223Shadow of the Empire - chapter 2/Between Black and White
-/\/-
Naruto marched into the throne room, head held high. He was escorted by several guards that eyed him with a mix of respect and fear. The talks about his last-night exploits were already spreading through the capital.
"... Once she pays the proper compensation for her parents' actions, there should be no reason not to release her." Prime Minister spoke. The emperor was nodding.
"Thank you, Minister Honest. Does anyone oppose that verdict?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called, happy to see his teacher stand near the emperor.
"Naruto." Kakashi nodded. The young shinobi wanted to rush to his sensei's side, but a cough reminded Naruto where he was.
"Oh. Sorry. Your Majesty." The Jonin actually knew how to behave in front of royalty. Sue him. Jiraya taught him everything about dealing with all types of people. Of course, his lessons were more about picking up noblewomen, but Naruto didn't focus too much on that.
"You ought to learn your manners, boy." Prime Minister scoffed.
"Please forgive me. I was just happy to finally see my sensei after we got separated at the sea."
"It is no problem to us, Master Naruto. Your teacher spoke a lot about your talents when he assured us that you would be fine." The emperor waved him off. "And it would appear that you have proven his words when you rescued lady Aria from the Night Raid. It is truly a shame you failed to eliminate them, but we are nonetheless satisfied."
"Thanks." The boy smiled.
"You do not have to worry, Lady Aria is now safe from any further attempts on her life."
"That's… nice." Naruto's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong, but he couldn't put his mind on the specific. "What about her victims?" He decided to change the subject.
"Sadly, most of them are in critical condition." The minister spoke. Naruto's gaze immediately zeroed in on the man. It was clear that the man only faked any remorse. "They also all come from poor families or just arrived in the capital. It's regrettable, but they can't afford the medical care. At this point, it would probably be a mercy to just kill them to spare them the pain."
"You are right as always, Minister Honest." The emperor nodded.
"What!?" Naruto shouted, causing several other ministers to stare at him. "You can't just kill them like that! If they can't pay… then make Aria pay!" The blond offered. "She won't need the money in prison anyway." He growled the last part.
"In prison? Why would lady Aria go to prison?"
Naruto noticed that Honest was sending him a hateful glare, but he couldn't figure out why. "What do you mean why! She tortured those people."
"Young master Naruto. Surely you must be mistaken." The Prime Minister tried to smooth the situation. "Lady Aria was as much of a victim as the others. Her parents were guilty, true, but Aria herself had no knowledge of what happened."
"Exactly." The Emperor nodded. "She said that she would never lower herself to such horrible acts and even promised to pay the crown for what her parents did."
"So you would just accept a bribe?!" Naruto shouted, making the gathered ministers gasp.
"Now listen here-" Honest was about to shout more, but Naruto interrupted him.
"No. She confessed. She said that she tortured at least one of the girls there. And the girl recognized her. She is just as guilty as her parents." The shinobi looked around. "She ruined the lives of so many people and you just want to let her go with a fine? Your majesty," Naruto focused on the Emperor, who seemed to stare at the foreigner with curiosity. "What sort of message would that send? If she can get away with it now, it will only encourage others to go behind your back, if they know that they can get out of trouble with a bit of money. What if…" Naruto paused for a moment. "What if they decide that they can support the Night Raid because they can just pay and be free?" He figured that reminding everyone about bigger problems would help. "Aria already acted against your subjects. You are the leader of the Empire. If you don't protect them, who will?"
The Emperor stared for a moment before, to the shock of everyone in the room, agreed. "You are right, Master Naruto. Such traitorous actions against our subjects deserve the harshest punishment. We hereby sentence Lady Aria to death. She will be executed today at noon and the money of her family will be used to pay for the treatment of the victims."
Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the verdict. He thought the Emperor would send her to prison, not straight up execute her. He was about to argue again but a glare from Kakashi told him to stop. Now that Naruto looked at him, his sensei appeared to be furious. His single visible eye was narrowed and directed at Naruto. He was all stiff and his right hand kept inching toward the kunai pouch.
"Your Majesty. Surely it is too hasty. After all, it's Master Naruto's word against Lady Aria's."
"The Night Raid would have also heard her confession," Kakashi interjected for the first time. "Unless swift actions are taken, I'm afraid they will use it against you to spread discontent among the populace. But…" He paused for dramatic effect. "If your majesty was seen taking swift action, it would take away any argument the Night Raid might use. The rebellion will lose a valuable peace of propaganda."
"Yes. Thank you for your wise insight, Master Kakashi." The Emperor stuck his scepter into the armrest. "I have given my judgment and wish to speak of it no more. Minister Honest. I trust you can make the preparations."
"Of course." The man put on the fakest smile Naruto has seen in his life, and that was saying something since he met Sai. "Well, what are you all waiting for?!" He roared at the other ministers. "His Majesty made the decision. Get to work."
Everyone rushed over each other to get to work. Prime Minister walked down from his place next to the throne and approached Naruto.
"I hope it was worth it, boy." He whispered. "Because you've just made a powerful enemy." He marched away before the teen could respond. Kakashi also walked over and grabbed Naruto's arm. The two vanished in a leaf shunshin.
The duo of shinobi appeared in lavish chambers. The nearby table was littered with maps, shinobi tools, and several scrolls that looked like unfinished reports.
"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto pulled his teacher into a hug.
"There, there." The man patted the boy's back. When he finally let go, Kakashi sighed. "Now… What were you thinking?! Challenging the Emperor like that?"
"But he was going to let that girl off with just a fine!" Naruto protested. "You didn't see that place, Kakashi-sensei. It was worse than Orochimaru's labs."
The older shinobi paused, then sighed. "Still, it was foolish. Prime Minister will now be gunning for you, so you need to be careful." The two stood there in silence for a moment.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto spoke up. "Is… when I encountered the Night Raid, they made it seem like those kinds of situations were common in the Empire."
Kakashi sighed and pointed Naruto to the fireplace, where two armchairs stood. "Sit down." From places unknown, Kakashi pulled out a bottle of Sake and took a sip before passing it to Naruto.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Naruto, I'm no longer your sensei. You don't need to call me that anymore. You're a Tokubetsu Jonin now."
"It feels weird otherwise though."
"Kakashi-senpai maybe then?"
"Okay. Now…"
The man sighed. "As you've seen, the Emperor is rather young and impressionable. The Prime Minister takes full advantage of that. He is the true ruler and the Emperor is his puppet. I want you to be very careful with that man."
"But… if he's so bad, why does everyone tolerate him. Surely someone speaks out."
"They do. But they are usually branded as traitors. Or, indeed, are traitors." Kakashi admitted. "The Revolutionary Army is full of people who wanted change but failed."
"But… aren't we here to help stop the Revolutionary Army?"
"Yes. The Empire hired Konoha to deal with the insurgents. We are to work alongside the city guard and the military to eliminate high-priority targets opposing the current regime."
"What!? No… it must be a mistake." Naruto protested. "There is no way Baa-chan would agree to this, right? I mean… It's like we're helping Gato."
"Naruto. Do you know what the difference was between us and Zabuza? Back in the wave?"
"Uh… Yeah. We were there to save the Nami no Kuni while Zabuza was there to kill Tazuna. But what-"
"No. The difference between us and them was that the Bridge-builder paid us and Gato paid Zabuza. The situation could have very well been reversed. Given how poor Nami was, if the Hokage turned him down, Tazuna would have most likely turned to a Nuke-nin. Meanwhile, Gato could've very well hired Konoha to assassinate his… business opponent."
"What… but… no. That's not right. Gato was evil."
"Naruto. We are shinobi. Mercenaries. We work for whoever pays." He sighed. "It's my fault you've never seen this side of the work. No matter how many missions we did, somehow we always were on the 'good' side. Remember how often you encountered shinobi from other villages. Do you believe those villages are evil?"
"Well… uh…" No matter how Naruto tried to approach the subject, he felt like it was the wrong answer. If he said yes, he felt like he would be somehow turning his back on his dream of peace just like that. A betrayal of his promise to Nagato. But if he said no…
"Konoha isn't as innocent as you seem to believe." Kakashi decided to push forward. It was a discussion he should've had with his student a long time ago. "There will always be people dissatisfied with the current system, willing to take up arms and fight for their beliefs. As shinobi, it is not our place to judge if they are right or wrong. We are the weapons of the Hokage and the Daimyo."
"But… no… Baa-chan-," He tried to protest.
"Both Tsunade and I were informed of the full scope of the insurgents' beliefs. While Syura never admitted openly to the corruption, he dropped enough hints to paint the proper picture of the situation. The Hokage was aware of the political climate before she signed the mission orders."
Naruto said nothing. He just stared into the wall.
"Naruto," Kakashi said. "The mission doesn't change. Night Raid and the rebels kill people. Important people and commoners alike. They kill servants, guards, gardeners; Anyone who is involved with a shady business is at risk. People that are too afraid to speak up or lost hope. People like Inari." It was a dirty trick and Kakashi knew this. But he needed to do something before Naruto ran off to make an even bigger mess.
Naruto froze. All his movements stilled for a second before he turned and glared at Kakashi. He opened his mouth, but no words came. He tried to speak, but whenever he was about to say something he stopped and closed his mouth.
"Naruto?"
"Kakashi-sensei, how can you act so calmly about this?" Naruto finally collapsed in the seat, and the half-empty bottle of sake rolled out of his hand. It seemed that all energy left the young jonin.
"There is no good or evil, there is only the village," Kakashi said. "And the village is everything. If you are serious about being the Hokage one day, you must realize that there will come a time when you'll be forced to make these kinds of decisions. Sacrifice strangers to save comrades. Sacrifice one ninja to save a squad. Sacrifice one child to save a village." He lowered his gaze. Naruto followed, only to realize his sensei was looking at his seal.
The glare young shinobi sent his older comrade was worse than if he physically slapped him. He didn't say anything, but Kakashi realized that he might've pushed too far. He quickly changed the subject to bring the conversation back on track he wanted to follow. He needed a new strategy.
"Night Raid's aim is to kill the Emperor. Is killing the boy ruler the right decision?"
"What?" The teen was getting tired of this conversation. It was making him extremely uncomfortable.
"Naruto, in your opinion, is killing a child right?"
"No. It's not." He said automatically. The answer to that one was almost too obvious.
"But it is right to kill the Emperor? Each side fights for what they believe is right. The Hokage made the decision to support the Empire. We have our orders and Konoha counts on us."
"But… is there nothing we can do?"
"As Shinobi in the employment of the Emperor, we technically answer only to him as he is the client. Thus, we have a lot of authority." Kakashi gave Naruto his patented eye smile.
"Like… to arrest someone?" Naruto caught on to what his sensei was suggesting.
"Yes and No. We are technically here to deal with the Night Raid and the Revolutionary army. While some stunts can be forgiven from time to time, don't push it." Kakashi sighed. "The Prime Minister keeps a tight hold on the Emperor. He is not happy that you managed to make his Majesty go against his advice, so I need you to be very careful going forward."
"I get it, Kakashi sensei. Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"The mission must come first. I need to know that you'll do whatever it takes to finish the mission."
"What do you mean?"
"I trust you, Naruto, but I need you to promise me that no matter what, you will not endanger the mission." His harsh glare softened. "Have you killed someone?"
"Yeah…" The young shinobi muttered. "Several times. When I was traveling with Jiraiya, we often encountered bandits both in the city and on the road. Rasengan isn't exactly a non-lethal technique."
Kakashi nodded. "Promise me. Promise me that you will do your best to fulfill the mission."
"Why!?" Naruto growled. "Why should I help this stupid Empire? Can't we just drop the mission and go back to Konoha?"
Instead of answering verbally, Kakashi handed Naruto a scroll. "Read the contract. Under penalties." Naruto skimmed through the most part until he got to the section his teacher mentioned. "Read it."
"Should one party withdraw from the agreement, unless satisfactory justification exists and is presented, the malefactor shall pay the other party double the agreed sum as compensation for…" Naruto paused. "What? But… they can't do that!"
"The Hokage agreed to these terms."
"But… it means dropping this mission would ruin Konoha! We're only now rebuilding. What was Baa-chan thinking?"
"Can you promise me you will see this mission to the end?"
Naruto didn't say anything. He just stared at his teacher, who remained solely focused on the young shinobi.
"Okay…" Naruto huffed. Kakashi kept glaring at him. "I promise, yeah? I'll finish this stupid mission. I always keep my promises. It's my Nindo. You happy?"
"Remember Naruto. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Kakashi gave him an eye smile. Naruto just huffed and stormed out of the room.
The old shinobi collapsed in his armchair.
"I hope you will one day forgive me, Naruto." He sighed. Manipulating his student like that… He just hoped that he would forgive him one day. But for now, the mission had to take priority. Naruto might hate him later but for now, he needed the boy to do his part. No matter how much it pained him to do this.
-/\/-
Naruto spent the rest of that day settling in. Kakashi brought him in on what he already established. All clues pointed to Night Raid having a base of operation set outside the city. His attempts at tracking them brought no result as they always covered their tracks, either traveling by air or by river. If he managed to get some fresh blood, his ninken could probably track them even with the disadvantage, but so far he didn't encounter the group face to face.
Sage mode, similarly, proved to be useless. Most people on the continent barely had enough chakra to stay alive, making reading signatures harder. And Night Raid seemed to have started to suppress their presence better.
As the easy solutions were impossible to deal with, the Shinobi were stuck waiting. They regularly patrolled the city every night, but it was simply proving too big for just two of them. Even with the liberal use of shadow clones, Naruto was unable to cover enough ground. The only bright side was that it seemed that Night Raid dialed back on their attacks. It seemed that the threat of a quick response from the shinobi made them more cautious. They managed to kill a city guard captain and an oil merchant the night after their attack on Naruto but since then nothing.
Naruto sat perched on the rooftop of a church. His clones were spread out through the city either keeping eye on important people or simply searching for suspicious activity.
An unexpected influx of memories almost caused him to fall from his resting place. A clone popped without a warning, meaning someone killed it. Naruto dashed toward where that particular scout was last seen.
He arrived in one of the poorer districts of the capital. Roughly a third of the houses were in ruin and every fourth or so was abandoned. Even those that were lived-in were long overdue for repairs.
Naruto moved slowly to take place of his last clone, making sure to remain out of view from the street or the windows. The rooftop he was on was flat, with a low concrete railing that was partially eroded. There were several holes, most of them patched with some planks or a metal sheet. One hole was open though, and Naruto could hear some noises down there.
"...We took care of it. Now, you've said you had something for us."
"Here. All I was able to get on the members of the Royal Council. Families, close friends, bank accounts, investments, where they live, everything."
"How do we know it's real?"
"You don't. But I'm too tired of doing nothing. Whether you want to follow through or not is not my business. Just tell Najenda that I wish to meet her."
"Night Raid appreciates your help."
That was enough for Naruto. He dropped into the hole with a kunai drawn. In the room, there were two people. One was a young man, close to his age, with green hair and wearing a bomber jacket and fingerless gloves. The other one was a tall man with broad shoulders dressed in a brown cloak from under which Naruto could spot an Imperial Army uniform. It was customized with several red accents, signifying a high rank.
"I-It's you." The younger man stumbled over his words. "How did you find us? I killed the clone."
"Drop the folder and surrender," Naruto demanded. He held the kunai in one hand while the other reached for some shuriken.
"Go. Get those files to Najenda. I'll slow him down." The officer ordered.
"Stay where you are. I don't want to have to kill you both." The young shinobi pleaded. "Surrender." He repeated his earlier demand more forcefully.
"Go!" The officer shouted while dropping his cloak. For a single precious second, Naruto was stunned to see general Rokugou, who was visiting the capital to bring taxes from western provinces. Naruto was present when the man greeted the Emperor.
That moment of hesitation allowed the other man to rush out of the room and begin a mad dash down the staircase. Naruto sent a bunch of shurikens at him, but none reached the target. A series of loud bangs resonated across the room.
Rokugou was now holding two pistols with blades attached under the barrels and going down to the bottom of the handle. The general aimed his weapons at Naruto, who quickly summoned over two dozen clones. The copies all charged at the soldier who frantically tried to kill them all. With each shot, another clone vanished, but there were more clones than bullets. Rokugou tried to slice them with the attached blades, but Naruto only kept adding more bodies to the brawl. It quickly became clear that the general is superior in terms of fighting prowess, but it meant little in the face of (effectively) unlimited numbers that Naruto could field in an instant.
A lucky clone managed to slice at his left arm. The sharp blade of the kunai left a deep gash that started to spew blood. Another clone used the opportunity to stick a kunai in his shin. Yet another got a lucky shot under the ribs.
The general finally collapsed on his knees, no longer able to stand when the fourth clone managed to pierce his tight all the way to the handle. Naruto looked at his copies, who stared at him in response.
"Should… should we pursue the other guy, boss?"
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but he then pursed his lips. He made a promise to do his best on this mission though. "Go. Spread out and find him."
"You-" The general tried to speak but was interrupted by a cough. A small streak of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "Heh. When you first arrived and brought that family of monsters to justice, I thought it was a sign that things could change." The general coughed some more blood.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto growled. He marched over to the man but paused. He could now see that the wounds were much more severe than they seemed from distance.
"For the first time, I've seen some light in the darkness." The man had to lie down as his legs gave up under him entirely. A pool of blood started to form from his wounds. "I thought I, too, could make a difference. And I did…" He spat a glob of blood at the teen. "You're already too late." With those words on his lips, he finally died.
Naruto stared at the body for a moment, then made a clone and sent it to get the guards in here.
-/\/-
"Night Raid has us all on a silver platter! All because that boy let the assassin escape!" One of Honest's sycophants raved in front of the emperor. "They'll pick us off one by one!"
"Or they will go after our friends and families!" A woman moaned while gasping for breath in a performance fit for a theatre.
"There is no need to worry." Honest reassured them. "I'm sure his majesty will provide sufficient protection to all of his faithful subjects."
"Yes! We shall double the guards in each of your residences." The ruler declared.
"I'm afraid that won't be enough, your Majesty." Honest shook his head. "Night Raid is simply too dangerous to be stopped by only a few more guards. But…" He paused, pretending to think about something. "The palace is still the safest place in the entire Empire. Maybe those in danger could for now move into one of the unused wings? Even those rascals from Night Raid would think twice before trying to attack the palace itself."
"Great idea. I knew I could always count on you, prime minister."
"But what about that incompetent boy who let the assassin escape?" One of the worried ministers asked. "Surely he must be punished for his failure." It became clear what Honest's real objective was. It was revenge for how Naruto embarrassed him.
Before the emperor got a chance to respond, an unexpected man came to Naruto's defense. "Your Majesty, despite his failure to capture the assassin, Master Naruto was able to defeat the traitorous imperial general Rokugou in single combat. It is thanks to him that we can react before Night Raid makes its move and we got rid of a Revolutionary Army sympathizer from our ranks before he could cause more damage. Such actions deserve praise."
"Thank you, General Budo. You are, of course, right. Master Naruto performed admirably and showed great talent. He and Master Kakashi are proving to be an unparalleled boon to our Empire."
Kakashi, from his place a bit to the right, took great pleasure in watching Honest grind his teeth when the Emperor wasn't looking.
-/\/-
Naruto sat on the rooftop meditating. He could sense Kakashi walking next to Iokal and his wife. They were surrounded by a group of guardsmen as they walked out of the palace. There were several more guards, as the forward and rear guards, who checked for any sort of traps on the way. Most of the terrain was empty. He couldn't sense anything unusual in the proximity. There was a group of travelers in the forest-
"Watch out!"
He leaped from the rooftop and tossed a kunai mid-flight. In the corner of his eye, he spotted Kakashi also sprung into action. His sensei weaved through several hand signs and slammed his palms into the road.
"Doton: Doryūheki" (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)
The ground shifted. Dirt piled up to form a thick wall.
Two beams of thunder and death sailed through the air, destroying the Kunai without a trace.
Kakashi pushed more chakra into the technique, causing more earth to join the wall and thicken it.
Naruto was almost in front of Iokal. Just five meters to the ground.
The shots pierced the wall Kakashi's Jutsu created.
Three meters.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had to make it. He would not fail.
Two meters.
The young Jonin twisted in the air to intercept the shots in a last desperate attempt. He crossed his hands in front of his face and prepared to kick the other one.
Iokal was dead. His wife screeched in terror.
Naruto tumbled away, crashing into Aoi Honest. The shot was stopped by his sage mode, but just the force behind the shot was enough to send him flying, especially in mid-air.
"Sniper!" The guards scrambled, but it was already too late. Iokal was dead.
Naruto leaped to his feet and was about to chase after the attacker when he sensed a burst of chakra from one of the guards. He turned just in time to see the armored assassin stand over Aoi with his spear poised for a strike. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second before the man plunged his weapon through the woman's heart. Naruto leaped forward, but the man was fast enough to barely block the attack with his spear, which creaked under the force.
Instead of engaging the shinobi, the armored man took a step back and vanished. Naruto tried his damn hardest to sense his chakra, but it vanished entirely. He sensed the sniper and their guard though. Without further delay, he chased after them.
-/\/-