A group of knights sat around a table inside of a bar. They were in deep discussion with one another until the bartender of the inn arrived to refill their drinks.
"Did you hear that the green men have now recruited a red eyed warrior to their side? Apparently he single handedly slayed a Flame Dragon with merely a sword." The bartender lady asked them as she handed out their drinks.
"Nonsense! Are you saying that only do these green men have weapons from hell itself! But now have a warrior who can kill Dragons with such little effort?" The blond haired man asked the Bartender lady.
The other knight, a young woman with short brown hair was intrigued by the feats of this 'Red Eyed Warrior'. So much so that she gave a piece of silver to the Bartender so that she may further explain more about this mysterious warrior.
"They say that he speaks the same language as those men in green and yet is not affiliated with them. Some people believe he is either a mercenary or the green men's ultimate weapon to bring the Empire to it's knees." The bartender further explained.
"Hamilton! You don't believe this do you!? To kill a Flame Dragon takes at least five of the most skilled warriors and at least one mage. There is no way a man with just a sword managed to kill one all by himself." The male knight objected, trying to reason with Hamilton.
"Usually I would believe you. But ever since those men in green arrived and has used their weapons to obliterate the Imperial Army as if they were nothing, the stories of the 'Red Eyed Warrior' are more than likely also true as well." Hamilton replied.
"So what do you want to do now Hamilton?" An elderly knight asked Hamilton.
"I say we find this red eyed warrior and recruit him to our side. If he is with the men in green and speaks the same language as them then that means he can be trusted. Plus he could prove to be a very valuable asset to the Rose Order of Knights. Lady Piña, do you give me permission for us to peacefully approach where the green men are stationed on Alnus Hill so that we may recruit the red eyed warrior?" Hamilton asked.
The leader of the Rose Order of Knights. Princess Piña Co Lada was in deep thought. Right now the best course of action would be to align herself and the Rose Order with the green men to ensure not only their safety due to the overwhelming might of the green men's weapons, but also due to her overwhelming dislike of warfare and violence.
"Very well. I accept your proposal Hamilton. We shall leave in an hour to where the green men are on Alnus Hill." Piña announced to Hamilton.
"Thank you thank you so much Lady Pina." Hamilton said with glee.
(Meanwhile at the JSDF base on Alnus Hill...)
Izuna groggily flickered his eyes open. He cursed how uncomfortable this 'bed' was and to top it off those men made him, Izuna Uchiha, one of his clan's most gifted members and the brother of the Uchiha clan leader sleep in a tent as if he were some common lowlife or a Senju.
Getting out of his bed, but not without his trusted katana, Izuna made his way out of the tent. Judging from the position of the sun it had to be early morning. Good he thought, that means most people were either still asleep or were eating breakfast, which means for now it would be peace and quiet, just the way he liked it.
It had not even been ten seconds since leaving the tent that Izuna heard those green idiots screaming again. Izuna rubbed his temples to ease the ringing in his ears.
Izuna's mind: (Ugh, do you morons have to scream so loud in the morning?)
"Please do not attack us! We come in peace!" A female voice called out. Wondering where that voice came from Izuna walked towards it's source to see that two women and one elderly man clad in metal armour were approaching the base with their hands raised into the air. One had red hair and the other with short brown hair and the man had a grey hair cut into a buzzcut.
"What is she saying?" One of the JSDF soldiers asked his comrade.
"I don't know! But since their hands are raised I'm guessing that means they have peaceful intentions." The second soldier replied.
"Yeah you got a point. We'll just keep our weapons aimed at them in case they try something." The first soldier replied.
Izuna facepalmed. How could humans with such destructive weapons be so stupid he asked himself.
"You idiots! She screaming to the heavens that she comes in peace!" Izuna yelled to the two JSDF soldiers, who were taken aback by his sudden outburst.
"Sheesh. What's his problem?" The first soldier asked.
"He probably woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning." The second soldier cheekily answered.
Izuna casually walked up to the two women. Both of them stared at him in awe, as if he here some kind of artifact on display.
"May I help you?" Izuna asked impatiently.
"It's him...it's really him..." The brown haired girl muttered out in awe.
"Who? You mean me?" Izuna asked.
"Yes. You...you are the red eyed warrior." The red haired woman stated.
"Red eyes?" Izuna muttered out, before realising that they were talking about his Sharingan.
"Yes. I am Princess Pina Co Lada and this is my Page Hamilton Uno Ror. It is a pleasure to meet you red eyed warrior." Pina introduced herself as she offered a handshake to Izuna.
" I do have a name you know, it is Izuna Uchiha of the renowned Uchiha clan." Izuna told Pina
"Your name is Izuna? That is lovely to-"
"Cut the crap already. Why are you really here? I know you didn't walk all the way here just to have a friendly conversation with me." Izuna spat out.
Pina and Hamilton did not expect Izuna to act like this, but they quickly regained their composure and decided to explain there real purpose of arriving here.
"You see red eyed- I mean Izuna. We have heard the stories of how you single handedly killed a Flame Dragon all by yourself. And that is why we would be honoured if you could join the Rose Order of Knights and help us achieve our vision of world peace." Pina explained to Izuna.
Izuna thought about her words, while he too longed for peace just like his older brother Madara, he did not care if said peace was not achieved in *his* world, meaning that this was not his problem.
"Lady Pina, are you sure it was a wise idea coming here instead of heading to Italica first?" Grey asked Pina.
"Yes. I can assure that this will all be worth it." Pina told the uneasy Grey.
"I'll accept your offer." Izuna flatly said, which made Hamilton jump up and down in joy.
"But only if there is something in it for me." Izuna added, which caused Hamilton to cease her celebrations.
"What do you mean?" Pina asked curiously.
"I will not be joining you for nothing. I want compensation for doing so." Izuna stated.
Grey's mind: (I knew it, he is just a typical self centred mercenary how only cares about his pockets.)
"By compensation I take you mean riches, land and power correct?" Pina asked Izuna, who nodded yes.
"I see. As a Princess I can handsomely reward you for your services Izuna. But there is just one catch. I can give you your reward after you help me he rid of Dorsal first, deal?" Niña asked Izuna.
Izuna on the other hand was completely pissed at this offer, as a lifelong mercenary he knew that the number one red flag was when contractors offered to only pay you after the job was done, because most the time when one accepted such a deal they would almost never get paid And would instead have to hold someone close to the contractor hostage.
"I reject your offer, I don't accept payment after the job is done." Izuna said coldly as he began walking away.
As he was walking away, he heard Piña scream the word stop, and stop he did.
"Wait! Izuna! Please don't go! I promise that I can make you a king if you help us! Please!" Piña pleaded with Izuna.
Unseen to Piña and her group, Izuna was smirking in deep satisfaction, oh how he loved it when he could dictate the rules as he so please. Feeling a little pity for the girl and sensing that she was indeed telling the truth, Izuna decided to turn back toward her.
"Alright then, I accept your invitation to join your little Order." Izuna announced nonchalantly to Piña, who was visibly overjoyed.
"Thank you Izuna! I can assure you that you are doing the right-"
Piña was cut off, as in the blink of an eye Izuna had his katana against Piña's throat.
"What is the meaning of this!?" The old knight asked as he unsheathed his sword.
"If you ever double cross me, even think about it or uphold your end of the bargain, I will kill you and everyone even remotely associated with you, am I understood?" Izuna asked threateningly.
"Y-yes Izuna! I understand c-completely!" Piña stammered out.
"Good. I am glad we are on the same page." Izuna said as he sheathed his sword, freeing Pina from his grasp.
"Since I am currently on your side, what is my first objective?" Izuna asked Pina in a formal tone..
"We need to go and defend the city of Italica from potential invaders. We were supposed to be there yesterday but due to Lady Pina wanting to recruit your assistance first, we had to take a detour here before we departed to Italica." The old knight told Izuna.
"I see. Take me to this Italica at once." Izuna ordered.
"Certainly. Please follow us to our horses Izuna." Pina instructed Izuna. Arriving at where the horses were it only dawned now on Pina that despite there now being four of them. there were only three horses.
"Oh shoot. I'm sorry Izuna but...we only have three horses." Pina said embarrassed.
"Do you...wanna ride with me Izuna? I don't mind." Hamilton offered Izuna as she shyly avoided his gaze.
"Sure." Izuna said nonchalantly as he hopped on the horse, sitting behind Hamilton.
Hamilton's mind: (He's so close to me, and his arms are wrapped around me...why do I feel so hot all of a sudden?)
"Now that we have Izuna the red eyed warrior on our side, the Rose Order of Knights is stronger than ever! To Italica!" Pina declared triumphantly as she neighed her horse.
"To Italica!" Both Grey and Hamilton said simultaneously as the rode on horseback to Italica.
(From afar...)
A JSDF general was keenly watching the interaction between Izuna and the knights, something about this Izuna individual felt off. From when one of his soldiers told him that he is not helping the JSDF out of friendliness but rather for his own reasons left the general worried.
"Send a cavalry unit to follow Izuna and the natives. He may speak our language, but he is not one of us, and he is neither aligned with the leaders of the world as well. That man is to be considered dangerous, unpredictable and to be watched at all times, is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" The other soldier said.
"Good. Now get the convoys ready, and remember to keep a safe distance to not arouse suspicion. And make sure that Itami is the one who leads the convoy, out of all of us he is on the best terms with the refugees, so they will be most willing to help him." The general ordered his solder.
The soldier saluted his superior and left to get the convoy ready. The general continued to watch Izuna and the group ride away on horseback.
"Just what are you...?" He muttered to himself.
It took a few hours for the group of Pina, Hamilton, Grey and Izuna to arrive at the outskirts of Italica. The fields surrounding the city were beautfil as always but when the arrived to the city itself they were all horrified except for Izuna, who was indifferent as always.
"Oh no..." Pina muttered out, as her worst fears were now a reality.
"Are we too late?" Hamilton asked.
"They must've attacked us when they noticed we were absent. I just knew something felt off." Grey commented.
Most of the city was in flames, with the thick smoke partially blocking out the sun. A few dead bodies littered the entrance, which aroused feelings of sadness and anger inside of Pina for failing to help the civilians in their time of need and instead venturing on her own selfish quest.
With out uttering a single word Izuna jumped off the horse he was riding with Hamilton on and dashed towards the entrance of the besieged city.
"Izuna wait! You cannot take all those bandits by yourself!" Pina tried to warn Izuna but alas it was in vain as he was already out of earshot and inside the city.
With no other choice left, Pina and her fellow knights charged into the city and too began to fend off the invaders and rescue any civilians that were still alive.
Except when they arrived there, all of the bandits were already dead.
"What the...did Izuna slay all of these bandits by himself?" Pina asked as she began scouting for more bandits.
"I believe so Lady Pina." Hamilton replied.
More screams were heard in the distance, and soon a majestic display of flames danced above the city of Italica. Pina and her group continued to scour the city for any more bandits, but to their relief and dismay could not find any. Pina ordered her knights to follow her up the stairs that led to the city walls, and there they found Izuna holding a bleeding bandit with three other bandits dead around him.
"Just...what are you?" The bandit asked Izuna.
"Your worst nightmare." Izuna sternly replied as without a second though, he snapped the neck of the bandit, killing him instantly.
This act of mercilessness made Pina shiver in fear, granted thy bandits Izuna killed were no saints themselves, but that look of murderous intent in Izuna's eyes made her deeply uncomfortable and truth be told, was secretly even more afraid of him now. Pina lamented that while the men in green only attacked the Imperial Army out of self defense and always went out their way to help refugees when they could, the look in Izuna's eyes told Pina that he was not as merciful to his enemies as the men in green were.
Right now she was just glad that Izuna was on her side.
"Izuna...did you take out all these men by yourself?" Pina asked Izuna.
"Yes I did. To my disappointment they were were incredibly weak." Izuna answered in a disappointed tone.
Grey's mind: (Impressive, those were some of the finest soldiers of the old army and yet he dispatched of them as if they were squires in training. I wonder could he possibly be the only one who could take on the men in green?)
"We cannot thank you enough for your help today Izuna. There is a mansion in the centre of the city where I was supposed to reside while I watched over the defenses of Italica. May I accompany you there?" Pina offered Izuna, who muttered out a dull 'yes'
Whilst walking though the partially destroyed streets of Italica the survivors of the invasion came out hiding to see Princess Pina walking amongst them. Not only was it the sight of the princess that enamored the populace of Italica, but also that the red eyed warrior who single handedly slayed a flame dragon. Izuna made sure to keep his Sharingan activated so that the townspeople knew exactly who he was and that he was someone not to be taken lightly.
"That's him. That's the red eyed warrior."
"He single handedly took out those bandits all by himself."
"Do you think he is as powerful as the men in green?"
"I don't know. But from the looks of it he gives them a good run for their money."
Were just some of the many conversations that the civilians had amongst themselves as Izuna and the knights made their way towards the mansion in the centre of the city.
Despite the afternoon being the favourite time of day of Izuna Uchiha as during this time in his childhood he got to admire the beautiful last streaks of sunlight before night time arrived.
Now however, it just reminded him of when Benjiro died at the hands of Senju scum, which both saddened and angered him. With each family member that he had lost, he slowly felt as though a piece of his soul was torn from his being, until the point now where he just felt like an angry bitter shell of his old optimistic happy go lucky younger self who had yet to known the cruelty of the world.
"Izuna you look exhausted. Do you wish to rest?" Pina politely asked Izuna.
"Yes...please." Izuna replied.
"No problem. One of my handmaidens shall lead you to one of the guest rooms." Pina told Izuna as almost instantaneously, a maid showed up and offered to escort the exhausted Izuna to his new room. As Izuna followed the maid to his new room he coundn't help but stare at how lavish the place was. Even back in his own world only the most powerful Daimyos had palaces that could compare to this one. And even then none were as prepossesing as this one.
"This mansion is beautiful." Izuna commented as he looked at the impressive paintings and fine furniture that adored the mansion.
"It certainty is sir. This is after all Lady Pina's official residence here in Italica, where you shall be living as well!" The maid replied enthusiastically.
"Aaaaand here we are! Please enjoy your new bedroom Mr Izuna, Lady Pina and all the handmaidens of the Grand Mansion of Italica sincerely hope that is befitting room for a figure such as yourself." The maid told Izuna.
Entering the room that the maid opened for him, Izuna couldn't believe what he was seeing. Never in his life had he experienced such luxury due to the nomadic lifestyle of his clan.
And yet here he was, living like a daimyo, nay a king. It honestly...felt good.
Izuna collapsed onto his silken bed. The sheets and pillows were the softest and most comfortable ones he had ever slept on in his life, and in five minutes went from looking at the canopy of his bed to dozing off into a peaceful sleep.
(?)
Izuna noticed he was currently sitting under a blossom tree. The morning air was fresh and the atmosphere was peaceful. Looking to his left he noticed a beautiful girl laying on the grass next to him.
"Izuna. Why are you standing like a statue? Come sit down next to me." The girl playfully told Izuna.
Sitting down next to her Izuna grabbed a rice cake from the basket sitting between them.
"What'cha think? I will make an excellent wife don't you think?" The girl asked him.
"Yes you will Ai." Izuna replied as he dug into one of the rice cakes.
"I'm sorry for bothering you with this question again Izuna but...are you ok with this arranged marriage between our clans and us being husband and wife?" Ai asked him.
"I'm alright with it. I understand why it was done, to ensure the alliance between the Uchiha and Sarutobi clans remains strong." Izuna replied.
"I know that but...(Sigh) what I mean is...there wasn't any other girl you were interested in before we became engaged right?" Ai shyly asked him.
"No. Frankly you are the first girl I have ever been romantically involved with Ai. And I really want this marriage and eventually our love to be genuine." Izuna assured Ai as he laid down on his back.
"You really know how to make a girl feel special Izuna." Ai happily said as she kissed Izuna gently on the lips
"Likewise Ai." Izuna told her.
"I wish one day all this fighting would end, so that our future children can grow up in peace and experience moments like this every day." Ai wistfully told Izuna.
Izuna hummed at Ai's comment as he looked up at the leaves waving about in the gentle breeze. Izuna closed his eyes again as he listened to Ai's gentle yet sweet humming.
When Izuna came to, he noticed that he was inside a rustic little house. Looking around he noticed that it was the house that he and his fiance and wife to be Ai were supposed to move in to once they got married, only except for the moonlight that came through the windows, it was completely dark.
It was then that he noticed Ai standing in front of him. Only except her warm and loving disposition was gone and replaced by a cackling smile filled with deceit and a katana in hand.
"You really are dumb you know that Izuna? You honestly believed I loved you?" Ai asked mockingly.
"Ai...why are you doing this?" Izuna asked in disbelief, unable to register that the newfound love of his life, Ai Sarutobi, had betrayed him.
"Simple. My clan made a secret agreement with our true allies the Senju for me to marry the son of the Uchiha clan head, get close to him and take him out." Ai smugly answered.
"Any last words before I end your miserable life?" Ai asked Izuna, who merely said nothing.
"Alright then...say your prayers Izuna!" Ai yelled as she made a dash towards Izuna, intend on killing him.
Only except...it was Ai who was stabbed by a sobbing Izuna.
"I'm sorry Ai. I really wished...we could have been together." Izuna muttered out as tears streaked his cheeks.
"Save your...words of pity for someone else..." Ai muttered out as she couched up blood.
Izuna removed the sword from her body, which collapsed onto the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Izuna's standard 3 tomoe Sharingan was no more, as it was replaced by three bars spreading from out his iris.
He had finally unlocked the mythical Mangekyo Sharingan, but at a terrible price.
His sobbing became loud and unstable, and soon Izuna screamed to the heaves in agony at his beloved Ai betraying him and having to take her life in self defense.
(Back in the real world...)
Izuna jolted from his bed, looking outside it was late afternoon now, so he couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. Wiping his head he noticed that sweat had accumulated there.
Izuna's mind: (It has already been five years since that incident...why am I thinking of her again?)
"Izuna, are you alright?" He heard Pina's voice call out him.
"Yes I am, why?" He asked her.
"Because my handmaidens reported hearing you scream." Pina answered.
"Don't worry. It's nothing...just a nightmare...that's all." Izuna muttered out as he got out of his bed.
"I understand Izuna. On more important news the green men have arrived in Italica and wish to speak to both me and you, let us go shall we?" Pina said.
"Sure. Let's go." Izuna said as he grabbed his katana and followed Pina and her handmaidens to where they would meet the green men.