Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or atla.
AN: Story has mention of torture and other disturbing content, Story is rated M for a reason.
Chapter 5: Rank Up
Naruto felt a little sad that he had to leave Nalu behind, just as he had done with Chia, but he knew he would write and visit them whenever he got the chance. He understood that he needed to move forward, gaining power and ranking, in order to protect his loved ones.
The contact the headmaster had was Captain Chey, an explosives expert; he was two ranks away from being a general, so he had to get promoted to colonel first.
As it turned out, Chey couldn't get the blonde promoted immediately, but he could recommend him for advanced training so he could move on quickly from being a Private to becoming a Lieutenant.
He will need to become a private to learn how to ride a Komodo Rhino and receive his uniform. He had to bring him to the training facility, where a drill sergeant would evaluate him; if he did well, he would not remain a private for long.
As the blonde sat down next to Chey, he found him to be a kind, serious man who loved his country and would do anything to protect it. But after he had a few drinks one night, he confided in the blonde that he was starting to have doubts about the war and the very purpose of it.
The blonde didn't think too much of it because he knew if someone else had heard him say that, he could get into a lot of trouble. Naruto just told him that war was a pointless thing that was started by those in power and fought by the ones they have power over, all they can do is rise through the ranks and get to the top so that they can have a say in what is happening around them.
After that night, Chey grew closer to Naruto and told him that once he finished his training, Chey would see if he could arrange for the blonde to be transferred onto his team.
Fire Capital(Army Training Ground)...
After Captain Chey dropped Naruto off, he was given a red and black private's uniform and ordered to go to the training grounds where about twenty other privates were standing at attention in front of a man in the Fire Nation's red and black armor with a helmet on; you could see his face, he had brown eyes and a beard, it looked like he was waiting for everyone to arrive.
"Listen up, maggots! My name is Drill Sergeant Roko, and from this day forward, I owe you until you can impress me enough to earn your freedom." Roko shouted. "Now, drop and give me one hundred push-ups!"
Everyone did as ordered with some having more difficulty doing the pushups than others, the blonde was the first to finish which Roko notices.
"Hey, you yellow-haired turd, what's your name?" the sergeant asked as he walked up to the blonde.
"My name is Naruto," the blonde answered..
"Naruto? Hahaha! I think I'll call you 'Blondie' from now on. Now, run around the training grounds fifty times!" Roko shouted, laughing at the end.
Naruto finished the run in record time while Roku kept on giving him more tasks to do, but the blonde kept on completing them with little effort.
"Okay, that's enough for today. Tomorrow, we'll have your first lesson on Komodo Rhinos, which is a skill you will need to master if you want to leave here," Roko stated before dismissing the privates for the day.
Naruto and the other new privates were shown to their new living quarters, an open area with bunk beds and a shared toilet. One building was for the men and one for the women.
Everyone picked a bunk and some stayed up to talk, while others went to sleep. The blonde chose to get some rest for tomorrow; he just knew that it would be difficult because Roko would try to make it as hard as possible since the blonde had breezed through his training today.
Next Morning...
Naruto got up early to get some personal training while he was doing it, the others arrived to wait for Roko. He came riding on a Komodo Rhino, and a herd of them were following him.
"Okay, you maggots, I'm going to show you how to tame a Komodo Rhino and ride it," the sergeant said as he got off his mount.
He then proceeded to show how to get a Komodo Rhino to respect you enough to let you ride it and how to get on it and control its movements. He then assigned everyone a Komodo Rhino, except for the blonde.
The drill sergeant said with a smirk, "You blondie come with me; I have a special Komodo Rhino for you." He took Naruto over to a Komodo Rhino who was attacking anything that moved in sight.
Naruto looked at Roko with a deadpan expression before turning to the Komodo Rhino and slowly approaching it. When the Komodo Rhino saw him, it charged forward, trying to run him through with its horn. But Naruto quickly avoided it.
The blonde seeing that it was going to charge again, used his Lightning Aura to increase his power and speed; he appeared over the Komodo Rhino and slammed it head first into the ground, but didn't hurt it, but held it down until it stopped thrashing.
He let go of the Komodo Rhino when it was calm, but kept his guard up just in case it attacked again. The creature got on its feet and circled him, but the blonde did not move; it got close and sniffed him before licking his face.
He then bent down, offering the blonde the chance to ride him. Naruto got on the Komodo Rhino's back and it took off at high speed, looking at it made the blonde understand that the Komodo Rhino wanted to show him what he was made of.
During all that Roko had been slack-jawed from seeing the blonde's lightning bending and how he tamed a Komodo Rhino; he could not believe it. The sergeant stood there shocked, even when the blonde came back and was standing in front of him with the Komodo Rhino by his side, looking at him.
"How the hell did you do that?" Roko practically yelled at the blonde when he came out of his shock-induced trance.
"What do you mean?" the blonde asked cheekily.
"You know what I mean, blondie; how did you manage to do all of that?", The drill sergeant growled.
Well, my bending is kind of special; I can't really firebend, but I can lightning bend, and I tamed the Komodo Rhino by dominating it." Naruto answered simply, as if it were no big deal.
The drill sergeant looked at the blonde as if he had grown a second head; while lightning bending is rare, it is not unheard of. However, the way the blonde freely uses it is something else entirely. Not to mention that the Komodo Rhino he tamed is one of the few creatures that even the drill sergeant couldn't ride.
"Sigh," Roko muttered to himself as he looked at the blonde. "You're going to be a pain in the ass to deal with." He then shouted, "Give me 500 pushups, 200 sit-ups, 400 squats, and 300 laps around the training grounds."
Naruto nodded without saying anything and did it faster than he expected as the other privates were still struggling with their Komodo Rhinos. When the sun started setting, he dismissed them for the day and glanced at the blonde before turning around.
Three months later...
As time passed, most of the privates have gotten the hang of riding their Komodo Rhinos, but some have been kicked out of the army; of the 20 that started, there are only 15 left.
while he was here the blond tamed all of the Komodo Rhinos to the point they all bow to him when he passes them as if he is the Leader of the herd.
Roko also tried to push the blonde to his limits, but he failed as Naruto was stronger than any private he had ever seen, and his bending made him someone who would one day be feared by all of the Fire Nation's enemies.
Chey had told him that the blonde was trained by the Fire Sages and that he could Lightning Bend, but he didn't think they would have created a monster of this level of power. He sighed to himself before writing to Chey and the Fire Nation, recommending who needs further training and who can move on to the next level.
Drill sergeant Roko called all of the 15 privates to the front of the male dorm, he looked them up and down before he spoke.
"During these past months, I have pushed you all to your limits and beyond, and I have seen those of you who will become great members of the Fire Nation Army," Roko said, feeling proud of those who passed his training.
"Now pack your things; someone will be here to take all of you to the next part of your training, except for you, blondie." The sergeant ordered.
"Chey will be coming to pick you up," Roko said. "That is not the only news I have for you." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I will be giving you the rank of First Lieutenant. The reason being the talent and strength you displayed during training; I am certain you will make our great nation proud."
"Thank you so much, sir," Naruto replied happily for his new rank and that he would be seeing Chey again.
The blonde went to the boy's dorm and packed his things so he could leave when Chey arrived. He looked at the other occupants of the dorm and realized he didn't really get to know any of them because he had been studying his training and writing to Chia and Nalu in his spare time.
It wasn't like Naruto regretted not getting to know them because they thought the war was some kind of game; he wouldn't be surprised if most of them died or even worse got captured. He knew what was ahead for them if they were caught by the enemy and it wouldn't be pretty, the women would be made into sex slaves and the men, depending on how brutal the captors are, they would castrate them and force them to do hard labor.
The blonde emerged from his dark thoughts as he exited the male dorm with his packed bags. He saw some of the female privates outside talking; they were cute for the most part, but hardened warriors they were not - he could see them on their knees between some fat Earth Kingdom noble's legs, being made to service him.
Roko came by with some armour soldiers who ordered some of the Privates to follow them, it kept on like that new soldiers came and took more privates until only him and Roko remained.
After a few hours, Chey came into view and smiled to see that the blonde had been able to advance in the ranks so quickly, and as he promised, he would make him a part of his team.
Roko talks with Chey for a few minutes before walking away, Chey turns to Naruto.
"So I hear you were a major pain in his ass while you were here," Chey said, smiling as if amused. "He told me he tried everything to break you, but it didn't work."
"Yeah, I would take a lot more than that to break me," the blonde replied.
"Haha, I can see that. So, like you know, I am an explosives expert; my team causes massive destruction to our enemy's weak points, making them easier to attack. The job isn't always easy, but we are doing it for a better future. Do you think you can handle that?" the captain asked the blonde, looking at him intently.
"Yes, I can do this; I am not afraid to go to war to protect what is precious to me", the blonde answered with conviction.
"That's a good reason as any, so follow me and I'll show you my team; they are an odd bunch, but they are good people," Chey said as he left the place. The blonde nodded and followed after him. The blonde didn't look back and walked forward to the next destination.
Chapter End...
AN: Check out my Pa-tre-on under SaintGreenz for early access and exclusive content.