Uzukage

Shitoro Village Arc, Pt. 3

Shimura Danzo seethed in great anger at what his Agent had just said to him, "He is alive…?"

The words ground out with much anger.

"Yes Danzo-sama, I witnessed the Uzukage myself talk to the Elder." The Agent responded, infuriating Danzo even more.

Damned Uzumaki! He felt like cursing every single one out, especially the Kage and that woman; Mito. The dumb girl won't fight for Konoha at all, believing in that fool, Hashrimama's folly peace dream. Curse that girl and the Uzumaki Kage, his plans were now ruined! Now he could not trick Hiruzen into attacking the other villages so soon! Unless…

His anger died down to contemplation as he then began to think of ways he could murder the Uzukage without it being connected to him. Thinking on it, he remembered that Suna was active in the area and he had gotten intel that they would be attacking soon recently from another of his Root… Pulling out a piece of paper from his desk drawer, he began drawing up a note. Once finished, he closed up his desk drawer and handed the note to his recently returned Root Agent.

"Deliver the message to the Suna Shinobi heading toward Shitoro." He ordered the Agent, causing the Agent to grow confused upon reading it.

"Danzo-sama, this…"

"If we cannot use the Uzukage and his people as a martyr now, we will make him a martyr. Suna will kill him for us, we do not require any Agent to kill a mere child barely out of the Academy." He spoke, the great elder chuckling viciously.

"But sir, Uzu is Konoha's All-"

"Uzushiogakure ceased being Konoha's ally when it refused to hand us their Jutsu! Now go, you serve Konoha, No Matter What!" The Elder ordered, his glaring face turning far more so at the lone masked Agent.

The Agent nodded, his loyalty assured like the rest. Bowing before he left off to deliver the message. Danzo meanwhile, picked up a folder of documents and began reading through them. Trying to see if he could find any new worthy recruits for his Root.

All for Konoha, no matter the cost…

Yutane figited in his tree spot, heart pounding fast and his entire being feeling like a cluster of anxiety. Then again, he could not help it much. It was quite possible that this was the Uzukage after all and that? That had his nerves pumping, nerves he hadn't felt since his first kill as a Genin. Beside him, sat one of the three ANBU, all three ,the others in a nearby tree, and he had their eyes trained on a small boy of 12. The proclaimed Sandaime Uzukage according to what they had heard the townsfolk chatter on about through eavesdropping.

Currently Fusa sat meditating, Toshio walking around him with scrutinizing eyes. From their tree spot, an ANBU who recognized Toshio from training under Lord Second signaled such to his fellows. The two nodded in affirmation, leaving poor Yutane to wonder just what they were saying.

"That is enough, Fusa-sama. You must not meditate so much, it can lead to an imbalance of Spiritual and Physical Chakra." They heard the fox say to the now open eyed Fusa.

"It is a bit late for that, don't you think Toshio-san?" The boy asked, chuckling at his own inside joke…whatever it was.

The fox smiled bitterly, which confused the ANBU and Yutane…mostly Yutane…

"Indeed…regardless, it is important to meditate, Fusa-sama. Meditating can help ease the mind of a Shinobi and allows for their pathways." The fox explained, the boy nodding as he set the Uzukage hat down next to a sword that was already on the ground.

"Physical exercise now then, I take it?" The boy asked to which the fox simply answered, "No."

Fusa ,as the four Uzushio Shinobi came to know his name from the conversation, looked rather shocked.

"No?! But Toshio-san, we always had to do exercise at the academy!" Fusa exclaimed to the fox.

The ANBU signaled to each other this information, bearing in mind the bitter smile and talk of the two Chakra types. The one looked at Yutane ,probably trying to gain some sort of confirmation on if the academy had always made students do such. In foresight, it was a rather stupid question as of course Shinobi needed to learn physical exercise at a Shinobi Academy. Regardless of his feelings or thoughts, Yutane nodded to the ANBU in confirmation. It had taken him a lot to convince these ANBU to allow him to come with them as a resource of information, he would not fail and be sent back. Especially so if this was indeed the Uzukage.

"That was the Shinobi Academy, this is Toshio Academy." He joked to Fusa, before continuing with, "Now then, summon a couple of Battle Foxes."

"Huh why?" Fusa asked, excited yet confused.

"They will be helping you with Chakra Control Lessons." Toshio responded, sitting down on his haunches.

"But won't they hate being summoned just for tha- Hey wait, how come you can't summon them?" Fusa asked, confused as Toshio had said that he and the other foxes could summon other foxes too.

"Because I'm tired." Toshio responded with a slightly cheeky smile.

Fusa sighed meanwhile, "Yeah, I guess that's fair…"

The ANBU and Chunin watched closely as Fusa began to prepare to summon the foxes. Fusa bit his finger with a wince, smearing his blood across the Summoning Scroll. He then did the hand signs before slamming his hand down onto the ground, he had also once again used too much chakra but it was lessened thanks to the meditating which made him more aware of how much chakra he was using. Meaning he was not a panting sweaty mess this time.

"Kuchiyose Kitsune Jutsu." He spoke out and with two puffs of smoke, two Battle Foxes appeared.

The two foxes each had five tails and both wore fox-sized cyan armor. The first of the foxes was silver with white furred paws and a white tipped tail, it had blue eyes. The second was a red furred fox with maroon furred paws and a white tipped tail, it had a black eye path over one eye with the uncovered eye being a fire ruby red.

Both bowed before Fusa, "Uzukage-sama."

It was then that the ANBU grew shocked then relieved then filled with joy along with Yutane who stared on with complicated feelings of joy and regret for someone so young to be Uzukage.

It had been afternoon and I still had the feeling of being watched. This had been occurring all day and it only increased since mid-day, though I did not know why. Toshio also had seemed rather…cheeky I suppose is the word. The Fox Commander had been watching me closely as I attempted to climb trees using only my chakra…only to get blasted off due to using too much chakra, the fox would bark in laughter every time which irked me quite a bit.

Though I still could not help but continue to be distracted by it, the feeling of being watched. Not as in by a single person however, rather by multiple persons. Bark crackled and broke before blowing me off once again, leading me to let out an annoyed growl.

"You know you could simply try using little chakra and then work yourself up, right?" A voice sounded from behind.

It startled me as I swung around, seeing before my eyes, a man. He had tannish skin, blazing red hair, and wore a dark blue pair of pants, a dark blue shirt that had red Uzumaki swirl symbols on both sides of the shoulder, and dark blue Shinobi sandals. In addition, he wore a navy blue armored jacket and a blue headband with a swirl edged into the metal plact that sat in the middle of the headband.

Staring at the man intently, I spoke while calming myself down within, "And you are?"

"Jonin Sensei Uzumaki Geteru, Uzukage-Sama. Me and my team were on a mission to guard a caravan to the Capital." The man spoke, standing at attention now.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. In the anime and manga, it was shown how the Uzumaki were sought after for their Jutsu and due to their natural kekkei genkai for the Adamantine Chains and their vitality. To have a proclaimed Jonin show up from nowhere was deeply concerning and suspicious to me.

"How do I know your Uzumaki…?" I asked, eyes narrowed at him.

Reaching out a hand, the Jonin released a long glowing chain from his hand seemingly from nowhere which slammed into the ground between us with a loud boom. Leaving behind a small crater in which the chain end went. Shocking me deeply within while I feigned a relieved look on the outside, Geteru pulling his chain back into him upon seeing my look.

"It is a relief to find a survivor…" I spoke, sounding greatly relieved yet sad.

"Uzukage-sama…?" Another voice sounded, this one from a man as well.

He looked to be sixteen or perhaps seventeen. He had the same sandals and clothing as the Jonin with the exception that his sleeves were rolled up, he had a belt with utilities on it, a small pouch on his right leg, and wore his headband against his arm.

"Who are you and what is your rank?" I asked the newcomer, one eye trained on the Jonin.

The newcomer stiffened up into attention before speaking, "Chunin Uzumaki Yutane, Uzukage-sama. I was the Messager for Uzushiogakure."

Seeing no adverse reaction from the Jonin, I spoke, "Are there any others?"

"Yes sir, there are; two ANBU aside from myself, three other Jonin Sensei, twelve Genin, and three Chunin Patrolmen" Spoke another now spoke.

Turning to locate the voice, I saw an ANBU. The voice was male as well but the man was covered by clothing and an ANBU mask. He wore black long-styled sandals, black tucked in pants, a black shirt, black gloves that were covered/connected to the black shirt by purple-blue wrist guards that had a silver lining, a navy blue armored jacket with belt, and a white Otter kabuki mask.

"ANBU Identifications?" I asked, looking to the Uzushio ANBU.

"Wolf, Bear, and Otter. ANBU Wolf is the current Captain of our squad." The Otter masked ANBU answered.

"Current?" I asked, confused

"Yes sir, Mink-senpai was killed in action during our operation we were on." Bear ,another of the ANBU that had just shown up with Wolf, explained.

"I see, in that case, ANBU Wolf? As Uzukage, I am promoting you to ANBU Captain officially." I said to the ANBU which caused them to bow deeply.

"Thank you, Uzukage-sama." The ANBU said, still bowed before getting back up and standing at attention.

"It is no trouble. Now then, I believe it is time for the discussion I feel all of you are wishing to speak on." I spoke, sitting down as the last of the Jonin came out from hiding.

"Uzukage-sama, what happened to Uzushio…?" One of the new arrivals asked.

I sighed deeply, feigning deep sadness. "We were attacked."

"Attacked, by who?" Another of the Jonin asked, shock upon her face.

"Sit down and I shall tell you." I spoke leading to them doing so, the ANBU sitting next to me in a form of protection.

"A few weeks ago, we had been feeling something off…more specifically the Sensors. It felt very odd and the chakra felt nothing like the Shinobi we had fought before in the past. Many of us thought of it as nothing, playing it off as a mistake in sensorship…until that night came…." I spoke, the Jonin watching intently and Messager too, although poor Yutane seemed to stiffen as well.

"Whatever they were, they were not human. All were akin to demons from hell, a pasty white like none I have ever seen with menacing glowing eyes of charcoal. They attacked all of us, in a massive group. We thought we could win since they were so disorganized…how wrong we were…" I spoke in great fake regret, eyes closing.

"Those demons, they would attach themselves to someone and then use them as if they were a mere puppet from Suna. Then after killing many of us for a short time, they would detach and all that would be left would be bones at best, dust at worst. Those things ,when they would attach themselves, would suck out all knowledge and experience before then leaving behind nought but mere husks of bone or dust." I continued, leading to many widened eyes and the ANBU stiffening.

"I know this because I witnessed it, because I too was attached. But not by any of the white ones, but rather by their leader. He was of charcoal black, having a hefty sooty smell to him, with razors for teeth and beaming red eyes of the purest evil I have ever witnessed… I was able to escape thanks purely to a stray lighting Jutsu shot off, however it was too late…I had been deaged and knocked unconscious. When I awoke, all was gone. Not one being was left alive by that evil being and his demons; not the animals, not the women, not the men, and not even the children. It was extermination of the cruelest kind and the worst of it all…I still know not for what reason we were attacked for in such a brutal fashion…" I spoke, tears from my actor's tool box lightly flowing down my face.

"Ironic…my first day as Uzukage and I lose my home, my people…" I spoke bitterly and with great sadness.

Opening my eyes, I saw many varying reactions. The ANBU were in shock with heads low, one even looking toward me in absolute shock. The Jonin sensei too were in shock and one looked horrified, another was openly weeping onto another shoulder. Yutane too had a look of shock and great horror at hearing my "recounting" of events.

Once emotions began to settle, I spoke once more, "That is not to say that Uzushiogakure is gone for all time…"

Regaining their focus, they looked to me again, "For as long as there are surviving Uzumaki, Uzushio is not lost and can be rebuilt."

Each smiled lightly at that as one of the Jonin ,the used to be acting leader, spoke. "How old were you, Uzukage-sama?"

"Twenty-five years old, Kage level too at that. Now however, both have been taken away." I replied, gesturing to myself.

Gaining a serious gaze, I looked to them, "What has happened to me is extremely lucky, it is lucky in that I did not die as the rest of the village had. That is why I am giving this order, do not attack these demons or their leader, EVER. If you see any of them, flee on sight. They are far too dangerous and can steal away your experience, your techniques, and your age. Am I understood?"

"Hai, Uzukage-sama!" All replied unanimously, including Yutane who sat straighter.

"Uzukage-sama, what is our plan of action now?" The female Jonin asked.

"For now, we will be leaving for Konoha in a few days. It is important we tell the Hokage of what has occurred, he can also give us aid in rebuilding Uzu down the line. Konoha shall in addition be our main operating hub until after the war." I explained, leading to affirmative nods.

"Now then onto the next issue, I will nee-" I was interrupted by a rushing sound as a patrol fox came rushing towards me, panting heavily.

Toshio seemed gravely worried from his haunched spot nearby as he spoke, "Shizu? What is wrong?"

"Toshio-sama, Suna Shinobi! We have spotted a large cluster of them coming this way a few miles out, they will be here within just a few days!" The three tailed vixen spoke as she panted in great exhaustion, having run as fast as possible, desummoning and resummoning repeatedly in order to get to us as fast as possible.

I paled inwards but frowned greatly on the outside as I turned to the Jonin.

"It would seem," -I spoke to them with a grave look- "a change of plans is in order…"