"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Demon Talking"
'Demon Thinking'
Don't own Naruto, never will yadda yadda yadda
Chapter Ten: What Lies Beyond The Rubicon
Hiruzen pinched his nose in frustration. After rereading the coded message for the third time, he could see why Gai was so conflicted about requesting aid.
The Wave was on its way to a meltdown, whether it be an economic collapse or civil war that was still left to be determined, and his forces in the dead center of all of it. And if that weren't bad enough pulling out seemed to be the worst option.
While it was true that Konoha was a major ninja village, and often got their hands dirty just like any of the four other major villages. As it stood they made most of their profit by coming off as the 'good guy village'.
It was a bit of an oxymoron but with former public defenders such as the Uchiha Police and the grandfatherly image his 'Professor' title still garnered around the world, many customers travelled far and wide to employ Konoha's aid, even if they cost more.
However instead of helping Konoha, now these assesses only served to compound her problems. Because not only would the Fire Daimyo, and by proxy Konoha, lose face by refusing service to the Wave's Daimyo but when the eventual collapse broke out would seem as though Konoha not only fled at the first sign of danger but also they abandoned the helpless masses within the Wave to their fates.
The destabilization in the Wave would either lead to the one of the major villages, most likely the Lightning or the Mist, to expand their territory as well as decrease the funds flowing into Konoha's coffers because of bad publicity.
Truly Sarutobi didn't know what was worse; Konoha losing a valuable seaport to the Cloud slash land foothold to the Mist, or the fact that he didn't have a single Anbu team suitable for the job.
Suppressing a sign the aged Hokage realized he and his predecessors' complacency with the growing unrest in the Uchiha had come back to bite him.
Not only had Konoha lost one of its famed fighting forces, and subsequently a strong deterrent to war, but also the village wide security the Uchiha provided free up a lot of Konoha's forces for missions. With them gone the duty fell to his Anbu corps, which lead to slips in security that his enemy Danzo seemed to be capitalizing on.
"Well no more," the Third vowed as flared his chakra, signaling his Anbu to come in.
"See that Maito-san's petition for Wave inhabitants is met, they have complete access to our health facilities and temporary lodging until further notice. Also alert the Council that an emergency meeting will be taking place within the hour, but send for Uchiha Mikoto first,"
"What am I to tell her sir?" the Anbu chimed in, noticing the lulled in the Hokage's speech.
"Tell her that its time to put our plan into action,"
Gatou sat quickly as he assessed the men before him. They were shinobi, missing-nin in fact, and were some of the best that money could buy.
And as such they already had his scorn.
Gatou was not an impressive man. That fact coupled with his humbled origins as the son of a swine herder; lead him to his love of money. In his eye money didn't discriminate against him because of his short stature and weak frame, nor did money did laugh in his face because of his social standing.
However he found that money did in fact buy power, fame, and women, which were the three things that any man could measure themselves' by. With money Gatou felt himself to be a titan among boys, despite the fact he was physically the weakest, and with money he was able to take hold of all things important to him.
And currently what was important to him was acquiring a complete monopoly of Wave Country, but a certain bridge and its builder were preventing that.
He tried bribes, threats, and even a public execution, but the bridge builder either refused his offerings or ignored his threats, and even stopped the execution before fleeing town with his family.
So when news from Konoha reached him that Tazuna, the irksome bridge builder, would be coming back to the Wave Gatou decided that it was time to take up his own Leaf ally's advice.
The result was a large amassing of bandits, thugs, and mercenaries from all corners of the Country, and some from outside the country, that were to be lead by three highly trained Shinobi before him.
"Gentlemen I trust that we are in full agreement with the terms laid out in the contract," Gatou began, doing a remarkable job of hiding his distaste for the men before him.
"Yes, 100 million ryou each is very generous sum for just the death of one bridge builder. So generous in fact, that I almost certain you will run out without paying me," the shinobi on the left stated.
He was by far the youngest and most inexperienced of the three, however what he lacked in skill and experience he made up with power. The power of the Nidaime Hokage's own sword to be exact.
"Now Aoi-san, what type of businessman would I be if I ran out of my contract? I would never be able to make another deal if word got out,"
"A damn sneaky one that's what. Half now and half later, that's the only way to ensure that you won't run out on us," the middle shinobi called out much to Gatou's ire.
"And risk you leaving with 50 million ryou. That in itself is worth more than this country's daimyo, and is more than enough to buy a small army. But you would know all about that won't you Zabuza?" Gatou argued back.
"I could just kill you and take the money if that's what you're suggesting," the masked man snapped back causing the samurai guarding Gatou to tense.
This caused the three masked nin behind Zabuza to tense, which in turn caused the team of Rain genin behind Aoi to shift uneasily.
It didn't take a genius to realize that one false move and every one in the room could possibly end up dead, but some how the tension was lost on the last shinobi commander in the room.
"Hahaha such anger. It's almost like a bomb in here un?" the man offered between fits of chuckles, turning all the attention on to him.
"What was that blondie?" Zabuza barked turning his attention onto the laughing ninja.
"Nothing of importance Zabuza, Deidara was merely commenting on how tense it was," Gatou answered quickly, in spite of the blonde teen's ever growing grin.
The shinobi in question was fairly young, tall, and dressed in a black trench coat decorated in red clouds. He was an Iwa missing nin, and if his lack of teammates was any indicator, he seemed to be very confident in his skills.
However the thing that irked Zabuza the most about him was the fact that he was the first to be offered this job. While paranoia and inability to trust went hand in hand with becoming a missing nin, the fact that Gatou and this man had a meeting prior to the briefing now was too suspicious to overlook.
"Well then he should speak for himself rather than hide behind others," Zabuza shot back, wanting to have the last word in the conversation.
Unfortunately in doing such, he severely underestimated Deidara patience and good humor.
Before the famed swordsmen of the Mist could even react, Deidara had a hand covering his mouth and the other tightly reigning in his sword arm.
"Now now Zabuza you need to close your mouth, otherwise something unpleasant my fly in," Deidara taunted as his opponent's senses caught up to him.
It didn't take long for Zabuza to react, but by then something had already wormed by the bandages over his mouth.
"Did your hand just fucking kiss me you freak!" the ex-Mist shinobi growled as he stared at seemingly laughing mouth in the center of Deidara's palm.
"Come now Zabuza did you forget what I said already,"
"Why you-"
"Zabuza-sama!"
A small but powerful hand stopped the sword nin in his tracks.
"Now may not be the best time," the owner of the hand uttered quietly.
Tracing the appendage to the mask face of his own personal hunter nin, Zabuza realized that was getting ahead of himself and would likely lose their contract if he continued to bicker with the ex-Iwa nin.
"Well then gentlemen if that will be all, Deidara-san and I have something to discuss," Gatou announced after a moment of awkward silence.
Sensing the cue Aoi and his rain subordinates left without a word, content with the knowledge that they would be splitting 100 million ryou four ways if all went well.
Zabuza on the other hand paused for a moment before leaving with an angry huff, mentally vowing that at the first chance he would have both their heads.
Several servants quickly turned the other way when the spotted the young Hyuuga and his companions coming their way again. Undeterred Neji stalked the daimyo's estate like a man on a mission.
His goal, to find that girl that no one seemed to acknowledge was there.
At first his search stemmed from mild curiosity, however after observing countless retainers and vassal shift uncomfortably under his inquiry before dashing off under some lame excuse that curiosity turned into something greater.
"Neji can you give it a rest. Maybe you were just seeing things," Tenten begged, having been dragged around all over the compound for the greater part of the day.
"And I guess all the servants' were just avoiding my questions because they don't know anything," Neji shot back sarcastically.
"Urg! Why are you so obsessed with this! So what if you saw some girl? She's probably on a mission just like we are and the retainers in the castle are forbidden to speak about it,"
"Tenten understand this. Our mission is to protect the Wave daimyo at all costs, and to do this we need to know about everything that comes close to the daimyo. Otherwise, we could be faced with a political disaster of unimaginable proportions, and truthfully I take my missions seriously enough to check any and all threats,"
Tenten's face burned in indignation at the slight, but knew that yelling at her teammate would do nothing but prove to him she was just as childish as he implied. Instead she decided to play his game.
"Fine! Continue your search, mean while Lee and I will assist Gai with protecting the daimyo," Tenten all but growled before stalking off leaving a smug Neji and confused Lee in her wake.
Lee just stared at Neji; debating the merits of telling his teammate how unyouthful his comments were to Tenten and how he would have to deal with an irate weapons mistress eager to let off some steam.
"Lee!"
Unfortunately that decision was made for him. And Lee quickly followed after Tenten without so much as a word to Neji, less he end up at the wrong end of a kunai.
Waiting until his teammates were out of range, Neji activated his Byakugan without so much as a word or handseal. Mentally the prodigy remained himself to keep his search quick.
The reason for his haste was many people weren't comfortable with the Hyuuga's ability to see through doors, walls, and particularly clothes. Many considered it an evasion of privacy and to deter any potential backlash the Hyuuga Council deemed any use of the Byakugan outside of training and mission work taboo.
Not that his work now wasn't mission related, however he would have a hard time explaining himself if someone were to report back to Gai about his little person reconnaissance.
"Hello there," a chipper voice called out from Neji's blind spot.
Whirling around, the longhaired prodigy launched a Jyuuken strike before he even got a good look at the stranger. Unfortunately for him his victim was more prepared than he thought, and with practiced ease slid by Neji's blow before planting a quickly elbow into his sternum knocking the wind out of him.
Feeling the telltale signs of chakra lancing through his body, Neji wondered where his opponent could have learned Jyuuken?
'No matter, she won't be a match for me,' Neji assured himself, only to fight that his opponent's attack wasn't aimed at his chakra coils or organs. Instead the chakra bounced throughout his chest muscles, vibrating his very bones, before echoing throughout the rest of his body.
Neji felt his whole body relax before his head started to rattle and he lost his footing and fell back in an ungraceful heap.
Looking up, the humbled body noticed that there was something incredibly familiar about his opponent before realization hit him.
"You-You're the girl from before," Neji stuttered from the ground, their meeting not going as he envisioned it.
"Yes, and you should have listened to your teammate,"
"Who are you, what did you do to me, and how did you slip by my Byakugan?" Neji listed coolly, totally ignoring the girl's previous comment.
"Why I always thought it was polite for one to introduce themselves before asking personal questions, Hyuuga Neji,"
"Well it seems you already know who I am," Neji ground out, not liking the girl's tone.
Nor the fact that he still hadn't regained control over his body.
"And that I should, seeing as I am the daimyo's personal bodyguard and last line of defense. Kokoro is the name,"
"Kokoro… No family name,"
"A shield needs no recognition, its only duty is to protect its owner," the girl replied without faltering.
"Still-"
"Let me help you," the girl said, cutting Neji off before lowering a glowing palm onto the boy.
The same echoing sensation from before rippled through his body, only this time instead of loosening his muscles it returned all tension back to his arms and legs.
Neji bit back a yell as the sudden tension caused his legs and arms to cramp all at one.
"Sorry should have warned you about that… Can you move?" Kokoro asked, while offering Neji a hand.
Nobly trying to weather his own weight himself, Neji found that he was still too weak do so. Taking the girl's hand Neji mumbled a small thanks as she lifted him, something she wisely chose not to comment on.
"You never answered my question,"
"Which one?"
Realizing that the unusually bright girl was getting dodgy Neji chose decided to steer the conversation to safer waters.
"What did you do to me, and how did you avoid my Byakugan. Not many ninja can disable a skilled Hyuuga with taijutsu, let alone sneak up on one,"
"A bit arrogant I see. Well first off I'm not a ninja-"
"Impossible! How else did you avoid my Byakugan!" Neji raised his voice in protest, refusing to believe that Kokoro wasn't a ninja.
Any other explanation didn't make sense. The stealth required to get into the Byakugan's blind spot and stay there was beyond that of a civilian, hell even most samurai, but her taijutsu had a chakra component within it that scream ninja to the boy's senses.
"Oh that. I really didn't avoid it. You just overlooked me," Kokoro chimed in happily before pulling a dull metal necklace from underneath her kimono.
"This medallion completely cloaks my chakra from all forms of scrying, detection, or enhanced vision,"
Realizing that he'd lost control over his doujutsu when his opponent struck him, Neji reactivated the famed Byakugan. However instead of seeing Kokoro's illuminated chakra coils all he could see was the faded outline of the girl.
It was as if he where staring right through her.
'No wonder I overlooked her… I see, but that still doesn't explain your ability to use chakra,"
"Ever arrogant, but it's not your fault, most ninja are. Anyway to answer your question, my technique comes from a samurai clan. And not the ronin that wander most of smaller countries, but the true samurai clans from the Land of Iron. Their technique, the Hibikiken (Echoing Fist), is used to bypass the protection on armored opponents in case they are ever disarmed in combat,"
"Brilliant, the chakra flows through the armor rather than try to pierce it allowing it to rattle the unprotected body within. I'm also guessing that since I didn't have any armor the resonance from your attack was only strong,"
"Wow your pretty sharp, but not quite. The fact that I was able to land a clean blow onto your body was the reason the resonance was so strong. The style it own as the Echoing Fist for a reason, and without a clear strike an echo can't be made,"
"So all I have to do is deflect your blows, better yet avoid contact with you all together and you are powerless," Neji thought aloud, finally feeling his strength return to him.
Look down on the young girl, he found that despite his height, pedigree, and announcement of her weakness, the mischievous light still hadn't left her eye.
"I suppose, but I doubt you are good enough to do so," Kokoro shot back before turning about face and disappearing into a corridor.
Neji remained stalk still, unable to think of a suitable retort for the girl. Realizing belatedly that he'd gotten his wish and found out more about the mysterious girl, he settled for returning to his team and continuing their patrols of the mansion.
Now only if he could get the girl out of his head…
Uchiha Mikoto was nervous.
Ever since the massacre she wondered to herself why she of all people had been spared. While not a conspirator herself, she was definitely aware of the murmurings of rebellion growing within her clan. Failing to report such knowledge was treasonous at best, and she was certain once that if found out she would end up locked in a cell for the rest of her life.
Surprisingly however the Hokage had none of that. While her negligence was acknowledge and met with the serious dressing down, as well as the hanging threat of execution if it ever happened again, Mikoto did note that the Hokage was genuinely remorseful for her loss.
Which helped, considering that the only reason she was still alive was because she was still useful to the village. A use, which in fact was the reason that the Hokage called the emergency meeting, and was about to be revealed to the whole village.
"Council members, thank you for arriving on such short notice. A grave matter has arisen within our beloved village," the Third began.
His tone sagely and comforting, despite the severity of his words. It was then that Mikoto realized that she was in the presence of a master, both on and off the battlefield, and was not a man to be trifled with.
"Just over a month ago a great misfortune befell our own, and the Uchiha Clan has been reduced to only a handful of children, its heir, and its matriarch,"
A wave of polite, but not quite sympathetic, nods was given to the Hokage and Mikoto. While the full truth of the matter was kept from public knowledge, the shinobi veterans and clan heads that made up the emergency council knew of the Uchiha's mutinous attitude.
Luckily Hokage and his advisors quelled the rumors of the attempted coup, otherwise only thing Mikoto would have heard were calls for her execution.
"While the village will survive this tragedy, as it always has in the pass, the storm is not over. For unrest grows everywhere, even within our own walls,"
That got the council's attention. War was the first thing that came to everyone's mind, and more precisely who would be looking for one now that the Sharingan, and the powerful deterrent it represented, was now all but extinguished from Konoha.
Mutterings of Iwa, Kumo, and even the Ame reached the Hokage's ears, all of which merely music to the man's ears. While not a fear nor warmonger, Hiruzen knew the power such tactics held over his people.
And they were not something he was afraid to exploit as long as the circumstances were right.
Giving one last lingering glance at his old rival, Sarutobi drew the council's attention back onto himself before continuing on with his speech.
"On our eastern border, the Wave is on the verge of collapse and with that destabilization of the area creates a danger for Konoha," the Third said, and as predicted several of the ninja came to the same conclusion he did.
Either the aggressive Raikage would expand southward or the bloodied Mist would gain a foothold on the mainland.
"What of the Anbu? Isn't there a black opts division created solely for this purpose?" Hiashi wondering why the Hokage would bring up a problem that should already been solved.
"Yes normally the Anbu would the first one dispatched to handle a situation a delicate as this one, the attention of the council would only be summoned if something went terribly wrong…"
Hiruzen paused to let the implications of his words sink in. Doggedly the seated members all murmured amongst themselves.
"However in this case there have been anomalies within the Anbu corp. While most can be equated to additional duties taken up after the Uchiha Massacre, more serious incidents like attacks on civilians and our own ninja have been reported. So suffice to sway with such rogue units within my most trusted corps, having Anbu handle this Wave incident will only lead to a serious debacle,"
The way the Hokage worded the scenario, it seemed as if the culling of the Uchiha set off a chain of events that were more far reaching than anyone could have imagined. Not only had the loss left on opening within the village security, but also by filling that opening with the Anbu corps, a traitor managed to wiggle their way into the ranks.
With that the meeting hall became dead silent, no one wanting to be even remotely implicated with such treasonous actions.
"What do you intend to do Hokage-sama?" Danzo spoke up for the first time since the beginning of the meeting.
It was a calculated risk, if the Hokage somehow acquired evidence linking him back to the attack he was just tying his own noose, however on the other hand if that wasn't the case than he would probably walk away from this meeting with his most of his Root Cell intact.
"My intention is to create a police force comprised of the villages reserve forces to replace the Uchiha Police. This will free up the Anbu force who have been moved to patrol the city to deal with any internal or external problems that will arise,"
"Hokage-sama what are the individual clans obligation to the new force,"
"When will be up and running?"
"Who will lead the new division?"
Danzo sat quietly as similar questions began to spring up left and right, silently fuming at each idea. Already the council accepted the Hokage's actions without a fight, which in turn meant that his own private forces, which he'd painstakingly spent years moving into the advantageous position they were in now, would be force to going into deep cover.
While he was not concerned so much with the loyalty of his troops while they went into sleeper status, the fact that Hokage changed the playing field of their game so abruptly made it impossible for him to counter.
It was almost as if Hiruzen had been setting this trap for him since the beginning.
Idly listening to the Hokage explain that each clan would be obligated to share at least a small set percentage of their kinsmen to the new police force, and that each member would be given a generous stipend on top of any other payments they would receive, a light went off in Danzo's head.
"Hokage-sama there is still the pressing concern of the Wave matter, as well as who will run this new coalition force you are creating,"
The Third knew a set up when he saw one, and he could tell that Danzo was moving to place his own shinobi as back up for Gai while position himself to be elected as the commander for the new police force. Either of which would be a disaster as giving Danzo the keys to the village's new security system would only magnify his current problems, while allowing any of his agents outside the village to potentially set up a remote base of operations would be equally problematic.
No, Sarutobi would stop at nothing to defeat Danzo here and now.
"Thank you for your concern veteran Shimura, but I have already selected a number of teams to escort the bridge builder in question back to the Wave as well as another just in case additional assistant is required,"
"And the-"
"The position of Police Head will be filled by Uchiha Mikoto. Her time has deputy has afforded her intimate knowledge with the previous police force's infrastructure, which will be vital to getting operations up and running before the upcoming Chunin Exams. However if you are willing to come out of retirement Shimura-san, I can assure you a position as deputy will always be open to you within the force," the Hokage concluded after cutting Danzo off.
The bandaged man paused as he collected his thoughts, many seeing it as him considering the Hokage's offer, and in a sense he was. They both knew Hiruzen was setting a trap for him, one that would try to ensnare him and reveal his traitorous actions if he took the job or push him further away from power and severely cripple his movements if he didn't.
"Then I see you have taken everything into account Hokage-sama, I will gladly accept the post as deputy to Uchiha-san," Danzo worded smoothly, knowing that the game was set.
Now all the Hokage could do was pray that everything would play out in his favor.
Kakashi hummed playfully as he perused another line from Jiraiya's masterpiece from his lofty branch perch, from which could just make out the sounds of his students trying their best to kill one another.
What started as a simple training exercise, just locating and tagging him, had once again descended into fistfuls of chaos and general mayhem between teammates. Giggling at the thought – or maybe particularly good line from his book – Kakashi knew that such a result was inevitable given the personalities on his team.
From an objective standpoint Sasuke, the ever perpetually pissy prodigy, was always looking to prove himself as the best; and Naruto, the current up-and-comer, was making that goal rather difficult. So when he pitted the two against one another, with Sakura and Kasumi acting as back up for each of their respective boys, it wasn't long before the two lost sight of their objective at hand and began fighting one another.
Remarkably however, it wasn't the boys who immediately sought out each other – well Naruto at least – but it was Kasumi who headed off Sasuke as soon as the fighting broke out.
'Ansatsuken Gi Ryuu (Murderous Fist Hateful Style)… I seems Gen-san's training has been showing results,' Kakashi intoned as Kasumi weaved through a gauntlet of punches as if she were just dancing by herself in the mirror.
The Ansatsuken Gi Ryuu was one of the two styles Gen developed after being exiled from the Hyuuga clan. It, unlike its sister style, took all the anger and resentment that Gen had for his former family and embodied into a style that was almost exact opposite of Jyuuken but still drew from its teachings.
And judging from Kasumi's mocking smile she'd learned well indeed.
Sasuke was not amused, Kakashi noted from the boys powerful glare, and with a determined shout the Uchiha Heir charged his opponent yet again.
Kakashi could almost see Sasuke's unspoken desire for his Sharingan to evolve yet again. Unfortunately for him though, the third tomoe did appear and grant him the precognition he so desperately desired, and instead of pummeling her with his Goken he found that Gen's subtle school of taijutsu was more than match for Gai's teachings.
Seeing that taijutsu would likely be a fruitless venture, Sasuke decided to switch to his other specialty, ninjutsu.
'Now this should be interesting,' Kakashi thought as he watched Sasuke flit through the handseals for a fire jutsu.
The boy, being an Uchiha and natural to ninjutsu, performed the jutsu without a hitch but Kakashi was more interested in Kasumi's reaction. He been briefed, albeit partially, on Kasumi by the Hokage and was curious to see what she could do. So curious in fact, it was one of the reasons he allowed her to participate in this exercise.
The other being a direct order from the Commander and Chief himself.
So far however her specs where just as the Hokage described: an incredible potential for taijutsu, but severely lacking in the chakra control department.
'Could be a family thing,' the jonin noted. Recalling that Naruto, and his late mother Kushina, both having that problem.
However much to Kakashi's surprise Naruto's chakra signature flared up broadcasting the telltale signs of a jutsu being formed.
"Kasumi switch!" the blonde cried out from across the field as he put the finishing touches on a water jutsu.
"Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Violent Water Wave)!" Naruto cried unveiling one of the C-ranked jutsu he'd gotten from his bet with Iruka.
Naruto's wave collided Sasuke's fireball, and the two opposite elements filled the area with lukewarm steam. That however wasn't enough to stop the handful of shuriken Sasuke had hidden within the flames of his jutsu, and if it weren't for his enhanced hearing Naruto would have found himself skewered by the flying stars.
"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" Naruto cried as he used the second of his C-ranked jutsu. A sudden outburst of wind deflected the projectiles as well as dispelled the lingering steam from the area.
Noting the two boys' grins, Kakashi closed his book knowing that the real fight had begun.
As predicted they both decided on taijutsu, and although Kakashi found that Sasuke was still faster than Naruto - and almost as strong too -, Naruto's training Gouken was really starting to show results.
"It seems you finally figured out how to block Dobe," the Copy Nin heard Sasuke taunt.
Kakashi found the words to be particularly apt because before Sasuke would have mopped the floor with Naruto within the first minute of their exchange, now Sasuke had yet to land a solid blow on the blonde after five minutes of fighting.
Smiling Kakashi delighted in the fact that Naruto was no longer easy prey, which was something even Sasuke would grudgingly admit. And it was more than just blocking that Naruto learned in his short tenure with Gouken.
After Naruto rattled Sasuke's guard with a particularly chakra filled punch, Kakashi began to wonder if the dark haired prodigy would remain king of the ring for long.
"Enough!" Sasuke yelled as he leaned back to avoid another one of Naruto's punches.
Shifting his weight all onto one arm, Sasuke then shot a powerful kick between Naruto's guard into his chin before flying up from his handstand. Now airborne Sasuke wasted no time getting into position for his own personal combo.
"Shishi Rendan!" Sasuke cried as he threw his first kick from behind Naruto. Unsurprisingly the blonde blocked, but Sasuke continued on with his combination and attack from the opposite side.
From Kakashi's view, only Naruto's quick wit and danger sense saved him from getting knocked out completely, but even then the jonin could see the wind had been knocked out of him. Blurry eyed, Naruto just managed to pull of a Kawarimi and spam the area with Kage Bunshin before Sasuke's heel dropped to finish him off.
"Close… Naruto should be thankful that Iruka pushed the Academy Three," Kakashi whispered to no one in particular as he recalled the Chunin – well technically Anbu Commander level – to memory.
The man had been his team's sensei for years, and in particular Naruto's personal ninjutsu instructor. As a ninjutsu specialist himself, Kakashi knew the benefits of having an instructor, and the subtle marks a master left on a student even when they weren't working with each other.
Judging from Naruto's style of ninjutsu, Iruka taught him to use the Kage Bunshin as incredible training tool and an effective force multiplier. However even the shadow clone technique had its limits. The most obvious Kakashi saw was, the more Naruto spread himself out amongst his clones the less effective they became as a whole.
Thinking back to his experience with the technique, mainly through watching the blonde's mother use it, Kakashi could say quality won over quantity. At a less than a dozen or so, the clones were almost perfect replicas of the user, intelligently innovative and all-in-all deadly. However upward of that, they began to become little more than menial labor meant to grind away at those countless hours of perfecting jutsu while he worked on other things. As for the Naruto's rumored ability to make a thousand or so…
Kakashi could truthfully say Sasuke would have a merry ol' time killing the shit out of the thousand or so clones, given that were only a little strong than the average bandit.
Turning his attention way from the ongoing slaughter, Kakashi quickly found Naruto who was currently engaging Sakura in combat. It didn't take a jonin to notice the distinct change in the girl since the time she became genin. More precisely the enormous growth she'd made in the weeks following right after their extended stay at the hospital.
While not overly curious to what sparked the change, coming to team meetings more exhausted than usual and taking up a sudden interest in seals and poisons did strike Kakashi as strange.
So as her jonin sensei he decided to do a little snooping and found the girl had taken up puppeteering under retired the Suna jonin Okugi Ayatsuri.
'She probably just doesn't want to be left behind,' Kakashi rationalized, having intentionally said to hell with respecting his student's sense of privacy.
Kami he loved being a sensei.
However just as much as he liked the total access his jonin status allowed him over his genin's personal lives, Kakashi was far more interested in gauging Sakura growth as a puppeteer – and moreover a kunoichi.
'Excellent…' the silver haired jonin commended as Sakura continued to elude Naruto's pursuit with more skill than any average normal genin.
Perhaps a bit too skillful to be believable once Kakashi took into account Naruto's superior speed, chakra capacity, and sensor abilities.
'This will require a closer look,' and with that the jonin unveiled his Sharingan eye and the world exploded into a mash up of chakra arrays.
Never had the Sharingan's view of the world ceased to amaze the veteran ninja, but what he found more amazing than the famed Copy Wheel Eyes was Sakura's use of her chakra.
While nowhere near as massive as Naruto's blinding star, Sakura's chakra was nigh-perfectly controlled, shown by her perfect execution of the Academy Three. Her use of the jutsu were so perfect in fact, Kakashi was tempted to say while Naruto was a master of the three, Sakura had ingrained them to instinct.
What's more is she didn't just rely on Academy knowledge to see her through, for in the two short weeks she'd been working with Ayatsuri her mastery of the chakra string technique was unprecedented.
Constantly weaving around the pinkette in a protective web, the strings seemed to branch endlessly and they latched onto Naruto every time he got close before clumsily trying to pull him into some sort of submissive hold or joint lock.
'Hebi no Miyaru (Cobra's Bind), should be interesting to see Naruto fight against Suna's branch of taijutsu,' Kakashi admitted as the blonde tried to power his way through.
The exchange wasn't going well for the blonde as Naruto slowly found himself becoming more and more entrenched in Sakura's treads before finally, with a masterful manipulation of her chakra, Sakura managed to rip Naruto's ninjato from his grip.
Then with a slight flick of the wrist Sakura sent the ninjato hurtling back towards Naruto, stopping just short of performing a field tracheotomy on the immobilized blonde.
'Well that's that,' Kakashi decided while snapping his book shut.
Leaping down from his perch, Kakashi was proud to say that neither of his students seemed too surprised by his entrance. Their awareness serving as a testament to the skills they'd been developing over the past month.
'Perhaps a bit too aware…' however before Kakashi could follow that train of though any longer, the Naruto being held captive by Sakura's chakra strings burst into chaotic array of light and sound.
Having already experienced the flash bang clone first hand, Kakashi immediately shielded his eyes and ears with chakra, damping the effects to more manageable levels.
Sakura wasn't so lucky and feel to the ground clutching her head. Which now meant that Naruto had an unobstructed path to him.
Acting on instinct Kakashi tried to shunshin to a safe location before Naruto tag him, but little did he know that the short time the blonde spent training with Ayami would come back to bite him in the ass.
Just as Kakashi was about to flicker away, Naruto's overpowering chakra jammed his shunshin and surprised him just enough that the blonde was able to snag his copy of Icha Icha before being thrown to the ground with a complex taijutsu maneuver.
Conceding defeat Kakashi helped the blonde up, before flaring his chakra to alert the rest of the team of his presence.
Not so shortly after Sasuke came stumbling into the clearing clutching one arm and bruised all over but generally no worse for wear. While Kasumi followed right after, her hair and clothing singed but not looking the slightest bit tired.
"Good. Now that we are all in attendance," Kakashi started just as Naruto finished healing Sakura's damaged eardrums.
"A month and a half ago you all were commissioned as genin for Konoha, and in that time you have proven yourselves to be worthy of that title,"
Kakashi's words brought memories team and personal training, missions, the various things Kakashi taught them, and more importantly the things they puzzled out for themselves.
The four looked at one another, and understood what Kakashi meant. They'd come a long way since been training to genin, but it wasn't until Kakashi that they started training to be shinobi.
"However now a call has come that is greater than the mantle of genin, possibly even for a jonin, but because of the dire straights our village's faces the task will fall to you,"
"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei," Sakura voiced aloud, speaking for the team as a whole.
"Team Seven, you have been chosen by the Hokage to protect this generation's Will of Fire. Sandaime has held this honor during his genin days, as well as the Sanin, and my very own genin squad. This path is long, and filled with blood and sacrifice, but if you survive…"
"What happens Kakashi-sensei?" this time Naruto speaking for the three.
"Konoha will continue to shine brightly with three new legends under her name,"
And with that Team Seven stepped into the true shinobi world.
"Well so much for our first C-rank mission," Ino groused as another wave of bandits appeared from beneath the foliage.
Their mission had been simple; relay a communiqué to the Fire Daimyo from the Hokage. However the real reasoning behind the mission was meant to get teams used to travelling outside the village, while completing the bimonthly updates the Fire Daimyo demanded from his shinobi forces.
That part of the mission went smoothly and Team Ten arrived with several days to spare in their allotted travel time, which ended up being spent at the Temple of Fire where Asuma caught up with some of his old Fire Guardian friends.
Ino had her suspicions about the 'likelihood' of all this being random, especially when she considered how fast of a pace their normally lackadaisical her sensei set for their travels and how informed the Guardians seemed to be when it came to training them.
Suspicions aside though, Ino found that she didn't care too much about the maneuverings seeing as she got two weeks of advanced water elemental and weapons training out of the bargain.
And it was training that was put to good use as Ino sidestepped her opponent's clumsy attempt to bash her with his club, before removing the offending limb with the blade hidden within her umbrella. The shikomizue cut through the bandits arm with little resistance, a testament to its make and her growth in skill, and before the man could hit the ground a second flash severed his head from his shoulders.
Sparing a glance to her team, Ino was treated to the rare sight of her sensei when he was serious. Needless to say when tearing though men with his wind powered trench knives and scorching the earth with his ash based Katon jutsu, Asuma seemed ever bit the prodigal son of the Legendary Professor.
Flanking their sensei Ino noted that Shikamaru was in rare form as well, the shadow user immobilizing his opponents with his clan jutsu before tearing them apart with the trench knives just like Asuma.
'Funny that the laziest person I know has the most hyper active chakra nature,' Ino mused as the faint keening noise from Shikamaru's lightning charged blades reached her ears.
Finally her eyes landed on Chouji who, despite being the nicest person she'd ever known, was wearing the fiercest expression she'd ever seen. Shockingly she found it fit him well with the way he was swinging around his Sansetsukon like a war staff and altering his body composition with his family jutsu and medical techniques.
'Who would have guessed lil' ole Chouji had it in him' Ino thought as her teammate cut down the leader and last of the bandits with an oversized fist. However just as Chouji turned away from his opponent the man sprang forth from the grave and before Ino knew it, she'd completed the seals for her family's mind swap jutsu.
"Wave country's dried up,"… "A new mission boss,"… "To Rice Country!"… "Name's Yoroi, I will be acting as your contact,"
And with that the jumble of thoughts were cut off as Chouji stepped between Ino and bandit, severing the connection, before sending the leader to the grave for good this time.
"Ino, Ino? Are you all right? Ino?" Ino could barely make out, almost convinced that there was a touch of urgency in Chouji's voice, but chalked it up to her altered state of mind.
Whatever happened, it was not the Shintenshin no jutsu (Mind Body Swap Technique), and she was struggling to make sense of the visions she'd seen. Slowly it dawned to her that she'd inadvertently read the bandit leader's mind and stumbled onto something big.
"I'm fine," Ino started as she rose to her feet, thankful for Chouji's steady hand that saved her from eating turf as she found her footing.
"But Konoha won't be if we don't get this information back quickly," Ino finished, as began relaying what she could make of the man's memories to her team.
Kurenai lowered her kunai wearily as she continued to scan for any additional threats. The intelligence Asuma's team brought in just prior to her team's departure was top notch, and she was thankful for the heads up about the Wave's current state of affairs.
Bandit and nuke-nin were running rampant, and although her genin team took out the three Ame genin and their Hazy clone genjutsu technique without much effort, her instincts told her a much larger predator was still in the area.
She was right.
Dodging a hail of senbon by just the hairs width, Kurenai was thankful for the small boon when Kiba announced that he smelled poison on the needles. Acting quickly Kurenai began weaving a genjutsu around herself and her team, and within moments Team Eight disappeared in a whirl of leaves.
However Konoha's genjutsu mistress wasn't done yet. Without stopping, Kurenai continued her sealing, layering her genjutsu with two others: one that made it seem as if the whirling leaves were the tail end of a shunshin jutsu and another that recreated her and her students in a nearby location.
Once completed she made sure her students could still maintain sensory contact with one another before barking her orders.
"Hinata I need you to get eyes on this guy! Shino tag him once visual confirmation has been established! Kiba keep sniffing for any other poisons; the faster you can trace the scent the faster we can nail him!"
And Team Eight did just that, fulfilling every tracking dream the Konoha Opts Department had for them and more.
"The target is at 10 o'clock about 20 meters from our position. He is armed with battled umbrella and some sort of chakra weapon and is moving towards the dummy team northeast of here," Hinata reported as she continued to track the man with her Byakugan.
"My female kikai has tagged the target, his reserves are still fresh and lingering somewhere above your own," Shino continued as he tried to place more kikai onto their opponent without revealing himself.
"Kurenai-sensei, I don't smell any other poisons on him other than the one that is coating his senbon. Also Akamaru got a whiff of that chakra weapon and says its from Konoha, an old weapon at that and dangerous too," Kiba finished as he took off toward their opponent in unison.
Normally Kurenai would have told her students to stay back in face of an opponent with jonin level reserves. However their opponent seemed far too careless to be a full-fledged jonin and, if his reliance poison and chakra weapon were any indicator, didn't have a solid skill base outside of the norm.
Bearing that in mind Kurenai wove another genjutsu, one of the Demonic Hell Viewing variant, just as her team moved to attack.
The sudden jarring image of his own skin being melted from his body was enough to suppress any reaction the Ame jonin may have had when Hinata opened up their assault with a taijutsu combination.
The heiress's dual tutelage under her father and Master Gen did wonders for her battle prowess, and with a combination that was one part Jyuuken, another part sai wielding, and finally part Ansatsuken Sou Ryuu (Murderous Fist Mourning Style) Hinata tore into the man with little hesitation.
Unfortunately just before the petite heiress could deliver the coup de grace, a sai to each temple, the man replaced himself with Kawarimi leaving a log to be utterly destroyed by the spike of chakra from the girl's weapon.
That however didn't stop the swarm of kikai from ambushing him from all directions. Struggling the jonin tried using his umbrella-senbon combination, only to find that the insects were too small and numerous to be defeated in such a way.
"Enough! Time to show you the might of the Nidaime Hokage!" the jonin announced from beneath the swarm of kikai, giving Kurenai the final clue she needed to I.D. their opponent.
'Nidaime's might… Kiba stop!" the woman yelled but it was too late, Kiba had already stepped into his Gatsuga.
A roar of thunder confirmed her fears as Aoi Rokusho unleashed the power of the Nidaime's Raijin no Ken, and the sound of crackling electricity filled the air as Shino's kikai were driven to near extinction by the man's impromptu bug zapper.
Before Kurenai knew it she was signing seals for another genjutsu while activating a Kawarimi between herself and Kiba. The effects were almost instantaneous as Kiba was teleported to safety and Kurenai took what would have been a deathblow for her student if it weren't for her Shinkeigi (Nerve Deception) genjutsu.
A nerve splitting pain shot through the jonin as chakra blade passed through her, fortunately she was able to keep her wits about her and ensnare Aoi in another genjutsu. While simple in theory, the fear inducing genjutsu was deviously complex to execute and took all of her concentration to etch the profound fear for his life into Aoi's subconscious.
Through her wavering vision Kurenai could see the effects of her genjutsu taking hold, and almost instantaneously a pale hue took hold of nuke-nin's features before the man bolted as if the Shinigami was reaching for his soul. So complete was his terror that Aoi didn't even try to defend himself as Kiba moved to intercept him.
Content with the knowledge that genin team would be safe Kurenai allowed her consciousness to slip, the last thing her eyes seeing being Hinata descending onto her with softly glowing hands.
Kurenai swore at the idiocy of the man before her. Daimyo or not, Lord Kagen, was going to find himself in the worst genjutsu she could muster if he didn't stop spouting off stupidity and start listening to reason.
She and her team nearly died in their encounter with Aoi Rokusho, a jonin level missing-nin with a powerful artifact to boot, and the man still wasn't listening to reason.
Konoha had good intelligence that there was a mounting revolt slowly taking shape within the country, but the daimyo acted as if it was all just rumors and happenstance. If it weren't for the delicacy of her wounds, and the uncharacteristically stern orders Hinata had given her not to aggravate them, Kurenai would have been sorely tempted to throttle the man with her bare hands while a genjutsu ravaged his mind for putting them all in danger.
Fortunately for Kagen, Gai saw Kurenai's growing irritation and stopped the woman from assaulting the Daimyo with a pointed look. Kurenai's gaze screamed mutiny before she quickly reigned herself in after realizing: A Gai had more experience both as a jonin and with Lord Kagen, and be having to tell the Hokage – her boyfriend's father – that she botched the mission because of her inability to control herself was not something she'd look forward to.
"Lord Kagen I must implore you again, your country will be teeming with bandits and brigands of the lowest kind within a weeks time if you don't allow us to attack them now,"
"And again Shinobi-san I must ask why waste your time killing a bunch of dirty peasants when we have assurance that these men will be taken care of," the lord dismissed as he motioned to the two individuals at his side,"
"My Lord you have our assurance that Gatou-san is using his every resource to ensure that your nation remains safe from harm," Haku asserted after stepping out from behind Zabuza and addressing the daimyo with a bow.
Having known the daimyo's weakness for women, particularly young women, Zabuza allowed Haku to forgo for normal male disguise and show her true shelf.
And show herself she did, as Haku pulled all the stops in her outfit, changing from a slightly effeminate male to a beauty that rivaled even the richest lord's oiran. The payoff was obvious seeing as the gullible lord couldn't take his eyes off the young woman, nor could he doubt a word the she said.
"Yes even the wealthiest man this side of Konoha is giving his assurance nothing will go wrong, so as I said before Shinobi-san my decision stands," Kagen iterated as he made a shooing motion to the two jonin.
Tersely Gai and Kurenai bowed before quickly departing from the room.
"That idiot can't he tell that those two are merely playing him," Kurenai roared as soon as they reached their quarters. The Konoha nin were all being lodged in an offshoot of the Wave Lord's samurai barrack.
The Wave country's military strength had never been large, maybe only two thousand strong before the economy tanked, but now it wasn't even a shadow of its former self.
"Obvious not, and with only a one hundred and fifty samurai on our side well be overrun in a matter of hours if all these bandits were to lay siege at once," Gai replied as he tried to think up a plan.
With the Daimyo all but ignoring the crisis slowly coming to a head, Gai realized that he may have to break the Lord's explicit order not to engage the enemy forces if he wanted his team to make it out of here alive.
"Kurenai gather the genin," the burly taijutsu master ordered in a low voice.
Snapping her eyes up to the normally jubilant jonin, Kurenai went against her better judgment and hesitated in following through with the order.
"What do you have planned Gai?" the woman wondered aloud concern easily discernable from her wavering voice.
"If the daimyo won't act then we must. Hopefully the Hokage has sent additional aid by now, and we will be able to coordinate with them once create a suitable base of operations,"
"What about the daimyo? As infuriating as he is abandoning this post will only cause problems for us in the long run, especially once Gatou gets wind what we'll have done to his hired help," Kurenai protested quietly. She was treading on dangerous ground questioning her senior officer in what had been declared a warzone by their Hokage, however Gai didn't seem to be at all irritated with his colleague and instead focused on the task at hand.
"Normally yes, but with the daimyo having placed his trust in Zabuza of the Mist and his associate out there, I doubt our presence here will be of much use unless we can reveal their true nature to his Lordship,"
"So what's your plan on accomplishing that?"
"Simple, we get one of those lowlifes to admit Gatou is behind all of this," Gai uttered with an uncharacteristically cruel grin.
Clap Clap
Kakashi fell to a knell as he paid his respects to his ancestors passed. Going through the long list of Hatake, the young stopped at the latest addition to the honored fallen.
His own father…
"Otou-sama, I think you'd be proud to here that it's finally happened. A team, my team, is finally ready to take up that old mantle and protect Konoha from all of her enemies. Its still a long ways away, but I think they will do just fine. Each of them holds Konoha dearly to their heart, but more importantly they hold each other closer to their heart,"
Having said his peace Kakashi rose from the ground before giving one last look to the slow burning incense in the small shrine. Feeling that his father's soul, and the message he died delivering, still lived on today; Kakashi didn't hesitate when he lifted his ancestral blade and secured to the familiar spot on his back.
Turning without a word the son of the White Fang departed from his home to meet his team, ready to face the Land of Waves and the dangers it would hold.
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Jutsu Logue
Hibikiken (Echoing Fist): Is a form of taijutsu created within the land of Iron by some of the oldest samurai clans in existence, the style's primary function is utilizing chakra to bypass any sort of armor and attack the vulnerable tissue underneath. This is accomplished by perfectly tuning ones chakra so that it vibrates throughout an opponent once contact is made, thus echoing through their bodies, and causing anywhere from temporary paralysis to massive damage to their bone structure and organs with each blow.
While eerie similar to the Hyuuga Clan's Jyuuken form; the Hibikiken more resembles the ancient Bajiquan form (known in Japan as Hakkyokuken or the Eight Extreme Fists/Rake Fist). Meanwhile the Hyuuga's teachings are founded in the ancient Baguaquan, more specifically Piguaquan (known in Japan as Hikaken/Chop Hanging Fist), making them a perfect counterpart to the Hibikiken.
Shinkeigi (Nerve Deception): High B-ranked Genjutsu. Created by Yuhi Kurenai that utilizes extensive knowledge of the human anatomy and biology to send false signals from the brain to the nerves tricking them into 'thinking' they've been assaulted, coupled with an perception altering eye jutsu, the jutsu is highly effective as a taijutsu counter.
Ansatsuken Gi Ryuu/Ansatsuken Sou Ryuu (Murderous Fist Hateful Style/Murderous Fist Mourning Style): Are the two sister taijutsu forms created by Hyuuga Gen, after he exiled himself from the Hyuuga clan. Taking the cold emotionless forms of Jyuuken and infusing them each with his hatred and mourning respectively, Gen was able to create two styles that drew from all the strengths of Jyuuken but were still usable by none Byakugan users. While normally such flexibility would be sacrilege against the Hyuuga way, many find that the added flexibility makes the practitioners of Gen's styles far more deadly.
Hebi no Miyaru (Cobra's Bind): Is a form of taijutsu developed in Suna to take advantage of a puppeteer's expertise with chakra strings while reducing their weakness to close range combatants. Its teachings allow puppeteers to grapple and submit their opponents into with the help of their chakra strings with a combination of joint locks, choke out holds, and nerve strikes. The art is loosely based off of Brazilian jujitsu with a bit of a puppeteer's flair.
A/N:
I know I know half as long and twice as late, but I couldn't find a good place to end it if I kept writing from here. I'm pretty sure I'll have the Wave arc wrapped up by the next chapter, which is good because that's were most of the main divergences from canon will begin. This chapter was mainly a set up, and I apologize if it tried to do too many things at once. Next chapter will be similar but at least I can promise a lot of action, this time with a great amount of detail. Damn I can't wait to really show off what team seven can do.
Also before I post the next Rookie Team's stats, I'd like to clarify that the reason Kasumi was able to keep up with Sasuke but Naruto wasn't is because all her youki is diverted to stabilizing her body. This is because youki is inherently more powerful than chakra, so all her physical stats (speed, strength, stamina) get a 1 to 1.5 boost. Now her ninjutsu and genjutsu stats drop to 0, which is obviously, a shit trade but as I've describe in the chapters they are working on it. Now for Team Eight's Stats.
Progress Report Team Eight
Kiba
Rank: Genin
Specialty: Close Range Combat Specialist/Tracking
Stats: Ninjutsu 2.5/5, Taijutsu 2.5/5, Genjutsu 0.5/ 5,Intelligence 1.5/5, Strength 3/5, Speed 4/5, Stamina 2/5, Handseals 1.5/5 Total: 19
Raw Level: High Genin-Low Chunin
Skills: Academy Trio, Enhanced Senses, Clan ninjutsu
Strengths: Teamwork (Especially with Akamaru), Speed and Agility, Enhanced Senses, And Loyalty
Weakness: Chakra control, Rash, Temperamental, Arrogance, And Sometimes Dimwitted
Notes: Is muscle of the squad and is extremely loyal to his village, clan, and team. Is willing to put his life on the line for them, and is often rash enough to try it. However his confidence is what often propels his teams to new heights, whether it is by encouraging them to do so or by getting them into so much trouble they have to in order to survive. Currently being looked at as a possible Hunter nin recruit.
Shino
Rank: Genin
Specialty: Long Range Support/Tracking
Stats: Ninjutsu 3.5/5, Taijutsu 1.5/5, Genjutsu 2/5, Intelligence 4/5, Strength 1.5/5, Speed 2/5, Stamina 2.5/5, Handseals 3/5 Total: 20
Raw Level: Low Chunin
Skills: Academy Trio, Kikai Insects (and mutations), Clan ninjutsu
Strengths: Calm, Collect and Calculating Mind frame, Strategist, And Does Well Under Pressure
Weakness: Solitary, Hard to Interact With, And Lacks Innovation
Notes: The brain of the Team Eight. Is the silent motor that pushes the team along whenever Kiba's brash behavior doesn't demand it upfront. Is brilliant but is also predictable in the sense he follows protocol too closely. Currently being looked at as a possible Hunter nin recruit.
Hinata
Rank: Genin
Specialty: Close Range Combat Specialist/Tracking/Medic
Stats: Ninjutsu 2.5/5, Taijutsu 3.5/5, Genjutsu 1.5/5, Intelligence 3.5/5, Strength 2/5, Speed 3/5, Stamina 2/5, Handseals 2.5/5 Total: 20.5
Raw Level: Low Chunin
Skills: Academy Trio, Byakugan (and Supplementary Clan ninjutsu), Jyuuken, Ansatsuken Sou Ryuu, Medical Jutsu
Strengths: High Chakra Control, Intelligent, And Adaptive
Weakness: Wavering Self Confidence, Family Problems
Notes: Is considered the Heart of Team Eight. Their movements and motivations beat around her, despite her ignorance of such things. However she cares for her team greatly and would not take advantage of it even if she were aware. Currently being looked at as a possible Hunter nin/Medic Second Class recruit.
Well aside from that expect a Through the Shadow of Death update next (my Naruto Bleach crossover) followed by the conclusion of the Wave arc here. I'm planning on finishing them both up both Christmas but looking at my current track record, I make no promises ;). Anyway thanks again for reading, and till next time…
Black Saint
Completed: 12/12/10