Naruto: Hour Of Darkness
Battle History in the Ninja World
Chapter Two: The Mysterious New Ninja
"I'm really sorry about that, Sakura-chan. Flonne doesn't always think about the consequences of her actions," Etna said.
Next to her, Sakura nodded. The two of them were taking the ninja highway back to Etna's hotel, where she would pick up her genin team. Sakura was an average ninja at best, but this was something even average ninja could do.
"What do you know about summoning contracts?" asked Etna.
Sakura paused a moment to reflect before answering, "When a contract is signed, a ninja can make an offering of blood and chakra to call a spirit ally into the real world, cloaking it in flesh. A contract can be forged between a summoner and several specific spirits, or it can be between a summoner and an entire spirit court."
Etna's eyes widened, and she grinned appreciatively. "Heh. You're pretty smart for a genin!"
It's hard to sound modest when you're making thirty-foot leaps between buildings and the slightest misstep will send you falling far enough to break limbs, but Sakura managed it anyway. "Oh, well, it's not really a big deal, honestly…"
Etna let that pass in favor of continuing her explanation. "Flonne has a contract with the entire spirit court of zombies. She doesn't really understand that normal people find them hideous and terrifying, because she sees them as noble warriors that fight against death."
Etna ignored Sakura's baffled expression and looked around, spotting her hotel just across the street. Landing on a small building, she waved at Sakura to follow her. Etna jumped down, her wings fluttering to slow her descent. Looking up, she noted that Sakura, instead of jumping, was walking down the side of the building.
As Sakura jumped off the last few feet, Etna finished her explanation. "I'm not particularly afraid of them either, because I grew up surrounded by the things. But at least I'm capable of realizing other people don't share my tastes, you know?"
With some effort, Sakura managed to find words to express herself. "This Flonne person sounds like a very unique individual!"
Etna barked out a short, sharp laugh. "You mean her head is full of flowers. Don't bother mincing words with me, Sakura-chan. Now follow me! We're going to go wake up those lazy genins of mine!"
High above Konoha, the Overlord Laharl brooded in the center of his flying castle.
Laharl was not happy. This whole thing had started as a way of bringing a notorious demon into his service. Then, that…person had shown up and now everything was way too complicated.
He had to be polite to a human, of all things!
Eyes narrowing, he came to a decision. "ARASHI! GET IN HERE!" he bellowed.
Sitting back impatiently, he slumped lower in his throne while listening intently for the clatter of tiny legs that would announce his new vassal's arrival.
"You called, King Laharl?" came from behind him.
Laharl jumped. "AHH!" Turning around, he saw Arashi stepping out from behind his throne. "DAMMIT, DON'T DO THAT!"
The prinny said nothing, choosing instead to simply stare at Laharl, the throne room's great fire pits reflecting red lights off of his bright yellow skin.
Laharl scowled at him. Prinnies weren't supposed to be that fast, dammit! Even the ones who retained their memories!
"It has to be done this way?" Laharl asked abruptly, with no sign of his inner indignation on his face.
Arashi abruptly seemed to deflate. "Actually, no. There's nothing stopping you from simply destroying the seal and tearing the Kyuubi out of its human vessel."
Laharl drew back, surprise evident on his face. "Then what was all that stuff you said about 'a certain order to events' and 'making alliances' for, then?"
The golden prinny seemed to fidget a bit before sighing deeply. Looking up at Laharl, he asked, "Please don't interrupt?"
Laharl nodded. "If it's so important to you, I suppose I can listen."
Arashi stilled for a moment, breathing deeply before he started talking. "The attack of the Kyuubi was the single most devastating defeat to have happened to the Leaf since the time of my father." Staring up at the Overlord, Arashi's eyes narrowed into a powerful glare. "For the events of my life, I was practically guaranteed an enjoyable afterlife in Celestia."
Arashi started pacing back and forth, his tiny prinny legs making tapping sounds against the floor. "Instead, I sold my soul to the God of Death and sealed the Kyuubi inside a newborn infant, condemning my soul to an afterlife spent as an explosive penguin."
Tilting his head to the side, the Fourth Hokage stared out at Laharl through the eyes of a prinny, every line of his body held upright with the sheer force of will that had him holding on to his memories even after death. "I refuse to have died for nothing. I will not allow my death to be rendered meaningless."
Laharl smirked. "I can respect that. Fine, we'll do it your way."
Etna and Sakura were just outside the room Etna had booked for her three students. Glancing back at Sakura, Etna placed one finger over her lips and winked.
Etna raised one thumb to her mouth and bit down with one of her fangs, piercing her skin. Making several hand seals, Etna slammed her bloody hand down on the floor, whispering, "Ninpo: Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
From beneath Etna's hand there came a puff of smoke that billowed upwards, revealing two bird-like creatures.
Sakura blinked. Were birds supposed to have fanny packs and bat wings? Even ninja summoning birds?
The birds drew themselves up, saluting sloppily. "Prinny Squad reporting for duty, dood!"
Etna grinned savagely. "We're gonna wake up my lazy students, alright?" Looking over her shoulder, she added, "Sakura, you pick up the other one, please."
Sakura blinked, then shrugged mentally and placed one of the Prinnies under her arm. Etna had already lifted up the other one and was in the process of unlocking the door.
"On the count of three, throw the Prinny inside the room. Try to aim for the center, all right?"
Sakura looked down at her burden. She was surprised to note that it looked resigned; as if this was something it had long since gotten used to.
By this point, Etna had already unlocked the door and was slowly opening it, counting under her breath. When she reached three, the door slammed against the wall as she cried out, "RISE AND SHINE, LITTLE ONES!"
With that, she and Sakura threw their burdens inside the room.
The prinnies exploded.
Naruto was happy. That strange jounin, Flonne, was really cool! Even if she was about his age and much higher ranked than he was. Her team was really nice, too. They were even letting him spar with them!
The blonde girl from before was practicing her archery with that freakin' huge bow. Her name was Kasumi, and she knew some pretty good tricks, too. Her teammates were named Motoko and Joutarou. Motoko was a melee weapon specialist and Joutarou knew a wide variety of ninjutsu.
But even if they were cool people, man, did they ever dress funny. Motoko wore a samurai's hikama with giant ovals cut out over her thighs and wrapped bandages around her chest. Joutarou wore a pair of pants and a bizarre combination of skull mask and jester's cap. Kasumi's bell-shaped dress was the most normal piece of clothing there.
Right now, Flonne was showing Joutarou some of the subtleties of a Hyouton jutsu he was practicing, and he was sparring with Motoko.
Speaking of which…Naruto quickly rolled to the side, dodging the overhead strike from Motoko's axe.
He grinned. "Nice!"
Motoko smiled back, full of teeth, saying, "Not bad yourself!"
Swinging the axe up, Motoko brought it around in a sideways slice that Naruto dodged by leaping over. While he was in the air, a quick hand seal brought forth five shadow clones, arrayed around him in a circle.
Naruto quickly sent three of the clones within Motoko's reach before she could bring her axe around again. The shades swarmed over Motoko, knocking her axe from her grip.
One of the clones tossed the axe far enough away that Motoko couldn't afford to take the time to retrieve it before Naruto and his two remaining duplicates charged forward.
The leading clone launched itself into a flying axe-kick, which Motoko caught on her crossed arms before the second clone charged in low with an uppercut that sent her tumbling away to land on her back.
Naruto, seeing the advantage, came barreling in with a flying kick aimed at her stomach. Motoko quickly placed her hands palm down on the ground above her head and launched herself up, somersaulting out of the way and skidding to a stop in a kenjutsu stance, holding a long sword in front of her defensively.
Naruto didn't let the sudden appearance of the new weapon faze him, choosing to summon up another batch of shadow clones and attack en masse. As the multiple shinobi closed in on her, Motoko blurred.
A massive cloud of smoke went up as the clones disappeared all at once, obscuring the two ninja. By this point, Flonne, Joutarou, and Kasumi had stopped practicing to watch the match. Before their eyes, the cloud thinned, revealing two figures locked in an eerie tableau.
Motoko had the edge of her sword against Naruto's throat. The blonde ninja, however, had the point of a kunai against Motoko's eye. The two of them were smiling at each other, eyes bright. Naruto was bleeding from a cut under his eye, and Motoko's hair tie had snapped, letting her raven-wing hair fall loose down her back.
"Draw?" suggested Naruto, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Draw," agreed Motoko, her own voice none too steady.
The two of them let their weapons sag before the leaned against each other, laughing hysterically.
Joutarou swallowed behind his mask. "Naruto-san is as scary as Motoko-chan, huh?"
Kasumi nodded, her curls bouncing. "Combat freaks."
Naruto and Motoko still hadn't recovered and were slumped under a tree when Etna arrived with her Team Eight and Sakura in tow. The three Sky genin smelt faintly of smoke. Sakura glimpsed Naruto over by the tree and rushed over to her teammate.
"Hey, Flower Head. Who's the kid?" asked Etna, jerking one thumb towards Naruto.
Flonne smiled sunnily at her as she replied, "That's Naruto-san. He's the one that showed us this training ground!"
Etna arched one red eyebrow. "Really? Why's he looking so beat up?"
"He fought Motoko-chan to a draw!" Kasumi interrupted, clearly impressed with the Leaf genin.
At that, Etna turned around to get a closer look at the exhausted ninja, an impressed look on her face. "Really? Not bad!"
Naruto, meanwhile, was in the process of explaining everything to Sakura-chan. "And, and, that girl over there is a jounin!" he exclaimed, pointing at Flonne. "And she can FLY, I swear!"
Sakura's left eyebrow twitched. "Naaa…ruu…tooo…" she growled, raising one fist.
"ACK!" yelped Naruto, raising his arms over his head protectively. "W-what is it, Sakura-chan?"
"HOW DID YOU GET HURT!" Sakura exploded.
Naruto blinked at her. "I was sparring with Motoko-chan! She's really good!"
Motoko rolled her head to the side, looking at Naruto with a fond smile on her face. Balling up one hand, she lightly punched Naruto on the shoulder. "You're not so bad yourself, Naruto-kun."
The two of them grinned at each other for a few seconds before breaking into a fit of laughter. Sakura glanced between the two of them with a befuddled look on her face before throwing her hands up in exasperation and stalking off.
Etna's team flopped down next to Naruto and Motoko, causing Naruto to wrinkle his nose at the scent of smoke wafting off of them. One of them, a girl wearing only a pair of cargo shorts and a belt where her shirt should have been, casually waved at Motoko.
"Hey, Priss. Etna-san use the prinny wake up method again?" asked Motoko.
Priss nodded, sighing heavily. "Yeah. That pink girl helped out, too. Didn't know prinnies exploded, so we aren't holding it against her. Are we?" The last was hissed out between clenched teeth at her two teammates.
"No, Priss," they said in unison, sounding resigned. It was very obvious who the leader of the three was.
One of the genin was dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit, with her red hair drawn back in two short ponytails. The other was wearing a dress that was far too frilly to be effective, as well as being strangely maid-like.
Even for ninja, the Hidden Sky shinobi dressed weird.
"…So that's the current situation, Sasuke-kun," finished Sakura.
Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "The chuunin exam, huh?" Inwardly, he smiled. Finally, a chance to test himself again!
Ever since the fight in Wave country, he had been chafing under the constant series of D-Rank missions. There were people out there that could challenge him, and he was stuck working with a fan girl and a dead last to catch cats. If a chuunin exam was coming up, there would probably be a lot of foreign nin coming to the Leaf. Kakashi probably wouldn't enter them, but it was highly likely that his newly developed Sharingan could pick up some new techniques from the foreigners anyway.
"Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura. "Are you alright? You kind of spaced out for a moment there."
"I'm fine," he answered brusquely, mentally shaking himself. Turning to Sakura, he began speaking. "I'm going to ask Kakashi-sensei for more training pretty soon. You should think about it, too."
Sakura blinked. "But…we aren't entering the chuunin exams."
Sasuke stared at her, his eyes dark. "So?" he asked coolly.
With that, he turned around and walked away, leaving Sakura standing dumbstruck behind him.
Sakura was sitting on a bench in the park, deep in thought.
Naruto and Sasuke were so strong; sometimes it felt like she was holding them back. Or, worse, that she wasn't, and they were so far ahead she'd never catch up.
She hated that. She hated being weak.
A hand plopped down on her head, ruffling her hair. "Hey, kiddo! Why so glum?" asked a familiar voice.
"Aaa!" Sakura voiced, ducking out from under the hand. "Stop doing that, Lily!"
Sakura's older sister adopted an exaggerated expression of consideration before saying, quite plainly, "No."
Hopping over the back of the bench, Lily ran a hand through her white hair and asked, "What's got you so down, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura stared down at her clenched fists, her mind boiling with the emotions behind her thoughts. She wanted to stop holding her teammates back. She wanted to get stronger.
Staring up at her sister, she said, "Please help me train, Neechan."
Naruto shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Hey…Motoko-chan?"
The genin looked at Naruto, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Yeah?"
"Do you think…we can maybe spar again tomorrow?" he asked.
Motoko blinked. "Naruto-kun, if you hadn't asked, I would have. I haven't had such a good time in ages!"
Naruto smiled at her; a pure, face-splitting grin of relief. "Great! I had a lot of fun too!"
Motoko grinned at him, a devilish little affair with pearly white fangs flashing. Walking forward, she reached out and patted Naruto on the cheek. "I could really fall for a guy like you, Naruto. You're fun."
Over at the side, Etna's Team Eight and the other two members of Flonne's Team Five looked on with varying levels of bemusement writ large across their faces. Flonne's eyes were shining at this proof that Motoko-chan had love in her heart.
Eventually, it was Priss who broke the tableau, asking Kasumi, "They do remember we're here, right?"
Kasumi just shook her head.
At that time, all three members of Konoha's Team Seven were coming to terms with the same basic desire, each in their own way.
I want to be stronger.
Sakura sought training from her older sister, the chuunin Lily Haruno. Sasuke went to the only man in all of Konoha who could teach him how to use his Sharingan. Naruto didn't seek training; rather, he sought to continue a bond he had formed with his newest friend, Motoko of the Hidden Sky.
The stage was set. In three weeks, the chuunin exam would begin.
To be continued…
Sakura: Sakura wanders through the jungle, seeking the rare and elusive Mushroom of Ultimate Flavor.
Lily: Little sis? What the hell are you doing?
Laharl: You get used to it after a while.
Sakura: Out of nowhere, a rival appears!
Lily: That does it. She's finally gone insane. I knew it had to happen eventually.
Sakura: Can Sakura find the Mushroom and cook the famed Legendary Mushroom Soup before Ino the Rampaging Boar uses it for her Divine Salad?
Laharl: This is all Etna's fault. I know it is.
Sakura: Next time on Beautiful Ninja Chef Sakura, Episode Three! The Pig That Loves Mushrooms!
Sakura: Mushrooms are good for you!
Lily: When they take you away to the loony bin, sis, I'm taking all your stuff.
Notes: Because this is in the Naruto section, I'm not going to assume all of my readers have played Disgaea. Prinnies are the souls of dead sinners, people who didn't quite earn a peaceful afterlife. Summoning up the God of Death to seal away a demon is pretty heavy-duty stuff, which is why the Fourth is now a Prinny. Each member of the Haruno family has hair colored like a flower of some kind, which is also their namesake. So Sakura's older sister has white hair, and is named Lily. Her younger sister has red hair, and is named Rose. Rose enters the Ninja Academy next year, and Lily has been a chuunin for the past year after three years of being a genin. The character classes of Flonne and Etna's teams, in case you couldn't guess or haven't played the game, are as follows:
Kasumi – Archer
Motoko – Ronin
Joutarou – Prism Skull
Priss – Female Warrior
Akane – Female Brawler
Elise – Star Mage
Akane and Elise are the two other members of Etna's team I didn't manage to name in the chapter. Akane is the pig-tailed one, Elise the one dressed like a mage. I plan to have this done in about five chapters, but it could surprise me.
