Naruto: Shy Fox Chronicles

Shy Fox Chronicles

We do not own Naruto or any copyright content. All copyright content goes to their respective owners. All OCs are owned by us.

Prologue Part 1: Divine Intervention

It was a gloomy afternoon in the Land of Fire. The world was at war, the Third Shinobi World War. In a war room in the Hokage Mansion of Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, one of the five most powerful shinobi warriors on the planet at the time, was conversing with his advisors. This shinobi was the Sandaime Hokage, the Third Fire Shadow of the Leaf Village, a man named Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Looking at him, one could question how this man could be called such a title as a God of Shinobi. Short enough to be a housewife, and a wiry, almost spindly frame for a man of middle age. His head was clad in a stripped-down kabuto helmet with a forehead protector with the Leaf's symbol proudly displayed, held together by two death traps of long straps. Across his chest he wore a standard Konoha green flak jacket, with two older pauldrons of the First Shinobi World War affixed to the shoulders. Covering his black pants and mesh covered legs was a long fur and leather kama, split in the middle to provide better movement, yet keep the shrapnel protection of the piece. He stood as a man of contrasts, yet undeniably a leader of a shinobi village.

Hiruzen sighed as he looked over the map on the table in the war room, examining the fronts that the Land of Fire's shinobi were fighting on. Borders across the two great blocs were a chaotic mess of skirmishes with both the smaller and greater nations. The great Lands of Fire and Wind, as well as the Land of Whirlpools, in defiance of the brief peace after the Second Shinobi World War, struck out to avenge the horrors of the previous conflict caused chiefly by the Hidden Stone. Though initially caught off guard, the Lands of Earth, Lightning, and Water put up stiff knots of resistance, forcing this early stage of the war into a bloody stalemate. No side had the upper hand to press on and take a village out of the fight. Desperation on both sides began to mount, and something had to be done to break this deadlock, and fast.

"Hiruzen…" A voice familiar to the Sandaime Hokage called his name from his left.

"Yes, Danzō. Come out from those damn shadows and speak." Hiruzen sternly answered.

It was then that Hiruzen's rival and old friend, Shimura Danzō, stepped out from the shadows. With an x cross scarred jaw, and a fairly handsome face, his head was crowned with a mane of dull black spiky hair. Despite towering over him and in similar garb to Hiruzen, his posture was submissive to the great leader, both out of respect, but also from kinship.

"We must do something soon, old friend. We are in the beginning of the second year of this war. We must break the back of the enemy alliance before they do something reckless and desperate." Danzō advised his rival and friend.

"You seem to misunderstand what I am trying to do, Danzō. That is exactly what I want them to do." Hiruzen dryly answered, looking over the most recent map.

The middle-aged Shimura clan member raised an eyebrow in interest, a sign for his leader to explain.

"With the probing attacks we have done in the center lines, we are making it look like we might try a concentrated offensive there. This would get their political leadership panicking, wanting them to do something to prevent that. Once they perform that maneuver, we move our massed tactical group in the western reaches and smash it like a hammer. At which point, we then give the signal to both Wind and Whirlpool to begin offensives on their fronts." Hiruzen explained, pointing to the map as he went.

Danzō's one visible eye widened at that before he smirked. "A risky move, Hiruzen. One that could work in our favor, but only if we choose our actions carefully." The Darkness of the Shinobi chuckled, praising his rival and friend on his strategy.

"It's too risky, if you ask me." A female voice replied.

Hiruzen and Danzō looked to the source of the voice as out and forward stepped a middle aged, but still quite beautiful kunoichi with dark eyes. Her dark hair was pulled back in a twin bun by a traditional hair pin with two pearls dangling off the side. She wore a similar garb to Hiruzen, though hers sported fishnet tights with a skirt over it and a pouch strapped to her back with bandages.

"Koharu, you're going to have to give more of an explanation than that to get me to stop a strategy already in motion. And a damn good one." Hiruzen answered simply.

Utatane Koharu sighed and began to explain her stance on the strategy. "Say they do take this bait and panic into a foolhardy assault. What if it happens too far from the force to respond in time? The front line covers the entirety of the region. No shinobi force, no matter how fast, could respond to an attack on the flanks even if they were perfectly in the middle. And we have zero idea or intel of where their proposed attack could come from." The middle aged kunoichi advisor explained.

"Koharu is right, Hiruzen. This strategy carries too much risk. We need a new plan." A third male voice said, siding with his female colleague.

As the other three looked in the direction of the voice, a middle-aged man in glasses with a strong jaw-line structure came into view. He had on a garb similar to the other three, though he had a poncho-like top over his for a bit more of a personalized look to it.

"You too, Homura?" Hiruzen asked.

"It's nothing personal, Hiruzen. I just don't see the point in committing ourselves to such a risky strategy. We need to come up with a new plan." Mitokado Homura replied.

"And what is this new plan you wish to suggest? I am all ears." Hiruzen answered.

Unfortunately, neither Koharu nor Homura had an alternative strategy in mind. They racked their brains, trying to come up with a better plan, but nothing popped into their heads. They were both drawing a blank.

Seeing the lack of response from his former teammates, Hiruzen saw that he had made his point. "Wars are not won by inaction. Wars are won by attempting, and if fate allows, by succeeding. Even if the attempts are failures, they create initiative. Drive. A sense of motion and momentum that can break through the enemy like a river through a dam. Everything in war risks lives and damage, but if we were afraid of these things, then we would not have fought the first two. And I will not allow the Stone to get away with their crimes. They will face the flaming sword of justice! And those monsters will hang in their streets for everyone to see!"

Danzō had a smirk on his face at the Hokage's words. "Well said, Hiruzen. The Stone's actions from the last war cannot go unpunished." He replied, reassuring his old rival that he was doing the right thing.

"Now keep up those probing attacks on Stone's border. We need to have them try something soon." Hiruzen ordered.

It was at that moment that a messenger shinobi barged into the war room, almost breaking down the door. "HOKAGE-SAMA!" The messenger called out frantically, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

The four older shinobi took in the sight of the messenger. Dressed in a traditional shinobi garb of Uzushiogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides, with the Uzumaki clan's symbol on his back, the young man was huffing and puffing like a madman. He was clearly out of breath, having run full tilt all the way from the mainland as soon as he made landfall from the Land of Whirlpools.

"Calm down, soldier. Catch your breath and explain it properly." Hiruzen said, putting his hands on his shoulders like a father getting through to his son.

Panting heavily, the shinobi from the Whirling Tides fought to get his message out as he tried to catch his breath. "Stone… Cloud… Mist… attacking my village…!" The young man panted out before collapsing to the floor.

Everyone looked at Hiruzen, and what they saw shocked them to their core. Even Danzō could not believe his eyes. There the Hokage stood looking where the shinobi's eyes would be if he were still standing, staring off into the void. Cold sweat formed beads like bullets and ran down his face and neck like rivers.

His normally tanned face went pale as a sheet. Hands normally used to gripping a pen or a kunai were curled into shaking claws. Lips quivering in pure panic and fright. The three, even years later, would swear he aged ten years in moments. The only thing that could not only derail his plan, but destroy it utterly, had happened. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was then that another messenger shinobi, this one from Konoha, stepped into the room and cleared his throat. "H-Hokage-sama… another messenger wishes to meet with you. This one says he is from a clan known as the… 'Kamishini,' I believe he said…" The messenger nervously told his leader.

"Send them in." Hiruzen said hastily, breathing heavily and trying his hardest to gain some level of composure.

The messenger in question bowed to his leader, then went out of the room. He came back with the other messenger in question before bowing and turning to leave. It was at that moment that the four older Konoha nin took in the sight of the messenger. Dressed in fairly simple shinobi garbs and armor clearly not belonging to any Hidden Village, he looked very nondescript. However, the four sensed something odd about him. Even those without chakra sensory abilities could feel his chakra, and it felt… strange. It felt dense, powerful, almost otherworldly. As though it could almost barely be called chakra.

The messenger knelt before the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village and his three advisors. "Hokage-sama, esteemed Konoha Council." The messenger addressed them with respect.

"Speak your message quickly. There's a war going on." Danzō said with a scoff.

"Danzō." Hiruzen said disapprovingly, forcing Danzō to bow his head in a visual apology.

"I will cut right to the point, then. The leaders of my clan have heard rumors about the possibility of the situation you find yourselves in. I was sent to offer my clan's aid to your bloc of this conflict however we can. It appears that, unfortunately, our worst suspicions have come to pass, and we should have acted more quickly." The messenger somberly told the four council members.

"What aid can you provide? And how quickly?" Hiruzen asked, his mind running a mile a minute to both process this and how it could affect the current unfolding disaster.

"Including both sides of our clan, we can offer eight thousand shinobi. Each of them trained in our clan's Hiden jutsu and secret arts. They are at the coast now, waiting for word to come back to head to the Land of Whirlpools and aid your allies." The messenger explained.

"You cannot be seriously considering this hoax Hiruzen, surely?" Danzō said in both confusion and amazement.

Hiruzen stood there for what, to him, was forever, for others a few seconds. He had heard the legends, they all had. The tales of great ancient warriors of incredible power, using strange jutsu capable of slaying demons, yōkai, and even gods. It was a lot to trust in a legend to save their allies.

Yet he also was the one to get his allies into this situation. This force would be the only one able to get there in time and save the Uzumaki. No Konoha force could make it there in time in any kind of numbers to stop such a force. He already made a massive gamble, and now was time for another.

"Tell your master to send your clan at them like the hounds from hell and make them pay for their choice. Do not wait for Konoha forces or any other allied shinobi. Stop the attack by any means necessary and get the survivors deep into Land of Fire territory." Hiruzen sternly, and decisively, ordered.

The messenger nodded and stood. "At once, Hokage-sama. After this is over, the head of my clan wishes to meet with you all and discuss something."

"If you are able to save the Uzumaki clan from destruction, then I agree to it. Should you fail, you will not get that meeting." Hiruzen clarified.

The messenger smiled at that. "We Kamishini refuse to fail. Should you want your allies saved, then we shall save as many of them as we possibly can." He reassured the Hokage.

"Then also tell your leader that I thank them for saving them from my failure." Hiruzen said solemnly.

The messenger bowed before leaving in a burst of speed. To the shock of the four shinobi present, they felt no burst of chakra that would indicate the use of the Body Flicker or any other kind of high-speed movement technique. This man just moved that fast purely on his own physical power.

To Be Continued...