Chapter 2. The Leader of the Pack

The ninja base was located to the north of the small merchant village, its position advantageous to both locations for supply and defence. While civilians could travel by foot between the two locations in about 10 minutes, ninjas could also traverse the distance in a minute or two. This meant that there was enough separation between the two locations to allow both to go about their business, and that both could provide assistance to each other in a timely manner.

Kakashi could see how this type of arrangement could be beneficial to both parties yet he wondered about the financial and political ramifications of such a setup. And a more pressing matter was whether or not the people in the merchant village knew if the ninja base was authorised by the Daimyo of Hot Springs country. However he quickly pushed that all aside. He and Naruto had a mission to accomplish and until it was completed anyone standing in their way, ninja or civilian, was considered a threat. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

The both of them had been travelling back to Konoha after another successful mission, an assassination on an influential politician visiting Wave country, when they had received a message via slug from Senju Tsunade, the fifth Hokage.

The summoned messenger slug deposited the mission scroll on the ground in front of them and dispersed immediately, not even bothering to wait for a response. That was the only indication Kakashi and Naruto needed that the mission was serious. The messenger slug had left before a response could be given because their leader needed them to do this whether they were able to or not.

Their mission was to head to a small merchant village called Jinata, which was located in Hot Springs country, where an unidentified ninja base was located and rescue the captured members of Team Anko. The mission scroll listed that there were two team members confirmed alive: Mitarashi Anko and Hyuuga Hanabi.

Anko's team had been ambushed by enemy ninja while returning from a mission in the same country. Two of their team, Chuunin's named Takama and Kino, had been killed during the ambush while Anko and Hanabi were specifically targeted for capture. No mention was made of why they were specifically targeted, but Kakashi could draw several conclusions.

So Kakashi's and Naruto's job was to go in and rescue the two remaining members of Team Anko. Which would've been easy enough except for the last note on the mission scroll: the message sent back to Konoha was sent by Hanabi herself after she escaped capture. And instead of heading back to Konoha, Hanabi mentioned nothing on what she was going to do while help was organised. Which Kakashi knew meant she was either out there planning a rescue mission herself, was captured by an enemy, or was dead.

All three options were bad in Kakashi's opinion, but they had a mission to accomplish. And while he wasn't sure on the whereabouts of Hanabi, he was sure on the location of Anko. So for the time being he and Naruto proceeded with a plan to rescue Anko.

Surrounding the ninja base, and separating it from the village, was a small forest. While it didn't compare to the forests of Konoha, it was still quite dense, which was ideal for Kakashi to hide in while he kept an eye on the ninja base. Shifting his weight slightly on the branch of tree, Kakashi keyed his mic as he continued to scan the outer perimeter. "Status?"

For several seconds there was no response. He knew that communication with Naruto while he was undercover was a risky move at this point, but it was a risk he needed to take if they were going to succeed with their mission. Just as he was about to give up on a response and go back to waiting he got a response from the other end.

"Target located. Proceeding with extraction."

Kakashi allowed a small smile. "Roger. On your mark."

No response followed but Kakashi didn't need it. He and Naruto had completed so many missions together that they knew they could count on each other. Naruto would get the job done inside the base. And Kakashi would complete his job outside the base.

Naruto swore under his breath as he waited just down the hallway, around a corner, from the impromptu interrogation room that Anko was located in.

He and Kakashi had come up with a good plan to get in and rescue Anko. He would go into the base disguised as one of the enemy ninja and locate Anko. While this was happening Kakashi would plant several explosive tags at key points around the base. Then once Naruto had Anko, Kakashi would blow the tags and they would escape in the confusion.

Nice, clean, and simple. Yet if there was one thing Naruto had learnt throughout his years as a ninja, it was that nothing went to plan.

While doing recon on the base and village Naruto and Kakashi had identified a rough hierarchy of ninja's in the base. Knowing who was an underling by several visual clues they then used that knowledge to grab a lone ninja wandering the streets after several drinks at a bar in the village during the night. One sharingan-powered genjutsu from Kakashi later and they had a rough layout of the base, how many ninja there were, and more importantly, where Anko was located.

By chance they had grabbed a ninja that spent a bit of time running errands for the commander of the base. Disguised as him Naruto would be able to move around the inside of the base freely without attracting too much attention.

As morning came Naruto disguised himself with a henge of the man they kidnapped and activated a seal on his body that restricted the amount of chakra he could access while making his chakra signature smaller. Now sufficiently in character Naruto began approaching the base with confidence that only an advanced ninja sensor would be able to tell he was not who he appeared to be. And he and Kakashi knew from the information provided by their 'informant' that there were no sensors in the base.

As he walked through the base he used some personal information gathered on the man he was imitating to move about and interact with other ninjas with ease. Knowing time was of the essence he quickly found the room he needed to. And that's where he almost blew the entire mission.

The hallway he was standing in was empty yet he might as well have been in the interrogation room considering how loud the noise was coming from the room. Each time Anko was hit the sound of the impact, and the scream that followed, echoed down the empty corridor. Stretching out his senses he could tell no-one else was in the immediate vicinity. Walking up to the door he adopted a rigid posture and knocked three times. All noise on the other side of the door ceased and then it opened.

Seeing Anko laying on her side on the floor, strapped to a chair, and badly beaten left Naruto shocked. Despite all the years of training and countless tragedies he'd seen his body shut down briefly. The other two men in the room were inconsequential as his eyes locked on the form of Anko. Yet as quickly as it came the professional in him quickly took back over before it was too late. He didn't need his emotions jeopardising the mission right now. And it was just in time too.

"I asked. What. Is. IT!?" The man interrogating Anko asked a second time from his position on top of Anko. Naruto brought himself out of his brief shock at the same time and quickly saluted the man.

"Sir, I'm here to inform you the commander needs to talk to you immediately in his office."

Naruto watched the man sigh loudly in resignation. "Fine. I'll be there in five minutes. You're dismissed."

"Understood Sir." Saluting again Naruto turned and left down the hallway in the opposite direction that he came. Gaining control of his warring emotions, something he didn't expect to cause him issues, he made it the end of the hallway and hid himself around the corner. Clenching his hands into fists he focused his mind on his next course of action. He couldn't get sidetracked by feelings of pity and protection. He needed to get Anko out of here safely.

That was the time that Kakashi's voice decided to come out of his radio. "Status?"

Taking a deep breath he focused his senses back down the hallway he just left just in time to hear a brief exchange between the interrogator and the other man guarding the room.

"You stay here and guard her. Don't move her from that position."

"Yes sir." The sound of footsteps heading in the opposite direction and a door closing told Naruto all he needed to know. The interrogator had left in the direction of the command centre while the guard had closed the door to the room.

Keying his mic Naruto responded back to Kakashi. "Target located. Proceeding with extraction."

The response was immediate. "Roger. On your mark."

Taking one more calming breath Naruto walked back around the corner and down the hallway to the room. His mind was focused now. The mission was proceeding again as planned. Getting to the door he knocked on it twice and waited. Not one to disappoint the guard on the other side opened the door barely two seconds later and looked at him harshly.

"What do you want?" The curt tone played right into Naruto's hands.

Naruto pushed past the guard into the darkened room and stopped three feet from Anko. "I just wanted to see the Konoha bitch everyone's been talking about." Making himself sound nasty he didn't have long to wait for the guard to respond.

"Well this isn't some goddamn peep show." The guard took a step towards Naruto and reached out with his right hand. "So get the hell out!" However the guard never got to finish his next action.

Acting the way he did Naruto had already anticipated the guard's reaction and moved before anything else could be said. Naruto slipped underneath the man's outstretched right arm pivoting around so they were face to face, pulled a kunai from his hip holster, and jammed the point of it into the man's throat. Naruto clamped his free hand over the guard's mouth at the same time to muffle any sound and pushed the man up against the wall to the left of the doorway.

Surprise and shock shone in the man's eyes, yet there was nothing he could do as Naruto had him pinned to the wall. And then two seconds later he was dead. Naruto watched the man carefully for another few seconds to make sure he was dead, and satisfied that he was, lowered the corpse of the guard to the floor.

Standing back up Naruto now turned his attention on Anko. Glossing over the mess that was her face and clothes Naruto walked over to her and leaned down in front of her. The eyes that looked back at him were full of confusion and fear.

"It's okay Anko, it's me, Naruto." Dropping the henge he began to reach over behind her to undo the chakra-restraining bindings on her wrists when Anko recoiled in fear at his touch.

"Get away fr…" Naruto clamped his hand firmly over Anko's mouth as she mumbled loudly into his hand. She struggled in vain for a few more seconds but Naruto didn't care. Right now he was straining his senses in all directions trying to pick up on any activity in the vicinity of the room.

Naruto eventually felt Anko give up on struggling, and satisfied that no-one in the base had been alerted by Anko's outburst, turned his attention back on her again.

"What the hell's wrong with you? It's me dammit." Naruto kept his voice low but he couldn't keep the anger out. "I'm here with Kakashi to rescue you." The look in her eyes went from disbelief to relief in seconds. "Now I'm going to remove my hand. Are you going to keep it quiet?" A quick nod and Naruto removed his hand.

Naruto reached over and started undoing the bindings on her wrists again. Using the kunai he used to kill the guard he had Anko untied from chair in seconds. Being careful with her he helped her into a sitting position. He watched her flex her hands and arms with obvious discomfort.

"You going to be okay to move?" Anko looked at him with anger in her eyes. Naruto didn't have time for it. "Don't start Anko. I know you're tough, but I need to get you out of here fast, and if that means carrying you over my shoulder then so be it."

They stared at each other for several seconds. Anko seemed to come to the same conclusion as him. "Help me up. Then we… can get out of here." The cough inbetween her words had the pool of blood on the ground growing. Naruto scowled but grabbed an arm with his other arm reaching around her waist and helped her up. The wince of pain on her face and the unsteadiness of her legs didn't bode well for getting her out of the base easily.

Anko seemed to be read his mind. "Once I get moving I'll be fine. They had me strapped to that chair for too long." Naruto looked back at the chair on the ground and noticed a sealing array etched into the seat of it.

"There is another alternative." Naruto reached into holster on his hip and removed a syringe. "This is a special mix from the Akamichi clan. It's a dose of adrenalin mixed with their chakra boosting drugs. Kakashi gave it to me as a last resort."

Anko stared at the offered drugs. "Side effects?"

"Nothing a few days in bed won't fix. But with your injuries I'm not too sure."

"Do it."

Naruto didn't wait another second and stuck the needle in Anko's right arm. A few seconds later Anko was standing on her own and ready to go. Naruto eyed her warily as she flexed her arms again. "I feel great."

"Good, cause we've got to go." Naruto offered her the kunai he used to free her and then started towards the door. Looking out into the hallway he held up a hand to stop Anko from coming any closer. He looked back at her after making sure the hallway was clear again. "Here's the plan: you stay behind me and keep up. We're going straight for the exit I have planned. Got it?"

Anko nodded back. "Got it."