Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does. This story, however, is mine.
Lords of War
Chapter 1: Naruto Namikaze
Naruto Namikaze was just having one of those days. In an ideal world, he would be able to take his favorite Beretta out onto his house's backyard target range and blow some ragdolls to smithereens, but unfortunately he wasn't at home right now. He was at school, and had to deal with motherfucking Statistics class.
"So if the Distribution is considered normal…" Iruka-sensei's voice droned on, but Naruto had long-since tuned out his teacher and had set his eyes on something far more interesting.
Sakura Haruno, to be specific.
The lithe, yet ridiculously strong spitfire of a young woman captivated Namikaze to no end, with both her looks and no-bullshit attitude that was incredibly refreshing to see in this festering pit they called a school. Not to mention that her father, Yoshitsune Haruno, was also one of the biggest gunrunners in the region and supplied the forces of Konohagakure with a sizeable portion of their military-grade hardware. Of course the old man had taken great pains to keep this secret from his little princess, who only knew her father as the steel baron he proclaimed himself to be in public. Which wasn't a complete lie, either: it was just that the type of steel Haruno sold was more suited for killing people than it was for building office complexes.
And as much as Naruto wanted to tell Sakura that one of his favorite guns was Haruno-made by Yoshitsune himself and wasn't that just the coolest thing she'd ever heard, the young Namikaze knew that the gun lord would have him castrated by nightfall for leaking his secret. Not even Naruto's high standing in the Clan of the Hidden Leaf would keep him safe from a wrathful father, something he knew all-too-well from having seen his friends' parents in action on occasion.
Forcing those thoughts from his mind with a shake of his head, the blue-eyed class clown blinked and resumed his sightseeing. Work stayed at home; that was Rule Number One. For now, it was time to lose himself in a little shameless indulgence. His brow furrowed darkly, however, when Naruto saw that Sakura was looking at another friend of his with a gaze even more desirous than the one he was giving her. Gritting his teeth and forcing back a snarl, Namikaze fought hard to keep from jumping up in the middle of class and strangling Sasuke Uchiha right then and there.
For the life of him, Naruto didn't understand the bizarre infatuation that every girl in the Senior year class seemed to have with Sasuke. Kiba had joked on more than one occasion that anyone who had that much opportunity and never capitalized had to be playing for the other team; there just wasn't another logical explanation. If he'd returned Sakura's advances, maybe Naruto wouldn't have been so furious, but seeing him squander her painfully obvious interest was like watching somebody take a case of one million yen and set it on fire.
"Naruto, eyes to the front!"
Iruka's annoyed voice derailed the blond-haired Namikaze's train of thought with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but right before Naruto was forced to cover for his distraction with some outrageous gag he was saved by the bell.
"Don't forget to turn in your presentation outlines on Friday!" Iruka's voice called out after the swiftly-departing class. The reminder did wonders for Naruto's melancholy: Sakura was his partner, meaning that they would have to meet up at some point before the end of the week to plan out their project.
Maybe the gods didn't hate him so much after all.
As he walked out of the door, the blond-haired young man was quickly flanked by Shikamaru Nara and Neji Hyuga. The pair had become his unspoken bodyguards over time; the son of the fallen Fourth Hokage rarely went anywhere without protection, especially not after what had happened to his parents. Naruto himself had almost died the night of the assassination, which had left scars both physical and mental. As a result, both the re-instated Hokage Sarutobi and Naruto's foster father Kakashi Hatake had insisted that the young Namikaze never be allowed to wander alone.
While Naruto found this concern to be more than a little warranted and actually kind of touching, just because he was the 'Crown Prince' of the Hidden Leaf Clan didn't mean he was immune to feeling claustrophobic.
"You can two take the rest of the afternoon off," he said easily. "I'm gonna go pay Kakashi a visit."
"We can walk you over there, Naruto…" Shikamaru began, but his blue-eyed friend cut him off with a look.
"I think I can walk three blocks without someone gunning for me, Shikamaru. Seriously, I know it's orders and all, but you two don't need to be my shadows. Go to the red light district, or something. My treat."
"Charming as usual, Namikaze," Neji said with his usual smirking disdain, and a mirroring smirk soon spread across Naruto's face. "You couldn't bed a whore if you offered to buy up her contract."
Naruto's smirk turned dangerous and somewhat feral, but his voice was still joking.
"Let's see if you're singing the same tune once I get my hands on Hinata."
The change in Neji was immediate and total, the usually calm young nobleman and warrior suddenly bristling like a challenged wolf. He began to bark out a string of highly-descriptive vulgarities describing the pain he would put Naruto through if he so much as serenaded his kid cousin, but Namikaze just laughed it off like a hyena as Shikamaru forcibly dragged his friend away. Sighing as he blew out a calming breath, Naruto turned the other way down the street and ambled towards Kakashi's bar.
"Oi, pops," the teenaged soldier called out as he entered the well-lit bar and grabbed his usual seat, "get me a double Cuba Libre, and make it fast!"
"Someone sure is feeling imperious today," Hatake Kakshi observed dryly as he turned around to face his most regular customer with paternal concern in his eyes. "What's the occasion? The Man gotcha down?"
"Something like that," Naruto grumbled, head in his hands as his elbows rested on the bar. Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced down at his adopted son.
"You wanna talk about it, Naruto?" the white-haired man asked with unusual softness, but the young Namikaze just shook his head. Shrugging resignedly and knowing that Naruto could be as reticent as his biological father when he wanted to be, Hatake accepted that he wasn't going to get anything out of Naruto right now and busied himself with making the rum and coke.
He may have seemed like nothing more than the proprietor of a reasonably-successful bar, but Kakashi Hatake was, in truth, much more than that. The bar was something he owned and ran as his own little haven from Clan life: when the demands of the Hidden Leaf became too much to deal with, Kakashi would delegate his official work to Maito Gai and abscond down to the bar for a while. The warm chatter of the clientele beat listening to the Third Hokage and that old worm Danzo bickering any day of the week, and every so often he'd overhear a particularly useful piece of information.
When he was 'on the job', though, Kakashi was one of the Hokage's most trusted and feared soldiers. Hatake hid a born killer's instinct behind his aloof exterior, and everyone knew it. Finishing up preparing Naruto's drink, he wasn't at all surprised when the kid across from him took a sip and balked almost immediately.
"What the hell, pops?" he exclaimed. "I asked for a double, not this weak stuff!"
"Word came down this afternoon, Naruto," Kakashi replied calmly, slipping into the commanding voice he used when discussing business. "the Old Man wants to you go on a mission tonight, and I'd rather you not be stumbling over yourself when he debriefs you."
The blue-eyed Namikaze grumbled, but said nothing as he sipped his drink with more venom than usual.
"It's about Sakura-chan, isn't it?"
Naruto was about to shoot back a sharp denial, but from the moment his hand trembled and the glass stalled just before his lips he knew he was busted.
"So what if it is?" he asked lamely, cringing inwardly at his own patheticness while Kakashi fought to bite back a chuckle. Naruto had killed people with guns, knives and even his bare hands in fights to the death, and he still couldn't figure out how to talk to this girl? Then again, Hatake reconsidered thoughtfully, if Sakura was anything like her father or her mother, Naruto had good reason to be apprehensive around her.
"Nothing," the barkeep said casually with a shrug, not wanting to have this conversation again. "Just forget I said anything, finish your drink and we'll head home."
"Thanks, Kakashi," Namikaze said wearily as he killed his beverage with a sharp sigh, rising and waiting for his guardian to walk ahead of him before following.
"Naruto Namikaze," the old Hokage's voice echoed powerfully in the small room, "do you understand the particulars of your mission?"
The young man's blue eyes flashed with determination, and he nodded sharply.
"I do."
"Very well, then," the Third said with stern approval. "Pick your three companions for the mission and move out as soon as you are able."
"Understood!"
Naruto walked briskly out of the Hokage's office, excitement pulsing through his every nerve. It had been a while since he'd had a solid mission like this one… he was really going to enjoy blowing off some steam.
"What's the word, Naruto?" Kiba spoke up, and Namikaze gave the hunter a feral grin to rival his own.
"Looks like some upstarts have been trickling in from out of town and trying to set up shop on our turf. Gramps wants us to do some recon, and maybe bring a few of these bastards back for questioning while we're at it."
"Sounds like fun," Sasuke commented in an almost bored tone, chambering a bullet into his pistol. "Maybe they'll put up enough of a fight for me to get the rust off of this thing."
"Hopefully it won't come to that," Shikamaru said dryly from his spot leaning against the wall by the door. "Gunfights are too troublesome to be bothered with, you ask me."
Akamaru barked in excitement as his master checked his own weapon one more time, the four soldiers finally ready to roll.
"Let's do this," Naruto said with his usual cocky ease back in place, all thoughts of the green-eyed Sakura-chan fading from his mind as he stepped out into the cool, moonlit night and towards the quartet of motorcycles that awaited the Hidden Leaf warriors, eager to carry them to their targets.
A/N: So there's Chapter 1, ladies and gents! Hope you enjoyed it; please review and let me know what you thought. I have a pretty big plotline laid out for this story, so trust me when I say it's not just going to be a high-school style story. There'll be characters featured from all over the Naruto Universe, and it's rated 'M' for a reason.