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.
