Disclaimer: I own what I own. Naruto isn't mine. So do I own it? No…
Wow…it's been awhile.
I'm glad to say, that this is the closing of Volume 1 of 'The Last Order'.
So, may the heads roll…
"One move and you're dead." said Akaba, pressing the kunai to Naruto's throat.
Naruto stared at the orange glasses wearing, dark red haired kid before saying, "I like to think I'm smart enough not to try anything when I don't' understand the situation."
"So now you're trying to be a smartass? You're not funny. Now tell me, what happened at the village!"
"Akaba, he's more likely not to tell us if you force him. Let him stand." Asked a giant that walked in the room of the cottage.
Akaba got up, letting out a something that sounded like an insult, and walked outside.
"Forgive him. He grew up in that village. So, mind telling us what happened?" asked Hiruma.
Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked apathetically at the giant with blonde hair. "…Hyuuga Regal, thought KIA missing-nin of Konoha attacked the village looking for me, since his troops pulled out after he struck me down."
Hiruma sighed, before leaning against the wall. "Akaba was raised in that village, before setting off for Oto to become a ninja. It held many of his better memories. He's seen friends die because of Oto."
Watching Hiruma, Naruto asked, "How long has Oto stood?"
That question caught him by surprise. "How long has Oto stood? We've had two kages. Dekuware Mishimaru, and Orochimaru. That puts us about…the time of Konoha's Sandaime Hokage coming to power. We've stayed hidden until about a decade ago."
Naruto sat down on a nearby chair and let the information run through his head. Oto was made during Jiji's time? That was shocking. That would mean they held a couple jutsu that were lost to the world, possibly had a couple clans for themselves, aswell as an actual village, rather what Orochimaru called 'Oto'.
"Does that mean Orochimaru's moving bases aren't Oto at all?" asked Naruto.
Hiruma let out a fake laugh. "That snake's portable bases as Oto? Hell no. After the failed Oto-Suna invasion, we booted him from position of Otokage because it was his decision to launch the attack and we lost some good ninja because of that. Yuta, Inomasu, and Kilimaru, three of Oto's 9 elites, died in that invasion. So, as of now we only have four remaining elites."
"9 elites?"
Holding up his hands, Hiruma started counting downward. " Elite 9, in charge of civilian security and protection. Elite 8, in charge of village protection. Elite 7, in charge of village income, export, and anything concerning economic welfare. Elite 6, In charge of Missions taken and handed out to ninja. Elite 5, in charge of surveillance of enemy villages. Elite 4, in charge of the hospital and medical things. Elite 3, in charge of war strategies and battle. Elite 2, is supposed to be able to do anything, and be well rounded. Elite 1, in charge of running the village and making sure that the other elites don't step out of their boundaries, in other words the Otokage. Yuta was the former fourth elite, Kilimaru was the sixth, and Inomasu was the fifth. The position of the Elites changes based on the Otokage's decision. Orochimaru's second was Kabuto. I'm the third elite, and Akaba is the seventh."
Naruto ran the information through his head, and then asked his next question, wanting to get as much information through his head. "Everyone thought that the Oto nin were ruthless, but Akaba saved that woman. Why?"
"We are ruthless, but only on the battle field. We're raised not to let our emotions show on the battle field, political or physical. We show our emotions we aren't required not to do so."
"Wait, this has been on my mind, but if you guys are from Oto and Orochimaru's people say they're from Oto, which side is lying?"
Hiruma chuckled, before answering the fellow blonde's question. "The people that follow Orochimaru are exiles of Oto and missing nin. After the failed invasion, he booted him from the position of Otokage, and anyone who wanted to follow him and went with him, were exiled. But a village without a kage or an Oyabin Jounin is basically at its weakess, but Orochimaru is the only one that knows where we are, and even then, we moved the village to a new location, so he knows the location of the previous village settlement."
"And why are you telling me this? For all you know I could be a spy."
Here, Akaba came back in, and began packing up the few things they had strewn around. Hiruma just smirked. "That's because you're never going to see another village if you don't follow us, Uzumaki Naruto, the Byakko. Your strength still hasn't returned to full, which means even one of us can crush you. Now, if you would come with us…"
"But before that, put on this blind fold, you can't know where Oto is." ordered Akaba.
Naruto simply cursed.
That was just a political battle, and Hiruma had tricked him.
Regal's forces, or what remained of them, marched back towards their base in the village near Iwa, Gira and Gekido walking on his left and right side, and about 14 men walking behind them.
"Ano, Regal-san, this has been bothering me for a while, but back in the village, you called Naruto your student. Is that true?" asked Gekido, putting his elbow on Regal's shoulder.
The Hyuuga man's stride stopped before smirking. "Yes, Naruto-kun was once my student. But when he learned of my intentions, he left and abandoned my teachings. Seven years of both our lives never to be recovered…" he stated, before his eyes seemed to go back to events in the past.
"Regal-san?"
Gekido's voice broke the Hyuuga man out of his trance, making him continue his stride, causing the march to start again.
'Seven years…seven choices made.' Regal thought.
Jiraiya sat in the Hokage's office as he looked over the reconstruction of the village. How could one man, without so much as an army, do something like this?
"Naruto…" Jiraiya's voiced trailed off, remembering the cold eyes of his student as they last parted.
What could drive him to kill a woman like Tsunade?
But that would have to wait for later; the village was still in shambles. Some of the scorch marks wouldn't leave the street, and a good portion of he village had been burned to the ground.
Naruto…Jiraiya glared outside over the horizon.
He would pay, with either his life or something close to it.
Hiruma and Akaba led a blindfolded Naruto to a village surrounded by walls, hidden deep in the forest. They had been traveling about 3 hours, and could see a man in the distance.
Hiruma immediately smiled when he saw the old man. "Iroh-jiji!"
The old man moved his gaze away from his Pai Sho game to see Hiruma waving at him. he mearly smiled, standing up, allowing the white cape on his back to follow behind him as he walked to meet them.
Akaba saw the old man walking towards them, and gave a bow of respect to he man, before moving to take off the blind fold around Naruto's eyes.
"Hiruma-kun, Akaba-kun, welcome back. What took you so long?" asked the short man.
Iroh was an old man, but looked like he was in his early sixties. His hair was in a bun at the top of his head, and a beard was on his chin. He was short, and a little chubby, but stood about 5'6. He wore a deep red obi around a black shirt that you're supposed to wear to a funeral. He wore gray, baggy, ninja pants and the white cloak he wore, that had no right sleeve, bore the kanji for '9' on it.
"You're not wearing your cloak? Why?"
At this point, Naruto's blindfold came off and he came to the sight of a giant village behind a short man. The walls stood, intimidating and strong, holding behind a village of towers and platforms, on which Naruto could make shadows out to be houses. But the thing that stood out the most was the giant, purple, tower that was shaped like a spike, giving the vision that it was piercing the sky.
When Naruto turned to face the three men, he saw Akaba and Hiruma putting on two white cloaks similar to the old man's one, except they both had both sleeves and Hiruma's had the kanji for '3' and Akaba's '7'.
"So, I take it all the elites have cloaks like that?" asked Naruto, pointing at them.
Akaba gave a curt nod, before walking into the village, signaling Naruto to follow, while Hiruma sat down with Iroh and began playing their favorite game.
Akaba led Naruto down the streets, receiving bows and 'Good morning, Akaba-dono'. All the while, Naruto noticed he didn't like all the attention.
"Is this why you don't wear the cloak outside of Oto? You don't like people bowing to you?" asked Naruto, taking glances of the villagers out o the corner of his eye.
"I've always served under another person, so I'm not used to being above another." Explained Akaba, continuing his stride towards Otokage tower.
Naruto let out a sigh, now knowing he wasn't going to get much more out of the maroon haired man. Keeping up with the elite's stride, they approached the looming spire…
Zato slowly got up, shaking th pain from his head as he took in his surroundings.
From what he could tell, he was in some kind cell, judging from the smell and dampness. Stones were around him and bars in the front of the cell
"So, you're awake, are you?" asked a raspy voice from the corner of the cell.
Snapping is head in the direction of the voice, Zato replied, "Obviously. Where are we?"
From what he could see, the figure let out a Cheshire cat grin, revealing pointed teeth as he said one word.
"Iwa."
"Iwa?"
"Un…they got me from a slave dealer who hired mercenaries to bring down a village I was staying in, near Kumo territory. Had to poison and paralyze me to bring me down about a week ago. You?"
"Kiri. The village Desutaka."
Here, an eye opened, revealing a yellow and black iris. "Oh? Desutaka? I'm surprised. Judging by your appearance, I thought you would have been killed."
"Huh?"
Pointing to his forehead, the man said another one word. "Dots."
Zato's eyes widened before asking, "They're visible?"
"Very. So, now what would a Kaguya, a thought extinct clan, member be doing alive, right under Kiri's nose?" he asked, opening his other eye.
Zato quieted, before turning away, ignoring the man's question.
If possible, the man's grin expanded. "Don't feel like talking, eh? Well, I know when not to pry. So, what's your name kid?"
"Zato."
Smirking, the man simply stated, "Aburame Shino"
Hinata sighed as she lay down in her bed in the Aburame compound. Once again, the familiar warmth and scent was absent, other than a fleeting, remaining scent on the sheets.
"Shino…where are you?" Hinata said, barely above a whisper. Shino had been sent on a mission 3 weeks ago, and was only supposed to last 2 weeks. But, he had sent a letter to the Hokage and told her he'd be another week, the target had changed their position. Then, one week later, he didn't report in.
Where was he?
It was difficult to bring Shino down. He hit hard, had a tactical mind, and thought two steps ahead of you. So, what could've brought him down?
She rolled onto her side, resting her head on her arm.
The village was rebuilding, and they needed every shinobi they could. A third of their forces were guarding the village, and the other two thirds being sent on missions to increase income.
But, in all that time, Shino had yet to report in.
Some were beginning to consider him AWOL, others, KIA.
But, Hinata, Kiba, Kurenai, and many others considered him alive.
But one question remained.
"Shino-kun, where are you? I need you, Konoha needs you…" Hinata whispered, going to sleep on Shino's 'side' of the bed.
"Aburame Shino? Of the Aburame clan of Konoha?" questioned Zato.
"Obviously."
"Aren't you a shinobi? Can't you use chakra? You can, so bust us out of here!"
Sighing, Shino held up his arm before pulling up the sleeve, revealing some kind of seal. "It's a chakra sealing tag. Can't be removed other than by the person who put it on me. That guy, the person who got me from the dealer, knew I could use chakra and threw this on me."
"So you can't use it with that thing on?"
"Nope, because if I could, my bugs would've busted me out of here a long time ago and I'd be where I'm wanted, home."
Zato sighed, going over to a wall and leaning against it, sitting down crossed legged. "So, do we have any hope of getting out of here?"
Putting on a stotic façade, Shino asked if he could use chakra.
"Yeah, why?"
"You don't have a seal on you."
"And?"
The Aburame refused the urge to smack his head. It should be plain and simple! "Use your kekkei genkai to break us out of here gozu!"
"Oh yeah…"
Pushing chakra into his arms, bones began sprouting out of his arm and formed into a drill, much like they did when he was going to kill the bandits.
Breaking down the bars, Shino walked out and took in his surroundings. They took his equipment away, so he had no idea where it was which meant his only weapon was taijutsu. "Zato-san, as of right now, my only weapon is taijutsu and I doubt you know anything other than the dances for the shikotsumayaku, am I correct?"
"I only know the dance of the clematis and the dance of seedling ferns, just so you know."
"Good enough. Come on, we need o get back to Konoha." Shino said, walking ahead, cautiously.
Naruto and Akaba walked in the giant spire that was Otokage tower as they passed the guards, who stood there with lances and shields in arms, unlike normal shinobi guards.
If Naruto could be anymore shocked, that would be an understatement. While the inside of the village was amazing and beautiful, the inside of the Otokage tower despite its outside appearance was very amazing. A garden filled with flowers was the greetment when you walked inside, and reception desks were scattered around the cicular floor, and people were bustling, and the staircase wound up the tower like a snake. Waiting benches and doors with numbers on the top had people walking in and out of them, as those that were waiting sat down. But what caught his eye the most was in the center of the garden.
Two statues were standing back to back, a hand in a simple seal sign and carved to be wearing the robes of the Otokage.
"This is amazing…Ne, Akaba, what are those doors for?" asked Naruto, taking in the sight.
"The doors lead to training rooms and the desks handle problems without the village, be it complaints or requesting a mission. The statues are our previous kages, Mishimaru-sama and Orochimaru." Akaba stated, not catching the smirk on Naruto's limps at the lack of an honorific at Orochimaru's name.
"I see…" Naruto said, before noticing the design on the underside of the stairs.
"A dragon and snake?" he asked, while looking at the intertwined beasts as they climbed the underside of the stairs.
"The dragon symbolizes power and loyalty to the people while the snake represents cunning and wisdom to lead. We add the animal that the current Otokage can summon to the design and then look at their best traits, making the summon symbolize that."
"So does that mean the Mishimaru guy could summon dragons?"
"Exactly, though the contract was long since lost." Akaba finished, and began climbing the stairs.
When they reached the next floor, Akaba told him that it was the hospital, then the floor above that were all-ready-to-go fully prepared knapsacks for ninja going on missions outside the village that were more than five days long. Then, the fourth floor was the interrogation and torture chamber, which was fortunately sound proof.
The fifth floor was an eyebrow raiser. An entire floor devoted for ninja that weren't on missions, completely equipped with pool tables, a bar, tv's, video games, and separate, sound proof rooms for…karaoke and 'other' activities, which had black tinted windows making it impossible to see through.
On the sixth floor were doors that led to sky corridors that connected the platforms to the tower, while the seventh floor was the TONE headquarters, which Akaba had to explain.
"As you know, major villages and some minor ones have special forces. Konoha, ANBU, Kiri, MIST, Kumo, BOLT, Iwa, LAND, Suna, DUNE, Orochimaru, NOTE, Kusa, LIFE, Taki, FLOW, Ame, DROP. The TONE forces are our form of the ANBU per say." Akaba said, maintaining his march up the stairs.
On the eighth floor were the Eilte's apartments, and the ninth floor was the kage's office and dynamo's office.
"This is our stop." said Akaba, walking towards the dynamo's office.
"Well since this is the top floor I'd think so." mumbled Naruto under his breath.
Knocking on the door, they heard a come in, before opening the door.
Shino crashed his fist into another grunt's face before delivering a spin kick to another's temple. Zato had run his enemy through, and pulled out an arm bone and was cutting people up. They had been wandering around the halls for hours, before they stumbled upon a couple of guards playing around with Shino's equipment. Let's just say, they didn't know kunai were so dangerous.
Now, they stood before a frightend little man, who had sent his hired mercenaries to bring down Shino and the young Kaguya, but they were brought down quickly. Now, he was balled up in the corne, whimpering like some kind of sad cockroach.
Lifting up the sleeve that was covering the seal, Shino pointed to it and said, "Remove it. Now."
The Aburame never knew people that were scared shitless could move so fast with their fingers.
"Zato-san! Go ahead for the exit, I'll finish up here." Shino said, pulling out a couple of explosive notes that he had left and attached them to the walls, before walking out of the base towards Zato, who was standing on a nearby hill as the base erupted in a ball of flame, making a cool scene behind the approaching Shino.
The man knew how to make an entrance.
Jiraiya sighed again for the umpteenth time that day. They still had no word on the Aburame heir and no one seemed to get any word on Naruto, despite his increased bounty.
Naruto. That one name brought rage to the frontlines of his mind as he thought about the things he had done. Tsunade was dead because of him and he had no idea why the blond would do it.
His train of thought was interrupted when Eidatsu and his teammates entered the room, bowing before asking the question,
"Have you figured out his motives yet, Jiraiya-sama?"
The white haired sannin looked at the kids. They had a loyalty that was hard to find anymore to Naruto, and he was surprised that they didn't run off to join him.
"None."
"You still believe that he killed her out of rage, don't you?" asked Chiba, taking a seat on the couch infront of the desk. Chakra burns were still on the walls and the whole was boarded up.
Jiraiya looked at the black haired boy before reaching into the desk and pulling out a sake bottle, leaving the question unanswered.
"Look at it form a logical stand point. Why would Naruto-sensei kill a person he saw as a mother?" suggested Meimei, looking out the window at the reconstruction of the village. It was progressing fairly smoothly, since they didn't loose any shinobi so income wasn't a problem.
"I've already tried that. I can't come up with anything." Jiraiya said, taking a swig of the alcoholic drink. "I still can't finds the reason."
This was where Eidatsu jumped into the conversation. "Look at it carefully. Tsunade-sama would have had to do something very bad to anger Naruto-sensei so badly as to lead her to her death and destruction of part of the village. From what Naruto-sensei told us, he was very protective of his friends and if any of them died and it turned out that someone was controlling their death from behind the scenes, he said he would track them to the ends of the earth and make them pay. Sayuri-san, Naruto-sensei's late wife, was killed by a supposedly Oto nin. But what if it wasn't an Oto nin." Eidatsu said, opening his eyes, which had oddly been closed during his speech. "Since she was the only one keeping him out of anyone's grasp, since all she waned to do was lead a simple life without the shinobi world haunting Naruto-sensei, they stayed in Sea country. But, in the end, we dragged him back against his will, and she ended up dying soon after. So, since Orochimaru isn't an idiot and realizes that Naruto-sensei can kill him, he would want Naruto-sensei out of the war, which means that he wanted Sayuri-san ALIVE. But Konoha needed him in the war so they could win, and Sayuri-san was preventing that. So, here is my theory." Eidatsu paused, reaching in his jacket pocket but stopped, pulling his hand back.
"A Konoha nin that was under orders killed Sayuri-san, because if it was an Oto-nin, and then tried to switch, they would be killed on the spot because of Orochimaru, who would kill them even if my theory was wrong." Eidatsu finished, folding his arms.
"You really thought that out, didn't you Eidatsu-kun?" said Meimei, taking a seat next to Chiba.
"You were once the dead last, but know your smart…what in the world did sensei do to you?" teased Chiba.
"And I remember when you were an ass and couldn't make heads or tails of a joke." Eidatsu countered.
"Touché."
Their little banter was interrupted when Jiraiya took he last swig he could from the sake bottle before chucking it in the trash. Looking at the orange haired boy, he said, "You believe Tsunade sent an assassin after Sayuri-san?" Eidatsu nodded in reply, before walking towards the door.
"Think carefully beofer you make any action, Jiraiya-dono. We would hate to see you make suck a mistake." Said Eidatsu as he walked out the door, standing o the side as to let in a taller figure followed by another.
When team seven left, the loyal sannin looked at the newcomers before shouting at the secretary to go get Hinata. "So…mind telling us where you've been, Shino?"
"Mind telling me what the hell happened?" the heir countered.
"Mind telling me if a girl named Hisaka and an old man named Kurioko came by?" asked Zato.
Blinking at the kid, Jiraiya turned back to Shino and asked, "Who's the brat?"
"Ah, Akaba-kun! Welcome! Who's our guest?" asked a man who sat behind a mahogany desk, that had papers littered on it.
"Ryuusei-sama, " Akaba bowed deeply. "This is Uzumaki-"
"Namikaze, if you would, Akaba?"
"Namikaze Naruto, a.k.a the Byakko. We, as in Hiruma and I, found him at my home village, which was in ruins. He was unconscious, and thus we brought him to a small cottage. He explained what happened to Hiruma, who in turn told him about the village. Now, we've brought him here, since we can't let others that are simple wanted men to know about our village run free. What are your orders?"
The man known as Ryuusei stroked his grey beard, laughing cheerfully as he said, "Well, well! You've caused quite the dilemma, Naruto-kun!"
"Huh?"
Smiling, Ryuusei elaborated the situation. "We are currently in a state of political collapse. Without a kage and the other four, excluding the kage position, elite positions empty, we are having problems maintaining the village!" his eyes got a gleam in them as he looked directly at Naruto. "But…your coming here might also be a blessing. You can't leave here since you know about the real Oto, and we are in need to fill the five elite positions."
An expression of understanding dawned on Naruto's face, before a glare was sent towards the elder man, who was reclining in his chair. "No! I won't become your damn kage!"
"eh? I never said that, Naruto-kun." Ryuusei said, smiling once again. "You can't leave, and Hiruma-kun and Akaba-kun together can no doubt match your power. If Iroh were to jump in as well, you'd be easily over powered, even with the Kyuubi's help. No, you won't join our ranks. Instead, you will be put under surveillance and then, once we prove to you that you can trust us and we can trust you, we'll remove the surveillance and you'll be free, except that we can't let you leave the village without an escort."
Naruto worked this through his head, before smirking in it. They forgot, he could just bust out of this village.
"And don't even think of trying to escape. I put a chakra seal on you when we recovered you from the village. Until you prove you can be trusted, the seal won't be removed." said Akaba, leading Naruto towards the door. "You'll be staying with Iroh."
"Naruto-kun, wait." Ryuusei called. Smiling, he walked over o him and placed his hand on the taller man's shoulder. "You have the traits to lead, Naruto-kun. If you chose to stay, we would be happy to let you. We aren't doing this because we hate you or anything, we are doing this as a security measure."
Walking back to his chair, he glanced at the closing door, before thinking, 'That kid would make a great kage…'
Now, he had to deal with the horror known as paper work.
"Shino-kun!"
"Hinata-chan."
Hinata ran to embrace her husband, grabbing him in a fierce hug, and quietly began crying in his hold.
Even after so long to change, a bit of her that cried still remained.
"Hina…"
Jiraiya smiled as the two left his office, leaving Zato there, him watching their backs.
"You said something about refuges from a village near Kiri, right?"asked Jiraiya, grabbing a folder.
"Huh? Oh yeah. My little sister, Kaguya Hisaka and an old man, Irigono Kurioko."
"Ah, we do have two refugees going by those names. They're staying at the hospital."
"I see, thank you, jiji!"
"Jiji? I'm not that old…" mumbled Jiraiya, watching as Zato ran to the hospital.
Regal sat in his office, watching the village that his base of operations was centered in.
'Soon…soon, I will be ready to put the last piece into effect…' he thought, as his fingers absent mindedly played with a locket, opening and closing it.
Gira sat befre the women he had saved from the attack he had led, watching as she played with her child.
Gathering his courage, he asked, "What is your name?"
Looking up at him with hazel eyes, she smiled, saying, "Ninomiya Yura."
He gave a soft smile.
Naruto walked into the apartment on the eighth floor of Otokage tower that belonged to Iroh. Giving a sigh, he walked over to the couch and flopped down, grabbing he remote and turning on the tv.
Looking over at the calendar, he gave a sigh, before saying. "Happy birthday to me…"
Shiri turned away from the stove as she heard the door open to see Eidatsu and his team, walk in. "Hey, dinners almost ready. Could you guys set the table?" she asked, turning back to her work.
Eidatsu watched her from the corner of his eye as he and Chiba set to work, Meimei going to help the Inuzuka. He and his team were staying at his apartment, he had requested a new one that could house five people, since Shiri was also staying with them.
With a sigh, he set to work, since whenever he looked at her, he got a weird feeling in his stomach. Grabbing a couple dishes, he set them on the table.
Life was confusing.
Jiraiya turned and looked out he window at the shadowed village. He was geing a sinking feeling, and couple help but look at the setting sun.
"Leaders and their followers…Konoha follows Hokage, Oto follows Orochimaru…"
Turning around, he looked at the papers on his desk, the words glaring menacingly up at him.
Position for Hokage
Status: Open
Nominees for Position: Sannin no Jiraiya
Signature: x
Grabbing a pen, he siged it, before taking a stamp and glaring at the last paper.
Wanted: Namikaze Naruto
Bounty: 300,000,000,000 yen
Reason Wanted: Wanted for death of Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato; Death of te Jonin Oyabun of Kusagakure no Sato; Destroying Kumogakurr no Sato slave camp; Killing a brigade of Iwa nin; Hiding whereabouts of five wanted missing-nin
Orders: Flee on sight
Wanted Dead
Grabbing the stamp firmly, he pressed down on the paper.
APPROVED
A/N:
I'll be working on updating PDM soon, so just wait. I'm thinking of rewriting PDM, is that okay?