Tactical Force
Catherine was pinning the man down. She pressed him against the floor, trying to knock him out. The man had his piston directly at her heart but something stopped him from doing that. The wrestled about the control on the gun. She could have killed him easily but she didn't want to as this man knew secrets about her she wanted to know. Suddenly a shot was fired...
Three hours earlier
It was weeks after the incident. Upon returning Erik went for the hokage office for debriefing. Having Naruto and Sakura on his flanks he entered the room after Yamato's ANBU squad.
Tsunade dismissed Erik after his report. He left, meeting Itachi, Kisame and Sasuke who had just returned from their mission.
"Everything alright?" Erik asked. "Yeah, took that asshole down for good." Sasuke replied proudly. he waved as he left. "Enjoy your day, I'm on patrol duty if you look for me." The soldier left. While he walked along the wall he kept an eye on his HuD. Three ROOT-ninja were shadowing his steps. He knew that Phase one of Operation Trojan Horse was about to begin. He casually went into one of the many dark alleys Konoha had.
"I know that you are there, ROOT." he said without turning around to face the three ninja with blank masks. The three went for the kill only to freeze in their movements.
"Took you long enough." Erik said as he turned around to see Shikaku holding the three captured in his shadow. Inoichi stepped out of the dark. Placing his palm on one of the attackers head, he copied his memories and deleted the memories concerning this whole ambush. He repeated the process with the two other. They were put to sleep by a chop to the neck by Choza. Together with Erik the Ino-Shika-Cho trio left.
"Thanks, Lieutenant, now we should have enough to find ROOT-HQ and take it out." Shikaku said.
Erik nodded. "In case you need the 13th Platoon, call me. It takes about two hours to get the equipment from the ships and another thirty minutes to get to the positions."
"Troublesome. I won't let that advantage slide. You are invisible to their sensors anyway."
Erik continued his patrol until he arrived at the gate. Currently a young woman stood there arguing with her ANBU escort. "Why do you do this! I served Kumo long and I was always loyal dispite your treatment." The Kumo ANBU just shoved her. Erik caught her in his arms before she fell to the ground. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah, I am the official apology for the diplomatic incident." she hissed.
Erik offered to take her to the hokage office. Accepting the man's offer she walked besides him.
"By the way, I am Yugito Nii, jonin from Kumo." she asked when she cooled down enough to begin small talk
"I'm aware of that and Nibi. I am Lieutenant First Class Erik Winston. 13Th Platoon, United States Army Ranger."
"You know about Bakeneko?" The man just nodded. They had arrived at the hokage tower. Going upstairs towards the office he knocked three times.
Entering the office he saw Team seven still in there with Kakashi and Yamato.
"Ma'am, Yugito Nii from Kumo." Yugito reached for her pouch and pulled out a scroll. "The raikage sent me. His secretary gave me this."
Tsunade took the scroll. Erik noticed something off about the scroll. Suddenly his alarms flared up.
"Take cover!" he shouted as he took the scroll out of her hands while he rolled over the desk before throwing the scroll out of the window. A large explosion lit up next to the tower. ANBU appeared and held their katanas at Yugito. The woman was surprised. "WHAT?"
Erik shook his head. "Wasn't her. The explosive was a special one." He recognized the work.
"That was a special substance that would ignite as soon as it is exposed to air. Now add an explosive to it and you have an IED." "IED?" "Improvised Explosive Device."
Tsunade made a decision: "We will call an emergency meeting in three hours." She looked towards Erik. The lieutenant nodded as he grabbed his radio. "Warhammer flight, go on strategic overwatch. 13th Platoon, move out and get ready. Rainbow 6, take Group Red and Konoha's tracker to RV Alpha. Rhino 2, take Group Blue, Green and the tanks to the tactical infiltration points Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Mission begins in two and a half hours."
Erik was crouching in one of the hidden corridors. He had Kelly's squad, two ANBU and Hana Inuzuka behind him. There were more soldiers than trackers so they split up so each squad had at least one tracker. Every soldier had been equipped with heartbeat sensors and thermal vision, too. He nodded towards the ANBU bearing a horse mask. The man released a bug from his sleeve which made its way towards the hokage tower.
The mission's success was depending on multiple factors: First that the 13th Platoon could infiltrate and attack before anyone noticed. Second Danzo was not to know about his ROOT's annihilation until it was too late. "The meeting has begun. Mission is a go. Search and destroy. Capture if possible, but not highest priority." Sneaking around the corner he moved into the facility. Unnoticed he went behind a guard and choke him until he lost his conscious. Binding the man he left him for the retrieval teams later. The guards down the corridor didn't notice them. The other groups were providing a good distraction.
Second Lieutenant Angeles hated to be the distraction. She preferred fire from the long distance. Her tanks were practically a magnet for thrown weapons. One Stryker was handicapped as its tires had been pierced by kunai. The armored vehicles blocked the main entrance and fired into it.
The ROOT who had tried to defend the entrance were either mowed down or tried to retreat. At this point the soldiers showed no mercy as several "surrenders" had blown up themselves alog with the soldiers who tried to arrest them.
Tsunade looked at the full council both ninja and civilian as it was an emergency concerning the whole village. After presenting the case shouts had come loud. The clan heads demanded an explanation from the raikage. The civilian council was claiming it as an act of war and Yugito was to be executed as the one delivering the bomb. At this point Itachi stepped in front of her protectively. After Danzo "accidentally" leaked Yugito's status as a jinchuriki and the civilians began shouting that it was the same as the sand had planned with Gaara, Sakura exploded.
"If you are afraid of her loosing control then stop mistreating her! Currently there are three jinchuriki in here. Our demons have stayed nice although I would certainly understand if they wanted to kill you!"
Tsunade cleared her throat to get the attention back to her. "As Lieutenant Winston had a hunch about where the bomb might come from he and the 13th Platoon have moved out to capture the bomb maker. It is suspected that this one works with Orochimaru."
Suddenly ROOT-ANBU appeared in the room. Minus one, who had his face blown away by a gray clad soldier. They wanted to move but couldn't as a ROOT-Nara caught them in his shadow.
Ten minutes earlier
Erik fired another mag into the mob. So far they had fought ROOT very well. He had lost one ANBU and Morgan was heavily injured as he had took a katana into his side. Luckily the nylon had prevented the sword from cutting through but still he had some broken ribs. Casualties were mostly injuries. Some ninja had died or were on the brink of dying because they had faced ROOT-ANBU before the soldiers could shoot. Erik dove under a Katana and shot the man between his shoulder more charged around the corner but were thrown forward as Kelly fired her grenade launcher. McCord crouched at the corner and fired his MP5. He was bleeding from his neck where a kunai had brushed him.
"We're pinned down, south end of the chamber!" he shouted into his radio.
Suddenly the attackers upstairs were slotted as Group Blue charged in and established a gun position.
Now they were closing in to the central chamber. McCord had switched to Morgan's machine gun and kept the ROOT-ninja pinned down. Upstairs Group Blue supported him while Group Green cleared the corridors and blocked the escape routes.
"Shit, there are a few ROOT-ANBU! They're going for a seal!" Blue Leader shouted.
"It's a teleportation seal!" an ANBU with a bear mask shouted.
Erik cussed. "McCord, I need the LMG!" He threw his rifle to the man, who took a drum mag out of the lieutenant's dropped backpack. Previously thrown smoke grenades covered his approach. Erik charged, firing the M240B from his hip. As it ran empty he threw it into the face of the ROOT ninja who tried to stop him. Just as the seal activated he jumped in, taking a ninja down with him.
Present
Erik landed on the dead ANBU. Looking around to orientate himself he saw the ANBU and a ROOT-Nara holding the Konoha-ANBU restraint. He pulled his combat knife and stabbed to closest ROOT into the neck. Holding the dying man as a human shield he fired two shots at the ROOT-Nara. With the man the shadow bindings stopped. The loyal leaf ninja attacked the closest ROOT before they were knocked out by a poison gas released from the corpses. The only ones not affected were Catherine, as she held her breath, the jinchuriki as their demon's neutralized the poison immediately and Erik who wore his filter mask. He tried to use his thermal vision but they somehow masked their signature. Echo-mapping his surroundings he quickly found out where the people where. However he couldn't distinguish the good guys from the bad guys.
Suddenly he felt weird. The gas settled, revealing Danzo next to a ROOT-Yamanaka who had the trademark hand sign for Shintenshin, the body-mind-switch jutsu.
Yugito looked from one to the other. The lieutenant seemed to fight with himself. Slowly he turned around, aiming his pistol at them. Danzo smiled. "So this is the end. Killed by her own allies."
The trigger was pulled, the bullet was aimed at Tsunade who was pushed to the side by Yugito, who took the shot in the shoulder. Two more shots were fired, this time Sakura and Naruto collapsed, due to shots which barely missed their necks. Before the next shot could be fired Catherine was pinning Erik down.
"Get a grip, soldier!" she shouted, wrestling about the control over the pistol several shots were fired across the room. Matriarch Haruno was hit by a stray round in the leg. Suddenly the muzzle was pressed against Catherine's cleavage. The finger pulled the trigger back. But before it could fire a hand blocked the open mechanism. Apparently Erik had resumed control over his left arm, which was know blocking the shot. The left arm yanked the pistol around and released the mechanism, firing the shot, which killed the ROOT-Yamanaka. Now fully in control he wasted no time as he fired the remaining shots into Danzo. The penetration forced the man to stumble back, until he fell out of the window.
Erik slumbered back on his back. Breathing heavily he clutched his side, where Catherine had broken his ribcage when she tackled him. Last thing he saw before he fell unconscious were Catherine's eyes staring in his.
Catherine was standing in the Konoha hospital. Erik was still recovering from the fight. His condition was more than unstable. Although Sakura and Tsunade had tried to heal him most of his vital signs stayed low. A transport had just taken him back to the US. In fact the whole 13th Platoon was withdrawn from Konoha. Only a single medic team remained as they were still working with the local hospital. Everything was reverted to the status it was at the beginning.
Although Catherine had a strange feeling in her heart as soon as she thought about the Lieutenant she dismissed it. She had to concentrate on her job and later to find the one who was with her parents in their last moments.
Sasuke sat at Ichiraku's. Smiling he celebrated the man's death who caused the death of the Uchiha. Together with Naruto and Sakura the Uchiha family drank and ate. Later The other Konoha 13 joined in. They celebrated so much that they even had an eating contest between Choji and Naruto.
"Go Choji! You can do it!" Kiba shouted.
"No way dog breath. Naruto eats for two, remember?" Sakura countered.
They all laughed at the Kyuubi's expense.
Teuchi and Ayame were cooking as fast as they could. There were still breaks as the old man refused to forsake quality for speed.
Later, at forty bowls, Choji leaned back. "That's it. I'm full."
Naruto slurped the rest of his bowl before hoisting himself on the counter, with the now empty bowl on his head. "YES! I WON! I'M THE KING OF RAMEN!"
What happened after that should not be described as Lee got his hands on Sake. Only thing known is that later, Teuchi would expand his business and add a delivery service to his offers.
Surviving ROOT forces were freed from Danzo's loyalty seal and reinstated into the Konoha ninja corps.
The ambulance transporting Erik from the Air Base to the next military hospital drove down a dark road. Stopping at an abandoned truck stop they waited for a fancy limousine to drive by. A single man got out, escorted by female bodyguards.
"Do you have him?"
The paramedic opened the doors. "He's all yours."
What people would do if the right amount of money was involved was incredible.
No one noticed the smartphone left in the ambulance.
Catherine entered her apartment she shared with her teammates. Both were sent to Kiri and Suna to establish political relationships. Dropping her coat at the entrance she let herself fall onto her couch. Leaning back she tried to process what happened between her and Erik. Their wrestling had been in a rather compromising position. He was happy that neither Armanda nor Lauren were there to tease her. As she sat up she noticed her datapad flashing on her table. Activating it an automatic message began to play. She recognized Erik's voice.
"If you hear this, something has happened to me. There are some things I wanted but never got around to tell you. You know me as a soldier and a police man. But there is something else you should know about me. Oh, they are here for me. Look for Fives. He was in the same unit as me. He can answer most of your questions. I have to stop now. 7-3, out."
She looked blankly at the screen as if someone was mocking her. Fives? 7-3? She was confused.
The next morning she was called to the hokage office. Team seven stood there and Sergeant Kelly.
"Agent Pierce, we've got a problem." Tsunade said. Kelly took over: "Lieutenant Winston has disappeared. JSOC requests you and possibly Team seven to investigate and retrieve him."
Naruto was confused. "Why us?"
"You should know him the best after us. Also your ninja abilities are unheard of in our world. Can't leave that advantage untouched."
"We will find him." Sasuke said determined.
"Do we have a lead?" Sakura asked. "Indeed, I received this message yesterday. Erik told me to look for someone called Fives who could help me with an archive. What's weird is that he ended with a callsign: 7-3"
Tsunade recalled something. "There was a Navy soldier. He said his nickname was Fives."
Kelly nodded. "I know what he meant. Both he and Frank Davis served as GSG9-Operatives. The German special police forces always record their missions."
"So we're looking for Frank." Sasuke concluded.
Frank Davis was standing on the Air Field. A few minutes ago he received a messaged that someone wanted to speak with him about the disappearance of his friend Erik. He watched as the plane touched down. The ramp was lowered as four people exited the vehicle. He recognized Catherine.
"Lieutenant Frank Davis."
"Catherine Pierce, This are Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura."
"Heard of them. Served with him in Konoha."
They left for his room. Sitting down Catherine told him everything about Erik's message. After she ended Frank leaned back on his chair.
"We promised to never talk about that but it seems as if the past is important." Frank sighed.
"7-3 was Erik's old designation as a GSG9-Operative. He belonged to SET7. They were specialized for deployments in CBRN-contaminated areas."
"What's CBRN?" Naruto asked. "Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear" Frank said.
"I think what is of your interest is Mission 13062036."
Catherine gasped. "The day my parents died."
