After much consideration and several sleepless nights, I've decided to add to the plethora of Uzumaki clan-centric fics. Why? Because I refuse, refuse, refuse to believe that Uzushiogakure would not be at least a little bit prepared for an invasion, and that Konoha, a trusted ally, would not at least offer Uzumaki clan refugees sanctuary after Uzushiogakure's destruction. Even if they were at midst of war. Writing this is my way of venting out my frustrations about that. (Besides, who doesn't like an exploration of what the Uzumaki clan could have been like?)

Despite that, this is simply an experimental fic. I could have chosen to just keep this to myself, but a friend of mine said it could be liked by others. So, I'm sharing this to you all. If, however, nobody likes this, I can understand. :)

So I don't own Naruto, yadda, yadda, yadda. All that cliché fanfiction intro thing. Now on with the story!

Senkai no Dansu

PROLOGUE

"Are you certain about this, Hokage-sama?"

The third Hokage blew out smoke from his pipe as he stared at the large council gathered in front of him. Usually, for out-of-the-blue meetings like this, it was enough for only the advisors to be present, but the clan heads were in attendance as well. That was something of a rarity, given that they were currently at midst of war. The topic of the meeting was not even about war.

Well, not their war.

Sarutobi Hiruzen placed the pipe down after another exhale of smoke, and he leveled the clan head who spoke a tired, but stern gaze.

"I certainly am, Akimichi." He replied, ignoring the way the plump man frowned uncertainly at his answer. "I believe this is a reasonable request from our allies, and it would not harm us to lend our aid to them."

"But we're at war, Hokage-sama!" One of his advisors exclaimed. "We don't have the time nor the resources to spare these people! Haven't you thought of that?"

The jab at his reasoning made him glare at the man, and the threatening aura that filled the room made everyone flinch. "What kind of Hokage do you think I am? Of course I've thought about it! I'm just not the kind of man who would leave his allies to die after such a horrible tragedy."

"And what a tragedy it is."

Sarutobi turned to another member of the advisor council—the one with the dark hair and bandages around his face. He narrowed his eyes as the man casually placed his hands on the table.

"A prestigious clan like that, destroyed out of fear of its unrivaled sealing techniques." He seemed to tut in shame and disappointment, but nobody could tell if he was being condescending or truly sympathetic. "The Uzumaki clan did not deserve to be so unfairly outmatched and annihilated."

The third Hokage grunted. "I agree. Our allies were no match for the sudden invasion of Kiri shinobi. They were outnumbered three to one, and that included children and civilians."

He looked at the scroll in his hands, unfolded to display a short, quick request for sanctuary. A swirl-like pattern was printed at the end of the message, indicating that it had been signed and sent by an acting clan head.

'Uzumaki Aizu,' He read the hastily drawn signature. His brow furrowed when he realized that he recognized the name. 'Grandson of elder Ashina, eh?'

"That doesn't make any sense," A clan head spoke up to break the silence, and Sarutobi looked up to see a confused-looking Yamanaka glaring at the table. "Uzushiogakure is not part of this war. Why would anyone seek to destroy it?"

"Fear." Was the short reply from a slouched clan head next to him. A Nara, obviously. "Danzou-sama has already mentioned that the clan is known for its powerful sealing abilities. With a power like that, any nation would attempt to seize it for themselves—or destroy it."

"And Uzushio is an ally of Konoha." The head of the Inuzuka clan somberly added, and the Nara head nodded.

"That's right. Getting rid of the Uzumaki clan was probably an attempt to diminish Konoha's power." The Nara head then snorted, leaning back in his seat. "Too bad they completely forgot that a clan full of seal masters would have some sort of back-up plan in case an invasion happens."

Sarutobi nodded at this, and he couldn't help but be thankful for that. Uzushiogakure is indeed comprised of promising and powerful shinobi, but their numbers were barely half of the number of shinobi in hidden villages like Kirigakure.

The very name of that village made the Hokage narrow his eyes in confusion and suspicion; that village was not part of this war. What were they planning?

'Are they planning on joining the war, after all?' He thought, tightening the hold of his joined hands.

"In any case," The bespectacled advisor spoke up, and he turned to the Hokage. "What happened to the Uzumaki clan is unfortunate, but I strongly believe that this is not our concern. Our efforts should be concentrated on the war that we are currently fighting."

"Homura is correct." The only female on the advisor council, Utatane Koharu, agreed. "Konoha has many enemies, and if we let our guard down for just a moment, we could end up like the Uzumaki clan. We shouldn't even be talking about this."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at his former teammates. While what they said made absolute sense, he himself did not want to abandon the survivors of the Uzumaki clan. They had aided Konoha in the First Shinobi World War, and now when they needed help, was it right for Konoha to simply turn its back on them? And not to mention, the Shodaime's wife was an Uzumaki, herself.

The way they nonchalantly rejected an ally's request; it made him sick to the stomach.

But before he could voice out any of these thoughts, he was taken aback when the man whose support he did not expect suddenly spoke up.

"I say we welcome the Uzumaki clan to Konoha."

The conference room was silent. Even the soft murmurings stopped. Everyone turned to look at Shimura Danzou, whose face did not betray anything. The ones who knew him well looked at him in shock.

"Danzou?!" Koharu turned and practically screeched.

"Do you realize what you're saying?" Added Homura, though he was more restrained than his fellow advisor.

Danzou was not looking at them, but rather, at the Hokage whose suspicious gaze he calmly met. The man shifted in his seat to turn towards Danzou.

"I can't say I'm not glad for the support but," He paused. "What is your reason for thinking this, Danzou?"

The man leaned back in his seat as he started to explain. "First of all, it should be mentioned that the Uzumaki clan is an ally of Konoha. The clan has aided us in the past; surely, we should be gracious enough to do the same in their time of need? Also, the clan is comprised of talented fuuinjutsu users. Something that, I believe, would aid us to win this war."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes. There we go. The man's true motive. "You would have them join this war right after surviving the destruction of their village?"

"It's give and take, Hokage-sama." Danzou didn't flinch when the Hokage glared at him for the subtle jab at his title. "Like the advisors have mentioned, it would take a considerable amount of time, effort and resources to house the Uzumaki clan refugees. I suggest that, in return for offering them refuge, we request that any able shinobi among them would be included in the war effort."

"That is fair," Homura conceded, rubbing his chin in thought. Even Koharu looked like she was changing her mind about the issue.

"And with their knowledge on fuuinjutsu, the Uzumaki clan would be able to teach our shinobi their techniques. It would add to Konoha's growing repertoire of powerful jutsu." She added, nodding to herself.

"You think they would gladly share their secrets, Utatane-sama?" A clan head spoke up. It was the Hyuuga head.

"Not all, no. But enough to give our shinobi an advantage in the field. One does not need to be an Uzumaki to learn fuuinjutsu, after all."

All thoughts went to a certain white-haired jounin currently in Amegakure. Everyone listening nodded in agreement.

The Hokage sighed. It seemed like mostly everyone agreed to welcome the Uzumaki clan, but for the wrong reasons. He supposed that there was no helping it, but still—

He frowned. What would Hirashima-sama do in this situation, he wondered?

"Does anyone else have anything to say regarding this issue?" He lifted his pipe to his mouth and asked. When no one seemed to want to add anything, he inhaled through his pipe and sighed. "If that is so, I call for a vote. All in favor of offering refuge to the survivors of the Uzumaki Clan?"

He watched as hands rose in the air, some slower than the others. He observed that even the clanheads who had been vocal about their skepticism were now raising their hands. Perhaps the points raised by Danzou had managed to convince them as well.

Danzou.

The man was raising his hand, of course, but Sarutobi was unsure of his motives. The man had Konoha's best interests at heart, surely, but...

What was this uneasiness?

The Hokage mentally counted the number of hands in the air, and he noted that everyone had voted to give them refuge. Deciding that asking for a vote for the opposite was unnecessary, he rolled the scroll in his hands closed and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a pair of ANBU appeared behind him.

"Bear, Bird," He began. "Send your teams to accompany the summoned emissary to the marked location on this scroll to meet with the survivors of the Uzumaki clan. Be sure not to waste time and lead the refugees here safely."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"Also, I'm pretty sure the messenger is tired. Give him... a carrot, or something."

They acknowledged with another synchronized affirmation, and in a blink of an eye, they vanished.

After a moment, the pale-haired Yamanaka head cleared his throat and asked, "How are we going to prepare their lodgings, Hokage-sama? And will the Uzumaki clan be recognized as a clan here, as well?"

"That will be all discussed in due time. For now, the events at Amegakure need to be examined. After a ten-minute break, the advisor council and clan heads will discuss this."

As the people slowly filed out of the room to take advantage of their break, Sarutobi slouched in his seat and let out another smoky exhale. In the corner of his eye, Danzou left the council room along with the two other advisors. That uneasy feeling from a while ago returned.

'Just what are you planning, Danzou?' He asked himself. Deep inside, he had this theory...

The Hokage shuddered. He vaguely wondered if declining the Uzumaki clan's request would have been much more merciful.

There you go. It was short, but hey, it's just an intro. But I hope that was interesting enough for all of you to be curious. I have SO much planned for this story, so I really hope I can show you all what my strange brain has come up with.

A few reminders, though:

1) While I am aware that there are several Uzumaki clan-centric fics out there, I personally and honestly have not read any before developing and first writing out this story. If this story resembles an already existing fic out there, then that is purely coincidental.

2) The destruction of Uzushiogakure takes place sometime before or after Kushina is sent to Konoha (according to the wiki). I decided to make it after. (See Edit 2 below)

3) This story will feature some OC's. Now, before you go "blehh OC's", I would like to ask that you give this story a chance. There aren't many Uzumaki clan characters in canon anyway, so I think a lot of you have already deduced that this story will feature some original characters.

Anyway, thank you all so much for taking the time to read this prologue (along with the really length author's note, I'm sorry. I promise to try avoid doing this again). Here's hoping you guys find this interesting and leave a review!

Edit: Elder Sibling graciously took the time to point out a little mistake I made. Haha, oops. Thanks so much, friend!
Edit 2: After conducting further research, speculation and calculation (I hate math) than I initially did, I totally take back what I said about making Uzushio being destroyed before Kushina was sent to Konoha. The Naruto timeline is so strange and confusing UGH. Peace ;_;