Chapter 6
Hey Guys! As you all know, Christmas is long gone and New Year's looms above our heads, and I've yet to write a chapter of my mediocre story. I've had the flu for approximately a week and a half, so it's been hard to drum up a story with my incoherent thoughts. Plus my mother is quite bitter that I'd chosen to be a chef instead of "doing something productive." Sorry, ranting again.
This chapter is all about getting all the confusing bits of information out, as jumbled as it appears. As you can see, I'm forever busy, so I wanted to get to the NaruAnko bits quickly, therefore the war has to be wiped away as plausible as I can make it, within a few chapters.
Shall we continue?
Mifune was at a loss for words. In a matter of hours, the entirety his balance in life was uplifted, turned over and destroyed. A war was looming above his nation's head and his daughter was gone, without a trace of her finally approved commoner fiancé. No doubt it was the Kumo and Iwa cretins. His daughter was not his daughter, biologically speaking, but he loved her just as much as he would if she was his. It was an emotional attack. Haruhi was the daughter of the woman Mifune had loved, and lost to an illness incurable. They knew, and they were using it against him.. His lover's daughter was being held to the will of whatever his dastardly rivals had in mind, and his emotions could not just be set aside. Even if attaining peace was well imbedded in his mind and the answer was obvious in front of him, he could not bear the guilt he would feel.
"Taisho! We have news!" A nervous samurai came rushing in, his hand habitually grasping his katana.
"Speak."
"Our networking has come back with information. It appears that Kumo is being forced into submission by the Oto nin. Furthermore, though it appeared that an Iwa shinobi had infiltrated our ranks and taken the princess, it was Otogakure attempting to wreak havoc upon the nations and gain an upperhand. Other than this, we have found our lady's friend dead upon the shore of a river not far from here. "
"This certainly changes things. Thank you, Hitari. You are dismissed."
"Hai, Taisho-sama."
Mifune looked past his retreating samurai, deep in thought. This piece of information proved quite useful. He had miscalculated a bit, because he had been missing vital information. The Oto-nin. It was them, he could feel it in his aging bones. They wanted land, money, power; they'd stop at nothing to get it. Henceforth, they had their masterminds create a plan in which they believed foolproof. Now if only he could send word to Kumo and Iwa that they had his help. After all, there was nothing Mifune wished for more than peace. He rethought his entire plan, and resettled upon something that fit the pieces of information Hitari had given him. Mifune jotted all the information he knew and his plan, and had it sent out to the Kages of Kumo and Iwa. Now he needed to contact Suna and Konoha. He knew the two Kages were in the same area, so it proved better for him. If this did not work, no doubt another giant war would erupt. The fate of the world was juggled upon the shoulders of the Kages. Otogakure had to be defeated in a way where they would not make the same mistakes twice. Mifune sighed and stood up, his hands resting on his beloved katana. He opted to go see Naruto Uzumaki and Subaku no Gaara personally.
"Gaara! Don't be a spoilsport. C'mon and let loose with me, Who knows when you'll get another free day like this? No paperwork? That's every Kage's wet dream, believe it!" Naruto pouted while trying animatedly to get Gaara to leave his forlorn office.
"Uzumaki, there is no time for that. Don't you find the events this past week suspicious at all? A war, between villages that have no ties? It seems there is a bigger plot behind all of this." The red-headed Kage replied tiredly.
"It isn't our problem, until it becomes our problem. Now c'mon and let go a little. Get the sand out of your pants and live, Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to drag the poor sand-user out of his office.
Just as Gaara was about to reply, a hawk arrived and dropped off a scroll. Gaara immediately untied and read it.
I will be arriving shortly. We must discuss something in which I require your's and Naruto Uzumaki's help.
Mifune of Tetsu no Kuni
Gaara tossed the scroll at Naruto. Naruto overlooked it and grunted. "See what you've done. We could've come to this later. Now, I've no choice but to welcome the stress with open arms. And legs."
Gaara smirked, but remained in his seat, awaiting the expected visitor. No sooner than three hours later, Mifune made his appearance.
"I apologize for the delay. I ran into… a difficulty." Mifune said solemnly.
"Tell us how we can help. We had assumed that there was foul play, but we had not expected you to personally come and seek us." Gaara spoke in a deep, hushed voice. Naruto stayed quiet by his side, only nodding in agreement and awaiting the words of his once to be father in law.
"First things first, although I'm sure Uzumaki-san is aware of it, his engagement with my daughter has been discredited, by their own will. It was fine with me, until Haruhi had been kidnapped and her common lover had disappeared, only to be found dead by a riverbed later on. This is my proposition to you, Naruto Uzumaki. Save my daughter, and restore your honor. I will void the marriage officially, even as void as it already is now."
"I would have saved her, marriage or not." Naruto said, a grim look on his face. This time around, it was Gaara who was silent, albeit deep in thought.
"I am aware." Mifune started, "However, I suppose it was the only thing I could offer you that you could possibly need. On the other hand, my true reason for coming is simple. I need you to keep your hands out of this matter. As soon as my daughter is safely hidden, you must retreat. She holds a secret I cannot bear to have plastered on my nation." He finished, barely looking his two allies in the eye.
"We can only help you so much if you choose to be dishonest." Gaara spoke up.
"It is only dishonest if I cheat you of information you deserve to know." Mifune rebuked.
"It is cheating us of knowing just exactly what we are agreeing to, even if you are only asking me to keep my hands out of your war, and your secret." Gaara calmly replied.
Mifune sighed deeply. "Haruhi holds bloodline trait of her mother's. The adversaries we face, I assume, do not know this. They are not intelligent enough to have uncovered this information. However, with her prolonged time in Otogakure, they will surely find out something." Mifune finished.
"Wait a minute, Oto?!" Naruto blurted out.
Mifune resisted the urge to slap his forehead. How could I have forgotten? All this talk of saving Haruhi and her secret has befuddled my mind. "I might as well begin chronologically. It was discovered earlier that Kumo and Iwa were under the influence of the Oto-nin. I do not know how, and I do not care. I simply must release them, and have them help me take down those disrespectful excuses for shinobis. It seems that they took my daughter as an emotional attack, hoping I would be too weak in the mind to think clearly, and I can see it is starting to truly affect me. I have also discovered that not only have they used this strategy, they have also deployed false samurai into my ranks and made it seem like Kumo and Iwa were against, when in fact Iwa had no part in this whole mess at all. As for Kumo, I would like to believe that it is another hostage situation."
"Wow." Naruto began. "And all of this for what? Money? Power? This is absolutely outrageous!" He bellowed.
"Calm down, Naruto. First, you must focus on channeling your anger into saving your ex-fiancée. Afterwards, you will back down. No questions asked." Gaara said strictly, staring down Naruto, who reluctantly shook his head in agreement.
"One thing peaks my interest, though. A Konoha shinobi reported that Kumo was targeting both Suna and Konoha. How do you explain this?" Gaara stated.
"It's simply another trick of theirs. Deploy havoc, and appear to be the only prepared army. They want chaos, so they can slip in and take over. It's a simple tatic, though brutal." Mifune replied effortlessly.
Gaara nodded his head, in a way that showed that was exactly what he had been thinking. "Your visit has been dually noted, Mifune-sama. I'm sure the Hokage-sama will save your daughter and return her to you safely. You have my word that I will leave you to your own devices."
Naruto nodded his head eagerly. "Mine as well." With that, he created a shadow clone and gave it instructions to band together the old rookie 9. Haruhi would be home before the dawn of the next day. "I'll get her back soon, Mifune-sama, believe it!"
"I believe in your abilities, Hokage-sama. I will take my leave now, Kumo needs me, and I'm sure Iwa will request some revenge upon Oto." And he turned on his heal and left, not bothering to wait for a reply. Too many words had already been traded, and Mifune was not a man of the shinobi ways.
Rushed? Hell yeah. Jumbled and slightly confusing? Most likely. Do I regret it? Not unless you guys don't want NaruAnko to emerge quickly!