Chapter Thirteen: Attack

War. The one thing above all that shinobi are trained for all their lives. Why, then, does the very concept of it strike fear into our hearts? Why do our leaders fight with everything in their power to avoid it? Why is the news of its start always regarded as such an ill omen, despite that it assures our livelihood for months, if not years?

Simple. Despite how much we train, despite the fact that it is one of our greatest purposes in life, we all know that people die in wars. Not just the nameless "they", but people much closer to our hearts. Friends. Family. Teammates.

The Rain village's declaration of war two days after Kentaro saved me from one of their assassins was expected. So was the Sound's decision to join the fight. So was the Sand's move to Konoha's defense. Thankfully, the battle lines stopped there. Too many wounds remained too vivid in too many people's memories for them to step in. That didn't stop the first attack from taking place literally minutes after dad got their declaration, well before anyone besides the council could have known about it.

Nor did it stop the attack from targeting the hospital.

I was to be released later that day, and I'd been spending my time in the front yard of the hospital, training as much as I was allowed to help regain my former fighting trim. I noted with little curiosity when the critically injured man was carried in through the emergency room doors. When I heard shouts of surprise coming from the ER, I started running in. Had I been five seconds faster, I might well have died when the room was blown out.

That, combined with the mists forming despite the noonday sun, told me everything I needed to know. I pulled out a handful of shuriken, activated Byakugan, charged in. The Hidden Rain Village is willing to go this far… They're violating every established article of war! Heck, I hadn't even heard about a declaration. Well, from the way people are running, I need not take the time to alert the council of this attack. The people in there need my help, even if it's just to rescue survivors. The shuriken are for the less innocent shinobi I'm sure are hiding in there somewhere.

"Hiding" turned out to be the wrong term for it. The explosion had drawn everyone able to help with the rescues. Thus, less than a meter from the doors, I heard the screams of pain coming from the now-undefended tenth floor and decided I'd best investigate. I wasn't the only one running up the outside wall, either. Several Leaf nin didn't stop until they got to the roof, but I dove into the stairwell window at the landing between the ninth and tenth stories. Five shuriken and a Jyuuken-empowered palm to the heart, and the rain ninja I'd caught flat-footed there was no more.

A matter of seconds later, I continued running up to the tenth floor. I tore through the door into the halls, ignoring the stairway to the roof for the moment. One more target presented itself, this one aware of my presence and already sending in shuriken. I'd expected this, though, and came in with my hands already set in the seal of the Rat.

"Fuuton: Renkuudan!"

What, you think fire is the only thing I use? My dad's a wind-type, too, and flame is not a good idea indoors and against water-users. The bolt of compressed air blew aside his projectiles and caught him full in the chest, knocking him back into a wall and stunning him for precious seconds. He was dead by my kunai before he regained his balance.

I'm not going to get this lucky again. Almost by definition, if any of the attackers want to see their homes again, they're going to be particularly strong. But that makes no sense, given how easily the first two fell. What gives?

A scream from the door I was passing on my right interrupted the train of thoughts. I dove in, kunai at the ready… only to see that the scream had come from the rain nin, this time. He'd apparently found the room in which Sakura, the great Medical and Taijutsu master, had been resting for a bit from the day's tasks. I had to dive to the side to avoid his flying body. "Ah, I guess you know about the attack, then, Sakura-san?"

"You could say that. What do you know?"

"It started with a bomb in the ER, at least 3 doctors were there. I heard screams from up here, so I ran up the wall and in. I've taken down two so far, but they seem… weak. Not the caliber of forces I'd use for this kind of attack."

"Good work. Now, get back to it. I'll secure this floor, you head down to the seventh and check for attackers there."

"Hai."

The first hall I checked was empty of all signs of life. The second contained only a fleeing child, no older than seven. As he passed me, I heard a whirr, and dove out of the way of an incoming shuriken. However, I was not its intended target. The flying shuriken embedded itself into the back of the child's neck, instantly snuffing out his life.

I snapped. There is no other word for it. Rage like nothing I'd ever felt before suffused me, and turned me into an avatar of destruction. The smirk in the perpetrator's eyes lasted until he saw the avenging meteor of a ninja incoming, and rapidly turned to one of fear.

---

Why do you fight, Shien?

To protect my friends and my family, for my home and all who live within it.

How do you fight?
As my teachers taught me: by strength, stamina, and courage, tempered and guided by a mind a sharp as I can muster and a code of honor I'd rather die than abandon.

In whose footsteps do you follow?

My father's name is Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage, but I do not follow in his footsteps. My life is my own to make, and so are my decisions.

I hear your words and heed their wisdom. Know this, the answers to both of your greatest questions lay before you, and the two are entwined. I am as you are, the descendant of one far greater, but one who desires only his own path. We shall speak again, but you have been in this reverie for long enough. Now, return to your own mind. More than one person awaits you.

---

My eyes snapped open to a scene I'd come to be quite familiar with. That is, staring at the ceiling of my hospital room. I was not alone this time, as three people were hovering over my bed.

"Shien-kun, you're awake!" came the voice from my right, the owner of the two arms around my chest as I sat up.

"Yeah, Hiromi-chan, I'm up. What news, then? I'm guessing we managed to save the hospital, seeing as we're in it."

"The days have been better, man. We took a lot of casualties in the attack, mostly among those recovering in the upper three floors."

"How bad is it?"

"Twenty of ours dead by last count, and ten others injured. They'd sent in fifteen, and none made it out alive."

I gently disengaged Hiromi's arms, and stood up. Or, rather, I tried to. The room didn't like it, and spun me back down. "Let me guess, Ken, they were all Gennin?"

It was Sakura who answered, still looking over her notes and data on me. "How did you know?"

"They were too easy. I went into battle prepared to go strictly hit-and-run, expecting Jounin or special ops shinobi. Of those I faced, none lasted for more than a handful of seconds."

"Keep going."

"I think this was an S+ for them. They were to come here and fight until they died, with the sole purpose of inflicting a favorable rate of exchange against better-trained foes by taking them while injured. The tactics are low ones, strictly prohibited by all decent codes of honor, but they are the only ones that make sense given what I've seen."

"Our own analysts agree, Shien. Add the fact that we received their declaration of war about five minutes before the attack commenced, and you get enough of the picture."

"Yeah, I do. One other thing, though."

"What is it? I have to get moving soon."

"I believe the fears you discussed with Neji a while ago are valid. I will have more information for you later, but for now, I know that it will be no danger."

To say she was shocked was something of an understatement. An extreme understatement. She stalked out of the room, muttering under her breath. Kentaro and Hiromi gave me looks identical to that time, seemingly so long ago, that I'd reported their reliability to my father in this very room. "It's a VERY long story, and one that still needs verifying. That, and I think Mom and Dad should hear it first. They'll know what it means better than I do."

"I'll take your word on it, my friend, but you've gotta quit the mysterious lines with the Jounin, you know?"

"Ken, if I could, I would. You, of all people, should know that. Thing is, this one's just too big for me to risk jumping the gun on it."

"We know that, Shien. Doesn't make it any easier."

"Kentaro's right, Shien-kun. It's starting to get late, and you need rest more than anything right now, but we'll be back for you tomorrow afternoon, all right?"

"I'm looking forward to it. See you then, guys."

Later that night, as I lay in bed, my thoughts continued their frantic run. Battle aftershock came as expected, ensuring that I'd have time to organize the tangled webs of my mind.

---

I know what you are. We can take the time now to speak, as it were.

Not bad, Shien. What gave it away?

You did. You know too much about me to be an outside force, and the coincidences started lining up too cleanly to ignore. My only question is what we're going to do about living arrangements.

Truly? You are not scared of the thought of a demon living within you, unconstrained by any seal?

The thought makes me nervous, but not scared. If I needed to be scared, other people would have sensed you by now, and my actions thus far have been my own, save only earlier today. I think you mean me no harm. Can you tell me two things, though?

Some things, by definition, I can not, but I will do my best.

First, how did you get within me? I know that I carry no seal, and that nobody has placed you within me. Second, what manner of being are you?

To answer both, I am a One-Tailed fox, new to awareness.

That's an answer and a half, and you know it. How did you get within me?

I'm not so sure, myself. To my knowledge, though, my own father planted my seed with yours. I grew within you.

Not encouraging words, but thanks.

I do my best, Shien.

Before I wake to myself, I have one last thing to ask.

What is it?

What should I call you? I can't just be like my dad and call you "stupid fox" all the time.

I… can't say that any of my kind have ever been asked that. I think I like the sound of a true fox's voice, though. Call me "Kitsu", after their bark.

It's settled, then. I'll talk to you later, but I have other things to ponder now.

Farewell, then, and remember those times you called upon my power. It may help.

---

The one, last clue he gave me helped me find my thoughts that night. It directed my roaming mind to a mere three instances. Of them, one was an outlier, the instance in the hospital today. The other two, though… once at the arena, to save Hiromi, and for the stretch on the way home from the Rain village.

Those two shared a spot in my mind, as my feelings lined themselves up. Every time I'd gone to the deep end of my power, it had been in the name of one smiling face, a friend since the academy and teammate for years. Hyuuga Hiromi, the one whom I knew loved me, and the one whom I now had to admit to myself that I loved back.

"I really have been an idiot, haven't I?"

As I fell into an easy sleep for the first time that month, I thought I heard a chuckle coming from the depths of my mind.

Interlude Thirteen: Honorable Warfare

Over the years, the various hidden villages have come to realize several facts. One of the most prominent is that any could, in truth, obliterate any of the others, if the surprise is total. This naturally led to an age of paranoia, culminating in a vicious four-way war that was later titled the First Secret World War. In order to combat this paranoia and allow themselves to live their lives, the concepts of honorable warfare were developed and the accords signed by every major village and most of the minor ones at the time.

Though lengthy, common sense was the dictator of the bulk of the accords. Among other things, striking at non-military targets (such as schools and hospitals), declaration of war less than a full day before the commencement of hostilities, and total warfare were considered in line with atrocities. Less obvious, but equally important, were definitions of self-defense, what constituted a true military target, and codes for prisoner exchange.

It is interesting to note here that, though no punishments were specified, nearly all of the signing parties (including all five of the Kage villages) agreed on general degrees of punishment. Also interesting to note is the fact that the Hidden Rain village violated nearly half of the combined accords in their first day of attacks against the Leaf. This may help to explain why no other villages besides the Sound stepped to their aid.

Author's Note: Wow, longest chapter so far. That's not what I'm puting this note up for, though. I am beginning to run out of ideas for my interludes, and could use some help in that direction. If you have something you're desperately curious about concerning my world, either PM me the request or leave it in a review here. If it's one I can safely answer, I'll make an interlude just for you.