Chapter 37 - The Dragons Assemble

## Senju Compound at Dawn ##

Naruto and Hinata were both stirring as the sun was just coming up in the horizon. These few days were like vacation after three long years of training. It's not like they did nothing. They still did their morning workout routine but the rest of the days were just spent relaxing and doing anything they might want.

"Morning love" Naruto said rolling on the bed to see the face on his girlfriend.

"Morning" Hinata replied half asleep. Naruto was about to reply when he heard a deep sigh in his head.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked Kurama when he heard the sigh.

"I'm bored" Kurama replied stretching his limbs. "Amuse me human" Kurama ordered and Naruto's eyes twitched.

"Why don't you chase your tails...it should be nine times funnier" Naruto rhetorically asked with a straight face.

"I am not amused" Kurama replied with his eyes twitching.

"I know exactly what to do" Naruto said with his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)" Naruto said going through hand seals and slamming his hand on the bed. Once the smoke had cleared there was a chibi version of the Kyuubi.

"I'm still not amused human" Kurama said getting ready to devour Naruto. Not that he could in that body since Naruto summoned him with low chakra amount. Kurama was at this point nothing bigger than a cat.

"KAWAIIIII" Hinata screamed and proceeded to smother the chibi Kyuubi between her breasts.

"You can thank me later you bastard" Naruto thought looking at the suffocating Kyuubi. Kurama eventually managed to slip out from her grasp.

"I'm going for a walk" Kurama said and Naruto nodded.

"Don't show yourself in the village. They hate foxes and even though you are small you still have nine tails" Naruto explained and Kurama nodded walking out of the room. Naruto turned around so he could rest for a little bit before he got up.

*SQUEAL*

"You're adorable" Hana cooed running after the chibi Kurama.

"KKKIIIIITTTTT...the SEAL...put me in the seal...hurry" Kurama yelled running through the halls and away from the Hyuuga.

"Are you not amused?" Naruto yelled from his bedroom.

"I'll get you for this" Kurama yelled and proceeded to run through the kitchen picking up Kushina and Mito after the adorable plushy.

"How come he was never this cute when he was with us?" Kushina asked with stars in her eyes.

"I know right?" Mito replied and she and Kushina proceeded to try and catch the fur ball to pet it to death.

"I have to say that form is more appealing than is real one" Minato said remembering what happened seventeen years ago.

"Morning" Naruto said coming into the kitchen half asleep. Kurama easily out maneuvered the three running ladies after him and jumped into Naruto's head. "Alright...he had enough" Naruto said ending the chase.

"Meanie" Kushina pouted crossing her arms in front of her chest making Minato chuckle.

"What are you doing today Naruto?" Minato asked and Naruto got into a thinking pose while eating.

"Nothing" Naruto replied and Minato sweat dropped "Maybe some light training or pick up a mission since I haven't done anything since I got back" Naruto explained and Minato nodded.

"Are you not entertained?" Naruto asked Kurama who proceeded to yip in response.

*SQUEAL*

"Here we go again" Naruto muttered under his breath as he watched Kurama ran away again.

"I command you to stop. I'm the Kyuubi, the strongest of all the nine bijuu. I will not be manhandled...ROARRR" Kurama tried to roar but nothing more than yipping sounds came out making all the girls squeal and proceed to smother him again.

## Konoha's Gate ##

It was a fresh new day in Konoha. Naruto, Hinata and the rest of their family had just gotten home a couple days ago. Some poor gennins were tasked with fixing what was left of the training ground they had used for their battle. Thanks to the barrier, most of the training grounds were okay but the middle area needed some real terra forming.

"Man...I'm bored" Kotetsu said tilting back on his chair, yawing and stretching his arms.

"Shouldn't you be a little more observant?" Izumo asked looking at his best friends state. They still had a few hours in their shift as gate guards but Kotetsu already seemed to be slacking off.

"Relax, relax" Kotetsu replied "Everything has been peaceful so chill out a little" Kotetsu explained.

"We never know when something might happen so be a little more alert..." Izumo was explaining but was cut off by his partner.

"We will drop to the ground with so much effort" Kotetsu countered.

"I'm just saying... big things have small beginnings" Izumo wisely said. (1) Suddenly they both felt three presences approaching the gates. Naturally, and like responsible guards on duty, they jumped into action to indentify the possible threat.

There were three incoming people. The one on the left he had short, tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He also had pointed, shark-like teeth. He was wearing square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. Also, he wore his forehead protector on the front of his holster which he uses to carry Hiramekarei. The sword itself is wrapped in bandages leaving only the double hilt visible. He also has shuriken holsters strapped onto each of his legs

The person to the right was a middle aged man with blue hair which is styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered by an eye-patch. He wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji. He also wore the standard striped, grey suit, with a green haori that had white trimmings that stop halfway down, over them.

The last person was walking in the middle of both men. She was a slender woman in her thirties. She had green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin.

She was wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seems to be closed at the front with a zip, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh armor that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress. She also wears shorts in the same color as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wears a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, and is usually shown with dark blue lipstick.

"What are Shinobi of Kirigakure here?" Kotetsu thought placing himself as an obstacle. "State your business in Konoha" Kotetsu said in a stoic and commanding voice.

"I assure you we mean no harm" Mei said trying to defuse the situation before it could start. "My name is Terumi Mei. To my left is Chojuro" Mei said gesturing to her left side "And to my right is Ao" Mei said gesturing to right said introducing Ao. "We request an audience with your Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade" Mei said with a friendly smile. If they had been on friendly terms or allied with Kiri, Kotetsu and Izumo would most likely gawk at the beauty in front of them, but not now.

"Why?" Kotetsu simply asked.

"That is to be discussed in closed chambers with your Hokage" Mei stated and Kotetsu nodded calling an ANBU squad to escort the Kiri shinobi towards the Hokage tower.

## Hokage's Office ##

"Tsunade-sama" Shizune said knocking on the door and stepping in "There are some Kirigakure shinobi who wish an audience with you" Shizune said and Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"I see" Tsunade replied thinking what to do and what measures to take. "How many are they?" Tsunade asked.

"Three" Shizune replied.

"Only one can enter my office, the other two stay outside" Tsunade said and Shizune nodded and went to inform them. "ANBU stay alert. I don't any trouble" Tsunade ordered and sat down on her chair when she heard four silence acknowledges.

## Outside of Office ##

"Tsunade-sama will see you now but only one of you may enter the room" Shizune explained and Mei nodded.

"Ao, Chojuro stay here" Mei said and started walking towards the door when Ao voiced his thoughts.

"But Mei-sama...I'm uncomfortable leaving you alone in there" Ao explained but Mei seemed to get the wrong words.

"You will never be comfortable alone" Mei thought to herself. "Ao" Mei said turning to him with a glare "Shut up or I'll kill you" Mei said and Ao gulped quickly nodding.

## Hokage's Office ##

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Hokage-sama" Mei said entering the office. "I'm Terumi Mei, leader of the rebel forces in Kirigakure" Mei explained and Tsunade nodded motioning her to sit down.

"Not at all Mei-san" Tsunade said greeting her as well. "So, what can I do for you?" Tsunade asked getting to the point of the meeting.

"I'm cutting through all the pleasantries. I came here to ask Konoha's help in winning the civil war" Mei said.

"I see" Tsunade said tilting back in her chair and bringing her hands to her chin in thought.

"As you now the current leader of Kirigakure, Yagura the Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi, launched a bloodline purge in the village. Our forces are about even but Yagura has full control over his bijuu giving their side a huge boost in strength. We can't attack in numbers because Yagura can wipe them all out. Currently we have about four thousand shinobi in our side while their side has about six thousand plus Yagura" Mei stated and Tsunade nodded.

"Why did you decide to come Konoha for help of all the other three great villages?" Tsunade curiously asked.

"The reasons are very simple. Of all the five shinobi villages, Konoha and Kumo and the closest as I couldn't leave my forces for a long time without a leader. In fact, I came with two of our strongest shinobi since Yagura had already tried to assassinate me multiple times. Besides, Kumo was always independent and preferred isolation" Mei explained and Tsunade nodded.

"What's in it for us?" Tsunade asked curious to what Mei would answer. At this particular point Kiri didn't have much to offer.

"Nothing" Mei honestly answered. "There is nothing we can offer at this point. But we could come to an alliance once we had won. As I currently see, Konoha is without any support from any other village since the failed Suna, Sound Invasion three years ago" Mei explained.

"So you want me to lend some shinobi so that they can face some blood crazed jinchuuriki where your own shinobi can't face. And the best thing I get is an alliance and that's if...we win" Tsunade said laying everything at the table.

"I guess it was a waste of time coming here" Mei thought sadly sighing.

"I'm game" Tsunade said retaking her posture in her chair.

"I understa...wait what?" Mei asked confused as to what she just heard.

"I said I'll lend you some help to your side" Tsunade said and got eyes widened from Mei.

"Not to sound ungrateful but...why?" Mei asked confused "The moment I decided to come here, even I wasn't sure if you would lend us some help" Mei explained.

"First, Konoha loves bloodlines and I won't stand for their destruction since one day they might be used to strength my village. Two, Yagura is a jinchuuriki and I know someone who would interest in meeting the Sanbi. And three is because I want to help. Yagura was a fool for starting the bloodline purge, he's just massacring innocent people" Tsunade explained and Mei dumbly nodded. Although she was happy she got help, even one shinobi was better than nothing.

"Shizune" Tsunade called out and Shizune entered the office "Summon the Silver Dragon" Tsunade and Shizune nodded.

"Silver Dragon?" Mei asked curious.

"I created a group similar to the seven swordsman of the mist. This group is called 'The Eight Dragons of the Leaf', and they are our elite fighting force. Most of them could give me a run for my money" Tsunade explained and Mei's jaw dropped. Tsunade was lending her S-rank shinobi.

"Why dragons though?" Mei asked tapping her chin.

"We are in the fire country and dragons breath fire" Tsunade said offhandedly and Mei sweat dropped. Mei was hopping for something more deep than just that. "Although they aren't all swordsmen like Kiri's group. Instead of an overspecialized group they are our first response group to any threat. This group has taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu specialists, medic and poison expert, infiltration, assassination and information gathering experts and also seal masters" Tsunade explained and Mei could only nod.

"What's that?" Mei asked when she felt the sudden charka spike that emerged from outside the room.

## With Naruto - Minutes Earlier ##

"Aaarrrrgghhhhh" Naruto screamed in frustration "How the hell do you put this thing on?" Naruto yelled to the heavens as he was trying to figure out how to place the damn Senju armor on.

"Calm down Naruto-kun" Hinata gently said easing his frustrations "Let me help you" Hinata said and Naruto reluctantly agreed.

"First you put the chest plate" Hinata said placing the chest plate over Naruto's torso and securing it "Then you plate the shoulder and neck armor" Hinata said strapping the shoulder and neck armor "And finally the waist and leg armor" Hinata said.

"Finally" Naruto said sighing "What would I do without you?" Naruto asked pulling Hinata closer.

"Crash and burn" Hinata replied leaning in and kissing him before Naruto placed the mask over his face. Naruto picked his fan and placed it behind his back and was finally all geared up.

"See you later" Naruto said and swirled away. Both of them never noticed that both Minato and Kushina were watching the pair.

"We missed so much" Kushina said sobbing while Minato just pulled her closer.

"Don't worry Kushina-chan, we are here now" Minato softly said.

"He doesn't needs us anymore. He's all grown up and even has a beautiful girl by his side. I wanted to be there when he took his first step, when he unlocked his chakra. I wanted to be there when he got scared from the monster inside the closet" Kushina sobbed.

"I wanted too but it wasn't meant to be. We did the best we could with the choices we were given" Minato sadly replied.

"Don't worry" Hinata said coming towards them "While you may never have those moments, there will come others. Besides, it was his choice to bring you back" Hinata said. "After all, he never had a decent closet" Hinata tried to joke and Kushina just chuckled wiping away a few tears.

"He's so lucky to have found you" Kushina said hugging Hinata while Minato left so that they could be alone.

"Let me tell you some stuff from when we were growing up" Hinata said and both sat down. "One time we were..."

## Hokage's Office ##

Naruto came from his dimension just outside of the hokage tower. He stepped inside and made his way towards Tsunade's office. He easily arrived there and both Ao and Chojuro were stationed there as if guarding the room. Naruto approached the door and motioned to the handle to open it until Ao placed his arm in front of Naruto, blocking his path.

"You can't enter the Hokage's Office" Ao simply said and Naruto raised an eyebrow behind his mask.

"And why is that?" Naruto asked stoically.

"There is meeting in progress. I can't allow you to enter the room" Ao replied.

"I was called and you have no authority here Kiri-nin" Naruto simply said and tried to enter the room only to have Ao place a hand on his shoulder.

"You won't enter this room" Ao firmly said and Chojuro gulped grabbing the hilt of his sword. Narut caught Chojuro's sudden movement and interpreted it as an attack. Naruto sighed and caught Ao's hand twisting it and bringing his arm behind his back pinning him to the ground. Chojuro tried to swing his still sealed sword but made the mistake of looking at Naruto's eyes, through the mask holes, who had the sharingan blazing. Chojuro was frozen in place.

"What is going on here?" Tsunade roared opening the door.

"They barred me entrance into your office Hokage-sama. I'm just cleaning up" Naruto replied while Mei went towards Chojuro who kneeled and fell to the floor.

"Stand down silver. They are Mei's bodyguards. Come inside so you can be briefed on your next appointment" Tsunade said and Naruto nodded releasing Ao from his arm lock and breaking Chojuro's genjutsu.

"My apologies Hokage-sama" Mei said but Tsunade waved her off.

"Come inside everyone" Tsunade said and everyone re entered the office all the while Ao was looking at Naruto trying to figure him out.

"He's fast...and he disabled Chojuro with a simple glance" Ao thought to himself.

## Inside the Hokage's Office ##

"Now that everyone has calmed down let me explain your mission" Tsunade said towards Naruto. Mei was carefully studying the masked man in front of her.

"He certainly holds himself as someone very strong. Not to mention the fact that he disabled Chojuro and Ao at the same time." Mei thought to herself looking at the silver dragon. He was wearing a black suite with silver colored Senju styled armor over it. On the chest plate was emblazed a dragon. He had long spiky yellow hair and was wearing a white mask with dark silver random designs over it. On his back he had a fan.

"What's the mission Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked respectfully trying to hide his identity as best as he could.

"Your mission is as it follows" Tsunade started "Assemble the dragons and help Mei-san into winning the civil war in Kirigakure. You are under her command until the end of the war and you will follow any orders unless it conflicts with Konoha's or your own safety. Understood?" Tsunade asked.

"Understood Hokage-sama" Naruto replied.

"Mei-san will inform you as you travel towards Kiri" Tsunade explained and Naruto nodded turning to Mei.

"When are we leaving Mei-san?" Naruto asked.

"As soon as possible" Mei stated getting up from her chair.

"Then I shall meet with you at the gate in two hours" Naruto said and swirled away.

"I can't thank you enough Hokage-sama" Mei said bowing.

"Not at all. Just make sure no one dies" Tsunade said and Mei thanked her again before leaving her office and heading towards the gates where she would wait for her backup.

## Senju Compound ##

"Dragons" Naruto's voice echoed through the compound "Gear up...we deploy in two hours" Naruto said.

"Finally a mission" Hashirama said rushing towards his armor.

"Always the hot head" Tobirama replied.

"You are always bickering you two" Mito said picking up her large red scroll and attaching it to her back.

"Thank god" Kushina said sighing

"I know...I was getting bored as well" Minato stated picking his three pronged kunais from the armory.

"Let's go" Gaara said shifting into his brown armor.

"Are you ready Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked helping her get into the armor.

"Yes" Hinata simply replied sealing everything in her wrists bracelets. Two hours later every dragon was at the Senju compound's entrance all in battle gear.

## Konoha's Gates ##

All three Kiri shinobi were waiting impassively for the arrival of the dragons. The group wasn't late per say but Mei was very anxious to meet the group that Tsunade lent them. If what Tsunade said was true and most of them were S-ranked shinobi then her victory was mostly certain. S-rank shinobi are extremely powerful and deadly. Their jutsus are on a completely different scale than the standard chunin or jounin.

A single S-ranked shinobi is worth almost one hundred standard jounins and even more chunins. This particular level of skill is very hard to come by and that's the reason why there are so few around. Kumogakure currently has four S-ranked shinobi, being A, the Raikage, B, the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, Yugito, the Nibi Jinchuuriki and Darui the Sandaime Raikage's apprentice, wielder of the Black Lightning.

Iwagakure is highly secretive about their shinobi. While they are always up to demonstrating their power over the other villages there isn't much known information about them. The only known S-ranked shinobi currently attached to the village is Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, wielder of the Dust Release, capable of disintegrating anything, including shinobi.

The Sand Village is another mystery. Even before the invasion three years ago they were still secretive, even with Konoha allied with them. Currently they do not possess any definitive S-ranked shinobi. They have Chiyo, a consellour that was renowned for their mastery in puppetry but the old age has finally caught up to her. They also have Baki, the Godaime Kazekage. While not a S-ranked shinobi, he isn't that far away.

Then we have Kirigakure. Their shinobi are renowned for remarkable kenjutsu and water jutsus. They possess more sensors than any other village out there, the reason as to why that is, is unknown. The only S-ranked shinobi currently fighting in the loyalist or the rebel sides are Yagura, Yondaime Mizukage and the Sanbi Jinchuuriki, and Terumi Mei, the Rebel Leader. There are a few others elite jounins like Ao and Chojuro but they don't reach the S-rank title yet.

Konoha also has their fair share of powerful shinobi. They have Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, her grandson Senju Naruto, jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko and wielder of the Sharingan Bloodline, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, Hatake Kakashi, son of White Fang, Hyuuga Hinata, apprentice of Senju Tsunade, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, who despite his old age he's still very powerful.

While S-ranked shinobi are very powerful and a huge asset to any village they also tend to be unstable. They are so powerful that they tend to go up against their leaders which often result in them becoming missing ninja as they run away from their village. That's the reason as to how the Akatsuki organization was born. Usually S-ranked shinobi only band together when there is someone stronger than them giving orders.

Each village only has a handful of S-rank shinobi since the end of the Clan Wars. These times of peace had somewhat lowered the level of the shinobi. During the Clan Wars the life expectancy was nothing more than their twenties and you had to be strong to survive. Even more than now.

Now Konoha suddenly has, not only the known S-ranked shinobi but they also have another eight S-ranked shinobi whose identity is classified. This was a major boost to their strength and even more since they managed to hide them from the other villages. If what Tsunade said was true then this group could easily conquer any other village out there. You would need around two to three hundred shinobi to match the power of a single kage level shinobi. And this kage level shinobi could wipe them all out without much effort.

"Sorry if we are late" Naruto said as every single dragon landed in front of Mei, all lined up in perfect formation.

"Not at all. You are right on time" Mei said "I'm Terumi Mei, leader of the Rebel forces, my right hand man is Ao and to my left is Chojuro" Mei explained and everyone nodded.

"Now it's our turn" Naruto said and pointed towards the beginning of the group.

"He's the Green Dragon, he's a sensor, taijutsu and ninjutsu specialist" Naruto said pointing towards Hashirama who was wearing a dark forest green armor with a mask with the same color.

"Next to him is the Black Dragon. She's our seal master" Naruto explained and Mei nodded.

"Next to her is the Blue Dragon. Sensor, water and Space-Time ninjutsu specialist" Naruto explained and Mei raised an eyebrow. Space-Time techniques were very rare and to find someone who specialized in that was even rarer.

"He's the Yellow Dragon. Taijutsu monster, extremely fast, standard and Space-Time ninjutsu specialist as well seal master" Naruto explained and at this point Mei could only nod.

"Next to him is the Red Dragon. She's our kenjutsu expert and quite fast as well. She's a seal master as well as wind ninjutsu specialist" Naruto said and turned to Gaara.

"Next we have the Brown Dragon. He was a special bloodline that allows him to control Sand" Naruto said.

"Next to me is the purple dragon. She's a taijutsu expert, highly skilled in water ninjutsu. Medical and poison specialist, infiltration, assassination and information gathering specialist" Naruto explained and Hinata blushed beneath her mask with so much praise her Naruto-kun gave her.

"And finally me, the leader of Eight Dragons of the Leaf. I'm an expert at everything, from taijutsu to ninjutsu, genjutsu, stealth, assassination, kenjutsu and so on" Naruto explained and all three Kiri-nin could only nod.

"Excellent" Mei started "Our objective is to win the civil war and end this bloodshed. Let's move out" Mei said and everyone jumped towards the Mist Village.