I quickly wanted to post this before heading to bed.
We've finally arrived at the battle for Sunagakure. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I know that there are some aspects to it that was never mentioned before in the Naruto show, but I do think that it has a spot here. I hope you all don't mind!
To answer a question, I've been asked often 'How strong is Naruto?'
Naruto is one of the more powerful characters (obviously) in this story. He isn't the most powerful character, however. In terms of raw strength. At the start of the story, he was with his transformation at Kage level strength.
Over the duration of the story, he's kept training, improving his skills, as well as gaining a lot of experience in fighting the Reavers. To give it a rough estimate. I'd say Naruto without the demonic chakra is at Kage level strength, and with it, vastly superior to that of a Kage.
Kenpachi is still one a complete other level, however. He easily surpasses that of multiple kage and would be able to go toe to toe with them, with him coming out on top. Not unscathed though.
I might do a bit of a background story onto Naruto's training leading up to the arrival of the Reavers, give it more of an explanation as to how he managed to get to this point. Priority is wrapping up this story though.
Apologies for any grammar/spelling mistakes in the Author note, I quickly wrote this just before posting this chapter and I reaaaaally want to go to bed!
Enjoy!
A Desperate defense.
Naruto walked into the armory and noticed a buzz of activity. Suna shinobi were moving about, trying to get everything in order as the evening descended upon the hidden village.
Fear radiated the room. They all knew what was at stake. If they failed, every civilian would be hunted down and killed. They couldn't afford a step back.
Even genin could be spotted standing of to the side, looking around nervously, unsure what to do.
He noticed the quartermaster frantically writing down something on his notepad.
"Yo! Naruto, over here!" Kankuro's voice came from his right.
He walked over and gave the man a nod. "You ready?"
Kankuro gave a grim smile. "Of course. I'm ready to send these bastards straight down, one way ticket!"
Naruto grinned at him, slapping his friend on the shoulder. "Good to hear!" He looked towards the back of the armory where he noticed crates of supplies standing there. "I really should get stocked up on kunai and shuriken."
Kankuro looked at Naruto's outfit. "Might want a change of clothing while you're at it. You can't fight in just a shirt and pants."
The hunter looked at his outfit, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah maybe…"
Kankuro nudged his head and headed down the corridor and into a large room to the left.
Naruto followed and could see various armor sets hanging on racks, with shinobi inspecting it closely.
"Take your pick, kid."
"Oh, you'll never stop, will you." Naruto muttered but started walking up and down the room regardless, taking in the various sets.
He pointed to the white chest armor with shoulder straps. "That one looks just fine," He nudged to the white armor pieces that would cover his lower legs. "Including those."
"Maximum mobility huh, I figured as much." He gave a nod to one of the chunin tasked with assisting the quartermaster, who started undoing the clasps keeping the amor set in place.
x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
Naruto walked out of the room with a long-sleeved black undershirt and pants. Wearing over it was the armor set he had picked out. Giving Kankuro one last look, who turned to his own duties once more.
"You clean up nicely." Micheru walked up and looked him over. She too was wearing a white armor piece, similar to his. Only her chest piece moved down to her left hip (not her right), whereas Naruto's stopped at his waist.
"Same can be said for you, you got some good taste," He joked as he reached for the strap of her chest armor and tugged on it, checking if everything was in order. He noticed her irregular breathing. "Nervous?"
A few Ame nin in brushed past them, discussing their area of defense. Off in the near distance he noticed a young chunin taking pictures of the village, and of the troops passing him by. 'Unusual.'
"I- well…yeah? This is nothing like Nami no Kuni, or the battle at Kumo. This," She waved around. "Is something else entirely."
Naruto reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. "I can't promise this is going to be alright. But we have to try. If we don't, all those civilians will die."
She let out a shivering sigh. "Not really helping me here, Naruto. We're all going to die, aren't we?"
He pulled her into a hug and held her close, dread filling his own body. "I'll protect you, Micheru-kun."
She let out humorless laugh but wrapped her arms around him, tightening their embrace. "You can't protect me from this…"
He pulled back, his hands on the sides of her face. "When I make a promise. I keep it…That's my nindo."
She locked eyes with his before looking down at his lips. "I remember this guy; I think Ghost was his name? He was distant and cold and didn't care all that much."
Naruto snorted as he stepped back, the fear subsiding for the moment. "Hey! Wasn't all that bad."
Micheru smiled at him which swiftly turned into a grimace "I am a huntress. I shouldn't be behaving like a scared kid."
"Look around, everyone's scared, it be kind of strange if you weren't."
"You aren't scared." She nearly whispered.
Naruto chuckled and placed a hand on her lower back as he guided her out of the armory. "Are you crazy? I'm just as scared as you are. I just know how to hide it well." He winked at her, easing her mind slightly.
"I'm a Huntress…" She whispered repeatedly.
"Which makes you tougher than steel, except for Hawke. He's an idiot." Said Naruto jokingly.
Micheru chuckled which helped with her nerves. She knew that Naruto was trying to help, and she was glad he did.
x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
"Alright everyone, listen up!" one of the Suna commanders roared at one of the debriefing points.
Every shinobi who was making last preparations to their gear or giving advice to the younger chunin and genin stilled and looked at the commander.
The Konoha squad looked up at the order and silently awaited the last-minute instruction.
"Scouts have sighted the Reaver army heading straight this way. They are a mere hour away! I want everyone to man their stations immediately!"
"What about the evacuations of all the civilians?" One of the Jonin asked.
"We have anbu squads securing the final passages towards our fleet. Our civilians are making the last preparations before heading out."
A few murmurs could be heard throughout the large group of shinobi.
"They won't stand a chance if we don't hold the line! Do your jobs!" And with that the commander stepped down, gave a nod and headed to his station.
Kakashi turned to his squad. "Naruto, can send a summon to notify Konoha of our status?"
Naruto nodded and walked off and started going through the hand-signs.
"I've already spoken with the Kazekage and he has given us free reign to assist wherever we are needed most. For now, we'll station ourselves on the wall. And we'll see how it goes from there."
"What about the main entrance? How are our defenses looking there?"
"Slabs of concrete will be summoned at times of invasion. They will be blocking of the entirety of the entryway. Behind it will be a force of 500 men standing ready to defend it.
"The gate won't be the problem. I heard that Gaara himself will take care of that. It's the wall. It's too high for them to jump on it, like on Nami. The seals will prevent them from running up. They will suspect this."
Kakashi almost wanted to ask the obvious question but remembered the scouts that had entered Konoha during the Jonin exams. Reports had come in that they weren't the only ones. They had been scouting all the major villages.
"They'll have a plan, undoubtedly. They wouldn't march on Suna otherwise." Itachi responded. He had put on a fresh set of Akatsuki clothing.
'Of course, he'd be prepared.' Naruto off handedly thought of his friend's outfit as he rejoined the group, his summon had disappeared moments before.
As they were heading toward the elevators, a voice could be heard, booming through the air, originating from various speakers. ~ All genin squads report to the supply depots. ~
"Those kids aren't supposed to be here." Micheru muttered as she saw genin, no older than 12 ran past them.
"The moment you graduate, you're in the service of the village. However, I heard Gaara is using them as runners for both supply and communications in case they manage to hack our frequencies." Said Kakashi, his eye watching the genin disappear behind a large group of older shinobi.
They reached the elevators that would lead them to the top. another group was already waiting for the elevator to arrive.
Naruto looked to the far right where the passageway was. A large group of shinobi were marching past them and headed that way. At the front was the commander who was barking orders not long ago.
The elevator arrived at ground-level, and they all stepped aboard. With Kakashi stepping on last, the operator closed the hatch and pulled on a lever. Letting the platform soar to the top.
x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
Silence slowly descended on the village. At the other side torches of the last villagers leaving could be seen, slowly disappearing in the dark.
The entire wall was stacked with shinobi. On various points chakra enhanced ballistae could be seen, manned by chunin.
Archers could be seen at the front. Though uncommon to be seen in the field, in the defense of a village it was to be expected, they could be as deadly as shuriken.
Medium sized shuriken launchers could also be seen, mounted in between the battlements.
People were softly talking amongst themselves and here and there genin were nervously running to check if the defense weaponry had everything they needed.
The combat section of the wall was broad enough to fit 7 shinobi stacked behind each other, which was exactly what they did. Behind the combat section was a walkway, where genin and medical nin were moving about.
For any large-scale assault, Sunagakure had the best defensive posture, in regard to the other villages.
'Which is exactly why they wanted Konoha crippled. They knew that to take Suna, they would have to make sure no one else interfered.'
Naruto peered over the wall, down to the village and could see various companies of shinobi standing at the elevators, ready to replace the troops that would undoubtedly fall by the hundreds.
At the gate was a legion of Suna's best troops, defending the entryway, with at the front Gaara, though Naruto couldn't spot him.
To his side he could a see genin squad huddled by the fire, as they tried to control of their fears as well as try and stay warm.
Gaara had gone all in. If the wall falls, so would the village.
"If the wall falls…So do we." Naruto muttered, shivering as the cold crept through his wind-battered body.
"Gaara knows that a straight up fight is a guaranteed defeat. We have a numbers advantage up here. We keep them bottlenecked and we can turn the tide." Said Kakashi, standing next to the blonde, peering down to the village as well.
"It depends on what they will use to scale our walls." Itachi joined in, with Micheru behind.
A large horn could be heard in the distance, closely followed by many more instantly putting the four on alert. Shortly after an intimidating chant could be heard, rumbling from the dark.
Moving to the battlements, the four took their former spots at the front, looking out to the dune sea. In the far distance a large dark swathe could be seen, getting closer with each passing minute.
"That's not all that bad!" someone said further down.
Naruto was almost inclined to agree with the woman. 'If it weren't for the fact that it keeps on expanding…'
The dark mass kept growing and growing. By now they could make out large contraptions, towering over the marching army.
"Kami…It doesn't stop."
The sounds of marching could be heard, along with it the chanting that had been growing louder and louder.
"Morogosh!
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
The size of the horde marching towards the wall was something Naruto had never seen before. Never in his darkest dreams did he expect this. He swallowed nervously, trying to control his fear.
"W-what do we do?" A suna-nin stuttered.
"What we always do. We fight!" Naruto could hear Kankuro's shout from down the line.
By now they could make out the distinct figures, instead of a dark mass.
"What are they chanting?" Naruto hoarsely spoke, his hand resting on the battlement in front of him.
"Death to all men…and I think the word Unta means 'louder'." A fearful Micheru hoarsely said, unsure what to do.
"How w-would you know?" An Ame next to her asked.
"B-because I've heard this chanting before, In my homeland…But…But never like this."
A shrill voice cut through the air "Open the gate quickly! We have friendlies incoming!"
Voices of confusion rose from the crowd and Naruto looked over the edge down below and noticed a group of people standing at the front gate.
"I'm going to check it out." Naruto said and swiftly ran to the elevator.
The moment he stepped on and the cage door closed behind him, the elevator dropped at a high speed to the ground.
The hunter tightened his grip on the metal bar to the side, keeping him 'safely' in one place.
The elevator slowed down and came to a stop shortly after and a slightly dazed Uzumaki stepped off.
'I'll have to get used to that…'
He hastily sprinted towards the main gate. The chanting and the sounds of horns were getting increasingly louder, even behind the huge defensive walls. Looking around he saw scared young shinobi huddled together against the wall, talking amongst themselves.
"What's going on-." He trailed off when he noticed Kisame standing a little way off, along with Raipa, Kakuzu and Hidan. Behind them was a large group of ragged looking men and women.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise, grasping Raipa's lower arm.
"You really think I would let you have all ze fun? I brought some friends with me." Raipa spoke with a grin.
Naruto recognized them instantly. They were the rogue shinobi Kisame had been recruiting.
"Well, we definitely can use your help. You should talk to the Kazekage." Giving a nod towards the direction Gaara was last seen.
Kisame gave Naruto a toothy grin before turning serious once more. "We're in for one hell of a fight."
"Can you take a guess as to how many we're facing?"
"You really want to know?"
Naruto merely nodded, unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.
"Deidera gave a rough estimate…" He trailed off.
"Come on, Kisame." He nearly whispered.
"Two hundred thousand at least."
His breathing became shallow and could feel a tremor in his legs. "T-t-two hundred thousand?"
'Lasting wasn't bluffing…We haven't even put a dent in their forces.'
"Don't quit on me now, brat."
Naruto shook his head before giving an affirmative "So Deidera's with us as well?"
"He gave us a ride, otherwise we'd never have made it. He'll be doing bombardments from the sky."
"Good…That will help. I better get up there…" He replied listlessly as he made his way back to the elevator.
Naruto stepped aboard. In his mind Kisame's words rang through his head in an echo. 'It won't do me any good to think about it anymore. I need to be strong.'
He reached the top almost as swiftly as he did when he went down. The chanting still echoed through the night sky, nearly reaching a deafening volume, despite the sudden howling wind.
"What's the word?" Kakashi asked, noticing Naruto's arrival.
"Kisame, Deidera, Kakuzu, Hidan and Raipa, along with a band of rogue shinobi are assisting us." Naruto said as he took his former spot. He noticed that the army was closing in and was mere minutes away.
"That's good. I heard good things about them." Itachi replied, his cloak billowed by a sudden heavy gust of wind.
"Karkura!" a single voice roared below.
As one, the entire army came to a halt, just out of their range, staring up at the wall
"Ready the catapults!" on platforms attached to the backside of the wall, the catapults were getting some last second preparations done.
"Daragush!"
Seemingly nothing happened-. But then as if on cue red glowing eyes started appearing.
"That's…. unreal...So many of them are shifters." Naruto muttered.
"But where are the holders?"
"No idea, it is well known that Holders tend to have a more aggressive behavior. Maybe they didn't want them in this fight…" Micheru whispered.
"We'll never survive!"
"We're all going to die!" Someone else screamed.
"We need to run, while we still have a chance!"
Naruto noticed a lot of hesitation and chatter on the wall and grit his teeth. "Not one step back! If we run, they will kill everyone!"
The murmurs grew quiet as eyes settled on Naruto, expecting him to continue.
Once more he raised his voice as he climbed on the battlement. Morale was low, they needed a boost.
"Not gonna lie! Things aren't in our favor right now."
A few chuckles could be heard, but otherwise people remained fearful.
"But we can't take a step back! We can't falter and we can't give up! If we do, they are going to kill every innocent man, woman and child they get their hands on. They will kill them all!"
Naruto balled his hand into a fist and tapped it on his chest. "We hold them here. We are Shinobi!"
"Shinobi..."
"Damn straight we are!" someone uttered.
"We are shinobi!" Naruto roared again and this time slowly the group started joining in.
"Shinobi!"
"Shinobi!"
"Shinobi!"
"Shinobi!"
Kankuro roared as well. "What are we?"
"We are Shinobi!"
"Make them pay for every inch they take!" Naruto roared as he stepped off the battlements, looking at a stunned Micheru.
"You shinobi are something else." She looked at her teammate with slight awe.
"Never underestimate a shinobi who is ready to die for his village." Kakashi stated, giving Naruto a proud nod.
"Gar-Gar!" Warhorns boomed the sky and the endless horde in front of them charged at the wall.
"This is it!"
"Not one step back!"
"Make them feel fear, boys!"
The entire wall broke into a loud roar as they prepared for the onslaught.
"Fire the catapults!" The commander roared from the near distance.
Chakra enhanced stones and other projectiles started soaring through the sky as the Reaver horde came into their effective range.
Moments later the attack hit its target, killing dozens upon dozens at the same time.
That did not slow down the advance in the slightest and soon they were in the range of their ballistae.
"Ballistae!"
All over the wall, the Ballistae fired as if it were a single unit, killing many more.
By now, all over the wall was a flurry of movement as the chunin operating the equipment started reloading their devices.
Siege weaponry from the attacking side now started shooting their own equipment, initially hitting nothing but the wall.
"Pathetic!" Cheers and other insults could be heard as they watched how the Reaver's failed to hit their mark.
"Archers, launchers, Fire!" every remaining medium ranged weaponry could be seen firing down below. Hitting dozens upon dozens more.
The Reaver horde reached the walls and a small portion tried to scale it, only to be electrocuted seconds later, dying instantly.
Another foreign roar could be heard, and the large dark apparatuses started moving.
"Those are siege towers…" Kakashi shouted as he noted the abrupt change.
"Nothing like I've ever seen before."
The towers started moving forward. Expanding in height as they started approaching the wall.
"That's one way to solve their problem." Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Aim for the towers! The commander roared at the catapults, who swiftly realigned before firing their projectiles once more.
They hit the first towers which came crashing down, killing the Reavers that were stationed in it, as well as below.
But it seemed the Reavers were prepared for that and started using their red chakra blast to block any incoming attacks.
As the machinery inched closer and closer, the archers stepped back, and let the melee combatants take over.
"What are we?" Kankuro shouted once more
"We are shinobi!" the crowd chanted back.
Naruto couldn't help but chant along with them as the dark siege towers came closer and closer. He gripped his left wrist tightly and let out a shout. "Chakra push!" It instantly got blocked by another red wave. Trying to overpower it, he turned to Itachi. "Do it!"
"Amaterasu!"
The tower caught fire instantly, killing all the infantry inside, screaming as they were being burnt alive.
Naruto's attack broke free and hit the tower head on, causing it to topple over and crash into the ground, crushing the men and women underneath.
As the toppled tower burnt away, another tower came crashing through the remains of its predecessor, covered in a blue layer of what Naruto assumed to be a defensive ability.
His assumptions proved to be correct, as suna nin poured heavy wind based ninjutsu on it, only to be nullified.
Seconds later the tower slammed into the wall, lowering its drawbridge, which came crashing on top of the battlements. Red glowing eyes was all they could see in the tower.
"Fire!"
Archers in the rear fired a volley at the inside of the tower, killing the first batch that tried to charge in.
More siege towers arrived at the wall and lowered their drawbridges, letting the Reavers slowly pour onto the wall.
The volley that had killed the first set of Reavers had done little to stop the endless stream that flooded out and onto the wall.
The Reavers slammed into the defenders and a chaotic clash ensued. The defending force had a momentary upper hand.
Naruto slammed his blade against his opponent and gritted his teeth as he tried to overpower him. "Kakashi! Tell them they need to take out the towers!"
Reaching for his pouch he grabbed a kunai and ripped open the Reaver's stomach, dropping him to the ground.
Micheru had been thrown to the back of the wall by her opponent and let out a grunt of pain before scrambling to her feet, trying to get back into the fight, only to be blocked by the masse of shinobi in front.
As the minutes trickled by, the sounds of clashing only increased as more and more towers besieged the wall.
Naruto was wildly slashing in front of him, shoulder to shoulder with Itachi. Ducking underneath a vertical slash, he retaliated by planting his kunai in the opponent's throat before kicking him over the battlement and down the wall. Instantly another took his spot, resuming his dance once more.
Glancing over his shoulder he could see the mass of shinobi, anxiously standing at the ready to jump in. With gritted teeth he continued his clash and struck down the Reavers who were foolish enough to engage in a fight with him.
x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
'Orodochi' stumbled back, away from the first row before falling on his back, clutching his head after being hit by a particular large Reaver. Spitting out a mouthful of blood he reached for his canteen and decided that for a short moment the others could take over.
"Naruto!"
Glancing to his left he noticed Micheru walking over. "How are you holding up?" He asked before taking a large sip from his canteen, rinsing his mouth with it and spitting it out.
A rain of arrows flew overhead as the archers behind them fired another set.
"I'm fine, I just want to get back to the front, but I can't get through."
Screams could be heard from the front, and he could see a couple of shinobi being tossed around. "Let's go and follow me." With a yell he activated his transformation, turning his hand into a gruesome claw, his lone eye glowing bright red.
She looked at him with slight apprehension before giving a resolute nod.
"Step aside." Naruto ordered as he forced himself past the crowd.
People swiftly made way and Naruto sprinted forward, using his speed to slam his clawed fist into the overpowered Reaver, sending him flying off the wall and into the massive army below.
With another roar he sent a wave of red chakra forth, slamming it into the blue defensive layers of the siege towers directly around it.
The layer glowed bright blue before it started to crack and moments later exploded. The siege equipment couldn't withstand a wave of pure demonic chakra and it splintered apart before exploding as well.
A roar of cheers could be heard all around as the remaining reavers on their section of the wall were being cut apart now that they received no more reinforcements.
"That's certainly a way to give us some reprieve." Itachi dryly noted, a rare smile on his face.
"What's the overall status?"
"We're holding for now. They've started their barrage on the passageway, but Gaara switched from offense to defense and is taking the hits for now." Said Kakashi as he absently rubbed his arm, slight wear and tear on his sleeve was visible.
Fireballs flew overhead as some of the enemy catapults were starting to aim more accurately, inching closer and closer to where they were standing, whilst others continued to hit nothing but the wall. It seemed that the Reavers were refraining from using any chakra-based attacks. Most likely to keep their fighting strength up until after they breached the wall.
"How long have we been fighting?"
"An hour?" One of the ame-nin responded, glancing at his fallen brother on the floor with a broken gaze.
Naruto resisted a groan. 'An hour? I would've hoped more time would've passed by now.
Shinobi around them started talking amongst themselves, swiftly drinking some water or grabbing some food while they could.
Another set of horns could be heard, and dozens of siege towers started heading towards the wall at a rapid pace.
A fearful Micheru rested her trembling hands on the battlement in front, unsure what to do.
"Deidera"
"Hn?"
"Take them out." Itachi ordered.
"Hn"
Moments later a humongous creature of clay came falling from the sky and landed right in front of the towers.
"Everybody, take cover!" Kakashi ordered as he ducked behind cover, swiftly followed by the others.
A bright flash came first, quickly followed by a deafening, ear-splitting explosion.
The shockwave came last, washing over the wall, doing no damage to the defenders.
"Kami, did you see that?"
A smoke cloud covered the area, obscuring their sight. That did little to mitigate the cheers, however.
Naruto couldn't help but grin as well. That had most definitely put the assault on hold.
Their victory was short lived. The Reavers blasted the smoke cloud away and from the dark a seemingly endless row of siege towers emerged, making their way to the wall.
To his far left he could see shinobi fall to the ground in despair whilst others cried out in horror.
A singular intimidating horn could be heard once more. Naruto barely had time to blink before out of nowhere Shifters appeared on top of the battlements and used their momentum to grab dozens of shinobi and dragged them off the wall at neck break speed, plunging to their deaths.
Naruto knew that another wave was coming and managed to shove Micheru out of the way. A split second later the shifter appeared and tried to grasp her but failed and grabbed Naruto instead, sending them both flying off the wall, causing a few chunin to topple over the edge at the back as well.
As the village below rapidly closed in, Naruto desperately tried to break free, but his attempts were futile and could only watch in horror as the shifter used his body as a steppingstone to disappear once more.
He crashed into a large building at a near 'meteoric' speed.
That's the first chapter of Suna's siege! I hope you enjoyed it and I can't wait for you guys an gals to read the next chapters!
Let me know what you think of it!