Author Notes: Alright, new chapter for everyone! For this one, please go to my page first and load the music I put up. As most of you know, I do not have bad taste, and I am very good at making a story more dramatic with said musical choices.
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On the western shore of a far-off continent, a great cloud of fog could be seen in the distance, a rare occasion. It was slowly rolling towards the beaches, and all the fishermen had come in as the sunset drew closer.
"Move all landing parties to their positions," Naruto spoke quietly to the commanding officer. He focused with his Kikánugan through the mist. Nothing was waiting for them, but nonetheless he had put a jutsu on the boats long before they left. Wolves of ice would spring from them when they landed, and then all would be swift.
Kyuubi came up, ready in armor to attack. He kissed his mate softly before preparing. Nothing could be seen as fog rolled over sand and grass, hills and town alike. For the last minute of travel, the blond would let them go on the water so as to safely dock in the nearby fishing town.
Silent as the night, the main strike forces jumped from the boats and ran through the mist until they met sand. A wolf in the distance howled, and Jiraiya awoke to feel the familiar presence of three particular people. "Naruto, already?"
Beasts of moving ice dashed into the village south of the landing while Naruto, Kyuubi, and the ninja of Konoha and Kumo swiftly raced toward the northern village. "I'll go in first," the blond spoke as he zipped ahead.
The night watch was lazy as he felt the fog lull him to sleep. "Ah, no one'll attack this little place. Well, Ito has been giving me a tough time since I let those bandits get away with his catch. Still…" He felt ice roll over his back and shoulders, and the safe side of a sword blade came to rest against his neck under his chin. The reflection in the blade wasn't enough to make out who stood behind him. "Who are you?" he asked as he watched the glint of the blade.
"You will let us occupy this village until we move on," Naruto told the man. "Who is in charge here? And where do they live?"
"Like I'd tell you, bandit scum…" the man retorted.
"We're not bandits," the reply came as ice encased the man's legs. Then the fog faded, and twenty, thirty, more people came into view as they silently swept over the hills toward the village. "We're here to put an end to the crimes of the Shadow Country." The guard's eyes widened.
"Oh my God, they said you'd never attack us," he frightfully spoke, choking on every word as his life hung before him. "Kill me then."
"No, we come only to destroy your military, the government, and anyone who can seal a demon into a weapon," Naruto replied as he lowered his blade and cuffed his opponent with ice. "Now, which direction is the capital, and don't think about lying to me." The man gulped.
"It's about a hundred and ten miles east, Northeast of here," the man spoke as tears rolled down his face. "But you'll have to get through four border fortresses, a fortified citadel, and another city before you'll have a chance at attacking the capital. It won't matter though," he laughed. "Meet one of the generals, and you'll all die."
"We came prepared for their weapons, abominations which twist the souls of dearly departed and immortal demons who had family," Naruto told him sternly. "You'll be treated fairly as a P.O.W., chakra sealed, weight seals placed on your body for suppression, and we will provide you with adequate food and water."
"We've taken all of the guards in this village," Kyuubi told them as he came up to the watch post. "Where should we imprison them all?"
"Is the local jail full?" the blond asked. The man searched himself for a moment.
"I, I think three of the five cells are full, but you'd have to check. And if they're full?"
"We'll accommodate you," Naruto finished before knocking the man out. "I'm going to check out the situation in the other village. Make contact with Jiraiya if he's here." Kyuubi nodded. "Captain Yamato!" The man appeared below. "If necessary, I'll need you to construct some prisons for the nightwatchmen and any ninja Chuunin rank or lower." He then disappeared into the night.
The next village over contained nothing but innocent civilians. Naruto had his arctic wolves keep watch over them and promised them safety. When he arrived in the northern village, Jiraiya was there waiting for them. "Naruto, it's good to see you, although so soon after my letter was a bit surprising. Or did you begin preparations before that?"
"No," the blond replied. "The crimes of this country are vast and horrible though. It shouldn't have been left alone, and I won't let it be any longer. We'll rest in the woods for the night. My wolves will keep watch. Is there anything important you discovered?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the older man replied. "Their military movements have begun. Smaller groups are on the move; a band of about eighty is heading for a port-city northwest of here. Listen, Naruto, you don't have experience commanding large groups of people, and you haven't seen war like I have. You can't go in head-first on this, so let me be the tactician unless you have Shikamaru with you."
"He'll be arriving in about two weeks with Sasuke and the others. Tsunade will be watching my son in our absence. Until he arrives, we're at your disposal," Naruto told his sensei as he embraced the good friend and mentor.
"We'll move on tomorrow," the white-haired Sannin told them. "How many did you bring with you?"
"Sixty, but numbers isn't the only factor. Sasuke and I can subdue large numbers easily. We're going to make sure we can save as many as possible, but in many cases, I don't think there will be much chance," Naruto admitted. "They are all very zealous, and most won't admit defeat."
It was a long way between the advance party and the target. Teams were divvied up beforehand. Naruto, Jiraiya, and Sasuke each led a group of twenty. The enemy was holed up in a small unfortified camp in the woods. The blond used his eyes to search for traps. There were a couple, but there was enough space between them that it was inconsequential. Total elimination was unnecessary as Jiraiya had guessed. These were mostly Chuunin, probably the guards for the port in the Glass Country that Naruto had destroyed. The blond formed eleven hand signs before focusing. With the shade of the trees, it would be easier to pull off. "Water Style: Water Mist Jutsu." Then he followed with another twenty as the fog began to ease in. "Ice Style: Hanging Reflection."
When a few of the enemy woke up and began taking up posts to guard the edges of the camp, they began seeing disturbingly huge animals, magnifications caused by lenses and mirrors of ice. In panics they woke up the remaining soldiers, some of them laughing at the frightened ones, others shocked. It was a bit of a laugh. "Sasuke, would you do the honors?" Naruto asked. All of the mirrors tilted so that infinite reflections of the Uchiha could be seen. Many began fleeing only to come face to face with another reflection. Using the Sharingan, he put them all under a heavy genjutsu.
"Alright, tie them up and suppress their chakra!" Jiraiya ordered. The camp was erased from existence within the hour, and all prisoners were brought back to the prison Yamato had built. "Keep any fire users in the village jail. We're leaving seven of you here to make sure we can keep these men secure. The women of the villages have promised to provide meals, but security measures cannot be lax. Every one of them must be screened daily to make sure nothing is smuggled in. In another couple of weeks, more of the alliance's ninja will be arriving to take your place, and more prisoners will be brought back here. Soon battle will begin in earnest as we begin scoping out good places to stage operations and finding a headquarters. Stay alert, and don't do anything stupid," Jiraiya ended.
"Could we find any maps of this region?" Naruto asked. There was a single chart which showed this group's route to the shore. "It's, got something on it, chakra," he stated. Kyuubi felt the paper.
"It's protected to show you the wrong bearings and get you lost," he spoke. "Give me an hour; I'll have it unhinged. Meanwhile, got see what you can collect from the camp in terms of weaponry, journals, supplies…" Naruto was able to scope out about ten square miles around the campsite with his eyes' maximum range. There were no other ninja camps in the immediate area. He took down all the traps and took the raw materials with him. The tents would be of use when more of the alliance showed up. Cooking supplies, some personal documents, and extra weaponry was gathered up before Naruto erased all signs of the camp. Using a dimensional barrier, a jutsu he'd learned from his father, he relocated everything into the middle of the ocean. He had clones speedily carry everything back to his base camp before he summoned a pair of wings made of ice. Rising into the air, the leaves began to frost over.
He could see forever through the forest. This land was dense with trees. Predatory animals stalked the underbrush. Far to the northwest, he saw the shoreline. One solid road ran along it. Another two paths had been cut through the trees, but to follow them closely would be suicide. There was a mountain range not too far off. Most of the cities were likely beyond it. "It'll be a pain to cross those. Hm, there's a storm rolling in…better go warn the others." He flew back and dropped down in the middle of camp. Everyone looked at him for a few seconds before continuing on. Naruto found Kyuubi, Jiraiya, Yamato, Kushina, and Sasuke discussing what needed to happen within the next few days.
"We need to make sure we can remain hidden so we can survive out here and get the lay of the land, but we need to be able to be found once reinforcements land. I'd recommend sending one of us back as a guide," Jiraiya stated.
"I can send a clone," Naruto spoke up as he sat down. "We have a storm moving in from the northeast. Make sure everyone uses the rain covers for the tents. Have we unlocked the chart?" Kyuubi nodded. "We have a mountain range northeast of us. Two clearly cut roads are between us and it. The cities have to be beyond them. To our west is the shore, and a bit further north is the port. I couldn't see if a river cut through the mountains because of the storm and fog, but that should probably be our next target."
"If we cut off their trade and river transport here, we could see huge numbers swarm the place within a week. We need to bide time with this situation," Kushina told them. Kyuubi and Naruto didn't look very happy, but they nodded in agreement.
"We shouldn't just make a run for the mountains either not knowing where the checkpoints are in this country," Yamato began. "We're essentially stuck here."
"Not quite," Kyuubi cut in. "Have a few of us blend in with the locals. We can suppress our chakra and pass ourselves off as fishermen wanting to move and join a crew. Maybe we could pick up a few contacts and learn the lay of the land more." While it would be a good solution, there were two risks: detection, and loss of communication with the rest. "It may be our best option while we wait for more."
"Most of the locals already know me," spoke Jiraiya. "Even in the port you're talking about. I can probably talk you guys in. If not, I know one pretty lady who'd be glad to distract the watchmen." Smack!
"I thought I told you to avoid all foreign women Jiraiya Sensei!" Kushina interjected. She sighed before sitting back down. "Nevertheless, any resources we can gain now could only be helpful." Rain began tinkling against the water-proof tarps, so they all dismissed and ran for shelter.
"I wish I'd considered how slowly this would have to go when we brought only so many," Naruto groaned. He was going to get very antsy and anxious. Kyuubi sat next to him and hugged his wolf. "I know, patience is the only way. We need to get information on the enemy. How many of these demon weapons do they have? How many can use them?"
"We'll find out soon enough Naruto, now calm down and lie with me; mating season will be on us soon, and we need to make sure we can resist it with the help of the drugs Tsunade made," Kyuubi told him. "Get some rest, my sweet ookami." Kissing and lulling Naruto into bed, Kyuubi cuddled with him and soon fell asleep amidst the sound of rain.
Author Notes: I'm sorry for the delay between writer's block and a bunch of other stuff. The story will be picking up soon I promise.