I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.
A Price for Peace
Chapter 39 The Placement Trials pt 1
"Wow would you look at that!" Tenji said with wide eyes. He was standing with Naruto, Karin and Rea. In front of them was the largest arena any of them had ever seen. The walls were easily as high as those of the capital and at the top large glass viewing boxes littered the walls at various heights allowing a brief glimpse inside, but not really enough so that it would give anything away. The stadium was at least twice the size of the fabled forest of death in Konoha.
"So what it's a giant oval, the only thing thats really impressive is the fact they erect this giant waste of space and then deconstruct for the sole purpose of electing the next group of stuck up Teme's to rule over us," Rea scoffed.
"Alright we get it, you're a buzz kill. Why did you decide to come again Rea? From what I can recall you said this was a trap and only idiots would come here," Tenji replied.
"Because when you idiots do something stupid, and knowing you and Naruto that's a when not an if. I don't want the village to be implicated at least then nobody else will suffer," Rea scoffed.
"Yeah yeah, you give everyone the cold shoulder, but the truth is you're just as excited to see this as we are. You need to lighten up right Naruto," Tenji said happily. He was surprised when Naruto didn't respond. "Naruto?" he called out searching for the blond, who he eventually saw right up next to the giant stadium.
"This is impressive work, and it's clearly made with chakra," Karin said admiring the site where the edges of the stadium rose from the ground.
"Iron release, either a large amount of people with the bloodline or one really powerful shinobi," Naruto mused.
"Well look at you, and to think Tsunade-sama asked me to make sure you didn't say or do anything stupid," Karin chuckled.
"Baa-chan said that?" Naruto asked with a mock hurt expression.
"Oh Naruto-kun, her exact words were... Don't let that knucklehead get you both killed by being himself," Karin replied with a sympathetic pat on his shoulder.
"I'm not that bad... well maybe in the past I was, and maybe I haven't exactly given Baa-chan reason to have confidence that I won't go over the top and do things without thinking. Now that I think about it, she is totally justified in thinking that I would do something stupid... still hurts though," Naruto sighed.
"Hey you two let's get moving, we're supposed to sign in at the hotel they set up for the spectators," Tenji called out to the two shinobi.
Naruto nodded quickly catching up to Tenji and Rea, Karin following close behind. They followed a large road along that spiralled around the massive stadium. "Wow even with chakra this would take awhile to cross, what do you think they have planned," Naruto said with an air of amazement.
"Would you stop talking like that, may as well wave a giant sign that says you know how to use the same powers as the military," Rea scowled.
"That would be interesting to see," Tenji chuckled.
"I'm serious," Rea replied.
"She's right, Naruto suppressing your chakra won't be enough if you keep openly admiring things that you should have no knowledge of," Karin said voicing her agreement.
Naruto sighed and nodded in acceptance, 'Ah man this is going to be harder than I thought, how am I supposed to keep in check when everyone around me is using chakra.'
'Well worst case scenario, you get everyone killed... which while admittedly would be a bit of a downer for you, I would at least be entertained,' Kurama replied.
'You're a constant source of comfort as always,' the blond replied sarcastically.
'Well, I do my best.'
'Obviously. So tell me, what do you think about this , there is no way that this stadium was build by just one person. Do you think the family with the Kekkei Genkai are the royal family?' Naruto asked.
'I think it's highly unlikely, the Iron release bloodline is extremely rare in the Elemental Nations, mostly caused by a freak mutation in someone whose family already has a Kekkei Genkai. From what we know of the royal family it's clear they came from our side of the mountains, so I think this is a native bloodline limit.'
'So you think they will have a Kekkei Genkai that's more well known huh? Still I would expect there to be a big deal made out of someone who was strong enough to make it over the mountains going missing.'
'Maybe you're right, I wouldn't be surprised if we find out who they are soon, they should be here so you can scope out just how strong they really are,' the large fox replied.
Naruto was drawn back to reality by an odd site, a large crowd stood around what appeared to be the main entrance to the stadium, a massive archway rose twenty feet in the air and just as wide. In the distance a large palace was framed by a tree lined road and large areas of tents were scattered around the fields nearby that Naruto assumed was were the competitors were staying.
Two large buildings stood in the middle of a field separated by a fence a sign outside the smaller of the two indicated that it was designated for those who had come to witness the competition, while the other was reserved for the sensei's, and judges.
"What are they standing around for?" Karin asked. Her answer came almost instantly as a large ball of fire shot high into the sky turning into a large bird, earning a massive round of applause from the gathered crowd. Next large pillars of iron shot out of the ground forming a large cage around the bird as it swooped down gliding just above the ground.
'That's impressive control,' Naruto thought as he joined in the crowd in applauding the two jutsu. What was more impressive was the fact the users of the jutsu were younger than he was. A raven haired teenage boy with long shoulder length hair had created the Katon jutsu while at the cage was put together by a young girl who had the same rust coloured hair as Tetsu and his brother.
The last member of the group was another boy with black hair, while he had not performed a jutsu of his own yet, but Naruto didn't have to wait long, he quickly ran through hand seals at mid Chunin speed and slammed his palms to the ground, a dome of earth rising from each side of the cage surrounding the bird crushing both jutsu.
"Alright that's enough, we are not here to put on a show for these peons," came a scolding feminine voice from the entrance. A woman in her early twenties no more than three years older than Naruto stood there with a heavy set scowl. She had long black hair that was pulled back as it cascaded down to her shoulders and she wore elegant black robes lined with sliver and red silk.
Behind her stood Gouhara in the same outfit the only difference being on Gouhara's shoulder 'XXII' was embroidered in bright gold while the younger woman had 'XIV'. Along with them stood Tetsu, Shougo, and a third man with the same dark hair as Shougo and the younger woman tied back in a pony tail his onyx eyes reflecting no light. "Now now Joli-chan, they're our guests too. We invited them in an attempt to lessen the gap between us, not treat them as second class citizens," Gouhara said firmly, her face a cold expressionless mask.
"Maybe you're right Kaa-san," the younger woman said with no sign of warmth in her voice. "Still my foolish pupils shouldn't be giving showing off when their opposition could watching."
"What, don't tell me that you are worried? Your team were made unbelievable favourites to come in top place. If all of your students don't get picked in the first round of selections that wouldn't look to good on you now would it my darling daughter," Gouhara said with a condescending smirk.
"You act as if my team won't do as well as yours did, but then again maybe the competition has been raised since you had a team. Your favourite play thing has a team in this years competition after all," Joli scoffed eyeing Tetsu with a mirthless smirk.
"That remains to be seen Joli-sama, but I'm sure any team trained by someone as powerful as yourself would be a highly skilled, difficult for anyone to beat. Especially when two of your clan members are on the team," Tetsu replied with a bow.
"I don't need you to tell me that our family is trained and bred to be the best of the best," Joli said sharply.
"Those that survive anyway," Shougo mumbled under his breath but loudly enough for the others to hear.
"Well Kaa-san it seems like our dear cousin still has a problem with the way we operate." Joli chuckled mirthlessly before turning her attention to Shougo. "Is that why, despite being the son of the first in line for the throne you spend your time as my mothers little bodyguard? What a pathetic excuse of a man you are," The young woman spat venomously.
"If you say so Joli-sama, but the two of us have very different perceptions on what pathetic is." Shougo replied apathetically. This seemed to be a mistake, Joli spun on the spot in a single fluid motion drawing a hidden blade from her coat and he soon found the long blade pressed up against his neck.
"Say that again you piece of shit and I will kill you where you stand." Joli snarled her beautiful features scrunched into a vicious frown.
"I apologise Joli-sama, it will not happen again," Shougo replied his face an expressionless mask.
The young woman lowered her blade and turned her back on the steadily growing crows. "See that it doesn't, come along mother I can't stand being in the presence of this filth any longer."
Naruto stiffened from his place in the crowd, only a tight gip on his hand from Karin stopped him from yelling out in surprise. "Naruto-kun thats," Karin gasped in shock
"I know," Naruto replied calmly lightly squeezing his hand.
Naruto may have seemed calm, but inside the blond Kurama was raging, not because of what was happening, but the symbol stitched across their back of a white and red fan. 'UCHIHA, they're like rats, you think you have gotten rid of them all, then more crawl out of the gutter.' the fox roared in anger.
'But how?'
'I'm not sure but I can guess, it seems pretty obvious when you think about it. It has to have been Madara Uchiha.'
'Huh how?'
'Simple really, he fakes his death at the valley of the end. But then what? He just hides underground for one hundred years until Obito stumbles upon him? It actually makes a little more sense now actually.'
'It does?... wait what does?' Naruto questioned.
'The Shodai died young yet Madara still stayed in hiding despite being strong enough to begin his working on the moon eye plan himself. Why would he still hide after the Shodai died, unless of course he wasn't in the elemental nations at all.'
'So Madara crossed the mountains and became the first emperor here? But there could have been more to his plan, I mean I saw those pods everyone was trapped in, Madara wasn't in control of anyone like that.' Naruto wondered not being able to wrap his head around how this could happen.
'So he traps everyone, kills the ones that can use chakra then creates a way that his so called empire can extend into the elemental nations, the reasoning actually makes some sense, but we will never know for sure what the full extent of his plans were because of Kaguya's involvement, impressive reasoning, especially coming from you,' the fox mused.
'Thanks...wait a minute... hey!' Naruto whined earning a chuckle from Kurama. 'What should we do Kurama? It's going to be harder hiding from them, with those damn eyes of theres.'
'Hide for as long as you can, at least now we know just who they are and a decent enough understanding of what they're capable of. That takes away most of the ways they can surprise you.'
'I guess, but this is messed up! I thought I was through with dealing with mentally unstable Uchiha.'
'You and I both,' Kurama sighed.
Naruto and Karin both watched, unmoving as the group of Uchiha moved away from the group of onlookers, still barely believing their eyes. "Wow, so they were members of the royal family huh? Scary," Tenji sighed with a low whistle.
"I never thought I would see any more Uchiha in my life, I thought Sasuke really was the last." Naruto said breathlessly.
"You know about the royal family?" Tenji asked mildly impressed.
"Well I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I have fought with them enough times to know what to expect," Naruto replied quietly so only they could hear Tenji and even Rea looked at the blond as if he had grown a second head but didn't say anything. Naruto was still able to pick up on the hidden meaning behind their looks however. "I'll tell you about it later."
"Well as fast as collecting intel on the empire goes, this is the jackpot." Karin said quietly. She was slightly afraid, she had seen what Sasuke and Madara were capable of and she did not want to see that type of fighting again. She could also tell however that if everyone in the royal family acted like the young woman Joli, then it was unlikely that Naruto would be able to help himself, he would get involved and then as sure as day all hell would break loose.
"Come on let's just go find our rooms, there is no point standing around like idiots," Rea said flatly guiding their group towards a large building that seemed to be a hotel with a sign in for the guests with invitations to the trials.
The hotel was nothing special inside, it had been constructed by the same iron as the stadium but less care had gone into it's design. Just inside the front doors stood a large desk with several rather bored looking officials wearing combat gear of different colours and on their chest two patches were sewn. One patch was common across all of those sitting at the desks, a green diamond with a gold fuma shuriken in the centre. 'Can't see much of a family resemblance here, this sign must identify this squad,' Naruto guessed as they approached the desk.
Naruto and Karin were split for a moment from Tenji and Rea as they were sent to different counters. Naruto approached a middle aged man with short white hair that seemed throughly uninterested in who was next in line while he had his complete attention on the computer screen. "Names? And number of people to a room?" the man questioned apathetically, not even casting the blond a glance.
"Uh Naruto, and Karin Uzumaki. Room for two I guess," the jinchuuriki said a little taken aback from being almost completely ignored.
"Do you have your invitation?" the man continued, quickly typing their names into the computer. Naruto quickly checked his pockets in search of their invitations but came up empty, he was about to start panicking when Karin slid the small official looking pieces of paper over the counter. The man nodded at seeing the invites and handed over a set of keys with a room number burnt into the bottom. "Room seventeen, floor three. The placement trials begin two days from now, you are free to enjoy the features we have made available, and even explore the exam grounds prepared for the second and third trials. However unless you do not value your lives, and wish to die in a most horrendous way, stay away from Gouhara-sama's palace," the man said in a drone before moving the pair on.
"Not exactly a warm welcome is it," Naruto chuckled weakly.
"No but it could always be worse," Karin pointed out as they approached the stairs that would take them up to the third level.
"I guess, how about we go check out our room then go look around for awhile?" the blond questioned.
"Well we could, or we could enjoy the first brief minutes of time alone we have had in the last few days," Karin replied in a seductive whisper.
Naruto blushed but nodded dumbly in response. "Yeah that sounds like a better plan."
(Meanwhile)
Tetsu and Shougo both sat on the railings of a balcony near the top levels of the Gouhara's palace. "That little brat Joli is here for less than a day and I already want to ring her neck," Shougo sighed, gazing out over the field where many teams were undergoing some final training in preparation for the trials.
"I didn't think you had a death wish," Tetsu replied calmly.
"There is a difference between wanting to do something and being able to. She is considered a prodigy after all, but all that talent has done for her, is turned her into an insufferable stuck up brat, hell even amongst my family she is one of the worst," the dark haired man said.
"I have never met a member of the royal family that has so much dislike for your own clan, you really are one in a million," Tetsu chuckled.
The Uchiha laughed at the accusation but shook his head. "I'm not that different, most of the clan has grudges against each other, only half of us live past twelve as we're forced to fight a family member to the death just to strengthen our eyes. Those who have brothers or sisters have it the worst." Shougo replied mirthlessly. "I had to kill my twin brother, it was him on me and I have hated myself and my clan for it every day since."
"Yeah I can see how that could breed resentment. I guess just being a foot soldier on the outside of all the politics of the clans has more benefits that I thought," Tetsu sighed.
"Who knows, you're a well known member of your clan, you could get selected by one of my cousins as a husband, then you will know all about our clan," Shougo huffed.
"We have already had this discussion before, if that ever happens you will challenge me to a fight again and prove that I am not worthy of becoming part of you clan," Tetsu joked.
"That's right and if I ever decide I've had enough you're supposed to pretend to kill me so I can escape into the wild never to be seen again," Shougo laughed. The two friends were jolted from their revelry when they heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Shougo asked loudly, playing the part of royalty to a tee.
The door opened and in walked a young Uchiha boy with his hair slicked back so he had nothing in his eyes. "Sorry to bother you sempai, but I have a message for Tetsu-sempai."
"Well spit it out kid, we don't have all day... actually that's not true, we both have absolutely no duties to fulfil until tomorrow night."
The young Uchiha still seemed a little intimidated and his voice was quite shaky as he began to talk. "There has been someone sign in at the guests arrivals under the name of Naruto Uzumaki. You wanted me to inform you when he arrived didn't you?" the boy asked slowly.
"Thank you for the information. That will be all," Shougo said ordering the boy from the room. "Well Tetsu, looks like Gouhara-sama's plan is going to go off without a hitch," he added turning his attention back towards his rust haired friend.
Tetsu despite the apparent success of his mission didn't feel any sense of accomplishment from this. "Is it bad that part of me wanted him to stay away?"
Shougo shook his head "No, that just means that at least part of you is still human. If you liked this kid, then it makes sense not to want to see him die," he explained. "So why don't you introduce me to him, I might not be able to know him for long but the kid does sound interesting."
"Sure why not, but lets give it some time first. It will seem too suspicious if we show up right after they check in. besides I should pass on the good news to the princess," Tetsu replied still not sounding like it was good news at all. "You think she and Joli-sama have tried to kill each other yet?" he asked trying to change the topic, while slowly heading towards the door.
"They probably want to, but it wouldn't reflect well on Ojii-sama and the rest of the family, if two of the highest ranking members of the clan were trying to kill each other during the squad placement trials. Probably one of the only rules we have, is to maintain the image of our family," Shougo replied.
"So they can't show any hostility towards each other, huh. This might actually be interesting rather than down right terrifying then," Tetsu chuckled as they began descending the steep stairs leading down towards the entrance and audience chamber however they stopped on the second floor which opened out into a massive living area filled with the finest luxuries in the empire.
The walls were draped with dark red curtains that Gouhara had insisted upon as they reminded her of her favourite colour, that of blood. Tetsu had to admit that he thought it did look a little bit like the snow white walls were bleeding.
"Now which room is she in?" Shougo mused, mostly talking to himself.
"I've never seen this part of Gouhara-hime's palace before." Tetsu said, letting out a low whistle as he gazed around the luxuriously furbished apartment like level of the palace.
"That's because this is where she lives. Not many people have seen it... not many are brave enough to even try and see it," Shougo replied with a short laugh.
"Well now that you mention it I seem to feel like my life may be significantly shortened just from being here," Tetsu said sheepishly.
"Nah, you'll be fine... I think," The Uchiha shrugged.
"I would have liked a little more confidence in that statement," Tetsu sweat dropped.
Shougo rested his hand on Tetsu's shoulder. "Well I don't really have anything to reference it off, so I can't really help with that. But she wont, kill you... badly maim maybe,"
Tetsu deadpanned "You're not really helping you know"
"Not trying to," Shougo laughed. "Anyway we've been discovered."
Sure enough the moment Shougo stopped talking there was a gust of cold wind surround the room forming a small tornado that revealed the snow white hair of Gouhara. "I do hope you have a good reason for coming here."
"We certainly do Gouhara-sama." Shougo replied earnestly.
Gouhara arched an eyebrow in anticipation but otherwise did not respond. "We came to inform you that our main target for the exams has arrived." Tetsu quickly informed her with a bow.
"Well that is good news. I am rather interested in seeing this boy, if he is able to stand up to a group of new recruits like you think Tetsu-chan, then it will be interesting to see how long he lasts when we spring the trap," the princess said with a grin.
"We were thinking of greeting him, I'm sort of interested to see what someone who can use chakra without being trained by the empire can do," Shougo said with a smile.
"You're not going to warn him to run for it are you? You have always been a bit of black sheep in this family. But maybe that's why I keep you around, it's like having a ticking time bomb that I'm always waiting for to go off," Gouhara said with a small smirk.
"I'm touched at your faith in my loyalty," Shougo said sarcastically.
"Well I don't really care what you do, as long as our target falls into the trap. So feel free to do what you like with the boy, hell you can even join him, two are better odds than one," Gouhara smirked.
"Well now that you have had your fun at my expense I will go, you coming Tetsu?" Shougo asked.
"Yeah alright coming. Oh and Gouhara-sama, don't worry I will see to it that the real reason for inviting the civilians from the south to the exams is not exposed." Tetsu said with a bow. Gouhara nodded once before walking away. 'I guess she doesn't really care either way,' he added as an after thought.
Tetsu caught up to his friend as they exited the house. "Things are always worse whenever Joli-sama is around," Shougo said as he felt Tetsu catch up.
"It's only for a few days, then Gouhara-sama can go back to whatever it is, she usually does with her time, terrorising children or something sounds about right," Tetsu chuckled.
Shougo just shrugged and looked away. "It's alright I can take what ever they want to throw at me, I'm used to being an outcast. Now let's go meet this Naruto you have been so interested in." They took there time, slowly walking towards the large temporary hotel set up for the spectators. The fields surrounding the palace were full with teams running through their final preparations for the trials. "You know considering how hard all the other teams are training why aren't you with your team?"
"Nah I gave my team the last few days off, I don't want them tired. Besides they're going to need all the energy in the exams," Tetsu explained casually.
"Plus it's less likely that your team will be spied upon," Shougo added seemingly impressed by the reasoning.
"Well that is part of it. Information on other teams can be vital in finding out their weaknesses, and the less they know about you, the more of an advantage in terms of surprise that you have," Tetsu replied analytically.
"You really are a stickler for the attention to fine details," Shougo sighed.
"I've never failed a mission and I always get as much information as I can before I decide how to act," Tetsu said almost like a mantra.
"Kami you're so predictable. Is that why this boy intrigues you so much?" Shougo said as they kept walking, but he paused when Tetsu didn't respond. "No way I'm right aren't I, you don't even know how strong he is and you led him right here, I must say I'm impressed."
"I had my orders, and I followed them out," Tetsu said flatly.
"No I'm not impressed with you, predictable as always, the mission always comes first. No the boy, able to keep so much away from you he's strong I'm better far stronger than you give him credit for," Shougo smirked.
"Impossible, there is nobody that could have trained him," Tetsu scoffed.
"If you say so," Shougo replied with a small shake of his head. They fell into a comfortable silence as they began walking again. "Did you know that during the early years of the empire the clans like yours with Kekkei Genkai were allowed to join the empire, well all of them except one."
"Well I knew we were allowed to join the empire because the first emperor had no army of his own and needed foot soldiers to keep order. But I didn't know there was a clan capable of moulding chakra that wasn't inducted into the empire," Tetsu replied.
"Oh yes, the first emperor deemed them to be too dangerous to be trained, or left alive for that matter so he slaughtered them all," Shougo informed his friend.
"Interesting, so do you think that Naruto might be someone from this clan?" Tetsu asked mildly intrigued.
"Oh not all. I am without a doubt that they were all massacred. I just find history fascinating, you can learn a lot, it can also answer questions that don't seem to have an answer," the Uchiha said with a slight smirk.
Tetsu frowned at his friends response, but it didn't seem like Shougo was going to say anymore on the topic. "Whatever, but if you know something important you should tell someone."
"No Idea what you're talking about, but I'll keep your advice it may come in handy," Shougo replied nonchalantly.
Tetsu sighed at Shougo's antics. "Come on let's just go."
End Chapter!
Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I have been very busy the last month, needed to go away for work and haven't had any time to write, I'll try and get back to more regular updates now. I put a rush on this chapter as I got home two days ago, so I hope it stacks up to the other chapters I have done so far. I'll start work on the next chapter of Nightfall tomorrow so hopefully it will be ready by early next week. Again sorry this chapter has been delayed for so long.
I am sure I have a few people disappointed that I went with the Uchiha as the royal family. I initially thought this story up in response to wanting to know what Madara was actually doing for the 100 years between his supposed death and the start of the cannon series. I mean why would someone who was so strong just sit around underground for a century doing nothing? It makes no sense at all.
So in a vain attempt to put some reason behind it, I thought what if he had left the cannon established world and went somewhere else. That's what brought about the idea for this fic, it was an annoying oversight in the cannon that I didn't like at all. I'll go into it in more depth in later chapters. But let the hate begin, I'm sure I have it coming.
Spoiler Alert.
Sasuke, every time he opens his mouth I seem to dislike him even more. Now he can't even find his own angst, he has to steel the goal of Nagato. Seriously "take everyones hate", replace hate with Pain and Sasuke and Nagato become the same character (Minus Nagato's far better developed more relatable character). Kishimoto is just trying to find a way to make Sasuke popular, but trying to turn him into one of his few successful antagonists just makes Sasuke a weaker character as a result and waters down the narrative still further.
Sorry author-san but your favourite character is a massive failure, people either outright hate, dislike, (Me) or are complete fanboys of his. You can't base a character on complete hatred and with a vocabulary as sophisticated as several different forms of grunting. You can't connect with him, because his goals and reasoning make no sense, characters have to react in a believable manner thats relatable even if the character themselves is a little insane Orochimaru was the best written antagonist in both original and shippuden because of this reason, yes some of his actions were a little out there but they developed progressively and had substance behind them where as Sasuke has been changing his goal for who to kill every other day for as much reason as I can see as thats what he feels like doing that day,.
Sasuke is the cannon verses first known case of severe violent Bipolar or he could be schizophrenic, it is a disorder that not only dissociates thought and speech explaining the grunting, but it also affects the perception of how they experience life, and decision making... kind of does seem familiar to how Sasuke acts.
What annoys me even more is that while Naruto can die, they have made it so Naruto has to keep Sasuke alive in order to free the others. So basically we are guaranteed that Sasuke will survive or change on his death bed (Fingers crossed for this end as opposed to the rainbows and lollipops of them becoming best friends and everything working out with no consequences).
There was also the first few panels of latest chapter that said there was basically only five chapters left anyway so we will get shortchanged on this fight, the only fight people have been looking forward to for ages, and there will be no wrapping up of anything. Putting the final nail into the coffin that has been the last three years of the cannon. So while I didn't intend on it, this spoiler alert just turned into a massive rage at poor character development.