Naruto: Dark Disciple
Chapter 5: Uncivil Reunion
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto
On the outskirts of Kamigakure a large grid of tents and training facilities stretched across the cleared grounds. Thousands of occupants feverishly labored, moving crates, unloading wagons, forging necessary armaments, or, as many were doing, undergoing a large group training session focused around imprinting an instinctive knowledge of new tactics previously not a part of their individualized clan systems. In a large environment with so much activity, nobody took particular notice of a single toad traveling between tents. Especially since that toad was doing everything within its power to be both stealthy and nonchalant.
Eventually the toad found its way into a somewhat larger tent towards the rear of the compound, consisting mainly of a large bed with several above-average sized desks spread out. The coast seemed clear inside the tent with most of the immediate area seeming to have a low amount of foot traffic. Quickly emerging from the toad, his white spiky hair only slightly slime-covered, was the large form of the Toad Sage Jiraiya. Not knowing how long he would have to canvas the no-doubt temporary lodging, he began looking for valuable information immediately. The goal was simple: find out about the Shikage.
Some month ago he had, on a whim, decided to visit with Tsunade after years of separation. At least, he tried to convince himself that it was voluntary despite the inexplicable feeling that he needed to. After a good knock on the head, possibly deserved, she briefed him on the situation. Part of him supposed that he should really have been paying more attention to things in the area, but in reality, it was hard enough to keep the best spy network in the world running in the Elemental Nations. Somewhat odd that no refugees fleeing the wars or common travelers ever said anything that caught his ear but that was nothing to worry about now.
Tsunade wanted to know who the Shikage was; he could tell in her mannerisms that it was clearly distressing her. The only gentlemanly thing to do was to find out the information for himself and report back to her. Besides, his curiosity about the workings of this new nation were going to warrant a trip or two eventually anyway. Now that he had a mission, he'd just be a bit more covert about it all. He knew very few things about the situation, and this knowledge was not the most useful. He knew that the Shikage's true identity must be some sort of secret but did not know where the secret began. Would some common genin know the truth? Likely not. But would even a common jounin? There was no way to guess. If capture and interrogation was too high risk-low reward, he'd rely on infiltration.
The toad summons that helped him to get this far hopped outside the tent, with an unstated order to croak if any intruder saw fit to enter. This would allow him at least a small window to either hide behind something or escape outside. He hadn't quite decided which he would do, preferring to improvise on the matter. Looking at the desk in front of him, he saw a variety of files, papers, envelopes spread out.
While at first glance it appeared as if he was being awarded a treasure trove of information, it turned out that most of what was presented was useless to him. Sure, there would be some use if he were to steal or copy a series of reports on the training progress of the shinobi, but it would be a waste of valuable time given the larger importance of his current mission. And if he stole it, they would notice and have their guards raised immediately.
Skimming over the pages as quickly as he could to make sure nothing of greater importance was on them, he began to notice something quite disturbing. Several times through the reports, the hidden villages of the elemental nations were mentioned, especially Konoha. It seemed that the shinobi were being trained to fight in a certain way to overcome a certain foe, not simply to become stronger. Additionally, reading into some sections slightly more, he began to see that there was more known about Konoha than the others.
Moving on from those documents, he found a series of more personal letters that helped him very little except in figuring out that the tent was probably occupied by a man known as Hiroto Haruki, for nearly all of the letters were addressed to him. These were almost entirely useless, except in indicating that the man was quite popular given that many of the letters were from different cities. While not exactly groundbreaking, it was something that could add up with other factors to equal something important.
The rest of this particular desk seemed to be nothing of interest to him so he moved on to the next. This one had, on top of it, two stacks of paper. Taking a quick glance of the papers, he noticed that one stack seemed to be incoming messages and the other was outgoing. Part of him became quite worried that a stack of outgoing papers meant that anyone could waltz in at anytime in order to retrieve them or finish with them. Again, he began to skim the documents, hoping these could be of higher importance.
Included in the incoming messages seemed to mostly be reports from various shinobi about the status of training or students. Jiraiya was beginning to judge that this Hiroto fellow played quite a large part in the development of shinobi in this country. Sifting through the outgoing messages, it seemed to be mostly the same. Recommendations responding to letters he assumed were from a previous day about bettering the training of some of the shinobi were the norm. He did, however, find something more interesting at the very bottom of the stack. A letter to the Shikage himself. Unfortunately, it was simply a letter about the overall training of the forces in the area. Apparently it was going 'according to schedule' and Jiraiya was beginning to wonder if this guy did anything else.
Searching the drawers, he found something that seemed like it could be the jackpot. He opened a small scroll and began reading from the top. It seemed to have been dated to about one month ago.
General Order 66
This order shall apply henceforth until explicitly canceled.
Preparations are to begin as planned for the upcoming operation. I am to be informed, at minimum, weekly of all progress being made. As promised, an increased budget has been allotted toward ensuring the timely completion of all necessary action. Any proposal to significantly alter any aspect of the plans shall be evaluated by myself before enactment. The previously discussed time tables remain in effect, and I fully expect to have them met.
Additionally, should patrols encounter further spies, protocol is now total elimination. Following the capture and cooperation of the Konoha-nin it is no longer deemed necessary by myself to risk anything less than the total annihilation of those who would seek to undermine our efforts. As we prepare ourselves for the coming storms, we must remember that we shall be guided not only by myself but also the rightness of our intentions. So long as we trust that our path is the only just course then we shall not falter.
Though the very nature of this world shall work against us, we will prevail. We must.
In the bottom right of the scroll, there was a stamp with the Jashinist symbol along with the word 'Shikage.' There seemed to be some sort of pattern with the rest of the ink on the stamp but Jiraiya could discern no obvious meaning to it and assumed that it was mostly to authenticate the scroll in place of a proper signature. It was very strange that the man would not sign with his first or last name as was commonplace in the other elemental nations.
At this point in the venture Jiraiya was sure that he had gathered enough circumstantial evidence to confidently say that the Shikage was planning some kind of large-scale conflict. The problem was that he could not exactly say with whom. Additionally, he found it quite disturbing that the scroll mentioned a captured Konoha-nin being cooperative. Surely a Hyuuga heiress would not actually be divulging information to the enemy? Or was it possible that they had someone else, possibly a captured missing-nin?
It was at that moment Jiraiya heard a croak, and before even he could react the entrance to the tent flew open and several ninja quickly ran in, kunai already drawn. Interestingly, the man in the front was one-armed, his left arm cut to nearly nothing. Immediately, he guessed that someone had finally noticed his chakra was out of place. He had been trying to suppress it as much as possible but clearly his location within the compound allowed him to be more easily singled out.
"So, to what do I owe the honor to have Jiraiya of Konoha in my tent?" the one-armed man said, a steady calm in his voice.
"Ah, so my name is known even in these lands! I should have known that Jiraiya, Gallant Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, would be revered throughout the continent!" He said, a brief amount of surprise flashed across two of the Kami-nin but not across the leader, whom he presumed from what he had read to be Hiroto Haruki. As interesting as it would be to have a nice conversation and shoot the breeze, he had a decent idea that it would not be good for his long-term health. Without a moment's more hesitation, he built up a burst of chakra in his lungs.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" As soon as he let loose the attack, he was certain that he saw Hiroto form the seal for an Earth Wall. Distraction in place, the Gallant Sage brandished a kunai and slashed through the nearest wall to the tent, quickly building up speed as he bravely ran away. He could see from the corners of his eyes multiple shinobi immediately reacting to the attack but ignored that as he leapt away from the camp. It was probably less than thirty seconds after initiating the distraction that the Sannin had already cleared the perimeter of the camp and entered the sparse forest on the outside.
Knowing that he was undoubtedly being followed, he formed two shadow clones who immediately appeared beside him and branched off into different directions in hopes of confusing the pursuers. Jiraiya was under no illusion that he was the fastest shinobi in the world; after all, Minato had been much above him in that category as is the current Raikage. In a situation wherein the enemy were confused and the initial shinobi had been delayed, however, he did feel rather confident in himself.
Elsewhere, a messenger was quickly sent to the Palace of the Shikage in order to inform their leader immediately of the espionage. Ordered by Hiroto himself in a single sentence before the man took off in pursuit, the messenger sprinted as quickly as he could to the main floor. He could see some of the workers look at him inquisitively but did not spare them a second glance. It was not until he was ready to burst through the main doors that any sense of reason took over him. Taking a momentary deep breath, he calmly opened the doors and walked into the large main office.
When he locked eyes with his leader, a look of mild confusion with just the slightest hint of irritation met him. Having come from a clan that had submitted of their own will towards the end of the Unification, he had never before seen the face of the Shikage in person. He had only heard stories of the immense presence that the man carried, never truly understanding exactly what that meant. As he looked into eyes of steeled blue, staring into him with a terrifying casualness, it did not take him more than a second to drop to one knee.
"Shikage-sama" he said, head bowed. He looked back up to see the man standing from his seat, approaching him. His heart skipped a beat, and after his hasty rush here he felt himself sweating for the first time. Just being in the same room as his leader filled him with a sense of nerves, a reaction he could not understand on a logical level. Surely there was no reason to feel this way if he was simply bringing news? He saw the man's feet stand in place a meter in front of him.
"What is it?" The voice was strong, perhaps a bit stringent even.
"We encountered a spy, in the main camp outside of the city. I believe Hiroto referred to him as Jiraiya of the Sannin. He e-escaped. At least for the moment." His voice cracked, and for a split moment, the embarrassment surged through him. He had long been one of the top prospects among his clan, trained from a young age in everything they could offer. He had worked hard from his earliest days and, during the Unification Wars, had sought to prove himself. When his clan surrendered peacefully, he had been a critic against it. Afterwards, however, he enrolled himself in the army of his new leader seeking to prove himself. Having fought in several of the major battles which would end the Unification, he was taken on as a pupil of Hiroto Haruki himself. And yet, in this moment of meeting the Shikage, it all felt like nothing. He felt insignificant in the eyes of the man of whom soldiers told countless stories, among which few knew how many were real or exaggerated.
"Interesting. How long ago was this?"
"Five minutes."
"And in which direction did he flee?"
"North."
"You have done well to get the information to me this quickly, Daisuke. You are dismissed." He could feel his eyes widen at his own surprise and looked up only to see Shikage-sama had already turned back around and seemed to be collecting a few items. To hear Shikage-sama address him by name and give him praise was completely unexpected, and it filled him with a new loyalty. Suddenly he felt like if he were ordered to personally conquer the Eastern Nations by himself, not only would he try; he would succeed.
Jiraiya continued to run. At this point, he had not seen any sign of pursuers for approximately thirty minutes, and it had been an hour since he began to flee. Both of his shadow clones had been dispersed a while back, having not had the chakra necessary to maintain the pace necessary to escape as he had. Still, they seemed to have served a good distraction. He slowed down a bit, allowing himself to think about the occurrences of the day.
It was very unfortunate that he had been caught earlier. It meant not only would he likely not be able to return anywhere near Kamigakure without having the risks be much too high, but they would be on the lookout in other regions as well. In all likelihood he would have to lay low for at least a week before searching for an alternate location to look for clues. He almost groaned at how boring it all sounded; maybe he should have found a way to fight a few of the Kami-nin, just for a workout. Maybe he could ambush a patrol and interrogate them.
It was only by years of combat experience that, amid the natural sounds of the land around him, he could make out a faint and unnatural sound. Quickly, he dodged to the right and turned to face his sudden adversary only to see nothing except a kunai in the branch of the tree he was about to jump to. Analyzing his surroundings, he saw that it was the same as most of this part of the country seemed to be: sparse forests, with sporadic clearings. He was about to continue running, thinking of a possible distraction, when he heard it again, somehow from behind him. Dodging to the left, a kunai struck the dirt seconds later.
Jiraiya had to find some way to confront his assailant, but, having no ability to sense chakra outside of Sage Mode, knew his options were limited. Thinking quickly, he put his hands to the ground for one of his most signature jutsu. The ground for a large area around him began turning to swamp, trees sinking into it. He was listening all around him, when he heard the sound of someone landing on a tree branch nearby. Leaping in that direction, he finally saw something. A man in mostly black clothes, who seemed to have a mask on. He charged at the figure, but for some reason, the man did not respond in any way. Jiraiya, deciding not to risk a trap, threw a kunai. The man did nothing, but when the kunai hit, he vanished in a puff of smoke.
The Toad Sage was extremely surprised by this. There were very few people, as far as he was aware, who knew of the shadow clone jutsu. The jutsu had been deemed forbidden in Konoha by the Second Hokage. It was, however, somewhat more of a quasi-forbidden jutsu, passed down from trusted elder ninja only to certain students with little repercussion. The Second had taught the Third, and the Third had taught him. He knew, however, that many Konoha Jounin with larger chakra reserves such as Kakashi Hatake were allowed to learn the technique. Apparently one of Konoha's secrets had gotten out.
Suddenly there were five more opponents in front of him, just standing in the clearing. Getting a good look at the mask, he was suddenly reminded very much of the report Tsunade had given him to read about a trip to Nishi. The mask was white and ornately decorated, seeming to have microscopic depictions of some sort of conflict on it and standing out in stark contrast to the man's black clothes. It occurred to Jiraiya that, in all likelihood, he was facing the Shikage himself. By any stretch of the imagination this could not be good.
The enemy-nin charged him at an extremely high speed, Jiraiya barely able to back away before their strikes landed. He attempted to land a quick jab, hoping to disperse the clones and reveal their creator. This was unsuccessful as the strike was blocked by the targeted clone and the others immediately resumed the offensive. Attempting to dodge some while blocking others, he was unable to do anything about a punch that landed in his midsection. While not exactly on the level of Tsunade, it was definitely a solid strike with some force behind it. Kind of like Minato, actually. Jiraiya hoped to whatever gods there were that he was not fighting a Minato-level opponent.
The assault continued, Jiraiya having a hard time getting reprieve from his opponents. He continued to back away while blocking and dodging, moving at full speed yet not able to create much separation. Instead of having the advantage in speed, it seemed they were on equal footing. And yet, for some reason, he had the distinct feeling that they were holding back. No, holding back was not quite right; they were just not going all out.
The five identical shinobi suddenly stopped, and Jiraiya allowed himself a moment to breathe. Now that he had a second, he was pretty sure he had been hit one or two more times. His left arm felt like it had taken a rather stout punch. This was ridiculous. He needed to be able to do something to change the tide of the fight but it was difficult to think clearly. Needless to say, he was tremendously surprised when all of the clones suddenly dispelled.
"Feeling brave enough to fight me yourself? "Jiraiya said, not seeing anyone but having the feeling that someone would be listening. Maybe if he could appeal to some sense of honor then it could at least be a one-on-one fight, and he might even be able to concoct an escape plan if he was careful enough. That's when he heard someone land to his left and turned to see the man whom had created the clones standing mere feet away.
"I wanted to watch you dance." the man said, his voice calm and even. He was standing straight though clearly not entirely relaxed. Jiraiya felt the slightest bit uncomfortable that someone would have the gall to attempt to toy with him.
"So, you believe you're stronger than Jiraiya, Gallant Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku? That I could be so easy a foe?" A little bit of bravado never hurt, in his opinion. Besides, the longer he could get the guy to talk, the longer he could try to escape. Right now, he was thinking of summoning Gamabunta to distract him while making a getaway.
"Your growth halted a long-time ago. I have been exposed to the flames of war, the great furnace from which a true shinobi is forged. I have trained to the fullest of my capabilities whereas you have been inactive. Every day I have gotten stronger and will continue to do so. Under normal circumstances I do not believe you could offer much of a challenge. Luckily for you, I have never fought a Sage and would relish the experience."
Jiraiya felt a bit of his ire rise up at being so easily dismissed, though he was quite intrigued that the person seemed intent on letting him enter Sage Mode. If he could get that accomplished, then maybe he'd be able to defeat the Shikage and prevent further war.
"It takes me a while to enter Sage Mode. How do I know I can trust you?" To Jiraiya's great surprise, the Shikage raised both his hands toward his mask and seemed to unhook some hidden connectors. Was this it? Was he finally about to figure out once and for all the identity of the Shikage himself? After his infiltration and subsequent chase, it felt a bit anticlimactic to simply have it handed to him but who was he to complain? His hood fell down, revealing a low-cut head of blonde hair. That was very interesting for blonde, especially such a bright blonde, was quite uncommon throughout the elemental nations. Hell, the last time he had seen such a brightly colored blonde guy was… oh no. Jiraiya felt his chest tighten and his breaths became somewhat labored. No, it couldn't be. It was impossible, wasn't it? Then again, the timelines seemed to add up.
The man took his mask off, his blue eyes staring deeply into Jiraiya's without a flinch of hesitancy. As soon as Jiraiya saw the face, it felt like a part of him was crushed. It seemed so outside the realm of possibility, and yet, here it was.
"You can trust me, sensei. I promise." He had a slight smirk on his face, and Jiraiya felt suddenly sick.
A/N: Surprise! An update! I do apologize for the long delay. If you want an explanation, here it is: basically, I like to keep myself three chapters ahead when I update. When I originally wrote this chapter, however, and the future ones, I did not feel satisfied. I felt that I had a very unclear vision of the Naruto that I truly wanted to create and of the story I wanted to tell. I did not want to post these chapters because they felt inadequate. Unfortunately, for months I just could not find an inspiration that I found suitable.
I was about to publish a new story (already 5 chapters written into it) and put this one into a hiatus when, about two weeks ago, I found myself desperately wanting to work on this again. I had some inspiration and, suddenly, I really started to feel like my story was forming in the way that I wanted. Personally, I am quite happy with this chapter and looking forward to any feedback. To all the readers who followed or favorited this story, I thank you for your patience. To all new readers of the story, I hope you've enjoyed it thus far. I cannot promise frequent updates in the future, I'm afraid, but I'm hopeful it will be more frequent than this.
As an aside, I do like to casually make references to random things in my stories but not in any way that I feel would detract from the story's immersion or readability. If you see something that you feel is a reference to cinematic culture, then it probably is. Additionally, I read every review so if you ask a question in a review, I will probably read it. Almost every time, however, it is a question that I prefer to let the story itself answer in its own time as opposed to PM'ing someone an answer. So just keep that in mind. On a final note, no matter how many times I reread something there's always a few grammatical errors in the end. For the most part, they are slight, but man it is so annoying when I read a chapter twenty times over the course of five days to make sure it's right then publish it and immediately find like ten errors. Just saying.
Please feel free to follow, favorite, review, or continuing to read. All reviews, favorites, and even views are greatly appreciated, and I hope you've enjoyed the update.
