So, I've fell off the promised schedule again. I apologize. My head is all over the place, mainly because of work. I couldn't find motivation to write, heck I couldn't find motivation for anything really.
Luckily, it's going better and I found some time to write again. What I had planned to do, was to rewrite some of the earlier chapters first, and then focus on concluding the main story. During this slump I decided to focus on the conclusion first, a bit of a mess I know, especially since I rewrote the first three already (chapter 9/10/11). I might post them if things aren't progressing the way I'd like.
Rest assured, this story will be finished and we're along nicely, but personal/work life got in the way.
A big shout out to all the people who favorited/added the story to their alert list, as well as my profile!
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Onto the reviews:
The Zelos wilder: I am incredibly grateful for your kind words! I'm very happy that it came across exactly as you described it. That was what I was going for! I hope you'll like this chapter!
Nithu velu: Initially I had planned on posting the overhauled chapters but ended up with this instead. Much more happening this chapter ;)
Mikeblade: Very true! But there's a significant time difference between Orochimaru betraying the Akatsuki. The group they have been operating as, have been together for close to ten years ( I think).
As for Ghost's and Itachi's lack of aggression, they knew that they could ill afford any more enemies, with the Reavers bearing down. I hope that made sense!
As for the rookie squad, aka Naruto's old friend; They hadn't fully understood just why Naruto had left the village. Over time, they became more aware and as a result, felt unsure what to do, ending up in their conversation in Nami.
Faisal Khalid: Long overdue, but here you go.
The battle for Konoha is about to start. This battle is by far the largest arc in this story, and surpasses that of Suna. I hope I did it justice!
Chapter 45: Konoha's stand - part 1
The sound of distant thunder caused the mass of shinobi to look up in the darkened sky. The bad weather continued to worsen, and it wouldn't be long until it reached the village.
Soft chattering could be heard all over the wall, and the elevators connected to the wall stood at a standstill on the top, with squads of Hi no Kuni soldiers standing by at the front.
Konoha's defense had been well thought out. At the top of the wall a mixture of fighters had been placed, including shinobi from minor nations around. The design had been heavily based on Suna's wall, hence the elevators and other additions.
Kawa no Kuni had been evacuated entirely, as well as Amegakure. Their shinobi forces would bolster their defenses, despite being severely impacted by the ongoing war.
The biggest surprise was Oto no Kuni. Years had passed since Orochimaru had any real control over the country and a different kage had risen and taken reign.
Though Orochimaru still had various hideouts in the country. Oto no Kuni was proud to announce their own hidden village not too long ago and had been in contact with Konohagakure.
Though their strength wasn't considerable, they still held over a thousand abled men, which they gladly sent to Konoha.
If it was enough to hold back the Reaver advance was yet to be seen.
A single drop of rain landed on the concrete battlements that adorned the newly upgraded walls of Konohagakure. Evening slowly descended, causing an eerie setting. The men and women defending were restless, awaiting what was about to come.
Sasuke refrained himself from letting his teeth chatter as the cold wind bit hard. he urged it down deep. Peering into the darkness he was surprised he still couldn't see a damn thing.
"They can't be far now." A jonin to his right said whilst smoking a cigarette.
Sasuke softly spoke, his hands were slightly shaking. "They should be arriving soon."
An experienced chunin was pulling on a string of her chunin vest. Her breathing was heavy and slightly erratic. "I know this is wishful thinking, but maybe they decided against attacking us?"
Sasuke was about to speak up, but his voice disappeared in his throat when he noticed Naruto walking past him at a fast pace, he was wearing his new Hunter's outfit. He could hear him talking into his headset.
"They are near, I can feel their demonic-"They didn't catch the rest as Naruto disappeared in the crowd.
"I guess that answers your question," Ridou muttered, feeling just as anxious as his friend was. The battle for Nami had put the fear into his being. But this wasn't a fight you could compare to the one at Nami no Kuni. This was on a whole other scale. He shuddered as he slowly felt the rain seep through his clothing. "Of all the times to start raining…"
A deafening roar could be heard above, courtesy of Que. He was assisting them in the battle as well and was primarily their scout. It still put them on edge, despite the beast being their ally.
From down below large groups of shinobi were standing by, ready to replace to fallen troops that would undoubtedly number into the hundreds soon.
Hinata looked up at the sky before a gentle hand landed on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her cousin standing there, along with his two teammates. "Neji!"
He gave her a bow. "Hinata-sama. Glad to see you're well."
She looked over his shoulder to Lee. His face was contorted in one of worry. "Are you going to be on our section of the wall?"
Neji nodded, gesturing for his two teammates to join them. "Section 10? Yes."
"Gai-sensei is certain we'll win." Lee said as he squatted, stretching his limbs, trying to stay warm.
"Gai is just trying to keep everyone motivated. You know how he is Lee." A young woman with her dark hair tied in buns said. She had her arms crossed and wore a dark red blouse with a light armored vest over it.
Neji couldn't help but agree with her statement but didn't bother with responding.
"How you guys doing over here?" Micheru walked over and stood beside Sakura.
Sakura let out a nervous laugh. "Just fine!"
Micheru gave a knowing smile. "Just how I'm feeling huh?" she held up her hand, showing how badly she was shaking herself.
"We're all going to die, aren't we?" The pink haired kunoichi softly asked, yet loud enough for the shinobi around her to slightly turn their heads in interest.
"Not if you do your job, Sakura." Shikamaru said, walking past them, his arms stacked with papers, a chunin following him close behind.
Hinata let out a shudder. "Shouldn't be too long now…"
Konohamaru and his two teammates Udon and Moegi stood nearby, listening to their conversation with the same amount of fear and anxiety, giving nervous glances at the distant top of the wall. Noting movement to his left he was surprised to see his sensei, Ebisu march past, along with Anko, Kurenai and Asuma, or as a lot of the younger chunin and jonin called them 'the veterans.'
Que let out a deafening roar, breaking them out of their stupor.
"How long before we'll be called up to the wall?" Udon asked nervously.
"If Suna was any indication, it won't be too long."
Micheru moved to the elevator and stepped on it. "I'll be right back."
"Naruto? I thought you were with Hawke further down." Micheru asked as she stepped off the elevator.
"I don't have a spot. I'm going to be moving around a lot," He leaned against the top of the cover and looked out into the darkness. "They're close."
One of the Jonin furrowed his brow in confusion. "How do you know? Our sensory-nin can't even pick anything up."
Before the blonde could answer, lighting lit up the night sky, and in the darkened forest they could see movement. At first it seemed like mere shadows, until Naruto poured some of his dark chakra into his remaining eye, letting it grow bright red.
A gasp erupted from the crowd of shinobi as they all noticed glowing red eyes appearing from inside the forest, surrounding most of the village.
"Kami…" One of the Konoha-jonin whispered.
Ridou slowly turned his gaze to the blonde, his eyes wide. "That's crazy…it's exactly like a gekkei kenkai."
Naruto turned to the group, looking at him with uncertainty and slight anxiety. His glowing eye locked on Micheru. "I have already detected Kenpachi's aura."
"How do we deal with him?" Micheru asked with uncertainty, feeling uncomfortable hearing his morphed voice.
"You don't. Leave him to me." Naruto said as he turned to walk away.
Sasuke grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stop. "Are you serious, teme? He's going to tear you apart."
Naruto turned to him, slightly tilting his head. His voice rumbled once more. "I meant what I said. Itachi, Kisame and I will take care of him. This has been decided with the higher-ups."
"Naruto, are you sure?" Micheru asked worriedly. She had suspected the blonde would do something like he did in Suna, she locked her eyes with his.
The red gaze died out, revealing the bright blue of his eye once more. "It's no different than Suna. We can't have him go rampage through our army. We need to keep his focus away from the fight."
She bit her lip, trying to find a reason to keep him from clashing with the monstrous Reaver. "I…"
He let his hand rest on her shoulder. "I need you to stay away from Kenpachi. If he finds out…"
She let out a humorless chuckle. "That I'm with you?"
"He will stop at nothing to get his vengeance…"
She let out a quivering sigh, and gave a weak nod, but gathering her resolve and gave a more resolute one. "I got ya, Orodochi."
Naruto gave a confident smile, his hand shifting to hers, squeezing it slightly before continuing. "You're supposed to be down below. We need to have some Akatsuki and Hunters in the reserve too.
The voice of Kenpachi suddenly boomed through the area, putting everyone on edge.
"Konoha. This is Lord Kenpachi. The world we are living in has been corrupted by your actions. We are here to right your wrongs, cleanse this world and start anew. You are in our way."
"We always seek more followers. If you surrender, we will grant only the worthiest of you a chance to join our numbers. The others we will give a merciful and quick death. Decide."
The shinobi erupted in loud murmurs.
~There's his ultimatum~ Kakashi's voice erupted from the radio.
All shinobi looked at their comrades but otherwise remained resolute.
The sound of the main gate opening tore Naruto's attention away and towards the sound. "What is she doing?"
Tsunade walked through, along with Shikaku and rome, with two anbu flanking her. Her face was set in stone and walked out resolutely.
Rome had a sliver of sweat at the edge of his brow. When Tsunade had told him of her intent to negotiate with Kenpachi he had fiercely resisted against the idea. The hokage however remained determined.
The small group stopped on the edge of their defensive's active range.
The sea of glowing eyes in front parted and a single broad and tall man stepped out, slowly walking over.
"Have you come to surrender?" Kenpachi barked at them, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his own glowing eyes drilling into Rome's.
Tsunade mimicked him and crossed her own arms. "No chance. I'm here to give you one last chance to turn around and leave our nation."
"Does this pathetic being speak for you?" Kenpachi barely gave her a glance.
Tsunade grits her teeth in anger, her eyes ablaze at the remark. "I'm the leader of this village. I'll show you just how pathetic I can be."
Kenpachi slowly turned to meet her gaze and she nearly backed away. Never before had she felt such dread. The feeling to turn and run back had crossed her mind. "Leader of Konohagakure, your opposition is futile. We are the harbinger of your destruction. Your ultimatum is a weak attempt to cover your fragile defenses."
Tsunade crossed her arms, trying to ignore the hairs that stood on the back of her head. Now she started to understand why Rome and Naruto were intimidated by this man. "Then there's little else to say. We'll see who remains standing at the end."
Kenpachi tore his gaze away from the group and instead looked up at the top of the wall locking eyes with the lone glowing eye. "Tell Ghost I will tear him apart for what he did."
Rome sneered at the man. "He'll look for you. This time you won't be escaping."
"Don't think I've forgotten about you Rome. You'll be next."
"Don't expect a repeat of Suna. We're better prepared than they were." Tsunade interjected, refraining Rome from responding.
"No amount of preparation will halt our advance."
"We'll see." She nodded to her allies and the group turned around slowly walking back.
Kenpachi remained standing for a moment longer before twirling around and marched back. He gave a nod to one of his companions and he slowly started humming. "Let's show them fear."
Drums could be heard. Softly at first before it quickly picked up volume until it was deafening. For the former defenders of Suna it was something they had already experienced before and were able to suppress their emotions. The others however…
"Morogosh!
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"Morogosh!"
"Unta!"
"There's no way we can beat them..."
Despite the preparations and warnings, they were given about the Reaver intimidating chants, the defenders were still scared and looked fearfully down at the army below. Behind the walls where the reserves were stationed it was dead silent as they looked up to the top of the wall, waiting for something to happen. Their hearts hammering in their chests.
Sakura and Ino gave each other a worried look, their hands trembling. "This is c-crazy."
Kiba gave a nervous chuckle. "We're done for…"
Micheru rejoined their ranks and noticed the nervous and scared looks. "Ignore them. This is exactly what they did last time. To make us give in to fear."
"Well, it's working so far!" Ino said, her eyes darting all over the field, as if he was trying to count all the Reavers below.
They tried shaking it off but were only slightly successful. The nerve-wracking feeling remained.
"It's about time, wouldn't' you say, Shikamaru?" Naruto softly spoke in his microphone.
~Sounds about. ~
From large megaphones the voice of Shikaku erupted. "Defenders of Konoha. Brace yourselves."
Naruto couldn't help but grin at what was to come.
"What?"
"Uhm?"
Seconds later, large explosions in a circular fashion erupted around the village. Killing or wounding thousands of Reavers in the blast.
"Kami!"
"Holy fuck!"
"That was awesome!" Kiba cheered as the fires died down, revealing a large smoke cloud.
~ long range operators. Fire! ~
Catapults behind the wall and ballistae on top started firing their projectiles, crashing into the ground all around the army in front.
When the first volley died down and the smoke cleared, they could still see glowing eyes everywhere, instantly dampening the cheers of Konohagakure.
Hibaru, an old classmate of Konohamaru was standing close next to Ridou. With chattering teeth, she took an unsteady step backwards. "They-they-"
Naruto gripped her by the shoulder and held her in place. "There's no running from this."
"W-w-we can't win this!" She stuttered as she tried to break out of Naruto's grasp
More shinobi echoed the youngster's fears and more and more muttering started across the wall.
Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who spoke up. "Listen up! There's a horde of Reavers on our doorstep! They will slaughter everyone. EVERYONE! And they won't stop there! They will continue if we don't stop them here!"
"You are shinobi! Act like one!"
Naruto looked at his former teammate with a tinge of respect. 'Teme…'
"Shinobi!" Naruto cried out, lifting his blade high up in the sky. A massive roar erupted from the crowd and strengthened their resolve.
Hibaru was looking around with frightened eyes and shook her head, trying to get rid of her fear. She raised her fist into the sky and joined the shinobi in their roar.
The warhorns boomed into the night sky before a demonic voice roared. "Gar-Gar!" And with that the entire might of the Reaver army charged forward, advancing on the wall in a rapid pace.
~Medium range operators. Fire! ~
Archers let their arrows fly, killing more of the unrelenting assault. However, this time the Reavers were prepared and launched attacks of their own, blasting away a portion of the volley.
The attackers countered with long ranged attacks of their own. But unlike the battle for Suna, here they were accurate and hit the top of the wall a couple of times, doing structural damage to the top, as well as killing a few of the shinobi.
"There's the towers alright." Naruto muttered as he noticed the imposing siege equipment moving forward, the top of the tower looming over the tip of the trees.
Naruto looked up into the sky and noticed that Que was already changing his trajectory and was diving towards the towers.
Que's main goal was to destroy as much of the enemy's equipment as possible, funnel the troops together and limiting their entryways.
Naruto in turn created a dozens of kage bunshin and walked to the back of walkway, giving himself a clear path. "Naruto here. Que is going in for his first attack. I'm ready to follow up."
Micheru gave him a nod. "Don't overdo it. Just one strike."
With a deep breath he nodded to his clones ran for the other edge of the wall before pushing himself off, disappearing instantly. His clones followed suit.
A mere two seconds later the siege towers that surrounded the village blew apart in a spectacular fashion.
Que followed and destroyed another half dozen with a sea of fire, killing Reavers that were in the near vicinity.
Naruto appeared a moment later, his hair looking slightly ruffled and wood splinters were stuck in his hair. "That will delay them I hope."
Micheru smiled, the feeling of relief burst in her chest. "Nice job."
About half of the clones returned on the wall. The other half were either killed when the towers spat apart, or by the Reavers who quickly retaliated.
~Good job, Naruto.~
In turn he clicked the button on his radio and responded. "These were just the ones they wanted us to see…underneath the trees are more towers."
The defenders continued to pour their medium and long-range equipment at the Reaver. Now that their first wave of towers was destroyed, they had no way of getting up there and instead sent forth their own attacks.
All manner of nucleus attacks were thrown towards the defenders, but most missed their targets or crashed into the walls.
They started of strong, there was no denying that. But the sheer difference in numbers was still beyond staggering.
A piece of stone spat apart as one of the attacks slammed into the battlement, earning a wince from the Jonin standing behind it.
The soft rain had turned into a full-blown storm. The defenders were completely drenched, yet they stood rigid on the wall, waiting for the inevitable close-range clash that was about to ensue.
Naruto leaned into his mic, hoping it would mitigate the weather's interference with his radio chatter. "Towers are nearly at the wall. Jutsu are ineffective. Prepare for close range combat."
~Understood. ~
He released the button and looked at the imposing siege towers. So far Kenpachi hadn't shown himself yet. But Naruto was certain he would soon.
The nucleus attacks had done slight damage to the wall and had only twice hit the top of the wall, resulting in a few casualties and a dozen wounded. In return they were continuing to spit out all sorts of attacks. Jutsu were used, but only shinobi with a large chakra supply. Everyone needed to remain as fresh as possible.
From his right he could hear Kakashi yell at the archers down on the ground to release another volley. Shortly after he could feel wind being displaced as the arrows soared over their heads and into the advancing army on the other side.
The approaching towers got closer and closer. Every so often one would explode in a spectacular fashion, with parts of it flying everywhere. Konoha had devised a plan to break through the barrier with a burst of damage while another would aim for the exposed part, effectively destroying it.
Around Naruto he saw the gritty faces of his fellow defenders. The real fight was about to start.
~Defenders, they've reached the walls. ~
The siege-towers slammed into the wall, lowering the ramp in a rapid fashion. Just like before, Naruto could see the numerous glowing eyes.
"Get ready!" Someone shouted and everyone tensed up, lowering themselves into a defensive posture.
The Reavers poured out onto the wall and engaged the defenders. The sounds of metal could soon be heard all over the wall as the Reavers tried to gain the upper hand.
Every so often a barrier would break, shortly followed by a Fire jutsu to set ablaze one of the many towers stacked against the wall.
Naruto sent out an overwhelming futon jutsu that broke through the barrier. "Now!"
Sasuke nodded and weaved through a series of hand signs. "Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
A massive fireball slammed into the tower and destroyed it completely. With the reavers cut off from reinforcements, they were cut down.
A volley of arrows flew overhead and hit their target below while more towers edged closer to the wall.
The rain continued unabated as the evening descended into the night. Despite not having the same number of shinobi as Suna did, Konoha was putting up a remarkable defense. The intel they had gained from the previous battle had helped them prepare. The siege towers were being taken down, limiting the Reaver's abilities to gain a solid foothold on the wall.
Meanwhile, all of Konoha's ranged weaponry continued to spit out their projectiles, doing by far the most damage.
Despite all this, the Reavers showed no signs of slowing down, and continued to send their own long ranged attacks, while more towers started slamming into the wall, unloading troops onto the awaiting defenders.
Casualties were rising but at a slower pace than anticipated and the reserves so far had barely been called up.
Konohamaru listened to the deafening sounds of battle up top, his palms were sweaty and wiped them on his trousers every so often. Compared to his two teammates he was doing better; their eyes were wide, and their hands were shaking.
"They are doing pretty damn good up there!" Kiba grinned as he looked out from underneath the cover that they were using to stay out of the rain.
Sakura nodded, smiling at his remark. "The info they gave us really helped."
Que flew overheard and let out a stream of fire before abruptly taking to the sky and disappeared in the darkness.
A surprised scream tore their attention away from the conversation and watched in horror as they saw dozens of bodies plunging to their deaths.
~Shikaku, they're using flashstep to slam shinobi off the wall. We need Gaara!~ Kakashi's voice could be heard over the radio.
~Understood~
More and more people were sent plummeting to village far below, crashing into the ground all around the reserves.
"Kami!"
"Don't just stand there! Help them out!" Shikamaru shouted as he and a couple of others pushed themselves off the ground and collided with the falling shinobi, barely able to save their lives.
People copied their movements while a few of the Nara and Akimichi clan used their respective clan jutsu to catch them before slamming into the ground.
A couple of minutes later Gaara was in position and put a stop to the ambushes.
Kiba swiped the wet hair out of his face pointlessly, mere seconds later it was plastered again.
~What the hell is that? ~ a voice crackled.
~Section 12, Retre-~
An immense explosion shook the earth and destroyed a large upper section of the wall, leaving a large hole at the top part of the wall.
The reserves watched in quiet horror at the sector that had just been blown apart, killing everyone that stood atop it.
Naruto stared at the large breach that stretched until halfway. "That…is a problem."
Kakashi came to a halt next to the blonde, already relaying info to HQ. "Shikaku, they've severely damaged the wall, we need to get Yamato here, fast!"
Reavers started jumping onto the breach and poured out the other side.
"We can't wait for him. We need to stop them now!" Naruto yelled as he was watching the shinobi below starting to engage the incoming Reavers.
Itachi's voice erupted from his headset. ~I've got an idea. Naruto, I'll need your assistance.~
Naruto gave him a nod. "I'm heading to the breach now," he said before turning to Kakashi. "You take care of things up here?"
Kakashi returned the nod. "Deal with the breach."
Naruto saw Itachi diving over the edge of the wall, and he swiftly ran after him, sidestepping an incoming attack while grabbing the Reaver in one fluid motion, dragging her along with him. He didn't hesitate and dove over the edge from the wall, holding a tight grip on the Reaver as she desperately tried to break free.
Seconds later they both slammed into the ground, her body a broken mess. Stepping over her body he ran towards the wall while a group of newly promoted chunin squad was watching with a mixture of awe and disgust. This was their first time witnessing a fight against the Reavers, let alone their participation in it.
Naruto ran up to his friend and looked at the situation unfold "What's your plan, Itachi?"
"I have Katon jutsu that is ideal for this circumstance, but I could use your help to further enhance its power."
Naruto immediately understood, unconsciously open and closing his hands, as if the motion would help him prepare. "Must be a massive jutsu"
Itachi gave a nod. "I have enough chakra, I can afford to spend this amount."
Naruto didn't hesitate "Let's do this."
Itachi reached for his headset. "This is Itachi Uchiha. Notify our forces we are going to clear the breach from Reaver forces. Have our forces disengage."
There was a moment of silence before the response came. ~Understood.~
~Attention all shinobi engaging the breach at sector 12. Disengage immediately. A Tokubetsu squad is going to clear the area. ~
Itachi performed the two hand signs necessary, while Naruto went through a short series of seals, leaving it locked in the final seal
"Katon: Gōenkyū!" Itachi let forth a monstrous ball of fire, letting it charge forward towards the breach where Reavers were already preparing countermeasures.
"Fūton: Daitoppa! The follow up connected with Itachi's Katon jutsu and caused it not only to increase its speed exponentially, but also further increase its size.
Initially prepared to deal with the attack, the opposition was caught by complete surprise. The massive wall of fire engulfed nearly all the attackers in the vicinity and killed them instantly.
"Yamato, now!" a man shouted, his hands going through the motion of hand signs.
Wood erupted from the broken section of the wall and perfectly aligned itself, filling up all the crevices.
Three Doton users quickly followed up and encased the newly formed wooden wall in stone. Further enhancing its defenses. Once they were done, it looked remarkably similar to how the wall used to look.
Yamato walked up to the duo and gave them a nod. "Impressive."
Naruto looked at the man, taking in his appearance. He had almond shaped eyes, with short but slightly messy brown hair. "I could say the same."
The man looked at the blonde for a moment longer before turning his back on him. "Good luck Uzumaki Naruto." He dashed off without saying another word.
Naruto looked at him with a quirked eyebrow before shrugging, patting Itachi on the back. Let's get back on the wall."
With the wall repaired quickly, losses remained to a minimum. Konoha's biggest remaining problem was that it could be attacked from almost every possible angle, spreading out their forces.
Que continued his surprise attacks, and Naruto had summoned his a few of his hawk allies. Long range shinobi were sitting atop and firing of jutsu. This caused chaos amongst the assaulting army and reduced their effectiveness, but it wasn't enough to make a significant difference. Deidera's absence was sorely noted.
Naruto had spotted the strange shinobi with the almond shaped eyes later down at the bottom of the wall. He was primarily used to make sure that if the wall were breached, he could mitigate the damage as much as possible.
Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead, glancing at the dead body that was slumped against the battlement. Despite the heavy fighting, he still felt relatively fresh. He knew that he couldn't go all out against the advancing forces, in case Kenpachi would decide to interfere. He turned to Temari, whom he had been fighting with for the past hour. "I'm going to head down for a moment, you good here?" he gestured to the burning tower that stood against the wall, letting forth plumes of smoke that blocked the view of the men and women standing close to it.
Temari gave a nod whilst palming two new kunai. "Should be fine, go freshen up."
He smirked before turning away. Temari knew he had been tasked with keeping Kenpachi occupied and at first objected. The man had killed her brother and she wanted payback. Gaara had talked her down, for the moment. But Naruto doubted she would restrain herself if she came across him.
Stepping inside the elevator, he gave the wounded a brief glance. They were being supported by two medical-nin who were looking over their injuries or applying a medical jutsu. As they stepped off, a new squad took their place and the elevator quickly rose to the top once more.
Naruto walked past rows of shinobi that were waiting for their turn on top, giving a nod to a few familiar faces.
He walked past Sakura who gave him the once over. "How is it going up there?"
He slowed his pace and shrugged. "So far, it's been going well. But I suspect the Reavers are planning something."
"Like what?" Konohamaru pushed past a few of the waiting shinobi and stood next to the pink haired kunoichi.
Naruto narrowed his eye at the brat. "Who knows?"
Konohamaru glared straight back. "Why aren't you up there?"
The blonde had to refrain from insulting him. "I've got other orders."
"What- "
"-The kind you don't need to know," Naruto interrupted. A scream caused the trio to look to its point of origin. Seconds later a body slammed into the ground, silencing the scream instantly. It was a gruesome sight.
"If I, were you, I'd prepare myself for your upcoming fight." Said Naruto before marching off.
Konohamaru swallowed nervously. Looking at the grotesque sight in front, where Sakura and another medical nin were busy cleaning it up. He was feeling more and more anxious as more squads were called up.
"How bad do you think it's up there? "Moegi asked, her eyes plastered on the body that was being carried away.
"It seems like we still have control over the fight, seeing as the rate reinforcements are being called up are still relatively slow."
That gave Konohamaru hope. Leave it to Udon to come to a logical conclusion. He gave a resolute nod to his teammates and tried pushing down the fear that tried to rear its head.
A thunderclap startled the young chunin. The night sky lit up and for a second you could clearly see the fight that was happening, before darkness enveloped it all once more.
The groups of shinobi that were waiting near the foot of the wall all felt the same sense of dread as they listened to sound of metal clashing against one another, or the screams and shouting that went on. Despite the heavy rain, it still could be heard all over the village.
Sasuke hissed in pain as he dragged himself away from the front of the wall. His left arm had a large gash that went all the way up to his shoulder, his opponent had been a slippery one.
Someone else took his place instantly and he sat down next to an elevator where a medic was treating someone. He looked down at his arm and grimaced, mentally smacking himself over the head for not anticipating the attack.
He was one of the most capable shinobi amongst Konoha's nin, if not the most. But fighting a fully transformed Reaver still remained a challenge.
Most of the time whenever an enhanced Reaver took to the field he was countered by a specialized squad or one of the stronger shinobi in their ranks. But now…Teamwork was difficult to perform when faced with such overwhelming numbers. Regardless, they maintained numerical superiority, which drastically reduced Reaver effectiveness.
"Let me take a look at that." A medical chunin walked up to him and started prodding the wound.
"Arigato."
The chunin looked at it with interest before shaking his head. "I'm sorry but you need to go down. I can only treat minor wounds to get you back in the fight," She gestured to his arm. "This needs to be treated with care or you could risk doing long term damage to your muscles."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
He gave the Uchiha a stern glare. "I'm serious. The upper part of your wound has damaged your muscle tendon. I can't give that a quick fix."
Sasuke sighed and pushed himself to his feet, which turned out to be more difficult than expected. "Fine."
The medic guided him into the elevator and waved him off as the elevator proceeded to go down at neck break speed.
The battle for Konoha had started a little over two hours ago. It was a true eye opener for the Uchiha. The battle for Nami had been his first real large-scale fight. Then Suna's stand happened and despite giving them intel on what to expect, they were left in the dark about certain aspects of the battle.
Sasuke winced as the pain continued unabated. He looked out over the village as the elevator neared ground-level. He narrowed his eyes, noticing Itachi step on an elevator with Naruto.
That had been another major issue for him. Itachi had killed his parents and the rest of his clan, and he was invited back in open arms. For a long time, he had felt betrayed by the village, but he had come to understand the reasoning behind it. 'The moment this war is over, he's mine.'
The elevator gates opened up as it reached the ground floor. He stepped off while a two others started loading it up with supplies.
Sasuke watched as they barked orders at a few of the daimyo soldiers, who in turn went to work straight away. The daimyo was at the kage tower with Tsunade. He had refused to leave with the rest of the civilians and had been adamant in staying.
The sounds of battle continued above as Sasuke moved over to one of the medical area, ducking underneath one of the flaps, finally giving him cover from the rain. A medic noted his wound and went to work while the Uchiha gave a brief recap of his situation.
As the medic went to work, he gazed out of the tent towards the top of the wall where you could see the fighting going on. Jutsu could be seen flying overhead and explosions go off.
Moving past him were more medical nin or daimyo footmen, carrying wounded men and women on stretchers.
~Be aware. Shifters have bypassed the wall and are hiding in the village. Double the guards of all medical station and supply hubs. ~
Sasuke tapped in the frequency. ~Kakashi, how many broke through?"
~Two squads. We managed to stop the majority. ~
He looked at the entrance of his medical tent and noticed more guards arriving, looking about anxiously.
~Who is taking care of it?~ Sasuke asked.
~We have three Hunter-nin squads on it. It will be fine. ~
He nodded slowly, deep in thought while clicking off his microphone.
Tsunade looked at the pieces on the board. Behind her was the daimyo sitting with a few of his guardian ninja.
"Casualties?" she asked.
"They are still within acceptable parameters. We have lost 500, with 200 wounded, of which 150 are able to return to the front."
She nodded. So far it had been going well enough. They had managed to stop any surprise attacks quickly and that had stopped the Reavers from getting the upper hand.
"How many towers have reached the wall?"
Shikaku gave his paper a quick glance. "Four. Two are being taken care of right now."
She gave another nod. "Good. We need to keep those towers off the wall. What about the breach?"
"Itachi and Naruto cleared it and Yamato's squad plugged it." Shikamaru said, off to the right. Moving pieces around the miniature Konoha.
"Any sign of Kenpachi?"
Shikaku shook his head. "So far he hasn't interfered."
"Alright," She started moving towards the door. "I'm going to the wall. You keep me updated."
"You sure that's a good idea, Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked, watching as her personal anbu squad joined her flank."
"The more kage level shinobi there are, the better." She turned and left.
Shikaku turned to his son. "I don't think this is wise. She's looking to fight Kenpachi."
"Little we can do about it. We should warn Naruto though." He reached for the radio and dialed in the frequency.
~Naruto, be aware. Tsunade is going to the wall, and we think she's looking to fight Kenpachi."
~Glad to hear we're all sticking to the plan. ~
A smirk appeared on Shikamaru's face but turned grim just as fast. ~Good luck~
Turning their focus back on the miniature village. It showed how they were surrounded. Scouts that lay in hiding also noticed Reaver forces break off from the assault and head into the outlying forest. They had expected this though and prepared numerous traps and hunter-nin to inflict casualties in a guerilla style tactic.
Suna had faced the Reaver army head on, and while Konoha did so too, they had committed forces on the outside to further cause disarray and casualties.
"How are Que and his riders doing?" one of the tacticians asked.
"They are resupplying at the moment."
Que had been a surprising addition to their forces. When Naruto and his squad had returned from Yukigakure, on the back of a dragon it had caused mass panic. Luckily it had been quickly alleviated.
From where they originated, they were called Ormr. A foreign name that had many of Konoha's experts scratching their head in bewilderment.
They had been enslaved by the Reavers and when an uprising was imminent, they were all slaughtered, with Que being the only survivor. One of the many atrocities that had been committed by the Reavers.
"Good, let them rest for a moment. We don't want them to catch on to a pattern."
Que had accepted to have a harness on so that he could have riders along, equipped with shuriken launchers. Reavers had done something similar in the past.
Shikamaru reached for his beverage and sat down, waiting how the next few hours would be played out.
Naruto rammed his claw into the face of one of his foes, while sending forth a blast of chakra to the other. One was sent off the wall, while the other dropped to the floor, dead.
He body-slammed a Reaver to the ground before locking eyes with the siege tower. A burst of chakra from his hands sent him sky high. "Reddosāji!"
A surge of red chakra slammed into the tower, instantly breaking its barrier and destroying the tower completely. The rest of his attack killed the surrounding Reavers, causing them to retreat to a safe distance.
Naruto landed safely on the wall, reverting his claw back to normal. The shinobi force had made quick work of the now trapped Reavers. Reaching for his microphone he tuned in. ~The tower in sector 30 has been taken care of. ~
~Understood. Good work. ~
The defenders next to him patted him on the back or were thanking him.
He didn't have the heart to tell them that it was just a matter of time before the Reavers would go all out.
He pushed past the crowd and reached the backwall and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge. On this part he didn't recognize, apart from the two suna defenders that were there to boost morale.
Noticing the blonde, they made their way over. "Familiar sight, huh?"
Naruto let out a humorless chuckle. "You got that right."
They sat down next to him. "You're Naruto, right?"
He nodded in turn. "Never caught yours."
The one with the shaven head pointed first to his friend. "He's Katsuo. My name's Seiji."
Katsuo gave a nod in acknowledgment, his wet blonde hair bobbed slightly at the movement.
"How's morale?" Naruto asked.
"It's alright, all things considering. They're still believing."
"Still believing huh…" Naruto muttered, focusing back on the village below. He knew how they felt. How could they not? He didn't hold the believe they could win either. "Just because we don't have faith, doesn't mean we should just give up."
"Oh, we will fight tooth and nail. Don't you worry. I just don't believe we'll win."
Naruto nudged with his head to the crowd behind them. "As long as they do."
"Exactly." The two Suna-nin climbed back to their feet. They gave Naruto a nod before diving back into the crowd.
Naruto got back to his feet as well and pushed himself to the front. Once he reached the battlement he looked down and simply stared. The sight of the army didn't intimidate him, it hadn't since Suna.
What did intimidate the blonde, was the lone red glowing eye looking up at him. Naruto gripped the edge of the cover. He knew it wasn't long now.
As you may have noticed, the battle is similar to that of Suna. To make sure that it isn't becoming a chore to read, there's some major differences in later chapters! I hope there aren't too many grammar and spelling mistakes. I really wanted to post this before shutting my pc off for the night.
Once again, I apologize for the lack of updates. I'll try my best to increase the frequency of updates!