Another month, another update, lol. I hope y'all are doing well and that you enjoy. :)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Preparations and the Initial Assault
Some time later, back in the Elemental Nations…
Had Gaara had eyebrows, they would have been arched right about now. Sitting in his Kage office, in front of his desk, were Naruto and Kaguya with the latter's personal entourage flanking them.
"So, you're having trouble in your new home?" The redhead questioned.
"Pretty much," Naruto replied, "while I am confident in being able to handle it myself, it wouldn't hurt if I got some help. It's better to be safe than sorry."
It had been a couple of days since Naruto and Kaguya had conversed on the situation that's going on back in the former's new home. And now, they—Naruto mostly—were here asking Gaara for help.
"How soon do you need it?"
"I'm not too sure," Naruto replied. "The enemy is still mobilizing their forces. Preferably as soon as possible, though, just in case. I was thinking you could restrain them en masse so we don't have to worry about hurting them more than necessary."
Gaara frowned. "I see. I would love to," he replied, trailing off at the end.
"I'm sensing a 'but' coming up…"
Gaara nodded reluctantly. "Without Konoha," he clarified, "we are far more reliant on fishing and coastal trade. Unfortunately, a red tide has come and caused a food shortage for us. I will be fairly occupied with that for some time, but I can certainly send help if these forces arrive before our problem is resolved. I'm sure Maki would be quite eager… Temari and Kankurou are also free. I'll see if I can scrape together an anbu unit as well."
Naruto couldn't keep the grin off of his face upon hearing that first name. After saving Gaara from the clutches of Akatsuki, the cloth-wielding girl in question jumped him without hesitation and eagerly 'thanked' Naruto for helping their village as much as he had. (1)
Kaguya sighed in exasperation upon seeing that look, muttering to herself about a 'damn prolific bastard' before addressing Gaara once more. "That would be much appreciated," she replied with a polite nod.
"I'll see to it, then," he replied. Truth be told, he was still not at all a fan of this woman, but now that Naruto had her on a leash, she was at least tolerable. "They should be ready to leave by tomorrow morning."
Meanwhile, in Haru no Kuni, Moegi was also making herself useful, speaking with Koyuki over a cup of tea.
"A siege, you say…?" Koyuki asked. "How troubling…"
"Yeah," Moegi replied. "Naruto's currently in Suna, speaking with Gaara about having him help us out. I was hoping I could get my teammates involved as well. Since they've joined up with Haru's forces though..."
Koyuki smiled at that. "They've become two of my most loyal soldiers since you left, in fact. I'd be more than happy to send them on a mission to protect the father of our children, though."
Moegi smiled brightly at that. "Y'know… Kaguya still calls him a prolific bastard," she pointed out. "I think she's jealous."
The daimyou of Haru let out a distinctly unladylike snort at that. "Serves her right, as far as I'm concerned," she muttered, still slightly bitter from the war. That sour expression of hers then melted away, her cheeks burning as she suddenly found the wall to be very interesting. "Then again… to think that he so handily made her his bitch. I can't help but wonder if we should be the ones envying her."
'Very true," Moegi giggled, before returning to the more important subject matter. "I'll fill Konohamaru and Udon in when I see them. Where are they, by the way? I couldn't help but notice how empty the house was when I arrived."
"They're protecting the latest shipment from Sunagakure," Koyuki answered. "They should be back in two days or so."
The orange-haired teen nodded at that. "Alright. Good to know."
As for the girls in Neo Konoha, Sylvia was more than eager to do her own share of the work, ensuring that everything was ready for the upcoming assault. She was directing the several-dozen clones reinforcing the castle walls with fuuinjutsu to ensure no one simply burst through them without issue. They were thick as fuck and of stone, so that was unlikely, but it was better to be safe than sorry—especially when it came to warriors of the Organization. The gates in turn received the same treatment.
"It's looking good so far," she called out. "If we keep this pace up, we should be done in an hour or so."
"Good to hear!" One of the clones waved at her as he replied. "Once we have the reinforcement seals done, we'll be putting a one-way nondetection seal on top of them."
So, in other words, outside forces wouldn't be able to sense them, but they'd be able to sense those forces just fine? Oh-ho, Sylvia very much liked the sound of that!
Speaking of detection...
Sylvia looked up to see Elenda coming in for a landing and gave her an expectant look. "Report."
The bat-like Awakened Being perched on a nearby rooftop and did just that. "There's thirty of them at the border, now and I was able to sense another twenty heading there before I came back," she replied. "The Organization is definitely not pulling their punches with this one; I was also able to spot a heavily-armed caravan peeking over the horizon, so it seems they'll be sending more than just warriors."
"Keep up the good work," Sylvia praised. "Take a rest for now and head back out tomorrow."
"Much appreciated," Elenda chirped. The awakened one then flew off to do just that. She really needed it.
"I guess the Organization's taking this a lot more seriously, now," One of the Naruto-clones said after he jumped down from the walls. "From the sound of it, they're going to throw everything they have at us."
"Yeah, it has definitely escalated," Sylvia replied with a sigh. "Pretty quickly at that. I think should assume the worst if they're willing to invest this much... At this point, I have no doubt that they know about our kids..."
She looked very worried at the thought, to say the least.
"They'll try to get their hands on them if that's the case." the clone said with a huff; he crossed his arms and looked up at the castle walls, "If they're going to go after the kids though…" he trailed off with a threatening undertone. The message was clear: if the Organization is going after the kids during this attack, there'd be hell to pay.
"Oh, believe me, the rest of the girls and I feel the same," she replied darkly. "I'm going to be completely blunt here, honey: this is a declaration of war and I will see to it that we make them regret it."
"Yeah," the clone replied. "While I prefer to avoid that kinda thing, I know full well that it's not always possible. Once this siege is done and over with, the boss'll be drawing up a battle plan for our retaliation; I can guarantee it." (2)
Hell, if they're able to convert enough warriors, maybe Naruto could end up replacing the Organization with some kind of mercenary company…? There's bound to be warriors who don't want to be under the thumb of the Organization after all, and the blond had a former Number One who was stronger than Riful in his ranks. They would just have to look at her for guidance if this mercenary company idea was to take off.
"I certainly hope he does." Sylvia said with a deep frown; she blew her hair out of her face and huffed, "Those old farts in the Organization are going to realize they're biting off more than they can chew."
The next afternoon, Naruto welcomed Maki, Temari and Kankurou with a smile on his face. As he'd hoped, Gaara did indeed manage to snatch up a respectable ANBU unit, too. One woman and four men with porcelain masks and black, hooded robes accompanied them.
Apparently, though, Kaguya decided to give him a pleasant surprise and threw a few of her own soldiers into the mix—five men and two women in black and red robes with wicker hats to conceal their identities. So as to avoid any awkwardness between her troops and the others, though, she assured him that none of these Akatsuki members present were among those who took part in the Siege of Konoha or any other… incident involving Konoha, Suna or Kumo for that matter.
Speaking of Kumo, Ei had also surprised him, tossing in a few ANBU of his own.
So as to avoid awkward questions, no one present had any traits that were not native to this world, such as dark skin or… overtly vibrant hair colors. That way, they could be passed off as mercenaries that were hired to help with the incoming siege. Naruto was actually relieved Kaguya and the others had the foresight to do that; the fewer questions asked, the better.
As for Naruto himself, he was in his throne as usual with the girls and Dauf sitting beside him. Riful had a curious look in her eyes at the porcelain masks, wondering how their wearers could see and breath through those. Neideen shared the look, Sylvia seemed rather satisfied, and Kurako was eyeballing them all like a hawk, sifting through their thoughts to ensure no one was a threat to her mate and kin.
"I'm glad you all could join us," the Lord of Konoha called out. "I take it you all know the situation?"
"We do," Temari replied with a nod, "We were debriefed by Kaguya herself. All of us are ready for whatever this 'Organization' throws at you when the time comes."
"Good to know," Naruto chirped. "I'll have a tailor get you some new clothes made so you can blend in more easily without having to use Henge no Jutsu. Until then, the girls here will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the local customs here so you don't accidentally cause a scene by offending someone. Are there any questions?"
"How long do you think it'll take for the enemy to arrive?"
Naruto recognized the Akatsuki woman who asked by her voice, but he wasn't quite sure where from. Regardless, he answered, deciding to get straight to business. "We think they'll take about a week, given their current pace. Once the caravan reached this country's border, we noticed that their pace had doubled pretty quickly. Haru no Kuni should be able to send a few reinforcements of their own by then, though: including my other two students."
"What kinda soldiers are we talking, here?" Kankurou asked.
"From the feel of it, there are several-dozen warriors like us," Neideen answered.
"We're not sure what the men in black robes are capable of, so be prepared for anything from them," Naruto added. "As for any women with silver eyes like these two," he gestured towards Sylvia and Neideen, "I guess the best way to describe them would be like an army of Maito Gai… but with tits… and big-ass swords…. Do not underestimate them under any circumstances. There was one I managed to convert who was beyond kage level from her speed, strength, and skill alone. Had it not been for Kurako, she would have killed me." (3)
Those words carried weight to the ninja present. It was safe to assume that this woman was exceptionally powerful, but there could very well be more like her.
"How many of these women with silver eyes are there?"
"Normally, 47," Sylvia answered, "with around 30 or so in reserve to replace any warriors they lose on the field. But, this time around they're mobilizing over 100. We're not sure yet how many are going to participate in the siege, but it's safe to assume they have trainees being part of the attack or they have unranked warriors… possibly both."
"Something Naruto and Sylvia forgot to add is that we are immune to poisons and other chemicals of any kind," Neideen pointed out. "Even alcohol, sedatives, and medication have no effect unless we allow them to. We also have inhuman stamina and can literally fight for three days straight on average." (4)
"Oh, yeah… I kinda did forget about that," Sylvia admitted with a sheepish laugh and grin. "Though, to be completely fair, I never got a chance to find that out for myself."
"Eh, it's understandable," Neideen said with a wave of her hand. "A lotta warriors die long before they discover their limits. But back to the point; we warriors have many advantages. We can increase our overall strength with our youki; we can also reattach severed limbs and heal from injuries at an accelerated pace."
"It's also worth noting that there are two types of warriors," Riful chimed in. "Offensive types are much stronger and faster on average, but have less-potent regeneration. They still have the stamina and immunities of their peers, though, and can reattach limbs at the very least. Defensive types, on the other hand, are less powerful than their offensive counterparts but their regenerative capabilities are much greater; they can regrow entire limbs and even organs. Another thing to be aware of is that either type can subsist on but a single small meal every month." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "If I were in charge of this siege, my go-to strategy would be to play to that strength and starve us out, periodically sending defensive units to chip away at the walls and intimidate the defending forces into submission."
"Makes sense," one of the ANBU from Kumo replied.
"I take it that's why Lady Kaguya will be providing food and supplies, then," the Akatsuki girl chimed in.
"Yeah," Naruto and Riful replied at the same time. Both Naruto and Riful exchanged looks for a brief moment, before looking back at the Akatsuki members and Naruto continued from there. "Riful was very quick to come up with that as their most likely plan of attack." Then, he started pouting childishly. "Also, I recognize your voice, but can't remember where I heard it. You mind identifying yourself so it doesn't drive me batty?"
The woman giggled and removed her hat to reveal her young face with brown hair and black eyes. "I am Hisame of Amegakure, milord, pleased to meet you again."
"Ah, from the lounge," Naruto replied with a satisfied nod. He immediately knew whom he was speaking to at that moment. Then, he turned to address everyone once more. "Well, then… I thank you for your help."
Naruto wasn't quite sure how, but the week that followed felt like the longest he'd ever experienced and the shortest at the same time. Still, with Haru pulling through, he had a total force of 50 local militia men; 3 Awakened Beings; 8 trained 'claymores', including Sylvia; an effective two Kurakos, if he were to include the youki inside him; and 35 ninja, including himself, Sakura, and Moegi.
On the opposing side, marching on up to surround his new village, the Organization had sent at least 3,000 men and a massive 75 of the warriors now in their ranks. In one of those wagons, Elenda and Neideen both warned him ahead of time that there was something… terrifying, though they knew not what it was. All they knew for sure was that there were ten of them.
Naruto frowned as he kept an eye on that wagon from atop the south-eastern gatehouse. He had several archers lining the walls, accompanied by several-thousand disguised clones to give the illusion that his forces were even more massive than those of the Organization. He also saw to it that his nondetection seal encompassed the battlements, much to the Organization's dismay, and his villagers had all been evacuated to the castle. His children were also in Rouran, now for good measure. He was feeling confident, but Naruto was more than wise enough to prepare for the worst by now.
Ever by his side, Sylvia and Kurako were there with him, the latter sporting a Henge to hide her vulpine traits.
Then, a man in black stepped forth. He was an elderly chap with eyes like a hawk, dressed in a hooded cloak. He had a long, crooked nose and was thoroughly balding as he looked up to address the whisker-marked blond.
"Demon Lord Naruto of Neo Konoha," he called out. "We of the Organization are here as retribution for your crimes. Surrender now and…" The man trailed off, collapsing in a heap after Naruto's hand blurred for an instant. He was dead before he realized it, falling back to reveal the knife in his eye.
"There's my answer, bitches," Naruto called out boldly, using a wind technique to throw out his voice so that every last one of the invading forces could hear him. "Come at me, if you dare!"
With that, the siege had begun… and it did so with a full-on assault to test his defenses.
There was the sound of a horn blaring and in an instant, no less than two-dozen silver-eyed women leapt up to assail the battlements directly and cover the following ladder rush. The assault focused mostly on the gatehouse Naruto occupied while harassing the other two with smaller forces.
"Kankurou," Naruto called out.
The young man in question took his cue, stretching out his arms and the incoming women within his range all stopped in midair to their utter shock. Then, they all yelled out in dismay as he took control, wielding them like puppets to cut down the charging men before they even had a chance.
Unfortunately, they were met by several other warriors who deflected their blows and tried to restrain the women while a few others went after the man clearly controlling them as he simply had to be an Awakened One. (5)
They, themselves, were met by Kurako as she leapt off the ramparts, revealing her vulpine traits and started beating them black and blue while the archers rained hell upon any men who tried to cross the moat. Many of them were killed by the hailing arrows, others by the hapless warriors at the end of Kankurou's strings. None made it more than halfway across the ditch.
"You know, when my mate said 'come at me' I was expecting a little bit… more." Kurako taunted as she made the effort of dodging and weaving through the strikes of several warriors seem effortless. "You girls are pathetic~!"
One in particular didn't take too kindly to that as she roared, trying to remove the fox-loli's head. Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing the blade being caught between Kurako's thumb and forefinger.
"Ooh! You've got spunk! I like you~!" Kurako chirped, before yanking her forward and then kicking her back. "I think I'll save you for later." Then, she slammed another girl in the face with her elbow, grabbed the poor thing by the ankle, and started cackling maniacally as she wielded the warrior like a human flail. After knocking one into the castle wall and another two back into the ditch, sending all three and her toy straight to la-la land, Kurako then chucked the hapless warrior into another three who fell into a heap of tangled limbs. (6)
Meanwhile, the assaults upon the other two gatehouses fared no better. Temari was more than capable of cheerfully keeping the warriors at bay with her wind techniques while Naruto's students combined their efforts to stop them, creating a giant mud pit to hinder their advancement and knocking the warriors out of the sky with a combination of wind and water techniques.
It didn't take long for the Organization to get the message and soon enough, another horn blared to signal a tactical retreat. With a giggle and a swirl of black and red flames, Kurako returned to her original position as the Organization's forces took on a defensive position on the other side of the moat, hidden behind pavises to avoid any more arrow fire. To further damage the opposing forces' morale, those twelve warriors Kankurou had taken control of were restrained and taken prisoner.
Those who had coordinated the ladder rush unknowingly shared a deep frown. Clearly, this siege was going to require a more... sophisticated approach.
The twelve warriors struggled as best they could against whatever was holding them aloft, but it was all for naught. With but the slightest twitches of his fingers and a wave of his hands, the women were forced to drop their swords as they floated farther into the zwinger. Several Naruto clones were there to restrain them as Kankurou forced them to lie down, hands behind their backs. (7)
"Grah! G-get on with it then! Don't draw it out and just kill us!" One of the women spat at the clones with resigned acceptance. "Tha-that's what you're gonna do, right?!"
"No. I'm not," the clone told her as he tied the woman up. "Contrary to what the Organization said, I'm not that kinda guy. If I was, I'd have ordered Kankurou to do it instead of have him drop you back here. Now be a good girl and I'll treat you well."
She was taken aback by that to say the least. "And… and uh… if I don't?"
"I'll spank you so hard you won't be able to sit down for a week… in front of your friends."
"I… uh… that's preferable to dying, actually." One of the other women said, just as taken aback. She put up no resistance and many of the others did the same, though one was still struggling.
This one was fairly young—clearly a trainee, albeit with incredible strength. She looked to be about 13 or 14 with a very toned physique… especially for her age. Her snow white hair was partially done up in a pair of odango with straight bangs and the length hanging free to reach past her shoulders.
This girl's name was Chloe. (8)
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Chloe roared. "C'MERE AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARDLY SONOFABITCH!"
The clone restraining her with difficulty was in awe of her, "You honestly remind me of someone I used to know. Heh, I like you!" Then, he managed to pin the girl down and gave her a harsh swat on the rear.
"EEEEK!" Chloe let out a loud squawk upon feeling the impact. The smack was so hard it left a stinging sensation on her buttcheek.
"Warned you~!"
Then, he gave her another smack… and another… and another until she stopped struggling, much to the other girls' collective embarrassment, horror and, in some cases, well-hidden arousal.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Needless to say, the girls suddenly became more compliant after that display… and after Chloe stopped her struggling, the clone soothingly rubbed her butt to ease the pain.
The teary-eyed teen only whimpered, her cheeks ablaze. Stupid bastard...
Then, the Naruto clone got her to get up, her hands tied, and his hand still soothingly rubbing her butt and the twelve prisoners obediently walked to the bailey without issue.
"So… you're really not going to kill us?" Chloe asked, now rather... subdued.
"Nope. I'm really not." The clone replied, "I try to avoid killing if I can. Why do you think Cassandra and the others joined my ranks? I also treat them fairly. They were more than free to leave if they wanted, but the Organization would have had them executed. So, they stayed here."
"They're also assisting with repelling the siege," another clone added. "As I'm sure your colleagues at the northern and southwestern gates have noticed."
"Will they be spared?"
"The warriors will be," another clone answered, "you don't have to worry about that. The men? Not so much."
1: An odd thing I seem to see being missed or simply disregarded a lot is that the Kage have villages to run. I mean, even in this setting, Gaara would drop everything and help out if he could, but he's still the leader of his village at the end of the day and needs to stick around and make sure everything's running smoothly. I'd imagine just fucking off to another world for extended periods of time would lead to all kinds of trouble.
Also, that part with Maki is something I simply cannot help but picture, lol.
2: Well, then... Time for another rant. And it's a long one. Sorry in advance.
I don't know about y'all, but I find Talk no Jutsu to be one of the biggest issues with Naruto as a series. It makes Obito, Pein, Sasuke, and even Tsunade seem incredibly shallow and logically broken as characters because they were so easily switched over to Naruto's side despite years, sometimes even decades, of wanting nothing to do with Konoha at best.
It also greatly hindered Naruto as a character, because it was a get out of jail free card for harsh decisions that he should have been forced to make and grow from as a character. I mean, isn't this series supposed to be about him becoming Hokage? If so, then why the hell do we not see any advancement in his career as a ninja until literally the last fucking second?!
He is a trained soldier who wants to become the next leader of a military dictatorship. He is hated by most people in his village who ignore him at best and are shown early on to want him dead. Volume 1 of the fucking manga, we saw a lynching mob literally form when he stole the scroll!
And it was never mentioned again or addressed in any way.
Ahem... That said, it's clear that most of the think Naruto is either a demon or at least a liability; if you take this to its logical conclusion, it's clear that Naruto was neglected and is a troublemaker because the bad attention he receives as a result is seen as better than no attention. This only worsened his standing with the villagers. With Mizuki being partially in charge of his graduation, it's likely that he sabotaged Naruto's education as well, because he thought the blond in question was a demon. Throw Orochimaru into the mix and the character development and conflicts should have written themselves!
The whole "child of the prophecy" bullshit, the Fourth Great War, Talk no Jutsu, and I daresay even Akatsuki itself never should have happened and they didn't need to. But that's just me.
That said, while Akatsuki is a thing in this story, Naruto is still far more confrontational towards those who would harm his loved ones. It has been established how important they are to him in canon and thus, it simply makes more sense for his character, all things considered. He would be more protective of them, especially after experiencing what it's like to lose everything at the beginning of this fanfic, and his career as a ninja would make it clear that he can't save everyone or turn them to his side by way of a little speech. The Organization is clearly one such entity, even from his perspective, and they're after his kids. When all is said and done, he would be out for blood like any other self-respecting father.
Rant over. Again, sorry for the length.
3: I mean... he's not wrong, lol. While "Maito Gai with tits" evokes a... terrifying mental image, it sums up their abilities quite nicely as I feel that their "youki release" thing is pretty similar to the Eight Gates, mechanically speaking. The obvious differences being its set of drawbacks, of course... and that their youki is released - presumably all from one place - in the form of percentages instead of individual "gates" that serve as internal fonts of physical power.
4: While sedatives and medication are not confirmed to be hindered by their inherent poison immunity, it would make more sense for them to be than not in my opinion.
5: That seems like the conclusion they'd come to after seeing such a power, at least in my opinion... especially considering that some kind of trickery is clearly preventing them from sensing anyone in the village.
6: Is it weird that I find the mental image of a fox-loli wielding a woman twice her size as a human flail to be strangely adorable? O.o
7: Zwinger, noun: an outdoor killzone of a castle with multiple archery platforms through which the assailants are funneled. There is no word for this in English, so I'm borrowing it from German.
8: A younger heavy-bladed Chloe. In Naruto's Quest, I was the one who imagined her appearance since she was only mentioned in the Claymore manga. Figured I'd have her make another appearance in this fanfic, too.
Well, then... that very much appears to be that that. Progress continues as usual despite the whole pandemic thing, so I'll be back in two weeks with another addition to The Mirran. This story, meanwhile, will be updated next month.
I hope y'all liked this installment! Have a good one, eh? :)
OMAKE!
"Hey, Sakura-Chan, would you mind healing her butt for me?"
"...Why?"
"I... uh... told her and the other girls that if they were good, I'd treat them well… and that I'd spank them if they didn't behave. She didn't believe me."
...
SMACK!
Poof!