Forest For the Leaves
F.Y.I: Warning – chapter contains mature themes, reader discretion is advised, contains major character death and mentions of suicide.
Chapter 4 – Revelations
Naruto was celebrating today, with Shizune and Shisui. And he hoped he would see Satsuki later if everything went well and she could slip her family. Today was a joyous occasion as the war with Kumogakure was finally coming to an end. With peace, Naruto wouldn't have to fret over Shisui succumbing in battle against another Great Shinobi Village or have to wait up for Shizune at night as she worked an all-nighter at the hospital day in and day out.
He could also delight at the general diminishing of negative emotions in the village as a whole.
Naruto was in the dining room, serving Shizune some of his beloved green tea. Conversations over hot beverages had become one of Naruto's favourite things.
He passed Shisui a cup, watched the older boy blanch and Naruto let out a small laugh, "It's okay, Shisui, I know you don't like tea, I made you some hot chocolate instead."
"Ah, you're the best, Naruto!" Shisui exclaimed.
Shizune gave him a glowing smile, "That was very considerate of you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto blushed. They did that sometimes, complimented him over mundane things, he figured it was overcompensating but the gesture still affected him.
The three of them discussed the events in their lives, Shisui spoke about Itachi's wannabe girlfriend, Shizune talked about the latest gossip from the nurses at the hospital and Naruto gave an overview of his classmates at the academy, mostly what he'd been up to with Satsuki.
Eventually, they bid goodbye to Shisui and Shizune helped him with the dishes, as Naruto rattled on to Tonton about how Satsuki's rivalry with Uzume was going to drive him crazy.
He never did see his other friend that day.
Soon, Shizune left and returned from work at the hospital as Naruto trained. Naruto went to sleep for the short amount of time he usually slept, and Naruto dreamt of the villagers holding a parade for him the likes of which had been held for the Kumo ambassadors.
Naruto woke from a bad dream, he'd been dreaming about a bloody battle between brothers with him as one of the participants and he'd been forced to kill his own sibling.
Feeling upset but not willing to bother Shizune who would obviously still be asleep given the late hour, Naruto thought to relax himself by reaching out for the calming boredom of the Anbu on guard duty.
He couldn't find them. No one was watching him.
He could sense Shizune wasn't in the house either, or Tonton. He expanded his range to reach out through the whole village, and couldn't find them anywhere.
The only thing in the compound was a sinister chakra emanating from just outside the house.
This had to be a nightmare.
Naruto got up and ran to Shizune's room.
He made it there in quick time, yanked the door open, and his heart sank.
It had to be a nightmare.
Lying on the floor was Shizune.
With her throat slit, unmoving, in a pool of blood. Hollow eyes wide open left unblinking.
Tonton was likewise, deathly still, in her arms.
Naruto ran to them and collapsed at her side, searching for a pulse. Finding none.
"No, no, no, no, no, no..." he repeated, hyperventilating.
She couldn't be dead.
She just couldn't.
She'd promised he'd never be alone again.
He jostled her shoulder, and just knocked her over onto her back, leaving her to stare emptily at the ceiling.
"Wake up, Shizune..." Naruto whined.
She didn't budge.
"Please wake up, Shizune!" he shouted, as sobs wracked his little body.
He didn't know any medical ninjutsu, his chakra control wasn't good enough yet. There was nothing he could do to save her.
Deciding he needed to get her to the hospital, he went to pick her up gently.
Consumed by his grief, Naruto didn't notice the sinister chakra advancing on him until it was too late.
He only managed to turn around in time to catch a cloud headband before he felt the electricity race through him.
Naruto drifted off into unconsciousness.
"Are you ready, Sugaru?" Danzo asked his subordinate, formerly Yoji of the Aburame Clan.
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
"Excellent."
An opportunity had arisen tonight. Naruto Senju had been abducted, by Kumo's Head Ninja, in one of Hiruzen's latest blunders as he mindlessly pursued peace. But as a result, the village's Anbu had all been dispatched to retrieve him.
Danzo would have been worried about Konoha's Jinchūriki being lost to a hostile village, but unbeknownst to Sarutobi, Root operatives had the boy under constant surveillance and a contingent of his best were already on their way to intercept them. The Kumo shinobi would never so much as reach the border. The Jinchūriki would be secured, for Root. No one outside the organization had to know that Senju had been recovered. Konoha would blame Kumo for the loss of their Tailed Beast, and Kumo would blame Konoha for the loss of their Head Ninja. This farcical peace would be at an end, meaning the village wouldn't demobilize and Root would gain an invaluable asset.
Kumo would pay the price of their avarice, by not simply killing the boy, they had sewn the seeds of their destruction.
The dearth of Anbu patrols would also allow him to capitalize on the village's weakened security.
Shisui Uchiha appeared as summoned, under orders to retrieve Naruto Senju.
With a nod to Sugaru, it was that all needed to set his plan in motion. The fatal blow was as noteworthy as a mosquito bite, such a formidable jutsu.
The boy was antsy, quite eager to go after his charge.
"Insects are such interesting creatures," Danzo said, voice full of foreboding.
He delighted in his explanation to Shisui how Sugaru's insects' poison would paralyze him, before killing him, just long enough to retrieve the Mangekyo Sharingan. Fresher that way, easier to implant.
Danzo plucked out the boy's right eye, and he finally had it. One of the most powerful tools in the Elemental Nations, and the most powerful Genjutsu. With it, he would finally be able to implant the idea of joining Root into the Senju's mind.
Just as Danzo was about to extract the left eye, it vanished without a trace. Shisui the Teleporter had teleported away, even in his condition.
"Hurry! After him!" Danzo roared, "We cannot allow him to live."
Sugaru and his other subordinates leaped into action.
He clenched the fist not holding the precious Mangekyo.
No, Shisui would not survive the night.
Naruto awoke in a sewer, a strange place he'd never been before, pipes all around with water all over the floor, lit bizarrely.
'This is all just a nightmare,' he thought to himself, 'I'm still asleep.'
Sensing his surroundings he could sense no one, except a malevolent, massive chakra glowing like a burning sun coming from down the hall.
Not knowing where else to go, he walked towards it.
He came upon a massive gate with a seal tag on it.
A sinister voice called out to him from behind it, "Come closer, boy."
But Naruto would not, he sensed killing intent from behind the bars and would not heed the voice.
A giant bubbling crimson face emerged from the shadows, sneering at him.
"Y-you're the Nine-Tailed Fox," Naruto had known he was a Jinchūriki for some time and had come to terms with that fact, but he'd never expected to meet the creature sealed inside him.
The great beast laughed, a disturbing, bone-chilling chuckle, "Yes, that is what you humans call me."
"How is this possible?" Naruto asked with trepidation, trembling all over.
"We're inside your mindscape. You are currently unconscious, as you're being kidnapped by an enemy."
He remembered seeing Shizune's corpse, the nightmare was real. He fell to his knees.
The Nine-Tails chuckled at his sorry state and filled Naruto with wroth.
"This is all your fault! You're the reason everyone hates me! You're why Shizune's dead! Because you attacked the village and had to be sealed inside me!"
"Not I," rebuked the Nine-Tails angrily, "It was your precious Uchiha and their damnable eyes that controlled me that night. The same eyes that are controlling you now."
Naruto wanted to scoff, but asked what the beast meant instead. Red chakra surrounded him in swirls and poured into his coils. Naruto could feel the power, the hatred... "Until now, I had been unable to break his genjutsu, but now that the seal has loosened, I can finally undo his influence."
"Who's?" Naruto asked, dreading the answer.
"The Uchiha brat."
'Shisui'. Naruto didn't want to believe it, but the Nine-Tails wasn't lying. He could sense it. He could feel the hatred radiating off the beast something awful, but he hadn't lied.
Suddenly, ideas sloshed through Naruto's mind that made no sense. Why hadn't he ever told his parents how he was treated? Why had he shielded the toads and slugs away from the villagers so that they wouldn't find out? Why had he given up trying to find his mother? Why had he trusted Shisui in the first place?
He'd been under a genjutsu. Shisui's genjutsu. That's why his parents were gone. That's why Shizune came here alone. That's why she's dead!
Naruto's eyes had turned to slits, his nails into claws, and red chakra pulsed all around him.
"Yes, give in to your hatred!" roared the Nine-Tails.
Naruto looked at the beast with disgust.
"I need your chakra."
"Yes, I will lend you my chakra and you will-"
"I'm not asking."
"What?!"
In his mind, Naruto was every bit as strong as he imagined Grandfather being. Weaving the hand signs, he performed the necessary jutsu mentioned in Grandfather's scroll. The kanji for 'sit' appeared on his palm and a series of wooden pillars emerged inside the cage, each engraved with foo dog faces that had lit wicks on top of them.
"That acccursed jutsu!" roared the Nine-Tails, powerless to stop what was about to happen.
Naruto slammed his palm on the ground, and the wooden statues rushed towards the beast, trapping him then and there.
"I'm taking your chakra. It's no less than what I'm owed."
Wrapped in the wooden pillars, the Nine-Tails struggled to break free but to no avail and he began to wither in his cage as his chakra was absorbed.
Naruto felt the Tailed Beast's chakra flow through him like a bubbling fire. It was the worst pain Naruto had ever physically experienced, but he could still control it...
No one would ever control him ever again.
The Head Ninja of Kumo stopped dead in his tracks and dropped his target, recoiling as if he had been burned, because he had been.
A dark red, nearly black layer of chakra enveloped the Senju boy, the corrosive chakra left a mark on his skin.
He watched in shock as four chakra tails emerged from the boy, the earth beneath him began to crack under the weight, and the beast unleashed a mighty roar that sent a shock wave through the surrounding area. It was such devastating power, the power Kumo had sought for itself, to create another Jinchūriki like Lord Bee. To have access to the Senju's Wood Style kekkai genkai and the Uzumaki longevity both.
But if the boy had already mastered the use of the Nine-Tails chakra, then retrieval seemed impossible. He would have to settle for his secondary objective, assassination.
Performing the hand signs, he called out "Storm Style: Laser Circus!" and beams of gleaming energy shot out after his target, only for the beast to dodge the attack with blinding speed. It reappeared in the treetops, staring at him.
"YOUUUUU!" came a deafening screech from the beast, "I'LLLLLL KILLLLLL YOUUUUUU!"
'It speaks,' was the only thought that registered in the shinobi's mind before the beast was in front of him.
He managed to use Substitution with a nearby dead log, to avoid being impaled on the beast's tails that skewered the wood like a kebab.
But the creature was already waiting for him where the wooden log had been, it grabbed his arms with its tails and with immense strength tore them off his torso like a child would a doll.
The Kumo Ninja screamed in agony but barely had time to register the shock as the thing he watched was the beast's maw surrounding his head before it bit his face clean off.
The man died screaming in terror, anguishing at the fact he had failed his mission and his village.
Naruto had avenged Shizune, but his rage had not subsided.
Leaving the bloody corpse of his enemy on the floor, Naruto roared, "SHISUI!"
Sensing his chakra in the village, Naruto dropped to all floors and at a staggering pace began to gallop towards his target.
The two of them stood near the cliffside, listening to the sound of the waterfalls.
"You're really the only friend I can trust," Shisui told Itachi, as he handed him in his left eye, wanting to keep it out of Danzo's clutches, "Protect the village and the Uchiha name as well."
"But I..." Itachi whispered.
"That's not the only power I intend to give you," Shisui said. "I'm going to give you something even greater. The Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Shisui, you can't!" objected Itachi, knowing what that would entail.
"I'm a goner already. Take it as a gift, my dying wish."
Itachi could only bow his head, "I will carry on your will for the Uchiha."
"I guess this is the end of the road for me, but this will pave a new way for you and give you new power."
"SHISUI!" echoed a terrible roar, both of them turned to the sound. Shisui was familiar enough with the Nine-Tail's chakra to recognize the impending threat.
Itachi drew his tanto, but Shisui reached for his shoulder and shook his head, so Itachi sheathed his blade.
"Well, Itachi... now the time has come. I can't say I expected my genjutsu to last after everything that's happened. Naruto will surely come for me, and I deserve it."
Itachi knew about Shisui's mission, as his guilty friend had confided in him about it, but he didn't believe Shisui deserved to die.
"At least this way, I'll be able to spare him that grief."
"SHISUI!" Naruto was behind them now, having closed in on them at an astonishing rate.
"I'm sorry, both of you."
With that, Shisui jumped back.
Itachi could only watch, Naruto leaped forward and arms of chakra broke through the cliff wall in an attempt to grab him but it was still too late.
Shisui fell too fast, aided by a chakra-enhanced leap.
Naruto felt his chakra be extinguished.
The chakra cloak around him receded.
"That... that bastard!" he screamed.
Itachi watched, to think that one so young as Naruto had already achieved such mastery over the Nine-Tails so soon. He truly was amazing.
Red eyes, in more ways than one, turned to Itachi.
"Why'd he do it?!" Naruto demanded, using immense strength to pull the older boy to his knees, "Why'd he ruin everything?!"
Itachi knew from Shisui that Naruto had the ability to tell if someone was lying, so answering him was fraught with risk. He considered using his newfound power, but if Kotoamatsukami had not been enough to subdue Naruto with his own new ability, then he doubted his Sharingan would do the trick. So, he improvised.
"Shisui was under orders." A truth.
Naruto growled, "Who's?"
"The Uchiha Clan is plotting a coup against the village." A truth.
"What?!" barked the Senju Jinchūriki, leaking Tailed Beast chakra again.
"With the Nine-Tails' power at their beck and call, they would undoubtedly be successful." Another truth.
"Shisui did it for his Clan?" Naruto asked in a small, yet ever-dangerous voice. The skin on his face was an ugly, pink burned colour and tears streamed down his face.
"Shisui believed he deserved to die for his betrayal of you. He went against the clan in an effort to avoid the coup." Both true.
"He was so guilty... he killed himself?"
Itachi did not confirm that, but did say, "He did what he did seeing no other options forward."
Naruto broke down, sobbing into the grass.
Itachi knew it wasn't the Uchiha who'd ordered Shisui to control the boy, that they hadn't attempted to gain the Nine-Tails to their side, or even that Shisui had killed himself for Naruto's sake. But given the facts, in that order, he knew the boy would put two and two together. If it equaled five, then that still was what was best for the village Shisui had given everything to.
"What... about you?" Naruto asked with a hiccup in his voice.
If Itachi had been on it, Satsuki would never forgive him...
"I, like Shisui, am loyal to the village above that of the clan. And like you, loyal to Satsuki first."
The mention of his last friend, helped quell his rage.
"What's going to happen now?"
"You should write your parents, and tell them what has transpired, I can only imagine they will return to set things in order here. We will tell the village that the Kumo Shinobi killed Shisui, which will belay suspicion that the clan's treachery has been discovered. As to the Uchiha, let me worry about that."
"You'd better Itachi. For her sake," he promised.
Seeing the boy's broken look, Itachi could only apologize, "I am sorry, Naruto."
Naruto stood up, tried and failed to wipe the tears from his eyes, and began walking towards his house. He needed to see Shizune again.
He would need to bury her.
The Hokage sat in his office in a daze.
The day had started with such promise, and it had turned to ash in his mouth.
Kumo's delegation had been warmly welcomed into the village to pursue peace talks and it was all a masquerade to steal their Jinchūriki, to steal Naruto. The Raikage must have been truly desperate for an advantage or had taken leave of his senses entirely. Already, he cried for vengeance for his Head Ninja, and what the Hokage may have been forced to give in on if another target had been attacked, Naruto was too precious, to his parents and the village.
The Raikage would have to back down first because Hiruzen would be forced to wage war before he gave up Naruto.
Poor Shizune had been killed in the crossfire, along with several fine Anbu operatives.
On top of all that, Shisui was dead and now the chickens would be coming home to roost if things went half as badly as Hiruzen feared they might.
Young Naruto was inconsolable but had become tremendously powerful, so quickly. To think he could have tamed the Nine-Tails at such a tender age. When reports had come in that the Nine-Tails chakra had been sensed, he'd feared Naruto had died and broken the seal. To think the boy was capable of slaughtering the ninja that infiltrated the village's innermost defenses and killed Shisui Uchiha, was simply staggering. To both unleash the Nine-Tail's power and keep control of himself, not even Lady Mito or Kushina had ever accomplished such a feat. Truly, he was the First Hokage's legacy.
Thankfully, such a demonstration of force was likely to cool the Raikage's temper. After all, it was his harebrained scheme that undermined the peace treaty. He was likely grasping at straws. Now that Jiraiya and Tsunade would be on the warpath, he'd likely give up his demands, not knowing that his former students were just as much a threat to Konoha, if not more so.
Hiruzen exhaled a plume of smoke. Without Shisui's genjutsu, it was only a matter of time before his students got wind of Naruto's treatment if they didn't know already. Jiraiya especially had needed several run-ins with Shisui to dissuade him from checking up on his son, thankfully the man had always checked in with his old teacher first whenever he returned to the village.
But now, everything would change. He would have to devote all his efforts to keeping his students and Naruto loyal to the village, even if they left.
He stood across from perhaps the most powerful man in the Elemental Nations, or perhaps a fraud, disturbingly it might have been both.
"I have conditions." Itachi told Madara, "I help you get revenge on the Uchiha clan. And in exchange, you will restrict your vengeance to the Military Police Force." He would turn the point of the spear aimed at the village back toward the faction that meant to disturb the peace.
Danzo would accept the alteration in the plan, under threat that he would tell Naruto the whole truth.
Madara laughed slightly. "And what if I were to refuse?" he asked, his masked head cocked to one side.
His face devoid of all expression, Itachi offered the answer he had prepared. "If you refuse this request, then you and I are enemies."
"Could you kill me?"
"It's not a matter of whether or not I could. It's a question of whether you truly are immortal. If you refuse, I will let the Senju know you still draw breath. Naruto is a fully realized Jinchūriki now, and his parents are even more powerful than myself. Whatever plans you had cooked up for Yashiro will die on the vine all the same and you will be under threat."
The coup had been Yashiro's idea, but Itachi was increasingly convinced the plan had been Madara's from the start.
There was no bloodlust in either of their auras, but Madara must have known that Itachi and the Senju posed a noteworthy threat. Itachi was loathe to use Naruto as leverage, but if it meant saving his mother and the rest of the innocents in the clan, then it was worth it.
"I like this tale you tell. I'll come along for the ride."
"Then we will play things out as we discussed?"
"Agreed."
Itachi had made a deal with the devil, but hopefully, that had spared his home from hell.
The funeral for the victims of the attack was a dour affair. Naruto sensed the grief radiating through from the crowd, but it was dwarfed by his.
The families and acquaintances of the Anbu who'd perished came to pay their respects.
Shizune's friends and coworkers from the hospital were there for her. She didn't have any family in the village, except for Naruto...
Shisui's family, even his crippled father, had come for him. Naruto did not know them well, but his heart ached for them all the same. They weren't well off and relied on Shisui for support, but his loss would be felt much more than that. Naruto resolved to send them money, somehow, someway that wouldn't be traced back to him.
Along with them came the Uchiha clan.
Everyone there looked at him with hate. To them, it was his fault they were dead.
Everyone except Satsuki, who stood next to him and held his hand.
And Naruto didn't care about anybody else.
She was grieving for Cousin Shisui too, and Shizune who had always been kind to her.
But she was glad to be here for Naruto when no one else was. Well, Lady Katsuyu was perched on Naruto's shoulder, her antennae drooped.
The Hokage said some words, something something, yatta yatta, the will of fire this, the will of fire that. Naruto didn't pay them any heed. The last person Naruto wanted to hear from was the old man.
Satsuki thought his speech was quite stirring.
There was no inscription for Tonton, but Naruto had buried her in the Senju Compound and left a small monument for her. He would remember her if no one else did.
A kunai landed on the ground in front of the gravestone, to everyone's surprise, and there was a green flash in front of them.
Because there standing in front of them, stood a familiar figure to all present. Hiruzen knew her as a student, Satsuki recognized her picture from her academy textbook and Naruto sensed her chakra as being startling similar to his own.
Tsunade Senju had arrived at the funeral, having come from across the continent, with the use of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. Dead drunk.
She dropped the bottle of sake the moment she saw Shizune's name on the headstone.
"Lady Tsunade," murmured Katsuyu from her place on Naruto's shoulders.
Naruto slipped from Satsuki's grip... and ran away.
"Show yourself!" demanded the Hokage, ready for battle. It seemed as if someone had infiltrated his mansion at night. The Anbu protecting him were absent as well.
"You sensed me because I let you..." whispered the familiar voice, "Sensei."
"Jiraiya," muttered Hiruzen, "what have you done to my guard detail?"
"They're just trapped inside a toad for the moment, they'll be fine."
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Well, Sensei," Jiraiya said darkly as he emerged from the shadows, Hiruzen noticed a powerful, new chakra emanating from his student's aura. As he came into the light, he also noticed the yellow irides, toad-like pupil,s and orange pigmentation around his eyes. "I was hoping you'd tell me."
"So, you've finally mastered Sage Mode," Hiruzen commented wryly, it was quite the display of force.
"I figured after we sealed the Nine-Tails into my son, I owed it to him to take my training more seriously. From the looks of it, Tsunade did too, when she's not on a bender. She's out there somewhere, with a fist raised above the Hokage Monument ready to reduce it to rubble if I don't come up with the right answers."
That was a dire threat indeed. Yes, Tsunade having mastered her Great Uncle's Jutsu was also disconcerting. His students had been powerful threats before, but if their new abilities were any indication, their presence here could have catastrophic consequences beyond what he feared in his wildest dreams. They were in a league of their own now.
"Now, why don't you tell me how for the first time in nine years I suddenly felt the need to check in on Naruto only to find out that Shisui Uchiha is dead, along with Tsunade's apprentice?"
Hiruzen tried to keep up the pretense, he scolded his student "Perhaps you've finally taken to heart my pleas for you to return."
Jiraiya lashed out and shattered the wall next to him.
He pulled out a letter from his chain mail shirt, folded it into a paper airplane, and threw it to him, "That doesn't explain this."
Hiruzen caught it, opened it, and immediately recognized the signature as Naruto's. He only skimmed the letter and knew his worst fears had been realized. Just at a glance he could see the words glaring up from the page at him, 'genjutsu', 'tricked me', 'everyone hates me'.
Naruto knew, and Naruto had told.
Thankfully, Jiraiya still trusted him enough to give him the benefit of the doubt and gave him enough time to read the letter and that is where he saw his salvation, what must have been Shisui's final act of loyalty to the village. Naruto believed the Uchiha were responsible for the deception, to use him as a weapon against the village. That was his out.
"We recently learned the Uchiha Clan are plotting a coup, I didn't realize they had gone so far as to fool everyone regarding Naruto. Thankfully, a loyal Uchiha uncovered the ploy and confronted Shisui about it and the boy committed suicide rather than face the consequences of his actions, or in an attempt to keep the coup a secret, I do not know."
Hiruzen lied, easily, that was Shisui's gift to them. To make himself the villain.
Jiraiya was furious but looked convinced.
"They fooled you, Sensei?" Jiraiya asked.
It was easier since Jiraiya was obviously aware that he had been tricked so thoroughly by Shisui's eyes as well. Jiraiya did not come often... but he had not been gone the entire time like Tsunade, he had made sporadic visits to check in and personally report to the Hokage. Yet he had never once checked in on Naruto himself, Shisui had assured him of that.
"Yes, the Mangekyo Sharingan is an awesome, and terrible power. The Uchiha were able to trick me into censoring my reports to you about Naruto's well-being as if it were my own idea, to keep him here as a pawn in their game. They appear to have been in contact with Madara Uchiha, or at least an Uchiha bearing the name, and were orchestrating my abduction and overthrow."
"The same Uchiha who attacked Minato?" Jiraiya, putting pieces together on his own.
"Yes, we believe so. It appears having failed that night, he means to attack the village more subtly and/or weaken the clan that abandoned him."
"That bastard," muttered Jiraiya.
"Now it appears that Naruto's fate at the hands of the Kumo has upset the apple cart entirely. The Uchiha underestimated their weapon. Naruto appears to have tamed, if not mastered, the Nine-Tails chakra, to devastating effect. He not only singlehandedly dealt with his assailant but at the same time became aware of the subterfuge against him and contacted you before my ninja could get to you first." Half a lie, Hiruzen had of course sent ninja to inform Naruto's parents of the attack, but they knew nothing of the conspiracy, nor would Hiruzen have been the one to tell them had they come to investigate.
"What's going to be done about the Uchiha?"
"Steps are already being taken, your presence here would go a long way in preventing excess bloodshed."
"Do I get to step on Fugaku's throat?"
"No."
Jiraiya clenched his fists so tightly, that Hiruzen feared he would draw blood, but the durability of Sage Mode must have prevented the bloodshed.
"Where is Naruto?" he demanded.
Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto was last seen entering Training Ground 44."
"The Forest of Death?!" Jiraiya roared, "You let a nine-year-old into the Forest of Death?"
Sarutobi crossed his fingers, "I would not have allowed such a thing, nor did the Anbu tailing him. Unfortunately, one nine-year-old didn't enter the Forest, but two hundred. It appears Naruto has mastered the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu to such an extent. There was no telling which was the original, so the Anbu lost track of him in the Forest."
"You haven't found him?!"
"Naruto is a Wood Style user loose in Lord First's playground. Any trace of him can't be distinguished between him and his Wood Clones, who are doing a more than adequate job at covering his tracks. He doesn't appear to have even slept since his clones never dispelled. Every attempt to communicate with him has been rebuffed. I've had five Anbu squadrons scouring the forest for him for days. His clones are still active, so we know he is alive." Hiruzen explained.
"Trust me, Jiraiya, since Naruto tamed the Nine-Tails, he's by far the most dangerous thing in that forest"
Jiraiya just scoffed and shook his head, before taking his leave.
"Where are you going?" asked the Hokage.
"To find my son!" With that, Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving the Anbu stationed behind.
"Lord Hokage, are you alright?" asked one of his guards.
"I am fine, Boar," Hiruzen stated, "more than fine."
He breathed a sigh of relief. Disaster had been averted yet again, due to Shisui's final sacrifice. What a Hokage he would have made...
Tsunade, while waiting for Jiraiya to report back, visited the house of Satsuki Uchiha.
Part of her wanted to knock it down and strangle Fugaku, but she wasn't in any position to.
She'd spent the day of Shizune's funeral a drunken mess, expecting to find Naruto later, somewhere. Only to learn from the letter given to her by Katsuyu, what had happened to him, for what had been his whole life.
Words could not describe the guilt she felt, but the guilt was useless when action was called for.
She needed to find Naruto and get him out of this pestilential village.
She'd seen her boy, her beautiful baby boy, so grown up, holding hands with the Uchiha girl.
Seeing him crying as he attended Shizune's funeral wearing that cursed necklace had almost broken her, had broken her, but now she had to pick up the pieces.
So, here she was standing outside her house looking for him.
Just as she approached the door, a boy with lines on his face exited the door. Obviously, an Uchiha.
"Lady Tsunade, I'm afraid Naruto is not here."
She harrumphed, "Can I see Satsuki?"
The boy bowed, "I'm afraid Satsuki has been forbidden from seeing Naruto by my father."
"What?!" she yelled, "Who does Fugaku think he is?"
"The Head of the Uchiha Clan."
She grabbed the brat by the collar of his shirt, "Listen, brat, you're going to go in there and fetch your sister for me or I'm going to bulldoze the entire Uchiha compound for fun, just you watch-"
"Tsunade," came Jiraiya's voice as he appeared behind her, "Naruto's in the Forest of Death."
"He's what?!" she barked, dropping the Uchiha brat.
Satsuki watched from the window as they disappeared, with tears rolling down her eyes. It was so weird seeing Naruto's parents give a damn about him, but she supposed almost dying had something to do with it. After the funeral, Father had come to her and forbidden her from associating with Naruto, since he'd gotten Shisui killed, he said. Mother had protested, vigorously, but Father was unwavering.
He was dangerous to be around, he said, and that was that.
Satsuki... couldn't go against her father.
Naruto had taken it badly, as she knew he would, and had fled.
She only hoped he was okay, and that this Forest of Death wasn't too bad.
"Where is he, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked him as they entered the Forest, Jiraiya had filled her in about his conversation with Sarutobi-sensei and as much as she wanted to waltz into Fugaku's house and break his skull open, they had to find Naruto first. Jiraiya had also told her that he would be able to use Sage Mode to find Naruto in the Forest.
"He's everywhere, there must be hundreds of him in here."
"Can you find the real one?"
"No, but we can trap one of his clones and let him know we're looking for him."
It didn't take long before they honed in on one of his Shadow Clones.
It tried to run, but she was much faster and she had one of her clones put him in a full nelson in a matter of seconds.
Looking at him was a life-altering experience, he was angry at them, no question, "Put me down, you bully! Lemme go!" but he was so grown up and handsome, he looked just like Nawaki had at his age except with her blonde hair. She just wanted to hold him and never let him go again.
"Naruto-kun, we know you're angry but we're here to help you," she told him.
"I don't need your help! Just leave me alone."
"Listen, kid, we know what happened to you. We want to get you out of the village," Jiraiya said.
"And go where?!"
"Travelling, with us," Tsunade offered.
"I don't want to go anywhere with you. You're not my mom!"
That hurt, more than it had a right to, but Tsunade could understand and she had been ready for it.
"I know it's too late to be your mother now, Naruto-kun, but you could use a teacher, couldn't you? I'm a Kage-level kunoichi, I could teach you how to protect yourself, how to break genjutsu, and how to heal the wounded, isn't that worth something to you? I could help you become the strongest ninja you can be, and you wouldn't have to stay here anymore."
"I'm not a slouch myself," Jiraiya quipped, "there's a lot I could teach you."
Naruto stopped struggling at that at least, he puffed his cheeks, "It's not up to me, it's up to the original."
They nodded to him, "So, I have to dispel."
The clone holding him squeezed him so tight he popped, and the memory of the conversation flooded into Naruto's mind.
Naruto had been having a rough time, not living in the Forest that was easy enough though evading the Anbu squadrons was a constant chore.
No, he was beside himself with grief and filled with anxiety.
Shizune was dead, and he had killed her killer.
She had been like a sister to him and now she was gone. She had promised he would never be alone again, but now he was and it all his fault.
He didn't know how to live in a world that she wasn't in.
He was a killer himself now. Yet it still didn't seem fair that the man had killed Shizune and gotten away so lightly either. Naruto wished he would have captured the man and made him face the consequences of his actions. Naruto regretted that he'd been the one to kill him. But a small, traitorous part of him was glad he had done it. That he been the one to avenge her. It had felt good at the moment. But now all he felt was guilt. He wondered if the man he killed had a sister or a family back home waiting for him, probably, more than Naruto for sure. They would never see him again, and that was Naruto's fault. Now, he only felt guilty. For resorting to killing someone, and for failing Shizune.
If he had only been stronger, if he had been better at chakra control so he could have learned medical ninjutsu, he might have saved her.
Shisui was dead, he had been manipulating him for what seemed his whole life and had been so guilty about it he'd committed suicide.
Part of him had wanted to hate Shisui, and if he was being honest about his emotions, part of him did. But he'd been Naruto's first friend too, and he'd loved him. So even if he had ruined his life, he had brought joy to him too. It was hard to be angry at someone who killed themself out of guilt for what they'd done to you.
Naruto didn't have a clan, but having a whole extended family of people who loved him... Naruto knew he would have done anything for Shisui, so could he really blame him for doing something like that to him for the sake of his clan? Yes, but it soothed the hurt nonetheless.
If he had been stronger, he would have seen through the genjutsu and confronted Shisui on his own terms, kept him from dying.
Who Naruto really hated was the Uchiha themselves, he'd never liked them and now he'd learned they had destroyed his life. They forced the Nine-Tails to attack the village and kept him from reaching out to his parents, so they were responsible for him growing up in a village where everyone hated him, just so they could have more power.
But then there was Satsuki...
And now he'd lost her too. He knew she obeyed her father's word, and didn't blame her for leaving him, and he understood why Fugaku would want him well away from his daughter now that Shisui was gone, but it was a grievous blow nonetheless.
Now he had nobody.
He just wanted to crawl up into a ball and die. Maybe that way he could see Shizune again, and finally meet Uncle Nawaki and Grandfather.
But he knew that would be the easy way out. Shizune would not want him to do such a thing. So, he would carry on, for her sake.
Suddenly, memories of his parents hunting down one of his clones and making a proposition entered his mind.
He dispelled all his clones and then formed a dozen Wood Clones to help him think through what had just happened.
The thoughts came in waves, from himself and his clones.
Seeing his parents had been surreal to him, for most of his life he'd wanted them back in the village, and now that they were he wanted nothing to do with them.
He just wanted Shizune.
But their offer, a chance to be trained to become a powerful ninja. Strong enough to protect himself, to protect Satsuki, even if she wanted nothing to do with him anymore...
A chance to get out of this village for a while at least.
To have become strong enough to have stopped Shisui from jumping, to not worry about being controlled ever again. To learn medical ninjutsu he might have used to save Shizune's life...
"Let's take a vote!" he declared to the twelve clones.
All of them being himself, having the exact same information he had, and having experienced the same thought process he did, it wasn't a surprise that the result was unanimous.
There was a flash of green and red, and Tsunade and Jiraiya were standing in front of him.
"I'll go," Naruto stated, full of resolve.
His 'parents' smiled at him, but he didn't care.
He was doing this for Shizune, and for Satsuki, even Shisui...
He was going to become the strongest ninja ever!
I really appreciate each and every Review, and would break the cycle of hatred if you left one. I always try to respond to them all.
Please Favorite and Follow if you liked it.
Feel free to PM me or ask a question in the review if you have any questions you'd like me to answer about the story.
Forgive me if the Shisui and Madara scenes are a bit short, it's because they're taken from the source material, you can watch Shisui's death scene on YT or read the 2nd Itachi Light Novel if you want to see them in detail, I didn't want to plagiarize them too much.
I never really understood why all the Uchiha had to die and not just the ones plotting a coup beyond plot reasons for Sasuke's arc, it seems like a waste of the Sharingan, and Itachi is the one who reached out to Madara for help in his plan. Still, I added a reason as to why things are different this time around, Naruto having the tamed Nine-Tails chakra is a game changer IMO.
Next chapter will be a training montage with Naruto and his parents, which should be short as of right now. Naruto's going to be gone for three years. If you have any ideas about what kind of training he should get up to, please let me know. We'll also find out what happened with the Uchiha, though I won't show it because the massacre has been done to death.
I know the Kumo Attack/Hyuga Affair was already supposed to have happened, I altered the story, pray I do not alter it further. I think Naruto would have made a much better target than Hinata and it was a good opportunity to have him meet the Nine-Tails.
I'm sorry about killing Shizune and Shisui, and so soon, but you're honestly lucky I included it sequentially instead of doing it in a flashback cause I really want to get to canon. I always knew Shisui was going to die, yet Shizune was meant to live, but she honestly is thematically more important now as Naruto's raison d'etre.