Naruto Ch 31

Chapter 31

 

 

Naruto sat with his back to the door staring out the window over Whirlpool, so many things had changed over the past couple of weeks. Spotting movement by the transport seals he nodded goodbye, even though Zabuza could not see him he knew the man was about to start an exciting journey with his people. After all it was not every day one got to be the founder of a hidden Shinobi village.

“Uzumaki-sama…”

Turning around to see who the hesitant voice belonged to Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, “Fugato aren’t you supposed to be in Konoha, in fact aren’t you supposed to be with your team taking the Chuunin exam?”

“H…Yes, Uzumaki-sama,” Fugato looked down as he walked up to Naruto’s desk. “Haku-sama gave us a priority mission that takes precedence over the exam.” Fidgeting he looked up after a moment and took a deep breath, “there was a Genin candidate from Konoha that everyone is positive is a spy, he had information that should have been classified and too much information on you Uzumaki-sama. We were ordered to assassinate him if we came across him during the exam by Haku-sama, unfortunately we were unable to follow his orders.” Looking down in shame Fugato exposed his neck for punishment, “We were unable to kill him as ordered, but at least we were able to capture him and transport him to the prison cells using deceit.”

Staring at the Genin in front of him Naruto fought the urge to put his finger in his ear and rub it to clear it out, surely he did not say Haku had given a Genin team an assassination mission, surely he heard wrong. Shaking his head he pointed to the chair, “Fugato, sit and start from the beginning.”

“Yes sir,” Fugato sat down stiffly as he recounted the unlucky chance that caused them to run into Kabuto. “We had just come across a small stream and stopped to refill our canteens when we spotted him further upstream…” Closing his eyes as he brought up the memories Fugato started to tell what happened, “It was about an hour into the second phase of the exam, we were in what they told was the forest of death…or something like that. We had dropped down to a stream to go over the map we had been given and come up with a plan.” Opening his eyes he looked at Naruto who was watching him carefully, “it was more than a simple survival test, we also had to retrieve the other scroll to complement the one we were given before making our way to the central tower.”

“Anyway,” Fugato frowned, “we heard fighting in the distance and when we snuck up to take a look we found the one we had been warned about, that leaf Genin named Kabuta. We had been told if we came across him we were to assassinate him without attempting to fight him, we thought because he had already been in a fight and was injured pretty severely it would be easy. That is until he pulled the Kunai out of his chest and we saw the wound closing rapidly, then we noticed the blood on his neck and his arm.”

Shaking his head he looked back at the floor as he recounted what happened next, “We decided we had no chance to assassinate him knowing he had some sort of healing blood limit. And I know we should have backed away, but we came up with an idea. If he was a spy we could play him, he would want information on how to get into Whirlpool. With Keechi studying sealing with his older brother he knew how to alter the transport seals so they would end up in the prison hospital instead of the main hospital.” Smiling before he looked up Fugato wiped the grin off his face, “he only had to add two seals to the destination array.”

Eyes glazing over in memory Fugato sighed in annoyance, “It worked like we planned, almost too well I think. Surely if he was a spy he should have thought it could have been a trap,” shaking his head he sat up in the chair before looking back at Naruto-sama. “It was easy to let him overhear us discussing how maybe we should as good faith between Konoha and Whirlpool, send him to Whirlpools hospital with the seal transport before he died. Keechi almost ruined it when Kabuto fell to the ground in a fake faint from injuries that we had watched heal up. It was pretty easy then to arrange the seal scrolls and hold him on it before activating the summoning seal.” Waving his hand around Fugato smirked finally, “Since we arrived in an emergency setting he did not fight us as we put him in the bed and rushed around to get help. Only once we had left the room he slapped the lockdown button so he could not go anywhere and Keechi went to get someone from interrogation and I ran over here to get you.”

Standing up Naruto waved for Fugato to follow him, “Well you might not have followed the letter of the mission, but you still accomplished the goal of taking Kabuto out of the picture.”

Naruto stared through the window to the cell, Fugato and his teammates stood off to one side watching with him through the one way wall, it was pretty amazing how well they pulled off the capture of spy, they had played their parts perfectly. He chuckled slightly as they watched Kabuto realize finally that he was a prisoner, smiling he heard the gulps of awe from Fugato’s team at the same time he felt someone walk into the room, someone he knew would be holding the white dragon helm under her arm. “Hello Miashu, it seems this fine Genin team gave up their chance of making Chuunin in Konoha’s exam to bring us this interesting spy.”

Moving so he could see Fugato’s team clearly he smirked, “Fugato, you and your team are to report to my estate’s training ground for the final phase of your Chuunin exam. Do not interact with any other Shinobi except to say you are under my orders to report to my training ground as soon as possible. I’ll have several sparring partners show up first thin in the morning and we will finish up your test, until then relax near my dojo until I arrive.”

“Hai, Uzumaki-sama…”

Smiling as the three turned to leave he grinned now that they could not see him, “I’ll send word to your Sensei about what happened and record this capture as a successful A-Rank mission. You’ll be able to pick up the pay vouchers tomorrow afternoon once the testing phase is over.” Grinning at the excited voices getting further away before cutting off Naruto looked up at Miashu, “Shall we find out what is going on.”

 

Sandaime Hokage stood at the wide window in his office overlooking his beloved village, and he was not pleased. The group of people sat behind him was the cause of his displeasure, the really galling part of the whole thing was he could do nothing about it. “Hyuuga Hinata do you honestly believe the Hyuuga elders once they are reformed will allow you to remain as head of the family?” turning around and scowling at the girl who was not backing down he waited for an answer.

Not willing to back down or show weakness Hinata stared at the Hokage for several long moment before answering him, “I am the oldest main branch family member left, as such I am the elder council.” Pointing to the folder on the table she shrugged, “Plus if you want to get technical the Hyuuga is not a recognized clan anymore, after all the Hyuuga are nothing but a group of criminals hiding behind the fiction of being a clan. Mika-sama is the true head of the clan.” Staring at the old man with no thought of backing up she shook her head slowly, “No matter which way you look at the situation, this is an internal clan matter beyond the Hokage and Villages control. We had the right to convict those people of treason to the clan and the only punishment allowed is death, at least it was swift and painless, unlike what they would have dished out.”

Hanabi had gotten over her shock and was now shaking in partially restrained fury over hearing her sister so calmly pick up the title of head of the clan; she could only do that if their father was…Dead, her thoughts were not comforting right then.

Walking over to his desk the Third sat down as he stared at the new Hyuuga clan head, “The main branch of the family will reform, unless you become ruthless. Something I don’t think you will have the stomach for; so how do you plan to deal with them once they regroup?”

Shaking her head sadly Hinata glanced at her sister in sadness, soon she too would be branded with that detestable seal, if only she had not used it on Neji. “Hokage-sama, I don’t think you realize that the main family has only young children and of those I am the oldest.” Turning away from Hanabi she glared at the old man who was not as calm as he looked, “Every person who was in the main branch of the family has or is in the process of having the caged bird seal applied to them. So there is no way they can regroup, and seeing that all knowledge of that damned seal is being removed from their minds they shall remain sealed as punishment until they are deemed to have reclaimed their honor.”

The Thirds eyes widened in shock, he never would have thought she was capable of something like this, “You truly have destroyed your clan.”

Shaking her head no Hinata glanced at her sister, “No, I have saved it from what was about to befall it. If I had not gone along with the main clan the Hyuuga’s would have suffered the same fate as the Uchiha clan.”

How does enslaving your family save them, the Third was thinking but was shocked further when she finished speaking.

“Right now all active duty branch family members are having the damned curse seal removed, and after traveling to Whirlpool where the main clan lives to have the safety modification done they are free to return…or stay if they wish.” Hinata stared at her sister, “I promised t my mother’s grave I would change my family for the better and I will. And you sister have activated the seal in anger, on your own cousin because he was better than you. Hanabi I am sorry but you will have the caged bird seal applied to you in punishment, and if you truly repent your horrible actions it will be removed when you turn eighteen.”

The Third blinked owlishly several times before he could say something, “I…I don’t think I understand.”

Taidachi chuckled as he placed a comforting hand on Hinata’s leg, “Daughter I shall explain if I may, why don’t you and Roka take your sister back to the estate so she can pack up her belongings.”

“As you wish Mika-san,” Hinata stood up and collected her sister who was stunned and easily led out of the room.

“You have to understand something Hokage-san,” Taidachi had waited until Hinata and her sister had left before facing the old man. “A long time ago there was a rift in the Mika clan; we were being hunted because of our eyes.” Deactivating his Byakugan he smiled at the shocked look on the older man’s face, “Yes we now have the ability to hide our eyes, not only that they can never be transplanted so our bloodline gift is now safe.”

Waving his hand as he shifted in his seat Taidachi grinned over shocking the old man, “As I was saying. We were being hunted for our gift and a small group came up with the caged bird seal in the hopes that it would solve the problem. In reality it was a slavery seal. So when the clan elders back then went to confront the renegade group they had already left. Somehow they had been tipped off and when the escaped they kidnapped several dozen children to create their branch family, their slaves. After that they renamed themselves Hyuuga and hid themselves until they found their way to Konoha and became one of your clans.”

Glancing up at the sealing as he sighed in frustration Taidachi looked back at the Hokage, “When Hinata came to Whirlpool I brokered a deal with Hiashi, her father, to grant the Hyuuga true clan status. We agreed they would have all knowledge of the caged bird seal removed from their minds and the branch family would have the seal removed. They would also be given the means to lock out our gift to anyone not of our blood line, if only he would have planned to follow his word.” Seeing the questioning look in the old man’s posture he shook his head, “I asked one of the Mind Walkers to verify if Hyuuga Hiashi planned to keep his word, that is when we found out he planned to not only betray the agreement but to kill me and my clan to keep the secret that they were nothing but common criminals with a kill on sight sentence hanging over them.”

“Uzumaki-sama asked me to give them a chance, so we waited until the Chuunin exam before I came to Konoha to finalize the treaty, to remove the ability from their minds of creating the caged bird seal,” Taidachi stared at the old man behind his desk, “And do you know what happened?”

“They tried to assassinate you,” the Thirds voice was controlled yet soft as he was the first to look away. “What now?”

Slouching in his chair Taidachi shrugged, “Now? Well we remove the caged bird seal from all the branch family members, they will be given the choice to come home or to remain here and remain a Hyuuga, a branch clan that is recognized this time. The choice is theirs because they will be free and will have received the protection for our Kekkei Genkai. After that I get to go home and embarrass the hell out of my youngest son who is getting closer to Hinata.”

The Third chuckled as he sat back in his chair, it was after all the prerogative of the old to make embarrass the next generation, “So much turmoil, I just wish it did not happen during this critical time.”

Nodding in understanding, Taidachi had to agree with him, “Unfortunately we could not do it earlier because of other things more pressing. I do understand your problems, especially with the spies and the new hidden village. Then add to it the destruction of Water and relocation of the village hidden in the Mist…We could not afford to move any quicker or things might be worse off. At least this way, because of all the excitement around the Chuunin exam it is easier to conceal something has happened to the outside world.”

Chocking the Third jumped up in his chair, “Explain! What happened to Water country and why did Kiri relocate?”

Grabbing his face in frustration Taidachi rubbed his temples, stupid, stupid, stupid he thought, “Well it started like this…”

 

Naruto stared at the man securely strapped to the medical table, suppression seals inked all over Kabuto’s naked body. Looking down at the DNA image he had extracted he wondered how this bloodline evolved; it was not one of the ones his family had created after all.

“Uzumaki-sama,” Kidori removed her hands from the prisoners head and walked over to the sink so she could wash the taint of her skin.

“Wookaa-san,” Naruto looked up from his musings when the head of his interrogation and information gathering division called for him. Taking in her posture and her incessant need to scrub her hands his eyes narrowed, “Was it that bad?”

“Yes,” Kidori put the soap down as she realized she was clean, physically at least. “Uzumaki-sama, from his memories his Kekkei Genkai is one of total regeneration not healing. Cut off an arm and he cal regrow it in minutes, as long as he has chakra.”

Looking down at the DNA scan with new respect Naruto almost missed it when she started to continue.

“He is a spy working for someone named Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin from Konoha that is truly evil,” Kidori shuddered at the memories. “I off course will give you a detailed report, but I thought you should know he is after Uchiha Sasuke, he wants him as his next body because of his Sharingan.”

Looking at her questioningly Naruto finally asked, “Next body?”

Shivering slightly Kidori nodded, “Orochimaru has created or learned some freakish Jutsu that lets him move his soul into another body, though he has to do this every three years because the body and soul do not match so the body fails.” Horrified eyes looked into Naruto's, “this technique allows him to carry the traits of the bodies he steals with him as he moves to a new one. I’ll need at least one more session in his head to find out the rest of the things we should know.”

Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger as his killing intent spiked quickly before he got himself under control, “That abomination of nature is after my apprentice?”

“Miashu, send word to Haku that Sasuke is being targeted by the abomination,” Naruto ordered as he looked back at the naked young man clamped to the table, frowning he added, “If he regenerates as part of a bloodline I don’t think we should take the chance he could overcome the seals. Kidori send for another mind walker to finish up with current information, and then move him to the prison, one of the cells on the fourth corridor. At least until I have time to research if his bloodline can easily be re-created.”

“Should I ask for volunteers to create the bloodline the old fashioned way?” Miashu smirked hoping to get a blush from Uzumaki-sama. “We do after all keep a pool of names for bloodline rescue, I’m sure I can get half a dozen women down here so they can get pregnant.”

Not even blushing Naruto stopped and thought about it seriously, looking back at Miashu he grinned, “As long as they don’t have any body type Kekkei Genkai why not.” Hiding his chuckle at her expression of shock he nodded, “Actually it is not a bad idea, we can even go as far as build a clan around that bloodline and use the last sire law, so if you happen to find eight women who would be willing to get pregnant in the next couple of days…yes,” he smirked as her jaw dropped further, “I’ll leave it in your capable hands so to speak.”

“I…Wha…I mean…” Miashu shook her head before looking at Kidori who was softly chuckling, sighing as her shoulders slumped in defeat, “I walked right into that one didn’t I?”

Giggling Kidori nodded her head, “I’m going to just go arrange to get one of my clansmen in here to finish the job,” glancing back at the naked body cove red in steel clamps she giggled again, “I’ll leave you to handling what comes up until then.” Rushing out of the room she made it as far as the transport seal before she heard Miashu scream.

“Sure, everyone just ups and leaves it to me to hand…” Miashu’s head snapped up as the perverted innuendo hit home, “KIDORI!!!!”

 

Overhearing the Genin from Whirlpool saying two things Sandaime Hokage was slightly worried. The first thing he had heard was the comment about the exam not being challenging. And to tell the truth after watching the Whirlpool exam he could see where they were coming from. While disturbing and leaving him much to think about the second thing he overheard as he was leaving the preliminary matches was the fact that one of the Genin teams from Whirlpool went missing along with the suspected traitor Kabuto. The fact they had disappeared from the forest was troubling, the conversation with the Uzumaki-sama was just as troubling.

Nodding in greeting as he passed the groups of Ninja as he walked into the Hokage tower he silently made his way up the steps to his office. Spotting three people waiting for him he waved them into his office before standing in front of his desk and running through some seals he activated the privacy seals buried in the walls. Sitting down he took his hat off and rubbed his head, he felt old, and he was beginning to wonder if the village was worth it anymore as he spotted another long list of traitors that his trusted Anbu had ferreted out in the center of his desk. Looking at Sasuke then Tsume sitting next to Shibi he sighed again before placing his hand on the reports on his desk. “How close are your plans to evacuate the children to being complete?”

“They are complete Hokage-sama and can quickly be implemented within minutes taking all the children to safety,” Shibi glanced at the Hokage out of the corner of his eye as he followed his gaze to the wall with all the pictures on it. Pictures of the former Hokage’s of Konoha.

Eyes not leaving his predecessors the Third tapped the stack of files, “The corruption goes deeper than we thought. Danzou was not the only one infiltrating our Shinobi forces; even now the civilian council has disappeared, gone into hiding waiting to strike. I no longer believe we can avoid a civil war like the one that befell Water country and the Village hidden in the mist.” Looking each of them in the eyes he showed the deep despair that had befallen him in the past week, “to minimize casualties among the civilian population I need the three of you to come up with a plan to move all of them to the shelters in a moment’s notice, more importantly I will be giving an order to those loyal to the Hokage to abandon the village at the first sign of an attack. We will regroup, taking back our home once we know for sure those involved are in the open once more.”

Banging his hand on the folders he growled out angrily, “I swore when I first became Hokage to protect his village. And now because of my mistakes I will come close to breaking my word, very close.”

“If I may Hokage-sama,” Shibi pushed his glasses up on his face, a habit all Aburame seemed to have when they showed any emotion. “I would like to bring my son into the group, that and I need to send a message to our families to help prepare for the possible influx of a large number of civilians into the camp.”

“Send word to Whirlpool and Naruto you mean,” the Third leaned back in his chair as he saw the raised eyebrows of the Aburame clan head. “I’m not a fool Shibi, I put the clues together a long time ago, you and Minato came up with a backup plan to relocate Konoha during the war. Naruto and you have refined that plan and it is active right now.” Nodding his head he pulled a folder out of his locked drawer, “With everything this village put Naruto through he still is his father’s son.”

Tossing the folder on the desk it slid over to the edge closest to Tsume, “So far all of those we know are traitors in the Shinobi ranks, they will die during the attack. Their families will remain behind during the evacuation.” Standing up telling them the meeting was over he stared at them determined to fight to the end, “Dust off Minato’s plans and get with Naruto-sama and prepare to carry them out.”

 

 

Naruto chapter 30

Chapter 30

 

 

Tenten stiff with anger glared at the Haruno girl, how dare Sensei agree to put that thing on their team so they could take the Chuunin exam, even after trying to slap some sense into her this morning literally, she was still a blot on the good name of Kunoichi everywhere because she was more interested in catching boys or a certain boys attention than becoming stronger. Sighing for the umpteenth time that morning she noticed Neji gritting his teeth as they walked into the Academy where the first part of the Chuunin exam was being held.

 

Sasuke had faded into the background as soon as the first candidates started to enter the room to take the test. Smirking as he saw his classmates, the rest of the rookies enter the room he thought to himself this was going to be fun, especially now that Kiba with the two whirlpool Genin rounding out his team  walked in behind the other two teams from Whirlpool. So many of the Genin teams froze at seeing them enter because years ago it was so rare for Whirlpool to send Genin’s to outside exams, preferring to let their Genin take the exam they hosted once a year. He was brought out of his musing when Sakura was being louder than normal talking to a silver haired Genin with glasses and a Konoha forehead protector on.

“So,” Sakura pointed to the stack of cards in Kabuto’s hands, “those cards have information about everyone on them and all you have to do is channel some chakra into them to find out what is written there?”

Pushing his glasses up Kabuto smiled, “All I need is a name, who wants to go first?”

Grinning at finally getting some information about her crush Sakura yelled out, “Uchiha Sasuke, what do you have on him?”

Looking at the floor to hide his grin, as he shuffled his cards before pulling one out of the deck, channeling chakra into it Kabuto looked up, “Hmm, Uchiha Sasuke. The last Uchiha living in Konoha, let’s see here, it says he achieved Chuunin Rank by attending the secretive and powerful whirlpool Chuunin exam during a diplomatic mission to that country. He’s completed twenty D-Rank missions along with two C-Rank and one A-Rank missions,” looking up into the adoring eyes of the pink haired girl he smirked, “Impressive for a newly minted Chuunin.” Especially since he is out of reach of my master at the moment, I’ll need to find out where he will be so Orochimaru can claim him as his own. “There are of course a few other things but I don’t think we need to go over them seeing as he is not going to be one of our fellows in the exam, anyone else?”

  Kiba stepped back quickly, he had moved forward and read the information card over the Konoha Genin’s shoulder and it had so much more information than he told them, information that he should not have known. Spotting Sasuke standing near the wall he moved over and whispered to him while looking out into the room, “That Kabuto guy over by Sakura, those cards of his have way to much classified information on them, much more about your skills than what he told everyone.”

Frowning Sasuke stepped forward to get a look at those cards himself when Sakura hissed out, “How about Uzumaki Naruto, what do you have on him?”

Time seemed to slow down as Sasuke walked over to stand behind the strange Genin and his far too accurate cards. Watching him shuffle the cards and pull one out of the deck his frown turned into a scowl as he started to read the information on the card.

Smiling to hide his shock Kabuto stammered out, “Well, well, well, it seems this Uzumaki person reached Kage level at the age of ten. Formally a citizen and Shinobi if Konoha, this Naruto person is both the Daimyo and Kage of Whirlpool, fascinating power he holds don’t you think? Not only that his skill levels are off the charts, not much is known about him personally or his missions, besides the ones he did here in Konoha while one of our Shinobi. But you show know all about him right, after all you were on his team.”

“How is such a thing possible,” Sakura wondered out loud as she tried to come to grips with the dead last of her Academy class and this new powerful  version of Naruto.

Sasuke stood up and closed his eyes tightly, the information on the card was close to the truth, but in some areas it was dead on. No way was this a simple Genin, keeping in mind the recent spy that had been ferreted out he looked up at Shino who was standing in the back of the room and signed to him as he rubbed the side of his head on his shoulder in Kabuto’s direction. ‘spy…this one…what?’

Rubbing his nose Shino signed back asking, ‘dangerous?’

Nodding his head slowly Sasuke glanced around the room; to all intents and purposes he looked like he was having a silent conversation with himself. That was until he saw Shino scratch his neck from one side to the other, nodding once more he tried to decide on how best to eliminate the threat.

“SASUKE-KUN,” Sakura screamed out when she saw her fantasy man walking through the room.

SLAP

Tenten flexed her stinging fingers as she stared at the pink haired she banshee standing before her, voice low and quiet she growled out, “grow up you pathetic excuse for a Kunoichi.” Moving closer as Sakura backed up until she hit the wall Tenten got mere inches from Sakura’s shocked face, “You are weak and pathetic. You should never have been allowed to graduate the Academy…and while you may have been placed on my team so we can take the exam, I will make it my personal pleasure to either make you a proper Kunoichi or to make you run screaming from the Shinobi forces in shame.” Moving closer she glared at the frightened eyes looking back at her, “Do you understand you worthless excuse for a Kunoichi?”

Sakura nodded slowly, the tears falling as the older girl in front of her scared her to death.

“Good,” she backed up before pointing to the desk to one side, “Now sit down and shut up.” Moving back towards Neji she glanced over her shoulder to see Sakura doing as she ordered, “Good there is hope for you yet. From now on I own your ass, you eat, shit and sleep by my command. When I am finished with you, you will have earned the right to call yourself a Kunoichi and a Shinobi of the leaf.”

Ibiki stared in wonder at the young Kunoichi as she dressed down one of her fellow Kunoichi, he knew he should have stopped it a lot sooner, but he realized she was right. Looking over the assembled Genin he nodded, she would definitely be one to watch out for, maybe in time she would be worthy of being trained by him. “Alright you maggots…Sit down and shut up the first phase of the Chuunin exam has begun.”

Sasuke moved over to the wall where he was to spot those cheating on the written portion of the test all the while staring in wonder at the young woman, she was someone worthy of bearing his children. She was formidable even as a Genin, sitting on the stool provided for him he watched her in amazement…I have to get to know her better was all he could think of as Ibiki gave his speech.

 

Hinata looked up at the approaching gates to Konoha with trepidation, she had been not only accepted in Whirlpool but the past seven weeks had taught her so much about herself and how skilled she truly was that being back here again made her nervous, especially knowing her father had planned to betray his word.

Taidachi spied the walls surrounding Konoha and glanced down at his two companions, “Hinata-chan, it is time to activate your Byakugan so you look like a Hyuuga once more. Roka I think it is time to send the signal to the infiltration teams, the branch family needs to be neutralized before we get to the Hyuuga estates.”

“Yes father,” Roka glanced down at Hinata to see she was troubled, “Don’t worry Hinata-chan. None of the branch family members will be harmed, they will just be ordered to remove themselves from the upcoming conflict. That will leave us with only about thirty main house members to worry about,” less death that way he thought. Pulling out his radio he clicked the mic several times before whispering into it, “The birds need to fly…”

All over the Hyuuga estate Mika family members who moments before had normal looking eyes activated their bloodline, all of them suddenly sported pure white eyes as they dropped what they were doing and commanded the stunned branch house members to follow them out of the estate.

The Chuunin guards recognized Hinata of course as she walked through the gates, in fact they did not even challenge her two companions because it was evident to anyone who had eyes they were Hyuuga’s and thus trusted citizens of Konoha. Of course no one outside of Whirlpool and Hyuuga Hiashi knew the true clan resided in Whirlpool not Konoha.

“Pathetic,” Roka whispered to the others as they walked down the street towards the Hyuuga section of town.

“Um…In their defense they don’t know about the Mika clan,” Hinata glanced over her shoulder before shaking her head, then again maybe not.

Ten minutes later Hinata walked through the gates to her family’s estate, glancing sideways at the guard posts that were always manned, it seemed very strange not seeing anyone guarding the gates. “This way please, my father’s office is near the clan hall, we should find him there.” Hinata pointed over to one side hoping against hope her father had found his honor while they waited.

Ignoring the looks of several Hyuuga clan members as she escorted Roka and Taidachi towards the clan hall Hinata stopped in front of the open door and knocked on the frame to get her father’s attention, waiting until her father looked up she did not quite smile at him, “Father, Mika-sama and his son are here to finalize the treaty with the Hyuuga clan.”

Eyes sternly gazing at his oldest daughter it was not lost on him that she did not bow respectfully towards him, in fact she seemed almost cold, “So I see Hinata.”

Glaring ever so slightly at her father for the lack of any common courtesy she knew he had not changed his mind, she had to wonder when the man before her, her father had turned his back on honor, the honor he so highly preached at her and her sister daily.

Standing up Hiashi examined the two Mika clan members standing next to his useless daughter, calculating their strengths and weaknesses by their posture and their rank pins, “Shall we move to the clan hall. Hinata will show you to the hall while I call the elders; we can get this over with so all of us can get on with our lives.”

And some of us are not going to be able to see another sunset Taidachi sighed mentally as he followed Hinata to the clan hall, looking around the empty room he motioned for Roka to prepare by pointing to his sons head, this next part would be overseen by the Sand Dragon. “Hinata-chan,” he glanced down at the young girl, “Daughter, why don’t you find your sister and take her to lunch.”

Gazing down at the ground Hinata felt a sudden weight descend on her shoulders and nodded without looking up or speaking.

“I promise you daughter, there will be no deaths unless we have no choice. I would prefer to enslave them like their arrogance has blinded them to do to their own family instead, maybe then they will learn their lesson,” Taidachi pulled the young girl into a hug before releasing her so she could leave.

Roka donned his uniform and helm and melted into the shadows, watching as his father moved to the head of the table and sat down waiting for the criminals to arrive.

As the Hyuuga elders entered the room they spotted the stranger at the head of the table and hissed in displeasure, Hiashi who brought up the rear closed the door and saw who was sitting in his seat and fumed. Technically the Mika head had the right to sit there but it galled him to see him in the clan heads chair, “Mika-san, it is rude to sit in another’s place.”

Staring at the Hyuuga head blankly Taidachi’s voice was chilly, “That might true after we have signed the treaty to allow you to be a legal clan, and once the agreement is signed and the terms followed you may have your seat back.”

Anger overriding reason Hiashi activated his Byakugan as he snarled at Taidachi and immediately collapsed in pain as Taidachi activated the suppression technique, forcefully deactivating Hiashi’s Byakugan. “That is enough of that nonsense,” he growled out, “your arrogance will cause my patience to run out and declare you targets for death, instead of allowing you clan status.”

“You are the arrogant one here,” one the elders scoffed as he prepared to launch himself out of his seat. “Coming into our home alone without backup, once we kill you, your so called main clan will be in turmoil. You’re outmatched hundreds to one, so you will do as we say not the other way around.”

Putting his elbows on the table so he could rest his chin in his hands Taidachi sighed, “I had hoped by giving you time to reflect on the benefits of being acknowledged as a legitimate clan and not criminals would have changed your minds. I had even gone as far as making arrangements to give your clan the technique we use to safeguard our Kekkei Genkai from being stolen.” Releasing the chakra to his eyes he smiled at the stunned silence as his eyes returned to their normal brilliant blue.

“Genjutsu…A simple Genjutsu is not going to fool us,” one of the elders sneered in disdain.

Shaking his head sadly Taidachi muttered, “So much arrogance.” Looking up as he nodded to the corner where his son was standing, it was time. “Since none of you have honor we will go with the backup plan.” Glaring at the sneering faces he smiled, “As of this moment there is not a single branch member left in the Hyuuga estate. We removed every single one of them, by this time tomorrow we will have removed all of their curse seals and will relocate them to Whirlpool and welcome them back into the clan.”

 Standing as he felt the killing intent rise from the fools around the table, he snorted in amusement, “You’re attempts at killing intent is pitiful. The cost of your dishonorable treason and the continuation of the criminal acts that branded your ancestors to be killed on sight have a price, and I am the one who will enact retribution for enslaving our family.” Cracking his neck as the Hyuuga elders had jumped up from their seats he grinned evilly, “If I were you I would accept the caged bird seal as punishment, but knowing none of you have honor I will settle for your deaths…Dragon-sama, if you would.”

Startled cries from the Hyuuga elders amused Taidachi as Hiashi went flying across the table coming to rest near the wall not breathing. Shaking his head he walked past the traitorous elders, “All of your lives are forfeit, though the rest of the main family will be branded with the caged bird seal, unless of course they put up a struggle. The children of course will be taken away to be raised properly,” seeing the shocked faces as he reached the door and looked back he shrugged, “The Mika clan has strong ties to the Uzumaki clan so he leant me a few of his Dragons so a war could be avoided.” Closing the door behind him he looked up at the sky as he heard screams of pain from behind him cut off suddenly, hopefully no one else would have to be killed, he prayed the deaths would remain to that building alone.

 

Kiba smiled at Tora and Hishi as they left the Academy having passed the first part of the Chuunin exam, “I’m not sure if I should be glad it was that easy or insulted that was what is considered standard to test our information gathering skills.” Spotting Shino walking purposefully he motioned the others to follow, “Hey Shino hold on a moment.” having spotted Sasuke and Shino passing message back and forth before the exam started he was more than curious to know if he was right, glancing around and only seeing the other two teams from whirlpool within earshot he lowered his voice, “Shino who were you and Sasuke talking about? Do we have a traitor to the leaf in the room that we should watch out for?”

Pushing his glasses up Shino thought about what to say, finally deciding on answering so the Whirlpool Genin would not be in danger “That Genin you and Sakura were talking to, his information is to thorough, too much of what Sasuke spotted on those cards is classified. He should not have access to some of the information to place into those cards, not only that, only a spy would fail the exam seven times and act like he does. Sasuke has gone to the Hokage with the information and we will attempt to capture him,” seeing that Kiba understood he walked off before anyone could accuse Kiba of garnering favoritism.

Frowning as he watched Shino walk away Kiba missed it when the other two teams from Whirlpool joined them, it was only when Hishi bowed slightly to the person behind him that he was drawn out of his thoughts.

“Uzumaki-sama,” Hishi bowed before tilting his head in a questioning manor.

Haku took a deep breath as he watched Shino walk away, looking back at the three teams waiting on him he glanced around, “The next phases of the Chuunin exam allow deaths to occur. All of you will adhere to Whirlpool policy in the exam from now on except for one thing,” eyes boring into each of their faces he nodded when he was satisfied with what he found there. “If you cross this Kabuto from this point on during the exam you are ordered to kill him,” eyes boring into Kiba’s startled face he went on, “This is to be considered an assassination. He is to be given no warning or mercy, no chances to retaliate, kill him and move on after stripping his body of all useful intelligence and items. There is to be no fight, your orders are to execute him, above all he has on him some type of chakra cards that have critical information on them, they must be seized or destroyed.”

Accepting the acknowledgments from the teams Haku’s eyes never left Kiba’s, “Do you have a problem with this Kiba?”

Shaking his head slowly Kiba found his voice, “No…” standing up after looking at the serious expression on his partner Akamaru face he came to a type of attention, “No Uzumaki-sama I don’t. I guess I will have to tell anyone that asks that Akamaru and I were watering a tree at the time the incident occurred.”

Nodding Haku smiled, “All of you have you alert flares, use them if you need to. And don’t forget your summoning scrolls in case of medical emergencies; I’ll see you after the second phase is over, above all remember this…Stay alive.”

Watching the teams move off to where the rest of the candidates were gathering for the second phase Haku spoke soft enough not to be overheard, “Hetsuru I want all of our people to be on the lookout for this Kabuto person, I would prefer to capture him to find out what is going on.”

Following Uzumaki-sama as he started in the direction the candidates were rushing towards Hetsuru frowned as he mumbled, “It is harder to capture a target then to assassinate them, so that is why you gave the orders to the teams.” Nodding in understanding he spoke up, “Uzumaki-sama, we have a Mind Walker in the village right now, Wookaa Satori is the Jounin leader of team Satori and he is gathered with the rest of the Jounin senseis.”

Smiling Haku looked over his shoulder, “From what I understand the Jounin sensei’s are supposed to have no contact with their teams, so if anyone gives you any problems remind them he is being summoned by me.”

Bowing slightly Hetsuru grinned as he disappeared, leaving behind a small fading whirlpool of dust on the ground.

 Reappearing in the hallway outside the lounge where the Jounin instructors for the teams competing were being kept Hetsuru ignored the two Anbu guarding the door and reached for the door handle.

Fidgeting the fish masked Anbu hesitated until the dragon touched the door, “Excuse me Dragon-sama, but the Jounin-sensei’s are to have no contact with…” he trailed off as he felt the sheer pressure being exerted by the Dragon Warrior, it was intense and it had no killing intent linked to it, how much more devastating would it be if he used killing intent on them.

Flaring his chakra Hetsuru grabbed the door handle and glanced at the Anbu brave enough to try to stop him, “The Jounin-sensei for team Satori has been summoned by Uzumaki-sama, as such he will be escorted by myself to Uzumaki-sama and be within reach at all times so he does not have contact with his or any other Whirlpool teams.”

Backing down quickly the Anbu wearing a fish mask nodded.

Throwing the door open Hetsuru walked into the now silent room glancing around he spotted the Whirlpool Jounin’s over in one corner, “Satori-san I need you to come with me, Uzumaki-sama has need for you.”

Placing his cards carefully down on the table he glanced at his comrades who suddenly became tense and nodded ever so slightly, there was only one reason he could be needed in the way the request was phrased. Standing up he silently made his way over to the door stiffening as he heard the Dragon Guard say something to put the other Jounin-sensei’s minds to ease.

“All of you need to relax, it is not like this is suddenly turning into a mission,” Hetsuru emphasized certain words and nodded as he saw most of the room relax.

Kurenai watched most of the Jounin in the room relax at the comments as the two walked out the door, but her knowledge of how to read body posture told her that the whirlpool Jounin-sensei’s had suddenly gone into what she termed mission stance. Moving over to their table and taking the now empty seat she picked up the cards from around the table and shuffled them, in a loud voice she smiled at them, “So what are we playing for?” As she dealt the cards she whispered out, “Alright time to come clean, all of you have suddenly gone to active duty mode. What is so important with the Sensei for team Satori being called to Naruto's side?”

Mitzu glanced at his cards as he threw his chip into the center of the table, “I bet five…” lowering his voice as the rest threw their chips into the pile, “Satori-san’s family specializes in interrogation. For Haku-sama to call for him while in Konoha is troubling.”

 

“Hokage-sama,” Sasuke called out as he entered the office of the village leader, “I think we have a problem.

 

Naruto ch 29

Chapter 29

 

 

Opening his eyes fully Zabuza noticed the white walls and ceiling first, then how bright it was. Turning his head to the side he saw an outline of a person sitting near the bed, focusing on them his vision cleared and he saw the blond teen staring back at him.

Naruto watched the bandaged man slowly open his eyes, “Hello Zabuza.”

“Wh..ere…” Zabuza’s voice was gravely as he tried to talk.

Reaching over and picking up a glass of water with a straw in it Naruto leaned forward so he could place the straw between the man’s lips, holding the cup until he had swallowed several mouthfuls before removing it when Zabuza released the straw. “You’re in Whirlpool, in our main hospital,” starring into Zabuza’s eyes he figured the other would want to know how long he had been here, “Haku and the Dragon’s rescued you and your team two weeks ago. They also evacuated Mist, taking everything your people could find before destroying it, and the same day Haku rescued you he ended the war.”

Eyes wide in shock, Zabuza wondered how powerful Haku had become, he was glad he pushed the young man into joining Naruto and his family. After all if Haku had become powerful enough to stop a war he had failed to stop…smiling he glanced around the room before asking, “Where’s Haku?”

Naruto nodded as he stretched, “He’s with his squad as they deal with the mind healers. Today is their last session before being released back to duty,” glancing at the clock on the wall he shrugged, “he should be back in another half hour.”

Frowning Zabuza leaned back into the soft bed as wrapped his mind around the information, “Mind Healers?”

“Something we require of all those in the Dragon Warriors to go through when they end up being ordered to take a life.” Naruto shrugged, “the mind healers help them deal with the aftermath of all the killing they had to do.” Seeing the confused expression on Zabuza’s face Naruto tried to think of a way to explain. “You have to understand that a single Dragon Warrior has the power to destroy a village the size of Mist, and when they end up taking lives I want to make sure they can handle what they have done, I don’t want them bottling it up and losing touch with who they are.” Holding up a hand Naruto stared down at him, “Yes I know they are killers, all Shinobi are killers. But if a Dragon Warrior goes insane they have the power to destroy countries, so I prefer they deal with what they have to do without bottling it up until they break.”

Catching the look of understanding in Zabuza’s expression Naruto nodded, “Right. Where was I?” looking out the window Naruto continued the explanation, “I sent seven Dragon warrior into Water country with the order to end the war and retrieve you. I doubt there is more than a handful of soldiers left in Water and maybe if they are lucky double that number of Samurai survived the Dragons.” Looking back at Zabuza he stood, “frankly Water as a major power in the Elemental nations is history. Without a Hidden Village, and a Daimyo and his higher councilors and advisors it is pretty much a footnote in history.”

“Now what?” Zabuza frowned as he felt something strange being told his country and village ceased to exist.

“Now,” Naruto smiled back at the tired looking warrior, “Now you heal and I call Tazuna and a few others to see if Wave would like to have the new Hidden Village of Water in their lands.” Chuckling as he opened the door to leave, “After all we can’t let all that hard work you went through to turn your village around to be something anyone would be proud of go to waste can we.”

Stopping in the door Naruto looked back at the slightly shocked expression, “You have done too much for the good of your village to let it disappear…we just need to find you a new home.”

Zabuza watched the door close behind the person he was realizing could turn the world on its head by his words alone, smiling as he thought about building a new village. Now there was a challenge worthy of his talents.

 

Having burned the letter he had been given he hoped he was doing the right thing, looking up at the picture of the fourth on the wall he smiled, Naruto was in fact the protective giving boy he acted like during his deception. Who would have thought the two least likely people in the village were Naruto's spies. Then again knowing how they felt about the young boy, always treating him like something special he should have guessed. Watching Ebisu leave with his grandson he hoped that was still in time to catch them before they left, moving to the balcony he watched his grandson look back up at him from the street with a worried expression on his face.

The Third looked out over the village from his balcony off his office, a frown marring his face as he gazed at the villagers going about their daily business. The frown was for the people that should be down there going about their business but had left the village for their own protection, something he never thought would happen. Feeling someone enter the room behind him he glanced around before returning to staring at his beloved village, “Ibiki, what have you found so far?”

“I am not naive enough to think we have caught all the treasonous root members, but we have seriously reduced their numbers. To the point where we can say the Anbu and Jounin ranks are cleared of the traitors.” Ibiki told him as soon as he joined the Third on the balcony, “Hokage-sama we have found several spy’s with troubling information in the sweeps to ferret out Root, spy’s that belong to Orochimaru.”

Turning around the Third frowned at Ibiki, what is Orochimaru up to now he thought. Moving back to the office he sat down behind his desk as he tried to come to terms with what he heard. “What are their orders and how badly have we been compromised?”

 

It was time Teuchi thought as he looked around the small Ramon stand that had been his home the past ten years, “Ayame have you finished packing everything into those sealing scrolls yet?”

Walking out of the empty back room Ayame gave it one last look over her shoulder before sighing, she had spent so much time here it had almost seemed like home to her. Smiling she handed the scrolls to her father and nodded, “I’m going to miss this place.”

Placing his hand on his daughters shoulder Teuchi smiled, “I know, but it is time to go home. Our mission is over and for better or worse the Leaf will have to make its own way from now on.” Shouldering his pack he smiled as he locked the door behind them, “It will be good to spend more time with our family than a few hours at night and the weekends.” Chuckling as they started for the main gate, “Your uncle Moshi will finally be able to take his vacation once we get home.”

Laughing quietly Ayame looked back at the small Ramon stand one more time before smiling as she walked along next to her father, he was right it would be good to go home for good.

 

Ebisu stood at the main gate with his hand on the honorable grandson’s shoulder; he did not have to look up to see the team of Anbu around the rooftops guarding them. It had become a necessity because one night last week another attempt on the honorable grandson’s life almost succeeded, Hokage-sama had decided it was too dangerous for him to remain in Kohona. But it galled him to no end to have to hand off the protection of the honorable grandson to a Ramon cook, snorting in disgust at the thought, it’s not like he was a Shinobi or anything how the hell was he supposed to protect the grandson of the Hokage the most powerful Shinobi in the village?

Stiffening up as he spotted the two he had been told to hand over his charge to he stepped in front of them blocking their path, “Teuchi-san…” swallowing his anger and pride he bowed his head slightly. “Hokage-sama has a request for you. He wishes to entrust his grandson to you as you travel …” frowning as he looked up through his glasses, the Hokage had never told him where the two were traveling to so how in the world did he think those two could keep the honorable grandson safe?

Ayame looked up at her father to take her queue off of him, eyes widening slightly as she saw his hand flipping that flap on his vest, she realized  their plans had changed as her own hand went to the slit in her jacket where her own Hitate was hidden.

“I see,” Teuchi frowned as he looked around at the Anbu stationed around the gate, ignoring the Jounin instructor for now. Going back to stare at the young boy standing nervously next to the Jounin he sighed inwardly, well he told himself he was told to use his own initiative. But then again this was the Hokage’s grandson.

Flipping open the flap on the pocket Teuchi pulled out his Hitate and rank pin, tying the Whirlpool Hitate to his arm he looked into Ebisu’s shocked face as he affixed his Jounin rank pin to his collar, knowing his daughter was doing the same and securing her Chuunin pin to her shirt, “I understand. We will see to Konohamaru’s safety from here on out.”

Ayame smiled as she saw the shocked looks on everyone’s faces, “Come on Konohamaru we need to get a move on.” Looking down at the awe filled face she grinned, “Do you think you can run through the trees or should I carry you?”

 

Sasuke was leaving the meeting he and Shino had to attend as proctors of the Chuunin exam when he spotted her lurking in the shadows across the street. Once again he was being stalked by fan girls, or one fan girl by the name of Haruno Sakura. Sighing he succumbed to the inevitable, “Sakura why are you following me?”

Finally my Sasuke-kun is talking to me, now I can finally get my dream date. After all he’s a Chuunin now, he so strong and powerful, the best out there. Smiling she slinked across the street to stand within touching distance of the black haired god,  “Sasuke-kun I came by so we could go out and get something to eat and catch up, surely you want to tell me all about your passing the Chuunin exam.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose Sasuke glared at the pink haired pest that seemed to not understand the words not interested, “Sakura, I do not have time to be bothered by such trivial things. I have duties to perform and if you plan to enter the Chuunin exam you should be training, not being disqualified for attempting to get close to one of the exam proctors.” Glare turning hateful, hoping she would get the message, “besides, as I told you before I am not interested in you. And under no circumstances would you be considered as one of the mothers of my children…now leave me alone.”

Speaking of the bitches Sakura thought before smiling sweetly, “Where are the two Kunoichi, what’s there name again? I’ve not seen them around since you’ve gotten back. Did you decide they aren’t going to work out?” yeah like I would be so much better she thought than those losers. I mean like really don’t they care for what they look like at all.

 “Miyuki and Yumi are still in Whirlpool, I did not want them traveling when they have so recently become pregnant with my children,” Sasuke turned away, she was not important, and that little bit of information could not hurt him because the mothers of his children were safe. Glancing up at the sky he hurried away he had a lunch meeting with a young Kunoichi who just might be what he was looking for as one of the mothers of his future children.

Sakura stood in the street fuming, blood dripping from her clenched hands from her nails digging into the palms of her hands, anger and killing intent leaking out of her causing villagers to suddenly remember other engagements elsewhere. Those bitches, how dare they touch my Sasuke-kun, to touch him there. I’ll kill them, them and their evil spawn.

Catching the sudden killing intent from behind him Sasuke glanced over his shoulder as he turned the corner to see Sakura was the one giving off the killing intent. Taking in her posture, the blood dripping from her fists and the anger and killing intent he wondered if it would be safe to bring his children back to Konoha after all. Deciding to talk to the Hokage about it this afternoon he continued on so he would not be late.

On the opposite end of the street there was an old man watching the happenings, he thought to himself it might be time to help the Haruno girl out. After all if she could get the Uchiha under her control and he controlled her…well a powerful clan would be a welcome addition to the real council.

 

“Zabuza-sama you’re awake,” Haku smiled happily as he walked into the hospital room and saw his precious person sitting up in bed eating.

Looking up Zabuza smiled as he watched the person who he had come to think as a son, enter the room. Nodding his smile faded away, “Haku how many made it?”

Pulling the chair over Haku sighed, he would have to ask this first thing, looking down briefly his voice was quiet, “Seven hundred. We were able to save seven hundred villagers and Shinobi from Mist; right now they are recovering in the outside village. Now that you are awake and stable it might be a good idea to move you to the outside hospital so your people can see you’re still alive and the Mizukage.”

Examining Haku with a critical eye Zabuza nodded, “I have been thinking.” Looking out the window to see the well manicured gardens he put his thoughts into some type of order. “I think we should relocate to Sea Country, Wave is nice and all but way to close to Fire country and Konoha to be viable.” Nodding to himself he pushed the sheets back as he slid his feet to the floor, he had been in bed way to long as it was. “Yes, Sea would be better if they would accept us, we would be able to grow and prosper.”

Moving to the small closet next to the door Haku quickly gathered up Zabuza’s uniform and handed it over, “Once you have drafted your letter to the lady Daimyo of Sea Country I will have one of the dragons deliver it for you. We will help you as much as we can when you build your new hidden village…” trailing off Haku moved to the window and looked out, “Something big is happening in the outside world. Naruto feels someone or some group is trying to start off another great war.”

“So what help you can give me might be limited,” Zabuza fastened his weapons pouch to his belt.

“Yes,” Haku turned away from the window, “unless it is rather soon, we might not be able to give you as much help as we would like.”

Nodding Zabuza moved towards the door, “Then we need to get moving. After all if there is someone out there wanting war I need to get my village settled and defended so we have time to prepare.”

 

Teuchi kept a hand on Konohamaru as they walked out of sight of the walls of the Leaf village eyes scanning ht surrounding forest, “Ayame change of plans we are going to use the escape route to make sure no one follows us or gets another chance at young Konohamaru here.”

Choosing her words carefully Ayame glanced at the canopy searching for the people she knew were following them, speaking in code so those following them wouldn’t have a clue she grabbed her father’s pack so he could pick up the young boy, “the closest air stream is half an hour’s run to the west.”

“Konohamaru I know this is frightening for you,” Teuchi knelt down as he felt the others getting closer to their position. “I need you to be brave for me, your grandfather entrusted your safety to me and Ayame and I plan to get you to Naruto-sama safely, but you have to trust me.” Looking into the young boy’s eyes he smiled when he nodded. “Good I want you to climb up onto my back and hold on as tight as you can.”

Standing up Teuchi glanced at the trees behind them and smirked, the fools would not be able to catch them, “Ayame we will hit the air stream at a run, so make sure you time the seals correctly for dragon flight.”

“Don’t worry about me old man, my timing doesn’t suck like yours,” Ayame smirked as she took off running, once her muscles warmed up she pushed her chakra into her legs and really started to fly through the treetops.

Chuckling Teuchi took off after his daughter after dropping one of Naruto-sama’s experimental reactive notes behind, triggering it when he put on his own burst of speed.

Chuckling as he held onto the young boys legs he glanced behind him to see a beautiful sight, a large fireball had taken out several of the pursuers. Catching sight of the plain white masked men following them he glanced sideways at his daughter, “It looks like some of the Root operatives which means they have not all been ferreted out.”

Saving her breath Ayame nodded as she pushed more chakra into her legs, she only needed to hold it for a short time, and afterwards she could collapse once they made it through the transfer seal. Nodding her head towards the clearing to their left she started to form the seals she would need to activate the reverse summoning seal. Adding two extra seals which compensated for height, since her father would be in mid jump, she pulled away, two steps, now three steps ahead of her father and his passenger.

Completing the last seal she hit the ground with her hands pushing the chakra into the hidden seal and jumping up to catch her father’s leg, yelling out a nonsense Jutsu to confuse their pursuers, “Dragon Flight…Fly.”

The Root operatives skidded to a halt in the clearing, swearing as the two supposed civilians flickered before disappearing from sight. Punching the nearest tree in anger he spat out, “We lost them. Dammit…Return to base.” Looking around the clearing he felt something, not sure what it was but it felt powerful, and what the hell was this dragon flight Jutsu. Not to mention what the hell was the air streams they were talking about, glancing one more time at the clearing he kicked a log across the ground in anger before turning and leaving.

 

Knock…knock…

Naruto looked up from his desk where he was studying the information Jiga and his council had given him earlier during their weekly update meeting at the sound of knocking on his doorframe. “Teuchi,” spotting the second figure entering the room he sat up, “Ayame, I did not expect the two of you for another…” trailing off as he spotted a third person walk into his office he stared in shock before barking out, “What happened, is the Old Man alright?”

Teuchi sighed as the youngster rushed Naruto and jumped into his arms, the fear he had been holding back finally getting the better of him as he ran to Naruto-sama.

Holding onto to Konohamaru tightly as the young boy trembled in his arms he looked up in anger at Teuchi who spoke up first, “the Hokage is alright. The problem is his grandson.” Pointing to the young boy in Naruto's arms he frowned, “Konohamaru has been the target of several assassination attempts, to the point his grandfather no longer thinks it is safe to keep him in Konoha. Last week they were able to almost get past two squads of Anbu to get to Konohamaru.”

Starring at the two in confusion Naruto noticed Ayame was shaking and having trouble standing, “Sit down both of you.” Reaching around the young boy in his arms he pushed the intercom button on his desk, “I need a team of medic-nin’s in my office immediately.”

“Naruto Nii-san is grandpa going to be alright?” Konohamaru looked up as he slid off of Naruto's lap.

“I’m not sure Konohamaru, but I’ll send one of my people back to check up on him,” Naruto nodded as he sat back in his chair and smiled as Jiga practically teleported into his office, several medic-nin’s stationed in the mission office half a second behind him. Pointing at Ayame he watched the medic-nin’s quickly start to scan her for injuries.

Looking up with a frown on his face the medic stared at Ayame briefly, “What did you do to your legs to get them in this kind of condition; your muscles are practically shredded?”

“Pushed one hell of a large amount of chakra into them so we could escape the Root Anbu operatives chasing us,” Ayame snapped out as she grimaced as the medic-nin started to heal her legs.

Looking at Konohamaru but not really seeing him Naruto thought about what little bit he had heard, it was all part of a bigger picture, the only problem was he was not sure what the picture was supposed to look like. “For now Konohamaru you will stay with me at my family’s estate. We’ll get you signed into the academy tomorrow so you don’t fall behind,” seeing the small smile on Konohamaru’s face Naruto pushed the intercom button again, “I need a academy team for escort duty to my office please.”

Chuckling at the sounds of running coming from the hall Naruto pulled a blank scroll out of the bin as three out of breath last year’s skidded to a halt in his office.

“Team twenty one reporting as ordered Uzumaki-sama…”

Grinning as the team saluted him, “At ease you three.” Glancing at Konohamaru who looked like his eyes were going to pop out from surprise he covered his chuckle with the noise of closing one of his desk drawers. “I need you three to show Konohamaru here around town. Make sure he gets what he needs for the academy, and then afterwards drop him off at my estate.”

“Um…Naruto Nii-san,” Konohamaru fidgeted before looking at Naruto, “I don’t have any money with me, grandpa didn’t send anything so it would be easier to move quickly.”

Pulling another scroll out of the bin Naruto quickly jotted down some instructions, handing it over he smiled at Konohamaru, “That’s okay Konohamaru; I’ll cover things for now, until my messenger gets back from your Grandpa.” Looking over at the academy team he smiled, “Make sure Konohamaru gets several sets of clothes to wear while you’re at it.” Giving Konohamaru a slight nudge he made shooing motions, “Go on you four get a move on, I’ll see you at supper Konohamaru, we’ll talk more after supper.”

Waiting for the four to hit the street level Naruto turned back from the window where he was watching for them to come out of the citadel, “What in the nine levels of hell is going on in Konoha?”

 

 

 

Naruto ch 28

Chapter 28

 

 

 

Naruto with Haku standing by his side stood on the roof of the citadel overlooking the valley; it had been an interesting few days, not to mention the sudden influx of so many people into the clan estates. People that were tense and fearful for those they left behind.

“Are you still worried about agreeing to the alliance with Marsh and Beach?” Haku sat down next to Naruto who was still standing, he knew how stretched they were right now. “On the other hand most of the missions that we are being bombarded with at the moment are from Beach and Marsh.”

Shaking his head Naruto glanced down and smiled at Haku, “Not really. Once the new mission stations are constructed and the summoning seals created we should be alright, I agree with Katsuro that we will gain far more than it costs us in the long run. In another month all the changes and reassignments will be over, the new Genin teams will be easing into their duties and training.” Sitting next to Haku Naruto sighed, “No I was thinking about how the Daimyo of Beach wants to be annexed into Whirlpool.”

Jumping slightly in shock Haku looked over at Naruto, “When did this happen?”

“He pulled me aside after the formal signing, right before he left,” Naruto answered as he continued to look over the peaceful morning bustle below them. “He is getting on in years and has no children to pass his country on to.” Grabbing his knees Naruto put his chin on top of them as he stared at nothing in particular, “as far as countries go it is on the small size and the villages few and far between except two major resort towns.”

Thinking about the map he glanced at everyday, Haku tilted his head as he thought about what it would take to add Beach to Whirlpool, “It should be doable, Beach only has one land locked border and that is with us. And the northern waters are impassible because of all the whirlpools that pop up, the same ones that protect our northern border.”

“And what do we do when Wave finds out and then finally demands the same, they were hinting about it heavily during the negotiations,” Naruto turned to stare at Haku for answers.

“And that would be difficult if not impossible because of Water,” Haku nodded as he turned to gaze at the ledge where the summoning seals dropped you off at. “Zabuza would be more than agreeable to letting us cement an alliance to make them a protectorate.”

Hearing Haku trail off Naruto nodded, “But the Water Daimyo on the other hand.” Changing the subject he tilted his head, “You’re worried about not hearing from Zabuza the past few weeks.”

“It’s possible he’s busy,” Haku tried to convince himself, “after all there is so much he has to do to turn Kiri around.”

“Do you want to take a team and go visit,” Naruto offered, “find out for sure he is okay?”

“Maybe if I’ve not heard from him in…” Haku trailed off as he spotted several dragon helmed figures rushing towards them.

Staring at Haku when he stopped midsentence Naruto turned to follow his gaze and saw six of his dragon’s rushing towards him, “Now what?”

“Uzumaki-sama,” the light blue helmed Dragon bowed as he offered a scroll, “We found a Mist-nin in the forest half a day from the outside village. His dying words were to deliver this scroll to you Uzumaki-sama.”

Taking the scroll Naruto slit the seal with his finger and quickly skimmed it before passing it to Haku. “So the Daimyo of Water has declared war on the Mizukage breaking the treaty of the hidden villages.” Glancing around at the dragon’s who now numbered ten he turned to look at Haku when he called out his name.

“N…Naruto?” Haku’s hand shook reading the message from Zabuza. It sounded too much like he was saying goodbye.

“I know Haku…” Naruto's face lost all emotion as he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to clam himself. “I want the captain of each Dragon squad in my office in thirty minutes…Haku come with me.” Dropping down into his office through the open window Naruto pushed his desk to one side and knelt on the floor where he commenced doing a long list of hand seals, touching several different points on the floor when his hands would glow brightly before starting over. With the last sequence out of the way Naruto slammed his hands on the seal on more time and leapt back as a large cupboard rose from the floor.

Seeing the confused look on Haku’s face as the leaders of the dragon divisions walked into his office he started with a history lesson, “There has been a total of two times in the long history of the Uzumaki’s that a man has donned the helm of the golden dragon to protect those precious to him.” Unlocking the cupboard Naruto pulled the almost crystal clear dragon helm out off the peg, the helm had a slight golden hue to it and a silver stripe running down between the eyes. Staring into the eyes of the helm for a moment Naruto straightened up, he could not deny Haku the right to protect Zabuza or go to him in his time of need. Pulling the rest of the items out of the cupboard he turned to face the confused faces.

“The least I can do is give you the tools to keep safe, that and a squad of the dragons to go with you.” Naruto's mouth disappeared into a thin line as he started to hand Haku the uniform and watch him change. Once he was fully dressed and weapons secured he ran his finger glowing with chakra along the seam of the helm. Once it had split into two halved he moved forward and placed it over and around Haku’s head before closing it and allowing it to seal shut. Stepping back he watched as the mask turned a deep gold and the silver stripe seemed to glow with power, “This is a retrieval mission. You are to retrieve Momochi Zabuza. Return him to the Hidden village of mist and secure their borders, if need be you are authorized to destroy the Capital of Water country and the Daimyo.”

Moving over to the window as he stared at the group he smiled at the frightening visage Haku now wore, “Haku if need be, you are allowed to use those techniques to end the civil war. You all have one week to complete this mission before you must return,” giving them all one last look he nodded, “GO…Return with honor Dragon warriors.”

Very pleased with being given the traditional leave taking Haku bowed before making a slight motion with his hand and disappearing in a swirl of cold wind and snow, a moment later the team followed him out of the office.

Appearing next to the set of seals that led to the outside Haku turned to address the black dragon, “How close can we get to Kiri by seal travel?”

“An hour away,” Mako pulled out a small scroll and unrolled it while channeling some chakra into it thus revealing the hidden markings. Reaching out he dug through the tray of pre inscribed blocks and started to fit them into the correct order to complete the pattern. Once he had finished he doubled checked his scroll before rolling it up and putting it back in his pouch. “It’s ready.”

Moving to the center of the circle with the rest of the team Haku nodded to Mako who touched the activation set on the seal and with a large puff of smoke they were gone. A whirring noise could be heard as nine pins rose up dislodging the inscribed blocks allowing the arm that rose up to sweep them into the bin at one end.

As soon as they appeared on top of the dirt that hid the summoning circle from view Haku jumped up to the top of the nearest tree to get his bearings, looking around he spotted the direction they needed to go and jumped down the branches to the ground, “This way,” he told them as he took off running.

An hour later Haku and the others landed outside the main gate of the village hidden in the mist, and as he grinned, with the helm reacting to his chakra flow and grinning showing its crystal fangs, he watched the Samurai guards wet their pants in fright. “We are here to see the Mizukage…take us to your leader.”

Shivering in fright as myths and legends that were used to keep unruly children in line came to life before him Satori lost all control of his body functions, not even bothering to find out what the warm sensation was that was running down his leg. Hearing the legend speak to him, demanding he do something he did what any rational person would do and let his eyes roll up into the back of his head and passed out.

Scratching his head without realizing it Haku suddenly noticed he actually felt as if he was being scratched, shaking his head he turned to his companions, “Well it looks like we need to open the gate ourselves.” Glancing at all the guards on the ground passed out in fright he tilted his head, “Not that they are going to be worth anything like opening the door for us.”

Chuckling evilly the red dragon nodded before flashing through a set of seals, “Fire; Dragons breath…flame of the sun.”

Smirking in satisfaction Haku became serious as he looked at the uniforms the guards were wearing, “Even I know Samurai are not supposed to be here. Spread out and find the Shinobi…” trailing off as he spotted a young girl being chased down the street, the soldier yelling out for her to stop and calling her ninja scum. Roaring in anger Haku motioned his squad forward after his thrown Kunai buried itself in the back of the soldiers neck, “ALIVE…leave me a couple alive to question. Bring them to me at the Kage tower,” scanning the street Haku slowly walked towards the tower on the small island in the center of the village. Everywhere he looked there were signs of battle and death; it looked like most of the civilians had been targeted. The real question was why he was not seeing any Shinobi forces injured or otherwise.

Almost on instinct Haku threw several Senbon needles to his right, once he looked he became angry as he realized the soldier had been about to kill a baby. Whatever the mission for these soldiers was, the reality was it seemed they were going for the total destruction of Mist. Jumping to the top of the building he looked around the village and let out and a rage filled scream that echoed through the streets.

All around the village soldiers heard the rage filled roar and looked up and around frantically, several of them spotted the golden figure standing above them and dropped their weapons, the only though on their minds was getting out of the village alive.

His squad of course heard his cry of rage and actually sped up, becoming wrathful blurs as they moved through the village killing all those attacking the civilians. Half an hour later they made their way towards the central tower where Haku was standing holding a babe in his arms as several groups of civilians clustered around him for safety.

Roka threw his prisoner down not caring that he was injuring him further, “I found no Shinobi on my rounds of the village, though I did find this officer.

Nodding as he watched the rest of his squad assembled, some of them had prisoners but one of them had what looked like a Shinobi. Haku waited until they were closer before asking, “Where is your Shinobi forces?” Where is Zabuza, was what he really wanted to say.

“Most of our forces are attacking the Daimyo’s forces north of the village, the Mizukage has taken his team into the capital to destroy the Daimyo and his advisors to end the war,” the Chuunin looked around the city and the few villagers gathered around the square. “This group snuck in this morning and attacked, the few Jounin and teams that stayed back are protecting the shelters and hospital. I came up from the tunnels under the academy to see if the coast was clear because it had gotten so quiet.”

Glancing down at the infant in his arms Haku turned and handed it off to one of the villagers before walking over to the prisoner Roka had dropped on the ground, anger and rage evident in every step he took. Grabbing the office by his shirt he lifted him up effortlessly and threw him to the ground in front of his bright yellow dragon helmed squad mate for this mission, “Drain him dry of information.” Turning around Haku frowned as he looked over the village, even if they destroyed the Daimyo tempers would have turned to hatred and this village would be a constant sore spot to those in Water country. One that would cause the people to slowly simmer in resentment until war broke out again.

Coming to a decision as his eyes landed back on the academy instructor Haku started giving orders, “Get your students out of the shelter, and have them help the civilians pack as this village is about to be abandoned.”

“BUT…” the Chuunin stepped back, abandon his home… his thoughts froze as the dragon taken on the shape of a man whirled around and growled at him.

“The war must end,” Haku snarled out as he stalked the back peddling Chuunin, “And to do that Mist must disappear for now. Otherwise the hate will fester and war will break out again, Mist dies today, later on, in the future a new hidden village will rise to replace Mist in Water country, until then you must protect the future generations.” Not bothering to say anymore Haku walked back to the Wookaa wearing the bright yellow dragon helm.

“Sir, his orders were pretty straight forward, he was to take his men and destroy every man, woman and child in this village to serve as a lesson for allowing the blood freaks as he thinks of them to live,” she frowned as she dropped the filth to the ground, she needed to scrub out her brain after digging through the cesspool he called a mind.

Wrist flicking two Senbon needles punctured the man’s brain through his eyes, “Our orders are to stop the war.” Haku smirked as he ignored the incredulous looks from the villagers, “Earth, Fire, the battle is north of here, give them one chance to stand down. After that destroy them,” looking back to the villagers he snarled, “Well what are you waiting for? You should be packing so you can be relocated.”

Grumbling the villagers walked away to do as they were told, throwing fearful glances over their shoulders as they walked away.

Sighing Haku motioned for Kaitsu to come over; being careful because they could be overheard he used his dragon name, “Dragon of the Forest, how long will it take to create a transfer circle so we can send these people to outside?”

“We will need more than one to move everyone,” looking around the square Kaitsu frowned in thought as he paced, outlining a rather large circle. “I can have the first one drawn and ready to be used in about half an hour, after that I can move over to the hospital and do one there.”

Nodding Haku looked at Siska, “Return home and let them know about the refugees, let Uzumaki-sama know what has happened so far and that we will be moving to the capital as soon as reinforcements arrive to continue the evacuations.” Standing there alone once his squad had jumped into their assignments Haku worried for a moment on whether or not he had the right idea. Shaking his head as he watched the young academy students rush around looking for survivors, he would know soon enough when word got back with reinforcements.

 

Roka looked around at the camp with a critical eye; he had left the Shinobi camp to Hetsuru to handle after dropping his seal laden Kunai around the camp. Spotting the command tent near the middle he flickered to the clearing near the tent and waited to be noticed.

“What the hell,” the commander of the army yelled out in shock as he saw the stranger appear in the middle of the camp, what really frightened him was when the stranger turned and he saw the mask he was wearing.

“We have ignored the outside world for two long,” Roka narrowed his eyes as he took in the officer sashes on the people watching him. “The war ends now! I have been ordered to give you one chance to back down and obey or destroy you.” Dropping several shuriken as he glared at the group of leaders he stepped into the safety of the protection circle and slowly built up chakra as he started the seal set one handed.

The commander just laughed as he waved his arm around the camp, “I don’t know what you think you are playing at boy, but we have you outnumbered and you were stupid enough to show up in the center of my troops. No Shinobi freak is good enough to leave here alive, and now you will die.”

Nodding in a grim determination Roka looked the commander in the eye, “You should have abandoned your thirst for war, now you pay the price.”  Jutsu finished he knelt down and slammed his hand into the ground as he pushed as much chakra as he could into the technique, “Sealing Release: Death Needles…Ten thousand yard…Explode.”

Safe inside his shield Roka kept his head bowed as he prayed for the souls of all those he had just killed, knowing he had killed to end the suffering, the war that was tearing apart families in this country. Standing up he glanced around seeing nothing but destruction, nothing remained that was larger than a basket. Putting on a burst of speed he left behind the death he had just unleashed, intent on meeting up with his partner, behind him the seals carried on the Kunai and Shuriken exploded.

Ten minutes later he dropped down next to Hetsuru to see him facing several Jounin as he explained that the village had been attacked. Needing something to take his temper out on after killing all those soldiers Roka exploded when half the Shinobi present started calling for the extermination of the Samurai’s and their families, “ENOUGH…You wish to take vengeance on dead men or non combatants?”

Dropping several Shuriken around them Roka started to go through several hand seals, stopping one away from completion and le this chakra build up once more, “You are ordered to stand down. We have been tasked with ending the war in Water country and the best way to do that is to remove all combatants from the realm of the living, obey us or join the soldiers I just killed.”

A quick glance towards Roka then to the ground to make sure he was inside the shield Hetsuru decided to have a long talk with his friend when they got home, maybe even bringing in Uzumaki-sama.

“You wouldn’t dare,” one of the Jounin started before his eyes rolled up as he crumpled face forward Kunai embedded in the base of his skull. The Jounin who was behind him looked around, “Our priority is to our village and evacuating our people not revenge…STAND DOWN.” Bowing low he held his breath as he felt the chakra still building to an unbelievable level, “Dragon-sama we will obey your orders.”

Nodding slightly Roka tried to release his anger without blowing up, turning suddenly he flipped through several seals, “Fire: Dragon Flame…” pushing all the built up chakra into the Jutsu shimmering white flame leapt from his hands and tunneled through the trees, leaving behind nothing but ash as the Jutsu instantly destroyed everything in its path.

Hetsuru shook his head, “We will be having a long talk once we get back to the nest.”

Nodding in acceptance Roka did his best to calm down, “That would be a good thing I guess.”

Several of the Jounin walked over to the tunnel and looked down the still hot tunnel the Jutsu bored through the forest, looking back at the brown dragon they shook as their minds went over what could have just happened to them.

 

Three hours later Haku landed in a clearing with several wounded Shinobi had stopped to rest followed moments later by his squad, standing up he looked around the clearing and spotted Zabuza on a stretcher near the edge of the clearing. Eyes taking in the fallen forms around the clearing his heart felt like it was skipping beats until he heard Hetsuru speak up from the stretcher where he was checking Zabuza, “He’s alive, but not for much longer if we don’t get them to the hospital.”

“Use the emergency scrolls,” Haku was surprised his voice was sounding so professional. Moving over to the tree where an elite swordsman sat when he heard a whisper, “dragon-sama…” kneeling down next to the man Haku leaned closer to hear him.

“We failed in our mission, Mizukage-sama wounded the Daimyo before they locked themselves into the central towers lower bunker,” the man coughed some before looking over to his leader, “I…Is…”

“He is still alive,” Haku sounded as relieved to admit that as the man he told that bit of news to, “we’ll be sending you back with Zabuza to the hospital, leave the rest of the mission to us.” Standing up as Roka quickly moved over to help the injured man to the emergency scroll he stared into the distance, “it ends tonight.”

“Uzumaki-sama, the injured are gone, what are your orders?” Mako asked as he looked at Roka who nodded agreeing to the bet.

“We finish this,” Haku turned to look at his squad mates, “The war will be over when there are no more armed combatants left.” Looking towards the walls of the city they could just make out in the distance he told them, “All samurai and guards inside the city die; I’ll handle the Daimyo and his council personally.”

Holding his hand out and grinning Mako whispered, “Alright kiddies pay up.”

Snorting in amusement Haku launched himself past the trees and started for the city walls. Appearing in a flash with his squad mates in a half circle behind him Haku stared at the guards at the gate, smirking when two of them slowly dropped their weapons and made a show of carefully disarming themselves. Nodding Haku let loose with several Kunai infused with chakra, they seemed to blink from his hand, then a moment later they were embedded into the brains of the guards through their eyes. The guard on the left soiled himself because he never saw the dragon move his arm or hand. “Spread out,” Haku ordered as he jumped o the top of the wall and looked in over the city. More so that the residents of the city could see them before they started. Looking to both sides he saw his squad had spread out along the wall, waiting for him to give the word to begin.

Gazing calmly at the city Haku noticed all the murmurs and stares directed their way, along with downright panic as people caught sight of them standing on top the wall. Waiting until the panicked screams reached their peak, Haku finally gave the signal to move out. Jumping from rooftop to roof top using one of the Uzumaki clan techniques to kill without seemingly moving his arm; jumping down to the street level once he reached the market he strode through the crowds leaving fallen soldiers behind him.

“MONSTER…” a woman holding a baby with a small child next to her screamed out.

Coming to a halt Haku turned to face her, “Monster? I don’t think so, the soldiers were given warning to drop their weapons if they wished to live.” The sound of another body hitting the ground caused several people to back away in fear.

“You have no right to do this,” the woman hissed out through gritted teeth as she glanced around for a weapon to use.

“No right?” Haku tilted his head, “We have been ordered to stop the civil war plaguing Water country, and shortly the war will be over.”

“So,” she sneered, “You are one of those bloodline lovers. Well you won’t stop us; we’ll just keep going, killing all those traitorous freaks once you leave.”

Shaking his head sadly Haku noticed the disgusted looks from most of the civilians, “there are only a handful of those still in Water country with a bloodline limit, and they soon will be rescued. Most of those being killed now have never had the gift to begin with; they were killed because it is easy to accuse someone of having a gift. Want your enemy or rival dead legally, just accuse them of having a gift and let the crowds and people do it for you.”

“You lie…” she spat out, practically frothing at the mouth.

“Do you know it is very easy to detect those with bloodline gifts, there is a simple medical Jutsu used to detect them,” Haku glanced around the crowd that had gathered and decided to show the woman how easy it was to accuse someone, “For instance some of these people might wonder why you are so eager to continue the bloodshed, maybe it is because it takes the attention off the fact you have one of the gifts yourself.”

Glancing at the crowd who were starting to get violent she panicked, “Again with the lies, I’ll see to it you burn for this.”

Sighing as the crowd started to throw things he flashed through several seals creating chakra infused ice needles, “Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou…Death by a thousand flying water needles.” Directing his chakra infused needles towards the objects being thrown he deflected every one of them, “See how easy it is to create a situation where the crowd wishes to kill an innocent, and all I had to do was accuse you h=of having a gift the others don’t.” shaking his head in disappointment he stepped forward, “The war will end tonight, and those who brought the people to this savagery will die. In time the people will heal,” walking past the crowd Haku reached in his pouch for another handful of Senbon.

Almost finished Haku thought as he approached the central palace, catching images of his squad approaching the palace from different angles he spotted the guard formations and called out, “Disarm and walk away and you shall be allowed to live. Disregard my warning and you shall be destroyed…the war is over, stand down and go home to your loved ones.”

As the rest of the squad got in place Haku offered them one last chance to save their lives, a few looked worried but most of them had arrogant looks as they tightened the grips on their weapons. Shaking his head Haku sighed as he raised his voice so the civilians who followed them could hear clearly. “The War within Water country is now over, the hidden village of Mist has been…Removed.” Choosing the word he wanted to throw off what actually happened he dropped his gaze, “in time you might be found worthy of having another Shinobi village settle within your borders. Your army has been destroyed; you who stand before me are the last of the Samurai forces left…the last soldiers. With your deaths the war will be over, the deaths will stop. Your leaders will die by my hand so others can live in peace…you have two minutes to drop your weapons and leave, after that…”

Chakra started to swirl around Haku as he started to flash through seals, his chakra visible to all that had gathered, “Earth…” he whispered, a whisper that carried on the winds.

The ground started to rumble and heave as Haku continued.

“Air…” he started to glow as the winds picked up. It started out small a gentle breeze that built into gusts that soon reached gale force winds knocking people back.

More seals, the chakra was building to unbelievable levels and the rest of the dragons started to flash through seals as they faced the palace from all sides.

“Fire…” Haku muttered as the rest of the Dragons changed out, “Earth…”

Heat, incredible heat flowed in the wind as the ground started to steam and smoke. There were screams from the guards as they abandoned their posts and ran across the smoking hot ground only to bounce off the wind shield that the technique had created.

“Water…” Haku was glowing brightly, so bright it hurt to look at him. He was too far into the technique to hear his teammates yell out, “Fire…” they had caught up to him, only one step behind now. The building was on fire and the stone pavers were melting.

“Heaven…” all seven voices whispered as one, their words rumbling through the air as the earth rolled and rumbled in protest. Seven sets of hands finished the seals and were thrust towards the inferno in front of them as the ground belched out red hot liquid, lava the life blood of the earth.

“Dragon Fire: Eternal Fire of the Heavens…”

To those watching the Dragons in awe and fear the palace melted and then the ground belched up as everything turned red hot and the ancient enemy of man broke through the ground, a volcano broke through the ground incinerating everything as it grew. The wind created shield kept the contents inside the shield and flowing upwards.

At a point underneath the bunker a small red hot pocket formed as the Jutsu started to activate, earth turning molten as more power was pumped into the technique as the rest of the Dragons joined in. the bunkers occupants started to sweat then scream in pain as the room became too hot for comfort. Before anyone could get to the door the floor melted and they plunged into the molten rock and died.

Watching the volcano form and reach the height of ten stories Haku nodded as he yelled out, “Release…” hands flipping through seals he started to pull chakra from their creation to form the needed Jutsu to cool the area down. Seven voices called out at the same time, “Hyouton: Gail of the Frozen Tundra…”

Clouds rapidly forming above them as cold met heat Haku looked at the newly created mountain in sadness, so much death and destruction could have been avoided if the Daimyo of Water and the old Mizukage had been different people. Turning his back to the memorial mountain, a reminder that the Dragons walked among the elemental nations once more he let his gaze wander on those who were rooted in place by fear, “Do not make us come back here again.” Moving his hand slightly, the signal to withdraw Haku flashed out of sight as he used the body flicker Jutsu to leave the city behind.