Eight Years after the Kyubi attack
It was a warm Saturday morning. Flowers were blooming, birds were signing and the sky was clear. So while he waited for the daily training session with one of her parents, Naruto decided to spend some time on one of his hobbies besides training and eating ramen: gardening.
Shizune bought him some new seeds from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and he was planting them on his corner of the backyard. Helping him were his two four year old siblings, Hagane and Kaida. Both of them had inherited Jiraiya's spiky white hair and Tsunade's brown eyes. Though Hagane usually had a short haircut, while Kaida had it styled into two long pigtails.
"Alright, now that you have put the seeds in the holes, you must cover the holes with soil again," Naruto instructed as the twins did so.
"And then what, niisan?" Kaida asked.
"Then you come every day and water the seeds. In a few weeks, it will grow a plan with really pretty flowers."
"Awww, but I wanted to see the flowers now!" Kaida complained.
"Maybe if we water them more, they'll grow faster?" Hagane wondered.
"Nice try, but it doesn't work that way, hehe. Okay, wait here, I'm going to get the watering can," Naruto said as he went to back to the house. He returned back with a full watering can, and he almost dropped it in shock. "WHAT THE HELL!?"
Naruto was in shock. Besides a smiling Kaida and a surprised Hagane, there was an almost full grown bush of white roses.
"Look at this, niisan! I told the flowers to grow already, and they did!" the little girl said proudly.
"Whoa, it's almost like the First Hokage!" Naruto shouted, amazed.
"Who?" both twins asked in unison.
"The First Hokage! Your great grandpa! He had the power to make plants grow super fast, but none of his children inherit that power. Maybe you did!"
"Really? That's so cool! I'm going to grow more flowers then!"
"Maybe I have that power too!" Hagane wondered as he tried to emulate his sister.
"I have to tell mom and dad!" Naruto excitedly stated as he rushed back inside. "MOM! DAD! GET OVER HERE! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!"
Naruto pretty much ignored the Sannin's protests as he dragged them, followed by Shizune, to the backyard, where the twins were trying to make more plants to grow.
"Naruto, please, I can walk on my own!" Tsunade protested.
"What's so important that got you so riled up?" Jiraiya asked.
"Look at THAT!" Naruto pointed out towards the white rose bush.
"Those are some nice roses, but I don't think they're impressive enough to be worth getting dragged here," Tsunade deadpanned.
"I don't mean that! I planted those roses five minutes ago, and Kaida made them grow!"
"You mean that she has power over plants? Like the First Hokage?" Jiraiya asked.
"Exactly!" Naruto exclaimed. "Come on sis, show them!"
Kaida nodded, and tried to make another white rose to grow. "Come on, grow! Grow! Groooooooooooow!" Kaida piped as she motioned her arms at the ground, without any visible effects. "Oh come on, it worked just now!"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Come on Naruto, the kids pranked you. While I admit that that bush wasn't there yesterday, there's no way they have the power of the Wood Release."
"No! I have the power! And I'll show it to you! Grow!" Kaida ordered, her face turning red as she tried to channel the power she thought she had.
"Come on sis, I know you can do it!" Hagane encouraged as he patted her on the back.
The moment Hagane touched Kaida, something inside her changed. She felt an overwhelming force coming from within, and almost unwittingly, channeled said force outside through her extended arms. Another white rose bush emerged from the ground, except this one grew to be twice as big and lush as the first one.
Tsunade's necklace shined with such an intense glow it was comparable to the sun.
Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune's jaws dropped, and their eyes opened so wide they appeared to pop out of their socket. They remained in a state of stupor until Naruto snapped out of them.
"I...I can't believe it!" Tsunade babbled, almost in a whisper.
"Tsunade-sama...this...this is..." Shizune stuttered.
Jiraiya was also shocked, but then he smiled wide. "Haha, did you see that? My genes are so good, they awakened a long lost Bloodline Limit!"
"Jiraiya..." Tsunade whispered, ignoring the Toad Sage's remark. "When Hagane touched Kaida...you felt something, didn't you?"
"Yes. Something similar to nature chakra," Jiraiya replied. "Kaida, when Hagane touched you, what did you feel?"
"I felt...being full of energy. And so strong! Like I've been sleeping for a whole week! It felt amazing!" the little girl said.
"Hagane, honey, give me your hand," Tsunade instructed as she crouched in front of her younger son.
Hagane did so, and Tsunade's necklace glowed once more. None of the presents were sensors, but they could felt Tsunade's chakra dramatically increasing all of sudden, manifesting in the form of a blue aura flaring around her. Jiraiya also noticed the bit of nature chakra there. The effect vanished once they stopped holding hands. Tsunade stood up, with a dazzling look on her face.
"When Hagane touched me, I felt my chakra reserves growing so much, I thought I wouldn't be able to hold them! This is incredible!"
"Wait a minute, we all touched Hagane many times before. Why he didn't have this effect until now?" Shizune asked.
"I don't know...maybe it was dormant until something triggered it?" Jiraiya guessed.
"Like what?"
"Like...Kaida making those plants grow?" Naruto asked. "I mean, you told me about twins having some sort of invisible special connection. What if Hagane couldn't awake this power until Kaida awakened hers?"
"It's a possibility," Jiraiya conceded. "By the way, Tsunade, I think that this might be the reason as for why your necklace glows so much when it's near either of them."
"It is possible that the First's chakra of the necklace somehow influenced them since the moment they were...err...conceived?" Shizune asked.
"That's an interesting theory, but we'll have to wait to see if it's true or not. I'm going to check the twins now to see the extent of their abilities. As for the time being, I don't want anybody else to learn about this, understood?"
"What? But Kaida just developed a Bloodline Limit which was thought to be lost! And Hagane has some freaky power too! We have to tell the Hokage at least!" Naruto protested.
Shizune stepped in. "Naruto-kun, keep in mind that the power of the First Hokage has been sought by many people. If there was a rumor that Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama's kids had manifested that power, then they would be in great danger. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Shizune-neechan. I didn't think of that," Naruto admitted, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Which means that you two shouldn't use those powers out of this house, and only with an adult present, understood?" Tsunade said to the twins.
Kaida went to protest. "But-"
"No buts, Kaida!" Tsunade's tone did not leave room for replies.
"Alright, mom..." the white haired girl conceded in defeat.
"You two, come with me for a medical check. Jiriaya, why don't you take Naruto out for some training?"
…
Traning Ground Three
While Tsunade inspected the twins, Jiraiya tool Naruto to their usual training spot.
"Alright Naruto, let's review your ninjutsu repertoire. First use the Clone Jutsu," Jiraiya instructed.
Naruto nodded, made the necessary hand seals, and channeled his chakra. "Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, and four perfect copies of himself appeared at both sides. "Yay!"
"Alright, that jutsu gave you some trouble, but it seems that your chakra control is getting better," Jiraiya mentioned. "Now, Transformation."
Dispelling the clones, Naruto nodded again, and turned into Shizune. Jiraiya gave a nod of approval, and Naruto returned to normal.
"And lastly, the Body Replacement."
Naruto made the hand seals, this time much faster, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a large rock in his place. Naruto then appeared behind Jiraiya.
"Excellent," Jiraiya approved, turning around, already aware of his godson being there. "Those are the three Academy ninjutsu you need to master if you want to graduate. As you can see, piece of cake when you have such an awesome teacher as me."
"Wait, does that mean that I can graduate already?" Naruto said in realization, starry eyed.
"I said that those three jutsus are necessary to pass, not to only thing you need. But yeah, I'm sure that you'd be good to graduate in two years."
"YAY! Take that Sasuke! I'm going to graduate two years before you!"
"Whoa there, don't get yourself carried away. You're not going to skip any Academy year."
"What? But why? If I already know what they teach at the Academy, going there is a waste of time!"
"You have a point. But I'm not teaching you everything the Academy does. Stuff like maths, physics, biology and geography might not seem useful for a ninja at first, but they are. That's why the Academy is still important. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't bother sending you there.
"Besides, I'm going to have a talk with the Hokage and see if he can do something about making the Academy curriculum a bit more challenging. I mean, a ninja needs more than the three basic E-Rank jutsus to do their job. They don't even teach tree walking! Besides, I want to teach you other abilities that will take some time."
"And that would be...?"
"Sealing Jutsus, some more advanced ninjutsu, being able to dispel genjutsus, and if possible, control of the Nine Tails' chakra. It's my goal to make sure you gain some level of mastery over those abilities before you graduate."
"I see. No matter what you decide to throw at me or how hard the Academy gets, I'll pass with flying colors!" Naruto claimed, pumping his fist.
"Boy, that inner fire is something every teacher wants to see in his students," Jiraiya smiled. "Alright kid, now that you showed me what you're capable of, I think that I can fulfill your request!"
"YES! Elemental ninjutsu!"
Last week, Sasuke –who for some reason had become incredibly cranky since the previous year– showed everybody that he had learned the Great Fireball Jutsu. Even if he was far from completely mastering it, Naruto had to admit that it was pretty cool. From that day onwards, Naruto begged her parents to teach him elemental ninjutsu. And now the gap between him and Sasuke would close once more.
Jiraiya then produced a small light brown rectangular paper. "This is a litmus paper. It is used to determine your elemental affinity. You channel chakra into the paper, and based on how it reacts you can determine your affinity. For example," Jiraiya did as he explained, and the paper started to burn. "My affinity is fire, so the paper burns when it's in contact with my chakra. Fire is the most common affinity on this land, hence its name. Now-"
"Gimme gimme!" Naruto hastily took another litmus paper from Jiraiya's hands. He channeled his chakra, and the paper split in two. "Aw dammit! Give me another, I think broke this one!"
"Calm down, Naruto! The paper didn't break. If the paper cuts in two, then it means you have an affinity for wind. Which is the least common affinity of all nations, even in the Land of Wind."
"Awesome! I have a rare affinity, unlike Sasuke who has fire like everybody else!" Naruto cheered, then he realized that Jiraiya also had a fire affinity. "Er, sorry dad, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay. But don't get all excited, having a rare affinity does have it downsides."
"Really? Like what?"
"Since there are so few people with wind affinity, that means less people who can teach you, and less people creating new jutsus. I believe that there's only another wind user in Konoha, one of the sons of Sarutobi-sensei. I think I could get him to teach you some of the advanced stuff. But for the time being, let's stick to something simple."
Jiraiya walked to a tree and plucked a leaf from one of its branches. He then handed that leaf to Naruto. "I want you to use your chakra to cut that leaf in two, just like you did with the paper."
"What? Why?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
Jiraiya sighed. "Your mother and I told you this a million times. Before learning 'the cool stuff' as you so eloquently put it, you need to learn the basics first. And this exercise will help you mold wind chakra. What, did you expect that I was going to teach you how to produce a tornado or something like that?"
"Welll...yes. I mean, Sasuke can create fireballs, and I need something to counter that if I am to beat him!"
"Actually, that wouldn't be a good idea."
"And why not?"
"Because elemental chakra is like rock paper scissors. Just like how rock beats scissors but gets beaten by paper, some elements are weak against some and strong against others. In your case, wind is strong against lightning, but weak against fire. If you try to counter Sasuke's fire jutsus with wind jutsus, you will only make his attacks stronger."
"WHAAAAAAAAT!? Then I'm never going to beat him!" Naruto whined, depressed, as he fell on his knees.
"Don't say that. You can learn water jutsus as well if you want."
"But you said that my affinity is wind..."
"Yes, but that means that wind jutsus will be more powerful, consume less chakra and will be easier to learn. You can learn jutsus from all five basic elements. Think of it as the use of your arms. Your right arm is the dominant one, but that doesn't mean that you can use your left arm as well, but you use the right one more because you have more dexterity."
"Then teach me water jutsus instead!"
"No. You have to learn jutsus of your elemental affinity first. Once you have that down, you can master the element that counters the element you're weak against. For example, after mastering fire, I learned earth jutsus, since earth beats water, which beats fire."
"I see...man, this is far more complicated that I thought!" Naruto realized, rubbing the back of his head.
"Of course it is. Why do you think I don't want you to graduate too early? I want you to be properly prepared once you go out there to fight the bad guys."
"By the way, you have fire, but what affinity do mom and Shizune-neechan have?"
"Your mother has lightning, and Shizune has water. And since Kaida has Wood Release, which is a combination of earth and water, those elements are her affinity."
"What, it is possible to have more than one affinity?"
"Yes, but outside Bloodline Limits, they're extremely rare, even more than people with wind affinity. Now come on, I won't teach you any new jutsu unless I see you cutting that leaf with your chakra! The key is to try to compress your chakra into a blade as fine as possible."
"Right!" Naruto said, as he fixed his stare on the leaf on his hands, and channeled his chakra.
…
Meanwhile, in the forests of Konoha's outskirts, two figures were having a talk, covered by the trees' lush foliage. Both of them were teenagers with dull black hair and black eyes, wearing headbands of Konohagakure. One of them was also wearing the symbol of the Uchiha Clan on the back of his t-shirt.
"So, how things are going, Shisui?" the first figure asked.
"It was as you feared, Itachi. It was way beyond a rumor. The Uchiha are indeed planning to stage a coup. I don't know when, but it will be soon. Very soon," Shusui grimly noted.
Itachi cursed inwards. "Our time is running out. What about that investigation that Jiraiya-sama is conducting?"
"Even if the true culprit of the Nine Tails attack was found, it is too late. The damage was done the moment Danzo put the Uchiha Clan under surveillance. I'm afraid that there's nothing stopping the coup."
"If such things happen, it will be an open invitation for the other villages to declare a war on us. What can we do?"
"I already have a plan. There's a meeting tonight of all the Uchiha members at the Naka Shrine. I believe that Fugaku-sama will make the coup official, and reveal what he has planned. What he doesn't know, however, is that I will be there and I will use my Kotoamatsukami on him and make him convince the Clan to rebuild the burned bridges with the village. I already have the Third's approval," Shisui explained.
"Do you think it will work? If you're caught, you will die on the spot."
"I know it will. Besides, I can't die yet, not without convincing Shizune-san on going on a date with me first," Shusui added, chuckling.
Itachi returned the smile. "I believe you'll need to use your Kotoamatsukami on her for that to happen," Itachi's face became serious again. "But take care. Once you're done, meet me at my apartment, and we'll discuss what to do next."
"Yes. See you this night, Itachi," Shisui said before disappearing.
"Good luck, Shisui. Let's hope everything goes right..."
Little did the two rogue Uchihas knew that a third Sharingan wielder, hidden in the shadows, had listened their entire conversation.
...
Shortly after finishing his training session with Naruto, Jiraiya was confronted by an ANBU who told him that the Hokage requested his presence for an urgent mission. In no time, he arrived at the Hokage's tower, and entered Sarutobi's office through one of the windows.
"Jiraiya, is the door to much of a hassle to you?" Sarutobi asked in a deadpan tone.
"Sorry, sensei, but you said that it was urgent," Jiraiya replied as he jumped inside the office.
"Alright, sit down," Sarutobi instructed with a weary sigh. "Jiraiya, there is no need for you to continue your investigation of the Kyubi attack."
Jiraiya was taken aback by such words. "What? Why?"
"I'm afraid that it won't do any good now. According to my sources, the Uchiha Clan has been planning a coup d'etat for the past couple years. They will stage it sometime during this week."
Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was hearing. "And why are we still here, doing nothing!? We have to stop that from happening!"
"I already have a plan in motion, Jiraiya, don't worry. The coup won't come to pass, I made sure of it."
Jiraiya wasn't convinced, but decided to not to pressure the issue. "I see. The ANBU who contacted me said you had a mission for me."
"Correct. You see, from the past few months onwards, the demand of A-Rank and S-Rank missions had increased dramatically."
"I fail to see how that's a bad thing. More income for the village."
"Yes, but I believe that there's something more to this. This amount of high-ranked missions is unseen in times of peace. An S-Rank mission means an S-Rank threat. If there are so many S-Rank missions requests...well, you do the math. And some of the mission requesters mentioned men in black cloaks with red clouds on them."
"Akatsuki."
"Exactly. They began their move already, whatever it is. Your mission will be to find out what they're trying to accomplish with this."
"Are you afraid that they're doing this in order to bring our best ninja out of the village walls so they can be killed off one by one with ease?"
"It is one of the possibilities, yes, but not the only one."
"Alright, I'll meet some of my spies and see what they have. You'll receive a report from me shortly," Jiraiya said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Sarutobi knew that he didn't convince Jiraiya about the coup being already over. Truth be told, he wasn't convinced either, but he had to trust Shisui. He had seen his abilities in action, and he knew that he could pull it off.
Still, the old Hokage couldn't shake off the feeling that this was the last time he would see the Toad Sannin.
…
It took him two hours and an inordinate amount of effort, but Naruto had finally cut the goddamned leaf. When Naruto asked Jiraiya if he was ready now to learn wind jutsus, Jiraiya pretty much laughed in his face, and told him that in order to be ready, he'll have to cut that leaf in less than ten seconds. At this rate, he was never going to surpass Sasuke!
Still, Naruto knew perfectly what would get his mood up: some ramen with his best friend.
Now, if a random kid barged into the Hyuga Compound, he would be swiftly kicked out by the Branch House members that guarded its gates. And if Naruto tried to do that a couple years ago, they wouldn't even let him to get close to the place.
But when your mother has saved the wife of the Clan Head from a certain death...well, let's say that the Hyugas start to show you some respect.
"Good afternoon, Naruto-san. Coming to see Hinata-sama?" greeted a Branch House Hyuga who was guarding the gates. The Hyuga had shoulder-length, spiky brown hair with two long bangs framing either side of his face. It would be easy to mistake him for a woman.
"Hello to you too, Tokuma! Yeah, you nailed it! I just came from a hard training session, and I was heading for Icharaku's and wondered if Hinata could join me."
"Hinata-sama is currently training with Hiashi-sama as well. Though I believe they'll finish soon. You can go and see her train while you wait, if you wish."
"Yeah I'll do that, thank you, Tokuma," Naruto said as he entered the Compound.
After asking for directions –he often got lost in the large compound,– Naruto finally arrived at the main dojo, where he saw Hinata, dressed in a dark blue long sleeved shirt and knee-long dark blue pants sparring against another Hyuga, a male –or so he thought, after meeting Yashamaru he wasn't so sure anymore– who appeared to be both older and way more skilled than her. Naruto's presence was acknowledged by the other Hyuga present with a silent nod. One of them, a woman with long dark purple hair, signaled him to sit next to her. Naruto complied.
"Good afternoon, Hikari-san," Naruto greeted as he sat besides the woman.
"Welcome to our home, Naruto-kun. Did you come here to see my daughter?" Hikari asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask her if she would want to go with me to Icharaku's and grab some ramen, but I see she's busy now."
"She's close to finish her daily training. I'm sure she'd love to eat with you."
Hinata lost her focus the moment Naruto entered the dojo, blushing the moment she saw the blond smiling at her. This moment of distraction made left her wide open for her opponent to knock her down with a swift palm strike.
"Don't get distracted! In a real fight, if you get distracted, you die! Come on, stand up and come at Neji again!" Hiashi chided in a reprimanding tone.
"Y-yes father!" Hinata bumbled as she stood up and dashed at her adversary again.
They traded blows once again, expect this time Hiashi noticed that she was more focused and her attacks were far more aggressive. As if suddenly this spar became a death-match with her life on the line. Yet the only thing that changed was that Naruto had entered the room. Did that kid have some effect on her daughter?
Meanwhile, Naruto continued watching Hinata spar.
"Wow, that kid fights pretty hard," Naruto commented to no one in particular.
"Indeed. Neji-kun has quite some talent. Some believe that in a few years he will become the strongest Hyuga alive, surpassing even my husband," Hikari whispered to him. "But don't tell him I said that, he has quite the ego already."
"By the way...is Neji a guy?"
Hikari chuckled. "Yes, yes he is. Does he look like a girl?"
"Well, it's that I met some guys who look like women. And many of them were Hyugas."
"Well, yes. Many Hyugas have rather feminine looks. Not every Hyuga can have the luck to have my Hiashi's handsome manly features."
There was a collective gasp when Hinata managed to land a hit on the Hyuga prodigy.
"Way to go, Hinata! Kick his ass!" Naruto cheered in a whisper. He remembered the first time the loudly cheered her, and was reprimanded by the rest of Hyuga for almost half an hour for his noisy behavior.
"I think I'll bring you here whenever Hinata-chan has to train. She fights with far more spunk whenever you're present," Hikari observed, smiling at Naruto.
"Well, obviously. I also fight better when I have my friends cheering me," Naruto replied.
After a few more minutes, Hiashi decided that the spar was over. Hikari silently signaled Naruto that it was okay to speak with Hinata if he wanted to.
"Hey, Hinata, way to go!" Naruto cheered as he ran towards his best friend.
The Hyuga Heiress blushed once again. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun!"
"Say, I was going to Icharaku's to have some ramen. Wanna join me?"
Hinata didn't reply, and merely looked at her father. Hiashi pondered for a few seconds before revealing his answer.
"Yes. But your mother will go with you," Hiashi stated in a neutral, but commanding tone.
"Come on Hiashi, what's the worst it could-" Hikari tried to protest.
"Hikari, I'm not going to leave our eight year old daughter alone with a boy," Hiashi almost spat the last word. If only he knew all the times Naruto and Hinata had been alone since they met. "So either you or another adult goes with her, or she can't go."
"Alright. As you wish, dear," Hikari rolled her eyes. "Naruto-kun, wait a minute before Hinata-chan gets a quick shower and gets dressed."
…
Half an hour later, the two Hyuga girls and the Uzumaki boy were at the latter's favorite food place.
"Alright, two chicken ramen bowls for the ladies, and five miso ramen bowls for our favorite customer," Icharaku announced as he placed the orders on the counter. "Enjoy the food!"
"We will!" Naruto happily replied as he started wolfing down the food. Hikari watched him with curious eyes.
"Kid, how can you eat so much and not have an ounce of fat in your body?" the Hyuga woman asked.
"Because I burn all of it training a lot! I need to if I'm to become Hokage!" Naruto proudly proclaimed as he finished his first bowl and went to the second. "Especially now, that I'm learning elemental ninjutsu!"
"R-Really? That's amazing Naruto-kun. Because t-that kind of j-jutsus are pretty a-advanced," Hinata noted, as she slowly ate her ramen.
"Indeed. They're usually taught to Chunin, and the average age of becoming a Chunin is fifteen to sixteen. You're half that age, and not even an academy graduate," Hikari observed.
"Yeah, that's how awesome I am!" Naruto claimed with a foxy grin as he emptied his third bowl. "Hey, what about you, Hikari-san? What is your element?"
"Actaully, the Hyuga Clan does not use traditional ninjutsu, just our own martial art, the Gentle Fist. But I believe my affinity is water. I don't know what affinity is Hinata's."
"Well, we might find it soon, since dad said it's going to talk with the Hokage so they teach elemental ninjutsu at the Academy," Naruto claimed.
"The Academy? Isn't that a bit too soon? I mean, not all the kids have the luck of having a clan or being trained by two Sannin, Naruto-kun." Hikari asked.
"I dunno, my dad said that the standards of the Academy decayed a lot since the days he and mom were Genin. By the way, did you know that they graduated when they were just six?"
"They're living legends. It's something to be expected."
"M-mother..." Hinata spoke up. "D-do y-you think I c-could learn elemental n-ninjutsu?"
Hikari shot her daughter an odd look. "Why would you want to do such a thing?"
"W-well, it's t-that I'm not that good with the G-Gentle Fist, so maybe if I c-could have s-something else to r-rely on..."
"I don't see why not. While we don't use traditional ninjutsu, it isn't banned or anything," Hikari shrugged, then she turned more serious. "Though I don't want you to neglect your Gentle Fist training. Your father and I still expect you to master it to some degree. You can learn any other kind of ninjutsu to supplement your skill repertoire if you wish, but none of them are to be treated as the replacement of the Gentle First. Understood?"
"Y-yes mother."
Hikari smiled. "Good then. Though then again I believe that maybe traditional ninjutsu will give you less trouble, since you have such a good chakra control for somebody of your age."
"Hey, if that's the case, maybe she could also learn medical ninjutsu! Mom says that it requires a precise chakra control," Naruto commented.
"You now want to add medical ninjutsu as well? I think Hinata will have enough with elemental ninjutsu and the Gentle Fist, Naruto-kun," Hikari replied. Though given her history, Hikari couldn't help but feel a newfound respect for medical ninjutsu.
"Well, my parents say that a great ninja is a master of multiple skills. That's why besides taijutsu and ninjutsu, I'm also going to learn sealing jutsus as well. And I heard dad talking about something called 'senjutsu', which I don't know what it is. All you need is the will to do it."
"It's good to see that despite being so young, you're thinking so much about your future, Naruto-kun. That kind of hindsight is rare in kids your age."
"Besides, I also heard mom saying that she wanted to convince an Hyuga to become a medical nin, since he said something about the Byakugan being a good medical tool or something.."
"You have a point in there. But in the end, it all depends on what Hinata wants to do," Hikari noted, looking as he daughter.
"W-well, as for now...I t-think I'll l-like to t-try elemental ninjutsu f-first, and t-then maybe m-medical ninjutsu as well..." Hinata said.
"Alright! Can Hinata come to train with dad and me one of these days?" Naruto asked to Hikari.
"I don't see why not. She can go once she finishes her daily Gentle Fist practice."
"Yay! You'll see Hinata, you'll become a mistress of the elements in no time!"
…
That evening, at the Naka Shrine, almost the entire Uchiha Clan was gathering there. Only three members were missing: the disowned Uchiha. Itachi, his little brother, Sasuke –which was happily asleep on his bed, unaware of the nightmarish turn of events that were about to come– and Shisui Uchiha.
There were many crates scattered around the place. Some of them were opened, revealing its contents. Some of them had ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken. Others had flak jackets, similar to the ones wore by Chunin, except that this were black instead of green, and had the Uchiha Fan on its back instead of the Uzushiogakure red swirl. Another crate had forehead protectors, only with the Uchiha Fan instead of the Konoha symbol.
Fugaku Uchiha, the Clan Head, was on top of a couple crates that served as a makeshift podium. The Uchiha stopped chatting among themselves and paid attention to what their leader was about to say.
"My brethren, it's a pleasure to see all of you gathered here, in this sacred place. Since time immemorial, the Uchiha has been one of the most powerful clans of the entire Elemental Nations. An unstoppable force matched by very few clans. Our power, however, wasn't without a price, and said price being doomed to a life of constant battle. That's why our ancestor, Madara Uchiha, choose to join the Senju Clan and founded this village. That granted us peace. But said peace, like our power, came with a price.
"Since we became part of this village, the Uchiha had always been second-rate citizens. Forced to live isolated from the rest of the village, barred from attaining positions with any real power. But, as dutiful and loyal ninja, we endured. But being accused of being behind the Nine Tails attack, that was the last straw!" Fugaku yelled. He was replied by multiple Uchiha shouting back in agreement.
"Allying with the Senju was a mistake, a mistake Madara realized, and so did we much later. But except death, there's no mistake that can't be rectified, and that's what we will be doing soon. We will take back what is ours! We will take back Konoha! The rest of the clans will bow before our might!"
Fugaku's words were met with more shouts, louder and with more enthusiasm than the first ones.
"You must be thinking that this is a suicidal endeavor. And in most circumstances, it would be. But tonight, we have a golden chance that we can't afford to pass. Somebody contacted me a couple years ago, and offered me the means to take this village for the Clan. Said person has vast resources that he had put at our disposal. Among them, he created a climate of chaos and instability across the Land of Fire, forcing the Hokage to dispatch most of his strongest Jonin to keep the peace.
"Which means that there are almost no elite ninja protecting Konoha. Between that, and the reinforcements my ally will provide me, in two days Konoha will be under our control!"
Again, more shouts and cheers. However, not everybody was convinced.
"Fugaku-sama, who is this ally you keep talking about?" asked an Uchiha
"Yeah, is he or she the leader of another village? That's where the reinforcements come from?" another Uchiha asked.
"I believe I can answer that question," a booming, disembodied voice said. All the Uchihas looked around in surprise –some even activated their Sharingan– to see where this mysterious voice came from.
Besides Fugaku, a semitransparent, swirling vortex appeared, and from said vortex emerged a figure. A man wearing a black hooded cloak with red clouds over a set of armor. His face was hidden by an orange mask with black flames on it, as well as a single hole on the right side, revealing a red eye.
"My brethren, this is the ally I've been talking about. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Fugaku asked to the mysterious newcomer.
"Of course," said the masked man. "My name is Madara Uchiha, and I came back to help you reclaim what is rightfully yours."