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January 1. Outskirts of Konoha. 6:00 Reign of the 3rd Hokage (2nd term)
Shintaro took one look at the fallen man and grinned. He had struck true. The poor Chunin had fallen beneath his blade. Two other shinobi lay dead, sprawled on the forest floor. Blood coursed from their sides.
Kaine materialized next to Shintaro, "Sir, we have found extra food provisions. From the looks of it, it could feed our battalion for about a day. It's not much but it's a start."
"Good." Shintaro wiped his Naginata on dry grass leaving behind a crimson smear. "Send a messenger to the Shogun alerting him that we have found the new food and shall be bringing it back to camp. Leave an archer and an Ashigaru to stay here tonight. They shall keep watch."
The soldier saluted smartly.
"Yes sir!"
It was a half and hour later. A lance of pain shot up his neck and into the base of his skull. He winced and forced the pain back. He lay on a wooden bench, facing the sky. It was a clean, fresh blue. The orange-tinted clouds played hide and go seek with the setting sun.
"How is everything?" Hinata asked.
He wasn't surprised she was still here. "It's alright. My head still hurts a lot though. Why did Jiraiya hit me?"
Hinata was silent for a while. Then she said, "You were out of any possible control. He had no other choice. I'm sorry if he hurt you."
"I'm the one who's sorry." He paused. "Do you think he was telling the truth? You know, about the scars?"
Hinata nodded.
"I just don't believe it. Everything was planned so obviously! How could anyone miss it?"
An awkward silence hung in the air as a winter breeze wrought the trees of their warmth. Naruto was just about to fall asleep when he remembered what Jiraiya had said.
He sat upright in a flash and quickly tumbled off the bench. Hinata was startled.
"Where are you going?" She called after him, anxiously.
Naruto hollered only three words over his shoulder.
"War is coming!"
The same word echoed in Shintaro's head. War… he mused. War…
The rustling behind him caused him to turn his head. He knew who it was before the visitor showed himself.
"You're late…" Shintaro muttered.
"I was caught up in my own business." He replied coldly.
"And what business was that?"
"None of yours."
Shintaro's suspicion for Itachi grew even more. He was also sure that Itachi shared suspicion for himself. "Let's get to business."
"Yes."
"Tell me how this warrior is so grand amongst his companions. Are they not all the same?" Shintaro inquired.
Itachi shook his head. "The demon inside him contains unfathomable amounts of power. You alone could not defeat the demon."
"But he is just a boy!" Shintaro barked. "How does he know how to unleash it?"
"He was not supposed to know about it. A sensei of his, Mizuki-"
Shintaro gritted his teeth, silently cursing the foolish ninja. "I know Mizuki. The Shogun had sent him to try to unleash the demon. All three of our attempts have failed! Mizuki's job wasn't to tell the boy how to unleash it. He was supposed to force it out through anger."
"Three attempts? How come I have not heard of the first one? Was it and unruly failure?"
Shintaro sat there silent and Itachi knew that he was mining through his memories. "It was dumb luck…" Shintaro began his flashback. "We were on a routine patrol around the border of our village when we found a starved Kyubi. It was no larger than that." He pointed a finger at a boulder in the middle if the clearing. "We were able to bring it back to health and deliver it to this land without much incident."
"Ahh!" Itachi smiled viciously. "So that's how the Kyubi got here."
"If it wasn't for that damned Hokage, we'd own this place by now!" Shintaro cracked his knuckles.
"Why don't you just give up by now? Obviously, you weren't meant to conquer the shinobi world." Itachi defended his homeland.
"We will keep trying until this land is ours and shinobi are effaced from existence!"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Kakashi-sensei! Where are you?"
Bewildered citizens around him looked quizzically at the yelling boy.
"Kakashi-sensei we need to talk right now!"
There was a plume of smoke and Kakashi stepped out of it. "Naruto. I've been looking for you!"
"I have the same for you!" Naruto jerked his head to a secluded alleyway between a butchery and jewelry shop. "In here!"
Kakashi followed him. "You are in grave danger Naruto!" he stated when they were alone.
"I know that, but that doesn't matter now! This entire village is in grave danger!" And so Naruto relayed to his sensei what Jiraiya told him.
Just as the sun dipped itself behind the cover of the horizon, Naruto ended his explanation. Kakashi nodded. But then shook his head.
"But how do we alert the Hokage without having panic? We can't afford panic!"
"I can't think of a way either."
"It seems that panic is the only way out." Kakashi muttered.
"But panic will cause mass disorganization. In a war, we cannot act as multiple forces. We must be one!"
Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Here's what we must do…"
Hinata felt that she had proven resourceful within the last few minutes. Instead of sitting down and thinking of mindless nonsense, she decided it was right to act for the village. As it was, every citizen she was able to holler at had grouped around her for her announcement.
"I shall be brief." She raised her voice, getting their attention. "There is going to be an army laying siege to Konoha by tomorrow. I need all of you to spread the news and bring all able fighters by the main gate to Konoha. You must do this for-"
"How do we know you are not lying and playing a simple prank on us?" a mother asked from the back.
An off-duty ANBU located in the mass of people about him relieved Hinata of answering that question. "I have heard it myself! Kakashi of the Sharingan has proof that Uchiha Itachi is back."
As though it was a wildfire, everybody began murmuring of dire situations that involved Itachi.
"We have the honest word of an ANBU speaking of this. We must act now before it's too late!" Hinata pried.
The murmurings melted away and grew to sayings of approval.
Black stained clouds hovered to the rear of the Shogun's horde. They shuffled noisily, some with high expectations of the impending battle. Others had demoralized themselves into submission.
"That's going to do nothing but hinder you in battle, Kaine." Shintaro said out of the side of his mouth.
"What… this?" Kaine patted his Wakizashi fondly. "I have always enjoyed a good side arm."
The Shogun mounted his horse, hushing the horde of warriors instantly. They all stood in ranks, ready for the short march to Konoha. All were tense.
"You are all about to partake in a glorious battle that shall be remembered as the day that the shinobi world was destroyed." He paused.
"Maybe you too will one day look back, and possibly say to your grandchildren, 'Yes, I remember it. On that day, we ensured purity. On that day we ensured righteousness. And on that day, we ruled the land!'" He shot his fist into the air.
It was met with a roar that every soldier present participated in. Adrenaline pumped into their bloodstreams. Their eyes began to cloud over in a mad rage.
"And on this day!" He continued. "We shall be victorious!"
Just then, whatever doubts any of the soldiers had, were just effaced from their thoughts and all were ready to die for the cause.