Disclaimer: I don't own the book The Art of War

If you haven't heard of it, search for it online.  A lot of the quotes are pretty badass. This book and another that will come up later serve as my main inspirations for this story. :D

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It was late afternoon, on a regular school day. Obito stood on the spongy martial arts mats that covered the floor in the family room. He stood opposite, facing his uncle. They both had white colored karate gi on.

"The Art of War," Madara says simply. "Have you ever read it, Obito?"

"No I have not. What is it?"

"It is an antique Chinese text, attributed to an ancient military strategist named Sun Tzu. Many people doubt his true existence, but the book itself holds numerous inscriptions of military tactics and strategy that can be applied to various situations, even in the modern world."

"Hmm... I see. I should get ahold of this book," Obito mused. "But why bring it up?"

"I'll tell you." Madara gets into his fighting stance. "Shall we begin?"

Obito casually cracks his neck, "Bring it, old man." Obito assumes his own battle stance.

Madara closes his eyes softly and takes a slow intake of breath. Then after a beat, he lunges forward. "'Appear weak when you are strong, strong when you are weak'".

Obito dodges his attack, but recovers quickly to reach and grab for Madara. Only it was a feint and Madara is ready for his counter. Madara sidesteps Obito's attack, grabbing him around the waist with one arm, and then flips him over and onto the ground.

Obito hits the ground, but quickly rolls out of the way creating some distance. He jumps up onto his feet, then placing his hand on the mat for balance, he spins around and lunges toward Madara for another attack.

"'To learn your enemy, you must become your enemy,'" Madara says while watching Obito rushing towards him.

Madara quickly deflects Obito's attack, tipping him off balance. But Obito recovers rapidly and grabs onto Madara's wrist and forearm. Then with the force of his twisting in the opposite direction, he tries to fling Madara to the side, only Madara counters the force of the pull and stays put. He instead uses Obito's hold on his wrist to grab Obito's upper arm and then twist his arm out of Obito's grip and pull him down with the momentum. Obito hits the ground hard as Madara tumbles out of the way.

"'Move swift like the wind, closely formed like the wood. Attack like fire and be still as the mountain.'"

"Owowow...," says Obito. He jumps back up on his feet and gets back in fighting stance. "I'm beginning to see your point with this 'Art of War' book."

"Good," Madara says. "We're not done." Light on his feet, he hops side to side. Then Madara quickly ducks forward and leaps to the side out of Obito's reach.

Obito turns to gage his attack, his long black hair temporarily blocking his vision. Shit. Madara has already moved to behind him and is coming in for an attack.

Before Obito could react, Madara grabs him from behind around his chest and uses his foot to kick Obito at the back of the knee causing him to stagger down towards the floor. Obito, mid fall, uses the force of his weight and gravity, to flip Madara over his head. Madara quickly twists midair and lands on his feet. But now Obito is freed and no longer restrained.

Obito leaps to the side and comes in to grab Madara by the back of his collar and around the front to his lapel. Obito, using the force of his strength and his body weight, flips to the side into a roll bringing Madara off his feet. Except mid roll, Madara grabs onto Obito's wrists and uses his legs to change trajectory of the roll and end up being on top of Obito. Madara had Obito pinned on his stomach, arms locked in a tight grappling hold, practically sitting on him.

"Fuck," Obito says exasperated.

Madara stares down at his nephew. "'Deceive your enemies. When you are close, make the enemy think you are far. When you are far, make them think you are near.'"

Obito struggles to get out of the restraint. Kicking his legs to the side trying to prop himself up. It's no use, Madara is too heavy. Madara tightens the lock on his arms.

Obito sighs giving up. "Alright well, is there anything else you want to tell me about The Art of War?"

Madara thinks for a moment. "'Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.'"

"I see," says Obito. "This sounds like a helpful book. But what does it have to do with campaigning and beating Kakashi?"

"These are valuable strategic concepts, Obito. Once you understand their meaning, you can conquer your enemies with better preparedness." Madara releases his hold on Obito and stands up.

Obito rolls to the side bracing his wrists. "Ok... now break it down for me. What do I need to do to run a successful campaign?"

....

Cooling down from their usual weekly Judo session, Obito sat on the ground in the living room with a pen and notebook in hand. Madara stood at the front of the room, chin propped up on his hand in a thinking posture.

"Here are the basics that every school political campaign has to accomplish," says Madara. "Build a team, create a campaign slogan, improve your image, and build relationships with the students, a.k.a. the voters."

Obito takes notes like a good student.

Madara begins walking side to side, "In your case, you're running up against a strong opponent. One that already has popularity with the students, one that already has and held the position of class president for two consecutive years..."

"And one that is a huge asshole," Obito says.

Madara arches an eyebrow, "Yes and you need to be ruthless just like he will be."

Obito nods in agreement. "Oh I'm ready."

Madara gives him a stern look then continues, "Here's where The Art of War comes in handy. Analyze your enemy. Gather information on their weaknesses and strengths. Find out why Kakashi would make a bad SCP. Use it against him and prove to the students that you're a better candidate than he is."

Digesting this information, Obito couldn't help but feel the weight of the impending task at hand. He didn't care, he is so fucking ready for this.

"And one more thing. You should cut your hair."

Obito's hand goes up to touch his hair. Oh?

"If you're running for office, your physical appearance needs to be pristine. It won't help if your look conjures up the image of a rocker or a dirty hobo."

Obito gives him an annoyed stare. This guy can't help throwing in an insult here or there. "Ok I get what you're saying. But what about your long hair?"

"Pfft I'm not running for office," Madara says stroking his own hair.

...

After Madara's informative lecture, Obito goes outside to consider his options.

Who will he put on his campaign team? Obviously Rin. Maybe he can convince the rest of the History Club Board to help him? It's not like they have anything else to do. Wow he needs more friends.

Who will Kakashi have on his team? He'll probably have the people on the Junior Class Office Board with him.

Maito Gai is Junior Class Vice President, but he's most likely running for SCP too. So he's out. He might need to figure out how to deal with Gai eventually, but Kakashi is the bigger threat.

Anko Mitarashi is Junior Class Secretary. She's also on the wrestling team with Kakashi. She's kind of scary and she seems to follow her own way. But she might help Kakashi to ensure her own position for student council next year. Don't know if Kakashi is too close to her though.

Asuma Sarutobi is Junior Class Treasurer. Asuma is a pretty chill guy. He's relatively likeable and popular in the school. He might help Kakashi as well to ensure his own position for student council next year too.

Rin is Junior Class COPR. Rin is obviously out because she's loyal to him. As Obito's ex-girlfriend and best friend, there's no way Kakashi would trust her.

Kurenai Yuhi is Asuma's girlfriend, so she will probably help.

Kakashi has some friends on the wrestling team. Maybe that dude, Yamato?

But really Kakashi doesn't have to try hard. He easily won the Sophomore Class President position last year barely doing anything. It's not fair. Kakashi will be a tough enemy to beat.

Obito rubs his chin. He might have to resort to some trickery...

A car pulls up onto the driveway of the house across the street. Oh look who's home.

Kakashi gets out of his car and helps his father out. He's in a wheelchair. Sakumo looks over across the street and sees Obito standing on his porch. He smiles and waves over at Obito. Obito smiles and gives a friendly wave back.

Kakashi turns the wheelchair with his father in it around and shoots Obito a glare.

Obito's smile fades into a grimace. Then with a humorless smile, he proceeds to flash Kakashi the middle finger and goes into his house.

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A/N: Heyoo. As always, thank you for reading and comments are welcome. I like making new friends. :3

You know what, I might just break my earlier schedule I said previously. Initially, I said I would release these twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays and maybe a Bonus chapter on Fridays, but this is taking too long for me lol. I've already written like more than half of it and I just want this story to get to the good part. XD

We'll see. I'll definitely post 4 times this week though. The two after this one are a lil boring. Just more expository chapters. Just me planting the seeds for later in the story.