Eternal Legends: Konoha's Transcendent Ninja
Chapter Five: Perpetual Duplicity
NOTE: I had to reupload this because FFN fucked it up in the formatting. *SIIIGH*
Hello, all, and welcome to another installment of Eternal Legends! I'm quite pleased with the reception my last chapter got, with over one-thousand hits in one day, and a respectable number of reviews. I must be doing something right! :P
I'm going to keep pumping these chapters out as consistent as I can, at about every ten days or so, until about the first week of December. After then, it will be awhile before I'll be able to update again. Hopefully by the first week of December I'll be out of what TVTropes refers to as "Longest Prologue Ever". I've already explained my reasoning for this, no need to be redundant. Though, I may need to clarify my "eight chapters" comment from last chapter. I meant by chapter eight or so, not eight chapters from now. That's entirely absurd, even for me.
Full Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, ViZ media, and all other related companies. I make no claim of any characters from the manga and anime and own all OC's that may appear from time to time. I also make no claim of elements used from certain video games such as Ninja Gaiden and Call of Duty, which are under the copyright ownership of Team Ninja and Infinity Ward, as well as the publishing rights of Tecmo and Activision, respectively.
Full Summary: Three people meet under the oddest of circumstances during one troubled night: a loudmouthed troublemaker, a lost voice within his clan, and a young civilian from a broken home. They never knew that their impromptu gathering would bring a revolution to the shinobi world, and alter the course of history. This is their story.
(Side Note: If you're worried about why CoD is in the disclaimer, don't. I assure you that there are no modern weapons used by 21st century militaries around the world in this story. If you're one of those people who bothered to understand the backstory and story in the Modern Warfare line of the Call of Duty franchise, you should start to see the parallels right away, with it becoming more and more apparent as time goes on.)
(Uchiha Estate, three months later, 1300 hours)
Mikoto sat in an elevated position on the top of one of the highest tree branches, in the small forest inside the Uchiha training grounds. She was using a highly advanced cloaking technique that her husband had taught her. Fugaku had copied the jutsu with his Sharingan a decade ago during the Third Great Shinobi World War with Iwagakure.
"Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Chameleon Technique)," she whispered as the light started to abnormally refract around her, hiding both her shadow and scent. 'I wonder how long they'll last against my clone. Hmm…only one way to find out," she mused, as she continued to observe.
Meanwhile, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood in manji formation, each with their backs toward one another. Physically, there wasn't too much of a difference, except for eight year olds, they didn't look as frail as they did three months ago. Naruto had gained an inch in height, putting him on equal footing with his raven-haired best friend. Mikoto had to beat a proper diet in him…literally. As for Sakura, although she still was for intents and purposes, "girly", she had ditched her hair bow, and had a tomboyish mix with her personality.
The Uchiha and the Haruno were panting heavily; with the only thing keeping Sakura from fainting from exhaustion was sheer willpower to prove her worth. Naruto, however, despite Mikoto's brutal training, still acted like he had energy to spare.
'Damn, Naruto…' Sasuke thought inhaling in and out at as much of an even pace as he could. 'Just where the hell do you get all this energy from?' Sasuke thought. When his mother said she'd put them through hell, she wasn't kidding.
All three tensed up, hearing a distortion in the bushes, nearby. Sakura, on impulse, threw a shuriken, dead on at the direction the sound came from. The three waited…not a single sound. Sweat rolled down Naruto's brow as he focused his eyesight. A small river of blood started to run across the soil.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Seems you killed a wild animal," Naruto whispered. Sakura grimaced, but said nothing. She was still trying to get used to the idea that'd she'd have to kill a human being in cold blood someday. Killing animals, even by accident didn't sit well with her. The rosette haired civilian sighed. She'd just have to cross that bridge when she came to it.
"Okay…Mikoto-sensei is just toying with us…obviously…" Sakura huffed while speaking up. Sasuke nodded.
"I wouldn't doubt it…Sakura…you have enough chakra to do another Chakra Hankyouteii?" he inquired hopeful. Out of the trinity of friends, Sakura, hands down, had the best chakra control. She had completed the exercise of finding the stones Mikoto had hidden across the training grounds. Sasuke had completed it, with some difficulty, about four hours later. As for Naruto…
Mikoto sat attentive as she watched her pupils to try and perfect the technique that she had taught them. So far, they were doing pretty well.
'Naruto-kun, considering how much chakra you have the amount of control you have is astonishing!' the Uchiha matriarch thought in amazement. By all means his chakra control should be utterly abysmal, and it should've taken him a week to find even one stone. He was just one surprise after the other.
The Kyuubi, watching from the outside, easily saw through her stoic face, and snorted. She really couldn't figure it out?
"It's simple, Uchiha," he began in monologue to himself. "Your state-of-mind and brain activity also affects how well you can control chakra at any given time or overall." To him, it was the easiest thing in the world to figure out. With the Suppression Seal off, Naruto's mind was clear and calm, and despite keeping some of his old personality quirks, most of his goofy side was gone. Had it still been on, it would've been even harder for the blonde to control his chakra. Add to the fact that he actually had a brain in that thick skull of his, the boy grasped concepts much easier and in turn applied them to real life.
"Hmm…I wonder if it'd be a stretch to say he'd learn at the rate of a prodigy," the vulpine mused a bit before waving a paw. "Ah, no matter. It's too early to tell, either way."
Naruto, however, was busy concentrating on trying to 'thin' his large net of chakra as it spread across the training ground. 'I've got to concentrate,' the blonde told himself repeatedly. His chakra web had been so large that it dwarfed his friends' by so much that it had nearly canceled them out. They had the hurdle of not only finding the stones, but also dealing with Naruto's overlapping chakra.
Naruto grunted a bit in frustration. Damn was finding these stones one at a time, proving to be a pain in the ass. Naruto then froze. Wait a minute…
His eyes widened in realization…could it really have been that simple? 'Only one way to find out,' he grinned inwardly and outwardly.
Mikoto raised an eyebrow. What's he grinning about—?
Her eyes immediately shot up in surprise and shock. Naruto released more chakra, instead of less. This alarmed her, and due to the echolation, Sasuke and Sakura felt it too, and stopped their use of the Hankyouteii. They both stared at the blond in disbelief.
Said blond had no idea that all eyes were on him, as he concentrated on spreading his signature across the entire meadow. The grass nearby was starting to blow, as it were being jolted by the wind. The three had to cover their eyes or debris would've surely caught in between them.
'Naruto-kun…just where are you getting this amount of chakra from?' Sakura thought, covering her eyes.
It was over as fast as it had begun, as the grass started to settle and Mikoto felt his chakra suppressing itself as well as…thinning? She was about to voice her concern, until Naruto opened his eyes and smirked at her.
"One—Underpass, Two-by the shack, Three-in the garden near the roses, Four-also in the garden by the violets, Five-Near the back door of the kitchen, Six-By the window, Seven-near the lake, Eight-In the water itself and finally nine-behind you," he counted off giving her a slight smug look. "Did I miss anything?"
Mikoto sat there jaw agape in stunned silence. "H-How?" she stuttered out.
Naruto grinned. "Mikoto-sensei, I was going about it the wrong way. See, all this time I was trying to spread my signature and then try to thin it, and then I'd search for the stones. But the Hankyouteii doesn't work like that. Well…at least for me." All three listened intently at Naruto's explanation.
"The Chakra Hankyouteii is an echolation, not a 'find me' sort of thing. I simply spread my chakra around the field so much that all of the stones' locations started echoing back to me. Seeing as I already had the location of the stones, I lessened the amount of chakra I was outputting which thinned my signature automatically. However, this method likely only works on objects with chakra, and living things that have chakra in them. I need an echo for this to work, so in the future to find inanimate objects, I'll likely have to master this jutsu even more."
"Wow…" Sasuke said simply. His mother and Sakura nodded dumbly, definitely sharing the Uchiha scion's sentiment.
'Naruto-kun is so amazing!' Sakura smiled in admiration.
"Wow, Naruto-kun, even I haven't thought of using the jutsu like that," she admitted, although in her mind she was a little ashamed of herself. 'Great, an eight-year-old improvising on a jutsu to overcome his handicap, and I'm thirty-five years -old and have known the jutsu for half of my life. The gods must hate me.'
"But, really, though, how the heck do you have so much chakra?" Sasuke had asked the question Naruto had been dreading.
His eyes shifted to Mikoto, and he could tell gears were rapidly spinning in her head, too. Then, without thinking, "It might be a family trait that I inherited…who knows?" Naruto mentally slapped himself. A family trait? Seriously? They wouldn't buy that in a million years!
"Ah, then that would make sense, then," Sakura agreed, contemplating in deep thought. "No normal guy your age can disperse that much chakra…I think." She was purely speculating at this point.
"Yeah, you're probably right. It has to be some sort of bloodline," came the raven haired male's agreement.
Inwardly, Mikoto and Naruto sighed in relief, thankful that the two had bought it. 'Damn, close call. That excuse will do…for now at least.'
Mikoto looked at the three of them. 'The bloodline excuse, Naruto? Heh, the irony… You don't know how close you are to the truth, albeit a bit wrong on the terminology,' the matriarch thought as the image of the Yondaime Hokage came to her head.
They continued meditating for the rest of that day.
Sakura hummed to herself. "I'm not sure…my reserves are pretty low right now. Even with my control, I don't think I can manage one. Sorry," she said apologetically.
Sasuke grunted, clearly a bit annoyed. "Damn….okay…Naruto, please tell me you have an idea, because I'm fresh out at the moment."
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Naruto half-shouted back towards his best friend in irritation. They had been at this for nearly two hours. He was hungry, a bit pissed off, and his friends were slowing down. He placed his right index finger on the ground, and whispered. "Chakra Hankyouteii!" Not even within a second of doing so, his eyes widened.
"Clear!" he shouted and the three of them jumped into the branches as several kunai with explosive tags took their place. It was a small yield, and it wouldn't have killed them, but the explosion was still loud enough for their ears to ring.
Sakura looked at the other two, and made a few hand signals pointing to the smoke. Sasuke squinted his eyes, and he saw a silhouette….a human one. He glanced over and Naruto nodded smirking, an expression which he returned. They nodded, understanding each other completely, as the trio jumped from their respective branches. Three kunai soared through the air, aiming to hit their targets.
Three clangs were heard as the three landed on the ground in crouch positions, panting. They were proud of themselves. They heard the sound of steel touching steel a while ago. It was a good indicator that their accuracy was dead on, forcing her to block instead of dodging like she usually did.
Mikoto's clone walked out, casually, clapping her hands. The three visibly relaxed, while Naruto's mouth twitched. "Ah! Good job, you three! You lasted a lot longer than I expected," she admitted, while praising the trio of eight-year-olds, who smiled with pride. "Unfortunately," she began with a frown, "you still weren't able to get me."
All three of them smirked. "Oh, Mikoto-sensei, didn't you always say not to let our guard down?" Sakura chimed, as Naruto and Sasuke made a hand seal and they jumped away.
Mikoto looked confused before looking down. Three kunai were embedded in the ground, which she recognized as the kunai she had blocked earlier. Her eyes widened once she saw what was attached to them…explosive tags. The clone tried to jump out of the way, but it was too late as the resulting explosion engulfed the Kage Bunshin and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"All right!" Naruto exclaimed pumping his fist in the air. "We got her! Nice job, team!" he said as all three high-fived each other.
"Heh, that was a ballsy move, Sakura, and I didn't think it would work," Sasuke praised, much to the rosette-haired girl's embarrassment.
"Hey! I was getting desperate! That was poorly put together at the last minute," she modestly defended. She had sent them signals not only to attack together, but to attach explosive tags to the handles of the kunai they had thrown. Sasuke shrugged, still on cloud nine from their triumphant victory.
Naruto was simply grinning ear-to-ear. "We make an awesome team, you know that?"
"Indeed we do, Naruto-kun—" Sakura was cut off as she felt a bit dizzy, and would've fallen flat on her face to the ground had Naruto not caught her.
"Whoa! Sakura-chan…you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Y-yeah…I'm fine," she stammered out, inhaling deeply.
"She must be exhausted," Sasuke deduced, to which Naruto agreed. He positioned himself so that the shorter girl was on his back.
"Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Sakura-chan…you're too tired to get back on your own," he said simply. Sakura frowned and sighed.
"No, I can—"
"No, you can't." There was a tone of finality in the Jinchuuriki's voice. A few moments passed, before she nodded in acceptance.
"Let's head back," Sasuke suggested.
Naruto bobbed his head. "Hold on," he told Sakura as used some extra leg strength to compensate for Sakura's weight. She allowed herself to lay her head on his back, fully content with a smile on her face after a few seconds of traveling. The three were in a reflective silence as they jumped through the trees. The training was oftentimes brutal, but the results spoke for themselves. They had managed to outsmart their sensei, rather than defeat her with brute force.
Granted, she was a jounin, and if she wanted, she could crush the three of them like ants with her hands tied behind her back. Even still, they felt pride, and it motivated them enough to get through in spite of the hurdles.
"I'm really impressed, you three." Naruto and Sasuke stopped suddenly, and Mikoto seemed to "de-cloak" like a chameleon as she deactivated her Meisaigakure no Jutsu.
"Whoa! You got to teach us how to do that!" Naruto nearly demanded.
Mikoto laughed, "Oh, this jutsu is far too advanced for you guys, but I'll tell you what, I do plan on teach you all a jutsu, hopefully before you all go to the academy."
Naruto was practically drooling at the prospect, while Sasuke was just content with a smile on his face.
"Thing is, we got to get sleeping beauty's," she pointed towards an unconscious Sakura, sleeping peacefully on Naruto's back, "stamina and chakra reserves up. This jutsu isn't really even taught to genin, yet." Sasuke raised a brow, curiously. She wasn't talking about that jutsu was she? Before he could ask, she continued on, "Now then, you three head inside, and get ready for lunch. I know you're starving."
"Sounds great, kaa-san," Sasuke cheerfully remarked. The two headed wordlessly back into the Estate kitchen. They'd wake Sakura up when they got there.
Mikoto sighed, before she felt a familiar presence behind her. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of you visiting, my dear husband?" The sarcasm was practically dripping from her voice.
"Mikoto…" She turned around, and sure enough, standing there was Fugaku Uchiha, father of Sasuke and Itachi, and husband of Mikoto. Honestly, he looked nothing like his sons with his gruff appearance, as they took more after their mother than they did him, a fact that he was a bit resentful for, but he never voiced that.
"What is it that you want, Fugaku?" she asked a bit coldly. Mikoto loved her husband; she truly did, but some of his actions as of late disgusted the Uchiha matriarch to no end—how he put Itachi on a pedestal, and outright ignored his younger son. This meant she had to pick up the scraps and slowly but surely pick his self-esteem back up. Admittedly, the lack of sex in a good long while also added to the reasons why she didn't feel like speaking to him at the moment.
"I see you're training a team," he began neutrally, arms crossed over his chest, "that has Sasuke, a civilian girl…and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."
Mikoto's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He has a name you know, Fugaku," she stated, a dark edge beginning to line her voice. One had to give the Uchiha clan head credit; if he was afraid of women when they were angry, you could never tell from his facial expressions.
"Naruto, then," the clan head finally conceded. Although Mikoto wanted to smile at her victory, she was still pissed at him, so she remained expressionless.
"I couldn't help but overhear you when you said you promised to teach them a jutsu not suited for genin," he continued, eyes narrowing. "You wouldn't happen to be referring to that jutsu, would you?"
"Yes," she edgily answered. "I'm going to teach all three of them the Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique)."
"I see…" he neutrally intoned, giving a sidelong look.
She crossed her arms, mimicking her conjugal spouse. "From the way you're acting, it sounds to me like you have a problem with it."
"Mikoto…that jutsu is symbolic within our clan! How could you just teach it to them on a whim?" the Uchiha practically yelled. His wife stood there, unfazed by his small rant.
"So, I guess you have a problem with most of the village's chuunin, since virtually all of the jounin and ANBU and Hokage-sama himself knowing it, too, huh?" she rhetorically quipped. "Furthermore, isn't performing the technique a rite of passage? If anything, you should feel proud to have your son learn this technique at such a young age…" Her eyes then grew to slits. "Or is it you feel prideful about the fact that I'm teaching them a jutsu that's 'symbolic' with us?"
Her husband's silence told all. She sneered. "I see. So it is your pride."
For the first time, Fugaku showed anger. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" he roared. He was the head of the Uchiha clan and he'd be dammed if he'd let his own wife talk down to him.
Mikoto gritted her teeth. "Fugaku!" she yelled, annoyed with her husband's subtle misogyny. "Just what the hell has happened to the man I fell in love with over fifteen years ago? Tell me, Fugaku! What is with your obsession with the clan's image?"
"Do you not understand what we've gone through? Image must mean everything!" he argued.
"Is that so? You want our clan to be viewed as powerful, and yet, you neglect your own flesh and blood, favoring one over the other? When spending time with both could kill two birds with one stone?"
Fugaku, admittedly, knew she had a point, but his pride made him refuse to back down. "You know why I had to mold Itachi. He was a prodigy! I had to groom him into the perfect Uchiha and shinobi." He then scoffed. "Let's not forget, you could've trained Sasuke, too, but you never even offered to help, yourself."
"Oh, no! You are not going to blame this on me," she stubbornly retorted, even though he had a fair point. "You are his father, you were supposed to teach him everything you knew, and you were supposed to give them both equal amounts of time! I may be his mother, but I can only do so much!"
He gritted his teeth. "Aren't you training him now?"
The Uchiha Matriarch scoffed. "Yeah, cleaning up the mess you made."
Fugaku huffed, but said nothing in return. He felt her embrace as she laid her head on his left pectoral. The clan head was left stunned by his wife's actions, but she spoke before he could voice his thoughts. "Fugaku," she began softly, all traces of anger gone, "you can still make it right. It's not too late. I'm training Sasuke, yes, and his new friends…but….there are certain things only you, as a man, can teach."
He couldn't help but notice her emphasis on that particular word. The patriarch couldn't help but smirk. She was stroking his ego to make her do what she wanted…and damn it, it was working like a charm. She let go and husband and wife stared at each other, although still in each other's arms.
He sighed. "Mikoto…I…" He was at a loss for words.
"Don't know what to do, or say?" she deduced. With a look of dull surprise, he simply nodded. "Well…to start off…get to know him. You don't have to do anything big…just have a conversation with him. Ask him how his day was, what he liked to do, things of that nature."
"Mikoto, you know I don't—"
"I know. He's not like Itachi, Fugaku," she sternly interrupted. "True, he's interested in becoming a shinobi, but that's not all he likes to do."
"Then what does he like to do, then?" Fugaku asked, hopeful he'd have a possibility of taking the lazy way out.
His wife's grin turned into an outright smirk. "That, my love, is up to you to figure out," she emphasized by poking him in the chest playfully.
Fugaku sighed, even though he knew he should've suspected this. He then nodded in acceptance. "All right," he conceded, "but…could you give me a bit of time?"
She shrugged. "I don't care. As long you make some genuine effort, I suppose when doesn't matter. But," her eyes gave her other half a gaze filled with warning, "don't take too long, Fugaku. Every child has a breaking point. You, of all people, should know that."
Fugaku bobbed his head, understanding perfectly what she meant. She walked up to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Just think about it, okay?" With that said, the matriarch headed off, eager to feed her son and pupils for a job well done. She felt proud of herself, and maybe now Sasuke could get what he always wanted…his father's attention.
Fugaku stood there in reflective silence as he contemplated what his wife was saying as their argument replayed over and over in his mind. Had he really been that blind and neglectful toward his younger son? He wanted the village to see the greatness of the Uchiha clan. While they had respect, it wasn't enough for the clan head. He wanted it to be near worship…just like their Senju rivals of a different age.
'But is it worth it?' Fugaku reflected, still at a loss. What is truly worth it? He was putting his sons in danger, and if his plan failed, then there was a chance that his life…and his sons'…were forfeit. But…then again…the higher ups never trusted his clan. Hell, they probably thought that the Demon Fox attack was their doing. Being forced to move away, being spied on persistently by the village's ANBU…
He gritted his teeth. What the hell was he supposed to do? There were pros and cons to both going through with the plan and scrapping it all together, with easily justifiable reasons for both of them, in his eyes. Add to the fact that his own wife was ignorant to what the clan was planning, and he had hell to deal with by teetering on the edge of a sword.
He sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. He had much to think about. Maybe he'd talk with the elders and see what they thought. He took a stroll back to the estate, but headed straight for his private quarters rather than the kitchen.
'I'm sorry, Sasuke…but you're going to have to take a backseat for a while…until I figure out what I'm going to do,' Fugaku thought remorsefully. At that moment, he truly hated himself. Mikoto was right. Just what the hell did happen to the man he used to be?
He'd have plenty of time to mull it over...
(Inside the kitchen, around the same time)
"Aww, man, I'm starving!" Naruto complained as he sat with his three friends at a small table. Although all three didn't smell well from all the hard training they had done today, their stomachs took priority over a foul odor at this particular moment.
Sakura giggled, but she did have to agree. The cherry blossom was pretty famished, herself. She felt a bit embarrassed that she had to be carried all the way back to the estate, but alas, it couldn't be helped. That just proved she had to work harder.
Naruto and Sasuke started talking amongst themselves, while she allowed herself to drown in her thoughts. It was strange…for the past three months, Tetsuya had left her alone. He hadn't made any attempt to touch her, or anything of that nature. In fact, the retired shinobi just flat-out ignored her. A small chill went up her spine. She had come to be used to his tantrums and perverse ways, and for him to just suddenly…stop, just simply rubbed her the wrong way. Sakura felt as if he were a simple viper coiled up in the grass waiting to slip its venom in her the moment she let down her guard.
'That's not going to happen!' she thought, determined. Tenderhearted, the rosette-haired female was, but she was absolutely not going to let him get away with what he did to her. In her eyes, it was something completely unforgivable. She'd bide her time and she, too, like a serpent would strike her prey when the moment was convenient. Only this time, this snake would constrict her victim until there was nothing left too—!
"Hey, Sakura, are you okay?" Sasuke inquired, frowning a bit and breaking the girl's sadistic thoughts of reprisal.
She shook her head, blushing a bit. "Oh, sorry, I was just spacing out."
"You've been doing that a lot lately, Sakura-chan," Naruto observed.
'You try being sexually abused and it not coming to the forefront of your mind periodically from time to time!' she thought a bit bitterly, before shaking her head. "Oh, it's nothing, you guys, really. I was just having one of those moments."
Naruto shrugged, not really in the mood to press the matter at the moment. "If you say so," he gave in to not broach the subject any further.
Sasuke, however, wasn't having it. He was about to semi-interrogate his female companion, before his mom came in with a fresh lunch. The trio was practically drooling at the sight as it was placed in front of them. There was one huge bowl of rice, four bowls of ramen, five sticks of sushi, and a loaf of bread. There were four plates, one for each of them.
The Uchiha matriarch smiled as she sat down with her pupils, opposite the side of them. "Dig in, you three!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"Whoa! Mikoto-sensei! How'd you prepare all this food so quickly?" Sakura asked in bewilderment.
"Oh, Sakura-chan," she wagged her index finger, "I'm afraid that's a trade secret," she grinned knowingly.
Sasuke didn't look amused. "You prepared it a while ago, and you just heated it up with a Katon Jutsu, didn't you?" he deadpanned, calling her out. Mikoto got an annoyed twitch on her face, as she was caught red-handed. The male Uchiha simply smirked. 'Damn, I'm good," he thought, completely satisfied.
"Oh, who cares, Sasuke? I'm just ready to eat!" Naruto hungrily bellowed.
"See? Naruto-kun doesn't care how I cook my meals," Mikoto sweetly chimed. Sakura just shook her head at their antics. "Okay, you guys dig in!" she premised.
"Itadakimasu!" they all chorused before grabbing food and they began stuffing themselves like they hadn't eaten for days. Even the mannered Sakura tossed dinner etiquette out the window in favor of satisfying her stomach.
"Oh, man!" Naruto said, slurping his noodles like they were about to jump out of the bowl and flee. "This stuff is great, sensei!"
Mikoto smiled. "I'm glad you guys like it. You earned it after a job well done today. I'll be honest: I wasn't expecting you to dispel my clone, at all. You've surpassed my expectations. I'm proud of you three."
The trio beamed at the praise. "Thank you, sensei!" they chorused again, with even Sasuke calling his mom "sensei."
"Sensei…" Naruto began sitting down his plate and getting a serious look on his face. Mikoto noticed this and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Naruto-kun?"
"Do you have any experience with kenjutsu? Specifically, a katana?" Naruto inquired in a dead serious tone of voice.
Mikoto blinked. It was clear whatever she was expecting; it sure as hell wasn't that. "Oh, wow," she blinked again in surprise. "Before I answer that, may I ask why?"
"Well…" Naruto said pondering for a bit. "We were reading about Kumo in the library a few months ago, and I was fascinated that a good majority of their shinobi were swordsman and kenjutsu practitioners. I want to be ready for anything should I go toe-to-toe with a Kumo shinobi in the future. And," he grinned, "swords are just freaking cool!"
Mikoto had to laugh at the boy's enthusiasm and reasoning. "I take it you two have known about this?"
"From the beginning, sensei," Sakura answered.
She hummed. "I see…" she responded neutrally. Naruto gulped a bit. "Well, Naruto, you're in luck. I do have experience in the bladed arts."
Naruto shot up from the table, excitedly. "Wahoo!" he chimed.
"But, I don't want you using a katana," she flatly declared, causing Naruto to sit back in his seat rather disappointed.
"Aww!" he groaned. "Why not?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as even as he could.
"Well, mainly because a katana is way too long for you at your age, and its weight as well. You'd be better off using a kodachi for right now, and then working your way up to a katana when you're older and…" she giggled, "taller," she finished. Naruto grumbled under his breath, an action which caused his friends to laugh.
"Oh, cheer up, Naruto. You'll get taller for sure," Sakura said, reassuring him by giving him a hug.
"That means a lot, Sakura-chan," he thanked her, blushing a bit at the contact. Mikoto raised an eyebrow, and was inwardly grinning. 'Oh, I can totally see where this is going down the line. But, that is for another time.'
"So…what's the difference between a kodachi and a katana?" Sasuke asked, a bit interested in the subject matter for knowledge's sake. He wasn't interested in becoming a swordsman. Hell, he'd probably wouldn't use any weapon, unless it fitted him extremely well.
"A katana is simply a standard weapon used by samurai, commonly found in Tetsu no Kuni (the Land of Iron) that you're all familiar with," Mikoto explained. "However, a kodachi is a much smaller blade; about a third of the length of the katana."
"So, since you're saying that you want Naruto-kun to use a kodachi instead, I assume most of the techniques should theoretically be the same, except the swordsman instead must compensate for the weight for different types of swords?" Sakura deduced.
The Uchiha adult nodded. "Indeed. However, there are certain styles that are suited for certain blades, and seldom do they work as well with any other type. Kaiten Kenbu, for example, is a style that emphasizes dual kodachi, using their light weight for faster attack power."
"Hmm…is there a way you can make a kodachi weigh as much as a katana?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Mikoto pondered on it for a bit. "Well, possibly. We'll have to see one of the village's blacksmiths," she replied before seeing the blond's grin. "And no, we're not going until you three enter the academy. I still have much left to teach you. You do all want to blow the competition away, am I right?" Naruto frowned, but nonetheless understood as he and his jade and onyx-eyed companions nodded.
"Sensei…just how are you so knowledgeable in kenjutsu?" came the query from the curious cherry blossom.
"Ah, Sakura-chan, it's easy. When I was a jounin, I was considered a jack-of-all-trades, when it came to weapon arts."
"Whoa, whoa, hold up, time out," Sasuke held out his hand in a T-shaped position. "Since when were you a weapon specialist, kaa-san?" By the gods, he knew practically nothing about his mom when it came down to the nitty-gritty details.
Mikoto's face was impassive. "I'm an Uchiha…" she said, looking off a bit distantly. "But…the Sharingan doesn't awaken in female members of the clan." The three could tell there was a bit of resentment in her voice. The trio wisely kept their mouths shut. "As such I had to stand out in other ways. So, I became a weapons specialist and learned as many jutsu as I could. While I'm not a particular expert with any one type, I can use them proficiently enough to hold my own in battle as well as to teach others."
Sakura nodded. "I see…" she replied neutrally. "What about bojutsu?" That earned curious looks from her two male companions. It was clear that this was the first time they were hearing of this.
For the third time today, Mikoto sat dumbstruck with surprise. "Bojutsu? Wow…" She noticed the look on Sakura's face. "You're serious, aren't you?" The rosette-haired girl simply bobbed her head.
"Well," she began, "while I'm not as good with a staff as I am with swords and bladed weapons, I do know enough to set you on the right path."
Sakura beamed. "Thank you so much, sensei!" she thanked grinning. Mikoto smiled and nodded and turned to her son. "I take it you want to learn how to use a weapon, too?"
Sasuke shook his head. "Actually, no, kaa-san," he responded, which genuinely surprised his mother. "I mean, it's not that I'm totally against having a weapon—far from it. But I want to have a weapon that fits me, if I were to ever choose to wield one. A kodachi or staff doesn't really suit me so…" He then shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"I see," came her neutral response. "Well then, how about we—?" She stopped immediately after feeling a familiar presence. Strangely, her pupils picked up on it, too. 'Are they really advancing this quickly? Just what the hell are these three?' Mikoto thought in pure bewilderment. A young man of about average height stepped into the room with a curious look on his face. He looked nearly identical to Sasuke except for his hairstyle being in a ponytail, and two scars running at a forty-five-degree angle on either side of the top of the bridge of his nose all the way to his cheeks.
"Itachi-kun!" Mikoto called out in surprise. Standing there was none other than the Uchiha prodigy himself, Itachi Uchiha.
"Itachi-nii-san!" Sasuke cried, getting up and hugging his older brother.
The ANBU captain smiled and hugged his brother back. "It's good to you, too, Sasuke," he quipped in a mysterious voice.
Itachi turned his attention to the two unfamiliar faces—well, really one—that sat at the kitchen table. "I see a lot has happened in the three months I've been gone," the elder Uchiha brother blankly noted.
"Yes, Itachi-kun, it has," she confirmed. "Meet my newest…well…only, set of pupils."
"Naruto Uzumaki, Itachi-san," Naruto introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san," Itachi said politely, although already knowing who he was. The whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks practically gave away his uniqueness.
"Sakura Haruno, Itachi-san. Sasuke-kun has told us a lot about you," Sakura revealed.
The Uchiha raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh, he has?" He chuckled, poking Sasuke in the forehead. "Foolish, little brother."
Sasuke didn't look amused. "Hey! Don't do that when they're around!" the Uchiha scion complained, earning a healthy chuckle from all those present.
"Itachi-kun, will you be staying for dinner?" Mikoto inquired. Itachi stood up and shook his head. He never did like huge social gatherings like this. He just wanted to do his job and have the bare minimum of contact with people. He already had enough on his plate.
"No, kaa-san," he said firmly. "I'll eat at a later time. Right now, I just need to rest. It's been a long while since I've been home."
Mikoto audibly sighed. "All right, then, suit yourself." She really hated how anti-social her oldest son was. Itachi said his goodbyes, and walked out of the room to head toward his father's study.
"Your brother seems cold," Naruto dully observed.
Sasuke scoffed. "Thanks for stating the obvious, Naruto, like we couldn't figure that one out." The sarcasm that leaked out was obviously a form of resentment he had toward Itachi, even if they did have some sort of brotherly kinship.
"Is the sarcasm really necessary?" Naruto grunted back. Sakura huffed, shaking her head.
"All right, all right, you two stop it," Mikoto intervened before either boy could start flinging any insults. Sasuke sighed and looked at Naruto apologetically. Said blond simply nodded, forgiving him instantly.
"Okay, you three, we're going to do some laps around the estate!" Mikoto snickered, enjoying the looks of dread on the three children. "Come on, those laps aren't going to run themselves," she smiled, getting up. With a collective sigh, the trio followed their sensei for their daily torture. Man, was this going to utterly suck.
"I don't trust that kid," came the voice of the Kyuubi in Naruto's head. Having long been used to him butting in his opinion at random times, the blue-eyed Uzumaki didn't even bat an eyelash.
'You mean Itachi? Sasuke's brother? Why's that?" Naruto asked curious.
"He gives me a bad vibe. Like he could snap at any moment."
Although Naruto had known the guy only from Sasuke's description and from meeting with him literally less than five minutes ago, he still had to take his tenant's feelings into account. If he were perfectly honest, he didn't feel all that comfortable with the Uchiha heir, either. He slowly nodded.
'All right, I'll…keep a close eye on him.'
"Good…" the fox chimed, before smirking in amusement. "Don't you have laps to run?"
The blond simply groaned. He just had to remind him, didn't he? 'You freaking suck, you know that?'
The Fox shrugged. "Hey, it's your body and I'm trying to keep you alive for my—" He heard Naruto growl. He snorted. "Fine…our sake…sheesh."
'Damn right!' Naruto replied before cutting off the mental connection with his vulpine 'friend'. And now…for hell…
(Root Base, Location Unknown, Time Unknown)
Danzo sat alone in the comfortable darkness of his throne room. Multiple thoughts, schemes, and plots circulated through the ROOT leader's mind. These past three months had been hell for both his health, stress, as well as his organization as a whole.
As much as he kept his composure, Danzo knew he had to find a reprieve to let some of this frustration out in the wild. It was unhealthy, and considering none of his goals had been met, he needed to live until those were accomplished…
"How sickening…I feel like a big hypocrite as my old rival is…" He then chuckled at the irony. "Well…I guess that's something we do have in common." The dark room pulsated a bit as the rusty pipelines running sewage and various night crawlers were the only sounds he could hear in the near deafening silent room.
Truthfully, the crippled veteran almost wished he had let Hiruzen in on the loop with the Ultranationalists and what they were planning. Then the plot with the Uchiha came out of nowhere and added another twist that threw him off balance. Every last one of his operatives started working around the clock to make sure Konoha was safe—abroad and domestically. At the moment, he couldn't decide who the bigger threat was.
On one hand, he had the Uchiha clan, likely planning a rebellion. The consequences of such an action would be catastrophic, to put it lightly. Such a coup would plunge the village into dangerous civil war; one where they couldn't recover fast enough before villages would take advantage of such weakness. Danzo had no doubt of that likely scenario. After all…that was what he would do if he were in the situation. He shuddered at the thought. Sometimes, his own psyche frightened even a shinobi of his caliber.
He chuckled darkly. "I guess it would frighten me. I'm a diabolical genius, after all," he boasted of himself.
Then, there were the Ultranationalists, themselves. Those genocidal bastards disgusted even him. Treating those of other nationalities with scorn and disdain, believing they were superior in every way. Contrary to popular belief, Danzo was not a social Darwinist. In fact, he was the exact opposite. If he truly did subscribe to the mantra of the letting the strong live and the weak die, then he'd have no business trying to protect Konoha from the shadows. He snorted in contempt at the notion. If one truly did kill the weak, so the strong could live, then, most likely, a new definition of "weak" would take its place, and the cycle of pointless bloodshed would never end. In truth, Danzo protected the weak—the civilians and young ninja-in-training-rather than trying to wipe them out. His Ne program was proof enough that you could turn many weak-minded people into an army of unstoppable will.
"Those misguided fools…such a blind ideology they subscribe to…and yet, they eat up their propaganda based on wounded national pride over an incident they had no knowledge of until it was publicized all over the continent," he sneered. He had read the pamphlets, multiple news media and magazines calling Kumo's attempt at the Hyuuga heiress an "embarrassment" and "pathetic" for Lightning Country and the Village Hidden in the Clouds as a whole.
Danzo knew that that kind of bruised ego for an entire country that backed those of the Ultranationalists wasn't good at all. It was poignant. The sheer size of Kumogakure—which practically took up half of the Land of Lightning—had protected them from invasion since its inception, and they created a system that not only sought to give the people a voice, but to make the workload easier on the Raikage. Now that very same system was going to vote in a group of psychotic war mongrels that would destroy their system of democracy and plunge their population into war.
He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the Ultranationalists gained control over the village, then Konoha might as well start an arms race to restructure more shinobi in preparation. They wanted to spread their "wings" over the entire continent, and dammed if you didn't like it.
"Maybe this Fourth Great Shinobi World War would be the key to bringing true peace?" the veteran pondered before he berated himself at such a an utterly preposterous and, frankly, absurd proposition. Of course it wouldn't. And as good as a schemer and planner he was, he didn't know how the other villages would react, who would ally with who, what situations would back another into a corner, and various other miscellaneous factors that no one short of the gods themselves could predict. War with them wasn't optimal, unless absolutely necessary.
Shimura snorted. "I'm becoming more and more like an extremist version of Hiruzen, I swear. Now all my plans involve spilling the least amount of blood," he mused.
Speaking of plans….
He wondered if his gambit had worked or not…
Danzo felt two very familiar chakra signatures enter the room from the shadows. He smirked. They did have a habit of arriving the moment he needed them. They chose not to reveal themselves.
"I see you two have come back…Has it worked?"
"So far, yes, Danzo-sama. They don't suspect a thing."
Danzo's eye narrowed, but it wasn't like the two could see him, in the pitch-black room. "No. Expect the unexpected. Do not let your guard down. They could playing us for fools and we wouldn't know it."
"I understand, sir."
"Good. I must say it pleases me that you two managed to pull it off."
"Sir…you were the one who created the clones, so we can't take all the credit."
"So it would seem you can't. But…make sure all of our leaked info stays airtight, understood?"
"Perfectly, sir. We'll keep the pressure on them."
"Very well, then. Leave. I wish to be alone," the spiky-haired veteran commanded. The two operatives didn't verbally respond; they only vanished back into the shadows, following their master's orders.
Danzo grinned evilly. It was like killing two birds with one stone. Now that he had confirmation of his foreign plans working, so far at least, he could now focus on his next goal: eliminating the conspirators from within.
"You fools may sneer and gloat at Hiruzen's Will of Fire thinking you can extinguish it, but I'll show you my own…my Wrath of Fire," he vowed as his slight maniacal laughter echoed throughout the entire base. Fortunately, no one could hear the cackling of the extremist that hid in the roots of the tree that shone tall over the rest of the meadow.
(Kumogakure, 12th and 13th District Borders, BOLT Main HQ, Three and-a-half weeks later, 2100 hours)
Aisu sat in a conference room deep within the main base of the Black Operations and Lightning Tactics Squad. The black ops HQ was strategically placed on the twelfth and thirteenth districts, which most citizens more often than not used as distinction. The BOLT Squad was the village's first line of defense in the unlikely scenario of an invasion. The base on the surface area seemed to be nothing more than a simple one-story, wide building. In truth, the base went nearly three-hundred feet underground and had walkways that served as "tunnels" throughout the entire village underground.
The facility was state-of-the-art, and the top brass made sure they were very well taken care of. There was no expense spared into making the village's most elite of the elite shinobi had a facility that was worth a damn. With recreational activities, and training facilities built to take huge amounts of punishment, there was really no need for any BOLT operative to go into town, unless it was to a special bar or restaurant they liked to dine at. In fact, a good ninety percent of the entire spec ops division lived here.
Aisu smirked that he had the village's most powerful shinobi under his control. He then sighed…however, all of that did come with a cost. They did have the job of maintaining parts of the village and with the village being ridiculously large, private contracts alone couldn't support the village's high-standard of living. For comparison, the twelfth and thirteenth districts alone were easily the size of Konoha. A good many of the Kumo shinobi force had to help maintain it along with the private industry, both domestic and abroad. Which was why now one of the reasons he had called a meeting…with all of his Lieutenant Commanders.
They were sitting at a rectangular desk about three meters long, incredibly thin, but sturdy enough to support many times its own weight. He sat at the head in a comfortable chair, while his four subordinates sat two on either side of the table. In front of each was a cup of…hot chocolate. Aisu's particular obsession with the cocoa drink was well known, and the four LCs had long been used to it.
To his left was Sayuri Ichiso, the Lieutenant Commander of the Reconnaissance Division. She was a tall woman, standing at five feet, nine inches, with dark navy blue hair tied up in a ponytail with her eyes being an extremely rare amethyst color. She wore a typical black shinobi outfit that was, of course, covered by her white haori.
To the right of Sayuri, was Kazanrai "Kaz" Ishiriki, of the Interrogation Division. He stood at five feet, eight inches, with short, spiky, teal-colored hair and jade-colored eyes with skin almost as dark as Darui's. His white haori was sleeveless, with dark purple diamonds that faded into the fabric. Underneath was a kimono top with dark shinobi pants and sandals. Like his commander, he, too, wore a katana, except his guard was violet instead of pitch-black, and it was strapped to his back rather than his waist.
To Aisu's left, was Mitsurugi Yoshida of the Assault Division. He stood even taller than Aisu himself, at an astonishing six feet seven inches. His muscular frame could give the Raikage a run for his money. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders, and multiple battle scars across his face. He wore an outfit similar to Kaz, with the only difference being that he wore a full battle kimono and samurai sandals.
And, finally, to Mitsurugi's left, was the ever mysterious Zennosuke Ishimoto, of the Assassination Division. He had typical features found on this part of the continent: white hair and turquoise-colored eyes. A white scarf adorned his neck, and his haori was tied tight for maximum freedom during missions. The Lieutenant Commander only spoke when necessary, and preferred to stay in the shadows, both literally and figuratively.
The five individuals in this room-counting Aisu, too-were easily the most powerful shinobi in the village, next to the Raikage, Killer Bee, and Yugito. They may have specialized in one area, but by no means were they a slouch in the ways of the shinobi.
"Sodaisho…" Sayuri began respectfully, her voice indicating she meant business. 'Time to put on a show for these fools,' the LC thought wickedly.
"Go ahead, Sayuri," Aisu premised, to which the cobalt-haired Lieutenant Commander nodded and gathered some documents spread out in front of her.
"I've been getting reports that there may be some foreign activity going on within our borders," she responded gravely, holding out a few sketches that assumed, from the insignia on their headbands, they were Leaf shinobi. Aisu saw Kaz's eyes narrow a bit, but said nothing.
"Pft," Mitsurugi scoffed. "Konoha shinobi? In our territory with tensions this high? I don't buy it. " he offhandedly commented.
Sayuri calmly stared at the Assault Division commander. "Lieutenant Yoshida, please refrain from making assertions, when you have no idea how I operate." Mitsurugi was about to retort, when Aisu's chakra flared through the room, forcing even Zennosuke to open his eyes in shock. The four could hardly breathe as they felt the force of their Commander's power.
"Enough," he growled dangerously, which chilled even the Assault LC. "Spare me the theatrics of your foolish inner-organization rivalry. I will not tolerate such ridiculous competition, especially in my presence. Now are you going to shut up and end this little charade, or do I have to step in and crush both of you?" he threatened dangerously. Although fair and kind, when the Commander needed to lay down the law, he was scarier than a judge sentencing a criminal to capital punishment.
Sayuri felt a bead of sweat roll down her brow, as genuine fear swept through her being. 'Now, I know why Hideyoshi-sama is so afraid of him. His chakra output alone nearly caused me to suffocate. Unreal…'
"Am I understood?" Aisu repeated.
"Yes, sir," he heard them both reply.
He simply nodded. "Continue, Lieutenant."
Sayuri wiped the sweat from her hands and continued from where she left off. "As you can see, these aren't normal Konoha shinobi. I believe we haven't encountered them before. I obtained these sketches from one of my squad captains. He didn't engage them, seeing as how they were an unknown enemy and they knew protocol, not to risk it unless valuable information was obtained." Even though they were foreign shinobi, they had strict protocols of engagement and they didn't recognize their form of attire adding to the mystery. Attacking them prematurely could've gotten the entire squad killed and the information would've never gotten to Sayuri's desk.
As far as the four in the room were concerned, they could "capture" them at a later date. Sayuri refused to smirk. 'Hideyoshi-sama already had them disposed of. This is almost too easy.'
"A black operations squad? If Konoha has an organization similar to ours, then that is…troubling." Kazanrai commented, speaking up for the first time since the meeting again.
"Quite possibly," she agreed. "However, I don't think these Konoha shinobi are publically funded."
Now the Interrogator was interested. "You mean a private army? What would they have to gain from spying on us? They're not getting paid for it."
"I see…" Aisu replied, resting his right fist on his chin. "Danzo…you've gotten clever, haven't you?" he mused.
Mitsurugi's brow rose. "Danzo? You mean the old rival of the Sandaime Hokage? What about him?
"The very same," Aisu confirmed. "Tell me you four…what do you know of the Ne?"
Kazanrai's eyes widened. "The Ne? Sodaisho…they were disbanded, as far as our intelligence knew."
Aisu shook his head. "On the contrary, our intelligence confirms it. Danzo…we all know he's a war hawk who would want nothing more than the absolute dominance of Konohagakure. You really think a man is going to let his ambitions go away just from a simple command to publically disband his army? No…what is likely is that the public disbanding was a farce; a ruse to fool enemies abroad. The Ne often did the missions that Konoha didn't want publicized, trying to keep the mantle as the "noble" village, while in reality performing despicable deeds just like we all have done at some point in our careers. Danzo would be the only shinobi with enough capital to privately fund it, anyhow, or even care enough to do so."
There was dead silence in the room, after the Hayasaka explained in great detail by simply using abstract pieces of information and pulling them together.
"Your power of insight humbles me, Sodaisho," a compliment came a chilling voice. Kazanrai blinked. Did Zennosuke just speak…without being asked a query? Sayuri and Mitsurugi were expressionless, preferring to hide their astonishment.
Aisu simply smiled and waved off the Assassination Division leader. "It's nothing, Zennosuke. It really was nothing too big," he humbly replied, to which Zen simply nodded, going back to his usual mode of being mute.
"Regardless," Aisu continued preparing to give out orders, "I want these shinobi found and, if possible, taken alive. They could provide information valuable to us, as well as information the Hidden Leaf doesn't wanting us knowing."
Kazanrai smirked. "I'll get right on it, Sodaisho. When we capture them," he licked his lips in sadistic gratification, "I'm going to take pleasure in extracting what we need." Aisu was unfazed by his sadism, and simply nodded.
"Mitsurugi, your teams will be on standby for the extraction of our targets."
"Yes, sir," he simply responded.
"Sayuri, continue to do what you do. The more information, the better."
Sayuri bowed her head. "It shall be done, Sodaisho." She was inwardly smirking. 'Exactly as planned.'
"Very well, then. You're all dismissed…except for you, Zennosuke," Aisu commanded. He looked at him expressionlessly and then simply nodded. The other three vanished out of the room from their seats, not bothering to use the door. The Commander and the Assassin were left alone to their own devices.
"Sir?"
"Zennosuke…keep an eye on Sayuri for me, would you?" Aisu asked, to which the Lieutenant, looked surprised.
"You don't trust her, Sodaisho?" he inquired quizzically.
"I do," he assured. "But…I do believe she's hiding something. What that is, I don't know. You're the only one with the skills necessary to spy on her." Zennosuke was a master at stealth, to the point where even Aisu had barely detected him, while he was observing.
"I see," he replied neutrally. "Very well, then, sodaisho, I'll keep a watchful eye from time to time."
"That would be much appreciated," Aisu courteously thanked. "You're dismissed." Zennosuke stood up, bowed, and went into a dark corner in the conference room. After a few moments, Aisu could no longer detect his presence.
The wielder of the Thunderbirds leaned back into his chair and sighed. The things he had to put up with. He stood up from his position, walked out of the room and, to his amazement, Darui was waiting for the young commander.
"Darui?" he said in genuine surprise. "Who let you in?" he asked flatly.
The jounin simply shrugged. "I'm pretty persuasive."
Aisu clucked his teeth. "Riiiight," he quipped, not really believing him, but not caring enough to probe the issue further. They both started walking toward the exit of the base.
"Any luck?" Darui asked getting to the point.
Aisu groaned, "No…not really. I've been stuck trying to get some free time. I sometimes hate this job," he admitted.
"Don't we all?" Darui agreed. "There's a bar in district four that's open. I could teach you some stuff there."
"A bar, eh? In one of the districts that's up for election in three months? Good call, Darui," Aisu complimented.
Darui simply shook his head. "You know I'll never get used to your ability to read motives and people like a book."
Aisu simply allowed for both a half-smile and a half-smirk. "Trust me, Darui. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without it."
"Indeed," the jounin agreed. Finally, they had reached the outside of the base after a silent walk. Aisu frowned, the thirteenth and twelfth districts weren't all that impressive to look at. It was actually the poorest district in the village, with each descending district number infrastructure improved. Naturally, most of the noble clans, the Raikage, the Council Members, and rich civilians lived in the first three districts, while the middle class and most of the shinobi population lived in districts four though ten. It honestly disgusted the Commander that Killer A never did anything to address this problem.
The Ultranationalists were going to take heavy advantage of that fact and he probably didn't even realize it. District thirteen was pretty much a sealed deal in favor of the Ultranationalists when the seat of their current councilman—who was a member of the Virga—was up for grabs.
"Sodaisho?" Darui asked, breaking the commander of his thoughts. "You feel okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I just spaced out for a bit," Aisu assured him. Darui shrugged, not wanting to press the matter.
"Follow me," Darui commanded as he took to the rooftops as they made way for a long trip to the fourth district. Aisu followed and kept up easily.
Damn, this village was too big for its own good.
(Eleventh District, Kumogakure streets, 2200 hours)
The eleventh district of Kumo was buzzing with life as the residents of this region of the village danced in the street, performers were doing all kinds of neat tricks, and people in general were having a good time. This wasn't a special occasion, no. This part of the village there was always a never-ending party of people just celebrating life and enjoying it. Because it was a popular district to visit for entertainment and games, they were saved from the fates of the twelfth and thirteenth districts.
However, it all wasn't rosy and dandy for the famed district. It had a notorious crime rate, especially during the evening times at the more isolated parts of the region. The district was represented by the councilman who belonged to United Cloud. He flat out ignored the crime rate, and the rising poverty rate, and instead was simply inflating numbers for their entertainment economy. It sure wasn't going to last long, and the population that lived here was effectively split down the middle for supporting the Ultranationalists and the United Cloud. At this point, it could go either way, and both parties were campaigning heavily so the pot could tip in their favor.
"Stop!" a merchant yelled as he was chasing a three kids, a boy and two females, who looked to be about the age of ten, throughout the semi-empty streets. This was such a common occurrence that most of the civilians chose to ignore it akin to the bystander effect. The boy had short white-hair, a lollipop in his mouth, and wore dark clothing that was about a size or two too big. His two female companions were dark skinned and the other's skin was white. The dark-skinned female had red-hair and golden eyes, while her female counter part had blonde hair and blue eyes. They sped around the corner, intending to hide. What they found was none other than a dead end.
"Shit!" the ashen-haired young man cursed. They just had to run into a dead end now of all times?
"I got you now!" the merchant screamed as he effectively cornered the three thieves.
"What do we do now?" the dark-skinned female cried out, a bit terrified of what the merchant they stole from would do to them.
The white-haired male all of a sudden dropped the bag he had held behind him. Presumably, it had whatever he had stolen in it. He gave them both serious looks.
"You guys get out of here," he firmly said. The two looked at him wide-eyed.
"Omoi! You can't!" the dark-skinned female refused, to the newly named Omoi.
"Karui…you have to," he intoned a bit sadly. "You and Samui need to get out of here. You both stand a better chance of escaping than all three of us."
"None of you are escaping!" the adult roared as he took out a butcher knife. Omoi prepared himself to defend the two girls he had come think of as family, before the butcher was knocked out…cold. He hit the ground, face first.
"Sheesh, just when you think the higher-ups can't let this shithole get any worse, something always tops it," a deep voice scoffed as he stepped into the light. He was around six feet and one inch, had scruffy black hair that with a short and thin Chinese braided ponytail, with green eyes the shade of an emerald. The man was dressed in a standard Kumo Jounin outfit, except his flak jacket was more akin to what Konoha used instead of the one strap version most Kumo jounin used. Adding to his overall appearance was a katana with a green hilt strapped to his back.
"You kids okay?" he asked rather dispassionately. He honestly didn't know why he had saved them from the man. They were stealing from him. But…then again, this place was a rotten shithole, and the Raikage and the Council weren't doing shit about it. He gritted his teeth just thinking about it.
"Um…who are you?" Samui inquired, a bit distrustful. Sure she was glad the man had saved their lives, but she'd be dammed if she let her guard down in a town as bad as this.
"Obano…Obano Kouseki," the newly named Obano introduced. Omoi's eyes widened. Obano? The Obano? Kumogakure's Emerald Fang? He rubbed his eyes. He had to be dreaming.
"Obano," Karui repeated, mispronouncing it. "Interesting name," she admitted.
Obano shook his head. "No, not Obano, it's pronounced with a 'y' at the end, so Oh-bahn-yo," he corrected a bit annoyed. It irritated him to no end when people mispronounced his name, even when he introduced himself first.
Karui frowned. "Oh, sorry," she apologized. The jet-black-haired jounin simply sighed and waved her off, forgiving her.
"Why'd you save us?" Omoi asked, once he got over the fact that an infamous jounin had quite possibly saved their lives.
Obano looked at them, with surprise. They still had their guards up. No matter what the situation, he always taught to never let your guard down even when it seemed as if the enemy was defeated. 'Like shinobi already…I wonder…'
Obano simply shrugged, "I figured you three wouldn't be stealing for any reason and the guy looked like he was going to kill you, so I simply incapacitated him." That answered seemed to satisfy the three, and they visibly relaxed.
The Emerald Fang turned away from them, "Well, good luck, you guys, and try to be more careful next time," he advised before beginning to walk away.
"Wait! Kouseki-san!" Omoi called out, stopping the jounin where he was and he turned his head.
"What is it, kid?"
"Well…thank you…for saving us."
"Don't mention it," the jounin waved off. He was about to jump off, before he stopped and sighed. These kids were likely stealing in order to get a decent meal. From their clothes, there was no doubt that they were street rats—orphans, most likely. A groan escaped from his mouth. His conscience was eating at him again. Then, a thought came to him.
'Hideyoshi-sama did say that we all needed to recruit the young…could I really do that? Indoctrinate a couple of kids into our ideology?' he thought as a twinge of remorse slipped through. He looked back at them. Then again…which would be the bigger crime? Taking care of three kids while force-feeding them an ideology…or leaving them here where they had no purpose and assuredly they'd likely get caught on their next stealing trip and possibly died? He finally made up his mind of which would ease his conscience the most.
"Hey…you three," he called out getting their attention. "You guys hungry? I have food at my place if you want."
All three collectively went wide-eyed. "Ar-Are you serious?" came the bewildered voice of Samui. Karui and Omoi were simply too speechless to say anything.
Obano had to chuckle at their reactions, but he nodded nonetheless. "I'd be heartless to let you kids starve when I have plenty of food at my apartment over in the fourth district."
"You live in the fourth district?" Karui exclaimed in bewilderment. The jade-eyed jounin frowned. Just to hear someone live in an upper district was mind-blowing to them? He felt humbled at how blessed he was.
"I do," he confirmed. "Come on, and if we go now, we can make it by ten." He admired the Shodai Raikage as much as the rest of the Ultranationalists did, but damn, if he felt as if the deceased Kage was compensating for something when he made the village as large as it was.
"Just hold on a minute!" Samui shouted, firmly narrowing her eyes at the jounin. "Just how do we know it isn't a trick? That you won't turn us in?" Years on the streets had taught Samui to trust no one…except for Omoi and Karui, of course.
Obano raised an eyebrow. "Well…" he began with a bit of sarcasm. "I did sort of just keep you from being killed when I could've left you alone. Now you have two options: you can either a) trust me enough that I won't kill you or turn you in and you get a free full-course meal and possibly more; or b) you can stay here and take your chances on the street for another day or however long you think you'll last. Now tell me, which one?"
Samui bit her lip. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right, on all accounts. She then looked at her companions that'd she had known nearly all of her decade of living. They looked at her pleadingly.
"Samui, please…come on…what do we have to lose?" Omoi pleaded with the blonde female.
"Yeah, Samui, Omoi's right, we've got nothing to lose, but everything to gain," Karui implored, backing up the only male of the trio. Samui grunted, they were practically begging her now.
"Well, what's your answer?" Obano asked a bit impatient.
She sighed in defeat. "All right…I'll go." Samui looked to her companions and they both had looks of appreciation on their face. She nodded to them. 'I just hope I don't regret this."
Obano bobbed his head. "All right, you guys, follow me. Also, no complaining about the long walk. It'll be a while before we get there," he warned as he walked off. The trio of orphans followed the elite jounin, hoping that this would be the start of a new life.
These four individuals never knew the ripples of their gathering would cause in the tide of the delicate balance.
(Fourth District, Bar, 2300 hours)
Aisu and Darui sat a table observing the various individuals, shinobi and civilian alike in one of the most popular bars in this fairly high-income-earning district. Aisu had to admit, a bar was the last place he expected to be observing to learn how to "save" Kumo from the Ultranationalists. They both had left clones to watch over Ayasaki, just as Darui always did when he went out into the village.
"Sirs, can I take your order?" a blonde waitress asked as she came up to their table.
"I'll take a bottle of sake, mid-range in strength," Darui ordered. She then turned to Aisu.
"And you, sir?"
"You guys wouldn't happen to have any hot chocolate, would you?" Aisu asked a bit sheepishly. Darui rose an eyebrow while the waitress simply nodded yes.
"Then I'll take the largest cup and the richest flavor you have," Aisu grinned. The waitress nodded and went to prepare said drinks that were ordered.
"Hot chocolate?" Darui asked, confused and bewildered. "Aisu-sodaisho…it's nearly June, almost. Why would you order hot cocoa?"
The BOLT commander simply shrugged. "I just have a particular taste for it. It always seems to calm me. More so than coffee or alcohol ever will. Doesn't matter if it's thirty Celsius above or below. I'll still drink it."
Darui chuckled. "I see. You certainly have interesting…quirks, considering you're the strongest ninja in the village next to Raikage-sama."
He gave a sidelong look. "So I've been told," he responded neutrally. Darui wondered what he meant by that, but they had more pressing matters to attend to, so he had saved that query for another time. In that time, their waitress had come back with their drinks. Two coffee mugs and two containers filled with their respective beverages to refill at the ready. Darui took a sip of his sake, while Aisu poured his mug to half full.
"All right, let's get to business. We're here to listen to political ideologies. Get a feel for what people are saying, that kind of thing," Darui began.
"You still never told me why exactly a bar is going to help us. Most people here are probably going to intoxicated. Hardly representative of what people in this district believe in," Aisu replied with a twinge of skepticism at the jounin's method of gathering information.
Darui had to shake his head at the naïveté of his superior. "Sodaisho…I see you've been too busy running BOLT to see what's happened in the past five or so years." Aisu grunted, but said nothing as Darui continued. "The bar has been a recent shift of where most people talk about politics and their grievances after the failed attempt to capture the Byakugan."
Aisu scoffed. "I still see no reason why we had to capture that pathetic dojutsu…"
Darui sighed, but he couldn't lie to himself as he agreed with the commander. What was the point of capturing the Byakugan, anyhow? He shook his head. Now was not the time for that.
"Yes, I agree," he conceded to his point. "But, now's not the time to worry about that, point is, we're in a jam because of that incident and now we have to clean up Raikage-sama's mess…unfortunately."
"Indeed," Aisu agreed. Darui was about to reply, when two customers, a male and female had taken a seat at the table booth behind him. Darui gave him a look that simply told all he needed to know: Watch, Observe, Listen, Reflect, and Formulate.
"Can you believe this, Kenji?" the redheaded woman spoke up, throwing a magazine in front of her male companion. Kenji picked the magazine up, and looked at its cover. It was 'Ninja Daily,' a publication that had circulated throughout the entire Elemental Nations and was headquartered in the Land of Iron. On the cover was a picture of the Cloud headband symbol with a simple query in all caps: Doomed?
Kenji sighed and put the magazine back down in front her. "Man, and I thought Mist was treated bad, Suki."
The woman, Suki, grunted. "The Mist never really had an embarrassment like one we had five years ago. I feel as if the entire world is laughing at us!" she growled, clearly angry. Aisu was highly interested in where this conversation was headed, so he strained his ears so he could listen to every single detail.
"This is the Raikage's fault, you know," Kenji pointed out, but that did nothing to subdue her anger.
"That's what makes it so frustrating. He not only embarrassed us, but he actually demanded the body as retribution? What kind of blunder was that? We were lucky they didn't declare war on us!"
"It makes you wonder…if we should we even vote to keep the United Cloud in power. So far, they've caused nothing but trouble for us; both here at home and to the outside world," came his grim response.
"I personally think the Ultranationalists would be better," Suki said out of nowhere.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's pretty damn far out there, Suki! Are you sure you could support them, considering where they stand?" he asked her. A good portion of their ideology wasn't that hidden away from the public.
She nodded firmly. "Think about it, Kenji. With them, they could likely restore our national pride! They could make Kumo great again!"
"But Suki, how can you be so—?"
"When was the last time we won a war with them in power? Or with the Virga, for that matter, also?" she interrupted with a rhetorical question. Kenji stayed silent.
"That's what I thought," she said smugly. Kenji grunted, a bit annoyed she had won their little disagreement.
"Look…I don't feel like talking about this for right now. Can we move on to another subject?" he pleaded. Suki rolled her eyes and nodded. That was when the two shinobi stopped listening to their conversation.
"Well, then, Sodaisho, what do you think?" Darui asked him. He didn't immediately respond as his eyes were seemingly shifting back and forth as he processed what he had just overheard in his head.
"Sodaisho?" Darui called out again.
Aisu gave him a grin. "I got an idea…"
(END)
And we're done here after 30 pages on Microsoft Word. :D Aisu's got an idea to put a stop to the political propaganda machine of the Ultranationalists, but Hideyoshi may have gained some new followers in the form of Team Samui. Meanwhile, Danzo schemes to put an end to the plans in Kumo, as well as thwarting Fugaku and the Uchiha uprising.
I'm just going to lay it out to you straight. Obano, Samui, Karui, and Omoi will become central characters in this story and will play absolutely pivotal roles almost to the level of the future Squad Seven, themselves. They'll have their own scenes and development coincided with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, albeit with different circumstances.
Were Team Samui probably older at this point in time in canon? Probably. Do I give a damn? Hell no, I don't. Neither should you. I told you I was toying around with canon's history just so my story could work, and considering that this is an AU, well…yeah. I think you know where I'm going with this.
It's now October 18, 2011, approximately ten days since I last updated. So in keeping with my pattern, expect Chapter Six either on the twenty-seventh or the twenty-eighth. Stay tuned, because, in the next chapter, shit is about to hit the fan, on both sides of the continent.
Enjoy the rest of your day or evening and please don't forget to write a review telling me what you think.
With Regards
Arashi.