Manicherryblossom33
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Time for a new chapter! I am very proud of this one, but feel free to be critical! As I commented last chapter, this one is much longer than chapter 41. Those of you who read my Minato and Kushina fanfic will notice there are many similarities between that fanfic and Uri's story, which will be time-jumpy and have short intermissions, unlike with the naruhina flashback that took four chapters and several weeks to complete. During these intermissions, Uri will explain many things his younger self didn't know/understand which will move the story along quicker. Also, at some point, I will include an intermission or two that is narrated by Sasuke explaining his plan.
Warning (your only one): this chapter is not for the faint of heart.
Putting that aside, please enjoy!
Naruto Fanfic A future Without You
chapter 42: Harbor; Uri's story part 1
SASUKE'S POV [PRESENT DAY, KUMOGAKURE]
Uri’s announcement gave even the unruly Ay, the calm Gaara, and Enoki a start. The gokage, Mifune, and Kakashi seemed frozen in suspended animation before slowly allowing the information to settle in their minds, at which point they directed their attention to Tsunade.
“Don’t look at me that way.” She snapped. “I only recently found out about this myself.”
“Again, we’ve met before.” Uri repeated. “So you’ve known for a while now. If it weren’t for the seal anyway.”
“Well that’s your fault isn’t it?” Mei griped. “This is just PERFECT. Is there anything else I should know? The Yondaime didn’t have siblings too, did he?”
“Actually, yes.” Uri shrugged. “I never met them. They died in the civil war that destroyed his home. He never spoke of them, but SHE told me they could be cruel—”
"I already told you I don't have time for this." Sasuke coldly snapped, simultaneously getting everyone’s attention. "I'm not interested in your sob story. And I don’t care for the yondaime."
Uri merely glanced at him, apparently unaffected by this.
Sasuke turned his back on him, now facing the kage, Mifune, and Kakashi.
"I have a plan for tracking down the Uzumaki clan." He announced. "If we find them, we'll find Sakura, Jugo, and the rest. But I'll need one of you to allow me to visit the shinobi s-class prison."
"Why?" Gaara asked as his companions looked both skeptical and scandalized.
Quickly, Sasuke explained himself. The raikage, tsuchikage, and mizukage looked outraged. Tsunade and Gaara shared a mute council with an exchange of somewhat understanding looks. The plan was sound and reasonable, but allowing Sasuke to visit that person under these conditions was just...
"Absolutely not." Mei said point-blank. "Allowing you to go there would spell nothing but trouble."
Ay and Enoki nodded in agreement.
Sasuke knit his brow and narrowed his eyes. It didn't really matter what these pompous, suspicious, wasteful failures had to say. He would still go. However, it would be much easier with their permission. If Sakura was still alive, then he did not want to go rogue just yet.
"Wait." Gaara spoke up, realizing those who might grant Sasuke's request were outnumbered. The kage tended to use majority vote amongst the five of them to make risky decisions. "I think we should allow this."
"Kazekage, just because you might want to give this stripling some leeway," The Tsuchikage nodded unpolitely at Sasuke, "Doesn't make him trustworthy. With Naruto gone, who's going to stop him from causing universal trouble? And letting him go to the secret prison is just the first step to a catastrophe."
"If we fail to save Sakura Haruno," Gaara argued, "On top of having already lost Naruto, then there's no telling what Sasuke will do. At the very least, he won't listen to us."
Gaara's words seemed to hit home with Mei and Enoki. Their faces seemed to fall, then contort with doubt. Ay, on the other hand, pointed fiercely at Sasuke.
"You've got to be kidding me. He barely listens to us now!" He argued, getting everyone’s attention. "The only way we've been able to keep him under control is because of the restraint jutsu! If this plan of his is going to work, we'll need to remove that! And what are we going to do if he turns on us again?!"
Gaara did not lose his composure. Calmly, he reached out and pulled Ay's massive arm down.
"Sakura and Naruto are his former teammates, and know him best." Gaara reminded him. "They bring out his humanity and keep him sane. The other members of Taka are allies of Konoha and are virtually on our side, but if he decides to go rogue, they will follow him in his actions no matter how cruel. Allow me to repeat myself. If we lose Sakura on top of Naruto, Sasuke will be unpredictable. And even if the five of us fight together, I can't guarantee that we'll win. We already have a whole clan of enemies planning to attack us, and their arsenal of jutsu is practically unknown. Sasuke spent time with the amnesiac Naruto, and will know more about the clan than we do."
"We don't know where his loyalties lie." Enoki countered. "It's too risky."
"My loyalties are the least of your worries." Sasuke warned, feeling impatient. "Grant my request, and I will HELP you fight the Uzumaki clan. Don't, and I will be the OPPOSITE of help."
Ay glared at him, but Sasuke took this in stride. He had never been, and never will be, even remotely intimidated by the power of the Kages.
"Fine." Enoki grumped.
"Very well." Mei sighed.
Tsunade nodded.
"Do what you want." Ay snapped.
Gaara nodded at the door, and Sasuke, Tsunade, and Kakashi followed him into the hall. Using a small table resting between two lounge couches, Gaara began to write out a letter for safe passage through the prison. Meanwhile, Tsunade made short work of the restraint jutsu, removing it quickly. As soon as it was gone, Sasuke felt very dizzy as his chakra began to flow much more freely than before. Even with the nausea came a sense of satisfaction.
Now he could use Susano’o again. He would be able to move faster, mold chakra easier, and perhaps even use chidori more than twice a day. He had not been able to attempt it since being placed under restraint jutsu…
He bit back the frustration. If she had just removed this earlier, before the Uzushiogakure mission…
"This should be enough to grant you entrance." Gaara assured him as he handed over the letter. "Whether or not that person will see you is another story."
Sasuke slipped the letter into his pocket.
"What do you plan to do once you've rescued Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm not going to rescue her." Sasuke replied, making Kakashi raise an eyebrow.
He turned away from them and stalked down the hall.
"I'll meet her halfway."
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY KUMOGAKURE]
"I'm surprised." Enoki said after Gaara and Kakashi returned. "From the sound of it, you wanted him to hear what you had to say."
Uri shook his head, smiling. "No. I wanted him to leave. It would be unbearable if he had stayed."
With that, Uri took a seat on the floor. Surprisingly, the others followed suit.
"Now then," Uri began, "In order for me to explain what happened fifteen years ago, I need to explain my relationship with my sister, her husband, and our best friends."
The group stared back curiously…
"It began with the massacre of my clan." Uri stated. "Everything started there..."
FLASHBACK STARTS HERE
URI'S POV [UZUSHIOGAKURE, OVER FORTY YEARS AGO]
He climbed the stone steps on the side of the canyon wall leading to his cliffside home.
He blew out a sigh and hung his head as he looked over his homeland. It was late in the evening, now that class was over. He slid the straps of his backpack closer to his neck, feeling the weight of the ninety-two ancient sealing scrolls, taken from one of the public archives, pull on his skin. His jaw length red hair swung in and out of the corner of his eyes as he reached the stone platform where his grandfather, the head of their clan, and his parents and uncle resided.
He pushed nee-san out of his mind. She was no longer apart of this village. That was what everyone was saying, even though it had only been two days ago that the konoha ninja had taken her away...
URI! PLEASE DON'T LET HIM TAKE ME!
He pushed both the door and the memory aside, feeling strangely empty as he entered the entrance hall.
"I'm home." He announced, pushing the door shut with his left foot.
He paused, noticing how dark it was, and the accompanying silence. Confusion settled reluctantly in his mind. Were mother and father in bed already? The light in the dining room was off as well...
"I'm home!" He called, raising his voice. When no one replied, he slipped his thumbs under the straps on his shoulders and proceeded to walk lightly to the deserted dining room.
"Mother?" He asked, feeling a slight pain in his gut. "Father...? Grandpa...?"
He rolled his lips back, looking around. Where was everyone...? There wasn't a clan meeting tonight or an evacuation drill. The table was almost always set when he got home from school.
He exited the dining room and continued on, passing nee-chan's room with a guilty pang and going on to check each of the other rooms. But everyone's lights were out, and there beds were empty. He checked his own room, just to be sure, but there was no one there either.
He jumped upon hearing something shatter in nee-chan's room. After years of experiencing clatters, clangs, bumps, and minor explosions coming from behind the maroon colored door, this didn't alarm him much. Nee-chan always made noise. At first, it had been a reasonable habit of his uncle, parents, grandfather, and himself to run, throw her door open, and make sure she was still alive.
However, eventually they came to accept that she was just a troublemaker, and grew to tune out the sound.
But this time he really did run to the door and throw it open, expecting to see her safely returned, and in the middle of accidently breaking some priceless, ancient family heirloom just as she had done a million times before.
Instantly, the beaming grin he wore faltered, replaced by an emotionless mask.
Mother was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, among the glass and the splattered, scarlet blood which had painted a nasty arc on the wall and ceiling, now damaged by a large crack. Standing over her was Father, who was looking at grandfather in a mixture of disbelief, agony, and shock.
Grandfather was holding something... His long sword, yes... It was stabbed through father's chest to the hilt, so that the blade dripped blood onto nee-chan's bed.
Uri flinched, squaring his shoulders as his pupils shrank and heat rushed up in his throat. One arm curled instinctively over his stomach as he began to tremble uncontrollably.
There was a spurting crunching sound as Grandfather twisted the sword, and sliced sideways to free it from father's body which landed in an uneven sprawl on top of mother's, his dead eyes boring into Uri's.
Uri couldn't move. His deceased father's gaze was captivating, and his own limbs were useless as they rattled and shook. Blood was raining from the sealing and the doorframe. His breath came out sharp, uneven, and edging towards asthmatic wheezing.
Instinct forced his chin up, and he saw Grandfather raise his sword, eyes wide and cold and without mercy.
Without thought, without hesitation, he pushed himself to his feet, leaving his backpack behind as he took off down the hall.
He rounded the bend just as the wall behind him exploded. Realizing grandfather must have sliced through it he sped up, dashing down the hall and out the door.
He took the steps in leaps and bounds, tripping halfway down and falling through the air, down into the trees. Twigs and leaves cut his cheeks and he banged the same elbow twice against two of the thicker branches. Leaving the thicket of leaves, he grunted in pain as he landed on one of the giant white boulders of the outer forest.
Coughing up blood, and counting at least three broken ribs, he forced himself onto his ankles, which were sore and twisted.
Barely a second after standing up, the tree behind him broke in two and he screamed, knowing what was coming without seeing it.
He took off feeling a rush of adrenaline that forced his weak limbs and broken ribs to cooperate. He zigged and zagged through the trees, pushing all of his available chakra to his legs. The heat in his throat was threatening to spill out, and he didn't like the weight in his stomach or the itching, burning wetness that stuck to his eyelashes.
He broke through the forest and reached the stone streets, inhaling deeply as he continued to run past confused and disturbed clan members.
"RUNNNNNN!!!!! HE'S TRYING TO KILL USSSSSSS!!!!" He screamed.
For a moment, everyone stood around, muttering to themselves or asking pointless, time-wasting questions. Uri opened his mouth to yell at them only to be interrupted by an explosion of plaster and stone at the edge of the village. Everyone froze, whirling and turning to see what Uri knew was his menacing Grandfather, covered in the blood of his youngest son and daughter-in-law.
It was then that everyone screamed and decided to run. But it was too late! Grandfather made short work of them, and Uri clenched his feet and worked his already exhausted knees to the bone so he could speed up even a little more. Behind him, he heard the cry of an infant and it's mother, both of which were suddenly silenced. He looked over his shoulder in time to see two of his classmates, both girls barely five years old, explode into blood as they were cut into pieces.
His breath caught in his chest as high pitched shrieking, wailing, pleas of mercy and battle cries filled the dusty, pungent air that was already rich with the blood-curdling stench of blood.
Uri reached the end of the village, racing through the forest. He raced through poisonous plants, past wild beasts, and droopy red willows. His heart was hammering in his chest as he grit his teeth, shedding a few tears as he continued his desperate race for survival. Meanwhile, in the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered what was happening right now. What was this?
Suddenly, a tree fell behind him and he gasped, eyes widening in terror as he raced to the river. It was his only chance. The cliffs surrounding the island were impenetrable and stretched high enough to surpass the clouds.
He broke through foliage and came to a rocky ledge overlooking the river, whose current was fast and deadly.
He ran to the edge, whirling in time to see his grandfather exit the greenery as well.
He let out a shaky breath, backing up but stopping when he felt his heel brush the edge.
Breathing heavily, he looked over his shoulder and down at the water, seeing its rushing current and depth with fresh perspective. He turned to see his grandfather, feeling an unreasonable pain in his heart.
This wasn't logical. His grandfather was a kind, wise leader. Father and Uncle and everyone else meant the world to him. This had to be the work of a genjutsu user... Yes, like the Uchiha clan... or...
"Grandfather...Please!" He begged, wanting the nightmare to end. This had to be a nightmare... A genjutsu... A dream!
The sword was raised, and Uri once again looked into cold, steely eyes. Merciless eyes...Murderous....
NO...
Uri bit back a sob.
This was real. This was... Reality...
He pushed off the ledge, missing the sword by a hair's width. Slapping his hands together, he wove signs quickly, and fell into the river.
Once safe in the fast-moving, watery depths, he took a breath. He had been successful in trapping the air around him in a tightly packed, yet breathable, waterproof ball.
Panting, he lurched as the current carried him downriver, away from home.
Home... Home was...
"No!" He screamed, gripping his knuckles as he kept his fingers locked in the handsign. He had to shut it out, or else he would lose focus. The jutsu could fall apart, and then he would be at Grandfather's mercy...
Biting his lip, and gripping his knuckles, he continued to hold the jutsu. Speedily, he wandered through the river, under the cliffs, and into the ocean. Hunger, pain, loneliness, and fear threatened his sense of mind.
But he continued to hold the jutsu...
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY, KUMOGAKURE]
"I'm not sure how much time passed." Uri continued, looking at the floor without really seeing it. "But it had to be only a few days, as I wasn't consuming any water. At some point, my body became so weak that I blacked out while remaining conscious. When I woke up, I found myself somewhere odd..."
FLASHBACK STARTS HERE
URI'S POV [A FEW DAYS AFTER THE UZUMAKI CLAN MASSACRE]
The sky was blocked by numerous thick snow clouds, which continued to pour snowflakes over the forgotten ruin.
Iron bars, melted and crumpled steel walls, splintered and mildewed wood, uprooted pipes with frozen waterfalls of liquid rising out of them, holey empty crates of food rations, pieces of old toys, soaked and murky book pages.
These things and more decorated the scenery, poking out of or lying just under the surface of the snow dunes. Encasing the rubble was a fifty meter high, forty foot thick steel wall which rose and fell with numerous rocky ledges. It had been half blown, half melted open in one area, possibly by a bomb, allowing one branching end of the wide river that ran through the tiny village to flow freely.
As far as he could see, there were no trees, plants, or animals of any kind. Here and there, he spotted burned corpses, their charcoaled fingers rising up, half curled, and seemingly thin.
Uri trudged through the snow, having lost his shoes after waking up on the river's shore. His arms folded tightly across his chest, he shuddered as if his very bones were rattling beneath his numb skin. Having been unsuccessful in tracking down a coat in the rubble, he was surely, literally, freezing to death.
His eyes trembled, blinded by the pure white snow as he forced his legs to carry him on. There had to be some form of shelter around here. Unless he was looking at the remains of said shelter.
There had to be...Had to be something here... Other than the corpses and the ruins and the signs of merciless destruction.
He choked back a sob. Now was not the time to cry. He had to...
He blinked groggily, watching as the ground flew up at him. A moment later, he realized his face was buried in snow, and he was vaguely sure, judging from the humming, warm, watery sensation, that his feet were bleeding.
He trembled, wishing he had the energy or the warmth to bang his fists on the ground and shout. This... This wasn't...
This wasn't fair!
Tears streamed from his eyes as his teeth chattered and angry, silent screams tore from his mouth.
Why had he survived if he was just going to die here? All alone, far from home, in the cold. No one would see him and no one would hear him. He would disappear, just like everyone else. Just like these strangers, just like his clan...
He blinked, grunting as he tried to move his fingers, his toes. Every inch of him shook, but he had no control over any of it now.
He closed his eyes, still crying and gritting his chattering teeth. Please... Please... He didn't want to die alone... Not like this...
Nee-chan...
....
"Hey..."
He rose slowly out of his exhaustion-induced stupor as if he were poking his eyes out of a swamp. It was a vague realization: someone had just clapped a light hand onto his arm; someone had spoken to him.
His eyes peeled open as if their lashes were glued together. They drifted upwards, blinded by the sun, which had somehow made an appearance as the thick snow clouds began to shift. He vaguely noticed a small silhouette of a young boy, possibly his own age from his height and the timbre of his voice.
Almost as quickly as it came, the clouds drifted back in front of the sun, eclipsing it and simultaneously making the boy's appearance visible.
Uri felt a nudge of surprise. He WAS his age, from the look of it.
How strange. This person... He had hair the color of the sun, and eyes as blue as the sky. He was smiling as gently as Uri's parents used to during troubled times when bad news was a given (like when they told him that nee-chan was going away).
Even in his dead tired state of mind, Uri noticed the air about this person had a sort of trusting, reliable charm to it. He also noticed how he sat: crouched, one leg raised with the other lying in snow, and his fingertips were just barely brushing Uri's sleeve. He was tense, yet calm. Contradictory...
Confusing...
"Hey!"
Uri jolted numbly, sinking further into the snow. Ungh... he was paralyzed... almost as if he were trapped in one of those dreams where he couldn't move or speak.
The boy above him knit his brow, seeming to think deeply over something before clasping Uri's arm, slipping his other hand through the snow to grip Uri's shoulder. With surprising ease, he pulled Uri out of the snow and threw the more useless arm over his shoulders.
"Can you hear me?" He asked, an inkling of well-disguised worry in his voice.
Uri's ears trembled, ringing at a high pitch before slowly returning to normal volume. He nodded dumbly, unable to do anything else. His legs weren't moving. Was this guy dragging him?
"I don't recognize you." He said, his eyes becoming slightly narrow, and gleaming with a hint of hostility. "Are you an enemy? Did Konoha send you? Are you here to kill us?"
Too many questions. He asked too many questions. Uri's jaw moved feebly, but no sound came out. His tongue felt like a frozen fish fillet.
The boy waited, but soon realized he wouldn't get his answers. Sighing, his eyes rolled to the right, and Uri could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
"My name's Minato." The boy said, smiling a little. "You don't have to tell me your name. But if you ARE here to kill us, then I'm afraid I won't be friendly for much longer."
Uri wanted to laugh bitterly. He was already being too friendly, the fool. It would be much more practical to kill Uri now, while he couldn't move. The horrifying images of his parent's murders, his sisters kidnapping, and his clan's massacre were playing over in his mind, torturing him.
All he'd done was run. How cowardly. Shameful. What kind of shinobi was he? He was so useless, he couldn't protect the people he loved the most. He couldn't do anything to stop his grandfather, and had only run like a coward. After years of training, studying, meditating... What a disgrace...
Why hadn't he just died with them?! That's what he should have done! He should have been killed along with his parents. It would save him the pain of being all alone, in this cruel world where only horrifying and unbelievably twisted things happen.
Like his entire clan being wiped out by their leader and protector.
What would happen to him now? He had been rescued by this stranger, but that didn't mean anything. He had washed up in this freezing death trap that was without nourishment of any kind. Then again, he was half dead already. Maybe Minato would go back on his word and put him out of his misery while his body still felt like a frozen clump of overcooked pasta.
That would be better. So much better than wasting away or being murdered by someone whom he had idolized throughout his entire childhood.
Uri blinked, and realized he had blacked out long enough for Minato to carry him to some underground cave/tunnel, where a fire was burning directly in front of him. He'd been stuffed inside two oversized, zipped up coats and clothes were completely dry. It was also the same outfit he'd been wearing before.
How...?
He stared at the blazing fire and sat up, feeling the aches and pains that played across his ribs and joints. He had never broken so many bones before...
His eyes moved on a whim, spotting first Minato, who was sitting with his back against the tunnel wall, poking at the flames with an iron rod. Sparks rose out of the fire whenever the wood moved, flying away and burning out. Uri watched them, mesmerized as two sparks flew about each other, like two mating eagles with their claws locked together.
"Are you alright?" Minato asked, getting his attention.
Sky blue eyes stared at him blankly, as Uri blinked back at them. Those were also mesmerizing. Eyes as blue as the sky...
And yet, there was hardly any light there.
Minato seemed to give up on hearing a reply. He picked out a book from a small pile of flammable garbage beside him and tossed it into the fire. More sparks flew up. As Uri followed them with his eyes, he found a young girl, also his age, lying on the dirt floor on her side. Her arms lay in front of her face, crossed, with her legs lying one on top of the other.
Uri immediately noticed how warm the air was, possibly because the tunnel was so thin, and the fire so hot. But the smoke had to be going somewhere, which meant there had to be an opening—
"You'll die."
Uri whipped his head around, eyeing Minato who was smiling casually.
"I won't let you run." He promised him. "You'll only die, in this weather. And I'll catch you anyway."
Uri blinked, feeling almost calm as he stared at Minato in confusion.
"I won't run." He said. "Where is this? And who are you?"
"I'm Minato." He repeated, stone-faced. "Namikaze Minato. This is Yuukigakure. Or... it used to be."
Judging from his tone, the destruction of this village had to have been recent. And judging from his expression, he was the same as Uri.
He'd watched everyone he knew die.
Uri looked at the little girl.
"Who is she?" Uri asked.
Minato looked at her as well. "Mikoto."
"Her... Surname?"
"She doesn't have one." Minato replied. "She didn't come from an existing clan."
Existing clans were clans that were either famous, still alive, or both. Non-existing clans were small, nameless families. No one was quite sure where they came from or whom they were descended from, and there were no records, even in Uzushio, that held the necessary information. However, it was theorized that during the era of warring states, in which many clans were nearly annihilated, that the survivors may have married outside of their clans to keep their bloodlines alive, even if they were thinned, and subsequently abandoned their clan names in order to remain safe and hidden.
Thus there were many nameless clans. Their children were nameless, and their children's children's children's children were nameless, and so on.
Minato's stomach growled then, making Uri jump. It was so loud! And seemed to be causing him some discomfort, as he folded his legs, grit his teeth, and dropped the iron rod so he could wrap his arms over his torso.
A deep, painful moan escaped him as Mikoto turned in her sleep, grimacing as her stomach groaned as well. Uri listened to the growling for almost a full minute.
When it was over, the little girl moaned, but otherwise remained asleep. Minato exhaled, and looked at Uri with a question in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any food with me." Uri told him, and Minato sighed, bowing his head low.
Uri paused, remembering how there were no trees or plants growing here.
"Can't you fish?" He asked, and Minato looked up at him half-smirking.
"I can." He answered. "But all of the fishing gear burned up in the fires. I could use kunai, if I had some wire, but that's destroyed as well. I looked for a spear, not that I know how to use one, but the only ones I could find were broken in two or bent or missing their arrowheads. The water is too cold to dive into."
"Isn't there anything else?" Uri asked, already sympathizing with the two children.
Minato shook his head, smiling dryly. "Given our situation, it might be required that we use the corpses as nourishment. But I refuse to do that."
There was strong determination in that statement, making it clear he would not be persuaded otherwise. Not that Uri would have tried to.
Minato jolted then, straightening up and freezing there like an alarmed statue. Uri opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the other boy raised one hand, telling him to keep silent.
Like a phantom, Minato rose quietly and retrieved a nearby bucket of snow, which he proceeded to dump onto the fire. It hissed at them as it died away, and the noise had Mikoto awake and alert in seconds. Uri watched as she whipped her head back and forth, frightened even as she looked at Minato, who was now standing near the mouth of the tunnel. It was blocked by some thick, mildewed wood.
"Minato...?" She called out.
He retrieved two kunai from his shuriken holster and stood battle-ready, shoulder digging into the wall and knees bent.
"I'm scared..." She whispered. Uri could see her trembling even in the near pitch-black darkness.
"Don't be." Minato comforted her. "We'll be alright. I'll take care of you."
Uri stood, draping one of the thick coats over her and holding the other one out to Minato, who shook his head and pointed at him. Uri hesitated, but nonetheless put the coat on anyway.
Minato closed his eyes, placing his free hand on the wood.
"There are four of them..." He whispered, more to Uri than to Mikoto. "But... They're young. Maybe three years older than us... No, two years... They're looking for us already. They must have seen the smoke. One of them is getting close. Mikoto, come here."
She shuffled anxiously over to him as he took one of the kunai in his free hand.
"We're going to have to run for it." He said. "Both of you be ready..."
Uri knit his bow. Both of them? But...
It happened all at once. Minato's eyes snapped open, and he threw the kunai. They tore right through the thick wood, and light flooded in. Uri heard someone grunt outside, and knew they had been struck.
Minato grabbed Mikoto, and threw her on his back before jumping out of the hole with Uri on his heels. They raced past the ruins, through the snow, past the enemy and out the hole in the wall.
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY KUMOGAKURE]
"Wait, wait." Tsunade said, moving her stretched out fingers back and forth in front of her. "Slow down, I've got a few questions."
Uri straightened up, giving her a look of mild warning.
"I don't mind answering a few questions, but this will take that much longer if you interrogate me." He said.
She crossed her arms. "I'll be quick then. First, Minato and Mikoto were from Yuukigakure? I was never told that. Second, why were they starving? A whole village of people like Yuukigakure couldn't have survived for very long without food, so there had to have been something. Third, who were the four children that found them?"
Uri nodded. "I was about to explain all of that. To answer your first question, it was just as Minato had implied. Every useful necessity was destroyed in the fires of civil war that destroyed the village. Yuukigakure was located on an iceberg that happened to be located in a frozen bay some distance from the land of iron, yet was not a part of the land’s territory as it is now. That combined with the climate made it impossible to raise livestock or grow crops and herbs. There was no soil to refine, so of course there weren't any weapons. For thousands of years, Yuukigakure was a virtually unoccupied, underdeveloped piece of land in the northern territory. However, at some point, a group of strangers came from the sea and claimed the land. They were led by Minato's grandfather, who was made chief of the village, and together they built the great iron fortress that housed the entire population of Yuukigakure. They fished and purified water, and recycled metal from used screws and contraptions."
Uri slid to the floor, put his elbows on his knees, laced his fingers together in front of his lips and sighed.
"They were very poor, and had little to no resources. Thus no one invaded them. But no one aided them either." He explained. "However, in his elder years, Minato's grandfather established trade with the land of fire. The very first trade ship arrived in their harbor on the day of Minato's birth. That's why his grandfather named him 'Minato.'
"As for your other questions, during that time of war, Konoha took in many children from foreign lands where no ninjas resided. Many of them disappeared, and it wasn't because of a memory seal but I'll get to that later. Anyway, Minato and Lady Mikoto didn’t like to talk about their homeland. Many of the villagers were wary of them. Talking about it would have made their situation worse."
"Why?" Enoki asked.
Uri lowered his fingers. "I'm sure you remember. Those events had nothing to do with my clan, so they didn't disappear like other major incidents."
"What happened?" Mei asked.
"Minato's father, his older brothers, and his uncles, and their individual subordinates, took over as soon as Minato's grandfather passed away." Uri explained. "They kicked the villagers that had relied on them for food and shelter out of the iron fortress, and left them to freeze to death outside. They raided konoha, and kidnapped many young Uchiha and Hyuuga children, gouged their eyes out and sold them on the black market, slayed them, and crucified their broken bodies on the outskirts of the village. Because of this, both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha developed low birth rates. The Hyuuga recovered from this, but the Uchiha suffered more. Among those whom had been kidnapped..." Uri clenched his knuckles as his eyes darkened. "Were two of Fuji’s classmates, his little brother, and his childhood friend from the Hyuuga clan."
Uri dropped his hands. Mei gasped as the other Kage looked troubled, and seemed to brace themselves.
"The five of them had been playing together in the woods. One moment, everything was fine. But... then they were ambushed, and Fuji was afraid. He yelled at everyone to run, and they scattered. His brother was four, his three friends were ten. He went to the hokage as soon as he made it back to the village, but the kidnappers were already gone.
"Back then, Konoha was in the middle of a war and had lost over half their jounin. As a result, Danzo suggested the cadets be sent out, and although the Hokage and the other two advisors were against it, the council ruled in Danzo's favor. However this unfortunate event led to an opportunity for Fuji. He requested permission to go after the kidnappers so he could save his friends and his little brother. The third granted his request, and he chose his classmates Shikaku and Hizashi and Hiashi Hyuuga to accompany him."
Uri squared his shoulders. "That was when he found us. As I explained before, we ran. However, they caught up to us. Coincidentally this happened once we reached the graveyard... All of the bodies were unrecognizable... But, somehow, Fuji and the twins were able to identify them. What they saw there..." Uri flinched, and his throat constricted in disgust.
"What happened?" Ay pressured.
Uri lurched. He didn't want to remember how truly horrified the three boys had been. Fuji himself had fallen to his knees, thrown up, and cried. The Hyuuga twins had screamed in terror, and Shikaku, Minato, Mikoto, and Uri himself could only watch helplessly.
"Did Fugaku find his brother? His friends? Were they still alive?" Enoki asked, making Uri feel as if he were being jabbed in the ribs with a sharp stick.
Uri blinked, looking out the window at the sun, the clouds, the rocky pillars that were everywhere in this village. It was even more beautiful than Konoha, and only slightly less beautiful than his birthplace.
"No." He answered. "They were all..."
The others seemed to swallow a large clump in their throats and began to sweat. He realized they might have been picturing the scene he had been trying to ignore a moment ago.
"Naturally, Fuji was beside himself with grief, self-contempt, and self-pity." Uri continued, feeling ill. "The twins suffered as well, but were not nearly as devastated. They lost cousins. Just as the three boys were about to be consumed by grief, an iron pillar, a remnant of the fortress which had been blown outside the wall by explosions and was sticking upright out of the snow, began to fall. I was slower than Minato, so I was out of danger. But he and Mikoto were in danger of being crushed."
"How did they survive?" Gaara asked.
"Fuji." Uri stated. "He seemed outraged by the thought of their lives being taken, and was quick to launch himself at the Minato and Lady Mikoto. They landed a safe distance away, but Minato hit his head on a block of ice. So the four cadets took the three orphans across the sea to a cave on the outskirts of the land of iron. They gave us food and water, and for a while we were all forced to play nice with each other despite how skeptical everyone was. But that had to come to an end at some point..."
URI'S POV [A CAVE ON THE EDGE OF THE LAND OF IRON; OVER FORTY YEARS AGO]
“Here.”
Uri looked up from his seat on the floor to see the Uchiha boy holding out a cup. He muttered a quick word of thanks and took the cup from him, ignoring the handle as he cupped it between both palms. It was water, but there was a chance he had laced it with truth serum. In any case, Uri would not be drinking it. Not really—
“It’s not poisoned.” The older boy said. Uri met his passive, knowing eyes and the two shared some mutual suspicion.
“Or drugged.” The Uchiha added when Uri still did not drink it.
Uri frowned at him. He was clearly the leader of these cadets. They were not wearing headbands, but he happened to know that the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans were both of Konoha. The fourth boy, who showed good judgment and knowledge beyond his years, was most likely a Nara. He now had two bandages over the cuts Minato had given him earlier, but seemed to hold no grudge.
Uri looked at Mikoto, who was sitting resolutely and silently beside an unconscious Minato who was now bound inside a thick travel futon, and his stomach continued to growl in his sleep. The cadets had already shared their food with Uri and Mikoto, who had been too hungry to question it.
Uri looked once more into the dark eyes of the Uchiha boy. How was he so calm now? And the Hyuuga boys as well. Mere moments ago, they had all been screaming and crying in terror. And now—
“We’ve been trained to remain calm during moments like these.” Uchiha explained, making Uri flinch.
“Can you read my mind?” He asked.
“It’s written all over your face.” Uchiha replied as he looked over his shoulder at his comrades. “Hiashi, keep an eye on the blond—”
“Minato.”
Both Uri and the cadets looked at Mikoto. She was stone-faced, and seemed unafraid compared to the whimpering little girl back in the tunnel.
“His name is Minato.” She told the boys.
Uchiha crossed his arms. “And yours?”
“Mikoto.” She replied, turning her attention back to Minato.
Uchiha looked down at Uri. “And you?”
“It’s custom to give your own name first.” Uri replied courtly.
Uchiha knit his brows and pursed his lips, as if he had a sour taste in his mouth.
“I’m Fugaku.” He replied. “The bookworm is Shikaku Nara. The twin closest to Minato is Hiashi, and the other is Hizashi Hyuuga.”
Uri looked at each of them with minute surprise. So he’d been correct…
“You’re from Konoha.” He said.
It was not a question.
“Yes.”
It was hardly a reply.
“Hizashi, Nara, keep a lookout.” Fugaku ordered, and the other boys immediately obeyed.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha boy sat down in a heap, looking both lazy and serious. He looked into Uri’s eyes, and the red haired boy stared back at him.
“You’re an Uzumaki.” Fugaku stated, and realizing he could no longer hide it, Uri nodded. The Uzhiha’s eyes narrowed. “I’d heard the entire clan was massacred.”
Uri fought the urge to curl in on himself and put his head between his knees.
“Everyone but me.” He said, and Fugaku nodded.
“Yes, but how?” Fugaku asked.
Uri knit his brow. He explained, in a nutshell, how he had gotten away. He left out anything that would have exposed his grandfather, and all the screaming and spilled blood that took place.
“So you floated here?” Fugaku asked doubtfully.
Uri nodded.
“And what happened after that?”
Uri nodded at Minato. “He found me.”
Fugaku looked at the other two, and seemed mesmerized by their mere existence. Uri eyed him. What was that expression on his face? Conflict? Anger?
“They’re innocent.” Uri told him before he could stop himself. Fugaku locked eyes with him, but he held his ground.
“Did they tell you that?” He asked, a pained, hateful expression on his face.
“No.” Uri admitted. “But they’re alone, and hungry.”
Fugaku mulled this over, and his eyes found the floor, flickering here and there without rest. Uri knew somehow that the other boy’s heart was beating dangerously fast. His muscles were clenching, adrenaline was rushing through him, and his thoughts were drifting to his shuriken holster.
He must have known them. The murdered children that they’d seen back at Yuukigakure. He might have come here to rescue them, only to find them dead and was now contemplating how useless he might be.
Uri bit the inside of his lip. This person… Was a kindred spirit.
But he had a gut feeling that Minato was the same as them. And anyway, he owed his life to him. He had to protect them.
“Did he tell you his surname?” Fugaku asked.
Uri hesitated. From his tone, it had taken every ounce of courage to ask that question, and more than a little malice was laced into every word. Why was he so conflicted over this?
“Namikaze Mina—”
Immediately, Uri realized he’d made a horrible mistake. The Hyuuga boys and Fugaku looked down right murderous. Mikoto shoved Hiashi away and threw herself over Minato without putting her weight on him. The whites of Fugaku’s eyes turned bloodshot, regretful, and angry. He couldn’t look at Minato, instead choosing to fold one leg to his chest, rest his chin on his knee, and reach around his head to grip his hair.
Hiashi backed up as far as he could, and it was taking every ounce of restraint to keep himself nailed to the floor. Hizashi grit his teeth and curled his arms over his stomach, bent over in anxiety and twisted rage.
Nara seemed caught in the middle. He looked from one boy to another as if he were as dumb as a rock, and looked at Minato helplessly, as if seeing a corpse.
“Fugaku…” Hiashi spat out through clenched teeth. “What should we do…?”
Fugaku bowed his head and curled in on himself some more. Uri saw him shake as if caught in an earthquake, and opened his mouth to ask what the matter was when Mikoto began sobbing.
“Please, listen.” She begged, pressing herself down on Minato like a shield. “It’s… It’s not like that. He didn’t kidnap anyone. He’s different…! He’s not—”
“We’ve got to kill him.” Hizashi muttered, and Mikoto gasped.
“You can’t, you can’t!” Mikoto shrieked. “I won’t let you! I’ll fight you!”
Uri looked taken aback. Now he knew she wasn’t a ninja. It was so obvious in her begging, her hopless threatening, and her body language. SHE fight THEM? Even as cadets, there was no contest between the four boys and the small girl.
Uri clenched his fists. If it came to it, he would help her. He had to. He owed them that much.
But even as a ninja, he detested violence. Especially now. If he could somehow convince the four of them to spare Minato, and take them to Konoha, then maybe he could arrange something.
His sister was in konoha. And Lady Mito, as well, if she had not yet passed. And the kind third Hokage. Once, when he was four, his father took him and nee-chan to Konoha to visit a few of his friends. With each introduction, the twins had jumped all over their new victims and demanded them to play. But everyone had said they were training, or heading out on a mission, or needed to prepare dinner, or were just too busy.
The third, however, had happily played with them, even when his advisors had ordered him to get back to work and quit acting like a child. He had simply laughed them off, and invited them to join in the fun, at which point they had been unable to refuse an order from the hokage and had been forced to. The twins had proceeded to pull on their hair, their clothes, and bounce around in their laps.
“Wait, I believe she’s telling the truth.” Uri stated, failing to get the boys’ attention.
He raised his voice. “When I was about to fall asleep in the snow and die, Minato found me and took me to a safe place. He’s been protecting Mikoto as well, at least since their village was destroyed. He’s kind, and merciful, and he’s still a child. I don’t think he would hurt any of you.”
This didn’t help much. The boys kept themselves glued to the floor where they were, and Uri started to feel more anxious.
“Minato’s the youngest.” Mikoto told them, so close to Minato now that her neck was resting on his chin. “Everyone else in his family was cruel. They kicked us out of the fortress after Minato’s grandfather died. Everyone tried to revolt, and Minato’s older brothers killed them and captured me. They kept me locked up in the dungeon, but Minato came and got me out by telling them he wanted me to play with him. So his father said I could be his playmate. But that was just a lie. He just wanted to save me. When I was hungry or sick, he stole medicine and food from the supply room for me even though his father passed a law against giving supplies to the villagers. He gave food to the villagers, who were dying outside the wall and tried to sneak them in, but he got caught and his brothers beat him up for it. He stood up to them when they started kidnapping Hyuuga and Uchiha children! He even tried to attack his Uncles and save the children, but they were so much bigger than him, and so much stronger! He ended up having to get stitches because one of them stabbed him with a kunai.
“You can’t kill him! He’s a good person! He—He saved me!”
Her breath hitched as she sobbed, staring at them pleadingly. But rather than calming down, the boys just seemed more conflicted. Their knuckles had paled from clenching their fists for too long. Their eyes were squeezed shut. Their ears and hearts were closed.
“He’s got no future, Fugaku.” Hizashi said, making the Uchiha flinch. “He’s a Namikaze. They’ve angered the two most powerful clans in Konoha. And he’s an orphan. They all are.”
This seemed to imply something deeper, darker, but before Uri could ask what it was the other Hyuuga twin was speaking.
“The other two are innocent, I’m positive.” He said, and Uri jumped when he realized the boy was reffering to Mikoto and him. “If they’re associated with this guy, it’ll make it harder to convince the council to put them in the academy.”
Uri looked at Fugaku, who had ceased to be bloodthirsty and was now caught between anger and some kind of desire. Uri winced.
It was them. The three of them were younger than the four cadets. More specifically, they were younger than Fugaku. And judging from the length of the chopped up arms he’d seen, those poor kidnapped, mutilated children had all been around four to ten years old.
This person, he… If Minato had been an adult, if he hadn’t been unconscious, if Mikoto and Uri weren’t defending him, Fugaku would have killed him before he could blink, before anything could be said or done. The Hyuuga twins were suffering from a similar internal conflict. Minato was a child, but he was the son, nephew, and brother of murderers. He’d fought his family to protect the kidnapped children and the villagers, but he’d been overpowered and failed. He’d saved Mikoto, so why couldn’t he save one of their younger relatives who’d had the misfortune of being dragged here? But he was younger than them, two years younger…
“Fugaku.” The twins called out.
“Fugaku?” Nara asked.
“I won’t let you!” Mikoto declared.
“Fu—” Uri began.
“Be quiet!” Fugaku declared, and everyone watched him cautiously, expectantly. “Just… be quiet… for a moment… Please. I need to think…”
And his voice was so filled with regret, sympathy, turmoil, and helplessness that no one could deny him this. All at once, everyone mutually decided to stay silent until Fugaku said otherwise.
So the minutes passed…
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI’S POV [KUMOGAKURE, PRESENT DAY]
“In the end, Fugaku decided that all three of us would be escorted back to Konoha, and our fate would be put in the hands of the third hokage and the advisors.” Uri explained. “I was unaware of it at the time, but in Konoha the number of ninja who died in the war was already unprecedented to the previous wars. Thus the number of orphans was overwhelming. As a result, many of them were being left in Danzo’s foundation, which was located underground. There, Danzo had explained, they could be trained to protect themselves and would be given only the appropriate amount of resources. By the time we arrived in Konoha, it had become natural for orphans to migrate to the foundation. Fortunately, Fugaku brought us before the council and allowed us to make our case.”
“What did you say?” Kakashi asked, speaking up for the first time.
Uri smiled. “Many things. Mikoto and Minato explained everything that happened in their home village. I explained what had happened in mine. We left out anything that would have implicated us, such as my grandfather being the one responsible for the massacre. Fugaku had persuaded Minato to tell the council that he was in fact another member of a nameless clan, and had been adopted by the Naikaze clan when they discovered his talent for ninjutusu. As a result, he was allowed to keep his surname without causing everyone in Konoha to fear him, and he was placed in the ninja academy along with Mikoto and I. But that, as it turned out, was the worst mistake we could have made…”
Warning (your only one): this chapter is not for the faint of heart.
Putting that aside, please enjoy!
Naruto Fanfic A future Without You
chapter 42: Harbor; Uri's story part 1
SASUKE'S POV [PRESENT DAY, KUMOGAKURE]
Uri’s announcement gave even the unruly Ay, the calm Gaara, and Enoki a start. The gokage, Mifune, and Kakashi seemed frozen in suspended animation before slowly allowing the information to settle in their minds, at which point they directed their attention to Tsunade.
“Don’t look at me that way.” She snapped. “I only recently found out about this myself.”
“Again, we’ve met before.” Uri repeated. “So you’ve known for a while now. If it weren’t for the seal anyway.”
“Well that’s your fault isn’t it?” Mei griped. “This is just PERFECT. Is there anything else I should know? The Yondaime didn’t have siblings too, did he?”
“Actually, yes.” Uri shrugged. “I never met them. They died in the civil war that destroyed his home. He never spoke of them, but SHE told me they could be cruel—”
"I already told you I don't have time for this." Sasuke coldly snapped, simultaneously getting everyone’s attention. "I'm not interested in your sob story. And I don’t care for the yondaime."
Uri merely glanced at him, apparently unaffected by this.
Sasuke turned his back on him, now facing the kage, Mifune, and Kakashi.
"I have a plan for tracking down the Uzumaki clan." He announced. "If we find them, we'll find Sakura, Jugo, and the rest. But I'll need one of you to allow me to visit the shinobi s-class prison."
"Why?" Gaara asked as his companions looked both skeptical and scandalized.
Quickly, Sasuke explained himself. The raikage, tsuchikage, and mizukage looked outraged. Tsunade and Gaara shared a mute council with an exchange of somewhat understanding looks. The plan was sound and reasonable, but allowing Sasuke to visit that person under these conditions was just...
"Absolutely not." Mei said point-blank. "Allowing you to go there would spell nothing but trouble."
Ay and Enoki nodded in agreement.
Sasuke knit his brow and narrowed his eyes. It didn't really matter what these pompous, suspicious, wasteful failures had to say. He would still go. However, it would be much easier with their permission. If Sakura was still alive, then he did not want to go rogue just yet.
"Wait." Gaara spoke up, realizing those who might grant Sasuke's request were outnumbered. The kage tended to use majority vote amongst the five of them to make risky decisions. "I think we should allow this."
"Kazekage, just because you might want to give this stripling some leeway," The Tsuchikage nodded unpolitely at Sasuke, "Doesn't make him trustworthy. With Naruto gone, who's going to stop him from causing universal trouble? And letting him go to the secret prison is just the first step to a catastrophe."
"If we fail to save Sakura Haruno," Gaara argued, "On top of having already lost Naruto, then there's no telling what Sasuke will do. At the very least, he won't listen to us."
Gaara's words seemed to hit home with Mei and Enoki. Their faces seemed to fall, then contort with doubt. Ay, on the other hand, pointed fiercely at Sasuke.
"You've got to be kidding me. He barely listens to us now!" He argued, getting everyone’s attention. "The only way we've been able to keep him under control is because of the restraint jutsu! If this plan of his is going to work, we'll need to remove that! And what are we going to do if he turns on us again?!"
Gaara did not lose his composure. Calmly, he reached out and pulled Ay's massive arm down.
"Sakura and Naruto are his former teammates, and know him best." Gaara reminded him. "They bring out his humanity and keep him sane. The other members of Taka are allies of Konoha and are virtually on our side, but if he decides to go rogue, they will follow him in his actions no matter how cruel. Allow me to repeat myself. If we lose Sakura on top of Naruto, Sasuke will be unpredictable. And even if the five of us fight together, I can't guarantee that we'll win. We already have a whole clan of enemies planning to attack us, and their arsenal of jutsu is practically unknown. Sasuke spent time with the amnesiac Naruto, and will know more about the clan than we do."
"We don't know where his loyalties lie." Enoki countered. "It's too risky."
"My loyalties are the least of your worries." Sasuke warned, feeling impatient. "Grant my request, and I will HELP you fight the Uzumaki clan. Don't, and I will be the OPPOSITE of help."
Ay glared at him, but Sasuke took this in stride. He had never been, and never will be, even remotely intimidated by the power of the Kages.
"Fine." Enoki grumped.
"Very well." Mei sighed.
Tsunade nodded.
"Do what you want." Ay snapped.
Gaara nodded at the door, and Sasuke, Tsunade, and Kakashi followed him into the hall. Using a small table resting between two lounge couches, Gaara began to write out a letter for safe passage through the prison. Meanwhile, Tsunade made short work of the restraint jutsu, removing it quickly. As soon as it was gone, Sasuke felt very dizzy as his chakra began to flow much more freely than before. Even with the nausea came a sense of satisfaction.
Now he could use Susano’o again. He would be able to move faster, mold chakra easier, and perhaps even use chidori more than twice a day. He had not been able to attempt it since being placed under restraint jutsu…
He bit back the frustration. If she had just removed this earlier, before the Uzushiogakure mission…
"This should be enough to grant you entrance." Gaara assured him as he handed over the letter. "Whether or not that person will see you is another story."
Sasuke slipped the letter into his pocket.
"What do you plan to do once you've rescued Sakura?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm not going to rescue her." Sasuke replied, making Kakashi raise an eyebrow.
He turned away from them and stalked down the hall.
"I'll meet her halfway."
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY KUMOGAKURE]
"I'm surprised." Enoki said after Gaara and Kakashi returned. "From the sound of it, you wanted him to hear what you had to say."
Uri shook his head, smiling. "No. I wanted him to leave. It would be unbearable if he had stayed."
With that, Uri took a seat on the floor. Surprisingly, the others followed suit.
"Now then," Uri began, "In order for me to explain what happened fifteen years ago, I need to explain my relationship with my sister, her husband, and our best friends."
The group stared back curiously…
"It began with the massacre of my clan." Uri stated. "Everything started there..."
FLASHBACK STARTS HERE
URI'S POV [UZUSHIOGAKURE, OVER FORTY YEARS AGO]
He climbed the stone steps on the side of the canyon wall leading to his cliffside home.
He blew out a sigh and hung his head as he looked over his homeland. It was late in the evening, now that class was over. He slid the straps of his backpack closer to his neck, feeling the weight of the ninety-two ancient sealing scrolls, taken from one of the public archives, pull on his skin. His jaw length red hair swung in and out of the corner of his eyes as he reached the stone platform where his grandfather, the head of their clan, and his parents and uncle resided.
He pushed nee-san out of his mind. She was no longer apart of this village. That was what everyone was saying, even though it had only been two days ago that the konoha ninja had taken her away...
URI! PLEASE DON'T LET HIM TAKE ME!
He pushed both the door and the memory aside, feeling strangely empty as he entered the entrance hall.
"I'm home." He announced, pushing the door shut with his left foot.
He paused, noticing how dark it was, and the accompanying silence. Confusion settled reluctantly in his mind. Were mother and father in bed already? The light in the dining room was off as well...
"I'm home!" He called, raising his voice. When no one replied, he slipped his thumbs under the straps on his shoulders and proceeded to walk lightly to the deserted dining room.
"Mother?" He asked, feeling a slight pain in his gut. "Father...? Grandpa...?"
He rolled his lips back, looking around. Where was everyone...? There wasn't a clan meeting tonight or an evacuation drill. The table was almost always set when he got home from school.
He exited the dining room and continued on, passing nee-chan's room with a guilty pang and going on to check each of the other rooms. But everyone's lights were out, and there beds were empty. He checked his own room, just to be sure, but there was no one there either.
He jumped upon hearing something shatter in nee-chan's room. After years of experiencing clatters, clangs, bumps, and minor explosions coming from behind the maroon colored door, this didn't alarm him much. Nee-chan always made noise. At first, it had been a reasonable habit of his uncle, parents, grandfather, and himself to run, throw her door open, and make sure she was still alive.
However, eventually they came to accept that she was just a troublemaker, and grew to tune out the sound.
But this time he really did run to the door and throw it open, expecting to see her safely returned, and in the middle of accidently breaking some priceless, ancient family heirloom just as she had done a million times before.
Instantly, the beaming grin he wore faltered, replaced by an emotionless mask.
Mother was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, among the glass and the splattered, scarlet blood which had painted a nasty arc on the wall and ceiling, now damaged by a large crack. Standing over her was Father, who was looking at grandfather in a mixture of disbelief, agony, and shock.
Grandfather was holding something... His long sword, yes... It was stabbed through father's chest to the hilt, so that the blade dripped blood onto nee-chan's bed.
Uri flinched, squaring his shoulders as his pupils shrank and heat rushed up in his throat. One arm curled instinctively over his stomach as he began to tremble uncontrollably.
There was a spurting crunching sound as Grandfather twisted the sword, and sliced sideways to free it from father's body which landed in an uneven sprawl on top of mother's, his dead eyes boring into Uri's.
Uri couldn't move. His deceased father's gaze was captivating, and his own limbs were useless as they rattled and shook. Blood was raining from the sealing and the doorframe. His breath came out sharp, uneven, and edging towards asthmatic wheezing.
Instinct forced his chin up, and he saw Grandfather raise his sword, eyes wide and cold and without mercy.
Without thought, without hesitation, he pushed himself to his feet, leaving his backpack behind as he took off down the hall.
He rounded the bend just as the wall behind him exploded. Realizing grandfather must have sliced through it he sped up, dashing down the hall and out the door.
He took the steps in leaps and bounds, tripping halfway down and falling through the air, down into the trees. Twigs and leaves cut his cheeks and he banged the same elbow twice against two of the thicker branches. Leaving the thicket of leaves, he grunted in pain as he landed on one of the giant white boulders of the outer forest.
Coughing up blood, and counting at least three broken ribs, he forced himself onto his ankles, which were sore and twisted.
Barely a second after standing up, the tree behind him broke in two and he screamed, knowing what was coming without seeing it.
He took off feeling a rush of adrenaline that forced his weak limbs and broken ribs to cooperate. He zigged and zagged through the trees, pushing all of his available chakra to his legs. The heat in his throat was threatening to spill out, and he didn't like the weight in his stomach or the itching, burning wetness that stuck to his eyelashes.
He broke through the forest and reached the stone streets, inhaling deeply as he continued to run past confused and disturbed clan members.
"RUNNNNNN!!!!! HE'S TRYING TO KILL USSSSSSS!!!!" He screamed.
For a moment, everyone stood around, muttering to themselves or asking pointless, time-wasting questions. Uri opened his mouth to yell at them only to be interrupted by an explosion of plaster and stone at the edge of the village. Everyone froze, whirling and turning to see what Uri knew was his menacing Grandfather, covered in the blood of his youngest son and daughter-in-law.
It was then that everyone screamed and decided to run. But it was too late! Grandfather made short work of them, and Uri clenched his feet and worked his already exhausted knees to the bone so he could speed up even a little more. Behind him, he heard the cry of an infant and it's mother, both of which were suddenly silenced. He looked over his shoulder in time to see two of his classmates, both girls barely five years old, explode into blood as they were cut into pieces.
His breath caught in his chest as high pitched shrieking, wailing, pleas of mercy and battle cries filled the dusty, pungent air that was already rich with the blood-curdling stench of blood.
Uri reached the end of the village, racing through the forest. He raced through poisonous plants, past wild beasts, and droopy red willows. His heart was hammering in his chest as he grit his teeth, shedding a few tears as he continued his desperate race for survival. Meanwhile, in the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered what was happening right now. What was this?
Suddenly, a tree fell behind him and he gasped, eyes widening in terror as he raced to the river. It was his only chance. The cliffs surrounding the island were impenetrable and stretched high enough to surpass the clouds.
He broke through foliage and came to a rocky ledge overlooking the river, whose current was fast and deadly.
He ran to the edge, whirling in time to see his grandfather exit the greenery as well.
He let out a shaky breath, backing up but stopping when he felt his heel brush the edge.
Breathing heavily, he looked over his shoulder and down at the water, seeing its rushing current and depth with fresh perspective. He turned to see his grandfather, feeling an unreasonable pain in his heart.
This wasn't logical. His grandfather was a kind, wise leader. Father and Uncle and everyone else meant the world to him. This had to be the work of a genjutsu user... Yes, like the Uchiha clan... or...
"Grandfather...Please!" He begged, wanting the nightmare to end. This had to be a nightmare... A genjutsu... A dream!
The sword was raised, and Uri once again looked into cold, steely eyes. Merciless eyes...Murderous....
NO...
Uri bit back a sob.
This was real. This was... Reality...
He pushed off the ledge, missing the sword by a hair's width. Slapping his hands together, he wove signs quickly, and fell into the river.
Once safe in the fast-moving, watery depths, he took a breath. He had been successful in trapping the air around him in a tightly packed, yet breathable, waterproof ball.
Panting, he lurched as the current carried him downriver, away from home.
Home... Home was...
"No!" He screamed, gripping his knuckles as he kept his fingers locked in the handsign. He had to shut it out, or else he would lose focus. The jutsu could fall apart, and then he would be at Grandfather's mercy...
Biting his lip, and gripping his knuckles, he continued to hold the jutsu. Speedily, he wandered through the river, under the cliffs, and into the ocean. Hunger, pain, loneliness, and fear threatened his sense of mind.
But he continued to hold the jutsu...
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY, KUMOGAKURE]
"I'm not sure how much time passed." Uri continued, looking at the floor without really seeing it. "But it had to be only a few days, as I wasn't consuming any water. At some point, my body became so weak that I blacked out while remaining conscious. When I woke up, I found myself somewhere odd..."
FLASHBACK STARTS HERE
URI'S POV [A FEW DAYS AFTER THE UZUMAKI CLAN MASSACRE]
The sky was blocked by numerous thick snow clouds, which continued to pour snowflakes over the forgotten ruin.
Iron bars, melted and crumpled steel walls, splintered and mildewed wood, uprooted pipes with frozen waterfalls of liquid rising out of them, holey empty crates of food rations, pieces of old toys, soaked and murky book pages.
These things and more decorated the scenery, poking out of or lying just under the surface of the snow dunes. Encasing the rubble was a fifty meter high, forty foot thick steel wall which rose and fell with numerous rocky ledges. It had been half blown, half melted open in one area, possibly by a bomb, allowing one branching end of the wide river that ran through the tiny village to flow freely.
As far as he could see, there were no trees, plants, or animals of any kind. Here and there, he spotted burned corpses, their charcoaled fingers rising up, half curled, and seemingly thin.
Uri trudged through the snow, having lost his shoes after waking up on the river's shore. His arms folded tightly across his chest, he shuddered as if his very bones were rattling beneath his numb skin. Having been unsuccessful in tracking down a coat in the rubble, he was surely, literally, freezing to death.
His eyes trembled, blinded by the pure white snow as he forced his legs to carry him on. There had to be some form of shelter around here. Unless he was looking at the remains of said shelter.
There had to be...Had to be something here... Other than the corpses and the ruins and the signs of merciless destruction.
He choked back a sob. Now was not the time to cry. He had to...
He blinked groggily, watching as the ground flew up at him. A moment later, he realized his face was buried in snow, and he was vaguely sure, judging from the humming, warm, watery sensation, that his feet were bleeding.
He trembled, wishing he had the energy or the warmth to bang his fists on the ground and shout. This... This wasn't...
This wasn't fair!
Tears streamed from his eyes as his teeth chattered and angry, silent screams tore from his mouth.
Why had he survived if he was just going to die here? All alone, far from home, in the cold. No one would see him and no one would hear him. He would disappear, just like everyone else. Just like these strangers, just like his clan...
He blinked, grunting as he tried to move his fingers, his toes. Every inch of him shook, but he had no control over any of it now.
He closed his eyes, still crying and gritting his chattering teeth. Please... Please... He didn't want to die alone... Not like this...
Nee-chan...
....
"Hey..."
He rose slowly out of his exhaustion-induced stupor as if he were poking his eyes out of a swamp. It was a vague realization: someone had just clapped a light hand onto his arm; someone had spoken to him.
His eyes peeled open as if their lashes were glued together. They drifted upwards, blinded by the sun, which had somehow made an appearance as the thick snow clouds began to shift. He vaguely noticed a small silhouette of a young boy, possibly his own age from his height and the timbre of his voice.
Almost as quickly as it came, the clouds drifted back in front of the sun, eclipsing it and simultaneously making the boy's appearance visible.
Uri felt a nudge of surprise. He WAS his age, from the look of it.
How strange. This person... He had hair the color of the sun, and eyes as blue as the sky. He was smiling as gently as Uri's parents used to during troubled times when bad news was a given (like when they told him that nee-chan was going away).
Even in his dead tired state of mind, Uri noticed the air about this person had a sort of trusting, reliable charm to it. He also noticed how he sat: crouched, one leg raised with the other lying in snow, and his fingertips were just barely brushing Uri's sleeve. He was tense, yet calm. Contradictory...
Confusing...
"Hey!"
Uri jolted numbly, sinking further into the snow. Ungh... he was paralyzed... almost as if he were trapped in one of those dreams where he couldn't move or speak.
The boy above him knit his brow, seeming to think deeply over something before clasping Uri's arm, slipping his other hand through the snow to grip Uri's shoulder. With surprising ease, he pulled Uri out of the snow and threw the more useless arm over his shoulders.
"Can you hear me?" He asked, an inkling of well-disguised worry in his voice.
Uri's ears trembled, ringing at a high pitch before slowly returning to normal volume. He nodded dumbly, unable to do anything else. His legs weren't moving. Was this guy dragging him?
"I don't recognize you." He said, his eyes becoming slightly narrow, and gleaming with a hint of hostility. "Are you an enemy? Did Konoha send you? Are you here to kill us?"
Too many questions. He asked too many questions. Uri's jaw moved feebly, but no sound came out. His tongue felt like a frozen fish fillet.
The boy waited, but soon realized he wouldn't get his answers. Sighing, his eyes rolled to the right, and Uri could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
"My name's Minato." The boy said, smiling a little. "You don't have to tell me your name. But if you ARE here to kill us, then I'm afraid I won't be friendly for much longer."
Uri wanted to laugh bitterly. He was already being too friendly, the fool. It would be much more practical to kill Uri now, while he couldn't move. The horrifying images of his parent's murders, his sisters kidnapping, and his clan's massacre were playing over in his mind, torturing him.
All he'd done was run. How cowardly. Shameful. What kind of shinobi was he? He was so useless, he couldn't protect the people he loved the most. He couldn't do anything to stop his grandfather, and had only run like a coward. After years of training, studying, meditating... What a disgrace...
Why hadn't he just died with them?! That's what he should have done! He should have been killed along with his parents. It would save him the pain of being all alone, in this cruel world where only horrifying and unbelievably twisted things happen.
Like his entire clan being wiped out by their leader and protector.
What would happen to him now? He had been rescued by this stranger, but that didn't mean anything. He had washed up in this freezing death trap that was without nourishment of any kind. Then again, he was half dead already. Maybe Minato would go back on his word and put him out of his misery while his body still felt like a frozen clump of overcooked pasta.
That would be better. So much better than wasting away or being murdered by someone whom he had idolized throughout his entire childhood.
Uri blinked, and realized he had blacked out long enough for Minato to carry him to some underground cave/tunnel, where a fire was burning directly in front of him. He'd been stuffed inside two oversized, zipped up coats and clothes were completely dry. It was also the same outfit he'd been wearing before.
How...?
He stared at the blazing fire and sat up, feeling the aches and pains that played across his ribs and joints. He had never broken so many bones before...
His eyes moved on a whim, spotting first Minato, who was sitting with his back against the tunnel wall, poking at the flames with an iron rod. Sparks rose out of the fire whenever the wood moved, flying away and burning out. Uri watched them, mesmerized as two sparks flew about each other, like two mating eagles with their claws locked together.
"Are you alright?" Minato asked, getting his attention.
Sky blue eyes stared at him blankly, as Uri blinked back at them. Those were also mesmerizing. Eyes as blue as the sky...
And yet, there was hardly any light there.
Minato seemed to give up on hearing a reply. He picked out a book from a small pile of flammable garbage beside him and tossed it into the fire. More sparks flew up. As Uri followed them with his eyes, he found a young girl, also his age, lying on the dirt floor on her side. Her arms lay in front of her face, crossed, with her legs lying one on top of the other.
Uri immediately noticed how warm the air was, possibly because the tunnel was so thin, and the fire so hot. But the smoke had to be going somewhere, which meant there had to be an opening—
"You'll die."
Uri whipped his head around, eyeing Minato who was smiling casually.
"I won't let you run." He promised him. "You'll only die, in this weather. And I'll catch you anyway."
Uri blinked, feeling almost calm as he stared at Minato in confusion.
"I won't run." He said. "Where is this? And who are you?"
"I'm Minato." He repeated, stone-faced. "Namikaze Minato. This is Yuukigakure. Or... it used to be."
Judging from his tone, the destruction of this village had to have been recent. And judging from his expression, he was the same as Uri.
He'd watched everyone he knew die.
Uri looked at the little girl.
"Who is she?" Uri asked.
Minato looked at her as well. "Mikoto."
"Her... Surname?"
"She doesn't have one." Minato replied. "She didn't come from an existing clan."
Existing clans were clans that were either famous, still alive, or both. Non-existing clans were small, nameless families. No one was quite sure where they came from or whom they were descended from, and there were no records, even in Uzushio, that held the necessary information. However, it was theorized that during the era of warring states, in which many clans were nearly annihilated, that the survivors may have married outside of their clans to keep their bloodlines alive, even if they were thinned, and subsequently abandoned their clan names in order to remain safe and hidden.
Thus there were many nameless clans. Their children were nameless, and their children's children's children's children were nameless, and so on.
Minato's stomach growled then, making Uri jump. It was so loud! And seemed to be causing him some discomfort, as he folded his legs, grit his teeth, and dropped the iron rod so he could wrap his arms over his torso.
A deep, painful moan escaped him as Mikoto turned in her sleep, grimacing as her stomach groaned as well. Uri listened to the growling for almost a full minute.
When it was over, the little girl moaned, but otherwise remained asleep. Minato exhaled, and looked at Uri with a question in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any food with me." Uri told him, and Minato sighed, bowing his head low.
Uri paused, remembering how there were no trees or plants growing here.
"Can't you fish?" He asked, and Minato looked up at him half-smirking.
"I can." He answered. "But all of the fishing gear burned up in the fires. I could use kunai, if I had some wire, but that's destroyed as well. I looked for a spear, not that I know how to use one, but the only ones I could find were broken in two or bent or missing their arrowheads. The water is too cold to dive into."
"Isn't there anything else?" Uri asked, already sympathizing with the two children.
Minato shook his head, smiling dryly. "Given our situation, it might be required that we use the corpses as nourishment. But I refuse to do that."
There was strong determination in that statement, making it clear he would not be persuaded otherwise. Not that Uri would have tried to.
Minato jolted then, straightening up and freezing there like an alarmed statue. Uri opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the other boy raised one hand, telling him to keep silent.
Like a phantom, Minato rose quietly and retrieved a nearby bucket of snow, which he proceeded to dump onto the fire. It hissed at them as it died away, and the noise had Mikoto awake and alert in seconds. Uri watched as she whipped her head back and forth, frightened even as she looked at Minato, who was now standing near the mouth of the tunnel. It was blocked by some thick, mildewed wood.
"Minato...?" She called out.
He retrieved two kunai from his shuriken holster and stood battle-ready, shoulder digging into the wall and knees bent.
"I'm scared..." She whispered. Uri could see her trembling even in the near pitch-black darkness.
"Don't be." Minato comforted her. "We'll be alright. I'll take care of you."
Uri stood, draping one of the thick coats over her and holding the other one out to Minato, who shook his head and pointed at him. Uri hesitated, but nonetheless put the coat on anyway.
Minato closed his eyes, placing his free hand on the wood.
"There are four of them..." He whispered, more to Uri than to Mikoto. "But... They're young. Maybe three years older than us... No, two years... They're looking for us already. They must have seen the smoke. One of them is getting close. Mikoto, come here."
She shuffled anxiously over to him as he took one of the kunai in his free hand.
"We're going to have to run for it." He said. "Both of you be ready..."
Uri knit his bow. Both of them? But...
It happened all at once. Minato's eyes snapped open, and he threw the kunai. They tore right through the thick wood, and light flooded in. Uri heard someone grunt outside, and knew they had been struck.
Minato grabbed Mikoto, and threw her on his back before jumping out of the hole with Uri on his heels. They raced past the ruins, through the snow, past the enemy and out the hole in the wall.
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI'S POV [PRESENT DAY KUMOGAKURE]
"Wait, wait." Tsunade said, moving her stretched out fingers back and forth in front of her. "Slow down, I've got a few questions."
Uri straightened up, giving her a look of mild warning.
"I don't mind answering a few questions, but this will take that much longer if you interrogate me." He said.
She crossed her arms. "I'll be quick then. First, Minato and Mikoto were from Yuukigakure? I was never told that. Second, why were they starving? A whole village of people like Yuukigakure couldn't have survived for very long without food, so there had to have been something. Third, who were the four children that found them?"
Uri nodded. "I was about to explain all of that. To answer your first question, it was just as Minato had implied. Every useful necessity was destroyed in the fires of civil war that destroyed the village. Yuukigakure was located on an iceberg that happened to be located in a frozen bay some distance from the land of iron, yet was not a part of the land’s territory as it is now. That combined with the climate made it impossible to raise livestock or grow crops and herbs. There was no soil to refine, so of course there weren't any weapons. For thousands of years, Yuukigakure was a virtually unoccupied, underdeveloped piece of land in the northern territory. However, at some point, a group of strangers came from the sea and claimed the land. They were led by Minato's grandfather, who was made chief of the village, and together they built the great iron fortress that housed the entire population of Yuukigakure. They fished and purified water, and recycled metal from used screws and contraptions."
Uri slid to the floor, put his elbows on his knees, laced his fingers together in front of his lips and sighed.
"They were very poor, and had little to no resources. Thus no one invaded them. But no one aided them either." He explained. "However, in his elder years, Minato's grandfather established trade with the land of fire. The very first trade ship arrived in their harbor on the day of Minato's birth. That's why his grandfather named him 'Minato.'
"As for your other questions, during that time of war, Konoha took in many children from foreign lands where no ninjas resided. Many of them disappeared, and it wasn't because of a memory seal but I'll get to that later. Anyway, Minato and Lady Mikoto didn’t like to talk about their homeland. Many of the villagers were wary of them. Talking about it would have made their situation worse."
"Why?" Enoki asked.
Uri lowered his fingers. "I'm sure you remember. Those events had nothing to do with my clan, so they didn't disappear like other major incidents."
"What happened?" Mei asked.
"Minato's father, his older brothers, and his uncles, and their individual subordinates, took over as soon as Minato's grandfather passed away." Uri explained. "They kicked the villagers that had relied on them for food and shelter out of the iron fortress, and left them to freeze to death outside. They raided konoha, and kidnapped many young Uchiha and Hyuuga children, gouged their eyes out and sold them on the black market, slayed them, and crucified their broken bodies on the outskirts of the village. Because of this, both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha developed low birth rates. The Hyuuga recovered from this, but the Uchiha suffered more. Among those whom had been kidnapped..." Uri clenched his knuckles as his eyes darkened. "Were two of Fuji’s classmates, his little brother, and his childhood friend from the Hyuuga clan."
Uri dropped his hands. Mei gasped as the other Kage looked troubled, and seemed to brace themselves.
"The five of them had been playing together in the woods. One moment, everything was fine. But... then they were ambushed, and Fuji was afraid. He yelled at everyone to run, and they scattered. His brother was four, his three friends were ten. He went to the hokage as soon as he made it back to the village, but the kidnappers were already gone.
"Back then, Konoha was in the middle of a war and had lost over half their jounin. As a result, Danzo suggested the cadets be sent out, and although the Hokage and the other two advisors were against it, the council ruled in Danzo's favor. However this unfortunate event led to an opportunity for Fuji. He requested permission to go after the kidnappers so he could save his friends and his little brother. The third granted his request, and he chose his classmates Shikaku and Hizashi and Hiashi Hyuuga to accompany him."
Uri squared his shoulders. "That was when he found us. As I explained before, we ran. However, they caught up to us. Coincidentally this happened once we reached the graveyard... All of the bodies were unrecognizable... But, somehow, Fuji and the twins were able to identify them. What they saw there..." Uri flinched, and his throat constricted in disgust.
"What happened?" Ay pressured.
Uri lurched. He didn't want to remember how truly horrified the three boys had been. Fuji himself had fallen to his knees, thrown up, and cried. The Hyuuga twins had screamed in terror, and Shikaku, Minato, Mikoto, and Uri himself could only watch helplessly.
"Did Fugaku find his brother? His friends? Were they still alive?" Enoki asked, making Uri feel as if he were being jabbed in the ribs with a sharp stick.
Uri blinked, looking out the window at the sun, the clouds, the rocky pillars that were everywhere in this village. It was even more beautiful than Konoha, and only slightly less beautiful than his birthplace.
"No." He answered. "They were all..."
The others seemed to swallow a large clump in their throats and began to sweat. He realized they might have been picturing the scene he had been trying to ignore a moment ago.
"Naturally, Fuji was beside himself with grief, self-contempt, and self-pity." Uri continued, feeling ill. "The twins suffered as well, but were not nearly as devastated. They lost cousins. Just as the three boys were about to be consumed by grief, an iron pillar, a remnant of the fortress which had been blown outside the wall by explosions and was sticking upright out of the snow, began to fall. I was slower than Minato, so I was out of danger. But he and Mikoto were in danger of being crushed."
"How did they survive?" Gaara asked.
"Fuji." Uri stated. "He seemed outraged by the thought of their lives being taken, and was quick to launch himself at the Minato and Lady Mikoto. They landed a safe distance away, but Minato hit his head on a block of ice. So the four cadets took the three orphans across the sea to a cave on the outskirts of the land of iron. They gave us food and water, and for a while we were all forced to play nice with each other despite how skeptical everyone was. But that had to come to an end at some point..."
URI'S POV [A CAVE ON THE EDGE OF THE LAND OF IRON; OVER FORTY YEARS AGO]
“Here.”
Uri looked up from his seat on the floor to see the Uchiha boy holding out a cup. He muttered a quick word of thanks and took the cup from him, ignoring the handle as he cupped it between both palms. It was water, but there was a chance he had laced it with truth serum. In any case, Uri would not be drinking it. Not really—
“It’s not poisoned.” The older boy said. Uri met his passive, knowing eyes and the two shared some mutual suspicion.
“Or drugged.” The Uchiha added when Uri still did not drink it.
Uri frowned at him. He was clearly the leader of these cadets. They were not wearing headbands, but he happened to know that the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans were both of Konoha. The fourth boy, who showed good judgment and knowledge beyond his years, was most likely a Nara. He now had two bandages over the cuts Minato had given him earlier, but seemed to hold no grudge.
Uri looked at Mikoto, who was sitting resolutely and silently beside an unconscious Minato who was now bound inside a thick travel futon, and his stomach continued to growl in his sleep. The cadets had already shared their food with Uri and Mikoto, who had been too hungry to question it.
Uri looked once more into the dark eyes of the Uchiha boy. How was he so calm now? And the Hyuuga boys as well. Mere moments ago, they had all been screaming and crying in terror. And now—
“We’ve been trained to remain calm during moments like these.” Uchiha explained, making Uri flinch.
“Can you read my mind?” He asked.
“It’s written all over your face.” Uchiha replied as he looked over his shoulder at his comrades. “Hiashi, keep an eye on the blond—”
“Minato.”
Both Uri and the cadets looked at Mikoto. She was stone-faced, and seemed unafraid compared to the whimpering little girl back in the tunnel.
“His name is Minato.” She told the boys.
Uchiha crossed his arms. “And yours?”
“Mikoto.” She replied, turning her attention back to Minato.
Uchiha looked down at Uri. “And you?”
“It’s custom to give your own name first.” Uri replied courtly.
Uchiha knit his brows and pursed his lips, as if he had a sour taste in his mouth.
“I’m Fugaku.” He replied. “The bookworm is Shikaku Nara. The twin closest to Minato is Hiashi, and the other is Hizashi Hyuuga.”
Uri looked at each of them with minute surprise. So he’d been correct…
“You’re from Konoha.” He said.
It was not a question.
“Yes.”
It was hardly a reply.
“Hizashi, Nara, keep a lookout.” Fugaku ordered, and the other boys immediately obeyed.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha boy sat down in a heap, looking both lazy and serious. He looked into Uri’s eyes, and the red haired boy stared back at him.
“You’re an Uzumaki.” Fugaku stated, and realizing he could no longer hide it, Uri nodded. The Uzhiha’s eyes narrowed. “I’d heard the entire clan was massacred.”
Uri fought the urge to curl in on himself and put his head between his knees.
“Everyone but me.” He said, and Fugaku nodded.
“Yes, but how?” Fugaku asked.
Uri knit his brow. He explained, in a nutshell, how he had gotten away. He left out anything that would have exposed his grandfather, and all the screaming and spilled blood that took place.
“So you floated here?” Fugaku asked doubtfully.
Uri nodded.
“And what happened after that?”
Uri nodded at Minato. “He found me.”
Fugaku looked at the other two, and seemed mesmerized by their mere existence. Uri eyed him. What was that expression on his face? Conflict? Anger?
“They’re innocent.” Uri told him before he could stop himself. Fugaku locked eyes with him, but he held his ground.
“Did they tell you that?” He asked, a pained, hateful expression on his face.
“No.” Uri admitted. “But they’re alone, and hungry.”
Fugaku mulled this over, and his eyes found the floor, flickering here and there without rest. Uri knew somehow that the other boy’s heart was beating dangerously fast. His muscles were clenching, adrenaline was rushing through him, and his thoughts were drifting to his shuriken holster.
He must have known them. The murdered children that they’d seen back at Yuukigakure. He might have come here to rescue them, only to find them dead and was now contemplating how useless he might be.
Uri bit the inside of his lip. This person… Was a kindred spirit.
But he had a gut feeling that Minato was the same as them. And anyway, he owed his life to him. He had to protect them.
“Did he tell you his surname?” Fugaku asked.
Uri hesitated. From his tone, it had taken every ounce of courage to ask that question, and more than a little malice was laced into every word. Why was he so conflicted over this?
“Namikaze Mina—”
Immediately, Uri realized he’d made a horrible mistake. The Hyuuga boys and Fugaku looked down right murderous. Mikoto shoved Hiashi away and threw herself over Minato without putting her weight on him. The whites of Fugaku’s eyes turned bloodshot, regretful, and angry. He couldn’t look at Minato, instead choosing to fold one leg to his chest, rest his chin on his knee, and reach around his head to grip his hair.
Hiashi backed up as far as he could, and it was taking every ounce of restraint to keep himself nailed to the floor. Hizashi grit his teeth and curled his arms over his stomach, bent over in anxiety and twisted rage.
Nara seemed caught in the middle. He looked from one boy to another as if he were as dumb as a rock, and looked at Minato helplessly, as if seeing a corpse.
“Fugaku…” Hiashi spat out through clenched teeth. “What should we do…?”
Fugaku bowed his head and curled in on himself some more. Uri saw him shake as if caught in an earthquake, and opened his mouth to ask what the matter was when Mikoto began sobbing.
“Please, listen.” She begged, pressing herself down on Minato like a shield. “It’s… It’s not like that. He didn’t kidnap anyone. He’s different…! He’s not—”
“We’ve got to kill him.” Hizashi muttered, and Mikoto gasped.
“You can’t, you can’t!” Mikoto shrieked. “I won’t let you! I’ll fight you!”
Uri looked taken aback. Now he knew she wasn’t a ninja. It was so obvious in her begging, her hopless threatening, and her body language. SHE fight THEM? Even as cadets, there was no contest between the four boys and the small girl.
Uri clenched his fists. If it came to it, he would help her. He had to. He owed them that much.
But even as a ninja, he detested violence. Especially now. If he could somehow convince the four of them to spare Minato, and take them to Konoha, then maybe he could arrange something.
His sister was in konoha. And Lady Mito, as well, if she had not yet passed. And the kind third Hokage. Once, when he was four, his father took him and nee-chan to Konoha to visit a few of his friends. With each introduction, the twins had jumped all over their new victims and demanded them to play. But everyone had said they were training, or heading out on a mission, or needed to prepare dinner, or were just too busy.
The third, however, had happily played with them, even when his advisors had ordered him to get back to work and quit acting like a child. He had simply laughed them off, and invited them to join in the fun, at which point they had been unable to refuse an order from the hokage and had been forced to. The twins had proceeded to pull on their hair, their clothes, and bounce around in their laps.
“Wait, I believe she’s telling the truth.” Uri stated, failing to get the boys’ attention.
He raised his voice. “When I was about to fall asleep in the snow and die, Minato found me and took me to a safe place. He’s been protecting Mikoto as well, at least since their village was destroyed. He’s kind, and merciful, and he’s still a child. I don’t think he would hurt any of you.”
This didn’t help much. The boys kept themselves glued to the floor where they were, and Uri started to feel more anxious.
“Minato’s the youngest.” Mikoto told them, so close to Minato now that her neck was resting on his chin. “Everyone else in his family was cruel. They kicked us out of the fortress after Minato’s grandfather died. Everyone tried to revolt, and Minato’s older brothers killed them and captured me. They kept me locked up in the dungeon, but Minato came and got me out by telling them he wanted me to play with him. So his father said I could be his playmate. But that was just a lie. He just wanted to save me. When I was hungry or sick, he stole medicine and food from the supply room for me even though his father passed a law against giving supplies to the villagers. He gave food to the villagers, who were dying outside the wall and tried to sneak them in, but he got caught and his brothers beat him up for it. He stood up to them when they started kidnapping Hyuuga and Uchiha children! He even tried to attack his Uncles and save the children, but they were so much bigger than him, and so much stronger! He ended up having to get stitches because one of them stabbed him with a kunai.
“You can’t kill him! He’s a good person! He—He saved me!”
Her breath hitched as she sobbed, staring at them pleadingly. But rather than calming down, the boys just seemed more conflicted. Their knuckles had paled from clenching their fists for too long. Their eyes were squeezed shut. Their ears and hearts were closed.
“He’s got no future, Fugaku.” Hizashi said, making the Uchiha flinch. “He’s a Namikaze. They’ve angered the two most powerful clans in Konoha. And he’s an orphan. They all are.”
This seemed to imply something deeper, darker, but before Uri could ask what it was the other Hyuuga twin was speaking.
“The other two are innocent, I’m positive.” He said, and Uri jumped when he realized the boy was reffering to Mikoto and him. “If they’re associated with this guy, it’ll make it harder to convince the council to put them in the academy.”
Uri looked at Fugaku, who had ceased to be bloodthirsty and was now caught between anger and some kind of desire. Uri winced.
It was them. The three of them were younger than the four cadets. More specifically, they were younger than Fugaku. And judging from the length of the chopped up arms he’d seen, those poor kidnapped, mutilated children had all been around four to ten years old.
This person, he… If Minato had been an adult, if he hadn’t been unconscious, if Mikoto and Uri weren’t defending him, Fugaku would have killed him before he could blink, before anything could be said or done. The Hyuuga twins were suffering from a similar internal conflict. Minato was a child, but he was the son, nephew, and brother of murderers. He’d fought his family to protect the kidnapped children and the villagers, but he’d been overpowered and failed. He’d saved Mikoto, so why couldn’t he save one of their younger relatives who’d had the misfortune of being dragged here? But he was younger than them, two years younger…
“Fugaku.” The twins called out.
“Fugaku?” Nara asked.
“I won’t let you!” Mikoto declared.
“Fu—” Uri began.
“Be quiet!” Fugaku declared, and everyone watched him cautiously, expectantly. “Just… be quiet… for a moment… Please. I need to think…”
And his voice was so filled with regret, sympathy, turmoil, and helplessness that no one could deny him this. All at once, everyone mutually decided to stay silent until Fugaku said otherwise.
So the minutes passed…
FLASHBACK ENDS HERE
URI’S POV [KUMOGAKURE, PRESENT DAY]
“In the end, Fugaku decided that all three of us would be escorted back to Konoha, and our fate would be put in the hands of the third hokage and the advisors.” Uri explained. “I was unaware of it at the time, but in Konoha the number of ninja who died in the war was already unprecedented to the previous wars. Thus the number of orphans was overwhelming. As a result, many of them were being left in Danzo’s foundation, which was located underground. There, Danzo had explained, they could be trained to protect themselves and would be given only the appropriate amount of resources. By the time we arrived in Konoha, it had become natural for orphans to migrate to the foundation. Fortunately, Fugaku brought us before the council and allowed us to make our case.”
“What did you say?” Kakashi asked, speaking up for the first time.
Uri smiled. “Many things. Mikoto and Minato explained everything that happened in their home village. I explained what had happened in mine. We left out anything that would have implicated us, such as my grandfather being the one responsible for the massacre. Fugaku had persuaded Minato to tell the council that he was in fact another member of a nameless clan, and had been adopted by the Naikaze clan when they discovered his talent for ninjutusu. As a result, he was allowed to keep his surname without causing everyone in Konoha to fear him, and he was placed in the ninja academy along with Mikoto and I. But that, as it turned out, was the worst mistake we could have made…”
