"This is unusual. I can't remember the last time you requested my presence at one of your secret meetings, Hokage-sama." The Fire Daimyō said to Hiruzen, giving him a grateful smile to discuss how uncomfortable he was. The Daimyō of the land of fire was not the confident man who Lorded over most regions. This was in part due to his wife.
Hiruzen pitied the Lord for being married to such a cow of a woman. Even though he was a relatively young man at the age of thirty seven, his face showed nearly as many years as the Hokage's own. He usually entrusted all matters of importance to the ninja or civilian councils, depending on who was effected the most. He was not a man made to lead, he was a listener more than a speaker, and rather easily persuaded. Normally, Hiruzen wouldn't have included him in meetings of a fragile nature, but the Daimyō held great influence, even if he didn't often use it.
"I won't have bothered you if it wasn't for the seriousness of this matter." The Hokage said with a short bow of his head as the Lord took the seat of honor.
It had been one week since the break in. That was the minimum amount of time the Hokage had set for his people to try to gather all the intelligence possible without gathering attention. The sum total of their new information was a resounding zero. With the possible threat of an unknown group poking around the village and targeting the greatest assets to the village's future, the Hokage had to take action.
Who was to be involved in this meeting was a bit of a pickle. It had to have the voices of every major group in the village, and the most important experts on the subject at hand, but at the same time, it had to be as small as possible. Many voices did not make good council, only discord.
The two head members of the major parties within the 'civilian' council had been brought in to represent their own parties. It was really called the Council of Representatives, but as ninja were not permitted on it, they preferred to call it the civilian council. As much as the Hiruzen hated having them their, it was necessary. He could only hope that the presence of their Lord would make them keep their traps shut. The civilian council's power was limited within the village, but it spread across all of the Land of Fire, and a good deal of the ninja's cliental listened to them, making it a bit more obnoxious to deal with. They're actions have caused trouble in the past, with Clans who went against them suddenly finding themselves blacklisted and no civilian village willing to employ them even when they were being constantly raided by bandits.
Next was the Heads of the Uchiha and Hyūga Clan. Being perhaps the most directly involved, they were a given. With Senju's acting Head present in order to have all of the three major Clans in attendance. While the three were not really conflicting, each having sworn off infighting and dedicated themselves to the greater good of the village, they all had their pride issues.
If you got too many of these Clans members together, they would undoubtedly get into an argument over who was the best. It was always a stupid argument, since they all had their own specialties and didn't even take the same types of jobs, but they argued none the less. Hopefully that wouldn't happen with just the three leaders involved.
With Clan security in question, Danzou was also a must, being in charge of the ANBU forces. Another person who the Hokage hoped would not try to take advantage of the situation. The man was loyal to the village to a fault. His twisted view of what constituted the village's good made him a bit of a worry at times.
Nara Shikaku was in attendance. As the Jounin Commander, he was entrusted by all the ninja of the village to speak for them. They believed in his judgment and they felt assured that he had their best interests at heart. If he said that something was for the best, a majority of the Jounin would back him up, which was why the Hokage made sure to talk to him before even suggesting a meeting.
The final two members, Kakashi and Anko, were both there to act as specialists of sorts.
"Since everyone seems to be here we can began, starting with bringing those who are unaware of the true nature of current events up to speed." Hiruzen said, giving Nara Shikaku a small nod to begin explaining.
"As you all know, nine days ago after the signing of a peace treaty, a few members of Kumo reportedly went rogue, kidnapped the heiresses to the Hyūga Clan and tried to make a break for it. However, the events are not as recorded in the official records." Shikaku said calmly. "Ena Kuroshi, a civilian child, age five and eight months, and a close friend of the kidnapped girls, was the first to give pursuit. During the course of the conflict, he downed four Chunin, and two Jounin, as well as held off an upper tier Jounin until village reinforcements arrived."
The non-ninja's eyes widened in shock. "A child did such a thing? Incredible. Is this the same Ena Kuroshi I've heard about? The black smith boy?" The Fire Daimyō asked.
Shikaku nodded. "Yes, the boy ambushed the Kumo ninja, freeing the White Eyed Witch and the two of them fought back against the kidnappers. As for how it was done, we have reason to suspect that the Ena boy has access to the Path of Asura."
"Is this your idea of some kind of sick joke?" The Confederate Party Leader asked in astonishment. "You expect us to believe at some random orphan boy possess a legendary power?"
"Believe it or not, it seems to be the reality of the situation." Fugaku said, as the Uchiha sat with his arms crossed. "Several dozen ninjas saw what had happened, myself included. Ena-sama's power was very real. My Sharingan was unable to even determine the type of jutsu it was, let alone how to recreate it."
'Ena-sama?' A few eyebrows raised slightly.
While they were forbidden from taking about what had happened with anyone who was not there, it hadn't stopped the witnesses from whispering to each other. The Hokage had caught wind of a few of the things they said. The most common title given was 'the Divine Blacksmith', though he had also heard a few calling the child 'the Wrought Iron Sage'.
"Continuing. Seven days ago, the village's maximum security person was broken into and the surviving members of the Kumo incident had their memories rewritten." Shikaku said, not really bothered by any of the interruptions. "Eye witness reports describe the intruders as being two individuals. One man going by the name Lancer; blue hair, carries a spear, and wears a scratched out symbol of Kiri. The second a woman called Rider; dark purple hair, alluring figure, wears a scratched out Kumo headband that covered her eyes. That is all the information that we have for sure on them. As far as our records go these people don't exist."
"My ANBU have searched high and low, but have found nothing of these two. Given the ease in which they undid the various traps and barriers around the prison, I would suspect that they picked the brains of one of our officers. However, even if they did, we would have no way of knowing. They would have simply erased the memory of it." Danzou added his own two cents.
The Fire Daimyō looked visibly disturbed by this news. "Wh...what did they want?"
"To be blunt, my Lord, we have no idea." The Hokage admitted. "Right now we can only make guesses, and the only guess that makes sense is that they have been watching Ena Kuroshi all along and are trying to limit the number of individuals that know about his existence and the presence of the Path of Asura. It is entirely possible that they are still inside of the village, waiting to try to make contact with the boy. Persuade him to join them, perhaps."
"The Path of Asura might not be the only target. Uzumaki Naruto, the current host body of the Nine Tails lives in the same residence. The infiltrators could have been after the Nine Tails and stumbled upon Ena-kun by happenstance." Shikaku said, nodding along. "The Nine Tails' Jinchūriki and the Path of Asura are two of the village's greatest assets for the foreseeable future. We can't take a risk that they might be placed in any sort of danger. That said, security is going to be a tall to impossible order. Because of the nature of the woman's manipulation skills, the fact that Kumo never reported a missing nin of her nature and the way she covered her eyes, we believe that she is in possession of a stolen pair of Mangekyō Sharingan."
"What!?" Fugaku said, his eyes widening at the suggestion.
"Kakaski." Hiruzen said, nodding towards the young man.
Kakashi nodded and pulled up his headband to reveal his Sharingan eye. The dark red eye with the three domoe marks twisted into another shape, one resembling a pinwheel. The change only lasted for a short time before Kakashi gave a sigh and quickly covered the eye again.
"When you aren't the true owner of the Sharingan, it takes a lot out of you to use any of its abilities. Mangekyō Sharingan requires even more. If I start from fresh, I might be able to preform a single jutsu that utilizes it before being too drained to walk. This woman would have had to have used it three times at the very least and was still walking just fine. If she was ranked, she would definitely be an S-rank missing nin based on Chakra levels alone." Kakashi said after the short demonstration.
"Equipped with a Mangekyō Sharingan, most of our usually methods will be useless. And she isn't alone. Her friend is most likely a Samurai, meaning complex jutsu will be useless in his presence. He'd cut down all but our most experienced ninja before they could reach the second hand sign." Hiruzen said, looking over the group. "So we need to go over our options."
"I'd suggest we move both of them into ANBU custody." Danzou said immediately. "Keep them in the secret training sites. No one would be able to get near them without our knowledge."
Hiruzen nodded a bit. There was some sense it that. "We will keep the option open. However, you will need to take into account that Hikaru and by extention Hinata will also be needing protection."
"Why would the Hyūga's heiress be involved?" The Senju elder asked. The old woman looked much younger than her real age of just shy of a hundred and ten, but she still showed signs of decay.
Hiruzen looked to Hiashi who grunted a bit before replying to the question. "None of this leaves this room, got it." He started. "Through our eyes, my Clan has identified a... trait within Kuroshi-kun. I believe it is this trait that connects him to the Path of Asura."
"What does this have to do with your daughter?" The Senju elder asked again.
Hiashi didn't answer. "Let me guess, Hikaru has the same trait?" Shikaku said, raising an eyebrow. The Hyūga Head only nodded. "So the mystery of the White Eyed Witch's unbelievable talent is revealed. And if the missing nin had managed to spot the Ena boy, then there's no reason why they shouldn't have noticed Hikaru as well. How troublesome. I suppose that means that she would have to go with them as well, and she is so attached to her little sister that you wouldn't be able to keep them apart." The Jounin Commander shook his head.
"With the Mangekyō Sharingan in play, it is best to keep them in a location where they will be separated from other people. Simply removing them from the village is an option, but not a good one. We would have no way to know whether or not they were followed, and the reinforcements we could employ would be weakened." Shikaku said, listing off a few options. "Placing them in either the Hyūga or Uchiha complexes would be a good option. Both are separated from the main village and possess heightened senses. As such we can keep a much closer eye on who is sneaking around the kids. As Danzou said, we can isolate them in order to keep them safe. Besides that, I'm not seeing too many options."
"Excuse me, but why is my Clan not considered?" The Senju elder asked hotly. "Our barriers are the strongest in the village. Surely that should count for something."
"Yeah, it counts for something, but not a heck of a lot." Shikaku said, rolling his eyes. "In case you forgot, your Clan set up those same barriers over the prison. The two infiltrators made it through all of them like they were nothing. You're also located smack down in the middle of the entire village. None of your fancy jutsu would do you any damn good against a Samurai. Maybe if Tsunade-sama was still around we would talk, but as is, you aren't a good option." The Senju elder looked as though she was slapped in the face.
"So the chooses are returning the children to Hyūga, sending them to the Uchihas, or entrusting them to the ANBU." The Federal Party Leader said, scratching at his chin. His face didn't have any kind of tell, but history told everyone that the man wasn't happy.
"LIKE HELL!" The civilian's jumped as Anko smashed a hand down on the table. "If you want to take my little monsters, you'll have to do it over my dead body! They aren't tools you can just move around, they're kids! They've already been traumatized enough by the kidnapping and you want to intrust them to the ANBU or Uchiha!"
"Anko." The Hokage warned, but she didn't listen.
"Hinata hasn't left the house for days without both Hikaru and Kuroshi with her! She spends most of the time in her room and has panic attacks every time someone turns off the lights! Hikaru hides it better, but her sleeping patterns have changed and she cried into Kuroshi's shoulder when she thought that the two of them were alone! It's so bad that they ran away from home in order to help themselves feel safe!" Anko shouted as she glared at Danzou and Fugaku. Hiashi flinched at the description of his daughters state. "You want to put them in the care of Danzou! Do you have any clue what the ANBU base is like! The kind of things they do to the people who train there!"
Danzou didn't react, though the ninja were glad they wasn't the ones who had to say it. You couldn't trust Danzou with children. The man would beat the emotions and humanity out of them if given half the chance.
"And what about Itachi-kun! Fugaku, have you actually seen your own son's face!? He's only ten but he's so messed up that he looks older than you do! You traumatized your own son in order to speed up the rate his Sharingan awakened! You power hungry bastard!" Anko said, making the Uchiha visibly pale a little.
"Who... told you that?" Fugaku asked in shock.
Anko opened her mouth, but then shut it, turning her eyes away. To all the ninja at the table, it was a clear enough answer. Orochimaru had been the one to make the connection between mental stress and the power of the Sharingan.
"Doesn't matter. The point is that you can't be trusted to be responsible for my little monsters." Anko hissed at the men.
There was a slight awkward silence after her declaration. "Wow, low blows all around." Kakashi mumbled. "That was a bit uncalled for."
"No... I deceive that." Fugaku said looking down. "Itachi... I didn't... It wasn't my intention to..." Everyone at the table was surprised to see the usually calm Head of the Uchiha acting so guilt ridden. "I only wished to prepare him for the world, not hurt him."
"I'm sorry, but... who is this... young woman who speaks... so openly?" The Fire Daimyō asked, trying to find the right words.
"Apologies, Daimyō-sama. She is a former student of a former student of mine. I entrusted her with watching over the children a year ago and she has grown rather attached to them. I brought her here so that she could give you all an accurate understanding of the children's temperament and behavior." The Hokage said, not really that embarrassed by Anko's actions.
"I see! Then please, share with us. I have to admit to being curious as to how children who are born with legendary abilities would act." The Fire Daimyō said, a smile spreading across his face. The others also seemed rather interested in knowing.
"You want to know about them? Fine. Ena Kuroshi prefers to go by the name Shirou. It's the nickname he got from Hikaru by taking the sounds of his name and reversing them; Ku-ro-shi, Shi-rou-kun. He's not shy or quiet, but he is rather socially awkward. He will play with other children if forced to, but its pretty clear he doesn't really enjoy it. He prefers cooking, cleaning, gardening and working in his forge. He says it helps him clear his mind. This isn't to be confused with him being self centered or pigheadedness. If anything, he has a bit of low a self-esteem issue and needs to learn how to tell people no when they ask for help. He acts a bit like a house wife. He's pretty smart on a number of subjects, but he doesn't really understand how to deal with people. Whenever someone asks him a question about why he chooses to do something, he just stares at them with this dumb look on his face."
Only the Hokage and Hiashi seemed unsurprised by the description of the boy who wielded a legendary power. They just nodded knowingly. They had seen Shirou on enough occasions to know what he was like.
"Hyūga Hikaru is a spoiled little princess, though she's more spoiled by Shirou then by anyone in her Clan. She has the boy completely whipped and he will do whatever she tells him to. He started calling her Rin and she took a liking to the name. She's greedy for information and will take it from any source she can get it from. While she is more willing than Shirou to play with other children, when she plays it is always by her rules, and she is so good at manipulating them that the others often don't even realize that is the case. She spends most of her time either reading about jutsu or inventing her own. The thing she cares about most in the world is her little sister. The only person she really trusts completely is Shirou and Shirou only really trusts her. Though she isn't above using her intelligence to tease him, or anyone else. She's actually rather playful in that way. She only acts out when people try to assert authority over her, because she believes that she knows best in the way all children do. She just has the brains and power to back up her words."
A small smile threatened to cross Hiashi's face at the description of his oldest daughter. The others had only heard the rumors of the uncontrollable heiress and her violent tendencies.
"Uzumaki Naruto has clear signs of abandonment issues. He's always acting out and causing trouble in order to try to get attention, though he makes sure never to cause trouble for Shirou or Rin out of gratitude from taking him in after he was thrown out of the orphanage at the age of three. He constantly goes to the park in order to try to play with anyone who would be willing to be around him and has a small group of friends there who enjoy his antics. He's rather thick and has an extremely short attention span. He's also easy to tease and over confident, telling anyone who will listen that he is going to be the next Hokage. He has a bit of a problem with adults, mostly because they treat him like crap because of something that isn't his fault at all. And why do they do this? If I recall it has something to do with a bunch of fear mongering politicians taking advantage of people's misconceptions."
It was the civilian council member's turn to receive the company's glares. However, true to the style of politicians, they felt no guilt at all for how their actions have effected the innocent child.
"You might see them as just tools that possess unbelievable power, but they are still kids. They need love and guidance. To have fun and make friends. I won't let you strip that away from them." Anko concluded with the kind of determined air that only a woman looking out for her children could produce.
"I see. So you're objection stems not from the idea of moving the children, but in placing them in the care of people who you do not believe have their best intentions at heart, correct?" The Fire Daimyō asked the girl.
"That's right, Daimyō-sama." Anko said, taking a few deep breaths after hear rant.
"Then how about a compromise?" The Fire Daimyō said. The politician's practically hissed at the word, like vampires in strong sunlight. "We will move the children to a new location to be watched, but you will go with them and remain in charge of their wellbeing. Would that be acceptable?"
Sometime, the Hokage loved that man. Maybe living with his wife had trained him how to use this legendary power called 'compromise', it would explain how he managed to survive in a relationship with that horrible woman for so long.
"I suppose... but they aren't going to the ANBU. They can decide that for themselves later in their lives." Anko said, crossing her arms in defiance.
"If it was a year ago, I would have insisted that my own Clan stand guard over them, but this last year has brought things to my attention. I am not so sure of my own ability to protect the children. Hikaru-chan and Shirou-kun have found a way to avoid our eyes completely, and if they can, who else could do the same?" Hiashi said, giving his excuse. The Hokage wasn't fooled. It was really his Clan's division between those who wished to see the Clan change and supported little Hikaru, and those who believed in the old ways and backed the Clan Elder.
Deep down, Hiashi suspected that his own father might have had a hand in his daughters' kidnapping. A horrifying thought, but one that he could neither prove or disprove as the only person who would have been able to conform or dissuade his suspicions killed himself in the name of fate. The man had been in the Elder's pocket for years and had been placed in position to strike by the Elder. The connection was all too clear to anyone who looked.
"Then the only logical option remaining is the Uchiha Clan. What do you say Fugaku-san, willing to put the kids up?" Shikaku asked the Uchiha head.
"We will need to arrange the details, but I foresee no problems." Fugaku said with a short nod. No clan in the village would have said anything else. Improving relations with the Hyūga heiresses, and forming a connection with Kuroshi, a skilled blacksmith and one of the village's future powerhouses. They might not have been too thrilled at having Naruto along, but it would be a small price to pay, so long as the demon didn't get out. Even then, the Uchiha were one of the few clans that were well equip to deal with such a thing.
"Hold on just a moment!" The Confederate Party Leader said angrily. "You can't honestly be planning to place that demon child in the hands of the Uchiha!"
"It would almost certainly lead to another event like four years ago." The Federal Party Leader agreed. "Was it not because of them that we have to put up with that monster in the first place?"
The two civilian leaders were actually in agreement. Something that rarely happened. It was an problem that had been getting worse over the last four years. With the disaster that was the Demon Fox running wild and the death of the Fourth Hokage, people wanted someone to blame. In the end, the people they blamed were the Uchiha. Claims that the Uchiha did not provide any assistance against the demon became louder and louder and civilian actions against them became common until they were driven out of the main part of the village.
To his credit, Fugaku didn't react to the slander against him. Then again, he hardly needed to. The civilian's and the Fire Daimyō all paled as a wave of killing intent flooded the room.
"Call Naruto-kun that in my presence again, and just see what happens." The Hokage said. The old man seemed to inflate into being the size of a giant as the lights in the room shifted uneasily. The table top trembled a little as the man's presence grew. A few moments later, the feeling died away.
"Hokage-sama, I thought I requested of you not to do that while I am here." The Fire Daimyō said, wiping some sweat from his brow.
"Forgive me Daimyō-sama, but Minato-kun and Kushina-chan wished for their son to be seen as a hero. Yet every time I turn around I see someone else looking down on the sacrifice they made for the village by harming their son." The Hokage said, glaring at the two civilian leaders who had sunk into their seats. He closed his eyes and gave a sigh of disgust. "Sooner or later, we will need the help of the Sharingan in order to keep Naruto-kun safe. As time passes, the demon gets stronger. In reality, we should have placed him in the Uchiha's care a long time ago."
In reality, the Hokage wanted Naruto to learn control himself, rather than haven't to be watched. But this would require him to undergo a Sage's training to learn how to balance the good and bad chi and separate himself from the negative energy. Unfortunately, his good for nothing pervert of a student was off chasing shadows. Jiraiya had taken the deaths of Minato and Kushina hardest of all and had left to hunt down the reason behind the Nine Tails incident. Hiruzen just wished that his stupid former student would return to help take care of the boy that was left behind.
The Hokage leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling. "We all live in this village. It is through our combined efforts that we try to secure our futures. Petty squabbling and finger pointing will do us no good. It is best to simply forgive and forget, move forward towards a common goal. Is that not the principles that the village was built upon?"
"Foolish idealism." Danzou mumbled into the silence.
"All idealism is foolish. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for it." Hiruzen countered. "Regardless your personal feeling about the Uchiha, we cannot leave the children open to these missing nin. We will approach them about this subject immediately. I will trust everyone to try to remove any obstacles while using the most discretion possible. With your permission, Daimyō-sama."
"Of course." The Fire Daimyō said with a nod. The two civilian council members were forced to nod in agreement to their Lord.
Rin could do nothing but laugh. The Hokage had came and explained to her and Shirou the 'situation' with the 'mysterious intruders' and had requested that they agree to move.
She was having a hard time deciding which part was the funniest. One of the top contenders was when they had tried to be understanding about Shirou's 'attachment' to his family home only to have Shirou blink in confusion and try to figure out what they meant by that.
In the end, Rin had gone and talked them into giving Rin and Shirou pretty much free reign in their new home, and made the people agree that they wouldn't move until Rin herself set up all the barriers she wanted. There was no really point in these demands, she just made them because she felt like it. She would have gone anyways of course, it was just too perfect for her.
"I can't believe that thought 'Lancer' and 'Rider' are a part of a secret organization that are spying on us." Shirou said with a sigh. He had been made to stretch his limited poker face skills to their limit throughout the conversation. "It's going to be such a pain to set up a new workshop."
"Doesn't matter. It will be worth it. I've been intested in the Sharingan for a while now." Rin admitted with a shrug, kicking out her legs as she sat at the dinner table late at night drinking some of Shirou's tea.
"Why's that? I suppose they are handy enough for someone who doesn't have a strong grasp of Thaumaturgy, but any Jutsu simple enough to be copied by them you could just hypothesis the nature of and copy it that way. They can preform Genjutsu, but not a powerful enough one to catch your interest." Shirou said, not really getting why Rin was so interested in the eyes. "Compared to some of the things we've seen, they aren't anything special, so what's with the interest?"
"My interest revolves around the evolved form, the Mangekyō Sharingan." Rin said with a smile. "Tell me Shirou, do you know what Mangekyō Sharingan means?"
Shirou closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. "Hm... It's Chinese... Something mimic... spindle eye?" Shirou guessed, giving Rin an apologetic look. Chinese was not his best language.
"Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye." Rin said. She was pleased as a look of shock passed over Shirou's face.
"...You're shitting me..." Shirou said, trying to wrap his mind around it.
"These are stories in my family's records of in the past, when the eyes have developed, them holding the power to open up gateways between this world and a realm they call the 'Kamui's Dimension'. If it really is a different version of the second true magic, that means that the Uchiha have a method of touching the Root." Rin gave him a huge smile. "Which is why we are going to take a look around."
"No wonder you're so existed." Shirou said, rolling his eyes. "After all this, you are still looking for the Root."
"Of course, and someday, I will find it." Rin said, giggling a bit in a manner that made Shirou worried.
"Why do I have the feeling this is going to blow up in our faces?"
Some people disagreed with Shirou and Rin getting involved because they didn't think I could make their involvement make sense. So I wrote this up to show that I could indeed make it make sense for Shirou and Rin to be around.
I'm going to put up a poll over whether or not to keep this and have a five year time skip to when the Uchiha incident happens, or to take it down and have a seven year time skip to when Shirou and Rin are about to graduate from the Academy.
I never really bought that the Third Hokage was involved in the Uchiha incident. He strikes me as to much of an idealist to skip trying to work things out and go straight to genocide. He couldn't even bring himself to kill Orochimaru the first time around and he's supposed to get people to murder defenseless innocent babies in their cribs?