First Imperial Guard of Konoha
Chapter 2
A bruised and tired Naruto stood on one of Konoha's many training grounds, in front of him, his biggest opponent yet. Large and sturdy, cold like a rock and unflinching. The blond concentrated and gathered his spiritual energy, Reiryoku, and concentrated it on the tip of his left pointing finger. With a shout, he released the power at his stoic enemy.
"Hado #4:Byakurai!" A pale strike of lightning shot out at amazing speed, before piercing his foe right in the middle before traveling further. Eventually, the blond stopped his technique and fell on his back.
Hiruzen stood a few meters away, watching the spectacle with a small smile. After two months of training, the blond has come to him with results, which were able to pierce a very thick boulder, something not many techniques would be able to do.
The Sandaime was impressed by the power displayed today by Naruto, the blond had the firepower not many experienced Genin of Konoha could boast about. It really made Sandaime hopeful about the future of the hidden leaf.
"That was most impressive, Naruto-kun. However, I am certain that showing off your progress was not the only reason you have taken me here today," After catching his breath, the blond stood up and grinned at the Hokage.
"I should have expected that you would catch on, Hokage-sama," The blond sighed and walked towards the old man. "You see, there is something I need before continuing my training,"
"Oh? And what is that you need?"
"Dad has left some notes about how the Imperial Guard Division was supposed to be the frontline of Konoha and decided for them to use a more battlefield-suited weapon than Kunai and Shuriken,"
"That is true that the weapons we use are not optimal for battlefields,"
"Yes, he researched and found notes about an Elfen Clan that lives in the forests of Land of swords, who are able to craft special spirit-imbued swords and thought it would be a great idea to obtain them,"
The Land of swords is a relatively small country between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightings. It is said that the whole country is filled with ancient forests, where spirits and other magical creatures reside. According to old scripts and scrolls, the Clans of the country have been living there in harmony for centuries before the first appearance of Chakra.
Many believe that said Clans are merely fables and no one lives in the county, but Hiruzen knew the truth, having met a creature from there years ago. It was a man from one of the Clans, more exactly the demi-human Clan. They are humanoid creatures with the features and abilities of animals.
"An elfen Clan? You do realize that there are only a handful of people that ever saw anyone in the forests? They have been hiding from us, humans, for as long as our history predates. How exactly do you plan on finding them and getting them to make you a sword?"
"I already have a plan for that, and while I am not sure it will work, it's worth a try. The legends about the sword are few and between, but I think trying will be worth it,"
"Very well, I will arrange a team for this mission, will be ready to head out tomorrow?"
"Yes, I will be,"
"Good, I will have one of my ANBU fetch you when the team is assembled,"
"Thank you, Hokage-sama,"
The next morning, Naruto arrived at the gates and found the team that would escort him to the Sword country, the land shrouded in mystery.
"Alright, so everyone is here. Before we depart, I think introductions are in order. My name is Uzuki Yugao, a Jonin and leader of this team. Go on, introduce yourself,"
"Listen closely, my name is Hagane Kotetsu! And this is my partner,"
"I am Kamizuki Izumo! Remember the names, we passed the Chunin exam on the first try and will be both Jonin in no time!"
Naruto smiled at their enthusiasm and turned to the last member. "My name is Umino Iruka, still a Genin," The scarred genin said with slight embarrassment, scratching the bring of his nose, where a horizontal scar was visible.
"My name is Namikaze Naruto, pleased to meet you," The blond said with a small smile.
"Wait! Namikaze as in the son of Yondaime-sama?" Kotetsu shouted the question.
"As in the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the Red hot-blooded Habanero?" Izumo asked with excitement in his eyes. The two older boys jumped on the blond and started rapidly asking questions.
Yugao's eyebrow twitched before she growled and grabbed them both by the ends of their shirts and pulled them away.
"You two idiots don't even know who our client is?" She asked them sternly causing the two to become mumbling mess, trying to explain themselves to the Jonin.
"Have you even read your mission's scrolls?" When they shook their heads with fear, Yugao rubbed her temples before smacking them both on their heads. The two Chunin fell on the ground with yelps, nursing their hurting heads before Yugao ordered them to stand up and once again explained to them the parameters of the mission.
"Ok, now that we all know why we are here," She sent the two Chunin a look. "I think it's time we depart," With this, the team left the gates behind and started their three-day journey to the Land of Swords.
They traveled for some time in relative silence, broken only by Izumo and Kotetsu chatting about their training once they come back to the Village. Eventually, their conversations shifted to the mission at hand.
"So, Naruto, what exactly are we going to the Sword country for?" Izumo asked, keeping his eyes peeled out on the forest surrounding them. Yugao was about to berate the Chunin, but she realized that the mission scroll didn't really specify their client object at their destination.
"Ah, you see, I currently training to form a new division in Konoha designed by my dad and according to rumors, the inhabitants of the country are wordsmiths like no other. I want to try and get in contact with one of the clans living there and hopefully commission a sword and establish a link that we can use letter,"
Yugao turned to the blond with surprise, the first time hearing about the blond's goal of forming a new branch in Konoha, but before she could ask her question, Kotetsu shouted.
"A new division? That's some big plans. Don't you need to be strong to do something like this? After all, the leader needs to be the strongest, right? just like the Hokage or the ANBU commander?"
"That's right, that's the reason Hokage-sama didn't assign me to any team, so I can focus on training and in five years starts the division,"
"What will it be called?"
"Wait, you're a Genin?"
"What will it specialize in?"
The questions bombarded the blond who grinned and was happy to answer.
"The name we have decided on is 'The Imperial Guard division' and it will specialize in frontline warfare as well as security of the Village and country. And to answer your question, Iruka, yes I am a Genin, I have been promoted about three months ago by Hokage-sama,"
"hear that Iruka? you have to step up your training or blondie will become a Chunin faster than you," Kotetsu said with a grin, looking at the embarrassed brown-haired teen.
"Kotetsu is right, but still, a Genin at seven, if I remember your age correctly, is something not many people can hope to achieve. I can count people who graduated so early on my hands and two of these would be from naruto's generation," Yugao stated, hoping to make Iruka feel a bit better. the scarred genin smiled slightly at the purple-haired Jonin before the attention shifted to the blond.
"So, the division will be mainly focused on hand-to-hand combat and weapons?" Izumo asked, but Naruto shook his head.
"No, my dad had a theory which allows one to use only the spiritual energy in order to keep us fighting longer," Naruto explained to them the basics behind the use of just Reiryoku as well as how his dad come to the conclusions.
"Whoa! It sounds awesome!" Kotetsu shouted with stars in his eyes, to which Izumo agreed to nod his head quickly.
"Will everyone who wants be able to join the division?" Iruka asked with a curious look.
"Yes, however, the division will work like ANBU. While you will be a member of it, you will still be an active Shinobi who can be called for missions when necessary, unless we are fighting in a war,"
"Hey, Izumo, are we joining? It's like the ANBU, we will be considered elite, but have to stick to the Shadows," Kotetsu asked, looking at his partner, who looked uncertain.
"It sounds interesting, but don't we have to wait five years before the branch is active?"
"Well," Kotetsu drawled the word and looked at the blond with a grin. "I am sure Naruto can somehow negotiate with Hokage-sama to let us train with him before the official start of the branch, right?" Naruto smiled uncertainly at the older boy.
"Are you sure, you don't even know about-" the blond was stopped by Kotetsu who smiled mysteriously.
"Naruto, I have a special ability," The blond looked at him with confusion and heard both Iruka and Yugao sigh.
"What does it do?" the blond asked uncertainly.
"You know people who look at a young girl or boy and are able to tell that one day they will grow up to be handsome or beautiful?"
"I don't really know about such people," Naruto answered with confusion.
"Doesn't matter. I am saying that I am able to tell whether one is going to be a great Shinobi in the future by looking at them," Kotetsu stated proudly at the shocked look on the blond's face.
"No way,"
"Yes way and by looking at you, I know you will one day become an extraordinary Ninja and so I want in, so that one day when people talk about you, they heard about your two companions," The black haired boy grinned and raised his hands in a grandiose expression. "The great Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, the first two companions of Namikaze naruto, the first two who joined the Imperial Guard Division!" He stated dramatically.
"Wow, well... if you put it like that, how can I say no? I will talk with Hokage-sama once we are back and I will see what I can do," the blond said with a grin.
"Really? Nice! See, Izumo? I told you he would agree,"
"Like always, signing up for something you have no idea about," Izumo muttered under his nose.
"What did you say?" The black-haired Chunin shouted with a twitching eye.
"Stop it, you two. We are on a mission, act like it," The two Chunin calmed down, having heard Yugao's orders and the group continued in silence.
Three days later
Before anyone from the group noticed, the forests of Konoha vanished and were replaced by another kind of tree. Not only did they look older and more sturdy, but were also a lot bigger, some of the trees being the size of the forest of death.
For some time now, Naruto has been leading the group, his eyes permanently glued to an old map that has been sealed by Minato. It was difficult to read and the blond wasn't entirely sure if he was even close to what the map showed, but they kept on going forward.
"Hey, look!" Iruka shouted and pointed towards the dense canopy. All eyes went where he pointed and they found a large boulder standing underneath a large tree. The weird thing was that there seemed to be some kind of altar in front of the stone, as well as there being something written on it, but no one could read it.
"What do you think it is?" Izumo asked and all eyes turned to the blond, who observed it thoughtfully. His eyes shifted a few times between the boulder and the map before nodding to himself and turning to his escorts.
"If I am right, then according to this map, this is the place where elves were seen the most,"
"How many were seen?" Yugao asked with a raised eyebrow, and Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Three,"
"That's-"
"In the last hundred years,"
"not-"
"And not all of them have been confirmed to be elves,"
"a lot,"
"Well, if any of them are still in this forest, then this place is the best place to find them,"
"Are we gonna sit and wait here, hoping one of them shows up?" Kotetsu asked with a groan, but the blond shook his head.
"No, we are right in the heart of the forest, we just need to make sure they notice and are interested enough to meet us,"
"Alright, so... so do we do this?" Yugao asked, having no idea what the blond meant.
"Let me take care of this," Without another word, the blond walked closer to the boulder before sitting down in a meditative position and closing his eyes. Iruka looked at Yugao and asked.
"Should he be alone in the open like this?" Yugao was silent for a moment before closing her eyes and trying to sense if anyone was around.
"There is no danger, we are alone for now,"
Back with Naruto, the blond focused and started to circulate as much Chakra as possible through his body before siphoning away the Spiritual Energy until nothing else was left. He opened his eyes and freed his Reiryoku from his body. The team felt a heavy pressure settle over them, pushing Iruka, Kotetsu, and Izumo to their knees, while making it harder for Yugao to breathe and start sweating slightly, trying to keep her composure in face of the power.
"W-What is this power?" Iruka whispered, having a problem breathing. Yugao noticed this and flared her Chakra, trying to counter whatever Naruto was doing, and managed to divert the power slightly. However, that was enough for her team to be able to stand up properly, yet the pressure was still present on their shoulders, reminding them, that only Yugao's Chakra was keeping it at bay.
Before they noticed, the pressure vanished and Naruto walked back to them. Izumo was the first one to ask the question.
"What in the sage was that, man?" The brown-haired Chunin shouted, making Naruto blink in confusion.
"I am not sure what you mean. I released my Reiryoku in the form of a Spiritual Pressure, I call it Reiatsu. From my tests with Hokage-sama, it shouldn't really affect you this much,"
"Well, it surely did, I thought for a moment I was a goner, man. You have to teach me this, it's so cool!" Kotetsu stated, making all around his sweatdrop. Naruto turned to Yugao with a calculative look.
"What about you, Yugao-san?"
"Well, it was certainly not pleasant. It felt like a heavy weight would have been placed on my body. It was also harder to breathe and release my Chakra,"
"Hmm, I see, it would appear that Reiatsu affects one the weaker their Chakra is since Hokage-sama remarked only slight discomfort. I will have to study if more Reiryoku will amplify the effect of Reiatsu on people with more and stronger Chakra,"
"Why did you even release it?"
"Elves, like other non-human creatures of this forest, have been around for much longer than Chakra and if old sources are to be believed, they use Spiritual or Physical Energies, instead of Charka. So, I decided to show them my Reiatsu, hoping to make them interested enough to meet us and it seems I succeeded," The blond said with a small smile.
The group looked around and found around three dozen humanoid creatures around them, on the ground or the branches of trees, some surely still hidden in the canopy. They looked like humans, the only distinction were their very pale skin, aristocratic facial features, long ears, and the lack of Chakra inside their bodies, which made it impossible for most Shinobi to ever sense them.
"Ceadmill, Aen Seidhe," Naruto greeted with a low bow and a small smile.
'What did he say?'
'He knows the elder speech?'
Sorry for the long wait and short Chapter, but my life I kind of hectic currently and I don't have too much time to write :(
Current planned crossovers for the story:
Bleach
Witcher
Fate series
League of Legends
(Maybe Kimetsu no yaiba, Raising of the shield hero, Konosuba, one punch man, re:zero)
Remember to fav and follow if u enjoyed it, reviews really motivate to write.
Thanks for reading!