DISCLAIMER: I, Yamada Takumi, do not own the [manga/anime] series Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi owns the series Naruto.
CHAPTER 1 [PREVIEW] - START!
Asahi no Sato (1), was waking up to a peaceful morning. Birds chirped in the background, while the sound of crashing waves could be heard from the coastline near the village. Opening her eyes, a woman of twenty-three years old lay in bed. Slowly lifting herself up, the woman looked over to her side. Sleeping peacefully beside her is the new joy in her life, Uzumaki Naruto, firstborn of Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Arashi (2). On the other side of little Naruto lay Kushina's husband, Arashi, still fast asleep. It has been one month since Kushina gave birth to Naruto, currently being the third of November. "Hmm, good morning, Kushina-chan," Arashi spoke, sitting himself up from his sleeping position on the right side of their futon. "Ah, good morning, Arashi-koi," Kushina replied to her beloved, gently moving over a still sleeping Naruto giving her husband a chaste kiss. Returning to her side, Kushina checked over Naruto who was starting to show signs of waking up, if his twitching eyes was anything to go by.
Fluttering his eyes open, little Naruto started sniffling, which soon turned into a full-blown cry. Hearing her babies cries, Kushina gently picked Naruto up and started feeding him. Seeing that Naruto was being taken care of, Arashi got up and headed towards the bathroom. Before walking out the bedrooms door, Arashi looked over to Kushina, and says, "Toshiharu-oniisama gave my team and I a mission, I will be gone for at least a weak." Nodding sadly at the inevitable outcome of their month-off, "stay safe, you know how I worry when you're out on missions," Kushina replies. "I know, I know. You worry too much, Kushina-chan, you know I'll be fine," Arashi says, smiling at Kushina while turning around and walking through the door in the direction of the bathroom shouting behind him, "oh, Seiko-san said hi and that she couldn't wait to see you again!" Smiling fondly at the mention of her childhood friend, Uzumaki Seiko, Kushina put Naruto over her back and gently pat him so that he could burp after his meal.
After getting ready for an hour, and informing his immediate friends that he won't be in the village for a while, he heads over to their villages Shochō's (3) building to report in. Jumping over the buildings of the village, Arashi sees a reflection of sunlight from a Hitai-ate on a person who he's all too familiar with. Catching up to the person, Arashi speaks, "been a while, eh taichō?" Looking to his left, Arashi's captain (4) nods in acknowledgement while also asking, "it has, did you get the mission scroll from Toshiharu-sama as well?" Replying, Arashi spoke, "yep, came last night during the celebration," sighing, "brother really has bad timing when it comes to things like that," Arashi finished. "Well, Toshiharu-sama is a hardworking man. I don't think I have ever seen him take a break, oh and congratulations on your newborn," Arashi's captain replied, "ah, already here," finishing off as the two of them land in front of the wooden structure. Walking through the open double doors and a flight of stairs, the shinobi duo eventually arrive at the Shochō's office. "Aiko-san, Akihiro-san," the team's captain greets the two siblings sitting on the waiting chairs closest to the office door. Before the two could reply to their captain's greetings, the Shochō's office door opens with an elderly man and two, presumably shinobi, walk out the door. The elderly man gives the group waiting outside a curt nod before walking along, with the woman of the three giving an apologetic smile to them while following after her superior. Shrugging at the display, the group shuffles into the Shochō's office. "Good, good. Team Eight, you are here," Uzumaki Toshiharu says, gesturing for the four to sit in the seats facing his desk.
"Now, I'm sure you are wondering what I have called your old genin team in for," Toshiharu starts, seeing the four have seated themselves, "now, the Hoshikage has reason to believe Konoha-shinobi have been recently probing Kuma no Kuni's lands, even though they are currently allied," Toshiharu finishes, with the arching of four eyebrows being the reaction of Team Eight. Nodding at the team's reaction, Toshiharu continues, "yes, that was my reaction as well. Though the Hoshikage wishes to confirm whether it is enemy-shinobi impersonating Konoha-shinobi, or if it really is Konoha-shinobi through a third party, us." Arashi, raising his hand receives permission to speak from his elder brother, "Toshiharu-oniisama, if it really is Konoha-nin, would it be wise to reveal our presence to them just yet?" Arashi asks his elder brother, receiving a small nod. "Indeed, I have thought of that possibility, but I do have enough courage in your ability to silence them should they turn out to be Konoha-shinobi," Toshiharu replies coolly, receiving a series of 'hai's' from Team Eight.
Running at ninja-speed through the forest of Kuma no Kuni (5), the group of four Uzumaki-shinobi continued on to Kuma no Kuni's and Hi no Kuni's border to the south-west, wear the sightings of the Konoha-shinobi had been rather close to the port town located near that portion of the border. "A quick break here, Kotaro-taichō? Minato-chō is another days worth of travel from here," Uzumaki Aiko suggests, putting away her map in her back pouch. Replying to his subordinate, "no, we will rest when the sun starts setting," Kotaro gestures with his left hand to the sun's position in the sky, leaving them with only three hours before night time starts to roll in. Hearing their instructions from their captain, the group of four Uzumaki continued on their designated path.
It has been five hours and thirty-three minutes since the group had last communicated with each other. Kotaro looks up to the sky and nods his head, "alright, stop here," Kotaro orders his team with his three subordinates coming to a stop in a clearing. "Setting up camp, taichō?" Akihiro asks, receiving a reply from Kotaro, "yes, Akihiro and Aiko will go collect firewood while Arashi and I set-up our tents." Nodding at his orders Akihiro and Aiko use the Shunshin no Jutsu to go back into the wooded area they had come from. Seeing the two siblings leave to collect their firewood, Arashi unseals a bunch of medium sized stones. Placing the stones in a circle where their fire will be. Once the stones are aligned in a circle, Arashi proceeds to dig the grass out from within the circle using a small shovel he had sealed within the scroll that had contained the stones.
About an hour after Akihiro and Aiko had returned from their search for wood for the camps fire, the fire currently was burning the wood at a steady pace. With the heat causing crackling sounds every now and then, with small embers floating out of the fire to the ground around four Uzumaki.
CHAPTER 1 [PREVIEW] - END!
INFORMATION:
(1); Asahi no Sato (Village of the Rising Sun), is a small village set-up by the survivors after the destruction of Uzushiogakure no Sato (Village Hidden by Whirling Tides). The main survivors were minor clan members from clans other than the Uzumaki, as Uzushiogakure's attackers were mostly after the Uzumaki-members, though, a good number of Genin and Chūnin along with a few Jōnin who were leading those Genin and Chūnin.
(2); Uzumaki Arashi {うずまき嵐} is the father of Uzumaki Naruto {うずまきナルト} in this Naruto fanfiction, instead of Namikaze Minato {波風ミナト} like in Naruto-canon. Uzumaki Kushina {うずまきクシナ} is still Naruto's mother, like in Naruto-canon. However, Kushina is married to Arashi instead of Minato, unlike the original Naruto-canon.
(3); Shochō {所長} means Chief, someone who is a leader of a village or clan.
(4); Taichō {隊長} means Captain, who is the person in command of a military squad.
(5); Kuma no Kuni {熊の国}, otherwise known as the Land of Bears which is situated in-between Tanima no Kuni {谷間の国} and Cha no Kuni {茶の国} while also sharing a western border with Hi no Kuni {火の国}. Kuma no Kuni is the country were the hidden village Hoshigakure no Sato (Village Hidden Among Stars) is located, with Tanima no Kuni (Land of Valleys) and Cha no Kuni (Land of Tea) mostly requesting missions from Hoshigakure.
AUTHOR NOTE: Hey all! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this Naruto fanfiction, "Naruto; Empire of the Whirling Tides!" I plan to make this book quite long, with at least one-hundred chapters before I even consider going on hiatus or abandoning the Naruto fanfiction. So far my heads bubbling with ideas for this fanfiction, though, as you will be able to tell some plot points come from the original manga-canon timeline and others from the anime-canon timeline. On that note, updates will be released sporadically, meaning no set-time for releases. I have it this way so I can write chapters at my leisure without feeling rushed to release at a certain time. Anyhow, again, hope y'all enjoyed and stay tuned for chapter two!
