Young men standing on the top of their own graves,
Wondering when Jesus comes, are they gonna be saved,
Cruelty to the winner, bishop tells the king his lies,
Maybe you're a mourner, maybe you deserve to die,
He's come so far to find no truth,
He's never going home...
People all grow up to die.-Soldier Side-System of a Down

It was dawn now. He didn't have enough chakra to do anything but walk along the forest floor. He didn't have the strength to do anything but walk. The slight weight in his arms felt heavy, though he knew it wasn't. Were he not so exhausted the weight would feel like nothing. As it was the slight weight threatened to drag him down.

Itachi blinked as he broke through the very edges of the woods and stood in the morning sunlight. The forest, even without leaves, was gloomy and dark. Sunlight came through it in broken patterns and Itachi rarely ever saw the sun anytime before lunch. Now it was staring him in the face and making his eyes water.

Itachi wished it were raining.

Itachi lowered Sasuke's broken body to the ground. While he'd carried the body he could feel bones grating together. The boy's back was broken, and some of his ribs were snapped. His leg was obviously broken too. Itachi crouched by the corpse, resting his weary legs and looking over the damage.

The Kyuubi had been held back. If Sasuke had just run he might have lived, but no, he'd stayed to fight. He'd initiated a fight with a demon of legendary power. Of course the boy was dead now. It was amazing that he hadn't died before now if he was stupid enough to run at a demon with steel drawn. Itachi felt his lips quirk into a bitter smile.

This was what became of plans. Idiots messed them up and threw a whole set of realities away. People too ignorant to see what they were doing stepped wrong and down fell the mighty. People were built up and then smashed down. That was the way of the world. Itachi had been sure he could change that. He was going to rise above that problem and refuse to be thrown down. That was impossible now.

Itachi gave an irritated sigh and did what he came to do. He reached down and jerked the broken leg straight. The cracking pop made him wince, and for a second, he was glad Sasuke was dead and couldn't feel that. He went on, straightening limbs and pushing some of the more obviously broken bones back into place.

The arms were laid flat at Sasuke's sides, though one was half-missing. Itachi straightened the legs and wiped the dirty feet off with his sleeve. It didn't help much. He tugged Sasuke's burnt clothes straight and, finally, smoothed out his facial features. He looked asleep now, if one discounted the pallor and smell of burnt flesh. Itachi took another moment to flick Sasuke's hair out of his face and make sure the boy's head was facing north.

Itachi flipped a kunai out from his sleeve and dropped it. He stared at the kunai as if it had bitten him and slowly reached down to pick it back up. It shook in his hand and Itachi knew he was pushing himself. He was past pushing himself. If he could get back to Kisame without collapsing it would be a miracle. Itachi grinned at the thought and went back to work.

He cut a square of cloth out of his cloak. The stuff was tough, but Itachi kept his kunai razor blade sharp. The cloth came loose with a soft ripping noise, and Itachi picked a few errant pieces of leaf off the fabric. He snapped it to remove some of the dust and leaned forward to place it over Sasuke's face.

He paused. Memories flooded him. Oh, having a perfect memory was great unless you didn't want to remember. A three year-old little chubby face flashed through his mind. Tiny hands reached for him. Little teeth smiled, and a small mouth called for him to wait. Arms wrapped around him, and tiny hands caught at his hands.

"I was supposed to kill you," Itachi whispered to the corpse, half-mad and half something he didn't want to know. He looked at the lax features, and his hands shook. "You weren't supposed to die yet, otouto-chan."

Itachi dropped the cloth over Sasuke's face and stood. He wasn't sad his brother had died, merely upset that it had happened in a way that didn't benefit him. Years of planning had been thrown away. Itachi was now severely handicapped. He needed a new plan, but he suspected there were no alternatives to the plans that involved his brother.

He was troubled simply because of that, and the hot prickling he felt in his eyes was only because he was tired.

Genma sat by the hospital bed and folded paper cranes. It was an easy task that he'd done numerous times over his life. He was silently pleased that he was a better folder than Raidou, whose folds were not as precise and whose cranes looked a little lopsided. Together the two of them had folded something like a hundred cranes in the past hour. Genma's hands were starting to ache and shake.

Kotetsu was folding cranes with them, but he spent more of his time arranging them. As soon as they had the agreed number of one-hundred seventy-five, Genma and Raidou were going to put them on a string and take them down to the Heroes' Stone for Izumo. Izumo's name had just been put on the stone, but no one seemed concerned with burning incense for it or doing anything else to honor the fallen shinobi. They were all saving their incense for someone else who'd just died.

Kotestu's cranes were more misshapen than Raidou's. The medication Kotetsu was on made his hands shake, and he kept ripping the wings off his cranes. He was too spaced out to be upset about all the ripped cranes, but Genma knew the younger shinobi wouldn't stop trying to fold cranes until he had enough. Thus Genma and Raidou were here folding cranes for Izumo.

It didn't matter that they hadn't know Izumo very well. Genma could count the number of conversations he'd had with Izumo on both hands, but he'd known the man. He also knew Kotetsu, and every time he looked at those shaking hands and drugged eyes Genma knew that could be him. Maybe one day it would be. Maybe one day he'd slip and Raidou would die. Maybe Genma would have to live with the guilt and sorrow that came after losing a long-time missions partner.

Genma got a tight, uncomfortable feeling in his chest whenever he thought of Raidou dying. As a shinobi Genma was used to people dying. He'd lost mission partners before, and once or twice his own screw-up had caused the death. It was tragic but it was life. Raidou was a different matter all together. They'd been running missions together regularly for almost consecutive six years and had known each other long before that. They worked well together. People noticed that and stuck them together to prevent further deaths.

Izumo and Kotetsu had been Genin teammates. They'd been running missions together for at least twelve years. How attached did you get in twelve years? How much of yourself did you divest in your mission partner of twelve years? Mission partners were important, and having one you could rely on made missions run infinitely smoother. The thought of going on a high-risk mission without Raidou at his back unsettled Genma. What was Kotetsu feeling?

"Nah, Ge'ma-san, how many do we have?" Kotetsu asked suddenly. His voice was not quite right. There was too little inflection. There was too much drug in it. Something was missing from it.

"Um," Genma looked at the table. Last time he'd counted there had been one-hundred eleven, and he had no idea what they were up to now.

"One hundred twenty-three," Raidou intoned as he placed another crane down. "Only fifty-two left to go."

Kotetsu nodded gravely and picked up another square of paper. The cranes were black and white, both traditional colors of mourning. Genma glanced down at his black-stained fingertips and shrugged. Fifty-two wasn't such a bad number. In any case the hospital room felt like a sanctuary. It was easy to forget Konoha was falling down outside the little white room filled with the noise of paper folding.

Raidou and Genma should, of course, be reading the scroll in Raidou's apartment. They should be preparing for the mission the woman with dead eyes had handed Genma earlier today. Genma and Raidou hadn't even opened the scroll, but Genma thought he had a sinking suspicion what it was about.

So here they were, folding endless paper cranes for a shinobi who'd probably run his last mission. Kotetsu wasn't the shinobi he used to be. What he'd seen and heard and lost on his last mission had tipped the delicate scales of sanity in his mind. All shinobi were half-insane by civilian standards, but no shinobi really cared what a civilian had to say. They were sheep that you needed to protect and nothing else, really. It was when you became insane by shinobi standards you had problems.

Kotetsu had problems.

Kotetsu stuck his tongue out and folded another black crane. His eyes weren't really seeing the crane, and who knew what he was thinking. There was a vacant look to him that completely unsettled Genma. One thought kept running through Genma's head: 'That could be me.'

Fifty-two cranes and some needlework later Genma and Raidou stood to leave. Raidou gave Kotestu's wild hair an affectionate ruffle while Genma hung the cranes next to Kotestu's bed. They both promised to be back in the morning. Hanging the cranes at the memorial stone in the morning would be better luck, in theory. Kotetsu didn't say anything. He stared at the slightly rotating string of bi-colored cranes while Genma and Raidou left.

There was a scroll that had their names in it, and it was now time to read it.

Dawn found Genma and Raidou back at Kotetsu's little hospital room. It wasn't time for visiting hours, but shinobi got special privileges. Shinobi came and went at crazy hours, and it was hard enough to find time to visit infirmed friends, much less find time do it during normal visiting hours.

Genma was trying to be cheerful. The man would never admit it, but he had a soft spot for anyone around the age of his former Genin team. Kotetsu fit the bill, being only a year older than Iruka and Hayate. Genma was also nicer than he liked people to think. He was always visiting distant friends and acquaintances in the hospital. Raidou usually went with him. Raidou knew how boring hospitals were, and how a shinobi chafed to be out and running missions again.

Genma took the string of cranes down and smiled at Kotetsu. "We'll burn a cone of incense for you too, and we'll put the cranes up. The weather's been dry lately, so they should last a long time."

Kotestu looked from Raidou to Genma with drugged eyes, and Raidou knew that was for the best. He remembered how Kotetsu had acted when they first dragged him in. He'd fought anyone who got close enough and kept screaming for Izumo. Drugged as he was he didn't have the energy to fight, and his mind was too muddled to remember the horror of Izumo's death.

"Oi, you eat all your breakfast?" Raidou asked as he poked at the unappetizing tray in front of Kotetsu. "You need to, otherwise the nurses will put a tube in your stomach. It'll take you twice as long to get out if they do that."

"Why should I get out?" Kotetsu asked as he finally looked at Raidou." 'Zumo's not out. Why should I be?"

"Izumo would want you to get out, kiddo," Raidou explained. He mussed Kotetsu's hair and imagined he could feel the boy's broken mind. "Just eat up, 'kay? We need all the shinobi we can get these days. You can run missions with me and Genma."

Genma grinned, but it was a bitter smile. "Yeah, we're getting so old we need a new set of eyes to keep watch for us." That was a lie. Genma's eyes were as sharp as ever, and Raidou's were too.

If they lived out the week Raidou would make good on their promise and lean on some people to get Kotestsu running missions with him and Genma. It shouldn't be too hard. No one wanted to run missions with a broken shinobi. Raidou could only hope Kotetsu wasn't as broken as he looked.

"Anyway, we've got a mission this morning, so we've gotta run," Genma explained as he spun his string of cranes with one finger. "You want us to pray anything specific for Izumo?"

Kotetsu blinked, and his eyes seemed to grow hazy. Raidou felt a shiver work its way down his spine, and he saw Genma's eyes widen.

"Yeah, yeah," Kotetsu murmured. "Tell him...tell him I'm comin'."

Genma closed his eyes. "Sorry kid, I can't tell him that. You're not coming. You're gonna be stuck running missions with me and Raidou till we're all old and grey. As soon as they let you, and we get back from our mission--"

"You're not," Kotetsu cut in, shifting his gaze to Genma.

"Not what?" Genma asked, but Raidou could see the tension in him. Oh, he knew what Kotetsu was going to say, and so did Raidou. Raidou felt his muscles tense too. He didn't want to hear it.

"You're not coming back from your mission," Kotetsu said, eyes vacant. " 'S'another one. Another suicide mission for the old and faithful. The only way you ever come back is in a body bag."

Raidou and Genma didn't say anything--couldn't say anything until after they'd reached the Heroes' Stone. Genma hung the cranes by the monument and set out three cones of incense. Each was a different scent, and when lit they smelled very nice. Genma didn't believe in burning cheap incense for the dead. Then again, neither did Raidou.

"Oh, look, they put the little Uchiha's name on the stone already," Genma observed. He let his finger brush over the newest name and grimaced. "He was what, eleven?"

"Twelve, I think, or thirteen," Raidou shrugged and flipped two cones of incense out of a pouch. He offered one to Genma, who took it with a grim smile.

Raidou lit the extra cone and clapped his hand together. He heard Genma do the same. Raidou closed his eyes and sent up several silent prayers for the newly fallen. He also slipped in a prayer or two for himself and Genma. Maybe they were a little premature but maybe not.

"Now then," Genma stood up and offered a hand down to Raidou. "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Raidou replied. He took Genma's hand and used it to lever himself to his feet. The two then headed off for Konoha's gates at an easy amble. They looked like shinobi with no place to be, and nowhere to go. Raidou wished that were the case.

"How d'you think Kotetsu knew?" Genma asked as they headed into the busier parts of Konoha.

"That we're going on a suicide mission? Who knows. He probably read something in our actions that made him think that, or he now thinks every mission is a suicide mission." Raidou shrugged.

"Why us?" Genma asked. "I mean, it'd make more sense if someone had paid for it, you know. Those missions that are utterly hopeless but some fat, rich guy paid oodles of money so some shinobi get to die for it. No one's paying for this one, Raidou."

"Except us," Raidou put in. They were about to pay the ultimate price in blood and spilled guts. "Maybe you just know the wrong people."

Genma laughed harsh and bitter. "Yeah, that's probably it. Makes more sense than their cover story about the little Uchiha's death. I saw that body, and nothing human did that."

"The whole thing's twisted Genma," Raidou said with a shrug. "Don't try to make sense of it." Genma shrugged back and they walked on in silence. They didn't need any more words.

They didn't have to say it was strange to think of this as their last walk through Konoha. Genma didn't have to mutter how strange it was to think of never going into that little bar again. Raidou didn't have to point out how strange it was to see that little house with the crazy pink shutters for the last time. They knew. They both knew and words would just drag them down and drown them now.

Genma and Raidou walked out of Konoha for the last time, and came face to face with six children. One in a flak vest stepped forward to meet them and saluted.

"Nara Shikamaru, head of the forest patrol," the boy said in an admirably deep voice.

"Shirunui Genma and Namiashi Raidou, here to start on our retrieval mission. You've been informed?" Genma asked, his tone and words purely professional.

"We have, and we wish you luck," Shikamaru took a breath. "There are three missing-nin in the forest, two S-rank and one unranked. There is also the Kyuubi. Please proceed with caution." Raidou heard one of the Genin, an Inuzuka, mutter: 'Run away screaming while you still can' as Shikamaru said 'proceed with caution.' Raidou pretended not to hear.

"Thanks for your warnings. Anything else?" Genma asked, eyes straying to the forest. It was hard to focus on formalities when you were about to die.

"The unranked missing-nin is probably lower than 'S'," Shikamaru shrugged a bit, as if he didn't really know or care if that was true. "And when should we expect you back?"

Genma made a face. How did you explain a suicide mission to a bunch of kids? Granted they were shinobi, but knowing these things happened and meeting two people going on a suicide mission were two very different things.

"The chance of success is very low." Raidou shifted and felt everyone stare at him.

"So expect you to take a while, and look for you to come back injured, yeah?" the Inuzuka in the group almost growled. This was the one that had been injured in a fight with the S-class missing-nin. He still showed red marks and bandages.

Genma smiled, and it was something of an okay smile. "Yeah, something like that."

All the Genin took a step back and saluted. Raidou had the passing thought that Iruka would be proud of the Genin's precision. Or would he?

There wasn't time to think about that. They were headed into woods that held three missing-nin and a blood-thirsty demon. They were about to steal a scroll from a shinobi that had killed his entire clan when he was just thirteen. He wasn't alone either. One more S-class missing-nin was with him, and then there was Iruka. Who knew what he was going to throw at them. If one threw in the Kyuubi then only one thing was clear.

Genma and Raidou were about to die.

A/N: I'm tempted to call this chapter a filler chapter, since so little happened, but I won't... We have now passed the one-hundred page mark. Woot.

I love writing insane people.

THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU TO DEATH!

(This abbreviated author's note is brought to you by a mysterious and nasty fever bug.Sorry!)

Jaa ne!