- A Naruto Fanfiction –
Ishikawa Kamizuru looked on outside the window of his office room, a relatively large room in a tower.
A tower shaped exactly like a cylinder, made with stone bricks which were mined from the surrounding mountains. The roof of the tower looked exactly like a cone, the only thing differentiating the tower from the other buildings surrounding it was its height. It stood proud at an astounding 500 feet.
The village outside of the tower, though not as tall as the Tsuchikage's tower was still high, with tons of buildings reaching till just below the starting of the cone of the tower.
He wondered if the wars they were sure to face would ruin it.
Just right now, he had gotten a recommendation from his advisor to attack the village far from theirs but not far enough.
The Village Hidden in the Caves, Dokutsugakure, the village that made the unfortunate mistake in settling itself in the Land of Earth.
Truthfully, Ishikawa couldn't care less about the village that was prospering, because he knew that Iwagakure would in the end still have the upper hand in all military endeavours. However, Dokutsugakure also knew that and had decided not to focus on military strength at all, they decided to focus entirely on economy, raising it so high that if he would rate it from a 10, it would land at a solid 8.
He didn't know how long he sat there in his chair looking out the window, however it must have been long considering the sun that was high just few moments ago was now setting.
But who could blame him, there was just too much going on for him to focus on the current time.
There were too many foes, too many people to be fought.
Dokutsugakure.
Konohagakure.
Kumogakure.
Even his own village, and especially his own clan.
It was too much of a mess. After the daimyo had started sending more and more of his missions to Dokutsugakure, the village was falling in shambles, there economy, that which was already bad was worsening which further led to them losing military power, and it was all because of the daimyo.
The only one at fault was really the daimyo, it was of course also Dokutsugakure's fault as well but who could blame them, everyone wanted what was best for their village.
Ishikawa sighed, it truly wouldn't be that much of a problem because in the end, the daimyo would come back to them, after Dokutsugakure could no longer expend any more soldiers.
But that would take too long and his village and the clans within it were getting restless, he was scared that if he didn't do something right now, the clans might leave Iwagakure and migrate to another village, there were multiple villages popping up everywhere, and then what would happen.
The Warring Clan period would start again but this time only in the Land of Earth, and it wouldn't take long for some big village like Kumogakure to come and wipe out every single clan.
No, it was too risky to wait, he needed to call a War Meeting fast.
He slowly stood up, leaving his office and heading down on to one of the lower floors to the meeting room.
Upon entering, he immediately went to the front seat reserved for the Kage in rule, and pulsed his chakra into the seal pasted on the wooden back of the grand chair.
It didn't take long for horde of people to appear, most if not all jumping through the roof.
Because a War Meeting was serious business, especially the first War Meeting.
Ishikawa cleared his throat, gazing at every person Infront of him absent-mindedly, his real thoughts focused on a way to raise discussion, in such a way that everyone could agree on a topic.
Everyone was looking intently at him, waiting for him to begin the meeting.
"War Meeting. First since COI, First in a century, First in a year, first in a month, and first in a week. We will now proceed with the meeting.
"I am sure you have all heard of the riots in the streets, calling for war against various nations. Namely, Dokutsugakure, Konohagakure and Kumogakure. In this War Meeting, we will be covering how to proceed on our rivalries against these three nations." He spread his hands, clearly implying that he was open for ideas.
However, everyone knew it was a formality, as not even one second later the Kage again spoke. "Due to me being the Head of the Kamizuru clan, I will be speaking for both Iwagakure in general, and the Kamizuru clan. Now, please continue."
By doing this little act, he had set a tone of pressure in the room, by reminding everyone that he was indeed the one in power. The War Meeting had begun, but so had a Political War between all the Clans and Clan heads that would last until the end of time.
"I think – "
Ishikawa sighed, stretching his back and accepting the glass of water from his most trusted Jonin.
"Lord Tsuchikage, do you think it is wise to pit all Clans against each other like that? You do realize you are also a Clan Head, right?"
"That is true, of course. However, like I said I speak for the whole of Iwagakure and for the whole of Iwagakure, so If I were too present an option which would be ultimately better for the Kamizuru clan, but also good for Iwagakure in general, they have o right to refuse. Of course, other Kage's will come and go but in the end, the Kamizuru clan will remain victorious, but don't worry it won't remain too victorious."
The other male in the office sighed, "Your plans are very intricate, Lord Tsuchikage."
"Don't worry, Mu, Iwagakure will remain victorious in the end. Especially with you as the next Tsuchikage."
The Jonin sighed, "Of course, Lord Tsuchikage"
Year 6, 289
"Ok, good. You two have finished two C-Rank Missions, splendid! Once you have completed eight more, we'll do an evaluation to see if your fit for becoming a chunin."
It only hit him perfectly in the chest right now that the era he was living in was far back, very far back. Wars changed everything. The First War brought forth the chunin exams, whilst the Second War brought forth the evolution of medical techniques, the Third War was arguably the most important, it didn't bring about anything majestic to Konoha, but it was the first step of Madara's plan, the plan of the one standing next to him.
He shivered and hoped no one noticed.
"Hai!" Shouted both Madara and him.
Looking up at the sky, Rue could see that the sun was setting, there were no clocks in this era, but the academy had taught him how to gauge out the time depending on the placement of the sun, however it was only roughly accurate.
Right now, it would have been maybe close to '6 'o clock'.
He continued the path which led through heaps of caravans and stalls, even though Konoha had been standing for about seven years now, most merchants didn't trust Konoha enough for them to permanently settle down and declare themselves as citizens of Konoha.
Rue knew the only reason the Hokage wasn't forcing these merchants to become civilians or citizens of Konoha, was because ultimately, it was more in Konoha's benefit for any outsider to not become a citizen.
It really was a simple thing, Taxes. Rue was sure that Konoha's treasury wherever it was packed with stacks upon stacks of gold coins. Especially, considering non-citizens living in Konoha had to pay huge amount of taxes.
He walked inside one of the shops that was actually furnished, with stone tiles and wooden walls, there was a counter to the right of the entrance with shelves filled with various weapons to the left. It was a small shop, but it was too be expected considering no jonin, and elite chunin would buy from here.
The only thing this place had going for it was that it was cheap, which wasn't much to brag about. However, Rue was poor, and he wasn't going to go up to Madara Uchiha and ask him to buy him weapons from a more expensive shop. Did he look like a martyr?
Regardless, It was good practice, buying a bunch of Kunai, and then sharpening them, by using a stone in the most efficient way possible.
Year 6, 290
THUNK!
THUNK!
THUNK!
Three perfect consecutive shots.
"Good, again!"
He went to the Wooden pole and picked the kunai from the middle of the three targets he had drawn on it.
This was his new training regime, due to him graduating early, his body mass was pitifully low, so the first month was spent getting him up to high genin level on all ninja arts.
He still didn't know anything about Fuinjutsu, the archives that were accessible to genin had little to nothing about Fuinjutsu, and even Madara knew nothing about the art, It was to be expected really, from before being born into this world, he had already theorized on a lot of things, in the void, and one of them happened to be the exact predicament he was currently in.
He would need to find a way to get an apprenticeship under Mito Uzumaki, preferably soon.
But that could wait, due to him being placed under Madara as a student, everything related to a ninja he would have to do alone, other than the casual helping Madara did now and then.
So, he had accepted that he needed to play to his strengths and had chosen to become an assassin squad, or more like just an assassin considering he had no teammates and if Madara desired the enemy could eb obliterated in milliseconds.
It would also provide a good cover considering Fuinjutsu could be utilized by an assassin…somewhat.
THUNK!
THUNK!
THUNK!
He just needed to bide his time, get experience, learn as much as he can from Madara, and not die. Should be easy.
"Again!"
-Squadasoke12
AN1: I started another fanfiction, so I was really focused on that, and then originally, I started this chapter off very badly, and even know I still hate it, but its meh.
AN2: I think I have an idea on what to do now, kind of, not really, I would still like feedback and criticism though, so yeah.
AN3: I'll probably spend more time on other chapters, and get them to like at least maybe 5000 to 7500 words before posting.