1 Unfettered

Sitting atop fourth Hokage's head at Hokage rock, a four-year-old boy with jet black hair and grey irises looked at the colossal mess that was Konohagakure right now. Half the village was in shambles which is not surprising as yesterday night was the occasion of Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack. The boy looks down and notices civilians were moving out of the evacuation shelter in the monument. Some were crying, others were consoling them, a few were frantically looking searching but everyone had an air of desolation.

The boy sat there from sunrise till sunset without moving a single inch staring at the devastated village. At night a ninja bearing the Kurama clan insignia came and addressed the boy.

"Itsuki, by the orders of Kurama Elders Council you are hereby removed from Kurama clan. You are banned from using the Kurama surname and insignia and are ordered to be relocated into the Konoha general orphanage."

Itsuki just dumbly nodded. Getting confirmation, ninja disappeared via shunshin.

"Mother, you left me alone in this cruel world", Itsuki said softly.

He was under no delusion she could be alive. She too was clear of this when she went to fight Nine tails. A genjutsu expert like her being sent to the frontline which requires heavy assault fighters while heavy hitters were not called to frontlines.

'For elders of the clan to not silently kill me, she must have made some preparations in advance. It is even odder if you take into account the low population of Kurama after the Third great ninja war they will be willing to remove me from the clan but not kill me. They will never get such a chance until I become a Genin. My death can be easily hushed up if I was in the clan but Kurama Clan is no longer influential enough to mess with Uchiha Police's investigation.'

Letting out a self-deceptive laugh, Itsuki says out loud, "And here I thought I could live carefreely." He knew how clans operate. He knows what cesspool of filth the so-called most peaceful hidden village is in reality. His mother made sure of it to hammer into him the real face of the village. His clan will never let him go in case I pass on the bloodline of the Kurama clan outside of their clan. Even if I don't have Kurama bloodline, to them I am too much of a risk.

'And then there is Danzo', the moment I display any sign of manifesting Kurama bloodline, I would be immediately deported and shipped to Root Anbu boot camp. And to think Root is still legal as the Uchiha Massacre is seven years away, I would have no chance of escape once Danzo digs his claws into me.

Itsuki stops laughing and gets up jumps down the Hokage monument with agility and strength no four-year-old has any right to have. Moving in small steps towards the orphanage, he was sensing many chakra signals moving to and fro, sometimes clashing and sometimes going out completely. Some chakra signals were flaring but either they were deep underground or outside the village walls.

'So the battle for the seat of Hokage, senile old monkey Hiruzen versus delusional old fox Danz.. of sorry God of Shinobi Hiruzen Sarutobi versus Warhawk Danzo. Pretty sure casualties of this conflict would be chalked up to Nine-Tails.'

After a long time walking and staying in high population areas to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Itsuki arrives in front of a three-story building which is thankfully intact. Registering his name as an orphan was easy, just his name, his birthdate, and his parent's names were required, later two of which he did not give. It is not odd for a three-four year old to not know his parent's names and his birthdate especially if it is after a traumatic event. As small it may be, it will provide buffer protection in the orphanage.

A new building was repurposed after the destruction of the last orphanage and to handle more children was much larger than previous orphanage. Getting a small room on the top floor, Itsuki looks outside the window and watch mourning people trying to rebuild their lives the best they can and some low-level ninjas in the spirit of 'will of fire' helping along with the civilians completely unaware of a bloody battle of succession going on below this grieving village.

Itsuki takes out a carefully hidden scroll about as long as the length of his hand from his robes and reads the note attached outside the scroll.

"All the things I owned and all my life's work is in this scroll and yes Itsuki I know you can read well enough since you were two and half. Who do you think I am? I also know of your 'Secret Training'. Why do you think what you would always find basic stuff conveniently laying around at home. But I think you already figured that out. You were always clever like that and I am very proud of you and always will be. I know you could easily figure out culprits behind my death but I hope you do not burden yourself with thoughts of revenge. Since I was born I was always chained, chained to a clan that only viewed me as political tool and chained to this village which viewed me as inferior for being a women and treated me as a tool and I don't know which offends me more. But my son you do not have to chained even if it is for revenge. I know your life will be difficult in this cruel world and if I could, I would not have left you alone but sometimes in life we have little choice. So my Baby I hope, above all hope that you live unfettered."