Naruto 15

With Shinobu and the Anbu at Village Hidden in the Mist

Shinobu POV

In a room, there were a few people sitting around a table.

There was a tall, slender woman with fair skin. She has 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 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 is dressed in a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wears mesh armor that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress.

Besides her was the blue-haired man who requested the mission from the Hokage.

"Good Morning." I greeted raising them raising my hand up as I walked over to the table where the map was.

"I wasn't aware you would be coming back to us so soon." Ao asked. "Something you need?" He questioned.

"What's the plan of attack?" I inquired looking down to the map seeing where their current forces were and where they presumed the enemy forces to be. I looked back up to meet their glances. "You don't have one?" I asked with a frown.

"It's been two years since we've been at war." Ao told me. "We started running out of battle tactics, just using the same old ideas have made us lose numbers we didn't have the luxury of losing, our forces are barely a match, half of the rebels are thinking about exile." I looked around and noticed Mei looking down at the table, a sorrowful look on her face.

"We thought if we could get aid from one of the four other great nations we could at least get more forces," She told me honestly. It seemed she had thought that she would at least get an army, not simply three Anbu.

"Sorry that we don't measure up." I said hiding my snarl behind my mask making Mei advert her gaze from mine. "However Hokage-sama couldn't offer an army since Konoha needs all its able bodies to protect the village. Since the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko, Konoha has weakened considerably. If he could have, he would have given you an army, but he couldn't. Instead, you got three of us." Mei nodded her head in understanding.

"You seemed so confident earlier," Ao admitted to me. "Like you didn't even think about what could happen if we lose."

"That's because we won't," I told them, a smile forming under my mask. "Most if not all of the rebels are Kekkai Genkai users correct?" Ao nodded his head. "Are either of you Kekkai Genkai users?" I questioned them.

"No, I'm not." Ao told me but sensing his lie. With the use of my eyes, I could see he had a byakugan underneath the eyepatch he wore, but chose to ignore it. Not important to me at the moment.

"I am." Mei told me. I already knew about her use of it through Bingo Book which I read.

"What are your strengths?" I inquired.

"I could match Tsunade of the Sennin if I was pushed to it." Mei told me, not wanting to gloat, that it was the truth. I leaned back against the chair brushing a few stray strands of hair.

"Mei-sama needs to organize troops, she can't be fighting on the front lines. If something happened to her then the entire rebellion would fall apart." Ao snapped at me. I glared at him forcing him to cower slightly.

"Firstly, do not raise your voice at me. I am helping you at of a request not out of the goodness of my heart." I spoke to him. "Sorry about that Lady Mei, I take it that you don't spend time at the front lines with your men." I asked her with a small voice getting a nod from her.

"Hmm, it makes sense why your troops' morales are low" Mei's eyes widened as she heard what I said. "This here, what is that?" I questioned pointing to a red flag surrounded by five more.

"That's Yagura, the current Mizukage." Mei told me "He's a Jinchuriki, he has the Sanbi sealed within him, if he unleashes it, everything is over, not even we can stand against that. We don't have any sealing masters with us. Plus he is one of the very rare few Jinchuriki that have complete control over their bijuu so if he unleashes it he will be a threat far above that of a Kage."

"Now we need to get morale up, that means from now on. You're on the front lines assisting your men. If they don't see you fighting they're going to waver, once you're fighting alongside them, they will see that what they're fighting for isn't pointless. Their resolve will strengthen." I spoke to her from experience. I have seen civilizations in my past life either crumble or rise because of good or bad leadership.

"She can't!" Ao shouted to me only to have his face grabbed and roughly put through the table.

"She will! and what did I say about raising your voice to me dog." I said coldly as Mei flinched from the sheer authority in my tone. "If morale drops any more this war will be over! To fight an army you need an army! How do you plan to fight if you have no one left!? If you continue to coddle her up behind the Rebellion then morale will ultimately drop down to nothing. I've seen your shinobi and right now they are on their last legs with barely any will to fight on. She needs to be out there and YOU will not say another word concerning it or I'll put you through something less breakable than a table! She's the Leader! You're a General, it's her job to lead the army into battle not sit behind and organize troops!" I snapped at him.

"She's right Ao." Mei told him. "I've been distanced from the front lines for far too long. That changes now." Ao simply groaned from the floor. "What of you and your team Shi?" Mei questioned. "What will you be doing?"

"I'll be assisting you on the front lines." I informed her. "Neko will organize divisions amongst your ranks and give them direction. While aiding in the assassinations of Yagura's generals. Hebi will be fighting alongside us since her skills will allow her to move freely and all throughout the battlefield without hindrance." I told her.

Turning to the ground I spoke. "Ao, have the rest of the generals present tomorrow afternoon, we'll need to brief them that Neko is giving them orders from here on out. If you don't like that. Either shut up or leave. I don't care which." I cast my eyes to Mei. "If you don't mind at all."

"How am I supposed to give orders from the front lines?" Mei smirked only to get a flat stare from me. "You sure seem to know what you're doing Shi." Ao stood up bringing his gaze to us.

"What of the Mizukage?" The man questioned making Mei frown at the mention of Yagura.

"Leave that to me." I told them making their heads shoot towards me with wide eyes.

"The very foremost of everything, morale. Mei, fighting alongside the men and women here will make this force stronger than the current main force. Word will spread. It will take less time to raise morale with the rest of your forces." Mei nodded her head in understanding.

"I still don't see how you are going to deal with the Mizukage." Ao frowned at me.

"Just leave the Mizukage to me, the more you do worrying about it the less time you have to think about what's important." I told him before rolling my shoulders. "Now if you would be so kind as to go inform the generals about the meeting tomorrow afternoon I would be forever grateful." Ao glared at me which got him punched through the door and landed outside.

"He really needs to stop being so sassy." I snorted out with a laugh.

"Tell me honestly, do you think we can win?" Mei asked.

"I do." I told her "Leave the Mizukage to me, by all means, you're taking the credit for it mind you." Mei raised an eyebrow at that.

"Why?" She asked slightly surprised.

"The next Mizukage should have been the one to defeat the previous. I'm not calling you weak, far from it, I've read about you and what you're capable of from the Bingo Books. However, right now, you wouldn't be able to defeat Yagura." I told her honestly and she solemnly nodded. "So I'll do it for you, and you can take the credit. I don't really care if you do, as long as my Master doesn't have to put up with the political backlash from it all."

"You're not the regular Anbu are you?" Mei questioned with a slight smile as I was walking out

"What makes you say that?" I chuckled as I reached the entrance. "I'll make sure you win this war." I continued as I walked to the exit.