Disclaimer: Naruto and the various characters herein don't actually belong to me but Masashi Kishimoto. Worm is by Wildbow.
Worm: Dawn of the Shinobi Age
Prologue: Darkest before the Dawn
You would think that after dying not once but twice, you'd be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy the afterlife, mused Hashirama Senju. As it turns out, it was not to be for Hashirama, the co-founder of Konohagakure and its Shodaime Hokage once upon a time. Dying once had been rather unpleasant but it turns out that his halfwit of a brother, Tobirama had invented a Resurrection Jutsu that allowed one to bring back deceased individuals.
Worse, instead of declaring it a kinjutsu and preventing it ever falling into another's hand, Baka-rama had written in down. Naturally, someone would pervert and misuse the Edo Tensei.
Worse, they brought back Hashirama and Tobirama in an attempt to destroy Konohagakure itself. Thankfully, his old student Hiruzen Sarutobi had managed to prevent them from doing so—though at the cost of his own life and soul. That was something that Hashirama regretted deeply and made his second death far more unpalatable than the first time. At least the second time that they brought him back, it had been for a good and noble purpose—to save lives.
They had barely managed to defeat his old friend Madara's mad plan to resurrect the Jubi and had saved hundreds of thousands of lives on the battlefield. They had won but it was a pyrrhic victory at best. Konoha, Iwa, Kiri, Suna, and Kumo were no more. Now, the handful of survivors of the ninja villages were left cowering in a excavated cavern. Hashirama longed to return to the afterlife but not yet. His people needed him desperately and it was a grave responsibility that he could not set down. Perhaps this was his way to atone for his sins and finally be allowed to rest in peace. Perhaps.
Because being resurrected for the third time would probably be a real chore. Tobirama had vowed to create a protective measure that would prevent another Impure World Reincarnation Summoning but Hashirama wasn't going to hold his breath on that score. He really hoped that he wasn't going to keep on getting resurrected every couple of decades as a glorified troubleshooter. He vowed to beat the snot out of Tobirama for his half-baked Fuinjutsu creation once again. Bringing back the dead. Why on Earth did Tobirama think that was a good idea? Although one good thing about their Edo Tensei forms was that he didn't have to hold back—the insane regeneration afforded to them would allow him the opportunity to vent his frustrations about their situation. Of course, he would feel a lot better if their Edo Tensei forms actually allowed Tobirama to feel pain as well.
Sleeping was another thing he found himself missing as well. It did free up a lot of his time though, he reflected. He checked the clock as several more people entered the cramped meeting room and found their seats. Then the former Tsuchikage Onoki floated into the chambers and Hashirama gave the elderly shinobi who was also one of his few living contemporaries, a welcoming smile. Hashirama receiving a courteous nod in response as the elderly shinobi settled down in his specially padded chair.
Onoki grunted and glanced around. "Is this everybody?" he demanded.
Hashirama began, "I believe that we are simply waiting for—"
"What nonsense is this about then?" a pale serpentine man hissed in a low voice as he appeared in a whisper of leaves. He glared at the other occupants of the council chambers irritably.
Beside him, his younger brother Tobirama bristled at the disrespect. "We have important matters to discuss Orochimaru. Your input will be appreciated," he snapped out.
Orochimaru let out a sibilant hiss of exasperation and glided towards an empty chair, rolling his eyes as he plunked himself down.
Mifune cleared his throat. "Perhaps a general status update before the briefing?" he suggested diplomatically.
Shizune, the elder apprentice of his granddaughter stood up and addressed the Council. "Of the 5,327 refugees—over 70 percent are in good health and have fully recovered from the translocation. The remaining 30 percent report continuing problems of headaches, lapses of concentration, and general fatigue. It should be noted that this consists of the older segment of the population. We are continuing to monitor the situation and hope that with sufficient time that they will recover fully.
"Our ninjas forces are currently stable at 8,033. Breaking down that number, we have 4,811 who are fit and ready for full active field duty as of today. 2,017 are recuperated sufficiently for light duty for the next 3 months. 743 will require further recuperation and rehabilitation before resuming active status within the next 8 to 12 months. And we have determined that the remaining 462 casualties should be retired from future active field duty due to injuries that they have sustained in the line of duty."
"And what of Princess Tsunade?" Mei Terumi inquired politely.
Shizune's cool reserve broke momentarily and she smiled brightly. "Lady Tsunade is well on the mend. She is currently restricted to bedrest but it is expected that she will be returning to light duty within the next two weeks. She appears to be in good health and spirits."
Orochimaru snorted. "I could have told you that. She was definitely partaking of the spirits liberally last I saw."
Shizune twitched. "She's not supposed to be drinking while recuperating! Why didn't you stop her?"
Orochimaru scoffed. He had better ways of endangering his life than trying to remove Tsunade's precious alcohol from her. Or at least more dignified ways as he absolutely refused to die in such a pathetic and asinine manner and have on his monument—'Here lies Orochimaru. He died trying to make the Slug Queen a teetotaler.'
Shizune growled as Orochimaru was clearly ignoring her and instead refocused on her report summary. "At this moment, we have 14 women who are pregnant and expected to give birth in the next 6 months. We're going to need to expand our medical facilities as well as find some supplies and equipment for prenatal care. Currently all other women of child bearing age are on contraceptives to prevent impregnation. We're going to have to find some additional supplies for the contraceptive drugs as well. We're also running low on painkillers and several other pharmaceuticals as well."
Hashirama shook his head. "Those kind of drugs need specialized herbs and plants and our greenhouse caverns are already maxed out just producing additional food supplies for our populace."
His former student Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up with a worried look on his face. "And our food stores are dwindling fast. By my calculations, we're going to start seeing some dietary problems within the next three months if this keeps up. We either need to find a source of additional supplies or increase the amount we're growing."
Hashirama tried not to smirk even though it was a serious problem. For the first time in his entire life (and undeath) had he ever heard anyone mourning the unavailability of the ubiquitous ninja ration bar. Stockpiled by every single Hidden Village; it was light, compact, possessed an excess of every single nutritional elements and vitamins, did not require cooking and could be eaten cold or on the run, did not spoil, and was extremely hardy. It had saved countless ninjas from starvation and malnutrition in the field and was a staple in every ninja's field pack right next to their kunai and shuriken. And was also pretty much universally loathed by any ninja with intact taste buds. Even Tobirama who would and could eat just about anything—used the ration bar only as a last resort. During a winter siege, Hashirama had once tried to use those ration bars as bait for rats only to discover that even rats had some standards. On the other hand, Hashirama also discovered that the ration bar made for a pretty good reusable weighted projectile that if thrown with proper force, could crush a rat's skull. Thankfully, his reinforcements had managed to break through before the rat population was completely decimated and he had to resort to eating the ration bars instead.
One advantage to being dead was that he didn't have to eat and was thus spared having the choke down the ration bars which had become increasingly used as everyone's meals as their other supplies dwindled.
Hashirama put those thoughts aside and marshaled his brain to come up with a suitable solution. After a moment he offered, "We could convert the empty warehouses—"
"We've already converted those for living quarters," Sarutobi cut in dolefully.
Hashirama made a face. "I suppose if worse comes to worse, we could move those people out and convert it to greenhouses… or we could create some more space," he finished as he looked hopefully at Onoki who rubbed his nose and pinched his eyes shut, sensing another migraine forming.
"My Iwa Nins are bogged down with dozens of requests for more space. But we can't use our heavy earthmoving or shaping jutsus without calling attention to ourselves. Any excavation is going to be slow and time consuming, particularly since we also have to shield our seismic footprint. Remember the last time we did that, we had to evac that site!" he slapped the table angrily.
"Besides, we've been compressing all of the rock and earth but we're already close to our limit of diminishing returns. We've already had several collapsing tunnels throughout Refuge. We're showing some risky geological instability," Onoki reported sourly.
The former Kazekage Gaara spoke up next. "On a related issue, overcrowding is a definite problem. We are already extremely packed for space as is. The ninja segment understand that it's just a temporary thing but we're already starting to see some tempers flaring at the tight quarters and it's even worse for the civilians."
"Can we circulate more people outside? That might ease the pressure?" Shizune suggested.
Onoki made a face. "Not really. Most of our ninja forces stand out just a tad. And the civilians blend in better but can't defend themselves."
Mifune added in, "My militia is already stretched thin as it is. We need to recruit some additional help to bolster our ranks if the internal security situation worsens. But we're essentially sitting on a powerkeg here. It would help if the civilians had something to do. We have employed a little over a thousand of them helping around—cleaning and farming mainly—but even trying to rotate the jobs; the vast majority are forced to sit around and do nothing. That gives them a lot of time to think about the situation and increases their restlessness."
There were some mutterings as the collective body tried and failed to come up with any suggestions or solutions until finally—"Genetic analysis shows less than 0.01 percent deviation between us and the stock hominids," Orochimaru cut in. He was damned if he was going to be stuck here all day listening to the whinings of civilians and wanted to hurry things along and get back to his lab. "We can interbred with the general populace. Unfortunately so far none of the natives appear to possess a chakra network or circulatory system."
That was going to be a problem in the future whether or not the hybrid offspring would inherit chakra from their parent and if it would be a dominant or recessive trait. If so, they would have to begin an aggressive eugenics program—and soon if they wanted to preserve a sizeable contingent of chakra wielders. And that wasn't even including the bloodliners, Orochimaru mused. Good thing that he had the foresight to collect his genetic samples and bring it with him.
"One good thing is that the technology here is significantly higher than we possessed at home. I'd like some more computer equipment and some other technological odds and ends. I've already drawn up a list," Orochimaru finished, mentally rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation.
A snorted. "And just where are we supposed to put all of your infernal devices! We can't keep stealing fuel for those generators that you're running all day and night! Not to mention we're running low on other supplies as it is! The last well that Onoki's men drilled is worthless and badly contaminated. Our water rationing is getting worse and worse," he banged the table with his fist. "We can not hide down here much longer!"
"I agree. We must re-establish ourselves outside of Refuge. A new Hidden Village so to speak," Gaara said, his fingers tented in a contemplative pose.
"The information gathered by our recon teams are not encouraging. All of the territories here have been well established for generations, borders drawn up—we can't just march in somewhere, declare ourselves the new owners and expect that the other nations won't kick up a fuss!" Tobirama protested with a scowl.
"Why not?" A barked. "As far as I can tell, this place isn't any different from our home! The strong rule! We can take what we need!"
Onoki growled, "We might be able to overthrow a country or a nation; but I do not believe that we can hold it. We don't have the numbers!"
Tobirama added in, "As Orochimaru stated—the technology here is significantly higher as well. Although I would wager our capabilities superior in most cases, their weapons of mass destruction are frighteningly effective."
"We have the Jinchuuriki!" A fired back. "They can serve as a deterrent!"
"How many Shinobi World Wars have we had again?" Hiruzen Sarutobi inquired dryly with a raised eyebrow. "The Jinchuuriki haven't really served as that effective a deterrent for decades."
"When you threaten someone with a kunai, you'd best to prepared for them to draw their own weapon in retaliation," Mei said softly. "I will not gamble the continued survival of our people like that."
A leaned back, folding his massive sinewed arms over his equally massive chest with an annoyed huff. "As opposed to withering like a dried out husk down here," he retorted but without any real heat in his tone.
Everyone was silent knowing that he was right. Hashirama cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should hear our recon teams' briefings now?" he offered and made a slight gesture at several people standing nearby. One by one, each stepped forward to give their reports which mostly consisted of updates to the Council, none of them encouraging.
Finally, the last one slouched forward and addressed the Council.
The young teenager with a high ponytail scratched the back of his neck with a grimace. "Troublesome," he muttered softly. "I am Chunin Shikamaru Nara of Infiltration Squad 17," he said in a louder tone of voice and gave a sharp head bow towards the council and produced a stack of folders which he passed out to everyone sitting at the table.
"Our last scouting mission took place in a small city that I believe that we have a promising location that we can utilize for a fortified base of operations and trade enclave. It is ideally located in one of the major countries yet is sufficiently small and removed from the country's capital but not too far away that they can utilize their weapons of mass destruction with impunity. It was a relatively minor trade route until recent events have sparked a downward decline in their economy. As a result, the local authorities have nearly collapsed and are a relative nonentity and the greater leadership have not sought to bolster them.
"There is a tenuous balance of power existing between several prominent rival organizations jockeying for position and territory. I believe that with a relatively minimal force, we can destabilize these organizations and position ourselves as the new dominant power in the region and reestablish the trade routes, indebting the local populace and authorities to us. I believe that the nation's leadership would be willing to maintain the current status quo in regards to our presence there," Shikamara finished.
Several of the Council were murmuring excitedly or thoughtfully studying the briefing folder with keen interest. Naturally they would not move everyone there, simply for safety but say—a thousand ninja and support personnel would vastly relieve the overcrowding. Even better, those ninjas would be able to perform missions and acquire the local currency which would allow them to purchase large quantities of food, clothing, medicines, and a thousand and other items that the survivors desperately needed. So far they had managed by scrounging and stealing small bits here and there but they had over 13,000 people to support.
"Anything to get some damn elbow room so I don't poke somebody's eye out turning around..." Orochimaru muttered aloud—echoing several other Councilors' thoughts.
"Hmmm," Hashirama stroked his chin thoughtfully as he flipped through the pages of notes. "And what is this place called again?" he inquired.
Shikamaru languidly gave a roll of his shoulder as he answered. "Brockton Bay."
A/N: Dun dun dun! So far all of the Naruto/Worm crossovers seemed kinda limited with Taylor either gaining a bloodline power instead of her bug powers or maybe one character crossed over into the Worm-verse. Instead, I thought "you know what would be really cool? What if ALL of them were in the Worm world."