The Boy in the Team

Chapter Forty-Eight

"You're feeling all right, Shin-chan?" Shinku's right eyebrow twitched.

"Want to take a rest, Shin-chan?" his right hand clenched in a fist.

"Don't overexert yourself, Shin-chan!" he bit his tongue.

"Doesn't your armour feel heavy? Are you drinking enough? You know it's not good to let your body go dry, but you can't drink too much or you'll end up going for a bathroom break too soon."

Shinku gazed at Naruko a moment later. "I. Am. Fine."

Naruko blinked. "You sure?"

"Yes," he hissed out, "Really."

"You know, you don't have to hold it in. You can tell everything to your beautiful teammate Naru-chan."

"I would very much like it if you stopped trying to baby me," Shinku dryly muttered.

Naruko blinked once more. "Oh, all right. You want to sit on the carriage's roof?"

Shinku's hands wringed themselves upwards as his throat emitted a constricted garbled sound. It had already been two hours. Two hours of Naruko fussing and asking if he needed anything ranging from food to water. He didn't need that sort of attention. It wasn't just embarrassing —considering the nobles in the carriages that he swore were enjoying the scene— but it was also completely unneeded.

"When are you going to stop worrying?" he finally exhaled.

"I'm not worrying," Naruko replied with a light hum. "Want a wool cap? It's getting windy recently."

Shinku spluttered, before opting for simply falling quiet. He gazed at his right hand once more, and then sighed. The bug was bright red. Everything was fine.

The carriages pulled past the forest and onto the plain, which stretched for quite a bit throughout the Land of Fire. Rice fields gently gave way to small hills and cobblestone paths, as villagers who worked the land moved close to the road to watch the procession pass by.

Sasuke scratched the side of his neck where the curse mark was, his eyes trailing around to the farmers and their families. A few women stuck their heads out of the nearby mud and wood huts to gaze at the carriages passing by, while they held back their children from running towards the horses.

The day went by quietly. The sun slowly began to die as Kakashi gave the order to camp for the night. The nobles' servants apparently had all they needed to set up an elaborate makeshift kitchen.

"Shin-chan can do the first shift," Naruko piped in. "Uke-chan can take the second and I can have the third."

"No," Kakashi hummed with his eye-smile. "You will go to sleep before I wring your neck myself," the silver-haired Jounin said. "Understood?"

Naruko swallowed nervously, before preparing to hold her ground.

"It's enough," Shinku said calmly. "Really," he looked towards Naruko. "I…I appreciate the thought, but I'm not made of glass. I'm fine. Everything is fine. So, please, stop." Maybe it was the pleading tone, but Naruko backed off.

"Fine," she mumbled. "But I'm keeping an eye out on you!" and with that, she stormed off to sleep.

"She never knows when to stop," Sasuke exhaled, "She can get annoying sometimes, but she's not…well, you know how she is by now, right?"

"Yeah," Shinku muttered back. "I suppose I do."

"You'll do the middle watch," Kakashi gestured towards Shinku. "I'll do the first one, so go and get some sleep. Sasuke, you'll do the third."

Shinku and Sasuke both nodded back, before heading over to 'their' area of rest. The nobles had some tents pitched up, and apparently had begun partying and loudly drinking —as if they enjoyed attracting the attention of the entire countryside. There was nothing, but the lull of the wind against the rice stalks and the tree branches all around the small campfire nestled in a corner and covered by rocks. It was like camping, only with the risk of ambush at any moment by some wandering shinobi.

Shinku's nose twitched, as he smelled the proverbial odour of ramen in the air. He wondered how his teammate could keep on eating the same thing without ever growing bored of it.

"Kakashi's doing first shift," Sasuke said as Naruko gave a nod in their direction. "Shinku does the second and I go third."

"Kakashi-Nii sucks," Naruko mumbled, before wiping away a smudge of ramen from her lips. A ramen cup ended up in his hands and as Sasuke pretty much suffered the same fate, with a sigh, they all set to eat their dinner while just a few steps away he was sure the nobles were eating something way different than cup ramen —probably caviar or something like that.

"When was it any different?" Sasuke grumbled. "Grab some sleep," and with that, the Uchiha literally dropped to the side and pulled the sleeping bag over his head. Naruko pouted, before doing the same. Shinku imitated the other two, his gaze went up towards the twinkling sky for a moment more —the moon was so bright— and as he did, his eyes slowly closed.

Inner gazed into the massive shredded pools of limbs and scattered blood splatters that stretched throughout the desert of bloodied sand. He took a deep shuddering breath. "This is your entire fault!" they screamed. "Just a failure in the end!" they snarled.

"For the love of…Shut. Up!" Inner snarled as he pounced once more on the nightmares. He wouldn't sleep a wink that night too, he supposed.

Waking came all too early. "Your turn," Kakashi muttered, his right hand gripping Shinku's shoulder as his left stilled his wrist. Shinku's left hand had palmed the Kirigakure kunai in a flash, and had apparently been in the direction of Kakashi's sides by the time the Jounin had stopped the attack. "Nice reflexes."

"Busy night in here," Shinku grumbled back, slowly standing up. The camp was quiet and not even a dim light remained outside. The tents filled with bright shadows, moving around and talking. Nobles probably didn't have anything else to do but to talk.

He flexed his fingers as he took a spot atop a nearby tree, using the branches as cover. From his position, he could see the tents and the nearby surroundings. He rubbed his eyes for a moment, before stifling a yawn. He actually wondered how he was supposed to count the passing of time —maybe by the position of the stars or the shadows cast by the moon's light.

His breathing evened out. Something wet fell down his cheek. It rolled down his chin and dropped on the bark of the branch. Shinku bit his lips, gripping on the sides of the branch with his fingers.

His father was dead. He would never return to his home. A sniffle escaped his nose. He would never wake up in his bed again. He wouldn't read any post-it, he wouldn't be heading over to the bakery any longer. He would have to buy his own groceries. He'd have to clean the room —the apartment was thankfully a one-room thing— and pay the bills by himself.

He wondered, really, what did he have to do for life to let him be?

He wiped away his tears, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself on the branch a bit more. He had a mission to do. He couldn't waste his time in thinking about other things. He couldn't get distracted. This mission was a B-rank. It meant there could be at any moment a potential shinobi attack.

He had to remain concentrated.

The wind blew softly throughout the night —the only noise Shinku heard except for the nobles' bantering and then subsequent snoring. There wasn't anything else. He watched the moon slowly move in the night sky, until he quietly decided he had waited long enough.

The sun was going to rise in just a couple of hours. He stretched carefully, gripping on the side of the tree as he descended it. He returned to the camp as silently as possible, before kneeling next to the sleeping Uchiha.

"Sasuke," he whispered.

The Uchiha actually opened his eyes in less than a split second, before groaning lightly. "My watch already?"

"Yes."

Sasuke deftly stood and left for yet another spot to watch over. Shinku crawled back into his sleeping bag, and returned to sleep.

When Shinku woke up again, it was to the sound of a deafening explosion. His kunai slammed home into something the moment he stood from his rucksack, his eyes wide and his breath laboured. The sides of a Sound shinobi turned red with blood. The man gurgled, eying him with wide eyes and a kunai in hand.

Near him, he could hear a punch connect with a man's jaw and the cracking of bones. A giant snake slithered its way across the ground, tearing apart the nobles' tents and leaving behind a long trench in the ground. There weren't any screams of fear, any indication that there were scared civilians anywhere, but the roaring fire that stuck out like a sore thumb through the small patch of trees and the sparks given by kunai meeting kunai told another story.

It wasn't a carnage. No, if anything it seemed a fought out battle between two sides.

He found himself grabbed by the shoulders, Naruko's face appearing wide-eyed right in front of his. "Ohi! Shin-chan! We've got to move and find Uke-chan!"

Another explosion came terribly close, as a bright flash of light blinded him. He found himself hoisted over Naruko's shoulder before he could even react.

"I'm getting you out of here!" Naruko yelled, "We'll find Uke-chan!" the girl ran, until some sort of great pressure —probably a wind technique— tore through the ground nearby and sent her and Shinku flying.

She popped with the typical sound of a Kage Bunshin, but he ended up rolling on the ground with his sight unfocused. There wasn't a clear picture. It was an ambush. The enemy was Sound. How many enemies were there? Where were the nobles? Was he supposed to go back? It was a B-rank, right?

Enemy shinobi were expected. His duty was to be ready and die for the clients. He gripped the grass with his fingers, turning his head around. There still were black spots in his vision, and what little he saw seemed to dance around, but he did see a large yellow projectile soar the air and strike a…an Anbu, apparently, straight in the guts.

The masked shinobi twisted in mid-air, the blow piercing him from side to side and letting him fall on the ground bleeding to his death.

There was an archer somewhere. There were Anbu escorting them.

He didn't hear many sounds, the explosions' lingering noise kept his eardrums ringing. He got back on his feet, holding a hand to his forehead to wipe away…there was blood trickling down from the side of his head.

His heart drummed. His breathing grew ragged.

MOVE.

He ran straight ahead, his head low and grounding his teeth. He jumped for the nearest tree, landing on its branch and pushing his left hand against the trunk to swing behind it. A moment later, and a volley of shuriken sailed right where he would have been.

They were aiming at the stragglers first. He jumped down the tree, hiding behind its trunk on the ground just as the upper side was torn apart cleanly by a rock the size of a human. He gripped his kunai, looking around for any sort of clue on what he had to do now. Did he have orders? Did he have a directive? Was there something he had to do?

He was the Chuunin now, wasn't he? Didn't he get some sort of clue on what a Chuunin did? What were they expecting from him? Did they think it was easy to just 'be' a Chuunin!?

DOWN!

He fell on the ground just as the lower side of the trunk ended uprooted by a giant earth spike. The tree's roots dangled in front of him covered in dirt and lifting a light sheen of dust.

He didn't think he could outrun his enemies.

His body twisted with the strength of desperation as he changed the trajectory of his charge. He slammed his right foot against the earth spike to propel himself across the ground, holding his body low and the kunai at the ready. He couldn't see anything, but he wondered if taking a technique to the chest would be a better death than taking one in the back.

The ground trembled and broke behind him. The enemy had expected him to keep on running, so he had actually earned a few seconds of respite.

A Sound ninja charged at him from the side, flanked by his two teammates. Shinku pushed his arms up, covering his face as he felt the kunai stab at him in the chest and in the flanks. The metallic plates absorbed the impact, but the brunt strength of it astounded him and forced him to let go of his kunai.

THRUST.

His right arm went right and his left arm went left. His fingers dug into the shinobi's faces as he screamed in fear and rage. He slammed them both against one another, crushing their skulls. Blood and grey matter splattered on his face as he pushed his entire body forward, his head slamming strongly against the third one.

The air still lacked from his lungs, but he managed to grip onto the man's mottled scarf and pull him closer to him. His teeth dug into the creature's, snarling as he bit and ripped. Blood sprayed from the wound as Shinku pushed the bleeding shinobi away. The Sound ninja stumbled for a moment, before falling on the ground.

"Why do I even bother?" a male voice remarked. "Trash will be trash, always," a pale haired teen wearing a long grey robe with a strange looking sash tied around his waist appeared in the edge of Shinku's waning vision. Did…did he have some sort of lump on his back?

"You look interesting," the voice said, "What's your name, trash?"

Shinku shuddered, taking a deep breath. He could breathe now. For a short while, he could assess the situation and find a way out.

"What's yours?" he replied.

"Trash thinks he has guts," the teen said. There was a blur of speed, and the next instant a barrage of blows connected with his stomach. "Let's tenderize them!"

Shinku's body doubled over as his mouth opened, spewing out bile and blood. Now, now in that instant, he really would have loved some help.

"And the grand final," two left and two right arms slammed on both of Shinku's sides, propelling him backwards with his back slamming against the rock lance he had passed by before. The rock cracked as Shinku screamed in pain, coughing and raggedly breathing. The jacket couldn't help him against blunt attacks like those fists —which felt heavy as lead.

What sort of monster was he fighting?

A dark yellow lance flied through the air next, directed towards him. His body instinctively twisted to the side, ignoring the atrocious agony that coursed through his entire being. Instead of piercing his heart, the lance-like arrow slammed into his left arm shattering the bone and sticking him to the rock.

He screamed in utter pain as he saw the blood spray out of his unresponsive limb.

"Well," the sound teen smirked. "We can have some fun now, can't we?"

The first fist slammed into the side of Shinku's head, soon followed by another into his abused sides. Another came, and then one more, before they simply became part of a barrage.

The forest was ablaze as Orochimaru gazed with a look of sourness at the Yondaime. "You had the galls," the snake sannin remarked, "to have a gerbil steal the forbidden scroll back."

Minato smiled. "You should really have checked for unwanted passengers…you didn't think I would actually use the Hiraishin and end up summoned somewhere to your liking."

"And this," Orochimaru looked around. "Anbu," the snake sannin snorted. "You prepared quite nice bait, Minato."

"Well, now that there isn't a village to risk," the Yondaime remarked, "I can fight you until you kick the bucket."

"Such a cold heart," Orochimaru said, "Risking the lives of your precious daughter and her friends."

"They're shinobi, and they've proven their skills," Minato retorted. "I trust them to stay alive until the Anbu mop up your crew of scum."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Let's not waste time then, I have an Uchiha to make mine."

Naruko lowered her head and avoided a giant fist barrelling just an inch away from her face. The orange-haired guy —who was practically bald anyway if not for a few tuft of hair— seemed to enjoy trying to get her in close combat. Who was she to say no to a strength battle?

Her hands clasped tightly around the outstretched and open-palmed ones of her enemy. Naruko grinned with a feral and half-demonic smile, standing her ground.

"Ohi fat lard ball! Is this all you've got!?"

"You sucking piece of garbage! Don't you call me fat!" Jirobo yelled back, his eyes widening as he pushed all his strength against the girl who was just half his size.

Yet she didn't move an inch.

"Ohi, want to know something funny, fatty?" Naruko giggled, even as her hands tightened the grip. "I've got near endless stamina. I don't get tired like other people, and when I do I get right back up in a few minutes, and you know what that means?"

Her eyes sharpened as she growled. "It means that I can fucking lift your lard-ass all the way to the frigging moon!"

Jirobo felt the ground leave as he was lifted by a girl half his size. He roared in anger, his cursed mark flaring up as chakra pumped through his veins and muscles. He'd show the girl! He wasn't going to let this affront stand!

His wrists suddenly cracked. The girl smiled brightly at the sight of blood gushing out from the man's broken bones. "I said it before, lard-ass," Naruko snarled. "If this is all you've got, then I'm sending you to the frigging moon!"

There was a roar and a light flash of crimson chakra, before Naruko twisted her body with a ferocious and sharp jerking motion. There was a cracking sound, and soon Jirobo was handless and rolling on the ground screaming.

Naruko crunched with her hands the torn limbs of the enemy teen, before throwing the two small balls of flesh and bones on the ground at her sides, discarding them like garbage.

Her right fist slammed into her left open-palmed hand. "My name's Naruko Namikaze, bastard," she hissed. "Remember it in hell!"

The last thing Jirobo saw was the underside of a foot slamming home against his face, before the crunching sound of his skull caving in and his brain splattering ended his thoughts and life at the same time.

Naruko spat to the side of the corpse, before turning around. She had to find Uke-chan and Shin-chan, wherever they were. She should have taken Shin-chan personally, instead of letting a Kage Bunshin carry him.

If only duckbutt used the Susanoo, then she'd know where the hell he was.

Her eyes scanned the battlefield, taking in the Anbu, the raging fire, the shinobi attacking one another. They settled finally on a form. She took off with two crimson tails bursting from her back the next second.

Sakon grinned as he lifted his right hand, savouring the moment the punch would connect with the trash's already fractured chin. It was a moment, and then Ukon barely managed to warn him in time. A chakra claw swiped the air where his head would have been. His feet moved him backwards enough to avoid another swipe with ended with a cracking ground.

Dust lifted from the ground as a feral roar deafened him, before twin tails of crimson chakra shot forth. Sakon twisted his body, letting the tails pass harmlessly over him. The heat made the grass burn as the sound ninja ground his teeth in frustration.

Naruko charged, her fist an inch away from the Sound teen when an arrow slammed against her chest. The chakra cloak absorbed the brunt of the impact, but it slowed her enough to give Sakon the time to spin his body forward and punch the girl in the cheek with all four of his fists.

He screamed in pain a moment later, the heat of the chakra unbearable. Naruko's left hand gripped tightly onto one of the four hands. She growled with her eyes crimson and her fangs bare, her whisker marks pronounced.

"I'll owe one to Kidomaru," Sakon grumbled. "Ukon! It's your turn!"

Ukon snaked out of his brother's body, slamming against the chakra cloak and…and screaming in pain as he returned into his brother's body.

"I can't! T-That bitch's chakra is—"

"Oh?" Naruko smiled, "You fuckers weren't told the Kyuubi's chakra corrosive?" Naruko's twin tail swished in the air as her grip remained strong. "Why, let me show you how it fucking works!"

The crimson cloak roared as it poured through Naruko's hands and throughout Sakon and Ukon's shared body. The twins screamed as their flesh burned and turned to black ashes. Their very blood boiled and broke apart as the Kyuubi's chakra coursed through them.

"Let go! Let go! LET GO! LET GO!" Sakon's screams died out as nothing more than a charred husk of him and his brother remained behind.

Naruko snorted. Her tails slowly disappeared as she quickly dashed towards Shinku's battered body.

Her teammate didn't look good at all. His arm twisted in an unnatural angle, there was just so much blood pooling down from his mouth and pierced limb…

"All right, all right, what do I do?" Naruko's hands went to her head. "Calm down, calm down. Shin-chan! You're…Shin-chan?"

There was no reply.

"Shin-chan?" Naruko's voice was meek. "Shin-chan?" she croaked out once more, her hands gripping on the arrow pinning her teammate's body to the rock. "It's going to be all right, yeah, 'ttebayo…hang on!"

She clenched her fists. "SASUKE! WHERE THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU!?"

Sasuke's body twisted, trying to free his hands from the chains. His chakra sealed by a tag applied to his chest, his hands and legs bound, he growled eying the lithe and pale haired boy who was standing guard over him.

"Capturing you has not proven to be a challenge," Kimimaro spoke. "All is going according to Orochimaru-sama's plans."

Sasuke hissed with his wrists raw from the effort of freeing one hand. All he needed was to free one hand, remove the tag, and then crush the bastard to death. They weren't far from the battle, which was slowly but surely winding down.

A tanned man appeared a moment later, "Sakon and Ukon were done in just like Jirobo," he eyed Sasuke. "I don't think we'll manage to get the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. The Yondaime's putting up a hell of a fight against Orochimaru-sama."

"Orochimaru-sama will win," Kimimaro replied.

"Yeah, like hell," Sasuke hissed. "He's going to lose, and when the Yondaime's come around, he'll take care of the lot of you in a flash!"

"Shut the fuck up, trash!" Kidomaru yelled back, "Just count yourself lucky Orochimaru-sama chose your body!" a kick slammed Sasuke's body on the ground.

The Uchiha coughed out in pain.

"Kidomaru," Kimimaro said calmly, "Stop or I will kill you. Do not harm Orochimaru-sama's future body."

Sasuke pushed his body forward, letting it ground against the dirt.

The chakra tag ripped.

His eyes turned to the Mangekyou form before the other two could react.

"SUSANOO!"

Standing in the middle of the chakra construct, awash with chakra, Sasuke's eyes spun as the creature's weapon came crashing down.

Kidomaru and Kimimaro both dodged, gazing at the creature.

"You fucking piece of trash!" Kidomaru yelled.

"You're the trash, Kidomaru," Kimimaro snarled even as bones began to grow all around his body. "For Orochimaru-sama, I will capture you again."

Kidomaru morphed, his seal activating and reaching the second stage.

"SASUKE!" Naruko appeared in a flicker of leaves, "Come quick! Shin-chan's wounded and—"

A bone bullet slammed into the girl's chest. Naruko disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke turned his eyes towards his opponents.

"I'm in a hurry," he snarled, "Stand aside now!"

The Uchiha charged ahead, the Susanoo following him like protective armour. Kimimaro's fully transformed form pounced at him with his giant bone drill ahead, trying to halt his advance. The Susanoo's armour absorbed the blow, before one of its hands came down to swat the teen away.

Kimimaro sailed through the air, blood escaping from his mouth as he landed abruptly on the ground. Kidomaru snarled in frustration, as five arrows left his bow and neither managed to pierce the absolute defence of the Uchiha.

"Where the fucking hell is Tayuya when you need her!?"

Tayuya clicked her tongue in distaste. It wasn't a matter of being more than the enemy. The Anbu were better. The trash Orochimaru-sama had given her to kill the nobles had practically been annihilated, and she was holding on to her life —no matter what orders she had, she wasn't going to die because some trash couldn't frigging win.

Her oni swatted away at an Anbu, whose colleagues flanked her in that instant. A Tanto came down for her right arm, but she brought her flute to parry the attack. Another Anbu —they appeared like fucking maggots— came from the other side, and before she could even scream, it was over.

Her left arm fell on the ground with a sickening squelch. Blood sprayed over the Anbu's mask as a fist connected with Tayuya's sides. The girl doubled over, and thus darkness claimed her.

Shinku trembled from the cold. Inner gazed ahead with his arms crossed. "Damn the desert's nights are cold," he stated plainly.

"We dead yet?" Shinku asked, looking around as the plateau of sand and blood slowly crumbled piece by piece.

"No, not yet," Inner remarked. "Well, at least we aren't getting any more nightmares," he eyed the pulsing mass of flesh and screams that had all but reduced itself to a small tendril, floating near the edge of the crumbling platform.

"No 'stand up and fight' speech?"

"You realize we're probably dead no matter what," Inner remarked. "And I have my limits too," he exhaled, his eyes gazing at Outer tiredly. "Well, seems like this is our limit. Well, at least we killed three guys before going down. That's nice, I suppose."

Outer shuddered, his teeth chattering. "It's cold."

"Death sure as hell isn't warm," Inner walked closer to Outer, before plopping down right behind him, back to back. "Well," Inner gazed upwards. "It was nice knowing you, Shinku."

The plateau of sand crumbled faster, the ground cracking and splitting apart.

"Why did my subconscious have to be a blood-soaked desert?" Outer mumbled. "It could have been a granite wall. You don't take down a granite wall now, do you?"

"Everything falls," Inner said. "Everything ends. Everyone, eventually, dies."

"I would have liked to see Fu one last time," Shinku mumbled.

"Oh for the love of…dying in someone's arm is overrated," Inner snapped back, "Dying in general is overrated."

"Well, at least I'm going to hell with company," Outer remarked with his lips twitching upwards. "Thanks for being here."

The back of his head bumped against Inner's own, who returned the favour.

"Anytime," Inner said. "Well, see you on the other side."

The crumbling sand neared, only but a palm away.

"Is it normal to be scared?" Shinku whispered. "Because I'm scared. I'm…"

"Yeah, falling in the darkness does that," Inner mumbled back. "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."

The sand finished crumbling.

"Uh?"

A mere inch away from the tip of his cross-legged feet, the sand stopped falling.

Inner froze too, before suddenly starting to laugh madly. "Ah…Ahahah…I can't…I can't believe it!" he laughed out to his heart's content, "We're alive? How? Ah…ahaha…we've used all our luck now, yeah, it must be it…no other explanation."

His head pounded as if someone were grinding it. His body felt cold, breathing came out hurting his throat, his chest, his entire frame. Yet his eyes opened barely of a crack.

A soft green glow was at his arm.

He supposed it was going to scar.

"You fuckers…way…hin-chan!" that was Naruko's voice, or what little he understood.

"…Uchiha!" another voice, definitively male.

The soft glow moved across his arm and towards his chest. "I never did this before," Sasuke mumbled, his voice tense as sweat pooled down from his forehead. "I read it, I memorized it, but…"

He ground his teeth. "Just stick with me. All right Shinku? You just have to stick with me."

"Uhn…"

"Grit your teeth," Sasuke mumbled, "First it's internal bleeding. Have to stop it. Have to…"

The feeling of hot scorching metal through his skin made Shinku scream in pain as he tried to move away from it, but the firm grip of…it had to be one of Naruko's Kage Bunshin, held him still.

"Ohi! You're hurting him!"

"We don't have time!" Sasuke snarled back. "He's lost too much blood already!"

"Come on Shin-chan, stick with us!" Naruko yelled to the side of his ear. He felt his entire body twist and roll around —even though he wasn't moving— and wished he was dead, rather than suffering from whatever this was.

"I think I patched up an eardrum," Sasuke mumbled, his hands to the sides of Shinku's head. "The brain is…I mean, concussions are…don't fall asleep."

"Urgh…"

"No retching, try to hold it in," Sasuke grumbled.

"The fuckers left," another Naruko appeared at the edge of his vision. "How's Shin-chan?"

"He'll pull through," Sasuke said firmly, "He has to, or how the hell are we going to be even on the life-saving thing? And whose pure love am I going to peep on if he dies here?"

Shinku tried to chuckle, but ended up coughing out blood.

"Calm down, calm down, small breaths…" Sasuke said. "Dobe! Can't you find a medic? Anbu should have some basics down, right!?"

Naruko disappeared out of his vision.

Shinku's eyelids felt heavy, as he exhaled.

"Don't! Stay the hell awake!" Sasuke exclaimed, his right hand pinching hard on Shinku's abused cheek. "Don't you dare fall asleep! Not without a medic checking on you! Don't you even think for a minute to fall asleep, do you hear me Shinku! Stay awake!"

He could just catch a quick nap…

"NO! It's an order! I swear I'm putting you through a Genjutsu if you don't stay the hell awake!"

Does he ever shut up?

He must...like the sound…of his voice.

Orochimaru panted, his Kusanagi tightly held in his right hand. His body covered in wounds, the snakes that composed his real body carefully knitted them close.

"It appears you've lost, Orochimaru," Minato remarked, holding one of his three-pronged kunai at the ready.

"Eventually, Sasuke will be mine," Orochimaru replied with a half-bored tone. "I'll leave for the moment, Minato," he smiled. "You'd best take care of your wounded…you never know when you might need more men."

"Just tell me, Orochimaru," Minato growled. "What makes you think I'll let you go?"

There was the sound of the Raikiri building up. "What would you give," Orochimaru said suddenly, "In exchange for your loved ones? What would you sacrifice for them?"

Minato narrowed his eyes. "What are you…you finished it?" the Yondaime murmured. "You completed that technique?"

"Oh, yes," Orochimaru smiled, "I did."

Kakashi charged. His hand covered in the electric blue of his trademark technique as he slammed it straight through the chest…

Orochimaru wasn't hit.

A figure shot out from the shadows and took the blow straight to the chest.

Kakashi stilled, his breathing dying as his eyes took in the appearance of the shinobi —no, the kunoichi— who had taken the brunt of the blow.

"This…brings back memories," the voice was soft, just like he remembered. "Not at all pleasant ones too," she softly added.

Rin backhanded Kakashi away, just as her ripped chest slowly reformed in front of his widened and shocked eyes.

"What is Kakashi-kun? Seen a ghost?" Rin sneered in his direction.

"Rin?" Minato croaked.

"Minato-sensei," Rin smiled, looking at the Yondaime. "How nice. If only Obito were here, it would be the old team once more."

"OROCHIMARU!" Kakashi roared, charging ahead.

"No! Kakashi! Don't—" Minato's scream fell on deaf ears as his pupil didn't listen, rage and fury blinding his senses to anything else.

The Kusanagi sailed the air nimbly, slicing through Rin's body and Kakashi's. The Jounin barely managed to halt his advance, earning a gash on the stomach rather than a full-out halving of his body.

"Very well Hokage-sama," Orochimaru smirked as he watched Rin's halved body reform under his eyes. "We will take our leave…the Kusanagi's poison will kill him in three days of excruciating torment, so you better make him comfortable before his end," the snake sannin gave a sneer, and with a chuckle, disappeared together with Rin.

"Raido!" he barked, "Gather the others and prepare the Hiraishin! We have no time to waste! First we send the critically wounded back!"

"Yes, sir!" Raido exclaimed from behind his Anbu mask, before beginning to round up the survivors. It had been a slaughter…on the enemy's side. Orochimaru had apparently attacked with a small force of sound-shinobi, but none of them were beyond Chuunin-level…except for a key few that had made some casualties on their sides.

He watched dispassionately as a Tiger-masked Anbu clenched the hem of the outfit of another dead one —probably his colleague— and screamed at him to wake up. A few of the bodies were cradled by sniffling teammates, a couple laid to rest in quiet silence with their teammates looking on and —probably behind the masks— letting silent tears fall.

The pile of the sound shinobi was taller however. At least two dozens of corpses, all being prepared for transport back in Konoha, were one atop the other.

"He'll be fine," he heard a female voice say. He turned just in time to see the Yondaime's daughter exhale in relief, her face visibly distending. Next to her, the Chief of the police's son wiped away the sweat from his forehead. Their teammate was with his back against a rock spike, covered in drying blood. He had probably ended up receiving the brunt of an attack.

Compared to his teammates, who were both unscathed and unblemished, he really did stand out as the dead-last of his class.

Raido neared. "Will he make it if we move him?"

The Anbu —probably a medic judging by the soft glow of her hand— gave him a quick look. "If Konoha's hospital wasn't a pile of rubble, I'd say yes. As it stands, it's all a matter of seeing if he survives the night."

The woman gazed towards the grimacing Sasuke. "You did well, boy," she said. "He would have bled out without your intervention."

Sasuke clenched his fists, before giving a nod to the woman.

The woman stood up then, "I'd say to move him when you're sure the guys on the other side can take care of him. Now I'm sorry, but I have to check on the other wounded."

Raido nodded, letting the Anbu wearing a crane mask leave. "You'll have to write a report about what happened," he said towards the two Chuunin. "For what it's worth, you'll receive pay as if it were an S-rank."

"Hurray," Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes. "As if a million's ryo is worth seeing my teammate in this state," he knelt down next to Shinku. "Anything else, Anbu-san?"

"Your sensei," Raido began hesitantly. "Orochimaru wounded him."

"Unless he's dead, Kakashi-Nii will pull through," Naruko retorted. "So, when are we moving Shin-chan?"

"When they're done sending the first ahead," Sasuke replied.

"Someone will come and warn you," Raido finished, leaving the two Chuunin behind.

Naruko remained quiet for a moment, her eyes moving from her bloodied hand to Shinku's bloody body. "You think he'd ever get this wounded if he were in another team?"

Sasuke snorted. "Probably he'd be picking weeds out of a garden for years still."

"I wouldn't blame him," Naruko mumbled. "I'd actually like to weed a garden for once."

"We did weed one already," Sasuke said.

"Nah, I left it to Shin-chan. He really was enjoying himself."

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards.

"Hey," Naruko said, "I think Shin-chan needs some training," she added. "Like, a lot."

"You plan on forcing your way in Anbu, dobe?"

"I can so totally act like an Anbu, Teme," Naruko pouted back. "What's there of difficult? Just keep your mouth shut and act like you've got a stick up your ass to eleven."

The two of them fell quiet. "You'll probably need a hand in there," Sasuke remarked, breaking the silence. "I could…"

"No," Naruko shook her head. "You go and become a medic-nin, because even though I'm awesome, Shin-chan's going to get so many wounds he'll need you to keep him from kicking the bucket."

"Have some faith in his skills," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "He's not that bad."

"No, but he isn't like us either," Naruko mumbled back.

No other words were spoken.

Shinku fell asleep then —he was too tired to hear anything anymore, and judging by how his teammates were speaking, they probably assumed he had been knocked unconscious by the Anbu's treatment.

There was no need to hear more. He knew he wasn't like them…

There was no need to twist the kunai in the wound.

Author's notes

The shinobi economy is nuts.

Kakashi completed 42 S-ranks, meaning he'd have in his bank account something like a minimum of 42 million ryos. Might Guy completed 32, meaning he'd have 32 million.

So, the shinobi village have an active economy ranging in the Billions, because Kurenai —recently made Jounin— has 14 S-ranks, giving her at least 14 million in her bank account.

When one asks why you'd want to be a backstabbing murderous shinobi, I think the plain answer is the cash.

Especially when, looking at the 'cost' of a ramen, it comes in the 80-100 price range. (The hell of an economy!)