Alright, I'm going to try and keep up with my stories a bit more. Now, we lost Hinata again and Naruto is currently threatening me with death if we don't get her back.

Naruto: If we don't rescue her, I will let Kurama out to play.

Just keep Mr. Softie on a leash for the moment. We really need to get this chapter started. Hinata won't be rescued in this chapter, but we will progress a bit through the Civil War. Maybe about a year into it.

Shikamaru: I hope you'll provide more context as to what happened during the battles.

Yes, I will. We're actually getting to the battle that will bring down the tyrant and his empire. Well, the tyrant will get the whole hey hey hey goodbye treatment.

Sasuke: No song references please.

Fine. Someone do the disclaimer while I find some music to type to. No it won't be Christmas music. I only used that to help out with a one shot on another story.

Naruto: Darth in no way shape or form owns me. Only Hinata and Kishimoto can make that claim.

The next few months were hell for Naruto. After the Battle of Thomas Bridge, the Rebels were forced back to Mansburg. Matthew ordered another strike to try and pull Cole away from the capital, but due to bad weather conditions, the Rebels weren't ready to face Cole's main army once again, with many Rebel leaders being captured and executed. While none of them were Naruto's friends, many of them were high-ranking Rebel officers in Matthew's army, forcing Matthew to promote more officers into the general's position.

After that disaster, Matthew ordered the army to settle into their winter quarters, knowing that both armies were exhausted from the recent battles. Jeff had dug in along the main railroad that led to the western ports, daring his opponent to come at him. The old fortresses around Mansburg were replaced with much larger ones filled with soldiers and stocked with enough supplies to hold out a four month siege. The city itself was rebuilt from the Rebels own attack months prior.

Matthew and Jeff's scouts were on the lookout for any movement from the main Imperial armies, knowing that if one decided to attack, the other would more than likely move as well, determined to crush the Rebels once and for all. Both knew that if they were attacked, there was no way that they could support the other. Now, it was just relying on what they had and praying that it would be enough. Now their only hope was to kill Cole in battle, if he would show his face on the battlefield.

The Rebels did have one up at the end of the campaign season. Their navy had won a decisive battle against a large number of pirates that Cole had hired to raid the Rebels coastline, meaning that the Imperial navy was still being held up at port after a disastrous attack that was rumored to have occurred on Knight territory, leaving a large portion of the Imperial navy in ruins and many newer ships at the bottom of the ocean. The pirates were sent to raid the main Rebel port, but were repelled by the defenses that Shikamaru had placed around the area, allowing for maximum fire from the fortresses to hit any invasion fleet. Before the Pirates could get close, their ships were knocked out by the defenses while the Rebels' ships raced out of the harbor and pulled alongside, opening up a full broadside on their enemies. Not a single Pirate ship survived that fight, allowing the Rebels free reign of the coast.

Naruto looked out over the rampart of his fortress, waiting to hear back from his scouts about the location of where Cole was holding Hinata. If Hinata was with Cole's army, then when they fought again, Naruto would make sure he would get her out of that camp and kill Cole where he stood. If she was at the Capitol Prison, then he would do whatever he could to be the one to lead the rescue, determined to get the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with back.

"Anything?" Kiba asked.

"Nothing," Naruto replied. "I can't believe that I just let her be captured. What type of man am I that I let the woman I love be taken away like that."

"We're all to blame for that," Kiba stated. "Shino and I should've done better at scouting for both armies. General Seville paid for the battle we lost with his own life and he was just following orders to wait before advancing. You know that Matthew and Takeru are shouldering their own blame as well since they were late getting there."

"I want to go up to them and hit them," Naruto said, trying to remain calm. "I want to yell and hit them and say that they don't know how I feel. I know that's not true, but it just hurts."

Kiba nodded, remembering what they were told just a month after Mansburg was taken by Matthew's forces. Matthew had lost his wife to an unknown reason and Takeru had someone that he cared about greatly back at his own homeland. Like Naruto, Takeru was a refugee from the Dragon Empire, only for him, it was a different story. His mom had heard that he was to be sacrificed to the Great Dragon and put him on one of the first boats away from the Dragon Empire that she could. As the boat was pulling away, he witnessed his mom being killed by Dragon soldiers for defying the will of the Great Dragon as they said.

Both Naruto and Takeru vowed to return to the Dragon Empire and fix everything. Naruto to help liberate his homeland and end the corruption that was infesting the land and Takeru to make sure that no one would ever have to lose a family member to traditions that made no sense anymore. For now, the only way that they would get to do that would be to win this war and make a case to invade the Dragon Empire and start liberating its people from tyranny.

Before Naruto and Kiba could continue, the scouts returned, two of them riding back to the city while the remaining three rode to the fortresses, all bearing grim news.

"Cole's army is on the move!" they shouted. "They'll be here in a few hours!"

The Rebel army began to prepare for battle as the riders rode past. The fort's defenders began to man the ramparts, as the crews went to their cannons, ready to force Cole back. Naruto took out his binoculars and saw that the scouts were correct. Cole was on his way with an army of around 40,000 Imperial infantry, 50,000 mercenaries, 3,000 cavalry, and 200 cannons.

The Rebels had around 4,000 men in each fort and another 2,000 in the city itself. At the rear in reserve were about 50,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 400 cannons. The forts were to help slow Cole down while Matthew got the main army ready. Bugle sounds in the city and beyond meant that the army was getting ready. Matthew also had around 50 new tanks, but was keeping them in reserve for the final push on the capital. The Second Battle of Mansburg was about to begin.

Cole's cannons began to deploy just outside the range of the rebel forts, knowing that the rebels had the range advantage. Cole also knew that he was outnumbered in the cavalry and artillery departments, but he hoped that his massive number of mercenaries could help turn the tide. He could only smile as he imagined his cousin's head on a pike. No more would he have to deal with any would-be emperor.

"Have the infantry form up," he began. "After the army is formed, begin the attack. No mercy to these traitors."

Coles officers got to work forming up their divisions. Dante's force was in the first wave, willing to show his support for his emperor. The next few waves were under the command of officers from different other empires, with the mercenaries wearing bright red uniforms. These weren't soldiers from the Dragon Empire, but from somewhere else that was unknown.

As the first cannon shots rang out, the Imperial army began its attack. By now, the main rebel army was deployed and ready to meet the Imperial army in battle. Rebel infantry sallied out of their forts and the city, joining the main fight. Now it was time to finally be ready to end this war. The Imperial Blue, White, and Black Crossed Sabers vs. the Rebel Red, Blue Cross, and Black Crossed Sabers. A battle to finally decide the outcome of the war.

On Naruto's position on the extreme right, he could see the first group of mercenaries approach his line. His personal banner, a bright orange flag with the red swirl of his clan flying high above his men. He had decided in this battle that he would fly his own standard just as the other rebel officers had begun. His friends stood by him as they were now ready to receive the first attack.

"Make ready!" Lee commanded. Naruto had put his friends in different positions in the line, knowing that they'll need help should the enemy break through. As the soldiers brought their guns up, they steeled their nerves, ready for what was to happen.

"Take aim!" As the soldiers brought their guns level, they all waited for the command. As the enemy stopped, it happened.

"FIRE!" As soon as Naruto and his friends gave the order, Naruto's whole line opened up, their rifles unleashing fire and smoke as their bullets left their guns. The air smelled of rotten eggs as the smoke rose from the front lines. The smoke clouded their view for only a few seconds, allowing them to see what was in front of them.

The mercenaries front rank was completely decimated with the next two ranks suffering heavy casualties. Cole's men aimed their weapons and returned fire, but with fewer men, their bullets weren't as impactful. There was also something else that Naruto noticed. Their weapons weren't as accurate, meaning most of their shots missed, with only around ten of Naruto's men being killed and another thirty injured.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Sasuke ordered, giving the men the command to unleash full hell. All along the rebel line, the rebel infantry were holding their own despite being outnumbered. Governor Dante saw where Naruto was and decided to hit the rebels right flank hard and ordered his men to charge with bayonets. If he could break one flank, the rebel army would surely collapse.

As Dante's men made it to Naruto's line, Naruto and his friends decided to show why they were in charge of that flank.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" "Lee Hurricane!" "Fang Over Fang" "Firestyle: Fireball Jutsu!" "Human Expansion: Rolling Boulder!"

As the cry came out, Naruto and his friends began to destroy Dante's mercenaries. Dante's Imperial infantry refused to advance, knowing who was in charge of the flank. His men were being destroyed as Naruto and his clones began to cut away, swinging their sabers like mad, slicing many of the enemy soldiers. Dante was soon forced to give up.

What Dante didn't know but Naruto did, was that when Dante decided to switch his attack, he left a massive gap in the Imperial lines, one that Matthew exploited himself. Before Cole could order another group to plug the gap, Matthew led the 200 cavalry through the gap, right for Cole. Matthew wielding the sword that Cole wanted. Cole would finally have his sword, but not in the way he wanted. Imperial cavalry was tied up on the flanks and rebel cannons were able to be positioned close enough that they were able to force the Imperial cannons to withdraw. Cole was by himself with only fifty of his personal regiment.

The battle paused as the rebels made their move on Cole, with many Imperial soldiers stopping their attack and laying down their weapons. They knew what was about to happen. All those men protecting Cole had were their bayonets as they were ordered to never have their weapons loaded for fear that Cole would be killed by his own guard. Now it would come back to haunt them.

Cole watched as the rebels charged him personally. It was then that Cole did something that turned his own men truly against him. He turned and ran away, leaving his men on the field. Before he could get far though, his horse was hit by a kunai, knocking him to the ground. He turned and saw Naruto and his friends surrounding him.

"You'll never take me alive!" Cole shouted. Just before he could charge at Naruto, ready to kill the man that he felt robbed him of his position in the Imperial army at the time, he heard the sound of charging hooves. He turned only to see the sword he wanted so badly swooping down and in an instant, his head was lopped off. Matthew turned his horse and saw the body of his cousin fall to the ground. Cole was finally dead.

As Naruto's friends went back to tell the news, Naruto looked at Matthew and saw him get off his horse and fall to his knees. As Naruto walked over, he saw Matthew's shoulders shake and he knew what was happening. This was the grief of a man who killed his cousin. While he was a tyrant, he was still family.

"Do you need help?" Naruto asked, knowing that this would be a hard thing to deal with.

"I'll bury him myself," Matthew said. "I hated that I did it, I knew it had to be done. At least now we can get ready for the next battle. I'll discuss the next plan when we go back to headquarters."

Naruto nodded and returned to Mansburg, watching on as the mercenaries were all killed as more Imperial soldiers began to join their army. The war would soon be over, but all that remained was one goal. The Imperial capital. Naruto knew that was where Hinata had to be held as Shino had sent out a few of his beetles to check for any sign of her at the enemy camp, only to find nothing.

"WE DID IT!" General Takaishi exclaimed. "Just one more stop and then we can get back to putting everything together!"

"I'll drink to that," General Baker commented. "I'm ready for this war to be over."

"NARUTO!" Naruto turned to see Lee run up and grab him, finally happy that Neji's death was avenged. As Naruto and his friends joined the celebration, they couldn't help but feel a pain in their hearts that Neji and Hinata weren't there to see it. Their next goal was to free Hinata and bring their gang together again.

Soon the sound of a horse approaching could be heard as they all turned to see Matthew riding over. Soon the rebel soldiers began to surround him, all cheering as they wanted to show their support for their emperor.

"It's time we got ready to take the capital!" he began as he walked to a stage. "Jeff just sent word that his opposing general has fled to the capital to try and take power for himself. Jeff's army is marching to meet us with a number of gunboats that the navy has sent to help join the attack. Today we have won a great victory and brought down the tyrant. It's now time that we end this war. To Victory!"

As the soldiers cheered, Naruto knew that the time to end the war had begun.

'I'm almost there, Hinata,' he thought. 'It's time to end this conflict once and for all.'

That took forever to write. Need to get started on my other stuff and then I'll do the next battle and the end of the war. MIght even add something extra but that's under wraps.

Naruto: With this war almost over, will after that be a small peaceful time?

That's one plan. The Empire will have to rebuild after that long war. Till then, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Naruto and the gang: Read and Review!