Precious Treasure of the Uchiha
Summary: For centuries, a child Madara took in lived with the Uchiha clan and was loved above all treasures. But in this day and time,the clan is wiped out, only one remaining. Read on as Naruto tries to solve the murder of the clan and the disappearance of Itachi all the while protecting the last living Uchiha. How will Sasuke cope in the world of immortals?
The day of the festival arrived seemingly overnight, much to half the school's increased stress. People were either panicking over everything or were trying to convince themselves whether they should quit or that they can't quit. Every after school club was giving it their all to prepare something special and interesting while each class was investing as much of their time for whatever it is that they had decided to do for the big day. They were short on time and so everyone was overworking themselves until everything was set. And now the dawn of the day they had been preparing for has arrived and rare few students could fall asleep in the night that preceded it.
One of those students was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, although his insomnia had nothing to do with the festival itself. No, the blond was not stressing over the festival nor was he too excited about the dawning day. To him, this was just one of the thousands of festivals he was to attend in his Immortal life and they had kind of lost their charm over the years. He was not a kid anymore. He hasn't been a kid since he was twelve. To be expected, since he had nearly died back then.
No, it wasn't the festival that was keeping Naruto awake.
It was the piece of news he'd just gotten from Manda.
The giant purple snake had summoned him to the Ryƫchi Cave just last night to tell him some very important news that one of the snake's fish friends had found out. Rather, they'd found the one thing the Shinobi Alliance had been searching for to prove that the plane crash was actually an accident and not a planned attack. The one thing the company that owned the plane had wanted to find in order to understand how one of their best planes had crashed without any warning.
They had found the Black Box and Naruto was going to be the first person who was going to see what information the damned device has on record. He'll have to contact some of his technician friends if he wants the information to be recovered and he'll have to keep the whole thing a secret. He still can't believe it had taken them four years to find the damn thing! But what was really keeping him awake tonight was the reason why it had been so hard for the thing to be found.
The Black Box had been hidden by a genjutsu and a very strong one. They had had Hyuugas in the area of the crash, but while the Byakugan could see through objects and all the way down to the bottom of the sea very easily, it just as easily can be tricked by a well placed genjutsu. They would have needed the Sharingan in order to find the box but there was no way they were taking Sasuke out there and making him look through his brother's supposedly final resting place for a stupid box that may or may not have been destroyed. Not that they had even thought to search for signs of genjutsu, which lead Naruto to this state of his as there had only ever been a very few people who could trick him with a genjutsu. It was near impossible, since Madara and Izuna and every Uchiha since then had helped him master spotting, recognizing and dispelling illusions since he could walk. Only few had still managed. Only one had been alive back then.
The Black Box had been hidden for four years because Uchiha Itachi had not wanted it to be found.
And now it was.
It was currently with Manda and awaiting Naruto's next visit. The blond knew he won't make it to the festival if he were to start going over the recordings now. He had sworn on all his charges to Manda that he will destroy the snake if the box wasn't there when he finally does come to get it and he knew the snake won't dare cross him after an oath like that. Everyone who knew him knew that he always kept his word. When he swore on the Uchihas, you were sure to see it come true, no matter how impossible it may seem.
But the problem with this whole situation right now was that the excitement of finding the Black Box was getting to him and his curiosity would not let him sleep. It was a good thing he was Immortal and could go a whole week without sleep without it showing in his appearance. It was an even better thing that he was a Jinchuuriki and Kurama would gladly give him an energy boost id he needs it later on in the day. The ancient fox was just as anxious about the recordings' contents as Naruto was. While Kurama had not exactly gotten along very well with the first few generations of Uchiha that Naruto lived with, the blond had managed to convince him to give each individual a separate chance to prove themselves either deserving or not of Kurama's contempt. Kurama was particularly fond of Itachi, since the long haired genius liked petting him when he had been a child, an activity everyone else but Naruto shied away from. They both desperately wanted to somehow find Itachi and bring him home alive and they have been trying to do so for years.
That Black Box may be their first and only reliable clue up to date. They'll need to review it soon, since those things tend to get damaged after being taken out of the water if they stay like that for too long. He'll need to go to Manda tonight and have his experts ready to take the thing apart immediately. Every second could count. The four years the damn thing spent on the ocean floor could have already caused too much damage. Naruto was staking a lot of his hope on this one damned box.
Though it had occurred to him that, besides the genjutsu, Itachi may have placed some other form of protection on the box as well. It would only make sense. After all, if Itachi had gone through the trouble of masking the box's presence, then surely he would make sure it actually withstood the elements behind that illusion.
"Naruto." He looked up from where he was staring out of the window in his bedroom to look over to Kurama, who was standing in the doorway of said room, the size of a golden retriever as his red eyes gazed at his host. "It's morning. The festival will start soon. You should get ready."
"Thanks, Kurama." The blond replied, leaving his place by the window and walking into his bathroom at once, finally having glanced over to the clock. He couldn't believe it was already 7.15 in the morning. It felt like only five minutes had passed since he'd received the news from Manda. "Will you be coming along?" He called out as he stripped out of his sleeping clothes, getting ready for a quick shower. That will refresh him nicely and he'll be ready to once again be his cheerful self for the world.
"Yeah, but I'll stick on the inside." The biju replied, jumping up on the human's bed and stretching out like a cat, allowing himself to grow a bit more until he was as big as a lion. Thankfully, his form had no weight unless he wanted it to, so Naruto's very comfy bed was safe from breaking. "People would just annoy me if you took me as your pet and we don't know if any shinobi will be around."
"You're getting paranoid."
"You never know who might be lurking about." The fox very logically pointed out. "For all we know, someone finally learned where Sasuke's going to school and they want to get rid of him."
"Highly unlikely but not impossible," Naruto had to admit as he started the shower, adjusting the water until it was just right. "But I don't doubt a few shinobi will be at the festival. Even if they are only Danzo's men." He frowned at the thought. "That might be worse, actually."
Sensing that Naruto was staring to wordy about the old bastard rather than the concert, Kurama rolled his eyes and called out to his Jinchuuriki. "I'll keep an eye out for them. You just actually enjoy yourself for once."
Easier said than done and they both knew it. How could they not, when the very fate of the Uchiha Clan was constantly shoved into their hands? They could very rarely relax. But Kurama wanted Naruto to at least have some fun. It would be the first time in a long while.
"I'll try, dattebayo!" The blond replied with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Kurama knew it was the best he'll get.
00000
"Oi! Naruto!" Kiba's loud yelling pierced Sasuke's ears more painfully than a blow horn and he, along with the rest of their group, glared at the dog lover who was excitedly waving the above mentioned blond over. "Quit dragging your feet! Get over here already!"
"Shut up, Kiba." Neji ordered with a disapproving glare but he let it up to politely greet the oldest Immortal around as the whisker scared teen grinned at them all in greeting. "You will damage our ears with your voice and how are we supposed to play then?"
"You seriously need to dislodge that stick from your ass, dude. It's making you crabby." Was the Inuzuka's reply to the Hyuuga, causing the older genius's eyebrow to twitch. He apparently wasn't in the mood for Kiba's ... Kibaness, not that he ever was, but he usually didn't show it this openly. It immediately put Naruto on edge. Something was going on and he knew he wasn't going to like it. Seeing Naruto's suspicious expression, Neji shook his head.
"It's nothing to concern yourself with, Naruto-sama. It is just that some of the people from the clan of a man who tried kidnapping Hinata-sama years ago are here and they have approached us earlier to warn us they will pay us back for tricking them by sending my father, already an Immortal, to them instead of following through and giving them a dead Hyuuga body."
"Those dudes from Kumo?" The blond questioned with a scowl and Neji nodded. "Listen, if they bother you again, just point them out to me and I'll deal with them."
"It is appreciated but not needed, Naruto-sama." The elder Hyuuga insisted. "Tsunade-sama is here and they will not dare do anything with her around."
Naruto flinched at this information. The old hag was here? Why would she be here? Probably for the sake. But the alcoholic beverages weren't allowed until late at night, when the school stands are already long since officially closed. Something smells fishy around here and it ain't the grilled tuna a few stands away from them or the octopus meat balls. If Tsunade was here then the Shinobi Alliance was waiting for something, expecting some sort of tragedy to strike.
He could understand their reservations, though. The last one to carry the noble Uchiha blood was here, after all, practically with a target painted on his back. It would be foolish not to send some reinforcements should things go awry. But if Tsunade was here, then so were ANBU agents. And if ANBU was here, so were Danzo's ROOT. As if Danzo would allow the last existing Sharingan to slip him away. Naruto scowled just at the thought of the man.
"Naruto-kun, do you not like the festival?" Blue eyes blinked when the owner of said eyes found himself face to face and nose to nose with one Rock Lee. The Kyuubi's vessel took a wary step back as Lee cocked his head to the side, staring at Naruto with a half curious, half worried expression on his face.
Naruto just shook his head and called up a cheerful smile despite not feeling ut at all. He had kind of hoped the festival will distract him from the fact that he had some recordings to go over in the nearest possible future, but the festival was too dull for that. Well, dull in comparison to the many festivals Naruto had been to so far in his life. The Day of the Dead was particularly interesting in Mexico and the Brazilians sure did know how to throw a fiesta. And don't even get him started on the Greek. But even the more reserved and conservative festivals he'd been to in Japan were more fun than this. The students from the local schools hadn't really put all that much effort into it. To be expected. Most of them do come from shinobi families.
But even ninja loved a good festival.
Perhaps you should show him how we used to do things back in our day. Kurama suddenly pipped up, obviously even more bored than Naruto by the festival. Naruto felt a grin curling his lips, startling his companions.
'I agree, dattebayo!'
New Konoha was going to have a festival it will never forget.
