Once Upon a Time
Age of Clans | Hiruzen Sarutobi
Oh mighty Uzushio, bold and divine
Thy beauty, untouched and untarnished by hands mortal or divine.
Thy legions stand ever ready & defiant to cut down inferior hands who infringe on thy divine abode.
Sarutobi recited the poem. In his quiet years, when doubts gnawed at his soul and weariness wrapped him in its cloak. It reminded him of Hashirama-sama and the terrible tragedy that befell Mito-sama's people. An eternal reminder of the mighty duty that laid in front of him.
To this day, Sarutobi believed their union had been divinely ordained by the blessed Sage of Six Paths in heaven. What else could it be? Two enlightened powers forging unbreakable bonds via holy matrimony to secure their alliance.
Allied with Senju, forging a bond so true,
Creating Konohagakure, a union grew.
Together they dreamt of a brighter tomorrow,
A world aflame, quelling sorrow.
A holy crusade followed this union. All lesser men, all lesser tribes, who failed to bend the knee to the wisdom of the Uzumaki-Senju alliance had been exterminated. Their men and women were killed. Their children were taken and remolded for suicide shinobi and genetic experimentation. The Yuki, Odas, Fumas, and Tokugawas – all were wiped out.
Seeing what became of others, the Hyuugas were the first to bend their knees. Their master had approached Hashirama & Mito-sama one cold night and bent the knee upon the ground that bore the freshly spilled blood of the Yuki Clan. He handed over his ancestral sword and kissed the fire lord's ring.
He was warmly rewarded for his submission of course. Hashirama-sama knew the wisdom of uplifting an enemy when he had thoroughly bloodied it. The Hyuuga were allowed to have the right to the first loot by the fire lord. The finest men and women of the clan were given to them. Above Mito Uzumaki, in a moment of brilliance, had crafted the infamous control seal of the Hyuugas. Now Hyuugas proudly walked the streets, never afraid of treachery within their ranks.
In an orgy of blood, lust, and greed - the Hyuugas had run rampant through the ancestral homes of Yuki.
All would be theirs, as long as they acknowledged the Senjus and Uzumakis as their masters.
Jealous of the newfound riches and concerned about Hyugaas gaining too much power, the Naaras, Akimichi, Yamanka, Aburame, and Inuzuka too had bent their knee. They too whimpered around the Senju-Uzumaki alliance's table, hungry for whatever scraps fell. Despite outnumbering the alliance, the clan kept loyal out of fear of Hashirama's might. He was a one-man legion. The one and true Kami No Shinobi.
In time, they too had been rewarded. The gluttonous beasts were easy prey for the brilliant political mind of Mito Uzumaki and the martial prowess of Hashirama. The beasts' eyes were directed toward the Uchiha's wealth. With their combined might now numbering in thousands, the Senju had laid siege to the Uchiha's mountain fortress.
Despite the alliance's collective might, Madara Uchiha had held strong. Yet he too had bent the knee in the end.
Hashirama kept Madara occupied with wood manipulation. Any Uchiha force that tried to make it off the island and smuggle food back, was hunted and torn apart by Inuzuka hounds. Massive akmichi soldiers bought siege equipment and acted as battering rams. Swarms of Aburame insects laid havoc upon Uchiha crops. The Yamanaka clan shattered the minds of all Uchiha spies that were caught in the camp. Meanwhile, the Uzumaki's got up close with them and decimated them in CQC. In the end, the Uchiha stronghold was soon about to become their mausoleum. No sharingan worked when children starved, and mothers were forced to silence them by stifling their breaths. Their spirits broke before they did. In the end, Madara was forced to sign a surrender declaration to prevent further deaths by his brother.
Above all, Mito Uzumaki had crafted a seal and directly placed it on his forehead. A dead man's switch should the cur ever get any bright ideas about rebelling. There was a large oil painting by a famous Yamanaka artist detailing the surrender ceremony. Hiruzen hung it in the Hokage manor's library. It was his personal favorite.
Yet being the eternally ungrateful cur that Madara was, he refused to follow this new world order. The Uchihas dared consider them equals to the Senju. Equal to the Uzumaki. It made Hiruzen's blood boil thinking about such insolence. Clearly, the worthless and ungrateful Uchihas had learned nothing from the civilization that his master's master had imparted to them.
Through some devilish trickery, Madara used genjutsu to poison Mito Uzumaki. With the seal unable to work, Madara had cornered Hashirama when he was returning from a hunting trip with his son.
Their battle had been immortalized by two giant statues in the valley. It shook the earth, heavens, and beyond. Massive amratserayu flames burned away at summoned forests. Katana collided with battle fans. Thunder raged against the wind and earth. Yet none was enough to deter Hashirama.
Regardless of whatever injury that Madara inflicted on Hashirama, he kept healing himself in an instant. With every offense, Madara ran out of chakra and endured injuries. Meanwhile, Hashirama gained the advantage and pushed the offense. Realizing his time was short, Madara pulled his trump card, Kyuubi no Kitsune.
Figures a demon would summon a demon lord to help him fight a God. Birds of a feather, flock together. Then Madara's ultimate poison had been revealed while the Biju fought against Hashirama. Madara went after Hashirama's only son and killed him.
He then began performing a strange 10-minute-long jutsu while an anguished Hashirama came to finish him off. A blue glow struck Hashirama and he started having visions and crouched down. It was that Mito Uzumaki had recovered from her ailment and activated the seal.
It is said that Madara soiled himself as he screamed and bled from his ears and his brain melted.
A fitting end to a traitorous dog.
It was later revealed that Madara had somehow rendered Hashirama infertile with some malign jutsu that even his considerable healing power was not able to overcome. Shattered over the loss of his son and his inability to make more, Hashirama had passed away in his sleep due to what is now known as the broken heart syndrome.
Tobirama had instantly wanted to wage war, but the grieving Senju had reigned in Tobirama's hand. The first shinobi war had yielded casualties amongst them all. With Hashirama dead, they would need the Uchiha to defend the village. The Uchiha were all too eager to politically comply. They declared Madara Uchiha a traitor and publicly decried him.
Thus, a new defensive policy had been established under the second Fire Lord. Through mass propaganda, the Uchiha would be lent on the wheel of village's history books were changed to reflect the true nature of Sharingan. That only great personal tragedy or strife could awaken it. Various Uchiha elders were sent on long term missions that they never returned from.
The younger members forgot their own history and started believing in state propaganda. The clan was ushered to another side of the town away from others. Psychoactive chemicals were placed in their water supply to alter their mental state. Lead was sanctioned for use in their piping and other infrastructure.
Then the second shinobi war occurred and Uchiha's were used as the main sword against the enemy. Many prominent Uchiha shinobi had died in that war. They were used in the bloodiest of missions and provided just enough intel that they succeeded. Those whose Sharingan matured too fast were covertly assassinated while recovering in hospitals. Senju Tsuande had wracked up quite the body count that way. The perfect assassin.
What heals, can also kill.
The Uchiha had fought on well until they didn't. The ANBU had been running itself ragged in trying to get in touch with his spies. All of a sudden, many of them had gone dark. Something massive was underway.
A massive bribe of 500,000 Ryu to a Kumo shinobi demanded by a desperate Jiraiya had revealed the true scope of horror engulfing them. Iwa shinobi had used a forbidden earth jutsu that massively destabilized the tectonic plates under Uzushio. Those bastards had performed a blood sacrifice of a thousand captured civilians from both Fire and Earth country to fuel the ritual.
With the Uzumaki power, infrastructure, and defenses in disarray, Iwa had struck them. The Earth Lord had personally led the final assault that shattered Uzushio. The village had sent desperate pleas for aid but none of them got through. Kumo had surrounded Konoha's largest forward operating base, Thunder, in a giant encirclement led by their two jinchuriki.
The main Konoha force under Sarutobi had marched off to relieve Thunder base. A diversionary force of Uchiha had been sent off to relieve Uzushio. It was a desperate gamble that had left Konoha virtually undefended.
The Uchiha's had failed in their diversion. They were detected and Iwa sent their own pincer led by the Jinchuriki to crush the battalion.
It was a massacre.
The Uchiha had failed Konoha for the last time and the beautiful Uzushio was gone. Their sealing arts lost forever to history. Worse of all, their bloodline gifts that granted them longevity and above average healing and physical prowess was extinct as well.
Second Shinobi War
The shinobi assembled themselves in protected battlespaces as Hiruzen grimly obersved the charred earth. The air was crisp with heat and smelt mighty bad from the decay all around him.
Shinobis were still pulling bodies out of the rubble and stray Jutsu's still misfired. His team had begged him not to come, but he needed to see it with his own two eyes.
The last legacy of my sensei, all gone in a single stroke. Hiruzen Sarutobi thought as he looked about.
Iwa's shinobi had struck Uzushiogakure in a surprise attack worthy of the Naara intellect. The entire village hidden amongst the whirpools had been obliterated. An era of beauty, intellect, fuuinjutsu, and longevity was now extinct.
These primitive morons Hiruzen thought as he took deep puffs of his pipe. His security team spread out their net, they had known by when the firelord smoked this deeply, something massive was underway. It was a wise policy to not interrupt his musing.
At best you would be instantly demoted. At worst, you would gag and fall down. The last thing you will be able to see will be the deep disappointment in his eyes for not being up to his standards.
Even in twilight of dawn, surrounded by rubble swirling in mighty whirpools, the village looked beautiful.
"We have lost too much Sarutobi." A voice said from behind him.
Only one could dare to approach him in a mood like this and live to talk about it.
"I have eyes, Danzo." Hiruzen replied and took another deep puff of his pipe.
"The Uchiha's took the First from us, assassinated him in cold blood." Danzo knelt and grabbed a rock from underneath him. "Now we have lost Uzushio due to them. Some are whispering that this was not mere incompetency."
"A through post-battle analysis will be conducted with clan heads and Jonin commander allowed to review it." Hiruzen said, "Also, the ANBU chief has been told to increase surveillance on the known Uchiha radicals. If they are caught gloating. We will know about it."
Something needs to be done about the Uchiha.
"The Uchiha are merely scurvy dogs trying to gain our attention. The Raikage has gone too far this time. Kumo must burn for this insolence." Danzo said, "They Daimoyos of Eath and Lightining have alwayd deemed our nascent as not worthy of existence. They have always deemed us as upstarts who took their ancestral land."
Kyubi Attacks Konoha
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, irritably rubbed his temples as the generals and the elder council clashed against each other.
"Recognize the sheer scope of the disaster that has befallen Konoha!" Koharu implored, her voice filled with emotion. "With the demon Kyubi rampaging the village and the Hokage dead, the village is all but lost. First, Uzushio falls, and now Lord Fourth is dead. We might as well kill ourselves right now!"
Meanwhile, Homura angrily demanded accountability from the ANBU head and the Yondaime's captain. "The entire ANBU should be purged for their sheer incompetency! WHY DIDN'T THE FOURTH'S GUARD DEFEND HIM?!" he exclaimed, frustration evident in his tone.
Amidst the heated exchange, Nara Hiroshi, the Jounin commander, urged for calm and focus on the present matter at hand. "While the loss is tragic, we have bigger problems to deal with," he reasoned. "Reports have already started to leak out about the attack on Konoha and the Fourth's death. Kumo and Iwa have mustered strike forces and are testing our defenses. Industrial spies planted by Jiraiya-sama report that they've ramped up factory production of weapons and ordinance. Plus, they have launched citizen drives for blood collection. They are preparing for an invasion."
Koharu muttered angrily in response, blaming the ANBU for yet another failure.
Just as the three were about to get into another row, Jiraiya arrived, and Hiruzen raised a hand to restore calm. The other three immediately backed down, seeing the seriousness on the Hokage's face. This was not the paternal grandfather they knew; this was a warlord at work.
With a dismissive motion from Hiruzen, the council members dismissed themselves immediately. However, the ever insolent Danzo had to had the last word,
"We will be back, Sarutobi. This isn't over. You have 2 hours. Until then I will gather the clan chiefs and the Jonins." Danzo said, "Pray you have an answer till then. If not, an impeachment vote might be on the cards."
With that said, Danzo vanished. For a moment both sat in silence before Jiraiya broke silence by angrily lashing out and breaking his tea mug.
"How is the gaki?" Hiruzen said softly.
"Breathing but they are not detecting much brain activity from him. There is a great chance he might not wake up. Ever again." Jiraiya said, "The only reason he lives now is testament to Orochimaru's skill and Kushina's seals."
"How is she?" Hiruzen asked.
"Stable. The Uzumaki genes held her out for most of the battle. We are incredibly lucky that Shizune was here to patch them up quick."
Jirayia glared at Hiruzen, "We need Tsunade back here. Her vacation has taken far too long. The bitch needs to get over herself."
Hiruzen raised a warning hand to Jirayia, "Watch it boy – she is the first's Granddaughter."
"Who has abandoned all the principles set forth by him. If she was here maybe Minato might not have been braindead." Jiraiya shotback and Hiruzen couldn't help but let out a frustated sigh at that.
"We need to get ahead here." Jiraiya said, "What happened to the tailed beast?"
"Sealed. Kushina gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Given her pedigree – we deemed it imperative that she receive Kyuubi's Yang chakra. Her condition is stable." Hiruzen said.
"And the dark side?" Jiraiya asked and Hiruzen picked up a file and responded.
"Some orphan brat called Naruto." Hiruzen said, "His condition is stable for now. But his body won't hold the Kyuubi for long. He is no Uzumaki."
"We are in deep shit old man." Jiraiya said, "With Minato and Kushina in living dead, Kumo, Iwa, and Mist will be circling like sharks. That is of course if the local elements don't get to him first."
Orochimaru. That was left unsaid between them.
That much was true Hiruzen was forced to admit. In the aftermath of Uzuhio during the second great war, Hiruzen had written a blank cheque to Orochimaru and turned away his eyes from his experiments. Orphan strays and foreign nationals near the grass country were abducted. Awful experiments were performed on them. All the wildest theories from the fringes of Ninjutsu, bio-tech, seals, and mind crafts were performed.
The goals of the program were was simple but complex. The Iwa and Kumo forces believed that the last of the Uzumakis had been killed. That was not true. The Uzushio leader had upon realizing that all was lost, had commanded his loyal retainers to go into deep sleep. Twenty young shinobi and kunoichi were placed in temporary stasis and hidden beneath the palace. Unfortunately, they were found by Kumo and Iwa. However, they were unable to break their stasis coffins but their attempts greatly damaged the coffins, rendering them the inhabitants in permanent comma. This coupled with remnants of Senju genestock – Orochimaru was commanded by the Third to revive the Senju and the Uzumaki clans.
Orochimaru had a unique solution to that problem. By combining both these into a new powerful host, a unique clan could be created with their own distinct properties. The first of these clan members was a new born babe named Minato. Sarutobi had affectionately named him Minato Namizake.
The boy had the considerable Chakra reserves of the Senju clan along with the natural physical grit of the Uzumaki people. He and his own would usher Konoha into a new era. Konoha had unleashed her new special weapon during the 3rd world war.
And brother what a glorious result that had been.
Author Notes: Just a brief idea I wanted to toy with. For some reason it was stuck in my head for so long. I hate the fact that people decry Uchihas in the fic world as ultimate evil while they were dealt the worst possible hand. I wanted ot subvert those elements. Don't expect frequent updates.