Chapter One: Iwa's Newest Weapon

It was done, the Kyuubi was sealed into a newborn child. But not just any child. The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had sealed the greatest of the bijuu into his own son. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, had retaken office instantly to make sure Konoha stayed strong and united. The problem is that they were united, just for the wrong reason. The newborn child was named Naruto, as agreed by his parents, however to try and hide him from his fathers enemies he was given his mothers surname, Uzumaki. The problem was this also hid it from the village, and if they knew then perhaps they would be united for a different cause.

Hiruzen wasn't sure how but word had spread almost instantly that the Yondaime didn't kill the demon but rather sealed it into a newborn child. He suspected Danzo in some ploy to gain Naruto for himself to be a weapon but that would not happen. He promised Minato in his final moments he would protect his child. But that meant keeping Naruto in the village as an orphan or giving into what the village was united for; kill the child. Killing him was out of the question, that wouldn't be protecting anybody but rather it would release the demon back into the world. He could try explaining that but save for a select few the village was ignorant in the ways of fuuinjutsu so they would think he was simply making up an excuse to save the boy. And even if they didn't kill him, Naruto would be forced to live a life of hatred and pain. The elder man couldn't force that onto him, hell he wouldn't force that onto the most evil man in the world unless he had to. He was far too kind like that. So what did that leave for the boy?

He could adopt him into his family or maybe another shinobi family that understood that the boy was not the fox could. But that would draw the hatred of the people to whoever was keeping him. As Hokage he needed the people to obey him so it wouldn't do to have them hate him. And the clans needed to stay loyal to the village, which would be extremely hard if they were hated for trying to raise a young boy.

He could give him to Danzo to be trained as a weapon. But that would never happen. He knew Danzo's training and refused to make the boy and emotionless tool. Especially one that would be loyal to the old war hawk and not to Konoha itself. So that was out of the question.

Killing him would release the Kyuubi and start the destruction and death all over again, rendering Minato's final sacrifice null and void. So no killing a baby tonight, despite the cries for his blood.

As Sarutobi though only one option seemed to work. He would have to send the boy away until he deemed him ready for the responsibility placed on him. Or until the villagers stopped hating him and that was likely never going to happen. Sarutobi knew of a family that owed him a favor and was thinking of adopting a child on a village near Hi no Kuni's border so he figured sending Naruto there would be the best option. Hiruzen sighed as he got out a blank scroll and began writing out the message to explain the boy's plight. He only hoped they wouldn't be as ignorant as the villagers being kept alive simply because the boy they wanted dead was alive and sleeping peacefully.

"Rin." Sarutobi called as he finished the note. Soon enough a jonin entered his office from waiting just outside as he had asked. She bowed as he sealed up the scroll and handed it to her. "This is an S-ranked mission for you of the utmost importance." Her eyes widened as she was not expecting such a dangerous mission immediately after the attack. "I need you to take this to a family by the name of Ichika in the village of Torusei on the border of Hi no Kuni. Not only are you taking this scroll, you will be taking baby Naruto to them as well." He said as he handed her the scroll and motioned to the sleeping child in the crib by the desk. Rin knew full well who he was, her sensei had been overjoyed that he was going to be a father and had shared it with a select few, his old team being part of that small group. She also understood that Naruto was Naruto, not Kyuubi. "Protect him with your life and if you wish you may stay with the family for a few days after delivering Naruto to them. I also need to let you know, you must sneak out of the village. Some will want to kill the child and will likely be waiting to see if I send him away and will likely try to kill him as soon as they see him."

"Not to worry Hokage-sama. I won't let a single hair on his head be harmed." Rin responded right away as she pocketed the scroll. She then walked over and after admiring the sleeping child for a moment she picked him up and wrapped him in some blankets to keep him warm before turning to the Hokage. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"You must not tell a soul what is going on. Not even Kakashi." Rin winced slightly, Kakashi was her boyfriend and they were getting somewhat serious. She honestly expected him to propose soon. But that would have to wait. She was going to protect her sensei's son and make sure he wasn't harmed. "Now go, I can cover for your absence for a short while but then they will ask questions and I will have to say that I sent Naruto away. I will never say where, and when you return I'll be forced to have a Yamanaka wipe the memory of the mission from your mind. I'm sorry Rin." She looked down sadly before steeling her features and nodding. With one last look at the child in her arms she then left via a shunshin and headed off to do her mission.

Her breath was ragged and she had blood running down her face. This was both expected and completely surprising. Not even ten minutes after leaving Rin was being chased. By ANBU no less. However they all wore black and had blank masks meaning they weren't regular ANBU but ROOT, Danzo's personal force. They were chasing her to get Naruto, not to kill him but to deliver him to their master. But Rin would have none of that. She had already killed one. Three were left but they weren't making it easy for her. Jonin she was but she had the skill of an ANBU. She was just hoping to one day be a Jonin-sensei so she never bothered trying to join their ranks. A ROOT ninja dropped down in front of her and tried to stab her with his tanto but she ducked under the attack and struck him in the chest with a glowing right hand. Chakra scalpels, a medic ninja's best combat jutsu. The result was instant, the arteries around his heart were severed and he dropped to the ground dead. Two down, two to go. Rin wouldn't let anything harm Naruto, this she swore.

"Man this mission was so boring. Deidara did everything." A man said. He had on a simple Iwa jonin uniform and grey hair that laid messily upon his head. Behind him were two others wearing the same uniform, one with spiked green hair and the other being bald.

"Oh shut up, un. The explosion was such an expression of my art. You should be proud to have seen it without being the target un." A man wearing the same uniform said. He had gray eyes and long blond hair done up in a ponytail, save for a large bang that covered one side of his face.

"Both of you quiet." The green haired one spoke quickly. He looked around as they all came to a stop. "I smell blood. Let's check it out." He ordered as they all leapt towards the source he smelled. About twenty meters from where they were was the scene of quite a battle. There was scorch marks from Katon jutsu, a few upturned slabs of the ground that were likely caused by a Doton jutsu, and shurikan and kunai littered the area. But most surprised was the mark each body carried, the mark of the leaf. Konoha ninja. And apparently they were fighting each other to the death. The Iwa ninja smirked seeing their greatest and most hated enemy dead from battling amongst themselves before they noticed something. Two of the three bodies were wearing similar uniforms and the third was huddled next to something. While the bald man and gray haired one began raiding the two others for their supplies and maybe something else of interest, Deidara and the squad leader went over to the woman to see what was up with her. What they found was shocking to say the least.

She was curled around a small baby boy whose blankets were soaking up the blood coming from a large wound to her chest. Despite being soaked in blood the baby was still sleeping peacefully, not a single scratch on him. Deidara moved the woman away from the kid as the other man picked up and examined the child. Deidara searched the woman for anything while the child seemed to wake up. And it did the first thing any baby does when woken from its nap; it started crying. Loudly. The two that searched the dead ROOT ninja started clutching their ears as they spun around to see the child their leader was holding. "Will you shut that brat up? God he could wake the fucking dead!"

"And look at his eyes and that hair! He's probably related to the bastard Yondaime! I say we kill him and head home." The other shouted.

"Hold on. I think we should take him home with us un." Deidara said as he read a scroll he found on the woman. The others looked at him in shock as he stood up and pocketed the parchment with a smirk. "I have a feeling old Oonuki is gonna want to see this kid." He said as he looked at the child.

"And why's that? I'm starting to agree with them about taking the brat out." The leader said as he stared at the baby in his hands.

"If Tsuchikage-sama decides to kill the boy then I'll give all three of you my mission payment for this mission and I won't turn anything into my art for a week." Deidara said as he took the child from their boss. The other three stared at him. The mission may have been easy but it was A-ranked, meaning that was a lot of money even after splitting it three ways. Plus Deidara always annoyed everyone back in Iwa by blowing up anything that annoyed him too much. If he was willing to risk so much over some brat that looked like he could be the flash's kid then they new he was serious. "Now let's get back to Iwa un. The sooner Oonuki sees this kid the better." They all leapt away from the scene of the fight, intent on not only delivering their news of a mission completed but to see what was so important about the kid that Deidara was sticking up for him.

Iwagakure, one of the five greats and the only one that could equal Konoha. Or at least they used to be able to. After the third war when Namikaze Minato almost single-handedly beat the shit out of them with his Hirashin no Jutsu, they could barely claim themselves a great village anymore. But they had been building their strength back up and now they were just waiting for something to weaken Konoha so that they could take their vengeance and declare their superiority over the weak hearted tree huggers. The four, plus a small child, all let out a small sigh of happiness at being home again. They hurried to the Tsuchikage's office as fast as they could because they wanted to get paid. And the brat had been screaming on and off for the past day. They weren't sure if their ears could take much more. Perhaps that could be a new torture for the interrogation department? Being forced to listen to crying babies without being able to do anything to shut them up or claw your own ears off. Even though it was unintentional, the four were getting close to killing themselves since Deidara refused to let the boy get killed. Despite wanting to stuff clay down his throat and blowing up the brat himself towards the end of the trip.

The four were let into the Tsuchikage's office to give their report instantly, seeing as it was a mission the old kage wanted done right away. As they enter they noticed the old kage was flanked by his two favorite jonin, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi. Kurotsuchi was a young woman with black hair and violet pupil less eyes whose beauty had captured the hearts of many in Iwa. Akatsuchi on the other hand was a tall broad giant of a man that kept his hair under his bandanna and was easily noticeable due to his large figure. However sitting in the chair between them was a surprisingly short figure even compared to a normal person. He was the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ryotenbin no Oonuki. "Ah, how was your mission? I trust it was a success?"

"Fireworks sure make for some good art un." Deidara replied with a smirk before the squad leader went over the details of the mission in greater detail. They found their target and then led him off during the festival so that Deidara could launch him into the air and blow him up with the regular fireworks. Nobody even noticed that one particular explosion was red from blood and not the fireworks. Oonuki smiled as the mission was a success. Now the company would be weaker and they wouldn't be able to get more guards so that would make their eventual destruction all the easier.

"Good, now is there anything else?" He said, wondering why Deidara was towards the back of the group and seemingly carrying something. The squad leader explained that one the way back they found a scene of battle where apparently three Konoha ninja had killed each other. However it was why they seemed to be killing each other that caused Deidara to be acting like he was. "Deidara, what's in your arms and why shouldn't I just kill you or it now?" Deidara then walked up and placed the child on the desk in front of the Tsuchikage.

"This kid is what they seemed to be fighting for. And this scroll tells why un." He said before pulling out the scroll and handing it to the kage. Meanwhile though Kurotsuchi was looking at the baby, barely containing herself from picking it up and playing with it. A dangerous Kunoichi of Iwa, but surprisingly a sucker for babies. It was taking all herself control to just stare at it and keep the smile off her face as her grandfather read the scroll Deidara handed him. Suddenly everybody was shocked as the Tsuchikage started laughing.

"Deidara, you're getting a bonus for this!" He declared, shocking everyone even further. "Konoha has truly fucked up this time!"

"What does the scroll say sir?" Akatsuchi asked. The Tsuchikage motioned to the boy sleeping on his desk.

"This brat is the son of Uzumaki Kushina and her secret husband Namikaze Minato." That got everyone outside of Deidara, who already knew, and the Tsuchikage, who was telling them, to growl at the kid and a couple to reach for a kunai. "Don't even think about killing the boy!" He ordered as he noticed a couple hands.

"Why not? He's the son of that bastard Yondaime! He should be killed right now just to stick it to that fucking bastard!" One shouted.

"Because Namikaze is already dead. And this boy is valuable, unlike you." He growled getting everyone to double take at him, again except Deidara since he knew. Seeing as he had their attention he continued where he stopped. "The Yondaime Hokage died because apparently Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi. He died sealing the fox away… into his own son." He said as he looked down at the child. The boy was a jinchuriki? That got their attention and made them understand why the boy was valuable. A new weapon for Iwa was always welcome. "His mother died in childbirth or something and the flash died putting the demon in this boy. And for some reason, Konoha was sending him away rather than training him to be a weapon. Well thanks to your four stumbling upon him and Deidara from keeping him alive, Iwa now has a third jinchuriki. And not just any jinchuriki, but the strongest of them all once trained." They all began to nod as they understood their kage's reasoning.

"So what's going to happen to the boy?" Kurotsuchi asked as she started to look at the baby again. The Tsuchikage looked at her and could see she seemed to like the child for some reason. He also looked at the rest and noticed outside of Deidara they still looked like they wanted to kill him.

"I'm going to place the boy, Namikaze Naruto, under your care Kurotsuchi. You'll raise him up and train him to be a ninja. He'll then be used against Konoha when we finally strike. I can see it now; Konoha destroyed by their own jinchuriki that they foolishly threw away! How's that for revenge against the leaf and Namikaze? His own son will destroy the village he died to save!" As the Tsuchikage declared this they all broke out laughing, save for Kurotsuchi who instead picked up the baby and looked at him.

"Naruto huh? Oh have we all got big plans for you."