Looking down on the city of Konoha, the leader of the fierce Amazon army frowned deeply. Something deep in her heart cried out that she belonged here, as the rightful ruler. She had never felt this stirring before when conquering a new ninja village. Brushing her loose blonde hair back out of her sparkling blue eyes, she felt her fingers alight on the whisker like scars that she'd had for as long as she could remember. Which wasn't much longer than five years, shortly before she'd been found by the Amazons, wandering around nearly naked, with no memory of who she was, nor a single clue of her past. The healers had told her that she'd hit her head hard, and that her memories were locked away for some reason.
As her eyes softened at the sight of the city, she heard the approach of her second-in-command, Hikari, a woman that had supported her since they had found her all those years ago. "General Haruko..." the red-head stated quietly with a salute. "Our scouts bring us news of their defenses. It is as we thought, the village is hardened against us. But we are ready my lady, just give the word and we shall overtake it like all the others."
"Hold for now Hikari..." Haruko answered with a dazzling smile that seemed to brighten even the darkest of nights. Her rapid ascension through the ranks had been in part because of her natural charisma, but mostly because her instincts in battle were never wrong. "I get the feeling that this one will fall without us having to assault. Just the same, I wish to address the troops..."
Leaving the overlook, the blonde woman strode proudly through the assembling soldiers. Each one had won more honor and proved their hearts more than ready for the battle ahead, and yet Haruko refused to risk them needlessly. To her each and everyone of them were more precious than gold.
"Brave sisters of the blade! Today I address you not as only your leader, but as your shield-mate. A year ago, I was given command over the campaign to capture the Elemental Nations from the foolish males that rule it, and today we face our last hurdle," Haruko proclaimed while looking around at each woman in turn. "Before us lay the great city of Konoha, who had once realized the superiority of woman in electing the Fifth Hokage Tsunade of the Sannin, but they have regressed and elected a man. Not just any male, but one well-known in all records as a perverted fan of a novel series that objectifies women, one Hatake Kakashi. We shall correct them of this folly!"
As the battle cry of her name rang out, she smiled her fox-like grin at her army. They were ready, for even though the shinobi and their kunoichi allies had many tricks and tactics that could baffle the Amazonian mind, they still had the might to push through and continue fighting them.
Something new happened to break their routine this time however, one of her forward guards came running up to her. After a quick salute, the guard presented her with an interesting change. "Lady Haruko, the village has sent out a party under flags of parley. The leader, the Hokage himself, is with them. They ask to speak with you... and up to two guards to match his two guards."
Haruko smirked devilishly as she looked around, it seemed that her instinct had been right again. "Thank you Kotone, you and Yumiko will be my escort..." the blonde general stated while signaling a diminutive blue haired woman over. The two were blushing with the unspoken compliment of their skills, and the fact that the general had remembered their names. "Hikari, you're in charge should something happen to me..."
"Yes my lady..." Hikari answered with a frown. Haruko knew why this was so, but the change in procedure was a necessary step. If Haruko fell, Hikari would avenge her death, as any that loved another would do.
Clasping Hikari's shoulder, Haruko smiled brightly at her second in command before leaning in and speaking softly "Trust me lover, I'll be back, and then you can scold me."
"Count on that," Hikari answered back with a playful growl to her voice. Haruko patted her shoulder gently before heading out to meet the parley group.
Her two guards strode purposefully towards the group of three ninjas. The obvious one was Hatake Kakashi with his masked face and forehead protector covering all but his right eye. He seemed older than she had expected, but that might have been a ninja trick to throw her off guard.
The one to his left was one of the traitorous kunoichi, her red eyes and black hair would have marked her as an Uchiha, but for some reason that didn't sit with Haruko as right. She believed that if there would be trickery afoot, it would come from this one. It was the third member that surprised her most.
He was by far the youngest of the group, with a scar running across his nose. He didn't have the battle hardened look of the other two, but his motions seemed to speak of great stores of knowledge. She had to admit a liking for the pineapple ponytail he sported, it made her feel safe. For some reason this guy was familiar to her, and by the stormy look in his eyes, she to him. A name sprang forth from the depths of her mind, whispering like the wind on the prairies, but she couldn't understand why she would think of him as a river dolphin.
As the two groups met in the neutral grounds between the village and the army, Kakashi looked over the group rather lazily. For some reason Haruko thought that he should be reading some vulgar orange book or something of that ilk. Pushing these thoughts to the side she spoke up. "You called us forth under flags of parley, but we have nothing to talk about. Save your surrender."
"Maa," Hatake drawled while Iruka frowned deeply. "It seems that you might be mistaken there General..."
"Haruko," the general supplied firmly, her eyes locked on the younger one's actions. Why was he so familiar to her? It seemed like she had met these three before, but that couldn't be, could it? She was from east of Tsuchi no Kuni, and had never been to Hi no Kuni before. "And I ask you to lift the Genjutsu you're trying to put me under..."
The dual head shakes of the subordinates in answer to Hatake's glance confused Haruko, but the Hokage pressed on. "We are not performing any Genjutsu, and would not violate parley like that. Not to who we suspect you are... Uzumaki Naruto."
At the name, the two guards were taken by surprise when their general staggered as a wave of memories began flooding back into her head. The scarred man sitting with her eating ramen, the silver haired instructor saving her life, the red-eyed one teaching a lavender-eyed girl, an old man with a pipe, a blond woman kissing her forehead. The surge of memories assaulting her caused her to step back, putting a hand to her head as though pained. "I told you, my name is Haruko... what are you trying Hatake?"
The scarred one stepped forward at Hatake's bidding, holding his hands out to the side for the guards to see he meant her no harm. "Nar... Lady Haruko... What the Hokage meant was that you look similar to the form of a jutsu one of our missing and presumed dead ninja," he stated soothingly, while the guards gripped their blades. "You recognized me when you were coming here... Do you know my name?"
"Umino Iruka..." Haruko answered before clenching her teeth and shaking her head as though to clear it. And yet more memories flooded forth. A white-haired man in red peeping in on the women's baths, a battle against a boy that she thought of as the lavender-eyed one's cousin, a boy with bugs inside him laughing insanely.
"That's right..." the now named Iruka stated calmly with a broad smile.
"Call off the assault, we'll open our gates, and hold a truce," Kakashi stated quietly, indicating the opening gates behind him. "Let's go have some ramen, to welcome you home... your seat's waiting for you..."
Haruko frowned in confusion as she looked at Hatake's hand like a viper waiting to strike. Something told her that this village was going to be nothing but pain for her, still something told her that it would be alright to trust him. Clasping his hand she turned her frown at the masked man before him. "If I am not satisfied with your proof, I will hunt down each of you three, and kill your ninjas in front you... and then raze the village."
Hatake gave her a smile that had his eye turning into an upside-down u, something that she felt a deep seated need to punch off his face. Before he could say anything, the one named Iruka cut in. "I'm sure you will find our proof more than adequate..."
"Fine..." Haruko stated before turning to Yumiko, "Go, bring General Hikari, I believe that she should be present."
As she waited for her lover's arrival, she felt something she hadn't felt ever since being found by the Amazons, she felt like she was coming home, and complete. But she felt deep down that something was coming that would destroy her life forever.
As long as Hikari was with her, she felt that everything would be fine.