BEHOLD THE BIRTH OF THE
GODS OF FIRE, PART TWO

THE ABUNDANT GROUP OF SHINOBI IN THE GATES OF KONOHA ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE SQUADRONS, ones that have the following average numbers, as Tekka had graciously relayed to Tatara and Koichi; one to two Genin Teams, a single Chuunin Team which would then boil down to an average of six Genin, two Jounin, and four Chuunin. Their own Team Fugaku━━except, Fugaku is not here so they are technically now known as Team Shishiro━━occupies the three slots for the Genin and the one slot for the Jounin. Formerly Team Akimichi, now Team Ikkaku━━who looks as if he is a member of the Nara Clan with his pony tail and his fondness for his facial hair, though notably not a goatie which Tatara finds odd━━is the other three Genins and single Jounin. Their team is completed with the Chuunin Squad Leader Mimura Hamaki and his gaggle of freshly-promoted Chuunin subordinates.

The only thing that stops Tatara from sneering in annoyance at the, in lack of better terms, patheticisn of her assigned team is the fact she at least knows that Maito Gai, according to Shishiro who is a Jounin, is better than Hatake Kakashi in Taijutsu (which she is still in doubt if true but expects that Maito Gai is at the very least, very competent in Taijutsu anyway) and the fact that one of the freshly-promoted Chuunin (and by 'fresh' she means promoted only three months prior) is a healer.

But at the same time, said healer is aggravating.

"Fugaku-sensei would not have allowed us to end up with such ... team," Tatara whispers lowly to Tekka but the warning look that Shishiro sends her says enough about her inferior abilities in comparison to a Jounin. She huffs instead of acknowledging the obvious scolding.

Tekka seems to share her distate but is much discreet in showing it with how his eyebrows creased. "Shishiro-san is at least a member of a clan," he says evenly, "and Ikkaku-san seems to be a Nara."

"He introduced himself as 'Umino'."

"Odd," the older Genin simply acknowledges.

Umino Ikkaku is as tall as most Nara and the hunched back and ponytail is one of the most prevalent things to be noticed in the appearance of a member of the Nara Clan. Using the surname 'Umino' when he is so obviously a Nara only means that he had either married out or his parents married out which Tatara knows screams 'complicated and convoluted clan politics and internal conflict that an outsider does not have to know'━━Tekka and Tatara know better not to ask about it and they hope Koichi knows the same. Shishiro will not ask too but they are unsure about the rest. If not for the cluelessness about the obvious 'strictly-clan' rule going on, then out of privacy, then━━no one will pry.

Though Tatara does not deny that she is very curious about Ikakku's situation.

But that is not Tatara's problem in her group (aside from her rather obvious distress concerning the fact that the people in her team are no-name and the fact that she has to trust these people who she knows are mediocre at best and where the hell is Fugaku, anyway) as her glare is fixed on their team's medic. Her lips twist to a scowl and even Koichi sighs upon noticing this. "Tatara━━"

"Don't 'Tatara' me," said girl hisses under her breath, "our medic hates us━━Tekka and I."

Koichi swallows nervously, having guessed that.

Their resident medic, Iyashi whose surname they do not know, has been eying the two Uchiha with apparent distaste and Tatara can guess a few reasons why; The Uchiha Clan always had three kinds of reactions being given to them━━sheer worship that come from people like Tatara's former teacher back in the Academy, neutral feelings that come from Umino Ikkaku and other Clan Shinobi, and those who dislike them for no reason. Perhaps fear and jealous, and something that Tatara does not know but what she knows is that Iyashi the Medic falls into the third category.

Their medic of all people, she thinks in irritation.

"Look," the only blond in their team says in attempt to comfort her and Tekka, "who needs a medic, anyway? You're Uchihas. If you get out of this battle with at least a mortal wound, I doubt you're real Uchihas."

Tekka and Tatara respond similarly, an annoyed expression sent to the grinning Koichi. "This is a war, Koichi. I would be surprised if I got out with anything less than a mortal wound," Tekka grunts.

"I bet Makio-san would get out without a mortal wound."

"He's a Jounin."

"What? So he's better than you? Even Iyashi-san who's a Chuunin? I didn't know rank included sensibility and━━"

"Shut up." Tekka practically attempts to hit Koichi across the face.

Tatara fumes from beside her cousin, arms crossed and glaring at the bastard of the Yamanaka Clan. "Anyone who gets at least a mortal wound gets to handle Itachi-kun the entire month," she announces, a smirk almost playing on her lips, "that includes diaper changes, feeding, and so forth."

Tekka grimaces but nods. "Agreed."

Koichi frowns for a beat. "But━━"

"But what, Koichi-san?" Tatara sneers.

"Fine."

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"KIMONO."

"No━━nori!"

A snort. "Rikiryou."

Koichi gives the older boy beside him an incredulous look, eyebrows shooting upwards. "Are you serious?" He demands before moving on when Shiranui Genma shrugs his shoulders smugly. "Ryoujin."

Shishiro sighs.

"Oh, wait━━no, I take that back━━" Koichi waves his hands in the air as a sign of distress. "Genma-san━━"

Maito Gai beams. "It seems that my dear friend Genma-kun has beat you again, Koichi-kun!" He exclaims brightly.

"It's alright, Koichi-kun," Shishiro nods, "sometimes we need to lose small battles in order to win the war."

"And who said that?"

"I don't know."

Gai remains as bright as he had been. "You truly are as wise as they all say, Shishiro-san! It is an honor to be part of the team you are in! My father gives nothing but praises to you!" He says excitedly to which Tatara rolls her eyes.

Iyashi scoffs. "And what are you rolling your eyes for, Uchiha?"

With a sneer, Tatara straightens her back. "And what about you? Are you here to pick on everything I do like some petty little boy, Iyashi-san?"

"You━━"

"Iyashi. Tatara."

Both Shinobi turn their heads towards Ikkaku's exhausted expression. "Come," he gestures softly, "now that Hamaki-kun's shiritori is done, we have to discuss what we'll have to do once we arrive to our destination. Your arguments can continue once we're in the village. For now, shut your mouths. You are Shinobi, not Academy students. You're supposed to know better."

Tatara's face turns red in embarrassment before she nods and approaches Ikkaku. To think she was told off not even a day in the mission, she thinks shamefully.

"Not so arrogant now, Uchiha?"

"Iyashi. I was talking to both of you."

The medic scowls. "Yes, I apologize, Ikkaku-san."

With a sigh, Ikkaku returns to looking at the whole group. "Before we arrive to the Land of Hot Water, we were ordered to pick up some shinobi━━at least two Chuunin and at most four━━near the Kagiri Slope. We can rest for a few hours, not more than seven, and Iyashi, we will be counting on your Medical Ninjutsu if there are any injured Shinobi. Make sure to use only the Soldier Pills in emergencies, if you really need to. Kagiri Slope is only the beginning. We need you active when we get to the Kakou Hills in the Land of Hot Water, understood?"

"Yes, Ikkaku-san."

Ebisu, one of Team Akimichi or now Team Ikkaku's members, raises his hand. "Are we going to be fighting in the Kakou Hills, Ikkaku-san?" He asks worriedly.

"No," Ikkaku answers, "the Kakou Hills will be one of the two bases Konoha will have. We can't fight in the Kakou Hills, as you know, Ebisu-kun. It's too near the Land of Rice Fields and we can't afford to pressure the Rice Fields Daimyo more, even though he's a push-over━━"

"Ikkaku," Shishiro warns.

"━━yes, yes. Anyway; the other base is in the Tou Treaty. Do you know where it is? Did you learn about it in the Academy, Tatara-kun, Koichi-kun? Or did you graduate by then? I'm sure it was established only around two years ago."

Koichi shakes his head. "We graduated by then, Ikkaku-san. It was decided around ... the Seventh Month, wasn't it?"

Ikkaku nods. "Around that time, yes. Anyway, the Tou Treaty is a few kilometers away from the border between Hot Water and Fire. If you really need to know where it is, ask the ones in the Camp. We won't be going there but it's better if you know.

"As I was saying, we will be heading to the Kagiri Slope to pick up some Shinobi and then, we will head to the Kakou Hills to receive more orders. I assume we will be heading to the Bunri Forest immediately where we will engage against Kumo. I'm sure you know what the specialties of Kumo-nin are, right? Kama-kun, answer."

One of the Chuunin under Hamaki's lead nods. "Kenjutsu and Lightning Ninjutsu," she answers dutifully.

"And what do we immediately go for when up against that? Genma-kun."

"If unable to kill on spot or overpowered by high-ranking Kumo-nin, aim for the hands in order to buy some time until the arrival of higher-ranking allies. If able, incapacitate until unable to use handseals and wield whatever weapon they have."

Ikkaku nods. "Right. It's standard procedure for any enemy-nin but we emphasize it further for Kiri-nin and Kumo-nin. Does anyone here know Kenjutsu?" He raises his own hand upon asking his question, along with Shishiro, Tatara, Tekka, and one of Hamaki's subordinates, Hayake. "Right, Clan Shinobi. Tatara-kun, Tekka-kun, how much do you know?"

Tatara and Tekka exchange glances. "Only the basics of the basic," the older of the two reports vaguely and only continues with a frown when Ikkaku rolls his eyes and tells him to elaborate further, "we were taught years ago during the first few months of graduating the Academy so we may not be of much help when it comes to Kenjutsu, Ikkaku-san. But if insisted, we can at least use it with ... acceptable efficiency." Tatara twitches at Tekka's words.

"Okay, so useless, basically," Ikkaku confirms and before the two Uchihas can protest, he moves to the other supposed Kenjutsu user in their team, "Hayake-kun, you?"

Hayake looks warily at the two Uchihas. "I was going to be the heir to my mother's Kenjutsu but ... complications occured. But I am capable of holding my own," he briefly says.

"Oh, right. You're the faulty first son," Ikkaku says and Hayake looks at him in outrage, "but I only asked to warn all of you who knows Kenjutsu to, as much as possible, avoid fighting in close-quarters or, if you're stupid, fight using Kenjutsu with a Kumo-nin. I doubt you all have the chakra control to use chakra blades like they can so don't even try it. Use long to mid-range as much as possible. Understood?" He explains. "I'm talking to you two, Uchiha, and you as well, Mato."

"Yes," the three reply unwillingly.

"Alright," Ikkaku huffs, "all of you know that Kumo has kekkei genkai grabbing tendencies. Something that was passed on among the squads was this order from both some of your Clan Heads and the Hokage━━burn all bodies. Branch member to the Hyuuga or not. We can never be too sure. Burn all corpses." The confused look from the non-clan members almost makes Tatara snicker upon the specific mentioning of the Hyuuga Clan's branch members. "I won't elaborate further. But if possible, burn all corpses. We'll be counting on everyone's Fire Ninjutsu. Kumo has this group of ... how should I say this? Robbers? Thieves?━━"

"Collectors," Shishiro sighs, "they are usually hidden while the fighting continues and retrieves the corpses of suspected and observed kekkei genkai users. If you find that you're unable to burn the corpses, at least make sure they aren't taken by those collectors. We will not give out our kekkei genkai to the enemy-nin. Now, here is another reminder; while we are going to be sent in the frontlines, we will not be sent exactly to the front. That spot is for the much more skilled and we cannot afford a confrontation with, let's say, the Sandaime Raikage's son and their Jinchuuriki. If you encounter them, flee. Especially you, Clan Shinobi. Flee. Get of your pride━━" Shishiro meets Tekka and Tatara's gazes from behind his sunglasses. "━━and run. They will defeat you and they will take your eyes. You both have the Sharingan, yes? Protect it. You may be young but they can never be too sure if you have the Sharingan or not. They will take you. Even you, Hayake, Koichi."

Koichi points at himself confusedly. "Me? But I'm not━━"

Ikkaku laughs. "Keep telling yourself that, kid. Anyone with eyes can tell that you're━━"

"Ikkaku, shut up;" Shishiro turns back to the group, "we will be repeating those warnings over and over again once we arrive to the Kagiri Hills, Kakou Slope, and the Bunri Forest. Understood?"

"Yes!"

"The watch rotations will begin with the eldest to the youngest. You'll be watching by pair. Get as much rest as you can. We will be leaving in dawn. Dismissed."

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SHIRANUI GENMA ENDS UP PARTNERED WITH THE ECCENTRIC KUDOU KOICHI. Apparently, the watch will have one oldest and one youngest and when one of the Chuunin wakes him up while Uchiha Tekka wakes up his blond Genin teammate, Genma has no idea what to think about the boy that so painfully looks too much like a Yamanaka. Ikkaku-san was right, he resists the urge to snort━━anyone with two eyes can tell that Koichi is a Yamanaka, different surname or not.

Koichi━━the little kid with eyes without pupils that is, like, one of the most prominent features of a Yamanaka, fuck━━is the only one that the two Uchiha are relatively decent towards aside from the two Jounin of their squad. Well, more decent to Shishiro than they will ever be to Ikkaku after he basically embarrassed them in front of everyone else when he literally said they were useless. Genma had to stop himself from laughing when Ikkaku shamelessly did that. You don't see an Uchiha so red with embarrassment everyday. They are always so stuck-up and always seem to have a stick up their asses.

Well, except for Obito.

But Obito is the most un-Uchiha Uchiha to ever Uchiha. So Genma doesn't really think Obito as an Uchiha most of the time.

Hell, these two kids━━Tatara and Tekka, is it?━━have the Sharingan while Obito still has no sign of ever awakening his.

"Why are you staring at Tekka and Tatara?" Koichi suddenly asks and Genma almost jumps out of his skin. Bad example of a shinobi he is, fuck. He was too lost in his thought, it seems. "Are you, like, one of those people who have an Uchiha fetish? I swear, I don't know what's better; the ones who like them way too much or hate them for some reason. So anyway, which one are you?"

That was ... Genma looks at Koichi's blabbering mouth oddly and wonders how he survived with Uchiha teammates━━traditional Uchiha, nonetheless━━with that mouth of his. "I'm neither. Thank you very much," he says.

"What? Really? That's good," Koichi shrugs, "so why were you staring at them? Hey, Genma-san, I know their parents━━I mean, grandparents, err, grandparent?━━and I'm pretty close 'n' chummy with the Clan Head and his wife so if you turn out to be someone creepy━━"

"Kami," Genma groans, "are you always this mouthy?"

"Uh━━no," Koichi admits, "I'm just ... uh, I don't know."

Genma's annoyance turns to a sympathetic look. "This your first time in the frontlines, kid?"

"Hey, you're also a kid."

"You're younger," Genma points out, "but don't worry. The frontlines' not so bad, I guess."

"You're a Genin. You've been to the frontlines?"

"No."

"Then you suck at comforting people."

Genma snorts. "Yeah, well, you're right, kid."

"Can you stop calling me that? You're also a kid. How old are you? Fifteen?"

"No," Genma looks at him in surprise, "I'm twelve."

"Ew. I'm like, nine. Well, I'm still eight but I'm going to be nine by the Eleventh Month so, I'm nine."

"No, you're eight."

"It's already the Sandaime's Thirtieth Year━━I can be nine if I want to be."

"No. You just said you're birthday's on the Eleventh Month."

"But━━"

"No, no━━just━━" Genma places both hands on his forehead, as if a headache is slowly coming to him. "How did those Uchiha not burn you alive? I'm not an Uchiha and I already want to burn you alive."

Koichi looks at the trees above them wistfully. "Now I understand why Tatara always looks like she wants to punch me whenever I say that," he shakes his head and Genma squawks, "it's okay, Genma-san, you'll understand when you get older."

This brat━━

Genma sighs and leans back against the trunk of the tree he is sitting on the branch of. He crosses his arms. "You sound so annoying, you know. Sond exactly like a Yamanaka," he complains under his breath. He blinks for a moment before cursing. "Oh, fuck━━kid━━"

"I really do, don't I, Genma-san?" Koichi sighs with a small bout of laughter. "Even Ikkaku-san said so. Anyone with two eyes can tell you're a Yamanaka. I know he was about to say that and I'm pretty sure everyone thinks so too. But who even has evidence for that? As far as the Yamanaka Clan says, I'm just that kid who looks like them━━no proof or whatsoever━━"

"Hey, are you supposed to be telling me this?" Genma asks unsurely. "Shouldn't you be, like, telling this to your team instead? And within the village? I bet you're just nervous. Really nervous. You're going to regret this once you get some sleep, kid."

Koichi snorts. "Probably but Genma-san's a bastard too so you can understand."

"What do you mean?"

The blond turns his head fully to Genma and he almost (almost because there was no way a Genin younger than him scared him a little) flinches. "Genma-san's an Anbu's bastard, right? Whoops baby from one of the missions and━━"

Genma snickers. "Where the hell did you hear that from? My parents abandoned me when I was a toddler, kid. They are just merchants," he corrects.

"I really would've believed that, Genma-san, if I didn't know of the truth. The Yamanaka Clan's gossip network works wonders, you know━━or, the bastards of the Yamanaka Clan, I guess. You're a really good liar though, Genma-san. Planning for Anbu, or something? Find something about your dad?"

Genma's joking face drops as he glares daggers at Koichi, his teeth grinding against the senbon in between his lips. "What do you want, Kudou?" He questions as evenly as he can.

Koichi grins.

"Just a bit of your time, that's all."

(Tatara's spinning red Sharingan meets Tekka's and they mirror one another's displeasure, the mild silencing Genjutsu Koichi puts over the sleeping squad easily seen through by the pinwheels in their eyes.)

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━━ i put as much canon characters as possible such as iyashi (who appeared in the chuunin exams as a medic), umino ikkaku, mimura hamaki, and team akimichi. anyway, they were playing shiritori which is a japanese game where you say a word and you continue with another word that starts with the syllable the former word ends with. you lose when you have nothing to say or the word you gave ends with an 'n'.i have no idea if you understood my explanation but i did my best. so here are the translations and uh, i would add the kanji but i'm kind of lazy right now. you don't really need the kanji, right? yes. you don't.
• kimono is a type of traditional japanese clothing.
• nori is japanese seaweed.
• rikiryou is literally ability or physical strength.
• ryoujin is hunter.

━━ my naruto worldbuilding is very shaky because i have no map to draw from so, here we go. the locations mentioned throughout this chapter are all non-canon aside from, of course, the land of hot water, the land of fire, and the land of wind. and i'm sure you can tell what the other canon places are as well. here are some brief descriptions of the mentioned non-canon places:
• the kagiri slope is a non-canonical slope (duh) near the valley of the end. due to its near location to the valley of the end and the historical significance said valley has, the kagiri slope is known for being one of the many 'outside base' of konoha when coming from a different country. injured shinobi are usually seen here, and this is usually a meeting spot of teams. [details will be further elaborated in the next chapter.] 'kagiri' is written as '限り' and literally means limit, bounds, the end, etc.
     •   the kakou hills is a non-canonical place found in the land of hot water and near the border of said country and the land of rice fields. the land of rice fields is right beyond the kakou hills. [will be further elaborated in the next chapters.] 'kakou' is written as '下降' and literally means descent, fall, decline, etc.
     •   the bunri forest is a non-canonical place found in the land of hot water which is the usual route towards the land of wind. 'bunri' is written as '分離' and literally means separation, partition, detachment, etc.
     
━━ concerning dates in the narutoverse, i find it out of place to use 'july' or 'october' or those names and i don't really know much about the traditional japanese calendar since i have plans for other cultures to be seen in this fic aside from japanese. so i used the current names for most asian countries which literally goes 'first month', 'second month', and so on, so forth. as for the years, it's going to be complicated which i expect makes sense for places that hog information so selfishly. in general, each country has a different year-system but it narrows down to '(insert daimyo)'s (year)th reign' and for hidden villages '(insert kage)'s (year)th reign' which i suppose makes sense since they need to confuse as many people as possible, right? i don't fucking know. but anyway, countries rarely interact with one another during wars but these things will be frequently mentioned throughout the fic and how merchants deal with this will also be tackled.

━━ also, while i was writing this, the title of this part was 'i fucking hate wars' because it's hard to write ... kind of. but you gotta for what you gotta do for subtle sub-plots (ahem koichi which i totally didn't plan) and character development. also, i already decided on the ending for this just recently and it made me cry a little because haha, downfall of uchiha tatara and all that shit. it wasn't really a secret that this is about tatara's ascension and her downfall. i'm kind of proud at how that plan goes. but yes, anyway, we're still going through lots of arcs, excluding those little arcs that i haven't planned (ahem koichi arc) and yes, there are still lots of things that are going to happen with tatara before her downfall. i really really really intend to finish this like around 2021 and if possible, this year. whoop. i doubt, but yes, basically. also, what do you think is koichi up to? koichi really wasn't supposed to be important and the genin arc wasn't supposed to be this long. i originally planned for it to have lots of time skips and boom, tatara is a jounin and clan politics but this happened. so we have a much longer story.