Disclaimer: Naruto? Not Mine.
Odes of the Betrayed
By Kage Kurokawa
Chapter 05 THE MISSION
"We are here for our mission." Hyuga Neji declared in a smooth, clear voice belying the inner turmoil that he is feeling at the sight of the two nins from his former village.
"Ah yes. Your mission. I believe you've met these gentlemen here by my side." The Shikage stated.
No response but for a few nods.
"This is Hatake Kakashi of Konoha. And the Shichidaime, Master Jiraiya." Their leader introduced.
Shichidaime?
The Shikage continued.
"They are here to call for our aid. You see, Konoha and Phantom Country had a secret and non-irrevocable pact with the last Shikage. It was agreed that Phantom country will answer one plea for help from Konoha with its fullest strength and vice versa."
Turning to the Shichidaime he said, "These two teams are among the best of our best. They could wipe out a whole village of jounins in less than a day. I know that they may have come as a surprise for you but they are what I can offer. I believe that they could very well have a big advantage with the terrain among other nins here. What do say Hokage?"
Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a while. It's been so long since he had seen any of this young men. They had been mereboys back then. And they were wanted. For the wrong reasons. His opinion did not matter. He had to think about the village.
"They are either missing nins or were named fugitives in Konoha. All our ninjas were given a kill on sight order for these people." The Hokage countered. He did not approve of that order. But it was a custom of the his land.
"Ah. Then you will be wasting your time, because in such encounters, none of my nins will end up dead. Of that I can assure you." The Shikage has avery strong confidence in his nins. It can be quite irritating most of the time.
"I do not think they would want to come back to Konoha in any case." Kakashi supplied. The white-haired jounin was surprised to see two of his prized pupils here as well as some of the best genins Konoha has ever seen, not to mention that crimson haired demon from Suna.
"They are my soldiers now." The leader of Phantom country replied. "And they are professionals. They do what is required of them. And they do it more than very well. They always finish their missions. They leave no loose ends. I have no more yuureinin to spare as my own personal charges are out on sensitive missions. The question here is, will you or will you not take their services?"
"Give me a minute." The current Hokage furrowed his brows in deep thought.
"Do not waste my time Master Hokage." The Shikage answered haughtily. He is insulted that the Hokage would dare think about it yet. He has no patience for people who question his skill in delegating missions. His tone turned serious. "I am giving you two teams of my very best warriors here. To tell you the truth, I cannot afford to lose any of them. It has been a first that a Shikage would send two teams of the Yuureinin to undertake a mission. But as the pact said, I should provide you with our fullest strength. They are it. You must realize that one of them is going to be my successor and the rest are up for promotion. They've yet to fail a mission. And it is to your favor that they know your lands like the back of their hands. Now will you take them, or would you prefer some of our lower jounins?"
"We will take them." The leader of Konoha sighed.
"Might I suggest that you lift the kill on sight order then? It wouldn't do your cause any good if your soldiers end up dead."
"Very well." There is resignation.
"Let us begin with the instructions then."
The Shikage motioned everyone to sit at the long, rectangular, marble table with documents and maps scattered on top of it.
"Maybe the Hokage can begin the tale for us in order to give a picture of the present situation."
Master Jiraiya stood up and began his story…
"Orochimaru had always wanted to see Konoha fall. You've witnessed one his attempts ten years ago at the Chuunin Exams.He has tried and failed in the past. But the village, no the whole country, is being attacked again by Orochimaru. This has been going on for the last two years. This time around, he has a strong military back up from both the Village of Sound and the Village of Sand. He has also formed an alliance with the Village of Cloud. He has declared open war with Konoha and the Country of Fire. We have lost many good ninjas on our side.
They have a created a new cursed seal technique and a deadly poison that kill enemies instantly. The seal drains the ninjas of their strength and then melts their internal organs like acid within a day or two. They die a very painful death. We've done everything we can think of to break the seal but to no avail. Our medic nins revealed that the poison is new as well, but weare unable todetermine all of its components because several of its ingredients are not found in our stocks at Konoha."
"Phantom Country is one of our secret allies. At leastas one time favor. We are redeeming our end of the pact because we have no choice. As the Seventh Hokage, it is my responsibility not to see my people and my village burn to the ground. Our people are tired and are living in the shadow of fear. Our warriors are dispirited and losing hope in this war. When the Rokudaime died two years ago, I was forced to take his place. I cannot bear to see my people suffer. The aid we are asking is for assistance in finding the components of the poison to be able to find an antidote. We also need strong ninjas to help beat back the enemies, or at least push them to our borders. They caught the country by surprise by the sheer number of their fighters, we expected attack but not on this scale. Our enemies have penetrated through nearly half of Fire Country and on three fronts. Our forces cannot hold out for much longer. Our supplies are running low and we are gradually becoming vulnerable."
At the end of this tale, the Shikage just nodded and stood before voicing out his thoughts.
"Ah yes. Yes. I know most of this already. As soon as I received your letter, I contacted my spies around your area. I've gathered some information on both sides. I don't know if you'd be surprised to learn that Orochimaru has formed a secret treaty with the Akatsuki."
"What?" Both ninjas for the Hidden Leaf appeared puzzled by this new information.
"For a reputable ninja village, you need to work on your espionage capabilities." The Shikage chided pulling at an imaginary crease on his robes. "Didn't you know that the Village of Sand is under the indirect control of the Akatsuki. Their present Kazekage is actually a member of that organization. Suna is basically Akatsuki's haven for nearly eight years now."
Among those seated, Gaara appeared to be most interested. He felt that the Shikage mentioned this little trivia most likely for his benefit. He could almost feel the smirk forming behind that bastard's half-mask.
"I specifically chose these yuureinin for this mission. You would need Gaara to infiltrate Suna. You would need Shikamaru for strategy. Shino is one of our best toxicologists and a medic nin as well, he is also our number one tracker. Naruto alone is the best frontline strength you could ever ask for. Sasuke is one of the deadliest assassins here. And Neji is the most adequate at close range combat. Each of them is equivalent to a platoon or two of the best ninjas."
The Shikage straightened and cleared his throat. He turned his attention to his Seieis.
"This is your mission. Your time frame will be half a year. Your goal is to finish this war in Konoha's favor, find a way to break the seal, find a cure for the poison. I also want you to destroy Orochimaru and level Akatsuki to the ground. That snake-face and I have a little score to settle, but he is not worth my time now. I leave him to you. The Akatsuki have tried to break into my territory as well and have been like little pests over the years, I'm nearly at the end of my patience with them as well. This seems to be an opportunity to finish off two birds with one stone. You are not yuureinin for nothing. Always keep this in mind.Oh,by the way, no one must know that Phantom Country is involved. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." The Seiei replied in unison.
"I think I will send Hyou as well. He will be your mission commander and will be briefed when he arrives from his mission tonight. You will report your progress to him. I expect no less than excellent results from you."
"None of you must do anything stupid like ending up dead. You are not allowed to die for someone else's land. You are only allowed to die for this land."
"You will leave tomorrow night. Dismissed."
And the room was emptied hurriedly and quietly save for the three occupants that had been there before the younger shinobis arrived.
End chapter 05
A/N: Sigh. Done. Next up is Neji's POV. And then Shikamaru's. Then the mission Begins in Part II.
But… if this fic still doesn't get any reviews… I might as well just stop here and take out this story… and just finish it in that little black notebook of mine…
Ja minna…
