Esperwen- I know, I know; I should be updating my other stories! I'm actually taking a break from homework, right now, which I probably shouldn't be doing... (I HAVE 3 PAPERS DUE IN 5 DAYS, MAN!) Buut, I felt that it was time I posted something. So, here we are. It's something.
Chapter Two ~ Counting Casualties
Tsunade looked around her battlefield, frowning at the carnage that littered what had once been a dirt road. Gaara-sama, Temari-san, and the Konoha team Tsunade had sent out arrived not a moment too soon; by the time the six ninja had arrived, Hinata had been knocked unconscious, Ino had been weakly slowing down Iwa ninja, and Tsunade had been struggling with simply hitting people. The men had not been doing too well, either; Kiba and Akamaru had resorted to wrestling against opponents, and Naruto had been down to his last nine shuriken.
But two blurs of blue lightning had streaked across the road, one stopping Iwa ninja that were just past Tsunade's group, entering or approaching Konoha's main gate, while the other circled and protected the exhausted Leaf shinobi, preventing them from being attacked. Gigantic wind-based techniques had swept approaching shinobi backwards, away from the gate, and any enemies that escaped the 'minor' hurricane had had tonnes of sand to deal with. By the gate, some ninja found themselves strangled to death by their own shadows, and other shinobi discovered that their weapons gained lives of their own and turned against their owners.
"Holy-" Kiba muttered a few things to himself that he probably shouldn't have.
"Trust Naruto to let enemies in the front door," Sasuke smirked to himself, returning from re-securing the main gate.
"I can hear you, teme!" Naruto snapped, shaking a fist from beside Hinata's still form.
"Late as usual, Kakashi," Tsunade scolded with mock severity, shaking a finger at her 'rescuer'.
"Sorry, we got lost somewhere between Ame and Oto," Kakashi smiled, scratching the back of his silver-haired head.
"That's some jutsu, Temari-chan," Ino complimented weakly, while she knelt on the ground, drained, "You're carrying two fans, now?"
"One's a spare," Temari shrugged, shoving the smaller, but still very large fan into her backpack, "I just thought I'd try the Slicing Hurricane Technique out. I guess it was okay."
"Impressive as ever, with the same mock humility," Ino smirked, "Admit it, you think you rock."
"Yeah, I do," Temari grinned, helping Ino up with one hand.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, arriving at Temari's side, "You couldn't take care of Konoha for one week, Ino?"
"Lay off, slacker; if you were in my place, you'd be dead already," Ino rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and then went to join her Hokage, where Gaara and the two Sharingan-users were already gathered.
Deniizu, the sixth arriving ninja, rubbed her temples discretely, before walking onto the road where Kiba was; she had a telekinetic bloodline limit, and overuse of the ability gave her a headache. The 18-year-old orphan was dressed in a black, Chinese shirt with sleeves that reached her elbows, and that buttoned up in front along the middle, long enough to just go over her hips, and covered in small pockets for various throwing weapons. She wore black cargo pants which were also covered in pockets, for the same reason, and even though her only piece of clothing that had colour, an open, green chuunin vest, already had pockets, she had sewn on even more places to accommodate extra kunai. Her black forehead protector was tied onto her forehead, and she had a black-hilted katana strapped onto her belt, alongside two ninja weapon pouches. Deniizu had green eyes, fair skin, and brown, shoulder-length hair that was streaked red with dye, as well as a fierce look that was almost always on her face; right now, however, the young chuunin looked down on Kiba with concern.
"You all right, man?" Deniizu asked seriously, helping her friend up and mindful of all the cuts and wounds he had sustained.
"Yeah, nothing's fatal," Kiba nodded, while Akamaru stayed lying where he was, too exhausted to get up, "Hinata and Naruto got the worst of it, I think. They were right in the middle of the group; they wouldn't let Tsunade-sama take the most dangerous place."
"Hinata blacked out, and Naruto's just about getting there," Deniizu nodded, then, when both of them heard a thud and commotion coming from the other group, "Yeah, he's out. Do you know where Michiko is?"
Kiba glanced over and saw that Naruto had fainted, then grinned at his old friend's constant calm and punched her in the arm lightly.
"Your best friend is fine. When the attacks started she had been on a date with Shino. They probably weren't happy to be bothered by ninja from the Hidden Stone."
Deniizu smiled, knowing that Shino and Michiko rarely had uninterrupted dates anymore (if ever); Michiko was one of the most talented medical ninja in Konoha and Suna, and Shino was becoming somewhat busy with both ninja and family affairs. Since Shino had turned eighteen, the Aburame clan was going into official training to prepare Shino to become clan leader, not to mention they had to study Michiko to see if she was proper material for a clan leader's wife. Also, Konoha's ANBU were interested in enlisting Shino, having been watching him ever since he had been promoted to the jounin ranking a few months back; the two young ninja were hard put to find time alone with each other.
"How was the trip to Suna?" Kiba asked, starting to walk towards the Hokage.
"Boring. I'm so used to travelling that I just don't care anymore," Deniizu yawned, then smirked, "Unlike Sasuke."
Upon hearing his name, the young jounin glared at Deniizu, who only countered it with a harsh stare of her own; even when they had studied in the Ninja Academy, Sasuke and Deniizu had never taken to each other. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Uchiha Itachi had been one of Deniizu's favourite people?
"Many of Iwa's ninja came through here, but I know that several of them came in over the walls or through other gates," Tsunade was saying, "We have most of our fighters inside, and I don't hear much noise, so chances are the battle inside is already done."
"You would be right, Tsunade-sama," a woman's voice said, and suddenly Shizune and four other Konoha ninja landed among their group, "This wasn't all of Iwa's forces, I would guess; only about one hundred, certainly less than 150 Iwa ninja entered Konoha."
"But though we beat them down, we don't just have a few injured or casualties on our side," Genma added, chewing on a senbon needle, "We need to collect the wounded and fallen."
"All right, then, let's go inside," Tsunade nodded, starting to move towards the gate, "We can't just wait out here."
Tsunade gave Deniizu a pointed look before nodding towards the two unconscious Konoha ninja. Understanding what Tsunade had meant, Deniizu used her telekinetic abilities to lift Hinata and Naruto gently from the ground. Gaara was already changing the landscape, burying the fallen enemies' bodies in the forest using sand.
"This looks pretty bad," Shikamaru mused, as they entered the gates, "...even the shopkeepers weren't given a chance to run, it seems."
~*~*~
"Rini-chan!"
Kiba ran and slid to where Pooriin had fallen, hurriedly checking her vitals. All were apparent, but they seemed...slow, somehow. Tsunade bent over by the girl's form, using a searching medical technique to try and diagnose what was wrong with the kunoichi. Chouji had been standing nearby, guarding Pooriin's body; now, he stepped over to greet the newcomers.
"Shikamaru! You made it back! Just in time!" Chouji exclaimed, enveloping his best friend in a back-breaking embrace.
"Ow! Careful with the spine!" Shikamaru grunted, hearing something crack.
"What are you talking about? The battle was already mostly over," Temari pointed out.
"Exactly," the former Team 10 said at the same time, then they and Temari shared a laugh; as a bit of an homage to his teacher, Shikamaru liked arriving in the nick of time, acting as a sort of hero to his comrades.
"It's good to see you, Temari-chan," Chouji added, giving the Sand kunoichi a significantly gentler hug, "And...Ino, you're hurt!"
"What?" Ino looked down to where Chouji was pointing, and saw that her right arm was still gashed and bleeding from earlier, "Oh. Look at that."
Ino tried making hand seals for healing jutsu, then grimaced; she was just about out of chakra. Old-fashioned aid would have to do; the platinum blonde ninja took a roll of bandages from her ninja supplies pouch and started wrapping her arm.
"Here, I'll help," Chouji volunteered, moving forward with his hands out.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ino shook her head, edging away, "Help everyone else out. We have to take the injured to the hospital."
Not feeling particularly needed, Gaara, Sasuke and Kakashi excused themselves and went off in different directions. Deciding that there was enough help in the city square already, they decided to search for more wounded in the village, while Deniizu continued with carrying Naruto and Hinata to the hospital.
"Pooriin's been poisoned," Tsunade realized, before handing the ninja over to Kiba, "When someone cut her arm here," she pointed to a small cut, "...there was poison on the blade. You should take her to the hospital, but don't jostle her around too much; we don't know what will happen if the poison takes over her entire body."
"All right," Kiba nodded, and after he picked up his girlfriend, Akamaru took them both onto his back and they hurried away while Tsunade followed at a slower pace, looking for another of her villagers who were in need of help.
"Were you and Pooriin-chan fighting all alone?" Temari asked, looking at Chouji questioningly.
"No, Neji and Tenten were here, too," Chouji answered, shaking his head, "But as soon as the fighting stopped, Neji took Tenten away; she had been wounded and hit over the head, so he probably wanted to get her out of any more harm's way as quickly as possible."
"Aw...Neji and Tenten," Ino's eyes had stars in them for a little while, "They'd be so cute together..."
"How many times does Neji have to tell you?" Shikamaru groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead, "They're just teammates and close friends. That's all!"
"You never know, Shika-kun," Temari said teasingly, "A battle is a great way for two people to get closer together...maybe even spark a relationship... Do you remember Tayuya?"
"We weren't together back then, either," Shikamaru grumbled, jutting out his lower jaw slightly in a pout, "Quit twisting things, woman. This isn't about us."
"It probably is now," Ino laughed, walking faster to pull away from Shikamaru and Temari, "C'mon, Chouji, let's leave the two lovebirds alone to their playful banter."
"We're not playfully bantering! I'm serious!" Shikamaru exclaimed, but nobody paid him any attention, "...Troublesome friends..."
~*~*~
Sakura woke up slowly to the rest of the world, wondering where she was. Were those clouds above her? Was she...outside? Great, did Naruto pull one of his pranks on her and carry her while she was sleeping outside? Sakura could see Naruto now, coaxing Kiba, Sasuke or even Hinata to help him out. It was great that they were all back together, but 18-year-olds shouldn't play tricks like...!
Memory of the battle rushed back to Sakura, and she sat up with a start. Wincing at the pain in her head, she tried to ignore it while looking around wildly. Where was Lee? He had been there, right beside her...
Seeing a glimpse of green, Sakura got up with a cry, hoping that it wasn't really Lee's body, and maybe that it was someone else, like an enemy. But it was; Lee had been viciously torn up, both by kunai and stone-based techniques that the Iwa ninja must have used against him. He was barely recognizable with all that blood and with such a torn bodysuit, but when Sakura wiped the redness away from his face, she could see it was him. Sakura bit her lip to stop a gasp, and then glared at the eight Iwa ninja's bodies that were nearby; Lee was like this because of them.
Quickly, Sakura activated healing jutsu to work on the most major wound, his torso, but as she did so, she kept watching for someone to come by. They were right by the hospital, after all; someone had to pass them in order to take their own wounded in for help.
Soon enough, Sakura caught sight of a white blur, carrying something that was red and black. They looked familiar...yes, Sakura recognized them.
"Neji! Hey!" Sakura called, not raising her hands from her healing technique, "Look over here!"
Neji slowed his run to a jog, looking for the source of the voice, then sped back up to join Sakura.
"Is that Lee?" Neji asked, incredulous.
"Yeah...is that Tenten?" Sakura exclaimed, then remembered herself and made sure her chakra flows were still constant.
"She got knocked out," Neji nodded, then added, "As soon as I sign Tenten in, I'll come back and help you carry Lee."
"No, we shouldn't move him right now," Sakura said, shaking her head, "It's mostly trauma wounds, so ask the receptionist to get Momoji and Tohru out here. And Tenten has, what, a head wound?"
"And a broken arm," Neji answered.
"Ok, ask for Hanajime or Uotani," Sakura said resolutely, "If there are any problems, just mention my name. Not that anyone will argue with the great Hyuuga Neji, of course."
Neji rolled his white eyes at Sakura's comment, but still he thanked her with a slight bow and hurried inside. At least he knew Tenten would get the best treatment, now; sometimes it was nice to be well-known and have good connections like Sakura in a hospital.
~*~*~
Gaara and Sasuke ended up walking along Konoha's evacuation route, to check on the village's non-shinobi contingent. At the beginning of the path, a few bodies of ninja, both of Iwa and Konoha, were found, but after that, the route seemed clear. Strong jounin had been set up at the trail's beginning, one of the survivors explained while a medic tended to him, so few Iwa ninja actually got through. Maybe only a dozen, and they had done so either by luck or they were stealthier than the guarding jounin had bargained for.
Still, halfway up the wooden stairs, both jounin noticed that blood stains were becoming apparent, as were burn marks; there had been a notable fight on the stairs. Several gouges had been made in the wooden steps and surrounding area; parts of the cliff jutted out in unnatural, diagonal stalagmites, probably due to more stone jutsu. Sasuke counted nine bodies, then two more further on the road; at the three-quarter mark Gaara had to put out, with his sand, a nearby tree that was on fire. Finally, just at the mouth of the refugee's cave, they found one more Iwa ninja's body with insects buzzing around it, as well as a huge, horizontal stalagmite jutting from the cliff wall; both shinobi surmised that there had been a serious injury sustained by either Shino or Michiko, looking at the stone spike's bloody tip.
"Gaara-nii!"
Saneijin ran out of the cave, from his post just inside the cave and within the shadows where he couldn't be seen, but where he could see everything that happened outside. Sasuke couldn't help but admire that the 10-year-old had thought to stay in a place like that, considering that most kids wanted to see all the action, often forgetting to put their own safety first. But then again, watching how the boy hugged Gaara, and guessing how close the two were, Sasuke had to take into account that the Hidden Sand's Kazekage must be one of Saneijin's tutors.
"Saneijin, you might remember Uchiha Sasuke," Gaara said, gesturing to the jounin as he spoke.
"Yeah, Mimi-okaa always uses him as an example with my ninja training," Saneijin shrugged, after waving to Sasuke, "But Gaara-nii...it's about Shi-nii."
The kid's nickname, Shi-nii, sounds like the word 'die', Sasuke thought, somewhat morbidly amused; while he and Gaara followed Saneijin inside, he couldn't help but notice there was a trail of blood.
Inside the cave, after a few silent minutes of travelling through tunnels, the three males began to come across small clusters of people who were talking to each other in whispers. Every now and then, Sasuke heard a comment about both him and Gaara, and he felt glares on the back of his neck. He frowned; it was irritating, sometimes, when everyone knew and discussed who you were or the mistakes you had made in the past. Up ahead, they saw a light where they all knew the main chamber for the refugees would be, but instead of continuing straight, Saneijin made a detour and turned right.
Still following the blood trail, they came to a small natural cave, whose entrance was hidden by a large stalagmite, and which was lit up with a glow though there were no torches or lamps. Shino was lying in the centre of it, a large wound in his side; he had been the one hurt by the stalagmite out front. Michiko was kneeling beside him, her healing jutsu giving the cavern a cold, blue light while she held her hands against Shino's side. Blood was all over both ninja, but it looked to be mostly Shino's; Michiko seemed to have only cuts or bruises, not large gashes.
"Gaara-sama, Sasuke-kun," Shino said in a faint voice, but still in his deep baritone that somehow managed to sound calm, "Forgive us; we would stand to pay our respects, but..." Shino fought against choking on his own blood for a moment, "...but my wound, and Michiko-san's healing-"
"Silence," Gaara cut Shino off with a slight hand motion, "That is enough, old friend. We understand."
While Shino had been speaking, Saneijin had hurried out again, telling Sasuke that he would run for more medics, and Sasuke had examined the scene for a moment before leaving to check on the villagers. The Uchiha had noticed that the look in Michiko's eyes were stricken, being afraid for Shino's life, but she had not been shaking in the slightest while healing her friend. Shino had been badly hurt and bleeding, but he had acted as if it simply made him look like he had forgotten his manners. They were some kind of pair, continuing on with their business like that, regardless of the circumstances. Such is the way of the ninja.
Esperwen- This fic is really angsty, even for me... Drop me a review!