Answer to the recent Guest Review

About 13, around the time of canon.

The next three years were a blur to Naruto. The nation was mostly at peace, barely fighting anything. Recent battles against the Knights when the Imperials were on the offensive ended in victory and more territory. Naruto proved himself over and over, eventually being promoted to a Lieutenant under Matthew's command. King Smith soon became Emperor Smith after changing the title of the rulers of the empire. That all changed when Emperor Smith was assassinated.

It happened so quick, but time froze as the news hit the Imperial forces. What made things worse is that Matthew's cousin, Cole, was quick to gain control of the throne. He began a series of extermination campaigns against other Imperial officers. When word got to the armies, they began to defect and started an open rebellion.

Cole sent his own army against the rebelling soldiers and crushed two of their armies with no mercy. The leaders were rounded up and executed and the remaining soldiers were pressed into Cole's army. This only lead to even more Imperial soldiers defecting.

What hit the nail into the coffin was the fact that Cole had hired mercenaries into his armies. These soldiers had no concept of mercy and killed many civilians just for the fun of it. A trait that they had picked up from their general. The Heir to the Dragon Empire.

It got to the point that many of the Imperial generals, including Matthew and Jeff, had began to openly rebel against Cole, gathering their armies together. They massed in the Southern provinces, Jeff's regions, to prepare for the inevitable battle what was about to take place. Jeff would gather more people to the cause while Matthew would take the forces north to the outskirts of a rail junction to hold off Cole's advance.

"Are you sure about this, Jeff?" Matthew asked. "I've never been a general before, much less the commander of half of the forces we have."

"I'm sure," Jeff replied. "Plus, if anyone can stop Cole's advance, it's your forces. I'm giving you these battalions and ten generals. General Seville, General Takashi, General Willis, General Andrew, General John, General Samuel, General James, General William, General Leon, and General Morgan. Plus, you get to pick out any other officers you need. I will also assign you Naruto Namikaze. I believe you gave him the rank of Colonel after he saved your left flank from falling prey to a Knight ambush, right?"

"Yes," Matthew answered. "I plan on sending his men along with two more armies ahead of my forces to keep Cole occupied."

"Very good," Jeff stated. "I know Cole was your cousin, but you need to put that aside and do what is right. When you're ready, give the order and your force can march to where we talked. After you delay Cole, meet me at least ten miles south. If you hold him off and force his men to run, I'll meet you at your position. Where do you plan on advancing to if you win?"

"At least ten miles north of the rail junction," Matthew replied. "I'll send a telegram to let you know how the battle turned out."

"Very well," Jeff began to walk out of the tent before he turned back to Matthew. "Remember, Andrew is my son. I expect to see him alive when this battle is over." Matthew nodded as Jeff walked out, leaving Matthew to his thoughts. He felt betrayed by his cousin and wanted him to pay, but when he hired mercenaries to do his fighting and killed innocent civilians, he knew that the only way to stop him would be to kill him. He didn't enjoy the thought of killing his own family, but it seemed that it would be that way. Even Cole's little sister was helping Cole take more power.

"What am I going to do?" Matthew said to himself just before walking out the tent himself to meet with his three officers that would be leading the advance party.

It didn't take him long to find them. They were all waiting by the edge of the camp looking north. It was ironic that their forces were south of the capital, but hopefully they would surround it from all sides and end this war soon.

"Naruto, William, James," Matthew began. "I need you three to gather your armies and march them north to the nearby rail junction. I'll bring up the main army and join you three there. Hold Cole off the best you can."

"Right," The three said. While William and James went straight away to their armies, Naruto stayed back.

"Is it true that there are Dragon Empire soldiers in Cole's army?" Naruto wanted to make sure none of them were from his own village, but his hopes were soon dashed as Matthew answered.

"Our spies have informed us that there are," Matthew began. "And yes there are some from where you lived. Luckily, they haven't actually been in the battles yet, but they could be officers, so it's hard to tell. Get your men together and march them north. Just maybe we can end this war after a few quick victories."

As Matthew turned to leave, Naruto couldn't help but feel like he was going to be sick. To think that he might have to fight his old friends. He could only hope that they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire when the battle started.

The next day, Naruto was marching his men onto the battlefield. Williams army had arrived first and was attacked by a large enemy force. He had held them off for two hours before being forced back. James had arrived second and had his men hold the base of a hill until his men were threatened of being cut off and forced back. Now it wa Naruto's turn to hold the line. His men began to run out onto the field before falling into line.

"Do not give one inch of ground to the enemy!" Naruto commanded. "Keep them back until the main army arrives."

Cole's forced began to march in their long lines, the drums beating as they came close. The first wave was mostly the militia groups of Cole's merc army. As they neared Naruto's position, his men opened fire, killing a good portion of them with their rifles. Most of the militia began to flee while others kept marching.

"Fire at will!" Naruto shouted. His men began to fire at a rate of three shots a minute, loading faster than the militia groups, who by now had reached firing distance and opened up, only killing one in ten soldiers. The militia could only get one shot off every minute and could only hit a very small part of Naruto's forces. After five minutes of this stand off, the militia finally broke, running to the rear of Cole's army.

By now, more soldiers were arriving on both sides. Matthew had brought up the main army and began to take positions on the nearby hill. Cole's more elite mercs were marching against Naruto when his men began to charge after the retreating militia. Naruto led his men forward, hoping to force Cole into retreat, but was beginning to be forced back. Suddenly, a rider rode up.

"Matthew wants to know how much longer you can hold." he said. By now, most of Naruto's men were beginning to advance back to the hill, organization lost, but not to the point of panic.

"Tell him I'll join him in a minute." Naruto commanded. The rider rode off as Naruto soon followed. He could only hope that the battle could turn in their favor.

He found Matthew on his force at the head of his army, waiting for him.

"I'm sorry," Naruto began. "We held for as long as we could. William and James were able to keep them off the hill for a few hours, but by the time I got there, Col's whole army had arrived. We were beaten back."

"Well then, Naruto," Matthew replied. "We must give them the bayonet. Move your men in line with us. We'll force them back to the capital."

"Sir!" Naruto exclaimed as he rode back to his men. He arrived as they were beginning to march to the rear slowly. "Rally men, Rally". His soldiers all turned to look at him. Naruto began to feel something, and he hoped that it would help get the men together.

"Look," he said as he pointed his sword at Matthew. "There's our commander just standing there as the bullets and cannonballs continue to miss him. Form up and join him on the hill and gain victory." This next part, Naruto had no idea why he said, but to him, it felt right.

"Rally behind the Emperor and his guard!" As soon as that command was given, Naruto's men cheered and began to rally once again. They ran up the hill and took positions on the extreme left, lining up with General Seville's forces.

Many of the other soldiers had heard Naruto and began to cheer as well. Matthew was in shock, but soon composed himself and had the men be ready for Cole's main thrust. As the mercs made it to the crest of the hill, the rebels opened up a full can of hell on them, forcing some of them back. This went on for another hour until Matthew had given the command that would send Cole packing.

"Charge bayonets!" The entire army charged forward, yelling as the standards ran in front with the officers riding behind. The sight of screaming soldiers frightened a few of the elite soldiers, but the officers ordered a retreat, confused as to why an army that was inferior in their opinion would charge, but what they saw riding down the hill behind the charging infantry was over two hundred cavalry galloping down the hill, sabers waving as they charged ahead. Many of Cole's forces, ran back to the cannons, doing their best to keep from getting shot by friendly fire.

The rebel forces made it to the guns and began a melee fight with many of Cole's regular soldiers that stood guard. The soldiers put up a fight, but in the end, as the rebel flag, a red flag with a blue cross with the Imperial twin sabers in the middle waved back and forth at the gun position, Cole's forces began a full retreat. Matthew soon rode up as many of Cole's forces surrendered or fled the field.

"We actually won," Matthew said to himself. As he rode by, he saw soldiers cry out something he didn't expect.

"Longue vie à l'empereur!" The cheer continued as he rode by to Naruto's position by one of the captured cannons. As Matthew dismounted, he walked over to Naruto.

"What was that about?" Matthew asked.

"I have no idea," Naruto answered. "It just happened, but it had the effect that was needed. The men rallied and were able to beat back Cole's forces with the cry."

"I didn't want this," Matthew countered. Before he could continue, another voice was heard.

"I don't know," They turned to see Jeff walking over. "You did defeat Cole's merc forces and deal a damaging blow with this victory. I'd say that you're more than cut out to be the emperor. Think about it. Emperor James Matthew Cunningham the First. The man who continued Smith's dream. We are at your command, my Emperor." Jeff saluted Matthew as Naruto and the other officers did the same. Matthew nodded, before turning his head to the horizon.

"We'll need the Sword of the Empire," Matthew stated. "After that, we'll begin our march against Cole's main army. It might take months or years, but we will win this." Everyone nodded and left to get to work. Naruto was the only one left as he thought about the battle.

"If Toneri was in command," he said to himself. "Then the others are here as well. At least we weren't fighting against Shikamaru. He would've had this battle turn against us really quick."

Meanwhile

"I can't believe this!" Toneri exclaimed. "We had those rebels on the run. We had the larger army and the better soldiers. Then all of a sudden, this other army shows up and we're forced back. I want to know what happened!"

"It would appear that we didn't take into account their fighting spirit," Shikamaru stated. Every single member of the rookies were forced to be there as well as Gaara's siblings and many others, including Sasuke. While there was a lot of mistrust, they knew it was better to work together than against each other.

"Then find a way to crush that spirit so we can defeat them next time!" Toneri ordered.

"There won't be a next time for you," They turned to see Cole walk in, an angry look on his face. "You're being relieved of your command. You will guard the defenses at Mansburg. Make sure the rebels don't ever take this city. If it falls, it'll be your head. I'm assigning Commander Haslup to command the main army from now on."

As Cole was betreating Toneri, the others all got out and back to the woods at the rear of the camp.

"Did anyone get a good look at the rebel army we faced?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Kiba replied. "These rebels knew what they were doing. It's like they had an actual commander unlike the others."

"I did get a good look at the rebel officer that was able to rally his men when the main army arrived," Neji said. "Blond hair, blue eyes, and it seemed to me that he had whisker marks on his cheeks."

"NARUTO!" The others exclaimed.

"What's more is what he shouted," Neji continued. "Rally behind the Emperor and his guard. Does this mean that they picked their own emperor or is there something we don't know?"

The others pondered, not sure what to do. Eventually, Hinata spoke up.

"We need to help the rebels," she said. "If we can sabotage how the defenses at Mansburg are placed, maybe they can help get us out of Toneri's grasp as well."

"It might work, but weakening the defenses won't be possible," Temari stated. "Toneri will watch every move we make. Our only hope is for the rebels to find a way to break through and force the defenders to either retreat or surrender." The others all nodded before heading back to the camp. Only Hinata, Lee, Tenten, and Neji remained.

"If Naruto is in command of a rebel army," Lee began. "Then why didn't he just press against us? They had us beat and the his clones, he could've ended Toneri right then and there."

"Only time will tell," Neji replied. As they all walked back, Hinata turned and whispered.

"Naruto," she said. "Please save me before the end of next month. Even if you have to go alone, please save me." Unknown to Hinata, the rebel army was planning on marching out as soon as they could to strike at the weakened loyalist forces and take Mansburg, one way or another, even if it meant fighting one of the largest battles that anyone had ever seen.