The child in amber
Chapter 1: The child in amber
Hiruzen stared at the strange object sitting in the lab and containment cell of the village’s underground. These cells were usually used to hold seals on cursed objects, jutsus which went awry and prisoners who could not be kept with normal holding cells, but this was not any of those. What Hiruzen saw was a mass of plant matter, vines, bark, and leaves, holding a large piece of yellow crystalized resin with something surprising held within it. Like an amber womb, there was a child within curled up like it was asleep yet waiting to be born.
“What... am I looking at?” the old man asked, Hiruzen was the third Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves, a secret ninja village, well secret at first, which served the land of fire as a force of offense, defense, and subterfuge towards its enemies. The village was a gathering of clans, a melting pot of peoples and a forge for new ninja to be raised and taught for the purpose of aiding the land of fire and passing on the will of fire.
The researcher next to him had on a lab coat but also a headband which marked him as a leaf ninja, “well lord third, we have no clue.” the Hokage glared at the researcher who quickly corrected himself. “What we do know is that it seems to have gone into a state of defensive slumber after being enclosed in chakra resistant seals to keep it from sensing the young new Jinchuriki of the demon fox.”
“So, it was after the nine tails?” Hiruzen asked, stroking his beard and retraining his eyes on the amber womb.
“We believe that it was, but it’s unknown where it came from, nor do we have reports of it being part of the attack on the village.” the researcher explained.
“And what of the child within?” Hiruzen asked.
The children within the amber didn’t move, but the plants surrounding it did, these plants rooted themselves to anything they could grab, even starting to dig into the ground. Anyone who came into close proximity would be struck at with these vines, some of their chakra would be absorbed as well.
“It seemed female, but other than that we haven’t been able to get close enough to take a sample from the casing.” the researched provided.
Hiruzen considered something for a bit and gave his next orders. “Contact the head of the Hyuga clan, the byakugan might be able to give some insight into the child.”
The researcher nodded, with his business concluded Hiruzen left the compound to visit another infant, the infant of the fourth Hokage who had recently passed away. It had been a week since the village had been almost destroyed by the attack, the nine tailed demon fox had gotten free and somehow made its way to the village. Later the fourth Hokage had used a ninjutsu to teleport it far away in an attempt to reseal it, but it was only half successful.
Hiruzen replayed the events of that night in his mind. He had gotten news that Minato’s wife, Kushina, was going into labor and began giving orders in his stead so he could be with his wife. He had placed a number of skilled ninjas as a defensive measure to ensure that she would be safe and that the nine tails would not escape from within her, as well as his own wife to be the doctor in charge of delivering the child. But something went wrong, the nine tails escaped, the ninja he put in charge of security were slain and then the nine tails was summoned to the center of the village doing a massive amount of damage.
After a time, the fourth Hokage had teleported it away, with his wife creating a seal barrier to keep it in and keep people out. Hiruzen had gotten to the faraway place in time to see the fourth Hokage use the sacrificial technique, the reaper death seal, to capture part of the beast’s chakra and pull it towards himself but in that moment the amber womb had appeared and dove at the chakra, somehow getting through the sealing barrier. It seemed to absorb the chakra before getting slammed into the ground by the nine tailed beast. The Hokage and his wife managed to seal the fox into their son but not before the beast got one last attack in, skewering them both on one of its long claws.
“What on earth happened that night...”
When he got to the maternity ward, he found someone already observing the young orphan. She was a good friend of Kushina and Minato, accompanied by her children Itachi and Sasuke was Mikoto Uchiha. Seeing the third Hokage approach, Mikoto gave a small bow though it was difficult with the infant Sasuke in her arms, and the young Itachi gave a polite bow as well mimicking his mother.
“Hello lord third, here visiting Naruto?” the woman asked, she gave a smile, but Hiruzen could tell it was basically plastered on, the woman had just lost her best friend after all.
Though Hiruzen wasn’t much better, he had just lost his wife and a dear friend, he had been forced out of retirement and now had the burden of the entire village back upon his shoulders. “Yes, I still have to decide what to do with him. Sadly, he is the vessel for the nine tails now...”
Mikoto looked at Hiruzen with a bit of bitterness but also pain, she had known how hard being a Jinchuriki was on Kushina, the woman had never wanted it for her own children.
“Will he be given to a family? Or will he have to live alone...” Mikoto asked, in truth she wanted to ask for Naruto to be put in her and her husband’s care due to how close the couple was with his parents, but she knew that having a Jinchuriki be in the hands of one clan would show favoritism to that clan.
“I’ve been struggling with that in truth, there are reports that the nine tails was controlled by a sharingan during the attack.” Hiruzen did not look at Mikoto as he said this, merely continued watching the infant Naruto through the glass. “I, however, do not think this is from the Uchiha clan, I wronged you during all during the attack by placing the police force on evacuation duty, allowing Danzo to fill my head with worries. I may not have a right to ask this, but would you take care of Naruto for me?” Hiruzen closed his eyes and shook his head before looking to Mikoto. “No. Would you care for Naruto for Kushina and Minato? I'm sure they would trust you with him.”
Mikoto’s eyes went wide but tears filled them as she smiled, “yes lord third, I would be honored.”
“Thank you.” he smiled back, he sighed however, “though to be truthful, I will need help to convince the council to allow this... do you think you could get Fugaku to convince the other clans?”
Mikoto seemed to ponder a bit before responding, a determined look on her face. “I will try.”
“Thank you.” Hiruzen pat the young boy next to Mikoto on the head before leaving the ward having gotten to see Naruto and soothed his soul a bit. He had much work to do and very little time to rest like this.
“YOU WANT TO HAND OVER THE JINCHURIKI TO THOSE TRAITORS?!” the man covered in bandages yelled but Hiruzen and the two other elders weren’t fazed by the display of rage.
Another elder responded, arms crossed with an unimpressed glance to Danzo, the one covered in bandages, and then looked to Hiruzen who was equally unimpressed by the tantrum on display. “Hiruzen, you know we can’t show favoritism like that not to mention it’s a risk to give the Uchiha clan the nine tailed fox, what if they choose to revolt?”
The only female councilor nodded as well, “I agree, it’s a needless risk, why not give the child to someone more trustworthy? Jiraiya was Minato’s master, surely he would be a good option to raise the boy.”
“All of you are missing the point, I'm doing this because it’s a risk.” Hiruzen said, “it will look like a show of trust to the Uchiha clan, allowing us to get closer to them. Not to mention the clan head and his wife were good friends with the fourth and Kushina as well as parents of their children. If nothing is done the Uchiha will become scorned as the cause for the attack, but if we show that we trust them then it will make the relationship between the Uchiha and the village much stronger.” Hiruzen looked at his fellow elders and concluded, “they will also be able to control the beast should it get out once more, though Jiraiya is a good choice he is too busy with his own work to take care of Naruto.”
The other two elders nodded but the bandaged one, Danzo, looked peeved at the response he got. “Then at least have some counter measures, if you give too much favoritism, it will make the relationship between the other clans and the village that much more strained. We need to keep an eye on them, especially if there is a chance they were the cause of the attack.”
“I agree with Danzo, they will need to be monitored. Even if they didn’t have a hand in the attack, they must be kept in check.” the elder councilor said.
Danzo then spoke once more, “during the reconstruction, many clans will have the opportunity to move their homes as they rebuild. We should move the Uchiha clan as well, somewhere we can spy on them easily in case we need to collect the fox once more.”
Hiruzen nodded, “let’s move them to the outskirts of the village, which should satisfy both, the spying and keep the conflict due to the reports down.”
The elders came to a conclusion, and on the next meeting between clan heads they announced the relocation project, moving each clan to places which benefited them but also had some downsides.
“Next, the leaf force headquarters which sustained damage will be rebuilt here.” Danzo pointed to the outskirts of the village with a long metal rod and all in attendance glanced to the spot. “And the Uchiha clan will move along with the headquarters.”
Fugaku would have been annoyed with the placement had he not heard from his wife that Hiruzen wished to entrust the nine tails to them. “This must be to offset the favoritism as well as isolate the nine tails in case of another escape... Hiruzen doesn’t distrust us, however it can’t be denied that a sharingan was in the eye of the tailed beast leaving us as the obvious suspects.”
The meeting was about to end before Hiruzen stood to make an announcement, “while you are all here. I wish to announce that the new Jinchuriki of the nine tails will be put in the care of the Uchiha clan. I believe this to be the wish of Minato and Kushina as Fugaku and Mikoto were close friends with them and without an Uzumaki to control the beast, the Uchiha clan is the next best choice in case of emergency. However, Naruto will not be part of the clan, he will be an Uzumaki in hopes of keeping him safe from outside influences seeking to spirit him away.”
There were a variety of reactions, but it was mostly positive, nonetheless Hiruzen continued. “Hiashi, I would ask that you stay behind after the meeting. I have something I wish to discuss with you.”
Hiashi the leader of the Hyuga clan nodded, Hiruzen finished by wishing everyone well and reaffirming that if they all worked together the Village would be made whole again. The meeting was adjourned but Hiashi, the council members and Hiruzen stayed at the long table used for the meeting.
After Hiruzen was assured that everyone had left, he made the signs for a sealing jutsu used commonly among the higher ranks for important and critical meetings. “Sound sealing jutsu.”
The sound in the room seemed to grow louder after he did so, a side effect of keeping any sound from leaving the room. “Now, Hiashi what we are about to tell you is classified to the highest degree.”
Hiashi’s brow furrowed slightly but he nodded. He had figured that being told to stay after was going to be something important but by the fact that it had been announced to the other heads made him underestimate how much so. Hiruzen looked to his side and a masked ninja appeared out of the darkness in the corner of the room. He wore a fox mask marking him as a member of Anbu, this secret operative passed a piece of paper to the Hokage before backing away and disappearing once more. Hiruzen sat the paper on the table and slid it to Hiashi. “This is the file on the Chakra plant classified as Kohaku. It appeared the night of the nine tails attack and has been under a Chakra isolation seal ever since.”
Hiashi slowly nodded and flipped open the packet of papers to read them as Hiruzen continued. “It appeared to absorb half of the nine tails Chakra after the late fourth Hokage used a forbidden to sever the beast in half.”
Hiashi continued to read but as he flipped the page once more his eyes went wide. “As you can see, that is the reason this is designated as top secret. The creature designated as Kohaku appears to hold a child within it. At this moment we cannot be sure what sort of being it is, and we cannot get close enough to take a sample. And so, we require a byakugan, thus we ask for your aid.”
Hiashi took a bit to finish the report packet before looking to Hiruzen. “I assume you wish for me to be the one to look at the plant?”
The Hokage nodded, “yes, that’s correct.”
“I understand. May I know where it is being held?”
“You will follow Danzo and I there.” Hiruzen replied. He gaged Hiashi’s reaction, but the man simply nodded and stood to be lead wherever he was to be brought. Hiruzen looked to the less secretive members of the council and dismissed them for this as they were no longer involved in such matters.
From there the three walked through corridor after corridor seemingly at random almost at an attempt to either confuse Hiashi or someone invisible following the trio. It took one long hour of this walk to reach the village’s seal containment prison where a small group of Anbu and medical ninjas who were to guard and monitor the strange amber vessel. The trio entered the room and were followed by those gathered, Hiashi already having steeled himself he began to focus Chakra into his eyes to activate the byakugan.
Hiashi had seen much in his time as both a ninja and head of a clan but what he saw in in the room through the byakugan was… otherworldly.
He could see the Chakra flow of the plant, the amber, and last but not least the child within. The plant holding Chakra was a bit strange, he could see channels with no tenketsu on the vines however the plant had a massive Chakra pressure inside it which rivaled that of experienced ninja in the midst of battle. Meanwhile the amber seemed entirely made up of some sort of inverted tenketsu which pulled Chakra towards the child in the center of it. The amber seemed too focused in the way it guided Chakra, layers of tenketsu sitting on top of one another in a crystalline pattern. Someone skilled enough in Chakra control might have been able to guide their Chakra, but it was unlikely they’d be able to keep it from being absorbed since the tenketsu acted as one way flow gates.
The last thing was the child, Hiashi had to focus his utmost to see passed the wall of tenketsu but when he did he let out a gasp in shock. The Chakra inside was immense, but he could see it wasn’t just normal Chakra but nature energy in addition to the spiritual and physical energy pooling into the child. The nature energy was not equal to that of the others but it was slowly increasing. The child was strangely full of Chakra pathways, circles upon circles of these pathways spiraling through the limbs, torso, fingers, head but there seemed to be no focused place like in the normal body, no center. That wasn’t all, with each pump of the heart the Chakra moved and Hiashi could see gaps in the flow.
“This is quite a sight…” he muttered. But it was caught by Danzo who stepped forward to get some form of explanation.
“What do you see?” the bandaged man asked.
Hiashi began to explain the intricacies of what he saw which caused Danzo to look at the amber with renewed interest.
“It will be capable of senjutsu innately?” Hiruzen asked, a slight pale to his face.
The medical ninja behind him had already begun writing down as Hiashi explained to the best of his ability what he was seeing.. “I’d say it has the potential to, yes.”
While Hiashi is explaining, the roots and vines of the plant begin to move and slowly curl and wrap around the amber. This causes the individuals present to become far more on guard, but no one does anything except watch, Hiashi most of all.
“The Chakra in the vines… it was senjutsu chakra. It’s being absorbed.” Hiashi calmly exclaimed.
Soon the vines began to shrivel, all of their Chakra and nature energy being absorbed into the amber and thus into the child. The mixture of spiritual energy, physical energy and nature energy soon reaches a state of equilibrium within the child causing a small crack to form in the amber. The Chakra stops flowing towards the inner most point and instead begins to cascade around it slowly bending and buckling the crystal structure.
“it’s cracking!” Hiashi pulled back and started to use a defensive stance in hopes of protecting both himself as well as those behind him. Hiruzen fell back slightly to allow the Anbu to step forward in hopes of protecting their leader. Danzo on the other hand prepares to attack instead of protecting, readying a Kunai with an explosive tag just in case. With one final spider web like crack, the amber womb shatters and sends small shards all over the room with great force. Some of the shards are sent into the walls, others into the floor or ceiling and very few towards the people at the edge of the room. A number of the shards get deflected by the Anbu though one manages to pierce into the leg of one of the agents, Hiashi spins in place, expelling Chakra to knock the amber off course and into the walls around him.
The shards of amber which had impeded themselves into objects and creatures all start to grow with roots and vines at a rapid pace. The leg of the Anbu operative turns to wood as it absorbs the Chakra, in a swift move one of the others slices the leg off just above the wound in order to keep the spread from completely turning his comrade into foliage.
The room becomes marred in greenery blocking the view to the child, the medical ninja start to drag the freshly amputated Anbu away to provide emergency medical attention while the leg completely turns to a tree somewhat blocking the doorway. “Get him out of here as soon as he is stable enough to move. Hiashi, can you see the child?”
“No lord third, there is too much Chakra blocking my- “the sound of an infant crying cuts him off.
“It seems Kohaku has been born.” Hiruzen remarks.