AN: Still working on HP & the cloaked death... but had to start on this story. Not sure how often it will be updated. Had the inspiration for this story while playing Risk. So yeah.

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

–Albert Einstein

Rule #1: No player is allowed to kill another player before conditions 6 to 9 are met, there is a 15 point difference between the players and the game-master has given a death-card.
- 'The rulebook' chapter 3: Rules and regulations (page 21)

A game we played

The sun was high up in the sky; but then again it always was in the sand filled lands of the desert. The suns' relentless battering on the few parts of his skin -that weren't hidden by the shadow his hat cast on him, couldn't keep his organ of touch from feeling the chill that came with the message he would receive in just a few minutes.

Standing on the balcony of his office, holding the warm steel railings with both his hands he leaned forward to look down in the street. Beneath him three children were playing a game of ninja, a game that he had played when he was young as well. There was a girl dressed in bed sheets- obviously a kidnapped princess. There was a gruff looking pirate standing in front of her, his sword (made of two sticks, held together by a string) keeping her saviour and the hero of the game at bay . In his life there weren't a lot of moments to quietly just stand and watch, so the few times he could make time to simply watch; he did.

The life of a Kazekage was a busy one, a stressful one. Especially in these days. How, as a Kage he knew one thing for certain. One thing in the world was a constant: the world was always changing. In the past three weeks there had been two new Kages introduced to the game of ninja the big five played. Despite knowing that change was inevitable, change of this magnitude was important, it signalled something.

The king is dead; long live the king.

It was an old saying, but one that still rang true; even to this day. A shrill scream interrupted him and his hand moved to his kunai holster. Looking down; where the scream had originated from, he saw the girl acting the part of the damsel in distress with fervour. Her hand was outstretched to reach the hero of their game. The brave shinobi though was stabbed by a stick and fell to the ground. The pirate bellowed; laughing in evil tones before the ninja threw a pebble at him. The pirate's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the ninja to endure, to keep on going after being struck. But the ninja had and the pirate fell to his knees, a monologue was starting, revealing the pirate's tragic past, explaining why he had to kidnap the princess. After the pirate let out his last breath the ninja walked over to the princess and 'saved' her.

'If only all mission were that simple. '

The Kazekage felt a presence; a familiar one, next to him one of his messengers kneeled before talking. "Kazekage-sama." The messenger – Touka his name was if he had remembered correctly- greeted him.

Meanwhile under the balcony, the pirate got up- in a game of ninja no one really died. The three children exchanged their relics. One of the boys took the bed sheets and became a prince that had been abducted from his castle. The girl became a strong; courageous Kunoichi and the last boy; the one who had been the saviour before became the kidnapper. The three started their game anew.

On the balcony- letting go of the railings, he turned and nodded. The messenger was now allowed to start his debriefing. "We received intelligence from our spies in Konoha. At 1530 yesterday." The ninja paused; the Kazekage already knew what he was going to tell. First there had been the village hidden in the stone, next was village hidden in the clouds and now it would be the village hidden in the lead; Konoha. "A new Hokage has taken control."

The information was not shocking; but it was troublesome. Why would the Sandaime Hokage choose this exact time to step down from his position. The man had been a strong constant after the Kyuubi incident which had resulted in the death of the Yondaime, the man had been the only reason why he, the Kazekage, had not decided to attack Konoha after the Uchiha massacre. Hiruzen Sarutobi is a Hokage strong, was a Hokage strong, smart and cunning enough to defend his village in times of chaos, make it prosper even. Why would he step down? Why would the other Kages step down? A chill took hold of his skin- what did they know that he didn't?

"You are dismissed." He said realizing Touka was still kneeling before him. With a nod the chuunin was gone.

Something in the world was changing- the old guard was stepping down- leaving the theatre, making place for new stars to rise. For new legends to be spun. But the Kazekage looked down, three children were playing ninja so it wasn't all that bad. He turned around and left the balcony; closing the doors behind him and started to work on his third pile of paperwork today.

Three children were playing ninja; so it couldn't be all bad, could it?