Chapter 24 -> Part 24

I noticed more than a little hero worship among the Academy students crowded into the front rows of the auditorium. The Hokage never said anything about not being able to train the Academy students and hopefully get a few of them up to Genin level to alleviate some of the pressure on the Genin stationed in the village. They were my guinea pig group. If I could manage to continue the education of the Academy students, I could probably manage to continue the education of the Genin, thus bolstering the capabilities of the Genin force. I decided that the Genin lingering in the back of the room would be good errand boys and girls. There had to be enough retired shinobi in the village capable of teaching one or two Academy students how to fight and function as shinobi.

"The Genin lingering in the back of the room who have forgotten their lessons on the necessity of compartmentalization can all go and find as many retired shinobi as they can and request their presence here at 1000. Do not be late for your own meeting."

They all left, chastised.

"What's com-par-men-zation?" One of the Academy students asked.

"Compartmentalization is where one piece of information is given to one group and different piece of information is given to a different group so that no one has the entire chunk of information and if one group gets caught and gives up their information, then they don't put all of the other groups in danger." I hoped that was a simple enough explanation for a bunch of kids. "Now, I'd like to inform you all that your education at the Academy will continue for the time being. In your textbooks, there are suggested workout routines. You are to complete them to the best of your ability. You may choose your groups, but everyone is to have at least one partner. Any questions?"

Several hands shot into the air. I picked the closest. "What about teachers?"

"You want to be ninja, right? As a ninja, you will spend a good portion of your time training alone or with a small team, unless you are one of the very lucky ones and manage to find yourself someone to be apprenticed to." I pointed at another hand.

"Who will teach us to fight? The textbook doesn't have any jutsu!"

"That has yet to be decided. You have to keep up the workout regime first." I pointed to someone else.

"Can we practice throwing kunai?"

"Only as long as you're careful. If I hear or see anyone getting hurt, no matter the circumstances, the privilege will be taken away." I waved my hand at another.

"What if we already know some kata?"

"Then teach it to the people you are working with. No sparring."

Eventually, the questions stopped. "The Academy training grounds are open for your use. I'm not going to tell you when to do the workout, but you will do it every day. Hopefully, a teacher of some kind will be assigned to you soon. I suggest you split into groups of two or three others who are at or around your strength and skill level. If there are any problems, ask a ninja to bring you to me. Frivolity and slacking will not be tolerated. If you do not wish to be a ninja any longer, hand in your resignation to me. Dismissed."

Somehow, the questions had dragged on long enough for several Genin early to their meeting to have peeked in the door. The Academy students, thankfully, left quickly and the Genin filed in as the stragglers hurried out. When they were settled, I started the next meeting. "Group two is back on shift." I proceeded to list the two exchanges in their ranks. "Have there been any notable incidents that could possibly become relevant in the future?"

"There are a pair of bandits camping slightly less than two kilometers away from the west-northwest wall. Recommendation is that they be eliminated."

Three more people spoke up with the exact same situation.

"Has anyone confirmed that they are actually bandits and not shinobi?"

No one spoke up.

"Shit. Uzumaki, go get the barrier seals Uzu used during wartime, all of them."

"The village is too big—" Kushina protested. I cut her off.

"No, it's not, trust me. Go, now, and bring them back." She dashed out. "Raise your hand if you know bare minimum of creating seals or using anything other than explosive tags."

Minato raised his hand along with two others.

"Are you good enough to copy seals?" They nodded uncertainly. "All three of you report to me after this meeting. You're in group two, right?" They nodded and I quickly replaced them with two others from the reserves. The Genin were beginning to look a little apprehensive. "This is all just a precaution," I assured them. "Have there been any other incidents or details I should know?"

"Two civilians working in the fields failed to report back last night. No search parties have been sent out."

"Has any investigation been made?"

"The fields are too far out to send a Genin patrol unit."

"Understood. No investigations. If the civilians return, detain them and notify me immediately. As for the bandits, I want the Hyuuga twins and the Uchiha to report to me at the conclusion of this meeting. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"The Daimyo has taken full control of the civilian sector of the village. Something he said has prompted several Academy parents to attempt to take their children out of the Academy program. I directed them to an empty classroom and said you'd meet them there in an hour?"

"Good call, thank you." There was a small knot of them in the back corner muttering with their heads together. "Is your conversation important enough to be shared?" I asked them pointedly.

They shifted uncomfortably, but one of kunoichi stood up. "Several parents of Genin have insisted that we hand in our resignation."

"Is there a particular reason why?"

She shrugged. "I think there's a smear campaign against you initiated by the Daimyō."

"There is and always has been a minor smear campaign among the civilians against the Hokage and all ninja," I informed the room. "This isn't a new problem, so I want you all to ignore it. You will walk away from confrontations, no matter what is said or done. Just because they are civilians doesn't mean they have no right to voice their opinions. If it becomes a problem at home, seek shelter at a comrade's house or clan compound." I had a good idea what the Daimyō was attempting to do, and I hoped it didn't succeed. No matter what, I had to get to the Academy students before he could. "Group three, I want you to find as many of the Academy-age shinobi-in training, especially the ones with civilian parents or staying with civilian family members, as you can and bring them to a training ground, any training ground. Teach them katas, how to throw kunai or shuriken, an E-ranked jutsu, or even spar with them if you need to, just keep them away from the civilians and keep them happy. I know it sounds extremely manipulative, but Konoha can't afford to lose any potential shinobi, not now, and these kids are going to have to step up as soon as they are able to help you out. Group three, dismissed."

They all but ran out while Kushina fought her way inside.

"Group two, I need you to pass on what happened in this meeting to group one and tell them to get as much rest as they can, dismissed. If you did not receive an order, I want you to Henge into a civilian and find out what is being said. Do not bring attention to yourself and absolutely do not let anyone know you're a ninja. Meet me at the headquarters at noon to report and receive another assignment, dismissed."

Only seven other people remained in the room. I waved them forward and sat down on the edge of the platform.

"You three," I pointed at the two Hyuuga and the Uchiha. "Can you get along for long enough to complete a mission?" Considering the Hyuuga were Hyuuga, and the Uchiha was an Uchiha, I wasn't sure of my chances.

They eyed each other warily.

"I've seen all three of your profiles, the full ones. You're all strong enough to be mid-level Chuunin right now, but your respective clans insisted that you remain in the village for several reasons, foremost among them to preserve bloodlines, correct?"

The three nodded at me, clearly not happy about the arrangements.

"Since I have far too many things to take care of right now, I need the three of you to work out some sort of camaraderie and a chain of command in the next twenty minutes before setting out to make sure the bandits are really bandits and not shinobi. Use the Byakugan to look at their chakra networks from as far away as you can. Do not engage. If you get even a whiff of a non-Konoha shinobi, high-tail it out of there and report to me without delay. Absolutely no heroics, you are to gather information only. Save for myself, the three of you are probably the strongest combat shinobi in the village right now. I need all of you to be combat-ready at all times. Dismissed."

They left as the first of the retired nin trickled in and took a seat.

I held out a hand to Kushina and she gave me a wooden tube filled with the seals I requested from her. I opened it and shuffled through the seals until I found the one I needed.

"That one isn't big or strong enough to surround the entire village!" Kushina protested. "Your best bet would be this one!"

"That one can't keep out a determined Academy student at the size it needs to be," I retorted. "This one is the strongest, and if I put enough chakra in it, I can expand it even further than it was intended."

"You don't have that much chakra to safely—"

"I'm at least twice as strong as anything you've ever seen me do, Kushina, and I have the Kyuubi as backup. Put the rest of these seals back and then I need the four of you to each make a copy of this seal, just in case. Find somewhere to work where you won't be interrupted, dismissed."

They scurried out and I turned to the retired ninja sitting on one side of the room, chatting.

"Is anyone else coming?" I asked. Several shook their heads and I noted that there were more than thirty of them.

"So, kiddo, what do you want a bunch of old crippled guys for?" One of them, who seemed to be missing half his face, asked.

"I need your help."

"We can't run patrols, gaki, and your Genin would be better off in a fight than most of us." One rolled their eyes and tapped his missing leg with a cane.

"I don't know what the Hokage was thinking when he left a bunch of toddlers as a defense." Another commented, quickly followed by a third.

"All of us retired for a damn good reason."

"I know! I know!" I insisted. "But I can't handle everything that needs to be done, the handful of Chuunin here all have their own jobs. I don't care what the Hokage thinks, less than a hundred Genin can't handle eight-hour shifts around the entire village perimeter for an indefinite period of time and assist inside the village so I want to train the Academy students to be able to step up and help out."

"In a few days, there's only going to be a dozen Academy students left, it's not worth the resources to train them. You're too late to stop the civilian paranoia. I've seen it happen in every war since the time of the Shodai," a particularly old man said. "You do know about the civilian paranoia, right?"

"Yes, I know about it. As of right now, I'm pretty sure I can keep it away from the Academy students and keep them mesmerized by the thought of being a ninja—"

"You'll divide families that way, kid, are you sure?" The old guy was apparently their spokesman.

"Unless you have another brilliant idea, I'd rather divide a few families than lose dozens of potential shinobi, screw over the ones we already have, and continue to weaken the military here." He was testing me; I was sure of it.

"What do you need from us, Uzumaki-chan?"

"You all still remember what it was like to be a ninja and you all know the skills you needed the most in wartime. I need you to help teach the Academy students and get them ready as fast as you possibly can. I can get you profiles to choose students from and if all of you agree, there's enough of you that no one will have to take more than two students. A majority of you will only get one."

They all studied me and I belatedly realized that I was still sitting at the edge of the platform.

"How many students are in the Academy?"

"Forty-nine."

"Ages?"

"I think the youngest are five and everyone above the age of eight has already been included in the Genin ranks."

"And what do we get for this?"

"I-I don't know. I'm sure I can figure something out."

"What about the Genin who are lagging behind their peers?"

"I was going to see if this worked before I tried anything else. If this doesn't, I don't want to waste any more of your time or resources."

"You said you're already shielding the Academy students from the paranoia?"

"Yes, at least, I sent a bunch of Genin to do what they can. I still need to try and talk down the Academy students' parents."

"Did the Hokage tell you to do any of this?"

"He barely told me anything but how to communicate with him and the Kiri front, to be nice to the Daimyō, and a mission scroll that only said 'lead the village in the absence of the Hokage'."

They all went silent and completely, frighteningly still. I thought I had their attention before, but now, I doubted they would have noticed if a naked marching band stomped though while tuning their instruments.

"What's with the weird looks?" I asked warily. The spell broke and they all started to murmur among themselves.

"You haven't—"

"Of course he hasn't, he wasn't even born when Sandaime-sama was appointed."

"The rumors—"

"Everyone knows the chances—"

"No one would share rumors like that—"

"He clearly doesn't know—"

"Does that mean—"

"It has to just be a precaution—"

"It's practically a tradition—"

"His teammate—"

"Someone should tell the kid—"

"Everyone's heard about the deaths—"

"It explains a lot—"

"He doesn't want it—"

"He'll know if—"

"He's only a child—"

"It makes sense—"

"Both the Shodai and the Nidaime—"

Someone grabbed my arm, dragged me out of the room, through a hallway I didn't even know existed, and stopped in a perfectly silent room.

"Calm down, Kichiro-kun," the ANBU crouched in front of me said. I automatically checked his chakra signature and relaxed the slightest bit when I realized it was the ANBU Rat.

"What were they talking about? Why were they all so tense? What don't I know?" I demanded and tried to storm out of the room. The ANBU pushed me back against the wall, a hand on my chest.

"None of it is applicable or relevant right now, calm down before you hurt yourself." He was right, my heart was pounding at ridiculous speeds, my breathing was irregular, and my limbs trembled. "You have Academy students to find teachers, angry parents of those students, many of the Genin, and one of the Chuunin to talk down, a hate campaign to stop, a team gathering intel on potential enemies, and a last resort barrier seal in the making. Don't worry about the gossip of a bunch of retired men with too much time on their hands."

He slowly released me and I slid down the wall rubbing my face. "I can't fight a propaganda war with the Daimyō," I told the ANBU. "I don't have the time, I don't know these people well enough, and if the bandits are actually shinobi and they call in people to put the village under siege, it will make the civilian lives as much hell as shinobi lives with rations and shortages and curfews—"

"Yes, you can, kid, you're not acting on your own. There are three ANBU here you can count on, Genin willing to obey you, and all the civilian members of shinobi clans will support you because your strength is the best chance they have to see their loved ones again. That is a decent percentage of the population."

"That's no majority. I haven't even been in charge for twenty-four hours and I'm already in over my head."

"It just seems like it, Kichiro-kun. In less than twenty-four hours, you've figured out a way to make the Hyuuga and Uchiha get along well enough to run a mission."

"Anyone will work with anyone under enough pressure. Besides, they're too young to be fully conditioned to be at odds with each other."

"You've earned the undying respect of teenage and preteen Genin by doing something absolutely stupid and implying permission to act independently."

"Yeah, and that's probably going to come back to bite me."

"The Daimyō wouldn't have started a campaign against you if he didn't consider you a threat to his base of power. He tried to subvert the Genin this morning when they were running around on your errands. It failed miserably."

"I don't understand the significance."

Rat rubbed the back of his neck. "Figures you wouldn't understand exactly how much power you have. The Daimyō, until now, has had such sway over the people, both shinobi and civilian, that not even the Hokage dared oppose him in any way. Not only that, but for the first time, someone other than him has a fingernail hold on his empire. He can't do anything about it until the Hokage returns and takes you out of a position of authority with an influx of more powerful troops loyal to the Hokage, and through him, loyal to the Daimyō. The display the young Senju put on convinced him that the Genin here are willing to kill for you and that you are willing and able to shield them from retribution. His troops could slaughter the Genin here, but their age means he could be accused of slaughtering children. The Hokage indicated you are stronger than anyone suspected and he has no way of knowing how his troops would stack up against you, nor does he know if the Hokage will take his side or yours since you are technically acting independently of the Hokage, rather than in his stead."

"And most likely, the Hokage will take my side since he put me in power and I'm the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." The ANBU nodded. "Did the Hokage plan this?"

"He hoped you would provide enough of a smokescreen for Bird to infiltrate the Daimyō's ranks and provide a stable line of information about his activities and intentions. Unfortunately, now he's paranoid about spies, making Bird's task impossible, but effectively defanged enough to make the mission unnecessary. The Hokage may not be as well-liked as the Daimyō, simply because of the nature of his work, but one thing that he has never been proven directly responsible for is the death of a child, an action the Shodai made political suicide."

"So now I have the most powerful person in the country gunning for my head, and possibly my family's as well in order to get to me."

"Kichi—"

"No, it's fine, I'll figure something out. Is there anything else I don't know that might be relevant in the near future?"

"Not only are you a political threat to the Daimyō, but you've gotten under his skin and made the fight personal."

"I didn't mean—"

"Kid, you got under the Hokage's skin as well, whether you meant to or not."

"But that was intentional."

"And everyone has to deal with the fallout of their actions, intentional of not."

"Is he going to go after my family?"

"If he kills one of them, he gives you the right to challenge him to a fight to the death. No matter how old you are, you're a shinobi and he only has basic training in the samurai arts, he can't win."

"But he can still take a hostage."

Rat studied me. "You don't know a lot about your clan history, do you?"

"No, Kushina's the expert."

"Then here's a tidbit that you might want to be aware of. In the Land of Fire and the Land of Mist, there's an old superstition that kidnapping an Uzumaki equals self-destruction. In the time of the Clan Wars, several clans attempted to kidnap the Uzumaki for their sealing knowledge and genetics. None of them survived and the Uzumaki never raised a hand against them beyond the bare minimum it took to safely retrieve their clansman, which was unnerving, considering their tempers when someone insulted or cheated them. The Daimyō may not be superstitious, but he wouldn't dare take an Uzumaki hostage, not after both Suna and Kumo have been devastated with the common denominator being your sister. If anything, the young Namikaze is in the most danger of being kidnapped, but he and your sister are practically married already, so it's probably too close for comfort."

"Comforting. Is there anything else?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then I'll go bring the old guys the Academy student files and hope they agree."

"They'll do anything to get a toe back into the shinobi world. They were just testing you to see if you were worth casting their lot with."

"Brilliant."

I marched back the way I had come. The ANBU's presence vanished as I opened the door and hurried to the Academy records room, retrieved two boxes worth of files, and carried them back to the auditorium. To my surprise, I didn't interrupt a conversation like I expected, but a rock-paper-scissors contest. I yelped as they descended on the files like flies to carrion. The old guy was the fastest, even though I was certain he was missing his entire leg and part of his hand, ripped off the top of the box and picked three seemingly random files before hopping back.

"Suckers!" He cackled at the others.

"Wait a minute—" I started to say, but all the files had already been taken and the victors had already fled the auditorium. I was left knocked on my ass facing over half the group with empty boxes at my feet.

"You were going to make two trips, right?" One asked hopefully, extending a hand to help me up.

I took it. "Um, no, that was all of the active Academy students. I promise there was enough for at least one each."

"It's impossible to train just one or two kids without taking missions. Three or four is ideal."

"Well, um, come find me in a day or two and I might be able to find you a student, or at least something to do."

Disappointed, they left and I realized I had no excuse to do anything except meet with the angry parents waiting for me.

I crept into the room without them noticing, and attached myself to the ceiling, hidden by a Genjutsu. Their conversation about me was less than flattering and was along the lines of me tricking my way into power. Before they could stir up my anger I released the Genjutsu and stood upside-down on the ceiling, waiting for them to notice me. It took nearly a minute. When they all fell silent, I flipped down and landed on the teacher's desk.

"Sorry about the wait. I was told you wished to speak with me on matters concerning the students enrolled in this Academy."

"And who are you? Class president?" A rather large, middle-aged civilian demanded, puffing out his chest. The effect was a bit marred by the beginnings of a beer belly.

"Chuunin, actually, Uzumaki Kichiro," I responded coolly, biting back an insult. "I am currently the commander of the shinobi stationed here, which, by default, makes me the head of this Academy."

"What idiot put a child in charge?" A woman scoffed.

"The Hokage assigned me to this position, and it would be greatly appreciated if this meeting would remain a civil discussion of complaints, not a bloodbath of insults and anger."

"That's rich coming from you, murderer!" Another, familiar, woman snarled and the others shouted their agreement.

"With all due respect, two months ago, I healed your burned hand and arm to the point where it didn't even scar."

She reddened, but didn't back down. "If I had known who you were, I would never have allowed you near me!" Emboldened by the mob mentality, she continued. "Your hands are bathed in the blood of innocents! Your actions have caused many more to die!"

A year ago, I might have believed her, but I'd been out on the front lines. The shinobi there were barely able to defend themselves and often couldn't even stand their ground. Yes, I had killed several others, but I never touched a civilian or anyone younger than fifteen, and I knew most of the shinobi out there had never killed a civilian, and only killed other shinobi. I struggled to remain calm. I could not afford to be the one to throw the first punch.

They sneered at me and I carefully ignored the expressions. Even so, the open derision was disturbing and I gained a new respect for policemen and politicians. The closest I'd ever been to a mob was protesters at military funerals and videos on the TV screen. Now, I was facing one down, and unlike the police, I didn't have orders and a shield to hide behind.

I couldn't defend myself to them, they wouldn't listen, but I had to try and calm them down, or at least contain them. "It would be greatly appreciated if this meeting would remain a civil discussion of complaints, not a bloodbath of insults and anger." I repeated myself. The shouting eventually died down. "Thank you. Now, I believe there were specific complaints to be addressed. Could you please state them in a polite manner?"

"I will not have my daughter learning from murderers and brainwashed into becoming one herself!" The man from before growled.

My temper bubbled far too close to the surface. "Is everyone here aware of the fact that Konoha is at war with both Kiri and Iwa?"

Heads nodded.

"Slightly inside the borders of the Land of Fire, thousands of shinobi and kunoichi are fighting, struggling to keep the two countries at bay. Their children are being orphaned to protect yours. Your children joined this Academy to protect you. Your children joined this Academy to learn to protect those orphans you whip when they are forced to beg for their food because this village has nothing to give them but their life! Your children have stood up and said that the sacrifice of their parents won't be in vain!"

Most of them had already taken a step back.

"Yes, the ninja of this village are soldiers. Yes, the ninja of this village have killed. Yes, the skin of every ninja is dyed with blood, but as long as you live inside this village, as long as you live within the borders of this country, as long as you live underneath the protection of those soldiers, you have absolutely no right to spit on them, slander them, and reject them!"

They flinched backwards, ashamed. But, just like idiots from my world, a few of them cared more about the ideals than facts. The woman I healed stepped forward. "I'd rather be dead than live under disgusting creatures like you!"

My head tipped to the side. Without warning, I leapt off the desk and landed on her, my feet digging into her stomach and knocking her flat on her back. I crouched on top of her, staring down curiously and letting the tiniest bit of killing intent leak out of me, just enough to keep everyone else at bay. I reached into my weapons pouch and slowly drew my only kunai and held it against the side of her throat. "You'd rather be dead, right?"

She stared up at me, terrified.

"You know what enemy shinobi do to captured Konoha ninja? They're beaten, of course. But, you know, the hands have the more sensory receptors than any other part of the body, except, perhaps, the face. They break their fingers, shatter them, one by one. They rape the women, repeatedly. They seem to think it's funny to burn them in a pile of dead leaves. The leaves burn away and the fire goes out before the captured ninja dies, but it's still one of the most painful, horrifying experiences one can have. The whole time, the enemy shinobi don't stop mocking them, insulting them, demanding information, making promises only to break them. Sometimes, if the ninja gives up the information they want, they're returned to us to live ashamed of themselves. So go ahead, call me a murderer, call my little sister one, call your children killers, but you're the real evil. When we signed up for this job, we knew we might be subjected to that torture, but when you rage at us for corrupting your children, you're raging at your children as well."

I had spread my weight evenly over the woman, but she was starting to wheeze anyways so I stepped off her and pulled away.

"You think I'm heavy?" I scoffed. "There's this one Iwa jutsu that crushes people under rocks bigger than your houses. The only thing that's left of them is a smear, we have to identify them by the remnants of weapons, clothes, or personal possessions. You know, if it doesn't crush their head then they could stay alive for hours, choking on dust. They don't die from blood loss; the blood can't escape from their body. They die because chemicals in their body become more concentrated than they can handle and their kidneys die. It's worse than poison. No one can rescue them, because they can't breathe enough to call for help, nor would they dare, in case Iwa heard them instead. That's the kind of thing the people you accuse of murder fight in order to keep you safe."

"Stop, please stop!" She begged, scrambling back.

"Sure, I'm just a kid, but I've been there, and don't you dare insult the people who are still there! You will respect the choices of your children, and this disrespect will end!"

Before the woman could make any move to stand up, I stormed out of the room.