16 Divergence

Could Naruto have handled Mizuki differently, yes, is that really the point though?

Anyways, Comcast sucks, so I don't have internet. Give me a day or two.

Also, Danzo is a piece of shit, I'm not one to believe otherwise, I'm writing what could have been.

-----

Ninja are scary. Any given Ninja has a thousand ways to kill you in an empty room. Whether it be a sword, a staff, a Shuriken, a Kunai, or their bare hands, they could and would kill you. But the scariest thing about a Shinobi was their hands.

In a world of Chakra, Ninjutsu, and Kekkei Genkai, the only true way to subdue a Ninja was death, but cutting off their hands could definitely stop them for a time.

Naruto didn't like what he did, and he knew there were other things he could've done, but he went for the safest bet.

Normally the Tsukuyomi would've done enough, but a Shinobi never left behind an enemy if they were smart. Naruto could've paralyzed Mizuki, but thanks to the existence of the gates, that could be fixed. Naruto could've broken his limbs but any Ninja can fight as long as they have their hands, and a good amount of them have ways to get around a broken arm.

Naruto had the Kyuubi, Sakura had the strength of a hundred seal, Orochimaru literally fucking jumped bodies, and Sasuke got to a point where hands were a convenience.

There were even more things he could've done as well, but it was besides the point, he had removed Mizuki as a threat, it wouldn't have been any different if he just killed him, other than the loss of information.

Of course, Naruto knew Mizuki didn't have a way around a broken limb, but he didn't have a way to explain knowing that, and this was what the Academy taught.

Currently, Naruto was watching the Hokage go through that same thought process.

"Well, you two, you've successfully removed a traitor to the leaf, that demands a reward, but I can't say I'm proud of the steps taken to get here. Alas, we are Ninja, and you served your village"

Sasuke grimaced.

"...so, while I'm hesitant to say it, tonight you become true Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, may you serve long and we'll."

"Thanks Jiji/Yes, Hokage-sama"

"Mizuki will be brought before the Shinobi council after an interrogation. Now go home, you need to sleep and I can't imagine tonight was easy. Sasuke, you may not speak with anyone about anything Mizuki might have said…"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The boys then returned to their respective homes.

-----

Kayumi should be terrified.

She currently sat in a dark room, on a bed across from the man that slaughtered her parents and clan. Yet something whispered to her in her mind that she was safe with this...man.

"Hello...Kayumi."

"...are you going to kill me…"

"No."

"Why."

"Because I don't want to and don't have to."

"Who...who was the man who took me…"

"That was….a bad man….he can't hurt you now."

"And y-you won't?"

"No."

".... Why did you kill Kaa-san?"

Itachi winced and looked away from the girl.

"I...I don't think you'd be able to understand that quite yet, Kayumi."

"Sasuke-kun always tells everyone that you didn't want to. Izumi-san gets really sad if we ask about it."

"It's not a story for ears as young as your's, Kayumi."

"C-can I go home? Izumi-san gets paranoid when we're gone. Sasuke-kun left for a day with his friends and she nearly killed the police."

"You mean the officer?"

"No."

"...oh."

"Can I go home?"

"Not….not right now."

Kayumi started tearing up.

"P-please."

Itachi was rather confused with the 10-year-old before him. He had killed her parents, yet she wasn't scared. She wasn't scared that he might hurt her, she was resigned to it, and when he said he wouldn't, she just accepted it. This girl was either incredibly naive or Itachi was not nearly as scary as he thought he was.

"I'm…I can't go back to Konoha right now and I don't trust anyone else to take you back, so you have to stay with me for awhile, Kayumi."

"Did... someone else make you do it."

"...yes."

"Okay….I... I'll stay."

"Why don't we get you some food."

-----

Naruto and Sasuke sat on a boulder overlooking the Naka river.

"We're officially a team tomorrow. Well, us and Sakura. How quick do you think we'll make Chunin?"

Sasuke grinned a little bit.

"6 months. Tops."

"You truly think?"

"We already are Chunin level, all of us could've tested out of the Academy 3 years ago."

"I'll concede that."

"Have you met the Kyuubi?"

"Yes."

"What's it like."

"He's a grumpy bastard."

"That feels...rather mundane, compared to what I felt in there."

"We think of him as a demon for the same reason an ant would fear us. We're generally not capable of that power, so we call it unnatural, even though he's more connected to nature than we are."

"There's a story there you aren't telling me."

"He's...not human but he definitely does have a lot of human traits. Mostly he's bored, I think. 100 years trapped inside two grown women and a blond kid probably hasn't been fun."

"There were others like you?"

"Yeah, my mom. Also the first Hokage's wife but she isn't someone I aspire to be."

"Your mom...I take it that Uzumaki Fuin is needed to seal it?"

"No, but you do need an Uzumaki. Chakra coils matter more, our sealing prowess is coincidental. Hell, the formula used to seal us was made by my dad and the second Hokage."

"Oh. So your clan had unique coils?"

"Nope, just a shit ton of Chakra."

"Ah."

"Well, wanna spar?"

"Sure."

-----

Sakura Haruno was currently holding a 'resurrected' fish. Technically it was more like puppetry, the fish only looked alive because her chakra was coursing through it. She felt a little wrong about it but the practical applications were limitless if she could get her plan to work.

Sakura had learned one very important thing from her time with the right clan heirs, she was outclassed. Her ability to strengthen muscles was powerful, sure, but easily countered. In raw power, she was near the top of the rookie nine, but all of the others had an advantage that could make sure their abilities remained relevant. The Byakugan required intense skill and foreknowledge to counter, the Sharingan was fucking cheating, Fuinjutsu *was* most things counter, the only counter to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was sheer skill...a lot of things could counter a girl that could *punch harder*. Iryoninjutsu was an asset to her team, sure, but she was going to be on Frontline assault duty.

Thus, a brilliant idea came to her.

'What if I had more bodies to fight?'

Other than the moral...issues with what she wanted to do, it almost perfectly worked. Thanks to Naruto, she could make an artificial Chakra network, allowing a being to return to normal bodily function, without a brain. What made it powerful is that it would be her Chakra, allowing her to remotely control the corpse.

She planned to try 'reanimating' a rat first. Then she would progress to a rabbit, then a bird.

'please work'

-----

Danzo Shimura sat alone in his office, wallowing in self regret.

After Itachi had broken their deal, Danzo had been enraged, nearly doing something very rash. He had hunted Izumi down personally...but then she said four words that even he couldn't ignore for the sake of Konoha.

'Let's make a deal."

She had pointed out that the remnants of the Uchiha were children and that she had zero intentions of continuing her clan's traditions. She would give him the eyes of the fallen Uchiha, he would not harm the children.

He had accepted, if only for easy access to the eyes, but he had still been enraged.

Then he thought about the entire ordeal.

'I'm mad that a teenager didn't kill a bunch of kids.'

It had come crashing down from there. He had dissolved ROOT, coming to the hard realization that he'd only done more damage than good, the Uchiha massacre creating a domino effect. The Akatsuki were martyrs and stronger than ever, Hiruzen was actually being a Kage, the Uchiha police were dead, the Jinchuruki was a remarkably powerful weapon...he wasn't needed. He had gone through the process of making the wood release arm with the Mangekyo's embedded, if only to serve Konoha with the mistakes he had made.

He had begun repairing damage where he could, using the remaining ANBU that had stayed with him after ROOT's end to create a spy network. He had started rumors that 'the demon' was proving strong enough to contain the Kyuubi.

But his main project had been a shock to his system.

"Orochimaru has created a Hidden village, find out what he's planning."

Hiruzen had given him an order for the first time in nearly a decade.

'It's about damn time.'