Naruto - Warlord

AN:

Alright! I know i said the chap would be up sometime...you know, sometime last weekend, but life happened. Before i knew what was going on, life came swinging and scored a critical hit and i needed to spend some time with my significant other and remind myself what was important in life. Life has a tendency to come shitting down your bloody neck whenever you forget about it.

Thank you all so much for your kind words after the last chapter. Those of you who took the time to correct any grammar mistakes you found, thank you so much for doing so and helping me improve.

On the topic of pairings, oh boy do you people have a lot to say. It seems most are inclined towards NOT having a harem, and i am inclined to agree. I have a few unusual ideas that i think could work very well towards the plot, but we'll see what we end up with. What i can reveal right now though, with complete and utter surety, is that i will NOT be gender bending any characters. If i do that now, it comes out of absolutely nowhere and wont make much sense. If this is something i would have ever done, i'd have made that clear since the prologue, but i think its way too late to throw something like that in now.

Next chapter IS underway, but i wont make any promises as to when it will be out. You never know with lazy bums like myself.

ENJOY!

Chapter 10

The days after the wedding were slow, but Naruto quickly kicked them back into gear and had them back in training and preparing quickly enough.

He finally began his plan to train his people in chakra, although he did so with baited breath. When he explained his new lessons to those in the first training rotation, most seemed shocked and almost in disbelief of what he wanted them to learn. He spoke a great deal on the discipline one would need to unlock and train the chakra within their bodies, but most still seemed skeptic despite his thorough explanations.

He considered showing his rasengan or shadow clones to prove his point. Most of these folk had never seen the use of chakra, most brushing it off as myth and folktales. He thought the better of it, as he knew both of those were very familiar to a lot of shinobi and it wouldn't do for anyone to draw any relations between him and his former home. Even his own people could carry rumors after all.

Naruto ended up walking up the side of a tree until he stood upside down to prove his point instead. They didn't seem as skeptic to his lesson after that.

Hoping they would take the lessons to heart and begin accessing the chakra within them, Naruto made sure the information would spread among the people. Accessing ones chakra was easy in itself, but it needed time and discipline. Chances were the knowledge would eventually become common information for his people and they would begin to learn it by themselves, meditating before and after bed as needed with different exercises. It would take a good long while, but hopefully they were more talented than Naruto had been in his young age. He had neither maturity nor talent when he first started, so he hoped at least someone would soon show promise. He would check regularly throughout their training rotations none the less.

Shou had been worried that the knowledge of chakra would draw the attention of shinobi in the lands they traveled through, but Naruto figured that considering how many soldiers they had killed now from 2 different Daimyo's, chances were they had already drawn someone's attention. They needed every advantage they could get.

As he and Shou began speaking regularly again apart from the meetings, Shou told Naruto there was a lot of rumors regarding himself. Some actually believed Naruto to be some sort of god who had come to lead them, considering the fact that he had slaughtered an army of 200 men by himself. He had taught the people nearly everything they knew of how to defend themselves as well and it was easy to see why such beliefs were rising among them, especially when most didn't believe in stories about the wild things some shinobi could do.

Madness. Absolute madness, that was what it was according to Naruto as he ignored Shou's laughter from his dismay.

Near the second week mark, people began arriving at their gathering along with some of the scouts. His people greeted the wary newcomers warmly and immediately accepted them within their encampment. They were already a mixed people and everyone shared each other's situation. The community spirit was high and the newcomers seemed very relieved for the reception.

Speaking to his scouts, it was obviously that many had stayed with their villages, especially the larger villages ruled by some Lord or whichever. Most of them believed their Lord to protect them, but Naruto knew many of those same Lords would abandon their own people if it would ensure their own survival. His heart would go out for them in the months to come, but he would never force people from their homes like that.

For the next 2 weeks, this was how their days went. Every day from morning to night, people would train, craft, hunt and forage. No hands was allowed to go idle, Naruto was strict on that. Rest was for when the sun went down as they were all in a precarious situation and everyone would have to do their part.

More and more trickled in, until finally all the scouts were back. The last 3 days went without any more newcomers and Naruto suspected none more would arrive.

At a meeting, they had discovered that their new, shocking number was that of an entire 900 people. This number was astounding to Naruto, but he suspected many would merely migrate away throughout the lands as they traveled, only drawn to them with the promise of safe and protected travel to lands elsewhere. Naruto was still hopeful he could convince many to stay, as the wars in their surrounding lands was sure to keep going for many more months, if not years.

They now had more than 600 fighting men, more people than Naruto had any idea on what to do with. The sudden influx from nearby villages had surprised them all and Naruto suspected he now needed to appoint many more officers than what he currently had. Shou would be helpful in this matter and these people would need to sit at his council.

The new influx of people had also brought upon them another problem entirely, and that was all of the new families who would need to be represented. His council was already too big and Naruto needed to do something about the situation before people got angry.

With this in mind, Naruto decided that the newly appointed officers, that Shou helped him pick out, would be responsible for listening to the plights of their people whenever they made camp, dividing the areas off into responsibilities for whoever was delegated such. This included having a watchful guard at all times and they would have an equal amount of responsibility whenever they went on the march and they would be in charge of both the training and organizing regarding battle preparations.

These men would also fight and die with their units, if something like that would come to pass. It was a huge and frightening responsibility, but those that were chosen were well aware of their choice. Whether or not it was from a sense of adventure, responsibility or wish for glory, they all made their choice to take the position given to them.

News of this were passed to many of the current advisers and naturally many was angry about the lost responsibility. Luckily, Jiro and Ichiro seemed fine with it as neither had ever wanted the amount of responsibility thrust upon them. The situation had merely called for it. They were thanked for their service and support and left with a promise to have a feast in their honor, hopefully lessening whatever spite lingered from their loss of position. While Naruto expected many of his officers to flounder in their duty in the beginning due to the very high expectations and learning curves, Naruto would be teaching the 12 young men he had appointed personally along with Shou. Shou was still his second in command after all.

With these decisions in mind, the one month mark was finally met and Naruto ordered the camp to prepare for travel.

It was finally time to get moving again, now many times more and stronger than what they had been before.

They continued south, into the 'Lands of Stone'. Before they entered the new lands, they had passed another village that the Daimyo's army had clearly been passing through. The corpses eerily reminded them of the threat they were walking towards.

Many of the people had expressed their worries about walking into the lands of the Daimyo that had burned their villages and killed their people, but Naruto assured them that they would be safe while in his lands, at least as much as anywhere else. They were a large group of people and any eventual inquires towards their intentions could easily be brushed off as trading. This wouldn't even be a lie, not really.

After a week of travel, they neared one of the local villages in 'Stone' and made camp nearby. Naruto had sent out scout to warn the village of their arrival so they wouldn't be frightened.

The 'Land of Stone' was a strangely stark, but beautiful land. The forests were thin and sparsely spread, as most of the country was covered in grassy plains and stony ravines. Upon making camp in the outskirts of the village where they made trade with the locals, one of Naruto's scouts spotted a large gathering of wild horses nearby.

Upon the news of this herd, Ryu came up to Naruto and surprised him; He told him that while the adult horses would be nearly impossible to train, the foals could be adjusted very easily. Upon further inquires, Ryu revealed to Naruto with a somber expression that he came from these lands, long ago when war tore the land apart. Naruto didn't question him further, but it seemed obvious that Ryu had grown up with a family that obviously worked with horses.

Now this presented a problem to Naruto. Naruto wanted to get south as quick as possible before winter caught up to them and it had already grown considerably colder during the time they had spent at the last village.

But horses was a valuable resource. They were faster and stronger than regular men and women, at least those without the knowledge on how to use chakra. They could pull carts and carry their people, when they died their meat would feed an entire family for a good while. Their leather and hair could also be used for varying crafts.

In the end, Naruto decided they would spend awhile to capture these beasts. He ultimately gave the responsibility to Ryu, since this was something he was obviously familiar with and he did so happily. Before the day had passed, Ryu had made preparations with many other riders and taught them how to capture the horses and how to treat them.

Almost 2 weeks passed as Ryu and his band of riders caught more and more horses. Many of the more calm adult horses had been caught for training as well as that of many foals, but Ryu said they had caught as many as they should. The surrounding horses in these lands were the way of life for most people there and they should not take too many of them. Naruto agreed upon this, seeing as they now had about 100 ride able horses with nearly 50 foals to be trained over the coarse of their growing months.

Considering their new amount of horses, Naruto got an idea and immediately conferred with Nobu's journal as the flock spent a day to prepare for travel again, saying their goodbyes to the accommodating village folk nearby. Nobu had in his younger years, before he became and officer, been led through an expedition in the northern parts of the 'Land of Lightning'. Here, there lived an old and indigenous people whose horses were the center of their entire culture. Every man, woman and child had their own personal horse and they were trained to both fight and hunt from horseback almost as soon as they could walk. These people had set upon Nobu's expedition with archers on horseback, their superior mobility rendering their better training and gear useless when harassed by arrows at far.

Perhaps this was something to be implemented within his forces? He would run the idea through Ryu who seemed to know much more about horses than what he did at least.

Continuing to travel south, Naruto continued to oversee their training daily as he planned and prepared, leading their people onward towards warmer lands. Nobody had shown any breakthroughs regarding chakra yet, but Naruto remained hopeful.

Just as he was about to put his ideas regarding cavalry into action, they made camp near another set of ruins, a village burned to the ground a long time ago.

The sun had gone beyond the horizon and the blackness of night was about to claim the skies. The skies were clear, the moon and the stars already lighting up the night even before it had fully settled.

Naruto walked with Ryu at his side, moving away from their encampment. Glancing over at his friend, Naruto took note of the despondent and melancholic expression he wore. They walked through the ruins of the old village, now overgrown and reclaimed by nature and plants and grass has began to grow over the roads and the houses.

Ryu had told him he wanted to show him something, but Naruto was pretty sure he knew what this town meant to his friend. Naruto knew that Ryu was an orphan of war and it was the only reason Naruto could think of.

They eventually came upon the ruined foundations of a small house. There was no roof left and barely any walls, yet Ryu walked inside through the door with a mindfulness that Naruto could only watch as realization dawned on him.

"This was it.", Ryu muttered as he looked around the ruined house. "This is where it all began."

Naruto walked up to his friends side, looking around the small house. One couldn't have fitted more than 3, maybe 4 people in there in its time as a proper house.

"You grew up here.", Naruto stated. He did not even need to ask it.

"Yeah.", Ryu murmured, before pointing over at one corner of the building. "That is were my brother and i slept." He pointed at another corner. "And that was were my parents slept."

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath.

"Can i ask what happened to them? You have never spoken of them."

Ryu frowned at his question and got a faraway look in his eyes.

"It was... 10 years ago i think. I was 8." Ryu shook his head. "The surrounding lands were in dispute between the Daimyo of 'Wind' and the one from 'Earth'. I am sure the conflict between them today is just as petty as it was back then." Naruto snorted at this, Ryu giving him a wry grin before continuing. "We were just farmers. We took care of our herds and sold horses to be rode upon to anyone who needed it. We often sold to the Lord's armies as well, whenever they needed it. We always needed the coin after all." Ryu rubbed his chin, a dark expression falling over him. "I was out in the field with our horses when it happened, along with my father. We saw our village burning in the distance, their screams carrying over the wide plains between us. Over there." Ryu pointed in the direction he'd been talking about, through the broken wall of his former home towards a wide and open field of grass. "That was where we stood. My father told me to wait for him there while he got my mother and my brother." Ryu stopped for a second as he looked around the house. "He never returned."

Letting the silence grow between them for a moment, Naruto rubbed his chin as he looked at his friend sadly. This was obviously bringing up a lot of pain and old memories, but Naruto hoped it would give his friend some closure, no matter how little. There was nothing anyone could do for the people who had lived here now.

"What happened then?", Naruto murmured. Ryu blinked as he was pulled out of his memories, casting Naruto a sidelong glance.

"I don't know which Daimyo the army belonged to, but i figure they were angry with us because we sold horses to the opposing forces. They eventually came to the fields where i was hiding to take the horses. I hid in the tall grass so that they wouldn't see me." Ryu chuckled bitterly. "I laid there for so long that i lost all sense of time. It was only when i was about to starve that i dared to stand up again and then they were long gone." Ryu shrugged. "I found my family in the town square, along with the rest of the village. The army had executed them all for their imagined crimes."

"...Gods...", Naruto grimaced. These were the actions of vile, vile men.

"Yeah.", Ryu chuckled again, shaking his head sadly. "We weren't soldiers nor did we ever take sides in any wars. We just wanted to get by. And they killed us for it. In the end, people like us just don't matter."

"Maybe not to them, Ryu.", Naruto smiled, not showing the anger that was boiling inside. "But they matter to us."

"True.", Ryu smiled and gave a nod to his friend. "I think i will stay out for a bit and explore my old home here. Would you mind telling Hina not too worry about me?"

"Your wife will worry no matter what i say to her.", Naruto scoffed humorously. "So don't stay up too long."

"I won't.", Ryu muttered on his way out the door. "Thank you for coming with me, my friend. I feel better knowing you are watching over us."

Naruto let his friend leave out the door, his smile disappearing as he went. Naruto's hands clenched together and he was barely able to restrain himself from ripping the building around him to pieces.

Just when he thought he couldn't hate the nobility anymore, they went ahead and proved him wrong.

Another week passed and they had finally reached the 'Land of Wind'. The plains and ravines had slowly grown into rocky wastes and the villages they passed were no longer built from wood, but stone instead. Naruto's group had made trade along the way, buying and selling whatever they needed or fancied. The larger villages, those ruled by a local lord and noble family from wherever, was extremely wary of Naruto and his people. They outnumbered them greatly and could easily take their towns, but that was not why they were there. The promise of trade made their presence more bearable to the lords, but they still had to promise to stay within their encampments outside the villages. Whoever wanted to trade with them could come to them, but Naruto and his folk was not allowed inside their towns.

It didn't bother Naruto or his people much. They had grown used to living on the road.

Weeks continued to pass as they traveled across the rocky landscapes and the days grew hotter and hotter. When the rocks finally gave way for the sandy dunes, the sun was truly blistering them during the day the the villages were now made out of sandstone.

They were well within the 'Land of Wind' now and their water rations were the only thing keeping them alive. They had many carts dragging water and supplies with them and his people had switched out the furs and leathers for thinner cloth, providing protection against the sun, but breathing more than their clothes from much farther north.

Naruto had once considered going towards the capital, named 'The Great Shade' after its location in the depths of a canyon, great flakes of stone protruding from the top of the ridges above the city to block out the sun. It was said that the canyon had been created by the first Daimyo of the 'Land of Wind', a great warrior who used his chakra to form the land to his will and made the seat of his power at the bottom of a canyon of his own makings. Naruto supposed it could be true, but it mattered little.

They couldn't afford the risk of going near the capital, not after their victory over one of their armies. They would travel as quickly as they could across the 'Land of Wind' until they reached the sea, staying as far away from the capital as they could. While the 'Land of Wind' had many villages strewn about across their desserts, most of the villages who truly flourished laid near the sea, since that was the only place one could dependably get food.

Day after day, they traveled through the sands with the blistering sun glaring down at them. A few families decided to try their luck in the villages they passed, but it didn't affect Naruto and his people much. He wished them the best and moved on, as they had to for as long as their water held. They couldn't train as long as they were in the deserts, it was too hot and they had to conserve water.

They met trade caravans along the way and Naruto's heart nearly burst with worry each and every time. He expected the Wind's armies or brigands, the 'Wind' had a reputation for bands of brigands and slavers after all, but thus far they had only met smiling faces, eager for trade and opportunity. His people didn't complain any, delighted to try the exotic foods, cloth, spices and whatever this new land had to offer. It was obvious that since they couldn't produce much in the desert, they had focused on trade instead and they truly had a variety of goods to sell.

Naruto was also worried about the potential presence of the Wind's hidden village. While not a secret location per say, Naruto had no idea where it was and the people he had tried to ask refused to answer. One would assume Nobu would have the hidden villages marked on the map, but apparently not and the locals seemed hesitant to give directions for them. Naruto finally had to empty his pockets and bribe someone for their tongue to loosen and Naruto was relieved to see that they weren't close just yet.

Even so, the hidden village of 'Wind' was currently between them and the sea. They would have to walk around it and expect another month, maybe more, of further travel before they reached the seas.

He should have expected things to not be as easy as such.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and held up his fist, a signal for those behind to halt.

"Halt!", Shou yelled from next to him looking down the long trail of people following behind them.

"Halt!", the people's guard who were guarding their column roared their confirmation further down the line and after a minute, the entire 900 people march stopped.

His eyes set in a focused gaze across the sands in front of him, Naruto ignored the heat and sweat on his body beneath the white cloth he'd covered himself with.

In the distance, through the heat waves rising from the sands, Naruto could barely make out something...

...Something approaching with great speed right for them.

"Shou.", Naruto murmured with narrowed eyes, his expression dropping into a scowl as suspicion filled him. "Do you see that?"

"Aye, my Lord.", Shou panted from the heat, blowing some of the locks of his hair out of his face. "What is that?"

"Dust.", Naruto growled. "Dust rising off the sands."

Shou frowned and squinted ahead, trying to see as well.

"Do you reckon it's the Daimyo's men?", Shou questioned. "Horses?"

"No.", Naruto shook his head with a grimace. "It's far worse." Taking a deep breath, he set a serious expression on his friend, steeling his nerves for what was ahead of them. "Set a perimeter. Prepare for combat."

Shou's eyes widened a fraction, before his nerves were steeled and a cold expression locked in.

"People's Guard!", Shou roared down the column. "Set a perimeter! Get your arms ready!"

The people looked shocked for a short moment, before finally springing into action.

"Osu!", they finally confirmed and began to herd their people into groups to defend them better.

Nodding in satisfaction upon seeing his people get ready, Naruto turned back to Shou.

"Get a contingent of our best at your side. I will stand ahead to greet them, do NOT engage them, unless they come for you or our people."

Shou frowned and looked ready to argue.

"And if they attack you, my Lord?"

"Then you let them. I will fight them if it comes to pass." Seeing Shou open his mouth to argue, Naruto snapped his hand up before him with a stern expression. "Do not argue, Shou. This isn't an enemy you are ready to fight."

"Who are they then?", Shou glanced warily at the rising dust in the distance, now much closer than earlier.

"...Shinobi, from the 'Hidden Village of Wind'...", Naruto murmured somberly. He didn't look to see Shou's expression, but he walked ahead to be the vanguard. His people weren't ready to fight such an adversary.

He absentmindedly wondered why the shinobi from the 'Wind' approached in such an obvious manner, gliding along the dunes of sand and telling them where they were, but the answer was surprisingly simple when Naruto put his mind to it.

They wanted to be seen.

This made him hopeful that they could maybe talk their way out of this. Had they wanted them dead, they wouldn't have given them any warnings before their blades where at their throats.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his people ready with a protective perimeter around those who could not fight. Shou had rallied a contingent of men who stood in formation behind Naruto. He hoped they wouldn't need to fight.

After a few more seconds, Naruto could now make out the figures who glided across the dunes with an almost unnatural grace, skating across the sands which rose up in clouds behind them in passing. Naruto clenched his fist tightly around the halberd and tensed to be able to move quickly, if he needed it.

Finally on top of them, the Shinobi burst into the air before landing a good distance ahead of them. The shinobi was a team of nearly 20 men and women, dressed in gear of varying styles that Naruto had remembered shinobi use. Before them all was a blonde woman, clearly their leader, who wore a white kimono with her hair in a ponytail.

"Invaders!", the woman yelled, a scowl upon her beautiful features. "By order of the Kazekage, carrying the authority of the great and honorable Daimyo of Wind, 'Kenji Fujikaze', you are to lay down arms and surrender to our authority! You have my word that you will all be treated fairly!"

Naruto was half a mind to call her on her bullshit, but the words froze in his throat as he finally recognized the familiar woman in front of him. She looked so different with her hair now in a single ponytail, instead of the odd style of 4 that he remembered from long ago.

"Hello Temari.", Naruto murmured gravely, his eyes fixed on the shinobi in front of him. Come what may, he would fight them for the safety of his people.

The shinobi narrowed their eyes at Naruto, wary of his knowledge on the name of one of their own. Temari herself narrowed her eyes at him in confusion, obviously trying to recognize him. After a few seconds, realization finally dawned on her, an incredulous expression falling upon her features.

"...Naruto...?", Temari whispered, wide eyed and shocked. Her shinobi looked between them with worry, obviously not knowing who he was despite Temari's recognition.

An awkward silence filled the air between the two groups and Naruto could feel his people's eyes sear into his back with fearful curiosity.

Naruto sighed; This was not how he'd expected his day to go.

And there we are. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts, i consider myself a richer person for every thought you guys lay on me, be it good or bad.

MiNdZeRo here, signing out.