Author's note: This is an AU story with a point of divergence being the existence of another hidden village with a strange set of beliefs. The first two episodes of the series remain canon. The story starts in the beginning of Episode three after Naruto arrives in the classroom for the graduates.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of world they live. This story is not for profit, and is a parody written for fun.
Chapter 1:
The first clue that something was wrong was the strange white mist that appeared inside the crystal ball he'd planned to use to show the jonin their new students. The instructors had all arrived, and where milling about, trying to spare him the embarrassment of noticing his technical difficulties. He desperately wanted to believe that the odd static that made it impossible to view the most recent graduating class, was merely a failure on his end.
But he knew nothing was ever that simple. He was already running his mind through every jutsu he knew of, in search of what could have had this specific effect. Maybe they would be lucky and it was just another of Naruto's pranks. Maybe the boy had picked up some smoke bombs and had flooded the classroom. Maybe the crystal was working perfectly.
And maybe the Fourth Hokage would miraculously turn up alive and a blissful retirement would once again be within reach.
Somehow Sarutobi doubted either possibility likely. The timing was too suspicious. A sinking feeling stole into his heart. Mizuki still hadn't been found, and if the traitor hadn't been working alone it was feasible he could have spent the days after the exams to gather his allies for an assault. As the Hokage went to order the Jonin standing around muttering to check on the academy, the windows outside his office shattered and seven ninja leaped through. He didn't recognize their uniforms, but he doubted they were mere Chunin.
The attack itself began exactly one second after the fog had begun. The timing was as precise as the plan was detailed. Which was only right. Despite what the rouge Chunin Mizuki thought, this had not been a hastily planned affair. The planning for the attack had been in place for months before Mizuki had failed in his mission.
The elders of the village hidden beneath the stars, had not trusted the rogue jonin's seemingly simplistic plan. They had even said as much to Anaba when they asked him to continue laying the ground work for this mission. Of course they hadn't told the supposedly renegade leaf ninja that. Anaba himself, had told Mizuki that all their hopes had been pinned on him.
Which had been far from the truth. Anaba had already been several months into planning the strike against the village hidden in the leaf when the traitorous Chunin had been found by one of his operatives.
In that time Anaba hadn't been idle. He'd spent the first month studying the information that he'd been presented with and creating a general outline for the mission. The next month he had focused on sneaking in his operatives, and having them report back with any information they could acquire. In addition to allowing him to refine his plan with additional information, this allowed him to test the leaf's ability to police their own land, and his operatives ability to move within an enemy village.
His operatives had hardly had a challenge setting up cover lives as normal citizens. The current Hokage was too soft, too trusting. Like many leaders he allowed non-shinobi to enter and live in the village, however unlike in several of the other villages Anaba had studied the Leaf did not keep rigorous track of these regular citizens every movements. In the Village hidden in the clouds there were entire departments dedicated to monitoring the movements and activities of the regular populace. Here though privacy was still allowed. As were wandering merchants and immigrants. The large amount of newcomers, and the freedoms allowed those who visited or came to stay combined with the fact that the low numbers of high level ninja this village had to be spread thin in order to continue training the young, complete the missions the village undertook, and police the city, meant that this village was unusually susceptible to infiltration.
And while it was true that Ibiki's squads were some of the most elite counter intelligence specialists in the known world, their lack of numbers was simply an insurmountable limitation. Which suited Anaba just fine. He'd rather enjoyed the detailed information his scouts had been able to procure: a precise layout of the town; the schedules and behavior patterns for his targets; an extensive amount of gossip and some very good observations as well. Mai had also found Mizuki.
Mai was one of his few female operatives. The council normally did not approve of women neglecting their traditional duties for the life of one of the tribe's warriors. But she was one of the rare exceptions. It wasn't because her talents for deception and manipulation were simply unrivaled. Which they were. She would have been by far one of the most adept politicians the tribe had ever seen. Her facility in the diplomatic arts made her perfect for the roles allotted for women.
What really made her an invaluable asset to their ninja, and was what enabled her to avoid the life of a politician, was her skill at assimilating into other cultures. Where it normally took years of intense study and practice for even his most skilled operatives to be able to blend into a the populace of a foreign land Mai was able to memorize and internalize most aspects of a culture after only a few weeks of study.
She'd been posing as widowed shopkeeper who had moved to the fire country in order to escape the horrible situation in wave country. From there she'd managed to gain the confidence of one of the high placed members of one of Konoha's respected clans, who had had business in the fire capital while she was there. Over time she'd managed to parlay that connection into a sponsorship with the hidden village, and had become one of the chief suppliers of goods and services to the small village. She routinely made supply runs and was even a part owner in a few of the newer shops.
She'd not be participating in the actual attack. Her current cover identity was too valuable for their village to sacrifice even for a mission as vital as this. No instead, they would be using the disgraced leaf ninja Mizuki. The fool would be the perfect cover for how their attack squads would have such detailed information about the village. And the fool, had a grudge against their target, so it was likely the entire mission would be looked upon as an attempt to obtain the scroll Mizuki had failed to procure with the Chunin going out of his way for a little revenge.
It had been easy to manipulate the disgraced chunin into participating in the plan. All Anaba had needed to do was offer the fool a chance for revenge and asylum. He'd told the ninja that all that needed to occur was for Konoha's blasphemous mistake to be rectified. And if Mizuki did that his men would even procure the forbidden scroll for Mizuki in addition to sheltering him from the anbu hit squads that were even now following a false trail Anaba had left for them.
And now months of planning were about to be realized. They would assault the village, slay the monstrosity and rectify the natural order. And the foolish leaf ninjas would never piece together just what happened. Their own unthinking arrogance and misplaced hatred would blind them into thinking it was a raid upon their precious secret scroll.
And so the operation began as the cloying white smoke curled into the Hokage's crystal ball, blinding him to the destruction of his legacy.
In a small clearing a solid ten minute run outside of the village of Konoha, there where seven men sitting on the damp ground. Each had their eyes closed and legs crossed. Their attention was far away, focused on a building in the nearby village.
Each of the men wore only the ceremonial loincloth befitting one of their status, and a small rough opaque rock tied to a leather chocker. The oldest of them, a man whose flesh was pockmarked with hundreds of ritual and battle scars sat patiently in the front of the formation. His name was Unando and he was the highest ranked male in his village. He occupied the position of Speaker, and he should be at this moment hundreds of miles away on one of the highest plateaus near his home village. It was the time for the anointing of the destinies. He should have been preparing the ceremonial paints from the fallen rocks. He should have been reviewing the candidates for Scouts and be looking for the few among the scouts who had the potential to join his Painted. Instead he'd left one of his juniors in charge and had come to this forsaken village. Then he felt the fog appear, blocking the target from his mind. Steeling himself he began to prepare to use the jutsu, the reason he'd come.
Maka bit the inside of his lip with just enough pressure to tear the away the fresh scab that had been growing there, and to reopen the small incision he'd made earlier. Around him the rest of his team did the same. As the iron taste of his own blood trickled onto his tongue he could feel the haze that had clouded his farsight fade. Nodding to the rest of his team and their two defenders, he closed his eyes and began to chant. As his lips and throat created the necessary rhythmic incantations he focused his chakra. His hands came to rest on the stone hanging from a leather strap on his neck. His squad did the same.
It was time.
The building that houses Konoha's anbu appears to be a typical example of Konoha architecture. It is a squat ugly thing, in the shape of a rectangle and lined with windows. It was no more durable than any other building. It's only abnormal structural feature was the ease with which it could be exited. Every window was large enough for a person to leap from. There were several emergency doors that only locked from the outside, and multiple ways to reach any floor, including the roof.
It had been designed with two things in mind. First the anbu's headquarters was a likely target for any invading force. Further it would be a costly use of manpower to directly take on the anbu, so it was more likely that an enemy would attempt to destroy the building and those inside it through the use of explosives or some other technique. And since there was no way to perfectly keep out every enemy ninja it was deemed more important that the occupants would be able to easily escape and that it would be impossible to trap them inside. Also the anbu needed to able to quickly leave the premises in order to respond to any threat to the city.
The current Hokage hadn't ordered the building altered. He agreed with his predecessors logic, and although he was aware of the vulnerability of a force of enemy ninjas attacking the building outright, he'd was deemed better to have them attack the Anbu headquarters rather than have them attack the city itself in order to lure the anbu out. Also the tempting target would force many enemies to waste most of their force trying to take out the Anbu.
The Anbu were well aware of both the weaknesses in their building and the logic behind them. Altogether most were pleased to be the guardians of the city and looked upon such a thing as part of the job.
The various squad leaders had even prepared several battle plans that would give a nasty surprise to any assault squads. A few of the more ambitious ones had even prepared a few traps that could be easily armed in case an invading force was detected.
However none of these preparations proved to be useful when the enemy appeared suddenly without warning in your midst. Such a thing did not often happen in the world of the Anbu. They were the elite ninja of Konoha. There should have been no enemy that could surprise them.
Unfortunately today, they would find that even veterans such as they could be surprised.
In a classroom located in the Ninja Academy, across town from both the Anbu operations building and the barracks for on duty ninjas, Naruto was becoming annoyed. Why didn't Sakura want to talk to him! He was a way better ninja than that idiot Sasuke. The stupid pretty boy had probably never beat up a chunin! And yet all the girls were obsessed with the black haired idiot! It didn't make any sense.
And worse yet, he'd been shoved aside like he was nothing. He was a genin now! People should see him; should acknowledge him. He was gonna be the next Hokage! And then they'd have to pay attention to him! They couldn't go on ignoring him for pretty boy Uchicas.
Picking himself up from the floor where the horde of Sasuke's obsessed fan girls had knocked him while they fought over the precious seat next to the scowling boy. The desire to leap onto the desk and examine what was so special the boy swept through him. His legs hand tensed to propel him forward to do just that when a familiar voice sapped the strength from his leg.
"Where are you brat? You won't win this time!"
A flash of anger ripped through Naruto, washing way the wave of anxiety. It was Mizuki! The traitorous bastard who'd tried to set him up. Suddenly Naruto was on his feet again, screaming loudly next to the ear of the woman he often sought to date.
"OY. I'm not hiding you traitor! I'll kick your ass again! Believe it!"
He sought to strike an intimidating pose, one that would strike fear into the heart of his enemy and impress Sakura with his awesome prowess. Instead he crashed back to the floor as his beloved's fist connected with his face.
"Naruto you idiot! You can't talk to a teacher that way! I'm sorry Mizuki-san, he's an idiot," she said as she bowed quickly trying to mollify the wrath of the teacher Naruto had so unjustly insulted before he punished the entire class again. She would not do needless repetitions of a jutsu she had already mastered on the day when she would finally be teamed with Sasuke-kun and be able to realize her destiny as his girlfriend. And soon she would finally be free of that annoying brat Naruto. She would not let him delay that moment for even a second.
Her bow was so deep, that she missed the cruel smirk that lit up his face and the shuriken that appeared between two of his fingers. He walked forward sliding the hand that held his weapon closer to his leg.
"No need to apologize Sakura-chan. I know you know the proper respect for a teacher. You can stop bowing."
As he walked closer to the unsuspecting girl a brilliant plan began to form in his mind. He remembered this girl. She was smart, picked things up quickly, but didn't really have the makings of a true ninja. Though the way she'd assaulted the demon fox a second before was rather impressive. Any other day he might just encourage her to beat the little brat to death for him. But the brat had defeated him, humiliated him and cost him the power he'd been seeking and his place in the village. He was lucky no one had informed the other little brats what had happened. And even luckier that they had such disdain for Naruto not to listen to the brat. But he couldn't afford to gloat forever. Eventually Iruka would come back, and then his free pass would be up.
But in the short time he had he could get the most telling revenge before he carried out his part of the bargain and killed the blond brat. He remembered why he knew Sakura. It wasn't because of her ninja skills. No, she'd stood out in his mind because the blonde brat was in love with her. He'd follow her and badger her with repeated unwanted requests for a date. If Naruto had somehow passed the Genin exam Mizuki had planned to use the boy's unrequited love for the girl to convince the brat to steal the scroll.
But now he had an even better plan. He would kill the girl while the brat watched helplessly. The question was how to do it. Should he launch the shuriken in his hand into her large forehead? Should he slice open her neck? Or maybe he should squeeze the life from her while the others watched helplessly. If he'd had the time, he'd lure her away, and torture her until she was nothing more than a bloody mess and mail her to the boy piece by piece. But he didn't have that kind of time.
He would just have to settle for a quick, painless death. Hopefully it would be enough to make the boy suffer before it was his turn as well. The decision made, he spun, throwing the star shaped weapon at the now standing girl. The movement was swift, and her classmates had been too absorbed in their own personal dramas to notice the weapon in his hand.
Or so he thought.
Shikamaru was unhappy. First his mother had tracked him down early this morning, forcing him to give up the perch he'd found to indulge in his favorite hobby. If that wasn't troublesome enough she'd made him walk all the way to Ino's house so that they could walk over together. The troublesome woman seemed to think if she forced the two of them to spend time together they'd fall in love and she could have the grandchildren she so desired. It was so troublesome.
As was Ino. She'd insisted on waiting for Sakura to come by. Something about proving who deserved Sasuke. It was troublesome. And a lie, but it would be too troublesome to call the blond on her self delusions. Then he'd have to talk to her about it. So instead he'd muttered under his breath and trudged onwards towards class. He'd arrived early only to see Naruto happily sitting next to the annoying Uchicha who was the fixation of all the girls in their year. With the exception of the Hyugga who kept blushing every time she got near Naruto. It was all so troublesome.
Despite his annoyance and desire to go back to sitting quietly watching the clouds, in deference to his old friendship with Naruto from when they were younger, he figured he'd warn the energetic boy. He was just as stubborn as Shikamaru remembered. The same boundless energy the boy had put into running around with him, Choji and Kiba, pulling whatever pranks they could get away with, the blonde spent trying to convince him that he'd passed the test after all. Maybe the story he'd overheard a few chunin's discuss as he'd watched clouds that morning was true.
But that would mean that one of their teachers was a traitor, and that Naruto had stolen a priceless scroll and mastered one of the techniques hidden within it. He'd put it all out of his mind when he took his seat. He'd picked a seat near a window so he could watch the clouds. He'd been almost enjoying himself when Mizuki burst into the classroom.
He couldn't help but notice the way the man carried himself, and the words he'd used. When Naruto had answered the challenge for a rematch, Shikamaru forced himself to conclude that the rumors had been right. Mizuki was a traitor and Naruto had defeated him. Which meant that the chunin would only be back for revenge, and only if he had the support of an organization that could not only throw off the Anbu who would currently be pursuing Mizuki for the betrayal of the leaf, but provide back up for the mission in the heart of enemy diversion. From there it was easy to deduce that it was likely a diversion to cover another attempt on the scroll. By the time Sakura had started apologizing Shikamaru had already finished his assessment of the situation. By the time Mizuki had started to talk Shikamaru had figured out what the cruelest way to punish Naruto would be. When Sakura stopped bowing, Shikamaru knew that none of his classmates would realize. He would have to act.
How troublesome.
Naruto jerked back to his feet as the bastard moved forward, towards Sakura. The genin's vision clouded over with anger at the bastards words. How dare he! He was the traitor! He was no teacher of the leaf, not anymore. And what did he want with Sakura-chan? Naruto's question was answered a second later when Mizuki's hand whipped towards Sakura's head.
A small piece of metal streaked toward her. It was too late for Naruto to act. Even with his boundless confidence in his abilities he knew he'd never make it to her in time. Even as he moved towards her the inches between them might as well been miles.
For her part Sakura was frozen in fear. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. Why had Mizuki-sensei…
And there her thoughts ended as a cold alien feeling spread over her. She was suddenly unable to move, to even cringe as the blade headed towards her. Time had already slowed down for her as fear had paralyzed her body. Now though something else took control of her limbs. Before she could even understand what was happening she felt her body lurch to the side, out of the path of the projectile which continued on past her, narrowly missing the shorter girl standing on the step below her. Suddenly the cold clammy feeling vanished, and her muscles were once again hers. Her inner voice cried out for vengeance for Mizuki-teme and whatever had dared take control of her body. If it was Ino she was gonna punch the blonde so heard. But Ino was still standing to her right, completely shocked. Puzzled Sakura remained sitting still staring in awe as she tried to process the events of the last few seconds.
The rest of the class hadn't remained quite so still. Shikamaru had regained his feet, quickly. The shadow bind technique he's used to save Sakura had required him to do the same movements that he was forcing upon her. So they'd both had to fall. But he couldn't afford to remain down. As troublesome as it was his classmates were confused and disoriented. If he didn't take charge Mizuki and whatever forces that had come with him would make quick work of the academy class.
Brushing himself off he calculated the quickest method of addressing the confusion on his classmates faces and forestalling an attack until they could collect themselves. It would take precious seconds that the Chunin was unlikely to grant them. If Shikamaru wanted time he'd have to earn every second of it. A plan quickly formulated.
"Mizuki, as a ninja of the Village hidden in the life I declare your life is forfeit for your crimes against the leaf. If you will not surrender your life I will be forced to take it."
As Shikamaru stood and declared their former teacher an enemy of the leaf and a traitor Ino felt her jaw drop. She wanted to be angry, but the truth was she was impressed. That was the most she'd heard Shikamaru say at one time in years. And even if it was said in the same lazy drawl he always used, the words themselves were strong. And she hadn't even call the situation troublesome.
"I don't know what you're talking about Shikamru. I'-"
"Enough of the charade, Mizuki. I'm getting bored waiting for you to get revenge already," Nukpana shouted, interrupting the lie the traitor was beginning to spin. A feral grin of delight light up the Scout's face as, Mizuki glared at him. Nukpana had been delighted when he'd received his instructions. Slaughtering children was the perfect end to a boring summer. It had been too long since he'd been let loose into the field. Anaba's squeamishness meant that he was often forced to wait for an enemy to violate the tribe's territory before he'd be allowed loose.
It had been years since he'd been allowed to walk into a school with his axes in hand. He longed to hear the delicious screams and sobs as his ripped into the flesh of these young fools who were arrogant enough to think themselves warriors. Today was going to be his lucky day.
His first two victims were two boys sitting in the front row. They weren't quick enough to avoid the axes he threw at them. The thick blades cut through their necks, resulting in a beautiful spray of arterial blood. With a quick hand seal and a pulse of chakra the two blades spun back, coming to a rest in his open hands.
With a bark he gave the only order his team needed to hear, and his three handpicked butchers removed the henges they'd been hiding behind. Many among his tribe viewed the ninja arts as a vulgar blasphemous expression of the true power of chakra. He was not one of them, whatever allowed him to kill more people was alright with him, whether it be ninjustu or calling.
He moved to join them when another brat stood before him. This one was shorter than the two he'd just killed. The brat had black hair and was trying to level a glare full of killing intent. Instead of achieving the desired effect Nukpana thought it just made the little boy look sullen. With a laugh he called out to the brave and foolish boy.
"Is there a name you'd like me to put on your gravestone?"
A dark look filled the boy's eyes.
"I won't be the one needing gravestone," was all he said before he brought his hands up to form a seal and began spitting balls of fire.
Fear crept its way into Naruto's heart. How could this be happening. They were supposed to be safe in the village. It was just his first day as a genin. What was he supposed to do. These monsters would kill him! They'd already killed two of his classmates. He'd never spoken with either of them, but their lifeless heads had landed inches from him and now they stared accusingly at him.
Above him a cry of Naruto-kun alerted him to Mizuki's attack. The cowardly traitor had chosen the moment of Naruto's distraction as a chance to end the genin's life.
Naruto managed to throw himself out of the way of the large shuriken that headed towards him. He even managed to push Sakura closer to the ground, shielding her from the oversized ninja star that Mizuki threw. He however was unable to do the same for the girl standing behind him, and the star bisected her before she could react. The star remained inside her, jutting obscenely from her stomach. Bile rose in his throat even as he heard Ino's voice tell him to move.
He couldn't go. If he did he'd leave Sakura-chan to the same fate the poor pigtailed girl behind him had suffered. So instead he crossed his arms in front of his face and screamed in pain as the smaller shurikens sunk into the meaty flesh of his forearms. The pain brought him back to his senses. He couldn't just remain standing there. If he did everyone was going to die. Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, and even that bastard Sasuke. And it would all be his fault. He didn't finish Mizuki when he'd had the chance. And it was him Mizuki was after. No! He wouldn't let anyone else die! He was going to end this!
Gritting his teeth he formed the seal for the only combat jutsu he knew, screaming its name out as he poured all the chakra he could summon into the jutsu he'd only recently learned.
Suddenly the room became much tighter.
The academy was not the only place under attack. The Anbu operation center, the staging center for on duty ninja, and the Hokage's office were all under attack as well. The assailants were strange creatures. They were shaped like men, and moved and acted like ninjas. However where flesh and blood should be there was only a shimmering body constructed of chakra. However, these strange clones were closer to the infamous shadow clone jutsu than the standard clone that most ninjas could create.
These creatures were armed and solid enough to tear into Konoha's defenders. They were not however indestructible. Like any other opponent they could be wounded and killed. But unlike a shadow clone this strange shimmering clones required more than a single hit to dispel. It took enough damage to kill a normal man before the creatures would break apart.
The arrival of the mysterious men could not have been at a worst time. A midday shift change had been occurring, and a large amount of the Anbu force was currently present in the main hall performing the various mundane duties that needed to be done before and after a shift. This was when the mysterious men had suddenly appeared in their midst, with reinforcements crashing through the windows. Several anbu fell to the initial strike, as they were caught unawares.
The more experienced and paranoid members, were alert despite being in a state of rest. These individuals, who made up the majority of the anbu forces, avoided the initial strikes of the spirit clones long enough to arm themselves and strike back.
The Anbu fought frantically and desperately. They were not fools and had quickly deduced that the attack had been made by a series of expendable troops with no ability to create jutsu of their own. The clone force was either a diversion for another attack or a means of weakening the defenders for a stronger wave to finish off. There was no way these creatures would be the death of them, but time was still running out.
Nearby Anko was having the time of her life. She'd just been returning from a boring surveillance mission. She'd spent hours scouting the forest of death with not so much as a peep from the creatures that lurked within. The first few days had been fraught with opportunities to test her self. But the creatures of the forest had soon learned to fear her. So she was stuck scouting the forest for the Chunin exams without anything interesting to keep her amused. It had been far too long of an assignment but she was finally done. Now she could go home and start devising ways to use the forest to make a truly devious test. If she couldn't get half of the teams that passed Ibiki's portion to fail she was going to consider it a personal failure. Mhm, half the teams, there was something in there. She just had to figure out what.
But now was not the time for that. Now was the time for fun. Around her were over a dozen glowing bastards. They seemed similar to shadow clones, she'd remembered seeing the Third Hokage use the technique once when she was young, during a pitched battle with the Rock.
Only these didn't look like any person. They were just faceless humans. And there didn't seem to be any actual ninja around, creating them or directing them. And there were a lot of them.
Which is what made it fun. They were decent fighter. But they were limited to basic taijutsu and whatever weapons they had on their persons. She wasn't. She danced through the tangle of opponents, throwing her arms out, channeling chakra into her infamously lethal techniques.
To her right another clone exploded into a cloud of dust as the snakes she'd projected from her sleeves tore out its throat. Two more rushed her. She dispatched them by shoving a kunai into each one's right eye socket. She unleashed more snakes with a roundhouse kick. The furious serpents, lashed out, still attached to her leg. The effect was similar to having an edged whip. Three more of the creations dissipated.
And she was just getting warmed up.
Back in the classroom Konoha's genin had collected in to get their team assignments Rozene was less than thrilled. Unlike the other members of her team, slaughtering a bunch of kids didn't really appeal to her. It wasn't that she really objected to the practice, she wouldn't have lasted long on Nukpana's squad if she did. No, she just didn't get the same level of joy out of slaughtering a room full of ill prepared ninja wannabees. It was bad enough these other hidden villages had forgotten the true strength of ninja without having to fight against their untrained recruits.
Still, at least she'd be responsible for ending the miserable life of the monstrosity that Konoha had created. Thanks to Mizuki, they even knew what child was the container. All they would have to do was smash him and the natural balance would be restored.
Unfortunately the other members of her squad were too busy slaughtering infidels to finish the mission. Which was the reason she'd been originally assigned to the squad. Someone had to keep their eye on the prize. And the rest of her team were useful for creating a large enough distraction that she was always able to complete the mission with relative ease. After all when, three jonin scouts were tearing into the citizens of a village, no one paid attention to a slim black haired woman demurely sneaking around. Especially when her village had a reputation for only having male scouts. Which was why she was so effective. No one expected her. Not to be a scout, not to be a member of Nukpana's vicious squad.
But now was not the time for this. Now was the time to focus, and kill the Uzumaki brat while there was sufficient chaos to mask her movements. It looked like Mizuki had gotten the brat riled up and use was about to use the some jutsu. He was screaming loudly and his hands were crossed. Not good. She would need to end this fast.
But first she needed to move past the genin in her way.
"Move aside fatty. I don't have time to deal with you."
Amidst the chaos of dozens of Shadow clones popping into existence there was a low pitched scream of rage. The sound was all too familiar to Shikamaru. In most circumstances he'd consider it troublesome. It meant that some foolish moron had once again insulted Choji's weight. The Ahkimichi would lose his temper there would be property damage, and Shikamaru would need to apologize and arrange payment.
But now, it meant that there would be one less enemy ninja to worry about. While Choji normally held back against members of the village, he doubted the boy would show the same restraint against an enemy. The crunch of breaking bones, including the distinctive snaps of a spinal cord and neck, followed by the shattering of one of the academies walls told him he was correct. Choji had used the meatball tank, and the enemy hadn't had the presence of mind to get out of the way.
From the sounds it sounded like Choji had come to a stop a few yards out side of the school, after toppling one of the larger trees there. From the sound of the impact Choji would be out of the fight for a little while. But Shikamaru had more immediate and troublesome concerns. Apparently the enemy had stationed reinforcements outside of the school. The hole Choji had treated was now clogged with faceless humans that were a solid yellow color. Most likely some form of clone Jutsu. He didn't know the technique so there was no way to predict its range or how long the clones would last. He doubted they were mere illusions. They seemed to be forming a cordon around the exit Choji created, so it was likely that they were covering the other exits as well. That meant the genins couldn't retreat. So they were trapped with three combat specialists from another village and a chunin who knew all of the genin's techniques and had taught them a large part of what they know. The situation wasn't looking good.
Since help hadn't already arrived he had to assume this was part of a massive attack, and that the villagers defenders were also under siege. They couldn't count on rescue and
And he already knew the capabilities of each of his classmates. None of them had the power to break through the chain of constructs. Of course he was about to be surprised. Seconds after Choji had broken through the academy wall, there was a loud pop and suddenly Shikamaru was surrounded by Narutos. Sighing loudly, Shikamaru suddenly understood just how Naruto had beaten Mizuki. This changed things.
Despite the rumors Shikamaru had underestimated the volume of clones Naruto could create. It was trouble some that the boy was able to create so many viable clones after only learning the jutsu a few days ago. The few Jonins we knew the technique were often able to create only a few autonomous clones.
While the Naruto clones in front of and to the side of Shikamaru were swarming both Mizuki and the enemy ninja that till now he and Ino had been barely holding off, Shikamaru began to formulate a plan. He estimated that based on their displayed capabilities the enemy ninja, a tall lanky man who was using a pair of knives for close quarter combat and who wasn't wearing anything to identify what village he was a part of, would destroy the clones assaulting him in less than thirty seconds. Mizuki would probably need at least a minute, if not longer. That meant that Shikamaru only had a few seconds to initiate his plan.
"Naruto! We need more room if we're going to beat them. Clear an exit through the hole Choji made."
"You idiot, Naruto won't be able to
He was only half surprised when some of Naruto's clones sprinted away towards the exit. He hadn't
Naruto smirked as his clones dog piled the traitorous instructor. Mizuki was no match for the future Fifth Hokage! His clones would teach the traitor the error of his ways. His smirk vanished when an explosion dispersed the clones on top of Mizuki and memories of Mizuki disappearing leaving behind a log with an explosive tag, and the horrible pain of being burned alive filled his mind.
He shook off the disturbing memories. A real shinobi wasn't distracted by pain. Instead he focused on the traitor who dared to mock him still. Mizuki stood upon one of the tables the students were supposed to write upon. Leaping up Naruto launched himself at the smirking fool.
Naruto drove forward with a punishing over handed punch, to the top of Mizuki's head, only to miss entirely when the chunin leapt away to anther set of desks. Off balance Naruto was unable to act when Mizuki leapt off the new perch to launch a leaping kick. Naruto's head snapped to the side, and blood flew from his now split lip. He collapsed off the desk falling on the wooden bench the students were meant to sit upon.
Naruto's story would have ended there, with a kunai jutting from his forehead, if Kiba hadn't catapulted past him, kunai in hand. The feral shinobi lashed out with his knife, deflecting the one that Mizuki had hurled at the loud mouth. The other piece of metal ricocheted into a desk, impaling itself with a satisfying thunk.
Kiba dove forward, trying to impale Mizuki and end the fight. The older ninja laughed as he leaned away from the enthusiastic strike and took advantage of Kiba's overextension with a brutal kick to the head. Kiba fell back, and it was his turn to be saved as a kunai rushed towards him. Unfortunately Naruto was still recovering and unable to react quickly enough. A nearby kage-bushin disappeared in a puff of smoke from a swift kick by Mizuki, which prevented it from aiding the
With the thrown Kunai approaching his left eye Kiba could only watch helplessly. His throat tightened, only to relax when other Kunai crashed into the one headed for him, altering its course just enough so that it only grazed his temple as it flew past.
Two more Kunai flew out from Sakura's hands towards her former instructor. She'd show him for tricking her! Who the hell did he think he was? He couldn't treat her like that! She's show him that she was a great Ninja!
She smirked as her plan worked. Mizuki had underestimated her, choosing to parry both of her attacks. But he hadn't realized she'd aimed them just perfectly. When he deflected the first there was not enough time to make it back to parry the second. If he hadn't jerked away at the last second she'd have slit his throat and the fight would be over for him. Instead his instinctive reaction meant that she'd merely left a superficial cut along the side of his neck. She attempted to follow up with another two shuriken when she was knocked out of the air. Looking up she realized Ino had tackled her. She was about to scream at her former friend, when she noticed the large man standing over them both.
He was easily six feet tall and was wielding some strange kind of double edged spear. Had she remained where she was seconds before he'd have impaled her. Ino's intervention had bought her seconds. But the man had recovered faster than either of the girls and was about to bring his spear down, and impale them both. Sakura couldn't believe it was going to end like this.
Above her Hinata landed on the desk behind Sakura and Ino's assailant. She was furious with herself. She was too weak, too hesitant. She had seen Mizuki-sensei's shuriken but hadn't been able to warn Sakura. She should have noticed the enemy ninja hiding in the room with her Bakugen. But she was too weak! And now her classmates were dead. She'd even allowed the opponent she'd chosen to knock her aside and now her classmates were about to pay for her mistake.
She wouldn't let that happen.
She wasn't a master of the gentle fist style. Her strikes were not accurate enough to reliably shut of specific tentsuku. But even she could strike a heart. Cringing and pushing as my chakra into her hands as possible Hinata lashed out, slipping past the distracted giant's guard. Her hand crashed into his chest, perfectly targeting his heart. Only for him to give a grunt and remain alive. She couldn't believe it! Was she really that much of a failure? For any other Hyuga the attack should have shredded the victims heart and killed him instantly. But her father was right, she was not fit to serve Konoha in any capacity, let alone as a ninja.
For his part Bizdil was confused. He hadn't bothered to block the small girl's strike. None could hurt him. He had long ago mastered the flow of chakra inside his body and could use it to strengthen his body to the toughness of steel. Even the sharpest kunai could not penetrate his flesh. And the chakra lining he projected around himself would break the hands of any that struck him. But this little girl's hand had not broken, and stranger still he felt the blow. And it hurt.
Snarling he broke off his attack on the hapless kuniochi under him to strike the one who dared harm him. But she ducked under his initial blow, and the leapt over the follow up. Strike after strike she managed to avoid him, even when there was no way she should have been able to see the attack coming. And always, whenever she could she would land small stinging blows. It was infuriating.
Hinata couldn't quite understand why her opponent had become obsessed with her. He was focusing solely on her, ignoring all other attacks. He didn't even flinch when Sakura's and Ino's kunai bounced off his flesh. He must have been using some jutsu to strengthen his flesh. She was such a fool for not noticing. But it was good that he was solely focused on her. It gave her a chance to redeem herself.
Resolving to do just that she worked on leading him away from the others, perhaps buying them enough chance to escape if she failed again.
Meanwhile too much time had past, and Naruto's clones had failed to clear an exit. The thin warrior Shikamaru had been fighting had torn through Naruto's clones, and even though the extras that had dog piled on him after the first batch had been dispersed. Currently Shikamaru was wracking his brain for ways to buy even a few more seconds of time before his enemy's knife ripped through his throat.
"Naruto, the exit!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
From behind him he could hear Kiba's struggled response as that boy fought against Mizuki.
"I told you the idiot couldn't do it!"
With a sneer Mizuki added his two cents in.
"Hear that Naruto-kun? You're not enough of a ninja to save these people. Seems like I was right after all, you're nothing but a scrawny little monster," Mizuki gave a deep sadistic, laugh as he broke through Kiba's guard, driving a kunai deep into the boy's leg before yanking it back out. A quick side kick sent the injured genin flying away, leaving Mizuki alone with his target.
"Now I'm going to kill you. Looks like you weren't that strong after all. Certainly not strong enough to be Hokage." As Miuzuki made each statement he punctuated it with a devastating unarmed blow. By the end of the speech Naruto was bruised and exhausted. "You should thank me for ending your pathetic dream here, before you wasted years on it. You could never defend an entire village. You can't even save your worthless friends."
With the last barb and uppercut Naruto sunk to his knees, tears streaming from his face. Mizuki stepped back to admire his handiwork, before palming the final kunai that would end the miserable brat's life once and for all.
Across the room, Nukpana's breath caught in his throat. It was about to happen. The vessel would die and the Kyubbi would be released. His mission would be accomplished, balance would be restored, and more importantly the entire village would die in a swirl of magnificent destruction. He savored the moment, barely paying attention to the week genin who attacked him time and again.
The little fool was persistent, and vicious. Several times the brat had avoided killing blows in such a way that they instead struck his classmates. Nukpana had to admit it was an effective if vicious strategy. His favorite kind. The penetration of the access into the bodies of the brat's classmates slowed their return time be a few seconds, and also meant that the axes wouldn't bisect the brat on the return flight. When no classmates were behind him the boy was using wooden desks and seats, which also worked. Each time the boy would attempt to use those few extra moments to his advantage and score a fatal blow. Each time he never came close. The only thing he accomplished was to slightly impress his opponent with his drive and viciousness.
Both Nukpana and Mizuki's gloating was brought to a halt by Konoha's number one most surprising ninja. The young boy stood proudly, despite being bloody and bruised. The tears in his eyes had dried and he stood clutching his head band in his hand.
"You're wrong Mizuki! I'm not gonna die here! I'm going to be the next Hokage, and I'm not going to let anymore people die! I'm going to protect them all!"
"So you've said brat. So it looks like you're a liar as well as a loser. I'll enjoy making you take back those words"
"No! I will not take back my words that is my ninja way! I will defeat you and defend the village."
The rogue chunin couldn't believe his ears. The boy was insane. "You and what army? In case you're too dumb to notice, you're out numbered," he gestured to the spirit clones outside "outmatched," he gestured to the ninja inside and the damage the five of them had wrought upon the classroom, " and no help is coming. Face it, it's hopeless."
"Nothing's hopeless!" the boy screamed, crossing his hands and pulling forth all of his chakra.
Suddenly all sound rushed from the room, as the air pressure dramatically lowered. An instant later the pressure resurged as did a tremendous pop that echoed throughout not only the schoolhouse but the entire village. A sweating panting Naruto stood among a large force of clones, thrust into what ever available space they could find in the small room.
"This is your army boy? More useless clones?"
A chorus of hundred of, "Believe its" was Mizuki's only response. The shouts were in perfect harmony and spoken with the exact same voice. The mere volume surprised all the combatants and forced them to look for the origin of the noise. The few dozen clones in the room should not have been able to create such a noise.
And then a look of shock stole across Shikamaru's face. From his position pinned to a table, with his head turned as far as possible to the side to put as much distance between the kunai his opponent held and his neck, Shikamaru could see outside the window. As far as he could see into the horizon the ground was covered with Narutos. The shadow clones surged forward crashing against the strange enemy clones. Windows shattered as various clones were knocked through them. The cordon around the schoolhouse was broken, and more importantly the enemy with a knife at his throat distracted. Shikamaru seized on his enemy's failing and brought his knee up into his opponent's groin. When the ninja's body instinctually tensed up, Shikamaru used the movements of his opponents muscles to push the kunai down and away, into the table. Before his opponent could recover two Naruto clones grabbed him, and held him still for Shikamaru. A quick motion freed a kunai from his leg holster, and an even quicker one ended the invader's life. It was troublesome but it had to be done.
Meanwhile the army of Naruto's had created enough space that a few of them could begin escorting the other genin's out. A few of the students looked reluctant to leave their classmates behind, but Shikamaru's orders to regroup outside where their numbers wouldn't work as much against them convinced the stragglers.
For the first time that entire day Shikamaru let himself begin to hope. In the open air, the young genin could actually evade the attacks of their opponents and use their superior numbers to whittle down their opponents, instead of getting in each others way. And the shadow clones seemed to be keeping the strange enemy clones in check. They might just survive this.