AN: Ah, right, here is the next instalment of World War III. I know not much people didn't feel that this kind of fic was their kind of thing, but for the few that reviewed, thank you, and here is a second chapter. All aeroplane names are purely fictional. Apologies for any OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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World War III: Chapter 2

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Somewhere in Japan, Hidden Academy, June 19, 2030

Ibiki was not a school principal. At times, he felt like one – and one of those times was right now. He glared at the two teenagers in front of him. They had been called to his office time and time again – he didn't even know why he let them stay at the academy.

He looked at the teenager to his left, with a high ponytail, known as Shikamaru. The boy was the epitome of laziness. Throughout the whole two years that he had been at the academy, Ibiki estimated that only about two pages worth of notes had been written down, and about the same amount in practical application. There was no training whatsoever out of him, except only under strict supervision, and his grades were the second lowest in the class. One of the first things the students at the academy were to do was an IQ test, and halfway through, Shikamaru had fallen asleep. His IQ during that test was also the second lowest at 65. Ibiki didn't know if someone at that IQ could even begin to understand projectile motion and velocity. However, when observing the teenager, he noticed that in every strategic warfare game played in the academy, whether it be chess or battleships, the boy always managed to beat everyone by miles. This intrigued Ibiki greatly, so he decided to find a way to measure the boy's real potential. Disguising an IQ test in the form of a small game, he found the impossible. Nara Shikamaru's IQ numbered over 200.

The blonde boy next to Shikamaru had his usual stupid grin on his face. Ibiki bet that the boy didn't even know why he was in trouble. Uzumaki Naruto – though he stayed awake in class, he still didn't perform well at all. His grades were lower than Shikamaru, something Ibiki thought not possible. In addition to that, the boy was always making trouble, trying to get attention. On one particularly nasty day, Ibiki had ordered him to 500 chin-ups as punishment for his behaviour. He hadn't actually thought that the boy would actually do it (trouble making boys like him always lied their way out of punishments such as these), but Naruto had promptly got up and headed for the gym. The 500 chin-ups were completed that night. The boy had not given up, and completed something that should have been near impossible. The next morning Ibiki had expected Naruto to be absent during class due to overworking himself, but Naruto had showed up, that stupid grin still planted on his face.

Ibiki didn't know whether he had the strength to tell off these two again. Why couldn't they be like the two top students in the academy – Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuuga Neji. The two prodigies had near-perfect grades, above average perception skills, and could fly a jet plane better than any standard air force pilot – all in two years, when it usually took one about five years.

Naruto, on the other hand, had nearly crashed three planes, and Shikamaru had fallen asleep during a test flight. They just weren't cut out to be pilots. But it was too late now. The government had already requested that the students from the academy engage in life-threatening missions to 'observe their skills'. Observing their skills was political code for 'if they aren't good enough, they'll die on the mission'. Ibiki knew it was way too early for these students to be out on the battlefield, but orders were orders – he could not refuse. He had not told the students about it yet, rather, he had been planning the 4-man teams they were to go in.

The problem was, he had set everyone in evenly skilled groups, except for these two, and the two prodigies. Granted, Uchiha and Hyuuga could probably pull off one of the missions with just the two of them, however Naruto and Shikamaru could not, not in a million years. Ibiki was reluctant to place the four together, as Naruto and Shikamaru's abilities would drag down the others, but he had no other choice. He could only hope that the skill of the other two pilots over came the stupidity of Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto."

The two in front of him did not say anything. They knew they were in trouble.

Ibiki decided that it wasn't worth telling off the two – the never listened anyway. Instead, he got straight to the point. "The government has sent orders for every student in the academy to go on a mission. They want –"

"A real mission! Awesome!"

Ibiki rubbed his temples. Naruto had no idea what a 'real mission' meant. Seriously, did the boy ever think about dying? Well, at least he was paying attention, unlike his friend, who had taken to gazing off in the distance.

"You can die on this mission, Naruto."

That shut the boy up. But not for long, and Ibiki took advantage of it.

"You and Shikamaru will be paired up with Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji."

"WHAT?"

- - -

Ibiki accompanied the boys back to the classroom, the uneventful trip filled with sullen silence. Naruto had been complaining about why he – the top of the academy, should be placed with such arrogant bastards such as Sasuke and Neji.

Ibiki only agreed with one of those things. The two were arrogant bastards, and had gotten into fights more often than never, and looked down upon every other student in the class, even each other. Their circumstances were only known to Ibiki, but he knew both had been hurt by the both nuclear bombings that had rocked the world. According to his profile, Uchiha Sasuke tended to be emotionally unstable; his entire family had been killed in the Nuclear Wipe. Only he survived, because he was visiting his grandparents that day. That day, Sasuke had just turned twelve. A year later, his grandparents passed away, leaving everything to Sasuke. Fortunately, Sasuke had used money wisely, saving up. His brother – the only other person of his family that had survived the Nuclear Wipe – was living at Japan at the time, and had helped Sasuke move. When Sasuke was 15, his brother, Uchiha Itachi had joined the Japanese Airforce, leaving Sasuke alone. At 15, Uchiha Sasuke was independent, and thirsting for revenge on the Akatsuki.

Hyuuga Neji had been chosen by the government as one of the specially selected teenagers because his apparently close cousin had been killed in the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki – the same school that Naruto and Shikamaru went to. Ibiki didn't know whether the two knew it yet, if the didn't, chances are that they would soon. But that wasn't all. During heavy research into the Akatsuki's supply of firearms, they had traced it back to the Hyuuga family. The family had been divided into two sides since time immemorial – one side of the family dealing in artillery and arms, and the other side of the family dealing with technological developments. By the time the government had found that one side of the Hyuuga family had been one of the major suppliers of the Akatsuki, it was too late. One day, that side had just simply vanished – presumably to live in or near the Akatsuki's headquarters. Hyuuga Neji had reasons to hate the Akatsuki.

As soon as the boys were seated, Ibiki proceeded to tell the class just what was going on.

"Be thankful, you brats."

The class just sat there. They were used to his degrading remarks.

"Tomorrow, you shall taste the real war. The government has ordered me to assign you some missions. These missions ARE life threatening, so treat them that way," he growled, looking directly at Shikamaru. The boy had lost himself in dreamland again.

Ibiki continued. "Listen up when I call your name, and the group you are assigned to." He paused. None of the class seemed fazed. Even after Ibiki's constant warnings and harsh training, they had yet to really experience the battlefield.

"Group 1, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto. Group 2…"

As he was reading out the names, he could almost pick out who was going to survive. The Akatsuki had no pilots in training in the missions they were about to engage in. Though most of the class skills were way above the average fighter pilot, and could probably hold their own during combat, the battlefield did not have multiple lives, as the combat simulators the government provided did. There was no second chance.

- - -

"You are to leave at midday tomorrow," Ibiki said, reading off a sheet behind his desk. "Your orders are to engage a small group of K-2 Snakes…"

"What? Snakes?"

The other people in group 1 rolled their eyes. After two years of training, Naruto still didn't know the name for the Akatsuki's standard issue fighter jets. The K-2 Snake was named the snake because of its apparent ability to 'slither' in the sky, making it extremely hard for opposing forces to get a direct hit.

Ibiki continued, not paying any attention to Naruto's stupid comments. "Intel says that there should be only be a group of about six or seven, but don't be surprised if there's more. Your mission is to search and destroy for this group who are said to be somewhere in eastern China, dropping light bombs over unarmed villages. We can give you some satellite information at the time, but it will only be in a certain area, at a certain time, because of the group's dynamic nature. I suggest you search the coordinates as soon as they are given, in order to maximise your chances of finding them. As soon as you complete the mission, head back to base. Any questions?"

"What planes are we issued?" the Hyuuga asked.

"The F-18 Wasp. The new F-19 has not been fully tested, nor is it in a large production scale."

"How long will the mission take?"

"If everything goes right, about 15 hours. Is that all?"

When no more questions were asked, Ibiki stood up from behind his desk. Even with the two prodigies on their team, he was still worried. It wasn't that their skills wasn't up to scratch, it was just that they had no battle experience whatsoever. The simulations could only do so much.

"Good. Get some rest."

Ibiki watched them leave. Chances were, he would probably never see Naruto or Shikamaru again. What he hadn't told them was that if the group of Akatsuki pilots they were engaging was travelling in such small numbers, it meant their skill levels were extremely high. The other groups had easier missions, such as shooting down air defences, bombing certain areas – but what these guys were going to experience…that…that was real war.

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"Naruto."

"What, Sasuke?" Naruto immediately frowned. He really didn't like the arrogant Uchiha. He had fought him more than a few times, and had always lost, but he just couldn't seem to learn his lesson.

"Don't get in my way."

"Bastard." Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly. Even at 18, Naruto still couldn't act maturely.

"I'm serious. You are the worst." There was something different in the tone of his voice, something that was different to the usual taunts and teasing Naruto had to put up with.

"I'll kill you, Sasuke."

"Try it, loser."

Sasuke readied himself for another fight, in which he would win, but Naruto turned around.

"Fuck you, Sasuke. I bet I can shoot down more planes than you," Naruto said as he walked away.

"You won't even get one," was the Uchiha's reply.

- - -

North West coast of Japan, June 20, 2030

Nostalgic.

Now was not the time to be feeling nostalgic. Especially when he had two enemy fighters close on his tail. The other two fighters were persistent, and it had been a while since he had encountered such skilled fighters. Then again, in a cohort of 50 fighter pilots, there was bound to be one or two elite. Apparently this group was heading to northern Japan, through China. China's air force was currently engaging in a small air war to the west, while its air defences had been over run by the Akatsuki's military forces that had taken over Mongolia. It gave the Akatsuki a perfect route to Northern Japan, and they were utilising it quite well – immediately sending five bomber planes, escorted by about 45 K-2 Snakes, as Uchiha Itachi had counted before.

However, it seemed as though, this time, the Akatsuki had miscalculated the one grain of rice that could tip the scale – Squadron EJC1. Formed two days after the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, in the year 2028, they had embarked on dangerous missions ever since. Consisting of only six pilots, they rocked the cradle of war against the Akatsuki. Itachi could remember their first briefing – the pilots hadn't even had the chance to get to know each other – they were thrown in a room, and told what to do. He had been chosen as the team leader at random, but after the first mission's success Itachi was informally dubbed the commander of Squadron EJC1. It wasn't announced officially – as officially the squadron did not exist. The only war records that noted the existence of Squadron EJC1 were stored away in top-secret government compartments. Even then, it would only be one sheet of paper, stating:

International Squadron EJC1

Uchiha Itachi representing Japan.

Hatake Kakashi representing the United States of America.

Sarutobi Asuma representing Germany.

Yuhi Kurenai representing Korea.

Maito Gai representing China.

Hayate Gekko representing the United Kingdom.

The inbuilt machine guns of the enemy's K-2 Snake left miniscule holes in the clouds as Itachi swerved away. Good pilots they may be, but they were dealing with the elite of the elite. Itachi looked to his left to see Hatake Kakashi down three enemy planes in a single burst of fire. Looping above his two assailants, Itachi fired off twin rockets that exploded on impact. As he shot through the explosion, he noted with some pride that there were no more enemy planes left. The element of surprise had worked well, and the six of them had shot down 15 planes before the Akatsuki could reform. Even when they had reformed, the Squadron had wrecked havoc in the lines, weaving in and out of the planes, making it almost impossible for an enemy pilot to shoot them down for fear of hitting one of their own. As for Squadron EJC1, the chance of hitting one of their own was negligible.

"Formation 4, behind me," Itachi said into his mouthpiece. His voice sounded strangely hollow due to the oxygen mask that was a requirement for all modern planes.

"We have 3 bandits at two o' clock, permission to engage requested," came a feminine voice Itachi recognised as Kurenai.

"Permission granted, Asuma, accompany Kurenai," Itachi replied.

"I copy," came the quick reply. "I just want to finish this so I can have a cigarette."

Itachi heard the usual snorts and sighs that came whenever Asuma made a comment like that. Once Asuma had smoked a cigarette inside his cockpit, and had nearly died of suffocation. It hadn't put him off cigarettes, but it had stopped him from smoking during flight.

The two elite pilots eliminated the threat almost immediately, and had rejoined the squadron.

As Itachi was making his last circle to see if there were any more planes left, he heard a burst of fire to his right. He turned to see that Hayate Gekko had opened a short burst of machine gun fire on Maito Gai.

"Hayate!" both Itachi and Gai shouted into their mouthpiece. Fortunately Gai's F-19 Wasp had levelled out somewhat, as the bullets had only struck his wing.

"Sorry. I coughed," came the dull reply. Hayate Gekko was the youngest member of the team, and was also the member that was continuously ill.

"Ah, it is ok as you are young, filled with YOUTH!"

Itachi didn't say anything more about the event, but wondered how could someone cough and fire their guns at the same time. It also seemed too convenient that he was behind Gai that time.

"Good job, Squadron EJC1. Let's head back to base."

The trip back was quiet – it usually was – the pilots lost in their own thoughts.

- - -

As the pilots exited the hangar into their living quarters, Itachi called them all for a short debrief in the middle of the house. The actual quarters was only a medium sized building connected to the hangar that consisted of a kitchen, six bedrooms, a rumpus, living, and a dining room.

Itachi glanced at the clock on the wall. 3:54 PM

He had five minutes. He began the regular debriefing procedure, but halfway through, he looked up suddenly.

"Where's Kakashi?"

"My eternal rival has probably forgotten his educational books in the hangar," Gai answered, causing everyone else to roll their eyes. Educational books indeed.

"Don't move from here, I'll get him," Itachi said hurriedly. He glanced at the clock again. 3:58 PM.

Damn Kakashi. That bastard was always late.

Itachi rushed outside the house and into the hangar, his quick eyes scanning for the familiar tuft of white hair that would identify Kakashi. He soon saw the American pilot walking towards him, an orange book flipped open lazily in one of his hands.

"Kakashi! This is important. Get inside."

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There it was. Exactly how it looked in the satellite image. A hangar connected to some sort of building. The pilot glanced at his watch. 4:00 PM. Just on time, he thought, as his target reticule turned red.

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AN: Hey. Special thanks to all who reviewed – really appreciate it, since I know this type of fic isn't the most popular genre around here. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.