Chapter thirteen – Murphy's law

Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Izuna was looking for his brother, he had noticed him wander off a while ago, but hadn't seen him since. It took him forty five minutes to locate his bother inside a half broken shed, sitting on his gunbai, and looking thoughtfully back at him in the dark. Izuna couldn't for the life of him guess what had come over his brother to use this ruin as a place to take a time-out.

"Um… Are you alright there, big bro? This isn't exactly the best place to take a nap. Not the time for it either. Shouldn't you be helping us gather up things so we can get the hell out of here as quickly as possible?" He asked, looking worriedly at the stern look on his brothers face. Hoping the destruction hadn't gotten to him.

It happened every now and then. Ninjas got so fed up with war and violence they snapped. Sometimes it was without warning, while other times it came gradually with increasingly strange behaviour. The end result was alarming in both circumstances. Odd behaviour, mentally unstable and dangerous to both the victim and the ones around him. Izuna really hoped this wasn't that.

Madara looked back at him and nodded while getting to his feet.

"What's going on? Did you find anything at all?" Asked Izuna curiously.

"No… I was sidetracked..." Muttered Madara and walked past his younger brother. "We're going back to the village at once, Izuna. Find Katsu and we'll leave. Other clans might be here any moment to plunder the destruction as well. We're outnumbered and I don't want to end up in a fight right now. I need to think."

Izuna looked curiously at his brother, but without voicing his many questions he did as told and went to find Katsu.

Madara wasn't sure why he hadn't mentioned his meeting with black Zetsu. But he felt dirty for some reason, like the creature had infected him, and he didn't want it to contaminate his younger brother as well.

First he had to find a cure, and he had an idea that was starting to make him obsessed. An idea which might just be the solution to all their problems.

Completely destroyed.

There was barely anything left of Karonichi village by now, only broken buildings, gravel and roof tiles littered in heaps as far as Hashirama could see.

The leader of the Senju had only just convinced Mito not to go after Naruto when one of his guards had knocked on the door, informing him that the last ninja shift going to Karonichi had come back again ahead of schedule.

They reported that the civilian village was destroyed, and that five of their ninjas who had been there was found dead.

After hurriedly getting ready, all three Senju brother plus a few others had ran to Karonichi village at top speed. Now they stood there taking it in while unanswered questions rang through all of their minds.

"What could have done this?" Asked Itama in horror. Staring at the dead civilians lying bloody and burned in the ruins.

"Those damned Uchiha. What the hell made them attack Karonichi village for? This is just like that time with Itanika." Growled Tamotsu in fury, arms trembling as he clutched his fists hard and glared over the destroyed village.

Hashirama saw the wasted land. The beautiful trees that had reached the lake a little down in the terrain. The green grass growing over the field towards the rocky mountain side far away to the east. How unrecognisable it all was now.

"This… Was this really the Uchiha?" Hashirama asked doubtfully, it didn't actually look like the works of humans at all. More like a hurricane had swept through and caught fire to the houses at the same time. The area was filled with burn marks on everything from rocks to what remained of the houses.

"No, it wasn't, not according to the survivors at least." Said Sarutobi Sasuke who'd just met up with them and was letting them digest the imagery of the ruins. He and a few others of his clan had already been here when the team of Senjus had arrived and was going through the ruins, trying to help whomever needed it.

"It wasn't the Uchiha?" Asked Itama and peaked up at the Sarutobi member with surprise.

"No, according to the survivors it was a beast who came through this village, and destroyed everything in could come across." He answered, looking pointedly at Hashirama.

"Oh… You mean…" Muttered Hashirama, eyes widening once he understood what the Sarutobi clan member meant. He turned even paler then he'd already been by seeing the destruction, his expression frozen in an unnatural grim expression.

"What do you mean? What did this? It wasn't a…?" Asked Tobirama, trailing off and looking towards his brother who seemed to have figured it out already.

Shifting from foot to foot he looked back at Sasuke. "I think… This was done by a bijū." Hashirama said, pointing at the large crater in front of them. Maybe it was a footprint of the beast that had torn down the village. It wouldn't surprise Hashirama at all.

Tobirama's eyes narrowed even further, making them only slits as he studied his brother. "A biju? Here? Why would it attack a civilian village? What the hell was it doing here in the first place?" he muttered, sounding more like he was voicing his own thoughts then actually asking them.

The Sarutobi shrugged, looking as clueless as Hashirama felt while running a hand over his face. "They talked about a great and powerful animal attacking them. It came at full speed yesterday and attacked the village." Explained Sasuke and shook his head tiredly.

"How many tails?" Hashirama inquired and crossed his arms in front of him while listening to what Sasuke had to tell them. It was vital to understand what had happened here, it was very close to his own village, and if there really was a bijū trampling around destroying everything in its path then he needed to be certain.

"I don't know, we weren't here during the attack Hashirama-san. We came much later after a man came running into our village and managed to tell us of a monster who had killed everyone before fainting. So all we know is what we heard after we got here from the civilians. And they're not reliable sources. They said everything from four to twenty tails. One described the thing as a black ghostly beast, the other a red monster that shot flames, it's hard to be certain what actually went down. You know how fear and terror can make people imagine things that isn't really there." Said Sasuke and shrugged while looking over to a group of survivors only a small distance away from them.

"I see… Thank you Sasuke-san. For letting us know… We will have to return home now to bury our men." Answered Hashirama sadly and looked at the storage scrolls which contained the bodies of their friends. Tobirama was the one carrying them.

The Sarutobi nodded in understanding and indicated towards the group close by.

"I understand, of course I do. I'm sorry for your loss Hashirama-san. We are actually taking care of some of the survivors who needs help, but we can't take them all. There is about thirty in total and more than we can take in. I was wondering if you would be willing to let a few come to your village? About half of them?" Asked the Sarutobi.

Hashirama looked to the group of people sitting silently around the village, having found a few of their possessions and huddling together in packs of two to five. They seemed still to be digesting what had happened, a few looking shocked and disbelieving.

"Yes, two of my men is already asking around if some of them want to join us in the Senju village, if they agree my shinobi will lead them back later when they're ready." Answered Hashirama and thought of the problem this would lead to.

They didn't have that much food, but they couldn't refuse to help at a time like this. The village had always come through for them, now it was time for them to honour that gesture and show they were reliable.

An hour later, after saying goodbye to the Sarutobi, and having a quick talk with the two staying behind, they headed home. For a half the trip most stayed quiet, but eventually Tobirama spoke up.

"Do you have a plan brother? I think we'll have to do something about this mess." He mused and looked gravely back at him. Hashirama wasn't feeling to well about this subject, but nodded anyway. "You're right… First I want to talk to our guests though. They will know more then we do about how to deal with a bijū."

Hiruzen's father had yet to return to the Sarutobi village when Naruto woke up the day after her first D rank mission in this time line.

But what had returned however, was a sea of rumours which Ren started talking about the moment Naruto walked into the kitchen, still in her pyjamas and running a hand through her wilder then usual hair.

"Oh Naruto, good to see you awake." She started the moment she saw her in the door opening. "Did you hear? I just heard from Kyo-chan's mum that her husbands third cousin had heard from a friend who lives up by the river that Karonichi village has been destroyed. It's completely gone and a lot of civilians are dead." Exclaimed Ren looking worriedly out of the kitchen window.

Naruto, who'd yet to properly wake up - it was just a little after five in the morning after all - stirred and looked surprised back at the mother with her baby in her lap. Feeling her drowsiness evaporate like fog in a hurricane.

"What? How?! I was there just two days ago and everything seemed fine. How could that be?" The blonde asked loudly, making Hiruzen stir and fuss.

"I don't know... That's just it, they say the whole village is in ruins, and that some beast attacked them without warning. I feel so sorry for them. I knew the woman who sells fruit pretty well over there… I hope she's alright." Muttered Ren and started rocking her baby to calm him down again.

"Beast?" Muttered Naruto so low Ren didn't hear her at all. Dread turning in her stomach as she realised what that might mean. How could she have missed that? How could she have been babysitting when a bijū had been so close by? Which had it been? And why had it done that? Could it be that the same had happened again? Like two years ago when the sanbi had attacked water country?

Naruto was gritting her teeth in anger when Ren looked worriedly up at her and asked if Naruto was feeling well.

"I'm fine, Ren. But I have to leave right away. Thank you for your hospitality and letting me stay the night. Take care of little J- Hiruzen for me. I'll have to go now, I'll pack and head for Karonichi village as soon as possible." Naruto said and left the kitchen before Ren had time to utter the word 'why?'

Naruto's mind was now whirling with different possibilities, and her own fears were growing steady worse.

The moment Madara stepped into the Uchiha village he headed straight for the library. Izuna and Katsu gazed curiously after him as he ran towards the wooden building.

He was in an uproar of thoughts as he went to the archive to search through the scrolls he knew might give him the answers he needed. All the while trying to figure out what had been lies, and what had been truth amongst the creatures many claims.

Black Zetsu had said the best lies was based on truth, and Madara believed that as well. He couldn't deal with the idea of Naruto being a jinchūriki just yet, first he had to see if his other suspicion was correct. So after emptying the shelf's of every scroll related to the topic, Madara got comfortable on the floor to read.

His younger brother came in to see him half a day later with food and water for him, while Madara sat emerged in hundreds of scrolls in the small chamber next to the main archive in the Uchiha library.

Izuna tried to ask what on earth he was doing and why he had just disappeared, but only got a few swear words and a book thrown after him for disturbing Madara's concentration. He was growing frustrated at the lack of progress in his research, and promised himself to apologize to Izuna whenever he had found what he was looking for.

All day he sat in there, black Zetsu's words swimming around in his head as he went from scroll to scroll. Hoping the next one would be the document he needed. As a kid he'd been I here plenty with his dad, and before that his grandfather who loved the room.

It had the log books of the main family stemming back for ten generations, and was the key to teaching the next generations everything they needed to know. Their history, their legacy, their powers and abilities.

It also held many things today forgotten. Madara found a cool jutsu that looked like a fire bird attack according to the drawing, but only lay it aside for later studies, as he reached for the next file. Soon… Soon he would come across what he needed to know.

Hopefully...

Hashirama was sitting with his brothers and the Uzumaki siblings at home while they discussed what had occurred in the civilian village. Mito looked grim while Kurou seemed uncomfortable as they listened to the description of the ruins.

"And the survivors described a great beast was the cause of all this… Which makes me thing this has to have been the work of a bijū." Finished Hashirama, looking pointedly at Tobirama who also nodded. Having come to the same conclusion while Itama looked paler than when he'd seen the destruction for himself.

"A...A bijū?" Muttered Kurou and shook his head worriedly.

"That's like.. One of those demons right?" Said Itama and searched his oldest brothers face for confirmation. "You said that back in Karonichi, but I just... What was that doing there? Why did it attack? Which one do you think it is?" He asked looking concerned and worried. "Was it… hungry?"

"No." Interrupted Mito and shook her head while addressing Itama. She fidgeted with her hands as she started explaining her own thoughts about the depressing matter.

"The bijū do not need to eat. They do these things for different reasons. Sometimes it's because the village or someone from the village has angered them. That's usually the case as far we know in Uzu. Trying to attack or drive a bijū away from its turf is also a sure way of getting killed. I can't know exactly what happened here though. Sometimes they are just angry. They feel so much hate, and they hate that hate more then anything. If an area is filled with hate they can gain the attention of a bijū. Especially the kyūbi and itchibi is known for seeking out war zones to join in the destruction." Mito explained quietly. Kurou shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot but didn't voice his own thoughts.

"Which one is this? They are different aren't they? Do you have any ideas?" Asked Hashirama pointing to the crater behind them. Urgently leaning forwards.

"Well… No, not really. I can only say it's probably not the seven tails. It doesn't attack very often, and usually flies away. It shies away from humans more then the rest." Replied the red haired girl with a sigh.

"Or the nine tails." Added Kurou and Mito looked questionably at him.

"Why not? I actually assumed it was the kyūbi. He's known to be in these lands more then any of the others." She said inquisitively. Her brother shrugged and robbed the back of his head while straightening his glasses.

"Well… He usually goes for a challenge, right? Likes more opposition to gloat? This is a civilian village." replied Kurou, hating to lie to his sister. But classified meant classified. Grandfather would be furious if he told his sister, and far more if the Senju found out.

"That's all your basing your assumption on? Who knows what the demon thinks. Fire has been used here though, so that could indicate the yonbi, but still… I'm not sure at all." she said the last to Hashirama. Kurou looking shamefully downwards. He absolutely hated keeping the secret about Naruto from her.

"We can't allow this thing to wander these lands. We have to chase it away somehow." Hashirama told the others with worry.

"How? Do you remember the stories father told us from when he was little? When the kyūbi attacked the Hagaromo village? They barely managed to run for their lives! They had to rebuild the whole village from scratch." Exclaimed Itama.

"We have to do something. If not it might attack our village next." Claimed Tobirama, nodding to his older brother. "The Uchiha will probably know soon, or might already know. They do have some good sensors in that clan. Especially Madara." He frowned and scratched his jaw thoughtfully. "That… could be good… or disastrous..." He closed his eyes without saying anything further.

"I agree, Tobirama. We'll send out scouts right away to search for it." Hashirama replied and nodded to Tobirama who got up and left their little meeting at once.

"But what when we find the thing? I know you're strong brother, but these beast are legendary..." Argued Itama and shifted in his seat uncomfortable and worried. "That's why I'm letting Mito and Kurou know all this… I believe you have bloodline that can help us out Mito. The Uzumaki chains is known to bind chakra. All chakra." Said Hashirama seriously and looked pointedly at the red headed woman.

"You are correct, Hashirama. I can help you in this situation, but I think grandfather will have a fit if he hears about this. It was not in our agreement at all." She replied but had a contemplating look as she peeked over at her younger brother. Kurou seemed to get even more nervous, and he exhaled deeply to calm himself down.

"No sister. Absolutely not. You said you would stay in the village… You can't seriously be thinking… of doing… that." Muttered Kurou and frowned so deeply he looked stunningly like Ashina. Only with red hair instead of white.

"Do what?" Asked Hashirama curiously, looking between the siblings having a silent argument with one another.

"It's reckless and extremely dangerous! We are not leaving this barrier Mito!" Exclaimed Kurou after a few seconds.

Mito sighted and looked back to Hashirama. "We have a sealing technique in Uzu that is deemed forbidden. I can use it however, master Yasu taught it to me since I'm good enough in fuinjutsu to do it. It is a sealing technique that can a bind a bijū completely to a human sacrifice. We call it a jinchūriki." She said and started studying her finger tips while leaning backwards.

Kurou exclaiming his outrage at his sister for saying so much to outsiders. He didn't seem to like the idea one bit either.

"Shut up, Kurou. Hashirama is right. That bijū is roaming around the Fire Country as we speak. Who knows what it will attack next? Maybe here, maybe some innocent wanderers who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. We can seal the beast up for good, and you know it. Hashirama is very powerful, and his wood technique act in a similar way to my own chakra chains. Together we could stop the beast, and seal him for good."

Naruto walked away from Karonichi village with a downcast face in a furious discussion with Kurama while she left the destroyed gates.

'What are we going to do now? This… was it the yonbi? Some of thosepatches looked like cooled lava patches to me.' Naruto said and looked up into Kurama's worried face.

'Yes… Most likely… We missed that inc blotch from right underneath our noses. This must have been his work again. I can't see any reason for the gorilla to attack this civilian village without some sort of reason. He might be short tempered, but even he knows how littered this area is with ninjas. It seems like a pointless thing to attack a civilian village when he knows how risky it is to wander through the Fire Country. Even Ihad to be careful when I once roamed this country. I attacked the Hagatomo village once when they tried to challenge me. Steal my power, you know what I'm talking about brat. But even then I did it as a last resort...' Said the demon fox and got to his feet while stretching as he thought over what to do next. Naruto on the same line of thoughts.

'So who do we go after first? Black Zetsu or the yonbi?' She asked and gritted her teeth. Most likely black Zetsu was somewhere very close, but the yonbi… Should she let him roam free like that? Should she warn him or let him fend for himself from the clans who might soon be hunting him?

What if Hashirama started going after him? He could get killed, or the yonbi could actually get sealed. Mito was in the Senju village and… And she could become a jinchūriki…She'd been one in Naruto's first time line. NNaruto had believed that wouldn't happen now that Naruto and Kurama worked together, and technically speaking Kurama already had a jinchūriki.

'I hate to say this but I think in this case we'll have to help the gorilla… Black Zetsu might be close by, but so is my idiot brother. We'll have to make sure he gets out of Fire Country, and talk to him about not listening to black dodgy creatures who riles bijū's up for no good reason. I can't believe that thing fooled Son as well. I mean, Isobu was always a little dimwitted and easy to manipulate, Son Goku might be reckless, but not so easily fooled as the three tails.' He muttered darkly and shook his head.

'So we'll go after Son then… What if we run into Hashirama? How do I explain this to him? I mean, I told him as kids that the bijū shouldn't be attacked or controlled. That they have feelings too. But he just killed off a lot of innocent and defenceless people...' Naruto said trailing off feeling dejected.

It was such a horrifying memory of the burned corpses and torn village. It reminded her of how the Yuki village had looked after the Sanbi had attacked it two years ago in water country. That had been just as bad, but at least more people had survived. They had mainly been a village of ninjas who could fend better against a bijū.

'I know you're getting all sentimental and doubtful Naruto. But remember your promise to us. It might have been in a different time but you said you'd free us all. I have chosen of my own free will to aid you, but Son has no wish to serve some human brat. You never go back on your word Naruto. You've already been through this once with Isobu in water country, you chose to help him then, now we have to do the same with Son Goku.' He said and lay down again. His largeslitted eyes looking accusingly at Naruto who smiled sadly back at the fox.

'You're right Kurama… I don't go back on my words. I just wish it didn't have to be this hard...'

"Finally come out of your cave, I see." Said Izuna and smiled up at Madara who came rushing into the elders chamber with a triumphing smile on his face. Looking more excited then Izuna could remember ever seeing him.

"What is going on Madara-sama? You've been locked in the library for a very long time. What have you been searching for?" Asked the eldest in the room. An old woman named Chieko who'd been around longer then anyone else could remember. She was pushing sixty, which was an extremely old age because of the war times they lived in. She beat the runner up by a good twenty two years amongst the Uchiha. As the oldest she was greatly respected for her power as a retired kunoichi, and also for her level headedness.

Madara walked up to the middle of the room, looking almost as if he was gliding. His aura was filled with new found energy and confidence.

"I've been figuring out what to do next. It has come to my knowledge that what attacked Karonichi village was not another clan of ninjas. It was a bijū." He said looking from face to face amongst the crowd of about ten people. Izuna being the youngest by far, and Madara had no idea why on earth he was here in the first place.

"A bijū?" Muttered Chieko and shook her old wrinkly head. Her short white hair moving stiffly along as she looked mournfully back at Madara. "How do you know that? Couldn't it have been some clan? I heard from Izuna-san there was a lot of fire during this attack, according to the state of the village afterwards. Izuna here seems to think it might have been the Sarutobi clan. They are skilled with fire release too, and live close by. It might have been a disagreement we haven't heard of yet." She said in her croaky voice and looked over at the youngest of the Uchiha brothers.

"It wasn't. I know it wasn't. It doesn't matter how I know, but it matters what we do with this from now on." He said and held up the battered old scroll in his hand.

"This belonged to my great, great grand father. He talked about his many adventures and opponents he faced back in his day, and something he experienced during his travels. According to his logs he ran into a large, cat like creature in what we know today as Wind Country. He described it as a huge animal made of blue and black flames, which to me sounds a lot like the Nibi, the great cat demon." Madara said while looking eagerly into Chieko's eyes.

"He also explains how he survived the ordeal. He was as some of you might know, the last before my father Uchiha Tajima to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he used it against the Nibi to get away. He wasn't sure how he did it though. He explains that the cat froze up, it's eyes becoming a mirror of his own eyes. He writes; 'The sharingan visible in the fiery cat's gaze for everyone to see'. Do you understand what that means?" He said excitedly, looking between them all with that eager and almost childish smile on his face.

"Em… No?" Answered Izuna and voiced all of their confused opinions. Silently the younger brother wondered if maybe Madara finally had become sleep deprived enough to start talking rubbish.

Frustrated Madara waved the scroll in front of them, looking as energetic and pumped up as if he was fighting Hashirama while he answered the riddle for them.

"It means, dear brother, that the Uchiha has the power to control the bijū… Someone with a good pair of sharingan can capture the bijū who attacked Karonichi and use it for our own benefit. A power unique to the Uchiha alone! I have finally found the way for us to win this war."

Naruto was close to the Uchiha village when she first saw them. A large number of ninjas leaving the village in groups of four to seven. All in different directions. They were armed and in full battle gear as they hurried away from their village, while Naruto hid the best she could on such short notice.

'What is going on?' She though, and Kurama stirred in the back of her mind.

'If you ask me I'd say the Uchiha is sending out forces to track down Son… It looks like Hashirama isn't the only threat to my brother as we first thought. I should have known… Madara came for me once, how could I not have guessed he'd do the same now that Son is wandering around in arms reach of that brat.' He answered, getting more and more worked up as the Uchiha rushed out through the gates. 'We need to hurry, Naruto. We have to find that gorilla first no matter what.' He added, sounding more stressed then angry while he started thinking of where they should start looking for the yonbi.

Naruto's fists clenched, and she bit her lip as the last Uchiha ran out of sight. This situation was only getting worse by the minute.

'Shit...'

Author note: Thank you for reading!

Short chapter, I know, but I felt it was better to divide this here then halfway through what's happening in the next one.