Okay folks, I've got chapter two ready to roll. So without further delay I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)
The darkness that enveloped the world at night was both friend and foe to a shinobi. From the shadows one could kill without sound or alarm. This was a fact known to any shinobi worth his salt and for the rebel shinobi sitting around the campfire this truth hung over them and refused to let go. The only one among them who wasn't constantly glancing to the inky blackness belong the fire's light was the young blond they's picked up in Konoha.
It came as no surprise really. The blond had never experienced combat or ever needed to lay low in unfriendly territory. To him this must have felt like a camping trip as he carried on from his spot next to Mei. "...and the dango were so sweet and yummy! I don't know how Sasuke didn't like-" the blond was regaling them with another story of him and his recently acquired friends when the man with scars covering the left side of his face finally had enough.
"That's enough!" the man snapped as his eyes narrowed at the kid sitting on the other side of the fire. Naruto's mouth immediately snapped shut and he stared wide eyed at the man glaring at him. "This isn't some jolly field trip ya know. Our lives are at risk and you yapin' away over there isn't helping our odds" the man growled out.
As Naruto's expression changed to an annoyed pout he felt a hand come to rest of his shoulder. He didn't need to look to see that the hand belonged to Mei since she was the only one close enough to touch him.
"Akemi, there's no need for you to yell at him. He's just a child" Mei told the man as her visible eye narrowed at him.
"A sword through the chest will kill a child just like it would an adult" Akemi remarked as his gaze shifted over to the woman.
"Do I need to remind you who's idea this was?" Mei shot back coolly.
"I still stand by that decision" Akemi told her, refusing to falter under her gaze.
Sparks were starting to fly between the two shinobi while off to the side the third member of the team watched on helplessly. Saburo was a tad bit chubby for a shinobi but being the most physically fit man was never a big concern of his. What was concerning was the tension building between the two shinobi before him. "Hey now, what's done is done. Nothing we can do about that" the man butted in, immediately regretting his decision when the two of them turned their ire to him. Quickly throwing his hands up Saburo shrunk down under their combined glares. "Eigh! W-Wh-What'd I say?" the man blurted out as he hid his face behind open palms.
Letting out a sigh Akemi turned his attention away from the man, briefly noting how the blond was staring at him as his gaze passed over him and Mei. "Such a naive child" the scarred man muttered as he stood up.
"What was that?" Naruto questioned as he leaned forward. For someone so young he'd already developed quite the stink eye.
Choosing to ignore the boy Akemi looked to Mei out of the corner of his eye. "Just make sure that kid likes you. Got it?" the man told her before walking into the night to perform a quick search of the area.
Being reminded of 'their' new plan didn't sit well with the young woman and looking to the side to see the child sticking his tongue out at the man's back along with that thought nearly made her queasy.
Hours earlier had the three rebels walking through the sparse streets of Konoha with a mixture of bitter and sour expressions between them.
"This was a complete waste of time" Akemi muttered as he glared at the setting sun. Their meeting with the Fifth Hokage had gone as well as he'd expected. It didn't matter what they brought forward it wouldn't change the fact that they were just some small military force going against their own nation. They were practically a glorified band of rouge shinobi. It would be stupid on Konoha's part to give them aid at this point in the war.
"Well, we received a decisive answer from them so that's something. Huu, I guess" Saburo made an attempt at positivety but quickly lost traction as he couldn't even convince himself that this was good in any way. With fallen shoulders the man looked to the ground with a sigh as his feet continued to shuffle him along.
"We were just doing as the mission said. Not our fault that it was doomed to fail" Mei added her opinion into the mix. It was admittedly nice not having to worry for your life every second of the day but that thought just led to her thinking about how she could be doing anything else to help their cause. So in a weird way she was anxious to get back to the front line.
As they walked Akemi's grimace slowly grew more and more fierce. He hated that they got sent all the way out here for nothing while their comrades fought and died. "Gha! Damn it all!" the man's anger finally boiled over as he lashed out at a pebble with a swift kick. His sudden action thoroughly startled Saburo while Mei just shock her head at the man's antics.
Without any regard for were the small rock went Akemi had sent it flying down the street, embedding it in a stone wall. This left the three stunned, not at the impressive display of strength but by the fact that it had been three inches from drilling through a kid's head.
"Akemi! Whatch what you're doing!" Mei shouted as she ran forward to check on the boy who'd stumbled back onto his ass in response to the mackshift projectile.
Left standing stiff as stone Akemi and Saburo looked on as the near disaster before them with horrified expressions. Eventually Akemi was the first to shake himself out of the stupor and with his grimace back in place he made his way over to Mei.
One minute Naruto was running home and the next he was on his ass after some kind of blur zoomed past his face. A quick glance at the wall next to him and the large spiderweb of cracks expanding from an inch wide hole put no doubt in his mind that he'd just avoiding something horrible. Soon his dumbfounded expression would be broken by a woman's voice calling out to him and asking if he was alright. Turning his head to look down the street the young blond saw said woman coming to a stop next to him.
"Well, you don't look hurt. Good" Mei said with a quick nod of her head as she knelt down to be more at eye level with the boy. Reaching out Mei helped the boy back to his feet before taking a closer look at him to check if he'd actually gotten hurt.
While this was happening Naruto examined her in kind. She didn't look familiar but given how many people live in the village that was nothing new. Despite that however he could tell that something was particularly off about this woman. It wasn't a bad sort of off but off none the less. As he pulled his attention away from her smiling face he started to take in the clothes she wore. They were a deep blue and despite being clean it wasn't hard to tell that they were worn with several visible stitches across the fabric. And then the setting sun's light bonced off of a strip of mettle sown into the fabric covering her chest. It was directly over her heart with scratched and scuffs displaying it's age. The first thing it reminded Naruto of the headbands worn by the village's shinobi and like them this strip of mettle had a design carved into it, a set of four lines with curved tips.
That's it! That's what was odd about her. This nice lady must be from one of the other villages he'd heard about.
"You can give it a rest. The kid's fine" Akemi remarked as he came to a stop behind Mei, Saburo hastily catching up to him.
"You can at least pretend to care" Mei told the man as she looked over her shoulder at him.
"If he's not hurt then I don't care" the man bluntly said. "We need to get back as soon as possible. Now let's go!" The man said as he turned to leave, only to pause mid-stride.
"Can I come with you?" Akemi, Saburo, and Mei all paused upon hearing the young blond excitedly ask his question.
"Uuh, say whaaat?" Saburo asked with an open mouth as his hands fell limply to his side.
Mei's reaction however was a tad different. "Oh my. I've gained the attention of my fair share of boys but this is a new one. Don't tell me you've developed a little crush on me?" Mei asked the boy playfully. It went without saying that the kid couldn't come with them but that didn't mean she couldn't have her fun, maybe draw a blush out of him. However it wasn't a blush but a very confused expression that the woman got.
"Forget it kid. I don't know what you're thinking and I don't care. You're not comin-" Akemi was telling the boy as he turned to walk down the road the boy had just come from. This resulted in him turning towards the cliffside the village was build around and the Hokage aces carved into its side. It had only taken a quick glimpse for something to click in the man's head as he viewed the monument.
Without taking anymore steps the man stood there and thought with wide eyes. This gave Naruto the chance to run in front of him and yell up with a pout, "What'd you mean I come? That's not fair at all-!?" While the boy had been irritated by the man's dismissive reply he was calmed, or mostly surprised, when the man gently rested the palm of his hand on the top of his head.
"Say, how old are you?" Akemi asked the boy.
Finding himself confused once again the boy did his best to look up at the man while having Akemi's hand on his head. "Six" Naruto told the man and after hearing his reply Akemi's smile grew even wider.
Perhaps this mission wasn't a complete waste after all.
Or that's what he thought at the time. Now however Akemi was enjoying a bit of silence away from the others. The kid's energy wouldn't hurt them while they were still in the Land of Fire but the closer they got to the Land of Water the more likely it was that his loud mouth would get them killed. If that happens then the only thing they'd earned their cause is a massive enemy in the form of Konoha.
"Hee, even from the grave you're still a huge headache" Akemi said with a chuckle as the Fourth Hokage popped into his head. He had never personally encountered the legendary shinobi but he'd heard the stories like everyone else. The Yellow Flash of Konoha and the only man to receive a flee on sight command from Iwa. His feats were nothing to scoff at, and now they had that man's son travelling with them.
"We just need to marry the kid off and then they'll have no choice but to support us" Akemi muttered to himself as he stared up at the crescent moon in the night sky.
A thick air hung over Konoha as the morning sun rose. Atop the Hokage Tower the Fifth Hokage, Dan, stood before a platoon of the village's most elite shinobi. When Mikoto had informed him that Naruto had gone missing he'd hoped that he was just hiding somewhere in the village. He'd told her that that was probably so but after countless shinobi spent the night looking for him to no avail he was forced to conclude that the boy was no longer within the village limits.
'Forgive me, Minato. I should've been more attentive' Dan thought as a morning breeze blew through his extremely light blue, mid-back length hair. Looking to the shinobi gathered before him he had only one order to give "Bring Naruto back no matter the cost".