Greetings everyone! first let me just say that this chapter was a bitch to write . . . i ended up stalling on the plot about halfway through it and it took me a few weeks to get back in the groove . . . that may actually be visible in the writing . . . it felt like it changed to me . . . and i may have forgotten a thing or two that might have come in handy for our plucky heroes . . . erm . . . whoops? oh well.
secondly . . . had anyone noticed the names of the Suna team? it might be amusing to note that, i never intended for the suna team to be named . . . they were meant to just be background characters . . . one thing led to another and bam, suna team got names. that led to anther problem . . . no names to give them . . . sooooo had to get them from somewhere. the Suna team's names are all from Gaki no Tsukai, a japanese variety show (I think . . . I only ever watch their yearly Batsu games, check em out, they are hilarious) so that's amusing, kudos if you got that but i don't blame you if you didn't.
in any case, I hope you enjoy and see you at the bottom.
Part 12
"A book on the Yadokawa clan? That's an obscure clan but I do remember reading about it" Said the Librarian of the Konoha library, pushing her glasses as she answered Shikamaru. "The Uchiha was in here the other week asking about it as well" she said as she moved out from behind the counter and headed for the genin clearance section the book was supposedly in. Shikamaru followed with a lazy slouch as the went past rows until the lady walked down one aisle and stopped at the end, underneath a window. "The book should be here but I can't seem to find it" The lady said as she scanned the shelves. Slight movement out of the corner of the eye caught Shikamaru's attention and his gaze travelled down to a tiny fragment of paper. Kneeling down, the Nara picked up the little scrap and looked it over, turning it back to front. The slip had clear indications of being burnt and it's only distinguishing markings was the letter 'Y' written on one side.
"That Uchiha must have taken the book!" The woman said in indignation.
"I think I found your book" Shikamaru drawled as he held the scrap for the woman to see. "Or what's left of it . . . troublesome" he added.
"But who would burn a book?! Here?! In the Konoha Library! We have chunin guards just over there!" the woman said, pointing out a clearly visible spot where a chunin was sitting rather boredly watching the people going about the library.
"Someone who wanted to erase all traces of their existence" Shikamaru replied, looking around. He knew he'd have to get a hold of Naruto next time he saw the boy. He was now sure that the woman was of the clan that Naruto claimed to be a part of and so he was the only source he could think of to find out that woman's name. "Thank you for your time" he said to the woman before walking off, his hands in his pockets.
"That's not a small group of bandits . . . that's a slowly forming army!" Endo said, a slight tinge of horror in his voice.
"Slowly forming is right . . . it would take em a few more months at the least before they'd even be able to challenge Suna and I doubt they could keep their presence a secret from us with the amount of food they need to keep that army fed" Matsumoto said, placing a hand on Endo's shoulder.
"Plus, they can only just use their chakra for muscle enhancement . . . only a few of them, if there are any other than the one we encountered, are any comparison to real ninja" Naruto said, weighing in on the conversation. The base that Matsumoto had talked about the night previous was nestled in a basin at the end of a long canyon and the group was crouching at the top of the canyon wall.
"They are bandits . . . they are still the kind of enemy you delegate to genin . . . we will blast you people a hole into that base and let you do your thing, backing you up when we are done" Sakura said as she surveyed the soon to be battleground. The base in question was built into the side of the canyon wall so that rockfalls wouldn't threaten it but the regular bandits had made camp around the entrance.
"What I want to know is why they are camping outside the base . . . it was meant to house the forces of a ninja village for long periods of time after all" Hosei added.
"Deterrence most likely, we'd see the troops on the outside and be made to think they've filled the base with troops already" Matsumoto replied.
"Who's to say it isn't?" Sasuke asked, crouching next to Sakura and Naruto.
"We'd have noticed already if they had those kinds of numbers . . . might look nice and fertile 'round these parts but let me tell you it isn't" Matsumoto replied with sarcasm. The surrounding landscape was hard-baked dirt, rock or sand and very little in anything let alone enough to feed an army. "You sure you kids can take em?" Matsumoto asked and got a nod from all three genin. "Then it's my recommendation that we wait for nightfall when you can sneak in and kill them in the dark" he suggested.
"Not necessary . . . squad seven is a frontline battle squad" Sakura replied and Matsumoto took another look at the three genin. "Although I shouldn't be on this squad . . . that's a question for when we get back home" Sakura added, frowning slightly and her two teammates looked at her.
"Sakura-chan, don't talk like that! You are great on this squad!" Naruto said, trying to cheer the girl up.
"You and I both know it should have been Hinata . . . she was top of the class" Sakura said quietly. "But, I'm here so we need to make the best of it . . . Sasuke, you good for this?" she asked the dark haired boy and he nodded. "Naruto . . . you good for this?" she asked and Naruto gave her a grin and a thumbs up.
"I don't disagree with you on Hinata . . . but if she had, who'd be our captain?" he said before Sakura could continue. Sakura merely nodded and carried on anyway.
"Naruto, we need a few extra soldiers and Sasuke . . . we are gonna need some literal firepower" Sakura said and both she and Naruto looked at Sasuke.
"What?" the Uchiha asked, he had gone pale as soon as Sakura had mentioned the word fire.
"Sasuke, I read that the sharingan makes you memorise everything you see . . . not just the jutsu" Naruto said softly and Sakura nodded.
"Yeah but I don't have . . ." Sasuke began but stopped as he realised something.
"When we found you, you had red eyes with a single tomoe" Naruto said and Sasuke's eyes widened at the knowledge.
"Now you just need to figure out how to control it . . . sensei can help with that when we get back to Konoha . . . in the meantime, can you or can you not continue this mission?" Sakura said, staring intently into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke clenched his fists and scowled at Sakura before nodding.
"I'm an Uchiha . . . I. Will. Do. It!" Sasuke said, the fire lighting his eyes.
"Good . . . Naruto . . . begin please" Sakura said, turning from Sasuke to the camp they were above. Naruto jumped off the edge and, with a puff of white smoke, turned into a small force of a few dozen all scream battle cries. "Sasuke . . . you know what to do" she said to the boy beside her who stood, face impassive and leapt down as well. Moments later a fireball smashed into the camp and several screams were heard just as the clash of metal on metal began.
"Quite the . . . team . . . you have here" Matsumoto said as he watched the fireball light up an area of the camp before another fireball shot towards another area of the camp, more screams in it's wake.
"I shouldn't be on this team . . . I was slated for genjutsu and my style is more infiltration and assassination . . . as you can see, that's not the speciality of this team" Sakura said quietly
"You sell yourself short . . . you have managed to keep control of an almost uncontrollable situation" Matsumoto said as he looked down at the pink haired girl. "I know a lot of chunin that would have retreated after being ambushed and tried to pass the mission off up the food chain" Hosei and Endo looked sheepish as Matsumoto said this.
"I understand that I've since earned my place . . . but I'm a lot different than I was a few weeks ago" Sakura said, not taking her eyes off the battle in front of her. "My scores somehow managed to be higher than a girl who could beat the entire class single handedly in Taijutsu . . . she should have been the rookie of the year but some loophole meant that I was named the Kunoichi of the year and Sasuke was named rookie of the year . . . thus meaning I was on this team and not the girl who already had the training in battle situations" Sakura explained, her voice a monotone. "The implications are political . . . and I suspect it's something to do with the council but I digress, let's enter the base now, the way should be clear" Sakura stood up and lightly leapt off the edge, landing gracefully in front of the burning camp.
When Sakura with the Suna team caught up with Naruto and Sasuke, she noticed that Sasuke's hand was shaking and Naruto wasn't grinning but rather looked serious, his sword in hand.
"I assume all those killed with slashes was your doing kid?" Matsumoto asked Naruto who nodded in response. "Why the throat? Haven't seen a body that was slashed anywhere else" he asked.
"Instant lethality . . . Yadokawa family combat style dictates one must strike in a place where he can guarantee the death of his target in a single slash, thus, the throat and vertebrae are our targets" Naruto said in a monotone as if reciting from a text book. Endo shuddered at sheer coldness of his voice.
"Good job team, now for the hard part . . ." Sakura said as she turned and looked at the entrance to the base. It was a large door that looked like it had places at the top that could be opened to allow ninja in or out rapidly.
"You didn't take part in the attack!" Sasuke angrily accused, pointing a finger at Sakura. The girl in question turned her gaze to the Uchiha and Sasuke froze again, the same chilling feeling running down his spine. Even Hosei and Endo were breaking out in a sweat behind Sakura as she forced her gaze upon the Uchiha.
"My skill, as you well know, is for individual targets and small groups . . ." Sakura said and suddenly the chilling feeling disappeared. Endo took an audible sigh of relief as the feeling abated.
"Looks like you inherited Kizashi's unique form of killing intent" Matsumoto said with a brief chuckle, drawing the attention of the five other shinobi present. "He killed six people with it alone" Matsumoto said, suddenly serious and Sakura recognised the warning in his words.
"In anycase . . . let's make this attack before they have more time to prepare traps" Sakura said, turning back to the door.
"How're we getting in?" Asked Naruto as he turned to look at the door as well.
"Leave that to us" Matsumoto said with a smirk as he confidently strode forth and just pushed the door open. "The door could only be locked by someone who knew the correct seals to lock it . . . Those people are all still in Suna" he said in explanation.
"Where do these people get their electricity from?" Naruto asked as he and the twin teams walked down a well lit corridor.
"That's actually a good question . . . normally we use chakra generators but there isn't one here . . . not to my knowledge anyway . . . those weren't common when this base was built" Matsumoto replied as he examined the electric lights that lined the corridor. "And still aren't in the wind country" he added
"Our enemies can use chakra" Sakura said quietly "Someone taught them . . . perhaps this someone got their hands on a generator big enough to use" she said, keeping her eyes on the corridor. The teams had been arrayed in such a way that Sasuke was in the front as his fireball jutsu would allow him to kill anyone in the corridor in front of them while Naruto was behind him for close ranged support and Sakura behind them. The Suna team was walking with Matsumoto in the lead and the other two standing side by side.
"What exactly is a chakra generator?" Sasuke asked as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of movement.
"You mean you have no idea what's keeping your lights on boy? Kids these days, take all the modern marvels for granted" Matsumoto grumbled
"Chakra generators are devices that convert chakra into usable energy such as electricity . . . I think they also produce chakra . . . it's got something to do with Fuinjutsu I know that much but we never learnt about them in the academy so most people don't question where the power comes from" Sakura explained absently.
"Man sized contacts . . . a whole lot of em" Naruto said softly and the team came to a stop.
"What do you mean man-sized contacts and what do you mean by a whole lot of them?" Matsumoto asked, the possibility that he was wrong about his assessment not forgotten.
"I mean that I just activated my bloodline and I can't give you an estimate of numbers because there is so many people moving around right now that it's impossible to tell" Naruto replied quietly. "That's upwards of one person per square meter . . . but they are congregating into clumps so at least I can tell you where the hotspots are and right now there is one coming up on us" Naruto continued and the other ninja took that information in with growing horror.
"What was is you said about it not being fertile around here?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound casual.
"I don't suppose you can track . . . our teammate's position could you Naruto?" Sakura asked, already pulling out her bottle of Sake.
"Told you, my bloodline doesn't work that way" Naruto replied almost instantly and snatched the bottle of liquor from Sakura's hands to take a drink himself before handing it back. Sakura sighed as she took a sip before reaching to put the drink back in her pack but stopped.
"Do any of you have any cloth that you could spare?" Sakura asked the group, an Idea forming in her head.
"Why exactly do you keep a bottle of Sake on your person for anyway?" Matsumoto asked as he rummaged around for something usable. He pulled out a square of white cloth that might have been a handkerchief and handed it over.
"For when I need something with a little bit of a kick . . . I don't actually like the taste of Sake though but it does the job" Sakura replied before pulling the lid off of the bottle, tipping the bottle up so that the liquid would soak into the cloth and then wrapped the cloth down. "This will be useful when we want to . . . deter enemies" she said in reply to the unasked question that the other five had been looking at her with.
"The only thing we can do for the moment is carry on . . . they are just bandits so that still gives us the advantage but this has turned from a rescue mission to an intel mission . . . we aren't engaging until we are sure of how many ninja they have" Matsumoto said in a commanding voice and the other five nodded their assent to his command.
The team watched on as a congregation of several hundred people in shemaghs stood in the middle of an atrium of some kind. The pathway they had been following was clearly designed for ninja as it ended twenty meters from the ground and on the ground was the large huddle of people.
"No crops huh?" Sasuke said in a voice barely higher than a murmur which was almost impossible to hear over the throng. The group stepped back into the shadow of the corridor just as another man in the clearly uniform shemagh took center stage on a balcony.
"Brothers! Soon comes the hour when we will join in revolution against the hated Ninja and their vile villages!" Said the man who was clearly a leader. His words also sparked a round of cheers and pounding feet while Matsumoto sucked in his breath as soon as he heard the voice.
"You know him" Sakura stated, no louder than Sasuke's early comment.
"We fought together in two wars" Matsumoto replied "I had a feeling he'd be here but to have it proved . . . like this . . ." Matsumoto trailed off and Sakura understood the man's feeling "Hamada wasn't right after the Kazekage disappeared and the third war only compounded on that . . . he vanished shortly before it ended but I always suspected he had gone rogue" The gruff man said.
"Even as we speak" Hamada said, continuing now that the throng had quietened down. "Suna and Konoha conspire with each other! Sending supplies and troops to support each other!" he said and Matsumoto stiffened slightly, not slight enough for Sakura however and apparently even Naruto noticed. "We have captured one of the tree huggers" Hamada said and the sneer was evident in his voice. "Hatake Kakashi! Elite jounin of Konohagakure!" At his reveal, Kakashi was forced onto the balcony, his arms and legs tied in such a fashion to prevent him from performing jutsu or even the escape techniques. The man looked dejected, like he had lost everything in life.
"Sensei" Sakura whispered in concern while Matsumoto gave the pink head a look with a huff of amusement.
"Well done pinky, you had me successfully believing your teammate was just another genin brat and, if things had gone according to your plan, it would have been too late by the time we rescued him for me to back out" Matsumoto said before returning his attention to the jounin who was now the subject of a large number of jeers.
"See how even the mighty Sharingan Kakashi is no match for us!" Hamada continued and it was Sasuke's turn to stiffen, both Naruto and Sakura casted a glance in his direction, they would all ask their sensei later. "I might have said something along the lines of his team having fled the moment they realised he had been insufficient but no! They seem to have fallen victim to the arrogance of shinobi for there they stand!" Hamada said, directing the crowd's attention to the spot where team seven and their allies were standing, all of whom were now wearing an 'oh shit' expression.
"Sooooo . . . explosives?" Naruto asked calmly, only just managing to hide his enthusiasm for getting to use some bombs for a change.
"No . . . place is made of rock, heat the ceiling up too much and it might cause a full on collapse with us still inside" Matsumoto said, looking up at the roof.
"Then we do this the hard way" Sasuke said, his eyes blinking red as his sharingan settled in. "You're fighting" he said to Sakura who merely gave the last Uchiha an unamused look even as she drew her sword in an over-the-shoulder fashion. Naruto on her other side was grinning as his own sword flashed in the dim lighting the the interior.
"Just remember kids, you deal with the commonry, we'll take care of the ninja" Matsumoto huffed.
"Ahh my old teammate Matsumoto!" Hamada said and this time there was a grin in his voice. "It's been far too long" he continued. Sakura looked at her two teammates who both nodded and then they lept down, using chakra to disperse the impact of their fall until there was virtually no kinetic energy released at all. Sakura went through the katas she had learnt as curved swords appeared out of seemingly nowhere, she stood steady, moving her feet in calm and steady motions that never moved her center of mass while her sword flashed in the dim light, knocking one blade aside and flowing from that motion into a slash that claimed the life of the attacker. The killing slash then turned into a flowing spiral that deflected three blades and then flashed into a rapid slash that got another three men. If one were to look at Sakura, knowing she had only a few weeks since she even first picked up a sword, they would have called her a savant, a prodigy but Sakura saw only how her style was lacking, her movements slow and clunky as she parried, redirected, slashed, stabbed and then parried some more.
Elsewhere Naruto was a flashing demon of wind, his blade would flash in the light before blood would spurt and someone would either fall like a puppet with it's strings cut, or would fall clutching their throats, their life seeping onto the stone floor far too rapidly for survival. Instead of defending and retaliating like Sakura, Naruto used clones and speed to maintain the attack with fast paced taijutsu and then followed by a single slash and another dead body adding to the ever growing pile. It was safe to assume that if anyone were to analyse the battle afterwards, they would point to Naruto as the reason they won as Naruto evened the odds between the three fresh genin and the several hundred chakra using bandits. Naruto's liberal use of shadow clones enabled team seven to effectively fight with fifty gening against several hundred chakra using bandits.
Sasuke was panting as he reached into his tool pouch only to come up empty. The typical tool pouch only contained a few dozen tools and all of them were now scattered around the battlefield, sticking out of various dead bodies and several living ones. It was about this moment that Sasuke decided he needed a sword, a tool he could use repeatedly after he had spent all his tools or when he wanted to conserve them. Still, Sasuke needed weapons at that moment and he had only his jutsu but his best jutsu was also one that was devastating especially in such close proximity. Briefly, Sasuke checked around and noticed a shock of pink behind him and to his right as well as a purple fan flashing into and out of existence in front of him but to his left. Smirking, Sasuke faced away from the purple fan of his blonde teammate and flashed through the handsigns of his signature jutsu, he'd only get one shot however but still, it was all he had left as he put his hand to his mouth and breath out a great fireball that lit the entire atrium up with it's intensity and the noise of dozens of people screaming in agony as the fire burnt them alive in mere seconds.
At some point, the remainder had either fled or been killed by Sakura and Naruto but Sasuke remained in the same position, his hand to his mouth even though the jutsu had been completed several minutes ago.
"Oi Sasuke" Naruto called out, his voice and expression muted as he casted a glance at the line of charred bodies.
"Sasuke" Sakura said softly, her hand on the boy's shoulder. Sasuke flinched and looked at Sakura, noticing that there was blood on her face and in her hair.
"You . . . you fought" Sasuke said, bringing his hand down but not noticing it start shaking.
"Of course I did . . . this was one of those times where it was necessary" Sakura said, closing her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears but failing. For a moment, the three pre-adolescent children stood together, their heads down and eyes shut as they came to grips with the slaughter they just brought. Sakura was first to break their impromptu moment of silence as she lifted her head.
"Sensei is still up there . . . we should go find-" Sakura was cut off as chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Naruto who attempted to struggle. "Naruto!" Sakura called out and she and Sasuke leapt away from the blonde so as not to be caught in the same trap. The man who had sprung it appeared from the ground, rising up from it like it was nothing but water.
"Looks like I caught myself a genin" The man said and Sakura immediately recognised the voice of Hamada. Sakura took a stance while Sasuke looked around for a weapon to use. "You jounin sensei was no match for me . . . do you really think you are any better?" Hamada asked with a laugh. Naruto's struggling began slowing down as they stood there and Sakura could see the energy draining out of the boy rapidly. "Oh noticed have you?" Hamada asked "This jutsu is the 'Chains of the Desert' jutsu . . . one of my own creation" Hamada explained. "It saps the victim's strength and willpower . . . just like the desert. Many Konoha fools fell to these chains and there isn't anyone alive that can break out of them" Sakura could hear the glee in the man's voice.
Naruto could feel his strength fade from him. It was an odd sensation, the feeling of his physical strength fading as well as his desire to resist and fight draining out of him. Even if his physical strength didn't get sucked out of him, his willpower was already at an all time low. Naruto wasn't entire sure when exactly but at some point, he stopped struggling and the man named Hamada chuckled, saying something that Naruto didn't catch as he slumped listlessly into the grip of the chains that were still sucking him dry. Already Naruto could feel his heart began to slow and his breath become harder but he was just too tired to fight it anymore. Suddenly a girl appeared in his mind's eye. He thought he recognised her, she was standing there with her back turned. The girl turned slightly so that she was looking over her shoulder, one hand on her hip and the look in her eyes as if she was telling him to hurry up. Naruto could feel the chains, they were drawing him away from the girl, he knew who she was and that she would be devastated if he were to die but it was just so hard to fight. The girl turned around completely to face him, her eyes casting concern over Naruto and the boy was starting to have trouble making out facial features as the distance grew and his mind blurred. It then occurred to Naruto that he'd never see her again, never see her smile, never talk to her and suddenly, desperation hit him. Naruto is very possessive of his precious people and he is now faced with the very real possibility of losing them all, he wouldn't allow that. A pair of eyes opened up behind Naruto and the boy turned to look at them.
"Kyuubi" Naruto whispered and a muzzle appeared, grinning.
"So" The giant demon fox rumbled "The jailor has finally decided to visit" it sneered.
"You and I both know that if I die here . . . so do you" Naruto said to the giant beast and suddenly the head had smashed itself against bars that suddenly came into existence but the Kyuubi said nothing. "Bout time you start paying rent" Naruto said with a glare and the Kyuubi grinned.
"Why should I?" The Kyuubi stated. "At least I will be free of this curse" it snarled but Naruto was having none of that.
"If you won't give it to me willingly . . . I'll take it by force" Naruto growled and felt for the power he had always known was there but somehow was only just noticing it.
"All for a silly girl" The Kyuubi growled before vanishing into the blackness of the void it came from.
Naruto snapped his eyes open, his cerulean blue eyes now red and slitted as a burst of chakra shattered the chains he was trapped in. Naruto growled at the man who had thought to take his life, the man who was now backing up as if he was facing a demon. Naruto grinned at the thought because them man was facing a demon.
"N-Naruto" Sakura said behind him, something like shock or fear in her voice, Naruto didn't care, he only cared about the man who tried to take him away from his loved ones.
"So the brat's got some fight after all" Hamada said and Naruto flashed forward, his sword long forgotten on the ground somewhere. Hamada leant back to avoid a swipe of Naruto's claws with ease but then had to take a step back to avoid Naruto's leg. Hamada was about to go on the attack when he had to dodge to the side in order to avoid a blade that appeared from nowhere. Sakura was standing next to Naruto who flashed off again but this time Sakura was following, all thoughts of what Naruto was could come after the enemy was defeated. It was almost laughable how these two genin were causing almost as much trouble as a full jounin but Hamada hadn't even started fighting back yet and so he took one step forward and lodged his foot into the chest of the demon fox boy that sent Naruto flying backwards until he hit a wall and slumped down unconscious.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out and then leapt back to narrowly avoid dieing from a curved sword that appeared where her head used to be.
"I'll admit, the boy was the first person to ever break out of my chains but still, even with that weird powerboost of his, neither of you are a match for a jounin" Hamada said and Sakura could still hear the grin in his voice. Sakura was worried, Naruto fought with nowhere near the amount of techniques in his arsenal and she was even sure he had some jutsu other than the clone jutsu but he had abandoned everything to attack the man, even his sword on the floor in the middle of the room. Sakura looked behind her again and noticed Sasuke was barely able to move, the jutsu he did earlier finally catching up to him and he was on one knee, a reclaimed kunai in his hand held ready despite his position. Naruto was out for the count on the far wall, not moving and Sakura couldn't see his chest moving but it was a fair distance. "What's the matter girl? Noticed that you are basically dead? Surrender that fancy sword to me and I'll let you live as my first concubine" Hamada said and Sakura could hear the maniacal grin on his face. Sakura thought about it for a second or two and then levelled her gaze to the man's own eyes, her sword held ready.
"Today is a good day to die" Sakura said softly, her hair obscuring her eyes and then she charged.
Hamada's first reaction to the girl's words was to notice that her killing intent had just spiked but it was like nothing he had ever felt before. The feeling was like the girl had suddenly taken all of the heat out of the room and replaced it with the simple fact that he was already dead and dead people aren't warm. This was compounded by the fact that Hamada could see his breath but that made no sense since he was wearing a shemagh but it was that moment he noticed the girl's charge, her sword high and ready to strike. Pushing aside everything he could, Hamada brought his own sword up and blocked the girl's surprisingly heavy attack only for the girl to gracefully dance around him and attempt another strike, this time using the back edge of her odd sword. Hamada was going to let her hit him with the blunt edge of the blade just to prove she would need to do better than that but immediately lept back when he noticed that there was no blunt edge and he had almost made a rookie mistake.
They traded blows for several minutes and each strike, Hamada felt himself get colder which shouldn't have been possible since the girl wasn't doing anything other than project killing intent but still, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on the fight. Hamada idly considered the possibility that the girl had used a jutsu similar to his, a more snow oriented version but dismissed that notion almost immediately because he was sure this was just her killing intent. He then had to duck and dodge as his idly thought distracted himself from the pink demon in front of him. There was no way a genin could keep up with him and yet it was he that was on the back foot. Growling, Hamada decided enough was enough and, projecting his own killing intent in the hope it would counter hers, he stepped forward and smashed the girl's blade as hard as he could with his own. Hamada's killing intent did not counter the girl's, her sword was apparently built by the gods themselves because he didn't even notice a chip after he hit it edge on edge with is own, his sword broke into pieces and the girl lost her blade from the force of the strike. Hamada was still pleased with the results as this meant he had the advantage over the clearly kenjutsu specialised girl. Hamada was not thinking he still had the advantage when the girl pulled another surprise out of her pocket and engaged him in quality taijutsu, every kick being felt through his entire body.
The fight carried on for even longer until the girl apparently ran out of breath and chakra but by then, even Hamada was panting. He was sure that if he was still in his prime, the girl would be dead by now but there she was, alive and with only a few bruises to show that he had even hit her. It was then that Hamada really noticed the cold, how it had slowed him down without him noticing. Finally he realised exactly how a genin had been a match for him, whatever technique she was using was sapping his strength just like his chains and even though he was ignoring it, it was still affecting him. He had to end the fight quickly before he was too cold to even move and died of hypothermia. That would be embarrassing to die from cold in the middle of the desert during the day. Hamada was about to use his chains jutsu when the girl moved first, a blindingly fast dash and she was taking his legs out from under him. Hamada had just enough time to noticed he was on the ground and that he had gotten distracted when he noticed the kunai in the girl's hand and the tears running down her face and he realised, she hadn't used a single one this entire battle. He realised she was terrified of the weapon in her hand, it had traumatised her at some point and here she was about to use it, her spirit great enough to overcome trauma. Hamada almost laughed before he growled with pain as the kunai lodged itself in his torso. Hamada made a move to grab the girl's hands to stop her from pulling it out and stabbing him in a better place but was met only by a fist in the face and more of that cursed chill she was hitting him with. A wet squelch was heard as the girl pulled the blade clear and plunged it in again and Hamada groaned in agony, he became desperate, this was a girl, a little girl barely out of diapers and he couldn't die now. Hamada groaned again but less loudly than before as the kunai was plunged in again and again and again, each time his groans got quieter until he was making no noise at all but still Sakura kept plunging the knife in again and again.
Sakura was audibly sobbing as she stabbed the man over and over, each time she slammed that blade into him, she grunted from the strength she was putting into each strike. The man's ribs were probably broken by now and blood was covering Sakura but she kept stabbing and stabbing until, when her hands were poised to deliver another strike, another hand grabbed her own. Sakura's eyes went wide as she looked at the shaking hand, it was encased in a fingerless glove with a metal plate on the back end.
"I think that's enough Sakura-chan" Came the extremely tired voice of Kakashi "He's dead" the silver haired man said to her "and they are alive" he added. Sakura heard him and the visions of her family that were flashing through her mind went back into the depths of her memory, to be hidden once more. Sakura's breath came ragged and she stopped to take a breather, allowing Kakashi to slide the kunai from her grasp and letting her arms flop to her side. Kakashi helped her to her feet and then wrapped his arms around her while she cried into his chest, her loud sobs echoing in the otherwise silent atrium.
"So, now that you have been rescued, I've been led to believe that you have the scroll" Matsumoto casually said to Kakashi. Both teams were outside and away from the base until it was out of sight.
"Ahh well . . . I think you may have been misled . . . Sakura, if you would be so kind as to hand over the scroll" Kakashi replied and Sakura, who had her eyes down in a guilty expression, handed over the scroll that the Suna team had been after. Sasuke looked like he had just had his mind blown by the fact that Sakura had it the entire time and Naruto just chuckled but the shock and outrage from the two Suna chunin was also amusing.
"You mean you had it the entire time!" Exclaimed Hosei who stared at the girl.
"I'm slipping in my old age" Matsumoto chuckled "We got duped into being the reinforcements for a rescue mission" he said again, shaking his head "Well played kid, well played . . . I think we can all agree that Kakashi had the scroll and that this was not a waste of our time and it was all part of the mission" he said and Hosei and Endo nodded solemnly as anything else could be considered them deserting.
"Well . . . all's well that ends well" Kakashi said with his signature eye smile "But now that we have all completed our missions, we should probably head back home before someone launches an invasion of all the neighbouring countries" Kakashi said casually, his hands in his pocket and adopting a slouch. Meanwhile Matsumoto merely grimaced at the reminder of how the third shinobi war started.
"We wouldn't want that to happen . . . again" Matsumoto agreed solemnly and the two teams headed off in different directions, the Konoha team being allies meant they had free reign to leave on their own.
"Sensei, something was fishy with this whole thing" Sakura said calmly as she watched the Suna team disappear.
"Oh? And what do you think is underneath the underneath here?" Kakashi asked the girl casually.
"Matsumoto told us that nothing grows here and that any attempt to gather supplies on a scale large enough to support the troops that were in there . . . would have been noticed by Suna . . . it wasn't" Sakura said and Kakashi filed that piece of information away for later, it may not be important but, never forget a piece of intel.
"Anything else?" Kakashi asked, he had noticed a couple things himself like how the base had electricity and running water in the middle of the desert and in a country not known for technological advancement . . . getting access to a generator large enough to power that base . . .
"Matsumoto also kept digging into pieces of information that might have been insignificant but still . . . I remember his eyes light up for a second when he thought Naruto might have been connected to the Hokage" Sakura said and that was a more important piece of information. "That trick of mine to get them to help us . . . that wasn't why I did that . . . they were prepared to kill us if we didn't hand over the scroll but since they had moved to surround us first before demanding the scroll . . ." Sakura trailed off and Kakashi read between the lines, they were prepared to strike konoha ninja just because they were there. That in itself was suspicious but added to them being nosy and Kakashi wasn't sure he liked the information he was getting from this.
"Our alliance with Suna is tenuous at best and Matsumoto is a veteran of the second shinobi war . . . when we fought against Suna" Kakashi said causally and Sakura glanced at him, a flash of understanding in her eyes. He hoped it meant she got that he wanted her to use that as a cover and not the actual explanation but it wouldn't matter anyway, she was right, this whole mission from the very start was suspicious.
So, our heroes have completed their first C-rank and boy did it go wrong! well . . . i suppose they still need to turn it in but that can happen next time . . . i need to get up in less than six hours for work (as of the time of writing this) probably could have left a more detailed message here but yeah . . .
in any case, tell me what you liked, disliked, what you thought could use improvement and what you'd like to see more of. take care.