Chapter 2
Time continued to pass since the death of Naruto and the return of the Namikaze family, after his return on his son's funeral, Minato said that he was furious about the fact that they were celebrating his son's death when the civilians and shinobi understood what that meant they knew that they were in deep shit. All of them tried to ask for forgiveness yet things were still tense between the family and the villagers. The mistreatment of Naruto and his eventual murder still stung the family resulting in Minato, Kushina, Naruko and even Hiruzen lashing out at the villagers subtly and directly.
Kushina had reacted badly the first few days by staying in the room they prepared for Naruto, after that she started issuing her own form of justice by finding the people most responsible for his mistreatment and beating the crap out of them. She made it perfectly clear that the 'Red death' of Konoha was back and in action.
She took Naruto's mistreatment and his death hard as she was the former Jinchuriki of the nine tails and was ostracized in her youth. Sure the civilians at the time didn't know she held the Kyubi at bay, but she was seen as a foreigner with her red hair and chubby face. She knew the feeling of being alone and made fun of for something beyond her control and she took a different path in her youth acting as an aggressive tomboy and lashing out at anyone that made fun of her. As a result she didn't have many friends and only stayed close to Mikoto Uchiha who respected her and acted as her rival and eventually Minato after the attempted kidnapping of Kumo.
As she continued to delve deeper into Naruto's suffering, his personality and approach to his problems she saw a child in need that did pranks for attention. He approached his problems far different from her taking a less aggressive approach, sucking up his problems and dealing with it as best as he could. She noticed that nobody cared for her son other than Hiruzen Kakashi Yugao and Itachi.
She noticed in the reports that although things were bad for Naruto, he continued to smile and stay positive and it truly made her proud and sad. Proud her son was turning out to be a kind and strong person with a great personality and sad that she had nothing to do with it, worse yet she never had the chance of meeting him.
For the time being Kushina spent her time at home watching and training Narumi in the basics of Chakra and combat while she herself revamped her skills. She had plans to become a Jonin again and alongside Naruko find protect the village of konoha and make things right. She knew Narumi understood why things were the way they were and expected Minato to watch over her once she was back in the ninja fighting force. Narumi agreed that this was best and she herself began training hard in hopes of one day helping her family.
Minato on the other hand didn't directly beat the crap out of the villagers responsible for the mistreatment of Naruto, but instead took it out in paperwork and official investigations. The first thing Minato did as Kage once again was address the growing corruption rooted in Konoha and Fire country and brutally deal with the problem. It turns out that a majority of people that mistreated Naruto the most were involved in corruption in one way or another ranging from bribery to the eliciting of drugs and illegal good. Sometimes he came across cases of fire country citizens sharing secrets to foreign shinobi and enemies of Konoha. Following a long and brutal investigation and its eventual conclusions those convicted, they eventually paid a visit to Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi for torture and interrogation before meeting their end in the public execution platform. (Keeping children away of course).
At first the civilian members of council spoke out in an uproar, but as the days pass on they too were found to play a hand in corruption and with evidence were also convicted, tortured and executed. It turned out that a majority was delving their hands in gold and greed doing what they liked behind Sarutobi's back. They too paid for their crimes and their wealth converted back into Konoha's financial reserves. Now the civilian council was composed of people that looked out for the good of Konoha and fire country civilians. Sure there were a few members that had played a hand in Naruto's mistreatment, but Minato and Hiruzen knew they were truly remorseful for their actions and were doing their best to make up for it. Still a close eye was kept on them.
Time progressed and Minato began rebuilding diplomatic relations with neighboring countries and allies of Konoha including Takigakure and Suna, although things are still tense with Suna. The more minor nations surrounding were also seeing Konoha as the key player, particularly with the return of Minato to power and in the case of war (although unlikely) were more inclined to support Konoha.
For the rest of the major countries Minato had begun supplying weapons and materials to the rebels in Water country while initiating black ops operations. This was done discretely of course as complete involvement would destroy the sovereign rights of the nation and initiate a bad reputation for Konoha, regardless if Yagura's regime was generally seen as evil with baby killings, open torture and executions of bloodline users and supporters. Minato hoped that with the victory of the rebellion diplomatic relations with Konoha would become favorable eventually leading to an alliance.
Iwa and Kumo were starting to see Konoha as a major threat again with the return of Minato and in case of war had created a defensive pact between the two, although that was very loose as neither side liked each other with constant border confrontations and attempted kidnappings of Kumo for strong Shinobi.
Kumo although in bad relation with Konoha due to the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress still engaged in diplomacy agreeing that war should be avoided at all cost. The diplomatic meeting was quite the sight between A, kage of Kumo bringing his 2 Jinchuriki, Bee of the 8 tails and his brother and young Yugito of the 2 tails and his adopted daughter. Minato however brought along Hiruzen previous kage of Konoha and his wife Kushina, 'Red Death' of Konoha.
Things started out tense seeing that Kushina had bad experiences with Kumo, but as the kage knew and respected one another having engaged each other during the third Ninja war, the tenseness settled down. Eventually a non-aggression treaty was signed and although things were still tense between the two countries a working relationship was developing. Talks of trade happening between the two were on the rise.
Iwa on the other hand remained stubborn to the end declining any form of diplomatic agreement between the two nations. Oonoki still resented Minato for having destroyed Iwa's shinobi column in the third war. No one was sure where relations of Iwa would go with only time telling.
Hiruzen took the death of Naruto the worst. Being a father and grandfather himself he knew he should have looked out for him more. Having believed he failed to provide for the boy. He started feeling down because of his failure and inability to be the figure Naruto needed growing up as he focused on the betterment and safety of the village. As time passed this phase eventually turned into conviction to change things and make pthings right. Too long had Konoha delved into stupidity behind his back diminishing his sensei's 'will of fire', so with his new conviction he played a more active role in correcting problems around the country and inside Konoha.
Although Minato Namikaze was now acting kage Hiruzen played a major role as an advisor and in backing him from the sidelines by establishing his authority and support with the shinobi clans and their leaders. Although his direct involvement in the village has been reduced, the more free time he had allowed him to improve his work quality and alongside Minato stamped out corruption.
He continued to play a major role on the council acting as the key advisor while at the same time increasing his training and involvement of Konohamaru's life. He had made mistakes in the past but it was never good to delve into them forever after all the next generation shouldn't suffer for his mistakes.
These days it was more accurate to say there were two acting kages who were strict on the happenings of the village. With the greater logistics and growth the development of the fire country skyrocketed reaching beyond the initial phases of the founding of Konoha. Shinobi and civilian curriculum's began improving and advanced beyond the basics allowing for a range of improvements to take place. It no longer catered just towards clan heirs and the privileged, for instance the basic three for graduation, Henge, Kawarimi and clone were no longer enough. Each graduate was required to know at least an additional three combative justu's and be able to satisfy a chunin instructor in a fight. Additionally there were now after school classes available to further advance and improve the student's capabilities.
Chunin and Jonin were strengthened and improved with better training regimes with access to greater equipment and techniques. As years passed more and more were pumped into the Shinobi forces and with better quality to the point that the build up was just below pre-war output. Normally this would frighten other countries, but as corruption and spy's were stamped out the neighboring nations remained none the wiser.
The Uchiha clan affaire was handled with a lot of wisdom from Minato, he tired both Koharu and Homura and he had both Hiashi Hyuga and Uchiha Fugaku alongside Hiruzen become his advisers, he also had made a speech about the fact that he tristesse the Uchiha clan and allowed them back inside the village. Now the Uchiha clan, instead of being outcasts, became an active part of the shinobi forces.
The Daimyo's samurai armies improved logistically and strength was improving. Talks of upgrading weaponry and equipment manufacturing began to increase as the future approached. All this was possible under the banner of both Hiruzen and Minato.
Fire country was now completely seen as the strongest in the elemental nations and Konoha the strongest shinobi village.
As the change and improvement in logistics occurred, Root was eventually re-discovered again. In response Minato and Hiruzen put their fist down on the matter engaging with Danzo and the elders on the issue. Both had basically said that as long as they conducted missions approved by the kage and were loyal to Konoha and himself Danzo can maintain and train his troops, however certain conditions had to be met such as the inhuman conditioning of the forces no longer being permitted. The reason for the leniency was simply because Danzo had worked for the greater good of Konoha, no matter how dark and Minato could see the logic behind his moves. Danzo and the former elders accepted seeing no other alternative, besides under the influence of Minato conditions of Konoha and fire country were significantly greater than before. Now Danzo was responsible for aiding the bloodline supporters with logistics while waiting for Minato to send a team there to help.
Jiraya and Tsunade eventually returned having heard of the Namikaze's return and were greeted with scorn from the family and a painful fist from Minato and Kushina. They both knew they were in deep shit but they did not know how deep until Minato talked to them
Flashback start
Minato was trying to calm down; knowing the next person he was going to meet was going to piss him off the most. He finally calmed down as he heard knocking at the door. "Enter" the one who entered was a very pissed off secretary.
"Tsunade sama and Jiraiya-sama is here Yondaime-sama" Jiraiya must have been making rude comments towards her concerning her figure.
"Send them in." Minato's tone left no room for discussion. The secretary moved out of the way as both Jiraya and Tsunade came inside his office.
Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair usually tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" (油, abura), which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta (wooden sandals), a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back.
Now in her fifties, Tsunade has aged considerably. However, she maintains the appearance of her younger self through a unique and constant Transformation Technique. In her prime, the appearance she normally takes, she has a slender frame. Despite being known as flat-chested in her childhood, she now has a rather large bust; 106 centimeters in circumference, according to Jiraiya. Her beauty has been pointed out several times and she's been called the most beautiful kunoichi in the world by several people. She often wears a grass-green haori with the kanji for "gamble" (賭, kake) written in black on the back, inside a red circle. Underneath she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. Her blouse is closed quite low, revealing her sizeable cleavage. She wears open-toed, strappy black sandals with high heels and red polish on both her fingernails and toenails. She also wears a soft pink lipstick.
"Hey, Minato. How is it going?" Minato glared at Jiraiya, "Look can we hurry this meeting up, I have to get back to my research." Minato chuckled.
"Yes, of course, as it seems that your research is far more important than your duties to your godson." Jiraiya got a serious expression on his face as he began to explain.
"Now Minato, I know I haven't been the best Godfather but…" "Shut-up Jiraiya and sit down…I don't want to hear your explanation unless you have something that will deny the facts that I have here…and don't even think about lying to me." Jiraiya sighed as he sat down.
" Now let's start shall we, where the fuck were you whenmy son needed you two."
"Minato…I know you are angry but…" The killing intent was worse than anything Tsunade had ever done.
"Jiraiya…do I look angry." Jiraiya nodded his head, while Minato folded his hands in front of his face, "I was angry when you peeped on my wife, I was angry when you based our honeymoon in one of your books, I was angry that for my wife's birthday shower you gave her a spaghetti string bikini that barely covered her unmentionables…now I'm furious!" Jiraiya jumped from his seat when Minato slammed his fist into the desk.
"Damn it Minato, I know I messed up but…" The ice cold glare Minato was giving him was worse then the malicious eyes of the Kyuubi.
"Sit…down…now!" Jiraiya swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly sat down, "I asked you one simple thing Jiraiya…one…little…thing. And that one little thing was that you watch out for my son and keep him safe. AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT!" Jiraiya wanted to protest but knew they were beat… they were going to make sure they made up for their stupid mistakes.
"Minato…I understand that what we did was wrong but…" Minato cut him off again.
"there Is no but, At this point Jiraiya…I realize what a mistake I made." Minato went back to looking through the various reports. "You will not be allowed anywhere near my children so long as I feel you are inept…and I doubt you will ever change my mind." Jiraiya had a look of shocked horror on his face…
"Minato please, they are my fucking godchildren…CRASH" in the span of two seconds Jiraiya was pinned against the wall struggling for breath with a kunai laced just above his sternum.
"You lost all rights to being my children's godfather 5 years ago…I have made my decision and you will follow it. Or so help me Kami I will kill both of you."
This time it was tsunade who talked
"I know I fucked up, but atleast let see my godson, please Minato you owe me atleast that." she said causing Minato to chuckle before he exploaded in laughter
"you want to see Naruto, sure let's go see him." and he flashed everyone to the cemetary where both sannin saw their godson's grave. Not leaving them the time to think he flashed them back inside his office. After getting out of her shock Tsunade asked
"how... Was it Iwa or Kumo who found out about him."
"No, it was just a couple of drunk anbu who wanted to kill the demon so to speak."
"Now listen to me both of you, this is what is going to happen, Jiraya you will come to give your reports once a month and on the same day you will leave my village, when I ask for you, you come without hesitation understood." said Minato causing Jiraya to just nod his head. He turned towards Tsunade and said
" as for you, you will lead the medical nin program, you have both the funds and the personnel, you no longer have an excuse at delaying the med nin program." he said and Tsunade nodded.
Flashback end
It took a great deal of tongue lashing from Minato, Kushina and Hiruzen to wake her up after breaking down in tears. Overtime she grew more remorseful of her actions and did what she could to make up for her mistakes. She now spends her time developing and improving Konoha and fire country's medical department. Eventually she would come to take on two apprentices in addition to Shizune, Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga.
Scene change
Two figures were walking in the mist, the first was haku Yuki, she became a beautiful women, she had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes, a slender frame, and was also quite short for her age. Haku's normal shinobi outfit consisted of the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at her knees. Over this she wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around her waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around her waist twice. She also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as her kimono and nail polish on her fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour. When wearing this outfit, her long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose framing her face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. She also wore a black forehead protector with the Kirigakure's symbol upon it. When in battle or moving covertly, she wore a hunter-nin mask on top of her forehead protector, which was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top. She also wore a dark-coloured choker around her neck. In her hand was Ensui (Dark Water), her sword. It's a sword handle with a stone at the tip with the kanji symbol for "Water" written on it. Ensui's blade is formed by stabilizing water molecules, therefore it can take the attributes of each state of water.
The second figure was Naruto Uzumaki, He has blonde hair, blue eyes, He is always seen wearing a black, cloak that falls to his knees. His fingernails are long and sharp, similar to claws. He is a tall, fit shinobi, and he almost always wears a white mask, the mask itself is simply design with a mischievous smirk running from its cheekbones down to, slightly above, the jawline and arching back up to his opposite cheekbone. Granting him visibility are two crescent-shaped spots flowing downwards, forming a wicked portrayal along with the mouth piece. In his right armpit was put a nodachi inside its pitch black saya.
Behind them was a was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He was normally seen wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. Under his mask, he had a relatively narrow jawline and jagged-teeth, a trait he shared with his fellow Swordsmen. He wore his forehead protector sideways on his head and he was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his Kubikiribōchō, wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. The Man was Momochi Zabuza the demon of the hidden mist.
As three members of the resistance were approaching their destination they were attacked by six kiri anbu. The three resistance members looked at each other before both Haku and Zabuza stepped back. Naruto sighed and grabbed his sword, the ANBU smirk thinking that he won't have time to draw his nodachi from inside its pitch black saya, but to their stupefaction, Naruto's weapons were twin kodachis one blade appearing to be the hilt, while the second blade is stationed opposite the first and blends in with the saya itself, those two swords were his personal weapons, the weapons of his kodachi nitoryu. That moment of distraction cost the first anbu his life as Naruto cut straight through his throat, after Naruto started the basic footwork for his style, Ryūsui no Ugoki: (Flowing-Water Movement) This is moving technique where Naruto moves around silently, rapidly alternating between fast and slow movements and confusing the opponent due to the fluid motion & continuously changing speed. This technique is hard to beat but It can be beaten by watching for the moment the user attempts to strike. Unfortunetely for the anbu none of them were good enough swordsmen to stop Naruto so he used another technique from his style, the Jissen Kenbu: (Actual-Battle Sword-Dance) Combo attack using Ryūsui no Ugoki to flow around the enemy, confusing them with a constant change in speed. Naruto then striked from various points, slashing them with his kodachi, causing multiple injuries to the five anbu but that was just a set up for his next move the Kaiten Kenbu: ("Spiral Sword Dance" or "The Dance Of The Wheeling Sword"). It involves Naruto rapidly spinning around three times, while holding the kodachi backhand, to slash the opponent thrice in an instant. This Combo rarely failed him and now was not one of those times. And as usual, whenever Naruto used this Combo None of his enemies survive, all six anbu were dead, after striking them of everything, kunai, shuriken, swords, clothes even underwear, all of the corpses were put in a small group then Naruto set them on fire. After that Naruto and his group continued their travel inhindered and in complete silence.
Scene change.
Naruto leaped over the fence into the camp, his silhouette nothing more than a blur against the moonlight. His black coat was completely soaked in blood, though none of it was his own. Around him sounds of battle were raging on as steel clashed again steel and men cried out as fatal blows cut into their flesh. From the darkness two Kiri nins flanked him from both sides, hoping to ambush him. Naruto jumped, twisting his body in the air and narrowly dodging both swords that had moved to slice him in half. He took both his trusty kodachis, and thrust them both into the chests of these attackers, all in the same motion of his dodge.
Landing gracefully on his feet, Naruto continued to run forward as though he had never been stopped in the first place. Seeing a group of enemies a short distance away, he jumped high into the air before landing in their midst. Before any of them could react he used ninpo: Fireball (ninja art:Dan En) shaped the flames into numerous fireballs that he shot out at once, killing many of the ninja in the process. He then finished of the remaining enemy using his kodachis.
After finishing off the last soldiers, Naruto stopped and took his signature stance, readying himself for more attackers to jump out at him. When none came and the clearing was silent, he reinforced his sight and hearing to better take in his surroundings. For the most part, the defenders were falling back into the small fortress in the middle of the camp. He heard the small pattering sound of running behind him and turned around to see Haku, Zabuza and Suigetsu leap into the ring of corpses he had been standing in.
"Well?" Naruto asked them.
"It's as bad as we knew it would be." Zabuza told him gruffly. "This is a concentration camp for bloodline clans. A fucking slaughter house to kill them off nice, slow and systematically." Zabuza shook his head. "Shit gaki there are things in here that even I wouldn't do." Coming from a guy that slaughtered his entire academy class to graduate that said a lot.
Naruto nodded, doing his best to ignore that nagging sadness he felt at being unable to have saved many of the people here. No, he knew he could never have been able to save all of them in the first place. The important thing was to save those he still could. "We should hurry before the enemy have chance to regroup. Where are the prisoners being held?"
The question was directed at Suigetsu who pointed towards the west wing of the camp. "My clan and most of the others were kept there. Come on, I'll lead you there."
The four quickly ran through the camp killing anyone who was foolish enough to get in their way. They made their way to a section of the camp that contained several rows of buildings that looked more like warehouses or barns rather than human settlements. Naruto kicked the nearest door open. Slight illumination from the stars along with reinforced eyes gave a clear view of what was inside.
Though the building itself was fairly large it was impossible to tell from the inside. Every inch of space had been used to cramp stalls upon stalls against one another. Yes, stalls, the kind that were used to house animals rather than human beings. While the building itself looked as though it would collapse at any minute, its inhabitants looked far worse. All of them wore a standard gray prison outfit with a long sleeved shirt and long gray trousers with straw sandals; they also had steel collars around her neck with special seals placed on it so that it would suppress their chakra, effectively stopping them from using ninjutsu. Naruto knew it was also designed to paralyze its victim or explode depending on how the guards chose to activate it or if anyone less than a seal master carelessly tried tamper with it. However what struck Naruto the most was their conditions. Their faces were pale from malnutrition and lack of exposure to sunlight. They were skinny. He could see their cheekbones and their shirts, as thread bare as they may have been, looked far too big on them. It was the view of a people that had been overworked and deliberately starved for years.
"Su… Suigetsu is that you?"
"Jiji!" The blue haired swordsman blurred past Naruto towards an elderly old man.
"I was wondering what the ruckus was outside." The now identified Hozuki laughed. "I never dreamed you of all people would come back here."
"It wasn't just me" Suigetsu shook his head and gestured towards where Naruto was standing. "I was also saved."
Naruto kept his face impassive, giving nothing away as the old man turned to study him. At long last the Hozuki head simply shrugged. "I don't care." He stated simply. "I had enough of this god-forsaken place. Free us. I'd much rather die facing Yagura than return here."
A slight smile touched Naruto's face. "That's a good attitude old man… But first we need to get those collars off you." He turned Zabuza and Haku. "Raid the supply depots for food and start handing out soldier pills to the prisoners. That way we won't have to worry about them dying from indigestion and they'll hopefully have enough strength to haul ass out of this dump. Once you've done that, Haku and Suigetsu will organize a retreat back to the hideout. Zabuza, you're coming with me. Meet me in front of the keep in twenty minutes."
Zabuza raised a brow. "Why? You're not planning to do something stupid again are you?"
Naruto whirled around at the swordsman. "Zabuza, if I told you I was about to do the stupidest and most reckless thing in the history of stupidity and recklessness would that deter you from going along with it anyways?"
"… You're just saying that to entice me aren't you?"
"That's what I thought."
Quickly, those around him began shuffling out to carry out his commands. As they did, Naruto took a moment to step back and sigh. He remembered how he and Haku had left mizu no kuni 4 years ago, how they went to Tetsu no kuni to train, how they both pushed their bodies to the limit, creating both the kodachi nitoryu and the Hyōmon Ken for both himself and Haku. However they mastered their elements, the futon, katon and enton for himself and the futon, Suiton and hyoton for Haku. How after three years, they realised that the situation in mizu no kuni will not solve itself and that they decided to join the rebellion, how they quickly became important players in the rebellion, how he became known as the karyuu (fire dragon) and Haku became known as the yuki hime (Ice princess), how six months ago he fought the three tailed bastard to a stand still 6 months ago. As he finished reminiscing his teamates returned and he started the second part of his plan.
Unmo Samidare was not having a good day. He had been assigned to be the supervisor of this camp for a short mandatory routine tour. He had not enjoyed doing many of things he had done here but orders were orders and in the end it was usually his life over someone else's since Yagura was not the kind of leader that would tolerate disobedience or failure. As disagreeable as the work may have been, it should also have been safe, easy and simple. None of those words described the situation he was in now. His battle honed instincts had woken him up in the dead of night to the metallic smell blood and he had looked out the window of his room to see his men being slaughtered. It wasn't difficult to deduce who his enemy was. Their Kirigakure headbands and intended targets were a dead giveaway that they were Kiri rebels. If anything though Samidare wanted to know why the hell the rebels were active all of a sudden when they had been virtually nonexistent in Kiri for that past year!
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw two lone figures walking towards the steel walled keep as though they were out for a leisurely walk. They stopped well within shuriken or kunai throwing range, not that anyone would have been stupid enough to try to attack men who were obviously messengers in their predicament, but the pair's absolute confidence in their current wellbeing was downright demoralizing. It wasn't difficult for Samidare to recognize Zabuza Momochi, the notorious Kirigakure no Kijin, but the person next to him was a complete mystery. He was young; that was the first though that struck Samidare. He couldn't have been much older than a rookie genin and yet he held himself as though he had been born to be on the battlefield. The figure, Samidare couldn't bring himself to call him a boy, had golden blonde locks that came down over frigid blue eyes, that sent chills down anyone who looked too deeply into them. He wore black overcoat with red stains, though Samidare noted bitterly that it could have just been the blood of all guards he had seen the monster kill during the initial attack.
"Hello, future victims!" The black clad blonde cheerfully called from below. "I thought I should let you know… that the prisoners in this camp, including the Hozuki clan and various other clans have been freed! Right now, they are eating to regain their strength! But you can be sure once they're done they'll hunt you down and kill every last one of you! If you surrender though, we'll let you go free and you might be able to escape before they finish their meal! Make your choice quickly though, because you don't have much time!"
In the end, it wasn't much of a choice. The camp itself held no strategic value and the rebels had already completed their main objectives. The loyalists knew that if they died there their deaths would have been meaningless and they would have no doubt died painful deaths at the hands of their former captives. Quickly the Kiri nins made their choice. They surrendered their weapons and began running out of the camp. Watching the backs of the fleeing ninja, Naruto's eyes drifted over the Zabuza.
"Don't." he said making the Demon of the Mist jerk in surprise.
"You noticed." It was not a question.
Naruto nodded "We gave our word that we would spare them, so we will." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Besides we need them to run away. If they had stayed there's a chance they might have been able follow us back to our base. It's not like we can move quickly with half-starved prisoners after all. This way, they'll spread word of what we've done here and make people realize how quickly Yagura's authority is falling apart."
Zabuza chuckled. "Sorry, I guess old habits die hard. This was the job I had back when I still Yagura's dog after all. Hehe."
Naruto turned and looked Zabuza straight in the eyes. "You are no one's dog, not anymore. This is our fight, no one else's… so we will fight it the way we choose."
Zabuza's eyes widened for a brief moment before staring back at Naruto impassively once more. Having said his fill, Naruto turned around and walked back towards the section of the camp where the prisoners were being freed from their bonds in order to see what he could do to help. For a while complete silence dominated the camp. From a small inconspicuous puddle lying on the ground not too far away, The Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu silently emerged like shadows.
"Zabuza-sama, should we hunt them down?" Meizu asked, curious as to why his leader had not already given the signal to attack.
Zabuza seemed to consider the choice for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah," He drawled nonchalantly, "We'll let them live for today. Come on, let's get back to the others."
He turned and began walking in the direction Naruto had gone, his back already receding into the distance.
Scene change
In front of Namikaze Minato stood the team that he was planning to send to kiri, Hatake Kakashi, Uzuki Yugao, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Shisui, Tenzo and his wife Namikaze Kushina.
Kushina was a stunningly beautiful, red haired woman with attractive purple eyes. She wore a blue forehead protector with her hair tied up in a high ponytail and strands framing both sides of her face. Her attire consisted of a standard Konoha flak jacket over a black short-sleeved shirt and black form-fitting pants that reached her calves. With her attire it was easy to tell that she was dangerous. Despite this inherent danger, she exuded a calm and kind demeanor. Yet again, the truth was that she had an incredible temper hidden underneath the exterior. She was Namikaze née Uzumaki Kushina after all
Shisui had short, unkempt, dark-coloured hair and a relatively broad nose and well-defined eyelashes, that were turns upwards at each end. He wore the standard attire of the Uchiha clan which includes a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a tantō strapped to the right side of the back of his shoulder. He also wore what appeared to be a harness for his tantō which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders. During his time in the regular forces, Shisui donned the standard Konoha-nin uniform.
Yamato has short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes. Yamato usually wore the standard attire of the Anbu, with a sword strapped to his back, a mask that resembles a cat's face covered in green, and red markings, and the Anbu tattoo on his left shoulder. He also still retains two hip pouches strapped to his lower back instead of just one. In addition to that, he has a happuri-style forehead protector that frames his face, similar to that of Tobirama Senju.
Seeing that everyone he needed was present, Minato decided to start the debriefing
"I have a mission that will require all of you. The first mission is to assess the efforts and capabilities of the rebels in Mist. From there if your assessment is favorable, you are to remain and assist them. Do not get captured by their enemies as they are on a witch-hunt against bloodline users. All of you have been chosen, as your abilities will be needed if the assessment indeed turns out favorable and the reason for that is because their Yondaime Mizukage is the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi." he said and all of them nodded.
Looking around for a moment, he located the scroll he was searching for and tossed them to Dog. "The blue-edged scroll contains your contact location and passwords to meet up with your contact in the port city of Otāzu no Odori."
Six replies of "Hai, Hokage-sama," were his answer and he nodded. "Good then all I have to say is good luck and return safely." His only response was six nods and then they vanished in various methods of shunshin. Once they were safely out of sight and hearing, he sagged back in his seat and tilted his head back. "May Kami watch over and protect you all."
Once they had reappeared at the ANBU training ground, Kakashi removed his mask and turned towards the others. After gazing at both Itachi and Yuugao for a moment, he sighed and looked to Kushina. "Allright guys, this is how we will do this, Yugao Tenzo and I will be team one, Itachi Shisui and Kushina will be team two, team leaders are both me and Itachi. We will enter Mizu no kuni from two different points and meet up in Otāzu no Odori, after we make our reservations in a hotel we will initiate contact, the ones responsible about that will be Shisui and Itachi understood. " when everyone nodded they all shunshined away, leaving the anbu training field empty.
Three days later
Once they had arrived near the outskirts of Otāzu no Odori, they slowed down and after ensuring that there was no one around them, removed their masks and used a Henge to conceal their looks. Looking around as they walked around the town, they stopped by a dango stand to grab some food and continued on.
About a half hour later they found the inn that they were supposed to meet their contact at and headed inside. Once they had arranged for a room for the night, both Shisui and Itachi took a seat at table where they could observe everything and everyone going by. After ordering a bottle of sake and some food, they sat there quietly conversing for a little over an hour before someone came in that caught Shisui's eye.
Motioning to Itachi where only he could see, he communicated using ANBU hand signals that their contact had just shown up. Getting a nod in return, he stood and approached the table that she was sitting at with one other person, figuring that since he was the more un-assuming of the two that he would be greeted with slightly less hostility than Itachi would have.
Sitting down at the table he smiled lightly at the woman across from him. "The waters are cold this time of year."
Catching the slight widening of her eyes, he watched as she nodded and spoke quietly. "Yes, they are indeed, I just hope that the fires will keep us warm. Have we kept you waiting long?"
Shaking his head, he signaled Itachi to join them. "No as we just got into town today. My companions and I have some questions for you before we leave with you." He then turned to Itachi once she nodded and motioned for him to take over the conversation.
Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Itachi nodded to his younger comrade before turning to their host. "I'm thinking that we should discuss this in a more private location, we have a room upstairs and I think it might be best if you and your companion joined us so that we aren't overheard."
Smirking, the woman turned to her companion and looked at him in a questioning manner. He returned her gaze with certainty and nodded back at her. She then stood and motioned for them to lead the way, which Shisui did, followed closely by the two strangers and Itachi as the rearguard.
Upon reaching their room, Shisui slapped a seal on the door and channeled a little chakra into it. Then kakashi slipped in some hand seals after biting his thumb, and slammed his hand into the floor. "Kuchiyose no jutsu" Two of his ninken (ninja dogs) appeared.
"What do you require of us Kakashi?" Hiding his grimace, he spoke quietly to them, yet still loud enough to be heard by everyone there in the room. "Greetings to both of you, Shimo, Takibi, I need the two of you to make certain that we are not overheard by anyone. Do not attack and employ your stealth skills to observe and report any chakra usage outside of this room within five hundred meters."
Both nodding at their summoner, they popped out of the room as kakashi looked up at his partners. "We should be secure now, so we can begin anytime you wish to."
This got Itachi's attention and he turned towards the pair who were just sitting there, somewhat stunned by the identity of the ANBU opperative. "The first thing that we would like to know is your names. I am Uchiha Itachi, and my partners are Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi, Uzuki Yugao, Tenzo and Namikaze Kushina." It was at this point that the all of them dropped their respective Henge and resumed their normal looks.
The woman nodded and pointed to her companion first. "This is Choujuro, and my name is Terumi Mei. I must admit to being impressed as I wasn't expecting so many famous people."
Smirking just a bit, Itachi replied, "True but we weren't expecting to meet with the leader of the rebels and one of her best men either."
"Touché, now what questions do you have for us, because I'll be honest with you, the reality of things is that we are in dire straits and we will need the aid of a Jinchuriki if we are to end Yagura's reign of terror and bloodshed."
Motioning to his younger partner Itachi let kushina take the floor. "That would be why I am here, what can you tell us as far as the numbers you are up against and what condition your own troops are in?"
Mei turned to Choujuro and nodded. Sighing a little, Choujuro shook his head a bit. "We are out-numbered three to one at this point in time. Our troops are in good shape for now, but morale is slowly starting to waver as we have been slowly losing ground. Most of the civilians want Yagura gone, but with so many Shinobi against us, the most they are willing to do is secretly provide us with food and medicine. In all honesty if we can't win at least one major victory and soon, things will come crashing down around our ears and the rebellion will fail. The worst part is that if Yagura wins, it will not bode well for countries like Hi no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni who have well-known bloodlines."
Sitting back in their chairs, the Six Konoha Nin took their time sorting through the information they had just received. Itachi turned to Kakashi and raised an eyebrow at him, to which he responded by shrugging. Turning back to the Kiri Nin, he slowly nodded his head. "If we assist you and you win, have you given any thought to who will become the new Mizukage? Also what are you offering for our services as we are here in an off-the-books mission because of the chance of capture?"
The two Mist ninja looked at each other and nodded, and then Mei looked at both of them. "Once we win I will more than likely become the Godaime Mizukage, as far as what you would receive in return for your services I am afraid that we won't be able to afford to give you much in return. I am inclined to offer an alliance with Konoha with very favorable terms, but other than that I can't really offer much else."
Sharing a quick glance the konoha ninja nodded. "That is acceptable perhaps we could receive a favor redeemable at a later date instead of direct payment, but nothing too unreasonable of course."
"That is indeed acceptable. I am guessing that Kushina san is here because of her ability to suppress jinchuriki?"
Simply smirking at her, Kushina bowed slightly. "Indeed I am Mei-san. I compliment you on your deductive reasoning. Withe me here the war will end soon dattebane."
Smiling brightly at the young woman, she nodded her head once. "If that is all for your questions, I suggest we all get ready for tomorrow, as that is when our ship returns for us. We leave at daybreak."
The next day
The konoha team, alongside both Mei and Choujuro, left on their boat towards one of the smaller islands of mizu no kuni, where the rebels base was located, they arrived at a woden hut, mei was about to open the door but a man stopped her . "State your business, Konoha-nin. I've done nothing wrong, and you have no jurisdiction in this part of the world." His voice was gruff, matching his appearance perfectly. The scar that ran across the bridge of his nose reminded Shisui of a Chunin he knew to work at the Academy.
Mei chose her words carefully, "we've come on the behalf of our leader." We have jurisdiction anywhere we so please. She gave the man a respectful nod of her head. "Konoha wishes to help wash away the red from the waters." We're here to clean house. There it was. The code the Resistance used to identify friendlies. That little piece of information was invaluable to them. Without it, the Resistance wouldn't have let them anywhere near their plans. Even someone like Mei had to give the password to enter one of the basses.
"Wait here for a moment," was the man's reply, disappearing from the door to enter the small shack. Five minutes later the man returned and ushered them into the hut, which would have looked strange to onlookers, the hut looked like it could only fit two of them in at the same time.
The hut itself was just a ploy, what lay underneath it was the true hideout. The underground tunnel was very large; an experienced Doton user must have had a hand in creating it. The tunnel stretched out for a small distance, which let out in an even larger room. There were people scurrying about like worker Bee's. In the middle was Zabuza the demon of the hidden mist, Seeing mei alongside the konoha nins, he sighed and said
"hi mei, glad to see you, both the gakis are not here and Ao is on his mission, so I was left in charge."
"I see, what about the camp, did any of the prisoners want to join?" asked Mei.
"yeah, we got the houzuki clan with us, and about 45 other kekkei genkai holders, like ranton users and jinton users mostly. " answered the swordsman "bothered the karyuu and the Yuki hime are going to fetch Ao from his prison." he then looked at the konoha team and whistled "Damn mei, the Yondaime is really serious about helping us, sending all these high rollers here." he then saluted his leader and left.
After Zabuza's departure, the konoha team looked at mei and Kakashi asked her
"what mission is that Mei san?"
"Black Harbor," Terumi Mei began, "is a Kiri controlled prison. It houses a good portion of our people," here, an angry expression flashed across the woman's face, "the ones the bastard keeps alive."
"My top General went in to find information on the whereabouts of Yagura's top weapons manufacturing buildings." The green-eyed woman brushed a stray hair from her face back into one of the four bangs that adorned her face. "I was planning on sending three of my teams in, but two of my best field operatives, ryu kun and yuki chan told to let them deal with it. What I would like your team to handle is to be an escort to for the prisoners that will leave the prison."
When the konoha team heard of who the opperatives were, they no longer had any questions, the Yuki hime qnd the karyuu were legends in the civil war in kiri, both of them S classe and both of them masters of kenjutsu strong enough to be awarded the title of eighth and ninth blade of kiri, the members of the konoha team, especially Kushina and Yugao, were interrested in meeting them. So the team prepared for their mission.