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 Ambushes, Rebellions and Betrayals
"One thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven!"
"Hah!"
"One thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight!"
"Kiiyah!"
A Konoha shinobi team was escorting their client through southern Fire Country.
"One thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine!"
"Hoh!"
"Two Thousand!"
"Hey!"
"Yosh! Good work Lee!"
"I did it! Gai-sensei!"
"Un! Lee! Now that you have completed two thousand high kicks and two thousand punches in under half an hour you are just that much closer to your dream! Well done!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
Tenten could only hang her head in embarrassment as the green clad members of her team extolled the virtues of their self-enforcing rule while posing before an imaginary sunset. She only knew what they were doing because Maito Gai himself had explained it to the team one day after Lee's sudden conversion into a virtual clone of the older man. Gai-sensei was the greatest instructor they could have had as far as training goes but he was so damn freaking weird sometimes. To everyone else including their client, Gai and Lee must have seemed crazy as hell standing in the middle of the road pointing at a bare patch of sky hollaring about the flames of youth, "I'm so sorry you had to see that Kaiza-san…" She apologized, cringing for what seemed to be the thousandth time since becoming a member of Team Gai.
For some reason their client, Kaiza seemed to be gazing at the same point in the horizon that Gai and Lee were looking at. He partially covered his eyes as if to protect them from the glare of the sun. Which was ridiculous of course, the sun was to their backs now that it was evening. Then he shook himself free of whatever manly resonance had caused him to share Gai and Lee's youthful hallucination. Looking bemused Kaiza graced the young kunoichi with an understanding smile, "That's ok, I have a son myself so I understand what it's like to horse around with your kid sometimes."
Neji, who was in the process of putting away an oversized pair of sunglasses in the wake of Gai-sensei's Sunrise Inspirational Speech ™, choked at Kaiza's words and spent the next few seconds shuddering with suppressed laughter. Tenten just looked embarrassed for Lee, although a smile did tug at her lips, "Ah, Lee's not actually Gai-sensei's son…"
Before Tenten could finish speaking she was temporarily blinded by the combined reflected glare off of said sensei and student's stunning exhibition of the results of good oral hygiene. In plain speech, the evening sun bounced off two sets of big white shiny teeth and hit her in the eye.
"Gah!" Tenten cried out, rubbing at her eyes in pain.
Neji had no such problem as he'd quickly pulled on the same set of oversized shades from before. He took out another pair from his pack and silently offered them to Kaiza while Tenten could only cover her eyes with a hand. It was at this point that Gai noticed what they were doing and gasped. Neji and Kaiza were looking on with shades while Tenten was cringing with an arm shading her face.
Gai-Vision™ however, provided a different perspective. It was a rather cool, almost composed scene that the jounin saw… in his mind. The shades-wearing Neji and Kaiza stood looking on with confident detachment while Tenten, who was now styled like that new jounin, Kurenai, he thought her name was… with leg warmers and a leotard… ran a hand through her unbound hair as it was swept up in a non-existent breeze. All three and an awkward-looking Lee were silhouetted by the evening sun.
Puzzling both his genin team and client, Gai swiftly spun away from them. He covered his eyes with his forearm and began tearing up, "They were so young and now…" he intoned with a shaking fist held before him as he moaned aloud, "Look at them so… Hip!"
Cue awkward silence….
Kaiza chuckled good-naturedly and remarked to the genin standing next to him, "Your sensei sure is quite unique isn't he?"
Neji nodded, for once looking faintly as embarrassed as Tenten normally felt.
After travelling for a few more hours the group decided to camp out at the side of the road while there was still some daylight left. The journey to Wave from Konoha was a three hour run for a shinobi like Gai, in other words, a solid day's journey for any other ninja. With genin and a civilian in tow, their travel time was estimated at seven days on foot with generous rest stops in between. It might have been longer, but Kaiza was quite fit and kept pace with the team of shinobi without complaint.
The rest stops were used by Gai to give his students valuable field-work experience. He let them run through the motions of setting up a hidden camp, a perimeter guard, scouting for water and foraging through the surrounding flora and fauna to supplement their rations. Kaiza took full advantage of the twice daily breaks at noon and an hour prior to dusk to relax as the shinobi team worked about him. He sometimes provided tips on various fishing techniques and was kind enough not to openly laugh at the inadvertent entertainment provided by Gai and Lee when the two went overboard trying to turn barehanded fishing into a competitive sport.
At times Kaiza spoke with the genin about his home and family. It was during one such conversation that he reason for hiring Team Gai was brought up.
It started when Lee had asked Gai-sensei whether or not Wave had a shinobi village of its own. Gai had laughed at the 'youthful' question and answered in the negative, launching into a brief lecture into the reasons why Wave did not have reason to host a shinobi village. Namely the fact that the ocean separated the island from its neighbors and the lack of an economy capable of sustaining a village were cited by the jounin as reasons for which they should not encounter any foreign shinobi on their mission.
Kaiza politely interrupted Gai at that point, "Actually," He said, "You will be seeing shinobi from other villages in Wave Country, although there shouldn't be any fighting involved."
Taking Gai's sharp look as encouragement, the man quickly began to explain, "You may know of Tengu Shipping and Hauling, it's a company that has became a major economic force in Wave Country after they executed a hostile takeover of Gato Shipping Industries," The man subtly stressed the word 'hostile' with a slight grin as if remembering a particularly pleasant, for him at least, memory. "Since then, they've been involved in a number of industrial projects throughout Wave Country and have been hiring ninja to provide security, usually shinobi from either the Hidden Mist or Leaf."
Gai blinked at the new information.
"The Tengu Company has also bought into my father-in-law's effort to build a truss bridge between Wave and the Mainland. They expanded the project so that we wound up making two parallel bridges instead of one. They wanted to build a bridge to handle public traffic and the other one for use by their overland hauling department, free of tax." The man shrugged, "It's pretty smart, Gato… the late owner of Gato Shipping was more interested in turning Wave Country into his private fiefdom than expanding his business. We needed the money for the project and couldn't refuse the offer without putting the country in debt."
Kaiza tossed a stick of wood into the sunken fire and continued his story, "You see Gato was a real piece of work. Most of his business was in illegal smuggling so the last thing that he wanted was a bridge going up that would cut into his profits by making it easier for inspectors and rival traders to access the island. Even after he… uh, passed away, we've still been having trouble."
At this point Lee raised a question that they'd all been wondering, "Um, Kaiza-san, how did Gato die?"
Without batting an eye their client smoothly answered them by saying, "Oh, he slipped in the bathroom one day and stabbed himself twenty-two times when he fell. It was quite tragic." Kaiza's tone indicated that 'tragic' was possibly the one word that was furthest from the way that anybody living in Wave felt about Gato's demise. That perhaps singing, street parties and burning effigies had been involved.
It was a sentiment that was only reinforced as the man continued speaking as if the improbable explanation didn't matter or was actually the official explanation. "The man hired several mercenary groups to provide warehouse security. They were little more than hired thugs and gangsters taking advantage of the situation. The shinobi that the Tengu Company hired have spent the last two years clearing them out of the island. They even found a slave ring and a number of drug running operations in the more remote parts of the Island."
For a moment Kaiza was so silent in his memories that the curious genin were actually hesitant to disturb him but as he roused, Tenten again raised a question that was bothering her.
"Kaiza-san," She asked while the others looked on, "If Tengu Corporation is already hiring leaf shinobi for security then why hire us to protect you?"
Kaiza looked up and blinked as he processed the question. Brushing aside old memories as he answered her, the man told them his reasoning, "Tengu Shipping and Hauling is a private company and mainly provides security to protect their interests. There's less red tape involved in fielding such a force in a country like Wave for the purpose of hunting bandits. The other pier of the bridge is within Fire Country where the company has less authority to handle matters…"
Gai spoke up, realizing where Kaiza's explanation was leading them, "So you hired Konoha ninja to handle any bandits that hid on the Fire Country border that might attack the bridge builders." The man nodded slowly, "It is certainly a faster method of ensuring security while petitioning the Fire Daimyo to have the area policed." The jounin quirked a brow though as he considered something, "But why didn't the company hire Konoha directly for this mission if they're already hiring our shinobi in Wave Country?"
"Ah," Kaiza replied, "Well, they did offer of course…" At this point it didn't take someone like Neji to point out that Kaiza seemed to be remembering a particularly traumatic experience. Gai's gaze sharpened but he otherwise said nothing, "The thing is, even though they're nothing at all like Gato, people remember what it was like. I was one of the most vocal activists against the things that Gato Shipping was doing in Wave." Kaiza absently rubbed his elbows as he spoke, "I… and the other men working on the Fire Country piers would feel more comfortable if we knew that the ninja we hired were working for us and not some company whose interests may or may not match our own."
The rest of the night was spent in silent contemplation while Team Gai wondered just what had happened in Wave to make Kaiza look at his arms as if afraid they would be torn off.
The final battle for Water Country began with a thunderous boom that scattered fire, wind, water and burning earth across the sea. The ever present mists that shrouded the coast were banished. Searing hot steam took their place , rushing outward and up the cliffs, a diffuse burst of wind corralled the superhot vapor away from the allied contingent of rebels-turned liberators and their Root shinobi associates. The Ao and the aide standing next to Fukurou gave their assessment simultaneously.
"Twelve enemy platoons are down Mei-sama." Ao quietly noted to his redheaded leader.
"One hundred and fifty dead, fifty-five critically wounded and a further one hundred shinobi still capable of battle." Baku, a Main Branch Hyuuga twice Fukurou's age spoke into his leader's ear.
"Most of them survived by diving deep," Ao informed Mei, "An over strength platoon is making a break for the cliffs to the north…"
"-Twenty-four individuals, four jounin-level chakra signatures…" called out Baku
"The rest are making for the swamps to the south," Ao observed, he had to be careful with that Hyuuga the Uchiha kid brought with him, it was throwing him off his game a little wondering if their allies were planning on making a try for the prize byakugan implanted in his right eye-socket. The chaos of the upcoming battle would be an opportune moment.
"Zabuza is engaging alongside the Yuki clansmen with Toguro-dono at the head. Some are slipping through, Shigure-dono is positioning to ambush them when they come ashore, Hiko-dono is moving up to support Zabuza." Baku currently had little interest in Ao's eye though he would have gleefully plucked it from the man's skull if given the chance. His purpose here was to keep an eye on their enemies as well as their allies. With the leader of Root in attendance and a major investment of their standing forces in Water Country it would be disastrous for them to be stabbed in the back. Also Fukurou wanted to keep his allies 'honest' by having both byakugan users watch each other's side for deceit.
"Mei, Fukurou-san is sending off a platoon to deal with the enemy to the north of us." Ao told his leader, as he watched Kensei split off with sixteen other shinobi.
The woman hummed as she watched the battle progress below with narrowed eyes. Every now and again a kunai or jutsu would make its way toward the cliff. They were never in danger but it paid to remain alert. "Have two teams assist, place Mukuro-kun in charge." She ordered.
Baku noted the departed men at the same time that a geyser erupted in the middle of the bay. After a few moments of focused searching he commented, "No sign of the Mizukage's chakra signature or the Sanbi."
Fukurou nodded, "We'll just have to see if this draws them out then…"
He clasped his hands as if in prayer and eight dots of light coalesced around his wrists. In a smooth movement, he held his hands outward in a modified Yamanaka seal. The first four fingers of his right hand were placed before those of his left. He held his arms up, palms out with his joined thumbs forming the bottom of a diamond-shaped window that he looked through. The eight spheres of light darted forward.
"Gyōton: Kongō no Tennyo Hamaya"
Fukurou softly intoned.
'What is that chakra?'Ao was startled by the upsurge of energy he detected coming from nearby and was very nearly blinded when he turned his byakugan on Fukurou.
"M-Mei!" He grunted, afraid that they were being attacked by the Root shinobi.
"Calm down Ao…" The Mist Rebel Leader breathed as she watched what was happening with awe and more than a little trepidation.
The only reason that she could tell what was happening was because the technique was so bright it left a glowing after image in her retinas. Even so, it took several seconds to connect the fresh chorus of screams to the new technique on the battlefield. She was standing on the top of a cliff, one hundred meters away from the action and the eight arrows of light raced across her field of vision so quickly they were little more than a line tracing over the surface of the ocean. She imagined that it must have been even worse for the men on the field who didn't have the advantage of watching the looping shards of glowing death.
She was all too right. Zabuza was in the midst of cutting the arms off of his current opponent when another shinobi struck from his blind spot just as he was already committed to the strike. Before Zabuza could let go of his blade in order to dodge, or before Haku could spear the offending ninja with a javelin of ice, a glowing bolt of light struck the loyalist-nin in his back and blew its way out through the dead shinobi's chest. The eight lights were visible through the mist as they killed the Mizukage's soldiers. Some thought to dodge or block the attacks when they came close. These efforts were largely futile.
Guided with the unerring accuracy of the sharingan, the arrows weaved through the throngs of fighting men and women. Without even singing an ally, the missiles were all able to accurately track and kill any dodging shinobi that didn't immediately dive underwater and stay there. The numerous defensive water techniques did nothing to slow the attacks although a water and lightning attack that got in the way of one missile caused it to veer off course for a while. After a few more seconds of carnage Fukurou glanced at Baku who shook his head in the negative.
'So you're not here eh?' The Root leader thought with a frown, 'CH-! This makes things difficult…'
Waving his hands like a conductor, the eight glowing hamaya soared straight upward before turning over and plunging back down toward and into the watery depths of the sea.
A Mist-loyalist shinobi was treating a wounded ally when a luminous rod of energy transfixed her patient, at the same time seven other glowing lights were heading toward the greatest concentrations of loyalist shinobi hiding under water. The medic was just beginning to swim away when the lights intensified.
"Katsu!" Fukurou commanded.
Eight explosions went off deep under water. The resultant geysers rained more than just water upon the surface combatants.
Fukurou's sharp eyes caught something in the distance, "Baku!"
His subordinate was already looking into the distance, "They're ours!" He called out as a trio of ships bearing rebel colors sailed into the bay.
"Let's wrap this up!" Fukurou commanded as he waved his platoon forward over the edge of the cliff.
"Ao! We're moving!" Mei commanded as her counterpart signaled for an attack.
The appearance of the ships was a hit to the morale of the Mist Loyalists. That is, until the central ship exploded in to a mass of shattered bodies and timbers. Already descending into the battlefield the command group was treated to the sight of Yagura in Three-Tails Bijuu-mode arising from the sea before a thick roiling fog engulfed everything.
Now was the time!
Hiko
He rushed forward heedless of the battle that was still taking place all around him. The wind whipped through his hair as he dashed onward into the mist with all his might. He spared only just enough concentration to avoid any obstacle between him and his target. The light emanating from his sword was a beacon and a shield. Even in this thick, chakra laden mist the cursed light of his jutsu could be seen.
And all who saw the light of his blade were frozen in mind and body for as long as they gazed upon that sight. The lightning chakra radiated by the blade was granted extended range by the chakra-laden mist. All who saw his technique were unaware of the passage of time for the duration of the technique's hold on them. For most, he was but a flicker of light in the corner of the eyes that came and passed like a fleeting spectre.
He was chosen for this task because of all others, it was his jutsu that was best suited to counter the powers of the sharingan. All it took was for Fukurou to give him one glance and it would be over no matter how great the man's ocular prowess was. The mist parted before him and the figure that he was searching for could be seen dashing across the water with weapon bared. Hiko positioned his glowing blade before himself and imparted what chakra he had to spare to his legs for one final burst of speed.
Fukurou
In spite of his best efforts the hallucinogenic properties of the Sanbi's mist took hold of him. Insidious it struck at his weakest points, the many losses that he suffered and still grieved for even after being reincarnated. They clutched at him, hinds rising up from the water. Confused, he belted Baku across his face sending the man skipping across the water like an artfully tossed river stone.
"You kiLlEd Us…" They whispered.
"SaVe Us!" More hands arose as the voices of the dead cried out to him.
"MaStEr!" He sweated as his iron will began to struggle against the truly demonic illusion.
Fukurou stilled himself, closed his eyes and exhaled. He didn't need them to know who the boy standing before him was. Always it came back to this first death, the one that taught him what it truly meant to see someone die, a tragic senseless thing.
"-Hissss- KiLL tHe spArEEe!"
He opened his eyes, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
Green eyes turned red and black as his sharingan activated, "Goodbye." He broke the illusion.
For the first time in his new life, he doubted his eyes.
Then the Sanbi struck and he could only scream.
Buried deep within Fukurou, something began to awaken…
Shigure
She lived as she had been taught. Carefully, sparingly…
She loved as she had wished, with all her heart and soul.
It was her only weakness…
The one she loved betrayed her…
Sealed her…
Commanded her to betray their friend…
Why couldn't he see through the elder's lies? To her ordered mind it was obvious that Koharu was holding something back. Hiko was being a fool as always, jealous of Fukurou as he had always been. It was a sentiment that had always been carefully hidden from even the vaunted eyes of her other teammate. Or perhaps not. Perhaps Fukurou knew and believed that it would pass. It was just like him to be so understanding and patient, just as it was like Hiko to be a reckless fool. Just as it was like her to love that fool with all her heart. Not once did she think that Hiko would ever turn against her -against them… their bond… her love…
Koharu was clever. In the end, Hiko was the only one who could have gotten close enough to plant the loyalty seal on her. He did it with a kiss too, the bastard… Still, she couldn't bring herself to hate Hiko. Not even now, as her sword arced toward Fukurou's neck. Not even as Hiko's ninjatō plunged into her side as her lover accepted the fatal strike in exchange for freezing her body as still as stone with the remnants of his jutsu. Blood dripped from his lips as he kissed her. The blade in her innards, having been deliberately angled to avoid any vital areas, was less of an agony than the feeling of betrayal that was let loose by the loyalty seal's dissipation.
A roar of fury became more of a weak mewl as it struggled past their still joined lips. Her sword had wounded him much more severely though. His strength was already sapped and the chakra in his blade nearly gone. She would have thrown him off of her had she not been so stunned. There was just so much blood. The blood of the man she loved and at that moment, so wanted to hate was on her hands. Her face cycled through a multitude of expressions before settling on appalled shock.
Hiko gritted his teeth, "Forgive me…" He rasped.
Then the Sanbi struck as Fukurou looked on from where he'd been pushed aside. Helplessly he watched as his two most precious friends were obliterated before his eyes.
And then he screamed.
In the World that was a Womb
It was fury that called it into existence, the desire for vengeance. It was a deadly primal thing that hated and destroyed. And being an entity of pure destruction, it in turn sought to be destroyed, eventually causing its host's self-destruction. It arose within him in a maddened thing, howling in fury only to be swallowed whole by an even greater darkness residing within the Yin of its host. The entity the Uchiha called Susanoō did not even have a chance to feed on Fukurou's rage or play with his guilt before oblivion claimed it. There was only enough time to let out a single outraged cry that echoed throughout the fiber of of the young Uchiha's being.
Even in the throes of emotional turmoil there were some vestiges of the state of nirvana granted by Harry Potter's death that stayed with him. Fukurou was in this way fundamentally different from any other Uchiha that had ever called upon Susanoō. He felt grief, yes, rage too but there had always been something missing. He didn't hate as other's did, not even when two of his very first friends were taken away.
He recognized that what Yagura was doing was wrong. That he needed to be stopped. But he didn't mourn the deaths of his friends any more than he did the deaths of the Uchiha killed five years ago. The dead passed on to the next great adventure. Mourning that was absolutely pointless. He felt guilt though, crushing guilt that they had passed before their time and it had been because of a mistake Fukurou had made. Obviously they had died protecting him…
But he didn't mourn them at all. It wasn't a human response so for a lack of one Fukurou screamed in anguish as he was swept away by the waves driven by the Sanbi's attack.
Deeper still, within the world that was a womb and the womb that was a world, something stirred in response the Susanoō's death-cry. Eyes opened at the sound of a second cry. It sensed a power seeped in malice and struck out.
Within the real world the Sanbi's head was bifurcated. The chakra that had constituted it was disrupted and a cut was opened up nearly all the way to the center of its shell. The edges were wreathed in an invisible flame, visible only at the edges as the world was distorted like the wavering of air above a true fire.
For a second everyone paused at the sight. Yagura, free at last from the shackles that had chained his mind was a defeated broken thing. Blind and dumb, he bawled like a babe seeking its mother's breast and the Mist Rebels, seeing only a monster temporarily exposed, interpreted his helpless cries as howls of fury. Only Ao felt something off about the way Yagura had been. In the end, when Mei burned him down, it was an act of unknowing mercy.
AN: Two weeks is not nearly long enough to say that I've abandoned a story. I say when I've abandoned a story or not. As it is, I write when I have the time.
Jutsu:-
Gyōton: Kongō no Tennyo Hamaya - Dawn Release: Demon Breaking Arrow Heaven's Gift of Vajra
Explanation
A modified version of the Kongō-ya, which is basically a Kongō no Ken that's treated like a thrown grenade. This is more developed, the lightning nature and a bit of Ying-Yang allows it to be moved about like a tracking missile. With a powerful enough lightning attack it might be possible to disrupt the technique enough to either make it veer off course or detonate prematurely by affecting the magnetic field. Its strength lies in its speed and the power of the Gyōton. The tracking ability is possible only due to Fukurou's Sharingan.
Shinran Kagami Juin no Jutsu - Mind and Mirror Disruption Curse Technique
Explanation
Hiko bounces Shinranshin off of a reflective surface, originally used with a mirror. Hiko uses this technique with his sword to freeze his opponents for a split second while in combat, usually to deadly effect. Range of 0-30 meters.
Raiton: Shinran Kagami Juin no Jutsu - Lightning Release: Mind and Mirror Disruption Curse Technique
Explanation
The perfected version of the technique he recreated as a genin, it uses lightning chakra to not only aid in disrupting the nervous signals between brain and body but temporarily disrupt brain activity resulting in a form of short-term memory loss. Not only is the range greatly increased, when streamed through the a conductive medium like the water droplets in the mist, it's effects are amplified. Range 0-300 meters.
TTFN.