Part 9: Kathmandu
A little under two years ago, after returning to the Federal Reserve, from recovering from getting his face burned Sasuke was in a bar with Naruto and Shino playing pool.
Sasuke recommended to Tsunade they she recruit Naruto and Shino, and after reviewing their resumes, she accepted, and the three operatives and friends formed their own team they called the Musketeers.
"So you just freshly got the scar?" Naruto asked.
"Yep," Sasuke said as he lined up his shot, and took it.
The ball ricocheted off the wall, and struck the blue, knocking it into the pocket.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Shino were each dressed in civilian outfits.
Sasuke was dressed in combat boots, blue jeans, a plain white-tee shirt, and a brown-leather jacket.
Naruto was dressed in a pair of tennis shoes, Khaki pants, a black polo tee-shirt, and a Khaki leather jacket.
Shino was dressed in his service boots, black jeans, black tank-top, and black-leather jacket.
At the time Naruto and Shino were Corporals while Sasuke didn't have a rank, getting his orders from Tsunade gave him unbridled power over many ranks, even Colonels.
"Smoke," Shino asked as he pulled out a cigar-cigarette.
"Can't." Sasuke said.
"You stop smoking?" Naruto asked.
"I'd have one if I could," Sasuke said as he placed two fingers against the burn-scar, "But every time I do, the scar starts to burn."
"That's better than what I do," Shino said as he lit up the smoke himself.
"Maybe." Tsunade said.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Shino looked over at Tsunade who was standing in the doorway of the restaurant, "How long have you been standing there boss," Sasuke asked as he chalked the end of his pool stick.
"Enough," Tsunade said as she walked up to the table as Sasuke took another shot, "You ever want to go to Nepal Sasuke?"
"Not since I was born," Sasuke said as he looked at Tsunade, "What you got for us?"
"New mission," Tsunade said as she held out the folder to Sasuke.
Sasuke took the file from Tsunade's hand, holding the pool-stick between his forearm and side as he opened it to reveal pictures of five-foot-eleven Middle-Eastern male Samir Malcom Akbar, a world-hunted arms dealer, terrorist, and illegal oil-tycoon.
"Samir Akbar," Sasuke asked as he looked up at Tsunade, "We found him?"
"He's been hiding in Kathmandu," Tsunade said, "We want you to go in, and tale him out. You're allowed to take your friends in with you, but once you're in, it's up to you and those two members to find a gun."
"You're sending me, and two other men in without weapons," Sasuke said, "Ma'am that's over-the top too risky, especially with the situation the city is in right now."
"You have accomplished the impossible before Sasuke," Tsunade said as she slapped Sasuke on the shoulder, "I have no doubt you'll do the same here."
As Tsunade left, Sasuke lit the file on fire, and threw it away, "You guys ever wanted to go to Kathmandu?" Sasuke asked.
"Not once." Naruto said.
"Agreed," Shino said, "Ever since the Big Four from China moved in, the city's been under constant attack from insurgents. Nepal's unstable, and we're in no position to go in."
"We have a big chance," Sasuke said, "We can help a lot of people."
"With what?" Naruto asked.
"Samir Akbar." Sasuke said.
As soon as that name hit his ears, Shino's shot missed the ball he was aiming at, and sent the white ball into the corner pocket.
"We found him?" Shino asked.
"When can we leave?" Naruto asked.
"Tomorrow," Sasuke said, "But once we're on the ground, it's up to us to find a gun."
"Shouldn't be too much of a problem," Naruto said as he took a swig of his Boston Lager, "Resistance fighters are everywhere in that city."
"Then to hell with it," Sasuke said as he walked up to the bar, "Bartender, get us three shots."
The Bartender slapped three shot-glasses on the table, and poured three glasses, after Sasuke paid, he handed two shots to Naruto and Shino, "Captain Morgan," Naruto said as he examined the drink, "Nice."
"All for one…" Sasuke said as he held up his glass.
"…And one for all," Naruto and Shino finished as they tapped their glasses against Sasuke's, and they shot the glasses back right then and there.
The next night, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shino air-dropped into the capital of Nepal armed with only their knives.
And to make things worse, they were dropped five klicks west of the drop-zone, at different locations.
Sasuke was coming in for a landing on a roof-top near an old Buddhist Temple, one of the insurgents turned around just in time to take Sasuke's boot in the face, which knocked him off the edge of the building.
As Sasuke landed, he clipped himself free of his chute, and rolled to his feet on top of the rooftop.
Sasuke peered over the edge of the building, and saw the insurgent lying lifeless on the ground, his Heckler and Koch UMP resting on the ground next to him.
After hanging over the edge for a few seconds, Sasuke dropped onto the streets, rolling once he hit the ground to avoid breaking his feet, and snatched up the UMP as soon as he stood up.
The insurgent's pistol was a Walther PPK, as soon as Sasuke collected the insurgent's spare magazines, he proceeded through the city.
As soon as he turned one corner, he and another man had the barrels of each other's guns in their faces.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said as they lowered their weapons, "Always good to see you old friend," they shook hands.
"Likewise," Naruto said, "You know where Shino is?"
"Nope," Sasuke said, "Let's just hope we can find him."
"Find who?" Shino said.
Shino walked up from behind them, "Good to see you," Naruto said, "See you each found weapons."
"Let's focus guys," Sasuke said, "We've got a mission to complete." "Roger that," Naruto said, "Let's move."
After walking down the street, they found themselves faced with five insurgents, "Course of action?" Naruto asked.
"We go high," Sasuke said as he pointed at the ladder right next to him, "Walk the rooftops, and save time."
"Nice." Shino said.
The three men climbed up the ladder, and found themselves being followed by insurgents who heard them climbing up the ladder, and saw Shino's foot disappear over the edge of the roof.
"We got insurgents following us," Naruto said, "Course of action?"
"Stop saying that," Sasuke said quietly, "And follow my lead."
The five insurgents stepped onto the rooftop, and saw a roof-top air-conditioning vent cover on the ground.
The insurgents approached, and looked down into the shaft, seeing a small green light that was getting dimmer and dimmer.
The commander waved toward the open door leading inside the building, and ordered two of his men to go inside.
As the two approached the entrance, Sasuke and Naruto popped out from behind cover, Sasuke grabbed the first guard from behind, and knocked him out with a swift blow to the back of the spinal column, right below the base of the skull.
Naruto grabbed the second guard, and smashed his head into the wall, knocking him out cold.
The two then hid the bodies in cover, and duct-taped their arms together behind their backs, their legs together, and then duct-taped their mouths and eyes shut.
"Three more," Shino said as he aimed the Ceska Zbrojovka Scorpion EVO3 he stole off a dead insurgent and twisted a suppressor onto.
"Save your bullets," Sasuke said, "No more than five shots, no less than one."
One bullet from each of their guns dropped the three insurgents in an instant.
"Tangos down." Naruto said.
"Copy that," Sasuke said, "Let's move."
The three men walked across the building, stepping in synchronized, but rapid heel-to-toe steps.
That's the way they were taught when going through special training: walk fast, but remain silent, and always move forward, never backward.
Also, keep your safeties off, unless in friendly territory.
The next few miles of buildings were boring for the three men, but they did make it to their target's LZ.
The three men went prone, and watched the small house that Samir Akbar turned into a small fortress.
Naruto removed his binoculars, and slid them across the roof to Shino who slid them over to Sasuke who placed them against his eyes.
"Fabrique Nationale MK48 LWMGs at the front gates," Sasuke said, "McMillan TAC-50 anti-material sniper rifles covering the major entrances. And guards carrying Heckler and Koch HK21s patrolling the streets."
"Guy's built himself a regular fortress," Naruto said, "With our current weapons, we'd make it five feet before those LMGs would mow us down."
"We can't get to him as-is in that little hut," Shino said, "How are we going to get in?"
"We don't need to get to him," Sasuke said, "We're going to make him come to us."
"How?" Shino asked.
"Follow me," Sasuke said as he crawled backwards.
Half an hour later, the insurgents patrolling the streets noticed something with headlights heading their way, they held up their hands to signal the vehicle to stop, but it kept coming, and as it came into the light, it was revealed to be a jeep.
The guards raised their HK21s, and fired, the bullets penetrated the windshield, and sent the assault rifle that was keeping the wheel in place against the floor, which in turn, sent the jeep flying against the edge of one of the buildings.
The guard approached, and as they pulled the tarp up, they revealed a white-phosphorus bomb that exploded in their faces, and sent a white-phosphorus cloud ten feet in the air.
Inside his hut, Samir ran outside, saw the phosphorus cloud, and panicked.
He grabbed the nearest guard's gun, and ran.
"SAMIR," one of his personal bodyguards shouted, "SAMIR!"
The two men ran after Samir who was running down the city streets, shooting at anything that moved.
As soon as he rounded one corner, someone stripped him of the MK21 he was carrying, while another placed a pillow-case over his head, with a pillow inside of it, and then finally, Sasuke used the pillow as a suppressor for the PPK as he fired a single bullet into the pillow.
The other end of the pillow-case was soon drenched in blood as Shino gently placed him on the ground.
"Let's move," Sasuke said, "We have to get to the extraction point."
As the guards rounded the corner, all they saw was Samir lying dead on the ground with a pillow-case over his head – a single bullet-hole in the center.
"He's dead," one of the guards said as he poked his finger into the small hole, "Small-caliber bullet, and powder burns around the edge."
"Point-blank-range," The other guard said, "Whoever did this was a trained-professional."
Already three miles, away, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shino reached the extraction point as the Aerospatiale/ Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin the Federal Reserve sent to extract them touched down.
After they piled in, Naruto shouted go to the pilot who lifted the chopper back into the air.
As soon as they were rising in the air, someone started shooting at them.
Sasuke looked up, and several insurgents were running toward the chopper.
Sasuke looked over, quickly grabbed the General Electric M134 minigun that was mounted to a metal slide-rail system attached to the ceiling of the cabin, slid it over to the door, and pointed the barrels downward to face the insurgents.
Sasuke then loaded a belt-magazine, and pulled back on the cocking-drive, "MINIGUN SPINNING OUT STAND CLEAR," Sasuke shouted as he pressed the button on top of the right handle, which caused the six barrels to spin.
A few seconds later, there was the sound of 6,000 rounds a minute as the 7.62x51mm bullets came flying out of the end of the minigun.
The insurgents firing at the chopper were soon getting mowed down by the minigun as Sasuke held the firing-button down.
But after about fifteen seconds, the minigun jammed, "She's jammed," Sasuke exclaimed, "Cover me!"
Naruto and Shino fired back at the hostiles as Sasuke corrected the block by pulling back on the cocking-drive until the jammed bullet came out of the tube, and then continued firing. After forty seven insurgents, the chopper was well out of firing-range.
Sasuke aimed the minigun upwards at the ceiling, slid it back to where it was, then closed the door, and sat back against the wall.
"Holy hell," Naruto said as the three men sat back against the walls of the chopper, then held out his hand to Sasuke, "Nice one."
"Thanks," Sasuke said as he bumped Naruto's fist with his.
"We make a pretty good team guys." Shino said.
"Yes we do," Sasuke said as he watched Kathmandu get smaller as the chopper flew away from the besieged city.
"That's why they call us the Musketeers," Naruto said as he held out his hand, "All for one."
"And one for all," Sasuke said as him and Shino placed their hands over Naruto's.
End of Flashback #3…
