The announcement went up on every notice board in Konoha within a single morning. War-time martial law, effective immediately. Chūnin and above required to report for border deployment within seventy-two hours. Curfews extended. Non-essential travel restricted. Academy classes shortened to make room for emergency defence drills.
It was all of a sudden for everyone who didn't have access to what was going on in the world or in the Hokage's office, at least in some way or form.
It was a mistake, to be honest. Instead of a notice, Tsunade herself should have addressed the issue by calling for a village-wide gathering to keep the motivation and spirits up and not cause panic.
However, there was just too much work on her shoulders that it never came to mind, and of course, the elders wanted her to make small mistakes like this to keep them around. Listen to them. It was obvious that they did notice it but didn't point it out intentionally.
The result was a village-wide uproar, which had to be later quelled by another quick notice from her desk stating the village's countermeasures regarding the war and how the village was more than capable of safeguarding its citizens and the Land of Fire.
How much it was actually effective was anyone's guess. Not like most cared about what was going on inside the minds of common citizens right after an invasion. Outside some wealthy merchants and powerful people with high pull within the Land of Fire's capital, the rest were not as important in terms of their immediate reaction, as long as it didn't turn into a mass movement.
The real people who were actually affected were not the civilians, at least not immediately, but instead the shinobi themselves. Many who knew what war meant had grim faces, while many younger shinobi who hadn't seen war in their life were both anxious and eager to make a name for themselves.
Everyone knew that rapid fame and promotion could only be achieved on the battlefield. So, war wasn't just an economic sink to lose lives, military power, and money, but it was also strangely an opportunity for new heroes to emerge.
Overall, the village felt different almost overnight. Streets that had slowly been returning to something like normal after the invasion went quiet again, shops closing early, patrols doubling at every gate, the low hum of anxiety that had only just started fading now creeping back into every conversation.
Overnight patrols were increased, production of certain wartime logistics like weapons, food pills, explosive tags, and even medicine skyrocketed. The machinery known as Konoha was once again awakening for war after almost 14 to 15 years of peace.
Nobody said the word aloud more than they had to. They didn't need to. Everyone already understood what "border deployment" actually meant.
At the Haruno household, the news landed exactly as hard as everyone expected.
"Chūnin and above," Mebuki repeated, staring at the notice Sukuna had brought home with him, her voice carefully controlled in the way it only got when she was trying very hard not to panic out loud.
Her face paled. The same vest that he had shown her a few days ago, announcing himself as a Special Jōnin now, a source of great pride for her, now felt like a rope around her neck.
"I'll be moving out soon," Sukuna knew what was going on in her mind, not just hers but also in Sakura's and his father's, but there was nothing he could do. He might have had that troublesome woman lead him to act against Kumo, but no can do...
Perhaps he shouldn't have told her in the first place, just acted anonymously. Overnight, wipe out the majority of Kumo's fighting force, nip the war before it even began. Sigh, unfortunately, that old hag was looking over him like a hawk.
So he can't do anything but reassure the people around him with a smile at them confidently and remind them he was strong. Perhaps once he was on the front lines, then maybe he could find his way to Kumo…
Just saying… child soldiers often get lost, he could be one of them. A single night should be enough…
"You're thirteen," Kizashi said, bringing him out of his musing, not quite managing to keep his own voice as steady as he clearly wanted it to be.
"I'm aware of my own age."
"That's not the point, Sukuna." Mebuki's hands had curled into fists at her sides, knuckles pale. "You just fought in an invasion. You haven't even finished recovering, and now they're sending you to an actual war."
"The only thing I need recovery from is pulling overtime at the hospital… look, I'll be fine." Sukuna said, and meant it, though he understood well enough that meaning it changed nothing about how it landed on two parents who'd nearly lost their entire home a few weeks ago and were now being told their son was heading toward a border with an army massing on the other side of it.
"You'll be fine," Sakura repeated, arms crossed, something sharp and stubborn settling into her expression. "Then I'm coming too."
"No," Sukuna said, flat and immediate.
"No." Mebuki shook her head.
"Absolutely not…" Kizashi sternly said.
"Why not? I'm nearly as strong as you in a straight fight. You know that."
"I love you, little sister, but you don't have a talent for comedy… better stick to medicines."
She just glared at him.
Snickering a bit, he finally said, "Look, you're a genin. Genin stay in the village. That's the Hokage's order, and more often than not, they are pretty on point and should be followed. So just stay put here until I kick those Kumo bastards' asses, and then I'll take you to that ice cream you so much wanted."
"Stop it… it's not funny. You think I can stay here while you go out there in war?" She chided.
"If it's the Hokage's orders, then I'll ask her to make an exception."
"She won't."
"You don't know that."
"I do, actually," Sukuna said. "People more persistent and more annoying than me already tried. She ain't listening to shit. Don't bother."
That stopped Sakura mid-argument, betrayal briefly flickering across her face. "Then you asked for me."
"Eh…? Why do you think she'll listen to me?" Sukuna said. "And more importantly, why should I? I'd rather have you here safe than on the front line where I have to keep constant watch over you. No, thank you. I'm good."
"Y-you. You're infuriating."
"So I've been told."
Mebuki, watching both her children argue instead of properly processing the actual danger, finally stepped between them, pulling Sakura back gently by the shoulder. "Enough. Sukuna is going. That's decided already, and arguing about it won't change it." Her voice cracked, just slightly, on the last part. "It doesn't mean we're not allowed to worry."
"You're allowed," Sukuna said, quieter now. "I'd probably worry too, if the positions were reversed."
Neither Mebuki nor Kizashi looked especially comforted by that, and Sakura's jaw stayed tight the rest of the evening, her protest clearly not finished so much as postponed.
-x-
A day later, Sukuna had gathered both his own team and Team Seven to say goodbye before deployment. These two teams contain the people closest to him, and thus he just felt it right to say a goodbye before leaving the village.
However, he'd barely gotten two sentences into it before Naruto cut him off entirely.
"Wait, you're leaving? For the war? And we're just — staying here?"
"That's the order," Sukuna said.
"That's ridiculous," Naruto shot back. "We fought in the invasion too! We held our own!"
"Against invaders inside our own walls. That's different from an organized border war against Kumo's actual army."
Karin didn't say anything right away, which was somehow worse than if she'd argued immediately. She just stared at him, arms crossed tight over her chest, something tense and unhappy written all over her face.
"You're going alone," she finally said. "Without any of us."
"I won't be alone. There will be other chūnin and jōnin there."
"That's not what I meant." Her voice had an edge to it that made Sukuna pause. "You could die out there and none of us would even be close enough to help."
"Heh… thanks for the vote of confidence. But no thanks, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."
"Nobody plans on it," Karin snapped. "That's usually how it happens."
Sukuna sighed. He knew Karin was always on the constant edge of her loved one dying on her, childhood trauma no matter how big we get, hardly goes away that easily.
Before Sukuna could answer that, two more voices joined the conversation, both of them having clearly heard the news through Izumi, who, along with a handful of other capable Uchiha shinobi, had also been called up for deployment.
"You're going too," Sasuke said, arriving with Kiyomi a step behind him, his tone carrying less surprise than quiet, simmering frustration. "Of course you are."
"Sasuke… how's you're doing? Hopefully nothing else is blocking anymore, beside that brain of yours. Mind telling me what caused you to challenge Neji Hyūga of all people to a duel?" Sukuna asked irritably. Not only had the boy increased his workload, but that was a stupid thing to do.
"I nearly died to that bastard," Sasuke cut in, jaw tight. "And you're being sent to an actual war while I'm stuck on a recovery period."
Sukuna didn't have a gentle answer for that one, and didn't pretend to. "Good… perhaps then next time you're on time when an important event like the Chūnin Exam is taking place."
He could almost hear Sasuke cursing Kakashi in a low tone.
"Anyways… war is not a competition, so don't compare."
"Everything's a competition," Sasuke said, low. "Look, I wanna get strong, but if I stay here, then I'll never catch up to that man…." He said almost fanatically.
Kiyomi, for her part, looked less angry and more thrilled. A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and her eyes went to both Sakura and Karin before she simply drifted towards him and grabbed one of his hands like a lovestruck girl.
"Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm going with my darling to the war. It would be so much fun…"
That brought a pause to everyone there.
Naruto blinked; Sasuke felt like she wasn't looking at her own sister. And Sakura and Karin.
They were left in a daze before alarms flared up inside them…
"D-darling?"
xXx
A/N : Yup... the war is on...
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