INHERITANCE, a Naruto fanfiction

AU. Naruto's reality is tipped on its head when the mission to Nami no Kuni goes awry. With a set of fresh, untempered skills and a thousand scattered glimpses into tragedies past, is it any wonder he's struggling to remember how to live? (And if he never does... Well, who needed hope anyway?)

"UNITY": INHERITANCE ARC #2 | CHAPTER 7: DARKNESS AND SHADOW

After all the action of late, I hope you can forgive me as this is a majorly important plot chapter. There are some fight scenes scattered throughout, plus some answers to a particularly common question. An interlude (which is only a few thousand words), and then next chapter the shit starts to hit the fan with the Chūnin Exams!

This is also the chapter where I completely alienate half the fandom (whoooops). Sorry. I swear it's not because I dislike her (I don't). It's just I'm really fond of this specific character when taken in this specific direction. You'll know the scene when you see it.

Sarutobi regarded the girl before him cautiously.

"So, why did you ask to see me alone, Ino-kun?" he asked. The Yamanka had entered the mind of a hostile daimyō, an enemy to Konoha, and he suspected whatever she was about to reveal would not be good.

The kunoichi looked around the room sceptically, and Hiruzen sighed before waving a hand to disperse his four ANBU guards. All four vanished immediately, trusting their leader to be able to handle a simple genin.

Ino swallowed harshly, before dropping into a bow. "While in the mind of Kazahana Dotō, Hokage-sama, I have discovered two facts of critical importance to Konohagakure."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, and gestured for the blonde to continue.

"The first I discovered was that Dotō had assistance in staging his coup. A man by the name of Nanzō helped him to form and execute the plan. The agreement was that some of the advanced technology of Yuki no Kuni would be shared with Nanzō – a bargain that Dotō didn't honour."

Sarutobi barely dared to breathe. "Nanzō?" It could have been chance, but in the realm of shinobi…

Ino nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama. However, I can recognise him as a… man that my father warned me about. Shimura Danzō of ANBU Root."

He'd known, had suspected the instant she spoke, but… the confirmation was a sharp pain in his chest, salt to a wound that had never healed.

"There's more, Hokage-sama…" If before Ino's voice had been shaky, now it was outright hesitant. "Dotō initially intended to honour his deal with Danzō," she said. "He feared the reprisal if he had failed to come good on his side of the bargain. But a man approached him, revealed the truth of Danzō's duplicity, and insisted in no uncertain terms that Dotō make no attempt to fulfil the arrangement, or to aid Konoha in any way."

The Hokage pushed his personal emotions to the side and considered the Yamanaka carefully. "What have you been able to ascertain about this man?" he asked.

Ino shrugged. "Dotō seems to have forgotten the whole thing, which is odd. There's just three things: a vague impression of spiky grey hair, a disturbingly vehement hatred of Konoha, and a name. Chishiki {Knowledge}."

A massive spar, Asuma had suggested.

It'll be fun, Asuma had insisted.

Oh how wrong they were.

Jutsu flew as shouts filled the training ground, genin sprinting and fighting, meeting in a single, glorious battle before them.

A free-for-all between nine kids.

And somehow they were supposed to be 'keeping an eye' on this chaos.

Kakashi sighed.

Duck and dive and dodge. Flip and kick-

A yell of pain from the mutt, which she positively relished-

And then a shout as someone carried her down, arm over her shoulder and their body shielding her own as a particularly nasty Katon jutsu sailed over their heads. She turned to look at her fellow genin as she returned to her feet, rolling her eyes when she saw a familiar mop of bright blond hair.

Naruto, already standing, looked back at her and offered a grin for the faintest moment, before launching himself back into the fray, a jutsu on his lips.

Ino found herself drawn back into memories against her will, remembering the time when she had resolved herself to ditching any animosity she felt towards the blond.

Flashback - Directly After Sarutobi's Speech to the Rookies

Ino couldn't help it.

She was furious.

As a member of the Yamanaka Ichizoku, Ino had undergone training in the arts of the mind. Both in respect to her family's techniques, and some general knowledge of psychology. It was crucial to the use of Yamanaka techniques, which often caused major mental trauma to both user and target if incorrectly executed. Ino's own mother lived with the guilt of accidentally destroying her sister's mind when they were practising as children, one day.

She'd never been especially fond of Naruto. Her parents had insisted that she have nothing to do with him, and she had distanced herself accordingly. Over the years, she had come to assume that her father - the sub-commander of the T & I Department - had somehow discovered that her fellow blond was an absolute nutcase, and had suggested she avoid him because of that. So she had cast a blind eye to the way people treated him. Or rather, she had created for herself a delusion that it wasn't as bad as it was, and that it was justified.

She wanted to be sick.

You couldn't... do those things to people! The damage to the psyche would be catastrophic! Even Ino, with her minimal knowledge in the field, knew that you ran the risk of constructing a repressed personality, which was so very much the epitome of dangerous - and in the hands of a jinchūriki, perhaps catastrophic! - by treating someone like that, especially if they were the type to repress painful memories and emotions. And judging by the way Naruto always grinned, always joked and prodded, it was so obvious that that was the case.

She wanted to scream.

Suddenly, a long-forgotten memory struck her. Naruto sat on the swings near the Academy, unmoving, silent tears running down his face. Two of the civilian kids, who she didn't remember the names of, walked up to him and taunted him. He sat there, unaffected, as if this was a common occurrence. Looking back on it, she felt it probably was. Then the punches began. One hit the left side of his face, and he fell off the swing and onto the ground, dazed. Seemingly enthused by their injured prey, the two boys began to lay into Naruto, pounding and kicking his form. There were cries of alarm, but nothing more from the other students - a few of the girls even laughed. Suddenly, an instructor - not Iruka; this was another, older man, who had retired at the end of that year - appeared and dragged the two boys off of Naruto. But he left Naruto, dragging the other two children away by their ears and whispering to them something about 'antagonise' and 'the demon'. A pink-haired girl - Sakura - leant down and tried to help the bleeding boy, eventually calling one of the other instructors over, who begrudgingly carried the boy elsewhere, a concerned Sakura on her heels. Ino had been tempted to join her, but had eventually decided not to.

She remembered that day, now. That was the day Sakura had met Naruto. The next day, Ino had approached Sakura, and - bile churned slightly in her gut at the thought - she had warned her off. Told Sakura that her father insisted that Naruto was no good. And Sakura had believed her. Their friendship had begun that day.

Sakura had disliked Naruto ever since.

Walking inside her home without even a welcome to her parents - both of whom shrugged and continued to go about their daily business - she entered her room, shut the door, and sank to the ground,

Ino didn't know what to think. She'd been raised to believe that Konoha was the dominant superpower. That it could do no wrong, and was the epitome of 'good'. That the ideals of comrades, teamwork and sportsmanship that were drilled into their skulls as Academy students was the truth of the entire village. Made them better, somehow, than the rest of the world. Those were the stories her mother told her of. Of heroes and heroines who saved the day, fighting under the banner of the Leaf. Of course, she had known that shinobi life was not truly like that - she was the Yamanaka heiress, latest born of a powerful lineage that could be traced back millennia, so she was not a born fool. She was a self-made fool in that she had hidden behind her delusions. Allowed them to shelter her from the harsh reality of shinobi life, in many ways.

Now, the illusion had shattered, and she was disgusted that she lived in a place that could be so callous to a child. That could do such deplorable things. She really was not sure what to think.

Across the village, all of her fellow rookies found themselves in remarkably similar situations.

Flashback – End

The young kunoichi shook her head and turned back to the fray, ducking a thrown kunai hastily and fishing one of her own out of her pocket to rest in her hand. She used it to deflect a strike from Shika – the late-April sun was bright over their heads, and he had no chance to manipulate his Kagemane (Shadow Imitation) in this clearing.

Ino was forced to spin away as Kiba and Akamaru flew past in a whirling tornado of taijutsu, which Shikamaru caught the brunt of. She winced in sympathy at the thud of the genin's body hitting the floor, and watched as Kurenai plucked the Nara from the battlefield and tended to his wounds. Kiba was already in motion against another opponent, trying to skewer Hinata who was dodging effortlessly.

Distraction came as Sakura launched a spear of earth at her head, and Ino ducked and brought her hands together. Forming handseals, she intoned, "Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)!"

A jet of water launched from between Ino's lips, but Sakura brought her hands down and a Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall) emerged from the ground to protect her. Ino hurled a collection of kunai with exploding tags attached at the rock wall, but couldn't make a follow-up attack as she was forced to dodge a kick from Sasuke.

Only months earlier, she might have frozen at the sight of her crush attacking her, but now Ino merely grinned and fell into a handstand, bringing her feet around to trip the Uchiha. He flipped backwards, but before Ino could capitalise on that one of Naruto's Kusari was wrapped around his torso. Even as she watched, the raven was lifted into the air and brought back down to the ground, the force of the movement stunning him for a time.

"Okay, that's enough!" Kakashi's voice called, appearing before them looking faintly frazzled. "I think you're all on top of your jutsu."

Ino and the other genin laughed.

Later that day, Chōji sighed as his mother fussed over him in the middle of Yakiniku Q. She was cradling his face between her hands, as she tended to do lately.

Honestly, living with only one eye wasn't as bad as he'd feared it would be. Sure, it meant he had to pay attention to his other senses more, and take his newfound blindspot into account, but he could handle that. It was difficult, tricky, but eating contests weren't the only places Chōji could face a challenge.

In all honestly his mother's reaction was the most disenchanting. His little sister had latched onto his side for a solid week, as if scared to let him out of her sight, but that was adorable rather than annoying. His father had simply sat him down and discussed his options, transplants being difficult to come by in the shinobi world. 'Not everybody is Hatake Kakashi,' his tou-san had said. 'You're probably going to be blind on that side for the rest of your life.'

He'd offered, then, for the younger Akimichi to retire as a genin, and serve the clan in other ways. 'Your sister could do it,' the man had offered quietly. But the thought of his sweet, six year old sister becoming the Akimichi Jūrokudaime Tōshu {Sixteenth Head of the Akimichi} was an even harder idea for him to wrap his head around than the idea of one day taking their father's mantle himself.

Chōji had refused point-blank, and not even on the day his son graduated the Academy had Chōza's smile been so proud.

His mother started wailing on about how he couldn't even tell she was talking to him – he was blind, not stupid, dammit – when he spotted her. Across the room she sat, her long pale-blonde, straight hair tinged with a hint of green. Her coke-bottle bottom glasses completely covered her eyes, but even as he watched they slid down and briefly exposed her bright mint-green eyes before she pushed her glasses back up her nose. The girl, probably only a year older than him, wore a white lab coat over a red dress.

She was beautiful!

Chōji stared at the girl for a long moment before his father cleared his throat. Turning his attention to the man, he blushed at the knowing look in The Akimichi Clan Head's eyes. His mother and sister chattered on, entirely oblivious.

Still. That girl…

He'd definitely be eating here again!

Two shadowed figures met in a darkened cave.

"Ahh, cousin," the first greeted, smirking. His voice was viscous, too-sweet honey and sugared syllables. "You have some information for me?"

"Indeed." Despite their relation, the second spoke differently. His voice was breathy, punctuated by delicate sighs and intonations. "The price will be triple our standard."

The first snorted, but provided the necessary amount, trusting Chishiki that much at least. Their information was important and credible. Although... "I trust this will be worth my time and money."

"Of course, cousin. This could very well ruin your current plans."

"Oh?"

"Uzumaki Naruto has awoken the Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)."

The first choked. "T-truly?"

"Yes. And we have verified this claim," the second said, anticipating the follow-up question. "Not only this, but we have reason to believe the seal is weakening. I trust you will adjust your plans accordingly." There was a smirk in the second's voice.

The first chuckled. "Indeed, cousin. Indeed."

Another mission for the three genin teams: this time, they had a simple patrol around the borders of Hi no Kuni {Land of Fire}. There was little chance of actual combat on such a mission – most shinobi daren't cross international borders outside of a mission, and those who would it was their task to escort out of the country.

A single chūnin worked with each team of three to provide backup and leadership. Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru were sent patrolling in the west with Iruka as their squad leader. The chūnin-sensei was on a short stint away from the Academy, doing simple border patrol missions or administrative tasks for the Hokage.

It was honestly just bad luck. A group of rōnin {wandering ninja} happened to be passing through the area that the team of four was patrolling, near the borders of Ta no Kuni {Land of Rice Fields}.

"Hey! Stop!" Iruka called to the enemy-nin, chasing after them. The three rōnin shared a quick glance and sped up, sprinting through the treetops.

Sasuke growled, flinging a kunai in the shinobis' direction, and Shikamaru almost sighed. 'That's just going to piss them off,' he thought, running faster to keep pace with his squad mates and leader.

"When we catch up to them, I'll take the leader," said Iruka. "Naruto, Sasuke, you each take one of the other two each while Shikamaru runs interference and support." The three genin nodded to their once-teacher, who smiled at them faintly. "Naruto, send some of your clones to get backup."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)," exclaimed Naruto, nine clones popping into existence beside them. The original turned to them, eyes worried, and commented, "They've each got high-chūnin level reserves."

There was something about the Uzumaki… something wild and primal he slipped into in passing moments. He sometimes wondered if it was the Kyūbi, but instantly discounted the idea as dangerous. He didn't need to start doubting his comrades so blatantly.

Whatever it was, it was alight in the genin's eyes in that moment. The blond nodded suddenly, and the Bunshin divided into packs of three and ran in different directions, one team towards Konoha and the others in the rough directions of the other patrol squads.

Shikamaru considered Naruto's words carefully. Chūnin level. Meaning actually taught. Meaning dangerous. "I'll take the leader," Iruka reasserted. "Pick up the stragglers."

The three genin nodded, Sasuke turning to meet one while Naruto took the other. Shikamaru was already dropping to the ground and beginning to manipulate chakra for his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique). The enemy began forming handseals, but Sasuke already had his Sharingan active and met the man's Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere) with an underpowered version of his own.

It momentarily startled the rōnin, however, and Shikamaru manipulated a shadow tendril to ensnare his opponent. The man barely dodged, and snarled at the two genin.

Over the following minutes, the Nara would continue to reassess his conclusions as to the rōnin's skill in taijutsu, as the man continued to both consistently clash with Sasuke and evade any shadow tendrils Shikamaru sent at him. The man was likely the sensor of the team, and considering how he dodged the attacks long before they hit, he was a close-range sensor.

Shikamaru did what he could to aid Naruto during the Uzumaki's own fight, but found that Naruto was handling his enemy well enough on his own. Meanwhile, Sasuke's opponent was just dangerous enough that Shikamaru daren't leave the Uchiha to fend for himself.

Said genin met the rōnin again in a shadow of sparks as Shikamaru launched and elemental ninjutsu at the man, grunting with exertion. The man span out of the way, and Sasuke followed him. But the raven was too cocky, and was tricked into the path of the Katon jutsu by their opponent. Just as his teammate was about to be roasted by friendly-fire Shikamaru's shadow latched onto him, forcing him to use the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to dodge. The Uchiha offered him a nod in acknowledgement, but that was all they had time for before the man was attacking again.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Nara watched as the lead rōnin rammed a kunai into Iruka's gut, twisting as the man cried out in pain. Naruto leapt to his sensei's aid, forming handseals with a sound of hatred as he ran. Shikamaru noticed Sasuke turn to combat their previous opponent, and Shikamaru was forced to direct his attention to Naruto's original foe.

The genin made handseals for a jutsu, and his Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) flew towards his opponent. The enemy responded with a snarled "Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)". The defensive jutsu turned to steam as the fire hit it, but Shikamaru already knew he hadn't put enough chakra into the technique to get through the wall.

He was distracted by a sickening crack that echoed throughout the trees as the body of Umino Iruka crumpled, his neck snapped. The chūnin's face was warped in some expression of horror and shock. Shikamaru stared for a moment, transfixed, but was forced to dodge a kunai that flew out of the dispersing steam, and formed his Kagemane handseal once more.

Shadows bent and twisted, the afternoon lending itself to Shikamaru even as his opponent sprinted at him with his sword drawn and pulled back to swing.

Suddenly, the man froze, caught within the shadows of Shikamaru's technique, and-

An explosion rocked the forest as Sasuke hurled an excessive number of kunai with explosive tags attached, effectively vaporising his own foe. Smoke erupted from the newly-formed crater, swirling between the surrounding trees. The Kagemane broke abruptly, Shikamaru's control faltering at the distraction. Immediately seizing the initiative, the man span, nodachi {field sword} in hand and rushed to strike the Nara down-

He stabbed forward with his kunai – 'When did I take that out?' – even as he Shunshin'd behind the man. Before either of them even knew it, the man was toppling forwards, a kunai protruding from his back.

The genius blinked in shock, looking down at his blood-soaked hands, then further down to the body of his attacker. The man had spun as he fell, driving the kunai straight through his chest with his impact with the ground.

The cold, dead eyes of that train driver stared back at him. Shikamaru flinched violently, almost falling over as he rapidly backtracked away from the corpse.

He turned just in time to see Naruto and his single remaining Kage Bunshin winding their Kongō Fūsa around the last of the three shinobi, effectively binding him. The Uzumaki looked over at the bodies with something unreadable in his eyes, and sighed. "Come on. Shino, Sakura and Chōji's team are this way. They're the nearest."

"Hn," was the only response Sasuke offered as he walked over and struck the shinobi harshly over the back of his head with the butt of a kunai. He began binding the man in rope, moving aside when he was finished to allow Naruto to press a Fūinjutsu: Chakura Baindo (Sealing Art: Chakra Bind) on the man's forehead.

Shikamaru stared at the Uchiha in thinly veiled disgust. 'Doesn't he feel anything about killing at all?'

"Iruka-sensei?" he asked instead.

Naruto's voice was choked with constrained emotion. "He's already dead."

Kamizuru Kurobachi, known to some as ANBU Operative Badger of Iwagakure, moved silently through the streets of Konoha. He was in search of a specific house, a specific target, as ordered by Tsuchikage-sama.

He rolled into a crouch within the bushes, a movement carefully calculated to not even rustle the greenery. The lights were on, and even before Kurobachi's drone scouts returned, he noticed the presence of a single figure moving within. Another, effeminate figure was guarding the house from the shadows, but even as the Kamizuru watched one of his bees inflicted the Hiden: Dokuken (Secret Tradition: Poison Sting) on the purple-haired ANBU. He was already moving into the house, gathering his swarm to him, as the woman's corpse tumbled to the grass below.

The Konoha genin was there to meet him at the door, throwing a hail of kunai which Kurobachi dodged. A spear pointed chain followed him, striking Kurobachi in the chest and cleanly bisecting him. Bees poured from the wound, and the man erupted into a great hive that flew towards their attacker.

A shadowed figure, the real Kurobachi, dropped from the ceiling of the room behind the blond. The genin summoned a Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) and disoriented or outright killed the swarm approaching him. Yet even as he did so, Kurobachi levelled a kick at the target's head.

The genin flew against a wall, a sickening crunch echoing as his head collided with the hard surface. Kurobachi advanced towards the downed blond, but was forced to duck at the last minute as a kunai flew at his head. 'Badger' moved with the motion, and caught the blade only to send it flying back towards its owner. The interloper fell backwards, black hair pooling around his head and gasping around the kunai protruding from his right lung.

Kurobachi flew towards his target, who was only just rousing and unable to fight as another of the Dokusen bees struck him directly in his pulse point. Venom, thick and viscous, entered the blood stream directly via the carotid artery. The blond let out a ragged breath, punctuated by the background whimpers of the interloper. Shuddering, the target went still.

Badger congratulated himself on his mission completion, turning towards the downed raven child. Even as he turned, however, a raspy exhalation fled the target's lungs. Kurobachi turned to see lengthened whisker marks, hands like claws, and eyes screwed shut in pain.

There was only one thing that could prevent the virulence of the poison. Thoughts of his middle brother crossed his mind, and he grimaced. 'Not just an Uzumaki, but a jinchūriki. Damn.' The poison would still have some effect on the genin, but not enough to kill him quickly.

Badger considered his options for a moment before withdrawing a wakizashi {side-inserted sword} from its sheath on his back and advancing on the blond. He swung his blade in an arc, but mere metres away from the target, he was met with a harsh kick directed at his face.

Only by bringing his hands up to brace himself was Kurobachi saved from certain death, as Senju Tsunade flipped backwards and landed next to the target. Even though he had dodged, several bones in Kurobachi's hands fractured, and he grimaced.

The woman levelled a fiery glare at the assassin. "I hear the buzzing," she said. "Kamizuru, then. Meaning Iwa. Tell me, why is the Tsuchikage taking such an interest in my godson?"

Kurobachi remained silent, and she snarled, about to launch herself forward for another attack when the jinchūriki distracted her by coughing, blood trickling down his rapidly paling face. The Senju turned to the Uzumaki, but froze at the sight before her. She stood for a moment, staring at the bloodied form of the blond and shivering, and it was in that moment that Kurobachi struck.

Bees. Bees everywhere, his only tool with broken hands. Their poisoned barbs – not tipped with the virulent poison of the Dokusen, but still deadly – glinted as they flew towards her. Before they could reach her Tsunade was already moving, the green sheen of medical chakra enveloping her hands. Even as they struck her and the blond, colour returned to his face, and aside from the occasional wince, the Senju didn't even seem to notice. Sting upon sting upon sting struck the woman, and aside from batting aside those that made for her eyes, they might as well have not been there.

'Of course,' he realised in dawning horror. 'Senju Tsunade, the legendary iryō-nin. She's developed a resistance to almost every poison in existence.' Kurobachi launched his final, most powerful bee at the woman, already turning to flee. The Sannin wiped the blood from around the boy's mouth and stood. (1)

She reached up and plucked the bee from the air, using two fingers to squash it in a tiny explosion of gore before sprinting at him, fist cocked. The Kamizuru tried to dodge, but felt a hand press something light – 'Fūinjutsu paper?' – to his back, and suddenly he was completely paralysed.

The last thing Kurobachi knew was horror as Tsunade's fist struck his face, completely pulverising everything above his neck. His headless, paralysed corpse hit the floor with a thud, and then there was silence.

A week had passed since the assassination attempt, and Naruto was finding Sasuke's mothering to be more oppressive than ever. Granted, he'd been poisoned with what should have been a lethal sting, but Sasuke had taken a kunai to the lung! 'How has he bounced back so quickly?' he thought, staring at the Uchiha.

Yet Sasuke's protective instincts were nothing compared to Tsunade's. Or Shizune's, for that matter, which were directed towards both of them. Naruto could tell the woman's well-meaning fussing was making his cousin somewhat uncomfortable, so he'd suggested a trip to the training ground. Only after procuring a - admittedly false - promise to take it lightly had Shizune and Tsunade allowed them to leave.

As they walked and stretched, they discussed many things. Personal histories, recent discoveries of their ancestry - Uchiha Kazue and Senju Satoru, Naruto's paternal grandparents, had been orphaned when young and both entered the care of Sasuke's grandfather Kagami - and the like. Naruto eyed his cousin sadly when Sasuke admitted that Shizune reminded him of his deceased mother, Mikoto, and Naruto couldn't help but compare the two women himself.

Steel met steel as they fought, strike for strike, parry for parry. Sword in one hand, kunai in the other, they ducked and dodged and flowed, the teachings of Kakashi ringing in their minds as they fell into kata. Naruto's style was still all over the place, but he was working with it, and even Sasuke's Sharingan was struggling to predict which movement the blond would make next.

There were to be no jutsu for this fight, no chakra aside from their kekkei genkai. Naruto hadn't been training in the Sharingan, some leftover distaste for the ability from Mito's childhood suggesting it was a bad idea. So instead he called forth lengths of Kusari, the additional weapons somewhere between distracting and beneficial for both of them. The longer he used them, the harder Naruto was finding it to command them to do more than absently follow him around.

More than once, Sasuke had tried to trick him with a flickering genjutsu, implying imaginary movements to get a strike in, but between Kurenai's training and Mito's past battles against Uchiha, they were completely ineffective.

Naruto span, his Kusari moving around him, but they dissipated moments later. When he stopped the rotation, Sasuke turned towards him, Sharingan alight in his eyes. With that sight, Naruto suddenly fell into memories.

A blackened field, Tobirama at her side-

Her brother-in-law launching himself at Izuna, Raijin no Ken {Sword of the Thunder God} in hand, already forming one-handed handseals-

Madara, engaging her in a battle of taijutsu. Only those who knew them well – which was, in this time and place, only Izuna and Tobirama, both entirely caught up in their own fight – could have spotted the playful nature of the exchange. They moved, exchanging blows as if they were nothing, delicate and forceful and she could almost pretend they were dancing-

The man pulled a sword, smirking, and she knew that smirk, the challenge it held. She flicked two kunai into hand, their edges curving wickedly and their surfaces ablaze with lightning and crawling with fūinjutsu-

Their strikes met, a battle of Katon and Raiton chakra, crackling like autumn leaves underfoot-

Pain, a strike across her stomach as the world exploded into agony-

Horror and fear, reflected in Sharingan eyes-

Sasuke stared at him, eyes shining with terror as he fell back, startled and bringing his hands up to cradle the sides of his head. Naruto didn't see so much as feel the kunai extruding from his gut, a wicked parody of Mito's own wound born due to his own sudden distraction. Naruto fell, toppling backwards towards the hard ground of the training field.

A gasp of horror carried throughout the clearing even as he fell, the thick silence suddenly broken. Naruto landed on his back with a thud, pain ruling him, but his head turned to the side to spot Hinata running towards him.

Dealing with Hinata the past months had been… difficult. There was something in him, the echo of Mito he believed, which held a deep-seated disdain for the Hyūga Clan. Some past memory, some unforgotten slight that she couldn't step past. And now, like his mother's disdain for Kirigakure and Kumogakure, it was impacting Naruto and his interactions too.

Regretfully, he channelled the Kyūbi's chakra, knowing the wound was severe enough that he needed immediate medical attention. The blond sighed as the version-one chakra cloak erupted, shrouding his body and healing his wounds. 'I'll need to go see Koyanagi-jichan.' Regardless, he'd likely end up with a wicked scar.

He turned to regard the newest arrival as he staggered to his feet, the corrosive chakra a burning, liquid fire in his veins. The Hyūga heiress was staring at him with something vaguely like fear in her eyes.

"Hinata?" he asked, even as he turned to help a shell-shocked Sasuke up, allowing the Kyūbi's power to dissipate once it had healed his wound. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I was just w-watching Sasuke-kun and y-yourself sparring, N-Naruto-k-kun." Hinata's voice was, as ever, quiet and timid, a shyness unfitting of the cold Byakugan eyes Naruto sometimes spied in the memories.

Perhaps, at any other time, on any other day, Naruto might have been kind in his words. Understanding, accepting.

But the memory of the assassination attempt was fresh in his mind, the dredged up hatred and anger. Iruka's mishappen, mangled neck and bloodied chest haunted his thoughts. The echoes of Kushina and Mito were weighing him down, battle instinct and fury from their own brushes with death tipping the young Uzumaki over the edge. Mito's brush with death against Madara, one she had loved, alongside the pain of his own wound was carrying him away and drowning him. The elder redhead's hatred for the Hyūga Clan only worsened it, and the sight of the girl's white eyes bordered by bulging veins brought more fury forward than he'd thought possible. Everything was spiralling out of control, his rage snapping its leash and rearing up, ready to strike.

Naruto was boiling over with negative emotions fit more for the Uchiha side of his lineage.

... And Hinata was his target.

"What were you doing?! Why are you watching us?!" He'd admitted personal things to Sasuke in this clearing, had been caught in the middle of intensely private memories and moments, had channelled the Kyūbi's chakra in a way this body still couldn't handle. The Uzumaki's self-preservation railed against that, fought it and denied it.

"I-I'm s-s-so-rry!" Hinata stuttered weakly, terror gripping her.

He hissed, even as Sasuke stepped to the side, staring mutely at his sudden fury. "Why were you watching us?! Tell me!"

She shook in fear, the rejection a keen sting as she stumbled over her words. "I w-wanted t-to a-ack-knowl-edge y-you, Narut-to-kun! I f-f-followed you a-r-round because you inspire me! I w-want t-to b-be your f-f-friend!"

"I don't give a fuck!" he snarled, outraged. "I'm no circus freak for you to watch at your own convenience! I'm not a fucking dog for you to watch and play with when you fucking want to! How long have you been stalking me?" Half of his words were more bijū than Uzumaki now, and more something else besides that was neither Kyūbi nor Naruto. He'd been a ticking timebomb of emotion for days, and something had to give.

The girl stammered, horror filling her. "N-Naruto-k-kun-"

"HOW LONG?!"

"Years!" she shrieked in surprise, before clapping her hands over her mouth, shocked by her own frightened admission.

Her gaze turned to meet the blond's own, searching for a reaction, but he was slumped forward, shaking in some ill-constrained emotion. His eyes were shadowed by his fringe, but he looked up at her, his eyes alight with a feral hatred. Whatever she saw in them, he could see an abject horror and crushing fear reflected in her own eyes.

"I spent years of my life, looking for friends. Looking for somebody to care about me. I had nobody, except the Sandaime, and sometimes Ir-ruka, and sometimes the Ichirakus." He bristled with rage, staring harshly at the Hyūga heiress. Even the pain of thinking about Iruka couldn't dull his fury. "I just wanted to feel like one person, one person my own age actually liked me. But instead everybody hurled abuse at me, and did what their parents wanted them to do and avoided me. And now, I find out somebody actually wanted to be friends with me, and have something to do with me, but they were too scared to talk to me? I mean, seriously! What the fuck, Hinata?!

"If you really valued me, found me inspiring and wanted to be my friend, you wouldn't have been scared of me. And you were!" he railed against some imagined denial, but Hinata was too far gone to possibly muster up a defence. "You were scared of me! You were terrified of even approaching me! So what did you really want, Hinata?! HUH?!"

Hinata turned, tears streaming down her face, and fled the training ground. (2)

The blond stood, staring disbelieving as the girl ran away. His disbelief was only slightly related to her actions; the firmer, far more powerful incredulity arose from his own sudden, violent reaction to the girl's presence. A hatred had burned in him, with the sight of her eyes. He had lost himself, lost all control over who he was. He didn't understand.

"That was exceedingly malicious." Sasuke's comment was made with no emotion, no feeling or direction. Simply fact.

Naruto sat down on the ground harshly, bringing his hands up to massage his forehead. He saw everything before him with a startling clarity, and realised belatedly that his Sharingan had activated, for the second time in his life. "I know. I… I don't know what came over me."

His distant cousin stared hard at him, unrelenting. "I need to show you something," said Sasuke, as he began leading Naruto towards the derelict Uchiha Compound.

Deep within the Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style), the chain cage holding the Kyūbi rocked with booming laughter.

'Hatred. The weakness of mortals.' A cruel rictus of a grin formed across the furred face, an image fit to inspire doom and despair. 'And I need only fan the flames…'

More laughter, sinister and high with malice.

Freedom was coming.

To my son,

This talent, the dōjutsu that rests in your blood, is a power descended from my own. Its power is great – the devastation you are capable of is unmatched by any bar myself. Even my brother, with his foresight, would never match the full power of the Sharingan.

You bear these eyes. You bear their power – the power to command, to mimic, to confuse. A dangerous tool, something that can be used for great good or ill.

But the most basic form of the Sharingan is nothing compared to the secrets it hides.

The potential for destruction in those eyes is unmatched, but the price one must pay – that of emotional turmoil most extreme, unassailable regret and guilt for a death of one loved – is something I would not wish upon you, or your descendants, should they possess some modicum of your skill. I mourn the passing of your soul into anguish, yet you grow stronger, beyond the bounds of mortal man.

The text shifted even as he finished, became something different. Something worse.

It is true that the ability of this skill, the Mangekyō Sharingan, is far more dangerous than the basic form. Black flames, powerful illusions, inflicted pain and shifting blades, dimensional transportation and great warrior avatars, the darkest manipulations of the mind, and the clearest view into the heart's secrets… power grand enough to command even the bijū. I fear that one day, you will bear the eyes of Mother, which cast the world into an idyllic world of illusion.

Any who use this power hold the fate of the world at their fingertips. And they must be held accountable for it. It is your belief, my son, that these eyes are your greatest skill, the ultimate power – a claim your brother hotly contests.

All power comes at a price. The cost of this power is not merely psychological. With every use, your eyes blur, and your awareness and sight of this world fades. Soon, I fear, you will be unable to look upon even your daughters' faces. I urge you, my son, to use caution with this skill.

Yet is it not the burden of power to wield it? Was this not proven, in the devastation your Grandmother wrought? Surely, her crimes were terrible, but the mantle of the power she wielded – that I wield, that you wield – is far beyond denial.

Please, I beg of you. With the power in your hands, the very truth of reality can be rearranged. You can do this. You must do this. For it is your legacy, your task, to make the Uchiha great. To change the world.

My- and the rest was blurry, as if beyond his ability to see. 'Eternal Mangekyō,' he thought dimly, memories of Mito flickering in the back of his mind. 'If I don't gain those eyes, I will not be able to read the rest of this tablet. And if I'm not careful, I might go blind.'

He had gazed upon this tablet, in the Naka Shrine that Sasuke had brought him to, and his eyes had shifted. Blue to deep red, with three tomoe forming equidistant from the iris. But even then, his eyes had mutated further, shaping into three curved braces, with their central point facing the centre of his eye.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

A power that fed on hatred and suffering.

Combine that with the Kyūbi, and he could become the most powerful person in creation.

But sense fought back, rallied against him with a shield of logic and a blade of piercing realisation.

'Some ancient, power hungry person set the Uchiha on a path to destroy the world.' And their power, the Sharingan, the Mangekyō, the Eternal Mangekyō… its abilities were both insidious and destructive. The black flames of Amaterasu were Madara's playthings, and Izuna had been a God within the dream world of Tsukuyomi. When their skills combined, the power became so potent it could enslave even the strongest bijū with ease.

There was this power at his fingertips, this ability to destroy. But warnings raged in his mind, memories of discussions between Madara and Mito, Mito and Tobirama. 'These eyes take your soul,' Madara had whispered once. 'The Eyes of Torment', Tobirama called them. Such great gains awaited those who used the Sharingan, but such pains also…

And they were being fed, their power, by the rage of the Kyūbi. Emotion caused the seal to leak, but also brought out his eyes, and together, they could destroy everything.

He felt it. The hatred, the malice, the impossible fury beating down his shields, down his thoughts and feelings and leaving only cruelty behind.

The seal was fracturing. It had to be. There was no other explanation. Uchiha knew unyielding hatred, that much was certain, but Kyūbi could feed on that hatred and propagate it, just as Mito had believed. There was no possibility to the contrary – his sudden burst of rage had turned him into a monster, and his Sharingan had fed on that and activated.

Yet at the same time, it wasn't just the bijū, and not all blame could lie on it. He hated, he was human and he hated and he was part Uchiha and he hated strongly. The beast could only fan the flames, not completely brainwash him into a monster as terrible as it was.

'My Uchiha genes could curse me,' he thought. 'I could have unleashed the Kyūbi today, and I wouldn't have been able to stop it.'

No more.

No more would this power endanger the world.

No more.

Naruto took his rage, his anger, his aggression, and sat on them. Threw them to a corner of his mind best forgotten, to never see the light of day again.

And something other in his mind, something not the Kyūbi, was born anew.

Howling fury, the rage of a thousand storms.

The Kyūbi threw itself against the chains of its cage in a blind, maddening frustration, its plans foiled again. At least, for a time. It stopped, finally, sat and watched the creature forming in a dark, bubbling pool set before its cage.

'Repressing again… I wonder…'

The Kyūbi, known to some as Kurama, felt the cracks in its cage, the leak of its chakra into the host, watched the birth of something far darker than it could ever hope to be, and laughed lowly.

There was still hope.

Hinata ran.

She had very few people to run to in her life, nobody she could trust with the weight of this horror and fear.

Hinata ran.

Her steps echoed in the halls, the dull thunk of her feet meeting the wooden floor as she fled.

Hinata ran-

Straight into the chambers of her mother, Hyūga Naomi.

A ravening madness had enraptured the woman for years now. The daughter of one of the Side Branches of the Hyūga, Naomi had been bred from a young age as the future bride of the Clan heir. This promise of future position within the Clan had been all that saved her from a branding by the Clan's juinjutsu {Cursed Seal}. Her younger brother, Hisoka, alongside their parents had died during the Second War, lost to battles and missions far beyond their capabilities.

But Naomi had been a strong woman, driven by these losses to prove herself within the Clan. Her skill had been so notable that she had been drafted into the Shugonin Jūnishi {lit. Twelve Gentlemen Guardian Ninja} at an exceedingly young age.

Until, one day, the call came that her wedding to Hiashi was planned for the following year.

Clan custom had dictated her response. Hyuga Naomi had dropped everything – her shinobi career, her friends amongst the Guardians, even a rumoured relationship with the then-daimyō's son – and returned to the village of her birth. There, she wed her predestined husband and they lived together for five years before she managed to fall pregnant with Hinata.

Another five years on, Hanabi was born.

The year following was tense between the couple. While bound by duty and motherhood, Naomi strove for more. Driven to return to her place among the Shugonin Jūnishi, Naomi spent months convincing Hiashi to assign a wet-nurse to Hanabi so she could take up her duty once more. Eventually, Hinata's father had conceded the point.

It would have been better if he hadn't. (3)

The rebels among the daimyō's guard worked swiftly, convincing the woman to take part in their coup detat. The Hyūga woman had always been fiercely loyal to the daimyō and his family, and she had turned quickly. The rebels had intended to remove the current daimyō and install Naomi's rumoured lover, his younger brother, on the throne. During the attempted rebellion, one of the other shinobi had struck Naomi down the right side of her face, straight through her active Byakugan.

Driven mad by the pain, only the Hokage's kindness had saved the sole surviving rebel from execution. A variation of the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu (Hyūga Main Family's Cursed Seal Technique), designed to permanently seal her chakra and constrain the woman to the Hyūga Clan compound, now rested on her okaa-sama's forehead. Naomi had remained in the custody of the Hyūga ever since, a pale shadow of her former self.

Yet Hinata often found herself here. Sometimes, the insanity would part like clouds for brief moments, and the truth of the woman – her kindness, her sympathy and compassion – would return.

It was one of these moments she prayed for.

Her mother's room, located next to her father's, was dark as she entered. A single candle illuminated the room, but even as Hinata watched a figure shrouded in darkness absently ran their hand through and over the flame.

"Hinata?" the quiet voice called out, and said genin sighed in relief. "Come here."

Her okaa-sama was beautiful, having long, dark-purple hair which she sometimes wore in a bun, and sometimes freely. The woman looked resplendent, with her fair skin, eyebrows cut thinly as the ancient aristocracy sometimes wore them, and donning a long-sleeved purple kimono. Only the pale, sunken features of her face and the wicked scar carved down the left side of her face marred her appearance. Aside from that, she looked much like Hinata, but the girl knew that was because her okaa-sama was dressed and groomed every day by attendants. In the Dark Days, when Naomi had first returned to the Hyūga Compound, she had been completely catatonic, refusing to do anything to maintain herself, and even now the woman often had such days.

The younger, saner Hyūga walked towards the bed in which her okaa-sama lay, and when directed placed her tear-streaked face between the woman's hands. The woman held both of her cheeks for a moment, smiling softly, before rearing one hand back and slapping Hinata harshly across the face.

Hinata fell back in shock, cradling a stinging cheek as the woman screeched at her daughter, all intelligence voided by the pained insanity haunting her.

"No tears! No tears for a Hyūga! Do you think I cried?!" Naomi laughed, the sound high with madness. "Do you think I cried when my brother died? When they brought my parents back in pieces?! NO! I fought! I challenged the system, became loyal to something greater than the Hokage could ever be! I didn't allow them to beat me! I showed them how strong I was, with the blood of the Hyūga in my veins! Ultimate power!"

Another slap, this time across the crown of her head. "You stupid child! You and your weakness disgraces our ancestors!" The woman launched herself at Hinata then, and while Naomi had long foregone the sanity to train her skills as a shinobi, the maddened woman was still larger and more vicious than her daughter. Blows rained down on the smaller Hyūga, slaps and punches and kicks as the malicious madness made the mother act as she would never have done when sane.

The woman was screaming, or maybe that was Hinata. She wasn't really sure any more.

There were rushing footsteps, the feel of familiar arms – otou-sama? – cradling her against a solid chest, but she couldn't think for the thoughts ravaging her mind.

Of all the times, Chōji's words regarding her praise of his skill ran through her head. 'If that's true of me, why isn't it true of you?'

'No more tears. No more sadness,' Hinata thought. Her mind's eye turned to the blond jinchūriki of Konoha. 'I'll show you. I'll show you all!'

That night, Naruto dreamed, and in his dreams he dreamed of Mito.

This dream continued where the old one left off; with Uchiha Yusu's ravaged corpse. Mito scooped one of the burnt, blackened hands into her own and held it to her forehead, tears in her eyes.

A flash-

"Mito?" Tobirama queried, his voice rich with confusion.

She span, kunai in hand as panic set in. "Tobirama?" She hadn't even thought to check to see if he'd left a Hiraishin marker in the seal matrix in her haste, grief ruling her. Evidently, he'd felt it when the marker was deactivated, and had another in the room itself. 'Damn.' Not even when Madara had died had she been so careless.

"What are you doing here?" the Hokage asked sternly.

Mito hesitated.

"You know technically Hashirama, as the former Hokage, has a right to know you were intruding here…" The threat lay thickly in the air, and Mito scowled at her brother-in-law, unimpressed.

But still… She'd been caught breaking and entering in a classified facility only two shinobi in the village were supposed to have access to. Caught hovering over the body of a traitor to Konoha. There was no way out of this but the truth.

"You remember when I was pregnant with another man's child, all those years ago?" the Uzumaki asked breathlessly.

Once, when discussing his creation of the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), her brother-in-law had joked that he'd needed a jutsu that could keep up with his mind. Mito had never entirely doubted the truth in that, and she saw that keen intelligence now, flickering in his eyes as he looked between Mito and her daughter. "You're sure?" was all Tobirama asked, and the softness in his voice reflected the compassionate nature only she and his brothers had ever managed to pull out of him.

'There's a reason he's my closest friend,' she thought, almost smiling despite herself.

Mito nodded. "I'm sure."

"Kagami…?"

"Also mine. And a third – Uzumaki Atsushi. My brother adopted him, unknowingly."

The Raijin {Thunder God} suddenly stopped, lifting a brow in question. "You and Izuna?"

Mito winced faintly. "Madara, actually."

Tobirama flinched backwards in shock. "What."

"There was a… mission…" she said. "In Oni no Kuni {Land of Demons}. It was a few years after I first met you and Hashirama, about six months before we were wed. By then the threat of the marriage contract was looming – my father had been pushing for months and Hashirama was starting to buckle under the pressure." She'd had a respite of a few years, thankfully, as Hashirama was thrust into a position as Senju Clan Head at a young age, with his father, aunts and uncles all killed in the battle at Amaterasu no Tani {Valley of Amaterasu}. Consideration of the marriage contract had fallen to the wayside as the young Senju struggled to lead his Clan at the tender age of fifteen. The contract had never been dissolved, however.

"I didn't want the contract," Mito continued, and her brother-in-law nodded, knowing that much already. "I was to wed a stranger – an idiot." Tobirama snorted at the comment, and she smiled. "The mission was to guard the priestess of Oni no Kuni against attacks as she prepared to give birth, but her people were unaware that the Uzumaki and Uchiha were in conflict, with such a great geographical distance dividing us. After a rather violent initial encounter, Madara and I agreed – reluctantly – to put up with each other for the sake of the mission.

"He was… something else. I'd never seen such a freely emotive Uchiha, and it intrigued me. I saw him tending to his summons, and the compassion with which he handled them startled me." She sighed. "We'd been raised to consider the Uchiha as demons, as something broken and wrong, locked in a cycle of hatred forever. But there, tending to his hawks, stood the contradiction."

"So you grew close to him," Tobirama said.

Mito laughed. "It was difficult. But the mission was long – three months, waiting for the priestess to give birth. And we saw much of each other during that time." She fell into the memories, of discussions and spars, of snarky banter and battles of wits. And somewhere along the line, it had turned into something more, filled with kisses and smiles, playful jabs and long nights.

The Hokage cleared his throat awkwardly, and Mito returned to awareness with a mild blush. "The mission came to a close, and we went our separate ways." 'The long and short of it would be most tactful, perhaps.' "I wed Hashirama three months later, in January of 18DWS. But five months later, on my birthday, I found myself sneaking into the Uchiha Clan's current stronghold. So began a habit that spanned nine years."

Tobirama quirked a brow. "Every birthday?"

Mito nodded. "Madara's too."

"But what about when you fell pregnant? With Chikako?"

"Nothing happened that time," she admitted. "Madara held me, and we talked." Tears of frustration had leaked through for the first time in so many years, since her grandfather's death. Mito had been furious, terrified of motherhood to a daughter she had no idea the paternity of. But Chikako had been born, bright and cheery and with Hashirama's brown-black hair, and Mito had felt relief. "And then, five years later, I fell pregnant with the triplets."

"You left them at the Clan compounds." Not a question, not an accusation. Just a statement.

"... yes. Yes I did. Atsushi had the Uzumaki hair, but the other two had that telltale Uchiha hair that was evidently inherited from neither myself nor Hashirama." The redhead laughed suddenly, the sound incredulous. "That man… that impossible brother of yours. He offered to keep them, you know. Raise them as his own." Mito smiled softly at Tobirama. "I think that was when I began to fall in love with him." And she'd never gone and seen Madara again. That was the one condition, the one rule that Hashirama had imposed. 'I'll be the husband I should have been,' he'd offered, as if it was his fault in the first place, and not just ugly circumstance. 'And you'll be my wife. Just the two of us, forever.' And it had been, would be. There was nothing she wanted more, now.

Mito's gaze turned to her daughter's corpse. 'Well. Almost nothing.'

"And Izuna adopted the twins you left with the Uchiha…"

Silence. It filled the room, choking conversation between them. She knew he wouldn't say anything to anyone, wouldn't betray her like that. Tobirama and Mito had known each other for years, had trusted each other for just as long. 'Thick as thieves!' Hashirama had once called them, and he wasn't wrong.

"You did this when Madara died, didn't you?" Tobirama questioned softly, gesturing vaguely to Mito as she knelt beside the coffin, and she nodded.

"Yes." The Uzumaki ran her fingers through the burnt hair that remained atop Yusu's head. 'My youngest daughter,' she thought, and images of a squalling babe came forth, resting in her mind's eyes. The only time they had been together in this world, as mother and daughter, before she had left two baskets and a note at the entrance to the Uchiha Clan compound. 'I have failed you.'

"She bore a son-"

"No." Mito shook her head, fighting the temptation to say yes, yes, to scream it to the heavens. "I… I couldn't."

Tobirama nodded, laid a single, comforting hand on her should for but a moment, and then flashed away once more.

Then, and only then, did Mito break down and weep.

Naruto found himself wandering aimlessly through Konoha after his meeting with Inoichi, feeling the need for some time to sort out his personal feelings.

He could feel it now, in a way he couldn't have before. The gnawing madness, the unenviable hatred that encapsulated the Kyūbi. Its darkness, which his kaa-chan and ōoba-chan had sacrificed their lives and the sanctity of their souls to contain. The ever-pressing malice whispered to him, now that he could hear it, praising a song of death and despair. The seal was breaking apart, splitting at the seams and opening the gate to something powerful that should never see the light of day again.

That was when Uzumaki Naruto made a decision.

The seal was fracturing… and he wouldn't tell anybody.

He couldn't tell anybody. They'd panic, they'd act against him, fearing him. His teammates would turn against him, the other genin would think him the demon, and even the Sandaime, Jiraiya and Tsunade would believe him lost, subjugated by the beast. He would become the very bakegitsune {Monster Fox} that Iruka had explained he was not.

He couldn't let them see the truth, let them see the darkness of hatred he was capable of. See what the beast was turning him into, see that it had that power over him. The memories came, as always, faster and faster, and he welcomed the possibility that the solution to the fractured seal was in there. His mother, a powerful seals mistress, and Mito, a woman so capable in the art of fūinjutsu that she had sealed a bijū within herself.

No. He would deal with this on his own.

Sadly, the young Uzumaki was blissfully unaware that Mito had been, at her heart, a paranoid, untrusting woman in her youth. Years of keeping secrets and feeling able to trust anyone had turned her into something harsh and broken, which had only really changed with the love of Madara and Hashirama. It was those negative emotions that were tempering him, directing him down a path that might yet destroy the world…

He walked the streets of Konoha, peering into shops as he passed, ignoring the villagers, when he spotted the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Now, of course, most would be unaware of the fact that Mito had been quite the green thumb. It was logical, considering her husband's kekkei genkai – and indeed, once they had become closer, they had greatly enjoyed the simple pleasure of gardening together. Oddly, a taste for gardening had also been a characteristic of Uzumaki Atsushi, her son by Madara, and through him to Kushina and her son, Naruto. The strength of an entire family of gardening enthusiasts weighed down on the young blond, and directed him towards the front entrance of the store.

"Naruto?" a confused voice asked from behind the counter, and his surprised gaze rose to regard Ino.

"Ino-chan!" he said, grinning.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, brow raised in curiosity.

He shrugged. "I've always liked gardening."

Ino snorted. "You've come to the right place."

Over an hour they spent sat there, discussing the native flora of Hi no Kuni. Naruto described the newly-purchased building that had been set up as the Senju Clan estate, the original having been destroyed by the Kyūbi. He took special care in describing the colours in the place he was currently living, and the girl dragged him around the shop eagerly, looking for new plants for him to decorate the grounds of the estate with. Somehow, they found themselves in the midst of a heated argument about which flower colourations were more beautiful – opposing shouts of 'Orange!' and 'Purple!' echoed throughout the shop – but there was no real heat behind the exchange. It was as Ino was ringing up her fellow blond's purchases that she asked a pertinent question.

"Hey," the Yamanaka asked suddenly. "Do you have any idea why Hinata was running through the village like there was a demon chasing her, yesterday?"

Naruto winced at the validity of the statement. "That… might have been me."

"I don't know what you could have done to her." Ino was frowning, as if the very possibility of him being involved in such an unfortunate affair confused her. "She was crying buckets. I've never seen her that upset before. I tried catching up with her but the guards of the Hyūga Clan compound wouldn't let me in."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I've… had a really bad week. Between Iruka-sensei and… you heard about the assassination attempt?" At her nod, he continued. "I got injured pretty badly during training with Sasuke, and that combined with some other things I've got going on right now to really stress me out. I channeled... that chakra, and then suddenly Hinata was there and... I exploded at her. I shouldn't have," he added, at her sceptical glance, "but it kinda became too much, y'know?"

Maybe it was the old endearment, reminding her of the older Naruto, or the way he seemed genuinely remorseful – and he was! – but suddenly, there was something else in her eyes, some understanding he was both unfamiliar with, and uncomfortable with. A seriousness that didn't suit the Ino that Naruto had come to know peripherally over years in the Academy, and more closely these past months.

"Explain to me. What did Hinata do that set you off?"

Some part of him whispered that this was foolish, that he shouldn't explain himself to her, when they barely even knew each other. But another part of him was drowning that part out, a loud, crushing voice against reason, with something unnameable behind it. Screaming, desperate for him to speak to somebody.

So he explained. He spoke the words he could hardly articulate, taking care to only explicitly mention his feelings regarding Hinata and the situation around her. As the Uzumaki watched, Ino nodded as she filled in the blanks, the additional stressors hidden to her. He mentioned the stalking, Hinata's own admission, and her own, small role in his loneliness.

The blonde girl sighed when he finished explaining, patiently waiting until the end to make comment. "You felt vulnerable. Weak, at a time when you already felt like you had no power or control. Your survival instincts kicked in. You were scared, because you felt your trust was violated and that you weren't safe." Her voice was cold and clinical, speaking with expertise in an area she was intimately familiar with – emotions, and the mind.

Naruto winced in shame at the thought he hadn't even dare address, let alone attempt to explain. "Yes."

Ino nodded. "I can see where you're coming from. It was a sudden response because of the immense stress you'd been under. And it would be painful, to know you'd spent so much of your life alone, and someone could have done away with some of that loneliness, but chose not to." She rolled her shoulders, then, an odd gesture as she fixed Naruto with a firm stare. "But you can understand how someone might fear rejection. Especially someone as timid as Hinata. And your rather explosive reaction frightened her, and was totally unacceptable and, to be frank, malicious."

Naruto nodded, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I intend to apologise to Hinata when I see her. But I don't want to bring the whole thing back up tonight, when we have such a big day tomorrow." Unspoken, on his end, was that he wasn't sure he could quite manage the whole emotional upheaval yet, when he was just getting a feel back for his emotions.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she announced.

Naruto nodded, smiling at the girl, who reciprocated. "Don't worry. I'm going to set this right."

The Yamanaka nodded, turning back to calculating the price of his purchases. "It's a shame, though. You'd have made a really cute couple."

Naruto blinked owlishly. "What?"

Ino groaned. "Oh come on! That's why she was following you around all the time. She fancies you, you dolt!"

Naruto blushed faintly. "I'm… not really used to that kind of thing." And he wasn't, really. Mito had married Hashirama because of an arrangement, and her relationship with Madara had been a crime of passion. They'd just suddenly grown into something… else. Kushina was no help either, having pined after Minato for a grand total of three days before the lady-boy asked her out, stuttering horribly and blushing to the point that he should have been the one mistaken for a tomato.

Ino shot him an understanding look. "It's been hard for you…" the Yamanaka continued sadly. "And I'm truly, deeply sorry for the way I might have made that worse."

He raised a curious eyebrow at her. "Nah, you haven't done anything, Ino!" he grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes amusedly.

"We both know that's not entirely true, baka. But still," she said. "We need to clear the air here, and I don't just mean the empty void in your head!" She reached across and rapped a playful knuckle on the crown of his skull, which the younger blond rubbed sorely.

"So… what do you want exactly?" the Uzumaki asked, confused.

"Can we just..." Ino trailed off, her voice soft. "Can we start anew? A blank slate?"

Naruto blinked, and nodded slowly, as if thinking. Then, he smiled at her. "I'd like that, y'know."

Ino beamed back at him.

'Turns out Mito-ōbaa was right,' he thought in contentment as he turned and left the store, shooting Ino a wave as he left. 'My comrades always did have my back.'

And they'd better. The Chūnin exams started tomorrow.

Tsunade stalked slowly through the halls of the Academy building, not allowing her horror to start a fire of panic in her soul. Every step she took from here on, both figurative and literal, could spell the doom of their entire movement against Danzō and his accomplice.

She entered the Hokage's office at long last – too different, too changed to hold any memories of her time with her grandfather and great-uncle – to find Sarutobi sat behind his desk, labouring over a scroll with the ANBU Commander. A sharp look at Tsunade, in which he took in the seriousness of her face, and he ordered the Commander to leave the room. Even as the man did so, Jiraiya entered through the window, summoned by an ANBU dispatched by Tsunade.

She didn't even feel the need to kick him back out of the window, this time.

She'd found it. One jutsu, a single possibility from the articles of her ancestors. Something capable of brainwashing on this scale, something capable of being hidden easily, something subtle.

Warning upon warning had been stacked in Tobirama-ōoji's papers on mind-control, the danger and power of a single technique that had almost brought Konohagakure to the brink of Civil War.

Tsunade asked, quiet and calm, for Sarutobi to secure the office. The doors and windows slammed shut, a single handsign, and then-

"Kotoamatsukami," she said breathlessly, unable to hold the revelation in any more.

Sarutobi gasped, as if the very name of the technique had brought memories forth – and perhaps they had, perhaps this was the moment of epiphany Tobirama-ōoji described, when the victim realised the reality of their own folly. Subtle, ōoji had described the dōjutsu technique. Conniving, dangerous, but flawed in the most simple of ways; it cannot recreate the logic patterns of its victims. Outline where the illogicality in their shifted perception lies, and they become aware of something, at the very least.

Sarutobi held his head, pained, but managed to rasp out, "Of course… the ultimate genjutsu of Uchiha Yusu, and her great-nephew Uchiha Shisui…"

"Wait, what?" Jiraiya exclaimed in confusion. "What's going on here?"

Tsunade huffed in triumph for a moment, before the weight of the situation returned to her. "Among the annals of my ancestors, I found a treatise by Tobirama-ōoji on mind-control techniques – on the danger of them, and how they needed to be regulated."

"And of course," Jiraiya interjected, sounding amused, "most of those originated from the Uchiha and Yamanaka Clans, of whom your great-uncle was not terrifically fond."

The Senju rolled her eyes, nodding. "Admittedly, I thought he'd been biased in choosing his subject matter, but Tobirama-ōoji was rather anally-retentive when it came to fair, unbiased recording. He was quite analytically-minded. There's a reason he got along so well with the Shimura Clan."

"Regardless," the Sandaime interjected, "in those records you found mentions of the incident surrounding Uchiha Yusu."

"Uchiha Yusu?" Jiraiya asked curiously. "I think I vaguely remember that name from the history books."

"She was a kunoichi of the Uchiha Clan, born to Uchiha Izuna," said Sarutobi. "She and her twin brother, Uchiha Kagami, were left orphaned following the second-last Uchiha v. Senju skirmish, when Izuna died. They were temporarily adopted by their uncle, Madara, who Yusu was quite close to." Here, the Shinobi no Kami {God of Shinobi} looked genuinely saddened. "When Madara left Konoha, she was angered, and spent years harbouring a deep-seated hatred for the village and its denizens, including her own Clan. I remember her well, from my own childhood during the village's formation. Her scorn towards everyone, including her own brother, was notorious.

"Eventually, however, her hatred turned into action. At some point, she had awoken the most terrible of the Uchiha techniques – the Mangekyō Sharingan. Among her talents was the ultimate genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, which she used to terrifying ends."

"You still haven't told me what Kotoamatsukami is," Jiraiya said hesitantly, already dreading the power of such a technique. Anything nicknamed 'Ultimate' was bound to be rather dangerous.

Tsunade was the one to respond. "It's a mind-control technique of the highest calibre. Capable of completely subjugating somebody's will, invariably, without any consideration for their own morals or ethics." Jiraiya paled significantly at her words, the horror of such a jutsu dawning on him. 'After all,' Tsunade mused, 'the ethics or morals of the victim have always been a major challenge to overcome, in the art of mind control.' Even the Yamanaka were known to struggle with forcing someone to betray their fundamental beliefs.

Sarutobi sighed. "When she decided to finally act on her defiance, Yusu began to brainwash a member of the Hokage's guard, Uchiha Naka, against the village using Kotoamatsukami. She turned him into an entirely different person, and were it not for the presence of his wife, Uchiha Naori, the shifts in Naka's nature might have remained unsolved.

"As it stands, he was almost killed, attacking Uchiha under his own conceived 'orders' of the Senju regime. He slaughtered dozens of people within the Uchiha Clan estate, and it was only the intervention of Naori that saved him. She managed to utilise a kinjutsu of her own creation to return him to the person he once was. From there, Naka fought alongside Kagami, Naori and the Nidaime himself to bring Yusu to justice."

"Wait, Sarutobi-sensei," Tsunade interjected, frowning. "You said the technique of Uchiha Yusu and Uchiha Shisui. Who the hell is he?"

Hiruzen's eyes went wide in realisation.

A masked kunoichi made her way through the trees of Hi no Kuni, traveling at a great pace towards the home of her target.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Her leader had been overjoyed - no, ecstatic - at the news of another Uzumaki gaining the Kongō Fūsa, especially so soon. They had lost their opportunity last time, because the girl had been made into the Kyūbi's jinchūriki before they could get her, but this time, they had a chance, barring a repeat event.

It was something that worried her, to be honest. When they heard of the Uzumaki woman's demise in the Kyūbi attack, they had feared the Kongō Fūsa had died off, leaving them with no method of beginning the revival. Now, however, they could do it. Her mission, besides information gathering on the boy, was to obtain the item. From there, it could begin.

Masanori-sama would rise once more.

(1) Writing Tsunade getting over her haemaphobia from an outside perspective was odd, but I thought you guys could do without me waxing poetically as she fought it in order to save Naruto.

(2) I don't like how this scene panned out at all. It was much more natural when I thought of it, and when I tied it into the plot, but now that it's actually out on the proverbial page, it's lost its sheen. I'm sorry for that. If you're struggling to understand where the hell this came from, consider it from this perspective: Naruto is insanely stressed at this point, due to everything that's going on. The next intermission, which you'll get a few days after I upload this, is also happening at the same time that this is. Add onto that Iruka's death, the assassination attempt, the looming Chūnin Exams, and the memories – Mito hates the Hyūga, and you'll find out why soon – and it's already got him at a bad stage. Finding somebody stalking him just adds to the whole ugly affair, and then discovering he might have actually had a friend, if it wasn't for somebody else's cowardice? (This is how Naruto perceives it in the heat of the moment, whether this is true or not). That's enough to set anybody off. Especially considering he just lost one of the few people who was close to him when he was that young. He's a human being, first and foremost, and this is just the first time he's snapped in my fanfiction.

(3) I always wanted to come up with a story for Hinata's mother, since she isn't touched on in Canon at all, and now I have. I've played with the timeline a bit here, pushing Kazuma's coup de-tat back by about 5 years to 55PWS, rather than 50PWS as it was in the anime.

Brief interlude in three days, then the Chūnin Exams!