Naruto : Monsters

And though it took every Shinobi and Kunoichi left with four working limbs – sometimes not even that – working double shifts to make it work, they managed to pull it off.

All so that they may show the world that though Konoha bleeds, it was still strong.

And it had worked.

...

The almost instantaneous recovery after the attack had cast doubt on the extent of the damages Konoha had sustained, making those willing to take advantage of their moment of weakness to hesitate and falter. 

And though there were a few probing attempts from other villages, such as the near-disastrous Hyuuga Incident by Kumo, Konoha had managed to maintain a strong enough presence of strength that none were willing to risk a full out war with them.

And now, after so many years, Konoha was almost restored to its former glory.

They were close, oh so very close. Just a little more time and children born after the Kyuubi attack will become shinobi in their own right, ready and able to take the place of those who had fallen that day. But they were not quite there yet. They needed more time, just a little more and the illusion of strength that they had tried so hard to maintain will become a reality. But till then, the old guard had to maintain their vigil until the new generation was ready to take their place by their side.

"And the children, what of them?" Hiruzen asked, getting to the heart of his distress. "Leave them behind, there is no need to involve them in this."

"I disagree." The one-eyed man said in reply. "There is every reason to involve them. The experience will be good for them if nothing else."

"Not if Zabuza ends up killing them it won't!"

"Hatake won't let him," Danzo stated assuredly, easily disregarding the killing intent being levelled his way with practised ease. "Zabuza will be too busy fending him off to concern himself with others."

"You know Zabuza isn't alone Danzo." Hiruzen pointed out. "The Demon Brothers, what of them? Kakashi can't be everywhere and do everything while fighting Zabuza at the same time. He will not be able to protect the rest of his team while he fights."

"Other than Zabuza, the rest won't pose any real threat." Danzo waved off the concern. "They're riff-raff. Nothing more than a thugs and Rounin." A tiny sneer actually appeared on Danzo's lips, the only expression to grace his face so far, as if merely speaking the word left a bad taste on his tongue. 

"Gato is far too fond of his money to willingly part ways with more of it than he has to. The only people in his employ worth noting are the two that Zabuza has brought with him, and the Demon Brothers are barely C-rank Ninjas. If even that. 

Against a Jinchuuriki that can multiply herself and survive any injury short of decapitation, an up-and-coming prodigy with eyes that can see danger coming from miles away matched with the pragmatism to run away when needed, and Shikaku's boy, who appears to have inherited both his father's intelligence along with the inclination to avoid any danger or hardships."

"I have absolute confidence in their abilities to keep themselves alive." Danzo actually sounded as if he meant it. "They may lack the skills to actually aid Hatake in the mission, but they needn't have to. Hatake can handle Zabuza alone. The children need not do anything other than survive."

"Why, Danzo? Why do you want to see them on a battlefield so strongly."

"So that they may have their eyes opened." The leader of Root replied. "We both know that all the training we put them through in the Academy is meaningless the moment they set foot on a battlefield. For all the decades we spent developing skills and training techniques, we have yet to discover a way to prepare someone for their first taste of battle, their first encounter with death. 

So many promising students had walked out of the Academy doors only to die by a kunai held in the hands of some drunken bandit because they ended up freezing when they should have acted. In the end, it simply meant they lacked what it took to survive as shinobi. The only way to find out for sure if they have what it takes is to throw them in the fire, and see if they manage to walk back out. You know this is true."

"But not this soon." A hint of something could be heard in the old man's voice. "They are still children Danzo, only twelve, we can afford to wait for them to grow a little longer before sending them into something like this."

Instead of answering right away, Danzo stared at his Kage, his one eye seemingly able to something that no one else could. After a time, in an almost gentle tone of voice, he spoke. "Do you recall what happened that last time you trained children, Hiruzen?"

The reminder brought a grimace to the Hokage's face, forcing him to look away, his already grim expression darkening even further.

That has always been a sticking point between the two.

Once, a long time ago, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been given three bright pupils to train. The best of their generation, each showing more potential than almost any other student to have come out of the Academy since its founding. 

The three, while different, were all brilliant in their own way. Orochimaru, a well behaved obedient child who excelled in almost everything he tried his hand in and soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Tsunade, a Senju, with control over chakra that, even as a child, was as near damn perfect as anything either of them had ever seen before or since, matched with a passion and intelligence that left no doubts she would achieve great things. 

And finally was Jiraiya, who though lagged far behind the other two academically and in the other more traditional fields of the Shinobi arts, had shown clear signs of hidden genius and untapped potential in Fuinjutsu along with a flexibility of thought that surprised even the two.

All who looked upon the three knew they would one day become great, if only there were given the chance.

And they were.

The children were given to the care of the Sandaime, the greatest living Ninja that Konoha could call its own, and it was under his guidance that they bloomed, his teachings bring out the greatness locked inside of them. The potential that they shared was carefully grown and cultivated into genuine talent, producing something that had never been seen before or since.

A team composed entirely of S-rank ninjas.

Once Hiruzen would have taken pride in that knowledge. That the three children he had met so long ago, who he had come to think of as his own son and daughters, had grown so strong and achieved so much. But now the bitter reminder left him feeling empty, none of old pride anywhere to be found.

What should have been his greatest achievement had instead become his greatest failure.

And his greatest living shame.

He had been given the best of a generation to train, so they may learn all the skills and strength he possessed. And he had, he succeeded in teaching them to be strong.

In body at least.

It was forging their character where he had failed.

Till this day it was his greatest regret.

One had abandoned her home, leaving her comrades behind to their fates in order to live a life of decadence, gambling away the last of her family's fortune and drinking her life away. The other could be found gallivanting all around the world, never remaining in one place for too long before disappearing to somewhere else, rarely ever returning to her home village, and now more famed for her perversion and skills as a smut writer than her abilities as a ninja.

As for the last?

The worst traitor the Leaf had ever seen since Madara. An inhuman abomination as likely to kill a child as he would an ant.

That was the fate of the three children given to him.

The minds of all three were broken. While the war could have been partially blamed for the result, Hiruzen could not find it in himself to agree. He was not so unaware of his shortcomings to put the blame entirely on others. He was the responsible for them, it was he who raised them, and for all three to become like this.

Who could he blame but himself?

The aged Hokage shut his eyes, the only outward sign of the now-familiar ache he felt fill his chest. He knew he had always been a failure as a father. His son never failed to remind him on the rare occasion they met.

Perhaps that is why when he tried to be a teacher, he had failed at that too.

He refused to take any other students after. No matter how many times he had been asked, he denied any request to start a new team. He refused to subject any more children to his failures.

He had been reluctant to allow Danzo any students for much the same reason. While he would not stop him from finding villageless orphans and other unfortunates to instruct, he refused to subject any child from his village to his training. As much as he trusted his old friend to do what was needed, he feared he would go too far in his zeal to fulfil his duty. So while he allowed him to play a part in training his Anbu, he kept him far away from the truly innocent children.

But like most things, circumstances had forced his hand, and he had been forced to grant his old friend a single student from his village.

The results spoke for themselves.

From the three Hiruzen had been given, one a traitor, one a drunkard that had abandoned her village and the last is almost never seen, doing whatever caught her fancy.

While the one child he had given to Danzo was Uchiha Itachi.

The results were clear.

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