Chapter 7
It had been 3 months since Gaara's introduction to the leaf. Over those three months a lot has occurred. Just like Shukaku promised Gaara's hair was now a silver gray just like Kakshi's, he even gave the kid eyebrows. Naruto's hair was also changing in color also. His yellow roots had slowly been changing to red. Kurama claims that he's been forcing his Uzumaki genes to take over. The young jinchuruki was currently enjoying a cup of ramen after training with Kakashi and Gaara. For the past 3 months Kakashi has been driving Naruto and Gaara in the dirt with taijutsu and evasion training. The only jutsu Kakashi had taught him was Kage Bunshin No Jutsu, now some might call Kakashi crazy for teaching an academy student kinjutsu. But due to Naruto's circumstances the drawback for that jutsu had become obsolete. The sun had started to set causing the sky to turn a nice red hue.
'Ahh I'm too full and sore! I better get home and sleep, who knows how brutal tomorrow training will be.'
"Bye old man Teuchi, bye Ayame!" Narut paid for his meal and left. The ramen family had bid their number one customer farewell as he raced down the street.
The streets of Konoha had seemed..off today. Immediately Naruto had noticed the problem. Many chakra signatures were disappearing at an alarmy fast rate! Which was happening in the direction of the Uchiha clan district, one of the founding members of Konoha.
'Kurama should I go check that out?'
'A curious ninja is a usually dead one in my opinion. Plus why worry they're Uchihas, a good thing is probably happening right now.'
'Note to self, do not listen to racist fox opinions.'
Naruto had noticed Sasuke walking in that exact direction in the distance. He decided to follow him in the shadows. When the pair arrived at the clan compound a horrifying scene had greeted them. Corpses had littered the streets. Clan buildings were vandalized with splattered blood, it was if this moment came straight from a horror movie. Sasuke had gotten hysterical and rushed deeper into the compound. Naruto was overwhelmed by the smell of blood and the sight of so many dead bodies. He stayed still in the shadows, contemplating if this was a nightmare or reality.
'This is the shinobi world I desperately want to be a part of?'
'Oi Naruto you better snap out of it. I suggest that you follow your friend if you want him alive.'
'Right...'
Sasuke had bolted straight into his home only to be greeted with his older brother standing over his dead parents. Blood was covered all over his body. His scarlet mangekyō flashing in the darkness. Naruto had been right behind Sasuke using the reflection off his kunai as a mirror to peer inside in the room.
'One Uchiha managed to kill his entire clan!? Why is there no Anbu here yet?' Naruto made a shadow clone and sent it to the Hokage. He had to notify his surrogate grandfather of this situation.
"Nii-san...did you do this? Why did you kill Kaa-san and Tou-san!" Sasuke desperately pleaded for an answer.
Itachi had spared no words as he walked out the building. Sasuke followed in hot pursuit determined for answers.
Reaching into his pouch, Sasuke had grabbed a couple of shurikens and threw them at Itachi's head. The seasoned anbu captain turned around and flawlessly deflected them right back at Sasuke with his tantō.
'Those are way too fast for him to dodge!' Deciding now would be a good time to step in. Naruto jumped in front of Sasuke; blocking the incoming barrage of shuriken with his own kunai.
"N-Naruto why are you here?" The young Uchiha stutterd having immense trouble with processing the current situation.
"As if I would let my friend d-" A memory of his shadow clone being stabbed by a man in an orange mask had caused Naruto to pause mid sentence.
'Crap! Iatchi was not the only one! Wait why couldn't I sense that man's chakra signature?.'
'Naruto that man! He was there on your birthday. It was him who unsealed me!'
Utter rage instantly filled the young jinchūriki as he struggled to move for a moment. Unfortunately for him in a ninja battle all it took was one second to make a difference.
'It seems Naruto had followed Sasuke in here. No matter, this shouldn't affect the plan.' Itachi had moved in on the academy students planning to incapacitate Naruto so he could lecture Sasuke.
Sasuke watched as Itachi moved closer to his classmate 'No I will not let him kill anyone else.' Emotions were soaring out of the young Uchiha as he activated his sharingan. Three Tomeo in his left eye and one in his right. Moving into action he used a jutsu he had been practicing for weeks.
"Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu!" Sasuke spewed out an average sized fireball towards Itachi. The speed of the jutsu was rather slow so the older Uchiha dodged with ease.
'Naruto calm down, take a look at your settings. This is not the time to make silly mistakes because of your anger.'
The blonde had taken a calming breath as he backed away from the fireball. He noticed Sasuke had awakened his sharingan. Naruto then used Kurama's ability upon Itachi and noticed something strange. The emotions that Itachi was emitting were tremendous sadness, regret, and hope.
'These aren't emotions of a cold blooded killer.. what's going on?'
But before Naruto could even get an answer Itachi had rushed him caving in his torso with one kick. Naruto's head cocked straight up from the recoil of the kick causing his line of sight to perfectly align with Itachi's mangekyō.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Naruto's body had gone limp, falling to the floor instantly with a dull thud. Seeing his fellow classmate fall so easily had startled Sasuke. His premature sharingan had followed the scene perfectly but his body couldn't react in time.
Itachi had turned his sights onto Sasuke."Now that there's no more distractions little brother heed what I'm about to say." Itachi's mangekyō had started to spin slowly, picking up in speed. The ex-Anbu officer had slowly started to walk forward.
"You can't be my brother!" Sasuke slowly backed away from Itachi.
"The brother you knew is done with. I only kept up that sharade to see if you had hidden potential. Did you know you can awaken the same Mangekyō sharingan as me? However there is a requirement. You must kill your closest friend.."
Sasuke had looked upon Itachi with horror. "Nii-san you didn't kill Shishui did you?!"
"Thanks to him I was able to obtain these 'eyes'. At the main temple of the Nakano shrine, on the far right side, underneath the seventh tatami mat is the clan secret meeting place. There you will find what purpose the dojutsu of our clan originally served… The real secret is written there." Itachi had finally stopped walking as he stood in front of Sasuke.
"If you want to kill me, curse me, hate me and then one day when you have the same eyes as me find me."
"Tsukuyomi!"
The last scene Sasuke has seen was Itachi crying as he fled the compound. The young Uchiha then blacked out into the genjutsu world only to be tortured by memories of Itachi massacring his clan.
000
The smell of bleach and the color white is what Naruto had awoken too. There he was laying in a hospital bed. Right next to him was his fellow survivor Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto chose to stay silent until his 'roommate' woke up. The events of what had transpired last night had kept replaying in Naruto's head. So many things did not make sense. Why was Itachi sad? Why did he kill every clan member except Sasuke? Who was the man behind the mask and why was he helping Itachi? Or was Itachi helping him? So many questions had started giving the young jinchūriki headaches. Nonetheless Naruto was determined to come to a conclusion by the end of the night.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open. For a moment the young Uchiha has been just staring at the ceiling. At first he was thinking that last night was nothing but a dream. But when his eyes laid upon Naruto reality had quickly come crashing down upon him. Tears had started to slowly fall from his tear ducts. Naruto had decided to not say anything, after all last night was quite traumatizing.
Hiruzen had finally made himself known as he walked inside the hospital room.
"Ah glad to see the both of you awake." Neither academy students had given him a response.
"Sasuke as of today you are officially the last Uchiha loyal to Konoha. Itachi Uchiha had single handedly killed every Uchiha clan member last night. Naruto you wouldn't mind explaining as to why you were found with Sasuke-kun?" It had pained Hiruzen to deliver such gruesome news like it was a fleeting compliment. But the job of Kage always came first.
"Right after I was finished with my ramen I started to sense a lot of chakra signatures disappearing. Then I saw Sasuke running towards that direction and I didn't want him to get hurt so I followed him."
Hiruzen nodded and stood up from his chair. He ruffled Naruto's hair with a smile and patted Sasuke's shoulder with a pitying frown.
"Sasuke-kun when you get released come to my office for information on your future living quarters,ok?" After that Hiruzen had left the room. The duo had sat through a minute of silence. Naruto not daring to speak first, wary of his fellow classmates' grief.
"Hey Naruto you don't mind if you follow me to my compound?" Sasuke hadn't even looked at the blonde when he asked the question. Throwing the sheets off of him and he got ready to jump out of the window.
"Sure man lead the way." Naruto got up and followed Sasuke.
000
The trek through the streets of Konoha was silent for the duo. Instead of observing Sasuke, Naruto had been thinking about Kakashi's words.
Hey Kakashi what do you have to do to be a perfect ninja? Kakashi hesitated with an answer but he gave one eventually. "Well Naruto it's commonly believed by shinobi that ninja's are supposed to be tools for the village. Shinobi must put their village first before everything else, and that is what a perfect ninja should strive for."
The duo had reached the Uchiha compound. The entrance had been blocked with 'do not cross' tape; Sasuke had outright ignored the warning as he walked through anyway.
"Hey Sasuke you don't mind me asking as to why I'm here?" It had seemed a bit odd to Naruto to adventure in the ghostly compound.
"You were here with me last night, right now you are the only person in this village who understands.." No more words were shared until they reached a shrine.
"This is the Nakano shrine, my clan would gather here for meetings." His voice was quiet and tired as he explained the monument. The pair walked inside the main temple.
"Far right side...underneath the seventh tatami mat." Sasuke mumbled to himself as he had yanked a tatami mat out of the ground. It revealed a secret hideout. Inside said hideout was a stone tablet written with incomprehensible kanji.
"Oi oi I can't read any of this." An idea popped into Naruto's head.
"Sasuke try reading this with your sharingan, after all this is your clan's hideout." Sasuke had raised his eyebrows, oblivious to the fact that he had awakened his dōjutstu. Sasuke had listened to Naruto's advice. Turns out the blonde had the right idea, but still parts of the tablet still remained incomprehensible.
'I probably have to awaken the next stage of my sharingan to read the rest.' Disappointment marred Sasuke's face as a dark shadow had covered his eyes. The tablet had not answered any questions he had. It had been just filled with clan secrets and revealed an enhanced level of the sharingan, none of it speaking about the massacre. Sasuke didn't know what to expect on the tablet but he hoped it would make sense of this tragic outcome.
Naruto, standing next to Sasuke, had spaced out once again. Gaara's assisination came to mind, just like the massacre. a shinobi had tried to kill his own family. But unlike Yashimaru Itachi had succeeded in his goal, also the attempt on Gaara's life was a mission ordered directly from the Kage. But Jiji wouldn't authorize an extermination of a whole clan..right? For that to even be an option the Uchiha clan must have been a major threat to Konoha but from Naruto's perspective they were innocent, well..innocent as shinobi could be.
Shinobi put their village first before everything else. Kakashi's words kept replaying in Naruto's mind, a dark truth beginning to form in his head that he desperately wanted to rule out. It had all seemed inhumane, a mission like that doesn't follow the will of fire his surrogate Grandfather frequently lectured him of.
'Uchihas are the scum of the earth. Your village already had good reasons to erase that cursed clan. Not only did it's co-founder Madara Uchiha defected but the man came back to enact revenge on his own creation! Not only that but an Uchiha was also responsible for the murder of your parents also Naruto.' Kurama's rabbles had drowned in the background for Naruto. The blonde had long since learned to rule out any information on the Uchiha from the biased fox.
"Naruto.. you were there that night. You've experienced the same as hell as I. That's why you're the only person I can ask this: Will you assist me with revenge upon that bastard?" The look Sasuke had gave the jinchūriki startled Naruto. It was filled with hate, determination, and trust. Sasuke then held out his hand waiting for Naruto to shake it. Without a second thought Naruto returned the gesture welcoming his new friend.. no with a situation like this it would only be right to call him a brother.
000
It was a rainy day in the land of fire, each raindrop scattering on impact when they came in contact with the greenery. The gray clouds had blocked out most of the sunlight so it had set the forest in a gloomy tone. Currently a lone Konoha by the name of Gishi Inuzuka had been fleeing for his life towards Konoha. The poor man had not taken any breaks for the past hour. His breathes were ragged and forced, each breath felt like glass cutting his esophagus. Kinto, his ninken, was keeping pace with Gishi ready to catch his master should he topple over at any moment. Gishi was sure he was leaving a blood trail, his left arm had been broken completely, bleeding ever since they ran into that nuke nin. Yes if that man he would be returning with fellow ninja.
Gishi Inuzuka was assigned a simple B-rank retrieval mission. A four man cell squad consisting of 3 chuunin and one jounin. The objective was to retrieve documents hand printed and sent by Daimyo of the land of wind. The documents were originally being transported by a caravan that was guarded by a squad of chuunin from Sunagakure; but they had been attacked by a missing nin and had requested backup. Arriving upon the rendezvous they found the corpses of the chunin escorts all scattered about. Some bodies had leakings skulls, others had fisted sized indents in their throats. The documents were found inside the sheesh of a civilian corpse that had laid in the caravan in an awkward sitting position. The hint to his death was stranglement.
"Whoever attacked them hadn't used any elemental manipulation. I don't see anything here that hints to elemental jutsu." Mirai Hyuga, a chunin recently promoted from the branch house, was observing the scene with his byakugan.
"Their blood is fresh, the suspect might still be in the area." Kana Sarutobi, second in command, had been looting the suna nin for kunai, shuriken, and other miscellaneous items that are crucial for shinobi. A dark task, yes, but a necessary one for ninjas that are far from their village.
"These dead bodies tell a story but nonetheless. Let's hurry back, I want to be back before the barbecue grill closes." Finally his last teammate Jiro Akmichi had put in his input. Typical Akimichi pondering about food.
"Miria search the forest. We must eliminate the enemy if they're still around." It seems that whoever had done this could hide from the byakugan. Maria had shook his head, he couldn't see anybody. All the blood spilled here belonged to the dead so there was no scent to follow.
"Alright let's return, there's nothing else we could do here." The Konoha nin proceeded to return back to the motherland in silence, unaware of the hell that would break loose upon them.
"Oi Akimichi I heard your family barbecue joint is the best in the village, you should hook me up with a feast after this mission." Kara had jokingly nudged her partner.
Jiro had let out a hardy laugh. "Insinuating a feast with an Akimichi? How bold of you Kana. Very well just make sure you don't waste what's on your pl-"
"Ration: Gian!"
A spear of lightning had shot through Kana mercilessly ending her life. A bipedal creature made of threads and wire using a blue Ōni mask as a face, had perched upon a branch right in front of us. A tall shirtless tan skinned man standing on the monster had hopped onto said branch. His long brown hair dancing with the end, since he was wearing a face mask you couldn't tell his expression. But his green iris shot fear into me immediately.
"Mirai assessment!" Knowledge on the enemy would always wins half the battle. A ninja jumping into the unknown is usually a dead one.
"Abundant stitches, face mask, unusual eye colors and shoulder length hair. It's Kakuzu of the hidden waterfall.. S-rank missing nin also famed bounty hunter." I was sure that each and every one of us heart's sank at the news.
"Chō Baika No Jutsu!"
Jiro's body had grown to the size of a mountain. His huge body had blocked out some of the rain around us.
"I have taken a secret medicine pill from my clan that boosts my power tremendously. But I will soon die afterwards due to its heavy drawbacks. Quick deliver the documents and I'll hold him back." Jiro's deep voice had sent tremors into the ground. It didn't affect anybody present because our chakra held us steady. I had signaled Mirai with a nod, determined to not let Jiro's sacrifice go in vain. We had set off not looking back. Somewhat due to respect for Jirio's sacrifice. Another reason is due to fear of the S-rank threat.
Gazing upon the goliath Kakuzu has silently cursed. "Chunin shouldn't be this much of a bother."
Kakuzu's back exploded with threads moving like infant snakes hatching from their eggs. After that he shot forward.
000
It has been 1 hour since we've last seen Jiro. Traveling at top speeds with no break started to put strain upon Mirai. After all he was still a chunin. The wet bark under our feet had given away with each leap. So slowing down was not an option, wet bark had no traction. Having an S-rank threat upon our tail was good enough incentive. On the bright side with how much land we had covered our destination should be 2 hours tops.
A snap of a twig in the far distance had caused me to throw a couple of shurikens at nothing. Kinta decided to lick my hand trying his best to alleviate some stress for me. Mirai activated his byakugan to survey our surroundings, luckily catching the threat in time.
"Gishi watch out!" What happened next felt like slow motion. Kakuzu had latched upon the trunk of a tree with his two arms, using it to swing around it and double kick me. It was as if the man was a chimp on a monkey bar. I used my left arm to block the attack but to my avail it felt like blocking a steel bat. I swear my arm had almost broken in half! I went sprawling towards the wet grassy floor. Decades of being a ninja had allowed me to smoothly transition my fall into a roll. Kakuzu was on me like white on rice as he jumped down to engage me in a taijutsu match. Each blow from him felt like a sledgehammer. I had quickly came to the conclusion that I wouldn't last long under this onslaught.
"Hakke Kūsho!"
A pressurized blast of wind had pushed Kakuzu away a couple of feet, courtesy from Mirai. Kinta had landed beside me sharing a look of empathy. Crouching down I had gotten into postion for our clan's signature jutsu. In perfect synchronization we had leaped forwards twisting our bodies into two massive drills towards Kakuzu.
"Getsuga!"
Said missing nin had stood in the same place defiantly, cockily awaiting our attacks. With reactions only that of an S-rank could perform he had kicked Kinta into the air just mere moments before my dog had made contact. A painful high pitched yelp had escaped Kinta. I hated hearing that sound; it made blood boil with rage. Right afterwards he out stretched his hand grabbing mine in the process. Unfortunately for me the spinning force necessary for performing the Getsuga had transferred into my left and mangling my left appendage horribly. One of the threads from Kakuzu had snaked around my waist stealing a kunai from my pouch. Finishing his combo Kakuzu had driven his fist into my face. Surely he had broken my nose as one could hear a sick crack. The force from that punch alone had tossed me into a nearby tree. Kakuzu's thread had thrown the kunai into my torso as I landed. Lucky he had missed all my vital organs, by luck or by skill at this point I hadn't a clue. Mirai had landed next to me as he lifted me to my feet.
"Gishi-san once I throw this flash bomb in the air I need you to run. Please let me handle Kakuzu, those documents need to be in Konoha's possession at all cost."
It was a miracle that I was able to follow the conversation. That punch should have given me an coccussion. I had given Mirai a nod as I ripped the kunai out of my stomach region. Afterwards I had applied my chakra to the area to withhold the bleeding. Producing a whistle Kinta had dropped down from the branches and plopped down by my side. Abandoning a comrad for a prideful death had been a tough pill for me to swallow. But the correct decision was clear in this situation. After all, I didn't want to repeat the same mistake like that Hatake fellow did. After a final nod to Mirai I had steeled my nerves for my inedible escape. Mirai had wasted no time as he threw the flash boomb in conjuction with an explosive kunai towards Kakuzu. The missing nin hadn't even flinched as the explosion set off giving me a chance to flee the area.
000
The blinding light hadn't bothered Kakuzu that much. It was obvious that they were planning an escape attempt. Such rudimentary tactics could be used by gennin. So when he came and he only the Hyuga it came to no surprise. Of course he knew he could have a heart to chase after the jounin but that would be high risk. Using so much chakra when he's so close would be too alerting.
"What do you want from us scum?" The Hyuga had tried to start a conversation with me, troublesome oh well I'll indulge in his little act. Fulfilling a dying wish wouldn't be so bad.
"Those documents you were carrying are signed personally by the Daimyo himself. I have no idea what secrets it holds but somebody wanted to pay a hefty price for it in the bleach market.
'But the eyes of a Hyuga would bring me a fortune if I hand them over to Kumo.' My greedy thoughts had started to get my blood pumping. There is nothing better than getting paid in my opinion.
It had seemed the Hyuga had chosen to respond as he shifted into their famous gentle fist stance. "This ends here."
"If you insist." Kakuzu's condescending tone had only brought more anger to his already furious opponent.
The battle hadn't lasted long. Mirai had a few tricks under his sleeve but none of them was able to beat Kakuzu. The poor branch member committed suicide by overload his bird seal with chakra. Sealing his precious byakugan forever. That had left Kakuzu in a sour mood. To which the unfortunate trees around had to suffer.
000
Gishi had finally made it to Konoha. never before had the man been so relieved to see the familiar green gates. Ofcourse he had been grateful everytime he returned from a mission. but today was a blessing. The only downside was that his radius had been sticking out of his appendage like a sore thumb. The injury had not stopped bleeding since the incident. Due to this the man had lost a copious amount of blood so he chose to stop for a brief minute. managing to retrieve a scroll with his right hand the Jounin crouched down and started to write a report of the mission. Beckoning his ninken closer Gishi had placed the now finished report in the mouth of Kinta.
"Here Kinta take this to the hokage and then come find me afterwards." His ninken had given a somber whimper. It's as if the dog knew that this was his last command. Nevertheless his companion had given a grunt and blasted off towards the kages office.
000
Kiba had been ecstatic, today had been the day his father would return back from his mission. That's why he was in the north district of Konoha right by the gates. His father had told him this mission would be simple and wouldn't last more than a week. So everyday since then he and some other kids from his clan had been wasting time by racing and playing tag of the sort. Currently now he had been striking a conversation with one of the vendor merchants on the price of peculiar mask. It had looked beautiful but it was way too expensive for him; but the smell his father had distracted the child from his haggling.
'Otōsan finally arrived!' Racing to the North gate of Konoha he was greeted with the sight of his father walking towards him with a bright smile. But something had been off about his dad.
'Why does he smell like blood? He doesn't usually walk this slow.' Kiba had chosen to ignore these signs though. The shinobi life will never shed mercy for anybody. His mother had taught him the moment he held a kunai.
"Hey pup how you've been? Come let's walk home you can tell me what I've missed out on on the way back. I also have a gift waiting for you." Gishi had placed his hand on top of Kiba's shoulder. To Kiba it had been a show of affection. For Gishi is was a subtle way of supporting himself up. Childlike wonder had filled Kiba's eyes at the mention of 'gift'. Gishi had chuckled at his antics; Kiba had reminded him of himself so much. The trek towards the Inuzuka compound had been quite slow compared to the normal pace for the energetic Inuzuka duo.
"A gift? Am I finally getting my face tattoos? Oh Dad you missed it the whole Uchiha clan had been killed by just one person last night! One of my classmates is from that clan. Mom says the traitor that did it was a super powerful ninja also. But no way could he beat the Hokage..." Kiba's ramblings eventually blended in with the downpour of rain in the background for Gishi. 'Stay strong fir Kiba.' That one thought alone had become a mantra for the man as each step felt like he would topple over. Before he had noticed they were in front of their house. Every step on the way had been completed by sheer determination. Since it was raining there wasn a lot of fellow clansmen at the front steps of their humble abode, Gishi had revealed a hint for Kiba.
"Your gift is in the basement." Kiba had zoomed downstairs without a second thought leaving his dying father by the doorstep. What greeted Kiba was three sleeping puppys all meshed together. Echoing footsteps courtesy to his father had distracted Kiba from his awe.
"Originally your mother and I had decided to to just lend you Akamaru, but you can handle three dogs right? After all you are my son. A challenge like this one should be no problem for you." Gishi had started to mutter their names. Starting by pointing at the white snowball puppy in the middle "Akamaru" shifting his finger to the charcoal puppy on the right "Aoimaru" then finally settling his pointer finger on the puppy to the far left "Kirimaru...I'm sure that you can take care of them."
"I won't let y-" *Thud* Turning around mid sentence the sight of his father laying face down in a pool of his own blood had silenced the academy student
'He used a henge to cover himself up..' Taking a look at the stairs he noticed drops of blood that had looked like trail produced by his father. Drops of blood that would have been washed away in the rain. Comprehending the situation in front of him was a task too difficult for Kiba. The scademy student had been stuck. His focus was on nothing else but his dead father. Then slowly tears had finally started to shed. With the tears followed his cries of despair, which eventually like the yapping of the puppies behind him, faded into the rain. Tsume Inuzuka,clan head of the Inuzuka clan, had come tumbling down stairs. The wails of a child would never fail to alert a mother.
"Hana come down here quick! Pup it's going to be alright shss.." The mother had been cradling her child. Forcing herself to not dwell on the corpse of her husband. Hana arrived with the company of Kinta and her ninken. See his dead master lay cold on the floor the dog had stalked over and licked his hand. After that he let out a howl. A howl that was soon followed by the puppies, then every ninken alike through the coumpound. The Inuzuka household that day had experienced deep despair. Despair that foarged a deep vengeance in the youngest clan heir.
Should i capatalize the ranks such as chunin gennin and jounin? But slowly my snowball of change will cause an avalanhce of revolution! Should I also insert translation for jutsu's at the end of chapters. Leaving a reveiew would help a lot!