Rain's Redemption

by MeepMeep7913

Taken from birth from his still-living parents, he was instead brought to a foreign nation to become a ninja of Rain. Having changed the board, Nagato now sought to end the hegemony of the Leaf in the height of its power and the rest of the major nations and bring the peace he sought. It was time for Yahiko's dream, and Rain, to be redeemed.

3. Chapter 3 - Training Concluded

FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
KONOHAGAKURE, HOKAGE'S TOWER.

Minato Namikaze stood silently staring out of the window of the top floor of the Hokage Tower, inside his own office as he took a momentary break from his work. With his hands behind his back, he gazed upon the street down below that the wide windows of his office allowed a view of.

Ten years. It had been ten years since his son had been taken. He hadn't forgotten.

His very first order had been to immediately declare a widespread manhunt for his son. Though he knew it was most likely that the masked man, orMadara, had killed his son to extract the nine tails for his own purposes, he still held hope. A father doesn't just give up on their children, after all.

However, it was not to be. It was quickly established through the mass searches of the Land of Fire, going through travel reports of major settlements in the Land of Fire and the general widespread negative of ninja all across the country that his son was not in any habitable region of the Land of Fire at least. After a year, the searches were stood down due to high economic expense for no gain but a standing order had been issued to immediately report any semblance to a figure with red hair, blue eyes and/or whisker marks. Now, he was reliant upon Jiraiya's spy network, international missions and any general information such as bingo book entries for any further information. To no avail thus far.

His personality had not changed, but his actions perhaps had. He was not so lenient with the other nations anymore, still willing to achieve his dream but his position did not allow him the freedoms his former teacher held. As far as the other nations knew, Konohagakure was hiding the identity of its jinchuuriki. Combined with the fact that the Leaf held the highest amount of S ranks of any nation, the only ever SS ranked ninja, and the Leaf's military doctrine had visibly changed - no nation had dared yet to poke at them.

But just because they didn't dare to poke into their business, didn't mean they couldn't change their own policies.

Sunagakure was not as friendly with Konoha anymore despite being allied, in contrast to the Lands of Earth and Lightning being on good terms despite not being allied. It put him in a position he didn't quite want to be in, because although he sympathised with the Kazekage, there was more to international politics than just the two leaders. Coming to an agreement with the Kazekage would not only upset the Wind Lord, the actual ruler of the Land of Wind, whom was favouring the Leaf with mission allocations; but would also upset the Fire Lord who he was ultimately subordinate to who would most certainly summon him to the capital to explain the downturn in economic performance.

Times were getting tougher, he mused. Supposedly just like the build up to the Third World War just like Hiruzen Sarutobi had been discussing with him.

A soft knock at the door interrupted his inner musings, causing him to look at the entrance to the office and wondering who his ANBU had let through - certainly few people were on such a list to see their Hokage without prior invitation in his own office. His curiosity was satisfied when his own wife stepped through the door.

Kushina Uzumaki, a reputable woman with sharp purple eyes and long crimson red hair, eyed her husband and smiled. A ninja of strong standing, her S ranks status was well deserved when her exploits were put in the frame - a sealing master second only to her husband, wielder of the notedAdamantine Chainsand one of the Leaf's best water techniques users. But best of all was her skill with swords, rumoured to be even better than even the now missing-nin head of the previous Kiri Seven Swordsmen.

"Kushina, dear. You should be at home resting after that mission you came back from just last night." Minato spoke out with an amused tone, contrasting to the concern his speech portrayed. He knew his wife could look after herself, such a small thing would not stop her.

"Always a fussy one, Minato." Kushina smiled back. "How goes things?"

Minato sighed, before shaking his head. "Things are fine at the moment. There are no serious domestic issues, but foreign issues and affairs seem to get more complicated and troubling with each passing year."

Kushina gave a snort. "I was asking about you."

"Me?" Minato blinked, before then chuckling and scratching the back of his head. "Yes, I am fine thank you. How are you? You must've come here for a reason."

"Me, hmmm?" Kushina parroted Minato, deliberately making her face mysterious. "Oh, I'm only pregnant, ya know?"

Minato's shocked face said it all.

FOURTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
FIRST ARMY, SECOND DIVISION TRAINING BARRACKS.

"Sir, what is a tailed beast?" Naruto asked in a curious tone. It was currently during one of the two rest periods they had each working day, and the red-head had taken the opportunity to go into one of the classrooms and consult the general textbook. To his expectations, nothing in the index, contents or relevant sections, even to his memory, said nothing on a 'tailed beast'.

The chunin instructor in charge of the open classroom during that one-hour rest period blinked as he looked to genin initiate, before frowning. It was a really strange topic to just bring up. "Why do you want to know, Naruto?" They asked in countermand.

That was a bit shocking to Naruto, as quite a bit of him had expected the teacher to look at him strangely in the context that it was made up, rather than as if it wasn't something he was supposed to know yet. "I heard two of the chunin near the fence mention it. I just got real curious, that's all sir." He let out in response as his brain supplied a good-enough excuse.

A sigh came from the chunin instructor at that, before minutely shaking his head at the thought. Despite it technically being a breach of conduct, he himself was guilty of it as all chunin undertook patrols of the entire barracks, and any who were chunin thus understood the boredom that came with it. "Very well, Naruto." He responded after a moments thought. "But I want you to understand that this isn't part of the genin curriculum, OK? People can and most often do go their entire lives without seeing a tailed beast. This isn't something you have to worry about at this point in your career."

"Why not, sir?" Naruto asked.

"Because if you were ever against one, Naruto, you'd be dead." The chunin put bluntly to Naruto, getting a startled look in return. "You've learned of the power ranking system D rank through to S rank, Naruto; and despite Ilaya's question on Minato Namikaze, there was a reason I didn't stop to educate you all. There's a reason the advice in the Bingo Book on his entry is 'flee on sight' - an ordinary ninja should not even try to engage him." A short chuckle came from the chunin instructor as he pulled out such a Bingo Book, and showed Naruto the definition at the start of it for the 'flee on sight' ranking. "The tailed beasts stand above that in terms of raw power."

Naruto was a bit wide-eyed at both the explanation, and the confirmation that they actually existed. "But what are they really, sir?" He questioned, his curiosity now even higher.

"That's... a difficult question, to be honest Naruto." The chunin instructor answered as the thinking expression on their face signalled they were searching through their memory. "Only those who've researched their lore, sealing masters, chakra experts or the tailed beasts themselves could answer such a question. Nobody knows where they came from, what they actually are and how they even sustain themselves. They are, without doubt, one of the biggest mysteries of our world."

"But, to actually answer your question." The chunin continued. "What the average ninja, and accordingly you, Naruto, can understand is that they are essentially massive beings of chakra. Nine of them exist, with varying animal appearances between them - they are all big in size, but there is a pattern among them. Each tailed beast has one more tail than the previous up to the nine tails, with the trend being that the more tails a beast has, the more powerful they are as well as bigger in height."

Wonder had flashed across Naruto's face as he heard that, before he asked the question he really wanted to know next. "But where are they sir, if they're so powerful? Surely you would tell us about them if they could dominate the world like that."

Amusement then came over the chunin's face as he responded. "Fortunately for the world Naruto, in that like everything has a weakness, the tailed beasts have a few too. Only in the hands of an expert that as far as I know, has always been an S rank, there is a couple of bloodlines and one huge weakness that can be used to stop the tailed beasts. Do you remember our session on storage scrolls, Naruto?" He asked suddenly, and continuing as Naruto nodded. "Good. Because the one and only known biggest weakness of the tailed beasts, without resorting to bloodlines or overwhelming power - as has only happened to the tailed beasts a few times in recorded history - is sealing. They are sealed into humans."

"Humans?" Naruto voiced confusedly. "Why not just a scroll?"

"I don't really know, Naruto." The chunin instructor spoke to the genin initiate, as they admitted the limits of their knowledge. "It's not something you should be too concerned of Naruto, as we in the Land of Rain have never dealt with them. They are called 'jinchuuriki', and famously are some of the most powerful fighters of the major nations, but they can still be reasoned with, and are normally a last deployment in war or do not use their tailed beasts on missions due to politics and such. You'll never see them, and the fighting of them is left to the most powerful ninja anyway."

Naruto could sense that the teacher was just about done with the topic, either because they had better things to do or because it was the limit of their knowledge. "Just one more question on it then, sir." He asked. "Is the nine tails known?"

"Is that why you're interested, Naruto, you're curious on perhaps the strongest being in the world?" The chunin asked, and then giving a snort of amusement as Naruto shrugged. "I sometimes forget how young you all are given the rate of your training. But yes, the nine tails is actually the most famous at the moment. It was eight years ago that the nine tails attacked the Hidden Leaf of the Land of Fire, and it took Minato Namikaze acting in tandem with the greatest Uzumaki sealing master, Kushina Uzumaki, to seal it as the story goes."

"Oh." Naruto let out quietly, further to the chunin's confusion as he even looked a bit queasy. "What animal was it sir?"

"A fox, Naruto." The chunin answered to Naruto's question, before sighing at the strange look on Naruto's face and the questions he'd been asked for the past few minutes. "Anyway, I'm sorry Naruto, but please move back to your desk now. I've got a few tests to mark over the next half hour and other initiates may need help as well."

Naruto only gave a nod at that, before quietly walking back to his seat and to the open textbook on the desk before him, which he shut slowly - it had been no help to him, after all. Both hands pressed against his stomach as he looked down to it and swallowed a bit nervously, now knowing full well that it had not been a dream.

THAT NIGHT.

For once, it was not raining. A quarter-moon was visible through the window, shining enough light into the room so that Naruto could angle himself in such a way on he bottom bunk of the bed that he could see the piece of paper in his hand. It was a crude drawing of a fox, maybe of a skill even a bit below what would be expected at his age given the sheer unnecessity of drawing with all that they were leaning about in the training compound. Several questions scribbled in his handwriting lay beneath it, including 'what are you?', 'how are you here?'; and the most important to him, 'why me?"

Gently folding the paper and putting it beneath his pillow, he lay down fully but didn't attempt sleep - instead forcibly scrunching his eyes as he thought hard. Having been thinking about it all day since he'd laid all his questions on one of the instructors, he had eventually remembered after four hours the fox's words; and how he had immediately left the mindscape. Naruto knew he wasn't the smartest in the compound, in fact being of a poorer grade than the average with his worse chakra control, but even that had seemed obvious to him.

Forcibly keeping his eyes closed tight, he imagined being back in that place.

Cracking open his eyelids and slowly blinking them to shake the slight soreness that had come from pressing them that hard together, he saw it had failed to work right away. The wind still softly rustled against the window to the room, and he was still looking to the wooden boards making up the wall, making him frown in disappointment.

Though he was on one hand partly relieved at seemingly not being able to do it and see a ginormous talking creature that had apparently almost obliterated the strongest village in the world, he still looked down to his stomach. It was something he'd been planning all day, and in all honesty with himself, it upset him slightly that he couldn't do it. He finally found something that set him apart from everyone else, something that was unique in a nation where everyone was small in a massive city or barracks, and now he found himself wondering if it again was all a dream.

Then he frowned. Logical thinking demanded it was not a dream, and that that was just his wondering thoughts again - he'd doubted one time already, and his instructor had already discarded all notions that the information the fox had told him was false. So, following the events of that night again, he needed to go back.

Reaching out with his arm, and after shaking off a moment of hesitation that gripped his arm, he placed it on his stomach as the other hand had lifted the t-shirt, before channelling the chakra to his fingertips as they'd been shown in class. And, despite the fact that he'd seen it before and even other adults had studied it, he was still wide-eyed as the black symbols flared to life on his skin.

There was only one thing he could discern from it all as he looked to it from an upside-down perspective as he craned his neck further forward to see more. It was all kanji - the writing characters used in the art of sealing that was spread around an eight-sided shape on his torso with several sections that he no hope of understanding. But it did bring something home that quickened his breathing about - he was a jinchuuriki.

He had not spent all day planning on the fact that the fox was there just to pause at the confirmation of it, as despite a few more seconds of hesitation, he closed his eyes again as he kept the chakra flowing to the fingertips on his stomach this time. And imagined it once more.

His head hit the pillow as his consciousness was sent inwards for the second time that week.

MINDSCAPE

The nine-tailed fox had to admit to himself that he was impressed. Ever since he'd gotten Naruto to bump fists with him which was the technical granting of consent the mindscape needed to change, he'd been able to look out upon the world for the first time in eight years. And had seen the ninja-to-be having spent his entire day flipping through sections of the textbook on chakra trying to formulate how anything could exist as pure chakra, occasionally write a question on the bit of paper and even ignore the teacher in his thinking.

He obviously hadn't got anywhere in his hours of the day looking for any answer, which seemed to have further driven him in trying to get back to the mindscape. Which, as he saw materialise before him, had been a success on only his second try.

A huff of air from the nine-tails' nostrils sent the hair on the boy's head writhing out of place, as the genin initiate spun round to see the fox once more with his head laying on the ground, looking directly at him. Without blinking once.

"I have to admit, I thought it would be a while before you came back."The nine tails spoke first in the resonant, baritone voice that once more rolled straight off the unmoving tongue sat on the bottom of his slightly open mouth.

Naruto looked to the fox with a bit of an apprehensive sheen to his eyes, as he then spoke. "I'm not going to be afraid of you now." He mustered out with as much courage as he could, which did sound alright to him. Unfortunately for him though, the nervous swallow that happened sub-consciously before he even spoke those words betrayed him to the eyes of the nine tails.

A moments staring happened then in silence as if the tailed beast before him seemed to mull over those words, before the creature before him blinked. With a bit of a start, Naruto realised that the singular time he'd blinked in their first encounter had been deliberate too."Good."The nine tails spoke, as a tail curled round to a stretching back leg that sought more comfort."I never wanted you to be, Naruto."

The huge size difference between them only seemed to accentuate the effort the nine tails was trying to make as his other back leg quivered from being held completely still for some time ever since discovering that Naruto was trying to access the mindscape. But, the child didn't see that as he instead cocked his head to the side a bit and looked a bit confused. "How do you know my name?" He asked. "You didn't last time."

An eyebrow was raised by the massive creature before him, that served to break up the long, uniform black stripe that extended down from its ear to the eye on the left side."How observant. You'll make a fine ninja."The nine tails complimented, which only got a twitch of the head from the child before him."Well, that'd be from the fact that because you bumped my fist last time, you allowed me to see beyond the world we're currently in."

The confusion bloomed over Naruto's face this time, as after a second of thinking he shook his head and folded his arms. "That doesn't make sense!" He declared.

"Tell me, do you understand the art of sealing, Naruto?"He asked with a bit of a dry tone to his voice, as if the initiate should've thought of that already - as the red-head only shook his head slowly but immediately, no need for pondering that time."Yes, I thought so. That would be why I'm not going to bother explaining it to you."

He may not have known about sealing, but he could join the dots. "But you know about sealing?" Naruto turned it back on the fox.

Whatever he was expecting, it was not a grin coming over the snout of the being to the extent that the up-lift of the back portion of the mouth did reveal a flash of white of the teeth as the nine tails lifted his head a bit higher."Why, of course I do."The fox spoke, with Naruto realising it was a smug grin of pride that adorned the creature's face."That's what happens when you get sealed within two seal masters in a six trigram seal that didn't have the necessary defences to block out all memory or sensory faculties. You pick up a thing or two."

"Two? How can you be sealed into two people at once if there's just one fox?" Naruto voiced his bewilderment whilst scratching his head.

A sigh left the lips of the tailed beast as the grin slowly disappeared, with a minute shake of the head that was still very obvious to Naruto."Forgive me, I must temper my explanation to your young mind."The fox apologised then, surprising Naruto somewhat that the great being actually said that."As in one host before the other, over the course of a hundred years. Do you know of the Uzumaki clan?"

A stout 'no' was what he got.

"Surprising. I did not realise that the control of information during your education was that restrictive, given how much the Uzumaki has done."The nine tails spoke, as he regarded Naruto with a look as if he clearly knew more than he was letting on. Which, Naruto supposed, given what he'd just said about his education, must have been very true.

Looking to the fox, he asked one of the main things he'd wanted to ever since he'd formulated his crude plan. "So if you know what happened with the last two people you were in, why was I chosen?"

The down-turn of the nine tail's face was much more rapid then, morphing into an expression that didn't just involve the down-turn of the snout's lip further over the sharp teeth it concealed, but one that actually extended to the tailed beast's eyes."These are things... that I will tell you when you are a bit older, Naruto."The nine tails answered eventually after a few moments deliberation, before the snout lowered a bit to further accentuate his seriousness upon seeing the crease in his host's brow."I am not asking you to wait until you are an adult, but a few years at least until you are ready for such an answer. Trust me when I say... you will take it far different, than you did upon the discovery of my existence."

The perplexing look on Naruto's face at what he was talking about was evident, as he clearly made to voice it or ask about another aspect of it - before the fox cut him off."I'm serious, Naruto. Please don't ask about your parents, or what happened during my sealing that made you the host, or anything like that. I saw the paper you were scribbling on."He stated, as he lowered his head back to the ground into a more comfortable position on his paw."I'll explain it, once you've got a better grasp of the likes of sealing and such."

Naruto was clearly unsatisfied with that answer from the frown on his face. "How long will that take?" He asked.

"Years."Came the solitary word answer from the tailed beast, the nine tails that signalled the beast's strength casually flicking through the air autonomously behind him.

Annoyance was clear in Naruto's expression as he jabbed a pointing finger at the fox. "You can't keep teasing me!" He shouted out.

"Yes I can."The nine tails responded in his deep voice, the lighter tone and upturn in his mouth signalling his amusement."What can you actually do about it?"

Freezing a bit in his body language to process that, Naruto then let out a noise of frustration. "Fine then!" He declared. "Teach me sealing so it'll go faster!"

Another amused grunt escaped the tailed beast's nostrils, as he then looked to the child in front of him."A valid solution."He praised, before dropping the catch."But why should I help you? Explaining and discussing is one thing, but actually helping you is beyond the realms of curtesy then."

That made Naruto pause again, as he indeed pondered over what he could give the fox. It took a minute, but at least the idea of something came to mind. "I know!" He shouted out. "If you can help me with seals, then I'll be able edit the seal keeping you here, and let you go! I know you can't touch it in... whatever this place actually is."

Diverging one eye to give a swift glance around the mindscape around them, the fox was not willing to explain the concept of how they were technically in the seal's version of inside his head, nor that he could leave anytime he wanted."That's a great idea until you realise that letting me out the seal and back into the real world would kill you, Naruto. To keep it brief, your body has become used to my chakra, and ripping that away would be like ripping out an organ now."He explained with a knowledgeable tone.

"Oh..." Naruto let out, as his shoulders slumped a bit. "I can't think of anything else..."

The fox narrowed his eyes in an analytical gaze on the child."You really are different from them..."He murmured, confusing Naruto, who had no time to even think about it as the nine tails then raised himself up a bit."Alright child, you've made your point."He spoke in a louder voice."I'll help you with your sealing."

It was time for a noise of celebration to escape Naruto, as he jumped up a bit. "Thank you!" He shouted. "You're great!"

"Well, you didn't have to call me that."The nine tails stated in a smug tone."I already knew that."

It took a second as he listened to that, but then the next question seemed to click for Naruto. "Hey, that's a point! What do I call you?" He asked.

The crimson eye slowly descended to look at him, from to the fox - roughly the same height but which still required Naruto to crane his neck to look up. A minute passed by, as the singular crimson eye, framed by the blazing orange fur that further extended down the muzzle of the snout that still loomed over Naruto, gazed at him unblinkingly.

"...Kurama."

SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
FIRST ARMY, SECOND DIVISION TRAINING BARRACKS.

It was raining. It was always raining - that's all Naruto ever remembered of the outside of the barrack huts. He was staring at it right now angrily lashing against the windows, drowning out all sounds from the outside in a muted downpour, leaving only the teacher's voice to crack across the room as the inside noise. Nobody dared to breathe too loud.

The Land of Rain was one of discipline and rigor, and it was reflected in its military training programs that initiates even understood was designed to break them. As such, the vast majority of their training was physical or outdoors in some sense, with only two hours of each workday assigned to theory or classroom work indoors. That was what Naruto had understood from the beginning of the first week, being now in the first day of the second, and he understood one thing above all.

Whilst their counterparts in the Leaf probably found their teacher's theory boring, here in the Land of Rain it was the most welcome part of the day - a respite from the rain and activity. A rest period actually sitting for a continuous time, in which the math, history or basic strategy were welcomed more than ever. Right now it was history, and with the beginning of the second week, the teacher had finally deigned to start explaining the change in the program that was now in its fourth year for Naruto.

He'd only turned ten three weeks ago. This was all he remembered.

"...The levels of teaching in the Land of Rain were completely overhauled when the education system was rebuilt after the end of the civil war. This included the previous academy, which as many soldiers will now know, was completely destroyed. It has ever since remained that way - there is no longer a fixed learning institution for initiates in the Land of Rain." The teacher had begun to explain.

Naruto dared not ask a question, despite his curiosity of the civil war. It was forbidden to question a superior, and they were only allowed when such questions were invited.

"Instead, the title of 'initiate' was introduced into the system and replaced the outdated, softer title of 'academy student' - ever since mandatory conscription from the age of ten for children of all healthy backgrounds was introduced; initiates have been held to a wartime standard ever since the civil war." The teacher paused slightly in their reading of the excerpt before them, their gaze looking upon the rows of children before them. "This sticks with the recurring theme of every minor nation being forced to hold wartime standards - to match their ninja forces with the major nations in quality rather than quantity. Some initiates will have been learning for longer, whether volunteered or not."

"Initiates can learn in learning facilities constructed on the barracks where they are assigned, but they will also often partake in exercises meant to prepare them for military life. They are assigned to a learning platoon where a teacher will give them the skills needed to fit in with military life over the span of a year. Following this, there is a mandatory period of four years after this, at which point a ninja may choose to resign on the spot on their fifteenth birthday, provided they are only genin." The man in the chunin vest stated, his voice picking up as he noticed he was nearing the end of his script. "After that, they may choose to take a three year education course which can help with learning essential knowledge and re-integration with society, or go straight into lower-paid work."

"This system has not only been directly responsible for the military expansion in Ame's forces as well as it raise in quality, but also to a rise in discipline and pride in the population as the first generation of conscripted recruits has already truly past the mandatory period." The chunin finished up, tucking the paper away as he looked back to the initiates before him.

"Remember. This is all to prepare for what is to come..."

Naruto remembered those words for years to come, despite the lecture it was delivered as. He wouldn't even remember the man's name, however.

SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
ONE MONTH LATER;FIRST ARMY, SECOND DIVISION TRAINING BARRACKS.

"You are the advanced class! As you all have been here for four years rather than the single month of your other, newer peers, you shall now begin immediately on the more advanced schedules." The woman shouted to the rank and file before her, a platoon worth of initiates in three rows assembled in front of her. "In other words, congratulations on your fast-track to genin! You do not lose your initiate status, but from now on you shall be taught as aspiring chunin!"

It was shown in the differences. It had been a month of general training with their chunin instructor, but their class had always been handled a bit differently. Rather than the introduction of any new techniques, training regimes or physical activity, it was a reinforcement of everything the chunin instructor had devised that they needed to know. Now, they were being taught by a jonin. Whilst there was accordingly perhaps even an abundance of chunin to carry out the required tasks of the nation for their level, a jonin's time was not wasted. It seemed the jonin instructor agreed, as they began immediately.

"You may have been good enough for your chunin instructor, which I suppose merits another congratulations, but you have yet to prove yourselves to me." The jonin had taken a step forward so she no longer felt the need to shout, instead letting her voice carry over. "We shall do this at once, starting with bouts of sparring. Pick a mat, pick a partner, and get them off the mat - then the winner is to line up with the other winners in an orderly line in front of me where they shall then be first to the canteen and to extra rations tonight. They have enough Ryatzi duck for one hundred people tonight."

With the country of Rain still acclimatising in some aspects to boom in the economy allowing imported food for their populous dense nation, the food industry was still playing catch up and much of the rations were still heavily industrialised. Every person in Rain barring its elites still had rationed food, and it likely never would exit rationing - a population of over eighty million in a country that could not sustain its food production did not have the capacity to; even if it was alleviated somewhat by the still rising economy. Chicken in particular, as the stable meat of the country, was massively processed - with chemical methods and substitute food parts being added to increase the density of the rations.

With over 70% of the platoon there coming from the orphanages and so having received the brunt of rationing, the concept of extra food was an incentive in itself. The mere mention of the wetlands duck from the South of the country, known to be a native delicacy and not involved in the processing procedures, was the match that lit the fire - as she now had their complete attention.

"Let it be known that as you are now of the advanced class and so the most likely in line for promotions in future, the state is willing to put more resources into your training and future!" The jonin's voice rapped out. "However, the punishment for failure is as equal to the rewards, as the losing team shall also taste - they shall skip rations tonight, and would instead be on sentry duty along the compound."

The widening of several eyes in front of her showed they understood. The jonin instructor understood just as much as they did that their chunin instructor had assuaged them of the fact that such responsibilities and duties would be shared with the conscripted classes who had only just started that year; beginning in the next year. She was, in other words, making them start a year earlier. "Welcome to the advanced class. You are now led by a jonin - expect everything to be different." She stated, before raising her voice again. "You have permission to leave formation - pick a mat, pick a partner!"

Naruto knew this drill down to its fundamentals - he was the best at close combat in his platoon, and that was undisputed. He may not be very good in their education including languages, math and history; he may be average at ninjutsu theory and he may one of the worst in the chakra control sessions, but his points of pride were his sealing and close combat skills.

This was shown as he went over to the unofficially named 'Naruto's mat', which the teachers had not bothered to stop despite the official stance on not allowing behaviour that could foster jealousy or disruption to the unity of the platoon. It was one example of only a few, and it served as a good way to enable competition as Naruto had had a few challengers over the past few months - all they had to do was willingly step up to the mat with him.

Today was not that day though, as the rest of his platoon scrambled round the mats to take up spaces; and not before long a sullen looking initiate who had taken too long joined him at the last available space on his mat. The jonin instructor too was beside the mat, as it was the first mat on that side of the hall as she looked down the middle of all the mats.

"Begin." She simply stated.

Sure enough, it was over in moments. His fellow peer was clearly a bit nervous in taking him on, as noted by the sheer defensive stance they put up and how they awaited Naruto to make the first move - as he did when he stepped forward. Naruto would've happily admitted to being a bit surprised when the other initiate broke their defensive stance to thrust forward with a punch, but it was easy to counter.

Raising his arm to take the blow which was readily absorbed as the other initiate's arm was completely blocked by his own, Naruto not saying a word as he instead then leant into it and countered with a forceful shoulder-shove into his colleague's arm and then torso. Capitalising on their over-extension and busyness for a moment, it was all Naruto needed as he sent them sprawling off the mat. It was just like all the other results of the mat game as he called it, just a bit quicker this time.

Except, he'd never done it in front of a jonin before.

"Naruto, please step aside and join me for a moment." Came the words of the jonin instructor from behind him, jolting him and making him look quickly over his shoulder with his mouth slightly open in surprise. However, the jonin was already halfway over to a space near the wall where they clearly expected the red-head to be with them, as after a moments hesitation on trying to figure what had been wrong, he begun walking over too.

The jonin instructor's eyes bore into Naruto's own, who certainly felt his composure slip as the nerves he felt started to show on his expression with the lines of his face. It was not just that he was thoroughly outclassed in that the jonin before him had likely fought in the third world war and the civil war; whilst he wasn't even sure if he was a genin despite the announcement, but that they had the sheer authority to make his life hell.

It certainly felt confirmed that he was about to face a league of punishment worse than a couple of hours of sentry duty in the rain as the jonin finally spoke after a few seconds. "Do you know why I pulled you aside, Naruto?" The jonin asked quietly, which despite Naruto appreciating, in some ways felt worse than if he had been shouted at. It wasn't even just that - the usage of only his first name felt worse in the circumstance, despite it being that as an orphan it was all he'd ever been given.

"Yes ma'am." He responded, not even attempting to hide it as he scratched at his skin, the hidden ink upon it feeling itchy now. He knew that was outclassed, but he'd never known that the sheer observation skills of a jonin, just by looking, could've told them of what he'd put on his skin.

They didn't say anything more as his arm was slowly taken in the grasp of the jonin, who with a short burst of blue chakra energy along her other hand which had pressed two fingers against his wrist revealed the ink. Being that chakra-conducting ink was porous to most solids including skin, the properties of it included that it was invisible upon drying - conduction of chakra into it was the main way to reveal it if chemicals were not used.

Naruto was not prepared for the slight widening in the teacher's eyes however, having expected them to narrow upon observing the kanji flaring in light blue across his arm. They quickly scrunched in a short analytical expression, before the pupils darted back to look at Naruto.

"Containment seals, Naruto?" She asked. It wasn't a topic question as she knew what she was looking at - any jonin would not be a jonin without being able to at least identify seals, and genin level seals were easy enough to identify with enough observation. It was a confirmatory question of his skills. "Did you make these?"

"Yes ma'am." He repeated, looking back at his teacher with equal parts still anxious, but also perplexed now.

"Why did you hide this, Naruto?" She questioned, eyes fully now paying attention to him instead of darting to the kanji.

His own eyes did dart away as he hesitated, before speaking the truth - he knew better than to lie, the instructors had made it clear, and examples out of those who did, what punishments awaited those who did. "I thought I could get away with it to stay ahead of the class." He responded truthfully.

"And where did you get the supplies to make these seals, Naruto?" The instructor asked, pressing ahead despite his clear nervous demeanour.

"I..." He truly did hesitate on this one, as he knew that this would be harsh punishment. But upon looking back to his teacher, he knew they both knew. "..I snuck it out the classroom."

Taking the supplies from the classrooms was restricted, despite the practicality of allowing the initiates to study outside of it; this was because there was not enough supplies to allow all the training platoons to have such things. Instead, all resources were shared in the classrooms, with them being open during rest periods so students could go inside and study if they wished - but given how they were still manned by the instructors in these periods, there would have been no 'getting away with it.'

"You make it sound like cheating, Naruto." Came his teacher's response, and it floored him.

"I - huh?" Was all he could say, the confusion evident in his face.

The jonin instructor did not smile, but the expression of their face relaxed somewhat. "Yes, taking supplies from the classroom is an offence, Naruto, but I am prepared to overlook it on this occasion." She stated, and continuing on before Naruto could voice a question. "You showed an incredible amount of intuition which I have never seen before from an initiate, in learning the sealing arts to at least genin level before you were even genin. It was not forbidden to use either, as the rules of sparring would only have forbidden the offensive use of sealing - such sealing restrictions are not made clear as it is no expected initiates to know of it nor is it taught. Only chunin start to learn seals normally despite 'genin-level' seals existing due to the dangers of the art, that or genin initiates who show promise and are so authorised."

"Explain the seal to me." She ordered suddenly, snapping Naruto from just listening, who stumbled over his words at first before pushing out his understanding of it.

"Well-" He started. "It's the simplest level of a barrier seal. Inking a simple barrier array into the skin to reduce pain and toughen the skin. It wouldn't take much to breach it, a kunai could do so easily, but it holds up fairly well in fist fights."

The jonin instructor's gaze was held for a second longer before she waved back to the line that was forming at the end of the hall. "You will re-join the victor's line, Naruto, after I have done speaking with you." She stated. "But allow me to make a couple of things very clear. Your thieving of supplies from the classroom will stop now, and you will under no circumstance tell, let alone teach any of your platoon what you are doing. Is that understood?"

The nervous expression flitted across his face before Naruto gave a single nod. "Yes ma'am." He responded.

"Good." She spoke with a sliver of satisfaction entering her tone. "I will seek authorisation for the provision of studying material for your progress as well as a personally issued desk in the classroom where you may progress; with the condition that every week you will report to me upon your progress in the sealing arts. This is not only for our records but your safety, Naruto, as I'm sure you're aware that the same seals which can contain a kunai are in the same category as those that contain the tailed beasts. This is perhaps the most dangerous field of study, which is the exact reason why so few people have knowledge in it. Do I have your word that you will not attempt anything you know to be complex or dangerous without prior authorisation?"

Another nod was given to the teacher, as Naruto knew he was in no place to disagree. "Yes ma'am." He repeated.

"Good." She in turn repeated, before motioning to the line at the end of the hall. "Go."

As he ran from the area with the mats, he heard a slight growl in his head - and sure enough, Kurama spoke."You most certainly will not report everything to her, Naruto."He simply stated."I will not have you be the utmost loyal servant of a nation just because it demands it. You will not get anywhere if everyone knows what you do."

Tagging onto the back of the line and naively peeking out of line to make sure no one was paying explicit attention to him, he responded in thought. 'But how would I hide it? It's all written on paper that they'd find.'

A sigh seemed to come from the back of his mind as Kurama spelt out what he thought was the obvious."You're meant to be a ninja, Naruto, a ninja who knows one-hundred-and-one ways to execute a task, despite how statistically impossible that is - regardless, there's always a way. Ninja know fire techniques, stealth, burial techniques and even invisibility techniques exist - I could go on and on, but this situation does not require anything so complex."He paused, before a chuckle sounded that actually made Naruto look up to his forehead to wonder what on Earth was going on - he'd only understood 'there's always a way' really."Give it a try - what's an easy way to make things disappear?"

It took a second as Naruto scrunched his face in thought, before it perked back up in realisation. 'Oh, I know! A storage seal!'

"Perfect."Unlike the teacher, the fox fully let the satisfaction show in his voice as Naruto perked up that bit more from it."See, you got it, it just takes a second. We'll practice the storage seal onto a bit of paper a few times so you can get it down before we ink it onto the palm of you hand for convenience sake."

A visible frown came from Naruto then. 'But I know how to make a storage seal. I could do it right now.'

Kurama snorted that time instead of sighing, indicating he found this instance of not thinking ahead funny."Naruto, do you know of how to get rid of a seal inked into your very skin? As far as I'm aware, we do not have the chemicals on hand to do so."

'Oh.' Was all the response Kurama got, getting an actual chuckle this time.

"We could always use my chakra to burn it off if you like. You couldn't use yours as you don't know your elemental affinity yet."Kurama offered.

'We could use your chakra?' Naruto thought back, the interest keenly displayed from the way he stood taller.

"Not at all. If you tried to use it, your chakra pathways would feel like they're on fire since you've never used it before, and if I didn't willingly give it."Kurama explained in amusement to the momentary scowl on Naruto's face at being minorly tricked, before tagging on another sentence after a moment's thought."And before you ask, no, I will not willingly use my chakra for something so menial; and risk discovery over something so small."

Naruto hesitated as he heard that, before asking a final question. 'Will I ever get to train with your chakra?'

A moment went by, before Kurama softly spoke in response."Maybe in future. You'd never be able to now anyway, given you're locked up in a training compound."

SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
AME - THE CAPITAL, CENTRAL DISTRICT.

The rhythmic thump that sounded out in the street was the only sound that could be heard over the pattering of the rain, somewhat more gentle than was the average fall of rain Ame usually received. The rise and fall of the stamping boots was done in disciplined sync, the headbands of the marching troops glinting row by row each time they passed by a street light. A woman looked out of the window onto the street below to find the source of the noise, only to quickly pull back the curtain as she caught a glimpse of the marching platoon heading to the central square. After what had been going down as of the past few hours, she dared not to take any chances.

The marching platoon were all similar - the first three rows containing the khaki green flak jackets of the jonin squad leaders of the platoon, with the remaining rows filled out by the darker green flak jackets of the chunin.

Exiting the end of the street and passing by one of the large skyscrapers that dominated the skyline, the platoon took a right turn to begin entering the central square of Ame. It was a massive flat area, one that older generations could attest to being one of the most memorable differences since the change in government to Pain's dictatorship.

It had once been filled with monuments, statues and sculptures. Several statues had been closer to the edge of the square, showing individual strong ninja who had served Hanzo well in the Third Ninja War to drive out the Leaf and Stone invaders. A dull grey concrete had filled the entire square at the time, arches and plain sculptures dotting, surrounding and leading up to the centre of the square where a statue bigger than any other had been. It had been a statue of Hanzo, arm held forth in a victorious motion as a great likeness of his respirator had been carved onto the statue.

It had been off of that very statue where Pain had ordered the corpses of Hanzo's entire family to be displayed.

Presently, there was much more colour to it. Where once concrete and dull dark colours had dominated, now there was only bricked pathways cut in between large patches of grass and colourful flowers leading up to the central monument where Hanzo's statue had once stood; the only monument in the square. Taller than any of the previous statues had been, the four stencilled lines signifying Ame's symbol had been placed in quartz white upon the upper half of the concrete monument on each side. Below that, on three of the sides were carved the names of ninja who had died in the Second and Third Ninja wars, as well as the civil war. One may note that only the names of family members and individuals who had supported Pain in his takeover could be found on the monument. On the fourth, and most visible side, lay carved:

Here stands a monument, erected in the remembrance of those who died for the freedom of our nation from the tyranny of others. Let us remember their pain, and stay close to our leader and comrades to help bring in a brighter future.

Flags tethered to wires could be found hanging from one end of the monument to the other ends attached to the buildings surrounding the monument. Displayed upon them were the four stencilled lines of Ame in white upon a black circle, the rest of the background being filled in only with navy blue. Trees and other tall plants could be seen dotting the grassy areas which were regularly maintained.

Overall, it was a display of Pain's message to his people. Stay close to him, and you would be rewarded greatly, as his people had flourished.

Pain's Tower stood directly behind that fourth side of the monument, the largest building in Ame by far as it towered in the skyline from where it sat on the edge of the square.

Disobey and rebel, and be crushed.

The platoon marched past an opening to a street, continuing down the surfaced wide path they were marching upon to their destination on the side of the square. Several more buildings were passed as the troops marched in sync, arms rising in accordance to the fall of the opposing boot. Differing colours passed them by as the businesses that nestled inside the bricked buildings differed in purpose and name - but some features were retained from shop to shop. Posters adorned the walls, Ame's symbol glaring from quite a few as others contained marching rank and file not unlike the platoon going past it. Ame's flag hung from the majority going by, some messages written in support for Pain and his military hanging in the shop doors of others.

A loudspeaker was passed by occasionally, the speakers hanging from wooden poles that stood in the corners of the square, as the platoon neared the square corner they needed to turn from to enter the branching street from it. A couple of engineers were stood at the wooden pole in that corner, one of them stood at the metal electric box at its base as the other stood atop a ladder seemingly fixing one of the speakers with some tools.

"-the amount of speaking these things do, I'm not surprised they broke down." The engineer atop the ladder spoke down to the other engineer as they twisted a spanner round on one of the speakers.

"Heh." The second engineer chuckled as they fiddled with the coloured wires in the electric box. "You should hear my brother talk about it from the department of public affairs, he deals with the information distribution systems like these. 'It's all about quantity, not quality.' He says. Supposedly it's not about a good message that anyone can mull over and discard, but one that refuses to leave your head."

The engineer atop the ladder made a hushing motion that silenced the second engineer's chuckles as they spotted the disapproving glare of the platoon commander as they approached the corner. Their conversation must've been louder than they thought.

A final twist of the spanner had the first engineer wiping their forehead before nodding. "It should be fixed now. Give it a try." With that, they quickly scurried down the ladder to escape the inevitable loudness as the second engineer gave a thumbs up and threw a switch.

A soft whir could be heard before a beep sounded out, before a booming voice then washed over everyone present in that corner of the square and, undoubtedly, several blocks away.

The Deva Path stood on the balcony situated on the lower levels of Pain's Tower. His eyes roamed the square, mainly focusing upon the platoon that was marching past. There was no need for his personal involvement, but he did take an interest in observing the situation - his only order that night having been the mobilisation of the troops to the eastern mid-city district. They had known what to do from there, and in all honesty the mobilisation of an entire brigade had been massively unnecessary.

The elite jonin in charge of the squad simply turned again at the corner of the street, already knowing that the first row of the marching platoon would be turning in sync behind them. The speakers had started to drone out as the platoon turned down the street corner fully and started to march down the street.

Right towards the burning pyres quite a way down.

AME EASTERN MID-CITY DISTRICT.

A man stood on a rooftop, overlooking one of the large burning fires in the middle of the street. He watched as several troopers hurled more fuel onto the fire in the form of wood and straw to easily keep the fire going against the drizzling yet never-ending rain.

Giving a sigh, the man fished a cigarette from one of the pockets on the khaki green jonin flak jacket he wore, before putting it to his mouth and shielding it against the rain with one hand whilst lighting it with the other. Several grey hairs stood out on the balding man's head against the brown trimmed hairline, the flickering orange glow outlining the two red bars standing out on the man's shoulders. This man was the brigade leader of the Second Brigade, First Division of the First Army.

A woman then strode up to the man and stood by his side as she took in the sight of the huge burning bonfire before them, the orange glow reflecting upon all the nearby buildings casting her somewhat disturbed face into focus. Tearing her eyes from the sight, she looked up at the older man to her side who reciprocated by glancing to her out the corners of his eyes. Snapping her right fist to her left shoulder in the nation's salute, she began to speak.

"Fifth Battalion commander, reporting in Brigade leader." She reported. "The Fifth Battalion of the Second Brigade is now reinforcing the Eastern district as we have been ordered, sir."

"Stand at ease, battalion commander." The division leader spoke as he exhaled from a drag on his cigarette, a tired edge to his wizened tone slipping out. "I've been here the past five hours dealing with this mess. I can assure you, the entirety of the protest is long gone. When they were between the static positions of the Third Battalion and the advancing Second Battalion, they became trapped. All that's left now is clean-up."

Taking a more relaxed posture, the battalion commander cast her eyes back to the street below at the soldiers who were seemingly shepherding about hordes of people in the street and the roaring fire that took up the middle of it. Turning her attention back to her division leader, she asked a question to satisfy her ponderings on the situation. "With all due respect then, Brigade leader, what is going on?" She asked.

The brigade leader didn't even look at her as he merely took a second to take a drag on his cigarette, the end lighting up the same shade of orange as the fire below before taking the cigarette away and letting out a contented exhale. The man answered her by merely gesturing to a wall several buildings down from the fire with the same hand that held the cigarette.

Following her superior's motions, the battalion commander looked round to the wall - taking a second to glimpse at the armoured figures standing on an opposing rooftop before looking at the wall in question. She gasped at what was happening.

Several chunin, identifiable from the dark green shade of their flak jackets, had pulled several people away from one of the groups moving down the street under escort of the soldiers. Clearly, they were all terrified from the shaking of their bodies and drained faces, but nonetheless obeyed the orders the soldiers were giving them - as the individuals commanded to come out stepped forth.

One mother clearly knew better, however, as she began to struggle and try to escape, pulling a young child along with her - only to be seized by two of the chunin. One of them pulled her child from her, causing her to start screaming as the other grabbed her arms and slammed her against the wall. This unnerved the individuals who had stepped forth, only hastening to obey the shouts of a jonin who had jumped down to line up against the wall.

The battalion commander's face became grim as the brigade leader once more watched her facial expression from the corner of his eyes. As people who had spent years in the military to get where they were, the battalion commander knew full well what was about to happen as the jonin's hand raised and the squad of chunin took a preparatory stance as the people lined up at the wall began to shout. It was well within both their own power and authority to stop the proceedings below.

But neither did.

The jonin's arm flung down and the chunin reciprocated in turn - a volley of kunai flew out and claimed each of the individual lives stood against that wall. It was over in just a second as all of the bodies collapsed to the floor, the only sounds being heard now was the crackling of the fire, hastened moving of the groups; shouts and orders from the soldiers and the cries of a child for their mother.

The squad of chunin then stepped forth, blank facial expressions adorning them as they picked up the corpses and started walking down the street. The brigade commander only watched as what had previously been Ame citizens were tossed one-by-one into the blazing fire.

"Tell me, Battalion commander. How long have you been serving in the military?" The voice of the Brigade leader startled her out of her thoughts as she looked to the old man.

"Nine years. Why sir?" The battalion commander questioned back.

The man didn't respond right away, merely giving a nod and another drag on his cigarette before he seemingly spoke both to himself and the commander next to him. "Nine years. You certainly weren't old enough to experience any of what I saw." He muttered before the brigade leader turned his had to look at her fully. "Forty-one years. That's how long I've served. I've seen a lot, you know. The end of the Second Ninja War, the complete works of the Third, and the year-long civil war. I'm sure you've heard of the purge afterwards, too, where Lord Pain ordered the complete executions of Hanzo's family, friends and anyone even linked to supporting him. Did you know that the great purge at the end of the civil war lasted just a week? And yet the death count from it is still kept classified, even to a ranking official like me."

Silence filled the air after that before the mind of the brigade commander just had to know. "What do you mean, sir? What does that have to do with what's going on?"

"Nothing much." He responded. "This was just a protest that got out of hand. No, it's what may be upcoming that makes me wary."

It didn't take much for the battalion commander to work out what he was talking about. "You think Lord Pain would really have further hostilities?" She asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning a war." Came the blunt response from the Brigade leader. "A man of that much power doesn't just sit still..."

SEVENTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
FIRST ARMY, SECOND DIVISION TRAINING BARRACKS.

"Alright initiates, line up!" The jonin instructor shouted to the platoon in training, with the genin scrambling to fall into three neat lines before her, and make it look good. With a nod of approval, the jonin actually let it be known she was minutely pleased. "Good! This is far better than yesterday's attempt."

They were all lined up in the field section of the training compound that took up just less than half of it. It was big enough that it could actually hold the training of more than the five platoons, or battalion of initiates; but then so were the accommodation and classroom facilities. It was all built in mind with having a surge capacity in times of war, with the ability to withstand even the ninja elemental techniques that were practiced in the regular ninja training fields adjacent to the compound. Thus, just like those fields, if one were to remove the top few centimetres of the grass and soil, the reinforced netting that bound the soil and material closer and tighter would be discovered.

"Survival training today! Or more accurately, it's time this week for your basic equipment assessments. So, perhaps it is more appropriate to say that survival is to have a crossover with your ninja training." The jonin instructor continued, as they stepped back to stand at the side of the table they'd previously been in front of. "Today shall be focused upon shelter."

True enough, the large table set out in a row behind her held an array of objects - namely, three highly stacked piles of camouflaged, weather-proofed tarpaulin sheets, and a mess of bungee cords sitting next to spools of twine wire. The majority of the table was actually taken up by short metal poles laid along it.

"These are the standard tent supplies given to chunin and genin for field deployment and missions. Though the other items on this table shall aid in your activities in the field, especially the twine in being strong enough to do as you need but can be broken by hand too; the sheet here shall be the absolute item of necessity in the field. Observe." The jonin instructor rattled off, as they plucked one of the tarpaulin covers off of the folded stacks and unfurled it completely in her hands to show the gathered initiates before her. "Its uses are many-fold. Give me some examples, initiates."

An outstretched hand got her nod. "To act as a tent." The genin initiate answered her question, listing off the most obvious answer immediately.

"Good. Indeed it is perhaps its primary use." The jonin agreed. "Though I would like you all to rid yourselves of the notions of 'tents' - instead, it is shelter. We shall go through correct methods of how to set up shelter using these covers later in the session, but for now if there is one sentence I want you all to remember out of anything said here today, it is this: The lower to the ground being used your cover is, the more heat will be conserved. Though shelter is also about keeping the weather and other elements of nature out, the primary survival concern during rest is heat!"

A second hand shot up, with a third behind it, but the instructor pointed to the hand that went up first. "Camouflage, its pattern on it can help hide from the enemy." The initiate spoke.

"Indeed. Upcoming stealth lessons will include the utilisation of objects you would not think of first to hide from an enemy. Chakra techniques should be used secondarily to field methods in stealth, given its ability to expose your position to sensors, seals and other techniques." The jonin instructor stated. "Give me one more."

There were several hands in the air now, as the instructor picked one out a random. "A blanket!" The initiate picked shouted out, receiving a few weird looks from those around him.

"Whilst I would implore you to use a softer, actual blanket or your sleeping bag before a rough canvas sheet to sleep with, initiate, I would also like to congratulate you on spotting one of its more unconventional usages." The jonin instructor replied, the small amount of praise in there serving to stomp down on any aversion to the idea. "In the field, with the inevitable loss of supplies for any reason, the heat conserving properties of the cover would make for a suitable back-up to your sleeping bag."

A downward motion of her hand had the remaining hands lowered as well, as their teacher then began to fold up the tarpaulin she held. "Another use that may not have been obvious as well is its utilisation in the field for getting drinkable water. As the largest surface area by far of anything in your equipment packs, it can be used for the physical collection of water as well as, on longer missions, the process of collecting fresh water by evaporation in one place."

"Needless to say, the cover in my hands should be considered amongst your essential supplies just as much as any kunai or field ration bar." She finished her information lecture with that sentence.

Placing the cover back upon the pile, the jonin instructor's eyes raked over the pile with the counting efficiency bred only from the years of teaching initiates as she had been. Satisfied with her count, it was then shifted right to perform estimations of the amount of other objects sitting on the table to ensure she did not look a fool. Satisfied all was in order, the jonin turned around to face the initiates once more.

"The premise is ultimately very simple!" The jonin instructor announced. "Those that meet my satisfaction for their survival tools and assessments, can keep their basic equipment packs as their first issue. Those that do not, go on next week's outdoor camp without!" A sweeping gaze over the lined up initiates made clear her seriousness of the threat, before then barking out orders. "Alright, line up single-file at the table for collecting today's shelter equipment! Each initiate gets one tarpaulin cover, four bungee cords, a roll of twine and four metal poles."

SEVENTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
ONE WEEK LATER, THE EASTERN FORESTS.

Naruto had picked a spot a bit further away from the rest of his training platoon, being the only initiate to utilise the tree-walking exercise they'd done in order to set up his sleeping equipment on one of the thicker branches of a tree. It was safely up and out the way of any of their teacher's tricks, having instantly been wary of the fact that both jonin and chunin instructors were present on the camping exercise - the first they'd ever done and the first time he'd ever left the training compound in the years he'd spent there. But it was also only a few metres off the ground, so the worst he'd get was broken bones if he hadn't secured it right.

But he thought it was pretty good.

A soft landing noise on the bark of the branch made him turn his head to see the second jonin instructor that had accompanied them crouching there on the branch, clearly gazing at and assessing how he'd set up his sleeping bag. Given the bungee (that had been for setting up a tent) had been used to secure his sleeping bag, he'd had to use the twine instead to secure the tarpaulin sheet to the branch above and then fold it downwards to make a shelter. But also given the frown over the teacher's face, he became a bit confused at what he may have missed.

"Naruto, where is your storage sacks?" The jonin instructor asked, making Naruto's face lighten as he realised he hadn't missed anything.

"Right here sir." He responded, plucking out a storage scroll from an inside pocket of the jacket he was wearing, and turning it over to the instructor for them to review as it was taken from him.

Twirling it over and even smoothing it out some to look over the ink inscriptions upon it, before then looking over to Naruto as he held the scroll back out to him. "Well, I must say I'm a little impressed, initiate - a little confused at first given they aren't standard issue, but it's clearly a homemade seal." They mused aloud. "You must be the initiate my colleague made allowances for, to learn sealing."

"Yes sir." Naruto replied simply.

There was a critical reason that storage scrolls weren't standard equipment for even genins or initiates, as they were for chunin or jonin, due to the economics of supply and demand meaning that the budget spent on them were reserved for the higher ranks for them to be given freely. There simply wasn't enough knowledgeable people upon the subject of sealing to meet that much demand, and so to see an initiate do it was surprising, despite stranger things having happened on a weekly basis.

"Sorry Naruto, I got a bit off track there but it was to make sure of your supplies. I'm here for only two reasons - to hand you this book, and to say that the first exercise begins at 8 tomorrow sharp. The initiate on watch should wake the camp - it's up to yourselves to decide who." The jonin instructor stated, before taking a book out of the bag he was holding and then tossing it to Naruto who caught it. "The standard ninja revision guide given to genin upon the ceremony which marks their promotion to it. As the advanced class remained initiates even after becoming genin, you had no ceremony - so we're handing them out here to assist in your time outdoors. Anything you're unsure of or may not have heard before - consult it."

"Oh, and nice hiding spot." Were the parting words of the instructor as a burst of chakra to their feet sent them jumping off elsewhere. Naruto only looked suspiciously in the direction the blur had gone, before looking to the book in his hand titled 'Ame's Ninja Revision Guide.' Figuring he had an hour before the camp-wide rations were handed out at 6pm, he settled under the sleeping bag to take advantage of the light from the sun that was still up in the sky before it disappeared after dinner. Spinning the pages to a subject he was still interested to know more of, he read over the paragraphs.

'...The past definition of a ninja is that of an agent for a master, acting on their orders in the more deceiving arts of war and battle in remaining unseen and striking at an enemy with precision and skill, not overwhelming power.

This definition has lost some of its very meaning in today's world.

Today, a ninja is not thought of as a shadowy assassin, but as the soldier of any nation's military. As chakra was on the rise since the beginning of the clan wars era more than a thousand years ago, so has the human population and the evolution of war. To begin with, there were many types of combat available for individuals, but by far the most devastating and effective according to historical records were past ninja who could use chakra. As those who learnt chakra were rare to begin with, they could outclass anyone they fought and so became 'ninja' as they had such devastating precision and skill available.

The rapid rise of chakra as enemies began to copy and match one another spawned the age of ninja as more people learned and became part of the profession, eventually transforming the role of a super-soldier assassin/soldier into that of the common-place asset. This led to the creation of the clans as people banded together for protection from the ever-increasing use of the dangerous energy, until finally the ninja villages and lands as no recorded case of a human without chakra has been observed for over three hundred years.

In many ways, this has made the ways of the ninja even more dangerous than ever before. It has combined stealth and precision with overwhelming force and common-place tactics among others, inducing such versality and deadliness into the purpose of a soldier never seen before since the pre-chakra 'dark ages' era. Indeed, the human population has risen to such levels in sync with the variety of chakra usages and techniques that the third ninja world war, the most destructive war on record, had an estimated casualty figure last of that surpassing half of the total deaths from the clan wars era. Fourteen years of war matched up to more than five hundred.

The point that should be taken from the historical context mentioned is to be prepared for anything. Ninja may die in a split second to a stealth technique or overpowering jutsu, or an hour if the opponent can be evenly matched and countered. Readers should be warned that it is more often than not that ninja die under a minute of confrontation with a stronger enemy, making most fights quick.

A rank does not signify the experience, skill or power level of your opponent. A genin could kill a jonin instantly if they had the correct training or technique to do so.

Following the protocol of Ame and orders from your superiors is therefore essential. Believe in your comrades and Leader..."

EIGHTEEN YEARS AFTER THE THIRD NINJA WORLD WAR
TRAINING COMPOUND CLASSROOM.

Naruto could tell there was a high degree of urgency in the air. The rest of his training platoon had not noticed anything awry at all, if the ambience of chatting and general noise was any indicator. He too wouldn't have noticed anything wrong at all either, if it hadn't been for the training he'd been doing as a sensor.

A sensor was a ninja who had the natural ability to literally 'sense' the chakra flowing through living systems - to be able to consciously feel the location of, and even separate the chakras based upon factors such as their densities or elemental affinities. Given how he was one, Naruto had been practicing it often for the past week upon finally having consciously managed to seize hold of the ability - mainly in being able to switch it 'on'. After all, if someone had been born with the ability to already sense chakra, they may well have been driven mad from all the sensory input.

Kurama the nine tailed fox had told Naruto a fair bit, helping to guide him on how to sense before leaving him to practice it himself, as he firstly saw it as up to Naruto then to develop it - at twelves years old and a genin; he needed to learn faster. The boy knew also of his own sensing powers, in that tapping into his chakra would extend the range of it many-fold and even have the ability to sense emotions.

But it was also the fact that he kept from Naruto a few things, including that the sensory ability was not the 'one-in-a-million' luck for most ninja but rather that every Uzumaki had the genetic disposition to do so. That was an explanation to be bundled in with the other big topics.

So, Naruto had practiced whenever he could in his rest periods or during the scheduled sleeping hours, and had managed to extend the range of the ability to ten metres so far. A far cry off from the hundreds of metres many Uzumaki could do, and certainly what the nine tails could do, but it was solid progress only a week in. Mostly, it would actually rely more upon the development of other aspects like his control and the maturation of his chakra coils with age that would extend the range further than practicing with it ever could do.

But, even though they were training as ninja and being told they would have adult privileges when they were no longer initiates, a child was still a child when they were given a new toy. And Kurama was getting his amusement.

It had been him who'd told Naruto first of the strangeness of the situation, as he could sense the shock and urgency in the chunin and jonin instructors. It wasn't even particularly hard for Naruto to sense it, as whenever an instructor nipped in to check up on them and correspondingly came into range, he could tell the flow rate of their chakra was higher than normal. Whatever was happening, they were still trying to find out themselves as logic dictated that they were being active as indicated by their higher chakra flow rates.

Even other pieces of the puzzle pointed to a mystery in the air, as he had seen through the classroom windows the other platoons being ushered into the other classrooms - two platoons even having to share as there was only four classrooms. Only two classrooms were only ever scheduled to be used at once.

The classroom door opened once more, and Naruto didn't bother to try and use his sensing ability then as he saw the chunin instructor that entered was different this time in mannerisms. Both in that they fully entered the classroom this time to stand at the teacher's desk at the front rather than just checking in, and they were holding a couple of sheets of paper. With but a hand held in the air, the training platoon of genin initiates were swiftly silenced as the years of training had instilled in them dictated.

"Movement orders has arrived from Ame." The chunin instructor began, and even the initiates felt the shift in the air at that. It wasn't tension, but anticipation as anything coming from Ame would undoubtedly be from the commanding elements of the military of the Land of Rain. "Training platoons two, yourselves, and four which are the two advanced classes residing in this compound have been ordered North to the border, where you shall be subsumed under the command of the Fourth Battalion, Third Brigade, Fourth Division of the First Army."

"Skirmishes have been reported along the border with Grass to the North, which has resulted in the rapid relocation of units for border reinforcement." The chunin instructor continued. "As one of the platoons slated to join a battalion that is reinforcing the border, we are going too."

"Pack the entirety of all survival equipment you were given last year." The chunin instructor finished up. "Whilst we are not privy to the nature of the mobilisation beyond reinforcement duties, we are expecting deployment with potential conflict. Weapons shall be given to you just before the deployment occurs, upon the exiting of the training compound where you shall be sorted into the complementing squads."

Squads were the normal formation of ninja. Consisting in the Land of Rain of standard formations of one chunin and two genin or one jonin and two genin, three chunin or two chunin and a jonin; it was a matter that initiates only worried about upon promotion away from initiate. To be told they were being put into squads finally woke up the slower genin among the training platoon that something was afoot. It was again the strict discipline instilled into them that stopped the outbreak of discussions or the attempted asking of questions, which was forbidden without the teacher's permission.

"Questions?" The chunin asked as looked up from the paper they had been reading and finally allowed it for the potential last time.

"Sir, why are we moving now?" One of the genin initiates asked right away, before their hand had fully risen into the air. "And squads - we're only a few months from finishing, sir."

"I know that this is at a crucial time in your careers with the final tests to be soon and then your promotions from initiate, but at this time these are accordingly on hold. Either to be resumed at a later date, or cancelled entirely dependent on field reviews or performance." The chunin instructor replied. "It may be an inconvenience, but chunin for example are expected to be able to be deployed on very short notice or endure longer mission times than you will as genin. Bear this in mind should you go for promotion."

Another hand was raised into the air, as this genin waited this time until the chunin nodded at them, the seriousness of the situation causing them to hesitate for a moment before voicing their question. "Sir, about the weapons, what will they be?"

"Well, as initiates that have not yet been put into squads, you will not have had training in anything but kunai and other basic weaponry." The chunin instructor responded, with a look to the genin initiate telling them that their found it to be a weird question. "You have had no training in specialist weaponry, with much more emphasis on chakra and its uses. Accordingly, you will be given a standard kunai pack and holster with other basic equipment." After a moments thought, they decided to give the good news. "As this is a field deployment and it is considered standard equipment, you will be able to keep these as your own for as long as you remain employed as ninja."

Surveying the room full of initiates who would tomorrow begin the march North, the chunin instructor spoke again. "Any other questions?"