3Title: Kiri no Iruka I - Dolphin of the Mist
Author: Shae Vizla
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure / Romance
Pairing: Kakashi Hatake / Iruka Umino (very late in the story), Ringo Ameyuri / Ao
Warnings: Violence, characters' death (canon), heterosexual and homosexual relationship, child soldiers...
Disclamer: The Naruto manga and its characters are not mine. If that were the case, it would be a yaoi and Sakura will follow an anti-harassment seminar.
The cover image is taken from an illustration of APB circle.
Summary: AU. Iruka Umino is one of many orphans of Kiri, but his ingenuity allows him to be noticed at seven years old by Ameyuri Ringo, one of the seven legendary swordsmen of Kiri who decides to take him as her apprentice. In a particularly difficult political context, Iruka is going to do his best to build his own legend while maintaining his ideals.
The fic is a translation of my story: Kiri no Iruka I - Le Dauphin du Brouillard
Kiri no Iruka I - Dolphin of the Mist
The Rise and Fall of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen of Kiri
Prologue:
In almost all of the Elementary Countries, most of the children who wanted to become ninjas had a distorted view of the profession, particularly those that came from non-shinobi families. They thought of it as a life of adventure and glory, similar to their parent's bedtime stories or the romance novels the civilians women liked to read. They underestimated the hardship of the shinobi training and its dangers, and didn't realize the short life expectancy of many shinobis.
It wasn't however the case in the Hidden Village of Kiri. Indeed, it had been bloodied too often by the Shinobi World Wars, the many civil wars that had torn the Land of Water and the brutal rules of the Third and Fourth Mizukage, for the children of Kiri to have been left with any illusions about the shinobi life. Many children of Kiri had lost one or both parents from a violent death and chose to become ninjas not by idealism but pragmatism.
Indeed, the children of the Village Hidden of Kiri learned the following lesson very early: only the strong survives. Life was harsh and unfair, and you could lose everything you ever had at any moment. Kiri was probably the hidden village with the highest number of orphans, yet it didn't have a single orphanage. A parentless child was considered as an adult and had to provide for his own needs. A being incapable of caring for himself or of being useful was a dead weight for the society and did not deserve to survive.
But in Kiri, there was still one thing worse than being an orphan trying to survive on the streets: to be the possessor of a kekkei genkai. While Kumo tried to take ownership by all means of individuals with such capabilities and Konoha favored and prided its clans with powerful kekkei genkai like the Uchiha, the situation was very different on Kiri. Owners of kekkei genkai were largely weaponized during the periods of conflict and the population of the Land of Water had come to regard them as omens of war, forcing them to go underground in times of peace.
The young boy named Iruka Umino who would one day carve his legend with the moniker of Dolphin of the Mist grew up fully aware of these harsh realities.
Notes:
Kiri no Iruka is my second story translated in English and the first in the Naruto fandom. It was also my first Naruto and KakaIru fanfiction in my birth language. When I started it, I was going through a period during which I read a lot of Naruto fix-it (in which Naruto has better training and is getting stronger earlier on for one reason or another) and I had ideas for many Naruto fanfiction but the Kiri no Iruka was the one who inspired me the most at that time. I am also working on translating my two others KakaIru, Second Chance and Betrothed, but I wanted to start publishing Kiri no Iruka first since it was my first KakaIru.
About the plot
In several fanfictions I'd read, Iruka's family was originated from the Kiri Village (Village of the Mist) of the Land of Water mostly because his full name can be read as "dolphin in the sea" (Umi no Iruka).
This story assumes that the Umino family was really native from Kiri, but never left the village. While Konoha is a stable and relatively pleasant village to live in, Kiri was torn by civil wars and people with hereditary techniques (or kekkei genkai), as the Hyōton (ice manipulation) of Haku or the Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya Clan, are persecuted because they are seen as omens of war, Kiri using them only during major conflicts. In addition, for an indefinite period prior to the beginning of the manga, Kiri is under the rule of the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, who is controlled by Madara, then Tobi. His rule is a reign of terror, in particular for the holders of kekkei genkai, which are bloody persecuted.
As the title said, this fic will be mainly focused on Iruka and his career as a ninja, but Kakashi will make some appearances and will have a greater role in the sequel, The Hatake Clan. In the first two chapters, I will introduce the context, since we know little about Kiri, so don't be surprised if Iruka doesn't appear right away. Iruka is seven years old at the beginning of the story and doesn't know Kakashi yet. The romance part of the story will be at first more focused on the secondary couple composed by Ameyuri Ringo and Ao who were already adults then. I don't think that this couple already exists but it forced itself on me when I began to develop the back-story of Ameyuri.
Regarding the title, I am aware that it's somewhat stupid and easy but it has emerged in my mind while I was creating the story and I choose to adopt the idea that all the ninjas cannot have cool nicknames like the White Fang, the Copy Ninja or the Yellow Flash and didn't choose them (except Gai). The moniker is a testament of the profound nature of Iruka and his kindness, but even the most adorable dolphins could become fierce when necessary up to killing a shark.
I will roughly follow the Naruto canon timeline with some modifications due to the fact Iruka lives in Kiri and not Konoha. I had encountered some difficulties, mainly because none official really exists and several inconsistencies bear the manga. The major issues relates to the events leading to the death of Rin.
In the manga, Kiri captures Rin and seals the Sanbi inside her, making her a receptacle to be used as a Trojan horse to destroy Konoha from within. But there are certain inconsistencies:
1. Jinchuuriki are usually young children because their chakra network isn't fully formed (Mito was an adult but she was also a Seal Master and was probably able to use to her advantage the incredible vitality of the Uzumaki. The same could be said for the Rikudo Sennin).
2. Yagura, the Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi (Isobu) apparently became the Mizukage at least 10 years before the start of the manga and was said to have a perfect control over a biju. I doubt it is something you could manage in one year because the Sanbi would have been dispersed after Rin's death and I think in Naruto, he reforms only three years after Yagura's death. And as said in 1, he should have been a child under 8 when he became a Jinchuuriki.
3. I found very unlikely that Kiri would take the risk of losing one of his biju and the military power its represents, even to destroy one of his enemies. Even with Madara manipulating everyone.
In conclusion, I think that Rin was rather a pseudo-Jinchuuriki like Sora in the anime or the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumo.
Chronology of Kiri no Iruka:
-1080/-47: Warring States Period
-56: Birth of Hiruzen Sarutobi
-50: Foundation of Konohagakure
Foundation of Uzushiogakure
-49: Hashirama Senju becomes the First Hokage
-48: Madara Uchiha is exiled by the Clan Uchiha
Foundation of Kirigakure and Kumogakure
-47: Foundation of Iwagakure and Sunagakure
-46: Confrontation between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End
Supposed death of Madara Uchiha
Mito Uzumaki becomes the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi
-45: First Five Kage Summit
The First Hokage divides the bijuu between the five major Hidden Villages and Takigure.
-43: Confrontation between the First Hokage and Kazuku.
-41: Birth of Yagura
-39: The First Hokage co-reign with his brother Tobirama Senju who became the Second Hokage
-38: Birth of Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru in Konoha
-35 / -32: First Great Shinobi War
-34: Death of the First Hokage
-32: Death of the Second Hokage
Sarutobi Hiruzen became the Third Hokage
Deaths of the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage
-32/-27: First Civil War of Kiri for the Second Mizukage's succession
-33: Birth of Ameyuri Ringo in Kiri
-32: Birth of Yahiko, Konan and Nagato in Ame
-30: Kushina Uzumaki becomes the second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi
Death of Mito Uzumaki
-27: Madara Uchiha is the Third Mizukage under the name of Natsume and creates the test consisting of two pre-genin battle to death.
-26: Birth of Kakashi Hatake in Konoha
Birth of Zabuza Momochi in Kiri
-25 / -21: Second Civil War of Kiri to overthrow the Third Mizukage
-23: Kumo kidnap Kushina Uzumaki who is saved by Minato Namikaze
-22: Birth of Iruka Umino in Kiri
-21 / -20: Second Great Ninja War
-21: Yagura and Umi, the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi and the Rokubi join forces to face Madara who fails to control two bijuu at the same time. Umi is mortally wounded but the village managed to extract the bijuu before her death and seal it in an artifact. The Fourth Mizukage Yagura is appointed and focuses on the reconstruction of the village but certain cliques within the Council are opposed to important reforms, such as the genin exam.
-21: Kakashi becomes Genin
-20: Hanzo of the Salamander give Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya the title of Sannins
-20 / -19: Jiraiya trains the Ame Orphans
-20: Utakata and Iruka Umino are the last two candidates for the future of Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi
-20: Kakashi becomes chuunin
-19: Attack of Uzushiogakure by Kumo and Iwa. The village resists three days and decimate 65% of the invading troops while they are five times less numerous. Several groups including genins and non-combatants manage to evacuate the village. Reinforcements arrives from Konoha the fourth day. Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki stand against the surviving attackers and earn their nicknames. The losses of Konoha are minimals while there were no survivors in the other camp.
-18: Sakumo Hatake abandons a critical mission to save his team and the Third Great Shinobi War broke out. Several shinobis, including his teammates, decide to make him a scapegoat but in reality the mission was impossible to accomplish because of false information. The war was brewing for years and the Hidden Villages were just waiting for an excuse to tear each another.
-18 / -13: Third Great Shinobi War
-18: Decree of the Recovered. Yagura grants pardon to the holders of kekkei genkai and their families if they agree to participate in the war effort.
-18: Battle of the Archipelago of the Four Winds that decimated much of the adults of the Clan Umino.
-17: Zabuza kill by himself an entire graduating class of hopeful genins in Kiri. The test is abandoned.
-17: A diphtheria epidemic kills 40% of the inhabitants of the Village Hidden of Kiri, mainly the children and the elderly, and 95% of the Clan Umino. Iruka Umino, who participated to a training trip with Utakata for their formation as potentials Jinchuuriki, is now the sole male of the clan able to procreate. The Council of Kiri decide that the survival of the Umino Clan is essential and Utakata is ultimately selected as Jinchuuriki.
-16: Ashika Umino is disabled during a battle against Iwa and died from her injuries four months later.
-15: Iruka draws the attention of Ameyuri Ringo and became his apprentice.
-13: Kakashi became Jounin
Supposed death of Obito Uchiha
Capture of Rin who became a pseudo Jinchuuriki and use Kakashi to commit suicide
End of the Third Great Shinobi War
Minato Namikaze becomes the Fourth Hokage
-13 / -10: Great Purge of the holders of kekkei genkai in Kiri
-12: Birth of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze
Tobi releases the Kyuubi and control him in order to attack Konoha
Death of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki
Naruto becomes the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi
Kakashi integrates the ANBU
-11: Defection of Orochimaru
-10: Kisame Hoshigaki kills Fuguki Suikazan as ordered by Madara / Tobi and became the holder of Samasada.
-9: The Hyuga Affair
-5: Death of Suishi Uchiha
Massacre of the Uchiha Clan
0: Start of the manga
