A/N: This is my second story, as some of you may already know English isn't my native language so don't hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes to me, I am always eager to learn and improve my English skills.
Well first of all, many people found out who Naruto's teacher was with the several hints I gave in the previous chapter. The answer was indeed Hiruzen Sarutobi, why else would I have him leave Konoha if it wasn't to go find our favorite blond. One person also found out which weapon I will have Naruto use, granted, with a little help on my part. I'll let you guys find out when it'll be time for him to use it.
Now, onto the Monkey King's Fist, it was fairly well received as well. I am once again using the same trick in order to bypass the Sharingan. In Kaze no Kami, I used the manipulation from the external world in order to make those eyes see a false reality. In this story though, the targeted element was the brain, using the human body and its instinct. In both cases, the eyes are working perfectly fine, however, a doujutsu is only as good as the mind of its wielder. Anyway, I was just trying to come out with something better than the magical seal or eyes that nullify the doujutsu :)
Got mixed feedback about the story's pace, I purposely took things a bit slower than in my previous work. It's still in experimentation and I may change the pace again to go faster or slower depending on the occasion. Now that they are back in the Leaf, you can expect some character development in the upcoming chapters for those who think this goes too slow.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Umi no Haoshoku.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any other manga I may inspire myself from, for that matter.
Chapter 7 : The Deal
Konohagakure – Front Gates
Naruto's mind was assaulted with memories from his childhood as he walked to the Village's Gates with Team Seven and his crew. Everyone around was looking at him and the girls, since they did stand out quite a bit. It was certainly an uncommon sight, Naruto with his face mask and the white clothes being escorted by three pairs of women, two in front, two at his sides and two behind him.
Miya and Kazehana were in the front, in their perfectly identical black uniforms and both had their katana strapped to their waist. Next were Stella and Rana walking at Naruto's side, also in matching uniforms. Theirs were light purple and were composed of a skirt and a blouse which had a black fox drawn on their shoulders. They didn't seem to hold any weapon. Finally, at the back were Miria and Galatea, in their dark gray uniforms with their large swords on their back.
If Miya, Kazehana or even Rana could be considered as beauties, their morphology was not so far from the Konoha women. Miria, Galatea and Stella though, really stood out with their blond hair and the silver eyes for the first two. All six had the bodies of goddesses, which obviously caught the attention of many males along the way.
"Team Seven, returning from a mission with guests, Hokage-sama will be expecting us." Kakashi announced to the chunin guarding the Gates. Seeing that everything was in order, the guards let the group through. They made their way toward the Hokage Tower, choosing to take the rooftops since they didn't need the extra attention they were already getting.
Despite not being ninja, every member of Naruto's crew had no problem to follow Team Seven to their destination. The women held a grace in their movements that showed they did not receive any formal kunoichi training. Nevertheless, they had proven that they could perfectly travel at a ninja's pace during the trip back into Fire Country, never showing any sign of tiredness.
As they were jumping from roof to roof, Naruto suddenly tripped and lost his balance, making him fall from a tall building. He was immediately helped by Rana and Stella while the other four stayed in their spots. Team Seven and especially Sasuke were surprised by this but chose to remain silent. Naruto jumped back on top of the building, saying he didn't pay attention to his footing and then the group resumed their trip.
It was midday and they could see several other Leaf shinobi jumping around them. Some of them were curious and observed Naruto and his girls while others just went on their way, paying them no mind. Nevertheless, the military presence all around the village was a lot more pronounced than it was in Kirigakure. This was clearly an up and running shinobi village, strongly militarized, just as the rumors about Konohagakure said.
Kage Tower
As they finally reached the Kage Tower, and with Team Seven being on a high priority mission, the group could get a direct audience with the Hokage. The truth is that Danzo already knew they were coming, he had a team of ANBU following them as soon as they set foot in Konoha. Upon arriving in the waiting room before the Hokage's office, one ANBU team was waiting for them and directed Naruto and his escort toward the meeting room instead.
The blond took one last glance toward the office where he used to fool around with his Jiji, a room that was among the rare places in Konoha where he could feel safe. Looking around he noticed that everyone was waiting for him to move, he took a second to regain his composure and then followed after the ANBU team with the girls in tow.
Council Room
The Council room was located on the last floor of the same building, so it didn't really take that much time to reach it. The ANBU stopped at its doors, opening them for Naruto and his escort, closing them after the guests went through and then standing in attention in front of them afterward. However, another platoon was also waiting for them inside the room, protecting the High Council.
The room was pretty big, seats were placed in a circle around the central area reserved to the guests and they were organized in four levels. To the highest level, overseeing everyone below them, were the Hokage and his advisers, the Elders. Three people currently occupied those seats, among them was Shimura Danzo, the Godaime Hokage, and the Elders were the shinobi and kunoichi from the same generation as him, Kohahu and Homura.
The next floor, just below the first one, was reserved to the shinobi council members. Among them were most of the Clan heads, which obviously included Uchiha Sasuke who went to take his seat between the Hyuga and the empty Senju seats. The only other empty seat was the Namikaze one, it had remained empty for the last twenty one years, ever since tragedy took away their last known member, Namikaze Minato. An old law prevented it from being replaced by another family for at least three generations, that was done to make sure a dying clan was indeed dead before their seat was definitely removed. As such the Senju seat was about to be removed and the Namikaze one still had another ten years before its expiration date.
The third floor was reserved to the civilian representatives, it was the most crowded one too. They had gained power by supporting Danzo's rise to power. Even if none of them realized they were manipulated by the Godaime, they still held some power in the decisions concerning Konoha. The power of having a say in the governance of their village was what they always sought to get in the past, during the previous Kage's reigns and that is what allowed Danzo to coexist peacefully with them up until now, even if it was only an illusion.
Finally, at the ground level was the space reserved for the guests. The room was built that way, in order for the Council to look down on their guests, a psychological way to establish dominance. That's precisely where Naruto and the girls were led to, having to look up to their hosts, to see the High Council of Konohagakure in all its glory.
"Team Seven, returning from our mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi announced as he, Sakura and Sai were standing near the Doors. They were not the guest nor did they have a right to seat in any seats within the room.
"Report." Danzo simply replied, not taking his eyes of Naruto and his girls.
"As per your orders, Team Seven went to Wave Country in order to extend the Council's offer to the man named Kuro Kitsune that Team Anko wrote about in their reports. We made contact with our target three days after we left the village and, after a test of strength performed by your apprentice, Uchiha Sasuke, Kuro-san accepted to come here in person to negotiate the conditions of his contract with Konoha." Kakashi reported to the entire room.
"I see, what about your mission, Haruno Sakura ?" Danzo asked.
"I'm sorry, I failed Hokage-sama." Sakura replied keeping her head down, not daring to look back at her leader nor to her mother in the civilian representatives. Failure was not easily accepted, neither from Danzo nor from her mother and she knew she would most likely hear about it again later.
Naruto was starting to feel annoyed, they were speaking as if he was not even present in the room. He knew more or less what Sakura's mission was about, with the pink haired kunoichi trying a few times to get inside his pants, never to succeed. By doing this, they most likely wanted to get a way to influence his decisions in the upcoming negotiations. Nevertheless, Naruto displayed a calm and collected behavior on the outside, not wanting to give in to his hosts, it was fair game since he kinda did the same thing with the two Konoha teams that visited his ship after all.
"Welcome to Konohagakure, I am Shimura Danzo, Godaime Hokage and this is our village's High Council. May I ask who is traveling with you, Kuro-san, and is there any other name we could call you ?" Danzo finally spoke, acknowledging Naruto's presence.
The blond narrowed his eyes at the hidden meaning behind Danzo's question, two strategic points were raised, his true name as well as the identities of the girls. This man was certainly skilled in the arts of interrogation, Naruto knew he would have to be careful in his answers around this person.
"A name is of no consequence in the matter at hand, you may call me whatever you wish, even that name in the Bingo Book is good enough. The women around me are my personal escort, they act as my body guards as well as my counselors. Now, proceed with your proposal, I have only heard part of what it entailed and came here in person to see for myself." Naruto replied in a neutral tone, not betraying any emotions behind his mask.
Whispers were heard all around, as the representatives studied the man in the center of the room. It was certainly uncommon to have someone not bending to Danzo's every wish. This time, Danzo was the one narrowing his only visible eye toward Naruto, this was indeed a man not used to being told what to do nor was he stupidly answering questions with no control over his emotions, very much unlike his own apprentice, Danzo had to admit.
"You will answer the questions Hokage-sama asked you, or face the consequences." The shinobi rep with a haircut in the shape of a duck ass suddenly yelled, confirming his master's previous opinion about his lack of control over his emotions.
"Did you receive some kind of a head trauma from the fight you lost to me, Uchiha ? Or maybe my hearing is failing me, as I almost heard you say that you were demanding things from me. I will now remind the honorable members of the council that anything you say within these walls shall be used in the consolidation of the contract you so much desired with me." Naruto replied.
"Very well, what do you want, Kuro-san ? No one is to speak up again without being invited to, am I clear ? Those who disobey will face the consequences." Danzo spoke the last part of his sentence while looking at Sasuke, clearly signifying him to shut the hell up. The Uchiha seethed in anger and remained silent, not wanting to cross his master.
"Straight to the point I see, fine by me. I want a copy from your scroll of forbidden kinjutsu. Before any of you start yelling in outrage, let me say this. You have nothing to offer me that I don't already have, that is the price of my services and I'm not settling down for anything else than this." Naruto said, looking straight into Danzo's eye.
The entire room turned silent, waiting in anticipation for their Hokage's reply to such a demand. The War Hawk never broke eye contact with Naruto, studying his every move as if the blond was a prey for him to feast on.
"Let's imagine I would allow that deal to happen, it's only fair you tell me what you seek inside that scroll. After all, that's one of our most precious treasure, it holds many secrets that were put in there by my predecessors. Put in the wrong hands, it could in turn become one formidable weapon against us." Danzo said, not caring about the looks of disbelief from the council members around him.
"Believe it or not, I have more gold than I could possibly spend in several lifetimes. I once lived as a slave and shall not allow anyone to ever become mine. Finally, I'm not interested in friendship or love, those are useless emotions, not fit for a man in my position. Power and knowledge, however, are things I seek, a man in your position should understand this better than anyone else. That scroll does represent the ultimate knowledge your village has to offer and that's why I want a copy of it." Naruto replied.
"I see, before I give you an answer, tell me what would Konoha gain from having you as a partner ? What difference would your participation bring in our conflict against Oto, Kumo and Iwa ? I will need more than your profile in the Bingo book or you defeating my student to grant you access to our most sacred scroll." Danzo told him.
"Well for starters, how do you even plan to win a war against an enemy that owns at the very least four jinchuriki, while you only have the Ichibi, a highly unstable host if my spies are accurate ? I heard that you even lost your own jinchuriki fifteen years ago, and while I don't know why or how it happened, I can see that the odds don't look so nice from your point of view. Well, I am the one who killed Yagura, jinchuriki of the Sanbi, so I think my help would be greatly appreciated in that department." Naruto started, seeing many head nodding at his reasoning.
"I know for a fact that you are not only facing two of the Great Five Villages, but that minor village of Otogakure as well. Orochimaru was once among the very best of your warriors, since he and his teammates were one of the reasons for your village's successes in the previous shinobi wars. Said team is currently MIA, in fact you haven't heard of them in decades. Your opponent, however, has several veteran shinobi in its ranks while your side also lacks in that field. Me and those who fight alongside with me have years of experience in fighting such opponents. If you want a proof to back my claim up, anyone among my escort could easily best any of your elite guards that are currently hiding in the walls of this room." Naruto added.
"We shall see for ourselves then, I'll consider the deal if you are victorious, otherwise you will all perish for making me lose my time." The Godaime announced.
Danzo felt insulted by this, yet, his curiosity compelled him to really consider the blond's words. He silently raised a hand and then snapped his fingers. Not even a second later, six ANBU leaped out of the walls and went to target each of Naruto's girls individually. Naruto nodded to the women, as the blond chose to sit this one out.
"Fight only to disable, no killing blows." He said with a tone void of any emotion. Stella and Rana stepped in front of Naruto. Seeing the two young unarmed girls, the elite shinobi didn't stop and charged in, ready to go through them in order to get to Naruto.
"Ereinbar Set !" Rana and Stella yelled, as the room glowed red and strange markings appeared all around the walls and the ground. The ANBU that were already in the air, instantly fell down on the floor while the others that had yet to move found themselves stuck on their feet.
"What the hell ? Is that fuinjutsu ? Why can't we move ?" Yelled the shinobi, as they tried to move from their spot, not understanding what prevented them from doing so. The two younger girls from Naruto's crew then created weapons for themselves, literally out of thin air, with Stella summoning twin Warglaives while Rana had armored gloves and boots.
"Accel Turn !" They both yelled, as they moved toward their opponent at extraordinary speed and started to disable them left and right. It only took but one split second and their battle was already over. The six ANBU that went against them were knocked out and they never even saw where each hit came from.
Silence reigned once more inside the Council Chamber as everyone, with no exception, had their eyes wide open while staring at the two youngest warriors from Naruto's guards. They had just taken down six of Konoha's own elite forces without even breaking a sweat.
Even Danzo was stunned as he saw the battle, right in front of him. Even more surprising than the fact that those ANBU had lost, what really impressed the Godaime Hokage was that those girls' ability, whatever it was, also prevented him and everyone else in the audience to move. Only when they had returned at their leader's side that their technique was lifted.
"What was that, I've never seen anything like this. Was that some kind of a bloodline that allowed them to stop everyone's movements ?" The Hokage asked Naruto with excitement in his voice. He was already thinking about the possible applications for such a power against his enemies and how to force the blond into marrying those girls with shinobi from the Leaf.
"Yes, something very much like that." Naruto stayed as vague as possible but started to frown when he saw the Hokage's calculative gaze on Stella and Rana.
"I will accept the deal with one additional condition, those two warriors are to marry shinobi from my village. I have very suitable candidates for them such as my disciple, as the sole heir to his clan, he has the possibility to take more than one wife. Maybe we could ..." Danzo was already planning in details a schedule for Stella and Rana to produce children with the same abilities when Naruto interrupted him.
"Not happening, old man, those two are already engaged to very powerful allies of mines. Anyway the ball is in your camp, my original offer stays, will you agree to the deal or not, Shimura Danzo ?" Naruto said, not bothering with honorifics or names. He had to hold back a lot in order not to snap and kill everyone in that room when Danzo tried to take Rana and Stella from him as if they were mere objects for him to dispose of.
The War Hawk remained impassive at Naruto's ultimatum. His silence was starting to get annoying for the blond, when Galatea suddenly pulled him back, as her eyes flashed from their original silver state to a golden color as she channeled youki into them.
"He's trying something against us with his hidden eye behind those bandages." She announced as Danzo's only visible eye widened. He immediately stopped what he was trying to do, stood up and then spoke again.
"It would have been so much easier for you, had you remained oblivious. Now I fear that things will get more complicated for you, much more complicated … It would have been easier with your cooperation but I guess we'll have to force your troops to obey us and they will, once they see their leader is our prisoner. You are a fool for coming in here with so few guards to protect you, no matter how strong you all are, you cannot hope to get out of this place alive." Danzo finally announced, as he put a hand on a secret seal under his desk and ANBU instantly started to appear all around the room.
"Don't worry for your women, I'll take good care of them. They will all help me restore the Uchiha clan by strengthening its power with their bloodlines." Sasuke said with a smirk as he went to stand behind his master while ogling the women.
No one could see the smile Naruto sported behind his mask as he looked around him. He went to stand in front of Rana and Stella, holding them back as they were already trying to jump out and raise hell. He gave his four wives a nod and then turned back toward Danzo and Sasuke.
"Did you really think I came in here, risking mine and my guards' lives, without an emergency exit strategy ? Show him what I'm talking about girls." Naruto said.
"Kori no Sekai / Kamikakushi !" Galatea and Miria called out as they launched their combination attack in order to stun and disable the first ANBU teams that tried to get closer to their group. As soon as they were done, Miya and Kazehana moved forward.
"Ikorose, Shinso." Miya announced as she jumped in the air and reached out for her katana. The audience never saw her unsheathe her blade before performing her swing. All they saw was Miya, landing near Naruto while removing her hand from her sword. Just a second after that, the room started to shift as a clean cut appeared all around the walls, just between the Elder and the shinobi level.
"Chire, Senbonzakura !" Kazehana's move finished the work as a gush of wind suddenly appeared and obliterated the walls, just above the cut that Miya had just performed, granting the entire room a panoramic vision of their village.
Naruto did a single Ram hand sign and the entire village started to shake as a tremendous explosion destroyed the Hokage Monument. The blond then started to walk toward the exit of the Council Chamber.
"That's one of the many presents I brought with me, did you really thought I lost my footing on that rooftop earlier ? If you did then you are more of a fool than I thought you to be. Now, I think we're not welcome in this village anymore, so I propose that we leave peacefully, unless you want the next explosion to happen in a more populated or strategic place of your village ?" Naruto spoke to Danzo.
Neither the War Hawk nor the several shinobi working under him dared to move, they had lost and they knew it. They stood, helplessly, as the blond masked man and his escort left the room, making their way toward the village's gates.
"Yeah, that's what I thought ..." Were Naruto's last words as he left the Council Chamber.
A/N : That's it for now. Please read and review, your opinion matters to me.
Now, I know it was a short stay in Konoha, some may even wonder what the point was for them to come in there in the first place. No to worry, at least that part will be fully explained in the next issue.
As I've already said to those who had concerns about Naruto joining Konoha or the war, he isn't interested in that, for the moment … We'll see more about his true purpose in the Elemental Nations later.
I am using Miya and Kazehana's uniforms from their time in the Discipline Squad, they both look awesome (and hot) in those. For Miria and Galatea, it's the classic Claymore Warrior uniform, the black one from the Ghost Squad would have been redundant with the first two in black. Finally for Rana and Stella I used the standard school uniform, yes, I know Stella's is supposed to be a bit different but I liked the concept of the matching pairs, furthermore there's a chapter where we see her also in the school 'normal' clothes so deal with it.
Seems like this story is doing quite fine, with an average of nearly 30 reviews per chapter while Kaze no Kami was closer to 20 reviews per chapter. Thanks to everyone for that, I hope it will continue this way.
One last thing, I'm receiving a lot of co-writing or challenges these days, sorry but I am not taking them. I always try to focus on one project at a time, and believe me, it's already hard enough as it is. I guess I'll write something about this in my profile as well …
