Naruto 1. Chapter 1

[Intro:]

The First Sino-Japanese war occurred from 1894-1895, between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Era Japan. The war was fought over the annexation of Korea; Japan needed Korea out of Chinese control to boost her own economic success, while China obviously didn't want to lose its territory.

In this story, Tenten is the daughter of General Hao Lan Long, who is leading the Beiyang Army that is marching towards Korea, where Japanese forces have begun to settle. Having learned Japanese in her childhood, Tenten accompanied her father as a translator in case they needed to negotiate with the enemy.

Neji is the nephew of Emperor Meiji's closest advisor, Hyuuga Hiashi. Sergeant Hyuuga Neji is in charge of the 3rd provincial division of the 1st Japanese Army.

While I did steal the general situation from history, I'll be deviating from historical accuracy (my knowledge is only Wikipedia-deep) as we progress. Let me know if anything is too hideously incorrect, or if you do know about the historical war, I'd love to learn about it.

[Chapter 1:]

My mind began to wander as we marched towards Korea. Weary footstep after weary footstep agitated the dust on the ground, covering all the troops with a layer of light brown dirt. My father rode ahead of his soldiers, sitting astride a decorated brown horse.

"Halt!" he called, and I heard sighs of relief all around me. "We'll camp here for tonight."

Tents were unfurled and propped up, and sleeping rolls opened for the night. The clear night sky was speckled with little dots of lights, and the moon stared impassively down at us. I set up my own small tent and lay down, feeling completely exhausted. Darkness coated the campsite as soldiers put out their lamps. My father had ordered that lamps were only to be used if absolutely necessary, because a cluster of lamplight was practically asking the enemy to attack us. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Some time later, I woke, though I don't know why. It was completely silent and dark all around me. I sat up, pushing my blankets away. I might as well check on the guards, I thought. When I left my tent, it was as silent and dark as it had been inside the tent, as expected. Wandering towards the edge of our tents, I spotted a single flickering lamplight. I frowned, ready to admonish an idiot soldier. So many of these men were untrained and unthinking, straining against my father's orders, not knowing that they were meant for their own safety. It wasn't until the figure was close enough to see that I froze. Fear and adrenaline shot through my veins, and I pulled out a knife from my boots. The lamplight belonged to a soldier, certainly, but not a Chinese one. I was absolutely certain—this soldier was a Japanese scout.

The scout was looking the other way. If I left him alone to report back, he might leave and take with him vital information about us. If I tried to capture him, I might not be successful—after all, I wasn't a trained soldier. There was only one choice. I got as close to the scout as I could and threw my knife at him. It sank into his back with a soft squish, and he gasped, gurgling as he fell to the ground. Well, that was fairly easy. I rifled through his clothes, searching for anything that might help us. The only things the scout was carrying were a single scroll and some ink. Ditching his body, I headed towards my father's tent to report what I had found.

"Tenten," my father said, looking at me in surprise. Dark smudges of exhaustion rested beneath his eyes, and I knew that his hopes for the war were not very high.

"I found a Japanese scout," I said, holding out a scroll. "I'll translate it for you. It says… 'Urgent, to Sergeant Hyuuga Neji. Chinese forces found located two days march away to the east. The unit numbers about 1,000 men. Further confirmation required, but General Hao likely leading the troops.' This scroll is the only thing the scout was carrying."

My father sighed, looking a lot older than his 40 years of age should allow. "Thank you, Tenten. Though that's not too useful to us, it is good that the scout did not take the information back to his commander. In that case, we'll have to increase the guard to look out for other scouts, or ambushes." He sighed again. "Go back to sleep, Tenten."

I tried to sleep, but the dull thud of the knife as it entered the scout's body kept replaying in my mind…he wasn't the first man I had killed, but it didn't make me any more comfortable. It didn't matter what I felt. I was serving my country, and each Japanese soldier killed was a step closer to victory. I lay awake in my tent until creeping fingers of sunlight emerged, and then I quickly packed my tent for another long day of marching.

It was another easily routine day. Wake, eat watered-down rice porridge, march until noon, eat more watered-down rice porridge (sometimes with a bit of a vegetable), march until the nightfall, eat more watered-down rice porridge, set up camp, sleep. We had been marching from southern China for about two weeks now, and everyone was exhausted. It wasn't as if these men were excited to fight either—each family was required to provide one able-bodied male for the war, and they had barely two weeks to train under Maito Gai before being whipped out to the war front. Sure, Sergeant Maito Gai was one of the best trainers in the country, and one with a good history of military success, but two weeks was too brief for even him to make soldiers out of farm boys.

We were passing through a narrow mountain pass and the sun was nearing the end of its journey for the day when I heard a horrified yell. I looked around, searching for the source—had someone been run over by a carriage? But then I saw the dark figures emerging from the nearby forest, and panic began to flood my mind.

"ENEMY ATTACK!" someone shouted. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! We've been ambushed!"

The Japanese troops flowed onto us, and the sound of metal against metal filled the air. It was absolute chaos. One of the carriage horses got free and started whinnying, rearing up and crushing people below her. The carriage rolled free, rolling over and killing all in its way.

"Gather together! Fight back to back!" my father yelled fruitlessly, trying to save his troops. "Get into your formations!" His voice was cut off as he blocked a sword swinging towards him. His poor horse, covered in the banners of the Beiyang Army, screamed as someone stabbed her.

I ran. I dodged struggling bodies and stumbled over fallen ones. I slipped on a puddle of blood. Someone—friend or foe, I don't know—struck me against the head and the world went dark.

When I woke up, the sky was light again. The back of my head ached like none other, but I was glad that I managed to be alive at all, so I wasn't complaining. The guards my father had ordered to watch out of ambushes clearly didn't do a very good job, because we had been attacked—and destroyed—by Japanese troops without warning. Though it looked like we took out a fair number of them as well—there were about two Japanese corpses for every three Chinese ones.

I touched the back of my head gingerly, grimacing as my hand came away with some blood. Maybe there were other survivors. I picked up a sword from the ground; whoever it had belonged to certainly didn't need it anymore. Hardening the resolve in my mind, I decided to kill any Japanese survivors there were left in this horrid battlefield. I waded through the bodies, nudging as many as I could to try and get a response.

By the end of the day, I had around 18 survivors, and I had mercifully—or at least that's what I told myself—ended the lives of 9. While I was scavenging for living people, I had also picked up the remains of our medical supplies, which I used to bandage the back of my head.

"Form a line, please. I have our bandages and medicine. I'm not a doctor, but hopeful I can patch you all up so you'll live until you can find one," I said, waving at the few living soldiers we had left. That wasn't quite true, actually. I knew that a solid third of our soldiers must have fled as soon as the sounds of battle began. The dead bodies littering the ground were more heroic than any of those survivors.

"Tenten," a familiar voice said, and I looked up in surprise. I saw a bloodied man with a gaping stab wound to his leg, but if he was still alive it must look worse than it actually was. "Tenten, it's me. Lee." Oh! Lee was so beaten that I couldn't even recognize my own cousin. I felt a wave of relief as I thanked the gods that at least Lee wasn't one of those dead bodies.

"Have you seen my father?" I asked him desperately. "I didn't see him out there…"

"He's dead," the soldier whose leg I was bandaging said. "General Hao is dead."

Much to my surprise, the soldier burst into sobs: weary, defeated sobs. His body shook with the force of his despair. "We're all dead," he continued, "we'll never win this war."

My eyes narrowed in anger. "How can you say that? Even if we are killed, at least we will die with honor! We will have served our country and our people. China needs us, and it is our duty to keep on fighting."

The soldier stared at me with dull eyes. "You are too naïve for this war, little girl. You grew up in a noble family and never felt the bitterness that we did. Do you know why we lost this battle?" I stared at him, taken aback. "We lost because of you! Because of people like you! Our country is so corrupt that majors and generals know nothing else but how to embezzle funds! We have no money for real food as we march to give up our lives because all the money goes to building _your houses_." The soldier knocked my hand away from him. "China is CORRUPT! You are serving _nothing_."

I stumbled away, shocked by his words. As I walked numbly away, I looked at all the corpses of the soldiers who had loyally fought to the death, who had loved their countries enough to die for them. I looked at the Chinese uniforms, and I looked at the Japanese uniforms. And then I had an idea.

Hurriedly, not wanting to lose my courage, I went over to the closest uniform with the least blood on it. I stripped it off the dead Japanese soldier, making sure to remember exactly how it was worn. I shook it out, rinsed it as best I could with the water we had (we had rations for a whole platoon, and now everyone was dead, so it wasn't as if I had to conserve it) and hung it up to dry. And then I went to tell Lee about my plans.

"Lee! Lee!" I said, feeling invigorated by my plan. It was an opportunity to act, to free myself from the depression of losing a battle and a father. I don't think it really sank it yet, the fact that my father was dead. That my father, who had raised me to be educated and strong, and taught me how to hold my own in a battle, and how to understand his military strategies, was gone. But if I could do something, get away from this graveyard of war and do something, I wouldn't feel as empty as I did.

"I am feeling much better, my youthful blossom!" Lee chirped, though I could tell he was in a lot of pain. He was propped up against a tree, bandaged leg extended away from his body. "I think we should return to Sergeant Gai as soon as everyone is able to travel. He will know what to do."

"I have an idea, Lee! I'm not really that injured—just a bump on my head—so I'm going to keep on going." I grinned, becoming more and more excited as I worked out how I would get into the Japanese camp. "I'm going to infiltrate the enemy!"

Lee looked confused. "Don't you think they will notice that you don't really speak Japanese?" he asked, frowning. "And that you are in a Chinese military uniform?" Lee paused slightly. "And that you are a woman? Women are not permitted to serve in combatant roles!" he exclaimed suddenly. "We must protect our delicate blossoms!"

I patted him on the head. The stab wound must have made him more delirious than usual, and I hoped it wasn't getting infected. "It's not a problem at all, Lee. I've got everything figured out. You're in charge of getting everyone back to safety, and I guarantee that I'll supply vital information about the enemy's movements."

"May you be forever youthful," Lee said, before promptly passing against the tree he was leaning on. I smiled, knowing that my cousin had stayed conscious through sheer force of will to speak to me. I prayed that he would be safe and healthy upon my return.

Leaving Lee alone, I went to the broken cart where some of our supplies remained. Pulling the Japanese uniform over my limbs, I took the time to consider what I should carry with me. In the end, after carefully tying my hair into a man's hairstyle bun, and smudging some dirt onto my face, I decided to take only some water and dried fruit. It was time to go.


	2. Chapter 2

[Chapter 2:]

It wasn't very difficult to find the Japanese camp. I simply followed the wide swath of trampled foliage from the site of the ambush back to their campsite, which was positively bustling with activity. The unit appeared to be a combination of smaller units; I could tell because some of them were wearing dirty, tattered uniforms and sporting injuries, whereas others were in freshly-ironed clothes, sporting equally fresh and energetic expressions. I thought I fit in with the tattered soldiers pretty well—small rips in the uniform, dirt everywhere, exhausted demeanor and a bit of blood as a bonus.

I walked up to a soldier who was sharpening his sword. "Excuse me, can you tell me what our assignments are?" I asked, lowering my voice slightly. I spoke carefully—the only other native Japanese speakers I had spoken to were my teacher and Uchiha Sasuke.

"We're just gathering the troops together," the soldier responded easily. (Take that, Lee! My Japanese was flawless. Good enough that commoners wouldn't notice an accent, anyhow.) "Major Haroku's troops are trickling in after their successful ambush yesterday."

Ah. Haroku. So that was the man responsible for killing my father…I would find him, and take his life in return. My hands clenched into fists as the memory of yesterday's battle replayed in my mind. Agonized screams, chaotic shouts…I hadn't even been able to find my father's body afterwards. Dying in battle is honorable, but death was still death.

"Who are you talking to? Another newbie?" a second man said, poking his head out of a tent. His eyes widened when he saw me, and I froze, wondering if somehow he was able to see through my disguise.

"Sir! Welcome to the Blue Camp, sir!" the man from the tent said, scrambling to attention and saluting.

"Eh?" the first soldier I had been talking to said, looking between his companion and me in confusion. His eyes trailed down to my chest (surely he wasn't looking where I thought he was. If he was, I was in trouble). "Ohh- oh shit!" He saluted quickly, a blush spreading across his face. "Captain! I meant no offense, I didn't realize—"

…of all the uniforms I could have chosen from, of course I would have chosen a major's uniform. Wait. That meant that the body I took the uniform from must have been Captain Haroku, the leader of yesterday's ambush! A little blossom of satisfaction mixed with disgust bloomed in my stomach.

"—I'm really honestly sorry, I was looking at my blade, you see, I—" the first man was still babbling, looking embarrassed and frightened at the same time.

"At east," I said, the unfamiliar words feeling strange on my tongue. "I was injured in the battle, so I was unable to arrive until now. Please update me on the current situation." I was at a loss for what to do, now that my original plan—hide amongst the many soldiers, steal the military plans, return to the closest Chinese unit—was kind of ruined. Curse those little dangly bits of metal hanging off my shirt. Perhaps…what were the chances that I could find an ordinary uniform without anybody noticing?

My musings were broken when I saw people around me saluting. Who were they saluting to? Looking around, I spotted a single figure walking in my direction. He had the strangest eyes—they were white, like a blind man's. But unless he had magical sensors, he didn't seem to be—oh wait! I squinted to count the bits of metal he had on his chest, and then looked down to count how many I had. Not as many as he did, it appeared. I snapped a sloppy salut just as he stopped in front of me.

"At ease," he said, his voice low and smooth. "I don't believe we've met before. You are Captain Haroku, correct?"

"Ah-yes, sir," I replied, mind racing. What if he expected me to know his rank? All I could tell was that it was higher than Captain, which still left a good number of options. Oh, wait. He was looking at me as if he expected me to continue. Maybe my name? "Captain Haroku Ten…ji. Uh, just back from yesterday's battle, sir."

"Welcome to my campsite, Captain Haroku. I am Sergeant Hyuuga Neji, of the 3rd division." He held out his hand to shake, and I took it. Sergeant Hyuuga had a firm, careful handshake. "Congratulations on your victory yesterday. From what I hear, it was a well-planned and well-executed attack."

"Thank you, sir," I said, forcing my scowl into a polite smile.

"You have very well-trained troops, too—they joined us in an orderly fashion, and meshed perfectly with the men already here, though their captain was not here to direct them," he said pointedly.

"My apologies, sir," I replied, ducking my head slightly. "I was injured in the battle and I'm afraid my men must have thought that I was killed. I had given them orders and directions to promptly come here after the battle. We were on our way here to begin with, and I only took the opportunity to execute an ambush after I noticed the Chinese forces."

"Ah," Sergeant Hyuuga said. "In that case, I am glad that you did not die in battle. Thank you for joining us." He paused. "To be honest, I expected you to be older."

"You're pretty young yourself, sir," I said, the words slipping out before I could stop myself. "But, uh, that just shows your own talent," I tried to cover. I crossed my fingers and hoped he wouldn't take offense.

Sergeant Hyuuga smiled. "I think you'll fit in well with the rest of the command staff here. Please come with me, we're going over our plans for the next few weeks."

I followed him through the tents, not really wanting to meet more officers but not really having a choice either. It looked as if I was to play a different role than I imagined… The campsite was set up in a very orderly fashion—neat row after row of identical tents. I thought of the campsites I had been in previously—basically a circular blob of tents vaguely centered around the command tent, with the chef's area more or less on the opposite end of the blob from the latrines.

The Japanese camp felt relaxed, yet energetic. There were soldiers sleeping, eating, and patching their clothes…leisurely talking with their companions. Even the soldiers who had clearly fought in a battle were smiling, conversing with the people around them. The atmosphere was not exhausted, the way I had grown accustomed to those of war camps being. These men were full of patriotism and excitement, but only because they had yet to taste defeat.

I was in a fairly dark mood when we arrived at the command tent, an unassuming tent like all the other ones except for the Japanese flag and 3rd division banner planted next to the opening. Sergeant Hyuuga ducked under the flap, and I tentatively followed him in.

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative darkness of the tent. There was a map on a table in the center, with small moveable pieces on it. The locations of all the Japanese troops! I made a mental note to memorize the information as quickly as possible. There were five cushions around the table with the map, and a rolled-up futon in the back—wait, no, that was a person.

"Shikamaru!" Sergeant Hyuuga said sternly, frowning at the rolled-up futon.

"Wha—oh. Neji." The futon sat up, not bothering to hide a wide-mouthed yawn. "I finished the paperwork you asked me to do, as troublesome as it was," he said, patting a pile of scrolls next to him. It was then that he noticed me, and looked at me curiously.

"Who are you?" he asked, not sounding all that interested.

I quickly counted his medals—uh, more than 'mine'. "Captain Haroku Tenji, sir," I said, saluting (a better salute than the one I gave the sergeant. What can I say, I learn quickly.)

"Pah, stop with that saluting stuff," the man/futon said.

"This is Colonel Nara Shikamaru," Sergeant Hyuuga said, gesturing to the futon-man. "He's my best strategist."

"Pleased to meet you, Colonel Nara. Was it you who planned the Battle of Qiyong?" I asked, the name Nara sounding vaguely familiar.

"Just call me Shikamaru. Uh…no, that was my dad," Shikamaru said, frowning slightly. "Do I look that old to you?"

A blonde soldier burst into the tent, saving me from answering. "Hahah!" the blonde yelled, a triumphant grin on his face, "I win!"

"Naruto you cheater!" a soldier with red markings on his cheeks said, huffing as he ducked under the tent flap to enter. His breaths came in short puffs as he said angrily, "I demand a rematch!"

"Ha, ha, you sore loser," the blonde said, dancing around the table. "Admit that I'm just a faster runner, Kiba."

To my side, Sergeant Hyuuga sighed quietly. "Uzumaki. Inuzuka. This is Captain Haroku Tenji. He will be joining the 3rd Division until our construction is complete," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I tensed, surprised by the contact.

"Ehhh?" the blonde (Naruto?) said, somehow suddenly right in my face. I stepped back involuntarily as he peered at me curiously, coming a little too close for comfort. "Nice to meet ya!" he beamed, grinning. "Captain Uzumaki Naruto, at your service. Call me Naruto." He paused. "Hey, can I call you Tenji?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, taken aback by this overexcitable fellow who was definitely standing too close.

"Oh, don't mind him," the soldier with the red facial markings drawled, slinging an arm over my shoulders. What was with these people and the lack of respect for personal space? "I'm Captain Inuzuka Kiba. Kiba is fine. Hey, you just came back from the ambush, right? I heard all about it, good job. You really sent those Chinese running."

I grimace-smiled in response. "Thank you. It was a simple matter of striking when their guard was down—they didn't see us until we were practically on top of them." I sighed mentally at how depressingly true that was.

"Aw, so humble," Kiba cooed. I caught a glimpse of sharp canines as he grinned; combined with the red triangular markings, the man looked quite feral.

"Alright, stop scaring Captain Haroku. You two," Sergeant Hyuuga said, glaring at Naruto and Kiba, "are late. Take a seat." Sergeant Hyuuga turned his strange white gaze to me. "I'm sure you know about the construction projects. The Third Division, which is us, is responsible for the construction and protection of a military base. Our base is the "blue" military base. "Green," the naval base, and "red," the other military base, are already being built by other divisions.

Why, thank you Sergeant, for telling me all of this. Now, if you could kindly point out the locations of these bases…

"As we start building, our teams will definitely come under attack by Chinese forces," Sergeant Hyuuga continued. He pointed to a blue marker on the map. "This is the location of the camp." I scanned the map for any green or red markers that might give away the location of the other two construction sites, but there were none.

"We're going to build the base here," Sergeant Hyuuga said, pointing to a nearby hill-like structure. "It has a good vantage point, and a small river runs right by it."

"The problem is, China won't just sit idly by while we build bases in Korea," Shikamaru interrupted.

"So we need to make sure their forces are otherwise occupied," I said, eyes widening slightly. Sergeant Hyuuga nodded in agreement. I quietly thanked my father for teaching me some basic strategy when I was younger, and mused lightly that I was really getting into character.

"Shikamaru here came up with a plan," Kiba said. "He's like a plan-making magician," Kiba leaned over to whisper to me.

Sergeant Hyuuga ignored Kiba. "We will create false construction sites, so that the Chinese will not know which one is to be the actual base. And we," he gestured around the table," will launch periodic attacks upon their forces. In addition, the false construction sites will be filled with traps and explosives, so that if they 'break through' our guarding forces, our fake base will take out a good number of their soldiers, too."

"Haroku, you will lead the scouting and information-gathering missions. I want you to keep track of their locations, numbers, and activities," the sergeant ordered. "I read about some of your past missions, and it seems that you excel at leading scouting groups."

"I won't disappoint you, sir," I said, hoping to myself that he wouldn't ask me about any of 'my' past missions, because I certainly didn't know anything about them.

"If you can identify their commanding officers, that would be great too," Shikamaru added. "Some of the older officers use very predictable tactics."

"Uzumaki. You'll lead the attacking force. I want you to keep the enemy troops in constant fear of attack. Be unpredictable," Sergeant Hyuuga smiled wryly, "as you always are."

"You can count on me!" Naruto chirped, pumping his fist into the air. "I'm all fired up!" (1)

"Inuzuka. You are in charge of guarding the actual construction site. You know what to do: make it look like the other ones, hide the activity as well as you can, and be prepared for a real attack at any time. You are also in charge of the construction itself," Sergeant Hyuuga said, nodding to Kiba.

"Got it, Hyuuga," Kiba replied, smirking.

"And Shikamaru, you will take care of our three false construction sites," Sergeant Hyuuga said, pointing at the positions of the false bases on the map. I tried my best to remember the locations.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered in response, but nodded at his orders.

"I want an update on progress and plans every three days," Hyuuga finished, standing up from his seat cushion. His long black hair, tied loosely at the ends, swung to the side. "If you'll excuse me, it's about time for today's training exercise. I'll let you work on your plans today, but afterwards you should be joining everyone else for training."

After Sergeant Hyuuga left the tent, there was a brief silent pause before Shikamaru yawned, turned away from us, and lay down on the ground.

"Hahah, the piggy is going back to sleep," Naruto said, laughing. "In case you haven't noticed already, Shikamaru here is a lazy-ass."

"If you guys are going to be noisy, go outside to do it," Shikamaru muttered.

"Hey! I'm not noisy!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up indignantly.

"Shh…loud…" Shikamaru said, his voice fading into a soft snore. Much to my amazement, the man had actually fallen asleep just like that.

"Let's leave sleeping beauty to his laziness," Kiba said, rolling his eyes. "Do you want me to show you around camp?"

"That would be great," I replied, smiling. These commanding officers were very friendly—and it looked like none of them suspected a thing.

As Kiba and Naruto pointed out the various parts of camp, I thought about how casual everyone one. There was certainly a sense of order and discipline amongst the ordinary soldiers, but Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru and even Hyuuga seemed to be very comfortable around each other. I watched as Naruto laughed at one of his soldier's jokes, and Kiba stopped to chat to a soldier who was injured. Maybe it was their cheeriness that gave the camp its sense of energy and motivation.

(1) Yes, "I'm all fired up" is a Fairy Tail reference. Natsu and Naruto kind of look similar. It's eerie.

A/N: Thanks for reading, guys! The reviews were really encouraging. Also, there's a logical problem in my story I didn't really bother fixing—how come none of Captain Haroku's troops recognize her as a fraud? Let's just say that Captain Haroku liked to wear masks, so nobody ever saw his face before. Or, if you can think of a better explanation, please share it with me XD

I also didn't re-read it after I typed it, so let me know if there are any mistakes.


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Naruto, Adventure, Romance