Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
AN: Well, another double update because I want to get these chapters out rather quickly. 6 is something I want to set as the norm by the way. I feel it's roughly the amount I need to make my point in a chapter.
"So…" Small talk was difficult between the civilian and the heavily armored Genin that sat together in the room. Neither had much to talk about and neither could find much to say to even broach a conversation. Neither had much of an idea what the other liked or a safe subject to talk about.
The Genin wanted to know about the situation in the Land of Waves from both a practical and personal standpoint. She had so far only been in the small house Tsunami and Inari inhabited with Tazuna and the still missing Kaiza and had no idea what the rest of Waves looked like under Gato. She knew that Naruto had spoken something about attacking the bandits running amok through the lands but couldn't even begin to fathom how bad it was. All she knew about the situation was a vague amount of information on Gato. He was a man that had become a shipping tycoon with his products moved all over the Elemental Nations through his massive fleet of trade ships. The Five Great Shinobi Nations were regularly under his employ as the number of Shinobi he had escort his caravans and fleets were nothing to laugh at. He was spoken of in only a positive light in the Academy books she had read about him. It summarized him up as a rich man who provided ample missions to any village he was in a partnership with. If a caravan were moving through Hi no Kuni than Shinobi from Konoha would guard it. If a caravan was moving through Kaze no Kuni, Sunagakure would be hired to protect it. Even if a caravan was moving through the mysterious Tetsu no Kuni, he would hire Samurai instead of relying on the Ronin one could pay for much cheaper. It was simply not a thing to call Gato a cruel man within any of the villages.
From what she had seen of Nami no Kuni from the state of the home and Tazuna's talks, the man was a monster. He employed an army of bandits to terrorize and bully Nami no Kuni into submission. Any attempt by the people to remove his stranglehold of the Land of Waves was met with lethal force if not torture beforehand. People were maimed, starved to death, thrown into rivers weighed down by rocks, their homes were burned with entire families still inside, and much worse. Gato himself roamed the streets from time to time with a group of Ronin that would kill at their pleasure, raze towns, and destroy anything of value. People were randomly taken from villages, sometimes entire villages in truth, as slaves and sold. They were shipped from place to place like the cargo Gato's shipping empire moved from place to place. If people resisted, Gato would have them tortured. If they continued to resist he would kill them. He was a monster who delighted in seeing the suffering he inflicted on the people without end and without hope of stopping him. He never stopped and would never stop his cruelty as long as he lived and as long as he still had power.
How he could hide such cruelty from Shinobi confused her to no end.
The Academy never told her things like that. Gato was mentioned positively in the mission reports they were assigned to read. He paid well and was seen as a valued man of integrity and standards. How then could he be so evil to do the things he'd done to Nami no Kuni?
"Those men that are outside…why do they all look alike?" Tsunami at last broke the silence between them. Her question was met with a short laugh from Sakura. She could explain what was really happening to the confused woman.
"Those are just clones Naruto made. He's one of my team members." Sakura waved her hand towards the door where several clones stood nearby inside. "He learned a Kinjutsu, a forbidden technique, called the Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is a simpler way of saying it." Tsunami seemed intrigued so Sakura continued even if she wasn't a fan of explaining how Naruto had come across the army that wouldn't leave her alone. The blue eyes across from them followed her every movement like always. "There's a normal version called just the Shadow Clone Technique that lets someone create several clones and an even simpler technique that's called the Bunshin no Jutsu or Clone Technique which just creates illusions to confuse an opponent. The Kinjutsu Naruto learned lets him creates hundreds or thousands of clones that would normally kill other people. He's not dead because he has a ridiculous amount of Chakra, some people even think he has more than some of the legendary Shinobi studied at the Academy at their prime." She paused. Her eyes fell to the sword she had resting on the ground in front of her. "After seeing some of the things he's pulled off recently, I agree with them."
"And he's only a student to your teacher?" Tsunami's voice carried with it a combination of both shock and fear. It was easy to find the cause of both as describing Naruto's feats and learning that he was only a Genin would surprise anyone. "How strong is that man outside?"
"He's the legendary Kakashi of the Sharingan so he's above any of us three. Even someone like Sasuke-kun." Unseen to Sakura, the expressions of the clones nearby darkened. Their hatred of the Legate grew as they heard the adoration in the voice of Sakura-chan. Only Praetor deserved such a thing from the lovely Sakura-chan. "Naruto doesn't even come close."
"Really?" Tsunami stared at her wide eyed before looking at the nearby clones before her body shook. "Shinobi really are terrifying."
"Not many of us are like that." Sakura would do her best to calm the woman in front of her. A client needed to be kept at ease above everything else. "Most aren't that bad or as strong as Kakashi-sensei and Naruto isn't as strong as you think. Creating so many Shadow Clones makes it that he doesn't have a lot of Chakra left. He's lucky he had enough to make the trip here."
"Ignorance does not look well on you Sakura-chan." One of the centurions she had come to realize had been assigned to watch her walked over to the two then. His blue eyes held a glimmer in them that she didn't want to recognize. "Praetor stands above all with his tremendous strength. The Legate bowed to him in the end, did he not?" His words didn't bring anything but annoyance from Sakura.
"As if." Sakura turned to Tsunami. She knew she had to continue now if she had gotten under his skin so easily. "Don't believe what they say by the way, Sasuke-kun is way stronger than Naruto any day of the week!"
"Hmph, as I said before Sakura-chan, ignorance does not look well on you." The centurion crossed his arms over his chest and his blue eyes turned to Tsunami. "Forgive Sakura-chan's words, she is still tired after such a long journey to this land and her mind is as exhausted as her body. She speaks falsities without knowing it."
"Tch, just get out of here already." Sakura pointed towards the door. "I didn't ask for you to come over here you know."
"If you wish for me to leave Sakura-chan, I shall." He offered her a brief salute before he turned on his heel and marched away. His anger was still palpable and Tsunami did not speak for several minutes after he had marched to his post at the door and exited the house.
A new centurion entered a few minutes later and stood guard at the door.
"They don't like this Sasuke boy much, do they?' Tsunami finally spoke and Sakura nodded.
"Naruto's always been jealous of how strong Sasuke-kun's been so his clones are the same." Sakura's eyes stayed focused on the wall in front of the two women. "He named Sasuke the Legate of this whole Orange Legion nonsense because he knows he'll probably fail at it all if he led them."
"Are you sure about that girly?" Tazuna was surprisingly not drunk as he came down the stairs. He was completely sober and looked to have freshly shaven.
"What are you talking about Tazuna-san?" Sakura's emerald eyes searched for the normal redness in Tazuna's eyes that marked a hangover but found none. The old man didn't bother with answering her as he went up to Tsunami and sat down next to her.
"I'll be leaving to work on the bridge soon. I'm heading off to make sure Kaiza's work hasn't all been ruined in the time I've been gone and he's been captured." Tazuna ran a hand over his freshly shaved face as he looked at Tsunami before clapping her on the shoulder. "Don't worry much about me if I don't come back. I'll be staying with a few of the workers overnight to make sure no one else comes and tries to wreck it. We'll scare the young punks off." He chuckled. "If they don't get the message and still try it, I'll give them a whooping and send them crying home to their mothers."
He rose before anything could be said in opposition and walked towards a pack leaned against the wall. His tools were inside it and he briefly opened it and checked it. His eyes moved from tool to tool and he snapped it close. He reached for it before suddenly snapping his fingers.
"I almost forgot about the tools I've got at the bridge!" He rose to his feet laughing again. "I'll leave these here for when that Naruto kid comes back with Kaiza." He looked back at Tsunami. "Tell him to stay and get some rest while this old man shows everyone how to really build the world's greatest bridge."
"I-I will." Tsunami dabbed at her eyes. "I hope you stay safe."
"I'll be fine." Tazuna moved to the door before pausing. He didn't turn around when he spoke. "When that kid shows back up, the blonde one the girl's been talking about for the past few minutes, tell him he's welcome to get a couple things from my room. They ain't much for what he's doing but I'm pretty sure he'll like what I've got up there."
"Please tell me it's not any of those magazines." Tsunami continued to dab at her eyes. "You know how much I hate it when you show off your collection to all your perverted friends."
"He wishes he could get such a great collection!" Tazuna laughed again, one hand extending out to the wall to support him as he nearly doubled over. "Those are for Inari when he starts growing up to be a real man! He'll be the envy of all his friends with those treasures!"
"Y-You're…" Tsunami suddenly rose. "I've got to go check on Inari." She hurried out the room and Sakura watched her go in confusion.
She was crying. Why?
"Remember to tell that Naruto kid about my room Sakura." Tazuna slowly rose back up. Sakura offered a noise of assent as she rose from her seat and went to go after Tsunami. "Leave my daughter to a bit of time with her boy. She'll be back after I'm gone."
"You must be really perverted to make her cry like that." Sakura looked on with disapproval at the old man about to leave. "If you weren't my team's client I would be showing you why you shouldn't say things like that to someone like Tsunami-san." She brought one armored fist up and the man only laughed as he turned back to the door.
"You really crack me up sometimes girl." Tazuna walked to the door and rose a hand up in farewell. "Don't bother waiting for me. I've got a job to do and won't be back until it's finished."
"Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes as she returned to her seat.
"Tazuna-san." The centurion at the door did not let him pass once he stepped up to it. He removed his helmet and placed it under his arm as he extended his hand. He offered the man in front of him an odd grin that would look more on place on a man with several decades more experience than the clone's young face showed. "Allow me to escort you to our perimeter."
"If you want to, I'm not letting you slow me down." Tazuna offered the clone a grin as he laid a hand on his armored shoulder instead of accepting the offered hand. The centurion only nodded before turning towards the door and, after sparing one last look towards Sakura-chan, left after him. The door was sealed shut behind him by the Blossom Guards that resided outside near it.
The two met a path already created by the Blossom Guards that stood outside the home. They had assembled into two forces, one on either side of the path and each saluted the centurion and Tazuna as they passed with their swords meeting their broad shields. The clang of metal meeting metal was loud enough to dim their words to all but each other.
"You are not a wise man."
"A young punk like you can say that all you want. Words like that don't bother me much."
"You are surprisingly brave as well."
"Now that I can appreciate." The bridge builder chuckled.
"Among the Legion, there is a fact we all know to be true. The specter known as death marches with us at all times. Side by side we go forth together into the unknown."
"You kids are weird then. Do you really all have to be so morbid?"
"What would you have us believe then?"
"It's obvious kid." They neared the border of the gathered Blossom Guards. "Hope."
"Hope?"
"Yeah. That bridge I'm building is the perfect example. Do you think I'm building it because I worship death, that I want to die or something crazy like that? No. I'm building it because I've got hope and I'm banking it on that bridge. Call it an investment even. Everyone who's helped me build that bridge has got hope for our bit of the world being a better place once we finish it. We've all got hope that the world changes into something better than now when we finish that bridge. We all believe that the world becomes a better place with every new board we put down. We all believe the world gets better with every inch we move forward. Every nail, every piece of that bridge is another bit of progress towards the future we all want to see, the place we want our families to have when we're gone."
"And what has that hope you've held accomplished?"
"You're a real little smartass, know that kid." Tazuna chuckled good-naturedly at the centurion's comment. "As for what's hope gotten me? For one, it's gotten that bridge out of my old head. Two, instead of dying with me I've gotten that bridge and everything it stands for out to the people I'm building it for. Everybody in Waves is banking on that bridge to bring a better tomorrow and I'm going to get as much of it done today as I can before…well before I get tired." He chuckled. It was too loud for either of them and tapered off rather quickly.
"Where are the arms of hope then? Where are the workers of hope? Where is hope if you rely on it so much? Or is it nothing but a delusion you hold onto. What is hope capable of sending to assist you beyond your fantasy already born of it?"
"Bah! As if I need more workers when I've got these two arms right here!" The old man rose his arms and flexed, the centurion having to admit that he had an impressive physique for a man his age. "I've laid down half the damn frame myself and I'll keep doing it until I've got it all done! And once it is, Gato will see what hope can do when that bridge breaks his stranglehold on Nami no Kuni."
"You are a strange man Tazuna."
They neared the edge of the formation. Both came to a stop as the centurion turned to look at the man that would walk without him down a lonesome road. The forest around the may have been cleared but it still shadowed the path ahead. The centurion turned back to the path and pressed a finger to his ear.
"Century, on me."
"HOO!" Distantly he heard the call that answered him as he removed his finger and turned to Tazuna once again.
"The Uzumaki Empire's Orange Legion does not march on hope." His statement was a simple fact. "We march to battle, to glory, and to death." No mocking was seen in the eyes of either as they met across the distance, neither refused the views of the other. They could disagree and they, as was silently decided, would use the bridge to find the answer. "Every step draws us closer to those three so intrinsically linked and draws us deeper into the unknown. We march to battle not for ourselves but for the Uzuamki Empire. We march not for our own glory but for the glory of Praetor. We march not for the death of Praetor but for our own." Blue eyes carrying an age that seemed both natural and unnatural locked with those of Tazuna. "Today, I shall march my men with you and not with hope."
"If you march with me, you've got to be marching with hope." Tazuna looked out at the path before him. "I'm walking with the same hope that everyone in Nami no Kuni's got in their souls. Not a single one of us want Gato to keep his grip on our land forever."
"Then you are in luck." The centurion settled his helmet over his head as he heard the steps of his soldiers approaching. "My century will march to see the glory of Gato's hold destroyed over the lands of the Uzumaki Empire. The Orange Legion has already marched with death with bandit filth already been exterminated and now we shall finish the task set before us with his head."
"I like you kid." Tazuna settled his hat on his head. "Your boss isn't too bad either."
"I shall have you speak those words to Praetor himself then Tazuna."
"We'll see about that."
As one, they took the first steps into the unknown with the century following behind them.
AN: Opinion on the Legion so far? On Team 7 as a whole? Anything that stands out so far? Anything that needs to be changed?