For those who have asked, no the dragon ninja will no be appearing in this story. I frankly don't think I could do anything reasonable with them. There will be references to them and their existence, and Gosain will almost certainly spend some time reflecting on his time spent with them, but this is not a sequel. In fact, I'm trying to set it up so that it would be possible to remove all inherently Naruto aspects and still have a coherent story.
I will admit to one thing right now though, I will be inserting something that came to be in Behind Killer's Eyes in here, and that's the Mizuho bloodline limit. That was the ability I was really most proud of creating, and I can't resist getting a little slice of waterfall into this, but that's a ways down the road for certain.
Chapter 1 – Recovering BondsThe bright sunshine seemed out of place to Kabure Gosain on this day, his first back in the Hidden Village of Cloud. It should be dark and stormy still, we are not yet ready for a day like this, the storm still rules us here, and the wounds are raw. It is not time to heal yet. Still, Gosain covered his face with his hand and proceeded onward, not bothering to allow the irritating brightness to spoil his mood. Today is an important day, and I cannot waste any time.
He walked past the weary guards at the gate swiftly, and saw them turn their heads as he passed, looking at him strangely. Gosain grunted when that happened. Everyone looks at me differently now. It's bothersome. It was looks like those from the two guards that were the worst, the looks that showed admiration, respect, and expected wisdom in return. Gosain had seen the patchy uniforms the two wore, the youth of those two ninja. Genin, they were both genin. It has come to that, there are so few of us now the genin must guard the gates of lightning, and on longer shifts than the chuunin used to. What has become of this place? Gosain asked the question inside his mind, already knowing the answer, knowing it more clearly than any other. We did it to ourselves. This is our responsibility. I saw it all, the treachery and absence of any discipline that ripped this country apart; so that each ninja sought only a path to his or her own power. I wonder if we can survive it? That question had no answer.
I refuse to be smothered by this! Gosain reaffirmed the decision he had made a week before, when he saw the battlefield where Draci Xi and the Dark Storm had died. He had been the first to reach that place, to bring the reinforcements long after it was clear they were not needed and could have done nothing even had they come much earlier. It had been a terrible thing to see, to watch that battle in the sky above, to see storm demon and dragon fight in the roof of the world and then watch both perish. Xi had sacrificed himself, something all had known the strange dragon ninja had long intended, and the Dark Storm was dead. Yet, it was not until he reached the battlefield that Gosain learned the truth of that sacrifice. Xi did it for his students, Gosain recalled with bitterness. He gave up everything for the sake of Neji, Shiren, and Dar, and that was what gave him the strength to kill that demon woman, not his loyalty to the country of Lightning.
That is what we must accept, Gosain had realized then. Lightning created the Dark Storm, and lightning could not get rid of her. Gosain saw every night in his mind the image of the Raikage's final sacrifice, the death of the man he had considered his only true leader, the one who had given everything to save the nation and kill the Dark Storm, and he had failed. He lacked the power because loyalty and the ninja way were not at the heart of lightning, but the avaricious hunger of the Dark Storm. If we are to survive this time we must change our country, so that we are no longer like her. Gosain knew that, but he did not know how that could happen. It will take strength, and we are weak. Shiren is the best we have now, and she is gone.
They had returned to lightning after reaching that battlefield, and Xi's three students had told the tale of what had happened, so that everyone would know what they had witnessed. They had told their intentions, and then they had left. The three students, each from different nations, they were stronger than Gosain could properly conceive, but they would never fight for any nation. Gosain had traveled with them to the border, while searching for other lightning ninja who had scattered during the fighting. He had tried to convince Shiren to stay for a time, for she was a lightning ninja, and her strength would be needed, but she had said no, that the dragon ninja must put their skills to a purpose above that of any one country.
She is my friend, as is Neji, Gosain knew. They will not neglect us; we need fear nothing from missing-nins anymore. That was a good thing, but Gosain could not help but believe that if Shiren had stayed Lightning's position would not be so precarious. Or perhaps I simply wanted a friend with me. It has been a lonely week. There were never friends for the cursed genin I used to be, and now I have no one left alive who I know, save the dragon ninja, even all these genin who look up to me. What do I do?
Walking through the village this day Gosain felt adrift. Today was the day Heposiri Saiyki would be made the eight Raikage. Gosain knew that, he himself had suggested the man, the only head of any clan of lightning ninja that had not been present at the time of the Dark Storm's attack, the only one who had not stood by and done nothing as she made her move. He was also one of the strongest ninja remaining, even though his strength was not great enough for him to truly be called a Kage. Lightning must have a leader though, even if there was no one truly suitable, the nation's ninja could not be headless in such a time of peril.
There ceremony was to be held on the steps of the Raikage's Hall, the building that had been the foundation of the Hidden Village of Cloud. It was the center of that nation, both physically the center of the village and the spiritual heart of the nation. This building had been created as a fortress to protect the people of this land from the many factions that threatened it long ago, during the years of Great War. It was a strong building, but not a pleasant one, though in the years since its creation it had been made slightly more pleasant. As the need for defense had diminished it became a site for ceremonies, and a museum to the history of the ninja. All that, it makes this place seem stable, more stable than we have ever been, Gosain thought as the building came into view. Yet, the lie is clearly visible now. A gaping hole stretched in the roof of the grand building, the hole that had been created during the fight between the 7th Raikage and the Dark Storm. That hole destroyed the unified structure of that building, and nullified its powers, created by the labors of hundreds of ninja. Workmen had already begun repairs, but it would be some time before the building was whole again. If it ever is, if this country can survive the coming time, Gosain thought with grim despair. We may have removed enemies on the outside, but it seems we only invited them within. The damage to the Raikage's Hall, like the rest of the damage scattered throughout the village, had been done by lightning ninja themselves.
A crowd was gathered in front of the building, waiting for the ceremony to commence. They were ninja all, the regular citizens and even the lords of the Lightning country were not permitted here at this time. This was a business of the ninja alone, one that might have in other days been joyous, but was now only a sad trial. This was the election of a new Raikage.
Gosain walked straight into that crowd, and received many strange looks as he did so. There were many ninja here, every last one that did not have pressing duties. This was a surprising number, but only until Gosain recalled that normal missions had been suspended, and so all those ninja not actively guarding were free to attend, creating a deceptive picture of numerous ninja. So many are genin, Gosain saw this as well, and though he had expected it, it was still saddening. He searched the crowd for other ninja of his own rank, the mid-ranked chuunins, but found few, and those he found were all members of one of the several powerful ninja clans that vied for dominance in Hidden Cloud. I am the only clan-less chuunin here. That was surely the source for some of the looks Gosain received, but there was another, more obvious reason. All the ninja wore their best outfits, either perfectly pressed battle uniforms, or the more austere black garb of mourning, that many had donned following the fighting. Gosain wore nothing of the kind. He stood in the battle garb of a lightning ninja, the brown flak jacket with its one small pocket over the blue base uniform of his country. He carried a kunai holster and shuriken pouch, and had bandages wrapped about his legs. The most striking thing was not this, but how dirty all of it was. Gosain was covered in dust, mud, and grime. His short black hair was a grubby mess, covered by an equally stained blue bandanna, and he still carried the two and half foot steel pole with its hooked ends in his right hand, the weapon for which he was known, the central apparatus of his true weaponry, the long chains he wore wrapped about his torso. It was clear to anyone who watched that Gosain had come from the field, and he had not bothered to clean up for the ceremony.
Many ninja stared at Gosain for this, but he met every one with his hardened gaze, always dark it had grown colder since the last few weeks. I have no time to waste cleaning up for this formality, we shouldn't be bothering at all, and everyone knows this is not a true Raikage we are inducting, even the genin. Let this farce be over with, there's too much to do.
Steadily Gosain walked to the front of the crowd, and everyone made way for him. As much as he thought the ceremony was a waste, he had been given a part to play here. Gosain thought it wasted on him, not wanting to acknowledge his own heroism during the Dark Storm's coup. It was not in Gosain to consider that terrible night, when he had watched his Raikage sacrifice himself to save him and others, and seen the lightning consume themselves in a feast of treachery, anything but a failure. That he was the sole ranking ninja who had rallied, gathered the scattered and inexperienced, but loyal, genin and driven many of the invaders back, that he had endured a nigh Olympian marathon run to gain the aid of Draci Xi, and that he had himself led the hunt for the last of the Dark Storm's loyalists, none of that mattered to Gosain. He could only recall the Raikage's face as he told Gosain to flee, that there was nothing he could do to prevent that man's death and the Dark Storm's victory. I failed then. I cannot fail again. Gosain had pledged that to himself.
Though Gosain would not acknowledge his deeds, others had, including the many genin who saw this grubby chuunin as the only ninja who had not betrayed them. It was in acknowledgement of his willingness to fight with them, on the loosing side, that he had earned his position here.
It was at the front of the crowd that Gosain took his place, the eighteen-year-old chuunin standing among a ring of much older jounin. The ranks of these ninja were small, for few of Lightning's elite had survived the battles. Most of those who stood here were older, the heads of the various clans, long out of practice in actual fighting, or the silent few captains of the ANBU who had survived by virtue of their remote postings in lightning country, men and women eager to return to their own commands. Strangely, though all these ninja were older than Gosain by several years at least, one who knew nothing of the lightning might have made the mistake and considered Gosain among the eldest of the ANBU, for his dark eyes held a cold weariness that reached far beyond his short lifespan.
There was one ninja present in that front row younger than Gosain, a boy who was a mere fourteen years old. He wore a dark blue jumpsuit, and his right arm was in a sling, but he maintained a fierce expression on his face. This youth stood next to Gosain, and the chuunin found himself happy to know that this one was even alive. I thought you were surely dead Shu, Gosain recalled, remembering that he had sent the valiant genin to the southern islands, all the way to the Water Country border, to summon aid. He had not expected the boy to survive, but it seemed Shu had managed it somehow. Good, Shu will be needed; he will have to fill a chuunin's role soon, even if he is not ready. It was a sour thought.
"Are all present?" A loud voice spoke, and a speaker stepped forward from that ring of ranking ninja. The speaker was a slim special jounin, one that Gosain recognized easily. Merico Ebisi, the spymaster of Lightning. It had been this man that brought Gosain the missive that carried him to the chuunin exam with Shiren and Neji under Draci Xi, the jounin who supposedly coordinated all of Lightning's intelligence. This was a gross overestimation, as the factional clans did not share information, and so Ebisi was little more than the master of what the ANBU reported from the borders. He was supposedly competent, but Gosain doubted that a truly talented spymaster would have allowed the Dark Storm to gather so much strength unnoticed. Unless, of course, Gosain scowled, he knew, but secretly supported her. Gosain did not think that likely, since captured servants of the Dark Storm had named everyone who followed her, and they had all been called up after Xi had slain so very many of them, but that left Lightning with a spymaster whose competence was severely questionable. Another thing we don't need right now.
All questions of his ability or loyalty aside, Ebisi stood as the spymaster because he, as master of intelligence, was not permitted to become involved in the selection of the Raikage, as his master of intelligence would have been too easily used for blackmail. Therefore, he stood as the arbitrator. Normally the role would have fallen to the head of the Lightning Hunter-nins, but they were dead, and it had already been decided that the country would rely on the dragon ninja, and not reconstitute that group. It would need every strong ninja for wars to come; they could not have four stand aside.
"It seems we are all present." Ebisi intoned. "Then, we will now begin the selection ceremony to determine the Eighth Raikage." Ebisi paused, then continued in a lecturing speech. "As you all know, normally the next Raikage is selected by the one who currently holds the title when it is believed a candidate is ready. However, as few Raikages have survived in their position long enough to do this, we had determined an alternate method for selection of our leader in case of emergency. The current situation has been deemed universally to constitute an emergency by the assembled committee of the village." Ebisi paused. "I would add that the Daimyo of Lightning Country has also strongly urged for the immediate selection of a Raikage to fill the absence. As such, we have gathered here for this purpose."
Ebisi's eyes scanned the gathered crowd. "I will no begin accepting nominations for the next Raikage. As you know, any true jounin may nominate another ninja for this rank. Once nominations are taken all jounin and special jounin will each receive one vote for the next candidate, and there will also be a vote allotted to the collective chuunin and the collective genin of Hidden Cloud Village." Ebisi took out a scroll and pen. "We may begin nominations."
It was all a formality in truth, everyone had already determined who would be the next Raikage. Heposiri Saiyki was the only possible candidate. He was the only clan head who had not been in the village during the coup, and therefore was not tainted by the action of having stood aside while the Dark Storm attacked, as had all the other clan heads. Likewise, only a clan head had the experience to take up this office now, none of the remaining ANBU captains had the strength or experience, all the strongest lay dead. So everyone knew who it would be, but that did not mean this was completely unimportant. Gosain had been introduced to the viscous politics of Lightning not long ago, and he recognized that one clan could make a show of supporting another candidate and thereby show a lack of confidence in Saiyki, others could join with them to group together a substantial faction. Please let there by no such foolishness today, even these moronic old men must know that we cannot present anything less than one face to our enemies now. Gosain hoped, but deep down he expected otherwise.
"I nominate Heposiri Saiyki." One of the most senior jounin said immediately.
"Heposiri Saiyki, leader of clan Heposiri of Cloud is duly nominated." Ebisi replied, and recorded the name. "Are there other nominations?" He asked.
There was a long period of silence, and Gosain dared to believe that for once politics would be silenced beneath the need for the ninja to stand together in strength. He waited for Ebisi to proceed to the voting.
Just as it seemed the Spymaster was ready to roll up the scroll, another voice spoke. "I nominate Stomatoa Vesu."
Ebisi dropped his scroll open mouthed.
The words touched off a firestorm.
"What?...Him!...You can't!...That's impossible!...The traitor?" The jounin shouted and muttered amongst themselves, losing focus and disrupting everything.
Gosain, however, had eyes only for the speaker. Yilosi Tnema, head of the Yilosi clan, the clan from which he had crippled Yilosi Nemari, the clan that was likely closest to the Dark Storm, and one that had always put its own interests before anything else. Damn you, you bastard. Gosain thought, and his anger flared, and he couldn't keep silent. "All of you shut up!" Gosain bellowed, his voice ragged and raging, filled with all the anger that had been boiling in him the whole day.
The crowd fell suddenly silent, everyone turned to stare at Gosain. Seeing all those eyes turned on him, Gosain felt words and anger slip from his mind, as he struggled to find something to say. His eyes scanned that ring of jounin, and caught to faces. The first was the scathing face of Yilosi Tnema, who looked as if he intended to kill Gosain that very instant. Of course, Gosain knew that the man actually did, so that didn't concern him much. The other face was that of Stomatoa Vesu, the short and wiry clan head was actually in attendance, though Gosain could hardly believe it. He was looking at Gosain cautiously, but also as if he had something to say. Seeing that image, Gosain saw a way out, and he seized it.
"The head of clan Yilosi has chosen stupidity and a personal grudge over the interests of this country," Gosain said openly, not caring that he insulted the man for all to see. "I'm certain none of us will soon forget that. However, I believe the head of clan Stomatoa has something to say."
"Thank you, chuunin," Vesu replied, as the eyes turned to face him. The barb stung Gosain, but there was nothing to be done about it. "I will address this assembly simply. I will not become Raikage. Therefore nominating me is irrelevant. It was agreed upon years ago that no one from my generation of my clan could ever hold high office in this country. Is that clear?" He asked, and his old voice carried a viscous edge. Yilosi's barb had been well targeted, for this clan leader might well be the strongest that remained, despite his clan's unfortunate history.
"Well then," Ebisi said cautiously as Vesu finished, "If there are no other nominations, I suggest we proceed to voting. I will call the names, please answer for whom you support as the eighth Raikage of Hidden Cloud."
Ebisi began calling names, going down the list alphabetically, jounin, and then special jounin. Votes were cast again and again for Heposiri Saiyki, but he did not receive a vote of confidence from everyone present. The Yilosi's gambit had accomplished that much. While no ninja, not even Yilosi Tnema, supported Stomatoa Vesu, many abstained, saying that they found no candidate suitable for the position at this time. Gosain counted the votes carefully, and it became apparent that with all the abstentions, Saiyki would carry a bare majority of the votes. It meant nothing in fact, since there was no opposition, but it showed just how weak support was, even when it needed to be the strongest.
"The Special Jounin have finished." Ebisi called. "How do the chuunin cast their vote?"
Gosain answered swiftly and strongly. "The chuunin stand for Heposiri Saiyki." Gosain knew little of the clan head, but he was resolved to support him, and though he hadn't intended it, he knew his vote was seen as important by many of the younger ninja, who no longer trusted any of the clans after the Dark Storm's coup.
"How do the genin cast their vote?" Ebisi asked Shu, already beginning to roll up his scroll.
"The genin will follow the lead of our friend Kabure Gosain." Shu said firmly, to the gasps of many, and Gosain turned on the boy in shock. "And stand for Heposiri Saiyki!" Shu finished.
Gosain continued looking at Shu. Why did you have to say that? He asked without words. What was the purpose? Shu turned and looked up at Gosain, his boyish face frightfully serious. Gosain read the answer in his eyes, and he knew suddenly that Shu would have voted however he had voted. What he said, he meant to show that the genin look to me as a leader, and not whoever becomes Raikage. Gosain shivered.
"Well, the voting done," Ebisi called, reclaiming the ceremony from near chaos again. "I proclaim Heposiri Saiyki to be the Eighth Raikage, leader of the Hidden Village of Cloud and all ninja of Lightning Country!"
There was no cheering as Heposiri Saiyki, who had stood in the crowd as just another jounin only moments before, came forward. Gosain, watching, observed his new leader clearing for the first time since the coup had ended. Saiyki was a slim man, older, perhaps in his early forties, but still with youthfulness to his features. He was not tall, but neither was he short. Overall, he was not a particularly striking man, with shortly cut brown hair and a fair coastal complexion, but he had the quiet presence of most strong ninja. He wore the black robes of mourning this day, not his ninja uniform.
Ebisi handed Saiyki the blue marked robes and hat of the Raikage, last worn by the seventh on the night he had died, and solemnly Saiyki put them on. These robes were ordinary, and the hat was one the seventh had never worn. It was now known that the seventh had specially made a Raikage's hat that concealed a ribbon sword, and he had shredded that emblem when fighting the Dark Storm. Saiyki did not seem the type to wear the robes as if they were battle armor like his predecessor had, and certainly not to wear a sword over them. Still, he had a strength behind him that managed to at least partially fill those great robes of office, though looking into his eyes Gosain saw no confidence there. He does not think himself ready. Good, that at least is somewhat honest.
"I stand before you as the eighth Raikage." Saiyki addressed them, his voice well schooled to speaking, but not powerful, a teacher's voice, not a general's. "It is a heavy burden that you have passed to me, and I hope I prove worthy to carry it. We are now in trying times," He said, speaking the words everyone knew, acknowledging things openly. "The fight against the Dark Storm has proven ruinous, and our village is ravaged and our strength depleted. The peril we face now is greater than any that has come in years, and I feel ill prepared to face it, but I will try. For we cannot surrender, not while any strength at all remains to us. We have survived the ravages of the treachery by the greatest of us in memory, through the sacrifice of many of our best. We must rebuild, and rebuild quickly, and I will do my best to see that happen. The storm has passed, but we stand in its shadow still, and I can see the flags of our enemies rising. I will do my best, but I must ask for the aid of all in lightning, if we are to rebuild again. Thank you."
Poetic, Gosain thought, but will it be enough? Yet Gosain believed it was far better to acknowledge their weakness than attempt to hide it. We have been bent, perhaps broken, and we must accept that before anything can begin. Still, Gosain could not help but wonder if it was not all hopeless. Is this just a struggle to see how long we might linger before crumbling? He had no easy answer.
"Now I ask that you return to your duties. I will be meeting with many of you in the coming hours, so that we can plan out the future of this village. There is much to be done, so we cannot linger here. Those committee members who I have spoken to please come with me now, the rest of you should receive a notice shortly." Saiyki nodded to the group and turned to head into the Raikage's Hall. Ebisi followed, as did several other ninja.
Gosain turned to leave, not wanting to waste any time. He needed to get back to his room, if he still had a room, and clean himself up. He suspected he would be given a mission tomorrow, and he needed rest. I have still not fully recovered from using that forbidden technique, he reminded himself. I cannot waste time to recuperate.
As he walked back to the ninja's apartments, a genin ran up to him.
"Gosain-san, Gosain-san." The young girl called. "The Raikage sent me to give you this."
The Raikage? Gosain wondered what it was about. A reprimand for my behavior at the ceremony perhaps, he determined. "Yes?" He took a small scroll from the genin.
"That's all," She told him. "You're supposed to read that."
"Thank you." Gosain replied. When the genin had gone he opened the scroll.
Meet with me at the Raikage's Office at midnight, It read, and Gosain looked at it in surprise. There is much we must discuss.
"What can he want from me?" Gosain wondered aloud before deciding there was nothing he could do but go and meet with the Raikage as ordered. I guess I'll go short of sleep again tonight, he thought bitterly.
- If this name seems weird, it should. There's a reason for that. It will become quite clear rather shortly.