AN: Yes, unusual for me the AN is up front this time.
Bear with me though, its quite important.
First I want to point out that the "Original Inspiration" for the fic, and hence large parts of the Prologue, was provided by the short LZ0291 posted on Deviantart. Credit where it is due, now that I know, the prologue has been edited to show the proper credit as well.
Of course you may point people to my story once you have put up your own version. More readers for both of us cannot be a bad thing, can it?
Also, as my description sadly seemed to be sub-par (as evident by me receiving a few questions regarding it) so let me clarify: The Symbol of Sword looks as follows: put a stylized breaking wave (open side to the left) about the size of Konohas swirl at the center of the forehead protector, then apply a straight sword over (not above/below, but ON) it. The swords tip and hilt are outside the wave, the rest overlaps/is located inside. I hope any confusion is now redeemed. ;)
Now enjoy the chapter, and of course review as much as humanly possible!
A very exhausted team 7 arrived at Konohas main gate roughly 6 hours later. They had used some endurance-boosting soldier pills to be able to make it this fast, but still Kakashi feared that they might have taken too long. Sasukes eyes had ceased to bleed in small rivers, but from time to time tiny droplets still fell out of the deep red orbs that, though he was still unconscious, opened from time to time to display slowly spinning Tomoe. What the heck was wrong with his students Sharingan? Even after being friends with an Uchiha and having said friends Sharingan, Kakashi had never even once heard of a similar predicament.
He only nodded to the guards, turned to Naruto and Sakura, and said:" get rest. I will bring Sasuke to the hospital and send someone to get you if anything changes." His students had to be even more tired than he thought, as neither protested much, and especially Sakura looked completely beat.
And so they split up.
After having handed Sasukes prone body to a Medi-Kunoichi and giving her a short summary of what had happened to her newest patient, Kakashi quickly went to the Hokages tower. No sense in delaying the bad news after all. Konoha needed to decide soon on how to act on the situation his defeat on Zabuzas hand and subsequent actions had wrought. He sighed as he entered the antechamber, nodding to the administrative Kunoichi, and went in. He could not for the sake of it remember the last time he had messed up that much on a non personal level.
As he entered the Hokage took one glance at his face (well, the visible part anyway) and closed his eyes, sighing. "What is it Kakashi? You look like Gai just beat you on a fight with you wearing his spandex as the wager..."
"Nothing so … personal I am afraid. It might be better if you call the council in, Hokage-sama. There's big trouble afoot..." The Hokage lifted his bushy brows far enough for them to vanish beneath the brim of his hat. Kakashi asking for the council to assemble? That was …. troubling. Very troubling. Only a major threat to Konoha could have brought the lackluster, entirely non bureaucratic Ninja to do that. He was already worried. And so he went to summon it immediately.
"Now before they arrive, give me the rundown..." Which Kakshi did.
At roughly the same time Sasuke had just been put into a OP room. The leading Medi-Kunoichi entered, and started with a simple diagnostic Jutsu. Just to find it ….failing was to hard a word, but delivering only vague results. What the hell had happened with the boys eyes? She needed to get a better look at his chakra coils, and probably more info regarding the Sharingan than was in the medical files. So she sent for the closest branch member Hyuga and dispatched a runner to the Hokage.
This seemed to be something BIG...
Roughly 20 minutes after he had summoned them the Council was assembled, and all of them looked …. almost alarmed. Not surprisingly, if Sarutobi was honest, as he had not called for an emergency summon in years. He put his pipe away. "This meeting has been called on the explicit wish of Elite Jounin Kakashi Hatake, so lets not waste time. Kakashi?" He gestured his most famous Ninja to begin.
"Ahem, well." Kakashi seemed a bit taken aback by having to speak in front of the whole council, but he reigned himself in pretty quickly, straightened and began."As you all know my teams mission was to protect the bridge builder Tazuna on his trip back to Wave. As it became obvious pretty fast he had lied to us regarding the mission parameters. Not only was he the target of a wealthy and influential local crime lord by the name of Gateau, no this man had sent a squad of missing Nin under the leadership of Zabuza Momoshi after him." At that Koharu "Hmph`ed".
"Sasuke managed to single handedly capture the Demon Brothers as they tried to ambush us on our way to wave, which is where I got the basic information on our clients …. lies as well as about Zabuza killing this Gateau guy in a fit of anger. However shortly before arriving in Wave, Zabuza himself attacked us, I fought him to a standstill and Sasuke interfered which provided me with the needed distraction to wound him. However Zabuza had another Ninja as support, whom Sasuke managed to wound grievously when he tried to interfere by attacking him due to his Sharingan reaching mature status."
At that most people present looked impressed, except for the Hokage of course as he had already received a "short" version of the story. So their "imported" Uchiha had become even more valuable.
Kakashi continued his report. "This caused Zabuza to interfere. He managed to wound Sasuke and subsequently, due to the rest of the team trying to save Sasuke, to flee. I was unable to get medical support, so I injected Sasuke with the Emergency Serum and brought him to our clients house, where we spent the next few days preparing for the inevitable return of our opponents." He sighed. "However what we did not expect was Zabuza to pull another Jounin class Ninja out of his hat, who knocked Sasuke out cold with an unknown lightning attack. The 2 then presented me with the choice of seeing him and my other pupils killed followed by having to face 2 Jounin at once, in Zabuzas case somehow able to shed smaller Jutsu like water, or to surrender to their terms." At that all present elders glared at him. Obviously the loss of one Elite Jounin and 3 Genin was lower on their priority list than saving face for Konoha. Not that surprising, really, Sarutobi mused. But sad nonetheless. Silence stretched for a few moments.
"And these terms were...?" Homaru drawled.
"Well, they were the ratification of the Lesser Village Charta points 4 and 6." The silence that followed could have been cut with a Kunai. Kakashi quickly continued. "The newly arrived Ninja introduced himself as Hohiro Yamamoto, and declared that he was co-founding the Village of Tsurugigakure no Sato under the first Namikage Zabuza Momoshi, demanded the prisoner back and me to acknowledge the village and bring this", at this he withdrew the small scroll he had been asked to carry and gave it to the third, "to you." He sighed. "As it was the only way to save my team, I obliged." If they wanted to demote him he would not object.
"Let me get this straight", Koharu said quietly. "You opened peaceful relations with a newly founded village led by a known Nukenin on an island that could block most of our sea access, just to save your pupils?" The contempt in the old womans voice was clear.
"And now we have to deal with a possible threat as close as Wave, one steered by the "Demon of the Mist" no less? What were you thinking?" Homaru piped in.
"That will be enough." The Hokages voice was stern and firm. "No matter if we agree with Kakashis decision or not, it is done. Water under the bridge so to speak. Now we need to focus on the situation at hand. Thoughts?" The table got silent once more, while his advisers thought and pondered options. Or at least pretended to be pondering.
"As I see it, we do not have many options." Koharus voice was almost gruff. "We can either honor the agreement, at least officially, or have to take action immediately. We cannot allow a potential enemy to gather his strength that close to our border, so my suggestion would be sending a full elimination squad of 12 Anbu of high Chunin Level at least, and Gai or Kakashi if he is willing to redeem his …. failure as the leader to deal with "Sword"." She leaned back, steepling her fingers. Her expression clearly showing that she would prefer this solution quite clearly.
"While It is true that Zabuza has a less than sterling reputation", Homaru spoke up, "He has rebelled against an obviously crazy Kage that decided butchering his own Ninja without any cause was a good idea. Seeing the location of his new village between us and Mist can prove very valuable indeed, as we can rest assured that he will never ally with them. If we can assure an enmity between Sword and Cloud as well, we could gain a very valuable puffer between us and our 2 most …. urgent enemies." Seeing Stones recent weakness, he was right, Sarutobi mused. Though he would honestly never have expected him to propose a rather ... peaceful solution. "If after we have established relations it should ever become necessary, we can use the knowledge that he founded his village by utilizing the funds of a killed client to undermine his legal standing." His face showed little of his thoughts, but Sarutobi was sure he had at least 2 less … sterling plans to utilize Sword already in the works. That was more along the lines of his expectation.
"Before we decide anything", Koharu piped in, "We should clarify what we know about the Ninja Sword consists of right now. We all know Zabuza, but what about this "Haku" boy, and this Hohiro? Also, what is in the Scroll he sent you"
Sarutobi sighed. "I have little more information about Haku than what Kakashi already provided. A very skilled young Ninja, High Chunin level overall with some Anbu-alike skills, with a Kekkai Genkai that allows him to manipulate Ice and an absolutely incorruptible devotion towards Zabuza due to him rescuing the boy from Mists purge at a young age. I think he will be the foundation of Swords Hunter Nin, if they survive long enough." He took a deep swig out of his pipe. "Now Hohiro Yamamoto, if he is who he says he is, is most likely the last surviving member of the Tora-Yamamoto, a small clan that lived nomadically somewhere in the mountains between what today is Stone and the westernmost outcrops of Cloud up until the First War." He took a look at a small brownish book and continued. "The clan had a High C or low B Class Kekkei Genkai, depending on who you ask, that allowed all of them to combine Earth and Lightning Affinities, many achieving a combination of the 2 granting them the unique Metal Elemental Affinity. Controlling and manipulating Metal for a sword-wielding clan proved to be ... rather useful, but the downside of their Bloodline was the utter inability to execute any Fire, Water or Wind Jutsu. Still, it made them somewhat famous back then. The clan was mostly destroyed in the First Great Ninja War, by being alternately betrayed by Cloud and Stone to the other. All info we have is second to third hand at best, but if it is correct a Hohiro Yamamoto served in that war as a Sword Master, which would make him at least 85 years old. Even a mediocre Ninja could become very skilled indeed over such a long amount of time, and following Kakashis report he seems unnaturally hale and strong for his age."
After this rather long speech he leaned back and waited for the replies that had to come.
"So, the newly founded village already has 2 Kekkei Genkai and is led by the second or third most powerful Water User we know. Great." The gaze Koharu sent towards Kakashi was withering.
"Can we risk letting them build on that? Even considering that they might become a shaky ally?"
At that the whole table seemed to go into "deep thought mode" again.
"You still have not answered my second question." Koharu urged on.
"It is a proposal for an alliance. Obviously the Namikage is aware of some of our concerns and took the initiative by proposing this as soon as possible." The council elders fumed at that. The "Kage" of a newly founded 3-man village approaching the Hokage instead of waiting to be approached. The nerve!
After thinking about it for a minute or 2 the Hokage spoke up again. "We will open normal relations with Sword and fully acknowledge it. But we will also keep an eye on them. I will not let the fact that they might be exactly what we need right now and have proposed an alliance blind us to the possibility of betrayal. Koharu, you will assemble a 3 man team to send there to execute the negotiations and find out if they are genuine in their wish for an alliance. The final decision will be made once they return. Dismissed."
As the elders filed out, Homaru with a rare smirk as for once he was in total agreement with the third, Kakashi sighed in relief. It seemed he would not have to suffer any too dire consequences this time...
Just as he had finished that thought, he felt quite some killing intent from the Hokage. Gulping, he turned around. "Kakashi, let me be clear. I would not have expected you to abandon your pupils, but seeing the …. special situation with Sasuke you should have called for backup once it was clear that Zabuza was your opponent. This result is NOT what I need right now." The lines in the old mans face were deeper and more pronounced than Kakashi remembered. "I understand, Hokage-sama."
"Good. Now, what exactly is wrong with Sasuke?"
"I do not know yet, after he was hit with the unknown Jutsu he fell unconscious, which he stayed no matter what I tried to wake him. Strangely his Sharingan seems active though. I am worried." The last part was almost a whisper. "He is in the hospital right now, but I don't think the regular medics know more than I do …..." he trailed off.
"I will send for some MedNin that have worked with the Uchiha before. I hope we wont need to start looking for … more competent help though." Translation: for Tsunade. His angry and spirited former pupil was just what he did not need right now. "Now go to Sasuke. Inform me once you know more."
With that Kakashi left.
Kakashi had been standing close to the door to the OP room Sasuke was being treated in for almost an hour before an elderly Medi-Kunoichi stepped out, removing her face mask, and signaling him to come with her. After they arrived in a waiting area, she brushed through her brown-gray hair, and looked him in the eyes.
"Well, let me be blunt. We have no idea what exactly is wrong with Sasuke. I have treated wounded Sharingan in my time, but I never even once saw one that failed to deactivate once its bearer was unconscious. Even worse, there is some kind of unusual chakra concentration flowing through the Tenketsu around his eyes that seems to be lightning aligned." She checked if Kakashi was up to speed so far, which he seemed, so she continued. "Now what I can do is make an educated guess on what happened. It is clear by now that Sasuke does possess a rather strong Lightning Affinity, which combined with the unknown Jutsu that hit him has caused Lightning Chakra to flood his Sharingan instead of simply dissapating. Normally this would either destroy it or be channeled out of it pretty soon, the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai is rather robust after all, but in this case something in his eyes seems to be...for lack of a better term feeding on this chakra. I do not know if it haywired completely and keeps him unconscious or if he is just unable to wake due to another effect of the Jutsu that hit him, all I can say is that there is no purely medical reason for his status."
At that Kakashi interrupted. "Are you telling me you cannot do anything for him?" He sounded rather alarmed.
"No. I was just explaining the situation. Now as far as we can see we have 3 options. First we could call for a branch Hyuga and let him seal most of the Tenketsu around Sasukes eyes. This would stop the unnatural chakra flow and cause him to wake if his Sharingan is what keeps him unconscious by shutting it down. For a while, my guess is around 2-4 hours, he would not be able to see at all, but the chances for any permanent damage are slim. It will however interrupt whatever is going on right now, which might cause ... unexpected side effects. Second we could simply apply supportive Medi-Jutsu around his eyes and hope to boost their natural ability to recover more quickly. This could however increase the risk of further Chakra overload. Or we simply wait it out. Again, he seems to be neither in pain nor danger, just ….. out. Maybe its a relatively natural part of his Sharingans evolution or self protection, who knows..." She trailed off.
"The only other option I see would be to get Tsunade here. She almost HAS to know more than we do. Which however will take time. Whatever is to be done though, the decision is yours, as you are both his Captain and the only other bearer of the Sharingan we have."
And with that she returned to her duties and left Kakashi alone to ponder his students fate...
And in a hidden, dark place deep below Konoha, lording over a double row of kneeing ROOT Members, Danzo pondered the new situation, especially Swords fate, as well. And smirked.