Author Notes- Hello fellow readers! I apologize for the slight delay in uploading this chapter. It took me some time to write it, also I had a few tests going on.
Well, this chapter concludes with Naruto awakening his mangekyo and his rinnegan. Also, yes I did take some people's requests into considerations and applied them into the chapter. I was kind of anxious about writing this chapter, since it's an important one. I do hope everyone comes to like it.
[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.]
Anyway, let's continue with the story
Chapter 7: The End or the Beginning?
Previously
"So… Danzo ordered you to finally take me out." Shisui said as he took out his own kunai.
Present
As the sun sank lower in the sky giving way to the velvety dark of the night, Shisui stood facing twelve Root ANBU shinobis with a kunai in his hand. Any normal shinobi would have been doubtful of their chances against a dozen ANBU level shinobis. However, Shisui had improved himself greatly during his time in the Root. He may earnestly despise the old war hawk but the man knew how to train a shinobi. Shisui knew there would come a time when Danzo would send his men to get rid of him once his usefulness was fulfilled. He had decided to go down taking as many of the Root shinobis as possible with him but seeing the love Naruto held for him today, made him want to stay. Not for himself, but for his little blond brother.
He couldn't leave Itachi and Naruto alone. The two maybe strong and unnaturally gifted in the shinobi arts but that didn't mean they could take on the world alone, go through the darkness alone. Everyone needs an anchor to connect them to the world. Besides, he too needed them, more than he cared to admit. They were his only family left.
He steeled his eyes and looked at the shinobis in front of him firmly. His black eyes morphed into the sharingan with three tomoes and calculatedly gazed at everyone, waiting for them to make the first move.
Three shinobis from the right suddenly ran towards him at an incredible speed with their katanas drawn. Eyeing them with his sharingan carefully, Shisui channeled futon chakra through his kunai to increase its sharpness and blocked the first strike before it could pierce his neck. Due to the futon chakra covering his weapon, Shisui's kunai sliced straight through the Root agent's katana forcing him to stumble back and lose his footing. Shisui immediately jumped up in the air and gave a strong chakra covered roundhouse kick to the second Root Anbu on his face making him crash to the third shinobi painfully, rendering them unconscious.
However, he had to jump to back immediately after that as the first shinobi threw several shurikens at him and ran towards him again aiming to deliver a viscous right hook. His sharingan picked up the ninja wires that were attached to the shurikens as he cut through them with precision. Ducking under the Root Anbu's right hook, Shisui looked into his enemy's eyes as his sharingan glowed bright red making the Anbu stop in his movements when he came up. Shisui then swiftly slashed the Anbu's neck killing him on the spot.
There was no time for the raved haired Uchiha to rest as his sharingan noticed several other Root Anbus standing back and preparing multitude of explosive tags attached to kunai to throw at him. Reacting quickly, he threw his futon covered kunai towards one of the Root shinobis, followed by a couple of hand seals.
"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Shisui whispered as the kunai suddenly multiplied to twenty and travelled towards the Root operatives at unbelievable speeds. Several of Root Anbus were hit at various vital spots on their bodies ending their lives instantly while four of them got away. Just as he thought it was about to be over, his eyes widened as he sensed something nerve chilling. He looked around and saw the entire forest surrounding him to be suddenly covered by at least fifty Root shinobis and Danzo standing at the back with a cold look on his face.
"You should stop running now Shisui. There is no way out." Danzo stated calmly.
'If he's willing to go to such lengths to just eliminate me, then he's certainly after my Mangekyō sharingan. I will have to come up with a countermeasure to keep it safe. But why would he bring so many shinobis with him out in the open just to confront me…?' Shisui thought as he looked around himself warily now.
"You believe you can stop the coup. You seem to believe I care what happens to this village right now. I'm not the Hokage currently... If a war does break out in the village right now, who do you think the Fire Daimyo will feel is most responsible for not knowing what is happening inside the village?" Danzo asked. He smirked as he saw the look of horror appear on Shisui's face.
"How could you…?" Shisui whispered as he understood what Danzo was planning.
Officially there is no record of Root ANBU ever existing within the Hokage's office. This branch of the Anbu was created by the Nidaime Hokage in secret before the Second Shinobi World War to catch the enemy off guard. If the enemy did not know a team of highly skilled shinobis exists, they could never prepare to engage them. And that secrecy played right into Danzo's favor currently. If the coup breaks out now, Danzo is certain the Uchiha Clan will be wiped out along with the set number of Root agents he set aside as expendable shinobis. Even though, Danzo doesn't necessarily like Minato's idealistic way of leadership, he respects power when he sees one. But in any war, small or large, there are always casualties. After the civil war is over, Danzo would have a strong case of portraying Minato as an incompetent Hokage in front of the Fire Daimyo. Making Minato appear to be someone who can't keep track of what's going in their own territory which resulted in the loss of a founding Clan of Konoha. Shisui realized the gravity of the situation and knew he needed to get out of here now and inform the Yondaime about the coup being taking place any minute now.
'Looks like I have no choice. I will be mostly running empty on chakra after this. But I need to get out of here quickly.' Shisui thought
Quickly making a hand seal, Shisui made seven Kage Bunshins of himself which surrounded him on all sides forming a circle. The Root shinobi surrounding the raven haired Uchiha on top of trees and on the ground immediately jumped towards him to stop him from further doing anything.
The clones surrounding Shisui swiftly went through a few hand seals quicker than the Root Anbus could anticipate and kneaded large amounts of katon chakra in their lungs.
"Katon: Shinhidora no Jutsu" said all the Kage Bunshins simultaneously, each breathing out intensely hot three headed fire dragons in all directions towards the Root shinobis. The devastating katon jutsu blazed through the incoming Root shinobis in a span of less than a second as each one of them were burned down to ashes. Meanwhile Danzo and his personal guards immediately jumped far behind and away from the reaches of Shisui's technique. As the jutsu died down, the entire area as well as the surrounding trees were covered in flames as a testament of the jutsu's power.
Danzo stared at the dead bodies of about more than forty Root shinobis and some still screaming in agony, irritatingly. He looked around and found no signs of Shisui. One thing he realized now, he had severely underestimated Shisui Uchiha. It unnerved him greatly how easily Shisui managed to dispatch all fifty of his Anbus.
'As expected of Shunshin no Shisui… But, you can't run forever Shisui. That eye of yours will be mine soon.' Danzo thought.
"Go after him immediately. He couldn't have gotten that far away. He must be getting low on chakra by now. Make sure he doesn't away this time." Danzo ordered his men instantly.
'Such prowess… a waste of talent indeed.' Danzo thought mockingly.
Old Uchiha Clan Compound
The Naka Shrine, located in the old Uchiha Clan Compound has been a ceremonious place for the Uchiha Clan members since the village's founding. The Shrine has served as the Uchiha clan's meeting place ever since it was built. Outside the main entrance of the shrine, two members could be seen standing as guards to the Clan meeting that was currently taking place inside.
In the main hall, beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right resides the secret meeting place where the clan members generally meet. In order to access the main hall, a sequence of seal is required to remove the stone that lays atop the entrance way. The seal itself has the sharingan in the middle and is encircled with seal formulas. Only those with the clan's revered doujutsu can access the main hall. The seal is to prevent any non Uchiha Clan members to enter the main hall and get hold of the clan secrets which resides in there.
In there, resides a stone monument, the Uchiha Clan Tablet which entails the clan's secrets since beginning of the Clan. Within the Uchiha Clan it is believed the stone tablet to be written by the Rikudo Sennin, who is thought to be a myth by many in the elemental nations. After the Uchiha Clan were moved from their old compound, the elders and Fugaku found it better to preserve most of the documents pertaining to the clan within this hall to preserve them from prying eyes.
Fugaku and almost all the shinobis within the Uchiha Clan were currently in the meeting hall, discussing vantage points from where they could strike the key places within the village efficiently. Most of the preparations for the coup had been already done and Fugaku was mainly awaiting Danzo's words on when to strike best. He knew it would be soon as he had received word from one of Danzo's men about four days back to be prepared. Most of the Uchiha clan members were on edge as it was the whole of Konoha they were going up against. But, their arrogance that the sharingan makes them superior to everyone else made them believe they would come out on top. Also, the fact that they would be supported by over two hundred ANBU level shinobis made them feel firmly confident.
However, Fugaku had been cautious of his elder son, Itachi the last couple of days. He had observed him to be a little quieter than he usually is and missing out on several of the clan meetings held in the last four days. He wondered if the boy was up to something that could jeopardize their plan, but didn't think much of it. After all, his own son wouldn't betray the Uchiha Clan, would he?
Itachi was currently hopping from one tree to another to reach the Naka Shrine to meet with his father. After he had left the Namikaze Compound, he was contacted by one of his clansmen that his father wished to see him. As he reached near his destination and was about to jump down from the tree, his eyes spotted a couple of ANBU arriving at the main entrance of the Naka Shrine. Observing them carefully, his eyes slightly widened as he realized they were operatives from the Root.
'What could they be doing here?'
He activated his sharingan and moved slightly closer to them. Using the Meisaigakure no Jutsu, Itachi hid himself from the open eyes. He knew the Root Anbus wouldn't be allowed inside and whoever they wanted to speak to would come outside eventually.
He stared impassively as he saw his father step out of the Naka shrine. Carefully sending slight amount of chakra to his ear, he was able to hear the conversation taking place.
"Danzo-sama asks to go ahead with coup any moment now. Two hundred of our ANBUs will be moving towards the Namikaze Compound shortly and will remain there to stall the Yondaime long enough for your people to get the preparations done." Said the Root agent stoically.
"Are you sure that many will be enough to stall the Yondaime?" Fugaku asked curtly.
"You do not need to worry about that. Most of those reinforcements that are to stall the Yondaime Hokage are from several of our bases outside the village. We have our plans regarding the Yondaime Hokage and Naruto Namikaze based on the intel you provided of the Compound. Danzo-sama has requested to be quick and launch the attack within the next hour." The Root Anbu stated as he disappeared along with the other one.
Itachi's eyes widened in horror understanding the implications of what he overheard. However, he wondered what could have prompted them to prepone the attack. He was certain the coup wouldn't take place for another few weeks.
'They must have followed Shisui around in the village discretely.' Itachi comprehended. He realized if the Root Anbu were going after the Namikaze Compound shortly, they must have cornered Shisui too. He was perplexed for a moment about whom to approach first but decided to put his trust in Shisui to hold off the enemies a little longer. Itachi immediately undid the jutsu as he saw his father go back inside the shrine and promptly shunshined to the Namikaze Compound with only a single thought in mind.
This is going to be an all-out war within Konoha.
Namikaze Compound
Naruto sat in his room quietly and stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what to make of the situation. He didn't know what to think of himself. He felt tired mentally. He felt conflicted with everything his father taught him since his early childhood about family.
What is more important? Family or village?
He never lost anyone close to him, so he did not know how it felt. To experience the death of someone you held important. His mother died when he was born. Sure, he wished he had a chance to meet her. But, he never had a mother figure so didn't know what it felt like to lose her either.
He tiredly released a sigh and sat upright and decided to meditate to calm his mind. As soon as he closed his eyes, he found himself in his mindscape. He looked up and saw Kurama staring at him… angrily?
"What's wrong Kurama?" Naruto asked.
"You damn well know what's wrong." Kurama stated.
"I don't get you…" Naruto said trying to hide his conflicted feelings as best as he could.
"Stop whining over the decision your father made. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary." Kurama said.
"But… But I don't want them to die! They are my clan." Naruto argued.
"Then why do they want to destroy your village if they are your family? Did they think about you?" Kurama questioned angrily. Naruto slumped down on the floor as he had no answer to that.
"Why is there so much hatred in this world Kurama?" Naruto whispered.
Kurama rested his head on his paws as he too lied down on the floor. He looked at Naruto sympathetically. He looked so vulnerable right now. So… fragile.
"I don't know Naruto. I have been around the humans for thousands of years and watching them cause wars for selfish reasons is out of my understanding. They talk about peace and yet are willing to shed blood of their own kin. One thing I understood over the years is that, you cannot change the world without sacrifices. It is a necessary evil, which you must embrace. You have the power to change the world. An even greater power lies dormant in you." The fox saw his jinchuriki remain silent and stare at his reflection in the water on the floor.
"Who do you consider most precious Naruto?" Kurama asked even though he knew the answer to that very well.
Naruto stared at Kurama for a moment wondering why he was asking the question.
"Hinata-chan, Itachi, Shisui, Kakashi, Jiraiya oji-chan…. Even tou-chan and you Kurama." Naruto answered eventually.
"Would you not do anything to protect them? Would you not do anything to protect the home where you grew up? If you want to change the world, you should start with this village first. Remove the hatred that threatens to destroy this village. Save the family who cares about you." Kurama said firmly.
Listening to Kurama's words, Naruto's eyes widened as he understood something inconsequential. He always dreamed of living in a peaceful world, to just stay content with those he loved. If he couldn't save his own village from this hatred which would be brought by the coup if it took place, how could he ever hope of changing the world? He also felt slightly betrayed by the Uchiha Clan. He cared for them because they were his own clan. But did they think of him and his father? Did they consider talking to the Hokage about their problem?
But now Naruto knew what he had to do as he steeled his expression. He stood up and walked closer to his lifelong friend. Going inside the cage, he placed his right hand on Kurama's face. It still astonished him that Kurama was so big compared to him. He wondered how large his friend would be, if he had his entire chakra.
"After all this is over… I will get you out of this cage my friend." Naruto said slowly. Kurama's eyes softened on hearing Naruto's words. He never thought he would hear those words.
"I know…" whispered Kurama.
As Naruto turned around to walk out of the cage, he stopped midway as he sensed something.
'Why is he here again?' he thought. But his eyes widened as he sensed over two hundred chakra signatures approaching their compound from the east.
'It couldn't have started already…' Naruto thought terrified for a moment.
"You know what to do Naruto. I'm here if you ever need more chakra." Naruto heard Kurama say.
Getting out of the mindscape, Naruto immediately made his way downstairs where he felt his father's and Itachi's chakra signatures. One glance at their face, he knew it had started already. It was only a moment of time before there would be chaos in the village.
"It started already did it not?" Naruto asked uncomfortably.
"Naru… Yes. Itachi just gave word to me. He overheard Fugaku conversing with Danzo's men to initiate the attack at any given moment now." Minato said.
"Tou-chan. You should go. I will take care of the shinobis coming towards our house." Naruto said curtly.
"There are over two hundred chakra signatures heading this way Naruto-kun. This would prove to be difficult even for you." Itachi intervened. He knew the blonde's strength but this time the numbers were against them. It was simply too much.
Naruto raised his hand stopping his father and Itachi before they could say anything further. He sensed their uneasiness and understood why they felt uncomfortable leaving him all alone.
"I will be fine. Moreover, I always wanted to test my limits. What better than over two hundred ANBU level shinobis. I will wait for them over here. You should go look after the village. Look after the civilians and get rid of any other external threats to the village… None of the shinobis heading here will leave alive. I promise." Minato and Itachi felt a shiver run up their back looking at Naruto's eyes. Minato remembered his father telling him about his thrill for battles during his younger days. Now he knows, who Naruto took after in that case.
"You know what to do, in case you need help Naru. I will be here immediately." Minato said as he got hold of Itachi and disappeared to the Hokage's office using the Hiraishin.
Going back to his room, Naruto put on his maroon kimono on top of his white t shirt and put on his black gloves. Picking up the chokutō which Shisui had given him, his eyes violet eyes turned red. He steeled his nerves knowing what he was about to do would be a massacre. With one last glance around his room, he shunshined outside the house to the east side of the Namikaze Compound.
With Shisui
After escaping from the top of Hokage Monument, Shisui managed to shunshin deep within the forests. He was sure that jutsu would have taken most of them out, so he could reach the Namikaze Compound safely. However, the jutsu costed more chakra than he anticipated and he was nearly empty right now. He hoped none of the Root shinobis came after him for a while.
Shisui currently stood atop the branch of a tree breathing heavily. He made sure to get away as far as possible from them. However, his eyes widened as he heard the sound of kunai travelling towards of fast speed. Jumping down from the tree in an open area he came face to face with six Root Anbus.
'This isn't good…' Shisui thought with labored breaths.
His eyes then landed on Danzo who appeared before the Root operatives. That uncaring look on his face infuriated and troubled Shisui.
"Stand back. Don't interfere until I say." Commanded Danzo as he stepped towards Shisui. As Danzo undid the bandages on his right arm, Shisui's eyes widened dramatically.
"You monster… You have stooped this low." Shisui said looking at the three sharingan that were attached to his arm.
"Something I collected during the Third shinobi war. I will get more of these during this civil war. It's sad that an Uchiha like you, doesn't know how to use the sharingan properly." Danzo stated uncaringly.
As soon as Danzo said that, he immediately lunged towards Shisui, his left arm aiming for Shisui's left eye. Reacting quickly, Shisui side stepped and caught Danzo's arm firmly. Activating his sharingan, he paralyzed Danzo using a genjutsu so he couldn't move.
Taking hold of the katana which Shisui had acquired earlier from another Root shinobi, he ran it straight through Danzo's heart who had a shocked look on his face.
"You die today Danzo. It's time that the world gets rid of you." Shisui commented acutely as he turned around and started to walk away slowly. He was sure the Root operatives wouldn't follow him. They were trained that way. Follow the command given by the leader or die.
However, as he took another step he was punched harshly right in his jaw, followed by a strong punch to his right cheek bone. Through hazed eyes he saw Danzo coming at him again with his left arm extended. Just as Danzo was about to reach his eye, Shisui's left eye further evolved from the three tomoe sharingan to take the shape of a four-pointed pinwheel. Danzo saw Shisui's mangekyō glow dangerously but before anything else could happen, he snatched the left eye from Shisui's eye socket and jumped near his men.
Shisui groggily stood up and turned around with his left eye closed and blood dripping down to his face from there. He dropped to his knees as he coughed up some blood on the ground.
"Get rid of him. Make sure he stays dead." Danzo ordered as he shunshined away from the area.
One of the smaller Root shinobis among the six walked towards Shisui with a tantō in his hand. Reaching near Shisui, he pointed it towards his neck as he shifted his mask, so that only Shisui could see him.
"I'm afraid this is the end…Taicho." He whispered. Shisui smiled knowing the boy for so long. He was the only one apart from him who couldn't let go of their emotions entirely.
"I promised you, I will get you out of Root. I suppose this the time." Shisui replied.
"There is nothing you can do now… Not all dreams come true." Replied the boy with no emotion.
"I'm not done yet… Sai!" Shisui yelled as large quantities of chakra exploded from him. Rest of the Root shinobi along with Sai were all pushed back due to the pressure of the chakra.
As they looked back towards Shisui their eyes widened seeing a green humanoid skeleton structure surrounding him. The skeleton further developed as its hands and torso gained muscles and become even more dangerous looking. Shisui weakly stood in the center of the skeletal figure holding on to his right hand. The chakra entity surrounding Shisui stared at the Root shinobi as its eyes shined bright yellow.
This skeletal figure is the fabled Susanoo, a gigantic humanoid being made entirely of the user's chakra that surrounds them and fights on their behalf. This is the strongest ability available to those who have awakened the Mangekyō sharingan in both eyes.
"What is this monster…?" stammered one of the Root shinobis.
Soon enough each of the Root shinobis gathered their nerves and immediately threw several exploding tags towards Shisui. However, it was all for nothing as the exploding tags did not even scratch the Susanoo. In response, Shisui's Susanoo opened its chest fired several chakra needles towards five of the Root shinobi killing them immediately.
As Shisui saw the five of them falling on the ground with a thud, the Susanoo around him faded and he fell on the ground on his knees coughing blood rapidly. The last thing he saw before he went unconscious was Sai running towards him.
Sai caught him immediately just before Shisui was about to hit the ground. He looked at the unconscious Uchiha with a strange expression.
"Shisui… I don't know what to say." Sai exclaimed in a hushed voice. He tightened his grip around Shisui as he suddenly felt a kunai being pointed at his neck.
"I suggest you let him go." Itachi said.
"I mean no harm. I was working under Shisui when we were in Root. He wanted to get me away from there." Sai replied.
"What reason do I have to believe you?" Itachi questioned stoically.
"You may tie me up and question Shisui later. You can still save him. He is not dead yet."
Itachi still held the kunai at Sai's neck firmly considering his options. He knew Shisui well enough to know he would have wanted to save someone if he wished to. He also did not see any weapon on this Root agent, neither any seals placed on his hands to hide them in.
"There is no need. Just move aside." Itachi ordered. As Sai moved, Itachi picked up Shisui and asked Sai to follow him immediately.
"Where are we going?" Sai asked.
"Naruto-kun's the only one I can trust right now to heal him. I don't think the other Root shinobis have reached the Namikaze Compound yet. We will enter the compound from the west anyway. So, we shouldn't encounter any Root shinobis on that side." Itachi said curtly.
'What could that dickless do?' Sai thought curiously.
With Minato
After arriving at the Hokage's office along with Itachi, he promptly asked his secretary to summon the Jounin and ANBU Commander as soon as possible. In the meantime, Itachi left the office to search for Shisui while Minato took a piece of paper and wrote a letter addressed to Jiraiya. He bit his thumb drawing a bit of blood and then went through a couple of hand seals.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" Minato said and in a cloud of smoke appeared one of his sensei who taught him senjutsu. Even though Minato could utilize senjutsu, he wasn't able to hold the form for too long. Thus, he did not use it very often.
"Minato-boy, what did you call me here for?" Fukasaku inquired.
"Fukasaku-sensei. You must get this to Jiraiya sensei as soon as possible. I haven't heard from him in three days, after I last contacted him. We have an emergency in Konoha right now." Minato said hastily.
"Slow down. What's gotten you so worried?" Fukasaku asked seriously.
"There's going to be a civil war in Konoha right now. The Uchiha Clan along with Danzo's Root Anbu will be revolting against the village in less than forty minutes." Minato replied gravely.
"We will handle the situation here but we will have lot of casualties. Innocent people will get hurt and some will certainly perish. I want Jiraiya sensei to look for Tsunade-sama and bring her back to the village." Minato stated.
"Are you sure Minato? The toads can help you out if you like." Fukasaku said.
"No, I wouldn't want the Toads to be involved in something like this. For now, this would do. I appreciate your help Fukasaku-sensei." Minato said politely.
Fukasaku nodded and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Not even a few minutes later, Shikaku and Kakashi came rushing in through the front doors of the Hokage's office.
"You called for us Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked professionally.
Minato made a single hand seal activating the privacy seals within the office. He looked Shikaku knowing he would understand the situation instantly.
Soon as Shikaku saw Minato's look he understood the situation. The enemy had realized their plan of getting rid of the root of problem and now the war would be beginning any moment now.
"Get the ANBUs in order Kakashi. The Uchiha Clan will be revolting against Konoha soon now." Shikaku stated.
Kakashi stared at Minato impassively finding it hard to believe a prestigious clan such as The Uchiha would do something like that.
"It's the truth Kakashi. We have a little over thirty minutes to get everything in order. Contact the gate security to lock down all exits. Send an ANBU team to the academy, hospitals and the borders of each clan compound. I don't want any of the clans to be involved in this. The matter has to be resolved by the Hokage, current Jounins and the ANBU." Minato said with utmost seriousness.
"If I may know your source Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked. He respected Minato more than anyone within the village but he had to be sure about the actions he would taking.
"Itachi and Shisui. I'm afraid Danzo's Root ANBUs are involved too. Shikaku will coordinate with the Jounins while you and I will coordinate with the ANBUs. We don't know their plan of action yet. But, I believe they will start by targeting the main areas within the village." Minato said.
"Sensei, if the jounins are taking care of the civilians and the ANBUs are fighting against the Uchiha Clan members, what about the Root? I'm sure there will be large numbers of them…" Kakashi questioned.
"Naruto… He asked me to do this. All of the Root Anbus will be gathering outside the Namikaze Compound shortly." Minato said with a sigh.
Shikaku and even Kakashi's eyes widened on hearing that.
"That's suicide Minato sensei! What were you thinking!?" Kakashi yelled.
"Kakashi… Get the ANBUs to the required locations immediately and do it discreetly. That's an order. Naruto can take care of himself. I will be there to help him if he requires it." Minato said sternly. Shikaku stayed quiet as he heard Minato's words. He knew Minato would have taken some precaution to ensure nothing happens to Naruto. But it would have been risky even for him to go up against an entire ANBU division. It made him wonder what the kid was capable of.
"Shikaku, get the jounins to evacuate the civilians and the children behind the Hokage Monument." Minato commanded. Shikaku nodded and left the office to advance on the decided plan.
"I hope you are right on this sensei… about Naruto." Kakashi said staring into Minato's eyes.
"He may just surprise you Kakashi." Minato said as Kakashi and he disappeared to the ANBU headquarters located in the Hokage Monument.
With Itachi, Sai and Shisui
In about five minutes of quick jumping through the trees and a few shunshin later Itachi and Sai had reached the west side of the Namikaze Compound. They had made sure to keep their chakra as suppressed as possible to not alert the enemies on the opposite side of the compound.
He laid Shisui down on the ground who was still unconscious due to extreme chakra exhaustion. Itachi sadly looked at his old friend momentarily as some blood still leaked from his eyes. He wondered if that was the price of using the mangekyō sharingan. Shisui never did tell him how he awakened those eyes. But Itachi was certain it wouldn't be anything pretty considering the sharingan is normally awakened during strenuous situations.
"Keep an eye on him. I will get Naruto-kun over here." Itachi told Sai as he walked towards a small door on the wall surrounding the compound. He bit his thumb and sprayed some of his blood over the seal on the right side of the door. Soon enough the door opened and he walked inside.
Quickly tracing Naruto's position, he shunshined over there.
Naruto patiently sat on the porch of the entrance on the east side of the Namikaze household. He turned around immediately when he sensed Itachi's, Shisui's and… Sai's chakra signature? He wondered what he was doing here. With them nonetheless.
Not even a second later, he found Itachi standing before him with a somewhat worried look on his face.
"Itachi what's wrong? You shouldn't be here right now." Naruto said.
"It's Shisui. He's badly injured and needs medical attention. I couldn't trust anyone else right now." Itachi replied earnestly.
Making a hand seal, Naruto made a Kage Bunshin with enough chakra in it to heal Shisui as well as fight.
"My clone will go along with you. It has enough chakra. I can't leave this place right now Itachi. This is something I must do alone." Naruto said softly.
"I understand Naruto-kun." Itachi said.
"You should take Shisui some place safe. My clone can fight if need be. This area isn't going to be safe for him much longer." Naruto advised. Itachi proudly looked at Naruto. Sometimes he wished if Sasuke understood the meaning of a village and the importance of viewing others with equality. Itachi still had hope for him to understand that the Uchiha Clan isn't so great as it used to be.
"Stay safe Naruto-kun. No need to worry about others for now. No one would be happy if you don't come out of this alive." Itachi said as he turned around along with Naruto's clone to shunshin out of the compound.
Itachi smiled slightly hearing his brother's last words.
I always keep my promises nii-san.
Twenty-Five Minutes later within the village
The air was still and heavy, thick clouds covered half the sky. A cool breeze swept the alienated streets of the village and the owls swept silently overheard. Even the shadows were beginning to be swallowed by the encroaching darkness. Within those darkness, large number of shinobis carefully moved from one position to another all over the village planting an exploding tag on the walls of the buildings. The academy and the hospital area had already been swept with adequate number of those tags to bring down the building by the members of the Uchiha Clan. Several of the clan members had taken strategic position outside of the Nara Clan, village's main gate as well as the Hokage's office.
Unknown to the Uchiha Clan members standing guard on various locations inside the village, several of the ANBUs on Minato and Kakashi's command had already taken point on these designated targets to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. Both sides were waiting on command of their leader to take further actions. The available jounins within the village had been each tasked with the protection of civilians in a specific area of the village. Knowing that time wasn't on their side to get all the civilians to safety before the attack commences, all the jounins were handed a Hiraishin kunai by Minato in case of circumstances which could not be dealt by the Jounin alone.
Fugaku patiently waited on the roof of the Hokage Building along with twelve of the best shinobis from his clan. He had planned on destroying the Hokage building on his own. However, he was also slightly worried since he had received no word from Itachi. He had asked one of his clansmen to tell Itachi to meet him, but his son never showed up. He was worried mainly due to Itachi's behavior. He had always been more different than the other Uchihas in the clan. More of a pacifist, more dedicated to the village… more dedicated to the Hokage. And he had a feeling, sharing the coup plan with his son could come back to haunt him. The Uchiha clan members who were not participating in this coup were within the confinements of the old Uchiha Clan compound along with his wife Mikoto and his younger son Sasuke, however the children were kept in a separate room.
Fugaku's eyes then shifted towards the radio transmitter through which he was supposed to communicate with the leaders of the other teams that were waiting all over the village. He had never seen one of these before. The device was supplied to him by Danzo stating it was created by the R & D department for better communication during warfare.
Glancing one last time at the moon above, his eye turned blood red and whispered few words in his transmitter that would change the fate of this village.
Show them the power of the Uchihas.
BOOOOOOOM!
Then all hell broke loose within the village as sounds of explosion could be heard in several parts of the village. A building near the hospital collapsed going up in smokes, the Konoha academy building broke down into pieces along with the ANBU headquarters which was surrounded by more than two dozen shinobis of the Uchiha Clan. Danzo had even supplied the secret location of the ANBU headquarters within the village to the Uchiha Clan. This information wasn't common knowledge to the public of the village apart from those who had clearance to access the facility.
Fugaku smirked darkly as he thought of the first step of his plan being a success. Destroy the important buildings within Konoha. Then capture the Hokage and the Jounin Commander, which was being handled by Root Anbu and his clansmen respectively. Majority of the shinobis of the Uchiha Clan had surrounded the ANBU headquarters based on the building design given by Danzo. He was certain his men would be able to hold of the ANBU due to their element of surprise.
However, his smirk faltered when his sharingan saw Minato appearing on top of the Hokage roof out of nowhere, right in front of them. And judging from the look on Minato's face, Fugaku realized he knew everything beforehand. Minato and Fugaku stared at each other impassively without flinching. But, Fugaku eyes widened slightly, when saw Itachi appear on Minato's right.
"So… you have chosen the other side." Fugaku stated emotionlessly.
With Naruto
'They are close… in about a few minutes or so they will be here…' Naruto thought as he got up from the porch and he shunshined to outside of the compound. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at the path before him impassively.
"Are you going to be okay Naruto?" Kurama asked.
"We'll see… Kurama. We'll see…" Naruto said as he saw the silhouette of an entire army of Root Anbu heading his way. He gripped his chokutō tightly and began walking forward slowly.
At the Hospital
A young shinobi named Kento Uchiha who looked about the age of 17 or 18 watched his surroundings cautiously as the dust settled after the explosion. The storage facility where all the medical equipment resided was kept in a separate building which had just been taken down when the exploding tags went off. He and his team were outside the hospital making sure no one got outside or inside the facility. Their main goal was to hamper the medical facility of their enemy to render their chance of saving their comrades in the midst of battle.
Kento looked to each of his side to ensure his teammates were still in position and sighed in relief to see all them intact. Two were standing on the roof, one on each side of the front entrance while Kento stood in the middle. As he waved his hand to remove the few dust particles flowing in front of him, his eyes landed on a weird bee flying before his eyes. He went to squash it with his bare hands, when it suddenly stung his thumb. Before he could even do anything else, Kento fell on the ground with a thud as the poison attacked his nervous system.
The other two Uchiha Clan shinobis on the ground immediately turned their eyes towards the sound and found their partner to be on the ground unmoving. A mistake on their part as they soon found kunai lodged at the back of their head covered with raiton natured chakra.
Three members of the ANBU quickly and discreetly made their way towards the front of the hospital entrance without alerting the shinobis on the roof and took the Uchiha shinobis' previous positon.
The one on the right looked towards his leader who was in the middle and nodded.
"All is clear on the left side too Taicho." Whispered the Anbu on the left side of the front of the hospital.
The one in the middle went through a couple of hand seals and made three mushi bunshin of himself. It was a simple diversionary tactic. The mushi bunshin would quietly go to the roof and make themselves known to the Uchiha Clan shinobi who are present. Upon close combat between them, the mushi bunshin would dissolve to surround the enemy to drain their chakra. It's effective because the sharingan won't be able to tell difference between the three bunshins since they all possess same amounts of chakra. Once the enemy is distracted enough, the ANBU on the ground would go to the roof and finish to job quickly.
The mushi bunshins walked up the walls of the hospital and promptly jumped on the roof gaining the attention of the two shinobis that were present on the roof. As soon as the Uchiha shinobis noticed the presence of someone else, their sharingan activated and they released the kunai towards their enemy aiming at their vital spots on the body. To, their surprise, all the kunai passed through their enemy and they dissolved into any army of bugs that surrounded them on all sides.
"Fuck… It's kikaichu bugs." Yelled one of the Uchiha clan shinobi. But before he could jump off the roof, his entire lower half was swarming with bugs and almost all his chakra was being drained off.
The ANBUs on the ground promptly went to the roof when given the signal by their Taicho. The ANBU belonging to the Aburame Clan recalled his bugs back to his body while his partners killed the two Uchiha Clan shinobi with their tantō straight through their heart. The death for two was quick and painless.
On top of Hokage Roof
Fugaku stared impassively at his elder son as his eyes evolved further, showing his mangekyō sharingan for the first time openly. It had three dots followed by three curves spiraling counter-clockwise around the pupil.
Both Itachi and Minato widened their eyes on seeing Fugaku's mangekyō sharingan. None of them had knowledge of him ever possessing it.
Itachi wanted to say something but his father stared into his eyes, as if searching for meaning behind his action.
Fugaku suddenly dropped his kunai and his telecom as he got to the ground on his knees. Itachi's eyes further widened as he understood what his father meant and a few tears dropped from his eyes. The twelve Uchihas behind Fugaku understood their Clan leader's intentions and dropped their weapons too. They had lost the war. There was no use in fighting it.
"Promise me this Itachi." Fugaku said firmly. Itachi looked at Minato once with hazy eyes and walked towards his father with his tantō in his hands. Fugaku saw him falter in his steps as more tears dropped from Itachi's eyes.
"Take care of Sasuke and Mikoto…" Fugaku said as he saw Itachi stand behind him now.
"I will." Itachi confessed as his hands shook. He shut his eyes close as the tears flowing from his eyes became unbearable. He knew he would have to do it, but it didn't make it any easier on him. To kill his own father.
Minato sadly stared at his once good friend and his son. A lone tear dropped his eye as he averted his gaze towards the sky.
"Do not fear it. This is the path you have chosen. Compared to yours, our pain will end in an instant. Our philosophies may differ, but I'm proud of you." Fugaku said firmly. He heard his elder son sob more with shaky hands and his eyes softened slightly.
"You are truly a kind child… Itachi." Fugaku whispered gently.
With closed eyes, Itachi ran his tantō straight through his father's heart. He heard his body fall limp on the ground and turned around as he did not have it in him to look at his father's body.
"Your father was right Itachi-kun… You truly are a kind child. Please make this quick." Said another one of the shinobis of the Uchiha clan. Soon as he said that, Itachi moved around the twelve members of his clan swiftly as their bodies too fell limply on the ground.
"It's over Itachi…" Minato said softly as he put a comforting hand on Itachi's shoulder who still had tears rolling down his eyes. As Itachi opened his eyes again, both his eyes had three spiraling curves around the pupil.
At ANBU Headquarters
The ANBU headquarters, the most secure place in Konohagakure was located behind the Hokage Monument from the prying eyes of the village. Most of the black op missions' deployment and interrogation took place within this building, thus requiring high level of security.
The Uchiha members surrounding the ANBU headquarter which was nothing more than pieces of rocks lying around, moved closer to it. The entire area was surrounded by dust due to collapse of the building which made it somewhat difficult for them to look around even with their sharingan.
"Setsuna, can you get a feel as to how many shinobis are there inside now?" asked Yashiro Uchiha. Yashiro is a veteran shinobi of the second and the third shinobi world war. He fought alongside the Sandaime and the Yondaime in each of the wars. He was highly skilled in his mastery over the sharingan and could handle himself fairly well in kenjutsu. He was a prominent member of the Konoha Military Police Force too and was thus given command of this unit.
Setsuna quickly went ahead towards the fallen building and closed his eye momentarily to focus.
"…. what have you got?" asked Yashiro quietly as the members of the Uchiha Clan behind him spread evenly around the collapsed building. He along with everyone were hiding in the shadows of the night and had their chakra concealed perfectly. One thing Yashiro had learned from his experiences in the war was that to be always on guard even when you feel you have won. Because in a war, no one plays by rules or morals.
"I can feel a kind of seal on the walls of these buildings. That's why I couldn't pin point the exact number of shinobis inside. The seal must be specifically made to confuse sensors about the strength of the ANBU forces inside. But wait… there are no chakra signatures under the building..." Whispered Setsuna shockingly.
Before Setsuna could even finish his words and Yashiro could understand the implications of what he had heard, all the present Uchiha Clan members had to jump away as the ground beneath them burst open. Not even a second later, came a hail of kunais and shurikens, some coated with chakra which struck many Uchiha shinobis ending their lives instantly. Around five or six managed to get away from the kunai and shurikens thrown at them and some successfully deflected them with their own kunai.
However, the Uchiha Clan shinobis soon found themselves standing in a small area and their eyes widened in horror when they saw hundreds of ANBU surrounding them, ready to kill them at a moment's notice.
"This whole thing was a damn trap… If the ANBU knew about the coup, it's certain than the Yondaime knew." Said Yashiro murderously as his hands clenched tightly around the kunai he was holding.
Yashiro and Setsuna looked around with their sharingan for a way to escape but found themselves to be surrounded on all the sides. There were ANBUs everywhere. At that moment they realized, they were not leaving here alive.
Yashiro saw Kakashi coming towards him, wearing his traditional Konoha ANBU attire and looked at him sternly. Yashiro looked at him curiously, knowing it was against the rules for an ANBU to remove their mask on duty. He raised his eyebrows slightly seeing the words Commander written on his uniform.
"Hn… Your father had a knack for going against the rules and now look at you, ANBU Commander and forgetting the general rule of keeping your mask on, at all times Kakashi…" Yashiro mocked.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and stepped towards Yashiro. Disarming the old man from his kunai swiftly, Kakashi pressed his own kunai closer to Yashiro's neck.
"No one allowed you to speak." Kakashi whispered into his ears coldly.
The remaining Uchihas gripped their kunais and tantō tightly and glared at the ANBUs around for disrespecting one of their own.
"Your unit is surrounded from every side…. There is no where you can run. Order you men to drop the weapons right now and maybe we could let you live." Said Kakashi flatly.
"You all will kill us anyway!" shouted some of the Uchihas angrily as they held their kunai and tantō and prepared to go down fighting.
"Don't do something rash. Surrender now and give us information on Danzo and you could spend the rest of your life in prison." Offered Kakashi.
Acting impulsively, all the six Uchihas including Yashiro and Setsuna jumped at the ANBU to fight their way to death. But before they could cover even a meter, their bodies became covered by dozens of kunai.
Kakashi sighed as he looked around himself. So much death. Ever since he could remember, people around him died. His best friend Obito, who died due to his arrogance, his friend Rin who was killed by his own hands, his sensei's wife Kushina and now these few members of the Uchiha Clan.
'Maybe it's time to leave after this is over…' Kakashi thought somberly as he looked up at the starry night.
With Naruto
Naruto calmly stood with his chokutō in his right hand, staring impassively at the army of a little over two hundred Root Anbus. His long blond hair flowing as a slight breeze moved over the area. While the faces of the Root Anbus were not visible due to their masks, it was clear to Naruto none of them portrayed any emotion. He could feel his opponents were strong. The way they stood and portrayed themselves was enough for Naruto to know his battle wasn't going to be an easy victory.
However, he smirked which perplexed many of the shinobis. Naruto couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement. This was his chance to fight strong opponents. His chance to test his limits, his strengths. He had always known he was strong. Far stronger than even his own father or Jiraiya could comprehend. He had stopped considering Jiraiya a challenge about a year ago or so. He had a suspicion his godfather already knew that and accepted that fact.
He smiled darkly and settled in his stance, ready to begin the blood bath.
'Damn Uchihas and their craze for battles…' Kurama thought irritatingly.
"So, Yondaime left his only child alone to face an entire army? Do you really think we are going to let you leave here alive?" asked the leader of the Root Anbu standing ahead of everyone else. He had a bulky and large figure indicating he was more prone to using his taijutsu to overwhelm his opponents.
Naruto chuckled darkly on hearing that.
"You talk too much… Let's dance…" Naruto whispered.
Gripping his chokutō tightly Naruto ran straight towards the awaiting Root Anbus at an impeccable speed. Before the Root Anbus could realize what was happening, Naruto already cut through three of the shinobis easily while kicking another one on the chest harshly breaking his ribs. The shinobi flew through the crowd at a fast pace while colliding with several Root shinobis on the way as he fell down unconscious with copious amounts of blood flowing from his mouth.
Ducking under a punch, Naruto ran his chokutō straight through the Root Anbu's stomach. As he took out his chokutō from the man's body, Naruto swiftly back flipped and jumped high in the air and channeled raiton chakra through the chokutō making it shine bright purple. Landing on another section among the Root Anbu, Naruto swung his chokutō horizontally as the extreme sharpness of the raiton chakra coating his chokutō cut through the other shinobis' tantō, making them jump back instantly. His sharingan picked up another five shinobis coming at him from above and he thrust his chokutō down in the ground. Making hand seals faster than the shinobis around could anticipate, Naruto ended the sequence in the ram seal and clapped his hands together.
"Katon: Gouka Hataka no Jutsu" Naruto yelled, as a wave of destructive fire flew all around him. Pumping large quantities of chakra into the jutsu, the fire flowing around Naruto flew in all directions for fifty meters, burning everything it encountered. Due to the intense heat and rapid movement of the fire, many of the shinobis burnt to ashes upon the second they contacted it. The suiton users among the Root Anbus standing at the back quickly came forward and started making a long series of hand seals.
"Suiton: Suijinheki" shouted fifteen of the Anbus as they spewed forth large quantities of water from their mouth creating a water barrier that clashed against the intense fire coming towards their way. As the two-opposing natured jutsus collided a thick mist blanketed the area. Many of sensors among the army of Root Anbu promptly sensed something approaching them from their right and steadied themselves.
"Get ready. He's coming from our right!" said one of the Root Anbu.
The more experienced Root Anbu agents came forward and steadied themselves. They had severely underestimated their opponent. Almost twenty to thirty of the shinobis were already dead by now. As Naruto jumped through the mist, he ran through the crowd of shinobis ducking and evading the punches, hooks and leg sweeps aimed at him. As he swatted away a punch aimed at his jaw from his right, Naruto caught the kick that was coming towards him from his left and with great strength picked up the shinobi and threw him to his right making him collide with the other shinobi painfully on the ground and creating a small crater in the process. He leaned back barely missing a katana that would have run through his neck, Naruto back flipped and landed on a shinobi's face making him fall on the ground face first and jumped forward.
Naruto's sharingan constantly moved left and right as he kept track of each shinobi in his vicinity. He didn't how many shinobis he had already killed yet, but he had a dark smile on his face and it was starting to scare the Root Anbu. They had been prepared for years to let go of their emotion. But currently the way this child… no... this person could not be human many of them thought. Fear was the emotion that was stirring up within the mind of several shinobis.
Naruto landed on the ground and somersaulted while picking up two kunai that were fallen on the ground. He immediately jumped and threw both the kunais in opposite directions coated with futon chakra which sped through the wind and lodged into two more shinobis head. Simultaneously, Naruto kicked two more shinobis on the head, the force of the kick easily breaking the shinobis' skull. Catching a kunai attached with an exploding tag coming at him quickly with his left hand, Naruto spun around taking out the exploding tag from it with his right. Sticking the exploding tag on another shinobi Naruto kicked him on the chest pushing him backwards towards another bunch of shinobis while throwing the kunai in his left hand in yet another shinobi's head. The exploding tag attached to the shinobi exploded, killing several others nearby him. Moving to his right, Naruto caught the neck of another shinobi coming at him recklessly with a tantō and stared into his eyes coldly as his sharingan spun. Not even a second later, the shinobi dropped on the ground as his mask shattered. His wide horrified eyes in the open for everyone to see.
"Futon: Atsugai"
"Futon: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa"
"Katon: Gokayaku no Jutsu"
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu"
Naruto heard the shouts of many jutsus being used from all directions. He immediately shunshined out of the area near the walls of the Namikaze compound. However, much of his kimono was burned along with several cuts on his right arm. Yet again, Naruto stared at the shinobi in front of him impassively without any care in the world. It was becoming hard even for the Root Anbus to determine what the blond was going to do next.
Making a single hand seal, large amount of water in the atmosphere above the Root Anbu condensed to take the form of several needle like water bullets.
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu" whispered Naruto as the water needles rained down on the Root Anbus speedily painting the ground with their blood. Many of the shinobis managed to get away from the area but were still hit in several spots on their body.
Naruto stared at the hundred or so Root shinobis coldly as they stood limply on the ground. He saw a couple of shinobis shunshin out of the area and frowned.
"Pathetic…" spat Naruto. However, the very next second his eyes widened as he felt her chakra outside the compound. Before he could even move, two Root Anbus appeared a few meters away from him holding her with a tantō placed on her stomach.
Naruto glared at the two Root Anbus murderously as his chakra spiked to dangerous levels. The ground beneath him began to crack due to the pressure of his chakra alone.
"She has nothing to do with it…" Naruto said coldly.
"On the contrary, she has everything to do with it. Our master warned us to be cautious of you. But you are far beyond of our league. It's no easy feat to kill a hundred ANBU level shinobis." Stated one of the shinobis. Hinata stared at him unbelievingly after she heard the shinobi's words. She hadn't seen Naruto in four days and grew worried and so decided to come visit him in his house. But half way onto his compound, she heard several explosions sounds which scared her slightly. She then quickly ran towards Naruto's house when she was suddenly picked up by these two shinobis.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whimpered.
"If you even as much as put a scratch on her… I will hunt you and your master down to the end of this world and kill you painfully." Said Naruto darkly.
The Root Anbu looked at the young blond with no emotion whatsoever in his eyes from behind his mask. With a quick move of his hand, he impaled the tantō in Hinata's stomach and he along with his partner shunshined back to their group.
Naruto just stared with wide eyes as Hinata gurgled up blood and dropped on the ground. He wanted to move, go closer to her, hold her, heal her as he saw the blood flowing out the wound where the tantō was impaled. But he couldn't. Somehow, he moved forward with heavy breaths but stopped when he saw her close her eyes.
When you find that one person who connects you to the world… you become someone different. Someone better. When that person is taken away from you… what do you become then?
He walked towards her silently and sat down beside her. Removing the tantō from her, he held her gently. He hugged her closer to his chest and he screamed. He screamed to the heavens. At that moment, a beam of heavy potent violet chakra shot from Naruto and tore through the dark sky.
The Root shinobis standing around took a step back in fear and fell to their knees. Kakashi standing near the fallen ANBU headquarter building stared at the pillar of chakra reaching the sky. He knew whose it was and he ran immediately. Minato standing on top of the Hokage tower looked warily at the beam of chakra and lost all sense of normality. He ran as fast as he could, followed closely by Itachi. Sai scarily looked at the immense chakra that was flowing towards the sky and sweated dangerously.
Danzo standing in his base fell on his knees as he stared at the jar containing Shisui's eye. However, now when he looked at the jar again, there was nothing there. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered taking the damn eye from him.
His eyes widened as he remembered Shisui's mangekyō glowing at him just before he thought he snatched his eyes. He glared at the jar furiously as he smashed it into more pieces. Getting up from the ground, he ordered Torune and Fu to make some of his Anbus get the remaining job done as he decided it was time for him to part ways with the village for a while.
All the shinobis within the village stared at the tall pillar of chakra and fell to their knees. It was so potent. It was so pure. It was like, the chakra alone had a mind of its own and right now it was commanding them to fall to their knees. It was like god himself was commanding them.
"Naruto… calm down. You need to control yourself Naruto!" Kurama shouted in his mind, but Naruto paid him no heed.
Naruto continued to scream and tears freely fell from his eyes as he held Hinata close to his chest. He felt an immense burning sensation in his eyes and shut them. His entire body felt on fire. However, he opened his eyes when he felt something stir in his arms. Looking down, he saw Hinata staring at her weakly. She put her bloodied hand on his cheek and stared at him with so much affection.
"I'm…. here…. Naruto-kun…" Hinata said in between breaths.
"Shhh… Hinata-chan. You rest here. I will be back soon okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to you again…" Naruto whispered as wiped the tears from his eyes. Making a seal less Kage Bunshin to stay beside her, Naruto stood up and turned towards the Root Anbu who were paralyzed in their position.
The Root Anbu took a step further back and their eyes widened when they saw Naruto's eyes. Instead of the normal sharingan, it was completely red with a black spiral originating from the pupil of his left eye. But that wasn't what scared them most. It was his right eye. It was bright silver with a black dot as it's pupil and several concentric rings containing nine tomoes split between the first three rings.
Naruto stared at them with no emotion. He felt nothing as he stared at them, all except a single thought.
These pests deserve to be removed from the face of this earth.
"Amaterasu" Naruto whispered darkly as he focused his right eye towards the Root shinobis. Instantly, all the hundred Root Anbus were covered in black flames and in a span of few seconds there wasn't a single of them left alive. All burnt to ashes and blown with the wind to their very last cell.
Walking back to Hinata, he sat down beside her and held her close to him. He didn't know what had happened, how it happened. But, the only thing he cared for right now was her. She stared at him through lidded eyes sadly. She looked at his eyes and knew something inside him must have changed. She heard him whimper and saw him shed a few tears. She understood why he was crying and held him as much tightly as she could.
"I'm not… going anywhere… Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered gently.
"I'm so… sorry Hinata-chan" Naruto said as he lost his consciousness. Hinata saw him close his eyes and fall on the ground. She tried getting up but it she still felt too weak to move. Her wound had been healed thanks to Naruto's clone, but it was still tender and it took most of her energy just to stay conscious. Putting her arm across him, she laid her head on his chest as she heard the rhythmic beating of his heart.
Soon enough Minato, Itachi and Kakashi came to the scene of Naruto and Hinata lying unconscious on the ground along with the dead bodies of more than hundred Root Anbus lying behind. Minato's eye fell on the black flames that were still burning and he understood what had transpired when he turned his gaze towards Hinata again.
"Kakashi go check with the other ANBUs and the jounins if everything is alright and Itachi go check on the other Uchihas who did not participate in the coup." Minato ordered softly. He walked towards his son and made a Kage Bunshin holding a single hand seal. He picked up Naruto while his clone picked up Hinata.
Turning back, he stared at his two best shinobis with a sad look in his eyes.
"It's over… Go check on everyone else. I will put these two to bed and inform Hiashi about daughter." Minato said.
Both Kakashi and Itachi nodded and disappeared in shunshin. On his way, Itachi made a Kage Bunshin of himself to go look for Shisui and Sai and bring them back to the Namikaze Compound.
Half an hour later
After Minato had put Naruto and Hinata to separate beds comfortably, he went to his library and just slumped on his armchair. Kakashi had reported to him about ten minutes earlier that all the civilians and children in the village were safe and had been moved away from the battle scene. Tonight's event had taken a toll on him too. Few tears dropped from his eyes as ultimately it was his decision to eliminate the Uchiha Clan. He would have to live with that burden for the rest of his life.
"What would you think of me tou-san?" Minato whispered softly to himself.
However, he straightened himself as he felt Itachi's chakra and soon enough he was standing in front of him with an unconscious Mikoto and Sasuke along with him. His eyes then shifted towards his Kage Bunshin who was holding onto Shisui and a pale boy standing beside him. Ignoring the boy for now, he turned his attention back to Itachi.
"Itachi, what happened?" Minato asked with concern.
"Hokage-sama… everyone else is… dead in our clan…" Itachi stated.
"Tell me what happened. I thought you said some of the people would be kept safely who are not taking part in the coup." Minato questioned.
"Some were… But I think Danzo has fled the village. When I arrived at the old Uchiha Clan compound near the Naka river, I found many of Root Anbus there along with many people of our clan lying dead on the ground with their eyes taken. I believe he wanted my mother and brother too, but alive, since they were just knocked out. However, I don't know the reasons for his actions." Itachi confessed sadly.
Minato's eyes hardened as he heard Itachi's words. He had a lingering idea as to what he would be needing the sharingan for but he had no way to make sure of it.
"What of Shisui's eyes? Was it taken by Danzo? Presuming that would be the only reason Danzo would want to take him out..." Minato asked. Itachi's Kage Bunshin opened Shisui's eyes to show that they were indeed safe. Itachi understood the importance of Shisui's mangekyō sharingan. They held a great amount of power and in the wrong hands it would only bring about greater disaster.
"I see. Your family and you can stay in our house. You should get some rest Itachi now. We all have had a long night. It's best for all of us. I will deal with tonight's events and Danzo's defection tomorrow morning." Minato said.
"… hai Hokage-sama." Itachi said tiredly as he carried his mother and Sasuke to a vacant room. On the way out of the library he asked Sai to carry Shisui to another room to get some rest for the night.
After checking on Naruto and Hinata once again, Minato too turned in to his bed for the night.
So, that's a wrap for this chapter. I will be posting chapter 8 mostly by April 15 or April 16, 2017. I got to update my other story too and got a few more exams coming up.
One of the main reasons, Danzo had acquired Shisui into root so he could make him see his own ideals and train him enough to be able to kill the Hokage one day. Shisui was a prominent figure within the Uchiha Clan as well as close to Minato while growing up. So, Danzo had decided not to mark him with the curse seal. Minato would have certainly found out about the seal had Shisui been marked with it. Hence, the reason for Shisui not having the seal on his tongue.
The next chapter will not be as long as this. It will be the aftermath of what happened the next day. How Naruto's life changes more, the decisions he will have to make. Danzo will be obviously declared a missing ninja and would lose much of his influence with the Fire Daimyo. Although, it will be interesting, what he does with so many of those eyes belonging to the Uchiha Clan.
Again, please review more, so I could know how to proceed with the story while also keeping your opinions and requests in mind. Please Follow and Favorite if you come to like the story.
Until next time!