[Author's note: Since I'm terrible with personalities, the personalities can differ greatly from the originals, so I apologize in advance for those who are bothered by this. Remember, as stated in the tags, these are AUs, that is, I did this precisely so I could play around and not be so predictable. And yes, you won't be limited to just the Naruto verse, and I chose Naruto (even though it's not a verse I like very much) especially because it's a verse that you can play around with a lot. While I was writing this fic, I noticed several inconsistencies in Naruto's timeline that I normally didn't pay attention to, that's another reason why I'll use AU.]
The light of dusk that came from the moon descended upon the land of fire, most people at that moment were already asleep or were going to sleep, of course, except for the Anbu ninjas who practically never sleep and are always protecting their villages. But we won't focus on the big villages, we'll go to a small village, quite remote but close to Konoha. In the courtyard of the largest house in the small town, you could hear the sound of a sword cutting through the wind, until the sound of the sword's movement stopped, only the sound of someone panting in the night could be heard.
"Haah, haah..." A young woman could be seen panting, her chest rising and falling quickly, showing a short interval between moments when she stopped to catch her breath. In her hands was a wooden sword, her hands with some bruises from excessive training, her body was on the verge of collapse.
The wind that night that carried the breeze through her hair where it seemed as if sprinkles of gold dust had been thrown into the hair of the girl who was in her early teens, her features displayed a determined expression along with it displayed an elegance beyond the standard of this world.
From an outside view, she would seem to be just trying to catch her breath, since she was only looking ahead where there was a small forest. But in her vision, she saw a small panel of a holographic blue color that floated at least 1 meter away from the girl's face.
[Name: Alice Kosumosu
Age: 15
Model: Artoria Pendragon (Saber)]
Another smaller panel appeared in the corners of the girl's vision, in the lower left corner, which left her frustrated when she saw her progress, after all, it had been 15 years just like that and the progress was extremely slow, even if she was at a low assimilation, she would already be at least a powerhouse that surpassed Kaguya's level, even if her level was not demonstrated.
[Character Assimilation Progress: 5.4%]
Yes, this young woman was a reincarnate, not a transmigrator. She had died while studying with her boyfriend for the exam that, in her view, would define her life—a university and course exam, apparently due to extreme sleep deprivation. She clearly remembered; her eyes were so heavy that, even after drinking coffee, she couldn't keep them open and eventually closed them. When she "opened" them again, she found herself in a completely dark place, feeling the inability to draw oxygen into her lungs. Finally, after a few minutes of panic, she realized she was still a fetus, in the stages of development. Upon awakening, she had received several mini-missions from her "cheat," or as the Chinese called it, "golden finger." Having read many stories, she still found the term "golden finger" rather...illogical from her perspective.
She reached the 5% mark exactly on the day of her 13 years and 255 days; on that day, she gained one of Artoria Pendragon's crucial abilities, her Mana Burst, which tremendously enhanced all her physical attributes and allowed her to boost her damage and even propel herself. You might think this would be technically useless since magical circuits and mana would be necessary to use it, along with a certain level of mystery to make it powerful. Both factors were indeed true, but by taking Artoria's model, her physiology had changed to accommodate both chakra networks and magical circuits, and the level of mystery surrounding her surpassed that of any modern-era mage, though it was not on par with the Age of Gods.
Of course, at 0%, she had gained servant dematerialization, allowing her to be undetectable, intangible, and invisible to all. However, as far as she had tested, no one in the Naruto world could see her while she was invisible, not even sensory-type ninjas could sense her. Although this small village wasn't one of the great nations, it still had some ninjas. Of course, only one of them reached the Jounin level, while most were at the genin level, and only a handful were at the chūnin level. This place had only about 50 ninjas, who were highly few in number and proclaimed as the "guardians" of this village. The civilians held them in great respect, as they had protected them from many external threats. Even if it was just bandits without chakra ability, they were still intimidating and threatened the civilians' lives.
But you might be wondering, how did she know she was in the Naruto world? Yes, that question was valid, but it wasn't that difficult, since early in her life, she had already heard about the great ninja nations and their lands while completing missions given by the system. The system had given her a mission she was extremely reluctant to take, which was...
[Mission - Rank EX: Create a prosperous and peaceful kingdom.
Time Limit: Before Canon Begins/17 Years
Reward: 50% Assimilation of Artoria's Model + New Model, Series: Shinza Banshō
Failure Penalty: The death of her current life]
Upon reviewing this, not even Alice believed the system could adapt the levels and powers of Shinza's gods for her to use, as the gods embody their own desires, and this would cause the gods to revive if their law still existed, even in a small amount. This was shown when Hajun used the throne's memories, as it was said that the memories were crying and later urged them to defeat Hajun. Yes, Shinza was one of her favorite works.
Feeling her magical circuits at their limit, which was why she was on the verge of collapse, she let herself fall backward, lying face-down on the ground. The sensation of the grass touching her skin was pleasant, as it was a bit cold due to the night. She looked at the starry sky; it was so beautiful, and she even saw a shooting star streak across the sky and atmosphere, but like any shooting star, it disintegrated in the air.
She extended her right hand toward the stars and spoke. "I... will survive and raise my own Camelot in this world!" Her voice was loud, but she sensed no one within 25 meters, so there was no need for her to speak mentally; even if someone heard, she wouldn't let them live. She looked more closely at the moon, realizing, with extreme knowledge, that it was around 4 a.m.
Her emerald eyes shone and burned like a furious flame of determination as she stood up again with some difficulty, using her wooden sword as support. She felt her magical circuits practically burning, but now she ignored it and walked to one of the trees in front of her, leaning against that large tree to rest.
'The question here is... where should I start? Gaining influence?' Alice mentally asked herself, lifting her head to feel the night breeze brush against her hair and touch her skin, the feeling of refreshment giving her a certain level of pleasure.
Closing her eyelids, entering a state of deep thought... she knew she would face many challenges in her path to achieve hegemony in this world—not in power, but in influence and creating her own Camelot. The wind carried the breeze, making her golden hair move in rhythm with the leaves of the trees.
The region's geography was marked by a mountain range surrounding the small village, offering it a natural defense. These mountains, rising about 71 km away, formed a natural barrier, protecting the village from potential external threats. Closer to the village stretched a vibrant forest full of life, with sturdy trees standing tall and small animals finding refuge in its branches and shadows. Crystal-clear streams meandered through the woods, cutting through the vegetation in several spots, bringing freshness to the landscape.
After several hours, she got up and walked towards the big house. When she passed through the door, she saw an entire structure made of refined white wood. The entrance floor was made of refined dark wood, giving a good contrast to the light walls. She moved to the kitchen and in the center she saw a 75-centimeter square table with chairs made of dark brown wood. The lights in the house were off, since Alice's entire family was currently asleep, but since she has the physiology of a servant, she doesn't need things like sleep, even if she can do it. She looked at the refrigerator, approached it and opened it slowly. The first thing she saw was some rabbit meat from last night that was being preserved by the low temperature. Just remembering the smell that came from the rabbit meat made Alice's mouth water, but that was natural. After all, she took on some characteristics from her models, even if they were minimal. However, she restrained herself and suddenly became invisible, passing through the wall of the house, she moved in an instant to the forest on the other side of the small village, when she reached that side, a sound beeped in her head and before her eyes, a translucent blue panel appeared with words that made her heart jump and tremble.
[Mission - Rank E++: Beast Bandits intend to capture and sell all the civilians in the Village tonight, kill them all before the "guardians" act.
Time Limit: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes
Reward: +0.6% Assimilation of Artoria's Model + High-Quality Metal Sword (Quality: E++) European Style
Penalty for failure: None]
Her heart trembled because this would be the first time she had killed, this was not a story where you read and disapproved of the character who was paralyzed by the trauma of killing, this here is her reality, people are not mere fictional characters, now, this was Alice's reality.
Gathering her courage, she closed her eyes and with her senses extremely sharp from years of training and her servant physiology, she heard very faint sounds, but they were certainly conversations coming from the forest. And they were voices she didn't recognize, so, in her spiritual mode, she advanced beyond the speed of lightning, and in a few moments she found herself in front of a cave.
The first thing she saw were two torches made of rudimentary dark-colored wood that were on either side of the entrance to that cave. With one step, she was already inside, the air was a little humid, but inside there were several torches, even the dirty smell of animals could be felt in the air of the place. As she continued to enter, soon after a scream along with heartbreaking wails echoed through the cave.
"STOP CRYING, YOU SCUM!" Alice had arrived at the scene, still invisible, and saw the person who uttered such words. He was a tall man, 1 meter and 90 centimeters tall. His muscles stood out, his skin was brown, and his veins stood out on his arms as he whipped a man who seemed to be standing on something and protecting that something. Looking closer, she saw a small girl, who didn't seem to be older than 5 years old, crying loudly and incessantly.
The man who was protecting the child was trapped in a cage measuring 1 meter by 1 meter, but the size of the spaces between the black bars allowed the whip to hit the man with all its force. His back was bleeding and his skin was torn. The whip, because of its size of 70 centimeters, allowed it to have an enormous force at its tip, as it broke the sound barrier. Even so, the man protecting the child did not scream in pain, which was surprising for an ordinary civilian.
From the strength this man displayed, Alice calculated that this giant only had the physical strength of a tall genin at best. His muscles tensed and he lowered his hand, making the whip make a blood-curdling crack. This blow hit the already torn back of the caged civilian squarely, the smell of blood beginning to infest the room.
"Yo! Stop hitting the merchandise so much, it will make the price go down!" A loud voice spoke, but not loud enough to be considered a scream, a person who entered the place through a wooden door on the other side of the room. Even if for a moment, Alice could see several wild animals that seemed to be guarding several cages that were presumably other "merchandise", as this man called them.
"Y-Yes, Sir!" The burly man quickly bowed to the boss. The boss's appearance was more "elegant" than the other man's, his clothes were those of a high-class person, it was like a nobleman doing his business. The "boss's" gaze was a somewhat stern gaze that looked at his servant.
The room was silent for a while, until the door opened again and 18 more "servants" came out after the "nobleman" shouted "meeting!", all of them were gathered together as they discussed a plan to take over the small village. They began talking about how they would abuse the women in front of their men and how they would torture the children who were not sold within 30 days, apparently the goods that were not sold within 30 days would be considered disposable.
Unable to listen to this conversation any longer, Alice grabbed her wooden sword, raising it to the left while holding it with both hands and appearing in their blind spot, using her Mana Burst added to her own speed, she passed her wooden sword whose edge seemed to be non-existent, but in her hands, even a blunt weapon seemed cold and—
The taller man's head was detached from his shoulders, blood gushed all over the place, Alice found herself in the center of them with her wooden sword with the bandit's blood. Her gaze was serious, and she maintained her composure on the outside, but inside, she was a complete mess, she felt her stomach churn after seeing the body of the burly man without his head, his head rolling across the ground and his body falling to the ground with a deafening thud.
Everyone stiffened on the spot, but with screams, they quickly responded and attacked the young woman with their weapons. The first one to go was the one in front of her, which Alice easily dodged by leaning her body to the right, but she realized that there was a purple liquid on that blade, it was poison. Before the others could complete their movements, Alice took advantage of the fact that the blade of the man in front of her was on the ground and stepped hard on the sword, forcing it and pinning it to the ground and swung her wooden sword at a speed that affirmed the others... another decapitation.
When the other weapons were about to hit her at an angle that was impossible to dodge, she disappeared before their eyes and reappeared behind her. 3 of those on the left of the boss were quickly cut in half. The sound of their bones being cut by that blunt blade was chilling, but before they could think of a counterattack or even despair, Alice moved her blade from left to right at a horizontal angle and used her extreme strength to create a cut in the air, moving her body in a circular shape. All the beast bandits were killed in an instant by young Alice. Their bodies were scattered on the ground, the smell of blood permeated the air and their bodies fell to the ground.
After a few seconds, Alice looked and saw that apart from the two people who were in that cage in that room, there was no one else in that room. She moved and forced the iron bars, bending the iron bars with extreme ease and reaching out her hands to that injured man and to the child, who looked at this 15-year-old boy with wide eyes and open mouths in surprise. Both were surprised, but their eyes sparkled.
"Thank you very much, miss, saving me and my daughter!" The man, seeing better now, had short black hair as expected, the back of his clothes were completely torn from the whip, he knelt down in respect to Alice, who was a little confused by this action, after all, she had only managed to save them out of convenience. Of course, she would save them even if she didn't receive the mission. "And my name is Ziggura."
"I will take care of the others, so please wait outside." Alice said and walked to that door. Ziggura didn't have time to ask the young woman's name because when he was going to ask, she was already inside the other room. All he could hear was the sound of animals screaming in pain and the sound of bones being broken. After a few seconds, more than 50 people left the place, in order after Alice had made them calm down. 10 minutes later, everyone was outside the cave. Most of the people (the 50) were wearing worn, ragged and dirty clothes.
"Thank you very much for saving our lives, I speak for everyone, we will be eternally grateful!" said an old man, who appeared to be in his 90s, he seemed to be the most crazy of all, his clothes showed that he was the person who had been in that "store" the longest, several bruises, his white hair was messy and his clothes were dirty, making him look deplorable.
Alice smiled sweetly at all these people in front of her, as if it were people from her own people, it was as if she saw people she knew and had helped them in difficult times. Her gaze turned to Ziggura, to be more specific, to the man's right leg. She saw a small child with white hair, white skin and big red eyes standing behind Ziggura's leg, she timidly came out from behind her father's right leg and walked towards Alice, who crouched down to the little girl's height.
"What is your dream, little one?" Alice asked with a gentle smile on her face as she looked at the child who seemed to ponder for a few seconds before her dream left her little lips.
"I want to be a strong kunoichi like you!" She exclaimed with a glint of admiration in her eyes, she looked deep into Alice's eyes with determination in wanting to reach the level that her savior showed her. She never thought before that she could never become a strong person because of the words of her relatives, but seeing Alice massacre all the bad people, a new path opened up for her.
"Fuhuhahaha… I'm not a kunoichi." Alice laughed lightly, she would start to gain influence here, with these people. And because she saved them, they would probably also be curious about what she was, after all, if it wasn't a common thing in this world that would be ninjas, what would she be?
"So… what are you?" The little girl asked curiously, after all, she had already heard from her father about the concept of ninjas, he even explained this concept to her, they were people with extraordinary abilities that defied common sense and surpassed civilians and anyone who did not have chakra.
Of course, many people do not know that there is a difference when physical and mental forces are separated and chakra, because both energies (physical and mental) occur and converge to join together. So, all living beings in this world had chakra (that is why they were affected by the infinite tsukuyomi and genjutsus), but some are simply incapable of manipulating it and using it even if they had it.
"I am a knight in training!" Alice exclaimed with a warm smile, the aura she emanated captivated everyone in a supernatural way, it was as if they were looking at a benevolent and extremely charismatic king. She wouldn't be arrogant enough to say she was a knight, she would only call herself that after reaching 50% or more of her model.
"My name is Alice, it's a great pleasure to meet you, I have a temporary shelter for you." Alice began walking towards where she had come from with slow steps, the first person to react was the little girl who was pulling Ziggura's arm who quickly responded by following her, and the others began to follow as well. But one thing that made everyone curious was the girl's name, Alice was a peculiar name in this world, but they decided not to ask.
Alice was in a great mood, as she looked at what she had acquired after the reward had been collected after her assimilation reached 6%, yes, the system automatically collected the reward and showed it to her.
[New Skill acquired: Charisma - Rank B]
[Charisma - Rank B: This skill is enough to lead a nation as its Queen. The morale of the military forces you command is extremely high.]
After a few hours of walking, the sun was already rising on the horizon, its light spreading through the trees and their leaves, creating shadows. Alice, who led the group of people to her village, told them about what a knight should do and their ethics. The little girl who was walking next to the golden-haired girl always had a sparkle in her big scarlet eyes of admiration and excitement.
"Ah, we're here!" Alice spoke out loud as she saw in front of her, she could see not only the houses, but 50 people, these were the guardians, in front of them was her father, the leader of the small village. He looked seriously but with a touch of concern for his daughter and asked her questions.
"Alice… where were you?" Even though he had a certain idea, he didn't want to believe that his daughter really did what he thought, since in his mind, she was still his adorable and innocent daughter, but as the village chief, he needed to show others his external side, stern but at the same time understanding. "Chūō said he saw a hiding place in a cave and inside it was full of blood and bodies on the floor, the cages were broken and cut, but the blade that had done that had no edge. Besides, you came from the same direction as those people… were you the one responsible for that massacre?" Alice remained silent for a few seconds, let out a big sigh and nodded with a slight movement of her head. Her father looked at this with a somewhat guilty look, since after all, no child or teenager should go through this situation of having blood on their hands. He approached his daughter and placed his hands on her shoulders and continued. "Alice… we need to talk now, come with me." He stood up, turned and started walking, heading towards his house.
"Hai, otosan." Alice spoke in a calm manner and walked right behind her father, her wooden sword was covered in blood, but it was already hardened after being exposed to the air. He stopped, looked back and saw the worried looks of those people he had rescued, but she just gave them a nod, completely unconcerned about this matter, even though even she was curious about what her father wanted to talk to her about.
After 20 minutes, they finally arrived at the village chief's house, entering through the front door, they left their sandals at the entrance and inside they wore other clean sandals that would not dirty the refined wooden floor of his house. They both went to a room that was in the middle of the hallway that was close to the entrance, being only 5 meters from the entrance. Alice sat on the floor that was made of straw, standing in front of the small wooden table, where her father was also sitting on the other side. An uncomfortable silence spread in the place, but Alice's father broke it like a pickaxe against thin ice.
"Honey, are you okay…?" He asked seriously but at the same time worried about his daughter, his green eyes looked at his small and adorable son, his eyes showed that he wanted to say more things, but he would wait for his daughter to speak. Since, her health was the main thing.
"No." Alice's hands shook as she said this, her voice sounded shaky as she looked at her father, who stood up and before she could ask, she received a warm and comforting hug from her father. Her outer shell, serious and unchanging, finally melted away like a thin layer of ice. She snuggled into her father's warm arms and let it out, her tears stained her father's clothes, who didn't care. Her throat seemed to burn, her life became cloudy because of the tears, her insides turned over, her chest burned and her breathing became rapid. After all, it is practically impossible to kill in cold blood and not feel anything. Imagine, going from a college student to a young woman in a village and killing someone, it's not something a normal mind can handle.
After a few minutes where the father comforted his daughter, they separated and this time, each one had a different glow about them. Now that Alice had composed herself, he could tell her what he wanted. "You know, my dear Alice. You are already at an age to take responsibility for this village." He finally dropped the bombshell he had been wanting to tell his daughter since she had arrived that morning.
"I understand and accept!" A smile spread across her delicate face. For a long time, she had heard her mother's stories about how the family's parents inherited very early and at a young age led the village. It might sound illogical to make young people do this, after all, they were still immature and should enjoy themselves until they reached adulthood, and leave it in the hands of adults instead of putting it in the hands of young people who could destroy everything.
This thought was something natural to have... but they did it so that their children would get used to it early on, besides the fact that the average life expectancy of the Kosumosu family was extremely short, the oldest only reached 60 years of age, and he was Alice's great-grandfather. Besides that, Alice was a very mature young woman for her age, they always saw in Alice, a bottomless well of potential and it was even told in fairy tales by the first generations of the village about a girl who would take this small village to the pinnacle of this world in just a few years.
Initially, this man who had long since lost the purpose of life, when Alice was born, he had seen a light in his icy world, together with his wife, his daughter and she were the ones who brought his will to live and his purpose. When he saw his daughter training and even giving several unrealistic but working ideas, he who before did not take that tale seriously. Really, because of her, he began to believe that his daughter was the one destined for something great.
"Right! Tonight, I will publicly name you as the new village leader!" She exclaimed with unbridled joy in her voice. This happiness and pride was so genuine and pure, it was like when a father sees his child's first words and first steps.
Alice smiled, slowly stood up and said goodbye to her father as she went outside to see those people waiting for her again. After some discussion with the guardians, they agreed to leave these people in some houses. After all, even though the village was small, there were still plenty of houses. These houses were like the others, of good quality. After several hours, where the sun constantly changed its location in the sky, until the moment came when only clouds and stars were visible in the sky.
In the center of the village, all the residents were gathered, each of them curious about what would happen today. Several murmurs and whispers could be heard in that crowd. Even the people Alice had saved
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have summoned you all here for an announcement of utmost importance!" Alice's father exclaimed loudly. He stood on a wooden platform, his voice, along with his authoritative presence, made all noises disappear, like dust in the wind. He continued with his announcement. "Even though I will lead our people for a short time, but as you know, it is time for the older generation to let the younger one play their part! The person who contributed several ideas that worked for our little village, my daughter, ALICE!" The man had a smile on his face, his voice seemed to echo throughout the small village, but his voice was as firm as steel and authoritative as that of an emperor. Alice climbed onto the podium and stood next to her father. A few seconds of silence remained in the place, but it was immediately broken by the people's shouts of joy. The people in this small village who were unfamiliar with the technologies and ideas created by Alice could be considered fools. 10 seconds later, people talked about making a proper banquet to celebrate this special day, that Alice had become the new leader of the village.
Just as the villagers suggested, a large banquet made with the most succulent animals in the region. Alice was the one who surprised the most, because she ate a lot but maintained elegance when eating. They even compared her to a noblewoman, but at the same time they were surprised that their new leader would start so much. Even her father was surprised. He thought she had a big appetite, but even he thought it was exaggerated. However, he didn't care in the end. If his island wanted to eat everything, she could. After all, today would be the day he would be least busy.
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Author's note: Hello, dear reader! Here again to ask, what do you think of my new writing style? I want your opinions and what I can improve, I've already seen that I need to improve the lines (since I'm finding them very generic), since I'm not good at it. Besides, I still haven't fully decided on what kind of Au it will be, I want suggestions my dear readers, I thought of the classic one where Minato survives (in this case, he manages to use another Fuuinjutsu) and Kushina ends up giving birth to 3 children and Naruto is the most forgotten of them because his family focused on the other 2 because of Kurama's chakra, But of course, they're not going to forget all about his son (but if I do that, there'll be an explanation) and that Hinata, because of her personality, was banished from the Hyuga clan and had the Cursed Seal of the Caged Bird placed on her forehead?