Captain Blues: Welcome one and all! A new chapter is upon us. I've made my decision. On the whole Kankuro pairing and I decided to genderbent Sai. So Kankuro/Fem!Sai is a go. I also updated the pairing list from Chapter Nineteen: Saying Goodbye and cleaned up the past chapters. This one has a lot of background lore and some moves being made so let's start the chapter!
Ansatsuken
Chapter Twenty-Two: Secrets of a Kage! Welcome to Faiāgāden
"After looking through her memories, everything Momochi Haku stated was sound, Hokage-sama," Yamanaka Inoichi stated as Sarutobi listened to him. "She is no threat to the village and can be safely implemented into our ranks."
Inoichi had just finished his report regarding Momochi Haku and his evaluation of her. While Sarutobi had nothing to worry about, it was all standard procedure and thankfully, Haku understood that.
"I am certainly glad things went so smoothly. It's surprising to note that we have a descendent of the Yūki Ichizoku in our grasp. Naruto-kun sure knows how to keep surprising us," Sarutobi said.
'To think, Konoha has both of what could be the last descendants of the Uzumaki and Yūki Ichizoku in her grasp, all because of a girl's curiosity is truly something,' Sarutobi silently followed up as he took a puff of his pipe.
"Thank you for your report, Inoichi, you are dismissed," Sarutobi told the Jōnin with a smile.
Inoichi bowed and departed from his office, leaving the Sandaime Hokage alone once more. Now that he had an official verdict of Momochi Haku's loyalty, it was time for him to figure out where her skills lay.
"From what Inoichi told me, Haku's skills in stealth and assassination techniques remind him much of Anko," Sarutobi muttered to himself. "But her Kenjutsu knowledge reminds him of Hayate. Which is appropriate, considering who she followed since her youth. Perhaps I can have Anko and Hayate test her to see where she falls under our shinobi ranking…."
Sarutobi hummed to himself and began to work on his latest acquisition. However, after an hour and two meetings, one with Anko and the other with Hayate, his intercom chimed, "Hokage-sama, Shimura Danzō is here to see you."
And like that, Sarutobi's mood plummeted.
"Send him in, Natsuki-san," Sarutobi sighed.
A few moments later, Shimura Danzō walked into his office with a subtle smirk on his face. "Winter has arrived earlier than expected in Konoha, old friend," Danzō greeted.
"It has, Danzō," Sarutobi replied as he warily eyed his former friend and teammate. Just from his words alone, he knew that Danzō had found out about their latest kunoichi.
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and asked, "What are you doing here? We both know you don't leave your chambers for anything unless it's for a meeting."
Danzō chuckled as he sat across from Sarutobi. "Yes, this is true," Danzō admitted. "But I heard some interesting news about a newcomer to our village, hence the nature of this village."
Sarutobi knew from the sparkle in his old friend's eye that the story that Danzō was about to say something outlandish, but Sarutobi accepted the oncoming headache and reluctantly said, "Very well…"
Danzō softly chuckled and said, "I must say, I was not expecting a member from the "Cursed" Yūki Ichizoku to fall into our lap like this. And by Uzumaki Naruto no less. It certainly reminds me of when Minato solidified Kushina's loyalty and predominately kept an Uzumaki within our village. Wouldn't you say?"
"The parallels are something," Sarutobi murmured. He had seen it. A blond boy with remarkable talent takes an outcast from an infamous and powerful Ichizoku and uses love to bind them to their home village.
The war hawk then smirked and said, "However, Since Momochi Haku is the last of the Yūki clan, it sets her up for the right conditions for the Clan Restoration Act."
"Absolutely not," Sarutobi immediately rebuffed. "There is a reason we banned such an act. Or need I remind you of what occurred with the Kurama Ichizoku when the CRA was used?"
The Kurama Ichizoku was once a prominent Ichizoku of Konoha that rivaled both the Hyūga and Uchiha Ichizokus in number. But when their clan dwindled, Sarutobi's sensei, the Nidaime Hokage, enacted the CRA to keep them going.
It went poorly, to say the least, as the Kurama clan attempted a Coup against the village. Because of this, it forced the Nidaime to purge their clan, weakening the village just in time for the First Shinobi War.
Since then, the CRA has been outlawed.
"Very true," Danzō said. "Then perhaps we could try to resurrect Jigyō Fenik—"
"We discussed this before, Danzō," Sarutobi hissed out in anger. "It failed. We will not try to resurrect that doomed project. I refuse to put anyone, especially Narutos beloved, through it."
Danzō frowned at this and asked, "Interesting. There was a time when you wanted nothing more than to see its success with the last subject we had. What has changed, Sarutobi?"
"You took advantage of a weakened man who lost both of his wives and his successor when the Kyūbi attacked," Sarutobi frowned. "I will not allow your silver tongue to sway my judgment again."
Danzō sighed and said, "Something has to give, Sarutobi. We have all of these pieces, with Uchica Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and now Momochi Haku, all of whom are potentially the last of their Ichizokus, to make our village the strongest it has ever been. It's either the CRA or Jigyō Fenikkusu (Project Phoenix)."
Danzō stood up and said, "I will be speaking to both Utatane-san and Mitokado-san regarding both options. So be prepared for that upcoming meeting, Old friend." Danzō grinned and walked out of the office.
Danzō let out a small sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Well.
Seems he would have to move on to his second plan.
Sarutobi sat alone in his office, a storm raging in his heart at the mention of one of his biggest regrets. Sarutobi pressed a button on his phone and said into the speaker, "Natsuki-san. I am stepping out for the day. Cancel all of my meetings and reschedule them for tomorrow."
'Understood Hokage-sama,' Natsuki's voice responded through the phone's intercom. Sarutobi stood up and walked to the balcony behind him and opened it, allowing the cool air to enter his office.
He removed his cloak and hat and placed them both on his chair only to replace them with a black cloak that had a hood attached. He lifted the hood to cover his head head walked outside, formed the "Tiger" seal, and flickered away.
Moments later, Sarutobi appeared at the bottom of the Hokage Monument. He glanced up to make sure he was in the shadow of his sculpted head before he pulled out a kunai and sliced his palm, drawing blood from it before he placed his hand on the base.
Seconds later, in the area where he had placed his bloody palm, the wall rippled like a pond that had a pebble thrown into it before a blood-red seal appeared and then vanished into particles. Sarutobi walked through the stone, which still rippled before stopping, looking as if nothing had just transpired.
Sarutobi was now standing in a dirt-made tunnel within the monument and with a sigh, he began his long trek through the tunnel until he saw a silver door at the end of it. Once again, he placed his bloody palm, still slick with blood, on a scanner beside the door.
"Welcome, Saru-u-utobi H-Hiruzen," a mechanical female voice stuttered out before the door opened, to reveal a very large chamber.
Within that chamber had three stands that sat side by side in an arc, leading to one large stand in the middle of the room, all of them had shattered glass on and around the stands with dried-up bloodstain splatter on the walls and the floor.
But Sarutobi didn't pay any of that mind.
What he did focus on was the large stand in the middle of the room and the kanji written on the steel on the stand which read "Uzumaki Kushina" on it.
Sarutobi let out a sigh filled with regret as he stared at that name.
He could still remember that night.
The night where she disappeared...
[Flashback – Eleven Years Ago]
Sarutobi, followed closely by Danzō and the main scientist behind this project, walked into the laboratory, due to the door being busted wide open, and was met with pure chaos.
There was blood everywhere on top of the stainless steel, pooling out of the headless corpses of the scientists but the one thing he noticed was all of the containers were broken and empty. The small fetuses growing in the six containers were destroyed.
He then turned to look at the large container and then his heart stopped.
She was gone.
"No..." He breathed out as he rushed to the broken container that sat in the middle of the room. "How...?" Sarutobi breathed out before he turned his head to the green-haired scientist."How did she get taken?"
"I don't know Hokage-sama," the scientist, Yamanaka Iila, the wife of Yamanaka Inoichi, shakily replied, as if she was going to faint. Sarutobi realized he was smothering the room with Killing Intent and reeled it back in order so she could speak.
"One minute, we were collecting samples and then an explosion happened. All of these masked men came i-in and...started to destroy everything and slaughter all of them. I barely got away to get to y-you..." Iila explained as she rubbed her upper arms.
"I cannot believe this," Danzō said with disbelief in his voice. "Only you and I know of this place Sarutobi...How could anyone know she was in here?"
'This cannot be happening,' Sarutobi thought with an empty tone as Danzō grilled the scientist beside them. All he could do was stare at the destroyed container in front of him that read her name. 'All that work...All of the things I had to do to get Jigyō Fenikkusu in order...The lies I had to deliver...All pointless...All of it...'
Sarutobi looked at the headless corpses around him and blankly announced, "Someone told them...We had a mole. The only reason I know this is because of the headless around us. They know that the Yamanaka clan can read the minds of the deceased so they took their heads as well to keep us totally blind at who our culprits are..."
Sarutobi then laughed, which made Danzō look at him as if he had gone insane. "Danzō...I want this place scoured for clues. Get our best trackers in here and get as many scents as they can...I want this place turned over until no clues are left."
"Understood," Danzō said before he rushed out of the room with the scientist staying in the room with Sarutobi.
"So...All of the samples we collected...They were destroyed as well?" Sarutobi asked.
Iila nodded and replied, "I know the successful ones we had in the containers were destroyed. As for the other samples, I will need to check. However...They were extremely thorough and I believe they may have..."
Sarutobi nodded, drained of all that had just occurred.
"All of that work...For nothing..." Sarutobi whispered.
[End Flashback]
The plan had been simple.
When they found Kushina's wounded and barely breathing body clutching onto Naruto's sleeping form, they worked for an entire year to get her body healed but during that time,
Danzō had come up with an idea.
They knew of her special chakra and its powerful abilities and with her being one of the last Uzumaki, Danzō suggested that they use some of her unfertilized eggs and various anonymous donor's sperm to rebuild the Uzumaki clan for their village, using the research that Orochimaru had cultivated with his sick experiences.
At first, Sarutobi denied the request. He wanted Kushina and Naruto to be reunited with their mother once she healed and woke up.
But when a few weeks passed and it was realized that she was deep in a coma, he then decided to go along with the idea. Their village was recovering from the war and thanks to the Kyūbi, they were very underpowered as a shinobi nation.
Having the very powerful Uzumaki clan in their village would make them untouchable. And admittedly, Sarutobi wasn't in his right mind to refuse Danzō's request, after losing both of his wives in the massacre.
So to his shame, Jigyō Fenikkusu was a go once she was fully healed. They had failed quite a few times trying to do vitro fertilization but just when they were going to scrap the project, one succeeded.
And soon, five more followed but when Kushina was stolen, the six fetuses and many of the other samples were destroyed, leaving them with nothing.
Sarutobi couldn't allow Danzō to resurrect Jigyō Fenikkusu. Especially when it came to Naruto. He had already loosened his morals once, and it led to Kushina's body going missing.
He couldn't allow Naruto's piece of happiness to fall to the same fate.
"Thanks for escorting me back home, Sakura-chan. I am eternally grateful," Haku thanked as she and Sakura walked into the Uzumaki home, with Haku holding a sleeping Emi.
"It's no problem," Sakura replied with a smile. "I'm glad I was able to tire her out while you were with Oji-san."
Haku opened her mouth to respond when a chill went up her spine. The room was darker than it should have been and there was a strange heaviness to the darkness around her.
Something was wrong.
"Sakura?" Haku coldly whispered as she held out her daughter to Sakura. "Someone is here."
"An astute guess. I would expect nothing less from the apprentice of the Kirigakure no Kijin, Momochi Haku," An unfamiliar voice chuckled. Sakura immediately took Emi as Haku pulled out several senbon needles.
Haku looked around as she stepped deeper into her living room while Sakura followed, being mindful of the grip around the sleeping Emi.
Haku's narrowed and without warning, she turned around and threw it in the shadows of their staircase, only for a wooden cane to appear and block every senbon.
"Now, now Momochia-san," The figure said with a small chuckle which made Haku's eyes narrow. "No sense in attacking an ally…Especially one bearing gifts."
Haku gritted her teeth and took a small breath before laughing a bit.
"Ally? The last I checked, my beloved is out of the village with two of my allies, one of them is secured in his district, and the last is behind me…What makes you think I trust you, a mere stranger as my ally?" Haku asked with an edge in her voice.
"Trust is very hard to come by in this world but trust me, Momochi-san, you, your daughter, and your beloved will want me as an ally when the time comes…Until then…" The stranger tossed a small scroll to Haku, who caught it and glanced down at it. "I figured I give you something you would want to have."
"What is this and why did you give it to me?" Haku asked with suspicion in her voice.
The man in the shadows merely chuckled lowly and said, "I have shinobi all around this village as my eyes and ears…I have heard very promising things about you and the shinobi you love. I figured this is what he deserves for being such a loyal shinobi and the sacrifice he has made since he was a child."
Haku's eyes widened.
This person knew about the Kyūbi being sealed within her love?
"As for what it within that scroll…Let's just say, this is his birthright the old monkey kept from him…." The mysterious man continued. "There is no seal on the scroll so feel free to observe it. There are no traps or anything dangerous, so do not fear for your safety, or your daughter's, Momochi-san."
"Tell me something…who you are?" Haku asked.
"Me?" The voice asked. "I am just a hawk soaring in the wind…Looking for promising shinobi for my glorious purpose and I believe I found two souls who will lead them…Until we, and your beloved, meet again under lighter circumstances, Momochi Haku. Farewell to you, and your guest, Haruno Sakura…."
With those words, the figure seemed to melt into the shadows and a few seconds later, the darkness that permeated the room seemed to fade away.
"What was that?" Sakura whispered.
"I don't know," Haku replied as she stared at the scroll in her hands.
"Whoever that was, I don't trust him," Sakura told Haku.
"Neither do I, but if this belongs to Naruto-kun, we should see what it is. To make sure it's safe," Haku replied.
"Let me invite my mother over at least, to run over the items. To make sure they are safe," Sakura said.
Haku nodded and stared at the area where the mysterious man had stood.
Who was he?
Team X-7 was amazed by the sight around them
From the reddish-orange grass on the ground to the fire-like leaves that drifted lazily from the trees, the entire village the group walked into was like a perpetual fall. "This is amazing," Ino breathed as she looked around in wonder.
Naruto and Hinata, who trailed the back, also gazed around in wonder while Kakashi chuckled. "Welcome to the Village of Nayshall. Or as many have coined it, Faiāgāden," the Jōnin introduced as he put away his limited edition blue-cover Icha-Icha Vacation.
"This place is beautiful," Ino whispered. She then turned to her left to glance at Lee to see if he would back up her words but she noticed that there was a strange expression on his face. It looked like a mixture of wistful nostalgia and sadness. Ino placed a hand on Lee's left forearm and asked, "Lee, are you okay?"
She watched as he blinked, as if he was snapped out of a trance, and replied, "Ah, Ino-chan. Forgive me for my silence. I was just taken aback by how…beautiful the landscape looks."
"Don't sweat it, Eyebrows," Ino replied with a grin on her face. "But yeah, this place is practically picturesque. An enteral fall. Forehead-chan would love it."
"You mean Sakura-san, yes?" Lee asked.
Ino nodded. "She doesn't do it much nowadays, but she used to paint a lot back when her father was still alive. Not to mention, fall is her favorite season, so she would kill to be in a place like this," Ino explained.
"I can understand why she would enjoy a place like this," Lee murmured, more to himself than to her as he walked ahead.
Ino frowned as Naruto and Hinata walked up beside her left and right respectively and said, "Lee is acting odd." Ino paused and then swiftly corrected, "Odder I mean."
"I noticed," Naruto replied. "Rock is usually more exuberant than this. I wonder what's on his mind."
"H-Hopefully nothing too severe," Hinata stammered with a concerned expression.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm going to get to the bottom of it," Ino told them both with puffed-out cheeks.
Kakashi strolled up behind the trio and said, "He's probably taken in by the sights. I wouldn't worry too much for now. Besides, he's Gai's pupil. He'll bounce back from whatever is on his mind. Now, we have a tower to get to."
The trio nodded and continued their trek to the center of the village, where a large tower awaited them.
Captain Blues: And that's all for this chapter. The next chapter will involve Sasuke, Team X-7, Haku, Sakura, and Mebuki. Until then, time to set sail!
