Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Prologue – Arc 3: Inner-demon

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Chapter 26 – 2 years later

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On a calm and quiet morning, the sun rises on a peaceful ninja world. Nearly two years have passed since Sasuke and Naruto's fight with the Daitengu. It occurred in January, after the so-called end of the world attempt by Toneri Otsutsuki. Now is November, 22 months later.

In Kirigakure, Tokiwa got pregnant only a few weeks after she met Tsubai. Even though this turn of event came really quick for them, Tsubai's visit to the future (that he still didn't tell anyone about) made him confident enough about raising this boy, that he named as he planned: Takeshi Minamoto.

The boy is now 13 months old, but grows up really fast, in all terms. This is due to Tentoki's presence within the child. Tsubai tasked the flashing tengu with looking after and raising his child directly from within his mind. Takeshi looks exactly like his father, but with his mother's blue eyes. As things happened faster than Tokiwa planned, the two youg parents still didn't get married, but are currently planning it. In the same village, Sana moved in with Kobo, and the now 17 years-olds have been living as a young couple since then.

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In Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga married together shortly after the Daitengu's defeat, pressured into a wedding by the Hyuga's main house. Last month of March, Hinata delivered a young boy that they chose to call Boruto, as a reference to the chakra nature that Naruto felt in from the new born. As newly married, they moved in close to the Hyuga's main house. The kid took Hinata's last name, as the Hyuga ancestors insisted about it, and Naruto didn't care much about preserving a lineage for his last name.

Boruto Hyuga, like every Hyuga, is born with plain white eyes. He has his father's spiky yellow hair and wears two whiskers on each cheek, as a sign of Kurama's chakra in one of his parents. Naruto also spent these two last years on many places, being a husband to his wife, acting as an example to the younger generations, and training with the Bijus and Gamamaru on Mount Myoboku to awaken new owned abilities, like Sasuke commanded him to do.

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Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha spent most of the time on his wanders. Still he often visited Sakura Uchiha. They got married, a bit discreetly, about 9 months ago and Sakura's been pregnant since then. Sasuke spent the last months interrupting his travel to come and spend a few days, or sometimes just hours, in Konoha with his pregnant wife.

In the mean time, many of their friends' lives also got moved around by the peace and love that's been in the air. Ino and Sai also married a few months before Sakura and Sasuke. Their wedding even served as a motive for Sakura to want her own with Sasuke. Ino and Sai also had a child, a little girl called Inoue.

Her birth annoyed Shikamaru. Temari left Suna to come and live with him in Konoha, but the two didn't think of a child now, because Shikamaru considers himself too young for that. He and Choji spent the last months reminding Ino and Sai that they'll have to get a second child at some point for a next Ino-Shika-Cho generation to be possible. To make it short, these two years have been quiet in appearance.

As a logic demographic phenomena coming after heavy losses and war, survivors celebrated and a baby-boom happened. The 5th Raikage (Darui), Rock Lee and others also had children. Besides, Tsunade's been telling Sakura about what she suspects is going on between the 6th Hokage and his assistant, Shizune.

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Right now, The 5 Kage are assembled for a Kage summit in Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Water), not far away from the 4th war battlefield. Kakashi Hatake is still the Hokage, Mei Terumi is still the 5th Mizukage, and Gaara the 5th Kazekage. Onoki is here at the council but will pass on the role to his granddaughter Kurotsuchi in the following month. The 4th Raikage, however did retreat and is replaced by Darui, the 5th Raikage.

At this council, Kakashi went with Shizune, his assistant, and finally decides to tell about Sasuke's latest missions and the events that occurred in the Land of Fire. After he's explained everything, The Kage discuss it.

"So the Land of Fire secretly went against new discovered powers, similar to the Bijus and Madara Uchiha…" summarizes Onoki. "And none of us were aware of this until now."

"Sorry for not telling this earlier, but it had to be kept secret." apologizes Kakashi. "Understand that it's part of Sasuke Uchiha's investigations."

"Actually, I was aware of it. Kiri brought its contribution." adds Mei. "So I'm as guilty as the Hokage for not telling. It was a common agreement to keep this secret."

"Kumo had 2 ninjas involved in Sasuke Uchiha's mision roughly 2 years ago." says Darui. "And we've lost a brave and valuable man because of it. So, understand that I expect proper explanation for this now."

"Z Arashi…" quietly says Kakashi, sorry for the Raikage's loss. "A ninja from the same clan as you, Raikage. He and Minaa Nii followed Sasuke of their own free will. He's brought valuable help to the mission, and sacrificed his life to save his teammates."

"At least now we're all aware." says Gaara, after a short silence. "And we weren't all in the dark. We all got Sasuke's visit at least once these last 4 years."

"Sasuke Uchiha…" thoughtfully says Onoki. "So Hokage, you're saying that the world is now depending on the work of the one who once threatened to destroy it."

"He's a whole different person now, and paid for his crimes already." answers Kakashi as Shizune gets worried by the turn of the argument.

"Thanks to Naruto." adds Gaara.

"Good old Naruto." also adds Onoki. "Where would we be without him?"

"About that, when will we finally get to see him sitting here?" asks Mei to the Hokage, speaking for everyone in the room.

"I've left him for a break." he answers. "As you all know, since most of you were present, he married with the Hyuga princess, and the couple delivered a young boy earlier this year."

"When this kid ends up as sharp-headed as his dad, that's gonna be bad." says the Raikage.

"Bad?" answers Gaara. "I'd rather tell that we already have the next generation's hero."

"Not so fast." confidently says Mei. "This hero is indeed born already, but in Kiri."

"You mean the Minamoto child?" asks Kakashi.

"Minamoto?" says Onoki. "So this Tsubai Minamoto has a child, and you forgot to mention it."

"It isn't important." answers Kakashi. "Whatever, about Naruto, I'd like to settle peace in the continent before leaving him to reign. As you understood, the next years have a slight chance of being the theater of conflicts. Fortunately, the 4th war brought us together. Let's make sure we maintain this union to face the new world together."

"Union? We call ourselves an Alliance for now." says Darui.

"Yes, but isn't it about time for this to change?" suggests Gaara. "With the current state of the alliance, we're holding the gates closed for smaller countries. We could extend this council to other ninja lands and even other territories. For instance, the land of Iron's samurai fought by our sides in the war."

"Good idea, Kazekage, but this decision isn't ours to make." answers Onoki. "This will depend on the Daimyo's opinions. And I feel like they wouldn't let this happen, as it would mean to give up on our status of Greater Nations."

"…" Gaara remains silent for a moment. "My village never really had a good relation with the capital anyway."

Behind him, Kankuro steps forward and quietly tells him to try and remain silent about these interior politics. The other Kages, assistants and bodyguards elect to ignore these whisperings and move on to a new matter.

Darui and Mei, together, bring up interest in a new topic that is the new form of conflict that their ninjas are getting in: The mercenaries and bounty hunting ronin. The Mizukage opens the conversation.

"As you know, since the fall of the Bloody Mist, many of its loyal servants and also many victims deserted and found new ways to take part in conflicts."

"Same happened in Kumo after the 4th war." adds Darui. "Unhappy with the foundation of the alliance, a few of mine feared that the village would no longer be seen as the strongest on the continent, and decided to leave."

"They adopted the old-fashioned clan's mercenary methods for most of them. Others became wandering bounty hunters."

"Akatsuki was monopolizing these activities when they were still around. But now it seems like mercenaries and bounty-hunters are mixing together under a new banner and exercising illegal activities, against the codes and laws of us shinobi."

"So a new form of conflict…" says Gaara. "I indeed observed this. Individuals unhappy that the hidden villages now refuse to go against each other are hiring these criminals to do the dirty work that we won't do anymore."

"… This was a predictable reaction to the formation of an alliance." says Onoki. "What should be done about it then?"

"We change our educational ways." suggests Kakashi. "We no longer form our ninjas for war, but for hunting the hunters. This won't even require profound changes. Also, we could establish a more organized and international Bingo book to keep track of the enemy's main activities and main actors."

"About that, there are already widely spoken names." says Mei. "However, they're all pseudonyms, and I don't have faces to go with them. The most discussed names these last years are Frostbite, Voodoo, Corpse Stealer, Ripper, Killin' Kiss and a recently emerging Crow."

"Killin' Kiss?" says Darui, intrigued by the joke that this name sounds like. "Are these just meaningless names or clues about the jutsus they could be using?"

"They're the best of them. They usually get rid of evidences so they're hard to investigate."

Shizune looks at the time and nods on Kakashi's shoulder to warn him that they shall be leaving soon. Kakashi hurries the discussion to a decision and conclusion.

"We're running short on time. We should propose an initiative to strengthen our coordination for now."

"Dear colleagues…" says Gaara who stands up. "I suggest that every country sends a correspondent to another nation, working as circles and serving to coordinate our actions in regards of our common issues. For instance, my sister and former bodyguard Temari has left Suna, and giving her this role would make her presence in Konoha relevant to the alliance."

"Sort of ambassadors, you mean?" says the Mizukage. "So there's someone from Suna in Konoha already… Let's find who sends where for the rest of us. As we're five, we better avoid a binary coupling strategy."

"Hokage…" says Darui, seeing this as an opportunity to strengthen his connection with the arguably new stronger nation. "I demand that one of yours comes to Kumo. Who would it be?"

"…" Kakashi thinks. "Since the 4th war, Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka's deaths, their children took the lead of their clans. But the heir of the Akimichi has yet to succeed to his father. Until then, Choji Akimichi could serve this purpose."

The rest of the kage decide of which country will represent the alliance in each country. The final order is quickly and instinctively established in a circular pattern. Suna has someone in Konoha, who'll send Choji to Kumo. The Raikage will send an elite ninja to Kiri. Kiri will offer a medic-nin to Iwa. And finally, Sagan from Iwa will go to assist Suna. Once this decision is made, the council is dismissed. The Kage leave one after another. Onoki accompanied by his son Kitsuchi only, Darui with C, Gaara with Kankuro, Mei with Chojuro, and Kakashi with Shizune.

On the way back to Konoha, Kakashi and Shizune sum up this council orally. Shizune questions the Hokage about what made her curious.

"Say, Kakashi?" she asks. After they went silent for a few seconds.

"See… You finally dropped the 'Lord'." says Kakashi who looks at her, smiling under his mask.

She is first confused by what he's talking about, and soon remembers that until now, she always used to call him Lord 6th, or Lord Kakashi, or Lord Hokage, which tended to annoy him. She blushes a bit when she notices the Hokage's smile, that she guesses behind his mask. After a little second, she looks back at him with a smile too.

"That's right. This will sound less annoying."

"It wasn't annoying. It was just… overwhelming."

"I see… Say, How long do you think it'll take until you can leave the place for Naruto?"

"Good question… Considering the Daimyo's ego, and this new born conflict, it may take a few more years. But not more than 10 years I hope."

"Ten years… Yes, retiring at 45 doesn't sound all bad."

"About you as the Hokage's assistant?"

"Uh? No I meant you as Hokage. Being assistant was exhausting with Lady Tsunade. With you it's easier. And with Naruto, it'll probably be even more."

"Oh I see… You're right. Naruto will definitely need guidance, and you'll be able to do this in a way that I couldn't."

"You think?"

"I do. You're also right about my retiring age. The world seems to go for an acceptance of younger Kage. At 30 the Daimyo still considered me too young for the role. But the new Raikage took over at 28. The Mizukage is in charge since she's around 26. Gaara is since he's 14, but he's a particular case. Also, the Tsuchikage's granddaughter will become the 4th with only 23 years old."

"It's true, but wasn't it always the case for the Hokage? See, The Shodai founded the village in his early thirties I think. Lord Sarutobi became the 3rd with 21 only, then the Yellow Flash with 24."

Kakashi looks at her, processing what she said, and realizing that, indeed, the Daimyo's age policy for the role never really mattered. Before he can answer anything, they're interrupted by an unexpected meeting. In front of them, Sasuke Uchiha stand on a branch and calls the Hokage's first name to get their attention. Shizune and Kakashi both look up to see him, surprised.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" asks the Hokage.

"I need some indications." answers the Uchiha. "Is Naruto available at Konoha?"

"He is at Konoha, but more likely not available." answers Shizune. "He's on a break."

"On a break? And Tsubai Minamoto. Where is he currently?"

"Um… Still in Kiri." says Kakashi. "The Mizukage didn't indicate the opposite. I don't know if he's available."

"I'll get to him." Sasuke turns around and disappears using the Body Flicker Jutsu.

Kakashi and Shizune look at each other confused by this short and breaking apparition. Shizune doesn't let it bother herself more. Sasuke probably just passed by and wanted to ask a few things while he was at it. Kakashi is more unsettled, but he doesn't know why. Sasuke exactly behaved in every detail like he does normally, and he also looked as usual. But why would he ask this, when he could get answers easier. Coming to find the Hokage on his way out of a council is unnatural when he could simply have gone to Naruto directly.

"This man really seems to act human only with Sakura, and maybe Naruto." he says.

"Maybe with the other Uchiha from Kiri too." says Shizune.

"Yes maybe. He's showing his truer self only to family, which makes sense."

"That he'll soon be a father could really make him a different man." thinks the Hokage's assistant aloud.

"It seems like it already does. It's probably to look more fatherly that he's hiding his left eye."

"Um.. Excuse me, hiding his left eye?" asks Shizune. "How exactly was he hiding it?"

"What, How?" says Kakashi suspiciously. "His hair cover his face and eye, didn't you see it?"

"No… I didn't see that. I could clearly see both his eyes." she answers, slowing down as she talks, disturbed by the contradictions.

Kakashi looks straight forward and thinks. Maybe he's paranoid, but could it be that this wasn't Sasuke? This seems unlikely as a metamorphosis jutsu would still have him look the same to everyone's eye. Kakashi still thinks that once back to Konoha, he'll try to reach for Sasuke in order to get his version. He'll also look for jutsu that could explain this, even though right now, he can't think of any.

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A few hours later, Sasuke goes down a hole in the middle in the forest and ends in a short hallway. He walks to the room at the end of it and sees a group of 3 people.

A gray haired man, with pale skin, one red eye and the left size of his face covered with inflated veins. His left eye is white and doesn't have a pupil. He's wearing a dark green cap on his head and a thin scarf the same color. He's dressed all in gray, and wears black boots, with a black glove on his left hand only. This one is doing what appears to be chemistry lab work.

Behind him, a very tall and thin man, nearly 2 meters tall, with light black hair, is wearing nothing but a white over sized tank top, dark red jeans, and classic shoes. He has sharp teeth like some of Kiri's citizens and is messing around with a very long and thin white katana as he sits on a little bench. Back against him is a little woman, with a child's morphology, but a very mature face. She has red eyes, and orange tainted long hair. She's equipped like any ninja should be, and is wearing a dark gray work suit with a tiny jacket.

The three of them turn around when Sasuke gets in the room. The tall one makes a surprised face, the pale man doesn't react, but the little woman freaks out.

"Calm down, you morons, it's me." says the man as Sasuke's appearance fades off him like a mirage.

The man reveals his true self. Brown hair, white skin, and a black and purple troubadour attire. Around his head, we wears a black headband that serves to hold an eye-patch over his right eye, with scars coming from beneath and going down his cheek. His other green eye is free to see. Overall, this man looks like a combat veteran turned wanderer.

The woman climbs back on the bench, stands behind the thin man and starts rubbing his back. The Sasuke impersonator goes to sit on a surgical chair next to the chemist who pulls out a syringe and carelessly injects something in the man's neck. He doesn't seem to care about the brutality of this shot, and just turns to face the two on the bench.

"Sasuke Uchiha is in the land of Sound currently. Naruto Uzumaki is on vacation. Right now, the Mizukage isn't yet back to Kiri. However, Tsubai Minamoto is in Kiri. So he'll be the only obstacle."

The tall man and the short woman look at him attentively. The troubadour resumes.

"So Ripper and you, the dwarf girl…"

"Don't fucking call me dwarf girl." she interrupts, upset. "Guroi, beat his ass the next time he says this." she adds addressing to her man with his real name, but the Ripper doesn't react.

"Whatever…" adds the impersonator. "There's your task, Ripper and his 'assistant' I guess. Is Tsubai Minamoto too much in the way or can you deal with it?"

"A former clan leader who is and looks retired despite being only in his twenties…" answers Guroi. "If he's the only obstacle, I'll rip him off the way." he adds while swinging his sword through the air. "So Mimi, I'll do the fighting and you get the target."

Mimi, the woman with dwarfism, cuddles Guroi's hair, and looks at who seems to be the leader, or rather the employer of the little group.

"The target's a one year old toddler is it?" she asks. "Dead or Alive?"

"Alive. It's the thing inside of him that I need."

"Isami,…" calls the chemist to the veteran. "I'll just need to ready you one more dose and we'll be good for testing in production."

"Testing in production?" says Mimi. "That's fucking chaotic. So you ain't even sure that all these injections are working?"

"Hey little girl, I've been…"

"I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!"

"Oh because you're a tall girl, maybe?"

"AAHHH!" the woman screams in anger. "GUROI! CUT OFF HIS DICK OR SOMETHING!"

"He won't do that." calmly says the scientist. "He owes me this sword. What I'm trying to say is that I always did it the chaotic way and it always worked until now. My cloning solution, the Murasame sword, Body enhancing…"

"We get it, Suto." tells Isami. "There's no ninja scientist that compares to you in this world."

"Except maybe Orochimaru."

"Anyway, I trust you. Ripper, I'll wait around there for your return. Just make sure you deserve the paycheck. Bring me the Minamoto child alive, and we'll be even."

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End of Chapter 26 – Next Chapter: The Ripper and Murasame