Notice: I do not own Naruto, and make no claims of copyright on the
characters who are not my property. Original characters, however, are mine.
Author's Notes: Okay, time to unleash the madness and not stop until the end of the tale, here we go! I seem to have left reviewers behind for now, but that's okay, hopefully everyone will catch up, or maybe FF.net was just having a bad day (it seemed to be when I posted last time. Still, I'll keep to schedule if I can.
Hopefully you can give reviews!
The Storm Comes
A foul night. Gosain thought, looking out into the gaping blackness between the buildings of Hidden Cloud village. The rain has stopped for now, but the clouds remain, black and thick, and the wind fails to blow them away. A viscous spring storm, he noted. It appears that being away from this caused me to forget.
Five weeks had passed since Gosain returned to his village, a newly made chuunin. He was celebrated in ceremony the day of his return, and served as Shiren's proxy as well. Raikage gave him a true flak jacket for the very first time himself, and there was something of a celebration. For whatever it was worth, Gosain decided. He recalled the bad points as well. The heads of the Nemari and Monihii clans had spat at his feet openly, in front of Raikage, and no one said anything. Debate had raged furiously about punishing Gosain for crippling Nemari, and about whether or not Shiren should be allowed to become a chuunin at all.
Raikage had been in the center of those debates, and had sent Gosain in with his assistants, forcing him to watch them all. Had I not seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed. The bickering and factionalism were ridiculous, with every powerful clan having a different vision for the village, and the minor clans posturing their loyalties to whomever offered them a chance at strength. I knew there were differences, I saw it even when I served with others, but this, it was beyond imagining. Who would have thought that those who lead us are so divided, and that they demand loyalties of others? The debate about Gosain's punishment had raged for almost two hours. Gosain watched as Raikage simply let the debate rage, and Gosain realized that he did not have the power to quell it and demand obedience. Well, he does, but only so much, and he cannot spend it on such things as this.
In the end however, when one of the minor clans questioned why Gosain had not been immediately punished in Hidden Stone, Raikage made his own maneuver. "The chuunin exam's rules were the province of Hidden Stone. Tsuchikage pronounced Gosain free of wrongdoing, if you consider this a problem I suggest you take it up with him." That had stopped debate cold, though Gosain had looked at Raikage then, and had seen the anger in the man's eyes. He hates this. Good, this is despicable.
Regarding Shiren debate was even more heated, if that was possible, and accusations flew from the very beginning. "Draci Xi?" The Nemari clan head mocked. "Why should we give that traitor's spawn back to the original traitor? The dragon ninja are a waste, something the times have made useless, Shiren should be returned here and set a task appropriate to her abilities."
"I will forgive your accusation for the moment." Raikage replied, grim. "Since you are out of sorts due to the injury to your son." He stared the man down, preventing a reply. "However, Draci Xi will not be referred to as a traitor in this council. He has been punished appropriate to his crimes, but remains loyal to this village. If you truly intend to contest his training of our newest chuunin, I suggest you come up with legitimate grounds."
Three and a half hours later, with the night wearing thin and Raikage's patience measured in inches from his swordhilt, he finally ended the debate. "Very well, since none of you have managed to offer me a legitimate reason or reasonable alternate to the current situation, Draci Xi's training of Senirai Shiren stands. Good night." At that point he simply stood up and left, leaving the clan heads and councilors to bicker amongst themselves.
Gosain recalled what had happened after most vividly. On the way back to his own rooms Raikage had turned to him, after dismissing his other guards, and said a very few words. "Do you understand the situation, chuunin?"
Gosain had simply nodded.
"Good." Raikage replied, face set. "Now, I must know, will you be loyal to this village and help me, or will you obey a second master when the times turn desperate?"
"I have seen too much blood spilled for this village to do anything but serve it." Gosain replied, anger lacing his words. "You have my service."
"Then I am going to make you work hard, very hard." Raikage said simply. "Get some rest, because you will not rest again soon."
Now, standing at his window and watching the nightfall, Gosain fully understood those words. I have served seven missions in five weeks, and I led five of those. Every time, leading genin into the heart of danger. It had been brutal, and they had not all been successes, more names had gone onto the list of those lost near Gosain. Two chuunin dead on the mist border, a genin to a tiger outside of Fire country, and then those under my command, a genin lost a leg to a rogue samurai, and another an arm to a missin-nin's trap, and then a third, killed by a bear summons, while playing cat and mouse with mist ninja. Never did we have no injuries, always the genin got hurt, and I.
There were two new scars on Gosain's chest, brutal marks from kunai slashes, and his leg had been laid open to the bone by a water jutsu. Medical jutsu healed my wounds, but I can recall the pain. They are starting to call me the cursed chuunin now, damn them. There was no respect for Gosain from the various upper ninja. Most of the chuunin thought him a fool, and the jounin ignored him, it was a harsh thing to deal with. Gosain was no stranger to hardship, however, and there were two signs that proclaimed those above him foolish. The first was the look from Raikage's eyes that he received when he returned after each of those seven missions. It may not have been pretty, and it was not clean, but I completed every mission, every time, I got the job done. Beyond even that though, there was something Gosain had just noticed, something more important. The genin, they look up to me, I can see it in their eyes, I am their leader. Younger than he, all of them, Gosain had seen them look up at him for direction, beg him for help when trouble struck, and rely on him to save them. He had seen them believe in him, trust him. At the end of the mission they would look at him and Gosain knew they believed he had done everything possible, made every sacrifice. They trusted this chuunin who came back covered in mud, grime, chains, and blood to do his utmost. It is not how they look at those clan prodigies who come back so clean. The genin have the only pure eyes in this village, and they believe in me. It left Gosain trembling when he thought about it, what had been placed on his shoulders, but he was resolved. I will not fail that trust.
And so there was no rest for him.
I have another mission tomorrow; I must get what sleep I can. Gosain closed the window to his small room, blocking out the foul weather stirring outside. What I can, even if it is not enough.
The patter of rain and crash of thunder covered most sound during the night, blocking even the senses of the ninja from awareness, but at the creak of a glass pane Gosain came instantly awake.
It was not meant to have been enough; a ninja in full combat garb cut through the window and came to the bedside with a drawn sword. There was nowhere to dodge and no time to grab a weapon.
But Gosain did not take off his chains at night.
"Whirling Stormfront!" The attacking ninja was slammed back into the wall as chains spun around his body, slamming him again and again. It was only a moment, but when it was done he crumpled to the ground, skull crushed.
Gosain was upright in moments, pulling on his flak jacket and weapons even as he looked at his attacker. "Lightning?" He could not restrain himself from speaking the word aloud, so great was his shock. The ninja wore a facemask over his mouth, but Gosain pulled it off quickly. A chuunin, I knew this man, one of the Monihii. What is going on? Gosain's head spun quickly even as he readied himself for battle. An assassination attempt? He wondered, and then the thunder cleared for a moment.
The clash of metal on metal could be heard from outside, weapon hitting weapon. Gosain turned to his window, and suddenly the thought that had crept into his mind was confirmed. He looked out and saw ninja crash through the trees, and kunai and shuriken flew through the rain and storm. The Lightning are at war. It was a horrible thing to realize in the middle of that storm, even moreso for what followed. With ourselves.
A ninja dashed into the open in front of Gosain's window, a genin, a young girl he knew, one just out of the academy. With hesitant hand seals she called up a Bushin, only to watch as a kunai flew through it, dissipating the clone as soon as it formed.
"That's all little girl?" A voice mocked, and two ninja flashed in neck to the genin, they were chuunin both, not bothering to hide their faces or lightning uniforms, and Gosain knew their identities. Fesyiri clan. Bastards, you're going to murder a genin? One of our genin?
There were no thoughts, no words, only a single action and a burning rage that the storm could not quench. Gosain leapt from the window, completely unnoticed by his attackers, who must have thought the building harbored no threat. Chains moved in tune with his instincts and the shocked Fesyiri chuunin never even got the chance to scream.
Chains wrapped around their necks, and then Gosain hurled them into the wall headfirst, killing with a red and brutal violence.
His feet struck the ground with a thump, and the genin girl spun, a kunai in her hands, but arms trembling. Gosain stood before her, water splattering his black hair, his scarred cheeks and cold and bloody chains wrapped around him. She stifled a scream.
"Calm down, girl." Gosain said quickly. "You must stay quiet, and straighten your arms, you will need your full strength behind any blow."
The genin nodded. "Chuunin Gosain?" She whispered.
"Yes." Gosain answered immediately. "Now get into the shadow of the building." Gosain ordered, conscious of the sounds of battle raging about them. "What is going on?"
The words stumbled out of the genin all jumbled, but they were enough to provide a picture of destruction. "They came, everywhere, strange ninja, all in night blue, killing, they were killing everyone I think, while they slept, at least, we think that. At the academy, one of the teachers, he rang the alarm, but it didn't carry. Everyone, at least, everyone I think, maybe not some people, a few are missing, we all gathered, but they started attacking, friends, relatives, everyone." She started crying. "Chuunin Gosain?" She asked through teary eyes. "What is happening?"
"I don't know." Gosain replied simply, refusing to lie. "All the genin gathered?" He asked, taking hold of the girl's shoulders, making he look at him and answer. She nodded just barely. "I think everyone."
"Only the genin?" Gosain asked. "Where are the chuunins, the ANBU, your jounin senseis?" He demanded.
"Don't know, don't know, don't know." She sobbed. "Everyone fighting, what do we do Gosain sensei, what do we dooo?"
Gosain stood up straight. What do I do indeed? There are no answers, this is civil war. It seems that everyone else has chosen sides or been killed. Who could have done this? What sparked such a thing? Gosain shook his head suddenly. Never mind, it doesn't matter, I have to be responsible, I must. The genin have come out to fight, no clans, nothing, they are here. If there are no other chuunin, then I have to do what I can. I must help them.
"Show me to the others, quickly, we must get together and form a plan, a battle line." Gosain released the girl. "Now, hurry!"
The scene was a nightmare, all through lightning, the sounds of battle raged amid the blackness of the storm, lit only by broken lamps and lanterns and the flashes of seemingly endless lightning. They had not passed over a single building when Gosain came upon three genin dodging and running from a pursuing chuunin. "Throw now!" He commanded to his companion. "No hesitation!" His chains lashed forward, no time for jutsu in this madness. "Drop and turn you genin!" He ordered.
It was strange for Gosain to watch it unfold, the girl to his right threw a kunai, and the three genin in front dropped. He brought his chains toward the chuunin, again a face he knew, but one whose name escaped him. The man dodged above the chuunin, and them below the whipping chains, only to take three shuriken in the face from the genin who had turned on their pursuer.
He jumped up in pain, and then vanished beneath the onslaught of chains. The madness of melee, the time for my style, the ability to be anywhere, to strike along any length. Gosain's anger brought forth a feral gleam in his eyes. I hold the striking tendrils of the storm, and I will not show mercy to these traitors.
The three genin turned to Gosain, and he found that he knew one. "Shu." He spoke, causing the genin, a two-year ninja who had served with him two missions ago, to turn around. "What is happening?"
"An attack everywhere, Gosain-san." Shu answered. "These night blue ninja came first, and killed many who were asleep, there must have been some jutsu in the storm. Still, some ANBU awoke and were fighting them, and one of the academy teachers was awake, grading tests, he fought, and rang the alarm bell. All the genin came, except a few from the clans." Shu scowled and Gosain joined him.
"So the clans knew, why are they fighting?" Gosain demanded, needing information.
"It's only a few, nobody knows, but they're fighting each other, and targeting anyone out. We're trying Gosain-san, really, but our skills are limited." Shu sounded desperate.
"Then we have to respond differently." Gosain said. It's not their skills; if Shu is right its only surprise that has them, and disorganization. Gosain knew the numbers of ninja now, Raikage had told him. There are many, many genin; no few clan chuunin and jounin can win. "Are the night blue ninja gone?"
"Most it seems, I've seen some bodies, but they must have moved elsewhere."
"Those are the true targets." Gosain said firmly, and inside he made a decision. "Shu, we need to gather all the genin together, we cannot fight alone, like this. If you unite these clan scion cowards will retreat."
"Where will we go, Gosain-san?" Shu asked, though more hopeful now he still seemed beaten down. "We have no orders, who is the enemy?"
"I don't know that." Gosain answered. "I don't know who started this. We will defend ourselves, and we will get orders."
"How?"
"Raikage-sama." Gosain answered, his decision made. "No matter what has happened we can trust Raikage-sama, he will know what to do, he is the Lightning we must follow."
The four genin near Gosain nodded and he recognized that giving them an objective had mattered almost as much as just being there. These young ninja don't need me to fight for them, they just need a little help realizing where they stand. "Shu, go east, gather every genin between here and the library, meet atop the hospital. You-"Gosain pointed to the girl next to him. "Go south, gather every genin you can find on your way to the academy." He pointed at another genin. "Go north, gather everyone at the Mist war memorial." To the final genin Gosain ordered. "You will head south with me, we will go to Marikima's restaurant. When we get there we will fire off the fireworks he has stashed in the basement. That is the signal to move toward the central city, which you must avoid before then. All of you, stay together, sweep forward in a line, we will link all four groups and converge on Raikage-sama's hall. Does everyone understand?" Gosain asked.
Four heads nodded. "Alright, go, and remember, don't fight alone!"
They dispersed, and Gosain and the genin whose name he didn't know headed south into the nightmare that was Hidden Cloud in the middle of its civil war. There was battle everywhere, save for the quiet of the clan estates on the edge of the village, and the dim sound of stalking battle from the central city. Gosain was almost thankful for the storm, which prevented fire, but he could tell it was a vile thing, and was powering this assault. Though he now had a plan, there remained a question burning in his angry and edgy mind. Who could have caused this?
Author's Notes: Okay, time to unleash the madness and not stop until the end of the tale, here we go! I seem to have left reviewers behind for now, but that's okay, hopefully everyone will catch up, or maybe FF.net was just having a bad day (it seemed to be when I posted last time. Still, I'll keep to schedule if I can.
Hopefully you can give reviews!
The Storm Comes
A foul night. Gosain thought, looking out into the gaping blackness between the buildings of Hidden Cloud village. The rain has stopped for now, but the clouds remain, black and thick, and the wind fails to blow them away. A viscous spring storm, he noted. It appears that being away from this caused me to forget.
Five weeks had passed since Gosain returned to his village, a newly made chuunin. He was celebrated in ceremony the day of his return, and served as Shiren's proxy as well. Raikage gave him a true flak jacket for the very first time himself, and there was something of a celebration. For whatever it was worth, Gosain decided. He recalled the bad points as well. The heads of the Nemari and Monihii clans had spat at his feet openly, in front of Raikage, and no one said anything. Debate had raged furiously about punishing Gosain for crippling Nemari, and about whether or not Shiren should be allowed to become a chuunin at all.
Raikage had been in the center of those debates, and had sent Gosain in with his assistants, forcing him to watch them all. Had I not seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed. The bickering and factionalism were ridiculous, with every powerful clan having a different vision for the village, and the minor clans posturing their loyalties to whomever offered them a chance at strength. I knew there were differences, I saw it even when I served with others, but this, it was beyond imagining. Who would have thought that those who lead us are so divided, and that they demand loyalties of others? The debate about Gosain's punishment had raged for almost two hours. Gosain watched as Raikage simply let the debate rage, and Gosain realized that he did not have the power to quell it and demand obedience. Well, he does, but only so much, and he cannot spend it on such things as this.
In the end however, when one of the minor clans questioned why Gosain had not been immediately punished in Hidden Stone, Raikage made his own maneuver. "The chuunin exam's rules were the province of Hidden Stone. Tsuchikage pronounced Gosain free of wrongdoing, if you consider this a problem I suggest you take it up with him." That had stopped debate cold, though Gosain had looked at Raikage then, and had seen the anger in the man's eyes. He hates this. Good, this is despicable.
Regarding Shiren debate was even more heated, if that was possible, and accusations flew from the very beginning. "Draci Xi?" The Nemari clan head mocked. "Why should we give that traitor's spawn back to the original traitor? The dragon ninja are a waste, something the times have made useless, Shiren should be returned here and set a task appropriate to her abilities."
"I will forgive your accusation for the moment." Raikage replied, grim. "Since you are out of sorts due to the injury to your son." He stared the man down, preventing a reply. "However, Draci Xi will not be referred to as a traitor in this council. He has been punished appropriate to his crimes, but remains loyal to this village. If you truly intend to contest his training of our newest chuunin, I suggest you come up with legitimate grounds."
Three and a half hours later, with the night wearing thin and Raikage's patience measured in inches from his swordhilt, he finally ended the debate. "Very well, since none of you have managed to offer me a legitimate reason or reasonable alternate to the current situation, Draci Xi's training of Senirai Shiren stands. Good night." At that point he simply stood up and left, leaving the clan heads and councilors to bicker amongst themselves.
Gosain recalled what had happened after most vividly. On the way back to his own rooms Raikage had turned to him, after dismissing his other guards, and said a very few words. "Do you understand the situation, chuunin?"
Gosain had simply nodded.
"Good." Raikage replied, face set. "Now, I must know, will you be loyal to this village and help me, or will you obey a second master when the times turn desperate?"
"I have seen too much blood spilled for this village to do anything but serve it." Gosain replied, anger lacing his words. "You have my service."
"Then I am going to make you work hard, very hard." Raikage said simply. "Get some rest, because you will not rest again soon."
Now, standing at his window and watching the nightfall, Gosain fully understood those words. I have served seven missions in five weeks, and I led five of those. Every time, leading genin into the heart of danger. It had been brutal, and they had not all been successes, more names had gone onto the list of those lost near Gosain. Two chuunin dead on the mist border, a genin to a tiger outside of Fire country, and then those under my command, a genin lost a leg to a rogue samurai, and another an arm to a missin-nin's trap, and then a third, killed by a bear summons, while playing cat and mouse with mist ninja. Never did we have no injuries, always the genin got hurt, and I.
There were two new scars on Gosain's chest, brutal marks from kunai slashes, and his leg had been laid open to the bone by a water jutsu. Medical jutsu healed my wounds, but I can recall the pain. They are starting to call me the cursed chuunin now, damn them. There was no respect for Gosain from the various upper ninja. Most of the chuunin thought him a fool, and the jounin ignored him, it was a harsh thing to deal with. Gosain was no stranger to hardship, however, and there were two signs that proclaimed those above him foolish. The first was the look from Raikage's eyes that he received when he returned after each of those seven missions. It may not have been pretty, and it was not clean, but I completed every mission, every time, I got the job done. Beyond even that though, there was something Gosain had just noticed, something more important. The genin, they look up to me, I can see it in their eyes, I am their leader. Younger than he, all of them, Gosain had seen them look up at him for direction, beg him for help when trouble struck, and rely on him to save them. He had seen them believe in him, trust him. At the end of the mission they would look at him and Gosain knew they believed he had done everything possible, made every sacrifice. They trusted this chuunin who came back covered in mud, grime, chains, and blood to do his utmost. It is not how they look at those clan prodigies who come back so clean. The genin have the only pure eyes in this village, and they believe in me. It left Gosain trembling when he thought about it, what had been placed on his shoulders, but he was resolved. I will not fail that trust.
And so there was no rest for him.
I have another mission tomorrow; I must get what sleep I can. Gosain closed the window to his small room, blocking out the foul weather stirring outside. What I can, even if it is not enough.
The patter of rain and crash of thunder covered most sound during the night, blocking even the senses of the ninja from awareness, but at the creak of a glass pane Gosain came instantly awake.
It was not meant to have been enough; a ninja in full combat garb cut through the window and came to the bedside with a drawn sword. There was nowhere to dodge and no time to grab a weapon.
But Gosain did not take off his chains at night.
"Whirling Stormfront!" The attacking ninja was slammed back into the wall as chains spun around his body, slamming him again and again. It was only a moment, but when it was done he crumpled to the ground, skull crushed.
Gosain was upright in moments, pulling on his flak jacket and weapons even as he looked at his attacker. "Lightning?" He could not restrain himself from speaking the word aloud, so great was his shock. The ninja wore a facemask over his mouth, but Gosain pulled it off quickly. A chuunin, I knew this man, one of the Monihii. What is going on? Gosain's head spun quickly even as he readied himself for battle. An assassination attempt? He wondered, and then the thunder cleared for a moment.
The clash of metal on metal could be heard from outside, weapon hitting weapon. Gosain turned to his window, and suddenly the thought that had crept into his mind was confirmed. He looked out and saw ninja crash through the trees, and kunai and shuriken flew through the rain and storm. The Lightning are at war. It was a horrible thing to realize in the middle of that storm, even moreso for what followed. With ourselves.
A ninja dashed into the open in front of Gosain's window, a genin, a young girl he knew, one just out of the academy. With hesitant hand seals she called up a Bushin, only to watch as a kunai flew through it, dissipating the clone as soon as it formed.
"That's all little girl?" A voice mocked, and two ninja flashed in neck to the genin, they were chuunin both, not bothering to hide their faces or lightning uniforms, and Gosain knew their identities. Fesyiri clan. Bastards, you're going to murder a genin? One of our genin?
There were no thoughts, no words, only a single action and a burning rage that the storm could not quench. Gosain leapt from the window, completely unnoticed by his attackers, who must have thought the building harbored no threat. Chains moved in tune with his instincts and the shocked Fesyiri chuunin never even got the chance to scream.
Chains wrapped around their necks, and then Gosain hurled them into the wall headfirst, killing with a red and brutal violence.
His feet struck the ground with a thump, and the genin girl spun, a kunai in her hands, but arms trembling. Gosain stood before her, water splattering his black hair, his scarred cheeks and cold and bloody chains wrapped around him. She stifled a scream.
"Calm down, girl." Gosain said quickly. "You must stay quiet, and straighten your arms, you will need your full strength behind any blow."
The genin nodded. "Chuunin Gosain?" She whispered.
"Yes." Gosain answered immediately. "Now get into the shadow of the building." Gosain ordered, conscious of the sounds of battle raging about them. "What is going on?"
The words stumbled out of the genin all jumbled, but they were enough to provide a picture of destruction. "They came, everywhere, strange ninja, all in night blue, killing, they were killing everyone I think, while they slept, at least, we think that. At the academy, one of the teachers, he rang the alarm, but it didn't carry. Everyone, at least, everyone I think, maybe not some people, a few are missing, we all gathered, but they started attacking, friends, relatives, everyone." She started crying. "Chuunin Gosain?" She asked through teary eyes. "What is happening?"
"I don't know." Gosain replied simply, refusing to lie. "All the genin gathered?" He asked, taking hold of the girl's shoulders, making he look at him and answer. She nodded just barely. "I think everyone."
"Only the genin?" Gosain asked. "Where are the chuunins, the ANBU, your jounin senseis?" He demanded.
"Don't know, don't know, don't know." She sobbed. "Everyone fighting, what do we do Gosain sensei, what do we dooo?"
Gosain stood up straight. What do I do indeed? There are no answers, this is civil war. It seems that everyone else has chosen sides or been killed. Who could have done this? What sparked such a thing? Gosain shook his head suddenly. Never mind, it doesn't matter, I have to be responsible, I must. The genin have come out to fight, no clans, nothing, they are here. If there are no other chuunin, then I have to do what I can. I must help them.
"Show me to the others, quickly, we must get together and form a plan, a battle line." Gosain released the girl. "Now, hurry!"
The scene was a nightmare, all through lightning, the sounds of battle raged amid the blackness of the storm, lit only by broken lamps and lanterns and the flashes of seemingly endless lightning. They had not passed over a single building when Gosain came upon three genin dodging and running from a pursuing chuunin. "Throw now!" He commanded to his companion. "No hesitation!" His chains lashed forward, no time for jutsu in this madness. "Drop and turn you genin!" He ordered.
It was strange for Gosain to watch it unfold, the girl to his right threw a kunai, and the three genin in front dropped. He brought his chains toward the chuunin, again a face he knew, but one whose name escaped him. The man dodged above the chuunin, and them below the whipping chains, only to take three shuriken in the face from the genin who had turned on their pursuer.
He jumped up in pain, and then vanished beneath the onslaught of chains. The madness of melee, the time for my style, the ability to be anywhere, to strike along any length. Gosain's anger brought forth a feral gleam in his eyes. I hold the striking tendrils of the storm, and I will not show mercy to these traitors.
The three genin turned to Gosain, and he found that he knew one. "Shu." He spoke, causing the genin, a two-year ninja who had served with him two missions ago, to turn around. "What is happening?"
"An attack everywhere, Gosain-san." Shu answered. "These night blue ninja came first, and killed many who were asleep, there must have been some jutsu in the storm. Still, some ANBU awoke and were fighting them, and one of the academy teachers was awake, grading tests, he fought, and rang the alarm bell. All the genin came, except a few from the clans." Shu scowled and Gosain joined him.
"So the clans knew, why are they fighting?" Gosain demanded, needing information.
"It's only a few, nobody knows, but they're fighting each other, and targeting anyone out. We're trying Gosain-san, really, but our skills are limited." Shu sounded desperate.
"Then we have to respond differently." Gosain said. It's not their skills; if Shu is right its only surprise that has them, and disorganization. Gosain knew the numbers of ninja now, Raikage had told him. There are many, many genin; no few clan chuunin and jounin can win. "Are the night blue ninja gone?"
"Most it seems, I've seen some bodies, but they must have moved elsewhere."
"Those are the true targets." Gosain said firmly, and inside he made a decision. "Shu, we need to gather all the genin together, we cannot fight alone, like this. If you unite these clan scion cowards will retreat."
"Where will we go, Gosain-san?" Shu asked, though more hopeful now he still seemed beaten down. "We have no orders, who is the enemy?"
"I don't know that." Gosain answered. "I don't know who started this. We will defend ourselves, and we will get orders."
"How?"
"Raikage-sama." Gosain answered, his decision made. "No matter what has happened we can trust Raikage-sama, he will know what to do, he is the Lightning we must follow."
The four genin near Gosain nodded and he recognized that giving them an objective had mattered almost as much as just being there. These young ninja don't need me to fight for them, they just need a little help realizing where they stand. "Shu, go east, gather every genin between here and the library, meet atop the hospital. You-"Gosain pointed to the girl next to him. "Go south, gather every genin you can find on your way to the academy." He pointed at another genin. "Go north, gather everyone at the Mist war memorial." To the final genin Gosain ordered. "You will head south with me, we will go to Marikima's restaurant. When we get there we will fire off the fireworks he has stashed in the basement. That is the signal to move toward the central city, which you must avoid before then. All of you, stay together, sweep forward in a line, we will link all four groups and converge on Raikage-sama's hall. Does everyone understand?" Gosain asked.
Four heads nodded. "Alright, go, and remember, don't fight alone!"
They dispersed, and Gosain and the genin whose name he didn't know headed south into the nightmare that was Hidden Cloud in the middle of its civil war. There was battle everywhere, save for the quiet of the clan estates on the edge of the village, and the dim sound of stalking battle from the central city. Gosain was almost thankful for the storm, which prevented fire, but he could tell it was a vile thing, and was powering this assault. Though he now had a plan, there remained a question burning in his angry and edgy mind. Who could have caused this?