Rise, Son Of Rome
Ch.11- Manes praeteritum
(Ghosts of the past)
Three years have passed since the banishment of Naruto Uzumaki. Over the course of that time, the village of Konoha has suffered major blows to its position as one of the five Great Nations. Within a year the Leaf's alliance with Wave was terminated; when asked why, the spokesman, Tazuna, said that "Our village doesn't feel comfortable doing business with a village that casts out its members without just cause." With that, Konoha's ability to export and import had been severally crippled.
Following that, during the second year, relations with Suna became tight, and eventually broke down during the third year. It started with the Council trying to keep up the marriage contract between the two villages by offering Temari someone else...that someone being Sasuke. However, while the fools of the Council may have been able to look past the deeds of their traitorous Uchiha, others outside the Council doors could not. Suna, and many other villages that heard about the attempted escape, were appalled by those men and woman's complete disregard for the boy's crimes. Gaara came to Konoha personally to decline the offer, and said that any loss of reputation do to Suna's part in the invasion was nothing like what would happen if they sided with a village that glorified traitors.
The third year, when Gaara became the Kazekage, Suna completely broke away from Konoha. This big move was swiftly followed by other villages that held Naruto in high regard; this included Spring Country. The loss of Spring hit Konoha majorly in terms of technological advancement. The two had come to an agreement that Konoha would be the first villages to receive prototypes of Springs newest weapons and medical tech., as well as naval warfare. That all came to a halt suddenly during that third year. Princess Koyuki sent a political envoy to Konoha with a television set, and she spoke to them via satellite transmission. When Tsunade asked why she chose now to pull away, instead of earlier, Koyuki responded with, "Spring Country has found a new political power we'd like to ally ourselves with, one who understands the value of its citizens and soldiers, and their stipulation is that we rescind our alliance with the Leaf." So with a few parting words, the television blacked out, and Tsunade was left speechless.
Tsunade watched as a major number of their alliances pulled out, and she was forced to watch as her village began to crumble in on itself. In an attempt to cool down the heat from Sasuke's betrayal Tsunade tried to hand out punishment for the boy's crimes...this didn't go over like she'd hoped. Out of all the different punishments she tried, the only thing she managed to push through was that the Uchiha be held back from doing missions for a year, a portion of his clan funds were handed out to the ninja of the village; with an even larger sum being paid to Hinata for the damages done to her. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stunt his training like she'd hoped, but had succeeded in giving the boy a curfew that forced him into his home at 6pm. The Hyuga clan also used this time to take a shot at the Uchiha clan.
While Hiashi didn't care much for his eldest daughter's state of health, the power hungry leader thought he could use the attack as an attack directly against the Hyuga clan as a whole. With Hiashi being such a major public figure, no one in the council had the desire to challenge his claim; mostly because they would have done the same thing. As punishment for "attacking the Hyuga clan", Sasuke was forced to withdraw even more money from his clan treasury and hand it over to the Hyuga leader. Next, the boy was forced to publicly admit that the Hyuga clan was better than the Uchiha's, and that he was a fool for attempting to "wage war" with them.
Unfortunately, despite all of this, the damage had been done; many villages had pulled out of their alliance with Konoha, and the ones that stayed were weary. The village was now surrounded by enemies and neutral parties, with only a handful of small villages to lend aid.
To make matters worse, things inside the village were shaky as well. While the civilians still held animosity towards Naruto, and were happy to see him go, many in the ninja population had grown to respect and admire the blonde Uzumaki. This caused a rift between the two halves of the village, and it showed in the condition of Konoha as a whole. Many ninja refused to take local missions because of their distaste for the employer, deciding instead to stick to missions brought in from outside; which were scarce now. This caused the village itself to start to turn shabby.
When the village tried to network, and find more villages to receive missions from, they were surprised to find that the smaller settlements were doing well; some were even showing signs of increased prosperity. Each envoy that was sent out and discovered this asked about what had happened and were told the same cryptic phrase: "We are under the wing of the Eagle, we have nothing to fear, and our desires are met." The reply would be said with a genuine smile, the people were happy with their lives, and wanted nothing to do with Konoha's offer of alliance.
With the increasing number of declined offers, Tsunade ordered Jiraiya to have his spy network look into this "Eagle", and report back with their findings. It was a little difficult, but, the network managed to dig up a little information; what they found was a scattered time-line of events. Apparently, the "Eagle" was started in Wave Country, no one is sure when, and then at some point it engulfed Suna, and then swiftly following that the "Eagle" gobbled up Spring, and all the smaller villages afterwards. No one knew who lead this massive political monster, but many weren't too worried about it.
They didn't fear, because they'd learned it was run by only a single man, and monsters like that tended to collapse on themselves quickly do to in-fighting. However, their lax attitude's came to a halt when they learned that the "Eagle" was looking for partners to help the leader run his political machine; a chance Konoha intended to pounce on.
Tsunade decided it was time again to go on the offensive, the Leaf was going to need the Eagles help if it wanted to return to its former glory. Now the buxom blonde just needed an elite team to impress this Leader...and she knew just who could lead it
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The moon was pitch black in the starry, night sky; perfect for an extermination mission. A mission currently being undertaken by ninja's of Konoha.
The bandit camp was set up about two miles from a small village that imported and exported goods for cheap. The village was built on the opposite side of a bridge that crossed over a deep ravine; the bandits had set up their camp on the other side of the bridge, closing the village in between the sea and the camp. The villagers didn't have enough boats to move all their citizens, so, they sent one boat with envoys to the Leaf to seek-out help. Being a small place with no real political influence or warriors of their own, the people of Chisana shukka-mura were forced to look to one of the larger, ninja villages for help.
Once the group arrived they quickly told Tsunade of their plight, and how they were in danger of being starved out. When asked about why they couldn't keep up their business to support them, she was told that the bandits "taxed" the people of not only money, but food too. And if too many people left at a time, the bandits said they would kill all who remained, so their small group was all that could be sent.
Tsunade saw this as a chance to help the Leaf village's reputation, and called for a squad to head out and aid the people of Chisana. The group consisted of: Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, and was lead by Kakashi. The team met with one another, and swiftly exited the main gate to head to the oppressed village.
A hushed female voice buzzed through multiple ear-pieces, "I see a total of two-hundred and fifty chakra signatures Kakashi-san, most of which do not exceed civilian-level, but there are a small handful that have about chunin-level chakra; most likely rogue ninja who felt they weren't being paid enough and fled."
A silver-haired man on another end of the encampments borders responded, "Copy that Hinata. Alright team, you heard her, this job shouldn't be too dangerous but don't let your guards down; those chunin could have a few tricks up their sleeves. Remember, cover your area first before moving in on another team-mate's section...lets go." On that order, a chorus of "Hai" echoed through the ear-pieces before four bodies sprinted from the tree-line.
Hinata sprinted from her spot in the trees and moved towards the entrance to take out the two night-watchers stationed at one of the two entrances of the camp. Being the swiftest member of their team it was her job to get rid of the guards that encircled the camp, using the basics of her Gentle-Fist training the lavender princess plowed the palms of her hands into the two men's stomachs; destroying their organ and killing them before they could utter a word. Unsheathing her blades Hinata charged the bottom of her feet with chakra and jumped, gripping the edge of the guard box with her fingertips* she pulled herself up, brought her legs up knees to her chest, and kicked the guard that stood in shock at the sight of her; her kick crushing his insides.
The sound of the impact alerted the other two to Hinata's presence...but not soon enough, because almost immediately they found her swords embedded in their chests; she'd thrown them in order to kill both at the same time. With that section complete Hinata used her byakugan to check the progress of her clones; she'd made two before setting out to begin her task. She smiled as she watched one finish decapitating the last guard in its designated box, the other was in the process of shoving its sword through the mouth of another guard and finishing with the last guard post. The camp had been built in a triangular fashion; not the best design in terms of defense, but, what more could she expect?
With the guards disabled, Hinata checked on the rest of her squad...and frowned when her gaze landed on the Uchiha male. He was sloppy in his executions; a testament to his lack of finesse. Her lavender gaze noticed that many of the men weren't even dead! They had been slashed across the back, but their armor seemed to be just dense enough that a quick slash didn't have the power to land a killing blow, and now, those men were getting up! Hinata's face molded into a grimace of annoyance as she leaped from the guard-box she was in and moved to put down the rising bandits...this time, permanently.
'This is stupid. Why did Tsunade feel the need to send us to do this mission? Any second-rate chunin could handle these losers.' These were the thoughts of Sasuke Uchiha as he moved through the camp of men, his sword like a glint of light in the air as the raven-haired young man made quick work of the fools he'd been assigned to exterminate. What he failed to notice though, was that not all his attacks were doing their job. This is because the Uchiha had forgone activating his sharingan, leaving him unable to see his mistakes in the darkness of the night. As he finished up his next kill, Sasuke sensed a presence behind him and spun to see who had snuck up behind him.
Sasuke was greeted by the sight of his team-mate, Hinata Hyuga, making quick work of enemies that he thought he'd finished. She seemed to dance around the men, her sword strikes precise and lethal. As two men attempted to spear her Hinata spun on the ball of her foot and twirled in-between the two oncoming spears. She stopped, entered a crouched position, and sweeped the men's feet out from under them.* When they landed on their backs Hinata impaled them with her swords, before pulling the blades out, and looking at Sasuke with a look of clear irritation.
"What, why are you looking at me like that?"
Hinata opened her mouth to answer, but the spiking of Kakashi's chakra alerted them, and the two dojutsu wielders moved towards the center of the camp.
When they arrived Hinata and Sasuke Noticed Kakashi facing off against a two men. One with wild, orange hair dressed in a sleeveless, tan v-neck and green pants with blue ninja sandals. The other, had sky-blue hair tied in a pony-tail, he was dressed in similar clothes; but his color scheme was white and black. Looking around, the two noticed that Sakura was attempting to fend off the other two bandit generals; attempted, because it seemed they were beginning to overpower the pink-haired chunin.
"Sasuke-san, you go over and assist Sakura, I'll aid Kakashi-san.."
The raven-haired Uchiha turned and asked, "Why are you giving me orders, you're not the commanding officer of the team. If anything, you should go and assist Sakura and I'll help out Kakashi-sensei."
Hinata didn't even turn to look at him as she replied, "Sasuke-san, think, it'd be better to have a ninjutsu specialist and a taijutsu specialist together instead of two of the same types; otherwise there will be an imbalance. I'm not trying to be your commanding officer, I simply wish to finish this and return home." Then, with no further explanation, the Hyuga heiress rushed to aid her Jounin commander.
Sasuke grumbled as he watched the young woman for a moment before admitting she was right, and going to aid Sakura.
Readying her swords, Hinata entered the battle with a stab at the orange-haired man's head. When he managed to duck that, she went for a vertical, rising-slash with her second gladius. This didn't work any better because the man managed to lean back and avoid it, before countering with a swipe with his katana. Hinata parried the move, and stepped into her opponent's guard, where she moved to run him through with her unoccupied blade. Here, the orange-haired man showed his fortitude by stopping the sword with his palm before dropping his katana to take hold of Hinata's other wrist and deliver a headbutt. This failed though when Hinata let go of her caught sword, and brought her armored bicep up to take the blow, stunning her opponent. After this, Hinata sliced her sword out of her opponent's hand, leaving it incapable of ever holding a sword again, and then bringing her newly freed hand down to stab the gladius in her left hand into the man's neck; at the juncture of the neck and shoulder.
With that finished, Hinata looked over to Kakashi who was finally able to gain the upper hand on the pony-tailed man in black and white. Then she looked to her two other team-mates and was glad to see that they too had the upper hand in their duels as well. The mission looked like it was going to go off without a hitch
And then the tent lit up in a bright blue light before imploding, sending strips of the cloth tents scattering across the camp.
When the light died down the ninja's from Konoha looked to see that there was a figure standing in the epicenter of the blast-zone. He was tall, about 6'3, with a muscular build with a head of wild, shoulder-length brown hair and dark-green eyes. He was dressed a little better than the other bandits, signifying him as the actual Leader of the group. The man had on a chest-plate that was tied with a back piece, both made of smooth metal. Underneath this he had on a black, long-sleeved shirt that was frayed at the wrists and had holes in the elbows; his forearms were sheathed in leather bracers. Below the waist he wore skirt of metal that was designed like scales, and a pair of brown pants that tucked into blue ninja sandals. In his hand he held a large sword, as long as he was tall, about a third of the length was made up of the grip, while the rest was made up of the actual blade. It was triangular in shape and was double-edged.*
"Who thinks they can walk into the camp of the Rafu otokonoko, lead by I, Kaijinbo, and be so impolite?" His voice was deep, and echoed through the now barren encampment.
Sasuke stepped forward, intent on answering the man, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking behind him he saw that Sakura had been the one to stop him. "Don't Sasuke-kun, we don't know what he's capable of."
The Uchiha just scoffed and shrugged off the emerald-eyed chunin's hand. How was he suppose to defeat his brother, and regain his family's honor, if he couldn't handle some bandit?
"We ninja of Konoha dare. You and your group have terrorized the people of Chisana shukka-mura long enough, and we're here to put a stop to it."
The hulking giant peered down at Sasuke from under his nose and replied, "And who are you little man, to think you have the strength to stop me?" With that, the man hauled the giant blade up onto his broad shoulder and waited for his opponent to answer him.
Sasuke entered into his battle stance and said, "I am Sasuke Uchiha, lone survivor of the Uchiha clan, and your executioner tonight." Then, in a burst of speed, he moved to engage his enemy. Trying for a quick victory, Sasuke aimed a horizontal slash at the man's legs...only to be surprised when the giant leaped effortlessly over the attack. As the bandit leader hung in the air, he brought his sword off his shoulder, and stabbed it with impressive speed towards the grounded Sasuke.
Although managing to avoid the initial strike, the Uchiha male was unprepared for the follow-up move; the sword was used as a launcher for the wild man, who planted his feet directly into Sasuke solar plexus and sent him flying back. Managing to catch himself and land on his feet, Sasuke let out a grunt of effort as he rushed back to enter a second round with his opponent.
When he got within striking distance again Sasuke tried for a feint, and then moving into an upward-thrust towards the bandit leader's chin. His katana was knocked aside when, in another surprising show of speed, the man yanked his sword from the ground in a reverse-grip and blocked the attack. Not letting it phase him, Sasuke set his face into a determined scowl, and jumped into the air and landed a roundhouse-kick to the side of his opponent's face. But when he landed, and tried to stab into the man's chest-plate, his attack was stooped short again by his opponent's large hand...and then his sword was snapped in half like a twig.
Sasuke didn't have time to be shocked because almost immediately after he was punched in the face, and sent sprawling onto the ground. Clutching his throbbing cheek Sasuke spat blood from his mouth, and then a voice started to whisper inside his mind.
'Look at the weakling, can't even take down a lowly bandit on his own.'
'Shut up! You're not real, you're just a trick from the curse-mark, I don't have to listen to you anymore!'
'Oh, a trick of that weak snakes little super hickey? I think not Sasuke; I'm the voice of truth, and the truth is...you're still too weak!'
"NO!" The Uchiha shouted as he activated his fully matured sharingan. Getting back to his feet Sasuke stood straight for a moment before vanishing from sight. While most of the people lost sight of the raging clan heir, Kakashi and Hinata managed to follow the male's movements. He re-appeared when he swept the giants legs from underneath him, and caught the tumbling giant by the throat, before hopping into the air and bringing his captive down and slamming his back into the ground.
Without letting his feet touch back on the ground, Sasuke charged a Chidori in his right hand, and impaled the bandit leader; effectively leaving just his three lackeys left to clean up.
Hinata looked on at the sight of Sasuke's fist inside the man's chest cavity. Sighing, she thought to herself, 'Well, so much for going off without a hitch.'
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"And that's what happened Lady-Tsunade, we completed the mission with only that small moment of difficulty and returned as soon as we felt rested enough for the trip." Kakashi finished giving his report.
The bandit extermination team was currently standing in the Hokage's office giving their report on the mission. As Kakashi relayed the information, Tsunade took that time too look over the rest of the Jounin's squad.
First was, of course, her new apprentice. Hinata had transformed from a small, diamond in the ruff to a shining example of what it means to be a kunoichi. She stood at a height of 5'8 and had gone from a petite princess to a stunningly beautiful woman. Her dark, indigo hair now reached the middle of her back; flowing smoothly like a waterfall. Her attire hadn't changed much, except she now had a chest plate that covered the upper-half of her torso; leaving her trim, lightly muscled stomach exposed. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the village, but this woman was also a deadly weapon in her own right. Around her waist was a leather sword-belt that held her two blades, the Hyuga heiress had become very proficient in kenjutsu. That, along with her Gentle-Fist and new array of ninjutsu, made the girl one of Konoha's top-tier ninja; her skills were so advanced she's said to be on par with even Kakashi.
Tsunade had to hold back a smile as she looked upon her apprentice with pride. That pride turned to disdain when her eyes swiveled over to the Uchiha. Sasuke now stood at a height of 5'11, and with an athletic build, he was every bit the proud Uchiha warrior. He was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt that had the Uchiha fan on the shoulders, below the waste Sasuke had on black shinobi-style pants that were stuffed into shin-high, gray ninja sandals*. The pig-tailed blonde grimaced when her eyes landed on the regulation chunin vest that was fitted to the Uchiha males torso. She'd tried her hardest to avoid granting the attempted traitor any form of promotion, but with the ever growing number of genin Tsunade knew she'd need chunin to teach and lead teams. She may not like him, but as Hokage she had to merit his skills...but she took a small satisfaction in the bruises that covered Sasuke's face.
Finally, Tsunade's eyes were drawn to Sakura. The Haruno girl had also come a long way, from the love-sick schoolgirl that the blonde had met when she returned to the village, to a strong-willed and talented shinobi in her own right. After her defeat at the hands of Hinata, Sakura had gone to find another teacher to help her get stronger; she found one in the likes of Kurenai Yuhi. While at the time the ruby-eyed Jounin was still the leader of team 8, Kurenai set aside time to personally train the pinkette in all she knew. It wasn't long before Sakura became a skilled genjutsu user, as well as a swift and deadly kunoichi. However, there still existed bad blood between Hinata and her former sensei, and Tsunade suspected that Kurenai's main reason for taking on Sakura was to try and spite Hinata. Although, judging from the look of contentedness on the Hyuga's face, it wasn't working.
Like the other two, Sakura's attire had also undergone a change. Gone was the red battle-dress, in its place was a chain-mail shirt that covered the area above her stomach. On her shoulders she had half-circle pauldrons made of steel, although they were partially covered by the crimson scarf that was wrapped around her neck. Her arms were bare, but her hands were enclosed in a pair of finger-less gloves that had plates of metal in the middle. Below the waste she wore black, spandex pants that were swallowed up by fitted, knee-high, plated-metal boots Her hair had also grown longer, reaching between her shoulder-blades, and was tied back into a pony-tail.
Finishing her observations of the three ninja in front of her, Tsunade decided she should address and dismiss them for the day.
"That's good to hear Kakashi. Hopefully, this success will help spread some good word about the Hidden Leaf, and we'll start to get more missions in for you guys. And while we're on the topic of missions, I don't suppose I could get you four to accept some D-rank missions to help out around the village?" Looking at the faces in the room she soon regretted asking.
Hinata's face had immediately turned to the famed "Hyuga stare", as if asking if the pig-tailed blonde were serious. Thinking about it, Tsunade should have know better than to ask such a thing of the indigo-haired heiress. The people of the village still held animosity towards Naruto, some going so far as to blame Naruto about the current condition of the village; something that Hinata, who was still in love with the blonde, would not tolerate. Tsunade knew her answer was "no".
Sasuke looked like he wanted to say yes, but with his attempting to honor his only friend made it impossible to take up the offer. His treasury had taken a major blow, and the raven-haired youth was forced to take just about any mission he could in order to keep from losing having to start selling things out o his compound. Too bad it was hard to find work when many villages hated your guts. Tsunade did not feel sorry for him.
Sakura actually had her hand raised in acceptance. 'No surprise there', Tsunade thought as she looked at her. The pinkette didn't have any regret for her treatment of the blonde, nor her feelings about his banishment. While Sakura may have improved drastically as a ninja, her personality still had much to be desired. With a sigh, Tsunade turned and looked at the final occupant.
Kakashi had a bored look on his face, but she could see the underlying annoyance in his lone eye; he just didn't want to do the missions. And Tsunade couldn't blame him, who wants to go from ANBU captain to babysitter?
"Alright, well, Sakura I'll hand you a small stack of them as you're leaving and you can take the ones you want to do, and then leave the rest with Shizune at her desk. With that said," she pointed to the three chunin-level ninja, "you three can leave; I have something I need to discuss with Kakashi."
With that Tsunade picked up a stack of papers, handed them to Sakura who had stepped forward, and watched as they exited her office. When the door shut behind Sasuke the pig-tailed blonde's cheerful demeanor dropped away, and in its place sat a mask of business. She steeped her fingers in front of her face and called out:
"Tell us what you've learned about the Eagle, Jiraiya."
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As the three chunin exited the Hokage building Sakura called out to Hinata, "Hey, Hinata-san, do you feel like having a spar today? We only had them back when we were being trained by Kurenai-sensei and Lady-Tsunade, and I was hoping to compare our skills; what do you say?"
Hinata stopped, but didn't turn around as she addressed Sakura, "Haruno-san I apologize, but, I have no time to spar with you today. I have more important things that require my attention and, to be honest, I'd really just rather not waste my time humiliating you...you do enough of that yourself." With that, the Hyuga heiress began walking away again.
Sakura stood there for a moment and let her fellow kunoichi's words sink in, before settling her face into an angry scowl as she started to mutter, "Who does she think she is, embarrass myself, she just doesn't wanna face me because she knows I'm stronger than her now." Pushing thoughts of Hinata to the back of her mind, Sakura turned to address her male team-mate.
"Sasuke-kun, maybe you'd like to spend time together? We don't have to train, we can just...get to know each other better."
Sasuke turned and gave the pinkette a bored look as he replied, "Sakura, I've said no to that same invitation multiple times already, why do you keep asking?"
"But Sasuke-kun, I don't understand, why do you keep saying no? I've gotten strong enough that I'm not a burden to you on missions anymore, what is it that I don't have?" Sakura's eyes glistened with un-shed tears as she waited for his answer.
However instead of words, Sasuke just sighed and walked away, leaving Sakura to walk alone. As she moved through the streets of her village the pinkette thought about the last three years.
After Naruto's banishment Sakura was left with no friends, Ino had been especially cold to her. None of her former classmates wanted anything to do with her for one reason or another, so she looked to herself, and made a plan to become a real shinobi. After her plan to learn under Tsunade failed, Sakura was in a state of loss; she didn't know what her next step should be. And then she stumbled upon Kurenai-sensei. When the older woman asked what was wrong the pinkette spilled her guts, ending with her lack of direction in regards to her future. It came as a surprise when the Jounin asked if she wanted to become Kurenai's apprentice, but it didn't stop her from saying yes.
In the beginning it was tough, Kurenai was a harsh taskmaster, and asked much from Sakura in terms of training. But after the first year, Sakura noticed a substantial increase in her skills, and that she'd hit a stride in her training; things had gone from torturous to bearable.
During their second year of training, Kurenai set up monthly sparring matches between Sakura and Hinata. In the beginning the green-eyed kunoichi thought it would be like their last match...she was quickly proven wrong, and shown just how wide the gap was between her and Hinata. The Hyuga heiress dominated their spars, with Sakura never managing to land a blow. She noticed that this infuriated her new sensei, and it showed in the increased difficulty of her training. After about the fifth match, Sakura noticed that it had become even; she was managing to land blows and dodge Hinata's strikes. This sent the girl's confidence through the roof...until she found out why. Hinata had begun training with weights, which made her slower in the early stages of that training; something Sakura didn't find out about until after the heiress had finished the regiment.
Despite the numerous defeats, all the training did get her one thing; her friendship with Ino was restored, over a mutual dislike for Hinata. Ino explained that, while she was grateful to her fellow heiress or her help, the platinum-blonde still couldn't accept being second-rate to the Hyuga girl.
"Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe I can visit Ino at her families flower-shop." With a sense of purpose in her step now, the pinkette redirected herself and began her trek towards her lone friends home.
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"So what have you found?" Tsunade and Kakashi waited as Jiraiya dropped his camouflage technique.
The Toad-Sannin folded his arms in front of his chest as he answered his Hokage's question, "To be honest Tsunade, my network is finding less and less information on this "Eagle" as the time goes by. At first, all it took was a little digging to find some information but now? Now it's like the damn thing has just up and disappeared; nobody will talk about it."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he asked skeptically, "Nobody Jiraiya-Sama?"
"Well, no, it's not that they won't say anything, just that the only thing my men hear is praise for how much the Eagle is doing for them. It's when you try to find out about the man running it that everyone quiets down; whoever this guy is, he does not want to be found."
"-growl- Then how are we supposed to form an alliance with this new power if we can't find the guy leading it!?" Tsunade slammed her palms on her desk as she vented her frustration.
Jiraiya sighed as he said, "I asked about that already. I had someone tell me that 'you don't approach him, you must wait to be approached'. And before you say anything, I asked how that happens, and the guy told me that only those the Eagle saw as worthy were approached."
Tsunade stood up and paced as she thought about the information her former team-mate told her. How could an organization gain so much ground in such a short time? Or maybe the Eagle had been around longer than they thought and it was just now picking up speed; either way, Tsunade couldn't ignore it.
"You say the Eagle only approaches those it thinks are worthy...why hasn't he come to us?"
"Probably because they've heard of out new reputation," Kakashi muttered. This earned him an annoyed look from his Hokage, but he just lifted his brow as if asking "am I wrong".
"-sigh- Well, before I ask you to continue, did you find anything on Naruto?"
Jiraiya couldn't manage to look his life-long love in the eye as he gave her the bad news, "Unfortunately, no, my network hasn't heard anything of Naruto since that sighting a year ago of a blonde male in Nogyono senshi. What Naruto would be doing in a village like that I have no idea, but, it's said that shortly after that a small army drove out the ruler of Bird Country."
"Did Naruto lead the army?" Tsunade felt her heart race as she waited for the answer.
"No, it was lead by a man named Gaius. They don't have much of a description for him because his face was covered by his helmet."
The buxom Hokage nearly swallowed her tongue when she heard her fellow Sannin's answer. What many didn't know was that Caesar's first name was Gaius; just that in his time the first name wasn't used much for men.* Deciding not to let on that she knew anything, Tsunade cleared her throat and said, "W-Well, thank you for trying. And, now that you bring it up, what happened after that battle? I was never told."
"I...don't really know unfortunately. Since I was splitting my network between looking for Naruto and learning about the Eagle I didn't have any men left to pat attention to the outside world."
Tsunade did her best to hide her disappointment. Even though she'd sent the letter, she never got one in return, and it left an empty spot in her heart. The blonde knucklehead was like a son to her, and all she could do was send letters to him; letters that never received any reply.
"Alright, well, continue with what you've earned about the Eagle; no matter how little the amount."
"-Ahem- Okay. So, from what my spies heard, the leader of Eagle is-" Jiraiya didn't get the chance to finish speaking because Shizune rushed into the office.
"Lady-Tsunade, I apologize for the interruption but, the Kazekage has been abducted by members of the Akatsuki!"
All eyes in the room snapped in the direction of the Hokage's assistant as she finished speaking.
"What, when!?"
Panting, the young woman replied, "Last night -pant-, they came into the village and -pant- took him. Jiraiya-Sama's spies in Suna just relayed the information to me a moment ago."
Tsunade lowered her head in thought. If she sent a squad of ninja out to rescue Gaara, the red-headed Jinchuuriki may just be open to re-aligning with Konoha. Looking back to her assistant Tsunade said, "Alright, here's what I need you to do Shizune, go and get me Shikamaru, Kurenai, and Anko; Kakashi, I'm sorry, but I need to ask you to head this mission."
"It's alright Hokage-Sama, the Akatsuki is dangerous group, and I wouldn't feel right leaving any of my fellow ninja to battle any member of the organization alone; no matter how skilled they are.
With her orders set, Shizune exited Tsunade's office in search of the three ninja she'd been tasked to find.
"Kakashi, I want you at the main gate ready to go in ten minutes. I may pass-over your tardiness when it comes to most instances but, so help me, if you make your team wait today you'll be running after Tora for the rest of your career!"
The silver-haired Jounin simply nodded in confirmation and exited via a poof of smoke. Tsunade looked at the last occupant in the room and said, "Jiraiya, I want you to pull a section of your network off the Eagle case and set them back onto the Akatsuki; we can't afford to let something like this happen again."
The Toad-Sannin didn't leave immediately, instead, he looked to his fellow Sannin and asked, "Wouldn't it be wiser to pull men from the search for Naruto, Tsunade? The kid hasn't been properly identified since he left, we don't really have any leads, and for all we know by now he could be... -wham-"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!"
Seeing the look in the blonde kunoichi's eyes made the white-haired man regret his outburst, but it didn't make him wrong. "Alright Tsunade, I'm going, just...you need to start preparing for the worst." And like with Kakashi, he exited through a plume of smoke.
After everyone was gone, Tsunade wiped the tears from her eyes, and finally allowed a small smile to make its way onto her lips. She still had it if she was able to make Jiraiya believe she was upset. No, she had a strong sense that Naruto was alive, and that she'd see him soon.
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In another part of Konoha two chunin were having lunch at their usual ramen stand. One was Hinata but, if you hadn't seen the changes yourself, you wouldn't believe that the second person was Shikamaru Nara.
Shikamaru had filled out. No longer was he the scrawny academy student that managed to be the only chunin of his class, he now stood tall at 5'11, and years of harsh training had left the young man with a body of hard muscle. His attire had also changed. Other than a set of steel pauldrons on his shoulders, and a leather strap that held his kunai, the male Nara's chest was bare; his forearms were encased in a pair steel bracers as well. His lower body was clothed in a replica of Naruto's pteruges* and a pair of black ninja sandals, with knee-high grieves covering his legs; he also had a leather belt that held his sword. Shikamaru's hair was kept in its signature pineapple-style pony-tail and he, like Hinata, had forgone wearing his headband.
"So Sasuke thinks he's a swordsman now huh? I guess he figures it'll help him close the gap between his and the Imperator's skill-levels."
Hinata nodded in silent agreement as she drank from her cup of tea. She'd ran into Shikamaru after her return from the bandit extermination and they decided to stop at Ichiraku's. The Hyuga heiress had been quick to relay the details of her mission to her fellow future-Roman. When she told the Nara heir about Sasuke's new skill, the young man stopped her with a laugh.
"I find it funny how the Uchiha thinks he can just take up a katana and think that swinging it around makes him a swordsman" replied Hinata.
Shikamaru allowed himself another small laugh before setting his face to a serious look and saying, "Have you received any word from Temari? It's been a few months since you and she last spoke."
"Unfortunately, no, I haven't had the time to send anymore letters; I'm being kept busy with missions that "require someone of my skill-level." More like our being seen together so often has caused a commotion in the Council, and they wish to see our time spent together kept to a minimum."
Shikamaru finished his bite of ramen before responding, "It seems so. Although, it comes as no surprise, considering what they did to Naruto. Those fools are so paranoid. The problem is, Temari is our best chance at finding out where the Imperator is, we certainly can't hope to find him ourselves; what with no form of network outside these walls and our missions being lead by someone who doesn't want Naruto to be found."
"Do you really think Naruto-kun was the one who freed Bird Country? I only ask because, that was one of the main leads Temari sent me in regards to his whereabouts."
"I don't doubt it, the way the battle was won sounds like a Naruto-style victory; pulling it out from the jaws of defeat. And what about that rumor involving Taki; do you think he really made off with their Jinchuuriki?"
Hinata swallowed a bite of ramen before answering, "It very well could have been him. I believe Naruto-kun is attempting to build his forces, and who better to add to his ranks, than his fellow Tailed-Beast containers. My only hope is that he manages to build up a large enough force before Konoha discovers Naruto-kun's plan."
Before the conversation could move to a different subject, Shizune came running up to the ramen stand, looking relieved to have found them.
"-pant- Shikamaru -pant- I come at the command of Lady-Tsunade, -pant-, you have been requested to be part of a rescue squad, -pant-, and are to greet your team at the main gate, where you will be briefed on your task."
The young heir in question simply looked at the Hokage's assistant with a bored expression, before standing from his stool, and addressed Hinata, "It seems I am being called away...what a surprise."
"Yes, how convenient, I guess we can finish our conversation later. I'm interested to hear what kind of mission you were sent on."
With nods of good-bye, Hinata returned to her meal, and Shikamaru began his trek towards the gate.
When he arrived at the gate Shikamaru was surprised to see who made up his team. He hadn't seen Kurenai in months, and Anko was someone he'd only heard talks of; having only met her once, when she proctored the chunin exams. Kakashi wasn't much of a surprise, but it did put the Nara on edge that the silver-haired Jounin was on time; meaning this mission was important.
Kurenai looked to the young man and said, "Shikamaru, I'm glad to see you managed to arrive in a timely manner. This mission is a high-priority situation, and we need to move fast before it's too late."
"Yeah, I figured it was important if even Kakashi managed to be here on time. Would you mind telling me what our mission is, Shizune didn't really give me any details, she said I'd be debriefed here."
This time it was Anko that spoke up, "We're heading to Suna to rescue the Kazekage, Gaara, from the organization known as the Akatsuki. The report says he was captured last night, so they have a huge lead on us, and we have no time to lose."
With that, the group of ninja leaped into the trees, and raced off to Suna.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Temari stood at the main entrance to the Sand village, she stared off into the distance while she wrung her hands nervously. Being in such deep thought, the sandy-blonde didn't notice the team of Leaf ninja that appeared in front of her.
Shikamaru, seeing the young woman's distress, walked up and said, "Temari, hey, snap out of it." When the words seemed to have little effect the shadow-manipulator proceeded to shake Temari's shoulders.
This seemed to do the trick, because Temari's eyes blinked in rapid succession and she replied, "Huh... W-What's...Shikamaru? What are you-" The young woman stopped when she noticed the other three ninja that had accompanied Shikamaru.
"What are you three doing here, Gaara made it very clear that Konoha's shinobi are no longer welcome in Suna."
Kurenai Yuhi stepped forward and answered her, "Much like your village no doubt has, Konoha has a network of informants that keep tabs on the group known as the Akatsuki. Through them, we've learned about what happened to Gaara, and have arrived to lend aid in returning him to his village."
Temari narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she replied, "While it is true we keep tabs on the Akatsuki, in order for us, or the Leaf, to know of the abduction of another villages Jinchuuriki so quickly...we must have spies in that village."
"And we apologize for any misunderstanding our having spies in your village may have caused, but, the Akatsuki is a dangerous organization Temari and the villages have to look beyond their personal squabbles if we hope to defeat them", Shikamaru jumped in, hoping to cool down the rising heat of the situation.
As the Leaf ninja waited for Temari's response, Shikamaru used this time to take in the sandy-blond's new attire. What he found made his eyes widen in recognition.
Temari was dressed in a black battle-kimono that stopped around her knees, with a red obi tied around her waist. On her feet, instead of ninja sandals, were a pair of plated, metal boots; like Sakura wore. The sleeves of the kimono were short, reaching just enough to cover her shoulders, and so did nothing to hide the leather bracers that were decorated with the embroidering of flying eagles. Looking to the collar of Temari's kimono, Shikamaru noticed a thin, metal chest-plate strapped to her torso. And finally, the Nara heir took notice of the circular token that was tied to a string around her neck; it too held the symbol of a flying eagle.
'Although it's not surprising. If it really is Naruto running this "Eagle", then it makes sense that Suna would be under his protection; and that Temari would carry his symbol.' Temari's voice pulled the young man from his thoughts.
"As helpful as that sounds Shikamaru, we don't need your villages help-"
Kakashi chose that moment to interrupt, "Because your allied with the Eagle correct?"
Temari turned her narrowed gaze in the direction of the legendary Copy-Ninja and replied, "If we are, then you understand why we don't require the Leaf's assistance; our ally would already be in pursuit of the men who took my brother. Now I suggest you remove yourselves from fucking sight, before I have you detained for entering territory where your village's ninja are unwelcome."
The squad of Leaf ninja looked at one another, before deciding that they'd pushed their luck enough, and began the return trip home.
After making it a considerable distance from the front gate, Shikamaru signaled for the rest of the team to stop. Kakashi, who had an idea as to why, voiced his curiosity.
"Is there a reason you've requested the stop Shikamaru? Surely it isn't because you're tired."
"No Kakashi-san, I was actually hoping you could summon one of your tracking hounds for us." Now the two kunoichi on the squad were confused.
"What for Shikamaru?" Questioned the ruby-eyed Jounin.
The Nara heir held out his hand, revealing soot, and replied, "Temari had an encounter with one of the men that took her brother. It stands to reason that, in light of her distress, she didn't clean up from the battle, so when I went to shake her I picked up residue from the Akatsuki member's attack; meaning Kakashi-san's dog can track the scent."
The three Jounin were impressed with the young chunin's plan. Kakashi wasted no time summoning a tracking hound and having it get the scent off Shikamaru's hand, it took a moment because the soot had broken down.
Once the ninja-dog was done, it turned to Kakashi and barked in success. The silver-haired Jounin looked pleased with himself, but then sent a curious glance at the Nara heir.
"Why exactly did you want me to get the trail of the Akatsuki that took Gaara?"
"Simple, if we find him then we find Gaara, and if we find Gaara we'll find the members of the Eagle that were sent to recover him. I figured this could be Konoha's chance to network with the Eagle and maybe get some of their support."
'And it might lead me to Naruto, but they don't need to know that.'
Seeing the logic in their fellow ninja's plan of action, the three Jounin nodded silently in agreement, and all were soon following the lead of Kakashi's tracker hound.
As the Leaf ninja hurried towards their destination Shikamaru's mind was in deep thought about what they would find. Would Naruto be leading the rescue mission? It seemed likely, considering the kinship he shared with the red-headed Jinchuuriki, but at the same time it wouldn't seem likely; the blonde wouldn't chance being seen and having his whereabouts sent back to Konoha. And what if he was heading the squad; how would he react to seeing ninja from the village that banished him? Those were the thoughts that plagued the young man's mind as he followed behind his superior officers.
'Superior only in title as far as I'm concerned,' the Nara heir growled in his head.
Despite his impressive skills, and his genius mind, Shikamaru's village saw fit to keep the young chunin down. Shikamaru knew that they did this because, if he was made a Jounin, the new rank would give him permission to select his own missions; which could help him find Naruto. He would have been able to check out every lead on his blonde Imperator, and possibly find and join up with him.
'It'd be better than rooting around in the muck back in Konoha, and with Jounin only being selected by petition of the people, I'm likely to spend the rest of my life as somebodies pawn!'
xxxxxxxxxxxx
The group of Leaf ninja made good time in reaching the end of Gaara's scent trail. When they finally stopped they were surprised at what they found. In front of them was a crystal-blue lake set against a cliff, but upon closer inspection of the rocky surface, Kakashi noticed a boulder that seemed out of place; made more apparent by the glowing seal tag that was slapped in the middle of it.
Kurenai, who'd just taken notice of the tag, looked at her fellow teacher and said, "Well Kakashi, what do you want to do? We could try to force our way in."
Kakashi just stared at the seal as he responded, "I wouldn't recommend that. We don't know just what type of seal was used; it could blow up in our faces or just be a simple security seal, but considering we're dealing with the Akatsuki, I wouldn't want to take any unnecessary chances."
"Well then what do you suppose we should do? Because the way I see it we have two options: have someone knowledgeable in seals crack the damn thing, or, we bust our way in. And since I don't see a seals master anywhere around here, I guess that leaves us with choice B." As she spoke Anko readied her hands to begin signs for one of the more destructive jutsu she learned from Orochimaru, but she was stopped by Shikamaru who placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait Anko-san, look." As he said this the Nara male pointed to the paper seal they had just been discussing...it was no longer glowing.
"Does that mean they're done with the Kazekage," asked Kurenai in a hurried tone. In response, all members of the Konoha team held their breath and waited a few minutes to see if the boulder would move. When it didn't, they got their answer.
Someone else had shut down the seal.
Finally, Kakashi spoke up, "Alright, well, let's not waste anymore time; the seal's down so I suggest
we-" He was cut-off by the sound of footsteps hurrying towards them.
All heads turned and stared at the forest's edge as the sound got louder and louder. Finally, the squad of Leaf ninja were met with a surprising sight.
Standing along the edge of the lake was a total of 160 men. These men were set up in groups of two squares; 80 men each. The front-lines for both were lined with men that were carrying large, oval-shaped shields. The shields were silver, but they were battle-worn; showing that these soldiers had experience. In the center of the shields were a circular bump. Each of the soldiers wore a helmet; skullcaps with a plate in the back to protect the neck. Other than that, all the Konoha ninja could see was that the men wore leather shoes and had metal shin-guards.
They took a look at the rest of the men, and noticed a distinct difference in style. The rest of the soldiers were covered in what looked to be plated armor that covered their entire upper-body as well as their shoulders. Kakashi noticed that the men also wore the same type of leather skirt-type bottoms that Shikamaru was wearing; these men wore leather boots and also had shin-guards. Their helmets were a little more protective than the front-lines, they had side-panels to protect their faces. The soldiers also had leather bracers, and carried a blade on both hips.
While the three Jounin were admiring the new arrivals, Shikamaru was staring wide-eyed at the lone female that stood in a commanding position in front of one of the groups of men. The woman was of average height with a trim, athletic figure. Her torso was covered in a chest-plate that had clips on the sides that connected the back piece; the metal was, like the others, battle-worn. Instead of a bulky, muscle-style though, this armor was sleek and was built to accommodate the woman's chest. The Nara heir also took notice of the fact that, the woman's armor stretched to cover her lower-body as well; around the hips the metal flared out into three triangular guards that protected the groin and the upper-thighs.
Shikamaru moved his line of sight to take in the roman-style sandals that were on her feet along with her own pair of shin-guards. Instead of leather, her bracers were also made of metal, and she had a pair of rings; one on each middle-finger. On her head she wore a helmet, Shikamaru recognized the style from the one Naruto had worn during the retrieval mission. What took the young man by surprise was the long, crimson ponytail that reached down to her tailbone. It seemed like she sensed him staring, because the woman turned her gazed in Shikamaru's direction, and what he saw almost floored him.
Her eyes were a smoldering dark-brown instead of sickly yellow, and her face had matured, but Shikamaru recognized the woman as Tayuya; the same girl he thought had died during the retrieval mission!