Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, except for OCs created by myself.
Anbu Mogura was getting bored.
He hated the graveyard shift.
It was still at least two hours before the sun would come up, and all he had to do was sit atop the inn, guarding the esteemed guests from Kumogakure.
Esteemed guests his ass.
Kumogakure had the gall to sue for peace after the sort of bloodshed they had caused.
His mission should have been to go inside, and slit the of those fuckers.
The sound of crickets was annoying; it didn't help that the inn was surrounded by a nice canopy of trees.
Quaint and out of the way, it made sense to keep the delegates here.
For him though it only meant–
His thoughts remained unfinished as a senbon hit his neck.
Two minutes later, all three Kumo nins emerged from the inn into the dying moonlight.
"All our watchers are taken care of." Jei announced.
"And you are sure about your intel on the Hyūga clan?" Sendō asked.
"My birds are yet to fail me."
"Very well then. Good luck, good hunting, and should the worst happen, it's been an honor."
With that, the veteran Kumo jōnin faded out of their vision in a burst of Shunshin. In an instant, so did Jei and Raira. Now they were in the cover of the shops, on the same street they passed through in the morning on their way to the Hokage tower.
Raira crouched down and concentrated. The toddler was supposed to be able to walk back to the orphanage from here by himself. It should be close enough. Any sensor worth their salt could sense up to a radius of 500 meters around them. But that was in the open expanse of a battlefield.
Here in a village full of powerful shinobi, finding an untrained toddler was like finding a needle in the haystack.
But Raira was in luck. The toddler in question was special.
The Bijuus' chakras stood out like sore thumbs, with their corrosive and malicious natures. The human body was an effective container, but it leaked out anyway, creating a double layer of chakra signatures.
Raira knew that firsthand from her exposure to their resident Jinchuurikis.
It took her half a minute to find him.
And boy did he have Chakra.
Instead of a dim speck, his chakra, vast on its own, glowed like a candlelight, far more than anything a toddler should have. The Bijuu chakra was woven around it, giving him an incandescence to her senses as she focused on it, trying to pinpoint its exact location.
"Got him."
As she withdrew her sensory jutsu, she felt two chakra signatures approaching her position rapidly.
Shit!
Jei and Raira barely had enough time to hide behind some stalls before a pair of shinobi swooped down onto the street, looking around suspiciously.
"I swear I felt a faint burst of Chakra…" one said, looking around.
Raira glanced at Jei, who nodded back at her.
Kill anyone in your way.
Both of them sprang out of their covers, making the Konoha-nin whip around to face them...and their eyes glowed in the dark with a red hue.
Uchihas!
What was supposed to be a quick and clean assassination was quickly getting out of hand.
BOOM!!
The sound and the flash of light from the massive explosion distracted the Uchihas for a single instant, which became fatal for them.
Jei, who was still locking Tanto with one of the Uchihas, used his distraction to stab a kunai into his neck, and Raira channeled lightning chakra through her kunai, making the other cry out and drop to his knees, allowing Jei to finish him off.
"Commander has started! Move!" Raira urged.
Jei gave a last longing look to the fresh corpses as he put them behind the stalls they themselves had used for cover, before dashing behind her. "Both had sharingans! Ughhh….this mission would have been the greatest mission in the entire history of Kumo!" His voice was drowned out by another explosion.
"It still will be if we make it out alive!" Raira snapped, casting another genjutsu, as they reached the orphanage.
The sleeping children and matrons had roused due to the explosion, but as the sleep-inducing genjutsu hit them, they all fell, incapacitated. Raira could hear each of her heartbeats as she dashed through the building, reaching for their target's room. The kid had walked out of his room, and that's where he lay, deep in slumber. Raira quickly put him in a deeper sleep using a poisoned kunai before slinging his little body in a bundle against her chest and dashed out.
The journey to the gate took them less than a minute, and the gate guards were so startled they couldn't even try to put up a fight. Jei slit their throats as well, stashing the bodies inside their little outpost before quickly following Raira.
Raira looked back once, to see plumes of smoke rise up above the walls of Konoha, with an orange glow towards the bottom.
If only Commander would make it out in time too.
As the hours approached dawn, the life of Konohagakure slowly fell into a slumber.
The civilians especially. The fact that they lived in what was effectively a military base made their lives a bit more routine than it would have been in the capital, or big towns like Tanzaku-gai. Night curfew was enforced for most civilian accessible areas and establishments. The people on the civilian council hemmed and hawed all the time about it, but no one except for drunkards dared flout it either.
As for shinobi, there were no such rules. Teams would come back from missions at all hours of the day. The hospital, mission desk, security outposts, police headquarters, etc., were open 24/7. Shinobi-only bars and establishments also remained open. However, the population in these places dwindled as night went on. By 3 AM, most shinobi were catching their well-deserved sleep, and only the shift workers were out and about, even them either drowsy or caffeinated.
So when the explosions rocked the village, it caught everyone off guard. Everyone was in a panic; the memory of the Kyuubi's devastation was fresh after all.
Genins and Chūnins roused from their sleep jumped in bleary eyed, assisting in evacuation. Tokubetsu Jōnins and Jōnins came out ready for an assault.
But there was no 30m orange fox rampaging about.
Instead, a massive fire engulfed the civilian residential area, spreading quickly through the heavily congested locality. Cries for help and wails of pain rang in the air.
Half-burnt civilians ran around like headless chickens, while the lucky ones who had managed to escape from their burning homes stood huddled together with their families, watching their houses burn. Shock was clear on their faces. Some tried desperately to get back inside, to salvage whatever meager possessions they could, tussling with the Genin as the more senior Shinobi took to dousing the flames and rescuing anyone still trapped inside.
Hiruzen watched the scenery from atop his tower. Complete and utter chaos. A great diversion, perfect for some mischief. These were basic shinobi tactics.
"What news of the Kumo delegates?" He barked.
Inoichi Yamanaka stood beside him, with his fingers pressed against his temple, and a headphone held up to his ear on the other hand. "Anbu Squad 14 has reported back. The guards have been found dead. The delegates are missing."
After a pause, he spoke again. "The gate guards on the North-eastern side have been found dead inside their outposts."
"Get Tsume. All Anbu squads, fan out and be on high alert for possible intruders!" Hiruzen still wasn't able to figure out the entire scheme, but pieces of it were becoming clear. Kumo was creating distractions, tying down the shinobi forces into places where they were exposed. Were they planning to invade? But there were no reports of Kumo shinobi gathering within Fire country border. Was there some–
Another explosion rocked the ground, sending the civilians into a pandemonium.
"Isn't that the direction of the Hyūga clan compound?" Shikaku said. "Any Anbu squads in that area? Report!"
Furui Sendō swung his arm, and the woman's head flew off her neck, spraying blood all around.
The piece of cloth wrapped around her forehead came loose, revealing an intricate seal. Furui didn't even bother looking.
Useless trash.
Furui's body crackled with lightning, a whip made of water hanging from his hand, as he stomped through the Hyūga clan compound. The place was a bloody labyrinth, and he used it to his advantage. After all, his primary focus was to stall and distract the tree-huggers.
Half burned wooden structures collapsed here and there, and the fire was spreading quickly. His secondary target was the nursery, and he let the women's screams guide him there.
He found his path blocked soon.
The room he had just entered seemed to be a shrine of some sort. Furui had entered by ripping down the wall on one side. The stoic figure of a single Hyūga stood at the opposite end, the veins around his eyes bulging out. On his right and Furui's left, at the very end of the hall, there was a little wooden alcove, illuminated by candles and incense sticks. Furui didn't bother trying to see what was inside.
"So this is the peace Kumo talked about." The Hyūga said solemnly.
"Think you can stop me, boy?"
The man took a loose stance. "I know I can."
"Then come!"
The Hyūga moved fast as lightning, but Furui was fast enough to duck and reach out with his single arm, a grabbing move that the Hyūga dodged, quickly creating some distance.
"And here I thought you were coming to me!" Furui taunted.
The Hyūga darted in again, and he again swiped. The Hyūga ducked, managing to inflict a single poke on his forearm. Furui flooded his arm with more chakra immediately, forcefully expelling the Hyūga's chakra from his pathways.
"Your tenketsu blocking won't work on me, boy."
"Worked fine on your children."
Furui smiled viciously. "So you are Hiashi Hyūga."
The man before him simply fell back into his stance.
Furui lunged in, manifesting the water whip again, and swung it in a wide arc. The Hyūga jumped in as well, dismantling the whip with a chakra-infused swat from his left hand, splashing water everywhere, before quickly going for a strike to his chest.
"Raiton no Yoroí!"
Hiashi had to stop and jump back as the crackling lightning chakra came alive, shrouding his opponent's hulking body.
"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?"
The Hyūga gave him an unimpressed look. "You will burn away your reserves in a few minutes if you maintain that, while attacking me. If you go strictly defensive, you would slightly increase that number. You have no way of getting out alive from this battle."
"Well, that's all the time I need to send you to my sons."
Their dance started again. The Hyūga attacked relentlessly, parrying his wild swings, keeping him pinned and focused on defense; never really moving out of his range, like an annoying fly. Furui was forced to keep his lightning cloak up, making him burn his chakra faster.
Guess this is the end of the road.
Furui roared like a beast, and barreled through the wall. He was not leaving this place alive, true. But that didn't mean he had to die in that room, alone.
Lightning chakra gathered in his hand, Furui started cleaving through walls and men and women alike.
The Hyūga was in hot pursuit, but the narrow corridors were ill-suited for forcing a battle.
Another Hyūga jumped in front of him, rather foolishly, and Furui noted his similarity to Hiashi even as his hand went through his chest.
Only for him to grin viciously, and a kunai infused with wind chakra sliced clean through Furui's sole remaining arm.
"YOU WHITE-EYED BASTARD!"
Pain overwhelmed Furui's senses, and his chakra fluctuated wildly due to a part of his chakra network being cut off so suddenly.
He was defenseless as Hyūga Hiashi's hand ripped through his back and all the way to his heart.
Furui Sendō's body went limp, before collapsing on the wooden floor face-first.
"Hiashi-sama!"
"Hiashi-sama! Are you alright?"
Hiashi Hyūga had no eyes for anyone. He ran past the corpse, cradling his brother's body, caress of the blood staining his robes.
"Hizashi…Hizashi…speak to me Hizashi…"
Hizashi smiled, he had the gall to SMILE.
"It's all good anija…everything…is fine…take care of Neji…tell him…"
The chakra in Hizashi's body flickered out into nothing in front of his eyes.
Wrong.
Things were very wrong.
"We've got a tail!" Raira yelled, before dodging a hail of shuriken.
They had company.
Her sensory jutsu told her they were being tailed by no fewer than five men.
And the worst part was, their escape plan was nowhere to be seen.
Nomura Kaiki was the last member of their retinue.
He had entered the Land of Fire three days ahead of them, and was supposed to be waiting for them in order to provide a quick getaway.
Aside from being a sensor, Kaiki had a contract with a species of parasitic leech.
While it was endlessly creepy and useful in its own way, in this mission, his purpose was to use the boss summon so they could escape through the summoning space. It was big enough to fit all four of them plus anyone else they were carrying.
But even though they were now at the rendezvous point, there was no sign of Nomura of his summons.
Not even his chakra signature was there.
Raira could tell they were being corralled into a trap, herded with projectile barrages.
"Jei!"
Jei understood her from that one word.
Without a second's delay, they peeled away into different directions, breaking into bursts of shunshin.
Their pursuers did the same, and Raira was glad to see their numbers have halved.
But her happiness didn't last long.
More pursuers, who were probably waiting ahead, had joined in.
Raira felt at least six people behind her.
Not good.
She increased her speed, breaking into a chain of shunshins.
As the first light of dawn broke over the Hokage mountain, the fires were almost completely put out. But Hiruzen still felt uneasy. Furui Sendō was now accounted for. He had died mounting a solo attack on the Hyūga clan compound, killing 17 clansmen, including Hyūga Hizashi. Hiruzen had decided to let Hiashi cope with his loss first. Debriefs could wait, and if there was something important, Hiashi would inform him anyway.
More losses were being discovered.
The civilian residential area had taken massive damage, so far 31 dead, over a hundred wounded and occupying the beds of the hospital. Over 500 were turned homeless, having taken refuge in the emergency shelter.
Two Uchiha Military Police Force members were found dead, in an alleyway not far from the academy, and by extension, the tower.
Tsume and her squad were ready to start their pursuit, but even almost an hour after the attack started, Hiruzen wasn't sure about the objective. He put them on standby because he didn't want them to walk into an ambush. Right now, Anbu was making sweeps of the village, trying to gather clues and look for any Kumo nin in hiding.
No clans have reported anything stolen or missing...not even the Hyūga. So what was the purpose?
A lithe figure swooped down onto the terrace, causing everyone to reach for their weapons. Hiruzen frowned at the breach of protocol, and also at who the man was.
"Hokage-sama," Hound spoke, sounding slightly out of breath. "Uzumaki Naruto is missing from the orphanage. Requesting permission to pursue."
AN: From the reviews it seems I have not made the timeline of this story clear enough. The events that have happened so far in the story are happening when the Hyūga affair was supposed to have happened in canon. Naruto is around 3 years old, and has much less agency than some of the reviewers have suggested.
Special thanks goes to DescriptivePessimism-DAA for being a sounding board for my ideas and putting her own valueable suggestions, and Potterheadfan7 for beta reading.
Wishing you all a very happy weekend.