Hello, those who had the guts to give this story a chance. It's my fifth fic so far, the rest have been left on Hiatus, probably dropped, due to huge errors in writing and plot planning. I'm going to do my best with this one, it's a re-writing of Will Of Fire, the plot and characters are mostly the same but there will be some differences.
So here you have it, my newest story " Lotus". I do not own Naruto, the manga and anime series.
Chapter One,
Blasts of fire, avalanches and strong wind currents had turned the once prosperous Rain-country town into nothing more than a huge pile of burning ruble, amongst ninja were still battling. It was the second year of the Third Great Secret War, fought between the Leaf village and the Stone village. Since none of the Five Great Nations shared a border with each other, wars like this one were disputed on the lands of their smaller, less significant neighbors, in terms of military.
This town in particular was an important target for both sides, it was essential that the enemy be kept away from it so naturally large battle formations were dispatched. On the morning of April, 5th, the two groups clashed and night found them still fighting. Both sides had experienced fighters, shinobi that had spent years in the first line and knew their job well, it was a balanced battle.
Kasigi Hotaro, a Stone-jounin, would later write these lines in his journal, referring to the next part of the battle.
"The whole place calmed down, the Leaf-nins were slowly retreating to the outskirts, organized, as if preparing for a quick counter. We left be and tended to our wounded, some rest was necessary. However it was not to last.
After about an hour after we had settled in the town hall, placed guards and set up positions, kunai began raining randomly, like madmen were throwing them. They were not of the standard type, but with three blade and some sort of seal placed on the handle. Rather light too. Then, all of a sudden it stopped and for some precious seconds we thought it was over.
In my years as a shinobi I've fought against Lightning users, and even tough my Doton- Earth-style- is weak against them, I managed to win on several occasions. I know how they fight, I know their basic tactics, and I know many counters. This time there was nothing I could do.
Bolts of electricity everywhere, flashes, people falling to the ground dead in an instant, dead. The whole thing lasted less than five minutes but when it was over corpses lay where once people were. My comrades, all dead, without even a chance to defend themselves. By some miracle I was spared. None of the strange kunai landed near me so I guess the attack couldn't reach me. I fled to the nearest of our positions, it was useless to fight now. In a few minutes Leaf-nins would fill the place.
Later on in the war I heard many stories about isolated forts or towns being captured easily by the Leaf, with none of our own escaping to tell the tale. I had informed my superiors of what I had seen, I wrote a detailed report to High Command and even got a medal for surviving that place. I never returned to the front-line but now the strange technique was being used more and more.
As far as I know I am the only survivor of the Flying Thunder God.
In the history of the Leaf-village, dubbed Konoha, this particular jutsu –techinque- is considered one of the strongest, on par with many other legendary abilities. One man had been able to attain it, after years of hard work and then use it in battle with sounding success. He would later on be given the title of village leader, or Hokage due to his skill, the 4th one in a series of great men.
As big as his name was, as tragic was his end. Legend tells of a great monster who attacked his village, an epic battle between the hero and the beast and the end of both of them in a blinding flash of light. But those are stories of civilians, non-shinobi. We ninja have recorded history, we have facts and details and so we shall study this event with utmost priority…Naruto will you shut the **** up and let me finish the lesson"
At the back of the classroom, the one named Naruto, a kid with bright blond hair, blue eyes and orange clothes stopped himself from laughing and looked at the teacher in the eye. Beside him, another kid was laughing, this time dressed in a thick jacket with a hood on and a small white dog at his feet. If people didn't know better, they would have said the dog was laughing too.
"Sorry, sensei, Kiba and I remembered something really funny."
"I'll show you funny if you don't shut up. Let's see twenty." Instantly both were on the floor, doing push-ups as fast as they could. Sometimes, if they weren't fast enough they would get some extra, on and on until they fell. In a matter of seconds they were done and resumed their seats.
"You guys are really annoying, ever since you joined our class, Naruto. And in the last year, too. The exams are coming, unless you work extremely hard to catch up you'll fail. Personally I don't see how you might get to the level of the rest of the class, even with the 'private tutoring' you got." Some of the kids smirked.
"These guys are gonna have to work hard to catch up to me. Don't compare me with them, I'm way better." The temperature dropped as many prepared kunai and shuriken, locking on the target. Naruto felt it as well, he drew a tanto from his bag with a blur. Almost everyone was taken aback by his speed. "Anyone want a piece of this? I'm ready for whatever you brats can do." Now the chill was redirected, this time the aggressors reanalyzed their plan.
"I very much doubt it. You may have some reflexes but besides that, I haven't seen anything special from you. You're weak by my standards and if I were you I'd shut up and pay attention."
"Well, you're not me. I'm me and I'm gonna do things my way not yours. Sorry, Iruka-sensei but I'm gonna show you what I've got at the exams. You'll wet you pants." The rest of the students looked horrified. Nobody ever talked to Iruka like that. Nobody. For them, this guy was a dead man. "Uzumaki! I wanna see eighty! One hand!"
For the rest of the hour, the teacher known as Umino Iruka went trough all the drills he knew, all the most painful and tiring exercises in the book. He was going to give the brat a lesson for not paying attention in class, and he would learn it one way or the other. By the time the bell rang Naruto was breathing rather heavily but was still holding his ground. Iruka was frustrated." Stay after class, Uzumaki!"
After all the kids had left, the last being Nara Shikamru and Akimichi Chouji, Naruto sat down lazily in his desk. Iruka took a chair and placed himself in front of the blond. His face was serious, blank of emotions, his eyes fixed on the face with six-whisker marks. Naruto also took a serious face, he needed to be calm in moments like these.
"Ok, Lotus, I understand you're frustrated because of this mission but that's no reason to give off your cover. That stunt with the tanto, you were going to start a fight, and then the smart kids will know you're more than you say you are."
"Cut the crap, Dolphin, you don't know half of it. I'm going to kill myself if I have to stand this place any longer. All these stupid lessons about the 4th Hokage or how to hold a kunai are boring. I can't just stand around doing nothing while you talk about things every shinobi knows. I'm surprised you haven't quit yet."
"I guess it's hard for an active Core to be transferred and demoted to the Independent, but this is a mission and you will fulfill it. Hokage-sama gave you this assignament, you will do all in your power to finish it with success. I thought Ne training would make you understand the importance of devotement and determination."
"Listen, a few months ago I was in the trenches in Kirigakure, fighting to stay alive. The war ended and now I'm here, among kids who never saw death in the eye but who think they can be shinobi. All these punks talk big but can't even block a decent hit. And I'm stuck with them until I make Chuunin. The next exam in in two months but most likely the jounin won't allow us to enter. "
"Deal with it, Lotus-kun. A good ninja will do any mission he is assigned without complaining. You must be ready for anything, that is the life we shinobi have. Plus, you're a kid no older than them. I know you wanted more, maybe to be a Core jounin but now you are a genin-in-training of the Independent Corps."
"I'm not a good ninja. I'm a strong one. Good ninja do mission where diplomacy and stealth is implied. I was trained for heavy combat and survival in harsh conditions. I'm like a fireman at a pyromaniac convention here. I simply don't fit."
"Maybe that's why you were sent here. You need to learn subtle tactics. In any case, the exam won't be much trouble for you. Watch out for your team when you do get in the field, they'll need your help if they are as dumb as you say. And unless you get more subtle, you'll never pass the chuunin examinations. If I were you, I'd change my style a more appropriate one."
"Now you're giving me advices. Man, before talking you should look at yourself for a minute. You had the same training as me, did all those crazy things for better eyesight or agility, you are as much of a front-liner as I am. Now you teach, an undercover mission, you asked for an easy job instead of retiring as everybody does when they hit 29. Don't tell me about style."
"I was a captain boy, I still am, I'm your superior. It wasn't advice it was an order and I if were you I'd stick to it. Or else you might end up as my assistant and then you'll see boredom like you never saw before. Am I clear, Uzumaki?"
"Sir, yes ,sir!" the blond was on his feet, straight up, gaze fixed forward, hands by his side. An order was an order, he was going to do it. It didn't matter if he liked it or not, discipline was important. As a Core genin he had gone trough many drills that made him act out of reflex. When a superior was talking seriously he listened and responded by the book. How else could a fighting force be coordinated?
Iruka stood up, shadowing the blond. He gave his student one last look, observing even the tiniest movement. Pleased by the perfect "Freeze" he took out a dolphin mask and an ANBU travel cloak and put them on as he was walking. When reaching the door he gave a short command "At ease" an heard the boy relaxing and the 'poof-ing out of existence. He had replaced himself with a Shadow Clone when the rest of the class left! And he, Iruka, hadn't noticed. An ex-assassin hadn't noticed a chakra spike, this was weird. He shrugged it off as another strange thing you see as a shinobi and went to give his weekly report back at HQ.
Meanwhile, the blond was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading for his temporary home. Living in an unknown ANBU HQ would look a little suspicious to his classmates and future team members as his entire ninja activity until the age of twelve, at which he was at, consisted of 'private tutoring'. Nobody, except for a selected few, knew the truth about Uzumaki Naruto. Only a dozen people, maybe less, knew that he had an ANBU uniform, battle armor and mask, locked away in a secret location.
Few people addressed him as Lotus. Amongst them were the Third Hokage, reinstated after the death of the 4th, Danzou, the mysterious leader of the Root division of ANBU, Umino Iruka, codename –Dolphin-, a Root agent undercover, working as a teacher at the Shinobi Academy and Hatake Kakashi codename-Hound- ANBU Captain. Apart from these names there were some of his comrades, or ex-comrades but they were in Water Country now, serving as peace-keeping troops.
Since he had been five years old, due to an incident which involved him directly, concerning an ability of his, Naruto underwent shinobi training at an intense level, under the supervision of Danzou and other Root agents. His power level was higher than the normal one for his age, about chuunin in terms of control and offensive force. His training consisted mostly of direct battle techniques, most of them original ones, meant for large scale battles. He enrolled in the Core, the main army of the village, that worked with Samurai army of the country at the age of seven.
At that time a civil war broke out in Water Country. The Mizukage, Water Shadow, and his brother the Daimyo, Feudal Lord, tried to pass a law which would forbid ninja belonging to the old clans from receiving any training or following the ways of their ancestors. The clans united and declared war. Konoha had an allegiance with the rebel leader, Yukimaru and his clan, the Hyosashi, and so they entered the conflict. Naruto, by his request had been part of the Leaf Expeditionary Force, or LEF. His commander had been Itachi, of the Uchiha clan, a kid a few years older than him, regarded as a genius in the ninja arts.
The fighting lasted four years, tearing the country apart. Families split, friends fought with each other, many died. Large scale battles destroyed cities like Kateshima or Kirgakure itself. But in the end, the rebel forces were victorious. Yukimaru was appointed Mizukage and a new alliance, this time between Konoha and Kiri was forged.
During that war Naruto had seen death, even caused and that changed him from a normal kid to a battle thirsty one. When he heard he was going to be transferred to a normal Genin team he smashed all he saw in his path. Now it was already a month since he had joined the Academy and soon he was going to take the normal exams for genins. He wasn't particularly thrilled to be teamed up with two 'brats' and 'some idiot jounin' but it had been an order.
Now he was going to take a brief lunch and then go practice his sword skills in the woods for a few hours. Again, nothing spectacular but it was better than nothing.'Guess it's gonna be that way for a while now. Ain't nothing special about being a genin, only stupid assignments.' With that thought in mind he kept his pace, not looking forward to anything in particular.
Rice Fields country, Sekigahara port, Same time
Arashi stood alone in his study, as he often did lately, staring into an empty ceiling , but not even observing it. For now, the construction of Otokagure hadn't done anything to disrupt the normal way of life of the Fuuma clan. But soon enough they would start to feel the effects. Most likely, the snake-nin, Orochimaru, was only warming his way into the hearth of the Daimyo's council, clearing the path for further actions. Oh yes! Konoha had resources, even with the war effort, which was now nearly zero.
Not even a war had stopped the Leaf from continuing with their plans for the founding of a sister-village in the north. It was still a small one, but well organized and had already started taking missions of low to medium difficulty, soon they would get the high-ranked ones. That had been the traditional job of the Fuuma, but lately the influence of the clan began to fade.
Once Otogakure would be instated as a fully active ninja village, the balance of power will hang on it's side for two main reasons. One, the Leaf itself built it, specialists in many areas, with the experience of seasoned shinobi were sent to supervise the training of Sound-nins. And second, Orochimaru of the Sannin was appointed leader- a former candidate for the title of Hokage to lead a new founded ninja village. That would give it all the credit to establish itself.
'And then the Fuuma will fall. Slowly, that's how we'll die. Slowly and painfully…We won't get so many missions anymore, our old allies will leave us for a better deal. Blood and loyalty won't mean anything in this new arrangement. The one on the handle end of the kunai will have the upper hand. History is full of examples.'
'But it mustn't be that way' a voice in his head said' You have an alternative, Arashi, you can save the clan, if you are ready to make the right sacrifice. You know how, why not take that offer and keep on being an important ninja clan. After all, it's only a change of flag, really. Not so much big of a deal if you wear red instead of dark-green.'
With his mind full of doubt he went to take a nap. Lately he had done that quite often, too. The nightmares counted for little, he needed rest after hours of planning and thinking. Or else, how could he be the clan leader that he should?
End of Chapter one.
Only an introduction to the story, the main plot will start soon. I want it to be of epic length, I've got some ideas and I'd like to use all of them. Review if you're in the mood to…
Alex R out.