Monsters are made (Not Born) (Aot x Naruto) by hatredwithpassion

Chapter 38: Ceasefire

Summary:

Ceasefire (or consequences of annihilation).
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Inuzaka Tsume stared at the fallen bodies with hard eyes. She motioned to her team - search and rescue - to retrieve the fallen soldiers. The clan matriarch made her way through the carnage, pausing at the sight of the downed ROOT operative. She knelt down, ignoring the tremors of the land around her.

The operative was breathing - chest rising and falling in labored breaths.

He was young and lanky, on the cusp of puberty.

She looked at the blunt trauma to the head. She pursed her lips in concern and pulled off the mask to assess the damage. It was against protocol to remove the mask but protocol had no place in a matter of life and death. The clan head froze, eyes growing wide in shock as she looked at the familiar face of a child who had disappeared five years ago.

She knelt down on her knees, ignoring the debris pressing into her skin and she pressed a gentle hand to the Inuzaka's boy's face. He had vanished on a mission gone wrong - pronounced dead after years of silence and no trace left behind. Clan trackers had searched endlessly and it was all for naught. The clan head gazed at the white mask - disbelieving - and the boy opened his dull eyes, staring at her with no recognition in his gaze.

The clan head picked him up gently and she turned to her platoon, handing the boy off to one of her subordinates for medical attention. Her mind raced at the implication of his hidden survival. ROOT was a division run by the councilman - operated in the shadows. All clan heads knew of its existence. She eyed the remaining felled masked soldiers on the ground, injured and unable to move.

She swallowed thickly, apprehension overtaking her.

She had a very bad feeling about her revelation.

The message came to him as he stood before the memorial monument of his deceased father. Uzumaki Naruto turned to the messenger. He was a young genin hardly past his prepubescent years. He was surprised to see him. Most of Konoha's forces died in battle. The genin was shaking as he stood before him, relaying the Hokage's agreement to the terms of the ceasefire.

The teen eyed the young messenger. He was a small boy with choppy brown hair and undistinguished features. He was the type to blend into the background. It was a miracle he survived the invasion. Naruto took the offered scroll with a hum as the child grew paler and paler in his prolonged presence.

"How old are you?" He asked curiously as he opened the scroll, eyes looking over the content.

The preteen gulped. "T-twelve... s-sir... s-sir Uzuk-Uzukage-sama." He squeaked.

Naruto blinked at the respectful address and his lips quirked upwards in reluctant amusement. His comrades did not address him in such a stiff way. It was strange. The teen snapped the scroll shut and he turned back to the messenger.

The young genin was literally quaking in fear with his brown eyes wide as he stared behind him. Naruto frowned and he glanced back. Ah, Kurama. The teen raised a hand and dug his fingers in his friend's soft fur, smiling up at him as the chakra beast glared ahead, pawing at the charred ground in boredom.