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Next chapter up…
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CHAPTER 4
Time skip: Two months later
The dark creation waltzed calmly to Wave country's loading docks. He was wearing a maroon coloured leaders robe with the new symbol for wave spread largely on the back; it was a circle with four wave lines inside it. Daku also wore dark black sunglasses that fully hide his red sclera eyes. Under the robes he was wearing his combat clothes. His bone chilling red eyes roved over the sailors that were loading the large ship with rice, those who saw him bowed politely and went back to their work and Daku nodded to their greetings. He walked up the board walk of the ship and proceeded his journey to the captain's quarters. He knocked on the door and entered when the person on the other side of the door shouted for him to enter.
The ship's captain abruptly stood up from his desks chair and bowed low to Daku, "Daku-sama! Please sir, take a seat," the shadow creation sat down briskly in the chair and leaned back, "are you here for the report, Daku-sama?"
"Yes, this is the fourth voyage to Waterfall village and I have seen the profit myself but I want to see if there are any problems. Pirates? Scurvy? Pests?"
"The only problem I can report about is that there was a minor leak in the ship but it was patched up soon after. The ship is clean and the crew are screened for any prior diseases before they are allowed to board,"
"Good," there were three ships which their main function were to export rice to Waterfall and three more to import the profit and clothe materials from Waterfall back to Wave. There was also one ship Naruto had assigned to be made, it was made to bring in and take out tourists that were ever to come, so far there were only some tourists from Waterfall, those that were curious about the growing country that had allied themselves with their village. It was more like a luxury cruise that was still developing; he was using the meagre supplies Wave had.
Wave had come a long way since they were liberated 6 months ago. The walls had been constructed and so far it had captured numerous Konoha ninjas that had come to spy on them. They were set free, after being thoroughly warned but the hidden leaf village were getting too persistent. Naruto had written a formal letter to the Hokage as the Leader of Wave a day ago, requesting the Hokage to stop sending spies and so far none have shown up.
There was a fledgling ninja and civilian Academy that was fully manned by Henge'd Daku clones, so they wouldn't intimidate the students. The clones were teaching what they had memorized according to the students level. There was a library that was fully stocked with all the memorized scrolls as well as had a very secure forbidden section that held Naruto's custom seals and S-rank jutsu. There was a teacher's school for those that wanted to teach in the ninja academy as well as one for the civilian academy. They would release their first generation of ninjas in about a year. Wave wasn't in dire need of defence; Naruto's seals were very strong but the growing country did need the money from missions.
There were many farms dotted outside the wall. The seals behind the walls cast a dome around wave that alarmed them if it was being breached by anyone unfamiliar that the seal had not been made to acknowledge. The residents that opted to stay outside the wall as well as within it to what was now known as Wave central had key cards that were keyed to their blood, meaning that if it was ever stolen by a foreigner the backlash if it was ever used would be…very unpleasant. The residents were to slide the key cards over a small seal matrix on the wall and the wall would ripple open (Fuin-genjutsu), revealing the gate keepers. The water life was still recovering but presently there were cat fish and small prawns swimming around, eating the plankton and kelp the fishers feed them. The fishers weren't allowed to fish for them yet but he predicted that in a few more months…fishing season could start.
Daku nodded and left the room, he looked at the sun and mentally smirked when he noticed the tourist ship that were on their way to the loading dock. He stood back, half an hour later, when the ship docked. The board walk dropped a few feet in front of him, he spied his scheduled visitor coming down and he opened his arms warmly, "welcome to Wave country Shibuki-dono,"
The current leader of Waterfall smiled at the other village leader and shook Daku's outstretched hand, "thank you, Daku-dono,"
"I hope your journey here was pleasant," Daku continued as he released Shibuki's hand, the man's two guards stood behind him protectively and he spied a curious looking mint haired girl peak out from the man's back,
"The service was excellent and the water was calm, thank you for asking,"
"I assume you wish to speak about our alliance, our hotels are still under construction but you are welcome to stay at the tower,"
"Before we go I would like to introduce you to some people, first," he pushed the girl behind him forward, "this is Fuu, we shall discuss more about her later. The next person is Samsato Lujo, head of the Hidden Fang village," Samsato wore a thick tan leather vest and pants with fur shoulder pads and fur lined hoodie. He wore thick tanned boots that had noticeable fang like blades jutting out of the top. The man scowled and stomped down, two jounin Fang ninjas marching after him,
"Welcome to Wave country, Samsato-dono,"
"Thank you for receiving me, Daku-dono," the hidden fang leader grunted politely, Daku knew his type, the tough as nails on the outside and the soft as cotton candy on the inside. His suspicions were confirmed when the feral man smirked sharply at him, he took Daku's hand in a firm hand shake,
Daku turned back to Shibuki and calmly whispered, "I thought we agreed for only you to come,"
"Yes we did agree but I wished to bring up a matter with others allied to my village, please do not be offended,"
"On the contrary, if whatever aids in making my country strong then the more the merrier,"
Shibuki bowed and continued his presentation, "next is the leader of the village hidden in the marshes, Tu Rinsuki," the person to walk down was a woman in a knee length light green battle kimono, the edges of the kimono were embroided with silver thread and the sleeves were also silver lined. Her hair was tied in a messy bun with two chop sticks and there was a curious tattoo of a mongoose wrapped around her left arm from her shoulder to her wrist, it was curious because mongoose don't particularly reside in swampy environments. The woman sent him a finger wiggling wave and slide down the board. Daku shook her hand but the woman came in for a hug, after an awkward half a minute of indecisiveness they settled on nods of respect. He waved at her battle kimono wearing konouchi guards, and they bowed respectfully in return.
"Welcome to Wave country, Tu-dono," (hahahaha, I can't help but say this in a Russian accent. Go on, try it!)
"It's a pleasure to be here, Daku-dono,"
"Next is the leader of the village hidden by the chill, Yumi Chou," the woman that stepped down was a slender woman with pale white skin that went well with her thick white parka. She wore a knee length brown dress and underneath it knee length brown socks with white furry boots on her feet. Her hair was a flowing blonde that reached past to her heels. She glided down and presented her fingers for Daku to kiss but the creation took the hand and shook it firmly, eliciting a wince and a scowl from the woman. Her white fur wearing guards stifled their laughter from behind their nose long hoodies.
"Welcome to my country, Yumi-dono,"
The woman sighed wistfully and clenched his hand firmly, making the dark creation actually mentally smirk at the strength behind the hold, "thank you oh so much, Daku-dono," she smiled warmly, contrasting her 'Ice Queen' posture and shoulder checked the dark creation as she walked past,
"Last but definitely not the least is the leader of hidden Smoke village, Genzai Kitsuen Chensumoka" (I swear to God! That literally means 'Currently Smoking Chain Smoker' in Japanese. Check it out for yourself if you don't believe me.) The last village leader to walk out was a big boned man that wore an open grey robe that greatly exposed his robust belly and red silk pants that had a rainbow coloured sash bolding it up, he had bandages wrapped around his forehead like he had an injury a while back and in his mouth was a thick cigar. He had a fat nose and thin pink lips with pupil less black eyes. He was light skinned and very…healthy. The man grinned widely, his cigar clenched between his teeth as he brought the dark one into a bone crushing hug, his guards were two leanly muscled twin men that had wore gas masks helmets.
"Welcome to Wave country, Kitsuen-dono," Daku huffed, losing the breathe he didn't need, he pried himself out of the man's warm hug and straightened his robe,
Kitsuen breathed out some smoke, a thick cloud of it escaped his mouth and nose, "wonderful to be here, Daku-dono!" he boomed clapping Daku's shoulder familiarly, the dark ones knees nearly buckled under the supposed friendly shoulder pat, though he did grunt and step away,
"I am glad. Now if you all don't mind let us proceed to my place so you all can rest up and we can start discussions tomorrow," the ship's crew were running around behind them, getting the large sea vessel ready for their next voyage. One of each guard went back to the ship to retrieve their respective village leader's luggage and the group proceeded to the place they would be staying at before their meeting the next day.
Daku was honestly happy that the first building to be finished up was the Leaders Mansion which was the new and improved daimyos palace. It was a five story house that he had made sure was made to Naruto's specific tastes, the wall papers were soothing and the paintings were calming. He had constructed a library in the village not too long after so he didn't need to keep too many seals in the mansion. There were rooms set apart for special individuals that ever wanted to visit and the hotels weren't available. There were also places the servants stayed at so the service would be fast. The whole place was divided up into the house helps lodgings which were in a section of the west wing of the mansion, the visitors' lodgings which were in the east wing, the kitchen was a massive place in the west wing and the Wave leaders sleeping quarters and office was in the east wing. The additions to the east wing was a large living room, a dining room, a parlour, a children's section for those that needed constant supervision and, of course, a bar.
Daku had assigned each village leader to their rooms and had already sent his master a message on what to do next. The reply didn't take too long to reach him; water clones were fast runners when pumped with enough chakra.
The next day found all the village leaders in Waves town hall, in the meeting room. The table was rectangular with Daku sitting at the head, the leaders of hidden Smoke and Chill to his right and hidden Marsh and Waterfall to his left. There was a large map of the elemental nations on the table with all the respective village leaders villages highlighted. The talks started soon after they had exchanged pleasantries, with Shibuki speak up, "with your permission, Daku-dono, I would like to explain why I have brought these wonderful people with me to your country," Daku nodded for the man to proceed, "My village has a particularly unsavoury history, this history tends to scare off potential allies, so if we are opportune to gain an ally, even if it's a trading alliance, then we are very cautious. It was Hidden Smoke that had first come to us, seeking military aid as well as with trading, we agreed. Then came Hidden Chill with the same goal and we also allied. Soon after Hidden Marsh and Hidden Fang came in and Waterfall was blessed with four alliances,"
He paused to look at the occupants of the room if they had any problem with what he had said, "Please continue, Shibuki-dono," Yumi, the leader of hidden Chill, said airily,
"Waterfall was blessed with four beneficial alliances and as an act of good will I scheduled a meeting, which is today, to connect all the villages and the country, Waterfall is allied with. I see no reason why we smaller villages can't stick together." He sat down and Kitsuen, the leader of hidden Smoke, said,
"I see the logic in what you are saying, Shibuki-dono, my village too has not had a good history, with all the explosions setting off randomly all those years ago, tourism and trading has reduced until Shibuki-dono was gracious enough to grant me and my people with a trading alliance,"
Yumi coughed politely, "I believe all our villages haven't been seen in the most savoury of light. Chill has been isolated because of an epidemic that struck us years ago when there weren't too many healers, it took the lives of our animals and some of our children. We have tackled it a while ago during my predecessors era and we are now free of it,"
"Fang has also been struck with calamity; our wolves went feral and killed a lot of people before help could reach arrive. Research has confirmed that it was a genjutsu after a wolf pup had been recovered and interviewed, we do not know who had cast it but it reduced our populace, we are still struggling to regain our power. My father was too strong headed to seek aid from our neighbours but I wouldn't be that dim," Samsato grunted sourly,
"Marsh, quite frankly, is a name that puts off most people from visiting. We also have a record number of floods; we have adapted to this and have thrived. We sought out military alliance with Waterfall because some of the ninjas under my command cannot adapt to fighting above our natural terrain; we send them to Waterfall to train and Waterfall too send over their ninja to get used to unfamiliar territory. Our villages have greatly developed from the association,"
"And Wave has been suffering from abject poverty and corruption until it was liberated," Daku finished, it now dawned on all the village leaders except Shibuki why they were all assembled, "you wish for all of our villages to come to a mutual agreement and ally ourselves with each other,"
"Yes," he pointed at all the villages highlighted on the map individually, making it a lopsided hexagon, "I don't see why all our respective villages can't ally with each other,"
"I second that," Yumi said nonchalantly, though she had an under tone of an overly giddy school girl,
"I agree, it would benefit my village as well as all of yours," Samsato said, he too hide his excitement, Shibuki looked over the younger leaders proudly,
"I as well agree!" Kitsuen bellowed not even trying to hide his joy with the massive shit eating grin plastered on his face,
"Eh, why not?" Tu said, leaning back and crossing her legs,
"Then its settled, the six of our villages are to be fully allied, let us iron out the details," Shibuki said and Daku unsealed a large empty scroll, he spread it before him and brought out a brush and some ink from his sleeve, he froze momentarily and dropped the brush, "is there a problem, Daku-dono?"
"Yes…a minor one, depending on how you look at it. What I am about to tell you all is in strict confidence that you would keep it to yourselves and also as an act of confidence, to foster a sense of camaraderie among our new alliance. I only ask that you understand,"
Tu sat up and furrowed her eyebrows at the turban wearing man, "don't just keep us in suspense, your free to speak,"
Daku rolled his shoulders, "I am not the true leader of Wave country,"
"This must be some kind of joke; if you're not the leader of this country then why do all the people refer to you as 'Leader-sama'?" Samsato snorted,
"This is difficult to explain but I am the Right hand man of the true leader of Wave. He was the one that commanded me to liberate and take over this country. He is currently dealing with some things in his home village but I was trusted to lead until he is ready to arrive. He was the one to plan everything out and the one who drew the specialized seals I am sure you saw during your stay. I am his enforcer and his protector."
"Let's say we believe you…who is this 'true leader' you speak about?" Kitsuen said stone faced, dead serious and ready if all hell broke loose,
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto and he is on his way here as we speak, he has a…problem with movement but I assure you he is not one to be taken lightly," There was a knock on the door and it was opened, standing (or sitting) there was Uzumaki Naruto, he was being pushed by a Daku water clone even though he didn't need to, "welcome Naruto-sama,"
"Him? He's just a kid, he can't even walk," Yumi sniffed, she stiffened when Daku took off his black sunglasses and shivered when he glared at her,
"Stand down, Daku," Naruto said breezily and took control of his hovering wheelchair, Daku stood up from his seat, pushed it aside and Naruto positioned his chair by the table, "pardon my intrusion honourable village leaders," the pale boy wore baggy pants, grey shirt and black flak jacket, he coughed quietly into his hand and continued, "those were the exact words a Konoha ninja 'said' to me before he…disappeared," Daku stood protectively behind him, like all the other village leaders guards.
"Was that a threat?" the woman stood up and glared down at him and Naruto had to raise his hand for his dark half to calm down,
"I assure you it was not a threat; I was only reminding you of a core lesson being taught to all ninjas before and after they are out of the academy: Never underestimate the unknown." The woman sat down and crossed her arms, "I wasn't meant to reveal my identity for a while but I wanted to personally make sure Waterfall agreed to our complete alliance, now I'm happy I came; my village or country is about to be allied to four more villages. The potential benefit my village, Wave, and all of yours would benefit from the alliance is too great. It was an act of confidence, like my servant has said, and I trust you all to think logically before you throw away this once in a life time opportunity,"
"He sure doesn't talk like a child," the hidden Waterfall leader said to himself, "could you please explain how you orchestrated the liberation and control of this village, Naruto…-dono,"
"I have no reason to hide that information…" he then proceeded to tell the village leaders his breakthroughs in seal work and how he extracted part of his dark half instead of the Kyuubi. How he trained Daku till he was able to fight two A rank jounin ninjas for a while. He further proved his prowess in fuinjutsu by standing up and walking around the room, "walking for too long takes a toll on me, that's why I prefer using my wheelchair,"
"Simply amazing," Tu whispered, "and your wheelchair is without wheels because it is being fully powered by seals?"
"Yes, it was one of my most recent work, I would gladly share what I can with you all if you so desire, but only if we come to an agreement concerning the alliance,"
Shibuki looked at the other leaders then back to Naruto, "I think we can proceed with the alliance. Before we begin, tell me how you were able to get here without informing Konoha; surely they would ensure 24 hour security to their crippled jinchuriki,"
"I timed the transfer of minders perfectly and swapped with a Daku clone. I then had to walk out of the gates till I was a few miles from Wave, and then another Daku clone escorted me here. I assure you that the clone is a very good at imitating me. Now with all that aside, let us outline the alliance," he picked up the brush and the alliance talks began.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
'Naruto' was not amused.
Of all the days the Sandaime could use to remember about him he chose the day of the chunin exams, and the day the village leaders came.
When the seals the real Naruto had placed around his apartment had informed him that the Sandaime Hokage was about to knock on the door he had hastily swapped his hover wheelchair with one with wheels. It was rickety and old, to further emphasize how much he had been abandoned. He didn't even bother smiling at the man and had declined going out for ramen when it was proposed.
Quite frankly he didn't have any part of him to care what the old man felt, it was exactly how the real Naruto would act. According to what the man was saying the exams were still on the second stage, a survival exam that tested the candidates' ability to adapt in the forest of death.
"Why don't you show me what you can do with you seals Naruto-kun," the Kage said, looking over the boys shoulder at the thick tome he was reading, it was an old scroll on growing vegetation that Naruto had read numerous times for the sole purpose of restoring Waves eco system,
"I'm not in the mood," 'Naruto' said quietly, his eyes roved over the tome slowly. He was seated beside his window, where the mid-morning sun could wash over him pleasantly, "now can you tell me the real reason you're here,"
Hiruzen frowned, "I'm here to visit my favourite knucklehead," he made an effort to smile but it came off as a wince, he even tried to ruffle Naruto's hair but the boy didn't react in any way, making the man awkwardly drop his hand,
The boy didn't even remove his eyes from his reading material, "you haven't visited me in seven years. What changed?"
"I was busy,"
The blonde boy snorted, "You were coincidentally not busy when I was kicked out of the orphanage,"
"I was passing by; I wasn't busy then,"
"I've read of ninjas that use clones to deliver messages; if you were too busy to come and see me why didn't you send a clone, I wouldn't have known the difference," the old man didn't have any response to that, the silence that came weighed heavily on the man's conscience, "I'm fine by myself; some helpful ANBU ninjas have been helping me to buy clothes and food, they even helped me fix my leaking roof,"
"I…see…" Hiruzen tried to scramble for anything, anything he could do to gain the boys trust again, "let's go and buy that toy you've always wanted,"
"I'm over it,"
"Let's go and replace your wheelchair,"
"I don't exactly go anywhere,"
"…lets go and buy you some new…clothes?"
"Like I said before, I don't exactly go anywhere," was 'Naruto's' sharp and cool response, he traced his fingers on a line and hummed, "why are you here again?"
This time the old Hokage didn't have anything to say, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he made his way to the door, "I just came to visit." No. The real reason he was here was that due to the influx of foreigners in the village he had personally come to ensure Naruto's safety, if other villagers had ever gotten wind that he was a jinchuriki, a crippled jinchuriki or a crippled Uzumaki-Namikaze jinchuriki. Visiting Naruto leisurely was more of a secondary reason. He opened the door and was about to step out but he stopped and turned back to the inattentive boy, "Let's go and watch the preliminary round of the exams; I still have an hour before I have to be there," he didn't give the boy a chance to respond; he walked over and pushed the wheelchair out of the apartment, frowning when the door locked by itself, "are you sure you don't want to show me what you can do with seals?"
'Naruto' wasn't even paying too much attention to where they were heading to; he was still engrossed in the tome about vegetation, "I'm still not in the mood," the Sandaime pushed the wheelchair into a shop and bought a brand new wheelchair, Naruto stood up and 'limped' to the new wheelchair without looking up from his tome.
"What do you say…?"
"Thank you," the boy said, tracing another sentence in the tome and humming approvingly, "where are we going again?"
"To the chunin exams," the Hokage briskly answered as he wheeled 'Naruto' out of the shop and straight to an access route to the chunin exams arena that didn't pass through the forest of death. He wasn't sure what to think about this Naruto, the Naruto that looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in a week or two, the Naruto that kept asking what was happening or where he was going, the Naruto that seemed too detached from reality to care about what happened to him. This wasn't the Naruto he had known 7 years ago, and he blamed himself for that; he had completely neglected the boys wellbeing even passed the time when Naruto had come to his office himself, not to ask for money but to be admitted into the ninja academy. He had been so lost in his musings that he didn't know when he had gotten to the exams arena.
The chunin hopeful were already bustling around in the room he was meant to address them, he assigned one of his ANBU to look over the jinchuriki before he stepped forward and delivered his congratulatory speech to all that had survived the second test, he handed the stage to the proctor of the exams, Gekko Hayate, and walked back to 'Naruto'…who was infuriatingly still reading. He sighed and rolled the boy to the exclusive section of the spectators' box, where only those who were members of each respective Kage's family could watch the exams. Since three of the Kazekage's children were attending the exams and the Waterfall leader was busy elsewhere, he was the only person in the spacious booth.
'Naruto' for the first time in a long time turned to the Kage and furrowed his eyebrows, "why the special treatment, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen winced from the formality but summoned up a pained smile, "you are special, Naruto-kun,"
The blonde child shook his head and turned back to his tome, "is it because of the Kyuubi?" he didn't need to look at the old man to know he was wide eyed, "I was bound to find out,"
"Who told you?" the Sandaime's voice was steely and harsh,
"No one needed to tell me, I was given bad food and heard his voice; I thought it was a hallucination,"
"You have to understand Naruto…I did this for your own good," this time the man's voice was soft and friendly, "I didn't his to protect you,"
'Naruto' rolled his eyes, "'lot of good that did; have you seen me? You can't deny the fact you haven't seen my scars,"
"I-I didn't know it would be that bad,"
"Well now you do. So what other grand secret about me do you know that was 'for my own good'?" the man's silence was proof enough that he was hiding something, he rolled through all his boss ever wanted to know and stopped at the one seemingly random one, "my parents?" the silence was palpable,
"It was-"
"For my own good," 'Naruto' finished, "yes, yes I know that, like I was a Bijuu container and keeping that fact away from me was for my own good. Please tell me something I don't know," 'Naruto's' bosses master didn't have any respect for the Sandaime and so does he.
"Your mother was a seal master from Uzishio,"
"I know that one or both of my parents were seal masters; I can't have a prestigious fuinjutsu and kenjutsu specialist clan-albeit an extinct clan-as a surname and not be connected to them somehow. Next,"
"Your father was a very important man,"
"I couldn't have been randomly picked from the orphanage to house the Kyuubi, Hokage-sama; from the way the history book described Yondaime-sama he was an honourable man that couldn't do to others what he wouldn't do to himself. Factor in the fact I look too much like the Yondaime Hokage…well…I looked like the Yondaime a while ago, now I look like his malnourished younger brother,"
"Naruto, you mustn't say those sort of things out loud; the walls have ears,"
"Which proves that I'm somehow related to the Yondaime Hokage, thank you Sandaime-sama," the old Hokage wisely chose to his mouth closed or the child would worm more S rank secrets out of it,
"I'll come back after the exams to take you back home,"
"I'll be waiting till you do," 'Naruto' murmured and Hiruzen walked to the Kage's booth to observe the chunin exams, leaving 'Naruto' to muse over the little bit of information he had learnt. 'Apparently Naruto-sama's suspicions have been confirmed; he is related to two great seal masters. The Yondaime is related to him; he looked like the man when he was younger. I have to tell Naruto-sama,' he was passively paying attention to the fights going on below him in the arena.
Meanwhile, deep in a hidden section of the village hidden in leaves, a bandaged up, one eyed old man stoically looked at the squad of ROOT ANBU assembled before him, "you all know your mission, now go," the faceless ninjas swooped out of the hidden base and Danzo went back to reading the status report concerning infiltrating Wave country.
Authors note
I wrote this a while ago but I didn't have any time or motivation to post it. What'cha think? Good? Bad? Meh? I want to know so…Review!
B.j.