Rainfall
When the dawn of the Third Shinobi War came, the average ninja, kunoichi and shinobi alike, would speak in patriotic and excited tones, wanting the chance, the opportunity, to avenge what they had lost. To bring glory to their country and village. They would fight, they would destroy, and they would thrive, sustained by the pain and blood of their enemies, their screams a tortured overture to a new beginning. They would win, cast in light from the soft glow of the sun, warm and fat and victorious.
When the dawn of the Third Shinobi War was over, there was no sun. Terrible flames lit swaths of forest on fire blocking the sun with a nightmare monster black smog. They had mutually destroyed any hope for the future out of a desire to see it.
…
In the border between Grass and Earth, an encampment of Mist shinobi, hired by grass as mercenaries to defend themselves from the ongoing war, came across the brunt of a major Stone offensive aimed at taking control of the northern territories as a bulwark against the Hidden Leaf.
The following fight went on for so long the battle's smog cleared and the sun began to shine again. Despite this, nobody noticed.
…
Kuro woke to the sun in her eyes, dirt on her face and blood on her body. She first wondered why she wasn't in a bed, then when she got her bearings, looked around and wished she was dead already. The ground was muddy, splashes from water jutsus and the rain that came down somewhere in the 2nd hour turned the soil into a thick sludge. It was treasonous, but she felt a pull towards sitting down for the rest of the battle. fate must've had other plans, however, as her attempt to put her head back against the mud-covered tree she had been pushed into by an earth jutsu was disrupted by some Stone nin, who launched a single shuriken, nicking her cheek. With all the enthusiasm of a half-dead Cat, she grabbed her standard issue Mist katana, and slowly walked over to the squirt launching easily deflected discs at her, swatting them away with minimal effort.
In one deft slash, she sliced the boys head clean off, even more annoyed at the lack of a fight he put up. She was about to return to her resting spot, when the earth beneath her crumbled and she fell into a group of Stones. Both groups panicked, though Kuro panicked for a shorter amount of time (Making a world of difference), as she thrust her sword forward killing the 1st, bit the jugular of the 2nd, killing him, and bisected the 3rd after removing the newly bloodied blade from the sternum of lucky guest number 1, killing her instantly.
Even more exhausted now, and covered in even more blood, she walked out of the standard issue chakra made recovery pit she found herself in, using chakra to stick to the wall in a near instinctual action. Her walk was slow and fatigued, but still she pushed on.
Eventually she came across a clearing, where a clash was happening. A seemingly powerful Stone jonin was battling her mentor, Ameyuri, a member of the legendary swordsmen of the mist, and wielder of the famed Kiba swords.
The two were in a heated battle, the thin Stone ninja using his agility and speed to curve around the twin blades, though, Ameyuri figured out a pattern, slashing the nin at his chest, which would've killed had he not reacted in time. As it was a thin red line cut a ravine through his tanned skin, a win in Kuro's book. The shinobi transitioned the backwards lean into a backwards springboard, moving away from the sword user.
He managed to duck in time to avoid an arc of electricity launched through the tip of a glowing Kiba and forced out a 5-fold fan of thrown shuriken, one absorbing the overcharged blast and the others on a crash course with Ameyuri. Thinking fast, she slid on her knees under the horizontal line of projectiles, jumping up in the air in a spin, transferring the momentum into an attack with a barrage of water sendbon. In response he lept high into the air, but was forced to deflect 3 well placed kunai, thrown in anticipation of his retreat.
Preparing a string of handseals mid-air. A glop of thick mud travelled with extraordinary velocity as it impacted with a hastily put-up water prison, filled with water dense enough to protect the swords woman. Foreseeing a threat, the man lifted himself up with a column of earth, just in time to avoid the lighting arcs emanating from Kiba, their range and destructive power increasing due to the water, then responded with bursts of shuriken, intersecting at their target and littering Ameyuri with blades. However, soon after the body was revealed to be filled with water, and the man was launched into the ground with an explosive application of lightning chakra from behind. With a final body flicker to the incapacitated man, Ameyuri decapitated him with one clean stroke, like a hot knife through cream, his head falling to the ground with a satisfying thud.
The battle was over, as was the haze that accompanied it. Ameyuri began to survey the battlefield, intent on recuperating some of the losses caused by those (Pathetic) Stone shinobi, when she saw the figure of her student standing by the side with a smile on her face.
"You won!"
Ameyuri looked at her with startled eyes. "Yeah, I won."
Then Kuro, covered in a thick paint of blood, collapsed, the blood loss from the stab to the torso she got an hour before finally catching up with her.
…
On the other side of the elemental nations, on the Rain-Fire border, Kumori had arrived to sort out a small conflict. He arrived at the outpost dividing Rain and the no-man's land of a border dispute. All the men saluting him were equipped with regular weapons, not firearms. They were protected with seals, and Fire, even now, had the greatest number of actual seal masters, good and adequate. He was here because Fire had started hostilities by abducting a couple of Chunin (probably ANBU, doing it under the Hokage's orders to obtain the guns for research.) and he hoped to diffuse the rising tensions.
"Ok, I'm going in."
He then, in a simple but determined way, began walking towards the Leaf's side of the no-man's land, much to the shock of those stationed at the post, the big monstrous wall it was. Step by step he walked bit by bit closer to his destination, as if he was an immovable object, hard steps making little noise after years of practise.
Eventually, just before he reached the tree line, an ANBU showed. They were stood, tall and strong like the tree their feet were perched upon, but shadowed, giving of the impression that they wanted to be seen, but weren't far enough away from cover to escape.
The Lizard faced ANBU held up a palm and spoke with a muffled deep voice. "Halt! Come closer without reason and we will be forced to defend ourselves."
Kumori looked up with a knowing smile. "Was it 'defending' yourselves when you abducted my men? Or do you just kidnap soldiers for shits and giggles?"
"Kumori Dokusei isn't it? I've heard about you"
He got serious now "Well then, you'll know I'm not here for fun. I want a promise that the 3rd Hokage will meet me face to face for the terms of the hostages."- here, seeing the ironic revolt evident even under the Lizards mask, he interjected "and I want you to give him the message regardless of your thoughts about me. This matter is too important for pettiness to be what ends up ruining it."
They straitened but seemed to follow Kumori's words after a second of hesitation, ego or loyalty halting them, who knows.
He had the meeting just in time. Only took him 10 minutes too. He started his walk back. He wanted to have some lunch. Never negotiate on an empty stomach.
…
No extravagant wooden office reminiscent of old Senju culture was present. The rendezvous was seemingly improvised, he assumed as much since it was on such short notice and a situation that was increasingly uncommon. Nevertheless, the location was picturesque, with a small stream of cool water running through the middle of a green forested haven, the grey stone river carving a calm slice through the encroaching verdant life surrounding it. There were two openings on each side of the mirror, open to the clear skies above, nothing like Rain, but you knew that.
One moment only the peace of the forest and the dark of the shades rested in the meeting place, the next, a figure so legendary he was called a god had arrived.
Though he was short, he had an unbelievable presence around him, something drawing you to him, shouting out about his brilliance. His armour was fitted perfectly, light and tight but protective in every way, his stance, unorthodox as it was, screamed a mastery of it, a wizened monkey playing chess with his fists whilst we played checkers.
"Ah, the new leader of Rain" he spoke as if he only just found out what this meeting was about, an obvious trap, but a verbal one nonetheless. "I must say if my spies are right about you, you're a nicer man than Hanzo. It's possible you even have ideas adjacent to the Leaf's!"
His smile was disarming, but Kumori liked keeping his weapons close
"Well, if you have so many good things to say about me, why don't you release my men?"
The smile vanished, as if it was only an illusion. "Tell me, why would I give them back, going through all that effort and not seeing a single yen for my troubles?"
"I see. A trade. The Leaf wants peace, and my spies have told me the Leaf wants allies. You give them back, and I will meet with you in a week with my advisors, and we will organize an alliance."
A frown appeared.
"That isn't much of a deal now, isn't it? You want allies too; you are selling me nothing you don't get as well"
"Oh please, we both know you only took my men to get my guns, and when they turned up empty you wanted an extort anyway. How about I sweeten the deal. My four advisors are former students of Jiraiya of the Sannin. No matter how callous you may be, you won't deprive him of the opportunity to see Yahiko, Konan."
He stared for a long time. It seemed to stretch on forever, and a small part of Kumori's mind told him he might die today. Then he nodded once.
"I see how you killed Hanzo. Your ambition is only matched by your cunning. Fine, we will meet in 7 days, at the frontier Leaf Base. I will expect you, and an escort will be there to meet you"
Kumori smiled, partly out of relief. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. And hey, two out of 3, only the fence sitter left"
"Ha! Fence sitter! That's a good one." He sighed "Be there Kumori."
…
On his way back, only the Lizard face followed, the rest of his group dismissed. Sensing a mystery, he stopped, and asked to nobody in particular "You too, huh"
"What tipped you of?" Kumori chuckled at that "I just had a premonition. That's all."
"I want you to know, I want what's best for my village, and if you behave, that'll include being allies with the Leaf."
The shadowy voice echoed around him in accusatory tones: "And I will have to see if we can trust you. Later, killer.". Then, the voice stopped and retreated back into the shrubbery.
…
"You're out of line! You don't consult any of us for one of the most important decisions we could make, and now we have to go to a meeting because of what you decided."
"Kuhou, come on, he made a decision in the heat of the moment and got a possible alliance and our hostages back" Yahiko responded "not everyone gets to decide everything in advance, sometimes you need to improvise."
Kuhou, crossed their arms in a clear show of frustration. "That doesn't excuse it, if we don't discourage this behaviour he'll never learn"
Increasingly frustrated, Kumori spoke up "Can you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?"
Right then a Rain Chunin, haggard and out of breath, stumbled in. "Sir, the northern sector, Cloud, they've attacked!"
Kumori looked at his entourage, "I need to do this, you four are really all that is needed anyway, I trust you. Let me command my country, you bring peace."
The group looked conflicted, but there wasn't enough time for them to give an answer, so Kumori patted the makeshift courier on the back, and they set of to the newest warzone this side of the War.
…
Arriving at the northernmost sector, chaos reigned at the recently attacked encampment. Thunderclaps bellowed out the entire way there, a great black cloud residue of the massive Cloud offensive, the 3rd Raikage's men launching barrages of lighting strikes on the base, arcs of overflowing electricity traveling through thick stone walls, scorching and melting the compact defences, barrelling against it with an unmatched enthusiasm.
His speed picking up, Kumori used a body flicker, leaving his single escort behind and entering a group of ninjutsu specialists. He got to work, using his momentum to deliver a rib crushing drop kick, slamming the man in front into his allies in the back, then slid on the ground on his newly planted legs, spinning around with a flurry of kunai and senbon, littering his foes with a litany of holes and cuts, opening arteries and arms, spilling blood in a spectacular pool of scarlet life. Soon, only those he had incapacitated before were left, so he held up his two hands apart, going through a sequence of single hand signs with both, letting loose a barrage of water senbon collected from the downpour' caused by the storm above, and amplifying each one with a mouth created gust of wind, ripping through the disorganised Cloud ninja.
His preliminary offense had worked well, so he set to using guerrilla tactics to disrupt the remaining enemies. A group would be sure to investigate the loss of one of their offensive teams, so he set up proximity explosive seals, on the bodies, and any escape routes, as well as leaving a shadow clone hidden in the dirt, poised to strike, while he went on to cut of the head of the operation.
He pushed on ahead, making sure to not be in the open when the lightning periodically struck, as he had seen a few unlucky nin fall to that same mistake. Under dirt, through small outcrops of trees, and across recently made rivers, flowing with fresh rain, he made his way to the obvious place to mount an operation of this size, right at the top of the closest snow-covered mountain, rocky enough they couldn't set up a permanent residence, but homely enough it could serve as an FOB.
Eventually he reached the peak, and he observed those below, small enough to seem like ants. He placed a silencing seal and a massive explosive seal below himself, and cast a wide genjutsu, costing a decent chunk of his chakra reserves, making the picture of the peak above seem static. Then, he used a wind jutsu to move himself through the air, as if he was piloting a wingsuit. As he was suspended in the air, he detonated the seal, causing their biggest disadvantage to come into play. A gargantuan avalanche flowed down the mountain, yet nobody noticed it, until it was too late.
He unsealed his rifle, as he checked for survivors. The only ones still up here would be the leaders of the operation, competent shinobi, but not powerhouses. Up ahead he noticed a body crawling along the ground. A ninja, injured. Kumori walked closer, aiming his firearm at the weakened man. Eventually he looked at Kumori. He stood and told Kumori, "Well done, I thought we had won, always guys like you who show that we're wrong, that our plans aren't perfect, that we forgot something." He spoke with haggard breathes, with a fatigued slumped position.
Then he sprinted towards Kumori, who shot the man 5 times in the chest, killing him. Then another to the head, just to be sure.
…
His untimely arrival wasn't greatly appreciated by the guard, but it was a better reception he expected, considering he could've been turned away due to his lateness.
He opened the door, walking in on his four advisors, Jiraiya, and the 3rd Hokage. He expected Orochimaru to also be here, so he took it as a measure of good will that the most fearsome of the sannin wasn't there to meet him in a peace talk.
"I apologise for my delay." He spoke as he sat down "Something with Cloud came up, you can continue."
Then, he felt a small prick at the back of his neck. He had been hit with enough senbon to know what one felt like, and it came from behind, a place where before he sensed no foe.
He responded by picking up his chair and launching it into the assassin, then spartan kicking the broken chair into the target, smashing their body through the strong wooden walls making up the meeting room. He then turned around, to check on his allies, but saw concern and hostility. Right then, Kumori realised what they had done.
He had been betrayed.
As good as he was, he couldn't kill both assassin and the improvised council at the same time, so he threw a barrier seal down and put half his remaining chakra into the shield, blocking the betrayers from reaching him, and carving a red fence across a massive stretch of land. He then turned his attention to the poisoner behind him, now outside, stood on a patch of grass, who he rushed towards in a burst of speed. He smashed a powerful blow into the kunoichi's guard, following up with a left hook at her ribs, and ended with a right kick to her shin, launching her sideways and allowing him to pull his leg back and kick her in the stomach, pushing her forward and allowing him an opportunity to cast a jutsu at the ANBU in front of him. Suddenly, a figure jumped towards him with a vicious knee, forcing Kumori to block the move with both of his hands, cancelling his jutsu.
The interloper was another ANBU, the Lizard mask from before. As he landed, he lashed out with a jab, followed by two strong hooks, all of them deflected by Kumori's arms, but pushing him far enough away Lizard could attempt a lethal kick aimed for his head. Anticipating this, the Rain leader ducked, and pushed forward unleashing a powerful blow to the liver. He followed up on his stunned opponent with an uppercut using his remaining fist, stunning the ANBU, then grabbed his arm, using an application of chakra to snap it in two. He wasn't done yet however, as he held the broken appendage with one arm, and let loose a barrage of well-aimed blows to his torso and face.
Just when he was about to execute the man with a now unsealed kunai, he was forced to plant himself on the floor to evade the poison tipped senbon aimed above. His attention now focused on the Serpent masked foe, he launched his kunai in retaliation, then pre-emptively started casting a water bullet, water pooling in his mouth, as he guessed she was a long-range specialist. As he thought, she leapt deftly over the first projectile, and prepared a wind bullet to force him away. As the two bullets hit, water sprayed around the area, allowing Kumori to take advantage and attack with water senbon from every direction. The Serpent countered by summoning fire around her in a dome, then turned the residual heat into a boon as she quickly launched a ball of fire at him. Thinking quickly, He displaced the earth, raising a wall to block the fire, then flung an arc of electricity at the space above the earth, just as she somersaulted over.
One hit, but she wasn't down for good. He vaulted over and rushed the downed enemy, intent on killing her, but she erupted with a burst of wind, spreading noxious fumes on Kumori. She thought she had won, which was why she had a solid blow connect to her mask. Checking the figure again, she discerned it was a mud clone, sent to make her reveal more of her tricks.
Both the real Kumori and his clone sent ranged attack at the lone target, displacing her with barrages of kunai enhanced with gusts of wind, and combination fires and water to block her view of the battlefield and block her of from escape. Frustration increasing, she rushed the original with a surprising burst of speed, but found only mud following a timely substitution. Kumori capitalised on her mistake, smashing her into the sky with a strong upper kick, then slamming her back down by grabbing her leg, smashing her against the hard grey stone. Struggling, she managed to kick him away, flipping into a standing position, but hurt and tired.
However, Kumori realised, he was hurt too. That poison from earlier had made him slower, less powerful. His chakra he could still control, but he would lose control quickly. That would leave him a sitting duck when the Hokage came around. He needed to get away, fast, he couldn't let this fight drag on any longer.
He body flickered away, layering the forest he hid in with hundreds of explosive proximity notes, making sure all on his path overlapped. He body flickered until his legs felt torn, probably miles in the space of a minute. Eventually, the paralytic caught up with him, and so did space, as he came across a cliff overlooking a river, probably the same one that ran through the Valley Of The End.
His body gave up on him, and all he could do was turn to face whence he came from, expecting to hear explosions. Instead, he heard silence. It was as if they hadn't even tried to pursue him, but he knew better.
Slowly, tauntingly, the dark green haired kunoichi walked from the shadows of the booby-trapped forest, not a scratch more marring her body. Kumori tried to fire the gun he had hid under his robes, but the weapon didn't fire. At his surprise, she held up a seal. Kumori laughed. "A seal that nullifies other seals! I thought your thing was poisons."
"It is. I got these from a friend, to deal with you, evidently, I needed them."
Another chuckle rang out. "I'm going to kill you, you know?" Kumori asked with a blood-stained smile.
The kunoichi answered by flinging two kunai at his chest. Kumori let out a cry of pain, then began smiling again. The kunoichi took his rifle from its seal on his chest. "You are remarkably resilient to my trade. Anyone else would be dead before they hit the floor, not flinging chairs and beating taijutsu specialists. Honestly, I'm glad I get to kill you here. You're probably my worst possible match."
She aimed the weapon at him. "Can I ask why you decided to kill me."
She stared for a moment, then said "You can find out in the next life."
Then she unloaded a burst into his chest. His body was weak, it could barely move, but right then only needed his chakra. His hands impacted the ground with the added momentum from the bullets now littering his body, and an earth jutsu was unleashed, dropping Kumori into the stream below, and smashing rocks into the kunoichi, pushing her further away. Finally, the timed explosive seal he placed just before detonated.
Kumori escaped, carried by the flow of the river.
…
A/N: Big jump for the story, longer chapters from now on, and the start of another arc. Kumori, as you know, will survive, but he's lost his strength, is in enemy territory, and has nobody to turn to, as all of his allies have betrayed him. Other actors, self-inserts of their own, have also interfered, turning the world from unpredictable, to hostile, especially given the third shinobi war. What would happen if a huge number of people, with a huge potential, who all think they know the future. Chaos.
Thanks for the reviews and follows, suggest things in the reviews, and thanks for reading.