Hey everyone, here it is. Naruto White Ops: War in the South. This is the first chapter of my new story. I hope to try to update every two-to-three weeks. I'll try to stay on schedule. This story has a few major changes. First of all, Naruto and Sasuke are now the main characters. Shikamaru and the others are still important, and will be getting their own chapters later on, but Naruto and Sasuke are getting a majority of them. Another major change you will see in this chapter. The third and final major change is the use of "mission log." It's not in this chapter, but it will be in future chapters. Basically, it will be at the end of a chapter that involves a mission, and it will be in the words of the captain of that mission, or in the words of a very important character to that mission. I hope to put the mission log in chapter two, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. Hope you enjoy this first chapter.
I don't own Naruto.
Now, without further ado, I, the royal Princechaz2011, give you: Naruto White Ops: War in the South!
Chapter 1
"Looks like I win!" yelled Kiyoko as she finished off her teammate Kento with a well-placed Chidori. "You'd think that you were letting me win, Kento!"
Kento said nothing. He was in fact letting the silver-haired beauty win. Had he wanted to, he could have used his water style jutsu to stop her advance, but to see that smile made his heart stop. Chazz and Konohamaru-sensei had not arrived yet, so they had decided to pass the time with a fight. Kiyoko was strong, there was no doubt about that, but Kento knew how to fight her. Even though Konohamaru-sensei wouldn't admit it, he believed them to be chunin level.
"Looks like you two started without us," said Chazz as he and Konohamaru walked up to the group. He had that smug grin on his face that Kiyoko found very annoying.
"You two look like you've been going at it pretty hard," observed Konohamaru.
"You better believe it, Sensei," replied Kento.
"So, do you think you're ready for the Chunin Exams?"
"What?" the three genin said in unison.
"Do you think you can handle the Chunin Exams?"
"Of course!" said Kento.
"Well, someone's got to protect that loser," said Chazz with a smirk.
"And someone has to keep these two in line," added Kiyoko.
"It's settled, then," said Konohamaru. "You three will compete in the Chunin Exams. You guys can train while I tell the Hokage."
With that, the jonin disappeared. The three genin immediately began training.
1 month later…
Kiyoko rolled to her right as the shuriken struck the wall behind her. She had agreed to compete in the Chunin Exams, but she hadn't quite expected this. She was hiding in the tree cover next to the wall. Kiyoko was facing a girl from the Cloud Village. This girl had short blonde hair and wore a simple yellow t-shirt and black miniskirt. She wasn't that strong and didn't have many jutsu, but she was fast, and Kiyoko could barely keep up. Her right arm was bleeding profusely from a jagged cut that she had received within the first few minutes of the fight. She had managed to hit the girl with a Fire Bullet, but aside from that, her attacks had been useless. She ducked again as another kunai flew past her face. She needed to do something, and she needed to do it now.
"Looks like your daughter is going to lose," said Sasuke to Kakashi. Naruto smiled, but it was not his genuine happy smile. Sasuke and Kakashi had been back and forth about the fight since it began.
"Just watch," replied Kakashi, his visible eye focused on his daughter.
As if her father's words were a cue, Kiyoko began forming hand signs. Sasuke immediately recognized the jutsu.
"You taught her Chidori," he said.
"Of course I did. She is my daughter."
Kiyoko finished the hand signs and focused the chakra into her hand. The Chidori formed, chirping noisily. Kiyoko charged at her opponent, ready to deal the final blow. The Cloud ninja was temporarily stunned. She had never seen such a jutsu. When she finally realized what was happening, it was too late. The jutsu slammed into her side. Kiyoko withdrew her hand, and the Cloud genin dropped to the ground, defeated. The proctor called the match, and the medics rushed onto the field.
As the genin were escorted off the field, the proctor nodded at Naruto, who stood up from his chair in the balcony and addressed the crowd. "Thank you all for joining us for the second day of the Chunin Exams. We hope that you have enjoyed yourselves and will return tomorrow for the next match."
Naruto watched as the people left, then turned to Kakashi. "You can go see her, you know."
"Thanks, Naruto."
Naruto smiled, once again that lifeless gesture. Even though he was Hokage, there were some who still wouldn't call him "Lord Hokage." It didn't bother him, though. On the contrary, he enjoyed it.
"Lord Hokage!" shouted an ANBU as he jumped onto the balcony. "I have a message for you!"
"What is it?"
"It's from the ANBU scouts who were sent south. It's very important."
Naruto nodded and took the scroll that the ANBU held out. He began to read the scroll, his face becoming more serious as he reached the end. "I see. Summon Tsunade and the rest of the White Ops to my office. ASAP!"
"Of course, Lord Hokage." The ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Sasuke followed Naruto back to the Hokage's Mansion, curious as to what had been so serious. Tsunade had retired her position, and Naruto was happy to let her rest. If he was summoning her, something bad must be up. The two arrived at the office a few minutes later. Tsunade and the rest of the White Ops were already there.
Sasuke glanced around the office. There were ten other people there total. Sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk was Tsunade, who didn't appear to be too happy to have been called here. In the other chair, Kakashi was reading his favorite orange book. Standing against the left hand wall were Lee, Neji, and Sai. Against the right hand wall were Shikamaru, Choji, and Tai. Kiba and Shino sat on a couch next to the door. Everyone but Tsunade was dressed in standard White Ops attire. That consisted mainly of signature long white cloak that concealed anything that they might be carrying. Beneath the cloak was the standard ANBU armor, without a katana. They also had masks on their sides, though these were never used inside the village. Tsunade wore her usual attire.
Sasuke followed Naruto around the desk and stood behind him as he addressed the gathered ninja. 'Poor Naruto,' he thought. 'He's been trying so hard since what happened with Sakura, but he just can't seem to get any time to work it out in his head. He seems to be handling it well, though.' Sasuke checked each of the others' faces as well. Grief was evident on Tsunade's face. She had taken it the hardest. Even Naruto had walled up his feelings, making sure that they would not interfere with his job as Hokage.
It had been only four months ago. Sasuke had just returned from recruiting a new time when he found out that Sakura had died. She had apparently died during childbirth, a rare occurrence in the Leaf Village. The baby was born, but for some reason, Sakura couldn't recover. She fought for two days after the baby's birth, but couldn't hold out forever. She had died. Naruto had been devastated. He began to have violent tendencies. Sasuke saw where they were headed and dragged Naruto out into the Forest of Death. There, he and Naruto fought, and Naruto released all of his frustration. Both of them were surprised by the fact that Sasuke had held up. Apparently the new training regimen was working. That day had helped Naruto immensely. The rest of the White Ops had even noticed that something changed Naruto. He was no longer violent, and when he held his new son, he smiled genuinely, with no sadness behind it. That was the last time. He had named his new son Minato, after his grandfather.
"Why am I here, Naruto? I let you become Hokage so I wouldn't have to sit in this office," said Tsunade.
Naruto sweat dropped, realizing that Tsunade was not in a good mood today. "I called you here because I have received a worrisome report from a group of scouts that went to the small southern village of Kaido. They noticed smoke coming from the village and went to check it out. When they got there, they found that the village had been invaded by an unknown enemy."
"So why didn't they help out?" interrupted Shikamaru. "They should have intervened."
"They tried to play it safe. They sent two men in as villagers while the other two stayed in the cover of the trees for backup. It didn't take long before the two in the village were discovered. They were killed. One of the backup ANBU was killed as well. Only one got away, and that's how we know about it."
The members in the room were visibly shaken. The Leaf Village ANBU, even the scouts, were highly trained in the arts of deception and combat. If they had been found out and killed, then the enemy was also not just some group of highwaymen or barbarians. They were ninja.
Shikamaru broke the silence. "Did the surviving member get us a description of the enemy?"
Naruto nodded. "He did. According to his report, the men were dressed in similar clothing as Sand ninja. Their headbands had the picture of a sword, and they also had a lot of weapons."
"'Sword ninja?' Are you kidding me? I've never even heard of such a ridiculous thing," said Kiba.
"Regardless," said Tsunade. "Someone must go."
"I agree," said Naruto. "I'm going to take a team of White Ops and ANBU and go see what's going on."
"Naruto, you're the Hokage. You have a son. You shouldn't be the one going out on these missions," said Kakashi.
"How can I ask my men to go somewhere that I wouldn't?" Naruto replied.
"We never said that you wouldn't do it. We all know that you would. It's just that you're the Hokage," said Tsunade.
"Exactly. I'm the Hokage, so I'm going. After all, the safest place for me is with the White Ops." Naruto grinned. He knew he had won. Tsunade, however, looked ready to kill him. "I'll pick my team tomorrow morning at dawn. Meet here then."
"Yes, sir!" they all replied. With that, the shinobi all left, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone in the office. They remained in silence. Sasuke was still thinking about the situation with Naruto and his son. It wasn't simple. He didn't need to abandon his son, but Naruto was Naruto. He wouldn't be swayed.
"You agree with them, don't you, Sasuke?" he asked, breaking the silence.
Sasuke nodded. "I do, but it's none of my business."
Naruto chuckled. "When has that ever stopped you?"
Sasuke shrugged. "Sometimes I just don't get involved in these situations. I know what you're going through. I've been raising Itachi as a single parent for a while now."
"I know. In some ways, I value your opinion on this more than anyone's. You are a dear friend, Sasuke. I know what you've been through over the past year. You've had to rebuild your name, deal with the mistrust of others, and raise a kid through it all. What would you do in my situation?"
"I believe you should do what you feel is right."
"The right thing… I guess I'm coming with you then."
"I knew you would say that."
"Really?"
"People are dying, Naruto. You would never let that happen. I knew you were going the moment you said that. So who will the teams be?"
"I'm still working that out. You and Kakashi for sure, and maybe Akiza. I'm still trying to figure out the rest."
"Right, well, I need to go pick up Itachi. I'll be back in half an hour."
"Right." With that, Sasuke left the room.
Well, let me know what you think. How can you do that, you ask? Well it's easy, just click the review button and type me a message. Yep, it's that easy. Now onto the looking back portion of my ending note. Yes, Sakura is dead. I wish that didn't have to happen, but I needed it to if I wanted something else to work out later. It was either this or completely rewrite the previous story, Naruto White Ops: Beginning of the End. I know that I will be mentioning relationships a lot in the early chapters, but I prefer not to write them in the middle of the story. I may work some in during the last few chapters, but I'm still planning those out. If you absolutely hate me for killing Sakura, you do two things about it: 1. Review. 2. Read someone else's story. That's basically where it stands. Thanks for reading, drop me a review. At this point, I will take people's opinions on things that I could do in the story, but the Sakura death is not changing. For those of you who believe I am anti-Sakura, I'm not. I'm just here for the writing. For those of you who don't know who in the world of Naruto is Akiza, she is my OC. She came into the picture in my other story, Naruto White Ops: A New Team. That story stars Sasuke. Once again, thanks for reading. I hope you like it. See ya!