Prologue

As the sky was cloudy, letting only a little sunlight illuminate the forest, the team of four shinobi traveled through the tall trees, passing the border with the Hot Water Country. The team was lead by a man in his early twenties, with spiky, blond hair, dark blue eyes and tan skin. He was of average height and was dressed in a standard jonin uniform. Behind him were three youngsters, who, unfortunately, experienced the cruelty of the Third Great Shinobi War that ended 4 months ago.

The first was a boy, 14 years old as of last week. Despite wearing a mask, matching his full body black suit, one could easily tell he had a stoic expression. He had silver hair, which looked as if they were defying gravity itself and a forehead protector served him for an eye patch covering his left eye. It wasn't because he lost an eye. Not really at least. The thing is he was hiding his birthday present, given to him on his first jonin mission as a leader. It was a gift from his teammate, Uchiha Obito, who changed him from a go-by-the-book, cold-hearted brat to a true, and loyal-to-the-comrade warrior. However, he paid for it with his life. But, he gave his friend his freshly activated sharingan, so the silver-haired young jonin could better protect his friends and remember his greatest words.

The other was a girl from their team- Rin. She had short, dark-brown hair and bright brown eyes. She also had two purple rectangular markings on each side of her face. She wore a long-sleeved black top, a high waist, light purple skirt apron under which she wore shorts. She also wore a forehead protector, sandals as well as what appeared to be dark stockings that stopped at her thighs. However, the greatest characteristic of hers for the past 7 months, meaning ever since Obito's death, she rarely smiled.

The last member of the team was a boy with short hair in two different colors- black on the right side and pink on the left and the back. The boy also had an unusual eye color- pink. He wore a dark brown long sleeved blouse with a small travel backpack, black shorts and bandages wrapped around his legs and arms. He wore brown shinobi boots and his forehead protector was tied on his left arm. He had a some what nervous expression, which he couldn't help as he had extremely little chakra. The boy also had some seals on his arms as well as three pouches. The boy's name was Izo.

The team stopped for a moment as they reached a river. All four looked at the other shore, trying to find something unfitting. As they couldn't find anything, the blond ninja raised his hand.

"I think we'll take a short break." He suggested. "We'll continue in 15 minutes." The three teenagers nodded to their leader and two of them sat down. But the silver-haired boy decided to walk over to him. "Something wrong, Kakashi?"

"Sensei… it is about Obito." Kakashi said with a sad tone. "I… am having nightmares about his death. I… I am responsible for his death, because I was so stuck to the rules and regulations that I failed to see it may be a threat to my comrades' lives."

The blonde looked at Kakashi with a concerned look. It's been so long ever since Obito's death, yet Kakashi still blamed himself for it. He finally smiled to him and wanted to pad his head, when Izo intervened.

"Minato-sensei! Maybe we should hush him up for good 'til the end of this mission?" he proposed. That earned him a glare from his two teammates.

"Izo, that was rude of you!" Rin said. "You know how badly Kakashi took this. Why are you acting like a jerk?"

"Rin!" Kakashi caught her attention. "Forget him. If he wants to talk li…"

"I am acting like this, because this is quite a hard mission, as B-possible-S-Rank missions tend to be. If Kakashi can't concentrate on it, and no one's around to watch his back, he's an easy target in the first line. So if I can ensure he'll last a day, should a battle take place, I don't care what names you all call me. I will not allow anyone die or get injured because of their past errors." Izo explained. He soon stood up and decided to walk over to the riverside. He gave Minato a serious look. "If I recall, Ranma Town is to the north-east from here. I'll scout out ahead for a faster rout." He disappeared.

Minato sighed heavily and looked at his students. "He may act cold, but he does care about your safety. So please, don't look down on him just because he doesn't have a way with words, okay?" He smiled when he saw them nod.

"Sensei? Mind I ask again about the mission objectives?" Rin asked. Minato knew she didn't have any memory problems. She simply asked for the final briefing, before they reached their destination.

"As you know, when the Third Great Shinobi War ended, several rogue organizations have formed, which is rather natural after each war. The groups are being formed by the deserter soldiers, bandits who caught their hands on the high quality weapons, citizens who got so desperate it became their only option for survival or by lost troops. The thing is, some of these groups are merely shinobi rogue organizations, which the end of the war a perfect opportunity for finding their own country." Minato started to explain.

"How is that possible?" Kakashi asked. No organization is strong enough to overthrow a country government just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"That's why we're here, Kakashi. Sometimes, situations like these are just the occasions for conspirators, who plan to do so. But this, I fear, is an army organized by someone, who can persuade people into joining his cause. Should he gather an army big enough, in resources, man power, or arsenal, he could attack the capital and force the daimyo to hand over the power, or at least separate some part of the land, thus creating a new country."

"But that would take years. Months at best."

"This is why we were asked to assist. Ranma Town is considered the next possible target for the organization behind the late attacks in the Hot Water Country. If they are not stopped soon, the country will be ravaged by a civil war, ultimately making this country a wasteland in land, population, economics and politics."

"Do we even know who's behind these attacks?" Rin asked.

"Not even the town knows exactly. All they know is that there is a high number of shinobi of great power. They might be just exaggerating, but nevertheless, it's our duty to help."

"As you say sensei." The two said at the time. Minato gave them a warm smile just as Izo returned.

"Sensei! The town is just about twenty minutes walking from here. Just behind this rock." He pointed towards the big rock on the other side of the river. The rock looked like an upside down bowl, surrounded by big and thick trees. Minato nodded.

"Alright then, everyone, let's move it then." The blonde jonin said. Everyone got ready in a blink of an eye and moved out.

After the five-minute-race, the team finally arrived. Ranma Town, their destination, stood before them. But it wasn't what they expected. Well, it wasn't so majestic, as if beyond the war, but it wasn't a destroyed town as well. Rather the buildings were being taken apart to build the palisade. From the trees the team could see people reinforcing what loop holes they could find and make additional traps. This got Minato curious. Was the town really that weak? Or was the incoming enemy this powerful? What ever the case may have been, the team had a mission here. They had to find out the details as soon as they enter the town.


A.N./ Hope you'll enjoy it. I thought about making something taking place before the Fox attack.