We both stood in an eerily silent forest clearing, no words were necessary. We both knew what it meant.
"I guess we will see each other on the frontlines..." I said, conceding to my fate. I had technically started this war, so I would also be the one to end it, whatever it took.
"You're still a Genin. There's no way you will go anywhere near the frontline." Itachi said, trying to reassure me. But I wasn't hesitant about fighting; I was hesitating to unleash all of my power out there for everyone to see.
"I would bet anything that by the end of the week, I will be sporting a flak jacket and a Chuunin rank. The village doesn't care. As long as they get their soldiers, they are satisfied." I was far less trusting of the village leadership.
I knew for sure they would pat me on the back, call me a genius, and send me off to war, regardless of my age. They were no different from other villages in this regard. Hashirama must be rolling in his grave, and if he rolls any faster, he'll start generating electricity.
Itachi looked thoughtful, still sitting on the ground with his eyes aimed toward the night sky.
"Do you really think our village would do this? Turn its back on the very reason it was created?" I stared at him, perplexed. Did he truly not see it all this time?
"They already did. They conscripted academy students in the last war, handing them headbands years before they were ready and throwing them into the meatgrinder. Those who survived became propaganda material." I started ranting slightly.
"They did it with you and me, and probably many more, testing us out of the Academy the second they saw potential. The sad thing is, we aren't even the youngest they advanced this way. Some were as young as five years old, Itachi, FIVE! And those kids were sent to the battlefield as well." I needed a moment to calm myself.
"My sister is rather gifted, you know. Her talent in chakra control is as great as mine. She will start the Academy this year. What if they conscript her too, or your brother?" I finished my thoughts, realizing it was now an actual possibility.
The war lowers the already absurdly low moral standards of the village.
"My point is," I continued, "the bar of morals set by the first Hokage was already on the floor; however, the later leadership, instead of stepping over it, started digging underneath." I finally took a deep breath; that was a lot to get off my chest
Hopefully, it would get Itachi to think for himself. A more free-spirited Itachi might mean lower chances of the Uchiha massacre.
Itachi's eyes hardened as he understood. His brother was in danger of being drafted, and so were many others.
"We have to end the war before they can be conscripted." It was a statement, not a plea or a wish. It was something Itachi meant from the bottom of his heart. This war cannot stretch beyond a few months.
"And we will. We may have lost the ultimate war deterrent that was the Fourth Hokage, but what if more like him appear?" I said, equally determined.
"If I have to become a boogeyman, a monster among men... then so be it. Better me than my sister. All I need is my best friend watching my back." I declared and waited for Itachi's response.
"For the good of our siblings, we will become Death." He said simply. It seems that we both chose the same, cursed path to walk.
"It means more training, as long as we can, before deployment begins." Itachi said, Haki swirling to life around him, the spark of a Conqueror igniting inside him for the first time.
"I can still do an hour or two today," I replied, smirking and pulling my headband over my eyes.
He responded by also covering his eyes, saying, "Ready when you are."
I stretched my left arm, causing my sword to appear instantly.
"I will try to fully master my spirit blade. Are you ready?" I asked, getting a swift nod. We had trained with it several times over the past few months.
"Here I go then." I warned him, holding my blade in front of my body, pointed up towards the sky.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
It turned out that I was, once again, correct. The very next day, I was summoned to the Hokage's office to further discuss my involvement in the entire incident.
"I was very impressed by your fight, Ryuuzaki-kun," Hiruzen said, smiling at me.
"My advisors and I have even decided to give you a direct promotion. For your strength, and of course, for defending the village. Congratulations, you are now a Chuunin of Konoha." Pride emanated from him as he spoke.
I put on an excited face, but inside, I already knew his motives. No military leader in this world would let a Jonin-level ninja sit out of a war.
"It's an honor, Hokage-sama. Thank you," I said, sounding polite and enthusiastic, acting as if I didn't know about the upcoming conflict.
"Do not sell yourself short; you more than deserve the promotion. I can see you becoming a Jonin very quickly if you continue like this." His words were not as encouraging to me as he probably intended.
While the status inside the village would be nice, but in my mind, it wasn't worth it at all. I lost myself in thought for a while, debating with myself, but ultimately, my mind was made up.
"There was another thing I think you should know, Hokage-sama," I said with slight hesitation, conjuring a small crystal shuriken in the palm of my hand.
"I discovered this a few weeks ago, and my control over it is now good enough to use." Once again, I didn't lie; I had indeed created a Crystal Shuriken jutsu just a few weeks prior, specifically for an occasion like this. Hiruzen looked at the crystal, deep in thought.
"This is remarkable, very similar to the crystal you brought from the temple," he mused, almost whispering to himself.
"It manifested shortly after that mission, Hokage-sama." I said again, hoping my story was convincing.
"I just thought you should know, especially with my promotion and the possibility of being sent out to lead teams." I swiftly continued, trying to present myself as patriotic as possible.
"Channel your inner American." I chanted to myself, keeping my tone steady.
"What can you do with these crystals?" Hiruzen asked, now with curiosity in his voice. Understandably so, considering that Crystal Release was entirely unknown at this point.
"I can create constructs, as you have witnessed. I can also siphon chakra away from objects through the crystals and replenish my reserves through physical contact with them. The crystals grow on their own, depending on the chakra they consume." I began to explain, hoping I wouldn't have to showcase any jutsu this time.
"I can imbue sealing formulae into my constructs and crystallize almost any matter. The only exception seems to be foreign chakra. I cannot crystallize pure chakra; I can still siphon it, but that takes time. As far as I know, lightning release is the best way to deal with my constructs." I clarified, being truthful about the weakness to lightning.
"I wonder what a nature chakra-empowered crystal would look like…" I thought, waiting for Hiruzen's response. He appeared contemplative, deep in thought.
"And if you catch a human in your crystals? What happens then?" he asked, a very good question in my opinion.
"I can completely drain their chakra and add it to my own. As long as I have enemies, I never run out of chakra, at least theoretically. I still need to be in contact with the crystal that siphoned the person's chakra." I already had a way to overcome this, of course; at least technically
After all, if the entire battlefield is made of crystal, I'm technically touching every small piece of siphoned chakra. The only downside is the steep cost of initiating the jutsu, which leaves my chakra reserves almost empty.
"I can also either break the crystal to kill the person trapped inside or decrystallize them, keeping them alive-" I started, but Hiruzen already knew where I was going.
"And considering that their chakra will be completely siphoned, they will be unconscious and ready to be taken prisoner." he finished my sentence with wheels turning inside his head. He seemed to contemplate the best way to utilize such an ability.
"You've given me much to think about, Ryuuzaki-kun," he said, still deeply immersed in his thoughts.
"You are free to go; leave the old man to his musings and make the village proud." With that, he dismissed me. I bowed and walked out, feeling free at last from the burden of secrecy.
Not long after, I was at home, celebrating my promotion. However, I wasn't in a celebratory mood. I knew the war was approaching.
I looked over at Sakura, who was as cheerful as always, blissfully unaware that she might soon have to fight. This situation couldn't continue; my training schedule might be full, but I needed to make time for my little sister. I had truly grown attached to my family and to Itachi.
Sakura needed to grow stronger if she wanted to be a ninja, and even stronger if she wanted to survive. This time, there would be no Naruto to save the day.
"Hey, Sakura, do you want help with training? You said you wanted to be a ninja with Ino." Sakura occasionally trained with me, only on the basics of course, but even that was helpful. Every little thing can make a difference on the battlefield.
"Um, I mean... If you have free time. But no running! I hate getting sweaty!" she said, slightly bossily. I just nodded; it was better than nothing.
"Good then," I said, pulling out a piece of chakra paper from my pocket.
"Channel a small amount of chakra into it. It will show us what kind of training you will be doing." I explained, handing the paper to her.
"After all, I also started learning nature transformation around your age..." I teased.
"You are just one year older!" she yelled, pouting slightly.
"Just do it already." I said, looking at the paper, curious about the result. The paper instantly became damp before slowly crumbling into dirt.
Interesting, very interesting, two affinities right off the bat, just like me and Itachi. I laughed at the confused expression on her face. What a cute kid my sister is.
"It looks like you have an affinity for two nature transformations: water and earth. A good combination; both elements are very versatile." I explained, pulling out another piece of paper and channeling my chakra into it.
It immediately wrinkled, almost folding into a ball, and then crumbled away, with the pieces crystallizing as they fell. Thankfully, the crystals were small enough that nobody noticed them, or my explanation would have taken even way longer.
"As you can see, I have an affinity for lightning and earth." I said, starting to outline the training I wanted her to do.
"The first thing we will do is help you master the first step in either the earth or water nature transformation. I'm more familiar with earth, and I can get the full training process for water transformation from a friend." I started my explanation.
This way, I was keeping my promise to limit her physical training; I could also possibly teach her genjutsu, which she should master easily.
"The first step of the earth training is to find a small rock, small enough to fit in your palm, and crumble it into dirt. For water, you'll need a leaf; place it between your palms and completely drain it of moisture." I explained further, looking into her excited eyes.
"I wanna do the water! The earth training would make me all dirty." she exclaimed, and I sighed in relief. At least she was willing to train.
"Good, we'll start first thing in the morning, at six o'clock sharp. I have to leave by nine, so we'll have three hours all to ourselves." I said, noticing that I had spooked her a bit; waking up that early probably wasn't what she had expected.
She nodded reluctantly, having already said she would train with me. She also didn't want to fall too far behind Ino, who already started her clan training.
"Go to sleep early, then. You'll need a lot of energy for tomorrow." I said, feeling a little lighter now that she was beginning some real training.
Training with Sakura was enjoyable. Just like in the original timeline, her chakra control was impressive, actually on par with mine when I started my training. I believe that she will complete the first step by the end of the week. I plan to get her some low-level water jutsu and personally teach her Sensory Input Confusion.
Overall, she was making good progress, even though she frequently complained about getting sweaty or dirty. I hope she continues her training on her own, as I won't be able to teach her most of my move set for obvious reasons.
After dropping off an exhausted little sister at home, I made my way to the training ground to meet Itachi. Thankfully, my team had a small break this week after all the D-rank missions we completed. I strode onto the training field, my flak jacket clearly visible under my poncho.
"See? I told you we would be going to the frontlines together." I said with an obviously fake cheer while summoning Senbonzakura to my hand and blindfolding myself.
"Ready?" I asked, eager to get started. There was no time to waste.
Itachi prepared himself, his Anbu-style tanto at the ready.
"Ready." As soon as he confirmed, I released Senbonzakura, filling the air around me with thousands of pink, razor-sharp crystal cherry blossoms that swirled menacingly around the training ground. I sent a few petals toward Itachi, but he was already moving, dodging to the side and deflecting many of the petals that came his way.
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!" A torrent of water flooded the training field, pushing the cherry petals aside and giving Itachi some space. I chose to block the incoming torrent by forming a wall of close petals. I was here to master this ability; there was no point in dodging unless I absolutely had to.
A thin beam of highly pressurized water shot toward me the moment the torrent subsided. This concentrated beam would easily pierce through my hastily erected wall. I reinforced my defenses with even more cherry blossoms, managing to barely block the jutsu.
Itachi was struggling as well; he was constantly on the move, dodging the countless cherry blossoms that were hurtling at him from all sides. The combination of his Sharingan and Observation Haki was truly something else. A terror in making for sure.
Though it was grueling, my training focused specifically on remaining still while having Senbonzakura attack and block simultaneously, while Itachi worked on enhancing his awareness and refining his precognitive abilities. Such is life if you truly wish to become strong.
Five days. It only took five days for the news to be made public. The ninja had known earlier, of course, but today was the day the war with Kumo and the reasons for it were finally revealed to the general public.
Nobody was happy, least of all my parents. They were understandably worried about me. I would be worried too if my child, not yet eight years old, was drafted to fight in a war. Scratch that. I would be absolutely livid and performing Balkan-style negotiations with whoever was in charge.
More concerning were the orders I had received. I was to be paired up with an Anbu operative to conduct ambushes on enemy camps and supply lines. I was even given a blank Anbu mask.
The good news is that the operative in question is Itachi. The bad news is we would be undertaking the most dangerous tasks imaginable. At least I could decorate the mask however I wanted. Small victories, small victories indeed.
The orders were top secret, and this was something I wouldn't tell my family, even if I was ordered to. They were scared enough already. At least the intense training was paying off; my skill with Senbonzakura was getting close to complete mastery, and the only way to progress further was to actually fight someone.
"At least this war will be good for something." I thought grimly. I shook my head. I only had two days to prepare. After that, we would leave to run amok behind enemy lines.
From what Itachi told me, we weren't the only ones assigned to this mission. His friend Shisui and his Anbu teammate Tenzo were given the same mission, but on a different part of the battlefield.
On the last day, both Itachi and I decided not to train at all, but to spend time with our families. However much we may wish for a swift victory, we knew we could be stuck out there for a long time.
I had enough time to help Sakura with her training. She blitzed through the chakra control exercises, as expected and was even able to cast Sensory Input Confusion, although she needed hand seals to do so. With her progress, her admission to the Academy seemed assured.
If only she would let go of me. I really had to go, even if I didn't want to.
"You're leaving snot all over my poncho, Sakura." I said, trying to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, it didn't work; she was still crying all over my clothes. I put my hands together, a plan forming in my mind.
After a few seconds, I held out a small, ornate statue of an eastern dragon, made entirely from pink crystal. I infused some of my spiritual energy into it, making its eyes glow an eerie green, the same deep green color as my own eyes.
"Here you go. As long as the eyes glow, you know I'm alright out there." I said, handing it to her. She took it with a trembling hand, clutching it tightly.
"Be safe," she managed to choke out between her sobs.
I quickly put on my new Anbu-style mask to hide my face. This was harder than I had expected.
I decided to paint it a little; from the right eye, a small eastern dragon emerged, coiling down towards my chin, while on the left cheek, I painted a single cherry blossom petal.
"See? I also have something to remember you by," I pointed to my cheek, still trying to make her feel better.
I then turned to my parents. They appeared more composed on the outside, but inside, they were just as terrified as Sakura.
"I will be back, alive." I said matter-of-factly. There was no reason to make this situation even more emotional. I probably couldn't handle more emotional goodbyes without breaking down.
Without another word, I turned around and headed towards the northern gate. I was already almost late for my departure.