NARUTO SI: A Burdened Soul (Elder Brother to Itachi SI)

Chapter 12

SHIKAKU NARA

War was a game of moving pieces, and Konoha seemed to be running out of them quickly. With Kumo and Iwa, each was now preparing to mount massive offensives against the village and Konoha found itself in a precarious situation being forced to defend both with limited manpower, and that was not even the worst of it.

Because Kiri's forces were also harassing them from the opposite direction, and so it was as if all that could go wrong was going wrong.

And as the commander of one of the Northern fronts, it was his job to hold the line, to repel if not whether the storm headed their way, and to accomplish this herculean task, the village had sent him one of its premiere shinobi. The prized student of Lord Hiruzen himself, the snake Sanin, and joining him was none other than the rising star of the Uchiha clan, at least the one that lived.

Uchiha Izuna.

He had been surprised by the boy's addition to the unit, but it was a blessing in a way, not for his skill, which had been praised by the Hokage-sama himself, then because of his utility as a fuinjutsu master.

"I believe our situation is rather dire here," he began as he briefed the now-in-command, Sanin, who was eyeing the map. The young Uchiha chunin stood beside him, having been invited to the war room by the Snake Sanin for some reason.

It is not that Shikaku minded or cared if the boy proved himself to be useful.

"Kumo is yet to launch its offensive, but it has been constantly harassing our lines for months now. Their aim is to whittle down and exhaust our numbers and make us useless against the major offensive they have planned," and right now, they were playing the game by their rules.

Or, actually, they were barely playing.

"We have traps set all across the region, but they often use gureilla tactics and attack at a single point with a quick push, wreak havoc, kill whomever they can and then retreat before we can mount an offensive," he explained as he circled the defensive line and saw the Snake Sanin nod.

"That is callous but smart of them," and Shikaku nodded.

"I have responded by shifting the line and pulling back the center while shifting what remained of our traps to the flanks," and it had been effective, but there were still losses, and sheer vigilance required made it so that his men were exhausted.

"I see. That is smart of you, Shikaku-kun," the Sanin complimented him.

"Who is leading the attack?" the man asked.

"Most skirmishes are led by a jounin. If we try to counter against them with our own elites they simply overwhelm the rest of the line with sheer numbers," and that was Kumo's advance, for while they may lack the sheer number of S-ranked nin Konoha had, their ranks were filled with average, B-ranked ninjas that could be rather troublesome.

"It is troublesome indeed," the Sanin added as he rubbed his chin.

"If we are to repel or even face the massive offensive that is to come our way, then the men need rest, and we need to cut down on our casualties," Shikaku added, and that was where he came in.

"From what I can see, our preparations to wither out any major offensive are severely lacking," and Shikaku nodded.

"Then I believe we have no choice but to return the favor and harass them just as they have been doing to us," and that was a novel idea. A bold idea, as one should have expected of a Sanin such as him.

"We will need to draw them further in. Force them to extend their lines so that a few of us can get behind them and attack their supplies and camps and delay the offensive we are not yet ready to face," the man's eyes gleamed at the plan, and Shikaku could think of only one man who would lead such a mission.

"I believe you would wish to lead the offensive," he asked, and the man nodded.

"Indeed, I doubt anyone here could do that," but at that, his eyes turned towards the chunin beside him, who was still eyeing the map.

"Do you have anything to add, Izuna-kun," the man asked the young chunin, who raised a brow before he did begin.

"We will need bait to draw them in. I believe the presence of a Sanin, especially you, would make them more cautious. So, I offer that we offer me as bait," and Shikaku knew that he was going to have a headache as soon as he saw the gleam in those slit-like eyes.

"Ahh, what an idea!" the golden-eyed sanin prasied as the young Uchiha clan heir turned to look at him.

"The plan is very risky, we could take more casualties during their assault rendering it all futile," Shikaku became the devil's advocate, but the Snake-sanin smiled as he chuckled.

"I have just the shinobi in mind for that," and he raised a brow as the man turned towards the young Uchiha once more.

"I believe your specialty will be quite useful in this terrain," the man said, and the boy's eyes widened as he nodded.

"I will need time to make preparations and ink. A lot of ink, and we will need to prepare contingencies as well," the boy said and the snake sanin nodded.

"That will all be taken care of," as he turned that gaze towards him.

"Of course, but I would still like to know the specifics of this plan..." and so he was told the specifics, and though it loathed him to burden a young eight-year-old chunin with so much, it was their only shot at turning the tides here at the Northern front.

"I am going to go and assess the front lines. Izuna-kun stay back, and rest. I believe you will be very busy after tonight," and with that, the Snake-sanin left the command tent, leaving him alone with an eight-year-old.

"Izuna," he called out the boy's name, and the young Uchiha turned to face him.

"Yes, commander Shikaku," he spoke sharply as he looked over the child. And though it did not show on his face, he was not dead to the stories, about how his team had been killed by Kumo nin.

Though the boy did not show it, he knew how such a thing could make the boy bury a grudge deep down.

"Are you sure you can do this?" he asked again, and the boy seemed surprised by his question.

"Yes, you need not worry about me. I will be just fine," and in that case, there was little he could do except try and look after the boy in any way he could.

"You are exempt from any other duties until you have set your traps," he commanded for that was their only hope of turning the tides of this battle.

"As you say, lord commander..." and with that, the boy left the office. Shikau plopped down on his chair, his mind racing as he thought of the Hokage-sama's reasoning behind dispatching the boy to this front.

"How shrewd of him," he whispered. He turned to a map with a sigh, picked up a pencil, and began to draw out their fortifications.

"What a drag!" he sighed as he began to plot out all the patterns of Kumo's previous attacks so that he could use them to predict the most likely hit areas.

"I cannot let a kid outshine me, now can I...."

After all, he was Konoha's premiere commander for a reason.

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OBITO UCHIHA

After Uchiha Brat's departure, team seven was back to its original complement of four, though their sensei was being overtly harsh on them for the upcoming chunin exams.

Obito himself was rather motivated to pass the exam so that he could become a chunin. The news that Uchiha Izuna had made chunin at just eight years old had caused quite a stir, especially given what he had gone through, and now the village was once more rife with talk about the potential Uchiha prodigy.

And as Obito lay there bruised and battered after a usual spar with Kakashi, he found himself rather frustrated at how easily his up-jumped teammate had beaten him, though he was more irritated by the fact that Izuna had managed to face Kakashi on an even footing despite being a couple of years younger than him.

"That was good, Obito-kun," sensei praised him as Obito smiled, and jumped back to his feet.

"That was nothing. Soon enough, when I get my sharingan. I am going to blow you out of the way Kakashi," he challenged while his teammate simply rolled his eyes.

"Keep dreaming, you dunce," and he frowned at that.

"Hey, don't ignore me, you brat. I am going to be a Hokage, you understand. I am going to be a Hokage," he announced his dream, for he knew that only by becoming a kage could he deserve and get the attention of the girl he liked.

"Rin-kun, why don't you patch him up," sensei called out as Obito turned to face their other teammate, who was sitting beside a tree with a book plopped out infront of her.

"Yes, sensei," Obito grinned. He made a face at Kakashi and walked towards the brown-haired girl with a smile.

"There is no need for that. I am actually quite fine," he tried to play it cool even though he was sure that he had bruised a couple of his ribs and had suffered a rather nasty fall.

"Just sit here," she spoke forcefully, and Obito obeyed as a dutiful teammate, as he saw her put together her hands in a ram seal before she put forward her hand, which now gleamed with a greenish hue as she passed it over his body.

"Wow! You can use iryo-ninjutsu now," he gasped in awe as he saw her hand move over her body. Rin smiled, making his heart skip a day.

"Yes, it is just the basics. But now I can use iryo-ninjutsu," she said, and then she began to heal his ribs. Obito could feel his pain lessen by the second as his eyes landed on the notebook beside her.

"What were you reading?" he asked as he picked it up and saw her face redden.

"Izuna-kun gave it to me. These were his notes from the time when he first began to learn iryo-ninjutsu," and Obito was surprised by that name and hurt more so by the reverence and attitude with which Rin had taken it.

"Honestly, I am older than him, and yet, even still, I can hardly believe that someone half my age wrote some of it," she spoke hesitantly.

"Nah. You shouldn't worry too much. He is not that special," for he could accept Kakashi being better than him, and yet seeing Izuna Uchiha go beyond his reach did not sit right with him. The boy was born with everything, loving parents, the best lineage, money and so forth.

Compared to him, even Kakashi was a peasant, especially since he had been shunned by the village for his father's actions. Izuna Uchiha, on the other hand, had always faced adoration from the village and the clan. He had achieved the very thing—acceptance which he desired for all his life, by doing nothing but through his special birth.

"He is actually," Rin denied the accusation as she frowned at him,

"He is already a chunin. His notes just show how hard he worked, and they say he is on track to becoming the youngest jounin," she spoke with adoration.

"Compared to him, I am nothing," and if that was what she thought of herself, then where was he?

"I think I am fine now," he said as he rose up, much to her surprise.

"But I am not done yet," she called after him, but he just smiled and waved it away.

"I am fine, plus. I think there is enough time to squeeze out another spar," and with that, he turned back and called out Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi," he called out to his rival, for he knew that only he could help him climb this great mountain that was in his way. To help him achieve what some people had been blessed with.

"You up for another spar," he challenged, and his friend raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, I just have to beat you up...."

And so, they began to dance once more and then again for days. Until it was finally the day of the chunin exams, and Obito heard his name getting called out.

'Next match'

'Obito Uchiha vs Might Guy'

'Winner Obito Uchiha!'

0000

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