Hello once again everyone I'm back and here with a new series. This series is a Naruto AU with inspiration from multiple different books and sources. This is a war fic based off of "Storm of steel" by Ernst Junger, "Helmet for my pillow" by Robert Leckie, "With the old Breed" by Eugene Sledge and accounts of war by Veterans I knew throughout my life. I am a serviceman but I'm fortunate to have never seen direct action but I do have a large understanding of Military slang and culture. So with that out of the way lets begin.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war"- Plato

Ashigaru Kitsune: Chapter 1

Naruto Uzumaki was sitting in front of a campfire as he watched his son conversing with his friends about normal teenage boy stuff; girls, funny stories, when was the last time they got laid, what will they do once they get back to the village. Naruto chuckled as he reminisced about how he did the same thing when he was young as well. His chuckling got the attention of his son Arashi as he looked at his father.

"Hey old man" Arashi asked which got Naruto's attention "what you laughing at?"

"Nothing son" Naruto said brushing it off "just remanicing about when I was your age" he said which got Arashi's attention.

"You mean about your time in the Great war" he asked to which Naruto's face then became somber.

"Yeah" Naruto said as he looked at his son who then felt apologetic for bringing up his fathers past.

"Sorry dad I-" Arashi began before Naruto stopped him.

"It's ok son" Naruto said as he smiled "you don't need to be sorry."

"You wanna talk about it" Arashi said to which Naruto scoffed.

"You don't wanna hear some old gas bag talk about something like that" Naruto said to which Arashi and his friends began to protest as the group of 15 boys disagreed.

"No dad we'd totally like to listen" Arashi said as he never heard his father speak about the war even to his own mother "you can tell us".

Naruto then chuckled as his son; even at the age of 13 still loved to talk to his dad like he was a little boy. "Ok boys" Naruto said as the group of boys looked at him with their full attention "let me start at the beginning. I was 10 years old in the Ninja academy listening to Iruka sensei's lecture when he decided to go into something that was off the curriculum. Foreign politics" Naruto said as he began his story.

Flashback: Konoha 21 years ago

10-year-old Naruto Uzumaki was sleeping at his desk during class, again; his dreams of him sitting at the Hokage's chair and having his crush Sakura Haruno by his side as his wife. He was abruptly woken up by a eraser hitting his head and got up with a jolt.

"Naruto! Wake up" yelled Iruka to which the blonde grumbled as the entire class laughed at the boys expense. Naruto was about to yell until Iruka began to speak again "Now class have any of you been keeping up with current events" Iruka asked to which the class all said no except for one Hinata Hyuga who raised her hand "yes Hinata explain".

The shy Hinata stood up and started to explain "One week ago the son of the Lightning Diamyo was assassinated by a terrorist cell operating out of the Land of Waterfall. The Lightning, Earth, Hot Spring and Water Diamyo all requested that the land of Waterfall give them access to their land to hunt them down and avenge their Diamyo" Hinata said as she felt nervous speaking but still continued. "The Waterfall refused and called on their allies of the land of Fire, Wind, and Grass to help them because their Royal Army is small at only 20,000 Ashigaru" Hinata finished to which Iruka nodded and praised her.

"Correct Hinata" Iruka said which made the girl blush at the praise "Yes the land of fire sent their 100,000 strong force of Samurai, Wind their 150,000 Samurai and Kusa with their 80,000 Samurai" Iruka said to which the classed looked in amazement as such a force of soldiers has never been assembeled in all of history. Shikamaru then looked in confusion at Iruka as he raised his hand.

"Iruka sensei" the lazy boy asked "why aren't Ninja being sent to fight" he asked to which Iruka nodded.

"Yes, good question Shikamaru" Iruka said "the Diamyo all signed an agreement to settle this with their armies as because hiring Ninja would be too expensive and the 5 major shinobi villages all agreed to stay out of the conflict until the hostilities are over" Iruka said. He then pointed over to Hinata once again " Hinata as a heiress do you know how that was done" he said to which the girl shyly got up again.

"All the major clans of Konoha all signed an agreement that their clans shinobi will not be allowed to take part in the oncoming conflict. As the heiress I was sitting next to my father as he signed the agreement" Hinata said as Iruka nodded.

"That is correct Hinata. The Hokage himself even signed an agreement to forbid any shinobi from engaging in any conflict unless they give up their shinobi status and all privliges" Iruka said as he saw the hand of Sasuke Uchiha go up.

"But isn't giving up being a shinobi a big taboo and considered cowardly" Sasuke asked as his late father told him that the most shameful things a shinobi could do is surrender, turn traitor or resign their status before they are retired.

"Yes" Iruka said "that way of thinking is why most of the shinobi in most nations are unwilling to assist their Diamyo's; pride is a double edge sword children. Remember that; now then back to the class" Iruka said as his little side lesson was over. Naruto however listened to every word and was now curious.

'Maybe I'll go buy a paper after class that sounds interesting' he thought as hearing about the war sparked his interest.

2 weeks later: Academy courtyard

Naruto and the entire academy all 200 students were sitting in front of a giant screen as a member of faculty spoke up.

"Everyone we brought you out here so you can see a speech from our Daimyo; please listen closely as this is a moment in the history of our nation" the man said as the projection started as it showed a live speech.

In front of the symbol of the land of fire sat an old liking man wearing a red and black kimono with a somber look on his face. He then rose up and cleared his throat and began his speech.

"People of the Land of fire I come with you with sorrowful news; as of two weeks ago a conflict arose over the land of Waterfall. Upon their request for military aid, I sent out army of samurai of 100,000 to go and face the growing threat at our ally's border. As of today, I'm sad to say that less than 25,000 of those brave young men are still capable to bear arms and continue serving. With a longer war on the horizion and with so few samurai left we have been forced to rebuild our army into a modern functional fighting force, but there is a problem. We need men to fight. So, in our plight I ask you to stand up and fight; farmers, shop keepers, factory workers, miners and even the beggars of the streets please hear my call. I call upon you to bear arms and help defend our nation. As of right now the age of enlistment into the new Imperial Army is open to all males of good physical condition between the ages of 10 to 45; you will be paid, you will be fed and upon our victory you shall return to your homes with you heads held high, medals on your chest and the gratitude of an entire Nation. May Kami and his all-knowing wisdom see us through this great struggle and prevail with his awesome might"

Upon the finishing of his speech, he bowed and the screen faded to black. Most of the students were dead quiet as they had no idea what to believe or say. For one Naruto Uzumaki it was a different story; the loud blonde bow had a great fire burning in his heart.

'They need me' he thought as the call to arms rushed through his mind 'I can't sit this out' he thought with finality as he left the school yard.

2 days later: Academy classroom

Iruka was taking attendance as usual as he was calling out the names of the students until he reached one particular one "Naruto Uzumaki" he said to which he and the rest of the class looked around as he received no response "Naruto Uzumaki" he repeated to which he did hear a response.

"Here" came the voice of Naruto. As Iruka turned and looked at the tardy boy he saw that he wasn't wearing his normal orange jumpsuit; instead he saw the blonde boy wearing a dark blue military uniform with calf high black boots and holding a black hat (look up WW1 british Royal Marines).

"Naruto? What are you wearing" Iruka asked as he wasn't believing what he was seeing.

"I joined up with the Imperial Marines" Naruto said with a smile to which the class looked at him in silent shock as the boy was always ranting about how he was going to be Hokage. "I leave off to basic training tomorrow" he said to which a loud laugh was heard.

"Ha what a loser" Kiba Inuzuka roared "You finally realize that you'd suck at being a shinobi so you decided to join some second rate- "he began until to everyone's surprise Sakura Haruno then punched him in the face with an angry look on her face.

"Shut your fucking mouth Kiba" she shouted as the class looked at her "my daddy just enlisted yesterday to go and fight. I don't see you or any other of you in here joining up either" she said as she looked at the boy who skirted away from the screaming pinkette.

"Thanks Sakura" Naruto said to which Sakura turned to him and in a rare moment smiled.

"Your welcome Naruto" she said "your defiantly braver than most of the 'men' here" she said which got her a lot of scornful looks to which she ignored.

"I'm suppose to give a speech before I go" Naruto said to which he then pulled out a piece of paper.

"To my fellow students and friends. I enlisted in the Marines in order to defend my home and my country; I am very saddened to leave but my service is required. I humbly wish that you pray for me and my safety and for our victory to be swift and decisive. I look forward to the day I and my fellow Marines return and rejoin you to fulfill my education."

Naruto then pocketed the paper and turned to Iruka sensei and put out his hand "see you by Christmas" Naruto said with his trade mark foxy grin. Iruka smiling and his former student took his hand and shook it.

"See you at Christmas Naruto" Iruka said as Naruto put on his cover and looked at Sakura.

"Bye Sakura" he said with a wave as Sakura waved back with a smile of her own. Naruto then walked out and class began as normal. But for 2 girls in the class their thoughts were on Naruto not the lecture.

'I'll be praying for you along with my father Naruto' Sakura thought with a slight blush as she thought Naruto looked a little handsome in his uniform.

'Naruto is going off to fight' a worried Hinata thought as she was in a state of minor panic 'what do I do? What do I do?'

Meanwhile at the Hokage tower.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had a look of worry on his face; his grandson in all but blood Naruto informed him yesterday that he was enlisting in the Marines. He wanted to talk the boy out of it but knew that the boy was adamant and not easy to persuade. He was brought out of his thoughts as the door opened up revealing his son Asuma.

"Asuma? What are you doing here? I haven't called for you" he said as he then saw the look on Asuma's face and saw he was missing his head band.

"Dad" Asuma began which sent a wave of fear through Hiruzen; he then stood up straight and in a serious tone spoke " I, Asuma Sarutobi, Jounin of the Leaf and clan heir of the Sarutobi clan hereby resign my shinobi status".

Hiruzen began to fill with dread as he asked Asuma in a shaky voice "Why" to which Asuma put a form in front of him.

"I can't stay here while the country goes to war. Hell, I was part of the Guardian 12 who protected the Daimyo. Dad… I'm resigning so I join the Marines" He finished as the bombshell hit Hiruzen.

Not only was he losing his grandson he was now he was losing his only remaining son. Hiruzen was about to say no, that he was his little boy; instead, he nodded and said only one word "Ok". As Asuma was about to walk out he was grabbed from behind and as he looked back he saw his father shaking and trembling.

"Be safe my boy" Hiruzen said as he looked at Asuma with tears in his eyes "please be safe; I don't want to lose another son. Not before I die first" he said to which Asuma turned around and hugged his father.

"I will dad" Asuma said now letting out tears of his own "Dad… I love you" he said before both men letting go and walked apart.

"And I love you son" Hiruzen said as he saw Asuma turn around and leave.

Hiruzen returned to his desk and began to cry; as a figure landed next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Lord Hokage" the cat masked anbu asked in concern of the crying man.

"I'm fine cat" he said putting his hand on the female anbu as he looked into her masked eyes "I just wonder how many more loved one's I must see die before my life is over" he said still having tears fall from his eyes.

The cat masked woman then put the aged mans head into her chest and let him cry as she had no words to help him.

Ichiraku Ramen shop that night

Naruto was eating ramen in his usual seat as he knew it would be a while before he could ever eat at his favorite restraint again; as he finished the bowl he reached into his pocket and put money on the counter he was stopped by the owner Teuchi. He was one of the few people in Konoha who didn't despise him or try to kick him out same with his daughter Ayame.

"No need for that son" he said to which Naruto looked at him wide eyed "you can pay me when you get back from the war ok" he said with a smile as Naruto returned with one of his own.

"Thanks old man I appreciate everything you done for me over the years" Naruto said as he then noticed the old ramen chef put out his hand. Naruto realizing what he was doing shook his hand.

"Take care over there Naruto; me and Ayame will be waiting right here for you" he said as Naruto thanked him and began to walk away. He was only a few feet away from the enterance of the shop when he heard someone calling him; as he turned around, he saw the Ramen chef's daughter Ayame running after him.

"Naruto wait" Ayame said as she caught the boy before he left.

"What is it Ayame" Naruto asked as he was caught by surprise.

"I want to give you this" she said pulling out a silver necklace "It's from my late mother; she said that this necklace is for good fortune. I want you to have it so it can protect you" she said as she put it around Naruto's neck.

"Thanks, Ayame; I appreciate it" Naruto said at the kind gesture. He then had his face grabbed by Ayame as she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. As she pulled back, she giggled at how red Naruto's face was.

"Whenever you feel sad, or scared, or lonely; just remember that kiss and remember you are always in my prayers" Ayame said as she pulled Naruto into a tight hug which her returned. As they both ended the hug and parted ways Ayame touched her lips and blushed 'Maybe when he comes back, he can take me on a date. He does look handsome in that uniform' she thought with a giggle as she returned to the ramen stand.

The next day

Naruto was waiting at the staging area for the recruits to be loaded into wagons to be taken off to basic training. He was surprised to see that there were hundreds maybe even thousands of people there; he saw uniforms of all kind's army dark red, Navy blue and Marine dark blue that almost look black. He saw the recruits being of all ages most in their teens to mid-20's some older looking to be in their 40's and him being in the minority of being between the age of 10 to 14. As he was looking around at the families who were saying goodbye to their sons, fathers, brothers and friends he felt a tug on his sleeve as he turned around, he saw 3 of his classmates. It took him a minute to recognize them until he remembered them; Hinata Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno.

"Hey Naruto" Sakura said.

"Hi Naruto" Ino said.

"H-H-Hi Naruto" Hinata said with a blush on her face.

"What are you 3 doing here" Naruto asked in confusion to which Sakura spoke.

"We are here to say goodbye to my daddy" Sakura said to which Naruto nodded "we saw you over here and we decided to say bye to you as well".

Naruto who was now looking bashful scratched his head and grinned "aww thanks I apprectiate it" he said and then saw into approach and grabbed his service coat. When she backed away, he looked down and saw what she did; she pinned a flower to him.

"That's an orchid for good luck" Ino sweet with a sweet smile which made Naruto blush and scratch his head. He then saw both Sakura and Ino push Hinata in front of Naruto. "Hinata here also has something to say to you" Ino said which made Hinata red faced and twitchy as Naruto waited for her to speak.

"Umm… Naruto" Hinata began with the boys attention on her "I-I always had a-a c-crush on y-you and I was wondering I-if you would like to eat with me… when you get back" Hinata said as she looked like she was about to die of embarrassment; her worries were gone when she saw Naruto with a bright happy smile.

"I'd love that Hinata" he shouted as he picked up the girl in a hug as both Ino and Sakura behind him squealed at Hinata and Naruto. As he put her down, he heard the call for all Marine recruits to begin boarding the wagon trains "I gotta go girls; see you when I get back Hinata" he said as he turned around and got on a wagon.

"He hugged me, he said yes" Hinata said to which Ino and Sakura giggled as they pulled her away.

"Man, you would've still been hiding behind that pole if me and Sakura didn't see you" Ino said which made Hinata cringe because if they didn't find her, she would've missed her chance to say goodbye to Naruto. "I'll say this though" Ino said which caught both their attentions "he does look handsome in that uniform" she said with a blush as both the other girls nodded in agreement as they walked back to the Academy as class was going to be starting soon.

On the wagon

Naruto sat down as all 20 seats of the wagon were taken and the wagon began to move. As he looked to his right he saw a man looking at a picture; as he looked at the picture he saw 2 people one was of a woman with short dark blonde hair and the other was of Sakura.

"Hey mister" he asked the man who turned to him "that girl right there is Sakura are you her dad" he asked pointing at the picture.

The man smiled and nodded "yes Sakura is my daughter; how do you know her" he asked curiously.

"I was in her class at the ninja academy" Naruto said smiling reaching out his hand as the man took it and both shook. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto said with his foxy grin.

"I'm Kizashi Haruno; nice to meet you Naruto" he said as he shook the boys hand.

"Excuse me" came a voice across from him as both Naruto and Kizashi looked across and saw a boy slightly older than Naruto with really bushy eyebrows "did you say you were at the ninja academy" the boy asked.

"Yes, I did" Naruto answered to which the boy smiled.

"I'm Rock Lee nice to meet you" Lee said to which he shook hands with both Kizashi and Naruto "I think I was in the year ahead of you. It's nice to meet a fellow student I think only 4 or 5 students in total from the academy volunteered; I don't know why" Lee said to which voice piped up.

"Because most people who are ninja or want to become ninja don't see a point to resign their status to become a lowly soldier" said a bearded man smoking a cigarette. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi former Jounin; I think out of 10,000 or so active ninja in Konoha only about 200 or so joined up most of whom were genin or chunnin who haven't seen action yet" he said to which Naruto looked at him.

"You seen action then" he asked in curiosity to which he chuckled.

"Yeah I served in the last great Ninja war and fought a lot of Ninja so I've tasted battle before; I'm just not sure what to expect from this war this is going to be different" Asuma said to which he heard Naruto laugh which caught the attention of Lee, Kizashi and Asuma.

"Well then us 4 better stick together and watch each other backs" he said which made the 3 then feel slightly less nervous. He then saw Asuma pull out a pack of cigarettes and handed a stick to Kizashi who took it and light it; he then took out 2 more and offered one to both Lee and Naruto.

"I don't smoke" Lee said.

"Me ether I'm too young" Naruto said to which Asuma laughed.

"Old enough to go to war; old enough to smoke" he said to which both boys took a cigarette and used a match supplied by Asuma to light them.

Upon inhaling both of the younger boys began to cough as the entire wagon of older men laughed at the 2 young boys as they tried their first cigarettes. "Fuck *cough* you *cough* all" Naruto said to which they laughed even harder.

Naruto then took a second puff as this one didn't have the same effect as the last one 'not bad' he thought.

6 months later

Naruto, Lee, Kizashi and Asuma were all once again riding in a wagon to the coastline of the eastern border. Naruto lit a cigarillo and took a puff as he looked around at his 4-man squad and saw how much they have changed from both basic training and infantry school. All 4 had shorter hair Naruto had a textured crop hair cut with his blonde spikey hair being covered by his hat, Asuma had a slick back under cut because he wanted to keep some of his hair, he also kept his beard, Kizashi had a under crop haircut and decide to shave his face, lastly lee decided to shave his head as no other haircut other than his bowl cut which was against the grooming standards.

He then looked down at the weapon he was holding, the Arisaka type 22 compound bow; 430 feet per second, 156lbs of kenetic energy and only weighing 9 pounds. Aparently the reason the waterfall soldiers were doing so well is while the samurai were charging at hem with swords, they were using a simuliar crossbow; being able to shoot 15 5 inch bolts a minute from a 5 round stripper clip turned the battle into a slaughter. And from what the reports are saying all sided were ditching their swords and turning to crossbows as it takes so little chakra to pull back the string that even a civilian with no chakra training can do it.

As Naruto put out his smoke under his boot he then looked to his shoulder and touched the single red chevron on his blue tunic. Kizashi, Lee and Naruto all had a single chevron marking them as privates while Asuma with his back ground as a Shinobi got promoted to sergeant right out of infantry school which made him the acting squad leader. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when the wagon stopped and a quarter master then shouted.

"Ok Marines! Off the wagons and find your regiments rally point and set up your tents" he yelled to which everyone got off and looked around at the giant staging area running up and down the entire beach.

"We're not in Konoha anymore" Naruto said to which everyone nodded.

"Ok squad" Asuma said to his small squad "lets find a place to pitch our tents and get some chow" he said to which his 3 squadmates responded.

"Aye, sergeant" they said as the 4 then disappeared in the crowd.

Ok long Chapter hopefully this story takes off. By the way if you're wondering about the shipping it will be NarutoxHinata and 3 or 4 others girls. I know what some of you are going to say "why is it a harem story"; trust me it's going to be for a really sad and fucked up reason that sadly has been the case in a lot of countries histories. Ok thanks for reading don't forget to leave a comment and a like. See you next time and happy 2023.