Behold, the mighty Episode III. Stuff happens, events take place and if this actually goes the way I plan, things might actually go so far as to occur. It sounds outrageous now, but wait until you see it. It's going to be awesome.
And also: To all of you folks out there who keep adding this story to your alerts or favorites or whatever, would it kill you to leave a review? Honestly. This is fun, but I have other things I enjoy doing as well and a little motivation to keep this going would be nice. I don't care if you think it sucks and you just want to list the reasons why, just leave something, eh? That said, thank you very much to everyone who has read this story and left a review so far. I enjoy hearing what you think, and finding out both what you like and don't like about the story.
Rant over.
And of course to those of you who do take the time to leave a review: thanks ever so much. Y'all rock hardcore.
SHINOBI WARS: Episode III – Kusagakure
"You should have seen Konohamaru-san, Onee-chan. He was terrified we would fail the mission and that Iwashi-sensei wouldn't recommend us for C-rank missions when it was time."
It was one of those rare times when neither of them had any work or training to do, and Hanabi was relating the story of her team's first mission to her older sister. The mission in question involved tracking down a runaway dog that a local shop owner had recently adopted and promptly lost.
"So what happened?" Hinata asked, trying to refrain from giggling. Her team had been given a similar mission back when she was a rookie, only it was with a cat and had proven very difficult for Kiba-kun.
"Well, naturally I located the dog easily," Hanabi said, implying the use of her Byakkugan. "It was catching it that proved difficult. Konohamaru-san kept yelling at it every time we caught up to it which caused it to run away again." Hanabi shook her head in exasperation. "I know he would not be foolish enough to do something like that if we were facing an actual enemy, but it was very frustrating."
"Yes, I can see how it would be," Hinata said, still smiling.
"Before we caught up to it the fourth time, Moegi-chan and I agreed that we would need to keep him silent. So when we spotted the dog, I jumped him from behind and held him long enough for Moegi-chan to subdue the target. Luckily she had thought to bring a blowgun with some tranquilizer darts so it was fairly easy."
Hinata was pleased to see that her sister had progressed from referring to her female teammate as 'Moegi-san' to calling her 'Moegi-chan'. She was wise enough not to comment on it, however.
"Needless to say, Konohamaru-san was not pleased with me," she said, and a twinge of annoyance spiked both her tone and expression.
"Well, at least you accomplished the mission," Hinata said, suppressing her giggles again.
"I suppose so. But Konohamaru-san is so ambitious for a C-rank mission that he is not able to properly focus on the missions we are given." The unspoken plea for advice was made all the more obvious through direct eye contact.
"That is not unusual," Hinata told her kindly. "Kiba-kun was like that for a while as well, and Sakura-san has told me before how bad Naruto-kun was at D-rank missions." She smiled fondly as she thought of that. "I myself had trouble on occasion, to be honest. It comes from a desire to prove oneself. Konohamaru-san is frustrated that he is not being given a mission where he can demonstrate his abilities, and is allowing himself to become flustered and less capable because of it."
"Well I understand that," Hanabi said. "It's frustrating for me, too. Does he think he's the only one whose abilities outstrip the requirements for a D-rank mission? But as shinobi, we should treat each job we are given as if it is the most important thing there is to us."
"Yes, that is true," Hinata agreed. "Perhaps you should remind him as much."
"And have him accuse me of trying to boss him around again?" Hanabi scoffed. "I can't tell him anything. If I do, I'm just being an 'arrogant Hyuuga'."
Hinata frowned slightly at the insult to her clan. They could indeed be arrogant at times, and she was among the first to admit that. But that was no reason to be rude. She decided to let it slide in the interest of helping her sister and her team.
"Pay attention to how you say it to him," Hinata suggested. "Try your best not to tell him, but to gently remind him. After all, you are on the same team and it is only natural that you should want to help him do well."
"I'll try, Onee-chan," Hanabi said. Then her face fell. "I shouldn't have snapped at him on our very first mission. We got along all right before that, but now he thinks I'm nothing but a bossy know-it-all. I'm really trying not to be!"
"I know you are, Hanabi-chan," said Hinata, consoling her. "But, forgive me, old habits cannot be broken overnight. It will take time and dedication, but if you truly wish to change yourself you will succeed."
"When did you get so smart, Onee-chan?" Hanabi pouted. "You're so different from how you used to be. I wish I could change like you did."
"I'm not that different," Hinata said, though she felt herself blushing a little bit. "I have more confidence than I used to, but that is due as much to having people who support me as it is to my own desire to change. Even Father, who was once very critical of me, has grown to be very encouraging."
"He's proud of you, Onee-chan," Hanabi said. Hinata was definitely blushing this time, and it was accompanied by a satisfying flutter of pride in her chest.
"Perhaps," Hinata allowed. "I think Neji-niisan's fight with Naruto-kun affected him as much as it did Neji-niisan himself. He has acted differently toward everyone ever since then. But I do believe he is pleased to some degree that I have proven myself a competent ninja, which he always feared I would not."
Hanabi lowered her head. But what she was about to say, Hinata did not find out. Their father abruptly entered the room where they were talking and looked directly at her.
"Forgive me for interrupting," he said politely.
"Of course, father," Hinata said. "We were merely discussing Hanabi-chan's first mission. It was this morning." A trace of a smile graced her lips, but she really didn't want to giggle about it in front of him.
"I see," he replied. Hinata thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his face as well. "Hinata, your teammate Aburame Shino has arrived at the compound saying that you have been given a mission. As to the nature of this mission, he is not at liberty to say, but I have a fair idea of what it might be. Hinata, I don't need to remind you…"
"I understand my responsibilities, Father, and as with every mission I have ever undertaken, I am prepared to accept the risk." She was being disrespectful, interrupting him, but she'd suffered through this conversation for many years and was growing tired of it.
"I know you are," he said, ignoring her rudeness. "But I have already lost a brother because of my family's abilities. I do not wish to lose a daughter as well. I cannot express to you the pain that comes from a lost sibling, and I do not want your sister to have to live through that, either."
His openness and sincerity took her aback, but only for a moment. She recovered quickly and offered him a warm smile.
"Please do not worry about me, Father. You and Neji-niisan have taught me well, and I will have Shino-kun and Kiba-kun with me. I promise I will return safely, just as I always have." She paused momentarily as she fondly remembered from whom she'd first heard her next statement. "And I never go back on my word."
Her father seemed to take a moment to consider this, and then nodded. "Very well. I wish you luck. You should take your equipment with you; Aburame-san said your team is to leave the village as soon as possible."
"Understood," she said. "Thank you, Father." Hanabi came over to hug her goodbye, and she stopped by her own room to pick up her equipment before heading to the front of the compound to meet Shino. She found him standing there as dispassionately as always, waiting patiently for her.
"Shino-kun!" She called as she approached. She looked around briefly but did not see her other teammate anywhere.
"Kiba is meeting us at the north gate," Shino said simply. She nodded in understanding and they departed. She knew better than to ask what the mission was before they met up with Kiba, but she wanted to make conversation rather than walk in silence.
"Will you be our jounin-commander for this mission, Shino-kun?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job," she told him sweetly, smiling at him. He didn't respond, but she hadn't been expecting him to. Shino rarely said much, and he wasn't very keen on token gestures of gratitude.
They met Kiba at the north gate. He was sitting astride Akamaru and greeted them enthusiastically.
"All right! Our first mission as a team without Kurenai!" he cheered as they gathered together. "So what is it?" he asked Shino. "You said it's a Class B, so it should be interesting."
"We are to travel to the Hidden Grass Village and ascertain their intentions involving the war. If possible, we are to persuade them to ally themselves to us. If they refuse, we are to inform them that there is a standing bounty on any shinobi of chuunin rank or above from any village positioned against us."
"That's it?" Kiba demanded, clearly disappointed. "We're just some trumped up ambassadors?"
"You may find it less than exciting," Shino said condescendingly, "but it is extremely important and very dangerous. Our enemies are going to be looking for squads of Konoha shinobi moving on their own."
Kiba still didn't look happy. "This is such a drag," he grumbled. Hinata giggled.
"Kiba-kun, you sound almost like Nara-kun."
"Nah, Shikamaru wouldn't say anything like that," Kiba said, smirking sarcastically. "He'd say it was 'troublesome' or something." Hinata smiled to herself; her teammate seemed to have regained his good humor easily enough.
"We should get going," Shino told them.
"All right," Kiba declared. "If we've got to do this, let's get it over with. I don't want to be stuck playing diplomat for any longer than necessary. We could be out there killing the enemy."
Shino didn't respond, but began walking out of the village. Hinata and Kiba fell in to step behind him.
"You're in a good mood," said Kiba jovially from Hinata's left.
"Of course I am," she smiled at him. "I am with you and Shino-kun."
-
Shino sat perfectly still in the tree he had chosen for his hiding place, focusing every one of his senses on observing the forest around him. He had left a bug clone with his other two teammates, who were camping a short way off the side of the road. Kiba was on watch while Hinata and his clone slept, and it looked like he was going to doze off any minute. Akamaru already had.
The three of them had sensed themselves being stalked by an unknown enemy earlier in the day – only their second day out – and had kept close tabs on their pursuers ever since. Team Kurenai (even without Kurenai) had long been without equal in Konoha when it came to surveillance, and they often took advantage of this fact, and that their enemies were often ignorant of it.
A small wasp buzzed by his right ear, indicating that one of the enemies had moved in on Hinata's position, having fallen for Kiba's ruse. It was almost time to move. He watched as the enemy, now visible to him, crept closer to the apparently sleeping Hinata. He had evidently chosen to kill her by hand rather than by some kind of ninjutsu – a dicey decision either way. By hand, there was always the possibility of a trap, whereas by ninjutsu, there was the possibility of it taking to long and alerting your enemy, or that it would fail. In calculating his risks, their would-be assassin had fortunately underestimated his targets, which made it that much easier for them.
Almost simultaneously, several things happened. Hinata's attacker reached over her with a kunai drawn, ready to slit her throat. Meanwhile another assailant had dropped silently out of a tree directly above Shino's clone with his own kunai pointing downward. Kiba jerked awake the instant the man was out of the tree and sent Akamaru after him. The unwary shinobi barely had time to register his surprise at his target dispersing into hundreds of insects before his throat was ripped out by a set of massive canines. At that same moment, the now-dead man's teammate uttered the tiniest grunt of surprise as his heart ripped apart in his chest, Hinata's palm having just struck him there. The two men fell to the ground in an almost synchronized motion, and another wasp flew in front of Shino's face from the left.
He wasted no time in moving to where the final enemy was hidden, and when he arrived he found the man splayed out on his chest after tripping, having almost torn his right foot off trying to escape; Kiba had managed to ensnare his ankle with wire before the attack had even begun.
"They're from the Smoke," Kiba said as Shino subdued the man with a tranquilizing venom from his bugs.
"Kemurigakure no Sato?" Shino questioned. "I suppose that is not surprising. The latest intelligence we have suggests they are still allied to the Rock."
"There aren't any more of them," Hinata informed them, coming over to join the discussion. She deactivated her Byakkugan as she spoke.
"So we were right then; there were only three of them," Kiba said.
"Regardless, this is distressing," Shino said. "It means that our enemy is ahead of us in procuring allies to fight with them."
"We were already outnumbered four to three," Kiba lamented.
"This simply makes our current mission all the more important," Shino said.
"Do you think the Grass will be willing to help us?" Hinata asked.
"It's possible," Shino said, ordering his bugs to dispose of the bodies while he and his teammates went to get some real sleep. "The last time we were at war with the Rock, Kusa no Kuni was frequently used as a battleground. If they want to avoid that happening again, their best course of action would be to take a side, and they currently have better relations with Konoha than with Iwa."
"That's leaving a lot open," Kiba grunted. "What if they don't want to help? What if they decide they don't want a war fought in their country at all? Or worse," he shot a quick glance at Hinata, "what if they decide they'd be better off helping our enemies?"
"Hn," was the only sound Shino made.
"Don't worry, Kiba-kun" Hinata said, placing her hand on his arm, "I don't think it would come to that. And even if it does, the three of us have managed to escape from difficult situations before. As long as we are there for each other, I do not believe we will come to any harm."
"I hope you're right," Kiba said.
-
Two more days went by, and they were attacked thrice more: once by Smoke shinobi again, once by a team from the Hidden Ash village, and once by actual Rock ninja. The latter had been a jounin team out on a scouting mission, and Team Kurenai barely escaped with their lives. The battle had taken nearly half an hour from first encounter to last dying breath – abnormally long – and the team of Leaf ninja were forced to stop and recover for the remainder of the day. Hinata's growing medical skills were enough to ensure that they could continue their mission, but they were all aware that if they encountered any more hostile shinobi their chances of success or even survival would be low.
"The next time we detect an enemy group, we should move around them instead of setting a trap for them," Kiba said as they sat around their camp that night.
"That is unlike you," Shino pointed out.
"Yeah, well," Kiba sputtered. He wasn't happy having to say this, but it needed to be said. "We barely made it out of that one this morning. And we're low on supplies now. Who knows what the next enemy squad will be like? We'd be safer just making a break for the Hidden Grass."
"And what is your guarantee that we will be safe there?" Shino countered calmly. "You yourself posed the questions of whether or not we could rely on them. What if they turn us away? Or capture us and hand us to the enemy?"
Kiba once again shot a quick glance at Hinata, as he always did in situations like this. He knew she noticed, but he couldn't be worried about that at the moment.
"I agree with Shino-kun," the girl in question spoke up. "We should face any enemies who come after us before we reach our destination. That way, if the Grass is unfavorable towards us, we only have to deal with one problem at a time."
"Hinata, do you really think…" Kiba began, but she cut him off.
"Kiba-kun, I know you are worried more about me than about yourself," she said with a warm smile. "But please do not let that affect your judgment. You know what the best course of action is."
"I…well…I mean…" he tried to come up with another counter-argument, but he knew she was right. Finally he hung his head and sighed in defeat. "You're right; I'm sorry, Hinata."
"Don't be," she told him. "I am touched by your concern. But please remember that I am equally concerned for both of you."
"I know," he said. He did know, and it made him feel good that she was, but he couldn't help but remind himself that wherever they were, she was always at greater risk than either himself or his other teammate. All because of something she was born with and couldn't help having.
"We should sleep," Shino announced. "We should have arrived at the Hidden Grass Village today. We will need to set out early to make up for lost time."
"All right," Kiba agreed. "You two go to sleep. I'll take the first watch. No one's going to sneak up on me."
Shino nodded, and Hinata giggled.
"What's so funny?" he asked her.
"Oh, nothing," she said with a smile. "It's just that, two days ago, Kiba-kun, you were complaining that this mission was going to be boring."
-
Sorahana Taki was a jounin of the Hidden Grass Village, 22 years of age and an accomplished shinobi with a distinguished career. Presently she was standing in her sentry tower watching the eastern horizon. All around her were green fields of grass and shallow, rolling hills. Behind her sprawled out the Village Hidden in the Grass.
There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun shone brightly across the land, the air as clear as could be. In short, conditions were absolutely perfect for a sentry. But despite this, Taki couldn't help a feeling of uneasiness that lay in her gut. Disturbing rumors had been circulating recently throughout the Country of Grass, and they had heard nothing from the daimyo in over a month – far too long to be just a lack of noteworthy events.
Taki had sleek, jet black hair gathered in a ponytail that reached the base of her neck, and wore a green and black tunic that barely restrained her considerably large breasts, and ended in a skirt that reached to mid-thigh. Underneath she wore a netted bodysuit with short sleeves and leggings that went to her knees. She also sported an honor-mark of two mirrored right triangles on her forehead. It was a mark given to those shinobi of the Grass who reach the rank of jounin before turning seventeen.
The war involving the five – no, six, she reminded herself – great shinobi villages and the Sound was escalating by the day, threatening to envelop her village the same way as the previous war – the one she was born directly after. The village elders knew that sooner or later emissaries from Konohagakure no Sato would arrive petitioning for assistance, and that an ultimatum would arrive from Iwagakure no Sato threatening them not to get involved. And of course, none of this could possibly have happened at a more inopportune time, what with the unrest taking place in their own country at present.
Trying her best to ignore the feeling, Taki yawned and stretched her arms over her head – an action which put a great deal of strain on the fabric covering her chest. When she relaxed again, she almost missed something on the edge of the horizon, and in fact ended up doing a double-take. But what she had seen was really there: a glint of metal amongst the miles of green. She watched it for a few minutes, only to discover that it was soon joined by a dozen more.
Instinctively she began reaching for the pair of tanto knives she wore – one horizontally across her lower back to be drawn with her left hand, and one diagonally between her shoulder blades to be drawn by her right. She stopped before reaching them, seeing that the several glints had joined together in a line of black that appeared on top of the field of green. She knew instantly what that meant: her village was under attack.
She drew a kunai from her pouch, and attached a red tag for "imminent danger". Taking the absolute minimum amount of time necessary to aim, she hurled it into the village where it struck one of the many messenger poles erected for just that purpose. It would draw the attention of everyone near, so that when her second kunai was thrown the message would be picked up immediately.
It only took her a matter of seconds to scribble out the details of her alert, but even that felt like an eternity to her in the face of what was coming. She flung her message into the village, and for the next several minutes she watched the black line of invaders draw closer while she waited anxiously for her instructions.
When those instructions came in the form of a small crossbow bolt, she was not particularly surprised. All sentries would retreat behind the village walls while Taki herself was to get as close as she could to the approaching enemies and ascertain to the best of her ability their numbers and strength. With her speed and current position, she was easily the best person for the job.
Slightly calmer now that she had an objective, Taki leapt from her perch and landed nimbly and silently on the grassy field beneath, immediately setting into a run toward the attackers. She kept low as she ran – almost horizontal – so the knee-level grass would obscure her approach. She didn't know if the enemy had any shinobi in their ranks or not, so she assumed they did.
When she was close enough to hear the thunderous sound of thousands of marching feet, she slowed her approach and began to stalk. She was at a severe disadvantage as there were no trees or anything at all she could use as a vantage point on the eastern side of the village. She wryly reflected that this was probably why the enemy chose to approach from that direction. Against shinobi invaders this type of terrain was ideal, with no brush or woodland for enemies to hide in, but with a massive attack like this – something a ninja village almost never had to deal with, a forested assault path would not be feasible.
She began working her way north so as to flank the enemy army. Since she could not get a good look at them, she would have to pace off their perimeter to determine their numbers. With any luck, she would be able to discover any shinobi in their ranks at the same time. The most difficult part of this plan would be to carry it all out and report back to the village in time for it to make a difference. There would still be lookouts on the wall of course, but with the sentry posts abandoned their range of visibility would be greatly diminished.
She reached into her pack and pulled out a handful of tiny, poison-tipped barbs. She made quick work of sprinkling them in the army's path before moving into her final position just north of where they would pass. There she waited, silent as the dead, as dozens upon dozens of rows of soldiers marched past her, not three feet away, dressed in the colors of the daimyo of Kusa no Kuni.
'Ungrateful bastard,' Taki spat in her mind. She and all other jounin of the Grass knew that the new daimyo was not fond of shinobi, and didn't think he should have to rely on them, but none of them had ever expected things to go this far.
As the rear ranks strode past, she heard the telltale surprised yelps of pain that indicated the front line had reached her barbs. It was only scratching the surface, but those soldiers, at least, would not live to see her home attacked. It was a fast-acting poison that any trainee medical ninja could nullify even faster, but it was more than effective against non-shinobi (or even just non-medical) targets.
As soon as the last man had marched past her, she darted off at full speed toward the southern end of the army, keeping as low as she could. The soldiers were concentrating on what was ahead of them and so did not notice her at all, and any noise she may have made by mistake was easily covered by thousands of stomping feet.
Her strongest desire at present was to pull out a kunai and sever the Achilles tendon of every man she ran past, but intellectually she knew that this would alert them to her presence and that even if they couldn't catch her, her true mission would be compromised. The barbs had not been a problem because they are exactly the sort of trap that could be expected outside a shinobi village on a frontier with no natural cover.
The army seemed to stretch on forever, but she kept careful count of how many strides she'd taken, which could be multiplied by the number of men per stride to determine the army's size. When she reached the end of the south flank, she quickly did the math in her head and had to stifle a gasp. The daimyo had assembled roughly twelve-thousand men for this assault. Such an army hadn't been seen anywhere on the continent since before the founding of the shinobi villages, when ninja were still scarce and soldiers and samurai had still been the primary military force.
Facing her now was the task of getting back to the village and relaying this information without being detected. She bolted southwest, putting some distance between herself and the invaders before turning and making a beeline for the village wall. She'd made it halfway there when a small flurry of shuriken whirred past her head and stuck in the ground in front of her. If she hadn't heard them at the last second and slowed her step they would have made a direct hit.
She whirled around and came face to face with a man wearing a hitai-ate from the Village Hidden in the Thorns. He was twirling a kunai in his right hand and sported a smug grin on his face.
"That trick you pulled with the barbs was pretty stupid," he said. "You only managed to poison about twenty men, and it gave you away. If it was a standard trap to deter intruders, there would have been more than just one patch of them."
Taki offered him a smile of her own, and a response dripping with false sweetness. "You're right," she said. "But no ordinary soldier or samurai would think of something like that. Only a shinobi would notice it."
The man seemed to realize his mistake right away, because his grin vanished and was replaced by a scowl.
"You really are crafty, aren't you?" he said. "But you won't live long enough to report back anything you've learned." He readied his kunai and dashed toward her. Taki calmly moved her hands to the hilts of the two tanto resting on her back. The pressure to return in time was still there, but she had a feeling this wouldn't take long.
-
"We're nearly there," Shino said. Kiba stopped in the tree he'd just landed in and waited to see what his teammate – his commander – would say. "What do you see, Hinata?"
She took a moment to activate her Byakkugan, and then suddenly gasped in apparent alarm.
"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba asked anxiously.
"There…there is a large army advancing on Kusagakure no Sato from the far side," she said, sounding almost as if she was having trouble believing it herself. "Their numbers are too great for me to estimate."
"Army?" Kiba asked. "Not an army of shinobi, right?"
Hinata shook her head. "No, they are not shinobi, though there are a small number of ninja accompanying them. They are mostly traditional foot soldiers, and some samurai."
"Foot soldiers and samurai?" Kiba said, incredulous. "Who uses them anymore except for small security details?"
"They are bearing the colors of Kusa no Kuni's daimyo," Hinata informed them.
"So the daimyo has declared war on his country's own ninja village," Shino mused.
"Does he really think he can take on a ninja village with an army like that?" Kiba remarked.
"I believe the Grass ninja are in grave danger," Hinata said, releasing her doujutsu at last.
"Are you serious?" Kiba couldn't believe it. Foot soldiers and samurai against an entire village of ninja? It just didn't make sense. However, Hinata nodded gravely once again.
"The size of this army is large enough to take on even a shinobi village as strong as the Grass. Even if they are successful in repelling the invasion, they will be severely weakened."
"How is this army even going to launch their attack?" Kiba asked. "Sure, the forests around here are a lot smaller than in the Fire Country, and there's more open ground, but maneuvering that many people through would take a lot of time and organization, and it would give the Grass ninja the defensive advantage."
"You're right, Kiba-kun," Hinata said, "but the entire area to the east of the village is nothing but open grassland."
Kiba's eyes bugged out while Shino nodded sagely. "Ideal for defense against ninja attacks, but the worst case scenario for a situation like this," the bug-user said. "No ninja village would ever consider this possibility as a viable threat and therefore would not plan for it effectively."
"So what do we do?" Kiba asked. "We can hardly ask them to fight a war with us if they're already fighting one of their own."
"Our mission is to secure the Hidden Grass Village as our ally," Shino said. "The surest way to do that is to demonstrate that we are theirs. We will aid them."
"Are you nuts?" Kiba practically shouted. "If this army's as big as Hinata says it is, what good are the three of us going to do?"
"We will be more useful than no assistance at all," was the leader's retort. "And besides, the Hidden Grass is of no use to Konoha if it is wiped out. We will do all we can to accomplish our mission."
"Un," came Hinata's firm agreement. There was nothing Kiba could do. He would never be able to talk them out of it, and he'd sooner be eaten alive by a cat than let his teammates go in to a battle without him.
"Fine," he grunted. "But let's hurry up and get there before the army does." He made to move out, but Shino held his arm.
"We should move around to the east and approach them from the open," Shino said. "That way they will see that we are coming to help them, and will not misinterpret us as a sneak attack from the rear."
"Not a bad idea," Kiba conceded. "And we might get a glimpse of this army, too." Shino nodded.
The trip around the village did not take long, and a few minutes after they started heading northeast they noticed that the trees and shrubs were becoming thinner and thinner until they eventually disappeared completely. Upon reaching this point, Shino declared it would be safe to approach the village directly.
They were downwind of the invading forces, and as they made their approach Kiba could smell exactly what was coming, and it made his skin crawl.
"You weren't kidding, Hinata," he said. "That army is massive. The only scent in the air is a mass of sweat and metal."
"We should hurry," Shino said, and they picked up the pace to a swift trot. Any slower and they wouldn't make it in time, any faster and they would be perceived as aggressors. The village wall and the guards on top of it were in sight when Hinata yelled out, "Stop!"
"What is it, Hinata?" Kiba asked anxiously. He turned to look at her and saw that her Byakkugan had again been activated.
"The enemy commander has sent an advance force forward," she informed them. "We are now directly in its path."
"Kuso," growled Kiba. His teammate, as always remained impassive.
"They will overtake us if we do not run," he said. "And if we run, the village's defenders will see us as aggressors." He'd started walking again. "We must veer to the side and get as close to the village's wall as we can. Then we will have the defenses on our side when it is time to fight."
"Right!"
"Un!"
They dashed off slightly to the left at a much quicker pace than before, making sure to remain obviously visible. Any attempt at stealth would paint them as hostile, which they absolutely could not afford.
"They're coming!" Hinata yelled. Kiba looked back. The commander of the vanguard had evidently ordered a full charge, for hundreds of men were now bearing down upon them. He didn't have time to react though, because as soon as he turned to face forward again, arrows and kunai began raining down from above. The guards on the wall had begun their defense.
"Now we fight," Shino announced. He disappeared in a flurry of insects, and Kiba gave a whoop of exhilaration. This whole situation didn't sit right with him, but at least when he was fighting he was in control of the situation.
"Come on, Akamaru!" he howled. "Let's show these nobodies what it's like to fight shinobi!" His battle partner barked back in agreement, and the two of them leapt into the fray. It was effortless. He moved from one soldier to the next, cutting them down as if they were nothing more than practice dummies. Their movements to strike him were clumsy and slow, and as easily avoided as a leaf falling from a tree. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Hinata doing the same, and the way she flowed from one opponent to the next in a graceful performance of her family's juuken style looked more like a dance than the highly efficient killing technique it truly was. He was so caught up in watching her, and the way her hair twirled about her head as she moved, that he almost forgot what he was doing until he felt something nick his right ear.
He spun and instantly rammed his fingers through the neck of the soldier whose spear had drawn his blood, and chided himself for growing complacent.
'Don't get overconfident,' he scolded in his mind. 'Just because my enemy is unskilled doesn't mean I'm not in a fight to the death. What's that thing Shino always says? "Even if my enemy is the smallest insect I will not underestimate it." Man, he'd never let me hear the end of it if I managed to get skewered by one of these weaklings.'
He threw himself back into the fight with gusto, and after a few minutes he began to see the real danger inherent in the situation.
'There's just no end to these guys!' He realized with sudden alarm that it was entirely possible that he would tire out before the enemies stopped coming, and he now understood what Hinata had meant when she said that an army of this magnitude could even take on an entire shinobi village.
"Akamaru!" he called out to his partner. "We need to pull out all the stops! These guys aren't shinobi; if they get scared, they'll either run away or freeze in their tracks. You know what to do."
Akamaru barked loudly and bounded over to him. Kiba leapt up onto the dog's back and performed the seals for technique that – if it didn't frighten the entire army away at once – would cut them down like a scythe in a field of grain.
Gijuu Ninpou Juujin Henge: Soutourou! A cloud of smoke billowed, and when it cleared, an enormous wolfish beast stood amongst the now-petrified soldiers, drooling through foot-long glistening fangs and glaring menacingly with its two giant heads.
Kiba and Akamaru wasted absolutely no time. With a swipe of their left paw they cut a swath through the troops surrounding them, and then, making sure to orient themselves correctly so they would not inadvertently harm one of their teammates in a blind assault, initiated their ultimate physical combat move.
Garouga!
Soldiers' bodies were sent flying in all directions, and the ones who managed to avoid the attack could do little more than scream in terror. When the rotation was over, Kiba and Akamaru repositioned themselves and attacked again. Then a third time. And a fourth. But there were still men left standing, and the two of them had nearly exhausted themselves.
They let out a tremendous growl that almost sounded like a roar and padded their way quickly over to Shino and Hinata, who were still fighting. When they arrived, they were forced to release the transformation.
"They just keep coming!" Kiba said, fending off a spear thrust at his throat. "I thought for sure that technique would scare them away!"
"It nearly did," Shino told him. "But they have neither the time to run away, nor a place to run to."
"We can't keep fighting them forever," Kiba panted.
"No, we cannot."
"The main force has begun marching again," Hinata announced, even while she moved from opponent to opponent, striking them down seemingly without effort, but she her hair was no longer flowing about her head; it was weighed down with sweat, and her breathing was harder. Kiba could tell she was just as tired as he was.
"How soon will they be here, Hinata?" he asked, taking up a position at her back so they could defend one another.
"A matter of minutes," was her reply. The rain of arrows and kunai was still falling from atop the village wall, but it seemed a paltry, almost token assistance at this point.
"We need to make it into the village," Shino said. "It is our only hope at this point."
"What if they don't let us in?" Kiba asked. His mind was racing, trying to think of something – anything – to get them out of this situation safely. He wasn't looking forward to dying, and he didn't really want to see Shino killed either, but it was Akamaru and Hinata he was most concerned about. He would do anything to get them to safety, even if it meant sacrificing himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't even think of a way to make that work.
"There is no other choice," Shino said. "We will have to risk it. We have helped to defend them against attack, they should at the very least provide us sanctuary in return for that, even if they don't trust us. Once we are safely inside we can concern ourselves with proving our positive intentions."
"We might as well; I can't think of anything better." And so they refocused their efforts on making a beeline for the village gate, only fending off an enemy when it was absolutely necessary. When the outer ranks were in sight, an something encouraging happened: the gate began to open. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next.
A bug – a grasshopper, by the looks of it – the size of an elephant came shooting out from behind the gate as if it were launched from a cannon, or a spring-loaded catapult. On its back was a man with scraggly grey hair and a manic expression on his face. The giant insect landed in the middle of the troops, trampling several of them, and sending up a huge plume of dirt and dust. It immediately leapt up again, at speeds which should have been unattainable for something so large.
Twice more this repeated in a matter of seconds, and then a thunderous cry was emitted from the man. It was a sort of whooping battle cry, much like the kind Kiba frequently made himself. The man unfurled what appeared to be an exceptionally long whip from somewhere on his clothing and began twirling it around, striking multiple enemies with each strike. All the while his mount continued bouncing all over the battlefield like an overlarge flea, and it was a good bit of time before Kiba realized he'd been standing transfixed, observing this, without being attacked once.
His teammates seemed to realize this at the same time as he, because a moment later Hinata said, "The enemies' attention is all on him! What do we do?"
Kiba didn't need asking twice. "We make a break for it!" And so they did, and they had almost reached their goal when the enemy troops remembered they were there and moved to bar their path. They prepared to fight their way through once again when the men in their way suddenly keeled over, great long gashes emitting copious amounts of blood present on various parts of their bodies. The three Konoha nin looked back and saw that the man on the grasshopper had finished what they had not been able to and wiped out the remainder of the advance forces. He was now making his way over to them, which took only one hop and a shuddering impact a few feet from their faces.
"Leaf ninja, are you?" he inquired in a gruff but not necessarily hostile voice. "What in the hell are you doing out here?"
Kiba opened his mouth to answer (forgetting entirely that it was Shino's job to do so) when the man help up his hand hastily.
"Never mind, I don't want to know," he said. "Not my bloody business anyway. But you should get your asses inside quick. This lot was just the warm-up. The real show's coming soon, and by the looks of you a good bit of rest is in order before you have to deal with that. Just go up to the gate. They'll let you in – or they'll have me to deal with."
"Thank you very much," Hinata said to the man, bowing. "But, if you don't mind my asking, you didn't tell us your name."
"So I didn't!" he replied, almost as if he were amused. "Sharp one, you are. I'm Kuwabatake Sanjuro, of the Hidden Grass. Don't bother telling me your names; if you survive, I'm sure I'll find out later."
"Kuwabatake Sanjuro…" Shino repeated. "I know that name. You are listed in the Bingo Book as a shinobi of legendary skill from the Hidden Grass Village who has declared himself independent, but still live in your home village."
"What? How can you be independent and still live here?" Kiba asked.
"Easy, kid," Sanjuro grinned. "I live here because I love my home and would never want to live anywhere else. I'm independent because none of the village leaders are fool enough to try to tell me what to do."
This man was very reminiscent of the Toad Hermit, Jiraiya, Kiba thought. A little younger perhaps, but his appearance, his clothing and even his mannerisms were very similar. He mentioned as much, and it caused the old Grass nin to burst into hysterical laughter.
"That old pervert? Oh, boy, kid. Thanks for the compliment," he said with a wide grin once his laughter had died down. "If I were to be completely honest, though, I don't think I'm quite in the same class as him. As a shinobi either, come to think of it." Kiba didn't quite know how to respond to that, so he settled for chuckling awkwardly. Hinata appeared to be in the same boat, but Shino of course was as stoic as ever.
"The Bingo Book also states that in the past he has been instrumental to saving the Grass Village on three separate occasions. Among enemy and ally alike, he is known as Kusagakure no Kichigai Semi."
"'The Mad Cicada'?" Kiba blurted out incredulously. What kind of nickname was that?
Kuwabatake himself reacted strongly to the moniker as well, though not in as benign a fashion. His grinning face morphed into an angry scowl, and the look in his eyes was radiating murderous intent.
"Why do people insist on calling me that?" he demanded furiously. "It doesn't make any sense! I don't summon cicadas! I summon grasshoppers! Locusts!" He balled up his fists. "I swear, the next time I hear that name I'm going to kill whoever says it, and whoever else is around at the time."
Kiba, Hinata, and even Shino were all taken aback by this completely unexpected behavior. Kiba attempted to placate the man.
"Uh…sorry. We didn't mean to offend you or anything. We just…" he trailed off as his words were having no effect. He was about to signal to the others that it was time to bolt when Sanjuro's face broke into another manic grin.
"I'm just kidding you, kid. I don't really care." He punctuated this statement by laughing uproariously once more.
"I can see where the 'mad' part comes from, anyway," Kiba muttered. Hinata giggled behind her hands.
"Well, that's enough traumatizing the younger generation for one day," the older man announced abruptly. "What are you still doing here, anyway? Didn't I tell you to get inside the walls?"
"Ah…right," Kiba said. "Let's go, guys." They turned and headed into the village. The young woman who dropped down and addressed the Mad Cicada a moment later did not escape their notice, however. And Kiba's ears could hear every word she said.
"Sensei!" she gasped. "What are you doing out here?"
"Well, the Leaf ninja who were fighting our battle for us couldn't handle it on their own, and the sentries on duty didn't seem too inclined to help them," Kuwabatake said contemptuously. "I figured someone should."
"Leaf ninja?" the woman asked. "What…"
"Never mind that, what did you find out?"
"Oh! Well, the daimyo's army is approximately twelve thousand strong. Perhaps a bit smaller now. They are well equipped, and there are several hundred samurai among them."
"Samurai? Interesting. I didn't think they were used as anything more than cheap hired goons or ceremonial guards anymore."
"Neither did I."
"Well, they aren't ninja, but they're definitely more dangerous than an average soldier. Anything else?"
"Yes, Sensei." The woman's voice dropped significantly and Kiba had to strain to hear her. Even then he could barely make out what she was saying. "On my return, I encountered…shinobi. He…chuunin level at best, but he implied…of them."
"This is definitely a problem," Kuwabatake said gravely. "We need to speak with the defensive coordinators immediately." The two of them disappeared, apparently leaving Team Kurenai to its own devices.
"We were told by Kuwabatake Sanjuro that we would be allowed entry to the village," Shino told the guard at the still-open gate.
"Yes, yes, I know. Hurry up and go in so we can close the gate. Someone will be along to meet with you shortly. I suggest you wait for them over there." He pointed to a bench to the side of the main path a short walk away. They did as they were told, and as soon as the guard wasn't paying attention to them anymore, Shino spoke up.
"What did they talk about, Kiba?"
"There's almost twelve thousand troops out there," he said as casually as he could so they wouldn't attract any attention. "A couple hundred samurai, and…" this was the part that worried him the most, "an unknown number of ninja."
"Ninja?" Hinata gasped.
"From what village?" Shino asked.
"I couldn't hear. I think she figured out I was listening, or at least she suspected it, because she was whispering all through that part."
"Perhaps she believes we will be less inclined to stay and help if we are aware the enemy has shinobi in their ranks," Shino postulated.
"Well there's not much we can do about it either way," Kiba said. "Like you said before, we're here to convince them to be our allies, right? We can't do that if we leave. We've gone this far, we might as well finish the mission."
Their conversation was cut short as a Grass ninja appeared in front of them, motioning for them to follow him.
"I'm sorry the three of you have been caught up in this," he said. "I've been asked to inform you that you have our deepest gratitude, and that if you want to escape, they haven't made it to the western side of the village yet. It would be easy to slip away through the forest."
"Thank you for the information," Shino said. "But my teammates and I were just talking about staying here for a while."
- - -
My most profuse apologies for the delay, but I've been playing a lot of Fire Emblem lately. And by "a lot", I mean that if I haven't been eating, sleeping or working, I've pretty much been playing Fire Emblem. I beat it a couple of weeks ago, and in between working on graduate school applications and the like, I've been writing this. I did some work on the next chapter simultaneously with this one, so hopefully that one won't take as long.
Many thanks again go to my prereaders SJR and HitokiriOTD. OTD informed me that my Hinata was sounding too much like Belldandy, and I hope I managed to pull her back a little. Hinata is the hardest canon character for me to write by far, and I hope I get better at her because she has many more appearances scheduled.
So what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Think it's okay? Leave a review and let me know. And if you don't leave one but add it to your favorites, I will have my agents track you down and they will kill your dog. That's right. I have agents. And they hate dogs.
As usual, translations follow:
Kusagakure no Sato – Hidden Grass Village. Duh.
Kusa no Kuni – Grass Country
Sorahana – literally, the kanji for Taki's surname would translate to "sky flower". The kanji for her given name would be "waterfall". Just in case you were wondering.
Doujutsu – eye technique (it's in the manga, so you should know this one)
Gijuu Ninpou Juujin Henge: Soutourou – Beast mimicry man-beast transformation: Two-headed wolf (also in the manga, but it's a mouthful)