Naruto the Elemental Star
Chapter 25: Troubled Souls and Dunes
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and there will be no Bolt or redeemed Sasuke in this story, that is a promise.
Beta Rader: Albert
Last Update: 10/05/2018
Scene I
Early in the morning at Konoha's General Hospital, a purple-haired woman smiled with understanding from her bed as she looked at her daughter's green eyes, as she related what had happened since her mother had entered the hospital after the Sand and Sound invasion on Konoha. "The entire criminal underworld is in chaos as whole criminal organizations are now splintering to fight with each other for control. I suspect that soon my team will be deployed in a search and destroy mission to wipe out these criminals," Revan explained to her mother, who had finally awakened from her comma.
"That's interesting dear, and later on I probably will have more questions about the criminal underworld going berserk, but right now I am more interested in hearing more about you dating Night Wolf. He is quite handsome after all," Roth smiled as Revan sputtered some nonsense in embarrassment before she regained her cold control.
"Mother please, every country is fighting to regain control over this criminal based civil war, and you're worried about me dating Night Wolf?"
"What can I say, a mother has priorities and having a few grandbabies to dote on is a higher priority than criminals killing each other," Amell Roth said as Revan gave her a small smile.
A smile Revan lost as she asked her mother, "So how long will you be here before they let you out?"
"Very soon but I am told that my shinobi career is over. Though I guess, I should be thankful that I didn't die. It would have been a sure thing if Raven Hunter didn't get me to safety," Amell Roth admitted as her daughter scowled remembering how close her mother had been to death.
"Diablo should pay for his crimes," Revan snarled as Amell gazed up at her daughter with a startled look and was about to say something when Night Wolf came barging in with Bastila.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Revan, Ms. Amell, but the Hokage requested our presence for a high priority mission. It can't be delayed," Night Wolf stated as Amell looked up at her daughter.
"We will talk later my dear, right now you have a mission to complete, and you best get to it."
"Yes mother," Revan said before she gave her mother a big hug. "You take care of yourself mother."
"You take care and watch out for your sister. Kami knows what she is up to sometimes due to being a scatterbrained. Or that is what I assume she is for forgetting to visit me once in a while," Amell laughed as Bastila groaned.
"Mother, please I am a grown woman, I don't need to be looked after," Bastila complained while her mother chuckled.
"I know honey, but no matter how old you are, you will always be my little girl," Amell smiled before giggling. "But I will take it under consideration if you visit me more often."
Bastila sighed in response, "I'll try mother, but with how things are, I am not likely to have much free time. My ability in Battle Meditation and our current situation ensures that I must be in constant readiness if Fire Country is invaded. Along with being assigned to high-risk missions like the one of defending that fat royal prince and his bratty son in Moon Country, I have almost no personal time to visit you." Bastila then sighs as she gave a small smile, "But I'll try to visit more none the less."
Amell gave a tired smile and hugged her youngest daughter, "Take care and be careful, all of you."
Team 6, aka Team Spirit, nodded as they went out the door. Raven Hunter settled into a chair and sat next to Amell. A worried look under his dark visage broke as he asked, "Are you alright?"
"I will be, eventually," Amell stated as she gave a small smile. "I do worry about Revan. She never takes betrayal well since the Uchiha attempted a coup. With Sand Force's betrayal and me nearly getting killed because of it, I'm sure it just makes it worse."
"You think it will be a problem?" Raven Hunter asked.
"I hope not, but you never know until it's too late," Amell admitted to herself as she hopped whatever the mission was that her daughter could handle it both physically and physiologically.
Scene II
At the Hokage's tower, pure chaos ruled as men and woman of every rank scrambled for control. Mission requests were at an all-time high, calling for any form of protection that the village could muster. Some of them had to be turned down due to not only the sheer volume of mission requests but also because the Assembly of Lords and Representatives had ordered Leaf Forces to assist Fire Country's army in restoring order. Whole villages had been put under martial law since this mess started, leaving outside forces alone to their own devices. It was the start of a terrible mess, as the Hokage herself could not resist taking a big slug of Saki, much to her black-haired assistant's dismay.
"Lady Tsunade! Now is not the time to drink!" Shizune exclaimed as the new, busty Hokage turned to stare at her assistant with bloodshot eyes.
"Now is the perfect time to drink," Tsunade growled as the stress of the job burned through the alcohol faster than she could drink it. "I've gotten reports of pure chaos in not only Fire Country, but in every country in the Elemental Countries. I've gotten requests for help from countries I didn't know even existed until their request for help. I got a list of over a hundred unsolved murders that happened this week alone, along with a list of ninjas, samurais, and soldiers killed in the line of duty that I have to hold a funeral for after end this mess. I had to send every available ninja and then some to restore order, and the only thing to show for it is reported stating that it's only expanding. So yes, now Is The Time To Drink For If I Am Going TO BE Plastered, IT Might AS Well BE Because OF THE Alcohol AND NOT Because I AM SO TIRED THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER MY OWN NAME!" Tsunade yelled and slammed her fist so hard it not only caused Shizune to jump, but it also cracked the surface of the reinforced desk made as hard as metal thanks to seals plastered on it.
Tsunade sighed as she used her Mokuton (Tree Release) bloodline to repair the desk before she looked up to her assistant, "Are Team Vixen and Spirit here yet?"
"Yes Sensei, they are just waiting outside of the door," Shizune answered with a sharp nod.
Tsunade regained the regal cool that had been drilled into her as a child before she signaled Shizune to bring them in, "Send them in."
Shizune nodded as she opened the door to allow Team Vixen and Team Spirit with Jōnin Inferno Pyro leading them in, "Lady Hokage, you called for us."
"Yes, please gather around, I've got an important mission for all of you," Tsunade motioned them all in.
"You okay, gran-Lady Tsunade Senju, you look tense?" Naruto asked after a quick correction when she noticed Tsunade's evil glare.
Tsunade continued to glare but turned to a more comedic glare when she stated, "Let's say there is a reason Sarutobi was quick to dump this job on someone else that was competent enough to take it. Are you still interested in the job?"
"Not right now," Naruto quickly answered. "For I think I am too young for such a stressful job even with Hinata and my team backing me up. Maybe I would in a few years after I had a few hundred more missions under my belt."
"Are you sending us out for another search and destroy mission?" Tukiko asked. "This would make the fifth one in these last three weeks alone."
"No, for this is more important than a simple search and destroys mission," Tsunade stated before she explained the mission. "With the entire continent in chaos and the Uzumaki reportedly on the move, this mess has accelerated the need for our negotiations with Wind Country and Sand Forces to take place. Your mission is to escort the current Kazekage, Diablo Dante and his team back to Suna to…"
And just like that, Revan stopped listening as she surrendered herself to anger. Her fist tightening as the Hokage explained they were needed to stand witness and sign the treaty that would mean a renewed military alliance between their villages. Revan did not care how important the mission was, or how much they needed local allies in Wind Country to ensure none of the criminal organizations regrouped there. But she does not really care about that. Wind Country's ninja force was currently crippled to the extent that it was now listed as a minor village and in her mind, she asks why they do not just let them stay crippled? She only released her anger was taking over when she felt Night Wolf touch her shoulder while Haku, Tukiko, and Bastila looked concerned about their fellow comrade.
Haku, however, had to let it go as Tukiko asked, "Ma'am, not to turn down such an important mission, but shouldn't this be left to the Jōnin rank ninjas. Hell, to sign a treaty generally requires at least an Elite Jōnin to do it."
"I know, but nearly all my Jōnin are out on assignment or are needed here to defend Konoha. Therefore, I have decided to give out an early gift to you all," the Tsunade smiled as she pulled out a new set of vests. "Congratulations, Tukiko Uchiha, Haku Momochi, Hinata Hyūga, Bastila Roth and Night Wolf, due to exemplary service and code of conduct, you all are hereby given the temporary rank of Special Jōnin. The same can be said for Naruto Ryū, and Revan Roth, who will be given the temporary rank of Jōnin, and Inferno Pyro will be given the temporary rank of Elite Jōnin. Perform well on this mission, and this will be your permanent rank."
This got all of them excited, as all of them were promoted one-step in their rank and Bastila was promoted two steps. Though it also made them cautious as Hinata asked, "Ma'am, not to sound ungrateful but why the huge promotion? Doesn't it seem like your bribing us?"
"Are you kidding?!" Tsunade exclaimed in shock. "Do you know how many promotions I am going to be handing out over these next couple of weeks?" Tsunade asked and sighed when the two teams shook their heads. "Dozen, perhaps near a hundred due to services rendered. Your fellow classmates, Team 10, now known as Team Detective is probably going to increase in rank by one or two steps due to being permanently being assigned outside the village, solving a dozen samurai and ninja related crimes over the last two weeks alone. All my assault and capture teams are probably going to increase in rank as well due to surviving half a dozen hazardous missions they were assigned. You all being promoted to Jōnin will be needed with the dozens of Genins and Special Chūnins being promoted to Chūnin of all ranks. Plus, I can trust you, girls, and boys, to handle this responsibility, is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" the group yelled in unison.
"Good, now I think it's time you met your escort, Shizune," Tsunade ordered, and Shizune bowed in acceptance as she brought in the Sand-nins.
Leading the pack was the now designated Kazekage Diablo Dante, a man Revan had developed a real hatred for as she stared at the older man before she turned away to look at familiar members of the Sand Team that Naruto knew personally, especially one particular member of the team. "Gaara, is that you?" Naruto asked as she looked at a redhead in shinobi style dark red robes.
"Hello Naruto, it's been a long time," Gaara stated as he gave a slight nod to his fellow Jinchūrikin.
"I'll say, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you," Naruto commented out loud, as she looked at the new and improve Gaara.
Gone was the small boy with dark rings around his dark green eyes that Naruto fought, for he transferred into a short young man with vibrant green eyes and a strong body. An improvement matched by his demeanor that now appeared more calculated than psychotic, much to the happiness of his blonde sister in the black and purple kunoichi dress.
"He's been doing a lot better since you helped him, so thank you," Temari bowed in response, much to Naruto's amusement.
"It's no problem, I'm happy I was able to help Gaara," Naruto smiled with a small blush from the praise given to her as Hinata moved a little closer to Naruto as she gave a pleasant/threatening smile back.
The youth was nervous by the stare as the new Kazekage gave a slight nod to the Hokage. "If everything is ready, I am ready to proceed home. I have much to do and implement with our new treaty," Diablo stated with a curt nod to Tsunade, who nodded back.
"The main gate is open, and I've gotten permission to use one of our vehicles for transport. A Bedrock Truck since it will be a bit crowded in a standard Phantom Attack Fighter and some of you hate flying, so stay safe," Tsunade ordered as Leaf Force stood in attention while Sand Forces filed away.
As Sound Forces left, they were followed by Leaf Forces except for Night Wolf son of Wolf Dreamer, Bastila Roth, Tukiko Uchiha, and Haku Momochi, a fact not lost on Tsunade, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes," Bastila stated with a nervous tone. "I don't want to say bad things about my sister, but it may have been a mistake to give her this mission."
"Especially with the angry looks she threw the representatives' way," Tukiko stated as Haku nodded away.
"More specifically, at Diablo," Haku added before Tukiko continued the conversation.
"Exactly! Though I don't blame her, he's the one responsible for nearly killing her mom and would have if medics were a little slow that day and that's not considering her disdain with our new allies."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow for the three to continue, as Night Wolf remained silent. Bastila obliged Tsunade as she continued, "My sister hates traitors more than anything. When we talk about the Uchiha incident, she gets this look of extreme anger and vengeance, and she always comments that they 'got what they deserved,' and that belief is mild compared to what she thinks of Sand Force. To Revan, when it comes to others, all that matters is can she trust their word. And the Sand Forces lost her trust of them when they betrayed the alliance and their own country for such selfish reasons. The fact we forgive them only adds to anger, which is dwarfed by the fact of how close they came to killing her mother."
"Sounds like this could be a problem, should I take her off this mission?" Tsunade asked as the four ninjas before her when the only boy among them admitted the truth.
"I won't lie for my girlfriend, I am worried about her. However, I think when it comes down to it, she'll see the mission through to the end and frankly, I think she needs this more than anything. As my father would say, 'it's easy to hate an enemy you know little about, but it's tough to hate them when you see them as people.'"
Tsunade thought it over for a few minutes before she agreed, "Okay, but know this, if she kills Diablo, not only will she'll face charges of treason, but I will hold all of you responsible for the chaos added onto my lap. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am," the four acknowledged.
"Then dismiss," Tsunade has ordered, and the four did not waste time disappearing from the meeting as they got into the vehicle.
Scene III
Deep within the desert of Wind Country stood stark mountains seemingly devoid of all life, or so it seems as a black-haired, blue-eyed woman ninja ran towards the mountains, followed by a dark-skinned, black-eyed and haired individual. They were rushing to a hidden valley home where dozens of thugs, rogue ninjas and samurai were holed-up. They rushed into a hidden cave that serves as their headquarters and home of their leader. The leader was a young man with muscular arms and long scars along his body. He looked over a map; listing targets that he has planned to have raided, or already had attacked. He was a man who was always aware of his surroundings as he bellowed out orders without looking, "Report now Aleta, Sunaba."
The woman, Aleta bowed as her silent partner remained motionless as she gave the good news, "My lord, the current Kazekage of Suna is returning home with a small escort of Sand-nins and Leaf-nins. They should be passing by this area soon so we can easily hit them if you desire."
The man smiled as he stated, "Good, good senorita. Now is the time for the Blazing Wind Cartel to take the village away from my weak uncle and make Suna the military power it should have been. Move out and get the men into position!"
"Yes, Lord Gonzola!" Aleta saluted as she and Sunaba left the man with his satisfied smile as he planned his revenge.
Scene IV
Deep within the mountain range, an M-75 Bedrock Truck drove along. The M-75 was a large, armored closed truck used for long-range troop/cargo transport with limited defense. Its armament consisted primarily of the automated turret on top. Still, it was more than a match against bandits as it rode off into the desert devoid of life. It was clean sailing as Naruto drove the vehicle with Hinata and Gaara in the front seats making small talk to keep her company while the others sat in the back in very comfortable seats.
"So, it looks like you're going to be assigned to a Genin team back home?" Naruto asked Gaara, who nodded in response as Hinata looked surprised.
"Not to sound condescending or mean, but I have to ask… why would they allow your team to take on Genin considering your teams' rank and… well… your former reputation?" Hinata asked softly.
Gaara knew what she meant as he said softly, "Let's just say they had no choice since most of the higher-ranking ninjas are dead or retired due to not only our brief war but father secretly eliminating anyone popular enough that could threaten to usurp his rule as Kazekage. Pakura, one of our most powerful ninjas and a master of the scorch release was a particularly devastating blow, and that combined with the war he planned to lead us in before his untimely death has made it so it will take decades, if not centuries before we recover, assuming we do recover."
"Sorry," Naruto and Hinata mumbled, making Temari snort in response.
"Don't be, it was war, and we all paid for the stupidity of my father," Temari added as she gave a side-glance of sorrow to Gaara before she shook off her regret as she recomposed herself. Her brother took over the conversation.
"I'm just glad the village won't have to pay much in repercussions. We have suffered enough as it is," Kankurō stated, much to the partial agreement of most of his listeners.
One who disagreed entirely was Revan as she stated, "Or maybe not enough."
The cabin soon got quiet as Diablo stared at the young woman before him, "You have a problem young lady?"
"Yes, I do," Revan had answered despite the warning glare from her former Sensei, Inferno. "I have a problem that we're joining up with a village that betrayed us, not out of loyalty or a sense of survival, but greed and self-entailment. I've read the report. The Fourth Kazekage, your former leader, was a greedy man who mishandled funds, missions and even had several of his own subordinates assassinated for he felt they were a threat to his rule while feeding the greed of others. And while you're Daimyō didn't make life easier, the fact you care how little he was concerned about the welfare of his entire country concerns me on how loyal you are."
"Loyalty, such a queasy concept one must ask," Diablo stated as he went into a form open for debate. "Is one's loyalty to their village more important than one's nation that supports one's village? Is one expected to be less loyal to friends, family, and comrades you have known for years, over the people that you never met, outside of photos and papers that dedicate how you live your life? For me, I have greater loyalty to the people I worked with then some Daimyō I only recently met in person. And while I suspect some of the things you pointed out occurred, I was ignorant to most of it as all I knew was that we as a village were no longer well off and something had to be done. So, I followed my orders and paid for it as I watched several of my friends and comrades die in Konoha's streets and trees."
"Still that does not give you right to attack," Revan practically yelled as looked down the older man. "Especially since you nearly got my mother killed!"
"Your mother?" Diablo asked as Revan pulled out her stick to summon her purple blade.
The group was tense, ready to intervene when revelation entered Diablo's eyes. "So, you're Amell's child. She was the only Roth that I fought that day that lived. You have my sympathies but it was war, I fought for survival, and she wouldn't let me escape. So, I did what needed to be done, it was nothing personal."
Revan stared at the man, tensed before she deactivated the blade and sighed out, "I know, and that is the only reason I don't kill you for what've you done." Revan then put up her stick and the others relaxed before she stated, "But know this, I will be watching you, and if you betray us again, I will kill you!"
That was Revan's last words on the matter for at that exact moment, the cosmos decided to interfere as there was a loud bang under the truck one moment, and the next the truck was flipped onto its back. The passengers dangling from their seat belts before another loud bang and the truck now landed right side up. Dizzy, Inferno unbuckled just in time for the truck to be hit again, flinging him to the truck's sidewall as it was flipped again.
Inferno growled as Tukiko yelled out, "What hit us?"
"Enemy ninjas using 'Earth Style: Earth Pillars Jutsu," Naruto replied as her sensors screamed enemy contacts and symmetric activity. "They're keeping us unbalanced as they get us closer to a sand pit!" Naruto yelled as another enemy ninja used 'Earth Style: Earth Pillars Jutsu,' to flip them again to the other vehicle's side with Inferno landing on his feet.
"Enough!" Inferno yelled before he jumped up, jettisoned the door, and leaped outside to see an enemy ninja powering up another Jutsu.
He did not get the chance to use it when Inferno used 'Blaze Style: Fireball Jutsu' to set the ninja on fire. The flames quickly cooking the ninja's skin to ash as Inferno dodged a half dozen arrows. He looked up to see thugs, samurai-rōnins, and missing-nins come his way. Inferno was avoiding its archers until the sand itself wrapped around the group unexpectedly and crushed several of the archers. The criminals stopped to see Gaara was outside the truck, facing them with a quiet glare as the rest of the Leaf and Sand ninjas came out to face them.
The battle soon turned into a massacre of the criminals despite the disadvantages the ninjas faced, mainly due to the dry air that made it almost impossible to use most water and ice jutsus. However, that did not stop Haku or Hinata, as Haku used her crossbow to kill the remaining archers while Hinata jointed the frontlines with the Roth sisters and Kankurō's puppets. All the while, Night Wolf and Temari corralled the attacking crowd into a single spot using wind attacks/jutsus as Inferno and Tukiko used kunai, guns, and fire Jutsus on individuals outside forcing them into a group.
Corralling the attacking force right into Gaara's trap as he raised a whole wave of sand to crush them, but one of the missing-nins saw it coming and used 'Earth Style: Rock Wall Jutsu' to block the initial attack. While two others used 'Earth Style: Bedrock Jutsu' to harden the sand into a rocky surface that kept Gaara's sand away, much to his annoyance. The thugs, rōnins, and missing-nins not engaged in close combat smirked, thinking they were safe when they heard electricity and thunder danced in the air.
Naruto was not having a good day; she was tried from the several days' drive only compounded by nausea she felt from being tossed around in the truck, and now people trying to kill her, again. She was angry and wanted to end this quickly, and she had just the jutsu in mind. With her hand concentrated to form the Rasengan before it morphed into a ball of pure electricity, giving off the sound of clicks and cracks as she created 'Lightning Style: Rasenshuryūdan Jutsu.' A ball of lightning that she quickly finished making as she drew her hand back and tossed it as she would have thrown a grenade into the crowd.
The electrical ball of death arced past the rocky wall, past the defense and right into the middle of the horde of criminals and detonated sending out a pulse of pure electricity into the entire crowd. The crowd screamed as their nervous systems received, based on how far away they were from the 'Lightning Style: Rasenshuryūdan Jutsu,' a hundred thousand to ten thousand volts of electricity. Many screamed for only a few seconds before they fell down as charred corpses while the rest followed when the jutsu ran out of juice within twenty seconds of detonation. A few may have survived but the majority was dead, and the last standing was chopped down by Diablo.
The last of them dead, and the air was tense as Revan walked right up to the taller Kazekage, as he sighed, "Are you going to say I betrayed you?"
"No, for they were trying to kill us all by pushing the truck into a sinkhole," Revan admitted, albeit reluctantly before she continued. "However, that doesn't change the fact this was a full-on military ambush despite the armature thugs. But since the ambush was held deep within Wind Country then say ours, or at the border, so I must ask, who wants you dead within Sand Forces?"
"No one I know of," Diablo answered, and Revan did not buy it.
"I don't believe you. Those ninjas knew too much about Sand tactics, especially how to counter Gaara's attack. Someone must have disagreed with something like the peace agreement or thought they should be in charge. So, I want you to talk or so help me I'll-"
"Enough Jōnin!" Inferno yelled as Revan stopped mid-track. "Take a walk, do a survey, do anything to calm down as I do not need an angry subordinate at the moment. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly, sir," Revan growled until Night Wolf went up and gave a comforting squeeze to Revan, snapping the girl out of her anger as she looked up at Night Wolf and then away in shame.
She was guided away by Night Wolf and cooler heads as Naruto looked up to Hinata to ask, "What happened?"
Hinata sighed as she stated, "Let's just say Revan has too much pent-up anger and leave it at that. How's the truck?" Hinata asked to switched subjects away from a sensitive topic from her blunt leader/lover.
"To put it simply, its shot," Naruto sighed in response. "The initial attack was a spike limestone that hit us with enough force to penetrate steel. We are just lucky the armor was made of stronger ablative armor, and the limestone was more brittle as a point then a block, or it would have gone through our feet. However, it still did some internal damage to the cords distributing power. I can fix it, but it will take a few hours. I will get the power tools to open up its bottom half and fix it."
Naruto pulled out a scroll to release the power tools to get to work as Gaara asked, "Do you need me to flip the truck upright?"
"Not right now," Naruto answered as she moved to the truck and started unsealing and unscrewing the fasteners. "The truck power cells were designed to work even if the truck had been flipped on its top for over a year. It was designed for an era when trucks had to be made as tough as possible and modular enough to replace entire components in case they needed to be replaced quickly. Just give me an hour, and I'll have it fixed well enough to use its wheels and hovering function."
Gaara and Hinata nodded as Naruto began putting the removed bolts from the vehicle into secure patches to keep them safe. Temari and Kankurō looked at the corpses of the dead thugs, rōnins, and missing-nins as they noticed a tattoo on one of the man's forearms. A beautiful artistic design the two recognized as Kankurō yelled out, "Kazekage-Sama, I think I know who attacked us. Sir, it was the Blazing Wind Cartel!"
"What, are you sure?" Diablo asked as he walked over to another body to pull up his sleeve to see the same damned symbol before him as the others spread out, with Team Spirit along with Haku, Tukiko and Temari moved closer to Diablo.
"Do they normally attack vehicles and caravans this far into Wind Country?" Haku asked Diablo, and Temari answered for him.
"They never attack a large caravan or in our case, so heavily armed. They usually scattered if they get a whiff of a heavily armed escort, especially if ninjas or samurais are protecting it. They don't want the big guns going after them if they can help it, especially as most of their crimes deal with extortion and smuggling of illegal goods like drugs."
"Could this be a faction gone bold since the chaos of the underworld?" Bastila asked as Diablo shook his head negatively.
"I don't think so, it would be considered too crazy or-"
"Or just ambitious enough to pull off the ultimate power coup," spoke a voice that seems to be near them. Tensed, the group looked around and tried to find the voice until they heard the same voice state, "Down here on my former subordinate's vest."
The two looked down to see a radio strapped to the vest. A receiver sold to Wind Country's military through trade deals with Fire Country, which meant they were stolen from them. Angered, Diablo picked up the radio to ask, "Who is this?"
"It has been a long time, hasn't its uncle?" asked the voice as Diablo narrowed his eyes.
"Gonzola, it's been a long time," Diablo stated with a flat tone as Gonzola chuckled.
"It's Lord Gonzola now as I have taken command of the Blazing Wind Cartel," Gonzola corrected as Diablo raised an eyebrow in response as some of the group got closer, particularly one that got close.
"How nice, you are a criminal now. I must say I would be impressed if they weren't such weaklings or trash," Diablo stated as Gonzola laughed as the sand under the group's feet began to shift.
"You wound me, especially as they were not there to kill you, though it would be a bonus if they did. No, they were sent to see whom you have among the Leaf Forces with you, and I must say I am surprised to see Team Vixen and Spirit with you. This will make the next set of operations more difficult, but we still will be able to kill you," Gonzola stated as the group felt the sands collapse under them.
The group gave a startled cry of shock as the sand gave way and they drop down deep underground, leaving Diablo to state, "And once you're dead and the village is in chaos my men will move in to take over and make it the military might. See you soon."
The radio clicked off, leaving the odd surviving thugs alone as a few survivors tried to crawl to safety in the vast open desert.
Scene V
Deep underground was a dark cavern devoid of life, which soon would have Diablo as a guest. Diablo slid down through a steep, slanted tunnel burrowed through soft rock. He continued to fall until he disappeared into a cavern and landed feet first on a hard bedrock surface. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark and he thought he was alone until he heard a second set of feet land near him.
After recovering from the fall, Diablo looked around in the complete pitch black as he called out to his guest, "Who's there?"
He soon got an answer as a purple chakra blade came to life to reveal he was not alone, Revan stood with her weapon held up to attack. The two stared at each other, tensed as Revan stated, "This would be so easy, me alone with you with no one here to stop me from running you through."
The two stood tensed, ready to fight when Revan lowered her weapon as she admitted her truth, "No one that is, but my own conscience. While you have had done my harm to my family, you did not do it maliciously. And I cannot bring myself to fight a man who is not my enemy at this time."
Diablo breathed out a sigh of relief as he stated, "Good, I would hate to fight you as we are trying to strengthen our villages' relationship not end it, senorita. But now I have to ask is what do we do now?"
"We should be able to locate my teammates with our standard issue communicators. Let me make a call then we can track them," Revan stated before she pulled out Leaf Forces standard communicator. "This is Revan, calling to all nearby ninjas… Yes, I am here with the Kazekage, he's all right… Yeah, according to trackers on these devices, we are pretty far away from each other… Right, I'll meet up with you guys as soon as we can."
With a click, Revan cut the communicator off as she turned to Diablo, "Okay, the good news is that everyone fell together in groups. With the rest of my team with Tukiko, Haku, Temari, and Kankurō, while Naruto and Hinata are with Gaara. Even better they are all right, though Naruto is cationic for some reason." Revan smiled as she remembers her boyfriend's voice before she got serious. "The bad news is that while they are safe and relatively close once they go through a few tunnels. We are further away and at a lower level. Which means…"
"We were separated on purpose to probably get me killed, and you fell with me because you were close to me," Diablo surmised, and Revan nodded in agreement.
"A very good possibility since there is no way they could plan this beforehand, which means someone dug those tunnels to these caverns. Night Wolf and the rest should count themselves lucky that they were not dropped into a bottomless cavern."
"We should all count ourselves lucky he didn't drop us all to the bottom of pits since its standard tactics for Sand Forces to kill the enemy as quickly and as easily as possible," Diablo pointed out as Revan stared at the Kazekage with a raised eyebrow.
"Would he follow such rules since he was kicked out of Sand Forces?" Revan asked as Diablo put up a thoughtful look before answering truthfully to Revan.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Revan asked with surprised stuttered. "But he's your cousin."
"Yes, a cousin I only saw once every year when he was a Sand-nin, and barely interacted due to the large age gap and his immediate family was too annoying to deal with. Honestly, the only things I remember about him was that he was a greedy fuck even as a kid, a pussy, and got kicked out for doing a mission he shouldn't have taken," Diablo admitted as Revan stared dumbfounded.
Revan then stood there in shock for a couple of seconds until Diablo asked, "So, shall you lead us to the rest of our companions, or will we stare at each other until the ground swallows us whole, señorita?"
Revan just nodded as she led Diablo towards their friends, not realizing they were being watched in the shadows.
Scene VI
Deep within the dark tunnels, Inferno, Tukiko, and Bastila led the group as Bastila's double-bladed sword, Tukiko's red flames, and Inferno's blue flames lit the way. Behind them was Haku and a worried Night Wolf followed by Temari and Kankurō. Night Wolf bit his lip as he stared out into the abyss for answers. Kankurō, tired of the silence, broke it with a simple question, "Nervous about your friend, Shinobi and Kunoichi-sans?"
"A bit, Revan is not in the best of moods since taking this mission as you no doubt saw," Haku answered diplomatically as the two Sand-nins snorted in agreement.
"Should we be worried he's alone with her?" Temari asked, as she too had been concerned with Revan being alone with her boss. "She seemed a bit… high strung and stressed."
"I don't think you need to worry about her, for she'll see the mission through… and she would have reported if he died in the fall or if she planned to kill him," Night Wolf admitted, with the last part being more a whisper that stating a fact.
The room was silent until Bastila switched topics by talking about family, specifically the Kazekage's family, "So we are facing his evil cousin. Did the Kazekage mention him by any chance?"
"Not that I know of, but then again, he rarely talks about anything about his personal life, I think I only heard him once talk about his parents. Trying to decide what to get them for the holidays before talking seriously about our training, specifically our lack of training in what he believed to be important."
"I think I heard him talk about his cousin when I was really young at my father's… at the Kazekage's office," Kankurō stated aloud with a minor pause for a simple correction. "I think my father was telling him about his cousin being thrown out of the Shinobi forces with a smug look. Well until he noticed Diablo looked confused, trying to remember if he had a cousin before stating, 'Oh that winning pussy. Whatever,' before getting back to discuss whatever boring thing they were discussing with the Kazekage, who was scowling for he didn't get a rise out of him."
The group was silent after Tukiko's "Wow," before the group became quiet as they trekked through the dark caves, their communicators beeping as they moved deeper into the cave.
That was until they reached a large cavern with glowing lights at the other end. At first, Night Wolf dared to hope it was Revan, that they met her first but reality hit as he remembered whom they were tracking and realized the glow was white glow sticks instead of her purple blade. Gaara stared at Hinata as she comforted Naruto, as she looked out into the dark. The other group looked at the bizarre scene as Hinata leaned towards Naruto to comment.
"Naruto, I think it's a lost cause?" Hinata said softly as she pointed to the truck that landed hood first into a running muddy stream.
"You don't know that it is just a little submerged," Naruto stated as she pointed to the truck submerged deep in water and soft dirt entirely except for about 30 cm (less than 1ft) of it.
Hinata twitched before she softly sighed in response, "Ignoring the fact that it is mostly under the water, it is also in a sinkhole, and it is slowly sinking underground," Hinata pointed out as the vehicle's visibility continued to sink from view as Naruto looked for a possible way to save the truck.
"Well maybe if we use a strong enough force to pull it… no, that won't work. Any place Gaara can use to grab it with his sand powers will be dissolved underwater, while none of us are strong enough to get it out without a boss level summon and my boss summons won't like it if I summon them for something so menial. Maybe I can use earth or water jutsus to… no, that won't work. The amount of force required would be too great for its engine to survive impact when considering the necessary force needed to reach an escape velocity to send the truck flying onto solid ground. Maybe I can use fire jutsus to vaporize the water and turn the mud solid enough to dig it… no, that won't work. I don't know how the water is refilling this pool or whatever a small underground stream or river is called and making it even more difficult to get out. Not to mention vaporizing whatever materials or highly resisted bacteria in the water would become airborne and we will get to discoverer first hand if it's lethal or not. Not to mention that due to water and now mud sinking through the now open panels underneath the truck, it's possibly suffering irritable damage depending on how clogged or muddy the components are, making it a total loss."
Naruto sighed in defeat as she pulled out the truck keys that had a built-in detonator to destroy Fire Country's vehicles to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Naruto pressed it, causing a small explosion that gave a small light show, even underwater, as it burned out whatever sensitive electronics were on-board. Naruto looked sadly at the burnt-out wreck of their ride as it submerged underwater, out of sight and out of mind as she turned to face the others in silence.
The silence broke as Gaara asked, "So are you, all right?"
"Yeah, just a bit disappointed that I couldn't save her, even if she were a common truck," Naruto commented before she turned to see the newcomers. "Looks like the gang is all here… well, everyone except for two noticeable exceptions. Where is Revan and Kazekage Diablo?"
"They were separated from us just as you were. But you were considerably closer, so we went to you guys first before we meet up with them," Inferno told Naruto as Night Wolf reported back to Revan and Diablo, never noticing Naruto eyes widen.
"Wait a minute… could the separation be… How far away are they from us?" Naruto asked as she looked suspiciously around the rock walls, noticing some of the tunnels and holes dug where the rock was thin and soft.
"About two hundred meters away and twenty meters above us," Bastila reported.
Naruto's eyes widen in response as she blurted out, "They lead us into a trap."
"Obviously, they separated the Kazekage from us to ambush him after all," Kankurō stated as Naruto shook her head negatively.
"You don't understand; I am not just talking about the Kazekage falling into an ambush. I am talking about we were dropped close together so the person that did this does not have to hunt us down. And we just sprung our opponent's trap," Naruto explained as she pointed to not only the tunnel the group came from but several others as long, giant, plated worms came out to face them.
All of them with their mouths open to show that some of them had rows of teeth and none of them was fiercer then the giant worm that was the boss summon of worms. A giant white worm that had its odd summoner on top, a crazy human male that was cackling at his opponents, "Yes! Yes! You have all come together, and now you will all be worm food!"
"Who in Kami's name are you?" Kankurō asked as several Leaf, and Sand Ninjas were preparing for combat.
"I am the Worm King, and by order of Lord Gonzola, I had separated you from his targets, and as a reward, I get to kill you all in revenge for calling us worms, you weaklings!" the madman exclaimed as he laughed.
"Wait you dug those tunnels to separate us? Why didn't you make us fall into a bottomless pit if your end game was to kill us all?" Bastila asked with a twitch as Night Wolf slapped his head at the absurdity of their opponent, and for Bastila to give their opponent ideas to what he assumed was an idiotic henchman.
Night Wolf was only partially wrong as the Worm King grumbled, "Well… I would have, but my friends only had a short time notice setting all this us, and we had to make due to the fact a large portion was too heavy or hard for my friends to dig." Night Wolf twitched further at the Worm King admitting his mistake before the crazy one got back on track, "Nevertheless, you will die, and then I will laugh as you are…" The Worm King started to rave until he was cut off by the sounds of the summoners initiating their summons.
A large poof of smoke appeared over giant behemoths before they parted way to reveal a whole cavern filled with summoned wolves, birds of prey, birds of song, foxes and Temari's weasels, a family summon that her father had forgotten and she had rediscovered. A discovery that frightened the Worm King as he eyed the various weasels, foxes, and songbirds with fear, as they were the natural predators of his summons. Especially the giant blue jay and foxes as Naruto summoned them up in eleven words, "You fucked up, and now you're going to pay for it."
The Worm King screamed as his enemy's summons that was twice as tall as humans converged on him in a cadre that would be remembered as the ninjas stared with satisfaction. Yet, they wondered how Revan and Diablo were doing.
Scene VII
Meanwhile, in another set of tunnels, Revan and Diablo were getting closer to their allies as they passed the time in debate of something that had puzzled others for generations, the role of ninjas, "I know how important it is that we become the muscle for our respective countries in the current atmosphere. Nevertheless, I feel like our rush to fill the role has made us lose sight that we are ninjas, the assassins, and spies for our Country. The importance of ninjas is only confounded by the wake of youngsters wanting to learn flashy jutsus or use high powered weapons over effective technique and tactics."
"I do see what you are saying, and in some parts, I agree, but to go completely back to the old ways are impossible," Revan said as she thoughtfully considered the point. "A country does not measure power by its ability to eliminate its enemies and how much it conquers. Nor do most have the ability to get away with murdering political rivals of the ruling lords. We live in an age of balance, where everyone is judged by their actions, how well they can hide such action, how well they keep the balance and how big of a stick it has to throw at others that threaten their country."
"Maybe," Diablo admitted as he also developed a more thoughtful outlook. "But doesn't that make us no longer ninjas but rather living weapons for our country? Or even that as we take on the role of soldiers as we run protection missions for clients outside of our village."
"Naruto would argue that the ninja name took on a new meaning, but me personally, I argue we are still ninjas of the past, just with some added responsibilities. I know a certain team that fits the criteria of a ninja as they performed a special mission to annex the Vegetables Country as a protectorate by helping Haruno negotiate for her father's former throne after the would-be tyrants suffered accidents," Revan smirked as Diablo looked surprised in return.
"That was you who killed the Janin Brothers and the nobles that conspired with them?" Diablo whistled in surprised as Revan just gave him a look in response.
"I can neither confirmed or deny such claims at this time."
Diablo, cracked a smile in response as he stated, "That is some fine work. Maybe there is hope for your generation after all."
The two laughed and would continue debating other subjects and trading stories when a hulking figure charged through the darkness and proceeded to shoulder tackle right into Revan. The giant man, Sunaba, in armor created by the jutsu 'Earth Style: Rock Armor Jutsu' grabbed Revan during the shoulder tackle and proceeded to rushed to a stone wall and slam Revan into it. However, before he could do some serious damage to the young woman, Revan slipped out of his grip and jumped over the man to slash into his back with her purple blade. The blade was meant to do some severe damage, but his crystal-like armor was able to deflect it, much to Rev6an annoyance before she was forced to deflect and avoid bladed knuckles from dark-haired muscle, Aleta.
Revan was facing two opponents as Diablo used his reinforced staff to block a cutlass saber strike from his opponent. Diablo then deflected a few more before his cousin, Gonzola Dante got into his face to ask, "Who is the pussy now?" before relenting to strike faster and harder as he forced Diablo back and unable to go on the offensive.
A situation similar to what Revan was experiencing as she dealt with two very different fighters, Aleta was a fast fighter who kept opponents on their toes, while Sunaba was slow but powerful with his rock armor able to take blows his partner could not bear to take. Together they made a difficult team to beat. Difficult but not impossible as Revan performed a flying kick to Aleta to send her stumbling back before holding her blade to block Sunaba's fists. The two held the position as Revan used the time to summon the Sage Chakra in the air to form her Chakra Sage Armor at a much faster rate than at the Chūnin Exams.
Sunaba eyes widen at Revan's frail grin as she slacked her grip before she jumps over his strike and aims her sword at his one weak point in his armor, his eyes. Sunaba could do nothing as Revan's chakra blade went through his eye and skull, killing the man with excruciating pain. The man gave a terrible scream and then silence as Revan's blade was held in place by the man's rock armor she was slowly cutting apart. She only pulled out her sword when Sunaba's burning corpse slumped to its knees before moving onto her next target, Aleta, who regained her senses to run from the dangerous young woman as Diablo and Gonzola continued their fight.
Not even stopping as the two bantered back and forth, "So, this was your plan? To kill me one on one so that you can get, I don't know, revenge for not noticing you when your kid? To prove that you're not as weak as I had thought you were? To get back to the village for banishing you due to a stupid mistake on your part? Why put all this effort to kill me yourself?" Diablo asked Gonzola, who giggled for a second at Diablo's question before he gave his uncle a proper response to the question.
"Well to honest, all this is mainly to make the surviving Sand-nins fear me," Gonzola admitted. "You see, I have the resources and a sizable enough army to take the village but not enough to hold it. However, if I come back with their strongest ninja and leader dead, well I am that much closer to taking over the Sand-nins and making them into a force to be reckoned with. The deaths of your allies and subordinates would only make it that much easier to control them."
"And I am sure the fact you get to kill me must be icing on the cake."
Gonzola could not help but laugh as Diablo's accusation before he set the record, "Oh it's so precious that you think you're so important to everyone, including me. Well, the truth is that I only cared about being related to you when it helped me get a leg up in my ninja career when I still was in the Sand Forces. That and to hopefully annoy you into making mistakes. Honestly, I am disappointed it didn't distract you enough to make a difference, it seems that I wasted my breath."
"Just as you wasted your breath in this fight," Diablo added before doing something unexpected.
With a fast spin with his staff, he was able to hit Gonzola's wrist, forcing Gonzola to let go of his saber just as Diablo let his staff go. Freeing his hands, he delivered sharp jab into Gonzola's face, dazing his opponent long enough for him to pull out his machete and slash across Gonzola's chest instead of the neck due to Gonzola's exceptional reflexes. Not that it mattered, while the wound was not deep enough to destroy his heart or spill out his guts, it was still deep enough to be mortal as blood spews out his chest. Gonzola looked down in disbelief as both cousin and uncle knew that Gonzola was going to die from blood loss or the blood filling up his nicked organs. Gonzola was so lost to the world that he did notice Aleta killed after Revan's trick faint.
He only returned to the world to see Diablo let his guard down to state, "It's over Gonzola."
Gonzola spits some blood as he stated, "Yes, for both of us," before he rushed the older man and grabbed Diablo in a bear hug. Blood smeared onto Diablo as Gonzola's body tattoos appeared as explosive seals, turning Gonzola's body into a suicide bomb.
Diablo struggled to break free until he saw movement out the corner of his eyes and made himself perfectly straight to ask, "You're that much of sore loser?"
"You know it, and now you will-guk," was Gonzola's last words as Revan's purple blade cut Gonzola horizontally in two, from his ears, to his armpits and to the bottom of arches of feet.
Gonzola was dead when he shrugged off Gonzola loosed limbs, grabbed his weapon, and jumped away with Revan right behind him. A calculated move as she used the last of her sage chakra to create a dome of pure golden energy to take the brunt of the explosion. Revan was exhausted as she collapsed the shield to reveal it was over. Gonzola's body was a smeared, chard mess across the battlefield with the rest of corpses nothing but the mangled mess that would require DNA analysis to discover who they were.
And here they were, a mess covered in their enemies' blood as Diablo stated in wonder, "You saved me. You could have run and let me die, but you saved the man who hurt your mother."
"I am not about to sacrifice my career for events that happen when we are in a war." Revan had sighed in response before she gave a small smirk as she added, "Besides, where am I going to find a good debater around here."
Diablo laughed a little before he joked back to Revan, "Well I would give you hug in thanks, but I don't do hugs, and I doubt you want to be covered in my traitorous cousin's blood."
Revan snorted; as the top of the cavern was blasted open by a powered jutsu to see large, friendly summon animals with Leaf and Sand ninjas staring down. Night Wolf excited, "Finally we got to you and now… Oh in the name of the spirits, what happen to you guys?"
Revan snorted as she stated, "Don't worry, it's not our blood, it's our enemies. As to why Diablo is covered in blood and why I looked so tired is a long story and quite frankly, I now just want to get to Suna, get this mission over and go home."
"Same here, so if you would be so kind as to get us out of here, that would be great," Diablo added as Gaara created a lift made of sand for the two before getting them out of the underground caves before they raced off on the giant summons to Suna, leaving behind the past, hopefully, for a better future.
Scene VIII
Deep within the desert, one of the few survivors of those that ambushed the Leaf forces was crawling across the dunes. His body was wrapped with thirst and pain as he looked for anything that would ensure his survival, like food, water, and shade. Shade was provided as a shadowy figure covered his body. He looked up to see a petty woman with a purple lab coat and battledress that showed she was a specialized ninja. Fear overcame him, as he looked into her cold blood eyes and red hair before a wave of energy from the woman calmed him. It was as though he could trust the woman who pulled up her sleeve to reveal her lightly tanned skin as she kneeled to his level.
"Bite on it and suck on it," the woman ordered as the man stared in shock. In fact, he was about to protest when she added, "Bite and suck on it so my special chakra infused with my blood will heal you."
Yes, that made sense the man decided before he bit into the woman's arm, already feeling rejuvenated and healed he continued to suck until the woman ordered him to stop, "That is quite enough if you, please let go."
The man thought it was a good idea as he let the woman go with a content smile as she tended the bite wound with a green covered palm of a healing jutsu. The skin quickly healed, leaving behind a perfect, unblemished arm before she smiled down at the man, ordering him silently to stand up. Her face lit up with a broad, toothy smile as he rose like a lovesick puppy obeying its master.
"Excellent now will tell me everything about your battle with my miss guided cousin, Naruto Uzumaki as we gather a few more subjects for my lab and tests. Doesn't that sound great that you will be subject of Karin Uzumaki and her… ugh, lab assistant?"
That sounded wonderful to the man as he nodded frankly yes as Elite Jōnin Karin Uzumaki, head of the Uzumaki R&D, and proceeded on into the desert to find more test subjects for Karin Uzumaki for the Uzumaki was still on the move.
Finally, after losing this chapter and having to rewrite it from scratch, it is done. Hope you enjoy it, please review, and wish you happy holidays and a happy new year. Also interested in hearing what you think of Revan's arc.
A) As something new, I would like to recommend the following three approaches/ storylines for your consideration.
1) Leaf Ranger, possibly one of my favorite writers and a person I have consulted with on my stories a few times, his stories always bring a smile to my face, and there is not just one story of his I can recommend, though my personal favorite is Wizard of Kitsune.
2) Philosophizer's Power of Love and its sequel Heart and Soul are well written Harry Potter stories that I must recommend even if you are not into Fem-Harry as they are well written with romance, drama, action, adventure, and social commentary.
3) Finally, is Kurama Arashi's Silver Eyes, a thought-provoking RWBY story set in what if Ruby Rose learned to user her Silver Eyes before Beacon. It is well done and thoroughly explores the RWBY universe with a more powerful and flawed Ruby.
B) Last two Elemental Rasengan:
'Earth Style: Rasenteikiatsu Jutsu' (Spiral Cyclone Jutsu) is an earth-based version of the Rasengan, whose appearance is a mini earth/stone/sandstorm depending on the surface it was slammed into. Advantages are that it creates an earth type cyclone around the user that can grind/cut anything, including metal given time, as well as blinding the enemy around the user and protecting said user. The disadvantage is that while it requires slightly more chakra then the Rasengan, it does require several orders of magnitude of control to maintain it long enough to do some damage, will cut the visibility of the user, and without proper control or placement, the user can be hurt by the Jutsu as well. (SPeCTeR-ll7 helped to create this jutsu)
'Fire Style: Rasenfurea Jutsu' (Spiral Flare jutsu) is a fire-based version of the Rasengan, whose appearance is that of a mini-sun within a user's hand. The advantage is that it can absorb enemy attacks when hit by the ball, making it bigger until the user collapses it. It creates a mini-solar flare that burns everything within 10m and within a ninety-degree angle of launch. Disadvantages are that while it takes slightly more chakra to make than jutsu, it takes an enormous amount to maintain and control it, requires high levels of chakra control, and can be limited in range and destructive power as compared to other high power jutsus.