Temporarily shut down the Firewall between 2130 and 2140, sharp.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage.
Sitting in his command chair, special jonin Raido Namiashi read the instruction scroll and checked the signature carefully for a third time, to confirm that the order was authentic. He had to make sure that this particular order, even if it was delivered by an ANBU, was really from the Sandaime.
Shutting down the Firewall dome barrier seal array without the Hokage's authorization was high treason, and the only punishment was death, slow and painful. The thought that the consequence of this crime was even harsher than the jinchuuriki law made the special jonin shudder.
The scarred-nosed man was serving his eight-hour shift as the commander in charge of Konoha Operations Center, which was located in the sublevel two of the Hokage Tower. It was the most restricted area, as it was the nerve center of Konoha military power.
The scroll also contained an additional memo announcing that the Uzumakis would come to visit this chamber some days later to review the Firewall defence. The special jonin was to inform the hidden ANBU security team of this information and have the guests' blood registered in the blood-wired security seal at the entrance doors. The team had to be informed beforehand, as ANBU stationed here could kill any suspicious person first and ask questions later.
The center was built in response to the Sandaime's slip of tongue on Naruto's heritage and the subsequent crisis caused by the Namikaze-Hyuuga Incident. The facility ran 24-7, and holidays were no exception. Screens was everywhere on the three walls in this very chamber. They showed surveillance footage outside the village walls and video communication with garrison commanders in case of emergency. Some staffs were communicating in soft voices with their counterparts in the two garrisons and key patrol units for sit-reps every 30 minutes. Most of the twenty staff here were maimed soldiers wearing Suna prosthetics; they refused to retire and wished to continue their ninja services to Konoha.
Raido had once read a fictional work that concerned a military base that was thought too strong to attack, but lack of vigilance cost that nation and her fleet dearly. He would not let Konoha become that fictious Pearl Seaport, not on his watch.
The special jonin witnessed his colleague Aoba Yamashiro asked Kakashi Hatake for a favour so he could attend the party at the Hyuuga compound tonight. The copycat ninja claimed that it was a big favour to request; he needed to use his connections and demanded the reason. The intelligence officer, with blush on his face, had told them that he was "interested" in a certain beautiful, red-haired girl that he saw near the Hyuuga compound yesterday. He wanted to speak to her at the party.
"Oooh… Love at first sight huh?" Kakashi asked in amusement while flipping a page of his precious orange book. Raido couldn't help but snicker, much to the embarrassment of Aoba.
The special jonin looked at the panel of buttons and seals that was on his command chair. This very control panel operated the Firewall, Mechanical Eight Trigrams Formation, and other village defences, making Konoha a battle fortress. There were two other control panels in the Leaf village- one in the Hokage Office, and another one in the ANBU commander office.
The Firewall was a sophisticated dome barrier fuinjutsu that outclassed the Konoha barrier teams in terms of defences and manpower efficiency. The seal array would occasionally shutdown for festival fireworks, and it was always operated by the Hokage in the office. But sometimes, the task would be left to the commanding officer in this center when the village leader was absent from the office. The temporary shutdown tonight was for the celebratory fireworks marking the return of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze and Hinata Hyuuga.
"It's about time. Carry it out, Tsubaki," the special jonin ordered.
"Aye, sir," the kunoichi nodded and spun her chair 180 degrees. She turned on the village PA and spoke. "Attention, this is Konoha Operations Center. All Battalion J personnel: please report to your mobilization station at 1700. I repeat: Battalion J personnel, please report to your mobilization station at 1700. Tardiness is not acceptable."
After making sure that all staff were doing their jobs and that the village security would be beefed up by Battalion J tonight, he turned to a TV news channel and watched the anchor making his latest announcement.
"…despite protests and threats from several feminist groups, the highly anticipated Icha-Icha Tanuki novel has reached 3 million pre-ordered copies! The publisher has announced it will issue an additional a hundred thousand units of the Super Pervert Edition, since the first 100,000 sold out within 10 hours on the announcement date two months ago. Die-hard fans who failed to pre-order it will rejoice! Why? Because this Super Pervert Edition comes with a pair of anatomically correct wooden puppets capable of all 'positions.' The book's sales are expected to reach 5 million copies; literary critics who pored over the 100-page previews said that it is the most hentai and hottest in erotic novel history!"
The anchor continued to read from his teleprompter excitedly as his nose puffed. "The story begins with a lonely child who has had a demon inside him and has a magical ability that controls sand, but he has been purged of evil by a sage, and finally gained the recognition of his family and fellow villagers, including his father. Later the boy engages with his female student in a forbidden sensei-student erotic romance that involves the kinkiest acts with his sand tentacle ability. A critic has confided that the preview made her touch herself while reading. Wow! On the other hand, this will probably make the Icha-Icha Paradise movie actress casting more difficult. I'm optimistic that an actress will eventually accept the role however..."
Raido chuckled, Kakashi had mentioned the puppets were manufactured in Suna, so it seemed their ally had made some fortune from the Icha-Icha series.
"I bet Kakashi, Ebisu, and Anko have also pre-ordered the Super Pervert Edition and will go to the midnight launch. Perhaps I should get one too…"
XXXXXXXXX
Mobilization Station 10
Every Konoha battalion had its own underground mobilization station, and each could accommodate at least one thousand ninjas, or one thousand people for shelter in case of emergency. At Station 10, Battalion J commander and veteran of the Second and Third Shinobi World War, Jonin Akira "Roughneck" Jinnouchi stood on an overlooking platform with his arms crossed over as he observed the 1,000 ninjas under his command. Standing behind him were his command staff and bodyguards, who comprised the First and the Command Platoon.
Tsubaki's voice was heard again from the village PA: "Attention everyone, the gates will be closed between 1900 and 2300. Any person who wishes to leave the village must do so within two hours. I repeat: the gates will be closed between 1900 and 2300. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."
The extended gate closure time was to cause enemy confusion about the security measure. Of all Battalion J ninjas, only commander Jinnouchi knew the exact time of the Firewall shutdown tonight. Many ninjas were chatting, particularly about the son of the Yellow Flash, while some were checking their weapons and supplies, but the commander knew well that every shinobi and kunoichi here was hungry for action. It's now 1700 and his staff confirmed everyone had arrived. The jonin turned around and gave a nod to his XO kunoichi, who nodded in return and put chakra in her voice.
"ATTENTION!" Everyone snapped to attention and they all slowly walked towards the platform. "Second, third and fourth platoons help secure the eastern, southern, and western gates respectively. The remaining platoons rendezvous with the patrol units at the village border according to the screen."
The huge station TV on the wall came to life, gaining everyone's attention. The screen displayed 12 spots with numbers on top of them respectively. Chunin platoon leaders quickly memorized their own patrol locations.
"Diamond, Spade, and Club Companies: link up with the wall guards. Heart Company beefs up the village street security."
Akira allowed several seconds for everyone, especially the company special jonin captains and platoon chunin leaders, to take in his order.
"All right," the jonin boomed as he strode out of the overlooking platform and faced every man and woman under his command before addressing to them. "Listen up boys and girls! Keep your eyes peeled, weapons and jutsu ready, and we'll all get a nice C-rank paycheque and a lovely night… AM I RIGHT, BATTALION J?"
"SIR YES SIR!" Everyone roared the answer in union, thundering the whole station. The jonin nodded in satisfaction.
"Uh-huh. Damn right I am, but Konoha ain't paying us by the hour! Now move your asses! Double time!"
XXXXXXXXX
Hyuuga Clan Party Hall
Everyone was predestined at birth and everything was determined by fate- that was Neji Hyuuga's philosophy, because Lady Hanabi and his sister Aoi were the great examples of this notion, just like their fathers.
It was fate that history repeated again as his sister was born on the same date as Lady Hanabi. And most ironically, they looked very identical, just as their fathers were twins except for the marks on their foreheads…
It was fate that he and his sister along with the other unmarked Branch children were branded with their Caged Bird Seals on Lady Hanabi's third birthday. He persevered and gritted his teeth in pain when the elders put the damned seal on his forehead, but his little sister's cries of pain finally broke him.
Aoi remained outgoing and joyful, like Lady Hanabi, for a while despite the seal on her little forehead. But it all changed when the elders Kakuei and Noboru activated the seal on her for just bumping them in a hide-and-seek game. His little hollyhocks sister was traumatized and became a very shy and timid girl afterward. Observing this change deepened his hatred towards the Main house.
It was his fate to best the Main house one day and set the Branch house as equal to them. Thus, he trained non-stop to make sure this would become a reality. He had become a ninja last year, just like his parents. He had been proud of achieving top scores in every field, and was happy to see the look of pride on his father's face and receive lovely hugs from his mother and sister when he achieved the Rookie of the Year honours.
The Hyuuga prodigy's achievements reached another level when Iwa spotted and ambushed Team Shizune in pursuit of some kind of payback for their missing girls. It was fate that his handicapped teammate Lee rescued a handicapped kunoichi in distress, Yakumo, when he opened his fifth gate to fight a Juggernaut- a new type of elite armoured ninja from Iwa. Most importantly, Team 3 was awarded medals and commendations by the Hokage personally, based on the report by Western Garrison commander Kosuke Maruboshi. Furthermore, he and Tenten were promoted to chunin by the Sandaime after their return from the garrison, for holding up well against another two Juggernauts.
This made his father prouder. To Neji Hyuuga, it was all decreed by fate, and it was his fate to lead the K-15 platoon, until Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze took over. This made him recall a certain bitter memory; it was just like Aoi's Hyuuga Corps happened again.
One year ago, Aoi had run home crying, and he had done his best to soothe his precious little sister as she explained the situation in sobs. The Hyuuga Corps was founded by the Branch children and led by her, when they saw the competitions between the Uchiha Corps and the Third Hokage's grandson's Monkey Corps. Aoi and the other children had used their Tonton piggybank money to buy cardboard shurikens, bamboo swords and other equipment, and he had even contributed some. It made him smile when Aoi and the other Branch children laughed and boasted of the many occasions they had won over the Monkey Corps and the Uchiha Corps over the past year.
It was all fun and games until the elders soon learned about it. Normally, they would have frowned and banned this activity, as it was very "un-Hyuuga." Much to his surprise though, they allowed the Hyuuga Corps and encouraged the Main house children to join as a perfect way to show the clan's superiority to the Uchihas. It came at a cost though… Aoi was forced to step down from leadership or she would suffer the consequence: the activation on her seal for "insubordination."
'Insubordination!? What the F!? This was just a kids' game!' Neji had sputtered inside.
The leadership was given to Lady Hanabi and Lord Hideyori, High Elder Hideo's grandson. Aoi was "demoted" to a senior non-commissioned officer rank, while the other Branch children were busted down to mere grunts.
'The Main house took over the Branch house's hard work without breaking a damn sweat.'
He had ragingly clenched his fists and blood quickly came out; there was nothing he could do with those curse-seal-happy Main house bastards. After getting his hands bandaged by his kindly mother, he talked to his father in his private study regarding the situation, later that night. He found the man studying a red scroll.
Father already knew what happened to Aoi, and he was upset too, but he was a lot calmer. Instead, the father took a deep breath before putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder and assured him.
"We must endure, Neji, and one day we will get back at the Main house for abusing us. One day, the Branch families will get the last laugh. One day, we will be free…"
Neji was baffled at his father's words. "How could we get even with the Main house? That's impossible! How?"
"I've finally found the means to remove the shackles on us, and one day we will be free..." Neji's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe it, but Father's eyes told him otherwise.
"You really have? How?"
Neji noticed his father wasn't looking at him; instead he was staring at the red scroll with hope in his eyes.
"Yes, but it's best for you not to know too much about this yet…" Hizashi smiled and put his hands on Neji's shoulders. "And have faith in me, son."
"Is there anything I can do to help you, Father?" Neji wanted to know more about the details and that scroll, but the desire for freedom for his family and people suppressed this curiosity. He wanted to join in this endeavour, but his father simply shook his head.
"Thank you, Neji, I have enough resources for this, and you need to focus on your shinobi career. Leave it to me, but one day I might need your help…"
Now, Father had asked for his assistance, he wanted him to get close to an Uzumaki girl who always spoke with profanity and a scary attitude that kept people away from her.
"Father, I don't understand… Didn't those Main house members warn us to stay away from Naruto, and by extension his clanswomen?"
"Don't worry, leave this to me. Just do what I said and it will be fine." Father had assured him, leaving him more confused. Father needed him to do it, so the Hyuuga prodigy took a deep breath and marched towards the Uzumaki girl.
There was soft music playing and beautiful lanterns everywhere in the Hyuuga compound as the clan was celebrating the safe return of Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Tayuya was enjoying a big piece of steak while amusedly watching a blushing special jonin named Aoba nervously talking to Honoka.
'Well you gotta pass through me and Naruto if you really wanna date Honoka. Perhaps I should tell Naruto to have a talk with you with the Arashi… Just like Hiashi yesterday.' A devilish smile appeared on Tayuya's lips as she thought.
Then she turned around and observed the Monkey Corps and the Uchiha Corps arguing over having Naruto joining their corps. The Hyuuga Corps children just stood there and watched their rivals arguing. Hinata had mentioned that her sister had invited her to join the Hyuuga Corps, but there was no invitation for Naruto, that was strange.
"Monkey Corps! Boss Naruto should join the Monkey Corps!" Konohamaru Sarutobi said, alongside Udon and Moegi. The children wore the Sarutobi, Mitokado and Utatane crest respectively on their kimonos.
"Hey! Don't you already have that Fu girl in your ranks? The son of the Yellow Flash should join the Uchiha Corps!" Daisuke Uchiha retorted, with Miki and Rei nodded.
"You Uchiha Corps have more members than the Monkey Corps, Daisuke! And don't you have Boss Naruto's two clanswomen in your corps?"
"How about we have a contest tomorrow, winner gets the son of the Yellow Flash in their ranks?"
"Bring it on, Daisuke! We will triumph this time and Boss Naruto will be in the Monkey Corps!" All three Monkey Corps members pumped their fists in the air.
Overhearing this, Tayuya raised an eyebrow at the Sandaime Hokage's grandson's words. The boy was one of the very few not calling Naruto the son of the Yellow Flash- that brat was interesting.
There were many other people at the party as well- clan heads with their spouses and children, and other high-ranking ninjas, such as that mummy Danzo, who quietly sipped sake in a corner alone. There were also many people outside the Hyuuga compound trying to get in, and Tayuya was certain there were still many fangirls out there despite Naruto's engagement with Hinata.
Security was very tight here because the entire Konoha leadership was here. Three layers of perimeters had been set up around the Hyuuga compound with regular ninja patrols, ANBU and the Hyuuga Branch members. In Tayuya's view, these people, or at least most of the snobbish ones, had all come here for the son of the Yellow Flash. The victory over Itachi and Kisame had made things worse, and many people had begun to worship him as some kind of kami.
'I'll love to see how Hinata deal with these fangirls,' Tayuya went to pick up more food from the buffet tables and started to chew. 'The party is good and the atmosphere is joyful. Many expensive foods and drink- the Hyuuga are loaded, but I still like the parties on board Freedom more…'
Right after leaving the Lightning port two weeks ago, the Water citizens led by Asuka Terumi and Hinata wanted to throw a big party to celebrate their new freedom with Kiri cuisine. Later, each of the 123 Water girls one by one personally and tearfully bowed ninety degrees to thank the three Uzumakis. Added to that, she had healed the Uchiha matriarch and earned the gratitude of a big clan- that made her feel really good as she had done something very meaningful in her life.
'I wonder how Asuka and the other Water girls are now. I wish that they are all well. Zabuza better take great care of them.' She sensed something and turned around to see that a Hyuuga teenager around her age, obviously a Branch member judging by his headband, was approaching her.
Neji mustered up his courage to talk to Tayuya. "Excuse me, are you Tayuya Uzumaki?"
"Yeah, the one and only Tayuya Uzumaki. What do you want? And who are you?"
"I am Chunin Neji Hyuuga, the second-in-command of K-15 platoon, as Naruto is now the leader. I think it is wise to know you and Honoka better since we are all in the same unit." The Hyuuga introduced himself with pride on his rank and his two medals on his left breast.
Tayuya raised her eyebrows, so this guy was Neji Hyuuga. Naruto had mentioned him several times and he spoke fondly about Neji and Kakashi whom he looked up to as big brothers. But his penchant for spewing those fate-bullshits made a negative impression on her.
"Well, Hyuuga, don't bother about it, because me and Honoka are assigned to Battalion U. It's pointless for you to know me better before you know Naruto and Hinata first." The Uzumaki replied coldly.
Neji's eyes widened a bit, showing his surprise. "But I was there when the Hokage personally assigned you, Naruto and Honoka to K-15. Why the change?"
"After you left for Naruto's inheritance recovery mission, he requested the Hokage to reassign us to another unit, with the rationale of not putting all our eggs in one basket."
Initially, she had wanted to end this conversation and to tell this Hyuuga to fuck off, but she wanted to know one thing. "By the way, Hyuuga, you mind telling me how Naruto's inheritance recovery mission went?"
The Hyuuga inwardly sighed in relief that this conversation could still go on and began to describe his mission. "Well, we have confirmed the civilian councillors guilty of embezzlement from the Namikaze and the Uzumaki accounts and we have seized their assets and businesses, including of those of the Haruno family." He turned around to look at Sakura Haruno at the party along with the other K-15 members, and Tayuya followed suit and saw the pink-haired girl they met in Wave Country.
"Her parents' accounts have also been frozen for further investigation and they have lost their jobs at the councillors' department stores. The Godaime Hokage has ordered to transfer those businesses to Naruto's name. Those businesses will be under new management." He didn't need his Byakugan to tell that Sakura was very depressed and was trying her best to smile at the party, despite the fact that her Uchiha crush and friend/rival Ino Yamanaka were both in attendance.
"I see. Life will be very hard to her…" was the response Tayuya gave as she looked at Sakura from a distance. Although her family wealth stemmed from Naruto's stolen inheritance, she somehow pitied the pinkette. Until her parents' accounts were cleared, and the process might be very long, the pink-haired genin would become the only income source. It was very hard for a genin to support their family alone, let alone a fresh genin. She didn't have a family until Naruto and Honoka found her, but she understood well the hardship on making a living.
"Well, thanks for bringing back Naruto's inheritance fast," Tayuya gently patted Neji on the left shoulder and gave him an appreciative smile. Somehow, he found her smile attractive and… he got flustered. She didn't notice it.
"No need to thank me, Uzumaki. It is the decree of fate after all."
Tayuya's mood changed and she shot Neji a hard look that startled him a bit. "Not this fate crap again," she hissed lowly. "There is no fate but what we make, Hyuuga. It's Lady Tsunade who handpicked you and Anko for the task and she trusted you both, so tell me, are your rank and medals awarded to you on a silver platter by fate, or did you earn them? So screw fate! I should give you a piece of my mind for you saying to Naruto that 'everything bad happened to him was fated.' You don't know how hurt he was by these words, Hyuuga. We are at a party now though and I don't wanna crash it. Anyway, you have my thanks and excuse me, I gotta go to update Honoka."
Neji watched the Uzumaki girl walked to her fellow clanswoman. 'Man, she was fiery,' he thought, but also impressed. He then turned around and saw his father standing in corner giving him a "Well done, Neji" nod.
"May I have everyone's attention?" Hiashi called out. People turned and saw him and Hitomi.
"I thank you all for coming here to celebrate my daughter's safe return," Hiashi gave a rare genuine smile, surprising most attendees used to his stoic appearance. "As well as her engagement with Naruto Namikaze."
Everyone began to clap enthusiastically. The Hyuuga clan head made a hand gesture and a second later, Naruto and Hinata, holding hands, came into view. All people, even the K-15 members and the children, were awestruck by what they saw.
Hinata Hyuuga wore a light lavender kimono with flowers on the sides and a purple obi. The red lipstick and the other light makeup she used combined with her pale lavender eyes and midnight indigo hair were enough to make her one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Naruto Namikaze had donned a jet-black Kumo jonin/officer kimono traditionally worn to formal celebrations. He wore a lightning-shaped medal around his neck; many senior ninjas were astonished when they recognized it as a Medal for Heroism, the highest military award in the hidden Cloud village. Considering the many military citations on the blond's left breast, they wondered at his ninja career in Kumo. The uniform suited the young man perfectly, and with his sky-blue eyes and sun-kissed golden hair, made him one of the most dashing and handsome men in the world.
"YOU ARE SUPER BEAUTIFUL BIG SISTER!"
"YOU ARE SUPER AWESOME BOSS!"
Everyone was amused to see Natsu quickly putting her hands on Hanabi's mouth, and Asuma lightly hitting his nephew on the head. The Uchiha children snickered at the latter scene.
Everyone clapped again as Naruto and Hinata perfectly fulfilled the image of a golden couple.
"Nice, Naruto seems relaxed," Fu noted on her jinchuuriki brethren.
"Really? Take a look at their feet," Chomei suggested. The teal-haired girl then observed that Naruto and Hinata both wore ninja sandals instead of traditional ones. "Hasn't Kurenai taught you to look underneath the underneath? Kunoichis are not the only ones good at deception by appearance, so are male ninjas. Don't ever let a facade fool you, Fu."
"But why they are like this?" The curious Nanabi jinchuuriki asked.
"In case things go south; Naruto is very wary of Konoha and the Hyuuga clan."
The mention of the clan confused the teal-haired girl. "What does it have to do with the Hyuugas?"
"There are too many problems to go into right now, but the main one is the Hyuuga traditions. Many Hyuuga Main house traditionalists demand that Hiashi send one of his children, namely Hinata, to the Branch house as a tradition requires."
"Such arrogant people, treating their people as slaves..." The jinchuuriki inwardly commented with a bitter taste in her mouth, while recalling what happened to her Hyuuga friends, Neji and Aoi.
"And if Hinata becomes a Branch member, then it would be easy for some people to control Naruto through her. He views this compound and the village as a potential warzone. He's worried that the Hyuuga Traditionalists might do something funny tonight, but I hope he is wrong. In his kimono, he has hidden enough Havoc and other tactical seals to destroy the entire compound, and there are more fuinjutsu tags in his room- they have enough firepower to level half the village…"
In the mindscape, Fu gave a no-shit expression, before she argued. "There are many innocent bystanders here! Children! Does Naruto really want them getting hurt?"
"Of course, he doesn't, believe me, and you don't need to worry about them; he wasn't a Kumo commander for nothing. The boy has got that covered." The seven-tailed beast assured. "There are several shadow clones here to provide support and evacuate all non-combatants in case of a fight. Naruto wants you to stay out of this."
The teal-haired girl's eyes widened a bit. "Shadow clones? Where? I don't see them."
"They are using Predator stealth seals, that even Byakugan can't see them. They hide better than the ANBU here of course… Anyway, Fu, Misato is calling you."
"Fu! Fu! Are you talking with Chomei now?" The Aburame matriarch nudged the teal-haired girl gently, while holding two cups of drink on her hands. "Anyway, Lord Hiashi is inviting everyone to join the toast!"
"Hai, gomen…" Fu said sheepishly, and quickly took a cup from Misato's hand. "And thanks! You are the best!"
Both of them quickly raised their cups to join the toast with the others, as Hiashi blessed his eldest daughter and future son-in-law. "May Hinata and Naruto live happily ever after!"
People cheered aloud and the party began.
XXXXXXXXX
Konoha Walls
The rumble of three closing 30-meter-high gates and their operating machines was so loud that people one hundred meters away could still hear them.
KOOM! The sound was heard across three hundred meters when the titanium-alloy reinforced gates finally shut. Step one was complete.
Night had already fallen an hour ago, but the forest outside of the Leaf walls was as bright as daylight, as it was illuminated by scores of powerful searchlights on the watch towers.
Project Firewall was the primary product of Crimson Contingency. It was a powerful dome barrier that completely surrounded the village and made it impossible for anything to penetrate the defence, even Tailed Beast Balls. The son of the Yellow Flash was back, but the threats from Iwa and Kumo were still at large and Crimson Contingency was still in effect. Leaf ninjas still needed to carry out the Firewall temporary shutdown procedures, as the village was at war.
On the 100-meter-high Konoha walls, artillery battery genin were busy loading the village ballista and trebuchets. The ballista arrows were tagged with explosive tags, and the rocks on trebuchets were also covered with explosive tags. They were primed to explode on contact.
"ARTILLERIES READY SIR!" meant that the second step was complete.
At the same time, more than 500 chunins and a few special jonins including chunins Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki put their scrolls on the ground and shouted "Kai!" in unison. Crossbows appeared in front of them. Each of them then retrieved a smaller scroll from their flak jacket pockets before slapping it underneath their own crossbow. They all pointed their crossbows outside the Konoha walls, looking for an unfortunate target.
"CROSSBOWMEN READY SIR!" Now, all three preparation steps were done.
"Lock and load!" Kotetsu shouted excitedly. He caught several FNGs looking curiously and enviously at the toy he had.
"Sir, the weapon you are holding… what is it?" A genin asked.
Kotetsu answered with a smile on his face. "Genin, this is Assault-Kunai Type 16, but we call it AK-16 for short. And this scroll," he casually touched said small object underneath his crossbow, "is a special storage scroll we call Cartridge. It pre-stores 30 kunai to launch from the crossbow automatically and can be replaced by another Cartridge scroll when it is exhausted. They are the state of the art, created by our R&D eggheads."
"May I have a closer look?" The same genin asked, while extending his hands hinting that he wanted to take a hold of it.
"Sorry, but you can't touch it," the chunin rejected the genin's request. "Because the security seal registers my blood and chakra, any non-owner, even my best buddy, touching the crossbow will cause the seal to self-destruct the weapon. We can't let village secrets be stolen and researched by enemies, can we?"
XXXXXXXXX
Hyuuga Clan Party Hall
"Man, I've told you guys, I have had a troublesome feeling about this party."
"You always say that, Shikamaru, you always say: 'I got a troublesome feeling about this platoon meeting'," Fu said jokingly to her Nara friend.
It was now 2100 and the celebration had ended ten minutes ago. The party had become a K-15 platoon meeting, with their parents in attendance, except for Sakura's. The children, most of the Hyuuga Main house members and Danzo had left for home.
The newly appointed platoon leader, Naruto, had Hiashi's permission to talk to and interview all K-15 members at the after party in the Hyuuga compound. All K-15 members seated themselves in a semi-circle fashion while the Namikaze sat in the opposition facing them. Other people sat or stand outside the group.
Shikamaru was the first to begin his introduction on his likes and dreams. "I like napping and shogi. I just want to be an ordinary ninja with an ordinary career, marry a girl who is not too pretty or too ugly. Have two kids- a girl then a boy. Retire when my daughter marries, and my son becomes a ninja. Enjoy a peaceful and carefree retirement until I die before my wife. This is my dream."
Naruto was staring at Shikamaru blankly for ten seconds. "That's it? No grand ambition?" The blond commander asked when he finally found his voice.
The Nara simply shook his head and yawned. The Namikaze's jaw dropped a bit; he didn't know what to say about it. Everyone else let out a small laugh while Shikaku chuckled sheepishly and was avoiding his wife's glare.
"Like father, like son…" Kurama commented dryly.
'Glad you didn't say that she ain't the prettiest in her presence because I can't save you from her iron fan.' Choji recalled a certain blonde girl met when Team 10 and their fathers were in a diplomatic mission to Suna to strengthen the alliance for Konoha.
It was the Akimichi's turn next. He took a bite on a BBQ skewer then spoke. "I like to taste every snack I can find and I love BBQ chips the most. I want to be like my dad and demonstrate that big-boned can be great ninja."
"I like shopping, cherry tomatoes and pudding! My dream is to prove that a kunoichi can be beautiful and deadly, and I want to become a great interrogator and mind-reader like my daddy!"
"My hobby is fortune-telling and I like sesame dumplings. My dream is to become a powerful kunoichi like Lady Tsunade!" Tenten's words made the Slug Sannin smiled proudly at her.
"I like my family and meditation. I don't have any dream because it is unreachable."
Naruto let out an irritated sigh at his surrogate brother's pessimistic view on life, but simply let it go for a moment. He would do something about it later.
"Yosh! I like training and mild curry! My dream is to show the entire world that it's possible to be a splendid ninja without ninjutsu and genjutsu!"
"THAT'S THE MOST YOUTHFUL DREAM, LEE!" Gai roared, and tears were flowing from his eyes. He nearly made Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya jump from their seats. Kakashi and Asuma hurriedly grabbed Gai, while Neji and Tenten held Lee, sparing the Uzumaki group from the horror of the Gai-Lee genjutsu.
Yakumo began her introduction. "I like sweets and painting and I wish to become a powerful kunoichi without genjutsu."
On Ranmaru's turn. "I like spicy curry. My dream is to be a powerful swordsman like my father, and to see my birth village and Konoha in peace and prospering."
Naruto casually took a deep sip of his drink to hide his deep thought. 'Ranmaru doesn't recognize me as Raiga's killer… and he wants to go back to Kiri?'
"I want to become the best hunter-nin in the world with Akamaru and become the next commander of the Hunter Division after mum!" Kiba said and his ninken barked in agreement.
"I like tomatoes and onigiri, as well as training." Sasuke began his introduction, trying to impress the son of the Yellow Flash for a training opportunity for his clan's sake. "And my dream is to restore my clan's former glory with the Uchiha Corps."
'Oh? Based on his action in Wave, I thought his dream was to kill Itachi… What happened?' Naruto wondered, before turning toward Sakura Haruno. "Your turn."
"M-My d-dream i-is t-to be-be the best med-medical ninja and e-earn the r-respect of a certain someone, Lo-Lord N-Namikaze," Sakura said in stammer while shaking a bit. The big shot was the son of the Yondaime Hokage! Based on what the blond did to Gato and his goons, he wouldn't be merciful to her and her family for what her ex-councillor auntie had done to him and the Hyuuga heiress. She was screwed, so screwed, she thought. Even Inner Sakura was trembling.
"Relax, Haruno, it is not a job interview and it is not formal, and drop the 'Lord' word. We are not polite out here." Naruto said. 'I thought her dream would be centring on Sasuke considering the Wave mission. It seems there is some hope for her. Good.'
"Hai."
"I like drawing, and I want to become a powerful ninja that can make Konoha much more powerful." Sai said as he introduced himself with a smile.
Naruto took another deep sip of his drink while being alarmed inwardly. 'A patriot huh? But something isn't right about Sai, and his smile isn't genuine.'
"My hobbies are entomology and insect collection, and I like winter melon and grass salad. My dream is to find the biggest and the most exotic bug in the world."
The K-15 leader smiled a bit. 'And you have, Aburame, you have.'
"Me, me, me!" It's was finally Fu's turn. "I like karaoke, and my friends: Chomei, K-15, Kurenai, Anko, Shizune and Yugao. They are all my friends! And my dream…" She thought fondly about her entrance day at the Konoha academy three years ago…
It had taken a week for Fu to settle down in Konoha; the Hokage had given her an apartment and monthly allowance. Now it was time for her to go to the ninja academy.
"Class, this is our new student Fu, be nice to her, OK?" Chunin Iruka Umino addressed his students. The scarred-nose instructor then looked down at the teal-haired girl and smiled warmly at her. "So Fu, tell us your dream for the future."
Usually, Fu was outgoing and cheerful, but now she was nervous, very nervous. 'This is it. Brother Shibuki said I can get a new and better life here, no one here knows I am a jinchuuriki. I can easily make friends here!'
But many pairs of eyes were bearing down on her, and this made her even more nervous.
"Relax Fu," Chomei told her. "You can make a good impression here."
The girl had been working her brain on how to make a good impression to her potential friends here. It took her one good minute to get an idea. She took a deep breath before she told everyone her dream, just as she was telling Naruto and Hinata now.
"I want to become Hokage!"
Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened. "What!?"
The Hyuuga heiress was very surprised that the Nanabi jinchuuriki had Naruto's old dream. "Why do you want to become Hokage?"
Fu chuckled lightly at Hinata's question. "At first, it was a just random idea to impress the class, but things changed."
The Nanabi jinchuuriki began to tell her story of her precious friends- the K-15.
XXXXXXXXX
Three Years Ago
Fu was singing as she was heading to a store for groceries after school. She was happy and she thought about her friends in the class.
'Shikamaru is lazy and complaining, but very smart and likes to watch clouds. Choji is kind and loves eating chips, and he hates to be called fat. Ino is bossy towards Shikamaru and Choji, but she is the most popular girl in the Academy. I wish I could be like her and have no problem making friends. Sasuke is a bit distant, but still friendly despite the massacre. Sakura has a civilian background, but she has a powerful councillor aunty. She is nice and is very sensitive about her forehead. Not to mention, she has a rivalry with Ino for Sasuke's affection. Kiba is brash and loud, but very loyal.'
There was one more clan child in her class. 'What is his name? Oh yes Shino! Hard to remember him. He is too quiet and it is very hard to notice him. Ino and Sakura mentioned he's always watching me… Why?'
Today a new student came into Fu's class, and she was happy to make friend with him. This person was always smiling, and she had no doubt he could be a friend for life. This person's name was Sai. Her life in Konoha was sure better than in Taki…
"Welcome!" The store owner shouted cheerfully, before she turned around and frowned upon identifying the customer entering her shop. "Hey, what the hell are you doing here? Get out of my shop!"
Fu was baffled and became a little scared and very confused of the lady's unexpected hostility. "What!? But I always come to your store, why am I not welcome anymore? What have I ever done!?"
The old lady quickly picked up her broom. "GET OUT YOU FILTHY DEMON!"
The teal-haired girl was chased out of the shop. To say she was stunned was an understatement. She couldn't understand why the nice old lady suddenly became hostile towards her.
'What the hell is going on?' Then Fu realized that she was surrounded by many bystanders who were attracted by the commotion.
Some were whispering words like "demon," "monster," and "like the Kyuubi" and they were all giving her that look, that cold look that made her very uncomfortable. It painfully reminded her of the general Taki population. She quickly fled while trying to suppress her tears. Unbeknownst to her, a certain afro-haired boy hidden behind an electrical pole had witnessed the whole scene. He was very confused by the situation.
'It doesn't make any logical sense at all… My kikai bugs state that she has a kage-level chakra reserve, and they worship her as the Insect Princess. But why do people hate her?'
Things went downhill very fast. The next day, most of her academy friends broke their friendships with her and became rather cold towards her. They always ignored her existence and even walked away when the teal-haired girl called out to them.
Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke and Sakura were very confused about Fu's current situation. They just stood by and watched in bewilderment.
"What the hell is going on?" The Uchiha asked and the Haruno added her two cents.
"My aunty councillor has told me that Fu is very dangerous and wants me to stay away from her, but she doesn't seem to be…"
"Really? But my daddy said she is fine. In fact, he even encouraged me to befriend her." Ino said.
"Yeah, me too," Sasuke agreed as his mother had told him the same thing. All the other children nodded. The future members of Teams 7 and 10 didn't say anything more as they observed that only Sai sat with Fu for lunch. They decided to monitor the event before reaching a conclusion. They didn't notice Shino was sitting next to them and didn't ask him for his thoughts.
Later that afternoon, in a clearing, Fu was crying quietly and Chomei felt terribly sorry for her. The jinchuuriki was covering her bruised left cheek. There were three girls standing behind her.
"An outsider wants to become a Hokage? Ha! You gotta be joking me. Your dream is so stupid, and you ain't even from this village." Ami sneered.
The purple-haired girl was holding a stick and so were her friends. After the failed attempt to bully Sakura last year, Fu now became their unfortunate target. Ami and her two friends insincerely offered to rekindle their friendship after the class, and the jinchuuriki didn't realize it was a trap until Ami hit her with a hidden stick.
"Yeah, she might be a spy from her village!" Fumiko, the second bully said. "We are doing the Hokage a favour by teaching the spy a lesson!"
"Yeah! Freak!" The third girl said. The three girls menacingly marched towards Fu, with sticks in their hands.
It hurt. People called her mean names, and it wasn't fair! She had begun a new life here and it happened all again! The jinchuuriki glared at the three bullies with hatred and she was going to unleash some of Chomei's chakra.
"No, don't do it, Fu!" The Nanabi shouted within her mind. If the jinchuuriki unleashed the biju's chakra, it would certainly attract unwanted attention and the situation would be worse. There was a very loud buzz and everyone heard it coming from all directions. The girls froze and dropped their jaws upon seeing the sources.
Huge swarms of cockroaches were flying towards them, and they were all fat and gross. All of them were flapping their sickening wings in their disgusting glory. Thousands of cockroaches had surrounded the terrified girls and swarmed the three bullies aggressively.
"THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!" Fumiko tried to swat the cockroaches away but to no avail.
"MOMMY!"
"GET THEM OFF ME!" Ami cried as her face was covered by cockroaches.
The three girls ran away screaming, leaving Fu flabbergasted in the field, unable to comprehend what happened. None of the girls ever noticed the same afro-haired boy hidden behind a tree. He gave an approving nod and a silent thanks to his cockroach allies before quickly left the scene.
In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Kurenai had been watching the whole event in the Hokage's crystal ball. Initially, all of them wanted to shunshin to the jinchuuriki to help her but watching the boy's presence and his action made them smile. The Toad Sannin was writing his notebook frantically.
"I don't see someone using a jutsu against his fellow classmates," the Hokage announced as he overlooked the boy using his clan technique to scare off the bullies. Everyone nodded.
"Shizune, please get Ibiki to have some talks with the girls and expel them from the academy," the Hokage ordered.
"Hai!" Tsunade's student acknowledged the order.
Then the Sandaime turned to look at the Genjutsu Mistress. "Kurenai, this girl is the jinchuuriki to Nanabi. Your newest mission is to be her guardian. This is an S-rank mission."
"Hai!" The kunoichi bowed. "I gladly accept this mission."
Half an hour later, Fu walked back to her apartment still feeling depressed at the recent events and her new life was ruined. She was surprised to see Shino, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura all waiting for her at the door.
The Inuzuka was the first to speak. "People say you are dangerous, but I see you a good, loyal friend. So screw the rumour! We are a pack, aren't we Akamaru?"
Said puppy barked in agreement before he jumped from his master's head to Fu. The teal-haired girl laughed when the puppy licked her face.
"My birthday is coming soon. You want to come to the party?" Shino offered.
"Want to go cloud watching with me and Choji later?"
Choji gave her a paper before explaining to her. "This is the list of Akimichi clan owned restaurants, you are welcome to come there for a meal."
Sasuke stepped in and gave her a bag. "This is Uchiha senbei. I am sure you will like it because Uchiha snacks are the best of the world."
Sakura presented Fu a card. "I don't understand why people don't welcome you in their shops, but you are my best friend beside Pig and I hope this can help you." The teal-haired girl saw it was a VIP card of the Haruno Department Stores. "With this, no one can refuse you services at the Haruno shops, or they will have to answer to my parents."
Sai quickly drew a picture and he presented it to them. It was all nine of them plus Akamaru together smiling. Even Sasuke made a small smile upon seeing the picture.
Ino grabbed Fu's right hand. "You've got the card from Forehead. Now let's go shopping! I will help you dress gorgeously for Shino's birthday party!"
Sakura joined the two girls walking off towards the department store. Fu was crying with joy and Chomei was very happy for her. These people came to reaffirm their friendship to her, and they were true friends in her time of need. She would never be alone.
Next week, Yakumo, Lee, Tenten and Neji joined in, and the K-15 members were friends for life.
XXXXXXXXX
Back in the Present
Shino remained unfazed by the look everyone was giving to him when Fu mentioned the cockroach swarms helped her. Minato's generation was holding their laughter until Tsume burst out laughing and the rest of her peers followed suit. Even Hiashi and Shibi were chuckling. Naruto's and Kakashi's generations were very confused.
"What is going on?" Naruto asked, baffled.
"It reminds us of a very similar story. Let me tell you this story," Mikoto said in amusement. "It was a girl who hailed from a foreign village coming here. Though these two villages were friends she was still considered a foreigner. On her academy entrance she proclaimed to her class that she would become Hokage one day, resulting many laughing at her. Some even went as far as to bully her, and even a genin was involved. The girl had a secret admirer, but the ending came differently. The boy wanted to step in and interfere to help the girl against her bullies, but she fought back and won."
"Is it a true story, mum?" Sasuke asked, impressed by this academy girl beating down a genin.
"Yes." Mikoto nodded and smiled. She and her peers all turned to look at Naruto with a big smile.
"The boy and the girl later became the Yondaime Hokage and the Whirlpool Princess. They are your parents, Naruto." Hitomi finished the story. Except her peers, everyone's eyes widened, and Naruto was stunned and speechless.
"And not to mention these two incidents happened in the same place." Tsume added as she recalled the interesting memory.
'Fu and Shino… They are like Kushina and Minato…' Hinata thought in amazement.
"Your previous host had that Hokage dream too, Kurama?" Chomei asked his nine-tailed brethren.
"I…I don't know, Chomei, this must be before Mito transferred me to Kushina. Though I do know about Kushina being bullied." Kurama answered. The fox was amazed too. "Naruto and Hinata are very similar to Kushina and Minato. I never thought there was another pair like them. It seems we have another golden couple."
Chomei started to laugh and Kurama joined too.
Everyone looked at the stunned Naruto, who was sitting on his chair opening and closing his mouth several times. It took him a minute to process what Fu, Mikoto and Hitomi said before he turned to his fellow jinchuuriki.
"Do you really want to become Hokage?"
Fu nodded and replied "Yes! Thanks to everyone here, especially Sakura, I am growing to like Konoha better than Taki."
Naruto and Hinata raised their eyebrows. "Sakura?"
Said pinkette shrank in embarrassment at the look Naruto, Hinata and everyone else gave her.
Ino stepped in and explain. "Sakura got into an argument with her councillor aunty for renewing Fu's annual VIP card every year, but her parents supported her because they believe she is doing the right thing. They said 'No child should suffer such prejudice.'"
"I see," Naruto said with a smile. He was impressed and he started to look at the Haruno in a new light for helping his jinchuuriki sister. Many bad things happened to him since his return to Konoha, but Fu's stories certainly made him happy.
Fu stood up and walked towards her jinchuuriki brother. "Naruto, I've heard of Sakura's family's accounts and businesses being seized due to suspected embezzlement of your parents' fortunes. Can you show them mercy, please? Mr. Kizashi and Ms. Mebuki are good people. I ask you for a favour and they shouldn't suffer your wrath, please…" She said in a very humble tone hoping to persuade him. Sakura was looking at Naruto nervously along with everyone else, awaiting his verdict.
It took the Namikaze a minute to answer after a deep thought. "NO, can't do it. I have to set a good example and I have to take back every ryo of my fortune that is rightfully mine. What happened to them, broke or jobless, none of my concern. My decision stands." He answered coldly.
Sakura, Fu and Ino lowered their heads in defeat. Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.
"I am so sorry I can't help you Sakura…" Fu muttered sadly as she saw her pink-haired friend sobbing quietly and her tears stained her qipao. 'Naruto is so cold and unmerciful…'
"Fu," Naruto spoke again. "As I have said, I just want to take my money back with interest, and I will return the remainders to the owners. I will send shadow clones to speed up the audits and recovery so the Haruno's accounts can be unfrozen as soon as possible. I intend to keep the businesses to generate profits even I am not in Konoha anymore, so I need someone I can trust. How about you take the president job? If you take my offer, you will never have to worry about money and groceries."
"How do I run shops when I am a kunoichi?" The Nanabi jinchuuriki asked with a frown. 'Why did he offer me this job?'
"That you don't need to worry. You can use shadow clones, can't you? And I can teach you the Shadow Legion Technique, which is much better than the shadow clone technique."
Everyone raised their eyebrows. "Shadow Legion?"
"An advanced mass shadow clone technique," the Uzumaki-Namikaze took a sip of his drink before explaining. "I let Kumo taste it two weeks ago. It has nearly come to completion. Perhaps you can help me to complete it and you can call your version Shadow Swarm."
'Shadow Legion… I wonder if I can learn it too,' Sasuke Uchiha thought eagerly.
"But I don't have any business experience…" Fu said in low confidence.
"Girl, you can hire Sakura's parents to help you run the companies. You can reinstate them or promote them." Chomei interrupted and reminded Fu, whose eyes widened.
"Can I run the HR section and hire anyone I like? Like Mr. Kizashi and Ms. Mebuki?" She asked.
The blond nodded curtly. "No problem, you are the president after all, as long as they do their jobs properly and generate profits for the businesses."
"Then I will take the job and hire Sakura's parents!"
Sakura started to cry in joy. She stood up from her seat and bowed to her teal-haired friend deeply. "Thank you Fu! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
Fu hugged her best friend, and Ino joined in, happy that their pink haired friend's predicament ended.
'Clever move, Naruto,' Tsunade and other seniors thought as they had looked behind the façade. 'You play the bad guy and let Fu play the good one to win over the populace for her dream.'
Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze looked at the K-15 members, whom Chomei spoke highly of. 'Good, Aunty Tsunade is right; K-15 isn't a chickenshit outfit I initially thought it was. They had helped Fu in her time of need, and they do have potential.'
He turned to the Godaime Hokage. "I now see they possess a strong Will of Fire, through helping Fu, and they have potential. For that, I accept your request to take command of and train this platoon."
Tsunade and Hiruzen smiled. Naruto then stood up and looked at K-15. "All right, listen up! This unit has been reassigned to be a new, special elite team: the Konoha Raiders, and I am your new commander and sensei!" His announcement surprised every K-15 member.
"Raiders? Commander? Sensei?" Ranmaru asked, shocked.
Sasuke was happy for this news and was shouting 'YEAH!' inwardly.
"K-15 will become an experimental special elite unit. Every superpower village has her own elite forces: Kumo's Golden Horn Forces, Suna's Puppet Brigade, Kiri's Seven Swordsmen, and Iwa's Explosion Corps. We do have our own elite unit- the Medics Corps but it is not a combat one. We have the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, but they are under the Fire Daimyo's command. Hence sensei and I decided it's time to create a new special force. I task Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze to train you and serve as your commander and instructor." Tsunade explained. "Your platoon will no longer be under Battalion K's command. It is now an autonomous unit and answers to Hokage only. Your unit will have battalion-level resources and access to special weaponry, including but not limited to AK-16. Any questions?"
Tenten raised a hand. "What happened to our jonin senseis?"
"Your jonin instructors will return to their commander posts. Shino?" The Slug Sannin pointed to the Aburame who raised his hand.
"No offense to Naruto, but aren't Lord Jiraiya or Kakashi more suitable to lead us?"
"Jiraiya and Kakashi are more suited to being the frontline generals of the Konoha Battle Groups along with Asuma. I want Naruto to command and train K-15 because he has more knowledge about the hidden Cloud village, and he had been in their Golden Horn Force; his experience there can be used to create the Leaf Raiders. Naruto will take the platoon behind enemy lines and cause damage to them. Kumo had committed an act of war by kidnapping him and Hinata, not to mention the attempt on Kushina 25 years ago. It is time for us to act." The Fifth Hokage said with steely determination in her voice. "Naruto has evidence of Kumo's crimes, and we will use it to force them to surrender. If this pressure fails, then I am going to declare war on Kumo with Iwa after the Chunin Exam as the Godaime Hokage. I want to end this once and for all."
"The Namikaze and the Uzumaki clans support your decision," Naruto immediately announced, and the other clan heads stood up from their seats and professed their support.
"The Hyuuga clan is with you, Lady Hokage," Hiashi said.
"The Uchiha clan supports your cause," Mikoto declared.
"The Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans are at your disposal," Shikaku spoke as a representative of the three clans.
"The Aburame clan is at your command."
"The Inuzuka clan is always loyal and faithful to the Hokages!"
Tsunade's smile grew to the fullest when the Sarutobi, Hatake and Kurama clans also declared their support to her, and of course the Senju clan was in. The Fifth Hokage would have gained the whole ninja council's unanimous support had the Shimura clan head stayed for this after-party, but she knew the war hawk would vote "aye" for different and unholy reasons.
"Are we really suitable for this special operation unit?" Yakumo asked fearfully. Her near-death encounter with Iwa Juggernauts was still fresh in her mind. "Most of us just graduated a few months ago."
"Rest assured, I will train you to be ready before we are sent out for A or S-rank mission or frontlines. I will assign a jonin-class shadow clone to each of you personally for training, so you can get my full attention and maximize your training effort." Naruto answered.
A grin appeared on Sasuke's face while Shikamaru groaned aloud.
'Now I do have a very troublesome feeling about this!'
Naruto's sky-blue eyes swept the faces of K-15 members and a smile appeared on his face. "All right, K-15, we are a team and there is nothing to worry about, for we will be a team of ultimate badasses! We come, we conquer and we gonna kick some, is that understood?"
"Yeah!" Hinata, Fu, Ino, Tenten, Sasuke, Kiba, Lee, Ranmaru and Shino shouted.
The others: Sakura, Yakumo, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji and Sai were a bit apprehensive and responded with a "Yes…" half-heartedly. This earned a frown and a nudge from their comrades and the senior ninjas, implying that they had better say it better next time.
"Yep, that's what we are gonna do, sweethearts." Naruto ignored the apprehensive response and continued. "We will go and GET SOME! So K-15! Are you lean?"
"Yes!" The platoon exclaimed together.
"Are you mean?"
"Yeah!"
"So, what are you?!" Naruto asked them.
"Lean and mean!" All K-15 members claimed, but the voice was not loud enough.
The blond put his right hand behind his ear and barked his question. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
They all stood up from their chairs and shouted in union: "LEAN AND MEAN!"
Naruto made an ear-to-ear grin and pumped his fist. "That's right! My team of ULTIMATE BADASSES!"
All the senior ninjas, clan heads, and the Hokages looked at Naruto and his morale-raising pep talk in astonishment, he was a great leader just like his parents.
"LEAN AND MEAN! THAT IS THE MOST YOUTHFUL MORALE-RAISING TALK I EVER HEARD!" Gai shouted, startling everyone, especially the Uzumaki group including Hinata. Tears were rolling down his cheeks at the points. "I SHOULD MAKE MY BATTALION M THE UNIT OF THE ULTRA YOUTHFUL IN THE WORLD! FIRST STARTING WITH THE UNIFORM, I WILL HAVE THE WHOLE BATTALION WEAR MY ATTIRE, EVEN AT MY OWN EXPENSE!"
Except the Uzumakis, everyone began to shudder at the images of 1,000 men and women from Battalion M wearing green spandex and their teeth flashing brightly like the sun.
Lee appeared in front of his sensei and had anime tears flowing from his eyes. "SENSEI! I WILL BECOME A BATTALION COMMANDER TOO, SO THERE WILL BE MORE FOLLOWERS OF THE FLAMES OF YOUTH! IF I CAN'T DO IT, I'LL RUN 1,000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS BACKWARD!"
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT LEE! AND I SHALL BECOME A BATTLE GROUP COMMANDER LIKE MY HIP AND COOL RIVAL! SO ALL FIVE BATTALIONS AND THEIR 5,000 NINJAS CAN RADIATE BRIGHTLY WITH THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH! IF I CAN'T, THEN I SHOULD CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH ONE HAND AND A TON OF ROCKS 1,000 TIMES!"
Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya looked at the duo as their jaws dropped at the insane punishment-trainings. Then a beautiful sunset and crashing waves appeared before their eyes.
XXXXXXXXX
Konoha Operations Center
Ninety seconds counted down before the Firewall shutdown. Alert lights were flashing inside the Konoha Operations Center chamber, and everyone there was busy doing the final check on the Firewall shutdown.
"The patrol teams and the J-platoons confirm all zones clear, sir!"
"The Hyuuga team on the wall finished the final scan on the forest and they report all clear!"
"What about the Yamanaka team with their mind-controlled hawks?" Raido asked Tsubaki.
"A second please…" the kunoichi was still receiving words from the team. A moment later she spun her chair and faced her captain. "They have finished the final swooping and they report all clear!"
"All green lights," Raido said as he looked at the digital watch on the wall. Thirty seconds to shut down the Firewall defence. The special jonin carefully typed in a sequence of codes on his control panel, then put his hand on the Firewall button and started the countdown aloud.
"Nine… Eight… Seven…"
XXXXXXXXX
Three Minutes Later
Staying at her house alone, Izumi Uchiha looked at the beautiful fireworks in awe.
"Is there something to celebrate?" She wondered. The fireworks reminded her of her fondest memory at the Kyuubi Festival many years ago. She had attended it with a certain someone before the massacre. She turned to the photo she cherished the most and smiled. The photo was taken at a Kyuubi Festival. In it, she wore a simple kimono that was enough to make her a beauty, and he just simply wore his standard Uchiha attire. Their friends and clanswomen had teased that they were a golden couple, much to her embarrassment.
It had been five years since the massacre; her mother was killed in an explosion and she herself was a victim of Tsukuyomi. But she forgave him for the heinous crime he committed when Mikoto had told her the truth.
To her shock and pain, she had learned then that the man she loved very much was ordered to pacify their rebellious clan. It had taken all her strength to pretend to be asleep and not to cry. When the Uchiha matriarch left her room, she couldn't contain her emotions anymore.
Now she took the photo frame and held it on her chest closely and let a few tears come out of her eyes as she quietly muttered his name in tears. He had since joined an organization composed of dangerous S-rank ninja criminals, as an undercover agent. She wanted him back home safe and to be with her, but he would never come back. They would never become a couple, for the crime he was ordered to commit. Their future was ruined by the clan foolishness and the massacre.
"Itachi…"
XXXXXXXXX
Konoha Operations Center
The clock in the chamber displayed "21:39:50" and the fireworks had stopped nearly a minute ago.
"Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…" Raido counted down as he watched the clock closely without blinking. His right hand was on the Firewall button.
"ZERO!" He exerted more pressure than was required, to ensure the button being pressed. No second of delay was allowed.
Inscriptions on the Konoha walls glowed brightly for a second, then an invisible barrier quickly formed around the walls and rose up to the sky. Within nine seconds the barrier covered Konoha in a dome shape. The village was now well-protected and impregnable.
XXXXXXXXX
Naruto, Hinata, Honoka and Tayuya were walking back to Hiashi's house for retreat of the night.
"That is very unsettling, two men hugging and crying hysterically, shouting each other's name, not to mention the crashing waves and sunset genjutsu in the middle of night..." Honoka said disturbed. "I am not sure if I can get a good sleep tonight."
The other three agreed. The Gai-Lee genjutsu was something they would never forget and never wanted to see it again. All four of them had desperately tried to activate their hidden Shield seals but found they failed to respond. This genjutsu evidently was even more powerful than Itachi's genjutsu.
"Hey Naruto, I think there is some room for the Shield seal to improve. It's created and used in the Last Stand in an emergency. I believe your ability can bring the Shield to the next level." The Chain user said.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed eagerly. They would certainly upgrade the Shield fuinjutsu so they would never have to witness this Gai-Lee combo genjutsu. "By the way, Honoka, what did that shade-wearing guy named Aoba say to you at the party?"
Honoka blushed a bit. "He asked me for a lunch date tomorrow…"
"Oh? You said yes?" Naruto asked in an amused tone.
Honoka nodded and her cheeks were redder, and the Chain user quickly walked inside the house before Naruto asked her any more questions. A snickering Tayuya followed Honoka's heels.
There was a loud boom from the sky, Naruto and Hinata raised their heads and saw thunders cracking in the clouds. Bright white lights were flashing in the dark black night. More booming sounds were heard. A heavy rainstorm was quickly approaching Konoha.
"Something is wrong, Naruto?" Hinata asked him, as he looked worried at the sky.
"Storm is coming… I know it's a matter of time before the Raikage unleash his storm, but the question is: When?"
Hinata gently hugged Naruto to assuage his worry. "I know… but I'm sure we will be ready then, and no matter what happens, I will always be by your side." She kissed him on the cheek. "And there is nothing to worry about, as long as we are together." She drew a laugh from Naruto for recycling his pep talk.
Hinata's pale lavender eyes then met Naruto's sky-blue eyes, as they conveyed to each other without words.
'No matter what happens, we will endure and pull it through.'
Hinata gently pulled Naruto's collar and himself down before her lips met his. The two hugged and kissed passionately and lost track of time.
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Konoha Operations Center
Everyone was cheering. The general, unspoken sentiment was 'the Firewall shutdown is finally over, and thank Kami, nothing happened.'
"Well done, people. Please make sure you always remain vigilant." Raido told the staff. "Now our shift is over. We can go home now."
"Yeah, we have another fireworks display at the Chunin Exam Finals to welcome daimyos, nobles and other VIP customers. It will last half an hour." Shimizu, a maimed chunin who wore prosthetics on his left arm and leg, added in his two cents worth.
They were all packing up and waiting for the next shift arrive to take over. Shimizu noted something on a CCTV screen before smiling and turning to Tsubaki.
"Hey Tsubaki, your fiancé is waiting for you outside the Hokage Tower."
The black-haired kunoichi blushed and smiled. Everyone could see her happiness, as their wedding was set for a few days after the Chunin Exam. They had been all invited to the wedding.
Tsubaki's fiancé was an academy instructor and best friend to the acting headmaster- Special Jonin Iruka Umino. The man was pleasant and easy to get along with. He always came to pick up Tsubaki after her shift at the Konoha Operations Center, while their partners never bothered to.
"Hey, he has brought umbrellas for everyone here," Shimizu said. It was raining heavy outside. "What a nice man."
XXXXXXXXX
"Chakra capacity at 98 percent..."
Professor E's calm voice came from the monitor in the temporary Kumo Council chamber, the original had been destroyed by the rogue Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The entire leadership earnestly watched the professor's announcement of the Hell Storm test's progress on a classified remote location.
On the display, they saw the bottom twin giant muzzles were glowing dangerously and beautifully. Electrical currents were darting around the two openings. It was almost ready to fire. In five more minutes, the Kumo leadership would see the destructive capability that Hell Storm could unleash on their enemies.
It took three minutes to charge each percent of chakra capacity; however, the elderly ninja assured that the charger system and other features would be improved within seven weeks. So far today, everyone had been waiting for more than five hours and it'd been too damn long. The Raikage's patience had already run out when Hell Storm was 10% charged.
But the Kumo leadership was no bunch of chumps; they used this time to discuss their impending crisis. First of all, C came back with the shocking news: half of their ninja forces had been sterilized, including the councillors and the Raikage themselves. Needless to say, the council immediately erupted into an uproar and they unanimously demanded revenge on the culprit responsible- Naruto Namikaze.
Yet they had to put this aside, for there was a far more serious matter at hand. A threat of destruction that overshadowed what Naruto had done to Kumo two weeks ago.
"Our intelligence has recently spotted Iwa conducting a beach-storming military exercise. At least 4,000 ninjas were involved in the exercise today, and more are on their way to participate in it. Former Tsuchikage Onoki personally oversees the exercise." The Kumo spymaster reported. Everyone, including the Raikage, looked grim. They failed to notice that Hell Storm was now at 99%. A few councillors were trembling slightly.
Iwa was preparing an invasion on the Lightning Country western coast, and no doubt Konoha would join in after the Exam seven weeks later. It didn't matter that Naruto hadn't mastered the fearsome Hiraishin, he had two powerful armies namely Leaf and Rock behind his back.
Kumo's two loyal jinchuurikis, B and Yugito, had disappeared without a trace. The Golden Horn Force was destroyed. The weapons of the Rikudo Sennin were suspected stolen. Many Kumo ninjas, including Darui, were still in ICU. The hidden Cloud village was in an unprecedented crisis and she would not survive this. It was clearly evidenced by the rare fear showing on the Raikage's scarred face. Their only hope was Hell Storm, Kumo's secret weapon of mass destruction.
Terrified screams were suddenly heard across the village, and tumult was everywhere. The Raikage, Dodai, C and the councillors were alarmed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" A yelled his question as he and the councillors all dashed towards the balcony to see what happened. To their shock and terror, they saw a giant flying fortress hovering a kilometer high outside the gates. One councillor passed out, thinking it was the end of his village. The rest, including A, were trembling at the sight.
The flying fortress was colossal. It was cross-shaped, over eight hundred meters wide and high. There were several Buddha face-sculptures on the fortress, as well as two symbols on the fortress. One was a music note, the symbol of the hidden Sound village rumoured to be founded by Orochimaru, the traitorous Snake Sannin of Konoha. The other one was the symbol of a hidden village that was thought destroyed by Konoha in the Second Shinobi World War in vengeance for Uzushio.
"Lord Raikage!" Mabui slammed the chamber doors opened and shouted, with her voice full of fear and panic. "Orochimaru the Snake Sannin is here! That flying fortress is his! He sends a message demanding an audience with you!"
'Why is the Konoha traitor here? Does he come to finish Naruto's job?' Everyone thought, fearfully. But strangely, the fortress didn't advance towards the village and its main weapon was not active.
"What does that snake want!?" The Raikage asked agitatedly.
Mabui looked very worried. "He said he comes to help us to solve our problems and to offer the village membership in the Neo-Combine."
While everyone stormed outside to see the flying fortress, Professor E was entirely focused on his work, completely unaware of the snake's arrival.
"Chakra is at 100! Finally!" The professor exclaimed excitedly when he saw the kanji for "One Hundred" displayed on the Hell Storm console. A twisted grin appeared on his face. He pointed his right hand towards the Hell Storm test target direction.
"Commence Hell Storm's 44th test now! Chakra Diffusion Cannons FIRE!"
XXXXXXXXX
Author Notes:
Beta: Illuminated.
Proofread and consultation: Ookami88.
*Regarding the AK-16, please refer to the auto-crossbow in 2004 movie Van Helsing. It was co-developed by Konoha and Suna with their fuinjutsu and mechanism expertise respectively, and it was reverse-engineered from the Sky kunai launcher recovered at the Fall of Uzushio. The Cartridge seal was also from Uzushio as well, and the three young Uzumakis wouldn't be happy to learn about it.
*I haven't decided Neji-Tayuya yet. There is no romantic relationship in all the ninja teams, except Team 7 where Sasuke and Sakura married, but Sasuke wasn't considered a member of Team 7 after his betrayal.
*The age of ninja is over, according to the Boruto manga. I think it is rather the age of Japanese manga being over, and it's impossible to revive the golden age brought by Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko F Fujio. One day I will point out on my profile why the Japanese manga/anime industry has been declining since 1990s. Anyway Kishimoto kept ruining his manga, and Mikio Ikemoto put the final nail on the coffin. Rehashing the Boruto movie is pointless and bad, but his art sucks worse, even doujin amateurs do better job than him. If Ikemoto doesn't improve soon, then he should find another job.
*Lastly, this story is adopted from devilzxknight86's Namikaze of Cloud, but it is heavily modified and rebooted. I only used a very few ideas from the original story. I appreciate devilzxknight86 for letting me adopt one of his stories, but I have been frustrated that many people think my story is almost the same as the original.