Ch. 7
The Encompassing Roots
The Hokage sat in his dark office puffing away on his pipe as he mulled over what to do with his old friend if the man could even be called that anymore. He looked over the file that the being had given him, the new privacy seals in his office not even one's that Danzo's little spies could match. He sighed deeply a plume of smoke voicing his unspoken displeasure and grief at the findings.
He had always suspected a seed of treachery in Danzo's dealings but had always held deep within his heart the hope that it had been in the village's best interests. This had nothing to do with the village's best interests, and all to do with Danzo's. The being that had once given him nightmares as a child rose like whispy black ink from the floor. Hiruzen thought back on the conversation he had had with the Shadow before he had asked the being to help him with this impossible task. Impossible for all but itself.
"You brought her here specifically Shadow."
"Yes," the being whispered into his soul.
"Why?" he dared ask, hoping that the Creature would not act now that his precious little tree was no longer there to mind his actions. The being was silent for long seconds before it spoke.
"Your village is the best. I would have no less for my little tree and her seedling," murmured Shadow. The old Hokage sat back, both relieved and uncomfortable at the thought that the being had specifically chosen to ally with them.
"And what makes us the best?" asked the old man warily, not for the first time wondering why the Boogyman of the Elemental Nation came to be in his office as a tentative ally.
"Your Will of Fire. That you value your comrades and your people. This is in line with my little tree's morality and you will treat her well. You produce the strongest ninja, and you have the strongest of the nine," he said gesturing to the air as the old leader's breath caught. Not for the first time he wondered how much the ancient being really knew.
"You were looking for Naruto."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your scientist Orochimaru was right. The tailed beasts are beings of immortality. Once killed they merely reform. With the power of the fruit and a tailed beast, he would be immortal. I chose the strongest to be sure."
"He's working with Akatsuki to get a tailed beast," Hiruzen muttered before covering his face in his hands, feeling stressed beyond belief.
"You will help me protect my little tree and her seedling, you are not alone," the being said causing Hiruzen to straighten as he rapidly thought over the best way to utilize this tentative alliance with the being.
"And you will not harm Naruto or this village?" Hiruzen dare demand, though deep inside the little child in him quailed in the face of his waking nightmare. The being hesitated before it finally spoke.
"I will not suffer traitors to the safety of this village." It amended and Hiruzen nodded, agreeing with its unspoken demand. It knew or at least suspected there was a problem and it was expecting him to sort it out.
"In that case, I am going to need your help," Hiruzen whispered. It waited. He gave his request. The being merely nodded before disappearing once more off to hunt for Danzo's treachery to his village.
Crumpling up the missive that the spy Kabuto had been trying to send to Orochimaru through Danzo, Hiruzen wondered forlornly of the young spy that had been twisted beyond recognition by Danzo. Poor boy, they didn't have a name for him besides the codename Kabuto. Hiruzen finally looked up to meet where the eyes would be on the being if it had any.
"I request that you wait for me to meet with the Uchiha Clan. They should be informed of this treachery first." There had been Uchiha going missing for years. For Hiruzen to find out that Danzo had been coordinating with Orochimaru for their murders and desecration turned Hiruzen's stomach. Finding out that Danzo had aided Orochimaru in the desecration of the first Hokage's corpse as well had been the final nail in the coffin, and there had been so many nails. The Shadow waited as Hiruzen struggled to speak the words.
"Afterwards, I want you to make it look like an accident if possible. You will have to remove the arm before you fight or he will have a failsafe way to return from death many times using the eyes. If possible try not to trigger the death seal. Bring the arm and the first Hokage's stolen cells to me. The eyes will be returned to the clan." he said stonily. The Shadow was indeed an unparalleled gatherer of information. It had only taken two weeks of spying to learn what he had. The being remained silent as it stood before him.
"The Uchiha are planning a coup," It said and Hiruzen grimaced as its words slithered around his heart.
"They have not acted on it," he argued.
"And they will not." Hiruzen looked up sharply at the words.
"The village is already greatly weakened! The loss of a Clan that large would be catastrophic for the leaf! And we will be losing Danzo's Root forces as well! You might be powerful but even you cannot protect us from the invaders that would come baying for our blood!" Hiruzen hissed, feeling desperate to impress on the being the gravity of what it was saying.
"They will not betray the leaf, because I will be here when you inform them of the information. You will impress on them the gravity of the debt they owe me and yourself. Even they will see that I am not under your control and they will see the danger in such a decision since it will be clear that I will act independently if you are indisposed." it stated as Hiruzen paused.
"It could work. Or it could tip them over the edge if they felt oppressed."
"Then begin the work to undo the oppressions that Danzo has put in place. Undo the laws that bind them like birds to a gilded cage. Then call them in. They will be more open since your actions over time will speak louder than words ever will."
"Even I don't have that much power!" The Hokage hissed as he seemed to be facing an even more daunting task than before. The being seemed to consider for a moment before speaking.
"Under Martial Law, you will," it stated as the Hokage frowned.
"Why would I declare Martial Law?" he slowly asked the being before him.
"Me."
"Sensei, what's going on?" Jiraiya hissed at Hiruzen as the sirens blared.
"Twenty of our forces have gone missing since last night," he stated. Those twenty happened to be spies or root, not that Hiruzen would ever say. He subtly signed to his student their personalized hand signs.
No threat. Trust us. Follow my lead.
With that, the Hokage entered the Council chambers where the rest of the clans and council were finding their seats. As the Hokage sat at the head of the meeting table, the room fell silent all waiting to find out what was going on. The smoke from his pipe seemed to highlight the darkness of the dimly lit room.
"Over the past twenty-four hours, there have been reports coming in of missing personnel. Right now the count is at twenty," Hiruzen began as shock swept through the chamber in low murmurs and gasps. An anbu appeared beside the Hokage to speak quietly. Hiruzen's face grew stony as the operative left.
"Make that twenty-five," he stated and the chamber erupted into more shocked mutterings as the Hokage stood.
"There have been reports of an abnormally tall shadow throughout the village. The Creature was seen coming through the Lake two months ago. I am declaring martial law." it took a moment for his words to sink in before the chamber resolved into pandemonium, the noise rising with the panic.
"Silence!" Hiruzen yelled, quieting the chamber before he began barking orders.
"Fugaku! Your people are far too close to the edge of the village. I am recalling all of you to the old Yamamoto and Fukuro compounds. Seal everything you can and bring it with you. I want your people moved within the hour. Shikaku, Your families are too dispersed between the trees of your clan grounds, I want you either in the old Inugami compound or the Toriyama. You have an hour.
"Tsume, I know some of your younger clansmen live on the edge of the forest. They are to return to the compound or be situated in the heart of the village. Shibi, have your clan and colonies moved to the old Hanami compound. If you need more space, the old Furo compound next door will do. I am removing Article 15-4 and 17-6. All Uchiha and Hyuga that are ninjas will be called upon as active duty.
"Hiashi, I will need your clansmen to help Uchiha-dono with relocating some of the civilians and retirees that live in the Yoko and Jima sectors into any remaining clan compounds that are abandoned after the Uchiha have been relocated. You will begin this after you have informed your clansmen. If anyone is able to help another clan in moving do so. If anyone has family living on the fringes of the village they are to move them further in. If further accommodations are needed, a team of chunin will be at your disposal.
"In the face of an emergency, All civilians with be moved to the bunkers by unoccupied personnel. Groups are to move in no smaller than five people, children not included. Emptied clan compounds will be sealed against theft. There should be enough seals here for all compounds and homes as needed. Anbu will be about the village. If help is needed release a flare. There should be enough in these scrolls for every family member including children. Do NOT release flares upon sitings of the Creature. People have been seeing it all night. Unless you are in active danger you will not release these flairs and you will impress upon your clansmen not to do so, is that understood?" he barked out.
"Hai Hokage-sama," rang through the room before all the ninjas disappeared in a shunshin. Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he watched the civilians in the room flee leaving just Koharu, Danzo, and Jiraiya.
"Is it really wise Hiruzen? Relocating all these clans off their ancestral grounds? There will be no home advantage when they fight," Danzo rumbled. The curl of smoke that left Hiruzen's mouth easily conveyed his displeasure, dark eyes glittering dangerously under the Hokage hat.
"That is Hokage-sama to you, and your Hokage has spoken. I will not repeat myself," Hiruzen rumbled ominously back. Danzo's lone eye widened marginally before he gave a slight bow before departing. Koharu thankfully did the same. Jiraiya finally turned to his teacher as the door shut.
"Sensei?" he questioned. Hiruzen raised a hand to halt his words. A Shadow seemed to seep from the wall carrying an unconscious and bound Root member that was laid at the Hokage's feet. Jiraiya's eyes went wide in realization.
"Make that twenty-six," the old Hokage murmured.
Moriko held a sleeping Naruto in her lap as they sat on the back porch of the Sarutobi Clan compound. She gently brushed her fingers through his now-red hair as she marveled at the power of seals while the sirens blared in the distance.
The seal used had been created to alter the appearance and could be modified as needed. Naruto's appearance seal had changed his eye and hair color to almost match her own, his hair a bit darker red. To her sadness, the lines on his cheeks had also been hidden. In the low light, it made it a reddish-purple. As the sirens blared Moriko wondered what hers looked like.
At the appearance of a boy around ten or so carrying a young child, Moriko gasped and stood. The child swiftly turned to face her before freezing. Pausing for a moment she put the sleeping Naruto in the house and sealed the door. Moriko paused when she caught the faint flicker of something in the trees, already down the steps, blades out and eyes up as she scanned for the threat. The boy tensed before he realized the direction of her gaze. A microsecond before it happened, she registered the plain masked figure in the tree preparing to leap at the child, their short blade gleaming in the dark as it was unsheathed with speed.
"Get behind me!" she cried as she managed to get between the boy and the blade in time, the boy having to catch himself as he staggered towards the house before he whirled around and stopped, eyes wide at the sword sticking through her side.
She snarled as the false anbu tried to yank it free but her grip was too firm on the handle of the weapon. Before he could disengage, she slammed a fist into his windpipe. He slammed into a tree a good seven feet back before bouncing off and rolling to a stop. The figure began to twitch from lack of air from the pulverized trachea and she swiftly removed the ninjato before running to the boy's side to shield his eyes, the smaller child still asleep in his arms.
"Shh, don't look," she whispered to the older boy as she shielded his view with her body.
"You were stabbed," he whispered with wide eyes as she grimaced at the wound before forcing a grin.
"I'll be right as rain in no time, don't worry about it," she soothed. His black eyes seemed far too old as he met her worried gaze.
"I'm a chunin and have seen wounds like that. If you don't go get medical help, that wound is going to kill you," he said seriously. Her eyes went wide with shock before she knelt before him to grasp his shoulder gently.
"Listen, I'm actually going to be fine, it just hurts a lot. You're right, normally it should kill you, but the Uzumaki are sometimes really hard to kill ok?" she said. He paused for a moment before nodding. She grinned before frowning at what he had said about seeing people die already. He tried to look over her shoulder but she shush him gently.
"Hey, eyes on me, remember?" she said with a grin though he could see the pain briefly in her face.
"But I'm a chunin-"
"No child should see that, least of all a precious boy like you. Now, where is your family," she said as he stared up at her. The slight spike of her red hair meant that it glowed red under the moonlight, eyes like teal gems. If not for the red of her shirt, he would have thought her a fierce deity that spoke softly to little children. He looked around before frowning.
"We were just with them. I think it was a powerful genjutsu," he said quietly as she nodded and rose. Somehow under her gentle touch, he found his hand in her larger warm one and they were already moving into the house as she activated the seals that would protect the house from entry and attack.
"Well, until we find them I hope you're alright sticking with me for a while. We'll find your parents ok?" she murmured as his fingers tightened in hers. He wasn't a child. He should tell her that they would be fine and he should go and find the rest of his clan so they wouldn't worry.
But he didn't want to leave yet. The wound was pretty bad and he could help her get it wrapped up at least and give her some blood replenishing pills first.
He nodded in assent as she unsealed the door and picked up the small redheaded boy that was sleepily rubbing his eyes on the floor.
"Moriko-nee," he whined sleepily as the young woman gently shushed him before gesturing for him to follow. He did so and soon she had the little boy and his brother settled in bed together. She tried to get him in the bed as well but he pulled her out of the hallway and into what appeared to be the dining room. This would have to do.
"Lift your shirt so I can bandage your wound," he said. She hesitated but the stern look he leveled at her made her concede.
He grimaced at the stab but luckily it looked like a clean wound. It wasn't gushing blood or he might have actually been worried and to his fascination, he could see her skin forcing a bit of her shirt out the exit wound in her back. His eyes bled red so he could watch in detail and was fascinated as he watched small particles of foreign debris being forced out of the wound, tiny rivulets of blood flowing out. He gently began clearing the debris away from the wound, watching in fascination as the hole already seemed smaller. Now certain she had spoken the truth about her healing, and knowing it was probably pointless considering how quickly she healed, he covered two gauze patched with healing cream before swiftly wrapping the wounds. Reaching into his back pouch, he handed her a couple of blood-replenishing pills.
"Here. These will help you recover the blood you lost," he said. She only ate one before giving the other back with a quiet murmur of thanks. She was gazing at him with something akin to pity and understanding and he found himself retreating into himself at the look.
She was a fierce deity that spoke softly to small children, and he hadn't been a child for a very long time. He was surprised at the gentle touch that raised his chin so he could see her warm but sad smile.
"Thank you. I'm glad that you knew what to do to help me. I can see that you are already a fine ninja," she said softly, her words an acknowledgment to him no longer being a child, before placing a kiss on his brow, as if placing her blessing and protection despite this. He could see it in her eyes as she drew back, the silent promise that it wouldn't matter, that she would protect him anyways no matter what other people said.
Itachi's eyes went wide with shock and her smile became more sad. Without words, she pulled him into a warm hug, the kind he hadn't experienced in years. A feeling of safety he hadn't remembered washed over him and he felt himself almost go limp at the sudden relief. He hugged her fiercely back, mindful of the placement of her wound and she just let him, holding him as long as he needed as shivers raced through his body. She smoothed his hair gently and he could feel himself growing sleepy, nestled in the warm hold.
"Who are your parents kiddo?" she asked quietly as she began to card her finger through his long black hair. The boy felt his eyes drifting shut almost against his will at the gentle touch and feeling of safety after such an ominous night.
"Fugaku and Makoto Uchiha," he murmured quietly, wishing he never had to let her go. And with that, the ten-year-old Itachi Uchiha fell asleep.
AN: Itachi has had to be self-sufficient since a very young age, with his family putting him in dangerous situations and throwing him off the deep end for years. They have shown him that any shred of anything soft is going to cost him and he has subsequently withdrawn into himself, having very few friends or areas of weakness where another person can hurt him. Only then do you notice that his best friend Shisui is a very strong and fast ninja so not likely to get killed easily.
He's been told he can take care of himself, that he has the skill so he shouldn't expect coddling or protection. But he's still a child and thousands of years of evolution have evolved humans to survive.
(We can see this in Stockholm syndrome which I believe has actually stemmed from children using every instinct in their bodies to survive terrible parents, to be appealing and get them to love you, to love so ferociously that they can't help but love back. We can also see this in people who remain in toxic relationships. I think adult survivors of their childhood are more likely to display this syndrome, and if there have been multiple generations of this, generational memory, encoded in their DNA is going to make them prone to this as well even if the person in question has had a reasonably happy childhood. The instinct to survive is there, telling you what to do, and the same instinct that has been allowing the human race to survive itself answers.)
I don't believe Moriko and Itachi's interactions to be Stockholm since neither are captives, neither are abusive, etc. They have just had difficult lives that could potentially draw them to others very quickly under the proper circumstances.
Then here's a redheaded who knows that by village standards he should be expected to look after himself, but still see the child who withdraws to protect himself from others. What she sees is the unspoken needs he probably doesn't even realize he's projecting and it's ingrained in her from her childhood, this need to love and be loved so she doesn't even fight trying to give him the safety and protection she can.
He keeps saying he has the rank but what it really sounds like to her is that that is what everyone else has told him, like he's almost trying to convince himself.
Don't get me wrong, it's motherfucking Itachi, he can definitely take care of himself unless there are extenuating circumstances (like getting drugged by Root before they tried to kill him), but he's still a young kid who is being offered comfort and safety no matter what others say.
Being drugged with something to make him groggy isn't going to help him stay awake either, not if he feels safe.