Naruto: Hour of Darkness
Battle history in the ninja world
Chapter One: Overlord's Arrival
It had been a good day.
Relatively few people had tried to get in, and none of them had been ninjas. There were times Masahiro loved gate duty. The Eastern Gate got most of the civilian traffic into and out of Konoha, so Masahiro got to meet a lot of tourists, and he often got a heads-up on any influx of out-of-town jobs, which was always prime gossip fodder. Yes, he could safely say that today had been shaping up to be pretty good.
Then the flying castle had appeared. Masahiro didn't even want to think about how much chakra it would take to make something like that. And as if a giant flying castle wasn't bad enough, people had come out of it.
Well. If the term fit, anyway. They were shaped like people, certainly. But so was that Uzumaki kid, and everyone knew he was a demon.
Masahiro really didn't want to be known as the guy who had let demons inside Konoha. On the other hand, he also didn't want to be remembered as the first casualty in a second demon attack.
So he had sent for the ANBU. When in doubt, delegate. One of the white-masked shinobi had already shown up.
The ANBU was regarding the trio of strangers coolly through the slits of his monkey mask. "Please state your business."
The shortest one, with the wildly improbable blue hairstyle, stepped forward when the redhead poked him in the back, her wings fluttering. "I am Laharl Krichevskoy, Tenkage of Those Hidden In The Sky. Tell your Hokage that we wish to enter into an alliance."
And it had been shaping up to be such a nice day, too…
Several hours later, Laharl and the Sandaime were finishing up their conference.
"And as a gesture of good will, allow us to participate in your upcoming Chuunin Exam. We have some promising genin that we believe are ready for promotion," said Laharl.
The Hokage nodded. "I'll send a chuunin with the paperwork. I look forward to seeing this alliance flourish."
The two of them shook hands before Laharl left the room. In the waiting room outside, Etna was leaning against one wall, her tail twitching idly while Flonne sat patiently in one of the chairs. As Laharl entered, Etna threw him a casual wave and Flonne looked up at him, her large red eyes shining with hope.
"Follow me," commanded Laharl, "We have to decide who to send to the chuunin exam."
Flonne cheered.
Flonne was muttering under her breath. "Nin nin♥!"
Laharl and Etna mostly managed to ignore her while they were working out the specifics. "Alright. You and Flonne can be team leaders."
"Nin nin♥!"
Etna smirked, her tail briefly forming a circle behind her. "Cool. Any restrictions?"
"Nin nin♥!"
Laharl nodded, "They can't be any of the main guard, and they have to be able to pass for humans. It's probably best if you don't take anyone that's passed the Senate's fourth exam, alright?"
"Nin nin♥!"
Etna nodded, her ponytails swaying, "I have just the people for the job, too!"
"Nin nin♥!"
One of Etna's eyebrows twitched. Reaching out one arm, she gently tapped Flonne on the shoulder.
The fallen angel cast an inquisitive eye on her companion, asking "Nin?"
"STOP DOING THAT, FLOWER HEAD!"
Flonne cowered back, holding her hands up protectively. "Sorry…"
Laharl smirked. "It's three weeks until the exam. Explore the town, and try to keep an eye out for the Kyuubi."
Flonne saluted. "Nin nin♥!"
Naruto was happy. It had only been a week since Team Seven had gotten back from Wave Country, and he still had a nice windfall from the unexpected S-Rank mission. Even after bills, he could still afford ramen at the Ichiraku!
"Ah! Flonne-sensei, let's ask him!"
Naruto glanced up at this declaration to see a blonde girl pointing at him. Her hair was done up in curls, she was wearing a strange sort of bell-shaped dress, and she had a freakin' HUGE longbow strapped to her back. Draped around her neck was what looked like a forehead protector with an emblem of a wing carved on it. A quizzical look on his face, Naruto pointed to himself.
A young blonde girl in a white and red outfit rushed up to him, beaming widely. Wrapped around her forehead was a protector with the same wing emblem as the other blondes. "Ah! Hello!" She exclaimed brightly. "I'm Flonne, from the Hidden Sky! What's your name?"
Naruto blinked once before he pasted on a foxy grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Pleased to meet ya!"
The girl bowed, her red ribbon swaying. "Likewise, Naruto-kun!" Straightening up, she smiled cheerfully at him, wide red eyes shining. "Could I ask a favor?"
Naruto was slightly surprised – were foreign ninjas supposed to be this open? Cautiously, he nodded.
Flonne clapped her hands together and said, "My team is in town for the upcoming chuunin exam. We just got in yesterday morning and we don't know where anything is yet. Since you're a ninja, can you give us directions to a training ground, please?"
Naruto smiled, all gleaming white teeth and whisker-marks stretching over his cheeks. "Sure thing! Just follow me!"
With that, he channeled chakra to his legs and took off onto what was often referred to as 'the ninja's roadway' – the roofs of the city.
Flonne signaled to her students to follow as she leapt into the air. The three pupils tensed their legs and leaped onto the rooftops, following after the orange-clad ninja. Flonne, who had reached the apex of her jump, flexed her wings and beat them downwards, sending her further into the air. Ignoring the effect the downdraft from her wings had on the crowded street below, Flonne quickly flew off after Naruto.
Naruto and the three foreign ninjas soon arrived at Training Ground Five, the spiky-haired blonde touching down only moments before the three foreigners. Naruto looked around, slightly puzzled. "Eh? Where's Flonne-san?"
The girl with the bow looked up and started counting softly, "Three…two…one…zero!"
As she reached zero, there was a powerful gust of wind from above that flattened the grass and ruffled Naruto's hair. As he watched, wide-eyed, Flonne lightly set down, her tiny red wings flapping lazily. She looked over the training ground, and then nodded once, smiling. "Thank you, Naruto-kun! This looks excellent!"
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"
Flonne blinked, placing one finger against her chin as she stared at Naruto with wide eyes. "…Do what?"
Naruto jabbed wildly at her with a finger, shouting, "No matter how you look at it, you FLEW! You were definitely flying!"
Flonne blinked a couple of times before a look of comprehension passed over her face. Smacking one fist into her palm, she said, "Oh, that! It's an Advanced Bloodline."
Naruto's eyes lit up, and he nodded. "Oh! Okay." Peering around, he noticed the other three ninjas were watching him and Flonne with something close to bemusement. "Say, shouldn't you guys have a jounin sensei or something?"
All four of the Sky ninjas blinked at that. Flonne regarded him quizzically as she said, "That's me, Naruto-kun."
"WHAT!" shrieked Naruto.
Flonne blinked. Were all ninja this excitable?
Sakura was busy. Today was the first day she had to herself since getting back from Wave Country, between the mission report and debriefing, and assuring her mother that she was fine, mama, really, and gloating to Lily-neechan about successfully completing an S ranked mission when she hadn't been on anything higher than a B ranked mission since she made chuunin, and entertaining Rose-imouto with demonstrations of the tree-walking jutsu she had learned.
Sakura loved her family, she really did, but sometimes she got tired of being the middle daughter. She was grateful all three of them took after Papa, however. However much she loved Mama – and she did, she did! – the mission to Wave Country had made he realize how much she wanted to be a ninja.
Not a homemaker. Definitely not a homemaker.
Half of the surplus from the mission had been given to Mama to help pay the bills, but the rest were going towards rebuilding her stocks of trap kits, kunai, and explosive tags. Lily-neechan's favorite store was having a sale today, and Sakura had begged off of training for the day to take advantage. Kakashi-sensei hadn't seemed to mind, after she had explained what it was a sale on.
Although it was a little insulting that he had asked what kind of shoes she was planning on buying. It wasn't like she was a civilian, after all!
The bell on the shop door jingled cheerily overhead as she pushed it open. Taking a deep breath, Sakura scanned the store, seeking out the kunai. First things first, after all.
The kunai were neatly shelved on a rack on the left side of the store, and there was already someone browsing through them. Sakura stopped what she was doing and stared.
The stranger had bright red hair pulled back in a pair of ponytails, and was clad in a leather miniskirt and tube top with thigh-high leather boots and long, elbow-length gloves. It wasn't the girl's choice of clothing that surprised Sakura, though. No, that honor would go to the small pair of red, bat-like wings sprouting from her shoulder blades and the long, pointed tail that poked out from under the hem of her skirt.
Sakura gave herself a mental shake. All things considered, it really wasn't any weirder than Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan, was it? Just another advanced bloodline, right? With the way she was displaying it so openly, it had to be natural, and they wouldn't have allowed her in the village if she was dangerous.
At least, Sakura hoped so.
Coming to a decision, Sakura walked towards the kunai. Standing next to the strange girl, she said, "Hello?"
The girl glanced up, and Sakura was startled to see her eyes were a bright crimson color – it looked like a natural crimson, too. The stranger smiled at her, all gleaming teeth with just a hint of fang to it. "Oh! Hey. You wanna look at the knives, too, huh?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, my sister said they were having a sale, so I wanted to stock up. My name's Sakura. What's yours?"
The girl nodded at her and said, "I'm Etna."
Sakura glanced down at Etna's throat, noting what she had first taken for a collar was actually a forehead protector with a small wing engraved on it.
"…I don't recognize that symbol. What village are you from?"
Etna smirked and said, "I'm not surprised. We haven't had an outpost on this continent for decades now. I'm a jounin from the Hidden Sky."
Half an hour later, Sakura and Etna were chatting comfortably over a light snack of tea and dango.
"…And he wouldn't back off, so I kicked him right in the goalpost!" Etna said cheerfully.
Etna liked Sakura. The human had a real vicious streak in her. Currently, the pink-haired girl was laughing at the story Etna had just finished, which was a much better reaction than she had ever gotten from Flonne.
Behind them, someone screamed. Whipping around, Sakura was confronted with a sight she was completely unprepared for.
It was at least six feet tall, with green skin and an orange mohawk. A foul stench was rolling off it in waves, and from what Sakura could see, every major organ between the bottom of its all-too-visible ribcage and its waist had rotted away, leaving a gaping hole where living people would have a stomach. It was also clutching a piece of paper in one hand.
Next to her, she heard Etna mutter, "I swear, the damn flower head hasn't got an ounce of common sense." Noticing Sakura going for a kunai, Etna waved her off. "Relax, I can handle this."
By this time, the thing was only two feet away and was making no further movements. Etna casually pushed Sakura back, walking up to the zombie and asking, "Well?"
In a remarkably smooth voice for something so disgusting, it said, "Mistress Flonne has found a suitable training ground, Etna-san. She sent me to deliver a map."
"Yeah, yeah," Etna grumbled, snatching the paper away, "You can go back now, alright?"
The zombie nodded gravely and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
Etna muttered to herself. Damn flower head didn't even stop to think that using a zombie as a messenger might cause a stir. She really had changed a lot since she had come to the Netherworld.
Turning around, she flashed Sakura a cheery grin. "Well, looks like I've gotta get my team. My partner seems to have found a training area we can use." Tilting her head to the side, she continued, "Wanna come with? I can explain on the way."
Sakura nodded.
To be continued…
Next Episode…
Sakura: What is the secret of this mysterious pink-haired girl?
Laharl: Now you've got humans doing it, too?
Etna: Shh! I wanna hear!
Sakura: Appearing out of nowhere in a flash! A warrior of love and justice!
Laharl: GAH! Don't say such optimistic things!
Sakura: Can she defeat the legendary demon, Kyuubi no Kitsune?
Sakura: Tune in next time for Magical Ninja Lovely Sakura: Episode Two! A Legend Is Born!
Etna: Oh, she's good.
Laharl: There's TWO of them now!
Notes: It's been about two weeks since the prolog, fic-time. Laharl delayed setting out long enough that they could get comfortable with the roles they had to play at Konoha. This chapter sets the stage. Chapter two will have some action in it, so don't worry. There will be cool ninja battles. Sakura's sisters will not be a large part of the fic, it's just something I thought was a cool idea. There will be a couple of Haruno family bonding scenes, but it's not going to be the focus of the fic.
