Konoha
It was late morning in the Village Hidden in The Leaves, and the sun shone brightly on a humid summer day. Hayato was standing in front of the Konoha Hospital, leaning over one of the pillars and his arms crossed. It was a particularly busy day, with preparations for the Chunin exams in full flow. But that wasn't Hayato's purpose here, it seemed he was waiting for someone.
As Hayato glanced at the hospital building, the main door opened and someone came out; it was his teammate, Naruko. The woman had long red hair tied in a long ponytail, three whisker marks on either cheek, blue eyes, light skin, lean, and an average height; the woman wore standard chunin attire. She had a smile on her face and waved at Hayato in a friendly manner. She quickly got face-to-face with her teammate with a brisk walk. Hayato smiled back and spoke,
"You finally got out." Naruko continued smiling and replied,
"Yeah, they've been serious about the lessons. But I don't think most of the kunoichi even have an interest in this." Hayato nodded, that lot of kunoichi almost certainly consisted of Naruko as well. The woman had no intentions of being a field medic whatsoever, her interests lay in weapons; quite odd, as the common role for kunoichi was expected to be a medic. But Hayato didn't care.
"By the way, I don't see Maximus." Naruko gave Hayato a questioning glance. The latter straightened his back stood upright, and replied,
"He's been called for some solo mission by the Romans in the northern countries. The Hokage didn't have much of a problem with it." Naruko seemed a bit disappointed, Hayato continued,
"Anyways, we have to go. The preparations for the chunin exams are in full flow, and we are tasked with assorting the documents of all participating shinobi." Naruko's face now depicted clearly that she was regretting her decision to even leave the medic lectures. But nothing could be done, these were direct orders from the Hokage. Thus, both teammates began walking casually, Hayato leading the way and Naruko slightly behind.
"The bastard's lucky, we are doing all this paperwork while he's busy out there with the real stuff," Hayato commented in a low tone, Naruko seemed to reprimand this,
"You swear a lot, you know."
"Maximus doesn't mind."
"The guy's used to it." Hayato kept walking and slightly turned his head, and with a small smile replied,
"Well, you must get used to it too, by now."
Land of Rice Paddies (province)
It was almost midday, and the sun shone brightly in the sky, and the day was now quite hot and humid; particularly in this region, which was as plain and rainy as it can get (perfect for growing paddy). Maximus was walking down the dirt road in the plain area, he had been journeying for the last two days, alone. The food he'd packed was just enough, and what he didn't have, he could buy. He carried nothing but a Katana, several kunai and shuriken, paper bombs, and a scroll containing all his belongings. Yes, sealing techniques were quite amusing and useful.
Maximus looked around the road with his eyes slightly drooping, his entire body was bathed in sweat. He had spent almost his entire energy speeding through the road between Konoha and the border here. The dirt road seemed never-ending, just going on and on over the plain countryside. At close vicinity to the road were grasslands where herds of animals roamed, while in the distance Maximus could see paddy fields and farms of other crops, probably a few houses too. Suddenly, Maximus stepped on his steps and got inside the shade of a nearby tree. The man pulled out a parchment of paper from his pocket, it was a map. He had been instructed to reach a Roman military camp near the border first, from where he'd be provided further instructions. The map was a detailed plan of the area, as most of the path followed the main road between the Lands of Fire and Rice Paddies, only diverging somewhere at the end of the journey.
Maximus glanced at the map, and then at his surroundings, squinting his eyes for the sun shone brightly. It was all small country houses, farmlands, and pastures. But as he ran his eyes over the horizon, the farthest a man's eyes can see, he spotted a structure somewhere near the road ahead. It wasn't recognizable, but towered above everything else in its vicinity, and seemed like a long, stone, wall. Maximus glanced back at the map once more, the paper also pointed in the same direction. This might be it then, another kilometer, and the journey's finished. With this thought in mind, Maximus quickened his pace and almost raced toward the structure.
As Maximus was almost at the gate of the fort, he could now properly see the structure from the front. The walls were large, about 4 m tall, had narrow battlements, and were made of stone. There were two tall stone towers on either side of the main gate, while a ditch that was dug in a V-shape surrounded the fort. It already looked impressive from the front.
As Maximus approached the fort, a voice rang out from the battlements,
"Halt!" Maximus immediately stopped and put his hands in the air, gesturing at his status as a friend, although his manner remained calm.
"I am Julius Maximus, a citizen of Rome and shinobi of Konoha. I am here as per the orders of the Hokage and Commander Severus!" Maximus shouted back at the soldier on the battlements. He received no response for a moment, everything was quiet. But then the gates opened up, and a man walked outside accompanied by a few soldiers. By the man's authoritative manner, his gear, and the fact that the soldiers accompanied him, Maximus deduced this must be the prefect; the fort commander.
The commander casually walked over to Maximus and then stood face-to-face with him with his arms crossed. He was a middle-aged man, with straight grey hair, a lean body, average height, and a clean-shaven face with noticeable wrinkles. The prefect wore a bronze cuirass with a white cape and underclothing, as well as shin and forearm guards made of bronze. Maximus eased himself and gave the commander a friendly smile, more out of nervousness than actual friendliness. The commander didn't even seem to notice, but his manner was amiable enough.
"I am Commander Spurius, prefect of this fort. You must be Julius Maximus." The commander had a confident and authoritative tone, Maximus replied in a friendly manner,
"Yes sir. As I said, I'm here by the orders of Commander Severus and the permission of the Hokage." Spurius looked over Maximus toe-to-head, then replied with his hand to his chin,
"I'd need some validation for that." Maximus nodded and reached into his pockets and pulled out the letter given to him by Hiruzen. The commander Spurius took it from his hands and examined the letter. After a while he seemed satisfied, folding the letter and keeping it himself, and spoke to Maximus with a smile,
"You're all good then," Spurius then turns over to another man and commands him,
"Dellius, will you be kind enough to show Maximus around the fort, and get him introduced to his Conterburnium?"
"Of course sir, as you command." Spurius was satisfied, and after giving one last friendly glance to Maximus, he went inside the fort with the soldiers.
And before Maximus stood Dellius, a stout man in his early thirties with keen eyes, a sharp jawline, brown eyes, a short stubble, lean figure, tall height, and olive skin; he wore the standard Roman armor of an officer and had the black plume over his helmet.
"A pleasure to meet you." Maximus greeted Dellius and put forward his hand, Dellius took it and both men shook hands, although in a very formal manner. After this, Dellius bids Maximus follow him.
As the man led Maximus around the fort, the latter could only marvel at the structure. It covered a large semi-rectangular area, with an angle on one side where it bordered a river. There were different sections for the soldiers' residence, the armory, the granaries, the prefect's villa, a bathing area with small aqueducts running from the river outside, separate stables for the horses, and even a small square. This was a permanent fort, and that's why so much had been invested in it.
Dellius led Maximus to the section where the soldiers resided, there were numerous rectangular small hutments in the section, with soldiers on the streets. They noticed Dellius in a while, and everyone gave a nod of acknowledgment, although none seemed to care for Maximus. They continued walking, and then Dellius took a sharp turn on the path and stopped before one of the hutments. It was about 7 feet tall, although narrow, and had tiled slanted roofs, and walls made of bricks; it was almost completely straight, but one room of the structure branched out on the left side. Dellius turned to face Maximus and spoke to him,
"This is where you're gonna stay for a while, with your new comrades. Is that clear?" Maximus nodded. Dellius then opened the door inside and led the way in. As Maximus also entered the hutment, he could say the place wasn't so bad to stay in. The first room seemed like some sort of kitchen, with utensils, basic silverware, and a stove.
"What's this room?" Maximus asked out of curiosity, Dellius gave him a short look as if he knew nothing, then answered,
"The kitchen obviously, we provide the soldiers with supplies and bread, but they must cook the food themselves." After this Dellius proceeded towards the door into the other room. But suddenly, it opened on its own from the inside. Or not on its own, as after it had opened a man came at the door. He was tall, about 6'5 feet, aged about 25. with brown skin, brown-blonde undercut hair, a small Klingon beard, and a visibly muscular body, and he wore plate armor without the helmet. The man first took a good look at Dellius then smiled,
"It's you, sir," Dellius replied straightforwardly,
"Sure it is, now will you let me in?" The man quickly moved aside, and Dellius led Maximus in. The man and Maximus exchanged a glance, with curiosity.
The room inside was filled with furniture but didn't feel cramped. There were a few tall wooden cupboards and wardrobes on the corners, while three bunk beds formed an incomplete square on the other side of the room, with six beds in total. While on one of the beds was seated another man, polishing a bow, a certain man Maximus knew of,
"Oi, Narseh, someone's here." The man at the door called to Narses, the latter looked up to see Dellius and Maximus behind him. Narses put aside the bow and quickly got up in respect.
"You seem busy, Narses." Dellius taunted, though with a serious face,
"At your leisure, sir." Narses played along, although he was serious about it. Dellius bid Maximus come forward, which he did; then started speaking,
"This man here, Julius Maximus, will be the new member of your Conterburnium for the duration of the recent affairs." Narses and the man nodded, as well as Maximus. Dellius continued,
"I think I'm done here then, don't start a fight right away." Saying this, Dellius quickly left the hutment.
There was uncanny silence in the room for a while, then Narses spoke,
"Good to see you again," Maximus replied with a smirk,
"Yeah." All the while, the man at the door seemed confused,
"You two know each other?"
"Yeah, I met him on that poor island I told you about. He's a 'Roman Konoha shinobi' if I'm correct."
"Hm." The man seemed satisfied. Then he turned to face Maximus and put forward his hand with a smile,
"Name's Zeno, glad to see you." Maximus shook his hand and returned the smile. After this, Maximus looked around and asked,
"By the way, where are the others? There are eight people in a Conterburnium, I only see you two." Narses sat back on the bed and resumed polishing his bow while speaking,
"Fabius and the others are out with the other parties, gathering taxes from the nearby villages. They'll be back by the evening." Maximus nodded, then proceeded to sit down on another bed.
He took out his storage scroll and infused it with chakra. Immediately, his entire luggage appeared, a small bag with clothing, a few weapons, several books, and a notepad and pen.
"That was a good trick," Zeno commented, Maximus didn't look up but replied while asserting his luggage,
"It's just chakra, like magic."
"Magician and trickster mean the same thing," Narses commented in between with a smirk,
"I would rather be called a magician." But as Maximus was busy putting the bags in their place, Dellius came back inside stomping. His presence was made aware even before he had entered inside by the loud and quick footsteps.
The man came inside and appeared before the three men. Pointing his thumb back at the door, he informed them,
"Word from commander Spurius. All the men in the camp must be present for the maintenance of the walls, so your arselings quickly come outside." Saying this, Dellius back stomping outside with a quick pace.
Narses murmured under his breath, having been disturbed twice in his work. Although he got up and started walking towards the entrance,
"You two better come quickly as well. Spurius isn't that sweet old man he seems."
"Yeah, yeah." Zeno mocked him but followed, Maximus came as well.
Author's notes
So How did you like the chapter? I know I won't be focusing on what is going on in Konoha that much, so it is this. Also, you can always provide suggestions for the story and characters, they're welcome. And do review the chapter.