I do not own the rights to "Naruto", nor any of the persons, places, or concepts within. This fan fiction is a non-profit tribute to the series, as well as a critique on it's existing plotline. Therefore, if requested by the owners and distributors of the "Naruto" anime or manga, I will discontinue and remove this story immediately.

Chapter VII:

The retired anthropologist stretched behind his desk, hands raised above his head, before he picked up the pen in his hand, dipped the metal stub in the ink, and scrawled again on the parchment. The relics he had discovered from the now decimated village intrigued him, and filled in many of the gaps which had yet to be answered. For so long, the warring nations had wondered where their presumed saviors had come from, and the worth of their heritage. Now, he pitifully thought, they knew. Those who didn't would know shortly, after his latest work was published. He began to think aloud, as if taking dictation for his own narrative.

"The village was a weak formation of a blood lusting nomadic tribe," he started, his hand following his words. "From the enclosed artifacts, seen in Figure One, we are quite certain the origins of the mystical chakra came from the unusual plant life of the hidden forest. It is suiting, therefore, that the HIdden Leaf Village be considered the most powerful of all the shinobi collectives, since they were the origin."

"Are you still going on with that?" his graying, yet still beautiful wife grumbled. "The town meeting is in fifteen minutes. If you do not hurry, you can't make your proposal to the committee!" As her husband refused to respond, she nudged him between his shoulder blades. "You do want to see their remains properly exumed for study, right?"

"Of course!" he answered quickly, smearing the ink on the last page of his latest work. As he cursed, he tried to wipe up the mess, and dipped the implement once again into the dark container. "Without their remains, everything I have theorized can't be proven! There is no way to accurately determine how their bloodlines merged with our ancestors unless we study any remaining bone fragments. The very nature of their parasitic relationship cannot be accurately analyzed without samples."

"Then why are you stalling?" she fumed.

"I need to finish this last page, that is all!" he huffed. "If I don't complete this now, it will take months before I can get back to it again, when there is so much work to do with the remains." Satisfied with his excuse, his wife left him to his work, pointing to the clock hanging above his study. "I understand. I will be done in just a few more sentences."

Returning to the page, his face took on a frown, eyes glancing down in shame. "The harvesting of those plants which contained the unusual mutations, resulting from the unusual minerals in the soil, led to a strange parasitic microbe in their bloodstream. This microbe manifested itself in two forms of bioelectric current, which they mistakenly labeled as blue or red. The blue bioelectric current was more common, while the red was found only in certain descendants of a shared ancestor, which seemed to posses an inherent immunity to the effects of the microbe. As such, those who underwent the ritual had to be carefully selected from this shared bloodline."

The anthropologist blinked twice, clearing the vision from his eyes. His frown deepened as he considered the proposal ahead of him, and the ramifications. The thought an infectious microbe, and the artificially selected traits which led to harnessing its side effects was present in a small but significant proportion of their descendants was terrifying. The very mindset which was bred through this cult's mistaken attempts at evolution would explain the rampantly increasing crime rate in the fraction of youth sharing similar blood types and physical characteristics. To think such murderous and anti-social tendencies were worshipped in a civilization was unnerving at best.

"As the red hosts were selectively bred for use in ritual sacrifice after battle, the remains were fed to the farm animals imported for the beginning of the tribe's agricultural phase. This was the greatest mistake this cult could have ever made, resulting in the farm animals, then the consumers of the tainted meat with a kind of amplified microbe. This newest strain led to mass hysteria, paranoid delusions of demons, and often the shared hallucinations of culturally significant figures, often the animal gods they worshipped. The blame was placed solely on the red hosts, who were then 'sacrificed' by consuming the tainted meat, their savagery and battle prowess growing."

He paused, thinking back to the various records he had discovered from the warring villages of that era who employed the cults. There were numerous sightings and consistent, detailed descriptions of the very hallucinations he had classified as the result of neurological disorders. Perhaps some of it would never be explained, or perhaps the techniques were cheap magician tricks which were used in combination with the microbe-infested spores which coated the clothing, bodies, and everything the warriors owned. They had been known to use strange derivatives of the spores in pill form for added physical prowess. Perhaps they had used those on their clients as well.

"The paranoia was now coupled with very true feelings of exclusion, isolation, and in many cases, continuous harassment from the blue hosts. It is no wonder that many of these red hosts were used as weapons when the tribe first fragmented. However, as the factions of cults which formed over the centuries became educated, and interacted with the outside world, the leaders shunned their history, trying to erase everything that indicated the truth behind their creation. It is this further attempt to eliminate their shame which became their downfall only fifty years ago."

The clock above his desk indicated there was only ten minutes left. It would take them five to reach the town hall. He chose to finish quickly, and would clean the pen and his work area later. "The five survivors of the resulting cults are suspected of living here, in our own town. From the census records, it is highly likely they and their offspring married into our indigenous ancestors. Of the records found in Figure Two, the traits of blonde or black hair and silver eyes are most prominent amongst only two families from that era, which later branched out into descending marriages. It is these traits which coincide with the latest reports of violence and emotional instability, as well as an unusually prominent physical prowess."

The anthropologist set down his ink pen into the small, black stained plate beside the container. The parchment was left to dry in the cold night air which circulated through the window into his study. As he blew out one lit candle after the other, making his way to the door, he considered his own, unusually gray eyes, and his formerly blonde hair. While his aggressive tendencies were strong, he wondered if the others had both the self control and desire to achieve as he did, or if there was some factor lacking in him which kept him from lashing out. Perhaps, he thought, the weaknesses of his own body were a fateful mistake, the first step in the only salvation his parents' civilization would know.

He only wished they would understand when he asked to have their corpses examined. It was important to science to determine the relationship between the growing plague of violence on their town, and his own bloodline. If anyone needed to show if a relationship existed, it was him. His father, Naruto, and his mother, Hinata, deserved far better than being the bringers of death.

End of Chapter VII

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