So sorry for the long wait. This chapter was split in half, as it turned out to be 30+ pages. Which means Ch. 13 is already finished and will be posted much sooner.
Will of Fire
Chapter Twelve: Betrayal
Konoha's official council chamber was somber and highly formal. The circular, starkly bare room had no windows or decorations on the dark stone walls, and the council members occupied low-seated chairs arranged in an arc at the center, beneath a single lamp that cast the fringes of the room into shadow and the seated figures in imposing contrast.
Hinata sat on the floor behind Danzou's chair, knees folded beneath her. Hyuuga Hiashi sat at Danzou's right. He had only glanced at Hinata once, no doubt to make sure she was comporting herself properly. Hinata had stared calmly into his disapproving eyes and felt nothing; no anxiety, no contempt. She felt little remaining attachment to him as her father, and she would gladly go her way and never speak to him again, if only she could free herself of his control. But as long as he was Danzou's right hand and she was stuck in this village, she had to dissemble and obey.
At the either end of the arc sat Kumamozu (with his bear beside him) and the leader of Moss, whose name, Hinata had finally learned, was Morioka. He was still a vile creep who looked at her like he wanted to eat her alive, so she stayed as far out of his line of sight as possible. The other chairs were filled by Danzou's councilors: all decrepit old men whose names Hinata could never care enough to remember.
They'd been talking for over four hours, and Hinata's knees were killing her. Danzou's method of governing was unusual to say the least; he was half dictator, half bureaucrat. Sometimes he gave orders to be followed immediately and without question, and at other times he would sit back and let his council of corrupted sycophants blather about how best to destroy everything Konoha was founded on. Tonight it was the latter.
Finally, when Hinata was nearly falling asleep, the conversation changed to a subject that made her heart drop into her stomach like a stone.
"Kumamozu, Morioka. Your forces have found Uzumaki and the rebels' location?"
"Yes," answered Morioka, his nasally voice echoing faintly in the bare room. "The information your informant gave us was accurate."
"And you confirmed that they are on the move?"
Kumamozu nodded. "South, more or less." His voice boomed deep and grating, like he'd swallowed a rock. "There's just one problem: this spy of yours doesn't know where they're going. They say this Uzumaki kid keeps a tight circle of confidants."
"Yes," Danzou drawled, "Hatake Kakashi is with him, I'm told. And it appears Tsunade's little apprentice has joined him now as well."
"Their overall number has grown quite large," Hiashi said, frowning. "I didn't think there were that many escaped traitors still alive. It's bad enough that we have insurgents within our own walls, proving to be as elusive as cockroaches."
"This rebel army must be eradicated before it grows any stronger, before they join with the radicals here," one of the other councilors agreed. "The fact that they have now acquired Konoha's two best medics is distressing."
Another councilor waved his hand dismissively. "Two medics hardly make a difference in a war, where casualties run high. No matter how good they are."
"Our initial skirmishes were largely unsuccessful, likely because of their medics," Kumamozu countered. "As long as the number of casualties remains low, any damage we do will be undone."
"That problem is easy enough to solve," said Danzou. "Attack with greater numbers to inflict greater damage, and capture their medics."
"We should just kill them."
"No," Danzou said firmly. "They're too valuable to kill at this time."
Kumamozu grunted. "It's all well and good from your position in that comfy chair. The reality in the field's not so simple. They know they're being tracked, and their security is high. It won't be easy to get at their medics."
"Besides that," Morioka cut in, "didn't you say these medics were trained to fight by the Sannin Tsunade? My uncle was killed by her twenty years ago, his spine severed without a mark on his body. Rumor is, on the battlefield a medic can kill with a single touch. How do you expect they'll be taken alive, eh?"
"I'm sure you are competent enough to figure it out," Danzou said brusquely. "Tsunade's skill wasn't enough to save her in the end; her protégés will be no different. If you're afraid to face these women in a fight, then perhaps you should devise a way to use their strength against them." Ignoring their glares, he continued. "When can your forces launch a full-scale assault?"
"Impossible when they're on the move," said Kumamozu. "We can't catch up on foot when they teleport every three days or so."
"If we knew where they were going to end up we could be waiting when they got there," Morioka added.
"You say they are moving south. Konoha's influence in the southern region is minimal. They're heading there because they think the people will support them, or at the very least ignore their presence," Danzou explained dismissively. "However, they are unaware that I have agents and spies stationed in every town and village across the country. We will find them soon enough once they settle. In the meantime, the efforts to disrupt them while on the move must be increased."
Kumamozu crossed his arms over his burly chest. "I'm not going to waste the lives of my men on a wild goose chase."
"Agreed," said Morioka. "You're the one with the spy inside their camp. Why don't you put 'em up to some sabotage, eh?"
Danzou's fingers drummed arrhythmically against the arm of his chair. He was visibly irritated by the two foreign leaders, but the fact that he held in his anger was proof of his need of them. "My Root agents can waylay them. It will be up to you to engage them in battle. Tell me where they are now, and it will be done tonight. Then while they are crippled and unable to move you will annihilate them."
Hinata's mouth had gone completely dry, her stomach twisted in knots. She stared at the floor, hiding frightened eyes behind the curtain of her hair. The next hour was the longest of her life. When the meeting finally ended she had to walk behind Danzou to his office, wait upon him for another twenty minutes until he released her for the night, and then walk home.
When she got there she found that her father hadn't retreated to his study as usual; he'd ordered the cooks to make a late dinner, and to Hinata's dismay he expected her to join him. For the next thirty minutes she stared at her plate and forced herself to eat, chewing and swallowing mechanically so she wouldn't draw suspicion. To make it worse, Neji kept staring at her like he could read her thoughts. As soon as she was able, she excused herself and went to her room. Though most of the household was asleep, there was still enough activity to make her usual routine impossible.
But there had to be a way. Naruto had to be warned.
Hinata paced her room, chewing her thumbnail. What to do? She couldn't exactly sit by the pond and pass notes to a talking toad…
The answer came to her. She searched for a piece of paper and a pen, wrote her message, folded it into a one-inch square and slipped it into the waistband of her pants. She went to her vanity table, opened an ornate lacquered box containing her mother's jewelry and pulled out a beautiful fire-opal pendant hung from a silver chain. Concealing the necklace in her fist, she went outside.
The water garden was empty, though lights were still on and people moved through other parts of the house. Hinata walked across the stones toward the pond, head lowered as she pretended to search for something on the ground. As she neared the water's edge she whispered, "Gamagoru-san, are you there? Don't come out! It's not safe." She knelt down and searched through a patch of fern for a moment, and then reached under her jacket, pulled the folded note from her pants and quickly slipped it under a small rock. "As soon as I'm gone, take this note to Naruto. It's an emergency!" A low croak came from somewhere in the rushes.
A door slid open behind her and she heard her father's voice, and then Neji's as they left the dining room and walked down the hall. The shoji doors were open to the balmy night air, and she knew they could see her. It took all of her control to appear outwardly composed and keep up her charade. She dropped the necklace into the grass, and after a few more seconds of 'searching,' picked it up again with the other hand. Dangling it visibly between her fingers, she calmly stood and walked back toward the house.
"You've been spending a lot of time in the garden," Hiashi remarked as he approached. Neji turned the corner and headed toward his room, only sparing a brief glance in their direction. He'd been acting strange lately. Hinata might think he was part of the insurgency, if she wasn't part of it herself. One of these days she was going to find out what he was up to.
"I like to meditate there. It's peaceful," she explained. "The other night I dropped Mother's necklace." She held it up for him to see.
Something in Hiashi's eyes softened as he looked at the glimmering opal that once belonged to his wife, something that was never present when he looked at his children. When he spoke his voice was softer than Hinata had heard it in ages. "I didn't know you wore it."
She never had, or any of the other exquisite and expensive ornaments of her inheritance, but she hadn't thought anyone would ever notice. "I do sometimes." The lie made her feel bad, not because she told it, but because it was a lie. All she remembered of her mother was a hazy face and a feeling of warmth and security, yet it was still the honest truth when she added, "I miss her."
"As do I." After a long moment of silent appraisal, he hesitantly placed his hand on Hinata's head. "You look more like her every day."
A pang of sadness stabbed through her. This was her father, and it hurt to hate him. For most of her life she had lived to earn his approval, and never even came close. He was cold and ambitious, and a traitor now as well, and he had never been kind to her…but maybe he did love her in what he understood love to be. Or maybe he didn't. She doubted she would ever know.
Hinata wished it could be different, but as he touched her now she felt no love for him, only the desire to pull away.
"I'm going to stay the night with Moegi," she said, bringing the uncomfortable moment to an end. She wouldn't have told him, except that it was hours after curfew and if Root happened to stop her on the way he could confirm her 'harmless intent.'
Her father's hand dropped to his side and the faint sneer returned to his face. He didn't like her consorting with 'that type' of girl, which Hinata could only assume to mean common and poor. But since she was no longer heiress—that dubious honor had passed to Neji only days after the coup—he was no longer as adamant about dictating what she did and with whom. As long as it didn't hurt the Hyuuga position with Danzou—that was the caveat to everything.
"Very well," he said, like she'd asked his permission. "Be sure you're on time for work tomorrow. Duty comes before…personal interests."
Hinata didn't dignify that with a response. It was possible he even thought she meant to stay the night with Moegi, he knew so little about his own daughter. "Goodnight, Father," she said, and headed back to her room without waiting for his response. He didn't give one anyway.
Sick with worry over Naruto, and the fact that she was over an hour late, she stuffed her pajamas and toothbrush into a backpack and rushed out the door as fast as walking would allow. She took a shortcut to Moegi's house, and as she went up the short path to the front door, she used her Byakugan to observe all the figures crowded into the basement below her feet. She was shocked to see nearly forty people down there, what must be the entire insurgency, all gathered for the first time ever. It was dangerous for them all to meet like this. If she could see them, then so could another Hyuuga who was loyal to Danzou.
Something big was happening if they were willing to take such a risk. And they didn't even know what she knew yet.
The door opened three seconds after her knock and Moegi put on the usual show of hugging and eagerly pulling her inside, babbling about how much fun they were going to have. As soon as the door closed she turned to her and hissed, "Where the hell have you been?"
"I just now got away. The council had a meeting tonight. There's bad news."
Inoichi was standing by the window and had seen her walk up. He straightened and came over, his expression grave. "How bad?"
"Life or death bad."
"Come on." Konoha's chief interrogator led her down to the basement, where he interrupted the discussion so she could give her news.
"Danzou has a spy in Naruto's camp. He knows they're in Fire country," she said. The sudden, intense attention made her uncomfortable, but the situation was too dire for timidity. "Root is going to ambush them tonight, and afterward the armies from Moss and Fang will engage them in battle. I've already warned Naruto—"
"Warned him?" Tsume exclaimed. "How?"
Only a few knew of Hinata's communication with Naruto. With a nod from Shikaku that it was alright, Hinata explained it to the others. She prayed Naruto had gotten the message by now and the rebels were on the move. They only had a few hours before the mercenary armies closed in around them.
"You say they're in Fire right now?" asked Yuugao. "What are they doing so close to Konoha? It may be too late for them to escape without a fight."
Hinata would have told her that the rebels were going to the Fire Temple, but she didn't want to say it in front of everyone else. She trusted her fellow insurgents, but the fewer who knew important information like that, the better.
"They're jumping," Shikaku explained, coming to her rescue. "They can make it if they take action right away."
"The war for Konoha is about to begin in full," Yoshino said ominously. "We need to be ready."
"Our plan couldn't come at a better time, it seems," her husband said, smirking.
"What plan?" Hinata suspected this was what had brought them all together tonight.
Inochi put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you know that next weekend Danzou and his cronies are holding a banquet celebrating Leaf's new alliance with Moss and Fang."
Hinata knew, all right: she'd been instructed to wait upon them like a serving girl, pouring drinks and lighting cigars. There was nothing wrong with being a serving girl, but Hinata was an experienced ninja. A soldier. Yet in the eyes of those geezers she was just a female, and women existed to serve men. It was unforgivably insulting. "Yes," she said flatly.
"You can barely contain your excitement, I see. Well you might not want to skip out on this one."
"Why?"
His smile was wicked. "Because we're planning to serve up some just deserts."
It was nearly three in the morning when Sakura and Shizune left the little hut. After almost twelve hours of trial and error they had finally succeeded in creating the antidote. It was worth every second of work, every ounce of exhaustion weighing on their minds and bodies, because no one else would die from poisoning.
"'Night," Shizune muttered listlessly, and turned in the direction of the tent she shared with Genma.
"'Night," Sakura echoed, and trudged toward her own tent. Shiko followed at her heels with more energy than Sakura thought was natural. Outside the tent she was sharing with Tenten, she knelt down and whispered to the pup, "You can go back to your home for the night if you want."
"Shiko not have home no more. Stay with you?"
Her grammar is atrocious, Sakura thought, but at least she knows how to keep her voice down. "You can stay, but you'll have to settle down and go to sleep. I can't have you waking people up. Or keeping me up."
"Yes, Shiko is good."
Yawning, Sakura untied the flap and crawled inside, and waited for the ninken to come in before tying it closed again. Tenten mumbled into her pillow and turned to face the tent wall, but she didn't wake. Shiko turned circles and settled into a little ball at the foot of Sakura's bedroll, and Sakura stripped down to her shorts and tank top. She let her hair down and finger combed it before she pulled open her sleeping bag…and noticed that something was in her bed.
There was just enough light to see by as she picked up the plastic packet, and a smile spread across her face. Kakashi had left her half of his jerky.
Sakura sighed. She would rather have found Kakashi waiting in her bedroll. She'd really hoped to see him again tonight, spend some time together and pick up where they left off again…. Were they ever going to have more than a few minutes' privacy to explore this new thing between them? Other people around here managed to do it. Literally. But other people weren't Naruto's teammates who he relied upon to perform crucially important tasks.
Sakura supposed they would just have to make time.
She quietly put her boots back on. Shiko looked up at her curiously, and she leaned over and whispered into the pup's ear. The ninken silently left the tent and trotted away. Sakura followed her out and walked further into the forest, away from camp.
#
Something cold and wet on the back of his hand startled Kakashi out of sleep. Only his trained reflexes kept him from instinctively attacking whatever had invaded his tent unnoticed. Slowly, and rather groggily, he sat up. Two dark round eyes stared back at him from a furry little face. Shiko. No normal dog could have snuck up on him like that. Or on Tenzou, who had his head buried under his pillow and hadn't so much as twitched. Even his dogs weren't that stealthy. This pup had serious potential. She was going to be incredibly dangerous someday.
His first thought was that Sakura needed his help, but he quickly realized the ninken was too calm and quiet for that. She must be here at Sakura's behest. No words needed to be exchanged. Kakashi threw a shirt on, pulled his mask up and his boots on, and followed her outside.
The trees obscured the moon from view, but it had to be well into the wee hours. Sakura had better have a good reason for interrupting his beauty sleep. Shiko led him away from the tents and further into the woods. It didn't take long to recognize where they were going; the treestump clearing where they'd been earlier today.
The grove was tinted silver by a beam of moonlight shining down through the gap in the canopy. Sakura was waiting there, arms folded around herself though the night was warm and humid, gazing up through the trees as if trying to see the moon. It was like something out of a fairytale: a man lured into the woods to find a beautiful nymph waiting to seduce him. Of course in the fairytale, the beautiful nymph was usually plotting the unsuspecting man's imminent demise…but he was pretty sure Sakura had something more mutually enjoyable in mind.
She sensed more than heard his approach, and when she spotted him emerging from the darkness, a glowing smile lit her face. The ninken trotted off into the woods, her job done, and Kakashi drew up to the smiling kunoichi. The way she looked at him spread a warm feeling through his chest.
"Sorry I woke you," she said in a near-whisper.
"Liar," he returned just as softly. "If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it." He curved his hand over her hip, around to the small of her back. "But I'm not complaining."
Sakura leaned into him. Her hair gleamed lavender in the moonlight, falling in soft waves over her shoulders and back. He liked it long, and definitely liked it down like this, though he preferred her in the sun, where he could see the dusting of freckles on her nose and the deep green facets of her eyes, the blush of her cheeks and the tiny flash of pink tongue as she chewed her lip out of habit.
She reached up and pulled his mask down, already comfortable with tearing down his barriers, as he was already strangely comfortable with letting her. As her fingertips lingered against his face, he said, "I imagined it would be you sneaking into my tent."
Her lips curved ironically, like she'd thought about doing that very thing. "I didn't want to draw attention. Besides, aren't you sharing a tent with Tenzou?"
His other hand joined the first around her waist. "Yes, but he sleeps like a log."
Sakura stifled a giggle. "I dare you to say that to him." Her hands came to rest against his chest. "So what exactly did you imagine?" she asked teasingly. "Probably something completely perverted."
"Oh, definitely," he nodded, "I have a very detailed imagination."
Smiling, she wound her arms around his neck. "Show me."
He was already moving her backward, into the shadows at the edge of the grove. His mouth found hers and there was no more hesitation, only hunger and desire. They were tired of being interrupted, and now they seized the opportunity to make up for it. His arms tightened around her, and he lifted her with graceful ease and held her against the wide trunk of an ancient tree. "That's better," he murmured, his lips still on hers. "You're too short."
Sakura locked her legs around his waist, smiled against his mouth. "You're too tall."
Despite their height issue being rectified, they didn't kiss again. Kakashi simply gazed at her with quietly full eyes. Sakura could guess what he was feeling, because she was feeling it too. Exhilaration. A little bit of fear as they tread on unfamiliar ground. Wonder at something completely new, yet at the same time so familiar and comfortable.
Softly, she fanned her fingertips across his unshaven jaw. Apparently Kakashi used his mask as an excuse to shave only once or twice a week, but she decided she kind of liked him this way. She traced the white line of his scar up to his lips, replacing her fingers with her mouth. She ran her tongue across his lower lip, reveling in his sharp intake of breath and the realization that his skin was sensitive in the places normally covered by his mask. She tested her theory further by nibbling, and was rewarded with a soft groan. Kakashi broke from her lips and kissed a trail along her jaw, down to her neck. Sakura tilted her head for him, fingers tightening in his hair as she closed her eyes and sighed in pure pleasure.
It wouldn't go any further than this, she knew. Their first time wasn't going to be a quickie in the woods with the sentries within earshot and her back scraping against the rough bark of a tree. She wanted their first time as lovers to be a fitting acknowledgment of the history between them, of the huge leap forward they had taken. She wanted it to be amazing, and she knew it would be, because if Kakashi could kiss like this then his other talents must be phenomenal.
They wouldn't have to wait long. They would reach the Fire Temple tomorrow night, where they would be safe enough to let down their guard a little, and where they would hopefully once again have their own private quarters.
That thought in mind, she met Kakashi's lips again and surrendered herself to the moment.
Diffused gray light was just starting to filter through the trees. Soon the birds would wake and fill the stillness with their morning songs, but now the forest was silent in the early hour before dawn. It was 4am, and time for the third watch to be relieved.
Raido was glad; he'd been on duty for twelve straight hours after taking a double shift. Chiyo was originally assigned the third watch, but she was still recuperating from being poisoned. His bad knee was killing him after squatting in this tree all night. He planned to hit his bedroll and sleep until the jump later tonight, and if Aoba woke him up with his snoring again there would be hell to pay.
Now if only his relief ever managed to show up. A few minutes weren't a big deal…unless it was during war. He couldn't leave his post to look for his replacement himself, and there was no one else around at this hour, so he was forced to sit and wait. Nearly fifteen minutes past the scheduled time, he finally heard someone approaching from behind in the camp. But when he turned to look it wasn't who he expected.
He hopped down from the branch, landing silently. "You're not Kiba."
"Your observation skills are top notch," Karin said dryly. "He's sick; I'm his replacement."
"Sick? Not poison again…"
"Food poisoning, maybe," she said with a faint snort. "Or he drank too much."
Raido frowned. "Drank too much?"
Karin shrugged. "I know some of the guys have a bottle of something stashed somewhere. I dunno, okay? All I know is he said he was sick and he asked me to take his watch. Is that a problem?"
The young Inuzuka was cocky and often inappropriate, but Raido had never heard of him being irresponsible. Security was something to be taken very seriously, and these younger shinobi who hadn't been in the last war didn't really understand that. Some lessons shouldn't need to be learned the hard way. "Yes it's a problem," he grunted. "But not with you. I'll have a little chat with Inuzuka tomorrow." He unfastened the radio mic from around his neck and handed it to the girl. "Third shift ends at eight, but don't leave until you're relieved by the next watch."
"I know that. I've pulled watch before."
"That's reassuring, at least. You'll need to identify yourself to the other sentries over the chan-" His head whipped around in the direction of the forest beyond the perimeter. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes."
She hadn't bothered to lower her voice, and Raido glared at her. Her eyes had gone wide, but her expression was oddly blank. "It sounded like some kind of…" He looked back into the gray darkness of the forest, reached an arm out behind him. "Give me the radio, I want to ask the others—"
His hand closed around the cold plastic of the radio. In the same second, there was a sharp, searing pain in his neck followed by a dizzying rush through his limbs. He lurched around to face his attacker, a flash of red in his periphery, only to feel another sharp pain as the blade twisted and tore. Raido fell to his knees, clutching at his throat. The red liquid gushing through his fingers was strangely hot while the rest of his body had gone terribly cold. He tried to cry out, but his ruined esophagus only emitted hideous gargling sounds.
He collapsed onto his side, and through wide eyes saw a pair of boots as his attacker knelt beside him slowly, casually. A female hand picked up the radio. There was static noise as she changed the frequency. He grasped at her but she was well out of reach. He tried to crawl, reach for his weapons, anything, but his limbs would not respond. Raido could only gape helplessly as Karin's voice spoke hollowly into the mic:
"Operation initiated. Commence phase two."
A wave of static presaged the response. "Copy. Confirm again, all clear?"
"Roger. The north perimeter is open."
Naruto dashed through the rows of tents, pausing every few meters to shake one and rouse those sleeping inside. His toads were doing the same all around him, waking everyone and warning them to silently prepare for battle. It was going well; no one could execute a silent muster like an army of shinobi. They'd been warned in time, and they would be ready when the enemy came.
When he came to Kakashi and Tenzou's tent he was dismayed to find only one of them in it. "Where the hell is Kakashi?" he demanded of his former team leader.
"No idea," Tenzou answered, fully alert and battle-serious despite the rude awakening. "I don't know that he ever came in tonight." Naruto left him there and continued on toward Sakura's tent. Before he got there he finally saw Kakashi emerging from the forest, with Sakura behind him picking leaves out of her hair. "There you are!"
"What's going on?" Kakashi asked.
"I got an emergency message from Hinata," he explained. "Danzou knows where we are and he's sent forces to attack us. I already sent Gamakichi to tell the jump team to prepare."
"Is there enough time for that?" asked Sakura. "Did Hinata say when the attack was coming?"
Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but before he could shouts of alarm rang out from the north side of camp. Shinobi started running toward the commotion.
Looking in the direction of the noise, Kakashi said, "It's already here."
Without another word they split off in different directions; Naruto heading into the fray, Kakashi and Sakura running to their tents to arm themselves before doing the same.
#
Shiko ran to Sakura's side as she strapped on her medic's apron and grabbed her kusarigama. The pup seemed to understand what was happening; her hackles were raised and she paced around Sakura fearlessly, eyes alert. Sakura didn't doubt she was capable of being very dangerous, but she was still just a baby. She wanted to put the pup in the tent and have her hide until it was safe, but she tamped down on the urge. Shiko wasn't a dog, she was a ninken—her partner in combat. It was sooner than expected or desired, but that partnership started now.
"Stay by my side at all times," Sakura told her as they sprinted toward the battle together. The enemy had caught them by surprise and had overrun their defenses with almost no resistance, and the fighting had already burst from the forest into camp. Through the smoke and darkness she was surprised to see her fellow rebels weren't fighting Moss and Fang—they were fighting Root.
A cold rage burned through her at the sight of the masked nin. Sakura leapt into the fray with no thought in her mind other than doing serious damage to the traitors who inflicted so many atrocities on their own countrymen. They were the reason the true Leaf nin were homeless fugitives, the reason so many families had been torn apart. They were the reason Tsunade was dead, along with Ino and Chouji and so many others – including those they were killing right now.
This was her first full-scale battle, and in battle one had to be aware of the entire three hundred sixty degrees around themselves, requiring an intense in-the-now focus that made it difficult to clearly recall what happened. Afterward, it would all become a blur. But right now Sakura saw people fighting everywhere as jutsu and weapons hurtled through the air in all directions, making the combat zone twice as dangerous.
She saw two Leaf nin being overwhelmed by Root agents. She flung the weighted chain of her kusarigama around the neck of one and yanked him toward her, and the chakra covering the chain nearly severed his head. A second enemy broke from the group to face off with her. She swung her weapon several times, but he drew his sword and blocked her attacks, eventually tangling the chain around the blade and rendering it useless. Sakura used her superior strength and jerked the taut chain, ripping the sword right out of his hand. He drew two kunai and ran at her, parrying her slash with one and stabbing at her with the other. She ducked backward and kicked him hard in the stomach. He buckled over instantly, his organs ruptured from the force. Having learned her lesson after what happened with Kakashi, she made sure her enemy was dead before moving on.
As she ran another masked nin leapt at her from above in the trees, and due to the smoke and semidarkness she didn't see him until he was on her. She turned just in time to avoid a hit in the back and his kunai ripped into her shoulder as they went down together. He had at least fifty pounds on her and his weight was crushing. He stabbed again, but she got an arm free and caught his wrist, breaking it with a squeeze. As he grunted and reared back Sakura drove her fist into his skull and crushed it.
Before she could rise someone came out of the smoke and kicked at her head, barely missing. She arched sideways and hooked both of her legs around his, twisting and rolling. The assailant's knee snapped and he went down. Then Shiko was on him, snarling viciously and tearing with her teeth at anything she could reach, but she was still too small and light to be deadly to a grown man and he threw her off at the cost of a severely mangled arm. Sakura had rolled to her knees and recovered her weapon by then, and finished it with a single strike.
The moment she got to her feet she was set upon by three more Root agents, one of whom grabbed her around the torso, pinning her arms to her sides. Pain lanced through her arm as the pressure of the hold tore her wound wider, and she was forced to drop her weapon. The second agent came at her with a kunai, but she kicked outward with both legs and he recoiled. Before he could come again she planted her feet firmly on the ground, channeled chakra through her legs, hurled herself and the nin holding her upward, and as the one holding her lost his footing he also loosened his grasp. She grabbed his arm, bent double and flung him over her body into the other agent, dislocating his arm in the process. The agents almost went down together, but the one with the kunai threw the other off and ran at her. He was disoriented from the impact and she used his momentum against him, grabbing him by the shoulder and head and driving him face first into the nearest tree trunk.
Shiko was busy harrying the third one, dodging his kicks and slashes and keeping him too busy to attack her human. Sakura used the distraction to flash-step behind him and snap his neck. But it wasn't over. The agent with the dislocated arm was on his feet and running at her, slashing with a ninjato. Then he suddenly stopped and froze, his head swiveling in confusion as he tried to figure out why.
Sakura saw why: bands of darkness had wrapped around his torso and arms. She could only imagine the masked man's expression of shock and horror as he turned his blade on himself. He hung suspended in death for several seconds before the bands disappeared and he fell to the ground. A moment later Shikamaru emerged from the smoke-filled shadows.
"Thanks," she told him, breathing hard with pain and exertion.
He nodded once. "It's over. They're retreating."
Finally there was a moment of respite to catch her breath and see what was going on around her. The fight was indeed over. Only a few living Root agents could be seen, flickering away into the trees as Leaf rebels gave chase. A giant plume of smoke and dust rose into the lightening sky at the north end of camp, where it looked like several trees had been razed. Sakura had a feeling that was where Naruto was.
Shikamaru looked her over, eyes stopping on her bloody arm. "You should take care of that." His clothes were singed and he had a burn on the right side of his face and neck, but it was mild.
Sakura glanced at her own injury. It wasn't as bad as if felt. She would have to bind it and stop the bleeding so she wouldn't faint, but there were other people who were sure to be worse off. "I will." She knelt down and held her arm out to Shiko, who ran over eagerly.
"Shiko do good?"
Sakura ran her hands over the pup's head and neck. She'd been thrown pretty hard, but nothing seemed to be broken. "Very good. Are you hurt?"
"No."
She stood and turned to Shikamaru, nodded toward the north. "Is that where Naruto is?"
"Last I saw," he confirmed.
That was where the fighting started and probably where the most people in need of medical attention would be, so she started in that direction. Shiko followed at her heels. Halfway there she heard Sai call her name and tuned to see him running up to her. She immediately gave him a visual checkup; he was dirty, scuffed and bloody, but moved like he was uninjured.
"I'll help you gather the wounded," he said.
"Thanks. Are you hurt?" He shook his head 'no,' and they continued toward the north perimeter together. "How did this happen?" she wondered dismally, looking around at the grisly aftermath; smoke and dust and blackened trees, dead Root agents and blood soaking the earth. "How did they get past the perimeter unnoticed?"
Sai shook his head. "I don't know. My guess is—" He stopped in his tracks and stared into the trees on their left. "Is that…?"
Sakura turned to see what he was looking at. Someone was moving away from the camp at a quick but stealthy pace, someone who was not a Root agent, cloaked in black and carrying a satchel. They looked back to each other in understanding: one of their own was trying to escape in the chaos. There was only one person who would want to do that—the mole. Sai seemed to come to the same conclusion, and they both started running toward the retreating figure.
The cloaked person looked back over their shoulder and started to run. As they got closer, Shiko lifted her nose to the air and said, "Red lady."
"Karin!" Sakura growled, and ran harder. The fleeing woman stumbled on a root, and that was when Sai caught her, grabbed her by the back of her neck and slammed her to the ground. She fought beneath him and pulled a kunai from inside the folds of her cloak, and actually cut him before Shiko bit her arm and forced her to drop it. Sakura pinned her down with chakra strength.
"Why are you running?" Sakura demanded, shaking her roughly. "Were you part of this?"
Karin growled and thrashed, but behind her glasses her eyes were strangely free of malice or fear. Sakura knew Karin despised her, and she expected a string of nasty words, but it was like she didn't even recognize her. She wouldn't submit and continued to struggle violently, so not knowing what else to do, Sakura knocked her out cold.
She looked over at Sai, who was examining a two inch cut on his wrist. "How bad is it?"
"Just a scratch," he said. "It won't even need stitches."
Sakura took hold of his wrist and verified it for herself. "Wrap it and let me know immediately if you start feeling strange." She eyed Karin's kunai on the ground. "It doesn't look poisoned, but you can't always tell."
"Let's take her to Naruto," he said, and hoisted the unconscious woman over his shoulder. There was no need to tie her up; if she woke up and fought Sakura would be more than glad to knock her out again.
TBC
