Naruto

Authors Note:

This is my first story! And my first time writing in the Narutoverse!

I hope you enjoy it!

So nervous.

Disclaimer: I own my original characters. I don't own the characters, world or concepts associated by Kishimoto

The Aftermath

Chapter one: Prologue

By Jo_Words

Ninja. To be truly capable or worthy of the title, one must master the 12 skills of Ninjutsu. That, he thought, was the foundation of all the successes a ninja achieved during each mission handed to them. His mind went through each of them in the order his mother taught it to him. Before, of course, she died of illness.

He unsheathed his blade his expression detached. Seishin teki kyoyo- The spiritual refinement of a ninja is to be aware of oneself. Its basic fundamental belief was to be in the moment, at all times, as to avoid a clouded mind which threatens a ninja's effectiveness during a mission.

He sat there cross- legged on the wooden floor studying his dull, rusted blade and continued with his thought process.

Taijutsu- Unarmed combat. A talent of fighting that most ninja lacked. Most Ninja relied heavily on weaponry because the advantages it offered against an opponent. But not him. His comrades compared his love for combat to Might Gai. He smirked. He loved the thrill of a fight as much as he; but he was not as training obsessed as him. Also, he thought while choosing a stone to sharpen his katana, our motivation and drive are entirely separate.

Then there was Kenjutsu- Sword techniques. His father's specialty. He began the process of polishing and sharpening his sword. His father lived by the sword and died with a sword through his heart during the third Ninja war. An appropriate death for one such as him. He narrowed his eyes. It is not necessarily his father's specialty but that of the Hideyoshi clan. This sword is an heirloom passed down from generation to generation to the household's head. He snorted. Not that there was a Hideyoshi clan left to speak of.

Bojutsu. Staff technique. He never understood why this was a skill that was separated from swordsmanship. It is essentially the same. Only Kenjutsu was deadlier.

Shurikenjutsu. Heh. The only one who truly mastered the art of the Shuriken was Uchiha Itachi. That boy had an innate ability to hold, conceal and throw blades like no other. No one, not even himself who is highly skilled in all jutsus, could match up to him. Even without the sharingan his eyes were as sharp as ever. His mind wandered to Shisui and Itachi's training regimen and how they amplified whatever jutsus they trained to maximize its effectiveness during battle. Some of the things they conjured up he applied within his own fighting style. Of course, there real skills were kept hidden. He had a feeling they were a powerful pair who would set standards of greatness that a very many shinobis would not be able to achieve. Perhaps that is why they trained so openly. To help others in heightening their skills. Hm. How very possible. Geniuses. They both were. I have distracted myself, he realized.

He carried on with Yarijustu- the art of the spear. Naginatajutsu-Polearm weapon, Bajutsu-horsemanship, and ten-mon jutsu were his least favorite. Nothing he wished to focus on too deeply.

Kayakujutsu. He stopped what he was doing and leaned his back on the wall looking up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes. Kaya. He hated himself for forgetting how she looked. This jutsu, was her specialty. Fire and explosives. A fierce woman she was. Never afraid to fight, kill and die during battle. She was especially skilled in utilizing this jutsu for defense and distraction more than its offensive form.

He swallowed the pain of his faded memory and sat back to his original position. He worked swiftly and deftly, relaxing with the familiar sound of stone and blade.

He stood up and began a light warm up so he can give his body the opportunity to raise its temperature, increase its motion range and to prepare himself for what he was about to do for his training.

Boryaku- Strategy. The specialty of the Nara clan. The boy Shikamaru was blessed with the brains for this particular jutsu. He thought on Kaya and chased the thought away. This jutsu covered the basics of facing and defeating one or many foes. But Boryaku dealt with a different type of battle. One of which there was no skill found within him. He stretched his legs and picked up his newly sharpened sword. Politics and manipulations of current events and various other situations were not where his strengths lie.

He left his home and walked to the empty clearing. Once upon a time this clearing used to be filled to the brink with Shinobi training for missions. Jounin, Chunin and Genin alike. Back then missions had been plentiful and training jutsus were critical to the survival of the Hidden leaf.

Now, he drew his sword and changed his stance to his Hideyoshi clan sword stance. Now! He felt his anger and disdain rising within himself. He swung his sword. His mother and Kaya always thought that they understood all he felt when he practiced his kata. It was as if each word was written in the air by the swing of his sword. He blocked his mind from thoughts of Kaya, his mother and the present predicament of the Hidden Leaf and resumed his thoughts on the final Jutsu.

Inton-jutsu. Escape and concealment. With stealth and speed a ninja can escape out of any tight spot. He jumped and flipped in the air letting his sword go and performed his hand seals so quickly that the sharingan would not be able to follow it. Suddenly a hand that looked like it belonged to a spirit formed and grabbed the sword that began falling bringing along a strong gust of wind that would break anyone's stance and make it hard for the opponent to finish their hand seals. When he swung his sword with the spirit hand there was a change in the air that would go unnoticed by all others other than himself. This subtle change would tire and choke them easily until he no longer was able to move or perform any hand seals or (depending on the length of the battle) kill them. A very slow and painful death. It is quite an underhanded attack, one that disables without the opponent knowing that he has lost. How so very Shinobi.

He landed on his feet and stood still. Escape. He breathed in and breathed out. Concealment. He began his cooling down exercises. He kept repeating escape and concealment over and over like a mantra for the entirety of his cool down exercise and through the entirety of his trek back home. Escape and concealment. Escape and concealment. Escape and concealment.

Escape and concealment. What Jutsu was there to escape this plague! He went inside and showered. Once he was dressed, he stood in front of his certificate that was given to all shinobi that took part in the 4th great Ninja war. Escape. He looked at the medallion. Escape. He looked back at the certificate where they wrote that peace was achieved due to his bravery. Escape. He rolled his fingers into balls of fury and felt his veins pulsing in his neck while baring his teeth. Anger rolled off of him in waves.

What was he to do? The fighting stopped. The missions stopped. The WAR stopped! Now what was he to do? How can he escape from this? Peace is the plague that had been eating at the essence of Shinobi and its village. We are a military village! The Genin's are soft and weak. Jounin skills are rusting. Recruitments are less. Weapons shops are closing. Missions have dwindled. Our village are in jeopardy and the shinobi way are becoming a thing of the past.

He punched the wall destroying the picture frame of his certificate and creating a dent on the wall. I have nothing! All his loved ones were DEAD. His mother, father, Kaya. The thought of her made him sit with his head in hands. Why did he bother thinking on ninja skills? Why did he bother polishing and sharpening his sword? Why did he bother train? There was nothing to train for. Shinobi was not needed in this world. He was not needed.

Perhaps Madara had not been a madman. Reality was cruel. The eye of the moon. I was happy. Until I came back. He admitted to himself that Naruto inspired him to fight against Madara. But, now, living in the reality of the situation, Naruto's word seemed trivial, naïve and childish. The belief they all shared at that moment seemed somehow flawed. Shinobi need war in order to thrive. It is either that or returning back into that tree that gave life to our deepest desires.

His face pulled itself into a picture of disgust. He made a mistake believing in Naruto and cheering for him when he became the 7th Hokage. Rage began bubbling inside of him choking him with its fury. He needed to cure the world of this, of this peace.