Minato yawned widely, stretching out as he glanced at his other team members. He smiled thinly as he saw Shikamaru wrapped up under a blanket, Shizune similarly out one tent over; Kakashi nodded in greeting; his prisoner had actually gotten his own temporary bed, a remarkable luxury, especially in the wild, though he wore a blindfold and all of his arms were bound together as well. On the other side of Kakashi, propped up on his side, was Tenzō's unconscious form; he'd not waken up once since being freed.
"Next time I take first guard duty," Kakashi muttered as he rubbed his eyes, wincing as he tenderly touched the side of his face – even after Shizune's excellent treatment it still ached and tingled from Jirōbō's earthshattering punch. According to the medic he'd only barely avoided cracking his zygomatic bone, whatever that was. "I feel like I've been up for three days in a row."
"Eh, you got knocked around a bit; you're just not used to that anymore, old man." Minato snickered, tapping his student on the shoulder consolingly. "Let's just enjoy this a bit, alright? Everyone's in one piece, we finished our mission, and I think we're almost ready for anything the old snake could throw at us. It's been a while since we last had a proper victory, I'd like to savour it."
Kakashi sighed, nodding wistfully. "I know – I suppose it's just that most of the people in that base were teens, if that – feels a bit uncomfortable to go all out against those – last time I did unsavoury stuff like that was in ANBU." He winced. "Not the best time of my life, that. I'd rather try new things, if you don't mind. It was a reason why I proposed being a jōnin-sensei in the first place, even if I'm crap at teaching."
"I have spoken to Hiruzen about all this, you know," Minato answered lightly. "Look – you're one of the best ANBU that the village has ever had – you're certainly in the top few – and you would've made an excellent sensei too, judging by what you've managed with Shikamaru." At Kakashi's disbelieving stare, Minato smirked knowingly. "Oh, I know I'm the official teacher – but it wasn't me that got him to work out his techniques, was it? I seem to remember you stepping in for me more often than not whenever I went to develop seals. I do keep an eye on you guys, you know."
Kakashi nodded, blush barely visible above his mask. "Alright – I suppose I feel cheated, losing my cute genin team before I'd even properly met them; I figured that this is as good a time as any to get a bit of experience in, given that someone has to pass my test at some point. I figured perhaps doing what you do might help me understand things a little more."
"You're going for a spot of nostalgia, Kakashi?" Minato sat down beside him and followed Kakashi's gaze to Shikamaru's sleeping form. "The bell test – now that brings back memories. You know, that really does make us seem old, reminiscing on old days."
"Don't remind me." Kakashi muttered, gazing back towards the road, sighing deeply. "We'll see what to do about the whole genin thing when we get back to town – perhaps I'll get to tutor the Uchiha kid, given that eye of his. So… I know we only went a little ways yesterday since everyone was tired as hell, but do we go straight on to Konoha from here?"
"We have time, we won't rush it – it really isn't in our best interest anyway, as we're bound to run into problem after problem when we return; that Uchiha thing not the least of them, given what some of the clan heads or those two oldies by Hiruzen's side would say. Besides, I still want new clothes." He plucked at his current ones with disgust. "I'm not even sure you washed these before I got them, gives me the shivers."
Kakashi smiled lazily. "You're not finished with your fancy seals, I take it? I noticed that you sent off a veritable horde of those Bunshin of yours, earlier."
Minato shook his head in bemusement. "You do have a knack for figuring that sort of thing out, don't you? Those were just modified Kage Bunshin – they'll pop really easily, but they'll stick around even when I'm sleeping and such, which is ideal. No use for fighting and pretty finicky, but they're great for research." He put a hand through his hair that was getting rather long, now. "I've been tinkering with a few new seals – they're really emergency ones, just in case we'll need them, but I don't believe they can really wait. Besides those … I have a promise to keep to someone back home, I'd intended to have some basic solution by the time I got back."
"So, when are we going back, you figure?"
"We'll be home within the week, don't worry," Minato answered with a pout. "It'll be a pain to drag two bodies along, but neither is liable to whine about it, I'd think."
"Really?" a bemused voice asked – Minato and Kakashi blinked and glanced to their feet in consternation. Tenzō was gazing up at them neutrally, creepy black eyes focused on Minato's uncovered face with startling intensity. He glanced between Kakashi and him a few times, finally nodding. "A pleasure to meet you, Yondaime-sama. I have heard many good things about you. Unfortunately, I believe you are supposed to be … dead."
"Rumours of my death were greatly exaggerated," Minato quipped, winking. "It's a long story; you might actually know me as the new Kaeru?" He smiled as Tenzō's eyes lit up with understanding. "Right – do you remember what happened to you, out here? We didn't expect you to wake for some days yet…"
Tenzō closed his eyes, almost seeming asleep; after a few moments they snapped open again, a look of dismay making its way onto his face. "I was captured by a shinobi using some type of toxic jutsu, Yondaime-sama – I was at ANBU headquarters." Tenzō frowned, biting his lip. "Assuming that I recall correctly – there's at least one spy within the ANBU, possibly more. I was about to leave, there was some ruckus outside…"
Kakashi nodded, rubbing his masked chin. "Something like that had occurred to us – reports from Konoha indicate that a few Iwa nin were present at the time, capable of burrowing underground – likely that's how you were transported out of the village without being spotted by sentries or the dozens of ANBU that were on alert at the time."
"That may be correct," Tenzō mused. "The attacks – they were a diversion then? They did succeed in attracting much attention..."
"You were one of the main targets, I'm afraid," Minato admitted. "Sensei – Jiraiya of the Sannin – and Tsunade ran into their old teammate in Konoha as he was attempting to murder the Sandaime – this was shortly after another large bombing near the edge of town that attracted many ANBU, and likely the disturbance you heard about."
"You mean to say – Orochimaru was behind them?" Tenzō's eyes went wide as he considered the implications. "Why would such a person go out of his way to kidnap me? He must realize I would never betray the village."
"He merely desired your body," Shikamaru added sleepily, blinking blearily as he joined the three. "Good morning, by the way. Sorry if that sounded weird."
"What our eloquent friend meant is that Orochimaru has techniques to invade the bodies of his enemies and use them as his own," Minato commented diplomatically, giving Shikamaru a stern look; Tenzō looked horrified by the idea. "Likely he would gain access to the Mokuton element, due to its special properties."
"Of course!" Shikamaru exclaimed, glaring at the sky and sighing as he flopped down besides Minato. "Should've realized it earlier, really. Mokuton – a bloodline allegedly capable of controlling Bijū, if I recall correctly. No wonder that man wants it, if he's allied with the folks who took the Kyūbi! He'd be indispensible to them."
Minato nodded, dismay clearly visible. "I'm afraid you're right, Shikamaru. Though I'd love to know how you came by that information…" He looked back at Tenzō with a severe expression. "Tenzō-san – you might not have been briefed yet, as the Third and I were adamant about secrecy, but I think you should know – we believe Iwa and its allies are planning a strike against Konoha during the upcoming Chūnin exams."
"Iwa's allied itself with Orochimaru?" The ANBU wondered, frowning. "Why does ANBU not know about this? That could be a serious threat!"
"You've already pointed out that there are spies there," Kakashi said dryly. "What did you expect? The Third's planning a few countermeasures to limit how much damage they can do, perhaps even to repel them; we're one of those measures."
"We?"
"This team," Shikamaru noted, shrugging. "We've been training ever since Mr. Badass here returned to help out when things get rough."
Minato scratched his head sheepishly as Tenzō raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it wasn't entirely my idea – don't look at me like that!"
"You think you can make a real difference?" Tenzō asked, frowning. "There will be dozens of enemies, I am certain. Wouldn't ANBU be a better choice than – forgive me – a ragtag team at the last minute?"
"Don't underestimate any of us," Minato pointed out, expression turning serious. "Especially not the only genin in our group; I saw that dismissive look. You'll find that when it comes to outsmarting your enemies, nobody does it better than a Nara."
"So that is why I recognized you," Tenzō muttered, crawling upright, though his legs wouldn't support him properly. "Shikaku's a great man – you must be his son, then? Nice to meet you." He groaned, rubbing his legs. "My chakra seems practically gone – what did that snake do?"
"Shizune-san said it's just some drugs they had you on in their base, they'll be gone within a day or two. You were locked up down in the basement, prepared for Orochimaru's jutsu by one of his enforcers – we got you out." Minato nodded at Shizune's sleeping form. "You already know the rest of us – Shizune there is our medic – students of Tsunade of the Sannin, I must add."
The ANBU whistled, narrowing his eyes at Minato. "With a team like that, what are you going to do? Cut off Iwa troops before they get to the village?"
"We're heading home – in a week's time we'll be there, probably just in time to see the first people arrive for the Chūnin Exams; I understand the Kazekage is coming, perhaps there are others similarly inclined. We'll be the Hokage's sword and shield, wherever he needs us."
"Besides, we have a teammate that has to go beat the Exams," Kakashi added with a smile, nudging Shikamaru. "Without a proper genin team he'll probably just skip the first two tasks, but he'll still have to kick some people's behinds in the third round."
"You expect the exams to actually go through with Iwa moving to attack?"
"The most likely time for an attack will be at a large event," Minato pointed out. "Neither the first nor second rounds are particularly exciting as far as the common public goes, nor are many security troops used in guarding them. If Iwa's going to make their move, it'll be when people are clustered together – the last round."
"Single combat," Shikamaru mumbled with a frown and he glanced at Kakashi. "With all the spectators packed in that stadium including large numbers of foreign shinobi and even a Kage or two, security has to be high, or things will get rough – at that time, the village's borders are least protected. That's when I'd strike."
"The most likely scenario, yes. Some type of diversion in the stadium to keep people busy while the army moves in. Trouble is, if an army had been detected, Jiraiya-sensei would've warned me." Minato rubbed his chin worriedly. "Best guess – they're undercover as civilians, or using tunnelling technique to avoid detection. Either way, the village could be infiltrated by dozens of them when attention is divided – it'll be up to us to take down the most powerful enemies – we can't count on others to help us out in that. It'll be tough enough to cover the entire village as it is."
"Which means we'll have to hunt down and root out all the Iwa troops of any note and let the chūnin take out the rest," Kakashi added. "I bet the genin will get involved too – they're already involved in the Exams, they're doubtlessly going to end up in the crossfire. We'd better keep an eye out for that too…"
A long silence fell on the camp as each pondered what was going to happen in the coming weeks – it was easy to forget that there was more than team out there when you spent more than month with the same few people, any reports of home vague and unspecific.
Minato had to admit even he was feeling a bit homesick, and he'd barely even gotten time to get to know the new Konoha. That was it, really – it didn't feel new. Konoha was as welcoming and warm as it had ever been; changed, but not fundamentally.
Kakashi sighed as he picked up his book, eyes idly wandering over the pages as he recalled the enraged madness of Jirōbō and Kidōmaru, spurred on by the Cursed Seal - more like them would doubtlessly be among the attackers, if Orochimaru was indeed supplying Iwa with people. Undoubtedly they'd be young; he remembered the last war, how young his team had been when they'd gotten involved way over their head, lost Obito that senseless slaughter. Seeing such young faces on the other side, now, sent a chill down his spine.
The silence was finally broken by Minato. "Tenzō-san – can I speak to you for a moment? Alone?" he looked at Shikamaru and Kakashi in turn with an apologetic expression.
"Of course, Yondaime-sama."
"Come on, let youthfulness flow through you!"
"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Rock Lee exclaimed, grinning brightly, striking a pose. "If I do not succeed, I will run three laps along the entire wall, on my hands!"
"Yosh!"
"Oh brother…" Tenten rolled her eyes as she collapsed next to Neji, dropping her bags beside her as she gazed dispassionately at him. "You'd think he wouldn't have time for this stuff with all his new duties…"
Neji watched the two green-clad monsters; as usual he was somewhat mortified but incapable of looking away, which was a most uncomfortable sensation. He forced himself to look at his other teammate. "I don't believe busy schedules have ever stopped sensei before."
"Yes, well," Tenten said, shrugging. "With all the anxiety going around, you'd think things would be awkward but he's probably the only jōnin-sensei to still put in his hours. I swear, I've seen even Sasuke and Sai sparring on their own – Asuma's the last person to just leave them to it in the middle of the day, considering how heated those two can get."
"If Sai was more tactful in what he said, that wouldn't have to be the case," Neji observed, frowning. "Perhaps that goes for more than just Sai."
"Hinata again?"
Neji nodded, grimacing. "She's… different, these days. I'd never expect her to be capable of being cold. I never spent much time with her, resented her – now she's acting like she's me."
"You two did a personality transplant or something, I swear. It's crazy to see her like that. It's like she's lost her way, or something."
"I believe it was more than that," Neji responded morosely. "I don't think my input is requested. I think she'd just take it as mockery."
"Whatever happened to you, anyway? Weird enough about her, I'd never seen you smile since a couple weeks back. It still looks kind of strange when you do it, actually." Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Is it some kind of weird Hyūga puberty thing? Strange bumps, hair in weird places, spontaneous attitude adjustment?"
"I – I had to rethink some things," Neji admitted, turning away for a moment before remembering who was training there and turning back. "I suppose – someone gave me some hope? I think that's right."
"Eh, Neji. Cryptic as usual." She rolled her eyes. "Keep your secrets – can you at least tell me about whatever possessed you to study Ninjutsu? I'd figured you to be a Taijutsu guy, like most of your clan."
"I am – it's personal. It's between him and I."
"Yes, that's all well and good," Tenten responded with a huff. "I can understand a lot of things from you, Neji – but extending an olive branch to an Uchiha? I could've sworn your clans hated each other over the whole freaky eye thing."
Neji sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look – you wouldn't understand."
"Sometimes I think I like emotionally dead Neji more, at least he didn't lead me by the nose," Tenten muttered in response, though she smirked. "I still want to see whatever you have cooked up in the Exams, though!"
"Of course – if they actually happen. The presence of so many armed jōnin and ANBU in the village proper concerns me."
"Chōji told me that Asuma expects a war to break out," Tenten added nervously. "I hope not – I've seen how many names are on the memorial stone because of the last one…"
"We'll be victorious, if it does break out," Neji said confidently. "As long as we have that frog – that Will of Fire – we won't perish."
"Ugh, poetry."
Neji smiled.
"When do we inform everyone?"
"We don't." The Third turned to Shikaku with a smile. "Most of our shinobi have been drilled in the basics over the last month, even if they didn't know it – everyone's been reassigned so often they've seen every corner of the village and they're trained how to respond already. They will react as they should."
"You're relying on people's cool heads quite a bit, Hokage-sama…" Shikaku frowned. "You think it'll be a smaller scale attack, but it might well not be – what if it isn't? Would a concentrated strikeforce form on its own without preparation?"
"I know my student, Shikaku-san – Orochimaru will be coming for my head once more; he has unfinished business. His allies, such as he has them, are small in number even if the entire area he's taken possession of sends its ninja force - many have died in bloody wars with their neighbours – the wild card is Iwa. The only one that cannot truly be defended against by a concentrated force."
Shikaku nodded, running a hand over his facial scars as he remembered getting them – he hoped it wouldn't get that nasty again. "You intend to keep people separate so that any Iwa invaders will have a tough time using their bigger techniques to great effect."
"Correct – shaking or crumbling the earth beneath our feet has little effect if only one or two are affected by it – it would be far too chakra-intensive and it would open the user up to attack. They wouldn't have a human shield in the form of their enemies all around them." He coughed, tapping his pipe. "We still have the Mole to contend with – I expect him to be a main target of Team Kaeru."
"Team- Team Kaeru? Shikamaru's coming back?" Shikaku sighed. "I'd almost hoped he'd be safely away from here during all of this…"
"Of course he'll be here," the Sandaime said. "He'd going to be participating in the tournament, you know. Oh, there's a good chance he won't get to fight much, but it'll be interesting to see how much he's improved…"
"You really think something like six weeks can make a big difference?"
"He's your kid – you tell me? Honestly, with Kaeru and Kakashi along I'd hardly be surprised if he could knock you on your behind." The Hokage smirked as he blew a smoke ring, puffing contentedly on his old pipe. "That'd be something to see.."
"I suppose those two are powerful," Shikaku conceded. "It's just that Shikamaru's out of town with Kakashi along – I worry he'll come back with one of those little red books in his hand and his hitai-ate askew." He shivered.
"Kaeru can keep Kakashi on a leash," the Sandaime said in amusement. "If anything, I'd worry about him getting a fancy ANBU mask…"
Shizune walked back into the latest camp that the team had set up – they were only two days out from Konoha at their present comfortably slow speed, and she was thankful she'd soon have a proper bath again. The men didn't seem to care that they were grimy, and smelly, and generally unappealing at the moment – typical, really.
The last few days had been strange – Minato and Tenzō went off to train somewhere, the barely recovered ANBU apparently discussing highly secret stuff with the former Hokage as not even Kakashi was allowed to listen in – Shikamaru frequently spent his time training with said white-haired jōnin, slashing out with nasty shadowy tendrils that could slice through bone.
She – well, she healed up everyone who got wounded, and spent most of the rest of the time working on various new creative ways to kill people. Joy. She'd never really spent time on brewing poisons with Tsunade, beyond the necessary – now that she was actually liable to get into contact with some powerful enemies, she's had to reacquaint herself with long-unused skills; living with a Sannin for so long did little to boost one's abilities much, since they were never challenged.
Thankfully, medical techniques for manipulating the body were very precise and careful – great patience was needed to use them properly. Consequently, improper use of the various techniques she knew could be most devastating to any target, which would be helpful.
It was somewhat annoying, really, that the boys thought of her as 'the girl' – he knew they did, particularly Kakashi, even if she was older than him. Granted, it was better to be the girl on a genius team than to be automatically classified as an assistant as had often happened when traveling with her sensei, but it did get on her nerves.
She'd gotten through to Shikamaru though – he sent her wary glances on occasion, his breath hitching whenever she inhaled deeply, probably remembering that brutal little scene down in Orochimaru's hideout. Nothing to convince a man that you can kick some ass than dropping ten people in one breath.
"Yo."
"Kakashi," Shizune observed, giving a brief wave. "What're you doing?"
"Eh." Kakashi shrugged, his book rustling in his hand; he was hanging upside down from a tree branch, his hair for once seeming to obey gravity, though his hitai-ate was remaining stuck over his Sharingan eye through some mechanism Shizune couldn't figure out. Immediately below him, strapped to the tree, was Kidōmaru's unconscious body. "One of Jiraiya-sensei's older book – got it from Minato, his sensei kept his whole collection!"
"Reading smut again? I should've guessed that from you," she muttered with an annoyed glare. "What's with the upside-down thing? The blood will rush straight to your head!"
"Considering what I'm reading," He smiled broadly. "I think it balances out."
It took her a moment to process that, as Kakashi looked back at his book.
"PERVERT!"
Author's Note : Well, we're off to a new arc! Next up we'll check in with Jiraiya and Tsunade in Konoha as the team of geniuses gets back to town with a prisoner in tow – the Chunin exam participants and representatives of their nations are also coming to town, including some surprises, though the big ones will be at the third round.
As Kari-Kateora knows, things will get pretty crazy pretty quickly after that. (everyone go subscribe to her, she writes an excellent resurrected Minato fic, 'Rising from the Ashes'!)
Cheers, my eternal rival and readers/reviewers!
