Hey all, welcome back.
So last time Shadow-Fox appeared in the school…and that there is a merry bunch of about 30 people who don't know this and are planning an attack on the school's open day…whoever feels sorry for them raise your hands.
…ok, I can't count how many of you readers raised your hands, but I imagine the number is 0.
Also, as promised, Subject Flower will be revealed…
Anyway…
Responses to Reviews:
Anko4Life: Be surprised on who Flower is…also beware of some bashing…
Chapter 4: Open Day, Open Class, Open Fire
The schoolgrounds was full of activity as the Open day was in full swing. Most of the Student's Parents were there to see what their children had learnt whilst some visitors were there to see if their children were interested in attending next year.
Amongst the visitors were a group of 30 odd people spread out and searching for someone…
"Hey, Boss…you said that Subject Flower would be easy to find, right?" one of them said silently, holding a phone in one hand and the index finger of the other to his ear. He was also bobbing his head as though listening to music.
"Of course she is…she has pink hair, green eyes and a beautiful figure." 'Boss' answered.
"Well, the only pinkette I have seen with green eyes is so flat that she might just be a cross dressing guy." The man answered.
"Did she have a big forehead?" 'Boss' answered. "And did she have black fingerless gloves on her hand?"
"Yes to both." The man answered.
"I think I see her…damn…Boss, you have a bad taste in women. Her chest is the same width as her stomach…she has nothing there…I have seen brand new chalkboards with more curvature…" Another person said.
"Shut up! Why does everyone disagree with my tastes?" 'Boss' asked. "Anyway, all units, meet up at the storage shed and gear up, then wait for further orders. Echo, keep an eye on her! Keep us updated on where she is when we move out."
""Roger!"" came over the radio.
One by one, the infiltrators trickled over to the shed, unaware that they were being watched.
Somewhere else on the school ground
"Sky-Hawk to Guardhouse, I have eyes upon something here. Over." The Shadow-Blade operative called in.
"Copy that, Sky-Hawk. I'll relay the information on to Shadow-Fox. Will have updated orders for you soon. Over." The person working the comms said.
"Sky-Hawk here, Copy that. Holding position and awaiting further instructions. Out." Sky-Hawk said, before cutting the line.
The radio operator switched to Shadow-Fox's channel and reported in, before receiving new orders from Shadow-Fox. He quickly activated all channels.
"All units, this is Guardhouse. Protocol Oscar Romeo Actual is in effect. I repeat, protocol Oscar Romeo Actual is in effect. Over." The radio operator spoke, getting dozens of 'clicks' in response as everyone switched to an open frequency.
"This is Shadow-Fox. Sky-Hawk, what is the skivvy? Over."
"Sky-Hawk here. Over two dozen people have just entered one of the sport sheds over the last 15 minutes and have yet to leave. Estimate around 30 Tango's in there. Over."
"Desert-Dog here, request permission to Micro-drone-recon the Shed. Over."
"Permission granted. Be care…"
"Negative! Negative! We have fully armed hostiles exiting the shed!" Sky-Hawk's voice blared over the radio, mere moments before hell broke loose as several guests were shot by the insurgents.
"All Shadow-Blade Elements. This is Shadow-Fox. Move to secure the perimeter. Lethal Ammunition is authorised, but hold your fire unless I give the word or a situation Omega occurs. Over." Shadow-Fox barked over the radio.
An almost simultaneous 'Roger that' came from the radio as all 20 Operatives responded.
…and then there was the new guy…
"Hey, everyone…I know I am the noob here, so leave me something to do, please. Over."
Chuckles filled the comms.
"Then get your ass into position, Silver-Sloth." The radio operator chuckled. "Over."
"…and can I get a callsign that doesn't make me sound like the slow guy?"
"You will get one if you manage to finally reach the 5 minute mark on the obstacle course." Shadow-Fox responded.
Silver-Sloth's grumbles could be heard clearly over the comms.
Meanwhile
The courtyard was in chaos as 30 armed men and women blocked all accesses and began firing at everyone who didn't comply with their shouts…which was something like 'Get on your knees!'.
Several students, mainly the children from wealthy corporations, were rounded up and grouped together, with 4 burly males standing above them, pointing their weapons at them.
Amongst the captives were Hinata and Sakura, the latter having been roughly thrown into the mix.
Meanwhile one of the insurgents went around with a camera, listing a series of demands as he livestreamed the footage. The demands were basic in nature, but at the same time were rigid in the extreme.
"…And if anyone dares to think to try and negotiate with us, feel free to do so, but know that we will shoot one of the hostages each time a counter proposal is made."
With that he turned off the camera.
"What do you plan to do with us?" one of the students near Hinata and Sakura asked.
"Well, if your parents do not pay the ransom on time, then we'll livestream the men having their happy way with your bodies." The man said with a lecherous grin.
Suddenly all the insurgents' radios crackled.
"And if you don't lay down your weapons now, we will make sure that none of you will be able to 'have fun' ever again…unless you want to be on the receiving end of things."
"Who the hell are you?" the man shouted, looking around. Each and every other insurgent was doing the same, though there seemed to be fewer of them now…
"Who we are is not important." The answer came immediately. "Why you are targeting this school however…"
Suddenly the man heard four thumps behind him and he turned to see the 4 men guarding the hostages on the ground, their throats cut.
"What the hell…" the insurgent leader asked, before suddenly before him a man appeared…one whose presence immediately made him wet his pants.
Before him stood none other than Shadow-Fox himself…and he said only two words.
"Smoke them!"
Suddenly all over the area men and women in black armour appeared as though out of thin air and either beat the insurgents up or shot them if they were about to shoot one of the civilians.
In mere moments the insurgent leader was the only one left standing. And he didn't last long as he tried shooting Shadow-Fox with his gun, only to be met with Shadow-Fox's fist in his face.
"Too easy." Shadow-Fox said, before reaching for his radio. "Alright guys, wrap it up. Mother-Wolf, I need a clean-up crew at the school immediately. Also contact the local feds. Tell them that we'll take care of things here, however we could use some people here to keep the peace."
"Copy that, Shadow-Fox. Clean-up crew is enroute." Mother-Wolf said.
"Oh, and tell the feds that if they plan to send someone with issues about working UNDER Mercenaries, tell them to shove that plan up their ass." Shadow-Fox added.
"It will be my pleasure." Shadow-Fox could hear the happiness in her voice…he knew that she had a history with the Feds…and chose to do things like this all the time, and as per agreement between the two of them, he knew that there would be a ton of swearing on her part…
Sometimes he wondered if Tayuya had more swearwords in her vocabulary than normal words…especially after what happened in Middle school…It is said she got drunk and almost laid a lazy genius in school…
Shortly afterwards
Thankfully the people sent by the feds had no issue whatsoever with working under Shadow-Fox, not because of his mere presence scaring the hell out of him, but because one of them…
"Onii-chan? What are you doing here?" Erica asked her older brother.
…you get the picture.
And while Erika 'delays' her brother and his partner (More like interrogates him…) Shadow-Fox paid the surviving assailants a visit.
The moment he entered the shed, his air sensors detected nothing, but mere moments after the prisoners realized who had come to visit him…well, according to Shadow-Fox's sensors, they shat and pissed themselves…literally.
And he was silently thankful for the built-in gas mask that filtered this stuff out of the air he breaths.
"So…start talking." Shadow-Fox said, pulling out a recording device and activating it. "Who are you guys working for? Who is your target? Why are you trying to kidnap that person?"
A bunch of 'We don't knows' came from the most of the goons.
However there was one of them who broke.
"We were hired by a man calling himself 'Sun Tsu'. Our target is some girl called Subject Flower…a pinkette with breasts flatter than a blackboard. We were not told why we were to capture her." The woman uttered.
The others glared at her for her betrayal.
Shadow-Fox then turned to the man he had captured, the one who had done the livestream. "You seem like the guy in charge of this sorry bunch. Mind telling me any details the smart one there didn't know?"
It was at that moment that the inspector arrived with his partner.
"One moment, Inspector. I am almost done breaking these guys' spirits." Shadow-Fox said.
"I have two words for you." The captive said. "Fuck you!" and he spat on Shadow-Fox's face/helmet.
Outside of the room
All activity in the schoolyard stopped when a blood curdling scream echoed from the shed where the Shadow-Blade Operatives took the surviving insurgents, followed quickly by screams of 'I'll talk!' repeated several times.
A minute later they saw Shadow-Fox exit the Shed, telling the Inspectors that they could take over from here.
"Shadow-Fox to all Units. Protocol Oscar Charlie Echo is in effect. Mother-Wolf, set up a line to Konoha. They will want to hear what these guys have been up to." He said into his mic.
One by one the operatives shimmered and disappeared as they activated their Optical Camouflage magic programmed into their suits built in CAD.
It was a very handy magic to have. The only issue with it is that it will break if the user moves faster than a slow walk.
Eventually only Shadow-Fox was left.
He himself was about to activate the 'adaptive camouflage' spell when his HUD blinked and a message appeared.
"Well…this is bothersome." He muttered. "Can I meet all the clan heirs associated with the Konoha PMC, as well as the Student Council, in the first sports hall in 10 minutes please." He said out loud, before marching off towards said venue. The crowd moved apart and gave him a wide berth, until a little girl broke free from her mothers grasp and ran up to him, bowing and thanking him for, Quote: 'Rescuing mommy from the Bad Guys'.
Shadow-Fox chuckled and got down on one knee, rummaging through his pocket for something.
Eventually he pulled out a candy bar which he gave the small girl.
"This world needs more people like you, little one." He said, ruffling her hair, making her cutely swat his hand away. "You will definitely grow up to be kind and brave. I am sure your mother is proud of you."
From the corner of his eyes he saw the stunned expressions of the crowd…here was a man capable and willing to do mass murder and he was treating a little child with the gentlest of actions.
9 minutes later
Shadow-Fox entered the Hall with exactly 5 seconds to spare until the 10 minutes he gave the Konoha trainees fell out…and he was pleased to find that all 9 trainees were present, along with the student council.
"I am sorry for calling you guys here on such short notice, but I believe each and every one of you is owed an explanation." Shadow-Fox said.
"Damn right we do. And I demand you hand over some of your gear in compensation." Sasuke began, only to find himself at gunpoint from Shadow-Fox.
"Be careful what you say, trainee. Myself and my Men are still at on High alert and it has happened before that one of our fingers might just slip…" the threat was left open there as roughly 20 SB operatives decloaked, all of them holding M-96 Mattocks, or more likely their more powerful M-99 Variants.
"Stand down." Shadow-Fox told his men, who faded away again. "Anyway, the insurgents today had been targeting one of you guys." All the students looked at each other at that.
"More specifically, they were targeting Haruno Sakura." All eyes turned to the pinkette in shock. "Apparently Konoha has made some very powerful enemies in the Great Asian Union and these people hired this bunch of Thugs to basically kidnap Haruno-san and use them as their personal plaything on a live stream to the entirety of the Konoha PMC in retaliation to an operation a few years ago code named 'Red Sky'."
"I have heard of that operation before…it was a failed rescue mission in the Philippines where the rescue team was forced to engage a much larger group of GAU soldiers from the local garrison." Ino said.
"Correct." Shadow-Fox said. "It is also the only operation in Konoha History that led to a wide spread invasion by all of Konoha's forces, resulting in both the liberation of the Philippines and their subsequent alliance with Japan."
"What does this have to do with me?" Sakura asked.
"The man who hired the thugs is General Wei Fong Chang." The answer came almost immediately. "Both his brother and his sister died during 'Red Sky'."
"So this is an attack of retribution." Mayumi said.
"I am afraid so. Also, it means that there may be more attacks on Haruno-san in the future." Shadow-Fox said. "My Unit and I are to return to base tomorrow as we were only hired to help with security on the open day, and our help is needed elsewhere. That being said, I have been authorised by Konoha High Command to issue you trainees with your first official long-term mission."
Sasuke perked up at this, as he was always eager to get missions.
"You are to remain Sakura's guards in school until the threat has either been removed or you graduate, at which point you will probably go and complete your officer's training at Konoha." Shadow-Fox told them. "On a more personal note, I have two things to say to you."
Everyone, including the Student Council became interested in this.
"Firstly, I'd like you guys to stop harassing Trainee Uzumaki. He is a personal friend of mine and someone who has the opportunity to join Red Spiral PMC, possibly even become a member of my Shadow Blades." Everyone was stunned at the news. They had no idea that Naruto had such talent to possibly be scouted by the Red Spiral PMC.
Sasule was pissed again…
'Not only does the Dobe get to go on missions, he is being scouted to be a Red Spiral Operative?' he thought.
"Secondly, I'd like to have a private conversation with Miss Hyuuga here." Shadow-Fox continued, making the young bluenette heiress pale slightly, but nod in agreement.
The conversation basically revolved around her thanking him for saving her 6 years ago and him telling her to forgive Naruto for hurting her feelings, unintentional as the it was.
The second part was for himself, at least he would get to know her better.
"Oh yeah…have you heard anything about Naruto…kun?" Hinata asked.
"Last I heard of him, he was in the Congo. If he hasn't changed in the few months I have last seen him, I think that he will come back next week or so…that is if he doesn't find a Slave Camp on the way…" even with the voice synthesizer everyone could tell that Shadow-Fox was deadpanning the last bit.
"When did the two of you meet?" Sasuke asked.
"I am the one who is trying to recruit him." Shadow-Fox said. "I visited the Kagoshima branch looking for raw potential and talent a year or so ago. His instructor at the time was your current instructor: Hatake Kakashi."
"Why didn't Kakashi sensei tell us?" Sakura asked.
"Because it didn't concern you." Shadow-Fox said bluntly.
"Besides possessing raw potential and talent, what other pointers are you looking for?" Sasuke asked.
"A sense of humour for one." The answer was as swift as it was blunt. "Other pointers are that the person MUST value their comrades as much as if not more so than their own lives; They must be able to both follow commands from their superiors, no matter the origins, as well as be able to think for themselves. And you, Uchiha, have long been blacklisted by us, as have the vast majority of your clan."
"WHAT?!" Sasuke roared.
"You failed all 7 undercover psych evaluations you secretly underwent over the last year. The only one who passed is Nara-san over there, but that is because the Nara-clan is one of the few clans we'd accept with some form of special case, due to their laziness." Shadow-Fox said.
"But why blacklist my entire clan?" Sasuke demanded.
"Because it was one of your godforsaken clan who nearly destroyed Japan some 8 years ago, when he went rogue and tried to join the GAU with up to 750 Terrabytes worth of National Defence Documents." Shadow-Fox told him. "Also…the majority of your clan are Hypocrites…you claim to stand against discrimination, yet most of you sneer at people who are not magicians or are from a clan of lower standing than yours."
"Plus, the only clan heirs we accept are the ones from our own supporting clans, though they are also allowed to join Konoha, such as Naruto happened to have done." Shadow-Fox said, before tipping a few buttons on his arm. "I will not go into detail there. It is up to him to tell you."
With that he faded away.
…
AND DONE!
So…Subject Flower is actually Sakura. And I wrote a big fat lie or at least half truth to hide Naruto's real affiliation.
On that note…I found it easier to write the different persona's as completely different people, meaning Naruto has something akin to a dual personality.
Also, Naruto is revealed to be a clan heir himself. And I need not say which clan I am speaking of…the name already says it.
Oh…and I am not particularly fond of the Uchiha clan because in canon the vast majority of them let their powers go to their heads. There are exceptions to this, such as Shisui and Itachi, but that is about it. Sasuke needed to nearly die before he saw the light and was a complete asshole for the majority of the Naruto series…so he never really made it on the list.
Please do not flame me for my choice here.
Next time I will skip to either the Blanche arc or go straight to the school tournament thing.
Please Review/PM me about which one I should do.