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Battle and Duty
Tsunade stood next to Jiraiya at the edge of the forest, deep enough in the shadows of a twilight dawn that they were almost invisible. Behind them was a force of Ame nin, over a hundred strong, waiting for the signal. They were prepared to follow their leaders, leaders that had led them to victory of their own in the past.
"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked, not turning her head to look at the man beside her. She wasn't asking was he ready to fight for the freedom of a village, ready to possibly kill again. No, she was wondering if he was ready to step back into a place that had banished them, thrown them from their home.
He looked at her, answering a question with a question. "Will we ever be ready?" She gave a slight shrug. It was a query she didn't know the answer to. When she had rescued Naruto, it was a mission in her mind, a mission to a foreign village that she happened to know her way around. It wasn't her former home.
She remembered running through the streets, chasing Jiraiya with a fist upraised. Meeting at the front gate with the rest of their team, preparing for yet another boring mission. Finding out their sensei had been chosen as the Sandaime Hokage, and throwing a party for him. Working in the hospital as people looked down on her for her age, despite her medical prowess. Orochimaru's experiments and subsequent abandoning of Konoha. Sensei's sorrow. Finding out Jiraiya had been deemed a traitor for helping three orphans they had found in Ame. Fending off attackers as she insisted it was her research, and they had no right to use it. Running out of Konoha herself, the last of the three Sannin to leave.
"No, I don't think we'll ever be ready."
Nagato stood next to Konan with their force on the other side of the village from the two Sannin, looking at the village he was about to help reclaim. "Today we shall bring to Konoha the peace that was brought to Ame. We shall pay our debt to those who helped us."
Konan looked at him askance. "We owe Konoha nothing. All they did was harm our friends."
Nagato closed his eyes briefly, considering her statement. "We owe them for what they have done to Tsunade and Jiraiya, as twisted as it is. Without Konoha, Ame would never be free."
Kakashi and Yahiko flanked the path to the gates of Konoha, staring at the painted wooden doors. Kakashi looked as relaxed as usual, hands in pockets and one eye covered, but there was tension in his shoulders and his mouth was set in a grim line. He was wearing an Ame hitai-ate.
"After Konoha is free, I will release you from your bonds to Ame. You never belonged to us."
The jounin only nodded.
Inside Konoha teams stole silently through the village, each intent on reaching their destination unnoticed by Danzou's lackeys.
Shikamaru and Genma led a team consisting of Chouji, Ino, Kiba, and Neji through the shadows of the streets, working on flanking Danzou's residence. Gai guided Kurenai, Asuma, Kiba, and Hinata through the tunnels under the village he had come to know so well to get in position near the Root barracks – their job was to stall the forces as long as possible. Groups of two spread out across the rooftops, each with a different destination in mind. Tenten and Anko moved to the barracks of the genin, Hiashi and Chouza to the Academy, Inoichi and Tsume to the Hokage Tower, Lee and Shino to the Hyuuga Compound. Shikaku and Shibi stayed on top of the Hokage Monument, where they could see everything happening in the village and send messages as necessary.
The various clans and other forces of the village in opposition of Danzou were on alert, each waiting in their own compound or barracks, waiting for the signal the attack was beginning.
Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at Naruto where he stood in front of them, practically vibrating in place. He was ready, determination in every line of his body. "For him?"
"For all of them." They set off the signal.
Everyone saw the bright beacon as it shot into the sky. If that wasn't a signal, nothing was. The Root members guarding the walls were instantly on alert, searching for invaders in front of them. They never saw the shadows that bound them and knocked them unconscious. When Ame troops swarmed in the gates moments later, they were unhindered by guards. Jiraiya led a part of his force off to the right, splitting through the smaller streets and alleys that hid them from any Root that passed over as Tsunade continued up the main path with Naruto by her side, intent on reaching the main square.
Nagato heard the sound of a blade sweeping through the air and the fall of bodies from behind as he turned around to see a battalion of black-clad figures surrounding a part of his army and decimating them. He signaled Konan to continue on with the charge as he dropped back to help fight the defenders.
Kakashi didn't move with Yahiko's group; instead he prowled the streets, keeping an eye out for any shadows that didn't look right. Root-nin were stealthy, and prone to waiting until an enemy had passed them and their back was turned before attacking. Then he heard the loud roar of detonation tags and saw flames shoot up from near the Academy, and rushed towards the source.
Tenten stood back and rubbed her hands together looking at their work. "That's how you craft an explosion." Next to her, Anko chuckled and clapped the weapons mistress on the back.
"You're learning, brat." They had made sure all of the younglings were out of the barracks and well on their way to the Academy, where others were waiting to direct them to safe spots from the fighting, before setting off the explosive tags. They were trying to get the Root-nin as confused as possible and draw Danzou out of his tower if all went according to plan. It was most of Konoha against the few elite. They refused to lose.
Shikamaru signaled a halt as his team got closer to Danzou's mansion – he had claimed the abandoned Senju Compound as his residence, and the irony of that was not lost on the older citizens. "Neji, can you see anything?" he signaled the Hyuuga forward.
He focused his chakra, veins around his pale eyes bulging as he gazed through the walls and shook his head negative. "No movement anywhere in the compound. There are guards around the main building, eight surrounding and three inside."
"Okay." The Nara let out a long breath, contemplating their options. "We'll have to wait for reinforcements. We can't take them yet."
Gai's team surfaced from the tunnels well behind the Root headquarters. There were already some of the elite members rushing out, no doubt intent on first finding and securing Danzou, and it was their turn to cause a ruckus. The jounin stepped out in front of the doors and gaze calmly at the Root-nin facing him. "I believe it is time for you to stand down." Expressionless masks met his gaze as one member drew a sword. "If you do so peacefully you will not be harmed. Resist and you will die."
Giving up wasn't in the Root lexicon. As one the members in the doorway began an attack only to pause, confused, as plants sprang out of the earth and wound around their limbs. Hinata rushed forward and tapped at their chakra points, closing them off before they could recover. As Asuma and Gai collected the men and women and knocked them unconscious, Kiba launched an attack at the doorway with Akamaru, bringing it and the top two floors crashing down. "They'll have to find another way out now," he grinned, wiping a hand across his face happily as Akamaru yipped. They had moves that were sure to beat out Naruto if they ever saw him again.
There wasn't a lot of battling going on so far, Jiraiya noted. Most of the Root-nin that had shown up had been dealt with – although they had certainly fought hard, they fell to overwhelming numbers of clansmen and Ame shinobi. He was beginning to wonder how Danzou had ever managed to take over in the first place with so many people against him.
Tsunade ran up next to her teammate, hair mussed from battle but without a cut on her. "They can handle themselves here. I want to find Danzou and the council personally. I have a debt to repay." Jiraiya wholeheartedly agreed, breaking away from his troops and signaling for them to continue onwards. Any enemies they found would fall.
"Lead the way."
