Warning: I do not own RWBY, that belongs to Oum & Rooster Teeth. Nor Naruto that is shonen and his creator.
xxx Konoha xxx
"What! No way you got to be chunin?" Kiba was flabbergasted.
"Congratulations Shino" Hinata was happy for her teammate
"This is a great honor shino I say we should celebrate as soon as possible" Kurenai beamed. She never thought she would be this happy for one of her students but here she was.
"Thank you, all of you. I did not think I would have made chunin, my performance in the chunin exams was rather lackluster" Shin accepted the thanks, tugging at his chunin vest.
"Being chunin is more than flashy moves. You showed good tactics and on the spot thinking when you fought off gaara's clones, being chunin means you have to be able to adapt on the spot if something goes wrong ... well that and fast handwriting. Trust me the paperwork will kill your wrist" she explained.
"I see" shino rubbed his wrist worryingly.
"But that is later, I think what we should do is celebrate. I know a nice place where we can get lunch. It's quite, cheap, and allows dogs" Kurenai said.
"I would be fine with that but I will need to be back by the evening. Father believes it is time to start training to handle another hive" the aburame "And with the declaration ... I fear for the worst."
And like that the mood chilied, the declaration of war against suna. They all knew it was coming, their village would never let go of such a brazen attack and after what has happened ...?
"S-Shouldn't it take to assemble our forces?" Hinata asked.
"I wish Hinata, we already have thousands of shinobi recalled after the invasion and hundreds more when the election began, there's almost a fourth of our total military might right now, more than enough to attack suna with the rumors of their situation" Kurenai answered.
"What about us, will we be also fighting suna shinobi to?" Hinata asked.
"No, as genin you be placed either on patrols around safe zones or help support transport lines. Genin rarely fight against enemy shinobi, the most you have to worry is a skirmish" their sensei assured the.
"Will you be joining the main force to sensei?" Shino asked.
"I will, the main force will be departing in a few days. Until then Shino will be in charge of the team ... and a jonin will take over as my role as sensei if I perish in the war" Her genin moods tensed at her words "No one knows what can happen in war and I only want you three to be prepared for the worst ... look, let's not focus on that stuff for now. Today is a day for celebration let us focus on that for now."
xxx Team 9 xxx
"Yosh, Neji my student, the joy I feel right now cannot be described!" Gai cried out "Your flames of youth have truly push you to new heights and now you are chunin because of it!"
"Thank you sensei" Neji thanked his sensei as he looked back at his new jacket. It seemed surreal for him to be wearing this after his battle with the hokage. "I did not think I would have earned the rank. My performance was rather lackluster."
"Neji you shouldn't put ourself down like that. Clearly the hokage saw the potential and after your battle ... you've changed for the better. Your ego was the greatest worry I had with you. But seeing it humbled I think now people are really seeing the power of your youth" Gai said to his student.
"Like Gai-sensei said ... I only wish Lee was here too" said Tenten.
No one on team Gai could forget their missing teammate. Ever since Gaara had crushed his arm and leg the boy was stuck in the hospital with no real word on his status, the only one who knew anything would be Gai-sensei.
"Sensei ... will Lee be coming back to the team?" Tenten asked with temptation.
"I am not sure Tenten, from what I have heard from the doctors he has three choices. He can quit first, the damage done by gaara is quite severe it is not as simple as putting his bone back to where it was. Whatever that boy did it was near-permanent. Lee may be forced to leave if he cannot recover. However that is a last resort, the second option he has is replacing his damaged limbs with prosthetics.
They would need to import chakra conductive wood and teach him to expel his chakra outward and use it to control his new limbs. That will take months if not years of rehabilitation, that is not including the cost. The third option for Lee is surgery, it is incredible risky and there is only a thirty percent chance that it will work ... or it may end in death."
"Death!? You can't be serious sensei" Tenten was shocked at the very thought her teammate dying in surgery.
"I don't know all the details but the surgery requires the use of special drugs. Some that could cause death if not handled properly" Gai felt no better than his student on the matter. He won't lie that a part of him wants revenge for what gaara had done, not only did he attacked his home but crippled one of his student.
"But isn't Tsunade back, can't she do something for lee?" Tenten pressed.
"Tsunade is a busy person Tenten, there is no reason for her to take her time on Lee ... no matter how much I want her too" Neji's face was scrunched.
"Look you two let Lee have some time to think over this. But more importantly make sure he understand that we are their for him no matter what, alright?" Gai's students nodded their heads. "Good, now how about we go get him something nice to eat."
xxx Team 10 xxx
"Well Shikamaru the jacket certainly fits you" Asuma noted "Congratulations on the promotion, normally this calls for a nice drink or two"
"Ech, let's not do that ok. I think dad would be pretty upset if he saw me having to carry your drunk body back home" Ino sniffed "Besides, I think there are better ways to celebrate."
"Yeah, we can host a party at my house. Dad was rather happy hearing you promoted to chunin you know" Choji readily agreed.
"That would be nice, your mom really knows how to make a mean katsudon. Really I'm more worried than anything, with me being a chunin means less time for me relax or cloud watch ... troublesome I tell you" Shikamaru sighed.
"Good, maybe being chunin will finally kick that laziness out of you" Ino beamed.
"Hopefully, however this does mean you won't be able to skip out on training any longer. Since your only newly promoted konoha won't throw a lot missions at you but that won't last forever. And with the war that is about to start you will need to get on that ASAP, that goes for all of you too" Asuma spoke.
"Yeah ... the war" no one needed to be reminded on that "So how long till we are deployed?"
"You three won't be deploying anytime, the jarheads above belief we should be able to win this war in a months time. All of Suna's forces are hold up in their village and with the daimyo bombarind their village ... well you get the picture. Besides, someone needs to explain the rest why you should be worried about wind users" Asuma answered.
"Well hopefully this war business can be over quickly, I mean if Naruto could destroy that biju then suna should be a walk in the park" said Ino. As much as did not like the blonde at the moment even she knew he was certainly powerful.
"Yeah, hopefully" Asuma echoed. Poor kid, his first day as Hokage and already they were preparing for war, just like his old man ... well at least for him it was the middle of one. "Still, don't underestimate suna it still boost a large amount of shinobi and they definitely will have members on par with our own, well right up to S-rank that is where we beat them in spades."
"Still sucks Naruto has to be leading the army. Man I get shivers even thinking about that, way too much work for me" Choji added his two-cents.
"Fair, I know dad himself was scared when he was forced to guide konoha through the first shinobi war ... I wonder how Naruto will handle it?" Asuma asked.
xxx Hokage Office xxx
"Already starting a war, my my not even sarutobi was this blood thirsty when he took office" the fire daimyo smiled.
"You disagree with me?" Naruto asked.
"When did I ever say that" the man asked "Suna has insulted me and such an insult cannot go without punishment. However, I am confused why you asked for my aid?"
"I'm sure your are already informed of the forces I've assembled. However this is suna I am attacking ... and I want ask for your samurai to help in the battle against suna" naruto explained.
"And why so? Surely your shinobi is enough or do you think the strength of your village is not enough to handle one of weakest major villages" the daimyo asked "Plus there is the lack of anything on aura—"
Naruto slied a scroll to the daimyo "It contains everything about aura in the worst case scenario. Both of my teammates have theirs unlocked and will unlocked those you trust if that is what you wish. As for how many aura users we can field I offered 10 aura powered samurai to 2 aura powered shinobi. I feel like that is a fair trade, with shinobi and their chakra this should hopefully equal it out."
The daimyo opened the scroll as he scanned the contents ... they were quite favor if not bias towards his own men. Had it been Sarutobi or even Minato they would've fought to change the ratio to less favor the daimyo. It always was a struggle to keep the more independent shinobi villages in line, at least the boy is more then willing to work with him.
"My my, throwing this all at me without anytime to carefully look over it. On one hand I could force you to sit here and I go over the contents over carefully, but doing so will leave your army without their head ... you could have one of your men go in your stead but others may see it was weakness. On the other I could go with this know and face the consequences later" the man muttered.
...
...
...
"You are lucky I am more interested in seeing Suna pay for this betrayal" the man sighed "Your teammates will unlock the aura of some of my most trusted samurai when you leave. You will have your samurai but remember suna must learn to never try such an act like they did, do what you must but the message must be sent."
"Understood my lord" Naruto bowed as the man left the room. Minutes passed before the door opened again and his team entered the room.
"I guess I can say the Daimyo accepted your request?" Kakashi asked.
"The samurai will be with us during the war" Naruto smiled "However, Sasuke & Sakura will need to stay back and show the Daimyo soldiers on the inner working of aura."
"Aw, and nothing for your dear old sensei. You know I think I could do some aura ... maybe a sensei tax?" Kakashi wondered aloud.
"We can do it later sensei, we still have a war to win" Sakura light chided "So this it, do you really think we can really win against suna. I mean sure we have gaara and some their strongest warriors but they still are a major village."
"Also what about the other villages, not like they'll be doing nothing" Sasuke added. Sasuke had confidence that they could win against Suna but the on thing his teammate forgot was that there were other villages, villages that did not like Konoha. Iwa would be the first village, if suna fell that meant their would be nothing stopping konoha from getting in striking range of Iwa.
Or perhaps Kumo, if Konoha permanently kept gaara that meant the balance of power would shift in their favor. With naruto's supposed control over his biju kumo may want to either take gaara or shukaku to prevent them from gaining any more powers. Then again when was that village ever not greedy?
"I doubt they will risk anything, the wind daimyo himself was already attacked his own village. By all accounts he has stripped them of their title as main shinobi village of the land of wind. Kumo is too far to care, Iwa may push for smaller villages that are more friendlier to them to be the next main village. And for Kiri ... well they're no ones problem" Naruto assured them.
"However, there is something I want to talk to you about kakashi-sensei" Naruto spoke.
The man looked up from his book "Hm?"
"You will be my substitute while I'm fighting suna" said Naruto "I need you here with my council to run the village"
"No, you know I don't want the hat and besides I'm not good with bureaucratic work. Surely your council can rule until your back?" Kakashi refused.
"Maybe but I would rather prefer it being someone I trust sensei and your the best pick. Your reputation will ensure no one will doubt your strength and you still know the village's inner workings regardless of your opinions. Besides with what we know the battle over Suna should not be too long, a few months as my advisors are informing me" Naruto spoke.
"Naruto, as your sensei I wish to be at your side as we fight. I hate to you lose or anyone I care for again" said Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei, I understand what you mean ... but I need you here to hold down the fort. I trust Tsume, Shibi, and Haishi but not Danzo, I need someone like you to keep him and the rest in line. Besides I will be having Shikaku and Jiraiya at my side, I think I will be fine" said Naruto.
...
"Dammit ... fine, I'll hold your hat for now but you owe my big time naruto" the man sighed.
"And you will be rewarded sensei" Naruto chuckled at the man's plight. "Now I think we have discuss enough of war plans. For tomorrow morning we march for Suna"
xxx Konoha Forces Weeks Later xxx
"Have the scouts returned back yet?" Naruto watched thousands of tents, fortifications, and men prepare for the night. It took them a week to pass through the wind country's borders and they were only a few days away from reaching Suna. "And what about the samurai, when will it take for them to arrive?"
"The scouts should be back soon, if not we can always send more to check on them" Shikaku answered "As for the samurai it will take a week for them to catch up with us we are still getting our supply lines straightened out and the Wind Country has always been a pain in the ass when it came to logistics."
"I see, well there is still some sunlight left so let's focus on our plans" the hokage motioned his general to follow as they entered his personal tent. He ordered one of the guards to get Jiraiya as the two waited for the man to appear.
"Yo, you called kid?" the sannin asked as he entered into the tent.
"Indeed, I believe it is time to go over our plan for suna. Jiraiya I am assuming you have the most knowledge of the villages defenses out of all of us" said naruto.
"Probably, well to begin with Suna is built to endure and keyword endure, that village is more wall then village sometimes. Suna is situated within a large vally, it provides them with natural shade and protection against the elements. The only real way to enter the village is through a narrow slit between two cliff faces and that is a death trap for any invader. Arrow slits, bobby traps, you name it they probably have it and if it gets real bad they can seal the pathway up" Jiraiya explained.
"I would assume scaling the wall is a no go?" Naruto asked.
"Correct, outside of having dozens of bunkers within the cliffs they've layered it with so many chakra disruption seals not even I can get rid of them without being blow away; And speaking on that I would not be surprised if they placed some explosive seals too, nothing like a rockslide to force enemies away" said the Sannin.
"Going around would not work either, even if we did scale the valley that way they would see us a mile coming. So that leaves us with going underneath or going above" Shikaku added "Both however have their flaws, if we go above we have to worry about their wind users blasting us away and going underground will be troublesome. Suna has the second largest amount of earth users and I expect them to have some way of knowing our arrive if we choose that way as well."
"... How troublesome indeed, Jiraiya do you have a plan for this?" Naruto asked.
"I think so, had to pull some strings but here it is" the man pulled a faded scroll and opened to show a map of Suna, he pointed a small line leading out of the village "During the rule of Nidaime Kazekage the man issued a new project meant to transport waste from the village however after his death the plan was scrapped midway. The thing is the pipeline is still there and it seems like everyone else has forgotten about it. I had some my people look at it and it seems you can fit a man through it without much hassle.
The pipeline itself connects to an old water well within the village. If I get me and a team of summoners I can bring the full Toad clan out to cause chaos, during that time I can also bring in some 'carrier' toads, these guys were trained to carry large groups of people to different places. We get enough shinobi in there and we end this battle in one single swop!" the man explained.
...
"Well, you certainly did not waste any time. Yes, this could work very well, but if I may, I can bring others with me when I fly and we could also rain down more damage. Suna will be forced to split their attention on two fronts. Shikaku, do you think we can use our earth users to open the pathway if they closed it?"
"Potentially, it will take time but if their focus on two different fronts they won't be able to protect the main pathway as well. Couple with the Wind Country's and our samurai ... yes, it could work. In that case Suna will be overstretched in trying to defend from three different angles" The nara nodded. "I think we may have a winning plan here."
"Good, Jiraiya do you have anyone in particular you want to go with you?"
"Already have them, they know what strategy I'm using" Jiraiya waved
Nodding Naruto was about to speak when a chunin rushed into the tent "Chunin, is there something amater?"
"Yes Lord Hokage. The scouts have returned and they bring terrible news, the Wind Daimyo is being held hostage by Suna!"