NARUTO SI: A Burdened Soul (Elder Brother to Itachi SI)

Chapter 29

In a cave hidden deep into the Earth, in the great unknown an old and decrepit man sat there all alone in a chair. His white hair and wrinkly skin told of his age that went beyond the norm, and now he was only yet alive because of the tubes that connected him to the giant statue, that stood behind him.

And as he sat there, the air was suddenly disturbed as the very space inside the cave was distorted as another figure appeared in the cave.

His face was covered by a mask formed of white plant-like material that covered it all except for one singular eye that glinted ominously as the old man opened and spoke up again.

"I told you, didn't I..." his raspy voice reverberated through the cave as he looked at the young masked ninja with eyes similar to his own.

"...that you would be back," and the young shinobi's mask unravelled to reveal a half-crushed face with a rather dejected expression.

"Have you seen it for yourself now?" the old man questioned as he looked into that gaze.

"The cruelty and the inequality of this world?" and the boy did not say anything for some time before he nodded as his fists balled up.

"I have," the boy answered, and the old legend's eyes glinted as he smiled.

"I saw it for myself many years ago," he answered as he rose up and began to walk towards the young Obito Uchiha, who stood there rooted on the ground.

"I sacrificed my brother for the village, sacrificed my own kin, my own blood. And yet I was shunned for it, feared for my ferocity while another was praised," and as he spoke of his equal, his smile dulled, for one that man had been his friend.

And though the years had made them enemies, he still remembered that man fondly. For it was not his fault, the world was as such. No, it was not.

Hashirama was not at fault for the naivety and unfairness of the world.

"That inequality, that cruelty still exists to this day. It exists all over the capital and will continue to exist until we, as its victims, do something about it," and at that, the young Uchiha boy looked up.

"Who are you?" the boy questioned and the old man looked into his eyes as he answered.

"I am you, as you are me," he answered.

"What is your name?" he asked again.

"It is a name that has been forgotten through the years. A name that shall soon be taken up by you as the inheritor of my will. A name that shall come with a heavy burden," and with that, the man took a step forward, even as the tubes connecting him to the giant ten-eyed statue tore up and fell down.

"My name is Madara Uchiha....."

0000

HIRUZEN SARUTOBI

It seemed to him that they had begun celebrating far too early. A mistake that had come to haunt them all. With peace made between Konoha, Iwa, and Kumo, they had eased up, thinking the war to be over.

But the war was not yet over. Kiri remained defiant and had capitalized on their mistake, taking out a massive chunk of their forces stationed there and setting up a trap that could have very well done great damage to Konoha.

Though much damage had already been done, as he read the full report of the mission, brought to him by a pained and distraught Minato who sat opposite to him.

The young jounin had just barely recovered from the loss of his first student, Uchiha Obito, and now the ninja world had taken another one of his students from him. Hatake Kakashi, a prodigy unlike any and the scion of the White Fang, had sacrificed his life in a manner that would have made his father proud.

The boy had sacrificed his life to save the life of his last teammate, Nohara Rin, and now the last Hatake clan scion was dead, and Konoha was all the worse for it.

Even though their village had gained a bijuu in return, he knew that it was a trade he would never take, and neither would Namikaze. But fate rarely cares about what one desires for had they not taken his sons from him, and he, being the Hokage, could do nothing about it.

"Is the girl stable now?" he asked, and the blue-eyed jounin nodded despondently.

"Yes, Lord Third. Kushina was able to stabilize the seal. Of course, we will need to remove the Kiri seal and apply a new one, but that was a task that ccould be performed later. For now, both Sanbi and Nohara Rin are safe and secure," and tragic as the young Hatake's death may have been, the boy had done their village a great service.

A tailed beast was a strategic weapon of unimaginable value, and of the Five Great Villages, only Konoha and Suna boasted but a single one of them in the form of the Kyuubi and Ichibi, respectively.

Iwa had five and four tails, Kumo had two and eight tails, and Kiri had three and six tails.

But not anymore. Now, Konoha had in their possession the Sanbi as well, as Kiri's massive gamble had backfired, and though this all had come with a great loss, Konoha would be stronger for it.

"And the Uchiha boy?" he asked.

"He is still in the hospital. Kato Shizune and Tsunade-sama returned last night to treat him, and now his condition has stabilized. According to the reports, it will take him some time to make a full recovery, but he is out of danger now," and that was good.

Kakashi Hatake was once-in-a-generation genius, his loss alone was great enough.

Izuna Uchiha was perhaps the only person who could match the young Hatake's genius, and losing them both to this negligence, even if they had gotten their hands on the Sanbi.

Thankfully, Tsunade and her apprentice had been near enough to return at a moment's summon and had returned post haste to save the boy's life.

"That is a silver lining," he said as he closed the file and faced the young jounin again.

"I know that this must be a trying time for you, Minato. Kakashi was your prized apprentice, but his sacrifice is a testament to his devotion to the village and your teachings," he said.

"Sakumo would have been proud of his son," and Mianto nodded.

"So am I," and he should be.

"Though it will not bring the boy back, I assure you that I will handle the ones responsible for this negligence personally," he assured him, and already his ANBU had launched an investigation into those responsible for this mess. All of them from courier units to the commander, were being investigated for this debacle.

"Such a lapse of intelligence can not be ignored," and heads would roll as soon as he had the one's responsible infront of him.

"But Kiri will try to retaliate in the meantime. As one of the most promising shinobi in our ranks, I must ask you to gear up once more and quell whatever plans Kirigakure may concoct while I reform the ranks along the border under a new commander," and it was a shame that he had to deploy him again so quickly.

But there was no one more suited to this task.

"As you say, Hokage-sama," the boy agreed, and Hiruzen smiled at his commitment.

"I plan to redeploy Fugaku's men as soon as they return to re-establish our defenses along the Kiri border, but I doubt that Kiri would try any new adventure after their last one has failed as such," and Minato's deployment was to shun all such ideas about trying to recover the Sanbi.

Kiri had played their gamble, and they lost.

"Is there a plan to invade Kiri?" the man asked, and Hiruzen was stunned for a second by the question, and for a second, he began to contemplate the feasibility of such an idea.

Konoha had a truce with Kumo and Iwa now. They could try to invade Kiri, but Kiri's train and the nature of its shinobi would make such a mission complicated. But with Minato, Fugaku, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya taking the offense together.

It could work.

If Konoha wished it could level Kiri.

And yet Kiri still had many cards to play. The Mizukage still lived, and then there were the six tails.

"No," he answered as he thought of it all, as the blonde lips thinned, and yet he did not voice out his displeasure.

"Losing Sanbi and one of their prized blades should be loss enough. Going into Kiri could have unforeseen complications that could reignite the fires of war that we have all toiled so much to pluck out. We will strengthen our defences along the border and answer any insurgency with full force. But we will not push into Kirigakure," he answered, and the blonde sighed as he stood up.

"As you order, lord Hokage. I must leave to make preparations for this mission," and Hiruzen sighed.

And just as the man was about to leave, he stopped and turned around.

"Lord Hokage," he began, and Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes," he asked.

"There is something else I wish to ask about,..." he made, and Hiruzen beckoned him to continue.

"It is about Izuna Uchiha and his Sharingan...."

0000

KATO SHIZUNE

Life could be rather interesting. A few days ago, Shizune had left the village with Tsunade-sama, oblivious to when she would visit it again. Yet, days later, here she was in the village once more as both she and Tsunade-sama found themselves rushing back because of the Hokage's emergency summons.

And she was thankful that they had come as soon as they had, for the situation was rather dire.

They had all thought the war over, and the bulk of the conflict was indeed over, yet the ninja world was dangerous enough without war itself, more so for the young Uchiha sitting infront of her.

"You are making a habbit of this, Izuna-kun," she chided her young protege after he woke up after an entire day of procedures and recovery. The boy, who had sustained severe injuries and would probably be sidelined for days if not weeks, smiled feebly as he looked at her.

"Trust me, I have no desire to," and she doubted that, and his injuries were rather severe, with his body being littered with cuts and bruises, with burns and scalds spread all over his right arm.

She had dread parts of the mission report, and was taken aback by just how impressive and powerful as a shinobi he was. To take on even one of the Seven Ninja swordsmen alone was a commendable feat for any shinobi.

To do so under the circumstances he had, with all the baggage and problems he was faced with, was something out of the world for normal shinobi. But none would dare call Izuna Uchiha a normal shinobi.

Never before, and definitely not now.

"Kakashi?" he asked, and her mood soured as she shook her head, for as quick as they may have been, it would not have worked because the boy in question was long dead even before he was brought to the hospital, having succumbed to his injuries on the battlefield.

And she saw his smile vanish as his fists balled up.

"It's not your fault," she assured him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy had been through enough—first his own teammates and now even Kakashi. His life had been nothing but a tragedy.

"I read the mission report; it's a miracle that you managed to save Rin at all and buy enough time for reinforcements," she assured him, and he nodded as he bit his lip.

"I had heard tales of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and their penchant for cruelty and resilience, but that monster," he voiced out.

"I must have killed him around a dozen times, and yet he refused to go down," and Kushimaru Kuriarare was the vice captain of the group for a reason, and she could only imagine what it must have felt like facing him as he had.

"Nohara is safe. Kushina-sama was able to stabilize her seal," she added as he nodded.

"They will have to reapply the seal, but danger has passed. She came by a few hours ago, but you were still asleep by then," she said, and he nodded as he looked beyond her towards the window.

"Your brother and mother are outside. I will send them in," she said, and he smiled, and as she was about to leave the room, he called out once again.

"The funeral?" he asked as he looked at her.

"Do you have any idea about Hatake-san's funeral?" he asked, and she nodded.

"He is to be buried tomorrow," she said, and he nodded.

"I want to be there," he said, and she shook her head.

"Izuna-kun, you are in no conditio..."

"Shizune-sensei," he called out in a cold and sharp tone as his fists balled up.

"Please, I have to be there," he pleaded, and she bit her lip as she sighed.

"I will take you there myself," she assured him, and he nodded.

"Thank you...."

.

.

.

A day later, Shizune found herself in the Leaf's graveyard as they all gathered to pay their respects to their fallen comrade. And the Hokage-sama himself had come to pay his respects. She stood behind Izuna-kun as they all paid their respects to Kakashi Hatake.

And as the proceedings ended, people began to depart as Izuna-kun stood there beside the blonde Namkiaze and the brown-haired teammate of the young jounin, who cried continuously as she gripped Izuna-kun's hand.

And as he stood there, Shizune stood there behind him in the crowd, and found herself surprised as she heard a few whispers from behind her.

"Did you hear? He is the one who killed him..." someone whispered, and her ears perked up at that.

"What else would you expect of him? He is cursed. First, his whole team died because of him, and now he killed young Hatake with his own hands just to complete the mission,' and she stilled at those words.

.

.

And on that day, Izuna Uchiha would get another name, one not given to him by his enemies but by his comrades.

'The Cursed Genius'

'The Teammate Killer'

0000

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