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

Chapter 20

MINATO NAMIKAZE

Rules and regulations. A shinobi was supposed to live his life by the rules and make decisions based on those rules based on words written in a book. That was Kakashi's belief, a way for his young student to cope with the cruel hand fate had dealt him, had dealt his father—the White Fang.

A hero who would be disgraced by the very people he had chosen to save while ignoring the rules and the implications of it. Valuing human life above all.

And though the village may not remember him for the hero he was, he was nothing less in his own mind. Or in the mind of one Obito Uchiha.

And he believed that this idealization of the White Fang was also the reason the Uchiha had been paired up with Kakashi, with Rin being added to make cooperation easier between the two opposing personalities, hoping that with years of camaraderie, the two of them would learn and grow through each other's actions and ideologies.

The purpose of the team's specific build-up had been achieved in a way, and yet that success had come at a great cost.

Amongst the many rules that governed a shinobi's life was one cardinal rule about tears. A shinobi was supposed to never cry.

And yet Kakashi Hatake cried, he cried in pain. He cried for a friend. He cried for Obito.

As did Rin and himself, as team seven, rested under the shade of a tree after the completion of its mission. The mission to destroy Kanabi bridge had gone awry with Rin getting kidnapped by Iwa nin, and despite Kakashi's refusal to abandon the mission for his teammate, Obito had broken all of the rules that were supposed to govern a shinobi's life and had rushed to rescue Rin, ignoring even the mission.

Kakashi had gone and planted the explosives at the bridge, but in the end, he was moved by Obito's conviction and chose to join him just in time to save his life, as they both rescued Rin.

But the escape came at a cost, as the Iwa-nin caved in the building while they were escaping, and Obito, true to his conviction and ideologies, sacrificed his own life trying to save Kakashi, who had lost an eye, while saving him earlier.

"It is all my fault," Kakashi wept as Minato rubbed his head.

"No, it is not," and it really was not. If anything, the fault lay in him for not preparing them enough. It lay in the village, in the shinobi system, that war had erupted once more. That children were forced to fight battles as such.

"It is. If only I had gone with him in the first place," Kakashi beat the ground as tears slid down his face. Rin sat there cupping her face, and Minato lay there helpless to ease their pain.

Obito was not the first casualty of this war, and despite the conflict nearing its end, he knew that he would not be the last.

"Obito sacrificed his life for his ideals, for his friends," Minaot began as he looked them both in the eye.

"And so, you will only lose him if you choose to forget him and his ideals. For we do not truly lose the people we love," he whispered, and saw Kakashi nod as the masked Hatake boy nodded, his Sharingan now covered by his hitai-ate.

And that would be an issue he knew. Obito had entrusted his uncrushed eye to Kakashi as a memento, but the Sharingan was the Uchiha clan Kekkei Genkai, and they would not like to see it in the hands of a non-Uchiha shinobi.

But he would deal with it later, for he had received his new instructions in the night.

"I received new orders late at night," he informed them as he passed them the mission scroll.

"Both of you are to return to the village. I will go and try to recover Obito's body," he added as he stood up and saw Kakashi nod.

They had completed their mission and were shaken up by the sacrifice of their friend. And now, with the war nearing its end, there was no need to trouble them anymore.

"Will you not be jonin us sensei?" Rin questioned, her own eyes red and puffy from the crying, and she was rather shaken up by her abduction.

"No," he shook his head.

"I am headed to the Northern border. I have been nominated to see through the handover of the Third Raikage's body to Kumo," and it was a grand ask, given that despite the verbal truce, it was all but certain that Kumo would try to strike against them.

But Konoha did not wish to further the conflict, and if there was anyone who could see this mission to completion without any casualties on both sides. It was him, for the one leading Kumo's forces would be none other than the successor of the Third Raikage, himself.

The future Fourth Raikage, Unruly Ay, is considered by many the fastest shinobi alive.

"And what of Iwa?" Kakashi asked with a rather blunt tone, his rage bubbling and searing.

"Jiraiya-sensei will lead the shinobi here. Iwa will be offered a chance to make peace, the details even I do not know yet," and Kakashi's fists balled up at that, his desire for revenge normal and evident, and yet painful nonetheless.

But he hoped to change this. All of this. To turn Jiraiya-sensei's dream of peace into a reality. Yet it would take time and sacrifice.

"Kakashi, Rin," he addressed the once more. His chakra levels had recovered to near half capacity with a full night's rest, so he could once again move rather freely.

"Take care," he ordered as they both nodded.

"We will," and with that, he placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder as he whispered directly to the boy.

"Take care of Rin, Kakashi. And don't blame yourself for Obito's death. He wouldn't want you to suffer like this and be mindful of your chakra levels, we will deal with that eye when I return back from this mission."

And the boy nodded with a dull gaze as he glanced at his only teammate.

"I will...."

0000

OHNOKI-The Fencesitter-The Third Tsuchikage

The Third Ninja war was over. And it had not ended in a stalemate as the second hand or with a mutually agreed truce as the First had. No.

This war had ended in their defeat. In the defeat of both Iwa and Kumo at the hands of the accursed Konohagakure. The end had been abrupt, and their defeat had all but come because of a single shinobi.

Minato Namikaze, or as he was now famous as—The Yellow Flash.

"Damn you. You Devil!" he cursed him, he cursed him with all his heart, for what he had done, killing more than a thousand of his men singlehandedly, making it possible for that damned Sage of theirs to dare attack Iwagakure.

It was a disaster unlike anything he had seen in all his years as a kage, for Iwagakure itself had been struck by Konoha forces, and though they had been quick to react and push back their men, the damage was already done.

Their village's Will of Stone lay shattered, their pride wounded as he tried to shore up their defenses.

Even Kumogakure had not suffered as such, though their loss was not in any way lesser than his own. With their old beast, the Third Raikage, sacrificing his own life to protect his men and his village.

And so, unlike his village, Kumo's walls still held strong, but they had lost their kage and would need years to recover from that loss. Unlike what Konoha would make one belief, S-ranked nin was not born on a regular basis. They were supposed to be rare prodgies that came perhaps once in a generation.

But that accursed village seemed to be blessed unfairly by the Gods above, for Konohagakure produced half a dozen prodigies a generation, something that neither Kumo nor Iwa could replicate despite their various attempts.

Even now, Ohnoki suffered as he searched for a successor and yet had found none upto the challenge. But he knew that if Iwagakure were to succeed, then he would need to find that successor sooner rather than later.

But that would happen only if he survived long enough for that.

And as he sat there in his office, suddenly his jounin commander, Kitsuchi appeared in his office, a capable and strong jounin, yet not comparable to the likes of the Sanin or the Yellow Flash.

"There has been another breach," and his eyes widened at that. At the audacity of Konoha, as he feared for the worst.

"Where?" he asked, for they had expanded their barriers after the attack just so they could pinpoint a possible attack even earlier.

"Along the mountains, it is him again," and Ohnoki ground his teeth as he thought of that accursed man, his hate for that Monkey's student no less than that he had for the yellow Devil.

After all, he was his teacher, wasn't he?

"Get the team ready. I will not allow them to breach our walls again!" he roared as his body soared into the air, as he rose through the roof of his office and into the air, and overlooked him village.

"Not again!" he vowed to himself as he saw the destruction and devastation left by the last attack.

"Never again!" he vowed as he pushed himself towards the mountain side, where Konoha's forces had been sensed and even as he neared the border, he found no signs of battle or conflict, much to his surprise.

And as he neared the border camp, he saw it calm and functional, with no fighting. And for a second he feared the worst, that it was all a bait, and that the attack was happening from another direction.

But then the captain of the camp saw him, and the man's expression told a different story.

"Tsuchikage-sama!" he called out, pale and worried as he knelt infront of him.

"What is going on here?" he questioned sagely as he lowered himself.

"I was told that Konoha had invaded our lands once again," he asked, but the man seemed to hesitate for a second before he spoke up.

"You heard right, my lord. But it's not the Konoha. It is but one man," he added, as Ohnoki found himself surprised by those words.

"It couldn't be," he gasped, for there was one shinobi that came to his mind who would dare do such a thing.

"Is it the Yell..."

"You are finally here," a rather familiar voice interrupted him as Ohnoki looked on ahead and saw a singular figure appear right infront of him, a large, burly man with white hair and a helmet covering his head.

The kanji for oil, painted on it with black ink.

And he was wrong. It was not the Yellow Flash, but that did not mean that the shinobi infront of him was any less dangerous. Afterall, he was his teacher, just as Sarutobi was his.

"Jiraiya of the Sanin," he called out as he saw the man stand tall and smirk at him. That was the hubris of a Sanin, walking into enemy territory all alone with no care.

But they were dubbed the Sanin for that very reason, Sarutobi's three prized students who had faced Hanzo to a standstill.

"You have some courage coming here again," and the white-haired man was not bothered as he smiled at him.

"I kind of left in a hurry the last time. So, I wanted to see if you were really fine, old man," and even for him, Ohnoki knew that facing this man would not come without consequences.

The boy was said to be a sage, possessing a power that Hashirama Senju had possessed, and Iwa was already in a perilous situation. It had lost a bulk of its active force, and to lose him at such a time as well.

No. Iwa would not survive that.

And then there was the fact that the man had yet to attack his men or even him. It could be a distraction, of course, but he doubted that.

No. This was not an attack.

"Why have you come here, boy?" he asked, and the man smiled as he reached into his pocket.

"I have come here on behalf of my sensei and my village...." and the boy threw a scroll in his direction, which he caught.

"...to offer Iwagakure and you, a chance to make peace..."

0000

Back in Konoha Shimura Danzo read the terms of peace being offered to Iwa and in his rage, burnt the scroll with them to ashes.

"These terms are a farce!" he raged as stood in the tunnels underneath the village, tunnels that hid the ugly truth, obscured the cruelty and reality of the shinobi world.

"You insult yourself and this entire village with these terms, Hiruzen," he whispered in rage as he saw the scroll burn. And they truly were a farce. Hiruzen, in his desperation for peace, was letting Iwa get away with everything without any reparations or sanctions.

Such generosity would not settle well with the people of the Village or of the Daimyo's court. Someone would need to take the blame for this. And as he realised that, he understood Hiruzen's true intentions.

"I see," he said, realizing the truth and realizing his friend's plan.

"So, you plan to give up the hat, old friend," and while it made sense, it did not settle right with him. Not at all.

"Well, these terms will only last as long as a Hokage desires," for this peace treaty was not worth more than the paper it was written on. And if Hiruzen did indeed plan to retire, then there would be a new Hokage to choose.

It could be him. It should be him. He had already been denied his destiny once. And yet Danzo was not a fool. While he was respected, it would be strange for the village to choose him, a shinobi who had not even fought in the war, even though he knew that he had done far more for the village than any of them.

So, he had to make sure that the next kage was someone he could control, someone powerful, someone with enough repute and contributions in the war to get through the nomination process.

And there was only one shinobi that came to his mind, one who fit that criterion to perfection.

"Orochimaru," he whispered his name. But it would not be easy; the Sanin, despite his prowess, was surrounded by unsavory rumors and was nowhere near as famous or as politically active as Minato Namikaze or Fugaku Uchiha, respectively.

And the later was the issue. He doubted that Namikaze would be considered for the Kage's seat given his youth, but Fugaku Uchiha. The man had won himself great admiration and repute through his actions against Kumo on the Northern side.

If he was nominated. No. It would destroy the village. A Uchiha as a Kage.

Hiruzen may have forgotten about their sensei's warnings, but he had not. He could not allow that to happen.

He had to make a move, and he had just the idea.

He tapped his cane, and his men appeared behind him.

"Make sure to highlight Namikaze's achievements in the war in public places. Sway the public to his side, and make sure that when it comes to the war, people only remember his heroics and forget about the rest," he ordered before he dismissed them with a second tap.

There was still time, for this was not the usual warfare. Not this was a war of opinions, stories and slogans. And it took time.

With Minato being named the Hero of the War, people would talk less of Fugaku's achievements. It was misdirection, but he would need to do more.

"The Daimyo. I must sway him...."

0000

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