Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.

AN: See? Two chapters. Full chapter title: Dawn Breaks On A New Day In Wave! Blood Is The Price That Was Paid!

"Centurion, have the men returned with Kaiza yet?" He had sent ten of his best men to retrieve Kaiza before the bandits could do anything else to the man he had come to rescue. It would reflect poorly on the Orange Legion if he allowed any harm to befall the man they had set out to rescue. Now he was forced to wait for any information on the mission.

"Word has reached me that they approach now through the streets." His centurion answered him almost immediately and Naruto paused for a moment. Silence reigned in the tent and he could dimly hear the roars of voices resound through the streets. Nowhere near was it enough to make out actual words but it was enough to know just how much Kaiza meant to the people of Wave. The same people that would sooner rather than later live under the flag of the Uzumaki Empire and the standard of the Orange Legion's Third Cohort. "You seem troubled Praetor, why is that?"

"Do you not hear the voices of the people centurion?" Naruto looked towards where the Third's blank standard rested near one of the tent's walls and then to where the Orange Legion's swirl rested over it. "They will treat us like liberators for now but the love of the people is a truly fickle thing. Kaiza, while we will be seen as conquerors at the worst, will forever be loved if what I hear is truly how these people feel for him."

"Do you wish for the men to eliminate him?"

"No." A smile crossed his face. "I have a plan for him centurion."

Within the hour, the centurion had left and a new man joined him in the tent.

"Hmm, so the old man really sent you to get me out of there?" The man before him, his wrists rubbed raw from where they had been chained and bruises running across his body, was easy to guess the identity of. He so easily recognized the man as Kaiza, partly thanks to the picture he had seen and partly thanks to the grin the man he had before him held despite all he had been through. The photographed man in the frame had the exact same smile. "Where did that old drunk get the money to hire a Jonin from…Konoha right?"

"Hmm, your praise will not faze me Kaiza." Naruto chuckled as he leaned against the table he had set up in his tent like always. "I am a Genin, one destined for greatness, but a Genin nonetheless. He hired my team and I for a bodyguard assignment some time ago. We arrived to find you imprisoned by the filth Gato employed and sought to save you from such a fate." Around them stood a near dozen Praetorians, the same men who had rescued him from the cellar Gato's thugs had thrown him in while they awaited the wretch himself. A brief interrogation of the surviving filth present had revealed the plan one of them had crafted to Gato's satisfaction.

The reports he received when Kaiza walked out of the cellar, beaten but alive and grinning, and the reactions of the populace proved why such actions would be deemed necessary. A call to arms had swept through the hopeless as if a spark had at last been lit. His Praetorians reported that a near riot had engulfed them, a wall of steel the only thing stopping the villagers from burning the bandit's headquarters to the ground in a mad frenzy. Kaiza was the one to stop it in the end. He called for the people to devote themselves to work on the bridge that was their salvation instead of petty revenge.

Kaiza was a powerful man in that regard. He was a rallying point with his demeanor that infected all others. He could make the weak unite as one for a common goal, motivate those who would not fight to take up arms, and was a man well loved by all. He commanded respect through sheer admiration and with such a great respect he commanded loyalty without issues.

Naruto, despite how much it annoyed him to admit it, could never be like Kaiza.

The Orange Legion adored him as their leader, the man who would bring forth the dream of the Uzumaki Empire through any challenges. The Orange Legion saw him as a near god sent forth to lay waste to all those who stood in his way but he was painfully mortal. He was not all knowing, he was not forever wise, and he was not invincible. He tried to be but a mortal would always remain a mortal no matter what one would try to transcend such a state.

Kaiza was different. Naruto knew it the moment he had truly laid eyes on the former prisoner of Gato's thugs. He even knew it, unconsciously, when he heard the voices of the people joined to one cause simply by his presence.

Kaiza was a man who was a man. He did not try to be anything great and instead simply did all he could. He did not care for the greater picture beyond the people of Wave. He did not care much for people like Gato beyond Gato himself because the man turned their lands desolate. He fought because he must, not because he enjoyed it. He was a builder and built the world around him to be better than when he had come into it. Kaiza was a man on a near mission to be good and that made him great. Despite all he could try and all he would do, Naruto understood he would never gain the faith or love of the people he would one day rule over with a man like Kaiza able to exist at the same time.

So he needed him on his side.

"At the same time, changes have come to Nami no Kuni, changes I feel you will find to your liking." Fear. It was a brief thing in the eyes of the man in front of him but it was present and it was something sharp blue eyes easily caught. "Gato's thugs have been eliminated by the might of the Uzumaki's Empire Orange Legion. We have purged the land of the filth that once plagued it but now we cannot leave it. The Third Cohort, the men responsible for taking this land back from trash, will remain here but I shall not."

"I must return to the First, stationed in Konohagakure, and look to the broader picture of the future of the Uzumaki Empire and not every detail of the present that lies before me. I have a trusted Legate responsible for directing the Orange Legion itself but I find myself in need of a new branch of the Uzumaki Empire. One more attuned to battle upon the waves."

"Enough talk." Kaiza's steel had been drawn in that moment. He no longer cared for speeches or build to the declaration he now knew Naruto would make, the words that would decide the fate of the lands he lived in and sought to protect. "Just tell me what you're after and why I'm here already or let me go back to my family."

"You should learn an appreciation for dramatic timing Kaiza." Naruto let a chuckle escape him and a single hand stopped the Praetorians from advancing and silencing the source of disrespect towards their Praetor. His men were sometimes too devoted but it was still a great thing to have. "Regardless, I can agree with you on getting to the point."

"You have been brought here because I require a Vicarius, a leader and voice for Nami no Kuni to prosper under the banner of the Uzumaki Empire and be protected by the standard of the Third Cohort of my Orange Legion." Blue met black. Steel shined in both.

A decision that would decide the fate of Nami no Kuni was to be decided in this tent.

"Legate!" A shout called Sasuke's mind back and his Sharingan turned from the trees in front of him to the clone that now demanded his complete and utter attention. "The scouts have returned!"

"Take me to them." He had gotten tired of sitting on watch. It was better to stretch his legs then simply remain watching the motionless trees for nonexistent bandits after the purge the Orange Legion's Third Cohort had unleashed on their filth. "You there, take up my watch!" He singled out a clone to take over his watch and hurried after the one that had reported to him.

He was brought to the center of the camp, a fire the gathering spot and where the scouts downed water and waited for him with helmets cast off their heads. The moment he stepped into the firelight, a dozen or so fists met the armor the Orange Legion wore.

"Legate." He returned the salute a moment later and searched for the leader of the standing scouts. He could not find the clone he had placed in charge of the latest expedition and his eyes narrowed. He turned to the clone he had named second instead for answers. First he would need to know how their search went and his second priority was for the location of the mission commander.

"Report your findings scouts."

"The remaining bandits, those we have pursued since they fled, have joined with a larger force at what we believe to be a stockpile for Gato or even his headquarters. It is unknown as the land was scorched and we could not approach closer while remaining unknown. The commander ordered me to report back with the majority of our expedition while he took two others with him to look for an entry point. He ordered a beacon to be thrown into the air an hour after my return to camp. If he or the two others do not answer it then he is to be presumed captured or killed." The scout answered his first and second priority without prompting. He appreciated how well the clones of his century seemed to understand his priorities. It didn't change the fact that the scout commander was foolish.

"Centurion." His eyes searched for the familiar armor and found it and the clone wearing it striding towards him. He stopped and saluted and was saluted in turn. "Prepare to march."

"Where do we march, Legate?"

"It would be ridiculous to devote a hundred men to battle a force of perhaps thousands." Sasuke looked towards the blank standard that laid pristine above the flames before him. The Third Cohort had no glory to share with the world yet but would gain it soon before the Legate left the battlefield. "March the majority of our forces back. I will remain here with the First and see if the scout commander returns. If he does not then I will return with no additions." His red and black eyes looked not only at the centurion but at the clones gathered around him as well. "Understand all that?"

"Of course Legate." Nothing else needed to be said as he returned his helmet to its proper place on his head and turned to the gathered men of the century. "Century, let's move!"

"HOO!"

The march past the Legate was a single file one as he set his shield against a fallen tree and waited for the hour to be up and for the beacon to be thrown into the air. The First remained with him and settled down to wait with their swords at their sides and their shields standing upright next to them.

'It seems continuing my pursuit was a mistake after all.' Sasuke shook his helmeted head as red and black eyes looked at the floor of the forest before him. 'I should have waited for reinforcements so I could crush this filth without such humiliation as this. The Legate of the Orange Legion unable to advance against simple bandits is disgraceful.'

He had only his thoughts as company and he already found himself wishing for the hour to be up.

"Sakura-chan, it is a pleasure as always to witness your beauty personally." Two of her Blossom Guard saluted her with fist over their hearts and heads bowed as she walked to the door. A third, standing off to the side, stepped forward from against the wall and into her path. "We have been instructed by Praetor to allow none of the occupants within this home to leave. That includes you as well Sakura-chan."

"I know." It hadn't taken long to understand Naruto's crush on her had been the source of the Blossom Guard of his Orange Legion. She still didn't know what to feel about his clones defending her at all hours of the day. She knew Naruto had assigned a hundred of his clones to not only guard her but be devoted solely to her wishes. They refused to even listen to Sasuke when he wanted to speak to her in private, someone she had learned held authority second only to Naruto's own over the entire Orange Legion. She still didn't know if they would listen to Naruto himself if she told them not to and didn't want to find out.

She still didn't know exactly how she felt towards them being bodyguard but she did know their utter devotion to her frightened her more than it comforted her.

"I just need to speak with Kakashi-sensei and I know he's outside right now." She offered all three a smile they would describe as heavenly. "You can come with me if you want but I really do need to talk to him."

"Silver Fang does not deserve to look upon your beauty Sakura-chan." She also knew the Orange Legion hated Kakashi even if most held a healthy amount of fear from the sheer destruction he had brought them during the Bell Test. "I will contact the Guards outside and instruct them to break position for now."

"Thank you." She swore she saw him blush from her thanks as he saluted her. He turned his head away from her and pressed a finger to his ear.

"Blossom Guards, Sakura-chan will speak with Silver Fang. First and Second is to escort her to him and secure the perimeter." He spoke quietly and quickly and she dimly heard the 'HOO' shouted in response through the doors before he turned back to her. "The men will be awaiting you Sakura-chan."

The two in front of the door stepped aside when she approached and it was opened from the outside.

The daylight momentarily blinded her after being inside for so long so she shielded her watering eyes. When she withdrew them, she couldn't help but grasp at the sight before her.

She had been mistaken with her previous thought of a simple hundred clones being part of her Blossom Guards. They had assembled outside the house before dawn broke and she saw hundreds surrounding the expanded clearing of the house. A ring of burned out fires stretched around the very edge of the perimeter they had created and within it stood ring after ring of Naruto's clones. Their shields were held outwards, swords held in their hands at the outermost layers and behind them clones stood with an almost sea of pilums around them. The innermost rings even held bows, quivers held upright by the ground with their swords at their sides and shields standing before them. Even in front of her twenty clones stood, their shields in their arms and swords at their side for now but the moment her shocked form took another step she knew they would encircle her with their weapons at the ready.

'I feel I should start being worried now.' The sheer numbers Naruto had gifted her did slightly worry her now.

"Sakura-chan." The clones formed twin rows of ten in front of her and one stepped forward and his fist came over his armored heart as he bowed his head to her. "We have been chosen to escort you to Silver Fang and then return with you here."

"That's…nice…" She nodded to him as she stepped forward and just like she thought the clones instantly formed around her, shields enveloping her in a moving cage of steel and flesh. They kept pace with her seamlessly, needing no comment to either slow down or speed up. The circles in front of her opened and she stepped through them without a word, the lines closing behind her. The efficiency of the Orange Legion and the Blossom Guards could never be understated it seemed. They seemed more machines than just the clones they really were.

Kakashi waited for her in the trees. Without even a look the clones with her dispersed themselves to wait among the foliage around the two. They were out of eyesight but not out of earshot. What she said would be remembered by them.

"There's no need to worry about the clones Sakura." Kakashi stood in front of her, his hands in his pocket with his one visible eye looking into the trees around them. "There's a Genjutsu over us. You're complaining about the workload I've given you on the mission. I'm ignoring you."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei." She allowed her shoulders to fall. She was glad she was alone with her Jonin sensei for now. "They watch me all the time. I know they're here because Naruto wants me to stay safe but I feel more like…like…"

"A prisoner." Kakashi perfectly summed up what she felt as he took his hands out his pockets and crossed them over his chest. His single eye roved over her armor and took in the presence of the sword at her side. The more he saw it, the more he figured it was ceremonial above all else. Sakura was never supposed to fight it seemed. "Your sword, how often do you get to use it?"

"I have a practice one I use." Sakura glanced down at the weapon before looking away. "Let's not talk about anything Naruto related sensei. I need to ask you something important about the mission."

"Then you should do it soon, those clones are getting pretty restless with me ignoring you." Kakashi put his back against the tree behind him and waited for the Genin to speak.

"Zabuza Momoichi, is he really going to show up?"

"Yeah, he'll probably show himself in a few more hours."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"You should head back inside now Sakura. Make sure the family doesn't get in any trouble while I'm out here watching. I'll try to talk to Naruto and Sasuke and see if they're plan worked and if Kaiza is still alive."

"Actually, there's one more thing I want to ask you Kakashi-sensei."

"Go ahead."

A few minutes later, Sakura walked back into the house with her Blossom Guard sealing the perimeter yet again. Word spread of Silver Fang's disrespect to the beautiful Sakura-chan and more than once the thought to make him pay for such a crime passed through the mind of the centurion in charge of the men of the Orange Legion before him. He withheld himself but one day Silver Fang would pay. His crime had not been forgotten or forgiven by the Legion, they were merely recorded. Eventually the debt would be paid and Silver Fang would face the fate of all threats to the Uzumaki Empire.

"Praetorians!" Naruto emerged from his tent with Kaiza at his side. A settlement had been reached at last in their argument. Now all that was needed was to announce the decision to the men gathered before him. The Orange Legion had claimed a great victory that needed to be recorded this day.

"HOO!"

"Acknowledge the Vicarius of Nami no Kuni."

"HOO!" As one the Praetorians assembled before him turned from Praetor to the Vicarius of Nami no Kuni. "Vicarius Kaiza! Vicarius Kaiza! Vicarius Kaiza!" Each cry of the name was met with one of their fists striking above their armored hearts before being extended out towards the man who would bear the responsibility of Nami no Kuni's prosperity under the banner of the Uzumaki Empire. "Vicarius Kaiza! Vicarius Kaiza! Vicarius Kaiza!"

The call went out six times through the Praetorians before silence settled as their hands returned to their sides and took hold of the hilt of their blades. They arranged themselves into marching formation, knowing the desire of Praetor to announce the news to the man responsible for his presence in Nami no Kuni.

"So, the old man really did come here drunk?" Kaiza was rather easygoing despite the responsibility placed on his shoulders. His arms were behind his head as he walked with Naruto, the two moving side by side with the Praetorians around them both. A solid wall of steel separated them from the citizens of Nami no Kuni who looked on. Kaiza waved at most of them, smiled at others, and shouted brief words to some before turning back to Naruto. "That sounds like him. He hasn't exactly been in the best shape since Gato started…telling him how much he disagreed with his bridge. He's been on the bottle ever since to deal with it. When people kept leaving or disappearing…well he didn't spend many nights sober. When the bodies started showing up on the bridge he got worse." Kaiza stopped talking for a moment. He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and briefly his head was bowed to the weight of his past memories. Naruto was about to speak when Kaiza rose from his burden and black eyes looked up towards the clear sky above them. "I started taking over most of the project, was really about to lay down the actual bridge when Gato's thugs showed up and chased most of the workers I could gather off. They were lucky they came at the end of the day." Kaiza's hands balled into fists and Naruto appreciated the fury in his eyes. "I would have taken anything I could have grabbed and killed those bastards if they tried to stop me before I finished."

"I've heard it took Gato's whole gang to bring you down, is that true?" Naruto's question was met with a brief and loud chuckle from Kaiza.

"It was half of them actually. I ended up throwing most of them off the bridge in the end so the other half had to show up when I was done and drag me to Gato." Kaiza laughed again as he remembered his capture and turned to Naruto. "Can you believe most of them couldn't even swim? Why live in a place like this when you can't do something that simple?"

"Bandits are filth. Gato's thugs are no better than them, they only relied on the tactics of a bully." Naruto let his own laughter join Kaiza for a moment. "They fell swiftly to my Orange Legion with such a thing worthless against my men."

"I figured they couldn't handle much beyond normal people." Kaiza sighed as they came to the bridge off in the distance. It was trashed, pieces torn away, the sturdy lumber sawed off and hauled away, and bits of it seemed to have been set aflame but the waves had put them out. He saw his work almost destroyed and his face turned grim. "They couldn't destroy a bridge made by decent folks either."

"My Legion will see to it that the bridge is completed before I leave." Naruto's words were only met by a nod from Kaiza. His eyes remained locked on the bridge ahead of them.

"That bridge shouldn't be causing so much trouble but it does anyway." Kaiza's face swiftly morphed into a smile despite the state of the bridge. "Guys like Gato, his thugs, and anyone who tries to keep people down can't stand a bridge like that."

"Why is that?" Naruto didn't see what Kaiza saw. He saw a sturdily built bridge that his Legion could easily not only complete but improve upon. He only saw another achievement for the glorious Uzumaki Empire. Kaiza saw it very differently. He saw something much more in the bridge that no one but the people of Nami no Kuni would ever see. Only people who had suffered like them to people like Gato could understand why the bridge was so important. "I admit, the bridge is well built for the material you have but it is no grand achievement."

"That's where you're wrong Naruto. That bridge, anything like that bridge, carries with it the simple thing called hope." Kaiza stepped forward, the Praetorians opening their formation and allowing him to gaze at the still standing fruit of his labor for a moment longer before they continued on. "When we at last complete it, Nami no Kuni will be free of Gato's influence and at last be allowed to prosper like it once did. That bridge, things like that bridge, represents what anyone with two arms and the will to work can do. It shows people don't have to stand to bullies and thugs like Gato when they have the will to build something to make the world around them a bit better. That bridge is something that can't be destroyed no matter how many axes go at it, how many fires they set, and no matter how much damage they try to do. That bridge stands for hope."

"That's why I call it the Bridge of Hope you know." Kaiza let out one last laugh as they entered the forest path. Naruto did not join in but a grin crossed his lips.

'Hope…such a fragile little thing.'

'As much as you try to hold up the people of this land, my land now, you can't ignore how weak they are. You can't ignore just how weak hope really is in the end. Gato couldn't crush the hope of the people but you couldn't rally them with it either. Hope would make them wish for someone else to save you when Gato decided to drag you out before them. Hope would make them wish for someone to be strong enough to stop Gato when he told them what he would do to you. Hope would make them wish for things to change when he cut off your arms.'

'Hope is useless by itself. You should know that by now Kaiza.'

Naruto did not let his thoughts be heard or vocalize them to the man he had named the Vicarius of Nami no Kuni. He didn't need to tell Kaiza any of it because the man should know how useless hope really could be when he wasted away for a week in the cellar of the thug's hideout. He should know how useless it was to rely on people, untrained and undisciplined, to do anything but hope someone else does something. Kaiza knew how unreliable the people of Nami no Kuni really were even if he would never admit it.

His hopes would be dashed then.

"Interesting name you chose for it Kaiza." His only comment was towards the name of the bridge. "Ever consider changing it to something else?"

He would need to talk him into naming it something less insulting to the Uzumaki Empire. The Great Naruto Bridge had a nice ring to it after all.

"FIRST! MOVE!" The shout of the Legate reached the camp as the First of his personal century rushed into the ring of embers that were once mighty fires before the Legate himself burst through the foliage. "ALL OF YOU FORM RANKS, NOW!"

"HOO!" The soldiers of the Uzumaki Empire's Orange Legion did not like Sasuke Uchiha but they respected him as Legate so followed his orders. Four centuries worth of soldiers complied and he fell into the center of the line with his shield and sword held at the ready.

"Take a century and wrap around us, hit them from the side on my order!" Sasuke shouted orders to the centurion in charge of his personal century and one hundred clones rushed to follow the centurion and the Legate turned to another centurion. "When they strike, move the second wing to box them in."

"ARMS!" Swords were drawn from sides near the front of the formation of shields and flesh and bows were notched further back as clones late to follow the order rushed into the rear of the formation. "WHATEVER HAPPENS, NO ONE IS TO FALL BACK!"

"HOO!" The Orange Legion did not ever run. They would show the Legate why the Uzumaki Empire could stand strong with its lands watched by their vigilant eyes, guarded with their shields and swords, and forever directing the will of many to what it needed. Praetor's dream was their dream. He would not fall back. They would not fall back.

'Naruto is going to kill me if I lose here.' Sasuke's grip tightened on the hilt of his blade, his shield shook ever so slightly before the Uchiha glared his arm into submission to his will. Red and black eyes locked onto the world of darkness he had ventured into far too deeply before he steadied himself.

"ARTILLERY!"

"HOO!"

The order was a strange one to issue without any enemy in sight but all those not in the first two rows of the formation either drew back their bows or arched back to throw pilum forward. Both projectiles had explosive tags tied to them and would serve the same purpose.

"FIRE!"

"HOO!"

The forest the Orange Legion's Third Cohort had made camp in front of were torn away without pause in the resulting bombardment. Splinters turned into deadly shrapnel slammed into the steel of the shields that held without moving or denting. In that moment, they were not individual but one. One stood against the bombardment of shrapnel. One refused to give any ground to it. One turned back into many once the shrapnel had been averted and now the Orange Legion merely waited for what had disturbed the Legate into a panic.

"Kill them!" Four centuries of the Third Cohort stood at the ready. Four hundred men held their swords and shields at the ready in the front and notched arrows in the rear of the formation. Four hundred soldiers held the line when what had to be a thousand bandits slammed against their shields.

"FIRST, PUSH!" At the order of the Legate, the wall of steel advanced with a shout from the clones that held it together with the strength they possessed not an individual but a single thing in that moment. Swords lunged forward from their sides and pass the shield to draw the blood of the filth they battled against. "PUSH!"

"HOO!" The wall of steel advanced again, the fangs of the Orange Legion lashing out with a thirst for blood that would find itself quenched with that of the bandit's before them. Shields threw more off their feet, threw them into the masses of filth behind them, and cast them back as the Third Cohort could not be stopped. They advanced and the bandits threw themselves against them in a mad fury. They met disciplined ranks that slaughtered them as easy as cattle.

Not a single clone ever took a step back. Hesitation was not a thing in the heat of battle. Retreat was not an option. The line would hold. The line would advance. Death would claim their foes without an end in sight.

The Legate was with them at the front and his blade never seemed to stop moving. His shield acted almost as a beacon for wave after wave of filth to charge towards him and make futile attempts to kill the man they blamed for their stranglehold on Nami no Kuni being shattered. They wanted him to pay with blood.

"You think you can come to the Legate unchallenged?" A centurion cleaved through one when he decided to lunge towards Sasuke. His blade was death as it descended and the filth below him did not rise. He turned back into the line and from then on watched the Legate's blind spot as he fell to the heat of battle. All who carried with them the dream of Praetor eventually fell to the lust for blood battle spawned among the Legion but core discipline remained. The arms bearing the blade may shake with excitement but the shield arm remained steady.

The line did not break.

"PILUM!" His voice reached them over the screams of the dying and the roar of the Legion as they took the price they had deemed the bandits must pay for their presence in Waves. His shield joined the others as a solid wall of steel. The second row advanced, their shields joining the first and a wall of steel proved impassable to the bandits that threw themselves against it. Their swords ripped through flesh and left them to die against the steel of the Orange Legion's shields.

"HOO!"

The Legate's command was followed as another bombardment was unleashed by the strong arms of the Orange Legion's Third Cohort. The mad charge of the bandits had ruined them before the battle had even began as the Orange Legion would never fall to such trash. The Legate pushed forward and the lines pushed forward with them. Another wave of pilum, these normal deadly projectiles, soared over the head of the soldiers of the Third Cohort and once again ripped apart the ranks of the bandits.

'It's time.' Sasuke pulled back ever so slightly and the blade of his sword crashed against his shield. It was heard when a dozen clones took up the same call before rejoining the battle in full force. A beacon was pressed into his hand as his sword went to his side. He flung it into the air and it blazed with enough light to outshine the sun for the briefest of moments.

"CENTURY CHARGE!" One voice called out.

"HOO!" One hundred voices answered.

From the side came a hundred blades that ripped apart the unaware bandits that continued to break upon the shields of the Legion like water on rock. Almost immediately, a bloody path was opened when another barrage of artillery ripped apart the bandits in mass on the other side. A century swept out from the line and joined Sasuke's personal century on a parallel attack on the other side. The battle had now truly transformed into nothing but a slaughter of filth.

"Legate, there is a message for you from Praetor." Once the bandits had truly been shattered and two centuries marched forth to finish them off for good, Sasuke was approached by the centurion Naruto had placed in charge of the camp when he discovered he had left.

"Out with it then." Sasuke sat down at the dead embers of the main fire, his bloody sword leaning against the log he sat on and his blood smeared shield propped up by the log at his side. "I think I can correctly guess what he's told you to tell me."

"Praetor ordered his words be repeated as they were spoken. 'Cease your advance. Withdraw to camp. Await my appearance'." The centurion's blue eyes locked with red and black and Sasuke saw something within them that he couldn't quite place. "You are not to leave the camp until Praetor arrives. The Third Cohort has orders to keep you here by force if it is seen as necessary."

"Of course you are." Sasuke sighed as he pulled his helmet off his head and sat it down on the log next to him. "I won't be going anywhere anytime soon centurion. If you so wish to do so go inform Praetor that I await his judgment for my rash and foolish actions before the embers of the bonfire."

"I shall Legate." The centurion fist covered his armored heart and Sasuke mirrored the salute from his seated position.

As the centurion left him to his thoughts, Sasuke considered the day more of a victory than anything else. He had commanded the Third Cohort in the successful and complete eradication of the bandits that made the mistake to roam the lands claimed by the Uzumaki Empire, his casualties against such filth were relative low, and dawn had broken after most of the land had been claimed by the Third. There was more than one thing to be proud of in the achievements of the Orange Legion in Nami no Kuni. Victory belonged to the Legion, its Legate, and Praetor this day.

No battles had been lost in the great campaign through Nami no Kuni. None of the bandits had managed to break the lines of the Third Cohort and none remained in large enough numbers to ever rally again. The full sweep of Nami no Kuni would be left to whatever Cohort of the Legion Naruto ended up assigning to the newest lands of the Uzumaki Empire.

"I at least kept my promise somewhat." Sasuke looked up at the sky above him and took in the warm rays of the sun. "Dawn breaks on a new day in the Land of Waves. The day the Orange Legion claimed it for his Uzumaki Empire."

AN: So, how was it all?

Review responses now:

dementia found paranoia: I...I'm going to be talking to Magneto. I may need his helmet. That's VERY close to my plan.

THE 7TH DEMON OF RAZGRIZ: Thanks, I hoped to bring humor and entertainment to my readers.

Donthedarkdragon26: I will probably be going back across the next few days to fix those grammar errors. Glad you enjoy the story by the way.

Lazymanjones98: You have asked and I have delivered more to you.

Shadowfire01: Trust me, the issue of love will come up. I won't spoil anything until then.

Guest: As mentioned above, I will be going through what I've posted and fixing any errors.

Sophie: He has brought into this a lot.

tastybigsexy: I'm glad I have brought forth a new idea for shadow clones and, believe it or not, there's actually a plan for why the Legion exist. Already written actually.

Reishin Amara: I am glad I have entertained you. And I almost forgot about the Madara bit...weird when it sort of inspired this.

Peace.