A/N: I feel like Ornn would be up in my face in the Top Lane, shouting "Stop building!" as if I were Heimerdinger.
Yes, I find that I do my best work in League in the top lane—though arguably I think I do fair in Supp or JG too.
Anyway, this pilot is sort of an ironic take on the "League of Legends" cross I did—but instead of sending him to Ionia, I'm sending him to Noxus instead.
We'll see how much you like this one
…
[Unknown Location]
A loud whistle startled Naruto awake, followed by a loud, almost rhythmic noise.
As he looked around, he quickly found himself in a wooden room. The seat he sat on was covered in some sort of dark leather with silvery buttons, and was elongated to accommodate up to two grown-ups. In front of him was a rich, dark wooden table attached to the wall of the room just below a large window showing a number of trees going by.
Naruto was quick to notice that he wasn't alone in the room, as he found a little girl around his age, wearing fancy clothes. She had the pale skin contrasted with a slight blush on her cheeks, and reddish-hazelnut eyes peeked out of platinum blond hair that extended just past her shoulders. Her red, frilly dress looked to be tailor-made with intricate lacework, and silver trim over a white, button-down blouse.
"About time you're awake," she said, startling him from his thoughts as she flipped a page in her book, "You'd been out for the past hour or so."
"Who're you?" Naruto asked.
The girl closed her book and reached out her hand to shake. "The name's Victoria. Pleasure to meet you."
"Naruto," he replied, gingerly returning the shake.
It was clear that this little girl was not from around here, and she had the bearing of someone important—like a princess or something. At the moment however, there was one question on Naruto's mind. "So what're we doing here?"
"What's the last thing you remember, Naruto?"
"Well, it all started when I was back in my apartment, having lunch when the landlady opened the door," Naruto began, racking his mind for the memory in question, Victoria waiting and listening intently, "Now bear in mind, every time the landlady came knocking at my door, it was so she could squeeze me for more money; my guess, it was to go to that seedy chō-han den in the middle of town. This time was different though, she came by with this big meathead in armor…telling me to come with him, something about me being used as payment for some kinda deal. Anyway, that guy seemed like bad news to me, and I really didn't like the look of that huge-ass axe he was hefting around, so I decided to split—then, just as I was running out the window, something metal looped around my waist, pulling me into the meathead, who then sucker-punched me. Next thing I know, I come to, and I find myself in this room with you."
"Quite a story," Victoria noted, "But I'm afraid that man was not joking; you are being used as payment for -in your words- 'some kinda deal.'"
Naruto stared at Victoria silently, trying to process what had happened. When he finally processed what she'd just told him, there was only one thought that he had for the situation.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"
…
[Konoha Council Chambers]
Hiruzen rubbed his temples as the members of the council argued amongst themselves.
In the time since he'd been reinstated as Hokage, things had become more interesting than he generally liked. Fortunately, Minato had already handled the situation with the fox, but the aftermath was something that needed to be addressed as soon as possible—at least he'd gotten Konoha back up on her feet before anyone noticed. However, that was only the first of his troubles, as a Five Kage Summit was called to address a Noxian delegation that had come to discuss the terms of the Treaty of Titus.
A key part of the Treaty of Titus stated that in exchange for being able to hire their Shinobi as mercenaries, Noxus was to leave the island nation of Corinth as an independent polity. It was a deal that had been established since the time of Emperor Septimus Darkwill, one that Hiruzen himself was a witness to. Thanks to that treaty, Corinth was allowed to develop without Noxian intervention, and Noxus was allowed to hire high-quality operatives to use on any battlefield they wished. When Boram Darkwill ascended the throne after the death of his father, the treaty was expanded to include a clause wherein Corinthian Shinobi would not be employed to fight in Ionia—in exchange, ports in Corinth would be opened for international trade.
Years later, ears on the ground in Noxus had revealed that the Emperor Boram Darkwill was slain in a coup orchestrated by the Grand General Jericho Swain, and replaced by a council of three known as the Trifarix. With a change in regime, it was no surprise that this meeting had to happen eventually, though the delay was undoubtedly due to the power vacuum created in the wake of the late emperor's demise. For the first few years, the Trifarix had a mess on their hands to clean up—after successfully reforming and consolidating power in Noxus, Swain saw an opportunity to personally visit Corinth to discuss the terms of the treaty.
When Hiruzen first met the Grand General, he was still a young captain of the Noxian army with a razor-sharp mind and a burning ambition and determination in his eyes; now he was effectively the emperor of Noxus in all but name. In his heyday, he was a passable fighter, he had to be considering the amount of time he spent on the frontlines, but his true talent lay in leadership—whether as a general or a statesman, he was not to be underestimated. Suddenly, the demise of Boram Darkwill in that coup didn't seem so surprising anymore, not if he had to deal with a formidable opponent like Jericho Swain.
The Grand General was quick to get down to business at the Summit, proving to the old Hokage he'd changed very little since their first encounter. The negotiations seemed to be little more than a warm-up to him compared to the sheer brutality of the Noxian political battlefield, displaying the fortitude and patience of a dormant volcano looming over an unsuspecting town. He sat still as a statue at the table while negotiating the terms of the military treaty; not even the Raikage was able to anger the Grand General, who calmly returned fire with words that gutted the burly man. In his mind, Hiruzen could easily see Swain conspiring to destroy his enemies with a cup of tea in the morning, execute at least a hundred of those plans by the end of the day, and still have enough energy and enthusiasm to deal with future enemies. Master Tactician indeed, Hiruzen thought grimly to himself.
After the negotiations, Hiruzen had the difficult task of having to explain to the Council what had happened behind the closed doors of his office. Many civilians on the council were happy with the arrangement, now that their resident Jinchūriki had been sold off to Noxus as part of the deal to remain independent of the empire. Some however, had decided to make their displeasure known.
"What were you thinking?!" Homura asked, being one of the loudest voices in the Council.
"If we hadn't agreed to his terms, I predict that we would have been invaded a lot sooner," Hiruzen replied, "If the Grand General is visiting personally, then it stands to reason that he already knows what's happened here, he knows how weak we are even with a Jinchūriki in our village. With this deal, I've bought us enough time to give ourselves a fighting chance should the worst come to pass and hopefully reclaim Naruto from Noxus."
"Aren't you worried that the other nations will use our growing military strength as an excuse to invade us?"
"All of us have managed to make agreeable terms for the treaty with Noxus, but all the Kages are aware that the second our united front is exposed as a lie, we'll all be conquered," Hiruzen replied, "If anything, I imagine they'd be trying to do the same themselves—after all, I'm very certain that there are those of us that wish to keep our independence for as long as possible, and time spent trying to invade each other will weaken us all. Ironically enough, it's the threat of a Noxian invasion that's keeping the peace in Corinth, so long as we are able to convince them that we are strong enough to fight back. Besides, the message behind that demand was quite clear: if he can demand a Jinchūriki from Konoha as payment for our independence, he could do the same to the others."
"You should have assassinated the Grand General while you still had the chance," said a voice approaching from his flank, "You should have taken the opportunity to decapitate the Noxian Empire while it stayed in your office, and the other Kages too while you're at it."
There was no end to the rancor that Hiruzen felt as he listened in on that voice. The speaker was an old man with iron-gray hair walking towards him with a pair of ANBU escorting him. Much of his body was covered in bandages, no doubt from all the battles he'd gone through, made all the more evident by the fact that he walked with a cane. Danzo's arrival was the absolute last thing he wanted right now—which made the old Hokage wish he'd executed him then and there for that plot to usurp him.
"You should be thanking us for successfully keeping the treaty with the Noxians alive in the first place, old friend," Hiruzen added, leveling a heated glare at Danzo, "You seem to have forgotten that I've been to Noxus once, as part of Tobirama-sama's diplomatic escort, so I can tell you in all honesty that I've seen firsthand the vastness of the Noxian empire. Their military is so massive they could drink our rivers dry and eat our crops into oblivion and still have plenty of provisions before besieging all our villages for decades. Add to that, Noxus is a hard place where the best and brightest will flourish, and so the empire is never short of talents to call upon for whatever it needs.
"I've personally met their Grand General, this man who is their emperor in all but name, and I can tell you for a fact that you are not his intellectual equal—I barely survived three days against him in the political arena, what makes you think you can survive for three seconds? And do you want to know what the main difference is between the two of you, Danzo? Swain is ambitious, but much of that ambition happens to benefit his own empire; you are just a selfish, cowardly little parasite, always thinking only for your own benefit, always at the expense of the village. Honestly, between your selfish bullshit and that possible Noxian invasion on the horizon, I'd much rather see the Noxians building their victory arches in our village—so if you have nothing to contribute that'd make my day any easier, leave before I really lose my patience with you."
Danzo remained unfazed by Hiruzen's outburst, but left the chambers knowing better than to test his luck with his former colleague.
Satisfied with the departure of his fellow elder, Hiruzen took a calming breath before turning to regard everyone else in the chamber. With that headache out of the way, he was free to think better. "What I've said about Noxus and the Grand General stands; without Naruto in the village deterring possible bandit raids on top of the civil war that our neighbors might want to begin, we're going to have to step up the training of our Shinobi. If we don't, and the Noxians decide they like our lands too much to honor the treaty, we will not be able to put up resistance against them."
…
[Unknown Location]
When Naruto was told the exact details of what had happened between the five Kage and this Grand General guy, and how he came to be a payment for some kind of deal for Noxus to not attack Corinth, he was livid.
He was about to stomp his way out of this steam machine the Noxians referred to as a 'train' but the timely intervention of a newcomer standing in the doorway had thwarted his intention to run back to Konoha—in fact, it was the one who punched him in the face. The man blocking his way was a giant with flecks of gray contrasting against a sea of midnight black hair, his chiseled features marred by a slanted scar cutting across his left eye. Bare flesh exposed under thick armor allowed Naruto to see that this man was quite muscular, and his hands were more than large enough to crush his skull with an errant squeeze. And as he'd learned the hard way, he had pretty good reflexes.
Naruto didn't care much about the giant man's veiled threat or Victoria's warnings that they were traveling at such speed that even if he survived, he wouldn't be getting very far. However, her next question had pierced him through the heart worse than the cutting glares he'd had to endure throughout his life:
"What do you have in Konoha that's worth staying for?"
As he thought about it, there really wasn't much waiting for him in Konoha. Just a shitty apartment that was run by a shitty landlady, a Hokage that just left him with a monthly stipend for necessities, and a life of loneliness and neglect. Everyone else in the village either just ignored him as though he'd caught a really bad disease, though some were just plain mean to him…and in some of the more extreme cases, some had actually tried to kill him.
On the other hand, he did make a handful of friends in the village, but even they were fairly distant from him—even the Ichiraku family, one of the few people who were truly nice to him, had their own matters to take care of. Iruka-sensei cared, but he was his teacher and so he wasn't supposed to be his friend…at least not in class.
What did he have waiting for him in Konoha? The sad answer to that was very little.
Did he want to go back? That was too soon to tell.
Naruto's train of thought was interrupted when he heard a loud whistle off in the distance.
"We're here," said Victoria.
Looking out the window, Naruto was treated to the heavy bells and seagulls heard in the distance, the smell of the salt wafting into his nose. Whatever trepidation he had about going to Noxus was replaced with curiosity as he explored the docks with his erstwhile guide. Everywhere he looked, he saw people going about their business, with people from every corner of Corinth could be seen trading amongst each other. A few people from other cultures from outside of Corinth could also be seen, including people with antennas that were attracting dancing bolts of electricity, and perhaps a few carrying vials filled with sickly green fluids. Fish of varying sizes were processed on the docks by people dressed in ragged clothes, including behemoths with fangs the size of swords. Dominating the docks however, were a variety of people wearing black clothes with red trim, though a splash of gray could be seen here and there, but very rarely a dash of white could be seen. Given what he saw of Victoria, Naruto surmised that they too were Noxians.
Moored at the harbor were a variety of ships, all of them ostensibly made of metal, all of them with smoke trails billowing chimneys standing erect from their wooden decks, but one of them dwarfed all the others. It was almost as tall as the Hokage Tower, with three chimneys on its deck standing high like the dorsal fin of a titanic shark, as befitting its streamlined shape. At the front end of the vessel, Naruto noted openings glowing with an ominous red light near the top, and at the front end of the thing. Many Noxians could be seen wheeling in supplies into the opening near the ground, as if doing their absolute best to feed the monstrosity.
"That's the boat we're taking," Victoria stated matter-of-factly.
"Did you ever ask this Grand General guy what he wanted with me?" Naruto asked, "What? Is he gonna use me like some kinda slave?"
"There are no slaves in Noxus," said the giant, his voice a low rumble that had earned their attention, "Not since the Grand General slew the emperor and dissolved the throne."
"Then what, General?" Victoria asked.
"I can't say," answered the general, "But I do believe there's a reason that the Grand General demanded you as part of the payment for peace with your country. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even bothered with a cub like you."
Naruto raised an eyebrow before shrugging nonchalantly as the three of them walked towards the ship, he noted that everyone parted ways for them. He was also quick to notice the absolutely petrified expressions on many faces…many of their gazes being directed at the general as they gave them a wide berth.
"Kinda scary ain't ya, big guy?" he noted.
"Darius is not just one of Noxus' greatest warriors, he is also the Trifarix of Might," Victoria explained, continuing even as Naruto looked at her as though she'd just sprouted a second head, "His standing is not too different from your Hokage—it's just that he's one of three leaders for all of Noxus."
His mouth was agape. He'd learned the hard way that the now-named Darius was a very formidable fighter—to learn that he was one of the head honchos of Noxus was another matter altogether. And from the scars that Naruto noted on his body, he could only surmise that the general had gone through a lot of battles before getting to this station.
As they approached the ship, Naruto was quick to note that they weren't the only ones embarking on this trip as he spotted two hooded figures, one taller than the other, walking in the same direction of them. Both wore cloaks that obscured their forms, black roses embroidered along the hem with thorny stems swirling against a red background and their petals highlighted with purple thread. The shorter one seemed to be a child around his and Victoria's age, a hint of innocence about them in their step, their face hidden behind the shadows of their hood; the adult wore a glossy black mask, and seemed snake-like in both demeanor and in the regal way they carried themselves. Both seemed dodgy to him, though between the two of them, Naruto was more wary of the masked adult than he was of the child.
The two groups came to a stop in front of a man with long, platinum blond hair. His features were weathered, likely from a combination of old age and protracted combat duty—much like the Hokage, only a bit younger. He wore a black trench coat with red lining draped over his shoulders sewn into a pair of pauldrons with metal spikes dangling below them like a bird's flight feathers. Underneath the concealing coat, he wore a steel cuirass over a dark gray undercoat, black trousers ballooning around his knees tucked under plated boots and secured to his waist with a heavy metal belt with a red rope dangling over his right hip. For some reason, the older man looked like a very big, very surly crow to Naruto—due to that resemblance, he was nicknamed 'old crow' in his mind.
Victoria walked up to the old crow, exchanging a nod with him as she took his side. He then turned to the masked figure and noted the child that tagged along.
"A new protégé?" he asked, his voice a smooth baritone.
The masked figure did not respond…merely looking back without saying a word. Though Naruto was quick to note that the smaller form did their absolute best to not wither under his gaze.
"Perhaps it is fitting then," said the crow with a sigh. He then turned to regard Naruto with a searching gaze. "What do you think of him, Darius?"
"He's got promise," replied the general, "Evidently he's been playing very juvenile pranks on the entirety of the village instead of going to school the entire year—that said, he's been giving the adults a chase almost every day."
"Then he shall join the Legions upon our return."
Darius raised an eyebrow at the old crow. "At his age?"
Before the general could go any further, the crow raised his hand for silence. "His penchant for mayhem may be of use to you, old friend. And on that note, it is better he learns under you than to squander his talent with your brother."
The general heaved a sigh of reluctance. Whoever the old crow was, it was sobering to see that a mountain of a man like Darius was subservient to him. To Naruto, it looked as though he were in the presence of three Hokage who had chosen their successor.
He could only wonder as to what the future had in store for him.
…
A/N: And now we're done.
It seems the Trifarix is each grooming a successor…or in the case of the Faceless One, another protégé.
I'll leave it up to you to decide who the OA Victoria is to Swain…I won't tell.
That, and I'll let you guess as to where on Summoner's Rift I may put Naruto (assuming of course I decide to include Summoner's Rift in the first place).
As far as Darius's voice goes, I'm torn between whether I want to hear his Chuck Kourouklis (his normal VA) or having Daniel Riordan (Yorick's VA) doing double-duty for this story like in the "After Victory" cinematic.
Anyway, don't be afraid to tell me what you think; so long as you keep it civil and relevant.
…
Vocabulary:
Chō-han—short for "chō-han bakushi", a Japanese gambling game involving two dice and a cup. The rules are simple: the dealer (usually a woman) will roll the dice in a cup and stop so that both dice are covered, then you and all the other players get to call out if the result is odd or even, and you win if you get it right. Depending on the house rules, the dealer will also act as the house, taking and giving out wins accordingly, but players will normally be betting against each other.