Uzushiogakure ruins
Heavy footsteps echoed among the tall ruins as Zeno, in his steel armor, tramped through the abandoned roads. It was early evening and till now, nothing remarkable had been found. Behind him walked Narses, a musket in his hand. The setting sun cast orange hues in all directions, giving everything a rosy color. Sweat accumulated on the men's hands as Zeno glanced at his comrade,
"This town is big." Narses corrected him,
"Towns aren't big, a city is." Zeno was slightly annoyed by his regular pedanticism, but let it be.
They were searching the outskirts, these two and several other soldiers. What were the instructions? 'Retrieve anything peculiar you find.' This could range from beautiful figures to parched scrolls. Deep inside the ruins lay a citadel, what remained of it. Surrounded by a moat, the grey walls stood tall, marking the scale of destruction and how much they could endure. Zeno pointed at the central area and suggested,
"See that, we haven't searched it yet." Narses gave a quick nod and paced towards the hill. The citadel was at an elevation, most probably an artificial hill, as it didn't blend with the terrain. They finally arrived at the top after a short trek over the mud (the paved roads were almost gone, scavenged by nearby civilians for the brick).
Ruined walls and lone pillars greeted them, but there was still some resemblance of a structure at the center, a tall tower with the Uzumaki symbol at the front. Skeletons were strewn around, pecked clean by vultures and other animals. The sight was saddening for Narses, the fallen had been denied a proper funeral, left to rot where they died; such was the enmity between shinobi villages.
Zeno knocked down the pile of stones on the gate, and they entered the structure. The condition inside was no better, moss had grown over the walls, and the once bright red color was fading away. Sunlight entered the room, but the corners remained dark. Narses ran his eyes around, nothing was interesting at first glance. Still, both men took a round of the hall to make sure. Peering at the walls, Zeno stumbled upon calligraphy on the wall. After decades, the ink was still dark and clear. Amused yet clueless, he called for his friend,
"Oy Narseh, come here. My Japanese isn't so good." The blonde was also intrigued and attempted to read what was written.
"Live" It read, and immediately captivated the men's attention.
Zeno paced around, feeling the wall. Narses could only glare in thought. Suddenly, the bigger man took his fist back and punched the wall. He was wearing iron gloves, but the wall didn't so much as make a sound. Zeno was left stunned,
"What is it, you brainless bull?"
"I touched it and punched it, but couldn't feel anything. The wall didn't even make a sound." Narses was puzzled,
"What do you mean?"
"Try for yourself." The blonde took a step back and shot the wall. The gunpowder was heard, but there was no mark on the wall. The bullet lay on the floor as if it never hit its target.
"What is this thing?" Narses muttered. Zeno put his hand to his chin, and a thought came to him.
Suddenly, he snatched the pouch of gunpowder bomb from his friend and positioned it before the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing?" The other exclaimed, Zeno could only smirk,
"We'll see if this IS impenetrable." Narses sighed and ran back, taking cover behind a wall. His colleague lit one of the bombs, threw it at the wall, and rushed back.
The sound rang out and their ears were left numb for a moment. Afterward, Narses got up to see the result and was disappointed,
"You wasted good black powder." Zeno also got up and feigned indifference.
The wall remained intact, only the ink had faded a little. But the force had caused a remnant of the roof to collapse, letting the sun illuminate the room.
Nevertheless, Zeno was unaffected by the failure of his experiment. He ran forward and leaped up the ruins, quickly climbing what remained of the roof. Narses soon followed him, annoyed.
The view was mesmerizing yet somber. Piles of stones, collapsed houses, and skeletons strewn around, as the sun set behind the forest. Narses could see the entire village. The suburbs, what must've been a market, a dry moat surrounding this hill, its bed blotched by dried blood. But apart from that, he could see the other soldiers rushing towards the hill, probably due to the explosion. Narses shouted to correct them,
"It's nothing, go back and set up the tents!" Indeed, it would be night soon and they'd need shelter. These ruins weren't comfy, especially not with a skeleton by your side.
Zeno smiled, stroking his beard as he pointed out the locations they'd 'excavated', and what was peculiar about it.
In the southwest was the armory, with rusted arrowheads, kunai, shuriken, and some broken armor. Most of the good equipment had been looted, but they did find a full set of lamellar armor, accompanied by headgear that sported lavish decorations, meaning it belonged to an important person. To the north, just below the hill, was the library. Nothing peculiar there either, aside from a few lockers filled with scrolls, buried in the ground. Most of them couldn't read Japanese, and Narses could only tell that one was an account book. The rest was also most probably office work, but who can say? Maybe there's a sealing treasure, or an important document, hidden there.
As the sun had disappeared and the sky turned grey, Narses remarked,
"What about the seal we found below?" Zeno shrugged,
"I don't know, call some Konoha expert?" The other man was slightly annoyed,
"Call them for this and for that, we need to do things ourselves. What if that bastard informs his village, or smuggles out the seals to Konoha?" The taller man remained indifferent,
"Call a Konoha expert, and stuff his mouth with some denarii." Narses laughed and commented,
"Yes, the governor isn't lacking in money."
Roman Fort, Whirlpool Island
Severus lay on his chair, calm and indifferent, facing Mei Terumi. His aged face and attitude spoke of his experience. The Kiri shinobi, on the other hand, was energetic and alert. Her red hair came down to her back and excitement brimming in her eyes. The room was small, but enough for two. They sat facing each other with a table in between, a glass of water for each. Clearing his throat, Severus explained,
"No, you must suggest something else. We can't hand over Whirlpool Island to be your base." Mei replied quickly, trying to be persuasive,
"We need an HQ in our fight against the current Kirigakure regime, a haven for all rebels." The commander remained adamant,
"No, this island is of strategic importance, sea routes pass through it. The Uzushio ruins are another matter." The redhead kunoichi didn't give up,
"Rome can keep control of the island, but you must let us operate from here. It's so close to our front." Severus shook his head. After a quiet moment, he suggested,
"But we can give you an islet in the Paradise Isles. It's close to the Land of Water, and small so easy to defend. What do you say?" Mei considered the offer and replied,
"Where is it?" The Roman commander took out a map from one of the drawers, it presented the local region, from the Land of Fire coast to the Roman islands and the Land of Water.
With his finger, he pointed at one of the islets, barely noticeable but close to the front. The rebel leader seemed content but inquired further,
"What if we are invaded though?" Severus leaned back in his chair and laughed,
"You're right next to our naval base in the nearby island. They get within seventy-five kilometers of that without permission and it's war." Mei was happy with this. Noticing it, Severus finally remarked,
"Alright then, we'll pull out all our troops from that area. Your shinobi can populate it, but we can't be seen transporting insurgents so do the shipping yourself." The redhead tapped her finger on the table, there was something at the back of her head.
"Why are you doing this?" The old soldier shifted in his seat,
"Doing what?"
"Supplying us weapons, giving us shelter and loans, what is all this for? I must clarify Kiri won't be your puppet once we win." Severus smirked and commented,
"You seem quite sure you'll win, even before the endgame." Mei was indifferent,
"Answer me." The general sipped water and continued,
"We just want a reliable ally in the region. You see, all this war and gore really disturbs our merchants. A safe area in the Land of Fire-Land of Water corridor will be great for maritime trade." The kunoichi was reassured and slumped back in her chair. Seeing that business was done, Severus got up and went to the door.
The handle turned and the door opened. However, before leaving the Roman remarked without turning,
"And for all the puppetry, we'll see."
Village Hidden in the Leaves
It was late evening and the lamps were being lit throughout the village. Naruto sat atop Hashirama Senju's face on the Hokage Monuments, swinging his leg and gazing at his home. All the noise and mess from the Hokage celebrations had died down, and Konoha was back to its usual evening slumber. The appointment of the Fifth Hokage had been a big event, and even bigger for team 7, as one of its members was now a Hokage's son (or 2, if Kakashi will tell you).
The previous week had been uneventful. There was a pervert they called Jiraiya around him, having small talk and offering to train him. He'd accepted for once, but quickly realized the practice wasn't necessarily for ninjutsu, and this had earned both men a scolding from Fugaku. For now, he was to train with Kakashi until he reached the level required for studying what Jiraiya taught.
Apart from his team, his sister's squad was also doing great. Naruko had told him Maximus got selected for guardian 12, and Hayato was spending time training under his father (a retired ANBU, he'd heard). As for herself, she was just passing the time. Learning a skill from here and there, basic healing from the hospital, sensory capabilities from Kurenai sensei, and chakra enhancement from Asuma. 'It's all you need to be a support unit, so keep it up.' Asahi had commented.
But he knew his sister well, and also that she wouldn't be satisfied with this. She needed something big like her teammates but didn't know what.
"You forget about me, don't you?" And speak of the devil. Naruto turned to see the smirking face of his sister. She was in her chunin attire and ready for deployment,
"No. In fact, I was thinking about you." both of them chuckled. The woman adjusted her sleeves and informed,
"Anyways, I'll be away for a few weeks on a mission. They're deploying a whole lot of us on the border, something about a large bandit group." Naruto nodded.
"I will leave tomorrow, so come home early. I can't miss my schedule because of you."
"All right all right.'
Author's notes
Oh yeah, quite a few chapters before the war occurs, or is it? I'm not certain myself. It depends on how much detail I cover before, during, and after the conflict. But most of it will be before.
Do review the story if you've read this far. Have a good day (gotta get the complete 2000 words).