All right, next stop Konoha and hopefully a better mission Naruto thought to himself. So far this mission was one of the worst he had ever been on, ranking right up there with finding that damn cat. A great ninja like him being reduced to the status of a pack mule. It was so humiliating being used to help a little kid move, no wonder Kakashi told them to pack light.
It didn't help his mood that they were already running late, they were supposed to have left Kemurigakure yesterday, but they had been obligated to stay for an impromptu going away party for Kado. It had not been fun.
This village's leader may be a jerk but a lot of people treated Kado as an adopted son. There had been a few tearful goodbyes and many gifts. Naruto hadn't had so many angry glares directed at him since he had done his little prank with the Hokage monument. This time though he would have preferred to melt into the ground than bask in the unwanted attention.
To add to their delay in leaving, Kado had asked if he could say goodbye to his mother. Watching him standing over an empty grave morning someone who never existed had been difficult to watch. It wasn't like he had the heart to tell him the truth though. Inevitably he had thought about his own mother, someone he hadn't thought about since he had moved out of the orphanage.
Had she been like Kado's and simply hadn't wanted anything to do with him or was it because of the damn Fox. It was probably better to believe as Kado did that she had simply died. Of course, that put his father in the same position. Now he remembered why he stopped playing the guessing game about his parents, there was never a good outcome. Fed up with these depressing thoughts he ran ahead of the group, trying to get himself excited about training and new missions.
"Kado, Kado!" The high-pitched shout from a young child came from behind them. Turning Naruto saw two girls coming towards them one looked to be about seven while the other one was probably nine. The small one had been the one shouting but as the group turned around she yelped and hid behind the tallest girl. The girl who was being used as a shield rolled her eyes. Pulling the girl out from behind her, she said "listen she wanted to give Kado a gift last night but with all the commotion" trailing off, "Kado take the damn present." She said while pushing the little girl foreword.
The little girl's behavior, the way she was holding out her present and her downcast look oddly reminded him of Hinata for some reason. He guessed some girls were just weird like that, of course he thought that was better than being a bit scary looking like the other one.
Tentatively holding out a small wrapped package for Kado to accept, she said hesitantly "I picked it out but Hoshiko help me pay for it. I just wanted something to say thanks for all the times you've help me out."
"Umm thanks, so this is from both of you?"
"Don't flatter yourself, I lent her the money. Come on we are going to be late getting back to class." The older girl grabbed the younger one by the wrist and started pulling her back to the village. She suddenly stopped, turned around, walked back to where Kado was still standing and quickly punched an unprepared Kado in the stomach. "That's my gift to you, you little thief."
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Naruto wasn't a stranger to being picked on but the suddenness had caught him off guard. He glared at the retreating girls the older pulling the younger along, who was casting a concerned look over her shoulder until they went through the gates that led to Kemurigakure.
"That was Hoshiko" Kado wheezed out still bent over in pain. "She's probably the only person I am not going to miss." As he said that he was looking over at Kemurigakure with tears in his eyes either from his emotions or pain Naruto couldn't be sure.
It was nothing more then a cluster of buildings surrounded by a defensive wall on three sides, adjacent to a lake. Still, it was his only home he'd ever known, it would be like him being told he couldn't return to Konoha Naruto thought. Trying to head off the tears he knew were coming from the kid, he asked the first question that came to mind. "What did they, I mean she get you?"
He slowly unwrapped his gift and ignoring Naruto's question, ran over to where Sasuke was standing holding up his gift. "Hey look it's a wrist holster for kunai. See you press against this thing and a kunai falls right into your Huh it's a bit big for me so you can have it, if you want."
"No, come on we're wasting time"
"Ok" Kado said rather cheerfully.
As annoying as it was getting the brush-off from the kid, he could sympathize with him, he remembered trying bribery to get people's attention when he was younger, and it never worked. He didn't know why Sasuke was acting like such a jerk to him but he was going to have a talk with Sasuke. It was the least he could do for Kado taking him away from his home and the people who cared about him.
"Hey look there's Hagi!" Kado shouted pointing to the little town team seven had napped outside of yesterday. "They have a great Korean barbecue it's almost lunch time so why don't we stop there."
Not even taking his eye off of his book Kakashi said, "why not."
"But we just started walking, if we stop now it's going to take us forever to get back to Konoha at this pace." Naruto's protest went ignored a bit dejected he followed the group into town.
Upon entering the town Naruto realized that the atmosphere had changed from yesterday. Growing up he had been use to people talking behind his back, he used to think it was because of his pranks until he learned about the Kyuubi, but that didn't explain why it was happening here. Yesterday they had passed through fairly unnoticed, being this close to a hidden village ninjas were probably a fairly common sight. The shop owners seemed to be the only ones to notice them yesterday.
Today everyone seemed to be staring at them but when Naruto would look back they'd suddenly averted their eyes. It was a bit too familiar to Naruto who remembered people treating him like this before. It had been creepy when he was a child but now it was just strange. Kakashi seemed to be the only other one to notice the change in the town. "Sensei what's up with them?"
Naruto watched as his sensei single eye roamed the surrounding buildings seemingly searching for something. Ordering them to stay put for a moment, he walked down a nearby alley and pausing at a poster. Removing his Hitai-ate and stared at it for a moment before turning back to them and saying. "It seems a family of three drowned on a nearby river when their boat capsized. This accident is being blamed on some ninjas were chasing another boat."
"What! Do they think we did that or something?" It really ticked Naruto off when he was blamed for things he had no control over.
"Umm was this family's name Sonoda?" Kado asked hesitantly.
"How did you know that?" Kakashi's tone was sharper than the situation warranted.
Crumbling under their combined gazes he started to ramble "Well you see sometimes our class would be told about a recent mission you no real experience and stuff. Well the Sonoda were famous counterfeiters and well they told us how they followed the money back to where it was being made and when they try to capture them they fled on this little boat you see and when they try to capture them in capsized and since it was night time they all kind of drowned but no one else got hurt." He paused here to take a breath "so I think it's all kind of a mistake."
Etsushi slowly followed one of his lord's servants across a veranda, which led to one of his many gardens. The squeak of the Nightingale floor beneath him brought back fond memories of his childhood. His former Lord had been fond of such floors believing they provided some measure of security. As a child he and his lord's children had made a game of trying to cross such floors without making any noise something only he had succeeded at.
Technically, he was here to participate in a Moon viewing party which was supposed to be a relaxing evening of drinking sake and writing poetry. It was all mere subterfuge, for himself and his lord to hold a private meeting. Walking across a grass covered bridge he waited at a respectful distance until his Lord gestured for him to join him.
"Tell me Etsushi you are quite talented at designing gardens, what do you think of this one?"
Etsushi had never been to this particular garden before, so taking a few moments to observe his surroundings he found little to complement on. The full moon provided ample light to view the garden. It consisted of several large islands and numerous small ones, randomly placed but there was no meaning behind their positions and also an excessive use of large rocks. The plants which were clearly not native to this region provided an exotic quality to them. Reluctantly he said, "I can't say I particularly care for its layout."
The laughter from his Lord put him at ease. "A retainer that always speaks the truth is worth a hundred times his pay, Sake?"
Taking the offered choko he quickly downs the contents of the small saucer cup, as little as he cared for the drink it would have been rude not to accept.
"Are the men accepting the new weapons?" His Lord asked as he refilled his choko.
"They prefer their swords but they acknowledge their useful tools. The change in tactics is a bit harder for them to accept. I don't really blame them fighting in groups lessons the opportunity to distinguish themselves but their loyalty to you will carry them through. There is a more grave matter I wish to discuss with you."
"You mean the meeting between Ekei and my son. I can't do anything about it" shaking his head "politics" his Lord spat the word out in contempt. "Their concerns are legitimate, by moving most of their fighting force here to support us; they leave their homeland largely undefended. If I ordered my son to withdraw his support the monks could very well withdraw from the Council. With the loss of their intelligence network we would have to delay our plans and we're running out of time as it is."
Etsushi considered his Lord's words as he nursed his cup of sake. He never understood politics but he did understand what his Lord meant about time. Of the five great ninja villages' only one, Iwagakure could be considered at full strength. Kirigakure were still recovering from their civil war and the resulting misfortunate events, while Kumogakure had yet to fully recover from their disastrous war with Konoha. Leaving only Sunagakure and Konohagakure themselves, the former had been plagued by financial problems and had turned on their ally Konoha. While the exact damage done to Konoha was unclear, the monk's intelligence stated they had been significantly weakened.
The hidden villages may never be this weak again in his lifetime and if they had to piece together their own intelligence network that might give them enough time to regain their strength. Not to mention their now obvious producing and training with forbidden weapons. They can only expect to get away with that for another few more months at the most.
"My Lord isn't that all the more reason not to risk so many of our cannons on what is nothing more than a large-scale raid?"
His Lord took several drinks before answering, "As I've explained I have to let this plan go through. I will vote for it but only so I'll be in a position to limit the possible losses. I need you to do two things. First I know my son, he'll want to go on this raid, find something for him to do instead. The second thing is" he paused to take another drink "Ekei is trying to take control of the Council from me and it's not on the orders of the Abbot. It would be best for all, if he died on this raid of his."
His stomach knotted up and he almost dropped his choko in shock. Ekei may be causing a lot of trouble but he was still an ally and it was disgraceful to turn on them. That would be too much like a ninja as recent events showed. However, if Ekei was trying to obtain power on his own, than he really wasn't an ally. "How did you know about their meeting?"
While refilling both of their choko his Lord said, "Geishas are like servants, men often talk in front of them as if they're not there. This is especially true when they don't respect a woman's intelligence. It is particularly foolish when it comes to my son considering his sister has done more to help us so far then he has."
A rare smile crossed both of their faces at the mention of his daughter. Etsushi had only met her a few times but held her in high regard. Through an arranged marriage with the Land of Wind daimyo she had been able to cut Sunagakure's budget. While a bit underhanded for Etsushi's taste he could not deny its effectiveness. Even he had not thought that Sunagakure would turn on their ally but he supposed there was no honor among murderers. He silently toasted the lazy daimyo who had unknowingly handed them their first victory.
He had to admire Lord Tenzo dedication. He had been planning the downfall of the ninjas for decades if mostly only in theory. Compared to that Etsushi's few years of service on the Council was hardly worth a footnote in the history books.
"Thank you for your time, unless you would really like to hear some of my poetry I will take my leave."
"Etsushi you are a fine samurai and an excellent retainer but you are quite possibly the worst poet to ever live." His Lord's laughter took any bite out of the words as Etsushi bowed and departed.
Riding home he recognized that he had drunk too much to try to solve any of his problems tonight, always had been a light weight. Entering his small mansion within the castles walls he headed towards the room where he kept the small shrine to his parents. As he lit incense for his father he found it hard to believe that he had died over two decades ago. There had been so many times where he wished that he could have had just one more conversation with his father.
Etsushi had grown up in the Land of the Claw it was a wealthy nation compared to its neighbors but poor compared to others. This area of the continent almost seemed to be forgotten by time. Tradition ruled here, son's followed their father's trade and marriages were arranged. His father had been a samurai and that's what he was raised to be. Until his father retired from his position in the government Etsushi would spend his career hunting down bandits and the occasional minor border dispute which rarely involved more than a dozen men.
For generations his family had fatefully served the Land of the Claw's daimyo's and Etsushi intended to do the same. From an early age he was considered gifted. By the age of twenty he was considered a master of such things as Jujutsu, archery and swordsmanship. Unlike many others who only concentrated on the physical side of being a samurai he also practiced the gentler arts. He was an accomplished artist and had long since taken over the care of his father's garden. One of the things he did fail at was poetry he was completely inept at it.
However, between his father's clout and his own reputation, he was frequently approached for arranged marriages but between his looks and his personality most were scared off. That was until he meant Shina. She had been a year younger than him and not classically beautiful but they had shared much in common. As a result of her being raised mostly by her father and several older brothers she had picked up many of their interests. She was a fair artist but an excellent archer, Etsushi had finally met a woman he could connect to on multiple levels. The marriage was quickly arranged and was set to be held in the fall. Unfortunately, during the summer of his twenty-first year a small war broke out.
It was with the Land of the Sea, they had moved a large force of samurais onto a heavily wooded but deserted peninsula. Since lumber was a key export of their country this could not be tolerated. When Etsushi heard that negotiations had failed, he was overwhelmed with joy. A samurai had few chances to advance their career outside of war. Up until then his highest aspiration had been inheriting his father's job, a mid-level but trusted position in the government. If he could distinguish himself in this battle then he would be rewarded. There were already rumors of a permanent force being stationed on the peninsula to discourage any other encroachments. Perhaps he would be rewarded with command of that fort or even better a bodyguard to the daimyo. He had always just been content to serve his Lord before but Shina had changed all of that, he wanted her to have the best life she could.
There were a little over three hundred samurais under the daimyo's command, two hundred and fifty of these would be participating in the attack, and the rest would be left as guards. The plan was simple but solid. The enemy had chosen a good spot for their encampment, it was only easily approached from one direction but that didn't mean that it couldn't be approached from other directions. The men were divided into two groups. The larger force was to make a frontal attack on the position just after the sunset, this was a mere diversion. After most of the enemy forces were engaged with the frontal attack a smaller group was to attack from the rear. Caught between the two forces the enemy would either surrender or die.
His father was to be in the first group and he was to be in the second. He could still remember the smell of the small fishing boats they had commandeered and even worse the rocking of the smaller rowboats they had used to get close enough to the cliff so they could climb. It was only a ten foot cliff but it was sheer. He had been one of the men to volunteer to climb the cliff with a rope ladder on his back so the others could climb quicker.
After they all had climbed to the top they proceeded in silence to head to the forests in a loose group. Now that he knew his father was in danger, Etsushi found himself worrying more about him than any glory he could achieve. He would learn later that he was already under a powerful Genjutsu. They were slowly being separated into groups of five and six men and then they were ambushed.
Etsushi only warning was the sound of a thud from behind him. He turned expecting to see someone who had tripped and saw instead a crouch figure clad in black. The half second it took for him to register was enough time for both of his legs to be broken in one single fluid move. His shout was enough to alert the other men but it was too late. The ninja moved swiftly, incapacitating each one of them. The entire fight had lasted less than a minute and only one of them had been able to draw their sword, for the little good it did him. None of them were in any condition to move on to the target and for the rest of the night they were left wondering what happened to the rest of the men.
The next morning several of the enemy came with medical supplies to collect them, the battle and war had been lost. From what he was able to piece together the entire situation had been a setup from the beginning. Apparently, the Land of the Sea had entered into a contract with the Mist to annex the peninsula so their shipbuilders could buy the wood at a cheaper price.
However, the plan itself had been devised by the Mist itself. As Claw's army had been tied up with a diversion on the peninsula the real attack had been launched on the daimyo's castle. A force of a mere ten ninjas had been enough to take the undermanned castle and force the daimyo to sign a humiliating peace treaty at kunai point. Not only was the ownership of the peninsula signed away they were forced to pay a huge indemnity, most of which was going to go to pay off the Mist but the worst was yet to come.
A week after their humiliating defeat their daimyo announced, that over two hundred of his samurai were to be relieved of their duties. Only those with positions in the government and enough man to maintain the castle were spared from the purge. Many of their former duties that they had performed were now to be outsourced to the Mist. Apparently, the fact that very few samurai had not been killed by the ninja that night had neither been coincidence or act of mercy. Instead it had been a way to show their superiority over the traditional samurai.
This was unacceptable to even the men who were spared like Etsushi's father. These men were raised as traditional samurai raised to respect their Lord and at a moments notice be prepared to lay down their lives on his order. In exchange for their absolute loyalty they were supposed to be rewarded not cast aside on a whim. There was only one option a letter of rebuke.
A letter of rebuke was the only way a retainer could denounce an action by his Lord. There were countless stories of the effect of such letters could have on a daimyo. For in each case the writer had to pay with his life by committing Seppuku a sacrifice that cannot be overlooked. It was a last desperate attempt to save their way of life and his father was in the thick of it.
His father's decision was never discussed openly but it was clear his mother was against it. As for Etsushi he saw it as his father's last lesson to him. On the day his father was to delivered the letter he said to him "take care of your mother and if my twenty-five years of service means nothing to our daimyo. Then you should leave his service and find a worthy lord." Those were his father's last words to him and the last he saw of him.
Days passed and nothing happened there was not even any acknowledgement that his father and a half dozen other men had sacrificed themselves in an attempt to keep their daimyo's honor. After a week with no response he left his daimyo service. With no prospects his marriage with Shina was canceled her father refused to let her marry a Ronin master less samurai.
It took months for his legs to heel and by that time they improvised. For the first time in his life he left the country he was born in hoping to find a new lord to serve. He knew it would not be easy but he underestimated how hard it would be. He was a samurai from an insignificant country and he found his talents were not needed by other daimyo's. Most only used samurai for decorative pieces and none wanted a retainer.
If it was not for his mother, he would've rejected this cold world and become a hermit. The world was like a winter storm, beautiful to look at but cold and unforgiving. The values he was raised to have loyalty, honor and even morality seemed to be lacking from this latter time. If he had been born in a different time he would not have fallen so low to become a mercenary to support his mother.
The only thing that had made it bearable was the opportunity it gave him to fight and study ninjas. It started as an attempt to justify all of his training, that everything he had done was not meaningless and he had just been unprepared to fight them that night. Genjutsu was the hardest thing to get around but eventually he learned ways.
He became famous as a cheaper alternative to hiring a ninja and probably could have become wealthy if he wasn't so selective about the jobs he would take. First there had to be a high probability of actually fighting a ninja and the other was a need to have the moral high ground. That last part was very important to him it was the only thing that separates him from being the same as a ninja.
What had begun as a grudge against the Mist ninja had slowly grown into a hatred for all ninja. They were held in too high of regard for being mercenaries. Assassinations, murders, intimidation and even theft could all be had for a price. Perhaps he could have even accepted this, if they had had a code of conduct among themselves or at least loyalty to something other than their own interests. Even their hidden villages held a loose grip on them judging by the amount of missing Nin's there were.
For ten years he lived like that and then he was offered a chance to become a retainer to a country he had only heard of. Remembering his father's last words to him he took it. He sent for his mother who spent the last years of her life in comfort and as for Shina he inquired but she had moved on.
A year later the Council was started. Being the only retainer to Lord Mitsuhide Tenzo, which could claim to have killed at least one ninja from each of the major powers his opinion was highly valued. He'd never regretted his decision but some nights he wondered if his father would approve of what he was doing and it bothered him he couldn't answer that question.