UPDATE WOO~!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the characters within this fan fiction, save for the ones that I have claimed as my own as well as The Peach Tree Trio!
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Chapter Thirty-Six: A Truly Memorable Dinner Incident! That Bad Feeling!
The dining room was huge, almost as big as the throne room with a long, U-shaped table set low on the ground with countless silk pillows lined on the outside for people to kneel on. Mountains and mountains of food sat on the table, going up and down, even a small mechanical device similar to a train was moving along the table with a numerous amount of sauces. Everyone filed in with the nobles as well. The shinobi sat closest to the king and queen at the head of the table with their beloved son, Hyota to their left.
A trio of musicians also arrived to provide entertainment as they began to play their instruments, the female of the group making a gentle 'ahhhh' sound over and over again, ranging from high to low in pitch.
The perfect, royal dinner.
Chopsticks gently clicked on the plates as everyone ate, the room a hum with conversations as the music filled the air. The king smiled every so often as his son sat beside him, laughing and telling him everything about his outrageous adventure, his capture, and his escort home. The queen gasped every so often, clasping a hand over her mouth, sweat dropping, flailing, and sighing miserably.
"No, no, no! it is much too unsafe for my son to be outside like that! I told you, I told you it was a bad idea to let him go on that travel!" She squawked at her husband, pointing her chopsticks at him menacingly. King Owari sighed, shaking his head as he leaned away from the chopsticks.
"Darling, you see this all the time with royalty figures. Why, it also happened recently to Priestess Mizu of Ketsukigakure. What we should've done was hire more protection."
"Never! The palace is the only safe place for my baby!"
"Moooom!" Hyota complained, blushing as he shifted around in his seat, though he was grinning thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
"I'm sure your village is safe, though," Mayu pointed out as the King and Queen glanced over curiously, "You seem to have a relatively well placed amount of guards, so just send one around with Hyota so he can go within the village limits. Locking your child up is just going to diminish his social skills."
"Are you saying my son has bad social skills?" The queen demanded and the king waved a hand at her before looking at Mayu with a nod.
"I understand. That idea sounds very good to me. I see you've noticed Hyota's a bit different from most teenagers his age." He sighed and Miwa, Manabu, and Nakusu choked on their food. Mayu sweat dropped, laughing meekly as she smacked a hand on Miwa's back to make her cough up her food.
"Aha, different? All teenagers are unique, Your Majesty."
"Different as in he's the only kid who doesn't know what birth was," Miwa snorted as she picked a piece of chicken out of her tooth with her nail, flicking it at the plate and getting dirty look from both Manabu and Nakusu, "I learned that when I was six-years-old!"
"How young! Your parents must neglect you!" The queen cried and Miwa cocked a brow.
"What would you give me if I said they did?"
"Miwa!" Manabu snapped, elbowing her and glaring as she smiled sheepishly, twisting her finger around in her dimple innocently. The king blinked, then looked at the queen with a glare, tapping his chopsticks on the side of the plate. Hyota snapped out of his stupor and pouted dramatically, thrusting out his lower lip.
"Hey, I know what birth is! You said it was like a mommy dog having puppies! I saw a mommy dog have puppies before!" He protested and several people cried out and gasped in disgust and confusion. The queen cried out and comically toppled over, throwing up her chopsticks while the king twitched and looked at Hyota. Miwa clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"Very different." Mayu muttered and quickly popped a wad of noodles into her mouth to stifle anymore comments. Nakusu smacked his forehead while Yuriye rubbed the back of her neck.
"I apologize," The king told everyone before looking at the shinobi, "Nevertheless, I cannot thank you enough for rescuing and returning my only son. He is the heir to this palace and to the village… He's worth about several million ryo."
The singer's voice cracked into a screech of 'WHAAAT?'
"I beg your pardon…!" The queen shot back up to glare, then clapped her hands to her cheeks as the singer twitched, clenching a fist while adjusting her round, black-framed glasses.
"That much? Are you freaking kidding me? Kompeito, you bastard! You let that squirt steal several million dollars from you? Do you LIKE being useless?" She roared, whipping around and snatching the flute from Kompeito's lips, bopping him repeatedly on the head with it. He just winced and clasped his hands over his head. The shinobi were on their feet as well as the nobles and the royal family, only the latter was cowering in fear on the other side of the room.
"You freaks again? Didn't we teach you a lesson before?" Miwa snarled viciously, making Momoko flail and whip around, pointing the flute at them.
"Get back! This is a highly dangerous weapon and I'm not afraid to use it!" She threatened, crouching a little for effect as Gyokuro and Kompeito got to their feet. The queen shrieked in fear.
"Have mercy! Don't kill us! Shinobi of the Leaf, I'm willing to pay you to rid us of these terrifying kidnappers!" She wailed, pulling on her hair. The king stared at her as he held Hyota in his arms, a deadpan, comical expression of annoyance on his face as his eye twitched. Hyota squirmed, puffing out one of his cheeks as he tried to escape his father's death grip, but it was a complete fail.
"Did you say money?" Miwa asked, her nose twisting as if she could just smell the cash now, her eyes flipping repeatedly into money signs like a slot machine. Manabu poked her between the eyes.
"Miwa!"
"Money?"
"NO! I said- Never mind."
"We were already on that, Your Highness," Mayu announced, then whipped around to face the intruders with a dining knife in her grip and a plate in the other, "This is going to be as easy as it was last time."
"No," Momoko shouted, putting a fist on her hip and smirking as she kept the flute elevated and pointed, "If you attack us, everyone in this room will die. Before you fools came in, I had Gyokuro set up countless paper bombs all over this room. Look up." She pointed and the shinobi jerked their heads up, several of the nobles and the queen shrieking in terror at the huge mass of papers floating above their heads.
"How did we miss that?" Mayu asked herself, scratching the side of her head. Miwa glared at Nakusu, who winced.
"I thought you were the smart one!" She accused. Nakusu glared, clenching a fist.
"I did not think of it! I had other, more important matters on my mind, not this worthless group of posers!"
"Thinking of your girlfriend naked isn't more important than this!"
"It is- I MEANT NO!" Nakusu barked, feeling red fill up his face when he heard Hyota coo a dramatic 'ooooo'. Yuriye smacked her forehead and Miwa smirked tauntingly. Momoko twitched and stomped her foot, flailing the flute around before throwing it at Mayu's feet.
"HEY! I'm over here, you dunderheads! Listen to me! Hand over the Prince! And the Uchiha and nobody gets hurt!" She yelled as Mayu stooped over, picking up the flute to stare at it before breaking it in half easily with her forefinger and thumb. Everyone sweat dropped.
"I thought that was a dangerous weapon." Manabu said.
"It was a lie, you adorably gullible fool!" Momoko barked and Miwa glared at her, thrusting a finger in her direction, a pink blush evident on her face to match her rage.
"Hey, you rotten little brat! Back the hell off! Nobody can go near Manabu OR give him cute nicknames without my permission!"
"How was that cute?" Yuriye asked with a sweat drop as Manabu stiffened, feeling his face grow outrageously warm as he merely shook his head in disbelief and embarrassment. Momoko merely laughed and Miwa was off. She snatched the broken flute up off the ground and rushed forward at Momoko, who yelped, reeling away.
"GAH! NO! Stop or I'll set off the bombs!"
"MIWA!" Mayu and Nakusu yelled in unison. Miwa ignored them with a smirk spread across her face in a cat-like manner as she pushed up off the ground and did a flip to get near Momoko for an aerial attack. Momoko shrieked.
"Gyokuro! Kompeito!" She screamed. Gyokuro moved first, lunging to grab Miwa's foot, but he tripped over his drums and fell face first on the tiles, denting it inwards. Kompeito sweat dropped, then jerked his head up, his mismatched eyes flashing as he shot up off the ground, picking up another flute and aiming to smack Miwa in the face, but she swung half of her own flute up to deflect, getting knocked off course so she went back through the air and used her chakra to stick to a huge column a few feet away. Kompeito landed on the ground in front of Momoko, who sighed in relief before laughing in a smug manner with her fists on her hips, some pink in her face.
"Hohoho! Looky that! You're all bark and no bite!" She retorted as Gyokuro struggled to get to his feet and Kompeito looked at his flute before looking over at Momoko, making a gesture with his hands. Momoko stared, glared, then grunted and thrust her finger out toward Hyota.
"Gyokuro! Grab the prince! And my future husband! Any false moves and this palace will crush you all!" She laughed maniacally while Kompeito merely sighed and cocked his head. Gyokuro nodded and stomped toward the cowering nobles. The shinobi glared, all tense and wanting so badly to crush the old, buff man who purposing puffed out his hairy chest as he passed Mayu with a wink. Mayu twitched and glared at him, clenching a fist and taking a step forward, but Yuriye put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. Mayu sighed, frustrated as she watched Gyokuro near the screaming queen, shaking king, and flailing Hyota. Then it happened.
Miwa flung her arm out to the side, the sharp end of the broken flute zooming at Gyokuro's leg and snatching him right in the back of the knee, so blood sprayed onto the tiles. The queen screeched and gasped, falling over into the nobles behind her. Miwa smirked and looked over in time for Momoko and Kompeito to look at her. She pushed off the column and raced for Kompeito, who took a step back before doing a flip to avoid a slash. He looked at Momoko to nod quickly. Momoko nodded back and lit a match, a wide grin on her face as she held it up for all to see.
"FINE! Uchiha, bring me the prince or I'll have you blown to bits!" She shouted threateningly at Nakusu, who twitched. Mayu grimaced and looked at Nakusu, who looked back at her. They nodded, but in that moment, Miwa pushed up off the ground and shot into the air, flipping backwards to avoid a slice with Kompeito's flute. Miwa's purple eyes sailed, watching the ceiling pass by an inch in front of her face rather dramatically before things seemed to stop for a split second, a violin seemed to scratch and cut right into the music that was playing in her head.
"What the… HELL? THESE ARE FAKE!" She yelled angrily and quickly spun around, snatching a handful of the fake paper bombs off the ceiling and landing on the ground amongst her teammates, holding up the wad while flailing her free arm as Kompeito landed by Momoko with a sheepish look.
"Fake…! That means…" Mayu turned around to face Momoko and Kompeito, her eye twitching in annoyance despite the very devious smirk hit her face and she cracked her knuckles.
"That's it, I'm sick and tired of messing around with these clowns."
"I could not agree more." Nakusu muttered bitterly and turned to face Momoko and Kompeito, Momoko wailing in terror and thrusting her arms up. The shinobi started forward, Miwa gripping her broken flute tightly when a voice cut through the air.
"Stop!" Kompeito cried and Miwa stopped all right, her jaw dropping and her eyes bugging while the other shinobi did as well. Mayu's eyes widened as she put a hand over her mouth in awe while Yuriye felt her cheeks color pink. The queen recovered in that moment as well as the nobles, all of them flying forward and shaking their rumps with throbbing pink hearts for their eyes as they flailed.
"I recognize that handsome voice anywhere," The queen screamed joyously, making a kissy form with her lips, "That voice belongs to none other than Kajiwara Kaimu otherwise known as Otoshi from the Icha-Icha Paradise 2 movie! Kyaaa!" Kompeito blushed, now holding up the flute rather defensively. Momoko stared at him in awe herself, even Gyokuro, who's jaw was dropped and his hands weren't even grasping at his bloody knee anymore.
"Y-You spoke! I thought you were mute!" Momoko managed and Kompeito looked at her apologetically.
"I am sorry," He said, making the gestures before lowering his hands to turn the shinobi group, "I just felt no need to talk, especially when I got the same reaction every time."
"But… Icha-Icha is for adults and you still look too young to play an actor!" Mayu protested, although, she had to smile. The boy could easily be an actor, even a prince himself! And his voice sounded wonderful, like an angel's! 'Kompeito' blushed a little more before reaching up and digging his nails into his face, surprising everyone as he pulled and a layer of rubbery looking skin peeled up, falling to the floor.
Several of the noblewomen screamed in adoration, flailing their arms and on the verge of stampeding if Gyokuro wasn't still in their way. Miwa felt her own eyes pop into hearts as she squealed.
Away with the black eyeliner markings and snaggletooth, though his violet hair remained along with his mismatched eyes. Instead, his face was a smooth, creamy color with eyeliner only on the bottom lid in a thin manner, appearing about in his mid-twenties.
"I'm told I'm a good actor." He answered, dropping the rest of the visage to the ground in a clump.
"Hell yea," Miwa gushed, clasping her hands and immediately taking a step closer so she was probably a foot away, "Hey, hey! You know I was just kidding right? About killing you before? You can go ahead and take whoever you want so long as I can take you." She winked and Kaimu sweat dropped, giving a meek smile as he closed his eyes, holding a hand up to defend, but the women in back screamed in disbelief.
"NO!"
"Take me, Kajiwara-sama! Take me!"
"No, not her, take me!"
"Are you mad? Take me!"
"Take a woman, not a girl!"
"Shove off!" Miwa snarled, whipping around and clenching a fist. Mayu dropped her head to look down, sweat dropping while Nakusu rolled his eye in annoyance. Manabu glared, folding his arms over his chest, but not saying a thing. Yuriye gulped down a lump in her throat, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers.
"So why would you want to steal the prince for ransom money if you are already an actor? I am positive they receive a good enough pay." Nakusu stated at last, making everyone go silent for a moment. Kaimu blinked, then smiled weakly.
"You see, I get very bored with my job from time to time. I get stressed, all those people suffocating me, my father disappointed in me for not going after the dream he strived for, to be a shinobi, having to try and compete with my mother, who you probably know as Kawaii Maiko. I may have gotten a lot of money for it, but most of it went to buying those ugly clothes, makeup, another house, more servants. It was all a waste of my time and I wanted to do something fun, so I used my acting skills and the ninja skills from my father to run away from the set. I met Momoko stealing from a cart and she told me what she wanted to do, so I joined along with it. We found Gyokuro and he was like a father to us. I felt right with them… Besides, I've always wanted to act in a comedy." He added with a grin, making Momoko sweat drop and Gyokuro chuckle.
"Well, I guess that makes sense…" Manabu mumbled, averting his eyes.
"You should consider the real life matter, though," Mayu pointed out firmly while holding up a finger matter-of-factly, "You may be young and famous, but you banded together with two complete idiots to kidnap a highly respected royal family. That's against the law and you could've gotten arrested."
"Could have?" Nakusu demanded, clenching a fist angrily as Mayu turned to him with a giggle, waving her had in her face as she blushed, closing her eyes sweetly.
"Oh, come now, we can't arrest such a handsome man, can we?" She asked. Nakusu twitched.
"Mayu-sensei-"
"Thank you very much," Kaimu rushed in, tilting his head sweetly and clasping his hands together, "If you'd like, we can all get back to dinner and enjoy the rest of our time here at the Yukigakure Palace."
"But-"
"YES, OF COURSE!" The women shrieked and rushed forward to plead and beg for autographs, leaving Nakusu, Yuriye, Manabu, Gyokuro, and Mayu to stay behind with sighs.
"Ridiculous," Nakusu muttered bitterly, folding his arms over his chest, "This must be the most idiotic mission I have ever gone on since the cat mission back before I was an Anbu… I do not want to waste my time here much longer. We will eat, rest until mid morning before leaving… I have a strong feeling we will not be getting to sleep easily in this palace."
"Agreed." The others muttered in unison.
The rest of the night was just as Nakusu had predicted, no surprise there, as the women ogled and cooed as Kaimu sat around the corner from the King, eating with a smile on his face, nodding and replying while Momoko and a stitched up, healed Gyokuro stuffed their faces with the luxurious meal. Hyota excused himself after a while and scurried from the dining hall to peer into the kitchen where the servants were working hard to fill orders, others cleaning up messes. In one corner, Yura was happily sweeping up spilled lettuce with a smile on her face, her caramel hair swirling in the ponytail behind her. Hyota blushed at the sight of her before gulping and inching into the kitchen. Yura immediately saw him and beamed.
"Prince Hyota!" She called. All the servants whirled to bow at the waist before returning to work as Hyota walked over to Yura as she set aside the broom to drop her arms at her sides like a soldiers, though her big smile remained.
"Yura, I want to tell you something," Hyota stated as he shifted from foot to foot, trying to force the blush on his face to fade, but it was failing miserably, "Something very important that I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now." Yura blinked, then looked a little worried.
"I'm not gonna be fired, am I?" She asked nervously. Hyota blinked, then flailed, shaking his head rapidly.
"No, no! Never! The opposite! Yura, I love you!" He exclaimed and several servants dropped their pots and pans to turn and stare. Yura blinked and a red blush filled her cheeks as she reached up to cup them in hopes of hiding it.
"L-Love me? B-But I'm just a servant, Prince-"
"I don't care! I'd love you no matter what!"
"Even if I was a man?"
"Yes! … You aren't a man, though, right?"
"No!"
"Even better!" Hyota exclaimed and Yura sighed before giggling, closing her eyes and dropping her hands to reveal her red face.
"Oh, Prince Hyota, you're silly."
"Is that good?"
"Yes, it is." Yura smiled. Hyota beamed and went to tell her of the adventure in the dining hall, but he stopped when he remembered the missing piece to the confession.
"Oh yea! I love you so much, Yura!" He leaned in and kissed her firmly on the lips, closing his eyes and smiling at the same time. All the blood rushed to Yura's face as steam seemed to explode out of her ears, though, she relaxed after a moment and smiled back into the kiss before pulling apart. Hyota grinned at her.
"I love you! You're my girlfriend now, right? Because you love me too!"
"Yes, I do, Hyota… And you're my boyfriend."
"Good! Now… Are you supposed to sleep in my bed or…?"
"I don't really know."
"Neither do I. I didn't think I'd get this far."
"Oh, Hyota…"
That Night
Warm water sprayed Nakusu in the face as he stood in the shower of the bathroom connected to the grand bedroom that he shared with Yuriye. He sighed, keeping his eye closed and letting the water soak him before he took a step back, opening his single blue eye. The opposite was sewn shut and useless.
This mission was horrendous… They treat being a ninja like a game. It is not a game, and damn it, I have a splitting headache. Women have the most obnoxious obsessions… Even Miwa was letting her tongue hang all over the floor. Well, I am sure that Aunt Ruriko and Uncle Itachi will be pleased to hear that. He thought sarcastically and sighed, closing his eye again as the hot water splashed down on him. He washed himself down before stepping out of the crystal lined shower, reaching for a plush blue towel. He dried himself off and slipped on a pair of dark boxers and a gray pair of pajama pants. He walked to the mirror and took out the white box with a fresh change of gauze and threads.
He took it out and stared at his reflection for a moment, his eye looking himself up and down before locking on his sewn shut right eye. He frowned and reached up, undoing the threads, but the eyelid only came partially opened as the corners were beginning to grow together. He took out the thread and sewed it shut again before placing a gauze pad over it, grabbing his headband and other clothes, walking out.
Yuriye was at the window, sitting on the sill while wearing a rosy nightgown and a red yukata over it. She looked up and smiled lightly, rising to her feet.
"Have a nice shower?"
"Yes."
"Are you mad?"
"No."
"You are."
"No."
"Nakusu." Yuriye stated, walking over and peeking at him. Nakusu stopped putting his clothes back in the suitcase and looking at her before sighing as he turned and plopped down on the bed, falling on his back to look up at the ceiling. Yuriye watched him, blushing lightly, glanced toward the door, then sat down and laid on the bed beside him.
"Yuriye, why do you like me?" Nakusu asked at last. Yuriye blinked and turned her head to look at him, but he kept staring up at the ceiling.
"There are a lot of reasons, Nakusu… You're intelligent, handsome, caring. You seem to know what you're doing all the time and that's good… You're so amazing, I can hardly come with anything else to describe you." She murmured, wondering if it was just her cheeks burning red or if the room was getting hot. Nakusu studied the ceiling for a moment, then rolled over on his side to look at her, propping his head up on his hand as he reached a hand out. Yuriye watched, taking quick notice to how his hand was shaking before it reeled away and Nakusu rolled back over, getting up off the bed. Yuriye frowned and sat up, watching Nakusu go to the other side of the room.
"What's wrong?" She asked. Nakusu sat down in a leather chair, leaning back and closing his eye.
"I do not know… I am tired, maybe."
"Then maybe you should go to bed. You think too much sometimes, you're going to make yourself sick that way… That and not wearing a shirt to bed."
"You want me to wear a shirt?"
"No- I mean yes, yes! Not like that, I mean… Oh, I'm sorry." Yuriye moaned, covering her red face in embarrassment. Nakusu cocked his head, giving a faint smile.
"It is fine, Yuriye. I was teasing." He answered. Yuriye blinked and felt herself blush even more as she watched Nakusu's eye slowly slid shut sleepily. She smiled slowly, cocking her head as she got to her feet, walking over to him. She reached out and ran her fingers through Nakusu's soft, clean navy hair. She sighed at the feel and leaned down, kissing him on top of the head.
"Goodnight, Nakusu…"
Morning
"Goodbye, Nakusu! Goodbye, Mayu-sensei! Goodbye, Yuriye! Goodbye, Miwa! Goodbye, Manabu! Goodbye!" Hyota wailed, rubbing his teary eyes as he flailed his long white sleeve. Yura stood at his side, sweat dropping and smiling sadly as she handed Hyota a Kleenex. The shinobi stared with deadpan expressions for a moment before laughing meekly and waving. The rest of the nobles, the Peach Tree Trio, and the King and Queen waved in return, calling out their goodbyes before the shinobi shot off through the clean winter morning, vanishing out of sight.
"Well, that was stressful." Manabu sighed, rubbing his shoulder as they headed past the mountains, taking their time as Mayu walked and did a report at the same time.
"I'm gonna miss Kaimu-sama so much," Miwa sniffled, wiping a tear from her eye dramatically, "He was so handsome and he had the voice of an angel! An angel! I swear that man was made by the gods!"
"Oh, please," Manabu mumbled under his breath, "He was just another actor."
"You're blind!" Miwa retorted and Manabu was ready to reply with 'look who's talking', but he didn't want to bring that up. Miwa was touchy about being blind in her right eye and you wouldn't even be able to tell with her good coordination.
"The sooner we arrive in Konohagakure, the better. That mission took longer than I would have liked. Three days have passed since we left." Nakusu muttered dryly as he reached up to adjust his headband. Yuriye blinked.
"Three days? Really?"
"Yes. I also cannot help, but feel something heavy in the pit of my gut…" Nakusu admitted honestly. Mayu blinked and looked up, glancing at Nakusu out the corner of his eye. Manabu turned to his cousin.
"You too?" He asked. Nakusu frowned at him.
"You?"
"Yea, I just felt like… I dunno, something bad was gonna happen. I just thought it was that whole incident at dinner last night." Manabu answered. Mayu frowned.
"No. I also have a bad feeling, but I don't think it was the incident at dinner last night… I just have this bad feeling that something bad is going to happen. It's got me uneasy, so be on your guard."
"Follow your gut instincts." Yuriye added on, earning a nod from Mayu. Miwa huffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"Oh, please. You guys are just worrywarts. Maybe you're expecting the Hokage to blow up on someone or maybe you left the stove on at home." She retorted, averting her eyes and frowning crookedly. Although… I can't help, but feel the same. She thought in annoyance as she drummed her fingers on her arms. Manabu sighed. Mayu shrugged.
"Could be it." She acknowledged.
"You're getting Alzheimer's, Mayu-sensei." Miwa grinned and Mayu bopped her on the head with her scroll, huffing.
"I'm not that old yet! Jeez, girl!"
"Is the report finished?" Nakusu interrupted their quarreling with his arms folded over his chest, an eyebrow raised. Mayu smirked at Miwa, who stuck her tongue out, before looking at Nakusu and nodding.
"All done, even the little bit about the gut feeling."
"Excellent. Hopefully the Hokage will know what this means…"
Somewhere in the dark…
"I can't believe you let me sleep longer than intended! You're useless!" Haruke snarled as he sat up in bed, throwing his arm out and smacking Naoki, who yelped and jumped back, wincing. Zakuro frowned, turning his face to Haruke, who let his hand rest on the breakfast tray that sat in his lap.
"Haruke, don't. Eat your breakfast. You have plenty of time to catch up on your work-"
"No," Haruke growled venomously, then gave the tray a hard shove and caused it to go flying across the room, crashing into a wall, "I'm not hungry! I don't want anything to eat, I want Konohagakure to be destroyed! Gather everyone together! I want the march on Konohagakure to begin!" Zakuro frowned deeply as Naoki gasped in surprise.
"Don't be stupid," He snapped, making Haruke glare daggers at him, "If you do that now, you'll lose for sure. We still need more people and weapons and-"
"You think I care? Those troops are only the main course for Konohagakure! They'll be attacked by the troops and as soon as they think it's all over, we'll send in a second wave and I'll start using my jutsu!"
"You're still not strong enough, Haruke-"
"Screw you, I call the shots here! Naoki, go get everyone together and leave behind a handful of guards to keep this place under control while I get prepared!"
"Yes, Haruke-sama!" Naoki exclaimed and scurried from the room hurriedly as Haruke threw the blankets back and stood up. Zakuro expected him to topple over, but now, to his surprise, Haruke was standing perfectly fine with his head up.
"I'm impressed." He admitted. Haruke huffed and whirled to face him, putting a fist on his hip and giving him a dirty look.
"You should be. I know when I am fine."
"You didn't when you were getting sick from fatigue."
"Shut up or I'll rip your head off."
"Sorry." Zakuro apologized with a frown as Haruke moved to the shelves, grabbing handfuls of dolls in his arms, glancing back at Zakuro with a scowl.
"Don't just stand there, help me get these dolls into the model room. I want them all in there and I want word to be received by a spy to tell me where everyone is positioned in Konohagakure on my mark."
"All right." Zakuro sighed and walked over, grabbing handfuls of the dolls. He and Haruke moved back and forth for almost thirty minutes, moving hundreds of small dolls at a time and throwing them into the room. Haruke walked into his room a last time, grabbing up a handful of dolls off his nightstand. Zakuro watched, recognizing several of the dolls as himself, Hageshii, Naoki, Kinuye, and a couple other of close guards.
"You have dolls of us. I thought you were always bluffing." He replied. Haruke smirked at him and held up a doll of Hageshii.
"I'm not stupid, like him. I never make idle threats, Zakuro. I don't trust any of you. You're just pawns." He responded curtly as he tucked the doll back into his arms. He walked into the model room with Zakuro following at his heels. Haruke got on his knees, excitedly placing the dolls before glancing back at Zakuro.
"You're not going to yell at me for not trusting you?" He asked, amused. Zakuro shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"That isn't my fault. You have every right to distrust people."
"Hmmm… That's why I like you better than Hageshii. You're smart and obedient."
"Haruke, you should be more careful about how you treat Hageshii. He was an S-ranked criminal long before you even thought of destroying Konohagakure. He's probably itching to kill you."
"Yea, right. Hageshii doesn't even know how to kill a fly." Haruke laughed and ignored Zakuro's sigh… And the fact that Hageshii was standing outside the model room door, a dark expression crossing his face as he smirked a bit angrily.
We'll just see how your plan works out, you little Uchiha snot. He thought and walked forward to meet with the rest of the troops. Haruke waited, staring in fascination at the model and the millions of dolls he'd set up around. It seemed almost hours before the headset he had set by the model started to crackle. He hurriedly put it on.
"This is Haruke."
"Haruke-sama," Came a panting voice from the other side, "I've got the coordinates of the dolls you've made, I just have to get this Chuunin and Jounin off my tail. They've got me out of the village right now!"
"Idiot, don't lead him here or I'll kill you myself! Give me the coordinates as you run, now!"
"Yes, sir! First coordinate…" Haruke listened and hurriedly moved each doll into place, his eyes moving fast as well as his reflexes. A couple twenty minutes later the model appeared as an exact replica of Konohagakure at that very moment and Haruke laughed.
"HA! Perfect!"
"Haruke-sama, can you please send someone out to help me? This Chuunin is trying to bite me! I think he can smell-"
"Yea, whatever, help's on the way. I'm busy." Haruke ripped the headset off and threw it across the room, ignoring the screams from the other end at the sound of flesh ripping and a battle for life going on. Haruke rose to his feet, laughing excitedly as he brought a thumb to his mouth, biting down and throwing the blood across the village model before making hand signs rapidly. Stream after stream, at least thirty hand signs before Haruke thrust both his hands out and chakra swirled out in symbols that sailed down and traveled along the ground just outside the village model.
"Voodoo Style! Total Possession!" Haruke barked and the symbols glowed brightly before flashing and it seemed to return to normal, save for the symbols that were etched darkly on the outside of the model. Haruke grinned and reached out to open the gates when he heard crackled and a familiar voice come over the headset across the room, making him shoot straight up.
"Haruke? Haruke, this is Roku… Are you there?" Haruke whipped around and snatched up the headset, putting a microphone near his mouth.
"You're screwed, hear me? I've already done the jutsu! Done it! Konohagakure is going to be destroyed! I'll prove it to you!" He shouted and threw the headset at the model as hard as he could, knocking over a building. He smirked for a moment before laughing out loud, almost maniacally.
"Hahahaha! Burn, Konohagakure! Burn and take all your rotten shinobi with you!"
Konohagakure
A cold feeling had settled over the village, even the civilians could feel it. Naruto stared out the window to his village, his cerulean eyes staring out over the many buildings to the great wall on the other side before he turned to Sasuke, who placed more reports from recent missions on his desk.
"Sasuke, do you feel uneasy?" Naruto asked at last, frowning. Sasuke glanced up, his expression grim as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Yea, kind of… I thought it was just because of that mission with Ruriko, Itachi, and Osamu."
"No, it's something bigger… I just get this bad feeling, like someone's watching us."
"You're paranoid."
"Hypocrite." Naruto threw back with an eye roll, making Sasuke scowl.
Suddenly, a ear piercing SHIIING cut through the air, like lightening cutting through a chorus of thunder, making the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stand up as he watched Sasuke's face drain of color. They both ran to the window in time to see a building shudder under a heavy bolt of lightening, thunder crackling furiously overhead, dark clouds seeming to form out of nowhere in the sky, hiding the sun. The building below crumbled slowly, crushing nearby buildings.
"Sasuke…" Naruto managed, his hands shaking. Sasuke stepped away from the window.
"What the hell…?"
"Freak storm…"
"No… No, it's something bigger. I'll alert the others. Naruto, you have to go out there and do something-" Sasuke was cut off as the door to the Hokage's office flew open and Hitsuki Mayu ran in.
"Lord Hokage, there are unknown troops moving in from the northwest! There's about seven-hundred at most!" She informed, grimacing. Naruto whipped around, his eyes going wide.
"Troops… Well, don't just stand there, both of you! Go alert everyone in the village, get the civilians to safety! Mayu, get the Hyuuga clan and the Anbu Black Ops unit out to the front lines immediately! Sasuke, get Ruriko and Itachi and bring them here!"
"Yes, sir!" Mayu responded and whirled around, vanishing from the room while Sasuke started to go to the door before looking back at Naruto, who was grabbing up his Hokage cloak from his chair, pulling it on.
"Naruto, watch it. Don't screw around."
"Same goes to you, bastard."
"Loser." Sasuke muttered and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Outside, another bolt of lightening struck into another building, causing it to crash to the ground, civilians running around in fright, their shrill screams reaching high up through the clouds…
A/N: (: What started out as comedy ends in drama O:! Haruke has finally launched his attack on Konohagakure, the impatient little child, so everyone will be battling! Gore, violence, blood, deaths, and horrifying events are to come! Can you handle it? … Yea, probably :) I'll be updating as fast as I can with this one! Thank you very much for reading, hope the characters are okay, and your reviews are greatly appreciated!