I'm really sorry, this chapter took way longer than expected
Slipping in
Tsunade looked at the paper. She couldn't believe her self that she had won the first prize. It was always a bad sign if she won. Something terrible was about to happen.
Team seven was resting on board the San Antonio. The small fleet was not equipped for real combat but more for Search and Rescue parties in combat zones.
The flights Rhino 2 and Blackout 6 were stationed for CSAR missions.
Rhino 2 consisted of five V-22 Ospreys while Blackout 6 had nine PaveLows at their disposal.
In the moment a hectic movement could be registered on the landing deck. Blackout 6 was flying in the 13th Platoon while Rhino 2 was refueled and the soldiers could be seen boarding the tilt-rotor aircrafts with large backpacks.
Erik was sitting in the leading Osprey as Catherine briefed them.
"We have received a distress signal. It was fairly weak and it came from Amegakure. We are not sure about the identity of the beacon's owner but it is one of our own codes. The rain isn't exactly helpful."
Erik looked at the code. It belonged to his battalion.
"Any Ranger units operating in that area?"
The answer was no so they still had to figure out who had called their help.
Catherine opened a plan on the holographic transmitter.
"All we could do is to locate the origin in a building. From the scan our drone was able to perform it is a prison. That's all we know."
Erik shook his head. This was the life of a Ranger. Missions with low intel. A SpecOps team would be too small while a regular platoon wouldn't have the expertise.
He looked at the information again as a plan formed in his head. Opening the channels he briefed his platoon.
"Group Green, stay with Rhino 2. Protect them and get ready for a hot exfil. Groups Blue and Red will HALO down and land on the prison. Team seven will tandem jump with the medical squad."
He pointed at Kelly, Morgan and McCord. The three replacements were sitting next to them. They were clearly new to the job. No Ranger experience and now they had to learn it the hard way.
"Group Red will stealthy charge through to the beacon. We will not secure our backs. That's group Blue's job. They will secure our escape route. Team seven will move with group red. Got it?"
"Hooah!" was repeated several times over the radio.
The osprey's interior was lit in a red light as the soldiers prepared for the jump.
"What is a HALO?" Sasuke asked curiously.
Morgan who was linking the Uchiha to himself explained. "High Altitude, Low Opening. We jump from a high flying path, so the plane doesn't have to fly over the village. The glide most of the way down before we open our chutes at the pretty much last moment and make the last corrections before we land."
The ramp was lowered. Rain poured into the cabin as the wind f blew with a strong force.
Then the red light was replaced by a green one.
"Go, go, go!" The flight engineer urged the soldiers of the groups Red and Blue out.
Naruto was feeling his skin being soaked by the rain but he also enjoyed the feeling of simply relaxing.
Sakura was feeling ecstatic as she actually flew through the air. Jumping high was one thing but really being high up was another.
Sasuke was a bit scared as his life dependent on Private Morgan's ability to handle the jump.
Erik lowered next to them as he checked his systems again. Time to open the parachutes. One after another the big parafoils opened. The soldiers lined up in a landing formation so they would stay close to each other. Silently they landed on the roof. The backpacks were taken off and placed near the edge of the roof.
Erik used his radio since everyone had an earpiece so it was easier to communicate instead of shouting and thus alerting the guards.
Every soldier had silenced weapons. Erik took the lead with Team seven who pulled their swords. Following them was Kelly's squad who had Morgan on her team. The private had switched to a silenced AA-12 with a heartbeat sensor. Carefully they arrived creeping at the next lower level.
Group Red moved fast through the level, clearing any enemies detected if necessary. They left it up to Group Blue to secure their retreat. Rhino 2-2 stayed above them to assist with thermal imaging.
"Wait. Two hostiles moving towards us." Morgan whispered.
Erik nodded as he activated his night vision. Turning out the spotlights they waited for the guards to move past them. Luckily the storm outside was loud otherwise they might have heard their hearts beating frantically against their ribcage Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke thought simultaneously.
The soldiers lowered a set of night vision goggles from their helmet in front of their eyes or pulled the visor down and activated the infrared filter.
Morgan took the lead. Flanked by Team seven and his squad he proceeded down the corridor and into a staircase. Skipping all levels to the basement he entered it. The basement was pitch black which was to their advantage. The private stopped at one cell and secured the door.
He lifted his fist. Group Red secured the corridor in both directions as Erik and McCord prepared a breach charge.
Morgan held up three fingers and moved his hand to the general direction of the location each point was.
McCord nodded. He and Erik would cross their lines of fire and take out the two on the sides while Morgan would take out the one in the middle since his shotgun wouldn't penetrate through the body.
The charge blew the door out of its hinges. McCord had his target's head lined up in his sights as he pulled the trigger. The man was thrown back by the force which smashed his brain over the wall.
Erik's tango tried to hide behind a knocked over table, but his rifle penetrated through the wood thus killing the hostile.
Morgan had to adjust his angle as his opponent crouched down. The scattershot from his shotgun tore away the face, leaving a bloody mess on the ground. They entered the cell and secured it. Team seven and the medical squad rushed in behind them as the ninja took a sharp breath.
Hanging from the restraints at the ceiling was Jiraiya, Konoha's spymaster.
Carefully they cut the chains and caught him. Kelly and her new freshmen treated the wounds and patched the sannin up the best way they could.
"He will make it but we have to get him out of here now!"
Suddenly Green Leader radioed in.
"We've got a lot of hostile movement here. It's going to be a hot exfil!"
Erik made a decision: "All units, go loud! Exfil takes priority. Blue Leader, kill all hostiles in your area and retreat. Rhino 2, we meet you up on the roof!"
"Copy that, Red Leader!"
Running back the way they came ninja tried to stop them. Most of them were surprised and taken off guard by the soldiers but some fought back and injured some. On the last meters, it happened. A hostile ninja attacked them. Erik switched to his sidearm and fired. Team seven covered his as Group Red retreated into the Ospreys. They were about to board Rhino 2-2 when suddenly the building came down. Rolling over the ground they shortly lost all orientations.
Looking up they were surrounded by enemy ninja.
"Give up. Our God pain is already wiping out the leaf. You scum will never again endanger the peace of the world."
Sasuke groaned as it was something he hear once.
Team seven and Erik got back on their feet. The rain ninja were moving to capture or to kill them, but it couldn't be sure because they were dead in the next moment.
The V-22 designated as Rhino 2-2 hovered above the place and fired both of its turrets. It looked like it walked on the neon colored lines as it flew from one side to the other.
Team seven scrambled on their feet as they followed Erik through the alleys.
They ran left and right but the main direction was up.
Reaching the rooftops they jumped across the gap onto another roof.
Rhino 2-2 hovered above them as they sprayed bullets into the pursuing ninja.
"Talk to me, 2-2!" the lieutenant looked back at the angry mob following them.
Team seven was currently fighting them back but they had reached the end. Nowhere to go and still enemies breathing down on their necks.
"Get down!"
Erik and team seven lay down prone as the rain ninja were suddenly engulfed in a bright light.
Rhino 2 had surrounded the roof and now unleashed their weapon's fury. Bullets cut through the enemies' lines as Chopper lowered the ramp to let his friends board his V-22.
"Move it!"
The soldiers on board fired from the ramp, providing them with a clear path. Team seven jumped onto the aircraft as Chopper pulled it up. Kunai and shuriken rained bounced off the fuselage as Rhino 2 disappeared into the clouds. Erik pushed his visor up as he relaxed.
"That was easy."
Jiraiya shook his head. "It was only easy because Pein and his right hand Konan weren't here."
"Where are they?" Sasuke asked.
"Konoha." was the simple reply.
Erik immediately opened a communications channel. "Catherine, Assault is imminent!"
Only static came back. "What is the situation!"
As the Osprey left the clouds the signal got clearer: "We … under attack … Req … SAR..."
Chopper listened in as he looked on the radar again.
"We'll be there in ten mikes!"
Tsunade looked at her opponent in disbelief. Jiraiya was dead and Konoha was about to be wiped out. Half of the village was a gigantic crater. Injured civilians were everywhere and the shinobis were fighting a lost battle. The five Peins were like gods. There was no way to kill them. Even is they managed to injure one, they were just revived by the other Peins. She looked directly at the Pein who lead the group. He only wanted Naruto but no one was ready to tell him anything about the jinchuriki's whereabouts. The civilians who feared the nine-tails would have told him but they didn't know where their target of daily hate was.
Tsunade summoned Katsuyu. Sending the summon away to help the wounded she herself concentrated on Pein.
The man lifted his hand to attack but suddenly multiple shadow fell onto them.
Looking up against the sun he looked directly into the attack. Bullets teared through the Peins.
The grayish planes flew over them before they turned around and landed. Even before the dust settled the soldiers stormed out. Surrounding the area of impact they aimed at the last surviving Pein.
"Hold your fire!" Erik shouted. "All units, disengage enemy! Search and Rescue! Return fire only! I want all civilians and wounded out on the Antonio ASAP!"
One after another the soldiers lowered their weapons. Turning their backs on Pein they concentrated on the matter at hand: Extract the civilians and evacuate the wounded.
Without waiting Team seven engaged Pein.
"That's for destroying our home!"
Suddenly a second appeared and blocked the attacks with his saw-tail.
"Shinra Tensei!" The three chunin were thrown back. Landing next to Erik they groaned as they hit the ground. The soldier was currently holding his helmet to listen to the icoming transmission from Jiraiya: "These are Tendō and Shuradō. One can control gravity and the other can grow any weapons."
Sakura heard the message as a plan formed within her head.
"Sasuke, Erik: Take Shuradō. Your weapon eypertise and the Sharingan will help. Naruto and I will take Tendō." They all readies themselves before they charge their opponents.
Sasuke interlocked his sword with Shuradō. Erik fired multiple shots but the Pein just shook them off like mere stings.
Suddenly a mind touched Erik. Don't worry, It's me, Inoichi. We have found out the weak point. You have to destroy it. As long the other Pein doesn't reach the body it will not be restructured.
Sasuke seemed to have gotten the same information as the Uchiha jumped back and focused his chakra into his eyes. "Amaterasu!" The black flames engulfed the Pein but this one refused to die as it pulled his hand off his arm to reveal rockets.
The rockets headed for them as Erik pushed Sasuke to the side. The rockets exploded in the ground where thy stood earlier.
"That's it!" Erik shouted as he inserted a drum mag. He rested the barrel on the remains of a wall as he pulled the trigger. The penetration forced Shuradō back against a wall where it pinned him.
Naruto and Sakura engaged Tendō. Their sealed demon's chakra made it possible to maintain survive the brutal impacts of the push and pull the Pain used. Naruto had tried his Rasengan but had failed multiple times as he was blown away by the Shinra Tensei. Landing on his fours he looked up as he tried to come up with a plan.
Sasuke took the chance as he jumped over his cover and raced for the pinned man. He infused chakra into his limbs to speed him up. He remembered what Erik had said: "When I start to shoot, you have about nine seconds to finish him off. That's the longest period I can keep him pinned down with one mag."
Charging his hand with his senseis original move it began to crackle with electricity.
"RAIKIRI!" he shouted as he rammed it into the Pein's head. The electricity burned through the armor. Letting it drop from his arm he looked over his shoulder as Erik joined him.
"We should check for a pulse." The lieutenant said as he placed an explosive on the corpse.
Shunshining himself and the soldier away the explosion turned everything in a five-meter radius into dust.
"No pulse."
Running towards the main fight Erik stopped Sasuke.
"Wait up. I need a spotter."
"What?" Sasuke asked confused.
Erik rested his rifle on its bipod. "Observe Pein. Use your Sharingan."
He looked through his scope. Observing Pein he noticed a pattern in the attacks.
Sasuke seemed to have read his mind as he said: "Do you see it? He uses this gravity thing every five seconds." The soldier nodded.
"Help them. I'll look for a better sniping position."
The Uchiha nodded as he charged into the fight. Erik picked up his rifle as he ran for the foundation of a building. Climbing through the rubbish suddenly something on his HuD got his attention. Looking for the source he headed for the forest.
It took him a bit longer than he wanted but soon he reached the treeline. The scanners had detected an anomaly: a tree that didn't live. Going for it he failed to notice the paper butterfly above him.
Since Sasuke joined the fray Pein had a lot more to pay attention to. Instead of two attackers he now faced three. His gravity jutsu needed five seconds to recharge so any attack with in this interval had to be dodged. The jinchuriki opposing his peace was standing right in front of him but capture was impossible as long the vampire and the Uchiha was in his way.
Sidestepping the girl's sword he used Shinra Tensei again to blast the boys away.
He punched an incoming Naruto only to be covered in smoke as the shadow clone dispelled.
He avoided an earth spike as he used his chakra rod to impale the girl who dispersed into water which got him soaked. As his Shinra Tensei was recharged he used it to pull the last visible opponent towards him: Sasuke. However as soon as the boy touched his hand lightning shot over to Pein, electrocuting him. It was a Raiton: Kage Bunshin.
5 Seconds until recharge was complete
As he got up again he found himself in the middle between the three teenagers.
Naruto had a Rasenshuriken in his hand. Sasuke to his left had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan as Sakura had turned her arms into wood.
4 Seconds.
"Power of friendship: Last Stand!" They yelled as they attacked.
3 Seconds.
Pein lifted his hand to perform Shinra Tensei.
1 Second.
He channeled his chakra but then it happened:
All three jutsus hit.
0.5 Seconds.
Amaterasu set him on fire as the thrown Rasenshuriken cut though his midriff.
As he collapsed he and the reacting jutsus were captured within a wooden barrier.
0 Seconds.
Shinra Tensei tried to expand. Sakura huffed as she poured more of her chakra into the wood to maintain its form. The pressure destabilized the Rasenshuriken which resulted in a large explosion. Seeking the way of the least resistance the force threw the Pein through the barrel like a round in a cannon. Pein flew up higher and higher before his ascent turned into a down fall. Falling through the atmosphere he slowly disintegrated as the heat of the reentry heated him up to thousands of degrees Celsius.
Team seven collapsed from exhaustion as they watched the burning remains up in the sky.
"We made it!" Naruto yelled before he collapsed. Sakura collapsed as well, her body entered a stasis state to heal itself. Before Sasuke collapsed he saw a V-22 touching down and his brother and his mother running for him.
Erik hid behind a tree as he observed. He had found a tree among the others that had a strange pattern. Man sieht den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht. He thought. [Direct translation: You can't see the forest because of the trees. /German figure of speech]
Readiyong his rifle he decided to storm alone. He didn't have the time to get reinforcements otherwise the culprit might escape.
Throwing a flashbang he stormed into the tree. In the hide out were two persons.
The soldier switched his rifle into his left hand, carrying the weight with the shoulder-strap as he pulled his pistol to aim for the woman.
"Freeze! Cease hostility!"
The man in the throne didn't move as the woman didn't move.
"I have to ask: Who are you? And especially why?"
The man scoffed.
"War creates pain. Only those who have lived through the pain can understand the bad of the war. They will avoid it by all means and live in peace."
The woman looked at him.
"I'm Konan and this is Nagato."
Erik shook his head. "Fighting for peace is a noble goal. However your method is wrong."
Nagato raised his arm.
"What do you know? I have lost my parents in the war against the leaf. The toad sannin felt pity for us and trained us. He took care of us even if we were technically enemies."
Erik put his pistol in his holster and let the rifle hang from his shoulders.
"I know exactly how you feel. I have lost my parents when I was a few months old. Without their last try I wouldn't even have survived my first day alive. I know war. I am a soldier. I fight to protect."
Nagato scoffed again.
"And you bring pain. Each one you have killed. They had family who would mourn over their loss."
Erik lifted his hand.
"You think I don't know it? Just because you had a loss everyone else should experience it too? I might be a soldier but I am also a policeman. It is my duty to serve and protect the innocents. Your plan has so many flaws that I don't even think you have a brain!"
Konan held her breath. This man was brave to insult Nagato. To split such an insult directly in the god's face.
"If you have experienced bad things the normal reaction would be to prevent the same happening to others! How many children do you think will mourn over their killed family at the end of this day?! How many will want to kill you because you took their precious people away?!"
Erik made a cutting motion with his hand.
"Stop this insanity while you still can. I know about your origin. You are Naruto's cousin. Give him the family he didn't have the past years."
Nagato reached out for Erik. His hand glowed as he touched the soldiers head.
Erik flinched before he collapsed.