom. The boy playfully pulled her hand off of his hair though, but leaned into her side when she hugged him with one arm.
"Not at all, we were all just talking about Hana's gift to your son." Mikoto chuckled at the confused look on Tsume's face. "Those puppy paw print shorts are really cute…" Now Tsume burst out laughing, and Kiba just whined piteously as the group began to laugh.
Before long, the four sets of parents and children had departed. Mikoto had just begun to clear away the dishes from breakfast, when Itachi showed up.
"Sasuke, I know you still have a few guests here, but I don't have much time today if you want to learn that jutsu I promised you." Mikoto turned and frowned at her older son.
"Now, Minato can't be pushing up your training schedule already? You just got the promotion yesterday…" guilty looks flashed between Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata at this. Sakura though just looked confused, and stared up at Mikoto.
"Itachi got a promotion the other day?" Mikoto nodded to the girl, and then turned at the sound of a knock at the door. Itachi moved to open it, and revealed Hiashi Hyuuga, along with Kushina Uzumaki.
"Ah, Kushina, Hiashi, I was wondering when you two would show up…" Mikoto turned to look towards the sink, already full of breakfast dishes. "Sorry, you missed breakfast by a little bit. Still, your kids are changed and ready to go if you are!" Kushina smiled brightly and thanked her friend, and Hiashi just nodded plainly. Hinata had stiffened upon seeing her father, but she caught Naruto's eye as he stepped down from the barstool. That one look helped her stand a little taller as she faced her father.
"Thank the Uchiha clan head, Hinata. We have to be on our way soon." Hinata nodded to her father, then turned and bowed to Mikoto.
"Thank you for the wonderful meal, I hope we can visit more often." Hinata raised herself up and turned quickly to her father, who began to lead her out. Naruto blinked at this, and then turned and mimicked her bow.
"Yeah, thanks for everything. It was really great to get to meet some of Sasuke's family and stuff." Naruto put his hands behind his back, and scratched his head awkwardly.
"Sakura, you're going to be coming with Naruto and me, alright? Minato is having a meeting with your father at the moment, so I said we'd pick you up." Sakura nodded, and bowed politely to Mikoto as well, before giving a quick thank you. Mikoto just smiled as she watched the kids depart, then turned towards Sasuke and Itachi.
"You be careful training your brother, alright Itachi? I know you are considered a prodigy and all, but make sure your brother gets the chance to become a great ninja at his own pace." Itachi smiled at his mom as she ruffled Sasuke's hair, who merely scowled in response. She smiled down at her son, and then turned back to the dishes. Sasuke jumped up as his silent brother merely moved towards the door.
"Come on, you're gonna have to be quick if you want to pull this jutsu off just right little brother." Sasuke smiled, and ran to catch up with Itachi's departing image. Soon, the two were in the training clearing of the Uchiha compound.
"Sasuke, before we start, there is something father wanted me to talk to you about." Sasuke frowned at the mention of his father. Itachi said nothing at this, and threw four strange kunai into a square pattern around the four. "What you overheard last night, concerning Naruto, is going to be known about at large. I'm sure that Hinata is getting the same talk as well." Sasuke's eyes went wide at this, and he looked like he was about to protest.
"Do you really think a bunch of kids playing ninja would be able to sneak up on the Fourth Hokage?" Sasuke fell quiet at this, and turned his gaze to the ground. "Now then, you need to understand that Naruto, as well as you and Hinata, occupy special places in this village. Naruto is the son of the current Hokage, as well as the container for the nine-tailed fox, making him occupy a position of political value both within and outside of the village. Hinata is the daughter of the leader of the Hyuuga, and will most likely face a political marriage within her clan." Sasuke grunted at this and looked up at his brother.
"But you're older than I am, so you'll have to deal with all of this, and I won't, right?" Itachi smiled down at his younger brother and shook his head.
"Sasuke, there are going to be certain things that might limit me from taking over the kind of responsibilities that come with being the son of a clan head. I'm progressing far too fast to stay within the clan, meaning you will have to take over some of those responsibilities eventually. You are in the same position as Hinata. You will one day have to face a marriage within the clan as part of your duty to the family." Sasuke returned his gaze to the ground, and shook his head. "Someday, all three of you will have to face a similar situation as Naruto faces now. In the time being, just do all you can to keep this between you and your friends. If it helps, pretend that this is a secret that you want to keep from the adults. I'm sorry brother, but for those in positions of power, there is usually little choice in certain matters." Sasuke shook his head again, and looked back up at his brother.
"That's all a long way away, right? So just teach me this jutsu, and then spend more time at home. You're always going around doing missions and stuff, but I want to see my brother more…" Itachi again smiled at his younger brother, but this time there was sadness behind his eyes. He waved his hand lightly in the air in a come here gesture. Sasuke rushed forward, smiling, but then pulled back too late to avoid two fingers tapping him lightly on his forehead.
"Sure thing, little brother. Now, let's get down to training, alright?" Sasuke stopped rubbing his forehead from the hit, and smiled up at his brother.
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It had been two weeks since Sasuke's birthday party, and the village seemed unaffected by any of the night's interactions. To Sasuke and his friends though, the effect had been disastrous. While they were all careful to wait and meet up away from the prying eyes of the adults, the young kids were still talking about what had been discussed. Itachi was going to be a candidate for the Rokudaime Hokage, and Naruto was to be part of a political marriage.
The news about Naruto had shocked the group the most, with reactions running the gamut of emotion. Shikamaru and Choji were largely indifferent to the idea, though they both did say they hoped Naruto's eventual wife was at least cute. To their great surprise, this never got a rise out of the boy; he would simply nod and agree with them, his mind obviously far away. Sasuke and Kiba both would try to distract him from it, getting him to show off the new training exercises his parents were starting to teach him. It would work for awhile, but eventually the sad face would settle back across his features.
The girls had started to interact with Naruto less after they learned the truth from Hinata. She had been beside herself when she told them, and it had hit the three girls rather hard. Naruto was a fun guy to hang out with, and to think of him as being forced to marry just left an odd feeling in their stomachs. Still, Hinata was the first to come around and say that they should at least learn to hang out with him, even if it did hurt her the most to be near the blonde. Even now, Naruto was all she could seem to think about, despite the pain.
'He was such a great escort at that festival.' The tears were clearly painted on her face as she turned to look at the setting sun. 'Then he even snuck in to see us after we went to bed. He's such a troublemaker.' Unbidden, the tears continued in greater strength. She began to sob lightly, even as the light faded. 'Father never would have approved of such a boy anyways, even if he is the son of the Hokage.' Hiashi had talked to her after the party, revealing to his daughter that she had been discovered by the Hokage. He had gone on to remind her that one day she would be clan head, and would be forced into a political marriage of her own. Hinata began to will new tears away, trying to force them down. 'I must be strong though. Even if I can't be with Naruto, I should still be there for him.' It hurt the girl so much to look away from the setting sun, the color reminding her of the boy with which she was still terribly infatuated.
"Hinata-sama, the dinner meal is prepared. Hiashi-sama will expect you shortly." The voice of her cousin Neji came clearly through the silk screen door. Checking her reflection in the mirror quickly, Hinata rubbed at some of the worst tear tracks on her face. Soon, it looked like she was just very tired. She had been sick for the last few days, so it would hardly be surprising if her eyes were a little glassy and red.
"I'll be right there, Neji-nii-san. I just need to put on more formal wear. Tell Hiashi-sama that I'll be along shortly." Hinata turned, and pulled her nice kimono from within the closet. It was purple in color, and had matching clan symbols on the sleeves. In addition, it was patterned with the symbol of the leaf village. 'It made such a nice match with his…' Her sad thoughts got her through the motions mechanically, and before she knew it, she was kneeling at the entranceway to the main family dining area.
"Hiashi-sama, may your daughter grace you with his presence?" The repeated clan line left her lips, though she grimaced inwardly at it. She was only ever required to use this when they were going to dine with the elders of the clan, an affair which never excited her in any fashion.
"Arise, heir to the clan, and come and sit among the head of the family tree." His response was equally formal, meaning that a full gathering had been called. Hinata was sure there had been no mention of a formal meeting in the nearby future. This meant this was an impromptu meeting, and one of great enough import to summon all of the elders. A shiver ran down her spine at what this might entail.
Rising smoothly, Hinata gracefully opened the door and stepped inside. For once, she was grateful for the chance to hide her face for one extra moment, her deep bow giving her the chance to ensure her emotions were completely hidden. When she looked back up, it took all of her cultural upbringing to not gasp. In front of her was the entire assemblage of elders, her father and sister, her uncle and cousin Neji, as well as the entire family of the Hokage. The elders sat on a long table to the right of the main family table, while a second table on the left held Neji's family, along with other branch family members. At the head table, there was Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's father. On his left was Hanabi, with a seat open for Hinata. Next to that seat were Naruto and the rest of his family. 'Why is Naruto sitting there for a diplomatic meeting? We've always been called away whenever his dad came to visit. It must be because we overheard that conversation. I guess his father talked to him about it as well.' Hinata fought the grimace from her face, and focused on who else was present. She noticed that on the right of her father was a foreign man, with several empty seats on either side of the ninja.
"Hinata, the Hyuuga clan has been asked to host a diplomatic meeting with Kumogakure. He made a sudden request to have us host as he has heard of our clans talent. Your escort for the evening will be Naruto Namikaze." Hiashi smiled inwardly as he saw his daughter blush. 'I am sorry that you had to learn of the way of the world so young, but at least I can leave you some happy memories, my daughter.'
Her father waved her over to her seat, and the meal began quickly. Naruto and Hinata chatted amiably among themselves at first, but their discussion was limited due to the weightiness of the situation. After the opening course had been cleared, the Hokage turned to face the foreign ninja. He wore a symbol of Kumogakure, and had brown skin and a clipped goatee. "I am very glad that the Raikage would send his next in line to meet and discuss the renegotiation of the peace treaty. Might I ask though why you moved up the meeting date, and requested the meeting at the Hyuuga's?" The foreign ninja nodded at this, taking a sip of wine and wiping his face with his napkin. When he spoke, it was with an obviously practiced and cultured voice.
"To answer your first question, I had to move up the meeting date due to appointments I had with farmers in the Land of Rice Countries. Though it is a small country, it provides a large amount of the produce for my country. The harvest season is coming early this year due to the warm weather, so unless I wanted to wait until after the crop had come in, I needed to shorten my stay in Konoha." The Hokage nodded at his explanation. It was well known that the summer weather had been hotter and wetter than usual, so it made sense to move up meetings with farmers.
"As Hyuuga-sama has stated, I am also quite fascinated with the doujutsu of Konoha. I had heard that they had special prowess with divination, and with regards to problems within our village, their friendship and abilities could be very beneficial to my village." Minato frowned at this, setting his utensils down on his plate. He turned and looked curiously at the foreigner. The man, to his credit, flushed slightly under the attention and set his own chopsticks down on the plate.
"The Third Raikage wishes to make sure there is peace among our people. We had been having some severe problems with powerful missing ninja that began to finally die down about ten years. We're not quite sure where they were coming from, but it could be useful to have an ally such as the Leaf if these attacks were to resurface." The voice was even and steady. Minato knew it was all a well fabricated lie. Kumogakure had not been having trouble with any missing ninja. Rather, they had been having problems with sealing away the two tailed beast.
'Still, at least his lie was slightly convincing. If I didn't have Jiraiya's reports on the village, I might actually believe the man.' Outwardly, the Hokage appeared surprised at this report. It was common courtesy for each village to act as if they did not know what was happening in each other's backyards. "I hadn't received any reports of missing-nin from Kumogakure. Certainly, you would have informed your allies if any of them got too far from home." The Hokage chuckled lightly while looking the emissary in the eye. To his credit, the man's face showed no sign of reaction at the hidden meaning of the statement.
"Of course. We would have informed you immediately had we lost track of any of them for any length of time. Most of them hid within our village itself. It was rumored they might have even been trying to stage a coup d'état. Luckily, we managed to root them out eventually, but such sentiments still obviously remain within our village." The man's voice was as smooth as silk, and his smile could have charmed a snake. His mind was certainly circling his current predicament like one, 'Damn. I guess Konoha has more intelligence on our Jinchuuriki then we thought.'
"Glad to hear you routed them most effectively then. Well, as the hour is getting rather late, we should probably put off business for more enjoyable topics. It will help us finish our food. We can always get down to business after the meal, of course." The assembled party nodded in agreement with Hiashi's suggestion, their attention turning to the second round of fare. Hinata and Naruto ended up spending the remainder of the evening, talking about plans for the coming weeks. Naruto mentioned that he would be going on a family trip soon, and Hinata told him that she and Hanabi were going to be visiting some individuals in the capital for political reasons. Naruto had grimaced at the words 'political reasons' for a bit, but came back to his amiable self quickly enough. Soon, the night had passed the party by, and the lamp light burned low.
Kushina had ended up having to step out several times during the dinner, something with her stomach was not agreeing well. Eventually she fainted at the dinner table, and was pulled quickly aside by a medic ninja. The only ones allowed in the room were the Hokage and the medic, while a few branch members stood guard outside. A quick diagnostic jutsu revealed some happy truth to the matter; no foul play was at work. "Lord Hokage, your wife is with child." Minato's face at once was happy, but quickly became concerned once more.
"She never fainted when she was carrying Naruto, especially this early on. Will she be alright? Should I get her to the hospital, or would it be better if she stayed here?" The medic couldn't help but to chuckle lightly at the concerned man. He had faced down armies of his enemies before, yet faced with his wife's welfare made him appear once more young.
"She'll be fine, but she will need to rest here tonight. It seems her past burden might be affecting her during this pregnancy. I believe it might be affecting her chakra coils, so for now you will have to refrain from using your transportation technique." The word burden tripped over in Minato's mind, and he immediately recognized the hidden meaning.
"I'll talk to Hiashi about preparing a room for her then. We should be able to keep her safe here tonight." The Hokage looked toward the medic-nin who nodded, keeping her hand on the unconscious red-haired beauty. Drawing open the door, Minato called Hiashi aside from the dessert portion of the meal. "Hiashi, I need to ask a favor of you. Kushina isn't feeling well, and the medic thinks it would be best if she stayed here for the evening. Do you have a spare room she could use? As a matter of diplomacy, I can't stay otherwise it would be thought I manhandled the Kumo representative into bowing to my will." Hiashi nodded at this, upset at the turn of events, but willing to cede the necessity.
"She can have Hinata's room. I will ask her to take residence with your son at your house." Minato started to protest, but Hiashi cut him off by raising a hand in front of his face. "I have had a vision that there will be a terrible incident this evening involving Hinata. I would like to see her safely out of this house with those I trust to take care of her. I understand that Mikoto is watching the house in your absence tonight. I would normally never trust an Uchiha, but she and her husband seem unusually loyal to you as our leader." Hiashi still had a strange sense of foreboding about the whole affair, but put it down to old grudges against the Uchiha. "Now then, our most esteemed guest is tiring. It is time for you to make a diplomatic exit." Hiashi placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and led him back to the dining room. As the two entered the room, Hiashi moved over to Hinata and whispered into her ear. The girl's eyes flew wide at this, and she turned to look up at her father. The man merely nodded down at her, and she turned her attention back to her food. A smile could be seen covering her face. Naruto, for his part, looked after his dad, and turned to ask a question from Hiashi. Before he could, Hiashi was already returning to his seat.
"Hokage-dono, I do hope your wife is feels better. I understand that Hyuuga-sama went to great lengths to procure my home country's cuisine, but it can be rather upsetting to those unaccustomed to the dishes." The Hokage smiled and nodded at this, glad his ally had supplied an easy excuse.
"I'm afraid it is as you say; the cuisine was not her normal fare, and she has fallen slightly ill. I do look forward though to greeting you in the morning to finalize the negotiations. I leave the details to Hyuuga-sama, my diplomat in this agreement." With that, Minato turned and bowed out of the room. He gestured towards Hinata and Naruto as he left, and the two raised eyebrows and dropped into step alongside him. Once they were outside of the compound, Minato turned towards Hinata and Naruto.
"Hinata, Naruto, both of you are going to be staying at the estates tonight with myself and Mikoto. Kushina isn't feeling well, and your dad offered your room for her to recover in, Hinata. I'm terribly sorry, I hope you don't mind me imposing on you like this…" The girl blinked once or twice but then quickly nodded her head. She had been quiet most of the dinner, even though she heartily wished to talk to Naruto. It looked like she was going to be given the chance sooner than she'd expected.
"That's fine with me. I don't mind at all. Especially if it will help Namikaze-san get better." Minato smiled at the girl before nodding.
"Naruto, I trust you and Hinata can get along well during the evening. Remember, your trip leaves tomorrow so don't stay up too late having fun." Naruto nodded his head with a puzzled look on his face. Before his son could voice his question though, Minato had teleported the three back to the house.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I'm needed to go over some of the diplomatic negotiations with the council tonight. You'll just have to entertain yourself with Mikoto and Hinata for the evening." In another blinding flash of yellow, Minato was gone again.
"Dang it, one of these days I'm going to learn that jutsu of his and chase him down with it!" Naruto's sudden outburst got a surprised "eep" out of Hinata, making him turn a playful scowl on her. "Well, we're here now, we might as well get a chance to hang out some. You should see the cool card game Kakashi-nii-san was teaching me yesterday." Naruto quickly reached out and dragged Hinata over to the dining room table. As he was rummaging around in the card table next to it, footsteps could be heard coming down from the stairs.
"Naruto, you finished packing up yet?" Mikoto Uchiha stood on the steps, smiling ruefully down at the pair. 'Oh Minato, if you had just waited your son would have had dozens of the girls after him. Then again, it might not be such a bad idea to get Sasuke settled into such an arrangement.' Naruto jumped at being startled, turning to look sheepishly at the elder ninja.
"I have most of it packed up, but I'm still missing a few things. Nothing I couldn't grab in the morning, you know?" Mikoto smirked down at the boy. 'His personality certainly is infectious though'. Shaking her head, the woman moved quickly over to the card table. "Well, why don't I explain the rules to Hinata while you go finish packing." Hinata chuckled with Mikoto as Naruto grumbled and stalked off to his room. "Now, if I know Kakashi, Naruto was probably going to try to play pinochle with you. I'll teach you the rules while we wait, because this game can be kind of tricky, though it's a lot of fun."
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Minato appeared in the Hokage office, a familiar figure already sitting by the windowsill. Even though it had only been a week or so that he had been mentoring Itachi, the boy already was beginning to feel as important to Minato as Kakashi had been. It only made the order he was about to give Itachi that much more unpleasant.
"I understand that you have another report for me concerning Shisui and the rebel faction." The Hokage's throat was dry as he turned to his young apprentice.
"Yes. The report is concerning that matter. It appears that the rebel faction is a second attempt by my clan's founder to wreak havoc on Konoha." Minato stiffened in his chair but remained silent. "I had suspicions that Shisui was the leader of the faction months ago, but the signs became more obvious after your announcement of mentorship." Itachi turned toward the Hokage, settling down into the seat opposite him.
"Following the announcement, Shisui was less and less willing to associate with me. He stated that he was upset about my betrayal of the clan, and tried to talk me out of the training. I was angry with him at first, but moved to apologize after you asked me to investigate my friend." Itachi took a deep breath to calm himself, his nerves highly frazzled. "Earlier today I confronted him, and the two of us began to fight. I…" Itachi swallowed heavily, his voice shaking. It took a few moments for the youth to find his voice.
"I killed him, when we were at the bridge. However, after I killed him, I noticed that there was a strange seal upon his neck. I managed to copy it down, and bring it here." Itachi reached into his pocket, and pulled out a sealed scroll. "I also disposed of the evidence, and have already covered my tracks. If my guess is correct, that is an obedience and command seal. That seal needs the power of the Sharingan to activate. Lord Hokage, the only person I know who would have the power to form a seal over Shisui is Madara. Even my father fears the power of Shisui's Sharingan." Itachi's hands began to shake at this, and he looked up to stare Minato in the eyes. "Please, don't ask me to continue. I don't know how much more I can stand with lying to my clan, to my family." Minato let out a long sigh as he sat there.
"It seems that the announcement of my taking you on as an apprentice has split the loyalties of the rebellion. However, with the death of Shisui, I fear that much of the clan will begin to mobilize. I need you to gather as many of those that would strike against Konoha, and convince them to stand with you. I'm afraid that the Uchiha's loyalty to Konoha will be decided by those in the clan." Itachi looked up sharply at this, his eyes widening in surprise.
"You don't mean what I think you do, Lord Hokage? You can't! I…I'm already losing it after killing even one of my clan members, and you expect me to kill more?" Minato looked down, upset that things had progressed to this point. The Uchiha clan had been ashamed of the fact that their clan founder had tried to destroy the village. Still, it led some to question if Madara was completely incorrect.
The Hokage sighed heavily. 'I had hoped that nominating Kakashi, then moving to Itachi would weaken their base. Unfortunately, I think I waited too long to make this decision.'
"I'm asking you to gather those who are no longer loyal, because I agree with you that Madara is behind this plot. I want you to use the new Sharingan I'm sure you've become aware of, and make sure that during the fighting all of the rebels die out. You'll have to do so without blowing your cover, and manage to get close to Madara." Minato picked up the opened scroll on his desk, and set the thing over an open candle. Using his chakra, Minato made sure the whole thing burned in an instant. "I cannot express how important it is that Konoha gets an agent close to Madara. The man is determined not only to destroy Konoha, but to conquer this world. That much I learned from my brief combat with him."
Itachi shook his head, unwilling to accept what he'd just heard. His eyes hurt at the moment, and in a flash the colors before him shifted uncomfortably. It was like when he used his Sharingan, only brighter. More potent. 'This is the Mangekyo Sharingan. And to think, all it took was killing my best friend.' Itachi shuddered, his sobs sounding loudly in the room. Minato walked around the desk, and placed his hands on his student's shoulders. Itachi looked up suddenly to see the concerned face of his Hokage.
"I know this will be difficult for you. For that reason, I want you to know that I have ensured that your mother and father, along with Sasuke will be kept out of the clan compound during the fighting. Your parents will be escorting my son to a diplomatic meeting, and Sasuke will be accompanying them. It won't be the same as growing up with your family, but your actions will help to ultimately ensure their safety." Itachi nodded solemnly, looking up at his teacher with his new eyes. Minato blinked at the changed image, but smiled sadly back at the youth. "You will have to move in a day or two. There will be very little time for you to act. I have the documents here…" Minato cut off suddenly, looking down at his arm. He pulled back his sleeve, and a tattoo of a human body appeared. Itachi looked on wondering, and the Hokage turned to him with fear etched into his features. "I'm sorry Itachi, I have to go. I'll expect you to take these and act accordingly." Before Itachi could say a single thing, he was left in an office by himself. The scrolls for his mission lay before him, their dire contents looking to his keen eyes as trapping as a death sentence.
xXxXxXx
In the dead of night, a figure stole across the Hyuuga compound. The diplomat from Kumogakure knew he had very little time to accomplish his mission, but he was sure of his success. He had memorized the routes in and out of the compound, and his mission had clearly stated to capture the elder of the two Hyuuga heirs. With the stealth of a professional assassin, the man slipped silently into the room. Unfortunately for him, his intended target was not there. In her place slept a woman with dark hair, though the lack of light made it hard to identify the exact color. Grimacing, the man turned to leave. It seemed the Hyuugas' had learned of his plans. The fact that he had to fail in his mission was unfortunate, but risking an actual war would not have been acceptable. Unfortunately, as he turned to leave, an errant floorboard squeaked beneath his feet.
"Who's there?" The woman's eyes had shot wide open, and she was quickly overcoming the difficulties of the darkness. Cursing his bad luck, the shinobi quickly fired off a kunai, pausing only to check that the strike had dropped the woman dead. Leaping forward, the man retrieved his weapon before turning to leave the scene. He froze as he looked over the ghastly figure. The wife of the Hokage was lying underneath bedsheets, the kunai protruding from her neck. The shot had lodged in her windpipe, cutting off any and all sound. 'Shit. They'll want my head if I return to Kumo...Best to leave this village and go rogue. I'm not getting killed just because I had to keep my escape quiet.' The man grabbed his kunai out from the wound, and began to move towards the window he had slipped in from. A sudden whisper sounded behind him as the man jumped from the window.
Even as he was leaping away, the foreign ninja did not hear the approaching kunai until all three of its prongs had buried all the way into the back of his skull. Minato Namikaze looked at the fallen ninja from his window, and began to cry. Without a word, and without even bothering with the foreign ninja, Minato gathered his fallen wife into his arms and began to cry.
It was several moments before Hiashi Hyuuga arrived. He stood silently while the man cried for several moments, but then turned towards the Hokage. "If you want, we can begin the paperwork for a declaration of war. I was scanning the compound with my Byakugan when I saw the attack. I didn't raise the alarm, hoping to keep such an event quiet. I understand from your meetings with the council that you have several delicate operations going on that this could undermine." Minato looked up blearily from his wife's corpse, his eyes locked on Hiashi's.
"Cover it up as quietly as you can. She will pass away officially on the night that my son is to return. Until then, we will fake her presence in a hospital. And as discretely as possible, begin the letters of war to send to the Raikage." Minato's voice was thick with emotion, and though tears streamed down his face, his eyes were as hard as agates. "Don't tell Naruto. I can't have my son refusing to leave on his diplomatic meeting." Hiashi bowed, and left the man's side. Quiet sobs echoed throughout the night. Minato Namikaze did not leave the side of his wife that night, and in the morning, a different man rose from his lover's bedside.
xXxXxXx
Fugaku stepped into the door of the Namikaze estate. As he did, he noticed Mikoto look up from a handful of cards. At the table sat Hinata and Naruto, Hinata with a smile on her face and Naruto with a frowning look. Fugaku walked over to his wife, and began to rub her shoulders. From the open doorway emerged a second figure. Naruto looked up as Kakashi walked into the home. "Sorry kids, but we're going to have to end the card games for the night. Hinata, these three are leaving early in the morning, so I'll be watching over you until you feel ready to return home tomorrow." Hinata smiled sadly but nodded. Naruto frowned, and began to put the cards away. Mikoto leaned back into the embrace of her husband and smirked up at him.
"You two have great timing. Naruto was getting close to winning again..." Fugaku chuckled, and ran his hands down his wife's shoulders. The house of the Namikaze estate, unaware of the passing of one of the heads of the household, was happy that night.
xXxXxXx
Well, that was a bit of an emotional piece to write! Sorry about the impending angst and gloom, I assure you that the next chapter will at least have some light hearted antics between Naruto and Sasuke. It just took me some serious angst to get ready for this point in the story. This concludes the Younger Days part of the story. The next arc will concern the diplomatic meeting, and eventually lead to the introduction of new characters into Konoha. This will then lead quickly into a timeskip to academy days, leading up to the day before the final exam. Finally, as for Shisui being the rebellion coordinator, consider the following: Minato and Kushina's presence has left Fugaku and Mikoto to be much more supportive of Konoha. Because of this, the power structure shifted to the Uchiha who had the greatest power and was most loyal to the clan. Shisui's eyes were hungered after by even Madara in the manga. Shisui in turn was trusted the most by the Konoha Military Police in canon because he was so loyal to the clan. Thus, it makes sense that the rebellion leader would be Shisui in this alternate universe. Well, this should be the last set-up piece, from here on out things will start to take a much more active role. I am still hunting for a beta editor, so if you want the job or know someone who does good work, send me a personal message! I'll catch you all next time, until then read and review!