Pure White Ash

by Ball Buster Doppo

The Second Shinobi War never ended. The blood of thousands formed an unbreakable stalemate between the great powers. However, the embers of war are stirring once more, and while old players make their schemes, the new generation will burn it all until nothing but ash remains. AU! Rated M for Violence. A rewrite of 'To Be Strong.'

11. Chapter 11

"...Akamaru?"

The dog tackled him. He quickly licked Naruto's face, cleaning off Bokuden's gore and the accumulated grime from fighting in the collapsing mountain. Naruto tried to hold the dog back to think about what had happened, but that was a bit beyond him by that point, as exhausted as he was. Akamaru had grown so much since Naruto had last seen him that calling him a 'puppy' hardly seemed appropriate. He was as large as a fully-grown wolf, and Naruto got an eyeful of his mouth, full of gnashing teeth, as it tended to him. It was an odd thought, but Naruto felt almost as if the dog considered him to be a member of his pack, and he was now doing everything he could to protect him. It was a sweet thought.

"There, there," He said, trying to come to terms with everything that had happened. Bokuden was really dead - he took another look at what was left of his body - and Akamaru had rescued him. But Akamaru was still supposed to be halfway across the country by that point, together with the others. Of course, wherever an Inuzuka hound went, its master was sure to follow, and Naruto heard his call while trying to reconcile himself with reality.

"Naruto?!"

At that moment, the boy's voice was so sweet that Naruto was convinced he wasn't actually there. That the meeting was something like seeing an oasis in a desert, just a fabrication to make himself feel better. He slowly turned to see Kiba Inuzuka standing at the edge of the clearing, together with a full squad of men. To anyone else, their visage would have seemed ominous, all black and covered in the rain, but to Naruto it was one of the most miraculous things he had ever seen. "...Kiba?"

Kiba crossed the distance between them just as Naruto jumped to his feet. Both of them met halfway, pulling each other into an air-tight hug. "What the hell happened to you, man?!" Kiba said, separating them. Naruto quickly hid his right hand from the boy's sight. "Are you alright? Who the hell is that?!" He pointed a hand at Bokuden's mangled body where Akamaru had dropped him.

"It's a long, long story." Naruto said, chuckling in relief. He imagined his visage seemed more than a little bit crazy to Kiba like that, still damaged from the fight with Bokuden, covered in the man's blood, laughing at nothing. "But what are you guys doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to move until Asuma gave you the greenlight!"

"Well, it's really fucking hard to stay in place when you see a goddamned mountain crumble, dude." Kiba explained, nudging his head toward the fallen natural monument.

Dust still covered the entire region, like a particularly thick sandstorm, although it was ever-so-slightly alleviated by Amegakure's never ending rain. Some of the former natural monument poked out of the treeline, standing at one tenth of what it used to. Naruto's gaze lingered on it for a while, now that the danger was truly behind him.

His fight had destroyed a mountain. His younger self would probably be having an episode over it. As it was, Naruto just felt relieved that it was all finally over.

"And you - were you in there?!"

"I - Yes," Naruto started explaining when Kiba began to shout, but he gestured for the boy to calm down and interrupted his interruption. "Listen, a lot of crazy shit happened in the last... ten hours or so, and I'm still trying to figure out a lot of it. I'm good, though, relatively uninjured too. How about Yugao, did you guys find her before coming here?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Kiba nodded quickly, clearly intent on getting the full story out of Naruto. His eyes moved from the boy, to the area around them, to what was left of Bokuden. Adrenaline was visibly running through him as well, and Naruto couldn't blame him. Kiba, and the rest of his entourage, were probably expecting to fight an entire army when they came to his rescue. "The medics got her already, said she'll be fine. Where's the enemy?!"

"You're looking at him," Naruto said, pointing at the corpse. "Akamaru finished him off. I'd like to take the credit, but I think the mountain did most of the work for me."

"Yeah, and I was just about to ask - how the FUCK did that happen?! was it the…" He leaned in and lowered his voice. "You know?"

"Sir!" Kiba's men shouted as they approached. "Does Commander Uzumaki know where the enemy is?!"

"They're gone!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder. "We got them already."

"Pass that along please." Kiba said, facing them. "We'll be fine."

They nodded, saluted, and quickly ran off to commune with the others. "To answer your question, no. The fox didn't do anything here, besides well… keeping me alive."

"The usual." Kiba said, and they both nodded in agreement. Naruto realized that such an interaction probably shouldn't have been so casual for them. Kiba seemed to be calming down, though. "You're going to need to tell me about all of this later. And we need to get you to a healer."

"Yeah, sure, in a second. Just let me get a breather here." Naruto said, sitting back down. Akamaru dutifully sat behind his back, pushing his muzzle over Naruto's shoulder. He made sure to scratch his chin as nicely as he could.

"I figured Akamaru had found you." Kiba explained. "He ran off as soon as we got close enough, passed through Yugao, and immediately bolted over here. It'd have to be someone he had met before for him to react that strongly."

"I'm glad he did." Naruto said, looking at the cloudy sky while he continued to thank the dog. "Thanks, Akamaru."

It was over. He wondered how long it'd take for that to register in his mind. Now that the adrenaline wore off, he just felt so, so tired. Naruto doubted he'd be able to so much as fire a Jutsu anytime soon. Not until he had a good meal and a full night's - or week's - worth of sleep.

They just sat there, in silence, as Naruto regained his breath for a couple of minutes. Then he decided that it was time to let Kiba know. Not only because he was his friend, and trusted him dearly, but because he needed to tell it to someone, anyone that would listen, and Yugao probably wouldn't be able to speak with him for a while. To his credit, Kiba almost immediately noticed something was wrong, perking up in a manner that was eerily similar to Akamaru. "Something wrong?"

"I have something to show you," He said. "And I need you to not freak out on me, alright?"

"Naruto, please," Kiba said. "After everything I've seen you do? Remember the other mountain-sized thing you took out a few months ago? What in the world could you show me now that'd make me freak out more than that?"

"Man you were freaked out like, two minutes ago."

"I thought we were surrounded by an army or something!"

Naruto sighed. "Okay, okay. Here it is."

He showed Kiba his right hand.

The Kyubi worked relatively fast. It was now fully covered in flesh, combined with the necessary muscles and nerves to make it function. As expected, it was noticeably different from a normal human hand. It was longer than usual, for one, each finger being around twice as long as his left hand, with very sharp claw-like nails at their end. Funnily enough, it somewhat resembled Kiba's in that regard.

Not that he had tested it, but Naruto was pretty sure said nails were much more durable than before, probably durable enough to pierce through someone's armor.

He had the urge to test it on something hard, but that'd come later.

His friend stared blankly at it for a few seconds before his gaze immediately rose to meet Naruto's eyes. "Well, that's new. How'd that happen?"

"...That guy," Naruto pointed at Bokuden's remains. "Cut it off to torture me and bait Yugao into talking. Think he was trying to experiment with my regeneration too. When I woke up, it looked... You're a lot calmer than I expected."

"Oh no, I'm very, very freaked out right now, but I'm trying to look calm for you."

"Oh… I appreciate it?"

"No problem." Kiba patted his shoulder. Then he looked into his own vest and took out a pair of black gloves. "Here, these are specialty-made for our family. You should be able to Henge them to hide that."

"You two are lifesavers." Naruto said earnestly, putting them on and following through with the transformation technique. Anyone skilled enough could easily look through it, but at least Naruto wouldn't be freaking out the foot-soldiers around camp.

Kiba looked at him oddly before scratching his chin. "If you don't mind me saying this, Naruto, you seem a bit… different. I don't know how to put it."

"I feel different," The boy admitted. "A lot of shit happened there, after they captured us… It's hard to explain, but it feels like a weight was lifted off of my chest, you know? Like taking off training clothes after a week straight of using 'em."

"I haven't been in a situation quite like that before," Kiba said with a laugh that Naruto quickly joined in sharing. "But I think I know what you mean. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Hell, who else am I going to be able to tell this to?" Naruto said, making sure they were alone. "You've already seen my hand anyway…"

So he told him. About the vision he had after passing out, what he felt and learned during it, the perceived effect the Kyubi had on his brain whenever he regenerated, the memory loss and erratic actions he had been taking before being captured…

"Shit, man, that's rough." Kiba finally said when they were finished.

It occured to Naruto that while Konoha's forces were most likely scouring every inch of their surroundings, looking for their enemies and setting up a base of operations for their upcoming invasion, he and Kiba sat across from each other in the middle of a clearing, having long discussions as if they were in their living room.

"Yeah, it was pretty hard to admit to myself that he… it, whatever, was right. I still don't know if that was all real, or just my mind playing tricks on me or what. But I'll tell you what, I think I knew the guy talking to me. I can't remember his face, and he never told me his name, but when I looked at him it just… clicked."

"Maybe it was the guy who put that seal on you in the first place." Kiba suggested. "Did you ever ask the Third about how that went down?"

"We just sorta agreed not to talk about it, honestly. But the cat's been out of the bag for a good while now. I'll ask him about it as soon as we get back home."

"With enough luck, maybe the dude's still around. Who knows, he might be able to fix your seal or something, prevent that type of damage from happening again."

"I sure hope so," Naruto said thoughtfully. "You know, I didn't think anything about it while everything was going on, but looking back now, on how I was acting, what I was doing… It's scary. I'd like to think it was like someone else took over my body, but I know that's not true. It was all me. I… don't really know what I'm capable of anymore."

"That goes for everyone." Kiba assured him. "Shit, sometimes I get these thoughts, right? What if I did this, or that, and I think everyone does. But we don't act on them, because we know better. Something here," He tapped on his temple. " Stops us."

"I'll try to avoid taking hits there for now, then."

They both shared another laugh. Naruto thought it was a shame they didn't have anything to drink as well.

"I wish we hung out like this more, you know back home." He admitted. "I was so focused on getting back here when we had that time off… I was just training, looking for ways to get stronger… As time went on I even stopped talking to Hinata, or my sister. I'd just spend all day in a room, training, over and over again. Now that I'm here, I just wish I could go back."

"It's not all your fault either." Kiba assured him. "I was pretty busy too."

"I heard about that!" Naruto said, shooting his head up. "From Hinata. How's that going?"

"Eh, you know," Kiba said with a grin. "Politics are like climbing a mountain with no gear. But no one thinks I can do it, which makes it a hell of a lot easier. Right now I just need to focus on doing well out here."

"If you need my help, you know I'm here." Naruto assured him.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, because I can guarantee you right now that I will." Kiba said, much more seriously than before. "Both here, and back home. Hell, probably more back home than out here. An Inuzuka being even considered for Hokage is unprecedented. Even the Uchiha have a better shot than I do, and considering their clan's history, that's…"

He shook his head with a grin. "Sorry, I know that a lot of that doesn't mean anything to you right now. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Naruto was about to tell Kiba to tell him more about it right there and then. As far as he knew, the Uchiha clan was a huge deal. They produced some of the best fighters in the village and had an insane amount of wealth, so why wouldn't they be eligible for the position? Before he could, though, more people invaded the clearing.

A crew of soldiers quickly surrounded them. "Sir, is that-?!" One of them said after laying eyes on Naruto. "We need to get you to a medic, sir! Hey!" He turned back to the forest. "We need a medic here!"

"Thank you." Naruto said as the soldier helped him to his feet. He turned to Kiba as they began to carry his body over to their camp. "Is Asuma here already?"

"Yeah, we've mounted a tent already. He's talking with the others right now."

"The others?"

"Right, forgot you wouldn't know about that yet." Kiba said. "Headquarters changed things up a bit while you were busy. Asuma isn't going to be the only general around here for the invasion on this front, and they're holding a meeting right now. I'd reckon they'll want to meet you too."

"I'm not sure I can survive meeting another general."

"I'm sure you'll manage somehow."

Kiba was clearly hesitant to leave them, but Naruto knew the boy had a lot on his plate with preparing his own troops for the battle. "You can go," He assured him. "We'll meet again when I'm done with all of this."

Kiba grinned and they bumped their fists together. "I'll hold you to that. I'll try to find some Sake in the meantime, you and I have a long overdue drinking session to attend to."

"It better be good!" Naruto yelled at his friend's back as he disappeared among the trees, leaving him alone with his escort.

"Sir, it's an honor to meet you." One of Naruto's aides said as they transported him through the forest.

It was really incredible how quickly it had been populated. Less than a day ago and Naruto would see nothing but trees around them. Now there were Konoha soldiers no matter where he looked, and all of them looked very busy.

Still, most, if not all, paused in their duties to gawk at Naruto as he was carried through. He saw the same awe in their gaze as when he had 'defeated' Gaara. It seemed that, regardless of his own feelings on the subject, the legend of Naruto Uzumaki had grown yet again.

"It's nice to meet you too." He told the soldier, shaking his hand. At least he had grown somewhat used to talking to his subordinates. A few months ago and he'd just have mumbled some sort of response to the man. "Do you know where the general tent is right now?"

"Yes, sir, but we have orders to take you to the medics straight away." The man to his right said. "General Asuma said you'd rather err, take care of it yourself before letting another doctor touch you, sir, so we were not to let you out of our sights until you were inside of the tent." He added sheepishly.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like me alright." He admitted. It seemed like his escorts weren't expecting that type of answer, and a lot of tension immediately left them. "Don't worry, I won't try to slip you up until we get there. Not sure I even could right now anyway."

"Sir, you'll be there with us during the fighting, right?" The man to his left asked. Naruto turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I feel like we'd all feel a lot safer if you were, sir."

"I don't know." Naruto admitted. "I want to be there, obviously, but it all depends on what the doctors tell me. Besides, you're going to have Asuma there, aren't you? I can guarantee right now he'd help you all a lot more than I ever could."

"Well, it never hurts to have more back up, right?"

Naruto chuckled. "Fair enough." Suddenly something came to mind. "You guys know where I'll find Hinata around here? Hinata Hyuga?"

The men shared a look and a grin. Naruto's head whipped between them. "What?"

"I think you'll see her soon enough, sir." One of them said, struggling to contain his laughter. The other soldier nodded, doing a worse job than his friend. "Y-yep."

"The hell do you…" Naruto froze.

"You're kidding me! She's on medic duty right now?!"

"That's right, sir."

"Hold on, hold on," He planted his feet on the ground, stopping their advance. "You guys know where I can find some clothes?!"

Naruto still had the clothes he stole from the scouts on him, leaving his torso bare, not to mention how he was covered in dirt and blood from his fight with Bokuden. There was no way in hell he'd be meeting Hinata dressed like that.

Surprisingly enough, that thought didn't make him as embarrassed as it should have.

"Gotcha, sir." One of them said. They quickly brought Naruto along to the back of the treeline, where no one else could see them, and the man closest to Naruto's build handed his clothes over to him.

Naruto used a quick, unnamed Suiton technique to wash himself before putting them on. It was a hurried and messy process, but he certainly looked a lot better than he did mere moments ago. "Good luck, sir. We'll be waiting outside if you need anything."

"I owe you my life." He told the man, promising himself that he'd get him promoted somehow. They waved him off as he finally walked into the tent.

It was a night and day difference from any other medical tent Naruto had ever been in. It was large enough to house hundreds of stretchers, to begin with, and he saw dozens of doctors on rotation.

Yugao was in one of them. The woman was unconscious, but her sword was sheathed by her side. He was glad to see she had managed to hold onto it, at the very least, and hoped she had a swift recovery.

Some of the staff noticed him entering and immediately rushed to his aid. Naruto's first instinct was to deny their help, but he realized they were only trying to do their duty and assist him, not to mention the less he relied on the Kyubi's regeneration, the better. He sat on one of the beds and let them go to work, only insisting they couldn't look at his hands. The less people knew about that, the better.

While two doctors circled around Naruto to stitch several open wounds in his right arm, Hinata walked in for the first time. Their eyes immediately met each other.

She was like the opposite of Akamaru. While the dog had changed enough to become nigh unrecognizable since he had last seen him, Hinata looked exactly as she had before they left home.

Except for the newly added modifications to her previously mangled hands. Hook-like objects were hammered in place of her missing fingers, which she either controlled with her nerves or chakra, maybe a mix of both. Either way, she seemed to have great control over them already, managing to handle a pile of paper without so much as scratching them.

Naruto only realized all of that later, though. There wasn't a single thought running through his mind during that moment, which seemed to be at the same time infinitely small and everlasting, where they looked into each other's eyes.

Neither of them said a word, but Naruto felt so many things being exchanged between them. There was a sense of warmth and comfort he found in her, and he hoped she saw the same in him.

There was also a touch of warning in her eyes though. What she was warning him about, Naruto didn't know, but Hinata quickly mouthed 'later' and went on with her shift, not even approaching his bed. Understanding there was probably some purpose to the act, Naruto quietly sat there and let himself be operated on.

The check-up was long and tedious, and reached an expected conclusion.

"A lot of your injuries have already been… taken care of, sir. How do you feel?" One of the doctors asked him.

"Tired." He admitted. "Just that, though. No pain right now or anything. If I could just rest for a bit I'm sure I'd be ready for action soon enough."

"Do you feel any undesirable side-effects from your 'healing'?"

"No, not at all." He lied flawlessly. The doctor nodded, checked something off in her papers, and left.

Now, time to find Hinata.

It didn't take him long. Naruto exited their medical facilities and circled around them, finding Hinata sitting by its back, where there was nearly no one in sight. She turned around as soon as he saw her. 'Figures it'd be impossible to sneak up on her.'

"Hey," She said with a small smile, still sitting on a wooden log-turned-stool. "Where have you been?"

"What, no hug?" He asked with a matching grin, pulling one of the logs over for himself. "Kiba's got you outmatched in the 'welcome back and congratulations for still being alive' department, I've gotta say."

"Well, it just so happens I've been around you more often than Kiba has, and I always knew you'd come back, no matter where Asuma threw you." Her smile widened. "But if it makes you feel better, I'm glad you're back."

"It does. So, mind telling me why we had to pretend not to know each other back there? I thought you didn't have to worry about politics or anything since you moved in and everything."

"I don't, I just don't like the people I'm working with here, and I don't want them to know anything more about me than they need to." She said curtly. "Sorry," She shook her head. "I didn't mean to drag you into this."

"It's fine, I don't mind. Why are you even on medic duty in the first place, though? I'd figure you'd be preparing for a fight with everyone else right now."

"Kurenai put me into logistics for the time being," She flexed her hand at him. "She doesn't think I'm ready for combat yet, or at least that's what she tells me. I bet my dad had a word with her about that, though. So now I'm here, deciding who gets what, while you and Kiba are ready to go. I'm never getting promoted at this rate."

"I never guessed we'd have idiots for generals." He said with a grin. She chuckled. "I wouldn't put it so harshly, but let's just say I'm itching to prove her wrong." She leaned back. "Looks like you're already on the line for one, though, considering what I've heard."

"Yeah, maybe. I doubt it, though, I messed up pretty badly."

"But you won."

"Eh, I always seem to manage somehow." He said with a playful shrug. "What can I say, there's something about my face, assholes can't help but punch it. Maybe I should get some work done on it when we make it back."

"I hope you won't change it too much," An unfamiliar voice spoke up while approaching them. "That'd be a shame."

The most recent arrival was a new face to Naruto, but that obviously didn't go both ways. Hinata seemed to recognize her too, because he saw her posture immediately tense, albeit subtly. He doubted the other woman even noticed.

She had bright pink hair unlike any he had ever seen before, with an all-white vest and shirt. Naruto found it hard to believe anyone would actually wear something like that for battle, but she also didn't look like a medic…

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, commander." She said with a tone of consummate enthusiasm. "I tried to come into contact when you were in Konoha, but you were quite hard to reach."

"Well, I was pretty busy," Naruto said, trying to remember if he had ever seen her face before. There was something about her that was oddly familiar. "Miss…?"

"Haruno, my name's Sakura Haruno. And you hardly need to be introduced. We've heard quite a lot about your exploits back home, as you can imagine."

"Back home?" He leaned over to look at Hinata. "You're a new recruit, then?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not. I'm a-"

"Peddler." Hinata interrupted. Naruto couldn't even try to hide his surprise. Sure, Hinata had a bit of a rude streak sometimes, but he hadn't seen her be so outright hostile to anyone before.

Sakura gave them a polite smile. "We prefer the term 'merchant' but yes, that's essentially correct."

"Wait, so what are you doing here?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think we're going to do a lot of door-to-door sales where we're going."

"No, of course not, but what about the food you eat? Or the weapons you use, the clothes you wear? All of that has to be made and delivered somehow, right? I've been selected to accompany the army as the merchant's guild representative, deciding where our resources are distributed on the fly."

And there it was. A flaw in Sakura's plan to approach him. Naruto had worked with Ayame in their shop for years now, and he had to talk to plenty of consumers and rivals during that time. He knew when someone had rehearsed a speech over and over again to get the perfect intonations, when someone was trying to win him over.

Sakura Haruno was trying to sell something to Naruto, but he didn't know what.

"Like which division gets their gear first, that type of thing?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. "That seems pretty self-explanatory to me. Besides, won't this end up slowing the entire thing down?"

"Well, of course everyone's going to be well-equipped, we want to win after all, but there's a certain order for these things. I'll follow you all from behind, and after this is done I'll go back to the council and report on what I've seen. This might not mean much to you now," She said, turning to Hinata as she rolled her eyes. "But I assure you, in this business that can be quite the boost."

"Shouldn't you be talking to the generals then?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think two commanders like us could give you a lot of input when it comes to stuff like that."

"I will, don't worry. It just so happens we have our eyes on you as well." Sakura said, extending a hand to him. Naruto shook it uneasily. "You never know when an investment will pay off."

With that she nodded to them both and left. Naruto waited a few seconds before turning to Hinata.

"So, what was that about?"

"The investment thing? I have no idea."

"Well, that and the utter contempt you showed for her, yeah."

"Come on, we both know this is ridiculous!" Hinata said, throwing her arms in the air. "A civilian like her, in a place like this?! People like her only care about getting more money in their pockets, she'd be talking to Suna officers right now if it'd grow her bottom line."

Naruto grinned. "You know, me and Ayame are merchants too."

"Don't pull that on me." Hinata said, narrowing her eyes and pointing at him. "You and I both know that's completely different. I'm telling you, you can't trust people like Haruno. Wannabe clansmen meddling where they shouldn't, that's all they are."

Naruto raised his hands in surrender. "I don't know nearly enough about politics to step into that ring with ya, Hinata. I'm just saying we should probably try and be nice to the people arming us."

"What are you talking about? I've been perfectly nice to her."

"You called her a peddler."

"That's just true though!"

Naruto chuckled. "Whatever you say. I met Kiba earlier."

"I was grouping with him before we got here. Did you guys have enough time to catch up?"

"More than enough, they're the ones who found me. Akamaru sorta, you know, saved my life back there. Should get him a treat when we get a break over here."

"Saved your life?" Hinata sounded incredulous. Naruto remembered she had no idea about the sort of thing he got up to before they met again. "Some scout out here was actually strong enough to merit that?"

"You have no idea. Honestly, he was one of the strongest people I've ever met. It was tough, but I don't know…" He looked down at his boots. "I think I'm better off after winning, you know?"

"I'm glad to hear it." She said. They both paused for a few seconds, looking away from each other. Then Naruto suddenly lifted his head and asked;

"Hey, it's been a while since we hung out, preparing for this and all, so when we get back home to celebrate, wanna go to the movies or something?"

She blinked at him. "Oh, sure, we can ask Kiba to come too, if he's not busy."

"Actually, I was thinking it could just be the two of us."

It's funny, Naruto had just walked out of a fight to the death mere moments ago, but asking such an inconspicuous thing to one of his best friends made him feel infinitely more nervous. The brief moment before Hinata gave him a reply felt like ten thousand centuries.

Then her face opened up in a smile. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

"Cool, then," He tried to play his joy off, but was dead sure she noticed it, because her smile clearly widened. "I'll see you then, I'm gonna go and see what the generals want with me."

"See you later!" She called out from behind him. Naruto walked ten steps away from the medical tent, then twenty, then thirty - just to be absolutely sure the girl couldn't see him, even with her Byakugan active, and that no one else was around.

Then he leaped in joy.

Naruto had just seen Kiba again for the first time in a while, got rescued from a grueling fight to the death against a superhuman freak, lifted a literal mountain off of his head, AND managed to ask Hinata out with a straight face.

Yeah, it was good to be alive.

Sensing that something as strict as meeting with the generals would probably ruin his good mood, Naruto decided to meander with the troops for a bit, get to know the people he'd be fighting with.

It was fascinating in a way. Everyone knew they'd have to move in a hurry, but the soldiers still managed to make small homes for themselves.

Some were working hard, carrying large loads from place to place, checking their weapons, talking with officers about their positions and duties in the upcoming battles, while others took a break, sitting around makeshift bonfires that were miraculously protected from the rain, sharing bread and drinks, talking about this and that, irrelevant but comforting chatter.

Most acknowledged his presence in some way or another. Some nodded or saluted to him, while others even invited Naruto to join in their revelry, which he quickly but politely refused. There was reverence in their eyes, just like the guards who had escorted him to the medics.

Obviously, not everyone saw Naruto in the same way. Some men seemed to still carry grudges against him, either for holding the Kyubi or being Kushina's son, he didn't know. Others gazed at him in fear, like he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. Of course, Naruto tried to avoid crossing paths with them.

"Hey," He called out to a pair of men chopping down some trees to open a path. "You guys know where the Uzumaki army is camped?"

He quickly followed their directions. Something odd happened as he did. The further he walked down the appointed trail, the less people he saw. And he walked quite the considerable distance, too. The only reason Naruto believed he was still on the right path were the eventual banners he saw pinned by the trees, showing the same Uzumaki sigil he wore during the awards ceremony.

So, there he was, finally ready to meet the men who swore to serve under him. The situation made him feel a lot of things. He was anxious, excited, and above all, afraid to disappoint them.

Naruto was far from being like Kiba or Hinata. He hadn't known them since he was a child, and he certainly hadn't received any training in strategy or tactics.

"Well," He whispered to himself. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, eh?"

Then, suddenly, they revealed themselves to him. Just as Naruto slapped away some of the foliage blocking his path, he involuntarily stepped into a huge, man-made clearing.

His first impressions of the men serving under him were… odd.

First of all, there was a banner in the dead center of their camp, much larger than the ones he had passed by earlier. It showed his clan's symbol, with the words 'WE ARE ALIVE.' written under it in bright-red paint.

The professionalism he had seen in different sections of Konoha's army had evaporated there, in that desolate corner. Every single one of the two hundred and seventy men were lounging around, clearly celebrating something significant.

It was an assault on his still-sensitive senses. Naruto felt like he needed to step back and sit down for a minute, while no one had noticed him yet.

But that window of opportunity passed quickly and mercilessly. All it took was for one of the soldiers to spot Naruto, a kid that didn't look older than fifteen, for the entire thing to collapse.

He wordlessly pointed at Naruto, and one pair of eyes became five, five became twenty, and soon enough everyone gathered stopped what they were doing and stared straight at him.

Naruto returned the favor and looked around wordlessly. He saw officers that had been zig-zagging all over the place, trying to put a stop to their behavior, and rough-looking men who ignored them, bottles of sake in their hands. All of them were similarly awed at his presence, and all of them were waiting for his judgement.

'Okay,' He thought as time seemed to freeze. 'Now, what do I do here? If I went rough on them, the officers would appreciate it, but the infantry's morale would get demolished. On the other hand, if I don't discipline anyone, the officers might stop respecting me. What would Kiba and Hinata do here?'

It didn't take much to make his mind shut off, and Naruto ended up just doing what came naturally to him. He gave all of them a hearty grin. "What, are you guys already partying without me?"

Oh, how surreal it was to see mere words having such an effect on men. Naruto immediately recognized how easy it was to get intoxicated on that level of authority, on that level of power.

His body was washed away with hearty laughter as their celebrations continued. Hundreds of toasts immediately went to his honor. People rushed in from the back of the camp to get closer to him, together with one particular officer, who tripped over others, and himself, to stand in front of Naruto.

"Commander Uzumaki, SIR!" He said, clapping his feet together and standing at a full salute. He was about twenty or so years old, with blonde hair that reached his shoulders. Naruto noted that wasn't a very common Konoha look.

"Officer Bando reporting for duty, sir! It warms my heart to see you're safe, sir!"

Another round of celebratory shouting. Naruto's ears picked up a hushed conversation to their right. "That's the commander!" Someone whispered excitedly. "I can't believe he's actually here…"

"Thank you, Bando. Thank you, everyone." He said, walking closer to them. "I'm glad to hear you were all so worried about me, but I think we're going to move into battle soon, so we should probably start getting ready, eh?"

There was a beat of silence as everyone processed what Naruto had just said was an order. Bando furiously nodded. "We'll get right on it, sir!" He turned to the others. "You heard the man!"

And indeed they did. It was like watching an ant colony work as they quickly tore down their comforts and prepared to be deployed.

Naruto watched it for a minute before turning to an expectant Bando. "Thanks for holding things down while I wasn't here, Bando, but you don't need to be so formal. You can just call me Naruto."

"Sir, that would be a violation of the code of conduct, sir!"

"Well, what about Uzumaki-san, then?"

He could tell that was still too much for the man. Naruto tried not to sigh. "Uzumaki-sama, then?"

Bando finally nodded, albeit hesitantly.

"I'm sorry for not being around before, things got a bit messy, back there." Naruto said, scratching his head. Bando looked absolutely mortified at receiving Naruto's apology, so he quickly decided to move on.

"Point being, you've been around everyone for a bit now, right? Can you show me around? I'd like to know who I'll be working with."

"Absolutely, si- Uzumaki-sama!"

What followed was a quick, but straightforward tour around his own camp.

The first men Bando introduced him to were a pair of brothers who stood with crossed arms, watching over their own men. Their bodies were imposing, built to the brim with muscle, and they had more than enough scars to prove their worth in battle. "This is Izuno," Bando said as Naruto shook his hand. "And Itsuki."

"I'm the leader of the Doton squad, Itsuki here is the head of the Katon team." Izuno said. "It's an honor to finally meet you, commander."

"The honor's mine." Naruto assured them. "What army did you two transfer from?"

"We were both from General Sarutobi's army." Itsuki said, nodding to his own words with pride. "We were there during the battle with Suna, and we both saw the Ichibi before you defeated it. We decided to move over here right there and then."

"I'm glad to have you both with me. We'll talk more in a bit." Naruto promised before they moved on.

"Their teamwork is some of the best in the army," Bando assured him when the twins were out of sight. "Some people say they've been fighting together - and with each other - since they were kids."

"With each other?" Naruto asked, surprised. "That's not going to be an issue right?"

"Nothing besides some strong competition, sir."

And they were just the start of it. It seemed like people from Naruto's army really came from all over the country, some not even having stepped foot in the village before. When asked why they decided to join the village's army, rather than the Daimyo's guard, all of them answered the same thing.

They wanted to serve under Naruto Uzumaki, no one else.

Naruto and Bando climbed over a steep ramp on the side of their camp, coming face to face with one of his lieutenants, the woman who was in charge of coordinating all of their infantry and answered only to Naruto himself.

The oddest thing about her was her name. 'Mizu.' They shook hands, and Naruto was pleasantly surprised with the strength of her grip.

"It's an honor, commander." She said with a firm nod. Naruto noticed her gaze was far more scrutinizing than the others. Someone who probably hadn't chosen to serve under Naruto of her own will and was trying to ascertain his value, then.

"The honor is mine, Mizu. Have you been working with the men already, then?"

"Yes, sir. We've gone over some basic training drills. Not enough to make them into soldiers, obviously, but I can guarantee they aren't pushovers anymore. I swear, some looked like they never held a sword before…"

"Do you think we aren't ready for a battle, then?"

"Nah, nothing like that," She said, scratching her neck. It was good to see she wasn't as formal as Bando. "We've got some real fighting pedigree around here, like the fire and earth twins over there. Worst comes to worst, we'll cover their asses." Her eyes widened, as if she suddenly remembered who she was talking to. "Er-"

"That's good to know." Naruto said with a smile. "I'll join you in these drills whenever we have the time, if you don't mind."

"Of course not, sir!" She said, saluting as he and Bando walked away. After that Naruto simply talked to whoever approached him, being mindful to not interrupt their work. The main thing he realized after all of that was that remembering all of their names was going to be the hardest part about that war.

"Ah," He said. "I just realized, what do you do around here, Bando?" He asked, turning to him.

"Sir- Uzumaki-sama, I'm in charge of delegating with the other officers and making sure everyone understands and follows your orders."

"Ah." Yoshimitsu came to mind. "So you're my right-hand man, then?"

Bando's eyes lit up, as if Naruto had just bestowed the greatest honor known to man upon him. "Y-yes, I suppose that'd be accurate."

"Do you mind telling me why you decided to join us?" He winced internally at the surprise in Bando's eyes. "If you don't mind, of course."

"No, of course not, sir. I…"

"Here, walk with me for a second."

Naruto waited until they were sufficiently far away from the others before gesturing for Bando to continue.

"I was… special. Most people didn't think I'd live to see my first birthday, let alone twenty. I had already enlisted to be an officer back home, just helping out in the logistics, never leaving the village… But then I saw you, sir. I heard what happened out here, and I realized that even someone like me could make a difference. I saw that even someone like me could be strong. That's why I enlisted for field duty, and that's why I asked to join your army when they gave me the chance." He paused for a second before turning away from Naruto. "I'm sorry if you think that's pathetic, sir. I understand if you want me to-"

"I don't think that's pathetic at all." Naruto reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Bando. We're going to become the strongest army Konoha has ever seen." He gave him another smile. "Believe it."

"...Yes, sir." Bando said, wiping something from his eyes before turning back to him.

"Since you're going to be with me all the time, I think you should probably go to the same meetings I do. Care to join me?"

"I'd be honored, sir. But who are you meeting, exactly?"

Maybe it was a bit cruel to play around with the man like that, but Naruto just answered him with a grin. "You'll see."

---

Naruto and Bando continued to chatter as they walked through camp. "...And what's the deal with those words I saw on the banner? 'We are alive'?"

"I'm… not entirely sure, sir. But I think our recruits simply chose it as our army's motto, or battle-cry I suppose. It's not entirely unpleasant."

"No, it has a good ring to it." Naruto agreed, nodding. "I suppose we'll be talking more about it later, we're here."

There was something about the rather simple-looking tent that jumped out at Naruto. It wasn't just the symbols etched on its side, or its unusual size, but the aura he felt just by standing next to it.

Going by Bando's reaction, he wasn't that affected by it, and neither were the men standing around them. Naruto knew he wasn't a sensor, so it was most likely his experience trying to inform him about the danger waiting ahead.

'So they're just that strong, huh?' He thought with a nervous grin. 'Goddamn, my body doesn't even want to take a step forward.'

"Sir… that's the general's tent." Bando said, voice quavering.

"Yeah, it sure is." Naruto replied. "I need to meet with Asuma to figure out what our role will be during the invasion, since I'm pretty sure we'll be serving under him. That, and meeting with the other generals can't hurt." He turned to look at the clearly uneasy man. "If you want to wait outside then…"

"No, no," Bando shook his head. "It's my duty to be by your side, sir. I'll make sure to know my place while we're there."

"There's no need to be so harsh on yourself." Naruto assured him. "Truth is, you probably know more about these things than I do. If something jumps out at you, feel free to say it. I'll back you up, whatever it is."

Bando nodded, probably not trusting his voice to thank Naruto. With all that being said, he took some air and waltzed in, pushing the tent's opening aside.

Three people waited for him inside. Asuma, of course, was sitting opposite to the tent's entrance, and immediately locked eyes with Naruto. To the general's left there was a beautiful woman with bright scarlet eyes. Given what Hinata had said earlier, he assumed that was the Kurenai she had mentioned.

And, to Asuma's right, there was a man Naruto didn't recognize. He was noticeably younger than the others, with short black hair and matching black eyes. His cheekbones were visibly sunken, creating two lines that ran down from his nose, and all of his clothing was nondescript and easily forgettable.

Bando froze shortly after entering the room. It was no surprise. While the man couldn't detect the general's powers outside, standing face-to-face with them must have triggered some sort of survival instinct in his brain.

Given Naruto's relationship with Asuma, combined with everything he had already seen in the past couple of days, he wasn't nearly as affected, and he managed to pull Bando out of his stupor by giving him a reassuring glance.

"Naruto!" Asuma exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention to him. He looked well, as usual. Naruto couldn't imagine a wounded Asuma, no matter how hard he tried. "It's good to see you're doing well."

"Well, the doctors helped a lot." He said, moving over to the table. Bando followed behind him nervously, and the other two's eyes tracked them like hawks. "Sorry for interrupting, but I figured now would be a good time for us to talk, letting you know about everything me and Yugao saw, the likes. Though I don't think what I'll have to say will be particularly useful by now."

"I doubt that," Kurenai interjected, extending a hand to him. "All information makes a difference, no matter how small it may seem. It's also about time we finally met. I'm Kurenai Yuhi."

Kiba's gloves, combined with the Henge, did wonders to hide the appearance of Naruto's right hand, even though he could still feel its differences, so at least he managed to shake hands with Kurenai without giving himself away. "Naruto Uzumaki. This is my officer, Bando."

Bando could only nod hesitantly as Kurenai turned her eyes to him. "Take a seat." Asuma gestured for him to do as she said. There was something odd about the pair, though he couldn't quite tell what it was…

Naruto sat opposite to Asuma, with Kurenai to his right and the mysterious dark-haired man to his left, who had yet to introduce himself. Naruto's curiosity peaked. He decided he'd learn the man's name until that meeting was finished.

"It's an honor to meet you…" He said, extending a hand to him. The other man simply shook it and said "The honor's mine." before settling back down.

What was the point of hiding his name from Naruto anyway? He was a general, it's not like he wouldn't know just by asking one of the men outside afterward anyway.

"So, about your debriefing." Asuma said, putting some papers away. "Yugao talked for a bit to our doctors, but she lost consciousness before getting much out, so you'll need to fill a lot of blanks here."

"Sure, I don't mind." Naruto said. "But things got pretty intense, and I haven't really had a lot of time to rest yet, so I might not remember everything from the get-go."

"Just what you do will suffice." Kurenai said encouragingly. Naruto took a deep breath and then began his re-telling, all the way back to their first engagement in Amegakure.

They must have sat there for over an hour, maybe even two, as Naruto explained every little detail about their mission. Bando must have surely been staring at the back of his head in astonishment, though Naruto couldn't turn to check. He was focused on the general's faces, as even the nameless, solemn-looking one showed clear surprise at certain points of his tale.

He omitted some things here and there, lying perfectly. He didn't tell them about just how his first fight really went down, or any of the suicidal maneuvers he took while the Kyubi still had a grasp of his mind. He also didn't tell them about his hand being chopped off, or the vision he saw afterward.

Of course, he also didn't reveal the business with Yugao's sword to them. She had almost given her life several times over and suffered terrible pain to save him. Betraying her trust like that would be the deepest of insults on his part.

By the time he was finished, the tent was completely silent. Kurenai was tapping her fingers on the desk, the unnamed man leaned back on his chair in silence, and Asuma stared straight at Naruto.

"Bokuden…" He said. "To think someone like that would be put in charge of an operation like this… Killing him was truly an amazing accomplishment, Naruto."

"That goes more to Akamaru than me, really." He said, letting the compliment wash over him. "You've met him before?"

"I've heard of him. Minato… The Fourth Hokage told me. Truth be told, his men were quickly overwhelmed by our forces back in the day, and he was disposed of without much issue by Minato, but it wasn't every day someone survived one of his Jutsu. From what you've told me, his perseverance didn't diminish over the years either. This is a great victory on our part."

"I didn't really have a choice on it… So, what happens now?"

"The invasion proceeds as planned." Kurenai answered. "Even if one of the scouts managed to escape, and that's a big if, they'll be far too late."

"Are my troops still gonna be under you?" He asked Asuma.

"That was one of the purposes behind this meeting." The unmanned man said, fully facing Naruto. "Given your value, the council has decided to rotate your services, rather than leave you squarely under Asuma's command."

'Your value.' The words rang in Naruto's head. Was that referring to his actual accomplishments during the war, or just his status as Konoha's Jinchuuriki?

Not being squarely put under Asuma's command was also a bit disheartening. He always knew where he stood under the man, and that gave him a sense of security. "Who am I going to be under for this mission, then?"

"Me." The uneventful looking man said. Naruto tried his hardest to avoid showing disappointment. Either the man didn't notice it, or he chose not to mention it. "Come to see me when you're done here. We need to iron out some of the details."

With that being said, the man nodded once toward Kurenai and Asuma, utterly ignored Naruto and Bando, and left the room without ceremony.

"Jeez…" Naruto exhaled a few seconds after the man had left, pointing at the tent's entrance with his thumb. "Can you two tell me who that guy is?"

"That guy, Naruto," Asuma said. "Was Itachi Uchiha. Maybe you've heard of him."

"...Oh." He sunk in his chair. "So that's why he didn't introduce himself."

"Don't let it get to you," Kurenai said cheerfully. "His family has a bad habit of thinking too highly of themselves." She paused. "Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't. So, where are Kiba and Hinata going to be serving?"

"Kiba's going to be with me, Hinata with Kurenai." Asuma said. "Don't worry, this is mostly just a matter of formality. We're all going to be serving in the same region, so chances are you'll have plenty of chances to fight side-by-side with each other."

"Formalities, huh? I wonder why the people back home even care about that sort of stuff, it's not like they're actually here to see any of it."

Kurenai seemed to approve of his frankness.

Asuma chuckled. "One day," He said. "You're going to learn just why we accommodate them, Naruto. But I hope it won't be so soon, and that you'll have more than enough clout to deal with it." He turned to Kurenai. "Would you mind leaving us for a bit? Naruto and I have some catching up to do."

"Of course, I'm pretty busy as well." She said, standing and shaking Naruto's hand for a second time. "Good luck to you, commander."

"Oh, before you go." Naruto said, holding onto her hand. "Hinata Hyuga asked me to tell you she's already ready for action. I can vouch for her…" His brain blanked when trying to figure out how to properly address someone from her rank. "Sir."

Amusement danced in her eyes. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

And with that, she broke their handshake and left the tent. Asuma gave Bando a look, and the officer promptly saluted and excused himself, leaving the two of them to their talk.

Asuma took out a cigar from his vest, put it in his mouth and lit it. He offered Naruto a drag, and the boy ended up actually accepting his offer. A few seconds later he was coughing his lungs out. Asuma laughed, taking it from his hands and explaining how he wasn't actually supposed to inhale the smoke.

"I'll keep that in mind," Naruto promised, coughing into a closed fist.

"You seem less tense." Asuma noted, nodding approvingly.

"Well, I think fighting for my life a few hours ago has a lot to do with that. After you cross that threshold stuff like talking in a meeting like this doesn't seem too bad. Besides, I met Kiba again for the first time in a long while, and I…" Blood rushed to his cheeks. "I actually managed to ask Hinata out a little bit ago."

"Ha! You dog." Asuma said, shaking his hand. "All grown up on me, eh? Never thought I'd see the day. The would-be Hyuga heiress too, goddamn."

"Hey, hey," Naruto said. "Her clan doesn't have anything to do with it. Besides, she's been living with me for the last few months, their opinion doesn't matter."

"I meant no harm by it." Asuma said with a shrug, taking another drag off of his cigar and blowing out the smoke after a couple of seconds.

Now it was Naruto's turn to go on the offensive. "What about you and Kurenai, eh? How long has that been going on?"

Asuma almost stumbled off of his chair, dropping the cigar to the ground. He rushed to grab it while Naruto laughed at his expense. "How the hell did you know about that?!"

"How could I sit here and watch you two and not know it? I hope that's not how I look when I'm talking to Hinata."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Asuma grumbled, waving his hand at him. "We've been going out for a few years now. She wanted something more official, but we agreed not to go that far until we're both retired. Conflict of interest and all that."

"Man, fuck that, you two should do whatever the hell you want. Who's going to stop you? Besides, if there's one thing I've learned so far in this war, it's that you never know what's gonna happen until it's too late."

"As much as I appreciate the advice," Asuma's humorous tone said the opposite. "I think I'm going to stick to our plans for now, thank you very much."

"Hey, man, you do whatever you want, like I said. I'm just warning ya."

Both of them chuckled.

"So," Asuma finally said, putting his cigar out. "Is there anything else you want to tell me, Naruto?"

His lies had been caught, then. Naruto wondered why he didn't just order him to say it. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm just letting you know, if there's anything you need help with, I'll always be here. Putting you out here, in this war… It's my responsibility. Just like looking after you."

"Sir, with all due respect, that's a bunch of bullshit." Naruto said, looking him dead in his wide eyes. "It was my decision to enlist. I had been trying for years before you came along, remember? If I didn't want to come here, you couldn't have made me. And I'm not saying I don't appreciate your help and everything you've done for me, I do, but I won't let you take the blame for everything bad that happens to me. The responsibility here is all mine, and mine alone."

"I…" Asuma blinked, then smiled. "I really wasn't expecting something like that, to be honest with you."

"Hey, I take offense to that." Naruto said, standing up to leave with a shrug. "I can grow up too, you know?"

"Not too fast, I hope. Good luck, Naruto."

"Good luck to you, General." He said, waving behind his back as he left to be reunited with Bando.

---

Past Amegakure's rainy borders, well into the desertous landscape of the wind country, inside of a series of fortresses known as Suna's first line of defense, a crucial meeting was about to start.

"We've received no word from our scouts at Amegakure for well over a day now." Shubukan, their commander in chief, said to start things off. "Which means that they have probably already been overwhelmed by Konoha's spearhead divisions. Takeda, how are our…"

Ryusa, a relatively low-ranking infantry commander stationed there, ignored their words for the moment.

Most people back in their village, their leaders, strategists, fellow soldiers, council members, expected them to be easily and quickly defeated. That was their fate, as men stationed on the country's borders.

All they had to do was drain enough of the enemy's resources in the process. To kill as many of them as they could, maybe even sending one or two messengers back home to report on their strength.

That was the nature of the conflict they were facing. A war of extermination that would result in the complete destruction of their culture and people.

As a result, everyone present in the room had already come to terms with their mortality. He saw it in their eyes when looking around the room.

It was an honor, after all, to be killed for the village. Especially when many of them had families to be protected.

Ryusa, on the other hand, was at the peak of his youth. He didn't want to die. Wouldn't it be infinitely better if they managed to stop Konoha right there and then, at the gates of their country? Why in the world had everyone else already accepted that outcome as an inevitability, not even stopping to consider another way?

He had been trying to figure out a way to stop them ever since Gaara was defeated by Konoha's Jinchuuriki.

Unfortunately, time had done little to assist him. By all accounts, their defeat still seemed assured.

Ryusa was pushed out of his thoughts when several pairs of eyes turned to him. He stood to deliver his report.

"Thanks to headquarters' provisions, all of our men are fully armed and prepared for battle. We've made some adjustments to the environment in a two-mile radius around the border's line to hinder their approach, and messengers are ready to rush to the village at the first sign of conflict. Given our supplies, we should be able to face full-force combat with Konoha for a week at the very least. Additionally, the escape route I had mentioned earlier has already been…"

"Escape route?!" Another man at the table exclaimed, standing while hammering the table with his fist. "Commander Ryusa, haven't we already made it clear that such cowardly tactics were NOT approved by the council?!"

Of course, that'd be the staunch government hard-liner, Takahama. He was the main source of opposition for Ryusa's many proposals.

The man's political sphere and influence made it impossible for the commander to overturn any of Takahama's many protests, and trying to make the other man see things his way was impossible. He had come from a long lineage of brave warriors, and couldn't see any other way of winning a war besides running into the enemy head-first.

If Konoha had any strategists that saw things in a different light, their fortress wouldn't stand for even a single day. There were far too many imperfections in the so-called 'perfect defense.' But no one else there saw it but him, and no one let him explain it to them.

"But sir, as I said, luring in the enemy and then-!"

"That'll be enough, Ryusa." Shubukan said with a level tone. "Your position has already been made clear, but we've chosen another course of action. Please understand."

"Of course, sir." Ryusa said, bowing his head and returning to his seat. The meeting quickly progressed as he sat there and watched soon to be dead men's faces.

Some might have called their bravado heroism, but he just saw it as ignorance. Baffling ignorance too. How many friends did they have to watch die before realizing a war couldn't be won with nothing but noble sacrifices?

It made him sick and, since his input would no longer be needed, he quickly excused himself and left the room.

Yura, his long time friend and deputy, waited outside with crossed arms. "How'd it go?" He asked as they walked side-by-side through the fortress.

"How do you think he went?" Ryusa said, shaking his head. "They've already convinced themselves that this is the right thing to do, who am I to stop them?"

"Really?" Yura stretched his arms. "That's a shame. I was hoping to live long enough to see another spring."

Ryusa snorted. That was a long-standing joke among their troops. Spring, to them, meant nothing. Just the same old desert to be seen no matter where they looked. But it was still something people like them, whose life expectancy could be counted in months rather than years, could look forward to. "Yeah, me too."

He paused in the middle of the hallway. "I'm going to go take one last look at our defenses while everything's still quiet. Do me a favor and go see how the men are doing, alright?"

"Got it." Yura said with a salute. Ryusa called him back five seconds later. "One more thing!"

His friend turned back with a confused stare. Ryusa made sure there was no one else around before approaching and whispering in his ear.

Yura's eyes widened. Then he smiled and patted Ryusa on the shoulder. "Got it. I'll see you then."

"See you then."

They both saluted each other. Ryusa moved toward one of the windows, looking out into the horizon. Still nothing but sand for as far as the eye could see, but the sky in the distance was different, with storm thundering storm clouds that stopped just short of their country. He clenched his fists.

Ryusa had no hatred for Konoha or their men. They were merely pawns in a bigger game, fighting a war with no end, just like him. But since there was nothing he could do to stop the game altogether, he'd resolved himself to at least live to see it through.

"...I'm sorry." He said to his opponents, words carried ahead by the cold night's air. "And I'll see you all in hell."

---

Itachi had approached Naruto shortly after he left the general's tent, and he was forced to dismiss Bando earlier than he expected to accompany the Uchiha on his walk. They had been walking for five minutes now, and neither man said a single word to each other. Naruto was thinking about his new superior officer the entire way, but had no idea if Itachi's thoughts were directed toward him in return.

"What do you think about the rain, Uzumaki-kun?" The general suddenly asked, pausing to look up at the sky. Naruto had to stop himself from colliding against the Uchiha's back, taking a moment to think about his question.

"...I don't mind it, I guess? It was pretty annoying when I got here for the first time, but I guess I've grown sort of used to it. The trees around here are pretty good for blocking out the water anyway, so it's not like we get too wet."

"The human body is amazingly good at blocking out things like that, given enough time." Itachi nodded. "Conditions that would at first be highly intrusive can be quickly dealt with, given enough time and preserverece."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit. "This isn't just small-talk, right? What's your point?"

"...I think you have the wrong idea about me." Itachi said, turning to him. "I've never been that good at communicating with others… What I mean is that this is your greatest strength. From someone with virtually no experience to now, you've grown more used to the battlefield than anyone I've ever seen before."

"I'm… not sure if that's a good thing or not."

"No, neither am I. But it's something we'll take good use of. You see, every unit in Konoha's army serves a purpose in battle. To protect our flanks, to attack the enemy, the army itself is a massive, living thing. Just like the human body. After much deliberation, I think I've found your purpose."

Again, Naruto wasn't sure about how he should take that. "What do you want me to do, sir?"

"It's quite simple. And, if my hunch is correct," He turned back to the tree-filled horizon, looking toward Suna's direction. "You may very well be the most important factor in our victory against them."

---

Naruto was stunned while walking back to their camp after his brief, but very informative, chat with Itachi Uchiha. The general was correct in his assumption about Naruto's impression of him - he had no idea he could think up something like that after just meeting him.

After Naruto had told him what he knew about his men, the ideas that had been flowing around Itachi's head became a definite and, in his opinion, very well-realized plan.

All in all, it was very different from dealing with Asuma. When Naruto was under him, their actual plan never seemed to matter. He just irradiated enough power that Naruto felt they'd be able to overcome any enemy, no matter what happened to them. Itachi reminded him of something closer to a Shogi player.

Well, things were bound to be interesting either way.

"Naruto!" He heard Kiba call, turning to see him sitting by a hot-pot. He approached and quickly took a seat by the boy's side, accepting a generous portion of food.

"I saw some of the men taking Bokuden's body earlier." Kiba told him. "Not sure of why, but I thought you'd like to know."

"Anything to confirm he's actually dead and won't be biting at my ankles tonight." Naruto admitted, taking a sip of the hot soup. "This is good."

"Hey, my men might not run their own shop, but they ain't slouches on this either." Kiba said with pride.

"Where are they, by the way? I don't see Akamaru either."

"Well, I gave them some off-time. Haven't you heard? Asuma just announced we'll only be leaving tomorrow morning. Something Itachi told him, I think."

Naruto whistled. "He's fast."

"You had something to do with that?" Kiba asked before shaking his head. "I shouldn't even be surprised by now."

"Yeah, I'm under his command for now apparently. Can't tell you anything about it, sorry." He said before Kiba could ask. "He made that pretty clear."

"I get it, I get it." He said. "I wouldn't cross that guy either."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't heard?" He looked around, making sure no one was eavesdropping, before leaning to whisper something to him. Naruto, obviously curious, did the same. "What exactly do you know about Itachi Uchiha?"

"I know that he's a big deal, but that's about it. I was pretty busy when he was rising in the ranks, so…"

"I got you. So, he must have been what, twelve when this happened? Things were heating up, just like now, and he was already working for ANBU at that point."

"He was ANBU at twelve?!" Naruto asked, astonished. Kiba nodded seriously. "Yeah, but that's not the crazy part. So, anyway, high command figures Iwa is going to try something by the shore, next to Kiri territory. Some information they got from a captured guy, I don't know. Point being, it'd have to be a pretty small fighting force on their part, and we couldn't redistribute enough soldiers to deal with it, because the fighting on here was already getting too bad, and by that point everyone thought Kiri was going to stab our back. This was pretty soon after they stopped talking to us.

Anyway, they get there, Itachi and his squad, and they wait. One, two, three days, nothing. Most people would have given up by then, right? But the ANBU are crazy, so they don't. Finally, it happens. A ship pulls up to the shore and thirty Iwa soldiers step out. I'm talking about the cream of the top here, as elite as they get. Itachi's superior officer at the time wants to get the hell out, report back to the Hokage, obviously four people wouldn't be enough to take them on."

"But they also couldn't just leave them there to do whatever they wanted." Naruto interrupted. "Because who knows where they'd go."

"Exactly." Kiba snapped his fingers. "So Itachi volunteered. He'd stay behind and watch over them while the others ran to Konoha to get reinforcements. And so they do, and the trip takes two days total. They get back with a full escort, I'm talking about sixty guys, all ready to rumble. Itachi had been leaving them signals in the trees to follow, and they caught up to him pretty quickly. But here's where shit gets crazy." Kiba's voice dropped in volume, adopting an eerie tone.

"Every single Iwa soldier, all thirty of them, were dead. And Itachi was there in the middle of it all, making some food for himself while he waited for them to get back."

"You're fucking with me." Naruto decided right away. "There's no way."

"I'm telling you, dude! My mom told me that when she was telling me to serve under Itachi! Two months after that, he joined the army. One year later, he was a general. The fastest rise anyone has ever seen in Konoha history. In raw strength I'd like to think Asuma would win, but if they fought each other, there's no way to tell how it'd go. You've got one hell of a monster backing you up now, dude."

"No kidding." Naruto said, taken aback. "Thirty men… fuck, man. And he's probably gotten even stronger over time, too."

"But that also means everyone is gonna be zeroing in on you." Kiba warned. "Taking Itachi Uchiha's head? There's not an officer in the world that'd skip on an opportunity like that."

"Well, life ain't nothing without a challenge, right?"

"Right, you keep telling yourself that." Kiba said, finishing his soup. "Oh, before I go," He said. "Hinata told me to thank you. Apparently Kurenai decided to put her back in the frontlines, so she's preparing to go out right now. You're gonna have to tell me how you managed to swing that someday."

"I have my ways." He said with a shrug. Kiba laughed and left him to his own devices, so Naruto stood and decided to retire for the day by moving back to his own camp, greeting the overnight guards as he passed them.

Bando met him on the way, and after exchanging pleasantries with him, they both walked into camp. It had been significantly organized since he had last seen them, and the men had cut down a lot on their celebration, now gathered in small groups all over the place, whispering to themselves.

Naruto proceeded to ask them to form a circle around him as he sat on a slightly elevated piece of wood, which proceeded to serve as a stage. Every eye was turned on him, from the officers to the infantrymen, and Naruto grabbed the banner that had been on the center of camp and pinned it by his side.

"So," He began. "As all of you are well aware by now, I'm going to be your commander for as long as you serve with the army. I want to let you all know right now that to me, this is an unfathomable honor. I can only hope to live up to what you expect of me, as I already know you all did to me."

Cheering followed as he stopped speaking. Naruto waited until they quieted down before continuing. Speaking eloquently was never one of his skills, and he didn't bother to write down a speech. All he was doing was speaking what came to his mind, and hoping to connect with the men under him.

"A lot of you are older than me, and a lot of you are younger. I'm sure you come from all sorts of different places, too. You," He gestured toward someone who had been listening particularly closely. "Where are you from, soldier?"

The young man quickly stood and saluted him. "I'm from Yakegake, sir."

Naruto nodded solemnly. "You all did us a great service by holding Suna out during their invasion. And you?" He asked as the young man sat down, pointing someone else out. A gruffed veteran stood and saluted him as well. "I'm from a village three miles south of Takigakure, sir."

He continued with that for a while, making each soldier introduce themselves, and learning more and more about why they had enlisted.

"As I said, you come from all over the land of fire. I like to think that there's a reason for that, one bigger than just being assigned under me, a reason that is even bigger than myself." Bando's words came back to him.

"Truth be told, I never really talked to anyone about why I decided to fight before."

All noise was drained out of the clearing. Naruto knew without a doubt he held their full attention now. "You see, as a lot of you know, I'm an orphan of sorts. Growing up, no one really wanted to take care of me. The foster homes did their best, of course, but even as a child, you can tell that sort of thing. So I spent most of my time in the streets, without ever having a true purpose, a real reason to live… and I got into a lot of fights."

He chuckled. "Yeah, a whole lot. When I was seven, though, everything changed. I got trashed, but fought off a few particularly nasty dudes, when an old man found me. I'm talking completely average here, just someone you'd see when walking down the street and never think about again. But what he told me that night stuck with me for the rest of my life. He said what I did was just use violence mindlessly to survive. He taught me that everyone needed something to better themselves, and that if I ever wanted to become a real man, I would have to change. That man went on to become my father, and his name was Teuchi."

He took a deep breath. Just talking about him made his eyes gloss over, and the camp around them began to disappear, melting into the same streets he saw all those years ago. But he planted his feet on the ground and stood strong. He wouldn't let his own memories take a hold of his life anymore.

"For five years, I lived with him and my sister. Five years doesn't sound like a lot, right? But to me, they were everything. I had people who cared about me in the past…" Hiruzen's face flashed in front of his eyes. "But they weren't family. Like I said, my father taught me everything I know about being a man. However, when I was twelve years old, I made a mistake. A mistake born out of my pride, my hubris, a mistake that cost me everything…"

Naruto stopped speaking as the unforgettable scene played out in front of his eyes...

---

Naruto ran through Konoha as fast as his legs could take him. A big bag was tied around his shoulder, its contents rattling in the wind with every step he took. Shouting bit at his back as the wind howled by his face. With a big grin, he jumped as high as he could, maneuvering himself around Konoha's many buildings until he stood on one of their rooftops. Finally, he outran his pursuers.

"They're going to have to do better than that~" He said, crouching on the tip of the tower he had just scaled and taking in Konoha's majestic view. His eyes lingered over the Four Hokages, eternally etched into a monument that oversaw the entire village. He grinned at them. "Bet I could outrun you too."

His father had sent him on another one of his errands. Just buying some supplies for the shop, the usual. The thing was, most people outright refused to serve him for whatever reason. He had refused the Third Hokage's numerous offers to assist him in that front. Naruto was already twelve years old - a man, and he'd take care of his problems by himself.

He curiously dropped the bag to the ground and examined its contents.

There were some strange packages at the bottom of the bag, wrapped in an unusual fabric. Naruto couldn't pry them open, no matter how hard he tried. Shrugging and deciding they weren't important, he simply threw them aside and bagged the groceries Teuchi asked of him, flinging it back over his shoulder.

Miraculously unaware of what he had just done, Naruto quickly found his way to the red-light district, and subsequently, Teuchi's shop.

He walked in just to see Teuchi working behind a stove, with Ayame nowhere to be seen. "I'm back!" He announced, putting the bag on a stool by his side while helping himself to a cup of water. "Welcome back." His father said, putting the saucepot down. "You didn't take as long as…"

Naruto winced. He knew he was screwed as soon as his father's voice trailed off. "What's this?" The older man asked, grabbing the bag Naruto had put down and checking its contents. "Naruto…"

"What? I just bought what you asked!" He quickly explained. "The store decided to give me a bag since I went there so often, and-"

"You stole this." Teuchi said, shaking his head. "Naruto, I gave you enough money to buy food for a week. There's enough here for a month. How many times do I have to tell you to cut this out?!"

As much as Naruto wanted to shout over the man and defend himself, he couldn't. He simply dodged his head and took the lecture in silence.

Teuchi sighed, walked outside, and flipped the stand's sign to 'closed.'

Then he sat by Naruto's side.

"Did they refuse to sell you again?" He asked. Naruto shook his head without saying anything, but as expected, his father saw through him immediately.

"I've told you to speak to the Third Hokage, but if you keep refusing, I'll go and do it myself." Teuchi promised. "They can't keep doing this to you, Naruto. It's not right. And it's not right for you to steal from them either."

"But YOU told me I should solve my problems by myself!" Naruto exclaimed. Teuchi shook his head. "No, Naruto. I meant that a man can't rely on others forever, but you aren't a man, you're a boy, and you can always count on your family to support you."

He didn't have an answer to that. Teuchi sighed and ruffled his hair. "That's getting pretty big, eh? It's been a while since I cut it for you. Come on," They left the shop and headed to their apartment, which the Hokage had generously provided to them. "Tomorrow, you and I will go to wherever you took this and give it back to them."

"Yeah, okay dad."

They met with Ayame at the house as the two of them set off to cut his hair, and soon enough all three members of their family were soundly asleep.

Naruto couldn't have known that just outside, the ANBU operative assigned to his family furrowed his eyebrows as he watched a group of silhouettes approach their home. "What the…? The fourth squad should have already reported that…" He whispered to himself, preparing to move. "What the hell are they-"

His voice was immediately cut off as a powerful hand chop hit the side of his neck. His body fell to the ground, consciousness immediately severed, as his assailant walked over to the building's edge and silently watched the proceedings below.

Moments later, Naruto's house erupted with noise. The boy jumped off of his bed immediately, but was too slow to stop their intruders, who rushed into his room. "Naruto, what's-" His sister asked right before a masked man hit him with a right hook to the stomach, making the boy's body keel over.

They were all restrained as the men brought Teuchi from his room. "Where is the package?" One of them asked him. Teuchi was clearly disoriented, and immediately turned to Naruto as he was held down by four powerful hands. "I don't understand-"

"Found the bag!" One of them shouted, walking into the living room with the same bag Naruto had stolen. "But-" He turned it upside down, dropping all that was left on the floor. "They aren't here!"

Then the man who had asked the first question kicked Naruto's father in the stomach, dropping him to the ground. "You thought you could just steal from us, huh?!" He shouted, kicking him again. "Where are they?!"

"STOP!" Naruto shouted, trying to free himself to help his father. His attempt was quickly quenched when one of the men holding him down hit him with something hard on the back of his head.

His head crashed against the floor as the whole world distorted around him, creating a nightmarish vision of his own home. Meanwhile the bigger men continued to beat his father, eliciting cries of pain each time that made Naruto's skin crawl. Ayame cried by his side, begging for them to stop.

And he couldn't do anything throughout all of it.

"Boss, that's him!" One of the goons suddenly said, pointing to Naruto. "He's the one they saw in the shop earlier! And wait, isn't that…"

"It is." Their boss said, stepping away from Teuchi and toward Naruto. "I'll be damned, it is. So that was your scheme, ramen seller? You get the big bad Kyubi to run your errands so that the Hokage protects you from the consequences? Well, it looks like the Hokage ain't here."

"Please…" Teuchi whispered. He was already old enough, and never had received any sort of military training. The damage those men had done to him had already done a great deal of damage to his body, and everyone there knew he couldn't take much more. "Please, let him go…"

"Father, please, no, Naruto, help him, please-!" Ayame screamed, sobbing between words. The hit Naruto received was still ringing in his ears, and he could just barely tell what was going on through the haze created by his concussion.

"I've already told you," The boss said, turning from Naruto to Teuchi. The boy saw one of his henchmen give him what looked like an iron pipe. He raised the weapon over his head, ready to bring it down on Teuchi's back. "To SHUT UP!"

Then it happened.

Something broke in Naruto's mind. His body was no longer under his control. The last thing he remembered seeing was Ayame passing out and a frightened look on Teuchi's eyes. Chakra burst out of his body and took control of his limbs, and they acted on their own as Naruto freed himself and turned on his captors.

When he finally regained consciousness, his bloodied fist had sunk on something soft. His eyes cleared, revealing it to be an open hand.

A woman was standing in front of him, by his front door. She was taller than him, and most other people he had seen before, and extremely muscular, with arms that looked like logs. Her hair was the same tone of red as his own, and green eyes stared down at him like a hawk. A frenzied smile on her face slowly settled down onto an unimpressed grimace. "So that's all you can do right now, huh?"

"Wha-" Naruto began to ask when suddenly something struck his midsection, sending him flying across his house until his back hit the wall and nearly broke through it. Tears filled his eyes immediately, and it was by far the most painful thing he had ever experienced up to that point.

His chest was now graced by a pulsating purple bruise. The woman shook her head as she walked into the building. Naruto couldn't even raise his head to look around.

"For a moment there, I was happy." The woman admitted as she neared him. "But now I see you for what you are."

She grabbed him by the neck and raised Naruto's body into the air. He struggled to pry her hands off of him, but it was like trying to pull off concrete.

That's when he first got a good look at the room around them. Their home was covered in blood, with the bodies of the thugs assaulting them lying all over the place. Ayame was to his side, and Teuchi was where he had last seen him, and neither of them moved a muscle.

"A disappointment."

Naruto's body suddenly moved again. Now he was lying on the ground, with a small crater underneath his skull. Blood poured out of his ears. The woman moved him belly-up with her foot.

"I've said this to the old man before, but now it's about time you heard it. All of this?" She gestured her head around the room, and then at Teuchi. "It happened because you were weak, nothing else. And it'll continue happening as you grow older, too. Everyone you love, or will ever love, will die if you aren't strong enough to protect them. I'll make sure of that. Seek power, Naruto. Seek power and come to me. I'll be waiting."

And with that, she was gone. The woman simply evaporated from the room. Naruto ignored all of the pain running through his body as he desperately crawled over to Teuchi's side. "Dad?" He asked, grabbing at his arm. He didn't move. He tried to shake him, like when his father refused to get out of bed. "...Dad?"

No answer. Naruto, remembering an old lesson Hiruzen had given him, pressed his ears against Teuchi's chest, trying to hear for a heartbeat. But there was nothing there, he realized.

His father was dead. He lifted his head and shouted into the air, a waterfall of tears running down his face as the entire world seemed to crumble around him, as air was ripped off of his lungs and pain beyond anything he thought possible formed in his throat. He continued to scream even as a team of ANBU reached their home and wrangled him away from Teuchi's body, even as the Hokage tried to comfort him.

He howled and howled, but found no refuge for his pain.

---

Naruto was brought back to reality, to the men anxiously awaiting the truth around him. He wiped some tears off of his eyes. "Sorry, it's rough thinking about it. Because of something stupid I did, my father died. I blamed a lot of people for it..." He thought of the ANBU squad, who allowed all of that to happen, and of course, Kushina herself for stopping them in the first place. "Getting even for it was my goal for a long time after that. It's why I started to fight, why I wanted to get stronger. But eventually, I realized it was no one's fault but my own. For a long time, I let that haunt me. But no more. I've had enough."

He looked over all of them again. "I've decided that it's time I started living for myself, and no one else. And that's what I ask of you all today. When we're out there, knee-deep in shit, everything falling apart around us, we'll preservere, and every time we fail, every time we lose, we'll stand back up, stronger than before!" His troops roared their approval, stomping their feet on the ground. Naruto stood and grabbed the banner from his side.

"So I'll make you all a promise, right here, and right now. We WILL be the finest army Konoha has ever seen!" He raised the banner in the air. "We WILL defeat anyone who stands on our way!" The sound was rising around him, condensing in the forest's rainy air. Naruto could swear even the temperature around them was rising, although that could just have been the blood rushing to his head. "And we WILL END THIS WAR!"

On that night, the sound coming from the Uzumaki camp cut through Amegakure's ambience, surpassing even the deafening rain that surrounded them from all sides.

And on that night, the same in which he had fought Bokuden to the death, seen the seal-induced vision, reunited with Yugao and the others, and finally met his men - Naruto Uzumaki was born anew.

---

A/N: Next chapter coming out soon

Thank you all for the positive reviews for the last two chapters, I appreciate it a lot

Some significant parts of Naruto's backstory are revealed here, which I've been setting up for a while. Those that have read 'To Be Strong' will notice the similarities here, but I'm hoping that this version of the story is more 'believable' as far as his motive goes.

I was hoping to start the battle in this chapter, but that seemed like a good place to leave off. It's a bit slower-paced, but things will ramp up again soon enough.

See you all next time!