If you are confused about this story, read the AN at the end of the chapter first.
Naruto: Factions
Chapter 1: A formal introduction
Uzumaki Naruto self-consciously adjusted his armor and peered out of his hiding place. As an assassin in training, he knew that this day would come and yet he still couldn't believe it. Night had fallen and his target, a Tengu chieftain, was on his nightly patrol route. The creature, a mix of a human and a bird, was in the possession of a sword that reflected the light that came from the large campfire of the nearby Tengu village. Naruto contemplated his course of action. From careful study, he knew that the chieftain's route was not that long and that he would, no doubt, soon turn and walk back into the camp. That left the blond assassin with little time to kill him.
The Tengu were, for all intents and purposes not a nice race. They were, however, proud and loyal to a fault. That didn't mean that they wouldn't kill him if they laid their eyes upon his person. Naruto tensed and prepared his firs move.
A quick shadow step brought him within reach. His daggers flashed as they traveled the deadly path to the chieftain's vital points. The Tengu however was on his guard. The creature flexed, spun avoiding one of the daggers and positioned it's sword to block the second one. Naruto didn't expect it to be easy anyway. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and twisting his upper body, he performed one of the most basic lead attacks, the unsuspecting strike, quickly followed by an off-hand strike of fox fangs and finishing it all with a dual attack of twisting fangs. His first attack only accomplished slightly nicking the Tengu under his arm, but the second and third were solid. The creature stumbled and fell, blood slowly beginning to pour from the wounds. Naruto glanced at the village in the distance and saw several shadows rapidly approaching. Quickly he checked for any vital signs on the Tengu chieftain before dashing for cover. Not a minute later the bird-like creatures were on the scene and he could see them examining the corpse of their leader. A pair of them broke away from the group to look for the culprit, but Naruto was already gone, not leaving a single track behind him.
Naruto sighed in relief and crawled into his bed. This night's assassination was the final test, for tomorrow he would be a full fledged assassin, free to do as he pleased and go where he wanted. It was this part that Naruto didn't like. Here, in the Shing-Jea Monastery everything was simple. He would train, study a little, bug Sakura-chan and annoy Sasuke. The latter was usually painful as the raven haired elementalist was very quick to use his spells on the poor assassin, while saying that he was just practicing. Naruto shuddered at the memory. That fireball, followed by the lightning orb had hurt.
Back on topic however, Naruto had little idea of what to do. Oh, sure he had made plans about joining the Luxon or even trying his luck with the Obsidian Flame but... Frankly, killing for money was not his thing. He had followed in his late father's footsteps and enrolled at the Monastery for the assassin profession. But, as his only classmate Shikamaru had pointed out, he was better suited for the warrior class. Naruto agreed, but didn't drop out, instead putting his all into his training. He was stubborn like that. What he really wanted to do was travel the world and have multiple adventures. He knew for a fact that several people of his age group, who also graduated tomorrow were going to do just that. That bastard Sasuke, for example had a rich family that supported him, very much like Yamanaka Ino. He shuddered again. Like Sasuke, she sometimes used him for target practice. That phantasm she had put him into was anything but pleasant. At least he knew for a fact that he wasn't the only one who suffered at the hands of the blond mesmer.
He decided to ponder it all after he got some sleep.
The next morning was great. It was sunny, the air was crisp and clear and the birds were singing.
One Uzumaki Naruto grumbled as he dragged his slightly smoking form up the long stairway to the Linnok Courtyard.
"Dammit!" He cursed as a piece of his armor fell off because the string holding it in place had snapped. Could this day possibly get any worse? First he sleeps in and has to forgo his breakfast of ramen, then Sasuke decides to try out a new spell on him and then his armor falls to pieces! Well, ok, he planned to get a new set anyway, but still!
"Breath of Fire my ass...witty bastard..." Naruto continued to grumble as he strapped the piece back on and passed the gates that led to his destination. As expected, he was the last to arrive. The other graduates looked him over, some wincing in sympathy, others breaking out in laughter. He glanced around taking notice of the more or less familiar faces.
There, on the far left stood Shikamaru together with his best friend Chouji. The...slightly chubby built warrior was currently talking to the lazy boy and for once Shikamaru seemed to listen.
To the side and away from everyone else stood the silent necromancer, Shino. Sakura and Ino were both trying to attract Sasuke's attention to themselves, while making the other look as bad as possible. Kiba was sprawled out on the ground, together with his fellow companion Akamaru. The ranger was currently talking to the enormous dog in hushed tones. The only one not present in the Linnok Courtyard was Hinata, as she had to leave about a week ago due to some problems in her family. To be honest, Naruto couldn't imagine why the girl was even related to the stuck up Kurzick.
In the middle of the yard stood a great jade statue of a lion and below it was none other than old man Sarutobi himself. The leader of the Monastery greeted Naruto with a kind smile and coughed politely to get the attention of his audience.
"Now that all of us are here, let me congratulate you on your graduation. As many of you have heard, three of you, the ones who stood out the most, shall receive an opportunity to meet Minister Cho in his estate. It will open multiple new options to you, if you play your cards right, as the minister is a man with a lot of influence. Of course you will have the right to decline the invitation and have someone else chosen in your stead." The old ritualist made a pause to make sure the young people were still listening. Seeing as all eyes were still directed at him the spirit summoner continued.
"I assure you that it was hard for me to make this choice, as you all have been outstanding students." Naruto was forced to roll his eyes. He knew for a fact that he was anything but outstanding, if the way his teacher, an assassin called Kakashi, treated him was any indication. The same could be said about Shikamaru.
"However the choice was made and I shall now announce the three candidates." Naruto could almost feel as everyone but the lazy Nara held their breath.
"My first choice is Haruno Sakura." Everyone nodded their heads. It was almost expected for the talented girl to be chosen. "Your achievements as a monk in training show great promise for your future career. Also, seeing as you are not a part of a noble family or clan, Minister Cho might be able to help you with whatever course you might want to take in your life."
The pink haired girl was beaming with excitement at the praise.
"My next choice would be Uchiha Sasuke. You have been trained as an elementalist for not more that three years and already you show skill far beyond that. It is only natural that someone with your abilities should receive an invitation to the audience."
Again, no one seemed surprised. As a matter of fact the tension seemed to rise. In the last year of their apprenticeship in the Monastery it became clear that those two stood out from the rest. That however left a third place still open. And this last place was what everyone was so nervous about.
"My third choice was the hardest to meet, as most of you were equally good, if the praise from your respective instructors is anything to go by. However, there is one among you who, much like Sakura, does not belong to any clan or family that might be able to support his endeavors."
Naruto scratched his head and looked everyone over. Ino was from a noble family, that much he knew from her constant boasting. Shikamaru was from a renowned clan of assassins who were famous for having each and every member in the Obsidian Flame. Chouji was a noble, though unlike Ino he was as down to earth as one could get. Kiba was from a ranger clan and Shino came from a family of powerful necromancers. That left only one person, and that person was...
"Uzumaki Naruto." The blond's jaw would have hit the ground if he hadn't worn his mask.
"Huh?" He intelligently asked as all stares made their way to him. As if on cue, the piece of armor that had fallen off back on the stairs and was hastily tied in place, fell off again. Naruto felt heat rising to his cheeks as everyone's eyes bored holes into him.
Master Sarutobi, as he was addressed by everyone, sighed and palmed his face.
"Of course only after he gets his armor fixed." He finished, already doubting his judgment for letting the blond eyesore meet the minister. In all honesty Naruto didn't look like much of an assassin. His armor, though currently blackened by soot (Sarutobi suspected Sasuke), was actually painted orange and his sunny blond hair and friendly blue eyes were not the traits that one would expect from someone who killed for money. However Kakashi had sworn that his skills were more than enough to make up for his visual... appearance.
Meanwhile Sarutobi's words finally sunk into the head of the blond and a grin, wide enough to almost split his face in half, was forming on his lips. He was thankful for his mask because he was positive that the aforementioned grin looked very stupid.
The three new graduates were gathered together in front of the gates that led to the inside of the Shing-Jea Monastery, waiting for Master Sarutobi to arrive. The old ritualist didn't make them wait long and they soon embarked on their journey.
Naruto fiddled with his new armor, having bought it in the Seitung Harbor. From the feel of it he could tell that it was a far higher quality than his old one, but it didn't help his discomfort any. To make matters worse, he didn't have time to have it painted orange and it was left in it's original state of dull gray. Heaving a resigned sigh he took a look at his two companions. Unsurprisingly, he was widely ignored by Sakura and he attempted to not get on Sasuke's bad side today, as he wouldn't have enough time to clean himself up if the raven haired elementalist decided to fry his butt again. Which left him with little to do, other than watch Sarutobi quickly dispatch any of the little mantids that inhabited the Sunqua Vale and came too close for comfort. He averted his eyes from the rather boring scene in order to watch something far more entertaining.
The stoic Uchiha was in the process of ignoring the pink haired monk that kept trying to have a conversation with him. Naruto sighed as he watched his crush continue to shower Sasuke with affection. From what he was able to hear she was trying to get some information from Sasuke as to what he planned to do after the audience, probably so she could follow him.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Wanna go on a date after this done and over with?" He asked brightly, hoping against hope for a positive answer.
Instead he was ignored.
Heaving another sigh, Naruto found himself wishing for something more dangerous than mantids to attack them, so he could impress the young monk with his awesome skills. Maybe a group of Crimson Skulls...
A grin began to find it's way onto his face as he indulged into a fantasy about singlehandedly defeating over fifty of the criminals and ending such a successful day with an awesome date with Sakura, during which she confessed her undying love to him.
Sakura and Sasuke took a careful look at their blond companion as he began giggling to himself.
"I knew he had a screw loose..." Sasuke muttered to himself.
"You're telling me..." Sakura agreed.
About an hour later they arrived at the impressive estate of the minister. Several guards were positioned in front of the entrance and they were quietly talking to each other. Upon sighting Sarutobi they quickly bowed in respect and motioned for them to go in, although they did seem to be somewhat wary of Naruto.
The blond rolled his eyes. Really, every time someone saw an assassin they assumed that he was here to kill someone. He rolled that statement around in his head for a while before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't completely unfounded. It was just that they wouldn't have seen him in the first place if he really had been after the minister's life.
After entering the gate and walking up a flight of stairs they were confronted by a man in the traditional bright red and gold armor of the Canthan guards.
"Welcome, Master!" He greeted cheerfully and took a look behind Sarutobi's back at the three young people gathered there. "I assume you are here for the audience with Minister Cho, right?"
"Yes. These three are more than worthy of this honor." The old man smiled.
"In that case I should let you in, without further ado." The guard waved his hand to another one and soon a low rumbling could be heard as the wooden gate was pulled upwards.
As they began to walk in however, Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks, grabbing both Sasuke's and Sakura's arms and straining his ears. Sarutobi stopped and directed an inquiring gaze at the young assassin.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" He asked, while the blond tried to ignore the shouts of his companions to let them go. He was glad, that although he wasn't as strong physically as the majority of warriors, it was still more than enough to safely hold back the irate elementalist and monk.
"There's someone running in our direction." He pointed down the corridor that led deeper into the estate. "And they seem to be in an awful hurry. Something might be wrong." He strained his ears some more, but other than the sound of approaching footsteps there was nothing within his hearing range, the many different hallways making it difficult to even pinpoint where the sound was coming from.
Several seconds later a guard came running out of one of the entwining hallways. His face was pale and flushed with effort at the same time. Spotting the new arrivals and the guard at the gate he raced over to them.
"Captain! They've lost their minds! It's madness!" He screamed even as he ran. He stopped a short distance before them and tried to catch his breath. The addressed guard was instantly alert and made his way over to the panting man.
"What is wrong? Who has gone mad?" He inquired, shaking the man's shoulders for emphasis.
"Everyone! The guards, the servants, just everyone! They suddenly started attacking our own people! It's a bloodbath in there and I don't even know who's still sane and who's not!" The disturbed guard shouted again. He still had trouble breathing and rested his hands on his knees, still muttering about madness. Naruto then picked up the sound of someone else approaching. This one however was far closer before Naruto detected him, due to the acoustic differences of the hallways. Before the blond could even shout a warning, another guard raced out of the corridor, holding a broken off piece of wood in his hand, that he had obviously used as a spear. Before anyone could so much as blink the man rammed the spear right through the chest of the guard that came running to them first.
Naruto and Sasuke reacted instantly, only a little bit slower than Master Sarutobi himself. Twin daggers flashed as the blond assassin made a shadow step to the location of the enemy. To his surprise the man didn't even try to defend, taking both lethal hits in stride. Naruto had enough time to notice the green substance that covered his daggers before he had to jump out of the way of the Uchiha's fireball.
The charred corpse fell down without uttering a sound. The spirit that Sarutobi had quickly summoned was doing it's best to heal the wounded guard, but seemed to have little effect. Sakura was kneeling down beside him, her hands glowing softly as she too attempted to help.
The man's eyes slowly lost focus and finally settled on one point somewhere in the distance. The pink haired monk hiccuped lightly, before hastily wiping at her eyes and standing up.
"He had his heart pierced. Even with your and my best healing spells we could have only prolonged his life a little." She explained, addressing the old ritualist.
There was a pause as everyone tried to process what had just happened.
The one who was addressed as captain earlier was the first to snap out of it, his eyes widening in realization.
"My son! My son is in there somewhere!" He uttered, before trying to take off.
Master Sarutobi's firm hand stopped him in his tracks as the old man grasped his shoulder.
"Wait. We..." He pointed at himself and the three young people. "...will go in there and search for him. You have to stay here and make sure no one else enters or comes out of here." He pointed at the corpse of the spear wielding guard. The green substance that covered Naruto's daggers was slowly seeping out of the wounds that the blond had inflicted earlier.
"It seems like this is some sort of disease or poison that has driven him mad. We can't allow it to spread out." He explained.
The guard seemed torn.
"But my son! He's only nine! I have to save him!" He rambled.
Sarutobi put both of his hands on the man's shoulders.
"Listen to me. We will bring your son back, but you have to stay here!"
The captain shook his head in denial and tried to free himself, but Sarutobi's grip was firm.
After struggling for another minute the man visibly deflated and lowered his head.
"I understand. Please... I beg you, save him." He uttered before turning around sharply and making his way back to his post.
Naruto could still hear his commanding voice, as he addressed the other guards on what to do, as the group of four quickly made their way deeper into the estate.
Sasuke was the first to speak.
"What's going on here?" He asked as they ran. The further they advanced the more and more sounds of fighting they could hear.
"Some sort of conspiracy to kill the minister maybe?" Sakura ventured.
The old ritualist shook his head.
"We can not tell anything for sure right now. Let's concentrate on finding the boy and minister Cho for now. "
The estate was enormous in size, and it took them almost fifteen minutes to reach the main part of it. Every now and then they spied guards aimlessly wandering around, their skin pale and sickly, green smoke coming out of their mouths with every breath, but luckily they seemed to be oblivious to the group's presence.
After passing another wooden gate, that was pulled up for them by another guard they found themselves inside a wide area that was usually used for outdoor practice to keep the many warriors stationed in the mansion in shape.
The area currently housed several people who had somehow found their way there and had escaped the strange sickness that befell the majority of the minister's estate.
Speaking to the gathered people had yielded surprising results.
Apparently a green smoke screen had been laid over the mansion for not more that a couple of minutes. After it passed it appeared as if it was harmless, but not more than five minutes later the first signs of the sickness started to appear. People first coughed then broke down all the while emitting green smoke from their mouths. They rose up again mere seconds afterwards and began attacking the people who had somehow escaped the infection. Sarutobi frowned at that.
"It is disturbing," He admitted to the three youngsters gathered around him. "If this had been a regular sickness that simply drove people mad, than the infected victims would have attacked each other as well. However their behavior suggests something closer to the spells necromancers use to keep their undead minions in check. But it's different at the same time." He frowned searching for the best way to explain it. Sakura quickly grasped on and continued the Master's thought.
"If it's really a spell, than it has to be a very advanced and incredibly powerful one." She murmured. "If we assume that all the infected people are really just undead minions, than the spell must have all and more of the strengths and none of the weaknesses that the necromancer spells possess. The infected are still able to cast magic and use all of the skills they were capable of in life, for one. Then they don't seem to have the accelerated rotting that is common when a corpse is animated. Furthermore, unlike the normal undead minions, the infected did not change their physical appearance, at least not instantly. Some of the guards mentioned seeing distorted figures still wearing parts and pieces of their original clothing, but it might have been their imagination, as they were in a state of shock at the time." She finished.
"So basically you are saying that someone had enough power to drown all of this huge ass mansion in some sort of uber-powerful spell?" Naruto asked incredulously, waving his arms around for emphasis as to the size of the estate.
Sakura and Sarutobi both looked uncertain but eventually nodded.
"It has to be a spell, as something like this is certainly not natural. It is possible that it wasn't a spell, but poison. However it would require some sort of flying machine or a large catapult to make sure the poison spreads throughout the entire estate and neither have been seen anywhere near here." Sarutobi explained.
"How about planting several bombs with this gas in them all around the mansion and setting the off at the same time?" Naruto inquired, having learned such a tactic, even if it has never been used on such a scale.
"That is possible but unlikely. The bombs would have had to be connected somehow to go off simultaneously and it is virtually impossible for the guards to have missed both the bombs and the wires." Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Furthermore, poison is generally designed in a way that next to no human or any other given race can have a natural resistance to it. In this case however..." Sasuke joined the conversation, pointing at all the people gathered around them. "Now a spell... That is more likely. A lot of people have higher resistance to certain spells than others. That would explain why not everyone has been corrupted."
Naruto nodded in understanding. After several moments of silence he finally spoke up, saying the one thing that has been on the minds of his companions.
"So, are we going in, or what?"
A/N: This piece of fan fiction was strongly inspired by a wonderful and hilarious Ranma ½ story which so masterfully crossed over with the world of Diablo 2. It was written by Istoria and it's been years since I've read it. (It's called Diablo: Lord of Confusion, by the way. I advise everyone who also likes Ranma fan fiction to go and read it. Now.) Now, since crossing over Naruto and Diablo would be simply stealing (Not to mention that I don't like Diablo that much and wish to create something of my own), I've thought of another great(in my opinion) game that I'm more familiar with, namely Guild Wars: Factions. I would like to intone that I do not wish to receive comments about how WoW or DDO or insert random game here would have been better. And no, this fanfic is nothing like the WoW crossovers that you might have read. Next issue: why Factions? While I have all three campaigns from GW in my possession and have played through each of them at least once, Factions harbors a specific value to me as it was the first one of the three that I bought. Also, Factions takes place in an asian world which makes it easier for me to use, since Naruto is a Japanese show. (I am well aware that not everything in Factions has something to do with Japan.) And of course, the probably most important part, Factions is the only campaign in GW that has the Assassin class aviable which is the closest to ninja. I'd like to say that every Naruto character's class (profession) , except for Naruto himself (I can't see him as anything else other than a ninja, or in this case an assassin :)), was decided upon due to their personal traits.
Also, while it is a crossover it won't be following the exact rules of the game (for example the party members limit or the eight skills at a time limit). I am also going to insert some twists to the plot of Factions, as simply writing it out with the characters from Naruto isn't very creative. Don't expect too much, though.