Author's Notes: Many religious words in this chapter! Kannushi = Shinto Priest. Shintai = Divine Body. Haraegushi = mop-like, paper-tasseled wand used in purification rituals. Shaku = Ritual baton.
Author's Ramblings: I'm not dead yet! Though I feel like I am... Anyway, I know it's been a long time coming, but here it is. The Final Chapter!
Disclaimer: I will give you a half-nelson if you actually think I own Naruto.
I'll give myself a full-nelson if I do own it and was just lying to you all this time!
The first sign that the village was under attack came just before dawn. Having eluded the village's early warning systems, and resting in the wilderness beyond visual range of the city, the attacking army mobilised at the first sign of the sky lightening and rushed towards the settlement in the valley between the mountains upon which Kumogakure was built. It was a comparatively small place that had built up over time as aspiring merchants and younger siblings of restaurants inheritors looked to the shinobi in the mountains to ply their trade. Kumogakure, having limited recreational facilities of its own, had reluctantly permitted the epiphyte settlement to remain as it had better quality foodstuffs (appropriate for a special occasion) and had, over time, attracted some skilled craft and tradesman.
That same, tiny, ever-buzzing hotbed of activity was the first target of the mixed-forces army assaulting Kuogakure.
Given its proximity to Kumogakure, it was only right that shinobi be sent down to maintain order in the satellite town. It was these unsuspecting sentinels that were the first to die. Hoisted into the trees by near-invisible wire nooses, quietly brought down in alleyways, or killed with fast-acting poison before they had realised they had been hit- they had all been silenced within ten minutes of the Kirigakure shinobi arriving.
So it was that the residents of the town woke and spent the first half hour of what they expected to be a normal day opening shops, watering gardens and stoking forges before they realised their situation. The mercenaries were the first to break cover, charging out of the forest to the west and bellowing undisciplined war cries. They streamed through the town, killing and pocketing small items of value. Most of the common folk died, not understanding how this could have happened, and confused as to why the Kaminari Imperial Army, in-step in their square formations, followed the mercenaries into the town, belting out a crash of unified footfalls and clacking, polished armour. The lead unit of this second force was much more thorough than the mercenaries, men systematically peeling away from formation, checking every building for survivors and dealing with any that were found, all without slowing their steady advance.
The few terrified peasants that escaped to the east were quickly and efficiently halted by the waiting Kirigakure shinobi.
Enrai, the seat of government in Kaminari no Kuni.
Enrai, the heart of trade and commercial wealth.
Enrai, the home of political intrigue.
No matter how you planned it, it was difficult to get from one part of the country to another without at least going near the place. Kumogakure was about as far away from where Kimimaro lived as you could get without really going out of your way into the wilderness, and while Shikamaru had plotted a route through the country that circumvented all large population centres, totally avoiding Enrai would easy add another day to the journey.
To be fair, they did only come within thirty kilometres of the city, and there was no particular reason that made it any more dangerous than a small town. The only real worry was that, if Daruma somehow escaped, he'd have a much easier time of getting away if he had a city full of people to conceal himself in.
Daruma himself had been oddly quiet and cooperative (in his silent, malevolent way), which suggested that he was waiting for just such a chance. They were going to have to keep an extra close eye on the Kirigakure shinobi while in the vicinity of Enrai.
The path they were on, meandering through the scattered houses that speckled surrounding countryside, was surprisingly choked with traffic. Grinning merchant led caravans of goods toward and away from Enrai, occasionally blocking their progress through sheer weight of numbers.
Naruto was leading the way, attempting to negotiate his way through a train of pack mules which had stalled halfway across their path. Merchants and travellers on either side of the animals grumbled and jostled each other cheerfully. The occasional shouted joke sent ripples of laughter through the mass.
While it was very different to Konoha, Ino couldn't help but feel like she was back home, helping her mother at the flower shop. The energy and good humour was refreshing, even after reuniting with some of her friends unexpectedly. The stress of the last few weeks had been weighing on her heavily, without her fully realising just how much.
Glancing to her left, Kimimaro was having trouble keeping the discomfort off his face, even through his mild-looking, straw-haired, middle-aged disguise. He was smiling, and attempting to gently jostle some rowdy silk traders, but his heart clearly wasn't in it. She smiled to herself. He really was awkward in social situations.
Feeling playful, she stepped closer and slipped her arms around one of his. He tensed in surprise, giving her a questioning look. She smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder.
'Don't worry, dear. We'll make it there in time.' Despite her fairly unassuming disguise, the nearby merchants (eager for anything that would occupy their attention while they waited for the road to clear) still complimented Kimimaro on his excellent luck in marriage. A particularly animated, ancient old man cackled something about how it would be nice to be young again before offering Kimimaro a discount on his highly varied wares.
The stir eventually calmed down, and a hush settled over the crowd. Necks craned to see what was happening further down the road, and a fair few people seemed to be hoisting their loads as high as possible and stepping carefully into the rice paddies on either side of the road. The reason became obvious quickly enough, as more and more people cleared the road.
Moving carefully, step-for-step, a procession of Kannushi were making their way down the road at what could be described as a "deliberate" pace. Ino could guess what the procession was for just by looking at it.
Two of the priests walked ahead of the rest, swinging Haraegushi from side to side in carefully measured arcs, purifying the ground for the superior Kannushi. He himself rode a horse (which also carried the ceremonial table) and was entrusted with carrying the Shintai. His composed, determined expression suggested that a god had already been invited to reside in the small wooden statue, and all of the merchants were bowing respectfully to it and the Kannushi. Behind him came the rest of the priests, holding their Shaku before them solemnly.
Everyone around them were now making to move out of the way and stand in the shin-deep mud to allow the Kannushi to pass, but for some reason Kimimaro had frozen. Even when Naruto and the others were shuffling off the path, Kimimaro just stood there, staring at the superior Kannushi.
The superior, noticing the attention he was receiving and that there was someone directly in his way, gave them what could only be described as a "stern" look. Ino nudged him in the ribs to get him moving, drawing curious looks from a few of the merchants.
Slowly, and with grace that took great patience and concentration, the Kannushi moved off down the path, Kimimaro never looking away from the superior until they were well out of sight. Then, as if on some invisible prompt, the crowd erupted into chatter and movement once again.
And only then, when the absolute silence was broken suddenly, did Daruma decide to put his plan into motion. They never did find out where he had been hiding the smoke bomb, or how he had managed to set it off while completely tied up, but in the ensuing confusion he escaped his bindings, bore Chouji to the ground in an over-balanced stranglehold, let go and pounced into the mass of activity.
Kimimaro, Ino, Sakura and Naruto were moments behind him.
'Squad three, five, seven...fire!' In near-perfect unison, the three imperial Kaminari army squads let fly an expanding wave of flaming arrows at the lower sections of Kumogakure. The oil-soaked wadding of some of the arrows snuffed out mid-flight, but enough hit surely and timber started to burn.
'Squad four, six, eight, exchange!' Squads four, six and eight immediately stepped forward, switching position with their counterparts and touching their own arrows to the braziers set up before each squad. 'Fire!' A second wave of fire swept the underside of the village structure. Flames were starting to lick outwards from the arrows, and there were shouts of alarm from above as the shinobi realised what they were doing.
Their response was quick, and decidedly direct. A light rain of mixed projectiles began falling from the village, thrown with uncanny accuracy at the firing position of the archers. A few of the weapons punctured ad caught in their raised, umbrella-shaped hats, but the majority of the weapons were intercepted well before they reached them. Several throw-weapon specialists from Kirigakure had lingered in the shadows, ready for that exact moment. Deflecting the falling weapons with deadly-accurate shuriken, they were able to effectively protect the stationary units. But they could only do so for as long as they had sufficient weapons, which they were rapidly using. The army commander ordered the six squads into cover quickly. They had completed their objective.
Meanwhile, further up the slope, the main force of the army was slowly following the frenetic advance of the mercenaries, still riding the wave of adrenaline that had been given to them by the Kirigakure shinobi in the form of Soldier Pills. Watching the rag-tag mob scramble their way up the steep set of stairs was every bit as disturbing to watch as it was disgraceful.
Kai Take watched all of this with a growing sense of disbelief and horror, wondering all the while how long it would be before the "duty officers" decided they didn't need him to be alive any more. It was a thought that distressed him more and more as time went by. Unfortunately, time hadn't seen fit to give him any stunning ideas about how to escape his predicament.
The fatigue of being continually connected to the antenna for sixteen hours was really starting to get to him, but at the same time the sheer brutality of what had happened to the town below the village was keeping him wide awake. It was a very unpleasant feeling.
At length, a distracting movement at the edge of his visual range made him adjust his focus. One of the other observers, Ennai, he guessed, was flicking his focus back and forth, getting slightly faster with each pass. It was an annoying trick he did sometimes towards the end of a shift, and Kai understood the significance. When Ennai was satisfied that the non-traitor Observers were all watching, he started slowly, painstakingly writing a message to them using his visual range like a pen on the canvas of the land.
Simply, it said; "Disconnecting... In five... Four..." Oh no. He was going to disconnect and try to cause some kind of trouble before the "duty officers" could kill him.
"Three..." And if he knew the other observers, they would do it too.
"Two..." And, damn him for it, Kai would do it too.
"One..." Because he loved his village- because they loved their village.
Kai pulled his mind away as fast as was possible. The nausea hit him like a waterfall, and he immediately fell to one side. Desperately trying to force his way through the dizziness, he rolled onto his feet and tried to stand, for all he was worth.
Surprisingly, nobody had killed him yet. In fact, all he could hear was the shuffling and groaning of the other Observers trying to get their wits about them. Kai managed to get enough use back into his eyes to see that the Observers were now alone in the room.
The last three Observers, excluded from the disconnection plan, but still noticing the sudden disconnection of the other five, had also disconnected and had remained seated, patiently waiting for their senses to recover.
'What the hell?' Maybe there was someone in the room with them after all. Kai looked around wildly, before concluding that the voice had come from the entrance. 'What's going on here!' the voice urged. 'The village is under attack, what's been happening in here!'
Kai tried to explain as quickly as he could, but couldn't shake the feeling that the disappearance of the six "duty officers" was not a good thing at all.
Author's Ramblings (again): HAHA! Not Actually The Last Chapter. I was just kidding. I estimate 2-3 more chapters before the story comes to a close.
