Hey all.
So, last time I started a new story, my own take on the Naruto in the West concept.
Anyway, I have decided on a simple Title for the Story. For those of you who have not yet realized the Title Name or have just randomly clicked on this story (Which is how I ended up on azndrgn's Story, funnily enough [I was searching for 'Naruto: Rise of the Emperor' truth be told])…
Anyway, the new Title will be 'Naruto in the West'.
Responses to Reviews:
Darth Tenibris2: For someone who doesn't have a single written story under his name you have no right to really make those accusations. There is something called a Writer's Pride, and I pride myself in creating my own original content. Yes, I may start my stories similar to the stories of others sometimes, but I do this as the foundation upon which I build my own story. The first Chapter is not the ENTIRE STORY!
Never once have I said that I copied anything. I only said that I'd take a shot at the 'Naruto in the West' CONCEPT!
There is a difference. And Original Content? I only have the first chapter uploaded, how can you in good conscience say that it is not original? If you read this, Please, feel free to send me the names and chapters of Stories where I have copied things from.
And the stories from 'Snafu the Great' and 'azndrgn'? Those stories were inspirations.
I have plans for the future chapters that contain elements that I have not seen in other 'Naruto in the West' genre stories, so either shut up or don't read the story.
silvioxp1300: I will do my best to do so.
dlowe2651: Will do.
Haziq Saffari1: ikr.
Irina Akashira: You summed up the issue I had with finding an elven participant quite well.
On with the Story…
Beta: Anko4Life
Chapter 2, Of times past (Part 1)
The doors opened and the guards announced the entrance of the 2 Shinobi from Konoha, oddly though, adding an 'X' before the Konoha.
Naruto clenched his fist before easing the muscles, glad that the sleeve of his Kimono was covering his hands whilst the silly Mask he was wearing covered his face, despite itching like a colony of Head Lice. He couldn't curse the one who came up with this Idea because it was his Idea in the first place.
He sent a small glare at Hinata, which she ignored, when he sensed her using the principles of the Juken/Juho style to massage the itching areas on her face under the mask.
"…X-Konoha Soldiers, Tsunade Senju and Jiraya the…Snail-nin?" the announcer asked the white haired person, who snapped a quick "Sannin" at him. Tsunade choked on her tongue and barely prevented herself from smashing the Guard in the face.
"That." The announcer said nonchalantly. Tsunade, having been taught royal decorum from a young age, was aghast at the informality of the Guard.
"Blondie, leave it. By royal decree, the citizens of the Empire are to be less formal when in the presence of the Royal Family." Whitebeard told her.
Tsunade got a small tick-mark upon being called blondie.
"Miss Senju, please, speak." Naruto said, knowing that he had to act else she blew a gasket.
Tsunade breathed in and out a few times to calm her nerves.
"Your Imperial Majesty, the two of us have come from the east in search of my last living relative and Jiraya's Godson." She answered.
"And what's the name of the person you seek?" Hinata asked.
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki if we use the naming sense of the Western Lands." Tsunade answered.
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and a silent conversation went between them.
"What will you do when you find him?" Hinata asked.
"We will ask him to come back and help us save Konoha from the Tyrant who holds my People in an Iron Grip." Tsunade answered, with Jiraya nodding in agreement. "The same with the two people who left with him."
"What if they don't want to return to the east?" Hinata asked.
"We'll find a way to convince him." Jiraya answered.
The council looked at them for a moment.
It was Rimuru who broke the silence with a chuckle, which was infectious. Soon, the entire Council-body as well as the Royal pair was laughing.
Tsunade and Jiraya looked around, wondering what was so funny.
"I'm sorry, but what you want to do is nigh impossible." Legolas answered their unasked question.
"And why is that?" Jiraya asked. Tsunade slapped him over the head with a hissed "Be more formal!"
"Because I doubt the Populace would appreciate it if I were to leave or involve them in yet another War." Naruto said, removing his mask. Hinata did the same.
"Naruto…you are the Emperor?" Tsunade was shocked beyond belief.
"Not my first choice is careers, but I didn't really have much of a choice." Naruto smiled. "But my predecessor made it his last Wish that I take over the reins of the Empire when he passed away just under a year ago."
"Your predecessor?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes. The first Emperor and the one who held the vision of the unification of the Western Lands." Naruto began, nostalgia in his voice. "Blackbear 'Kurokuma' Eisen. The first Emperor of the Yggdrasil Empire, and a dear friend of mine."
Naruto smiled, remembering the time when he first met Kurokuma…
Flashback, ~6 years ago
Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Karin and Tayuya arrived in the Port Town, Codshire, after a 3 weeklong boat journey.
"Finally, we are off the fucking ship and back on bloody dry land." Tayuya swore, wheeling her wheelchair down the pier towards the customs office at incredible speed.
"Tayuya-san, Language." Neji called.
"Bite me." She snapped back.
"She is right though. 3 weeks of nothing but waves and sea sickness, I am glad to have good old earth under my feet again." Naruto said.
Hinata giggled and Karin chuckled.
"Let's go and see if we can find a room or two." Karin said.
Later, that evening
The group of 5 gathered around the table and were discussing their next step.
"The place seems quite run down. I'd like to remain here and help repair some of the buildings." Naruto stated.
"Whilst I am not overly fond of being around people, I agree with shithead." Tayuya agreed.
"I'd suggest moving more inland, away from here. This would be the first place for any 'Hunters' to look for us." Karin gave her vote.
"That would be my suggestion as well." Neji agreed.
All eyes turned to Hinata, who blushed from the sudden attention, thought for a moment.
"I'll say that we stay here for a few days. We do not know this land nor it's people. Thus it would be dangerous for us to travel anywhere else without knowing what the current situation is around us." She finally said.
The others nodded, some in resignation others not. She had a valid point. Without proper knowledge about the people they were amongst, they could not truly hope to fit in.
"This means that we will have to find a short-term job." Neji said.
"Tayuya, you always wanted to play your flute in front of an audience." Karin said, with Tayuya opening her mouth to swear, retort or something along those lines, then closed it, remembering having spoken to Karin about that sometime in the past.
"That is actually a good idea." Naruto said. The others nodded. When not using her flute to cast her genjutsu, Tayuya was actually an accomplished musician.
"Then what will the rest of us do?" Hinata asked.
"I could help out at the local clinic." Karin suggested.
"I'll go and look for work as a builder." Naruto said.
"I'll go with him." Neji said.
"Hinata, how about you work as a waitress for the Landlord downstairs?" Naruto suggested.
Hinata thought about it, then nodded. "As long as the clients don't get to handsy, I can do that."
'Oh, you poor girl. You have no Idea how drunk clients act.' Tayuya and Karin thought.
A few days later
It didn't take long for news to spread amongst the population of Codshire of their arrival.
Naruto and Neji quickly gained a reputation of being hard working and trustworthy workers who did everything properly, despite a lack of experience, and were often sent all over the Town to help the work crews that were desperately short on manpower.
Tayuya spent the sum total of 3 hours on the street corner before the local theatre owner invited her to perform on stage. Tayuya would later admit to having used a small genjutsu to help accelerate her climb of the social ladder.
Karin was the least known person amongst the group since she worked as the Doctor's assistant, though she admitted that she still had a lot to learn in terms of combating sicknesses and diseases, using the local medicines which were already in short supply due to the ongoing warfare.
Then there was Hinata. Where to even begin…
News of her working in the Inn spread faster than wildfire and the Inn's popularity boomed overnight. Her calm and shy demeanour attracted the hearts and minds of most of her sober clients and those few drunks who tried to either force themselves on her or just to molest her quickly found themselves on the end of a vicious beating of the still sober members of Hinata's new Fanclub.
Once, when Naruto came home from work, they nearly beat him up as well when he gave Hinata a small peck on the cheek.
The ONLY reason they didn't was because Hinata spread chaos and carnage to those who landed a hit on Naruto.
And the local lord, who witnessed the display, offered her a job as an attendant for his family, which she respectfully declined.
Currently, Naruto and Neji were working on replacing the rope of the Dock's Crane when the alarm horn sounded.
In the ensuing chaos, Naruto climbed to the highest point he could see, in this case the small lighthouse right next to the docks, and looked around to see what was going on.
"Neji, the Town is under attack!" he shouted down. "Approximately West-South-West. Another army is also approaching from the North, different colour."
Neji nodded and left to warn the others.
Naruto nodded and leapt from his vantage point to a balcony 20 odd feet below him, and from there to the ground another 30 feet below that.
After that, he sprinted for Codshire's Walls to see if he could help.
Once there, he barely managed to say that he was there to help before a spear and a crude helmet were pushed into his hands and he was told to man the ramparts.
"What is going on?" he asked around.
"Dunno." The militiaman next to him groused out, a sailor, Naruto reconned, by the hoarse sound of his voice.
"Warlord Akamaru has violated the neutrality of our Territory and Warlord Kurokuma has come to support us." A Guard Captain shouted, addressing everyone on the Walls. "Kurokuma's troops will keep Akamaru occupied long enough for the Civilians to evacuate to the nearby fort where they will be safe."
"What will be our duty, Sir?" a man near Naruto asked.
"We will hold these walls against any sneaky attacks sent by Warlord Akamaru, at any costs." The Commander shouted.
Timeskip
Over the next 2 days the Battle between Kurokuma and Akamaru raged, and during each engagement, Kurokuma's lines were pushed back.
"Hey, Neji." Naruto asked.
"Yes?" Neji answered.
"What are the odds, in your opinion, that the inhabitants of this town will not survive this Battle?" Naruto asked.
"Almost guaranteed at this rate." Neji sighed. "You are not planning to do 'that', are you?"
"I will if I have to." Naruto said.
"You there, desertion is an offense, punishable by death." A nearby officer shouted, having overheard Neji and Naruto talking.
"Prick." Naruto cursed when the man was out of hearing range. "What would he know."
Later that day
"Hold fast!" The cry came just as Warlord Akamaru's soldiers brought up scaling ladders, having broken through Kurokuma's flank and opened a route to the Town.
The defenders were forced to take cover because of the arrows and stones being lobbed at them by the soldiers below, though Naruto and Neji just caught and threw the projectile back where they came from.
When the first soldiers landed on the ramparts, it became clear that the ill-equipped town militia would not be able to match the battle hardened soldiers opposing them.
Except for 2 of them, that is.
Neji engaged the first soldiers with some effort on his part due to their armour and shields.
Naruto…did what he did best…
With Kurokuma
"The Hell is that?" one of the Generals under Kurokuma's command asked as a huge smoke cloud appeared on the walls of the town they were fighting for.
"Better yet…what is that?" Kurokuma asked seeing a mass of figures suddenly throw the soldiers at the foot of the Walls back, effectively reforming his broken flank whilst at it…before simply continuing their assault on Akamaru's forces.
Back with Naruto and co
"Well, there he goes." Neji commented. "Hinata will not be happy about this."
"What is going on?" "How is this possible?"
These questions and more were being asked by the surviving townsfolk as Naruto's army of clones fought a hard battle against the enemy's soldiers.
"Who the hell are you people?" one of the officers asked Neji. He recognized him as the one who threatened Naruto earlier that day.
"Just some people trying to get away from constant War and wishing to live peaceful lives somewhere." Neji answered.
"Then how do you explain that?" the man asked, pointing out the carnage below them.
"That is Naruto saving your lives, so stop asking questions and shut up unless you have something sensible to say." Neji answered.
The man and those around him immediately shut up, having seen him fight, they knew that he outclassed them more so than Akamaru's soldiers did.
Down below, Naruto grunted as he dodged a club aimed for his head, only to have the man's shield slam into his face, sending him sprawling. A nearby Clone of his grabbed the man's club before it could be brought down on Naruto's head.
A quick jab to the throat made the man drop the club and grab his injured throat.
The Clone was not able to follow up on the jab as he was stabbed by a spear. The man wielding it got his hands slashed by Naruto, who then turned and kicked the downed man whose throat his clone hit, in the head, rendering him unconscious.
Hearing steps behind him, Naruto rolled out of the way, though he still received a small cut down his left arm. Another clone came in and stabbed a Kunai under the swordsman's arm, where the armour was non-existent.
Naruto was given a breather, which he used to look around. All around him, his clones and enemy soldiers were locked in a vicious melee, with his clones slowly gaining ground.
A whistling sound snapped him out of it and he saw the incoming arrows too late. Fortunately, he was only hit in the thigh muscle and his forearm.
Making note of the arrowheads around him, Naruto realised that none of the arrows were barbed, so he grabbed the arrows in him and pulled them out, holding back curses as he did so.
Ignoring the pain in his arm and leg, Naruto crossed his fingers again to reinforce his one-man-army, and the battle raged on until the sun began to sink below the horizon.
Naruto was later found by Neji, badly injured, but alive and asking for a bowl of Ramen.
Yup, he'll be alright.
The next day
Morning broke upon the land around Codshire and as the high of battle finally wore off, soldiers and civilians alike swallowed the bile threatening to erupt from their stomachs upon seeing the scores upon scores of corpses littering the battlefield.
Almost immediately the clean-up began as every able-bodied man was drafted into either digging mass graves or hauling the dead onto carriages to be brought to said mass graves.
Kurokuma meanwhile was in a discussion with the Local Mayor about the sudden appearance of the reinforcements, but he had no answers.
Meanwhile, in a makeshift hospital in Codshire, Naruto was being bandaged up, having suffered numerous wounds during his brash assault on the enemy soldiers, with Neji having convinced Hinata to wait until the nurse was done bandaging Naruto before beginning her lecture.
"10 Bucks she will rant for 10 bloody minutes." Tayuya said.
"20 that the rant will go on for longer than 30." Neji countered, shaking her hand on that.
…
Hinata wasn't done until she literally dropped asleep on top of Naruto 4 hours later and Tayuya invented new swearwords as she handed Neji a handful of cash.
Timeskip, next morning
Kurokuma walked into the room, seeing the two dark haired members first cause their hair tends to stand out in a white room after all, then the red-haired female in the wheelchair next to them.
He then saw the blond-haired male on the bed next to the dark-haired female. Instantly, his instincts told him that this is who he was looking for.
"Before we begin, allow me to firstly thank you for saving this Town." He greeted them with a bow. "My name is Eisen 'Kurokuma' Blackbear, Warlord of these lands."
Flashback end
Naruto smiled at the memory of his first meeting with Kurokuma.
"Yggdrasil? What is that?" Jiraya asked. In all of his life, he had never heard of such a word before. Tsunade was just as baffled.
"It is the name of a large tree from Kurokuma's ancestral home." Naruto answered. "I also asked him about it when he told me about his ambitions, after training and rising through the ranks that is…"
Flashback, ~5 years ago
"So, Blackbear…" Naruto began, referring to Kurokuma by his real name, not the title/nickname, "…I know that you have a dream to unite the western lands, but what will you even call it?"
Much has changed in the year following the battle of Codshire. Naruto and his group were accepted into Kurokuma's army, with Tayuya receiving the best medical attention that was available and after a series of operations, she regained most of the functions in her legs, though it wouldn't be until 2 years later that she fully recovered.
Naruto and Neji were taken under the wing of Kurokuma's Generals, who trained them, taught them the Art of War as well as Leadership skills that worked for both the military as well as Civilian affairs. Naruto excelled at these, surprisingly, whilst Neji surpassed him in pure combat potential. Naruto made up for this by trouncing him in each and every game of chess and Hnefatafl, a game originating in Kurokuma's ancestral home. (1)
Hinata was taken under the arm of Kurokuma's sister, who refined Hinata's court etiquette and such skills, though she had to refuse proposals on an almost daily basis from those Noble Families serving under Kurokuma's banner. Eventually even Naruto had enough and publicly proposed to her, which she happily accepted. Less than 10 minutes later, Neji took him aside and, because Hiashi requested he do this to anyone Hinata accepts, gave him the usual list of threats should Naruto break Hinata's heart, much to the mirth of Karin and Tayuya, whilst Hinata just awkwardly chuckled when Neji gave an additional list of threats, not as a proxy, but as a cousin.
Karin meanwhile continued to hone her medical skills and was taught a defensive Martial Arts style, effectively becoming a combat medic/doctor. Due to the ongoing wars, she quickly gained vast amounts of experience with wounds, broken bones and PTSD counselling, the last one being especially hard for her since she herself had a very light case of PTSD since she watched her mother's murder for lack of a better term due to Kusa putting too much strain on her Families Healing Bloodline.
"I shall call it the Yggdrasil Empire." Kurokuma answered, taking a swig from his mead.
"Yggdrasil? What is that?" Naruto and Hinata asked.
"It is a tale passed down by my Family since before our people were forced out of our ancestral home, far to the north, a land where water turns to stone all year around." Kurokuma answered, looking sombre. "There, Legends told of a Tree so big that from roots to crown, it connected 9 worlds to each other, including this one, called the Yggdrasil, the World Tree." He turned to look at Naruto, Hinata, Tayuya, Neji and the others in the room, some of whom were former enemies, others recent allies, but all at a point where they can call each other Friend.
"My dream is for the Yggdrasil Empire to serve a similar purpose, to connect all the people in the Western lands, no matter who they are or what race and/or culture, they will find a home within the empire." Kurokuma said proudly.
"So you wish to instill a sense of unity within the name itself, hoping that it will inspire the people to fight for a united cause instead of following individual warlords?" Neji asked.
"Indeed, my friend." Kurokuma answered with a smile. Naruto chuckled, before lifting his cup and toasted the name, which everyone in the room answered with cheers.
(1): Hnefatafl is an ancient Scandinavian game sometimes referred to as Viking Chess. It originated sometime around the 8th Century BC and was played for at least 2 centuries until the precursor to Chess came around and replaced it. I have personally tried to play the game, however, I cannot say that I am experienced enough at it to write anything more about it. If any of you know the game, could you send me an instruction manual on how to play it?
…
AND DONE!
So that wraps up Naruto and co.'s arrival in the West.
Next time will be another series of Flashbacks, this time revolving around how Tayuya and Karin joined the group…with an interesting twist I've decided to add.
Also, If you want to have specific people appear in this story, please PM me. That way I can go into detail whether or not I can add them. (It mostly depends on whether or not I have seen the series of origin or if there is sufficient information on a wiki that I could use.)
Anyway, please feel free to R&R.