Nobui looked up at his wife. "The commander had to drop the age because the enemy is starting to catch on too quick. Mabui just happens to be the youngest one of us to graduate from the academy. And her service in the war was sanctioned directly by Lord Third. There is nothing to do about it. Mabui is a shinobi –she has to do her duty just like the rest of us."
Nobui squeezed his daughter's hand, before she was directed away and towards the rest of the team of cloud ninja. They gathered around the lightning hawks, who were summoned by the commander. Three ninja on each hawk.
The commander stood on the back of his own personal lightning hawk. "Your birds will be directed to your drop spot. Once the bird reaches the spot, you will receive the signal for the dive. Task completed, you will retreat from the area as quickly as possible to make room for the clean up squad. Mission understood?"
"Yes sir!" The team responded in unison.
Mabui followed two other young cloud ninja, Jarui and Atinui, and climbed on the back of one of the lightning hawks. The brothers were both from her clan and only a few years older than her, so she knew them vaguely.
Jarui looked back at her as he stood in the front. "Is this your first drop squad mission, kid?"
Mabui nodded, silently. Atinui stood behind her and slapped her on the back. "Don't worry, popping the cherry is the worst part –it only gets better after that. Just keep your head and complete the task."
Mabui nodded again, fingering her backpack. Her backpack was bigger than both Jarui's and Atinui's hip packs for a reason. She would be expected to hit the center and the densest portion of the unit.
The lightning hawks took off, following the commander's bird in a pyramid formation. After awhile the birds began to split off. Eventually, Mabui, Jarui and Atinui were flying on their own over the battle field. The lightning hawks flew high enough to avoid being spotted, but Mabui could see the different ninja units, decimating each other below.
Their bird flew beyond enemy lines into an area currently held by Konohagakure. Jarui whispered back. "Remember some of the Konoha ninja have sharingan, so watch your back."
Lightening struck at the bird. That was the signal. Jarui and Atinui dove off the bird from either side. Mabui took a deep breath and followed. She dove through the clouds, tumbling like she had been trained, several hundred feet down into the enemy territory. Landing on her feet with enough impact to dent portions of the ground, she walked into the Konoha ranks, attempting to get to the most populous area. Eventually she stopped, making hand seals to transport two large barrels from the base to the either side of her.
Two loud explosions occurred from the positions where Jarui and Atinui fell. The leaf ninja started to shout. Until then, no one had paid much attention to the ten year old girl wandering through. Now one shouted, "There's another one right there!"
Several of them came at her. As soon as they got close, she discharged the explosives in her backpack. Fire and pressure and flying body parts surrounded Mabui. The explosion kept going as the barrels blew as well, and she could hear people screaming as they burned to death. She found herself down in the depths of hell once more. She crouched, putting her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sounds of death that surrounded her.
Then her training kicked in, and she knew she had to retreat. Her clothes had burned with the first explosion. All she wore now was the fire resistant wire mesh armor. The clean up squad would not be able to distinguish her from any surviving konoha ninja. She started to run. She ran out of the fire into the woods and back towards Kumo.
Thirteen year old Mabui woke up with a start. She was drenched in sweat. Wiping her forehead, she looked over at the clock. One am again.
She got up out of the bed and opened up the window that looked out over the mountain side, leaning her head out into the cool air. The night sky was clear and full of stars. The full moon was large and round. It dripped soft white light into her window. She let the light breeze brush against her face, cooling her down and slowing her racing pulse.
Exploits of An Ex-Hokage
Start from the beginning
