Author's Note: This is the first chapter of a story that I've thought of, however, I have a few directions I could take this. The first is, if you all are interested, I write a chapter every so often and post it here. The second would be popcorn writing. That means, since I wrote the first chapter, whoever wants to write the second can, and so on. We could make a nice story as a community, as long as someone doesn't fuck around with it. The third option would be I just stop writing this now because you think it's shit. You tell me, SLO.
PS: The formatting is kind of wonky and I can't tab like I would to start a paragraph, so I just spaced each paragraph out from the others.
The sound of steel clashing was deafening. It rang all throughout the village, a constant reminder of the perpetual chaos that consumed Shogekihagakure. This was the third coup d’etat in this month; the leaders of the village were constantly at each other’s throats.
“Explosion Release: Day of Judgment Jutsu!” These were the last words Nakai heard before his eardrum ruptured, leaving nothing but a ringing noise. The user of the aforementioned high level technique was no doubt the current Kage, seeking to level the playing field by blowing through half the village and its people, along with the mutineers. Nakai, unfortunately but fortunately, had been on the outer ring of the blast radius.
He woke, after presumably a few minutes unconscious and brushed the dirt off his flak jacket, noticing a seven inch splinter wedged into his arm. Nakai hissed as he pulled it out, causing the flow of blood to hasten, now that nothing blocked it. He sat up, shifting his body so that he was kneeling.
“I got you. Hold still.” A young voice to his right said. It sounded distorted, but at least her could hear. Nakai looked over, seeing a girl of maybe eight or nine. She grabbed his right arm, the one penetrated by the missile, and wrapped it with scraps from her shirt.
“Who are you? Why are you out here? It’s dangerous.” Nakai said, wincing as he touched his wound.
“I’m a genin. I’m fighting for the Kage. I can see that you are too, with the gear you wear.” Nakai looked at her in horror. She was a frail girl, dressed in trousers too large for her and a shirt which would offer no protection in battle. That was beside the fact that she was no ninja, but simply a kid. She probably couldn’t even do a proper clone jutsu.
“N-no way. You can’t be serious. Where are your parents?”
“They died in the Servile War. The Kage enlisted me to replace them.” She offered a half-smile, but Nakai could tell there was nothing behind it. So this is what his village had come to. Child warfare. He himself was barely of age to fight; Nakai was a Chunin by rank, but was no more skilled than a Genin. His advancement to Chunin was sped up by the need for soldiers by the Kage. His entire class of Genin, about seven teams of three, were made Chunin after a half-assed exam which a ten year old could pass. Nakai was only thirteen, a few years below the average age for a true Chunin.
“We should probably get out of here.” The girl said, running to the building on his right. Nakai wouldn’t even call it a building, it was what was left of a house after the Kage’s jutsu had hit it. He got up, jogging from the street to what appeared to be a fountain. Nakai kneeled down at the edge of the fountain, which, luckily for him, had a few gallons of water left in it. The statue of the third Shogekikage was no longer spouting water, but Nakai used what was left in the bottom to rinse off his face, and quench his thirst.
“Are you a loyalist, boy?” Nakai froze, feeling the cold steel of a kunai at his throat. He wondered what the right answer was. At this point, Nakai did not care who came out as the village leader, as long as he did not die. Because he faced away from his assailant, his badges identifying him as a so-called “loyalist” were hidden.
“N-no. I’m fighting ag-against the Kage.” He answered, hoping for the best. The attacker lowered his knife, and let out a sigh.
“Good, now let’s get up and at it. The Kage massacred our entire right wing offensive with that jutsu, but he took a few hundred village shinobi and villagers with them. We are going to have to enter the fight with what’s left of Katakiuchi in the center. They are facing hard resistance from the Kage’s Shock Guard.” The man paused, which Nakai could only assume was from suspicion.
“Turn around, boy.” Nakai felt a hand on his shoulder. It grabbed him tightly and spun him onto his butt. Nakai panicked, kicking the man in the chest. He slid a few feet back and reached into his back pouch, redrawing the kunai from earlier. Nakai formed the hand signs for the only Earth jutsu he knew, Earth Dome. The ninja saw his intent and shot upwards. Nakai, realizing his inability to hit him with the jutsu, cast the dome on himself, using it as a shield.
He could hear nothing from the outside, but could tell the ninja was trying to break the dome. Dust and chunks of stone fell from the roof as the shinobi pounded at the dome. One spot in particular had taken a serious beating, and was close to being penetrated.
“Dynamic Kick!” The dome shook, cracks now apparent in the location the kick had landed. Nakai knew that one more kick would shatter the dome. While he had wove the signs for the Earth Dome, Nakai had been frightened, which caused him to fumble and misuse most of his chakra. He couldn't even muster up enough to use the Clone Jutsu. A minute or two passed. To Nakai, this was an eternity. He couldn't figure out why the ninja had not broken his dome yet. Mind games, perhaps.
Suddenly, the dome ruptured, splitting into a million pieces. He covered his eyes as pebbles flew in every direction. Nakai looked up to see two men on horses and one man, who had supposedly cracked his dome, staring back at him. He recognized the insignias on their armor. The Shock Guard Cavalry. The horses served an archaic purpose. They carried spears and occasionally engaged in battle with an initial cavalry charge, but after that they usually dismounted and fought on foot. A symbol of status; that's all the horse was.
Lost in his thoughts, Nakai realized, once he had focused back onto the present, the dismounted Shock Guard was offering his hand. Nakai took it, grunting as he rose to his feet. He let out an audible gasp as the Guard pulled him onto his horse, for his arm had reminded him of the wound he endured not too long ago.
“We need to catch up with the other squads. Lord Shogekikage and Aya’s battalion have probably crushed the left wing and the stragglers of the right wing. Katakiuchi was routed, but they'll most likely regroup with the fourth line and press the attack.”
“No, Yoneda. The Yugure wouldn't risk their lives like that, and Iwata won't commit his last group of rebels to the attack. My prediction is as follows; they will reform around the Zonei river and ravage what is left of the village. Iwata and his mutineers will probably join Katakiuchi permanently and attempt to influence them into another attack once their strength is restored.”
“I can agree with that. Although, Iwata won't be back anytime soon, if at all. To him, this was supposed to be an easy attack. However, we won't let in so easily. We stopped Katakiuchi here, and we should help stop them elsewhere.”
“Yeah. Fortunately Iwata was not as serious a threat as the other villages had. How many villages have capitulated to the Yugure now?”
“You are forgetting, they aren't capitulating. Technically. The Yugure dispose of the current Kage and install their own. Of course, the new Kage is completely loyal to Yugure. That is, except for the Hidden Snow. The Yugure have completely overrun it, creating a land of lawless rogue ninjas.”
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