The wandering blade
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Chapter 1-war of the land of iron:introductions
For hiruzen sarutobi, today was usually a good day, for it was on the 15th of every month that he would visit his surrogate grandson Naruto, it was on days like this when he would leave his office and take a stroll through the village, talking with anyone he wanted, it was a brief reprieve from the hell of paperwork, but it was today that hiruzen sarutobi was not smiling.
"Report"
"We thoroughly checked the house, and there was no sign of a break in, we found footprints above his size though"
"I want an anbu team on all corners of the land of fire do not let the person who did this escape"
"Yes lord hokage"
Unfortunately for hiruzen it was already to late.
Sighing hiruzen felt many emotions, he felt sadness,confusion, and loss but most of all, he felt anger, anger that the ninja of the leaf, his own shinobi had done it, he didn't know how the people of this village could not separate the scroll from the kunai sealed in it, he couldn't understand how the people of this village could not see the boy for the hero he was, he could not, no he could, he could understand why the people hated him, he understood because all they saw was the fox, on that dreadful night all anyone could see was the fox raining havoc, they did not see what hiruzen saw, they didn't see the sacrifice his parents made for the village, hiruzen wished, so desperately that he could share his memories with the village, so that some of them might not treat him like scum, unfortunately he could not, he could not share his memories, he could not reverse the nine tails attack, he could not reverse the deaths of minato and kushina along with so many others, he could not stop the villagers hatred, but most of all he could not reverse the kidnapping of naruto, and it was on that moment, for the first time in 7 years that hiruzne sarutobi, the god of shinobi felt utterly powerless..
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Pain, the first thing that naruto felt was pain, mainly in his chest and head, and naruto remembered he was knocked out, but he didn't know why his legs hurt, oh wait, he did, i t was from the running away he had been doing, he was running away from a ninja, in truth naruto hadn't expected it he had, honestly thought that mizuki was actually going to bring him ramen so he didn't lock his door, looking back that was a pretty stupid decision, it was a problem naruto had. The people in the village didnt like him for some reason, so whenever someone showed him kindness he would latch on to them without thinking, it was a problem that could only be solved with a healthy environment, and for naruto the leaf was not a healthy environment, sure there were some people he cherished there but they alone were not enough, sighing to himself naruto tried to adjust himself to a more comfortable position while not alerting his captor, i mean really the bag he was being transported was not the best place to take a nap.
Suddenly, naruto's captor came to a complete stop and naruto was dropped to the ground roughly,when naruto crawled out of the bag he saw to people, he saw mizuki, and man dressed in strange looking armor sith a sword on his waist, the armor naruto thought looked pretty normal, naruto had just never seen it before, but the sword, the sword was beautiful, naruto couldn't even see the blade but he could tell it was beautiful, from what he could see, the sheath was a deep lavender with dark blue vines edged across it, and the hilt being a dark blue color, naruto was completely awestruck by the sword when mizuki began to speak.
"Ok i took it from from the leaf and got it all the way to the border now were is my payment"
Naruto did not fail to notice that mizuki said it, not him.
"Your payment has already been given, when you return to the leaf you will find that a large sum has been added to your funds"
Mizuki smirked.
"Well i guess that settles it ill be taking my leave now"
And with one last distasteful glance at naruto mizuki started walking away.
"Hmm but theres a bit of a downside in all of this mizuki"
The armored man said, turning around mizuki asked.
"And what would that be"
"Oh nothing to bad, its just that you wont get to spend the money you earned"
"What, and why wouldn't i be able to"
Mizuki asked with a wary tone.
"Oh i thought youd have realized by now but ill spell it out for you, your not making it back to the leaf alive"
Mizuki's eyes widened, and in flash his head was cut off of his shoulders, naruto didn't even see the armored man move, one second he was there and the other second he's right by mizuki, or mizukis body naruto supposed. The armored man looked at naruto, and naruto did the same.
"… you are naruto uzumaki"
The man said it as more of a statement than a question but naruto nodded his head all the same.
"Hmm you look to be in good condition my contact will be pleased"
The man said while looking him up and down.
"Yes ill knock him out then go to the meetup location"
Naruto was knocked out before he could fully process
What the man said, and was promptly slung over the man's shoulder, and without another word the man dashed off but not before making sure the he could not be associated with the death of mizuki.
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Naruto opened his eyes, and he was met with a sterile white room, and a weird odor, it was the kind of smell like when you walked into a room that had been cleaned to an overly unnecessary degree, the kind of smell that would burn your nose hairs.
Looking around naruto met with the sight of a man in a stylish black suit with white hair, almost the same color of the room, and piercing moss green eyes and an unnerving smile, a smile that looked plastered on, like it didnt belong on his face.
Deciding he didn't know how to feel about he man, naruto turned his head to the third person, it was the samurai (naruto remembered that was what they were called) that had knocked him out, frowning a little naruto asked.
"Were am i"
Naruto asked warily.
Smiling creepily the green eyed man began to speak.
"You are in hakomo, one of the 3 key cities of tge land of iron"
Naruto blinked he knew about all the lands of the shinobi nations but nothing about the places in them aisho sensei had made him go outside the class while he taught and it was only thanks to copying shikamaru's homework that the blonde knew any of the lands other than fire.
"Who are you?"
"I am senji armako, and you may wonder why you have been brought here"
The man now known as senji said, nodding his head naruto remembered what happened before he was knocked out, he remembered mizukis head rolling surprise still edged on his face, forcing the memory out of his mind naruto nodded his head.
"Well as you lay or may not know the leader and representative of the land of iron, the samurai mifune went missing in an alleged trade agreement with the land of hot water and rice about 4 months ago, and since a prolonged period of time has passed with no contact, we had no choice but to presume him dead as such since mifune had no heir/chosen successor various people in the land of iron have thrown their hat in the ring for mifunes title, i in fact, am one of them, and i am no fool, the race for his position will not be settled diplomatically, soon a civil war will break out and i need you to help me win.
"Wait, what why would you need me"
"Well its obviously anyone would want a jinchuriki as there pawn especially one as powerful as the ninetails"
"Jinchuriki, what does that mean"
"It means human sacrifice"
"Human sacrifice"
Naruto whispered.
"Wait how am i a sacrifice, i don't remember ever being sacrificed"
The 7 year old said in his apparent confusion.
"How many years ago was the kyubi "killed" by your hokage"
"Ummm, i think about 7 years ago"
"And how old were you when the kyuubi was "killed""
"I…i was a baby, i think i had just been born"
The blonde said with a contemplative look on his face.
"Hmmm, well did you know that tailed beasts cant be killed"
The blondes eyes snapped toward senji, his mouth had started to open, but senji cut him off before he could speak.
"Did you also know that tailed beasts can be sealed, not only that, but they can only be sealed in children, specifically infants so there still developing chakra coils could adapt to the tailed beasts chakra"
Naruto stared at senji, apparently still not getting what the man was saying, so senji decided to put the final nail in the coffin.
"*sigh, still though its such a shame"
"What is"
"Oh, you didn't know, jinchuriki are not looked upon favorably in most villages, the peoples fear and hatred for the tailed beasts, colors their opinion of the container of them, and as such they are usually ostracized by their village, say naruto do you know anyone like that"
Naruto thought and he came up with only one person who had been ostracized, it was some pretty purple haired girl Naruto had seen, eating at a dongo shop he saw frequently as it was on the way to ichirakus, he saw how the people in the shop whispered to themselves, always staying at least 2 tables away from her, there was only one problem, the girl was much to old to be a jinchuriki, if what senji said was right than the girl who was at least 7 years older than him, could not be a jinchuriki, but that leaves a problem if it wasn't the purple haired girl then who was it, naruto didn't know any other people who were shunned by the village except for…. Himself. Senji could almost see the wheels turning in naruto's brain, and by the widening of the 7 year olds eyes, senji knew that naruto had finally figured it out, a smile was creeping on to senjis face, now that he had that figured out they could finally get to the details of what the boy was going to be doing, only to be halted when the boy started sobbing, apparently the realization of why he was hated so much and, his apparent remembrances of what he had gone through in his village had finally unleashed tears that had been waiting to come out for years. Senji was not smiling anymore if naruto was paying attention to his face it would've looked annoyed like he couldn't be bothered to console the boy and it only grew worse when naruto started sobbing.
Growing tired of the boys crying senji blitzed across the table pining naruto to the wall and putting hand over his mouth.
"Listen to me and listen well boy cause i will only say this once crying will get you nothing here it might be hard to believe but there are people in this land whose lives have been even worse than yours, and what do you think they did, did they cry, no they couldn't afford to waste time on crying, instead they got off their ass and started working do you know why they did that"
Naruto shook his head.
"They did it because the realized something, do you know what that is"
Naruto shook his head again.
"Well I'll tell you, they realized that the world wasn't going to change for them, and that they had to change it themselves"
Senji said dropping a no longer crying naruto onto the couch he had woke up on.
"The way i see it you have a choice, you can either wallow in your pity party"
Senji smiled.
"Or you can work for me, and when i win the war i can give you anything you want, so whats it gonna be naruto uzumaki"
Senji and naruto stared into each others eyes both trying to figure out each other when taking a deep breath the blonde spoke.
"Fine ill fight in this civil war or whatever on one condition"
"Oh and what might that be"
"I Want you to make me strong"
Senji smiled.
"That i can do"
Senji looked over to the samurai who up until this point had been silent.
"Araki i will leave him in your hands I expect him to be up to standard in a year you got that"
The man now known as araki nodded.
"Yes i will make sure of it sir"
"Good"
Senji said, with one last look at naruto he went out the door, and for some reason the overly sterile stench in the room seemed to lessen when he left. Naruto looked at araki his, in a bit of discomfort from his recent crying and asked a question.
"Um so what now"
Araki looked at naruto, and began to take something out of a seal on his arm, for some reason naruto new it was a seal, but he didn't know why. The thing araki pulled out of the seal was a sword, it looked like a standard sword, nothing special but it would get the job done in a fight. Tossing it to naruto araki spoke to naruto.
"Come with me"
"Uh okay"
Naruto followed araki out of the room, a bit happy that he didn't have to smell that stench anymore. When naruto left the room he was suprised at the sudden change, he didn't know what he was expecting when he left but it wasnt what what he saw. What he saw was a casino, chips being taken from the unlucky losers in whatever game they were playing, nen drinking beyond their limit, and women who had clothing leaving almost nothing to the imagination, but would still bash any man over the head with a bottle if they tried to cop a feel. Blaring lights and loud noises filled the room it seemed the room was split between a bar and casino, with the loud noises mainly coming from the bar. Araki led naruto to what looked to be tge exit. Two men in suits who looked to be bodyguards stood by the exit. When naruto and araki walked out, and naruto was surprised to find that it was snowing. Seeing his surprised face araki decided to speak.
"The land of irons climate is different than the land of fire, and if you go into the other nations you will find that even though it may be snowing in one place, it is the middle of summer in the country right next to it, now come, i need to asses your skill set and create a training plan around it, but first do you know any jutsu"
"Well know about the kawarimi,henge, and bunshin but i can only use the henge"
"I see well when we get to the training grounds"
"Ok"
It didn't take long to get to the training grounds, no more than 5 minutes.
"Well lets see your henge"
"Right"
"Henge no jutsu"
Naruto transformed into a perfect copy of araki, and this would've been normal but araki noticed something about it. Over his 27 years of life araki had seen many henges but naruto was different. Quietly araki expelled chakra from his body, a standard method of dispelling a genjutsu…but nothing happened, thats when araki realized it wasn't an illusion, and that naruto was a full blown no bullshit shapeshifter. Grabbing narutos shoulders araki made naruto look at him.
"Naruto do you know what you just did"
" a-a henge right?"
"Thats not just regular henge that was a full transformation "
"But thats the same thing"
"No its not, a henge is just a genjutsu, but you actually transformed, thats takes at least jonin level chakra reser- oh"
"What"
Naruto watched araki go into thought for only a few seconds before looking at him again.
"Ok well your henge will be duly noted but lets get a feel for your taijutsu, and while bukijutsu isnt commonly used in the land of iron i suppose we should test you on that, witch would you like to do first"
"Bukjutsu"
Naruto said almost instantly, he didn't want to admit it but his taijutsu(though it was his most proficient art)
Was almost laughable, he had never beaten any of the kids in his village who were in clans. At least when he failed at bukijutsu that took a bit more skill making it less laughable to see.
Handing naruto some shuriken he pulled out of the seal 10 in total naruto was told to throw shuriken from 15 meters away. Naruto threw the shuriken, and needless to say it was bad, he got 3/10 and none were bullseye.
"…well, just something ill have to fix"
Araki exclaimed flatly. narutos checked heated and in order to leave the subject of his bukijutsu he walked into the middle of the training ground, araki followed.
"Well i suppose we should get to taijutsu"
Araki said making a motion for naruto to come forward.
Leaping forward naruto tried a spin kick but was swiftly blocked by araki, dropping to the ground naruto went to sweep his legs, but araki jumped over it, getting back on his feet naruto went for a barrage of punches, none connecting naruto went for a high kick, araki doging, getting a hold of his leg araki slammed naruto on the ground, knocking the wind out of naruto.
"That is enough i see that this will require alot of work"
Gathering his berings naruto got to his feet when araki asked.
"Tell me naruto did you not listen to any taijutsu lessons in the academy"
"*huf* *huf* the teachers made me sit out everytime we went for taijutsu lessons, and when i asked for help the only one who would give it to me was mizuki, but the style that he taught me was worse than the style i improvised so i just decided to use my improvised style"
"I see, well we have one more thing to do today and i think you might like it"
Looking up naruto quickly ran after araki who was already walking away.
"Wait what are we going to do"
Naruto said while they were walking towards a rather worn down shop that had looked like it had seen to many winters. Going behind the stand araki pulled out a dusty, but well made box with a rusty but strudy lock. Araki pulled a key from the seal on his arm, naruto didnt know how much he actually had in that seal. Araki unlocked the box, and naruto tried to see what was inside, but his height would not allow that. Araki pulled out a normal(if slightly tanned) piece of paper.
"What is this"
Naruto said taking the paper from araki.
"I will tell you in a moment, just channel chacra into it"
Following the samurais instructions naruto channeled
Chakra into the paper and was surprised at what happened. The paper split in half, with one side crumpling and the other side burning.
"What was that"
A surprised Naruto asked an even more surprised araki.
"That was chakra paper, it is designed to react in a certain way when chakra was channeled into it"
"Ok but why did the paper do…that"
"It purpose is to tell you your chakra nature. if its fire the paper will burn, if its water the paper will become damp, if its wind the paper will split in half, if its earth the paper will turn into dirt, and of its wind the paper will crumble up"
"…ok, so my paper burned split in half, and crumpled that means….i have a wind, fire, and lightning affinity right"
"That is correct"
Araki informed the blonde, leaving out the fact that it was quite uncommon for anyone to have 3 chakra natures, especially natures as strong as they are.
"That will be all for today, come now i will lead you to the place you will be staying"
Naruto and araki left with naruto picking up the sword he placed on the ground he'd put on the ground when he was displaying his bukijutsu and taijutsu, and went to his new home. The apartment was, for all intensive purposes, normal, though it was ten times better than his apartment. Araki told him some basic things about the house, but quickly left, saying that he had to make a training plan around his skills, and naruto, having gone through a very rough day quickly found his bed, and went to sleep.
"Its time to get up"
Those were the first words naruto heard before his collar was grabbed and ge was thrown out of his bed. Opening his eyes naruto could see that it was still dark out, shaking gis head naruto was blinded by the sudden light in the room. Standing in front of him was araki.
"It is time to train"
"Uh god what time is it"
Naruto said groggily.
It is approximately 4:30 araki said, naruto swore there was a bit of mirth in his voice.
"Are you gonna make me wake up this early every day"
"Unless you receive a punishment, this will be tye standard time you will be awoken"
Sighing to himself, naruto got up.
"So what do we do now"
Naruto asked. As soon as the question was heard araki handed naruto a clipboard with a checklist, and naruto started reading.
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4:30-4:40:wake up/shower
4:40-4:55:breakfast
5:00-8:00:taijutsu/kenjutsu/bukijutsu training
8:00-8:10:shower
8:10-9:00:shopping
9:00-12:00 basic lessons
12:00-12:15:lunch
12:15-1:00:rest
1:00-5:00:ninjutsu/fuinjutsu training
5:00-5:10:shower
5:10-5:25:dinner
5:25:6:00-rest
6:00-8:00:advanced lessons
8:00-4:30:sleep
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Naruto looked up from the checklist.
"Shopping"
Naruto asked.
"It wont be a regular occurrence, it will only be added when needed, and i have already decided that the time will be going to your basic lessons"
"Well whats the difference between basic and advanced lessons"
"Basic lessons are the things you would have been taught at the shinobi academy, and advanced lessons will be about the materials needed for you to be apart of this war"
"Like what"
"I do not know, i am but a soldier in this war"
"Thats fine i guess, so i got to take a shower right"
"Yes you have 10 minutes"
"Right"
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Raishi looked over the destroyed caravan, all the inhabitants except her were dead, his hair tho silver looked an ashy white due to the fog of snow, raishi had to channel chakra to his eyes just to see. Walking over to the caravan he quickly helped koyuki up from the wreckage that motherless batard dotō, or more specifically his men had found them, he cursed under his breath, the one time they had to go through the land of snow this happened.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit"
Seeing that koyuki was unconscious he looked for a cave they could hide in until the snow lessened, here the snow never truly stopped. Seeing a rock formation not to far away, raishi picked koyuki up in his arms and hurried over. The rocks were no cave, and it would be impossible hard to start a fire, but it was how they were formed that surprised raishi. 2 rocks were standing up slated diagonally like a triangle but they weren't touching, a mostly flat rock was on the top forming a roof around them, not to mention that a rock had been leaning against the back entrance of the formation.
It was almost like someone had made it themselves to shield the person, or people from the snow. Raishis theory was correct when he heard a snapping sound under his feet, looking down he saw the scattered peices of bone all across the formation. Muttering a quiet prayer for the unfortunate souls, raishi set koyuki at the back of the formation. Turning around, raishi weaved hand signs at a fast pace for a seven year old.
"Fire style:fire ball justu"
He muttered, a stream of fire coming out of his mouth only seconds after. melting all the snow in the cave, raishi took a scroll out of the pack on his back, and unrolled it. Channeling chakra into it and thinking about what he wanted, the scroll released a puff of smoke and when it disappeared, in its place were 4 logs of wood, and a dozen stones. Setting the stones in a circle he went to put the wood into place, the silver haired boy used a small fire ball jutsu, immediately feeling the comforting warmth. Sighing to himself, raishi finally let himself relax, and the snow while deadly was admittedly pleasant to the ears, letting raishi relax and think about the previous days events
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Flashback-
"Theres no other way, the other routes are to dangerous to go through, the land of snow is the only way through"
Sandayu said grimly.
"You know why we can't do that sandayu, it dosent matter how careful we are, dotō will find us"
Raishi said next to a silent koyuki, he didn't want to go through the land of snow, No one did, but the group had recently found out that koyukis grandmother, kaizei had survived the dotōs purge of koyuki's family and koyuki had been silent ever since she heard the news. Right now they were in the land of lightning ar a port city called maribreeze. Because of the pirates storming the land of cones, they wouldn have to take a boat to the land of snow, where a trusted ally of theres would bring them to the land of earth, koyukis grandmothers location.
Sandayus hand gripped the edge of the table.
"You think i dont know that"
Sandayu said in a rough tone.
"I do okay, i do know that, buti swore service to the kazahana family, and i cant just let one of there members-"
"Were going"
Looking over raishi saw that it was koyuki who was speaking.
"I refuse to let my grandma soend the rest of her life thinking that her granddaughter knew about her and didn't at least try to come and see her"
"But koyuki"
Raishi said. Koyuki looked at him and smiled, the girl though only 12, despite everything she'd been through, smiled at him determinedly.
"I will find my grandmother and i wont let anything stop me"
End flashback-
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Raishi supposed he had to much faith, after all sandayu and the others were dead they didn't have to worry about her anymore, it was him, the only person left, raishi knew that there situation was grim, there was no village for miles, and there wouldn't be a convenient rock formation every time they needed one. Though raishi did have an eart affinity, he had no one to teach him. Sighing raishi looked at koyukis sleeping form and for the first time he regretted joining her, it was true she and her company had saved him from bandits yes, but what difference would it make if he was going to die in an arguably worse manner, at least the bandits would've given him a quick death, now he would die in the snow cold hungry and suffering, the rations would only last so long and they would have to move to escape from dotōs men anyway. Raishi knew the situation was hopeless. Leaving his thoughts raishi looked over to see a now awake koyuki looking at him, his face must have shown that there situation was grim. For a while they sat in silence, the only sound being the snow storm only a couple feet away.
"I…i have an idea"
He looked at her.
"What is it"
"Before i tell you it you need to promise me something"
Raisshi narrowed his eyes.
"'Once you leave, you must never go into the land of snow for any reason whatsoever"
Raishi didn't know why she said that but her eyes left no room for argument, so somewhat confused raishi agreed. Koyuki's face visibly relaxed,and she smiled.
"Good now here is my plan"
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The boat was of a good build, able to take multiple trips to earth and snow, but raishi had promised not to go back, and it was a promise he didn't know if he could keep, koyukis, or now raishi's necklace hung by a chain on his neck, he absentmindedly touched it, though it held no real physical weight, the psychological weight was prevalent. The promise he made weighed heavily on his mind, feelings swirled around in his head, the most prominent of them being rage and determination, raishi knew if he wanted to save koyuki he would need to be stronger, as far as he knew he had an affinity for earth and fire release, he had only recently come into his earth release through a scroll from koyuki, it was something he was supposed to receive on his 8th birthday the jutsu was "earth style:head hunter jutsu. It allowed the use to travel underground using there chakra to convert the dirt into quicksand. Raishi had used that technique to escape from the second wave of dotōs men. It was one of only a few jutsu he knew and the ailver haired boy knew that he had to get stronger, he would save koyuki and bring peace to the land of snow. Letting a small smile run across his face raishi laid back on the boat, looking up at the sky that was quickly forming from gray to blue and went to sleep.
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Kusho stared at the corpse of his parents, the rain coming in from the destroyed roof drenching his clothes. In all honesty kusho never liked his parents they never truly cared about him, only about what hos bloodline could do. Kusho knew he had a bloodline, but he never knew what it was, hi parents had refused to tell him, apparently it was a special trait of there clan, being able to sense that someone had a bloodline, something about static electricity. But when his parents found that he couldn't awaken his bloodline, they quickly lost interest. That said, he still felt something for there deaths, not sadness or joy, but something, what was the word, oh yes his parents called it pity, he felt pity for them, his parents never like to talk about their lives before he was born but he could see shame and regret in there lives, and instead of trying to overcome it on there own, they instead forced it on to their only son, a pity indeed. There was nothing in the house anymore, it had all been stolen, now since kimimaro had gone missing and his parents were dead there was really nothing left for him here. So he left, ge left his memories, his parents, and his home they would be useless to him now, he had heard that the third mizukage had started a bloodline purge so his first and only objective was to get out of the land of water as soon as he could.
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A/N
Well this took a while to do, I actually hot this done a while ago but i needed to rewrite a part with naruto and senji ill let you gues wich part it was but any way a bit of a hint for the next chapter it probably wont focus on naruto at all in fact out of the four people ive included in this chapter ill most likely only focus on kusho since he was the least looked upon but dont take what i just said in a different way than i intend if i can promise anything about the next chapter than it will be the appearance of the uzumaki clan in konoha and a certain swordsman who will play a big role in the story will be appearing if you couldn't tell i have big plans for this story dont really know what story ill be posting to next i left you gouts on a bit of a cliffhanger for the tailless fox but anyways thank you for reading see ya