Yosh, this is a new story of mine. I don't believe i've read anything quite like it, but don't quote me on that. This is also AU. I will be fucking with the canon storyline, so if you like having the usual events with only a few differences happening, then don't read this story. Otherwise, enjoy.
The rain pelted them as he shoveled, turning the dirt into mud. While easier to shovel, it made the work far messier and the sides of the ditch kept collapsing. He kept at it though. His own focus was so intense that he ignored all the bad. He just went through the motions. Scoop, lift, throw, and then scoop again. He didn't know how long he'd been at it, and he didn't care. His concentration was so great that such an errant thought simply didn't appear in his mind.
At least until a voice called out, "Naruto-sama!"
Naruto jerked his up, but the rain had soaked his blonde hair, causing it to fall in front of his eyes. He quickly used a hand to brush it away and looked at the person who had spoken. It was a typical chuunin of the force gathered. Brown hair, dark colored eyes, and dressed in the green and gray garb expected of the force. Knowing that he was carrying a message, Naruto shifted his position so that he was leaning on his shovel. He then spoke in a commanding voice, "Report!"
The chuunin straightened and quickly informed him, "Uchiha-sama has arrived with the reinforcements. He is in the command tent with Uzuki-sama and Yamato-sama. They await your presence."
"Of course, tell them I'll be there in as soon as possible," Naruto ordered. As the chuunin nodded and left, Naruto jumped out of the trench . He then turned and looked at all the other people who had been digging the trench alongside him. All soaked to the bone, they all had heard what the messenger had said. He quickly raised his voice and commanded, "All right. The trench is almost done. I'm going to go consult with the captains. I'm relying on you all to finish this trench. It is almost done. Just a little more, and then I order you to go find some shelter and relax. We can add the rest of the fortifications tomorrow when this damn rain has let up." The workers smiled at the good news and quickly started working again.
Naruto watched for a few moments before dropping his muddied shovel on a pile of them and started walking away the trench. It was a shame that earth jutsu couldn't be used for such tasks. While such techniques were useful for short term defense, they were supported by the chakra mixed in with the earth. This chakra gradually leaked when left alone though, so most of the structures created lasted only several hours. It was a pain, but it had to be manually done if one intended to use such defenses for longer periods of time. The rain was just unlucky.
As he walked, Naruto surveyed the construction of the camp around him through the rain. Those not digging the trench in front of the camp were performing a myriad of other duties. Messengers were moving through the camp, there were multiple guards and scouts around the camp, squad leaders were barking orders, and many were busy constructing tents from waterproof fabrics. Some might consider all this too much for force of ninjas, but Naruto knew better. Individual squads might be able to function without proper camps, but larger gatherings like this one required more effort in order to optimize defense and moral.
Throughout the chaos though, all the ninjas who spotted him bowed in recognition. Naruto nodded to them as he slowly walked. Although he was heading towards an important meeting, Naruto didn't bother speeding up. It was a ritual he did before every meeting. Just walking and taking the opportunity to think and clear his mind of any unwanted clutter.
It was all because of this war, or 'skirmish', as it was officially known. It had defined his past, present, and had thus completely altered his future. For he was Naruto, Supreme Commander of Konoha's Combat Forces, with the nickname of 'The General.' Naruto almost snorted as he thought of what the people back in Konoha probably thought of that. Even Naruto had admitted this outcome was completely ridiculous if one considered what he had been like before being involved in all of this.
He should probably start at the beginning though. The Third Shinobi War had basically come to an end when Konoha, Iwa, Kiri, and Suna all signed an armistice approximately fourteen years ago. Kumo hadn't participated though, instead choosing to continue its war with Konoha. It likely wouldn't have lasted if it wasn't for the Kyuubi attacking only half a year later, which resulted in widespread devastation to Konoha, and many deaths in the ninja corps. Most notably the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. With Konoha seriously damaged, Kumo had ramped up its war efforts. Konoha weathered the storm though, and about four years later Konoha and Kumo were going to sign an armistice. That is where it went wrong. The Kumo ambassador attempted to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress, but was stopped and killed by the Hyuuga clan head. The Raikage though denied the kidnapping and claimed Konoha had killed the ambassador to prevent a peace from being reached. In return for signing the treaty, he had demanded the corpse of the Hyuuga clan head be presented to him in reparation. Konoha refused, and the war continued.
War might be an exaggeration though. Despite the Raikage's strong words, Kumo was in no shape to continue a true war. Instead, only occasional skirmishes happened in the Lands of Hot Springs and Frost. That continued for about two years before Iwa entered the struggle. Skirmishes erupted between Konoha and Iwa shinobi in the Lands of Waterfall and Grass. Officially Iwa claimed Konoha shinobi had been spying on their borders, but everyone knew that they simply wanted in on the action. They were hoping to use Konoha's vulnerability in order to have some revenge for their devastating loss in the Third Shinobi War. Despite the number of years of rebuilding Iwa had gone through though, they weren't in any shape for a true war either. The Yellow Flash had decimated their ninja ranks at the end of the war to such a degree that they still hadn't recovered enough to actual try and truly defeat Konoha. With all three villages too weak to handle a true war, they instead engaged in a mini-war. Officially referred to as skirmishes.
And it was actually true. Each major village had around 15,000 ninjas at their disposal, with Konoha having closer to 20,000 due to their larger population. During the Third Shinobi World War, about two thirds of that was directly engaged in the war. Now Iwa and Kumo both only had about 1,000 ninjas dedicated to the war each, and Konoha had about 1,500 ninjas split between the two fronts. With each nation fielding only a tenth of what they had in the Third Shinobi World War, Naruto had to admit it couldn't truly be called a war. Calling it a skirmish pissed Naruto off though.
Naruto had been sent to the front soon after Iwa had joined in. The Fourth had split the Kyuubi's chakra into two halves and sealed them into two different babies. The Yang half had been sealed into the Fourth's own daughter, who had been born that day. The Yin half had been sealed into Naruto, who was an orphan born a week earlier. Although his resemblance to the Fourth added a whole different can of worms to that issue, but he didn't like to think about that. With Konoha facing both Iwa and Kumo, they had to step up their war effort. They had two choices. Send several hundred more shinobi or send a jinchuriki. The second option was considered a far better use of resources. With one of their jinchuriki the daughter of the Fourth and the Uzumaki clan head, the choice of which jinchuriki had been clear. Naruto had just been six when they decided. He had been given three months of training in how to access and use the Kyuubi's chakra before being thrown onto the frontlines.
Naruto still couldn't remember the first year or two years in detail. Between the shock, panic, his own youth, and Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto doubted he'd ever remember that time in detail. It had just been a rush of fear and fighting. As he got older and gained experience though, that panic lessened. It was around that time that his other talents had started showing. At first it had been in his own battles. Despite the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto had the body of a child. Even individual jonin had the advantage against him. When pure power failed him, Naruto started demonstrating a rare and powerful ability. Naruto was a battle genius, plain and simple. A person who had battle instincts imbedded so deeply into his psyche that fighting and developing strategies in the middle of battle came as instinctive to him as a child seeking their parents when scared. It wasn't a skill someone could develop. A person can gain battle instincts if they had enough experience, but it was like comparing the swimming ability of a dog to that of a fish. The dog can swim, but swimming is so intrinsically part of a fish's being that the dog can't possibly hope to compare.
That didn't mean the skill didn't need to be honed. At first Naruto could only do it during the most intense of battles. Where so much adrenaline was pumping through your veins that you thought your heart might burst. Where your muscles were burning so much you didn't think you could go on. When you are so focused that the world just melts away around you. When even the smallest twitch, slip, or hesitation can end everything. Even now, Naruto can't say there is anything that makes him feel as alive as during those moments. Those were the moments that Naruto felt completely at peace. Those were the moments Naruto had been born for.
Although nothing could match those moments, he had quickly managed to expand his horizons farther than those brief times. Soon it wasn't only in life and death struggles that he awakened. Situations where he could simply power through with the Kyuubi's chakra were instead turned into matches where strategy and tactics decided the victor.
Then when he was a bit older and increased his control of the Kyuubi's chakra to a level where he wasn't a danger to everything around him, he was placed with squads. Soon it wasn't only him he was manipulating on the battlefield. He soon started coordinating those with him as well. Considering their fear of him when he used the Kyuubi's chakra and just general dislike of him, they were reluctant to trust in him and follow his orders at first. After a few incidents though where he had managed to seemingly turn impossible situations around, they quickly caught on. Listening to him could save their lives. They still weren't fond of him at first, but that gradually changed as more and more of them started owing their lives to him.
After that, it was only a step farther to coordinating several squads. Then another step before he was coordinating all the squads. By the time he was nine, the commanders included him in all their strategy meetings. By ten, he had officially named him the Supreme Commander of Konoha's Combat Forces. Naruto's skill at strategy couldn't completely be attributed to being a battle genius though. Although coordinating the fronts was like a large term battle in Naruto's mind, it was Naruto's mindset that truly made him a successful commander. When his comrades lives were on the line, no one else could even hope to match Naruto's focus. There was always more he could do, a strategy he hadn't thought of yet, an epiphany just out of his reach. He simply kept pushing and forcing himself to go one step further.
Many were no doubt skeptic about appointing a child as the Supreme Commander, although Naruto was anything but a child at that point. They were silenced though as Naruto quickly started changing the tides of both fronts. Although Konoha had been holding steady for years, Naruto managed to lower casualty rates significantly, increase squad efficiency, and started dictating when and where the skirmishes happened. Not that he didn't make mistakes. Several times he had escaped personal death or military disaster by the smallest of margins. Still, on both fronts Konoha had been getting the better of their enemies for three years in a row now. Nothing showed how much of a threat Naruto was to Kumo and Iwa more than the ranking both countries had assigned him. Naruto was officially the youngest person ever to be assigned an S-rank threat level. He had only been eleven when they had assigned him that rank, and it wasn't due to his personal skill level. Any S-rank ninja could defeat Naruto with both arms tied behind their backs. No, he was assigned that threat level based purely on the damage his command abilities could inflict on both countries if a real war ever broke out. Hence his nickname, 'The General.'
And that brought him to the present. He was currently thirteen years old, personally commanding the Iwa front, and ready to end this war.
Naruto finally reached the command tent. This tent was the second largest in the camp, with only the cooking tent being larger. Most of the tents were small, simply meant to give shelter to three or four shinobi when they slept. The command tent had to be large enough for Naruto to work and give orders to the squad leaders when necessary. So it covered an area of at least ten square meters. If crowded, at least thirty people could fit inside.
Naruto calmly pushed aside the flap covering the entrance and walked in. Although this was a new camp, Naruto's assistant had set the tent up exactly the same as Naruto always had it. The center of the room was dominated by a large table which was covered by several maps necessary to the current discussion and small figurines which symbolized ninjas. The farthest wall only had a small cot against it, a luxury Naruto got for being commander. He had his own tent, but he usually fell asleep here since he worked late into the night going over reports and strategizing. The right side of the tent had a desk which was absolutely covered with intelligence reports, supply requests, personal and professional correspondence, and all other sorts of papers Naruto had to deal with everyday. The left side had a large board which was covered by dozens of smaller maps with hundreds of sticky notes attached with little tidbits of information necessary to Naruto having a clear picture of the entire war. It was a room with no other purpose than commanding a war, just how Naruto liked it. The room was occupied by four other people.
"Itachi!" Naruto called out with a grin.
The seventeen year old turned with a small smile on his usually stoic face as he responded, "Naruto."
Naruto couldn't keep the grin off his face. The two clasped hands as Naruto exclaimed, "Good to see you, Itachi."
"You too, Naruto."
Uchiha Itachi was Naruto's second in command. The clan heir had been sent to the war front five years ago when he was thirteen. Despite the young age, he had already been an ANBU Captain at that point. He was assigned as Naruto's partner when he started working with others so that he could restrain Naruto with the Sharingan if necessary. Fighting a war builds powerful bonds though, and the two became friends and comrades. Itachi was also the one who noticed Naruto's talents. When Naruto became commander, there wasn't anyone he trusted more as his second than Itachi. At eighteen years old, Itachi was the only other S-rank ninja involved in the war on Konoha's side, and the only one who actually had the strength of the rank. Although Konoha had several S-ranks ninjas currently, none of them were ever sent to the front. Naruto suspected it was a way to prevent the skirmishes from growing into a full on conflict. Itachi had only been an A-rank when he had been first sent. For two years Itachi had been commanding the Kumo front while Naruto handled the Iwa front.
After his hand dropped, Naruto turned and nodded to two of the others in the room. Yugao Uzuki and Yamato had only arrived several months before. Konoha frequently rotated the ANBU who were sent to assist him. The two captains lead the two score of ANBU currently under Naruto's command, although they didn't operate with their masks or codenames. They hadn't ever served under him before, and both had been skeptical of his leadership capabilities at first, despite it being well hidden under their professional exterior. The two quickly changed their opinions though after just weeks of serving under him, as everyone seemed to. Most wouldn't notice the difference considering how professional both acted, but Naruto wasn't most people. Yugao seemed in absolute awe of him, while Yamato seemed to have gained a stern respect for him. Their ANBU units had also made it far easier to proceed with his plans.
With greetings over for now, Naruto would catch up with Itachi after the meeting, Naruto softly ordered, "Report on your situation, Itachi."
"I have managed to follow your orders on the Kumo front before coming here. I am accompanied by a force of 350. Per your instructions, I have split the force into two and camped where you asked. One camp is ten miles to the southeast, while the other is the same distance to the northeast," Itachi explained calmly.
As Itachi had been explaining, Naruto had been stripping. His clothes were still soaked from the downpour going on outside, and he couldn't risk the maps getting wet. After getting the green vest off, Naruto removed his gray long sleeved shirt without a hint of modesty. Most ninjas tended to have less modesty than civilians, and Naruto had basically grown up on the battlefield where unnecessary things like modesty might get you killed, so he had even less than most. After removing his shirt, he took off his pants as well. The occupants of the room were well used to his behavior by now, and didn't react.
Naruto turned to his assistant, whose name was Shatori Yuuka. She was a rather pretty twenty-six year with short blonde hair and glasses. She used to work at Konoha's Intelligence Department before being sent to the front for no real reason. Naruto suspected she had snubbed a superior who had tried to make an advance. As expected, she had almost no use as a fighter, but her organizational skills and intelligence were invaluable to Naruto. Not to mention she seemed unusually tuned to Naruto's needs and desires. He handed over the clothes, and she handed him a towel and another pair of pants she had known to prepare beforehand.
He slipped on the pants before using the towel to dry his hair. After handing the now damp towel back to Yuuka, Naruto looked in the mirror as he combed his fingers through his hair. Some people stated Naruto had unusual features, but Naruto really couldn't understand it. He had seemingly untamable, bright blonde hair. It was rather long simply for no other reason than Naruto didn't particularly care enough to tend to it. It fell down to his shoulder blades in the back, and his bangs fell like a waterfall down his forehead and formed a curtain in front of his eyes. Besides his unusual hair color, Naruto's eyes were what drew the most attention. His eyes were two different colors. His eyes were the clearest shade of cerulean blue that anyone had seen, but his eyes also had ring of blood red crimson surrounding the iris as well. This caused his eyes to look purple or amethyst, at a distance or at certain angles. It was mostly agreed that the red rings around his eyes were a result of being the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi's Yin chakra. Most of his other traits were a result of using the Kyuubi's chakra so much. Naruto had developed three faints lines on each cheeks. Although Naruto had never met her, the jinchuriki of the Yang half apparently had whisker marks, so it was pretty clear the Kyuubi's chakra had caused them to appear. They weren't very defined though. Only the observant would notice them. His teeth also seemed sharper than most people, once again though, only the observant would notice.
The Kyuubi's chakra had enhanced his body in many other unusual ways as well. His nails seemed to grow very fast as well, forcing Naruto to trim them regularly. He had also aged physically faster than normal. Naruto appeared to be a year or two older than what was expected for his age. Most other changes were beneficial, at least the physical changes. Naruto had found out a year before that most Bijuu chakra tended to damage and destroy the body of the jinchuriki if used too early despite the healing benefits of being one, another reason they had chosen him instead of the Fourth's daughter, but Naruto appeared to be lucky. He seemed to have an unusual resistance to the corrosive effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. Another reason that Naruto doubted he'd just been a nameless orphan the Fourth had picked out. Instead of the chakra slowly destroying and weakening his body, his body adapted and instead grew stronger from it. Itachi suspected that Naruto's durability surpassed even that of the Third Raikage, and no one seemed able to disagree. Naruto's bones were so strong breaking them was a huge challenge, his muscles were far denser and stronger than most, he had absolutely inhuman stamina, he had a heightened healing ability, which included his immune system, only needed to sleep a few hours a day, and his senses were heightened. All this combined to give Naruto a 'perfect' body which ran at an efficiency even ninjas couldn't hope to match.
With his own vanity satisfied and Itachi finished speaking, Naruto turned back to the group. "Good, now I can tell you three about the whole plan." The three straightened slightly, no doubt eager to hear. Naruto took a minute to place all the figurines on the map, letting them simmer in their curiosity. After they were all in place, with Konoha being the green pieces and Iwa the red, Naruto started explaining what they needed to know to actually understand his plan.
"This is a very important time of the year that I've been carefully preparing us to take advantage of for months. It all lies in a piece of information I've spent years confirming. The fact that Kumo rotates their fighting force three times a year, and Iwa does twice a year. For two years I've watched the intelligence reports, and I have managed to narrow down an estimate of when they change to within a few days. If I'm right, which I'm pretty damn sure I am, then Iwa has changed their force within the past two days or today. Kumo on the other hand won't rotate their force for two more months. So I've spent given orders that allow us to take advantage of this fact. You said you managed to complete the order I gave you on the Kumo front, Itachi."
Itachi nodded and elaborated, "Yes. I managed to either capture or kill, with a preference for capture, almost all of the scouts or sensors on the Kumo front." Itachi frowned slightly before adding, "Doing all this in two months though meant I had to resort to more aggressive tactics though. Casualties rose because of this."
Naruto grimaced as well as he replied grimly, "I know, but it is needed to put an end to this war."
Yugao eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she asked in confusion, "You had our ANBU force do the same to Iwa. Capture as much of the enemy scouts and sensors as possible, with killing as the last resort. We've been doing this since we arrived though. Almost six months."
Naruto nodded before explaining, "Yes. ANBU are the best with stealth, so I assigned your units to sneak up on them. Since we've been doing it for the last six months, I've also been able to minimize your casualties."
Yamato caught on and quickly stated, "You wished to damage our enemies intelligence. Make them fight blind."
"Yes. Ninjas are far more mobile than samurai or other fighting forces, so intelligence on enemy movements is critical to planning strategies and directly the squads to fight with the most efficiency possible. This means that scouts and sensors are of critical importance. Ninjas are specialized to perform certain duties. If you take out all that fulfill those roles, they can't be replaced easily. Which meant that their commanders are going blind until their forces are rotated and they receive competent scouts and sensors to feel out our forces," Naruto explained calmly.
Yamato immediately questioned, "I see, but why are we on the Iwa front? Wouldn't the Kumo front be a smarter choice? Your own information states that the Iwa forces will be rotated out, making the information blackout we've worked for nullified. Kumo still has two months before they are rotated. Wouldn't it be smarter to go on the offensive there, not draw Itachi and his reinforcements away from them when the enemy is vulnerable?"
Although he seemed to be questioning Naruto's current actions, Naruto knew the ANBU captain was just trying to understand what he was doing. The ANBU captain was a dedicated shinobi and excelled in small scale tactics, the kind ANBU squads needed to know, but he wasn't the best person at understanding large scale tactics and strategies. Neither was Yugao for that matter, but the two were the highest level officials in the camp besides Naruto and Itachi. That was why he had them included in the meeting. Not to mention there was little Naruto enjoyed more than outsmarting others. It was fun to make adults feel like children.
Before Naruto could speak, a messenger pushed into the room. The messenger gave Naruto a slip of paper before hastily withdrawing. Naruto read it and grinned at the news. He ignored their looks and responded to Yamato's previous questions, "That would be true if not for several things. Itachi, explain to him why such a thing would not work."
Itachi pushed aside his curiosity about the note and turned to Yamato to explain, "There is a reason this isn't a usual tactic when preparing to go on the offensive. Taking out their scouts and sensors does indeed make the enemy operate blind, but the enemy realizes this. Only a fool would try and plan to go on the offensive under such conditions. So the enemy commander usually halts all offensive operations and shores up his defense. Consolidate his forces into a smaller area where his other ninjas can successfully fill in as scouts despite being less effective. So assaulting the force under those conditions would be extremely difficult for us. Which is why it is usually only employed to buy time or create a lull in the fighting."
Naruto nodded before adding, "And that is part of the reason why I had to use this strategy against Iwa, and not Kumo. Since they consolidate their forces in a smaller area and lack proper scouts or sensors, they can't possibly defend a country with the geography and borders of the Land of Earth. Comparatively, the Land of Lightning has such a narrow strip of land connecting the greater part of their country with the rest of the Elemental Nations that the Kumo force can simply plop themselves down right in the middle of that strip of land, and would cut us off from threatening their country. On the other hand, I have managed to move our main force into Earth Country relatively easily by moving us through the Land of Waterfalls. The Iwa main camp positioned itself to guard their border with the Land of Grass because that is where the most action has been occurring in recent months. For my plan to take effect, I had to move our main camp into the country of one of our enemies."
Yamato finally asked, "So what is your strategy?"
Naruto smirked slightly. Partly at the fact that all three of them couldn't figure out his strategy yet despite all being intelligent, and partly due to the hint of annoyance he detected in the usually stoic ANBU captain. He continued, "My plan has several parts. By having Itachi eliminate the scouts of the Kumo force, I have stopped all offensive operations on that front for the two months until they are reinforced. With the enemy lacking scouts and on the defensive, Itachi has been able to join us with a sizable amount of reinforcements without the enemy taking advantage of it. We'll need as many men as possible to make this work. The plan is happening now because the Iwa forces are being rotated, or soon will be."
Yugao tilted her head in confusion before inquiring, "Why is that necessary? Wouldn't that just invalidate what we've spent the last six months doing?"
Naruto quickly explained with a shit eating grin, he was so enjoying this, "Yes, it would if we gave them the time to take advantage of it. If we had given them the time necessary, they would have quickly sent their scouts out to lift the intelligence blackout we've imposed on them. We aren't going to give them the time necessary, exactly why I needed to move my main camp within their borders."
Itachi's face lit up as he finally realized his plan, at least part of it. He muttered, "They now have to act quickly."
Naruto pointed at Itachi as he exclaimed, "Exactly. Since I took command I've always been satisfied with keeping our main camps within the border of the Land of Fire, and still managed to get the better of our opponents. They simply can't risk giving us the chance to gain a foothold within their borders. They don't have the time to gain proper intelligence and be clever about it. So how will they try to dislodge us?"
Itachi quickly answered, "Brute force."
Naruto nodded and pulled out the message from before. He then informed the trio, "I just received a message. A group of 600 Iwa shinobi are approaching from the west." The trio blinked a few times in shock from the number, and Naruto could understand why. Usually shinobi squads are spread out in order to optimize their mobility and flexibility. While there needed to be a main camp where orders are given and shinobi rest up between assignments, usually only about a quarter of the total force is there at a time. That meant between 150 to 300 at a single time. A group of 600 is a large display of brute force. Luckily, Naruto had fully expected a number like that, and continued, "Naturally they underestimate me if they think I didn't prepare for facing a force even larger than that. I gathered as many men as I could possibly take from the rest of the front into this force. 450 total, but I selected a hundred with the best stealth capabilities and a few Yamanaka and had them advance further than this group and hide. With Itachi's reinforcements of 350 and the advance squads, we won't just have them outnumbered. We'll have them surrounded."
Itachi just needed to look at the map and the placement of the pieces to figure out what he meant, making Naruto pout. Luckily, Yugao asked, "What do you mean?"
Naruto placed enough of the red pieces to form the Iwa group, and moved them as he explained, "The Iwa force is going to be moving light and fast in order to prevent us from penetrating even deeper into their land. I estimate they'll arrive about noon tomorrow but they'll be tired and hungry by then. They'll have to set up camp for the night to rest and allow their supply trains to catch up. Luckily, Iwa has always been challenged in the sensor department. Compared to Kumo who has sensors who can sometimes detect chakra up to fifteen miles away, Most Iwa sensors can only detect chakra sources several miles away. Likely, they'll set up camp in this clearing about 2 miles to the west of here. It's close enough that their sensors will be able to monitor us. I had your groups camp so far away Itachi because you'll be out of range of their sensors. With them unable to sense your reinforcements, they'll believe they outnumber our force almost 2:1. Enough to be confident I won't launch an assault on them right away. So they'll be vulnerable."
Naruto started moving the figurines as he explained to elaborate, "While they set up their camp, the different forces shall move into position to surround them. The camp of Itachi's reinforcements to the northeast shall move east before turning south to catch the enemy from the north. The camp to the southeast shall move east before turning north. This way they'll hit the enemy from the south. My advance force I had hide shall wait until the Iwa force passes them before fanning out and trying to find, ambush, and capture the supply trains that will be following the force. Iwa follows a system on the number of ninjas they have guard supply wagons. The first one has 5 guards, and each one added after that has 3 more guards added. Considering the size of the force they are supplying and the fact that they probably are aiming to drive us out of the borders quickly, I suspect they'll only be three caravans. So 11 guards. The 100 are split into 25 groups of 4. Once a squads finds the caravan, they'll signal all nearby squads. More than enough to defeat the guards and capture the supply wagons. They'll then all gather and move west to come up behind the enemy. Then with this force in front, we'll have them surrounded on all sides."
Yamato nodded before concluding, "Then we can easily attack with our forces outnumbering the enemy 800:600, us having them surrounded, and with the enemy being tired. We'll crush them."
Naruto frowned before stating seriously, "You misunderstand, Yamato. I don't intend to defeat this host in battle. I intend to capture them."
Itachi didn't react due to guessing Naruto's plan(the bastard. Taking away from the plan's magnificence by figuring it out so quickly), Yamato blinked in disbelief, and Yugao exclaimed, "What?"
Naruto nodded with his eyes closed as he explained, "Losing 600 ninjas wouldn't seriously injure Iwa as a whole. If anything, such a devastating loss would only encourage Iwa to escalate the fighting further. I want to end the conflict, not make it worse. However, capturing them would present Konoha an opportunity. If you factor in the 200 Iwa ninjas we've managed to capture over the past six months, then Konoha has a powerful bargaining chip while providing an incentive for Iwa to come to the table to talk."
Yamato quickly argued, "While capturing them does present a greater opportunity, it doesn't make it any more plausible. Iwa shinobi have one of the strictest mindsets about surrender. They are taught to do what is best for Iwagakure as a whole, ignoring their own well-being. They'd rather go down fighting and take down as many of us as possible than surrender. Even with out advantage, in pitched battle they'd probably be able to either injure or kill at least a third of our force, if not half."
Naruto didn't seem bothered by Yamato's argument and calmly replied, "You just said the answer to making them surrender. They will act in the best interests of Iwagakure. Yes, they would gladly fight to the death if it meant taking out a chunk of our own forces. So we simply have to make the battle so lopsided that their commander will decide it is in the best interest of Iwagakure to surrender. If they surrender, then their ninjas would be ransomed back to Iwagakure to fight another day in a less hopeless battle. I'm going to get them to surrender by making it clear that they'd be lucky to get even a hundred of our shinobi."
That statement shocked the three into complete silence. Stating that one side would be able to wipe out their opponents and not even receive casualties numbering a sixth of the opponent's entire force is ludicrous. Yet the confidence Naruto displayed clearly made their own logic and their faith in him clash. Naruto just let them stay frozen in favor of looking in the mirror again. After a minute, only Itachi had broken out of his state of shock. Instead the prodigy was examining the map and figurines to try and see what else Naruto had planned. Naruto finally decided to take pity on them.
"Let me ask you something, Yamato. It might help you see. If I plan to have the entire Iwa taken care of by tomorrow night, why would I bother to have my advance force capture their supply trains first? While the supplies will help feed all the Iwa troops once we have captured them, it does raise the risk of their discovery before the battle. If I just wanted the supplies, I could capture their force first and then capture their supplies."
Yamato gained a bit of understanding in his eyes, but clearly still couldn't completely understand. Itachi did though. Itachi had a large grin that would shock most people to ever converse the stoic Uchiha. "I see. The Yamanaka in the squads."
Naruto grinned and leaned on the table before stating, "This is what I've ordered my advance squads to do…"
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As another squad captain left, Kitsuchi couldn't hold in his sigh. He really didn't like his current situation. As in being the commander of the group of 600 ninjas tasked with driving out the Konoha force that had invaded. Kitsuchi was many things. Powerful, determined, and the only S-class ninjas in Iwagakure besides the Tsuchikage. Unfortunately, there was one thing he wasn't. A leader. It was why the Tsuchikage hasn't chosen him as his successor, not that he'd accept if he did try to force the position on him. He was a soldier. Actually, he was a damn fine soldier. He received orders others couldn't do, and he accomplished them. That is what he did. He did not manage large groups of ninjas.
Which was why he didn't like his current situation. He had been assigned to lead the group against the invading group to ease the worry of the Tsuchikage and the commanders of the skirmish forces. He'd been in the meeting where they had discussed how to react to the invasion force. He didn't join in on the discussion, his strategy sucked, but he had made sure to listen. The commanders and Tsuchikage were worried, mainly the commanders. Apparently this sudden advance completely went against The General's normal way of command.
Kitsuchi snorted as he realized even he was calling the brat by his nickname. It was difficult to imagine calling him anything else though. The child was an orphan, so he didn't have a family name, and calling him Naruto felt to personal when you were referring to him as an enemy a thousand miles away. Calling him The General was seemingly what people had chosen to do in Iwa. Kitsuchi really didn't see why they didn't call him Namikaze. Anyone with half a brain could see that the resemblance between The General and the Yellow Flash was too close to be coincidence. Yet people chose to dance around the topic, as if admitting that the child was a bastard of Namikaze would immediately make him a second Yellow Flash. Something that terrified 99% percent of Iwagakure. Kitsuchi was not in that group. While there were few men he despised more than Namikaze Minato, he wasn't afraid of the man even thirteen years after he died. He'd fought the man personally at the end of the war, and the only thing he felt for the man besides contempt was a grudging respect. He hadn't been S-class back then, but he never forgot how utterly outclassed he had been by the man's skill. Even at his current level of skill, he doubted he'd stand much of a chance against the man. His speed was just too great for Kitsuchi to possibly hit him with his powerful, but slow, earth techniques. It was an uncomfortable feeling, knowing you are outmatched.
A feeling he was once again subjected to. Almost ironic it was the bastard of the only other man to ever make him experience it. The reasons were entirely different though. The Yellow Flash outmatched him in combat, but The General completely eclipsed him in leadership capabilities.
The General's sudden break away from his usual strategies had the upper echelons of Iwagakure worried. They had debated and argued for hours, and they weren't even able to reach a consensus. A majority had voted for their current course of action, but two of the commanders had actually stormed out of the meeting room declaring that they were walking into a military disaster. An interesting, and worrying, fact was that those two commanders were the only two to actually meet The General face to face. They didn't have many options though. Even those two couldn't say why this course of action was the wrong course of action. They just claimed that they knew in their guts that they shouldn't do it. With everyone feeling uncertain, Kitsuchi had been assigned to lead the force. It was meant to reinforce their plan to simply bulldoze the Konoha force with numbers and power.
That didn't make it any easier for Kitsuchi though. He wasn't a leader. His strength and power meant he was a good person for others to follow, but he lacked the leadership capabilities. He could follow orders, but he didn't know how to give orders. They had only made camp an hour ago, and their progress wasn't going well simply because he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to tell the squad captains when they asked where to build the camps, how to organize the scouts, whether they should build any fortifications, or any other problems the commander was suppose to handle.
Despite their numbers advantage, Kitsuchi couldn't shake the feeling that he should turn the entire group back and flee. It was instinct gathered through war, but it simply wasn't enough. A person can't turn around 600 hundred men and flee without something more than gut feelings. It was why the Tsuchikage and the commanders had sent him with the group. They all had the same gut feeling, but that was all they had. They all knew The General was up to something, but they couldn't figure out what. The General was simply too good a commander. Without any other option, they had to act this way, so they sent him as extra insurance. He didn't feel like it would help much though. While he added much power to the group, it was taken away by his lack of leadership capabilities. Something The General would no doubt take advantage of.
"Commander! The supply wagons have arrived."
Nodding at the chuunin, Kitsuchi set of while sighing at having another thing to supervise. Supply wagons were a necessary evil for ninja warfare. They couldn't travel nearly as fast as ninjas, so they slowed down an entire group. Yet they were needed to bring food and other supplies. Storage seals were simply too expensive and rare nowadays to carry the food and supplies necessary to field several hundred ninjas.
Fuinjutsu was an extremely complicated ninja art for a reason. Even storage seals were simply too complicated to achieve widespread use. Well, the good ones at least. Throughout the Elemental Nations, there are only a few real seal masters living today. Most of them traveled between the villages, selling their seals. Then a few dozens wannabes who have managed to piece together a decent enough knowledge of fuinjutsu to design their own original, if low quality, seals for their own purpose. This was because the Uzumaki had a monopoly on fuinjutsu.
While all the other ninja clans had fought endless wars against each other in the time before the hidden villages, the Uzumaki had managed to achieve a state of neutrality for several hundred years. While the other ninja clans had their best and brightest dying in the wars, the Uzumaki spent that time researching the ninja arts, specifically fuinjutsu. Before them, fuinjutsu was a lost art from the era of the Sage of Six Paths. The other ninja clans had long abandoned the art due to its limited potential in direct combat. The Uzumaki hadn't been fooled though. They had seen the potential fuinjutsu could give them. They literally revived the art, and even expanded it beyond what the legends had told. The Uzumaki had proven that seals could literally do anything. Because of this, the Uzumaki grew in strength till no other ninja clan could hope to compare. Their home, Uzushiogakure, was the entire basis for the hidden villages. Even clans like the Senju and Uchiha had to band together with other clans to even have a chance of matching the Uzumaki. All this due to their unparalleled skill in fuinjutsu, and the clan fully realized that. They had guarded their knowledge of fuinjutsu as closely as other clans guarded their own secrets. In the end, that was also their downfall when multiple hidden villages joined together to destroy them and gain their knowledge on the art, a pursuit that ultimately failed. The Uzumaki had destroyed their knowledge in a final act of spite against their attackers. Many also contributed that attack as the reason for Konoha's victory in the Second Great Shinobi War. Kiri, Iwa, Kumo, and Suna had all teamed up to destroy Uzushiogakure. While victorious, the costs had been massive, another sign of the Uzumaki's strength. Without gaining anything from the attack, they quickly turned against each other. Konoha had been fresh when they joined in to avenge their fallen allies. Still, the destruction of the Uzumaki had once again forced fuinjutsu to the edge of obscurity.
Surprisingly, very few of the current masters were a part of a ninja village. In fact, the only truly well known master that belonged to a village was Jiraiya of the Sannin. Which wasn't really surprising. Konoha had been allied with Uzushiogakure, and several Uzumaki lived there. There fact that more knowledge was there than the other villages was to be expected. Most of the current masters had learned their knowledge from the few Uzumaki survivors that had spread across the land. It seemed that they copied their masters distaste for the villages responsible for Uzushiogakure's destruction. They sold their seals to them, but they were lower quality than those Konoha had.
Even those seals were incredibly complex. Only the most crude and simple of seals could be copied by those without proper training. The storage seals could only hold up to a dozen items, if too much chakra was used near them the seals warped, if the scroll were torn or became too damp the seal malfunctioned, etc. Explosive seals were more durable, but they were only able to produce the lower grade explosive tags. Any other seals they had to buy from these wandering masters, which was very difficult financially for a village. Villages instead used that money to get the seal masters aid in more important functions, like the seals used in to help defend the village in case of attacks. Hell, the only reason most of the villages were capable of successfully creating new jinchuriki was because they still used the seals they had received from the Uzumaki all those years before. In the end, fuinjutsu simply wasn't widespread enough to use it as a way to carry the necessary supplies for war.
Kitsuchi arrived at the lead supply wagon. It stopped and the other four were moved away. This confused Kitsuchi, but he quickly stopped thinking about it. The number of supply wagons was another thing they did to try and prepare for whatever strategy The General came up with. They were aiming to kick him out of the country within days, but they weren't so sure it would go that smoothly. They had to account for the possibility that they might spend weeks driving him out of the country. The more supplies at the beginning meant that they would be able to last longer before needing more.
He didn't know that he only helped his enemy with that.
As the wagons spread out though, Kitsuchi quickly became suspicious. There should be more guards. There were only eight. A few might have mixed with the men before he arrived, but there were suppose to be over fifteen. They might have run into some trouble on their way. Needing to know, Kitsuchi approached the man who was leading the wagon.
"Toko! Why are there so few of you guarding the supplies?" he called out to the ninja. The ninja flinched before looking at Kitsuchi. Immediately Kitsuchi knew that it wasn't Toko. He'd seen enough Yamanaka mind control to recognize when someone is being controlled. He acted immediately. The Yamanaka didn't stand a chance at dodging. Kitsuchi's large fist literally launched the controlled shinobi back twenty feet. He then yelled out, "Get away from the supply wagons."
The ninjas around him just looked confused at the unexpected act and orders of their commander. The shocked silence allowed the Yamanaka to speak through his puppet as he struggled to stand from Kitsuchi's powerful punch. "So you've already figured it out. Good job, but it's already too late. Naruto-sama has already won this battle." Before Kitsuchi could hit him again, the body went limp as the Yamanaka left the unconscious ninjas body.
Acting without thought for his own safety, Kitsuchi approached the supply wagon and ripped off the canvas cover. He immediately cursed and jumped back when he saw what the supply wagon was covered in. Dozens, if not hundreds, of explosive tags. High quality ones. They were powerful enough to send out a shockwave powerful enough to injure or stun shinobi over twenty-five meters away. Not to mention that they would probably only activate one at first, spreading the rest out before activating them. Kitsuchi swiveled his head before cursing again. He hadn't noticed fast enough. The controlled shinobi had managed to spread the other wagons around the camp. If they were similarly equipped, which he was sure they were, then their entire camp would be within the area of the explosions.
The shinobi around him had panicked at the sight of the many explosive tags, and all started scrambling away in a panic. The rest of the wagons had their covers ripped off to show the same situation, increasing the panic in the camp. As Kitsuchi wondered how to restore order and pondered why the tags hadn't gone off yet, a panicked shinobi came up to him.
"Sir. The enemy force is approaching at top speed!"
Kitsuchi cursed at the news. Use the destruction and chaos from the explosive tags to attack them. It was a solid plan, but for some reason the tags hadn't gone off yet. Kitsuchi quickly decided on what to do. If their force left immediately to confront them, then they might be able to escape before the tags went off or at least reduce the damage. They would then still have the numbers to win the battle. Before he could yell the order though, another panicking sensor came up to him.
"Commander, a force is approaching from the north."
Kitsuchi now cussed loudly. How the hell did a force maneuver to the north of them without them detecting them earlier! This was bad! If he lead his force to the west to hit the enemy main force, then the other force would flank them. The camp was too disorganized and panicked to possibly organize them into two separate forces in time though. The situation couldn't get worse. When he saw another sensor coming, he knew that it just had.
"A force is approaching from the south!"
Retreat! That is the only option. Kitsuchi didn't care how they had possibly been so outmaneuvered. He just needed to get his men to safety. They can retreat to the west, the same way they came. Once they get some distance, he'll try to figure out how to confront the foe in a battle where they aren't surrounded on three sides.
"Commander! A hundred men are coming from the west!"
Kitsuchi head dropped. Four sides. They were surrounded on four sides. The situation was hopeless. Even if he could restore order, he didn't know how to possibly go about dealing with this threat. He shouldn't be here. It shouldn't be his responsibility to deal with situations like this.
His several moments of helplessness seemed to be enough for the enemy though. He heard warning shouts from the east. Several moments later, the north. Then the south. Finally the west. The enemy had arrived.
Steeling his resolve, Kitsuchi quickly slammed his hands into the ground. He needed to be able to see the entire situation. The earth under him quickly formed a platform and rose thirty feet into the air. He then surveyed the field, ignoring the magnificent target he no doubt was.
The branches right at the edge of the village supported shinobi wearing Konoha's headband, with more rapidly filling the other branches and the ground under them. More and more were arriving every second. Their numbers…how? Kitsuchi had figured The General had split his force up and somehow managed to move them without his sensors detecting them, but that clearly wasn't the case. This was at least double the number that his sensors had reported in their camp. Maybe more. The enemy outnumbered them.
They were ready too. Many of them already were holding hand seals, ready to unleash a wave of jutsu down on his force. All it took was a minute to see the disorganized rabble his men had become. They were tired from their rush here, and they hadn't managed to recover. They didn't have their weapons or equipment on them and most hadn't eaten since they stopped moving. All sense of order had been broken with the unveiling of the explosive tags. Squads had split up to escape the bombs, only to see enemy shinobi. They were all trying to get away from the wagons, while keeping a distance from the enemy. They weren't succeeding. There simply wasn't any areas that was safe. Either get blown up, or fall under a wave of jutsu and kunai. All the enemy had to do was activate the tags, and then attack…So why hadn't they yet?
His answer came when Kitsuchi had a glare of light hit his eyes. He looked towards its source. A slightly small figure was using a kunai to reflect the dying light of the sun right into his eyes. Kitsuchi saw a head of blonde hair and immediately knew. That was The General. The figure stopped with the kunai, apparently satisfied that he had Kitsuchi's attention. He put the kunai away, and pulled out a white piece of cloth. He then held it into the air, and started walking slowly towards him with three figures following.
A parley. He wanted to talk. That is why the tags hadn't gone off. He had identified Kitsuchi as the commander, and contacted him to talk. No. He didn't want to talk. He wanted a surrender. Kitsuchi clenched his fists so tight he felt his nails cut into his skin. The arrogance! It was worse knowing it was justified. Kitsuchi's force and been tricked and outmaneuvered so thoroughly that surrender was the only option. He knew fighting would be useless. It wouldn't even be a fight. It would be a massacre. Defend from the enemy shinobi, be killed by the explosives. Defend from the explosives, be killed by the enemy shinobi. Kitsuchi and some of the higher ranked ninjas could naturally survive the initial attack, but everyone else would be toast. 95% of his men would be dead after the first thirty seconds, and the rest would immediately be outnumbered 20:1. Kitsuchi was powerful, but even he couldn't defeat the twenty A-ranked shinobi they would no doubt send to take him out. He was no Yellow Flash.
He didn't want to brag, especially since this was no doubt the greatest defeat and humiliation he'd ever endured, but he was too important to Iwa to simply die. His death would damage Iwa too much, not to mention all the other high level shinobi in this group. He wasn't heartless either. He couldn't sentence all those in this group to death just because of his pride. He had to surrender.
Knowing what he had to do, Kitsuchi leapt to the ground and moved towards where he had seen The General. He moved quickly and soon found himself standing several feet away from The General halfway between their forces. As he looked at the child who had defeated him so thoroughly, Kitsuchi didn't know what to think. He had seen his picture in the Bingo Book before, but he quickly noticed several things he hadn't expected. He had expected to find a genius with such talent at command to be different. Serious, cold, stern, and arrogant. Instead, he found a child who seemed…completely at ease. His smile seemed carefree and…happy? Kitsuchi had never seen such expressive eyes either. He could practically see the glee, satisfaction, and confidence.
And the aura! Never had Kitsuchi felt such an aura. So comforting, so accepting, and yet he could feel the unbelievable confidence and power lingering under the surface it. It completely contradicted the serious and calculating aura of the Tsuchikage. It even felt different from the Yellow Flash's, who had a calm and serene aura which hid a will of steel. The Tsuchikage kept authority through his power and experience. The Yellow Flash had given off the feeling that he had certain morals and beliefs, and would use his great power to enforce them. This kid though. His aura wasn't about dominating or controlling others. It was just…warm. It was the aura of a true leader. People wouldn't submit or follow him because they had to. They just wanted to. To follow him. To give him their everything.
Kitsuchi swallowed nervously as he fought against the feeling. No wonder people followed him. Kitsuchi felt the urge to follow him. Most people didn't have the skill necessary to examine a person's aura as closely as he just did, a skill he had gained over many years of training and experience, but anyone who was near this kid would feel…at ease. They wouldn't know why. They would just subconsciously place their trust in him. Their rational mind might rebel against the thought of trusting and following him, but some part of them would still desire to do it. They could hold it pack, but the slightest weakness would defeat them. They would forget all logic and reason. They would give it all up in favor of something so deep and instinctive they couldn't understand it. Just follow it. That the rules of the world that bound the rest of them, simply didn't apply to him. That any dream wasn't out of his reach. It allowed them to hope for something that all reason and logic told them was impossible. That was it! Hope. That is what was so attractive about this kid. He gave a person hope.
He had to stop. If he went any further, tried to understand this kid any more, spent any more time embraced in the warmth of this kid's aura, he wouldn't be able to fight it. Imagine that. He, an S-class shinobi, had difficulty fighting this kid after simply standing in his presence for several moments. Now he accepted something he had heard before. The two commanders who had met The General face to face before. When someone had asked what The General was like in person, there answers had confused everyone present. Kitsuchi now understood what they had meant. They said that he had a presence that was more attractive than anything else in the world. Money, power, jewels. It all paled in comparison. That once you met him, you would forever have to fight the desire to stand by his side.
His thoughts ended when a loud voice questioned, "Hey, is something wrong? I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. You've been staring at me for like, three minutes."
Kitsuchi blinked and focused. The fact that he had been lost in thought for three minutes just by standing near this kid was amazing…and dangerous. He finally managed to come up with an excuse, "Sorry. Memories. You remind me of someone I once fought."
He had obviously chosen a good excuse, as brief annoyance flashed across the kid's face. No doubt he assumed that he was referring to the Yellow Flash, and it probably wasn't the first time someone thought of the Yellow Flash when looking at this kid. Using the opportunity, Kitsuchi looked at the three with him. He immediately recognized Uchiha Itachi, which just enforced the fact that he had to surrender. The other two he didn't recognize, but they both had the stance of experienced ninjas. Although he hadn't been planning it, and he doubted he could even do it anymore, the presence of the three made it impossible for Kitsuchi to try and use this chance to kill The General. So surrendering was really the only option.
"Kitsuchi, the Tectonic Shinobi. I didn't expect you to be in this host," The General asked with a relaxed tone.
Kitsuchi just grunted bluntly, "What do you want?"
The General's blue and red eyes hardened at that question before he responded, "You know what I want. I want for you and your men to surrender. Lay down your arms, and become my prisoners. I will give you my guarantee that I shall treat you well and protect you to the absolute best of my ability."
Normally Kitsuchi would never believe the promises of an enemy, but some part of him already trusted this boy. He really would do his best to protect them. Not to mention that one of The General's traits was a great willingness to conduct prisoner exchanges. He didn't kill prisoners needlessly. Kitsuchi's shouldered dropped as he finally gave it. He opened his mouth, but was cut off by a yell.
"No, we can't surrender!" Kitsuchi turned, furious once he recognized the voice. A young girl had decided to sprint over and join them. With short brown hair and pupiless pink eyes, Kitsuchi naturally recognized her. He didn't respond fast enough to stop her from continuing in a forceful tone, "Surrendering to these tree huggers will disgrace Iwagakure. It would be better to die fighting, Dad."
"Quiet, Kurotsuchi," Kitsuchi said in a powerful voice. Dammit, if he didn't love his daughter so much, he could just hit her for what she just did. She didn't even think about what she had just revealed. It was known that he had married the Tsuchikage's daughter. By calling him dad, she just gave The General the opportunity to realize she was the Tsuchikage's granddaughter. If she had just stayed among the group, that fact might have been hidden. Kitsuchi made sure to not treat her any different than a regular ninja during missions. Kitsuchi doubted The General would be so incompetent as to not figure it out when they were his prisoners, but it was possible. It wasn't the first time an important political figure had managed to hide among a group, but now that possibility was out the window. As the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi would be a very powerful political prisoner.
Kitsuchi turned, hoping against all odds that The General had not made the connection, but the glint in the kid's eyes dashed that small hope. The General finally questioned, "So, what shall it be?"
Kitsuchi sighed before holding out his hand and announcing, "I surrender."
The General's smile widened as he took Kitsuchi's hand. Noticing a prisoner seal being applied, Kitsuchi could feel the frustration from Kurotsuchi and the rest of the ninjas. Still, he heard their weapons drop. The Konoha ninjas quickly moved in to apprehend them.
So here is my story about Naruto in a leadership position. This story won't have an extreme amount of action, instead focusing on politics and big plans that affect a lot of people. There will be fights, but at the same time i hope to create a very different storyline with several different levels of depth.
I decided to have the war be 'skirmishes' instead of a full on war because i didn't want it to be too big a conflict. Most ninjas of Konoha, Iwa, and Kumo are not involved in these mini-wars happening, and only have a limited interest in them. I made up some numbers from the 80,000 ninjas in the Fourth Ninjas War, and tried to use logic to decide how much each village has and everything else. The military strategy might also be slightly iffy. I am not in the military, and have based my ideas around what common knowledge i have. I doubt formal military education would help though trying to understand how a war between ninjas would happen.
I also have no doubt people will comment that supplies could just be handled with fuinjutsu. In this story, fuinjutsu will mainly be a rare and lost ninja art. There aren't going to be any fuinjutsu for dummy books. Masters are rare, and few people have the knowledge necessary to create anything other than the most basic and crude storage and explosive seals.
Itachi is still a Konoha nin here. It is impossible to not love Itachi, so i decided to make him Naruto's right hand man. This will have farther reaching consequences. Itachi was sent out before he learned of the Uchiha planning a coup, so his absence caused a lot to change. You'll learn more about that in future chapters.
This isn't a super Naruto fic either. At least, not yet. He is only an S-class threat because of his command abilities. As he said, any true S-class could beat him with two arms tied behind his back. I decided to make him a battle genius because i thought it fit. Canon Naruto only seems capable of thinking in battle. So Naruto is able to things in battle that seem impossible to anyone else, but he lacks skill. He was sent to the war front at six while only being taught to control the Kyuubi's chakra. He hasn't received any formal training. Since being sent to the war, he'd either been fighting or planning strategies. He is far from helpless, but he is not some super ninja. At least not yet.
I modified his looks a little bit as well. I decided to make his 'mark' showing that he is a jinchuriki be red rings around his iris'. The other Kyuubi jinchuriki will have the whisker marks.
I'm trying to model this Naruto a certain way. He has been in war and has incredible responsibility due to being the commander, but i still wanted to keep the pure and honest behavior of canon naruto. Imagine this. Canon Naruto like five years in the future. He's an adult, and naturally has more adult interests. He's also far more mature and knowledgable. That doesn't mean he isn't the same Naruto. This Naruto is basically going to be a cheerful, caring, and slightly innocent person with a serious side. He is also going to be very interested in adult things like sex and alcohol. He is also naturally going to strive for peace.
The part about his aura was something i didn't plan. I just wanted to briefly touch on what people felt when around Naruto, but i ended up staying on it longer than planned. Don't worry about everyone following Naruto though. Naruto will have his enemies. I just wanted to point out that Naruto has an aura that makes him a great leader who people feel like they can trust.
This is going to be Naruto/Harem, with extra emphasis on Naruto/Kurotsuchi. I love the pairing, but it is ridiculously rare. I'll also place a heavy emphasis on sex when it finally happens. I am just wondering why a good story can't have a good amount of sex as well. These won't be light vanilla-y lemons either. These will be hardcore lemons. If i actually get to them.
I welcome all opinions.