Naruto: Dark Disciple

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; Kishimoto does.

He took a deep breath as he stared once more at the map. There it was, the Elemental Nations lying before him waiting to be within his grasp, practically asking for it. There would be no more delays; there could not be. Konoha had been discouraged for a time but their curiosity would be insatiable soon enough. Everything needed to be put in motion now, and luckily, every part of the plan had been executed properly. His generals executed their roles perfectly, though admittedly, had more help from him than they would likely ever know. The time was now and the day was today.

It was strange; when was the last time he had been nervous? It felt so long ago, when every battle could be the final decisive blow, with campaign after campaign seeking to achieve a grand final victory. Every battle presenting a unique challenge, a unique set of variables that taught new methods of fighting and new understandings of his soldiers' capabilities. An endless array of challenges that needed to be overcome, yet he had done it. It had been so exhilarating, a non-stop adrenaline rush. With the battles won, he had taken up the idea of administration, of leading a people that had become his. That had been more difficult, requiring study and a bit more theory. It seemed to be going well and he could admit to having an interest in the field, but his true passion was for the field of battle, whether on it or leading it. Soon, however, very soon, the thrill of putting the entirety of his mind and skills to use would be upon him once more. What was the difference between anxiety and excitement, anyway?

His troops were awaiting for him outside, awaiting for him to address them. Listening closely, he could hear the frantic excitement mixed with the anxiety. His troops were, mostly, relics of conquests. Few of those who had served with him in the beginning could be counted among them, lost in the numerous battles that had been so necessary to unite the clans. While many of the shinobi in his number were now veterans of prior battles, there was no small number of them who had never fought under him. These people were either forced into service in the case of clan conquest, after a personal evaluation by himself to ensure loyalty, or taken into service as the agreement to peaceful assimilation. Though they were inexperienced they had been trained thoroughly for the challenges ahead; unfortunately, nothing could prepare for the realities of war and how the individual would react.

He picked up his mask, looking at the ornate details. It had been created in order to hide his identity and thus far had served its purpose. He would be wearing it for this campaign though he had not done so for any others. It was completed after the Unification had ended, and he did wear it quite frequently while going out. There were a number of rumors about it, a few of which he had picked up. That he only wore it when eliminating rebels, that it somehow increased his strength, that it was a gift from Jashin himself for loyalty. The last one reminded him of the Fujo Buredo, the sword upon his back, though he preferred to not think of the blade with its intoxicating power and corrupting influence. He attached the mask to his hip.

"So, gentlemen," he said to the four members of his forces seated before him who had been sitting in absolute quiet for nearly fifteen minutes as he looked at the map and prepared. Just another small test of loyalty for all of them, one of many. "The day is upon us at last. Due to the lack of reports stating otherwise, I will presume that everything went according to plan and we are ready."

There was an instant 'Hai' from all of them. "Good. Hideki, as promised, I have provided you five-hundred good, hand-picked men who will serve whatever you require of them in order to ensure our logistics are maintained. They will stay behind when the march begins and shall obey your orders, I have assured of that. You shall maintain Kamigakure and be in charge of the defense forces as well as being in charge of supply. I trust you to understand just how critical these tasks are. Your administrative power shall be quite limited, as I have appointed others to run the other major villages. Hiroto, you shall come with me and lead First Division, a division created for their capacity in assault. When a spearhead is needed, you shall provide it. Kenchi, you shall travel with me and stay among my personal bodyguard. You shall be given leeway to be deployed to various locations as you request in order to study the fields and better adjust our forces. Shinzen, I believe there is no need to discuss your assignment further. Are all of these things clear?"

Everyone's head bowed, showing their understanding of the tasks lying before them. "Good, dismissed." They all slowly rose before leaving the room, and he gave them a few minutes to disperse before he himself decided to leave. He walked down the hall of his Palace before coming to a room at the far end and entering. Little did anyone else know that within the seemingly inconsequential room at that very moment was possibly the most powerful group ever assembled in one room within the Elemental Nations. All twelve of the Shugoshin of Kamigakure plus the only man capable of commanding them.

"Oh hey, look who finally decided to fuckin' show his face." It was a well-known fact that the stronger a shinobi was, the tendency they had to lose any respect for authority. In the case of everyone else in the room, their respect had already been earned through war and battle, through hard-earned victory in duels. There was, of course, only one person who could possibly dare to speak to him in such a way without fear of death, possibly because this person could not die.

"Hidan, I shall not tolerate such insults without repercussion. Should all your limbs be removed and spread to the farthest reaches of this continent I can assure you I will not allow you to be put together again. Understood?"

"Oh come on pal, I was just joking." The man had a smile on his face, and Naruto could never really tell if he was intimidated or not. He had known Hidan for years at this point, and at one point had thought of him as a sensei, and though he had long eclipsed the immortal-nin, he knew that Hidan treated everything he said or did much more casually than anyone else as a result of knowing him before he had arrived in these lands. For these reasons he tried to prevent interaction between himself and Hidan around more regular shinobi. Thankfully, Hidan would typically relent in his behavior after his first outburst.

"My Shugoshin. A dozen of the strongest shinobi in my dominion. From various clans, with varying degrees of respect for their prior clan lives. Assembled in order to carry out the tasks that most shinobi could not dream to ever accomplish. I thank you for coming. I am sure, at this point, that you understand fully well that the tasks lying ahead of you will be full of bloodshed, death, suffering, and certainly worse. In the upcoming war you will be asked to do many tasks that will push even your skill to the limit. You will be expected to fight the best that the Elemental Nations has to offer, outnumbered, and to prevail in every occasion. Should you fail, you will be killed. Or worse. For this reason I have decided that from now on you shall operate in pairs, to better face the struggles ahead."

He reached into a pouch and took out twelve small scrolls, handing one to each of them detailing their partner as well as detailing exactly what was expected in terms of operational capacity. With Hidan and Akira working together, for example, he expected that Hidan would be able to win in almost any one-on-one fight while Akira was better suited for fighting against groups of shinobi, though her prior performance against Hinata, Shikamaru, and Ino cast a bit of doubt on that capacity. With her speed and unique kenjutsu abilities, however, it was at least a theoretical strength. Perhaps she had not yet quite fulfilled her potential. Still, in his head, he could not help but see Hidan defeating Kakashi Hatake as Akira fought with Sakura and other Konoha-nin when thinking of the pairing.

"Now, I have already prepared your first assignment. Here they are." He pulled out six more small scrolls from a pouch, handing one to one member of each pair. In general, the plan was to have two teams doing operations to disrupt the enemy forces, three teams fighting on the front lines, and one protecting the homefront. This may change as needed but he liked the idea in his mind quite a bit. A few people harassing, a few more being used to lessen the strain on the regular shinobi on the front, and a lone pair staying back to keep anything unfortunate from occurring. "I apologize for the swiftness of this gathering, but I do need to attend to other matters. Questions?"

They didn't bother to ask anything, knowing full well that their leader expected them to not need any clarification on orders, for theirs were always quite specific in their intention. Naruto was certain that providing the clearest orders possible for his strongest shinobi would not only increase their effectiveness but curb whatever disloyalty may be among them. After all, it was proven time after time in the shinobi world that stronger shinobi had a tendency to lose their loyalty in favor of their own self-interest. For this reason, Naruto preferred to not have much contact with his Shugoshin outside of mission assignment. While it may seem counter-intuitive to avoid them to build loyalty, it helped to prevent them from thinking of him casually as Hidan did and instead kept them entrapped with the tales that surrounded him. Additionally, it lessened the chances they would ever feel personally betrayed by anything he did.

"Good. I'll be on my way then."

There were, after all, always rumors swirling around about him and, so long as they were not of an intensely negative nature, he was willing to allow them. He was not from some unknown land seeking to make his mark upon this world; he was not some Demon Prince, though he was sure some of those who had fallen on the wrong side of his judgment would disagree. It was entertaining, in a way, to hear the amazing ways that people would twist the actual details of what he had done in to some tall tale. In the end, however, it simply elevated his status among them. He left the room, walking down a hallway and passing through an armory and lounge before exiting the building. Taking a few steps forward, he examined the crowd before him.

The area surrounding his palace was completely clear in a large square for some one-hundred yards. This design was, of course, on purpose in order to make the ornate building stand out even more; for the same reason, the building was intentionally placed in the center of the city. Yes, there could be no doubt of the power and influence held by the inhabitants of such a building over the city, and that was exactly Naruto's purpose. At the moment, the surrounding square clearing was not clear but rather occupied by thousands upon thousands of soldiers, who were recognizing now that their Shikage had appeared. Immediately upon recognition the crowd grew quieter, within a minute a near total silence having spread among them. He stood upon the top stair, microphone in front of him and speakers spread throughout the crowd to ensure that everyone would be able to hear him. In his estimates there were nearly twenty-thousand able-bodied shinobi as part of his invasion force and, he had to admit, with them all standing before him they did seem quite an impressive bunch. He wondered exactly how many shinobi there had been before the Unification, before the bloody battles and the judgment of the survivors. He also wondered how many he would have to face in the Elemental Nations, but was confident he had more shinobi with him than any single nation could muster at once.

"Shinobi of Kamigakure, my shinobi, I am sure that at this point there is little doubt left that there is a great task ahead. You stand, right now, amid the largest gathering of military might ever seen, and I assure you from my position that it is truly glorious to behold. The building of clans amid non-stop war, the bloodshed of Unification, the Reconstruction, and of course the training, have all been stepping stones to this moment. This moment, the moment in which we shall all band together and, with a single unified fist, reach out and grasp true glory. So what, exactly, is this great and glorious task? Bringing the Elemental Nations within my dominion. Though you may believe it to be so, this is not a conquest and we are not to be conquerors. No, it is simply the continuation of Unification, bringing the entirety of the Ninja World together under unified rule. Much as these lands were locked in an era of eternal strife, so too are the Elemental Nations. It is my duty, for them as it was to you, to put a final end to this era and to bring about a new age, to burn away the rotten foundations and to rebuild them entirely.

Hold no illusions on this simple fact: this will be a great struggle. Our enemies shall be numerous and their resistance fierce. They will fight with no reservation, with no desire to do anything other than resist everything we have created. We are the representation of everything they fear. Their shinobi live and die at the will of a Daimyo who will never see them and will never know their names; our shinobi never answer to anyone who would be unwilling or unable to go out onto the battlefields themselves. While a Daimyo witnesses war from the comfort of a palace throne room amid gatherings for tea, I experience it from the front lines. Their lives within a world where a friend one day is an enemy the next, a never ceasing struggle for power and influence, while we've established a stable society lacking in such fears. Just the other day, in our glorious capital, I saw a child of Oda descent and a child of Kazehara descent playing in the streets, who prior to Unification would have never known of each other's existence. Takeda and Asakura, bitter enemies who opposed each other at every step, now serving together in this very army. True testaments to the righteousness of our cause.

Their leaders will resist the forces of Unification in much the same way as the old clan heads of these lands did. They will not be thinking about the long term good of their people, will not have any thoughts in their minds other than holding on to whatever power they already own. In the Elemental Nations, not only do they have clan heads, but they also have Kage who lead large ninja villages and rely upon the Daimyo for financial support. There are five Kage who dominate over the rest; the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, and Hokage. The militant arm of the Daimyo's will. It is these five leaders who will offer the most resistance, who will cling most tightly to the world of strife and power struggle that they have helped to create. From these opponents we can expect no honorable surrender, can expect nothing less than total resistance until they are forcibly removed from any position of authority by any means. And so they shall be removed, by any means.

I can tell now, from the looks upon many of your faces, that you have begun to understand the nature of the challenges that lie ahead. But if I did not trust my shinobi to the fullest, if I did not believe they could overcome the obstacles, would I tell you about it? Would I not just lie to you, tell you that the corrupt nature of our enemy shall make them easy to defeat? But no, I have the utmost faith in all of my shinobi to execute their duties to the fullest extent possible. And so too should my shinobi place all their faith in me, that I shall do everything within my power to ensure the success of our great mission. So long as our faith in one another holds strong, then no force can oppose us. It is important to remember that this is a necessary effort. Were we to do nothing, were we not to strike first, there is no doubt in my mind that the Eastern Nations would do everything possible to undermine and act against us. They would come to us, seeking to destroy everything that we have built and to shatter the unity that so many have sacrificed their lives to create. For this reason we shall ensure that it is us who seize the initiative.

We shall strike. We shall strike swiftly and forcefully. We shall strike, and we shall prevail. Victory awaits." He put his mask on, doing it now to get them better used to it. "Remember your orders. The final campaign has begun." There was a loud cheering from all corners of the previously silent crowd, a raucous uproar that seemed to infect the very air and to keep everyone else cheering onward. The citizens of the city pausing in their daily lives in order to identify the source of the noise, seeing a large armed force cheering on their Shikage. Naruto knew everything that his shinobi would need to hear in order to be personally invested in the venture. So long as they wanted to participate in the battles ahead, he knew that the chances of success were raised significantly. A motivated shinobi was always a powerful force; he held himself as an example. He walked leisurely down the steps and through the middle of his army. They parted to make way for him, and he went through keeping his eyes forward, toward the East.

Gaara, Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure, stood upon a minaret overlooking the city of Suna. As on many nights he found himself unable to sleep properly; a side effect, he had learned, of Shukaku being rather recklessly sealed within him. The one-tailed beast was, as always it felt, screaming rather loudly at him from inside his own mind. More calls for blood, more dissatisfaction at the current state of his host. It had been quite some time since Gaara had killed anyone; some days it became a nearly inescapable lust, but thus far his willingness to spite both his father and the demon his father had sealed in him was enough to keep everything under control. The villagers no longer feared him as they once had. He was not sure when it had changed and thought that it had certainly not been some overnight transition. When he was made Kazekage, following a rather long period wherein Suna was run by a council after the disastrous invasion of Konoha and his own embarrassing defeat, he had no doubt that the people still lived in fear of him. The largest reason he had gained the position was due to the fact that very few shinobi wanted the position and, of the others who did, he made a strong point to challenge them to duels. Of the two that accepted, none now lived. Thus, he was made Kazekage. The mere fact that he knew how much his father would hate that he had inherited the title made the boring job much more worthwhile.

There was something different about tonight, though he could not quite identify what it was. It was as if the sand itself was calling out to him and attempting to tell him something but he could not quite translate its message. It had never happened before, but he wanted to believe that perhaps it was only because of his continued lack of sleep. Surely, at some point, sleep deprivation would get to him would it not? Yet, it never had before and why should it tonight. Perhaps there was another hint in the way that Shukaku had begun to yell even louder than usual, though at this point Gaara had long learned to drown out the beast's irritating voice. Yes, there was something different in the sand tonight and as he tried to intone some message from the mere feeling of the desert, a task impossible for anyone but the owner of the Ichibi, he could not help but think that maybe it was fear.

A/N: Finally, another chapter. More gradual progression in the story that I hope you'll all enjoy. There's not really much to say this time and I do feel that's a good thing. I've done my best to adjust the paragraph length in order to increase the readability of the story; the paragraphs were unintentionally short due to a discrepancy between the program I use to type and the formatting of the site. Hopefully from now on it shall be better. As some of you may have noticed, I've also taken up writing another story (New Yellow Flash) which I do not feel detracts from writing this story since they're both very different and I usually feel like writing one or the other but not both.

As always, thank you for reading and please feel free to follow, favorite, review, or just continuing to read.