Ch.4: To the Land of Greens / Coup d'etat
It was a bright and sunny morning when Team Nine set out from Konoha for their first official C-rank mission. The sky was clear and bright, but there was a cool, gentle breeze that kept the day from getting too hot. All things considered, it was an excellent day to start a mission.
From the moment they set foot outside the gate to the village, Naruto began hyperactively running around, his excitement getting the better of him. His former dissatisfaction with the mundane nature of the mission was apparently forgotten now that the adventure had finally started.
"What's got you all wound up, Naruto?" Asuma questioned his student. "You remember we're just protecting merchants for this mission, right?" Asuma was glad that Naruto was at least being positive about the mission, but even so, it was too early in the day to be dealing with his student's antics.
Naruto paused for a moment, but didn't look too put out. "Yeah, I know. But still, I can't help but be excited. This is my first time leaving the village! I mean, I've been outside the walls before, but never for more than a few hours. When we went outside for special exercises during the academy, we always came back in before nightfall."
"Hm, you were outside for more than a day during your genin exam," Asuma reminded his student.
The blond-haired genin gave his sensei the stink eye for reminding him of that awful experience. "Yeah, but thanks to your stupid test I was running like crazy the whole time, so I didn't really get to enjoy it."
Asuma chuckled lightly. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but sympathize with his student a little bit. He felt a wave of nostalgia as he thought back to his first time leaving the village as a genin.
"Alright well, just make sure you don't tire yourself out. It's still quite a ways to go before we reach the Land of Greens."
Somewhat unexpectedly, Hinata spoke up from next to him, "Um, sensei...out of curiosity, what sort of place is the Land of Greens? Do you know much about it?"
Internally, Asuma was pleased that Hinata was finally beginning to speak up unprompted in situations like this. He promptly responded, "Hm, well, I wouldn't say I know a lot about the place. But to be perfectly honest I don't think there's a whole lot to know. The Land of Greens is a small country with an even smaller population. There's just not much of note to be found there. To my knowledge, the only thing they're really known for is having lots of wide open fields full of flowers."
That sounds nice. Hinata thought to herself.
"That sounds girly," Naruto said, not as nearly enthused with talk of flowers. "What about shinobi? Are there any shinobi there?"
Thinking back to what he knew about various countries' shinobi populations, Asuma replied, "Not very many, but a few, I think. Unlike Fire Country, the Land of Greens has no kage, and in fact doesn't even have a real shinobi village at all. From what I understand there's really just a handful of shinobi whose job it is to protect the feudal lord."
Actually, in Asuma's opinion, it was a simpler, better system. The presence of two "kings" in a country created a potential faultline for conflict. The balance of power between the kages and the feudal lords had always been delicate and somewhat awkward. Not to mention it gave potential enemies more places to strike and cause critical damage, thus making the job of protecting the "king" that much more difficult and complicated. In his younger days, Asuma had been an open proponent of reducing the number of "kings" to one. Thus, many years ago, he had left the village and joined the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, an elite unit of shinobi gathered from around the Land of Fire to protect the Fire Country feudal lord. In fact, he still wore the sash of the Guardians around his waist as part of his standard attire to this very day. It had been his way of protesting the current system and showing his support for the feudal lord as the ultimate authority in the Land of Fire, even though he was the Hokage's own son.
Unfortunately, the Guardian Shinobi Twelve had ended in tragedy, when half of their number decided to change the system directly by assassinating the Hokage. The resultant coup split the Guardians into two factions, and ended with the deaths of all of the members except for Asuma and his old friend Chiriku.
Damn Kazama. He thought bitterly, not for the first time. I may have had my own issues with the system, but did he really think I wouldn't act to protect my own father?
Asuma shook his head to clear away these dark thoughts. His meeting with his brother the day before had left him in a bad mood, and caused him to be prone to think about things he'd rather not.
The day wore on as the members of Team Nine made their way steadily westward. They marched most of the day, until the sun began to sink toward the horizon, the sky just beginning to turn a light shade of orange as evening approached. Though they still had a few hours of daylight left, Asuma decided to call a halt.
"Alright, that's far enough for today," he called to his three genin. "We'll set up here for the night." There was a clearing in the trees he had spotted not too far off the road that he thought would make a good campsite.
"Huh?" Naruto checked the position of the sun. Though the light had begun getting in their eyes as it headed toward the horizon, it was still well up in the sky, and there were still several hours left before it could even be called dusk. "Are you sure, Asuma-sensei? Wouldn't it be better to keep moving until nightfall?"
Asuma responded to his student's question, "Well, first of all, Naruto, you always want to leave yourself an hour or so of daylight when you stop moving for the day. Trying to set up camp in the dark is no fun at all, trust me. Besides that," he said, now grinning at his students, "I thought I'd give you guys a few hours to train on the new technique I'm going to show you."
His student's attentions were immediately caught by that statement. Naruto, in particular, was predictably ebullient at being taught a new technique. As the four members of Team Nine made their way into the trees, he rapidly pestered Asuma with questions as to the nature of the lesson. "What kind of technique are you gonna show us Asuma-sensei? Is it gonna be some awesome exploding elemental jutsu? Or maybe a super-slick kunai technique! Is it?"
Stopping in front of three trees that looked like they would serve, Asuma turned to face his students. Nodding, with a smirk, he replied, "Even better! I'm gonna teach you guys...to climb trees!"
Asuma paused, waiting for the typical combination of confusion and outrage from his students. Instead they all stared back at him blankly, patiently waiting for him to finish the joke. Asuma sweatdropped. I guess I'm getting a little predictable. "Ah, that is...I'll be teaching you to climb trees without using your hands."
At this Hinata and Chouji looked surprised and interested, while Naruto just looked confused.
"Ooh! Is this the tree-walking technique?" Chouji spoke up, looking excited. "Neat! I've been looking forward to this!"
Naruto looked back and forth between his teammates and sensei, looking totally lost. "Wait, what are you guys talking about?"
Chouji, still looking excited, replied, "Come on Naruto! You know how older shinobi can run straight up trees, and along the sides of buildings and stuff?"
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. OH! You mean...there's a special technique for doing that?"
"Um, Naruto-kun..." Hinata spoke, "Tree-walking is a chakra based technique shinobi use to attach themselves to objects against the force of gravity. Um...how did you think they did it?"
Naruto, realizing this was probably another one of those things he really should have already known, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uuuhhh...running really, really fast?"
Asuma sighed. It was easy even for him to forget sometimes how much basic knowledge Naruto was missing.
"Yes, well, as Hinata said, this technique involves gathering chakra in a specific area in order to attach yourself to objects or surfaces. You can technically use any part of the body, but for the purposes of this training, we'll focus on using the bottoms of your feet. The goal is to gather chakra directly to the soles of your feet and maintain it at a steady level in order to create a pull between yourself and the opposite surface, like so." Saying this, Asuma proceeded to gather chakra in his feet, and then casually strolled up the side of the tree nearest him, his hands never leaving his pockets and his body parallel to the ground.
His students, needless to say, were suitably impressed, watching in open amazement as he casually defied gravity. Once he had climbed high enough he stepped off the trunk onto a tree branch and turned to face the genin once more.
"The purpose of this training is two-fold. For one, this is obviously a very important skill for a shinobi. Once you have mastered it, your mobility will be greatly increased. You'll be able to scale obstacles easily, and jump from tree to tree safely. Just as important though, since the soles of the feet are the most difficult places to gather chakra, learning this technique will force you to hone your chakra control." Seeing a question growing in Naruto's eyes, he decided to head it off at the pass. "'Chakra control' refers to how adeptly you are able to mold your chakra. Improving your chakra control will increase the effectiveness of your jutsu, and also the efficiency with which you expend chakra for them. This technique is considered a prerequisite to learning higher-level jutsu."
Naruto's expression was growing more excited by the minute. Grinning ferally, he said, "So what you're saying is, once we learn how to do this, we'll be ready to learn more powerful jutsu?"
Naruto's words gave Asuma an idea. Time to break out the bribery and blackmail!
Smirking, he replied, "Sure! In fact, how about this...This mission should last about two weeks altogether. If the three of you can all master this technique by the time we get back to Konoha, I'll teach each of you a new ninjutsu."
Naruto, of course, looked thrilled at this, his eyes glowing with excitement, and Hinata and Chouji both looked interested. With Asuma, though, things were never that simple.
"Of course, if any of you can't complete the training in the given time, the whole team will do a special exercise instead."
The three genin all shuddered at their sensei's tone. Since their genin test, the word 'exercise' had come to have a special meaning for Team Nine. They all knew to be worried when their sensei used it as a threat.
Even so, the three didn't immediately back down. Naruto, if anything, looked even more resolute. As usual, the threat of failure only served to make him more determined. He glanced back and forth between his two teammates. For their part, Hinata and Chouji both looked a bit hesitant at first, but after meeting Naruto's gaze both seemed to stiffen in their resolve. Naruto's courage inspired them to reach farther than they would have before.
Receiving firm nods from his teammates, Naruto turned back to Asuma with a bold grin. "You're on, Asuma-sensei! We'll complete this training and learn those new ninjutsu in no time flat!"
Smiling proudly down at his three students, Asuma replied, "Heh, I look forward to it. In that case…!" With a single sweep of his arm, Asuma threw three kunai that landed squarely in front of each genin. "You'll use these to mark your progress. It'll probably take you some time to figure out exactly how to manipulate the chakra, so you should start by running up the tree. Now, focus your chakra in the soles of your feet, and get started!"
Two hours of focussed training later, Naruto was starting to get seriously frustrated. The markings he left on the tree with his kunai were scattered all over the side, none of them going more than ten feet up the side of the tree. Aside from the kunai scratches, the tree was also marred with multiple foot-sized gouges, from when Naruto put too much chakra into the technique. The real pain in the butt part of this training was that the amount of chakra used had to be just right. Put too little in and your foot slipped right off the bark, and you went tumbling down to the ground. Put too much into it though, and the bark would splinter right under you, throwing you forcefully off the side of the tree. Finding that exact balance of chakra was what was really giving Naruto trouble.
He wished he could say that he was slowly but steadily pushing higher and higher, but that wasn't technically true. Naruto's results were essentially random each time he made an attempt to charge up the tree. He would go higher on one attempt, only to suddenly not make it as far his very next try. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to replicate his success from one attempt to the next. For that reason Naruto knew he wasn't really making progress on this training at all.
Looking to his right, Naruto checked the progress of his fellow male teammate. Chouji hadn't made huge progress on the training, his highest mark being only a few feet higher than Naruto's highest. That said, unlike Naruto, Chouji had been pushing steadily up the tree. Each successive mark he made was a little higher than the one before it.
Hearing something falling through the air to his left, Naruto looked over and sighed dejectedly, as Hinata landed lightly on the ground once more. On their first attempts, both Naruto and Chouji had ended up flat on their backs, not even managing to leave a mark on their way down as their chakra's hold on the side of the tree failed. As they rubbed their aching backs, they both simultaneously noticed that their third teammate was missing. Looking up, their jaws had dropped to see Hinata standing on a tree branch more than halfway up the side of the tree she had been climbing.
Laughing, Asuma-sensei had explained that Hinata's Gentle-fist style of taijutsu was similar in concept to the tree-climbing technique, since it involved controlling and expelling chakra from the hands to augment one's strikes.
This did little to make Naruto feel better, however, as he glanced up the side of Hinata's tree. Hinata's highest mark now reached nearly three-quarters of the way up the tree. She would be at the top in no time at this rate, while he was still struggling at the bottom. Getting to his feet once more, Naruto's face fell into a determined grimace. He refused to be left behind!
"Alright, that's enough for today." Asuma suddenly spoke up from the side, interrupting Naruto's last attempt. "No more attempts for now. We'll pick this back up tomorrow."
Turning to his sensei, Naruto replied desperately, "Hang on, Asuma-sensei, just a little more…!"
"No Naruto," Asuma replied firmly. "Remember what I said about setting up camp in the dark? Besides, you've still got other training you have to do today."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Lighting up a new cigarette, Asuma responded, "Your taijutsu training, remember? I still expect you to improve your taijutsu during this trip. That's why you and Hinata are going to stay here and work on it, like you do every day, while Chouji and I set up camp." To make sure Naruto didn't resume tree-walking as soon as his eyes weren't on him, Asuma said over his shoulder as he and Chouji walked away, "Oh, and don't forget that Naruto will do a special exercise if his taijutsu isn't at a level I deem acceptable by the end of the month."
As Asuma-sensei and Chouji left the clearing, Naruto turned to face Hinata, who was fidgeting nervously as she always did when they were left alone.
"Um...sh-shall we get started?"
Naruto sighed resignedly. "Where should I start?"
"Um, begin from the fourth kata," Hinata replied.
Settling in, Naruto began running through the series of forms and movements. As he ran through the sets, Hinata circled around him, carefully correcting any mistakes she spotted with her sharp vision. After a while of this, the two switched over from practicing katas to sparring one-on-one. The purpose of the sparring was to force Naruto to use proper form when in an actual fight, as opposed to just running through katas on his own. There'd be no point, after all, if it didn't improve his actual fighting ability.
As Naruto traded blows back and forth with Hinata, he reflected that he was glad that, for the sake of their practice spars, Hinata always stuck to using the standard academy taijutsu style. Over the last month and a half of being on a team together, Naruto had sparred more than once against her Gentle-Fist style, and it was always irritating, to say the least. Trying to land a blow on her while she was using her family's signature taijutsu style was like trying to punch the wind. Even when she wasn't using chakra to enhance her strikes, she could easily glide around all his attacks and slip inside his defences to deliver her own.
All the same though, outside of these practice sessions they had, he had never actually lost a spar against her. Every time they sparred in front of Asuma-sensei back in the village, Hinata always seemed to find a way to lose against both himself and Chouji. Often she would either make a silly mistake, or fail to capitalize on an advantage, and end up getting taken out in a counter-attack. It was just another one of those peculiarities that made his female teammate so hard to figure out.
He sighed internally as his mind treaded over well-worn territory. She was just so...so weird! Hinata was a mixed bag of contradictions. There were many times when she seemed to be just as big a screw-up as he was, from her inability to win a competitive spar, to her regular mistakes during missions. On the other hand, she would just as frequently display performances that completely blew him out of the water, like today during the tree-climbing training.
Dealing with her personally was just as confusing. At least with Chouji, he knew where he stood. Chouji and he got along famously. They both had easygoing personalities, similar senses of humor, and similar interests outside of shinobi work. More than that, they just had fun together. Naruto was already starting to think of Chouji as someone he could truly be friends with. Conversely, he had no idea whether Hinata liked or disliked him. Certainly, there seemed to be plenty of evidence of the latter. Hinata struggled to get along with anyone, but always seemed particularly uncomfortable around him. She constantly fidgeted, struggled to speak, and wouldn't meet his gaze anytime they were forced to interact. On the other hand, she had agreed readily to helping him train with his taijutsu, even though that meant spending hours together alone almost every day.
Of course, for his part, Naruto wasn't able to deal with her any better. Unlike Asuma-sensei and Chouji, Hinata just had a completely different personality from himself. He never quite knew what to say or do when dealing with her. Fortunately, the amount of time they had spent together since becoming teammates had at least taught them both how to deal with one another one a surface level. All the same, there were times when Naruto wished he could just grab her by the shoulders, shake her around and ask her what her problem was.
He knew he wouldn't, though. After what she had done for him during their genin exam, there was no denying that Hinata was a nice person. He just wished he could get a read on her, sometimes.
As he was thinking about this, he mistakenly lost focus on the match for a moment, allowing Hinata to slip inside his guard and deliver a punch to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. For someone so small, Hinata could deliver more of a punch than she looked.
Naruto ended up flat on his back, struggling to catch his breath. Above him, Hinata began panicking. "N-n...Naruto-kun! I'm...I'm sorry! Are you alright? Sorry!"
Recovering quickly enough, Naruto waved her off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. My bad, I lost focus for a second there."
"I'm sorry."
A note of irritation entering his voice, Naruto responded sharply, "You don't have to apologize. It was my fault."
"...sorry…"
Sighing resignedly, Naruto got back to his feet. "I guess we should start over, huh?"
Somewhat unexpectedly, Hinata shook her head. "N-no, I think that's enough for today."
"Hm? You sure?"
Nodding profusely, Hinata replied, "Yes, I think so. Your taijutsu has improved a lot, already. I'm sure you'll be ready for sensei's test at the end of the month."
Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Naruto responded, "You think so? Thanks, I guess."
Suddenly, Naruto got an idea. Moving closer to her, Naruto whispered to Hinata conspiratorially, "Hey, Hinata. Since we've got a bit of extra time, do you think you could give me some advice on the tree-climbing technique?"
"Uh, sure but...what do you want to know, exactly?"
Waving his hands in the air vaguely, Naruto replied, "You know...just...how are you able to do it so well?"
Pushing her fingers together, Hinata answered, "Um, well, the secret is to maintain a constant flow of chakra from the feet. If you use too little chakra, your feet won't stick, but if you use too much, you'll be forced off the surface. Once you've figured out how much chakra you need to attach to a particular surface, you can just focus on keeping that level of chakra in your feet as you climb up the tree. I've heard that once a shinobi masters this technique, they can feel out how much chakra is needed to attach to a particular surface without needing to think about it."
Naruto sighed and shook his head. He had already figured out most of what Hinata told him on his own. Though that last part was interesting, it unfortunately didn't help him much. "Yeah, I sorta knew most of that. But like, how do I maintain an exact constant flow of chakra?"
Hinata tilted her head to the side, looking slightly confused. "Um, why don't...why don't you show me what you've been doing so far?"
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"Just...send chakra into your feet like you would to do the tree-climbing technique," Hinata replied.
"Oh...okay." Putting his hands into a seal, Naruto focussed on sending his chakra down to his feet.
As he did so, he saw from the corner of his eye Hinata running through a series of hand seals herself. Completing the sequence, she softly whispered, "Byakugan!" Suddenly the veins surrounding her eyes bulged out visibly as her bloodline limit activated, the iris becoming more defined, and the pupil, which was usually indistinct, becoming visible as an outline.
Naruto had, of course, seen Hinata's unique family doujutsu a couple of times by now. Overall he found her appearance while using the bloodline limit both slightly creepy and, also, kind of cool. Asuma-sensei had explained to him that the genetically-inherited eye-technique of the Hyuuga Clan was one of the most powerful and respected bloodline limits possessed by the Hidden Leaf Village. It was why the Hyuuga clan was known and feared throughout the shinobi world, and with good reason. The byakugan allowed the user to see in all directions, up to several miles away, and even through solid objects. The combined properties of their doujutsu made it one of the most powerful reconnaissance tools in the world, and the nearly 360-degree field of vision it granted them made them all but impossible to sneak up on, making it also very useful in a fight. Naruto had once tried to imagine what it must be like to see in all directions at once, and found that he couldn't even wrap his head around the idea.
Perhaps just as important, though, the byakugan allowed the user to see inside a person, to the very chakra pathways themselves, which were normally invisible, and incorporeal. With the possible exception of the Uchiha, the Hyuuga were perhaps the only people in the world able to see the flowing chakra within a person's body. And it was for that purpose that Hinata activated her byakugan now.
Carefully observing the chakra flowing through Naruto's feet, Hinata spoke up, "Um, you need to make the flow of chakra into your feet even. Also, you need to use a little more chakra."
Naruto frowned. He thought he had been doing that already. Refocusing, he sent more chakra into his feet, trying to make the amount constant. "How about now?"
Hinata shook her head. "Now you're using too much. Try reducing the amount a little...there, that's right! No wait, now you're using too little again…"
This went on for several minutes, with Naruto trying unsuccessfully to steady the amount of chakra he used, and Hinata trying equally fruitlessly to guide him through the process. After a while, Naruto got frustrated.
"Ugh, this is hopeless!" he growled, dropping his seal and allowing the chakra in his feet to dissipate. "How the heck am I supposed to make my chakra just do whatever I want!?"
Standing off to the side, Hinata looked on forlornly. Desperately she tried to think of something to say that would help, but as usual, came up with nothing. She wracked her brains, trying to figure out why Naruto was having trouble, and how she could help him overcome it.
Naruto-kun just can't seem to get a handle on his chakra. She thought. Unlike her teammates, Hinata had years of experience in controlling her chakra for use in the Gentle-fist style. Well, controlling my chakra was difficult for me too at first, at least until I learned the…
Suddenly a flash of inspiration hit her. Remembering back to their days in the Academy, she recalled that they had once been taught the same lesson there.
"Naruto-kun," she spoke up, catching his attention, "do you remember the leaf-sticking exercise we learned in the Academy?"
Looking at her in confusion, Naruto responded, "Uuhh, leaf-sticking...?"
Picking up a stray leaf from off the ground, Hinata replied, "It's where you keep a leaf attached to your forehead using only your chakra." The leaf-sticking technique was one of the only chakra-control exercises they had been taught at the Academy. Thinking back on it, Hinata started to suspect that Naruto may never have finished learning it.
Recalling a vague memory from back at the Academy, Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I think Iruka-sensei tried to make me, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji do that for detention, once. But we, uh…" Scratching the back of his head embarrassedly, Naruto continued, "...we sorta snuck out of the room when he had his back turned, and didn't do it."
Hinata nodded her head, her suspicions confirmed. "Try doing it now," she said, handing the leaf she had picked up over to Naruto.
Taking it, Naruto stared at the leaf blankly for a second. "Uh, so what do I…?"
"The leaf-sticking exercise operates on the same principle as tree-walking," she explained. "Gather chakra to your forehead, and try to attach yourself to the leaf. If you use too little chakra, the leaf will fall off. If you use too much, the leaf will be destroyed."
Holding the leaf up above and between his eyes, Naruto tried to do as he had done before, this time focussing on gathering chakra in the center of his forehead. For a moment, nothing seemed to be happening. Then, as he increased the amount of chakra, he suddenly felt the leaf press flush up against his forehead, sticking there like a piece of tape. Before he could get too excited, Naruto had to rein himself in, as he felt the edges of the leaf start to crumple inward, as though being gripped in a fist. Focussing with all his might, Naruto tried to hold that point, between crushing the leaf and allowing it to fall, where the leaf remained stuck in place. After a while, Naruto suddenly realized that both his hands had fallen to his sides, and he had been holding the leaf in place using only his chakra for more than a minute.
"This is…" Naruto paused, trying to maintain control of his chakra while speaking at the same time. "This is somehow a lot easier," he said.
Hinata nodded, smiling at Naruto's success. "The soles of the feet are among the hardest places on the body to precisely control one's chakra," she explained. "At the same time, the head is one of the easiest places. That's why a lot of powerful elemental jutsu use the mouth as a focal point." Hinata continued, "Learn to feel how much chakra you're using, then try to apply that knowledge to your feet when we're practicing tree-walking. Once you've got a handle on keeping the leaf in place, you should try to do it while walking around."
"How will that help?" Naruto asked.
Hinata replied, "It's important that you're able to control your chakra while also doing other things, like moving around. You'll need to be able to do that for the tree-walking, after all. Even better, if you can do the leaf-sticking while moving, then you could probably keep practicing while we're walking during the day, and be even more ready for when we stop to practice tree-walking in the evening."
After listening to Hinata speak, Naruto released his chakra and allowed the leaf to fall into his hand. Once again his female teammate had come to his aid when he most needed it, he thought as he stared at the leaf in his palm. Looking up at Hinata, Naruto decided he had to say something.
"Hey, Hinata…"
Hinata blinked as she met Naruto's suddenly serious gaze.
"...you know, I really think you're…"
Hinata's eyes widened as she listened to Naruto, her mind hanging onto his every word.
"...super weird!" Naruto finished.
Hinata slumped in place, her eyes downcast. "O...oh…" she said, dejected.
"But...you know what?" Naruto resumed. "You're also kind of cool. You mess up a lot, but I can always tell that you're trying really hard. Also, you're always helping me out without my even needing to ask. I'm still not even sure whether you like me or hate me, but I can tell that you're a good person." Naruto turned around, looking away from Hinata. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm glad that I'm on a team with you."
From the corner of his eye, Naruto looked back at his teammate. Hinata stared back at him, seemingly thunderstruck, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an "o" shape. Her hands were held before her as always, with her index fingers touching, but were stilled in their usual fidgeting. A blush was rapidly coloring her cheeks.
Feeling suddenly awkward, Naruto looked away again. "W-well, anyway...I guess we should…"
"Naruto-kun!" Naruto was suddenly cut off by Hinata's voice. Looking back at her, he saw that her blush was threatening to fill up her entire face. "I...I-I...I...I'm glad to be on a team with you too!" she suddenly burst out, speaking louder than Naruto had ever heard her talk before.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, uncomfortably. "Um, y-yeah...me too…" For some reason, his own face was starting to feel warm.
"You two are just precious, you know that?"
Hinata and Naruto nearly jumped out of their skins as another voice suddenly spoke up from the side. Looking to the edge of the clearing, they saw their third teammate leaning against a tree, watching them.
"Ch-Chouji!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?" For some reason, he was embarrassed that Chouji may have seen any of that, but didn't know why.
Chouji gestured over his shoulder. "Asuma-sensei sent me to come get you guys. We finished setting up camp, and dinner's almost ready." He shrugged. "Sorry if I interrupted you guy's moment."
"We weren't having a moment!" Naruto insisted.
"I don't know, that looked pretty momentary to me, Naruto."
"Ch-Chouji-kun!" Naruto and Chouji looked back at their female teammate. Hinata's face was red and she looked embarrassed, but for once she wasn't shrinking back as usual. "I...I'm happy we're on a team with you, too!"
Chouji blinked, then chuckled good-naturedly. "Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I like the both of you, too. Now come on, let's get going already! Grub's on!"
Laughing and joking amongst themselves, the genin of Team Nine made their way back toward camp, a little more of a team than they had been only moments before.
The next day, Asuma led his students down the road toward their ultimate destination.
It hadn't taken him long to notice that something was very off about his team today. Things had been unusually quiet behind him for some time now. Looking back, he realized what it was. Naruto wasn't being his usual loud, chatty-self today, but was apparently focussing all his attention on keeping a leaf stuck to his forehead as the team kept moving. Atypically, it was Hinata and Chouji that were holding down the conversation for the team.
After a while, Chouji also joined Naruto in doing the leaf-sticking exercise as they walked, Hinata speaking occasionally to offer the boys advice.
Asuma turned back forward, and smirked. The best teams were the ones that made each other stronger, just by being near one another. It looked like he would need to start thinking about what jutsus to teach all of them when they got back to Konoha.
Their morale high, Team Nine made their way down the road toward the Land of Greens, blissfully unaware of what awaited them there.
A few days later…
A column of smoke rose into the sky over the capital city of the Land of Greens, the only sign to the outside world of the bloodshed that had happened beneath it.
Renga, Jiga, and Ruiga, the three brother shinobi known to the world as the Janin, walked casually up the stone stairs leading to the palace of the feudal lord.
In the end, taking over an entire country had been almost laughably easy.
With the help of their collaborators on the inside, they had very early on identified the location of the barracks that housed the country's small shinobi force, just over fifty in number. In the opening salvo of the conflict, Renga had unleashed the full power of his jutsu on the barracks, incinerating them and all the shinobi inside in a matter of seconds. The smoldering ruins of those barracks were the source of the smoke trail that even now drifted lazily into the sky.
Mounting the top of the stairs, the three Janin made their way into the palace entrance. In the distance, they could still hear the occasional sounds of battle, the clashing of steel on steel, and the screams of pain of the soon to be dead and dying. Their underlings had swept through the castle ahead of them, dealing with the handful of non-shinobi guards who remained, and eliminating all resistance.
The army they had built to help them conquer the land was a small one, just over two-hundred men, all told. But it had proven more than enough for the paltry defenses of this country. The men they had gathered to their cause were mostly outcasts: brigands, outlaws, and the occasional rogue shinobi. All had at least basic level shinobi abilities, nothing special, but more than a match for any commoner with a spear.
Walking through the doors, the Janin entered the palace's main hall. Scattered here and there throughout the room were the dead bodies of a handful of guards and a few others who had resisted. Meanwhile, off to one side of the room, the remainder of the castle staff had been gathered together. Cooks, maids, and various other servants sat huddled together in a terrified mass surrounded by armed henchmen. They shrank back in fear as the Janin passed them by.
As he walked past, Renga took a moment scan over the cowering group of servants, paying particular attention to any young women in the group. These country girls were mostly plain and boring, but there were a few cute ones mixed into the bunch. He didn't stop to get a closer look at any of them, though. There would be time to get better acquainted with his new subjects later. For now, he still had one last piece of business to attend to.
Walking through a set of double doors, Renga and his two brothers entered the throne room of the feudal lord. Here there were even more bodies littering the floor, some of them being checked over by their men to see if they needed to be finished off. Blood from the battle stained many surfaces around the room, splattering the walls and spreading in pools around the corpses on the floor.
In almost surreal contrast, several men in fine clothes stood waiting for them just inside the entrance to the room. They all bowed to the Janin as they entered. One of them, a balding, mustachioed man whom Renga had mentally nicknamed "the prime bootlick", stepped forward to greet them.
"Renga-sama, Jiga-sama, Ruiga-sama...welcome to your new home," he said obsequiously.
These men were the collaborators, the inside-men who had ensured that their victory had been so swift and easy. In truth, this country had fallen to them long before the first blow had been struck. For the past few months, the Janin had slowly but surely secured control, subverting the feudal lord by bribing and buying off more than half of his advisors, councilors, and various officials. Not only had they paved the way for the Janin to take control of the country, but they had also provided them with useful intel, such as the location of the shinobi barracks.
Externally, Renga smiled and thanked the prime bootlick and his collaborator friends for their support, promising wealth and glory for them all in the future of the new Greens Country going forward. On the inside, though, he sneered contemptuously. Each of these men thought themselves so clever, so cunning to have enriched themselves by turning on their feudal lord. They were all small men who had betrayed their lord for trifling amounts of money.
Catching the eye of one of his captains that he had placed over the other men, he discreetly gave the man a signal.
As soon as we're done here, kill them all.
These men had served their purpose, and now were of no further use.
Stepping past the collaborators, the three brothers walked along a satin carpet, now stained with blood, to the dais at the end of the room.
There, seated on a small wooden throne, sat the Lord of the Land of Greens. A middle-aged man in his late fifties, dark hair rapidly turning grey, the lord of Greens Country was plain and average in every way, nothing remarkable about him at all, save for the small wooden circlet on his brow, denoting his rank as feudal lord. The feudal lord was flanked on either side by a pair of the Janin's soldiers. On the ground, arrayed in a circle surrounding his throne, lay the corpses of the feudal lord's last half-dozen shinobi retainers, likely the only ones to have escaped the destruction of the barracks, swords and other weapons still held loosely in their cold, dead hands.
Stepping up to the dais, Renga gave a low, mocking bow to the Lord of the Land of Greens. "Greetings, your Lordship. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Smirking, Renga raised his eyes and met the gaze of the man seated on the throne. "I confess, I've eagerly awaited this meeting for a long time, myself."
The feudal lord returned Renga's gaze. His hands were clenched tightly around the armrests of the throne, whether from fear or anger, Renga couldn't tell. Regardless, the man did an admirable job of keeping his voice steady as he replied, "Hmph, so you three are the 'Janin' I've heard so much about. As I expected, nothing but a bunch of rowdy young men with nothing better to do then cause trouble for decent folk."
Ruiga, the youngest of the three brothers, cackled at the man's response. "Ha ha! Well, look at the stones on you old man! A pity you couldn't use that to give us a better fight earlier."
The feudal lord glared back at Ruiga. "The Land of Greens has never had need of great implements of war."
Renga sighed and shook his head at the old man. "And it's exactly that soft-heartedness that made you so easy to take down...and betray," he said, gesturing over his shoulder at the traitorous courtiers behind him.
The feudal lord seemed undeterred. "It's true that men like me are often taken advantage of by men like you. But men like you are always brought low in the end. Inevitably, your greed will destroy you...just as it will be for them," he said, also nodding at the men who had betrayed him.
Renga laughed internally. Oh ho ho...so he's already guessed what we have planned for the collaborators, eh? Well, no matter.
Leaning forward, Renga spoke softly so the men behind him wouldn't be able to hear, "Don't be so sure of that. I'm nothing like you and those other fools back there. I'm not nearly so soft-hearted as that."
Standing back up straight, Renga resumed speaking aloud, "Don't worry about anything though, my lord. My brothers and I will do our best to be proper feudal lords. We have a plan for this country that will lead it to greatness."
The old lord ground his teeth. "Do whatever you want to me, but leave the people out of your scheming!"
To Renga's right, Jiga, their middle brother, began swinging the ball-and-chain end of his kusarigama in a circle, the chain making a whirring noise in the air as it rotated. "They're our people now, old-timer," Jiga said. "We'll do as we want with them."
The Lord of the Land of Greens made no attempt to run or escape. He just sat in his throne glaring at the three brothers who had overthrown him. "Your reign will be short!" he spat.
Whipping his arm forward, Jiga sent the spiked flail careening toward the old man's head. The heavy metal ball slammed right into the feudal lord's left temple, collapsing part of his skull, and killing him instantly. Blood and other matter splattered all over the back of the wooden throne.
Renga shrugged. "It'll outlive yours, that much is for sure."
"Oi, oi. You got that stuff all over the throne." Ruiga complained to his older brother Jiga.
"No need to worry about that," Renga said. "A pitiful chair like that isn't worthy of true feudal lords. Take it outside and burn it with the rest of the garbage," he ordered his men standing nearby.
Stepping forward, two of his men seized the body of the dead feudal lord, another picking up the small wooden chair, and carried both outside, to be added to the pyre they were building on the outskirts of the palace.
As the brothers turned around, another one of their captains rushed up to them, dropping to one knee before them. "My lords!" he said, "We have completed our search of the castle, and there is no sign of the daughter anywhere. She may have already fled the capital."
Renga sighed. The old feudal lord had a daughter, his only heir. Their plan had been to take both father and daughter together, but it looked like the old man may have been slightly more canny than he seemed, and kept their attention focused on him so his daughter could flee.
"That's not good," he said to his brothers. "If the girl is able to escape the country, she could potentially return with forces from another land."
Though the Land of Greens had no major military allies, in this situation that wouldn't matter. The girl was the key to the throne of this country. Any man who was able to claim her hand in marriage could proclaim himself the legitimate feudal lord of the Land of Greens. There were plenty of other men out there just like themselves. All it would take was some enterprising noble with a bit of money and a desire to become a feudal lord, and the Janin's position in this country could potentially become untenable. They needed time to build up their forces and secure their position in this country before they could deal with something like that. They had been banking on the lack of international interest in this country to give them time to do so.
Honestly, Renga hadn't fully decided what he was going to do with the princess himself, yet. He could kill her just as easily as they had killed her father, thus eliminating any other potential claimants to the throne. On the other hand, he could also marry her himself, thus adding a touch of legitimacy to his rule. Of course, he had promised Jiga and Ruiga equal share of the rule of this country, and there was no way they wouldn't recognize that move for what it was, so he would have to deal with them first before he did that. But he planned on taking care of them eventually anyway, so either way ultimately worked for him. He decided he would wait to see what she looked like first, before making up his mind.
That said, it was far better that she be dead, than allowed to threaten their plan. They would need to deal with this quickly, one way or the other.
"Pardon me, my lords," the prime bootlick stepped forward and spoke, "but I believe I may have information that could be pertinent. As I recall, there was a band of merchant peddlers that just recently left the capital. The late feudal lord hired a team of shinobi from another country to provide protection for the caravan as it made it's way to another land."
Renga understood immediately. "There's no way anyone would waste money hiring foreign shinobi to protect a bunch of merchant peasants." It looked like the collaborators had provided one last useful piece of information before they died. Good for them.
Jiga nodded in agreement. "She must have joined the merchant caravan as cover to try to sneak her way out of the country."
Renga nodded. "Agreed. Which means we need to track down this merchant caravan," he said. Glancing out a nearby window, he looked up into the sky. "Ordinarily, I'd just use my jutsu to obliterate whatever area they were in, but…"
The one drawback to his most powerful jutsu was that it required a strong, cloudless sun in order to work. It was already well into the afternoon. By the time they found out where they were, the sun would likely have begun to set, weakening his jutsu to the point of being useless.
Spinning his tonfa around on his arms, the youngest brother, Ruiga, spoke up, "Just leave it to me, big brother. I'll find that girl and bring her back here, myself."
"Very well," Renga replied. "Send a couple of scouts out ahead of you though, to track her down. And take ten men with you."
Ruiga laughed confidently. "Don't underestimate me, Renga. I can deal with whatever protection she has, easily enough."
Ignoring his younger brother's arrogance, Renga continued, "We don't know what sort of shinobi the old man hired, or from what country. Take the men with you as insurance," he advised.
Shrugging casually, Ruiga walked out of the room toward the front entrance.
Making his way to a different door, Renga also exited the room. As the door closed behind him, he heard the first screams of the collaborators before the door cut them off. Walking up to a window, he watched as a new plume of smoke rose into the sky. This likely came from the mass pyre they had built to burn the feudal lord, his dead servants, and soon enough, his betrayers as well.
It didn't matter too much to Renga if his youngest brother took his advice or not. He decided he would send Jiga to clean up after him, anyway. If Renga were lucky, perhaps Ruiga and the foreign shinobi would end up killing one another off. That would kill two birds with one stone, and spare Renga the effort of having to kill at least one of his brothers.
Watching the funereal plume as it rose, Renga smiled cruelly.
One way or another, he would soon be the sole ruler of this country.
Chapter End
A/N:
Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated.
To those who have been pushing me to include an action scene, I couldn't avoid putting one next chapter if I tried. Please be patient a little longer.
As characters go, I think of the Janin as pretty standard stock villains, as you would expect from a filler arc. That said, I actually really enjoyed writing from their perspective this chapter. The cold-blooded way they think of everything was surprisingly fun to write. Let me know what you thought of that part of the chapter.
Anyway, I'm starting to really get into the meat of the story now. I don't particularly have a lot of experience writing action sequences, and there's going to be a lot of them, so the updates could potentially slow down. I ask for your patience.
Regards,
MD