Chapter 4: No Reason Murders
Kushina shook her head, saying, "You know I can't, Maha-san. As much as I don't like Minato, he was right. If the people knew about our relations with the kyuubi, the civilians would try their best to make our children's lives a living hell."
"One of your children is already living a similar life to that," Maha softly said.
The red headed mother couldn't help but look away, "Yeah, I saw. If only I had the strength, the power to leave this village with my children. But I know Minato won't stand for it, considering that he had sealed the village's weapon into my son and daughter."
"Your son is fine, in fact, he is quite the strong young man. However, your daughter might have some problems," Maha told her.
In shame, Kushina just said, "I know I've been neglecting her but I just want to give them both a better life."
This time, the old woman almost snorted, and harshly said, "A better life? Don't mess with me, Kushina. The thing is, you don't actually have to go to those high-ranking missions just to make money for Ren. No, he doesn't need that since I have more than enough to fund him for the next decade or so. And I'm here for him, but you're not there for Azumi."
Maha knew all of this because Ren had told her about it, saying that Azumi is, in fact, quite the bully in school. And so, she investigated a little and found out that the child has been living in her parents' house for quite some time now. Her only companions being two maids, and a few anbu guarding her.
Kushina bit her lip, and replied, "I-I'm sorry but I don't know what to do anymore. I didn't know that it was this hard to be a mother."
And then, Maha's eyes turned soft, as she said, "It doesn't have to be, Kushina. I know you're sad that you can't meet your own son normally, that you can't even claim to be his mother. But you have a daughter, and she needs you more than anything right now. It's not too late."
"I-I'll think about it when I get home. Maybe I should lay off going outside of Konoha at the moment," and then she reached into her pocket, pulled out a very bulky envelope, and then handed it to the old woman, "Even if this is useless to him, at least let him buy anything that he wants. Except for the bad stuff, like sugary sweets or drugs. I don't want him getting addicted so soon."
Maha chuckled, "You're too paranoid. Ren is smarter than that."
Kushina smiled at that, and as she was about to leave, she said, "I-I think I'll be taking Azumi somewhere tomorrow since her birthday, along with Ren, is just right around the corner. Maybe the two of us can have some fun. A mother and daughter bonding experience, if you will."
And then she disappeared in a quick body-flicker.
The old woman just stared at where the Uzumaki stood before she turned around to go back to bed. Next time, she'll have to tell Kushina to just meet up at day, when Ren is at the academy because this is seriously messing up her beauty sleep.
(A Day Later)
(October 10, 1128)
Out of sheer pettiness, he would go out to go to the kyuubi festival every time it's his birthday to spite the people that hated him in the village, which is almost the entire population. It's funny to see them grit their teeth as they saw him buying an apple candy from a stand, and the shop owner can't refuse him because, well, he has a hundred-meter monster inside his belly, no one would want to mess with him.
Except for those that actually do but they're dumbasses. Those kinds of people should've died a long time ago due to natural selection but they seem to be quite stubborn.
Anyway, Maha had given him a few thousand ryo to spend on the festival. She wanted to come with him because she was worried that something bad might happen, and he insisted that she was just being a worrywart.
So they came to an agreement that 2 hours before midnight, he should already be back at home. Which was great since now he can piss off more people in the festival, and it just felt so good.
He threw away the half-bitten apple candy since he couldn't handle the sweetness. The stall owner probably sweetened it to the point that it became inedible. If this was in the past, he would've killed that person but alas, he's just too nice.
He'll just burn the vendor's house later, and then kill his entire family.
After a moment, he found a dozen of kyuubi-shaped chocolate candies being sold by a man behind a wooden stall but it seems like nonone had actually bought them.
Why in the hell did that man think that he could sell something like that on a festival literally meant to celebrate the defeat of the kyuubi and to grieve for those that died?
Well, it's not like he's any different, so he just shrugged and decided to buy something from the man.
The man smiled at him, saying, "Hello there, kid. Are you going to buy something?"
With a blunt answer, he said, "Yes, give me all of the kyuubi sticks you have."
Taken aback by a little, the man asked him, "Are you sure? They're quite expensive."
"How much?" He asked back.
"Well, they're fifty ryo each," he answered honestly.
The man saw the boy take something out of his pocket, and it was a thousand ryo bill.
"Give me all twenty of 'em," he said, handing out the bill.
The man stared at the bill for a moment, dazed, before he shook his head, and quickly said, "R-Right…"
Since he bought all of the kyuubi sticks the guy had, the stall owner gave him the small styrofoam box that was half-filled with ice to prevent the chocolate from melting since he had bought all of them.
He said his thanks before leaving. He heard the man mutter something but he didn't pay any attention to it, even though the man seemed kind enough to actually willingly sell him something without overpricing it.
'He's probably from outside the village since he doesn't know about me,' Helel mused.
As he took a bite from the kyuubi-shaped chocolate, he found it to actually be a bit enjoyable. It tasted almost as good as that expensive chocolate Maha had given him once. It's a bit chewy but it's soft, and the texture is just as amazing as the taste.
As interesting as the chocolate was, something caught his eyes. Something yellow and red.
He turned to his right, only to see Uzumaki Kushina and her daughter, Namikaze Azumi, smiling together as they ate their dangos.
Both were wearing kimonos, but while the red-headed mother preferred the more traditional pink kimono, Azumi wore a short skirted orange kimono. Both of them tied their hairs like buns, and certainly, Kushina captured the eyes of every man that they walked past, and weirder men were looking at Azumi, which is pretty disgusting.
Even though she's a bitch, she is still his sister, someone he's actually related to. And her nasty personality can be forgiven due to her age.
That's why to see men just looking at a child like that disgusted him. If they weren't in public, he would've killed all of them. But thankfully, the men cannot just approach the two since they have 4 anbu bodyguards surrounding them.
Then Azumi noticed him, and unlike last time, where she was much harsher, she just pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck her tongue to taunt him.
And again, he just shook his head. But he was glad that the girl had changed, at least a little.
He smiled when Kushina noticed what her daughter was doing, and reprimanded her.
Soon, he walked away and moved forward.
But ah, he still has something to do.
(A Day Later)
(Hokage Tower)
Namikaze Minato, the one who had slaughtered thousands of shinobi during the third shinobi war, earning him the moniker the 'Yellow Flash', and the one who had defeated the nine-tailed beast, sat slumped down on his table in his office with a face that looked like he had just been sucked dry.
And not in the good way.
The papers shook a little as the door opened, and there came his assistant, Kimishima Kana, a very dutiful person and also his classmate back in the academy. But at the moment, she just carried another giant stack of papers, and he grimaced.
'WHY!? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY!!!???' is what he would've shouted if he wasn't trying to maintain his image.
Kana, dressed in a long black and white kimono with wooden slippers for her feet, kept her long violet hair down, smooth white skin, heart-shaped face, opal-like eyes, and overall, even though she doesn't wear any makeup, she still looked very, very beautiful. But most kunoichis are like that since they keep their diet balanced and are taught in the academy how to be pretty in their own ways.
She approached his table, and when she put the big stack of papers in front of him, she said, "There were multiple cases of fire in the village yesterday evening, with a man and his family found dead inside their burnt house. And ten different men were also found dead inside their burnt down houses, along with their families. Overall, more than 50 people died last night, Hokage-sama."
Suddenly, his eyes grew serious the more he listened to her.
"That is concerning. We may have a pyromaniac in our village," he said, thinking of all the possibilities why those people died, "Do we have any leading suspects?"
She shook her head, saying, "The only suspect we have is one man who suddenly appeared in the Uchiha Police station, stating that he was the one who killed all of those people and he felt guilty after he realized what he had done while drunk."
"Hmm, suspicious. Your opinions on it?"
"I think the man is lying or under a genjutsu but he went to the Uchiha, and even though they have a lot of flaws, genjutsu is not one of them. They are the best of the best in the village in terms of that, and they found absolutely nothing," she expressed.
"Any evidence?"
She almost scoffed at that, "Other than the drunkard, we have nothing. No fingerprints, used weapons, or even the motive for actually doing that. The things that came out of that man's mouth were all lies. We're thinking of using the Yamanaka to probe the man's head. Permission, Hokage-sama?"
With sharpened eyes and straightened back, he said, "Do everything that you must to figure out the real culprit."
"Affirmative."
And then she left, but after a dozen minutes or so, she returned with a worried look.
When he saw that, Minato stopped doing his paperwork to ask, "What happened?"
She seemed hesitant at first, before saying, "The suspect was brutally mutilated and murdered in his cell. His arms and legs were cut-off, and his tongue was pulled out. His eyes were gouged out and his genitals were castrated. But the worst thing about it was…" she looked a bit uncomfortable but then continued, "… the top part of his head was cut out, and his entire brain was missing."
He widened his eyes. To cut someone's brain out while they are staying in Konoha's cell means that the real culprit doesn't want the Yamanaka to look into their head, and that can only mean one thing.
His eyes traveled around the room, searching everything in his vision, until he saw a small and peculiar black orb on top of his shelf.
With quick movements, he threw a kunai at the orb in less than a second, and when it hit the small black orb, it just… vanished. It didn't break or anything like that, it just vanished.
Meanwhile, Kana watched in disbelief as she saw that.
"Someone was watching us," Minato said to her.
"… But why would they send a man to us?"
"My guess is that they were trying to lead the suspicion away from them by making another man take the fall, but obviously, they somehow failed to realize that the Yamanaka can probe someone's head even after they die. Once they realized that after watching us, they immediately killed the man, and took the man's brain for good measure. But the only reason they'll try that is if they're trying to start a war or if they're living in the village. We can take out the former, considering their actions. And that can only mean one thing…"
"We have a traitor among our ranks," she finished in a mutter.
He nodded, "Yes. A very skilled one at that. My suspicion is that they're the remainder of Danzo's little army, trying to get revenge for their master's death," and then he turned his eyes on her, "If anything related to this happens again, report it to me immediately, it doesn't matter if the deaths are one or two because everything that Danzo ever built will be destroyed, no matter the cause," he said with a glint in his eyes.
"Understood, Hokage-sama. Then, I'll take my leave now," she said before turning towards the door and leaving.
As he sat there alone, Minato couldn't help but think, 'I wonder who you are. Are you Danzo's man or just another extremist?'
In another part of the village, inside the former orphanage, and in a room, a smile appeared on a red-haired child's face.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Miko_Sayaki
Miko_Sayaki Just a warning though. There will be a 3-year timeskip in the next chapter. I rushed things in the academy student arc since it would take far, far too long to actually finish the entire thing. I've seen fanfics that even after 100,000 words, still stuck in the student academy arc. I don't really want that since I want to get to the real actions soon, like a lot of politics and some fightings. Lmao, joke.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and stay tuned for the next.
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