Manifest Destiny
~~ Just east of Eden, a failing god curls up and dies ~~
A dark hue was cast over the lands; dark gray storm clouds making way north across the waters, towards a known to many as "Kaminari no Kuni".
*Tch* "These storms always bring bad tidings," a masculine voice sounded throughout the open air.
"Shinobi! Enough of this pointless talk, answer me now. Will you, or will you not accept the requirements I have put forth should I allow your clan to settle in within my lands?"
The current ruling Daimyo of the land of Kaminari no Kuni is Ageha Torifu. He is an old and frail man but, despite his age, he is still a cunning and ruthless ruler of his lands.
Rusty red hair – with an odd strand of gray strewn in-, blowing erratically from the strong winds, shook up and down as he nodded. "Yes Daimyo-tono. We shall quell the peasant rebellion in the Tempest province and provide Tokihiro no kimi our protection for the duration of our stay".
"Good, good. I look forward to the results; send Tokihiro-bo my regards." Wiith that said, the Daimyo turned around – his dark blue robe flourishing around with the sudden movement; sunlight glinting off the golden accents. – and strode out towards the stairs leading to his adobe. His guards soon following after him in an organized fashion.
"Takemori, Jin, lets not waste anymore of our time here." With that said, the man with red hair spun around and started to walk at a brisk pace to the forest line previously behind him.
Two men, previously kneeling behind the man talking with the Daimyo, stood up; one of the men had short and wild moss-green hair, and the other, a man with dull red hair tied into a ponytail. Quickly walking towards their master, they soon caught up to him and followed in silence.
Two days later...
He glared introspectively into a mirror, contemplating not only his appearance but, the task he was gearing up for. "A waste of our talents and an insult to our clan; I can't believe the Daimyo would send the entirety of our clan to put down a simple pe-"
"Ahem!" A male voice interrupted his internal monologue.
Turning around to face the entrance to his tent, he saw a gaunt face and red hair peaking through the flaps. "What is it Nagato?".
"Naruto-sama, I've assembled three squads for your use in your task. They are awaiting your arrival at the camp's main gates and Te-"
He interrupted him, "I see. Leave now, I'll be making my way there in a minute."
"W-wait, Naruto-sama! Tetsuo-sama gave me a scroll to give to you! " The young boy spluttered at the dismissal. Putting his hands forth, he held a red scroll in front of his face.
Walking towards the entrance, Naruto stopped in front of Nagato's stretched out hands. Eyeing the proffered scroll dubiously, he grabbed the scroll out of Nagato's hands. "Another mission? He had yet to even his current one!". Taking a step back, Naruto thanked the boy and as sonn as he left, opened the scroll. Eyes pouring over the meticulously written handwriting of his grandfather.
Naruto,
Theses are two secondary objectives to your main task.
The Daimyo suspects Tokihiro is preparing to usurp him in the coming months. Find any evidence pertaining to his treasonous acts.
A local clan – the Kohaku – have been acting unruly as of late and have begun causing issues with the governance of the province. Our employer wishes that we deal with the clan. You have full discretion over your method of solving this problem.
In regards to the former objective, bring the evidence directly myself along with a report on Tokihiro.
Now that, that is out of the way...
Members of the Uchiha clan have been spotted roaming near the border towns of Kanegasaki and Sumita. I need not to say how unusual this is; find out what business they have this far north.
Raising his eyebrows in mild surprise, he considered what the Uchiha were doing so far away from their native lands, "Have the Senju finally manage to run them out of Hi no Kuni?" He snorted, "Somehow I doubt that. Tenacious bastards."
He jerked his arm up, releasing his grip on the scroll on the way up. "Katon: Endan!" breathing in a small amount of air, he opened his mouth and spat a fireball at the scroll falling through the air, watching as the scroll turned to ashes in front of him. He gave a glance towards the mirror, looking at the reflected image of himself for a moment.
He was wearing maroon red kimono. Covering the kimono was the clan's standard non-reflective blue shinobi armor; upon the armor piece covering his back was the crest of the Uzumaki clan, a large chalk-white swirl identifying his affiliation to the clan. Sitting upon his head was a mop of messy, spiky, vibrant red – a signature physical feature of the clan – hair. His red bangs were casting a shadow over his face, still round with baby-fat, and partially covering his eyes; eyes so unnaturally – and unnatural it was with the concentric circles his eyes held – bright and blue that they seemed to be glowing.
His legs were covered with dull red shinobi pants, designed to be as unrestricting to the wearer's movement as possible, and his feet, bare of any socks, were adorned by a pair of black shinobi sandals.
He carried a simple Daisho and a grand Tachi, hanging by his left hip. The Daisho's hilt and scabbard were a dark royal blue. Meanwhile, the Tachi's hilt was a golden color, as was its scabbard which had a strand of rope coiled around it near the hilt.
Walking over to a nearby table littered with notes and scrolls, he picked up half a dozen of the scrolls just lying there before sealing everything else left out on the top into yet another scroll and putting it in a plain grey pouch by his lower back connected a thin brown strap tied around his midsection. He strode towards the entrance to the tent, pushing the flaps aside as he left.
"Tetsou-sama, the Senju have sent a courier bearing a message."
"What are you waiting for? Send him in!"
"At once sir!"
The flaps on the tent slowly opened as a person walked in, wearing a simple dark blue coat with a hood, hiding the rest of their attire from view.
Giving a slight bow in respect, a clearly feminine voice sounded out, "Tetsou-sama, Butsuma-sama has requested that I deliver a scroll to you and await your response." She unfastened a part of her cloak, reaching into it and withdrawing a scroll bearing the Senju's symbol.
She walked forward and and kneeled on one leg before she held the item out in her hands, offering it to the man currently sitting on a zabuton behind a low wooden table.
"I see. Thank you for the delivery," he said whilst reaching for the scroll. "I will send for you once I've written my response. It shan't take too long."
Standing up, she bowed once more, "It's my pleasure Tetsuo-sama". She turned around and walked out the tent.
"Now that she is gone, lets see what information you hold..." Opening the scroll, his eyes looked over the words on the paper. Lips pointing downwards in a grimace, he began to write his response.
"Butsuma, you fool..."
"About time you got here Naruto," grumbled a redheaded girl.
"Ah, sorry about that Mito-san, I had some stuff to take care of before we left," Naruto chuckled uneasily, scratching the back of his head.
"How many time do I have to tell you to stop using formalities with me Naruto?" She pulled her lips back into a frown and crossed her arms. "You know I hate that stuff. Besides! We've known each other for forever!" her voice became increasingly louder as she spoke.
Sticking out his tongue at her, told her, "Its funny seeing you get so worked up." His eyes seemed to become clouded as he put his hand on his chin, seemingly in deep thought.
"Didn't we only meet a month ago Mito-san?"
Nodding sagely, Mito responded, "Yup, forever ago."
Moving his shoulders in a manner reminiscent of shrugging, he moved to face the other members of his group. "Theres just no arguing with you Mito-san, is there?" his voice full of mirth. Surveying the twelve Uzumaki shinobi in front of him, his face suddenly got serious.
"Alright, here is the deal. While I'm sure most of you already know the detail of this mission, lets have a quick recap before we head off."
"We are going to be our clan's vanguard as we relocate to one of our forts in the Tempest province. We will be clearing a path straight to Chibana castle, leaving no undesirables such as bandits alive to harass our family on their way through. We will have a two day head start on the rest of the clan; we've been delegated the task of protecting Tokihiro no kimi and putting down any local rebellions from the peasants until the rest of our forces arive. That is all." As soon as he stopped speaking, he started
to walk towards the camp's main gate with Mito right behind him.
"It 's time to head on out" he called out to the shinobi behind him.
As soon as they walked past the gate, they broke into a sprint, moving so fast that they looked like mere blurs to any outside observers.
"I got a bad feeling about this whole thing..."
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