Rise, Son of Rome

Ch.17- Set Motus in Rotis

(Wheels set in motion)

oo0oo

Rome. Just the name alone was enough to send shivers down several of the Council members' spines, and even for those that didn't know of the ancient super-power they could still feel the goosebumps raise on their arms from the way the blonde man in front of them spoke of it.

And yet, as awe inspiring as it all was, there was still one man who dared to stare the monster in the face; Danzo.

"So you're attempting to copy some long forgotten super-power, and use its ghost as a way to either frighten or brainwash people into following you? How very juvenile."

Hearing the elderly man's condescending tone grated on not only Naruto's nerves, but those of Tayuya' as well, although for separate reasons. The problem was, they couldn't afford to show that it affected them in any way or else it would only prove the crippled war-hawk right.

So instead, they went for a deflection.

"And yet you are attempting to align yourselves with me," the descendant of Caesar responded, "so what does that say about all of you?

The reply came this time from the mouth of Hiashi Hyuga. The statuesque man stood tall as he addressed the blonde down below him, "The village of Konoha has, like any village is capable of doing, fallen on hard times due to a number of unforeseen setbacks. We seek only a temporary alliance with you, so as to help us back onto our feet, and then after that there will be no more reason for our two powers to communicate."

Naruto had to hold back a smug smirk at hearing of their 'setbacks', and instead chose to calmly reply, "Ah, yes, I remember hearing something about a number of your contracts pulling out. It was something about...unjust prejudice, and unfair treatment based on personal grudges, if I'm not mistaken? Yes, truly a shame if you ask me."

"Well then it's a good thing that's not what we're to question you about isn't it?" This retort came from the elder known as Koharu, Naruto could tell even with her eyes squinted that the old crow was giving him a disgruntled look.

The blonde Roman nodded silently in agreement before questioning, "You're right, it's not, so why don't we simply cleave to the heart of the matter and discuss the terms of this alliance you all are asking for."

He may be willing to be civil, but that didn't mean the Imperator wasn't going to take silent shots at their pride.

From there it was a fairly cordial affair. Questions were asked, answers given, and numbers were crunched as both sides attempted to come out of the discussion with more gain than they were giving up. This worked well until Danzo decided to stick his nose in where it didn't belong; Naruto's military forces.

"I propose you leave a number of your soldiers here with us, not necessarily as a defensive maneuver, but an added benefit. Just think, if they were to begin teaching Konoha's ninja how to fight as effectively as them, then-"

"No." Naruto cut the man off before he even had a chance to finish his thought. "This is a temporary alliance Councilman Danzo, nothing more, and so I see no reason to share my tactics or military make up with you. The process of creating a legionnaire is a secret, and is only shared among fellow Romans...something this room is in severe lack of at the moment."

Here Shikaku raised his hand and said, "Actually, Naruto, my family hales from an ancient Roman house that you yourself might know of; the House of Crassus."

Naruto feigned shock at this bit of news, his eyes widening while his brow even rose to really sell it. "Is that so? Well I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise, considering the great intelligence your family is known for matches that of your revered ancestor."

"Ah so you see, young Uzumaki, your people have taken root here in Konoha. Now don't you think this is a sign; one that speaks of how powerful the village is if it can draw the descendants of such a genius Roman?"

Blue eyes swerved from Shikaku over to Danzo, the elderly Councilman had been the one to speak again, and Naruto didn't like the air that surrounded the old war-hawk. It was...slimy.

'Time to start pulling the plug on this farce,' the descendant of Caesar thought as he eyed Danzo.

"To be honest Danzo, that very well could be a sign...if this was the Leaf that Hashirama built hundreds of years ago. But if you mean to say that the village I stand in now still shines as bright, then I have to say you are sorely mistaken."

At this shot at the village Naruto could see the three elders stiffen in anger, and while both Danzo and Homura managed to keep their peace, Koharu couldn't stop herself from rising to defend the honor of her home. "How dare you, this village has remained everything the Shodai dreamed it would be, and for you to even suggest that we have forgotten his ambition is unacceptable."

'And that's the game.' Naruto smirked internally smirked as his eyes turned sharp. The blonde warrior folded his hands behind his back and, with his poker-face in place, began to speak.

"You say that the village of Konoha has kept up the pillars that made it great during its founding, but I must disagree, as I don't recall the Shodai ever authorizing the assassination of a foreign dignitary that he invitedfor a treaty talk."

"Now that's a hefty claim young Caesar," Choza chimed in. He'd sat and watched the battle between the blonde and the elders since it began, and the red-head could already see where this was going. In his mind the Akimichi clan leader was saddened at what was happening to his village, how far they were falling, and could only hope that there was a way to save it. But for now, "Do you have any proof that there was an attempt on your life?"

Had he not spent the past three years working to create the perfect image of 'Caesar', Naruto knew he'd be grinning like the devil. But he had, so it was just a part of the game for him as he replied to the large man's question. Turning towards Tayuya, the blonde gave the order.

"Show them."

Tayuya gave a firm nod as she walked over towards the shaded window. She pulled apart the red curtain...and revealed a bloodied pair of bodies hung up by a series of ropes. It was the dead Sai and his fellow ROOT operative, they hung from the faces of Konoha's Kage monument, and were on display for all the village to see.

Turning his attention back towards Choza, Naruto said, "I believe these young men were members of your ANBU unit if I'm not mistaken."

Here is where Tsunade began to play her part in the plan. "Actually, Naruto, I've personally seen the files for every ANBU under my command and these two faces have never crossed my desk."

"If that's true Lady Tsunade then how can we believe this boy's accusation," Hiashi spoke up. The Hyuga leader couldn't afford to have his village take anymore moral hits, and if these shinobi were shown to be from Konoha, and the news got out that they attempted to murder Naruto, then Hiashi feared the possibility of a village-wide collapse. "How do we know these men aren't from another village?"

"There was a symbol printed across the forehead of these two young men's masks, if you don't mind, would it be alright for me to show you it? Maybe you've seen in Lady Tsunade." Naruto offered. When the buxom blonde accepted, he walked over towards her and was handed a piece of paper and a pen. Drawing the symbol took only a minute, and once he finished, Caesar's descendant revealed the image to everyone in the room.

For most of them it didn't mean anything, but for Danzo and Tsunade it spelled the beginning of the end. It was the symbol for ROOT.

xXx

While Naruto began to pull the rug out from under Konoha and begin his slow deconstruction of the village, Hinata stared into the eyes of the last person she expected to see outside the walls of the Leaf.

Sasuke Uchiha.

But he looked far different from the former rogue she remembered. Gone were the shinobi style clothes he'd worn the last time Hinata saw him, and in their place was something frighteningly reminiscent of her blonde love's uniform.

He wore layered leather armor, black in color, across his torso with another layer acting as cover for his waist. Most of Sasuke's arms and legs were bare minus the guards he wore for his forearms and shins. His head was covered by a helmet similar to Naruto's, but it too was black, and where the blonde's had red horse hair Sasuke's matched the helmet. The Uchiha's helmet design was also smoother than Naruto's.

Around his waist Hinata saw Sasuke had a sword belt, which held a blade the same length, but more curved than Naruto's gladius. The Uchiha also held a shield in his left hand; it was circular, with crescent-shaped curves along the top and bottom. (Think Achilles from Troy)

And yet despite this change of clothes Hinata could still see the same onyx-black eyes that looked upon her the night they did battle. Images flashed through the woman's mind as she eyed the man that stood before her, ghostly feelings of pain ached throughout her body as she thought back to that night, but Hinata ultimately shook those thoughts away and repeated, "I said: 'what are you doing here Sasuke-san?'"

The answer was nothing what the former Hyuga expected. "I'm here to see Naruto; I've decided to join him."

Lavender eyes narrowed dangerously, "What sort of deformity do you suffer from, that lets you believe he would even consider trusting you again after all that happened?"

"Because I have information he needs to hear," was Sasuke's rebuttal. "Especially if he wants to make this dream of reviving his ancestors empire."

"And what could you possibly have for the Imperator that would aid him in his quest," Shikamaru's voice called out as he strode over to the two former Leaf shinobi.

"I'd rather not have to tell the same story twice, so I'll just wait until Naruto gets here," Sasuke replied. He was beginning to feel annoyed at how they two were ganging up on him; couldn't they see that he was serious?

Then Shikamaru noticed the new comers state of dress, and decided to question Sasuke about it. The Uchiha's answer interested him greatly. "It belonged to my ancestors; the Greeks. Naruto descends from Caesar, but I come from Furor, a warrior stricken from history for his horrendous deeds but also the sole son of Pluto and Mania."

Shikamaru kept his gaze stern as he eyed the raven-haired man before him. While it was true the Roman's deities hailed from Greek mythology, the Nara understood that even supernatural beings weren't merely one-sided. They had depth, and layers to their personalities which were expressed through the re-telling of their stories. This made Shikamaru more inclined to believe Sasuke's story, but there was still one thing that bothered him. "If this Furor was essentially erased, then how do we know you're telling the truth; how can you prove he existed?"

"For that we'll need to return to Wave," Sasuke replied, "because it's only there that Naruto will be able to speak with his patrons. Like how I spoke with mine in Konoha."

The Nara heir arched an eyebrow at that, "You spoke to the gods?"

Sasuke nodded in confirmation, "As difficult as it may be to believe, yes, I spoke with both Pluto as well as Mania...and they are the one's who relayed the warning I have for Naruto."

"But why are your ancestral patrons able to reach you in the Leaf, and Naruto's aren't," questioned Hinata. She was still suspicious of the Uchiha's true motives, and was in no mood to play games with him. Sasuke would either tell the truth, or be gutted where he stood for attempting to stab Naruto in the back again.

"Because that's where their presence can be felt the strongest; the Uchiha clan raised shrines to their patrons during the first hundred years of Konoha's founding, and made regular prayers and offerings to them before the Second Hokage gated them into that cramped district."

"He did that because of the darkness left behind by Madara, your clan's founder," Shikamaru corrected.

But Sasuke just brushed it off. That was the past, and if he really wanted to reclaim his clan's lost honor then Sasuke knew he'd have to do it under Naruto's command. So, instead of arguing, Sasuke simply sighed and continued speaking. "My point is, after they were corralled the Uchiha clan felt that the gods had forsaken them, and they embraced the ideology that they were the pinnacle of strength and power; they let their pride blind them, and their lust for even greater power drive them to their own destruction."

"Which explains the connection to Mania," concluded Hinata. "But that still doesn't explain why you now seek to align yourself with Naruto."

Seeing that he had no way of avoiding it, and that trying any further may result in violence, Sasuke resign himself to explain. Turning towards Shikamaru he asked, "What do you know of Luna?"

"She's the moon goddess, and watcher of the night, why?"

"Because she is what I need to speak with Naruto about; Luna plans to eradicate the human race."

xXx

Back with Naruto, the budding Roman emperor was busy taking in the reactions to his little art show. And while the rest of the room didn't see it, he silently enjoyed the way Danzo's fingers barely tightened around the handle of his cane once his squinted eye landed on the page that Naruto held up.

"Does this look familiar to any of you," he questioned while walking around the room. "Because up until last night, I can't say that either myself or my guard has."

Tsunade acted as if she had to think about it before saying that, she had seen a symbol like the one he'd drawn, it was in a file handed down by Sarutobi from his time in office. "He called it ROOT, and said that it was an off the books unit, privately funded...that answered to Danzo."

The Councilman now in question remained poised and composed as he defended himself. He informed the room that, yes, ROOT belonged to him in the sense that he had many enemies and needed a security force to help prevent any assassination attempts. "But why they would attack you in the middle of the night, I can only assume that being new to the program they snapped and lost their sense of morality."

"If the training to become the personal bodyguard of a dried up old fossil like you is so strenuous, why would anyone willingly choose to undergo it," Questioned the ever tactful Tayuya.

Danzo chose to ignore the shot at his current condition and instead answered the red-haired woman's question. "They choose it young lady because of their reverence of me, and my legacy from when I was an active duty shinobi."

"But that doesn't explain why their files aren't on record Shimura-san," goaded Naruto. "Why has no one in this room, other than you and the Hokage, ever heard of this division before?"

"Because, as the Hokage already pointed out, they are privately funded. This means that I pay for them out of my own pocket to guard me, and having them in the shinobi files would make them eligible for missions outside the village where they could very well die, which would lower my security. I pay these men and women to protect me, young Uzumaki, not to go out and save diplomats daughters or broker trade agreements."

The young Roman nodded in what seemed understanding, and then he asked, "So just how many men and women do you have on this staff of security Danzo? Surely it couldn't be more than a handful, right, because any more than that and you'd be robbing Konoha of valuable resources."

But the mummified elder wasn't in the mood for anymore questions. He stood from his seat and barked out, "I find it odd that we've gotten off the subject Uzumaki; the prospect of you allying with the Leaf. As I've already stated, those two young men were obviously unfit to handle the harsh level of training required to be a part of my security staff, and their attack on you was something I never ordered. Now can we please return to the negotiations, because I'm sure by now the entire village is in an upheaval about two dead bodies hanging from our Hokage's faces, and would like to be calmed down sometime soon with news that it was a ghastly mistake."

As if to emphasize Danzo's point, outside the meeting hall everyone could hear the sound of a mob crowding around the building in a frenzy. However what they heard shocked all, even Danzo, except for Naruto and those in on his plan.

They were crying for Naruto's blood.

"Why do they think Naruto had anything to do with what they saw," questioned Shikaku, "And what makes them believe he's even in the village? As far as I know there's been no word about just who the leader of Eagle was, so how could they know it's him?"

Questions similar to this buzzed around the room, but anyone who looked in Dano's direction could tell that he was not happy about this new development. 'They weren't supposed to act this early, their ahead of schedule! It was meant to look like a slow realization, and then a demand for compensation for the emotional distress caused by his return to the Leaf. Damn it all, this is why you never ask a civilian to do the work of a shinobi!'

But the cat was already out of the bag, so the old war-hawk had only one option; roll with it.

Still standing, the one-eyed Councilman spoke up over both the buzzing of questions and the riot outside. "As you can see, the people of the village are very upset about what you've just done. I believe this more than calls for a formal apology, as well as, the agreement to aid Konoha financially."

"Actually," Naruto countered, "I think if anything it means I've overstayed my welcome here and need to go."

With that the blonde warrior began to make his exit, Tayuya following faithfully behind, and despite the calls from certain members of the Council the two of them walked out the door.

Once they were outside Tayuya eyed her Imperator with a worried look; one that Naruto noticed immediately. The Roman looked to the head of his guard and asked what was wrong. When she told him, it was a response the blonde never expected.

"You're worried? Why, this is all part of the plan?"

"Just because I'm tough doesn't mean I don't care, ya know? We've been through a lot and...I don't think I could forgive myself if anything happened to you on my watch."

Naruto's response was to place one of his large, calloused hands on the red-head's shoulder and telling her that everything would be fine. "I've come this far, there's no way I'll be stopped now."

'I can only hope,' Tayuya thought as the doors leading to the angry mob came into view.

xXx

A/N: And there's the next chapter to Rise. Now it's probably not what you all were expecting, considering the long wait, but I noticed it's officially been a whole year since I've started this story and I wanted to give you guys something for the long wait.