Naruto : Back to the Past

The Next Morning, 

Sakura, Sarada, and Hanabi woke up around 6 in the morning. As for Naruto, he didn't sleep because he was on guard duty, watching for enemies while the others slept.

The guard duty was divided into three phases. In the first part, it was Sakura and Hanabi's responsibility to guard. Then, it was Sarada and Kushina's turn. But after their turn ended, Kushina did not sleep. Rather, she accompanied Naruto as well. 

This is why no one woke Kushina. They decided to wait for a few hours so that their teacher could better a few more rest before they set off on their journey once again.

"I am going to train," Sarada said hoping that someone from her team would join her. After all, it was much more motivating and fun to train together rather than training alone. But Sarada wasn't able to say it out straight. 

"I would join you but I am feeling hungry, Sara-chan. Why don't we have something before we all start our training?" From last night's activities, Naruto was hungry.

Last night was a wild experience for them. 

Doing it out in the open was just too stimulating. Fortunately, Hanabi was sleeping at that time. And they did it 5 km away from their camp. 

"Sure!! What are we going to eat?" Hanabi asked. Hanabi was embarrassed to admit that she could not cook. Being a Princess, she was never allowed to cook. There was no reason for her to cook. Unlike her sister, who enjoyed doing household chores, Hanabi preferred training or doing something else. 

"How about we catch fish from the river? I can make something for everyone." Sakura suggested. Sakura wasn't that good at cooking either. After all, it was her retired mom who did the cooking in her household. On rare occasions, she helped in cutting vegetables and stirring.

"Fish.....!! I don't mean to be rude but I am tired of eating grilled fish. I am sure you feel the same as well." Sakura had to agree with Hanabi. 

Sarada just looked at Naruto and waited for his opinion. 

As for the option of just consuming bland and tasteless food pills, the thought did not even cross their minds. No one wanted to consume bland and tasteless food pills this early in the morning. Food pills were only reserved for emergency situations when there was no time to stop to make food. 

"Everyone, how about we have instant Ramen?" Naruto took out 4 instant Ramen Cups. 

"Instant Ramen is very unhealthy and has a lot of calories." Like Ino, Sakura really cared about her figure. 

"So you don't want Instant Ramen? I guess, I will just eat more." 

"Now hold on, I never said anything about not eating." Sakura quickly said in a panicked tone. 

"I'm fine with it as well. Though, this is my first time trying Instant Ramen in the morning." 

As for Sarada, she just nodded. 

"It's settled then." 

•••

"Good morning, everyone!!!" Around a few hours later, Kushina came out of the house looking sleepy. 

She noticed that everyone had sweated a lot. 

"Good!! Good!!! This kind of discipline and dedication towards training will make you all really strong in the future." Kushina did not hesitate to praise her team. 

"Have you all eaten?" She asked. 

"Sorry, I should have woken up earlier. I will make breakfast now. Just give me 10 minutes." 

"Mom, we ate Instant Ramen. So you can relax." Naruto looked very happy when talking about Ramen. 

Kushina knew that it was unhealthy to eat Ramen on an empty stomach in the morning. But for today, she let it go since what was done could not be changed. Once in a while, it is not really that harmful to the body. 

"Mom, do you want Instant Ramen?" Naruto asked. 

But Kushina shook her head. "You all wait. I will make some light breakfast. After training, you must be feeling hungry again." 

"But.....!!" Sakura wanted to protest since eating another meal would mean consuming even more calories, which she was hesitant about. But she also knew that she must have burned all the calories from their training. 

Their training was a high-intensity one. Rather than training individually, it was more like a group spar. Sakura, Hanabi, and Sarada teamed up to fight Naruto in a taijutsu spar. 

"While I am on it, I will also make lunch for us. That way, we won't need to stop to make lunch." 

While Kushina was busy cooking, the girls were cleaning themselves. 

Naruto was sitting in front of the campfire with Kushina. 

"Last night, you were too rough, you know?" Kushina pouted. 

"My back is aching. I really need a massage." 

"I would love to give a massage if we were alone."

Around the time, a hawk flew down the sky. Seeing the Hawk, Kushina stretched out her hand for it to land on. She then took the letter that was wrapped around the Hawk's leg. 

Naruto watched Kushina's expression change as she continued reading. 

"What happened, Mom?" He worriedly asked. He hoped that wasn't an emergency. 

"I just received a written note from the old man." 

Kushina went back to cutting vegetables while continuing to speak. "Last night, a message from the opposing Faction of Hidden Mist came to Konoha. In the message, it was stated that Raiga Kurosuki had somehow learned of our involvement." By Opposing Faction, it was the Faction led by Mei Terumi, who is going to become the Future Mizukage once the current Mizukage dies. 

The current situation of the Hidden Mist Land was a mess.

Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, started the "Bloody Mist" era of the Hidden Mist Village. 

The Hidden Mist Village's Chunin Exams were notorious for their brutality. During this era, a particularly horrifying practice involved pitting students against each other in battles to the death as part of their graduation exams. Only those who survived could become shinobi. This ruthless practice led to the village being nicknamed the "Village of the Bloody Mist."

The entire village was subjected to a regime of fear and oppression. The Mizukage's government was strict, and dissent was often met with extreme punishment. This atmosphere bred hostility and led to numerous internal conflicts within the village.

Due to the oppressive nature of Yagura's regime, there were several assassination attempts and rebellions. Many clans and individuals within the village, including the likes of Zabuza Momochi, attempted to overthrow the Mizukage. Zabuza's attempted coup, known as the "Coup of the Bloody Mist," was one of the most notable uprisings, though it ultimately failed.

Right now, the strongest faction opposing the current Mizukage is the Faction led by the future Mizukage, Mei Terumi. Yagura also labeled her faction the Rebelling Faction. 

Unlike Yagura, Mei's approach was very light and positive. Konoha believed that under her regime, there was an opportunity for Konoha and Mist to be allies and work together for the first time. 

So, Although Konoha did not take a stance and stayed out of this whole thing like other villages, the village did not hesitate to send aid through various secret channels. Konoha received and accepted the Mission from Mei. This would mark Konoha's first official step towards building a relationship with Mei. 

"Hearing that Konoha is planning a joint mission with Hidden Mist to deal with him, he and his subordinates instantly fled. Now, their whereabouts are unknown." 

"So we are heading back to the Village?" In his world, this whole mission took place after Tsunade became the Hokage. So, when he first learned that they were going to Hidden Mist to deal with Raiga Kurosuki and his subordinates, Naruto wondered why this event was happening this early. 

"Actually, no." 

"Mei Terumi has asked Konoha to help them with another matter. So we were given a new mission."

"This time, the mission is to track down a Rogue Shinobi from Mist who has fled to the Land of Fire. It is believed that he is hiding on an island in the Land of Fire's territory. The mission is to capture him alive, bring him back to the Borders to Hidden Mist, and hand him to Opposing Faction Shinobi."

"What did he even do?" If this man hadn't done something before fleeing, why would Hidden Mist request Konoha's assistance in catching this man alive? 

"He was sent to a remote village in Hidden Mist. He and his subordinates were stationed there for four months to guard the city from Bandit attacks. Instead of protecting the villagers, he began abusing his powers. He did all sorts of unthinkable things, including something that would make anyone super angry." 

"Fortunately for us, we are on the right track. There is no need for us to take any detours or anything. If we keep heading in this direction, we will reach the sea, which is where the Mainland territory of the Land of Fire ends." 

"There is a large territory between Hidden Mist and Hidden Leaf. This area is made up of the sea and lots of islands. In the middle of this place, there used to be a village." Kushina became sad, and her voice grew quieter. 

"It was Uzushiogakure (Hidden Eddy Village)." Naruto completed Kushina's sentence. 

Kushina heavily nodded her head. 

After taking a deep breath, she continued while suppressing her emotions. "I don't know how, but a few small islands in that area became a part of the Land of Fire's territory."

After having breakfast, Kushina broke the news to the girls. 

"So we are not going to Hidden Mist?" Hanabi said, looking disappointed. She was really looking forward to going there. Now, all expectations and dreams were shattered. 

"Unfortunately, yes!!" 

"But no worries. We will still travel to a few new places. These are places that I haven't even visited yet. So get excited."

"Once our mission is over, let's take a few days to explore the surrounding areas. I am sure we will have a wonderful time." It was only then that Sakura and Hanabi felt excited about their mission. 

Within a few minutes, everyone was cleaned up. The whole team set out on their journey again. Given their current speed, reaching their destination should take another and a half days. Maybe even less if they continued traveling even during the night time. 

The second day of their journey was also pretty boring since nothing happened. After traveling for up to 12 hours continuously, the team stopped in a small village. 

The whole team disguised themselves as travelers before entering the village. Revealing their identity was not a good idea. 

The village was very small, with close to 1,500 people living in it. After a quick investigation, Kushina learned that the village formed after the end of the Second Great Ninja War. The original builders were refugees from other villages. During the war, they were dislocated as their homes and family members were destroyed. 

"Welcome, what would you like?" Fortunately, they found a small wooden hotel in the village. It was the only Hotel in the whole Village. 

"We need three bedrooms." 

"Madam, I apologize, but we only have two empty bedrooms available." 

"Alright!! Give me that."

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Note - There are a few reasons why I suddenly decided to change the mission. First of all, I made a mistake. The Kurosuki Family Removal takes place after the Chunin exam. So this is an event that is supposed to happen after the Chunin Exam. When I wrote the previous chapter or the chapters before that, I did not know that. This is also why I delayed uploading; I was confused for a while. I did not know what to do. I did not want to change everything as it can be a negative experience for you all. 

Rewriting the chapters - would just take too much of my time. 

So, I decided to change things in a way that would make sense - at least, I hope it does.

Once again, thank you for reading this chapter. I really appreciate all the power stones that you all have given to this novel. Your comments and your power stones do make a big difference.

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