Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Jutsu: Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Talking: "Hey there"
Thinking/Flashback: "Huh, that happened"
Tailed Beast Talking: "How dare you!"
Tailed Beast Thinking: "Woah he's stronger than I thought"
A/N: Geez, just barely managed to upload this on the last day of the month, but I had to keep my 'one upload a month' streak alive lol.
Same warnings as last chapter.
Hope you enjoy!
-Uchiha Clan Graveyard-
Naruto, now fourteen with his hair grown longer to the point it now reaches the middle of his back, looks down at the gravestone in front of him, his gold-slitted eyes, staring unblinkingly at the name inscribed upon it.
Akane 'Raven' Uchiha.
"I'm sorry for your loss Naruto, she and your father were one of the few humans I ever respected." A deep voice booms from within the young Uchiha's mind in the form of a fox with pitch black fur. This is the yin half of the nine-tailed fox sealed into him when he was just a few months old.(1)
In the past years both he and Naruko met their respective tenants and were able to form a friendship with the two versions of the tailed beast, just as their parents did before them.
"It's okay Kurama, it was just her time to go..."
He knew this day would come since he was eight and had prepared himself for it but that didn't make his mother's passing any easier...
"Be strong and survive my little maelstrom. Your father and I will be watching over you from the Pure Lands. Please make sure not to join us until you're an old man."
The young Uchiha's eyes begin to water and itch as he recalls her last words. "M-mom," he mutters under his breath as tears begin to freely fall, splashing onto the ground. He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, turning around he's met with blue-slitted and inky black ones.
"I'm sorry for your loss Naruto, I'll miss Auntie Raven," says Satsuki as she brings him into a hug while Naruko does the same.
"Yeah, me too. Though she was a crazy ass bird lady who loved to be the most sadistic-"
"Oi idiot, you're supposed to say something to cheer him up!" Satsuki harshly whispers to the blonde girl.
Naruko's face screws up into a scowl, "shut up! It's not like I ever dealt with something like this before!"
"Naruto."
"Yes mom?"
"Make sure to protect those two girls with all your might."
"You mean Satsuki and Naruko? Of course, I will, isn't that a given?"
"Hehe of course, I'm just making sure you know. Those two are going to carry my grandbabies one day~"
"Moooom"
Naruto begins to chuckle as the itching in his eyes intensifies and he unconsciously sends chakra to his optical nerves. He wraps his arms around the two arguing girls making them stop and look at him.
"Naruto you okay?" Naruko asks as she and Satsuki look at him worriedly, though her Uchiha counterpart gasps when she sees Naruto's eyes and the blood running down his cheeks.
Naruto had his sharingan active but instead of the usual three tomoe it now had three thin lines inwardly swirling towards the pupil with three thicker lines behaving in the same manner.(2)
"I promise to protect you two till the end of the world."
Naruko splutters at the confession with a full blush on her whiskered cheeks, "w-what are you saying idiot?! I won't need your protection. I'm already a badass kunoichi!" She then looks away and begins to mutter, "though I wouldn't mind the help..."
Chuckling at Naruko's antics he looks back at Satsuki, who still has a stunned look on her face and raises an eyebrow, "Uh Satsuki? Are you okay?"
"M-mangekyo..."
"Eh?" Naruto touches the wetness he feels on his cheek and sees the blood on his fingertips with confusion.
"Holy crap, your eyes changed Naruto!"
Bringing out a kunai the young Uchiha puts it up to his face so he can see his reflection and what he sees shocks him before he begins chuckling.
"Oh right, your birthday will be soon..."
"Yeah, I'll be turning fourteen."
"I have a birthday present for you...but you'll have to wait till later to get it okay?"
"So, that's what you meant, huh mom?" He then stops channeling chakra to his eyes, letting them fade back into their original gold. "Can I trust you two to keep this a secret until I master it? I know there are those in the village that will do anything to take my eyes."
Naruko and Satsuki both nod and Naruto quickly wipes the blood from his cheeks and deactivates his sharingan. Taking a deep breath, he turns away from his mother's grave, "come on, let's go home."
As the three walk away Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi walk up to them, Mikoto's eyes are puffy and red from crying. Seeing Naruto, she runs up to Naruto and engulfs him into a hug, "if you need anything Naruto you're always welcome in our home."
"I appreciate it Lady Mikoto, but right now I think I'd rather just go home. Can Satsuki come and stay with me and Naruko tonight?"
Nodding with a smile Mikoto wipes her tears and lets go of Naruto as the rest of the head family says their goodbyes. Fugaku pats his back before following his wife to comfort her and Itachi puts a hand on his shoulder with a soft smile then disappears in a body flicker, allowing all of those who attended the funeral, which was mostly the entire clan give their condolences for his loss before they too leave.
The three teenagers are then left alone in the Uchiha cemetery, giving one last prayer over his mother's grave, Naruto walks with his two friends back to his house. Deciding to skip dinner for the night the three head to Naruto's room so they can sleep.
After getting changed into their sleepwear, which is a dark blue nightgown for Satsuki, an oversized orange shirt for Naruko and a pair of black boxers for Naruto the three are now laying in bed with Naruto in the middle, Satsuki to his left and Naruko on his right.
The two girls cuddle into his side, it was nothing new as they've been sharing a bed with since they were ten. But Naruto can't deny the feeling has changed somewhat since they all hit puberty, especially since both Naruko and Satsuki are growing to be very curvy. Even now their budding chests are pushed up against his sides and it takes all his willpower not to react as he closes his eyes to clear his mind.
This night, like others before, will be a long one.
-A Few Hours Later-
Tap tap tap
Naruto's eyes fly open from the noises he hears coming from his window. Glancing over he sees a jet-black raven staring at him from outside.
"Mom's raven?"
Creating a seal-less clone, he performs a quick substitution so the two other occupants of his bed aren't awakened by his leaving. Going up to the window, he opens it and the bird turns around and flies off into the nearby forest.
"Hey, wait!"
Looking back to make sure both Naruko and Satsuki are still asleep he turns back out the window to see the raven waiting for him on a branch. Leaping out the window, he follows after it as it flies off once again.
Naruto follows the bird as it weaves through the trees until it comes to stop in a small clearing, landing right at an opening in the trunk of a tree.
Stopping right at the trunk of the tree, the young Uchiha uses his chakra to walk up the tree and to the opening the bird is at, only to see a single scroll. Raising his eyebrow at this, he reaches in and grabs it before jumping to the ground.
Just before he's about to question it, his mom's raven suddenly lets out a loud squawk and dive bombs him.
Widening his eyes in slight in surprise, Naruto raises his arm in preparation to block the attack but is stunned when the bird seemingly fades into his skin, forming the same tattoo in his forearm he's seen his mother have.
Looking down at the tattoo, he shakes his head before focusing back on the scroll in his hands. "I thought my new eyes were the gift mom was talking about.. Is the real gift in this scroll?" Channeling chakra into it, he's hit with a large puff of smoke and the sound of objects dropping to the floor.
Waving the smoke away with a small wind jutsu, he looks at the ground in disbelief.
"That's...I thought it was lost after he died.." yin Kurama speaks up from within his mind, also in shock.
The item that had both Uchiha and tailed beast speechless was a large black and white gunbai, but not just any gunbai. it was the one that once belonged to Naruto's great-grandfather, Madara Uchiha. Bending over, the young Uchiha gently picks up the white and black war fan. "Mom must've had it hidden somewhere all this time..."
He then looks to the side and sees a katana with a deep black sheathe and hilt that has a circular guard made up of a black ring connected to its core by lines with a border of the same color, which heavily resembles a wagon wheel.
"Mom put her sword in here too..."
Picking up the weapon, he unsheathes it to reveal its pitch-black blade and remembering what she's said about it, he sheathes it and channels a bit of fire-natured chakra, taking the blade out again he sees its edge has gained a bright red color before he does the process again with wind, water, lightning and earth, getting a white, blue, yellow and brown edge respectively.(3)
"Omen. A blade that changes nature attributes as long as you channel the correct chakra into it before unsheathing it. Amazing..." he whispers to himself in awe. With a sword like this even someone with just the basic grasp of wind chakra could cause a tornado with a flick of their wrist or a massive earthquake by stabbing the blade into the ground..
"Naruto, there's another thing your mother left for you. It has to do with your new eyes," the yin half of Kurama says, mentally nudging the young Uchiha to look at the ground to see a vial filled with green liquid. Picking it up, he sees two spherical objects floating within.
"These are..."
"Raven's eyes..." the fox continues for him, "she must have left them so you'd have eternal light."
Looking into the vial he sees a pair of pure red eyes with a circle in the middle and three curved lines extending from its pupil to the edge of the iris.(4)
Gripping the vial, he immediately seals it away into the storage formula on his wrist, making sure none but himself has access to what could arguably be the most important gift his mother could have left for him.
Doing the same with both his mother's sword and his great grandfather's war fan, the young Uchiha turns around and heads back to his home. A new fire burning in his very being.
"I won't let your gifts go to waste mom."
-XXX-
In an underground facility hidden far beneath Konoha, a single eye opens as its owner listens to a report.
"So Akane Uchiha is finally dead."
"Yes Lord Danzo."
"And her eyes?"
"It seems upon death a seal activated and immediately cremated her body."
The old man sucks on his teeth in disappointment and annoyance, "even in death that girl manages to be a thorn in my side." He then looks up at the ceiling of his hideout, "the Uchiha have been more cautious thanks to her but now that she's gone, none shall get in my way."
"Keep watch over the boy and the other weapon."
"Yes sir."
-XXX-
"So, are you two going to finally join the academy this year?"
"Oh, that's right, clan kids have to start attending soon," Naruto hums as he leans back into the tree after he, Naruko and Satsuki finished their morning training session with the two girls leant against his sides. Satsuki on his left while Naruko was on his right.
The Ninja Academy, a place that was used to train Konoha's future ninja and allowed entrance to kids at the age of eight.
Those born from clans weren't required to attend until they reached fourteen to which they had to spend the last four years in the academy as a way to promote comradery with their civilian counterparts though it seemed according to Naruko that the clan heirs are all attending this year. Except for Satsuki of course.(5)
It was only recently after the Third Shinobi World War did the five great villages decided it'd be best to consolidate their forces after a costly war.
"Is it interesting?" Satsuki asks. She, like Naruto, had a private clan tutor to help with their basic education up until now so she was a bit curious how things were in the academy.
"Hell no. That place is boring as hell," Naruko snorts, "I usually end up falling asleep during lessons and beating the tar out of all the other civilians when we spar and the clan heirs ain't much better. It's no fun."
"Oh, so you'd rather get your ass kicked by me or Naruto huh?" the Uchiha heiress responds with a smug smile that only serves to make several tick marks appear on Naruko's forehead.
"Huh?! I know you didn't just say you were kicking my ass when you were just eating dirt a second ago!"
"You just got lucky!"
Naruto chuckles as Naruko and Satsuki begin to butt heads while arguing.
The two of them have had a bit of a rivalry going on since they met, and Naruto would be lying if he said it wasn't entertaining to watch.
"So, what about friends? You got any you hang out with at the academy?" The Uchiha decides to ask, breaking the two girls' building argument.
"Hah, as if!" Satsuki snides with a roll of her eyes, making the blonde shoot her a scathing look.
"As a matter of fact, unlike a certain stuck-up princess, I do have friends," she says with crossed arms and a huff, "one's too shy for her own good, the other talks too much and the last one has a giant forehead."
Naruto sweatdrops at her descriptions.
Naruko always was one to be blunt with how she saw people, even if it got her into trouble. "Okay..what about the class spars? I know you said there was no competition but there should at least be someone with some talent.
"Nah, not really." She then stops to think, "though there is this one weird kid that joined just recently so I've never gotten a chance to fight him but he's always staring at me and gives off a really weird vibe."
"Heh, maybe he has a crush on yo-ow, fuck! You bitch!" Satsuki's taunt was swiftly cut off courtesy of a headbutt sent by Naruko right to the bridge of her nose that quickly started bleeding. And of course, this leads to the two of them fighting again.
Sighing a bit, Naruto stands from his position in the shade, "alright you two, break it up. Satsuki and I got lessons with granny and you gotta go to the academy, Naruko."
Looking up to see how high the sun is in the sky, the blonde curses. She'll just barely have enough time to go back to her apartment and get changed before class. "Aw crap. I really don't want to deal with another one of Iruka-sensei's lectures. See you guys tomorrow!"
Naruko quickly runs off in the direction of her apartment but before she does, she turns around and quickly pecks Naruto's lips with her own, leaving both Uchiha's, Satsuki especially, stunned at her sudden actions. Though her shocked look swiftly turns into annoyance when the blonde turns back when running to stick her tongue out at her.
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this action though it didn't really surprise him. Naruko was always more forward than Satsuki when it came to showing affection but that was the first time she went for his lips.
Satsuki meanwhile, who was much more reserved in comparison, was blushing so hard in both anger and shock that it looked like steam started pouring from her ears as her cheeks puffed out.
Deciding to get back at the blonde for her obvious provocation, Satsuki does the exact same, placing her own lips on her fellow Uchiha's before stomping off to their lessons grumbling the whole time about 'cheap shots' and 'not letting that stupid blonde get ahead'.
Naruto chuckles at this. Even in things beside training the two were determined to not be one-upped by the other.
Not like he minded.
After all, what teenage boy would be upset about two girls kissing him one after another.
A short walk later and the two were now in front of a small house on the bank of the Naka River. Upon knocking on the door, an old woman with long, faded, almost gray, purple hair dressed in typical Uchiha clothes with the addition of an eyepatch over her left eye answers the door and smiles gently when she sees the two.
"Satsuki, Naruto. For a moment I thought you two were about to skip your lessons for today."
"Sorry grandma Naori, we just got a bit caught up in training today," Satsuki says with a bow while still holding a napkin to her bloody nose.(6)
Naori's single eye narrows at the sight before sighing with a shake of her head, "just like your mother.." she mutters under her breath before inviting both of the children inside. "Come. Today's lesson will be over the founding of the village."
-XXX-
"…thus the Senju and the Uchiha, along with the help of the Uzumaki clan, established the Village Hidden in The Leaves. Any questions?" Naori asks as she turns from the board, only to deadpan when she sees Satsuki leaning against Naruto, asleep as he takes notes.
"I guess today's lesson was a bit boring," she murmurs with a twitching eyebrow when she sees a single line of drool come from the young heiress's mouth.
Noticing this, Naruto speaks up to try and defend her while absently running his hand through her hair. "I think she's just tired from our training session today, we did go a bit harder than usual. Then there was that small fight with Naruko she had."
"Ah, the reason for her earlier bloody nose I assume," Naori says with a nod before picking up some chalk and throwing it at speeds only a seasoned ninja could follow.
SMACK!
"Ah!"
She hits her target straight on.
That target being the center of her granddaughter's forehead, leaving an angry red mark as the heiress spills over out of Naruto's lap.
"What the hell…"
Satsuki groans in pain and rubs her forehead, looking around confused until her eyes land on a smiling Naori as the old woman kneels in front of her with a menacing aura, "did you have a nice nap, my cute little granddaughter?"
"U-Uh, well.."
"Mother, I'm here to pick up Satsuki."
The young heiress lets out a big sigh of relief and immediately races toward the door at the sound of her father's voice before running past him completely. "HeydadbyeNarutothanksforthelessonsgrandma!"
She was out the door and away from the house faster than lightning, obviously eager to get away from her grandmother and any punishment the older woman might've rained down on her.
Fugaku watched his daughter speed away with a raised eyebrow before looking back at a sweetly smiling Naori with a sweatdrop, "she fell asleep during lessons again, didn't she?"
The older woman nods, "she sure did, she's just like a certain son of mine when it comes to her education."
A sheepish chuckle was all that could escape Fugaku's mouth as memories of how he acted as a child were brought to the forefront of his mind. Though before he could take a walk down memory lane, he is stopped when he hears Naruto call out to him with his hand outstretched containing the journal he was previously writing in just as his sharingan fade back into his usual gold-colored irises.
"Here you go Lord Fugaku, it's the notes for today so that Satsuki can look over them later."
One of the perks of possessing a sharingan at such a young age was that studying was quite literally the easiest thing he could do. That was why Satsuki was always bored enough to fall asleep during lessons and the fact she knew Naruto would end up writing down anything she missed so she could catch up.
Taking the journal from the young Uchiha, Fugaku smiles and pats his shoulder, "thank you Naruto, I'll make sure Satsuki reads over them tonight," he says before hugging his mother and giving her a light kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you both later, it's one of the rare times Itachi is home from one of his missions and Mikoto would murder me if I missed it."
Naori chuckles as the man walks from the door, "make sure to tell her I said for you all to visit me next time, she's practically my daughter as well."
"Of course mother, I'll let her know."
Upon him leaving, Naruto prepares to go himself, but is stopped when Naori places a hand on his shoulder with a partially serious look on her face, "how about you stay a bit longer for tea? There is something I wish to discuss with you."
Tilting his head a bit in confusion, Naruto nods nonetheless, following the older woman to her porch and taking a seat while she went to prepare the drinks. His gold eyes look at the river beside the small house named after the patron deity of the Uchiha and watches as the setting sun reflects on its surface.
"Quite beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto takes his eyes off the river as Naori comes by with a platter that has a teacup, two cups on it and a small smile on her face, "my late husband was named after it you know? Apparently, his mother was into 'natural water births' at the time."
"Uh huh," Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop at her words as she sits next to him with a small giggle before pouring tea into one of the cups for him. Taking a sip and enjoying the calming taste it brings, the young Uchiha looks back to her, "anyway, what did you want to talk about Granny Naori?"
Smiling as she too takes a sip of the tea, Naori nods, "yes, are you enjoying the gifts your mother left for you? You must be having fun training with your great-grandfather's war fan and your new eyes."
Naruto pauses at her words and looks at the older woman with clear suspicion on his face. The only people that were supposed to be aware of his mangekyo were Satsuki and Naruko but even they weren't aware of his war fan. "How do you know about what she left for me?"
"Who do you think she asked to help set everything up?" she asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "powerful kunoichi she may be, but your mother was as subtle and as straightforward about things as a rampaging bull, just like old man Madara was."
"So the raven and my mom's eyes?..."
"Were both sent by me," she confirms with a nod, "his name is Shisui by the way, named after your late uncle, her little brother." Once she says this, Naruto looks down at the tattoo with a thoughtful expression, making Naori smile, "I was also the one who took out her eyes before she died so that you could have eternal light."
"I had no idea," Naruto mutters with a frown. He did find it a bit weird seeing the older woman constantly visiting their house in the days leading up to his mother's death, but he thought it was just because Naori had been her wetnurse after his grandmother died during the First Shinobi World War and the older woman was just saying goodbye to the daughter she practically adopted.
To think they were actually just setting everything up.
"And my great-grandfather's war fan? I thought it was lost during his last fight with the First Hokage."
Naori shakes her head in the negative in response to his question with a small playful look in her eye, "nope, in actuality, he left it with your mother and instead took a replica. That old man always did have a major soft spot for her, though Raven never did get a handle on it, but she had hope you would."
"I see…"
"Yes, but speaking of that, how goes your training? Have you been able to discover the abilities of your new eyes?"
Concentrating a bit, the young Uchiha closes his eyes as he channels chakra to his optical nerves before opening them to reveal the new pattern within his irises.
Naori leans just a bit closer, inspecting the new pattern before nodding with a smile, "a simply beautiful design, one that closely resembles your mother's."
Rubbing his whiskered cheek in slight embarrassment at her compliment, Naruto points to his right eye with his other hand, "I was able to figure out the ability of my right eye, but for some reason when I tried to use my left nothing happens," he says in a bit of disappointment. "I can feel it doing something, I just don't know what…"
Tapping her chin, Naori hums in thought, "what is its name?"
"Huh?"
"When activating your mangekyo, you felt a name pop into your head right? That usually gives a hint to your eye's power. For instance," she says, channeling chakra into her lone eye and causing the colors of the iris to invert, dying the tomoe red as they grow in size until they take on the shape of three red petals, "my eye's ability is called Tenjin."
Naruto stares at the new pattern in wonder, "you have a mangekyo too? I thought mom was the only one before she died.."
"Far from it," Naori chuckles, "my son has one and I suspect Itachi does as well."
Those two made sense he supposed. Lord Fugaku was the head of the Uchiha clan and made a name for himself during the Third Shinobi World War as 'Wicked Eye' Fugaku. He was often talked about in the same breath as the Fourth Hokage whereas Itachi did have to go through the trauma of having his entire genin squad being murdered right before his eyes.(7)
"The ability's name is Omoikane, but how does that help me in finding out what it does?"
Smiling, Naori stands from the table and goes to a nearby shelf, grabbing a thick book from it, "back before the Uchiha was a clan, it was said our founder, Indra, found solace and safety in a shrine dedicated to the gods of old, known as the kami, after declaring war upon his younger brother, Asura. From there, he took care of the dilapidated shrine and venerated the forgotten deities within it, resulting in them blessing him and his descendants with their power. Or how the story goes."
"Old gods? Kami?" Naruto asks with a raised eyebrow as the older woman takes her seat next to him once again and begins flipping through the pages, "I've never heard of anything like that before.."
"It's not common knowledge, especially after the Sage of Six Paths spread chakra throughout the lands, not even mentioning his mother, The Rabbit Goddess Kaguya. Ah, here it is." Turning the book so that Naruto could see, Naori shows him a picture of a man with long, flowing blue robes sat cross legged with a book in one hand and stroking his white beard in the other. "Omoikane, kami of wisdom."
Naruto looks over the patron deity of his left eye and frown in thought, "wisdom…that doesn't sound like it would give a badass ability…"
Chuckling at his downtrodden and almost disappointed look on the young Uchiha's face, "fufu, well don't look down on it too much. Afterall, my eye seems to be similar to yours since mine is named after Tenjin, the kami of scholars." When she says this, Naori flips the page, showing a younger looking man with many scrolls laid at his feet and a bookshelf behind him.
"Scholars, huh? But what about your other eye? What was it, is it the reason you lost it?"
Naori's smile turns a bit somber as she shakes her head at his questions, "no, I never got to discover what its ability was," she mutters while slowly taking off the covering, revealing a milky-white iris one would expect a Hyuga to have. "I lost my eye because my husband ran off and did something foolish while I was pregnant. My left eye was just a sacrifice I had to make so that he would come back to his senses. But that is a story for another time, it's getting late."
Naruto looked up into the sky in surprise, it was already dusk meaning their conversation had gone on much longer than he expected.
"Go on and head home." Naori says as she stands from her sitting position, "I'll start helping you figuring out the power of your left eye the next time you and that rascal of a granddaughter are over, okay?"
The young Uchiha stands as well, his eyes fading back into gold as he nods, "okay Granny Naori, I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you, Naruto."
-XXX-
Laying in his bed, Naruto was fast asleep. It was a weeknight, so there was no Satsuki or Naruko sharing the bed with him, meaning there were no teenage hormones getting in the way of his good night's sleep.
"…ruto.."
He'll have to do something about it one of these days since he doubts their sharing the same bed is unlikely to end anytime soon. Not like he wanted it to end to be honest.
"…Naruto…"
Hell, all three of them were practically destined to be joined at the hip from birth if what his mother said about her original plans with Satsuki and Naruko's moms were true.
"WAKE UP!"
"Wuh?!"
Naruto suddenly jolts awake at the loud, booming voice in his ear and nearly falls off the mattress. "Argh, Kurama?! What the hell?
It was completely unlike the giant fox to suddenly yell out considering he was usually asleep, even during the day. So hearing him shout with such fervor took the young Uchiha completely off guard. "What happened?!"
"Something's going on Naruto! I've been feeling a bunch of negative emotions all coming from the Uchiha compound!"
That wasn't good. If these emotions were on such a large scale that even Kurama could feel it from how far his house was, it must be really bad.
"Shit, that means Satsuki might be in trouble!"
Quickly getting up from his bed, he rushes to get dressed. However, just as he manages to slip his pants on the window of his bedroom is suddenly shattered as three masked shinobi jump in.
Naruto's eyes widen at the sudden intruders, and they do so again when he sees their uniform. "ANBU?! What the hell is going on? Are they the cause of all the negative emotions?"
"The jinchuriki is making a move. Go for immediate capture."
The voice was very neutral, almost robotic in nature as the one who seemed to be in command of the squad gave his orders, prompting the other two to rush forward with their tip-less tantos drawn as he started going through hand seals.
Eyes quickly shifting into his sharingan, the world around him slows to a crawl and he could easily see the trajectory of their attacks along with being able to predict the hand signs for the technique the leader was about to perform, which is wind style: breakthrough.
In response Naruto raises his hands and flares his own chakra.
Wind Style: Tearing Blades!
Once his hands clap together, a large gust of wind is generated before it quickly turns into several sickles that shoot forward at extreme speed, cleaving through the two ninjas before they could even reach him while the last ANBU just managed to get off his jutsu in time, blunting the force of Naruto's though it still managed to leave a deep gash.
He crumples to the floor as blood gushes from the wound, spasming a bit before he goes completely still, making the young Uchiha breathe a sigh of relief.
It was a good thing he was already used to killing thanks to his mother's training as she'd often take him, Satsuki and Naruko on 'field trips' to wipe out bandit camps on multiple occasions.
The quick break was interrupted though when Naruto suddenly had to bend forward, dodging a swipe from a tanto aimed at what should be, if not for his special case when it came to his sharingan's vision, his blind spot.
"What the hell Kurama, why didn't you sense him?!" he asks in his mind as he jumps back to gain distance.
"There's something wrong with these Anbu, Naruto. It's like there's nothing to sense, as if they have no emotions."
Naruto wracks his brain as he easily dodges another swipe from the Anbu's weapon. He was sure his mother had warned him about something like this before she died.
It was then the moonlight managed to shine on the Anbu's mask, showing it to be completely blank and suddenly everything fell into place.
"Anbu with no emotions wearing blank masks? This must be that old crippled warhawk's group. The one's mom said wanted to control me and Naruko. Root."(8)
Channeling chakra into his fist after sidestepping an attack, Naruto sweeps his leg out, tripping the Root Anbu and leaving them fully open to his counterattack. Wind Style: Wind Blow!
His cocked back fist becomes covered in wind as he rockets it forward, striking the Anbu in their chest and causing a visible dent once it makes contact.
Blood spews from beneath the mask as the Anbu falls to the ground while gurgling. No doubt his attack had broken their ribs, making the bone puncture their lungs.
Seeing as the last of his home invaders were now dead, Naruto jumps through the broken window, making haste toward the clan head's house. Along the way he had to deal with many attacks from other Root Anbu, causing a high level of annoyance from the Uchiha as it slowed him down massively. Especially since it was hard for Kurama to pick up on their emotions and he had to rely more on chakra sensing.
"Damnit, Naruko was always more suited to that stuff than me.."
While closing the distance to his destination, anger and sadness also stirred in his heart at every destroyed house and dead Uchiha he passed on the way. Evidently, their attackers were thorough in their preparation and caught the entire clan completely off guard.
He could only hope Satsuki and her family were safe.
By the time he arrived at the large house that was the home of the clan head, it already looked as if a fierce battle had taken place.
Some walls had collapsed and there were fires raging all within the area along with the sight of dozens of dead Root Anbu. "That's a good sign at least.."
However, just as he thinks that, his sharingan eyes widen when he sees Fugaku leaning up against a nearby tree, "Lord Fugaku!" Naruto yells as he races over to the clan head's position with his breath hitching when he notices the large cut going from shoulder to waist on the clan head's torso.
Naruto's eyes turn sad and his face falls when he notices the clan head's lack of breathing along with a very still Mikoto leant against him with a stab wound through her heart. "Lord Fugaku..Lady Mikoto…"
He could tell it wasn't a mere Anbu that managed to do this, even if the two were taken by surprise, they were both powerful jonin in their own right and as such Root would be nothing but fodder to them, meaning there was someone else that did it.
Anger slowly grows in his mind as he continues to stare at the dead bodies of the two people who had practically been his second parents. "The person who did this… I'll kill them!" Red chakra bursts around him, forming a bubbling cloak that takes on the look of a fox, complete with a pair of ears and a long tail.
"But first..I need to find Satsuki and make sure she's safe," he thinks while managing to reign in his anger. Blind rage would do no favors for him, especially at a time like this. Growling, he thinks inward once again, "Kurama, where's the nearest source of negative feelings?"
"Head straight north, I feel three sources over there."
"Must be Satsuki, Itachi, and the bastard who did this."
With that, Naruto leaps off in the direction he was told, Kurama's chakra making him move far faster than before as his eyes morph into their higher state and hot tears begin to flow down his cheeks.
"You two, please hold out until I get there!"
-XXX-
"Satsuki, get down!"
Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu!
Satsuki dives for cover as Itachi breathes out a large ball of fire before it quickly splits into countless smaller ones that pepper their pursuer's position. Only for this too to be ineffective just like everything before.
"Come now, Itachi. How long will we do this dance? I only wish for you to join me so that we can create a better world."
A single man walks out from the smoke the jutsu brought up with not a single scratch on him, the sight making the older of the two siblings frown as a red glow comes from the mysterious attacker's single eyehole within the flam patterned mask. Somehow, this man was able to slip through all of his attacks, even his mother and father were unable to lay a hand on him.
Seeing no other option left but to hold the masked man off here, Itachi grits his teeth and pulls out his tanto, obviously meaning to make a stand against the one who was no doubt responsible for the massacre of their clan. "Satsuki, when I say so, run. Try and get to Grandmother Naori if you can."
"Wha-? But what about you Itachi? I can't just leave you alone against him, I can fight too!"
She tries to plead with him to at least let her help in some way but she is stopped in her tracks by the look he gives her, one that was far different from the kind ones of before, it was hardened and showed off his experience as a shinobi, only to be enhanced by the change his eyes underwent, something she only thought Naruto possessed.
"Mangekyo? Since when?"
"That doesn't matter, just do as I say and run. I will catch up to you later, I promise."
Still looking as if she wanted to say more, Satsuki in the end decided to listen to her older brother and did as he said while tears were in her eyes.
"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep you know. It'll break your poor sister's heart."
Itachi's eyes narrow as the masked man finally speaks up with a tone that made it obvious he was grinning under it. Settling his stance even more, he grips his tanto even tighter, "why did you do this? Is it because I rejected your proposal."
"Partly," the man says with a nonchalant shrug, "you weren't the only one I approached, as I'm sure you can tell."
So that's why Danzo's Root suddenly attacked in the night. It seemed the old war hawk's irrational paranoia of the Uchiha clan finally came to a head. "To think he'd go this far.." Itachi mutters under his breath, "and what do you get out of this, don't you claim to be Madara? Why help slaughter your own clan?"
"Hmph, you mean the same clan that abandoned me during the time I needed them most against the Senju?" the man asks with a chuckle as he spreads his arms wide, "now look at them! Weak, and dead at the hands of the village they pledged to serve over me! Karma at its finest!"
He then lowers his arms and points to Itachi, "but, you. You can join me, Itachi. How about it? I'll even spare your sister if you do. Though I will have to pay my great-grandson a visit. If his mother was any indication, I'm sure he's going to be quite the powerhouse in a few years if he isn't one already."
"So he's after Naruto as well…Danzo must be too because of the nine-tailed fox, hopefully he's alright…"
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to say no once again. I won't let you get your hands on Naruto either."
His mangekyo then flares brightly, the three-pointed shuriken pattern within them spinning as his right eye produces tears of blood.
Amaterasu!
Black flames hotter than anything a fire jutsu could hope to produce race toward the masked man with instantaneous speed, setting him alight as Itachi races forward with his tanto at the ready.
"Hmm, what a shame, I'm sure you'll see reason eventually."
Like before, the masked man easily slips through the attack, though there was an air of giddiness around him as Itachi's sword swipe slips through him as well, "scorching black flames produced by your right eye? Fascinating!"
Frowning at how his attack was easily countered, the younger Uchiha goes for a follow-up swing aimed at the neck, only for that too to meet no resistance due to his unknown ability that was most certainly the product of a mangekyo.
He only needed to find its weakness.
Jumping back to gain distance, Itachi sizes up his opponent once more with his mind trying to come up with a strategy.
What he could tell from seeing his mother and father try and fight the man, he is impervious to all attacks but would need to turn solid in order to attack. Meaning, if he could counter at just the right time he should be able to win.
Nodding to himself, Itachi leaps forward once more, this time channeling fire chakra into his tanto to light it aflame while also reaching into his pouch to throw a brace of shuriken.
The masked man sighs and shakes his head in disappointment, letting the attacks slip through him as they've always done. His single eye bores into Itachi, making eye contact "come now Itachi, you know this song and dance already, just give it up and-"
Tsukuyomi!
Suddenly, while in the middle of his taunt, his vision inverts as the sky around him turns blood-red and he finds himself strapped to a wooden cross, unable to move.
"Hoh? What do we have here?"
Itachi fades in before him, a fierce glare in his mangekyo eyes and katana in his hand. "In the world of Tsukuyomi, space and time are all controlled by me… From now on, you will endure seventy-two hours of torture. Your spirit won't understand that this isn't reality, I wonder how long it will endure." Just then, he stabs his weapon forward, digging it deep into the man's torso.
Despite the situation, the masked man begins laughing, even as blood spills from his stab wound and countless copies of Itachi appear around him all brandishing weapons meant to inflict harm, "ha, so your left eye's ability is to make a powerful genjutsu huh? Fascinating. Seems nigh unbreakable…"
All the copies of Itachi narrow their eyes in response to his unfazed look, even with a sword buried to the hilt inside of his stomach or the others clones of him ready to inflict the same pain. But they all soon widen when the inverted world around them begins to crack with the masked man lifting his head to show off the pattern of his mangekyo for the first time.
It was a three-pointed shuriken just like Itachi's but his was elongated with its points curved to form a circle.
"…though for one who possesses a mangekyo, it's quite easy to break."(9)
The world suddenly shatters away like broken glass, dispelling the powerful illusion.
But, as soon as it happened, the man's air of triumph was cut off along with his right arm when he just barely managed to defend himself from what was actually Itachi's true attack which was a swipe of his flaming tanto aimed to sever his head from his shoulders.
"Tch!" The fake Madara quickly retreats, gaining distance while holding the stump that was once his right arm. "So that genjutsu was just a distraction. Well done, Itachi, I admit it, you almost had me there though it looks like that little idea of yours took quite a lot out of you,"
His observation was correct, Itachi was currently breathing heavily as his left eye bled, the strain from using his mangekyo abilities were obviously taking a toll on him. Gritting his teeth at the fact his plan didn't work, Itachi wipes the blood from his eyes as he desperately tries to come up with another plan.
He had at least been able to take an arm but instead of the fountain of blood he was expecting, it looked like the limb was made of a pure-white flesh-like substance that clearly didn't belong to a human.
Was this man an experiment of Orochimaru of some sort? Did the snake sanin manage to get his hands on Uchiha DNA to make a clone after he defected from the village?
Either way, he needed to come up with another plan to take him down quickly.
"It seems I've underestimated you," the masked man speaks up as he grips his severed limb tightly, all signs of his earlier playfulness gone now that he had actually taken a hit, "I wonder what makes you strive to work so hard even though you are no match in all actuality," his lone eye then wanders, catching sight of a certain heiress peaking from around a nearby corner with her sharingan blazing.
Evidently, the girl was either too stubborn or too worried to listen to her older brother's instructions and decided to watch their fight. Whether she did so to check and make sure he was okay or so she could find an opportunity to jump in, he didn't know. But, it did present him with quite the opportunity.
A sadistic look comes over his single eye as he stares at the young girl and pulls a katana from thin air, "I bet if I can take her captive, Itachi would easily bow to me. Taking a limb or two should be enough."
Itachi looks on slightly confused at the masked man's gaze straying from him, following it, he couldn't help but wonder, "what is he looking at? Another comrade?...Satsuki! Damnit!"
Both move at the same time, but due to the fatigue of using his mangekyo abilities one after the other in rapid succession, Itachi was just a bit slower, making him only just manage to jump in front of his little sister right when a sword slash she attempted to block was made.
Blood splatters on the ground and on Satsuki's face as the blade sinks deep into Itachi's back, the young Uchiha could only widen her eyes in pure horror when she finally realized what happened, her sharingan taking in every single detail and forever committing it to memory.
"I-Itachi!"
"Tch, and here I hoped you would join me. What a waste," the man grumbles before, with a flick of his wrist, he carelessly pulls the blade from Itachi's back, spilling even more blood and making the Uchiha heir collapse to the side, prompting Satsuki to scream out his name again while trying to stifle his bleeding with her hands.
Tears stream down her face while she tries her hardest to stop Itachi's bleeding with what little medical knowledge she had, her mind was running a mile a minute. "Itachi, I'm so sorry, I should have listened!" Her hands glow green and she pumps as much chakra as she could into the wound, but before she could go further, she pauses in fear at the sounds of footsteps approaching.
Turning, her breath hitches in fear and she clutches her older brother tighter when she sees the masked man approaching her with his blade still covered in Itachi's blood.
"Oh well, guess I'll take the girl instead. She'll make a decent pawn after a bit of conditioning. I'll just need to alter her memories a bit."
Satsuki begins hyperventilating as he gets closer and closer. Her hands begin shaking as she feels Itachi's breathing begin to slow in her arms. The combination of everything; her clan being destroyed, her parents most likely being killed and even her brother dying because of her own stubbornness causes her mind to fray until it finally snapped when she no longer felt his chest rising.
The stress of the situation began to pile high, turning her tears to blood and more chakra than ever before flooded her optical nerves, changing her eyes completely. The tomoe in her eye start to spin rapidly to the point of blending together as they dye her irises black while from the center around her pupil, three red intersecting ellipses grow, forming a star-like pattern.
Soon after, black flames consume the entire area, taking the shape of multiple spikes in all directions around the young Uchiha.
The attack was indiscriminate, bathing everywhere but its owner in black flames as she screams to the heavens in agony over her loss of family until the mental strain becomes too much and she passes out.
From within the sea of fire, the mask man observes the scene with interest, though he does suck on his teeth in annoyance when he sees Itachi's body wasn't spared from the black flames either. "A pity, his mangekyo would have been useful. But the girl unlocking her own, with the same ability only more powerful."
Walking forward, he smirks to himself, "yes, this girl will make an excellent pawn." However, just as he reaches her and lifts his hand to grab the young Uchiha, a pure, heavy bloodlust soaks the area, halting his movement.
It was only his instinct as an experienced and powerful ninja that allowed him to dodge an attack that came from what seemed like nowhere.
The instant he pulled his hand back, a gleaming white blade took its place along with the sound of glass shattering. If he had been just as millisecond late, he would have lost his other limb as well.
Jumping backwards to gain further distance, he's greeted to the sight of Naruto standing in the sea of fire with an aura of bubbling red chakra around him, the constantly regenerating cloak allowing him to do so without being set alight.
"Satsuki…"
Naruto kneels down to his childhood friend, looking on with sadness in his eyes when he sees the dried tears of blood running down her cheeks. "Kurama, can you sense Itachi anywhere?"
"No, his emotions disappeared around the same time Satsuki's spiked.."
"I see.."
Reaching his hand out, he gently strokes Satsuki's cheek, his cloak of chakra, enveloping her and causing the dried blood on her cheeks to disappear. "Probably to protect her from me or her own fire," the masked man muses in his mind as the jinchuriki of half the nine-tails stands to his full height.
"Sorry for being so late. I promise, I'll make it up to you later."
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
In a puff of smoke, a clone appears and immediately scoops Satsuki up into a princess carry.
"Take her somewhere safe."
"Got it boss."
The masked man chuckles as the clone disappears in a burst of speed, leaving just him and Naruto alone. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, boy. Just like I told Itachi befo-"
Crack!
Again, the sound of shattering glass fills his ears and, in an instant, Naruto was before him with Omen already digging deep into his right side.
Before the swing could be followed through, the masked man activates his ability, allowing the blade to go through the rest of his body harmlessly, but it didn't fix the damage that was already done.
Holding his side that was now bleeding profusely, for the first time tonight, an aura of anger could be seen wafting from him as his eye meets Naruto's blazing mangekyo and Omen pointed at him.
"I'm not here to listen to your little monologue. You are the reason my dad and Naruko's parents are dead. You're the reason the villagers blamed Naruko and the Uchiha for Kurama rampaging that day. And now you're responsible for the death of Satsuki's and my clan along with her immediate family." The young Uchiha's right eye then bleeds, "oh, and save the 'I'm Madara, fear me' crap. Just die."
Benzaiten
And with the sound of shattering glass, Naruto disappears again, this time reappearing on the left with a swipe meant to cleave through the left shoulder. But, being prepared for this, the masked man's space-time ability was already activated, making Naruto narrow his eyes as he passes through harmlessly, "so, that's what his mangekyo does."
Landing his hand and using to spring himself up, he grips the hilt of his katana with both hands, in a ready stance only for them to widen in confusion when he no longer sees his opponent.
"What the… where did he go?"
As if to answer his question, the masked man suddenly appears behind him, almost as if it was from thin air, making him quickly turn around and swing.
Sparks fly as their two weapons clash and Naruto didn't need to see under the mask to know the man was clearly surprised by the fact he saw him in what should be outside of a person's range of vision.
Seeing as the man was now solid, Naruto's right eye bleeds as Benzaiten activates and he reappears with a slash aimed at the neck only for it to seemingly be anticipated as the masked man became intangible by once again using the ability that was quickly becoming an annoyance to the young Uchiha.
"That damn thing is so annoying but there's no way he can keep this up forever, he won't have the chakra to spare."
It was times like these he was thankful that he was half Uzumaki. His father's genes as well as the fact he was a jinchuriki meant he could probably fight for a month straight using high level jutsu before he ran on empty and that pale in comparison to Naruko, who was both Senju and Uzumaki.
Meaning, all he had to do was outlast his opponent in a war of attrition if it came down to it, but with Satsuki still passed out and in potential danger, that wasn't an option.
"Damnit, if only I knew what my left eye did, I could probably use it to get a more definitive hit in! Omoikane, the kami of wisdom. Think! How could that translate..."
But, unbeknownst to him, while he was agonizing over what power his left eye held, it was already at work, it just needed one more push.
"Tch, that mangekyo of yours becoming quite the annoyance," the masked man grits out with clear anger in his voice, "if not for him insisting you survive this night, I would have killed you already, boy."
Naruto scoffs at the clear display of false bravado, "says the man who was almost bisected at the waist."
Growls come from behind the mask at the young Uchiha's words but he holds himself back from attacking. It would be an amateur's mistake to fall for such obvious provocation.
The man's single eye flares as a smirk forms behind his mask, "nice try, boy, but it's time this ended. Most of my objectives have been achieved."
A spiral-like rip in space-time appears centered on his eye, sucking him into it and at that moment, something clicks in Naruto's mind, bringing with it a flood of information and a name that was previously unknown to him.
Omoikane: Kamui
The masked man appears from within his shadow, prepared to strike but is taken by surprise when the young Uchiha becomes intangible almost as they were able to use the same mangekyo ability.
That surprise soon turns to confusion, then shock which turns to blinding pain when the sound of glass cracking fills the area and his is severed at the wrist.
"Gah!"
He reels back in pain and retreats into his slip space once more, popping out a few feet away hunched over and breathing heavily while attempting to stifle his bleeding stump by tucking it in his armpit, "wh-what the hell.."
"Kami of wisdom, huh. So that's what it does…" Naruto mutters as he touches his hand to his left eye, feeling blood that now pours down his cheek, "Granny Naori was right."
He could still feel information regarding his new ability flowing into his mind and on a whim, he pulses chakra into his left eye and just like the masked man before, a spiral-like rip in space opens up and swallows the young Uchiha, leaving his opponent stunned.
"I-Impossible. W-Was that kamui?" His thoughts were in a whirlwind of confusion. Did the jinchuriki's left eye possess the same ability as his? Did it manage to copy it somehow? If so, there was no way he could win this fight. Especially now that he was down both arms.
Yes, it would be best to retreat for now, his main objective has been completed anyway, the Uchiha clan was dead, even if he didn't manage to pilfer any extra sharingan for later use.
"Enjoy this victory for now, boy. One day, I'll pay you back for my hand."
With that final thought, the masked man disappears to lick his wounds and hopefully find a suitable replacement for his missing limbs.
A moment later, Naruto reappears from the same rip in space, only to find his opponent had retreated. This brings a frown to his face, "I got too distracted by my new ability and I let him get away. It won't happen next time."
He then races off in the direction his clone took Satsuki, finding them near the Naka River. But he is surprised to see Naori with them as well.
"Granny Naori!"
There was blood on her clothes and hair, but even as he came closer, he could tell it wasn't hers.
Running up and dismissing his clone with a nod, he kneels beside Satsuki, noting she was still unconscious while her head lay in her grandmother's lap.
"In all honesty, I thought this day would come one way or another..but that doesn't make this any easier," she mutters while stroking Satsuki's hair with a downcast and heartbroken expression on her face before looking up at Naruto. "At least the two of you survived, even if my own son didn't."
"What do you mean granny?"
Naruto was taken aback by her words since it seemed like she expected the massacre, as if it happened before.
Gesturing for him to take Satsuki, Naori gets up once he does and begins walking toward the center of the district. "This was not the first nor the second time the Uchiha clan was brought to the brink of extinction, though the last was many centuries ago."
Upon reaching her destination with Naruto still behind her, confused and clearly wanting to ask questions, she kneels down right where the Uchiha clan crest is emblazoned on the ground. "I know you have many questions, but I'm afraid I won't be able to answer them in time before the bodies of our clansmen are descended upon by vultures."
Naruto was still confused by her cryptic words, but he could at least understand the last part.
There were many chunin and a few jonin among the Uchiha clan with most of those having their sharingan awakened already. If a grave robber were to come, many of their bodies would be desecrated to obtain it.
"Then should I get sealing scrolls? Or burn the bodies?" Naruto asks as Naori begins going through a long string of hand seals with a look of concentration on her face.
"No. There would be no time, plus there are things you still need to do so that you two can be safe."
While her hands are still in a blur of motion, her remaining eye shifts into her mangekyo as she stares into Naruto's eyes with a sad smile. "There still so much I had to teach the two of you but it looks like I'll have to rush it a bit."
"Granny Naori…"
The long sequence finally comes to an end when the older Uchiha claps her hands together as her eye pulses and begins to spin while a dense chakra suddenly builds around her body. "Take good care of my granddaughter Naruto, the legacy of the Uchiha clan is in the both of your hands now."
Tenjin!
Naruto's eyes widen as a vast amount of information was shoved directly into his mind. It was so much it would have made him fall on his back if he weren't so concerned about hurting Satsuki.
"Wh-What the.."
He looks to Naori for an answer, only to see her smile at him with her eye bleeding as she gets up from her position and places a very familiar vial in his hand, "go, I've given you the knowledge needed to keep the Uchiha alive. I'll keep the bodies of our clansmen safe. Come back once you've learned everything and make sure you use the knowledge I gave you to give yourself and my granddaughter eternal light."
"Wait Gran-"
Uchiha Hidden Jutsu: Takamagahara!
Before he could protest or ask to confirm whether what he just felt was her mangekyo at work, a blinding blue light envelops his vision along with the feeling of being moved somewhere far.
When his vision finally cleared, Satsuki was still on his back, but in place of the entire Uchiha district was a large blue dome made of chakra and somehow, he just knew it was due to the jutsu Naori had performed.
There was also something in his mind telling him he had to leave, that the village would no longer be safe for him and Satsuki if they decided to stay.
Looking at the blue dome that was once his home, he resolves to do just that. There was only one more thing he had to do before leaving.
Kamui
With a pulse of chakra to his left eye, he and Satsuki slip into the ground headed toward a certain blonde.
-XXX-
Naruko was extremely nervous, which was very unusual for someone like her who was very brash and self-confident by nature.
But she had a very good reason.
Her senses have been going haywire for a while now and she could feel many chakra signatures disappearing all at once as if there was a massacre happening with the worst part being it was all coming from the same direction as the Uchiha clan district.
She would have left her apartment just from sheer worry long ago if not for Kurama practically taking over her body and keeping her in place so she didn't do anything too rash.
The only silver lining to be had was that the tailed beast could still feel his other half, meaning at least Naruto was still alive.
"But what about Satsuki? Is she okay?"
While the two of them were indeed rivals and fought over every little thing, that didn't mean she truly wanted any lasting harm to come to her Uchiha counterpart.
The three of them were all like family after all.
Just as she thinks this, her senses finally calm down before a sudden burst of chakra takes her by surprise as a bright blue glow emanates from her window.
"What the hell is that?"
Rushing over to it and sticker head out so she could get a better view, Naruko lets out a gasp and her blue eyes widen when she sees a large blue dome in the place of the Uchiha District and even though she wasn't a seal master yet, Naruko could tell just by looking at it that the dome of chakra was a seal of some sort.
"Was it some kind of failsafe in case anything happened? Who activated it?"
While her mind was still swirling with questions and her head was stuck out of her window to observe the phenomenon closer just like the many civilian living beside her, the blonde almost didn't notice the rip in space that brought out the two people she was worried about the most.
Turning around as soon as she feels their chakra, Naruko dives headfirst into Naruto's chest with tears in her eyes and worry in her voice especially when she sees Satsuki unconscious.
Normally, someone would ask how the two Uchiha managed to get inside of their apartment without even making a sound. Naruko, however, already knowing Naruto had a mangekyo sharingan, just assumed it was due to that.
"Naruto, what happened to Satsuki? I saw the Uchiha district-"
"I'll explain later. A lot happened, but Satsuki and I are leaving the village. I came here to see if you wanted to come with us too," the Uchiha says, cutting her off with a serious look on his face that takes her by surprise.
"L-Leave the village?"
Naruto nods, "the masked man that controlled Kurama, he was there. I managed to chase him away but he could be back at any time so it would be best if we went somewhere hidden to train together."
"Somewhere hidden.." she mutters to herself in confusion before looking back up at her fellow jinchuriki, "where would that even be?"
Adjusting his grip on Satsuki so that he could hold her with one arm, Naruto extends his hand out and puts it on her shoulder, stopping the blonde's thoughts in their tracks. "Do you trust me?"
Naruko looks to him with a quirked eyebrow and a tilted head, making her long blonde and red locks sway, "huh? Of course I do."
Smiling, the Uchiha nods and pumps chakra into his eye, slightly stunning his fellow jinchuriki when the space around the two begins to distort and swirl.
"We're going to the homeland of my dad and your mom. To Uzushio."
With those final words, the last two Uchiha left alive in Konoha along with its jinchuriki disappear. Never to be found or heard from in the foreseeable future.
-Uchiha Clan District, Outskirts-
Hiruzen looks on in sadness at the large blue dome that now encompasses the distract of Konoha's last founding clan. Even from this distance he could see the bodies of men, women and children that have been cut down during this horrible night.
"How many?"
The on one knee next to him bows his head, "we are unsure, Lord Hokage, but considering none of us have yet managed to get in to confirm the numbers, we can only assume the entire clan was wiped out."
The older hokage hangs his head in a rare show of sorrow. First, he was unable to save the Uzumaki in their time of need, then under his rule the Senju faded into obscurity with its only alive member either gambling what's left of her clan's funds or spending it on sake and finally, the Uchiha clan, slaughtered like animals under his watch and he could already guess who was responsible.
"Look again for any survivors and try and see if you can get inside the barrier."
"Yes sir!"
"While this is not exactly how I planned for this to go. With this everything should be settled."
Hizuzen's eyes shift to the side when the familiar sound of a can hitting dirt comes up next to him.
"Danzo.." he mutters, looking at the bandaged visage of his polar opposite and longest friend. "I knew you had a hand in this."
The bandaged man nods as he stands next to the hokage and reaches out to touch the barrier, only for his hand to be repelled. "Of course Hiruzen. It would only be a matter of time before the Uchiha pointed their weapons and hatred toward the village. This was just out of precaution."
"Precaution huh…and how many of your men were needed?"
"Hm..I'd say about sixty percent of my Root were used to do the deed, yet it seems now none of them will survive with the seal now around the district. It is a shame the jinchuriki is probably trapped in there as well."
"Yes. A shame.."
Danzo nods but inwardly fumes. The barrier that suddenly sprung up was not part of the initial plan.
The Uchiha district was meant to be open with only the jinchuriki surviving so that he may mold him into a proper weapon while using the sharingan of the deceased clan as spares for the Izanagi.
Was he betrayed with the masked man running off with the eyes and the jinchuriki? If so, who was responsible for the barrier?
He would have Torune and Fu look into such things later. But he will not waste this opportunity.
With this he could convince Hiruzen to see reason in that fact he should be training the jinchuriki Konoha has left.
Yes, as soon as it becomes morning on the next day he will-
SPLAT!
In a shower of blood and brain matter, Danzo's head was smashed into a pulp by the Adamantine staff the Third Hokage suddenly summoned, causing the now headless corpse of the village elder to fall to the ground.
If this were another reality, Danzo would have been able to pull a trick or two to defy his fate, whether that be the use of an unbreakable genjutsu to change Hiruzen's mind or Izanagi that gave him multiple lives.
But alas, with its leader now dead, just like a snake with its head cut off, ROOT withered and died in the bowels of Konoha, leaving the general populace none the wiser.
Breathing out a long, tired sigh Hiruzen unsummons the staff and faces the Anbu next to him, "go check on Naruko and make sure she is safe. Then bring the village elders Koharu and Homura to T&I to see if they had any part in this nonsense. Also, don't forget to take this trash with you."
"Yes sir!"
The Anbu all take off in body flickers, intent on following their hokage's orders and taking the body of Danzo with them. After they are gone, Hiruzen looks to the blue dome once again and can feel the weight of his failures firsthand.
It was due to his own foolishness in letting the man that was once his best friend do as he pleased that the Uchiha clan was no more but not only that, the village lost a valuable asset in the form of the second holder of the nine-tails, Naruto Uchiha.
If the boy grew to be anything like his mother, grandfather or great-grandfather, he would have been an irreplaceable shinobi that would have brought much prosperity to the village and that is to say nothing of the close bond he held with Naruko, the other jinchuriki and direct legacy of the Fourth Hokage.
The girl would be inconsolable as the first and most meaningful bond she's had in the village was suddenly ripped away by his weakness and Danzo's paranoia.
He could only hope the friends she made while in the academy would help her in some way.
Sighing again for what feels like the umpteenth time that night, Hiruzen tuns and walks away from the sight of his most recent failure.
He would have to make an announcement tomorrow about the fall of the Uchiha as well as summon Jiraiya so he could take a look at the seal to see if he could dispel it so they could give the deceased proper burial. Then he'll visit Naruko to hopefully console her.
Tomorrow would be a busy day indeed.
Though he truly had no idea just how busy it would be.
-END-
A/N: Alright, the Uchiha massacre happened but under different circumstances. I hope I did an alright job with it as I'm not too good at writing heavy stuff for fics. This will also be the last chapter of Naruto being young so I'm also glad about that since I feel I can't write kids too good either. So next chapter is the last major time skip.
So? What'd you think? Good I hope.
(1): Why black fur? Cause I thought it would look cool with the color I have planned for Naruto's Susanoo.
(2): This is the pattern of a filler Uchiha named Rai.
(3): Basically Raven's actual sword from RWBY but without the blades made from dust and with the looks of Tanjiro's sword from Demon Slayer.
(4): This is the pattern of an OC named Kiyomi Uchiha made by Jennapark04 on DeviantArt. As a fun fact, this OC is also the inspiration behind the Femsasuke I have in my other fic Yokai.
(5): As I said in the last chapter, I was raising the ages of everyone so that the lemons I plan to make won't be weird.
(6): Yup, I'm making Naori, from that Izanagi/Izanami filler Satsuki's grandma. Idk why it just felt like it fits.
(7): I'm making it so Itachi gains his mangekyo this way since Shisui is already dead.
(8): Okay seriously, where did the whole 'Root Anbu wear blank masks' thing come from? When rewatching the anime all of them had designs on their masks. But fuck it, it's a fanfiction trope so I'll keep it.
(9): Considering Sasuke was able to break out of it during his fight with Itachi with just three tomoe, I think having a mangekyo would make doing so child's play. Also, the fact that this Itachi wasn't nearly as experienced in using it as his anime counterpart should also make it easier for a person with a Mangekyo to break.