Prelude

The man's eyes snapped open, bringing him face to face with a member of the ship's crew, who told him that they would be docking in Nami no Kuni in five minutes. He thanked the young sailor, whom immediate left to resume his duties. With a groan, Saito sat up from his sleeping mat, wiping the crust from his eyes. It had been a very tiring year for him, and he often found himself having trouble sleeping. After escaping the Kumo prison, he had parted ways with Yayoi and set off towards the nearest border. He managed to cross into Cha no Kuni, and had gotten work with the Wasabi family by keeping their books. He only stayed long enough to pay for a trip to Mizu no Kuni. He had hoped that the rebels had won Kirigakure's bloody civil war, and that the citizens were living together in unity and helping each other rebuild their battle-torn home, but he was sadly disappointed. The Kirigakure that he saw looked worse than ever before; he could practically feel and see the fear that hovered over the once proud village. Wondering just what had went wrong, he got in touch with one of his contacts from the old days and made plans to meet up later. They met secretly at an isolated area in the middle of the night, which only worsened his growing anxiety.

~Flashback~

Saito and the woman embraced each other for the first time in a long while, trying to make it last as long as they could. After she broke the hug and ushered him to a seat, she immediately went straight to business.

"It's been a while, my friend. When I learned of the prison break in Kumogakure, I prayed that you made it out safely."

"I'm just glad that I lived through it." Saito said with a smile, before he became serious. "Kaede, what is going on here? By the looks of things, Kirigakure's problems have only gotten worse. Where is Mei? Is she not the Mizukage?" Kaede said nothing at first, but her grief-stricken expression did nothing to ease the sinking feeling in his heart

"They're dead, Saito. Mei, Ao...everyone's dead." It was like he had fallen into a frozen river; he just couldn't believe what he heard. There was just no way that Kaede said was true!

Saito looked as if he were about to keel over, dead. "So… we lost, and Yagura is still in control..." he said, despondently.

"No!" exclaimed Kaede, softly, immediately snapping Saito out of his funk. "We were the victors. Mei won and she was able to end the reign of Yagura."

"But you just said…"

"We were betrayed, Saito." she interrupted. "Betrayed by one of our own." Saito's confusion gave way to rage.

"Who?! Who betrayed us?!" It took all of his self-restraint not to flip the table they were sitting at.

Kaede's face adopted a furious scowl, showing anger for the first time since their time apart. "It was Akira."

~Present~

Out on the deck, Saito watched as the ship docked into the harbor. He secured his things and followed everyone as they disembarked, all the while thinking about what he had learned from Kaede. He just couldn't believe that Akira was able to kill Mei. From what he witnessed in the past, Akira was hopelessly in love with Mei, yet he was nowhere near as powerful as the Terumi clan member was in terms of speed, skill, or strength. There just no way that Akira could have beaten her, at least not on his own. He had hoped that he get some more answers to this disturbing puzzle once he located his fellow resistance fighters. But once he found their camp after several months of searching, he was dismayed to see that so few of his comrades had survived Akira's betrayal. There was no way that they could reclaim their village from the traitor in their current state; it had seemed that all was lost for Kirigakure.

But a month later, he began to hear news of a powerful ninja that was making waves in the shinobi world. This person was rumored to always help those in need, and had already eliminated several bandit camps, slave rings, and criminal organizations. He was first noticed when the Gashira clan placed a very high bounty on his head. It was even more startling when Berugu doubled the bounty on the ninja the following day, all because of the nickname that the Gashiras gave him, the Kiiroi Senkō no Bōrei.

After hearing of the mysterious shinobi's exploits, he decided to try and seek him out. If he could get a ninja like him on their side, then the resistance would stand a better chance of reclaiming Kirigakure. He left Kiri straight away and made his way to Kaminari no Kuni, knowing that both Yayoi and Yugito were the last people to have actually been in contact with him. Securing a meeting with the two kunoichi wasn't that difficult, but when he brought up the Kiiroi Senkō no Bōrei up, he found it odd that Yayoi started to blush for some unknown reason. Yugito found the woman's reactions quite hilarious, much to Yayoi's displeasure. What was even stranger for the man was that when he'd pressed for information on the shinobi's whereabouts, the two refused to tell him anything. Instead, Yayoi handed him a small card and then pointed him in the direction of Nami on Kuni. He was a little put off by their secrecy, but considering just who they were talking about, he could understand why they were taking such heavy precautions.

As he disembarked from the ship, he continued to think about the unknown ninja, and hoped that he would be willing to listen to his plight and help him in his quest. But unbeknownst to Saito, five robed figures within the throng of departing passengers kept their gaze locked on the old man's moving form.

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Authors' Notes: Here we go, the second book of the revamped Mizukage. This story is called Journey Through the Mist. This will chronicle Naruto's quest to end the tyrant reign of Akira and his men. He will meet his known comrades and fight with them to bring Kirigakure back from the brink. My beta Toa Naruto is still with me on this and I can be more happy to have him on this with me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the many more that is on the way for the next stage of the revamp.

Glossary

Kiiroi Senkō no Bōrei – Ghost of the Yellow Flash

Kaminari no Kuni – Land of Lightning

Nami on Kuni – Land of Waves

Kirigakure – Hidden Mist

Mizu no Kuni – Land of Water

Cha no Kuni – Land of Tea