On the Eastern border of the Maerin Kingdom was a village barely thriving. Before it had been peaceful and prosperous but during the previous war the village had sustained heavy damage. Soldiers had used the place as a base but had been attacked numerous times during battles. Even after the war needed the damage was left as it was and the villagers were left to fend for themselves. By some miracle they were able to rebuild but even still it remained a poor place.
During the time of the wars end some new people migrated tot he village which was not strange. Of these people there was one family of a mother a her son. The mother was sick all of the time and even when they arrived it was the son which set up their part of land. The poor boy of only 7 years old seemed to do everything for his mother. The villagers could see the mother was practically on her last legs yet even when told the boy continued to care for her.
May years passed and the family had finally been given some luck. The mother, named Kushina, and her son, Naruto, were pulling their own weight in the village. Kushina was a skilled herbalist and Naruto seemed interested in undertaking her teachings. The village was lucky to have them both.
Naruto was an adventurous boy, he liked to go into the forest surrounding the village and spend hours upon hours just exploring. He was a prankster as well and although some villagers were more than tired of his antics, they could not deny the level of joy he brought about.
On Naruto's eighth birthday, the word of a new war started to spread. Relations with a neighboring kingdom had been strained after the end of the previous war. The king was calling for all those able to fight and train to become knights of his army. Recruiting of kids ages 10 and up were being taken. Of course in exchange for joining the king promised to give salaries to the families of the children. Many were angered by this but with war looming again there was almost nothing to do about it.
The village were Naruto lived was one of the last to be recruited from. Knights rode in and snatched all children fitting the criteria. Mothers and fathers watch in despair as their kids were taken from them and those that refused or resisted were dealt blows from the sharp end of a knights sword.
Naruto POV
Their screams and yells echoed out and i could feel tears running down my cheeks. It hurt to see what became of our peaceful village. I clung to my mother but couldn't look away, Mothers hand rested firmly on my head, "Don't look away Naruto. Two years. In two years this will be us and i need you to know my dying breath, should you refuse to go, will be fighting for your freedom."
A lump formed in my throat when I thought of my mother lying still on the ground as I am taken from her. I knew she didnt mean this to scare me or even to be cruel. She was just as scared of that future. I understood her mean regardless.
"Ill go, and when I do I'll become strong. Nothing will stop me from coming back home."
Drops of wetness fell on my head as mother spoke again, her voice sounded strange, "...that's my boy.
One year later
"Naruto! Get back inside now, it'll start to rain soon."
Mothers voice ran clear even all the way into the forest as I was. It had been a year since they had come to take the first batch of kids from my village, Gen 1, was what people called them. Gen 2 had been taken not long ago, just a few days back. Throughout these days some families received either letters or packages and bags. In the letters would be only the words passed and minimum details of a family's child. In the packages and bags would be the body of a child and monetary compensation.
Those who passed their training lived and lose who didnt came home in body bags. This was the world now.
"One more year." I had one more year to spend with mother before going to training. There was no way I'd make mother live through burying my corpse. I'd trained as much as I could this past year and i had one more to keep at it.
Most of my days consisted of helping mother in her shop, she had opened an herb shop back when Gen 1 had been taken. More and more people used her herbs for anxiety, lack of sleep, etc.
After working and learning whatever mother had to teach, I would go into the forest to catch dinner. In the years after the first war strange creatures had started popping up. These creatures resembled animals but seemed to be supercharged with energy.
(The energy was similar to what knights used when fighting. Energy was something generated from the body that when paired with movements and short incantations they produced superhuman powers.)
The creatures were nevertheless edible and hunting them turned out to be great practice. It was a good thing creatures in the forest only went up to maybe a high 4.
(Creatures were categorized in levels from 0-10. 0 was a creature no more dangerous then a rabbit animal. 1 would be a rabbit with slightly increased speed and sharp teeth. 2 comes with sharp teeth, development of talons and so forth. 3-4 starts to produce venom. 5 and 6 increase size considerable with any or all of the aforementioned attributes. 7-8 started to gain basic intelligence of humans, like a standard knight. 9 and 10 were the highest form of creature. These creatures were smart. The average human would have a hard time outsmarting this beast nit to mentions its size and other skills like poison or paralytic fluid.)
(Knights were classified to from standard to gold status. It went like this Standard—- Copper— Bronze— Sliver— Gold. Standard = foot soldiers, Copper= Captain, Bronze= Major, Silver=Colonel, Gold= General. Interesting enough there were only 5 Gold knights. The majority were standard knights but even they at least were stronger then the normal civilians. Gold knights answer directly to the king.)