Naruto - Warlord
AN:
Hey folks! Sorry about the time it took me to get this out, especially since i told people it was right around the corner. If you guys remember, i mentioned that i had a family member and i think i mentioned that the family member is in a coma in the hospital. Well, his health has been declining due to poor healthcare and faulty routines of the doctors and nurses, which is NOT what should be the standard norm in hospitals. Times been rough lately, as on top of this, i've moved YET AGAIN cross country for work. Honestly, today's the first day in a long while i've gotten the time to sit down and breathe, and actually collect my thoughts enough to get this out.
Again, sorry for the delay.
Thank you guys so much for all of your support! I've seen several comments now saying that the story should have way more reviews and it always makes me smile, but i never really expected this story to even get as much attention as it did, because of most of the story and characters are completely original, along with a couple of issues that we've discussed earlier, either in AN's or in private messages. I'm incredibly happy with the support i've been given thus far and i'm so glad so many of you are enjoying my narration. All in all, while there's certain aspects that could have been executed better, hindsight is always a thing and i think we're doing very well thus far.
Also, the last cliffhanger had someone just go "Fuck you." in the reviews, and that made me giggle. Thank you for that!
A lot of people seemed really surprised with the appearance of Kurotsuchi and we're going to be exploring her capture a little bit more in this chapter. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but obviously, she's going to be a very important character and perhaps not in a way most of you will expect. But that's further down the line.
Some reacted very badly regarding Naruto's interrogation; We're now a couple of readers short which saddens me, but if it aint your cup of tea, then it's all fair. I'm glad folks gave it a try either way. Furthermore, i do believe i managed to respond to everyone? If not, i do apologize; I'll try to do better, as i always try to. And also, thank you to those of you who take the time to correct a little grammar here and there. I've already mentioned why i'm grateful for such, so i'll stop rambling now.
One last thing; do NOT draw conclusions when you're reading this chapter! I know someone will, they always do! :(
ENJOY!
Chapter 21
"Fuck!", Naruto roared, flailing his hands angrily in the air after he threw his halberd to the ground. He was currently within the confines of his tent. En and Shou was inside with him, but they remained by the entrance with varying expressions. En remained motionless, his hands clasped together at his back with a neutral expression, while Shou looked worried upon Naruto as he raged. "FUCK!", Naruto roared again, loosing control of the Kyuubi's chakra as it infected and distorted his voice. Stomping into his tea table, it splintered to a thousand pieces and made Shou flinch. En remained as still as stone.
Rubbing his temples, Naruto closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe calmly. He was angry, so, so angry, with the situation they found themselves in. The Kyuubi's chakra eventually receded again, but the maddening anger lingered even as he brought it back under control.
After a minute of silence, En cleared his voice.
"You done?", En drawled slowly, his tone unamused.
His anger rearing it's ugly head again, Naruto threw a warning glare towards his Iron Guard Commander. The last thing he needed right now was for En to press his buttons.
"Warlord.", Shou muttered carefully, taking a step forward as he noticed the tension. "What is going on? What has the assassin revealed that's provoked you like this?"
Pulling himself together, Naruto drew a shuddering breath and gathered his thoughts.
The girl had laid herself completely bare before him after his threats in order to save herself of her imagined fate. Unfortunately for Naruto, she'd revealed information that had horrible implications.
"The girl's name...", Naruto began with a low, hissing voice. He threw a narrowed glare to En, daring him to continue to push him, before giving his men his back as he leaned onto a support pole of the tent. "...Is Kurotsuchi. 'Granddaughter' of the current Tsuchikage in 'Hidden Stone Village', back in 'Earth'."
Silence was his answer as Shou gasped and En lost some of his cool stature with the widening of his eyes.
"Oh.", Shou breathed dumbly after a moment.
"Yes.", Naruto hissed, glaring off into nothing as his hands clenched angrily. He was already trying to think of ways to turn this into his advantage, but this was yet another hassle he could have done without. "...'Oh'... That about sums this up."
"What else did she reveal?", En pushed, his expression for once being one with worry. "Did she say why the Tsuchikage would send his own granddaughter on such a mission?"
"Apparently...", Naruto drawled slowly, the fingers of his right hand rubbing together thoughtfully. "...She's next in line to succeed her grandfather, but she's lacking experience in certain fields. Her specialty is combat, NOT assassination, which is obviously why it was so easy for me to turn it all around on her. This was supposed to have gone quietly, nobody knowing what had happened until the day after." Naruto shook his head, putting the momentary digression behind him. "This was her first assassination contract as a part of Stone's ANBU unit. A solo mission, but their information was flawed. They had no idea of who I was or of my status as a Jinchuriki, which is why her first choice was to try and poison me. She made a stupid decision to stay and complete her mission, no matter what, despite her failed first attempt." Naruto chuckled lowly. "Honestly, I fucking wish she'd used her head and returned home."
"It certainly would have saved ourselves some trouble.", Shou grimaced. "She mention why she's here? Why now?"
"Why else? It's because of our 'crimes' from Kisara.", Naruto said, drawling sarcastically when he mentioned their crimes. Kurotsuchi had been adamant about that, leaving no doubts as to why their Daimyo had employed them to hunt down Naruto.
"Then it seems they have finally caught up to us, as you have always said they would.", Shou sighed and Naruto nodded.
"So it seems. It was bound to happen, sooner or later."
"What now then?", En pressed with a frown. "Needless to say, the girl should remain unharmed. If we kill her, the Tsuchikage will stop at nothing to have his revenge."
"Aye, Kurotsuchi will not be harmed.", Naruto muttered as he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "But we cannot give her back either. It'd send a message that we're unwilling to strike back at those who seek to act against us."
"Bargaining tool then?", Shou questioned and rubbed his chin. "The Tsuchikage will no doubt want her back."
"Mhm, Kurotsuchi did claim her grandfather would want her back.", Naruto nodded along. "This is what we will do; We will keep the girl close and under constant watch. The Tsuchikage will eventually send men to find out what has happened to her, and eventually try to save her. Before he can do so, we need to send him a message that his granddaughter will remain unharmed as long as he keeps his people away from ours. No harm will come to her as long as he abides. I will send a clone to fulfill this task."
"And if he tries to save her anyway?", En questioned, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he crossed his arms. "What then?"
"Then we send him a warning.", Naruto growled, waving for Shou and En's dismissal. "For every attempt, we send a piece of the girl back to him."
Having spent a couple of days in Minatama, they eventually packed up and left and spent another week of travel before they neared another settlement, a large village that had grown to it's size due to it's centered location between several nearby cities and villages.
"Say that again, ranger.", Naruto muttered, his eyes narrowing dangerously as the soft light from the bonfire next to him flickered. They'd made camp for the night, a day's march away from the village, that was named 'Tatenai'. His officers surrounded him as they had been in the middle of a meeting outside beneath the open night sky.
Swallowing nervously, the ranger glanced at Ryu to receive an ensuring nod. Gathering his courage, the ranger looked back to Naruto before bowing his head.
"Warlord.", the man began with a wavering voice. "As I neared Tatenai village to inform them of our arrival, I observed several oddities that made me wary of revealing myself." The man glanced up at Naruto to gauge his response, but Naruto's stare remained unflinching and neutral.
"What sort of oddities?", Masaru pressed the man with a frown, taking a step forward and into the clearing around the fire, separating him from his surrounding officers.
"The wall securing the outer perimeter was the first thing I noticed.", the ranger continued. "It was old, clearly, but in an inexcusable state of disrepair. The gates was locked, and the guardsmen patrolling the wall seemed more interested in watching inwards, than outwards." Mutters and intrigued whispers grew among the officers, many of them throwing Naruto interested glances, but their Warlord remained unflinching as ever. "I made a decision on the spot, to sneak inside and see what was going on without revealing myself. As they changed guards, I managed to exploit a time window where their attention was elsewhere. There's a mine, in the middle of the city that most of the folk seem to work in, digging up all sorts of valuable minerals. Whatever value they trade it for is obviously not going to the welfare of the people or the much needed repair of their village."
"What do you mean?", another officer pressed, rubbing his beard with a frown.
"Half of the houses are in a state of disrepair.", the ranger pressed with only a cursory glance to the man that had spoken. "The people are tired, dirty and downtrodden. During the short time I was there, I came over guardsmen harassing the locals no less than 3 times." Taking a deep breath, the ranger seemed hesitant to continue as his eyes remained lowered. "...A-And, there's one more thing..."
"Go on.", Ryu ordered gently from the ranger's side as his commander. Ryu's eyes went to Naruto to observe how he'd react. "Tell them."
Nodding, the ranger steeled himself.
"There was a man. Not very old, but tired. He refused to work, even as the guardsmen beat him." He paused to allow a sharp intake of breath. "He was executed. In the townsquare."
They were silent at that, his officers expressions narrowing with dark expectations at Naruto.
While he remained expressionless, his thoughts were churning and boiling with grim intentions. After a minute of silence, he quietly thanked the ranger and sent him on his way, ignoring his officers who began to clamor for attention, demanding action in one way or another.
He'd been wanting to get his people bloodied in battle, after their long months of training. He supposed this was a good opportunity as any.
The day after, Naruto found himself crouched on a hillside facing the village. His elbows rested on his knees, his halberd resting horizontally on his legs with his helmet in hand. His 'Iron Guard' along with En flanked him as they dutifully provided him his security.
He was standing a few hundred meters outside of the village's perimeter and it was just as the ranger had informed him the day before; He had a perfect view over the village from his position.
Tatenai village was about a kilometer in width, but filled to the brim with houses within the shoddy outer walls. The field around the village was bare of trees, it's western edge dipping along with the declining terrain in opposition to Naruto's eastern position, elevated on the hillside. The houses looked old, the wood blackened from the heavy smoke that rose from everywhere within the walls. Naruto assumed it was due to the metals and minerals they worked with.
In the middle of the village, easily observed from his position, laid a large and lavish house, it's wood painted with red and gold. All other houses surrounding it had been built with a respectable distance, so Naruto would bank his money on the local noble living there.
"Everyone is in position, Warlord."
Glancing over his shoulder, Naruto nodded at Shou who appeared from the thicket behind him. Due to them outnumbering the local samurai 10 to 1, he'd decided on withholding the main branch of his army, instead giving the task to his 'First Spearmen Regiment' and 'First Archers Regiment'. A few men from Ryu's rangers were also participating in a sabotage operation of the gates, if only as exercise. Their names were currently unimaginative, as Naruto wanted something more poetic that gave his soldiers a sense of pride and belonging to whichever outfit they served, but it did it's job for the officers to keep control of who belonged to who.
"Well then.", Naruto rose slowly, lodging the halberd into the ground as he put on his helmet. The masked visor slid over his face, hiding his face from view. "Let's get this show on the road."
Walking briskly up to Naruto's side, Shou waved for some hidden people in the thicket behind them to approach.
They ran forward and crouched and the edge of the hill. One of them held a torch in front of herself, and with a flick of her fingers, the torch was suddenly lit as fire appeared from her hands.
Blinking at the display, Naruto observed the woman further. He immediately recognized the girl as Hono, the former slavegirl he and Shou had freed and rescued from before 'The Ivory Docks'. He'd noticed that she and Shou were courting one another, but he had no idea Shou had employed the girl directly under his leadership.
Glancing over at Shou revealed the man to be pointedly ignoring Naruto, which left him with a bemused expression before he turned back to the proceedings. If Shou did not want to make mentions of it, Naruto would refrain from pushing.
Hono raised the torch and gave it a wave. In the forest below them, between them and the village, a cry rang out.
"First Spearmen Regiment, forward!"
"Osu!"
Hearing the men's confirming cry brought a smile to Naruto's face, nostalgia washing over him as he remembered the battle for Kisara. His people had come so far since then.
Moving as a single-minded entity towards the wall, the first regiment of spearmen emerged from the forest, clad in their dark colors of brown and black, iron and leather. Their shields had been improved since Kisara, and extremely so. The wood was properly shaped now, as they've had the time during their travelling to properly work the wood they had. Iron was smelted and formed to fit the rounded shields, in the middle where the handle was as well as along the edges of the shield.
As his men emerged, shouts and alarm bells called out from the village. Naruto scoffed at the chaos that was ensuing, the lack of discipline from the local samurai disgusting him to the core. This was going to be too easy for his people.
Halfway in their slow stride towards the village, the samurai on the wall managed to organize a rudimentary line of archers who shot their first volley.
"Shieldwall!"
"Osu!"
The first line of spearmen immediately crouched, making themselves as small as possible as they covered their front with their shields, their brethren pushing up on their backs, forming an impassable wall of shields to cover the front and above. As the volley rained down on them, not a single man fell to their arrows.
With a lazy wave of his hand, Naruto gestured for Shou to issue the next command.
"Archers!", Shou nodded to Hono, who immediately lit another torch to wave a signal.
"Nock!", another cry came from the forest, same direction as the spearmen had come from. "Draw...! Loose!"
Their bows were now crafted with shaped wood, reinforced with iron and tightly wound strings to the degree that common men would not be able to draw them. Enhanced by chakra, his archers fired a volley that came not from above, but straight for the archers on the wall, the arrows piercing through the air with blinding speed.
Before the local enforcement could react, most of the presence on the wall was mowed down by arrows that cut through them like butter. The few that remained panicked and vacated the wall within seconds.
"Shou.", Naruto drawled, already bored with the battle. Even if their victory had been assured from the start, the enemy's lack of discipline made the fight an utter waste; There was nothing to be learned here, apart from a lackluster confirmation of his soldiers skill. "Time to wrap this up."
"Aye, Warlord.", Shou bowed lightly, nodding for Hono to signal the last plan of the attack. "Spearmen, full assault!"
Upon her signal, the officer who led the spearmen cried out for blood.
"Spearmen! Full assault!"
"Osu!"
Like one, the men dispersed from the shieldwall and swarmed towards the wall like an army of ants. Enhanced with chakra, they covered distance in the manner of seconds, leaping up the wall and into the village where they began to dispatch the locals with brutal efficiency.
"Well then.", Naruto sighed, rolling his shoulder before beginning a slow trudge towards the village. He expected his people to be finished by the time he reached them. "Let's get this over with."
A lavish awning had been raised for Naruto, where he and his officers reviewed the day's proceedings. They were in the middle of the village, in the townsquare, where many of their people had made camp. Seeing as the village was already tightly packed, most had to make camp outside of the walls, but they'd make do with what they could.
The locals had been afraid and wary of their intentions, even more so when Naruto had dragged their decadent noble out of his house and publicly executed him. They softened up quickly when Naruto had ordered his people to share with them what they had, providing much needed food and medical aid to the starved population.
Now, they were treated as heroes as people drank and sang through the streets, much to the annoyance of Naruto and his officers as they were in the middle of a meeting. All in all, the entire situation reminded him too much of Kisara.
His 'Iron Guard' was as always surrounding him and his officers to provide protection, En and the girl, the brunette from days before, close at his side.
"Tou.", Naruto said as he raised a cup of sake to his lips, eyeing the officer with interest. "The local supplies of iron aside, have the weapons and armors from the enemy been salvaged?"
At the end of the day, no one of their own had died in the battle. One man had taken an unlucky arrow to his side, but the medics had assured him that the man was in absolutely no danger. As his spearmen eclipsed the wall, the samurai on the inside had quickly panicked, many of them surrendering quickly to their mercy. Their gear would now serve Naruto's purpose and the locals had apparently been willing to part with a lot of materials, such as iron and cloth, which was always in high demand in his flock.
"Yes, Warlord.", Tou bowed his head from where he was seated on his knees. "It has all been accounted for."
"We'll get to repurposing it tomorrow.", Masaru supplied further, grinning cheekily at Naruto when his lord looked to him. "Won't let you down, Warlord."
Chuckling, Naruto shook his head with amusement and gave them all a wave.
"Alright, I wont keep you any longer. 2'th Spearmen unit, 5'th Archer unit; Your turn to keep a night's watch." The corresponding officers nodded dutifully. "Rest of you, get out of here and enjoy yourself." As his officers laughed and bantered as they made ready to leave, Naruto gazed to Ryu who rose and walked away at a brisk pace. "Ryu-!", Naruto called out, stopping himself when Ryu kept walking away as if he hadn't heard him.
"Still angry, huh...?", Shou muttered from Naruto's right side, still seated next to him with a teacup in hand. Frowning, Naruto nodded despondently as they were left alone, only his 'Iron Guard' remaining along with them.
"Yeah.", Naruto sighed. "He ever mention why?"
"No, but he's been that way since the revelation of your status as a container."
Hearing Shou's simple, yet honest, statement on the fact, Naruto glanced to his friend with a worried frown.
"And? What are your thoughts on it?"
Shou paused, the cup raised to his lips, before he lowered it with a wry grin.
"You know how I feel about it.", Shou chuckled. "While it was a surprise to be sure, you have done nothing but good for me and our people. Demon or not, I'll not be so blind as to ignore what you have done for us. And more importantly...", Shou paused to give Naruto a sympathetic smile. "...More importantly, you're my friend. Even if you were a demon, which I do not believe that you are, nothing will change that."
"...Hah...", Naruto laughed softly, his throat clogging up with emotion for a moment as Shou's words caught him by surprise. He quickly gathered himself and waved Shou off. "Bah, enough of this! Stop flirting with me and save such sordid behavior for Hono, wont you?"
Shou snorted and put away his cup as he too made ready too leave.
"I'm flattered you're so worried of my romantic interests.", Shou joked in return. Taking a moment to stretch, Shou moved away from the awning and gave a lazy wave from over his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, my Lord."
Grunting his agreement to Shou, Naruto refilled his cup and continued to drink. After a couple of seconds of silence, En took a step forward from Naruto's side, putting himself into the corner of Naruto's vision.
"Your friend has shown you great disrespect lately."
"...Huh...?" Naruto raised a brow as he glanced at En. "What do you mean? Shou's been with me a long time. How he presents himself in public is completely different than in priv-"
"Not Shou.", En interrupted, kneeling down to give Naruto a serious stare. "Ryu."
Brushing off the momentary surprise and the hurt that followed it, Naruto frowned back at En.
"He has every right to be angry with me. He's been my friend for the longest time, and I've kept secrets after secrets from him."
"And? Why should that matter?", En pushed, placing a hand upon Naruto's shoulder. His expression turned to one of understanding and sympathetic compassion, something of which he'd never seen before on En's face. The expression made Naruto's words halt in his throat. "Whatever's been in your past, is your past, and nobody has any right to expect you to reveal such without your willingness. Furthermore, you cannot allow Ryu to disrespect you as openly as he has. Even if it's something as simple as pretending he has not heard you, your men will notice. It damages your respect and authority over your people." En then sighed and closed his eyes. "Apologies to bring such a painful topic up on a day of victory, but you need to do something about it."
Pursing his lips, Naruto nodded stiffly. He tried not to be sullen about it as he knew En to be right, but it was hard. He'd wanted to clear things up with Ryu for a long time now, but Ryu had denied him at every turn. He'd have to do something about it soon.
"En?", a woman suddenly spoke up from afar. As both En and Naruto glanced up in the direction, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Mari there, respectfully held back by the 'Iron Guard' at their perimeter. She smiled warmly at En with expectancy.
"Mari.", En murmured, a soft smile appearing on his face as their eyes met. The sight made Naruto blink; Seeing the former slave instructor smile like so seemed so out of place on him. En quickly resumed his usual hard expression, looking towards Naruto with a hopeful expression. "May I take my leave, Warlord?"
Seeing as the 'Iron Guard' were now sufficiently trained to follow the set routines without En hovering over them, Naruto gave the man a quick nod, giving Mari a light wave and a smile that was returned with a respectful bow. He hadn't seen the woman even once since before the fight against Goro, but he was happy to see how good she looked. There was obviously something between her and En. He was glad on their behalf and wished them the best.
As En walked off along with Mari, Naruto remained seated and began to ponder.
Ryu and Hina. Shou and Hono. En and Mari.
...Masaru and his constant cycle of lovers.
Everyone seemed to find their significant other one way or another, yet Naruto remained alone. When he'd been younger, he'd pined away after Sakura, a huge mistake on his part of which he now realized many years later. If he'd had any wits, he'd have recognized Hinata's affections and focused on her instead, but thinking of what could have been did not serve him.
Back in Kisara, while he'd liked to believe that he had been quite an eligible bachelor, he'd had no interest in a relationship, but seeing everyone around him find someone to hold close, someone to be intimate with, he couldn't help but feel somewhat inadequate in comparison. While he'd had partners before, their time together had been fleeting.
Glancing over to the Iron Guard girl who remained behind him, the girl snapped her eyes away from him with a flush to her cheeks, their eyes momentarily connecting as he turned to her.
Amused by the fact that she'd been watching him, Naruto supposed there was no time like the present.
"Hey.", Naruto rumbled, his fingers playing with the cup in his hands as his eyes remained on the girl. She looked back to Naruto with reddening cheeks, knowing he'd caught her looking. "Sit down."
Patting a sitting pillow next to him that had been used by Shou before, Naruto smiled expectantly at the girl.
"...M-My Lord...!", the girl stammered nervously, her gaze flickering between him and the pillow with embarrassment. "As a member of your 'Guard', I cannot-"
"I can make it an order, if you'd like.", Naruto pushed, raising an amused brown at the girl. Impossibly, the girl flushed even deeper. "What will it take to have you take a seat?"
Opening her mouth, the girl thought better of it and closed it again, before she slowly moved to take a seat. Nervously, the girl seated herself on her knees next to him, stiff as a board as she obviously had no idea on how to act.
Naruto filled a cup with wine for her and held it out for her. Opening her mouth to protest, she froze when she saw Naruto's pointed, yet amused stare; It was obvious he'd make it an order if he had too.
Finally getting a reaction other than embarrassment out of her, the girl pouted as some annoyance entered her expression, before accepting the cup as graciously as she could.
"...Thank you..."
"You're very welcome.", Naruto grinned. Sharing a quick toast, Naruto took a drink before he continued his little interrogation. "What's your name?"
The girl smiled at him, the blush still present at her face.
"Asuka.", she murmured softly, apparently still nervous in his presence. Naruto figured it was understandable, considering his position compared to her.
"Just Asuka?", Naruto wondered aloud and the girl nodded.
"Just Asuka."
"Well then.", Naruto grinned cheekily, leaning onto his knees as their eyes remained on one another. "In that case, 'just Asuka', my name is Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you."
His attempt of insinuating an informal atmosphere was realized a moment later, Asuka cocking her head at Naruto with a shy smile.
"...'Just Naruto', then...?", she questioned in return, her expression and tone playful, yet hopeful. The girl was adorably transparent and Naruto couldn't help but give a laugh.
"Yes.", Naruto laughed with a smile. "'Just Naruto'."
And done. Bit curious to read you guys thoughts on the chapter. It's a bit of a slow one as we're building up towards the next arc. I don't think you guys will be able to guess what's going to happen, but feel free to try!
MiNdZeRo here, signing out.