A/N:
Hello everyone, it's Update Day, kinda. Still looking for an editor or two to help me with my stories. It would be great to be able to bump ideas back and forth too. If you are interested reach out via pm, please.
Next, I would like to address one of the reviews here. The major point of this review was the "missing depth" of most characters in this story. Have to say that I acknowledge and partially agree that this is a thing. I made many mistakes in this story, as you would expect from one writing his first story. I failed to track some developments and was afraid to rip open some plotholes later.
Will I address this issue in this story? I don't know. Maybe. Will I address this in future stories? You can be sure of that, that I will try. The next story in the Naruto verse has already surpassed the note quality and I try myself at some finer character development between different characters. Now enough said and have fun with the unedited chapter!
Naruto was still talking with his new 'friend' inside of his mindscape that was currently empty of Kurama. Since he had created the Biju Scape it was common for him to relax in there. The Uzumaki was still waiting for his answer. But he did not need to wait long as the person took his hood back. Unveiling a fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair that had a blue tint to it and was tied in a ponytail. His bangs parted down the center of his face to frame both sides of it. He really looked like a sibling of Sasuke if you would ask Naruto. More so than Itachi to be honest. "Well young Uzumaki, my name is Izuna Uchiha. Brother of Madara Uchiha and son of Tajima Uchiha."
Naruto blinked twice, his Rinnegan showed him that this was the truth but he needed to make sure so he let his eyes switch back to the Mangekyou form only to be greeted by another Mangekyou pattern. "I thought Madara took your eyes?" It was the first thing coming to Naruto's mind. He changed this part of his scape as the ground resembled Tatami mats with a low table and some tea. With a gesture, he invited Izuna to sit and so did he.
"And I thought you are an Uzumaki and you have the eyes of the sage. Thanks for the tea by the way." He said as Naruto used the can to fill both of their cups. "I heard about this story from Sasuke. It is a false assumption that had endured time mostly because they wanted to make my brother look evil after he had managed to uncover the reason why most of our clansmen had this illness when they used the wrong way to develop their eyes. I have the feeling you know about that already right?" He sipped some of the tea while Naruto answered with a small nod. "Good, well Madara took father's eyes after he was killed by a Senju. At this point, the conflict between the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan was at an all-time high. Shortly after I had fallen ill with a disease. My time was coming to an end and my reflexes were much slower than usual so at the moment Tobirama hit me I knew my time was coming to an end."
Naruto followed Izunas explanation with high attention sitting calmly opposite of him at the table. Joining him in drinking the tea. Most of those things are kind of new.
"So, as my father and the elders stated that all fully matured Sharingan are to be conserved to grant the clan strength even after one passing I knew that my eyes would also be conserved. There is a secret technique to impart parts of you in your eyes. So I did just that. Your friend got those eyes transplanted after his capture because this snake man wanted to have the perfect eyes." Izuna said with a calm smile.
Naruto smirked. "Good idea with the impartation thing, we developed something similar but different. Do you mind me asking how you were able to teach Sasuke the sage arts to the degree he could overcome Orochimaru?"
Izuna put his cup down. "You use seals for that right?" On Naruto's nod, he gave one of his own. "Yeah, the Uzumaki had always a knack for this art." After a short break for him to sort his words, he answered Naruto's question. "I was an eagle summoner, and as I could not match my brother's brute strength and prowess I looked for an equalizer so I asked my summons and started training. One I never finished but it was enough to teach young Sasuke the basics to safely draw some of the chakra to work on freeing him from the seal."
"Ahh, that makes sense yes. You stated that Senjua and Uchiha always clashed. Why did Madara and Hashirama finally build a village together? I can't seem to wrap my head around that." Naruto said.
"Ahh yes, one of the more controversial topics. As I was about to day my brother came to me and told me that he had used our father's eyes to gain the ultimate power of the Uchiha so he could destroy the Senju. Some of our Clan had already deserted to the Senju at this time and he sounded desperate. Here, I may need to note that my brother was one thing but desperate. He never was desperate. It was a concept he despised" Izuna took a deep calming breath. "He always tried different strategies and one day we talked about our nindo and he said he would never give up to fight for his family."
Naruto looked surprised about this. "Who would have thought that my nindo and his somehow are connected."
Izuna chuckled. "Curious isn't it? But what is even more curious is that Hashirama was of a similar mindset. After my brother and Hashirama, gained the leadership role of our respective clans, I thought everything could be worked out." He stopped and shook his head in sorrow. "One day though my brother changed his vision for peace was replaced by something else. He wanted control and superiority of the Uchiha over everyone else. I wanted to look at him through my eyes but my illness had advanced enough already and prevented my chakra from managing to enter the Mangekyou state."
Naruto caught up and his eyes got wide. "You mean to tell me that Madara was somehow changed in a Genjutsu or something? The ultimate master of the Uchiha Arts Madara?"
Izuna nodded slowly. "I am not sure about the Genjutsu part." He took a sip of tea before he continued. "But, he was changed in a way that I could not recognize my brother anymore. From Sasuke's memories, I learned what happened after his death and how the Senju and even my clan portrayed him. That wasn't my brother anymore. I can somehow understand that my death may caused him to change and get bitter, but the rest I can't really see him doing."
"I had my assumptions. After I found out that the Uchiha stone tablet had been altered and deviated from the legend of the Uzumaki, I thought that someone behind the scenes was influencing the descendants of the sage. This in turn means that the war that is currently taking place could be another one of those attempts to steer history in the nations in such a way that a state of affairs is created that is conducive to this phenomenon."
Naruto told Izuna.
Getting thoughtful for a moment before he gave his approval. "Figures that if you want to take over this world you would need to deal with those that have the most potential to stop you. Don't get me wrong other villages and clans, as far as I could learn from your friend, developed strong bloodlines. Some rivaling ours or the Senju in strength or potential. In the end, though they did not reach our heights. I am referring to the time shortly after the warring states. Now, most shinobi got lazy." At that moment Izuna started to fade. "It looks like my time has come. Look after your friend this ordeal took much out of him. Tell the world about the true Madara please." With his last words spoken Izuna dispersed into small particles before he vanished completely and Naruto found himself with open eyes in front of a groaning Sasuke. Quickly he activated his Rinnegan again and looked for the damage. What he saw shocked him.
"Well, teme you look like shit. Your network is all over the place and most points are inflamed. No chakra for you in the foreseeable future" Naruto said still trying to digest the information Izuna had given him.
Sasuke only groaned before he was joined by Itachi and Shisui who both took off their masks. He took a step back. "You, you are here?"
Itachi nodded and had a small smile on his face before he looked at Naruto. "I think it will be the best for us to take him and the freed prisoners back home. I would say that Hatsumi wants to see him too."
"Yes, yes I think it is time Itachi. Out of the shadows… into the light" Naruto said calmly as his Rinnegan faded again and his normal eyes looked at the shocked Itachi and Shisui. But both used a half ram and shortly after their forehead protectors showed a new insignia. It had a resemblance to the Land of the Ancestors Insignia that could only be found in history scrolls of old at the moment. On their uniforms, The insignia was joined by the Uchiha and Uzumaki Clan symbols. Naruto looked at Sasuke. "They will explain later." Naruto then looked back to the two Uchiha Icons. "We will hunt for the person responsible. Time to stop being prey and be the predator instead. Rest and gear up we will meet in Konoha. In 24 hours. We will move in hot I suppose and I will provide clones for transport. Now. Go."
Both nodded and before Sasuke could work the situation out they took him away with the Shunshin Jutsu. The rain stopped at the moment they arrived in the makeshift camp. Just a moment later one woman hugged Shisui so strong they fell to the ground with her straddling the Uchiha. She showered him with kisses. "Thank you Thank you!" Sasuke and Itachi could only blink at the scene. Shisui managed to recognize the woman.
"Guren. Right? Whatever I did you are welcome. If I get this kind of welcome every time you can be sure I have no problem helping you with more things." He only half-joked. Guren noticed her predicament and blushed before she stood up slowly, joined by Shisui.
"Yes, well, thank you for saving Yukimaru. I made a promise once to protect him and I thought I broke it." Guren said while looking at the ground for a moment before she looked back. The other escapees had gathered at the arrival of the three Uchiha.
Itachi looked at Shisui before he addressed everyone. "I will summon a summoning circle to get us out of here. If there are shinobi with you and you could help channeling some chakra into the formula it would be greatly appreciated." He unsealed a sealing scroll. Putting the scroll down he pushed some chakra into it. Rapidly Fuin Formula spread from the scroll to the ground and formed a big swirl. "Prepare now…" He said as he and Shisui began to channel chakra into the swirl that covered everyone. With a thundering groll and a bright yellow flash, they disappeared leaving only a burnt swirl in the ground back.
Just one minute later they arrived in a big open space in a more humid climate. Slat was in the air and in the distance you could hear breaking waves. Itachi and Shisui had fallen to one knee before they popped a chakra pill. Good thing they had some chakra stored or that would have exhausted them.
"Sasuke" a voice sounded and a moment later Hatsumi enveloped Sasuke in a motherly warm hug. Sasuke had no choice but to accept it and it felt right too. He knew the woman, she had been very nice after the supposed uprising of the Uchiha and everything. Hatsumi took in the appearance of Itachi and Shisui before she nodded. Her features changed after she concentrated a bit. There she stood Mikoto Uchiha-Uzumaki.
"What… How?" Sasuke asked in complete confusion. Itachi, Shisui, and some other arriving shinobi in the meantime helped with the former prisoners of Orochimaru.
"I have so many things to tell you, son," Mikoto said her eyes crying. "I will explain but I need to bring you to the hospital first." Without further ado, she had him in her arms and jumped to the hospital.
Kabuto Yakushi was a man on a mission. That Uzumaki brat and the two others had killed his master. The person he adored and wanted the approval of. He even had prepared his body to be the perfect host. But, that was all for nothing now. Orochimaru was dead and somehow even the marks had gone dark. He already had tried to resurrect him but the coffin would not open. The only possible way was if the Shinigami had him in his belly. Even worse. He had needed some hours in the caves of the snake clan before he was able to use the shedding Jutsu his master created to restore his body to its full capacity. After that, he made his way to the origin of his master blight. The village hidden in the leaves. He stood on a high ground and looked at the masses of forces that besieged the village. As he was about to leave them to their a swirling noise was in the air and a masked person in the Akatsuki cloak appeared. He turned ready to strike only for his hand to pass right through the person.
"Ahh. No need for violence Yakushi-san. I came here with an offer." The person spoke with a chuckle in his voice, as his face was hidden behind the mask.
"An offer? What kind of offer?" Kabuto answered still alert and ready to defend himself or reverse summon himself.
"You see. While our forces will emerge victorious over time I want to avoid a hiccup if reinforcements arrive. From a mutual friend, I know you may know the Resurrection Jutsu your master stole from the tree huggers. How about a helping hand to speed things up and I will give you something of your master." He said as he pulled out Orochimaru's Akatsuki Ring. "Maybe you could use this to get him back?" He said with a knowing hint in his voice.
Kabuto looked at the ring before he looked back. "What do you want?" He said as he took out a scroll.
"Maybe an explosion? I can provide the sacrifice needed," he said as a white Zetsu appeared by his side. "Just some shocker to throw them off balance." He added with unhidden glee.
Kabuto looked at him and the Zetsu with a curious expression before he opened the scroll. "Well let us have a look at what I can do for you."
Unknown to Konoahs defenders the tide of the battle is about to turn. They had managed to mostly push the attackers back out of their walls. The sensor unit felt a chakra spike and informed Tsuande who gave immediate orders and activated her seal just at the same moment as a see-through crystal-like thing was getting bigger in bigger in the village.
Most ninja used their Shunshin to move but not all would be far enough away as an earth-shattering explosion erased the central of the village out of existence. Followed by a big shockwave that pushed even more rubble against the walls. And just in this one second, the former proud village was mostly destroyed by one devastating attack.
Back upon the high ground, Kabuto resealed the Nidame Tsuchikage in his coffin, and with a raised brow and open hand with its palm up he looked at the masked men. The man nodded. "Very well done. How about some talks about further partnership" he said while he gave him the ring.
"I am interested." was the answer of the former right-hand man of Orochimaru before the masked man whisked them both away.
As the dust settled a small group could be seen on the top of the Hokage mountain. Hiruzen and Tsuande were both exhausted beyond the point some rest would deal with it. They had used their Jutsu to safeguard most of the people who had fallen back to the retreat point. A Toad appeared and spit out even more rescued people.
Hiruzens voice was hoarse as he looked at his still-standing student. "Jiraiya. That was… Dust Release. With the short amount of time we had. It can only be Lord Muu who could have managed to evade detection." He ended with a meaningful look.
Jiraiya checked on a panting Tsunade who laid on her back as he caught his Senseis expression. "A resurrection. Then. Which means!?" The expression of the toad sage got grim. As Sakura and Hinata joined them. Sakura quickly knelt beside Tsunade to deal with some of her exhaustion as Hinata looked after the other that had taken the toad express to safety. The defenders of Konoha took a look at the place where the village had stood before. No stone or tree looked like it was in the same place.
Hiruzen crumbled to the floor, Enma had de - summoned himself some time ago and the Sandaime looked into the sky as the sun was going down. "Konoha" he coughed "will always stand as long as their people…live" he coughed again. "Buildings can be rebuilt. As long as our fire burns…" With a last cough, he stilled and Hinata rushed to his side ignoring Jiraiya's scream.
The Hyuuga made some quick work. Diagnosing. "Severe chakra exhaustion. He fell into a coma. Sakura I need you here" As She had stabilized Tsunade already Sakura got to Hinata's side and both young women worked on stabilizing the former Kage. After a nerve-wracking minute, both nodded at each other. "Stable." The Hyuuga announced before she was interrupted by arriving Anbu.
The Anbu looked at Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sama what are your next orders? How should we move on?" The overwhelmed Sannin looked into the faces of the many defenders who were still standing. Some of them did not make it out of the village before the jutsu detonated. He briefly looked to Tsunade for help. However, she had also fainted. The two Kage had tried to protect as many as possible and had worn themselves out in the process.
His voice was not nearly as firm as he had hoped. "We must search for survivors. The enemy doesn't know where we are yet, you've thinned out well enough for that in the last few days. We have to consolidate our position here and hold out."
The Anbu nodded and passed on the orders when a ninja in a chunin jacket called out. "But how long should we hold out?"
Jiraiya looked briefly at the still body of his sensei, who was still being watched by the two young women. "As long as our fire is still burning!"
Moments before Naruto sat together with the Uchihas at a Ramen stand. Sasuke still looked a bit pensive. His mother had explained to him why she had to go undercover. The plot they had uncovered. While he understood that they had done all the things for the family to survive in the end, the fact that he was not included hurt him. His time in captivity had let him mature quite a bit. Now he could understand such ideas and not feel completely abandoned. He would need more time to come to terms with everything. Good thing, that his chakra system needed time to recover so he had a good way of doing both things at the same time.
Naruto observes Sasuke and he has to say his former teammate has changed quite a bit. Usually, he would have already verbally proclaimed that he would challenge him or that he was much stronger now. What he had witnessed was a much more focused Uchiha. As he slurped his last noodle of the bowl he smiled at the assembled people. "I love the ramen after a big fight. We have Sasuke back and one Snake less."
Sasuke spoke up next. "I tried to summon the snake contract scroll. Your healer said I could try small Jutsus again and try to get my system back in shape" He looked at a worried Naruto before he continued. "Call me overly cautious if you want but I was allowed to sign the contract after Kabuto as preparation for Orochimaru to take my body over. Summon the Guardian of the scroll is no big deal. If you are the primary holder that is. I know that Anko should have primacy but she got mostly struck out of the contract and can only have some snakes. Kabuto and I have the full contract. As this body has reached sagehood, well, and me too even if it is not completely mastered, Kabuto can't strike me out. Even if Manda kind of hates my guts I would say. The great white snake sage is a bit higher up the food chain." He took a calming breath. "As I said, I tried to summon the contract, but I could not. The only situation that would happen is if Kabuto is still breathing"
That let the other pause and Shisui looked at Itachi who sighed. "I had detected no vitals as I planted the last bomb. He must have faked it." He let his head hang a bit. He had to look up though as his little brother poked him in the forehead.
"Quit being so glum. Even my perfect big brother is sometimes just a human being." Itachi looked at Sasuke who had a small smile on his face. "Give me some time and I will wipe him out of existence and clean up after you" The young Uchiha joked. That had all of them pause for a moment. Seconds later all of them joined in the chuckles. Everything looked fine as soon as Naruto stopped chuckling. He had closed his eyes his eyebrows and forehead creased. The others only noticed the change in his manner after a few moments. They stopped immediately and waited until Naruto opened his eyes again. Mikoto was the first to say something again.
"Naruto? Are you all right? Is it one of your clones?" She looked genuinely worried. Normally, the memories of his shadow doppelgangers didn't bother him much anymore. He had spent too much time supporting his training with them in recent years for that. Whatever Naruto had seen had an unprecedented effect on him.
Naruto opened his eyes and his Mangekyou turned menacingly. The voice that came was unnaturally calm, contrary to the killing intent he radiated. "Itachi, Shisui. Prepare and equip yourselves, depart in ten minutes. We will break the siege around Konoha. I'm tired of many people suffering because some think they have to try to impose their will. Hatsu... Mikoto-chan, Sasuke we'll talk when I get back. Give my regards to Karin and Tayuya." With those words, he paid for his food and disappeared in a flash of yellow.
Sasuke looked at his mother. "Why do I have the feeling that the person responsible for whatever happened should be afraid?"
Mikoto was finishing her portion of ramen and looked at her son with an almost proud expression on her face. "Because you know Naruto well and have learned a lot while you were a prisoner in your own body, Sasuke."
Konoha's troops were divided and morale was at an all-time low. The veterans were busy keeping the attackers away from the village ruins. In these ruins, the others searched for survivors, but mostly they only found dead comrades. An explosion from the city wall made the group of searchers look up.
Kakashi landed near them and almost lied with a series of finger signs before a wall of earth shot out of the ground shortly afterward. The wall itself broke the shockwave that usually caught the group by surprise. Kakashi turned to the group. "Fall back, the enemy has deployed a whole army of various nuke-nin. Our troops can't do anything against them at the moment and you are almost defenseless."
The wall was just about to collapse and Kakashi was about to reinforce it to cover the retreat when the pressure suddenly eased. Both the attackers and the defenders were astonished. Three huge warriors stood in the middle. One was green, the other orange, and the last was golden in color. Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw one of the strongest Uchiha techniques three times. Three almost perfect-looking Susanno. The golden one also wore a fox mask. No one had to wait long as Naruto's voice echoed across the battlefield. "General, you have five seconds to recall your troops before we wipe out every last one of them."
Said General looking at the three warriors from his observing point. Those ninjas and their techniques. He leaned to his officer. "Get me my army down there." So, four seconds later he looked at the three imposing avatars made out of chakra. "Who are you? You are interfering in the business of the fire nation." he used his most imposing tone.
Naruto looked left and right his voice still loud enough for anyone to hear. "Itachi, Shisui. Maybe we need to introduce ourselves first." Three things happened at the same time the orange avatar of Itachi pulled out something like a sake jar. Pulling out a chakra blade. Without any further ado, the orange blade impaled some shinobi that should be dead already. The general could only watch as those people got sucked into the sake jar. He just had enough time to witness the green avatars shrinking down before they appeared all around the battlefield cutting down enemies that wanted to strike out at defenders leaving a greenish blur of afterimages behind. As the general looked back, orange and green stood there back to back casually standing around as parts of his army crumbled to the floor, dead.
With only one person left he noticed that the golden apparition had wings that looked like they were made out of fire. Naruto looked at where most of the army was situated before he rushed through some hand seals. "Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan" Thousands of trees grew out of nowhere. Naruto noticed something in the chakra around him. The heightened senses of his sage mode paired with the Mokuton element all around him had also quite the connection to his enemies he had not thought possible. "Curious. Well General, let us have a look at your army after this." He just used the snake seal and stamped the ground while saying. "Mokuton: Kajukai Kōrin" Branches reached out to the nearest enemy and restrained them. Right after that most of the samurai got absorbed into the tree that bound them. Right before several flowers began to bloom and emit pollen. All of those that were not absorbed and sucked into the trees and were not killed by Shisui or Itachi fell unconscious.
"You asked who I am?" Naruto said while his golden chakra disappeared and he graciously landed right in front of the General who could not believe what he had witnessed.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, a friend of Kurama of the nine Tails, Follower of Ninshu, Rightful Leader of Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan, and former Konoha Shinobi." He was joined by Itachi and Shisui and in the Background Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Hinata moved closer.
"Let me help you understand," Naruto said before his eyes moved into his Rinnegan pattern. Chain fixed the General in his place, Naruto placed his palm on the General's head. Closing his eyes.
For the General, it was like he was watching his memories on a TV. Things seemed a little bit different though. The conversations he had with Shimada were slightly different. He watched like he was a bystander. Now he was able to notice as he had said things that, well, he would have said in the situation till something flashed in Shimada's eyes and he repeated what Shimada said like a robot. "Ahh, this Shimada looks like trouble." Naruto's voice could be heard as the scene switched to Kabuto summoning the second Tsuchikage. "Well, I knew that but this is quite troublesome, and so wrong. The dead should be left alone." Naruto said again as the General watched before he found himself looking back into those purple eyes with the cryptic signs and the seven circles.
"What, What did you do to me?" The General asked as he felt different. Lighter, and not constricted as much. His brain recognized many things in an instant. His army was beaten. The fire nation was beaten. Why did they ever attack their own people? What had Konoha done?
"Ohh, I just canceled all this programming this Shimada did on you. Quite the high-quality work if you ask me. Itachi, Shisui a moment of your time please." He said as he turned to the two others. Now the General was even more confused as they looked each other in the eyes for 5 seconds. Those three people alone could wipe out whole armies as they kind of showed in the last moments. Shortly after they broke their eye contact Killing intent brought nearly everyone standing to the ground as Itachi and Shisui needed some seconds to get their emotions back in check.
Moments before in the Tsukoyomi Itachi initiated Naruto just finished showing them the Generals memories. Itachi looked thoughtful at the same time Shisui spoke up. "I agree with you Naruto it looks quite like Uchiha Sharingan Jutsu. At the same time, it doesn't look like the Style of our missing Uchiha."
Naruto nodded. "Another transplant then. Just remind me that if we find the Uchiha collection of eyes you usually store in the Naka Shrine if will seal them in a blood seal scroll and add a Guardian of some kind to it. Traditions are good and all that but we may have given our enemies too much ammunition."
"You are quite right and I think that we can appreciate some more safeguards if we ever get them back." Shisui agreed. "Which leads me to my next Question who is this person?"
"Danzo." Itachi spat out. The two others looked at him. Naruto looked quite puzzled but Shisui started to think. "The only one outside of the clan not counting you, Naruto, who would have enough knowledge of our techniques and is crafty enough to pull it off would be Danzo Shimura." The Uchiha spoke much more calmly this time.
"That complete bastard," Shisui spoke up. "The only set of eyes capable of doing something, without rigorous training to master the techniques you are not gifted with are those of my father. They have a slightly weaker version of my Kotoamatsukami imprinted." It was easy to see that Shisui was very close to breaking out of the Jutsu by force just to go on a hunt. He was stopped as Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and he looked into his Rinnegan.
"I can understand you." He began. "The both of you that is." He looked at them equally for a moment before he created a map of the elemental nations just by using his powers. "I have the feeling that the both of you want to hunt for him by yourself." He had to give them a small smile as they nodded on his question. "Well, that leaves me with helping those that are besieged. After that, I would move to the next phase of my Biju plans. I would sleep much more calmly with the nine of them free and secure."
Itachi nodded once before he pulled out a Kunai. "Shisui." He said as the other looked shocked for a moment before he stepped to Itachi's side. Itachi started making a cut into his palm before Shisui followed doing the same. Both let the blood drop freely to the grass in the Tsukoyomi world. "To fan the flames of Revenge…" Itachi started.
"Till those who wronged us are no more," Shisui answered with a serious calm that Naruto found some kind of troubling, as he was a very aloof person to be around. The words do not have much room to be interpreted. The two Uchiha had sworn to kill anyone who was responsible for the deaths of their clan. To be around as a ninja clan as the Uchiha used those sacred words to invoke the rite of Kataki-Uchi, the blood revenge on another party was unheard of.
"You sure about this guys? I can understand and am honored to stand witness but that is a commitment on a whole different level." He said looking at the both of them with a mixture of respect and restrained curiosity.
The cut had healed as Itachi fixed his eyes on Naruto. "My mother joined your clan to gain the skills and protection she needed. My clan was cursed from the time of the warring states. We must change and the change will start with the death of those who are responsible for our blight. First and foremost Danzo and the person who killed your parents. Till we have the one person who manipulated Senju and Uchiha."
"Good. Danzo will be yours to deal with as far as I am concerned. The rest we will see. Let's get back to the General you should prepare yourselves back home shortly after."
Back with the General Naruto waited a moment before the General got back up to his feet after the killing intent had driven him to his knees. The warrior looked at Naruto with fear as his eyes shortly wandered to the two Uchiha. "Uzumaki-dono. I. I can't say how grateful I am for you to show me the way of my misgivings. And also" He looked at the part of the army that remained. "That you managed to spare the men that were usually in the forces. The mercenaries Shimada brought somehow only left their armor and weapons behind after you dealt with them."
"Well, those mercenaries are nothing more than a perverse chakra clone based on the Jutsu Hashirama Senjua made famous in modern times," Naruto responded calmly before he stood still for a moment.
Meanwhile in Kumogakure's Reserve camp
Bee and Yugito sat around one of the many fireplaces. Both looked like they were exhausted. Yugito's braid was loose and single strands had fallen out. Bee's clothes had dirt and blood on them and his swords looked damaged and dull. It was unusually quiet around the two jinchurikii of Kumo. Bee not even had tried to rap. Both were deep in thought at the moment. The siege had taken up weeks now. In the beginning, it was quite easy. The location of the village made it difficult to attack them directly. But, you won't need to if you know what is important to the village. The whole location made many things easier, like training or defending. Growing plants and providing for its inhabitants was much more difficult. So the enemy started to attack the caravans that had food for the village while sometimes attacking the village instead. It was a war of attrition nothing more. But to be on active duty for 5 days straight would even exhaust Jinchurikii. Even the perfect ones of Kumogakure.
"Hey, you two. You should be at the front." One of the Kumo Counliors said as he saw the two sitting there refilling their reserves. "You should do your part as our Raikage is battling our enemies and we are about to do so too." He said pointing at the battalion he had with him.
Yugitio, whose nerves were not necessarily completely intact after almost a week of getting by on the bare minimum in terms of sleep and food, was about to get up and say something she probably would have regretted when Bee's deep voice beat her to it.
"Councilor, how many of our troops are we on our allotted break? Of course, we'll rejoin the troops immediately afterward."
"Hah. But you are not normal troops, you are Kumo's weapons. Which we turn on our enemies as we see fit, but it seems you have become dull or why is the enemy not yet defeated?" the man replied with not really concealed dislike. Bee unleashed purposefully while Yugito simply gave free rein to her killing intent. For a moment, it almost looked as if the council member was going to wet his pants before the moment had passed. He spat on the ground in front of their campfire before disappearing with his men.
"We should have listened to Naruto..." Yugito said after the people had left she was sure that they were alone. "While there are some who are grateful for our efforts, there are plenty of the kind who had just shown us his love."
Bee looked at his partner before he looked at the ground again and continued to eat his food. For moments they ate in silence before he stood up and took his last working sword. "Let's go." He said, before using a Shunshin to rejoin the defense efforts Yugito was hot on his heels.
They battled for an hour as Bee slowly seemed to forget his gloomy mood and started rapping again. Much to Yugito's displeasure she had chastised him again and again. This time though she noticed that Bee was still working out the issues he had with their last conversation. Matatabi told her that he and the eight-tails seemed to be locked in a mental conversation too. Maybe that was the reason Bee did not notice one of the enemies creep up on him. The thrust of the sword would be deadly even for a Jinchuriki. Yugito had always seen Bee as an annoying older brother and in doing so the Raikage A, as a surrogate father figure. While the last hours had shaken her loyalty to her village in their foundations her loyalty to her family was still unbroken. Using a Shunshin to intercept the Blade. She heard two things at the same time as she opened her eyes again a squishing sound and Matatabis loud scream of NO!