It's that time again. This is another overlong chapter. It's even
longer than the monstrous Chapter Eleven, for which you have my deepest
apologies. If I'd had any idea that I'd be writing chapters this long,
I would never have started this story.
I'm actually feeling fairly good about how this chapter turned out.
Which actually makes me worried that it'll turn out to be utterly
wretched, but that's what you all are for, isn't it? :)
C&C is welcome. My website has gotten hideously out of date, but
previous chapters are available on request or at
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2663204/1/ or
http://www.narusaku.com/library/viewstory.php?sid=6
Now I'm going to go to sleep, and when I wake up I'll hopefully get
around to all the C&C I've been meaning to do...
One Hundred Days
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 12: Treachery and Deceit
***********************************************************************
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, strange though that may seem.
Instead it is Kishimoto Masashi's creation. However, the text of this
fanfic is mine, and may not be used without permission. Also, donkeys!
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-one]
"Yakushi-sama."
Kabuto glanced up at his group's sole kunoichi's soft murmur.
"What is it, Koyanagi-san?" he asked. The other ten Sound ninja went
about their business throughout the dark forest clearing unconcerned,
knowing that the woman would have acted differently if her recently
finished patrol had turned up any threat.
"Our hunter ninja friend from the Mist is returning." The hint
of distaste in the brown-haired woman's voice made her past as a missing
ninja evident. While she had been from the Valley, not the Mist, there
was little love lost between her kind and hunter ninja from any village.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses slightly. "The same one, huh?" He
stood slowly, turning around. "Greetings, Hunter-san."
The masked woman didn't seem surprised at being spotted.
"Yakushi-san," she said flatly, then leapt from the tree branch she was
perched on, landing smoothly before Orochimaru's right hand man. "You
have not had any difficulties, I take it."
"None." Kabuto smiled politely. "Your own other missions were
successful, as well?"
"One could say that," the Mist ninja responded, and Kabuto's
smile turned almost genuine.
"You met with Orochimaru-sama," he concluded aloud.
The foreign kunoichi tensed, and in response Koyanagi, standing
behind her commander, let a hand rest over the hilt of a kunai. The
rest of the Sound ninja stirred, but made no obvious preparations for
battle. "How do you know that?" the hunter ninja finally asked.
Kabuto chuckled softly. "The tone of your voice. Everyone is
like that after their first meeting with Orochimaru-sama. Besides, the
time since your last visit is just enough time to travel to the Sound
Village, visit the Hill Country to check on the Valley, then get new
orders from the commander of the Mist forces here."
"You conclude much from very little." The masked kunoichi
almost seemed to have no fear of the Sound ninja surrounding her, but
Kabuto could read her nervousness easily enough.
"I accept the compliment." Kabuto's face and voice turned flat.
"Unless you mean to imply that I have been communicating with
Orochimaru-sama in contravention of your orders, Hunter-san?" That was
the case, of course. It really had been a little stupid of him to
needle the hunter ninja like that, but it was fun.
The was a long silence, and then the hunter spoke as though he
hadn't asked the question. "The final orders have been given for the
operation. I will brief you on your mission to ensure that there are no
questions."
"We are professionals," Kabuto replied. "I familiarized myself
with the mission plan you gave me before."
"I will brief you on your mission to ensure that there are no
questions," the Mist kunoichi repeated herself flatly.
"Very well," Kabuto said after a moment. Repressing a sigh, he
raised his voice. "Squad leaders, with me and our guest. The rest of
you, at ease."
"Yes, sir," the response came from his men. Koyanagi took a
step forward to join Kabuto, admirably not even giving the hunter ninja
a hostile glare. A few moments later, the other squad leader, a stocky
man who moved with a grace that belied his bulk, joined them.
The hunter ninja took in the bulges on the man's lower arms, for
the moment covered by gray sleeves. "The Dosu Clan?" she asked, naming
one of the clans from Rice Field that remained a staunch supporter of
Orochimaru's Hidden Sound. When the man nodded, the hunter ninja
continued. "The Valley's Koyanagi and the Leaf's Yakushi. An amusing
collection."
"I'm only adopted, I fear," Kabuto offered lightly. "You were
going to brief us?"
"Indeed." The hunter ninja paused briefly. "You are all
familiar with the materials I gave Yakushi-san?" The three Sound ninja
nodded, and she continued. "Then you know the aims and objectives of
the operation. It cannot be stressed enough that priority must be given
to causing maximum damage to the Leaf before they finish the evacuation
of civilians and begin their counter-attack. Extended engagements with
the initial Leaf defense forces are counter-productive and are to be
avoided."
It was Dosu who spoke first. "How do we know that the Leaf will
follow the same defense strategy as before?"
"We have received confirmation from our agents that no changes
to the defense plan have been completed since the joint Sand and Sound
attack of six months ago, perhaps due to the successful repulsion of
invaders in that instance and the administrative confusion resulting
from the appointment of a new Hokage."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. The Mist's spymaster again, it
seemed. This was less difficult information to get one's hands on,
though. The broad outlines of the strategy had to be known to numerous
civilians, due to the Leaf's focus on protecting the populace. "Good to
hear," he offered.
"From the options presented in the materials you studied," the
Mist kunoichi continued, "we will be moving to the alternate rendezvous
point due to a change in Leaf patrol schedules. Units failing to
complete their missions and return to the rendezvous point in time are
to consider themselves on their own. I will be remaining with you to
serve as liaison." She paused. "Understood?"
"Perfectly," Kabuto said. "You seem to be leaving out the most
important point though."
Smiling a smile that was obvious even behind her mask, the
hunter ninja told Kabuto the date that the war would begin.
***********************************************************************
"Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko here to see you, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade glared at her chuunin assistant, and the man visibly had to
force himself not to retreat and slam the door. "Hokage-sama?" he
ventured.
One of Tsunade's eyebrows twitched. "She's actually here? Not
a replication? Or some sucker she'd blackmailed into transforming into
her?"
"Er... yes, Hokage-sama." The chuunin was sweating profusely,
clearly wondering just what he had said to earn the Hokage's ire.
Beside the older woman, Shizune grinned in triumph. "That's a
week where you do all your own paperwork with no escape attempts or
drinking that you owe me, Hokage-sama," she stated merrily.
"Damn it," Tsunade hissed under her breath. "It seemed like
such a sure bet, too."
"And don't forget the rest," Shizune added. "You can't do
anything permanent to Anko-chan."
"Define permanent." Tsunade's fingers danced on her desktop,
picking up speed as she began to envision creative ways around that
restriction.
"You break it, you fix it." Shizune gave her mentor a
disapproving look.
"I can fix an awful lot." Tsunade folded her hands in front of
her face in thought.
"Before she leaves here," Shizune added.
"You're no fun," Tsunade griped.
"Umm... Hokage-sama?" the chuunin, nearly forgotten, asked
carefully.
"Send her in," Tsunade commanded grimly. "Let's see what she
has to say for herself.
A few moments later, Anko stood before the other two women,
scratching at the back of her neck and laughing nervously. "You wanted
to see me, Tsunade-sama?"
"Mitarashi Anko." Tsunade sounded out every syllable of the
special jounin's name frostily. "Care to explain yourself?"
"Well, it all started when my father and mother loved each other
very much, and -"
"Anko," Tsunade snapped. Behind her, Shizune giggled slightly,
earning a glare from the Sannin.
"Oh, you wanted me to explain something specific about me?" Anko
asked, her voice and face a perfect picture of innocence. "My good
looks? My winning personality?"
"Anko," Tsunade repeated. "I'm not blind. I saw the technique
that Sakura-chan used in her fight with Hyuuga Neji."
"Displacement Technique?" Anko offered desperately. "Yeah,
Kurenai-chan told me she taught her that."
This time it was Shizune who said, "Anko."
"Ah, right," Anko said after a long moment. "Hidden Snake
Hands."
"Yes." Tsunade let her hand tap briefly on her desk. "Now,
refresh my memory on how that technique works, please."
The purple-haired woman nodded. "You summon a specialized breed
of snake spirit and offer yourself as a host. The spirits reside
immaterially in the arm and feed slightly on your chakra. Channel more
chakra into them, and they regain physical form."
"That's what I thought," Tsunade said. Her hands folded in
front of her face. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that particular
type of snake spirit can't be summoned using a prepared scroll, right?
Something to do with requiring chakra that's aligned with the snake
spirit court, right?"
Anko winced. "Right."
"It seems to me, then, that Sakura couldn't have possibly used
that technique, Anko-chan," the Hokage said calmly. "After all, Sakura
hasn't signed any summoning contracts of any sort." One of her hands
dropped to rest on Sakura's file, laying closed on her desk.
"You... might need to update the file," Anko admitted.
"Is that so?" Tsunade asked.
"I wanted to increase Sakura-chan's chakra reserves, and forcing
her to learn summoning was the easiest and most useful way to do that.
So I took her out into the wilderness, had her sign a little contract,
and went to work." Anko grinned weakly. "That's all."
"Just how little of a contract are we talking about?" Tsunade
asked.
Anko stuttered for a moment before finally answering. "Just the
full contract," she whispered pitifully.
"Just the full contract," Tsunade repeated. "Is there some
other, higher level of contract that nobody ever told me about? What
were you thinking? Did you never consider that maybe I had a contract I
wanted her to sign?"
Anko took a deep breath. "Not really," she said. "I acted
without thinking. I guess I just got too used to thinking of her as my
student instead of Hatake's and yours." She swallowed once. "I'm
sorry."
There was a long silence. "Well, damn it," Tsunade muttered.
"How the hell am I supposed to make you pay for this when you go and do
that? You're not supposed to apologize."
"Err... I'm sorry?" Anko offered, and Shizune laughed.
Tsunade sighed. "Oh, forget it," she said. "It's not like I
don't already owe Katsuyu enough favors. I can probably talk her into
letting Sakura-chan sign one of the lesser contracts still if I beg
enough." She rubbed at her forehead. "Now, get out of here and don't
screw up at the examination board meeting, or you'll wish I'd just
killed you now."
"Right," Anko said. She glanced at Tsunade's assistant. "Come
on, Shizune-sempai. I need a drink after that, and everyone's meeting
at the usual place to catch up before we all scatter on missions again."
"All right," Shizune said agreeably, stepping around Tsunade's
desk. "Remember to sign all the bonus pay forms for overtime duty
during the exams, Tsunade-sama."
"Wait!" Tsunade gave a mournful look at the stacks of paperwork
littering her desk. "You're just going to leave me with all this?"
"Yes," Shizune replied. "That was the bet, wasn't it?" She
grinned. "Let's go, Anko-chan."
Tsunade groaned as the door to her office shut behind the two
younger women. How the hell did it work out that Anko screwed up and
she got punished instead?
***********************************************************************
The bars of the Leaf Village had been doing a brisk business
recently, but tonight this bar in particular was, unusually, among the
busiest. Usually, it was a quiet place, frequented mainly by the
academy teachers and jounin instructors for new genin teams. The day
after the close of the Chuunin Selection Exam, it was filled with
everyone who had been involved in making that exam a success.
In a corner, one of the Hokage's chuunin assistants was not-so-
surreptitiously slipping half of his drinks to the technically underage
Nara Shikamaru. Ordinarily, this might have resulted in some
difficulty, but all the employees were among the ones wagering on just
what type of drunk the person who would soon no longer be the Hidden
Leaf's newest chuunin would turn out to be. The bulk of the money was
riding on him being quiet but surly, yet a few people had risked
substantial amounts on him becoming loud, cheerful, and giggly. Much to
his discomfort, one Umino Iruka had been dragged in off the street and
pressed into service as the judge.
A handful of ninja from foreign villages were present as well,
most clustering in another corner. The Waterfall's Matsuyo Nissho was
trading war stories with an examination board member from the Sand. A
kunoichi from the cautiously friendly but not formally allied Bear
Country's Hidden Star had joined them, but seemed content to just listen
and drink without adding her own stories. If one looked closely enough,
one could see nearby the pair of overly cheerful Leaf ninja who weren't
drinking nearly as much as it looked like they were, keeping an eye on
that corner.
Another corner had been secured early in the evening by one
Sarutobi Asuma. That jounin was currently having the time of his life
needling Uzuki Yuugao and Funeno Daikoku for the failure of their teams
to even make it into the second exam. Seated beside him, Yuuhi Kurenai
sighed in disapproval. "That's enough," she said. "It's not like it's
unusual for rookies to fail in the exam."
Asuma shrugged. "We did it," he said.
The third jounin teacher for the latest batch of rookies smiled
softly around her drink. "So did I," Suzume Namida said.
"Don't gloat, Namida-chan," Daikoku grumbled as he gazed
mournfully at his empty glass. "Who's paying for the next round?"
"I am." Maito Gai plopped two heavy pitchers of beer onto the
center of the table, then seated himself.
"You're late, Gai," Asuma commented.
"Some idiot at the hospital thought it would be a good idea to
give Lee a celebratory drink," the green-clad jounin explained as he sat
down.
Yuugao paled, having been among the ANBU called to the scene in
response to Lee's first encounter with alcohol. "How many casualties?"
she asked.
"None," Gai answered, pouring himself a drink. He took a gulp.
"We managed to stop the damned fool in time."
"What's this about, then?" Namida asked, refilling her own
glass.
"You weren't here, were you?" Kurenai asked.
"Drunken Fist," Yuugao stated harshly. "Uncontrollable Drunken
Fist." Namida whistled in appreciation.
"That Rock Lee kid?" Everyone looked up as Anko approached the
table, Shizune trailing behind. The purple-haired special jounin
plopped down in an empty seat and helped herself to one of the half-
empty beer pitchers, draining it in a matter of seconds.
"Be polite, Anko-chan," Shizune chided her friend as she seated
herself much more elegantly.
Anko belched. "I am polite," she said, fishing a small flask
out of her jacket and handing it to Gai. "I brought some booze too."
Gai stared at the container suspiciously, unscrewing it and
taking a cautious sniff. "How long will I be out for if I drink this?
I have a mission in the morning."
Anko stole the flask back. "Don't drink it then." She took a
surprisingly small sip, then offered it to Shizune, who waved it away.
"Mission for me too," Daikoku grumbled.
"At least you get to go with your team," Kurenai complained.
"My students are all out in Wave Country, and I'm heading for Bear
Country the day after tomorrow."
"Bear Country?" Yuugao asked. She glanced to the corner of the
bar where the foreign ninja had gathered. "I know they're friendlier
now, but I thought those Hidden Star paranoids still forbid any foreign
ninja from entering the country under any circumstances."
Kurenai shrugged. "They're the ones paying for the mission.
They want to test some anti-genjutsu defenses they've developed, or
something like that."
"Wait," Anko said. "You're going on a mission tomorrow, Maito?
The examination board doesn't even meet until the day after tomorrow.
What about your team?"
"Solo mission," Gai explained. "Picking up a missing ninja the
Rain caught for us."
"You want to travel with my group?" Daikoku asked. "We're
heading for Rain too."
"Sounds good," Gai agreed. "Any taijutsu-types in your team?"
Daikoku shook his head.
"I'm lucky, I guess," Yuugao said. "Hokage-sama's got my team
on forest patrol."
Namida nodded. "Likewise. Though we don't start until after
the results of the exam are announced."
Asuma coughed. "Speaking of which," he said, giving Anko a
significant look.
"What do you want me to say?" she replied. "The examination
board hasn't even met yet."
"I've had your job before," Gai said dryly. "You got the best
look out of anyone at the fights. Your recommendations are going to
carry a lot of weight."
"Well, I can tell you who I'm not recommending." Anko took
another cautious sip from her flask. "The Hyuuga and your little clone.
Nobody who wimps out and denies me a nice, climatic bloodbath deserves
to be a chuunin."
"Anko-chan," Shizune said disapprovingly.
"Weren't you going to share that drink, Mitarashi-san?" Namida
asked. "Maybe if you get me drunk enough I won't ask about a certain
technique that Haruno Sakura pulled out against the Hyuuga." She paused
expectantly.
Anko grinned. "Blackmail, huh? I like blackmail." She screwed
the top back on the flask and tossed it at the mousy jounin.
Namida easily caught the metal flask and unscrewed it. She
mimicked Gai, taking a sniff. Her eyes widened. "What the hell is this
stuff?"
"You ever gotten drunk with the Wind Country nomads?" Anko
asked.
"I have," Gai interjected. "That stuff smells way worse then
the stuff they make."
Anko nodded. "Some genius up in Earth Country decided that the
nomads didn't make strong enough booze and experimented with it until he
came up with that."
Namida shuddered, but she still took a very small sip. Then he
doubled over, coughing. "Damn," she muttered, reclosing the container
and handing it to Yuugao.
The former ANBU just shook her head and threw it back at Anko.
As the other purple-haired woman caught it, Yuugao asked, "How did you
wind up teaching Haruno - our Haruno, that is - anyway?"
It was Asuma who answered. "Mitarashi had already given some
training as part of a mission, and after what happened to Kakashi..."
Yuugao grimaced. "I heard those Cloud bastards have him."
Shizune nodded. "Tsunade-sama's trying to figure out a rescue
mission, but we don't have the manpower and we can't risk war with
Lightning Country."
There was a dark silence for a long moment, until Kurenai took
it upon herself to end it. "So, tell me, Namida-san, did Hokage-sama
manage to rope you into training Sakura too?" Asuma laughed.
Namida blinked. "What?"
"I guess not," Kurenai said.
"You were training her with Mitarashi?" Yuugao asked.
"Not together," Kurenai said. "But Hokage-sama used Kakashi to
guilt me into mentoring her a little during a mission."
Asuma began to count on his fingers. "Kakashi started out with
her, Mitarashi's trained her, I got her before the exam, Kurenai gave
her some help, and it was obvious that she got some training from Gai at
some point." Gai nodded in confirmation and Asuma laughed. "That girl
has probably had more jounin instructors than any genin in history."
"That's... a little odd," Yuugao commented. "I guess under the
circumstances, though..."
Anko stood suddenly. "I'm going to get more beer," she said.
>From that point on, the conversation became much louder and much less
serious.
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-two]
Jiraiya was hopefully the only person in the world who knew that
he was back in the Cloud Village. He had very publicly left a handful
of days ago - or, more accurately, just publicly enough to be noticed
leaving without drawing attention to the fact that he wanted to be
noticed. He'd made a point of being noticed getting royally drunk at a
roadside tavern, then locked himself in a room to "sleep it off." His
return to the Cloud Village earlier today had been much more subtle than
his departure, and the guards had given no sign that he was anything
other than the wandering priest on a pilgrimage to the Temple of the
Thunder Dragon he had claimed to be.
He hadn't even told Kaida of his plans. While he trusted the
High Priestess, he thought it was best that she not know that he
maintained his own, independent network of agents in her country. She
probably suspected, but if she had proof of it would be troublesome for
her if it ever got out. Kaida had told him that there was no word of
Akatsuki being on the move, but after the confrontation at Yuki's
stronghold there was no doubt in Jiraiya's mind that Itachi and Kisame,
at least, would be on their way soon. He wanted his contacts on the
lookout.
The legendary Sannin, having discarded his priestly robes and
adopted the guise of a well-to-do foreign businessman, was presently in
a residential district of the city inhabited mainly by ninja. He
wandered through the streets, occasionally checked a worn sheet of paper
with an address and directions on it, even though he knew his
destination well. After perhaps a half-hour of wandering, he reached
it, and he frowned at the small house's surprisingly shabby condition.
After a moment's hesitation, he knocked on the door. Nothing
happened, and he waited several seconds before knocking again. This
time, a tired-looking woman in faded, worn clothing, her dark hair
streaked with gray before its time, answered. "Yes?" she asked.
"Is Abe Gihei available?" he asked.
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" she asked harshly.
Jiraiya blinked. Something was clearly wrong. "I am Jiro, a
merchant of his acquaintance. He invited me to stop by if I was ever in
the Cloud Village."
"You should come in," the woman said after a pregnant silence.
She opened the door wider, and Jiraiya stepped inside. "This way," she
murmured, leading him to a somewhat disheveled kitchen. Jiraiya
carefully moved a stack of unread mail onto the kitchen table from its
precarious place on a chair and seated himself. The woman nodded. "I
am Abe Misaki, Gihei's widow."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Gihei-san is dead?" he asked
unnecessarily. "May I ask," he began, then trailed off.
"Would you like some tea?" Misaki asked instead of answering.
"I have a pot on."
"Yes, please." A few silent minutes later, the woman joined
Jiraiya at the kitchen table after pouring them both tea.
"I understand that it might be painful, Abe-san," Jiraiya said
after taking a sip of the weak tea, "but could you tell me how your
husband died?"
Misaki shrugged resignedly. "Not much to tell. His team ran
afoul of a Rock special forces unit two years ago." For a moment, anger
showed in her voice. "It was within a day's travel of the village, and
the Cloud were never able to find the Rock bastards."
Jiraiya was barely able to stop himself from cursing out loud.
He had received his last, unremarkable report from Gihei shortly before
leaving the Leaf Village with Naruto. The implications of that were
disturbing to say the least. Somehow, he doubted it had been an actual
Rock squad that had killed his agent. "I am sorry for your loss," he
offered after a moment.
Misaki nodded. "He mentioned you," she said slowly. "That's
why I let you in. He left a letter."
Jiraiya resisted the urge to thank Gihei's departed shade.
Maybe he would have some answers. "May I see it?"
The widow stood, nodding. "Just a moment," she said, standing
and leaving the kitchen. When she returned, she handed Jiraiya a sealed
envelope.
The disguised ninja quickly searched it for the telltale signs
of having been opened and resealed, finding none. "Please excuse me,"
he said as he broke the seal and removed the letter. He swiftly scanned
it. The bulk of the letter was nonsense, referring to non-existent
business transactions. Two sentences stood out, though.
One was a bit of poetic balderdash about seeing a dawn through
the clouds. One way of reading the characters for "Akatsuki" meant
dawn. With that in mind, the hidden meaning of the sentence was clear.
Gihei had believed that Akatsuki had infiltrated the Cloud and feared he
had been discovered. It seemed obvious that Akatsuki's agent in the
Cloud had arranged Gihei's death and faked the subsequent reports
Jiraiya had received.
The second intriguing sentence was a simple mention of how Gihei
wanted to visit the House of the Falling Plum again. Jiraiya knew that
name well, as it belonged to a brothel in a town near the Cloud Village
run by another of his agents. He also knew that Gihei was hardly the
sort to frequent that kind of establishment. He'd been meaning to stop
by there in any case; this merely meant that it was urgent.
"Thank you," he told Misaki when he was through reading.
"It wasn't a problem," the woman told him.
Jiraiya reached for his wallet. "Part of the reason I was
coming was that I owed Gihei-san some gambling debts," he lied. "Let me
-"
"I don't need your charity!" Misaki snapped. She took a deep
breath, calming herself.
Jiraiya said, "I'm sorry. Let me take you out to dinner tonight
at least. In Gihei-san's memory." It was a bit risky to stick around,
but he felt he had to do it. Misaki deserved something from him, after
all. This was all he could do for now, but he was definitely going to
have to find a way to help her more significantly.
Slowly, Misaki nodded. "All right."
***********************************************************************
Uzumaki Naruto was not happy. He wanted to be doing something.
Well, he was doing something, but it wasn't the something he wanted to
be doing. He wanted to be doing something that would help Kakashi.
Every time he had asked her, Kaida had only said that she was working on
it and that he would have to be patient. Then she would just press on
with another boring session of meditation and inspection of his seal.
Even that, though, would be better than this.
He had never thought that he would hate training.
Intellectually, he knew that being trained in lightning element
techniques by one of the strongest Cloud ninja, even if only half-
heartedly as a cover, was a good thing. Emotionally, he couldn't help
but feel that it was useless, and the identity of his current tutor was
doing nothing to make the whole process easier.
Today, Kaida had claimed to not have time for another session
with Naruto. Instead, the High Priestess had sent her apprentice to
train him, to keep up the cover story that he was here to learn about
lightning element techniques. The fact that he did not particularly
want to be alone with Sinobi Junhime, the woman responsible for
Kakashi's capture by the Cloud, did not seem to have occurred to
Jiraiya's friend.
Junhime's face was dark as she seated herself on the ground
across from Naruto. "I'm not happy about this," she stated, "but I
suppose I have no choice."
Naruto bared his teeth at her. "You're not happy? Good."
The kunoichi snorted. "At least try to act like a human being,
you little monster." She smiled a smile that was no less threatening
than Naruto's own expression. "If I'm too unhappy, I might just send
Sharingan Kakashi for another round with the interrogation squad."
It would have surprised many who knew him that Naruto was able
to restrain himself. Not even a flicker of red chakra was visible in
the air around him as he glared at the young woman. "I told you before.
If you hurt Kakashi-sensei, I'll find some way to make you pay. You'd
better believe it!"
Surprisingly Junhime laughed. "Oh, I believe it. You'll try at
least." She smiled as she stood, spreading her arms wide and seemingly
leaving herself open to attack. "I believe the first medical report
showed that Hatake Kakashi had no fewer than fifteen broken bones,
severe electrical burns over a quarter of his body, and numerous
miscellaneous wounds inflicted by bladed weapons when he arrived in the
village. I was probably responsible for half of that, little boy." She
grinned widely, making no move to defend herself. "What are you going
to do about it?"
For the barest of instants, Naruto's eyes turned crimson before
fading back to an angry blue. "I'm not stupid."
"Apparently not," Junhime replied. "I was so looking forward to
filing the report for being forced to kill you in self-defense."
"You might not find that so easy," Naruto growled out.
"You're threatening me with the Kyuubi, little boy?" Junhime
asked. "With that sort of mentality, I highly doubt Kaida-sama will be
able to help you much. Without an iron will opposing it, you'll never
get the demon back in its cage."
"Why should you care?" Naruto demanded.
"I don't care about you," Junhime allowed, "but I have to live
in this world too. I've got no interest in seeing a headstrong little
brat let the most terrible monster in history walk free again because he
can't keep his emotions in check." She shook her head, seating herself
once more. "Don't they teach self-control anymore in the Leaf Village?"
"If I had no self-control, one of us would be dead by now,"
Naruto said seriously.
The Cloud ninja laughed, almost good-naturedly. "That's true."
She adjusted her forehead protector with one hand. "Shall we begin,
then?"
"How do I know you won't kill me?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
"It's obvious you want to. You could just say it was a training
accident."
"Did it occur to you that you might not want to give me any
ideas?" Junhime asked lightly. She laughed. "Kaida-sama would know if
I lied, and she would tell the Toad Hermit. They could make me wish I
was your Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto stood. "Let's start this, then," he said.
Junhime followed suit. "Come closer, boy, and I'll show you the
technique I'm supposed to teach you." She grimaced at the thought.
Naruto took a cautious step toward her, and the kunoichi's hands
blurred. Then one stretched out, lightly tapping Naruto's cheek before
he could react. "Raiton: Shocking Grasp Technique."
There was a spark of electricity, and the boy stumbled back,
shouting more from surprise than pain. "That hurt!" he hollered
angrily.
"Good." Junhime smirked. "That's the most basic lightning
element technique. It's not good for much, as you can see. It's best
for stunning an unsuspecting target."
Naruto forced himself to take a deep breath. "What are the
seals?"
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-three]
It had rained yesterday, but Sakura hadn't noticed. After the
end of the chuunin exams, she had barely been able to make it home. The
exertions of the past weeks finally caught up with her as the last bits
of adrenaline fled her system. It had been all she could do to undress
before throwing herself into her borrowed bed, and since then she had
barely stirred except to walk the short distance to the kitchen, eat,
and return.
This morning, finally, Sakura felt like a human being again,
instead of some hollow shell. The past few days were practically blank
to her. She hadn't even had the energy to think at all, much less
consider her performance in the exams or the information about Midori
she had managed to get out of Neji after them. As she finished her
breakfast, glad that the milk, one day past its expiration date, hadn't
spoiled noticeably and looking out the window at the still-damp village,
Sakura considered just what she was going to do next.
For the first time in months, she didn't have some overriding
goal. She had no missions; there were no more exams to prepare for.
Her fate was out of her hands now, and all she could do was wait for the
examination board - and more importantly, the Hokage - to announce their
decisions. At times, she had thought that she couldn't wait for the
exams to be over, but now she felt directionless.
She sighed. What the hell was she doing, moping over this sort
of thing? There was at least one thing she could be doing after all, a
discussion she'd been trying to have for over a month now. She'd tried
to reach her mother several times during the week before the third exam,
in large part to ward off Anko's threatened snakes, but she'd had no
luck. It couldn't hurt to try again.
Nodding firmly to herself, Sakura stood, taking her dishes over
to the sink. That complete, she left Naruto's apartment, trying to
ignore the tremor in her heart as she made her way to the stairs. Two
civilians, a man and a woman, were conversing quietly on the floor below
near the stairs. They hushed as they noticed Sakura, and neither
responded to her "Good morning." The pink-haired kunoichi could feel
their stares on her back as she passed them.
She tried to force the encounter from her mind, but the few
other residents of Naruto's apartment complex she passed seemed just as
frosty. While none of them talked loudly enough that she could make out
the words, she could hear the harsh tone of their whispers. Sakura
frowned. She couldn't say that she knew any of her new neighbors very
well. The hours she had been keeping for training meant that she'd
frequently been leaving before most of them were up and returning late
at night. She had gathered that most of them didn't care for Naruto
much, above and beyond anything even he could have earned. Maybe they
just had something against ninja.
As she passed the Ichiraku ramen stand, the owner, already
preparing for the forthcoming lunch rush, waved at her.
"Congratulations, Sakura-chan!"
She paused, then walked into the stand. "Thank you," she said.
"We watched you fight," the owner's daughter said. "You were
great!"
Sakura could feel her cheeks flush. "Thank you," she repeated
herself weakly. She hadn't been that great. Sure, she'd beaten Ami and
Ino, but Naruto or Sasuke would have beaten Neji also.
"Why the change?" the owner asked after a moment, gesturing at
Sakura's forehead.
Her hand went to her forehead and struck metal, reminding
herself of her forehead protector's new location. "I beat Ino," she
said simply.
"I see." The owner paused. "Come back for lunch," he said
gently. "Our treat."
Sakura thanked him again, promising to return. Then she left,
threading her way through the streets on the now-familiar path from
Naruto's apartment to her house. when she stood in front of the door
and knocked firmly, however, there was no answer.
"Damn it, Mother," Sakura muttered to herself. "I'm not going
to take this anymore." Glancing about to make sure nobody was watching,
she took to the rooftop, then dropped down onto the windowsill of her
room. She tested the window and found that her mother had relocked it
since the first time she had broken into her own room. Sighing, Sakura
flexed her fingers as she tried to recall just how she'd managed to open
the lock.
A few minutes later, she had successfully opened the latch with
threads of chakra, and this time she did not feel nearly as drained from
the effort. Maybe Anko had been right when she'd said that ludicrous
continuous summoning practice would at least double her chakra reserves.
Not wasting any more time on reflection, Sakura silently opened the
window and slipped inside.
Then she frowned. Maybe it had just been a while, but something
seemed off about her room. Her frown deepened as she quickly looked
about and performed a quick search. Nothing really out of the ordinary
turned up, though it was weird to see almost no ninja supplies left.
Keeping herself well-stocked was something she always remembered to do,
but for obvious reasons her stores here hadn't been replaced lately.
Sakura shook her head. Inventory checks weren't what she was
here for. Not making any effort to hide her presence, she opened the
door and stepped into the upstairs hallway. After a brief moment to
check that her mother wasn't upstairs, she headed down to the kitchen.
Her mother wasn't there either. Nor did Sakura's ensuing more thorough
search turn her up.
"She must really have not been here this time," Sakura told
herself with a sigh. Shaking her head again, Sakura turned to head back
to her room, then smirked slightly. What was she doing that for? A few
seconds later, having appropriated a spare key, she left through the
front door. Her mother could just try to lock her out now, damn it!
Her amusement left her once she'd shut and relocked the door
behind her. What was she going to do now? It wasn't lunchtime yet, but
she wasn't going to hang around waiting for her mother to show up. She
yawned. Maybe she could do with another nap after all. For lack of
anything better to do, she absentmindedly headed back to Naruto's
apartment. She made it almost halfway before being interrupted.
"Sakura-san!"
The pink-haired girl started, glancing about wildly. "Lee-san,"
she said in greeting when she found the green-clad ninja. He was with
his teammates, so she politely added, "Tenten-san, Neji-san. Good
morning."
Tenten glanced at Sakura's legs. "You aren't wearing weights."
Sakura had to look down at herself to check, since she really
hadn't thought about it. She was still wearing pants, but there was no
sign of the atrocious orange warmers. "I guess not. Maybe I'll get a
new set." She hadn't really thought of that.
"You should," Lee said seriously. Sakura just nodded, but she
still wasn't that certain. If she was going to get a new set, it could
definitely wait until she had found a replacement for those orange
warmers. What had she been thinking, wearing those in front of the
whole village during the exam? Was she insane?
Realizing that the silence was quickly becoming awkward, Sakura
searched for something to say. "Have you had any further problems from
the poison, Neji-san?" she asked, then restrained the urge to grimace.
That probably hadn't been the best thing to ask.
"No," the Hyuuga prodigy said dryly, his mouth quirking up into
a slight smirk. "The medics said that your antidote had finished
washing it out of my bloodstream within an hour."
"Good," Sakura replied, a bit of honest relief in her voice.
She didn't think Anko would lie about something like that, but she
couldn't be one hundred percent certain either. That woman's sense of
humor was well beyond Sakura's understanding.
Tenten shook her head slowly. "I have to admit, Haruno, you
really are something. I never would have thought you had it in you to
give Neji that kind of fight, even though we trained together."
Sakura knew she was blushing slightly. "It wasn't that
impressive. You or Lee could have done much better, I'm sure."
"Maybe," Tenten said. Neji just smirked again.
"What are you three up to?" Sakura asked again after a moment.
"Training!" Lee responded happily.
Sakura blinked. "Already?"
Tenten sighed, gesturing at her teacher's protege. "It's all
Lee's fault. I don't know how I let myself get roped into this."
"We shouldn't stop just because the exams are over," Lee
replied, "and it's been a while since we've trained as a team." He
paused. "What about you, Sakura-san?"
"I'm... not doing anything, really," she said. "I don't know
what I'll be doing after the exams, either." That was up to Tsunade.
Sure, she'd met what the Hokage had said her expectations were, but
she'd never said that guaranteed a place as her apprentice. Her stomach
got nervous even at the thought of rejection. She wasn't sure she could
take that.
"I see," Lee replied calmly. Either he didn't notice her
discomfort or had thankfully decided not to draw attention to it.
"I suppose we'll see you when they announce the promotions,"
Neji said after a moment.
"Right," Sakura replied. "I'll see you all then."
A few minutes later, she had made her way home, thankfully
without any uncomfortable encounters with her neighbors. Unfortunately,
the door to Naruto's apartment was ever-so-slightly ajar. Sakura's face
smoothed, and one hand went to the hilt of a kunai. Better safe than
sorry, she thought as she cautiously placed her other hand on the door
handle. She took a deep breath to center herself, then she burst into
the room.
Mitarashi Anko was sitting at Naruto's kitchen table, happily
chewing on the heel end of a loaf of bread - all that Sakura had left.
"You need to buy more milk, Sakura-chan," she commented as her sometimes
student stumbled to a halt. "What you have expired yesterday."
Sakura twitched. "What the hell are you doing in my... in
Naruto's apartment?"
Anko looked about. "This place is Uzumaki's? I didn't know you
two were like that."
"We aren't!" Sakura took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay
calm. "You know perfectly well why I'm here and that Naruto was gone
before I moved in."
"Well, yes," Anko replied, "but I think it's a crime to let
little details like that get in the way of a good tease."
"You know what else is a crime?" Sakura replied. "Breaking and
entering."
Anko grinned evilly. "You know, the examination board doesn't
meet until this evening. You really should be nicer to me."
Sakura just sighed, seating herself in another chair opposite
Anko. "You're here for a reason, I take it."
"I wanted to talk," Anko said seriously. "About a few things."
She paused, clearly sorting her thoughts. "How are you doing?" she
asked after a moment.
Sakura blinked. "What do you mean?"
Anko grinned half-heartedly. "You should be awake enough by now
to have thought about the results of the exams."
"I'm nervous, I guess," Sakura replied after a moment. "I don't
see how I couldn't be."
"That's true," Anko said. She paused again. "I... I just
wanted to make sure you weren't beating yourself up over losing to the
Hyuuga."
"Why should I?" Sakura asked. "It's not like Haruno Sakura
losing to the Hyuuga Neji is such a big surprise. The amazing part is
that I didn't humiliate myself too badly." She grimaced. "I guess I do
wish I'd won."
"Perfectly natural," Anko said with a laugh. She hesitated once
more, and when she spoke next her voice was dead serious. "I do want
you to know that I wasn't lying when I talked to you after the fight.
You did very well, Sakura-chan."
The pink-haired genin stared at the older woman in amazement for
several seconds. "This isn't like you, Mitarashi-sensei," she said
finally.
"I guess not." Anko laughed weakly, then grimaced. "When I
took the Chuunin Exam," she said after a moment, "I lost my second fight
in the third exam." Her eyes closed for a moment and one hand snaked up
to her shoulder, roughly caressing the dark seal Sakura knew was hidden
by the special jounin's coat. "My teacher was... not happy with me.
I've been telling myself for years now that I wouldn't be like that if I
ever had a student. I just... wanted to make sure I hadn't screwed that
up."
Perversely, Sakura began to look for any telltale signs that
whoever sat in front of her was using the Transformation Technique.
After too long a pause, she shook her head. "You didn't."
"Good." Once again, Anko was silent for a moment. "I also
wanted to make sure nobody was giving you any trouble."
"Trouble?" Sakura asked. "What do you mean?"
Anko sighed. "Sakura-chan, you just very publicly used a snake
technique. There's more than a few people in this village that have
fairly negative views on that." She grimaced. "You can trust me on
that. I was worried that some of your neighbors might cause trouble,
particularly since -" She cut off suddenly, wincing.
"Since?" Sakura asked curiously.
Anko winced again. "I shouldn't talk about that."
"I see," Sakura said slowly. Could it have something to do with
whatever made the neighbors hate Naruto so much?
Anko stood. "That's really what I came here for. I'll see you
at the promotion ceremony."
"Right," Sakura said after a moment.
Anko hesitated when she reached the door. "Sakura-chan," she
said softly.
"What is it?" Sakura asked.
"I guess this is it for us," the special jounin said. "After
this, you'll be with Tsunade-sama." The certainty in Anko's voice was
enough to quiet Sakura's instinctive protest that the matter wasn't
certain. "I just wanted to say that you were a good student. If you
ever need my help..." The woman trailed off slowly.
Sakura could only stare at the special jounin's back. Was Anko
- Anko, of all people - actually choking up a little? The pink-haired
girl swallowed nervously. "Thank you," she replied after a moment, "for
teaching me."
Anko laughed slightly. "I guess I can't have screwed up too
badly if you're willing to say that." Anko reached to open the door.
Sakura frowned at the jounin's back for a moment, then before
she could change her mind, she spoke. "I'm about to grab some lunch at
Ichiraku. Do you want to join me?"
***********************************************************************
"I'm sorry, Rui-sama." The man's voice was indeed apologetic,
though Kitakami Rui couldn't stand the hint of pity in it. "There's
nothing I can do."
"Why not?" Rui forced herself to keep her voice calm. "You're
supposed to be in charge of mission assignments, aren't you?" The
kunoichi stood, wishing it was sensible for her to take out her anger on
someone.
"I don't have absolute authority, Rui-sama. You know that."
The man's hands rested on his desk. "The elders feel that you are too
valuable to both the Kitakami Clan and the entire Snow Country to risk
on a dangerous mission."
"Valuable?" Rui asked. "What sort of valuable ninja isn't
trusted to handle even a C-rank mission?"
"Rui-sama," the older ninja said, exasperation plain in his
voice even though he kept the respectful suffix even the highest-ranking
ninja in the Kitakami Clan had addressed Rui with since her return. "I
don't mean to be cruel, but it isn't a matter of trust. It's that even
most of our experienced genin could defeat you right now."
Rui grimaced. "I've been training," she began. It was almost
inconceivably hard, like starting to learn to be a ninja all over again.
Her whole combat style had always been focused on ice element
techniques, and it had only grown more so once she had forged her deal
with the snow maidens. With those denied to her, she was little
stronger than a fresh genin, despite her much higher ranking.
"And when that training shows results," the man replied after a
moment, "I will be happy to assign you missions commensurate with those
results. Until such time, though, Rui-sama, I cannot."
Rui sighed, letting herself settle back into the chair facing
the other ninja's desk. "I just want to be useful," she muttered half-
heartedly. "I can't stand only being able to sit here and wait for the
latest bad news from the medics about my brother."
"I understand, Rui-sama." The man grimaced. "I really wish
things were different."
"So do I." Rui stood again. "With your permission," she said,
and when the man nodded she turned and left without another word. A
glance at a clock showed that she still had time to kill, and she set to
wandering through the halls of the Kitakami Clan's stronghold. She took
pains to avoid the handful of ninja between missions who also traveled
the halls. Their deep bows and awed "Rui-sama"s would be more than she
could take at the moment. It had only been a few days, and she was
already sick of it.
She eventually found herself outside a large training hall.
After activating a minor genjutsu to make herself less noticeable, she
stole inside settled down near the wall to watch the class in session.
The chuunin instructor almost certainly noticed her presence, but she
respected Rui's obvious desire for privacy.
It was a first-year class, though Rui knew that most groups of
ninja would find it incredibly advanced for that. The Kitakami had no
resources to waste training the children who would never develop the
talent for ice element techniques. In the days of the Hidden Village of
Snow, of course, the curriculum had been more standard, as with the snow
maidens' support ice element techniques came naturally the the ninja of
the Snow. Just as they once had come easily to her.
This class was near the end of its first year. The students had
already mastered the necessary trivial techniques used for the testing
by rote learning, even if they had no understanding of how they worked.
Now they struggled to combine those techniques into a true ice element
technique; a skill more than half of them would never learn. More than
half of those remaining would never have the massive chakra capacity
needed to do more than what had been the basic genin techniques before
Yuki's betrayal had destroyed the Hidden Snow.
The numbers told a tale of slow extinction, and it was from that
fate Rui had hopefully saved her clan and the other surviving Snow
clans. With time, a new pact with the snow maidens might be forged, and
the Hidden Snow reborn. If that was the case, future generations would
praise her name so long as the new village endured.
Half-heartedly, Rui followed along with the exercise the
students were performing. First, her hands formed a pair of seals, then
a tiny ball of water formed in front of an outstretched finger. Unlike
the students, she needed no cup of water to provide the raw material.
She was still skilled enough to draw forth water from the air. She let
the droplet hang for a moment before releasing the technique.
Along with the students, she formed another pair of seals. This
time, it was a simple wind technique to rapidly chill a small volume of
air. Then she performed the two training techniques in rapid
succession, creating a tiny ball of ice. She held it in her hand for
almost a minute, watching it melt and letting the students catch up with
her.
This time, it was four seals that they formed, mixing the seals
used for the prior two techniques. Rui easily called forth the two
different mixtures of chakra simultaneously, the first challenge. She
pooled them both in her outstretched finger, forcing them to mix and
merge into a new form in the air before it. Yet instead of coalescing
into a ice droplet like it had so easily even before her deal with the
snow maidens, it just hung there, dead, until she released the technique
and let it fade away.
"I've got it!" The young boy's voice was almost incredulous as
he proudly displayed a chunk of ice to his classmates. Rui's eyes
burned, and she couldn't bear to watch anymore. Feeling the chuunin
instructor's pitying gaze on her back, Rui fled, returning to wandering
the halls aimlessly.
Eventually, the time came and she met her brother in front of
the infirmary. "How did it go?" she asked softly.
Ichizo grimaced, leaning heavily on his cane as her slowly
walked to stand beside her. Rui began to head back toward their
chambers, matching her pace to Ichizo's torturous slow crawl. "The same
as his first diagnosis. I'm lucky to be able to walk at all."
Rui grimaced. "He's supposed to be one of the best healers in
the world, isn't he?" she raged quietly. "Why can't he do anything to
help you?"
"You didn't see it," Ichizo said after a moment, "but that
Kisame's sword was... it wasn't ordinary. I swear it was practically
alive." He grimaced. "It felt like it was eating me." He sighed after
a long moment. "How about you? Any luck with the old man?"
"None." Rui grimaced. "It seems I'm both too valuable to be
risked and too pathetic to be useful." She sighed. "Even if it wasn't
a mission, it would be nice to be doing something."
"Likewise," Ichizo replied.
"I wonder," Rui muttered to herself as a thought occurred to
her. "They might just let me do that much."
"Rui?"
"Are you feeling up to a trip to the Fire Country?" Rui asked
her brother.
"Why?" Ichizo frowned.
"She doesn't know it yet, but the Hokage owes us a pretty big
favor, doesn't she? If anyone in the world can help you, it would be
her."
"Maybe she could." For an instant Ichizo's eyes lit up with
hope. "If she believes those notes Jiraiya-sama gave you. If you can
get permission for us to leave the village."
"For the first, there's nothing we can do," Rui said, "but for
the second, why don't you and I have another talk with the old man after
lunch?"
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-four]
Naruto frowned as he stared at the small mirror on the wall of
his room. Today was the chance he had been waiting for. He had no
lessons this afternoon, and both Kaida and Junhime were not in the
temple. Thankfully, Kaida had not given him a full-time guard like she
had considered, so he did not need to worry about that. It was as safe
as it could possibly get for him to finally start working on finding a
way to help Kakashi.
He needed a plan. Just running about wildly was only going to
get him in trouble. Before he could plan, he needed know where Kakashi
was and what his situation was. Naruto grumbled wordlessly to himself.
He wasn't very good at this sort of thing. Thinking on his feet during
a battle was one thing, but all this planning in advance didn't come
naturally to him. He wished that someone else was here to tell him what
to do.
Then again, he thought that person would probably just tell him
it was stupid to even try and help Kakashi, and he was in no mood for
that sort of advice. Never mind that he was up alone against an entire
village. He was Uzumaki Naruto, and he didn't go back on his word. He
was going to get Kakashi out of this. Somehow, he was going to do it.
He just needed to figure out how.
That meant reconnaissance, and that meant a disguise. He
couldn't just wander out of the temple and around the Cloud Village
looking like himself. He was going to need to use the Transformation
Technique, but what should he transform into? Whatever transformation
it was, it would have to stand up to casual scrutiny from other ninja,
so he needed a good one.
Jiraiya had lectured him about this back at the beginning of
their journey, he remembered. He'd mentioned two tricks. "The first is
to not give the ninja any reason to pay attention to you, but that
doesn't always work," he'd said. "We can't count on that. The second
trick is to keep the transformation as close to what you really look
like as possible. The less you actually transform, the harder it is to
see through."
Naruto frowned. He couldn't look too much like himself either,
though. His frown deepened into a pained grimace as another solution
from Jiraiya came to mind. He dug through his wardrobe, pulling off the
one change of clothing he'd gotten from the Rock kunoichi Mako that had
survived the trip. Well, except for the underwear. He wasn't planning
on stripping for anyone, and they got awfully uncomfortable.
He quickly stripped, then created a shadow replication and had
it hop into bed, snoring loudly. Then he changed into Mako's clothing
and returned to the mirror. Grimacing at how perverted he looked in her
clothing, he was none the less glad that it consisted of pants, a shirt,
and a jacket rather than a dress of some kind. Bringing Mako's form to
mind as he shut his eyes, his hands formed a seal and he transformed.
When his eyes opened, a girl with violet eyes stared back at him
in the mirror. His dyed black hair now seemed longer, drawn back in a
short ponytail. He almost turned away from the mirror before he noticed
a critical mistake. He'd been thinking too hard of Mako, and he was
wearing a Rock forehead protector. Flushing slightly, he transformed
again, and the symbol changed to the three ovals of the Cloud.
Leaving his snoring clone behind, Naruto quietly slipped out of
his room. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any priests until he reached
the public areas of the temple. Once there, he resisted the urge to
breathe a sigh of relief and just walked out of the temple complex like
he had every right to do so. The long walk down the mountain gave him
time to consider his next steps, and when he passed the Raikage's palace
and headed into the city proper, he knew exactly what to do.
After a few minutes walking, he was in an area frequented by
ninja, and he made a turn down a side street. Nobody seemed to be
taking any notice of him, so he relaxed and took in the sights as he
wandered the streets looking for the right person to talk to. It took
him several more minutes, but he eventually found two older genin,
leaning against a wall and eating dango.
Knowing he was taking a big risk, Naruto walked up to the two
boys. "Umm... excuse me, sempai," he said.
"What do you want?" one of the two Cloud ninja asked him.
"Can you point me to the hospital?" Junhime had told him the
medics were investigating Kakashi's Sharingan, after all, so that was a
good place to start. He forced himself to giggle and scratch the back
of his head. "My teacher sent me to pick up some supplies so we can go
over basic first aid, but I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere."
The two boys gave her a long look. "It's right next to the
academy," one of them said slowly.
Cursing silently, Naruto giggled again and flushed. "I have a
bad sense of direction." He shuffled his feet. "And I thought I saw
Sasuke-kun going the other way and followed him, but I lost him and now
I'm lost and I'm really very sorry for bothering -"
"Enough already," the other genin said, laughing loudly but not
cruelly. He gestured to his left. "Follow this street down here until
you reach a big street with a dango stand on the corner, then take a
right and it'll take you straight to the hospital."
"Thank you very much, sempai," Naruto said, bowing and turning
to leave.
"Hey," the genin who'd helped her said. "What's your name,
pretty girl?"
"Naru," Naruto answered without hesitation. "Thanks again." He
raced off before the boy could press him for more information. He
didn't know enough to come up with convincing lies. He followed the
boy's directions, and thankfully they proved accurate. Still, as he
stood across the street from the hospital, he pondered just how he would
find out whether Kakashi was there. There weren't any obviously guarded
sections for dealing with prisoners.
His stomach rumbled as he realized that he hadn't had lunch.
Then his eyes widened as he watched two civilian doctors walking out of
the hospital's front door. Wasn't that the doctor who had helped
Jiraiya and him in Earth Country? What was he doing here? He had been
supposed to head to the Leaf Village? He followed the familiar doctor
and smiled as he separated from the other doctor. Naruto waited until
the doctor from Earth Country was in a fairly isolated stretch of road,
then walked up to him.
"Excuse me," he began, then paused. Had he ever gotten the
doctor's name?
"What is it, girl?" he asked.
"I'm Naruto," he whispered. "We met in Earth Country, remember.
I brought my teacher to you when he was hit by a Rock ninja's bees. "
The doctor nodded slightly. "Transformed?" he asked quietly,
and Naruto nodded back at him. "I'm not going to help you with whatever
trouble you're in this time," he said. "I'm happy here, and I don't
want to screw it up."
"How did you wind up here?" Naruto asked.
"I took a ship to this country," the doctor answered. "I was
planning to travel to Fire Country like Jiraiya-sama suggested, but I
met a woman and... well, you wouldn't understand."
"I see." Naruto paused. "Could you answer one question?"
"What question?"
"Do you know anything about medical ninja doing research on
captured prisoners?" Naruto asked. "Would they do it at the hospital?"
The doctor grimaced and shook his head. "No. That sort of
thing would go on at Storm's interrogation centers."
"Storm?"
"Special forces," the doctor answered.
"Like ANBU?" The doctor nodded, and Naruto grimaced. This was
going to be tough. "Thank you. Please don't tell anyone I talked to
you."
"I won't," the doctor answered, "but don't come to me again."
Naruto separated from the doctor and, thankful his direction
sense wasn't as bad as he had pretended, he headed back toward the
temple. He was about halfway toward the beginning of the road up the
mountain when he heard a familiar voice speaking softly in a nearby
alley.
"Sinobi Junhime," he whispered to himself, then edged closer to
the alley. Not able to make out her words, he took to a nearby rooftop.
>From here, he was able to hear, though not see, the conversation
clearly, and thankfully his presence seemed to go unnoticed.
"- confront Kaida-sama directly." The speaker was male, and
Naruto didn't recognize his voice.
"I know that, Zeshin," Junhime replied irritably. "If I thought
going directly against her would do any good, I would have done it
already. We can't move openly yet." Naruto's eyes narrowed. What was
going on?
"So we're agreed. Good." Zeshin paused. "You're certain the
Toad Hermit is gone?" That, Naruto decided, was a very disturbing
question.
"Yes," Junhime said.
"That gives us a window of opportunity to secure the Kyuubi."
Naruto nodded to himself. This was not good. "I don't like the idea
of facing the High Priestess, but I like facing her and Jiraiya together
even less."
"We have some luck." Junhime was silent for a moment.
"Sharingan Kakashi is the boy's teacher."
"Ah."
There was a long silence. "If we play our cards right, Kaida-
sama won't be able to make a move against us without resorting to open
treachery."
Naruto could almost feel Zeshin's grin. "Then we'd be able to
move openly ourselves and deal with her once and for all."
"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Junhime stated.
"I'm going to go talk with Hatake now and see what he can tell me."
"Right." Deciding that any further listening would only open
him to discovery, Naruto quietly returned to the street. It took all
his willpower not to start following Junhime as she too emerged, but he
forced himself to walk at a normal pace as he continued back to the
temple.
***********************************************************************
All things considered, Hatake Kakashi was relatively
comfortable. He was far too valuable a prisoner to be left to random,
unguided mistreatment. What pain and discomfort he did suffer was
carefully chosen and administered by Storm's interrogation squad. All
in all, they didn't waste much time with outright torture. They knew
that the measures it would take to break him would leave him permanently
damaged, and they would not risk such things until the medical ninja had
extracted his Sharingan and they were certain there would be no prisoner
exchange with the Leaf.
Therefore, he wasn't too concerned when the four-man squad of
Storm stopped outside the door to his cell. Even drugged, he was
considered too dangerous to be escorted by any fewer. "Up against the
wall, Copy Ninja," the squad's sole kunoichi, and evidently the
commander, growled at him.
Kakashi didn't bother with pointless defiance, obeying the
command and not resisting as they bound his arms. He probably could
have killed one of the Cloud ninja - the youngest - but the other three
would easily overpower him. Better to let them think him accepting of
his fate until he saw an opportunity for a real escape attempt. "So
what will it be today?" he asked lightly as he was pushed out of his
cell. "Another session with the medical ninja?" Those were at least
mildly interesting, as the medics were forced to take off the seal tag
wrapped around his Sharingan, and he was able to use it to copy a
handful of interesting medical techniques. He was going to have to show
those to Tsunade if he ever got out of this.
"Be quiet," one of the guards said roughly. The squad marched
him down the hall, and Kakashi quickly determined that they were headed
for the interrogation chamber, not the improvised research center the
medics had set up. The interrogation chamber was little different from
its counterparts in the Leaf Village, which Kakashi found strangely
comforting.
What was not comforting was the woman who walked in and
dismissed the guards once he was securely hanging from the chains in the
center of the room. "Junhime-san," he said flatly in greeting.
"Hatake." The young woman's voice was cold. "This can either
be quick and painless, or it can be long and fun. Your choice."
Kakashi grinned weakly. "Fun for you and not for me, I take
it?"
"Of course." Junhime tapped her foot. "Well?"
"What's the question?"
Junhime answered him with a name. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Kakashi wasn't quite able to hide his shock, but he still only
said, "Who?"
"Don't play dumb, Hatake," Junhime snapped. "If you piss me
off, I'll dig up some war veterans and let them play with you." She
grinned. "Besides, he told me you were his teacher himself."
"Naruto's here?" Kakashi cursed himself for the slip even as
the words left his lips.
"Yes." Junhime's eyes were hard. "I need you to tell me
everything you know about him."
"Why?" Kakashi asked. "He's just a genin."
"Idiot." Junhime idly formed seals, and a bolt of electricity
passed from her hands and into Kakashi. The Leaf jounin couldn't stop
himself from screaming as he spasmed. "I know he's the Kyuubi, and I
know the Toad Hermit is teaching him."
That was not good. "Why should I tell you anything?"
"If you do," Junhime said cruelly, "you might just get a nice
little reunion. I've been trying to get him to stage a rescue attempt,
but he just won't take the bait."
Kakashi frowned. Why would she want Naruto to try to rescue
him? To start a war? "I'd love to see him again," he answered dryly
after a moment, "but not as a fellow prisoner."
"Don't trust your student to succeed?" Junhime mocked him.
"He is still a genin," Kakashi answered. If anybody could pull
that kind of crazy stunt off, it was Naruto, but Kakashi thought that
taking on a whole village was a little much even for him.
"He's promised me that he'd make me pay if you were hurt,"
Junhime said after a moment. "I was planning to have some fun and give
him some pictures, but the medical staff vetoed that plan."
"What a shame," Kakashi said.
"I could probably overrule them," Junhime said, "but I want your
eye and I'll need their cooperation to get it." She paused. "How did
you get it, anyway?"
"It's a long, old, boring story," Kakashi answered. "A pretty
young thing like you has better things to do with her time."
"Is that so?" Junhime wandered over to a table in the corner of
the room, where a number of sharp and pointy objects had been neatly
arranged. "I could probably force that story out of you without the
medical staff complaining too much. They want to know pretty badly."
She held up a scalpel, letting the dim light reflect off the metal. "If
you just happened to spill some information on the Kyuubi while I was at
it, so much the better."
"So," Kakashi said after a long moment. "Why haven't you simply
sent your questions to Storm's interrogation squad? An amateur like you
isn't going to break me."
"I see. You're a smart one aren't you? Maybe too smart."
Junhime carefully set the scalpel down.
Kakashi carefully watched as the woman approached. What was she
planning now?
Junhime's hands formed seals, but nothing seemed to happen. She
paced around the room before nodding firmly. "That should do."
"Genjutsu," Kakashi said after a moment. It wasn't an
interrogation technique; it was directed outside the room. He quickly
put the pieces together. "You don't want to be overheard."
"Now why would that be?" Junhime asked, smirking.
Kakashi thought back over their conversation. "You don't trust
Storm."
"You are smart. I can't use Storm for this." Junhime's face
was hard. "Now all any listeners are going to hear is you bravely
resisting my hamfisted attempts at torture and refusing to give up
anything."
"How humble of you," Kakashi observed dryly.
"There are things more important than pride, as I'm sure you're
aware." Junhime moved until she was standing directly before Kakashi.
Her hand played across his face briefly. "It's a wonder that you hid
this under that mask. It's rather handsome."
"Are you trying to seduce me?" Kakashi asked incredulously.
"Would it work?" Junhime responded, her voice all serious.
Kakashi bit back a laugh. "Of course not."
"Of course not," Junhime repeated. "That would make things too
easy, wouldn't it?" Her hand dropped and she backed away slightly.
"Make what too easy?" Kakashi pressed. "Why are you afraid of
Storm listening in?"
"To get what I want, of course," Junhime said, answering the
first question. She smiled a smile Kakashi didn't trust one bit as she
replied to the second question. "I intend to convince you to tell me
what I need to know, and it could get messy if there were any
eavesdroppers."
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-five]
Hiraki Arata barely had time to scream as the chakra-charged
winds pushed him up against the wall. Even as he struggled to draw a
kunai, his foe was upon him, her weapon going for his throat and murder
in her eyes. He swallowed nervously. She could kill him in an instant
and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He hadn't stood a
chance.
On the other side of the small courtyard of the Waterfall's
unofficial embassy in the Leaf Village, Chiba Ikkei laughed nastily. "I
think Maya-chan's pissed at you, Arata."
Their team's kunoichi slowly retracted her naginata from Arata's
throat. "You're pathetic, Arata," she declared with a snort. "No
wonder you just gave up without trying when you were faced with a real
opponent. Actually fighting would have been even more embarrassing."
"You saw how fast that Lee was, Maya," Arata protested as he
rubbed at where the metal point of Maya's polearm had scraped his skin.
"I couldn't even see him move, and he had weights on. There wasn't any
way I could have won."
"You still could have tried," Maya grumbled, "instead of
disgracing our whole village."
"Just a moment ago you said it would have been more embarrassing
if he did fight," Ikkei pointed out as he walked over to join them.
Arata gave the other boy a thankful look, but Maya just grunted.
"Consistency is overrated," she grumbled as she let her weapon vanish in
a puff of smoke. "The point is that Arata is pathetic. He didn't even
last five seconds against me."
"I wasn't expecting you to start off so strong in a spar," Arata
complained. "You're supposed to warm up first." He rubbed at his neck
again. "Besides, it's hardly a surprise that you win when I don't have
any water." He grimaced. "You two are lucky you don't have to worry
about that."
"You should carry some like those Mist," Ikkei proposed.
"That only works for one or two techniques," Arata said. "Water
is pretty heavy, after all."
"Stop changing the subject," Maya interjected. "We're supposed
to be talking about how disgustingly weak Arata is, not making excuses
for him."
Ikkei laughed. "I forgot." He rubbed at his chin in thought.
"So would you say half or three-quarters of a first-year academy class
could give Arata a tough fight, Maya-chan?"
The kunoichi cocked her head, clearly pondering the question.
Arata groaned, standing. "If you two are going to be that way, fine,"
he said. "You can train here. I'm going to go out."
"Looking for your girlfriend so you can say goodbye?" Ikkei
asked. "You know, inter-village romances are doomed from the start."
Arata rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said. "She's not my
girlfriend, and you know it. Bye."
"Tell Nissho-sensei before you leave," Ikkei said before turning
to Maya. "Shall we?" he asked. Maya summoned her weapon once more in
response, and shaking his head Arata left the courtyard. His teammates
could be real jerks sometimes. It took him several moments to find
Matsuyo Nissho sitting behind the desk in what might have been the
ambassador's office had there currently been a ninja holding that
particular post.
"You need something, Arata-kun?" the recently promoted jounin
asked.
"I'm going to go out and have a look around," he said. Then he
paused. "I don't think I remembered to say this when you showed up, but
congratulations on making jounin."
Nissho laughed. "Why do you remember so suddenly?"
"Well, I was thinking and I realized that after the promotion
ceremony tomorrow we'll head on back, and then we'll all get new
missions. We won't be with you anymore, I imagine."
Nissho grinned. "That's not all, though. You were going to
segue into asking me about your own potential for promotion."
"I'm that transparent?" Arata asked. He seated himself in one
of the chairs across from the jounin. "Ikkei and Maya don't think much
of my chances."
"I was the Waterfall's representative on the examination board,"
Nissho said after a moment. "I'm not allowed to tell anyone about what
we discussed, even after the promotions are announced." He laughed.
"If people knew how much politicking went on during the examination
board meetings they'd probably lose faith in the entire Chuunin Exam
system."
"It's really like that?" Arata asked.
"Of course," Nissho answered. "Anything involving that many
people from that many different villages comes down to politics. It's
just a fact of life."
"You can tell me what you think, though, right?" Arata pressed
after a moment. "Just your personal opinion."
Nissho laughed again. "I suppose so." He paused for a moment.
"You did win a fight, which counts for a lot," he said. "In that fight
you performed well, though not exceptionally."
Arata frowned. "Not in the second fight, though."
"There's no dishonor in acknowledging a foe you can't defeat,"
Nissho said, "but the speed with which you conceded raises many
questions."
"I didn't need any more time!" Arata protested. "I can't do
anything against an opponent I can't even see, and there wasn't any
point in getting myself beaten bloody to prove it!"
"Easy, Arata-kun," Nissho said. "I'm on your side. I'm just
saying what any observer would say."
Arata sighed, then stood. "Thank you," he said. "I'll be back
in an hour or two."
"All right," Nissho said easily. "Tell Sakura-san that she was
very impressive for me."
"Damn it!" Arata snarled. "She's not my girlfriend!"
"Did I say she was?" Nissho smiled. "It's hard to imagine who
else you could be going to go see."
"I just want to get out of here and get some fresh air," Arata
grumbled. He had to admit to himself that he wouldn't be displeased if
he saw Haruno Sakura, but he wasn't about to go looking for her. He
wouldn't even know where to start anyway. "Like I said, I'll be back in
an hour or two." Nissho chuckled, and Arata left.
He spent the next fifteen minutes aimlessly wandering the
streets of the Leaf Village, pondering where to go. Maybe he would head
to that ramen stand again. While it hadn't been the life-altering
experience Naruto had described, it had been pretty good. Trying to
remember the directions, he hesitated at an intersection.
Maya appeared before him, her face grim. "Arata," she said
seriously. "Nissho-sensei wants us."
Arata blinked. "What?" Why was the jounin calling him back so
soon? He followed Maya back, and soon was with her and Ikkei in the
office Nissho was using.
The older ninja was studying a small scroll, a worried look on
his face. "What's wrong?" Ikkei asked.
"I just received a scroll from a messenger bird," Nissho said.
After a moment, he turned the scroll around so that the three genin
could read it.
Arata skimmed it, and his face paled as he read the terse
reports. "...coordinated strikes by the Valley on multiple outposts in
the occupied Waterfall Country...numerous skirmishes with Valley
infiltrators along the cease-fire line...Valley forces relocating from
the Rice Field border...intelligence reports of increased communication
between Valley and Rock..."
"This is," Maya began, and then her voice faltered.
"War," Arata finished weakly for her.
Nissho nodded. "That's what it looks like," he said.
"What should we do?" Ikkei asked.
"For right now," Nissho responded, "you should do nothing. Just
try to enjoy yourselves at the promotion ceremony tomorrow and not worry
too much yet."
"And you, Nissho-sensei?" Maya asked.
The jounin stood. "I am instructed to seek an immediate
audience with Hokage-sama and deliver to her the Waterfall's request
that the Leaf prepare to honor the alliance treaty between our villages
and send forces to our defense if necessary."
***********************************************************************
Jiraiya was beginning to believe that this might be a very bad
day. It took a great deal of self-control to not curse freely as he
stared at the burnt, overgrown ruins where the House of the Falling Plum
had stood the last time he was in Lightning Country. Of course, he had
continued to receive regular reports from the brothel's owner. It was
obvious that the damage was not limited to a single agent; it seemed
likely that his entire network in this country was compromised. Every
single one of the routine, comforting reports he had received in the
past years was likely a forgery.
He had to consider the worst case scenario. In that case, the
entire leadership of the Hidden Cloud had been coopted and was little
more than a pawn of Akatsuki. He didn't think that terribly likely,
though. Kaida would have to have known if that was the case. It was
far more possible that some rogue faction was operating in alliance with
Akatsuki. He had to uncover them, and quickly. Akatsuki could not be
allowed to maintain even partial control over one of the five great
powers.
Jiraiya's instincts told him to race back to the Cloud Village
to consult with Kaida, but he knew that was foolish. If the situation
was anywhere near as bad as he feared, that would only tip off Akatsuki.
He had to keep them unaware that he was on their trail. He would have
to continue as he had been, putting in enough appearances to create the
impression that he was making his slow, drunken, lecherous way toward
the library Kaida had sent him to while he worked to find the evidence
needed to dispose of the Akatsuki scum.
The first thing he was going to have to do is to check and see
whether the owner of this brothel had been as thoughtful as Abe Gihei
had been. Gihei had indicated that he should visit here for more
information, and hopefully some message had survived the destruction.
Jiraiya carefully checked to make sure no one was watching; fortunately,
as was the custom for this sort of establishment in Lightning Country,
the House of the Falling Plum had been built some distance outside the
town it served, and few people walked out here just to look at ruins.
Once he was certain the coast was clear, the legendary Sannin
began to pick his way through the ruins. The arsonist had been pretty
thorough; the upper levels of the building were completely gone, and all
that remained of the first floor were a handful of charred, half-
collapsed walls. Jiraiya's keen memory allowed him to easily find his
way to the owner's office.
The owner's heavy stone desk - imported from Earth Country and
made by a ninja-trained craftsman - had survived the fire intact, as
Jiraiya had expected. It was obvious that the now-empty drawers had
been searched through, though whether it was by honest investigators,
looters, or some more sinister person he couldn't say. Anything that
had been in those, however, wasn't what he was looking for.
It took him several moments to locate the hidden compartment,
but when he did his hand hesitated over the hidden latch. It was better
to be safe than sorry, Jiraiya decided, and he dug a brush out of his
pack. He used it to trace a quick sequence of arcane characters in the
ash that covered the top of the desk. Once he was satisfied with those,
he bit his thumb and let the blood drip into the center of the pattern,
connecting the two halves of the final character.
That character glowed briefly, and then the harsh red light
raced along the rest of the pattern. The characters shifted and
twisted, and Jiraiya frowned as he studied their motions. His hunch had
been correct. Someone had placed seals inside the hidden compartment,
likely set to release as soon as it was opened. Well, that settled the
question of whether there had been foul play. Most likely, it was a
trap for him.
Jiraiya brushed his hand over the desk's surface, destroying the
pattern he had drawn. For a few instants afterward, the ashes still
glowed a faint red. As the light faded, Jiraiya let his fingers tap on
the desk's surface. Was it worth it to try to open the drawer?
Whatever message his agent might have left was no doubt long gone, but
the form the trap took could provide a valuable clue.
Still, while Jiraiya was confident he could avoid serious harm
from the trap, if he had been setting it he would have built in some
form of alarm. He couldn't risk alerting Akatsuki. He was going to
have to try something else. Slowly, he picked his way back through the
rubble, erasing the signs of his passage as he went.
A bit more than an hour later, he was in the bar attached to the
nearby village's only inn, sighing morosely as he stared into his
freshly poured drink. The bartender glanced around the nearly empty
bar, then returned his attention to Jiraiya. "Something bothering you?"
he asked.
"I suppose." Jiraiya took a careful sip. "I went a bit out of
my way to visit the House of the Rising Plum again, and I find out its
been burned to the ground."
"Ah." The bartender shook his head. "When was the last time
you were out this way? It burnt down almost two years ago." Around the
same time Gihei had been killed, then. The bartender shook his head.
"That was a nasty thing. Some sort of ninja fight, I think. We tried
to fight the fires, but some of them just wouldn't go out." He
shuddered. "Burnt for a week before it went out on its own."
Jiraiya didn't have to ask to know that those flames had been
black. That meant Uchiha Itachi. "A ninja fight?" Jiraiya asked.
"Some drunken Cloud get into a fight over a whore?"
The bartender slowly shrugged. "Don't know," he lied.
Jiraiya didn't press. "The owner," he said after drinking some
more. "Did he make it out okay? We're old friends."
"Can't say I've ever seen you around here before," the bartender
responded after a moment.
"I usually stayed at the House," Jiraiya replied. "Sotaru-san
might have mentioned me. Jiro, the merchant."
The bartender glanced about once more. "What do you sell?" he
asked suspiciously.
Jiraiya leaned closer. "Adult fiction," he answered.
"He left a message for you," the bartender said quietly. "He
said to tell you that it wasn't an agent, it was a member." He paused.
"I don't know what that means, and I don't care to know. If Sotaru
wasn't a good friend I'd report you myself. I don't want to get into
any trouble with the Cloud. I suggest you finish your drink, go to bed,
and leave this town in the morning. Understood?"
"Perfectly," Jiraiya said. Not an agent, but a member, huh?
Sotaru had believed that Akatsuki didn't just have a friend in the
Cloud, but that some high-ranking Cloud was one of the actual members of
Akatsuki. The disguised ninja drained his cup in a single cup. "Thank
you."
"For what, stranger?" the bartender replied. "We've never
spoken."
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-six]
Sakura arrived early for the promotion ceremony. She just
couldn't stand to sit around Naruto's apartment worrying, so instead she
killed a little time walking as slowly as she could toward the ninja
academy, where the ceremony would be held. Apparently, her willpower
was greater than some, because when she entered the large lecture hall
where it would be held, Ino and Chouji were already waiting there, along
with a handful of gray-uniformed chuunin and other observers.
A particularly grim-faced chuunin sat in a chair behind a table
set up at the front of the room. Sakura's eyes instantly went to the
items laid carefully in rows on the table: five Leaf uniform jackets and
a single gray jacket that had to belong to either the Waterfall or the
Mist. Sakura swallowed nervously. Six people had passed, but who were
they?
"Over here!" Chouji called out, waving Sakura over to where he
and Ino were sitting. Sakura glanced at Ino. The other girl's face was
impassive, but after a long moment she nodded.
Sakura walked over to the pair and seated herself next to them.
Ino's eyes lingered on the pink-haired girl's forehead protector,
resting properly on her forehead, and Sakura swallowed slightly. Ino's
own forehead protector was in its familiar location around her waist.
The two girl's eyes met, and Sakura felt as frozen as if Ino had used
her Paralysis Technique. They hadn't really spoken since the third
exam. "How is your leg?" she managed to ask after a moment.
"Fine," Ino said shortly. "Like you said, it was a weak
explosive tag." Chouji was silent, and it was obvious that both of them
were waiting to say what Sakura was going to say.
"I'm not going to say I'm sorry for fighting you with all I
had," Sakura stated after a few seconds. "That's what we wanted, isn't
it?"
Ino's eyes flared briefly. "You were wearing weights. Is that
fighting with everything you have?"
"No," Sakura answered. Then she smiled wryly. "I was afraid if
I stopped to take them off your shadows would catch me."
Ino was silent for what seemed an eternity, and then she
laughed. "I guess that makes me feel a little better." Her eyes
hardened again for just an instant. "I wasn't kidding when I said I
wasn't planning on just watching your back."
"And I wasn't kidding when I said good," Sakura returned.
Ino nodded. "Friends?" she offered cautiously after a moment.
Sakura nodded slowly. "That sounds good," she said, her voice
quiet. Chouji smiled slightly, but he didn't say anything.
Over the next several minutes, the room filled with people, many
more than Sakura was expecting. The rest of the genin who had made it
to the third exam were there of course, along with all the examiners and
their assistants, but so were numerous ninja and civilians that Sakura
didn't recognize, including one man in full ANBU uniform, including the
mask.
Finally, the ceremony was almost ready to begin. Tsunade, clad
in the full formal red and white robes of the Hokage, stood at the front
of the room. Shizune, in uniform, stood behind the table, while the
three examiners were off to one side. Tsunade nodded, and Anko stepped
forward, whispering into the ear of a gray-uniformed chuunin. The
chuunin nodded and slipped into the crowd.
A few instants later, another chuunin appeared behind Ino,
Chouji, and Sakura. "All the examinees should head up to the front," he
ordered softly, and then he vanished again.
A few minutes later, all fifteen genin had gathered in a rough
line at the front of the room, facing Tsunade. "I'm not much of one for
long speeches," Tsunade said, "so I'll be brief. Every one of these
genin has proved themselves an excellent ninja by making it this far.
There is no shame or dishonor in failure here. I hope that those of you
who will be receiving bad news tonight have better luck in six months at
the Grass Village."
The legendary Sannin paused before continuing. "My teacher once
stated that the motto of the Chuunin should be, 'If you do not possess
Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth,
run in the fields and seek strength. If you have both Heaven and Earth,
you will have success in even the most dangerous times.'" Tsunade's
gaze swept the line of genin. "Tonight, we will honor those who have
found both Heaven and Earth."
There was a roar of applause from behind the genin, and Sakura
resisted the urge to turn and look. Even though there were far fewer
people, confined by the walls of the room the applause seemed several
times louder than the thunderous sound of the crowd at the arena.
Tsunade waited for it to die down before speaking again. "Before we
begin, there is one more thing that must be said. In this Chuunin
Selection Exam, we had the honor of hosting guests from the Hidden Mist.
The examination board has no authority to promote them, however one of
them performed exceptionally enough that we felt required to prepare a
recommendation for promotion." A bound scroll appeared in Tsunade's
hands. "Aoki Saburo, please step forward."
The crowd applauded politely, but not terribly enthusiastically,
as the named ninja stepped out of line. At a subtle gesture from
Shizune, the boy moved over to the three examiners and exchanged shallow
bows with them before approaching Tsunade. A hint of nervousness was
clear in Saburo as he bowed before her and accepted the scroll. Then,
he returned to his place beside his two teammates.
"From the Hidden Village of Waterfall," Tsunade said, and Sakura
thought that she could detect a bit of sourness in the Hokage's voice,
"the examination board has promoted one ninja. Hiraki Arata, please
step forward." Like Saburo before him, Arata exchanged bows with the
examiners, then Tsunade. Instead of taking a scroll from the Hokage, he
received the gray armored vest from Shizune. He hesitated a moment,
then slipped it on.
The crowd applauded again, and Sakura and the rest of genin
joined them. Arata grinned, then returned to the line. "From the
Hidden Village of the Leaf," Tsunade began, then had to pause again for
another round of applause. "From the Hidden Leaf," she repeated, "five
ninja have been awarded promotion to the rank of chuunin. Please step
forward as your name is called." She hesitated, and then, a bit of acid
in her voice, said, "Please hold your applause until the end." There
was slightly nervous laughter, and then Tsunade began to announce the
names.
"Hyuuga Neji." Unsurprised, the Hyuuga prodigy walked over to
the examiners. As he began to bow to Shiranui Genma, Tsunade announced
the next name. "Rock Lee." The green-clad ninja followed his rival.
"Haruno Sakura."
It took Sakura a moment to realize that her name had been
called. She took a stumbling step forward, shaking her strangely
befuddled head to clear it. Slowly, she walked up to and bowed before
Genma. The first examiner returned her bow, his toothpick twitching.
"Congratulations," he murmured softly.
"Thank you," Sakura replied, then moved on the Morino Ibiki.
She hesitated slightly as she heard Tsunade call Ino's name, then she
bowed. The interrogator bowed back wordlessly, and Sakura moved on as
Tsunade called for Tenten to step forward. Sakura stared at Anko for a
long moment before bowing a third time. "Thank you," she whispered
before Anko could say anything.
"Good luck," her sometimes teacher replied as she bowed back at
Sakura.
Then, finally, Sakura moved to stand before Tsunade. The pink-
haired girl bowed deeply, and Tsunade nodded before giving a shallow bow
in return. She didn't say anything, and after a moment Sakura stepped
over to the table. Shizune carefully picked up one of the uniform
jackets, then handed it over.
The garment almost slipped through Sakura's suddenly nerveless
fingers. Unlike the others on the table, this jacket was slightly worn.
"This is," she began.
"Your father's," Shizune finished for her. "Your mother wanted
you to have it."
"My mother?" Sakura asked disbelievingly, her eyes watering.
"Why..." She couldn't finish. Why had her mother given her this? Why
was she then still avoiding her? "Damn it," Sakura whispered softly.
"Thank you," she told Shizune more loudly, before slowly putting the
armored jacket on over her red one. Then, she turned away and rejoined
the rest of the examinees. A few moments later, Ino was standing beside
her in line once more.
"Congratulations," Chouji whispered to the two of them.
"Thank you," both girls replied, almost in unison. There was no
more time for discussion, as Tenten rejoined the line and Tsunade spoke.
"Now," she said dryly, "you may applaud." After half an instant, the
crowd complied.
A few minutes later, everyone was outside the academy, where
refreshments had been placed. Several minutes passed in a blur to
Sakura. At some point, she found herself facing Tenten, for the moment
unmolested by well-wishing strangers. The other girl smiled.
"Congratulations," she said.
"To you too," Sakura replied.
"I have to admit," Tenten said, "I didn't think you'd make it
this far back at the beginning."
"Me neither," Sakura admitted. "I had a lot of help."
"Not just that," Tenten said. "All the help in the world
doesn't do any good if you don't have what it takes."
"Congratulations, girls." Both fresh chuunin started, then
turned to face Tsunade, who had appeared beside them, a probably
alcoholic drink in hand.
"H-hokage-sama," Tenten stammered out nervously, bowing.
Tsunade nodded. "I was very impressed with your performance,
Tenten-kun," she stated. "I expect great things of you."
"Th-thank you," Tenten managed to say.
Tsunade turned to Sakura. "As for you," she said gravely.
"Yes?" Sakura squeaked, unable to respond in more dignified
fashion.
"I expect you to be at my office by eight tomorrow morning.
Understood?"
"Y-yes, Hokage-sama," Sakura replied. She felt almost like she
could faint.
"By the way, Sakura-chan," Tsunade continued, grinning, "my
apprentice can afford to be a little less formal." Tenten stiffened,
glancing in surprise at Sakura.
The pink-haired chuunin swallowed. "Yes... Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade shook her head. "That'll do for now, I suppose," she
said. "Congratulations to you both again." The Hokage slipped back
into the crowd, leaving Tenten and Sakura alone again.
"Apprentice," Tenten said softly.
"Is something wrong, Tenten-san?" Sakura asked.
The other girl shook her head. "No," she said, offering a
slightly fake smile. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Sakura replied, and with a nod Tenten moved off.
Sakura shook her own head. That had been a little weird. Then she
didn't have any more time to think, as a Grass ninja approached to offer
his congratulations.
After several more minutes, Sakura's path crossed with the
Waterfall team. "Congratulations, Arata-san," she said to newly
promoted Waterfall chuunin.
"Thank you, Sakura-san" Arata responded, but he seemed strangely
distracted.
"Are you all right?" Sakura asked.
Arata hesitated, and beside him Maya snorted. "Nissho-sensei's
already told the Hokage," she said. "It isn't a secret."
"Right," Arata said weakly. "Yesterday we got a messenger bird
from the village."
"It looks like there might be war with the Valley again soon,"
Ikkei finished for his teammate.
"Oh." Sakura wasn't certain what else to say, and after a few
awkward moments she said her goodbyes and moved on.
The next new chuunin she spotted was Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy
was in deep conversation with the uniformed ANBU, and Sakura waited just
out of earshot for them to finish. When the ANBU departed, she stepped
forward and offered Neji her congratulations.
"The same to you," Neji replied.
"What was that about?" Sakura asked curiously, glancing at the
ANBU's back.
"I don't believe I can say," Neji responded after a moment.
That said quite a lot, given that he had been speaking to an an
ANBU. "I see," Sakura said. The two stood wordlessly for several
moments.
Then Mitarashi Anko emerged from the milling crowd. "Ah, Neji-
kun. Just the person I was looking for."
"Yes?" the Hyuuga prodigy asked.
"It seems to me," Anko replied, "that there are a few people
missing from this little party. I'd like to borrow your eyes for a
moment to make sure."
Neji frowned, but he nodded and formed a seal. "Byakugan," he
hissed, and the veins around his eyes bulged. A moment later, they
relaxed. "Mitarashi Kimi and the Mist team are gone," he declared.
Sakura frowned, but Anko just nodded. "As I thought," she said
grimly. "It looks like you two will be getting your first mission as
chuunin early."
"Mitarashi-sensei?" Sakura said in surprise. Anko didn't
answer, but her hand darted out, grabbing someone by the ear and pulling
him over to join them.
"Hey," Shikamaru said in annoyance, rubbing at his ear after
Anko had released him. "The exam's over. I'm not your subordinate
anymore."
"This isn't about the exam," Anko said. "This is more
important."
Shikamaru straightened. "What is it?"
"As Neji-kun here just confirmed," she replied, "my sister and
her team seem to have disappeared. It might be nothing, but better safe
than sorry." Her face was flat and her voice serious. "I'm going to go
let Tsunade-sama know. I want you three to go find them and make sure
they aren't up to anything. Don't cause a fuss; we don't want to start
a panic over nothing. Shikamaru-kun, you're in command. Understood?"
Sakura swallowed nervously. "Yes, Mitarashi-sensei," she
replied in near-unison with the other two young chuunin.
***********************************************************************
The Mist kunoichi paused on a rooftop, waiting for a pair of
Leaf ninja to pass below. Fortunately, they were genin, and unlikely to
spot her black-clothed form on this cloudy night. She frowned behind
her cloth mask. She was going to be more careful. If that had been one
of the handful of ANBU patrols about tonight, something as simple as the
brightness of her eyes could have given her away. As the genin stopped
moving below her, the kunoichi had to resist the sudden urge to curse.
She was on a strict schedule, and she didn't have time to wait.
Running her fingers through her recently-cut hair, she bit at her lip in
thought. Could she eliminate these two swiftly and silently? Long ago,
when she was younger, she would have been certain, but it had been many
years since she had done this sort of thing. It would probably be best
to try to put them to sleep with genjutsu.
Fortunately, before she had a chance to put her plan into
action, the genin below moved on. As soon as she was certain that they
had indeed passed, the kunoichi leapt silently to the next rooftop. If
she moved quickly, she could still make it on time. Hopefully, the ANBU
hadn't changed their patrol paths, and she could make it to the gates
without any interruptions.
A few moments later, she landed lightly on the surface of a lake
not far from the gates. Here, she could wait until the proper moment.
Her hand reached up to adjust her forehead protector. It had been
dangerous to bring it with her to the Leaf Village, but to a Mist ninja
of her generation that tiny piece of metal meant a lot. The best friend
she had ever known had died so she could earn it, and she would rather
die herself than ever leave it behind.
Slowly, her hands worked through seals. "Water Replication
Technique," she hissed, and she sent the two clones that she created to
scout ahead. She didn't want to be surprised, after all. While she
waited for the clones to return, she checked her limited supply of
weapons. Hopefully, it would be enough to do what had to be done. She
slipped a kunai into one hand and took a swing at the empty air, testing
the weight.
Precisely two minutes later, after the clones had finished their
work of ensuring that the four gate guards were in the same positions as
always, the kunoichi moved. First, the two guards on the ground would
be dealt with. They would be chuunin, but not terribly strong ones.
The area around the gate was brightly lit, but that was what cloaking
techniques were for.
Thankfully, her genjutsu worked, and she was able to slip up
behind one of the guards without either ninja noticing her approach. A
single kunai strike to the throat, and that guard died with a quiet
gurgle. The other guard stared at the Mist ninja with wide eyes for a
half-second, then opened his mouth to sound the alarm. Before he could,
the kunoichi formed a single seal, and he froze. Her already bloody
kunai flew from her hands and punched through the man's armored jacket,
embedding itself in his heart. Silently, he toppled.
Next would be the two guards on top of the wall. Risking a
moment's hesitation to double-check their positions, the kunoichi
crawled up the sheer wall. She emerged, as planned, directly behind one
guard. One gloved hand clasped over his mouth, while the other thrust
her second kunai into his back. Even as she struck, the Leaf ninja
managed to break out of her grasp. Cursing slightly, she spun into a
kick, knocking the direly wounded ninja off the wall. The fall would
hopefully prove fatal, but she had no time to make sure.
The other guard had noticed his companion's fate and was already
racing for the alarm bell. The Mist kunoichi's hands blurred, her
chakra snatching water out of the slightly humid air. The stone under
the Leaf guard's feet slickened, and he stumbled slightly. This gave
the kunoichi enough time to close the distance, and a moment after that
he was dead.
As she stood over the corpse, the kunoichi almost fell to her
knees, breathing heavily. It had been years since she had needed to
exert herself like that. She offered up a silent prayer of thanks to
the teachers who she hated so much years ago, but whose strict lessons
ensured that even now she could call herself a mistress of the silent
kill. She shook her head. She had no time for reflection. Her mission
wasn't over yet.
She moved back down to the ground and studied the gates for a
moment. She hadn't been able to get a good look at them beforehand, but
fortunately the Leaf hadn't seemed to bother adding any special
precautions. She unbarred them, then slowly pulled one of the massive
doors open. Then, she waited, but not for long.
The two ninja seemed to appear out of nowhere. The kunoichi
frowned as she saw the forehead protector the man wore. "Sound," she
hissed softly. She hadn't been told Orochimaru's scum were involved.
One of the Sound ninja, wearing a black armored jacket rather
than the standard uniform, adjusted his glasses. "Is there a problem?"
he asked lightly.
"As you should be aware, Yakushi-san," the kunoichi replied, "it
is not possible to be a deep cover agent without making some friends,
and I lost friends in your attack."
Kabuto smiled. "You would be the Mist's spymaster, then. I'm
very impressed by your work."
The female Mist hunter ninja that stood by his side coughed.
"There's no time for chitchat. Did everything go according to plan?"
The Mist spy wasn't able to stop herself from gasping at the
voice. "Shizuru-neesan?" she asked unthinkingly. Kabuto glanced
between the two ninja.
The hunter ninja stood still for a moment, before nodding
stiffly and repeating her question. "Did everything go according to
plan?"
"Yes," the spy responded. "No alarms."
The hunter ninja nodded once more, then raised her hand. Squad
after squad of Mist and Sound emerged from the dark forest and began to
silently slip through the Leaf's open gates. The hunter ninja's
attention returned to the spy. "Stick with me, Amaya-chan," she
ordered, and despite the familiar form of address there was not even a
hint of softness in her voice.
Kabuto frowned, looked the spy in the eyes, and then chuckled.
"So that's it," he said, earning a puzzled glance from the hunter ninja.
"Shall we proceed, then, ladies?" he asked as three Sound ninja
hesitated nearby, waiting for his signal to follow the rest of the
strike force into the Leaf Village.
***********************************************************************
"Anything?" Shikamaru asked as he landed in a crouch beside Neji
on the rooftop of the building where the Mist team had been given
quarters.
The Hyuuga prodigy shook his head. "They aren't inside their
rooms or anywhere nearby, and it looks like most of their belongings are
gone," he stated. He didn't deactivate his Byakugan. "If we get close
enough, I'll find them, but they could be anywhere in the village by
now."
Sakura, standing not far away from the two boys, grimaced. "So,
now what?"
"I don't suppose either of you know any tracking techniques?"
Shikamaru asked. "We could get their scent from their rooms if we have
to. Neji?"
"No," he replied.
Shikamaru nodded, as though he had been expecting this.
"Sakura?"
The pink-haired girl frowned. It was possible that there were
some snakes that could track over this distance by scent, but she didn't
know them and wasn't confident that she could summon them even if they
existed. "No."
"I was hoping Kakashi-sensei had given you a scroll for his
dogs," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "I suppose we'll just have to figure
out where they might head." He sighed again as he settled into a
thinking pose. "Where would I go if I was a Mist ninja bent on
something troublesome?"
"The gates?" Sakura suggested.
Shikamaru shook his head. "You wouldn't waste an opportunity
like this on the gates. You'd want to strike a target you couldn't get
to otherwise, then head for the gates." He stood. "Let's swing by the
administrative buildings."
"Right," Neji said, and the three chuunin moved. Several
minutes later, the Hyuuga spoke again. "I've got them; all four of them
are about 100 yards ahead. H- Midori is using a genjutsu to try and
cloak them."
"Where are they going?" Shikamaru asked.
"For the Hokage's - they're splitting up." Neji grimaced.
"Mitarashi Kimi and Midori are still moving toward the Hokage's office.
Shimano and Aoki are heading toward the hospital."
"All right," Sakura said grimly. "Who follows who, Shikamaru?"
"We're not splitting up," the no-longer-rookie chuunin
responded. He stopped moving, and the other two young ninja moved to
his side. "No matter how I divide things up, one of us would be
following two of them, and I don't trust any of us to take on those odds
against either group." He smiled. "Besides, we're not on our own
here."
"So, what do we do?" Sakura asked.
"We go after Shimano and Aoki. We can take them, then head
after the other two." He nodded to himself. "Sakura, send word back to
Mitarashi-sensei and tell her to send ANBU or somebody to the Hokage's
office."
Sakura blinked. What did he want her to - oh. How had he
known? Slowly, she rolled up the sleeve of her red jacket, but neither
boy showed surprise at the snake tattoo this motion revealed.
Grimacing, Sakura bit at her thumb, then drew a bloody line down the
black coils and formed seals. "Summoning Technique." Her hand pressed
against the rooftop.
There was a burst of smoke, and when it faded a large gray snake
was coiled around her feet. "What do you want?" it asked. Shikamaru
actually seemed a little surprised when the feminine voice emerged from
the serpent, but Neji didn't stir at all.
"Could you find Mitarashi-sensei and give her a message, Seseki-
san?" Sakura asked the summoned creature politely. She quickly ran
through the situation and the trio's current plans. "You got that?"
"Yes," the snake replied. "I understand."
"Thank you," Sakura replied automatically.
Seseki laughed. "You're unusual for a snake mistress," she
said, then vanished in a blur of motion.
The two boys were silent for a moment, then Shikamaru spoke.
"All right, then. Are they still heading for the hospital?"
Neji nodded. "They're about four blocks away."
"All right, then." Shikamaru thought for an instant. "Let's do
this simply. Sakura, you're fastest. You circle around them and cut
them off. Neji and I will be able to take them from behind once you
slow them down."
"Right," Sakura replied.
"Whatever you do," Shikamaru said warningly, "don't strike the
first blow. They're certainly acting suspicious, but they haven't done
anything explicitly hostile yet."
"I understand." Sakura took a deep breath. Fortunately,
summoning Seseki hadn't been as draining as she'd feared, and she
actually felt at fighting strength. "Good luck," she said, and then she
moved.
She actually surprised herself at how quickly she covered the
distance, and the two Mist ninja were still a block away from the
hospital when Sakura landed lightly in the middle of the street in front
of them. "I never got to congratulate you, Aoki-san," she stated.
The male ninja cursed softly, but Ren held up a hand, and her
teammate said no more. "Sakura-san," she said.
Sakura nodded. "Ren-san." Carefully, she slipped shuriken into
her hands.
"What brings you here?" Sakura noted the slight movements that
told her Ren was following suit as she posed the question.
"I think I should be asking you that," Sakura said. How much
longer was it going to take Neji and Shikamaru to catch up?
"We don't have time for this, Ren-chan," Saburo snarled, and
then he moved.
In an instant, Sakura released her shuriken. A kunai appeared
in the male Mist ninja's hands, parrying the projectiles that got too
close as he charged through them. Ren threw her own shuriken to cover
his advance, and Sakura was forced to roll out of the way, leaving her
vulnerable to Saburo.
He struck quickly, kunai arcing down at Sakura's neck, but then
he suddenly leapt away. An instant later another kunai flew through the
air where he had stood. "It seems we aren't too late," Shikamaru said
lightly. Neji jumped down from the rooftop the two occupied, landing in
between the two Mist ninja in a fighting stance.
Ren's hands formed seals. "Run, Saburo!"
"But, Ren-chan," he began to protest.
"Just do it!" she snapped as an aura of flame surrounded her
hands. "The mission comes first." Grimacing, her teammate vanished in
a sudden blur of motion.
Sakura, coming to her feet, tensed to follow, but Shikamaru
called out, "We stick together. Take Shimano down first!"
"It won't be that easy," Ren returned. She flipped away from
Neji and at Sakura, the flames around her hands extending into the Claw
of the Fire Dragon.
Sakura summoned her own fiery claws to parry the strike, but as
the two sets of talons locked against each other Ren landed, her other
hand lashing out with a second set of claws. Cursing, Sakura pushed
herself away quickly enough that only the weak edges of the flames
touched her. It still hurt like hell, though, and she stumbled, almost
falling.
Ren wasn't able to press her attack as Neji came at her from
behind. In an instant, Ren's claws retracted and she whirled about to
face the new attacker. She danced around a Gentle Fist strike, one
fire-wreathed hand plunging at Neji's stomach. The Hyuuga prodigy
easily dodged the blow, counter-attacking and forcing the Mist kunoichi
to dart backward.
Ren's foot traced a line between them, and fiery dragons erupted
from the street, twisting around each other to form a wall blocking
Neji's advance. This didn't buy her much time, as Sakura had recovered
and charged. Ren turned about and struck at Sakura's face. The Leaf
kunoichi didn't dodge or hesitate as the blow landed home, then her
kunai traced a bloody line down Ren's side from an impossible angle.
There was a brief blurring, and Sakura was standing unharmed almost a
foot to the side of where she had appeared to be.
Ren's barrier had died down, and now Neji was coming at the
wounded ninja as well. "Damn it!" she snarled, and then a Gentle Fist
strike took her in the side. She froze for half an instant, then
exploded into a thick plume of black smoke.
As she reappeared, there was a sudden explosion of bright light
overhead. Ren stared at the floating light bomb for almost long enough
to be caught by Shikamaru's shadow, but she jumped away before he could
make contact. "The same technique as Yamanaka used against Sakura-san?"
she asked as she landed on the rooftop opposite him.
Shikamaru just snorted. As though that had been a signal, Neji
and Sakura came at the Mist kunoichi from opposite side. Snarling, she
began to spin, tendrils of flame extending from her hands. Neji managed
to stop his advance in time, but Sakura was struck by the whirling
flames, sending her flying back off the rooftop. Ren didn't wait for
Neji to resume his attack, jumping to another building. Shikamaru was
waiting for her there, and another light bomb exploded. His shadow came
at Ren from three directions.
The Mist kunoichi had just a moment to survey the battlefield,
and then she leapt away again, avoiding the fourth tendril of shadow
sneaking toward the obvious route of escape. When she landed, Sakura
pressed a kunai against her back. "That's enough, Ren-san," she said.
The flames around the Mist kunoichi's hands died down. "How?"
she asked, glancing at where Sakura had fallen on the ground below after
her last, failed attack. The girl on the ground disappeared.
"Genjutsu," Ren hissed. "You didn't really attack with the Hyuuga
freak."
Shikamaru and Neji jumped over to stand beside the two kunoichi.
"Let's make this quick," Shikamaru said. "Neji?"
"Of course." Neji's hands danced over Ren's still form, closing
her tenketsu.
Shikamaru pulled out some rope and quickly bound the prisoner.
"I don't suppose you'll tell us what's going on?"
"I don't think so," Ren replied. "You'll find out soon enough,
anyway. It's just about midnight, isn't it?"
Shikamaru's eyes widened. Then, there was a series of loud
explosions from the Hokage's office and the surrounding buildings. Mere
seconds after that, another set of explosions sounded from the direction
Saburo had fled in.
"Damn it," Sakura breathed.
Then there was a chorus of sounds that dwarfed those. "Those're
from the gates," Shikamaru snarled. "What's going on?"
"It's more then just these four," Neji stated. He took one long
look at Ren, then delivered a solid blow to the back of her head,
knocking her unconscious. Shikamaru stumbled as he adjusted to the
suddenly dead weight.
"What do we do?" Sakura asked Shikamaru.
"I'll take this one back to the academy," Shikamaru said.
"Since that's where Hokage-sama is, it'll be the center of the defense.
Neji, can you see Aoki?"
The Hyuuga shook his head. "Too far away now. He's made a
break for the administrative centers."
"All right then. You two try and catch him before he meets up
with his teammates, then." Shikamaru grimaced.
Neji stared at him with activated Byakugan for a moment. "This
isn't your fault," he said.
"I know that," Shikamaru replied. He threw Ren's still body
over one shoulder. "Now, move, you two!"
***********************************************************************
[Day Seventy-seven]
Tayuya of the Hidden Sound, not being deaf, quickly realized
that something was wrong. While the acoustics of the Leaf ANBU's
prisons had been artfully arranged so that the the sounds of the
interrogation chambers could be heard in the cells, the builders had
also ensured that the sound was nothing more than a low, disturbing,
unintelligible murmur. It wouldn't do for the prisoners to be able to
glean any information, after all.
Therefore, it was more than a little unusual when Tayuya heard a
loud, clear scream. The ANBU guard who had been lounging outside her
cell - probably undressing her with his eyes - stiffened, also aware of
the oddity of the occurrence. When the scream was followed by the sound
of metal striking metal, then an explosion, it stopped being merely odd.
Cursing loudly, the guard drew a weapon of his own and charged off.
An instant after he passed out of eyesight, Tayuya heard a wet
gurgle. The guard stumbled back into view, a kunai puncturing his
armored breastplate and piercing his heart. Slowly, the ANBU collapsed.
Tayuya rose from her cot, staring in disbelief at the slain guard.
"What the fuck?" she muttered.
Two women emerged from the shadows, a Mist hunter ninja and a
green-eyed Mist kunoichi dressed in black. "Damn Yakushi to hell," the
hunter ninja muttered. "Where the fuck is he?"
The other woman glanced at Tayuya. "I don't suppose you'd tell
us if a gray-haired Sound has passed by here?" Tayuya wasn't able to
stop herself from reacting, and the woman's eyes narrowed. "You're
Sound?"
"Yes, she is," Kabuto said, appearing suddenly before Tayuya
could respond. "It's nice to see you again, Tayuya-chan."
"Kabuto-sama," Tayuya breathed, backing away rapidly. If there
was one thing she knew, it was that Orochimaru didn't order rescue
missions. "I swear I didn't tell them anything!"
"This wasn't in the plan, Yakushi," the hunter ninja snapped.
"Why the hell did you split from us and head here?"
"Target of opportunity," Kabuto replied. "Orochimaru-sama has
misplaced some prized possessions, and they ended up here." Almost
casually, he slipped past the two Mist ninja and opened the cell door.
"I'm not here to kill you, Tayuya-chan."
Tayuya still took a step backward. "I failed Orochimaru-sama,"
she said. "Why else would he send you here?"
Kabuto laughed lightly. "You didn't fail," he said. "Sasuke-
kun made it to the Sound Village."
Tayuya's eyes widened. Of course, it made sense that the ANBU
would lie about that, to help break her. "Even so," she said aloud.
"Orochimaru-sama still believes you have a use," Kabuto said,
his voice suddenly harsh. "If you're so certain that you're a broken
blade, then I will be happy to treat you as such and tell Orochimaru-
sama he was wrong."
Tayuya paled. "No." She forced herself to take a step forward.
Kabuto smiled kindly, his hand reached forward and brushing
Tayuya's hair back from her neck. Complying with the unspoken order,
Tayuya turned aside so he could look at her seal. His tongue clicked.
"Such crude debasement of Orochimaru-sama's genius. How troublesome."
"What's troublesome," the Mist hunter ninja snarled, "is your
situation. Why shouldn't I kill you now?"
"Come now," Kabuto said. "This building is a valuable target,
and it is filled with potential allies, no? Some of your own ninja,
too, I imagine. Be creative."
The hunter ninja hissed wordlessly, but then she turned away.
"Come on, Amaya-chan. Yakushi, do what you want; we're leaving. If you
get bogged down fighting ANBU reinforcements and miss the rendezvous,
it's your problem. Understood?"
"Of course," Kabuto said smoothly, and the Mist ninja vanished.
"Kabuto-sama," Tayuya said, "the ANBU said the Leaf had -"
"Ah, yes. I picked him up too, of course. You can come out
now, Kidoumaru-kun."
The six-armed ninja carefully stepped out of the shadows,
looking far worse than Tayuya felt. "Yo," he said weakly.
Tayuya stepped forward, and before she realized what she was
doing she had embraced him, tears watering her eyes. "You fucker," she
muttered as she released him.
"Nice to see you too," Kidoumaru replied.
"What about the others?" Tayuya said.
"Dead," Kabuto stated calmly. "You two are the last of the
Sound Five."
"What now?" Kidoumaru asked him after a moment.
"Now?" Kabuto said. "Now we can start paying the Leaf back."
***********************************************************************
"I've got them." Neji's voice was grim, and he didn't pause as
he switched directions, jumping to the building across the street.
Sakura followed him, one hand checking her store of weapons. It was
never fun reaching for a kunai or shuriken that wasn't there in the heat
of battle. "You need any?" Neji asked, not turning his head to look at
her.
"No," Sakura replied. "I'm good. Where are they?"
"Aoki's joined up with the other two," Neji replied. "It looks
like they're heading for the ANBU headquarters." He paused. "Aoki's
wounded."
"What?"
"Wound to the leg," the Hyuuga stated. "Midori is supporting
him."
Sakura bit at her lip. "Two against three isn't good odds, even
if one of the three is wounded," she replied, "but I don't like the idea
of letting them do whatever they want there."
"ANBU can defend itself," Neji said, "and it would be one
against three."
"One?" Sakura asked, then she grimaced. "Oh yeah." So long as
Midori was in the fight, Neji's Bloodline Limit became a dangerous
vulnerability. "Can't you fight without your Byakugan?"
"Not well enough to do anything but weigh you down," Neji
replied, "particularly with a jounin on the other side. It would be
like you trying to fight with your eyes closed, and I couldn't use the
Gentle Fist at all besides."
"Damn it," Sakura snarled to herself. "I feel like we have to
do something." She tried to think as she continued to follow Neji from
rooftop to rooftop. She was supposed to be smart, wasn't she? All she
needed was a plan.
Neji stiffened suddenly, almost missing the next jump.
"Something's wrong at the ANBU building."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"We just got close enough for me to get a good look," Neji
replied. "The guards outside are dead and someone broke down the
doors."
"Can you see inside?" Sakura asked. Neji shook his head. "Any
Leaf ninja in the area?"
"Not that I can see," the Hyuuga replied. "I think most are
regrouping and supervising the evacuation." He paused. "They're
splitting up."
"The Mist?" Sakura asked. "You're not serious." That was
idiotic.
"Whatever's happening at the ANBU headquarters wasn't part of
the plan," Neji explained calmly. "Mitarashi Kimi is investigating, but
she wants her students out of the way."
"That's our chance then," Sakura declared.
"It'd still be one on two," Neji warned.
"Only until I can knock out Midori," Sakura replied, "and you
said Saburo was wounded."
Neji nodded curtly. "Right," he said. "Let's go, then." He
changed direction again.
After what seemed like seconds but had to be at least, he
separated from Sakura, leaving her alone to intercept the two Mist
genin. Sakura grimaced to herself. Despite her words, she wasn't quite
certain how she'd manage to defeat Midori. At least she should have the
advantage of surprise. She paused two rooftops away from the alley Neji
had pointed out as the Mist pair's hiding place. She was going to have
to strike fast and hard if she wanted to pull this off. As much as
she'd like to ask Midori a few questions, this wasn't the time.
Carefully, Sakura moved to a rooftop overlooking the alley, and,
lying on her belly, peeked over the side. Saburo was seated against a
wall, his eyes closed. Midori was watching the road, and her back was
to Sakura. The pink-haired chuunin slowly inched a kunai out of its
sheath. If she was lucky, she might be able to take her out with one
strike. Sakura rose into a crouch, preparing her throw.
Saburo's eyes flickered open. "Midori!" he shouted in warning.
As the Mist kunoichi whirled about, Sakura released her weapon, cursing
freely. Midori parried the oncoming kunai with a hastily-drawn blade of
her own. "You," she snarled as her eyes sought out Sakura's.
Sakura knew better than to meet her gaze. Instead, she formed a
seal with one hand as she jumped from the rooftop. When the flames
sprouted from her other hand, instead of attacking Midori she swept them
toward the still-seated Saburo. His eyes widened in fear as he
struggled to rise.
Midori dove into Sakura's path, pushing her teammate aside.
Sakura's flames briefly caught her in the side, and the other Haruno
fell heavily beside Saburo. Still, she rose before her wounded ally.
"You bitch," Midori growled. "I'm going to kill you."
"You'll try," Sakura forced herself to return. Things were not
looking good. She hadn't gotten Midori on the first strike, and now it
was two against one, with Neji unable to help her. She was going to
have to think quickly if she wanted to pull this off. She needed to
counteract Midori's doujutsu. Fortunately, there was just enough
moisture in the air for the obvious solution to work. Keeping her own
eyes on Midori's feet, Sakura rapidly formed seals.
"Die!" Midori shouted, plunging at her with kunai in hand. The
blade struck Sakura in the chest, and there was a moment of perfect
stillness before the pink-haired girl was replaced by the wooden sign
from a store at the mouth of the alley. Then coils of rapidly
thickening gray mist filled the alley, and Midori cursed sharply.
Sakura grinned as she slipped into the mist. Now they were both
fighting blind. She formed another set of seals, creating a perfect
replication on the other side of where Midori had stood. "I'm willing
to accept your surrender," she had the genjutsu offer. Then she
listened for the sound of Midori's inevitable reaction.
Unfortunately, Midori didn't say anything, but she did something
almost as revealing. She started to work on a water element technique,
drawing water from the concealing mist. Sakura grinned. Since the mist
was already charged with her chakra, she could feel Midori's efforts and
use them to deduce the other girl's position. Her opponent had just
made a terrible mistake.
Sakura reached for a kunai, then hesitated. Midori knew Mist
Concealment Technique too, didn't she? She had to know that drawing on
the water in the mist would alert Sakura. It had to be a trap, and
Midori probably had the control to pull this kind of stunt off.
Releasing the hilt of her kunai, Sakura quickly worked through various
angles of attack. Where was Midori going be?
Less than a second later, the answer clear in her mind, Sakura
created another genjutsu, and sent it just a hair too loudly at the
position Midori's deliberate mistake pointed to. Sakura listened very
carefully to gauge the right moment, then struck. "Katon: Claw of the
Fire Dragon!" Midori screamed as the flames struck her back, much more
strongly then Sakura's first successful blow.
"Midori!" Saburo shouted, worry plain in his voice.
Sakura could hear the other girl's pained moan as she rose, and
the pink-haired chuunin carefully drew a kunai. "Are you going to
surrender now?" she asked, and then she advanced slowly while she waited
for Midori's response
Instead, another voice answered, "I think that unlikely to
occur." Sakura's mist vanished suddenly, as though it had never been,
and two black-clad women jumped down into the alley between the suddenly
revealed Sakura and her two foes. One wore a Mist hunter ninja mask,
and the most of the other's face was covered with a cloth mask. Sakura
noted the familiar shade of that woman's green eyes and quickly averted
her gaze.
"So this is Haruno Sakura, is she?" the hunter ninja asked.
Sakura swallowed. She didn't think it was good that a hunter ninja from
a foreign village knew her name.
"Yes," Midori said. "She's the one."
The hunter ninja laughed cruelly. "What a nice little family
reunion." She turned to Sakura. "You'll be coming with us." Sakura
didn't bother to respond. There wasn't anything she could do to stop
them, was there?
"Katon: Flame Sniper." All the ninja in the alley started at
the new voice, but the hunter ninja managed to roll aside before a thin
bolt of flame would have pierced her heart. Looming over them on a
nearby rooftop was a purple-haired woman Sakura didn't recognize in a
Leaf jounin uniform. Behind her were three genin, one of whom Sakura
easily placed as Toriichi Kasumi, one of Ami's friends from the academy.
"It looks like I should join the party," Mitarashi Kimi
commented as she appeared on the opposite rooftop. In an instant, the
other Mist ninja were at her side - the two wounded genin helped by the
older women. Sakura took a deep breath, then joined Kasumi's team
herself.
"Thank you," she said as she landed beside them.
"Thank the Hyuuga for finding us. He's hanging back until we
can take out those two," the jounin told her, pointing at Midori and the
other Haruno.
It was five on five, Sakura noted, but the Mist had more jounin.
Then again, two of the Mist were wounded. "What's the plan?" she asked.
Across the alleyway, Kimi laughed. "You all have bigger
problems than us coming your way," she said. "I suggest we just go our
separate ways." Her hands blurred, and all five Mist ninja erupted into
pillars of thick, dark smoke.
"Damn it," the jounin said. "If they'd just waited a moment
longer..." Four masked ANBU landed on the rooftop where the Mist had
stood. One of them shook his head.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, Neji arrived
beside her. "Thank you," she told him. Neji frowned, and looked like
her was about to say something, but then the jounin spoke.
"Do you know what she was talking about, Hyuuga?" she asked.
"Yes, Uzuki-san," Neji replied after a moment. "Somebody's set
free the prisoners from ANBU's interrogation center. They're headed
this way." He paused. "Mitarashi Anko is leading a squad up behind
them."
"All right." The jounin paused and gestured at the ANBU across
the street. The four masked ninja joined the rest of them on their
rooftop. "Do you mind if I take command?" she asked.
"No, Yuugao-sempai," one of the ANBU responded.
"Good." Yuugao glanced at Neji. "How many prisoners?"
"Forty-three," the Hyuuga answered after a moment. "They're
moving as a group."
"Right." The purple-haired jounin bit at her lip in thought.
"Can you and Haruno get around them before Mitarashi comes up on them?"
"Sakura-san?" Neji asked.
"I'm fine," Sakura replied.
"Then do it," Yuugao said. "Tell Mitarashi to wait for my
signal. Understood?"
"Got it," Sakura said, and then she and Neji left.
***********************************************************************
Sakura tried to relax while she waited, but her half-hearted
efforts were futile. How could she even hope to rest when she knew that
in a matter of moments she would be heading back to battle? Neji,
Sakura noted with some annoyance, seemed to have no such problem,
leaning against one wall with his Byakugan relaxed for the first time in
hours. Anko had cheerfully accepted Yuugao's warning not to attack
until she signaled, and now they was waiting with the three-man chuunin
squad Anko had commandeered.
"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Anko asked suddenly as she walked over
to the two rookie chuunin, her voice terrifyingly cheerful.
Sakura gave her a disbelieving stare. "How can you be so
happy?" she asked.
"Because you were nice enough to send Seseki to get me," Anko
replied. "That means I wasn't around to get stuck with evacuation duty
again." She grimaced. "I hate evacuation duty. It's all
responsibility and no fun. Last time I didn't even get to kill anyone
at all!" The three older chuunin began to mutter nervously among
themselves.
"You can't possibly be serious," Sakura said.
Neji's eyes flickered open. "She isn't. She's teasing you to
let off nervous energy."
Anko was suddenly standing in front of him. "You, Neji-kun, are
reminding me of why I hate Hyuuga."
"Make it short," Neji said dryly, "or at least entertaining. I
already had to sit through one of these this week."
Anko blinked, and then she laughed. "Are you sure you weren't
adopted? I didn't know Hyuuga were genetically capable of making
jokes."
"Who's joking?" Neji responded, and Anko laughed again.
"Have fun, kids," she said, and then she wandered off to speak
with the other three ninja.
Neji glanced sideways at Sakura. "My belated condolences."
Sakura blinked. "What?"
"You've been alone with her, haven't you?" Neji smirked. "I'd
rather be stuck alone with Gai-sensei."
Sakura laughed despite herself. "Thank you," she said.
After a moment, Neji frowned. "There's something I should
probably -" He cut off, his Byakugan activating in an instant. "It's
time." A bolt of flame soared into the air from several blocks away,
exploding high overhead into a ball of flame that briefly made the night
day.
"All right!" Anko hollered. "Let's go! Don't let any of these
bastards get away!"
The next several minutes were a blur to Sakura. The two teams
under Uzuki Yuugao had pinned the escaped prisoners from the front, and
they seemed completely unprepared for the rear attack. The prisoners
tried to scatter, but with little success. Weak from months or more of
imprisonment, their only strength was bulk of numbers, and they used it
as best they could. Things got so confused that Sakura could have sworn
that out of the corner of her eye she saw two prisoners fighting each
other, but she had no time to look more closely.
Spotting a prisoner trying to make a break for it, Sakura sent a
kunai flying at his leg. She hit, but the man managed to stumble out of
sight behind a corner. Cursing, Sakura broke away from the battle to
finish him off before he could hide. One hand was already forming the
seal for the Claw of the Fire Dragon when she turned around the corner.
The man had been faster than she thought, vanishing into a
warren of small streets. Unfortunately for him, the trail of blood he
was leaving was going to lead her right to him, and Sakura set to
following it cautiously. Despite her wariness, though, she was still
surprised when she found the man dead, a kunai through his heart.
Drawing a weapon of her own, Sakura began to back away.
Mitarashi Kimi appeared out of thin air, standing over the
corpse. A few instants later, Sakura noticed Midori and Saburo on a
rooftop above. "I forgot to ask you before," the jounin asked dryly,
"where is Ren? We're running out of time here, so answer quickly."
Sakura forced herself to not say anything, knowing that nothing
she could say could help. Instead, her hands blurred. "Katon: Fireball
Technique," she breathed, turning her head upward and sending the burst
of flame soaring into the air.
Kimi laughed. "Help won't get here in time for you, little
girl." Blurring, she charged Sakura. Sakura flung out one arm, and
snakes burst out from under her sleeve, flying at the Mist jounin.
Flames danced in the older woman's hands shaping themselves into short
claws that neatly severed the snakes' heads. Kimi's charge barely
slowed as the snakes dissolved into smoke. Even though Sakura raised
her arms to guard herself, Kimi's spinning kick caught her in the chest,
sending her flying into a wall.
Kimi drew one of her curved, short swords, and took a step
toward Sakura. "You won't need all your parts to talk," she said, and
the blade began to drop.
It was stopped by a kunai. "That's quite enough, sister," Anko
said.
Kimi leapt away, landing against the opposite wall. "This will
be fun." She sheathed her blade. "Shall we do it traditionally?"
"Hardly." Anko's hands formed seals around her kunai. "Shadow
Replication Technique." In unison Anko and and the four clones she
formed charged.
Kimi became a whirlwind of motion and flames, sending her
attackers flying. All five vanished in puffs of smoke as Sakura
struggled to stand. Kimi jumped into the air mere instants before Anko
burst from the ground under her feet, fiery claws sprouting from both
hands. The Mist jounin somehow turned about in midair, rebounding off a
wall and plummeting to meet Anko with her own flaming talons. The lines
of fire met in midair, pushing against each other like something
physical.
Rebounding, Anko glued herself to a wall, casually flinging
several dozen shuriken at her still-aerial foe. Kimi again twisted in
midair, drawing both of her swords and expertly parrying every
projectile. After forming a rapid sequence of seals, Anko brought one
hand up to her mouth. "Katon: Fire Dragon Blast." A jet of flame
poured out of her mouth at Kimi.
Anko's sister had finally landed, perching herself on the wall
over Sakura. Without waiting to see how the Mist ninja defended
herself, Sakura ran. She had no intention of getting caught in the
middle of this fight. Before she could make it out of the alley,
though, someone jumped down in front of her. Their eyes met.
"Haruno Ninpou: Gaze of Binding," Midori intoned, and Sakura was
frozen. "You're not going anywhere, bitch." A kunai appeared in her
hands.
Saburo appeared beside his teammate, wincing slightly as he put
weight on his wounded leg. "Midori," he said warningly. "We're
supposed to take her alive."
"Only if we have the chance," Midori said, her kunai inching
closer to Sakura's throat. "Who's to say that we did?" Even so, her
blade began to waver, even if it didn't retreat.
"Sakura-chan!" The pink-haired girl couldn't turn at Anko's
terrified cry, so she couldn't see when Kimi took advantage of her
sister's moment of inattention, but she certainly heard Anko's pained
scream and the thud of her body hitting the ground.
"Mitarashi-sensei," Saburo breathed in relief. "Midori's about
to -"
"I saw," Kimi interrupted. "What are you waiting for, Midori-
chan? Do it." Her voice was serious. "I want Anko-chan to see her
precious student die and know that she's helpless to stop it."
"Mitarashi-sensei!" Saburo protested, but he made no move to
stop Midori as her weapon stopped shaking.
Behind Sakura, Anko began to cough wetly. "You have... no
idea... what you're about to cost me, Kimi," she said, and Sakura could
imagine her sometimes teacher struggling to rise. The Mist jounin
laughed, but her laughter cut off as a vaguely familiar sensation began
to creep down Sakura's spine.
"No," the pink-haired chuunin breathed as she placed it. Midori
began to back away nervously, breaking eye contact and freeing Sakura.
In an instant, Sakura found herself on the rooftop, cradled in Anko's
arms. She swallowed nervously as she saw the black, flame-like markings
crawling down the special jounin's limbs.
"Stay," Anko snarled as she roughly dropped Sakura. In a blur
of motion, she returned to ground.
"What in the world," Kimi began, then she was slammed into a
convenient wall. The wood shattered under the force, and Anko's hands
grabbed her sister's neck.
Another Anko appeared beside the first. "Watch," she growled,
and turned to face Kimi's students - and Sakura. The pink-haired
couldn't do anything but stare at the inhuman, golden orbs that had
replaced Anko's usual dark eyes. A terrible, bloody wound marred the
special jounin's chest, but she showed no signs of being slowed in the
slightest by it.
Neither Mist genin seemed able to move as Anko opened her mouth.
Her tongue grew rapidly, snaring Midori by one arm and pulling her
through the air at Anko. The special jounin caught the green-eyed
genin, then retracted her tongue. Anko smiled, and Sakura caught a hint
of pointed teeth. "I think I'll do better than killing your students,
Kimi-neesama," Anko stated. "I think I'll mark them as my own."
"What?" Midori asked weakly as she struggled to free herself.
"There's a ten percent chance you'll survive the process," Anko
said matter-of-factly. "If you do, a part of your soul will belong to
me. Forever."
"Midori!" Saburo shouted, and his hands began to form seals.
A third Anko appeared in front of him, casually sweeping his
legs out from under him and pinning him to the ground. "Wait your
turn," the new Anko said chidingly as she knelt on his chest. The dark
markings on each Anko's face seemed to move, slowly expanding to cover
more of her skin.
Sakura realized she was shaking. Why couldn't she move?
Whenever she tried, Anko's command to "Stay," sounded in her mind, and
she lost focus. "Mitarashi-sensei," she managed to say. "Don't."
"Let them go," Kimi said. "I'm the one you want, aren't I?"
All three Anko laughed. "Not a chance," the one holding Kimi
said. "You never struck me as the self-sacrificing type anyway, Kimi-
neesama."
"Well, now," a new voice intruded. "What have we here?"
Sakura paled. "Kabuto-san."
The Sound ninja casually walked into the alley, and with a
negligent flick of his hand hurled needles at each Anko. Two vanished
in puff of smoke, leaving only the one holding Midori. As Kimi slumped
to the ground, Anko tossed the green-eyed girl on top of her teacher.
"Yakushi," she snarled dangerously.
"Don't waste your time threatening me," Kabuto said lightly. In
a blur of motion, he vanished and reappeared behind Anko. His hands
formed seals, then one reached out a tapped the special jounin on the
shoulder. Anko was still for a moment, then reached up and laid her own
hand on top of the traitor's. She began to laugh, and Kabuto's eyes
widened.
"You fool," Anko said. "You've doomed yourself." The special
jounin stumbled away from Kabuto, her face twisting in obvious pain.
"You think... Orochimaru worried about safety in the prototype stage?"
she managed to ask before falling to her knees. "You're... too naive."
Dark energy began to gather around the kneeling woman, corrupt chakra
boiling off of her and thickening until it became visible.
Kabuto backed away, reaching up to adjust his glasses, but he
showed no other sign of nervousness. "Interesting," he allowed.
Anko stretched out one arm, and Sakura saw that her sometimes
teacher's hand was almost completely covered by the dark markings. It
bulged, as though something was crawling under the woman's skin, then
burst open. A writhing mass of countless snakes poured out of the ruins
of Anko's arm, twisting around to fly at Kabuto as they lengthened.
He didn't move, and the snakes passed directly through him.
"Genjutsu like this won't work on -" He stopped in mid-sentence,
suddenly dancing out of the way and warding the snakes off with a kunai.
"A genjutsu designed to make reality look like genjutsu. Clever."
Anko didn't respond, only standing as the snakes retracted to a
more normal length. Sakura shuddered as she stared at the twisting
swarm of snakes that had replaced the special jounin's arm. It had to
just be some sort of transformation, right? Slowly, Anko turned to face
Kabuto, the snakes winding closer and closer about each other until they
seemed to merge into one multi-headed creature. The heads shrunk,
turning into a hand and fingers, while the scaled body became an arm.
Anko grinned widely, flexing her once-more whole arm. "I wonder
what you taste like," she said, before vomiting up another torrent of
snakes. Kabuto seemed to be frozen, perhaps stunned by some doujutsu
worked through Anko's inhuman eyes, and Sakura doubted that he would be
able to dodge the attack.
She never got a chance to see if her guess was correct, as a
wave of fire turned the snakes to ash. "That's enough, Anko-chan,"
another new voice said.
Anko slowly turned to face the newcomer. "Shizune-sempai," she
said, a hint of horror in her voice, even as thick, ominous chakra
continued to swirl around her.
Uzuki Yuugao suddenly appeared on the rooftop beside Sakura.
Her hands formed a simple seal, then pressed on Sakura's side.
"Release," she said, and Sakura found she could move again.
"Thank you," she gasped out.
Below, Shizune was slowly approaching Anko. "Don't make me hurt
you, Anko-chan."
Anko's face twisted with rage. "Hurt me?" she snarled. Her
tongue flicked out, and for a moment it looked forked. "I'll kill you
first."
"That's what I was afraid of," Shizune said. She held out one
hand. "Forgive me." Without visible cause, blood began to ooze from
her palm. The crimson fluid poured out into the air, dancing around
Shizune and Anko and forming strange characters. "Third-Level Emergency
Field Sealing Method!" Shizune shouted. "Evil-Suppressing Procedure!"
The bloody characters glowed brightly, then Anko threw back her
head and howled. Slowly, tortuously, the black markings of the cursed
seal retreated and her disturbing aura dissipated. When the black
marking had vanished, Anko stood still for just a moment, then
collapsed, unconscious. Shizune staggered, almost collapsing herself.
Kabuto reached up to adjust his glasses. "Most impressive," he
said, almost sounding shaken, "but that's to be expected from a student
of one of the legendary Sannin." He paused, moving to where the three
Mist ninja stood. "I suppose we will be taking our leave now."
"You're not going anywhere," Yuugao said loudly as ANBU filled
the rooftops around the alley.
Shaking her head, Kimi stood. "What the hell was that?" she
asked absently.
"If you want to know," Kabuto said, "come with me to Orochimaru-
sama." Without waiting for an answer, he helped Saburo stand. "We've
already missed the rendezvous"
"All right," Kimi said after a moment. Kabuto smiled, formed a
rapid set of seals, and then all four enemy ninja melted into the earth.
In an instant, an ANBU was kneeling where they had stood, one
hand on the ground. He shook his head. "They're gone. This Kabuto kid
is as good as Kakashi-sempai said."
Shizune slowly walked over to Anko and picked up the younger
woman's still form. "I'm taking her to Tsunade-sama," she said, and
then she vanished with her burden.
"Let's move," an ANBU in a cat mask shouted. "This isn't over
yet!"
"What's going on?" Sakura asked Yuugao.
"The evacuation has finished," the purple-haired woman stated.
"That means it's time to counter-attack and teach these Mist the lesson
the Sand learned last time." She studied Sakura for a moment. "You
stick with me."
"But Mitarashi-sensei," Sakura began.
"You're a chuunin now, aren't you?" Yuugao asked. "Act like
one. You can still fight, and the mission isn't finished."
After a moment, Sakura nodded. "I understand," she said. "I'm
ready."
***********************************************************************
The counter-attack proved to be rather more uneventful than
Sakura had expected. By the time the Leaf had finished evacuating the
civilians and organizing to push the attackers back, the Mist and Sound
were already withdrawing in good order. While the bulk of the Leaf
forces proceeded to chase the retreating enemies into the forest, Sakura
was among those selected to split into two-man squads and sweep the
village for stragglers and wounded civilians.
Sakura found herself paired with the cat-masked ANBU who seemed
to be in command of this half of the operation. She had debated for
several moments whether this was a sign of respect or mistrust before
deciding that there was no way to know and it was probably just
coincidence, anyway. Like Yuugao had said, she was a chuunin now, and
she should know better than to bother with such pointless thoughts in
this situation.
Instead, she decided to wonder whether she was supposed to have
noticed that the cat-masked ANBU was a Hyuuga. Perhaps it was just
because she had been in a similar situation earlier in the night with
Neji, but it was very obvious to her that the ANBU had been using the
Byakugan to aid their search. Plus, she could feel him watching her
even when he was looking the wrong way.
"I watched your match against Neji-kun," the ANBU said as they
finished clearing a block.
Sakura glanced at the man. She couldn't tell anything of what
he was thinking from his tone of voice. "I see," she said after a
moment, figuring that was the safest thing to say.
"Do you think you could have won?" the ANBU asked. Without
waiting for a response, he led the way to the next block, where Sakura
proceeded to feel mostly useless as he swept the area with his Byakugan.
She spent the time trying to figure out what answer the ANBU
wanted, before finally deciding that it was futile and that she should
just answer truthfully. "Yes," she answered, "I think I could have
won." Hopefully that wouldn't somehow offend the Hyuuga Clan's honor or
something bizarre like that. After all, they hadn't gone after Naruto
in any fashion, and he'd actually beaten Neji, right?
"How?" the man pressed gently, gesturing at Sakura to help him
move a pile of rubble from on top of a body so that it could be
retrieved later.
Sakura complied, and she did her best to hide her distaste as
she next helped the ANBU move the Sound ninja's corpse out into the
street where it was easily visible. "If I'd been a little faster, Neji-
san wouldn't have been able to use the Replacement Technique," she said.
"Or if I'd noticed him using it, he might not have been able to get the
drop on me at the end."
"I see," the ANBU stated as began to walk further down the
street. Sakura followed after him, and he spoke again. "Your opening
moves were highly risky. A Gentle Fist user like Neji-kun could have
probably have incapacitated or killed you if he'd really tried."
"I know that," Sakura responded without thinking, letting a
little too much irritation into her voice. "Neji-san is stronger than
me. I wasn't going to have any chance to win at all if I didn't take
risks." She paused. "Besides, I know Neji-san at least a little, and I
didn't think he'd go for that sort of strike right at the beginning
against me, particularly if he didn't think I was a threat. I did do my
best to shield myself and guide his attacks away from the most dangerous
spots, too."
The ANBU shook his head. "And I thought Morino and Mitarashi
were crazy when they recommended you for ANBU recruitment."
Sakura paled. "Mitarashi-sensei said something about that," she
said, "but I thought she was joking. Genin... or rookie chuunin don't
go into ANBU."
"Not usually, no," the ANBU replied. "Under the current
circumstances, we're recruiting earlier."
Sakura swallowed nervously. "I'm not..."
"No." Sakura thought she could feel the man smile behind his
mask. "You're not ready. Not yet, at least." He shook his head again.
"But Morino and Mitarashi weren't trying to pull one over on me either.
Now I'm wondering what they were up to behind my back."
"Do... do they team up?" Sakura asked, horror sneaking into her
voice. Anko could be bad enough, but imagining what she could do with
the aid of the grim interrogator was truly terrifying.
"All the time," the ANBU griped. "If it wasn't classified, I
would tell you how they got the old head of the interrogation squad to
retire."
"Umm... ANBU-san," Sakura said after a moment. "Do you know
about what Mitarashi-sensei... I mean, what happened to... whether
she's..." Sakura trailed off.
"I heard what happened," the masked man said grimly. "She's
with Hokage-sama and Shizune-sama now." Anger flared in his voice. "If
we find this Mitarashi Kimi, I'm going to give her to Ibiki and tell him
to have fun with that bitch for the rest of her natural life."
"She did it to protect me," Sakura said weakly. "I feel like -"
"It's not your fault," the ANBU said harshly. "A ninja cannot
allow himself - or herself - to think that way."
"Right," Sakura said dubiously after a moment.
"Save your second-guessing for the debriefing," the ANBU
advised. "Now is not the time."
"Right," Sakura repeated, a little more firmly.
Though he didn't turn to face the kunoichi, Sakura could feel
the ANBU's scrutiny. "Good," he said after a long moment. "Let's get
moving."
As they continued their search, Sakura was surprised by the
extent of the devastation. The incursion had only lasted a handful of
hours, unlike the day-long battle that had consumed the village six
months ago. Despite this, all the progress that had been made in
returning the village to a pristine state seemed to have been reversed
in those handful of hours. When Sakura commented on this, the ANBU let
out a bark of bitter laughter.
"The difference is that the Sand wanted to capture the village
and prove their strength superior to ours," the man replied while
directing Sakura to location of two more corpses - civilians this time,
a man and a woman - buried in the ruins of what had most likely been
their home. "They weren't interested in slaughtering people like these
two or wrecking buildings. The destruction they caused was a side
effect of the battle."
"The Mist though," Sakura began, a sinking feeling in her gut.
She tugged weakly on a large piece of wood lying across the woman's
body.
"They just wanted to cause as much destruction and death as
possible before we could respond," the ANBU confirmed. With one hand,
he pushed the wooden beam out of the way, letting Sakura pull the body
out to the street. Numbly, she returned to help him with the man's
corpse. "There was more than one reason why they were called the Bloody
Mist, and some of them still hold true."
"What's going to happen now?" Sakura asked.
"War," the ANBU said flatly. "With the Mist and Sound
certainly, and probably with the Rock alliance too, from what I've
heard. The next Great War began today." He started to walk toward the
next ruin, and Sakura trailed after him. "Hopefully the Cloud either
won't join or will join in on our side."
The mere mention of the Cloud made Sakura feel worse, as it
reminded her of Kakashi's predicament. The ANBU seemed to recognize
this, and said no more, merely shaking his head as they passed the ruin,
indicating that nothing of interest was contained within. When they
reached the next damaged building, though, he stopped suddenly. "What
is it?" Sakura asked.
"There are two survivors trapped in there." The ANBU's voice
was worried, and Sakura almost missed the subtle gesture that meant in
the Leaf's sign language that he was lying. "I want you to stay here
and see if you can get in contact with them. I'm going to go find some
others to help us clear the rubble without injuring them further.
Understand?"
Aided by the almost unnoticeable signs he had been making with
one hand, Sakura figured out what was really going on. The ANBU had
spotted two Mist ninja following them, and he believed that she was the
target. The oddity of that made her pause, but it was clear enough from
the rest of the night's events that the Mist really were targeting her.
The ANBU was going to split from Sakura to lure the enemy into striking,
then ambush them from concealment.
"I understand," Sakura said after what she hoped was not too
long a pause. She made carefully the corresponding gesture in sign
language as well, so that the ANBU could be certain she'd caught the
true meaning.
The man nodded once. "See you shortly," he said, and then he
was gone. Sakura did her best to not actively look for the Mist as she
walked toward the half-destroyed building where the survivors were
supposed to be. "Can you hear me?" she yelled.
"Yes," the Mist hunter ninja who had interrupted Sakura's fight
with Midori earlier in the night said as she appeared perched on top of
a pile of rubble. A moment later, Sakura spotted the black-clad Haruno
who had accompanied her, standing on top of the mostly undamaged
building next door. An instant after that, the second Mist kunoichi was
on the ground, standing next to her partner.
"What do you want from me?" Sakura asked, drawing a kunai and
backing away carefully.
The hunter ninja laughed. "We want you, Haruno Sakura. Our
medical ninja will see what damage Amaya-chan's little unauthorized
breeding did, and we'll use that data to make certain that there are
fewer mistakes like Midori in the future." The hunter ninja paused,
perhaps smiling behind her mask. "And then, maybe, once you've proved
your loyalty we'll let you serve as a Mist ninja."
Sakura couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You're crazy if
you think I'd ever do that."
"Then I suppose will just have to kill you when we're done," the
hunter ninja replied. "All the same to me, really."
Sakura took another step back. Where was the ANBU? "I'm not
about to let you do that, damn it!" she shouted, hurling a kunai - not
the one she had conspicuously drawn - at the hunter ninja.
The woman caught the blade between two of her fingers and stared
at for a half-instant, looking at the high-powered explosive tag wrapped
around the hilt. "Oh, by the way," she said, gesturing at the still
silent Haruno. "She can read Leaf sign language." Almost
simultaneously with the explosive tag's detonation, the hunter ninja
dissolved into water. From not far away, there was a sudden scream -
the ANBU.
Sakura barely managed to dodge out of the way of the Haruno
woman's swift attack, the kunai she still held warding off the Mist
kunoichi's own dagger. As she backpedaled, parrying her foe's rapid
strikes while avoiding meeting her eyes, Sakura tried to gauge the
woman's strength. She was quick, but nothing Sakura couldn't handle if
she got a moment to take the offensive.
Obviously, the woman wasn't going to just provide that sort of
opportunity out of generosity. Sakura let the woman's next strike catch
her in the chest - or rather, she let it catch a conveniently-sized
piece of half-burnt wood she'd used for the Replacement Technique. Her
foe didn't seem terribly surprised, discarding her stuck weapon and
drawing another kunai before Sakura could attack.
Sakura hurled shuriken to keep the Mist ninja busy as she landed
on a nearby rooftop. She wasn't going to give the enemy a chance to
recover. Even as the Mist kunoichi parried the shuriken, Sakura was
diving at her, claws of flame extending from one hand. The Haruno woman
danced backward, expertly sending her kunai flying at Sakura's heart.
The weapon passed directly through the Leaf chuunin, and the older
woman's eyes widened slightly as Sakura's genjutsu vanished.
Behind the Mist kunoichi, the real Sakura dropped into a
spinning kick, sweeping the woman's legs out from underneath her. The
woman managed to catch her fall, flipping back to a standing position
facing Sakura, but this left her open for a handful of heartbeats.
Knowing that she might have even less time before the hunter ninja
returned, Sakura didn't hesitate to strike, her kunai slipping between
her opponent's ribs.
The woman stiffened as the blade struck home, and then,
inexplicably, she smiled behind her cloth mask. "You've become very
strong, Sakura-chan," she said.
Sakura's eyes widened. "No way," she breathed.
"I don't know that you'll ever believe me," the woman continued,
her voice weakening with every word, "but everything I did was for you,
in my own way." She coughed wetly. "I'm sorry. Tell Inoichi -" She
cut off in mid-sentence, stumbling backward and falling over on her
back, and then she was still.
The ANBU suddenly appeared again, standing over the fallen
woman. "I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier." His mask - or one broken
half of it, rather - was in his hands rather than on his face now,
revealing the silver eyes of the Byakugan. "That damn hunter ninja was
a Haruno also." He smiled slightly. "It looks like you did better than
me, though, Sakura-kun. Good work."
Sakura didn't respond, stumbling forward and kneeling down to
peel the cloth mask back from the dead woman's suddenly familiar face.
Tears fell from her eyes, and Sakura made no effort stop them. "Damn
it," she hissed.
"Sakura-kun?" the ANBU asked, worry suddenly in his voice.
The pink-haired kunoichi didn't answer. "Mother!" she sobbed,
and that was the last coherent thought she would have for some time.
***********************************************************************
Today had been a particularly boring day, Temari decided as she
watched the sun set. In times of peace, border duty was rarely
interesting, and being stuck guarding a border as desolate as the point
where the Wind, Bird, and Rain Countries met was particularly non-
eventful. Even if the terrain had been more easy to traverse, the Rain
had been allies for generations, and the Bird Country had no ninja
village. There was little to do here other than occasionally ruining
some smugglers' days.
The only interesting event in her time here had been when that
Leaf team had brought a Sand missing ninja who had been captured in the
Bird Country. Temari smirked as she remembered how she had needled the
girl she'd fought in the preliminaries. Now, that had been fun. It
hadn't been fun enough to make up for the months of boredom, though.
Maybe accepting the promotion to chuunin had been a mistake. If she'd
taken the exam again, she'd be in the Leaf Village now. If she was
lucky, she might have ruined that Tenten's chances a second time. That
would have really been fun.
In any case, she was going to have to arrange for Gaara to have
some psychotic episodes so that the village council would once again
consider it unsafe to not have both of the dangerously unstable boy's
siblings on hand to control him. Being with Gaara was unpleasant in
many ways and even now carried far too high a chance of winding up dead,
but at least it was never boring. Temari hated being bored. Silently,
she prayed that something interesting would happen before she wound up
committing suicide or something stupid like that.
"Temari-sama!" The Sand kunoichi started at the sudden shout.
That was Tenma, one of the three genin under her command, and the one on
watch now. Gesturing at the other two genin to stay put for the moment,
in matter of seconds she had joined Tenma on top of the rocky hill where
he stood. Tenma might have made a bad first impression on her thanks to
his fearful descriptions of a Leaf kunoichi stronger than Gaara who had
turned out to be that little pink-haired wimp on Uzumaki and Uchiha's
team, but he wasn't the sort to call her for every bit of dust on the
horizon.
"What is it?" she said harshly, squinting to try and make out
what was hidden in this particular dust cloud. The genin wordlessly
handed her his binoculars, and Temari peered through them. A single
figure, most likely a ninja, was moving rapidly in an evasive pattern,
clearly trying to evade pursuit. The blonde quickly began to search for
his pursuers, finding a squad of three uniformed ninja following close
behind. At this distance, she couldn't make out anything other than
that the uniforms were gray, which in this part of the world meant
Waterfall, Rain, or Sound.
It was unusual for any of those to be in the Bird Country,
Temari knew. That tiny nation usually went to the Rock when its few
native ninja weren't up to a mission, as the barrier of almost
impassible mountains on their northern border provided insurance against
becoming a vassal of the Earth Country. Even though they obviously gave
missions to other villages - as evidenced by the Leaf two weeks ago - it
was worth investigating. Giving the positions of the ninja another
look, Temari judged that the pursuers would catch their prey only a few
hundred yards from the Wind Country.
Handing the binoculars back to Tenma, Temari gestured for the
other two genin to join them. "We're about to go on a little trip into
the Bird Country," she announced.
"Temari-sama?" Tenma asked.
"There's about to be a little fight here, and I figure the Wind
Country and the Hidden Sand will probably have an interest in who wins,"
Temari said. "I intend to make sure the right side wins."
"But how will we know which is the right side?" one of the other
genin asked.
Temari grinned widely. "We'll figure it out as we go along,"
she said. "Now, let's get moving!"
A few minutes later, the Sand team was lying in wait along the
fleeing ninja's path, and a few minutes after that he - or she, as it
turned out - arrived not far from where Temari had predicted. She was
wearing nondescript brown clothing, and though obviously a ninja from
the large shuriken she carried on her back she had no forehead protector
or other sign of allegiance visible. At Temari's signal, her team rose
from concealment. Temari slowly began to open her fan, waiting to see
the strange ninja's reaction to the appearance of Sand ninja.
The woman took a cautious step backward, wearily studying
Temari's team. The Sand kunoichi judged that she was weighing their
combat strength, an unfriendly if not outright hostile move. Temari
opened her fan further, and in response the woman drew her massive
shuriken. She quietly snarled, "Damn it."
Before anything else could happen, her pursuers arrived, now
revealed to be ninja of the Hidden Rain. One, the leader most likely,
stepped forward. "A little far north for Sand ninja, huh?"
Temari's eyes narrowed. "Have you got a problem with that?"
The Rain squad leader laughed. "Not at the moment."
"Care to explain?" Temari asked, gesturing slightly with her
hand at the strange kunoichi, who seemed almost resigned to her fate.
The Rain ninja hesitated before answering. "She's a criminal, a
missing ninja. The matter is classified and no concern of yours, but we
thank you for your aid."
Sudden hope flared in the woman's eyes. "Lies!" Her free hand
pulled out a Grass forehead protector. "I am Hatanaka Iru, special
jounin of the Hidden Grass! By the terms of our alliance, I request
emergency aid and entry into the Wind Country!"
"Is that so?" Temari asked skeptically, her eyes turning to the
Rain squad. It was not unheard of for ninja of allied villages to come
into conflict as a result of missions, but in that case the Grass ninja
had no standing to request aid from the Sand, nor would the Rain have
any reason to lie. Most likely, the kunoichi was lying to try and save
her life. But, then, why did she not make her claim until the Rain had
explained their purpose? Temari couldn't stop herself from frowning.
"Do not listen to her," the Rain's leader interjected. "She
stole that forehead protector from Hatanaka Iru's corpse."
"Hear me out!" the woman demanded. "I'm -"
"Silence!" the Rain leader shouted, hurling a kunai at the
woman's back.
Temari reacted half-instinctively, unfurling and swinging her
fan in one smooth motion. "Cutting Whirlwind!" she shouted, directing
the deadly gusts around the woman the snare the flying weapon and send
it harmlessly to one side.
"Thank you," the other kunoichi gasped out.
"Why do you interfere?" the Rain's leader asked dangerously,
drawing another blade. "Do the Sand shelter criminals now?"
"I've got too many questions to decide one way or another,"
Temari stated. "My squad will take this woman into custody until her
identity can be determined. You are welcome to stay with us, and once
your story checks out we will give her to you. Is that acceptable?"
The woman dropped her weapon. "I consent." Temari's eyes
widened.
"That tears it," another Rain, not the apparent leader growled.
"Kill them all!"
In less than an instant, Temari's fan had swung again. "Great
Cutting Whirlwind!" she screamed, sending razor-sharp blades of wind at
the three Rain. With a second, subtle shake of her fan, she kicked up
massive clouds of dust. "Now!" she shouted.
In a matter of moments, all the Sand ninja had surrounded the
Grass woman. "Thank you," Iru said again.
"There's no time for that," Temari said, spreading her fan out
on the rocky ground and kneeling on top of it. "Everyone aboard." The
Grass kunoichi complied without hesitation, and Temari's squad scrambled
on top of the fan a moment later. "Channel chakra to keep yourself on,"
Temari advised Iru before rapidly forming seals. "Fuuton: Swift
Traveling Wind Technique."
A might wind lifted the fan, even with the weight piled on top
of it. Only a few minutes later, Temari brought the group to a safe
landing almost a quarter-mile into the Wind Country. Without waiting
for orders, all her passengers stepped off the fan. Breathing heavily
from the exertion, Temari got off herself, folding the fan back up and
returning it to its place on her back. "Let's get moving," she said.
"Those ninja, whoever they really are, could be following us."
"They really are Rain," Iru said grimly.
Temari straightened. "Explain," she snapped. "If you've
dragged us into a legitimate fight over conflicting missions, I'll have
your head."
"I wish that were the case." The Grass ninja took a deep
breath, tying her forehead protector into place around her head.
"Yesterday morning," she said flatly, "forces of the Hidden Rain and the
Hidden Sound, acting in alliance, attacked and destroyed the Hidden
Village of Grass."
"Gods," Temari wasn't able to stop herself from breathing. One
of her team said something much more vulgar, and it took some effort for
Temari to not follow suit. She forced herself to take a deep breath.
"What do you want us to do, Iru-san?"
"I never did get your name," the older woman said.
"Temari of the Desert," the blonde answered.
"Well then, Temari-san," the Grass ninja said, "I would like to
request escort to the Sand Village, where I will complete my mission."
"Your mission?" Temari asked, already knowing the answer.
"Now that I know you have no part in this treachery," Iru said,
"I will request that the Hidden Sand honor our alliance and go to war
with the Rain at once."
***********************************************************************
Author's Random Ramblings
1) You know how it used to be that every chapter was longer than the
last? Well, it's nostalgia time, because this chapter is longer than
Chapter 11, which in turn used to be the longest chapter in this story.
I really have no idea how this happened.
2) I'm really kind of curious as to how many people suspected the
identity of the Mist spymaster. Since I suspect the question of how
Amaya could be the spymaster will come up, I'll answer it in advance.
The piece of information that convinced Kabuto that the spy had to be in
Tsunade's inner councils was that the Mist knew that Naruto was leaving
the village in advance and sent warning to Sound's agents lying in wait
the night he actually departed. Amaya knew that Naruto was leaving soon
through Sakura, and rereading the first scene of the prologue should
make it clear how she was learned of Naruto's departure on that night.
3) I also suspect that there will be some annoyance at the relative lack
of Naruto in this chapter, particularly after last chapter. Mea culpa:
I wanted to have more of his side of the story and him in particular
this chapter, but as things turned out I couldn't advance his plot too
much without making it come to a climax too soon. Even as is, it didn't
look too lopsided in the outline, but I didn't anticipate the last two
days being quite so long.
4) As ever, I do welcome any and all comments on this story. While I
love detailed responses, even one-line reactions are much appreciated.
5) Next time, in One Hundred Days Chapter 13, The Fire Burns: Jiraiya
hunts for the Akatsuki member hidden in the Cloud Village, knowing that
with every step he takes he comes closer to becoming the hunted instead.
Naruto faces what might be his most difficult challenge yet: alone,
against the strength of an entire village, he must find a way to save
Kakashi. Back at home, Sakura must struggle to come to terms with what
she has done as the Hidden Leaf readies itself for war...
Draft Started: July 13, 2006
Draft Finished: August 10, 2006
Draft Released: August 11, 2006
Final Released: