Author Note: N/A

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

-Prologue-

Deep inside the mountains of Tetsu no Kuni is a basin surrounded by tall mountains that the country is well known for. The depth of the basin is such that the constant snowy weather that plague the region does not effect the area at the bottom of the basin, and instead the runoff from snow accumulation at the top of the mountain actually feeds several streams providing water to a city at the floor of the basin. Due to its location, it's virtually impossible for the Daimyo of Testu no Kuni to establish any form of control in the region. However, due to the small size of the city within, the Daimyo was comfortable in reaching an agreement with the leader of the city to grant the city autonomy from the government of Tetsu no Kuni. However, in exchange, the government will not provide any form of assistance, both in military and in resource, to the city should the need arise.

The inhabitants of the city were originally from the country but moved into the mountains to escape from the enforced military structure of Tetsu no Kuni. Being warrior clans, they wished to remain independent of the integrated military. Initially, they were looking to move into a nearby country where the government structure was not quite as rigid as Tetsu no Kuni and the group stumbled upon the obscure area after moving over the mountains. Knowing that it would be counter-productive for the government to expand their control into that particular area, the difficulty in reaching the area made it both impossible for civilian to settle and impractical for military encampment while still being tightly integrated with the rest of the country, the groups negotiated the agreement with the Daimyo and his advisers in securing the area for themselves.

After several generations, the city has grown to a decent enough size and is divided into four parts, the outer ring of the city is allocated to the descendents of the initial migrants whom, either by choice or by health conditions, cannot contribute to the defense of the city against any potential threats. The residents there are mainly farmers and common merchants who provides much needed resources to the residents in the inner portions of the city. Divided from the outer ring by a massive wall with only four gates allowing movement between the two zones is the interior city where the elites and the military are located. The military, named Goteijuusantai, is located in the outer most ring of the interior city and the military zone is divided into thirteen sectors, each inhabited by one squad of the military and each squad providing a different service to the society. The elite families is located in the middle ring of the interior city, protected by the military but yet separated from the leading families residing in the inner most area of the city. The city itself is self sufficient, and, given the difficulty in traveling to and from the city, whatever extra is produced is stored in case of emergency instead of traded with outside communities.

Since the city's founding, there had only been one such case in its history where the emergency stockpile was needed. Another warrior group within Tetsu no Kuni, having heard of the agreement between the city and the government, had interest in reaching a similar deal with the Daimyo. However, they were unable to find a remote enough location where the Daimyo was comfortable in granting them the same autonomy. In a fit of jealousy, the warrior tribe launched an invasion on the city in hopes of taking the area over for themselves. Per the agreement between the residents of the city and the government, Tetsu no Kuni's samurai forces refused to interfere in the conflict, giving the invading warrior tribe an extra boost of confidence in being able to win the war with their practice of utilizing a forbidden technique that the residents of the city abhorred. While the warrior tribe's initial calculation was sound and they had made some headway into the area with the army of Tetsu no Kuni standing by and watching the events unfold without any sign of interest in joining the fight, the sheer number of residents in the city proved too much for the warrior tribe to conquer. In the end, the warrior tribe was exiled from Tetsu no Kuni. The tribe was broken into two parts, between those who have fallen too deep into making use of the forbidden art and those who have not. No country, after hearing of the violence the group had caused, were willing to accept the former, and they were left to become nomads in the western deserts of Kaze no Kuni, away from the rest of human society. The later group was accepted into Mizu no Kuni, whom were desperate for manpower to defend its border at the time, provided that they abandon the practice of the forbidden technique, an agreement the group was willing to strike in order to secure themselves a place of residence instead of being forced to wander the world.

However, the jealousy never faded between the residents of the city and the exiled tribes. There has been constant skirmished between the two sides since, particularly from those living as nomads in the desert, and usually consisting of subterfuge strikes by teams of three or four sneaking into the outer ring city and causing massive chaos before retreating out of the basin. Recently, the nomads anger has spread to the other nations for their refusal to grant them a place to stay amongst the rest of society. Despite the fact that Tetsu no Kuni is to remain neutral to the dealings of the different nations outside its border, they cannot stand by and watch its former residents launch strikes in the foreign nations, and yet, they cannot actively interfere without risking its neutral status. The solution the government arrived at is to employ warriors from the city to venture out of Tetsu no Kuni and intercept the nomad attacks, a structure similar to the hidden shinobi village that various nations adapted.

Normally, the city is isolated from the rest of the world, and outside of the intercept missions, the world needs not know about the existence of the city, just as the residents of the town would have preferred. However, it is through one of these intercept missions that sparks a chain of events bringing the two world together.

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