Disclaimer: Naruto is the work of mangaka Masashi Kishimoto, Harry Potter is the work of author J.K. Rowling. The author makes no claim to ownership of the aforementioned works and no profit from this fanfiction.
Uchiha Fukurou
Of Patsies, ANBU and Changing Times
Owl washed his face, scrubbing his hair furiously. Itching powder again, and something foul in the gas filter of his mask. If he complained he'd probably be told, 'Take that as a lesson to always check your gear probie.'
Like any small, elite military organization AnBu field operators were close knit as a group. They depended on each other for their lives and needed time to figure out if they could trust newcomers. They were also elitist jerks who hazed their new recruits mercilessly. Five missions and he still wasn't one of them. They messed with his mask, something that would normally earn you a beating. One didn't mess with people's gear. But they called it training and heaven forbid he couldn't take it with a smile. But taking it with a smile also had other connotations that led to trouble.
They pushed him to see whether he would bend or break. The pranks weren't just good funning, they wanted to see what made him tick. Rooster didn't like him; well she didn't like geniuses as a whole. Wolf didn't really care and Sparrow and Ox thought he was cute even if he was a noob. Grasshopper was too relieved not to be the butt of the pranks anymore to say anything and Crow was just waiting to trade him for someone with more experience. They wanted to know how far they could push him?
The members of Owl's squad walked into the changing room and collectively had an uncontrollable bowel movement thanks to a bowel loosening seal Fukurou hid in the doorframe...
Minutes later, the cherry bombs in the toilet bowls went off to a chorus of splashing, and screams of both outrage and disgust. Owl simply grinned as he scrubbed his hair.
The council meeting was understandably tense. The Sandaime and his advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura sat at a table before an assembly of clan heads and jounin leaders. The clan heads were seated in groups according to personal and political ties within the auditorium. The jounin leaders and were at the back or stood along the walls grouped by profession. No one could speak for a second as they collectively felt a sense of affront as the incident was recounted to them by the Hokage with the aid of Hyūga Hiashi and a KMP officer.
"Disgraceful…" Aburame Shibi summed up their thoughts.
"To pull something like this, after all the wars and sacrifices, those bastards! Are they mocking us? Damn them!" Inuzuka Tsume groused from her chair. It was a sentiment shared by several of the shinobi sitting in the room.
"Hokage-sama," Nara Shikaku spoke up, "What was the response of the Kaminari no Kuni diplomat to our report of the incident."
The Sandaime sighed, "The official stance of Kumogakure is that Gashira was attacked without provocation. They categorically deny any knowledge of a mission to kidnap Hyūga clansmen. They demand that Konoha show proof of Gahsira's well being and that we surrender him to the diplomatic envoy for evaluation."
Koharu chimed in, "We have been accused of using this peace treaty as a means to assassinate a candidate for the position of Raikage."
"Hotaru-dono, the Kaminari no kuni diplomat demands that Konoha hand over the one responsible for Gashira'a injuries." Homura informed them.
Danzo, normally silent in the corner of the room spoke, "They're lying through their teeth of course. All of this bluster is just a ploy to get at the byakugan. The Cloud envoy seemed under the impression that Gashira was dead. Their initial demand was worded as 'His killer must be brought to justice in the courts of Kaminari.' When we informed them of Gashira's survival, they then demanded proof of his… 'wellbeing'."
"I see," said Akimichi Chouza, "He wasn't intended to survive to begin with. But how could they be sure he was dead?"
"Fukurou-kun helped us there inadvertently," Yamanaka Inoichi answered. "I was snuck in to do a discreet interrogation while he was still unconscious. The medics found neurotoxin capsules imbedded in the flesh of his back and a cyanide pill in a false tooth. The real kicker though is what happened with the arm Fukurou-san cut off." He told them, "A curse seal below the elbow went off, lightning release, stopped the heart of the medic that was preparing it to for reattachment in the next room over. By the time they revived him, the AnBu medics were able to find and seal off three more implanted kill switches on Gashira including one on his other arm."
"The security barriers probably stopped them from going off," Shikaku deduced, "They were put up as soon as we knew who we were dealing with." He turned his sharp dark eyes to regard a worried looking Hiashi. "One way or another they planned to get at the Byakugan. Most likely, accusing Hyūga-dono of murder was their intent all along. It would have worked as long as Gashira died while in our custody. If they couldn't get your daughter they'd simply demand a Main House Hyūga as compensation."
"As long as Gashira is alive they don't have a leg to stand on." Fugaku noted, "They'll either serve him up as a scapegoat or play the outrage card as far as it will take them."
"Most likely the former, as much as the Sandaime Raikage would like to get his hands on the Byakugan, negotiations held in bad faith will negatively impact Kaminari no kuni as a whole." Shikaku commented to the room.
"Will just we accept this?" Tusme fumed angrily. Hiashi bowed his head, showing no indication of the deep emotions that stirred within him.
There were murmurs of discontent from the jounin at the back before Koharu silenced them with her words, "We cannot afford a war at this time. While these negotiations were but a ploy, Gashira's survival is an embarrassment to Kumogakure that we can use to force their compliance."
"Your nephew did good…" Chouza told Fugaku, "Had it gone down any other way we might have been at war, or worse."
Hiashi nodded, "Please convey to Fukurou-san my thanks as well." He said stoically.
"He simply did his duty as a proud shinobi of the Leaf and an officer of the Military Police, to help maintain the safety and security of the village. Nonetheless I will convey the fact that his efforts are appreciated." Fugaku responded with false modesty.
"Defeating an experienced jounin is an impressive feat for chunin with less than a year of experience, even one that is an Uchiha. Severing Gashira's arm was a masterful stroke, an excellent first strike, whether by instinct or luck." Chouza said, "Pretty embarrassing too, to let a ten year old get the drop on you."
Shikaku continued his friend's thoughts to their logical conclusion, "When Kumogakure finds out who was responsible for their embarrassment, Fukurou-kun might be in for some trouble though."
Fugaku, Danzo and the Hokage shared a look. They would be talking later about how to resolve that issue.
The meeting ended with Konoha resolved to force Kumo into ratifying the peace treaty, by using Gashira's actions as leverage. It was an embarrassment no matter how Hidden Cloud chose to spin the story. The testimony of Hyūga Hiashi, several guards, Konoha Military Police officers, the Hokage and AnBu outweighed any possible defense of Gashira's actions. He had been caught red-handed by a young chunin and apprehended alive with the young heiress of the Hyūga clan in a burlap sack.
The mortification that Kumogakure experienced over the incident was ameliorated only slightly by Konoha's acceptance of Gashira's 'confession' that he had been acting on his own. He was tried for treason, due to his actions being an embarrassment to Hidden Cloud. He was accused of having acted out of hubris and a misguided desire to distinguish himself as a Raikage candidate without thought for the possible ramifications of his actions. Officially, both Konoha and Kumo denounced the formerly respected ninja as a traitor and upon being convicted Kumo executed him and shipped his body to Konoha where it was buried in an unmarked grave.
The Sandaime Raikage died soon after the Hyūga Incident and the Yondaime Raikage, Ā, the son of the late Sandaime signed the peace treaty in person. He made no acknowledgement of Gashira's actions beyond a brief and vaguely worded statement. He made no promises of further cooperation with the Leaf, no talk of alliances and no commitment to the move toward disarmament, something that even Iwa had agreed to do. The Yondaime Raikage was taken to be a brash and rambunctious young fool with no respect for the sins of his elders or the fragility of the world's peace, seeking only to strengthen Kumo.
He made no mention of the five million ryo bounties placed separately on Fukurou's head and eyes. He said nothing of the similar, ten million ryo bounty that remained on every unbranded Hyūga's eyes. He made no mention of the very cold war that developed between Leaf and Cloud, fought by shinobi in darkness in person and by proxy before the ink had a chance to dry on a peace treaty that wasn't even worth the paper it was written on.
Joining the AnBu had involved remaining silent during a fifteen minute meeting with his clan leader, the Hokage and Elder Danzo, the sinister-looking commander of Konoha's special assassination and tactics squad. Fugaku assured him that he was bringing honor to the clan as one of the youngest members to ever join the organization. The Hokage assured him that this was only a temporary measure, that it was for his own protection and training; and that he wouldn't be sent on any assassination missions for the foreseeable future. Danzo gave Fukurou no assurances, only the creeps with a speech about the dark side of the force that reminded him of a movie Dudley had talked about once
True to the Hokage's words Fukurou's days were spent in the village training with other chunin level recruits to be trained killers. By this time in his career Fukurou had killed several times, usually in self-defense. Nonetheless for all of that he still felt uneasy with joining a group he believed to be professional assassins. He didn't say anything but it killed him inside.
Also as had been promised, Fukurou's first four months were spent in physical training and studying. His lessons included some subjects that he was familiar with, dynamics, college level math, basic first-aid; and some subjects he was not, like orienteering, advanced wilderness survival training in a wide variety of conditions and battlefield triage. Regardless of whether or not the subjects were familiar Fukurou thought that Old Harry would have found the applications either appalling or bemusing.
'Calculate the angles at which a kunai must be thrown by subject A at set distance of X, and arrives at time T, with a north-north-west wind of speed of Y, in order to hit his target, subject B. Take into account the use of chakra. Calculate the velocity of the kunai given that it is thrown at Z degrees to the horizontal and perform the corresponding calculations for subject B given that he dodged the kunai and now stands in a tree of elevation Q.'
Hypothetical kunai throws aside there were classes on how to properly prepare an enemy's body for retrieval with different procedures for different conditions depending on how many pieces there were to collect. They studied anatomy with a focus on the best ways to dispose of a missing nin or how best to torture a subject to extract information.
Fortunately, enduring interrogation techniques was an advanced class for later. Fukurou was simply given SERE training that involved being locked in a freezer for a nght, surviving in for weeks in training ground forty-four without equipment, and finally being flogged for several hours while a special jounin named Ibiki made him and others recite the ninja code from memory. It was mind-numbing, wearying work. Designed to breakdown recruits and rebuild them into what the AnBu corps needed them to be. It was a dehumanizing experience and Fukurou found himself not totally immune to being affected. His occlumency dulled his emotions and made the effects of the training seem more pronounced to his instructors. He at one time found himself involved in a debate with commander Danzo, coldly advocating the merits of murder, blackmail, physical and psychological torture as tools for dealing with an ally of suspect loyalty.
He knew, for all his success at training, breaking almost every record, Ibiki secretly considered him a sociopath. Danzo was afraid of what he might become. The Hokage was remorseful at the loss of his perceived innocence. Fugaku was wary, pleased but wary. He knew that none of them, not a single one of them, understood just what they were stirring awake deep within him. Voldemort's equal. The Master of Death and deeper still…
Fukurou's days off were spent at the dojo with his friends. Mikoto had given him the task of travelling to various Uchiha hideouts, safe houses, storage depots and old strongholds in order to evaluate the security of the locations. At her request he sometimes upgraded the defenses with his own fūinjutsu work. In a few cases he even warded the area with a fidelus seal, again at Mikoto's request, although unlike the other places placed protections on, these locations were known only to the two of them. He had no reason to question the request or the others that Mikoto would make. Fukurou found it difficult to say no to her and she asked no questions about how he did what he did assuming him to be a prodigy in just another area of shinobi life.
Likewise Fukurou asked no questions. Mikoto covered for him at the clan meetings and his training took up the rest his time. The errands that he ran for the clan doubled as his cover. It was an arrangement that Fukurou found himself peacefully accepting. It would be one of the last times in his life that Fukurou would ever be so quiescently unquestioning of shinobi affairs.
AN: The polls change every two days or so, don't worry if you missed one or the other. Coming up on some important scenes in the next few chapters where the contrast between Old Harry and Young Harry manifest wihin Fukurou.