~~~ Hiruzen Sarutobi ~~~
~~ After the 3rd Great Shinobi War ~~
Not a whisper was heard as he dashed down the dank underground tunnels. The chakra signature they'd been tracking for weeks pulsed just ahead. His heart beat rapidly in time with the pumping of his legs.
This was the moment of truth, a moment he dreaded.
The chakra was sickening in its familiarity.
His former student.
My greatest failure.
His hand flashed a message to the four-man ANBU cell trailing him, "Formation tight."
Their faces, hidden behind porcelain masks depicting animals, revealed nothing, but he sensed their tension. This wasn't just any shinobi they were pursuing.
This was Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin.
One of the most brilliant and dangerous shinobi alive.
He should know, he helped hone him into one of the village's sharpest weapons.
The tunnel narrowed as it curved. Ahead, light leaked from around the frame of a heavy, earthen door. A harsh, clinical light that didn't belong in the forgotten depths of Konoha.
Hiruzen signaled a halt.
He bit his thumb, then flashed through handseals. The familiar weight of his battle staff materialized in his hand as he summoned Enma, his trusted companion through decades of war.
"You've finally seen the truth, Hiruzen? Then I shall assist you!" Enma spoke, his growling baritone an unshakeable pillar.
I should have seen this coming. Should have known it would come to this. If only the foolish boy had turned away from this madness, what a Hokage he would have made.
There was no more time for regrets. "Hawk, Boar, flanking positions. Owl, overhead. Cat, watch my back. Breach on my mark." The ANBU shifted into their positions with a practiced efficiency.
Hiruzen's heart thundered against his ribs. Whatever lay beyond that door, he knew that nothing would ever be the same.
"Move!"
The door imploded with an ear-splitting crack. Hiruzen surged through the breach, chakra already streaming down familiar pathways, sending a gust of wind to clear the dust. The ANBU scattered through the room, like leaves in a tempest, securing the corners and covering sight-lines.
"Sensei," a silky voice slithered through the chaos. "You've dropped in unannounced. If I'd known, I'd have prepared a gift as your filial student."
Hiruzen's eyes adjusted to the harsh, clinical light of the laboratory. His blood turned cold. The chamber was vast, a grotesque shrine to forbidden knowledge and human depravity.
Glass jars filled with organs and twisted body parts lined the walls. Blood stained instruments and half-dissected corpses covered workbenches. At the center of it all, standing wrist deep in the chest cavity of a twitching body, stood Orochimaru.
The pale skinned man stared back at his teacher, not with the guilt of a child caught in the cookie jar, but with the equanimity of a man going about an everyday task.
"I'd have preferred a few more hours to complete my research on the last few specimens."
Taking in the horror and inhumanity of his once favored pupil, Hiruzen couldn't take it anymore.
"OROCHIMARU!" His voice thundered across the laboratory, with more strength and certainty than he felt. "By the authority of Konoha, you are hereby ordered to surrender immediately!"
A moment passed.
Orochimaru's hands stilled. He tilted his head to one side, curiosity furrowing his brow. "Is this one of Jiraiya's childish jokes?"
Fury boiled in Hiruzen's gut, as he gave his student a chance to make the right decision and surrender with dignity.
Another moment passed.
"Hmm, it seems not." Orochimaru pulled his arms out of the now-still body and began to wipe the crimson stain from his hands. "Then I'm afraid I must reluctantly decline your invitation, Sensei."
Everything exploded into motion at once.
Orochimaru's hands blurred through handsigns, faster than the eye could track. The ANBU mirrored him. Quickest of all, Hiruzen's own hands flashed through a familiar pattern, predicting his student's attack.
"Doton: Doryūheki!" A thick stone wall launched toward the ceiling, just as Orochimaru's jutsu followed.
"Fūton: Daitoppa!" A massive gale of wind blasted forward, redirecting off the earthen wall and causing beakers to clatter and papers to shoot into the air.
The laboratory exploded into a storm of steel and elemental explosions. Glass shattered, equipment crashed to the floor, pipes burst, showering the lab in water.
Hiruzen pushed forward through the chaos into the center of the room, his staff swinging in devastating arcs. "Take him alive, if possible!" he commanded, though he knew it was far too late for that.
"Don't be soft, Hiruzen!" Enma shouted.
Orochimaru's body slithered and twisted through the attacks, laughter echoing off the walls. "You aren't going to kill me, Sensei?"
Three handsigns later, and globs of acid tagged two of the ANBU, bringing them to the ground, bodies stiff. Then, Hiruzen and the ANBU's attacks struck true.
Orochimaru looked up and smiled, then opened his mouth wide, arms erupted skyward. The arms clenched Orochimaru's jaws, then wrenched down. Hard.
Before their eyes, Orochimaru peeled his own body down, revealing another copy of himself, damp with unknown fluids but unharmed.
Their eyes locked. Teacher and Student.
Hiruzen saw the young, misunderstood boy that shone so bright.
The eager, insightful teen that was a font of knowledge and discovery.
The young man that stood valiantly on a dozen battlefields, risking his everything for this village.
He could not see the monster. Would not.
The Snake Sannin's hands blurred into seals again.
"Katon: Karyū Endan!"
Hiruzen countered with practiced precision.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
The fire and water techniques collided with explosive force, sending both shinobi skidding backward. From the thick cloud of steam, a knot of snakes shot forward, entangling the remaining ANBU. Hiruzen caught a glimpse of Orochimaru from the other side.
Hiruzen stood frozen in indecision for a moment. Two.
Then…
"He's escaping, Hiruzen, after him!" Enma roared.
But it was too late. His hesitation had been all the time Orochimaru needed.
"Lord Hokage!" Owl appeared at his side, blood seeping from a wound on his shoulder. "Should we pursue?"
Looking over his men, two down from an unknown venom, Owl injured, and Orochimaru with a head start, Hiruzen made his decision.
Glancing at the empty passage, Hiruzen felt the wait of his failure crash down on him.
"No," he said finally. "Secure the lab. Let's see what he's been doing here and ensure there are no threats to the village."
Checking the downed ANBU, Hiruzen was relieved to see they were only affected by a paralytic. A flash of his hands and the paralysis was lifted.
As the ANBU spread out to fulfill his orders, Hiruzen surveyed the wreckage of the battle and the standing testaments to his student's madness and cruelty. Dissected bodies, stray appendages, and monstrosities composed of all manner of creature parts stood proudly throughout the room.
Walking deeper, he saw a row of large glass tanks, many shattered by debris from the battle. He paused, as he saw 5 of the tanks containing the larger bodies. Looking on in growing horror, his gaze darted from one to another, his heart clenching.
Children.
As Hiruzen made to call out orders, he froze.
Smoke was curling out of fractures of a cracked tank, from the other side of the glass, crimson pinpricks locked onto him.
~~~ Kaien Iburi ~~~
~~ Present Day ~~
Kaien's red eyes shot wide open as he stirred from the familiar dream. Squinting to keep the bright light of the sun at bay, he flicked some chakra to a fingertip, lighting the pipe drooping from his mouth, and puffed out a cloud of smoke to shade himself from the sun.
He'd had that dream countless times since the day the Hokage pulled him from Orochimaru's laboratory.
He'd had many that were far worse as well.
Orochimaru had shown him uncountable horrors while floating helplessly in his lab. Many without care, others with malicious glee.
He'd also had his share of waking nightmares since.
From enormous Chakra beasts attacking the village to fanatical elders trying to spirit him into a shadowy underground death cult with matching tongue tattoos, Kaien had some terrifying days in Konoha.
A stream of smoke snaked lazily from the pipe, twisting and weaving into an intricate knot covering the rooftop.
The smoky haze now shrouding him from the unwanted brightness, Kaien adjusted himself into a more comfortable lounging sprawl. Arms folded behind his head, one leg kicked over the other knee, he was enjoying an afternoon off between missions.
The peace and quiet would lull him into another lovely little cat nap.
As his eyes drooped and his breathing slowed, his ears picked up the pattering of rapid footsteps dashing across neighboring rooftops.
5 more minutes…
He rolled over, turning away from the noise.
Patter, patter, patter, patter.
He folded his arms tighter around his head, muting the noise.
Whoosh!
A figure burst through his smoke cloud, rolled across the floor, and tucked themself behind the roof entrance to the building. His cloud repaired itself and he opened one eye, sizing up the unwanted visitor.
Bright orange jumpsuit. Goggles. Bright golden hair.
Uggghhhh, Naruto…
Naruto turned and noticed Kaien's lazy glare. Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, he held a finger up to his lips in the slacker's sacred sign to "cover for me."
Two more figures burst through the cloud, landing in front of Kaien. He groaned and forced his eyelids open.
"What is it, Genin?" He asked the two junior shinobi.
Seeing the man lying prone under a cloud of smoke, dots connected in their heads. They stood straighter, one audibly gulping, as they made the purpose of their presence known.
"Err, we're looking for the Uzumaki brat, he caused another problem in the shopping district!" Mook A puffed himself up in self-importance as he made his announcement.
"And he gave you the slip, I take it?" Kaien responded lazily, inhaling a large hit from his pipe, and exhaled out his nostrils, the smoke forming into a mocking expression.
༄༅༄༅ ༼ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ༽ ༄༅༄༅
"Urck!" The observation landed a critical hit on Mook A's ego. He sagged before nodding his head. "Yes. We thought we saw him jump to this roof, but this stupid smokescreen…"
Mook B elbowed Mook A in the ribs, hard. "That is to say, this elegant sun canopy made it hard to be certain."
Mook A, catching his breath from the blow, nodded along eagerly.
"Hmmm, well…" Kaien glanced over at Naruto again, who was sitting in seiza, beseeching Kaien to honor the slacker's code. "Sorry to say, I had my eyes closed, so I didn't see which way he went."
Kaien gave them his patented "nice guy" eye smile and a "what can you do shrug" as their shoulders drooped. Whispering among themselves, they darted off to continue their pursuit.
The Mooks were soon out of Kaien's detection range. "They're gone," he called out, as he settled back.
"Thanks, Smoke-guy!" Naruto jumped before him, one hand on his hip, the other needlessly adjusting his goggles in what he mistakenly thought was a "cool guy" pose.
"Losers like them can't catch the great Uzumaki Naruto! Bahaha!"
"Hmm, you say something, kid?" Kaien opened an eye, then dug his pinky into his ear, twisting back and forth. "I had some gunk in my ear, couldn't hear ya."
Naruto sagged, his posturing wasted, and began to draw portraits of the Mooks with poops on their heads on the smoke covered tiles as he pouted.
"Beat it kid, I needta nap." A yawn escaped Kaien as he tried to shoo the unwanted blonde menace.
"Say, say…" Naruto looked left, then right, before leaning in. "I heard from gramps that you're an infiltration and sabotage specialist, right? You got any jutsu you could share, one specialist to another?"
"Oh, you heard about Kaien-sama's greatness from the old man, huh?"
Naruto nodded fervently.
"And you want me to share a jutsu? One specialist to another?"
Nod. Nod.
"Ok, then you first. Share a jutsu with me, and I'll give you a pointer." Kaien leaned back, smirking.
Doubt this kid even knows the basic three.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke exploded outward, revealing a buxom blonde bombshell with long, innocent twintails and clouds covering the best bits. Kaien sat up, blood suddenly dripping from his nose, and pulled out a folded hand fan, waving it to blow the cloud cover away from Naruko.
"Kyaaaa!" Naruko covered herself with her arms and legs as the smoke dissipated. With another "Poof!" he reverted into back into a twerp.
"Ero-Smoke-Guy, what's the big idea!" Naruto's face was beet red, having met his match for once. That was generally an instant-kill move, but Smoke-guy countered it perfectly.
"I wanted to see your nip—"
Naruto turned and jumped off the building, shouting as he went, "Pervert!"
Kaien leaned back with a mischievous grin. The "blood" from his lip curled back into smoke, the genjutsu dropping. He settled down, hoping for a nice dream for a change.
~~~ Hiruzen Sarutobi ~~~
Turning away from his crystal ball, Hiruzen shook his head, chuckling to himself at the two boy's antics.
Kaien truly is a remarkable shinobi. Never have I seen someone defeat Naruto's Oiroke no Jutsu.
His smile faded as an ANBU operative with a cat mask materialized before his desk.
"Report," Hiruzen commanded.
"The investigation team has returned from the border incident, Lord Hokage. The bodies we recovered weren't bandits as initially reported. They were failed experiments."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
"Failed how?"
"Chakra modification through surgical implants. Curse marks. And more." The ANBU placed a scroll on his desk. "We tracked their origin to a facility in the northeastern forests. It appears to be actively operational."
"Survivors?"
"None that we've found, but the facility is heavily guarded. We couldn't get close enough to confirm what's happening inside."
Hiruzen moved to the window, gazing toward the distant rooftop where Kaien's smoke still lingered. He'd sent the young Iburi on many such missions before.
"Assemble a strike team. Kakashi will lead, with Tenzo as second. Their objective is to create a diversion." Hiruzen reached for a blank mission scroll. "Kaien will handle the infiltration and destruction of the facility."
"Sir, preliminary intelligence suggests the facility might be connected to a new hidden village. We found headbands with an unfamiliar symbol. A musical note."
Hiruzen's hand paused over the scroll. "A new hidden village? That changes things. Prioritize intelligence gathering before destruction. Kaien is to recover any information about this village's leadership and capabilities before demolishing the laboratory."
As the ANBU departed, Hiruzen contemplated the implications.
A new hidden village performing forbidden experiments suggested a dangerous new player in the shinobi world. One that likely had connections to his old student.
Hiruzen gazed once more at the cloud of smoke, wondering if more children were suffering due to his weakness.