47. The Invasion of Kirigakure

"They're here." Zabuza spoke up to his team.

Zabuza, Kakashi, Anko, Jinin, and Chōjūrō had been waiting at the former base of operations of 'Me ni Miemasen' since the moment they wiped out the organization. The mission went well with all members of 'Me ni Miemasen' dead. There was now no possible chance of Kirigakure would be alerted of the invasion. The team had remained at the base to rest while waiting for Mei to lead the army to Kirigakure. Their wait was now over.

"It's about time!" Jinin declared as he stood up. "It's been boring sitting here waiting. It's time to get in on the action already!"

After collecting their tools and weaponry, the group of five left the hideout and wandered outside. As Zabuza had stated, Terumī Mei was there waiting for them, along with the army composed of the Konoha shinobi led by Jiraiya and her rebel shinobi.

"Heh." Zabuza grinned at the sight of all of the shinobi. "Just looking at the size of the group, it feels like we have an actual army."

"We do." Mei replied with a smile. "We have an army with its sole goal being free Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni from oppression."

There was no time to waste; Zabuza, Kakashi, Anko, Jinin, and Chōjūrō joined the army and marched out with them. They all continued on their path towards Kirigakure.

The march was uninterrupted with no conflict from Kirigakure shinobi trying to slow them down or lower their numbers. Mei's army continued to march until nightfall, where they set up camp in various caves. Guards were set to keep watch at night and alert the army in case of any possible attack.

Mei, Jiraiya, Utakata, and Zabuza's group for the 'Me ni Miemasen' mission were sitting in a cave to themselves. They sat around a small campfire and were discussing details of the invasion with each other.

"To put it simply, each shinobi has been assigned to different groups with different agendas in mind. As I fill you five in, I will inform you all what group you are to be a part of." Mei stated. "Before that, though, I would like to preface my orders with some general comments. I realize that not every person in Kirigakure at the moment is in compliance with Yagura's orders. Some of them are probably forced into whatever actions they take. Therefore, I will allow you all the option to spare any and all shinobi that you feel is not a danger to the mission. However, use common sense with your judgments. If you can tell that their allegiance is with the current regime in Kiri, and I'm pretty certain you all will be capable of doing that, then kill them. Understood?"

Zabuza, Kakashi, Anko, Jinin, and Chōjūrō nodded their heads in understanding.

"Good. Now, onto the invasion. The first order of business is an attack on the gate of the village. We will have one squad be the ones creating an entrance to the village through the gate so the rest of the invasion can take place. Once the rest of the squads have entered the village, the group will then be assigned the role of making a distraction and drawing as much attention to them while the rest of the forces can accomplish their missions." The rebel leader stated. She then turned to face Jiraiya. "As a result, this force is the largest. Most of the Konoha shinobi on the mission will be assigned to this task. Therefore, Jiraiya will be the active leader for this group." She then turned her attention to Chōjūrō. "Chōjūrō, I am assigning you to this group. As just stated, Jiraiya is your leader. Follow his orders."

"O-Of course!" Chōjūrō bowed his head in respect to both Mei and Jiraiya.

"Upon entering the village, there will be four more groups of shinobi deployed." Mei continued. "The first of these groups will be sent into civilian quarters with the goal of taking out the members of Kirigakure's political regime. Quite a few of them are civilians with political power, but a few of them are indeed qualified shinobi. All targeted on this list, however, are people that have played a major role in developing the fear of those with kekkei genkai. The goal of this group is to make sure that any potential political threats to Kirigakure die to prevent further fighting and another potential uprising." The rebel leader proceeded to shake her head. "None of you are assigned to this mission, but I was just informing you of its existence. There are two squad leaders for that group; Uzumaki Honoka and Yuki Haku."

"Haku and Honoka, huh." Zabuza frowned at the name. He had heard of the failure to rescue the hostages upon reuniting with the army. He had also briefly talked to Haku about the mission and got to see the boy's mental state. "Are they alright? Will they be able to handle the mission?"

"I trust they will be able to. Besides, there is one target on their list that I felt they would have invested interest in hunting down." Mei answered with a shrug. "Moving on, the second group will head into the village and head to the headquarters of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. Once in there, you will take the building over and rout the shinobi inside." She turned her attention to Zabuza. "Zabuza, you are leading the group, if that is fine with you." Without waiting for her response, she turned to face Anko. "Anko, you are also going to be in this group."

"Understood." Anko said.

"Heh." Zabuza smirked in response. "I presume I'm also going to take back the two swords, right? Shibuki and Nuibari?"

"Yes." Mei replied. "That also means that Jinpachi and Kushimaru must die."

"Jinpachi…" Anko scowled at the name of the member of the swordsman. "This'll be revenge for that time in Kibō. His ass is dead."

"Agreed." Zabuza's smirk turned into a malicious grin. "It's time those two swordsmen that followed that traitorous Mizukage get the deaths they deserve."

Mei frowned in response to Zabuza's comment, but she then turned her attention to Kakashi. "Kakashi, I would like you to lead the third group. Your group's mission is to infiltrate the Mizukage mansion and take over the building. That also includes taking out every shinobi inside." She then turned her head to face Jinin. "Jinin, you will in this group as well."

"Taking over the mansion?" Jinin repeated her order with a grin. "Heh, there's going to be a lot of shinobi in there. That's fine with me."

"While I am fine with that mission and will do it accordingly, does this imply that I am taking on the Mizukage? From everything I had been informed of the mission, I had assumed you wanted that task." Kakashi said.

"No, you are right. The final group that will be led into the village is going to be led by me and will only include Utakata and Uzumaki Naruto." Mei mentioned. "I've confirmed with our spies and from my own… memories of Yagura, I know precisely where he will be in the village. It's not going to be in the mansion. I know where-"

"Hold up. You want to have my student to go against the Yondaime Mizukage?" Anko interrupted the rebel leader. Her eyes were narrowed at the woman. "What the hell do you think you're thinking? Naruto's-"

"A member of my army." Mei declared, speaking over the Konoha jōnin. She returned her glare with one of her own. "I decide what he is going to do. You have no say in the decision."

"Bah." Anko nearly hissed as she began to leak killing intent. "Leader of the rebels or not and regardless of success, if Naruto dies tomorrow because of your decision, I am going to fucking murder you."

"Naruto-san won't die." Utakata spoke-up for the first time since the meeting began.

"If it eases you, Anko, I have already talked to Jiraiya here and he feels my decision is fine. Naruto will be safe." Mei replied with a small smile. "I'll make sure of that."

"… My threat still stands." The Konoha jōnin stated.

"As does my statement." Mei stated. She then proceeded to stand-up. "Regardless, you have all been informed of all the plans. It's time we all go to bed and get rest. Tomorrow is going to be an important day."

Everyone nodded in understanding. One-by-one, people began to make their own sleeping arrangements amongst the rest of the army. In just a minute, Mei and Utakata were left by themselves.

"Anko-san seems to care about Naruto-san a lot." Utakata noted.

"She is his jōnin-sensei, Utakata." Mei informed him simply. This caused the jinchūriki's eyes to narrow, causing Mei to shake her head. "I understand the circumstances behind your distaste for the teacher/sensei relationship, but you must understand that your situation was an anomaly. Most people have close relationships with their sensei. Naruto and Anko are no exception. They are very clearly close."

"… I understand." Utakata sighed in response. The young man had no clear desire to think much about his own circumstances.

"Speaking of the sensei/student thing, where is Hotaru? You left her at Kibō, correct?" Mei questioned.

"Yes, she is there." Utakata nodded his head. "I wanted her to be safe. It took a while to convince her to agree with my logic, but it is for the best she is there. I do not think she is at a level where she would survive this war."

"That's a wise decision. Interesting to see that you care about her survival so much." The rebel leader noted with a playful smile on her face.

"Of course I do. I don't want her to die." Utakata replied. "She's special to me."

"I know she is." Mei resisted the urge to laugh at his response.

She failed to resist, however, and let out a small noise that sounded like a giggle. Utakata noticed and frowned on his face.

"Again, you misinterpret our relationship, Mei-san." The jinchūriki stated firmly.

"I don't know, Utakata." Mei mentioned, letting out another giggle. "I'm familiar to the feeling. I know the signs. Even if you aren't aware of the feelings yet, I can tell they are there. And I'm pretty certain that maybe sometime after this war, something may develop between you two."

Utakata gave no verbal reply. A small, pink tint developed on his cheeks. Mei, taking this as confirmation of her theory, proceeded to laugh. The jinchūriki proceeded to frown in response, but realization came over his face as he started to piece information together based on the past conversations he had been having with the leader of the rebels.

"… Did you have those 'feelings' you are talking about the Yondaime Mizukage?" He decided to question.

Mei proceeded to stop laughing. The woman looked at him with a completely neutral, emotionless expression.

"And what would make you think that?" She asked.

"Just piecing some things together. You seem quite certain in your theory that he is being controlled and don't want to kill him. You seem to hold him in respect and seem to frown whenever somebody insults Yagura too much. Plus, you two had some degree of a relationship with each other. You said, regardless of what your spies told you, that you knew where he would be in the village." Utakata explained with a shrug. "I'm not judging or anything. I was just curious."

"… Well, to put your curiosity to rest, I can answer with a 'no'. I have no feelings for the Yondaime Mizukage." Mei declared sharply.

"Alright." Utakata nodded his head in understanding before starting to walk away. "You're right though; we should be getting sleep."

With those words, Utakata walked off. Mei remained by campfire in the cave before setting up her sleeping arrangements there and laid down by the fire. She stared into the fire as she recalled memories of years ago.

"Hi! So we are teammates, huh?" Mei held out her hand, smiling brightly. "Nice to meetcha!"

To her surprise, the grey-haired boy she had introduced herself to stepped back. He had a small blush on his cheeks and wasn't looking her in the eye.

"Huh, what did I say?" She blinked in confusion.

"Hey, ya gotta be patient with him. The kid here doesn't do good with strangers." A third voice said.

Mei turned her head to face their third teammate; a boy with blue-colored skin that was slightly tall for his age. He had a cocky grin on his face, which showed off his shark-like teeth.

"Shy, huh?" Mei asked.

"'Course he is. The kid's horrible with meeting people. Then again, he's not much for conversation even when he does know them. Am I right, little turtle?" The boy with shark-teeth questioned with the same grin on his face.

"Sh-Shut up Kisame." The grey-haired boy mumbled under his breath.

"And he speaks! I'll be damned!" The other boy, Kisame, proceeded to laugh. He was then elbowed in the stomach by Mei, causing him to choke. "Ack! What was that for?"

"Don't be rude to him. Like you said, we're all a team. We're supposed to work together. No need to be mean to him!" She stated. She then turned her attention back to the other boy and smiled. "I'm Mei. Terumī Mei. What's your name again?"

"Um… y-you're the most pretty girl I've ever seen." He replied, his blush intensifying.

"Eh?" It was Mei's to turn red in response.

"Ha! Oh, that's good turtle!" Kisame was now laughing loudly. "You really aren't good with people, are ya? You can't just say something like that when you meet someone!"

The boy, nicknamed 'Turtle', continued to brighten in color. His cheeks were redder than Mei had thought possible for a person.

"S-Sorry…" He mumbled as he looked down. "I, uh, j-just opened my mouth t-to say something and that came out. I-I didn't mean to-"

"W-Well, I'm flattered." Mei replied. She shook her head, getting rid of the blush on her cheeks. The smile returned to her face as she held out her hand to 'Turtle' again. "But you still never answered my question. What's your name?"

The boy looked up, letting Mei get a glimpse at his pink-colored eyes as he finally stepped forward and shook her hand. "I-It's Yagura."

"Well, Yagura, it's nice to meetcha! I know we're going to make an awesome team and even better friends!" Mei replied.

The boy, Yagura, responded back with the one widest smiles Mei had ever seen in her life.

Mei shook her head and let out a sigh. Utakata's question brought back a memory from twenty years in her past; of the time she had met Yagura for the first time.

Doing her best to push the memory to the side, Mei closed her eyes in an attempt to get sleep. Despite her efforts, however, she still continued to think about Yagura and Utakata's question.

'… No, I have no feelings for the Mizukage. He's ruined Kirigakure and this country.' Mei thought to herself, as if answering Utakata's question again. 'Yagura, on the other hand…'

It took her a few more minutes before she was finally able to push all thoughts about Yagura out of her mind and concentrate on going to sleep.

'It's coming to end soon…' Hinata told herself.

Although she should be asleep, the Hyūga was having difficulties going to bed. After an hour of trying, she finally gave up and resounded to just sit down on the grass and watch the stars until she grew tired. She spent her time thinking about various topics.

'Wonder what life's like back in Konoha. How Neji-niisan, Hanabi, and Father are doing.' She wondered. 'Will everything be the same when I get back? Or… will I even get back?'

"Sure is pretty, huh?"

The chūnin nearly jumped out the sound of the voice. It took her a moment to calm down once the figure sat down and she recognized him as Naruto. She then proceeded to elbow him slightly.

"Y-You scared me Naruto-kun!" She informed him.

"What? Was I able to sneak up on a Hyūga with their perfect vision?" Naruto questioned with a playful smirk on his face.

"In fairness, I didn't have my Byakugan activated." Hinata said.

"And I'm totally not going to mention that when I retell the story." Naruto replied.

The two chūnin laughed at Naruto's joke. Naruto proceeded to lie down on the grass, prompting Hinata to do the same. They stayed there together, looking at the stars in the sky. Neither of them was talking. While both of them were enjoying each other's company, they also had things that were on their mind in relation to the mission.

"So… what group were you assigned to again?" Naruto asked the kunoichi.

"I'm on the group that's going to take over the Mizukage's Mansion." Hinata answered. A small smile developed on her face. "Fun fact: Kurenai-san is going to be in my group."

"Really?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Huh. I forgot that Kurenai was in the group to come over here. I haven't seen her in a while"

"I haven't seen her at all! It was a nice surprise running into her and finding out I was going to be working with her." Hinata said.

"Yeah." Naruto closed his eyes as he recalled what other arrangements he had heard. "Shikamaru's on that mission in the civilian quarters with Honoka-nee and Haku. And I know Dosu's on the mission with Ero-sennin to take on the guards around the village and get us a hole to bust into the village."

"And you are on the mission to take on the Mizukage." Hinata noted with a frown on her face.

"… I am." Naruto said with a sigh.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two. Naruto was starting to think about his upcoming mission while Hinata was looking at him in concern. It took her a few more seconds before she broke the silence with a question.

"… Naruto-kun… are you worried about tomorrow?" She asked.

"I'm… kinda, yeah." Naruto admitted with a sigh. "I know I got Utakata and Mei backing me up on the mission, but I'm going to be fighting the Mizukage. And this could be the most important fight of my life."

"I know what you mean." Hinata let out a sigh of her own. "This may be a start of a new era for Kiri. There's a lot of pressure on us for this mission."

"Yeah." Naruto frowned at the thought of the mission 'failing'. "I'm not even worried about my own life. It's just… yeah, this mission needs to be a success. This whole country is war-torn and that needs to change." He slammed his fists together. "Yagura needs to go down."

It was Hinata's turn to frown. "… I do agree, b-but…" Hinata shook her head, trying to resist the urge to cry as images entered her mind. "Please, be careful Naruto-kun. Don't fight too recklessly. I-I don't want to find out that you died in battle."

Naruto looked over at his new-girlfriend and reached for her hand with his right hand. She immediately took his hand and held onto it tightly.

"I… shouldn't worry. You're with the Mizukage and Utakata-san and you are one of the strongest people I have ever met. But I can't help myself." Hinata's eyes closed as the tears she resisted to release were now starting to fall. "I-I don't know what I would do if s-something were to happen to you. So please; be careful."

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto tightened his grip on her hand. With his left hand, he gently pulled her head closer to him, allowing him to look into her tear-filled eyes. "I promise. Nothing will happen to me. And I never go back on my promises."

After saying those words, Naruto leaned forward and kissed her. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, but soon relaxed and started to kiss him back. The tears stopped falling and her nerves started to calm down.

It was a short, but passionate kiss as the two broke apart after. Naruto had a small, infectious smile on his face that Hinata was quick to return.

"I-I believe you. You're always true to your word." Hinata said with a slight giggle.

In the back of her head, nothing he could say would completely eliminate her fears. However, she did also know how capable and determined Naruto was. She had to trust him.

"You have to make that same promise too, though." Naruto informed her.

"Me?" Hinata mumbled in response.

The Uzumaki nodded as he reached into the pocket of his pants. He then proceeded to pull out a small sealing parchment. It was a plain seal that had the Uzumaki clan symbol drawn on it neatly. He handed it to her.

"I made this for. If you are ever in trouble out there, just reach for that seal and activate it. I wanted to be able to do something for you for tomorrow." Naruto told her. "So, make the same promise to me too. Promise you'll be safe!"

"I…" Hinata looked back-and-forth between Naruto and the seal he had given her. After a few moments, she gripped onto the seal tightly and turned to face Naruto and nodded her head. "I promise."

"Good. And that's a promise you can't break!" Naruto stated as his smile turned into a grin.

Hinata opened her mouth to respond, but a yawn proceeded to come out of her mouth. Naruto proceeded to chuckle as his girlfriend's face started to redden.

"Yeah, it's late. We really need sleep." He mentioned.

"I know. I had been out here trying to get tired to fall asleep." Hinata said with another yawn. "Seems like it finally worked."

"Looks like it." Naruto chuckled in response. "Were you having trouble sleeping?"

"Mhmm. Too much was on my mind I guess. Talking to you made me feel better." She said with a smile. "Hope I can get some sleep now, though."

"Hope so." Naruto replied with a chuckle. "I'm still a little bit awake, so I might stay out here for just a bit longer."

The two Konoha shinobi became quiet as they continued to lie on the ground, looking at the stars together. They didn't feel the need to say anything; they just enjoyed their company. Slowly, the two began to drift off to sleep. Hinata was the first to fall asleep, starting to breathe a little heavily. Naruto, whose eyes were starting to close, heard the breathing and looked over to her. He smiled to himself as he started to stand up.

"Probably not the best idea to sleep out here. We should be in our sleeping bags." Naruto mumbled to himself as he bent down to pick up Hinata. He picked her up bridal style and held on to her gently, making sure not to wake her up. "… Wait, where was your sleeping bag? What cave was yours in?"

Hinata, still asleep, didn't answer his question. She seemed more comfortable, however, and proceeded to position her body closer to Naruto's, causing him to blush.

Not wanting to disturb her from her sleep and not knowing where to go, Naruto simply shrugged and walked over to the cave where he had his bag. He placed Hinata gently in his sleeping bag and then proceeded to lie down on the outside of his sleeping bag.

"Hope nobody misinterprets this…" Naruto mumbled to himself while blushing. He didn't want anybody to think he was a pervert like Jiraiya. He quickly shook his head at the thought and turned his attention to his sleeping girlfriend. He proceed to smile and bend over slightly, giving her a small kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled in her sleep. Naruto continued to look at his girlfriend with a smile of his own on his lips. A few seconds passed by before his facial expression turned serious.

'… Hinata, I'll be careful tomorrow. Just please… be safe as well.' He thought to himself.

With those thoughts in mind, the boy proceeded to close his eyes and drift off to sleep.

Each member of the army woke up before sunrise. They made quick preparations and gathered all their weapons and tools before marching out. The members of the first group, led by Jiraiya, were taking the lead in the invasion. They were followed by the subsequent groups that would enter the village for their missions.

As the army continued to travel through the swampland of Mizu no Kuni, the mist became thicker and thicker. For a period of time, it seemed as if it was impossible to see what direction they were walking in. This was, however, a good sign to the army; they were getting closer.

It took them two hours to finally arrive at their destination. The mist finally started to clear up and the sun was beginning to rise, shining light onto the land and revealing a large gate. The gate was tall enough that nobody could see past it. The only things visible behind the gate were the large mountains in the distance.

'That's the gate to Kirigakure…' Naruto gulped. 'So it begins.'

"Let the invasion commence." Mei spoke up, getting the attention of the entire army. She then pointed at the gate. "Jiraiya-san, begin your mission. Once you complete it, the rest of us shall begin ours."

"Right." Jiraiya nodded his head in affirmation before turning his head back towards his shinobi. "Alright, let's get a move on. Rout all shinobi that are standing guard. I'll be the one busting a hole through the gate. Let's move!"

With those words, Jiraiya charged forward, followed by the group of shinobi assigned to him. Naruto, along with the rest of the rebels, watched closely. Since most of the shinobi were from Konoha, Naruto recognized most of them, but one person stood out amongst the others.

'You stay safe, Dosu.' Naruto thought of his friend.

The rest of the army waited approximately three minutes before a loud explosion could be heard. Instantly, a part of the gate that surrounded the village began to fall apart. There was now an opening that would be easy for the rebels to enter through.

"There's our entrance." Mei declared as she turned her attention to the army. "Alright, move out! Stick with your groups and follow the orders of your leaders. For Kirigakure! For a new future!"

"For Kirigakure!" The rebels chanted in near unison.

Immediately, the army charged through the gate. They then split off into their separate groups, ready to complete their objectives.

The invasion was now underway.

'Jiraiya-sama was not kidding when he said he could handle the gate by himself.' Dosu realized.

The bandage-wearing shinobi knew that Jiraiya was on par with his former master, Orochimaru, in regards to strength, but seeing how quickly Jiraiya managed to pierce through the defenses of the village impressed him. The man definitely deserved his status as one of the Sannin.

Despite the entrance to the village being made, their mission was not over. There were plenty of Kirigakure shinobi that were supposed to be guarding the village from any and all intruders. It was the role of his group to kill them and keep them away from the other groups entering the village.

With that thought in mind, Dosu, along with the rest of his group, charged towards various Kirigakure shinobi that were arriving to stop the army from entering.

"Invaders! Kill them all!" One of the Kirigakure shinobi shouted as they charged forward.

Dosu was the first of his squad to react as he quickly slammed his hand downward, causing the 'melody gauntlet' on his arm to collide against the ground. Sound waves rushed forward on the ground, causing all of the approaching Kirigakure shinobi to fall to the ground.

The other members of Dosu's squad were quick to react to Dosu's move. Various members jumped forward on the fallen Kirigakure shinobi and killed them.

More Kirigakure shinobi began to arrive on the scene, but it was already too late for them. The other squads in Mei's army had managed to enter the village and make enough distance. They were already on their way to their individual missions.

'Now it's time for the second half of the mission. Make a distraction.' Dosu realized.

As more-and-more Kirigakure shinobi began to arrive, battles began to take place between them and the group of Konoha shinobi and Kirigakure rebels. Dosu was about to jump forward when he heard a loud, crackling noise coming from above him. He quickly jumped backwards in time to avoid a bolt of lightning that was aimed for him. The boy then jumped backwards again as a Kirigakure shinobi jumped forward towards him; a kunoichi wielding a staff. Dosu recognized her immediately.

"Tomoe, correct?" He questioned the shinobi. "You were the leader of the Kirigakure shinobi that attempted to recruit Utakata-san."

"I was. And you were one of the Konoha trash that was trying to do the same." The woman, Tomoe, nearly snarled. "You all were lucky that the Rokubi jinchūriki tired my men out, otherwise I would have slaughtered you all on the spot." A malicious grin developed on her face. "However, you're on my home turf now and there's nothing here to stop me from killing you now!"

"Dosu-san!"

Dosu took a second to glance to his right and noticed his friend and training partner, Misora, rush to his side. The kunoichi was gripping her scythe as she faced Tomoe.

"If you're going to take her on, then let me fight by your side." She told him. "Tomoe's an A-Ranked shinobi. It would be wise to take her on together."

"Understood." Dosu nodded his head in agreement as he gripped the 'melody gauntlet' on his arm.

"That's precious! You two brats think that you can take me on? I've fought in the Third Shinobi World War and have faced much shinobi with more experience killing than you two have been alive. And I'm just a few more years away from becoming an S-Ranked shinobi in the bingo book." She declared as she gripped onto the staff in her hands. "And you're surrounded. There are thousands of Kirigakure shinobi here, prepared to kill all of you rebels! They'll keep your comrades busy. There'll be no interruptions. I'm going to kill you both right here!"

"You talk a lot." Dosu noted. "Do you just enjoy the sound of your voice?"

"Brat…" The woman's eyes lit up in rage slightly at the disrespect in Dosu's tone. Still holding her staff with her left hand, she began to make a series of one-handed signs with her right hand.

"It's a legitimate question. I've never known why so many shinobi like to chat when they fight." Dosu replied. His eyes narrowed on the Kirigakure shinobi in front of him, waiting for her to make the first move. "So enough talk. Let's just get to the point."

Tomoe's response was to release a large lightning bolt from her right hand directly towards Dosu and Misora. There fight was now officially underway.

"So which direction are we heading towards?" Utakata questioned. "You are positive he won't just be at the Mizukage's mansion?"

The small group of Mei, Utakata, and Naruto were quick to sneak off upon entering the village. They began to move through a remote section of the village; one with very few buildings. It appeared as if there were only civilian houses in the area they were at.

"Yagura was somebody who never liked being around too many people at once. He had a particular hangout spot where he would spend all of his time when he could and he often said when he had the money, he'd build a house there. There's no doubt in my mind that's where he would be." Mei answered.

"You are certain of this?" Utakata continued to question. "I'm pretty certain that the Yagura that's currently the Mizukage is not the one you apparently knew when you were in Kiri. He may not have that same attachment to this 'land' you speak of."

Before Mei could answer his question, a group of four Kirigakure shinobi jumped in front of them. Each of them were armed with swords. One of them quickly rushed forward and tried to attack Mei, but she reacted first and dodged. She then positioned herself directly in front of the man before making a single hand sign.

"Boil Style: Skilled Mist Technique!"

Mei quickly released a cloud of mist directly in the man's face. The man immediately screamed as the mist began to slowly melt his skin. Within seconds, the screaming stopped as his body fell to the ground with his entire head melted off.

'That's what Mei can do?' Naruto's eyes were wide in surprise.

His attention was turned away from Mei, however, as one of the Kirigakure shinobi attempted to strike at him. The blonde side-stepped the attack before extending his hand out, creating a Rasengan in his hand. He then jumped up and slammed the sphere into the shinobi's body, causing him to scream in pain. Within a few seconds, the combined impact of the jutsu and being slammed into the ground caused him to die almost instantly.

Mei and Utakata proceeded to rush forward to the two remaining Kirigakure shinobi. The leader of the rebels used her mist technique once again, melting off the face of one of the shinobi while Utakata opted to simply use a kunai and slit the throat of the other shinobi. Both shinobi's bodies fell to the ground.

"So that takes care of them." Mei commented. Shen then turned her attention back to Utakata. "Now, as I was saying earlier, while I know that this Mizukage is not the Yagura I knew, I like to believe that there is some of the Yagura I knew in him. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I'm positive he'll be there."

"If you say." Utakata shrugged. It wasn't his call anyway. "Lead the way."

With those words, Mei continued to rush forward through the remote area of Kirigakure as Utakata and Naruto followed, preparing to take Yagura on whenever they arrived.

"Remember the targets on the lists!" Honoka informed her squad.

Haku and Honoka led their squad, a small group of fifteen shinobi, into the civilian quarters of Kirigakure. Each member were taking looks at sheets of paper, identifying different houses and apartments to enter and the names and appearances of their targets.

Shikamaru sneaked into a building and entered an apartment that was identified on his personal list. He creeped his way to the bedroom and found a middle-aged woman, sleeping peacefully in her bed. The Konoha chūnin took a look at his paper again to verify the identity of the woman.

'Everything matches up.' He quickly realized as he pulled out a kunai. His eyes narrowed on the sleeping woman as he approached her. 'She's one of the heads of the civilian council and is in charge of almost all economic activity in Kirigakure. And through her influence over the marketplace, both in this village and in Mizu no Kuni, has helped spread the fear-mongering against those with kekkei genkai.'

With that thought in my mind, Shikamaru brought the kunai down to her throat. She died instantly, her sleep turning into a permanent rest.

The Konoha chūnin quickly left the building and planned to rush over to his next target. Before he could move, however, he was stopped as he saw Suigetsu, one of the shinobi that was assigned to his squad, get tossed out of a building. Shikamaru quickly rushed over and caught him, preventing him from making contact with the ground. Suigetsu was still alive, but he was bleeding heavily with large, open cuts on chest and stomach.

"F-Fuck." Suigetsu hissed in pain.

"Take it easy Suigetsu. I'm going to need to get you to medical." Shikamaru told the Kirigakure rebel as he began to look through the area for the other members on their squad. "Where's Kiri?"

Shikamaru quickly spotted the medical shinobi and rushed Suigetsu to him. Upon dropping him off, his eyes turned back to the house that Suigetsu had been tossed out of. As soon as he turned his attention to it, he noticed a shinobi walk of the building, holding a large axe over his shoulders with his right hand. The Nara's eyes narrowed immediately.

"Karitoriki." Shikamaru hissed at the sight of the man.

On cue, Haku and Honoka left two separate apartment complexes, having made their own assassinations. Upon seeing the infamous executioner of Kirigakure, they quickly prepared for combat.

Karitoriki looked around, taking note of the various rebel shinobi around him. He then bit his thumb on his left hand, quickly made a series of hand signs, and slammed his hand down onto the ground. Instantly, after a poof of smoke appeared, a giant vulture appeared on the ground. He jumped onto the bird's back and was promptly taken up into the air.

Despite being treated by Kiri and being in no condition to fight, Suigetsu noticed the man's actions and snarled.

"Y-You going to retreat again, coward?" He shouted, both in anger and in pain.

"Retreat? As if." Karitoriki scoffed. "I recognize you lot. You're the fucks that tried to stop my execution in Chishio. While that time I was fine with leaving, I'm not going to leave just so you all can have free reign of the village. You've invaded my village and are trying to kill innocent people here in the civilian quarters and, as a Kirigakure shinobi, it is my duty to defend my village's people."

"Innocent?" Shikamaru couldn't help himself; he had to voice his disgust. "We aren't targeting innocent civilians. The only ones we are after are those who're involved with the warmongering, fearmongering attitudes that have embraced this country. We're only after people like you!"

"Yeah right. Save me your holier-than-thou speech brat." Karitoriki rolled his eyes as he gripped his axe. "You don't understand anything. None of you do! You're trying to destroy one of the most powerful forces in the Elemental Nations!" He then proceeded to make another hand sign with his left hand. "And it's my duty to show you all the true power of Kirigakure!"

"And here we are!" Zabuza declared.

Zabuza had led his squad of forty shinobi through the village to the headquarters for the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. He quickly busted the door down. Immediately upon entering the room, they were greeted by a group of three swordsmen. The swordsmen were initially surprised, but quickly gained there wherewithal and charged forward at Zabuza. The member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, however, quickly reacted and blocked the attacks of all three shinobi with his Kubikiribōchō sword.

"Fire Style: Hellfire Rain!"

Anko, after channeling her chakra to surround herself and resemble flames, made a clapping gesture and formed fireballs within her hands. She quickly tossed them at the three swordsmen. They were unable to react and were hit with the flames, causing them to scream in pain. Seeing an opening, Zabuza quickly swung the Kubikiribōchō, cutting through all three shinobi and killing them instantly.

With the shinobi in the entrance gone, Zabuza's squad were now given access to the building. The entry room was a plain room that resembled a dojo of sorts with three hallways: one to the left, one to the right, and one directly in front of the entrance. Zabuza quickly turned his head towards his squad and began pointing.

"This half will take the hallway to the left." He declared, gesturing to nineteen of the shinobi. He then gestured to the other nineteen. "You all will take the hallway on the right. Rout all shinobi you come across. If they are in this building, they have taken up the sword and sworn their allegiance to a false Kirigakure. They deserve their death." He then turned his attention to the only person he did not call out: Anko. "Anko-san and I will be taking the hallway in the center. Report back here in this center room upon completion of your mission. Use common sense to decide what to do from there."

"Understood!" The shinobi declared before they rushed off into their respective hallways.

In just a few seconds, Zabuza and Anko were left alone. They began to rush forward through the third hallway.

"Any particular reason why it's just the two of us?" She questioned him.

"I know what's down this hallway. Only two shinobi should be this way." Zabuza answered. "And I believe you have an invested interest in making sure that one of them is dead."

At the end of the hallway was a door. Zabuza opened the door and revealed a large room to the two shinobi. In the center of the room was a wooden floor that resembled a battlefield. Surrounding the battlefield were seven pillars with names written on them. At the very end of the rooms were seven hammocks that appeared to double as beds.

"What room is this?" Anko asked her partner.

"This… was an idea of the Shodai Mizukage." Zabuza answered. There was a hint of sadness and nostalgia in his tone-of-voice, as if being in this room brought back both happy and sad memories to him. "The idea was to gather the seven best swordsmen and put them together. They would live together in one room and train together at all times. They would thrive off competition and push each other to be the best in the name of Kirigakure."

"That's an idea you tossed away!"

Zabuza and Anko looked towards the hammocks in the back. Sitting up from two of the hammocks were two shinobi. The first was a tall, thin, gangly man with long shaggy blonde hair. he wore an ANBU mask over his face and had bandages over his neck. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with matching black pants and was gripping a long sword. The second man, however, was someone that Anko instantly recognized. She grit her teeth at the sight of him.

"Jinpachi!" She hissed.

The swordsman appeared the same as he did back in the village of Kibō. He had an irritated expression as he looked at Anko.

"Zabuza, you brought that bitch along with you? Why? I thought you would at least recognize the honor of this room and not bring an outsider into here." Jinpachi shouted at the Kirigakure rebel. "Only a member of the Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure should be allowed to step foot into here."

"This room lost any sense of honor the moment you two remained in it." Zabuza snarled back in response.

"How harsh. Is that how you should you speak to your former comrades?" The blonde-haired shinobi questioned him.

"You're no comrade of mine, Kuriarare Kushimaru." The black-haired swordsman replied. "You lost that title the moment you stayed loyal to Yagura!"

"Stop talking shit about the Mizukage!" Jinpachi hissed.

"I'm surprised you would object to him so much, Zabuza-san." Kushimaru commented in amusement. "Yondaime-sama has been the most rewarding person I have ever served. I have never been given the chance to fight and kill as much as I have under his command."

"You take enjoyment in it?" Anko looked at the masked-man in disgust. "What kind of sick fuck are you?"

"Save your breath, Anko-san." Zabuza informed her. "These two were referred to as 'The Heartless Pair' for a reason. Their selfish pricks who care about nothing other than their own interests and their bloodlust." He gripped the Kubikiribōchō in his hands tightly. "More than that, though, they are traitors that have spat on the legacies of every swordsman of Kirigakure before them."

"Such malice, Zabuza-san. Such anger. With the way you are talking about us, I'm sure your blood must be boiling." Kushimaru noted as he gripped his longsword. "Why I don't I just cut you open and see if your blood really is."

"I'd like to see you try." The rebel replied. "Today's a new day for Kirigakure and its Seven Swordsman." His eyes wandered to the two swords the shinobi were holding. "It's about time that the Shibuki and Nuibari blades were released from their horrible owners."

"We'll see about that!" Jinpachi snarled as he got into position to charge at the shinobi. "The only thing interesting about today is that a traitor amongst the Seven Swordsman is going to die and I get to kill a bitch from Konoha as an added bonus."

"As if!" Anko hissed as she channeled fire into the palms of her hands.

"We're almost there." Kakashi informed his squad. "Keep up the pace everybody!"

After a few minutes of traveling and sneaking through the village, Kakashi managed to lead his squad to the Mizukage's mansion in the center of the village. It was a cylindrical-shaped building with vegetation growing on the roof of the building. It was an incredibly tall building that seemed almost like a maze from the outside.

"Make sure to stay together with somebody." Kakashi informed his shinobi. "Be careful inside. There will certainly be a lot of shinobi within here. Make sure to take out everybody."

The shinobi all nodded as they managed to enter the building. Upon entering, every shinobi split off into various groups, searching the mansion for Kirigakure shinobi to take down.

Hinata waited a few moments for the chaos to settle down slightly before deciding what direction to go down and with who. She made her decision, however, upon seeing Jinin walking up the stairs of the mansion. She quickly rushed over to her.

"Jinin-san, if you don't mind, I'll accompany you." Hinata requested.

Jinin turned for a moment to look at her before smirking: "Heh, come along if you want kid. Curious to see if you managed to learn that jutsu I gave you while I was gone."

Hinata and Jinin rushed up the stairs and reached the third floor of the building. They then started to go down the hallway, looking for shinobi while simultaneously preparing for an ambush. Hinata, having activated her Byakugan, was guiding them towards somebody.

"Still a ways to go before anybody. These rooms are empty." She informed him.

"Damn, I picked the wrong hallway." Jinin grumbled. He then proceeded to chuckle as a thought entered my good. "Good thing you're with me, though, kid. I'd be wasting my time looking through all these doors."

"Glad to be able to help." Hinata replied.

The two shinobi continued to rush forward in the hallway, not finding a single shinobi to fight. After roughly a minute of searching, Hinata finally found a singular person with a high-level of chakra in their body. Based on the amount of chakra she could see, she hypothesized that the person was a jōnin-level shinobi at least.

"Found somebody! And he seems distracted." She told Jinin as she started to walk in front towards his location.

"Perfect!" Jinin declared.

Hinata quickly rushed over to the door. As she approached the door, however, she began to hear a conversation in the room.

"-sori-sama, please, send somebody to help us! The village is being invaded and we may need backup!" The man requested. "Does your leader have anybody nearby?"

Hinata wasn't certain who the man was talking to, as he was the only person in the room. To her surprise, however, a voice responded: "Relax, Unmo. Our leader has been aware of the situation in your village and thought that it would be a good time to enact some plans of our own. A group has already been sent. They should be there soon."

'What?' Hinata's eyes were wide in surprise and slight fear. 'I don't see another person in the room! Who's he talking to?'

"Just keep fighting, Unmo. Make sure your village and the Mizukage does not die. I would really not appreciate hearing that he died." The voice replied.

"This the room with the guy in it?" Jinin spoke-up getting Hinata's attention. She turned her head and noticed that he was now at the door. She then nodded her head. "Then let's wreck some shit!"

Jinin immediately bust the door down to the room. Both he and Hinata rushed in. Standing in the middle of the room was a middle-aged man wearing the Kirigakure forehead protector around his head like a bandana, covering up his lack of hair. His outfit was the standard Kirigakure shinobi uniform. His eyes were exceptionally round and he black markings underneath them. Based on the conversation that Hinata had overheard, she could guess that his name was Unmo.

Standing in front of him was some form of hologram figure. The figure was short and large and was wearing some type of cloak. Before Hinata and Jinin could get a good look at the image, however, it vanished.

"What was that?" Hinata questioned.

"… Tsk. You two heard things that you shouldn't have." Unmo shook his head in frustration. "Whatever. You're invading the village. You were bound to die."

"Who were you talking to? What was that thing and where did it go?" Jinin demanded.

"I'm not inclined to answer the questions of traitors and Konoha trash." Unmo sneered. A smug grin developed on his face as he then made a singular hand sign. "The only thing that I can give you a both is a rather painful death at the hands of Kirigakure!"

Upon finishing his statement, an explosive tag on the floor beneath the two shinobi activated. Both Jinin and Hinata jumped away in time to avoid the explosion. There was now a large, gaping hole in the ground.

Both Hinata and Jinin got into position to fight, but her eyes widened in sight. All of a sudden, a massive group of high-leveled shinobi were now charging towards their general location.

"J-Jinin-san, we are about to have a lot of company." Hinata informed him.

"How many?" He questioned.

"Hundreds." Unmo answered for her, his grin seemingly growing. "I just alerted all the shinobi to come here. Maybe a few of them will be stalled by some other rebel scum that's in the building, but I'm sure enough will be able to get here to join me."

Hinata shook her head in frustration. Unmo was indeed right; she could see at least a hundred different chakra signatures approaching them. What was worse was that the number was growing with each passing second. While there was a chance that some of the rebels were amongst the numbers and that they would fight with them, the shear amount of Kirigakure shinobi that would be arriving at any moment was a scary thought to her.

"… Kid, I'll take care of the reinforcements." Jinin stated as he started to walk out of the room and into the hallway.

"Eh?" Hinata blinked in surprise. "Jinin-san, you can't do that by yourself!"

"I won't. It's like he said, maybe some of the rebels will arrive too to help. I'll have backup." Jinin said with a confident grin. He pulled out a scroll, activated a hand seal, and spawned his sword, Kabutowari. He gripped the sword tightly. "You just focus on killing this guy for now!"

Before either of the two could say another word, a group of ten shinobi arrived in the hallway and rushed for the door. A few more shinobi were starting to join them. Jinin noticed them and got into a stance to fight.

"I'll take care of them. Just finish your guy off quickly and join me!" He told her from the hallway.

"… Understood." Hinata nodded before turning her attention to Unmo.

"You're going to regret that decision, little girl." The bald man said as he got into position to fight. "I've been known to be particularly vicious when my opponent was a Konoha scum. Now that the reinforcements are focused on the traitor, I can dedicate all my attention to squashing a dirty leaf."

"We'll see. I'll have you know that I'm no 'dirty leaf'." Hinata countered as she got into her gentle fist variant style. "I'm a proud shinobi of Konoha with the Will of Fire!"

Unmo's response was to begin a series of hand signs. Their battle had now officially begun.

"We're here." Mei announced.

Naruto and Utakata took the time to analyze the area where they were. There was an elaborate golden gate, with the phrase "You shall never die, for you shall remain in the hearts of all who inhabit the land" written on it. The ground was covered with a few dozen tombstones. The mist that had surrounded the village and kept it hidden from the outside world was thick once again in this area. In the distance, the three shinobi could see a small one storey house.

"This is… slightly creepy." Naruto admitted with a shiver. "Why would Yagura want to live out here? What even is this place?"

"It's a cemetery for the most honorable and loyal people in the village; the previous Mizukages and the members of the Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure." Utakata answered.

"And the previous jinchūriki of both the Sanbi and the Rokubi." Mei added.

Naruto and Utakata faced her. Utakata, in particular, looked shocked at that revelation.

"I… was unaware of that." He said quietly.

"Not many people know about that, but it's true. Yagura definitely knew that." She said with a frown. "Many people don't know this, but Yagura was actually pretty spiritual. He never had the best of childhoods, so he preferred to be surrounded by the spirits of the most important people in Kiri. Since he was the Sanbi jinchūriki, he felt comforted knowing that he was where the previous jinchūriki were."

A few tears were threatening to run down Mei's face, but she proceeded to shake her head and push them back before continuing to speak. "When he was growing up, he would come out here and pray and ask for them to give him the strength to become a great shinobi like all the people buried here. He'd be the first to admit that he might be being stupid and that there were no such things as spirits, but it was the only thing that comforted him for the first eight years of his life."

"D-Didn't he have a family?" Naruto questioned.

Mei actually scoffed at Naruto's question. "A family that casted him out the moment he was chosen by the Sandaime Mizukage to be the Sanbi jinchūriki, yes." A frown then developed on her face. "No, he had nobody to actually support him and be with him for a while…"

The woman mumbled something to herself, but Naruto didn't bother to hear. He was deep within his own mind, thinking about the things Mei had just told him about the Mizukage.

'Myself, Han-nii, Rōshi, Gaara, and now you Yagura…' Naruto's eyes then wandered over to his fellow jinchūriki. 'And maybe even you, Utakata… Does it always have to be like this? Does every jinchūriki have to have the same type of childhood no matter what?'

"There can be exceptions, but it's incredibly rare. Humans are selfish creatures, kid." The Kyūbi answered in his head.

Naruto didn't respond to the fox. He simply shook his head. 'No, that's not going to how it is forever. I'll change that system! I promise that!'

"… So I take it, then, that the house in the distance belongs to Yagura now?" Utakata questioned.

"Well, I'll say this; that house was under construction the moment Yagura became Mizukage." Mei replied.

After a few seconds, the group continued to move through the cemetery. As they walked closer to the house in the distance, they noticed a silhouette of a person standing in front of it. Gradually, as they became closer, they saw more-and-more of the person standing there.

It was a man that appeared rather short. His face still had a childish appearance to it, but the expression on his face showed the actual age and experience of the person. He had pink pupiless eyes with a stitch-like scar underneath his left eye. His grey, messy hair was being covered by the blue hat of the Mizukage. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt over mesh armor and had a green poncho over his shoulders, covering his neck. He wore black pants with a green apron that seemed to cover them. He also had a staff attached to his back that had two hooks of different sizes on both ends of the staff. The side with the larger hook had a green flower placed on it.

'That's… that's him.' Naruto realized as they continued to approach him. 'That's Yagura!'

As they began to notice him, Yagura saw them as well. A smile appeared on his face as he started to walk closer towards them. Despite seeing it from a distance, the smile unnerved Naruto. While it did not appear forced, there was something off about it that rubbed him the wrong way.

"Well, I was wondering when you three would arrive. I was expecting this for a while now." He told them in an almost cheerful fashion.

"Y-You expected us?" Naruto's eyes widened at the statement.

"Hello Kyūbi jinchūriki." He responded, ignoring his question. His eyes then moved to Utakata. "Hello Rokubi jinchūriki." He then turned his attention to Mei. His eyes narrowed slightly. "And hello to you too, Mei-chan. It's been a while, huh?" The smile on his face began to appear more malicious. "Are you three prepared to die?"

Quick Notes:

1: One possible meaning of Yagura's name in Japanese is a reference to tombs in the middle ages. I decided to roll with that meaning and make him somebody slightly spiritual. Just something I thought you all might find kinda interesting and explain a small personality trait of his :)

2: While I have been willing to use OCs quite often, sometimes I do have actual canon characters to use, such as Unmo in this chapter and Kiri (who was introduced in chapter forty-five). I only address this because I did get a couple of reviews asking about Kiri's name and giving off the impression that people thought he was an OC. He is not and neither is a good majority of the Kiri rebels. I just am adding a little more characterization to some character bases that Kishimoto made and never did anything with :) Just mentioning that now, though.