Drafted

A young Naruko Uzumaki stood in line with the other orphans of her home village, Konohagakure. She was currently merely four years old and had recently noticed how the residents glared at her. Naruko could feel their icy eyes on the back of her head, she could hear the whispers that flowed from their corrupt mouths, the curses that saturated the air. But Naruko tried to ignore them, yet as time passed she could no longer, and as more and more people distanced themselves from her, either from hearing the rumors or in following others, Naruko could only feel herself become more and more isolated. She figured it was only a matter of time before she was kicked out and forced to live on the streets, condemned to forever be a 'Street Rat,' as she had heard the caretakers disgustedly call the homeless children.

But that would never happen, as when she woke up today, she could see the caretakers ushering every child to the living room of the orphanage, worry consuming their eyes. They were too occupied to even glare at her, for once, and that was how Naruko was now lined up among the many other orphans who were in the home. The front door of the home was pushed open as an old gentleman strode into the room. His footsteps were silent, and he held himself with a confidence that Naruko had never seen. His crinkled face seemed to take on a look of pity, but no one could catch that minute facial expression change, and when Naruko locked eyes with him, the man's wise eyes consumed her, leaving her still in place. The man wore a long white robe with a red undertone, while also donning a large hat that had the kanji for fire emboldened on it.

"I'm sure you are all curious as to who I am, and why you are all lined up." The older man stated, Naruko merely nodded in sync with the rest of the lined up orphans, as this had been the first time they had ever seen an old man like this.

"I am the Hokage of Konoha, and you are all becoming Ninjas." The man stated like he was talking merely about the weather. Immediately, some of the more energetic kids cheered, all of them wanted to be ninjas, they had seen the many ninjas of Konoha when walking around outside with the Matron when she took them into town. But they all knew they had to wait to join the academy, and even then, some orphans were not accepted, as only the best, or those who are sponsored, got to enter the Konoha Ninja Academy, and the only other way to become a ninja if you didn't go to the academy would be through an apprenticeship, which was almost unheard of for an orphan. But some of the smarter kids, or those that could use common sense, became on guard at this sudden statement.

Naruko stared into the Hokage's eyes, and as they finally met, a knowing look crossed the man's features, before disappearing just as fast. And Naruko immediately knew something was up, she could feel the tension in the air as everyone awaited the man's next words, an explanation.

"This afternoon, Kumogakure officially declared war on Konoha." The excitement in the air was immediately swept away with this simple sentence. Even the stupidest of them could easily connect the dots. 'We're going to war.' Naruko thought in horror. She was merely four years old, and barely knew anything of this world, yet everyone, no matter how old, would always tremble at that word. Because war was the epitome of violence, war drove families apart, and war made scars that would never be forgotten.

Naruko noticed a few kids' legs tense, almost like they wanted to run, but before anything could happen, two men appeared next to the old man, both wearing masks on their faces that were sculpted to appear as an animal of some kind. They had weapons drawn and pointed towards the children who seemed to be about to run, something that immediately put a cold sweat on the brow of every child there.

"You may run, know that you will not be accepted back into any facilities in Konoha, and you will survive off of scraps thrown away to the street. If you abandon the village and we eventually lose the war, you will be slaughtered like everyone else in the village if we are overtaken." The Hokage's words were akin to a guillotine, sentencing all of them to death. It was like being between a very sharp rank, and a pit of spikes. But Naruko knew she only had one option, she was hated in this village, something she had picked up on in her many visits to the town center with the Matron of the orphanage, and maybe the war was the opportunity she needed. Naruko did not care why she was hated, nor would she bother to find out, because all that mattered now was surviving this. Naruko's eyes blazed in determination, but she suddenly heard scuttling around her, and she watched as multiple kids sprinted out, passing the ninja and Hokage standing by the door.

"Record their names, and then add them to the records as those who deserted the Shinobi Troop, they knew the consequence, and that is what they chose." The Hokage said, merely giving the children who ran away a passing glance, before turning his eyes back towards the rest of them, as if daring them to run.

"No more? Then you will all be taken to a camp where you will be trained in everything a Genin should know over two years. There will be no tests or anything, and at the end of the two years, every single one of you will become a Genin. You will then be put into squads on the frontline, doing anything from delivering letters to being reinforcements in skirmishes." And with that final statement, the Hokage turned away, walking out of the orphanage before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. And if anyone could see his face, they would see the grimace that had spread across it.

The men standing near the Hokage glanced at each other before one of them disappeared in swirling leaves. The remaining one looked in their direction, before making a following gesture towards the children. Naruko waddled along with the rest of the orphans, she felt her small legs moving into a jog as she tried to keep up with the man's slow yet long strides.

The line of children followed the masked man through the village, with Naruko noting the distinct lack of villagers. "Where did they all go?" She couldn't help but murmur to herself, curious about the now deserted states of the streets of Konoha.

"Probably drafted, like us." Naruko heard someone say from behind her. Turning around, she saw one of the older boys of the orphanage, Osabu, she recalled, say. "The poor sods were probably drafted into the war like the rest of us." The boy said with a sneer on his face.

"You don't seem to like the villagers much," Naruko commented as she heard the boy's standoffish and rude words.

"Maybe if they stopped stuffing their faces and donated to our orphanage, I might think of them as more than a couple of pigs. They're cannon fodder going into this war, just like the rest of us." Osabu coldly stated. The few kids who were listening in all winced, they knew their fate going into this, but living on the streets and suffering was a much worse fate.

After the short interaction, Naruko merely followed the masked man along with the others in silence. The group slowly made their way towards a large area on the outskirts of the village, in a grass field that had once been empty and was now had countless people.

Naruko followed the group of kids, and they all sat down near the edge of the large group of people. Naruko even recognized a few, like the two women who ran the clothes shop and sneered at her when she visited the commerce section of the village or the old man who had tried throwing a mask at her head during a festival last year.

"I'm sure you are all curious about what is happening next." Naruko suddenly heard, and looking to the front she saw the masked man who had brought them here standing before all of the gathered people. "As you know, Kumogakure has officially declared war with Konoha. And in light of the Demon Fox's attack four years ago, we do not have the troops to fight a war." The man's words spread panic throughout the gathered people.

"But do not fear! As a nation, we will make it through this crisis! And though we may have to pay the price in an unholy amount of blood, sweat, and tears for those who have fallen, our nation will not fall!" The man suddenly yelled, not in the cold emotionless tone that he had previously used, but in one that truly stirred her heart, in a voice that drew on the passion in a human soul. And one that brought emotion, something that ninjas should have long ago cast off.

"All of you gathered here are now part of the 5th Konoha Regiment, you will be trained for the next two years and will then represent your nation on the battlefield. Remember as you are training that our shinobi are out there already, dying in battle to protect the glorious name of Konoha, do not let them down!" And with those final words, the masked man finally disappeared in a swirl of leaves. What followed seemed almost like a fever dream to Naruko, one of the shinobi who had been standing off to the side had now taken the stage, and was now explaining the schedule that everyone would follow for the next two years. It was quite generic, with a strict focus on conditioning the body and chakra, along with training their minds, something that would be the key to surviving on the battlefield.

"Like sheep to a slaughter." Naruko heard, turning around, she saw Osabu with a grim look on his face. But considering his words, Naruko couldn't say she felt much different. Because glancing around at the civilians who were riding high on the emotions of the speech from before, that was what it truly was, a bunch of weak, defenseless sheep soon to be culled by very angry wolves.