Naruto: Tango with Death

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"For the Commander! Bottoms up!"

"Bottoms up!"

The blood drenched soldiers cheered one another as they drank for the victory.

That's right, we won. Nothing surprising if you ask me, but it seems my soldiers don't have absolute faith in me yet. Whatever, it will come.

In any case, we got an astounding victory as although we didn't kill all of their men, several hundreds died, and we kept our own losses to a minimum, and successfully defended against the invasion.

Things had, for once, gone according to plan. That's what they should be celebrating for.

"Commander, why the long face?!"

Izumo called out, and Yada asked, "How can you even tell with her mask?"

Izumo pointed at his nose and boasted, "I'm good at reading people!"

I sighed softly to myself, and got up from my seat as I said quietly, "Enjoy the night, you have deserved it."

I walked away with that, deep in thought.

Yes, we've won, but this victory cost us two hundred men. An outstanding result, my officers praised, but not only was that a fifth of our force, it was also two hundred men who had died because of my commands.

I know it is stupid to think that way, and quite hypocritical considering the blood on my hands, but I still couldn't help but feel like shit. But maybe this will go away with time…

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When one doesn't dive into dangerous S Rank Missions every day, time really flies by. Without even noticing it, a whole year went by, as I turned 11.

I spent the past year in the same place, Kiri's battlefield, leading our troops against the enemy, blocking their attack.

Unfortunately for me, I got in less and less fights as the fights on this battlefield quickly started gravitating toward small skirmishes, rather than large battles. As a result, I focused more on training myself, whether that be with my subordinates or by myself with my clones.

Speaking of subordinates, while the army under me had fluctuated a lot as some died and got replaced, I had actually managed to keep all of my officers alive.

That was one thing.

"Commander, a letter has come for you."

Hideto walked into the tent, looking straight at me, while I had my face uncovered, my mask dangling at my hip. This was another thing that had happened in the past year.

I'm not sure how, but my real identity had leaked, and so the world learned that the terrifying Owl was actually a 10 years old little girl.

I guess most of them thought I was just a very short woman, but the realization hit them hard. It didn't diminish my reputation in the slightest, but instead made me even fearsome.

In any case, since my identity was now public, I had decided to stop wearing the mask, I wasn't part of Anbu since a while now anyway. Still, I decided to keep it dangling at my hip as a memento.

But enough of the past.

Handing out my hand, I received the letter, and noticed Minato's seal on it. Interesting, for him to send a letter. Must be quite busy.

But as I opened the letter and read its content, a frown found its way on my face. Hideto asked, "Something wrong?"

I burned the letter with a thought, and replied, "The Land of Fire is on the brink of a civil war."

Hideto's eyes widened as he gasped, and failed to utter out anything. So I placed my hand on my sword, and said, "We are finishing Kiri today, so I may return to help with the mess."

Hideto gulped, and asked, "How?"

Smiling softly, I replied, "By cutting off the head of the snake, of course."

"W-what? You can't just do that!"

I snorted, "That's what we will see."

Hideto appeared in front of me with the Body Flicker, and rapidly shook his head as he said, "I can't just let you go! You'll get yourself killed!"

With a step, I appeared in front of him, and flicked him on the forehead, sending him flying back as I said, "I obviously have a plan dumbass. Gather the others."

Hideto looked worried, which was unusual for him, although he had changed quite a lot in the past year. While he used to always look bored and tired, he now looked more energetic, and showed his emotions more easily.

And of course, he had also become more competent at fighting. Actually, all of my officers had, as I had trained them personally. Well, more like used them as punching bags, but they still got better with time. Moreover, I had also gotten myself an 11th lieutenant.

"Commander, I heard Hideto say you have gone mad…"

Speak of the devil…

Turning around with a smile, I said, "Kurenai, I see Hideto kept the surprise. Let's wait for the others, shall we?"

That's right, my eleventh officer was Kurenai, whom had been promoted to Jonin in the past year for her incredible Genjutsu. Seriously, she was really good with it.

Quickly, the others arrived, and I led them back into my tent. The moment we did, my officers, who had remained silent while outside, immediately burst out with questions.

"What is happening?!"

Raising my palm, I shut them up, and briefly explained the situation. But that did not help calm them down, as they only got more rowdy. So I added, "I will infiltrate their village by myself, and assassinate their Mizukage myself."

Izumo protested, "I know you are a deadly assassin commander, but you can't expect to kill a Kage without making a sound. Even if you were to manage to kill the Mizukage, you can't expect to just waltz out of the village."

I replied, "I know, and that's where you come in!"