Latest chap revealed Uchiha Kagami was Shisui's father... which implies Shisui 'probably' is around Kakashi's age in canon, at least ten years older than Itachi while in this fic I make him two years older than Itachi. I try to make reasonable background of why he is so young though~
Beta-ed by garoorar! Yay for our new beta~
Thank you for everyone who offered to beta this story, I am so happy you care ;_; hueeee
At any rate enjoy this story~
POLL result: CLOSED and wooooooo time skip to rookie 9 graduation wins!
Yes, skip all the way to graduation of rookie 9 after 3-5 chapters. (70% poll)
NO time skip (30%)
Total vote 70
More votes than what I expect to be honest since I bet majority of you just cross your finger and believe in fate will choose the best route LOL
UPDATE: I will skip to the beginning of canon story, Rookie 9 graduation period in 3-5 chapters. Probably in chapter 16... I still have lots of thing to cover and set up background before we go to that period.
10th Legacy: Missing Pieces of History
We stand here together. Uchiha, Uzumaki... Senju… why couldn't the sons of Rikudo Sennin do the same? Is the title of heir that important? That they destroyed everything their father had worked so hard for?
Uchiha Shisui
"There's no point in wishing for history that has been set on stone to change."
Uchiha Itachi
"We still have a future ahead within our hands, ours to decide…"
Uzumaki Naruto
Konoha
Naruto was on the way back to the tower, choosing an unconventional route that only a small body like his could take. Usually he could care less of the stares and whispered insults that had trailed him like a plague since he was young, and he opted to just run whenever it happened. But he is still aware whenever he gets stared at, especially when it seems like someone no less skilled than a jounin or ANBU was following him this time. It was really hard to throw them off of him, he tried being subtle with it by laying false trails and doubling back whenever possible, but they were really good, even Itachi and Shisui sometimes had a hard time following him. If there was one thing he was as good at as Fuuinjutsu it would be stealth, a skill born out of a twisted longing to play tag at a time when only his ANBU guards were available as playmates. He didn't even have to ask them to play; he made them play with him, chasing him through the village after a good old prank that would end in getting him a reprimand from Tori or the Hokage. That was one childish attitude he was both grateful and ashamed of.
He didn't know if his stalkers knew he was aware of being followed, but if they did they didn't show it. Only, this was starting to get annoying, and he wanted them off of his back now. It was almost hilarious how even a seasoned ninja fell to his unconventional strategies, all it took was a detour to his favorite training ground and him making a ridiculous number of kage bunshin that enshrouded the clearing in chakra smoke. The kage bunshin then split up in four groups, following their training routine as usual. It didn't take long for four black blurs to silently follow each group, unaware of a small insignificant pebble that was left in the empty clearing. After a long while a small puff of smoke appeared and in place of the pebble was one Uzumaki Naruto, rubbing the back of his head.
His eyes narrowed at the lush forest where his kage bunshins and stalkers had disappeared to. 'What is Danzou planning? This is the third time I noticed his puppets following me this week.' Then again according to Hakurei's Intel that man was getting more and more restless by the recent developments between The Tower and Uchiha Clan. 'Well, the grudge he has against us is legendary, second only to Kurama's against Madara."
Danzou viewed The Tower as a threat because they still held love for the fallen Uzushiogakure, and as for the Uchiha...
The Tower, Naruto's living room
"He still holds a grudge against Tou-san it seems..." Shisui muttered in between chewing dango they had for afternoon snacks in Naruto's place. "Seriously~ Tou-san has already been dead for ten years..."
"Kagami-jisan was a direct subordinate of Nidaime-sama, wasn't he?" Itachi didn't really know Shisui's father, his father's older cousin who fell in the third Shinobi war. War had not been kind for Kagami who was a close comrade of the Nidaime's students and Danzou. He was married pretty late even by shinobi standards to a medic-nin ten years younger when he was in his forties. And when Kagami passed away, he was only two years old. Shisui had been loved dearly by his father, the youngest child he had when he was in his fifties. Shisui had been devastated when he lost both his father and brother to war.
Shisui nodded, "Danzou was his ex-teammate."
Naruto frowned at that, "Hm... from what Hakurei told me, Danzou seems to loathe the Uchiha." He shook his head, "Not exactly loathing, but it's more like he's under the impression that your clan is going to be Konoha's downfall... a sick branch of Konoha's tree that he has to prune." Naruto didn't miss how Itachi and Shisui stiffened for a moment before they regained their composure.
The Shunshin expert groaned at that, "That old cripple seems to take Konoha's tree metaphor too literally."
"For one... Konoha is not a tree." Naruto agreed, "Just because one branch grows the wrong direction or have sick leaves, doesn't mean you can just cut it off for the rest of the tree to be kept healthy." For one, the pruned part wasn't a human who could fight back and swear vengeance. He tilted his head to the side, "But still, what kind of grudge does he have against your father Shisui?"
The curly haired Uchiha rubbed the back of his head, "Eh... I was four when he passed away, but according to kaa-san it has something to do with Tou-san supporting Sandaime-sama instead of Danzou."
Itachi frowned at that, "It couldn't be that simple..."
"Eh... who knows? According to Hakurei, Sandaime-sama was appointed as the next Hokage when he volunteered to be bait when Kumo ninjas cornered Nidaime-sama and their teams." Naruto drawled in solemn tone. "Apparently Danzou was going to offer the same thing but Sandaime-sama beat him to it." That was a gross summary of what happened according to Hakurei, but Naruto hoped Danzou didn't really believe he would have been picked if he had offered to be the bait before the Sandaime did.
Itachi and Shisui stared at him with unreadable expression while Naruto raised an eyebrow in silent query, "How true is that information?"
"It's a gross summary... I don't know how much Hakurei glossed over, and I am not sure anyone involved in that event went into details about it, especially since the Nidaime passed away after that." Naruto pointed out in lofty tone. "But still... there must be a connection, the Niidaime, the Sandaime, Danzou, the Uchiha clan..."
The Uchihas nodded thoughtfully at that, at a first glance the Nidaime seemed to despise the Uchiha but if he kept Uchiha Kagami as one of his closest subordinates that was not the case. Compared to his compassionate brother, the Nidaime was known to be a straight-laced realist, the very opposite of the Shodaime. But more than anything, he was known for being evenhanded, a fair hokage to his subjects even to members of his clan. Hakurei told him that once a Senju and an Uchiha fought and the Senju was killed. A further investigation pointed that the Uchiha was fighting in self-defense and the deceased Senju was the one in the wrong. The Nidaime didn't even bat an eye and refused the deceased Senju's family request to execute the Uchiha or punish more than what was stated in the law for a murder that was actually committed in self-defense.
But what could drive such a great man to isolate the Uchiha? Well not exactly isolating them, but he made sure that he had them under surveillance, treated so carefully as if he wanted to prevent something. That was their conclusion of Nidaime's political agenda, which was missing one vital piece of the puzzle. What ticked the Nidaime off to the point that he went to such lengths that even a softhearted Sandaime followed his example? It couldn't be a grudge from their family feud and not for Madara's betrayal because the clan itself had refused to follow him. It scared Naruto sometimes that the more he knew about Tobirama; the better he understood the pragmatic kage. One part of his mind was wary that he would agree to Tobirama's reasons to put Uchiha clan in their current position.
"There must be something..." Itachi murmured. "That makes Senju Tobirama to be so wary of our clan..."
"Aside from the fact that Madara and his brother had been on each other's throats since… forever?" Shisui added in bored tone, "He was fond of my father from what I heard. What makes my father different than the rest of our clan?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "There are too many missing puzzle pieces." He concluded. "Well… we'll find out soon enough."
Hekiga no Kuni (Country of Murals)
Year 1923 After Rikudo Sennin
The Senju clan moved to this land, a strategic position as it was close enough to Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) and Itami no Mori (Forest of Pain) We're building this stronghold in preparation of war against Uchiha Ichizoku, which has allied themselves to the Hagoromo clan.
Our allies…
Naruto frowned, "No… not this one either." He murmured dejectedly, though it didn't stop him from writing down what's written in his notebook. At the rate they were going, by the time this is over he would have completed a full record of the warring clans era. They couldn't afford more time for this, he had his duties to the tower and his friends had their duty to their clan. He couldn't have them escorting him for missions too often; the Uchiha clan's pride won't allow that. It helps that most missions are confidential as long as the participating team didn't spill, but there's no guarantee someone wouldn't poke their nose and spread rumors Uchiha prodigies were tasked for jinchuuriki babysitting now. But the Hokage wasn't going to trust him to a random shinobi team, especially since Danzou's agents could be anywhere.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at the mural, "We won't get much information from warring clans era it seems."
"Yeah, our ancestors are too busy butchering each other." Shisui quipped. "The reason to do so wouldn't be far from continuing Rikudo Sennin's sons scuffle over his heirs' status."
The blond jinchuuriki sighed wearily; this was the fourth historical site they visited this month alone in between missions. It ran them ragged at this rate, finishing C rank missions as soon as possible so they could take a detour to historical sites such as Hekiga no Kuni. Itachi himself had explored most sites that were located around Konoha since he became genin, but so far he had only found details in the history of Konoha's birth. Strangely the vital point in Konoha's history, Madara's betrayal wasn't mentioned anywhere beyond the fact that it was a disagreement with Hashirama that led to the battle in the Valley of The End. It seemed that whatever may have happened back then, no one wanted to remember it.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, craning his neck to the side. "Oh well… it seems we either have to go to the more recent records or the oldest ones that record the era of Rikudo Sennin's sons."
"Do the records from that era even exist?" Shisui asked skeptically, "… does the Kyuubi know?"
"I doubt it." Naruto answered after a beat, "According to Kurama, after his father's death… he and other bijuu split up and avoided both Senju and Uchiha descendants… our ancestors." His eyes narrowed in sadness, "To them… it's a disgrace that the sons fought and started a war that continued to their descendants for centuries, when their father wished for peace…"
Itachi clenched his fist, "They're right on that…" He couldn't help but sympathize with the bijuu now; their ancestors had ruined the peace Rikudo Sennin built. And Hashirama gave them out as peace offerings to stabilize the power balance for a temporary peace, one that had already been broken three times.
Shisui nodded in agreement, "And yet now…we stand here together. Uchiha, Uzumaki... Senju… why couldn't the sons of Rikudo Sennin do the same? Is the title of heir that important? That they destroyed everything their father had worked so hard for?" He wondered out loud. "If only they had…"
Itachi stepped forward; his hand hovered above the mural. "There's no point in wishing for history that has been set on stone to change." Itachi murmured as he traced the carving of the mural.
"We still have a future ahead within our hands, ours to decide…" Naruto reminded them, clenching his fist.
Shisui grinned at that, "You're right…" He agreed, "But still…" He trailed off, eyeing the mural of long war between Senju and Uchiha. "The present would've been much better if only war never existed."
"You're not the only one who thinks so Shisui." Naruto murmured forlornly, "I do too…"
"So do I…" Itachi added as the scene of Third war's end replayed on his mind, funeral after funeral, burying empty graves because there's no resource to retrieve the bodies, crying families over precious ones that would never return, more names carved in memorial stone. It was a scene of tragedy that was carved forever on his mind.
There was a reason why he grew his own vegetables, fruits and spices. It was so he didn't have to deal with shopkeepers who more often that not overcharge or sell goods that almost gone bad. And this year he doesn't even do his groceries himself, decreasing his already nonexistent presence to the villagers to nil. So much that there's even rumors circulating that he had died in a ditch somewhere. Hokage-sama had even come and asked Hakurei to keep him in the tower a few weeks ago, since apparently some idiots thought it was time to celebrate his supposed 'death'. Hakurei was furious, but Naruto ordered him to leave them be. He had better things to be worried about than idiotic villagers celebrating his death.
The villagers were really pissed when they eventually saw him a few days later walking through the streets, breathing and alive. As usual, glares and whispers trailed after him, some of them seemed ready to throw the nearest object they could grab at him. They were apparently furious that their wishes didn't come true. It was almost ironic that in reality they should thankful he was alive; if Konoha were to suddenly lose their jinchuuriki it would the same as giving out an open invitation for invasion. Kusagakure, a once a major power in the Shinobi world could attest to that. At some point they lost their jinchuuriki and were invaded by four hidden villages, reduced to the small village they were now and lost Nanabi to Takigakure.
Then again shinobi business was not for civilians.
He paused when he saw a black haired boy around five years old staring at the rows of colorful plastic masks that were being displayed in front of a toyshop, more precisely the ANBU hound mask. Looking at the old yellowing shirt he wore, Naruto guessed that it was either his family was so poor or this boy was an orphan. The boy definitely had no money to buy that toy mask.
Speaking of toys he barely remembered the last time he ever thought of wanting one, it felt like a long time ago. Now, with his Shinobi status and mentality, he couldn't comprehend a child's need for toys. Or why it was fun to play with one. The boy looked really pitiful, and looking at what he wore it was doubtful the boy had even enough money for food.
He walked closer towards the child, standing beside the younger boy. The child turned to him, looking at his blue eyes curiously. "You want that mask?" Naruto asked, pointing at the plastic ANBU mask.
The boy's eyes glowed with hope, and Naruto felt something warm spread on his chest. "Uhm!" He nodded vigorously at the blond.
Naruto had just pulled his wallet out of his pocket when he had to raise his left arm to catch the mask the shop owner threw at him. "What are you doing, all of a sudden?" He asked incredulously.
The shop owner then fumed, "Get out of here bastard! I'll give that mask to you, so get lost!"
Naruto glanced at the young child beside him, the boy looked confused and frightened the shop owner suddenly blew up like that. Then he sighed, his eyes glanced at the price tag on the shelves. Naruto placed a couple of notes on nearby table and dropped the mask to the boy's waiting hand. "Here…" He glanced at the fuming shop owner, "Keep the change sir…"
"Thank you…" The boy breathed out and Naruto gave the boy a curt nod of acknowledgement.
Then he walked away, and not even once did he look back. He heard the shop owner lecturing the boy to stay away from him, and that he was a bad influence on a child. The kid was obviously confused and asked why a bad person would pay for his toy mask. It was amusing to hear the shop owner sputter incoherently in his explanation and insist the 'demon brat' was bad, and that's it. It was not the first time hostile adults had a difficulty explaining why children should stay away from him. Children were curious creatures by default, and whenever an adult forbids them from doing something it was an automatic response to ask 'why not'? Before it was not hard to explain because he was a notorious prankster, but since he stopped his pranks because of his busy schedule, they couldn't use that excuse anymore.
Naruto hoped they would stop trying to influence their children to hate him, or encouraging those kids to bully him. While he could defend himself easily, he was more worried of their children's behavior. Bully mentality was flourishing in younger generations because of their parent's ignorance or rather encouragement. He was not concerned at all before but it started to bother him since few weeks ago.
Flashback
Naruto whipped his head to the side when he was walking through the park, carrying a bag of groceries on one hand after a shopping trip with Yuzuriha. The female seal master followed her young master's gaze, her eyes narrowed at the sight of three girls bullying another that was curled up to a ball on the ground. The bullied girl had pink hair like petal of cherry blossoms, an unusual color, Yuzuriha thought.
Naruto clenched his fist, "Yuzuriha." He whispered. "Help that girl."
The scarf wearing kunoichi smiled then bowed, "Yes Naruto-sama." Then she jumped away towards the scene.
Naruto shook his head ruefully, he would never get used to treating his subordinates as subordinates. But arguing with them about it just makes them sad.
Sakura was frightened, why were these girls so mean to her? She just had a wide forehead, an unusual hair color, and reads a lot, do those justify their actions to bully her? She never did anything wrong to them! Sakura was snapped out of her miserable thoughts when an older girl landed beside her gracefully, the teen didn't wear a forehead protector but from her posture alone Sakura could tell she was a kunoichi.
In instant Sakura forgot about her bullies, and stared at the cool kunoichi in awe. The kunoichi had a long sandy blond hair that styled in ponytail, flowing down all the way to her waist. Beautiful face with exotic feature, and fair skin wrapped in sleeveless pink kimono that parted to expose chest and stomach that wrapped with thick white bandage, white shorts and standard shinobi shoes.
"Wow..." She mouthed in admiration.
The bullies were also awed, but stiffened when they saw the pretty kunoichi was glaring at them. "What?" Ami, the bravest one of the bullies asked.
Yuzuriha crossed her arms, "Are you students of Ninja Academy?" She asked coolly, looking at the bully and then to Sakura, at their hesitant nod she glared harder at the bullies. "As future kunoichi, it's frowned upon to bully your future comrades." She stated solemnly.
Ami cowered, "I am just..."
"Ami-chan!" The afro haired girl called out warningly, she was scared of the kunoichi.
"Bullying a helpless girl? Ganging up on her?" Yuzuriha added ruefully, "Girls, keep this in mind. If you still want to be a kunoichi, learn to respect your peers and you will earn yours. What you did would just earn you a reputation as a bully..."
"Hey! Leave my child alone!" A blue haired woman yelled as she walked towards the group, fuming as she did so.
Yuzuriha turned around to the direction of the angry voice, and she saw a mother that resembles the blue haired girl called Ami. "Good afternoon ma'am, I have no ill intention towards your daughter but she was bullying this girl." She gestured towards Sakura who at some point had cowered behind Yuzuriha's legs like a frightened rabbit.
The mother paled when she saw Sakura had bruises, teary eyes, and dirty after her daughter pushed her to the ground. "Ami-chan bullied her?"
Ami opened her mouth to protest but Yuzuriha cut her off, "Yes ma'am, and as a kunoichi I deemed it prudent for me to warn your daughter as she is a student of academy. That's not how a kunoichi candidate should behave."
"But, well..."It was obvious the mother was trying to pacify the kunoichi, thinking it was her who should chastise her daughter.
"This girl is also a student of academy, it worries me that she treated her fellow student that way..." Yuzuriha stated coolly, "The Academy is not a civilian school ma'am, they teach children to be shinobi..." Yuzuriha reminded the mother, it was not hard to guess she was a civilian judging from her chakra level. It was irritating, that nowadays some civilian family sign up their children to the academy without thinking about the consequences, and more often than not they were clueless of what they signed up their children for. "I am afraid if I didn't give your daughter a warning now the consequences would be dire in the future."
The mother looked dejected a teenager like Yuzuriha chastised her daughter, but she knew better than talking back a kunoichi. "I understand, but they're kids... and..."
She leaned in conspiratorially towards the frightened mother, and whispered to her ear. "Believe me... I have seen my share of bullies who ended up killed in missions because they were hated by their comrades. Trust me ma'am, if your daughter manages to graduate from the academy I doubt she will survive her first real mission with that attitude."
Yuzuriha leaned back to her full height, looking at the mother who just realized the horror of her ignorance. "Ami-chan!" She turned towards her daughter who flinched at her angry mother. "Apologize to Sakura-chan." The kunoichi raised an eyebrow, so the mother knew the bullied girl then? Yuzuriha thought as the mother started to chastise her daughter about how her behavior had been wrong.
Ami began to cry then much to their surprise as she yelled at her mother, "But you let Nii-chan do it to that blond kid in academy! Why can't I! Not fair!" Ami was seven when she saw her parents let her older brother to bully that boy everyone disliked, why she was chastised for doing the same to Sakura? Everyone disliked her for being a teacher's pet!
The Kunoichi gasped at that, it didn't take a genius to guess who the blond kid Ami was talking about. "I see..." It seemed The Tower didn't have to give enough retribution to these hateful parents who corrupted their children to ostracize Naruto-sama. They had paid the price.
The mother looked at the kunoichi in panic, afraid that she would report it to Hokage. "I..."
Present
Naruto sighed at the memory, if he didn't know better he would feel guilty. He wondered if he should bring this up to Hokage-sama, it seemed small at first but at this rate those hateful parents were going to drive their children to the wrong path. Then again he couldn't be the one who told Hokage, the old shinobi already took a lot of guilt tripping from Hakurei recently. Hakurei had taken pleasure in rubbing in how 'properly' he was now treated in the tower to the Hokage, how he flourished as a talented seal master and so on. Hakurei didn't have to be sneaky about it, he just have to praise Naruto like the proud grandfather he was and that was enough to drive the Sandaime to the wall.
While Naruto was thinking about future generation's fate and how to bring it to Hokage's attention, a pink haired girl walked past him, she was also recalling the same incident from last week, though with a very different perspective. After all, the girl was a 'normal' eight year old girl…
Yuzuriha shook her head, "Don't worry... let us part ways now, but don't forget my warning ma'am. You'll regret it if you do..." It was a warning and not a threat, after all it was them who called it upon themselves. She didn't wait for an answer as she led the little girl she saved away from the bully and her mother, "Come on girl... let's sit near that fountain, I will fix you in a jiffy."
Sakura obeyed and followed her heroine, "Um!" The kunoichi then asked her to sit on a bench, cleaned the bruise, and then used cool green chakra to heal her bruised knee. "Wow... so cool."
The sandy blond haired seal master winked at the younger girl, "You'll be able to do this too one day. Train your body hard, train your heart to its fullest... never give up and you'll see your path as a Kunoichi."
She bobbed her head enthusiastically, "Hai!"
"Yuzuriha..." A familiar voice called out for her. Sakura turned around, her eyes were wide when he saw a blond boy dressed in traditional attire under the shadow of lush foliage. She couldn't see his face, but there was this regal air about him. He looked very young but from this distance she couldn't tell how old he was. "It's time to go back to the tower."
"Yes, young master..." Yuzuriha answered promptly.
Sakura blinked when she saw a light blush on the kunoichi's cheek, so her name was Yuzuriha? Young master! So that blond boy was a prince, Yuzuriha was working as his kunoichi! Her respect and admiration to Yuzuriha had gone up a notch, if not two. Yuzuriha was like kunoichi she read from book, pretty, cool, strong, charismatic and... Sakura looked at Yuzuriha's figure that wrapped in bandages. She had such a great figure too! Sakura was just eight but she once asked her mother if the pink haired little girl would look as pretty as her mother. Girls would start to grow their curve when they're preteens, and Sakura always dreamed to be a graceful and pretty kunoichi like Yuzuriha.
"Sakura-chan." Yuzuriha crouched down in front of her, "I need to go now." She nodded at that, "Bye bye..."
"Bye..." She waved the retreating Kunoichi back in a daze. Since then Sakura vowed she would be a cool kunoichi like Yuzuriha.
ROOT HQ
Uzumaki Naruto, the child of two S rank class shinobi and the sole heir of the Uzumaki clan. Not exactly sole, but from the Intel he gathered it was very likely Uzumaki Naruto was the only one left of the main line of the Uzumaki. A child brimming with potential and yet he was severely neglected. Danzou had seen how other villages trained their weapons to draw the full potential of their jinchuuriki, with Kumo as the most zealous one with Iwa followed closely behind. He wouldn't worry of Iwa jinchuuriki, since according to what his spies in Iwa had gathered, their jinchuuriki would rather let Iwa hang themselves unless Onoki himself dragged them out under the threat of death. The jinchuuriki of Kumo in the other hand were fiercely loyal to their village, and had full control of their bijuu.
Konoha's jinchuuriki on the other hand was not even aware of his status, isolated, scorned and neglected. Suna's jinchuuriki might be an unstable child but Sabaku no Gaara at least knew what he was, and the Kazekage had a somewhat firm hold on his leash. Sarutobi in the other hand just threw that child to foolish villagers who had no idea who they had scorned and how much it could endanger Konoha, it was a sheer miracle that child hadn't ran away from Konoha or worse, became mentally unstable like the Ichibi no Jinchuuriki. Danzou had thought Hiruzen had at last come to his senses and paid attention to their jinchuuriki's education. But instead of molding that child as Konoha's weapon he put that child in The Tower of all places and under the tutelage of a traitor. That place was pampering the jinchuuriki with adoration the young child craves, and in Danzou's book that was a foolish move. They couldn't have a pampered prince as Konoha's weapon, and one attached to a division that was formed from Uzu's refugees no less.
If that's not enough, the jinchuuriki had formed bonds with Uchiha Itachi and his cousin Shisui. His spies had seen how attached the boy was to his Uchiha friends, to the point Hakurei was willing to give Muramasa's Shiseiten to them. The heir of the Uchiha clan and Kagami's son, he didn't know where their loyalties lie but there's nothing good being associated with a traitorous clan that could threaten their village.
However that was not an immediate concern for now, not as much as how Hiruzen and The Tower pampered the jinchuuriki. Hiruzen had been very reluctant to give the promotion to the boy, and Uzumaki Naruto had become the youngest promoted chuunin since Hatake Kakashi. He had seen missions that Hiruzen had put aside for that child, all C-ranked and above missions with relatively low risk were given to the boy. If Uzumaki Naruto could survive Aizen that child should be able to handle high-risk missions. That boy was a weapon not a grandchild he should shelter and pamper.
He had read reports of the physiological examination his men could scrap from what little they had seen from the boy when the jinchuuriki was out of the tower (which was off limits for his men thanks to the damned wards they put up) to train with his Uchiha friends. The boy was extremely paranoid, almost borderline unhealthy but at least he could approve of that. The training grounds the boy usually used was the closest to The Tower and was heavily warded against intruders whenever he used it, one that even his best spies hadn't found a way to crack without alerting the boy. Personality wise from what he had heard the boy who once was a troublemaker now had became a sweet child, or so Koharu claims. However she also noted that the boy was calm, perceptive, and very polite. The boy was humble when convincing Hiruzen and his teammates to promote him, but he didn't sell himself short either. What he was good and bad at were delivered professionally to them, and not even Hiruzen could deny that the boy deserved that promotion.
The Uzumaki's seal work was topnotch like any Uzumaki should. From their observation of the way the boy walked and moved he must be quite proficient in taijutsu. The boy was a chakra powerhouse so he had potential as a ninjutsu specialist, while not so much for genjutsu probably. But in overall if the boy could achieve that much at eight and without a mentor in the ninja arts other than fuuinjutsu… if Hiruzen listened to him at least once about training the boy to his fullest potential…
What a waste…
It seems once again as the root that supports Konoha from underground, he had to make his move. It was all for Konoha.
Koishi no Kuni (Country of Pebbles)
The Uchiha built quite a number of strongholds during the warring clans era like Senju did. The fortress they visited in this country was one of those. They had found a journal left by Uchiha Tajima, supposedly the father of Madara and the clan head before him. For a short moment they thought they had hit the jackpot, only to be disappointed that all Tajima wrote in his journal was about the war with the Senju and how much he hated the self-righteous clan. Naruto had to say this man was undoubtedly Madara's father, judging from how anything Senju-related in his journals painted the clan in the worst light possible. Sometimes Naruto wondered if the Uchiha clan could even remember that they were related to their archenemy.
Shisui was pretty depressed that they didn't come any closer to the answers they seek, just the revelation that he had another crackpot ancestor other than Madara. Naruto and Itachi told him to shut up, they knew this was another dead end and didn't need Shisui to point out that was another relative to be listed as 'driven mad by the rivalry with the Senju' which was made up by the majority of Uchiha elders.
"However, we found out that Madara befriended the Shodaime when he was around Itachi's age…" Naruto murmured when he read one entry that for once was about his son Madara rather than cursing Senju Butsuma to hell and back. "He found out and followed Madara with Izuna to the meeting place…"
Shisui nodded at that, "Madara was surprisingly late in awakening his sharingan, or at least by clan standards awakening it at twelve is average…" He noted thoughtfully, "Something to do with the mercenary lifestyle of that era probably?" The shunshin expert wondered out loud.
"Hn." Itachi grunted, "But it's strange… why Uchiha Tajima noted the awakening of Madara's sharingan is something worthwhile from that clash between his sons with Senju Butsuma's?"
Naruto blinked owlishly at that, "Probably because the fight pushed Madara to his limits that caused him to awaken his sharingan?"
The Uchiha's scion shook his head, "That couldn't be the case… if you look at previous entries." Itachi carefully flipped the old journal to his desired page. "Uchiha Tajima explained each battle he had with Senju Butsuma in great detail, but in this entry…" Itachi opened the previous entry they read. "He and his rival… their sons… their fight was very brief, they barely exchanged blows."
"Is it possible to awaken our sharingan without being under a stressful condition like in battle?" Shisui wondered out loud, "I remember awakening mine when I was eleven… a bandit almost got a lucky strike on me and my teammate with his giant axe…"
Naruto turned to Itachi curiously, "How about you Itachi?"
Itachi looked hesitant for a moment before he confessed, "I was seven… a few months after I graduated I took my brother for a walk in a park. A nin-ken infected by rabies suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tried to attack me and my brother…" Itachi shifted slightly, "And I activated my sharingan for the first time…"
Naruto shot the Uchiha an apologetic look for reminding him of a particularly unpleasant memory. He sighed wearily, "Ah… so both of you were in dangerous situations when you activated it, same case for the rest of your clan?"
Shisui nodded at that, "Yeah… some crazy parents even tried to scare their kids during the war period in hopes that they get their Sharingan to work early."
Itachi frowned at that, "My father stopped them after one of the parents almost endangered their son's life, I recall…" His father was really furious that time, while Fugaku valued power, as a father he couldn't pardon someone who almost drowned their six year old boy for it.
The curly haired Uchiha nodded at that, "Yeah…"
The jinchuuriki frowned, war or not they shouldn't be that desperate. "Does it work though?" He asked curiously.
Shisui snorted, "That was the unfunny part of the folly, it didn't work at all… the kids were scared shirtless by their parents and needs therapy, but no fancy eyes of ours."
"How come though?" Naruto wondered out loud, "From Madara's case and yours I was under the impression that as long as you're under stress it doesn't really matter what causes it…" He informed them. "It seems that it's not how it works."
Itachi narrowed his eyes at that, "So there must have been a wrong preconception in how we awaken our doujutsu."
Naruto nodded thoughtfully at that, "Not exactly wrong if majority of your clan believes and affirms that's how they got it." He pointed out thoughtfully. "Maybe there's something more to it…"
Shisui crossed his arms. "By the way… how about Byakugan then? There are rumors that the Sharingan is derived from the Hyuuga's Byakugan, though our clan vehemently denies it."
The jinchuuriki laughed softly at that, "As if! I have asked Hakurei, he said someone spread that rumor long time ago to spark a conflict between the Hyuuga and Uchiha but Niidaime-sama stepped in before it got anywhere." He informed them in solemn tone. "Besides… the Sharingan is too diverse in its abilities to be derived from the Byakugan." Naruto pointed out, "The Byakugan focuses in enhancing eyesight such as telescoping, wide field of vision and see through abilities." He listed on, "It makes more sense to think it came from the same ancestor rather than a mutation of another..."
"But if that's the case the Hyuuga would have been with the Uchiha, fighting against the Senju clan." Itachi pointed out. "As of now we're not even in the best terms with the Hyuuga."
Naruto nodded at that, "In that case they might not be related at all, besides… Byakugan is a doujutsu that they have since they were born unlike the Sharingan, which needs to awaken…" He licked his lips, "I have asked Kurama about the Rinnegan, and he didn't know much about it either… but probably both Sharingan and Byakugan are derived from it."
"In looks alone though, the Uchihas look closely related to the Senju." Shisui noted loftily.
The jinchuuriki frowned at that, "Eh… as in?"
"Bone structure, eye colors which are dominantly black, grey or brown, dominantly dark hair with a grey sheen like mine or blue like my brother's, sometimes light brown or white…" Itachi listed on in solemn tone. "The Hyuuga have dominantly straight solid black hair or dark brown… and their eyes are white and not as narrow as ours."
He blinked owlishly, "I see… well, we're all descended from one man…" He trailed off, "By the way, why does the Senju not have a distinct bloodline?"
Itachi shrugged, "They were born with the "body" of the Sage, inheriting their forefather's strength of will and physical energy." He quoted from history records that describe the descendants of the Rikudo Sennin's second son. "Does that count as a bloodline?"
"In that case no wonder there's a misconception that the Uzumaki is an offshoot of theirs and not the other way around." Naruto muttered thoughtfully. "But still… isn't it pretty weird that the Shodaime is the only one with the Mokuton and healing properties? Those are very much like a bloodline… but he was the only Senju who had it."
Shisui shrugged, "Mutation?" He guessed.
"If that's the case, shouldn't at least one his descendants be recorded to have it? At least the watered down version?" Naruto pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Maybe all Senju have the potential but no clue how to activate it?"
Itachi narrowed his eyes, "True… but they've been Shinobi as long as our clan, it doesn't make sense that only one of them managed to awaken it."
"Well… there's nothing we can do about it since Tsunade-sama is the only one left and she is traveling as the legendary sucker all over the world gambling like mad…" Shisui pointed out.
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he closed Uchiha Tajima's journal, "It's been bothering me for a while but can you tell me…"
"Tell you what?" Shisui asked curiously.
"Why there's no Senju clan left in Konoha? Or at least have the surname aside from Tsunade-hime?" He wondered out loud. "Shouldn't they should be comparable in size with the Uchiha when Shodaime founded Konoha?"
Silence hung heavily in the air as the Uchihas processed what Naruto told them. Shisui grimaced as he found his voice, "True… what the hell happened to them? I mean… when I entered academy at six, no one in my class is a Senju."
Itachi nodded at that, "None in mine either even though I attended for less than two years…"
"There're some civilians in our clan, maybe that's the case with Senju?" Shisui guessed.
His cousin frowned at that, "And none of them are involved in being Shinobi anymore? In the very Shinobi village they founded no less?"
Shisui grimaced, "True… that doesn't make sense."
Naruto groaned, "Damn… more mysteries instead of answers, I should have asked Hakurei…"
"Speaking of which… this is the tenth historical site for the last three months." Shisui pointed out with a sigh, "So far we're getting nowhere aside from Naruto probably almost completing a history book of warring clans era…"
The jinchuuriki flushed a deep red, "Give it a rest! At any rate we can't give up now!"
"Should we recheck murals around Konoha?" Itachi suggested. "I might have missed something when I checked it, I was eight after all…"
Shisui snorted at that, "Won't it be funny if the records we have been trying so hard to find was in Konoha all along? Or better yet in the Uchiha compound no less?! Somewhere as cliché as under the tatami mats of the Naka shrine perhaps?!" He laughed out loud, holding his aching side.
"Shisui…" Naruto and Itachi face-palmed at his antics.
If only they knew what lies in the main hall of the Naka shrine, beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right… They probably would be really pissed.
Up on a cliff two Shinobi donning Konoha's ANBU masks observed the three chuunin that emerged from the exit of an abandoned Uchiha stronghold. They saw the curly haired Uchiha known as Shunshin no Shisui comment about Naruto's paranoia of setting up privacy seals and warding seals even though they were in the middle of nowhere, and no one would be interested in their conversation. The jinchuuriki argued that Shinobi couldn't be too careful, so please shut up and don't bring it up now. While their research was harmless, who knows if someone would get a wrong idea if they heard it? The Uchiha prodigy they were informed as the son of Uchiha Fugaku agreed with the jinchuuriki, and suggested to make a stop in a tea house ten miles from their current location. Shunshin no Shisui shook his head as he told his cousin that was a geezer's hobby. The jinchuuriki sighed and agreed they could go there as the Uchiha's heir wished, and if he heard one more comment about old men he would throttle the Shunshin expert.
The pale dark haired boy under the mask frowned at the display, the three of them were hailed as prodigies, and yet they bantered like kids their age. He heard his surrogate brother let out a soft chuckle, probably amused by the their antics. He shot his brother a glare to keep quiet or they would be discovered, somehow it got through in spite of the mask and the white haired boy just gave him a thumbs up.
Naruto who was walking between Itachi and Shisui frowned a little, they were being followed and by someone good no less. He wouldn't have noticed them if not for the kage-bunshin he scattered all over the perimeter that henged as bugs and other inconspicuous animals in the forest. His expression was carefully blank but inside he was cursing their bad luck.
He tried his best to not show that he noticed, forcing his body to relax and walking as if nothing was amiss. He was sure Shisui and Itachi noticed too, as they kept the bantering going. To outsiders it was normal, but to them it was unusual to be so chatty in the middle of the road. He opened his map, pretending to note the location of Itachi's favorite teahouse, which was in the same direction to Konoha. What he was really trying to do was actually to look for strategic locations where they were likely to be ambushed by these stalkers.
He felt like he wanted to cry when he saw there was a canyon ahead, one with a very narrow path no less. It was very likely they were outnumbered too; direct confrontation was definitely out of question. Naruto took a deep breath, "The dango in that place is pretty famous, isn't it?" Naruto asked as he quickly folded the map, rubbing his eyes as a cue to Itachi and Shisui to activate their sharingan.
"Yes, the green tea flavored one is especially good." Shisui chimed in, his sharingan blazing briefly as he and Itachi caught Naruto absentmindedly waving his forefinger, writing character for 'run' and 'outnumbered'
Itachi nodded, "I prefer the sesame one though…"
It took them around ten minutes to reach the narrow path, on the left side was river with fast current and since it had been raining lately it was on the verge of flooding while on the right was a cliff. Naruto and his team were still chatting, Naruto was laughing at a joke Shisui made while Itachi looked as stoic as ever. Their observers were in higher ground, watching them silently with cold eyes underneath their ANBU's masks. One of the masked Shinobi made a sequence of hand seals, rabbit - boar –rat- horse-tiger -snake and whispered, "Doton: Doryūkatsu-Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"
They barely jumped away in time when the ground underneath them was split in two. Naruto growled as he threw seal enhanced shuriken to the first masked Shinobi he saw. "Futon no Juujika-Fuuin (Wind Element Cross Seal)"
Shisui and Itachi threw their shuriken, which were just one second behind Naruto's "Katon no Juujika-Fuuin (Fire Element Cross Seal)"
"Nenshou Arashi no Jutsu (Burning storm technique)!" Wind and fire element collided and formed a tornado of fire that consumed everything on its path.
The three Shinobi landed gracefully on the ground, watching the fire dissipate, leaving dark scorching marks on the ground. "Did we get them?" Shisui asked.
"Well…" Naruto trailed off before his eyes narrowed instinctively and he brought his elbow up sharply without warning, blocking the incoming punch from a masked Shinobi on his left. "Who the hell are you?" He hissed threateningly.
The jinchuuriki was sure that if not for the mask he would have seen a sneer underneath, "How naïve." The masked Shinobi murmured, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw a glint of steel from his right and his kunai clashed with a tanto of his second opponent.
On the corner of his eyes Naruto saw both Itachi and Shisui were engaged by two masked-Shinobi. All of them were wearing the same Konoha ANBU mask. Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously at the tip-less tanto he blocked with his kunai and then at the short, black, midriff jacket, with red straps over the shoulders that he saw underneath the black cloak they wore.
They were locked, surrounded and outnumbered what a shitty situation, Naruto concluded. The jinchuuriki smirked at his opponents, "Naïve?" He laughed softly, "Not us, you are!" He shouted as his body slowly disintegrated.
"Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu?" The ANBU gasped.
"Sayonara." The clone grinned cheerfully.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three miles from the explosion, on the other side of the canyon, the real Naruto cursed loudly. He fell few steps behind Itachi and Shisui, but neither of them stopped to question Naruto what bothered him. If anything, that was a cue for them to move faster. "Shit! Of all things that could attack us here…" He recalled the memory he got from kage-bunshins he used to throw their pursuers off of their track.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "I assume you know the identity of our pursuers?"
Naruto nodded, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Hakurei showed me their uniform and weapons before, it can't be anyone else but ROOT members." Itachi and Shisui winced at the information. "I recognize that tip-less tanto of theirs, and I doubt anyone would impersonate an officially disbanded branch of Konoha's ANBU!"
"What would they want from us?" Shisui wondered out loud, swinging from one branch to another branch.
Naruto scowled as he jerked his thumb to his chest, "Jinchuuriki." Then he pointed at Itachi and Shisui. "Uchihas with matured sharingan." He groaned, "Is there a need to ask?"
"Is Danzou out of his mind?" Shisui shouted in horror, "We're not nobody orphans no one would miss! The clan and The Tower would demand his head on a silver platter if he dares to touch us!"
"Who knows? He dispatched two squads back there and I doubt my bunshin-daibakuha got them all! We're not out of danger yet!"
Itachi scowled, his sharingan blazing with fury. "We're not alone anymore…"
Shisui nodded, making a ram seal as he scanned their surrounding. "Uh oh… I think you didn't get anyone out of the game, the two three men cells are alive, kicking, and gaining on us. On the front there's two teams too!"
The jinchuuriki growled, "Like hell I'll let them to surround us from both sides!" Naruto took a slip of paper with a seal array written on it, charging it with chakra as much as he could then threw it to the ground ten feet away from him. "Gome Jimen Fuuin (Sticky Ground Seal) activate!" The seal array glowed when it touched the ground then burned out by Naruto's immense chakra.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at the ground that affected by the seal, he could see it with his doujutsu and noted the range was at least sixty feet in diameter and the ground was brimming with chakra. Had it been someone else who pumped that much chakra, they would have collapsed because of chakra exhaustion. "How much chakra did you use on that seal Naruto-kun?"
Naruto snorted, "Enough to make anyone who steps on it unable to move from the waist down." Further improvement in that seal affected chakra that was used by Shinobi to stick not just in their soles but also their waists with more chakra. Tree climbing needed focusing chakra on their feet, but they also need to use circulated chakra evenly on other body parts to stand upright so they could walk normally. This was the reason why beginners were told to run instead of walking to reduce risk of back injury. "Unless they have small chakra pools or figured out how to cut off chakra from their feet, they would be stuck for at least ten minutes."
"Nasty." Shisui commented gleefully. "Now, how should we engage the ones in front of us? We will reach them in five minutes."
Itachi narrowed his eyes, "No matter how we see it, we're outnumbered… and they knew us while we don't know them at all."
Naruto nodded in agreement, "True, this is a battle we should escape from… there's no point fighting them."
"However it seems they're not going to let us go that easily…" Itachi murmured.
Shisui narrowed his eyes, "Oh my… one of them is pretty good with suppressing chakra, I didn't notice him until we got this close." Itachi and Naruto frowned at that, "He was going to attack us from above, this guy has means to fly it seems."
"Aerial attack." Naruto groaned, "Great, it's getting harder to escape."
"They're coming." Shisui warned them.
High above a monochrome colored bird hovered above the three Shinobi, the rider of the bird unrolled his scroll and drew five small birds. "Ninpou: Choujuu Giga." The birds were animated out of the paper and flew straight to their targets below.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he spun around, as expected the guy who was up there would attack first. "Hikou no Fuuin, seal of flight… activate." The seal on Naruto's leg glowed briefly as he jumped.
The ROOT member didn't expect Naruto to suddenly jump the moment his birds flew out of his scroll, not to mention the jump reached him who was flying at least forty feet in the air. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. The ANBU's eyes widened as he quickly jumped away from his ride and drew another one as he fell; wincing slightly as he landed on another bird while the previous one was blown up by an explosive tag.
Naruto knew that unlike the ink bird rider he was not really flying and he couldn't keep his seal activated unless he wanted to be blown away by wind; especially in this place where the wind was pretty strong and the fact that it's going to rain soon. As he slowly descended back to the ground Naruto grinned at the ink technique user. "If I can't fight in the sky, so will you!" Naruto shouted as a chain sprung from his back and grabbed the bird by its neck, dragging it to the ground so fast that the ink user had no time to draw another bird to escape.
"Sai!" A grey haired ROOT caught the boy before he could crash, while his bird splattered as an ink blot on the ground.
Naruto blinked at the two in confusion. That was unexpected, he thought they were conditioned to be emotionless but this guy who saved 'Sai' was definitely worried for the boy. Perhaps they had not gone through the worse, that they're still in a stage of 'growing up as brothers' but in that case, why were they sent out for this mission then?
He was snapped out of his musings as he blocked a tanto from cutting down his arm with his kunai, "Che, I can't believe your master wasted this much of manpower for us!" He gritted out.
Itachi and Shisui were still engaged in their fight, handling two to three opponents at once. Naruto himself was handling three, that Sai boy, Sai's brother and another ROOT member in goat mask. Using his kage-bunshin he could avoid being outnumbered by his opponents, but it didn't matter much if it only takes one hit to dispel them. There was also one more concern of his, if possible he didn't want to permanently harm that Sai boy or his brother. If he was right, that boy's ability is actually… he shook his head, they had to find a chance to get away soon before their opponent exhausts them, unlike him Itachi and Shisui had a weak stamina. At least weaker compared to his, which comes from his status as a jinchuuriki and Uzumaki.
Ten clones of Naruto threw another barrage of nenshou-shuriken powered by a wind elemental seal, Sai and his brother got away with riding another ink bird but the last member didn't ask for assistance from Sai and went for a defensive earth element technique, "Doton: Doryuuheki!" A massive wall made or earth erupted, colliding with the barrage of wind elemental shuriken. It cut through the wall swiftly, but missed the target. Naruto frowned and ordered his clones to repeat their attack, and the goat masked ANBU was quickly exhausted by his series of earth barrier techniques. The earth user was on the verge of exhaustion and he only had enough for one technique left.
Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the goat masked ANBU made a series of hand seals for an offensive earth technique, "Are you mad?! We're in a on top of a cliff!" And they're very close to the edge to boot, after using so much doton the ground must be really loose by now. If he used an offensive Doton, the ground around them would collapse!
"Doton: Dochūbaku (landslide)" The root member whispered and the ground beneath them collapsed together with him who exhausted all his chakra for the technique.
Itachi and Shisui who were slightly farther, right outside of the technique's range cursed. That bastard was going to drag Naruto with him! He was their target since the beginning! "You bastard!" Shisui cursed, "Itachi!"
Itachi didn't need to be told as he pulled a long ninja wire with a kunai tied on the end, then he threw it in Naruto's direction. Naruto was about to grab the kunai handle but the wire was swiftly cut by a small bird made of ink. Itachi's eyes widened, "Naruto-kun!"
His clones dispelled one by one, Naruto had no choice but to jump using his Hikou no Fuuin. There was a risk of getting blown away but he could worry about that later. He jumped high in the air and barely missed the ROOT brothers who flew on his left, "Eh? What are you…?" Naruto didn't have time to defend himself when Sai suddenly splashed him with ink. "What the?!" Naruto yelped when the ink suddenly came alive and tried to strangle him with their snake like body.
"Ninpou: Sumi Nagashi (Ink splash)" Sai whispered.
Naruto found himself suspended in the midair, bound by Sai's snake ink that connected to his inkwell. "Let me go, you… "
The boy beside Sai grinned under his mask, "Don't trash around so much, Sai's Sumi Nagashi is not going to break with brute strength."
Naruto scowled at that as he tried to rip off the ink snake that restrained his leg, surprisingly it could stretch like rubber and when he snapped the ink snake they easily reformed around the him, making struggling pointless. "Ugh!"
Itachi and Shisui gritted their teeth as they watched Naruto being carried away by them, Shisui formed a dragon seal. "Shisui! If you attack them you'll harm Naruto too!" Itachi warned.
Shisui scowled, "Shit." The ROOT members they fought had fled, Danzou didn't want anything to do with them it seemed.
Shin looked down at the blond boy struggled and had to say he was impressed a boy that was even younger than Sai could rip it off in the first place. He had seen adult Shinobi didn't even able to pull it off. "Wow…"
"As expected of an Uzumaki, they have brute strength." Sai commented in solemn tone.
Naruto glared at the two brothers, "You're going to carry me like this to your leader?" Dangling thirty feet in the air like a fish caught in net?
Sai nodded, "We were told you're some sort of prince in The Tower, my apologies if the ride is uncomfortable." He said in sardonic tone.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, he noted Itachi and Shisui were following them closely on the ground and they were moving deeper to the canyon. ROOT had a hideout somewhere around here perhaps? "What do you want from me anyway?" Naruto wondered out loud, crossing his arms as if it was a sign he gave up struggling.
"Sorry I can't tell you." It seemed the older brother was chattier than the younger, Naruto noted. They weren't as bad as Hakurei said, even though he couldn't see their faces Naruto could see they still have feelings unlike the full-pledged members of ROOT. They probably had no idea what Danzou had in store for them in a few years, or maybe even months. But like any member of ROOT, they were obedient to Danzou.
"Just stay still Uzumaki." The younger boy intoned. "And nii-san, stop talking with our target."
"Sorry." Shin muttered in sheepish tone.
Naruto sighed, it seemed he wouldn't get anything out of them for sure. "You know what? Your apology for this uncomfortable ride is accepted." Naruto said in genial tone. "But..."
The brothers blinked at that, confused at how their prisoner acted. "What?"
Naruto smiled at them, one that caught them off guard. "Why don't you have a taste of your own medicine?" Naruto asked with a smile.
Seiyaku no Kusari! (Chains of pledge)
Chains sprouted from Naruto's back and shot towards Shin and Sai. Sai and his brother couldn't move as the chain wrapped around their legs, torso and neck and the bird they rode stopped midflight. "Ugh!"
The jinchuuriki sighed, "Now you know how unpleasant my position is, now… Let me go!" He ordered coldly as the chain tightened its hold on Sai, and the ink user winced. He was not going to hurt them, just scare them a little, and force Sai to take them back to the ground. Other ROOT members probably were waiting for them, they probably thought their precious cargo would have been transported safely. Not his original plan but it would do.
"No." Sai muttered stubbornly.
"That was not a request." Naruto hissed threateningly as the tip of his chain traveled up and tapped their masks. "Let me go or else." Unlike his mother's chain, the tip of his chain was not shaped like blade of kunai but tomoe like Uchiha's sharingan. He at first wondered why it shaped that way, but that probably the only thing that differed his chain from his mother's. It was sharp enough to pierce human's flesh however.
This time Sai didn't bother to dignify him with an answer. Naruto narrowed his eyes, it seemed they didn't believe he would carry out his threat. Did he really have to injure them? Shin gasped when the tomoe shaped blade pierced and shattered their masks. He could be careless of his but he saw that sharp blade of chakra was just a hair breath from Sai's forehead, and there was a thin trail of blood on Sai's face.
Shin glared at Naruto murderously, "You!"
"I am serious." Naruto gritted out, "Unlike your brother who could only restrain me with his technique, my chains on the other hand could really kill you…" He muttered to the grey haired boy. "And I am pretty sure your master wants me alive, so you can't kill me."
His breath hitched when he saw the tomoe blades were on their neck, but it was Sai who he was worried about. "Let my brother go!" He snapped.
"If he lets me go first." Naruto snapped back. He had no intention to harm them, but he couldn't let himself be captured by Danzou.
Itachi and Shisui watched the three arguing Shinobi in horror, at some point Sai's ink bird had descend to a much lower altitude. In fact Naruto and his capturers were below them now, and under them was a ravine. They didn't worry much about falling, that ROOT boy could fly with his ink animals and Naruto had his chains.
"What should we do?" Shisui asked worriedly.
Itachi narrowed his eyes then pointed at another chain of Naruto that sneakily reached out to their direction. "We're going to…" His eyes widened when he spotted a ROOT member watching the same scene from the cliff across theirs.
"Futon!"
Itachi hissed, "Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
At that moment Itachi desperately wished he had been a wind natured Shinobi instead of fire, because even though his fireball hit the wind user ANBU who had no means to defend from the fire elemental attack, the wind elemental attack was faster than his and unleashed upon the three defenseless Shinobi.
Naruto's eyes widened when his attention was drawn by what happened above them, Itachi unleashed a fireball at someone who unleashed a Futon: Daitoppa (great breakthrough) at their direction. At this distance they were going to be blown away to who knows where!
"Naruto-kun!" Itachi yelled as he and Shisui walked down the cliff to help their friend.
"UWAAA!"
But Naruto was already hit by the wind elemental attack with full force, along with Sai and Shin whose ride dispersed in ink by the attack. The gust was so strong that Itachi and Shisui was almost blown away if not for their quick wit to hide behind a large rock to protect themselves from the gust. The moment the attack subsided they found no trace of Naruto or the ROOT brothers.
Itachi and Shisui looked around in faint hope that Naruto managed to use his chains to save himself, but it seemed that Naruto was totally caught off guard by that wind elemental attack. Itachi clenched his fist, his blunt nail dug to his palm to the point it drew blood. "Let's go find Naruto." He drawled to Shisui who looked equally furious. "I doubt they want him dead, they were this careless probably because they want to bet on his jinchuuriki's regenerative ability…"
Shisui gritted his teeth, "So what if he is a jinchuuriki? They think he didn't feel pain if he is hurt? And what of the two kids they blew away with him?"
Itachi narrowed his eyes; sharingan came to life as its tomoes spun. "I doubt they cared…" Itachi hissed in anger, "And after I am done with them, emotionless or not I will make them regret this…" No one should dare touch his friend, his brother. No one!
Had Itachi seen his reflection on the water puddle nearby he would have noticed that his eyes had gained their third tomoes. But at this point he didn't care, his friend was in danger.
He he... bet you didn't expect Sai and Shin LOL, I already planned for them to appear sometime soon...
As for Naruto's chain, the tip is shaped like tomoe is more or less... because he is one fourth Uchiha even though he didn't have sharingan.As for fight scene with ROOT, sorry it kind of rushed and I am sure you're disappointed that Naruto just throwing seals around. In case you forget, this is ROOT Naruto faced, they're stronger and more skilled... Naruto pretty much throw as much as destruction he could to avoid direct confrontation. This is another fight he is not ready for... but don't worry in next chapter he will be in ready or else situation. It's getting bloody soon...
Spoiler from manga: As revealed in manga recently how sharingan activated and why they're cursed, at this point Naruto and his friends is trying to find out about this. It's funny that Tobirama and Hashirama, Senjus know what's going on Uchiha's head while the clan itself seems to be oblivious of it.
In case anyone forgot, Butsuma is Senju brother's dad.
BTW the bullying mentality problem is inspired by Lucilia's Corrupted, a short yet awesome fic about how parents drive their children to the wrong path. ^^
Some reviewers express how Naruto just couldn't hate Konoha and so on, believe me... Naruto repeatedly say he is no saint. He just have 'better' things to do and move on with his life. If you ask him about revenge to idiot villagers he will say something along this line "Sorry, I am busy with my life too much to care about them."