AN: This is going to be less a multi-chapter story than a series of disjointed one shots that happen to take place in the same continuum. Now that that's out of the way, on with the show!
Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto or Green Lantern.
Aotsuki - Genesis of the Blue Dawn
Yahiko was rather wondering why he hadn't seen this coming. He supposed that it was because he had so wanted to believe that the leader of Amegakure was just as fed up with the constant wars that plagued this country as they were and truly wanted to work together with their group.
The other day, Hanzo had approached them with the offer to broker a peace between the three great warring nations that surrounded the Land of Rain. Apparently, it had all been a lie. A ruse to capture one of their founding members and gather the fledgling Akatsuki into a place to be slaughtered.
"Your gang is a hindrance to my plans. Yahiko... as the leader, you will die here today. If you don't, this girl will get it."
Hanzo threw a kunai down between them.
"You with the red hair, use this to kill him. If you do, I'll let this girl free."
Yahiko stared up at where Hanzo held Konan hostage with the aid of Konoha's black ops leader Danzo. The situation seemed untenable with their demand his friend and comrade Nagato to kill him in order to spare Konan's life. He could see Nagato freeze with indecision, torn by being told to choose between the lives of his two closest friends.
"Don't Nagato! Don't worry about me. You two get out of here!" Konan shouted from where she was being held prisoner above them.
"Nagato..." he said, snapping his friend out of his trance, "kill me."
It was the best decision. He had once said that his dream was to rule the entire world, but then it had been a dream to overcome his own pain and struggles. It was Nagato that had presented the idea that he could use that power to aid others. One who could rule the world could also end war. He might have been the leader, but Nagato was the one who knew the destination of peace better than anyone despite the hate and pain he carried. Nagato was the one who was necessary for the group's success, more so than Yahiko himself had ever been. Yahiko led in order to fulfill Nagato's dream. He would gladly die to see that it continued.
'Nagato. You will be the bridge of hope that these people need,' he thought to himself as he prepared to grab Hanzo's kunai, place it in Nagato's hand, and take his own life, thus making it look like Nagato had slain him as demanded.
"Koumyou Yahiko of Amegakure," came a sudden voice that effectively silenced the entire battlefield. All eyes were suddenly on a spot of floating blue light that had apparently addressed the young man. Even the words it spoke sounded blue, if sound could have color. Both Yahiko and Nagato were close enough to see that the light was emanating from, of all things, a ring floating in midair.
"You have the ability to inspire great Hope. You have been chosen as the wielder of the Blue Light," the ring continued before promptly maneuvering itself onto Yahiko's finger.
Yahiko felt himself encompassed by a warmth that felt like the emotion he felt when the three of them discussed how they would bring peace to the world. Only this sensation was so much more potent that comparing it to that old emotion was like comparing the sun to a campfire. And yet, it didn't seem to eclipse his old emotions at all. If anything, it validated them. And when it died down, he could see that all the colors of his uniform aside from black now had a blue color that matched the ring. He would later learn that the strange symbol upon the ring had also inscribed itself on the back of his cloak.
'It seems there is little time, Koumyou Yahiko of Amegakure,' came the strange blue voice directly into his mind. 'The power of the Blue Light is limited in its applications by itself, but if you can meld it with your 'chakra',' the ring conveyed the term as if it was not a familiar concept to it, 'you may be able to boost your existing abilities enough to rescue your comrade.'
'It's worth a try,' Yahiko thought back to the ring, agreeing that there wasn't enough time to try anything. This strange force had chosen him at a moment when he'd been about to take his own life, even if for all the right reasons, and to continue on that path would be disrespectful. Yet, even now, Hanzo was overcoming his surprise and he had to act before Konan died. He focused his chakra and combined it with the ring's own unfamiliar power source for a shunshin to Konan, and promptly appeared next to her in a flash of blue light.
Every shinobi, including Hanzo and Danzo, could only stare in shock at what seemed to be a perfect replication of the famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, Hiraishin no Jutsu by their opponent. So great was their shock that none of them moved to stop him from grabbing Konan from Hanzo's clutches.
"Power levels 50%," the ring stated to him helpfully. Yahiko blinked, not having thought about the ring's power being so finite. "52%"
The ring's voice seemed to snap the Hanzo out of his stupor and he activated a trap that caused a large number of disguised exploding tags to rise up from under Yahiko and Konan and try to engulf them. 'A trap, of course,' Yahiko thought as he quickly repeated the technique to return himself and Konan to Nagato a the exploding tags went off. Nagato was looking at him with awe, along with the rest of their comrades. Perfectly understandable as that enhanced blue-flash shunshin had gotten both him and Konan out of the exploding trap without a scratch.
"Power levels 4%, 10%," the ring continued its report.
"Glad to know you can recharge yourself," Yahiko said absentmindedly. Using the ring's power to supercharge his shunshin had been a trip to say the least. The sheer speed it had resulted in was almost instantaneous, though he had a feeling that he'd used far more of the ring's power than he needed to. Clearly he'd have to practice and get better control.
"Negative," the ring corrected him, "this ring is not capable of self-charging."
"Then, how are your power levels increasing?" he asked in spite of himself. Their enemy was preparing to launch a counter attack after all, and distractions like that could prove fatal.
"This ring is powered by the concentrated Hope of sentient beings. By inspiring Hope in your comrades, the ring's power is being restored. Power levels 35%."
That was handy, and something he'd definitely have to discuss the mechanics of later with the ring.
"Kill them!" came the yell from Hanzo. Apparently pondering the mechanics of this strange ring would have to wait as all of Hanzo's shinobi launched a rain of kunai at them.
Fortunately, the new threat to the friends he'd almost lost to death spurred Nagato to action. Using the powers granted to him by the fabled Rinnegan, he easily repelled the entire barrage.
"You're no ordinary kids," Hanzo said, almost thoughtfully even though his voice was heard clearly in the gorge below. "Those eyes, that ring," and he had clearly guessed the source of Yahiko's new strength. Not that the ring had exactly been subtle though. Though the strongest reaction Yahiko had right then was annoyance that Hanzo was dismissing Konan.
"Power levels 65%."
"Kill them all!" came the cry from one of the Konoha black ops and the entirety of both Hanzo's and Danzo's forces, save the two leaders themselves, jumped down to attack.
In another reality, a wounded Nagato consumed by grief over his best friend overtaxed himself using a summon known as Gedo Mezo to suck out the souls of all combatants, decimating the assault alone and became a powerful cripple relegated to manipulating puppet corpses from the shadows. In this reality, the three Ame Orphans led a counter assault that was no less effective. Nagato used the powers of his Rinnegan judiciously instead of recklessly, Konan demonstrated that her self-developed paper techniques were no less fearsome than the powers of her comrades, and Yahiko threw ninjutsu that glowed with a blue light brighter and purer than raw chakra at his foes.
Galvanized by the actions of their leaders, the rest of the Akatsuki charged into a battle that quickly turned the former death trap into a rout against the ambushers.
- Later -
'I have to ask,' Yahiko thought silently to the ring, 'why did you choose me? Nagato is the most key member of our organization. He's the one destined to spread hope and peace to the world, not me.'
'This ring is not capable of divining an amorphous concept such as destiny,' the ring's blue voice replied directly to his mind. 'It can only sense the influence of emotions inside sentient beings and make rudimentary judgments based upon this data. Your friend Nagato is too close to the influence of Rage to properly wield the Blue Light. This ring determined that the Hope he possesses, while great, was inspired by yourself. As he is now, were he to lose your presence, he would lose his Hope, therefore your continued existence is necessary for your friend to continue on the path of Hope.'
'What? But, he was the one who showed me the path of hope and peace in the first place!'
'That may be, but currently you are the one who most embodies the virtues of Hope. Even if your Hope is drawn from your comrades, the Hope you give back to them is greater still.'
Yahiko was a bit dubious that the ring's claim was true. But, if he meant even half as much to his friends as the ring claimed... then he was humbled by the revelation.
'And that is yet another reason why you were chosen. A wielder of the Blue Light needs to be selfless and humble, or the effectiveness they can produce will be greatly lessened, if not outright negated.'
'I am still not worthy of this honor,' he thought back.
'To wield the Blue Light is not an honor to be worthy of, but a burden to carry. Your willingness to carry such a burden is far more important than any honor it would bring you.'
'Well, I suppose I need to find out what you can do.'
'The Blue Light is immensely powerful, but working alone it is limited in its applications. By itself, the power of the ring can grant you levitation, flight, and protection from harsh environments.'
'How harsh?'
'The void of space would be no hindrance to you. Nor would the heat of the most violent volcano. The ring can provide breathable air in the most poisonous of atmospheres and protect you from the pressures of the deepest oceans. However, the protection against physical dangers is much more limited. For example, the ring's protective aura could stop molten magma or naked flame from killing you, for a short time, but could not completely halt it from harming you. Any assaults powered by 'chakra' energy would be more effective in breaching this protection as well.'
Yahiko couldn't stop himself from whistling in appreciation, which got him a couple of odd looks from his comrades in the room. While it sounded like the passive protections the ring gave him might not reliably stop even a thrown kunai, especially if the thrower imbued it with chakra, the environmental protections it gave were something many ninja would happily kill to possess. And the ability to fly? That alone would have been more than enough to have nations fighting over this tiny unassuming piece of jewelry.
'The Blue Ring also possesses the ability to grant a vision to an individual consisting of what they most hope for. While this is meant primarily as a defense against covetous individuals, it would be possible to link the Blue Light to one of your 'genjutsu' to deliberately target an individual for this. By focusing the vision ability with your 'chakra', you would also be able to control how long it lasted if you wished. By itself, the ring's visions will terminate automatically when they run their course.'
That sounded really handy. Though... 'I take it that you can only create visions related to Hope?'
'Correct. The Blue Light is not capable of linking such a vision to any other emotion. In fact, you will likely find it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to create 'genjutsu' on your own that are linked to any primary emotion other than Hope as long as you bear the ring.'
Okay, he could work around such a limitation. He didn't particularly like many of the usual genjutsu anyway. But, it made him wonder. What other limitations did the ring place on him?
Almost as if it heard that question, the ring responded. 'The Blue Light influences others with Hope. As the wielder, you will find it easier to feel Hope than any emotions relating to another part of the emotion spectrum. Because of this, most of your decisions will likely be based on the emotion of Hope, but as long as you remain conscious of this your Will shall remain completely your own.'
Well, at least the ring was being up front with him. Though, the way it said some of these things made him wonder 'are there any other rings like you?'
'Affirmative. There are exactly seven such rings currently in active status including this one. One ring for each part of the emotional spectrum. Each ring is capable of concentrating its related core emotion into a tangible energy which can be shaped into almost any effect, limited only by the wielder's imagination and the force of the ring's related emotional color that they possess.'
'Funny, you didn't mention that earlier.'
'Apologies. While the Blue Light is arguably the mightiest of the seven, it is greatly limited in its ability when acting alone. The capacity to create hard energy constructs and other effects can only be achieved under the influence of a specific portion of the emotional spectrum. The seven portions of the emotional spectrum are Red Rage, Orange Avarice, Yellow Fear, Green Will, Blue Hope, Indigo Compassion, and Violet Love. Only the presence of the Green Light of Will can unlock the Blue Ring's full abilities.'
'Hope requires Will. How... appropriate.'
'And in turn Hope bolsters Will. Empowering the wielder of the Green Ring is one of the core functions inherent in the Blue Ring. The other is cleansing an individual of excessive influence by the other portions of the emotional spectrum.'
'And how does that work? You said you are influencing me. Does that mean that this 'cleansing' takes place by replacing the other influence with your own?'
'Essentially correct. All parts of the emotional spectrum save the Green Light are capable of influencing another in this fashion. Unless the influenced individual is actually wearing the ring though, it is largely temporary. The difference of the Blue Light is that, while it influences, it does not inherently move the influenced individual to action. Essentially, the same property that requires that the Blue Light must have the presence of the Green Light to operate at full capacity means that it's influence calms the influence of the other five parts of the emotional spectrum rather than replacing their drive with its own. The Yellow Light is particularly susceptible to the cleansing powers of the Blue Light.'
'Hope dispels Fear,' Yahiko thought absently, ignoring the rings affirmation of the statement. This object seemed tailor made for the cause of Peace. However, while it claimed to be mightier than the others, its abilities by itself were woefully sub-par in comparison. The rather unique application of its influence probably meant that a wielder of the other Lights didn't use the ability as often. After all, if the influence spurred the target to actions based on that influence rather than calming them, who could tell what the target would do? A person influence by Rage would be driven to attack, but it would likely be difficult to predict who they would attack.
'So, where are these other rings? Especially the green one?'
'Unknown. The ability to accurately track another ring's location requires either willing permission of the wielder, an inherent link between the two rings, or close proximity while the other ring is actively channeling its abilities. Additionally, while this ring can detect activity from five of the other rings, the powers of the Green Ring appear to be dormant at this time.'
'And there goes the easy answer,' Yahiko thought. Oh well, he was used to doing things the hard way by now. 'What else can you tell me?'
'Much. However, the entirety of the knowledge database accessible by this ring would take several times your natural lifespan to impart. As such, this ring requires a more specified request before it can impart data.'
Okay, so he had more knowledge on his finger than the most expansive library known to exist, but it was so expansive that he had to actually request something specific before the ring would tell him. 'What can you tell me of the Green Light?'
'As the middle part of the emotional spectrum, the Green Light exerts no influence over the wielder. It is possible that the nature of the Green Light can even allow the wielder to overcome influence from the other six parts of the emotional spectrum. However, this is speculation. Only the Green Ring itself would have detailed data on the Green Light.'
'So, the information you can give me on the other rings is limited, but they don't have much more than basic information on you either, right?'
'Correct. This ring can draw logical speculation from existing data, but does not possess full knowledge of the other parts of the emotional spectrum.'
'I guess we'll come back to that if we encounter any of them. Is there any way to make more Blue Rings?'
'Not at this time. Information about the process of manufacturing a Ring is currently under a seven-point security restriction.'
'Seven point security restriction?' he wondered. Apparently someone had gone to great lengths to ensure that there wouldn't be more than one copy of the ring he now wore.
'To access restricted data, authorization is required from seven ring bearers.'
'And there's only seven rings, which command emotional forces that tend to openly conflict with each other.' If he didn't miss his guess, that meant that the other six rings had a similar security restriction. That suggested that it guarded information that was too dangerous to leave the possibility of someone stumbling over it, yet too valuable to outright destroy.
'Correct.'
'Someone really wanted to keep your numbers under control.'
'Unknown. Such information would likely be in restricted files.'
'Of course,' Yahiko thought as he rolled his eyes. This was clearly a mystery for another time. 'So, since there's not much the Blue Light can do on its own, what other options do I have for making use of it?'
'A significant number. This ring, once determining that the Green Ring was dormant for unknown reasons and an indeterminate period, began to collect data on the human life energy known as 'chakra' in an effort to determine what, if anything, could be done in conjunction with this force. Upon collection of data on a rare form of 'chakra' known as 'sage chakra' made by fusing human life energy with ambient natural life energy, this ring formulated a process to meld the Blue Light with 'chakra' to produce similar results. While you may not have access to the full capacity of the Blue Light, you can use it to greatly empower any method of 'chakra' usage you are capable of.'
'And you guided me through this process in the battle earlier,' Yahiko thought to himself. Obviously this 'sage' chakra was either heavily secret, highly dangerous to use, or incredibly difficult to achieve, possibly all three, or more ninja would use it. Maybe he couldn't make solid light energy constructs, but the ability to readily and safely use a force similar to this 'sage' chakra was a pretty nice bonus. That piece of information had also driven home that whoever was responsible for the rings either didn't understand chakra, or was completely unaware of it.
'Correct. However the process was previously untested and the efficiency produced was woefully below optimal effectiveness.'
'I thought as much. I'm going to have to practice to master this.' Especially that supercharged shunshin he did. The blue flash of light his friends told him of and the shock on all of the enemy ninja's faces meant that he'd apparently replicated the capacity of the Hiraishin jutsu he'd heard rumors of. He wondered if he could do the same thing with a kawamiri and switch places with a hostage next time.
'That would be advisable. It is also advisable to keep a close monitor on this ring's power levels. Records indicate that in the past a ring bearer would have had a power battery from which they could recharge, but current data does not indicate where such a device would be located if indeed it still exists. As of now, only the ambient Hope of sentient beings can recharge the power levels of this ring. The greater the Hope felt, the more quickly the ring's power levels can replenish themselves.'
And it seemed that he would need to manage the ring's abilities judiciously lest it run dry on him at a bad moment. And since it ran on Hope, being able to recharge during a bad moment would be highly unlikely. 'That reminds me, how much power do the flight and protections take up?'
'Such basic functions of the ring provide a negligible drain on power levels. It would take several days without access to Hope energy before such functions would place a significant drain on this ring's power levels.'
Wow, his use of the ring's energy with his chakra really was horrible if he sucked away half its reserves with just one super-charged shunshin. Granted, the result seemed to be the most draining of any of the jutsu he'd used in the following fight, but the knowledge of how poorly he'd made use of it made him feel like a fresh student again. Almost as if he was just starting to learn how to mold chakra from Jiraiya all over again. 'Oh, and what was with my cloak?'
'Another core function of the ring is garbing the ring bearer in an appropriate uniform. Your cloak was deemed highly functional and appropriate for the engagement you found yourself in, so this ring made only cosmetic changes. If you desire another outfit or design, merely imagine the appearance and the ring will alter your garb to match.'
That... was pretty cool actually. Considering that his armor hadn't changed except in color, he assumed that producing armor wasn't something this attire altering ability was meant to do. However... 'Can you do this for anyone else, or just me?'
'Processing...' the ring said, taking a few moments before answering his question. Considering the ready responses it had provided up to now, this pause made him wonder if anyone had asked, or even considered, such a thing before. 'Such a task would be possible. However, this ring is only capable of producing the colors black, white, and blue when making such changes. Though the ring can store civilian garb for the wielder and restore it at any time when discretion is necessary, it cannot do this for anyone else.'
Well, there went any possibility of a mass disguise infiltration. An instant civilian disguise could be handy, but right now he was thinking about re-designing the organization's uniforms. He needed to talk with his friends.
- Several minutes later -
"I think it's time we had a new name for our group," Yahiko said to his friends. His cloak had changed again. He'd played with the ring's uniform making ability for a bit and settled on a cloak with blue clouds decorating it with the ring's symbol over the left side of his chest. The skin-tight uniform that the ring informed him was the default looked pretty good on him, but it just wasn't something he thought would work in the ninja world.
"Oh?" Konan asked curiously.
"Yes," Yahiko replied, gazing pointedly at the blue ring he wore. "We have dedicated ourselves to the hope and realization of peace. This ring claims to be powered by pure Hope in the form of blue light. As warriors of Hope, we should bear its colors."
"So," Nagato said knowingly, "instead of Akatsuki, the Red Dawn..."
"We shall be known as Aotsuki, the Blue Dawn, spreading our promise of Hope and Peace to the entire world."
Konan and Nagato looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Yahiko.
"I'm in," Konan said.
"Me too," Nagato added. "Red's too angry. It'll feel good to wear something more peaceful."
'I have a good feeling about this,' Yahiko thought to himself. 'Almost as if we escaped the same dark fate we've dedicated our lives to fighting against.'
- Elsewhere -
The man known as Uchiha Madara, or Tobi when he wanted to keep a low profile, scowled to himself. The group of Ame rebels known as Akatsuki had veered from the course he had intended for them. Yahiko was supposed to have died in that battle, leaving Nagato and the Rinnegan ripe for manipulation. Instead a mysterious object had bestowed itself upon Yahiko and turned the tide.
Due to the mysterious and potent nature of this strange force, the likelyhood of being able to salvage his existing plans for the group was close to nonexistent. He would have to start a new organization from scratch, and take a more active role in its running as it would take too much time to set up a new figurehead to draw attention away from himself.
Perhaps not all was lost though. The name of Akatsuki had become established enough to be recognizable. Divisions of ideals created splinter groups all the time too, and copycat organizations were hardly unheard of either. So relatively few questions would be posed if a second such group appeared.
Yes. He would reform the Akatsuki under his control as they were meant to be and continue the plan through them. The Red Dawn would break, with him as Lord of the entire world.
AN: Yahiko's family name Koumyou is something I made up. It can mean 'glory', 'hope', or 'right future'. I figured it was very appropriate for him.
I can't recall if the canon recruit message for the blue rings is 'instill Hope' or 'inspire Hope'. Personally, I prefer the word 'inspire' to 'instill', so that's what I used.
So, please review! And for hope's sake, if any of you decide to write a story yourselves based on this, include a link! I'd love to read it!