The Start of the War.

Zabuza was overlooking the flat grass landscape in front of him, it was covered almost entirely by tents.

Hundreds of masked people were running around, preparing for war, positioning themselves and organizing squads.

Around the camps, thousands of priests and volunteers were building pyres and waiting.

The Order of The Watcher was mobilizing, it was a weird feeling, he remembered seeing a rag tag group storming Gatō's compound, killing their way through.

And now here they were, an entire army mobilizing, ready to crush a Hidden Village.

A small one, but still.

What progress, and he was at the center of it all.

As he was contemplating the situation, Haruka stepped up behind him.

"Hello Zabuza, how are you doing?" She greeted softly, a warm smile on her face, but he could see she was worried.

Zabuza let out a grunt.

"I'm fine." He reassured. "You shouldn't be so nervous, this is what the Military Wing exists for, we won't fail."

She looked away from him, her gaze scanning over the battlefield-to-be.

"But people will die." She said quietly.

"But people will die." He agreed. "That's what war is, it can't be helped."

Haruka's expression soured, but if she was looking for pretty words she could look elsewhere, Zabuza did not sugarcoat things.

She was the one who was the most troubled about war, Kazuo was an old dog, one who already had his fair share of battles, and Hikari had a cold practicality that meant she did not shy away from necessary violence.

Even Kenji, the goofy man that he was, would gladly cut down The Watchers enemies, a true fanatic in his own right.

Zabuza himself was a killer, deep down to his core, he lived and breathed violence in a way the others never would, but Haruka was different.

She understood it, but she didn't like it, she was not a fighter by nature.

"How are things going?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"We are just waiting for the Crows to come back, once the enemy positions are confirmed, we will start." He answered gruffly. "Don't worry too much, with The Watcher high above us, victory is certain."

Haruka smiled at his reassurance, and they sat together quietly for a while.

"Did you know Hikari filled Haku as Haku Momochi in the registry?" She suddenly asked.

"What?" Zabuza responded, genuinely bewildered.

"She said you were refusing to fill out the forms, so she did it instead." Haruka continued calmly, but he could hear the amusement in her voice.

Zabuza grumbled under his breath.

"Don't be too angry, she said that Haku smiled when she told him about it." Haruka teased gently.

He snorted. Whatever, if Haku liked it, then he could be a Momochi, who cares?

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway."

Haruka didn't make a sound, but he felt like she was laughing at him anyway.

***

A FEW HOURS LATER

A crow cawed loudly as it flew down from the sky, landing on top of a nearby rock.

"It is I, Yami, I bring the ruinous tidings that the time is nigh!" The Crow said loudly. "My brethren fly from far and wide to deliver our enemies doom!"

Zabuza stared blankly, it was best to let him get it out of his system, getting any of the three brothers to stop being dramatic was an exercise in futility.

Getting them to shut up would only make them twice as annoying later.

"Cold, bitter hatred shall descend upon them like a hungry wolf! And then, only then will their sins be cleansed in the blood they shed!" His voice echoed ominously across the open plains.

"They could never hide their misbegotten souls from our gaze! For our eyes were forged by despair, tempered by pain and sharpened with purpose! Their futile effo-"

Zabuza grabbed the crow's beak, shutting him up.

"The positions are confirmed?" He asked.

Yami glared at him in annoyance, but once Zabuza started squeezing tighter, Yami relented and nodded his head quickly.

He released the bird.

"Good." Zabuza turned and walked over to a tent, grabbing a horn resting on a table and raising it to his lips.

The sound of the horn echoed throughout the plains, causing people to scramble and get ready. A few minutes later, another horn sounded, then another, and another, Zabuza counted each one.

"... and that's 7."

He raised the horn to his lips again and blew. This time, twice in quick succession.

***

As the signal was given to move out, a thousand Priests and Worshipers, men and women alike, began to pray together. Pyres were lit, offerings burned, and incantations recited. The Military Wing members watched on with silent determination as their brethren performed these sacred rites.

The sky grew unnaturally dark, and soon enough, the only light visible was the glow of the pyres. A low hum filled the air, growing louder and louder until it was almost deafening. As they watched, countless stars started igniting, filling the void-like sky.

Something massive moved, hidden behind the stars, a pair of arms reached out from the depths of the starry night, grabbing reality itself and slowly pulling the sky sideways, the very stars themselves moving with the motion.

But the sky did not fade into the horizon, instead it poured onto the ground, within a second, the once empty grass plains were covered in shimmering darkness.

Hundreds of feet started sinking into it, disappearing beneath the surface, until finally, the last person was gone.

Only then did everything snap back to its original state, leaving the Priests and Worshipers standing alone, under a shining sun.

The prayers did not stop for hours.

***

IN THE LAND OF SOUND

The sky was overcast, gray clouds hung overhead.

Sando was scratching at his skin, slightly blue blood leaking out from his scabs, his mood sour. He hated guard duty, and the constant itchiness wasn't helping, but this was supposed to be temporary, both the guard duty and the itch.

Just a few more weeks, and then his treatment would be complete, he would be stronger, faster, better in every way.

A sudden hunger for meat filled him, but Sando ignored it as best as he could, guess he was hungrier than he thought, but lunchtime was still a few hours away.

As he looked around the camp with bored eyes, something caught his attention, in the distance.

He squinted, trying to make out what was happening, was the ground... darker?

His mind struggled to process what he was seeing. It was like the ground was being eaten by darkness, spreading at an unnaturally rapid pace. And then he saw them – people emerging from the darkness, each one wearing a featureless white mask.

Around them, tents and temporary fortifications began to rise, within half a minute, he was no longer looking at open ground, instead there stood a fully-fledged war camp right in front of the entrance of Otogakure.

"What the fuck?" He mumbled, baffled.

But he snapped out of it when he remembered his job.

"Sound the alarm!" He screamed as loudly as he could, turning towards the gate. "SOUND THE ALARM! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

Someone must have heard him, because the alarm bells started ringing, Shinobi streamed out of the entrances like a swarm of bees from their hive.

The sound of commands being called out and hundreds of feet hitting the ground filled his ears. He turned around to look at the battlefield, only to see a giant monstrosity staring back at him.

It was massive, easily 3 meters tall, covered in feathers and three shining golden eyes crowning its head.

Its beak opened, white flames flickering from its throat, before it spat out a white beam.

It hit a squad that was rushing out of the gates, the explosion engulfed half of them in white flame, only the Jōnin managed to react quickly enough to avoid the blast.

The war had started.