Howdy ya'll
GIGANTIC shout out to Luca Savini, anthonymn3, biginferno, TheKing91, Antex-The Legendary Zoroarc, Primarx, KakeruPB, TheAussueRogue, youflesh840, OmegaRealism, Banjo the Fox, lord 7th, TigrezzTail, Scarease, Saiyan prince1, Arraia, Threatz2001, Tarvinator5, 777torn777, GamerX568 and ShadowViperX7. You guys are all wonderful people. Friggin made my day :)
Thank you all to those that have stayed with this story so far, I really appreciate it. Your feedback is also great; it gives me a lot of confidence.
Now enough of that.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to write about some of the events that happened in the winter in Dark country. I tossed it around in my head and I ended up putting it down. For those that think this chapter is only going to be about the people in the country struggling through winter, no.
Something major happens in this chapter.
Read to find out.
As a sort of reminder, winter is particularly harsh in countries like Darkness, Frost, Lightning, Iron and Spring. Places like Fire, Earth, Water, Whirlpool and Waterfall have snow but not as wicked as the ones listed before. No snow at all in Wind, for obvious reasons, but it will be chilly at some points.
The time skip below is not the one I was referring to in the last chapter.
Enjoy…
CHAPTER 14
Time skip: One Month Later
03:01AM
The wind howled violently, whipping and thrashing against the humble suburban home of the Leader of Dark country.
Sueki shivered and shuffled backwards, snuggling closer to the ball of warmth behind her. Naruto, spooning her, gently tightened his grip around her middle and mumbled incoherently into the sleeping woman's ear, too deep in his own slumber to realize anything. The white haired lady breathed quietly and a light smile came to her lips, in spite of the sleep, fully content.
The torrential snow might have been falling outside but inside the house, much like any other house in the country, was warm and toasty. The temperature inside the house was regulated by a seal that was in turn powered by the sun so that those that could not use their chakra could manually turn it up via a simple dial, and at the moment the heat was cranked all the way up, pushing out the chill.
Nothing could really replace the feeling of snuggling with her mentor, under a thick blanket.
Her master's hand unconsciously snaked under her baggy black T-shirt and ghosted over her pale belly. She giggled breathily and wiggled her hips into his crotch, eliciting a groan from the blonde. The haze of her dream lifted somewhat, though she kept her eyes peacefully shut. Heat rose up from her gut and she exhaled in need, mentally contemplating on whether or not to wake the man behind her up or not. Sueki felt the bulge press against her behind and she bit her bottom lip, humming and moaning in indecision.
'Just…Just a minute.' She whispered in her mind and reached behind her, running her hand up and down her masters impressive tool. 'I-It'll be quick. Ease some stress off us and-and all that.'
"Ohohoho~" the man chuckled as he felt her in his pants.
The woman was about to fish out Naruto's meat from his sweatpants, taking a short moment to rub her butt against the front of his pants and feel up his abs, gasping to herself in anticipation. Her thin fingers found their way into his pants-
The intricate BLAK seal tattoo on her upper left thrummed.
She ignored the call and sighed shakily when she felt her master in her hands. Her other hand lowered from pushed aside her underwear.
She cursed silently when the seal thrummed again, this time two times.
"Damn it, Wasp." She whispered. She put her teacher's dick back into his pants. She pushed aside the blanket and sat up, rubbing her eyes and trying to reorient herself in the dim room; she could hear the storm wailing outside the window, thumping vainly against the window. Warm orange light poured in from the thin slit underneath the door, from the light bulbs in the hallway. Good, she thought, the country's generator was still operational.
She lightly got off their bed, making extra sure not to make a sound as she stealthily crept to their wardrobe.
Naruto grunted and turned over, facing her as she bent into the wardrobe and searched for her BLAK gear. His blue eyes glinted in the dim light coming from the streetlights outside, stubbornly shining light on the street despite the blizzard going on.
"Wuzz goin on, Su?"
The woman found her pants and hopped into them, pulling off her baggy sleeping shirt and tossing it aside. She glanced back to her master and said in a hushed voice. "Something's happening." she found bandages and proceeded to wrap them around her chest, making sure it was secure before she put on a black short sleeved shirt. Her eyes briefly widened when she saw him groan, about to sit up. The woman rushed to him, skidding on her knees and forcing him to lie back down. "Don't worry, I've got this."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure."
The vampire got back up and put on a pair of black shin and forearm guards, strapped a kunai and shuriken set onto her thighs, sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed her black sandals from underneath, wearing them. She then snagged five boxes of blood filled medical needles and sealed them in a storage seal on her right arm.
Lastly, the BLAK Commander grabbed her Bat mask and plodded to Naruto, kissing him on his forehead.
"Sleep well, sensei." A ghost of a smile wafted over her stoic face.
The woman clicked the door shut and stepped to Kushina's room, swiping her thumb over the girl's door knob and turning it, she peaked in and the little redhead was swaddled under a pile of blankets, snoring soundly. Sueki smiled faintly and closed the door as silently as she had opened it. The BLAK Commander quietly walked down the stairs, putting on her mask as went up to the front door and let in her deputy.
Wasp slid into the residential home and went down on one knee before his superior, referring to her with the title only those in her team were allowed to use. "I apologize for waking you up, Bat-senpai."
"It's fine. What happened?" her face under the mask remained neutral and her voice gave nothing away, not even to someone as smart as Wasp, who could detect minute emotions.
"The Dark Forest's gate fell down and a few animals have escaped." He said, reporting of the first problem for that morning.
"Any civilian casualties?"
"No, ma'am, all civilians are indoors," because no sensible person would have anything to do outside when frozen hell was roaring at them from the sea. "The Barrier seals around the houses are performing properly. And I sent out an order for all genin to remain indoors."
"Good, they are not yet qualified to withstand this snow storm. What measures have been taken to round up the animals?"
"There are operatives in the south that are herding them back north and Lord Daichiharu Pansa-Senshi and Lady Amara Chui-Inku are driving them from the west and east-respectively-back to the Forest with Defence Corp. The Dark Animal Conservationists are pleading that we not harm the animals." The members of that department in the Civilian Division were the ones that were in charge of ensuring the malevolent animals of the Dark Forest thrived but remained within the evil, fenced off forest. The civilians of the Dark Animal Conservation Office situated near the forest had told them that the gate had blown open on its own, but the DC were running an investigation on the claim. BLAK's function in this ordeal was mainly supervisory in nature, watch over the situation and enter when it became too out of control.
The Gado members of the Defence Corp were confined to their desks within the respective offices; their Clay release became brittle and fragile every snow storm, so Naruto had ordered for them to work in the background, indoors, so that none of the clay people lost their lives to the cold. Normal ninjas of the country filled in their positions, acting as temporary support for the DC that could come out during the blizzard.
There was something else BLAK operatives were attending to while the other shinobi herded animals back into the forest.
"What else?"
"We are giving chase to fifteen Iwa ninjas that have breached our borders."
Bat's eyes hardened.
"Our comrades have tracked eleven but the other four are nowhere to be found. The snow is making it hard for our trackers."
"Leave them to me." the vampire said and Wasp bowed in deference, sending the message over to the other members of BLAK via a Morse through their BLAK seal tattoos, telling them to inform any allied foreign shinobi to stay out of their Commander's way.
The man opened the door fractionally and blurred into the snow storm, Bat closed the door after herself and disappeared into the white blackness of the blizzard.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Still within the Dark Capital
Normally, it was the function of the Defence Corp to search for and apprehend any foreigner that forced themselves into the continent, but due to the dangerous Dark Forest animals escaping and the Gado clan forced to stay inside until the storm subsided, normal ninjas covered up for them. The police were simply to keep track of civilians and make sure that the storm didn't sweep anyone off into the sky.
In such a case as fifteen unauthorized individuals entering the country and the DC was handicapped, then BLAK was the prime authority in handling the matter.
Panda bowed stiffly to his Commander as he sensed her approach, the hooded coat he wore over his usual black ops uniform, shading part of his mask and making the already silent man even more eerie in the howling wind, did nothing but chill the eleven captured shinobi to the bone. They were all in various stages of damage; some had black eyes, some broken shoulders, one had a neglected sword slash cutting through his stomach and possibly nicking his intestine, bleeding freely and unhindered, another had lost visible stingers protruding from his torso, through his Iwa flak jacket.
Most of the other masked Dark country operatives wore black coats or parkas or ponchos or even buttoned up cardigans and sweaters, billowing in the wind as they mutely surrounded the kneeling, freezing cold ninjas. A path was created and Bat, this time wearing the thick, hooded parka and black gloves Phoenix had graciously given her, strolled into the small circle. Panda waved his right hand over his head and a seal covered them all, forming a protective dome against the cruel elements.
Bat stared down at a defiant man, meeting the red eyed vampires gaze without fear. The way the other powerful, masked operatives bowed to her in submission, it was obvious he was their Commander, and those red eyes couldn't be mistaken.
Blood, the Vampire Empress.
Student of the Ghost.
The man glared at her hatefully, unwavering as the lady bent down, her masked face dangerously closed to his.
She hummed and briefly closed her eyes.
'Eleven heart beats.' She echoed in her mind. The woman inhaled deeply. 'Fifteen different smells.'
The Iwa shinobi might have already been close before this failed invasion, she surmised in her mind, hence why she could perceive the minute smell of fifteen people on this one man, even with how the snow storm messed billowed outside of the seal dome.
The woman straightened up and turned around. She said in an airy, uncaring voice. "You can kill them now."
The operatives poured down on the kneeling ninjas.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Bat focused on the memory of the fifteen scents, removed the scents of those that had already been captured and summarily flowed through twenty handseals.
"Hiden art: Demon Blood release: Blood Hounds of Killer Intent."
She ended the sequence of seals by tossing ten blood filled senbon to the ground, embedding them into the ground.
The red liquid inside her needles began to bubble and rankle inside their containers, before they broke out. The blood expanded and replicated, assimilating the snow that attempted to overcome it and dissolving it with the potent white blood cells of the vampire. The masked lady's blood snapped and barked formlessly, streaking out into the white night, howling along with the blizzard.
Bat stood rigidly for a moment, her eyes lowered in concentration.
Each hound bounded in different directions, spreading out her awareness and her blood sensory abilities.
The woman felt hearts beat in the back of her mind, blood of her citizens rushing through her mind and the curiosity of allied shinobi that saw the curious looking red dogs bounding past them.
The quick report of her team told her that the Iwa shinobi had been looking for something in the country; the tactic the Rock ninjas used was fairly standard, a majority would divert and misdirect the country's ninjas while the minority went towards their objective, using the cover provided by their other comrades. Nine of the Iwa ninjas had been spreading out from east to west, mindlessly fleeing from the silent, animal masked assassins that mutely gave chase. The other two captured had been in the capital, moving towards the library.
Hot blood pounded in the vampire's body, driving any cold that threatened to freeze her in place.
Her red eyes flicked up as a couple of her dogs caught a scent.
The woman's focused blood to specific points in her legs, mixing the blood with chakra. She squatted down, grazing her fingers in the knee deep snow.
She was gone with the gale.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Civilian Division Headquarters
Dark Capital
A pair of red eyes opened from far above, soundlessly beaming down on two ninjas that were trying to pry open the door to the large civilian building. The protective seals on the door were stubbornly fighting back; they had just managed to slip past the protective dome around the headquarters, the one keeping unauthorized personnel away and protecting the area from the brunt of the snow rushing up from the south.
The vampires blood hounds notified her that the other two were attempting to break in to the backdoor of the massive structure.
Bat's Blood Hounds of Killer Intent were, for lack of a better word, an extension of specifically one aspect of her consciousness; her sense of smell. When she had used this same jutsu against her teacher the spar while they were in the exclusive Kemuri training ground, she had toned down the smell senses of her dogs and amped up the killer intent, sort of like projecting her wrath and anger away from her position-like what master ninjas did with their voices and sounds. The jutsu was different from shadow clones in the sense that the wild dogs were mainly for tracking and intimidating the opponent, and requirement that prevented anyone else from being able to use it was a few drops of blood and chakra, exclusively the chakra of a Demon Blood release holder.
The vampire spent a moment watching them from above, hyper suppressing her presence.
Bat's eyes glowed when she felt a sort of rush well up in her body, feeling like a predator stalking her unknowing prey.
The woman skidded down the side of the building, raptly watching the two fumble with a scroll of possible counter seals to the one guarding the door.
She had to commend the invaders for not yet tripping the alarm of the building.
Bat's feet touched down on the thick snow and she proceeded to creep up to them, not leaving behind her footprint.
"Hurry up, someone's coming!"
"I've got it, I've got it-"
"Damn it, why didn't Lord Tsuchikage want us to infiltrate Suna! That would have been much easier than this!"
"It's that Ghost piece of shit. He's getting cocky." Bat felt her eyebrows twitch, though she got a handle of her emotions quickly enough.
"I'm just saying! We could have gotten a map from Suna, hell maybe even from River!"
"Keep your voice down, idiot."
"Who's gonna hear us?! We're in a fucking whiteout!"
"This seal is already a bitch and a half without you bitchin in my ear."
"Grim Ink don't make anything easy." The shivering man complained in response.
The person with the scroll of counter seals looked from the scroll to the door, using an ink dipped brush to draw seal after seal over the complex seal already on the door. "Just fuckin…keep quiet for five fuckin minutes. That's all I ask. Five. Minutes. We'll get those items, plant the bomb and get the fuck out of here in no time."
"Hurry up then!"
"What did I just say, dumbass?" the irked seal master hissed over the wind, turning his head to his annoying partner.
He found no one there.
"Tarou!" he shouted lowly, looking about. "Tarou! This is no time for joking, dumbass-"
A senbon found its way into the base of his skull and he knew no more.
Bat watched the man slump forward onto the wall, still standing, and hummed to herself.
'Map? Those items?'
She snapped her fingers and the dull eyed seal master sprinted around the building to where his comrades were, leaving Bat with her first victim, lying swirly eyed on the ground and bound in ninja wire. The Commander bent down and searched the man's ninja uniform, checking his pants pockets and hidden flak jacket pockets. There wasn't anything on his body to tell of their objective in the country.
Their forehead protectors weren't even slashed out.
Her recently created zombie knocked out the two ninjas struggling with the seal at the other end of the building.
Bat began stripping the unconscious man naked, emotionlessly looking for a storage seal on his person or on a scroll.
She found nothing of the sort.
'I would have thought someone as arrogant as Oonoki would give them mission specs.' She wondered idly, disregarding the violent shivering coming from the nude man below her. 'He didn't order them to slash out their forehead protectors and they still have on their flak jackets.'
The Commander sent out a quick Morse code for her men to come to her position.
"Well…torture it is."
Lion, wearing a black cardigan, landed before his mistress in a crouch and picked up the half frozen Iwa ninja, leaping off and sprinting north to their base in the Dark Forest. She felt her arm buzz lightly; telling her that Squirrel, Badger and Horse had retrieved the other captured ninjas and were en route to their secret base.
Bat tapped her chin and casually thought, strolling through the storm as her men hopped and ran about her, protectively flanking her. "Team twenty nine…probably."
Team Twenty Nine of BLAK specialized in gathering information, hence torture and interrogation. Rat, Weasel, Cockroach and Squad Captain Raccoon were trustworthy operatives of Darkness in retrieving sensitive information from the most difficult of places, not excluding the human head. Weirdly enough, the members of that team, acknowledging their strong suits and utterly devoted to their Supreme Commander, Naruto, had been the ones that signed up with those animal names themselves.
"Team Thirty…just to be on the safe side."
BLAK Team Thirty were just as sly as twenty nine. Matter of fact, BLAK Teams' Twenty Five to Thirty Nine was masters of torture, interrogation, Information gathering and compiling their findings.
Normally BLAK operatives were jack of all trades, and they mastered a select few aspects of being assassins. The black ops were the elite shinobi of the country, unofficially dubbed Shadows of the Assassin Nation. Those that preferred to train themselves in their specialities were properly grouped together into teams, while those that didn't lean too much into their specializations were placed in other squads so as to balance the teams out.
The Dark country borders secured once again, with normal ninjas and the other half of the DC-namely Hogo most clan mates and a sizeable section of non-Hogo clan mates, including people from other clans and clanless-patrolling the edges of the country or hunkered down in Sentry Posts. The animals were returned back into their forest enclosure and all ninjas, allied foreigners and Dark citizens, were fully accounted for.
It took the two teams a full hour to extract the information, but at the end of it all, the Iwa ninjas finally cracked and the words spilled from their lips, not unlike water from an uncontrollable waterfall, unable to stop once they got started and only halted when the need for precious air and the need for water became too much to suppress.
It was almost sad how much information they released.
The cold men and woman of BLAK that had been approved to watch the proceedings, namely Bat, members of Team Eleven, Polar Bear, Pony, Komodo Dragon and Koala, the four of whom were in Team Twelve, under Squad Captain Koala. The team after Bat's own ranked second strongest in the admission test into the black ops, a feat upon itself, seeing as Team Eleven were undoubtedly close, if not equal, to the strength of the clan heads.
What they discovered didn't really shock them.
Oonoki had been infuriated that his scouts were personally sent back to him in small wooden boxes by Dark shinobi-specifically BLAK Commander Bat and her operatives-, and he began making plans on how to acquire information about Darkness before he could decisively take it down. The Iwa shinobi didn't know how Oonoki had known that the info they needed might be in the Civilian Division but the Tsuchikage had told them to steal a map of the country, a copy of the Entrance Seal-which definitely was in the Civilian Division, particularly in the Citizenship and Migration Office, the two teams filled in in their minds-, find any document that at least gave them an idea of what to expect from Dark ninjas so that any strike they executed against their assassin counterparts would go without hindrance and without stumbling.
Bat handed it to the Tsuchikage; the man was smart enough to know that if you attack Darkness, it better be fatal or else the retaliatory strike would cripple Iwa forever.
The last item the infiltrators had been tasked to retrieve was a way to bypass obsidian steel weapons.
Luckily for Iwagakure, the infiltrators hadn't injured or killed any Dark ninja. Though, at the very same time, unluckily for them, they had defied their Leader's warning to leave their borders alone.
That was unforgivable.
Plus, Oonoki wanted the infiltrators to plant bombs in the Civilian Division Headquarters and blow up the building once they were clear. This was to, at the very least, place some doubt in the minds of the civilians on the ability of their Leader to protect them from harm, seeing as they had destroyed the place all civilian activities flowed through.
The two teams turned to their Commander, silently waiting for her decision.
Bat was stuck.
Only Naruto could permit them to invade and collect their pound of flesh from Iwa, elite shinobi sub-organization or not, especially seeing as there was no loss of Dark life. Killing them while they were within Dark territory was out of the question.
The storm raged outside, pushing and roaring against the hidden building as Bat furrowed her eyebrows and ran through the confessions in her head.
'It won't feel right if I just let them go.' She flicked her wrist to the captors and the interrogation teams slit their throats without delay, stonily staring at the Iwa shinobi as they gurgled and choked on their own blood, fighting the encroaching blackness of oblivion. 'And I don't feel like another warning would suffice.' There was also the mystery of how Iwa knew of the important civilian building.
No country on the continent, not even Dark country's allies, had a comprehensive map of Darkness. The map itself remained within the country and never once left.
Then the safety of Dark citizens in unallied nations-aside for the black listed three, Kumo, Snow and Iwa-though their identities and affiliation with the Silent Nation remained as quiet as their Leader would have wanted it, and any tell-tale signs, like Entrance/Citizen Tattoo seals on the back of their left hands, became unseen once they left for unallied territory. Normal ninjas of the country went on missions to regularly check on the wellbeing of their comrades in unallied territory and there had been no noise or attention raised on them, so far. Any attack would be transmitted through the seals on their hands and help would be sent immediately. No alarm had been raised.
True, Iwa had once been among Dark country's oppressors back in the Civil War and they had taken their fill on the precious resources of the once suffering nation, so it was possible that they were using old knowledge to find their way to the civilian building. Problem being that, with the end of the war and Naruto's ascension as Leader of Darkness, the country's physical and mental structure had been drastically shaken down and reformed almost from scratch. For once, when the administrative building used to be in the eastern area of the country, now it was at the centre and Dark country had an actual, well-defined capital, as well as properly defined regions and regional offices.
Institutions and power were delegated but not decentralized, as all power and authority of officials and high ranking ninjas went straight back to Naruto, who stood at the very peak of power in the country. Duties were shared and were accountable to their Leader.
Any relic of the past was either torn down completely or refashioned for other use, so much so that it was unrecognizable to even those residing in the country. Important structures like the Civilian and Ninja Academies used to be temples of the Royal clan, the headquarters of the Ninja Division used to the main rebel camp, and the structures that were currently the Water and Electrical Boards respectively used be places the Royal clan kidnapped and tortured clan members.
There was no way on earth anyone, barring allied nations to a small extent, could know of the extreme, sweeping changes made within the country.
Unless…
The patiently waiting subordinates of the BLAK Commander shared looks when they saw, under the vampire's Bat mask, her red eyes harden.
Plant man.
What she and Naruto had gathered about the 'man' on their few encounters pointed out that the creature had sneaky ways to enter the country without alerting them.
"First off, inform our seal masters to incorporate Nature Chakra Sensory and Tracking seals to the border. Tell them to focus on sentience and the nature chakra not being recognized as Darkness or allied." As farfetched as it sounded to them, it meant that any nature chakra that moved on its own was to be tagged once detected. Sueki would have to inform the Ninja Division that they would need to update the Entrance/Citizenship seals to encompass this addition as well as make it more difficult for animal summons from allied nations to gain entry unless they directly met the gatekeepers. When the seals finally caught wind of sentient nature chakra, a rarity among even animal summons, then it would key in to that particular strain of nature and place a lasting tag on it. The tag that had been placed on those Iwa infiltrators had been blurred out by the harsh weather, and there was research being done to sharpen the chakra tag.
The present seal that was being used didn't repel unauthorized people from the village but rather alerted the officials and placed a tracker on their chakra, a sort of beacon that couldn't be removed unless the person was caught. This seal complex had been useful in catching and detaining anyone that did not have the Entrance/Citizen seal or wasn't properly processed to enter.
Currently, the Grim Ink clan were working on a way to not only detect and tag the unauthorized chakra, but also to repel and restrain them.
The woman's subordinates did not once think their Commander had lost her senses, some turned on their heels and went on to deliver the message to all fuinjutsu masters in the black ops sub-organization.
"We'll also send these people back to their Kage and burn down a few of their sentry posts, just to send a message. Lord Naruto's personal message to the Tsuchikage would be sent when he is made aware of this." For the first order, as long as it didn't end up killing anyone and the purpose was defendable, then it was fine.
"Hai, Lady Commander."
"It is when they refuse to listen; I will seek permission from Lord Naruto for us to kill Oonoki and his extended family."
Whilst covering up their presence in the mass murder, of course.
They watched as the interrogation squads sawed off the heads of the dead Iwa ninjas, set their bodies on fire and encased the agonizingly screwed faces of the corpses into wooden boxes handed to them by and finally seal the boxes into scrolls.
The other masked men and women trooped out of the interrogation room.
Bat was the first to leave and the vampire, without looking, collected a copy of the interrogation from one of her ninjas, storing it on her person to show her master later.
Clearly civility wasn't going to do for Iwa, seeing as their Kage had ignored a letter from their own Leader, disregarded the scouts Dark ninjas had slayed and in return sent more spies to find out the weak spots of the silently prosperous country.
Naruto would be the one to decide on any further action against Iwa.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Some hours later, after delivering the severed heads and razing down half of Iwa's north eastern sentry posts, the Master of the Dark Nation awoke and was made known of the matter.
Just like with Waterfall, Naruto took a drastic decision.
Though not exactly like how Darkness halved Waterfall's total population, Naruto purposely poked at the one thing that Iwagakure feared most of all.
The fear that their overwhelming number in shinobi wouldn't be enough to stave off attack.
Naruto personally went to Iwagakure to speak with the Tsuchikage, Oonoki, leaving his country in the capable hands of his council to manage for merely a few hours.
This time, the Ghost wasn't wearing his grinning BLAK mask, but rather his usual plain black half mask and spikey blonde hair looking like he had just gotten out of bed a few seconds ago.
The masked man strode into the older Kage office and took a seat before the silently glaring man.
"I don't remember permitting you to enter my village."
Naruto crossed his right ankle over his left knee and said, his sky blue eyes glittering and the corners turned up somewhat in a half-hearted smile as he frankly said. "You tried to blow up my Civilian Division, Oonoki."
The fat nosed man spat almost immediately. "That's Lord Oonoki to you, boy."
"I'll call you whatever I damn well want." Naruto replied in a subtle hiss, fraying the nerves of the hidden shinobi in the Tsuchikage's office. The man seated before their lord had been able to match the Raikage's speed, using a variation of Cee's Lightning Armour to battle for one straight hour. Doubt crept into their minds on whether they could intercept the assassin before he could kill the Iwa Kage. "Can you imagine how many lives would be affected if that building was to go up in flames?" Naruto asked, staring emotionlessly to his Iwa counterpart and slowly tapping his right pointer finger on his knee. "Do you understand what would have happened if your plan was successful?"
"You killed my ninjas when they did nothing-"
"They encroached on my territory." Naruto interrupted coolly, annoying the other man across from him at his apparent lack of care. "I sent you a formal letter to leave my borders…you chose not to reply…you chose not to heed my warning…" the Dark Leader chuckled lightly and sat back. "You've forced my hand, Oonoki. You, as the Tsuchikage, deliberately sent your ninjas to steal from my country, and not just that, but to also blow up a highly protected building."
"Damn brat." Oonoki spat venomously, clenching his hands. "Cocky little shit, my ninjas were sent back to me in boxes and you expected me to sit on my arse and not retaliate?"
"To be honest, I hoped you would wise up and see how serious I am."
"It is this childish naivety I cannot take seriously." The fat nosed man grated with disdain. "The best you can ever be is grunt on the battlefield, though when it comes to leading a nation you are green and complacent."
Clearly the Iwa Kage hadn't heard what of what Naruto and his ninjas did to Waterfall yet, not that many people have.
A slew of angered letters from daimyos and other village Leaders flew to his Kemuri office-searched for traps and bombs by his Smoke clan Security Detail, of course-and Naruto graciously answered each and every cowardly squeal of outrage.
A warning for anyone that dares enter my lands or harms my people.
Try me.
The warning sent chills down the souls of even the bravest shinobi.
Prominent and well-known Dark citizens in unallied nations were now being treated carefully. The people walked on eggshells around them, fearful of what would happen to their own village or country if so much as a mark appeared on the bodies of the Dark Leader's people.
Naruto smirked lightly. "I'm naïve, you say…"
"Brainless and cowardly is better; hiding behind your so called letters and your ninjas, trying to make a name for yourself against a power as mighty as Iwagakure. Your place should be nowhere near administration, brat."
Naruto laughed again, his shoulders trembling a little as he momentarily bent forward. "As eloquent as always, huh Oonoki."
"…Why the hell are you in my village?"
"Retaliation." Naruto said with a wide, close eyed smile and screams erupted outside the building.
Oonoki stood up abruptly and went to his window, peering out. He only saw a large crowd of his people milling around one point in the market. A minute later, a ninja burst into the Tsuchikage's office, panting and gasping for air.
"Lord Oonoki, Councilwoman Hinata!" her eyes were bugged out and terrified, flicking about the room and visibly flinching away from Naruto as the blonde looked over his shoulder at him, his blue eyes glowing darkly. "Sniper!"
Oonoki rounded on Naruto, a complex cube of his Dust release charging up in the hands of the enraged. "You bastard!"
"Settle down, Oonoki."
More screaming rend through the air as another member of the Iwa council was bolted down to the ground by an arrow to his neck.
"You BASTARD!"
"I said…" Naruto said lowly, sending a message for another council member to be assassinated. "Settle…down…"
Two more were snuffed out and more people panicked, fleeing about wildly to the unseen archer picking off the members of their council.
"Find them!" the Kage bellowed, cancelling the atom splitting beam and closing his fists tightly. "Find them now!"
"I doubt you will." Naruto said with a smile, motioning back to the seat. "Sit, sit, we aren't done yet."
Two more were brought down, this time in the safety of their homes. The arrows simply cut through the air, broken through the kitchen windows, clanged against the tiles at a narrow angle and impaled their targets. These victims were ninjas.
The sound of more screaming ripped through Oonoki's mind and he contemplated whether or not to dive at the calm man sitting before his desk or to run out of his office and search for the snipers himself.
"See here, Oonoki," Naruto said, lifting a lecturing finger. "People from the Suzumebachi clan are virtually impossible to locate once they settle down in a hiding place and they are comfortable enough to kill anyone at any angle deemed too inconvenient by 'normal' archers." As he said this, his words were punctuated by another round of wailing rocking the Rock village; this time it was a prominent jounin that was a member of the Shinobi council that had been skewered while he was leading a squad of ninjas to find the culprits for the wave of murders. "See what I mean?"
"Stop this." The older ninja growled, falling into his seat and holding his shaking fists over his table. "Tell them to stop."
Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "I wonder…is it possible…?" the man behind the desk leaped onto his feet when he heard a window breaking on the other side of the room. "Yes, very possible."
Three arrows had ended the lives of eight different ninjas that formed the twenty ninjas that prepared to storm the room Naruto was currently in. Ricocheting and bouncing until the tips of the arrows ended in their last victims.
"Order them to stay out." Naruto said with finality. The Ghost then turned in his seat and looked at each and every ninja hidden in the office, humming out a genial smile. "You're free to stay if you want, just try not to make noise." The masked man rolled his eyes at the gathering chakra that was the Tsuchikage's rage. "Well?"
KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!
A councilwoman, this one also a ninja that was hurriedly searching for the snipers, was nailed to the wall by an arrow that passed through her left ear and a few inches leaving from the right side.
The dull eyed corpse hung limply against the wall as the wasp venom on the tips of the turned her brain to soup.
"My ninjas can keep picking off your council." He faced his Iwa counterpart and said in a tone saturated with pleasurable darkness. "Now, sit down."
"I will burn Darkness to the ground!" Oonoki roared madly, his eyes deranged and flicking about his office in case an arrow was to come in and kill him. "I will not take this attack lying down! Darkness will die!"
Naruto tutted. "…Aside from the idiocy of threatening the person that's whittling down the number of your strong ninjas, I am confident that if Iwa find their feet in spite of this 'great tragedy' they will indeed walk all over Darkness, with your allies that is. Well…I have allies too…but I'm getting side tracked." The Ghost shook off his former train of thought and went on. "It would be…wise…to recognize your impotence in this situation, Oonoki. Your ninjas have been searching for my ninjas for," he looked up and calculated the time in his head. "Twenty minutes or so. Yeah, sounds about right."
A barrel chested man caught three arrows aimed for his chest, neck and head respectively, though he roared and fell down onto his knees as the corrosive wasp venom on the arrows burnt his hands down to the bone. In the delirium of his pain, an arrow thunked into the back of his head.
"Your family is currently hiking somewhere along your northern mountain range, am I correct?" Oonoki's eyes silently widened and Naruto snapped his fingers. "I am correct. Well, I have a few archers aiming at them now-"
"Wait, don't-"
"Their orders are to make their deaths painful." Naruto nodded with false solemnness. "Your fifteen year old son, your thirteen year old daughter, your wife, your sister and your brothers. They're all sitting ducks."
"Naruto, don't do this."
"Hmm? I thought I was 'brat'" Naruto said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Childish…Brainless…Naïve…Cowardly. Wasn't I…any of those things before…?"
AAAAAIIIIIYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
"That was your fourth to the last councilman." The elderly man had been hunkered down under the staircase of his family house and the arrow had soared in from the living room window, bounced against a mirror, rebounded off another wall at a somewhat reduced speed and ended its careening path in the forehead of the old man. "Our next set of targets is your family."
Oonoki hissed under his breath, cursing the smiling man before him. "I'll order my ninjas to leave your borders."
Naruto wavered in uncertainty in his seat. "Ehhh…that won't be enough." He motioned to the window, to the pandemonium going on outside. "You see…this whole ordeal has greatly inconvenienced us; we could have saved up our energy for more worthwhile things, like making sure the snow storm doesn't undo anything."
"If my ninjas are to encounter yours while on missions…they are strictly to avoid them."
"Hmmm…go on…" Naruto said, motioning for the other man to continue and perching his head on his hand.
The man grit his teeth and his nails dug into his palms. "Money-"
"Nah. Try again."
"I'll…advise my allies to leave Darkness alone."
"…That'll have to do."
This day would force the Tsuchikage to realize something he didn't want to acknowledge.
That…maybe…Dark country was as formidable as their Ghostly Leader.
Maybe…they had approached the matter wrong and prodded the wrong sleeping animal.
Maybe…Oonoki undermining and underestimating the Leader and his ability to lead directly resulted in the gruesome deaths of his council.
Back in the Civil War, breaking into Dark country and stealing whatever they got their hands on was easy. The former Tsuchikage, Mu, was the one that had ordered the Rock ninjas to pack up as much they could carry and bring it to the village. The rebels of the silent nation had been fighting on my frontlines, wearing themselves thin, so they could adequately protect their resources, their people and their country against all the invaders and leaches sucking them dry. The archers that were now shaving them down to the bone had not been as effective back in the internal war than they were now, seeing as the Royal clan had been privy to the secrets of the Wasp people and communicated this to Konoha.
Naruto and Sueki returned to their home country and their fortune turned around.
The Purge.
That was what it was called both inside and outside of the Silent Nation.
Any unallied foreigner that so much as stumbled as they fled the country would be mercilessly brought down and used as animal food for the creatures in the Dark Forest.
The resentment for the Leader of Dark country did not begin there; it started when the Raikage, Cee, had strong armed him, Oonoki of the Dust Release, into withdrawing his ninjas from Ame.
Every daimyo and village leader on the continent not allied to Dark country hated how they didn't know what was going on in the Silent Nation.
No person from an unallied nation was even allowed over their borders, even if they sent formal letters requesting entry into their country.
They hated how they couldn't easily identify Dark traders and merchants.
They hated how Darkness settled into the background, while making waves through their allies.
They hated how they couldn't just launch an attack on Darkness because there was no reliable source on the planet that would cooperate and describe their military might, so that they could gauge their chances at success, whether or not to attack and force the truth out of them. Attacking based on 'hope' was also out of the question; for this same hope could betray them if or when they found out that Dark military was something to not laugh about.
They hated how Dark allies kept their lips sealed and any business they conducted with Darkness was also as muted and subtle as their assassin counterparts.
They hated not knowing.
Naruto knew this fact very well…and he honestly couldn't care less.
The settlements that had found out about their exploit in Waterfall were now whimpering and receding into the background, yelling in outrage over letters while at the same time making sure not to trouble known Dark citizens in their lands. Inquiring on the prosperity of their country to those people was also out of the question, for those people who were confident enough to reveal their close affiliation with the Silent Nation were well-protected by their own people and their own allies.
Try me
That last line on the Ghost's short reply to the alarmed letters of the other leaders, a warning in on itself, was greatly unsettling.
"Tell your men to leave my village." Oonoki said silently, feeling subdued and lowering his darkly churning eyes to his desk.
"How about this, I might withdraw all of my ninjas…or…I withdraw some…just so you behave." The older man didn't reply, not even looking up to the quietly tittering Ghost.
The blonde got up and looked down at his Iwa counterpart with shaded, evil blue orbs.
"I trust you will behave yourself, Oonoki."
The man slowly, silently stood up and met the assassin's eyes, unafraid. "You have made a great enemy today, Ghost."
"I'm aware." The masked man answered, his face clean of emotions. "Remember this day."
Remember how your staggering numbers couldn't find a few snipers hidden in your midst. The unsaid words echoed in Oonoki's head and the man fell down onto his chair, slumped backwards and swivelling it so that it faced away from the Ghost and away from his window, so that he couldn't see the hysteria going on outside. He closed his eyes, perched his left elbow on the arm of his chair, covered his face with the hand and nodded once.
"Have a nice day."
The Lord of Dark country waved over his shoulder and left the office with a flurry of his black and white Leader's robe, passing the mutely glaring Iwa ninjas without so much as a sliver of fear or hesitation. Two squads of BLAK ninjas-eight ninjas in total-jumped in from the shattered window and flanked their master, effectively watching his back so that their blonde Leader didn't waste his strength doing so himself.
Team Eleven walked ahead of him and Team Twelve came up behind, blankly staring back at the hate being poured on them by the shaken up Iwa ninjas.
There would be the need to evaluate their strength all over again.
Today had proved something they hadn't yet grasped as of yet; numbers weren't everything.
Especially not against snipers as proficient as the Suzumebachi.
Unknown to the Tsuchikage and the people of Iwagakure, Naruto ordered all his ninjas to leave the village.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
BLAK operative Bear-Or Polar Bear in select circumstances-heavily plopped down on a bench in one of the female locker rooms in the secret black ops facility. She was wearing a thick black woollen, turtle neck sweater that had her flak over her torso, a black skirt that scarcely passed her mid-thigh and black knee socks with plain black trainers. She pulled off her warm black gloves and ran her hand through her hair; naturally white roots that turned black as it reached the tips.
The girl took off her mask.
One of her black ops comrades glanced at her and winked. "Must be nice being so close to Lord Naruto." The half-naked female, changing into her BLAK uniform of choice after coming back from a hot shower, clapped a hand on her blushing cheeks and sighed dramatically. "I'm jealous."
The nineteen year old ink user rolled her eyes and got up, swiping her thumb over her locker and throwing it open. She dropped her mask inside and said, enviously eying he large mounds on her friend's chest. "It's not as nice as you think."
"Peeeshaawwww!" a younger girl, probably seventeen, crowed from a row of lockers behind them. "You get to talk to Lord Naruto, don't you?"
"…Sometimes, yeah."
A bronze skinned beauty that was leaving the showers, rubbing a towel in her hair with one hand and holding up the towel around her waist with her other hand, pretty much baring her modest chest for the other females to see, scoffed and unlocked her locker and proceeded to dress up in her uniform. "Lord Naruto's mostly all business-like with us." BLAK operative Phoenix of Team Eleven said as she rubbed her skin down with cream. The clumsy Kemuri pouted sadly. "He doesn't want to burden us with too much stuff and he doesn't want to distract us."
"He's just too kind." An operative said as she entered the locker room, pulling off her Cheetah mask and sliding up to her locker on the far end of the locker room. The ladies changing and returning from the showers listened in. "Lord Naruto just told a bunch of us that we could go home and relax."
"Are you?" Squirrel, Polar Bear's big bosomed friend, wondered aloud as she sat down on a bench and pulled on her ninja pants, quietly thanking Polar Bear as she helped her with her chest wrappings. "Going for that break, that is."
"Not really, no. I think I'm going to request a mission, maybe somewhere in the southern region."
The women bobbed their heads in agreement of Cheetah's decision; Polar Bear voiced what they were all thinking. "Technically, he didn't order you to go home and rest."
"Precisely." Cheetah said with a sharp, feral smirk. "There's so much more things I can do to help out during this blizzard."
They didn't voice how that they stayed on duty mostly because they wanted to make their Leader proud, and how they wanted him to personally commend them.
A whole section of the locker room hid their flushed faces in their lockers.
"Hey, PB," a lady around the same age as Bear called from a corner in the wide locker room. "How's it feel to be in Team Twelve?"
Polar Bear neatly tucked in a corner of the white bandages serving as Squirrel's chest wrappings and straightened up, removing her flak jacket and preparing for a shower herself. "Intimidating. Commander Bat expects a lot from us and Lord Naruto relies on us a lot."
Team Eleven was the only team in BLAK that was entirely selected by their precious Leader, and Team Twelve and the teams that followed were put together by their Commander.
Everyone in the Dark country sub-organization had fought and clawed for a spot in the coveted Team Twelve, the second closest team to their Leader. Polar Bear was the youngest member of either teams and BLAK operative Panda, the strictly professional Grim Ink user of Team Eleven, had taken her up as his understudy. The plan was to fashion BLAK teams Eleven and Twelve as their Master's security detail when he was to leave the country.
The black ops organization still comprised of elite jounin, special jounin and chunin, that much was an undisputed fact. There was no place for anyone less than the best.
BLAK operative Squirrel, for example, was a clanless woman, the daughter of an arable farmer and a tailor. She graduated the academy six years ago among the top two, second only to Polar Bear, and she had climbed the ranks of the country, clawing with stubbornness and determination until she applied for a place in BLAK in the recruitment base in the eastern region, eventually she was picked for the second phase of training and screening, personally overseen by the Commander herself, which took six long, hard months. Finally, after fulfilling all the criteria for being classified as an Elite Jounin, Squirrel was officially issued her flak jacket, given her tattoo and she chose her name during the private induction ceremony held in the Headquarters. The brown haired black ops had to admit that she was at first envious her best friend had been picked to be in Team Twelve, anyone not in those two teams was, though she-and they-wisely stayed professional and settled in her place on Team Sixteen.
Her six month training in the main base had instilled in her mind and in her whole being that such emotions as sadness, envy and anger have no place in BLAK-similar to how happiness, joy and the human conscience shouldn't cloud judgement during missions-, this being because it would reduce their effectiveness and efficiency, and may even ultimately jeopardize the mission, putting their comrades and their charge in danger.
That was something all black ops in the country wanted to avoid.
Failing a mission meant a harsh reprimand from their Commander and not just that; failure meant disappointing from their Supreme Leader.
No one-BLAK, DC, Dark Sand or 'normal' ninjas-wanted to disappoint Naruto.
The nineteen year old Chui-Inku prodigy was almost overwhelmed by how much her Lord trusted in them.
Eight and a half months after the formation of BLAK and eight months after first being inducted into Team Twelve and Polar Bear was still trying to comprehend the level of trust Naruto had in their skills and abilities. Sure, mission success rate for both teams was at ninety nine point nine percent and they were reputedly the strongest teams in the sub-organization, though she couldn't wrap her head around that kind of trust.
It warmed her right down to her soul that her Master relied on her to that extent.
"Ooooooh~ Your face is red~" Squirrel poked teasingly as she strapped on a pair of painted black, clawed gauntlets to both sides of her hips so that if there was ever a need to wield them, then all she had to do was jam her hands into them and use them however needed. The twenty year old lady was in a long sleeved black shirt with normal ninja pants, a black flak jacket and a large, thick parka over her body. The winter coat had a fluffy hood that she flipped up over her head once she had on her Squirrel mask on. "I'll be leaving now."
"Later."
"See ya, PB."
The clanless lady left the locker room and walked with clipped steps through a long, sparsely populated hallway outside of the females changing room. Doors leading into the other five changing rooms lined the hallway and she exited into a spacious resting area for both genders, leaving through the door on the other side of the room, different from the door that would have led her to the male's hallway of changing rooms. The complex base was mostly underground, including training grounds, and there were rooms where the black ops could sleep in for the time being whenever necessary, though it was three per room and opposite genders were strictly not allowed to venture to the others room.
The people that slept in the base were usually those that had no family and had zero social life, thoroughly and utterly devoted to their duty in BLAK. The latter point wasn't bad; rather it was encouraged, though for the former, the Commander had made it a rule for operatives to not sleep in the base for more than three times a week unless it was an emergency.
Naruto wasn't building an army of robots, so the Leader encouraged the operatives to spend time outside of the base and outside of missions conversing with the people of the country and their allies, not being in their uniforms, that is. This was to remind them what exactly they were fighting for.
Some operatives struggled in following the order, for they had almost no personality and were reclusive in nature, but associating with citizens and allies alike did indeed remind them of why they fought day and night on high S class missions.
Squirrel met up with her Squad Captain, Beaver, and she and the man marched with hurried steps, soon accompanied by their other two squad mates, Rabbit and Mouse. The team silently went down several flights of stairs, deep into the belly of the Dark country sub-organization, and entered a room that had dark red painted walls and black carpeting. Beaver walked at the front of his team as they crossed the room. He raised his fist and knocked on a pure white door on the other side of the room.
"Enter."
Beaver opened the door and moved in; Rabbit closed the door after herself.
Sueki glanced up from her paper work, looking at each person on the team of four with a quick flick of her blood red eyes then rising to her feet and selecting a scroll from the 'Pending' side of the wall of missions. The room had no windows and the dark red walls and black carpet matched the empty room in front of her office. She only had a simple desk, which she was presently seated behind, a tall book shelf for scrolls of past and pending, the past being bigger than the pending, and lastly there was a large Dark country flag behind her; the kanji for Darkness written with white ink on black cloth. There were no chairs before her desk. Her Bat mask was placed on the right side of her desk and her weapons were on the left.
Team Sixteen fell onto their knees and bowed their heads once they entered her office.
The white haired vampire reclaimed her seat and gingerly placed the scroll on her desk.
"Exactly one and a half minutes ago, we received an alert from the seal of a Pharmacist in Shirobachou, Wind country. He informed us that a band of bandits have ambushed him and his family on their way to another town." The Pharmacist in question knew only a few words in Morse code and the ninjas in charge of surveying the seals of Dark citizens outside of the village, all of whom did so from a cluster of offices in the main base, had pieced together the bungled message and quickly delivered it to their Commander. "I want you four to go there and rescue him and his family." She narrowed her eyes dangerously and said in a stern voice. "Their safety is your priority. Failure is not an option."
"Hai, Lady Commander!"
Sueki nodded and Beaver got off his knees, stiffly marched to the desk and collected the mission scroll with both hands from their Commander, making sure to bow as he did so. His eyes flicked through the scroll from behind his mask and then he rolled it back up.
The vampire, now busy sorting through other missions for the five summoned BLAK squads waiting outside of the office, waved her hand. "Dismissed."
Missions like those were usually meant for 'normal' ninjas, but for the moment they were relegated to the black ops. The reason being that all ninjas of the village were needed in the country to shovel away snow. They had forecasted a reduction in the strength of the blizzard in an hour's time and it was the best time for people to come out of their homes and run errands such as grocery shopping, or have fun in the park, snowball fighting, sledding, snowboarding or skiing. Ploughing the streets for snow and clearing out ice from wherever it wasn't meant to be was what every ninja-but BLAK-, volunteering allies and concerned civilians was to be doing for the next hour or so before the country would briefly reopen and activities would spark up until the next wave of snow.
The blizzard would pick up again in the next twenty hours.
The ninjas were going to keep a careful eye on the weather in case there was a surprise change.
Team Sixteen left the office and Team Seventeen entered, awaiting their own mission.
Emergency alerts from the seals on the back of citizens and allies hands were not to be used indiscriminately. This rule extended to those outside of Dark Lands. They were strictly to be used for emergency situations, such as kidnapping or even attempted rape. Simply placing a drop of blood on the seal activated the alarm, transmitting the signal all the way back to a nearby DC office and tapping the hand would send a Morse code of what was happening.
Unfortunately, there had been some people arrested for abusing the seal.
Another side project the Grim Ink clan was working on was for the seal to personally assess and determine if a situation outside of the country was too dangerous to be handled by the bearer of the seal.
The next team's mission was on retrieving the child of a kidnapped trader from the hands of a group of B rank missing ninjas, which happened only five minutes ago while they were in their home in Land of Tea. Strangely enough, a ransom letter had been left before a sentry post, addressed to Naruto seven minutes before the kidnapping, meaning that it had been methodically organized for a while now.
The kidnappers were demanding Naruto pay the sum of two hundred million ryu within the hour, or else they would chop up the child and mail him to the Leader. Any attempt at finding them would also result in the child's death.
Naruto scoffed at the threat and Sueki gave the mission to Team Seventeen. They were too find the boy, kill the kidnappers and track down each and every participant in the kidnapping, making sure that all of those involved were erased off the face of the earth. Seven jounin, or ten chunin, was the combination commonly used for this sort of mission, though in this case, only one BLAK squad was more than enough.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Time skip: One Month Later
Dark country Ninja Academy
Dark capital
Darkness
A handful of days after the grand unveiling and opening of the Leader's Tower, the Civilian and Ninja Academies were also opening for the new semester. The winter still blew a few wisps of cold air about, though not bad enough to prevent people from attending the opening in droves, breathing in the fresh air of the countryside and appreciating how nature itself was thawing itself out from the ice.
As per the tradition set up since the schools reopened six years ago, the Leader of the country attended the entrance ceremony of either of the Academies-while his clone went to the other-and gave the commencement speech. Last year, it had been his clone in the Ninja Academy, though now it was the real Naruto in the Shinobi School.
Naruto, garbed in his Leader's robe and wide brimmed hat, was in the middle of giving the speech.
"…This year we have many bright faces and many sharp minds. I trust in the capabilities of the teachers to educate these children on the best way to be productive in this our growing society and what they can do to make our country prosper, no matter how small or how insignificant it seems. Every little detail is important and no knowledge is a waste." The blue eyed man looked over the beaming faces before him, new students and returning students, and he smiled back. The teachers and parents that were sitting behind the large cluster of new students, some holding onto the younger children they had with them or else taking pictures of the man speaking at the podium. He could spot Sueki there as well, sitting beside Tamaki Uzumaki-not in her ceremonial Uzukage robes-and holding up a camera, recording his speech while Kushina's mother took pictures. To the Leader's sides, left and right and a few steps to the back, were the top brass staff of the school; the Director of the Ninja Academy, the Deputy, the Head of the School Store, the Head Chef and The Social Director. The Leader cleared his throat. "Much like the previous years and like the ninjas of this school that have graduated, making great names for themselves, this generation of students bear promise." He directly addressed the students this time. "You all bear our hope….The reality is…not all of you may make it out at the end; some of you may leave and some of you may choose another field. Though, despite this, I am confident that whoever no matter what happens, you lot will find a way to make our great nation grow and make it prosper."
The children nodded, resolute.
"For the returning students, you may notice new faces among you and you may notice old faces missing." The masked man's eyes twinkled. "The reason being that, for the very first time in our history, students of allied nations have transferred over to this school and we sent over willing students to attend their own academies." The families of those students that had volunteered for the Exchange Program were all comfortably set up in the allied nations they were transferred to. Twenty new exchange students grinned up at the lightly chuckling man. Only River had been able to send five prospective ninjas to Darkness, though the majority of the exchange students went to the Civilian Academy. The exchange students were in their second year and upwards. "As your parents or guardians have told you, you will have the option of switching to being ninjas of your villages-or country-only one year after being a ninja of Darkness." He opened his arms and said, talking to all. "You are all welcome to this school and it is my hope that this institution makes great men and women out of you all. Thank you." He bowed slightly and the hall erupted in applause.
The blonde man stood back and a teacher politely led him down the row of people that had been standing behind him, introducing them-like he didn't know them already-and Naruto smiled and shook their hands, amidst the standing ovation from the parents, guardians, staff and students, both new and old. The last person on the row was the Director, and Naruto clapped his right hand on the wasp holder's shoulder, shaking his hand with his left and laughing at a muted comment from him.
The Director of the Ninja Academy, Ginko Suzumebachi, bowed to Naruto as he released his hand and proceeded up to the podium to deliver his own speech and inform the students of basic rules they had to follow.
Naruto took that chance to amble down the stage and hid himself in a backroom until the end of the ceremony.
As the parents and children were speaking to each other, the parents throwing some advice to their children and trying to wrench any younger sibling off the prospective ninjas, Naruto snuck out from his hiding place and went to his students and the Uzukage, who was attending the ceremony to see off her daughter. There was ten minutes before first period and the two adults, one Kushina's teacher and one her mother, waded through the throng of greeting parents, who split their attention between introducing themselves-and their wards-to paid mind to their children and cheered them to do their best. The Uzukage, being represented in all the way back in Uzushio by her younger cousin, was in a simple bright yellow sun dress that had white whirlpool designs at the bottom of the skirt, black tights and black sandals. Her straight, long red hair flowed down her back to the small of her back and a purple flower sat on the side of her head. The beautiful Uzumaki woman lowered her camera holding hand and sternly told her daughter to not make trouble for the school, not to cause fights and to damn not get expelled.
Tamaki went back and forth with her brother in all but blood, over little Kushina's head. The petite, 'girly-girl' lady good-naturedly sniped at Naruto to not go easy on her child. It was a contrast in her genially polite, calm disposition and Naruto, while telling Kushina to not mind her mother, sniped back at Tamaki to stop scaring her child.
The kind woman was determined to get at least a few tears from her daughter, so as to get a good picture of her to serve as ammunition and blackmail material in the future but Kushina was determined to not let her mother win, lifting her chin up and walking with her chest puffed out. The stubborn Uzukage was holding her camera at the ready for any flash on her child's face.
Naruto and Tamaki were tossing few worded pointers, encouragements (or discouragements) and advice to the girl, somewhat appreciating the partially open space Ginko and his teachers made for both Kage, when Sueki called, lifting up her camera with a hidden smirk on her lips.
"Sensei, Tamaki, say cheese."
Tamaki looked up from Kushina, now partially bent down on her knees and sharing a hasty and honest, whispered talk with her child, and smile beauteously. The man whirred around, his black and white ceremonial robes swishing with the movement, and grinned at the camera, placing a hand on Kushina's forehead and throwing a thumb up to his camera holding vampire student.
The camera flashed and the first period bell sounded.
Tamaki threw her arm over the much taller Leader's shoulder and blew a kiss to her daughter. "Have fun, Nana!"
The girl, waving as she walked backwards. A black haired boy with dark purple panther ears and wearing a neon green superhero gloves, boots, cape and a thick pair of white goggles glanced back, casually ignoring his dramatically sobbing father, who, surprising enough, was a business man in a perfectly ironed suit. His eyes widened up when he saw who the redhead beside him was waving at. So also was a fellow first year girl, this one had frizzy blonde hair, that was in a blue and white tracksuit that had the image of a bear stamped on the back and the Dark country insignia on the right side with blue sneakers on her feet.
"Bye Momma! Bye Auntie Su! Bye Uncle Ruto!"
Naruto waved back and laughed with Tamaki as the two curiously dressed first years began talking to her.
"Yeah…she'll be fine." the Leader commented. Tamaki rolled her eyes with a wide smirk at Sueki from behind Naruto's back when the vampire glared at the Kage for still having her arm over Naruto's shoulder-or trying to. Naruto jumped slightly when his student jammed her pointer and middle finger into his side. "Ow! What'd I do?"
The vampire pouted. "Sensei…there's something I want to show you back in the Tower."
Naruto opened his hidden mouth but Tamaki beat him to it. "Oh hey, bro, didn't you promise me we'll go and try those famous Suzumebachi Honey Cakes?"
The masked leader, miraculously feeling the tension between both women, sighed heavily and shook his head in exasperation.
"Alright you two, behave."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Somewhere on the continent…
"Darkness has reduced this once great village into the role of its slave. Our Kage is now simply a simpering, whimpering lap dog that follows the Ghost." Zetsu, disguised as a shinobi of the village, said down to the silently glowering boy. "We gain absolutely nothing from the alliance and yet our people see and say nothing. Our glory is lost and our people are brainwashed by the Ghosts honeyed words. It is our Kage's fault for falling for the Ghost's trap and his unwise decisions, favouring Darkness most of all, will one day lead to our doom. He is at fault for listening and following the Ghost like some lost animal. Then it is the Ghost's fault for hypnotizing our people."
The boy glared at the ground, unspeaking.
Zetsu smirked. "You see the truth, child, not like all these sheep."
He bent down and looked into the child's eyes, hiding the sadistic grin under falsely gleaming, hopeful eyes.
"You know what to do…"
Authors note
I purposely didn't mention where it was Zetsu was brainwashing that kid, I'll leave that up to you all to guess.
Next chapter will start off with a big time skip.
Be ready for it.
What do you think of this chapter?
Do you think Oonoki would keep his word?
Would Naruto keep his?
Who was Zetsu talking to?
What do you think of this story so far?
So many questions…
Drop a review on your thoughts, would you so kindly. Please stay safe, wherever you are in the world, and I will see you when I see you.
Foy.